[music] [music] >> Good evening and thank you for joining us for our regular school board meeting. At this time, please rise as you're able to join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. After the pledge, please remain standing for a brief moment of silence. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> At this time, I would like us to share a brief moment of silence for Bruce Lehman, a District 196 bus driver, who passed away on July 24th. Thank you. All right, good evening board. As usual, our first order of business is the approval of the agenda. Is there a motion to approve the agenda as outlined? >> Second. >> Motion by Sakowdin, seconded by Robin. All those in favor of approving the agenda, say I. >> I. >> I. >> Those opposed? Motion carries on a 6-0 vote. All right, now that the agenda is approved, that brings us to our recognition portion of the evening. And I would like to welcome HOSA advisor Todd Brewer and chapter president Gavin Yang to the podium to introduce us to the HOSA International Leadership Conference top finishers. >> Good evening, chairperson Johnson, board members, and Superintendent Bolsoni. Thank you for having us. My name is Todd Brewer. I am Eastview sub chapter HOSA advisor and one of two ISD 196 chapter advisors. HOSA is a student-led organization emphasizing medical and health care career exploration, community service, and competition. To share more about the success of ISD 196 HOSA at the region, state, and international levels, I'm going to introduce you to our ISD 196 president, Gavin Yang. Gavin. >> Thank you, Mr. Brewer. Every year, top competitive event placers from every chartered association gather at the prestigious HOSA International Leadership Conference. This year was especially momentous, as over 15,000 attendees networked, competed, and celebrated HOSA's 50th anniversary. Here at home, our District 196 chapter had an incredible year. Out of 150 qualifying attendees, we brought home over 40 medals from the State Leadership Conference, making us one of the most decorated HOSA chapters in the state of Minnesota. That momentum carried on straight into the international stage, where 36 of our members qualified and competed at ILC 2026. Today, we are thrilled to celebrate two outstanding individuals from our chapter. And then, could Kingston's mom please stand up? Okay. Our first honoree is Kingston Luong Van, a rising senior I'm sorry, a rising junior at Eastview High School. Drawing on a deep passion for nutrition and wellness, Kingston competed in the healthy living event. Facing off against top scoring students from around the globe, he stood out among thousands of competitors to place sixth in the world. Please join me in congratulating Kingston and on this incredible accomplishment. >> [applause] >> Our second honoree is Jonathan Rubin, a rising senior from Eagan High School. John competed in epidemiology, a subject that he has been passionate about since his freshman year. And after months of dedicated preparation, his hard work truly paid off. John placed first internationally at this year's conference. Congratulations, John. >> [applause] >> And then I'd like to thank all the district So, it's by the district school board. >> [applause] [laughter] >> Now, that international travel I'll >> [laughter] >> All right. Next, I'd like to welcome Zidel Vass, speech and debate coach at Apple Valley High School. She will introduce the AVHS top finishers at a recent national speech and debate competition. Thank you very much. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, board members, Superintendent Balson. My name is Zidel Vass. I'm one of the head coaches at the Apple Valley speech and for the Apple Valley speech and debate program and it is an honor to be back here with you to share with you one more additional student who has made our district and our school very proud. It is an honor to recognize an elite status national finalist at the National Speech and Debate Association tournament that was held in Richmond, Virginia this past summer. It is my honor to introduce you to Anisa Somerville. Anisa is a sophomore on the Apple Valley High School speech team who qualified from a very competitive district to compete at this tournament and we had an exceptional year as you may have remembered meeting some of those finalists earlier in the summer. We qualified 11 student students to the tournament and Anisa was in the top four who placed in the top six in the nation. Now, to put that in perspective this tournament draws from over 140,000 students nationwide who are eligible to compete. However, the national tournament features only 7,000 of that 140,000 student population. And this year's tournament had a collective total of 1,500 schools who were competing for these top slots. To qualify for the tournament is one thing, but then to place in the top six students in that tournament in that category this represents the top 1/10 of 1% of students across the nation. That is Anisa Somerville. We are so proud of the work that she has put into representing our school and our district well. She confidently delivered an informative speech on the topic that might be unfamiliar to you. It was unfamiliar to us about a year ago at this time. The term is algospeak. Algospeak is a is a word that defines is defined as the coded language that is used online to avoid having content removed or censored by algorithms. And so Anissa dug into this research and delivered a beautiful speech educating us on what algospeak is doing to our language both online and offline. It was a powerful speech and she delivered it well. Her success has led her to be ranked eighth in informative speakers in Minnesota and in the top 50 informative speakers nationwide. And she is just completing her sophomore year. Additionally, this success at this tournament has qualified her to compete at the national tournament next summer. So, the NSDA has not seen the end We have not seen the end of Anissa. Thank you so much to the board and to our district for supporting the arts and academics in this way because we have helped students strive for excellence and that is really what this program is all about. And we are so thankful for the opportunity to share Anissa with you this evening. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Amazing. Congratulations. You're very well done. >> Very impressive. Congratulations. >> Well done Anissa. >> I knew it. >> That's [laughter] what I was saying. That's what I was saying. >> Okay, now I'm going to I'm going to research. I'm going to Okay, thank you. >> I'm going to have to look up the term. >> Thanks for >> I know. >> I know. I know. >> [laughter] >> Great job. >> Thank you. All right. Next, I will turn the meeting over to Superintendent Bolsoni for Superintendent's recognition of students and staff. >> Okay, thank you Chair Johnson. July is a relatively slow month, but we still have things happening in the school district. I want to congratulate the students who represented our district at the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, FCCLA, their national leadership conference was held in Washington, D.C. last month. Qualifying for the national competition reflects months of hard work, creativity, and dedication. We're extremely proud that four of our students earned national finalist honors representing our schools and community with excellence. Congratulations to all of our FCCLA national qualifiers, and thank you to the advisors advisors and coaches who supported them along the way. Congratulations also to Eastview High School teacher Mia Battistone, who we are familiar with, who has been named the Region 3 Region 3 Teacher of the Year by the Association for Career and Technical Education, or ACTE. This award recognizes outstanding career and technical education teachers for their innovation in the classroom, commitment to students, and contributions to career and technical education. As the Region 3 winner, Mia is now a national finalist for the ACTE Teacher of the Year. Congratulations Mia on this outstanding achievement, and it's a well-deserved recognition. And this concludes my report for this evening. >> Excellent. Thank you very much, Superintendent Bolsoni. That brings us to our special communication request portion of the evening. We have one speaker signed up for the special communications request portion. As a reminder, special communication requests provide an opportunity for the board to listen to community members. For that reason, board members generally do not respond during this portion of the meeting. However, if a speaker raises a specific question or concern, a board member or district administrator may follow up afterward. Speakers are limited to 4 minutes. To help keep the meeting on schedule, we do use a timer at the podium. Once you come to the podium, please introduce yourself and we will start the timer. Um when the timer begins, you'll see a green light at the podium. That light will remain green until you have approximately 30 seconds remaining. At that point, it will turn amber. When the light turns red, you may hear a brief beep and please conclude your comments at that time. Um next, I would like to welcome our only commute special communication request speaker to the podium, Lucas Korkowski. >> I'm color blind, so if I if I get these wrong, I apologize, but uh Uh good evening, members of the board and superintendent. Thank you so much for having me this evening. My name is Luke Korkowski. Um I'm here tonight representing the Apple Valley High School girls hockey team, um our coaching staff and our families, as well as the Apple Valley Youth Hockey Association. Um I'd like to formally request the board's approval to form an MSHSL cooperative sponsorship between Apple Valley High School, Eastview High School, and or Burnsville High School girls program starting this upcoming season. This proposal is rooted in a simple reality. Um our girls are already teammates before they reach high school. So, we do have a co-op starting from when they're 4 years old all the way through high school for these three communities of Apple Valley, Burnsville, and Eastview. Um at the Youth Association level, we have successfully merged and adapted the shifting um community demographics and declining youth participation between Apple Valley and Burnsville. And then, we co-op with the Eastview Youth Hockey Association. We are currently in uh talks to merge all three programs into one just for economies of scale, other items there. Um you know, or alternative means. You know, this is just a proposal, if you know, the school board and schools decide for an alternative um co-op, that would be great as well. So, the current reality, uh our roster depth and player safety are are two topics I want to discuss. Um And to understand why the timing is critical, we need to look at our current roster numbers. For Apple Valley, um last year we graduated four key members of our our team. And we're entering the season with just 15 skaters and one goalie um across our entire program. Um to put that into perspective, a standard healthy varsity team dresses 20 players per game, not including a full varsity or JV roster. And then running a a high school program with 15 total skaters means the athletes are playing relentless, exhausting minutes uh against top-tier metro suburban opponents. More importantly, it leaves zero buffer in the instance of injuries, um illness, or fatigue, directly impacting the student athlete safety and well-being. Uh throughout the season, you play around 25 games uh between the the months of November and February. Um you could obviously go beyond and go to state and and depending on how you do in sections. Um And for for student development and competitive balance, uh beyond absolute numbers, there's a fundamental player development issue with the within those 15 skaters, we have a dynamic range of skill levels. Because of our limited numbers, we are forced to place student athletes into high-tempo varsity uh MS HS competition before they are developmentally ready. Um this this can span from seventh grade all the way to to 12th grade for these these student athletes. Um you know, and and the ability to have them focus at 15 U or even at the JV level allows them to build confidence, hone in on the fun- fundamentals, and then grow at the JV level, which MS HS L has defined as developmental uh level. Um I've been involved with this hockey program since my daughter was four. She's going to be a a senior this year, and a lot of these girls I've been coaching um you know, been the treasurer, president of the board for 14 years. So, high passion if you can't tell. That's why I'm here tonight. Um but, you know, conclusion, just combining these two programs isn't uh just a logical solution, it's an opportunity to create a sustainable, competitive, and supportive program for our young women in our communities. Our players already share a locker room, a youth culture, and a bond. By approving this co-op, we ensure these athletes have roster depth roster depth, uh competitive safety, and development ladder they deserve. Thank you for your time, each and every one of you. Thank you for allowing me to speak and your leadership and your continued support of our athletes. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> All right, board. That brings us to our consent portion of the agenda this evening. Board members, we have 13 items on the consent agenda. Those items include the minutes of the July 13th, 2026 regular school board meeting, the minutes of the July 28th, 2026 special school board meeting, schedule of investments for June 2026, gifts grants, agreement with YMCA of the North for 2026-27 school age care program, personnel agreement for clinical experience with Augsburg University, agreement for student teaching experience with Iowa State University, agreement for student teaching experience with University of South Dakota, 2026-27 school bus purchase, stipend for health service coordinator for 2025-26, stipends for health service coordinator for 2026-27. Are there any items on the consent agenda that board members would like to remove? Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the consent? >> So moved. >> I need a second. >> Second. >> Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Motion by Leah, seconded by Jackie. All those in favor of approval, say aye. >> Aye. >> Those opposed? Motion carries on a 6-0 vote. All right. That brings us to our reports um section of our agenda tonight and I'd like to welcome Eric Hanson and Todd Beach to the podium to go over our advanced placement testing update. >> Good evening, Chairperson Jacobson. >> Board and Superintendent Polsoni, tonight Dr. Beach, our district instruction achievement specialist as well as our social studies teacher at Eagan High School, High School, will provide an informational presentation on our advanced placement course participation and test performance. No action is required. This is simply informational. Tonight's report Tonight's report will provide information on what advanced placement courses are, what is the impact of AP courses on student achievement, who has the opportunities in District 196 to enroll in AP courses, what is new and relevant around advanced placement courses as it relates to District 196, and lastly, what are the implications and student impacts around AP courses. In alignment with our strategic road map, advanced placement courses demonstrate our commitment to strategic priorities of achievement, equity, and resources. At this time, I'd like to welcome Dr. Todd Beach, who will share detailed information around our advanced placement courses enrollments as well as the exams. >> Good evening, everybody. Um Director Hanson wanted me to introduce myself before we got into this, so I'll just say a few things. My name is Todd Beach. Um This fall, I'll be starting my 39th year as a teacher in the classroom. All of those years here in District 196. Um my primary role in District 196 is to serve as the curriculum specialist for social studies and personal finance, but um Eastview is still kind enough to let me teach one course every day, and that's how I begin my day at 7:30 in a room full of young people. And so, I'm really fortunate to get to do that because frankly that is the best part of my day. Um besides being 39 years as a teacher, I served for 12 years as a senior lecturer at the University of Minnesota teaching graduate students who want to become social studies educators. And I have spent 25 years working with College Board as a consultant and an exam leader for AP European history. I continue to write test items for AP European and AP World History. So, that's just a little bit about me, but I'm here today to talk with you about the performance of our advanced placement students. I want to begin by talking about first of all, what is advanced placement? What is AP? College Board established AP program in 1955. It was led by an idea that a number of parents wanted students to their some of their students to have rigorous course uh offerings in high school that better prepared them for the college world. In 1955 in that particular context, there was a feeling that the general education programs that were being taught were not enough to bridge the gap to that next step to college, and so AP programs were born. The idea is then that students would pursue college-level studies through peer-reviewed curriculum. They have an opportunity to earn college credit if they perform well enough on an exam, and those credits are transferable from from school to school. And then the last thing I want to talk about today is how more District 196 students from more diverse backgrounds are succeeding in AP courses. So, 2026, let's take a look at our performance by the numbers. We currently are offering 28 subjects of advanced placement in District 196. And almost 3,000 students across our high school campuses took an AP course. And of those 20 almost 3,000 students, over 5,800 exams were taken in 2026. So that indicates to you that more than students are taking more than one exam often. And our district pass rate this past year was 83.2. It's a very great pass rate across all of our campuses. So who can take AP course courses? First of all, there are no barriers to registration. All students grades 9 through 12 are eligible to register for advanced placement. And all of our high schools do a great job of giving information about AP courses in their high school registration materials. As you can recall, last year we offered um and for the first time advanced placement for ninth graders. And so we prepared one-page uh summaries for middle school parents so they could make good decisions about whether or not this is something that their incoming their rising freshman was going to be ready for. The other thing about advanced placement is it's about evidence-based information. There's significant evidence that just participation in AP courses strongly correlates with student achievement, college readiness, and college completion. We've done a number of studies and then I've cited one peer-reviewed study here for you. And the impact of AP, students who take AP courses in high school are more likely to graduate from college within the four years and earn higher college GPAs than their peers who did not take AP courses in high school. They are simply better prepared. Next, course rigor matters. The rigor of high school coursework is more important than parent education, family income, or race ethnicity in predicting post-secondary success. Again, two peer review peer reviewed sources that I've cited for you there. Next, if you pass an AP exam, take the course, pass the AP exam, these score this score correlates with higher ACT and SAT scores. So, students who take pass AP exams earn those higher scores than peers who did not pass the exam. Taking the course, passing the exam correlates directly with that kind of success. Let's take a look at the top five factors in college admissions. Number one, the academic performance and course rigor. So, the first thing college admissions counselors are going to look at is what courses did you take in high school? Did you take you're trying to get into college and university, did you take courses that would better prepare you for that kind of jump and that kind of rigor? Next, test scores still matter. ACT, SAT. Strong test scores still play a role. So, there was a movement a few years and it started just a little bit before COVID and then seemed to advance during COVID to go test optional for a lot of schools. However, I can tell you that that trend is changing. So, I have a rising junior. His sister just finished her first year at St. Olaf, so he's very aware of what a small school looks like at Olaf. He's he spent some time there. And he asked me to take him to the University of Wisconsin. So, about 3 weeks ago we went to Madison, him and I on our dad son road trip all across uh Madison across Wisconsin to Madison. And in the opening, you know, introduction, you go to these things, there's lots of people from all walks of life and they're with their students there. And one of the things that they said is that the board there at Wisconsin, the Board of Regents, which is now test optional, is going to likely switch back by 2028 to test required. So, ACT, SAT scores, those things still matter. Madison is not the only school. A lot of schools are looking at those kind of test optional policies just to give some awareness. Extracurricular involvement and leadership. So, when you come to a college university, they want to know that are you going to be involved? And so, we want to see habits of involvement at your high school. So, that kind of leadership matters. And personal essays and student voice. Certainly a student's story, their identity, their resilience, their perspectives matter in in college entrance exams and college admissions, rather. And finally, letters of recommendation. Generally from teachers. I write a lot of letters of recommendation to highlight a student's academic potential, character, and growth. Strong relationship, personalized letters. Often schools want to know we know this is going to be a good student. What do they do when things don't go well? What kind of resilience do you have? How do you respond to setbacks? And those are things I'm always trying to answer in the letters that I'm writing to college admissions counselors. So, we're here to talk about advanced placement. What about advanced placement on college completion? This next slide is kind of busy, so I'm going to break it down uh bar by bar. But, we're just going to look at student groups here who took advanced placement versus students who did not take advanced placement and how they succeeded in college. So, we're going to look at five-year graduation rates. And you can see the source of the study that I'm looking at. So, these are the ethnic groups that this particular looked at. And these are students who took the AP course, but for some reason chose not to take the exam against their peers who didn't take AP courses in high school. They're still performing higher just by taking the course, even though they didn't take the exam, than cohorts who just didn't take AP at all. What about students who took the AP exam, but did not meet a passing score? So, they got a one or two. And here you can see they are performing higher in each of those ethnic groups against their peers who did not. And finally, students who took the AP course, took the exam, how did they do? Much, much higher in completing than students who didn't take these rigorous course offerings in high school. So, how do our students perform this past year? I want to make sure I shout out to Steven Bell Camp and Kate Olson. They're part of our research, assessment, and analytics folks, and they provided the information I'm going to share with share with you tonight. So, who's taking advanced placement? So, you can see the ethnic groups placed up there in their percentage of enrollment as they are currently in 2026 in our schools. So, we begin with the American Indian students. They're 2% of our enrollment. They represented 2.5% of our AP test takers. Asian students are 8.4% of our high school enrollment, representing 7.5% of our AP test takers, slightly underrepresented. Black African-American students currently represent about 14 and 1/2% of our total high school enrollment. And this is our one of our biggest gaps that we certainly are taking a look at. They represent only 5% of our AP test takers. It is a large underrepresented population. Hispanic and Latino students, 10.7%, and they are 10% of our AP test takers. They are approximately proportional. Students who identified as two or more races at 7.2% of our high school enrollment. They represent 12.5% of AP test takers. They are overrepresented as a group. And then white students at 57.1, and they are 62.5% of our AP test takers. So, that gives you an ethnic breakdown of how students were taking AP in our courses and our courses in all of our campuses. So, how are they performing? We begin with the Asian students. They average 3.78, 86.1% pass rate, and of that group, uh almost 2/3 are scoring in fours and fives. These are really high scores. White students at 85.8% and 60% of them are earning fours and fives. Students who identified as two or more races at nearly the same rate, 85.7%, 60.8% are earning those high scores of four and five. Hispanic and Latino students at 3.26 the average score. The pass rate is over 70%, and they're still scoring high at 45 almost 45% are getting fours and fives. Our black and African American students are scoring at 3.02. Their pass rate is 65.7, and they're 37% of them are scoring in that high higher category. And our American Indian students, the average score is three three. They are scoring at 65.9 pass rate and 36.6 fours and fives. I think one of the significant things here is that no matter which ethnic group our students are settling in, they're all scoring very high rates. What about students who qualify for educational benefits? So, 27.1% of our students qualify for educational benefits across our campuses, and they represent 21.6% of participants in advanced placement versus students that are not qualifying for educational benefits, and they are 78.4% of uh students in the advanced placement. So, how is everybody doing? Again, we're going to look at this by gender. Again, busy slides. The first batch table is just to give you an identity give you an idea you know, how many males boys versus girls take the course take courses. So you see we have slightly more boys in enrolled in high school at this current time as cohorts than girls. And they the girls however have more program participants than boys. And you see that representation status. How do they perform? First of all the boys are taking more exams than the girls. So many of the boys are seeming to double up on AP tests and courses. And the boys are performing highly on those. 3.69 is their average AP score versus 3.2 for female students. Their pass rate is also higher at 84.7% versus 81.7% for female students. And the high scores of fours and fives 62% to 55.1. So we have young women taking more of the courses and we have fewer boys taking the courses but the boys that are taking seem to be performing better. Here's our trend data of pass rates. And 2024 is a good baseline to look at because our pass rate was 81.4 district wide and then last year we added AP World to ninth grade. And so ninth graders are they ready for advanced placement or they ready for that rigorous course? And our pass rate went up to 83.0% with ninth graders in the cohort. And then this past year we even went up again 83.2% pass rates are trending up for across all of our AP courses. So if you look at our participation trends and the growth where we were in 2023 and then 2024 you see the big jump that happened from 2024 to 2025 big jump most likely has to do with that we added an AP course to ninth grade that had never been there before, but you can still see this past year we continued to rise. This is in part I think a lot because we have students that want to have that rigorous coursework. We have teachers that work very hard, faculty that work very hard, administration that supports them. Um guidance counselors guiding students and helping them make good decisions about their coursework. And so these are all really good uh numbers to be looking at. Finally, I want to make sure that you understand that we're going to onboard two new courses this coming fall. Well, one is a new course and one is going to be delivered as a kind of a new course. AP business and personal finance will be offered for the first time this fall. It's being offered in all four of our comprehensive high schools. Personal finance as you can recall is a new statute that has to be a requirement for high school students. Most of our high school students are taking that course in 10th grade. We wanted to make sure we offered a rigorous course option. So students who can want to take AP business and personal finance meet that personal finance requirement, but also have the opportunity to earn this advanced placement uh course and and exam score. And then we're going to be offering AP US government politics. Two of our high schools have been offering AP GoPo as we call it. And they have been offering it as an elective. But because of social studies course sequencing has changed and now we're offering government or civics in the junior year to meet required statute. Now all of our campuses will be offering on-level AP or on-level US government politics at the junior level or students can choose to take AP US government politics. So key takeaways from all this information, district students earned 83.2 AP pass rate. Average score 3.6 and almost 60% of those exams earned us a four or five. AP AP is broad across our district. Nearly 3,000 students across our campuses participating in AP. More than 5,800 AP exams were administered. Reflects a strong culture of advanced academic participation. Also talks a lot about all these almost all these exams are digital now. And so the infrastructure to be able to do that and the number of things that AP coordinators at each site have to set up, facilities and everything else. It's a big It's a big deal to make sure this can happen and that students have this opportunity. Economically disadvantaged students are accessing and succeeding in AP. More than one in four of the students that qualify as economically disadvantaged uh participated in at least one exam and 70.9 earned a qualifying score of three or higher. What it's telling us is even if a student is economically disadvantaged, they're taking this course, they're taking advantage of this, and they're performing really well. Some key questions we have going forward. How can we expand AP access for our underrepresented groups? Black African American students and economically disadvantaged students remain under underrepresented in AP participation. So what recruitment, advising, or preparatory practice could increase participation while we maintain high expectations for course rigor? What additional supports will help more students earn qualifying AP scores? So overall district performance is strong. Our pass rates are lower for black African American, American Indian, Hispanic Latino, and economically disadvantaged students. So what academic supports, course sequencing, or student success strategies could narrow these opportunity gaps? And finally, what practices can we replicate from our highest performing programs? Several student groups and school can schools consistently demonstrate very high participation and strong AP outcomes. Which instructional practices, recruitment strategies, or student supports has contributed to these results and how can they be expanded across the district? Overall, the message is our AP programs are really good. Our AP teachers are doing a great job with our young people. Uh, but there are still areas that we need to get better at. We're happy to take any questions you might 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? It's accounting. >> I think I just wanted to say thank you. This is very informative and I do really appreciate every time we hear uh, a lot of good things that is going and happening in our district, especially when that's backed to by data. This has been very informative because I got kids uh, not as school board, but as a parent as well that I have the kids that are taking AP courses. For one, the questions that I I had in mind is questions that you posed at the end of the the the slides. So, just a curious to know uh, for one, I mean, the numbers are really, uh, you know, very indicative the culture that we have in a district that we value advancement and also options for our students. I mean, when we give a students so many options, right? Options that are going to help them, you know, save money in college because these are courses that will transfer uh, and then also uh, that they have options to explore to find out what subjects they like or not uh, early on and a low cost. So, this is really important to me. I deeply care. Uh, but the thing is that what support access supports do we offer right now in general, like tutoring, things like that? Again, I was going to look into you guys to say you are the experts, what suggestions do you have for us? But also it looks like questions that we are all asking at the end of what I like the part where it said how can we replicate successes that's happening in other groups or other, you know, communities and in the school. So, just curious to know what, you know, support we have out there. And then with the growth and expansion, uh you know, what are we looking forward to make it available for students? I mean, in terms of tutoring and recruitment, things like that. >> Yeah. No, I appreciate the question. First of all, I just want to thank Dr. Beach. He truly is an expert in this topic and it's a great that we can lean on on someone like him in our district. Um here's what I'll say is our our results came out in July and they come out once a year. Uh we have our first high school principal meeting on Wednesday. Those three questions that were posed on that last page will be will be presented at our high school principal meeting to start that discussion. I talked to Director Hughes as well today, um knowing that we'll need a partnership with IMA uh bringing this forward so that teachers can have conversations with regard to data, best practices, recruiting. Um all of those things I think need to take place and we need to start um tracking what's working, right? And we know that the results Dr. Beach shared uh very well the results in terms of taking the course and being exposed to the rigorous um information and and that coursework in itself is uh um something that our students need to have the opportunity. In terms of support with students who are in the courses and we want to make sure that um they're challenged, but we don't want them to be overwhelmed. Those are again conversations that I think we need to have within our professional learning teams. Um provide time for that. And then how do we get that across the data, share best practices? Thanks. >> Other questions or comments? Jackie. >> Dr. Beach, thank you so much. 39 years? Good grief. Congratulations. [snorts] You've worked so hard. I love having listening to your reports because you always tell what you've done new. The ninth grade piece last year and that's was successful. Um now this year the AP business and personal finance and US government and politics, those will be interesting. Those are our teachers teaching those and learning that system and learning something new and it's a challenge for them, too. I thought the key questions were really impactful and will be fun it'll be interesting now to see as you work through that this year. Did we Can we answer those questions? What can we do better? What can How can we get more people more students involved? And so thank you so much. I look forward to to next year's report and seeing you next year. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> I want to thank you just to follow up. Our teachers do spend time in the summer. So, advanced placement teachers have to go through an audit and so these two new courses, AP US government politics, AP business personal finance, our teachers attend 4-day institutes in the summer. And fortunately our state pays for that, subsidizes that cost for them. But they are learning, trying to do the best they can for the young people they're going to have in front of them in this fall. >> And it's not easy. Anna. >> Um I love when you come and present. Uh I'm a history geek just because I just love it not because I have any kind of background in it. I just love it. My daughter did take AP history and government and loved it. Um I am wondering, you know, when you're trying to understand for a black African American students, for those who have taken and are taking, are you asking them you know, why are they taking it or what was what was the catalyst for them choosing to take it? Um I'd be interested even for my daughter's sake why I I did take AP classes or something like that. I went to parochial schools but something like that. So, I'm even curious now with my daughter who does go to Madison um why she chose to take those classes. She enjoyed them. Uh I learned a lot from her taking AP classes. I would love myself as a history geek um if I could take the course, the AP US Government and Politics course. Uh not sitting in the classroom, but I would love to experience it. Um I think that would be great as an adult in uh to learn what our kids are learning. I think that would be amazing. I learned a lot just from um my daughter and the thick book she would bring home. I I really do think that would be amazing if that potentially offered to some of our parents as an opportunity. Um I don't know if that's possible. I just think that would be great since we are in the business of education. Um and it would be great for some of our parents to be able to learn some of that stuff, too. Um but yeah, I uh thank you so much for this. Um it makes sense as you're talking about that because I have seen for both of my kids um how that's been an impactful for them and and getting into uh college. I'm sad to say sad to see that they're going to be going to start Madison is going to start doing that. Um it's unfortunate uh uh uh as a daughter who has testing anxiety, but she has performed very well at Madison even though she didn't um use her testing to get in. Uh but with her AP courses, she has been very well prepared. Um and has [snorts] done extremely well. Uh so, thank you for all this work and thank you, Eric. >> Look for questions or comments. Robin. >> Just um one really quick thing. Um I was pleased to see that you were going to look at um which instructional practices, recruitment strategies, or student support systems could contribute to those results. I just think about um my daughter's experience with it and a a of it was um peer pressure. Oh, you're only taking three APs, I'm taking four. You know, and there So, there's a lot of um even, you know, in-group, out-group things that happen. So, I was pleased to see that you were looking at that, and I really enjoyed the report. So, thank you. >> I can appreciate that as a dad, too. Um my student my daughter and my son both they're trying to and I think it's different for every student about what is my balance, you know, what is a good healthy balance of I'm challenging myself, yet I still um you know, have taken some I might choose to take an on-level course here and there so that I can perform my best on these other courses and still have good balance in the rest of my life and do the activities that I do and that kind of thing. I think for every student there those are questions they have to talk about with their families. >> Absolutely. Thank you. >> Sorry, just one more thing. Um >> I just I guess wanted to add um into the, you know, question about how can we expand access and and just encourage more students I recall a previous uh presentation where we did discuss this. So, I So, I know that we go out of our way to really encourage this and and I do think um I'm sure that's across, you know, the diverse array of our student body, but um I will say like for my own experience, I think I can identify as lower-income communities not necessarily having that instilled of just even that expectation of are you going to go to college, right? Um and I mentored a young black [clears throat] woman who I remember when she first told me she she was in a hurry to make some money, and I like I get it, right? Um but when she said she wasn't planning to go to college, we were driving somewhere I literally had to pull over cuz I'm like, wait. >> [laughter] >> Um no one and I was the first person who ever expressed that, you know, I thought she should and that she had potential. And so, just to say that, you know, I think we we probably all know that, that a lot of it is can we be the first person to tell these students that they that they can uh go go on and that they can challenge themselves and all that. So, I'm not telling anyone in this room something you don't know, but um but I just I I think we know that and I think it's it's just continuing to find the find the kids who maybe will be the first ones to say that because they just aren't surrounded by, you know, those expectations or people pushing them. So. >> Thank you. I agree. >> Right. >> So, I appreciate [clears throat] you saying that. And, you know, the power of someone believing in you is incredible, right? And that tap on the shoulder to invite or encourage someone to do something that they might not be comfortable with, but we're here to support you is incredible. So, I appreciate you saying that. >> It's fine. Right. >> Thank you very much. Great. Next, I would like to welcome Kaya Bruce to the podium to go over our community education needs assessment. And apparently, you can add AP classes for adults in the needs assessment. >> [laughter] >> I didn't mention mental health. >> We talked about >> Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, members of the board, and Superintendent Bossone. I'm Kaya Bruce, Director of Community Education, and I'm joined tonight by Michelle Gowans, the Community Education Advisory Council Chairperson for this school year, and Lara Robichaud, a past Chairperson of the Advisory Council. It is our pleasure to share with you tonight a report on the community needs assessment that Community Education conducted this past school year. It is a vital tool that ensures we remain responsive to the over 165,000 residents we serve across District 196, while supporting our mission of educating, developing, and inspiring our community for lifelong success. No action is needed this evening. This report is simply informational. Every initiative in community education is anchored to the district's strategic roadmap. Our priorities of well-being, achievement, equity, and resources, as well as our core values, provided the lens through which we designed the needs assessment and analyzed our community's feedback. Before we dig into the assessment, let's look at who we are today. This past school year, we processed over 47,000 registrations, and that does not include drop-in or open house events. Over 1,400 early learners in early childhood family education, connections preschool, and family school. Over 26,000 youth registrations in afterschool programs, youth enrichment, high school sports camps, and aquatics. Nearly 20,000 adult registrations in early childhood family education, aquatics, adult enrichment, adults with disabilities programming, and adult basic age education. And more than 275 facility rental groups generating over 306, 000 hours of facility usage last year. That's an equivalent of 35 years of use in one single year. From early childhood programs, often a family's first point of contact with the district, to adult programs and facility users who may no longer have students in school, community education provides high-quality lifelong learning experiences for all ages in our community. And this matters beyond our own programs. Statewide survey data shows that community education participants are more supportive of their school district. They are more likely to vote, and they support the referendum 85% of the time. From a statewide Morris Leatherman survey in August of 2025, 88% of community ed users feel the district does what's right for children and 75% feel the district spends their funds effectively. I'll now pass it on to Michelle Gowans, the 2026-27 Community Education Advisory Council Chairperson. >> All right, thank you Kaya. Uh so, first question, why conduct a community needs assessment? Uh it's pretty simple. The community deserves a voice and it's our responsibility to respond. This needs assessment serves as a vital tool for understanding our community's strengths while identifying gaps, emerging needs, and opportunities for growth. Our goal has been to gather diverse input and track trends in order to make data-informed decisions that enhance accessibility, participation, and program relevance. We examined participation barriers, demographics, and program effectiveness. The survey results provide actionable insights to boost participation and refine or expand offerings to match evolving interests. This assessment serves as a strategic roadmap for positive change and it allows us to align resources efficiently, promote equitable access, and shape relevant sustainable programs that improve the quality of life for members of our community. Here's how we built this assessment from start to finish. A work group consisting of community education professionals and community education advisory council members met monthly to discuss the district's strategic roadmap, our purpose and goals, survey distribution, and data collection methods, as well as test our product. From there, the Community Education team develops the marketing content and promoted the survey to our community. The survey was available in English, Spanish, and Somali. In January, the work group reconvened and reviewed the findings from the survey and shared them with the community community education advisory council in March. In May, the community education team began digging deeper into the data and started formulated formulating goals for the 26-27 school year. The community education team finalized their priorities at their retreat in July and aligned them to the district's operational plan for implementation this school year and beyond. Before we go further, I want to be transparent about an important context for everything you'll hear tonight. This presentation reflects our community needs assessment survey, a survey completed by adults and heads of household, and it is not a comprehensive picture of all program participants across all age groups. Community education continuously gathers feedback through multiple channels, class surveys administered after every session and reviewed individually and in aggregate aggregate uh each season, in-person conversations, direct phone and email contact with our community, and more. Tonight's data is one important lens and a valuable one, but is not the only one that guides the work. We heard from 1,170 respondents. They told us about their role in the community, their household makeup, and their background. 81% had participated in a community community education program in the last 5 years. 41% currently have children attending District 196 schools, which means 59% did not. That's an important number. It shows that our reach extends well beyond school-age parents and into every corner of our community. Additionally, 82% live within District 196, 19% work in the district, and 9% identified some other connection to the community. Racially, our adult respondents do not fully mirror the demographics of ISD 196. White respondents are overrepresented by seven percentage points compared to the district population of 71. Asian and multi-racial respondents are proportionally consistent. However, black or African-American respondents and Hispanic or Latino respondents are underrepresented by uh two to three percentage points respectively compared to the communities that we serve. That gap is meaningful and it's part of why theme number six and priority number two, which you will see shortly, carries the weight that it does for us. I'll now pass it on to Lara Robichaud, another Community Education Advisory Council member. >> Thank you, Michelle. We also asked people why they chose District 196 Community Education. Learning and skill development topped the list at 78% followed closely by program relevance at 71%. Over half the valued the social connection, the chance to meet people and build community. These are sometimes called third spaces, places outside of home and work where people gather and belong. That's especially significant given the US Surgeon General's 2023 report identifying loneliness and social isolation as a public health epidemic. Community education isn't just building skills, we're helping to build the connection in the community. Contributing to the community at 38% accessibility of programs at 31% and using our district facilities at 28% rounded out the reasons for participation. In short, people come to District 196 Community Education first for the learning itself, but the relevance of our programming and the sense of community we build are right behind it. This slide really speaks for itself. 97% of respondents are highly satisfied with current programs and 90% are likely to recommend District 196 Community Education to others. One respondent put it this way, "District 196 Community Education is one of the most valuable resources for families in our community." That's a level of trust we don't take for granted and we're committed to continuing to earn it. Alongside all of the positive sentiment, respondents were candid about us where we can do better. Six themes came through clearly across nearly every program. Number one, cost and affordability. This was the single most cited barrier across all programs and demographics. Costs feel out of proportion to value for some families and seniors on fixed incomes are especially impacted. This is a critical risk to manage thoughtfully given that 65% of the Community Education budget depends on participation and rental fees. Number two, scheduling conflicts. 44% of respondents cited time conflicts as a barrier. Evening hours of 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. are the top preference across every age group we heard from. The majority of programming already falls during these preferred hours, but even with that alignment, it is still difficult for many families to participate given the realities of their own schedules. This tells us the barrier isn't just about when classes are offered, but about the broader scheduling pressures families are managing in their day-to-day lives. Number three, program variety and progression. Families told us they wanted more intermediate and advanced level classes once they've completed introductory offerings. This is great news. They enjoyed and found value in the introductory classes and they want to learn more. Number four, registration and website usability. Popular programs fill instantly and the registration website could be hard to navigate. Some respondents described swim lesson sign up as cutthroat. And it's true. [laughter] This is a high urgency operational that will be addressed in an upcoming slide. Number five, location and geographic access. Families prefer programs close to their neighborhood schools. I do want to note that Community Ed has intentionally centered much of the programming at middle schools because they accommodate a wide range of ages from children through adults and they function as natural hubs across the district. That said, programs simply can't be offered at every site and for some families distance is still a real factor. Number six, inclusive and cultural responsiveness. Families from communities of color shared that they want programming that reflects their backgrounds and families of children with special needs want programs that accommodate all abilities and learning styles. This theme also supports a board goal of engaging underrepresented voices. I will now pass it back to Kaya for her share for for her to share how Community Ed will address these themes. >> Our Community Education Managers and Coordinators held their annual retreat 2 weeks ago and set goals to address all six of these themes in 2026-27 alongside other priorities that align with the district's operational plan. I want to highlight that inclusion and cultural responsiveness is our number two department-wide priority second only to out-of-school time safety and security. Now, how we're responding to the six themes of the survey that Lara shared with you. First, cost and affordability. We're conducting a pricing analysis with both our own class fees and of the fees charged by the vendors we partner with. We're also working to more prominently communicate our fee assistance options, so families know that support exists, and we're using this data to make informed decisions on class offerings, pricing, and geography. We're also planning ahead for enrollment shifts tied to household economic pressure. Scheduling conflicts. We're reviewing and evaluating our evening ECFE classes and setting targets that better meet family schedules, while also honoring our contract requirements. For program variety and progression, we're evaluating our courses and adding intermediate and advanced options, and we're exploring expanded middle school programming. For registration and website usability, we will be implementing a lottery registration process for swim lessons to provide more equitable access. We transitioned to a new registration system called AROC's 2 weeks ago, which should be more user-friendly and includes more accessibility features, including being ADA compliant. And adult basic education is redesigning its diploma registration format for clarity, as students have struggled to navigate ABE schedules when choosing classes every 6 weeks. For location and geographic access, as previously mentioned, our middle school centered model is intentional. It's how we accommodate the widest range of ages at natural community hubs. We'll review and continue to weigh distance and access as we plan future programming and site use, including as the new activity centers come online. And for inclusion and cultural responsiveness, we're exploring we're exploring programming specifically for students with special needs. For adults with disabilities, the programming itself is hitting the mark, but the access to is the barrier, so we're tracking accommodation needs, identifying adaptive equipment and materials, and reviewing the accessibility of the locations we hold activities. And we're looking to offer more culturally responsive programming that reflects our communities' backgrounds. Affinity groups, especially with within ECFE, were specifically requested and are a model that we have been offering, including a Spanish-speaking group added last year. We will continue to examine and recruit other opportunities for inclusion and cultural responsiveness throughout the years. We are deeply grateful to the 1,170 community members who took the time to share their feedback with us. Their voices will directly shape how we grow, adapt, and serve as we are committed to intentionally addressing the barriers that stand between our community and the programs they want and need. Everything we do is in service of our mission to educate, develop, and inspire our community for lifelong success. Before I close, I'd like to share some exciting news. After a nearly decade-long hiatus, we are bringing back the District 196 Community Education Parenting Conference, and we couldn't be more excited to offer this resource to our community again. It will be held Saturday, November 7th, 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Eastview High School. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Katherine Heck, who will be presenting Fostering Resilience, Supporting Learners, and Strengthening Communities, a topic we know resonates deeply with the families and staff in District 196. We hope to see many of you there, and we hope that you'll help us spread the word. I just want to thank you for tonight, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. >> Thank you very much. At this time, were there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing no questions or comments from board members. Anna. >> All right, I have a couple of questions. Um thank you. This was really informative. I'm excited to see uh some um members from the community uh education advisory council here to present. Love that for you. Love that for us. Um love to see community members engaged in that way. So, thank you for having the courage to come up here and for speaking so eloquently. So, thank you. Love to see your faces here. Come back again. Um so, uh okay, a couple of questions. Um Thank you for bringing out demographics. Love that, too. Uh One of My first question is um when we were talking about the Dakota County demographics and you spoke specifically about black, African American, and Hispanic and Latino demographics and how in the survey there was a gap between the respondents uh and they were underrepresented. So, it sounds like you made an assumption that you based There was an assumption How can I phrase this? You have here the the demographic and then there was a gap in the number of respondents or the percentage of respondents. And that is a flag for you. Okay, so we have that as a fact. And then we have this um this uh concern about the priorities that came out of that, these two priorities. Um number two and number six, that's a reflection from that gap. And so is that gap driving this idea that the reason why people aren't responding is because of the uh culturally responsive programming? >> I'm uh I'm not sure I can meet that question. >> Okay, so So okay, so let me start with this. Okay, let me come here. So, we have this the top motivations why people are coming. So, from a demographic perspective, what were the black African Americans saying why they are motivated Why are they motivated to come? What was their response? >> We did we I haven't drilled down specifically on that yet. I'm sorry. >> Cuz that would have been good because then that would help me understand is is the programming why they're coming? Is it the socialization because that would help me understand then is that really number six their concern? Because I would want to see is that matching up with the motivation? >> Right. Yep. >> Is that the problem? >> Right. >> Is that what we're hearing? >> Yeah, we'll drill down we'll keep drilling down on the data that we have. This was just a broad overview to help us start our priorities for the year. >> Okay, cuz that's what I want to know. >> Yeah. >> If those if those two are matching cuz I'm I'm wondering um having attended other areas. So, is the programming matching? Yeah, I'm curious to see if that is really what they're saying, if it's culturally responsive and relevant, or is it more of a I'm not connecting necessarily with the people from my community because I'm not seeing a lot of people like me if the social aspect is a piece of it. >> Absolutely. >> I would love to see more of that information and maybe >> Is that data maybe we can put in a future >> That's what I was going to say. >> Yes, that's actually was what I was getting to. So, thank you. I was getting there. Thank you. That's it, but I love the report. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Can I just say I love how the two former advisor community advisory council >> right? >> [laughter] >> Yeah, that's the question. >> Shout outs. >> I guess I have to call on Robin next. >> [laughter] >> I guess. >> Yeah, totally do. Um, wonderful report. Um, nice to see everybody outside of the regular meetings. Um, I love community ed, um, and I'm so pleased that the community likes community ed as well. Um, and I especially during my time as an advisory committee member and my time now as a board representative, um, the department is very thoughtful and very intentional and, um, not afraid of some self-reflection. What are we doing well? Where can we improve? So, I just wanted to say I really appreciate that. Um, that is sometimes people aren't open to doing that and you've always been that way. So, I just wanted to say I appreciate that and thank you for the lovely report. >> Yes. >> Other questions or comments? Second it. >> I want to second with the appreciation as well. So, uh, I think it's really good that we engage in and asking, doing a needs assessment. The other thing that I'm very impressed is that, I mean, I 100% agree that community education is really a good valuable resource. I've seen it and I've talked to community members that participate. So, we have a effectively uh, respon- our response shows up that we have a far reach in every aspect, right? In every age group from youth to adult learning and family programming. I way back I used to take, you know, how to be new dad. Course is about that. It helped me significantly. Uh, with that reach, you could see that responders are basically saying, you know, they identify it where the needs are and where we lack and I'm happy that we already jumped into it. In fact, you guys jumped into it, looking into it, all the six issues. We come up uh, strategies and ways that we are mitigating that and to to pull that out. So, that's really reassuring as a school board that we're on top of it not that not that we only reach it to community I want to get feedback from them we also acting especially with that so with that said I have one question that I did not see which I always hear is awareness I mean it has a far reach that which is good but there are other people that are not aware about that so I hear that. The other thing I hear which come along the way is that there's so many courses they do not know how to search it how to find it right I mean there is we have a courses but again what level is it intermediate at you know advanced we looking I mean you propose a good solutions but again awareness are we using still relying and traditional I don't want to say all but traditional communication methods that we have been using are we trying to come up new ways of reaching out what is available to the community so that you know participation could go up so that's a I mean what are we doing to expand awareness what is new for school year. >> Yeah I really appreciate that you are correct that we have relied on traditional methods of marketing this last year we we restructured a little bit and we were able to hire an additional manager to oversee some programs one because of capacity we were we have a lot going on and we just didn't have the people to be able to take care of it and sorry and expand but a piece of that too is really the importance of going out and doing outreach into the community and we had did because of the capacity concern we didn't have we weren't able to do that to the level that we wanted to so we're really excited about being able to have the time and the space to go out and do outreach go out into different communities meet different businesses form those relationships so that we can create classes and events that are more um receptive and inclusive of our of our entire community. So, we're very excited about that. >> Just another quick follow-up. So, the with the I know it's been discussed with the location and geographics. So, if we could reach out or make it available, look at expanding to uh neighborhoods or uh geographical low participation neighborhoods, that will help significantly because that's other things that I've been noticing and you know, people mentioned to me as a school board. So, if we could look that deeply and come up some sort of solutions, that will help significantly. >> We were just talking about that last week and identifying a couple different places that we could go into. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Other questions or comments? Leon. >> Just a real quick one. Um back to the cost barrier that that came up. I know um we mentioned having some um support there, but is it is it sliding scale or is it um does it tend to be like if you're if you qualify for ad benefits, then free, like it it generally does have a sliding scale component. >> sliding scale. So, ECFE has their own type of a sliding scale and the remainder of the program has a separate sliding scale and it's based off the cost of the class. That being said, we try to work with everybody in order for them to be able to participate in class. >> Thanks. >> Excellent. Other questions or comments? Anna. >> Okay, one last question. Um that 9% uh what is it? Okay, sorry. Does our response rate parity with our response rate here is in our district by demographic? Just trying to see if there's a similarity here. >> Can you say that again? I'm sorry. >> So, does our response rate parity by demographic parity with our response rate is here in the district when it comes to the adults responding in terms of the demographics. >> Are you asking if the adults responding the demographics of the adults responding for the community ed needs assessment are reflective of >> of the adults responding >> to district wide survey results? >> That I would have to dig into as well and get back to you. >> I'm just curious if that is like if if it's a parity cuz yeah, I'm just curious if that's just typical. >> Right. >> Um yep, that's it. >> And >> You can get >> That's >> I mean that's not a priority. I just want to see if that is just kind of trending >> Yeah, sure. >> in general. Okay, that's it. >> Yeah. >> Questions or comments? I'll just end by saying thank you again for coming. This is a I I I might be biased, but I think our community ed program is the best in the state, but >> [laughter] >> It is. >> Um and we you you and your team do an awesome job. The community ed advisory council does an amazing job. I've been in many of the meetings, so engaging, so thankful to have you here tonight as well. Um the the ideas that come out of that that council and the community participation really have spurred so many ideas for community ed in our district. It's just been awesome to see. So thank you both for being here as well. >> Oops, did I say that? I said in the leadership. Did I say that aloud? >> Oh, that's fine. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Excellent. >> Oops. >> All right, that's bringing us close to the end of our agenda tonight. Um I will turn the meeting over to Superintendent Bolsoni for a superintendent updates. >> All right, thank you Chair Johnson. This is our last regular school board meeting before the start of the school year. We look forward to welcoming back our students and staff for another productive year of learning in District 196. Many of our high school sports and activities start practices next week. Through our strong Triple A philosophy, we encourage every student to find a club, a sport, or a co-curricular activity that sparks their interest. As we heard from our principals in June, students who participate in activities, athletics, and or the arts are more engaged in school, build meaningful connections, and experience a stronger sense of belonging. We believe there is something for everyone in District 196. And speaking of opportunities for students to connect and participate, we're excited to celebrate the opening of our new activity center at Eastview High School. This will be the first one opening and a ribbon a ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, August 26th, followed by a community open house on September 20th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. We are so thankful to our community for proposing and supporting the activity centers at each of our high schools. We look forward to officially opening the doors and celebrating this exciting addition at Eastview. Board members and community members are welcome to attend. A week from today, Monday, August 17th, we will welcome new teachers to the district. We have a great week of professional learning plan for our new educators. The following week, starting on August 24th, all of our educators will return to work. We'll have open houses at each school, and please check school websites for details on those open houses. Then, Monday, August 31st, right around the corner, we will welcome all students back to their classrooms for the first day of school. We encourage families to visit our back-to-school hub on our district website for important dates, resources, and information to help prepare for a great start to the school year. Thank you, and that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Superintendent Polsoni. At this time, are there any board members with updates they'd like to share? Robin. >> I just wanted to say I was really excited to hear about the return of the community and parent conference on November 7th, and that I'm excited to attend. >> Any other updates to share? All right. Seeing none, that brings us to the end of our agenda tonight. Is there a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Robin, seconded by Anna. All those in favor of adjournment say I. >> I. >> I. >> Those opposed? Motion carries on a 6-0 vote. Our next regular school board meeting will be on Monday, September 14th, and we stand adjourned. >> [music]