Good evening. Today is September 11th,2025, and the time is 6:30 p.m. I will now call the regular meeting of the ISD191 School Board of Education to order. Welcome to those of you who are in theaudience here or watching online. A special welcome to our new student boardrepresentative for this school year, Feban Tes Tespi.Great to have you here with us. Uh, Director Hume, will you lead us inthe pledge of >> allegiance? To the flag of the United States ofAmerica, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [Music]Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on a significant dayin our nation's history and remember the victims of September 11th. Today marksthe anniversary of the attack that took nearly 3,000 lives in 2001.We remember those who were lost, their families, and the first responders whoacted so bravely. The events of that day remind us of our nation's resilience andunity. Please join me in a moment of silence. Is there a motion to approve the theagenda? >> So moved.>> Moved by Director Alt. >> Second.>> Second by Director Anderson. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say I. I oppose. Nay.The motion carries unanimously. Tonight we will start off with a summer programreport. Here to share this information with us this evening is Jason Sers,director of community services, Allison Jordan, supervisor of communityeducation, Courtney Jackson. Courtney JacksonFlowback, youth services and credit recovery coordinator, and CaitlynCanola, early learning coordinator. [Music]Board Chair Worb, Superintendent Daniels, and board members. Every year,our summer programming team looks forward to presenting to you and to ourcommunity regarding all things summer in our district. And based upon DirectorAlt's questions around logitudinal summer data last fall, you may recallthat Supervisor Jordan and I were here last spring sharing some truly profoundand impactful data surrounding students that attend summer programming and theirremarkable academic achievement. Tonight, this team is here to providethis board, our new superintendent, and our community a highle overview ofsummer 2025 uh programming. Our community is very appreciative of ourefforts to provide these opportunities for students of all ages, and I reallytruly think that folks will be amazed at just how robust our summer programmingis in 191. But before I hand off to Supervisor Jordan, I'd like to genuinelythank our summer staff, each and every one of them. I would like to thank ourdistrict departmental partners and I would like to thank our community forsupporting summer 911 programming each and every year. And with that, I turn itover to Supervisor Jordan. >> Good evening, Chairman Werb, schoolboardmembers, Dr. Daniels, and members of the community watching from home. Thank youfor the opportunity to share information about our summer programming. I want tobegin by expressing gratitude to everyone who worked tirelessly thissummer to support our students and families. Your dedication is thefoundation of ISD 191 Community Education's summer success. Thisevening, we will provide an overview of our summer programming and highlight keyoutcomes and areas of impact. Our district's core values are reflectedthroughout our summer programming. Tonight, we want to highlight the waythese values come to life for our students and our families. One keyexample is student agency. Ensuring that students have both voice and choice intheir learning. By engaging in hands-on experiences, students are able toexplore their interests, discover how they learn best, and take meaningfulownership of their education. Each summer, we utilize space across thedistrict to host programs. The numbers in parentheses show the number ofparticipants at each site. This year, we made a location change for kindergartenjumpstart. After meeting with MDE, we learned we could generate ADM based onthe submitted calendar through June 30th, which allowed us to fully utilizethe 6 ADM allocated by the state. Beginning July 1st, these studentstransitioned into area learning center programming. Structuring it this wayensures that kindergarten jumpstart remains a free program for all studentsentering kindergarten in the fall. Summer programming in ISD 191 reachesevery age group in our community with enrichment opportunities for both youthand adults. Christy Meyers and I work closely to build partnerships and expandopportunities for our 191 families. This summer, the adult basic educationprogram led by Susan Edmonson had another strong season serving 371students who generated more than 5,800 hours of learning.Providing programming throughout the summer allows us to make a meaningfulimpact on families in our community. This summer, 3,800 scholars participatedin community education programs. The EDGE summer programming for students ingrades 6 through 9 saw an increase in participation in their feebasedofferings. And the photos on the screen showcase students engaged in a varietyof summer learning experiences offered by community education. This summer, we provided newopportunities for our students. We redesigned funding for kindergartenjumpstart by enrolling students as VPK learners, which allowed us to claimreimbursement. Enrichment opportunities is also ahighlight for our students. This summer they enjoyed field trips to the ScienceMuseum, Hidden Valley Park, and Big Air, along with on onsite experiences likeCampfire Minnesota, the Discovery Dome, a theater performance of The LittleMermaid, Fun and Field Day, an ice cream truck visit, and a special performancefrom the Teddy Bear Band. We also celebrated student creativity with aglow-in-the-dark art show hosted by our art specialist, Maria Starky. Studentsartwork was displayed under black lights, creating a unique experience forpeers and families to enjoy together. Safety remains a top priority. All staffreceive training on the SRP model, and we conduct regular evacuation andshelter in place drills to ensure student and staff are prepared in caseof an emergency. Overall, ISD 191 community educationsummer programming continues to be innovative, sustainable, enriching, andsafe. supporting students in meaningful ways both inside and outside theclassroom. Summer school alternative learningcenter or ALC programs are considered extended year programs under Minnesotastate statute. These programs are required to have a continuous learningplan or CLP with specific goals. at Fist of View, Hidden Valley, Eagle Ridge, andBurnsville High School. Each CLP is developed as a partnership with bothstudents and families signing to affirm their commitment to summer learning.Good evening, Chair Worb, schoolboard members, Dr. Daniels, and members of thecommunity watching at home. My name is Caitlyn Canola, early learningcoordinator as of July 1st, 2025. Kindergarten jumpstart is made up ofstudents who attended VPK in district 191 as well as students who did not.When reviewing the data, it is important to highlight that both that studentsboth maintained and showed growth. This reflects the unique makeup of thestudent population, the strength of our early childhood staff,and the intentional planning that goes into instruction into the summerprogramming. Our analysis included all students in the data set. And even withthis broad view, we continue to see strong success in the post assessmentresults. It is also worth noting that many students entered the programalready performing at grade level on the preassessment.Disagregated data shows the greatest growth in phmic awareness. We believethis is largely due to the dedication of our teachers and community educationassociates who consistently implemented Heggerty during the school year andcontinued to implement it through kindergarten jumpstart, completing the35week curriculum. We also enhanced our summer curriculumto better prepare incoming kindergarten students by adding new features designedto boost outcomes. Hearity was incorporated into the daily schedule,allowing many of the students to experience the full 35 weeks of phmicawareness curriculum. To support a full day of engagement, we introduced threedramatic playrooms that promoted student agency collaboration and creativity. Inaddition, we added a frog themed STEM room where students observed seventadpoles growing into frogs, experiencing the life cycle firsthand.This space integrated hands-on exploration, vocabulary development,literature, arts and crafts, and provided a developmentally appropriateand engaging way for students to deepen their understanding of science. A musicspecialist and naturalist specialists were added to the full kindergartenexperience. The enhancement of the curriculum and along with collaboratingwith a master gardener from the University of Minnesota. Our data comingout of community eds ISD 191 VPK program continues to amaze us. Our students makeincredible gangs during the school year and this summer we saw continued gangsin all areas. Last year the team worked with Dr. LOL to collect data about ourstudents who attended VPK programs during the school year. In the yearsafter VPK up to grade 3, students who attended VPK in district 191outperformed their peers on a reading, a math, and MCA assessments. We're excitedto see the data on these students as they progress through the school throughour school communities in the coming years. We plan to pull the data again inthe spring and my prediction is that these students will not fall in thehigh-risisk or some risk categories in their spring fast bridge assessment.Summer school students are enrolled in grade level classes that match the gradethey just completed. The goal is to prevent summer slide and strengthen theskills students need to be successful in the next school year. We continuallyreview student data and curriculum to improve programming. This slidehighlights math outcomes where many grade levels achieved doubledigitgrowth. As in the previous summer, we were able to hire two middle school mathteachers which allowed for targeted instruction. Using pre-EST apre-assessment data, they grouped students by need and delivered focusedlessons to address specific skill gaps. The results were outstanding. The growthwe see reflects the hard work of teachers and staff who prioritize mathinstruction as well as the commitment of students who fully engaged to strengthentheir skills. Our literacy data shows posit positivegrowth across all grade levels with many students making double-digit gains thissummer. A key factor is access to books and libraries. Students were able tocheck out books weekly and we also distributed many withdrawn titles forstudents to keep helping to build their libraries at home. Instructionalpractices also made an impact. Many of our kindergarten and first gradeteachers implemented Hegerty FMIC awareness curriculum as part of theirliteracy instruction across preK to grade 12. The data shows our summerprogramming provides not only academic growth but also social emotionalsupport. We believe the combination of hands-on project-based learning,experiential activities, and outdoor learning makes the program so highlysuccessful and engaging for students. >> Good evening. Good evening, ChairpersonWarp, members of the board, and Dr. Daniels. My name is Courtney JacksonFlowback, and I'm the youth service and credit recovery coordinator. Tonight,I'd like to briefly share the impact of two of our credit bearing summerprograms at Burnsville High School, the 9th through 12th grade credit recoveryprogram and the eighth grade STEM success academy. Let's start with thecredit recovery program which is designed for students in grades 9through 12 who are credit deficient. This program is offered through our ALCprogramming in partnership with community education. We provide multipleflexible formats, daytime, virtual, and after school, to meet diverse studentneeds. Next, the eighth grade STEM SuccessAcademy focuses on preparing rising 9th graders for high school success, bothacademically and personally. First, we help students become familiarwith the high school environment, classroom structure, expectations, andthe physical layout. Second, we build academic readiness, especially in highschool level reading and writing. And third, we support students in developingleadership skills, encouraging volunteerism and community service bothin and out of school. These two programs are critical components of our studentsupport strategy. The credit recovery program plays a direct role in boostinggraduation rates by giving students a clear, attainable path to recover lostcredits. The STEM Success Academy builds both confidence and academic readinesswhile nurturing the next generation of student leaders. Here's a snapshot ofstudent what students accomplished this summer. In the eighth grade STEM successacademy, 102 students were registered. 59 of those students earned a total of84 credits in the summer credit recovery program. For grades 9 through 12, 529students were enrolled and 233 students earned 472 credits. We also saw strongparticipation in our academic year day program which operates during the schoolday with the daytime, after school, and virtual options. 688 students wereenrolled. 481 of those earned 1,357 credits. Sorry.Through our credit recovery day and after school programming, of the 200senior credit recovery students, 146 graduated in June of 2025. This means73% of senior students enrolled in the credit recovery program graduated ontime. By design, students can only enter credit recovery after officially failinga course. This makes continuing contin continuing programming into the summeressential for student success. This summer alone, we supported an additional69 seniors in achieving their graduation goals. In total, 41% of the senior classhad a connection to credit recovery supports across our day, virtual, andsummer school offerings. Each year we take time in recognizingthe incredible community partners who support our programs throughout theyear. One partner we want to highlight is Open Door Pantry. In addition totheir work during the school year, they collaborate with Summer School to hostpop-up pantries, ensuring that students and families experiencing foodinsecurity have access to food even in the summer months.At the end of summer programming, we ask families for feedback on theirexperience. Here are some of the comments we received this summer. We seethis as an area for growth next year as the number of responses was smallercompared to last year. Staff feedback is equally as importantas it helps us to evaluate what is working well and identify areas forimprovement. Many summer staff return in subsequent years, reflecting the successand positive experience of our programs. Additionally, a number of summer staffgo on to find employment beyond summer within ISD 191, demonstrating the valueand impact of our summer programs on both students and staff.This summer, we were able to provide many students with personalized learningopportunities. Our goal is to offer support in the summer that mirrors whatstudents and families can access during the school year. To meet the diverseneeds of our students, we had additional staff available, which allowed for moreindividualized attention. By providing this extra support, we are betterpreparing students to enter ISD 191 schools in the fall with the skills andconfidence they need to succeed. As we plan for the summer of 2026, ourcontinuous improvement cycle focuses on several key areas. refining and revisingtraining for non-licensed staff members, creating innovative outdoors experiencesfor our students during the summer, reviewing the K5 summer curriculum toensure highquality learning experiences, and examining the structure of summercredit recovery to determine more effective ways to support a largernumber of students. Attending the national summer national learningassociation annual conference in Washington DC last fall also allowed usto connect with other leaders in summer programming. This experience providedvaluable ideas for improving student learning as well as insights into whatwe were already doing well. This helping us to continue to flourish in lead andsummer programming. Finally, a huge thank you to everyonewho supported the nearly 3,800 participants in community education thissummer. We especially want to recognize district leadership Dave Lake, JulieCronabetter, Rachel Gorton, John Olaflin, and Jason Sers. We also want tothank collaborating directors and staff, directors Petrrowski and Oftall,Jennifer Mittenorf, Christy Wanzac and Kim Wacle and our core ALC team, HamdiDawoud, Etica Antiveros, Marisella Dale, Ardo Ibrahim, Danielle Anderson, RuthAnne Museter for their leadership and dedication to the ALC summerprogramming. Also, thank you to all summer staff. Your hard work andcommitment are truly appreciated and valued. Thank you.Thank you. Are there any comments or questions from board members? >> Director Chester.>> Yeah. I just want to say thank you and how much I appreciate the summerprogramming. Um both my kids were project kids in school year and summerand my daughter was part of the edge this summer too and had a blast. um andreally enjoys the the way that it was, you know, welcoming. She made friendsfrom different schools that weren't part, you know, that she really enjoyedthat opportunity to broaden her community. Um and I also appreciate thebenefit of the that eighth grade STEM for high school preparation. I think myson was in the pilot first group and it and seeing it evolve over time I thinkreally helps add that welcome to the new students coming in from the the middleschools going into the big high school. So thank you.>> Thank you >> Director Hume.>> Um I'll just echo Director Chester. think it's pretty apparent how fantasticour summer programming is and how impactful it is for each of the studentsthat participate. I know I was just thinking as you were talking when I wasa kid I didn't know any better. I just assumed summer school was basically likedetention and so hearing what it's like now many years later is really great andit's very apparent that it's having a big impact on each of the students thatare there. So thank you for that. I did have um just a couple of questions. Umon the graduation slide, I think it was 146 you said had graduated and then 69others had gradu were those two different programmings.>> Um so >> over 200 students graduated as a directresult of our summer programming is what I'm just wanting to double check.>> Great question. So we had 200 senior students that were in credit recovery,right? >> And 146 of those students graduated ontime because of credit recovery. And then in addition to that in the summer69 students were able to graduate um in addition.>> Got it. >> Because of summer program>> those 69 would not be considered on time but they did graduate.>> That's correct. Yes. Okay. That's what I was wondering. Thank you. That'sperfect. Um and then did I have one other?>> Nope. I think that's it. Thanks. >> Thank youDirector Alt. >> Thank you chair Wor. Yes. Thank you forthis report. It's always great to hear about what's going on in in our summerschool uh with our kids. Um couple comments and a question.Uh looking at slide 12. Um and the progress of fifth through 7thgraders. Um they have relatively flat literacy rates. Um it's I guess it'smore of a statement. We just clearly have our work cut out for ourselves. Umrecognizing that this is likely the co the co kids, right?>> Yes. >> Umeighth grade STEM. I think I know the answer to this, butI'm just curious. Was there a connection between 8th grade STEM and the 9th gradeacademy that they'll be participating in?>> I believe the nth grade academy is for all 9th grade students. So um this is inaddition to what they would be getting. So um the curriculum is a little bitdifferent >> and staff isn't at the school at thehigh school. So it would be kind of tough. This is I that's why I thoughtprobably no would be the answer. Um and calling out data um you know hearing41% of our seniors participated in credit recovery um that's another areafor opportunity obviously um schoolwide that's that's a high number um and Iknow I know that we'll we'll do better. Um,lastly, loved hearing that summer schoolprogramming is kind of a recruiting mechanism because in this age of teachershortages and people making choices to work elsewhere that this is yet anotherarm for recruiting this time staff as opposed to students and families inaddition well in addition to students and families. Um, that was just justreally nice to hear. So, thank you. >> Thank you.That's it. Okay. Um, thank you for coming and uh with your presentation. Itwas amazing. I just love hearing about the the summer programming as well. Idon't think people recognize the amount of work that's involved in summerprogramming. um you know, they maybe don't realize um they maybe think likeuh Director Hume said, you know, it's just like detention or something thatthere's like a a significant amount of work that's involved and um a lot ofthings to coordinate and um things that we're adding on and expandingcontinuously. So that involves a lot of people um and it's, you know, a lot ofgood work. So I appreciate you for bringing that forward and and sharingit. Um, I just have a a question about um um Project Kids. Um, I just wonderedif there's any there's been any issues with staffing. I know there was at somepoint a point where like my kids were in it and that it was hard to find peopleto staff to make sure that there was, you know, um enough people to like ifthere was people that wouldn't be able to enroll in summer like do we have anyissues with people being on waiting lists or making sure everybody thatwants to get in summer programming um can get enrolled?>> That's a great question. uh chair were a couple of responses. Um first, staffingis different year-over-year. Um and so some summers we have more than enoughstaff. Um some summers we struggle in getting staff. This past summer um wewere very successful in getting highquality staff, but one of thereasons is we went to a new model. In meeting with the team, um weconsolidated to one site. So that allowed us to offer more opportunitiesfor students and not really have a wait list. Um second response would be thatparents get to make choices. They may register for one day a week, two days aweek, Monday, Wednesdays, Fridays, right? And so we do offer um aregistration window for our own district 191 residents. Um and then we open it upto sort of everybody. And you can see from the data on the slide that projectkids is mostly district 191 residents. And of the ones uh that aren't attendingour schools, I think it was about 35 or 45 as it was like 30 of them do live inour borders but just attend other schools. And so um uh third uh we alsohire additional when we can find them licensed staff to provide additionalsupports so that we're not out of ratio uh for our uh students with learningdifferences to ensure that they can attend the program as well. Um and soyep, there can be challenges. I I just would like to also give a shout out, youknow, the fourth response and last is we hire a lot of our high school studentsas some board members know because we've hired them uh their children. We hire alot of high of our high school students who come in and we train them and dothey do a really wonderful job and some of them find a passion for kids at thatpoint and go on uh to think about potentially being teachers. And so thekids, the little kids really love the big kids. Um, and it's also a sourcethat allows us to provide as much programming to as many students aspossible. I hope that answers your question.>> Yes, absolutely. Thank you. I appreciate that. Um, and uh, is there any otherquestions? Okay. Thank you. Up next, we will receive a report aboutour first week back to school from Superintendent Dr. Daniels.Thank you, Chair Worv, and to each director and each of you who may bewatching. Um, I am giving a report about the first day or everything leading upto the first days of school. This year's return to school was especiallymeaningful as I stepped into my new role as superintendent of District 191. Thejourney began in July with one-on-one meetings with every principal anddirector, followed by visits to our vibrant summer programs, which you justheard about, where I met incredible staff and students. I also joined thecommunity as a rockin reader in Nicollet Commons Park and celebrated the arts atthe opening night of the prom. August was showtime. Our executive leadershipteam engaged in key training and conferences including AVID, the MDE,MASA kickoff and the voices that lead conference. Our principles engaged in 3days of training and professional development as well. We connected withour community during night to unite and welcomed new educators through buildingleadership team on boarding. The state of the schools event hosted with theBurnsville and Savage Chambers set the tone for a collaborative year ahead. Weofficially kicked off the school year with an all staff welcome event where Iintroduced myself to the entire district 191 team. From there, I personallygreeted our community education team as well as our food service team andattended open houses across the district. In the last two weeks, I'vevisited every school and also our virtualmies. I've also visited severalprograms. It has been an amazing experience to see so many smiling facesas we launch another school year. So, this school year by the numbers,we've welcomed 7,200 plus students. We've hired 124 new staff, including 74teachers. Our building and grounds team has cleaned 1.7 million square ftof floors, walls, hallways, etc., maintained 350 plus acres of land andcompleted 84 construction projects in 58 days.Food services provided 3,536 breakfastes and 5,537lunches on Friday, the first day when all students were in school in person.This means more than 50% of students are choosing to take breakfast and more than80% are participating in lunch safely. We are transporting 5,628student students daily across 53 bus routes, 32 special education buses, and21 type three vans. Thanks to the dedication of ourteachers, staff, leaders, and families, we've had a strong and inspiring startto this school year. I'm grateful to be a part of this incredible community andexcited for the school year ahead. This concludes my report.Are there any comments or questions from board members? I just want to say thank you for beingpart of our district and glad that you were able to spread yourself that manyplaces and get that that many places all at thesame time. So, >> thank you.>> Yeah, thank you for your report. Up next, I would like to present a reportfrom our close session held on August 28th to review graduation security. At that meeting, we heard from staff andour partners with the Burnsville Police Department. I want to start by thankingChief Tanya Schwarz, Sergeant Brent Murray, Sergeant Jeremiah Mer, andCaptain Sha Anelment for sharing their expertise,experience, and time with us. I learned a lot listening to you and it's clearthat our schools and community are well served. We started by reviewing thesteps taken to improve safety and security at this year's graduation,including ticketing, hiring a private security firm to help with managingpeople, additional police presence, and months of planning leading up to theevent, and establishing a hard cutoff time for entering the stadium. We alsoreviewed and discussed what went well and what were concerns, including thefact that ticketing was not seamless and some people attempted to use faketickets. With a lot of people gathering outside the gates, but not all of themallowed in, the mood became more tense and there were some confrontations withdisappointed community members. While the stadium could be secured, the entirecampus can't be, which allowed some people to be near the event who had noreason to be. Staff reported being traumatized by the events and indicatedthey would not participate in future graduation at the school. We alsodiscussed that holding graduation on campus is a long-standing tradition andit's meaningful that graduation is held at the school where these students earnthose diplomas. As we acknowledge that moving to another venue doesn'tguarantee that everything will go smoothly, there are some things beyondour control no matter what. However, on the whole, I believe a fewthings became become clear through the conversation.First, graduation has become more of a community celebration, and there's adesire for more people to attend than just the students immediate families.It's not the same even that it was 20 or 30 years ago, and we need to beresponsive to that change. Next, our staff are not trained orequipped to manage crowds or logistics for an event of that size. They want tobe able to celebrate with our students, not tell family and community membersthat the gates are closed. We're one of the last big high schools to holdgraduation on campus for just this reason. Along with the toll on staff,holding graduation at BHS puts a strain on community resources, including ourpolice department and our school resources.Um, a recommendation for all these reasons, I believe the board should askDr. Daniels and her team to bring us a plan for moving graduation to adifferent venue. One that's intended for large gatherings and where they haveexperience managing crowds with the goal of ensuring a positive, safe experiencefor students, families, and staff. I understand this would be a big changefor the community, but I believe it will best serve everyone involved and I'mconfident that Dr. Daniels, Principal Sandival, and our staff will work withstudents and families to make it successful. With that said, is theresupport for that from other board members or are there additional commentsboard members would like to make? >> I can I can start off. Um, no, I fullysupport that um proposal. Um, especially being able to accommodate more people aswe are outgrowing our current space. Um, as well as um creating that sense of umnot overextending our um staff and local resources. Director Anderson, you>> um I think it's important that we like there's a little bit to celebrate herethat we have um outgrown the football field>> that so many people want to come and celebrate our students.>> Um I think that that's a celebration. I also think um that staff would rather bepresent to students and celebrate them than be managing crowd control. Um isanother celebration. Uh, I think obviously all the all of the reasons umit would just be easier ticketing wise, security-wise um but the fact thatcommunity can come together in a in a comfortable safe place where we all haveour own seats um I think is enough reason to uh to want to moveforward going somewhere else. Thank you, Director Hall. >> I agree. Um, in the interest ofcelebrating our students accomplishments in the safer space, a change in venue umreally at this point is needed um for graduation. Um you mentioned, ChairWorb, that there are variables that are out of our control. Um an indoor venuedoes provide enhanced security and space management. Um, and as Director Andersonmentioned, we need to be mindful of our staff. I think Director Chester, youmentioned it as well. Our staff and our family experience. We all want to beable to celebrate. Um, given the world that we live in, making a change invenue is prudent at this time. Um, moving forward, um, I would say it willbe the responsibility of Dr. Daniels and her leadership team to lead with clearcommunication to our school community uh with mindful consideration andmanagement of access and transportation uh and with an eye on the joy that weall feel when attend this event. >> All right. Oh, uh Davin Favin.Oh. Oh. Oh, she's >> sorry.>> Good. >> I just want to second what most of youguys said and I can tell that many students since so many neighboring highschools have transitioned into an indoor space. The question of why notBurnsville. So, I think I support um and having the comfort of everyone that youwant to invite to come to your graduation is an very important thing.So, not denying anyone I think is essential. So I think transitioningwould be a very good idea. >> Thank you. >> Uh Director Saxi,>> thank you. Um fully supportive as well. Um I think the vast majority of theissues experienced all stem largely and cascade from capacity constraints. Um sothat in of itself is reason to do this. And then I think just echoing the othercomments that have been made, we have a lot of staff who want to be a part ofthis and they've worked with the students all the way through and want tobe part of it and support it. Um, and this will put them in a position wherewe're not asking them to do things that are out of what we should be asking themto do. Um, so being there and being supportive and finding roles for them,um, at a larger graduation, um, rather than having to deal with fake tickets,um, and then dealing with that and crowd control and other things that are notthings we should be placing upon them on what should be a very fun, um, andjoyous event. >> Thanks.>> Either one, >> Director Mickelson. Sure. you know, justin addition to what everybody uh has already said, uh, you know, because Idefinitely had those kinds of, you know, comments, um, and thoughts as well, uh,is that I really like the idea of an indoor venue, we have the uncertaintyabout where this is going to be held because every year it's always what'sthe weather going to be like? Are we going to have to move this indoors whereattendance is going to be even more restricted than it already is? And sothat's I think one of the uh other you know kind of maybe not always uh youknow thought of benefits to having it indoors for sure is we don't have toworry about the weather and so people can make their plans and they can becertain about who's going to be able to attend that they're not going to have totell you know someone in the family oh sorry we don't have enough you knowtickets anymore because it had to be moved indoors. So I really think thatthat's just another plus. Thanks, Director Hume. I>> completely agree with all of my colleagues. Um, change is hard. Changinglong-standing community traditions is harder, but living with the fact that apreventable tragedy happened and we didn't do everything in our power toprevent it would be much worse. This is why I'm in full support of thisrecommendation to change the location of our graduation ceremony. I'm all tooaware that moving to Burnsville high moving the Burnsville High Schoolgraduation ceremonies indoors does not mean that nothing bad will ever happen.But as Chair Worp said, it's one thing that is within our ability to do thatwill make it much less likely that our students, families, staff, and thelarger community will have to suffer from the same tragedies that so manyschools have suffered, including just yesterday in Evergreen High School inColorado and two weeks ago, of course, in Minneapolis at Annunciation CathCatholic. So that's what I want to say. You have my support.>> Thank you. Um just want to acknowledge we, youknow, made did not take this decision lightly. Um we a lot of thought was putinto it and consideration. So um Dr. Daniels, we um present it to your teamto move forward. Thank you to each one of you and thank you to your word for umagain each of you and including you Favven um for supporting um thisrecommendation. Our team will work very diligently and communicate very clearlythe process we will engage in to make this transition.Thanks. Next on our agenda, we have our studentrepresentative report from our new 2025 2026 student representative Faventestify. Thank you. Um myself and this year'salternates Jennifer Sadu and Pina Yusupova are just so excited to worktogether and represent the student body this year. To begin, things have startedvery fast for students with open house beginning or setting set on August 27thwhere clubs activities were showcased encourage encouraging studentinvolvement. Posters and announcements have continued to be promoted umincluding various groups such as HOSA or the health occupation students ofAmerica, Polyglot, Bernel Strong, speech and debate and many more. The theaterguild has also announced their fall show Charlie in the Chocolate Factory andhave started casting. And the National Honors Society has sent out theirinvitations for juniors. Link crew leaders made up of juniors and seniorsinvited the upcoming freshman class with team building activities and guidedtours to help their transition just be a little easier. Beyond firstear students,sophomores, juniors, and seniors are also settling into the new school yearwith counselors having a very busy week readjusting everyone's schedules, myselfincluded, and students participating in class meetings where expectations andnorms were reestablished, and we had a nice visit by Superintendent Daniels.This past weekend, students were also involved in the Burnsville Fire Muster,where groups like the Blazettes, marching bands, beach, or rather swim,and the basketball team all took part. Fall sports season is also in full swingwith the football team, volleyball, tennis, fall dance, and swimming allcompeting, and even the girls soccer team winning their first game in 2years. This school year has also brought agreater emphasis on the bell-to-bell phone policy, limiting phone use in theclassroom and making phone pockets as the newest new newest and coolestclassroom decor. Now, lastly, homecoming is quicklyapproaching as it begins this Monday where students are looking forward to avery fun pep pep fest at the Pate Stadium. There are also other eventssuch as the girls flag football game, coronation, the middle school assembly,and of course the football game on the 19th, and the homecoming dance onSaturday with the under the sea theme. This now concludes my report. Thank you. Um, are there any comments or questionsfrom board members? just welcome.>> Yeah. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Moving along, we will now hear asuperintendence report from Dr. Latana Daniels.>> All right. Well, let's celebrate. It is officially school boardappreciation or recognition month. And so we want to recognize thecontributions of our school board. So the Minnesota School Board's Associationhas set aside September as the Minnesota School Board Recognition Month. Settingaside this month to recognize the hard work and incredibly importantcontributions of school board members. As representatives of this entirecommunity, school boards are responsible for creating a vision and direction fordistricts. They ensure accountability when it comes to student achievement aswell as fiscal management. Board members undertake a tremendous amount of workstudying educations education issues broadly and the specific issuesaffecting our community. And they do that so that they can make difficultdecisions that impact the lives of students, thousands of students,members, students, and families. This is all true for school boards throughoutthe state and country. But I want to say that we are especially fortunate here in191 to have board members who work closely and respectfully with each otherthat they honor the expertise of staff members and they are fully dedicated todoing what's best for our students and families. I'm grateful for their work,expertise, and perspectives and support and especially for trusting me to leadthe 191 community. So on behalf of our school district, thank you to themembers of District 191 Board of Education. So thank you Director Saxi,thank you Director Anderson, thank you Director Chester,thank you Director Worb, thank you Director Alt, thank you DirectorMickelson, and thank you so much Director H. We appreciate you.Congratulations. >> Thank you.>> Thank you. >> That is my report. Do board members have any reports theywish to share? Just a reminder that we have our committee reports scheduled forour second meeting in September. [Music]Director Alt. Thank you, Chairworm. Uh it was a real pleasure to participate inthe annual Burnsville Festival in Fire Muster along with Dr. Daniels and fellowboard members. Our community enjoyed a lovely weekend of music. the annualparade, celebrations of our first responders, as well as a drone show newthis year. In chatting with folks this past weekend, um I wanted to bring backjust some feedback that I heard um really um some positive and supportivecommunity and staff feedback on our new cell phone policy. For example, oneteacher shared that thanks to phones being away during instructional time,they found an extra 10 minutes of instructional time. Increased engagementand learning, all that we were hoping for. Um, much appreciation to ourcommunity uh and staff for their anecdotal feedback. It's always reallyhelpful uh for this board member to have that mental image of how our policyimpacts practice. And that completes my my report.>> Thank you. Anyone else? Nope. Okay. Now we willmove to the business portion of the board meeting starting with the consentagenda. Although board action is required, it is generally unnecessary tohold discussion on these items. In the event a board member wishes to discussan item, that item will be removed for separate consideration. Do board memberswish to remove any items from the consent items? Is there a motion to approve the consentagenda? >> So moved.>> Moved by Director Chester. >> Second.>> Seconded by Director Mickelson. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed. Nay.The motion carries unanimously. On to new business. Up first our agenda.On our agenda, we are being asked to adopt a resolution to accept donations.Presenting the resolution this evening will be Superintendent Dr. Daniels.>> Thank you, Chair Worb. Before I begin presenting the formal resolution, I justwanted to say thank you to the many community organizations and partnersthat support education and ISD 191. I am so grateful for their support andgenerosity. In just two weeks time since our last board meeting, we have receivedthe following donations from community partners. A wide range of general schoolsupplies to kick off the school year. from the following. The Lions Club ofSavage Burnsville, Cataract Lodge Viael Johnson, Amelia Huddleman, the Sorrelfamily, Michael Caslo, Northstar Roses of Alpha Kappa Alpha SororityIncorporated. We have also received generous donations to our brain power ina backpack program from Egan Lions Club, Mighty Cause Foundation, North RiverHills Neighborhood Organization, Target Employee Giving, Darnell Bennett forImprint, and the Minnesota Valley Electric Co-op Operation Roundup. Onceagain, thank you all to thank you all for all of your generous donations. Itis now my recommendation that the board of education adopt a resolution toapprove and accept these donations to our district in accordance with ourschoolboard policy and Minnesota statutes and to permit their use asdesignated by the donors. >> Is there a motion to adopt theresolution to accept donations as presented?>> So moved. >> Moved by Director Hume.>> Second. >> Seconded by Director Chester. Is thereany discussion? Having been moved and seconded, thisresolution will require a roll call vote. So, in just a second, I will askSarah to call the role and when she calls your name, please respond with anI if you are in favor of the resol of the resolutionor a nay if you are opposed. Sarah, will you please make the roll call?>> Director Hume, >> I.>> Director Mickelson, >> I.>> Director Al, >> I.>> Chair Word, >> I.>> Director Chester, >> I. Director Anderson.>> I, >> Director Saxi,>> I. >> This resolution was declared duly passedand adopted. >> The next item on our agenda is toconsider approval of the changes to the boys lacrosse cooperative. Here topresent the recommendation this evening is Dr. Chris Belmont, assistantsuperintendent. Welcome, Dr. Belmont. >> Thank you, chair. Good evening, board.Superintendent Ba Daniels. Um, director, uh, athletic director Kleinerhelped me understand more about this request. Um, previously we've engagedfor several years with Bloomington Kennedy in partnership for the boyslacrosse. Um, boys lacrosse numbers are are down state and nationally. That's atrend. Um, certainly has occurred in at at Burnsville High School over recentyears. Um, and then the most recent challenge that athletic director Kleinerand his partners are looking to solve is that the present partnership betweenKennedy and in the high school still isn't producing enough student interestin numbers to field a competitive team. So, um, so he's proposing dissolving thecurrent sponsorshipand looking at adding Bloomington Jefferson as the host team. Um, he'sexamined the implications for this. There's some additional travel. It'sslight and he's committed to working with um, all the families that areinterested to make sure that it it's attainable and it's realistic for them.So that's kind of the overview. We want to be able to provide the opportunityknowing that we can't self- sustain at this time one team. So therefore, it'smy recommendation that the board of education approves dissolution of ourcurrent boys lacrosse cooperative spons sponsorship with Bloomington Kennedy andthat the board of education approves new cooperative sponsorships in boyslacrosse with Bloomington Jefferson and Bloomington Kennedy respectively.Is there a motion to approve the recommendation to make changes to theboys lacrosse cooperative? >> So moved.>> Moved by Director Anderson. >> Second.>> Seconded by Director Alt. Is there any discussion?Director Alt. >> Uh just a question and Dr. Belmont, ifyou if you don't have the answer, by all means, let us know afterward. Um, havinglooked at the numbers that were provided as part of this um, uh, board packet, itlooks as though um, our district doesn't currently have a pipeline forparticipation. The seventh grade numbers there there were no seventh graders um,for 191. What kind of visibility do we have uh,on recruitment efforts and engaging students and families? um to to get aninterest to generate that interest in lacrosse.>> I will have to circle back on that. Um trying to think of what I've noticed inthe elementary schools being in the physical education classroom.You know, having furnishing lacrosse sticks is an additional cost. I don'tknow if that's part of the current uh likecore K8 curriculum. I do know it's not part of our middle school sportsplatform right now. Um >> so I think we're probably leaning oncommunity partnerships for that to establish that t that pipeline. But Ican get back to you on that. >> Yeah. And I my mind kind of goes to likeremembering years ago knowing students that participated in lacrosse. Umthere was kind of a dual participation. hockey for part of the year and lacrossefor the other part. And it seems like now the competitive nature of hockey issuch that maybe students are just 100% hockey and lacrosse is has kind of goneby the wayside. I don't know. It's anecdotal but>> and hockey numbers are down. We have a cooperative with hockey now also.>> Right. Right. >> Thank you Dr.>> Thank you. >> Um all those in favor say I.>> I oppose. Nay. The motion carries unanimously.>> Thank you. >> The time is now 7:25 and having nofurther agenda items, I call to adjourn this meeting of the ISD 191 Board ofEducation. [Music]>> That was a very short meeting. >> I'll have you start very