[music] Good evening and welcome to our regularly scheduled and organ organizational meeting for January 12th. At this time, please stand as you are able to join me in the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. Good evening board members. Um, this is our organizational meeting for tonight. So, to make everything extra formal for that meeting, I am going to call on Kristen to complete a roll call. Board member, as your name is uh called, please respond with here. If you are here, >> here. >> Diamond here. >> Gardner here. >> Johnson >> here. >> Magnus >> here. >> Muhammad >> here. Williams. >> She will be here shortly. All right. Excellent. Okay. Um this is also the we had uh kind of my one of my favorite parts of the meeting, but um we had an election this past November and we had four of our board members were elected. So, I'm actually going to go to the podium. And as I go to the podium, if any um uh family members are here tonight to support their board members, as I'm getting up and moving, please come up and stand with your board member before we do the oath of office. >> Come on up, guys. >> Don't be shy. [snorts] All right. Excellent. So, um, elected board members, please repeat after me. I state your name. I, Robin Cio, >> I Leah Gardner, >> I Catherine Diamond, >> having been elected >> having been elected >> to >> to the office of school board >> to the office of school board >> for independent school district 196 >> for independent school district >> do hereby swear >> do hereby swear >> that I will support the constitution of the United States >> that I will support the constitution of the United states >> and of the state of Minnesota >> and and of the state of Minnesota >> and discharge faithfully >> and discharge faithfully >> the duties of the office of school board member >> the duties of the office of school board member >> to the best of my judgment and ability >> to the best of my judgment and ability. >> Congratulations. [applause] So, school board members and families, don't leave just yet because I think we'll need just a couple pictures to commemorate this moment. >> All right. Well, now that you've been all officially sworn in, we can actually take votes. So, um, is there a motion to approve the agenda for tonight? So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Robin, seconded by Saken. All those in favor of approving the agenda say I. >> I. I. >> Those opposed. Motion carries on a 6 vote. The next order of our business tonight is our election of school board officers. Um so I will go through this tonight. If there is only one person nominated, we will um elect them by acclamation. Um if there are multiple nominations, we'll take a a vote. So, um, at this time, are there any nominations for chairperson? >> I nominate Corey Johnson. >> Are there any other nominations for chairperson? Are there any other nominations for chairperson? And are there any other nominations for chairperson? Hearing none, I will appoint myself by acclamation for chairperson for 2026. Right. That brings us to our vice chairperson. Are there any nominations for vice chair? >> I nominate Anna Williams. >> I hear nomination for Anna Williams. Are there any other nominations for vice chair? Are there any other nominations for vice chair? Are there any other nominations for vice chair? Hearing none, I will appoint Anna Williams as vice chairperson for 2026. That brings us to our clerk position. Are there any nominations for clerk? >> Yes, I would like to nominate Robin Cio for the role of clerk. >> I heard a nomination for Robin Cio for clerk. Are there any other nominations for clerk? Are there any other nominations for clerk? Are there any other nominations for clerk? Hearing none, Robin Serio is appointed clerk for 2026. And our last officer position is treasurer. Are there any nominations for the position of treasurer? >> I would like to nominate Sako Muhammad. Here a nomination for Sakoden Muhammad for treasurer. Are there any other nominations for treasurer? Are there any other nominations for treasurer? Are there any other nominations for treasurer? Hearing none, Sakoda Muhammad is e is appointed as treasurer for 2026. All right. Congratulations to all of our new and existing officers of the school board. All right, next on the agenda is our recognition portion of the agenda and I would like to welcome Eric Hansen to the podium to introduce Treasure John Trevor Johnson, principal of Dakota Hills Middle School, which has been recognized as a 2025 National Blue Ribbon School. >> Thank you. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, members of the school board, and Superintendent Balsone. Tonight, I am pleased to share that Dakota Hills Middle School has been recognized as a 2025 National Blue Ribbon School, a prestigious award that designates DHMS as an exemplary high-erforming school. This recognition places Dakota Hills among the top schools in the nation and reflects its long-standing commitment to academic excellence and community engagement. Under the leadership of Dr. Johnson and through the dedication and hard work of the teachers and staff, Dakota Hills Middle School has developed a strong reputation of excellence. Although students move through middle school every three years, this award recognizes the culture of high expectations and strong relationships that educators and school leaders have. At this time, I am pleased to introduce Dr. Trevor Johnson, principal of Dakota Hills Middle School. Thank you very much, Mr. Hansen. Uh we certainly don't feel as though this is a one-year award. Uh we want to take some time tonight to share this and not just over the past year or through this most recent process. It's important for us to share this out because that's what I intend to do and I think that's one of my roles. Um, we're very grateful to every parapro, every custodian, every kitchen staff worker, every teacher and administrator who has ever worked at Dakota Hills Middle School over the past 37 years. There were a number of teachers who came together to write the sections of this nomination. An interesting process to be sure. I want to name those folks. I'll do that fairly quickly here. Eric Schmidt, Sarah Beck, Esme, Laura McCrady, Tara Runquist, Don Dentimman, Denise Rosendez, Jim Zuper, Ross Albertson, Anne Raymond, Chad Gage, Chelsea Pierce, Chris Scott, Holly Taylor, Matt McWilliam, Amy Zuper, Tom Schultz, Andrew Urban, Ashley Barryman, Kyle Frost, Betsy Funk, Melissa Tapper, Laura Jevy, Emily Scott, Marine Bashard, Erica Kunert, and Tracy Ryers. more than 25 people contributing to this and one of the directions was to make it read and sound like it had one voice. So we had two very important additions to that list and those were people who were editors who helped to make it sound like it was one voice because it was not one voice and those are district office staff persons Kim Craraven and Ally Garin. So we're very grateful to Kim and Ally. Uh the success of a school it can be judged and viewed in many different ways and it can be very complex and very nuanced. I'm going to keep it very simple. We feel very fortunate to serve the communities of Egan and Inver Grove. But I know every school in our district feels fortunate to serve its communities whether it's Egan, Inenver Grove, Apple Valley or Rosemount. District 196 is full of wonderful communities and we enjoy serving all of them. We know that we have involved and caring parents. are probably helping kids with algebra and grammar right now at the kitchen table. So, we're grateful for that. We love our students. Clever, imaginative, fun, energetic, unique. And then the easiest part of my job is to brag about what a great group of teachers we have at Dakota Hills. Every middle school teacher needs in a good way to have just a little bit of middle school child left within them. [laughter] The kids need to know that they care before they care what the teachers know. and we have to take some time to have some fun. I also want to share this and thank our colleagues districtwide. Uh we share this with our middle school colleagues. There are great many ideas and efforts and creative things that come from one place and spread out districtwide. Our teachers and our administrators feel a great camaraderie with our colleagues and other buildings. Three years is a short amount of time, but it's a very important and unique amount of time in in the lives and the learning of our of our kids. The last thing I want to do is uh thank and recognize Wendy McName, Steve Tone, and Jim Roberts, prior Dakota Hills administrators. And then lastly, something I think will warm everyone's heart. Uh we want to recognize the person who started us on this journey and that's a gentleman who's here this evening who from the construction of the school to the hiring of the original staff to being the first principal of the school. I want to conclude my remarks here tonight by asking us all to look over here and if we would thank and join in giving a round of applause to Mr. Pat Sullivan sitting in the front row. [applause] [applause] Thank you very much. >> All those signatures paid off. Congratulations. >> Excellent. Um I will now turn the meeting over to Superintendent Bosone for superintendent recognition. >> All right. Thank you, Chair Johnson. I'm going to go to the lectern tonight for my comments. [clears throat] All right. Uh, Chair Johnson, board members, public, uh, I'm Michael Balsone, superintendent. Um, I want to start out by saying while there are things we definitely want to celebrate tonight, we also have to acknowledge that our community and our state are currently experiencing challenges that we have not seen before. It might seem out of place to take some time to think about recognitions right now while our community experiences pain and uncertainty. However, I would like to ask for your understanding as we recognize some well-deserved achievements prior to addressing some of our current challenges. So, with that, I'd like to begin by recognizing several outstanding students, alumni, and staff. First, congratulations to Margie Frerieded, an East View High School alum from the class of 2016, who has just qualified for the 2026 US Olympic Bialon team. Margie competed in Nordic skiing at East View and beyond, and after transitioning to Bathlon, has achieved success at the highest level. This is an extraordinary accomplishment, and we look forward to cheering her on in Milano, Cortina, in 2026 coming up, I think next month. I also want to recognize our district 196 paraprofessionals. January 19th through the 23rd is paraprofessional appreciation week and paraprofessionals play an essential role in supporting student learning and well-being across our district every day. In just a few minutes, the board will be voting on a resolution formalizing formally recognizing paraprofessional appreciation week. And we are grateful for the dedication, care, and commitment that our paras bring to our students and schools each day. I also want to congratulate Zach Pra, a social studies teacher at East View High School, who has been named Minnesota's outstanding speech and debate educator of the year. This award recognizes excellence in coaching and a deep commitment to students and is a well-deserved honor. As the state recipient, Zach is now eligible for a section 5 recognition, which includes award recipients from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. The section 5 recipient winner will be announced later this month. Finally, I'd like to invite Adam Watenberger to come up. Adam has recently been selected to serve as District 196's new general counsel effective January 5th. Adam has served as our deputy general counsel since 2023 and will be succeeding Jill Coyle who announced her retirement after 26 years of exceptional service to this district. Adam brings a strong background in school law along with a collaborative, thoughtful approach to problem solving and service. Adam earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota. Following law school, he clerked for the Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice. He later joined the firm of Kennedy and Graven, where he provided legal counsel to school districts throughout Minnesota and was promoted to a firm partner before coming to District 196. Please join me in welcoming Adam to his new position as District 196's general counsel. [applause] [applause] Thank you, Michael. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, school board members. Um, got a lot to get to tonight, so I'll be quick, but I'm honored and excited for this opportunity. Yeah, I've been really lucky to get to spend my legal career uh representing schools and especially fortunate to get to do that the last few years here in 196 and to take that into this new role uh moving forward here. Uh my family's here tonight. Uh my kids will my two kids, my oldest will start kindergarten here in the district uh next fall, so we're excited about that. Um, my kids uh don't really understand what it is I do here, I don't think. But, um, but they do really like that I get to help our schools. And so, that's what I'm going to try to do. Uh, support this great district, uh, serve our staff and students and family members, and do our do my best to help uh, advance our mission and goals. So, thank you all very much. [applause] Yay! Congratulations. >> Thank you, Adam, and congratulations. [clears throat] In recent weeks, we have been navigating difficult times and emotions in District 196. We recognize the grief, the confusion, and fear that is present in our community. We want to acknowledge that not everyone feels safe right now. Some families and staff, especially our Somali and Latino families among others, fear leaving their homes, driving to school or work, or participating in school activities fully because of immigration agents in our area. District 196 is deeply rooted in values of empathy, community, wellness, and achievement. We also believe in belonging, care, and connection. We remain committed to providing safe learning environments for all students. With the support of the Minnesota Department of Education, we will begin providing online access to instructional materials to keep students engaged and learning. This will be for students who are not able to attend school at this time. We'll be sending more information about these options this week through our schools. We are grateful to be part of a strong community that has and continues to express concern and care for each other as friends, neighbors, and classmates. I also want to address our transportation challenges that have been building since October. I know we have many transportation employees in the audience uh this evening and I appreciate that. A number of our drivers are here as well as other support staff for transportation. We want you to know uh that you are appreciated and valued. At present we know that we are overcommitted in providing more transportation that is than is required by state law. This has put a strain on our overstretched transportation system. We're working on both short and long-term solutions to this problem. It is also important to note that we are not alone. Metro districts similar to ours are cancelling 10% of their routes each week and several districts are considering expanding walk zones and reducing services. We deeply apologize for the disruption for families and students that the that the cancellations have caused in our district. We want to thank our transportation staff who have taken on extra routes and additional duties and responsibilities during this time as we work to resolve the situation. Thank you. That ends my comments for now. Thank you, Superintendent Bone. All right. Next on the agenda is our special communication requests. Um uh members of the public who'd like to speak with or address the school board has a couple opportunities to do that. Um we have listening sessions and we also have special communications requests. Members of the public that like to sign up for special communications requests must do at least three days in advance. Um, as a reminder to anyone uh signing up for special communication requests tonight, um, the board generally does not respond to comments because it is time for the board members to listen uh, hear and observe. Um, additionally, if any specific questions are asked, usually a member of the administration will find will follow up with the requesttor or the special communication requesttor after the meeting with any specific information they requested. and all speakers are reminded um not to air uh personal grievance against personal people in the district. There's other forums for that. Um that said, I'd like to welcome our um speaker tonight, Miss Katherine Briggs. And Katherine, I'm sure you probably know this, but I'll just remind you if you want to start by um stating your name and connection to the district and also just our little um uh timer. You have four minutes to speak and it'll turn green when the timer starters. It'll turn amber when you have 30 seconds left and red one to conclude your comments. >> Very good. Thank you. My name is Katherine Briggs. I'm a transportation driver and union steward for SEIU284. So, good evening, superintendent and school board members. I would like to start out by briefly addressing the events which happened in December of 2025. To quote the district's email, "Looking ahead, we will continue to make decisions that place safety first with a focus on the well-being of our students and staff. I would like to point out that had this district been looking out for staff and students, the district would have canled school that day to allow the police departments to conclude their investigation into a credible threat. By not doing so, this district placed students, teachers, school staff, and transportation employees in danger. Please take time to review the events and be better prepared for these events. I as well as many others believe that this will indeed happen again and to again quote the district out of an abundance of caution should mean exactly that an abundance of caution. Don't put us in this position again. Cancel school. Moving on. And as you know, the transportation group has yet to negotiate a fair and reasonable contract with this district, and we are now preparing for mediation this week. If you have not been made aware, South Washington Independent School District now has a starting wage of $28 per hour. Their benefits package is like ours in almost every way. I believe that this will get people to apply to that district rather than ours. We have heard from administrators in this district that budgets are tight. There is not enough money to call for the increases we have tried to negotiate. In fact, there has been no increase to the package parameters by this school board and administration during our regular negotiations, hence mediation. You set a dollar amount and expect us to work within that set amount. I am here to tell you it doesn't work. To be competitive in the marketplace and to keep the employees we have experienced employees, we need more money added to those parameters. You not only have to entice people to this district with a livable starting wage, but you need to keep the employees you have with reasonable increases. Insurance benefits are not enough. Wages. Wages. Wages. Do you really think that 2415 per hour is a great wage for the responsibilities you place on transportation employees? Not only that, but our support staff, i.e. Dispatchers, routers, administrators, and mechanics are all out driving rather than doing the job they have been hired to do. When a mechanic is making an extra 30,000 a year driving a bus over their regular hours and hourly rate, an hourly rate which is higher than drivers pay, there's a problem. Due to this, there is no support staff for our drivers and chaperones. And the support staff which should be in place for drivers and chaperones have become full-time bus drivers. This is not acceptable and cannot be sustained indefinitely. This district, as all districts across the state and nation, have and will continue to experience staffing shortages. But in this district, there is money to do something about wages. We are the third largest district in the state, and you offer transportation employees a mere pittance in wage increases. You build and build and build and bond and levy away, but expect the transportation department not to grow with the district and want to keep drivers and chaperones at a below poverty level rate of pay. Granted, a wage increase may not fix all the route cancellations which parents of this district are now experiencing, but it wouldn't hurt and may help to keep those already employed in transportation. Route cancellations have been happening all over this state. 196 is now experiencing them. They will continue to happen, but better wages could reduce this. Appreciating transportation employees is not a plate of cookies on a specific day set aside for appreciation. It should be every day with respect and a livable wage, which does reflect the appreciation of this district for its dedicated transportation employees. Thank you. >> [applause] >> All right, that brings us to the consent portion of our agenda this evening. Board members, we have 23 items on our consent agenda tonight. Those items include the schoolboard committee assignments and appointments for 2026, schoolboard handbook updates for 2026, schoolboard meeting dates for January 2026 through June 2027, minutes of December 8th, 2025, regular schoolboard meeting, pair of professional employees appreciation week, January 19th through 23rd, 2026, gifts, grants, treasures report for November 2025, revenue and expenditures report for November 2025. Summary of claims for November 2025. Schedule of investments for November 2025. Manual signature on checks over $100,000. Annual financial audit 202425. Personnel agreement for clinical experience with Capella University. Memorandum of understanding with the principal association regarding conversion of sickly from days to hours. Memorandum of understanding with building engineers association regarding conversion of sickly from days to hours. Substitute and temporary employment employee wage rates. Employment agreement. Additional FTE. Student teaching agreement with St. Katherine University, Egan High School Activity Center and renovation big pack 2, Rosemont High School Edition and renovation bid pack 3, LCTS subcontractor agreement with Dakota County. At this time, are there any items on the consent agenda that board members would like to remove? Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Move approval. >> Motion by Jackie, second by was that Saken? Thank you. All those in favor of approving the consent say I. >> I. Those opposed. Motion carries on a 70 vote. All right, that brings us to the report section of our agenda tonight. And I'd like to welcome Eric Hansen and Todd Beach to the podium to go over our personal finance report. >> Thank you. And good evening, Chairperson Johnson, members of the school board, and superintendent Bolson. My name is Eric Hansen. I'm the director of secondary education. Tonight, Dr. Beach, our district's lead teacher for social studies and personal finance, will provide anformational update on our newly added graduation requirement. Tonight's report isformational only and no board action is required. Dr. Beachch works directly with our personal finance teachers and provides the necessary support to ensure the course is well organized, meaningful, and relevant. We continue to remain focused on our strategic priorities. Well-being, achievement, and equity have served as our guiding framework throughout this process of developing this newly required course. At this time, I'd like to invite Dr. Beachch to share more information as well as an update on this new required course, personal finance. >> Thank you, Director Hansen. Good evening, everyone. So, personal finance, where we at? The legislature in May of 2023 passed legislation that said all Minnesota school districts need to have a required personal finance course. So the initiative by this the legislature was that they want students to be able to make informed financial decisions, understand the impact of the financial commitments they make, build financial security and confidence, and reach personal and financial goals. Minnesota is the 20th state to adopt a personal finance education requirement. So that begins then with the class of 28. Those would be our current 10th graders. Personal finance is now currently being offered this year to students in grades 10, 11, and 12. It is required for students in grade 10. And with the legislation, qualified lensures to teach the course include agriculture, business, family, consumer science, social studies, and math. So, it isn't the first time we've offered personal finance in the district. It has been an elective uh for a very long time in our business education courses and in our family and consumer science courses. But I brought this uh little excerpt here to your attention. The state of personal finance education in the United States. This is from the National Council of Social Studies just to kind of indicate to you that this is on the rise and trending up as we would say across the nation. The need for personal finance education. some of the numbers to help you with that and get your head around what that might be. So, some of these sources, uh, pretty recent, this is from 2022, uh, a survey asking how many parents talk with their young people at home about personal finance matters. One in three, so about, you know, 30%, 33%. However, over 83% adults nationwide believe that personal finance should be a course. So, it's not talked about much in the homes, but it's something that everybody wants. In 2019, there were six states that required personal finance. Now, up to 2025, there are 20 states, Minnesota being the 20th state. It is projected that that number of states requiring personal finance as a course, will double by 2030. So, this was our kind of timeline for curriculum development. We saw the legislative statute in spring of 2023 and then we needed to wait for the Minnesota Department of Education to provide a guidance document or whether they were going to write standards for this course. That guidance document finally came out after a committee process uh in October of 2024. We took that guidance document and it went then to our secondary administration and we were looking for decisions from our secondary administration about where does this be how is this housed as a required course. So lots of discussion there knowing that we've got lots of different lensures that could teach that course. Administrators wanted to house it in its own uh department so to speak. So its financing comes from its own department and there's a lot of flexibility with the number of staff and faculty they already have within those lensure groups. I was charged then in January 2025 to bring the writing group together. We had representatives from each of the high schools from many in from every one of the departments personal finance excuse me um family consumer science business mathematics social studies uh and then we began implement implementation this fall. So we have completed trimester 1 of personal finance course. The course itself has six different units of instruction. So one of the things you might be thinking about is well if we've had a an elective course how different is it from that elective course? This is richer. There's a lot more rigor um and a lot more things expected. There's also a personal finance benchmark and a set of standards within the social studies standards for economics and this is beyond that. So those six units of instruction are financial literacy, income and planning, financial systems, credit management, risk management, and investing. So we've taught one trimester of the course and we've asked the teachers, we got together with the teachers uh and ask them for a little feedback. How's it going? The course scope itself is challenging and I think if you would talk with about any teacher in any course, they would tell you after the first time they teach it, uh there's a little bit of oh yeah, okay, there's a lot more here and I need to pace things differently and I've learned a lot and I will make adjustments with my instruction as we go. Teachers met then on our most recent data day, December 22nd. They reviewed the scope. They talked about their experiences with the course and they started to make revisions at that December data day. the they came out of that meeting really kind of reinforcing the idea that this aligned curriculum advances strong financial literacy outcomes. That is a goal that they all have across all four of our sites. Some of the student feedback after that first trimester course. Just I have a couple of clips for you here. The course was very engaging. I enjoyed working with my peers to solve problems and getting to know more about personal finance. Second quote, the classroom simulations and games were fun. Made learning more interactive. Helped me with the information. help the information stick with me. So, that's a little bit of feedback. We've learned quite a bit. We're going to meet again. Um, I'll meet with those course teams in February and then we have more Mar of the March data day planned with that group. Um, finally, I wanted to leave you with this. So, we asked Cliff Dodge, as you all know, to visit a couple of our schools, interview of a couple of our students and a couple of our teachers, and they put together this short video for you. Can you roll the video? thought credit card was like you just go spend it like you do whatever you want and I guess you pay it back but like kind of the thing about the credit card debt is like it's so crazy like hard to get out of and the amount of money they charge and like it just keeps seems like you keep going under. So kind of like makes me think okay well I didn't know that before. I thought a credit card was just credit card. I need to know this stuff. It definitely makes me think a lot more on to it because I'll be constantly like when I spend money I'm like hm like is there better ways I could be using my money or like with smart goals I'm like hm maybe I should start saving more money. [music] >> We have the students create um short and long-term goals utilizing the smart philosophy so that they can think about what's important to them at the moment both financially and non-financially and then we reference back to those throughout every activity that we [music] do. you know, what should I save and how should I save it? So, should we put it in just a savings account? Should we think about putting it into a retirement account? Um, where it's going to go and what it's going to be used for [music] when it comes to their goals. It's real life stuff that we'll actually use. I feel like I've never really learned about money. So, learning about it, it's really good. Like, you really got to save. You can't just [music] spend everything. And you have to be thinking about the future, what you want to save for. And if you make a big purchase now, you're gonna have to pay it off later. >> The learning targets that they should hit are actually quite a bit there. We cover six different units, but kind of the main ones that we hit on there are generating income. So for most people that includes um finding a job or um finding a career that suits them and then we research those careers and then we end up having [music] a paycheck. Then after that um looking at our pay stub and then from there it's like managing our money, budgets, being um responsible with debts and credits and then we get into uh some investing. So those are some of the main skills that they walk away with. I >> remember when we talked about how to like budget your um payub that really helped cuz I can I send most of mine to savings right now for like car retirement all that. I'd say budgeting was probably the most important of everything. It's very interesting to see how everything works in investing and especially because it can help you build money quickly and over time. Me and my parents were actually just having a conversation over investments and I was like looking at their investments like yeah and they were telling me how like which ones you have to like pay a tax fee to take out and which ones you don't. I feel like it's just a good foundation to give us. >> Allows you to learn stuff that you would never have thought like oh I thought that's a normal thing to do. I think it was really good, but it was kind of fun learning about all the finance stuff to learn how to better your life. Okay, I hope you found that intriguing and interesting and we continue to learn with our students and with our teachers with this curriculum. So, thank you. >> Happy to answer any questions if there are any. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Sure. If you have a question, you can just come up to the podium. Um, and just introduce yourself real quick. And >> Hi, I'm Amanda Adams and I'm a social studies teacher at Egan High School and I'm wondering with the new personal finance requirement, what does that do for staffing and how many I know it depends on um the number of students that are obviously enrolled, but what are the early estimates for additional hires or where that might live in the different buildings? Thank you. Um, Eric or Todd, I can address a little bit and I think Eric can answer any of those things too. So, one of the things we always have to do is we have to wait till registration so we know what our numbers are. Uh, registration takes, as you all know, takes place in February. Once we have registration numbers, then each administrative group at each site will start thinking about the staffing of that. Um, there are this is a great question because it's the first time we've offered the course. So, um, most of the students this year decided they want to do it as the 10th grade to get that done and requirement out of the way, leaving their schedule a little bit more open, but director Hansen may have more to say. >> Yeah, that is a good question about staffing and it also has multiple license um that can teach it. So, uh, that also helps in in trying to keep that as even as possible. >> Excellent. Thank you. Any other questions or comments from the audience? >> Seeing none, questions or comments from board members? Jackie, >> I liked it that we didn't make this um department dependent, that you got more flexibility. Both of the teachers on here were business teachers. Did it end up in our first round here that most of the schools went that way or not or >> So, so it it kind of depends on the site. Um at Eastby, for example, it's a business teacher and a fax teacher. >> Okay. Um, we have at Apple Valley High School, we have someone who is has a business degree but also math degree and in try 3 there's a social studies teacher picking up some of that. Um, at Egan it's been primarily business teachers and where am I missing? Rosemont has been the business teachers so far. >> Well, good. So, >> there's that flexibility in the lensure has helped a lot and I know that our administrators appreciate that so that they can staff accordingly. >> That'll help your question too. Thank you. >> Other questions or comments from board members? >> I had a question. >> Um you had mentioned that the teachers feedback was that getting all of the information covered in a trimester was challenging and so I'm wondering about at East View where we have quarters and is that a semester long class so they have a little bit longer or is it in a quarter where it's a little bit more condensed and how are the teachers doing with that challenge? Yeah, East Views decided to try this course as a quarter class. It has been a challenge as you know or as I said in the trimester and so yes, for a quarter class it even even more of a challenge. Paul's the teacher that's managed that so far and those are the some of the discussions they were having at data day about boy this is a really short time frame to kind of squeeze in a lot of information as well as trying to make it really interesting and engaging. And so those are some of the challenges we're working through right now. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Other questions or comments? All right. Seeing none, thank you very much. >> All right. That brings us to our old business portion of our agenda tonight. And I would like to welcome Danny Duchene to the podium to go over the second reading of our 202526 final budget. Good evening, Chair Johnson, members of the school board, superintendent Bos Sony, and our district 196 community. My name is Danny Duchain, coordinator of finance here in district 196. Tonight, district administration presents the 2526 final budget this evening for a second reading and a recommended approval. The final budget was presented to the school at the December 8th school board meeting. Since that December school board meeting, there have not been any changes made to the budget information and only minor aesthetic and formatting changes made to the final budget book, which is included in your board packet this evening. The budget book provides a wealth of important information regarding district demographics and accomplishments, the budgets and budgeting process, and staffing. The budget book will be published on the district's finance page after approval. The finance team will return to the board later this spring with any final budget adjustments necessary for the 2526 fiscal year before commencing the annual financial audit this summer. So at this time, district administration respectfully requests approval of the 2526 final budget. >> Thank you. This is an action item for the board tonight. So before we move into questions, is there a motion to approve the 202526 final budget as presented? moved. >> I heard a Sakin and I think I heard a second by Katherine. Did I get that right? >> Perfect. All right. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none questions or comments from board members? Jackie, >> just a real quick thank you. It's wonderful as always. This will be online and it's a good tool for citizens to go look at where is our money spent, how is it used in the district and there's a lot of information in this book. Plus, there's some really neat student art work in there that you might want to look at. So, thank you very much. Your whole group does a nice job. >> Thank you. >> The questions or comments from board members. I just add on to Jackie's comment. I say this multiple times in board meetings, but anytime anyone has a question on where we spend our money as a district our size, I always point them to this book. It does just a phenomenal job of taking an incredibly big and complex budget and breaking it down all the way into smaller um digestible um uh funds and it teaches and it's easily understood. I mean, it's a big book, but it is easily understood and you can find what you're looking for um as well. So, I think it's great. We've won awards for how you present information in this book. Um it's it's really really good um tool and again the artwork is an added bonus. So thank you. >> Thank you. >> Uh there was a motion to approve from Sakoda, seconded by Katherine. All those in favor of approval, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Motion carries on a 70 vote. Thank you very much. >> All right, that brings us to our new business portion of our agenda and I'd like to welcome Janet Switchikowski to the podium to go over our 2026 legislative platform. Good evening, Chair Johnson, school board members, Superintendent Balsami. I'm Janet Switchikowski, director of communications, and I have the privilege of working with our legislative advisory council each year. The Legislative Advisory Council um is made up of representatives of all of our other district advisory councils. So we get voices from across the district about legislative policy and funding issues that may impact us for the future. So there we go in the next slide please. The legislative session will be beginning in February. And the legislative act um adi platform that you will present tonight aligns very importantly with our district strategic roadmap because it is the primary funding source for resources. And this year we are also in a policy year. So we'll be looking at policy items that may affect well-being, achievement, and equity. We are fortunate to have a large district representing all or parts of seven communities, meaning that we have a large legislative contingent protecting the needs of district 196 and advocating for our students, staff, and family at the legislature. With six state senators and eight state representatives, we have strong representation on the many committees that impact education. And while we traditionally think about uh education funding and policy committee, we also frequently see legislation come through other routes um from other committees including the tax committee, the workforce, labor and economic development, finance and policy committee, children and families, and health and human services to name a few. So let me be clear. District 196 really values the significant investment motans have made in their public schools in the past and we applaud the legislature for working towards stabilizing school funding by tying the basic education formula to in um to the index indexing it for inflation. Given that 2026 is a policy and bonding year and recognizing the significant state and federal funding challenges ahead, we ask the legislature to protect existing education funding as the best investment it can make in our state's future. As you know, each legislative session has its own purpose. Last legislative le leg legislative session was a funding year and it was a difficult session. That reality will carry forward to this year and be further complicated by other political challenges including a shared leadership model that will be different in the future with the death of representative Hortman and bills will still require bipartisan support and compromise to pass. The governor's announcement that he will not seek re-election will impact negotiations, as will the career aspirations of others seeking to lead. 2026 is an election year, and historically, little is accomplished in an election year. Finally, the state's fraud crisis will command much of our legislators attention as we're moving forward. So, we do want to moderate our expectations and our asks with the many needs on state legislators plates. Last legislative session, there were three priorities that were strong priorities for us. I'm bringing them up again because they are equally relevant today. One is that we had on our platform last session and continued to think of it as a win. uh that the general education formula remains linked to inflation um and will increase in future years. This year it was up by um 2.74% but that is linked to inflation. That historically was not true. education had to go back every two years and ask for funding and effective with the 2023 legislature uh that is now a guar uh planned and legislative increase and education funding. Secondly, there is a was a one-time hold harmless provision for changes in the way compensatory funding is provided. Right now, that is only through the end of this fiscal year. So we will want to continue that for another year. Next, there was a h 100red million appropriated for school unemployment through fiscal year 27 and that is for hourly employees who qualify now for unemployment over the summertime. So those are three issues that while we checked them off as wins last session could likely become uh points of discussion and question again this session. The other thing that happened last session in 25 was there were a number of legislative cuts to education funding in order to show a projected more balanced budget for 2829. Included in that is $250 million in cuts to special education that is yet to be identified. We also saw cuts in special education transportation aid, student support personnel aid, school library aid, teacher pipeline programs, and some free meals funding. All of these are issues that at minimum we would like not to have deeper cuts. Um, but looking forward, we especially want to be mindful of that special education cut and how that might change in the future. So, as we look forward to the 2026, we have three buckets of our legislative legislative priorities. One is that we maintain stable and predictable funding for public education in Minnesota. two that we continue to invest in safe and supportive schools. And three, there are a couple items under teacher lure that we would like to address as a policy con um item under the stable and predictable funding. Again, I'm repeating myself. We would like to protect the basic education formula being in in indexed to inflation. Second, we would like to continue and extend the hold harmless provision for compensatory revenue as changes and a work group are currently looking at recommendations for a longer term solution. Third, we would request that the legislature repeal the $250 million in cuts to special education, which would essentially eliminate the cross subsidy reduction aid. That was a big win for education in 2025 2023. And finally, that we continue full and ongoing state funding for summer unemployment for non-licensed school staff or look at repealing or or modifying that law. under the safe and supportive schools. This is the area that commanded the most of our discussion and attention particularly by the student members of our legislative advisory council. Youth mental health support programs which could include supporting pipeline programs for additional social workers and teachers are top of mind for our students. We are thankful that our community has invested significantly locally. District 196 taxpayers have substantially voted to support school safety measures in 2015, 2019, and 2023 referendums. But we are also mindful that not all schools have that same support across the state. Continued investment in safe schools should be a priority across the state. We would be asking the legislature to potentially raise the cap for the safe schools levy. This would allow us to um provide districts with greater flexibility to address a full range of local safety needs consistent with best practices and community expectations. MSBA is also uh uh advocating for this platform item. We'd also like continued efforts to improve youth mental health supports through access to highquality health care for all motans and by increasing the number of social work social workers or mental health professionals available to schools. Under the category of teacher lure there are three provisions. One is that the um postsecondary institutions and teacher preparation programs be required to have the readact training that we have put all of our staff through in recent years included in those programs for graduations or for lensure. The second is to continue to invest in teacher recruitment and preparation programs. And the third point is to revise child protection laws to extend the statute of limitation for victims to pursue prosecution when inappropriate student teacher relationships occur. We'd also like to see streamline reporting associating between MDE and Pelby when such incidents occur. So with that, we will be hosting our legislative forum next on the 22nd, I believe. Um, and inviting all of our legislators to come, legislators to come and have conversations about these platform issues and most importantly listen to them about what they see as key issues that they could use our help or our parent or students um, testimony or advisory on as well. With that, I would take any questions. >> Thank you very much. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from board members? Leah, >> I just want to quickly thank you for the work on this. Uh, I feel like it was a a really robust and meaningful discussion that we had at the legislative advisory committee forming this. And I also think that the feedback from all different perspectives that were in that room is is really well reflected in what we came up with uh for our for our policy priorities this year. So just a thank you. >> Other questions or comments from board members? >> Thank you very much. And we'll see you at the next board meeting to approve. >> Thank you. >> You bet. All right. Um, next I would like to welcome Janet Switchikowski to stay at the podium, but also be joined by Jennity Canino um to go over our 2026 language access plan updates. Thank you again, Chairperson Johnson, schoolboard members, and Superintendent Balsone. I'm very excited to share with you um an update to the language access plan that you approved last January at this time. This year we are bringing a few important updates. These include clearer definitions around our American Sign Language, alignment with the Americans with Disabilities Act expectations, future improvements to website accessibility compliance, and additional training sessions for staff. Each of these updates will strengthen our commitment to ensuring that every family, regardless of language or communications mode, can meaningfully participate in their child's education. We're presenting our language at PL little stumbles tonight. We're presenting our language access plan with updated legal requirements for board action and we'll review a couple of those access tools, but we also would like to share with you some of the implementation progress that we have made in recent over the last year and how the plan is being used. Our language access plan supports all four of our strategic priorities. well-being, belonging, achievement, equity, and resources in the tools we provide to expand language access. It also supports our core values of achievement, collaboration, community, and having a student- centered focus. Our language access plan helps us achieve our vision of developing the whole student by honoring diverse needs and cultures. So, why does language access really matter? It is a compliance item. Um, but more importantly, I'd like to share a story. In our district, we have families who speak more than a hundred different languages. And that's a big number and we have to be intentional about communication. But as we focus on language access, the real purpose is to make sure that no one feels excluded or confused and most importantly so that families can support their children to succeed. I'd like to share a quick story. In a school district not unlike ours, not here, but not unlike ours, there was a Spanish-sp speakaking families whose child desperately wanted to play on the school soccer team. The student had been practicing for weeks, was super excited, and ready to play. But when the registration opened, all the forms and announcements were shared only in English. The family didn't understand the deadline or how to complete the process, and by the time they found out through another parent, word of mouth, it was too late. The team was full, and their child had missed the season. The student was disappointed. The family felt left out and confused. And they wondered, "If only we had the information in a way that we could understand, would our child be out on the field today?" So that story reminds us that language access isn't just about translation. It is about opportunity, equity, and belonging. When families can't access information in a language they understand, students lose out. not just on programs, but on connection and on community. With the implementation of our language access plan and some new communication tools this year, our athletics and activities directors um reported that they had more students signing up sooner for co-curricular activities in August than they had in years past. So, we know that this opportunity to connect with people in a way that they understand information will open opportunities and doors for all of our students across the district. On your table, you have a few of the tools and one of the new things we had this year was the language access booklets. These are provided to all staff because our language access plan calls not just for the front office or a translator to be able to communicate, but tools that any teacher or any staff member can use to access and we'll get into that in a few minutes. I'd like to introduce Jennity Canino who has been really the the conduit, the passion, and the brainchild be behind getting our language access plan uh ready and bringing it to you to share more information. >> You don't you can do it. Okay. >> Good evening, Chair Johnson, members of the board, Superintendent Bone. My name is Janet Deanino, multilingual communications, and I work with Janet in the communications department. Thank you for the opportunity to share the updates of our district 196 language access plan. Language access matters in District 196 because it ensures that families can understand school information, health and safety messages, important paperwork, and participate in school activities. In our district, we serve almost 2600 students that are receiving English language development support and our families speak more than 120 languages. Like Janet just mentioned, to ensure that families are supported in real time, we have expanded our interpretation services by adding video remote interpreting. This tool gives staff immediate ondemand access to interpreters. Next slide. Our language access plan exists to ensure that every family, no matter what language they speak, can fully participate in their child's education. To make that happen, our language access plan focuses on four key areas. We start by defining important terms that not everyone may be familiar with, and this helps ensure that staff and families share a common understanding. We explain how our district identifies each family's preferred language. so we can communicate effectively and respectfully. We outline how language services, including interpretation and translation, are provided to families as needed. We describe how we will train and support our staff so they feel confident and prepared to meet the language needs of our community. and we detail how the district will regularly evaluate and review our services to ensure we are meeting the needs of both staff and families. What is most important is how our plan is delivered to families in our schools. We have provided welcome signage for families to see that we recognize many languages. They have been placed at every entrance of every school and building in our district. We also have a language poster at every reception desk of each of our schools and buildings so families can point to their language and be helped immediately by our front office staff using video or phone interpretation. We've provided small cards that say, "I need assistance. Please call an interpreter." So staff can quickly connect families to ondemand phone or video interpreting services. And we have dedicated Spanish and Somali websites, language websites with quick and essential information. So what we're really excited about is our newest interpretation tool on demand video remote interpreting. This services, this service gives our families um gives our staff immediate access to interpreters right when they need them. Let me give you an example. For example, during parent teacher conferences, staff can use on demand video remote interpreting. And for more sensitive and longer conversations, they know exactly how and when to book an in-person interpreter. For written materials, we're moving away from PDFs and adding more content into our websites, which can translate into many, many more languages than we could ever create manually. That said, we still use outside agencies for certain translations, especially those related to special education and districtwide. So, here's a video of a typical conference day using on demand video interpreting. Please so that I can interpret everything and how may I assist you? >> Um we are at school conferences and I am the teacher. We're going to talk about our student. >> Sure. May I introduce myself? >> Yes. Okay. have introduced. I'm ready for instructions. >> All right. So, in science class. >> All right. So, one of the clearest signs of our progress is the growth in video remote interpreting. When we first piloted video remote interpreting in the 2022 2023 school year, we used just 525 minutes. Next year, usage jumped to 11,496 minutes. Last year in 2024 2025, it more than doubled to 25,799 minutes. Already this school year, we're at 18,542 with several months still to go. These numbers tell a clear story. Staff are confidently using the technology and families are accessing interpretation more often, more easily, and more consistently than ever before. What we're seeing is a system that is working. Families are being served. Staff have reliable tools. And the district is living to its commitment to access. While this graph focuses especially on video remote interpreting, it is important to know that it represents just one component of our comprehensive language access plan. The district also continues to rely on in-person interpreters and over the phone interpretation. to meet the diverse needs of the family, particularly for longer um more complex or sensitive situations. Together, the use of um in-person interpreters and over the phone interpretation and video remote interpretation demonstrates a flexible responsive system that allows staff to match the right service to the right situation. And that is exactly what a strong language access plan should produce. This year we've also adopted parent square which is our first in our first year of implementation as our mass communication system. It allows families to instantly receive messages in their preferred language. As we train staff, we are asking them to think of parent square as our first primary language access tool. For example, I was talking to a second grade teacher at East Lake Elementary. She shared that her weekly classroom newsletter, maybe 25, 23 students, goes out in five languages. It would be impossible for us as a system to do interpretation, manual interpretation for weekly newsletters for all of our teachers. But with the parent square tool, there is automatic translation that allows them to make that connection. She has paired that newsletter tool with two-way translated chat and direct messaging that she can engage in with her families and regularly has families that might have before had a language barrier texting to say, "What can I do to support learning at home?" Parent Square allows the messages from schools. Parents can read updates and respond to messages so that they can stay connected. The key point here is that t technology, it's not yet perfect, but it is making it easier and more coste effective for all students and families to receive information in a language they can understand. We are shifting in district 196. We're trying to shift our thinking from an office of interpretation, which right now has one person that manages our formal communication, um to one where every staff member has the tools they need and are empowered to engage in relationship building and conversations with the person standing right in front of them. That might be the front office secretary. It might be a custodial supervisor working second shift with a Spanish-sp speakaking custodial staff member. Um, we're developing a culture that is welcoming, inclusive, and culturally responsive for all people, not just those working with the district office. Something else that we did in this fall was to have listening sessions with some of our Spanish-sp speakaking families at one elementary school and one middle school to better understand their experience to guide future improvement and our language access tools. Families shared openly about school climate, communication, safety, and daily experiences. They reported that their schools feel safe. The outside world doesn't feel very safe right now, but when they are in schools, they also feel that they are welcomed, that staff is well organized, and especially the front offices and classrooms are friendly, respectful, and supportive. Families emphasize the importance of clear, consistent communication in Spanish and knowing who to contact to access translation services and understanding and navigating school processes and expectations that can be complex. Access across both sessions, elementary and middle, we heard that families felt welcomed and felt like they had supportive relationships for their students and their students were cared for. We also learned that consistent bilingual communication, clear guidance on the system, and reliable access helps them um to help their student and expand their learning at home. They did ask for a few things. They really value when they have the opportunity to ha speak with bilingual staff in the building and how can we continue to have more bilingual staff available. Um we will also look at expanding um these listening sessions and having more access to learning materials that are readily translated um through parent square or through other tools. Parents are eager to help their children grow and learn at home and to have strong relationships with the schools. So, we do plan to continue additional listening sessions to monitor experiences and build relationships with our multilingual families. >> Valley Little, this is Gabby. How can I help you? >> Okay. Yep. I I went ahead and marked him out sick for today. >> You are welcome. You have a good day and I hope he feels better. You as well. Thank you so much. Bye. Okay. Okay. Adios. >> This is one of our bilingual staff, Gabby, who readily pick up the phone and can answer the phone and answer questions in English or Spanish and really facilitate. She's an attendance secretary in one of our schools. Really facilitate smooth interactions and is a valued and treasured partner at our schools. Additional um feedback that we received, I think I've covered them all. Um Parent Square is generally working well. We want to continue to improve some things. Families really appreciated uh being heard. Uh Superintendent Balsani was there. Our directors of secondary and elementary were present. Our partners in language development, English language development were present. Um and the families really appreciated that firsthand um opportunity to talk with leaders in the district. So we will be continuing those sessions as we move forward. Finally, uh the legal changes that are required in the language access plan and the thing that we'll need you to take action on tonight. Number one, um the plan is expanding this year to include the Americans with Disabilities Civil Rights Act and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which are really reminding us that language access is not just about world languages, but it is also about the ability to communicate through ASL or Braille or other um tools that may be required um if there are disabilities on the part of the family in addition to or um for the part of the student. Historically we have accommodated AC had accommodations for children. We have not always had accommodation requirements for parents and families and that is now a requirement. Um we have expanded on page three the definition of qualified language interpreters and added the definition for American Sign Language interpreters. on page four of the language access plan that was in your packet. It's not at your tables, but um we are expanding the description of the content that will be available and the language access web pages. Again, on page five, we added the uh recommend or the inclusion of American Sign Language interpreters. On page six, we expand interpretation for all families, no longer limited to English language development families. And there are additional small technical and style edits throughout the document. So we bring that forward for um other action this evening. We will go ahead and call for action. Thank you. >> Right there. Right there. Right there. Jennity has a few more words. All right. So I want you to know that what we're seeing is a strong district-wide adoption of the language access tool and practices. The staff training we're investing in is paying off. Teachers and administrators are not only using the tools, they're using them confidently and appropriately. Language access is becoming a standard practice in our schools. Not treated as an extra step, but but as an essential part of how we engage with families. Overall, the plan is doing exactly what it was designed to do. remove barriers, support staff, and ensure that every family has meaningful access to their child's education. Thank you. >> Thank you both very much. This is an action item for our board tonight. So, before I move into questions, is there a motion to approve the language action at language access plan updates? >> So moved. Second. >> Motion by Robin, seconded um by Anna. Right. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Never know what side it's coming from. >> Okay. >> Um, are there any questions or comments from the audience? >> Yes. Can you come up to the podium? >> Sorry, it's to make speak just if it's your first time to a board meeting. We're not trying to embarrass you, but the um feed can't pick up your question if you're not at a mic. So, >> no problem. Uh, my name is Bethany Bios and I'm a math teacher at Egan High School. I'm just wondering um with the adoption and implementation of fastbridge and CAPY in our secondary schools uh we were it was communicated to us it's only offered in English are there plans for it to also be offered in other languages >> the materials uh that go home to parents or the assessment itself? >> The assessment itself. >> Okay. The assessment itself I would defer to Rachel but we teach in English. Um so the assessment is done in English. with our literacy and our math curriculum. Our language access plan um really addresses uh family engagement and community engagement. Thank you. >> Other questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none questions or comments from board members? Uh Robin? >> Um first off, I want to say thank you for all the work that you've done on this. I think the materials are amazing. I love the various cards and signs and um ways that family have the ability to state that they need help in a variety or whatever language they might speak. Um and I believe the um person on the video was her name Gabby. Um I've seen her in action. She's very good. Um and it was like kind of mind-blowing to see her just switch back and forth and it was so welcoming for families to come in and speak to her. So I just wanted to say it's great that we have that available. Thank you. >> Excellent. accounting. >> Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you. This is very informative. Um I know exactly the importance of having a a parent engagement. I mean it helps our staff, it helps the students, not only students but also help us educators. >> Uh I wish that we continue this and then uh also what I was going to say is that uh connecting um child you know parents to child's education is really wonderful. That's what our mission is all about to educate and develop students. My question was that I know is also good to hear uh staff are really getting trained and usage is really up which is wonderful but then often I find that when we have a good resources we have resources available but sometimes there's sometimes there's a gaps to get in the parents that this you know especially people with language barriers what do we have a good, you know, well put plan together. But what do we have as a a sort of enhancement way to say, you know, to let parents know that this res resources are available to them. >> Thank you. Rolling out and sharing with people the resources available is the greatest challenge. Um so just with our um VRI and our our video remote interpretation and our phone interpretation and parent square, we have intensively worked with seven targeted schools this year um to spend more time with their stu their staff uh make their staff more comfortable and also then to provide more direct information um through usually working with our cultural family advocates and our English language development velment teachers and each school has what we call a swell coach um which is bringing language development schoolwide English language development is what SW stands for. So we're working with a team um to continually do individual outreach for families. Um it is very challenging particularly if you're learn learning a new system and navigating a new system. Uh so it is a multi-pronged approach. There are website resources, there are video resources. We know the most effective resource is time face-to-face one-on-one at the beginning of the year as families come in getting them acquainted with different tools. Right now we're getting ready for parent teacher conferences coming up. That's another opportunity for us to introduce the tools, remind parents that those tools are available all the time, but it takes a long time and it takes relationship building and trust building. >> Thank you, >> Anna. >> Um, thank you for that. So, just to clarify, so I have one clarification and then just uh a thank you in general. Um so if I'm understanding Sak I understand your question but your response is so there's an awareness gap there's a knowledge gap of how to use the tools and then there's um an application so how so what the tools are then how to use the tools and then practice of using the tools to get it right >> so that's what I'm understanding the gaps are >> there are gaps we're working to close them okay those are the those are the areas that we work on communicating. >> Perfect. Exactly. >> Okay. Thank you. Um >> I just want to say uh this is this is a case study at how equity becomes infused in what we do and how we practice. um you know, we succeed when everyone is empowered and knows how to um how to be equitable and has the tools that they need and the practice and the reinforcement. And so I just want to say thank you to Michael um to the rest of the board up here who supports it. um to the leaders that are here doing it and to uh the staff that are out there um who are committed to it and have the the interface with the students and the families. Um this is the power of when people come together and really understand the why behind it. Um are committed to helping engage with the community and make it more inclusive. um and then uh feel strongly about it and um come together. And so I just want to say thank you. Um this is amazing. Um it makes me hopeful um that we can do more great things like this. So um just it's a it's a beautiful thing to see and I know it's a work in progress. Um uh it it's just a beautiful thing to see. So thank you. Um, you know, not all news is good news these days, but it's nice to see that we are making changes and and good things are happening um that are within our control where we can make them happen. So, this is a good thing. Thank you. >> It is a team effort. It's absolutely a team effort. >> Other questions or comments from board members? >> Seeing none, we have a motion to approve by Robin, seconded by Anna. All those in favor of approval say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Motion carries on a 70 vote. Thank you very much. Next, I'd like to welcome Joel Miltier to the podium to go over our staffing allocations guidelines for fiscal year 2027. >> Good evening, Chair Johnson, board members, and superintendent Bolson. This evening I am presenting the staffing allocation guidelines for fiscal year 2027 which reflect the recommended staffing allocations for the 2627 school year. These guidelines are used to determine the number of staff allocated to each school and department and are an important component in developing next year's budget. There were a small number of minor modifications and adjustments made to the guidelines to reflect and align with strategic priorities of the district. These guidelines have been reviewed by cabinet. On behalf of the administration, I recommend approval of the fiscal year 2027 staffing allocation guidelines as presented. Be happy to answer any questions you might have. >> Excellent. This is another action item for the board tonight. So before we go into before we go into questions, is there a motion to approve the proposed staffing guidelines? >> Move approval. >> Second. >> Second. >> Motion by Jackie, seconded by Saken. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? >> Seeing none, questions or comments from board members? All right, we have a motion to approve made by Jackie, seconded by Soden. All those in favor of approval, say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. >> Motion carries on a 70 vote. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. And next, I'd like to welcome Joel to continue to stay at the podium to go over our pay equity report. >> Thank you. This evening, I'm presenting the district's pay equity report for the board's review and approval. Our pay equity report tells us about compensation practices in the district. The purpose of the pay equity report is to help ensure that our pay practices are fair, consistent, and based on the work people do. It also helps us meet state requirements and be transparent with our community about how we use public funds. This report is a monitoring and review tool. It does not identify individual employees and is not a finding of any wrongdoing. Rather, it helps us understand patterns and confirms that our systems are working as they are intended to work. The report looks at compensation from several angles. It reviews base pay, how employees move through salary ranges over time, and how pay outside of normal pay structures such as exceptional service pay or longevity is used. Looking at multiple measures together gives us a clearer and more reliable picture than relying on any single number. One key measure is the underpayment ratio, which compares what employees are actually paid to what would be expected based on jobrelated factors like role, experience, and responsibilities. A result of 100 would mean pay is exactly where it is expected to be. Our underpayment ratio is 104.2563 which shows strong alignment between compensation and job expectations as it does and it indicates widespread as it does not indicate widespread underpayment across the district. We review how employees are positioned within the salary ranges. This looks at whether people tend to be clustered at similar points within their assigned ranges over time. Our salary salary range test is 80.74 which indicates generally consistent placement within salary ranges. This suggests that our hiring practices and salary progression are structured and applied in a consistent way supporting long-term equity in the district. Another area we review is exceptional service pay or longevity. This includes pay outside of standard salary structures. Our exceptional service pay result is 126.08. This reflects intentional use of this type of pay and reinforces the importance of having clear criteria, documentation, and regular oversight. This result does not by itself indicate advantage or disadvantage for any group. We use this information from pay equity report to guide policy decisions, strengthen administrative practices, support equitable hiring and retention, and ensure compliance within state requirements. The focus is on improving systems, not evaluating individuals. Pay equity is an ongoing responsibility. These results give us confidence in our overall compensation practices while also helping us continue to monitor, review, and approve and and improve over time. We remain committed to fairness, consistency, and responsible stewardship of public resources. We're looking for the board's action this evening and approving the pay equity report. >> Excellent. Thank you. Before I go to questions again, is there a motion to approve the pay equity report as presented for submission to the state? >> So moved. Second. Motion by Robin, seconded by Leah. Although um are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none questions or comments from board members? It's a motion to approve made by Robin, seconded by Leah. All those in favor of approval say I. >> I. >> Those opposed? Motion carries on a 70 vote. Thank you, Joel. >> Thank you. >> That brings us almost to the end of our agenda today. Um, I will turn the meeting over to Superintendent Bolone for superintendent updates. >> Okay. Thank you, Chair Johnson. Uh, this is a quick reminder that there is no school next Monday, January 19th, in observance of the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I also want to wish our students the best of luck at the upcoming state debate tournament which takes place on January 16th and 17th. Also, as part of Hockey Day Minnesota, we are excited to share that we have two teams being featured in the games uh for that lineup. The Dakota United Hawks adapted floor hockey program will play at Hastings High School on January 21st. This partnership reflects a shared commitment across Minnesota's hockey community to inclusivity. We also have Rosemont High School being featured in a game versus Holy Angels Academy on January 17th in Hastings. Finally, this week, the Minnesota School Boards Association is holding its state conference in Minneapolis. This conference provides an opportunity, an important opportunity for schoolboard members from across the state to come together, share ideas, and continue learning. Serving on a school board requires significant time and commitment and plays a vital role in supporting our students and our schools. Several of our board members will be attending this week along with district administrators to continue building our knowledge and skills on behalf of the district. And we appreciate the time and dedication that all of our board members bring to this important work and service to our community. The MSBA is honoring two of our own 186 board members uh with leadership awards this year. Uh Robin Serio is being awarded a leadership development certificate and Anna Williams is receiving the 2026 director's award. So, congratulations to our board members and we're very excited to join them at the upcoming conference. Thank you, Corey. >> Excellent. Um, are there any uh updates board members would like to share tonight? >> Seeing none, is there a motion to adjurnn? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Jackie and seconded by Sakoden. He beat you by just a hair, Katherine. [gasps] Um, all those in favor of adjournment say I. >> I. I. Those opposed. Our next regular schedule meeting will be Monday, February 9th. We stand adjourned. [music]