I'd like to call to order tonight's meeting of the ISD 191 school board. The date is August 27th, 2026 and the time is 6:30 p.m. I'd like to start by welcoming folks that have decided to join us this evening both in person and online. We always appreciate folks joining us to learn about uh the business of ISD 191 and the work that we do on behalf of our students. Uh Director Saxi, would you please lead us in the pledge? >> Indeed. Pledge allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. We will start by approving tonight's agenda. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. >> Moved by director Saxi. Second. >> Second. >> Seconded by director Chester. Is there any discussion? >> Hearing none. All those in favor please signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Opposed. Nay. And the motion carries unanimously. Uh next we will move to the information portion of tonight's agenda and we will be receiving a report uh the community services early childhood program report with Caitlyn Canola early childhood supervisor and Jason Sers director of community services. Welcome both. [snorts] >> All right. Good evening. Chair alt superintendent Dr. Daniels and school board directors. I'm incredibly proud to present an update on District 191's community services early childhood programs. Our mission is simple. Ensure every young learner in Burnsville, Egan, and Savage is ready to grow and ready to learn. The data that we are sharing tonight highlights the direct and long-term impact of investing early in kids. Programs like our voluntary pre kindergarten and kindergarten jumpstart are not just preparing children for their first day of school, they are setting them up for years of academic success. Excuse [clears throat] me. As you will see, our tracking data proves that children participating in these early childhood programs consistently achieve stronger reading and math outcomes that persist all the way through their third grade state assessments. Through strong community engagement, key partnerships, and a commitment to highquality, inclusive classrooms, we are successfully closing opportunity gaps before they even begin. Thank you for your continued support as we build this vital foundation for our district's youngest students. At the outset, I want to extend a the biggest thank you possible to all of our early learning teachers and staff for their incredible work with our students. I would also be remiss if I didn't acknowledge and thank other departments like food and nutritional services, buildings, operations, and grounds, technology, finance, transportation, early childhood special education, and elementary principles. Their partnership supports the programs we provide for students and families and help make them successful. And now it's my uh privilege and honor to introduce the person that makes all of these programs actually happen. Supervisor Caitlyn Kento. Good evening, Chair Alt, Superintendent Dr. Daniels, members of the board, and community members watching at home. Early Childhood and Community Services has programs designed to support district 191 families from birth through kindergarten through in infant to five child care and ready to grow ready to learn along with Diamond Head Preschool and voluntary pre kindergarten. We're building daily social and academic readiness programs like early childhood family education and ready for kindergarten equip parents with direct strategies for literacy, math, and child development at home. Through early childhood screening at age three and our kindergarten jumpstart summer program, we ensure early interventions and smooth transitions into elementary schools. Ready to Ready to Learn is our licensed childare program. Through Ready to Grow, we support our youngest learners with foundational care starting in infancy. Ready to learn serves children ages three to five, pairing full day care with intentional early learning experiences. We're excited to introduce Kinder Spark, our new program specifically tailored for 5-year-olds to give them an extra boost before a full day of kindergarten. Together, these options provide year-round highquality licensed care that meet the flexible scheduling needs of our community in District 181. Ready to grow, ready to learn classrooms has rigorous operational and quality standards. Unlike K12 classrooms, early childhood programs are strictly mandated to maintain fixed staffto- child ratios at all times. We align with all updated requirements under the new department of children, youth, and families. And we proudly hold a four-star rating through parentaware. This means we don't just meet foundational state health and safety licensing. We exceed those standards by delivering proven high quality learning practices. As a feebased program, we offer some of the most creative, flexible scheduling options in our area, tailored specifically to support district 191 staff at all levels, first responder schedules, and families needing part or extended hours. Best of all, our tuition rates land right in the low to middle range compared to our local private centers. Our enrollment holds steady over the years, reflecting our commitment in community education to deliver essential services like highquality child care that our families rely on. Our preschool age classrooms are deeply intentional about the academic readiness and the staff have also received redact training and actively deliver explicit FMIC awareness through Hegerty instruction. Ultimately ultimately this program serves as a direct pathway to district enrollment. Many students, both resident and openen enrolled, transition from ready to grow, ready to learn into voluntary prek and stay in district 191 for kindergarten and beyond. Moving to early childhood screening. This service provides a comprehensive early look at a child's health and development starting at three years old at no cost. Screening is a statutory requirement for students who are receiving scholarships, attending VPK, and kindergarten. Screening allows us to identify potential learning or developmental needs early on and connecting families to supports well before kindergarten entry. Our screening operate operations and protocols fully align with the latest guidance and standards from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Over the past three years, our team has screened 2,264 children, averaging 755 screenings a year, which report we report directly to the state every year. As the graph shows, vision, speech, and language represent our highest volume of identified developmental areas. to successfully screen this volume of students. We offer appointments year round and strategically leverage our staff in ECF to conduct the screenings. While most appointments take place at Diamond Ed, we prioritize accessibility by meeting families where where they are. At the start of each school year, we schedule screening days directly inside elementary school buildings and maintain a rotating schedule to district 191 boundary tri child cares, Head Start programs, and other community locations. This proactive outreach ensures we fulfill state requirements while connecting children to early intervention. Next, we have Ready for Kindergarten, a longstanding trusted program in District 191 developed by the National Reading Foundation. The core of this program is teaching parents how key literacy, math, and social emotional skills can be seamlessly taught at home through purposeful play. It's completely free for families with children ages 0 to 5 with flexible options including in-person and virtual sessions and dedicated Spanish language offerings. At each session, parents walk away with age specific learning targets in literacy, math, and social emotional along with a bag of educational tools and toys to put those strategies into practice immediately at home. We're currently reimagining the program to ensure its learning targets directly align with our district priorities and academic goals. It continues to be one of our strongest initiatives for empowering parents as their child's primary teacher. Looking at the data for ready for kindergarten, we saw extraordinary growth during the 202526 school year by listening to our community. To meet the clear demand for our families, we added dedicated Spanish language sessions, a decision that immediately transformed our engagement numbers. Driving driven by this addition along with an updated marketing plan and support for from our community engagement team during parent meetings, participation surged from 16 to 60 families. That represented a 275% increase in family participation from fall to spring. The data clearly shows that when we remove language barriers and offer responsive programming, our families eagerly take advantage of these learning opportunities. This slide covers early childhood family education, which truly serves as the root of all of our early childhood programming in district 191. Families choose from a variety of class offerings designed to fit their busy schedules, starting from expectant parents all the way through birth to kindergarten. In our district, we intentionally expand these services through third grade. Most of our classes follow a two-part separating model where parents spend initial time learning with their child, then separate so parents can meet directly with a parent educator while children engage in early learning opportunities with a dedicated early childhood educator. Our program remains fully grounded in state statute and updated guidance from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. By strengthening parent confidence and early learning simultaneously, ECF lays the foundation for long-term family engagement in our schools. This slide highlights the strong momentum, operational structure, and family engagement across our early childhood family education programming. Last year, we executed a complete overhaul of our ECF catalog. This revamp sparked significant growth across our ECF community and led to exceptionally full classes throughout the year and expanded membership to our parent advisory council which now meets weekly to consult with early learning direction. Preschool Plus offers another high volume opportunity for children and exclusive family partnerships. Designed as a two-day a week preschool experience for children 33 months and older, parents join for one day to play with their child and connect with the early childhood educator and particip participate in a parent education separation time followed by an independent drop off day. This entire structure is grounded by a dedicated team of three parent educators, two early childhood educators, and three community education associates. Preschool inclusion at Diamond Head is for children ages three to five, [cough] where we prioritize seamless access, equity, and inclusive learning environments. We offer both full and half-day options to meet diverse family needs. Families can access this program through pathway one and pathway 2 early learning scholarships, school readiness funds, and our sliding fee scale to ensure financial access for all. By strategically braiding these funding streams together, we maximize fiscal efficiency while bringing highquality, free or lowcost early learning opportunities directly to our community. We work in close partnership with early childhood special education to deliver a robust inclusive classroom experience. This slide shows our multi-year enrollment trends for the Diamond Head Preschool program, illustrating both strong demand and our commitment to equitable access. In the 202526 school year, 79% of our families received a partial or a full scholarship. This underscores how vital our braiding funding, pathway scholarship, and sliding fee scales are for ensuring preschool access in our community. Looking at our four-year trend, general education enrollment remains steady. The data highlights our inclusive environment, showing consistent enrollment of students receiving early childhood special education services alongside multilingual learners. The data reflects true inclusion in action, blending students of all learning backgrounds while breaking down financial barriers for district 181 families. Turning to VPK, this is our publicly funded preschool program designed to prepare eligible four-year-olds for kindergarten through highquality play-based learning. District 191 proudly operates the fifth largest VPK program in the state of Minnesota, making it the largest early childhood program within our community services department. Anchored in state statute and DCYF guidelines, our VPK classrooms focus on intentional play-based learning that builds critical academic and social emotional readiness. Because VPK is embedded in our district's infrastructure, it serves as one of the most effective recruitment tools, connecting families to district 191 and early and keeping them enrolled in kindergarten and beyond. >> [clears throat] >> Next, we have the operational structure of our VPK program, which expands highquality early learning directly into our district footprint. We operate 11 VPK classrooms across nine locations. This includes three full day classrooms here at Diamond Head, as well as a dedicated VPK classroom embedded in every single elementary school building in our district. We maintain a strict one to t one to 10 staffto student ratio with a cap of 20 students per classroom ensuring that the children receive individualized care and instruction. Each classroom is supported by a general education teacher and a CE associate along with an early childhood special education EA. We also utilize a push-in model with a special education teacher who supports both BPK and kindergarten classrooms to create a seamless transition for our learners. This embedded model makes VPK convenient for families while creating early connections to their neighborhood elementary school. I want to highlight the key enrollment and demographic trends within our VPK classrooms. The student demographic data in VPK, specifically looking at multilingual learners and early childhood special education students, directly mirrors some of the types of diverse learning needs we see across our K12 buildings. As shown in the graph, our multilingual student population has remained consistently strong across all four school years with an average of roughly 33% of our VPK students identifying as a multilingual learner. We also see a steady integrated presence of students receiving ECSE services learning side by side with their peers. This data demonstrates that VPK is not separate from our district system. It is truly an early preview of District 191, allowing us to deliver targeted language and special education supports from day one. This slide shows the direct impact of VPK as a primary recruitment and retention engine for District 191. Over the past five years, an average of 73% of our District 191 VPK students stay enrolled and attend our District 191 kindergarten classrooms. BPK isn't just an early learning investment. It establishes a strong family connection to our school's early driving sustained enrollment for K12. This consistent retention proves that when families experience District 181 through VPK, nearly three quarters choose to stay for us for kindergarten and beyond. VPK data shows a powerful multi-year sample of the impact in kindergarten early reading data. This data reflects our entire student population across multiple demographic groups. Regardless of the school year measured, if a student participated in VPK, their early reading trend data is consistently better than those peers who did not detend district 181 VPK. This slide takes our literacy tracking a step further by looking at a five-year longitudinal A reading assessment data. Across all five school years evaluated, students who attended a district 191 VPK classroom were consistently more likely to meet or exceed grade level reading benchmarks compared to students who did not attend a district 191 VPK classroom. This multi-year data reinforces that our district VPK investment directly prepares students to enter elementary school buildings on target. Finally, this slide shows how early literacy advantages created in VPK carries all the way through third grade MCA reading tests. Looking at our data trends since COVID, students who attended district 191 VPK consistently do better on MCAs than those who did not attend a district 191 VPK class. This success doesn't happen by accident. It's directly driven by our in our intentional structure combining our rigorous instructional framework, Hegerty FMIC awareness, and research place playbased learning. My ultimate goal in sharing this data tonight is to emphasize that we want students in district 191 VPK classrooms. This sets them up for long-term success from day one. Next, we have Kindergarten Jumpstart, our dedicated summer transitional program designed to ensure incoming District 181 students hit the ground running in the fall. Invitations go out to all eligible incoming kindergarteners, welcoming a mix of students who attended our VPK program alongside families who are new to our district. Hosted at a single building over 24 full days, students enjoy a robust experience that includes field trips while mirroring a typical day in kindergarten. instruction features hands-on play-based developmental learning, Heggerty FMic awareness, and lessons led by our own community education early childhood teachers. This past summer, we had 200 students registered with an outstanding average daily attendance of 178 students. Kindergarten Jumpstart builds confidence, routines, and school readiness, ensuring that every child steps into the kindergarten classroom ready to learn. This slide shows the academic impact of kindergarten jumpstart on student reading outcomes throughout their kindergarten year. Kindergarten jumpstart participants enter kindergarten slightly more prepared. In the fall reading assessment, 51% of kindergarten jumpstart students were in the low risk green category compared to 39% of students who did not attend the kindergarten jump start program. By spring, students who did not attend kindergarten jump start do begin to catch up due to a full year of classroom instruction. [snorts] But kindergarten jump start students successfully but jumpst start students definitely continue to maintain their I'm sorry I lost my place. Definitely [snorts] continue to maintain on steady pace. The data demonstrates that kindergarten jump start fulfills its core purpose, giving students the exact boost they need to hit the ground running from day one. Turning to our kindergarten jumpstart math assessment data, we see a remarkably consistent trend of early math success across all three testing benchmarks. Across fall, winter, and spring, students who attend Kindergarten Jumpstart repeatedly demonstrate stronger early math outcomes than students who did not attend our kindergarten jumpart program. Just like our reading data, kindergarten jumpstart ensures our incoming learners build solid numeracy skills early, giving them a distinct advantage as they move through the kindergarten math curriculum. This slide represents instructional alignment that if you click this you will see that there are many alignment documents between VPK and kindergarten whether it's literacy whether it's math whether it's social emotional science all of the different pieces the next slide uh every single program within early childhood uh I have implemented uh program impact reports what this means is that for each individual program across all community but also within early childhood. You can click in here and there's a standard template that gives us measurable outcomes with qualitative and quantitative data around all programming aspects including financial pieces, demographics, enrollment. If you think of what a school report card is, this is our version in community education providing school report cards for each and every program in our department. >> Thank you. >> Awesome. Thank you very much. I will open it up for board questions and comments, >> Director Mickelson. >> Thank you. U definitely appreciate the presentation. Um my own children participated in, you know, a few these back in, you know, back in the day when it was called PPK, [laughter] preschool project kids, and there were tiny tots and, you know, different names for these things. Um, but you were commenting about VPK and a lot of uh information, great information about VPK and and the benefits. Um, I'm wondering if you could explain a little bit about maybe the difference in in who these different programs serve by the time you get to that age five year before kindergarten. um kind of because there's you know ready to learn and so the kids that are participating in those classes well what what are they getting or not or you know how does that how does their school success you know compare to those in VPK and I mean what [snorts] you know I'm assuming that it's kind of a difference in just who these are the the families and that that we're targeting and working with in these different programs if you could just kind of speak to that a little bit. >> Sure. Um, Diamond Head Preschool is for ages three to five. We try try to target those younger three-year-olds in those classrooms. For VPK, there is eligibility requirements for those students, too. They have to be four by this September 1st of that school year. Um, Ready to Grow, Ready to Learn, it's totally a feebased program. It's it's a licensed childare program. Um, they all do get very similar foundational pieces. They all incorporate pieces around literacy and math, social emotional. It's just the amount of time that they all have in those programs. And then regardless of infants, toddlers, three-year-olds, four-year-olds, [snorts] and 5-year-olds, it's a progressions model. So, take um counting in an infant classroom, counting might be the teacher counting and modeling some of those pieces and repetition. And toddlers, they're they're counting everything. um paper towels, pumps of soap, and and connecting maybe some puzzle pieces that um match up with the items. Three-year-old classroom, they're starting to build those counting skills on their own and trying to get just a 10 independently. In VPK, we're adding pieces like quantifying and what comes next randomly within a subset of numbers one through 20 um and getting them ready for the next step in kindergarten, which in kindergarten math they take everything away and they focus on just numbers 0 to 5 and then 6 to 10 and then back from 0 to 10. And then just to give you an example, so um my daughter was in ready to go right is in ready to go right to learn. She started in the infant classroom. While she was in the infant classroom and then moved to the toddler classroom, we also took ECF classes here at 191 uh with Grace. Uh Grace will be there through her uh she's three now. She will turn four uh next um next May. And when she turns four, she turns four before September 1st. So then she will be accepted to VPK because that's the bright line to be accepted to that. If after the year of VPK um you know uh we feel that maybe she's not quite ready for kindergarten, the new kindergarten Spark program that we've developed this year allows her an opportunity to [cough] have another year [clears throat] um uh uh before she enters kindergarten. So that's kind of how the programs line up. And along the way, if we choose to um sign up for um Ready for K, we could [snorts] do that. and that happens over the course of three years when they're three, four, and five. So, the programs build on one another um from the infant classroom if they're here uh or if they come to VPK for us first. And in some cases, I just want to point out some of that jump start data. There are a lot of students in Jumpstart that there are some students in Jumpstart that are not here during the year. So, they're brand new students, but they are coming in kindergarten and they've not been in a school environment. And so, that's the purpose that hopefully that delineates that a little clearer. Sure. Thank you. And and just out of curious, how do we make sure parents are a and families are aware of >> these different opportunities for things? >> Um we have an a community education catalog that specifically is designed for a whole year programming that um our early childhood programs are part of that catalog. We also have a fall, winter, spring, and summer early childhood specific catalog that captures all of our programming. Um, marketing. We created some yard signs that are at all of our elementary school buildings with some basic information and a QR code. Uh, word of mouth, elementary school principles, uh, the website. There's a whole lot of information out there and and connecting. Um, just tonight, Christine Black called and had a random conversation with a parent with a new student and has three other students and she called me and we were able to set up a meeting so I can get her toddler and her three-year-old and her four-year-old that missed the cut off for VPK by two days into programming within the next couple of weeks. >> You also maximize internal systems and structures. So, the enrollment center is very well aware of, okay, if you're coming to enroll in this, do you have other children? Can they Oh, here's this. Have they been screened? Um, you'll see the community engagement team, Hamdi and her team. You'll see them at Party on the Plaza. You'll see the Burnsville Festival in Firemuster. A lot international festival. A lot of events where we table at to get the information out. Our community education resource fair which was very well attended. Uh, we do that. Uh, and then, uh, Caitlyn uh, in partnership and her team in partnership with Aaron Tinklerberg, our director of communications, created, uh, new videos this year that are on our website and that we're pushing out through social media, including uh, our community um, uh, messenger um, uh, that goes to several thousand families. >> So, we're trying. >> Yep. Yep. Absolutely. Wanted to get it on the record [laughter] there out there about everything that you're doing. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you for the presentation. >> Great. Thank you. Any other Yes, Director Chester. >> Um, and just from what Director Michaelelsson shared, my my son went through what was called ready to learn, but I think it's more like BPK [snorts] because he was at Zut Trail. Uh and I like the iterations that we've evolved into. One of the questions I had is um of for VPK, do they have to be within the boundaries of 191 or do we actually have other families bringing their kids to VPK? >> Um we prioritize our district 191 families first in that um process application placing those students. Um, typically our classes are pretty well set um by the 1 of October and then families who are choosing to open enroll then we start placing those students after October 1st. >> We do have >> open enrolled students outside of the district into VPK. And then um for those students that are in the the um preschool program where you know it's it's the feebased, how many of those families move to the VPK program because I'm assuming that would be a natural transition point. >> I can get you the exact numbers, but that is a funnel. Yep. those if they're three-year-olds, then the when the application window opens, we make sure that those families get the direct link for the application, um >> the teachers of those two classrooms have conversations with those parents and often will grab the applications from the office and send them in backpacks. So, we get them >> Yeah. >> to those families right away. >> I was just wondering if if people just stayed in the preschool program because it's 3 to five or do they actually move into the VPK program or not? Some do choose that option. Okay. But others also will will go the VPK route as well. >> All right. Thanks. >> Great. Thank you. Other questions, >> Director Saxi. >> Um, appreciate the great data and presentation. Um, first of all, and then just wanted to make a comment. Um, I've received numerous um, positive comments about the screening program from neighborhood parents um, and the value of finding out things before their children are even starting going into elementary school. Um, and even in the case of one of my kids, it was the vision side of things. I noticed that was the number one thing they find. And like our kid had never said anything about it. And then we were downstairs before kindergarten. And that's [snorts] so blurry. We're like, what? Really? So, it's very helpful. And I've I've only heard good things about it. So, [snorts] >> thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Hume. >> Um, yeah, this is great. I have been on the board now for almost eight years and I think this is the most indepth presentation we've gotten about the different types of preschool programs. We've definitely had preschool presentations, but I really liked hearing about the differences between each of the different ones. I don't know we've gotten into that level of detail before. So, first thank you for that. Um, also I liked, you know, we've talked a lot about enrollment as a board over the years and 73% of the VPK students enrolling in 191 kindergarten is is pretty solid. Um, so that's I think that demonstrates that they are having good experiences and that they want to stay in our district. And then there was one other comment that I Oh yeah, the reading scores. those are always great to see that um they are consistently being stronger um than the nonVPK students. So I think that's a real point in favor of encouraging families to consider VPK for their kids to give them that little bit of a a start uh so that they are more well prepared for kindergarten the next year. So I guess I have no questions just those three comments. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. Yes, Director Anderson. Sorry, you're getting all of us away. [laughter] >> Um, so yeah, I love seeing the the [snorts] data on um how getting that um extra early um phmic awareness helps with kindergarten. Um I suspect that we would also see um if there was measurable data in the social emotional learning that being in a prek program would make for a better adjustment uh in kindergarten if compared to kids who have never been to a school before and starting in kindergarten. Um is that something we can measure and um do we if it is measurable? Well, what I would say is that every year in the fall, we receive a lot of anecdotal data, especially from kindergarten teachers, and universally what they what they indicate is we can tell which kids have been in VPK and which kids haven't. And so, we have a lot of really good kindergarten teachers out there. Uh, and we consider that a a pretty high compliment. >> Great. Thank you. I I would agree with them. Um, I would say that this past year with kind summer with kindergarten jump start, we did some playing around with a better way to collect really good social emotional data that aligns with what um, kindergarten teachers are kind of looking for and talking about as it relates to the report card. Um, I also was a kindergarten teacher in this district, so I I have some knowledge on what they're wanting to see in these classrooms. Um, and a lot of the teachers that um are on this team, they found the information helpful. So, it's something that we're looking at as a system to kind of track um to be able to share with building principles and and the kindergarten teachers that following year. >> That's great. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? Um I have like my fellow board members comments and one question. Um I remember when we were talking about alignment between our prek, you know, the programming for our littles and kindergarten. And I have to agree with Director Hume. This is by far the most robust and multifaceted report that we have received um and most enriching in my perspective for me as a board member in terms of um the purpose and the outcomes um just how multifaceted the programming is for our littles and really what they're getting out of it and the really gives a a great explanation as to why our families and others who aren't in 191 should enroll their their children in our um in our preschool and VPK programs um because they are so enriching um and all the data that you provided in terms of what our children are learning um how successful they are and from a board perspective the enrollment that that we're that we're garnering out of that you know they're they're going from a really solid program into an an aligned kindergarten. So, you know, good on us there. Um, I remember when Ready for Kindergarten was was first being created and it's just wonderful to see how it's bloomed. Um, I love the enrichment. I love um how reflective it is of our student body. um the focus on, you know, the fact that, you know, our multilingual families are enrolling their students in in basically the same percentages as elsewhere in our district. That's you know, that speaks volumes to um you know, the promotion and the and the engagement that that we are getting um out in our community. Um and it really is a recruitment engine. I love that phrase that you used. a really great phrase. Um, one question. Um, Kinder Spark, can you speak a little bit to Kinder Spark, please? >> Sure. Um last couple of years um parents have asked over and over again, can we just redo VPK because they're not ready or I'm not ready or we've been sick a lot or I mean there's there's a laundry list of things that that parents want and ultimately parents do have that that choice to be able to make decisions that they feel is is the right one for their for their child. Um I'm going to speak specifically to one family. Um, they're featured in the Kinder Spark video. Um, they had a son that did U VPK. Same type of thing. We weren't built for that yet. Um, and they had twin daughters go through VPK this year. Same type of thing. They just weren't ready um for that that all day what kindergarten um was was going to be for them. They wanted something else. And so in January, uh Jason and I had a conversation around like what can this program be and and how can we make it and how can we fund it to support it? Um and make it sustainable and and so we did. Um they started Wednesday was their first day. Um the teacher in there is lovely and shares the passion that we have for the parents parents prerogative to choose what's right right for their kid and just because they're five, you know, they have options and it doesn't always need to be kindergarten. Um it's fun. It's really fun to see. Um the ladies, two of the ladies in the class were dressed in princess dresses today and um were, you know, tipping their hats off to me and fancy earrings and told me to have a super great day. And that's that's what they need. They needed another year to build these social emotional skills, the kindergarten readiness skills, and and they do align with um what's next for them. Um they're still getting heardy in those classrooms. They are still getting repeated readalouds. They are still getting hands-on math um through play and experiences. >> And is that class now closed for enrollment? Are you still accepting students? Yes, >> you are still accepting students. Okay, good to know. And then one last one last um comment because I I loved all the the links that you provided for us. >> Um it just got me thinking. I was looking at the early childhood alignment document that you shared and you know we don't often think about pathways for our preschools preschoolers but the description um instructional framework one pagers it just got me thinking about you know the the the social emotional element director Anderson that you were speaking of you know that is you know that is right where the pathways start in terms of getting our youngest learners ready for the world and um recognizing and managing emotions, building friendships, solving problems. You know, this is this is where the pathways start and um our preschool teachers, you know, rec should see themselves in our pathways. Um looking at that description, it just it made me smile as I was as I was preparing for the for the meeting tonight. So, thank you for sharing all of those. um it just made a connection for me and thank you both uh as always a wonderful wonderful report, wonderful presentation and um we'll look forward to seeing you again uh probably next year. >> Thanks. >> Uh next on the agenda, uh we will receive committee board appointment and school assignment reports. [clears throat] Um let's go to let's start with the policy committee with chair Mickelson. Um the policy review committee met on the 18th. Uh it was a full slate of uh several different policies with uh you know some changes and um and things that so uh coming up on um the agenda today. Uh our next meeting will be on uh September 15th and we're going to keep slogging through the AI policy will be kind of the main focus uh for that one. So uh definitely a busy tail end to the year. >> Awesome. Thank you. And next we'll uh go to the legislative committee with director Chester. >> Yes. Uh nothing to report. We did not meet in August. Um our next meeting is also September 15th. >> Great. And negotiations with Director Saxi. Uh, no report for this evening. >> All right. Uh, are there other reports for um other board assignments? Director Worb. >> Uh, yes. Um, I have a report for the Burnsville Festival and Firemester. Um, board met on July 28th and we discussed um the um revisiting the discussion on moving the festival to the third week in August um beginning in 201 28. So there was many things to consider with um moving it to um before before Labor Day like you know that's that's kind of a big lift um and many things to take into consideration. So it was a very healthy discussion. Um and then uh our next meeting will be next week September 1st before the festival. Great. Thank you. Other reports, Director Hume. >> Um, yes. On Friday, August 7th, I joined the Association of Metropolitan School District monthly meeting via Zoom. Um, highlights of the meeting included our very own Dr. Daniels, was chosen to serve on the AMSD legislative committee this year. Congratulations on that. Um there we had speakers discussing the constitutional constitutional amendment that will be on the Minnesota ballot this fall regarding the permanent school fund and changing how those funds are allocated to districts. Um they're asking voters to approve a change in how the annual payments will work from the annual fund and this amendment was approved on a bipartisan basis. I believe the House voted for it unanimously in fact um this spring. And then if approved, the adjusted formula would increase funding for schools without dipping into the principle of the trust fund. Um and important to note that leaving the ballot question blank this fall counts as a no vote. Um so that was one thing. And then we also had couple of speakers to talk about the special education blue ribbon commission that has been commissioned by the state. Um the superintendent Marcy Dow and Stacy Stanley spoke. Um they were charged with reducing the state special education budget as many of you have probably heard by $250 million or the cross subsidy will be reduced by that amount in the coming session. Um, the commission approved their recommendations on August 6th and I think it is worth noting that the commission also added a comment to their recommendation that they were forced to make reductions that will impact some of our most marginalized students and they asked that the legislature repeal the law that created the commission and find somewhere else other than special education to reduce the state budget. Um and then the third speaker discussed the work of the state task force to review and make recommendations around compensatory funding, another issue that has been on our radar for a while. Um that work is still in progress and there's a final report due to the legislature in midocctober. And this concludes my report. >> Thank you. Other reports, Director Saxi, >> uh just quick update on Chamber of Commerce. On Monday, August 17th, they organized a Burnsville leaders gathering. Um so there was an invite to all members of this board. Um city council the mayor attended um as well as other people involved with the board of the chamber of commerce. It was a great opportunity to get together. Um it was attended from this board by chair alt director Hume uh myself and Dr. Daniels was there as well. Um and a great opportunity to get to know some of the other stakeholders really well. And I know I got some really good questions on just how the school board works and functions and the role that we play um from some of the other people there. So, a great opportunity. Um and that concludes my report. >> Thank you. Other reports? >> Nope. All right. Then we will move on to the business portion of tonight's meeting. Uh first with a consent agenda. Although board action is required, it is generally unnecessary to hold discussion on these items. In the event a board member wishes to discuss an item, that item will be moved for separate consideration. Um, are there any consent agenda items that board members wish to move separately? Hearing none. Um, is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Uh, moved by Director Worb, seconded by Director Hume. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. And the motion carries unanimously. Uh, next we will move to the new business portion of our agenda. And we will are being asked to approve the initial field trip uh for band uh the band trip to Norway with Dr. Chris Belmont, assistant superintendent, Nick Armstrong, and Keith French, teachers at the high school. Welcome everyone. Thank you, Chair Alt, Superintendent Daniels, members of the board. Um, our band travel club is looking to go to Norway in 2028. So, we have Mr. French, Mr. Armstrong here to share a little bit more about the preliminary application. Good evening, Chair Alt and Dr. Daniels and members of the board. Um, so we yeah, we are here to approve a Norway tour for our band, choir, and orchestra students at Burnsville High School through the band travel club um for the spring of 2028. So we'll go in February is what we're hoping. >> Awesome. Board members, any questions? Actually the dates we'll be going will be the uh week of conferences in early March when that date is decided. Gotcha. >> So over conferences and not spring break. >> We don't go over spring break generally because it um conflicts with our drumline competition um our prelims and also the finals. So So that's a opportunity for our students to only miss three days of school. Sure. instead of missing a whole week. >> Thank you, Keith. And I would just add to that um Gateway Music Festivals has been the um partner partner vendor for as long as I've been coming to present for quite a bit of time. So, trusted partner working for um on both the fundraising and the implementation planning. >> Yeah, we've worked with uh Gateway. Well, this will be this would be my 10th trip with them. So I think my first trip was with this company was 2008 and we have had nothing but success with them and we're very happy with uh the performances they provide and uh everything everything about the trip. [snorts] It's they're very good. >> Awesome. >> Yes, really quick question. First, I want to say thank you for taking time out of the marching band uh to be here. [laughter] That um and is this the first time the kids chose not to go somewhere warm? >> You know, I mean, you know, significantly warmer. I was just kind of surprised that I mean, you know, the the the temperature isn't going to be quite as different as just >> Yeah. So, um, just for anyone that doesn't know, the way that we decide our trips is we, uh, partner with Gateway and we have them come up with what they think their five or six best trips are. We try to, um, get, uh, we try to get them to hit a price point. And, uh, then we let the kids vote on that. And so the kids vote on I think we had six >> on five locations. >> We had five locations. And then they vote once and then we narrow it down to two and we vote again. Just in case you picked, you know, So everybody's vote is mattering. So yeah, but um yeah, Ireland was cold. It snowed one time in Rome. That was that made the New York Times even our most recent trip was to Malta. And I think the students thought that trip was warm, but they were they were wearing light jackets most of the time. So >> yeah, >> but they really enjoy it as well. But it actually I'm just going to say just being off peak travel season really gives you an opportunity to meet with a lot more people and um you know schools are in session and um we really get to you know go on with that kind of thing. It's it's really a nice time to travel. >> Director Tester. So, with the fundraising, um, is there also any type of like scholarship or or aid for families or like how well is the fundraising where it like mostly covers the cost for the students? Yeah. So, we have lots of fundraising opportunities that were in the packet um that we run through the music department and we um have student activities accounts that student fundraising money goes into. Um and students can participate as wholeheartedly as as they want in the fundraisers. Um some go really into it and get the majority and we've even had students um pay for an entire trip with fundraising. Um, and then we have some students who choose more to pay their own way or we have students that get jobs as high school students. Um, this trip is marketed more to our 11th and 12th graders. And so a lot of them have sometimes just get jobs and kind of pay for it that way as well. Um, but we make sure to include as much fundraising that we just do through our music department um to make it as as um attainable for all students as as we can. And just to dovetail on that question, um, is the fundraising contingent upon an adult being present with the student? >> Um, there are a couple options that are, but a lot of them are not. Like the first fundraiser that we're going to run this year is called Fundra Genius, which is a completely online fundraiser. Um, kind of like a GoFundMe. Um, and students can kind of personalize that and and gear it towards, you know, I'm going on this Norway trip or I I'm hope to go on this Norway trip and so I'm raising money for that. Um, and then we've done other things like um selling drooling moose, which is a very popular one at the high schooler. Um, we've done Pampered Chef. We've done um butter braids, mattresses. Um I think maybe what you're referring to is we we did um provide information about a company called Achieving Dreams where the um parents >> and students have the opportunity to work at sporting events like um Timberwolves game or and um the rules vary depending on the on the event. So sometime a lot most of it now is the kids need to be 18 to work there. So they're not able to, but some of the places have them where um if you're with your parent, you can be 16, you know, and you work in the hot dog stand or whatever. But so >> and then both I think by both parent and and student get paid out for that. So it's almost like earning double. I've got I've always um whenever I go to an event like a baseball I was at the Twins game a couple of weeks ago and I was talking with a dad who was working and you know I was like how much well so how much do you make for an evening and he goes I make about 200 bucks so so it it is significant you know so if they want to do that but we give them the opportunity and the information for that one >> other you had mentioned that they're mostly grades 11 and 12 but do you also they'll get like freshman and sophomores on this trip or mostly the >> We do have a few um 10th graders that have the option to go. No one, you know, no one has to go, but um what we do is if you make the top ensemble as a 10th grader, you can also join in. So, it's um for 11th and all 11th and 12th graders and any 10th grader who auditions into the top wind ensemble or symphonic orchestra or uh concert choir. >> And we run this trip every two years as well. So, that means that every student who comes through either our band orchestra [laughter] or choir program will have an opportunity to travel with us in their high school high school career. >> Awesome. Any other questions? Director Saxy. Um, just as a parent of someone who went on the Malta trip last year, highly recommend going after it and doing it, it was very well put together and had a [snorts] great time and great feedback. Um, Norway was my favorite trip, so any chance you'd take a sixth grader in band for a month, [laughter] worth a shot. >> Yeah. How do you feel about middle school? [laughter] Any others? Nope. All right. Um, so with that, um, is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Chester, seconded by Director Anderson. Um, any other discussion? All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. And the motion carries. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> [snorts] >> I'll see you at the fair tomorrow. >> Yes. >> 2 p.m. parade. >> 2 p.m. We thought it was 1, but it's actually 2. >> It is [laughter] line up at one. >> Yeah, they get there at one because we missed it one year because we were run at night. >> Oh, well. >> Uh, next we're being asked to approve the casual wage scale with Stacy Soine, executive director of administrative services. >> Good evening, Chair Alt, Dr. Daniels, members of the board. Each year we bring to you a casual wage scale. These are salaries or stipens or hourly amounts that are not uh included in any negotiated agreement which have demonstrated um longevity if you will positions that are usually in place year over year over year. Uh this year we are not recommending any changes. However, we are adding special education teachers on special assignments or otherwise satossa. Uh these positions have been in place now for a few years. Um but they have been covered under minor administrative assignments and we use a an additional compensation form to identify the amount that the person would be paid, what is expected of them and then once they complete that test, that is what they they are paid. Since it has been now a couple of years that that position has been in place, we are wanting to move it over to the casual wage scale and make it more formal for audit purposes to tie out. So with that, it is my recommendation that the board of education approves the proposed rate of pay for the 2026 2027 school year. >> Thank you. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Hume. Second. >> Second. >> Seconded. >> Seconded by Director Saxi. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. And the motion carries unanimously. Uh, next we're being asked to approve on a first reading basis changes to policies 423, employee student relationships 709, student transportation safety policy. 722 public data requests. uh with Stacy Sovine, executive director of administrative services. >> Again, the the abovementioned policies were reviewed on August 18th, 2026 through our policy review committee. Uh there are just minor changes in each of the three policies. The 423 is adding grooming to the language which was uh enacted by the 2026 legislation legislature uh 709. We're also adding uh definition and the requirements for first aid kits and then for 722 we are adding safe at home participants and data privacy to our data um public data requests. So with that it is my recommendation that the board of education approve on a first reading basis changes to policies 423 employee student relationships 709 student transportation safety policy and 722 public data request. >> Thank you. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Mickelson. Second. >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Hume. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. And the motion carries unanimously. Uh, next. Thank you, Stacy. Uh next we're being asked to approve on a first reading basis changes to policies 634 internet and technology acceptable use and safety policy 507.5 school resource officers 613 graduation requirement and 621 literacy and the read act with Dr. Belmont assistant superintendent. Welcome Dr. Belmont. Thank you, Chair, Superintendent Daniels, members of the board. Um, these four policies were reviewed um also on the August 18, 2026 policy review committee. Um, most of the changes um are resulting from um shifts and decisions that were made in statute in the 2026 legislative session. 634, the internet and technology acceptable use. Um those MSBA recommendations largely were in response to changes in the laws around um online nutification. Um 5075 school resource officers um had to do with expectations on um identifying themselves as law enforcement officers. Um just add that our changes to to policy as recommended by MSBA um for for those two policies 6345075 um mirror existing practices in our system or reinforce the language that we already have in practice. um 613 graduation requirements, re some changes in references, um changes in titles with our new director model, um as well as some clarification expectations around awarding um diplomas to veterans 621. uh the read act the recent legislative session uh the legislature decided to revert back to 2023 original readact um law around universal screening for second and third graders. Um specifically all second and third grade students will complete both nonsense word and oral reading fluency subtests in the fall, winter and the spring. Um, also moving forward, uh, all students grades four through 12 receive, um, dyslexia screener. So, it's no longer optional, but required through law. Um, our system has already moved forward with that with our capt basics screener. Um, so yeah, all responses to the law, um, with the read Act, um, a lot of it was firming up language that existed and, um, kind of pulling out options and loopholes around those, uh, universal screeners. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, so I've already read the recommendation. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Anderson. Second. >> Second. >> Seconded by director [clears throat] Worb. Any discussion? >> I have just one question on policy 613, graduation requirements policy. Um, under definitions B, uh, what was the reasoning behind removing the definition of English language learners? >> Good question. And I do recall that coming up in um coming that that coming up in committee as well. >> I believe it had to do with language that existed later on in >> Was it in another either in another policy or later on? >> Remember it did come up. I don't remember. >> I thought that it was of already. >> I figured you did. >> I figured you did. [clears throat] >> I don't recall definitively. So, um I would have to double check on where >> you can get back to me with the answer. I'm sure if the policy committee already asked the question the answer >> we could go watch the tape. >> Yeah, it's fine. I'm not going to hold up the the approval of policy with >> it's fine. Um Dr. Belman, if you just want to get back to me, that's >> okay. Any other questions? Um, all those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. >> And the motion carries unanimously. Uh, next we are being asked Oh, thank you, Dr. Belmont. Next, we're being asked to approve on a first reading basis changes to policy to regulation 206R, listening session guidelines with Dr. Daniels, superintendent. Thank you so much, Chair Alt. Yes, I am bringing before the board an opportunity to um clarify um arrival guidelines um for our listening sessions. We did have this discussion as a board um during the August 13th um work session and the policy review committee also discussed it at our August 18th meeting. So given those discussions and clarifications, I would like to recommend that the board approve on a first reading basis changes to policy regulation 206R listening session guidelines. Thank you. Uh with that, um this must be a co a roll call vote. So in just a second >> that's the next one. I skipped ahead. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Hume, seconded by Director Saxi. Is there any discussion? >> Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. And the motion carries unanimously. [laughter] >> You okay? >> Uh, next we're being asked to adopt a resolution to accept donations. [clears throat] Staying with Dr. Daniels. Thank you, Chair Al. Before I begin presenting the formal resolution, I just wanted to say thank you to our community partners for their support of our schools, our students, our teachers, and our families. I am so grateful for their support and generosity. In this month's resolution, I would like to recognize the following. All those who have donated to our brain power in a backpack program. Edina Realy Foundation, Prince of Peace Church in Burnsville, Pamela Voit, Joanne Morrisy, Ronald Roli, Burnsville Savage Lions Club, Norin and James Cole, Joanne Young and Thomas Church, Mighty Cause Foundation, Gary and Katherine Rocklets, YSA, Teresa Lenau, Wells Fargo Giving Program, and the King Family Foundation. our donors who have donated to our food and nutrition program that wish to remain anonymous. We thank you all as well. And finally, the following organizations who have supported a variety of program and student supply needs in our district. Those include United Healthcare, Costco, and the Savage Police Department. Once again, thank you to all of you for your generous donations. It is now my recommendation that the board of education adopt a resolution to approve and accept these donations to our district in accordance with our schoolboard policy and Minnesota statutes and to permit their use as designated by the donors. >> Thank you. Is there a motion to approve? >> So move. >> Moved by Director Chester. Second. >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Hume. Is there any discussion? >> I I just have one comment. um being a fundraiser um the from mighty cause. Mighty cause is representative of individuals who give through the give to um give MN site. So Mighty Cause is might be representing several individuals. Um and so it's nice to thank the individuals that give through mighty cause. >> Any other discussion? This resolution will require a roll call vote. So, in just a second, I will ask Sarah to call the role. And when she calls your name, please respond with either an I if you are in favor, uh, or nay if you are opposed. Sarah, will you please make the roll call? >> Director Chester, >> I. >> Director Word, >> I. >> Director Saxi, >> I. >> Chair Alt, >> I. >> Director Hume, >> I. >> Director Anderson, >> I. >> And Director Mickelson, >> I. Having sever seven in favor and no one opposed. Uh this resolution is declared duly passed and adopted. Thank you. Uh next we are being asked to approve on a first and final reading guidelines for sharing schoolboard meetings again with Dr. Daniels. >> Thank you again, Chair Alt. Yes, I am recommending to the board that we approve um a redline draft of guidelines for sharing schoolboard meetings. We reviewed this um also on August 13th during the work session and um we have discussed um further streamlining um the recordings of our um meetings in order to be more efficient and effective in time management especially the people resources that are employed in order to record our meetings. And so after reviewing the data and evaluating the outcomes, we have um updated the guidelines to reflect that decision. So with that, I would like to recommend to the board on a first and final reading basis the updated guidelines for sharing schoolboard meetings. >> Thank you, Dr. Daniels. Um is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Hume. Second. >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Anderson. Any discussion? I just have a quick comment. >> I just want to make it clear that even if we're no longer live streaming our committee meetings, they are still open meetings and members of the public are always welcome to join us. >> And all committee meetings are held here at Diamond Head. >> And all committee meetings are held here at Diamond Head. Yes. Thank you. >> Yes. No problem. >> Follow the signs. >> Yep. [laughter] >> Thank you. Good point. Uh all those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. And the motion carries unanimously. Uh the final item on tonight's agenda is uh we are being asked to approve the board planning document for 2026 2027 school year. Uh I will present this uh we did discuss this uh in our most recent work session. Uh this is the document that the board uses for its annual workflow. We also uh utilize this um as basically anformational document for um anyone considering um running for school board um or candidates who are running for school board um kind of as a template for um basically our work year. Um so um anyone who's interested in learning more about the work that we do throughout the year, this is this is a great place to start. Uh with that we are being asked to approve the board planning document for 2026 2027 school year. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Moved by director Mickelson. Second. >> Second. >> Seconded by director Worb. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor please signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Nay. And the motion carries unanimously. Um, it's now 7:40 and I will declare us adjourned. Thank you everybody.