There we go. Good evening everyone in district 196. Thank you for attending our Monday, June 23rd regular schoolboard meeting. At this time, please rise if you are able and join me in the pledge of allegiance. After the pledge, please remain standing for a brief moment of silence. I pledge allegiance 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. At this time, I would like us to share a brief moment of silence for Dearwood Elementary School second grade teacher Heidi Bianone, who passed away on June 21st. Thank you. All right. Good evening, board. As always, um the first item of business is the motion to uh approve the agenda. Uh we do have a revised agenda as our special communication request speaker is not available tonight. So that has been removed. Is there a motion to approve the revised agenda? So moved. Second. That was Katherine, right? Oh, who said the first one? Jackie. That would be me. Oh, it came on this side. I heard it over here. Thank you. You guys are confusing me. Robin and Anna. All those in favor of approving the agenda say I. I. I. Uh those opposed? Motion carries on a six- zero vote. All right, that brings us to the fun portion of our meeting that we usually look forward to the most, and that is recognition by the school board. So, at this time, I'd like to welcome Pete Roback to the podium to introduce the Rosemont High School boys golf team. The team placed third in the state tournament. [Applause] Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, school board members, Superintendent Pulson, and community members. My name is Anthony Mahatti, and I am a teacher and head boys golf coach at Rosemont High School. I'm honored to recognize an outstanding achievement by the Rosemont High School boys golf team. Two weeks ago, our team secured third place at the Minnesota State High School Golf Tournament. A tremendous accomplishment reflecting skill, discipline, and dedication. The team demonstrated not only athletic excellence, but also academic excellence, earning the team academic all-state award for maintaining the highest average GPA of all section 3A schools. Whether facing strong competition or challenging weather, these young athletes rose to every occasion and represented our school with pride. This accomplishment was truly a team effort. We had 10 individuals earning varsity letters throughout our season. The section champion and third place state roster included captains Joey Macken and Mason Eaton who can't be here tonight because they are competing. And then we have Wyatt Holmes, Carter Wrath, Cooper Zidowski, and Carson Wickman. Please join me in applauding these student athletes and their families for an incredible season. Thank you. Right. Next, I'd like to welcome head coach Ryan Dennel to the podium to introduce the East View High School boys volleyball team. The team finished third in the first ever MSHSL sanctioned state tournament. Thank you. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, school board members and superintendent Balsone. Uh I am, as he said, Ryan Denell. I'm the head coach at East View High School for our boys volleyball program. As many of you may know, and as he mentioned, this was the very first year of sanctioned boys volleyball in Minnesota. We're the 29th state in the United States to add that as a boys activity. And I've been fortunate enough to be a part of the grassroots seven years of club volleyball that led to this this season in Minnesota. And so it was very fun for me as someone who's helped with the development of the sport to see not only the very first sport state tournament, but also to get an opportunity to see our guys get to compete at it. Um, this was an amazing season because we've been blessed at ESU with a lot of great support. Our admin team has been tremendously supportive of us, helping us with getting the program started with gym time and trying to give us whatever support we could. Um, Matt personal has been a great help. And then when it came time for it to get sanctioned and it got approved by the state high school league, then the board said, "Yeah, we'll let you guys do this." And there aren't not every district that had a club program had a board that was willing to back up the transition. And so we were very very grateful for that support from you this going into this year so that we were able to let these guys go do what they so are so passionate about. Um, we had a really outstanding group of people. These guys all know a lot about volleyball and they all are great competitors, but on top of it, they are one of the most fun bunch of humans that I've had an opportunity to coach as well. They are outstanding students. Uh, they achieved a Minnesota State High School League gold standard academically as a varsity team this year, which is where we normally hang out as a club program. We were successful in the classroom as well. We have a couple of academic all-state members on the team that uh sort of led the charge in that area. But our season this year, the team finished 29 and four. We spent the entire season ranked in the top three in the state. A lot credit to their hard work and their skill. We were undefeated in our first ever in the first ever South Suburban Conference Championship. in addition to winning the first ever section 1A championship um in undefeated fashion without dropping a set. And then at the state tournament, we played three great matches, lost to a really great Rogers team in the semi-finals. And then the guys did a great job of bouncing back to beat Spring Lake Park to finish third this year. Um they have been they have been fun to watch grow and they have been fun to be around on and off the court. So, um, we have about half of our crew here today. So, one of our captains is here this evening, Colin Nathan, and then other members here are Brace Denell, Tory Richtor, AJ Yang, Alex Kais, Garrett Pash, Ben Matthews, Tash IDE, and Will Fulford. So, please join me in giving this group of young men a round of applause for their great year. All right. Next, I'd like to welcome Egan High School Principal Paulie Rowski to the podium. She will introduce us to the EHS state track and field second and third place finishers. Thank you. Good evening board members, chairperson Johnson, Superintendent Pulson. I'm Pauly Reichowski, the principal of Egan, standing in for Jason Elias and the coach tonight. So, please accept the fact that I'm honored to be here with you young people. And here at Egan High School, we have to say we're very honored to celebrate an incredible spring track season and to honor our outstanding athletes. The spring season has been nothing short of inspiring, and we're excited to recognize the hard work, the dedication, and the achievement of all our student athletes. Before I have the students walk by and get congratulated, parents and family in the crowd tonight for Megan, could you stand please and be recognized? Thank you. I do want to thank the school board, Mr. Hansen, Superintendent Balsson for their continued support of our athletic programs, our student athletes, and our dedicated coaches and the facilities that make it all possible. Your commitment plays a vital role in fostering a positive and enriching experience for Egan, our community, and 196. Your efforts do not go unnoticed, and we deeply appreciate the impact they have on the lives of our students and staff. Thank you for all you do. So, on to our athletes. They could not all be here tonight, but we do want to recognize the young people. So, in third place in the boys 800 meter is Noah Daniel. Noah, can you step forward or wave? Let them know who you are. And in second place, the 4x400. Three of our athletes, Jacob Sunde, Declan Dwire, and Tyler Spurl could not be here, but Noah Daniel was anchoring that. So, congratulations, Noah. And then we uh also are recognizing third place in the boys 4 by 800. Liam Frank, Cole Culler, Ethan Wilski could not be with us. And guess who? Noah Daniel. He's the anchor on the relays. So congratulations guys. Would you like to go across and shake hands? All right. And last for recognitions, but certainly not least, we'd like to please welcome girls head coach Sarah Hatley and boys head coach. There we go. I knew I knew I'd get picked up eventually. They can hear me. Yep, we can. No, I got boys, too. I'm calling them up together. And boys head coach Sarah Hatley to the podium to introduce to the Rosemont High School state track and field second and third place finishers. All right. Good evening board members, chairperson Johnson, Superintendent Creger. Um I'm here to talk about uh Kavari Flowers. Um Cavari was second place in the uh AAA uh division of the state at state track meet in the 300 meter hurdles. He ran 38 well his season's best was 38.65 uh which was fourth all time at Rosemount and the three that are ahead of him are all state champions. Um he's got one more year. He's a junior, so I think his uh his goals are pretty straightforward heading into next season. Um shouldn't be a whole uh shouldn't be a real long goal setting session. Um in addition to uh number four all time, number two in the state of Minnesota in 300 meter hurdles, he was also key member of our school record setting 4x1 relay team, which is also an all state group at the state meet. Um he also was a section champion in the 110 hurdles and qualified for state in that event also. um last season was a a key member of our of our state championship team um and obviously will be a key member of our of our group next year. Um Kavari is a multiport athlete. He has played basketball and football in addition to track and field and um really proud of how he's kind of grown and take on a taken on a leadership role and um has really become one of the elite kids in the state of Minnesota in our sport. Kavari Amazing [Applause] job. Thank you. Good evening, chairperson Johnson, board members, and superintendent Balsone. I'm Sarah Hatley, and I am the girls track and field coach at Rosemont High School. And I'm here this evening to talk about Abby Esler. Um, and if Paul and Staca, you guys could wave or stand. There we go. That's her parents over there. So, it's always a good thing to be invited to this evening. That means something went well in our season. So, I always look forward to that invitation. Uh, track and field is a sport of true athleticism, showing speed, strength, explosiveness, and plenty of other things. Uh, Abby is a great example of an elite athlete. She has tried just about every event and could be good at all of them. I think the only one that she would maybe say no to would be the 3200. But uh truly she has tried just about everything. She came out as a seventh grader and has worked her way up through the ranks and you know to being the elite athlete she is today. Uh she has worked so hard. She's so coachable. Um everyone says that about her and so that's really where you know her strengths are is that she's willing to learn and change things and do whatever she needs to do to accomplish great things. So to talk about some of her accomplishments this year, she was all conference, all state, all state academic and is a school record holder in the 4x100 meter relay. And that was last year and this year. Um and then this year to talk why we're here this evening, she was a section champion in both the long jump and the 4x100. And so she ran at the state meet in the 4x1, 4x2, and long jump. She placed third in the long jump. Just give you a little background on that. She was ranked or seated 12th going into that and ended up Yeah. and ended up placing third. Uh she had nearly a foot PR going from section to state. Wow. You know, and there are plenty of athletes who crumble under pressure and a and Aby's just not one of them. She shines. And so we weren't surprised at all by that result. You know, my husband is one of the jumps coach and he said she's going to go big. She this is going to be a big meet for her and and she made it happen. And so we knew her first jump she went 18-1 and that was a personal best and and just kept doing better as she went. So congratulations Abby. She's only she just finished her sophomore year. So she's got two more years. We're so excited to see what she can do over the next couple years. I think that that long jump and maybe triple jump records are are within sight. So hopefully we'll be here. I I'm not going to say hopefully. We will be here next year. [Applause] Great job. Congratulations. Very impressed. Congratulations. Thanks for being here. Appreciate it. Thank you for your support, everything you do. All right. Next on the agenda, I will turn it over to Superintendent Bosone for superintendent's recognition of students and staff. Okay. Thank you, Chair Johnson. Thank you, board. I'm going to speak from the lectern tonight because we're going to bring some people up for some introductions as well. But before I start that, I want to say congratulations to students from Apple Valley High School's sister act production, which had the exceptional honor of performing at the Historic State Theater on June 9th as part of the Spotlight Theater Awards. Spotlight is Minnesota's qualifying event for the National High School Musical Theater Awards, which are starting now as we speak in New York City. Apple Valley High School junior Annayiah Bostic, who had the lead role in Sister Act, also won the Spotlight Triple Threat Award and is just one of four Minnesota students to receive an all expenses paid trip to New York City. Congratulations are also due to Molly Pittson, a graduating senior from Rosemont High School, who earned one of only two Spotlight Student Publicist state scholarships. This honor includes a cash prize to support her continued development in theater, dance, music, and journalism. She will attend the University of Minnesota Twin Cities to study strategic communications and public relations. Congratulations goes out to all the District 196 students who competed at the National Speech and Debate Association's National Tournament, which was held last week in De Moine, Iowa. District 196 had more than 20 competitors representing all four high schools who competed at this national tournament. Three Apple Valley High School students qualified for the final rounds of competition and finished with two runners up and one national champion. Yahir Rodriguez placed second in dramatic interpretation. Isra Yazin placed second in original oratory. And Annayiah Bastik was the national champion in program oral interpretation. the same Annayia who won the theater spotlight award that I just mentioned. District 196 has had more has had more champions, national champions over the last 25 years than any single state in the country. Think about that. Annayia's national championship is the 35th since the year 2000 for district 196. And not only do we have a national champion, but this week we are also celebrating an international champion. Cassie Gonzalez, a senior at Apple Valley High School, won the wrestling U17 Panama Championship for Team USA in Rio di Janeiro, Brazil last weekend. Congratulations also go out to our Rosemont High School baseball team on qualifying for and participating in the Class 4A state tournament this month. After falling to the state champions in round one, the Irish came back to win the consolation bracket. Um, next up, I'd like to introduce Joel Miltier. He's our new director of human resources. I'll have him come up and then I'll introduce him. Welcome Joel. We'll have you stand right here and switch spots. Joel is currently the director of human resources and South St. Paul public schools bringing 22 years of experience in human resources, 17 years in public education. He started his career at Target Corporation before moving to the physicians group at the University of Minnesota and then he found his purpose in public education as the manager of employee services with the NOA Henipin schools before securing leadership roles. Um there he was in AIO area high schools and Richfield public schools. He's led negotiation strategy with labor unions in his last three districts and brings extensive experience leading performance management initiatives modernizing HR technology systems and ensuring ensuring compliance with state and federal employment laws. We appreciate the proactive, transparent and serviceoriented approach he will bring to this position. His work demonstrates strong support of staff and supervisors with a student centered lens. As director of human resources in district 196, Joel will be responsible for administering collective bargaining agreements with the district's 12 employee groups, advising administrators on employee relations, managing administration of employee benefit programs, leading the district's insurance committee, and ensuring district compliance with applicable laws, regulations policies, collective bargain agreements, and state and federal reporting requirements. And now I'd like to invite Joel to the lectern to say a few words. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Berson Johnson, schoolboard members, superintendent Bosone, and District 196 community members. I am truly honored to be here tonight. U as I mentioned in my interview process, I've been looking at District 196 for my entire career in education as the place to be. This is an amazing district and I am truly honored to be your new director of human resources. This district has a long history of excellence, equity, and innovation in everything that you're doing. And I'm excited to be part of that work and contributing to it. I know that as we move forward in this work, and we're working together on recruitment, development, and retention of a talented and diverse staff that we will definitely be working to encourage them to be strong, and working in all of our relationships, educating, developing, and inspiring our students for a lifelong success. Thank you for this opportunity, inviting me tonight. I'm excited to begin the work. [Applause] So great to meet you. Glad you're on board. All right. Thank you, Joel. Joel officially starts on July 1st. So, welcome to 196. Next, I would like to invite Director Jeremy Sorenson up. He is going to introduce Danzel Dixon, who is our new principal at Westview Elementary School. All right. Good evening, Chair Johnson, members of the board, and Superintendent Bullone. Um, my name is Jeremy Sason. I'm the director of elementary ed. In April, we went through a process to fill three elementary principal positions that were open due to retirements. We have completed that process and are excited to introduce our new principles. We'll be introducing one of our new principles this evening and then we'll have additional introductions in July. So tonight I'm pleased to announce the selection of Danzel Dixon as the next principal of Westview Elementary in Apple Valley. Mr. Dixon brings a dynamic combination of educational leadership and corporate experience to his new role. For the past three years, he has served as the assistant administrator at Greenleaf Elementary, where he has been recognized for his strategic student- centered leadership, commitment to staff development, and ability to foster a positive school culture. Before joining education, Mr. Dixon held a high impact roles at Target Corporation in business analytics and software development. His background in data and systems thinking enhances his ability to lead with clarity and purpose. Over the past three years as assistant administrator at Green Leaf Elementary, Mr. Dixon has provided a calm and visible presence in the school community. He is someone who values relationships, brings joy to celebrations, and ensures that data-driven decisions serve the needs of all learners. With that, I'd like to introduce Danzel Dixon as the next principal of Westview Elementary. Congratulations, Danzel. [Applause] Thank you, Jeremy. Chairperson Johnson, members of the board, Superintendent Bosani, um I just want to say that I am first extremely in incredibly grateful um also very humbled to step into the role as the next principal at Westview Elementary. I'm very excited to continue to build on the amazing things that Westview already does that makes that school very special. Um, and along the way continue to build on the things that I can do as far as supporting families, students, and staff, ensuring that everyone feels welcome, ensuring that everyone feels loved and cared for, and that we're continue to grow and um follow through on our mission of of our district. Um, lastly, I just want to also um thank uh my family and my friends in the crowd um and my family online who's watching. Um, I could not do this work without them. So, my wife Lentrell, my son Emory, and my daughter Lexi, thank you all. Um, we got this. We're going to do this journey together. Um, and I'm excited. So, thank you. [Applause] All right, Chairperson Johnson, that concludes my report. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much, Superintendent Bolone. Uh, next item on the agenda was our special communication request, which was revised, removed, so we don't have a speaker tonight. That brings us to our consent agenda. Board members, we have 24 items on the consent agenda to review tonight. Those items include the minutes of the June 9th, 2025 regular schoolboard meeting, the minutes of the June 9th, 2025 special schoolboard meeting, schoolboard member employment, appointments to the legislative advisory council, quarterly ad advertising revenue, advertising revenue, gifts, quarterly gifts, grants, summary of claims for May 2025, schedule of investments for May 2025, depositories for the investment of funds, official deposi deposiitories of corresponding accounts, investment in investment instruments, electronic fund transfers, personnel, additional services assignment for area learning center coordinator, additional Service assignment for bond construction coordinator EPO Valley High School activity center addition and renovation alternate number one certified census employment agreements additional FTE employments agre agreements probationary termination and non-renewal probationary teachers and catastrophic accident insurance are there any items on the consent agenda which board members would like to remove tonight seeing none is there a motion to approve I heard you Robin is there a second second second by and uh all those in favor for approving the consent. Please say I. I. Those opposed. Consent agenda is approved and a 6 vote. All right, that brings us to our reports. Um, and I would like to welcome our presenters for the AAA report to the podium. Bill Bla, Bill Blatthein, Paul Rowski, Matt Pers, Pete Roach, and Eric Hansen. Okay. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, members of the school board, Superintendent Balone. Tonight, we'll be providing a district 196 AAA report where we proudly highlight our district's commitment to academics, athletics, and the arts as well as a fourth A tonight activities. Tonight, there is no board action needed. This report is informational only and reflects our commitment to providing a well-rounded educational experience showcasing the hard work of our high school students, the dedication of our staff, and the collaborative spirit that drives excellence in every area. Although we have opportunities in each of the areas in our middle schools and our elementary schools, tonight we will focus on our comprehensive high schools. We are excited to share a uh we are excited to share highlevel information and continue to foster a culture of learning, competition, and creativity. Joining me tonight are Dr. Pauly Reichowski, principal of Egan High School, Mr. Bill Blatime, assistant principal at Apple Valley High School, Mr. Matt Pil, athletic director and assistant principal at East View High School, and Mr. Pete Roach, principal of Rosemont High School. Our commitment, our commitment to the AAA philosophy, academics, arts, and athletics aligns directly with our vision of our strategic roadmap. We strive to engage students through a variety of opportunities in academics, arts, and athletics. Guided by our core values, student centeredness, wellness, achievement, collaboration, and community. These core values are at the center of our work. We believe that providing multiple opportunities for our students to engage and connect in their school allows for growth in many areas including social connections, personal confidence, perseverance, and accountability. All the while being led by a teacher, a caring adult, or a coach who provides encouragement and support. At the last board meeting when the Leatherman community survey results were shared, it was clear that the responses to the community question, "What do you like most about district 196 schools?" highlighted a few key themes. Following the top response of good teachers, which is great, the next most frequently mentioned strengths listed were a wide range of programs, strong academic performance, and high student achievement. I believe that this is a result of our district's commitment to the AAA also including activities. At this time, I'd like to welcome Dr. Paulie Reichowski, principal of Egan High School, and she will share information on our first a academics. Good evening. It's my honor to be here to talk about academics in the high schools. Certainly a very very important and very big topic. This school year, 3,278 high school students were enrolled in at least one advanced placement course. That's about 36.3% of our students grades 9 through 12. 787 students were enrolled in college in the schools, typically through the U of M, but also some at at Mano State. And that would be students mostly in grades 11 12 but also some 10th graders. And that comprises 11.6% of our students taking advantage of that opportunity. Over 500 students were enrolled in full or part-time post-secary enrollment options. That's about 8.5% of grades 10, 11, and 12 in our schools. Additionally, 5,780 students were enrolled in at least one career and technical education course in our district. That would include a variety of courses, all of which are career related. That's about 64% of our students taking advantage of that. We have seen a 26% increase in advanced placement enrollments from year 2324 to this school year 2425 including of course the new offering in AP world history for freshmen which started this year. Each high school administered between 1300 and 1700 advanced placement exams over two weeks in May an increase of 10% over the previous year. Hundreds of students are AP scholars at variety of levels in each graduating class at each of our high schools. National merit scholars, seniors in our high schools, numbered 47 this school year in our school district. Between 73% and 77% of the class of 2025 plan to enroll in two or four-year colleges, universities, and technical schools this coming year. Each high school names aa arts academics and athletics and an excel student for the Minnesota State High School League each year. And so two students for each of these awards go forward from our schools to region and state recognition. Seniors earned over $500,000 in scholarships provided by local and community donors this year. Of course, there are many, many other scholarships that were offered to our graduates by post-secondary institutions. Returning graduates report that they are so wellprepared for post-secary education well beyond many others they encounter in postsecary. Academics are thriving in our high schools and the elementary and middle schools who have prepared our students so well also deserve congratulations. Thank you. Next up, Mr. Bill Blatzim, assistant principal at Apple Valley High School, will talk about the arts. Thank you, Pauly. Good evening, everybody. Chairperson Johnson, board member, Superintendent Bull Sony. Uh, as Polly said, I'm Bill Blatz. I'm assistant principal at App Valley High School and I want to talk about um just arts programming in our district and and as Eric said, we're mostly talking about high schools here. Um, and Superintendent Balsone recognized it. There's a picture of an Ibostic up there uh on our on our slideshow. She's had a week where she went from being named a triple threat award winner at the Henipin uh theater showcase event to being a national champion in De Moines on Friday, coming back to Apple Valley on Saturday, grabbing her things, getting on a plane. She's in New York right now for an all expenses paid uh experience as as part of that triple threat. and that that's an experience that she gets um one because of her hard work and talent, but also because of the opportunities that so many people in this district work so hard to provide. The arts in our community are vibrant and visible. We did some math. It's hard to know because we sell tickets to some events. Other events like choir and band concerts are free. But at my best estimate, we had over 40,000 attendees at choir, band concerts, musical theater, plays, all of the different things that we do just at our high schools alone. That doesn't count our middle school events, our elementary band concerts. And when you think about the members of our community, for many of them, this is the reason that they might come in our doors one or two times a year. They might come to see a Broadway, a Bravo, an onstage, an encore, something like that. And that this is how they get exposed to the work of our schools, to what our students are doing, what our teachers are doing, and this is what they see. And I often think that some of our best work we do when it comes to community relations as a district is the free senior citizens previews that we do. And I know I've seen many of you at those previews like for Broadway at Apple Valley. And um I always I always speak before those happen. Um and I I always talk to our community members about this is your opportunity to see what students are doing because I think when you're removed from our schools sometimes it's so easy to just say, "Oh, you know, kids these days." And I always do some variant on a speech where I say, you know, it's really easy to say that. But when you're done seeing this here today, you're going to walk out and go, "Wow, kids these days." Right? like it's it's it's it's a very it's a very public thing and it's a chance for our community to see the good work that our schools are doing. And so that I think I think that's a big a big thing. That 40,000 number sticks out to me. Um it's really hard to estimate local and national recognition because there's so many of them. You met so many of them. I said 100 plus uh on the slide, but you you you met you heard Superintendent Bone talk about them tonight. You've met our mock trial state champions, our speech state champions, deck of state national qualifiers, 40 plus all-state musicians, nationally recognized marching bands, participants in the spotlight showcase. Um, and just at NSDA this week, and I'm blurring the lines a little bit, sorry Pete, between arts and activities, but of the top 14 in the 11 main events at NSDA, 10 of them were from district 196. That doesn't sound like a lot, but that's 6% of all the available semi-final spots came from one district right here. And last time I checked, our district isn't 6% of all of the students in the United States. Like we have a little bit fewer than that, right? So we're taking up more than our fair share. Um, and that's the students, like I said, working hard. That's also all the teachers, the coaches, the support, and that support comes right up from here. The the resources and the time and the energy we spend as a community and a district to put behind these events to make them happen. Um, and lastly, there's a number up there about the number of students that are involved in arts programs in our high school. But the the point I want to make is that the arts can they create enriching student experiences. Um, and I want to say our faculty and staff are always looking for new opportunities. They're always looking for new ways to get students involved. They look I've worked with so many faculty and staff members who look at it and say, you know, when I look at the number of students that are involved in musical theater or band, I don't always see the representation that is in this school. How can we work to make that better? Here are some things we're going to do to try and make this a welcoming event and create an array of experiences for people who have never tried out for a play before or for people who are ready for that next level like the Henipin Spotlight Showcase. Our our people work so hard to try and make sure that our arts program is accessible to everybody. Um they bring students into contact with local and national artists and professionals and being a part of an arts program creates a core memory for a student. As an alumnest myself of District 196 and Apple Valley High School, I can tell you the best memory I have of high school is being in Broadway. And that will never change. that's always been my best memory. Um, and all the years I've worked at the school, that's that's still still my favorite thing. And lastly, the point I just want to make about arts programming. Um, and and Matt Pul can make this same point about athletics, but it's so true. It extends the learning beyond the classroom and it teaches students that there are no shortcuts. Um, time was we would be assigned a five-page essay in our English classes in high school and there wasn't a shortcut for that. There's a shortcut for that now, right? And we're wrestling with that. But there is no chat GPT for learning how to play an etude on your trumpet. There's no chat GPT for learning your lines in a play, for learning your steps of choreography. This is a place where you still have to take a talent, take a passion, nurture it, develop it, work hard, and you see how that hard work develops from point A to point B. And there's no shortcut. There's no way around it. So, it creates those core skills that our students need to be able to go out in the world and be difference makers once they leave our schools and go out into whatever is next. So, those are some points that I wanted to make about arts. Next, I want to invite uh Matt Pil, the assistant principal athletic director at ECU to talk about athletics. Good evening. Uh, as Bill said, my name is Matt Persal, the assistant principal for Kickham Athletics at ESU High School. Just a few of the brief highlights about athletics in our district. Starting off with the fact that we have over 500 coaches across our district who work with our high school athletes alone. As member schools in the Minnesota State High School League, all of those coaches are trained in the inside out philosophy, which is also known as educationbased or purpose-based sports and activities. The idea being that sports in our schools don't just teach athletic skills, but they teach lifelong skills and values as well. The goal in our sports has always been and continues to be all about performance outcomes. But the life, but it's also the idea that they don't just teach us that, but they teach us about skills, values that last for a lifetime. So, as we look at those goals of winning a game, running a certain time, scoring so many points, etc., the greater purpose is really much bigger. It truly is about that human growth and development of each student focused around one of the core values of each program that aligns so well with our district's mission. So, now that you know the why, here's a little bit of the what from district 196. Here in our district, we offer 37 different Minnesota State High School League sports. Districtwide, that's approximately 42% of our kids participated in one or more of those high school league activities at the high school level. this past year. We in Minnesota, as well as throughout District 196, continue to expand those opportunities, much similar to what you heard here earlier this evening, for our students. Here are three of the most recent examples from this past year. Boys volleyball, as you heard earlier tonight, this was the first year of a Minnesota State High School League sanctioned opportunity. There were over 80 teams plus statewide, but as coach Denell said, not every district chose to sponsor it. Here in 196, all four of our high schools had at least three different levels of participation this year for students to participate. Girls wrestling was a second one where the high school league doubled the number of girls only events this past year and the number of female participants across our state continues to grow exponentially. Next year they're can expand the girls state tournament bracket to 16 individuals per weight class to mirror the boys with a continued push to make it a separate sanctioned sport as well. Finally, this in this past year was the addition of girls flag football. This was the first year of a club offering with funding and organizational support coming from the National Football League and specifically from the Minnesota Vikings. All four of our district schools offered teams had great turnouts of participation. And as a club sport, those numbers are currently not included in the numbers that we share about high school league participation. So, as you can tell, those numbers continue to grow. The one thing that was very evident, lots of smiles, improvement each week, and obviously this league will continue to expand. Not only do our students of district 196 participate at high rates, but quite simply, no district in the state of Minnesota is as successful as ours when it comes to athletic performance. District 196 was represented in 33 of the 37 Minnesota State High School League state tournament offerings in this past year, highlighted by our own Dakota Hawks adaptive athletes who took home three state championships in just this past year. In addition to those accomplishments, District 196 teams claimed 11 different South Suburban Conference championships, 22 different team section championships, and 113 of our graduating seniors have committed to compete in collegiate athletics. The success for our athletes was not just limited to the athletic field as several different teams from all four high schools were recognized as their academic gold team or had individuals receive top academic all-state honors. Collectively, our most involved students have proven to have great success in the classroom as well. So, what's next in athletics? Well, if you drive around the district, you will see lots of construction. Included in that are the activity center additions to which we can only simply say thank you to the board for their support and making the community for making those happen for those continued growth of opportunities that we look forward to. In conclusion, on the athletics front, stats and numbers are certainly impressive, but they'll soon be forgotten and medals and plaques will end up in a storage container after a grad party. But those memories and life lessons that students in 196 have learned through their participation in athletics will never be forgotten. Next up is principal from Rosemont High School, Pete Roback on district activities. Thank you, Matt. I'm here to speak on the role and impact of student activities in district 196. In the framework of academics, arts, and athletics, activities is often referred to as the fourth A, but it plays a critical and often underestimated role in shaping a well-rounded high school experience. Whether categorized alongside the arts or recognized independently, student activities contribute significantly to students sense of belonging, connection to school, and the development of meaningful relationships with both peers and staff. What defines an activity? Student activities encompass a wide variety of clubs, programs, groups, and teams that are not necessarily governed by the Minnesota State High School League for athletics and do not fall strictly within the A of visual and performing arts. Examples range from studentled interest clubs like Best Buddies, Baking Club, and to competitive programs such as speech and debate, DECA, Ultimate Frisbee, and Quizbowl. Leadership and student empowerment. One of the most powerful aspects of the activities program is the opportunity for student leadership. If a club does not currently exist, students are encouraged to propose and create one. Each high school in district 196 has a defined process in place for students to submit a proposal, articulate the club's potential impact on the school community, and number three, secure a staff member to serve as an adviser. Recent studentled club initiatives include the Goodwill Club, Olympic Weightlifting Club, Aviation Club, one of my favorites, the Hack Club, which is a coding club advised by a teacher of technology forensics. Affinity clubs, building belonging, and cultural awareness. All district 196 high schools support affinity clubs, which serve as safe, empowering spaces for students to build community and celebrate identity. These clubs often lead service projects, organize outreach efforts, and host cultural celebration events for students and families. Academic and competitive activities. Several activities enhance students academic experience while providing opportunities to compete at the local, state, and national levels. Such examples may include science olympiad, quizbowl, math team, speech and debate, robotics, BPA, which is business professionals of America, and DECA. Growing participation and achievement. Participation in student led clubs and activities continues to rise across all district 196 high schools. As you can see from the slide, participation numbers are strong as evident from competitive activities that are consistent at all four of the 196 comprehensive high schools. Currently, in the 2425 school year, over 200 students participated in debate districtwide. Over 262 students participated in speech. over 200 students in robotics and over 300 students in either BPA or DECA. Our students regularly demonstrate excellence and leadership with individual and team achievements at competitions that reflect the strong culture of engagement and support throughout the entire district. As you can see, the AAA philosophy is alive and well in district 196. To close our presentation, I direct your attention to the screen where a brief video will be played that summarizes our students experiences and opportunities. Thank you. [Music] And let's not forget the annoying sound. [Music] What? Just a whistle. [Applause] [Music] One 2 3 Keep [Music] going. [Music] That video just gives me the chills. It's It's excellent. Any questions or comments you like to make for the team? Thank you. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from board members? Jackie, no, you go first. Oh, it's just amazing what happens in 196. It doesn't matter. It And when they do at Rosemont High School, and all the high schools do that at graduation, they have kids stand up. Are you involved in a sport? Are you involved in an F? And pretty soon he's got the whole class standing. And those are kids that have been involved in something else. And like was said, success in in those things lead to success in classrooms because it binds that you're part of our team. So congratulations to everybody that runs that. Congratulations to students and congratulations to this community for putting and for supporting that kind of stuff for our kids. Congratulations and thank you to the Rosemont police and other places probably do that too as they escort the kids that are going to state tournaments out of town with the police cars. I told the kids the golf guys here I said well let's hope that's the only thing you ever get escorted out of town with but that guy looked at me like why don't I get but congratulations and we should really give ourselves a pat on the back for what we have built in district 196 and how students take care and to and are involved. So, thank you everyone. Anna, I'm speechless. Um, my heart is just full right now and I think of I'm just so proud to be I'm proud that I get to be up here um witnessing the amazing things that the administrators, the staff, the leadership and our students are able to do in this district. Um, and the people behind it too. So I think about that production with the communications and the just astounding. I it's hard for me to believe that this is a school district for K through 12 or pre-K through 12 and not like some inst higher education institution. This is something I would expect to see at a collegiate level and yet we can provide this here for our students in in Rosemount, Apple Egan and you know some of the other surrounding communities and I just think how fortunate my family my my family was when we moved here. I appreciate um that uh they were able my kids were able to receive such an amazing uh opportunities here. Um and it's wonderful to see that um that tradition is is going to continue. I'm inspired by the principles that came up here. Um thank you so much. It reminds it's a good reminder every time I come um how it's a privilege to be a school board member and why it's a privilege. And thank you for constantly under your leadership, Michael, and and the and the leaders that are here to remind us what our purpose is, what our goals are, what our values are. And I appreciate every time you come up here and you remind us. And I think that's important. That that's our northstar. Um it's never just about money. It's never just about numbers uh or participants. it is about uh the possibilities and and a better future um for not just our kids but their their kids as well. And so we're leaving a legacy um that will far outlast uh our time on this earth and I am so proud to be part of that. Katherine, um, just to add to what Anna was saying, um, one of the coolest things, and it wasn't in this video, but I'm a I'm a mom of really young kids, so in elementary school, and there are so many programs that take those high schoolers that were in those videos and bring them down to the elementary level. And the impact that that has on the younger kids that are coming through the district is really just amazing. And I think it goes both ways because I see the high schoolers and they're very excited to be with these younger kids, but that kind of intergenerational drive to have them involved in these activities is so special and has such an impact um that it it's that legacy that continues through the district. So, you know, that video was exciting and I'm excited to just see it continue with the the younger kids that are coming through, too. So, thank you for all of that very important work. Other questions or comments? I'll just really really short I'll just say um not that it's a competition, but but um to uh match our superintendent's level of enthusiasm is is is a high bar and you all just you all just got it. So I I just I think that enthusiasm actually just means the world. So you know that's how we inspire our students. So thank you and I just have one thing to say that um I love how um attention and support is balanced among the four A's. Um that students no matter what their interest they are able to find their place and they're able to find their group and their people. And I think that's important given the number of students that we have. And um I just I think it's amazing how well we balance that. So thank you. Excellent. I just had to say that um gosh, I don't know whose idea this was to have this report presented in this format, but it was a good idea. It was a I loved having the diverse group of administrators all with um personal connections to each one of our A's or A's pluses maybe um come and present a little bit about this and it's I echo what every single board member here just said too is that um gosh we we are fortunate enough to serve and live in an amazing school district and that is only possible by the people that serve it. So thank you and thank everyone who makes these activities. um possible. Thank you to Michael for under your leadership for um uh continuing that philosophy. And I do just have one question, but it's kind of a rhetorical question. I don't even want an answer. Um but I would just say with everyone here today, think about what we can do as board members to continue to support that AAA philosophy. Um because we want to hear about it. Bring those ideas up to Michael. Like for instance, um we were so fortunate to congratulate uh the uh boys volleyball team. today. Uh, first year we've been able to do that. And I have actually talked to boys volleyball players that couldn't compete because their boards weren't supportive this year. And and that's and I'm so glad that our board was supportive of that. Um, so we could give our students that opportunity. So I just ask if there are other opportunities where we can support, we want to hear about those because we love this. We want to continue. This is amazing and we just want to continue to elevate. Jackie, just quick, one thing that has always gets my heart is the number of coaches who come back. They were rose, they were graduates of 196. They went and got their degrees. They come back. They're teachers and they're coaches. The Hatley's are two that have are graduates from the district. So, it's always kind of nice to you see that legacy. So, congratulations. Thank you. Thank you all. All right. Next, I would like to welcome Jerry Sorenson and Steven Belcamp to the podium to go over our assessment report, spring benchmark, and Fastbridge data. Yeah. And then Luke's going to go down a little bit here. And I'm sorry you have to talk about data after that presentation, but I was just going to say you got us engaged. I promise you out loud that we are following that wonderful presentation up with the presentation on universal screening data. So, Buckle up. Gonna be great. Right. Right. Good evening, Chair Johnson, members of the board, and Superintendent Balsone. Um, tonight we are here to share an update on our academic data from this school year and to highlight how we are developing and refining our process for using data from FastBridge, our new universal screening tool for literacy and math. This presentation isformational only, so no action is required at this time. And here's what we'll be covering. We will begin with a brief review of the framework that guides planning and continuous improvement efforts. Next, we'll share our current FastBridge universal screening data organized through the lens of that framework. And then finally, we'll highlight the actions we're taking to respon taking in response to the data to support student learning and instructional effectiveness. We'll start by reviewing our framework. So everything starts and revolves around our strategic roadmap and our strategic priorities. Tonight the focus on the strategic priority related to Tonight the focus is on the strategic priority related to achievement. strengthening and aligning curriculum and instructional practices across all classrooms to improve student outcomes and staff efficacy. By focusing on our strategic roadmap, we are ensuring our time, effort, and resources are tied to the most important priorities. From there, our strategic priorities flow into our three-year operational plan. And these are the things that we intentionally focus our time and effort on. One item on that plan that is relevant to this topic is a universal screener for literacy and math to support data-driven decision-making. I'm excited to introduce the coordinator of research analytics and assessment, Steven Bellcamp, who will continue to share out our spring data this evening. Perfect. Good evening, board superintendent. It's good to see you all again. My name is Steven Kemp or Bel Kemp. I am the uh incoming coordinator of research assessment and analytics for our district. So um on the slide you see is our is two of our district goals um related to MCA proficiency. They're featured on our vision card and they directly align with our operational plan. The MCA, that's our Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, is the state accountability test we use to evaluate how well our instructional programming aligns with the Minnesota academic standards in literacy and math. These goals are both ambitious and attainable, reflecting our district's commitment to continuous improvement and to ensure that more students are meeting and or exceeding grade level expectations in core academic areas. MCA results are publicly available in late August. So why am I starting the presentation with our district goals? So we are actively developing and refining our process for using FastBridge universal screening to monitor progress towards our district goals on the MCA. As you may recall, universal screening really helps us do two things. At a district level, it really helps us assess the effectiveness of our tier one or of our core instruction. So that's a system measure and more locally or at like the teacher level. It helps teachers identify students who may be at risk and may need additional support. As Jeremy said, we have this is our second year in the adoption of FastBridge as a universal screener. Um this is the second year implementing it for literacy in K6 and it's our first year implementing it for math at the K6 level. FastBridge is an evidence-based screener and it has demonstrated strong accuracy in predicting MCA proficiency. So because of this strong correlation with predicting MCAs, we are confident in using FastBridge to guide instructional decisions and interventions. Um it's important to highlight that this represents a new approach for our district. A key difference is that FastBridge universal screening is um significantly more predictive of MCA proficiency than any other assessment tool we've used in the past. We are um phasing in the use of FastBridge. I kind of just said, "Hey, second year of of literacy, first year of of math at the elementary level, while also, and here's the important part, while also continuing to build a process for analyzing and responding to the data after each benchmarking period. And when I mean benchmarking period, we administer it three times a year, fall, winter, and spring. So, with that introduction, now let's get to the some of the data. We're going to first start with literacy. So, district-wide literacy data. On this side slide, you'll see a comparison of MCA reading proficiency and fastbridge screening results. So, the blue bar on the left side of your screen represents spring 2024. So, that's last year's MCA reading proficiency. The orange bars reflect our FastBridge universal screening results throughout this school year. So notice in fall 58.5% of our students were proficient according to Fastbridge, meaning they were on track to be proficient by the spring. In winter, we did see a dip to down to 55.2%. This decline is not unexpected and is likely reflects the natural challenges that come with the early stages of implementing new literacy curriculum that you've likely heard a lot about this school year. So during the period, think about it, teachers are learning and refining new instructional practices. Students are adjusting to unfamiliar routines and expectations. And our schools are working to ensure the necessary resources, training, materials, and support systems are fully in place. These factors can temporarily impact student outcomes before stronger gains emerge. And then you'll notice the third orange bar. In spring, proficiency rebounded a bit to 56.8%. indicating that our instructional adjustments and growing teacher familiarity with the new curriculum is beginning to stabilize student performance. Also note about fastbridge benchmarking period. So each benchmark assessment is designed to increase the complexity across the school year. So, the winter and then the spring assessments introduce more rigorous content than in the fall. This progression aligns with expected student growth and allows us to use the results not only to monitor progress, but also to inform adjustments to our curriculum scope, sequence, and pacing to better meet student needs. And then that last bar, well, it's it's missing right now. So, the 2025 MCA reading results are currently embargoed by the Minnesota Department of Ed. Um, and they'll be publicly released in late August. But remember how I said, hey, FastBridge is closely aligned with MCA reading results. Um, this will further reinforce when those results be available in late August to you. The next slide, um, as I said earlier, second year of literacy fastbridge screening at the elementary level. Um, and it provides us with a really valuable opportunity to compare spring performance year-over-year. So, this chart, the blue is the spring 2024, so last year, and the orange is spring 2025, fastbridge literacy proficiency levels by the seven grade levels, so K through six. So, encouragingly, as we look year-over-year, we're seeing growth, higher proficiency levels in five out of our seven grade levels. Um, I'll remark that grade 5 saw really exceptional significant growth over a 10 percentage point increase. Um, these data-driven insights are instrumental in helping our instruction and achievement department refine curriculum pacing and adjust content to better align with student needs at each grade level. By analyzing these trends, we're able to make more targeted and effective instructional decisions decisions, excuse me, that support continued student growth. as we move to math now. So this slide presents our district-wide math data using a very similar format you just saw with literacy. So the blue bar on the left is last year, so spring 2024 MCA math proficiency and the orange bars represent this year's FastBridge universal screening fall, winter, and spring um from this year. So in fall we saw a really strong start. 58.6% 6% of our students um were showing proficiency that was already surpassing our year-end goal and in the winter it we saw continued growth up to 59.6. Keep in mind we implemented new math curriculum as well this year at the elementary level. So we did see a dip this spring down to 56.2%. And this delline decline is likely influenced by multiple factors including the early stages of implementing our new math curriculum at the elementary level. During these curriculum transitions, teachers are learning and applying new instructional practices. Students are adjusting unfamili adjusting to unfamiliar content and expectations. And our schools are aligning to pacing and support systems. As as I talked about with literacy, the fastbridge benchmark assessments are intentionally designed to increase rigor from fall to winter to spring. So those spring benchmarks present more complex ideas and content than those in the fall and winter. The data allows us to enter identify areas for instructional adjustment, provide targeted professional development, and make informed decisions about curriculum pacing and support to strengthen student outcomes. The last uh slide was some data here. Um again, this was our first year with FastBridge math universal screening at the elementary level. So much of our work has focused this year on learning how the tool functions and how to meaningfully interpret and respond to the data it provides. So this chart you can see K through six, so the seven grade levels. Notice it's our first year. So there again, there's only one year shown on here. Even in this this early stage, we're seeing encouraging signs with higher proficiency rates at several grade levels. If we look back to previous year MCA results, these differences are helping the instruction and achievement department make informed data-driven adjustments to curriculum pacing and instructional content. This work is a key part of a really a broader effort to make to build a more research-based responsive system that supports student growth in mathematics across all of our grade levels. As we continue to use FastBridge year after year, the data will become increasingly more valuable, not only for tracking individual student growth, but also for ident identifying district-wide trends year-over-year, evaluating the effectiveness of instructional strategies, and monitoring the impact of curriculum or intervention adjustments. This longitudinal data will empower us to make informed data-driven decisions about resource allocation, professional development, and instructional planning to more effectively support student achievement and mathematics across grade levels. So really, as I start thinking about our strategic priority, we highlighted was achievement, but notice there's a lot of resource um uh implications and use of it. So in closing, as I move to this last slide, we're excited to continue the work of implementing our curriculum with fidelity and with focus. The results from our universal screening along with other key data points and data sources provide insights into what aspects of our curriculum are working well and where there might be gaps. These insights help us make informed adjustments to curriculum pacing and content. So that's our first bullet point. As we look towards next year, our instruction and achievement department commit is committed to identifying and addressing these gaps to ensure every student receives highquality education. And now that universal screening is established, this is where I'm most excited. Our next step is to equip teachers with clear, effective data protocols. So, these protocols will streamline how teachers interpret data, helping them to know what to look for, how to analyze it, and then here's the most important part, how to act on it. By fostering consistency, saving time, and encouraging collaboration, data protocols empower educators to make targeted data-driven decisions that directly improve student outcomes. And the third bullet point here is as we're scaling up the implementation of fastbridge literacy and math screening, we are expanding it to include all students grades K10 next year. We're excited to support the learning for teachers in grades 7 to 10 next year who have who are using who are going to be using FastBridge for the first time. So in closing, the adoption of FastBridge universal screening tool and the data it provides allows us to do a few things. first provide our district with a consistent systemwide view of student learning. We have never had that before with a single tool, not to mention a a tool that is researchbased and highly aligned to standards. It will also help us um to highlight strengths and gaps in student learning and instructional practices. And lastly, the data obtained from FastBridge helps to support a proactive and respons responsive system of support. So, thank you uh for listening. Notice there was not as much data as you thought. It was really more about the process of how we are going to use it and currently are using it. So, I'll pass it back over to our director of elementary ed, Jeremy, to see if there's any questions. So, thank you for your time. Thank you. At this Are are you done, Director Sorenson? Yep. Okay. At this time, I just I didn't want to interrupt. You had something else to add. Uh at this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from board members? Leah, just gonna say Stephen, you all I also appreciated your enthusiasm. That was also evident. We all have the things we're passionate about. Jackie, will you be back in August when the MCA's come back and and show us where we and get I would imagine you have a bigger report of where we where we are and where we're Absolutely. They become public late August, so I can't commit right to August, but when we get those, we will certainly come back and report those out. And I think our plan is to continually report out, you know, throughout the year how we're doing as with fast bridge and MCAs. I know. I was at the curriculum advisory council meeting last month and we were looking at some and teachers must have had some kind of an idea of where they thought their kids were going to be and so they're looking at, you know, well, I could be here and I think mine are here and and a good a good thing to share with teachers and the community members who are on that committee. So, thank you. Um, I'm gonna go to Katherine. both raise your hand at the same time. But um I wanted to just say I was excited about the first video, but I also am just as excited about the data as you are. Um and I'm really excited about the focus on how we use it to act and how we use it to change things and this immediate feedback that that you'll be able to provide teachers. And then that really important piece of teaching teachers how to use the data because we are not all as excited about it and mostly it's because people get scared by data. So this feels just so approachable and really supportive. Um and so I love the data to action that is seen in this. So I'm very excited and very excited to see next year how we then use this. So great and I appreciate how well you explain the data because it is hard to explain what's going on and to guide people to the ups and the downs and why we're seeing it. So you've done a really good job with, you know, being data literate and bringing us all along. So thank you for that. Thank you, Anna. Um yes to my colleagues over here. Um, and um, I did have a couple questions just because I'm curious. Um, how many other districts are using FastBridge? I know this is probably a question you've already answered. Um, but if I'm thinking about with not the people that the districts we compete with, but our surrounding area, but how many other districts? It's a good It's a good question. Um I don't know the exact answer but FastBridge is one of the state approved screeners with ReadAct and there's only I think two or three. Okay. So quite a few districts. I can tell you that a number of FastBridge has been around for about 10 to 15 years. Okay. Um and there are a number of districts that are are using it. It's a really good tool because it's it's normed. It's reliable. So it's it's measuring what it's supposed to measure. Um and it's valid. So it's exciting. So, a lot of districts are using it, which I think will benefit us as a state because we can work with each other and collaborate a little bit differently. We're excited about kind of the K10 movement next year. To have common data across K10 is super exciting and not something we've ever had before. Uh my second question and and pardon my ignorance around this but how so I'm looking at some of the areas where students need more support and so I'm thinking about special ed. How does how does special ed use this as a tool? Are there additional like there specific resources? How do we capture that? I know we capture that data. Um, but I it's nice to see this overall like for every student, but I'm also interested as you know, y you know, the students that need um more support. I'm always I always like to know where are they at and and I'd like to see, you know, how we are helping them improve. Sure. I think that's a really good question, too. So, I I appreciate it. What we showed was a highle picture of the data here. Um I think in some of our um previous special board meetings where we were able to break it down by building or by classroom, schools have the ability to do that and they do do that. So all of our students take the screener um and then students who um show some sort of risk, they get something additional assessment called a diagnostic that really narrows in on what their specific needs are. And so speaking to that, then we identify what a kid's needs are and build a plan specific to them to support them. Thank you. I I know you've covered this before. I I I was absent for a couple of those. I was sick. So, I thank you for reiterating that. It's It's a great question and it's complicated and we're still building that. So, Yep. Okay. Thank you. Excellent, Robin. Um my question is, uh I'll just speak loud. Oh, there it goes. Um my question is, uh you're going to be rolling it out for uh 7 through 10 next year. And is it stopping at 10th grade because that's when they last take the MCA or why are we not tracking our students through 12th grade? You have a better Yeah, I can. Um, good insight. So MCA reading at the high school level is 10th grade. So that is a I don't know if appropriate stopping point is is is fair to say, but I would say we are still absolutely in a multi-year implementation phase. um we haven't universally screened our students in literacy and math consistently at the high school level um in my 12 years in the district as far as I know. And so it is a multi- multi-tiered implementation of it. There's a lot of training involved with staff because we don't want to simply administer assessment and then do nothing with it. So it's it's planning for how can we equip teachers to as you as you all pointed out using the data it's the most important part and I think one additional one additional piece to that is part of the read act there is a requirement for the literacy side of this to um identify students I think it's grades four through 12 with a screener. Um so for literacy we will be eventually moving that way because it's a state requirement. And then the idea is any student who's not on track we we give them um a diagnostic to identify their specific needs. So that's something that will be new in grades four through 10. That screener will then play into a diagnostic for a number of students and then develop a specific plan to help support them. Perfect. Thank you. Excellent. Thank you both for being here. I just wanted to add to um I get sometimes I get nervous with data presentations because I don't know if they'll take one of my pet peeves or not. One of my pet peeves around data is data for data sake, right? We measured it, we measured it, we're done. And I'm and I'm like, you have to have a reason why you measured it and you have an action depending on what you saw. And I heard a lot of that tonight about steps that you'll take and why we do it. I loved Katherine, you mentioned the um guide for teachers, people that might not be as data literate, but what do you do if you're seeing this? what do you do fixing that? I absolutely love that. And one thing that um is always in the back of my head, I hear comments a lot, I think some pet peeves I've also heard from teachers is we do spend a lot of time assessing, right? That's and that's important and we want to make sure we're getting return on investment for that and I really heard that tonight. Um which was awesome to hear. So, thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Next, I'd like to welcome Janet Switchikowski to the podium to go over our 2025 legislative session report. Good evening, Chair Johnson, schoolboard members, Superintendent Balsone. I have some guests joining me as well, members of our legislative advisory council. This report reflects on our legislative priorities and the legislative session. Uh the people joining me are Ryan Lick, Chaz McCriedy, and Adam Jorgensson. And we also have more members of our legislative advisory council in the audience. We uh had a meeting scheduled for May 28th and needed to postpone that meeting. So, we met earlier this evening with the conclusion of the legislative session. In district 196, we have a strong legislative advisory council that really engages members of our community and members of our staff in understanding the issues in the district and the important role the legislative um branch plays as well. It is difficult to speak tonight about the legislative session following the senseless assassination of Speaker Emmeritus Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark and the shooting of Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yevette. In our work with the legislature, we have the opportunity to meet with and talk with legislative legislators across the political spectrum. And we see them as people, hard-working, dedicated public servants who want the best for our children and our state. The events of the last few weeks have shaken our state. This was a long and difficult session that required dialogue and compromise. It took selfless leadership to reach agreement. And it's devastating that in the end, Speaker Emmeritus Hortman and her husband gave their lives in service to the people of Minnesota. But we want to remember the lasting impact that their service had. As I said, in district 196, we have an involved legislative council. In addition to discussing priorities, communicating with our legislators, we also have visited the capital, had one-on-one meetings with our legislators, and we have always been warmly received by both sides of the aisle because education is a bipartisan issue that transcends any one person or one community. Public education is the foundation of our democracy and there is agreement that we want and need a welleducated citizenry for our society. I'd like to invite Ryan Lir to talk a little bit about our some of our legislative advisory council activities. Hello uh school board chairperson Johnson, Superintendent Balsone. Uh my name is Ryan Lir. I'm an Egan resident. I am a former district 186 graduate and I teach on the amazing fifth grade team at Westview Elementary. Uh it was fun um talking about budget and funding and legislation. It was really cool to see um not only an importance on academics but also athletics and arts. Um a former teacher of mine, Mr. Byer, currently still teaches there and he was very passionate about um his subject but really cared deeply about our students. And so I always strive to tell my fifth graders each year before we go to 196 things um what impact he made on me and it's fun to introduce him to um the students and try to strive to be like him each day. Uh I'm a member of the legislative advisory council representing um the equity advisory council. Um as a reminder, our legislative advisory council is made up of representatives from each of our other district advisory councils along with seven citizens at large and our collective bargaining teams. This allows us a broad view of needs, issues and perspectives across the district and is very important because it makes a major impact on the students I teach. This year was a difficult session. Uh the forecast is projecting state deficits in the 202829 benium and the regular session budget targets. The governor proposed cuts, the house proposed a modest increase and the senate proposed 0% increase and 557 million in cuts in 2028 2022. Uh there was a special session and there were no changes to the 2627 bianium but the education finance committee was tasked with developing a budget that included a 420 million reduction for the 2829 bianium. And I'm going to pass it back for a few more updates. So, as we look at some of the legislative priorities that we had as a district that the board approved, um, one of the most important is the funding formula, the general education formula. It's important that the legislature maintained linking the funding formula to inflation moving forward. So our general education formula will increase by 2.74% for fiscal year 26 and will increase again between 2 and 3% for fiscal year 27. This is an important priority because it's a result of more than probably 15 or 20 years of advocacy work um that came to fruition in 2023 legislative session. Another item that was a key priority for our district was a hold harmless clause for one-time comp for compensatory funding. In 232 24 they provided that one-time hold harmless clause and again for six they will provide the one-time hold harmless clause. The third priority I was looking at unemployment aid. Um this was a key component of the 23 legislative session providing unemployment insurance um benefits for hourly employees in schools. The funding that was provided in 23 was due to run out this year. The legislature found another um allocated h 100red million or appropriated h 100red million to continue that through fiscal year 27. There are difficult times ahead with our state legislature um and our state budgets. Not all of our priorities could be realized and we will be looking at some cuts. The first is that not this bianium but in 2829 the legislature will need to find 250 million in reductions for special education. I'll talk about that more in a moment. Special education transportation reimbursement aid will decrease to 95% of the expenses for fiscal year 26 and 90% in fiscal year 27. Statewide. This is a $43 million reduction. Our best estimate for district 196 is somewhere between 600 and 700 uh 600 and 800,000. Student support personnel aid will also be reduced 28.7 million uh in district 196. That's a reduction of 18.68 per pupil adjusted pupil unit. And we're estimating that at about 560 million uh thousand for a reduction. School library aid will also be reduced. That we're estimating at about 180,000 and the teacher pipeline grants program will also be reduced. Our grants are currently funded through 2030. Um, so that would may not impact us as hard as districts that haven't yet applied for grants for the teacher pipeline. We do when you add it all together, we also have the compensatory hold harmless which was a critical priority I mentioned on the prior slide. That will be a gain or a plus of about 1.2 million. So, if we look at the totality of our budget that you'll hear about a little in a little while from the finance department, um the reductions that we're looking at are just about 300,000. Another critical um factor is that the free meals for all program um will be um having a reduction in funding um lowering meals from uh state reimbursement from 12.5 cents to 6.25 cents per meal uh beginning in fiscal year 28. Again, that is not an immediate reduction. That is in the next bienium. The blue ribbon commission on special education funding will be have a challenge. Uh special education funding is one of the areas that has had the greatest growth since 2023 and it has also had the greatest growth in the number of students served. Uh that is a growing need in our state. This commission will be appointed to identify 250 million in special education cuts by for the next bianium. In my recollection, every year or not every year, but every governor has appointed a commission to study education funding and to make recommendations to fix our formula. Every commission comes up with recommendations and they are in challenged to have the recommendations implemented. So we have many commission reports that are not fully enacted. There's a clause in this legislation that says if this commission does not identify the cuts that are needed for special education, the commissioner of education must. So, these are cuts that will be realized in our special education programs through the state of Minnesota. This commission is scheduled or is tasked with identifying an action plan for transforming special education services while maintaining a free and appropriate public education for students with disabilities. This is an important priority that really hits home for many of our um members of our legislative action committee as well. In addition to the blue ribbon commission on special education, there will also be working groups to address compensatory revenue on a long-term basis, seclusion, transportation, and developmental delay age limits. I'd like to invite Adam Jorgensson to talk about a couple other policy provisions. Hi, good evening. Adam Watenar, Deputy General Counsel. Just wanted to talk uh briefly about a few of the highlights um from some other changes that did get through the legislature here. Um attendance tracking. There were a few different uh efforts to sort of uh modernize some of the attendance provisions. Um, believe it or not, there was a provision that says one way that parents can report excused absences is by contacting any individual school board member. How about that? Um, there's also a clause that says uh the school board clerk or another school board member should be keeping records of all student absences. So, I hope you have those uh ready to go. Uh but I'm pleased to report that uh you can you're relieved of those duties that they did take that out and uh update it so that those are directed to the school principles or other appropriate staff who manage attendance at schools. Um there were a couple other changes in terms of or clarifications in terms of how attendance is reported um and some language about reporting to the county um at the beginning of new school years. students who don't uh report who were previously enrolled and who we didn't have any notice of um them enrolling elsewhere. So, um a few tweaks there. Um nothing too momentous, but um cleaned up some of the um outdated language there. Um school calendars, uh this won't affect us too much, but uh schools years can start before Labor Day um in 2026 and 27. um September 1st is the the cut off for that, but there's some late Labor Days coming up, so they adjusted it so that um schools could start before then. Um we have there's also a construction exemption where you can start earlier if you have big construction projects going. Um so us and most other big districts usually have something in place there. So we will be starting earlier under that exemption, but this um does lock that in further. um opiate antagonist in high schools. Uh this is a change that allows school districts um to put something in place where high school students would have the ability to possess and administer an opiate antagonist to another student in the case of an opioid overdose emergency. Um that's not mandatory, but it's something that school districts are allowed to implement. So that's something that our health services coordinator may be exploring um and how and whether to implement some of that. Um schoolboard authority for experiential learning programs. This just basically says that if the board approves some kind of experiential or applied learning program, some kind of activity in a non-traditional setting, um MDE can't override that or deny it. Um so that's helpful from a local control perspective um that the board gets that authority. uh directory data changes. I think Jill Coyle mentioned this last week in the context of our rights and responsibilities handbook that uh parent contact information can no longer be designated as directory information. Um and so that will not be something that can be public data. There are still some exceptions to that, particularly health and safety emergencies. Um but uh in general that won't be uh public information. Um the parental consent to really stated a deed is the department of employment and economic development. Um that's just for um there was an exception where you could release that contact information for parents of students receiving special education services in a postsecary transition capacity for the purpose of coordinating some of those employment programs. Um that just says it's that's not an exception to that. parents still need to provide that consent before you share that information. Uh some new readact training requirements. I won't get into the weeds on that, but a few different uh you know additions or or tweaks to that regarding um pair professionals and unlicensed staff. Um some requirements for teachers moving into the state who haven't had the training. Some of the training requirements have been folded into the lensure requirements for a tier one, two, and three teachers. Um, so a few different adjustments there that will be on top of. Um, and then open meeting law change. You all might have heard about this, but um, previously we couldn't have uh board members appear remotely unless we publicized where they were going to be and made that open to the public. So whether that was your house or a hotel in the Bahamas, we would have to say here's where you know Corey Johnson is going to be. It's open to the public if you want to come watch him appear at this meeting. Um no longer have to do that. So that will be helpful to provide some flexibility for um using that remote uh option when needed. The rest of the requirements are still there. You still have to be able to see and hear everyone. We still have to do roll call votes. Uh we still have to announce that someone will be appearing remotely but um much easier to do it without having to give that public uh invitation. Um couple of employment law tweaks. Um the paid leave law. So starting in January, the paid family and medical leave law will go into effect which gives employees um a number of weeks of of paid leave options for medical or child birth or other qualifying reasons. um that's paid for through a premium. That's a small percentage of employee wages. Um deed will set those wages. It's going to start out at 0.88 uh 888%. Uh there's a statutory maximum that says it can't go above 1.2% and they reduced that. So the now the maximum is 1.1%. So big news there. Um there was also a uh pension reform bill. Um this actually is I think kind of significant for a number of uh long tenur teachers in particular. Um the overall bill made a number of adjustments to all kinds of public retirement funds but for teachers the early retirement age has been lowered. Uh the primary the normal retirement age is still 65. um you can retire before that but there are you know penalties in the amount that you can get of that pension but there has been a 62year-old uh cutoff where you can retire early and that penalty is not as steep if you have at least 30 years of service um that early retirement threshold has been lowered to 60. So age 60 plus 30 years of service and you get that lower um percentage reduction so that that early retirement can be uh more doable. Um it kind of handinhand with that that change does result in some increases in employer TRA contributions but there was a state increase in pension aid that should uh cover that. So those are just a few of the uh policy changes uh that did end up going into effect. So there were a number of other proposals that were discussed during this s um session that are not included were not included things like a discussion about alternative teacher compensation or qmp being eliminated the elimination of non-public aid uh for non-public schools. Uh that was surprising for many people in the public to know that they that aid even existed. Um we were there was discussion of further modifications or more extensive modifications to earn safe and sick time and pad paid family leave laws. Um of course our local authority to renew a capital projects levy um did have bipartisan support but did not make it into the final bill. Uh and then further concerns about public data request laws. So, I want to again thank the members of the legislative advisory uh committee for their active participation and I will ask Chasy to wrap us up. Chairperson Johnson, Superintendent Bosone, board members, I'm Chaz McCriedi. I'm speaking to you as a parent, a parent volunteer. Uh I'm speaking you also thank expressing my thanks for the terrific education that both of my kids have gotten from kindergarten and had graduated. Um I'm very very very happy to have had that. But not only that, gave me the opportunity and the privilege to participate in the BAC and the LAC, volunteering in the schools, being able to understand kids and some of the things that their unfiltered mouths would share with you as to how the system works. It made for some interesting conversations even in talking with the legislators. I've been a member of the LACE from the beginning and it's grown in tremendous in terms of its influence, its connectivity to all of the legislators that represent us across the both sides of the aisle. Education is important to almost every one of them. And being able to speak what was important to my children, other children that I know, not just the the mechanics of education, but the heart and the why we do this to educate kids how to learn and how they enjoy doing those things. Being able to have a legislative person understand not only the mechanics they have to deal with, but the story behind it. the story behind of why it's important and why they do that. Now, with the things that are happening and the temp the temperament being so difficult, you have to rely on something that this is worth doing. And it's all worth doing because of the kids. The legislative meetings at the capital are fantastic. I've been had the privilege of being asked to testify on things that were important to the district as a parent. And I want to tell you that, you know, Senator Clawson, one of the instrumental people that made that happen, it was amazing the reception that I got from various committees that I spoke to. And speaking of why was important to do what we did, why this district is so respected comes from the connectivity of all the people that work in the district as well as the parents and people that support the district. I speak in great thanks and privilege for having done that. and I thank you and all your predecessors for the privilege of being able to do this. Thank you very much. That concludes our report. Excellent. Thank you so much. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Questions or comments from board members? Anna? Um, I just wanted to ask that sounded like a possible retirement from LAC. Okay, good. I just wanted to make sure that's not what that was. So, I'm so happy that you're continuing on. No cupcake for you. Okay. Um, but thank you to everyone who does. Um, I didn't realize when I became a board member, I didn't realize how how uh how much collaboration and how much uh uh conversation and relationship building was happening um from both both sides of the aisles and with our district. And um it goes back to my um I think uh Senator Aaron May Quaid said this once that we are one district actually. I mean, we have district 186, but Minnesota is one district if we think about all of our students. And I think that um we actually exemplify that when we are going out there and we're talking about, you know, what's important to us. Um we're telling a story that maybe other districts might not be able to tell. And and the whole point of that is for the students. It's not for us to to you know to go to work and to have jobs and to have careers and you know go up in the ladder of of of success. It's for students and um and it's again uh it's it's just rewarding to see so many people and how so many people are involved and volunteering their time and their support. It's not just parents who have students in the classroom today. It is out people who have had um students that have moved on and are still excited and still committed to the vision that our district has been able to set and uh the promise of what we can provide um for our students in the future. So, thank you to the LACE Janet for taking that on and becoming the new leader behind that. And just Anyway, that's it. I'm done. Thank you. Thank you all for being here tonight. I just wanted to say uh when you show up to the capital, legislators listen. They really truly do. And I know it takes a lot of time and effort to devote to the LAC um and to put these things together and to follow every update happening from the capital because it seems to change every minute. Um but it is recognized and it it truly makes a difference. And I also know that it can be it can be sometimes tough to focus on the things that we didn't necessarily get past. I really wanted that capital projects thing to go through, but but I think we got to also stay focused on uh the wins, the compensatory aid, the um the uh inflationary aid we that we were able to keep. I I think those are really really important and again I think that's because of the voices that you bring to the table. So, thank you. Excellent. All right, I will call myself up to the podium. I'm not going to go to the podium, though. Um, next item on the agenda is superintendent review. Uh, Minnesota statute uh requires that any time that a superintendent is evaluated at the next public board meeting, a summary of the evaluation is provided. Normally, I have more than three minutes between meetings to prepare that summary, but it'll work tonight. Uh, so the board met at 5:00 p.m. tonight to um review Superintendent Michael Bosone. Um the board concluded out of the uh six goals uh superintendent Bolson was uh provided he was effective in meeting five out of the six and highly effective in meeting one out of the six. Out of the two standards that the board provided for superintendent found that superintendent was effective at um one of the standards and highly effective at the second standards. Uh overall, thank you, Superintendent Volone, for a fantastic first year as a superintendent. I have to keep reminding myself it's only actually been your first year um because um the results have been uh very appreciative. If there are any questions or comments from member of the public about the superintendent review, they are free to contact me and my email address is listed on the district website. This is a report tonight, so I do have to ask, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, additional comments or questions from board members. All right. How did I do with three minutes of prep? I think I was good. Uh, that brings us to old business tonight. And I'd like to welcome Adam Lloyd to the podium to go over the 202526 preliminary budget. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, members of the school board, Superintendent Bulson, and the District 196 community. My name is Adam Lloyd, controller in the finance department for district 196. This is the moment you've all been waiting for tonight. Tonight, it is my pleasure on behalf of district administration to present the 202526 preliminary budget for a second reading and recommended approval. The final draft of the preliminary budget book is included in tonight's board packet. The preliminary budget was presented to the school board at the June 9th meeting for its first reading and review. Since the June 9th meeting, no changes have been made to the budget numbers and only minor editorial changes have been made to the budget book. Tonight's presentation includes an overall summary of the financial information presented in the budget book and at the June 9th schoolboard meeting. School districts are required to approve a preliminary budget by June 30th each year pursuant to Minnesota statute. The preliminary budget is the second stop in the budget cycle which will continue with the final budget cycle in the fall and conclude with the district's annual financial audit planning uh annual financial audit beginning next summer. Total budgeted revenues across all funds is $71 million. The general fund at 528 million and 75.3% comprises the largest portion of all revenues. The internal services funds, which include the district's self-insured health and dental plans, account for the next largest share of revenue at 12.9%. Due to increases in premium rates effective with the 202526 fiscal year, the regular debt service fund, which accounts for the district's long-term debt obligations, accounts for 5.1% of budgeted revenues at 35.7 million. Total budgeted expenditures across all funds is $894 million. The general fund at 533 million and 59.6% comprises the largest portion of all expenditures. The building construction fund accounts for the next largest share at 22.4% or $200 million in planned expenditures. The internal service funds account for the next largest share at 9.4%. The district pro the sorry the district projects a total fund balance at the end of the 202526 fiscal year of $247 million with the general fund accounting for nearly $13 million of fund balance. The special revenue funds including the nutrition services and community education funds account for nearly $13 million. The building construction fund, debt service funds, internal service funds, and fiduciary funds account for the remaining projected fund balance as shown on this slide. Respectfully, district administration recommends approval of the 202526 preliminary budget. After approval by the board, the budget book will be posted on the district's public finance website. I'd be happy to attempt to answer any questions you may have. Excellent. Thank you, Adam. This is an action item for the board tonight. So, before we go into questions, is there a motion to approve the 202526 preliminary budget? So moved. Second. Motion by Jackie, seconded by Leah. At this any at this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from board members? Darn. I thought we would scare him with some crazy questions. No. Thank you. Pretty straightforward second reading. I'm going to say it like I do every time this comes up. And members of the public that have questions regarding our budget, look at that budget book that Adam talked about. It really does an amazing job of outlining how we use our how we take a very very complicated thing like our the third largest school districts in the state's budget and break it down step by step and answers a lot of questions. So, I always, it's my little call out to anyone watching or listening. If you have questions about our budget and how we spend, that's a great resource. Uh, we have a motion to approve the preliminary budget by Jackie, seconded by Leah. All any all those in favor of approval say I. I. Those opposed. Motion carries on a 6-0 vote. Thank you. We have no new business or other action items uh tonight. So, that brings us to the end of our agenda and I will turn it over to Superintendent Bosone for superintendent updates. Okay. Thank you, Chair Johnson. I want to remind families that there are various opportunities for students ages 18 and younger to access free meals this summer. You can visit district196.org for complete details which include the locations and times for free meals. Our summer community education programming started last week. We welcomed 8,810 participants across 552 programs just last week. Some of the most popular programs included swim lessons, theater, gymnastics, lead camp, which is leadership empowerment activities and dance, SCS adventure camp, a class called preventing brain drain, and a variety of high school sports camps. Camp Propel, extended year services and credit recovery programs also continued um at many of our buildings and continue through the end of the through the end of June. and s they are currently serving more than 3,000 students across our district. And to learn more about summer programming through community education, we encourage people to visit their website at c.d district196.org. And that's community.dist196.org. And that concludes my report. Excellent. Thank you, Superintendent Bolson. Are there any items that board members would like to share tonight? Katherine? Um, I just was excited to see the kind of convergence of my day life and my uh time on the board when I saw that Egan High School from District 196 won the Minnesota Department of Health escaped the vape video competition that was held. So, they created a video to work with to convince other students about um the dangers of vaping. And so, um, if people wanted to see the the award-winning video, it's at mnescapethevape.org. So, wanted to recognize them. Excellent. Thank you for sharing. I did watch the video and it was good. Any other items from school board members would like to share. All right. Seeing none, is there a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. Motion by Robin, seconded by Anna. All those in favor of adjournment, say I. I. Those opposed? Motion carries on a 6-0 vote. Our next regular meeting is Monday, July 14th, and we are adjourned. [Music]