[Music] good evening and Welcome to our May 6th regularly scheduled Schoolboard meeting at this time if you could all please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge aliance 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 right good evening board members and members of the public we are working off of a revised agenda today which includes a title change of a joint Powers agreement um with St Cloud State University under our consent agenda is there a motion to approve the agenda the revised agenda as outlined some move second motion by Art second by sodin all those in favor of approving the agenda say I I those opposed motion carries on a 6-0 vote first item on the agenda is of course our recognition so at this point I would like to welcome East viiew High School chess coach Bob Detmer to the podium to introduce our state chess Champions good evening good evening chairperson Johnson school board members and superintendent creger thank you for the privilege of being here tonight to recognize the state champion East few lightning chess team our second title in a row my name is Bob Detmer and I teach English at East viw and serve as the chess adviser I'm finishing my 25th year in this District all four of my children are East VI graduates and I'm a proud to be a teacher and resident of district 196 the students that are here tonight I'll just have them give a little wave seniors Isaac trainer Ethan P Junior near off singal cartic sah vanap Pandi and sophomore Su house Pula were east's top five performers at this state chess tournament this past March out of 125 participants each of them placed in the top 20 with senior Isaac trainer taking sixth place a few words about these young men their collected GPA is 3.92 each of them takes a variety of honors AP classes I had all of them but one in my ninth grade English class each of them is well-rounded with a variety of other sports and activities at East viiew track tennis marching band jazz band Science Olympiad the list goes on all of them are role mod models to the rest of the team and help create a positive welcoming culture they are respectful hardworking and humble these six young men Jackson is not here are the epitome of what we strive to be in district 196 a place where students can challenge themselves with academics Athletics and activities to build their knowledge shape their character and hone their leadership skills at the state chess tournament there are seven rounds over two days with each round lasting as long as 2 hours during the match they must write down their moves and the moves of their opponent in the Chess World we call this notation the other challenge is clock management you have one hour each match and even though you might be winning if you were low on time you will have to make fast moves which never ends up very well if your time Runs Out you lose even if you're ahead on material or position in short it's stressful so you have to keep your Poise players have to learn how to process the game erase bad games from their memory and regulate emotions after winning the title last year our goal was to repeat since we had most of our top players returning and as the year went on it became clear to me that we are playing at a high level winning fall league online League conference a trio of achievements that we'd never done before but there's a lot of quality teams at any state tournament and everybody else obviously was gunning for us we built a big lead protect Ed it on day two winning by a sizable margin I guess lightning can strike the same place twice in the end it was a total team effort 19 players represented East viiew and even though these five young men accured the most points the other 13 were very instrumental in winning key matches against other schools that were chasing us in the team standings the chess team represented themselves East viiew and the district very well at the state tournament with their talent attitude and sportsmanship thank you for extending the invitation tonight and for the opportunity to recognize the noteworthy achievements of both these students in the entire chess team in closing I would like to thank the family members and attendance for their support and sacrifice they could stand really quick family members thank you takes a village so thank you for your support and thank you for having us tonight sh your [Applause] hands congratulations awesome job congratulations congratulations amazing job congratulations fantastic congratulations J app next on the agenda I'd like to welcome Apple Valley high school speech and debate coach Dan Hodes and Eastview High School speech adviser Ryan Rosine to the podium to introduce us to the state speech Award winners hello my name is zidal Voss I'm one of the head coaches at Apple Valley High School standing in for Daniel Hodes this evening good evening school board members chairperson superintendent thank you for inviting us to be here tonight to celebrate our students my name is zidal Voss and I proudly represent the Apple Valley high school speech team as we recognize speakers who have placed in the top three as state finalists at the Minnesota State High School league speech tournament last month the Apple Valley high school speech team has an ex has had an exceptional season as the six daa State section Champions our team qualified 14 students in 133 events to the state tournament where a total of 10 students placed in the top eight with me tonight are six of the students on our team who placed in the top three in their events I am pleased to introduce you to the following students they will just step forward as I introduce them first we have senior ell Ellie stumbo who was coached by Caitlyn rikowski Moore and myself Ellie placs third in informative speaking with her speech on the social worth of libraries she will be attending Carlton next fall and we are so grateful that her mom is with us here tonight Ellen stumo you may [Applause] stand next we have senior Aquilla Dunn and Junior Isaiah Craig coached by Daniel Hodes they Place third in Duo interpretation at the state tournament with their historical fiction based on the story of the Pullman Porters ailla will be attending Western Kentucky University this fall and Isaiah will return for another his senior year at Apple Valley High School congratulations junior junior Brandon Vergara V Vos coached by Daniel hajes plays second in Pros with a story about a brother who took care of his sister as they crossed the border congratulations Brandon on your second [Applause] place senior Zoe Meyer coached by Pam Katy woff and myself plac second in informative speaking with a speech about time capital or how we see time as money congratulations Zoe on your second place uh recognition and congratulations as you you head off to St Thomas next fall and finally Apple Valley High School has added another state champion to the list senior mafas Muhammad Ali coached by Dr Scott vas and hel Lima badre claimed the state championship in original oratory maf's speech addresses humiliation as a tool of social control she will be attending Northwestern University in Evanston next fall we are so proud of these students and the hard work that they have put in to represent our school well their success has helped Apple Valley High School take home the second place team trophy at the 2024 state tournament and keep our record as the school with the most State medals won in the history of the Minnesota State High School league speech tournament we are especially grateful for the ongoing support of our arts and activities director Bill blatzheim and principal Drew mans again on behalf of the students the parents and coaches at Apple Valley High School we thank the board and district 196 for the support that you have shown as we continue to help our students strive for excellence in communication and education thank you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Fant awesome Fant well good evening chairperson Johnson board member superintendent creger thanks for having us today I am Ryan Rosine and I have the honor of serving as the head coach at eastw high school for our speech team and tonight we are here to recognize some absolute wonderful wonderful students of our district that are extremely talented I think we all wish we had their talent that's for sure tonight with me tonight I want to introduce to Maxwell espena you want to take a step forward Maxwell is a state champion in the category of Duo interpretation his partner could not be here Aria arath could not be here tonight but Maxwell is very talented and what I'm very lucky about is we get Maxwell for another year East viiew on our team he's a true leader he's dedicated he works hard and he's a very well-rounded individual as well also joining me today is Tess dma whose father is in the crowd as well if you want to stand up [Applause] Greg Tess took home the second place medal in the in the interpretation category of humorous yes she is very quite funny all right but that's not her only skill an excellent student a wonderful singer and she really uh does her best in the shows that e puts on as well so very proud of our two students that are here we had some more qualifiers that finished in the top three ciat lurry could not be here tonight she took home the championship in Creative expression and that is her second year doing so which is extremely impressive with that and then we had another Duo that could not be here Neil rajvan and Monisha SES and they finished uh in the top three in Duo as well they're coached by Brady Beckman along with Max and our keier coached by Brady and um Tess is coached by Jess fedie so we're very lucky to have our talented coaches and students here after this year's tournament East viiew now placs as fifth in total medals in uh doublea and remember we are the new one of the newest schools in the state with our program so it's very impressive we have our seventh in total gold medals in championships earned so very impressive I also am here yeah please let's absolutely of applaud I also want to take an opportunity to mention Egan's success at the state tournament they could not be here tonight as they are having their banquet and believe it or not their kids would rather eat great meals and be recognized there than be here so I don't I don't know if I blame him or not but it's great to see you so we'll say nice things about them but they had finalists in the top three as well Maddie Mack finished second an extemporaneous reading wakira finished third in poetry and Jada laor finished third in storytelling so once again we saw from outa Valley from here and and what Egan did a really successful state tournament for our students in this District so without the parent support without everybody that does what they can to support our programs um we can not do this so it's really nice to have all of this support here so thank you very very much and uh let's go shake their hands and honor these wonderful students [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] next I would like to welcome Dakota United Hawks head coach Jake wisinski to the podium to introduce the adapted floor hockey state champions in the pi division it's okay to cheer that's right all right while they're making their way up here uh I just want to say thank you for the invitation chairperson Johnson and the board members and superintendent craigger for this wonderful opportunity to be recognized for our fantastic season also want a quick thanks to our ad at ESU Matt peral who can be here today and we do have our principal Bruce Miller and it looks like Sandy set also made it our ad over at Egan as well so thank you for coming and supporting us also big shout out to our parents and support staff family members for a fantastic job throughout the season supporting not only your child but everyone else on the team so thank you we couldn't do this without you guys all right we had a fabulous season it really kicked off at the end of last season I don't know if you all remember I'm pretty sure a lot of you do but last time we last year we were here celebrating our second place is because we lost in overtime against Brainard that was kind of fueled our motivation for this year and I'm going to get to kind of how that's going to unfold here in a second but quickly just some uh overall stats we are 121 in one for this entire season we won our Rochester Invitational Tournament at the beginning of the year we were the number two seed in the state tournament and just like I said last year we lost in overtime where we got some redemp Redemption against brainer we beat them in the semi-final game and yes and we beat them in overtime to make it to the championship game that's right oh my bad two overtimes I don't know it's that was a long day that was a long day it was and not only did we win in two overtimes we had to quickly turn it around within about an hour and a half to face the team that we lost to earlier in the season Robinsdale in which we came out Victorious 5 to one victory in our state championship game so good job guys it's I tell you what it's not easy playing basically what five periods of hustle hard work people were sweating we didn't know how they were going to recover recoup but you know what props to the entire team for doing it so nice job uh also with that that is our 10th state Championship throughout our program and we also had three players on the all Tour Tournament team Kaden neham yeah uh will Warder uh he is a junior I believe right Junior at ISU high school and he couldn't be here tonight and then we also had Jay B a sophomore at e high school as well as much as records and stats play into the season the best part about this team is not only their resilience but also the way they are as a team they have each other's back coming to practice every day they work hard and it's just fun to see them grow not only as players but as human beings because I know that they're going to have lifelong friends once this is all said and done so Props to you all for that so thank you thank you thank you now I'm going to hand it over to you uh co-head coach Brett sedic who's going to announce the team members and then we'll say goodbye thank you uh Brett sadic is my name uh year number 32 helping coach Dakota it's been a wonderful ride before I get going any further though I would like to wish superintendent creger the best on her retirement because I know she's been a great supporter of Dakota throughout the years so I appreciate all your hard work thank you uh we have one of our assistants coach uh Sean arus is here um and then my brother Josh sadic is unable to make it this evening he's another uh uh one of our assistant coaches players raise your hand uh so they know who you are here uh Rees Martin is a captain 11th grader from Rosemont Dominic Albus 11th grader from Egan Bennett Herman eighth grader from Rosemont Middle Sam Holland 12th grader from Rosemont High School Captain Amisha Eder senior from Rosemont High School Livia grossbauer Junior from Egan High School Kaden Needum 11th grader from Egan and yes I get a little hair jealousy every once in a while that's the best salad for sure uh Samantha jordheim she's a 10th grader at East viiew High School along with another 10th grader from East viiew Khloe shab and then we have a Captain J Bama a 10th grader from East View Dylan Burns seventh grader from valley middle and then we have Bryce Andrews a seventh grader from Rosemont Middle School and Ben shusher 11th grader from Egan high school so this is your state champion Dakota Hawks all right and we're g to come by and say hi to you guys thank you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] awesome job congratulations great job congratulations congratulations aome congratulations fantas oh I love that congratulations great job awesome job congratulations oh nice I love it thank you thank you so much congratulations oh and a koozie I love it congratulations awesome job awesome job congratulations great job congratulations [Music] yes I love [Music] it I know I love that see all right I almost don't want it to be over but we only have one more group to recognize under our recognition today and I'd like to welcome Apple Valley High School wrestling Coach Josh barage Egan high school wrestling coach Zack Hansen and East viiew High School wrestling Coach Riley Meers and Rosemont athletic director will Finley to the podium to introduce the state wrestling champions uh thank you and good evening uh first of all I'd like to thank uh chairperson Johnson superintendent creger and the rest of the school board members for us here tonight uh my name is Josh barage and I'm the head wrestling coach at Apple Valley High School uh this season was filled with several highlights as a team we once again qualified for the class AAA State wrestling tournament our 39th appearance in the school's history uh we also qualified 11 individual wrestlers for State five boys and six girls uh with eight of those wrestlers earning All State honors uh our team continues to excel in the classroom as well uh earning the gold academic award for the 11th consecutive year with a team GPA of 3.62 uh and our girls team was recognized by the Minnesota wrestling coaches association as a 2024 State individual Team Champions uh as well as being ranked the 16th best girls wrestling team in the nation uh but tonight I'm here to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of five student athletes uh Andrea konz Cassie Gonzalez Grace alogo glorian VI Avo and Marcel Booth uh parents of these student athletes uh please stand up and be recognized uh Manny and Nancy konz uh Ronnie and Jerry Gonzalez Cojo and Anna alagbo uh kovi and coqu vavo uh and L and Melissa Booth uh thank you for your continued [Music] support and now I'll talk a little bit about our student athletes uh first up Andrea kones uh Andrea was this year's 124b State runnerup uh she nearly won a razor thin 10 to9 match in the state finals against a 36-0 senior Lana Walters from sock Center who would go on to win this year's Miss Minnesota award Andrea is a two-time state entrant two-time state place winner and a state finalist and uh I should probably mention she's still only in eighth grade uh so this young lady has a lot more winning in her her future and we're very proud of her uh next Cassie Gonzalez Cassie can't be here tonight um but Cassie capped off uh an undefeated sophomore season by winning the 136 PB State Championship where she defeated Diane Smith of grand meow by technical fall uh national rankings have Cassie as the number eight wrestler in the country uh Cassi is now a two-time state champion and holds an overall High School record of 43 and zero yet to lose a high school match uh with two more years left we're excited to watch her continue to chase greatness uh also can't be here to join us tonight uh Grace alogo Grace finished her senior season on a high note winning the 170 PB State Championship uh by defeating Abby IR vasty of berth the huitt Verndale uh during her three seasons of wrestling at Apple Valley Grace was a three-time state finalist a two-time state champion and uh had a career record of 66 and six off the mat Grace was recognized as Apple Valley's AAA Award winner uh as well as our Athena Award winner just just a few of her many accomplishments um two times Grace has earned academic Allstate honors for maintaining her 3.7 GPA uh next year Grace plans to continue her wrestling career while attending your sinus College in Pennsylvania uh and studying pre law Glorianne vavo glow was this year's 190 PB state champion where she defeated Maya Schmidt of bmigi by fall in her state championship match not bad for a girl who was a member of the avhs basketball team just three years ago glow finished her career as a two-time state place winner and a two-time academic Allstate team member uh glow plans to major in mechanical engineer ing next year and is still undecided on what college she will attend excuse me uh lastly Marcel boo Marcel boo was a senior captain of this year's team uh and he finished with a record of 43 and five uh and was this year's 189 pound State runner up uh Marcel was a six-year Varsity starter for Apple Valley uh he was a three-time state place winner finishing fourth Sixth and second in the state is also a four-time section all academic team member uh in the semi-finals of this year's state tournament Marcel defeated returning state champion and the number seven ranked wrestler in the country colean linm of Farmington in an exciting last second overtime match that came down to Ultimate tiebreakers uh one of my most favorite High School matches I've ever watched and I've seen some good ones uh next year Marcel has decided to attend Northwestern University in Evon uh where we look forward to him achieving great things at the next level uh again thank you for having us school board members and congratulations to the Apple Valley athletes here today for your incredible accomplishments this [Applause] [Music] season amazing J congratulations awesome congratulations fantastic congratulations to being here good evening chairperson Johnson members of the board and superintendent creger I am Zach Hansen head wrestling coach at Egan High School it is my honor and privilege to introduce uh to you Ean High scho School junior Dylan St Germaine this year Dylan earned second place at the Minnesota state wrestling tournament and was Egan's first state finalist since 2013 commitment and dedication are just two of the many words I would use to describe this young man his passion for wrestling is unmatched wrestling for those of you don't know is a very demanding sport both physically and mentally it challenges you and teaches you so many life lessons that go beyond the wrestling man Dylan is a great role model for what wrestling can do for you when you put in the time and the energy Dylan has continued to challenge not only himself but his teammates to always strive for greatness his encouragement and belief in his teammates have been instrumental in helping our team grow from 25 wrestlers to 50 wrestlers over the past two seasons some other stats that Dylan has acquired over the LA uh years he is a three-year starter a two-time captain a two-time All Conference wrestler a two-time state qualifier and place winner had a 44 and3 season record this year and has broken two Egan high school wrestling records for most Falls and team points in a season records which had been held intact since 2007 he was also voted the Minnesota wrestling coaches association academic All State and they only choose two wrestlers per weight class in the entire State I would also like to recognize Dylan's parents who are in attendance tonight um Elizabeth hatch and stepfather Andrew Hatch as well as his father Brent St Germain if you would please stand and thank them for all their support I would also like to take the time to thank our athletic director Sandra Setter who's also in attendance for all of her support and encouragement of all of our athletes we are so proud of Dylan and all of his accomplishments his leadership and dedication is Paving the way for future wrestlers to come we would like to thank you for this honor and for your support thank [Applause] you awesome job congratulations good evening chairperson Johnson school board members at superintendent kriger um congratulations on all those being recognized here tonight it's pretty inspirational being here it must be one of the best parts of your job I I'm over there fighting back tears it's pretty pretty cool um it I'm Nick foro the head wrestling coach and and it's my my pleasure to be here to recognize Riley Myers um for her accomplishments as a student athlete on behalf of Eastview faculty and student body uh Eastview wrestling 2024 we we picked a model every year and the model this year was Into the Storm and the model is symbolized by the mighty Buffalo B bison right that it um when facing a storm a bison They Don't Run Away From The Storm they they go right into the storm uh the the closest relative to the Bison is the cow and and they they run away from it and and they cower and so we talked a lot about facing our adversities this year um and and that model helped lead our team as Riley did as well we had a real successful season 18 wins 24th year in a row that we were recognized as gold academics with the this year we had a 3.78 GPA and and Riley led the way academically as well we had 55 wrestlers on the team this year uh 47 boys and and eight girls that finished the season um Riley Meers is a trailblazer for girls wrestling at East viiew for girls wrestling in the state of Minnesota um she joined the boys wrestling team when she was just a a youth uh wrestling with her brother and her dad as a coach and just she loved wrestling and she so she was involved in the boys Team all throughout these years um and so she joined East feww High School as a nth grader on the boys team and was a fierce competitor in the room and on the mat in in her sophomore year 2022 Minnesota State High School league they they uh held its first ever girls wrestling state championships and no one was more happy than Riley but she also loved just wrestling the boys to the challenge and and so uh she liked that she could do both still she was a a state champion that first year as a sophomore so again another trailblazing moment um Riley was named captain of the boys and girls team first first time ever right so Riley was Captain um this past year what a great leader she was and she embodied our model Into the Storm see her junior year she took second at State at after winning at her sophomore year for most of us that's a great accomplishment for for Riley that wasn't what she wanted and so she she faced the storm and she she she looked at herself and said where can I improve and so she improved in so many areas in in in nutrition in her physical training in her mental training and refocused her thoughts and you could tell when the season started she was different this year she was focused and ready and what a dominating season she had um she she won her second State title this year in the finals she won 11 to zero um she's a three-time academic Gold Member her future plans are to attend the University of Lacrosse um Riley's parents are a huge part of her success Christy and Lauren Myers are here thank you for your support um and of of Riley and the Eastview wrestling team um I present to you Eastview is two times Champion Riley Myers [Applause] good evening chairperson Johnson superintendent creger and Schoolboard members my name is Will Finley athletic director assistant principal at Rosemount High School in the realm of Athletics we often witness individuals who possess the essential drive for excellence a Relentless spirit and positive character that propels them towards greatness tonight is my absolute honor to present to you Camden Salter who is one extraordinary individual a shining example of dedication and prowess in the sport of girls wrestling this was not by chance as our head coach Brett Larson and Tyler ccas have been Allin with girls wrestling her parents who have paved the way and laid a strong Foundation uh Nicole and Rashard Salter I believe Rashard Salter is standing if you could wave um in this realm Mr Salter not only wears the Hat of dad but also a Ros Mount High School assistant boys coach the de facto girls head wrestling coach and your dad like how is that I I was told that I should get at least one word out of Camden and I got it Camden is just a 10th grader this remarkable young athlete has already etched her name in The Chronicles of Minnesota girls wrestling history not once but twice she has stormed through the ranks of girls wrestlers to become a min Minnesota state qualifier once given the opportunity to have a seat at the table Camden did not waver securing top three finishes this year and last year in the fiercely competitive Arena of Minnesota State High School league girls wrestling tournament it is with immense pride and excitement that invite you to join me in celebrating the epitome of girls wrestling Excellence the Unstoppable force that is two time top three girls finisher Camden Salter [Applause] all right next item on the agenda is our superintendence recognition of students and staff so I will turn it over to superintendent Creer thank you congratulations to seniors Grace alagbo of Apple Valley High School Drew busley of Egan High School Emily peral of East viiew High School and Ava Thompson of Rosemont High School I'm being selected by their schools as 2024 Athena award recipients the Athena awards are given each year to the outstanding senior female athlete at more than 50 Twin Cities area high schools for for their excellence and achievements in individual and team sports this year's recipients were recognized at a banquet in April next I would like to ask any district 196 teachers and School nurses who are in the audience tonight to please stand up and be recognized [Applause] [Music] [Applause] in tonight's someone's making me laugh in the audience okay in tonight's consent agenda the school board will approve resolutions recognizing the great work of our outstanding teachers and School nurses by declaring this week May 6th through the 10th to be teachers and school Nurses Appreciation Week in district 196 we recognize our teachers for serving as role models for the Youth of our community helping them to acquire the knowledge and skill necessary to become successful contributing members of society and we recognize our School nurses for promoting health and safety and intervening with real and potential health issues in our schools so let's give them another round of applause to thank them for being in district [Applause] 196 and last lastly I would like to invite directors Janet fman Kaia Bruce and Christopher and yango robshaw to the podium to introduce the newest administrators in our district who are feeling vacancies in special education Community Education and Facilities thank you good evening chairperson Johnson members of the board and superintendent creger I am pleased to introduce to you Kelly wench an exceptional individual who brings a wealth of EXP experience and passion to the role of the special education coordinator in our district Kelly comes to us with years of dedication to our district as well as to the field of special education her journey in education has been marked by a steadfast commitment to fostering inclusive environments where every student can Thrive academically socially and emotionally throughout her career Kelly has demonstrated a deep understanding of unique needs of students with diverse learning profiles Kelly has volunteered her time as a long-standing member of our special ed advisory Council where her voice and perspective are always valued and appreciated Kelly's leadership extends beyond the confides of her role she understands the importance of collaboration in order to ensure students with different abilities are offered opportunities to be supported in an environment of inclusivity Engagement and belonging in her new role as the special ed education coordinator Kelly will continue to be an advocate for excellence in special education programming her vision for inclusion opportunities aligns seamlessly with our core values and strategic priorities we are confident that her leadership will contribute significantly to the ongoing success of our special ed programs please join me in extending a warm welcome to Kelly we are thrilled to have her as part of our team and look forward to the positive contributions she will continue to make in the lives of all children [Applause] thanks Janet I'll keep this brief it's a busy agenda I see um thank you to Janet board members chairperson Johnson and superintendent creger for having me here tonight I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve as a special ed coordinator in our district I myself I'm a proud 196 graduate and benefited greatly from the opportunities in our district which is committed to educating developing and inspiring students for lifelong success I look forward to working Tire tirelessly alongside my colleagues teachers and families to Foster Equitable and inclusive School environments where all students can Thrive thank [Applause] you good evening chairperson Johnson members of the board and superintendent creger I am thrilled to introduce Zachary garosi as the next Community Education Early Childhood Services manager Zachary is currently the assistant administer administrator at Northview Elementary prior to that he was the assistant administrator for Early Childhood special education an instructional math coach and a fourth grade teacher at Rosemount Elementary his experience in special education in dedication to leadership curriculum development and implementation as well as creating systems and structures making databased decisions focused on equity and leading with values makes him an ideal fit for this position we are confident that Zachary's experience leadership and advoc c will continue to support and expand our highquality student- centered and continuously growing Early Learning programs in district 196 please join me in extending a warm welcome to Zachary guresi in his upcoming new [Applause] role thank you uh thank you chairperson uh Johnson superintendent Mary creger and members of the board uh I couldn't be more grateful for this opportunity I'm deeply passionate about early childhood and early learning and I'm just so excited to join this team and to support and serve our earliest Learners and their families so thank you [Applause] all good evening CH Johnson superintendent K ker members of the board um I'm Christopher jshaw Director of Finance and operations and I'm excited to introduce the new member of the operations team um Sam Faro has served in the district since 2003 he he began his journey in the facilities and uh Department as a custodian and as of 20166 he was a building engineer at the school of Environmental Studies uh here in APPA Valley U I'm excited to work alongside some um just one anecdote um as I was making my decision um to say come join the team we were walking around the building at SCS and so many times we'd come across students and they'd stop and say Hi Sam and I thought if there's somebody I need to hang out with it'll be this guy why because even within the building that he's operating in the students know that he is there to make sure that the learning environment meets their needs and so as we embark on this journey uh making sure that the learning environment learning and playing environment because facilities is both the classrooms and the playgrounds um I'm excited to work alongside some as we make sure that our students have what it is that they need so they can succeed some I want to say thank you I'm very grateful for this opportunity chairman Johnson superintendent kriger and members of the Bo and looking forward to a new challenge and looking forward to take the department into a more sustainable and more efficiency way of managing and I'm looking forward to moving along thank you so much [Applause] all right next item on the agenda is our special communication requests we have two special communication requests this evening people who want to speak during the special communication request must submit a form at least 5 days in advance of the meeting um speakers receive up to four minutes to share their comments um we do have a timer available for the comments at 30 seconds remaining the green light on the podium will change to Amber and uh when the red light comes up you'll hear a tone and we ask you to wrap up your comments at that time um school board members do not respond to special communication requests this is the time for school board members to listen to the audience and the speakers so there will not be uh response here in the meeting however uh administrator may follow up with one of the speakers at a later date um also special communication request speakers are reminded not to share individual complaints about um District staff in this 4M first our first special communication request speaker is Mr Kevin Hamlin I'd like to welcome Mr Hamlin to the podium uh thank you chairperson uh Johnson thank you superintendent creger and the school board um I'm Kevin Hamlin uh I have a son that's currently in the district um and I'm on the as some of you you may know I'm on the legislative advisory Council as well and I'll be joining the um gifted uh talented and gifted uh Council as well um I want to start off by kind of painting a picture of three different students um you can imagine one in a high school setting that is in the back of the classroom doesn't appear to be listening um but is constantly drawing in his notebook and as you get to know this student you realize that when you look at his notebook he has amazing portraits of everyone in the classroom um he's an amazing artist but his schoolwork is falling behind you come to get to know the student a little bit longer you realize that he has dyslexia and he hasn't been able to read um and he has a few other weaknesses let's look at student B student B is in elementary school or middle school wherever you want to put it uh him or her uh student B is quiet in class um again not really doing much of their work uh nothing of the daily work none of the homework is being done however when you watch student be out amongst friends maybe at recess if they're in elementary you see that student be is an excellent Storyteller and in fact so compelling that other students are listening to the uh to this student B speak and just student B is able to Captivate them with this world that they've created and all the characters in this world um their huge imagination but again their school workor is falling behind and they're not the greatest of students let's look at student C student C refuses to do any work won't do any work in classroom won't do any homework and also just fidgets in his chair in his or her chair constantly moving constantly distracted maybe even distracting other classmates as well during this but when you have a test student C gets everything right on the math test doesn't show any work but gets everything right when you have standardized tests students see is probably one of the top scorers in the entire school maybe in the entire State what do all these three students have in common is that they are 2E students if you're not familiar what 2E stands for it's twice exceptional these students have amazing abilities and they're twice exceptional they have weaknesses they have strengths these weaknesses and strengths need to be addressed together um sometimes the district does a great job of addressing the weaknesses sometimes they do a great job of addressing the strengths but often times they don't address them together and so you have an imbalance with this person or these students it's it's a collaboration that needs to be together with special education as well as the gifted and talented people as well or talented and gifted sorry um they need to work in collaboration I have a son that's right now in uh as a second grader that is uh is twice exceptional he has a lot of uh emotional issues but he is brilliant as well and so I come here before the board asking for three different things one awareness two for the uh of twice exceptional two for Council sorry give your third okay um two for uh the council to create some sort of group or some sort of study for it and three for a pathway for these students um that's continuous amongst elementary middle school and high school and that is is the same amongst all all other elementary schools thank you thank you our second special communication request speaker is Esther oaro is Esther here and Esther my sincere apologies if I mispronounced your name please feel free to correct me hello I'm es o Charo a senior from the school of Environmental Studies I'm here today to ask you to ask the board to join me in the fight to reduce plastic waste in district 196 by replacing the plastic bottles in our school's vending machines with aluminum with aluminum cans I'm sure many of us have gone to one of our schools and bought a bottle drink from the vending machine and thrown it away in one of our recycling bins but did you know that only around 5% of the plastic we recycle is actually recycled the remaining 95% ends up in landfills and oceans where it can take up to 500 years to decompose plastic waste can negatively affect the habitat behavior and well-being of animals furthermore increasing amounts of microplastics in our environment have been linked to respiratory diseases cell damage and hormone hormone disruption in humans although recycling is an essential part of sustainability when it comes to plastic reducing our use is much more effective and should be our first priority unlike plastic aluminum is a material that can be recycled indefinitely with nearly 75% of all the aluminum ever produced still being in use today in addition aluminum is more durable and allows for drinks to stay cool for much longer to make this to make the switch from bottles to cans at SCS I've been communicating with officials at cocacola and the district purchasing Services specialist Sarah B about the steps that we needed to take unfortunately changes are being made to Coca-Cola's vending machine processes so no changes can be made until June however Miss bent has shown her support in ensuring that once these changes are made SCS will have vending machines that house cans instead of bottles I want to conclude by asking the board to support the switch from plastic to aluminum in the vending machines not only at SCS but in all district schools by doing this small action we can reduce our consumption of single-use plastics and make a big big impact on sustainability at district 196 thank you thank you Esther excellent all right next on the agenda is our consent agenda today board members we have 31 items on the consent agenda tonight those items include minutes of the April 8th 2024 special Schoolboard meeting minutes of the April 8th 2024 regular Schoolboard meeting minutes of the April 13th 2024 special Schoolboard meeting minutes of the April 15th 2024 special Schoolboard meeting minutes of the April 23rd 2024 special Schoolboard meeting Schoolboard meeting dates for 2024 25 advertising Revenue gift grants Treasures report for March 2024 summary of claims for March 2024 schedule of Investments for March 2024 revenues and expenditures report for March 2024 Personnel termination and non-renewal of probationary teachers confirmation of unrequested leave of absence district 196 Teachers Appreciation Week May 6 through 10th 2024 district 196 School Nurses Appreciation Week May 6th through the 10th 2024 20242 hard scap Rehabilitation Elementary School number 20 bid Package 2 fresh produce contract renewal liquid dairy milk product renewal equipment bid award Prime vendor commercial food products and Specialty items bid award agreement with Egan YMCA and Burnsville YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities for summer 202 24 school hcare program joint Powers agreement with Minnesota State University man C for concurrent enrollment courses Highland Elementary Scott Highlands Middle School 2024 ceiling replacement 2023 24 Spring budget adjustments appointments for the budget advisory Council joint Powers agreements with St Cloud State University and pay rates for substitute temporary and part-time employees are there any items that a board member would like to remove from our consent agenda tonight seeing none is there a motion to approve the consent so move second motion by Jackie second by Leah all those in favor of approval please say I I I those opposed motion carries on a 6-0 vote next on the agenda is our reports section and I would like to welcome uh Tony tashner and Jeremy saorin into the podium to give us a legislative update see if I can get this going here there we go good evening chairperson Johnson members of the board superintendent creger we are here tonight um to give a quick recap of uh our recent advocacy efforts on behalf of the district the uh end of the 2024 session of the Minnesota Legislature is fast approaching it's just two weeks from today um and one of the most impactful and exhausting events I would add uh we have each year as our district 196 day at the capital and I'm going to turn things over first to director of Elementary education Jeremy senson to start the presentation about our day at the capital all right move that over all right good evening I'm Jeremy senson like uh director of element red just like Tony introduced me I'm here to give some context about our day at the capital so I think we're going to start with our overall team uh about a month ago we had a team of 16 people uh go to the capital um 16 members from our Lac and BAC which is our legislative advisory Council and our budget advisory Council um we had a broad broad range of Partners so you can see citizens parents principes directors teachers um school board members superintendent and we also had some students with us or a student with us so um this was my first time there and I feel like the the the broad spectrum of Partners we had really stood out as we were talking to legislators um really felt like that was uh important to them to see the the wide spectrum of people to talk more specifically um when we got there we got to meet in the governor's reception room we started as a group and we got to meet with the governor's education policy lead to start the day um kind of sharing our legislator priorities and as we go through this we had some consistent talking points that we shared with every legislator so we got to share them there and and hear updates directly from the governor's educational policy leader um from there we had 12 we had a schedule to meet with 12 separate legislators we've split into two teams so we each met with six uh and we met uh in their offices or sometimes we'd pull them out of a session to meet right in the hallway it was quite an interesting uh uh uh event um there's three different buildings that we moved to so it's a very busy day fast-paced day um and we have thank you to the legislators here because uh like I said it was my first experience there and I really felt like the legislators were very sincere and listening to us they're aware of the issues um and many times they had referenced some of the work that we had done already which I felt was really important it was one of those days that goes by like that but then when you get home you sit down you're like oof that was a so we're going to get into some of the uh specific uh priorities that we we we talked about and we again we talked about all of these issues in all of our meetings we had this planned out um the first thing that we talked about was the read act and this is something that we've brought here before in the past so these bullet points are are pieces that we talked about before so we talked with them about the the training for the requirement for the structur literacy training and and kind of the burden that puts on a school district to figure out the times and things like that so we ended up changing our calendar many other districts did that as well but we just talked about how difficult it was to fit that training in um the unfunded costs for screener and curriculum purchases Again part of the mandates were using a screener three times a year that's something that we purchased the software and the pieces for that and then we provided the training that was all done unfunded um and the concerns about equity and inclusive inclusivity in some of the uh approved curriculum again this is a piece that I want to really um um highlight our teachers because as we met with the vendors of the approved curriculums it's our teachers that pointed out some of these pieces and from there we put together um some advocacy pieces about putting a letter together to write to the state to mde and to the U ofm who are Partners in this legislation and when we were there on that day um every single legislator commented on that letter that we wrote um and it was really it was really nice to see that they spoke to us about some of the things that were happening already um I think the following day we actually received a response from from um MD um so we know that that advocacy really put pressure on those vendors to start making some changes in that curriculum and this is about 196 in our priorities but I think this is a moment to recognize that we've impacted the entire State because school districts around the state will be adopting that curriculum and because of our staff and the advocacy we had we're going to make improvements for every student across the state which I think is really cool um and can't be understated so again our asks around the redac were funding um and maybe more funding and loosen up the way we can use some of that funding flexibility and inclusive curriculum of materials and I can tell you both from the the legislators conversations and from the letter we got back from mde there are there's pressure being put on those vendors to make changes to those curriculum more rapidly we also talked about compensatory funding so this this is a funding source that comes to the district or buildings that's partially based on uh the number of families that qualify for educational benefits um in the recent years with new legislation around uh free meals breakfast and lunch for all of our families there's less of a need for families to complete the educational benefits form so then the unintended consequences it impacts the amount of compensatory ad those dollars are mostly used for Staffing to support our our schools and students um so again we talked about that we talked about the impact it has and we asked the state to continue to provide funding that'll hold harmless meaning at the levels it was before until they figure out a better way or a better formula to identify uh identify those funding sources and again our experience was that those the legislators have been thinking about that and been listening to us um and our hopes are that this is these are things that will um make an impact moving forward I'm going to hand it back over to Tony thank you Jeremy Jeremy I'm going to cover the other two messages that we focused on during our day at the Capital One of the three main themes of our district priorities this year as it is many years is for more control for locally elected School boards such as yourself and school districts they govern to um just have more control over over the decisions that they make one example in this area is capital projects levies I've talked about this before this is local voter approved funding for technology and other equipment these levies can be for a maximum of 10 years in district 196 we have a capital projects Levy that was approved by voters in 2015 it provides annual funding that supports our entire onetoone learning program as well as uh other Mission critical technology and uh hardware and software our capital projects Levy will expire after 2025 unless it is renewed by voters and referendum election that would have to take place in the next year and a half or the legislature gives school boards the authority to renew a previously approved cap capital project Levy what we are asking for here is the same thing that the legislature approved last session giving School boards the authority to renew an operating Levy one time for up to 10 years the rationale for providing this authority to renew a capital project Levy is the same as it is for an operating Levy these straight renewals do not increase taxes and districts provide rationale for the need for the funds as a result renewals are approved by voters at a very high rate in fact since 2017 23 of 23 capital projects Levy renewals were approved by voters in local elections throughout Minnesota elections take time effort and money to run and we believe locally elected school boards should have the same author to renew a capital projects Levy as they do for an operating Levy the last thing we focused on during our visit at the capital was for $6 million in the state bonding bill to help pay for renovation of and a locker room addition to the Apple Valley Sports Center the district and city of Apple Valley have jointly operated the Apple Valley Sports Arena since it opened along with Apple Valley High School in 1976 the nearly 50-year-old building is long past a needed renovation and and has always had an issue with very limited locker room space for a facility that serves as home ice for Varsity programs for two of our high schools the district and City invested in new ice making equipment last year and would split $9 million of the $15 million total cost for the renovation and locker room addition we are looking for $6 million do in the state bonding bill this session to cover the remaining cost of upgrading the facility that serves the southern region and I'll just point out that in November uh members of a capital projects committee came and visited Apple Valley High School uh to look at the uh to look at the facility firsthand when we were preparing this report our plan was to have Egan High School senior Brady Sternberg here to help present the report and share a bit about his experiences serving on the Lac and visiting the capital when we learned that Brady would have to miss his final speech banquet to be here tonight we heard about speech banquet earlier right we offered to let him deliver his message by video so he could attend the banquet uh he wasn't shy to accept the offer uh so let's hear from Brady hello district 196 School Board my name is Brady Sternberg and I had the honor of serving on the legislative advisory Council this year as a young person interested in going into public service having the opportunity to work with our district professionals and see how they work with the state legislature was really insightful I geek out about this stuff and so getting to work with superintendent creger and incoming superintendent Michael Bon was just super interesting to me I've grown up with district 196 schools and so getting to be a part of the legislative advisory Council has been a cool full circle for me I hope more students get to have the opportunities that I've had and I call on the current superintendent and the incoming superintendent attendant to get more students into the rooms where the decisions about their education are being made I'm a pretty involved guy in fact I door knocked for Mr chair Corey Johnson's campaign along with Anna Williams and I think you owe your position to me but all seriousness the people of district 196 put their faith in you to run the school district and I hope you can return that Faith to the students more like me get them into the room and get them involved at the district level so thank you to the school board uh superintendent Mary creger Mr Tony tashner uh my parents and of course Egan High School principal Dr Paulie rikowski District 186 has a bright future this is the best District in the state for our students and I've been honored to have an incredibly small role in that and I can't wait to see what the future holds so thank you [Applause] thank you Brady for delivering the state of the district I guess there he said we have a BRI District he is a joy to be around um and just uh it'll be it'll be hard not to and the students we've had come through the Lac have all been just fantastic you know it's been it hasn't been all five schools with really involved students every year but it has been uh it has been significant to every year have one or two students that are really engaged and Brady has been that student for us this year I can't get this to whoops there we go so to recap here what we heard I'm G give talk a little bit about what we we heard what might happen this session overall I would say our legislators were very happy to see us and Jeremy talked about and engaged in listening to what we had to share and in turn we also heard some consistent themes throughout the day including that there will be likely very little additional funding for Education this session after spending $2 billion last session we did hear support for some funding for implementation of the read act and possibly for additional learning seats uh Early Learning seats legislators seemed confident that compensatory funding should continue at the whole harmless level as Jeremy had explained senator may quaade and representative Vern introduced bills that would allow school boards to renew capital projects Levy but they did not move forward we will continue to work on this leading up to and during the 2025 session in hopes we could get the legislature to approve this in time to avoid having to run a capital projects Levy referendum by the end of next year but that will be tight in regarding the bonding Bill our request is included in the governor's plan but we have no sense of how that will go but we won't have to wait too long to find out with the end of the session just two weeks away so that concludes our presentation I want to thank you for the time I also want to thank we've got Lac members in the audience today we've got two Lac members who joined us on the capital visit thank you for that um it was a very it it is always a a real rewarding day to um hear these people glow about this district and and talk about you know we have challenges and we talked about those challenges but they respect what's going on here and to see the engagement of both you know parents and citizens and students like Brady it's just uh it's it's very rewarding and I appreciate having the opportunity to do it excent so we'll be happy to answer any questions excellent are there any questions or comments from the audience see none questions or comments from board members I just want to Echo what you said to especially um all the participation fir at La and especially seeing our student um Brady is a door kner extraordinaire I can attest to He is wonderful at that um and the last thing having attended many of these events in the past I couldn't make it this year but um I'm at the capital every so often I agree with you it is a whirlwind and then you get done with the day and you're like I can't believe I did all that talking so thank you um for everyone that was able to attend and represent the district at the capital that day is very much appreciated thank you thank you all right we do not have any items under old business tonight so that that brings us to new business and I would like to welcome Jill Coyle to the podium to go over our student rights and responsibilities handbook good evening chairperson Johnson members of the board and superintendent creger I'm General councel Jill Coyle and I'm here tonight with our annual review of the overview of student rights and responsibilities we're looking ahead to the 2425 school year and that's the um overview that we're reviewing tonight this is a new business item so is just a review item we'll come back in June seeking approval for that item maybe before I talk about the proposed changes tonight it might be helpful just to do a little bit of background about what is the overview of student rights and responsibilities um I brought a prop with me this is the current overview of student rights and responsibilities for 2324 essentially what it is is it's a handbook for our students and their families it provides some required notices about some of our policies it provides items like our school discipline policy information about student data privacy rights information about how to make a complaint of harassment or discrimination or bullying um information about health and safety notices how do we handle asbest drinking water clean air in our schools all of those important notices for our families and it's mailed home to families in the in the um in August in anticipation of the next year um we develop changes over the course of the year and we develop them in a few ways ways First We Take a look at what Law changes have been made um in the course of the year because often there'll be education policy changes that the legislature makes that we then need to build into our rights and responsibilities book that's true this year we'll talk about that in a bit um we may also have to respond to policy changes that we as a district has made over the course of the year we catch up with those when we publish our handbook and then finally just recommendations from our schools we'll build bubble up from our school communities parents teachers students might have suggestions for how we can improve administrators may have suggestions for improvement we take all of those recommended changes and develop a set of changes that then gets vetted by the administration they go to principal meetings they're shared with the board policy Review Committee and then ultimately to this board in two meetings for your review again all leading up in anticipation to sending it home to families in August for the next school year okay so with that background I'll talk a bit about this year's changes um we've got two primary sorts of changes this year last year was a big change year we did a deep dive into student discipline and made a lot of changes around student discipline this year our changes are more modest but what you will see are a variety of changes with regard to those 20 the 20 um 23 uh legislative changes you might remember there were a whole host of changes that the legislature made a lot of changes around student discipline some changes around student data privacy there was a change um the age of eligibility for special education services went from 21 to 22 um there was a change in the Minnesota Human Rights Act to specifically call out and identify gender identity as a protected class so we built all of those changes into our policies over the course of the year and now we're bringing them to our handbook so most of the changes that you see this year relate to those 2023 legislative changes beyond that the other big bucket of change this year is really not so much a substantive change as it is an organizational change so if you look in the middle of our book you'll find a listing of 46 types of student behavior that calls for a disciplinary response and currently in our current book it's listed alphabetically starts with abuse verbal goes down to weapons so a to W um and and that's helpful in the sense that it's alphabetical but if you don't know what you're looking for it might be hard to find it in addition if you're trying to compare similar behaviors let's say you have a physical altercation you might be comparing fighting and physical assaults to see which box it fits in if those are grouped together it's a bit easier to find it and so this year what we're trying to do is group like behaviors together so chemicals tobacco alcohol group together property violations vandalism theft burglary group together those physical altercations group together so perhaps there'll be some ease in finding it within the book that's the other big change and then a change that doesn't even here in the language that came to us as a suggestion I I believe from chair Johnson last year is let's not print a lot of paper and mail it out to families that send it to families electronically so we checked to make sure that that was allowable that there wasn't something that had to come in a paper format and we can do it electronically it will live on our website in three languages and then we will send notice home to families with a link so that they can access it and if families want a paper copy we'll still have some available schools will still have paper copies but for our families we're primarily going to be providing it electronically so that's really it in terms of changes for this year I will let you know that between now and June when it comes back to you as old business there might be a couple of things that get tweaked if there's errors or typos we'll fix them um board member Williams spotted one for me this afternoon and so we've already made that change for June thank you um we will also take a look at the legislature if they make changes in education policy that we can get on right away this year and get that embedded in we'll try to do that uh session should be done at the end of the month um and then finally there is a notice a required notice at the back of the book that we get from mde I learned that they just updated that notice it relates to standardized assessments we'll get the most recent one dropped into that book when it comes back to you in June so that's what I have for you tonight I'm happy to answer any questions otherwise it's to you for discussion thank you are are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members I just had a question do we know how much we saved or how much we will save by going to electronic I don't know I thought about that as I was sitting in the audience I should know I think it's in the thousands and then of course the the paper as well sure okay thanks neither questions or comments from board members and know we're talking a lot about the mailing but as a parent myself and talking to many other parents in the district I noticed that a lot of people get this student rights and responsibilities big book in the mail every single year comes in the mailbox and they take it out of the mailbox and they put in their recycling bin because they know they're going to be able to find it on our website as well when they if and when they need it um so being able to save on um from a a sustainability standpoint saving on the paper and the postage cost I know it's maybe just a couple thousand but that's a big win to me so I'm I'm glad that we were able to make that work and you're able to look into that thank you so much for making that change absolutely absolutely we will see you back on June 10th thank you all right that brings us to our other action portion of our meeting tonight and I would like to welcome Shelley Munson to the podium to review the compensation and benefits for non-licensed specialist non-union administrators and special staff good evening chairperson Johnson school board members and superintendent creger um Shelley mson Director of Human Resources I'll be referring to exhibit on the compensation and benefits for non-licensed special specialist non-union administrators and special staff employees for the 20 2425 school year and the 2526 school years I will highlight the recommended changes for you increase wages and Longevity by 3.5% each year increase the district contribution to health insurance by 12% in year 1 and 8% in year two increase the 403b matching contribution by $100 each year and the total new costs during the ter this agreement are within the parameters that you established on behalf of administration I recommend you approve the changes that I've summarized and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have at this time excellent this is an action item for the board tonight so before I go to questions is there a motion to approve approval second motion by Art second by Jackie are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members pretty straightforward contract thank you very much for the presid presentation we have a motion to approve by art seconded by Jackie all those in favor of approval please say I I those opposed motion carries on a 60 vote if you want to stay at the podium and go right into our compensation of benefits for ad assistant administrators and Deans okay again good evening I'll jump right to the chase here I'll be referring to the exhibit on the compensation and benefits for assistant administrators and Deans again this is for the 20 2425 school year and the 2526 school year I'll highlight the recommended changes for you they're going to sound pretty similar uh it's an increase in wages and Longevity by 3% each year increase the district contribution for health insurance by 12% in the first year 8% in the second year and increase the matching contribution by $100 um each year in the contract the difference here is there is also providing a recommendation for three days of personal leave each year and the total of these new costs during the term of this agreement uh are within the parameters you established I would recommend um on behalf of administration that you accept this recommendation and uh if there have any questions I'd be happy to answer those thank you this is another action item so before we go to questions is there a motion to approve so moved second thank you motion by Jackie and a second by sowen are there any questions or comments from the audience see none questions or comments from the board just like it with we stay within parameters always good um we have a motion to approve by Jackie seconded by sowen all those in favor of approval please say I I those opposed motion carries on a 60 vote thank you very much next I would like to turn the meeting over to superintendent ker to go over our fourth or our third item under other action compensation and benefits for directors thank you the administration is recommending changes in compensation and benefits for the directors for the 202 2425 and 2526 school years these um recommendations include increased wages and Longevity by 3.5% each year increase the district contribution to health insurance by 12% in the first year and 8% in the second year and increase 403b matching contribution by $100 each year and the administration recommends that you approve the compensation and benefits for Direct as summarized excent this another action item is there a motion to approve so moved second motion by Leah seconded by Art are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members right there's a mo a motion to approve by Leah second and by Art all those in favor of approval please say I I those opposed motion carries on a 6-0 vote and I get the honor of having our last item of other action item tonight um with the assistance of the Minnesota School Board Association the district 196 School Board conducted an extensive search for superintendent to replace our soon retiring Mary creger um effective June 30th of this year at a special board meeting on April 23rd the school board voted to hire Michael Bon as the next superintendent for district 196 and authorized an offer of employment contingent upon contract NE negotiations and completion of the hiring process the contract was negotiated ated by myself the vice chair and outside legal councel Mr bson has indicated that he will accept the terms and sign the contract the contract is effective July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2027 and includes a starting salary of 260,000 with annual incre increases and benefits detailed in the contract that is attached to the exhibit um this is an action item is there a motion to approve the contract so moved second motion by Art second and by Jackie are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members questions or comments I would just add that this is the um this vote is now finally sealing the long months long search process we have all been through and Saturdays and um a full Saturday and a very nice Saturday actually interviewing candidates and a long evening interviewing our finalists as well so it's nice to be able to put a stamp on the um final process and have our candidate our next superintendent in place to start our next school year so with that there is a motion by art seconded by Jackie all those in favor of approving the contract please say I I I those opposed motion carries on a 60 vote excent that brings us almost to the end of our agenda tonight we are at Schoolboard member and superintendent updates are there any board members with items they would like to share tonight seeing none I will turn it over to superintendent creger okay I might I might go off script a little bit just just to say congratulations to director Michael Balon it is a wonderful job and you will lead us well into the future and we are just really grateful that the board works so hard because you all care so much about this District so as I as I am ending my you know board meetings here it's time to start thinking about that and so I'm really grateful so thanks to all of you so I have a couple other announcements tonight is our last regular school board meeting before graduation ceremonies begin for the class of 2024 on behalf of the administration I want to congratulate more than 2,100 seniors who will graduate from district 196 this year we recognize them for their hard work and perseverance to achieve this Milestone and wish them all the best in the next chapter of their lives commencement Ceremonies for our four Comprehensive High Schools will be held on Saturday June 1st Egan High School ceremony begins at 2:24 p.m. in the school stadium and the other three are at Mir maruchi arena with East viiew starting at 1 p.m. Apple Valley High School at 400 p.m. and Rosemont High School at 700 p.m. our first graduation ceremony is the Native American Cultural honoring Ceremony this Saturday May 11th at 1230 at Central Park in Rosemont graduations will also be held at several other district schools and programs later this month and in early June a complete list of graduation ceremonies is available on the district website district196.org and lastly I want to encourage the district 196 students parents and citizens to consider applying for membership on one of our district advisory councils which are accepting applications this spring for terms that begin with the 24 25 school year earlier tonight we heard from Egan High School senior Brady Sternberg about his experience at the legislative advisory Council and I think his encouragement for more students to get involved and to share to lend their voices to the processes that often have a direct impact on those very students so these advisory councils are a really great way to be involved and for information on openings go to the news section at district196.org thank you thank you that brings us to the end of our agenda tonight our next regular schedule uh Schoolboard meeting is on Monday June 10th with that is there a motion to adjourn motion by art seconded by Leah all we can stay here longer if you want all those in favor of adjournment please say I I those opposed we are adjourned [Music]