Good evening. Today is June 26, 2025 and the time is 6:30 p.m. I will now call the regular meeting of the District 191 Board of Education to order. Welcome to those of you who are in the audience here and those watching online. Director Hume, will you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance? Yes. I pledge algiance 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. Do I have a motion to approve tonight's agenda? Some moved. Moved by Director Hume. Second, Director Mickelson. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say nay. The motion carries unanimously. We will start off this evening's meeting with a report on our community voices from students, families, and staff from Aaron Tinklinberg, director of communications, and AH Petroski, director of student support services. Welcome to you both. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Wor, uh Dr. battle and members of the board. Um, as you said, we're going to be presenting as results of some, uh, surveys that we conduct annually and, uh, thanks for having us tonight. Um, we're going to go through grounding, just kind of why we do this work, um, and why it's important. Um, then also I'll go or, uh, sorry, director Petroski will go through the student survey. I'll present family and staff survey results, and we'll talk a little bit about how we use those results as well. So first uh why we do this course um it's really grounded in our uh district strategic plan and in our core values. So um you can see some of our core values there caring community cultural efficiency inclusive partnership and student agency. So those are about combining with our uh community members hearing from them directly. Uh those are again baked into our core values. And then of course our strategic directions in terms of how we're going to actually reach our mission and vision uh involve creating space and opportunity for each and every voice to be heard and then engaging our community to ensure common understanding. So that's really the basis of the of the surveys and why we make sure every year uh to conduct these and hear from our from our uh community members. It's of course not the only way we hear from them um but it is an ongoing one. Talk a little bit about the student survey. So, uh, district 191, we're committed to elevating the student voice, uh, continues to grow as reflected upon the recording, uh, participation of the 2025 student survey. Students in grades two through our best transition program, um, actively contributed, offering a broader, more inclusive representation across all grade levels. This increase in participation is supported by a strategic shift in the survey administration which ran from March 10th through April 11th, 2025, consistent with the timeline from the previous school year. This effort underscores that the district's dedication to listen to student perspectives and using their feedback to inform meaningful improvements in school climate engagement and student support. As a district, we continue to see a promising upward trend how students perceive their learning experiences and the relationships they can build with staff. These positive shifts reflect the ongoing commitment to fostering a learning environments where students feel valued, supported, and engaged. The annual student survey plays a vital role in this work. In addition to being featured on the district dashboard, survey data is actively used by our administrators and building leadership teams to identify strengths and areas of growth within their school communities. Results are regularly reviewed during leadership meetings to inform decision-making and implementing targeted strategies that strengthen the school climate and student engagement. This intentional use of student voice ensures that our schools remain responsive to the needs and the experiences of our learners, reinforcing the district-wide commitment to cultivating a safe, inclusive, student- centered environment. Uh so I'll talk a little bit about the family survey um which we conduct every year. Um these are uh it's not a scientific survey, but we do conduct it online via email. uh reach out to all families in several different ways and and uh over the course of about a month or about 3 weeks in May. Um our goal is always to have representative sample. Um we that continues to be our goal. We are making progress. Uh so you can see some of the demographic breakdowns of responses. This year we did have 638 responses. Um about 60% of people who responded identified their race as white. Uh which is down from 66% in 2024. Um we do get people of course the option to to let us know that they prefer not to say to not answer that question. Um and uh we do have a a significant uh section of the respondents who identify as Hispanic in their ethnicity as well. Uh we uh in doing the survey every year we work with or for the last couple years at least we work with the district's MTSS team um to identify any changes that we might want to make and uh through that process did add three questions around school culture um related to bullying and family engagement um and uh members of the community and yourself as well can click on that link to see uh more results than I'm just going to present tonight. Uh some key results from the family survey of 2025. Um but here are some of the results that uh we take a close look at because they're reflected on the dashboard. So key metrics for the district as identified by the board um around uh the board and administration doing a good job involving our community leaders. We saw a good growth there. Um that uh parents were saying that their students at their child's school are treated fairly regardless of their race or ethnic background or economic background. Again, progress there. uh informed about the decisions made by the school board and the administration uh dropped there. One of the reasons for that that I was speculating a little bit here is that it was a change in methodology. The the years for 2023 and 24 that was a question that we asked as part of uh our um Morris Leman survey. So the phone survey that we conducted every year uh we didn't ask that question as part of our email survey at that time. So we included it this year but so those results 77% is part of an email survey rather than the phone survey. that methodology may have affected it. Um gives again gives families the opportunity to say I don't know. Um which we did have a significant percentage say I don't know as part of that. Uh and then um this was a particular uh area of focus for the communications department and I think for the CISA department as well this year was to try to bring up uh sort of recognition and and um being familiar with pathways especially at the elementary level and we did see that grow um by 10 percentage points this year which was great. uh the staff survey. Something really important to note here is that we had a a massive shift in in uh sort of uh how we conducted the survey. The board um the sport members who were on the board at the time would be familiar hopefully with the organometrics survey uh which was conducted in the fall and results were presented then. In the spring we conducted equities participated in both surveys. It does have a different rating scale than what we've done in the past as well. So not again not all of the answers or results are going to be exactly uh apples and apples. Um so you can see the um uh the rating scale there that uh are used in the organometrics and echometric survey. So so looking at the questions that are specifically on the dashboard um again we're we ask staff members if they feel their feedback is encouraged and valued. uh that stayed pretty steady despite the change in um rating scale. Uh we the second question there staff members are treated fairly no matter their gender, race, sexual identity, primary language or socioeconomic background. That's uh was part of the equric survey this spring and we just haven't gotten or gone through those results yet. So I don't have anything to present. Um I believe we'll be going through those later this summer though. So uh and then lastly, I have a clear understanding of the mission. um going to drop there potentially because of the change in in rating scale. So, we'll have to watch that going forward. Lastly, um um as director Powski said, uh this is data that we use all along. We don't wait until we present it to you to start using it. Um but we do make full reports available and share them with the public and with staff. Um the superintendent's leadership has already res reviewed most of these results except for the equric results and uh building level reports actually have already been shared with principles and BLTs as well for school improvement planning and the online dashboard is scheduled to be updated tomorrow morning. So thank you very much. Any questions? Um maybe more of a comment, but I appreciated the in the school the student survey. Yes. Um the improvement we've seen over the last couple of years around I feel safe at school and I develop trusting relationships with the adults at my school. Both of those seem to be heading I mean we want it to be 100% obviously, but the fact that it's moving in a positive direction I think was probably what jumped out at me. Um, do you have any I mean obviously we're doing good work, but do you have any sense of what might be different that's causing those increases over the last couple years? Yeah, I think it is because the uh building administrators are actually using this data to make changes in their school climate. They're so when they've gotten this over the last 5 years and this year I even got multiple requests before it even closed that they wanted their they knew their school had already done it all. So they wanted it right away to begin to do that. So I think that that extra focus that they're really working on that school climate. Um we want our students in school. We're going to hear about an attendance report next and and that is all part of kids wanting to be in school and learning in school. So that's great. And I think you know we've said in the past that you know we should be using data to make decisions. So it's really good to to hear that that is what what's being done at the building level. So thank you. Yep. Director Mickelson. Thank you. Um I I kind of to piggyback on what director Hume was talking about with the uh student surveys and and just the family surveys, the employees, you know, I I think it goes to the fact that you know if you get into our schools, you see a lot of really great things happening that you know when uh they're reflected uh in these surveys that that the students uh as they're there uh they're enjoying it and really great things um happen on a daily basis. Um, I I guess just kind of another comment that I kind of saw between the family and the um employee survey is that what I kind of took away from it is that we're really good at uh they're at taking in information and they really feel that they're being listened to and and being heard, but that maybe, you know, it's how best can we disseminate information out. Um, and that looking at new different ways of of doing that or or just how can we best, you know, have people know where the information is uh for them to find it that it's just something to for us to maybe be working on as far as, you know, we're we're doing great with hearing and they're feeling responded to. Um, but that sometimes it dropped a little bit in in maybe what they're getting back uh from us as far as just what we can do. Thank you. Any other comments? Thank you. Thank you. [Music] Up next on our agenda, we will be receiving an update on the attendance pilot program. Sharing this report will be Amy Petroski, director of student support services, and Sarah Parker, social school social worker. Welcome. Thank you. Well, good evening, Chair W, Superintendent Dr. Battle, and members of the board. Sarah and I are here this evening to uh provide you an update on the attendance pilot program in which Burnsville participated during the school year. This initiative was a collaborative effort between Burnsville and 11 other school districts in partnership with the student attendy and truency legislative study group. The purpose of this partnership was to share valuable data and insights with re relevant legislative committees to develop recommendations aimed to increase student attendance and reducing truency across the state of Minnesota. The pilot program is designed as a three-year initiative to address these challenges comprehensively. So our vision um we presented uh in December and so we are sticking with our vision but the vision is to create a multi-pronged approach to create a system that proactively decreases the amount of chronically absent students within our system. Research consistently demonstrates that collaboration among families, schools and communities has a significant positive impact on student attendance, academic achievement and attitudes towards learning. These efforts ultimately contribute to the increased graduation rates. Our focus includes elevating staff to build strong trusting relationships with students and families that center around academic success. Empowering families by pivoting or providing tools, resources, and confidence to actively participate in and support their children's learning journey. Welcoming and engaging environments to foster responsive learning environments where all students and families feel valued and included. and partnering with the community to collaborate, organize, and enhance literacy and provide responsive, culturally relevant instruction. This graph highlights consisted attendance trends within our district from 2019 to 2000 or 2025. In 2019, the district reported consistent attendance rate of 72.8%, 8% but by 2022 the rate declined significantly to approximately 50% reflecting a pattern seen across the Minnesota schools. Since that low point we have been steady had seen a steady upward trajectory with consistent attendance improving to 62% in 2025. Despite this progress, our district remains below the current state average of 74.5%, underscoring the continued need for targeting strategies and supporting regular school attendance. Chronic absenteeism includes excused absences, unexcused absences, and suspensions. Our district's attendance rates indicate that 62% of our students attend school consistently while 38% fall in the category of chronic absenteeism ranging from moderate to severe. Sat uh in general research shows that many parents perceive that two to four absences per month is normal or average. However, this rate translates to chronic absenteeism impacting student learning and long-term academic success. As we analyze consistent attendance and chronic absenteeism by grade level for 2025, several patterns emerge. In early grades, kindergarten through 5th, consistent attendance is generally strong, ranging anywhere from 70% to almost 80%. While chronic absentee remains relatively low, a noticeable shift begins at middle school, particularly in seventh and eighth grade where consistent attendance declines sharply and chronic absenteeism begins to rise. By 11th and 12th grade, the 10 the trend becomes more concerning. These findings um are importance of the development of targeted grade level specific strategies to address student attendance particularly during those key transitional years. We also analyzed, did I get it? Yep. We also analyzed consistent attendance and identified disparities in chronic absenteeism across the racial and ethnic groups. Asian students had the highest levels of consistent attendance, followed by white students identifying as two and or excuse me, students also identifying as two or more races and black African-American students. Our Hispanic or Latino students and our American Indian students showed the lowest rates of consistent attendance. These disparities highlight the need for equity focus strategies that ensure all students receive the support necessary to attend school consistently and succeed. As previously noted, elementary students generally demonstrate higher rates of consistent attendance compared to their secondary peers. Within our elementary students, Gideon Pond reports the highest consistency, highest consistent attendance over 86%. In contrast, 191 Virtual Academy Elementary shows a lower consistent attendance rate of almost 60%. The remaining elementary buildings maintain a consistent attendy anywhere from 70 to almost 80% reflecting the relative strong pattern of regular school attendance across the majority of our elementary schools. The data clearly demonstrates a decline in consistent attendance rates as students progress into the secondary grade levels. At middle school level, both Nicollet and middle school report consistent attendy rates of about 67%. This represents a noticeable drop from elementary school levels, but the decline becomes more pronounced as they enter high school. These trends emphasized the critical need for the targeted attendance interventions and enhanced um student engagement strategies to support secondary students and address the factors contributing to the conic absentee rate. As previously discussed in December, the district attendance team engaged in a comprehensive and collaborative process to develop a district-wide attendance plan. This plan was guided by the multi- the Minnesota multi-ter systems of supports databased decision-making model ensuring that our approach was both systematic and evidence informed. Through this process, the team identified two critical areas of need actionable actionable data and positive engagement. These challenges underscore the importance of strengthening our data systems to provide timely, accurate insights of fostering meaningful connections with students and families to promote a culture of belonging and regular school attendance. The resulting plan is designated to address these gaps through targeted strategies that re are responsive to the unique needs of our schools and our student populations. The attendance handbook um team focus on unifying strategies by developing consistent processes, communication and the attendance team guidance. The consistent processing committee will develop an elementary and secondary processes for specific threshold of unexcused and excused absences. The consistent communication committee will design communication materials, openhouse flyers, school postcards, magnets, brochures in multiple languages. This will also collaborate on letters sent home on various unexcused and excused absence and thresholds aligning a consistent process across the district. The attendance team guidance committee will create a guidance for effective school attendance teams outlining the purpose and the function of their responsibility. They will also work at a multi-tered strategy to support consistent attendance. We are grateful of the ongoing collaboration with our partners such as Dakota County, Scott County, St. Davis Center, the Catalaso Group, and the Treehouse in developing our attendance handbook. They continue to be interested and engaged and the valuable members of our team. Each school will also establish an attendance team to regularly review attendance, facilitating early intervention and family engagement to prevent the chronic absenteeism. We are also exploring incentives for consistent and improved attendance. One site piloted a classwide incentives which you will hear later while another integrated incentives through their PBIS systems. More information on text nudges are going to be provided. So sending tux text nudges to families has emerged as a promising strategy to raise awareness about the importance of school attendance. Research indicates that families often underestimate how many days their students actually missed. A follow-up text was sent to families whose students demonstrated improved attendance thanking them for their partnership and reinforcing the positive change. This approach is showing an encouraging results across the pilot schools. These results highlight the potential of timely personalized communication to support and reinforce strong attendance habits. As we implement these new strategies to support student attendance, we have encountered several challenges that we continue to address. In systematic introducing substantial system changes such as development of school attendance teams requires significant time and capacity. These efforts must be balanced against existing workloads, priorities and making implementation challenging across the schools. False fostering a culture of attendance relies on strong collaboration across multiple levels of the system and external partners. A key challenge of in the inconsistency in practices and legal requirements between the two counties, Scott County and Dakota County. Many of our current attendance processes were developed into the response of the county mandates and state laws. But our data indicates that students referred to the county for educational nect or truency often experience a decline in attendance underscoring the need for aligned more proactive strategies with our counties. Rolling out a district-wide tux nudge system to increase the communication with families is a large-scale undertaking that impacts internal internal resources. We intentionally chose not to partner with external vendors due to high costs and substantial concerns. In addition, our experience with attendance incentives has revealed the challenge of ensuring that these strategies meaningfully reach and benefit the students who need um them most. We continue to navigate the tension between establishing consistent district-wide practices, honoring the unique needs and circumstances of these students and the families. Finding this balance is critical in ensuring that our systems are both equitable and effective. Ready? All right. Hello. I just want to say thank you again for having me. My name is Sarah Parker and I'm the school social worker at Edward Neil Elementary School. I also just wanted to say I'm grateful for being here tonight, especially with Dr. Val being her last one. I just wanted to say congratulations and I'm really grateful to be here. So um before I get into the process um so we were one of the pilot schools um uh that Amy had mentioned and at our school we did um a I guess mini pilot of being a pilot school and so that yeah that team consisted of four classroom teachers in both upper and lower grades. So we had fifth, fourth, third and kindergarten. We also had myself as the facilitator and our SSLs Carrie Kmar. We had a reading interventionist um Morgan McDow liar principal and insight was given from individuals from our special education team as well. Um we met for pre-planning, mid pilot check-in and for post data collection. The goal was to decrease absenteeism rate while also increasing or keeping a consistent full day attendance rate which I'll go into more later in the presentation. The project took took place in the morning for 5 to 10 minutes. It included student recognition for not only being at school, but also showing kids that they are miss when they are gone. Teachers gave feedback that it only took an average about 10 minutes to communicate with families throughout the pilot and most incentives had zero cost. Oh, sorry. Um, you can come back. Okay. Sorry. Um, so first we had to do a lot of parent communication to set up the pilot. So, um, the first thing we did was we did create a letter that was sent through the mail, um, in three different languages. Um, this was to the families who had students that participated in the pilot. This was sent, um, right before we left for spring break. Um, the letter was created by, uh, myself, the team, and of course, um, our SSLs um, worked a lot on the processes that we want to see in the future. So, that was a big part of it as well. Um, the letter included what the pilot was, the data that would be collected, communication that would go out periodically, what the pilot means for their student, ways to support their child and their attendance, and also contact information of course if they had questions. Then a seessaw message was sent as a reminder about the pilot the Sunday before kids return to spring break. It's okay. Um, so what the classroom was um doing was essentially that each classroom received um letters that spelled out all stars. So we are the Neil Allstars and also two stars. Each classroom was given a goal based off of their pre-attendance rates and data and all classrooms started off with um the goal of if you had two or less students um absent that day, then you received a letter with the goal being to spell out all stars. Um, all classrooms met this goal and when they started over, the goal then went to one student or less um to receive their letter. Um, and all uh classrooms received that goal as well or met that goal, excuse me. If a student was not there, then their name was placed in a bigger star and the class sang a quick and small chant that the team created and expresses their um how much they miss their classmate and also that they wish them well. and the day that they returned, they were able to see their name in the star that they mattered. As well as if a student was gone for two days in a row, the teacher reached out to the family, not in a punitive way, but saying how he missed your child. Please note that also with when you send out communication, the biggest thing that we want was partnership, not I'm talking at you. So with the text nudges, the text nudges were a form of communication to set send quick updates or celebrations to the families that participated in the pilot. Morgan McDow helped us send out these text nudges that will be shown later in the presentation. So this slide I don't want to take too much time on. Um it is the full day attendance rate. As you can see, there really wasn't a lot of change. Um and that's because the um full day attendance rate can sometimes mask what actually is going on which is the chronic absenteeism. So yes, we are very grateful that Neil on average had 93 to 94 kids in the building at a time. But what we really wanted to take take a look at was the chronic absenteeism because that's the population that we are trying to meet to make sure that they're there on a consistent basis. So, chronic absenteeism, this is a student who is at school 89.9% or less. As mentioned before, 90% to 94% is still at risk, but in the um lens of the state, they're looking at essentially anything that is less than 90%. So, although full day attendance rate is important, that's why we said that this is a little bit um more important that we look at just because it is something that the state looks at as well. majority of the classroom showed a big improvement. If you look at the dark blue going into the light blue, this shows that chronic absenteeism rates improved a great deal. All these data points also let us see where the severe chronic absenteeism students are and how we can work together with those families. The second part of the pilot, the yellow, allow for the pilot to gather many different data points. two that we um looked at right away were that two out of the four classrooms still had an improved chronic absenteeism rate from when they started which is the dark blue. It also showed a trend that correlated with our school and district in the last month of school that showed there's room for growth and what we can do for next year with consistent absent with being consistent absent there's severe which is 79% or below and moderate which is 89 to 80%. there is a big gap. If you look at the pie chart, that's something that we'd want to see. We do not want that red to be a big sliver. Um, with being at 2%, we know who those families are. I'm thinking of them as I speak. Um, I have relationships with those families. The teachers have relationships with those families. Mr. Bombsa has relationships with those families. And we know that there's going to be things out of our control, but all we can do is continue to help support those families. and at least the ending impression will be that they were loved and cared for at our school. The um silver then is the moderate chronic absenteeism in the yellow. This is where we can start problem solving and really going into what we need to do next year for those families to not only start the year off right but end it as well. [Music] Um we can go to next. Um a lot of teachers wanted to know the data compared to students um who did not do the pilot. So essentially, everyone wants to know the same question. Did the pilot work? And so when you look at this, it may not be a large number, but that's still showing that students that were in the pilot had that um improvement of that 30%. Whereas students that did not participate in the pilot did decrease as an average. It's a small change, but the more you nerd out on attendance like I do, um you'll see you'll see that the numbers don't um aren't going to fluctuate in huge percentages, um that's why when you saw that the blue and the light, blue and the yellow, that's why we were so excited cuz typically you're not going to see that much of a fluctuation. Um so it doesn't look like a lot with that green and that red, but really our team took it as a success and celebrated that. Now with our text meges. Um so once again Morgan um helped set these up. We created the messages at our school. So that gave flexibility of what we feel like our families needed to hear. Um and especially going with our campaign of everyday counts. So in the graph you'll see that we started off um the pilot started when we got back from spring break. So I want to say that's April 7th. So we went to April 18th. That was the first text message that was sent out to all 99 students. As of 4:30, 70 of those 99 students had improved attendance. Then we saw in miday what students had three or more um absences. And from that 26, we then sent our next text nudge which was to those 26 students. And 17 out of those 26 had improved attendance. I want to look at the graph on the left, which is our perfect attendance rates. So, before the pilot started, we only had two students in the four classrooms that still had perfect attendance. So, missing zero days. Um, once we started the pilot, from April 7th to April 30th, we had 45 students with perfect attendance. Then going into miday 34 and then ending the year on not technically the end of the year but on 526 we had still 27 students with perfect attendance. Um so once again a small amount of time but look what we can do if we start small and then looking to implement larger um types of interventions and processes like this on the right side for the chronic absent students. So this is where we feel like once again is of course data that we'd like to see um less number but it also gives us room to always grow. So we're going to take the right side and take that number and really dive into those families that we see that were identified on the chronic absence students so that we can start off the year fresh and also partnering right away with those families. And then before I say my final thank you and goodbye, I just think it's important to also voice our teachers voices as well. So at the end we did give this um survey and that was everybody on the team. So 8 to 10 members and when they gave back feedback they said that the time it took to implement was low. The buyin was high from the teachers and the students. They actually enjoyed it. Um but overall so did the students and then they felt like the text nudges were very helpful. They also said that they were surprised at how much they truly would enjoy the family communication and how it helped their partnership. So, not only are we saying, "Hey, do this," but also the buyin was there and the teachers enjoyed it. And I'm very confident for in the future doing a project like this again schoolwide, I do think we'll see a difference. Now, thank you. Um, do uh any board members have questions or comments? Oh, ma'am. Um, so I know we're not really worried about kids staying home sick. Like this isn't right like actual illnesses causing attendance not being at school, right? Um but I mean it right so it dropped significantly after co right where we had this mentality that if you're sick you need to stay home please don't spread your illnesses um I do think as a society we've kind of gone back to like I don't care if I spread my cold so um but some some people still are very much more cautious now um is any of this taking any of that into consider consideration like this student is actually ill versus um I missed the bus and I'm not going to go to school. Does that make sense? Do you mind? Do you want to take that or I it doesn't matter. I was just going to say it is making sense what you're saying. Um I think the biggest thing is that's why it's always unfortunate too when you're the one that's hands-on and you get to meet with these families and see that it's a much bigger issue than just I'm sick, right? And that's what's unfortunate is sometimes, you know, when those numbers go to the state and they just see a spreadsheet, right? They don't get to see what's behind it. And so with that is I would say it's going to turn into a lot of what our attendance handbook team is doing in that committee and those um the consistent communication and having more of a process that everyone is consistently going to follow because I do think that it is that's what we are seeing a little bit more of of I missed the bus or I overslept or something like that where but also we know there's always going to be something behind that right kids that want to be at school are not going to miss the bus right so there is going to be those underlying layers as well. But I do think I would say that it's also realizing those um constant or consistent communication that we're going to send out of it's okay if you have a sniffle, you still can come to school, but also more of those systematic issues that we're seeing and that's that moderate to severe population that we're seeing of really meeting and working with the whole family approach, but it has to be right away. Sometimes I think we do it when it's too late and now it's responding and reactive. right now our whole team is super focused on proactive right now. I don't know if that helped answer it and of course add in as well but I hope that did help. Um just to add into that is that um when you think about our um district-wide attendance team, we have our licensed school nurse is on that team and is also part of the communication. And so yes, we did communicate if your child is sick, stay home. And we're trying to get past that. And so now we want your children back in. And so really sending out that communication as to what constitutes a child that is sick or a child that says they have a tummy ache and really they may not want to come to school. So we have those two. they have anxiety and those those feelings are real for sure. The other thing is that um one of the things that we're also doing is that we never really knew why students were missing. We were under the impression or one of our practices was that if a if a parent were to call in a student sick, they could just say my or call a student my student will be in school. We didn't always ask the question why. And so if parents didn't offer it up to us, we didn't ask that. And that is going to be one of the processes and practices that we're going to be changing so that we understand that why behind it. And then that way we'll learn what resources the family might need to get the student into school. One of the things on this pilot program is that when we did have the teachers begin to reach out and families did know that their students were not in school, the teachers or the families did say yes, help me get my child into school. And so that's opens up the door for all kinds of um resources and strategies and interventions that we can use within the school to practice those um more successful um things with students. But yes, there we we found quite a few holes in our practice as a process and the inconsistencies that we have and so tightening them up. I was just going to say that I really love the approach of in a non-punitive way going, "We missed you today. You know, how are you doing? We care about you. We hope to see you back." Cuz I think just I think that be makes um parents and you know the kids too, just the whole family feel still connected and um that there's a desire and a want for them to be continue to be part of the comm the school community. And so I think that in in a way still keeps them engaged. It may not necessarily fully address, you know, attendance issues, but at least they're they feel that they they're wanting, you know, they're long for to be in the community, you know, and to be a part of it. I think that's a great thing. U one of the things I was curious, I know that we we piloted Neil. Do you pilot any other schools, especially noting that there's that drop or like this midpoint at 10th grade? Was curious about about that if we would hear something about that. Yeah. So, um the schools that we piloted, we wanted at least one school in Dakota County and one school in Scott County. And so we piloted um Edward Neil and then we piloted um Eagle Ridge Middle School and then Burnsville High School um was also part of a pilot with Dakota County and the and um kind of some changes that they're making. So they had already asked. So we just continued on with that to see any of those practices and how they kind of got themselves moving. So um but yeah, we did pilot all three levels. Okay. Mhm. Dr. Thank you. Um, can to piggyback on what Director Chester was saying, uh, as far as text messages in the first part of your program, uh, presentation, uh, talking about sending out texts for the families that had improvements and were, you know, seeing changes and and getting some of that positive feedback, um, I think is really great because, you know, so often the schools communicate when something's not going well only and that was reinforcing, hey, we're seeing a positive change. just is really great, you know, and uh so I really liked hearing uh that as far as the reaching out when something was going well and that you know acknowledging a positive change and and just the the fact that when you were commenting uh that maybe some of the percentages didn't look significant as far as you know say those numbers between who was in the pilot program and who wasn't and those participants you know if it was something that you were saying you know didn't cost money everybody kind of enjoyed participating and and wasn't a huge uh hurdle or or a huge lift for them to do. You know, to see any kind of improvement is is a a movement in the right direction. I I mean that's fabulous is to see any kind of positive result for something that wasn't uh it didn't have a lot of barriers uh to really putting in place. So, you know, an extra day a month is makes a difference uh to a student. So um glad to see that at least something going in that right direction even you know small is significant for a student. Thank you. Yeah. So does anyone else have Oh okay director. Um yeah I guess my question is more about how attendance and absenteeism are being counted. Mhm. Um, for example, I know that there are students at the high school who have a study hall and they leave the school to go to lunch during their study hall and then they come back. So, they're not missing any academic classes, but every day their parents are getting emails saying they missed their fifth period class or whatever. Um, so how does how do things like that factor into these the I'm sure they are included, but I'm just curious how Yeah. And so when students are leaving campus to do that and they're missing a class, they are counted as absent. It's not an excused absence to go to Burger King and get a lunch, you know. So it's an unexcused absence unless a parent calls them off and then excuses them, right? Which still absent. High school students are probably not being informed when their kid is going to lunch. I bet they don't tell their parents that they're going to be running to Burger King, right? So my my point though is that you know because that counts you know that's something that we should think about how to address it in some way. I guess it's hard you can't just lock people into the building but it's definitely and I noticed on the attendance like 11th and 12th graders which are the kids who are most likely to drive drive a car to school are at 39 and 38% on consistently attending. though. Mhm. There's definitely things like that. And and so even if they're in school for the day, they are chronically absent from their study hall. Yeah. Mhm. Do you can I Is that okay? Did I say something? Sure. Um I got to get your rules. Um I actually think it's a great point because that is something that our attendance handbook team talked a lot this whole year when we would meet is the difference between when you look at the numbers. No one truthfully the state doesn't care if it was excused or unexcused. You just weren't in school. So yes, to your point because you know being a coach as well, I have student athletes that are excelling and do what they need to do and they're, you know, but I hear, oh yeah, like I wasn't at this study hall. I was excused and I'm like, no, you should still be in school, right? So we also have to look at there's also students that even though they may get the grade or have the engagement, they still need to be in school cuz they're still missing. So that goes back to what Amy said of we do need to look back at what really are we allowing and what we're not allowing and that is going to be a big change and we know that there's going to be that push back and the only thing we can do is keep planning this summer so that when we do get that push back of actually that's not excused then where do we go from there and I think that's what our team continues to do this summer. You mentioned sports. a former board member I remember had brought up at some point getting absence notices when his kid had gone to sporting events or school sporting events. So, do those get counted in the So, they would be an excuse absence absent, but like if I went away for a tournament and I missed half of that day, that is an excuse absence because it's school related, but it still gets counted in the percentage. There are some sports that most of the season they're leaving school early, couple of days a week. So, then they're going to be chronically out of, right? But that but we've got we're going to be looking at the codes and how we can change that because that I mean they are excuse asses. you know exactly where they're at and they're required to make up their homework in whatever time that is. So that's kind of a coding thing that we're also working on so that we can really um tighten up those codes and make that an exempt absence. Um right now the process is is if they were to go in and check in the office then and sign out then they would become exempt. But some of our athletes just get on the bus or they run and get their locker and they get on the bus and you know they know I'm gone and we do. But I guess my question would be if they're have two tournaments a week that they have to leave school early, are they going to show up in this report next year as being chronically absent? Well, we're hoping not to change it to exist. They are included as part of it. I agree. That's part of the school that should not be counted. Yeah, but that those are some of the processes that we're talking about that we really just need to tighten up on and get better at, you know. So, and you know, part of our teams like we have our clericals, our attendance clericals, we've got teachers, we've got school social workers, counselors, like we've got a pretty good collective group um from all the grade levels. And so, understanding the needs at an elementary versus the high school, they're completely different, you know? So, I mean, you do have the ones who are not coming to school, but the reason it is so high is because of their activities and the needs that they have. And so that tightening up on that, I think we're going to see a huge increase as to our, you know, consistently attending. Great. And also, it's also difficult to track from a high school standpoint with an hourly schedule cuz I had that experience this year with a golfer. Yeah. So, they're missing tons of time and like there even be days where email every afternoon. Some days, some days no. And other days was like from 1 hour you'd get email like he was absent from whatever period. was an excuse for seven periods but not this one type of thing. So it's all activities, right? It could be band, it could be drama, it might be quizz only so much time. Well, now that leads me a data chunky that I am um thinking of like you know consistent absences obviously then there's a sub breakdown. So how many of those consistent ab absences are actually excused by parents for health reasons or what are then exempt for in school other functions you know and and stuff because then I think then when it looks to the work that we're doing for those that are consistently absent that might not meet those other markers what is then what is that percentage um and then seeing the improvement in that in some bucket, you know, um is kind of would be interesting to Okay. So, has any everybody else spoken? Is every Okay, I'm going to Did I Yeah, go ahead. Okay. So, um thank you directors. Um, Director Petroski mentioned earlier this is a three-year pilot from the legislature. Um, with the last legislative session, did they change any of the expectations for the participating districts? Not that we have we just we just um basically we submitted the report of everything that we have been doing this year and so we haven't heard anything since that submission. So I I have no idea. will probably still be piloting and we'll be going and talking to the legislation and we'll be updating the board as um as we continue on with this. Okay. So, um I appreciate this information, great data. Um I guess when I first heard about the pilot program, um I was thinking overall generally this was like bigger like I I had a different idea of what it was. So now I kind of understand it better. Um but then you're mentioning that we did you know three different site levels like elementary um middle school and high school. So my question is being that we know in the data that the um higher absenteeism starts at around 7th 8th grade. I guess I would have preferred to see um a presentation about that specific um site level um pilot program. I I'm not saying anything against elementary. I think all the data is good, but I feel like I'd be more interested because of that where if that's where the um fall-off starts to happen more frequently because obviously the way that you approach it, it's going to be different than at the elementary level. there's going to be different um uh whatever types of uh uh strategies or um you're not going to be using the same ones you're doing at the elementary level. So I I mean I'm expecting we're going to get more um presentations as this pilot continues, but I'm very curious as to um what those different strategies are at the higher um levels where we're seeing more of the attendance issues. Well, we'll make sure that we include that into our next report. Okay, talking about those specific strategies, I think this year was just a really good learning year and getting into some of those root causes. I think that um a lot of us had some assumptions and um things. And so, as we dug in and got down to that some of those root causes, it it opened up opportunities to really work proactively with families. And so, um, um, I think that building consistency across all of our levels and then building in those strategies because we're not piloting this next year. Every single building will have an attendance team that will be looking at their attendance on a regular basis to talk about and really catch those students that are at risk and then also those students that are consistently chronically absent. So, um I I know that on Educ Climber, our principles are looking at that information now much more and really digging down deep and just determining kind of what grade levels they are. I know one of the things that we learned is that um you know, even in elementary, kindergarten is our highest chronic absentee out of K through five. And so that was kind of a surprise for a lot of us as well. But that was something that we didn't realize until we got in there and got looking at that. So having a kindergarten teacher strategize and have that um was excellent information for us to be able to pull together. But yes, we are going to be moving more into strategies. Um without um consistent practices in place, it's difficult to have a strategy when we're all kind of doing something different. So So can I add to that? Uh maybe uh Dr. Belmont too. I do know it was purposeful to answer about the ask a question about bullying. So when we have adolescence uh many times the avoidance of school is related to peer group um that there's some kind of conflict. Um so I think that's one of the strategies they are looking at the middle level. Um yeah, when all of a sudden you're no longer friends for whatever reason, uh then you will avoid the place where you're going to see those previous friends. I don't know if Dr. Belmont has more to add from Eagle Ridge. And uh even though Nichollet was not a pilot um in my oneto ones with the principles, I know that was a lot of school avoid avoidance with what adolescence you're going through. Well, I think director Petroski and Miss Parker did a good job kind of laying everything out and then the board's really um the questions have been really strong. The um the complexities raise in middle and then high school. Um as director Petroski said, the need for refining and getting more consistent with our data practices was higher, especially in 912. And um cuz as the board had shared, there's just a whole lot of variation when it comes to the whether it's the summer periods, the lunch mods. So I think cleaning up those practices has been great. The um the early pilot data um especially from Eagle Ridge does in a lot of ways mirror what Miss Parker shared in her experience at Neil, especially with the text nudges and seeing um really encouraging signs with those rewards. So we can we can re uh reccalibrate um that data picture for the next report. [Music] Can I just say one more thing? What's one more thing? Um I'd be interested because you're laying a foundation in elementary school with engaging with families with that proactive caring conversation and if that's going to change absenteeism in elementary school. I'm curious to see what then transpires as they keep moving up. So like, you know, that'll be an interesting trajectory to start reporting on as we progress year to year. It's always interesting when you get looking at the data, you always end up with more questions after. So I, you know, it's it's all great and it's all wonderful and we are very data rich uh school districts. So, um, we could probably be here all night talking about, uh, attendance got up if and actually Sarah and I were really script. I was like, I didn't mean to make this thing. I was like, but yes, I mean, I remember when Dr. Val, you came to our school when may have been my first year and you got to see our from my first year to my second year. back to your comment of I kind of went through actually that of doing a revamp with attendance. This was before my third year, but I was able to share um I kept with that same cohort and there was um I probably have saved it. Um but um there was an improvement and so I would I agree seeing from planting that seed and then seeing it as they go. I just think when you have a whole as you guys know a whole system shift a systematic shift takes so much time. Um, and we wish it could be just quick. I wish it could be quick, but it's all your guys's comments, questions are so valid and things that we've thought about as a group as well. And it takes 2 to 3 years of consistency to really see those big changes as we're seeing kind of in our reading work. You know, as they get older, we're seeing some good changes. Great. Thank you. Really appreciate your time. Our final item under information is to hear any reports from board members regarding board committees, appointments, and school assignments. I'll be legislative. There's nothing to report from legislative policy review. She's not here, but I can put a report because we had a very short meeting a week and a half ago. Was it like a seven minute meeting? Yes. Um, so the policies we discussed, I think a couple might be on the agenda tonight, they'll be coming forward in the future if they aren't on tonight's agenda. Um, and as long as I'm already talking, I can share a short negotiations update and that we have our first two meetings with the BEA schedule in July. So they are on the calendar and will be meeting. So more to come. Okay. Um, any committees? Those were the committees. I think the only thing I could share from 9:17 is that we approved the budget for the next year. We reviewed Dr. Favor's goals and we'll be going through that process, too. Okay. All right. Um, okay. Thank you. That concludes the information portion of our meeting. We will now move to the business portion of our meeting. We will start by approving the consent agenda. Although board action is required, it is generally unnecessary to hold a discussion on these items. In the event a board member wishes to wishes to discuss an item, that item will be moved for separate consideration. Do board members wish to remove any items from the consent items. [Music] Is there a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda? So moved. Moved by Director Chester. Second. The microphone's ruling out. Second by director Hume. All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say nay. The motion carries unanimously. In the first item under new business, we are being asked to approve the FY26 adopted budget. Presenting the recommendation this evening is Tyler Denny, director of finance. Welcome, Tyler. [Music] Good evening, Chair W, Dr. Battle, members of the board. The fiscal year 2526 budget presented at the last board meeting was developed in accordance with direction provided by the board of education and followed these guiding questions. High roll the budget support our mission and priorities. Position the budget to leverage every funding source available and align with the goals of advancing student outcomes. This budget will be revised later in the 2526 year to adjust for actual data, state and federal updates, enrollment, staffing and audit results. Therefore, the recommendation is that the board of education approves the 2526 adopted budget providing all funds revenues of $215,872,26 and all funds expenditures of $227,825,535. Is there a motion to adopt the FY26 adopted budget? So moved. Moved by director Hume. Second. Seconded by director Tesler. All the Is there any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say nay. The motion carries unanimously. Next we are being asked to adopt a propay resolution. This recommendation is also being presented by Tyler Denny, director of finance. State statutes governing the sources and uses of Q comp or propay changed in 2024. A restricted reserve fund balance was created for districts to restrict the funds starting in fiscal year 2025. The recommendation is that the board of education adopt the resolution to uncommit the propay funds and move the $381,000 balance on June 30th, 2024 to the restricted fund balance. Is there a motion to adopt the propay resolution? So moved. Moved by Director Anderson. Second. Second by Director Mickelson. Is there any discussion? This resolution will require a roll call vote. As Sarah calls your name, please answer either I or nay. Sarah, will you please make the roll call? Dr. Saxi, I. Director Anderson, I. Director Chester, I. Chair Worm, I. Director Mickelson, I. Director Hume, I. This resolution was declared duly passed and adopted. The next item we are being asked to approve is the FY25 committed fund balance. And once again, Director Denny will be presenting the recommendation. Fund balance policy 714 allows the board to commit fund balance for a specific purpose by taking action prior to year end. The commitment for propay has been removed and the board added the commitment for for proceeds from the sale of buildings or real property. Carryover funds and facility rental funds remain committed as well. The recommendation is that the board of education approves the commitment of fund balance for fiscal year 2025 to include fund balance resulting from carryover funds, facility rental funds, and sale proceeds. Is there a motion to approve the FY25 committed fund balance? So moved. Moved by Director Saxi. Second. Second by Director Chester. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say nay. The motion carries unanimously. Director Denny will be presenting one final recommendation this evening. He will res be presenting a resolution to certify the population estimate for the 2025 payable 2026 levy. The district has experienced an increase in population of 1,58 since the 2020 census figure and is allowed to certify a new estimate determined by the state demographer each year to generate more revenue. By certifying this population estimate, the district will receive an additional $2,432 in general community education revenue compared to the prior year. The recommendation is that the board of education adopt the resolution certifying the pop population estimate for the 25 pay 26 levy. Is there a motion to adopt the resolution certifying the population estimate for the 2025 payable 2026 levy? So moved. Moved by director Chester. Second. Second by director Anderson. Is there any discussion? Having been moved and seconded, this resolution also requires a roll call vote. Sarah, will you please make the roll call? Director Hume, I. Director Mickelson, I. Chair Bird, I. Director Chester, I. Director Anderson, I. Director Saxon, I. This resolution was declared duly passed and adopted. Up next on our agenda is to approve the coverage for property casualty and liability insurance for 2025 2026. Presenting this recommendation tonight will be Stacy Silverine, executive director of administrative services. Welcome chair, chair, Dr. Battle, members of the board. Um, bringing to you tonight a resolution uh annually we do update our property casualty and liability insurance. Um this year the amount is for $589,018 is for the the total premiums. Uh that is an increase of a little over $50,000 or 9.6% from last year. Some of that does have to do with new regulations um around things such as hail damage. Um that is becoming Minnesota is one of the areas that hail damage is one of the high claims. So therefore, everybody gets to share that a little bit more. Also, you'll see a significant increase with our leader uh legal liability insurance. Uh that has increased significantly from the year before. Um that also has represented some of the different laws that have passed that just calls that more in at risk. We'll put it that way with that area. So with the increase on the insurance, it is my recommendation that the board of education approves the coverage for property casualty and liability insurance for the 2526 year with affiliated FM insurance company, uh Mount Howie Insurance Company, National Union Fire Insurance Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Auto Owners Insurance Company, and Travelers Excess and Surplus Insurance Company. Is there a motion to approve the insurance coverage for 2025 2026? So moved. Moved by Director Hume. Second. Second by Director Chester. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say nay. Motion carries unanimously. For our final agenda item this evening, we are being asked to approve the Washburn Center for Children contract. Presenting this recommendation is Amy Petroski, director of student support services. Good evening, Chair W, Dr. Battle, and members of the board. I uh bring in the agreement for the colloccated mental health services from the Washurn Center for Children. This agreement provides 13 therapists to be coll-located within our schools uh directly addressing the significant mental health needs of our student population. The partnership is crucial in allowing the district to continue providing essential support to our students and I'm pleased to recommend this approval. So, it is my recommendation that this board of education approved the agreement for mental health services with Washurn Center for Children for the 2526 school year totaling $628,000. And the board authorized the executive executive director of administrative services to execute this agreement. Is there a motion to approve the Washburn contract? So moved. Moved by Director Chester. Second. Seconded by Director Miss Nicholson. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Opposed? Nay. The motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. This concludes new business. Before adjourning this evening's meeting, I just wanted to take this moment to recognize that it is Superintendent Battle's last board of education meeting. As many of you know, she is retiring this year and her last day is Monday, June 30th. On behalf of the board, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your service here at ISD 191 and for your nearly 40 years of serving in education. We are grateful for your leadership and have enjoyed working with you. We wanted to recognize your retirement and time here at ISD 199 191. With a token of our appreciation and in line with our district's goal of making each student here future ready and community strong, we have made a contribution to the foundation 191 Dr. Terresa Battle Education Pathway Scholarship. Graduate graduates are who are committed to attend an undergraduate teacher preparation program and plan to major in education. Giving to the scholarship is a way to grow the teaching profession. Celebrate education as a fulfilling career. Honor the contributions of Dr. Battle to public schools and specifically district 191. And support students who want to make a positive impact in the lives of others through teaching. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for your leadership commitment and passion for our students, staff, and district. Best of luck to you on your forever summer. Oh, thank you so much. Thank you. You're welcome. Having no further agenda items, excuse me, the time is now. This is cute. Oh, 7:38 and call to adjourn this meeting of the board of education. Thank you.