Good evening and welcome to our regularly scheduled schoolboard meeting for Monday, March March 9th. At this time, please rise if you are able and join us for 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 Lily Fischer, a foreign exchange student at Rosemont High School who passed away on February 22nd. Thank you. All right. Good evening, school board. Um, first item of business night is the approval of the agenda. There are no additions or deletions to the agenda tonight. Is there a motion to approve the agenda as outlined? >> Second. >> I heard a motion by Jackie and I think I heard Sakoden. Second. Correct. All right. Jackie and Sakoden. All those in favor of approving the agenda say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Motion carries on a 60 vote. That brings us to our uh recognition items tonight. And at this time, I'd like to welcome East View assistant principal Rob Franchino to the podium. He will introduce us to the section 5 outstanding speech and debate coach of the year, Zach Bra. >> Good evening. >> Good evening, >> Chairperson Johnson, Superintendent Bosony, members of the board. Uh thank you for giving this the opportunity to once again recognize successes of our teachers, our students, and our programs. And congratulations to those who are being recognized tonight for your achievement. It's my honor to recognize Zach PRA as both the state and section outstanding speech and debate educator of the year. We know what the state of Minnesota is. The section consists of six states. Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, I'm sorry, North Dakota and South Carol and South Dakota. And Mr. Pra, we're in good company with all those states. He's won the region and state, and now his nomination gets forward to the national level for consideration. This award recognized honors and contributions that expand the activity and provide service and leadership that support speech and debate debate programs. Based on that definition, I want to share with you some of the points that underscore why he is deserving of this award. He has served as the National Speech and Debate Association Central Minnesota District Chair for the past 12 years. In those 12 years, he's received the Gold Leadership Award three times. For 10 years, he has served as a secretary and treasurer of the Minnesota State Minnesota Speech and Debate Association. He serves as a representative to adjudicate interpretations for various districts throughout the country on their national qualifying tournaments. So when there's a questions about rules, they contact Zach. He has served as the 3A representative assembly for the high school league for the past three years. For nine years, Zach has been the tournament manager for the 6A tournament. He has served as a tabulation manager for the state high school league debate tournament for 15 years and for the speech tournament for nine years. And he currently sits on the board of directors for the high school league. Zach is always willing to help forward speech and debate in our community and take it from where it is to better. In addition to this award, in 2017, Zach was named the Minnesota Debate Teachers Association Coach of the Year. In 2020, Zach was named the coach of the year by the Minnesota State Speech Coaches Association. Both those awards are for his competitive excellence as a coach. In 2019, he was awarded the Minnesota the Debate Coaches Association Distinguished Service Award. And in 2022, he was honored and awarded the Minnesota Speech Association's Distinguished Service Award. Again, serving others. And now in 2026, both the state and region winner of our outstanding speech and debate educator of the year at Eastview. He's been an invaluable part of our speech and debate program. He's always been recognized as helping students advance their abilities in speech and debate. He has been instrumental in making the East View Invitational Tournament one of the largest and most competitive in the state. It actually happened two weeks ago and we had 1,400 entrance. It was so large that we had to have it at Eastview High School and at Valley Middle School. That's how large it was under his leadership. The president of the Minnesota Debate Association described Zach about Zach's contributions reach every level of our activity at the local, state, and national level. He is one of those rare individuals whose passion for the activity activity extends beyond his own school and team. He has continually worked to better the entire community. He embodies every quality this award seeks to recognize. excellence in coaching, integrity and service, and a deep belief in the transformative nature of speech and debate. One of the students who Zach coaches had this to say. Mr. Pra is a renowned coach who I have been privileged to work with. He not only had interest in me as a competitor, but developed me as a person as well. My experience would not be anywhere near where it is without the leadership and support encouragement of Coach Pra. On top of all these things he does, he's an outstanding teacher at Eastview High School. He teaches developmental psychology and advanced placement psychology and he's our testing coordinator. His plate is full. I've been doing this a long time and I can honestly say I've never worked with someone with the depth of involvement in so many things and bring such a high level of leadership and commitment to our programs. The impact you have made on speech and debate in our community is immeasurable. Zach, you truly are one of a kind. East View High School and District 196 is very fortunate to have Zach Pra working with our students in our programs. Please help me in recognizing Mr. Zach Pra as both the state and regional outstanding speech and debate educator of the year. Congratulations. Next, I'd like to welcome Taylor Vargas, East View High School dance team head coach, who will introduce the East View dance team. Good evening, chairperson Johnson, school board members, and superintendent BSON. My name is Taylor Varis, and I am the head coach of the Lightning Dance Team at ESU High School. I'm honored to be here tonight to recognize these student athletes on our team who contributed to a successful year and worked hard to uphold the legacy of the Lightning Dance Team. Led by 13 graduating seniors, the Lightning Dance team earned the title of South Suburban Conference Champions for the 24th consecutive year in both high kick and jazz. The section one AAA champions in both high kick and jazz and the class AAA state runnerup in both high kick and jazz. The team also received the team academic all-state award after maintaining an average team GPA of 3.75. And four of our seniors here tonight received academic academic all state with GPA over 3.85. More than the medals, awards, or accolades received, this year's team was one that learned lessons of maintaining poise and excellence under great pressure and expectation. We learned the depth of our resilience, our relationships, and ultimately the depth of our care and appreciation for each other and our sport. It was a gift to watch these athletes daily practice and compete as humble leaders of integrity on and off the floor. I'm so proud to coach these young women, and I would like to introduce each of them to you. Now, a quick note that some of our dancers are not able to be here this evening as they have rehearsals for their studios or participating in their second spring sport. Those who are here, please step forward and wave when I call your name. Selena Berto Remis, Riley Benz, Kelsey Berg, Lola Boyce, Lauren Brand, Annabelle Clover, Ella Clover, Adriana Crawford, Gia Crawford, Isabella Crawford, Cubert Obsplan, Lauraai Duny, Sophia Fan, Claire Girtton, Khloe Guile, Maline Humph, Elsie Horman, Claire Corki, Arabella Kragnus, Kinley Lang, Payton Leer, Megan Marshall, Sylve, Kylie Wyn, Kenzie Osberg, Ashlin Rustad, Sydney Sedaros, Theresa Villum, Abby Wanis, Ava Wood, and Mia Wood. Let's give these athletes a round of applause. >> Thank you. right here. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Well done. Nice. >> Fantastic job. >> Congratulations. Amazing. You met Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Amazing job. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Amazing job. >> Congratulations. You're welcome. Congratulations. Congratulations. Great job. Great job. Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Amazing job. Congratulations. >> All right. This is East View's night because next I'm going to welcome East View Comp Cheer coach Tim Navaro to the podium to introduce us to the school's comp cheer team. Uh good evening uh chairperson Johnson and schoolboard members and superintendent Mr. Balsone. Uh I am head coach uh for the East View varsity competition cheer team Navaro. First, I want to pass along our congratulations to the other honores this evening and their amazing accomplishments. Secondly, I would like to congratulate our fellow district 186 schools and qualifying for the state and national cheer tournament this year. And finally, I'd like to thank the board and for their continue uh take some time u for recognizing these incredible student athletes for district 196. I am honored to present tonight the 202526 East View competition cheer team. Uh the team earned third place at the small varsity non-tumbling game day division at the state tournament. Uh this is the largest uh varsity division at the state tournament with 12 teams competing. Uh the team ended the season as a national finalist at the National School Spirit Championships at Disney World Florida and placed 14th in the country out of 43 teams. Uh this is East View's 16th straight qualifying year for the national tournament. Uh congratulations to the team. Uh now I'd like to introduce uh the rest of the team. Um, our only senior Haley Lount Nuland, our captain, Norah Jackson, our other captain, Ellie Needm, Sarah Johnson, Cararissa Robinson, Joselyn Fanthong, Annayiah Patone, Sylvia A. Costa, Ariana Hernandez, Allison Perkins, Alyssa Marshall, Kaia Chamberlain, and Stacy Zert. Ladies and gentlemen, the 2526 Eastfield Varsity Competition Cheer Team. Congratulations, Great job, coach. Thanks for being here. >> Wonderful job. >> Congratulations. >> Great job. >> Amazing job. You guys congratulations. >> Great job. >> Congratulations. Great job. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations. You're welcome. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> You're very welcome. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Great job. >> You bet. >> All right. And last under recognition tonight, but not least, I'd like to welcome assistant varsity coach Mackenzie Dal back to the podium to introduce us to the Rosemont High School comp cheer team. Well, I'm not Mackenzie Dollbeck. I'm Mr. Finley, the athletic director at Rose Mount High School. Uh thank you for having us uh chairperson Johnson, distinguished school board members, and superintendent Balsone. Today I'm here to repres uh present you guys with Rosemont High School competition cheer team. Um our competition cheer team had an outstanding season and or season and postseason performance. At the state competition, the team placed second in the state in the traditional division and third in the state in the game day division. The team also advanced to the high school nationals with both routines. At nationals, they earn an impressive eighth place finish in the traditional routine. Our competition cheer team is kind of like East View's dance team. People come to our school to cheer. We have a great program and they show up. Our kids are committed and cheer is an all year round event. They don't have an off season. We try to give them a month off about right now and then they start right back up for the next 11 months and these kids are dedicated to that craft and then they play other sports on top of that which is pretty cool. And then they're in our weight room in the morning and they're working out with football players and basketball players and it's a sport and our kids are super competitive and we have teams come in from all over the country to help train us and build routines up in the summertime and they're putting 8 to 10 hours in two or three days a week in the summer. It's a super committed group and I have a ton of respect for what you guys do. And um our coach, our head coach couldn't be here, Sally H. Homeman, but in her place today is assistant coach Mackenzie Dolbeck. And uh she's representing and here representing our athletes are Leila Merkel Abbott and Alyssa Fitzgerald. And this is our Rose Mount High School cheer comp cheer team. Amazing. Congratulations. Great work. >> Very impressive. Great job. >> Thanks so much for being here. >> Thanks, Greg. Thank you. Great to see you again. >> All right. Next, I will turn the meeting over to Superintendent Bosone for recognition of students and staff. >> Okay. Thank you, Chair Johnson. I want to begin this evening by recognizing a valued group of employees in our district, our cultural family advocates. Our CFAs, cultural family advocates, serve as an important bridge between schools, students, and families. They support students academic and social success, help families connect with our schools, and guide staff as we serve our diverse community. This year, during the metro surge of ICE agents in Minnesota, our cultural family advocates were often the first call for immigrant, Hispanic, and Somali families. As so often happens, when societal safety nets break, families turn to our schools. We want to acknowledge that our CFAs are trusted members of our community who provided consistent and ongoing support for staff, students, and families. As we offer temporary online access to learning materials, they connected to so with social workers, teachers, staff, and families to ensure students remain connected and cared for by their school community. We want to thank them again for going above and beyond in service to our community. Later this evening, the board will vote on a resolution designating March 16th through 20th as Cultural Family Advocate or CFA employee appreciation week in district 196. I would also like to highlight several outstanding accomplishments by our student athletes. Good luck to the Rosemont High School girls basketball team who will compete in the state tournament on Wednesday. We wish them the best. Good luck as well to the Egan and Apple Valley boys basketball teams who will face each other on Thursday night in the section finals for an opportunity to advance to the state tournament. The uh the Rosemont boys hockey team had a fantastic season, finishing third in the 2026 state class doubleA boys hockey tournament with a win over Edina on Saturday. And we also saw a remarkable showing at the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament. Apple Valley wrestlers captured two state titles. Cassie Gonzalez captured her fourth state title and Esparanza Cavillo and Egan Jr. Taniah Borie became the first girl state wrestling champion in school history. Students from Eastview and Rosemont high schools also earned top honors at the Minnesota DECA state career development conference earlier this month in Minneapolis. More than 140 students from our two schools qualified to compete in events focused on entrepreneurship, marketing, finance, and hospitality. In coming months, we look forward to welcoming these students to a future board meeting so we can recognize their achievements in person. And that concludes my report. >> Excellent. Thank you, Superintendent Bzone. Next on the agenda is our special communication requests. Um members of the public that would like to speak to the board have multiple opportunities to engage with um the board. One of those opportunities is special communication requests. Speakers must sign up in advance of the board meeting and and are allowed up to four minutes each to address the board. Uh a couple things to keep in mind for special communication requests. Um please uh for our speakers tonight, please ensure that you are not making individual complaints against students or uh against students or staff members for the district. Um if you have something like that, a staff member can follow up with you after. Um additionally, just kind of a an FYI kind of how our special communication request works to request work tonight. When you go to the podium, I'll ask you to introduce yourself in connection to the district. Um we'll start a timer. You'll see a little light that turns green. When you have 30 seconds left, it'll turn amber. And when it turns red, you'll hear a little alarm and we'll ask you to wrap up your comments. Our first speaker tonight that I'd like to welcome to the podium is Grant Eustace. And Grant, if you just want to um start by stating your name and connection to the district and then we'll start your timer. Okay. >> Yep. Uh hi everybody. My name is Grant Eustace. I am a parent and high school teacher in the district. I am also a member of Dakota County United Educators. Tonight, Michelle Gustiffson, Tracy Wahlberg, and I are speaking in our capacity as union members on behalf of DQ. We want to be clear that we are speaking as representatives of DQ. We are not speaking on behalf of any school or the district. The perspective we are sharing this evening reflects our experiences as parents and educators in this community. Thank you to the school board and Superintendent Balone for the opportunity to speak tonight. For context, as many of you know, our current phone policy allows high school students access to their personal devices during passing time and lunch. We're here to advocate for a full day ban on personal devices for all district 196 students, grades K through 12. Today, parents and school staff who are supporters of our advocacy are here. They're wearing red. Can you please stand up? Thank you. Please seat. Please have a seat. While some view a total ban as uh overreaching, I think that perspective ignores a basic truth. School is by design a curated environment. It exists specifically to filter the world into developmentally appropriate controlled experiences. We don't ask students to navigate the real world without guard rails in any other facet of education. Technology should be no different. We are currently in a battle for student attention against a clear villain. Big tech platforms like Tik Tok, Snapchat, and Instagram profit by hijacking the dopamine and executive functioning of our youth. This is our generation's big tobacco moment. Look around. The state of Minnesota and several school districts in Minnesota are involved in a class action lawsuit against social media companies over issues related to how these platforms affect teenagers. Australia and France just banned social media for teens and many other nations. The entire EU among them are poised to adopt similar legislation this year. All while we continue to grant students unfettered access to these platforms between every class in our schools. On instruction time only bans like the one we use in our high schools currently. Author Jonathan height has this to say. That's not really a ban. It's more of an uninforcable wish. Such a policy guarantees struggle between teachers and students. And it means that there are always kids looking at phones hidden in their laps or books. Especially in the classes where the teacher has grown exhausted by the never-ending game of phone policing. As long as some kids are posting and texting during the school day, that raises the pressure on everyone else to check their phones during the school day. Nobody wants to be the last person to know the thing that everyone else is texting about. On average with instruction time only bans, 35 minutes of instruction time is lost daily simply managing device collection. that totals 98 hours or more than 4 days of lost learning per year. The cognitive switching cost of a single notification can derail a student's focus for 23 minutes. Angela Duckworth and her team of researchers asked 20,000 teachers about school phone policies. Here's what they learned. The stricter the policy, the happier the teacher and the less likely students are to be using their phones when they aren't supposed to. We're also finding that focus on academics is higher in schools that do not permit students to keep their phones nearby, including in their backpacks or back pockets. Given the myriad ways in which phones, watches, earbuds, and social media negatively impact our students lives and insulate them from the many natural frictions that we know to be important to helping them develop socially and academically. We believe the time has come to advocate for change. Thank you. I'd like to welcome our next speaker, Michelle Gustiffson, to the podium. And Michelle, similarly, if you just want to start by stating your name, connection to the district, and then we'll start your time for you. >> Good evening. My name is Michelle Gustoson. I'm a parent and a counselor in the district. Thank you to the school board and Superintendent Michael Bosone for the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm here to advocate for a full day ban on all personal devices for district 196 students grades K through 12. The research is clear that smartphones damage executive functioning skills in students by fragmenting their attention. They fuel addiction during a crucial time of brain development and they cause massive concerns for mental health. Our district recognized this concern and ban phones bell-to bell for K through8 students. However, this current policy is not working because it does not offer the same protection from smartphones for the entirety of the school day for our high school kids. As an educator and a parent of an eighth, 10th, and 12th grader, this is deeply problematic. Why are these roughly 14 to 18 year olds left on their own to handle this problem? Nationwide, 19 states, plus Washington DC have banned phones bell-to-bell. And in Minnesota, Stillwater Area Public Schools has a similar ban for K through2 students. Their superintendent, Dr. Michael Funk, recently testified that quote, "In more than 20 years as a school district superintendent, this is the most positive shift in school climate and classroom focus that I have seen," referring to the ban. He goes on to state that, quote, "picularly in our high school classrooms, they are way more attentive. Hallways are more connected. Lunchrooms are louder because students are talking to each other. Again, staff report fewer distractions and fewer conflicts during the school day tied to social media. Other states that have bell-to-bell bands for high school students site similar positive outcomes. This is the type of high school climate that high schoolers in district 196 have a right to be a part of. A counterargument that we offer in here is that high school kids are older. They need to get used to handling these smartphones. Tech companies have the brightest behavioral psychologists that are working to develop our algorithms to addict our students. Meanwhile, their brains are still developing. They are at crucial points for forming their sense of self. And they are building valuable per peer connections and exploring interests and behaviors and hobbies that we hope will last a lifetime. Not to mention the fact that they don't have fully developed prefrontal cortexes yet. We are essentially asking high school students to use a break system that isn't fully installed. The 2025 Minnesota student survey shows a troubling trend in district 196. Self-reported social media addiction climbs steadily through 11th grade where over half of female students admit that they have a problem. And this is only for the students that recognize the issue. While the district continues to search for resources and curriculum to address student well-being, we are missing a critically coste effective intervention. Our high schoolers deserve the same protection we already provide our K through8 students. A 7-hour break from phones is a resource efficient way to immediately improve our students development and the health of our school communities. Another concern that I hear about this ban is the idea that smartphones are just a way of life for high schoolers that need to be accepted. To this I say we cannot accept smartphone addiction as an inevitable way of life. This is a public health crisis that demands action. If a student came to us as educators and said, you know what, this problem is too hard to solve. We would challenge them to be solution makers. We have to hold ourselves to that same standard on this issue. While a phone-free day may not be easy at first, it is the right thing to do. We cannot give up on our high school students. It is worth it and we must figure out a way to ban phones bell-to-bell for all students in District 196. Thank you. I'd like to welcome our next speaker, Lewis Gustomsson, to the podium. And similarly, if you just want to state your name and connection to the district and then we'll start your time. >> Okay. My name is Lewis Gustoson. I am a senior that goes to a high school in district 196. I'd like to thank the school board for allowing me to talk at this meeting and I'll just dive right in. People that have previously spoken about phones and talked about phones in schools and the statistics. They've mentioned a lot about statistics. I'll try my best not to repeat what they've said and bring in some real experiences. As far as I'm aware, not many people here are students that go to a high school every day. Due to that fact, I believe it's hard to understand the experience of going to a school with smartphones. Students are missing out on so many shared experiences because of phones. Looking around the classroom after a test or during lunch, and seeing everyone with their heads down, scrolling on Instagram is the definition of isolation. That's not how you adults in the room experienced high school. And I know the world changes with time, but a change from talking with friends or reading a book to being on a phone is not a positive one. At least not to me. I don't have my phone in school, so this has happened to me many times. As someone who tries their hardest not to be addicted to their phone, I often look forward to the time I have in school without my phone or the stress that comes with it. It's a phone comes with a lot of stress, and having a time during the day where you're not allowed to have it actually is a good relief from all of that. Um, but the crazy thing is if my parents didn't ban me from using my phone in school, of course I'd have my phone on me. Every student wants to be on their phone because that's just what everyone else does. So, no big deal. It's just in their pocket. But then just having in your pocket turns into checking your notifications between every class and not talking to your friends in the hallway. And then it turns into watching a video by yourself instead of talking to friends during lunchtime. I've seen this happen so many times and I've realized that it's impossible for a high schooler to make this choice when it is so easy to just be on your phone instead. This is because we're still kids. A 9th grader is 11 years away from having a fully developed frontal lobe to make decisions and it shows in every aspect of life. Should the irresponsible teenager you yell at for running around the mall or messing around in a store be expected to responsibly limit the use of this device designed to target and addict the reward centers of their brain? On another note, I believe that one of the sadder parts is that kids feel like they're missing out on social rituals. I've heard at least 10 friends talk about how they wish they were born in the 80s or 90s because school seems so wild and fun in the movies, which is confusing because quality of life should have improved with the introduction of new medicines, technology, etc. Over time, the missing out seems to be due to the culture of not caring as much. A school culture with phones is a culture where no one truly cares on the same level. It's basic psychology. When you're with someone and they go on their phone at school, you not only go on your own if you have it, but you also feel like they value the screen more than your presence. And that is not the exact environment that I feel like teenagers should be put into in this time where they're developing their brain and how they should act in social situations. And it is one that's not the most fun to be a part of in my opinion. And due to these factors, I believe that it is very important for the district to figure out how to carry a ban on phones in schools for the entire school day. Thank you. >> Next, I'd like to welcome Tracy Wahlberg to the podium, our final speaker. And Tracy, similarly, if you just want to state your name, connection to the district, and then we'll start your time. >> All right. Good evening. My name is Tracy Wahberg and I am a parent and middle school counselor in the district. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak tonight. School board and superintendent Balsson. Smartphones and social media have changed the way our youth connect with the world around them. They are less engaged and more avoidant than the previous generation. All too often caving to the temptation to bury their faces behind their screens. Avoidance is um avoidance how is how anxiety shows up through behavior. Avoidance is easy. Avoidance is not healthy. It is the opposite of learning. Friction and discomfort are inherent to inherent to learning. Whether that learning is in math class, the hallway or in the cafeteria, academic, emotional or social, our kids need support to face discomfort. Discomfort is a powerful catalyst for learning and personal growth. Embracing these moments rather than avoiding them fosters resilience, unlocks hidden potential, and drives deep transformative change by forcing us to navigate the uncertainty of the real world. Too often, students have been asked, "Do you support a bell-to-bell ban during the school day?" That is not the question. The real question is, if none of your classmates had a phone during the school day, would you be okay without one, too? The answer is they would be. They are. In my school, we do a social media challenge in which students volunteer to abstain from using for seven days. The kids who complete it feel transformed and try to recruit others. They love themselves more. They love the world more. Many won't try even when we have a reward field trip at stake. They either don't believe they can do it or don't want to lose their social media streaks. It's how social media leaves many of us feeling addicted and loaded with self-doubt. Phones are social media. Social media are phones. They are the same. Teens are left with two options. One, join the toxic, damaging, and unrelenting virtual world. Or two, don't join and suffer the isolation with FOMO. No one escapes social media unharmed. Our kids are commonly masking through it and silently suffering. They are harming each other, harming themselves, and don't know how to stop. Parents who didn't grow up with it, or maybe they did, don't know how to help at times, too. So, they look to schools. It's our job. We need to help them stop. A common argument against banning cell phones for students is about safety. School shootings scare me. They scare everyone. But no, if my kids had a cell phone, I wouldn't want them texting me in a time of crisis. I want them to be alert, to listen to, and trust their teacher to follow the procedures set by the school that will ensure best safety for everyone. And it turns out this is exactly what school safety experts recommend. We are currently in a collective action trap of our own creation, and many parents need schools to help. We got in this together and together is the only way out. I want to leave you with a quick story. I teach a classroom lesson called screens and digital media use to eighth graders. We use the anxious generation by Jonathan Haye to teach them about the negative impacts of social media and screens to to youth. Last year, an eighth grade student asked the question at the end of the lesson, why don't high schools have an off and away cell phone policy? I thought for a moment that this was going to be one more rendition of an eighth grader trying to justify their phone use at school by pointing to the more lax high school policy that awaits them next year. Instead, there was a pause. And then another student responded, "It's like they don't care." In these lessons with students, we try to teach them that rules are established for important reasons. They reflect our concerns for their well-being. So, here's my question for you. The research and the evidence is there. What will we do to show students that we do care? Thank you for your time tonight. Right, school board. The next item on our agenda is our consent agenda. We have 19 items on our consent agenda tonight. Those items include the minutes of the February 9th, 2026 regular schoolboard meeting. The minutes of the March 3rd, 2026 special schoolboard meeting, cultural family advocates employee appreciation week March 16th through the 20th, 2026. Gifts, quarterly gifts, grants, treasures report for January 2026. Schedules of investments for January 2026. Summary of claims for January 2026. Revenues of and expenditures report for January 2026. Personnel termination and non-renewal of probationary teachers. Substitute and temporary wage rates. Staffing allocation guidelines 2026 27 carpet and other flooring replacement 2026 27 window and masonary rehabilitation expulsions of a student tow truck package and joint powers agreement with Dakota County for communities for all grant. Are there any items on the consent agenda that board members would like to remove tonight? Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So approved. So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Anna, seconded from by Sakoden. All those in favor of approval say I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Motion carries on a 6 vote. Next, that brings us to our reports section of our agenda item and uh of our agenda tonight. And I'd like to welcome Christopher Anyongo Robshaw and Carol Hchild to the podium to go over our bond update. Good evening, Chair Johnson, school board members, superintendent Balszone, and our public stakeholders. I am Christopher Angra, director of finance and operations and I am joined by Carol Housechild, the coordinator of project management and purchasing. Uh tonight's building project update is informational and no action is required. Uh one of the things that I think about when we come in and try to give an operational um presentation is how does it connect to our mission because it feels a little bit far away from the kids. But um throughout tonight's construction update uh you will see how we are directly educating, developing and inspiring our students for lifelong learning. Um I'll now turn it over to Carol who will guide us through the construction projects and I will return to discuss the financial picture. >> Good evening. Our core values being student centered, leading with collaboration, acting with integrity, and strengthening community guide more than our instruction. They guide how we deliver our building our future bond program and steward the community's investment. Tonight, we would like to show you how those values are coming to life across our projects through safety, student engagement, partnership, and our progress on the ground. We are building more than buildings. It's just not about concrete and steel. We are creating safe spaces for students, unique opportunities for learning, and moments that connect our students and community back to the work. Safety is a top priority on all of our construction sites. A safe job site protects not only the workers directly involved, but also our entire learning community, ensuring that students and staff can continue their day-to-day activities without risk. We thank Kudson Construction, who has a strong safety first culture. To date, their construction teams have worked 125,000 hours on our district projects without a lost time injury, which is a tremendous accomplishment. Districtwide, there has been only one last time injury which occurred on July 14th, 2025. These numbers reflect the commitment of every individual on our construction sites from leadership to trades people to follow procedures, plan carefully, and maintain vigilance every day. It's a culture where safety is not just a priority. It's built into every decision and every action. These practices reflect our commitment to a culture of safety where planning, communication, and teamwork allow our projects to progress efficiently while keeping people first. The district's standard response protocol, originally developed for school emergency response, has been expanded to support safety across active construction sites, including our construction teams. This shared framework ensures district staff and construction partners operate with the same clear guidance and coordinated response to keep our campuses safe. Job sites reflect the district's core value of well-being. Kudson requires a daily huddle each workday with all trade foremen and trades people present. Each daily huddle must include stretching and warm-up activities to encourage physical well-being, enga engagement, and team camaraderie. Here at the Rosemont Activity Center, you can see the sun coming up in the east and the construction team participating in their daily huddle right in front of the new pre-cast walls of the activity center. The district would like to thank the teams from Walt Architects and Canutes and Construction for their continued partnership and for providing above and beyond opportunities for our students to get an inside look at their professions through classroom visits, site tours, and project engagement. They help students better understand how schools and other buildings are designed and constructed while introducing them to the many career paths within architecture, engineering, and construction. Their willingness to share their expertise and connect realworld projects to st student learning is greatly appreciated. As part of construction on the activity center at Apple Valley High School, Kenson invited students to sign one of the structural beams prior to installation. It was a straightforward but meaningful way to connect students to the work happening in their building. These bond projects are funded by our community and designed for long-term student use. Giving students the opportunity to participate reinforces that these facilities are built to support their learning, their activities, and their growth. That beam will be in place soon, a permanent part of the structure and a quiet reflection of the students it serves. Through the ACE mentor program, students at Apple Valley High School gain direct exposure to careers in architecture, construction, and engineering. Wool Architects has been a longstanding and valued mentor for our ACE students at Apple Valley High School. During a recent tour of the activity center construction site, students gain hands-on insights into how architects plan and coordinate complex projects, make design and budget decisions, solve challenges on an active campus, and collaborate with diverse professionals to bring a building from concept to completion. As principal Drew man shared, "While it is certainly important to learn the concepts of math, engineering, and design at school, experiences like this allow students to engage in authentic learning and see these ideas in action. Even more importantly, by building relationships with professional teams, our students can begin to see themselves in this work and in these careers." Students echo that impact with one writing. It was a great way for me to see what my interest in the classroom would look like in the real world. The way the architects and construction workers spoke about their project so passionately definitely helped solidify for me that this is what I want to do. Walden Kudson also also shared their work with students at Emerald Trail through grade level presentations. Emerald Trail kindergarten students had fun learning how a school is built from the ground up thanks to Brennan Daly of Wool Architects and Engineers. One student was especially interested in how the large roof was built. And the class asked great questions and even put Brennan on the spot by asking his favorite color, blue. And there's a lot of blue in Emerald Trail. Emerald Trail first graders asked some fantastic questions, including how many bricks it took to build Emerald Trail and how much it cost. Ike McWaters, who I'll introduce in a bit, from Canudesen Construction, dressed in his construction worker gear, had the perfect answer. Millions. The students responded with a burst of excitement, amazed by such a big number. Fourth and fifth grade students at Emerald Trail got a behind-the-scenes look at how schools are designed and built. Mike Freeman and Scott McQueen of W Architects and Engineers along with Carolyn Chida of Canutes and Construction shared insights about the early planning and design process and how careful planning and construction bring a school like Emerald Trail to life. Students also learned about the school's geothermal system and how it helps and cool the building efficiently. We are grateful to Wald and Kudson for taking the time to engage with our students and for sharing their expertise, helping inspire the next generation of architects, engineers, and builders. Tonight, I'd like to introduce Ike McWaters. Ike, if you can stand up from Canes and Construction, we have Sam Johnson from Wool Architects and Engineers and Nick Thompson from W Engineers. Uh, Wool Architects and Engineers. Thank you for your partnership. We thank you both for your partnership and the work your teams are doing to bring these buildings to life. At the Minnesota Construction Summit at the St. Paul River Center. The district alongside canutes and con construction shared how we manage our bond program with transparency and accountability. We highlighted three focus areas. Scope and standardization, financial control, and proactive risk and communication planning. The takeaway was clear. Strong systems create predictability, giving the community transparent reporting, disciplined budget management, and confidence that taxpayer investment is protected while delivering highquality facilities for our students. Next, we'll cover some updates on our current projects at Scott Highland Middle School. The new addition of classrooms and restrooms is getting tile work and casework installed. This addition will help to address overcrowding. If you drive by the middle school and notice the brick on the new addition, it doesn't match the existing building, don't worry. The new brick gets washed soon and it will be a perfect match. Students will enjoy these new spaces at Scott Highlands Middle School this fall. Things are moving along quickly at our new uh Rosemont Middle School. The photo on the right is taken from the upper spectator seating in the pool area looking down into the natiatorum. It gives you a good perspective of the scale of the space and how the spectator areas overlook the pool deck. You can start to see how the layout will support both school use and larger swim events. On the left, we're seeing progress on the slab on grade in the lower level classroom wings. This work is an important milestone because it allows crews to begin transitioning into interior framing and building out those instructional spaces. Work on Boulder Trail will begin in April earlier than originally anticipated. The project will extend the existing roadway which currently ends at the west side of Biscane across Biscane to create the new south entrance into Rosemont Middle School. The middle school is on budget and on schedule to open fall of 2027. At Apple Valley High School, the activity center roof system over the storm shelter has been installed and finished with gravel and roofing work has begun on the activity center. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing roughins are underway in the main level storm shelter as crews continue preparing the space for the next phase of construction. Crews are busy on the inside working on structural steel beams, uh, joists and roof decking while concrete block work continues in the corridor that will connect the high school to the activity center. You can also see that wool included the large round window here in the design, which has become a signature architectural element that helps identify Apple Valley High School. By late fall, the Apple Valley Activity Center will be in full swing. At the East View Activity Center, the walking track is poured and stairs have been installed connecting the main level up to the track level. You can also see the basketball hoops being installed, highlighting the next steps in outfitting the gym for full athletic use and student activity. Tile installation is ongoing in the lower level restrooms with lobby wall construction scheduled next as crews continue building out the interior spaces. Students at East View will enjoy their new activity centers starting early fall of this year. At Rosemont High School, the foundation walls are taking shape for the new North Side edition, which will include classrooms and science labs. These new learning spaces are planned to welcome students early 2027. At the activity center construction site, steel has been erected for the canopy entrance, creating the framework for the new covered entry. This architectural element reflects and complements the design of the current Rosemont High School main entrance, providing a welcoming and weatherprotected entry point for students and visitors. This project continues to track well against both the schedule and the approved project budget. We're going to be busy this summer. Uh this summer we have Rosemont Elementary will get a new loading dock and the school of environmental studies will receive a s sec secure vestibule and renovated restrooms. Interior renovation work that began last summer and paused for the school year will resume at Valley Middle School of STEM, Falcon Ridge Middle School, and Scott Highlands Middle School, improving science spaces, performance spaces, and updating restrooms. Meanwhile, Egan High School eagerly awaits the start of their activity center with construction expected to begin this spring. We're proud of the progress, grateful for the partnership with Canudson and Wald, and most of all, thank thankful for the community's investment and the trust that comes with it. We diligently monitor budgets, contingencies, and project scopes to ensure we remain aligned with the voter approved funding plan and continue to be responsible stewards of that trust. Now, I'll turn it over to Christopher to pro provide an update on the bond financials. Thank you. >> Thank you, Carol. Uh through the month of through the month of February, we had bid $49 million worth of projects. This is just over 75% of the approved budget. Uh seven projects have been completed accounting for 16% of the bond budget. Uh we have four projects that are currently in design. Um this includes as Carol just mentioned the Rosemont loading dock, North View uh loading dock as well. Um and then bathrooms at transition plus and the school of environmental studies as was mentioned again the school of environmental studies includes a new entryway in that uh in that project. 7% of the original bond budget remains with additional projects entering the design phase. Later this evening, the administration will request approval of the winning bid for the second installment of our bond issuance. The $und00 million will provide necessary cash flow over the coming months on projects we have highlighted. As of February, the district had expended 196 million of proceeds from the initial 2023 bond issuance and had accumulated $30 million worth of interest. We look forward to breaking ground in Egan, completing four projects at the middle schools and two activity centers, both located in the Apple Valley um area. We continue to be grateful for the partnerships these projects making these projects come to life. Uh we will return again this summer to provide an additional update. >> Thank you very much. At this time, are there any questions or comments on the presentation from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from board members? Thank you so much for the update. This is one of my favorite updates because I know the community is very invested and every time I drive by any of our construction sites, it's really, really amazing to see the progress. So, thank you. Love seeing all the photos in there, too. Appreciate you coming. All right. Next on the agenda, I'd like to welcome Kaia Bruce, Janet Fman, and Jeremy Sorenson to the podium to go over our preschool report. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, Superintendent Bull Sony, and members of the board. I'm Kaia Bruce, director of community education, and I'm here tonight with uh Janet Fman, the director of special education, and Jeremy Sorenson, the director of elementary education. In June of 2024, we presented the enhancing and expanding early learning report which identified a critical need to better align our early learning programming with community needs. Tonight, we are here to provide a state of preschool update. We will share current data, outline our strategic goals, discuss the operational work currently underway, and highlight opportunities for success as we build our future in District 196. This isformational only. No action is needed this evening. Before we dive into the data, it's cru crucial to ground this work in our just district strategic roadmap. The expansion of our early learning programing isn't just an add-on. It's a foundational driver of our strategic priorities. For achievement, aligning early learning with K5 ensures a cohesive, seamless transition for students for equity. Providing a comprehensive continuum of programming removes transportation barriers and ensures every neighborhood has access. And for well-being, our preschool model prioritizes the whole student by addressing social emotional regulation skills that teachers identify and research shows as the strongest predictors of future classroom success. Ultimately, our vision is that every child in our district starts kindergarten with the social, emotional, and academic foundation needed to thrive. The early years are crucial. In fact, 90% of a child's brain development happens before age five. When children have access to highquality early learning, it accelerates brain development, builds foundational language and literacy skills, and develops the strong self-regulation skills needed for kindergarten and beyond. The achievement gap starts early. Children in the lowest income groups can begin kindergarten up to 20 months behind their peers. By investing early, we reduce the need for remedial education, increase the likelihood of high school graduation, and positively impact society. Studies have shown that every $1 invested in highquality early childhood programs yields up to a $16 return. The state of Minnesota recognizes the long-term, excuse me, sorry, the long-term academic and economic benefits of early learning and continues to invest in young learners through school readiness aid, voluntary prek funding, pathway scholarships, and special education funding. In the 2024 legislative session, the state expanded its commitment to by funding early learning for an additional 5,200 students statewide. Locally, district 196 identified early learning as a strategic priority in 2011, and the 2015 bond referendum underscored the need to expand space and programming for our youngest learners. Since that time, we have experienced significant growth in both programming and enrollment. In 2012, we offered just two elementarybased 4-year-old preschool sections in a single elementary school. Today, we offer 29 sections across 17 elementary schools. We now serve 43 43% of our district's four-year-olds and 20 which are 24% in general education and 19% in special education. For three-year-olds, we serve 21% districtwide, 8% in general education and 13% in special education. This represents remarkable progress and brings us close to our long-term goals of serving 50% of our four-year-olds and 25% of our three-year-olds. However, family demand continues to exceed our current capacity and our participation rates still trail those of comparable districts. Our momentum is strong. The question before us is how we continue building the capacity necessary to meet community demand and achieve our strategic targets. We'd now like to provide an overview of our current footprint and the structural models we currently offer to families. Connections Preschool is our district's general education preschool program for three and four year olds. It is an optional feebased program with fee assistance available and utilized by families. Led by Minnesota licensed teachers, the program provides highquality play-based learning that helps children build social skills, early literacy, and numeracy through meaningful interactions with peers and educators. Program options include two or three day per week half days for three-year-olds and four or five day per week half or full days for fouryear-olds. A core focus of Connections preschool is inclusion, partnering closely with early child special education so students of all abilities learn together. I'll now turn it over to Janet Fman, director of special ed, to share more about our early childhood special education program. Thank you, Ka. Our early childhood special education program ECSSE program is required by law to provide a free appropriate public education in the least restricted environment possible. Anyone can refer a child for an evaluation and referrals referrals typically come from help me grow early childhood screening or directly from parents. We provide these vital services wherever the child is, whether it's whether that's in their home, at daycare, or in our preschools. It's also important to note that transportation is an entitlement for all ECSE students to ensure they can access these necessary services. We serve students through several district program models to meet diverse needs. We have several different program options to meet the the needs of students and families. Full day preschool is highly popular and addresses the needs of working families, but is more expensive and has weight lists. Halfday provides options that allow for more special education support. Though afternoon classes are hard to fill, for inclusion, we utilize two main models. Shared inclusion, which pairs two classrooms in a co-e co-eing model to meet individual needs, but requires significant adjacent space, and full inclusion, where special education services are embedded in a single co-taught classroom. Full inclusion is excellent and what we strive for, but can sometimes be overstimulating for students who need a quieter space. Finally, small groupoup settings meet highly individualized needs but lack broader inclusion opportunities with general education peers. This brings us to enrollment trends, the data driving our decisions and the immediate logistical challenges we are facing as a district. Looking at our enrollment trends on the screen, here is what we are seeing. Steady overall growth. Our total prek enrollment continues to increase steadily year-over-year. High general education weight lists demand is consistently outpacing our capacity. Next year, we are projecting a weight list of over 200 three and four year olds for general education. Highly fluid special education numbers. Unlike general education, our early childhood special education numbers increase every single month as new evaluations are completed. We typically start the fall with roughly 575 students receiving services and grow to about 850 students by the end of the school year. That is an influx of roughly 275 to 325 new students over the course of the year. This constant moving target makes long-term space and staffing projections incredibly difficult. We have to maintain the flexibility to pivot our staff and resources based on whichever age group sees a spike in needs during the school year. Now I will turn it over to Director Jeremy Sorenson to discuss additional realities and barriers. Thank you. Good evening everybody. All right. Uh it's important to note that the MDE defines elementary as preK through fifth grade. So given that context, I'm going to talk a little bit about our current realities with space and needs and programming. So as shared at the special school board meeting last week, Tuesday, there are some transa transportation inefficiencies related to special programs like early learning programs and center-based special education programs. Unbalanced attendance areas result in significant enrollment differences across our elementary schools. Currently, some elementary buildings enroll as few as 360 students while others exceed 750 students. These these disparities create operational challenges that affect students, families, and district resources. Currently, three of the 17 elementary schools that offer school-based preschool do not actually have space for students at school. Cedar Park, East Lake, and Glacier Hills. Four-year-olds must ride a shuttle bus from their neighborhood school to another nearby school that just happened to have classroom space available. When enrollment is uneven, schools with available space are often required to absorb programs that cannot fit into higher enrollment buildings. As a result, early childhood programming and center-based special education services are frequently concentrated in schools with lower enrollment rather than being located at students home schools or schools closer to where the families live. This concentration has several impacts. Student family experience. Young learners and students receiving specialized services may attend schools farther from their neighbors. In terms of transportation, longer travel distances increase transportation complexity. time on buses for students and overall transportation costs. And then equity and access, students with the greatest needs are more likely to experience extended travel times compared to their peers. So addressing these attendance area imbalances would support more equitable enrollment across schools. It would allow programs to be located closer to students homes and improve the efficiency and sustainability of district operation, particularly transportation. This graph is a visual representing the imbalances in enrollment and special programs that happens in our buildings. Here we see information for four different elementary buildings. Dearwood, North View, East Lake, and Woodland Elementary. The blue line indicates current overall enrollment. The yellow line indicates the number of early childhood classes in the building. And the red line indicates the number of center-based special education classrooms in the building. As shown here, North View has 360 students enrolled and houses four early childhood classrooms and three center-based classrooms for a total of seven specialized classrooms. In contrast, Woodland has 690 students, no early childhood classrooms, and two centerbased special ed classrooms. East Lake is on this list as one of our larger schools and has no early has currently has no early childhood programming. We recently went through an attendance area adjustment in the southern portion of our district. Their enrollment is declining due to these adjustments and we anticipate that there will be room available in the next few years to start adding early childhood classrooms. So now looking forward I can't see far enough my glasses I have to push this perfect. So looking forward thinking about our strategic goal or our vision. Um recognizing these challenges we must focus on our strategic vision and how we plan to build our future. Our first strategic goal is to establish a true prek through grade 5 model in every elementary school by ensuring that each site includes at least one four-year-old connections preschool classroom. Currently 15 of our 20 elementary schools offer a four-year-old connections preschool classroom. Expanding this to all schools um in in the future would create consistent dedicated space for early learning across the district and ensure equitable access. This model strengthens our system in several important ways. It would support kindergarten readiness by embedding preschools within every elementary building, create seamless transition to kindergarten, and directly advances our district's kindergarten readiness goal. It would create developmentally appropriate environments um allowing us to have structurally conducive preschools, meaning it'd be a room meant for preschool, not a kind of an elementary room that's that's made for preschool. It' be the furniture and bathrooms and things like that. Align student support system. So, collating preschools with K5 students ensures early access to nurses, social workers, and other support staff that are in our elementary buildings, allowing um allowing to identify and address any needs earlier. And then transportation efficiencies, serving students with their home attendance areas reduces the need to bus preschoolers across the district, increasing efficiency and better serving families. uh establishing a true prek5 model as our strategic vision would simply it's simply not about adding classrooms. It would be about strengthening early learning, improving operational efficiency, and building a cohesive educational experience that begins before kindergarten and continues seamlessly through grade 5. Now I'm going to hand it back over to Janet. >> Did you Sorry about that. Our second strategic goal is to offer a comprehensive continuum of programming including full day, half-day, and inclusive opportunities so that every family can have access to highquality learning in a way that meets their needs. At its core, the strategy is about equity. A one-sizefits-all approach does not serve our families well. Different students and families require different schedules, levels of support, and learning environments. Our our responsibility is to design a system that reflects that reality. This model includes two key components. First, an elementary school-based model for four-year-olds. Locating our connections preschool classrooms within elementary schools supports a seamless transition into kindergarten and strengthens alignment with our K5 system. Second, geographic early childhood centers designed to serve our youngest learners from birth to age three. Establishing a northern early childhood center would shorten transportation routes, reduce travel time for students, free up space in elementary buildings, and allow early learning programs to operate in environments intentionally designed for young children. It also improves staffing efficiencies and increases accessibility for families. Together, this approach will allow us to provide programming within students neighborhoods whenever possible, enabling children to attend school alongside their peers and neighbors. By aligning programs horizontally across the district and vertically into our K12 system, we can offer the right mix of programming options while improving transportation efficiency and ensuring equitable access to highquality learning. I will turn it back over to Kaia to close the presentation. To make these goals a reality, we will engage in detailed operational planning. This includes analyzing attendance areas, current K5 enrollments, and elementary building capacities to develop formal recommendations. A key priority is identifying a dedicated space for a northern early childhood center. Our immediate focus is resolving two critical operational issues. Ensuring consistent annual classroom spaces and improving transportation efficiency. As we wrap up our state of preschool update, I want to reiterate that connections preschool and our early childhood special education programs are doing incredible work for our youngest learners. We to give you a glimpse into the joy and foundational learning happening in our classrooms every day. We would like to share a short video created this winter about our Connections Preschool program. Do I hit the play button? Every day at Connections Preschool begins with possibility. Here, bright, curious three and fouryear-olds step into learning designed to spark imagination and inspire social, physical, cognitive, and emotional growth. We pride ourselves on ensuring an inclusive community that values and welcomes all young learners. Connections preschool partners closely with the district's early childhood special education program, creating classrooms where all students learn together, growing side by side. Throughout the day, children enjoy hands-on experiences that nurture curiosity, exploring, asking questions, or making discoveries. Every moment is guided by caring adults who are experts in early childhood development. With classrooms located in 14 elementary schools and at the Dakota and Cedar Valley learning centers, families throughout our community can access highquality early learning close to home. We offer half-day or fullday options, both with a four-star parent rating. Licensed teachers guide preschoolers through developmentally appropriate learning rooted in early literacy. Through play-based and teacher-guided experiences, children build essential social, emotional, academic, and language skills in a fun and supportive way. Parents and caregivers, you are a child's first and most influential teachers. Come visit us. We want to partner with you every step of the way. This is Connections Preschool. Explore, connect, grow in learning and confidence. Just a note that Connections Preschool is currently accepting enrollment applications for the upcoming 202627 school year now through March 15th. With strategic planning, dedicated staff, and your continued support, we can provide these life-changing opportunities to families across our district in a more equitable manner. Thank you for your dedication to our students and your continued support of early learning in district 196 and we'd be happy to answer any questions you have. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. At this time, were there any questions or comments on the presentation from the audience? >> Seeing none questions or comments from board members? Scouting. >> Uh just wanted to uh quickly say thank you. This is really important that uh we're looking into uh preschool and all the connection updates and thank you for tying it to our strategic goals that we're looking at addressing this real issues by focusing into our strategic goals and tying it all together. It helps us and look forward whatever solutions that you come up with. But just wanted to quickly follow up a question is that we're looking at uh transportation and facilities and space spacing needs those help and uh uh that we focusing to uh address this strategically. What are other operational or staffing challenges that we foresee coming future and uh more near future and then are we looking into that as part of this systemic alignment that we're looking in? >> Did I did I understand the question? Other other challenges other than physical space? Yep. >> Yeah. I would say continuing to hire and retain high-quality staff would be one. Um and I think educating our administrators and our in our elementary schools around the concept of prek5 um building. So what does that continuum of sport look like in an elementary school and what are expectations for the inclusive environment? Those would be two that pops in my head. Oh, yep. >> I mean, to add to what uh Janet said, when I was principal of Dearwood, we added some early childhood programs and I think that helps build community with that staff with that group of staff members and those students. So, in terms of retention and things like that, the more we can get early childhood as part of our elementary as a whole and not just if we have space, that's going to help with both hiring appealing and with retention. >> Thank you. Thank you. Other questions or comments from board members? >> Jackie, I have a few questions. I love this tied as Sakaden said tied to the strategic goals and I would hope and I think that you found that when you pulled in preschool that it kind of made it part of it was just naturally part of your school. They weren't four-year-olds over here and now they're coming to school as kindergarteners. they were part of the school and just were naturally brought in and you knew them and worked with them as you would any other any and because they were your students and they were going to be there the next year. I think that is the one of the best things I've heard tonight is that the connection that we will have one of those in every school one or two of those in every school so that we really get that solid foundation and get kids started straight on. Um hopefully the goal is then to eliminate the weight list because I think that's one of the biggest calls I get every year is do you have a way that we can you can we can put your name down and would that help us get on the in the school and not on the weight list? I said well don't put my name down that will probably help but that is that is a concern. We get a lot of questions about that. Um and the changes up with preschool and the special ed if they're each in their in more in their more regional school their school that really gets back at the least restrictive environment and really helps that because they're part of your whole school, their whole school, our whole school. We're all in this together. I like that that part too. Will you come back to us before the end of the year? I mean, are you We're working towards this being a start in the fall. >> You people are really ambitious. >> Good point, Jenn. We're always working toward >> I know you are. I know. I don't know that we can implement everything for um the fall of 26, but we are going to be taking those next steps that I outlined in our in the presentation today to be able to to >> start that work. Very good. Thank you very much. Very enter very educational. Thank you. Thank you for your work. >> Other questions or comments from board members? >> I just want a quick followup. Just uh also with the increase in number of special education is increase in monthly enrollment. What is our projection? I know we will be getting projections at some point. Is this going to continue maybe next couple years or >> forever >> the trends have? Yes. I I would say we're seeing some stability. It's not, we're not seeing spikes, but that stability is an increase of about 250 students over the course of a year receiving special ed services in early childhood. So, we're seeing kind of some stability there. Um, that said, it's a lot of students. It's a lot of kids. >> Yeah. >> Thank you, >> Anna. Um, I'm gonna ask you to pull up slide 10 again if that's okay because I do have a question about slide 10. Sorry. the current reality realities, logistical hurdles. >> We just need a PowerPoint. I see it. Oh, there it is. >> Yeah, that's the one. Um I don't think I quite understood. Can you that slide? Can you explain to me what is >> what am I supposed to understand from this slide? And then where are you trying to get to? Like what's the intended goal? Like where are we trying to >> what should this slide look like? >> Sure. Thank you. Good question. Appreciate it. So I'm just going to go over the colors again. So blue is their total enrollment. So what we're doing is we're comparing two of our smallest schools with two of our biggest schools. So the blue is the overall enrollment. So you can see North View and Dearwood. >> Um and then it's uh East Lake and Woodland. >> Um the yellow is early childhood programming. So, if you can see, there are multiple early childhood programs both at Deerwood and Northview because there's space there. Um, not necessarily because it's those children's home school, >> right? >> Um, and then at East Lake and Woodland, there's no early childhood programming again because uh their enrollment is so high. There's just not space there for that. Um, and then the red is special education centerbased programs. So, again, if you look at Northview and Dearwood, because there's space, they both have multiple programs. Um, so Dearwood and Northw would be at seven or eight combined specialized classrooms, meaning an early childhood or a center-based classroom, whereas both East Lake and Woodland are at two or three. So our goal would be to balance that out. So we could have at least one early childhood program in every elementary building. Okay? >> And to be able to balance out and have kind of a continuum of services of special ed in all of our elementary buildings. So again, balancing enrollment amongst those those buildings would help us have space for all of those different programs to spread it spread it more evenly if that makes sense. >> And one of the strategies or one of the ways you're looking at doing that would be with transportation would be with not redistricting. What how are the solutions or the proposed solutions? >> I think it would I think it would be worth looking at our our enrollment areas and doing a study on that. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you for that. I just >> particularly on the on the northern side of our district would be looking looking at some of those things. >> Okay. Thank you. I just need to make that connection. Thanks. >> Could you speak to the benefit of an early childhood center on the north side of the district as well and how that would impact >> and then >> the spaces because that's a second part of our strategy as well. >> Clarify what you mean by northern part too. Yep. Um I would say in the Egan end of our school district is the nor considered the northern part and having another option for a center there would free up some would shift some of our class small group more intensive um needs that are currently in our elementary schools that we could shift to a northern center which would create one the space um built for them or we would make ensure the space is conducive for their learning. I think a second point, transportation efficiencies, but a third point is staffing efficiencies because we can, you know, shift staff much easier when you're in one site versus spread across 10 buildings. So, it's freeing up some space within those environments. >> Katherine, >> um, thanks. I have a followup to that. So, we would be creating a separate space for those children with the greatest needs. So would this be taking those children out of an environment where they're in the same building with other children? And so we would be separating them out to their own space. >> To their own space and and this hasn't all been figured out yet. It's it's going to be over the course of several years potentially. >> I was saying three year olds. >> Yes. >> You're talking about the youngest learners, I believe. >> Oh, three-year-olds. Yes. Yeah. So, the northern, if you can say the northern who it's for, >> I would say three-year-olds and we'd like to offer some inclusive opportunities for three-year-olds. So, it might be three-year-olds needing specialized services and three-year-olds in general preschool. So, those are the inclusive opportunities we create in the centers like we do at the DBLC right now. >> Okay. >> Um, and then some students, four year olds with more complex needs. So it' be a combination of inclusive options and four-year-olds with more complex needs that need different setting. >> Okay, >> I'm here. >> So we wouldn't be pulling kids out with the greatest needs to put them in their own school. It would be an inclusive environment with >> It'd be both, I would say. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yep. And so, and if I'm understanding what Jackie was pointing out, how nice it is to have those opportunities for those early learners within the school, the elementary school. Now, we're actually removing that opportunity. >> No, it gets very complicated. >> Okay, good. I just wanted to make sure. Okay. Okay. No, we're we're increasing opportunities for our four-year-olds connection preschool and inclusive opportunities within our elementary schools and creating more consistency across the 20 sites. >> Okay. Okay. >> And we're creating opportunities for our youngest learners, our three-year-olds, which would be inclusive opportunities also. Okay. >> Um and some of our foury olds that have the mo most complex needs. So, it's it's both. >> Thank you. Thank you for clarifying. And at this point, we feel like we have the number of students to need both. >> Okay. Those things >> I'll just add that at the Dakota Valley Learning Center right now, we do have weight lists for three-year-olds. So, having this northern area or northern childhood early childhood center would be able to allow us the ability to serve more three-year-olds, too. And am I correct that by providing another early childhood um learning center, we'd be pulling some students out of the elementary schools, which would then provide space for us to be able to do more early learning within the elementary schools. >> And did you say there's how many weight like what was the average weight list for three-year-olds? 200 >> around 200 total for three and four year olds. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you. >> Around October 1st. >> All right. Thank you. Excellent. >> Thank you. Do you have something else? >> I'll just add and I think Kaia said this, but we have very minimal inclusive opportunities for our three-year-olds because of our space restrictions at the DVLC and a weight list for three-year-olds. So, >> so this would be creating more opportunities, not limiting. Correct. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Multi-layer. Thanks. >> Good question. >> Lots of layers. >> Great. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you very much. All right. That brings us to the new business portion of our agenda. I'd like to welcome Danny Duchene to the podium to go over the first reading of the 202526 capital expenditure budget. Good evening, Chair Johnson, Superintendent Bolson, members of the school board, and our district 196 community. My name is Danny Duchain, coordinator of finance here for district 196. Tonight, district administration presents the 202627 capital budget for a first reading and summary review. The capital budget will be brought back to the board with a more detailed budget book and recommended approval at the regular April 13th schoolboard meeting. The capital budget focuses on the resources strategic priority within the within the district's strategic roadmap connecting our staff and students with the proper facilities, equipment, technology, curriculum resource and curriculum resources to execute all the other initiatives on our strategic roadmap. The capital budget focuses on three separate capital related funding sources provided from the state of Minnesota and the district 186 community. the operating capital budget, the long-term facilities maintenance budget, and the capital projects levy. Not included in the capital budget book are the construction projects funded by the 2023 bond referendum with which Christopher and Carol presented earlier this evening. These projects operate under a separate budget and timeline from the capital budgets included in tonight's presentation. Each of the three budgets presented tonight have unique characteristics and are included in the in the restricted portion of the general fund balance sheet. Revenue received for these programs must be solely used for the purposes outlined in state statute and unspent funds are carried over to the following fiscal year staying within each of these individual programs. One thing to note is that many of the purchases or projects may be allowable in more than one of these capital budgets. Much of the district's planning for these budget centers focus on reviewing requests and determining which funding sources are most applicable that help the district max maximize the impact of these programs across the entire district. The capital budget precedes the rest of the preliminary budget for a couple of reasons. First, many of the building related projects in each of these three budget centers occur over the summer months when district buildings aren't as consistently busy as they are during the school year. Additionally, many of these projects require additional procurement steps or long lead times for deliveries. Approval of these projects and purchases earlier allows us to capitalize on building availability, maximizing schedule, minimizing disruption, while also taking in potentially longer procurement processes into account. Included in the board packet tonight is a more detailed summary of the information covered over the next few slides. Let's begin by looking at the operating capital budget. The district receives revenue each year for the operating capital budget in the form of both state aids and property taxes through the certified levy. Operating capital fund expenditures generally fall into a few main categories. our building and ice arena leases, curriculum resources, building and site renovations not applicable or not covered by the LTFM program, major equipment purchases and technology needs. Financially, the district projects beginning the fiscal year 27 year with a $6.1 million fund balance in operating capital. Fiscal year 27 revenues are projected at 141 $14.1 million. $9.2 million coming from the property tax levy and $3.9 million coming from state aids from the state of Minnesota. $18.2 million in expenditures leaves an anticipated fund balance at the end of the fiscal end of the 2627 fiscal year of 1.0 million. Hold on. There we go. Similar to operating capital revenue, the district receives revenue for the long-term facilities maintenance projects in the form of both state aids and levy property taxes. This pro this program focuses primarily on maintenance and replacement of and the next word is the keyword existing systems and infra infrastructure with comparable upgrades. Some of the main categories for LTFM projects include health and safety, mechanical systems, interior surfaces such as flooring replacements and painting, and major roofing projects. Financially, within the long-term facilities maintenance budget, the district projects a fiscal year 27 beginning fund balance of $3.4 million. Projections for the fiscal year 27 of $2.8 million in state aids and $9.0 million in property taxes. 11 or which totals $1.8 million in revenue. $12.5 million in expenses results in a projected fiscal year 27 ending fund balance of $2.7 million which is restricted for only LTFM eligible uses. The final capital capital budget presented tonight is the capital projects levy. The capital projects levy is a voter-approved property tax levy with the 10-year capital projects levy beginning in the 2627 fiscal year approved by the voters in the November 2025 election. Revenue for the capital projects levy primarily and almost entirely comes from property taxes with a very small percentage of revenue classified as miscellaneous revenue due to the sale of district iPads once our district is done using them and e-ate reimbursements. There is not a state aids component revenue component for this particular program and that's one of the main differentiators between the capital projects levy as against operating capital and long-term facilities maintenance. The capital projects levby primarily focuses on technology needs in our district such as the district's 1 to1 iPads initiative, instructional and non-instructional computers, classroom instructional equipment, software license licenses, technology staffing and benefits, as well as district-wide technology infrastructure. The district projects a fiscal year 27 beginning fund balance of $6.5 million in the capital projects levy, revenues of $16.0 0 million and expenditures of $14.1 million results in a projected ending fund balance in fiscal year 27 of $8.4 million. A couple of other things to note on the capital projects levy. The new levy approved this past November included a significant increase in annual re revenue from approximately $9 million in the current 2526 school year to over $15 million in the 2627 school year and beyond. This increase in revenue will will obviously be accompanied by an increase in expenditures to execute the district's plans for the capital project levy. So, just a note as we're comparing year-over-year, you know, there's a hu there's a big jump from last year to when the voter approved levy takes effect in fiscal year 27. Lastly, because the new levy was approved only a few months ago, the district is still actively working through additional plans to maximize this program within district 186. So the numbers presented here tonight depict where the planning currently stands with expenditure additions likely to occur between now and the April 13th board meeting when we ask for approval as well as between now and the June meeting when the entire preliminary budget will be approved. So this is one of the budget centers that will make sure we identify what those changes are when we get to those particular board meetings. As mentioned at the beginning of the presentation, the 2627 capital budget will be brought back to the board for rec a second reading and recommended approval at the April 13th regular board meeting. >> And at this time, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Thank you very much. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from board members? >> Excellent. We'll see you for the second reading next month. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next, I'd like to welcome Adam Watenburgger to the podium to go over the first reading of policy 707, transportation. All right. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, school board members, and Superintendent Balsson. Um I'm here tonight with the first reading of some proposed changes to policy 707 transportation. Uh we discussed a couple of these major changes at our special meeting last week. Um and this is just one piece of our broader efforts to provide stability and sustainability to our transportation system in the long term. So uh to summarize what's being proposed here, first we are proposing to move to an optin system in which families must affirmatively request transportation. Um, this will allow the district to create a more accurate picture of the number of students we actually need to provide routes for. As it is, we have to plan for pretty much everyone. Everyone who's eligible for transportation, we have to um assume that we may need to provide routes for. So, there's some uh surplus planning there that that is going on. Um, the actual policy language being proposed is pretty simple. We're just adding an upon request clause, but that will allow us to implement the opt-in process, and the administration will work to develop the necessary forms and communication protocols to ensure that everyone who needs transportation um is able to request it. The second change is that we will be uh limiting transportation to and from two addresses per student uh within their school attendance area. when a student has multiple addresses and there are some students who are using up to six addresses that they are um having transportation to and from. So when there are those multiple addresses space is reserved on multiple buses for those students and that increases the total number of routes that we have and adds additional complexity to our planning. Um, limiting that to two per student uh will help reduce that strain while still allowing some flexibility for families to have two locations for those who need it. Um, to be clear, we wouldn't be implementing these changes until the start of next school year, although the policy language would change in April if the board approves it at that point. Um, the primary goal of these revisions is to reduce unused seats, allow for more efficient routing, and create more consistent and predictable bus assignments. Um, while we're working on this policy, we're also proposing a few smaller changes um that I'll briefly discuss here. Um, first, we're proposing to remove the option that's currently in the policy for families to request an alternative destination other than their normal bus stop on individual days. Um, this is just this is aligning with our other change to sort of limit families to two bus stops uh per family. um just to keep creating stable consistency and routing um so we know which bus stop these students are expected to be at um any given day. Um it also increases safety when drivers know exactly who's supposed to be getting on their bus, getting off at what stops. Um so we're we're taking out that option. Um we also have a clause that says that we don't route down culde-sacs due to safety concerns from turning the bus around in a small area. Uh we're we're proposing adding the phrase deadend road to that clause because those have the same safety concerns as culde-sacs. Maybe even more difficult without the loop there to turn around in. Um we're also removing the requirement that we route buses down culde-sacs that are one mile or longer. Um again this is primarily about the safety challenges that are posed by our buses traveling down these types of roads. Um, finally, we're making a small change just to ensure that the transportation coordinator is included in any decisions to allow other people to ride a bus that aren't usually scheduled to be on that bus. So, this could be other adults or staff members or parents who for some reason have a legitimate reason to be there. We're just adding the transportation department to that process so that everyone is in the know. Um, so those are the changes being proposed and the language is highlighted um in the exhibit before you. Uh we may come back with other policy proposals uh later on as we continue to study various options that we discussed at the meeting last week, but this is what we were uh ready to put before you today. Uh this is a first reading, so I'm happy to take any feedback and questions and then I'll be back to ask for approval in April. >> Hello. There we go. Thank you very much. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Yes, ma'am. Um, if you could just so the recording gets you, if you come up to the podium, you can just um start by introducing yourself and um connection to the district. >> Two minutes. >> Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry. Uh most questions don't go that long, but just so you know, there is a two-minute time limit. You'll see the clock that goes there. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Hi, my name is Kelly Urban. I am a school counselor in the district and also a parent. What a question that I would ask um is when there is a change to policy whether that policy is an all or nothing package deal. So if there's a change to policy are we considering different changes separately or is it a vote and approve everything in the policy? >> So okay I think you can pause the timer. I think the question is a more procedural a little bit. So this is a first so this is a first reading. So generally what happens with policy changes is a policy change would go before the policy committee which is a committee the board has um the committee would then either recommend changes or discuss it usually a lot of the times if they're straightforward like for instance if there's a legislative change the policy committee wouldn't even need to meet it would just go for the board to the board and then we would do two separate readings. Um like so for this one there's a reading tonight which is the first reading and the second reading the board would take action. The action could be anything the board wants to deliberate on. So it could be um accepting all changes to the policy. There could be certain ones and the administration could come back with something different as well. So the first reading is just to introduce it um to allow for the board to have time to think through the changes and to get any community input if needed. Did I answer your question? >> Yes. And I'm just wondering at what point community would be able to weigh in on any policy changes and how they might be impacted. >> Yeah. Well, we have a lot of different opportunities. Um first is tonight like a board meeting. Um would be the um the first reading and then of course the second reading. There's another opportunity special communication requests. We have community listening sessions that any member of the public can sign up for. And then um additionally just um our phone calls, emails to board members um we always follow up on. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You bet. Thanks for the questions. Other questions or comments from the audience? >> All right. See questions or comments from board members? Scouting. >> I just uh have a a quick follow-up question. I know we had a just it was just uh last week I believe just with the special boat meeting just to talk about the the transportation. My question is that how are we what do we have as a plan? How are we going to communicate this to the families that about this changes with optain and all the policy changes ahead of time so that the families have to plan ahead and communicate clearly in different many modes of communication. So that this that this is not missed or anything like that. We're not leaving families uh you know behind at some sort. So >> yeah, I'll take that one if that's okay. Um it's a great question. So um we do have a communications team that's working specifically following our policy recommendations and changes and so they have plans, multilingual plans to make sure that that gets communicated. We've also been um working with and communicating with other districts who have done um similar programs, have learned from them how they've communicated successfully. We also know that this might take a couple years for people to truly understand how this works. So, we're expecting that um some people may request transportation later in August, maybe even September, first week of school, and we would stand ready to accommodate them uh if they missed this. Uh but then as every year goes on, it should get smoother and smoother. >> Thank you. Jackie, did I say you have a question? >> Oh, my question was just did this go to the policy committee? You you mentioned the policy committee. It hasn't been >> Oh, yeah. So, this did I can answer that actually. This did go to the policy committee. Um I did um we did not actually meet on this one. Well, I can tell you policy committee didn't deliberate so I can't speak for other members, but um I my rationale was this made more sense to talk with the full board right away. >> Hope so. >> Yeah. But yeah, good question. Excellent. All right, other questions are coming from the board. Excellent. I gotta answer two questions tonight. I feel I never get to answer questions. I got >> Thank you. Uh, excellent. Oh, Anna, go ahead. >> I actually have a question. Can you can you talk a little bit more about these culde-sacs um that are a safety issue? I I mean like in my neighborhood I have a lot of culde-sacs. I have these culde-sacs that are just right off the road. I mean they're not they don't help me understand the safety issue around culde-sacs. >> Yeah. Christopher will come up with >> probably more for that. >> Yeah. >> Good evening. So that that different um items that I'd look at. So if it's a main thorowway and it's a culdeac that we are not driving into that would not be affected in in this most of the culde-sacs in the in the in the district we don't drive into. Okay. >> Uh the issue you get into if you drive a bus into a culdeac small or big is once the vehicle goes in how do you then maneuver it out? what we have experienced over the last uh few years as we grow as a district uh with limitations in terms of um capacity with buses where we we've been purchasing bigger vehicles to accommodate more students. So the buses are getting longer. The roads are not getting wider. They're staying the same. So a vehicle going into a street that may have been uh allowed when it was 60. We had a 60 foot bus. Uh now you have a 7 72 foot bus going into that same road. It has to do sudden maneuvers that the state patrol, the National Transportation Agency says you should not do as a bus. You should not back up. Um which you are required to do if you enter a culdeac and you're not able to turn around. Um so when we brought the conversation it was you have culdeacs but then we operate within three different main cities, Upper Valley, Rosemount and Egan. And each jurisdiction has a different definition of what a culde-sac is. Uh so one would just say it's a dead end road. Uh while others say a culde-sac has this bubble at the end. So then trying to clean that up. It's is it a dead end road which other jurisdictions have or is it just a dead end you know a culdeac? It's defined. >> Okay. And so Okay. Got it. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Thank you very much, Adam. We will see you back next month for the second reading. Thank you. All right, that brings us to our other action items, and I'd like to welcome Virgil Jones and Alyssa Bartto to the podium to go over our achievement and integration plan. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, Superintendent Bosonei, and members of the school board. My name is Virgil Jones. I'm here with Alyssa Bartage, coordinator of equity and inclusion. We are here to present our achievement and integration plan for school years 2026 through 2029. First of all, we'd like to thank the parents, students, cultural family advocates, teachers, administrators, coordinators, cabinet members, school board members, Native American parent advisory council members, um staff from the American Indian Education Program, as well as Superintendent Bosone for their contributions to the creation of the plan. Additionally, we'd like to thank the steering committee that is comprised of several members of cabinet, including Rachel Hughes, Jeremy Sorenson, Eric Hansen, as well as Steven Bell Kemp and Amber Walsh for helping us navigate putting this plan together. At the conclusion of this presentation, we'll be asking for the board to approve the achievement and integration plan. Today we will focus on the intersectionality of achievement, equity, and resources of our strategic roadmap in alignment with our proposed plan. Every three years, District 196 gathers a collection of stakeholders to provide input and ideas for the next achievement and integration plan, which will cover the time frame from July 1st, 2026 through June 30th of 2029. The plan is due to MDE this week, um, usually early March, and we provide a progress report to the school board and the Minnesota Department of Education, um, each year in October. As you can see from the slides, we involve a lot of stakeholders from the community. Last summer, we began preparations for the creation of this plan. Throughout the year, multiple stakeholder groups engaged in the design of the goals and strategies for our proposed plan. There are three main buckets of required goals that are required by the Minnesota Department of Education for the achievement and integration plan. Achievement disparity is one. Teacher equity is the other and integration is the final one. Due to our designation as a racially isolated district, we have additional strategies where we partner with districts uh around our area per state statute. This is considered an integration stat strategy with partner districts. This year, the partnership with the instruction and achievement department resulted in an aligned achievement integration program. A racially isolated school district is a district where the district-wide enrollment of protected students based on the definition through MDE exceeds the enrollment of protected students of any adjoining district by more than 20 percentage points. Protected class as defined by MDE means students identified as African-American, black American, Asian, Pacific Americans, CHO and Latino Americans, American Indian, Alaskan Native, and multi-racial students as well as students who qualify for educational benefits. Here on the screen, you can see our district demographic data, which reflects our diversity and is a strength of District 196. As part of being identified as a racially isolated district, we are um required to engage with the multi-dist collaboration council. The adjoining districts to the Rosemont Apple Valley Egan school districts are South St. Paul, South Washington County, and Hastings. Farmington, Lakeville, and Burnsville are also considered racially isolated. Our primary partnerships are with South Washington County and Ever Grove Heights. The purpose really of these multi-dist collaboration councils is to share input on integration goals and to identify cross-d district strategies to improve student integration. The 2026 29 achievement integration plan has three student achievement goals that are district-wide goals and we are going to dive into them today. District 196 and equity and inclusion as a department have a goal to really close all achievement gaps. The state requires incremental goals to be in smart goal format. This is a model and it shows our current data. Updated data will be provided in the spring. The achievement goals align with district 196's systemwide goals, which has been our focus in partnership with the instruction and achievement department. Throughout our plan, we followed guidance from the state and our research assessment and analytics department to determine both rigor rigorous and attainable goals. Goal one, as you see here, focuses on the four identified student groups you see in the table. This data reflects growth in literacy as measured by the literacy screener administered during various times of the school year. For the purpose of this plan, we are focusing on kindergarten through 8th grade data. On this chart, you specifically see a six percentage point growth goal by 2029. data for this goal represents fall to winter as it is our most current data. However, we will update to fall to spring data as soon as that comes in which will be used in future progress reports to the Minnesota Department of Education and the board in October. Goal two, our second achievement goal, focuses on grade 11 students who are taking the ACT. In alignment with current district priorities and efforts with instruction and achievement, there is an emphasis on literacy and reading. The rigorous and attainable multi-year goal focuses on a 6% growth goal by 2829. And in that case, it's a change because we've typically used a composite score goal, but we're aligning it to what we're doing across the district. Goal three, which is related to our AVID program, is AVID is offered at all the comprehensive high schools and the school of environmental studies as well as Blackhawk Middle School, Falcon Ridge Middle School, and Valley Middle School. AVID's mission is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college and career readiness and success in a global society. AVID students will be encouraged to engage in and register for at least one rigorous course as they continue in Abbott. Students are challenged to enroll in that one course throughout in order to provide more opportunities for them post high school. All right, we will now discuss goal number four under integration. Check and connect is a researchbased intervention from the University of Minnesota that aligns with MNMTSS and is provided by our cultural family advocates. Check and connect supports improving supports improving attendance and academics while reducing behavior referrals. Students are considered consistently attending school if they have more than 90% attendance. Following guidance from both the state and our research assessment and analytics team, we have set a 2% increase goal, which is attainable and aggressive based on districtwide data. Goal number five addresses teacher equity. As we plan for staffing in our district, we keep our strategic priority of equity in the forefront, seeking to diversify our staff to provide all of our students with a rich and culturally diverse educational experience. We set a district teacher equity goal to ensure our staff are representative of our student population and work diligently to recruit talented, well-qualified employees. Our short-term recruiting goal is to increase our licensed staff from 6% in 202526 to 8% in 2028 29. This 2% smart goal is set following guidance from the state. Now we're going to go back. There we go. All right. Goal number six focuses on integration. Our district collaborated with an adjoining district to offer the opportunity to attend Business Innovation Academy, a summer camp at the University of Minnesota designed to help middle school students build leadership skills, explore career pathways, and strengthen college readiness. Two years ago, Business Innovation Academy was offered to three of the middle schools. And last year, we were able to expand the program by offering it to all six middle schools. Goal six reflects that district 196 will maintain a participation rate of at least 95% annually of all students registered for business innovation academy from July 2027 to July 2029. Last year, we conducted a pre and post survey of students that was self-reported and overall students report enhanced skills in critical thinking, communication, problem solving, leadership, and teamwork. What we've talked about so far has addressed racially isolated district goals or district goals. We also have a racially identifiable school in our district. Our upcoming slides will address the racially identifiable school goals that we are required to have by the state of Minnesota. Cedar Park is currently our only racially identifiable school. We celebrate our district's increased diversity over time, which has resulted in going from four racially identifiable schools to currently having one. Racially identifiable schools are defined by the Minnesota Department of Education as a school where enrollment of protected students as defined by MDE at school within a district is more than 20 percentage points above the enrollment of protected students in the entire district for the grade level served by the school. So similar to what we shared earlier regarding racially isolated districts, protected class is define defined in the same way. Similar to the district goals, Cedar Park has uh in the 2026 to 29 racially identifiable school plan has a has student achievement goals. This goal focuses on increasing the percentage of students in the four identified student groups you see in the table who demonstrate growth in literacy as measured by the literacy screener admin administered during various times of the year. All students in grades kindergarten through 8th grade complete the screener. On this chart, you specifically see a six percentage point growth goal from 2526 to 20 29. This follows district goals and data for this goals represents our most current data. However, we will update the data uh this spring which will be used in future progress reports to the board as well as the Minnesota Department of Education. Goal two. Cedar Park also has a math goal as its second achievement goal. This goal focuses on increasing the percentage of students in the four identified student groups you see in the table who demonstrate growth in math as measured by the math screener administered during various times of the year which is usually fall, winter, and spring. All students in grades kindergarten through 8th grade complete this screener. On this chart, you specifically see a 4 percentage point growth goal for 2526 through 2029. Data for this goal represents our most current data. Again, we'll update this data this spring. Rigorous and attainable goals were determined based on the data trends around math and recommendations from MDE and our research assessment and analytics department. In alignment with staffing in our district, Cedar Park Elementary will keep our strategic priority of equity in the forefront, seeking to diversify our staff to provide all of our students with a rich and culturally diverse educational experience. The percentage um increase is about 2%. Our integration goal is supported um which is goal number four by our work with camp invention which is a summer day camp filled with fun hands-on STEM adventures led by qualified local educators designed to spark creativity and build confidence. It's offered to three schools who either recently or are currently identified as racially identifiable. This year, camp convention will be held at Greenleaf Elementary in July. The program runs for four days, 8 am to 4 pm each day. We offer uh this program to about a dozen students at each school. We provide scholarships, transportation, and registration support to the families. This concludes our presentation. Thank you for your time and our recommendation is to approve the 202629 achievement integration plan. >> Thank you very much. This is an action item for the board tonight. So before we move into questions, um is there a motion to approve the achievement integration plan as presented to move? >> Second. >> Motion by Sakoden, seconded by Leah. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from board members? Leah. >> Um, so I I just want to check my understanding of some of the terminology, which I don't love. Um, that's just my personal opinion. But so the actual definition of a racially isolated district has to do with if we have 20% or more I'm going to say BIPO students, you know what I mean? Um, >> than than the neighboring. So it just has to do with the pure demographics of our dis our district compared to others. So it doesn't have to do with an achievement gap or or a difference in outcomes for our students within our district. It's not comparing how our achievement gap looks compared to other districts or anything of that nature in terms of how we're serving those students. It's simply just the pop the demographics of our community compared to others is more diverse. Is that right? >> Yes. And in our case, um our land boundary butts up against Hastings, which is the district that puts us in that category. >> Well, and I I really just wanted to clarify. I think obviously regardless of any labels, it's always good and it's in our values to, you know, to keep pushing for um equity and outcomes for all of our students. Um so mostly I just wanted to make sure that I'm right in what the term means because I don't think my opinion is that there's nothing negative or alarming about being more racially diverse. And in fact, I see it as a strength of ours compared to other districts. Um, but I but I just so racially isolated to me almost sounds like a negative thing, but >> in our case, I think of it as racially diverse, and I think that's great for us. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Agreed. >> Excsions or comments from board members. >> Oh, yeah. Katherine, >> um, I have a question. I guess I have um like the the percents that we've chosen as our goals to increase by um is I I mean I I think I heard you say that they're based on uh MDE's recommendation and um a couple others. I guess I'm curious how we came to those. And then specifically, I'm concerned about um goal number three with the AVID students with a goal of being a certain percent of our students have a having a C minus grade. To me, as a parent, I don't think like I don't know that that I would put that as my goal grade for anyone. So, I'm curious about encouraging students to go into a program where we're just expecting them to get a C minus instead of maybe looking at how we can get kids into a program or a level where they can achieve an A or a B. Um, you know, I know I understand that C is passing. I get it. But as a parent, I wouldn't want my child to just be aiming for a C minus. So, I guess I'm curious at some of the goals that we're putting out there. So, um I'll try to address a couple of those things one at a time. Um so, as a committee, we looked at a lot of data trends um for student groups as well as um for our district. And so, those goals were conversations started with conversations that we had as a committee. And the same questions that you're asking here were the same questions that a lot of committee members asked as well. And when you look at the data itself, we were trying to have something that um I I always say that it's a minimum, right, for us, but we're really always trying to go higher. But what what we always like to to remind um folks are that are not familiar with this plan is is that the smart goals have to be attainable. when you don't reach um the targets that you set, the state requires you to remove funding from some other activity and put it in back into that goal. So, we always aim for higher, but that is the the minimum goal that we're looking at. Okay. >> For our students. >> Got it. And on the AVID question that you have, A's and B's are included in that, but when we think about grades that are um minimally acceptable for colleges, D's and Fs typically are not >> positive things. Um and so the C minus is what we look at in terms of first generation students, low-inccome students who are probably taking rigorous courses for the very first time in some cases. Um is the minimum grade level or grade that they would receive that we think would um help support them in taking more courses or prerequisites for other courses. >> Okay, got it. Thank you. >> Excellent. Other questions or comments from board members? So are we tracking then? So that's the minimum. Then are we tracking? So we're aiming for higher which is great. And then is there an update then? Do we get like a midyear update? >> Yes. >> Okay. and then what those and so we'll at some point we'll come back in October and we'll see specifically what those >> grades will be. Okay. Um and then we'll also see what adaptations you'll make to maybe increase those even though our minimum requirement is because we'll be going I mean even though that's our minimum requirement we're still reaching for higher. >> Yes. And so we'll have adaptations in our strategy to continue to to reach for higher. >> Yeah. Part of our programming is to make sure that >> um the work that we're doing in this program is done with fidelity. And so we spend a lot of time more on the instruction um support that happens in the AVIT program >> because we know when that is done with fidelity that students um excel. >> Okay. >> So yes. >> Okay. and you track that for all of the schools and that's including middle school too or is this just for high school? >> This is just high school focus. >> Okay. >> I have another question. >> Um I I'm super interested in the business innovation academy and the camp invention. >> Um and I got a flyer about the camp invention. Um, so I'm curious how we are doing focused recruitment for those >> two programs and how and I heard with camp invention transportation and I think scholarships for attendance which is great. Um, so I'm interested in the recruitment for those and then how we are um addressing accessibility. I think camp uh business innovation academy is at the U. So, how do we uh explain what these programs are and recruit um kids who we want to attend them and then how do we address accessibility? >> Great question. So, I I omitted this, but we also provide the same thing for business innovation academy as well as as we do for Camp Invention. So, they do get transportation as well as um free access to the program and there's only limited spots. And so, we've been fortunate as a district that we've been able to access the number of spots that we have. There are school districts that want to do this program that currently aren't able to because of the limited number of spots. The way in which we work in both programs is we work with the schools, the social workers and the counselors and the administration to help us identify students um that are in those protected student groups and make sure that those students are typically what we like to say is students who would not normally have access to summer opportunities um through financial hardship or whatever it might be to be able to support those rising students in order to get access for them through the programming. So, they're our primary students that we look for. >> And so, how do we recruit? How do we recruit those? >> Um, we we have uh flyers, we email the counselors and the social workers contact the parents directly. They identify students as a group in at their buildings and then they look at um obviously with for some of these programs we need to do the attendance area because of the transportation cost. So in the elementarymentaries for instance if they're a magnet student they could be >> a lot of different places um both open enrolled as well as inside the district. So we really target um the schools using the expertise of the social workers, the counselors and the school administration to help identify students. >> Thanks. >> Excellent. Other questions or comments? >> We have a motion to approve from scouted seconded by Leah. All those in favor of approval say I. >> I. >> Those opposed? >> Motion carries on a six-0 vote. Thank you very much. >> All right. Next, I'd like to welcome Joel Miltier to the podium to go over our employee group health insurance. >> Good evening, chairperson Johnson, members of the school board, and superintendent Balsson. Tonight, I bring before you an exhibit regarding the district's employee group health plan for your consideration and action. Since July 1st of 2012, the district has operated a self-funded employee group health insurance plan. The 2526 plan year marks our 14th year with the same insurance provider, Health Partners. During this time, the district has offered two health plan options for employees. The first is a co- co-pay plan, and the second is a deductible plan, and that's actually a low deductible plan of only $1,000 for our employees to be able to um provide insurance there. We have been working toward educating our employees about the benefits of all employees being on a single plan, the $1,000 deductible plan, as a means of offering more predictability in our overall health care expenses for our self-funded health insurance. Having two plan options created financial unpredictability and annual shortfalls in the premium funding compared to projected costs. Through the dedication and commitment of Anita Toth, our HR coordinator, our benefits team, and our insurance advisory committee, I'm happy to report that all bargaining groups are in support of eliminating the copay plan and transitioning exclusively to the $1,000 deductible plan effective the 2627 plan year on July 1st. Every two years, a district must go out for bid for our insurance provider. And this is the year in which we did that. The insurance committee and administration with assistance from our benefits consultant, One Digital, sought proposals for plan administration and stop-loss insurance coverage for the self-funded health plan. Proposals were evaluated from BlueC Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, and Health Partners. Based on the evaluation, the insurance committee and administration recommend the school board approve a two-year agreement with health partners for a self-funded plan administration and stop-loss coverage effective July 1st, 2026 and recommend a premium rate increase of 9% for the employee group health plan for the 2627 plan year. I do want to note that for the past three years, we've had double-digit increases on our health insurance plan, and this year it's only a 9% increase as we move forward. Renewing with health partners is the most fiscally responsible path. It maintains current coverage levels and minimizes disruption to provider and prescription networks. By retaining the current aggregate stop-loss attachment point, the district continues to limit its maximum fiscal exposure. Additionally, the recommended 9% premium increase is projected to sustain current insurance reserves, ensuring the district can cover maximum claims costs, fixed expenses, and estimated cost of claims. This evening, we are seeking the school board's approval for the recommendation for a two-year agreement with health partners beginning July 1st, 2026 and a rate increase of 9% for the employee group health plan for the 2627 school year. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. This is an action item for the board tonight. So, before we move into the questions, is there a motion to approve the employee group health insurance as presented? >> Move approval. >> Second. >> Motion by Jackie and seconded by Anna. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from the board. >> It's a great thing. >> It's good to see that it's not going 9% is a lot, but it's less than >> we've seen before. >> This is less than what we were anticipating for this year. >> Yes. Excellent. >> Great. Great place to be. >> Absolutely. Uh we have a motion to approve by Jackie, seconded by Anna. All those in favor of approval say I. >> I. >> Those opposed? Motion carries on a 6-0 vote. Thank you very much. Next, I'd like to welcome Christopher Anyanga Rabcha back to the podium to uh present on bond sales. >> Good evening, Chair Johnson, school board members, superintendent Balsson, and members of the public. Um I am here with Aaron Bushberger, the municipal advisor from Ellis to review uh our dis our um bids that came in uh early this morning. Uh so as you are aware from the last schoolboard meeting uh you authorized Ellis to go to market to finance uh to receive bonds for uh our upcoming projects. Uh overall we received favor favorable rates on the issuance where which includes both the funding for the ongoing projects which we highlighted earlier as well as uh refunding of our 2016 bonds uh which are callable in May of this year. Aaron Bushburgger will now run through the details of the uh B bond results with you and then this is an action item which we'll be seeking at the conclusion. >> All right. Thank you, Christopher. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, school board members, superintendent Balsson. Uh we are uh as Christopher mentioned, my name is Aaron Bushberger. I'm one of the adviserss on the Ellers team that works with Rosemont Apple Valley Egan. Um my colleagues Jod Zesba and Matthew Hammer uh have been before you as well. Uh so we're excited to to share the results of the bond sale this morning. So uh in your uh board materials, you do have our sale day report. So I'm just going to touch on a couple highlights there. So as Christopher mentioned, this was uh two purposes for this issue. So, uh, $100 million in school building bonds that were part of your May 2023 bond referendum, as well as, uh, $45.7 million to refund or refinance, uh, the remaining maturities on your 2016A bonds. So, again, uh, as a reminder, as part of this process, you do receive a bond rating, uh, similar to like a credit score for a mortgage. Uh, you receive the state's, uh, Minnesota credit enhancement rating. So you get the state's double A1 rating and then again we went through the Moody's uh rating process again this time and uh Moody's affirmed your rating at a double A2. So again a strong rating. Uh we'll mention kudos to Christopher. He was uh very well prepared um and really represented the district well during during that time with uh Moody's. So uh we did receive bids at uh 10:30 this morning. Uh we received nine bids. Uh and the lowest bidder was Bank of America, Bank of America Securities out of New York. Uh so the low bid was approximately 3.78% and the high bid was about 3.97%. Um so again that true interest cost of 3.78% uh is about 40 basis points or about point4 less uh than what we were estimating when Jod was here back in February. Uh at that time we were uh estimating 4.19%. So again uh really happy with those results. Uh for the refunding portion uh when Jod was here in February we were estimating savings at about $890,000. Uh and we actually achieved over a million dollars in savings. So a million37,481. So again, uh very excited to to pass those savings along to your taxpayers for the uh the school building bond portion. Uh those bonds will be callable uh February 1, 2034. So again, just like we did for these 2016 bonds, you'll be able to refund those or refinance those uh down the road as well. So uh we'll ask for your approval of the resolution tonight. Uh it takes a few works to process everything, get the paperwork straightened out. You'll receive the funds on April 2nd. So, the school building bond funds will come into the district account. The refunding bonds will go into an escrow for about 30 days uh and then will be used to pay off uh your existing bond. So, just in conclusion, uh we're we're right on track uh with our long-term financial plan. Um we really appreciate the partnership with Christopher and her team as well as uh the school board and administration. Uh otherwise, I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. >> Excellent. >> Yay. Thank you very much. Um, this is an action item for our board tonight. So, before we move into questions, is there a motion to approve the Oh, I missed my thing. Hold on. Is there a motion to approve the resolutions as presented? >> Still moved. >> Second. >> A motion by Saken, seconded by Leah. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none questions or comments from board members? >> We should just give ourselves a round of applause. Thank you very much. A million dollars. That makes a difference. >> Absolutely. >> And that was great with those interest rates. That's amazing. >> So, there you go. >> Very pleased. >> Absolutely. Always happy to save our community money in taxes. >> Yeah. >> We have a motion to approve made by Sakodan, seconded by Leah. All those in favor of approval say I. >> I. I. >> Those opposed? Motion carries on a 6-0 vote. >> Thank you. >> All right. That brings us almost to the end of our agenda tonight. But but before we leave, I will turn the meeting over for super to Superintendent Bosone to go over any district updates. >> Okay. Thank you, Chair Johnson. We want to thank the board members and members of our community who attended our special transportation meeting last week. We had a difficult year with transportation challenges and we apologize for not delivering the level of service that our families expect or deserve. We are working urgently to restore reliable, predictable transportation services. I'm happy to report that we have had zero cancellations in the last three school days. I want to remind families there is no school Monday, March 23rd through Friday, March 27th. That is our spring break. We hope students, families, and staff enjoy a safe and restful break. Graduation dates for our comprehensive high schools are set for May 29th and 30th and are posted on our district website. As we head into the final months of the school year, we encourage all of our seniors to stay focused and finish strong. We look forward to celebrating with all of you. March uh this month is music in our schools month and our high schools are hosting a full slate of concerts throughout the month. Community members are invited to attend concerts at each of our comprehensive high schools. Please visit school websites for more information. I also want to recognize a special milestone for one of our unique student programs. The ISETs, Minnesota's only school district sponsored figure skating team, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. For five decades, the ISATs have represented District 196 with artistry, teamwork, and pride. Congratulations to the skaters, coaches, and alumni who have built such a strong tradition over the past 50 years. Thank you. >> Thank you, Superintendent Balone. I just say I've been to be able to attend the 50th anniversary event from the ISETs this year. They did an amazing performance. But I also learned this was a talk about things to be proud of in our district. Even though they are the only school district sponsored figure skating team in the state, but they are also one of the only in the entire country. >> Yes. >> So, yes. So, I thought that was kind of cool little thing to stand out about. Um, at any board members with updates they'd like to share. >> All right. Well, that brings us to the end of our agenda. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> So, moved. >> Second. Motion by Jackie, seconded by Katherine. All those in favor of adjournment say I. I. >> I. >> Those opposed. Motion carries on a six- zero vote. Our next regular meeting will be Monday, April 13th. We stand adjourned.