Uh good evening everyone. Welcome to the Lakeville Area Schools 194 school board meeting this May 26th, 20 uh 26. Um if we could um please 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. >> All right, and I'll start with roll call to my right. >> Tony Rackelberger. >> Matt Swanson. >> Carli Anderson. >> Amber Cameron. >> Michael Baumann. >> Kim Baker. >> Paul Carbone. >> Ryan Thompson. >> Great. Thanks, everyone. Uh with that, I'm going to turn it over to Superintendent Baumann for good news and Educator of Excellence awards. >> All right. Well, thank you, Madam Chair. We got a lot to see this evening, so um hang on. First of all, I want to start with uh an acknowledgement and a thank you. On May 12th, voters in Lakeville Area School District approved the Growing Together bond referendum, and the vote was 54 to 45%. Uh 54% yes, 45% no. And I want to take this time to thank everyone who took the time to learn about the referendum and exercise their right to vote. Uh also want to make sure that you understand that by passing the bond referendum, our voters have chosen to invest in the success of our students, and that is very heartfelt and meaningful to all of us who are working diligently every single day to improve our education system. And this funding's going to help us create more comparable learning environments across our three middle schools and ensure that every Lakeville Area student receives the opportunities that they deserve as our community continues to grow. I also want to thank the entire team that it takes to run a special election, especially those who put in months of hard dedicated work ahead of the election day and our district's communication staff, the assistant to the superintendent, and our middle school principals and their staffs. Each of these individuals played an important role in sharing information about the bond referendum with our community, and I am eternally grateful. Additionally, want to thank Dakota County and Scott County for their election support, our six absentee election judges who came in to work right here at the district office for the past 46 days for early voting, and the many election judges who ensured an efficient voting process on election day. We could not do this without you, and we are very very grateful. I also want to thank all of our staff in the buildings who contributed and helped pass the word and share the information. Your contribution is especially important to all of us, and thank you. During a special meeting on May 19th, the Lakeville Area School Board did approve the resolution canvassing the return of votes of school district special election, and the district will continue to keep the community informed about the impact of their investment. And again, we are very very grateful for your continued investment. Additional details can be found at isd194.org/vote. All right, some awards. Athena Awards, congratulations to seniors Hayden Janski from Lakeville North High School and Ava Welsh from Lakeville South High School. Both of these are named this year's Saint Paul Area Athena Award recipients. The Athena Awards program recognizes a school's most outstanding female senior student athlete for their athletic achievements. Award selection is based on excellence in individual sports or for participation and accomplishments in team sports. So again, congratulations to Hayden and Ava. >> [applause] >> Lakeville North speech delivers standout performance at state. The Lakeville North speech team earned an impressive second place overall finish at the 2026 Class AA State Tournament competing against 37 teams from across the state of Minnesota. The Panthers also celebrated strong individual performances with seven students advancing to finals and four earning state championship titles in their events. Several Panthers and Cougars will go on to compete at the National Speech and Debate Tournament this June and we wish them the best of luck. >> [applause] >> Orchard Lake students excel at Math Masters competition. Fifth grade students from Orchard Lake Elementary recently showed off their problem-solving skills and teamwork at the Math Masters competition. Competing against 99 individual participants and 21 teams, Orchard Lake's We've Got Problems team captured an impressive first place finish while the Calculating Cougars team placed 10th overall. Math Masters is a mathematician's or mathematics competition program designed for students in grades 4 through 6 that challenges participants to think critically, solve complex problems, and apply and apply mathematical concepts in creative ways. So again, congratulations to those students who participated in Orchard Lake excel excelling at Math Masters competition. Fifth grade musicians take the stage in Southeast Honor Band. 26 talented fifth grade students from across the district participate in this year's Minnesota Band Directors Association Southeast Honor Band. Students representing Christina Huddleston, Cherry View, East View, High View, Oak Hills, and Orchard Lake Elementary Schools join peers from more than 20 schools across Southeastern Minnesota for a full day of music making, rehearsing under guest conductors. And throughout the day, the participants grew as musicians in large ensemble setting while proudly representing their home school. So, congratulations to those fifth graders. >> [applause] >> Adapted softball takes third at state. Our own Blazing Cats adapted so- softball team just wrapped up another impressive season. The team consisting of student athletes from Lakeville, Burnsville, and Farmington took home third place at the 2026 adapted softball CI tournament. Congratulations, Blazing Cats. >> [applause] >> And then Lakeville South sophomore was selected for prestigious All-State Choir. Lakeville South High School sophomore Claire Fields has been selected for the Minnesota All-State Choir, one of the highest honors a school vocalist can achieve in our state. To earn her spot, Fields had to out-sing hundreds of other talented student vocalists through a rigorous audition process. Fields will be joining a group of approximately 250 of the top singers from high schools across the state this summer at an intensive choir camp at Concordia College. She will perform in the grand finale next February at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. So, congratulations to CLAIRE FIELDS. >> [applause] >> SO, THAT UM CONCLUDES OUR good news, but I have uh the next thing on the roster here is I want to introduce uh EML President Carrie Pop. She is the outgoing president who will introduce the Excellence in Education Awards recipients. Carrie. >> Good evening, Chair Cameron, uh members of the school board, Superintendent Bauman, and executive cabinet. It is great to be here tonight. I'm Carrie Pop, the EML president. Um besides being here tonight to uh present our Educator of Excellence Award winners, I'm also excited to introduce our new EML president, Randy Adams. Randy's currently a fifth-grade teacher at Lake Marion. He will be starting his new role as EML president as of July 1st, but tonight he'll be doing these wonderful speeches. And congratulations to Randy on your new role. >> THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> GOOD EVENING, CHAIR CAMERON, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, Superintendent Bauman, and the executive cabinet. I am honored to present our two 2025-2026 EML Educators of Excellence Award winners. It is our pleasure to recognize our elementary winner, Hillary Morlock. Hillary is the digital media specialist lead in the Cherry View Elementary digital media specialist. Hillary's passion for teaching, her innovative use of technology, and her constant willingness to support both students and staff make her truly exceptional. She inspires curiosity, creativity, and confidence in every child, ensuring each one feels seen and capable. Hillary is always learning, always sharing, and always putting students first. Her warmth, dedication, and leadership in helping staff navigate ever-changing technology make her deeply deserving of this honor. Congratulations, Hillary, on being the 2025-2026 EMLs Elementary Educator of Excellence Award winner. >> [applause] >> Next, we are proud to recognize Erin Mulvaney-Mankowski as this year's Secondary Educator of Excellence. Erin is currently an English educator at Lakeville Pathways Academy. As the sole English teacher at Lakeville Pathways Academy, Erin not only teaches all required English courses, but also designs additional electives to meet student needs. Her passion for literature, dedication to student achievement, and commitment to creating a safe, inclusive classroom make her an exceptional educator. Erin is a true leader at Pathways, serving as the building equity lead, union representative, and PLC facilitator, while continually collaborating with staff to support students. She goes above and beyond to meet learners where they are, often creating individualized coursework, and working closely with families to ensure student success. Her efforts have helped many students, including those facing significant challenges, reach graduation. Erin also supports students during school and still manages all of this while being a busy mother of two. Her compassion, innovation, and unwavering dedication make her deeply deserving of this honor. Congratulations, Erin, on being the 2025-26 EML Secondary Educator of Excellence Award winner. >> [applause] [applause] >> Is that it, Superintendent Bowman? >> Yes, Madam Chair. >> Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Just making sure. There's a lot of great >> Wonderful. >> things to celebrate. Um there is no uh additional board communications tonight, so I'll move uh to approval of the agenda. Uh is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Uh first by Tony, is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Kim. Any discussion? All in favor? >> Aye. >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Motion passes 7-0. Next, we'll move to public comment. We have one person signed up for public comment, but I still want to read um kind of the parameters for public comment just in case people are interested in participating in the future, which we highly encourage. Uh so at every um end-of-the-month meeting, the board will open up the floor for 30 minutes to allow the public to address the board with comments and concerns. To participate in public comment, individuals must have registered in advance using the form provided on the website by noon on the Monday before the scheduled public comment session. There will be no board response during the session. Public comments framed as complaints and or concerns about students and our staff are not appropriate in a public forum due to data privacy laws. These comments should be addressed to the administration outside of a public meeting. Likewise, complaints about school board members should be privately directed to the board chair and or superintendent. No formal action will be taken on a topic presented during public comment. As necessary, the administration will follow up with the appropriate personnel on any concerns that need to be individually addressed. Also, if necessary, the board will follow up during public or sorry, during board communication at the next regularly scheduled board meeting. Individual remarks are limited to 3 minutes. The board will provide a signal when the participant has 30 seconds remaining of their time. Please try to keep audience noise to a minimum to allow everyone the opportunity to speak uninterrupted. So tonight, um, our sole uh, speaker is Nicole McKenzie. Uh, come on up. >> Good evening, Board of Education members and leadership team members. Uh, my name is Nicole McKenzie, as you said. I'm an elementary educator in Lakeville Area Schools and I'm here to represent many colleagues who would like to see IXL reinstated at the elementary level. I've gathered data from K through 5 educators at multiple schools. And so here's some of the highlights. Uh, we presently have literacy tutors, but no math tutors. IXL is a cost-effective way to strategically fill this gap. Our fourth and fifth grade educators have been teaching Bridges for 2 years and one teacher for 6 years as she came from another district that also utilizes the Bridges curriculum. So some positives that we're seeing with Bridges are enhanced skills in mental math, divergent thinking, and number sense. Math Talks have increased students' ability to explain their thinking, and multiple standards are integrated into each lesson, which fosters engagement and retention of concepts. IXL will complement our core resource Bridges through alignment. It is aligned to the Minnesota state standards and MCA test, and if there's a standards or skills gap in Bridges, IXL is a ready-to-go resource to fill that gap for individual learners and small and large groups of students. IXL benefits learners in not only math, but literacy. There is on-demand differentiation, which which is highly individualized to meet the needs of remedial, accelerated, and grade-level learners. This allows educators to teach Bridges in small groups while students practice recently learned skills from Bridges material. It facilitates targeted spiraling and strategic practice, so we can assign specific skills and reinforce challenging concepts. Students get immediate feedback, which bolsters engagement and retention. And with this, it supports our multilingual learners in over 100 languages and includes integrated audio and visual aids. There's a home-school connection where students can practice skills outside of school. And finally, IXL can be an additional data point for teachers showing what skills have been mastered, and it can be used as a pre- and formative assessment to guide instruction. IXL is an ISD 194 vetted, standards-aligned, field-tested app, which is used in grades 6 through 12 and has historically been used in our elementary schools. Therefore, it is already compatible with DISK-IT, our IT department, so we hope you'll consider reinstating this cost-effective resource in the coming year to help educators strategically fill skills gaps, reinforce learning, and differentiate for multiple ability levels in our classrooms. Thank you all for your time. All right. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Okay. Um next we're going to move to the consideration of approval of the consent agenda, uh which includes uh board minutes from a variety of meetings, employment recommendations, payment of bills and claims, a resolution regarding acceptance of gift donations, uh a few extended field trips, the District 917 LTFM plan, which we discussed at last work session, the District LTFM plan also discussed um at the last work session, the tech equipment sale also discussed at last work session, uh the English language arts resources as recommended by the teaching and learning department, social studies resources as recommended by teaching and learning department, and policy 704 development and maintenance of an inventory of fixed assets and a fixed asset accounting system, which we discussed at our last board meeting as a first reading, and this would qualify as a second reading. Um and the final item is a resolution establishing dates for filing of affidavits of candidacy for the school board. Uh so with that is there um a motion to approve the consent agenda as is. >> Yep. Um Director uh Swanson. >> Uh >> [clears throat] >> I'd like to remove I and J for further discussion. >> Okay. I and J would be the English language arts resources and the social studies resources, correct? >> Mhm. >> Okay. Any other comments? >> I'll make a motion to approve >> Okay. >> the consent agenda minus I and J. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? All right, all in favor? Oh, go Oh, sorry, Brian. >> Yep. Uh less less of a discussion, but just more for awareness. Uh we are approving consent agenda uh consent agenda item letter L, uh resolution establishing dates for filing for affidavits of candidacy. And so, I believe what I receive I think historically the last date to file to be on the school board or to be to run to be on the school board, I think it's usually early August is kind of I think I've seen. Did I read this correctly that they've up the date to July 28th? Is that right? >> Correct. The filing deadline is >> I I mean obviously we don't have any control over that. That's like the state of Minnesota control. But for those who are interested cuz you're just hanging out over Pan-O-Prog and you're wondering what to do over the summer and and thought thought, "Hey, maybe I should get more involved, you know, in this wonderful weather of Minnesota that we have." You have until July 28th. >> Right. Thank you. >> To be a part of the fun. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments? All right, all in favor of approving the consent agenda minus I and J, say I. >> I. I. >> Any opposed? All right, motion passes 7-0. Um let's move then to the two removed items. So, first being the English language arts resources. Um this item is on the agenda tonight for consideration for approval by the board. Um is there a a motion to approve uh the English language arts resources before discussion? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Okay, second. Um discussion. >> Yeah, I was wondering if I don't know if Tracy would be the one to answer it. Um cuz [clears throat] we had some discussions earlier kind of offline about the two different resources at the middle school. One being I believe is Amplify and the other being Savvis. And my uh seventh grader and then another seventh grader I chatted with were very uh uh insistent on Amplify being better. Um so just wondering what the the take was from the teachers uh middle school teachers between the two different programs and then what the the studies are showing as far as effectiveness of the two different programs that helped you make your decision? >> Yeah, sure. Thank you for that question. Um, I will say that we go through a very robust process to adopt these resources. And I think you've um, seen that process document that um, we've shared with the school board um, through Friday notes. Um, we uh, Sandy has a um, robust process with our teachers to review all of the standards and make sure that resources align with those standards. We also bring uh, our resources to the teaching and learning advisory committee um, for their feedback. We get feedback from the community as we post the resource on resources online for people to um, be able to provide any comments that they might have. And we also ask our students and our staff what they think about the resource. And so, that's one criteria. Student um, voice is one piece of uh, the puzzle. Um, Sandy is more intimate with the work, so I'm going to give her an opportunity to answer that. Um, >> Good evening everyone and thank you for the question. Um, as Tracy has mentioned, that is one component that we look at um, when we're identifying which resource we want to move forward with. Um, most importantly, we want to make sure that that resource is aligned to the standards at the level of rigor that we would expect students to be able to perform at. In addition, um, we also look specifically at what are the key shifts in concepts as it relates to teaching that content area. What are the evidence-based instructional practices that we want to make sure um, that our teachers are able to execute um, when we look at those resources. Um, and when we are choosing those resources to move forward um, with the field test, um, we look at a variety of different platforms both nationally and locally to determine which ones are best aligned to the rigor that we're looking for. We also belong to an organization called the Minnesota area curriculum leaders. We work through that group as well and we build networks across the metro area and across the state to learn what other districts are doing and we collaborate with those districts too. And then of course we do a very formal vendor vetting. We spend quite a bit of time speaking to those different vendors and really making sure that there is that alignment. We also create a resource rubric for each of our content areas. And there's multiple criteria that we look at including all of the pieces that I just mentioned. But we're also looking at what type of professional development will they support with us? How does it interject with the pedagogy that we would like to see in that classroom? >> So student voice is just one piece of that and we had some students that liked the other resource and some that liked this one. So we had a a mix. >> How did the teachers break on it? What were their thoughts between the two different programs or resources? >> Yeah, which one are you speaking to particularly? >> Uh Amplify and Savvas. >> It's pretty much broken fairly equally depending on which category that you're looking at within that rubric. So it was a difficult choice for our teachers to make. The one thing that we need to keep in mind is when we're bringing field test resources for our teachers to be able to decide upon they equally have merit. And so it's really looking at those nuances when we're specifically looking at our rubric and which one would best align. But it was it's very close as many of our resources are. >> I will also add in there that we didn't just start with these two resources. Sandy and her team thoroughly research about 10 or 12 resources before those are even brought forward to the teachers to take a look at. >> Um yep, Director Bigger. >> So, when I looked online at the content for this specific curriculum, it was definitely had components that were geared for ELL students. Is there some type of um portion of that curriculum that would help students for intervention for like special education? I see that it goes down through fourth grade, but I just was curious as to if they had that intervention support as well. >> Thank you, Director Baker. Yes, there is definitely um a portion of it that relates to differentiation. Um and I want to give a huge shout-out to our coordinators. We have two of them in our in the audience with us um because we're speaking directly to ELA. Natalie has done a considerable job in collaboration with our special education coordinators, the teachers, as well as our EL coordinators and teachers to ensure that there is differentiation. And if there needs to be um some other pieces that we need to think for for core supplementary resources um because we want to think about it through the READ Act. And the READ Act really talks about making sure that all students start reading at grade level, including our special education and our multilingual students. So, we take that seriously when we're looking at our resources and supporting our teachers. Great. And then Brian? >> Uh thank you for uh for for all the work that that the group has done in in this kind of effort. Um you know, I I I think I I think the broader issue for me is is less about maybe the curriculum that's being presented to be asked to be approved, but more about the process of how it's being pre- pre- uh presented. Uh part of our core roles as a school board member is uh policy making as well as curricular curriculum adoption. And in my mind um having it as part of the consent agenda is is doesn't put much spotlight in the curriculum in the in the core role that we ought to have. Uh while we've had multiple conversations as a board around a $3 million levy, a a $139 million levy, um academic reports and dashboards, but yet we are not going to have a dialogue around uh 10 curriculum items that will be in place for the next 10 years for over 12,000 students each year. Uh and assuming as they go through the process over uh I'm terrible with over a million students will be will be going through the the Minnesota Historical Society Northern Lights. Now, I'm not here to say that that particular resources uh incorrect or wrong, uh but I think at our last curriculum adoption with the English digital uh um uh curriculum that was asked to be proposed, we had good discussion around it. Now, I'm not saying we we need to have discussion on all 10, but uh my my recommendation to the board is to pause and bring this back to a working session and do a presentation uh like we did with the digital curriculum, so that we are all aware because of what what's being brought forward. Um I know this was in the school board notes, but the general public does not see this as well. Now, I get that it was part of teaching and learning, some parents get to participate, uh some just watch school board meetings, and not and not and and are not involved. Uh some of this stuff is already in the school board packet, uh but my recommendation is that we've got 10 core uh curriculum artifacts that are being asked to be proposed from world history, geography, economics, um US studies. There's a lot of changes that occurred to the social studies standards. How much of this curriculum uh adopt uh and and meet the state standards? Are these state standards uh things that we as a board want to adopt? Uh because there are pieces that we don't. I don't know. And and so I guess for my again my point of view is this is a strategic decision that's going to last for the next 10 years and it's embedded in a consent agenda and we're just voting yes or no. And so my recommendation is for a slight pause for the next 2 weeks if that doesn't disrupt any existing process. >> Dr. Carbon? >> Yeah and and I would springboard off of that. Um if I remember some of Bill's discussions in regards when he was doing budget the amount of money we spent on curriculum which is a reasonable amount of money. Uh I again back to what Brian said, I think we need to dive into this deeper and and get enough content and enough information so we can make a a wise decision here. Um I do I do think and and I don't want to mix them because I know they're two separate letters but they kind of need to be mixed because both of them I think have the same in my mind dilemma. We we need to understand the content more. We need to understand um what it is we're actually giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down to here. And I'm not sure we can do that with this brief little exposure. And I know we read it but >> Dr. Anderson? >> Um yeah, I think part of I guess my question would be what is the role or scope of the school in this process? So as I understand it and this is based on kind of how we've been processing this year and historically is we do have people on this board who serve on teaching and learning. This that was me and you. And so and and now you're yeah. You haven't you're new. But you know, it's one of those things where I feel like we have representation. We have voice and my how I perceive my role as a school board member is what has the process been? Um I do like to see the robust nature of the process. I know I asked some questions about technology and subscriptions and all those kinds of things. So it wasn't that I didn't think um I or this board had a space for question. Um I have no expertise in evaluating this curriculum versus that curriculum or what is going to be the best curriculum to meet the standards. That is where I see our role as a board to make sure we have people who are knowledgeable, who also put people on committees who are knowledgeable to make those decisions. Um so for me as a board member it's more about was this a robust process? Were you consulting with other districts? Were you looking at a variety of materials? All of those things were covered and now they're coming forward. I think the reason why this isn't a consent agenda is because it's been a a robust process. This is their recommendation. Um there has been detail in the Friday notes where there has been opportunity for us to ask questions. Um I don't necessarily know how the public benefits from getting into the details about that. Um because I guess I trust the experts to know how we're going to best serve the students based on the standards. Um so that would be my >> Director Swanson, then Baker, then Kerman. >> Thank you. Um >> [cough] >> yeah, I I [clears throat] don't disagree that I like to have this these kind of things highlighted just to show the public like look, this is the work that's being done, you know, that they don't see. I to Brian's point, I think it's also an opportunity to kind of uh dispel some narratives that might be in the public that kids are being indoctrinated one way or another, you know, we have the opportunity to kind of put those issues to bed publicly, you know, and it's on the record then and you have an opportunity to stand up and show like this is why we picked this program over to this program. We think this is going to carry our students further, advance them further based on, you know, we looked at these different studies, these seven districts have used it over the past 3 years and have had great results. You know, just providing that sort of clarification for the public, you know, I think can be beneficial. Um I mean, we we were provided with the rubrics and stuff like that. I don't know I mean, I don't know that we need to get into the detail of that and as to the I don't know that we're moving on to J or have to start discussing that, but some of those are just renewals, right? I mean, we're just renewing the existing curriculum. Um and then it's even hard like I guess my question would be like what's the what's the level of and I'm probably getting further beyond this discussion, but like what's the level of uh anonymity, you know, within each school with within each classroom as far as like you have the lessons plans or the rubric and the guides, but then is it hey, this is the topic you're teaching or the the subject matter for this this month or whatever you want to however it's categorized and you just go do it how you want to do it or you have the discretion of how you're going to cover different topics or pick your own topics within that category? Um I mean, those are the kind of questions I guess I would I would ask whether it's here or at the T-LAC or >> Any response >> I would like to answer that later. Let's go >> [laughter] >> Sure. Um we are aligned to the Minnesota state standards and so um Sandy came to you with the four different steps in how we uh align to the Minnesota state standards and so that guides what our teachers are teaching. Um the resource is just one piece of the puzzle. It's the instruction in the classroom. The teacher is the most important tool that we have in that classroom by far. And so the resource is just one piece that aligns to the standards. So, um do you want to talk a little bit more about that? >> I think we need to think about um curriculum really is not only the resource, the instructional strategies that you bring towards that, um and your assessment. All of those pieces define what curriculum is. Um but to your question directly, um Director Swanson, we really value having a guaranteed and viable curriculum across um our system. And we develop in those phases, as Tracy mentioned, we have the different phases that we go through in a standards-based review process. And when we get into phase three, we're really developing those scope and sequences and those pacing guides, identifying specifically what is it that we're going to be teaching, how is it that we're going to be assessing it, and then pacing it throughout the year. Um and that's really work that we've started at the secondary level already, um at a high level with our PD days that we've had this year. Um and we want to continue that work. And so, know that any of the resources that we're bringing forward to you, it really aligns to that third phase of our standards-based review process, which isn't complete until you create that pacing guide, um and that scope and sequence, which then defines your guaranteed and viable curriculum. So, we have consistency and coherence across our system. >> All right, Dr. Baker. >> First of all, I want to agree with pretty much everything uh Director Anderson stated. I I agree that we put professionals in um key positions within our district to make these type of decisions, but just listening to the discussion that board members are having on this topic, it seems like the questions are revolving more around the process than around the curriculum itself. So, then I go back to why would we pause right now if the board is not sure on the process. We've talked about our processes as a board um throughout the school year. At this point to shift a process because we feel like it needs to be more visible, it's all it's like making a moving target for our staff that they're always trying to catch up to what now we want to do and now we want to change this. I feel like we need to be firm and establish our processes, let the team be able to respond to how we want the information presented, and then stop changing that so we're not constantly having them try to play catch-up with us. If we want to talk about the process, that's great. There's no reason for us to pause this right now for more visibility um when we can't get our act together. So, my opinion would be to let the curriculum go. They've already went through the process of um bringing the curriculum to the community and and correct me if I'm wrong, usually you have the curriculum set up at a building within the district or you have in the past for parents to come in and peruse and look through. I remember as a parent I did that um throughout my kids time in school here and I think I was one of two that used to go in and look at the curriculum, but that's that's another option for parents to have that opportunity. We have the teaching and learning community. They have emails that have been shared with with parents to look at this curriculum. Um I agree that it would be nice to have more visibility and maybe a presentation at a working session for a board so that people have one more option to look at like, "Hey, there's this great curriculum that we're adopting." That's great, but again, that's changing the process that we've already started. So, I feel like let's continue with this. If we want to alter our process, we'll do it in the future, not with something that's already started. >> Dr. Carbone. >> Yes, thank you. Um I'm I'm not sure it's about the process. Uh the process to me is the infrastructure. It's the how you design it, how you how you um lay lay it out. I think part of what we're talking about here is the content. Um I don't want to speak for um uh member Swanson or or member Thompson, but I what I think I'm hearing is case in point. Okay, we're concerned about math, absolutely. We're concerned about um English, absolutely. Um and and other things, too. But if you look inside this, one of the one of the pieces, and please correct me if I'm wrong, um one of the pieces is in social studies is citizenship. And to me, building good citizens is as important as math or or any of the other subjects. >> Dr. Carbon, we're only talking about the English resource at the moment. That's the motion on the table. So, we'll get to the social studies one. But right now it's English. >> I'll just um just take that phrase and save it for later. >> All right, perfect. Just want to make sure people know what we're voting on. I think what I'd like to point out, and I'll get to you, Dr. um Thompson, is um maybe echoing a little bit of what Dr. Baker said, I think uh over 6 months ago our board was informed of this process, that there'll be these many layers before it would come to the board. Um and so, I was not chair at the time, but um on November 6th, November 21st, November 26th, December 1st, we got an email in Friday notes from the superintendent, and this is for the public to be aware that this entire board was informed of this process every single week. And um again uh on May 1st and 15th that this was coming up. And then in between, we were kind of informed of how the process was unfolding. But in those particular time those five times, there was explicit um direction to the board that this is um that they're following the process, the district's following this process, and that these would come to us on the consent agenda. Um I think what I'm frustrated about is I I haven't heard a single thing. Michael hasn't heard a single thing, including before I was chair. And so if this board was comfortable with that for the last 6 months, I'm concerned that a couple of things. One is kind of changing the target at the last minute cuz these are needed resources now. I'm also concerned that and I don't mean to put anyone on the spot, but I know we all are busy, but we're not doing our homework if we're not reading these Friday notes. This is where critical information's being shared to this board. And if that is not an effective way to communicate with each other and from the the administration to us, that is what we should be talking about because I think what this is highlighting for me more than ever and the emails that have come in is that that communication is not being read and and and there I know there's moments maybe where you read it more in depth than not, but if you are this uncomfortable with the process, you need to stay engaged. It's not at the table where you bring it to the last the last minute to change it up. And that's the frustrating part. You've had half a year to express this and even under different leadership. And this is when it's coming out. And so it feels like we're throwing our staff under the bus when we have agreed to something and for an extended period of time. So I'm going to put that on the table. Director Swanson. >> Yeah, I I mean I don't take this as a bad thing that people have questions about the curriculum or what's going on. And again, um we didn't have any I don't think we approved any new curriculum until the last time you guys were here maybe 2 months ago. And we did it in a and I can't remember how it came up, but I know we discussed it in a working session. Um whether it was scheduled that way initially. >> It was scheduled that way initially. >> Not on the consent agenda, so >> It was. It was on the consent and we agreed to talk about our process one time to get everybody on board. And again, no one at that meeting suggested we should alter the process so people continued with the process. >> Okay. >> we are again. >> And I don't think anyone's complaining about the process of how we got to today, right? I think the question is just providing a little bit more transparency to the public. And again, I like you guys coming up here and explaining like this is how we got here. This is why because the information we get in the in the Friday notes is limited, right? Um and you can click through it and it's a lot of information, but it is somewhat limited and there are other questions like I think you had asked with the last curriculum that we approved like well what other districts are using it, you know, which is information that we weren't provided. And which the public might want to know, right? Like how many other districts around us are using Savvis versus Amplify. Um you know, going to that decision and how you're weighing that um cuz it sounds like, you know, you guys are picking the the curriculum that best aligns with the state standards and provides the most rigor that you think we can effectively implement, right? [clears throat] And then but to that point well what are other people implementing and what's what's being successful in other districts, right? >> And I think my understanding and this goes to Dr. Anderson's points is that we have a incredibly robust process that hits all of these levels and answers exactly what you're talking about. I think my challenge right now is that it was said explicitly this would come on consent at least half a dozen times and if people were uncomfortable with that, I think we should ask each other, but it to pull it off at the last minute I understand people want more information, but I think what's confusing or it's hard to manage a board if people don't articulate what they need in order to make decisions. So, when and and it's hard until you wait till the last minute. So, I think that's that's what I'm hearing from administration and so I'm looking for better I guess for myself and from others about if you need a different process, let's talk about it. Um but I'm I'm inheriting a process from, you know, what what was brought to us in the fall. So, Dr. Thompson? >> Yeah, I think um uh Yeah, I changed my mind. It is what it is. I mean, I don't there wasn't a vote in November that said that said this is the process this how we're going to do it. We didn't have any curriculum to actually vote on last year. And and I think we were pretty or I was pretty clear or adamant that hey, we we should have a presentation on what are we what are we implementing for our 12,000 students in in all of these respective grades. And so uh you know, if we're going to defer to professionals and and bring things forward and we just kind of I don't want to say rubber stamp, but approve it, then there's no need to have special education here. We can just approve what they want. No reason to have finance here. We can just approve what they want. But why are we picking and choosing things that get presented to us when um something like this, especially in the curriculum space, is something we ought to be discussing uh cuz we had good dialogue literally 4 weeks ago on the English curriculum. And now now we're uh you know, rubber stamping eight 10 more. And so uh so my recommendation is again, if it doesn't derail anything, I would like to make a motion to table this for 2 weeks. Do a quick uh you know, high-level overview of what of of these curriculum options. Uh the community >> to amend the motion. >> I don't know if I can amend I think when you make it can you make it when you motion to table? I don't think you need to amend anything. >> and a second on the table. >> No, but you can't make a motion to table at all. >> A motion to table would have priority. >> It does. >> Yeah, you can make a motion to table. >> Can I make a motion to table for yeah? >> We do have teachers coming in um right after school ends to be able to align their scope and sequence and continue the work forward. So if we delay for 2 weeks, I'm afraid that that work isn't going to be able to move forward. The teachers blocked out their summer schedule to be able to come in and work with us. >> Do we already buy the curriculum then? Or so then what are we doing between now and then? Are we buying the curriculum? And then it will all it will all arrive in 2 weeks. Is is that what I'm hearing? >> Um the we're able to get access to to digital resources. There's not necessarily um hard cover resources anymore. >> Mhm. >> Do you want to move forward? Director Thompson, would you >> No, I mean I I don't want to derail your the the scenario, but then then I'll make an amendment that the next working session we talk about this process and and have it on the agenda at the next working session. Because again, I there there are there is value in talking about this at a board meeting, not just for us, but for the general public. The things that we get uh via email, they they're not going to get that. The public's not going to get that and our prime and and if curriculum is part of our job and we're just going to just not even Yes, we're talking about that, but we're not going to kind of get the overview that we would get with finance, academics, uh we get an overview for athletics and so forth. And so, I guess in my mind I I I you know, I I don't know. Those are my thoughts. >> So, you want to make an amendment to add >> No, I don't need to make an amendment, but my recommendation is throw it on the working session because as you guys, I mean, what are we doing? Honestly. I mean, we'll keep we'll keep bringing this up until we actually have a forum where we can have dialogue. I mean, that's how this board likes to work. We like to be presented things. That's That's That's how all boards probably work. >> And I think there might be a difference and some of us feel like we are very much presented to um and the public. So, I think there's a difference of opinion on how the presentation should happen, but not that it wasn't presented. Director Baker and Director Anderson and Swanson. >> I would agree with >> Chair Cameron. We've had teaching and learning presentations. I can't even count how many times that you guys have been before us talking about different parts of our curriculum. Um this is one part of the process and and I feel like I've been very well informed about it. So, um again, I would second what Director Cameron said. If if you're feeling like you you missed part of the process, then maybe that should have happened before this meeting and you should have followed up and let us know so we can talk about it as a board cuz again, like I said, I feel like we're talking about a process, which is fine, but um it again, it takes a majority of the board for us to determine what our processes are. And when we had the past meeting when we talked about that, nobody said that they wanted anything different than what we were already doing, so >> talked about it at the last education curriculum discussion work work working session. Did we talk about that? >> Yeah, and we had a majority of the board that was fine with this. >> Oh, all right, got it. The majority of the board was fine with it, that's why it kept moving forward. So, we didn't vote but we didn't vote it during that working session, so I don't know how that was an official decision. Did we vote? You mean do we vote during working sessions? >> No. >> So, then how was that a decision then? >> It was a working Yes, we had a working session. >> There was no discussion that the process should >> Interesting, Mrs. Baker. >> There was no discussion All Hold on. All meetings of the board are regular meetings. >> you guys. >> I don't think there was any discussion at the time, Brian, at that work session about the process needing to change. The The question was what is our process, and that was what was described at that meeting. Director Anderson and Swanson? >> Yeah, I um I don't want anyone to feel like they don't feel educated to make a vote. So, I think there's something obviously for us to address here and discuss. Um I think the challenge that I feel in this moment is I don't at all feel like I'm rubber stamping this. I've been involved. I understand what your process was, approve it. Um I'm thankful for it, so thank you. Um I think there are opportunities coming up where if board members want to become more involved in TLAC, I'm happy to rotate off to allow someone to rotate on. If there are other ways that we can communicate information, I think we can explore that, but part of the challenge of >> [clears throat] >> all of these things getting presented is we only have so many board meetings per year. Voice talked about like perhaps we need to add a board board meeting, but I don't think the board wants to do that. So, it is some of the information we work on is behind the scenes and what and being able to individually process it behind the scenes to then be able to ask questions in a format like this, but we're not going to have a presentation on everything that we vote on. So, from my perspective, we're not rubber stamping. We have representatives on TLAC. Information was shared out. We're informed, but if people aren't feeling informed, I think that's something we can explore at a future meeting. Director Swanson and then Rickenbacker. >> Thanks for answering my questions. Appreciate it. >> Director Rickenbacker. >> I think some of the discussion here is getting a little derailed just in the sense that like the idea of a consent agenda is that it's an agenda where everybody agrees. It's a unanimous consent. That's why it's called a consent agenda. And there's clearly some members that disagree with some of the things that are being brought up. Perfectly fine to remove it from the consent agenda, move it down to regular business, and discuss it there. Um, we'll still have a vote on it. We'll still hear the discussion. We'll still do all the things that the normal board will do. Um, but I don't think we should be upset that something gets pulled from a consent agenda at any point. Um, having a normal discussion is perfectly fine. >> Yeah, I completely agree. I think we're at that point though. We're having the discussion about whether to approve the resource, right? So, the first and a second. Is there any more discussion? Okay, hearing none. Um, all those in favor of approving letter I, English language arts resource, uh, say I. I. Any opposed? >> No. >> All right, motion passes 6-1. Is that correct? Okay. With Thompson being the dissent. All right, we're moving to, um, resource, or sorry, consent agenda J, social studies resource. Um, is there a motion to approve this this resource? >> Uh, so moved. >> Uh, first by Anderson, is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Uh, second by Baker, uh, discussion. Yeah, Director Swanson. >> Uh, same kind of question. Um, what other programs, why this over the other options? And I know some of these are just renewals, right? And so, you can clarify, you know, hey, do we look at other programs and consider other options? And then why from an academic standpoint did we land on these ones? >> [clears throat] >> Thank you for the question. I think the answer is similar to the ELA because it is our process. We do look at a variety of different resources. It goes through a robust vetting process. We have a resource rubric. Um, and particularly when we're looking at social studies, um, we're really looking at, um, not only does it aligned to those grade level benchmarks, but also in the way, um, that is the key shifts and concepts in teaching that content. Um, one of the pieces with social studies that the Minnesota Department of Education, um, endorses is the C3 framework, which is the inquiry framework, which is really developing, um, compelling questions, um, thinking about primary and secondary sources, um, really going through a robust process of thinking about claim, evidence, and reasoning, and then critiquing that. Very much like our civic responsibilities, um, as Director Carbone has mentioned. And so, that really is, um, the root of what we're talking about social studies is that inquiry design model, um, of really being not only being able to know that content, but also thinking through it through a critical lens. Other questions, Dr. Swanson. >> Hey, can you, um, share with me, there's a section in here that has uh, taking action as one of the three key steps. Can you walk me through kind of like what does that entail? I I don't know that can will get will cause folks like taking action on history, taking action on geography. Are they working on projects? Are they going out to the community and doing activities? Like what does that mean? >> Yeah, it could be project. It could be very much a project based. But that dimension four that you're speaking of Director Thompson is really thinking about the communication and then critiquing those conclusions. Really thinking about what is the claim? What is the evidence? How am I reasoning through that and what might be some next steps? And really looking from an unbiased lens looking at opposing perspectives and viewpoints. >> The C3 framework that Director Georgie is sharing is a national resource and that's what the state standards are built off of. So just your so you're aware where that C3 framework came from. Any other questions? Yep, Director Thompson. >> And and would can you share like any major like any highlights of what changed in the state standards that we should be aware of or that the community should be aware of? What is now emphasized more? What is less? And is it going to be is it going to be harder? I mean I don't know. >> Yes. >> Every year every year goes by it feels like we got to keep remembering more things but now with chat GPT Tony says we don't have to so. >> I think the biggest shift not only with the social studies standards but any of the content standards is it's not enough just to know the content. It's really about that problem solving and that critical thinking and that inquiry. Particularly with social studies some of the key shifts that are occurring with these standards compared to our past standards is they're centered on that student inquiry. They're also centered on disciplinary literacy skills. Are you thinking and learning like a historian? Um, the other piece is it's looking at interdisciplinary um model. Um, before like for example in fourth grade it might have just been on the United States geography. Um, and no longer does it have those simple themes. It's really interdisciplinary. Um, and then um the other piece is it's aligned to those strands. Um, like economics, history, geography, etc. I think to answer maybe better your question um Director Thompson is it's not just lower level thinking of something that you would Google like a DOK 1 or a DOK 2 answer that you could find that on the internet. It's but what do you do with that information? How do you think critically about that information? And how do you think it through um civic civically as well? >> Right. >> So then how do you test on those kind of things? Because everyone will interpret things differently. I mean, if critical thinking is the overall end objective in in social studies and and and and and maybe geography is geography like whatever it is what it is. This is where Minnesota is. Right? But like for social studies, there are so many different perspectives and viewpoints. And so while the curriculum uh I'm assuming is has multiple viewpoints and it's going to angry anger many people because of the various viewpoints that it may have. But the intent is here's how you can look at it from these different lens. So though suddenly we talk about taking action or we talk about how do you view it differently it it it like how do you then grade on something like that? How do you how do you educate something like that? >> Yeah. I think it's really about what you are speaking to. It's we're developing um our students to be problem solvers, problem finders, critical thinkers to be able to analyze information for bias. Um, and also another piece is is when I'll give an example when you look something up at the internet. do you just take that one source for face value? No, we want to teach our kids that they need to look at multiple sources, look at primary sources, secondary sources um before they're making that claim. And that's where that evidence piece is, and then reasoning through what might be the best decision based on these different sources that we have from both a primary and secondary. So really when you think about it, it's developing those critical thinkers um so that they can think through things that are complex and look at it through a diverse lens. >> I I will also add that um really that is the work. Um as I said before, the teacher is the most important component and Sandy added it's the curricular resource, the assessment, all in the instruction, all of those pieces together. So part of Sandy's and her team's work is not just around choosing a resource and then saying we're done. It's coming back to our teachers and providing professional development so that they know what the C3 framework is and they know how to um support students through an inquiry framework. So we have to also support the teacher in our work, not just give them the resource and say, "Okay, we're done." >> If you think about it, the standards are the content and that C3 framework is how we deliver that content. Um and each of our um different content areas such as ELA, you have the content of the ELA, but you're delivering it through a science of reading lens. So all of our content areas have a way to deliver that. Um and then for science, it's through the 3D assessments um as we visited in past um presentations with all of you. >> Director Thompson and Swanson? >> Uh and so my my last question is because I've got more, but it is what it is. Uh I know that curriculum, when we go to these various sources, they generally provide 80% of what the state standards are. So I'm assuming that's going to apply with these 10 resources that we're also going to be purchasing. So, I'm assuming we'll have to come back or you will be coming back with the remaining 20% on what the gaps are or is that something that the district and the staff will be creating on your own? Do the teachers make that? Um do we like how do we how do we fund that? And And so, I just want to make sure while we purchase this curriculum, it's not going to cover the whole standard, correct? It's just from my understanding. >> Um I think particularly [clears throat] when we think about the standards um based on MDE um are the indigenous standards. Um those do not show up because nationally um that isn't an area that's being addressed. So, that is something that we look at to make sure that we're supporting those standards. Um and sometimes we support it through supplementary resources, whether it's a text. Um other times um our teachers work together and they develop units of study and that's what they do during summer writing. So, this first round of summer writing is really for our teachers to be comfortable with the resources, thinking about how it aligns with those instructional practices, looking at that alignment, and then identifying potentially where there may be gaps, and then determining do we need to have a supplementary piece or is that something that we create within our units of study within the design of a C3 framework. >> All right. Dr. Swanson? >> Um is it safe to say that these resources will help the overall goal of having consistency in the secondary curriculum? >> Yes. >> Yeah. Yeah, 100% as Sandy talked about earlier um that the teachers are engaged in creating those scope and sequences. And that helps when a new teacher comes in, they can be handed the scope and sequence so they can see what the timing is, when they're supposed to teach what they they can. It also helps with our PLCs when the teachers come together to talk about those units of study or those common assessments. They can talk about how did your kids do on this assessment? How did mine do? Why didn't mine do so well? How did you present it? And so they get to talk about their craft of teaching as well. >> I think the other piece that is very helpful when we look at social studies, particularly at the high school from 9-12, even though we have those different courses, we're still using Savvas, which is the same platform. So that also helps students when they're moving from course to course. That platform looks similar and it also helps our system because there is some consistency with that as well. >> What's up? >> Other questions? >> What I appreciate about the social studies curriculum is, you know, we're approving money tonight, but I think we say social studies and forget how many courses are involved under the social studies umbrella, right? Everything from history to psychology to economics. And so appreciate kind of the holistic review and knowing that we will we probably will need to supplement as Director Thompson is saying. And I think that's where um there's opportunities within the state to utilize like the university or the historical society, right? Who knows the state standards as well, who can help districts supplement. So I appreciate the diversity of resources being brought forward. Yeah. Any other comments? Okay, there's a first and a second. Um all in favor of approving the social studies resources as presented, say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> No. >> Um motion passes 6-1 with uh Director Thompson in dissent. Um all right, next we'll move to district reports and discussions. The first presentation up is the special education update. We'll have Director Humphreys come on. Uh-huh. >> Good evening, Chair Chair Cameron, Superintendent Bowman, members of the board. Our director of special services, Alexia Papi Finley, will be presenting kind of an overview of the special education program updates for for this year for you. >> Thank you. Good evening. By chair Cameron, Superintendent Bowman, members of the board, executive cabinet. Thanks for having me tonight. Oh, I have to click. Okay. Tonight, my goal is that you would have an overview of who we are in student services or special ed section of student services. A little bit more about our program services and settings. Who our population is, special education staffing, and then some highlights from our school year. I you can see in the center. Michelle is our leader, and then we have three buckets of the work. Our due process clerks, and they're really supporting the due process administrative support tasks behind the scene at our different levels. Elementary or early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school. And then we have our special education coordinators, which are our special education administrators that are serving at the building level. We have two at the high school, one at the middle school level, and then we have two that are splitting up our elementary schools, and then Julie who's over all of our early childhood. We have two amazing instructional behavioral coaches who and we have a third you can see that it says to be determined. We had a third that chose to go back into the classroom this year, so that position was kept open. We did close it uh in the spring because we wanted to reset for a fall hire. One thing that's important to to name is who we serve, the different categories of special education. So, when you think of when a student goes through the evaluation process, they we are looking at these are the different areas. So, if a student would qualify for receiving services, these are the ways that they would qualify under specific disability categories, which is then we're writing our goals and objectives, etc. to support them and ensure that they have the services appropriately matching their disability category. Our school-age settings. So, you may have heard uh like setting one or resource. Uh what's important is federal setting one and federal setting two are our students who are primarily served through a resource model. Um they are about 0 to 20% of their day is spent within the special education classroom or receiving services from a special education um staff member. As you go up in the federal settings, that increases their time with special education staff. Setting three, you'll notice that says 61% or more. That are students that you might hear um staff refer to as program or center-based. So, the majority of the students' day, over half of their day is primarily within their special education classroom. Lastly, we have our fed setting four. >> A lot of slides. Okay. >> Yes, keep going. Uh federal setting four, so this is um our students that are placed outside, they're at a separate school setting. So, for us, we use we uh are member of Intermediate District 917. So this is that category of students who are placed within 917. One change for this school year is that all of our Lakeville area schools have setting one, two, and three. In previous years, maybe that wasn't the same that that was not the case. This year we do have setting one, two, and center-based programming in every one of our buildings to support our students. We talk about the program names. So you may hear someone say their student is in the A+ program or in the ACES program. So the different we wanted to make sure that we named the difference. Our A+ program is primarily serving students on the autism spectrum. And they're looking at their executive function and communication and social skills. Our ACES program has a little bit of a richer ratio and have they have more complex needs that they're also navigating like their AAC, their their devices to help them communicate. They generally have speech and OT services as part of their services on their grid. They also need work on support with with sorry for communication and social skills. Our MAP that's primarily serving our students who have the disability category of EBD. Focusing on small class size, the individual behavior supports, emotional regulation, and their academic needs. Finally, our DCD programs. I'm not sure why they didn't get a cool name. They just DCD program. Working on the students' cognitive alerting and learning needs, focusing on their functional, academic, and life skills. So, that's an overview of our center-based programming and how they're divided up amongst our buildings. This is a visual of the center-based classrooms. So, when you're looking at this grid, you're going to see in the column that has all of our elementary school programs, and then across the top is the programs that I just described. So, if you're looking at Christina Huddleston A plus, there's two A plus setting three or center-based classrooms within that building. Here's our secondary grid. So, again, secondary is middle school and high school, and you can look across same. ACES, A plus, BAP, and DCD. For looking at our count, so early intervention, our youngest learners, birth to three. This is as of May 20th. And I put the date on there because this fluctuates pretty regularly. So, we have early childhood as of the 20th are serving 112 students. Our ECSE, that is our three to five group, we we have served 233 students currently. And at our elementary, 948. Our middle school, 388. And our high school, 457 students. Transition is listed because transition, as we know, students who receive special education have the right to receive special education up until their 22nd birthday. So, transition is 18 to 22. We currently are serving our transition students at the TESA program, which is part of 917. On the setting level, something to note that I wanted to why I called out setting four is we're looking at we have 82 total students being served within our setting four 917 programming, but 43 of those are our transition students. So, they get lumped under federal setting four, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have a setting four IEP. >> Dr. Cameron. Can we before we jump to 917 cuz that sounds like it's a different topic, maybe? Can we go back to I've got a few other questions. >> finish or do you want to take questions as you go? >> Um >> Why don't you finish and then we'll take questions. >> Okay, I will finish and then we'll take questions. >> Sounds good. >> Uh lastly or another uh prong that sometimes we forget about is all of our students that we are serving outside of our buildings and 917. So, we have five private schools, non-public schools that are within our school boundaries and we are currently serving 33 students who attend our private schools. We also have a partial hospitalization program in Lakeville. So, students who are enrolled in there for stabilization, um they also receive an educational component as part of their day and we're we've served we're serving 20. We have home school students and then that that maybe is self-explanatory, but we have home-bound and home-based. The The biggest distinction between those two is home-bound are students that are confined to the home that we have they have a medical condition that is saying that they um need to be bound to the home. We have a provider that's going into the home. Where home-based is an IEP team decision and that's generally served in the community or at home. Intermediate District 917. So, we currently support they 917 supports us in the following areas. You'll see the program and services. On the right side, you'll see our enrollment data. So, we currently have 82 students that are served by 917. I said this already about the Tessa program. What is something that I thought the board would appreciate um seeing is the wait list for placement. We currently have 14 students waiting placement, and we've also had 13 students who have received intakes this school year. Staffing update, something that's important um is the number of our contracted providers. I don't I think the board is well aware of our staffing needs, and we've been able to hire throughout the year 48 different contracted providers. Something to note is we have um ended the contract for 19 of them, two licensed and 17 non-licensed, and that's due to the quality of service provided. Current providers, we have 27 contracted providers, 13 licensed and 14 non-licensed. Licensed again is speech language, OT, special education teacher, or any of our licensed special education staff. Our open positions for next year, we're really proud of this. Um we have our team has done our buildings and our coordinators have done an amazing job um being responsive to candidates and um selling our district as a place to be, and we are down to this many open positions. So, um this was did not look like this a week ago when we started this. So, we're really proud of our work. Our greatest need is within our special education teacher positions, both center-based and resource. Our special education staffing something to note with our needs changing and over the course of the last 3 years we have increased the FTE by a few full-time employees. I think we have that in here. Let me see. I can tell you exactly what the numbers are. Sorry. I was trying to remember. Um, we have increased it by three speech language pathologists, three school psychologists, five special education teachers, one OT, and one nurse over the course of the 3 years. Some highlights. Our professional development days are something we're pretty proud of this year. We have been able to have from early childhood through 12th grade collaboration and support for our occupational therapists and our speech language pathologists and our school psychologists. Being able to bring them together for calibration, first learning. What are we doing at the different and then how do we calibrate and how do we also create processes that can sustain versus trying to maybe reinvent each time something that will live with us that's based in compliance. We have a monthly newsletter. It's an internal newsletter that we send out the first week of each month. That's highlighting any changes, any compliance concerns, it's doing shout-outs, it's doing resource Uh, uh, teachers, our behavior, um, our instructional behavioral coaches have a section that they're pushing on information as well. Kind of the themes that they're getting asked, they're able to push out those resources within the newsletter. So, it hits a broader range of staff versus just the the coaching cycle that they're working with the direct teacher or support provider in. We are also working on our special education website. It is not done. I had higher aspirations for myself of having this done this year, but we we didn't get there. There were other things that needed to prioritize, but we were able to and what that means is we're taking all of our guidance documents and refreshing them under compliance. So, we're able to then, um, if a staff member has a question, we're able to say, "Here's the guidance document." versus potentially getting two or three different answers. Um, so, I think that that there was a lot there already. We were just taking and and making it even better. We also are able to, uh, through an OSHA grant that we secured early in the year, we were able to, um, support Ukeru implementation. And Ukeru is a trauma-informed practice that that focuses on de-escalation and and trauma-informed versus, uh, like CPI has a lot of good things about it, um, but it also could, uh, end in like a restrictive procedure. The goal of Ukeru is that we're not ending this in like a restrictive procedure and more, um, uh, so, more trauma-informed practice. We have focused on, um, Orchard Lake, Lake Marion, and Oak Hills for the full implementation and then done smaller trainings in pockets for teams that have needed it. The goal is to expand next year. Um, special education institute, we are bringing that back for this summer. So, August 19th we're planning an opportunity for our incoming special education staff and returning staff to have a day of just special education um work together for us to calibrate and celebrate and and get us focused for the year. So, we're really excited about that. Opportunities um for this year, we had the special education advisory committee, the SEAC meeting that um it was my first year and privilege of supporting that group, which has been really great to hear from um families or parents of the community and um listen to um what's showing up for them every day and being able to work through that. It it's been really a great honor. We have a new position in conjunction with teaching and learning for next year looking at um we already have IDSS coaches and mentors, but we're taking uh creating a new position that will focus just on special education staff. So, they will have a mentor that can focus on all the things, professional development, evaluation, curriculum instruction, um teaching practices. So, looking forward to hiring that unicorn of a person. Um and then thank you. And then um the mentor mentee program we uh were celebrating. We've had 53 new staff participate this year and we have 10 mentors that are leading that work. I do have a staff spotlight video that we worked with communications on. I think it's like 2 minutes. Can we do it? >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> [music] [music] >> Occupational therapy is really near and dear to my heart. Um the mentorship program has helped prepare me for the day-to-day roles and responsibilities, but it's also helped when I have a question come up. I have [music] someone who I can go to to get that question answered. And then because I'm set up for [music] success, I can make sure that my students are also set up for success. >> I think there's always a pretty steep learning curve when you're either switching into a new district or [music] like for me switching into a new career. This is a first for me and having Derek to fall back on has helped [music] me learn the organizational patterns that I need to be successful, learn how to speak to students [music] and talk about some of the like challenges that they may have. >> You know, it's easier to go through challenges when you have [music] a team that you genuinely love to be around and you >> [music] >> you just you feel more supported. Um it really makes me feel like I am a part of something bigger than myself [music] and that it's not just me alone on my island every day. >> So in the process of doing [music] the mentorship relationships, not only has it been an opportunity for mentees to learn, I myself as a mentor have had a [music] great opportunity to refresh and increase my passion for things listening to some of the pieces [music] that they've learned from other settings as well. >> sped team here at McGuire has it's very obvious [music] how intentional they are with everybody. Um students are very well thought of. We talk about them a lot and so we as a team [music] have been able to make sure that every student is having their time in the sunlight. [music] How do we make sure that their needs are being met? We talk about that very intentionally. >> She's definitely that support system, [music] but she also helps me sift through like, okay, what is important, what's not important, and for the things that really [music] need to be addressed, what are the systems that are in place within Lakeville schools to get that [music] change started. But also it's really opened up >> [music] >> other conversations that you know, her being at North and me being [music] at South, it's really been a great opportunity for us to look at >> [music] >> ways to become more consistent with our systems across North and South. [music] >> It's the dual relationship of it. Both of us are learning at the same time. We're learning are there gaps? Are there things that we need to do better to teach you as [music] a new person? And learning what are some of the new things that you have, what experiences that you have [music] that could be put in place to make it more efficient, to make it better for our students, to help build the relationships and do the things that we need to do. >> I just feel [music] really grateful to be a part of the Lakeville School District and the team that's really supporting these students and helping them grow and meet their potential. It's been a really fun to see the progress first hand and just to be a part of the team that makes that happen. It's really meaningful to me. >> Great. >> Thank you Thank you so much for the presentation. >> Yes. >> All right, Director Thompson, you're first up. >> Oh, well, thank you. I apologize. I thought we were going to go through 20 more slides cuz they're all part of the same bucket. So, I was like, oh my gosh, that's such a long I can't I don't think I can wait that long. [laughter] But, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for waiting. Thank you, Brian, for waiting. Uh back to your first slide. I I'm fascinated by So, first of all, I appreciate you sharing the data cuz I'm it's super interesting to see here and looking at the org to me that's like that's not enough people just when when when we've got 2,000 students in in this kind of capacity. But, the the success the success for every student, you've got one and again when when a normal uh maybe a community member looks at it, it's very it's not academic focused at all when you look at the success for every student in regards to the special education designations. Uh can you tell me a little bit more about a specific learning disability? What does that kind of like encompass and what is cuz is that like where your like dyslexia students would fall under and or like miscellaneous? >> Yes, so you generally SLD a specific learning disabilities around reading, writing, or math. >> Okay, so then so then of the 12 or 11 different buckets is would that be considered the I don't want to say the majority, but if if we've got 2,000 students, there's going to be probably a a top three and I'm just curious if if specific learning disability would be amongst one of the top three. So >> Um if I our data from uh like our 2026 data, so last school year um specific learning disability was 3.3% of our overall special education >> population. >> Okay, so so it's not very high at all. Fascinating. Okay, I thought it would be much higher with um uh I think it's a 503 504. >> 504. >> 504 plans. >> Yeah. >> To put that in perspective, like our autism spectrum is 3.6%. >> Okay. 3.6? Okay. Uh so thank you for that for for the clarity on that one. And then the second question that I have is this settings one, two, and three in each building. And and so I'm just thinking to myself in my head, okay, that's how do we scale and and and I don't know if I don't know if that is something that we can scale. Meaning that if we're going to put one in each building, that is just from the from a business side, that's the cost of doing business. Like we're going to have a dedicated resource in every building in that respective setting no matter the volume of kids that are that are that are in there, but I'm assuming the staff um count is going to vary based on the number of kids that that need that kind of setting. Is there Is there a reason why we didn't try to centralize? Cuz I'm I'm just in my mind I'm envisioning it as kids uh, move on to the next grade or they new kids move in, new kids move out, uh, you're going to have Does that student count vary uh, throughout the course of the school year? And is it uh, I don't want to say seasonal, but is it drastic enough where we are then understaffed because we don't have enough people in appropriate buildings because we have one in every building versus if you centralize and I don't know if or have core pockets of like three or four, um, then it's then the the staffing variation wouldn't be as dramatic or drastic. I don't know th- these are just a few things th- thinking through my in in my head around if we're going to have settings one, two, and three in each building, which is great, but then also the downstream ramifications on on the impact if if the if the count changes. Is that Does that make sense? >> It makes sense. I'll start and and then, um, Michelle, if you have anything to add as well, but I I think the providing a continuum is important, um, because ultimately we I mean, space has something to do with this, of course, and we want students to have access to their general education peers. So, um, when we're looking at the needs within each building to provide a continuum of setting one, two, three allows for some of that room, um, for growth. They've gained the skills, we reduce the setting. Or they're showing us they need more, so we're able to move into a setting three program. I think staffing-wise, um, we have been able to be pretty, um, aligned with the needs because we're trying to keep students within their, um, home school or their based on their address in setting one and two. Our center-based programs are where it is not necessarily guaranteed to be in your home school. That's where we go to where the program is, which some of it is what is the building construction. Do we have access to the restrooms within the room? For example, for AC's classrooms. So, the amount of space needed to support the students and the continuum is maybe where I would start that answer. >> Yeah, I will continue. I would also just add to that one of the majority population of students that we serve are students with a disability of ASD and that's the most of our center-based programming throughout the district. And so, we do have pockets of our DCD programming in specific buildings because of a lot of the reasons that Alexia just shared too, like bathroom needs and and that. Same with our MAP program. They are concentrated really in a few specific buildings in terms of staffing. Most of those programs all the students receive occupational therapy, speech services, so we staff also according to we're staffing that at every building. Yeah. >> And so then I I first of all, I love the fact that a child a student can go to their home school because they see their friends, they see their neighborhood and and ideally it would it would be great to be having them close by or in the same building. And then um but but if the volume fluctuates, then the staffing you've got maybe some limitations around that whether you got to bring some in or then you've got to reallocate maybe different responsibilities for some staff if they and wait until things may change here and there. But but it's one of those again, you know, from a business sense it's like, "Hey, you've got customers that are coming in and we need to be able to provide that service within that respective location and uh and and it's just part of the cost of like that's what you do. And so I appreciate hearing that. I think for me uh just the as we continue to grow, as more students come in and out, how does that impact and how do we make sure that you have the right levers to be able to get what you need staffing-wise uh and then also from a district perspective, how do we make sure that our staff are also fully utilized? Because if if if the population changes, I'm assuming then their utilization is less than than than it was before. And so obviously there's things that that can be done. Uh and then the last question that I have So thank you for that. The last question that I have was the uh 48 contractors. Uh glad that you've identified 19 to here. Thanks for hanging out with us. Time to move on. Uh do you do you convert them into FTEs then? Is there is it or are they are these roles that are not FTE warrantable because the the the use the capacity is not there. You know what I mean? I don't know. >> The the current contractors are for open positions that we're not able to fill. >> Yep. >> So hard-to-fill positions or or we've had staff that have taken leaves through the course of year. So they're filling a current FTE. >> Got it. So when the FTE comes back then there isn't a need for them. Okay. >> Yeah. So like right now yeah. So um clarifying. So then at the end of every school year um then it would be letting them go essentially. We're reposting the position. We're hoping to be able to hire a Lakeville employee. And then if we don't then we're able to reach out to our contractor providers to say we do have a need. Even if we were able to secure contractor position for day one of the school year and say on September 15th we were able to get a great candidate then we would just let that contractor go um at that time and take on the Lakeville employee. >> Yeah. And to see your special education FTE um requisition needs of being less than 20 or so. I think last year at this time we were like 80 or something like that. And so this is fantastic and then knowing that you use the contractors as a backfill if we can't get the 20. Awesome. Good. >> All right. Dr. Baker. So I have several questions. I'm sure you knew that but um just to answer um Director Thompson's question, I think a lot of the misunderstanding around special education is that people see setting and they think it's a it's a classroom place. That's just how much time they're spending in special education. So one case manager may have a setting one, two, and three student on their caseload just based on how much support they need throughout the school day. That doesn't mean that's three separate classrooms. So just to clarify that. Um so one of the questions that I had and I'll just kind of go down the list and then you guys can help me out here. Um when you had the different um classroom set up, I did not see a middle school model for ACES. Is that because those students are absorbed into like the A+ classrooms at the middle school model or do they not have a middle school um program? Or maybe that's a mistake. >> I'm going to look at my grid. And I don't think we do. >> It's like side 125. >> Yeah. I'm going to >> look at the PDF and then cross check. >> Maybe. >> [snorts] >> I know. Yeah. We do not have an ACES program. >> So what happens so that you there there's like one, two, so it's three, four, five. There's six classrooms in elementary school and then there's none in middle school and then there's two classrooms at the high school. So what happens to those students? >> We have an I mean I can see you of our programming right now. We have many of our students that are uh transitioning into an A plus or a DCD classroom. >> Okay. Yeah, I just know that like the Aces program that specific student population and you correct me if I'm wrong. Um they they rely really heavily on AAC devices and the type of one-to-one support that they need is pretty extensive. So then I I worry about them just being absorbed into another A plus classroom where they're not getting that support that they need cuz I mean in an A plus classroom you're looking at a staffing ratio or student ratio of what like 12 to 18 students and an Aces classroom is what six? So then when I think about that transitioning into the middle school with them all in one classroom with like 12 other students with on the spectrum I I guess like in my mind I'm I'm just making sure they're getting the support that they need. Not only them but also the classroom teacher because I would think that you would need more paraprofessionals to um to serve that. >> Yes, there that is a heavily staffed from a para support program to support all the various needs plus OT and speech language. >> Okay. Um and then my other question was with um the autism program specifically the A plus there's 10 classrooms at the elementary level and there's only one middle school that provides those services. Um is the reason that they're not in the other middle schools considering that that's our highest student population model. Um is that due to space constraints cuz I would think that uh we would want to work on faith there instead of space constraints. >> I can't answer that as I'm inheriting this but I'm um I I can appreciate the question. >> Okay. I'm just trying to think of staffing too. Um and then I was looking at your staffing increase where you said you added three speech, five teachers, three psychs. I missed the whole list and that what was over how many years the past years? >> Three. >> Okay. So over the past three years and and this is to Director Thompson's point where he said I don't I'm worried that you don't have the right staffing. We've had an increase of over 388 students within special education. We went from like 14% to 17.5. I can pull up the data. I have it somewhere on here. I'm looking at that increase going I know I don't think we've added enough teachers to make up the amount of that increase. And when I think about as a board, what can we do to support this? Um the state does have models um and it's in state statute how we staff our special education rooms specifically for students that are like DCD or that require more support. Um and I'm looking at other districts and how they do that. And District 196 has um within their policies [clears throat] for the district uh special special education staffing numbers. Is that something we need to consider in this district? >> I mean, I guess I would say I would leave that up to the board. >> [laughter] >> To to make that decision. >> right for you to know like as a board like we're looking at a setting one case load, say like high school, and we're going to say we don't want that classroom to go over 22 students because I know and you know that throughout the school year our numbers don't decrease, they increase as we complete evaluations. So where we start at the beginning of the year, if we're starting at an 18 as far as a case load number, by the end of the year we're probably going to be more like a 25. Well, again, then we go back to what's the quality of service that we're providing? And if this board is focused on academic excellence, there's no way we can provide those services without the support that's needed for staff and students. >> Superintendent Bowman, were you going to jump in? No. Okay. >> Kevin. >> Yeah. >> Dr. Can you just break that down a little bit more? I guess what we're doing versus what other districts are doing? >> So for example, like 196 has within their policies um what their case load numbers are across the district. So for like an Aces program, they would cap that at six students. And if we got over a point where we had more than six students, then they would start another classroom where they would add in another para. For a classroom like an A plus program, they would cap that at 12. Um and then they again would look in at the services and say, "Okay, now we've had three students move into the district or three more students qualify. That classroom is at 15. We know that that's beyond the capabilities of what the type of services that we want to provide that we can offer." And then they would go through with the DCD rooms and do the same thing. And typically those are capped between six and eight. Um again, like I can pull up the numbers from District 196 cuz I've looked at it before, but this is a conversation that we've had in Lakeville for several years that we've come back to all the time saying like if we want to provide quality services for all of our students, then we need to really look at our model and determine like are we over capacity with our staff? And I have to think that maybe the reason that we can't keep special ed teachers in Lakeville is that we are asking too much. That it's over capacity for what a person can handle. That's just my thought process. >> Well, and it seems like that might be a good discussion to have now that staffing is getting caught up to itself because you run into that I don't know what the saying is where it perpetuates itself essentially. If you don't have enough staff, then people that want to come here. But if we are getting closer to that point, maybe we do have that discussion. Like what what is the ideal amount? And then I guess the question is uh capacity, building and space, too. >> Right. And if we look at like what you're saying is the the positions that you're having the hardest time filling are the programs. Those are our neediest students. >> Mhm. >> So, maybe the reason we have such problems filling that classroom is because there's too many students in there and not enough support. >> Dr. Anderson? >> Yeah, I know we have I guess the general expectations for our expectations for general ed for classroom size just for elementary only. >> Yeah, but that >> kind of like a >> isn't in policy, is it? >> Elementary only, correct? >> It's a per >> It's not policy. >> So, yeah, I'll just say this. So, >> Not policy, but >> It's not in policy. That's what I'm trying to get at. >> The limiting factor is financial. It's not desire, will, compassion, caring. Um it's the same problem we have in secondary. Uh and the dilemma and maybe why one I I could certainly take 196 model and I can cost that out for you. Um I think it would be a big big cost. Um but then it becomes priority. Uh the same thing that we've done whether you're talking about a seven-period day at the high school level or you're talking about classroom sizes at the high school level, the district has uh based on funding and and a long long ago decision and practice of putting elementary uh class size guidelines in and that becomes the first priority. It's It's a budgeting problem. The limiting factor is financial. Um So, I think happy to do that kind of costing and we've done different variations of that in the time I've been in the district and it's um it's a big price tag. Um not to say that that should be your reason. It's then it becomes a matter of priority. Do you say, "Okay, we're not going to do elementary class size guidelines or gen ed class size guidelines so that we can fund this." But it will be an either/or proposition. Now, the other thing I think demographically uh 196 does not mirror this school district. Um however, uh all good ideas should be uh uh vehemently or rapidly explored and considered. So, I I I think what Director Baker is saying is exactly right. It's been a conversation around here for a long time and I think the work I've done on it both as a CFO in the district and later as a superintendent, it's always been a very hefty price tag. I think it's exacerbated now post co- COVID with um the conversation we're having like contractors. We're competing with contractors to hire people. >> Mhm. >> And and so whatever their hiring model is, they might have dibs on people before us or people might choose to go that route instead of a employee route and that is also probably predicated on wage. So um when you throw all these these different things, the combined effect works against a lot of what we try to do, but that's not a reason not to try, that's not a reason not to look at okay, what's a better way to do this, um but I think we know the answers to that. They might change over time in terms of what the um what the amount of money we're talking about is and it rarely goes down, it typically goes up uh just on inflationary factors alone. Um but I'm happy to explore that. I'm not against it in any way, shape or form. I I just think that's kind of the bigger picture. >> Oh, totally. >> I think our first step with that would be figuring out where we're currently at, right? With staffing and so what is our ratio at the moment in order to decide is it drastically different from 186 or another district? Um yep, Director Baker then Thompson. >> So that that was my next question was asking can we get the ratios for this the current caseloads across the district by setting? Um and then also can we get a number for how many students with disabilities are open enrolling out of the district? And I ask that one specifically because I am a parent of um children with disabilities and I am involved in the parent community pretty heavily um and I've seen the conversation shift over the past 10 years to where people used to come to this district for special education and now everyone's telling parents and I you can pull up any special needs Facebook page and it it's the same thing. Don't go to Lakeville, go over here to 196. Like they have it. Well, then that's money going out our door cuz if they're open enrolling out of our district, then we have to pay that district to provide the services. So again, then we're losing money. So if we're going to do it on finances, that's that's something to do too and um I know like and I don't I don't mean that to be negative against this district at all because I owe her everything for what my children have accomplished from this district and actually I enjoyed watching the staffing thing cuz I recognized some of the people and they provided services for some of my kids. So love this district, want to help. Um was just an observation. Dr. Thompson. >> Yeah, I I think the comment I was going to share is that yeah, you can't have both. You can't have everything. And and if we have a fixed amount of dollars, either we have services in every single location or we have services in half of locations and that allows you to take advantage of the staff that you have and so do you give students better I don't know I I don't know if you if you run the numbers, but do you give students better our class sizes smaller if you have less locations or do you have or do you give the students um uh the ability to go to their home school uh and and and but then it costs more because that you got to put, you know, capabilities in all all all the schools. And so I don't know the answer, but I think that's a philosophical discussion that the board has to decide. Do you want smaller class sizes or do you want students to be able to go to their home school? Period. Like that's that's really the discussion. I don't know. >> I That's Dr. actually not what I was saying. Like they don't have to go to their home school to provide some of the services we provide them within the other buildings and if there's a smaller percentage of population of students then they are served in different buildings. My children were part of that population that was served. Not asking for that, just saying that we should look at case loads and make sure that we're staffing things correctly. My second point is that a lot of people feel like or they think that the services and supports that we put in for special education only work for special education and that is so not true. Um, yes, it's 10% of the population but when you provide those supports across the continuum, it benefits all students, not just that 10%. Um, so I think that we're missing the um the idea here if we think that if we're focusing on our most needy population that we're ignoring the gen ed and the rest of the the capacity cuz that's just not true. It's It's just not at all. Um essentially, for example, I'll I'll use dyslexia as a um as an example. Um, a lot of the reading supports that you put in place for a student that has um a profile of dyslexia work for all students. Focusing on academics or phonics and teaching it in a multi-sensory approach works for all students. It doesn't just work for the certain percentage of the student population that struggles with dyslexia. So, um I just think we need to have an open mindset when we think about it and look at the the broader picture of what those supports can do for the entire school environment, not just the students that are accessing special education. Dr. Resnick Wilson? >> I Yeah, I I've three questions. So, you noted that we have uh 14 students that are currently waiting placement at 917. So, I assume those are the the setting four students. So, where are they currently housed and being serviced? >> Question. >> Currently in the program that they a center-based program throughout the district. So, uh with the waiting list for 917, um it can be upwards of a year before student actually can have an intake a or family can have an intake, and so we have to get creative with the programming um with what we can offer here. And sometimes that programming that creative programming um looks like we add another one-to-one para for that student um while they are waiting to get into 917. Um sometimes there's been where we've uh shortened a student's school day. Uh it's not my favorite option, but um we have had to shorten a uh a student's school day while they are waiting for placement. So, it really is um for those students that get on the waiting list um determining what creative programming we can do right here in Lakeville until they're able to get an intake. >> Um kind of related to our I assume those students kind of are on the spectrum of ages. It's not just younger students. >> Not just one grade level or there's not just all elementary or middle or high school. It spans across K to 12. >> Okay. Then on on the other end, once a student and I know that we use our early childhood to kind of identify students as well. Once a student's identified as needing special or being special needs category, how often do they are they evaluated and possibly removed from that uh services? >> Excellent question. So, students need to be re-evaluated every 3 years um to see if they still qualify um as having a disability. At that time then we can dismiss students. So, um it's it's every 3 years. And if a special education team is seeing that a student is making progress on their goals or have met all their goals, um the team can do a re-evaluation sooner than 3 years to um see if a student could be exited from services. >> And how I mean, how How does that happen? >> We I don't have the numbers off the top of my head right now, but can certainly get it to you for this year on the number of students who have been dismissed. >> Okay. Uh So, one more last question or questions around the Eckero? >> Ukero. >> How do you How do you say >> Ukero. >> Ukero. >> Yeah. >> Um is that only for like special ed or is this like a district-wide policy that's being implemented? And then I guess the question is when When did you start implementation of that? >> Yeah. Um so, it it we are focusing on our center-based programs in special education. It is not a district-wide or building-wide um program. And again, the the focus is to be like res- a restraint-free crisis management system. Uh we started We I can't remember the date we were received the OSHA grant um earlier in the school year, and then we rolled out our our first training session late in the fall. And then we've been able to provide um follow-up um support within the programs who are implementing it through our behavior coaches. >> And have you along those lines, have you been tracking like the number of incidents, the number of injuries, you know, um those kind of things along the way so you can compare to see whether the program's effective? >> Yes. Um and I can get those numbers to you, but we have um significantly reduced We We have I'll pause. Let me back up. Not that we have a huge number of restrictive procedures. And with the implementation of Ukero, we have reduced significantly reduced the amount of um restrictive procedures with students, and I can get those numbers for you. >> Just one more. Is this a growing trend or other >> Other around us use that as well. >> Yes. Um it's it's started out east and I I I think I heard of it for the first time probably 6 years ago. Um and it's making its way into I think the Midwest and larger districts because they're seeing the success. >> I'd say just to add so um there was three or four classrooms that really were high needs um in those classrooms um that were identified this year kind of as the pilot um have students uh on the setting for a waitlist. So we really were looking at what is the specific need. The OSHA grant helped us uh to purchase the the mats that are required for um for the program. It The mats can be pretty spendy. So that is another reason why we Yes. Um that's another reason why we just focused it to um some really select sites and classrooms. >> Right. >> Uh Director Baker. >> Um so I sat on the seclusion work group for the state of Minnesota and it was one of the practices that the state identified as um an effective practice to reduce restrictive procedures. So it is it is recognized by the state as well. >> And staff injuries. >> Yes. Yes. I would also say that like the um the first part of the course where it talks about trauma-informed practices, that would be beneficial for all staff to hear that. >> Okay. >> We've started that at one school actually. >> [laughter] >> Um I have a couple of questions. Um one is congrats on the staffing by the way, that's exciting. And I know I know um people have mentioned it before at the board or we've heard it how difficult it can be to staff fully staff special ed, right? Are we on par with our peers generally in terms of our staffing challenges or do you feel like Lakeville is having more challenges or less challenges than, you know, our metro area peers? Where do we kind of fall with that, would you say? >> I would say in terms of the larger districts or districts similar to Lakeville, we are probably right on par um with staffing. Smaller districts um just from what I've been able to notice um tend to be able to staff um fully or maybe one or two staff that aren't able to be filled, but I think maybe >> Can I share something about that? So, um that was the reason that 917 um was looking into international hires to help fill classroom positions because they also struggle with that. Um in Owatonna, we struggle with it, too, but we were able to do the para apprenticeship program and we um partner with Mankato State for that. Um so, we have paras that apply for um to be a part of it and then we choose and then they go to school to be a special ed teacher and they work within our classrooms um with one of our special ed teachers. Um It's kind of nice cuz you get extra hands within the classroom, but this year we graduated um six para apprentices with special education teaching licenses. Um we only had like two openings, so we hired two and then gift to the districts around us got our other four because um we're able to do that. We have another cohort It takes 2 years to go through, so we have another cohort coming up that'll graduate next year and then we just interviewed and um added a couple more for next year to start another new cohort. So, that's a way that you can train the staff within your own buildings and they become um apprentices within your classrooms as extra sets of hands, but they're also learning to be special ed teachers and then you're graduating your own teachers that can fill your spots. >> Great. Thank you. Um on the sign where you talked about the increase in staffing going up in the last 3 years, do you feel like that is both based on student growth just in the district? Or and or student the the growth in those particular staff is just because our students need different services, but we have more or less the same number. Does that make Does that question make sense? Or is it a combination of both? >> Both. >> Okay. And do you feel like, you know, our our district population continues student population continues to to grow, albeit smaller than I think we originally predicted. Do you feel like the special education growth is mirroring our student general student growth or are we seeing a um a higher growth in special education ne uh students than the general ed population? >> I I did um so So, in looking at Infinite Campus, when you look at our numbers across, um we have fluctuating I mean, consistent growth from '21 um to 2024, and then '24 to '26, it it leveled a little, but I would say our our growth is looking between 75 and 100 students a year. Um so, yes, growth. >> Um okay. >> But, it's kind of plateaued in the last 2 years. >> And one more question, and uh you might not know this off the top of your head, and that's fine. Do you feel like our special education enrollment rate is similar to other districts our size, or are we higher or lower in terms of the percent of students being serviced? Okay. Well, Director Baker, but do Do you all have a perspective on that? >> I It'd be anecdotal. >> Okay, sounds good. Yeah. I can We can touch base later on the day. Thanks Kim. >> You're welcome. >> Okay, any other questions? All right, great. Well, thank you both very much. All right, with that we'll turn to our policy updates. So, there are three policies considered first readings on today's agenda. The first one is policy 606.5 and Director Brovold, if you want to come up, you're more than welcome. The board discussed this particular policy library materials and form at length at our work session. Director Brovold, is there anything you want to add tonight? Any recommendations coming forward from you for any changes at this time? >> I don't have anything additional. I forwarded it as is. >> Okay. Um Is there any questions or discussion on this more than what we talked about the other night? Yes, Director Thompson. >> 10 motions. How would you like me to present them? >> Um so, we're not voting on this tonight. This is just considered a first reading cuz technically the work session doesn't count as a first reading cuz we didn't have public comment. >> Got it. >> So, we did discuss at length the policy >> Well, >> to bring to a second reading. >> to discuss it now or do we want to just wait until next week next time and I bring the 10 motions up? >> suggest that as a then we then we'd have a formal way to vote. >> Well, I mean I think it's on for discussion, right? So, it doesn't have to be a motion, but you can >> Yeah. Oh, certainly. Yeah, you can make recommendations, certainly. >> Or discussion. >> Yeah. I also just want to make sure we keep it respectful, please. Oh, yeah, definitely. I don't I feel like you're being respectful. >> Yeah, it seems a little snarky to me. >> So, yeah, what recommend I mean in addition to what was documented I guess at the work session, do you have other recommendations for for >> so you know, the the general context of or the the the draft of the policy again is coming from is coming from the Minnesota School Board Association. And so, again, their policies are just drafts that they recommend uh but not uh official that that we need to. And so, when I read when I read the policy again and and just kind of recap from the policy from our discussion uh from the working session, um it again there was some contradictions in in the policy itself. Uh I think the biggest one that I have is the very last one where it says that uh Uh I don't have the policy in front of me. Sorry. The very last sentence or the the one where it says that um the committee is binding >> Mhm. >> and final. And so, I'll just start I'll start from the first one and okay and and kind of go from there. The first one is in section two, the general purpose of the statement. >> Can you um because this one has lines, do you mind reading the line that way we document >> Yep. >> research needs. Great. Thanks. Or I can find it, too, Brian, I think. >> Yeah. You know, I don't have them lined up. I'll pause and and you guys can keep discussing and I can find I can find it. It's okay. I'll pause. >> Are you sure? Okay. Does anyone else have any comments about this policy tonight? Director Swanson, yeah. >> Yeah. Um just two thoughts for consideration of the board 270. >> Mhm. >> Use of the challenged resources shall not be restricted during the reevaluation proceedings. Um I just I just put that it does not have to be restricted, you know, cuz what if they want to restrict it, you know, we're saying no, you can't. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> So, then it leaves the leaves the discretion up to them cuz they might want to, depending on what the the material is. And then under three 16 through three 18-ish, we crossed out Um and this kind of relates back to 342 to 4 343, which is the decision of the re- review committee shall be final and binding. >> Mhm. >> I would propose that we strike the decision is binding and then add back in 316 to 318. Uh the requestor may appeal the review committee's decision, but I would say to the board of education. By submitting a written appeal to the >> Our school board. >> Yeah, our school board. I can't remember. >> Our school board. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Okay. >> To the school board. Um by submitting a written appeal to the whoever they would submit it to. >> So is your thought with that? >> So the decisions would all be made below, right? Selection, you know, curating, but then if it's challenged, there is a decision process that it goes through. And then they'd provide a written recommendation or a decision. Then if it's challenged again, we would review the written decision of that committee. And we would uh essentially affirm it or >> Or deny it. >> reverse it. Yeah. Mhm. >> So what is the purpose of the committee then if the board will overrule it? Like why have why have a committee at all? >> Because the committee's appointed by, you know, the superintendent and his staff, right? Who And we get people who come up here and and have grievances about things that we can't really do, right? We've gotten them We're We have one employee. Um so instead of putting all the onus on on elected officials to make this final determination, which can be highly scrutinized by the public, why not have the board take on the onus of that and bear the responsibility of it? I would guess that we would probably go with the recommendation most of the time if it's a well-reasoned recommendation, but you never know, right? >> Matt, do you not want to add a school board member on the committee? Cuz that was something we discussed last time. >> I mean, I don't think that's a bad idea, but if the appeal's going to could ultimately go to the school board, then it kind of negates that process, too. But I don't think that's a bad idea. >> Well, I I wouldn't say it negates it. I just think like um I appreciate when we have like Carly that sits on teaching and learning, and then when something comes to us from teaching and learning, and she's been involved in the process, like she kind of fills in the gaps. >> Sure. >> So, I I would think that if you were going to add that process to where it comes to the school board, I would appreciate having a school board member that sits on the committee who could then inform the board about all of the process that's been involved up into this point. >> Mhm. Dr. Carbone. >> Yeah, I and I know I mentioned this in the work session, but um technically, even if the committee says no, it's done, we don't agree with with what you're suggesting, at whoever's doing that, um they could come to public comment, hold whatever it is, but line in the book or whatever, up to the camera, read it, and because we're all elected officials, we might have a public relations issue, depending upon what it is. So, back to um back to the potential of having um I hate to use this analogy, but like the Supreme Court making the final decision if in fact um I'm not sure that's a bad idea, because ultimately, they'll get it to the public by coming to public comment, if they if they're that passionate, whoever it is. >> And they might even come before they launch an appeal, right? They'll just come and talk about a book. So, I think either way, you can have a PR issue. >> Whatever >> it would stop it, but yeah. >> Right, exactly. >> Uh Director Swanson, did you find or do you have Were these Were yours mirroring? >> Yeah, I think they're similar, but but >> You have some additional >> Yeah, they're similar. but >> That's in, you know, >> They're similar. >> Thompson >> I'm trying to I'm trying to find it in Cross Track, but you know what? I'm going to just pause and I'll just I'll I'll I will email them to the appropriate folks after the meeting and then share my concerns. >> Perfect. So, I think what we can do is take these ideas, give them to Superintendent Bowman. Is that okay? >> [laughter] >> For um for the the library specialist the digital media specialist to to think about and um offer any addendums or changes. And if and then at the next meeting we would at the the next formal board meeting we'd have a second reading and if the board would like to make any additional um suggestions for changes, that's when we could um do amendments to the policy, too. Director Thompson >> So so I and I do want to just acknowledge that this is a new policy. The district has that does not have one. Uh there were a lot of folks that within the district that reviewed it, uh that put it together, did uh recommendations. And and and again I I appre- I'm appreciative of what they did. Uh the changes that I want to see is that that it has a little bit more of board I don't want to say authority, but board oversight. And and so when we have flexibility to say, "Hey, we're not going to approve finances or we want to move finances around or we're not going to approve curriculum." And we still need to vote on those kind of things. Um uh the board still has general oversight and that does that isn't conveyed very well in the in the respective policy. That's all. So, if we make those minor tweaks to it, um the process, the people involved, how it gets uh uh you know, reviewed and and and decided by subject matter experts, 100% aligned on that. But there still needs to be a little bit of governance and and and and some sort of check and balance in that and and and the minor changes that Director Swanson says I think will will accommodate that. >> Director Anderson. >> Yeah, can we just make sure that I think if I don't know. I think it'd be helpful for people to know ahead of our second reading what the recommendations are for each board member. So obviously we can't communicate like engage conversation, but good for all board members to know what the suggestions are so people have time to think about it for our second meeting. >> So do you want us to just send it to everybody and then nobody respond to it or do we send it to you Director I mean to Chair Cameron and you want to just like how does how do you do that because >> I think if you can send your questions or ideas to Superintendent Bowman then he you can curate um and CC me. I'll make sure it's tracked. I mean you track things very well, but >> And then it'll be shared with us before the meeting. >> Yep, before the meeting. >> Got it. >> Does that work? >> Mhm. >> Mhm. Okay. Great. Okay. Um moving on to first reading of policy 102 equal educational opportunity Director Albrect. Thanks for being here. Um this is um a redlined copy of a current policy that we have and the redline comes from the MSBA policy audit. So um Director Albrect's going to walk us through the changes, the recommended changes. >> Yes, minor changes. Uh good evening Madam Chair, Superintendent Bowman and members of the school board. You have before you this evening a first reading of policy 102 which is our equal educational opportunity policy. Updates to this policy reflect minor language uh updates for clarity. The notes in the policy will be removed upon final approval. Um there is no action necessary as this is a first reading of policy. Um you'll see in uh section two item A uh there's some minor language updates there. Those language updates are reflecting current language in statute. Um that's a really simple change to that policy. >> And that's where all the content changes are, correct? Any questions or discussion on the recommended changes? Director Thompson. >> Yeah, so is this going to follow our How do How How would we How would we designate this particular change? Would this be considered a technical change or because it's not the consent agenda agenda and then this is kind of like our first and second reading is it considered a revision even though there's minor trick changes and then the last comment that I have is just the cross-reference has some MSBA reference to it that we'd want to clean up, but that's it. Make sense? >> Correct. I believe this would be considered a revision um as it's not just like commas and updating school boards Board of Education, correct? Yeah. Director Swanson. >> Uh Should it be accommodations and not accommodation? Do we have an ELA teacher here? >> Okay, if you if I can change that if that's what the board [laughter] >> I mean we changed it. I was just wondering if it should be accommodations and not accommodation. We swapped it for some reason. >> that. >> What do you want to use do a parenthesis cuz sometimes you may not need more than one? I mean [laughter] >> I think so. >> they're probably changing it to so that there's not So there's not presumption of more than one, but there could be an accommodation for several different reported disabilities. So like if a student had multiple needed [clears throat] accommodations, that would be based on like you might just have a student have one need. But you might have multiple different things >> thing. It just makes reasonable accommodation for students reasonable accommodations for students. >> I think it's changing for like from like a almost like an action parenthesis s parenthesis after accommodation. >> Perfect. That sounds great. >> Okay. >> Any other questions or comments on this policy? >> That one's on the record. >> Okay. Moving to the last first reading for policy 531, the pledge of allegiance. And Director Albrecht, you're going to walk us through this too. >> Yes. Policy 531, this is a first reading, the pledge of allegiance. Changes to this policy reflect minor language updates that are also aligned with statute. So, the language items that you see changed in section two, items B, C, and just B and C, sorry. Those reflect changes to statute to update the policy. So, these are these are minor changes. >> Any questions or discussion? Okay. So, these all will move all of them to a second reading for our next regular meeting. But, if you have any changes you'd like to see, please email them in advance to Superintendent Bowman for consideration. Um and we can bring those ideas to the next meeting. If not, you can bring amendments to that meeting too. Great. Thank you. >> Bowman. >> Okay. We're moving to number five, reports with recommended actions. So, tonight we have a second reading of policy 512, school sponsored student publications and activities. We discussed this policy at our last board meeting, regular board meeting in April. We discussed it at our last work session. And Superintendent Bowman was charged with bringing a revised draft forward and has made some suggestion edits after our discussion. And believe you're going to walk us through those. >> Yes. So, if we We at the top, purpose no change, general statement of policy, no change. Uh So, A B, uh both of those, uh as read as they were originally read, no change there. Definitions, no change in A, uh B definition retained, C minor uh means any person under the age of 18. So, that's uh also no change. The obscene uh to uh minors definition, D is retained. Uh E and F are retained with the following recommended changes in F after item number three, I recommended the following be added. And that is based on the conversation and notes that I took from the board during the discussion, which I think centered on a desire to be more uh defined or prescriptive uh around the definition of what is uh school-sponsored. And um I think for the purposes of um this policy, school-sponsored media shall mean only those student media activities, publications, broadcasts, websites, digital platforms, social media accounts, or communication channels that are authorized or officially recognized by the school district or school administration and sponsored by a designated student media adviser. School-sponsored media may include, but is not limited to, student newspapers, broadcast journalism programs, student news websites, school-sponsored podcasts, student media social media accounts, and other officially authorized student media activities. Independent student expression, including personal social media accounts, independently created websites, private digital communications, or unofficial student publications does not become school-sponsored media solely because it discusses school-related matters, references the district or school, or is accessible online. Finally, use of district equipment, internet platforms, artificial intelligence tools, or discussion of school-related matters alone does not establish school sponsorship. Uh everything else remains the same. So, that was my effort at trying to um get the right language to address, I think, uh Director Thompson and Director uh Swanson and I think uh Director Reichenberger, everybody had uh a piece of that that they wanted to um get clarity around. So, that's what I would recommend as redline in this reading um for the purposes of advancing 512 school-sponsored student publications and activities currently does not exist in our inventory and is recommended by the Minnesota School Board Association with those redline additions. Pending your questions. >> And is there a motion to approve uh this redline copy? >> So moved. >> Uh first by Reichenberger to the discussion, too. >> I mean, this this isn't the redline copy, though. Right? These are just the proposed changes to what would be the policy. >> Yes. We'll get you a redline copy. >> I think my >> If you go in there, you'll see that it identifies each and every element of the policy. It's not our standard format. I'll I'll correct that. >> Okay. >> It's It's missing a whole bunch of underneath, but this is just >> It's not missing anything. It's addressed every single element of that uh of 512. Now, it looks a lot different cuz it's shorter, it's succinct, it's direct and to the point. >> But it isn't the final >> [laughter] >> It's just not the final policy. These are the changes that would be made to the >> That is correct. Yes, sir. >> And so I'm wondering if we need to have the the updated policy for approval. >> That has everything. >> With these incorporated. So I guess the question is are we okay with these changes? >> Well, I don't I don't think a community member would have seen last week's. It wouldn't be considered official. >> They wouldn't have seen the first reading. >> Yeah. >> Two week or it was at the April meeting where it was published. >> I mean even though it was published, but they're like this is this is the first one technically. I don't know. It's fine. I understand where we're trying to get to, but >> Yeah. >> Mhm. So is the board suggesting that we bring forward the full policy with these red lines inserted so that it's all in one piece before we would approve the policy. >> I mean or the motion just needs to be that we're approving the MSBA policy with these edits to it. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> And maybe a modification >> that motion? >> I'm sorry. Mr. What's the motion that's on the table? >> The motion is to approve the red line copy as >> But it doesn't have a second, right? >> There's no second. >> I'm going to withdraw that a second till we sort this out. >> All right. Is there a motion to approve the MSBA policy as um presented in the April uh regular board meeting and discussed at the work session with these additional modifications that are red lined um in uh inserted into that MSBA model policy. >> I will I will move for that. >> Great, thanks. Um first by Rickenberger, is there a second? >> I'll second it. >> Seconded by Carbone. Uh discussion. Yeah, Director Rickenberger. >> Yeah, um I really want to thank you um Superintendent Bowman. Um uh my apprehension about this was basically about um the uh uh how easy it is in social media and digital world for um uh publications particularly um when we're trying to encourage students to create and and um uh put together uh organization, you know, documentation, newsletters, things of that nature and how there should be a boundary line between what is a formal school publication, a school administration publication and those more informal ones that um do tend to pop up and do, you know, happen at sometime to time and I really do appreciate uh the work you did on trying to define um those uh parameters and I think what you wrote here does a really good job of that. Um it really helps clarify what is indeed a school sponsored media activity and um what is not and I think that was where uh a lot of the discussion and and questions we had were. So, thank you very much. >> Other discussion? Director >> Yeah, I got I've got two comments. I wasn't sure that uh in the definition is letter C where it says minor means any person under the age of 18. Uh I know we have some high school students that are 19. Uh I don't know if they if that plays a part or not to the extent of a minor would be any maybe we do you add do we need to add another designation saying that if you are a student of the high school um as as a consideration. So, that's just one thing that I noticed. Um and then the second thing that I um would like to get clarification on is that uh the first bullet again is it's a super supervised by a designated student media advisor which I think that clarifies a lot of things but the two the one example that I'll use is uh at Lakeville South there was a Instagram for uh Lakeville South DECA or something like a and then and so I don't know if that is a a um uh an account that was created by a student or I don't know if that was a an account that was created by the advisor who asked the student to create it because they may not they may not have one. But in that instance, if I'm walking through the scenario, because it because it wasn't designated by a student media advisor, the DECA advisor is not a student media advisor, he's an activities advisor, then that would be outside the scope of this respective policy. >> Correct. >> Okay. Your understanding Superintendent? >> Yep. >> Okay. >> I'm aligned. >> And to the minor question, the MSBA >> an aligned so we can stop now. Just kidding. >> [laughter] >> The MSBA um model policy has the age of 18. So we could approve it and but then ask legal just in the event we would ever have to amend it if it needs to get changed, but there's probably a reason it's 18. >> I mean, a minor is under the age of 18. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Yep. Okay. Any other questions or comments? >> Hm. >> Okay. Um all in favor of approving the MSBA model policy with the noted uh redline edits from Superintendent Baumann, um say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes 7-0. All right. Um board member reports. Anyone like to share any news? Uh Director Baker. >> I have one thing I just want to call out one of our uh teacher retirees. Uh Mike Dirks has worked in this district forever. He's He's been on the top of the seniority list forever. He was in uh there was an article in the paper about him uh this past week if you had a chance to read it. Um just about his time in Lakeville, all in Lakeville, which also is rare and um he's definitely going to be greatly missed. Uh I've heard from students about the many different things that he's done within our district. He's a great math teacher. I personally don't like math, but I appreciate what he does. Um one of the things I remember hearing from him personally, he had shared with me about how he had been a sponsor for a student group, and their group was um the tie club. So, they met every week, and they would just wear ties to school like certain and they they bought out like our local Goodwill of like all the ties, and just just cool that he supports different students and and their achievements. And then also um like I said, as a special ed parent, I had several parents share with me that um their kids did really well in his math class cuz he was really good at accommodating for different students. So, just want to wish um Mike Dirks congratulations on your retirement, and thank you for your service to Lakeville. >> Thanks. >> And tomorrow we get to celebrate all the um staff retirements at the recognition event. So, that'll be exciting. Other celebrations or sorry, news? >> There's celebrations. >> Most two of both mine are celebration. So, um I heard our superintendent really praising um many different people in terms of um getting our bond referendum passed. One is thanks fellow fellow board members, especially our superintendent who is also a cheerleader across the district and really promoting what our students need. Um so, in addition to all those departments, thank you Superintendent Boman for the tireless amount of energy and enthusiasm you put into this district day after day. Um so, thank you. And then I also wanted to um acknowledge that one of our teachers, Krista Schlegel, was on the Wheel of Fortune. Um and I was so excited. I was so mad at my husband because he forgot to record it for me, and so I had to wait until Saturday morning. It was it aired on Friday night. And I don't want to spoil it for people if they want Oh, okay. So, yeah Oh, it has been announced across the district, but she got into the bonus round. It was so great. So, anyway, [laughter] I was so I I was cheering for her in my living room. So, anyway, great job, Krista, and go fulfill your dreams. That should include her encourage us all to do that. So, yes. Thank you. >> Other updates or >> Yeah, director Eckenberger. >> Uh a couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to um uh interview a number of students at uh Highview Elementary School um as a part of um their ongoing studies and I will tell you they are a fun bunch of kids with a lot of confidence. Um some really bright futures ahead of all of them. Um I also took part uh this past week at the DCD graduation at Lakeville North, which was absolutely wonderful. It was a great occasion. Um I encourage as many people to go see as many different graduations over the coming weeks as possible because it is a really, really great time. It's not just an ending, it's a beginning for a lot of these kids. So, um make the most of it while you can. Fantastic. >> I too went to Highview and did the interviews and was blown away. These kids could land jobs, I think, better than most adults, which was pretty cool. Uh and I got to hear the mayoral speeches, too. Um they had candidates running for mayor and campaign managers, and it was quite the um quite the show. And so, thanks to Highview for inviting us in. Um I also was able to attend Century Middle School's Art and Culture Fair. Um so, all of the cultural liaisons were there as well as student groups. Um so, there was some amazing Indian dance happening. And then in the gym, um artwork from all grade levels were presented. And um I brought my my first-grader with and he wanted to know if any of them were for sale cuz he wanted to purchase them. And um so, the accolades to the artist for for presenting some really amazing pieces and to the art teacher at Century for um inspiring uh creativity amongst amongst the kids there. >> Did anyone make it to the Powwow? I know we had talked about that. >> Um I also Yeah, thank you. I also attended the um South of the River Powwow. That was a while ago now, a few weeks ago. We had three um seniors recognized. It's a celebration for seniors from many school districts across um the South Metro. Um so, there's a student from North, South, and the ALC present. Um it's a it's just such a um cool event. Um all the students are presented with um special regalia for graduation. Um many school board members and and um administrators from other school districts are present and you're able to go around and all the graduates from all the schools. Um and there's, you know, there's probably a thousand people there um cheering on um the community. So, um that's great that we participated in that. So, thank you to our um our staff here who who make that happen. Um I appreciate that. So, yeah, great. All right. Uh Superintendent Baumann, any report items? >> Just a just a couple. I'll start with uh saying uh she's sitting right here uh in front of us today, Carrie. Thank you for your service as the president of EML and I know you're outgoing, but thank you. I It's a tough job. And uh the gentleman sitting to your left and my right, sir. Welcome. And I look forward to working with you. Also, uh I was going to say something about Mr. Dirks. I call him Mr. Dirks. Uh I was in his math class today. We were doing a little thing uh and just a a wonderful guy. That's how I knew about the 40 years and I read the article. So, I cheated a little bit, but um we're going to do staff recognition tomorrow uh which I always enjoy doing. We're going to do it at Lakeville South. Um so, if you can be there, uh be be wonderful to be there. Um Lots of graduation activities and Tony and I were at the DCD uh event. Um I think LPA is coming up here very shortly. Um and then of course, we have graduation on the 4th of June at North and South. It's a new thing for us, so um I'm only going to ask for a tiny bit of grace, but um I think we'll have a a wonderful uh first-time event back in Lakeville for a long, long time. Uh so, hopefully that'll all go well. Uh I look forward to that. So, thank you, and uh I do All right. All I care about is sunshine, no clouds. Um anyway, and to the board, again, thank you uh on the on the work with the referendum, and to our community, um a heartfelt thank you. Uh I don't want to tear up, but thank you uh because it does matter for our kids and our families and our staff that are that are in our middle schools, and we're a growing community, so we got to grow with it. So, thank you again. >> Thanks. All right, with that, is there a motion to adjourn? >> So moved. >> Uh first by Baker, is there a second? >> Second. >> Second by Rickenberg. All in favor? >> I. >> I. Any opposed? We're We are adjourned. >> say no? >> Mhm.