It's February 25th, 2026. The time is now 6 p.m. and I'd like to call this meeting to order. Um, Clerk Milner, can you please take attendance? >> Director Beer Meer >> here. >> Director Michael Moulder >> here. Director Zuzac >> here. >> Vice Chair Dresley >> here. Chair Tate is absent, Director Bruns >> here, >> and Director Milner here. >> I'd also like to recognize that we have four student school board representatives and our superintendent with us here at the table. Um, and everyone who is able, please remove your headwear and stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And the first thing here is, can I get a motion on the agenda? >> Michael Moulder moves to approve the agenda. Zix seconds. >> Any discussion? All those um in favor of approving the agenda say I. >> I. >> I. All those opposed say nay. The motion to approve the agenda um carries unanimously. Now, I'd like to recognize our visitors both in the room and online. Thank you for taking the time to be with us tonight. Um we really appreciate your dedication to Hastings Public Schools. Our first business of order is to the raider spotlight. Thank you. So I would like to invite Christy Bars from the chamber of commerce to come forward to acknowledge um the chamber's educator of excellence this year. Thank you. Just get this closer. Thank you everyone for having me here tonight. My name is Christy Bars. I'm president of the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce. And we had the opportunity of recognizing one of your educators, Christy Bomb, as our educator of the year. So, I wanted to give just a brief history on why the Chamber of Commerce uh finds it important to recognize our educators in the Hastings community and kind of how that process goes before we bring Christie up here. Um, our business community recognizes that in order to have a thriving business, they have to have a strong community behind them. So, it's really important for us at our annual meeting to recognize the individuals and especially our educators that make our community as strong as it is. And I will say that um so so nominations come through our community members. It's open to the public. Um they can submit nominations for volunteer of the year, business of the year, and then educator of the year. And we have a selection committee of local businesses that review those nominations and then select the winner. Each year, educator of the year is one of the toughest things for the selection committee to uh come up with a winner because there are so many incredible educators in this school district. So, I just wanted to point that out. Um when we were reviewing this year, um Christy Bomb's nominations rose to the top for a number of reasons. not only just her long career as an educator and 26 years with the Hastings School District, uh, but the fact that she was nominated by many of her peers and all of them had very consistent messages that Christy Bomb is a problem solver. Educators are dealing with multiple uh things every day. No day looks the same. And Christy is a leader in her um in her school and with her peers. and people felt very confident to be able to come to her when they needed to collaborate, when they needed just someone to listen to, when they had a problem that they couldn't solve. And that came across very clearly in the nomination forms. Um, she also was recognized as a very caring educator to her students. She meets all of her students where they're at and uh that takes a lot of patience and determination and it takes a lot of creativity and that shine through in all of her nomination forms. We also had a nomination form come from one of her peers that uh had the opportunity to uh put a parent perspective lens on it. And so uh we heard from from this peer uh from the parent side how Christy Bomb was able to come to the house when her son was ill and he uh they accredited Christy Bomb's work to the reason why he was able to graduate school even though he was so ill. So, um, she is very very deserving. And I just I wanted to point out that this this always takes the selection committee so much time, not only because there are so many incredible educators in this school district, but also that the one that is selected is so deserving of this award. Um, so yes, I'm I'm here to to recognize Christy Bomb and Hastings Community TV is a partner of ours. They put together a beautiful video where we get to see our educators in the classroom and I think we have it here tonight. >> [music] >> Something that make Miss B a special teacher is she really brightens up the class's day as soon as class starts. >> She's awesome because she cares more than just about your grade in the class and like stay after any day that you need. She'll make special arrangements if you need them. Like it's it's awesome. >> She's always so nice. She always greets you with a happy smile. Cute little nicknames. >> Super kind. Super super kind. Like very very nice all the time. [music] >> She like genuinely cares about you. Like she's like one of my favorite teachers. So >> I'm Christy Bomb and I have been teaching for 35 years and the last 26 have been in Hastings. So I became a teacher and um I I I love it and when [music] I retire at the end of the year the the children will be the ones that I miss the most. She is just always there for you, like wanting to know what she [music] can do to help you. She wants the best for you and for like our students. She's always trying to do whatever she can to get [music] them to be as successful as possible. Miss Bomb is a special teacher for a [music] lot of reasons. I'm not even sure everybody knows about all the volunteering she does because she doesn't do it for any kind of recognition. She just really cares about her communities. She [music] volunteers for Hastings Reads. She drives those bikes for the senior citizens around town. She spends her time off traveling to India and works with an elementary school there. She's just this person who makes all of us better by her example because she's so giving of her time. >> She's the place we go when we need a fingernail clipper, when we need a band-aid, when we need a piece of [music] chocolate, uh when we need a pep talk, she's that person in our pod. Chrissy, you are an absolute [music] light in my life. Um, I don't know how I would have survived transitioning to the high school without you. >> I'm very appreciative of all that you've done for me and my friends. She is one of the best teachers [music] here we have at Hastings High School. >> You are definitely the most deserving person for this award, for all the things that you've done for the people in our community, the people in this world. >> Thank you, Miss Bomb, for everything that [music] you've done for me and and have a happy retirement. I love that they let me be part of their family, that they let me be part [music] of their journey and part of their lives. I love that they trust me enough to allow me to to walk that journey with them. It's [music] glorious to leave with my heart so full because that's how I came into teaching in 1991. >> [applause] >> Christie, could you come up and say a few words, please? Where's Lindy Humble? She said I didn't have to talk about [laughter] Lindy. >> Sorry, you asked the wrong person. [laughter] Darn it. I need I need to get better information next time. Um, I I'm just so honored to have this this award and to be recognized. Um, clearly I I represent a district full of incredible incredible teachers and staff and um and just some amazing kids. And so when I leave at the end of the year, um it it it's it's sad and I mean I'm happy to to be retiring. Um I have two little granddaughters who I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time with, but um yeah, I have a lot of great memories. I you know, I I spent the bulk of my career here. Um I I have a lot of good laughs. I mean, Mark Zuzac is sitting there. I I did my principal internship with him. I did my um special ed director internship with um Lauren Gratz. And so, I just I have a lot of respect for the staff and the and the people in this district. Um and I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be in town, so I'll be volunteering. Maybe I'll be volunteer of the year someday. I don't know. I have some stiff competition, but um yeah, I I just I'm I'm I'm I I represent a staff a district full of amazing teachers, and so I'm just um thankful and honored to accept this award. So, thank you. [applause] >> [laughter] >> Did you have something you wanted to say? Go ahead, Lori. Yeah, Miss Balm, I just want to say that um I just [clears throat] take my hat off to you and this is like super emotional because I feel like you're one of those teachers that stayed for such a long time and I remember thinking when I was a student like I don't know how these teachers could do this day after day, but then to do it day after day for years after years. I'm just like um you're just really amazing. like I just and I hope that um you take the experience and the knowledge and the relationships that you have and you help us to become a better district in your retirement because feel like your voice is it's so valuable. I mean I mean as a board member um but just yeah I just take my head off to you and the years that you've served and I thank you and we couldn't do this without you. So thank you. [laughter] That video also doesn't capture everything that you do when you're not at work because are you still volunteering at Hastings Family Service? >> Yep. >> Yeah. So, she's still a community anchor and pillar and volunteer and that carries through from the classroom to outside in the community. So, thank you. >> And I'd love to stay in chap and have confirmation at 7 o'clock because girl just cannot say no to anything. [laughter] So, yeah. >> Thank you. So, next on our agenda, we'll start with reports and discussions starting with our student school board representatives. And first up is Representative Suarez Garcia. Okay, here we go. For for [clears throat] the Hastings High School, February is a very busy month for our Raiders with activities such as FCA, trivia, art, sports, and author visits. Firstly, FCA held a new kind of meeting this past week where students join together in song and worship. This was remarkable to watch students interact with each other through this meeting. To me, what what made it really interesting was that it was all studentled by Sebastian Strauss and Ryder Ashcraft. I interviewed Ryder where he said, "I think it's critically important. one, for students to find something to believe in and motivate them to become the best version of themselves, and two, for them to be able to find a community of others following the same pursuit. This morning's purpose is to connect people on a common belief and provide them a space to grow in in community and devotion with one another. And then there's a picture from that morning. You can see most of the people that were there except for Sebast. is um there a little bit after that just in the next portion and then below the students this month as a part of Hastings Reads were visited by the author Anton Troyer who wrote a book everything you wanted to know about Indians but were afraid to ask encouraging understanding critical thinking and open conversation. Honestly, I think he did an amazing job at teaching students about about [snorts] other cultures that originate from Minnesota along with being very eager to answer this students questions about native culture. And then there's a video for that. And these are just some of the photos that we got from his day here that he spent in Hastings. Um, and then I guess quick fun fact, my uh my buddy Payton Thomas, that's his uncle from because he has family all the way from Baiji and he goes to Hastings too, which is kind of cool. He does PSO, so I don't see him much at school, but uh I think it's kind of cool how it's like small world, I guess. >> But then yeah, this is where he's just signing some of the some of the books. Um, and then yeah, just throughout the day, throughout if we watch the whole thing and show the at Hastings Reads and his other places he went throughout the day. So, >> yeah. [clears throat] Okay. Our very own Sherlock Homies, the knowledge bowl team, have made it past sub regions by claiming fourth place out of 28 other teams. This secured them a spot at regions for a shot at state this Thursday, so tomorrow. Our other teams, team Douglas and team Jedi Council, finished top half of the metro, but unfortunately they did not make it past sub regions. However, they will show their support for their homies in their attempt for state. Um, it was really exciting getting uh past sub regions. I'm on the team that made it past. Um, and it and it's just we want to go to state, so hopefully hopefully we can make it. Um, now for show choir in it. Show choir is in its final stretch of the season, but things are not slowing down. They are ramping up. This past weekend, Riverside and Dynamic Edition hosted their 2026 Swinging on the River. It's a competition where we invite showquoise from all across the state and out of state to compete here at Hastings. The day was full of activities and a ton of student leadership. from showing but by students directing traffic to help lost competitors. Students really displayed some remarkable real world skills that they have gained from their activities. I got to host Biji Vocomotive and they were great. These students were so respectful of our space, leaving no messes and treating others with respect the entire day. Thank you, Jen. In my opinion, swing was a success. And tomorrow we leave for our last competition of the year which is in Nashville at the Gaylord Opry Hotel >> Gaylord Opry Hotel. Not the actual Opry unfortunately, but still that competition is over spring break and our director didn't want to subject us to missing spring break. [cough and clears throat] >> So no Opry for us. >> Yes. >> Okay. Our school is currently in the height of section and state tournament season with about half of our winter teams having completed their seasons and several still competing. Boys hockey hockey will play in the section semi-finals on Tuesday, February 24th, and that didn't go so well. Um, now while girls basketball begins section playoffs on Wednesday, February 25th, the state wrestling tournament for the team and individual boys and girls competitors runs from Wednesday, February 25th through Saturday, February 28th. And the state boys swim and dive meet takes places February 26th through 28th. Boys basketball sections play. Boys basketball sections play begins Tuesday, March 3rd, making this an exceptionally busy time of year. Alpine and Nordic skiers performed well estate. And the dance team placed fourth out of the 12 sections. That's just two spots away from qualifying for state in only their second year. Looking ahead, spring sports registration is now open with track and field and softball beginning March 9th. In addition to athletics, the winter play was held February 13th through 15th and music ensembles have several performances scheduled in the upcoming weeks. Currently, our students are raising money for the Polar Plunge through our Best Buddies program. This supports students who participate in Special Olympics. This plunge is a favorite among students because they get to see some of their wellrespected teachers participate by dressing up in a costume while they walk the plank. This will all be taking place on March 13th as we work towards a goal of raising $12,500. And then there's Dorne from last year. So, okay. Now, the ALP. We are currently at the halfway point of quarter 3 and we are serving 51 full and part-time ALP students. This quarter has included a strong focus on college and career exploration opportunities. Miss Butler and Mr. Peterson recently took a group of students interested in cosmetology on a tour of Hastings Beauty School with an additional cosmetology visit scheduled later this month at Nova Beauty School. We also have a guest speaker from Minnesota North College who will present on career pathways in forestry, water operations, and wildland law enforcement. In addition, outside guests will be speaking with students about practical life skills, including purchasing a used car and renting an apartment as part of our continued effort to prepare students for adulthood. Meanwhile, Hastings Online Academy is currently serving over 120 students, 52 of whom are full-time with the second semester well underway. Enrollment numbers are expected to remain stable for the rest of the school year. >> Thank you. Any any questions? >> Feel like a marathon. I just have a comment. Um, so we as Showquire parents got to volunteer for Swinging on the River and I will say [clears throat] you said that Baiji was resp, you know, respectful and all that. We served food and I could not believe both our Hastings students but students from all of the groups were so grateful and so kind and so like they would even say thanks for volunteering and making this happen. It was just, it's just really awesome to see, you know, how grateful everybody is to see a big event like that happen. And of course, the performances were amazing. So, super fun event. Good job, you guys. >> And next is our um student representative, Beni. >> All right. Now, for the middle school. So, in early February, the web program got together. Web stands for where everybody belongs. And it's a program at the middle school where fifth graders are mentored by seventh and eighth graders. During their meeting, groups connected to create goals for this year, like the second semester. And then they also made snowflake artwork that was displayed around the fifth grade pod. And then there was an orchestra concert on the 19th and a choir concert for the fifth and sixth graders yesterday. And according to the superintendent, that was just a great concert. Sad I missed it. And then the eighth grade students have been having fun watching the Olympics. This watching has led to meaningful conversations about how athletes have to train and find their passions. And this watching made a little segue into learning Newton's laws of motion. So you can learn by watching TV. >> And then finally, as we know, the Ojiway author Anton Troyer came to the middle school and he shared some engaging stories mainly surrounding his novel where wolves don't die. He signed books for the students and highlighted ways native people have shaped our world, especially here in Minnesota. And then I am also doing um Shila Henson's report because she could not be here today. Representative Henson, my bad. All right, so at Kennedy they had I love to read month this month and they had some dress up days and some fun activities leading with that which was a spirit week. They participated in the days, a lot of funky socks, funky outfits. They went to the science museum which was made possible by the Kennedy Cougar PTA and parent chaprons. I love the science museum, so I'm sure they had a wonderful time there. They also went to the third graders went to the Bell Museum. And then there was a carpenter nature visit where students learned about the animals of the Mississippi. And then kindergarteners had a very exciting visit visit from the new art of dentistry where they learned all about teeth health. On the 100th day of school, kindergarteners dressed like they were 100 years old and participated in fun 100 themed activities. Definitely 100 years old there. And then they had the STEM winter Olympics where students looked into the science behind figure skating. >> And then there's the kids heart challenge where students and families learned important skills about CPR and raise funds for physical activity recess equipment. And then at Tilden, registration opens February 23rd. [laughter] >> That's it. >> Short and sweet. >> Thank you. Does anybody have any questions or comments? Um then next up is our student representative Dree Dear. >> All right. Both McAuliffe and Pinerest had really busy months this month. Um I'm always super shocked at how much elementary school educators are able to fit in the month. Um starting off in McCulla, February 2nd, they had the schoolwide I love to read reading challenge. um that started and then the same day the staff had a wit and wisdom coaching day. February 4th, 5th, 10th, and 11th, the Pleasant Hill librarians visited and perform presentations in the classrooms. Each class get got a one time slot during those four days. February 5th, 4th grade orchestra hall and history center field trip. February 6th, the staff had a catalyst coaching day. February 12th, the fourth graders took an exciting trip to Carpenter Nature Center to participate in a wilderness survival course. later using their new survival skills to and knowledge to build a shelter and a fire much like in the book they are currently reading Hatchet by Gary Pollson. There are some photos of their awesome fires. February 15th, uh the schoolwide I love to read reading challenge ended. February 20th was a schoolwide sledding day. Fe and then February 25th to 27th is spring conferences. Moving on to Pinerest Elementary. February 2nd to February 6th, again, the I love reading spirit week. Uh students and staff dressed up and decorated the hallways with a reading theme. February 5th, the fourth grade field trip to the science museum happened. February 12th, the American Heart Association Health Week was an all school kickoff assembly and students learned how to take care of their hearts and brains while gaining life-saving skills such as handsonly CPR and recognizing stroke warning signs. February 13th, the kindergarteners had a fun Valentine's Day party. February 18th was bus driver appreciation day and students made cards for the bus drivers. February 19th was the second grade field trip to the Minnesota Science Museum. And then February 25th to 27th, again, teacher conferences. Well, thank you for that report. And any other questions for our student representatives? Have fun in Nashville. >> Yeah. Enjoy your trip. >> Enjoy your trip. dress comfortably. >> Lucky. >> So, next on our agenda is our superintendent report. Thank you. Um, so good luck students. Enjoy. >> Good luck. >> Um, I would like to also come in on few uh appreciation days. So, February 2nd through the 6th was National School Counseling Week. So, I want to thank all of our school counselors that work with our students daily um providing lots of support to them in need. I also want to recognize February 15th as National School Bus Driver Appreciation Day. You know, um the bus driver is often the first and last adult that our kids see and that relationship matters. And I just so appreciate our students showing their gratitude with making cards and reaching out. and um they did have a little lunchon at their uh at the bus garage and so we just want to thank them for all the work they do for our kids. Um February 18th is National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day. As you know, now we have um school resource officer at both the high school and the middle school. That's going very very well. We appreciate their support um ensuring safety uh for our students, community, etc. So, thank you very much to all of them. Then I just want to make note for the public in the event they're looking at our website, we did just do a little formatting update on our school calendar for next year. So if you look at the month of August, you will see that now that uh August 28th date is blacked out. Prior to that, it was just left open. Um but it actually is a non uh staff day. So we needed to make that correction. And then I want to point out now that you'll see the 25th through the 27th have two colors highlighted in the cells. That shows that we're actually going to change up our workshop days a little bit. So that rather than have a full day of PD and then a full day of workshop, we're going to break that up a little bit. So we'll have this exact same number of hours of professional development, but they're going to be broken up in chunks through the three days. We were provided feedback from educators that they would prefer that. And so we're going to try it this year and and hope that that uh is a bit more engaging for staff. So I just wanted to point that out. Um just another update that uh the 2026 27 staffing ratio uh for our district is not changing. So what we've had last year will continue on for this year for student uh staff ratios. And I just uh continue to get to buildings to uh work through with their leadership teams on the school perception survey results. And that is going well. We're finishing that up. hopefully within the next week or so. Um, I would like to comment. I was in Kennedy Elementary today at the STEM elementary classroom and Miss Jensen will be presenting tomorrow at the Rotary meeting at 7:30 on her grant that she received when it comes to our prairie land uh, restoration that we're going to be doing on the Kennedy site. I was fortunate enough to get to walk in and I had to sit and watch this lesson because I didn't know this. She was explaining how this one race event works in the Olympics and it's the one where they go the skier goes down this big uh speedway down this way and then flies off and the furthest out that when they land wins and they know Norway they want all those you course she's like sorry we didn't win the gold so I'm showing you the one who did those of course Norway and she explained how the body has to work and how their form works and the muscles that are required to make this and the velocity and how it looks like they're actually this far out. In reality, they aren't because it's going. So, we're and I was so intrigued that I was like, I was as engaged as all of the students because I was like, I didn't know that. But I watched that race thinking, I don't know how they do that. So, anyway, I put a shout out to our STEM teachers. They do a lot of really creative work with our students and I can't wait for her to present about that prairie restoration that we're going to be able to do because that's a huge opportunity for not just our Kennedy students, but for students in our other buildings. So, I anticipate our high school students accessing that with classwork and then um having opportunities if McAuliffe and um Pinerest along with our middle school students have opportunities to engage with it, we will definitely provide that for them. So, thank you very much. That's all I have. >> Well, thank you. Anybody have any questions? Okay. So next on our agenda, I would like to welcome Kian Humphrey up to the front so that he can give us our the report on APAC NAPAC presentation. Welcome. I didn't give advanced notice, but I'm Kim Rico. one of the parents on the NAPAC. >> Thank you. >> She's also a secretary of our committee. >> Thank you. [clears throat] >> Um pujamo k squad kog and dunaba. Um good [clears throat] evening members of the board, superintendent work camp Herman and community members. My name is Kenan Humphrey. My Ojiway name is the first one standing and I'm an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Panji. I'm the chairperson for the Native American parent advisory committee. >> [clears throat] >> I'm the Indian education director at a neighboring school district and in one of two twin cities representatives on the travel nations education committee. I'm presenting on on behalf of the Hastings NAPAC. Tonight we are formally delivering our vote and resolution of non-concurrence for the 2526 academic year as required under Minnesota statute section 124D.78 [clears throat] is not a decision we made lightly because we continue to make progress and create momentum each year. But is it a it is a decision grounded in the law, in data, and in our deep commitment to to the American Indian students in our district. Each year, our APAC is charged with one central question. Is the district meeting the needs of our American Indian students? After [clears throat] careful, careful review, honest conversation, and reflection on what we see in our schools and in our community, our answer this year is not fully. The most concrete and measurable gap we are addressing tonight is the Hastings Public Schools has not implemented American Indian cultural and language classes despite being legally required to do so. In the compliance packet that is due to the Office of Indian Education later this week and in each of my presentations the last few years, I've said that this was coming and we should be preparing for it. Here we are in year three of me presenting in front of the school board. Minnesota statute section 124D.74 subdivision 7 requires that school districts with 100 or more state identified American Indian students or where American Indian students represent at least 5% of the total student population must provide American Indian cultural and language classes. This requirement has been in state law since 2023. The Minnesota Department of Education made that clear by the year 2526 full implementation should be expected. Hastings public schools meets this threshold. The students are here. The obligation is here. The law is here. And yet the classes are not. There are boxes to check off and indicate whether quote no, we do not have 100 or more state identified American Indian students or yes, we do have 100 or more state state identified American Indian students with another box indicating whether or not we have a dedicated American Indian education coordinator. In the next section of that signature page is a header, cultural and language class. Any district or participating school that conducts American education programs with 5% or 100 or more identified American Indian students must provide American Indian culture and language classes and list the Minnesota statute. It pains me each year that I have to cross out a line and handwrite, no, we do not offer language and culture classes but have 100 plus students. And this packet gets sent to people I know and work with at the Office of Indian Education and I get asked questions immediately upon the receipt. Language and culture are not supplemental. They are not extras. For American Indian students, they are foundational. Research consistently shows that culturally sustaining education improves attendance, academic engagement, graduation rates, and mental wellness for native youth. When a student sees their identity reflected in their school, when they can hear their ancestral language spoken in a classroom, when they learn the history of their people told by people who honor it, it changes what they believe is possible for themselves. Our students deserve that. They have a legal right to it, and they have been waiting long enough. [clears throat and cough] Our recommendations, in accordance with statute, we are submitting written recommendations alongside this vote. We're calling on the board to first immediately begin the process of identifying and securing qualified American Indian language and culture instructors or community based partners who can deliver this program and be open to all students, not just the native students. Second, work collaboratively collaboratively with our NAPAC and the office of Indian education at MDE and the tribal education department at Prairie Island and or the tribal nations education committee to develop an implementation plan with a clear and accountable timeline. Third, allocate funding from the de general district budgets, not be totally reliant on our AIEA funding. That's American Indian Education Aid funding from the Office of Indian Education to fully support and sustain full-time American Indian education positions of this nature. Fourth, um, report back to the APAC in writing within 60 days as required by law with a signed response from the full board. [snorts] We're not here as adversaries. We are here because we care about the community and the children in it. Our NPAC exists because the state of Minnesota recognized that native families [clears throat] must have a meaningful voice in how their children are educated. Tonight, we are using that voice again. The law was written because language and culture matter. The requirement was set because a 100 students is not a small thing. It is a full community. a community with heritage, with identity, with languages that has survived extraordinary hardship and deserve to be carried forward. [clears throat] We are asking the district to honor that not just because the law requires it, but because our students are worth it. We look forward to your written response and to working together in the future. Migamya, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Um I left the packet with Andrew Hajes. Um there are sections um where [clears throat] I have signed, Dr. Warham will need to be will need to sign. Um Carrie and Cyan are our American Indian liaison as well. Um and those are due on the first. >> Thank you. Um and we do need to do better as a district and we will. And so I'm very confident that we will have a sec language uh offering at our high school next year. I'm also hopeful to have additional support in middle school and elementaryaries around American Indian cultural um learning not just for native kids but all kids like you said and so you're right we need to do better and my plan is to do that. So thank you for coming tonight. >> Please feel free to utilize me and my network as well. Um I have connections all around the state for Dakota and Ojiway language. >> We will definitely take you up on that. We appreciate that support because I do believe we have to work together and do this as a community, all of us, in order to reach our goals. And so, thank you so much for that support. Also, we I just have to make a comment. We would never see you as an adversary and we hear you. And um I just echo what Christine said and saying that we will do better. Um, I hope that your checklist of to-dos was also handed off to Andrew because I think this is not something that we need we need to finally make a priority, especially if you've reiterated in other years. So, just saying that we hear you and I hope that we can make a change this year. Why are we where we're at with this yet? Why are we having this problem finding? Is it is it a problem finding? >> No. And >> a qualified person or what are we doing wrong here? >> I think it's uh more of our process of of making sure that this is the priority to get the funding we need to make sure it happens and we're going to have to just take that priority and we're doing so. We did write for a grant as well, but it doesn't matter if it doesn't happen, we'll still find the other general funds to to support the position for the high school language class. >> And I just want to add really quickly, we're we're lucky to have a very strong NAPAC. Not a lot of districts or communities do, and I think we're also very fortunate to have the people we do honor NAPAC. It's a wealth of wisdom and experience, and most folks don't have that. So, thank you. I just wanted to add that there has been a lot of progress as far as figuring the situation out, you know, and one of the core issues to begin with was even just getting a count, an accurate count. And we've gotten so far from that point, but you know, I think that as we mentioned, it it it has been a few years and we knew this was coming. So the now it's kind of like now it's time to take action. So we appreciate your support. Thank you. And then do we like put some kind of like um bookmark in a in a meeting in a in a couple months or whatever to to talk about progress or where we are with this or what's what's what's the best next step there. >> We can certainly do that. Add an agenda item in a couple months and just keep you a breast of that of where we are. Yeah. Thank you. >> Yeah. I I guess I could have explained the process a little bit too. So our presentation um is due the packet is due by March 1st and the school board h in instances where a district votes or an Apac votes non-concurrent a district has the school board has 60 days to respond in writing. Um so what I written out is required anyways. Um but those 60 days would be roughly the end of April schoolboard meeting. Um, so we'll [clears throat] be we'll be happy to hear those responses at that point. >> So saying that, we should probably put an agenda item on for sooner rather than later if we have to come up with a written respond. Am I saying that right? Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you guys for being here with us tonight. And next on our agenda, we are I'd like to welcome Andrew Hajes, our director of teaching and learning and his team. I don't know if and they will be um doing elementary curriculum update and winter fast bridge presentation for us tonight. So thank you guys for being here with us. Welcome. >> Thank you. I'm excited to have the teaching and learning here team here to present on some uh curriculum updates and then also our fastbridge data. Uh there's a lot that's been going on throughout the district especially at the elementary with some curriculum components and the data we're going to be shar sharing is really exciting uh to take a look at especially as you look at it in terms of the last few years and where we're at now versus where we were. Uh just a note on this, you have a packet with all of the slides. There's a lot of slides on there. Um we wanted to provide that full set of data. We provided that in the past as well. However, in the presentation, we're going to be going over like the highlevel takeaways from the data versus like every slide. However, any questions you have about any slide, feel free um about that. And then also the members of the public also have access to these uh the full set of slides as well. Um so I'll turn it over. I believe we start over here with uh Andy Larson. Thank you members of the board. Um I'm going to just kind of do a quick overview of the um curricular implementations that we've done over the last couple of years. So um I just wanted to to start um with our elementary literacy. Um many of you know this is the um second year of our um ELA curriculum Witten Wisdom um at our elementary and fifth grade programs. Um this year we are really um diving into a a deeper feel of what that curriculum looks like and feels like for our teachers and for our students. Um we've seen a great improvement in what our students are able to do just from one year to the next of having that curriculum in place. um we are really focusing on um making sure that we're continuing to implement that with integrity. Um and and really that means using the science, the research of the curriculum um and pairing that with the art of all of our outstanding teachers to be able to go and teach it um and make an impact on each individual student in their classroom. Um we al also are having a big focus on um staff development. Um, as student representative Dery mentioned earlier, um, we did have some coaching opportunities. Um, we brought in a representative from the company um, to do coaching for um, our admin team. So, our principles and and teaching and learning group had a chance to be able to do some work with what does good implementation look like? How can we help support teachers the best way we can? And then we also had opportunities for our teachers to be able to work with a representative on um, doing effective and efficient planning of the curriculum. So each of our uh lessons throughout the day are 90 minutes. Um and so it is a big um ask for our teachers to be able to do that planning and be able to um effectively teach our students. And so we've been trying to support them as best we can in that. Um we also are in year one implementation of amplify science. So this year we have um uh had the amplify science curriculum. Um we are uh really doing a lot of in-depth thinking and um experimenting with our students. Um there our teachers are seeing really great connections to the work we're doing in literacy. Um one of the big components of our literacy curriculum is is um what we call an essential question where over the course of many lessons and weeks um students work towards answering a bigger global kind of question. And our science curriculum has that same um concept in it. And so um our students are having a chance to really apply learning from daytoday uh to a a bigger thought process there. Um we also have been doing um professional development around that this year. Um did some um trainings at the beginning of the year. Uh a as we implement a new program. Um it's it's really hard for teachers to be able to know what's coming until they teach it. And so we do a lot of um we we do an introductory program for implementation and then we know that we need to do PD over the next couple of years as teachers continue [clears throat] to um get used to that program as they continue to um learn how to teach that because um if we do it all at the beginning, none of it will will stick as teachers haven't really had a chance to teach it and know what it's about. And so um we're going to go into deeper detail with that next year as well. Um this is also the uh the beginning of our STEM program. Um you've heard this a couple of times tonight. Um year one of STEM. Um uh Dr. Waramp Herman was over talking with Mrs. Jensen at uh Kennedy today. Um and just having a chance to kind of see what those students are doing. I've had a chance to go and sit in on a couple of different STEM lessons and it really is amazing the the hands-on activities that our STEM teachers are doing. Um we have three completely different um backgrounds of teachers for STEM and it's really made a great um system for us. Um Jill Jensen uh comes from uh over 20 years of experience teaching STEM um middle school, elementary um in other districts. Um Jennifer Harvey um actually um has only been teaching for the last um four or five years. Um she had a whole career in engineering before that which allowed her to come in with a lot of experiences that are really relevant to STEM. Um and then uh Aaliyah Zuzi um is a classroom teacher who loves teaching science and so she brings a lot of passion and energy from the classroom um into uh that STEM program. So um all three of them have really been uh such a tight-knit group. um we've been providing them collaboration time throughout the year to be able to get together and make sure that we have really clean um planning and um lessons that [clears throat] are going to be impactful. Um we've spent a lot of time this year working through a scope and sequence and then that's going to be um the way that we refine that um as our final curricular implementation in the future. Are there any questions about our curriculum? >> I just have a question. Is this is STEM for all ages? >> So, uh this program is for our elementary K4. Um this program that was created this year, we do have STEM programs throughout the rest of our uh middle school and high school that students can take as either a required class or as an elective throughout their time. And then another question um with the collaboration of the of the persons are there collaboration of amongst persons amongst the schools or is it usually within the schools siloed that there's collaboration? >> So we have one STEM teacher at each building. So when we talk about our three STEM teachers working together that's the STEM teacher from Kennedy McAuliff and Pinerest. So, um, so yeah, they they have a chance, um, it's been about once a month, um, that they've been working together, planning out the next portion portion of the the year, also reflecting on what they've done. Um, we've talked a lot about, um, what are some things that have worked, what are some things that haven't, um, how are we going to continue to to modify that moving forward. >> Anybody else have any other questions? Okay. Well, thank you. I just have to say that every time we get a report from you, it's it's amazing from all of you from the teaching and learning department. It just keeps getting better and better and I'm your excitement and passion for it comes through in your in your presentation. So, thank you. >> Um I'm going to hand it off to Mrs. Winni and Mrs. Mcame here to talk about our data. All right. So we're going to speak to you a bit about FastBridge data and we just wanted to provide some background knowledge on what is FastBridge, what is this assess, what kind of information are we getting from this test. And so FastBridge is a universal screening tool. We utilize that tool to think about our tier one curricular practices all the way through our intervention supports that we provide for students. We can take a look at used by our staff to make really informed decisions about targeted supports for all kids. Um, in kindergarten and first grade, we take something called the early reading test, which is really assessing kids foundational reading skills and in early math test, which is foundational math skills. And all of those are administered one-on-one, which is more appropriate for those little nuggets that come to us. And then in second and third grade, we take some computerized assessments. So the A-reading assessment is sort of a broad measure of a variety of different literacy skills. And the A math does the same in mathematics. Um they also do a CBM reading which is a fancy way of saying they read a connected text and we try to gauge what their fluency or their rate of reading is. Um, and then in fourth through 9th grade, we add in a test called the auto readading, which is different subtests that identify specific skill sets. For example, one of the subtests would assess vocabulary. And all of this kind of comes together to give us this big view on how our students are doing. And the way that FastBridge presents that information is through these benchmark categories. So you can see that there are a number of risk categories that indicate students risk of performing below a future performance target like a benchmark um by the end of the year. So the high-risk category which is also always going to be colorcoded in that dark pink is below the 15th percentile as you're looking at different fast bridge charts. So like the lowest um performing category. Some risk is the 15th to 39th percentile. low risk. We have um two listed here. Generally, it's kind of the 40th to 70th percentile for a lot of tests, but then some tests don't have that exceeds category. Um so that's why some tests like early reading, early math, and auto reading just go all the way to the 99th percentile in low risk. And then um for exceeds um in a reading, a math, and CBM reading, that's the highest 71st to 99th percentile category. Um just a note too, in the past um what was excuse called? So, exceeds used to be called college pathway, but we um truly believe that any child who wants to go to college is on the path to going to college. And so, uh we decided as a district to kind of shift that and call it exceeds expectations this year. >> Yeah. All right. So, looking at our longitudinal data for literacy first, I'll let Bri talk about the elementary side of things. >> So, this is actually a really exciting chart that we're going to look at with you today. Um, this gives us kind of an overall view of how our students have performed from winter to winter on our FastBridge assessments. What's really unique about this perspective is we could take a look at it in two different ways. So, we could take it a look at it the traditional way where we're going kind of vertically and thinking about how does each grade level progress over time in literacy. Or what is even cooler to look at is how does each cohort of students progress over time in literacy. And so you can kind of see um those diagonal viewpoints where they're colorcoded. That will give you an idea of how that same group of students from kindergarten then performed in first grade, second grade, and so on. What I also want to point out is we've had a bunch of different adoptions at the elementary level in literacy. And so if we take a look at 2022 which is coded in blue that was the year that we adopted he which was a phenemic awareness curriculum geared towards our kinder and first grade students to really promote this idea of phenemic awareness which is that ability to hear recognize and manipulate sounds that foundational literacy skill. Then in 2023, we adopted UFly, which is a phonics curriculum that teaches students that letter sound kind of correspondence and really provides them context on how to decode words and then read within a connected text and build that fluency that we know makes that lifelong reader. And then in 2024, most recently, we adopted Wit and Wisdom. So that overall uh literacy curriculum geared at building reading and writing skills and content knowledge for our kiddos. When we are looking at this data, just wanted to highlight a couple of pieces of information. I don't know if there's a uh oh, okay, I was going to try to use like a little pointer, but if you take a look at kindergarten, that first blue cohort of students, what we can tell from this data is when those kindergarteners started off with us, we had 53% of students achieving at or above grade level expectation. What's pretty remarkable is if you take a look at those same kindergarteners now as third graders, 72% of those students are at or above benchmark expectation. That is a pretty profound um growth measure and it should be celebrated. If you take a look at the pink, um you'll see 47% of that cohort of kiddos were at or above grade level when they came to us in kindergarten. And now 63% of those kids who are now in second grade are at or above grade level. Um so I say this to highlight we've implemented a lot of different initiatives. We have our teachers have worked tirelessly to provide for our students and it's working. Um and so that's something we should feel really proud of. I'll let Maddie kind of highlight some things with the um middle school and high school too. >> Yeah. So just wanted to point out that in secondary starting in grade five, we started using FastBridge just in the 24 25 school year. So you can see that's where the gray boxes above are kind of just we did we actually did at that time NWA testing. So um using this now for the second year, it's exciting to be able to add to this longitudinal chart and really make it um actually now through grade nine. And this is the first year we did grade nine with FastBridge as well. Um it says F because that we just did a fall window with high school with nth grade. So that that the rest of them are winter scores. Um but yeah, just really cool to see from the secondary perspective um where we're at because that's kind of um it it makes the chart, you know, really visible. And then also though to see the growth um from 2024 to 2025, we are definitely moving in the right direction. Anything else with reading? And then we also um wanted to talk talk about reading intervention. So we have reading intervention at the elementary and middle school at b again talk first about the elementary reading intervention. So we know on that last chart we took a look at the percentage of students we were able to move. Um so we're able to increase the number of students who are at or above grade level and in part that is due to our reading intervention programming. We utilize this data very intentionally to think about those students who may not yet be at grade level and we intentionally program for those kiddos and monitor their progress so that we can ensure that we're closing that gap and getting them closer to the intended target and goal. Um and so what this does highlight is um the percentage of those intervention students this year who are making what we call typical growth. So they're kind of progressing. They're not falling further behind. We're keeping them on track and building their skill set. And then those kiddos who are making aggressive growth, which in other words means we're closing their gap. We may have a long road ahead of us, but we are slowly inching them towards being at that grade level proficiency. And to see numbers upwards of 68% to 82% of kids making that kind of growth based on our programming um is again something that we should definitely celebrate. Um it's pretty cool to see too. Yeah, just to speak to the middle school specifically, um we've done a lot of work um with our reading intervention teachers who have put a lot of time to implement um UFly last year and this year and really make some instructional pivots based on what we're seeing with with our FastBridge progress monitoring data and and and getting that data to really clearly see trends and identify students who aren't making progress. Um, that's been one of the big focuses of MTSS at the middle school has been the teaming and collaboration around this data and making instructional moves to better support those students and and get them to where they need to be. Um, so just wanted to speak to that and and in reading lab at the middle school, it's a we've moved to a daily 20 minute intervention and um, we feel that's made a really big difference whereas prior it was like every other day. And so we've made a lot of changes to better intentionally schedule students for intervention which is a big part of it at the middle school and um and support them instructionally. I would just also highlight um we are just because parent teacher conference kind of week um we are utilizing this data to have really incredible conversations with families and so um they're receiving this information and we're using it as a way to kind of collaborate and problem solve alongside families um to think about what we could do for our students. >> Can I ask a question? >> Yeah. Um, if a So, just to see if I understand this correctly, if a student makes typical growth and they're I can I presume that that means if they're at the maybe they're at the 15th percentile and they make typical growth, are they at the 15th percentile the next year in in that cohort? I mean, it's it's going to move a little bit up or down based on what the cohort does, but yeah. So the typical growth if you're at that typical growth so that number is obviously going to shift a little bit because of the way they norm grade to grade and by the the benchmarks that each grade has. >> But you're right on track with the it would be one year of growth essentially. So if they were at like if they were a second grader and they were at second grade reading level by the end of the year and they started at first grade reading level that would be the typical road that one. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. So if if Kevin is not reading at grade level and makes typical growth, he's still not reading at grade level. That's why the aggressive growth is so critical. So >> I have a I have a question. Can you go back to the colorful screen? So am I So I know you said 2021 um phenemic awareness, 2023 phonics curriculum, 2024 Whiten wisdom. Um am I saying that right? Okay. Um are they piled on top of each other or are they replacing and um from that can we kind of deduce that Whiten wisdom kicks butt or what am I reading that right? >> Yeah. So within literacy right there's all those different um foundational literacy skills that we need to target as in educators. Um so we have phenemic awareness, phonics, we have fluency, we have reading comprehension. There are so many different skills that we kind of um build upon year after year to develop readers. And so what we did is yeah, we piled it on because in kindergarten and first grade, we need to teach them that that letter sound knowledge. They need to be able to hear sounds, manipulate them, and then they need to be able to start decoding or being able to read words. Um, and so kindergarten, first and second grade, we're kind of doing a lot of that, like building the skill set so that in third grade they can read and comprehend. It's kind of teaching them to read and then letting them read and comprehend and understand. >> Yeah, each other, >> right? So, they supplement each other. So then when I'm seeing the like the green and yellow obviously instead of the pink because pink is the risk, right? Pink is >> am I reading it wrong? >> So it's it's a little bit tricky because of the the color scheme here versus the color scheme in FastBridge. The the colors are really just to be able to pull out the the the yeah the the cohorts. So >> I was I was in I was I was yeah writing something else into this chart. So, thank you. Thank you. I appreciate [laughter] the explanation. >> And and I think the the the really important thing um like like Bri had said is these are all separate skills that we need to work on. Um but we don't work on them all in isolation uh all by themselves. So even our kindergarten students are receiving Witten Wisdom instruction. So Whiten wisdom is um essentially vocabulary comprehension and fluency practice. So, um the the five foundations of of literacy are um phmic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. And so, with all of those programs, we are covering all five of those foundational pieces. Um we have found that in the past um if we didn't if if we don't spend the time doing all of those skills even with our kindergarten students who even though they may not be able to read they can still think and and talk about things at a at a kindergarten level um we aren't setting them up for success later on if we don't start those now. So um I know um you Dr. Workamp Herman has had a chance to kind of see some of this. Um we we have our kindergarten classrooms doing socratic seminars. Um you know we have all kinds of of different things with that. >> Yeah. Thank you. I'd like to add I have watched that in different age groups and that ability to think is real and we can't assume that just because you're five and I'll go to preschool four that that those skills aren't there. They are. And the teachers and what this curriculum has provided is expert ways for them to draw that out. And so um the kids are learning language of I would like I agree with that because of what someone else had just said or I disagree because or I would like to build on that. And you watch this conversation and at one point I was in a classroom and they were doing Socratic seminar and it went quiet. Now this is incredible because I was one that did not have good weight time. Andrew has very good weight time. This teacher sat there and she waited and the children did not they they just sat there and they were quiet and she waited and she waited and then one said well I think and went on to talk and the discussion continued. They just needed time to process and she allowed it to happen by not interjecting the adult voice and the thinking happened, the processing happened and then the conversation continued. There was the engagement was 100%. The the contribution was 100%. It was beautiful. And so that was like a picture perfect model of what I'd love to see throughout our entire prek through grade 12 and on to adults that that we could have. It was just it was beautiful. And again, I commend her wait time because that was something that is hard to do as a teacher. >> Yeah. I have a comment. This is funny cuz we had a one-on-one meeting and I was saying, "Man, you know, I talk to these guys at the gym about what they like about school and the one thing that they always say they like are the Socratic seminars." The And I brought it to I was talking to Christina about I'm like, "This is what the kids love doing." I'm like talking about high school and she's like, "You know, they're doing that in kindergarten." And I was like, "Yes, this is this is the goal. This is our this is the goal." So, like, hats off. Keep keep at it. and thank you for um helping me understand your charts. >> I have a question. Um so looking at the kindergarten >> down, when is this test given again? >> So we administer it fall, winter, and spring. >> And so we're right now we're getting falls, we're getting winters. >> So this is all representative of winter data. If you look at the slides in your packet, we did um you'll be [clears throat] able to see fall, winter, and um well, okay, fall and winter results. >> And so when you see that massive of a change, the 53% at 2022 down to 78%. I mean, that's [clears throat] in months for kindergarteners. >> Well, so that's year-over-year. So what you can see is in 2022 in winter, we had 53% of kindergarteners at or above grade level. Now, if we're looking at winter of this school year, so the 25 26 school year, 78% of our kindergarteners are at or above grade level, >> but that's what I'm saying is you can kind of still say like at a kindergarten level >> that much more understanding has happened. I know it's not the same group of kids. >> So, that's where I give testament to the curriculum and the resources we're giving them because now you've got two years of wit and wisdom in play. You're using UFly and we're using them and integrity and you're using them with fidelity and you and again the art of teaching is that you consistently improve and that's showing our teachers hard work and efforts and the gains that we're seeing in our children. And I and that's why when I interviewed I said it takes five to seven years to see that and you see this because those kids have to metriculate through the system. So if you have a really good literacy plan in place, you got to give it the years it needs to take hold. And then you can't let that stop, right? You have to keep with the PD and the the professional development [clears throat] for our student or our teachers. You have to uh make sure that we don't lose that momentum and keep all that that good work happening and our new teachers that we hire. We ensure that they get the proper professional development they need to continue the trajectory. So and that that's the goal and that's why that takes some time. Well, I just like to say thank you because it hasn't been five years yet and we are seeing the results. So, that's super awesome. It's super exciting. We're we're very happy for it and thank you for helping us understand the monitoring of these um results as well. >> Any in reviewing the work and our work at the board table to make sure resources are present, what are you what do you think are the non-negotiables to make sure that this work continues? So I think continued support for teachers uh we'll be we need to continue to partner with uh great minds which is produces wit and wisdom uh you fly for continued training. We've sent teachers to get trained uh not we've sent a couple teachers to go to their conference to continue their training to then bring that knowledge back. Um we're looking at functional morphology for some older grade level students um to also bring that program in. We ultimately what we're looking at is in the K4 and five system. Uh we've got really solid plans going on and plans that can continue over time. where we're going to eventually need the continued support which we'll talk about in the long-term financial plan with the teaching learning part is uh instructional coaching. How do we get the this is a great team but like ultimately it's a you know Andy's curriculum coordination and literacy but he's doing literacy kindergarten through 12th grade curriculum kindergarten through 12th grade and prek we did that as well. Uh he goes over to Tilden and works with them. Um, Bri is our MTSS in elementary, uh, as well as Maddie in MTSS and secondary. Like, their job's not instructional coaching. They do it, don't get me wrong, but we have a lot going on in those other areas that we also need to continue to focus on. So, instructional coaching is going to be huge. And then in the secondary, um, sixth grade on, uh, it's really high quality instructional materials. What are we providing our teachers with? the tools we're giving our teachers so they can focus on um again it's that art and science the tools that are the science so they can focus on the art and not focusing on creating the materials all the time. That's our current reality. Um and so we are currently in a curriculum review process with our 6th through 12th grade teachers. uh that continues in the next school year uh where we will then bring curriculum um to the board for adoption uh for those grade levels in those content areas uh at the secondary level th that's really our next steps the next phases of this work. >> Mr. Dr. Hodgees, if you can follow up um just because this is a public meeting and people will hear that everything you just said and have a couple of [clears throat] questions. I think one that they might have is what's an instructional coach and what do they do and what would that look like? It it just it and I also say it to the public because I've heard this be dripped a few times so I know it's an important nugget. So just you know illuminate that if you will. >> Yeah. So, an instructional coach, I used to be one. Um, instructional coaches really go in and work with teachers on on there's different ways to do this, right? You some some are grade level based, some are content based. I don't think there's one way that you could say is better when you look at all the research. Um, especially at the elementary levels, but they're going in and working with teachers on what are the instructional moves that are going to help students become proficient in the skills and knowledge that they're learning. They work with PLC's, professional learning communities, where teachers come together um on a regular basis, weekly or bi-weekly to look at the results from classroom teaching to look at what were the instructional moves that went into those results. Uh and what can we do collectively? what's what are the ideas we have for how we can uh either you know go in the next time or what can we do differently so that we're reaching students who did not get reached that first time they they did not achieve mastery that first time so they work with PLC's in that regard they work with going in classrooms observing uh you know we look at like what are we saying excellent teaching is going into the classrooms seeing kind of like where they are not evaluative and coaching saying like, "I'm here to support you." Instructional coaches a lot of times are teachers on the teacher contract just not working in the classroom. They are there to support teachers and partner with them. Um, and uh then they also kind of act as like a really nice bridge between like what's going on in the classroom, what do we need for uh professional development, what do we need for additional teacher teacher supports outside of professional development days. uh and you know what are just those things they're seeing and hearing and feeling in the buildings that help us continue to build that culture of academics all across whether it's collaborating with leadership teams, teaching and learning, MTSS, etc. Uh they're they're really vital towards all of those success areas and our size district um it would work so well to have them because we're kind of like a perfect size for that. Something like that. I mean I can I'll work with any model but [laughter] >> but ideally right it would be it would be different for different buildings acknowledging that the the instructional coaches would be like the different for each age level, right? cuz the this is my classical brain coming out. Like the older levels are like the instructionary coaching is more about how to facilitate more conversations and the younger is how to how do we get them understanding the con content right? >> And so it's still looking at those highle teaching skills which are applicable across all content areas. social studies. I was a social studies teacher um which was my favorite thing but to teach um I also taught reading and I also taught math and science but uh in social in secondary but um I was out coaching math teachers, I was coaching science teachers, I coached orchestra teachers because those teaching moves that we focus on um they they transcend those content areas. Um, I think the other important part about instructional coach is a really successful model isn't an equal model, meaning every teacher doesn't get the same touch points. It's an equity model. Where is the student data and the teacher need at? That's where we focus instructional support. Again, these are non-evaluative. These are there to support teachers and students. >> Question. I'm so sorry. Um, I think [laughter] >> Yeah, I I I I was just going to add on the the other layer to instructional coaches that will help our system immensely is the onboarding process that that becomes a part of that job. So, when we bring in a new teacher next year, for example, they're going to be coming into our district having potentially no experience teaching any of our literacy curriculum, right? and our other teachers don't need to go back to basic implementation, but an instructional coach could then provide that support for them over those first couple months. So, instructional coaches would also be able to help with that that coaching of new staff. Um, one of the things that we hear a lot from from new staff is um I I don't always know exactly how I'm supposed to teach all of this and what I'm supposed to do. And and again, Mr. Hajes said, you know, we try to get in and when we provide coaching um to the best of our ability, but if we had a a model where we had those um people on staff to do that all the time, we could better support our new teachers. >> Thank you. >> Sorry. Um, this I I say this with all the respect knowing that our teachers are already kicking butt, but like is the idea of the instructional coaches like is it hospitable to them? Do they like do they like that idea? Is it welcomed or is it kind of like why do I need why do I need more instruction? >> Yeah. I I mean I think it it depends on the culture of every district, right? I think here it's we're really focused on this culture of growth and everybody can grow. Um there obviously I'm not going to say like everything's going to be like roses and sunshine and all that because there it's always like sometimes you might have that reaction. Why why do I need this? Right? The focus isn't on always on like the individual teacher you need this. It's your classroom needs this. This is what your students need right now. Classes change year to year. the the kids in front of you change year to year. The needs they have change year to year and the skill set to match that is different year to year. Instructional coaches help match those up, see what that need is and help coach those areas. Uh and so that's the important part when we keep keep that growth mindset. Uh that really helps in that area. >> And I'd like to add that we're going to be planful about this. So we need to hire the right people, place them in the right building, and then support them, right? And so we have to build the plan. So we're going to take time because we need to bring people along with us. So we need to make sure that building leadership is all on the same page. We need to make sure then that teachers are are in this conversation. And so it won't just be here you go. It'll be a planful way to do this because I I've been wanting this and I know that if it's done right, it will work well. But we have to be planful. So, this team knows that we're our intent is to make sure that we have a really good solid plan so that we have the success we know that it could bring if we do it right. >> Well, thank you for being with us tonight. And oh, go ahead. I would just like to to say for what we are lacking in assistance and help. Uh this is incredible and I just want to thank our incredible staff, all of you. I appreciate it and I we really do appreciate it as a board. Thank you. >> Before we go, um we do have math data too. I know how important literacy is, but uh we wanted to touch on that real quick. Uh we created a similar format for presenting our math data. So you can look at it vertically and look at the different grade level progress over time or you can look at it horizontally and see how our cohorts of students are progressing over time. And what you'll see in general is that we're making some progress as the cohorts move from grade level to grade level. Um and we're kind of staying in kind of that similar boat of the number of kids who are achieving at or above benchmark um at the elementary level. And we've done a lot of work this year. Uh Andy did a presentation and some PD around um like reinvesting in our math curriculum that we have at the elementary level and that kind of gave a fresh perspective to go back and look at some of the practices that are in place and some of our materials to better support our students. Um and we'll continue to do that as we um continue to grow. >> Yep. And just one more note for the secondary that we have a math intervention program for our fifth and sixth graders and we're seeing 11 out of the 20 students right now making typical or aggressive growth in that and using this data as well as the fastbridge um or progress monitoring data to better address those um growth needs as well with individual students as part of our MTSS collaboration. It is kind of cool to take a look at that second grade cohort from 2021 and see where they're at as um sixth graders at the middle school. So 52% of that second grade cohort were at or above grade level and now we're at 72% there. And so as we continue to use these same assessment practices, we'll be able to look at this trend data and continue to kind of think about what it means for us. >> I'm sorry. I have one more comment. I I again I love what you guys are doing and I love um this report. I used it I actually referred like multiple people who are wanting to come back to our public schools this year to your report saying like look at the progress that we have continuously. So um thanks for putting this all together for us. >> Any other questions or comments? Well, thank you guys for being with us tonight. I really appreciate the report in this format. It's great. Thank you. And next up, we have our long-term financial plan with um our director of finance and operations. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Our enrollment report also with our director of finance and operations, Miss Subert. >> I was just going to go with it. So, [laughter] all right. Uh thank you directors of the board and superintendent work camp Herman. My name is Jennifer Subert and again director of finance and operations. So tonight we are going to look at our October 1 snapshot data for enrollment. And this is a point in time that's used for some of our state reporting. And as we walk through some of these slides, you're going to see a lot of them. I'm using like a 10-year trend so that we can see where we've been and where we're at now. So again, just looking at actual data from October 1 that has been reported to MDE. So this is not based on estimates. It's all actual data. This first slide here is just meant to be a summary. And all of this information is going to be available in board books. So I'm not going to go through a lot of it super detailed. Um, but overall, if you look at that district-wide enrollment, you can see from October 1 of 2024 to October 1 of 2025, there was a decrease of 85 students. And um 29 of that is coming from grades K through 12, which we know part of that is just lower birth rates. Um, but then, you know, as those smaller cohorts kind of move throughout the grades, we're seeing some of the um smaller grades as we keep going. Right now, middle school is held pretty constant, but the high school was a decline of 30. [snorts] This slide just gives you all of the information by grade, by building. So, I'm not going to go through this, but just know it is available within board book. So, then if we look at our enrollment for the past 10 years, um we have nearly a 500 student decline over these 10 years. And you can see it's been gradual each year. It's gradually going down. We haven't had um big, you know, like big changes. Um but it is just kind of a gradual decline. Our ethnic diversity over the past 10 years um went from 11.6% to 19.9%. So while we're continuing to see enrollment decline, our student population has become more diverse. And then educational benefits or the free and reduced meal qualification. Um you can see in 201617 we were at 22.8% and we're now at 27.5%. There has been some ranges within here um especially during the co years. Those were some of our higher years and this does have an impact on some of the funding that we receive. So like our compensatory funding, our title funding is all tied back to this. And one of the factors is that um with free meals, families aren't filling out as many applications as they need to with the compensatory funding. That's changing so that it's just based on the families that are direct, but there are still other formulas that use the overall qualifications. So it does hurt us. um special education again as we look at you know 10 years ago we were at 13.1% we're now at 18.1% so again um enrollment's decreasing but the percentage of students receiving special education services continues to increase uh we all know that special education is not fully funded so this does have an impact on our district English learners um 10 years ago we were at 1.3% we are now at 2.5%. Um so although this is a smaller percentage overall um our e population has nearly doubled in the last 10 years. And then our non-public students um for this one you can see 10 years ago we were at about 390 and now we're at 382. So it's been really pretty steady. Um, the [snorts] different lines will show the different schools. I won't go into that detail, but you can just kind of see overall it stayed it stayed pretty steady. And then homeschool students, um, we were at 110 10 years ago. We're now at 140. Um, our peak years were kind of at those COVID years and we were at 171. So, we still remain higher than the preandemic le levels, but we are lower than the peak. So, hopefully we're starting to get some of those kids back into um public schools. [snorts] And then our open enrollment over the past 10 years, again, this one um stays pretty consistent, but we do have more students open and rolling out um than we do open and rolling in. And if you kind of follow through, so we're back to kind of our 2021 level. Um, and right now we're as far as students going out, we're at the lowest we've been in the past 5 years. So that's some good news. And then our capture rate over the last 10 years. So our capture rate is really all of our resident students, early childhood through 12th grade. Um, and then what percentage of those come to our public schools. And this one is only available on a one-year leg. Um, but we did think it was helpful information to show in here. So, we're serving a slightly smaller percent of our resident students than we did, you know, 10 years ago, but we did have an increase in the 2425 year. So, next year at this time, we'll be able to get the information for 2526. And that's kind of all I have. and I'm willing to take questions if you have them. >> More of a comment. I think some of these are it's important for our viewers and listeners to know that some of these are not just a Hastings trend. They're a trend throughout the state. I think a couple that are really worth noting are the English language learner percentages. I mean, we started really low um at 1.3% or whatever and it went to 2.5. But it doubling in a district is not unique to Hastings. The special ed increase from 13 plus percent to 18%. That that is similar throughout the entire state. >> Yes. >> You know, so [clears throat] for our listeners, I think it's important to see that. And also, if you'll go to the to the diversity slide, we knew that this was going to happen 10 years ago. We knew that this chart was going to look like this because we saw the diversity of our of our kindergarten classes. We knew what they were and we knew that when they graduated how many kids are here. And then we also noticed that kids that are coming to our district that are moving in, families that are moving in are more diverse. And um chiefly among the reasons that that I would note on this one is that uh the the people in America in Hastings in Dakota County the biggest increase in racial diversity is two or more races because we're not as homog as uh heterogeneous as we used to be. We're more homogeneous. So, but I just if if viewers are watching this and they're wondering, gosh, what the heck's happening in Hastings? At least four of these slides are state level na nation level trends. >> Correct. >> Thank you for that. Any any other questions or comments? Director, >> it's a logistical enormous lift, but do we have an apparatus to gather data on why our cap? So, the uh 10.3% were not capturing. So, if they're choosing to open enroll if we have an open questionnaire, we have certain values or things that we can't try to cross like sorry, we can't meet that need that open enrollment is going to happen, but if we get a trend line, hey, if we address this, this might be a thing that we can get some folks back. Do we have a system for that? Yeah, we've talked about it a lot and I know as families withdraw, you know, like we try to get information and we do track it. I don't think right now we have a great system in place for all of it. So, it is something that we could continue to look at. >> So, I can tell you in my prior district, we asked that question and so we actually took all of the kids that had opened enrolled out and sent out an anonymous questionnaire, two, three questions, very, very, very short. provided an envelope addressed back to us so they didn't have to put a return address, you know, so you didn't have to know. Although provided them ways to contact us, so if they did want to tell us and meet with us, they could, but allowing it to be anonymous and that um did yield us information. So that's something we could consider doing here to just get more information about why are they going. So something we could talk about. >> Well, thank you very much. And now we will go into the long-term financial plan. [laughter] Thank you. All right. So, I realize on the screen this is probably kind of small, but again, it is available in board book. So, tonight we are reviewing our long long-term financial plan. in this document reflects the collective needs of our district over multiple years across facilities, teaching and learning, athletics, technology, and other operational areas. So, each director has contributed by identifying needs within their area. And then those needs have been collectively reviewed, prioritized, and aligned with available funding sources. So, the long-term plan then feeds into our multi-year budget projection model, ensuring that we are planning responsibly for the next several years. The finance committee recently saw the assumptions used to update the budget projection model, and the assumptions will be presented at an upcoming uh work session for all of the board. And the model includes the projected fund balances over the next five years so that you'll be able to see how these items covered tonight impact the district's financial position. So we're going to start with the facilities section and I'll invite um Director Stockdale to come up. But within the facilities section um there's three primary funding sources that are going to be utilized. So you can see we have capital on there, we have LTFM on there, and we have board authority. Um, so LTFM is a restricted funding source that can be used um to fund projects within our 10-year plan, and that comes to the board each year for approval. And ultimately, they're projects that replace or repair district buildings and equipment. Um, capital is another restricted funding source and it can be used to purchase textbooks and curriculum but also for buying, fixing, maintaining equipment and facilities. So, kind of a competing funding source. And then the last one on here is the board authority. So, certain projects can be board approved and included on our levy. So, I'll let Director Stockdale kind of talk through the uh priorities that have been identified. Members of the board, good evening. Um, starting just from the top here, just line by line, uh, 2627 items here would be a new work truck for the grounds department. Um, and then following that, a box truck, also for the grounds department. U, box truck is what we would traditionally use to um, carry chairs between buildings and tables and different things like that. Um, it's kind of our thing we use when we can't use an open trailer. So, um, big mower, that's kind of our biggest mower, that 5910. Uh, all of these are just kind of aging out and needing replacement. Uh, plows for plow trucks. There'd be three of them there. Replacing three, uh, front end plows for plow trucks. Uh, paint robot would be for grounds. That's actually one I'm pretty excited about. That is a um a tool that would allow us to paint fields without labor. You just kind of refill the paint and it would just revol revolutionize how we do um groundskeeping with regards to field prep. Uh let's see where we at to uh Toro Titan 60 zeroturn mower. That's just a fast little mower that that would um be needed to keep kind of trim areas down and stuff. Uh 328D, again, just a a fleet of mowers that are are getting to that age where they need to be um just replaced. Uh Toddfield turf replacement, that is completely a complete replacement of the Todd Field. We've we have had that under LTFM and it's listed as that here. Um which would be uh a complete turnover of that field. Uh middle school roof replacement. This is something that can be broken out and done in different sections. I put it in into this document all as one piece. So that's why you see such a high price tag on it, but that can be um broken out and it can also be done um by board authority. Uh, another mower. This one's a 360 with a cab, which we also use for wintertime for sweeping as well as mowing and stuff in the summertime. Then we get into a few uh building type issues. HVAC at the high school, some work there to the tune of 2.7 million. Um, and that's that particular one is just replacing two particular air handlers that are up on the roof. Then uh high school boiler system and controls 1.7 million there to to replace our old boilers and change them out. Um we are converted to hot water so we aren't steam there but we will continue to um upgrade those systems as we are able to. Uh the dump truck which is the the big truck that hauls and dumps our salt on our lots and roads. uh skid loader, replacement tractor, and components. And so when I when you see components, that could be anything from a bucket to a cab to a sweeper to a plow blade. All those kinds of things um go in conjunction with that equipment. Uh a couple of gators or side by sides, they're often called in components as well. They're also used to sweep and and spread salt and and things of that nature. Um another tractor that's open Tilden HVAC um and mechanical project right there in 3435 and that is again just uh replacing some of the heating systems there and upgrading uh some of the HVAC and then again drop into the high school that's a more major mechanical project covering all of the rest of the air handlers and uh HVAC equipment at the high school location. Thank you. Does anybody have any questions? Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. So, then we will move on to teaching and learning. And I'll let Director Hodgeges start coming up, but um you'll be able to see on this one for some of the revenue sources. Again, you're going to see capital, which is kind of one of the same sources that um Scott or Stockdale is looking for funding from. But then through this teaching and learning one, there's also some other um restricted funds. So we've got compensatory listed, we've got achievement integration listed, staff development listed. Um there's also some title. So again, trying to be creative and find whatever funding source we can. Um but I'll let Director Hajes then talk through the items. >> Yeah, thank you members of the board for this opportunity. the uh some of these we talked about a little bit in that last presentation. Um but starting with the 2627 school year, uh we have the two MTSS coordinators who presented, they currently are funded on a grant. That grant expires at the end of the school year. Unfortunately, that grant from the state has not been renewed at all. Like it's not out there to apply for. Um so we uh had to find another funding source to be able to continue with those uh positions which we find vital uh to our success over the last few years. Um and then looking at a curriculum cost, we have uh social studies grades 5 through 12 who are uh nearing the end of the curriculum review. There's a couple that I believe we're bringing I think next month in March um to the board to begin the review. Um, social studies is different from a lot of other content areas because it's the study of like everything. So, uh, there's not like a simple, especially in secondary, like one curriculum source for all these grade levels. So, it's like fifth grade uses this company and sixth uses this company. It's kind of braided like that. So, it's going to be like that. Next fall. We expect to present more of those, but we do expect that cost uh to exceed our current available capital for that. Um, and then elementary and secondary intervention. We talked about like what are our needs earlier and one of the things I didn't mention in that is we we do need to increase what our intervention looks like especially in our K8. How are we addressing those needs before kids go to high school heavily? How are we addressing those before they go to middle school? But then um we also need that middle school support. So looking uh at the addition of additional FTE in elementary intervention by redesigning some programs and shifting funding around um that we believe we can do that in those revenue sources. Pathways coordinator at the high school to be able to take the the great work that's been going on and build on that. We have a grant that uh we should hear back in about a month and a half or two months on. Um it's a grant we've received before through the United Way which will uh pay for that. um those additional days for our pathways coordinator at the high school who's already doing phenomenal work. The uh power school PD platform, this one is huge. It's highlighted blue because it's all part of one contract. It's a professional development platform that replaces our current um platform. It's a it's a thing we have that captures it, but it's not useful right now. It's used primarily by Lindy um and captures our teachers CEUs for their lensure. Our new platform is going to do so so much more. Asynchronous instruction um in professional development areas um potential for the future safe schools training for staff. Um looking at how teachers it'll integrate with their perform their evaluation and coaching platform. Um, and so we'll be able to see like if a teacher needs has an area of need right here, we can like suggest trainings automatically into the professional learning platform. Um, so it's a huge investment, but um, really excited about that. Uh, and we've begun the onboarding for that program already. And then getting into the 2728 school year, we have a lot of uh, costs starting to hit with curriculum. Um a lot of new standards start to hit. 2728 math standards hit. Um we are a little behind on secondary literacy um in terms of like the implementation of new curriculum. We h we are meeting the standards that are new but we can do better with highquality instructional materials. Uh we talked about that earlier. So getting uh that cost is really going to exceed a lot of what my current capital budget is. Um there's a lot of books involved in literacy in the secondary level. And then math curriculum uh looking at that 612 math curriculum is also going to exceed the budget and that's going to be a need that the standards go into place in 2728 and there's a number of shifts at every grade level in the new math standards. stuff either going from second grade to first grade or a complete change and shift of how deep students need to know um the number sense and the concept the conceptual knowledge to meet the standards. There's a lot of shifts coming in math in the next couple of years. Instructional coaches we talked about 2728 um is our is our hope there. Um and then K5 math curriculum we have on the 2829 school year. Um we have a survey that's going to go out to all of our elementary staff about kind of the math curriculum uh timeline and pieces like that. The belief is 2829 after implementing those three different literacy components that we talked about earlier. Heavy one wit and wisdom. Um also amplify science giving them time to actually focus on those. Right now, we already have a highquality math program right now that meets the standards at about a 90 to 95% level. So, we can uh fill in the gaps that we need to and look at the 2829 school year. 2930 health curriculum, new health standards take place in I believe 3132 um school year, but we'd like to get ahead of that. We know already we need health materials uh just looking at what's coming. Um, so we'd like to go ahead and get ahead of that um, and put them on the 2930 timeline. And then circling back to the 612 science in 3031, they did not go through a purchase when everybody else did. Um, I believe two or three years ago and then last year. Um, and so circling back to our secondary science uh, for the 3031 school year will be really important. Um, so a lot of curricular expense and support expense is really what we're looking at. >> Does anybody have any questions? >> So, ideally, you would have you would also have another line item for instructional coaches. >> Yeah. So, when I put the plus next to them, that meant I should have said that. Sorry. It means it's a recurring year-over-year expense once we incur it. So uh once we hit like those MTSS coordinators 2627 that expense carries 27 28 28 29 2930 and so forth. Anything that doesn't have a plus next to it is a onetime expense. >> Well, thank you for explaining that to us. >> Yeah, that was a good question. Um any other questions? Okay, thank you. All right. So then the next category is for athletics and we're just trying to use this document to kind of document all the requests and all the different categories. So we do get some requests from director Hansen. Um and again here you're going to see you know 2627 Toddfield needs some updated safety netting um for lacrosse and that would be coming from Capitol again. um 26 27 or 2728 girls wrestling will be added to the Minnesota State High School League. So that will just be a general fund expense um for coaches and supplies just like any other sport. And then 2728 right now we have the high school scoreboards uh 22,500. So again we're just using it to track all the different requests that we get. Um the next category is technology. So, I'll invite Director Buin to start coming up. Um, but this is one of the few categories that does have a dedicated funding source. So, we do have the tech levy that was approved by voters. It is restricted. Um, so they can only be used for allow allowable technology related expenditures. Um, in addition, we do still have a tech committed account, which again can only be used for technology. And then, um, for some of these items, there is listed, which is a federal program that provides funds to schools for qualifying projects. So, I'll turn this over to you and let you talk through the items. >> Thank you, board members. Um the first item there, the middle school cabling project, we'll discuss later tonight, but that's really there's a lot of infrastructure cost that needs to go into the middle school and district office to bring us to the modern times for network um network abilities. The rest of what I have online, it's [snorts] pretty cyclical. Every year there's going to be a cost for Chromebooks for incoming fifth and 9th grade students. Uh every 5 years there's going to have to be staff updates for all their devices. is about every seven years there's going to have to be um network infrastructure upgrades at every building. And when I say network infrastructure, I mean the network switches, the wireless access points and the battery backup system. So we have redundant power in those. So looking 10 years out for technology, it's kind of hard to imagine what technology will even look like. Will we be using these devices? So, I tried to keep as grounded in reality as I could, but you will notice there is the prices keep going up because that just is very reflective of what we've seen the last five years. >> Anybody have any questions? >> Thank you. >> All right. So, then the last category is the other and we're using this to track the district vans. Um, so vans that are used within special education, we use our medical assistance funding to replace them. Um, so we're getting some reimbursement that we can use to purchase new vans. And then if a van is is not used in special services, again, it can come out of our capital or it can be a transportation related expense. So this was kind of our first starting point. Do you want to >> I do want to note um so I I had to start this now because I I feel it really helps our conversation when cabinet gets together and uh all leadership gets together and I need I need I want I want and how come I don't get it? You're telling me no. Um this document helps guide our decision-m and prioritization. And so we know we have very limited resources and we can't do everything we want to do all at one time. And so this conversation that we have at leadership helps guide that decision- making. So something can happen where I really need uh let's say something in your building goes out your HVAC. I have to have that replaced. I may need to let something else go for that year so I can do that. And this helps us hopefully make the best decision possible. And I want I what I had us add on and I did this in my prior work is the uncontrollable costs and uncontrollable revenue sources. And if you can highlight that please. Um you'll see that we don't we try our very best to budget for substitutes, special education costs, this new paid family leave, um the insurance, our unemployment costs that now are new, um enrollment ups or downs, um PSO uh enrollment, remember we pay those college tuition and we don't have the students here. uh utilities costs. We never know what those are going to be. Fuel costs and then any other additional unfunded mandates that seem to come every year from our legislature. So, we do our very best to try to account for those, but there are times where you can do your best laid plans and all of a sudden there's a huge spike in utilities in the middle of the year and you didn't know it. Now all of a sudden you're over budget. And so I think we Jen does an outstanding job of planning, but there's so much out of her control. We just try to do our best. So if we see something trending in that direction where it could be over spent, we try to find ways to then potentially underspend someplace else to make up for that. Sometimes you can't always control that. Now I want to talk about just quickly the uncontrollable revenue sources as well. We try to budget for what our interest rates are going to be and we come close and then sometimes they're actually higher than we thought. Wonderful. Well then sometimes they're not. So that can go either direction. Same thing with um any sort of participation fees, donations, fundraising, and then that state and federal aid. If they change the plan on us, we can't we don't have control on that. So, I just keep that there as a reminder. Um almost more for the board and the public. So, you can see when we bring this to all of you a couple of different times a year, we're watching this, but some of these things are out of our control. and we don't always necessarily think of that when you're not necessarily running school budgets. So, at an upcoming work session, you're going to see all the assump assumptions that were used to build the 2627 and beyond projection model. It will include enrollment assumptions, revenue formulas, inflationary factors, the staffing projections, and all of our expenditure assumptions. And then as part of that, you'll see um what our projected fund balances are and that will incorporate the priorities that were identified in this presentation. >> So does anybody have any questions? >> I really like the organization of that. It it's very well laid out. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. And And then next on the agenda, we have our building construction fund project update. >> All right, so this is the quickest one of the night. So our balance in the building construction fund at the end of January is is 471,000. Um we have some additional action items later on tonight to approve three new projects that would come out of this fund. So, it's the high school exhaust ventilation project. Um, updating our high school concession stand so that it meets the code requirements and then a district-wide security project. So, you'll have an opportunity to see more about those coming up in a little bit. Um, but for right now, we have those three projects. We're still holding money back to pay the arbitrage fees that we're aware of. And after that, we're still anticipating there's about $69,000 in this fund. and we are currently um evaluating our cameras on our buses and on our vans. So potentially there would be an additional project brought to the board at a future date. >> Any questions? Thank you very much. And now we'll move over to our director of human resources, Director Men, for the legal um data request updates. Good evening. When I prepared my notes for tonight's meeting, I had three pending or three new data requests since the last time we met, but I got a fourth one just before the meeting. So, I now have four new requests since we met last time and um nine pending requests that we're working on pulling information and trying to respond to. We do not have um any costs related to data requests on the legal bills this month. >> Thank you. And now we're going to go into our um school board liaison and committee reports and we'll start with director Zuzac with 917. >> Uh members of the board, we're going to just skip the first document if we can, Lindy, but if you go to the second one that uh Thank you. and maybe blow it up a little bit. the the 2026 legislative priorities are the legislative priorities of the four intermediate school districts that work together and lobbyed together at the state. And I just want to highlight for the public that section in green, and I know it's not good to read from a from a screen, but I want to read it out loud so that everybody hears it. Minnesota must maintain its commitment to fund special education. The contingent $250 million cut to special ed cross subsidy would shift costs back to local districts, forcing reductions in staff and and harm services uh for and and services that harm all students. Repealing the cut, now listen to this part. repealing this cut protects the the students with disabilities, supports educators, and upholds Minnesota's promise to equitable education for every child. And I'll stop there, but remember that this was this the legislature said, "Okay, we're going to put together a blue ribbon group of people. You've got one year to figure it out." And we've been admiring this problem for all of my career. And I'm sure well before that and this is really in in some ways I believe it's an unsolvable problem because we have so many requirements from the state and so many requirements from the federal government and at the same time the funding isn't keeping up. And so they're saying find out figure out a way to cut $250 million from special ed or we'll cut across the state $250 million from schools throughout the state. will take a portion of that and and where's that going to come from for sending kids to 917? It's going to come from local districts. So, this this is just a a lose-lose prerogative. And I think about with the compensatory aid study that's been going on for two years now and they're asking for a third year and and they're they're asking that it it just be >> [snorts] >> um put off for a year before they're held responsible for the outcomes of their group. And I think that at least I'm hopeful that the legislature I know is going to see this from MSBA, AMSD, and now the intermediate school districts. So I am hopeful that what will happen is they'll extend that timeline at least. I mean, we still might be looking at, you know, a a reduction to student special ed student cross subsidy aid, but uh if we don't if if that doesn't go through, it's going to be a really big deal for the intermediates. And remember that we pay the intermediates to educate students from Hastings. And then on the back or on the second page, this is important. We've talked an awful lot about all of the creative ways that uh ISD 917 and other intermediates are hiring staff even from other countries. They're working on lure so that we there's pathways to lure and this is I think a brilliant idea because it's not just teachers that are tough to hire but it's also licensed staff like qualified professionals including speech language pathologists, school psychologists and school nurses, school social workers who address the academic and behavioral and health needs of students. These are positions that are really really tough to fill and um I just think that it's good to have that that broadening of lure lens when we're looking at this problem and also the continued creativity for uh expanding the the um educators from different countries if necessary. Um but the the rest of it's pretty straightforward. I just wanted to highlight those two for the public. >> Thank you very much. Yeah. >> Does anybody have any questions or >> then we'll move right along to um again with director Zuza for AMSD? >> Yeah. So, fellow board members, there's there's two things that one was in your folder and then I handed out one right before the meeting. Um but Dr. work camp and I went to the AMSD um meeting live on in February, the first week of February and it the it was really two things. One was that there were legislators there from many of the different districts um you know we we had some recom we had some representation from our um district uh legislators uh who were there and I appreciate that. Um but when when that meeting um happened, it was really a way that school administrators and school board members can talk directly to the the people that are on the the school finance and school policy committees about what we think are are the biggest hang-ups right now in public education and how could the legislature help us. Um and then they also have a chance to talk. But they it that was a good meeting. The second part of it was uh for those that wanted to stick around, they had a presentation on the dignity index. And thanks for getting that up, Miss Humble. If you can just kind of slowly slide down that that that uh slide. It's it's actually a web page and um I would encourage citizens to go on and look at this web page. It really has to do with how we talk to each other and not just what we say, but what is our tone? How are we communicating? How are we interacting with people? And it's a scale of 1 to eight. I think of it as 1 through four. You're really below the line. You're you're you're talking um you're communicating verbally and non-verbally with other people in a way that is hostile and and really builds contempt in the end. And from five to eight, you see that those are really providing people that that you may disagree with a higher level of dignity. And the highest level of dignity on this chart is is the level eight, but I I felt and I would ask uh Dr. uh [snorts] work camp to comment too, but I really felt like as a community this might be a good collaborative endeavor because there are groups from the dignity index that that can come and talk to a community and I think that this might be a good public engagement opportunity. It could be a good um opportunity for us as a collaboration with the city of Hastings. Uh >> yeah, I we had talked about that. I know the this board will meet alongside the city council for a meeting and maybe we could entertain bringing this forward. Um I've seen this presentation twice now. Um I find it really helpful in the fact that it guides it helps people through conversations where people disagree. And you don't have to dis you don't have to agree with everyone, but you do need to treat people with dignity. And they give examples of when it happens real like they used um >> oh god >> what's the soccer team that's coached so good. What is it? >> Um Matt, what is it called? >> Yeah, your signature has it. >> Ted Ted Lasso. Yeah. So they use twoam they use an example out of that where um the opposing soccer coach was definitely below the line and really ridiculing Ted Lasso and he came back with this really you know laughed in a respectful way and was really above the line and in the end you know who wins out in that relationship he does and um you they have also talked about um different political leaders over time who like watched their countries just get decimated, you know, through civil war and yet trying to always maintain that the other people who were not, you know, killing their own people, uh, still treating them with dignity, at least they were still human and not dehumanizing them. And so the work is very it's it's really interesting. I I encourage you to look through it and we can talk through opportunities maybe to to use this work. Um, it's really helpful to just have reminders to think about sometimes even language. I I even reflect sometimes when you're like thinking of athlet athletes and sometimes we say, "Yeah, he's a beast." >> Really? >> Yeah. >> You know, just things like that. And that's a really nonthreatening thing, but at the same time, how do we think about people? So, it's really it's really powerful experience. >> Thank you. That that's it for but it was a good meeting. >> Well, thank you. Does anybody have any questions? Okay. So, then we will move on to our community collaboration committee update with director Michael Moulder. >> Um uh the community collaboration meeting has had or community collaboration committee has met twice since our last meeting. We met on uh January 28th and then we made met tonight uh before this meeting and we there was a lot of discussion about what would be the future plans for the collaboration committee and how to best um uh gain input from the community about issues that they have and concerns that they'd like to raise and how to make a space um for the community to to share their um perspective of things. Um the LA in the last meeting we reviewed the findings from the January 12th community event um and we identified priorities for future planning. Um tonight we had a little bit of discussion around um how to potentially create a a series of events um to to proceed the potential levy um and discuss with our community what concerns they might have um that would go into their um perspective of that levy. So um we're looking to tailor our next couple events around this. We'll bring more information to you after we mle that over at our next meeting um which will be March 11th. Our next meeting will be March 11th. Um and then we still have on the books uh to have an event on April 1st, but there will be more to come uh with details on the topic and the theme of that event. >> Thank you. Does anybody have any questions? Okay. And then we'll move along to finance and facilities committee update with director Zuzi. >> So, first the uh finance meeting. Um we we met on February 19th and the bulk of the meeting was spent reviewing the um the the budget for next year. And and of course, as Director Subert said, it it goes back to understanding what our enrollment is likely going to be um to figure out what our revenue is. And it um we're going to see that at the next work session. The as a full board, we'll see that at the next work work session. Just quickly, my takeaway was was really that all of the assumptions because when you're budgeting, you make assumptions. All of the assumptions made sense to me. They were all very reasonable and I think that you'll find the same when we see it. But so that's item two on here on the on the minutes from the meeting. [snorts] And item one I'm going to be quiet about because uh we talked about that, but I know that we'll be talking about it later in this meeting and uh Director Subert will have more to say. Our next meeting is gosh darn it, it was scheduled. I forgot the time for the March 31st. And at that we were going to see a presentation from Ellers on referendum options um and just how they gather data and what you know how we want to survey the community to find out uh how the community feels about where we're at. >> Thank you. Does anybody have any questions? Then the facility meeting uh is was was um on January 27th. So it was actually quite a while ago and frankly I don't have much to say because the bulk of that meeting was listening to a group from site logic and then we saw them last week at or two weeks ago whatever it was when they came to a to a work session. So, I don't have much more to add. And again, there's the projects under bonding um are down below. But maybe just to to preview a little bit of that, I I'll I'll comment that remember that we have the bond project from the building upgrades and we've got that amount of money that is still out there unspent. We've met all of our obligations for the bond. We've done what we said that we would do for the community, but there's still some additional very I believe them to be appropriate needs and that's what uh we'll hear about from Miss Subert later in the meeting. So, thank you. >> Thank you. And next we have our NAPAC NAPAC um committee update from Director Bruns. >> Yeah, coming into this meeting we had just been in a retreat. So, I came in probably an hour later than I normally would. Uh, but the old business was a lot of what you heard tonight. So, they were still going to meet privately, Secretary and other members about how tonight's vote of concurrence or non-concurrence would go. So, at that point, they hadn't arrived at a decision. Uh, March 1st, the finalized paperwork to MDE is due, but then by April 25th, that 60-day response timeline, that's when our response to to their work tonight is due. They updated the the graduate list. So we're looking at about 11 that are going to be there. Um I've walked them through some of just the work session work that we have participated in. And then we started talking about um perhaps meaningful or just outlets for community collaboration. One thing that they wondered or suggested was virtual access to events or perhaps even an entirely virtual event and to see if that drove participation. >> Um as my like rock tumblr tried to polish it. I don't I don't think there's a way to um prevent bad actors. Actually, there is a great number of filters and controls within Google and things like that, but I think you can do it safely. So, it's a matter of conversation if that's something we want to do. another topic that I brought up based on some MS well two of the exact same MSBA presentations that I've seen but continue to gather things out of it if it wouldn't be a community collaboration idea because when I think of that committee I think of creation that we are community members and board members coming together to construct something that doesn't exist or find a common solution if we can and one of those is a land acknowledgement that would occur prior to the board meeting so in line with the pledge of allegiance we'd also do a land acknowledgement for the land that we do our work on and where Hastings is located. And they actually had some really good suggestions um to do that work and where it's already been done. So, we could do it in collaboration with NAPAC. My reservation there is that it will shift our work to be their work and that might be an uneven balance and it it's like the same people that are already involved, but we can reach greater tentacles out if we um work alongside the Prairie Island Native American Community as an option. uh they know that the Pleasant Hill Library has already gone through all of this work. So there could be a lot of just looking at your partner's paper and deciding what what works and what doesn't because what's been lost in this and what they've shared at MSBA is that during the trend of adding these to meetings which started out really good became a copy paste and everyone just stole a generic land acknowledgement that didn't mean anything to where you were sitting and it was not unique. And so if we can design ours alongside perhaps even the city of Hastings was a recommendation, the YMCA, I think they've all done work in this realm. But I think if we lean out like Dr. John Johnson and other folks out of Prairie Island, that might be another um solid way to recognize marginalized communities, repair that relationship because they're ready for it. They're waiting for us to jump through the hoop and and like come to them with for professional development and other things. And I think this is something we can create together. and also the local arts and culture committee uh walked through this work as well or might be interested in engaging in it with us. No. Uh so I just want to get that on folks's radar. There's no decisions about that being made tonight, but it it is something that um is in my mind and I shared it with the community collaboration committee this afternoon. Uh Tenic spring consultations are April 27th through the 30th. So we'll work alongside Kenan Humphrey as well because he is the Twin Cities Metro rep. So, we'll partner with him explicitly in a different way. He'll kind of have a foot in both doors or on both sides of the table. Uh, but our next meeting is March 5th and the graduation ceremony is May 5th. So, if you haven't marked your calendars yet, be there. Be square. It's always red. >> Thank you very much. Does anybody have any questions about the Okay. Well, we're going to move right along to our student school board representative committee meeting update also with directors. felt like we did a year's worth of work in about an hour. It was incredible. So, we had Clear Hearts, Clear Minds, Can't Lose. We had three of our four student reps there, too, to inform the process, kind of setting the stage that the adults have done this for two years now. Now, we need your voice to tighten it up. And so, we updated our timeline to reflect the realities, but we updated the application and that form would be up for all of March. Um, once that closes, the dates are up there and highlighted, but we'll meet in early April. I might have the date written down here and review applications, invite folks in for interviews. Those interviews will take place um late April, early May. And with changes to the scholarship for student school board reps, now juniors and seniors are both able to get that so long as they've just served and they're going to be a full-time college student. We will no longer have a grandfathered in process for students who are currently juniors and then apply saying that they want to do it. No, that's incorrect. That was a conversation that we had. Let me walk that back. They will still be grandfathered in, but it is an avenue that we can pursue in the future. I apologize for that mis misspeak. I just remember it being a part of that. Um the advertising though is one thing that's really neat about the expansion. Uh they've talked about adding an Instagram uh I don't know what the kids call them feed channel for student school board reps advertising it on the program uh some advanced advertising too within the school prior to a launching and then it'll drop on the announcements pages be read off in advisory and shared there it'll be in the schooly that connects everything so it really is about expanding the number we had 13 applicants the first year 11 the next while that's not significant in the sense that it was 20 and now it's 10 if that number fell again, that would be disconcerting. So, if we can get to 13 or above again by just amplifying the message, I think that's high quality. And the entire timeline's updated. So, we will know and be able to offer to folks on May 6th and we'll be able to share those names with you later that month at the regular board meeting. It's hard to believe that these folks have it's already February, almost March, and we're talking about the next batch to come through. Thank you very much. Does anybody have any questions? Okay. Well, then we're going to move right along to the policy committee update and I'm just going to buzz through this real quick high level. The handbook, this was the first comprehensive review of the handbook since we adopted since it was first adopted in February 2024. Um we revised language and formatting throughout um to improve clarity, organization, and overall usability. There were these were all primarily structural and clerical um revisions, but all of the substantive updates are detailed in the policy committee summary and board book. Um two notable updates throughout the throughout the handbook are the definitions and acronym sections. Um, Director Zusk worked on this and we we were able to scale back from six pages of acronyms to three pages of acronyms just by using what we do here at what we use here at the board table and what's relevant to us as a board. Um, so thank you for that. And then we also um added a new statutory responsibility section to clearly outline legal duties as defined in the education code, Minnesota's education code, as well as the couple federal laws that we have to follow and comply with as well. Um policy 2011, legal status of the school board, and 202, schoolboard officers. Since these policies contain revisions in almost every section, that's why you're seeing a clean version of them. Um they they hadn't been updated they hadn't been updated by Minnesota School Board Association I want to say since 2019 if I'm not mistaken. So they just needed some they needed a little bit of um sprucing up so that they were compliant with what we do and what current statute states. Um [snorts] policy 9001 use of school district facilities and equipment. We removed the addendum language since there is no addendum to this policy and we actually included a reference to the procedure and then there was just some other cleanup l um language clean up in there. Does anybody have any questions about those ones so far? Okay. 901.2 PR the community use of facilities. Um, this is an administrative procedure and was updated in collaboration with community education to include clear language for determining group classifications and updating the rental rates um section to include additional spaces for rent. >> Is now a good time to talk about the changes to to that one? >> Yep. >> Do you want to or I can. >> Okay. I I just I want to thank Director Gore for um working with her team and coming up with a solution because there were some things that just didn't feel right like charging the PTAs, PTC's, PTNS, the the parent groups. It just didn't feel right that we're charging them and all of the work that they do benefits our students directly. Uh and we felt the same way about the all night grad party. So we looked at the way that they are classified and put them in a in the classification that would be concurrent with other school directly related things. And I think that that was probably the big substantive change in that policy or [snorts] procedure, pardon me. >> But thank you. >> Yes. Thank you. It was it was great working with Carrie on that and she was really open to to to working on that and I really appreciate that. So thank you. Um and this is a procedure so it will be go through in just this first >> meeting one meeting and done. There were no changes to any second reading policies but we did have some technical changes to a third reading policy policy 520 student surveys. Um it's they're detailed there in the document inside board book. So you can take a look there but we're still recommending that it follow its current path to adoption during tonight's meeting. Any questions about that? Then you'll notice there's a lot of policies in the consent agenda, but these are all attributed to we were moving our annual policy reviews. We had I think it was 13 of them. We're going to remain doing the three that are re that are required by state statute and then also we're going to review um six 13 graduation requirements and 524.1 the cell phone policy until 2027. But the rest of them, we're moving them onto our three-year policy review cycle. It's not a requirement that we that we review those every year. So, we're going to go ahead and move in that direction. And then we also have policies with technical updates that came across on MSBA's um newsletter. So, that's what those additional policies in the consent agenda are about. Does anybody have any questions about policy committee? All right. Well, then we are going to move right along to our action items. Starting with the consent agenda. Can I get a motion to approve consent agenda? >> I I recommend that we approve the consent agenda. Zusk, >> can I get a second? >> Your mayor seconds. >> Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. All those opposed say nay. The motion or the motion passes to approve the consent agenda. So now we will move into actions for individual items for individual action. Starting with the -ate agreement. Can I get a motion on that item? >> Since that means that we get money as a district, I'm going to say that that's a good idea and I recommend approval. >> Michael Moulder seconds. Okay. >> And since this is a resolution, could I also >> Oh, recommend wave the reading. Thank you. >> Second wave reading. >> Thank you very much. >> And then can I please get a or any discussion? >> Can I get a roll call vote? Clerk Millner. >> Director Beer Meyer. >> I. >> Director Michael Moulder. >> I. >> Director Zuzek. >> I. >> Vice Chair Dresley. Hi. >> Director Bruns. >> I. >> And director Milner. I >> So, thank you. The resolution passes, right? [laughter] Perfect. And then we'll go ahead and move right on to our next um action item, which is the resolution directing the administration to make recommendations regarding the reduction and or discontinue continuence of programs and positions and reasons there for. Can I get a motion on this? >> I make a recommendation to approve the resolution and wave the reading. But just a a side note, this is something that's done every year um just to empower the administration to do that because they [clears throat] have the responsibility to do it to to consider it. >> Yes. Thank you. And we're looking to move this to the January org meeting next year just to make it through with everything else we do at January meeting. Beer seconds. >> Thank you. Any discussion? And clerk Milner, can I also get a roll call vote on this topic? >> Director Beerm, >> I. >> Director Michael Moulder, >> I. >> Director Zuzac, >> I. >> Vice Chair Dresley, >> I. >> Director Bruns, >> I. >> And Director Milner, I. >> Okay. So, the resolution passes unanimously. And last on our agenda is our is our donations acceptance resolution. Can I get a motion on this resolution? >> Michael Moulder moves to accept the don donations listed in the [clears throat] donation acceptance resolution and approve the resolution and wave the reading. >> Can I get a second on that? Brunswill second with the waved reading as well. >> Thank you. And I just want to note that um in total this is an incredible donation for the month from our community. Um $113,000 which is just an incredible amount of money and that's the combination of the inkind donations and the dollar amount donations. So thank you very much. That's greatly appreciated your continued support for our district. Um and with that, can I ask you to do a roll call vote? Clerk Bner, >> Director Beerm, >> I, >> Director Michael Moulder, >> I, >> Director Zuzi, >> I, >> Vice Chair Dresley, >> I, >> Director Bruns, >> I, >> and Director Milner, I >> Okay, thank you very much. That mo the motion passes for the resolution. And last on our agenda tonight is our upcoming meetings. In March, we don't have a whole lot of meetings. Um, and I'm not going to go into the details of them, but I will say that we have a policy committee meeting on March 5th. We have a work session on March 11th and a regular board meeting on March 25th. >> Did you? >> Yes. And then I'd ask if we could add a close session to do um negotiations um >> parameters. So, I'm not if everyone could look at their calendars. We'd like to do it on a separate night from a board meeting just so everyone's kind of fresh. Um not sure what that looks like for people. >> And I just want to say that I'm out of town on the 24th, but I would trust all of you to do it if you did if that's what worked for everybody else. I won't be back from Florida yet, but whatever works for >> March 24th. >> March 24th was the first date, I think, on the and yeah, >> the second date was the following Monday, I believe, >> the 30th. Yep. The 30th. >> It's up to you if you want to do 5:30 or 6, whatever you guys want to do >> because it'd be a one item thing >> either day. >> Okay. >> That work. >> Okay. >> Monday the 30th. >> I'm clear. >> I can do that day as well. Was itch? >> Uh, what time? >> Does that work? Does six o'clock work for everybody? Is that >> perfect? >> Okay. All right. So then in addition to our regular meeting in our work session, we also have a closed meeting for negotiation parameters >> and an additional community collaboration meeting on the 11th of March. >> Thank you. >> So with that, can I get did anybody have anything else to share or any other questions before we then I would ask for a motion to adjurnn? >> I make a motion to adjurnn. Beer may second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I.