everyone to the August 25th uh Lakeville ISD 194 school board. Um first item on the agenda is uh the pledge of allegiance. Please rise as you're able. >> 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, then I'll start with roll call to my right. >> Tony Reichenberger, >> Matt Swanson, >> Carly Anderson, Amber Cameron, >> Michael Bowman, >> Paul Carbone, >> Brian Thompson. >> Great. And I'll turn it over to Superintendent Bowman for good news. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. We'll start with celebrating 53 tenur educators. I want to extend my congratulations to the 53 newly tenured teachers at Lakeville Area Schools. This is a significant professional milestone and is an affirmation of our teachers dedication, their skill, commitment [clears throat] to our students and our community. So, congratulations to those 53 and let's get some more. All right. Uh over 800 students were served at the 13th annual Ready Set Achieve School Readiness event. We want to say thanks to the generosity and support of the Lakeville area community. Over 800 students received free school supplies, backpacks, books, food, and other resources at the 13th annual Ready Set Achieve School Readiness event on Thursday, August 20th. Ready, Set, Achieve is a great opportunity to unite the community and prepare students and families for the school year ahead. It is made possible by the many individuals and local businesses who donated, volunteered, and partner. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um, finally, first day of school. >> First day of school. This is coming up in case you didn't know. Tuesday, September 8th. I think the latest start in the time I've been in the school district or pretty close. We might have had one other opportunity, but that's okay. We're excited and we are already in the throws of doing welcome back. Uh we've had a lot of staff and teachers and uh administrators back. Uh we're going to have all of our students and families uh in into our school year here very shortly. and we're all for 194 and we're all stars that are going to serve our families and our uh community as best that we can with all of our ability and with a whole lot of enthusiasm and optimism. Our team has been hard at work preparing for a successful school start and we look forward to another year of learning growth and working with our wonderful community. If you want to learn more and uh about good news and good news happenings in Lakeville, uh go to isd194.org slashnews and madam chair that is the good news and we are excited to do what we do coming up on 8th September. >> Director Thompson. >> Yes. Uh so thank you for the good news. Um I do can you share a little bit more around the 53 tenured teachers and uh maybe just a maybe some additional explanation of like what exactly does that mean? I know that we've got about 800 to 850 teachers and then uh 53 is less than 56%. And so I'm assuming these 53 are teachers that that are that meet our standards, meet our culture, meet the mission and drive where we want to go. But would be good to just get additional info. Director Alrech, >> could you be a little more specific on what you're looking for? >> Yeah. So, I guess what I'm looking for is like um explain uh what does tenure mean? What does it take to get to tenure status and what does that mean for our district? >> Okay, so tenure uh what does it mean for our district? It means um the more tenured teachers we have, the better our retention rate is. That means we have less teachers leaving our district. um to reach tenure. It depends on what you're coming to our district with. If you are a new teacher uh who hasn't had tenure in a previous school district, you need three years of satisfactory service to Lakeville area schools. After that third year, you are tenured under statute in the state of Minnesota. um which means you have um um more rights when it comes to uh ending employment with the school district. Um if you have if you are coming to Lakeville area schools already being tenured in a previous school district, you have one year to tenure here rather than three. And again, that is under statute uh for the state of Minnesota on how to achieve tenure here. >> Dr. Thompson, >> just a quick quick followup. So then if we have a majority of teachers that are tenured, they don't have to reapply the following year. They're just they're this just continued employment. Is that >> correct? They would be considered continuing contract status. >> Okay. Fantastic. And and then I uh as a district, we want to be in a high uh majority of tenur staff. Is that where we want to be? >> Um I mean a mix is always good, right? You have different lenses based on where you are in your career, but um yeah, having tenured staff is a a good thing for the district. >> It does. Okay. Thank you. >> Great. All right. With that, uh we will move to board communications. Um just one thing at our [clears throat] last board meeting, which was on July 28th, um uh the district and um wanted to respond to a public comment um that took place that night. Uh the public comment um inquired about how are we ensuring that the employees that we have in our school buildings working with um uh or working with and um near to our students are um uh it's a safe learning environment for our students. And so I was able to procure a little bit of information about that. Um so all employees in Lakeville area schools are required by statute to submit uh background check screenings that include five background checks. So, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Criminal Search, the Nationwide Criminal Super Search, the Nationwide Sex Offender Registry Search, the Social Security Trace Plus, and Statewide and County Criminal Search. So assuming that an employee who applies to our school district passes all five of those uh background checks, the employees then are recommended to the board who are um through [clears throat] um employment recommendations and the board then considers approval of those employees at every regular scheduled board meeting. Uh so that is the process to um screen employees before they they work in our schools. Uh with that um move to approval of the agenda. Is there a motion to approve? >> I'll make a motion. >> Uh, first by Carbone. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Anderson. All any discussion. >> All right. All in favor? I >> I. >> Any opposed? All right. Motion passes 6. Uh, the next item on our agenda is public comment. There's no public comment tonight. So, we'll move to item number three, which is um consideration of the consent agenda. On the consent agenda tonight are the board minutes from the July 28th meeting and the August 11th meeting, employment recommendations, the payment of bills and claims, wire transfers and investments, a resolution regarding acceptance of gift donations, extended field trips, and an update to the 2728 academic school year calendar. Um, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> I'll make a motion. Uh, first by Anderson. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Second by Reichenberger. Are there any items that uh board members would like to discuss? >> Uh, Director Thompson. >> Uh, le less of a question, but more of an appreciation. Uh, I see that we have a new executive director of student services on this list for the school board to approve. Uh, this is one of our uh, one of the six key executive roles for our district. And to be able to grab not grab to be able to uh have an individual uh uh take uh join this particular position from our existing pool of resources is uh I think is fantastic to hear uh positive feedback, positive experiences of of Brett Drad as a uh a principal uh and moving into this position. I think this is uh a really great hire and I think it would be set it will set our school district up uh to scale for growth but more importantly someone who already knows our culture that knows how things operate uh and has great working relationships with uh the staff and all the other principles here. So I just want to acknowledge this particular item on the on the consent agenda. >> Thanks Director Thompson. Anything else? Yeah, Director Swanson. >> Yeah, I'd like to kind of mimic that. um with two students right now at Lake Marion Elementary. Um I'm kind of sad to see him go because I've seen him be an exceptional principal over there. Um but yeah, look [snorts] forward to seeing what he can do at the district level uh for the benefit of all the students across the district. >> Great. Anything else? All right, with that there's a first and second. Um all in favor of approving the consent agenda as presented say I. >> I. Any opposed? All right. Motion passes 6. All right, moving to item number five, district reports and discussion. The first is about school start facilities report. This is exciting. We have um Bill Homegrren and Bill Markort here to present to us tonight. Welcome. >> Good evening, school board. Superintendent Bowman. My name is Bill Marquart. I am here to give us the the state of getting ready for school and report it will be good. It's ready to go. So >> done. [laughter] >> So our uh overview is about all the projects we got going. Um you know and we'll get into all of them you know interior outside all that as well. And we also I want to show you the team. I don't know if you guys know all the the members of our FPP team, but we can go right, you know, from left to or yeah, left to right. So, Jade Oland, he's there. He's [clears throat] uh our IT, you know, part of our uh that team there. Mike Gallagher's in the truck there. He's in our projects and construction. Melissa Gallagher, she's with our construct or uh custodial and grounds. Uh Jen Solinger, she's up there. uh on the front of the truck there that she's a new with us. She's an accountant and right next to her is Tiffany Steer. She is our our main accountant for this. And then Bill Homegrren, everybody knows he's our [laughter] he's our leader. So he runs the show. And then we got Grace Amen. She's an assistant for health, safety, security with Damen Helson there. And you got me. And then uh Heidi Zur is to the right of me and she's operations and construction. And then Liz Hines is an assistant for the custodial grounds team. So that's our our FPP team. Um so I'd like to report that all facilities are ready to receive students on September 8th and begin another great school year. Um through this whole process you know like our improvements we we did a lot of uh repair replaced upgraded the facilities health safety and security we completed all the maintenance inspections and trainings maintenance and cleanliness we finished maintenance and deep cleaning of facilities student nutrition got a new equipment for multiple sites and transportation all students are assigned to bus route and ready to go with So, one thing I do want to highlight too is just we're going to go through just a few of these tonight, but really the whole operation team is it's a 247 365, right? So, we all work together collaboration to make this work. So, it's just not just these few buildings that we're talking about. It's the whole district. So, it's I really want to, you know, say that and with all of our other teams, too. We got all of our custodial teams, our maintenance teams, all them working together with us as well. So on our interiors guys, so the repairs and replacements. So a lot of interior work this year. Crystal Lake Education Center was one of the the biggest that we took on this year. It had uh we only had this summer. Like Michael said, we had an extra week here, you know, that we could do it. So we took that one down. We moved it over to Orchard Lake and got interiors done there. Um East View Elementary, same thing. And we're going to go through each one of these. We'll break them out. I'm just highlighting the ones that we're doing right now. JFK, we're working on a new gym floor there. And then Oak Hills Elementary was a big improvement on the inside as well. So, parking lots improvements, we did multiple across the district, but the real parking lot, take it out, go all the way down was at Crystal Lake Education Center. Again, a few years prior, we did the uh east side, and now this year, we're doing the west side. One thing to do with that is is uh also for for safety, right? If anybody's been there and seeing how it gets pretty chaotic four times a day there. So anyway, we we uh had got with our designers, we came up with this better parking lot to get people in and out. So we're excited for that. >> Let's be clear, it it it doesn't get chaotic. It gets busy. >> Yeah, busy. Michael, you're right. >> But we do not do chaos. >> It gets it gets busy. We are organized uh and really it's a tribute to the the staff there, right? I mean it's it's a dance but it's a orchestrated uh dance. We don't do chaos. >> Got it. And then also when we come up you'll see how some of the repairs and what we did to to upgrade that. So then we got mechanical heating and cooling. Okay. Again, Crystal Lake, we took the whole heating and cooling system out. So that all got redone and we're on the process of getting that all back up. Kenwood Trail. This was phase two, so we got that complete. And Lakeville North, we had some chiller issues that we're working with. Some of the major plumbing repairs is the some of the the high school football um out in the fields. We had a well repair, so we had to pull some wells and get them taken care of. Also, activities wise, we had some AV system work at the new pool at Century Lakeville North at the baseball dugout and press box stairs. They're getting replaced as we speak, right? We're just getting started on those or out. We had to wait for out of season and getting them all safeguarded. Uh Lakeville North High School tennis court that is complete and that made a a real uh big deal for the for that part. And then multiple sites were in bleachers. So, we got to go out and repair constantly and making upgrades on bleachers. So, we're at multiple sites doing that. So, this is our interior for Crystal Lake, guys. So, just kind of see how the Look at the carpet, right? It's all frayed and it's all falling apart. And uh case work, same thing. You know, everything's all out. You know, it's many years old, so we had to get it all replaced. And uh so them are the kind of the before all the flooring. Here's some of our interior pictures that you can see the change. So, um, we did LVT flooring and also the carpet. So, these are little guys, so we can have carpet throughout. So, we got the LVT for for the spill factor we'll call it. And then it's easy cleanup. Uh, walls got all painted there. We got uh new casework, new countertops with solid surface. So, this is school will be many years for for good use on our mechanical project. So if anybody had seen this before, this is in our boiler room. So I mean literally you can see the water dripping, right? I mean it's that it was that dilapitated. So anyway, this all came out. Um we're getting all new new heating system and in there. And then here is some of the interior picks now. So you can see uh all new um there was two new AHUs, but we also had all these new boilers and then all the the heat pump uh in there and also the cooling towers. Another picture on the top top left. >> So Bill, you used the term AHU. Is that something that flies? >> No. Air handler unit. Some people think it does. It sounds like at times, but no. and the quality of of the heat and the air quality will also be upgraded with that. Okay, here's our parking lot. So, um this was, you know, before and again, like I said, this is the west side. So, um you'll notice that there's uh you know, the islands. Um and then people were like crossing when they would park cuz this school they have to actually hand their kid to the front door. They can't just drop them off. So everybody has to park and come across. Well, it was kind of like a um everybody had come across that middle island and come through the lane of traffic. So when I'll show you the next slide how we we put a fence there [snorts] >> just to orient you. Um the um top of the picture there is due west. Is that correct? >> Correct. I apologize. >> And then the building is at the bottom. >> That is correct. >> Part so you can kind of make sure you see that difference. >> Yep. And then you'll notice that where Michael's talking to on the on the IPA side, that used to be a right turn in and then it could be a left turn out and a right turn out. Now it's going to be a right turn in, right turn out in that process. So we won't have anybody, you know, trying to cross traffic. It'll be all turning right. >> Director Swanson has a question. >> Yes. just [clears throat] generally speaking, well, both for the equipment that was just put in um and then also the parking lot. Uh do those get like recycled now into a reserve study that says, "Hey, we're going to have to replace this now in 20 or 30 years and then do we start budgeting for that?" >> Yeah, so we have MRSCO report Matt too that we're we got we now we'll put that upgraded into it. So we'll have that report and then when we >> Bill talking to the mic and they may not be are you all familiar with the Amoresco report and >> so it has all the all the uh you know length of how long it's lasting and when it was put in and all that. So we look at that um when we're we're going to come up on this slide and I'll talk more about that. But yes, it'll get put back in and then we'll know life expectancy. And the other thing too is is uh the funding is long-term facilities maintenance fund. That is correct. Uh so it and the so Amoresco is a program long-term what we need to do then we do the the shorter term uh refinement of that but all of these have life cycle um assessments on them. Um and then obviously we have to deal with the reality of the situation that we're in. So all that stuff is synchronized >> and then every day, Matt, too, we got people out there, right? And we know what our maintenance guys are working on and we can track how many times they're fixing this boiler or this unit. >> Sure. >> And then have a report for that, too. So these are the befores. Um, and now we're going to look at what it looks like now. So, as you see, heading back, um, you know, we're looking east on that top right one, you'll see that we have a fence there now. So, what that fence does is there's two spots that the kids can now cross safely. So, it's a raised concrete walk, so the kids will now get funneled into there. So, it'll be a lot safer. Um, all new lighting. We got all new, you know, all the street lights out there. So, we'll have that. And then we also have um for camera. So, we'll have camera stuff out there, too. >> Bill, Director Thompson, too. >> Yeah, just a quick follow-up question. Actually, two. One, I like the fence idea. This is great. Um, I'm assuming Lake View Elementary could be using something similar to this just because my my daughter went there, so I know the the design, but the the question that I have is can you again uh uh Superintendent Bowman shared about the LT LTFM dollars, which is the long-term facility maintenance funding. And so as we go through this presentation, uh myself and as well as the community, they're going to probably wonder like you're doing all these changes. Where is this money coming from? How does this money get funded? And uh and we're doing all this stuff on the Crystal Lake uh driveway, but is that going to take money out of the classrooms? And so uh I know that last year, or maybe it was this year, did we approve $20 million uh for a bond sale? And is that $20 million contributing to things like this? Um how does the LTFM dollars get funded? And I just want to make sure that I'm on the same page because we're we our budget is like $230 million a year to deliver education. [snorts] Is that money of the $230 million being used to pay for a driveway? So, >> well, the quick answer is no. It's totally separate. Um, our LTF funding actually comes in two different ways. Number one, like you mentioned earlier, we did some bonds. We sold some bonds of $20 million. That's a over a bianium. So 10 million of that is used in this particular year. 10 is for next year. The rest of it um levy as we go. Um so the other six million um it runs through the general fund. So there's about $16 million um that comes through our district, but it is not part of our funding for our education. I cannot use any of these funds to hire teachers um and vice versa. So these these funds are separate and they're earmarked for projects only. essentially categorical funding for the purpose of maintenance. Uh, >> right. Yep. And so we took out a bond this year so that we could fund these maintenance projects and and we've got a massive backlog. I mean, I'm assuming it is roughly $80 million worth of backlog stuff that we we just have to prioritize as we go. And then uh you did say earlier something about a levy that we get with LTFM dollars. And I believe this is where the state of Minnesota um assesses property taxes for LTFM dollars. It's a it's a requirement. We can't opt out of that. It's just something that happens. And then that contributes to the LTFN LTFM pool that we use. So, if we want to do more enhancements and more maintenance updates, we have to take we got to find additional funding for that or we've got to take additional do additional sales of bonds to make those updates. Is that my understanding? >> Yes, we um the dollars that we spend on a yearly basis right now are all based back on the Amorrescco report that we talked about just a few minutes ago. There's a 30-year plan of projects and [clears throat] then we're trying to use that use the same amount on a yearly basis so we don't see our levy going up and down up and down. We want it as flat as possible so we don't see taxes changing for our our community members. Okay. So, we do have a plan going forward and what's in that plan is is part part of the bonds like we we we borrow it so we have the money and then we pay that overtime back through the levy process. Dr. Swanson, >> um, in that LTFM, the amount of bonds that we can go out for, it's capped like every other category, right? >> I'm going to say no, it's not capped. Um, there is a the program in the state of Minnesota, there's some of the larger school districts don't have a cap. So, we're able to bring forward our plan, what we feel that we need to do to have maintenance for our buildings. So, it could be more, but at this point, we've matched it to the uh the 30-year plan that we have. Um, if you have a smaller school district, yeah, they're capped at uh I think it's $320 per pupy unit. [clears throat] >> Very good. Director Thompson. >> Yeah. And just to acknowledge the bottom line is that we're not taking money out of our general fund, the 220 $230 million that we use to deliver education. This is a separate pool. So, as we see all these updates and all these enhancements, that is just the cost of running a school operation and it's coming from a a different category. >> Yeah. Okay. And we talk about that every every year when we talk about our budget. You know, the restricted dollars. So, these are dollars, they're restricted only for projects and they're not for general education. I would classify it more or characterize it as uh indirect because you know the the your facilities if if your roofs are leaking and your learning environment is broken down, it's going to have an impact. Um and we're by no means being extravagant in any particular manner. uh we're working inside of what I think is reasonable, but maintenance is a it's perishable, right? That's why it needs to be maintained. Uh and I think we're my biggest concerns because the um in in a long-term sense is are we looking deep to to uh director Swanson's question about um you know, what's the iterative nature of all this? In between that, we do have a maintenance staff within our school uh system. Uh I believe we have eight guys um that are servicing these things on an ongoing basis. Um and you want to have reasonable quality in your schools, uh not extravagant quality in your schools. Um you know, some people would argue and push back against that and say we need the best that we can possibly get. We are doing and getting the best that I think reasonably and financially makes sense. But it is an indirect impact on our classrooms and our staff and you know you want to have good facilities. People slip and fall. You got all kinds of safety. I know it was referred to as chaos but we try to avoid that. This is just those efforts to do that um as we're trying to do our maintenance as well. So that fence was a smart way to mitigate some of the safety issues over there. Thanks, Bill. Thank you. And then off that what Michael was saying too, yeah, like when we look at our our life expectancy, our maintenance guys are adding a lot like five years to a lot of these units because we're maintaining them. So, it all uh it all works. Um, so that's that one. Um, also at Crystal Lake, so we had, you know, the old boiler system had a dual fuel system. So you had natural gas and you also had diesel fuel. Well, we don't have that anymore. It's an old unit that was uh obsolete now. So not efficient. So now we got uh had to get rid of the tank. So the tank got removed and uh that was uh right at the beginning of the project. So we got that out of there. >> It's like a giant tiny. >> Yeah, it [laughter] is. I mean really. >> But then look at that, Brian. Look at how good a shape that thing's still in. Right. So it's it's in good shape. >> So yeah. So that got removed. Um East View Elementary, another interior project. Um a lot of this school you'll see had the the existing wallpaper that is literally falling off the wall. So um had that coming off. You'll see staples in the corners, you know, holding it up. Um our uh bathroom partitions were were done and all the uh the counters out by the in the library and all that were were warped. So, here is a new picture of of all the new uh you know the flooring, the paint again, all the wallpapers removed. Um you'll notice the uh like new countertops and not all the rooms in this one, but some had to get it, you know, because of the warped uh new sinks for the kids for for washing their hands at the restrooms. So, we just got those put in. So, Kenwood Trail Middle School. This one is a phase two. Um, you know, we started this project last year. It was a very big project to take on. Um, this year was eight of these rooftop units that Michael was talking about there, the air handlers. So, we had eight of them to do this year. So, um, them got taken off and uh, and now upgraded to this. um you'll these new Dykan units, they're going to last, you know, a good good long time as well. So, we're going to have this school, this school in particular, we were running into having to reset a lot of the old units at the end of last year, like every day, right? And we were just praying that they'd keep going and they did and then we got through that. Uh multiple sites, we have concrete. So every year we go through the district and you'll have a lot of tripping hazards. Well, we can't replace everything, right? So we got to go through and prioritize um each place and and look and see what's the the worst case scenario. So we were at multiple sites again this year. Um Lakeville North, Lakeville South, um East View, uh we did multiple there, too. Uh grounds project. So, and this one we're really getting proud of, too, is when you come up to these schools, it's like the you want the people to really feel welcomed, right? So, when you're pulling up to these and now with these all the sites all cleaned up, you know, we put some new curbing in uh gravel and all that. And it it really made the whole made people feel welcoming now to all these sites. So, that reach out to the ground crews for that. Those are great. >> Bill, I saw a good story on our Facebook, the school district's Facebook about um students who went to I think it was Kenwood and helped with some landscaping project. Yes, that's great. >> They did. >> Yeah, >> they [clears throat] did. >> Uh Oak Hills. Um another interior project here. Um you know, so this is you know, our our uh before pictures again just a a mess, right? Going through and and getting these upgraded. Um, a lot of the again the wallpaper falling off the walls. This particular school had uh, you know, just many feet of of working with that. Here we go with what it looks like now. So, we ended up and this is in down in the library and you can see that it drastic change here. [snorts] Um also on the interior part like say for cabinetry again and uh and flooring um you know obviously very old flooring. So all that is now looking like this. So this is going to be really great for the kids, right? They're going to come to this school. A lot of these kids have been here at this school for many years. They're going to come now and look at it and go, "Wow, this is where I'm really proud to go." Right? So, and the principles are really, you know, liking the change too as well. So, what's next? So, like Matt was talking, you know, it's long-term uh facility maintenance planning. So, we got, you know, FY28 and 29. So, we're working on, you know, that um Lakeville North High School indoor bleacher replacement. So, that we we were going to try and get in this year, but with there's so much activity, we just couldn't do it. So, we got to wait till right at the end of school next year. And then that's going to get a whole new bleacher system on the interior. The maintenance on that one is starting to get harder and harder to keep up with and it's such a large unit that we got to totally replace it and it's, you know, 30 years old. Um, and then another big project, guys, is the is we're going to be working on the middle school edition project. So, we're going to be focused in on on getting all that. Um, next summer though, right now for LTFM dollars that we're doing is we have some leaky roofs at at Christina Huddleston. It's at its end of life now and and so we're doing that. And while we're have that school down, we're going to also do the interior part of that. Um, and then again, the three middle schools, we got to companion our LT LTFM dollars to make sure that whatever we can do to help, you know, our planning on on the middle school additions as well. So, I want to report it's ready to go. So, we're everybody's excited. Um, I know a lot of the teachers are, you know, the new teachers, like Michael said, we're we, you know, yesterday and today and then tomorrow, I think everybody's back in the building. So, if you know any of the teachers, I'm sure they're going to be very grateful that how everything is looking and and uh we're excited to have all the kids back as well. >> Additional questions for Bill. >> Yes. Just from a a general standpoint, um how close were they? I I'm assuming we had all these budgeted at the beginning of the year. We knew how much it was going to cost to take care of over the course of um the summer. Um but how far off are we from that budget? Are they roughly >> far? No, everything um turned out really well. >> Perfect. >> Great. Yeah. Director Carbon. >> Yeah, just a quick one. Um Bill, the middle school expansion. >> Yes. >> Uh when did you say that was starting? Well, we're already planning, right? So, we're getting right. So, right now it's all in the design stage. So, everything's going on that um when we start that construction will be in the spring of next year. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Spring of 27. Uh we'll put spade shovel in the ground. Um you will get an update report here. >> I think it's next week. Yeah. On where we are with the design and all that and um lay it out for you so you can see where we're at. >> Great. >> All right. >> Thank you so much and thanks to your team for keeping track of it all. >> Thank you very much. >> All right. With that, we'll move to our next report. [clears throat] >> Yeah. Oh, sorry, Director Thompson. >> Yeah. Just quick question before we jump on jumping to this next topic. I forgot to ask if it's okay during the consent agenda, we approved the 2728 calendar. >> Correct. >> And I just a quick observation. I wondered if you can uh someone can provide some clarity. I saw that spring break was moved up a uh an earlier week than what we've historically have done. I'm just curious if why that that that that occurred and if this if this might be something that we can expect as the norm for the future because I know we've received quite a few emails in the past about spring break always being too late like because it was always the last week of March or the first week of April and for next year or not next year but the following year it's the third week of March which allows folks to um uh still take spring break and be able to come back in time to do traveling sports or tryyous or stuff of that nature if that makes sense. So I was just curious. >> Well, and I think I mean if you look at the whole Twin Cities metro spring breaks tend to fall in chunks like the Northeast metro is earlier March typically. I think the south metro has typically been late late March but I don't is there any context you want to share with the calendar? [clears throat] >> Excuse me. Um the calendar does um vary year to year based on the um when different holidays fall throughout the school year. It also is based on um making sure that our quarters and semesters have appropriate number of days so that we don't have a lot of days in semester 2 and fewer days in semester 1. Um we have a committee that comes together to look at those dates and to make some recommendations as to how we um set up that calendar. Um we also um had um some feedback. Uh we put the uh some of the calendar pieces out for our families to provide feedback and community members to provide feedback on the next the 27 28 and 2829 calendars. So we are getting feedback from people. Um but it is around the number of days for teacher contract, number of student days and then um trying to fit those all in in uh equal number of days per semester and quarter. >> Okay, great. >> Yep. >> Just just to follow up. Yeah, I get that. And and I believe maybe was it this year or last year because of the Reed Act played a part and pushed things back. Is that right? Or maybe that wasn't it. I thought we had to get so many PDs or so many training hours and but all right but the bottom line is that uh you can't commit to March uh the third week being spring break as a future norm but it just happens to be earlier than maybe what we've had in the past couple years. >> Yeah, correct. And in those calendars too um we are starting before Labor Day. So that shifted the number of days for the quarter um back into August. So that's probably where the biggest change came. Director Thompson. >> Yeah, I think. Okay, so that was a surprise. I didn't even look at that. I'm sorry. So, just to make sure we're on the same page, we're starting August 30th, first day of school. >> Next, uh not for next year. Okay. >> Not this year. >> Not this year. Not this. Not this [laughter] year. Okay. And and you know I I'll also say uh Director Thompson um >> we go through a as Tracy was saying we go through a vetting process that's got a lot of stakeholders involved in that. Um if if there's something to reook um we certainly would want to know that. Um, one of the challenges we had years ago was we would do our calendar on an annual cycle and I don't remember which year it was, um, we committed to doing it on a two-year cycle just to be able to put some predictability and long-term planning for folks. And, you know, that that's important. I think you're also talking to that issue a little bit. Um, and then we publish these. So, um, yeah, if there's an issue or there's like we don't want to do that, um, we we would definitely want to know that. >> Yeah, I mean, the consent agenda is already in there and we already approved it. So, not a whole lot we can make changes to and maybe we can as a board if we want if we feel that makes sense. But, um, I am curious again for now August 30th being a Monday, we're starting a week before Labor Day. Um, are there other districts within our neighboring suburban area that are doing the same or have they've always done this and we are now catching up with them or Yeah, I'm just curious because I'm like a >> Is this the first time for us? >> It would be a first time for us. Yes. Um, and it is kind of a mixed bag. Um, some districts, the one that pops in my head most because I was talking to Schmidies today, um, Mike Funk over there in Stillwater, they're like in week two, so they went a lot earlier. I don't know if you'd consider that a Well, it's a metro um, district. Uh, 196, I think, is going early. So, >> a few starts this Monday. >> Yeah, there's another one year. Oh, for the school year. >> So, a lot of them for this school year um are doing that. We're >> our proposal is to look at a shift uh for 2728 um school year. Um so, I I think years ago it was really not heard of to go before Labor Day. Um my recollection of that going back circa 2005 67 was uh state fair and that that was kind of a marker. Um but I think people have kind of fallen off of that a little bit. Uh you're in since then I mean that's 20 years ago. Um but yeah there are schools starting. It's not everybody but I think more and more are actually making that adjustment. it it probably gets you out a little earlier on the back side, which I think people um have some interest in as well. >> Well, and I believe there's state statute, right, that defines [clears throat] if you're able to start before Labor Day or not based on construction happening in your district. So, I think if it's over, don't quote me, but 300,000 or something, 400, thank you, then you're able to petition to the state to start earlier than Labor Day. So, we're we're in that camp. I think >> the state did lift that statute for this coming school year and the next school year. So, they allowed schools to start earlier. We had these calendars approved in the spring, I believe it was. And so, this was just updating, changing one day to to put staff and students on the same page for spring break. Um but at that time we did survey our community to see if if they were okay with starting before um Labor Day and we had overwhelming from staff and families that they would like to try that. >> Okay. >> Director Thompson. >> Yeah. And maybe this might be for another working session or maybe we just keep going further back and just do year- round school where we do 10 weeks, two weeks off, 10 weeks, two weeks off. there would be consist consistency but for another day. >> Yes, another day. [laughter] All right. Um moving on to the presentation. Um we have director Brovald and um [clears throat] um director Sandy Georgie here today to talk about student learning in a digital world. I know you have a lot to share with us today. So I'm going to ask the board to hold questions until the end. Um so if you have questions as as um Tracy and Sandy present, feel free to jot them down and we'll make sure we get to them. that um want to hold to that end. >> Great. Thank you. Um good evening to all of you. I uh as uh director Cameron said, I'm joined by our director Sandy Georgie tonight. She is our director of preK12 teaching and learning. Jake Graph, who is our director of IT, wanted to join us this evening, but as you know, we're at the start of school and technology is a big piece of that, making sure that our systems are all set up and ready to go for that first day. Um the framework that we're presenting to you tonight represents the work that our departments are doing in collaboration, teaching and learning and technology. The decisions that we make about technology have to begin with teaching and learning and as one of the things uh Jake Graph keeps saying is that technology is in support of teaching and learning. So we want to begin with teaching and learning but we also have to consider student staff student and staff safety, security, accessibility and support. Uh we actually had an opportunity to bring some of this thinking and our framework to life uh this week and last week when we brought our new teachers in. It was so exciting to see all of our new teachers. Very excited to start the school year. um as part of their orientation, we actually talked to them about teaching and learning in Lakeville and what that looks like and the importance of being intentional about the tools that we are putting in front of students. We talked about starting with the academic standards and learning what we want to see using evidence-based instructional practices and then determining the right tool to support learning. Sometimes that tool is digital and sometimes it's not and that's okay. That same thinking is the heart of what we're sharing this uh this framework with you tonight. What we're presenting is not a brand new direction. Much of this work is is something we're already doing across our system. What we're doing is bringing the existing practices, expectations, safeguards, and priorities into together into a coherent framework for you. COVID was really the impetus for our move to a onetoone model at that time. Access was what was the priority for us. We were very intentional about making sure every student could continue learning regardless of where they were. Since then, we've continued to reflect on what that model should look like. We've already made some changes to that model we started during COVID, including moving our prek devices to a classroom set and having K through five devices remain in school. And those decisions were made to be more mindful of screen time, developmental needs of our students, and the role we want technology to play in learning. So our system has really responded over time based on what we learn, what research is showing, and what is best for our students. Now we're at the next point in that reflection. The question is no longer just do our students have access to technology to to devices. The question now is what is the right level of access for which students and and what's the purpose of that access? And that distinction really matters because not all screen time is the same. We want to minimize unnecessary screen time while we also recognize that digital tools could add real instructional value when they're used intentionally. The focus should be on whether a tool strengthens learning, not simply whether a screen is involved. We want learning goals to drive the tool of choice. Sometimes the right tool will be digital. Sometimes it will be discussion, pencil and paper or pen and paper, hands-on learning or face-to-face collaboration. Our approach in this framework has two interconnected areas of f focus. One is learning with pop pulpit purpose and one is learning with care. Uh learning with purpose starts with the learning experience, not the device. Hands-on learning, discussion, reading, writing, collaboration, and face-to-face interaction remain foundational to everything that we do. Digital tools are used when they clearly strengthen the learning goal. It's not about more technology. It's about meaningful and purposeful use of technology. Learning with care is about creating the right conditions around that learning. Just as we intentionally keep students safe, supported, focused, and protected in our physical classrooms, we need to do the same in our digital digital environments through clear expectations, secure systems, accessibility, and healthy technology habits. Together, learning with purpose and learning with care help us think about the quality of the learning experience and the the environment that we create around it. I'm going to turn it over to Sandy and she is going to take us a little deeper into what learning with purpose means. >> Good evening everyone. Learning with purpose really comes down to three focus areas. The first is meaningful learning. Making sure technology is connected to our academic standards, our instructional practices, and the learning students are expected to demonstrate. We want to be intentional about when technology adds value and when another approach might be more effective. The second is emerging tools and academic integrity. As new technologies, particularly AI, become part of the learning environment. We need clear expectations for the responsible and ethical use. We want students to understand how these tools can support learning while also protecting authentic student work and academic integrity. Educators also play an important role in evaluating the digital experiences they place in front of their students, ensuring that technology use is purposeful, sound, instructionally sound, and contributes to measurable student learning. And the third is device and learning expectations. Having access to a device doesn't mean that a device needs to be used all of the time. We want clear developmentally appropriate expectations for when and how devices are used so that technology supports learning rather than becoming a distraction. So across all three areas, the common thread is intentionality. What are we asking students to learn? What is the best way to support that learning? and what expectations do we need in place to make sure um that it is successful? When we talk about meaningful and purposeful um use of technology, there are a few things we want to see consistently. First, technology should be aligned to the Minnesota academic standards, evidence-based practices, and our approved core resources. It should have clear instructional purpose and provide opportunities for students to create, design, collaborate, think critically um and creatively and demonstrate their learning in authentic ways, not to just simply consume information. At the elementary level, the digital components of our approved core resources are primarily teacherfacing. That's about 90% with the ability for teachers to add any appropriate digital links and resources to Seesaw. Um that which is our learner management system. At the secondary level, core resources are selected through our standardsbased review process. Um, our review rubric specifically considers the balance between hands-on learning, teacher-led instruction, and purposeful digital components, ensuring that technology enhances learning rather than um replaces meaningful instructional experiences. At the secondary level, those percentages could change depending on the core content area um and the department. Obviously, STEM would have more use of some digital tools as we get them ready for college and career readiness. Um that same balance is what we want to see in the day-to-day use of technology in our classrooms. Um technology should complement that strong in instruction and hands-on experience and not replace them. Ultimately, we should always be able to answer the question, how is the technology helping students learn or demonstrate mastery? It is a high is it a high quality instructional tool that delivers real value to students? Um, and an example of what this might look like in one of our secondary classrooms might be in a science lesson where students might might be learning about an ecosystem um through teacher instruction and discussion. Then they you might see them work collaboratively in small groups to conduct some hands-on investigation. They might be um collecting some data. Um, you might also see students using those digital tools to analyze their findings and then creating a model or present a presentation of an ecosystem and then working together to explain their conclusions. Um, technology in this situation adds value by helping students create, collaborate and de and demonstrate learning. Um, it doesn't replace teacher instruction or hands-on experience. As new tools emerge, we want to take um an intentional and thoughtful approach rather than viewing technology as simply good or bad. We need clear expectations for when tools should be used, how they should be used, and what responsible use looks like. At the same time, we must protect our academic integrity, ensure that our students remain actively engaged in the thinking and produce authentic evidence of their learning. educational um technology products should be able to answer these five questions. Um what learning problem does it solve? When should it be used? For whom should it be used? And for how long should it be used? When evidence demonstrates um what evidence demonstrates that it improves student learning. Ultimately, the goal is not to prevent students from using emerging technologies. The goal is to teach students how to use these tools responsibly, ethically, and purposely and keeping learning and skilled instruction um at the center. As Sandy just talked about emerging technologies, uh we thought that uh we would use AI as an example of how we're already approaching emerging technology intentionally in uh Lakeville area schools. Two years ago, we formed a leadership team to come together to talk about AI. We talked about uh how do we establish a vision? How do we create guiding principles? Review existing schoolboard policy to see where AI aligns. Um create staff guidance, create student guidance for how it should be used, identify AI tools that could be vetted and approved. We also developed resources around instructional use, academic integrity, um how to prompt AI, how to use AI responsibly. In addition to district-wide communication around AI, we built a public-f facing website and an internal website so that we were transparent and we were helping guide our students and our staff around how to use AI intentionally, ethically, and responsibly. Um last year that work continued under one of our outstanding coordinators Natalie Nelson. She led that AI team and that team shifted from building the foundation to actually supporting implementation. Our staff did uh learning around AI uh training. Our DMS's have also or our digital media specialists have also been instrumental in helping staff and students use AI ethically, intentionally, and responsibly. So, this is not new work. AI isn't new. It's an emerging technology, but we've built a strong foundation and will continue to evolve along with AI as tools change uh while keeping an instructional purpose, human judgment, and authentic learning at the center. Um Sandy's uh you'll see our vision on uh the left hand side of the screen and Sandy's going to dig a little bit deeper into our um guiding principles. Um as Tracy said, our focus is on creating um those conditions for responsible, equitable, safe and purposeful use. Um the first um we want to approach uh we want our approach to remain learner centered. The relationship is human, AI, human. The teacher and the student should always remain at the center of that learning process. AI can support that learning, provide feedback or help students re-engage. Um, but it should not replace the thinking or the relationships or instructional expertise that is essential to that learning. Um, an example of this would be when a teacher provides whole group direct instruction, then supports students in small groups, um, and may use AI um, tool to provide some guided independent practice with feedback while the teacher continues to monitor um, and determine what those next steps are. Um, the second bubble that you see is ethical use. This connects directly to our schoolboard policy 524 and academic integrity. Um we want students to understand when AI is appropriate, when it's not, and how to use it responsibly. Um this includes how do you um effectively write prompts using AI um to support not replace um the thinking or the learning. Um the third piece is equity. If we're going to expect students and um staff to use AI responsibly, we need to make sure that they have the training and understand how to do that. Um that includes helping um people recognize issues such as bias um and hallucinations and understand that AI generated information isn't always um accurate nor is it always neutral. Um and then we look at data privacy. We need to be very intentional about what tools we allow in our learning environment. That means using vetted and approved applications and prioritizing um those school board approved resources um including those including in those resources which already have AI embedded with them um and have gone through that um review process. And finally um we want to be thinking about purposeful use. It brings us back to instruction. AI should be used intentionally, not simply because it's available. Um, when aligned with clear instructional goals and implemented effectively, AI can support our standardsbased review process, evidence-based practices, and our core resources. um our digital media specialists in partnership um with our teaching and learning coordinator Natalie Nelson. Um they have been providing training to our staff um including our most recent training at the new hire to build that understanding and the proper use and the confidence um and the purpose of AI. For students who are not meeting benchmarks, AI should not be the first or primary intervention. Um when students need additional support, the priority is direct targeted instruction um from a skilled educator who can respond to students needs in real time. This targeted support allows educators to use assessment data to identify what are their specific learning needs and then adjust that instruction, provide that immediate feedback and ensure students receive the right support in real time um in embedded relationships. Aa AI may provide um a supplementary way to re-engage with learning, maybe to practice skills or to access content, but it should not replace that direct instruction or relationship with that educator. Um for students who are already meeting standards, a AI might be considered as a purposeful tool um again under the direction of that skilled educator to extend that learning, deepen that thinking um and provide um enrichment. Um, an example of that is Writable at our secondary level. Um, it's an AI powered tool that helps teachers create assignments, provide rubric aligned feedback, and it supports grammar and revision with students. Um, however, AI should never stand alone. Again, teacher instruction and guidance should remain essential. Um, this connects to our digital tools support instruction expectation. um digital tools should be part of that teacher instruction and that guided practice to connect um to lessons and meaningful peer um collaboration. [clears throat] Ultimately, we want technology to support the learning, not to become the learning and never replace that skilled educator at that center of that instruction. Um, in Lakeville area schools, we have a de developmentally appropriate differences in our device model. What makes sense for high school students is not necessarily what might make sense for kindergarten. Um, that's why we have classroom sets in prek um through K through five. Um, those devices remain at school and students in grades 612 um have take-home devices. for our youngest learner. This is also reinforced in Minnesota law uh Minnesota statute 124D166 which states that students in publicly funded preschool and kindergarten may not use an individual use screen without engagement from a teacher or from other students. Um, for us that means technology use just like in other grades in prek and in kindergarten is connected to that teacher instruction, guided learning and interaction um, with peers rather than independent um, device use. Um, when we think about learning with care, it's about the environment we create around digital learning. This works in three parts. Um, digital citizenship and well-being. um safe and secure learning, equitable access and support. Together, those areas help make sure students are not only using those digital tools responsibly, but are also learning in the environments that are secure, accessible, and designed to support focus and success. Um, learning with care is really about the conditions um we put in place around technology so students can use it safe and responsibly. digital citizenship. Um, we teach explicitly at every grade level because these skills are developed over time. Um, what responsible technology use looks like for a first grader is very different from what it looks like from a middle or a high school student. Um, as students grow, they use different tools, have greater independence, encounter increasingly complex online information, and take on greater responsibility for their own digital choices. Um, these choices extend beyond the school day and district devices and our instruction needs to grow with them so that students develop habits and skills they apply um whenever they are using technology. Our DMS staff um teach those digital citizen lessons and also provide lessons and resources um to our classroom teachers as well. Um this is why the partnership with our families matter. Um the skills are teaching around that safety and that responsibility and balance um good decisions making um our skills we want our students to carry between school and home. And of course um our cell phone policy and our expectations are another part of this work um because focus and engagement and relationships and student well-being um well-being matter. Um we want to thank you as a school board um in the support of adopting um that schoolboard pro policy. Safe and secure learning is about creating a digital environment that's intentionally designed for teaching and learning. One of the messages that we want students and families to understand is that that district device is an instructional tool. It is not an open access personal device. Our student devices are locked down and district managed for that reason. That means we control the settings, the apps, the access, the restrictions. So, so that our students are working with a safer and more focused digital environment. We use securely as a way to filter inappropriate and non-instructional web content. We use district approved and vetted apps and digital tools. We've uh thoroughly reviewed those for privacy, security, and instructional value. We also intentionally limit non-ed non-educational gaming, pop-ups, notifications, any of those digital distractions that you might get with a personal device. The point of these safeguards is not just to block access, but they reinforce the purpose of the device. When students open a district device, we want the environment itself to communicate that this is a tool for learning. Our responsibility is [clears throat] to give students access to technology uh digital resources while also creating boundaries and protections that keep them safe, focused, and supported. Our last area in this uh in the learning with care bucket is equitable access and support. And this is more than about just having divi a device. It means making sure students, staff, and families have the tools and support they need to be successful. For students, that means purposeful use, reliable and secure devices, accessibility, equitable access and guidance around safety and cyber security. For staff, it means reliable systems, technical support, vetted tools that they could use in alignment with our core resources. It also means consistency, common tools and systems across classrooms. So no matter what classroom our teachers or students are in, they have the same equipment and the same reliability. For families, it means clear expectations. They have access to securely parent that helps them manage the devices when they are at home at those upper grades. And we also have resources on our website and that our principles send home for um support in uh creating digital habits. Uh this framework is not intended to sit on a shelf. This slide shows the work that we're going to be prioritizing this year. We are going to be forming a leadership committee in September and begin with some of our immediate areas where we already know we need some greater um consistency. Our leadership team will be able to research study options and advise on recommendations connected to our digital learning environment. We will also use our teaching and learning advisory committee which is an already established committee that we have a couple of you on. And this committee includes our district staff as well as community members. and we'll gather some feedback from that broader group and make sure that we're hearing multiple perspectives about how we move forward uh with technology use. Uh from there we'll move forward with the priorities that you see here on uh this timeline in October. You'll see that we are going to be restricting access for our K5 students. It is YouTube is filtered right now for our K5. it's filtered at the highest level, but we are going to be totally removing access. The reason why we're waiting till October to do that is because we don't want to say, "Surprise teachers, now YouTube's gone." We want to give them uh some time to transition their lessons and um a little bit of of grace so that they could uh put links into Seesaw, determine what uh links on YouTube are uh totally necessary to help support those learning goals. Uh, our student device learning model, you'll see it listed in December. Our current student device lease is coming to an end. It's been another four years already. Uh, and for security purposes, we do upgrade our devices every four years. That gives us a natural opportunity to step back and intentionally evaluate what the next model should look like. We don't want to simply continue what we have today, but we want to intentionally look at what's the right tool for the right time and the right purpose. Uh the leadership team will consider whether we continue with a onetoone at every grade level, what devices best support learning, take-home expectations, screen time, developmental needs, accessibility, and of course, we uh would upset Bill if we didn't look at cost. So, we have to do that, too. Um it it is really um we want to evaluate our 1:1 model based on the instructional value that it provides. And you've been hearing that throughout our presentation to you today. The question is not simply whether students should have devices or not, but what access level best supports learning at each grade level. We expect to bring some recommendations forward to you in December. are you'll see in January we had ve we have vetted apps and sites. We currently have over 250 apps in our student catalog and we know that we need to streamline that get rid of some of the apps that we're no longer using. Um some that maybe don't align with our core resources anymore and making sure that they align with our teaching and learning priorities. And then finally on here, our last priority is making sure that we achieve ADA compliance in April of 27. This is a federal requirement that um gave us this deadline. Actually, it was supposed to be this April and they extended it a year for our our size of community. So, uh, for us that means reviewing our websites to make sure that they could be read with screen readers, that the, um, color contrast can be, um, uh, best supported for people who, um, have color blindness. Um, we have to look through all of our documents to make sure they're set up so that screen readers could read them, making sure images have captions on them, and those sorts of things. So while there is a compliance behind this work, it does support our commitment to provide equitable access for our our students. So all of these priorities um are actually our steps in putting learning with purpose and learning with care framework into action across our district. Um this brings us back to our why, our commitment. Technology is not the outcome that we're pursuing. Student readiness is what our mission says and that is what we're pursuing. We want to use technology when it helps us enhance learning. We also want to protect our student well-being, help them to become responsible digital citizens and prepare them to navigate in an increasingly digital world. That means that we're not approaching this as either more or less technology. We're approaching it as purposeful technology. And we want to end where we began. Students are our center of this work. This work is also a reflection of how we've continued to evolve as a system. We've made changes over time based on research, what we are learning in practice and feedback from our staff and families. We've responded to the needs of our system. This work is about creating environments where students can engage deeply, build strong relationships, use technology responsibly, and develop the skills that they will need once they're beyond our schools. We know this work will continue to evolve. Tools will change, expectations will change and new challenges will emerge. But if we stay grounded in our purpose, if we stay grounded in learning with care and what is best for students, this framework will help us make uh very intentional and thoughtful decisions as we continue to evolve. So, thank you for your patience while we got all of that out. We um have some opportunity for questions. >> Great. And thank you for the presentation. I think you've highlighted um that there's a range of opinions on how technology should be integrated if at all into K12 education and I think that's one of the hottest topics right now in K12 education right nationally and globally. So I think there's probably lots of thoughts on here start with director Carbone. >> Yeah, thank you. I just got promoted to doctor. >> Did I say doctor? >> You did. No, you were looking at Michael and you called. >> Oh, I thought I said director. Sorry. [laughter] Director Carbone. >> I'm your director. >> That's true. I can take your temperature in the morning. Um Tracy, coming out of the IT area and then coming over to teaching and learning, the conglomeration of those two backgrounds is perfect for this, which is really comforting that uh that you're in charge of all this. Thank you. >> I do have a couple of questions though about timing, about [clears throat] um the practical aspect of this. Uh last year when we were as a board when we were looking at at some of the scores, you know, for reading and math and you you know the list, uh one of the things we talked about or made comments about was um Alpha School in Austin, test, Texas, which has been using AI tutorials for a oh I guess two three years, whatever it's been. And and the result of that or or their model for using that is the first hour of school, at least this is the way they report it, the first hour of school, anybody who's struggling in reading, math, whatever the subject is, they have an an hour of AI tutorial. And then after that, they go into their classrooms because they they they do believe that you don't take the human element out of out of teaching and learning. There needs to be a teacher. But that being said, um, and they have shown like the top 3% in scores across the nation, not just one year, but according to what they're reporting, multiple years. So help me understand with all of this, help me understand how we get to the practical side of using this to help students who are struggling and to move them along when when we don't have I I've heard we don't have all these human resources to have one-on-one with everybody who's having difficulty with the subject. So would this not question number one, would this not be a good way to um cultivate that student and then put him in a classroom with a human being? And number two, um how deep are we doing this now? How fast can we do it? And are we willing to test it in a school somewhere and see what kind of results we get? because it when I look at the timelines it looks like it goes a while as opposed to trying to see something practical to help students in the near future. So all of that if you could comment on that. >> Yeah. Yeah. We um actually did um reach out to the um platform that they use um at that particular school. um we are are not approaching this as a um uh one one uh platform is going to do it all. And so as Sandy is working through her standardsbased review process, um she is very her and the team are being very intentional about looking at the products that help retach some of the concepts through using uh AI. Um Sandy had talked about Writable as one of the products that we've purchased along with our EA uh ELA curriculum and that is an AI that helps um students and gives feedback around their writing process. And so, um, instead of adopting just one, um, platform to, um, expect it to do all that, be aligned to our Minnesota state standards and those pieces, we are doing that as we're adopting the different platforms along the way. We're looking at what are those AI tools that are helping with the reteing. As Sandy was talking about intervention, we don't want to um have our students who are um the most at risk or the most in need of um relearning that information or maybe maybe even getting caught up to grade level to just be on a screen and learning from AI or from a screen. those students need to be with our teachers so that they get hands-on face-to-face learning and the teachers able to meet them where they are and adjust the instruction um which is evidence-based accordingly. So, I think there's two parts. Do you want to follow up at all to that? >> I'm sorry. No, go ahead, Sam. Go ahead. >> Go ahead, Director Carone. >> No, I was just going to say so so where's the balance? You know, I mentioned Alpha School as an example. Um where's the balance between um you know is it an hour of AI and six hours of human instruction? Um you know there there are models out there now. Are we looking at those models? I I don't know if am I misinterpreting the slideshow that there's a lot of process and investigation and research going on but are we looking at models that are already in existence today and that are pra working on a practical sense and I'm trying to get a sense of are you are you doing you know a year of research or are we looking at the practical side of it with again models that are that are function ing today and seem to be getting good results along with and I want to be clear about this along with a human being in a classroom that's teaching the student too. >> Director Anderson, did you want to accompany this or no? Okay, go ahead. >> Yeah. So, I'm I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> Yeah. I think one of the things as Tracy had mentioned when we're going through the standardsbased review process, we really want to think about what are those core resources and those core supplementary resources. Um I'll use for example at the elementary level bridges. One of the pieces that makes that particular resource so robust, it not only has um a highly aligned tier one instruction to our Minnesota academic standards, but it also has um resources that support re-engagement when the students need additional support from that tier one instruction. And it also has pieces for um when we need to be thinking about how might we need to enrich. The beauty about Bridges, it also has embedded digital apps that are aligned to the core resource and aligned to the standards. And we want to think about coherence for our students rather than putting them in multiple types of resources that might not be connected through a standardsbased review process. We really want to be thinking about what core resource can not only deliver tier one but can support re-engagement, support enrichment and what are those embedded digital tools and many of the digital tools now have some AI components built within so that we can build coherence um when we have students in multiple resources um that's where our coherence lacks um and then even just the language and the vocabulary that students are learning in different resour resources. So, we're trying to think about comprehensive how we can support that whole child um through all those different areas. >> Dr. Anderson, so I I do think we're going to have some different kinds of discussion today about AI use and technology in general. Um I am probably at the polar opposite end of you, Director Carbone, in terms of the AI. Um I am highly concerned about what you all are discussing tonight just in terms of where the research is at. So, one of the problems that I see with the Alpha School example is um I mean that school is up to $75,000 a year tuition. It's not representative of our population here in a public school in Minnesota. And so I don't see this ability to just kind of take um this specific example in a single school and put it into a public education system that has a very different student population. Um but my question for you is really the kind of the same which is are we using evidence to guide our AI use? So when you're saying you're using it to enhance or using it to be additive or supplementary of certain kinds of things, where is the evidence coming from that this is something we should be moving toward? Like what when you're talking about evidence-based practices? As far as I know, we don't have great evidence at this time of where AI is effective in a public education system. Um so that's my question. that is you're you're spot on and that's why we're being very intentional and we might be moving a little bit slower. Um there have been some school districts around our area in the metro who have jumped to um embed different types of software for AI and now they're starting to pull back on that. And so we want to be very intentional. There isn't a lot of research out there about um the effectiveness in um our type of organization. And so we're trying to do it through a um through our standardsbased review, making sure that we're intentional about what we're um we're looking at, making sure that that human component is the largest um largest piece of what we're doing and making sure that it aligns to our standard and to our core resource as Sandy said. So this Yeah, I think we're I think my concern is that with anything like this, it feels um too soon to be putting our decisions ahead of the evidence. Um that's my perspective and I'll obviously let all the rest of the board members share their perspect perspective. I know that um I've brought up and I back in May I I shared with you a podcast I listened to and a book about digital delusion and I've also talked about the anxious generation and I feel there's when we're talking about student performance and how it's changed over time and even if you um look at Flynn effect with intelligence testing and how our kids are not performing as high on intelligence testing despite generations of gains on each generation. Something is happening with education. And to me, the common denominator is all this introduction of technology that we don't have good evidence that it's doing something good necessarily. So, it's I'm not saying it's doing something bad, but that's my opinion about the risk we have in front of us with putting the AI ahead of the evidence. Um even in uh our training program our our interns who have PhDs or sides so they're or they're about to get that they've said this year we don't want you know we asked them we're developing our own policy with training and what do they think their use should be and they say I don't want to use AI because I'm in this I'm in this heavy learning mode this year I want to rely on my own development my own critical thinking I can use AI I down the road if it becomes like more automatic to me to be doing this. And so these are these are students at much higher levels basically reflecting on their past AI experience and saying they don't want that for themselves. So that's that's my concern is that we're putting this ahead of the evidence. That's what I would say. >> Dr. Swanson. >> Um, I kind of want to go back to the start, but before I do want to note there is a study out there where alpha schools performance was compared against other very high-end schools. So, it was more apples to apples because I agree. I mean, if you can send your kid to a school and pay 50,000 or $60,000 a year, then it's probably a different support system at home. But there have been studies where they're compared to other high-end schools. Um, so it is more apples to apples and it still did outperform it. I think one of the keys uh is it's used as a tool and not just a technology. I don't think anyone is advocating that we just allow kids to use chat GBT on every assignment, right? Like these uh AI generative tools or a chatbot [clears throat] whereas there are there is technology where it could be a tutor program where it doesn't give you the answer and that's programmed in there that you don't give them the answer. they still have to struggle through it um and figure that out where and this goes back to so just to that I do want to take a step back though kind of to the start of is the technology really being used as a useful tool and enhancing um the academic performance of our students over just getting rid of the devices altogether which is another question uh one how are we testing whether any of this is you know effective these tools are effective and if we find and that they're not effective. Are we okay getting rid of the devices? Um so yeah, so circling back to the start, uh slide two, you talk about where we have been um inconsistent classroom expectations, um rise of digital distractions. Do you feel like we've gone beyond that where there's some consistency now in in technology use in our classrooms and distractions are being minimized? >> Yes. Yes. I I believe that we've um definitely moved from where we were shortly after COVID when um we were all about um using those digital tools and as we've um come uh back around from COVID and um uh looked at research and um uh worked with teaching and learning and technology. Got feedback from our digital media specialists, our principles. we really um made sure that we are moving towards and uh a meaningful and purposeful use of the devices. Um trying to have some consistency as we uh changed our prek kids used to bring those devices home. Our K through five students used to bring those home. So we're trying to create that consistency. Um, and then Sandy's great work that she's doing with uh the standardsbased review, working with our teachers, making sure that um we're purposefully using the devices. >> Just a couple follow-ups. Um, so back to the question I was quickly passed over before, what what do we what are we doing to test >> um the efficacy of the tools that we're using right now or what we're currently doing? Um, and again, I appreciate know YouTube for K through five and stuff like that. Um, >> but the tools that we are, you know, either considering or that are currently in the schools, um, what are we doing and how are we testing those? >> Yeah, that's why we're bringing together that leadership team and, uh, we're looking at those vetted apps. We said that there were 250 apps currently in our catalog. And so that's an opportunity for us to circle back, find out the use of those tools, and to really dig in to make sure that they are in alignment with our um with our core resources and with the academic standards and the intentional purpose. So, we're getting a little bit of data around um how often those device uh those certain apps are being used by each one of the kids. There are some apps that we can't get that data from. Um I I'm not sure if you're asking if we're seeing um academic achievement um from using technology tools. I think that's really hard to put your finger on because there's so many variables in that. It's it's the teacher in the classroom is the the number one um tool that um you know helps support students. It's the the tutoring that they might get. It's the the um core resource or the resource that they have it that they're using. So there's a lot of different variables to be able to just say that this technology tool is supporting student achievement is really difficult to do. I think two I don't know if this is addresses your question or not but some of these um apps that are in our catalog as Tracy had mentioned really started um coming about around COVID and as you know things change so some of these apps at one point might have been aligned to those instructional goals and now they've changed um and maybe some of their data privacy pieces have changed as well and so That's really why we want to go through this exercise um is to really look at these and how are they purposeful? How are they aligned? They might have been aligned at one point in time um but you know every time you go to the grocery store even the product you purchase is no longer available or they've changed the ingredients. Um and that's what we're finding too um with these apps. Before I move to director Thompson, I feel like my sentiment or questions align a lot with director Anderson and Swanson here in the sense of I have questions about student performance related to the tools that we're using. And I think COVID was a time in our history, right, where this onetoone device and and at home instruction h in in many cases had to happen via digital tools. And I don't think that is then that shouldn't go without questioning right that that is the direction now that education should and can go. So for me it's looking at as we even like bridges right has a pretty significant online component or I know a lot of the AP courses at the high school no longer have textbooks. It's all digital digital right. Are our AP scores going up? Are they going down? Are fast bridge scores going up or down? And I know it's hard Tracy to your point to directly correlate this with technology use but I think and some of you know I was just traveling in Norway there is significant conversation happening internationally about this topic and so all the Scandinavian countries Norway France um Sweden Finland Italy are saying we're done with onetoone we're going we're putting the money into textbooks to physical writing because I think what they're finding is student the way students the way people learn hasn't changed um and we have a lot of evidence of how to do that. Well, technology changes all the time, right? So, as long as we can develop critical thinkers, they'll be able to use AI or whatever technology exists in two years from now, right, that we can't even imagine right now. And I think that is my question is like at what point are we evaluating bridges or evaluating whatever the the curriculum is to say it's working or it's not working and if it's not working is the solution a different digital tool or is the solution a whole different modality and going back to textbooks or paper and pencil or you know whatever it might be. I think for me that seeing what's happening internationally with some of the best performing countries in the world saying hard stop. We're this isn't working and we're seeing the data just continue to go down down down and we're going to we're going to get ahead of this before it becomes even worse. So I think that's a question for me and like when as a independent school district in a state and a country right we're in this whole whole micro or we're a microcosm of the whole system but I think I hope school boards are having these conversations and the states having the country is having these conversations to really examine student learning not from an edtech c that edte clearly wants us to buy their products right more and more is developed every day where we can pump millions of dollars into edtech and some of it is good. I could I would argue it's not all being productive for student learning which is our core goal. So I think I would challenge the committee to think about maybe the questions that many of us have asked about how are we evaluating success and and I don't think that should be too far out with some of this. Um I think some of the curriculum we've had for years that it's digital we should be able to answer the question is it working or not? >> Yeah. I think too we need to go back to what are the evidence-based practices when we think about teaching and learning. So I'll give an example at the elementary level when students are learning to read and they're in that phonics or phmic awareness um we know that they need to be in a multi-ensory environment with explicit direct instruction. The research for science of reading does support that. And so we need to be thinking about what is the research saying in each of these content areas and what is that evidence-based practice. And when we go through a standardsbased review, that's what we're supporting our teachers with is that professional development, those strategies, and then we're looking for the best resources that match um those strategies. And so what does that tactile handson look like when a student is learning to read? It might be, we call them alakonein boxes, but they're sound boxes. You push up each of the sounds in there. Um, and they have that actual tactile, that feeling. They're making those, you know, tracing those letters. Um, and that has been supported by research. Um the other piece for early literacy um as well as for students um who are older is when you're reading complex text um they have found in research that you have better retention when you're able to annotate what you're reading on paper. It's called close reading. Um think about yourselves when you're reading things. If I'm just scrolling and I'm not really looking to retain, I'm just kind of skimming. That works for me. Um, but when I have to read something heavy content, the first thing I'll do is I start reading on the screen. I got nothing. I go ahead and I print it. I start annotating it. I start making notes. And then we visually remember where we put those notes. Like how many of you when you think when you're reading a hard text, you might not remember the page number, but you know you're threequarters through, the highlighter is halfway down, and you wrote something in pink, right? And so those are some of the things that cement and glue. So, we really need to go back to what are the evidence-based practices in each of those content areas. What are the strategies that our teachers need in order to reach those evidence-based practices and what's the best tool that aligns to it and sometimes it is paper and pencil and it is that hands-on piece. >> Yeah. And I think what you highlighted is so interesting because like with AP is I think we have stories of families who went and bought the physical textbook because what you're saying is exactly right. they the student is going to learn better if they can highlight that in page 36, but we're not providing that tool as a resource. So, I think >> evaluating that I think is important. >> So, I don't want to hide >> as we're moving forward. Um, we actually are looking at that more intentionally. I walked into Kenwood Trail the other day and I sat down and there were all these boxes and I was like, what is in these boxes? that said Savas on it. And Savas is the resource that you approved for our ELA. And I opened up a box and there are these workbooks for kids um that they're going to be using. They're consumables. So every kid will get a workbook and you know, not be doing that digitally, but we'll be writing in the book. And so the questions that you ask are all around why we want to bring that leadership team together um to talk about this. Um it's a big deal. We want to make sure that we're doing the right things for our students. And um we we didn't want to just renew our device lease just to renew the device lease. We want to be really intentional and purposeful about what we're doing and why we're doing it. And to add on to what Tracy said, when those ELA teachers at the secondary level were trying to make some choices between Amplify and Savas, that was one of the things that came up was which of those resources has a balance of digital and print. Um, and they had some very um robust conversations on it. And in our resource rubric when we're looking at identifying that is one of the criteria that we look at because all students learn differently and we know complex text requires that opportunity. Um and that was one of the strengths that that SAVIS had. >> Great. Dr. Thompson. Yeah, I've got a flurry of um of stuff, but [clears throat] you know what the there it's probably less they're less questions, but I think they're just more of just general comments to the rest of the board and uh you know, philosophically, you know, how how do we want to move forward and and and as a board, you know, we are to gain uh gather input from our subject matter experts uh folks from our community, but at the end of the day, we are the one to approve and make sure that, you know, what curriculum, what's the direction, what what gets taught not in our community. Um, but I will acknowledge that I did scroll through the uh the PDF of the board agenda today. So that's why I asked a bunch of questions earlier because I didn't retain anything. Just whatever. But um uh I the 250 apps is crazy. That's that seems wild and it feels like maybe it was a wild wild west for the past four to six years. So I do appreciate uh the need to reccalibrate what apps are being deployed, what is the evidence, what are we maintaining, keeping and where is the consistency where if I'm in first grade in one school and first grade in another and there are three different apps or whatever it may be. Uh but as I hear everyone's comments and and the and the lengthy presentation that was shared, uh I think the problem that we're trying to solve is really a problem that we don't have the money for and it's a resource problem. I mean, we just don't have enough bodies, enough um humans, enough individuals to uh uh to educate in a manner that we may feel, you know, that we want. I mean, I just I think of like back in high school, you learn about Socrates and Aristotles of the world and they probably had what only like four or five pupils and and they were they they they taught those individuals for years to be super smart in whatever they want to do. But we don't have that kind of a model in today's modern time. We've got a classroom of 25 to 30 kids. We've got one instructor. And then you go and then when you go, you're supposed to teach tier one, which is 80% of the masses or maybe 70% of the masses. And you got maybe 60 was it 60% of the masses. 20% that get it and are are further ahead and 20% that aren't there yet and maybe further behind. But you've only got one person, one teacher that only can instruct 60%. And so the the problem that we're trying to solve is how do we educate all of our students where they are, where they can go, but we only have one person who can do that. Now, obviously, we have support functions and support staff uh to help close some of those gaps, but that's it's a people problem that we're trying to solve. And so either we get more people or we have to think of alternative methods that deliver the the education that tries to close some of those gaps for the 20% on each side. So I don't have an answer but I'm like that's what I'm thinking in my head as we kind of go through this. Um, the other thing that I hear is, >> can I ask you a question about that, Brian? Because it's >> so I'm thinking about like when many of us went through K12, right? It was about the same type of situation in terms of >> um my class sizes were as big as they are here in Lakeville, right? >> And so my question is like to Carly's point earlier, our kids and younger are seeing a decline, right, overall nationally and even internationally. So was the strategy that was used for our generation or our parents' generation more productive in terms of student success and learning? And I think that I don't know the answer to that. But I think for me I agree with what you're saying to interrogate that. And I don't know if that is the problem. It could be the problem could be method rather than numbers or >> I don't think you're wrong. I don't I don't think you're wrong because there there are two things that that I'm hearing again. Um, let me come back to that because I because I think you're right with um, uh, how it's being delivered and what it is. I I I've heard like everyone say the word AI like maybe in my head, you know, I was counting like 75 times or something like that. But, uh, we've got to be careful when we use the word AI and what definition we're applying it to because there are um, capabilities where you have an AI tutor where it is someone who speaks to you. It sounds like a human. They're instructing. They're teaching you. You've got AI that uh AI based applications. They're just apps where you click on buttons. What's four plus four? You plus eight and then boom, you're good to go. And then they you have AI that's more informative, which is like your chat GPTs or you ask a question, it gives you responses. And so I want to be careful where when we're talking about the word AI, you know, um how are we defining it? because if we're looking for AI instructors, AI tutors, is that a possible uh p pathway for delivery versus AI slash AI based apps, you know, applications which are which are vastly different. And then the the second thing that I heard is that I think these technologies are going to be vastly different for our elementary students, our middle school students, and and our high school students. And so going back to what you you shared earlier where uh when we grew up uh we didn't have devices. We had paper, we had pencil, and I had to learn cursive and and that's what we did. And and so like maybe we need to go back to um a model where all of our kids are like 80s kids where they learn no electronics from elementary and then they dabble in electronics in middle school. because I, you know, I'm not saying that we have to have uh technology in elementary, but there is value in writing stuff with a pencil and flipping a page and highlighting things in yellow, whatever it may be. And and but but you're going to have that 20 60 split in elementary as well. You're going to have kids that are ready to go and they're ready to do the next thing and you're going to have some kids that are further behind, but we have only got one resource to solve that problem. So, uh, those are just a few of my notes. Um, the bottom line for me is that the end state that we need to get to, um, and how we get there, I don't know. But the end state that we need to get to is that I'd love for our one for our students to, um, to to be able to have a personalized learning plan. That's what I want. Everyone should have their own personalized learning plan. And if they're not proficient in a certain category, uh there needs to be some sort of tool to close that gap so that they can earn mastery, they can earn gain the proficiency so that they can be with their peers, be part of the 60 or potentially have the opportunity to get to the positive on the 20 side. But a personalized plan, another a personalized plan where like you know what if the kids into soccer, you know, how do you teach math with soccer? you know, how do you teach, you know, uh, you know, construction stuff with with with, uh, with math? Um, so the end state for me is that we need to get to personalization. It we've got to help close the the proficiency gaps that we have, but then also content in a manner that is interesting for the child, for their for them to like, yeah, I want to learn this. And it feel we're kind of tricking them, but like, you know, how do we that that's where we need to get to how we get there, I don't know. Um, so that was just my kind that's that's in my head. I took a few notes, but the problem that again we're trying to solve is that we only have so much resources. We can't make any more money. And so what do we do with those dollars? And uh and and if personalization for me is where the end state we need to get to, how do we get there leveraging alternative pathways? So >> I don't know. >> Thanks, director Thompson. Director Swanson and Reenburgger. >> You spoke. Um, first off, uh, I really want to thank you. Um, this is an important topic that [clears throat] we have to discuss as a board and discuss the direction as far as where we're going. It is a topic that is much broader than just AI. It is just, uh, technology at every single level within the school district, within schools, within teachers, within students. Um, so that's all part of it. I'm pleased that a lot of my members, uh, colleagues on the board are asking a lot of the same questions I had. I have a sheet full of notes right now, some of which have been asked. You can always tell it's a great presentation because as I'm writing these uh some of the an some of them were answered on subsequent slides. So, you're heading me off way ahead of time, which is fantastic. >> Um uh first off, um uh as long as we are talking a little bit about AI right here, um I have looked at the MS um the MSBA AI policy. It is a draft policy. Um it was just written up this last year. um it was tested as long as we were talking about policy initiatives this past summer. Um that is a policy that I would like um for us to start to work on and adopt. Um whether it's part of your regular process um to start working on this um and and collaborate and coordinate on this. Um I am fully in favor of it. It is entirely narrow. It is just focused on administrative use of AI. Um, I'd love to see um some discussion as far as how other stakeholders factor into that, whether it's administration, whether it's teachers, as far as part of their curriculum, whether it's students, um, what they can, what is acceptable use of it and what is not acceptable use of it. Um, I think that is something that we are definitely going to have to do, something we're going to have to be accountable for um, relatively soon. So, I'd like to see that as part of your ongoing process. Um uh um the leases and devices. Um I just have a couple quick questions about that knowing that that lease is up. Um uh there is a focus on iPads. Um, and I was wondering if um the driving force between say iPad like iPads or Microsoft Surface or what other tablets might be used um is largely cost or if there are other factors involved um that um would factor in as far as uh what devices are eventually used. >> Um that's a really great question. Our ecosystem right now is set up for Apple. Um, when you go into our classrooms, there's Apple TVs that, um, teachers are able to, uh, project to. Um, uh, our systems like securely and all of those pieces are all connected to Apple. And so, um, it's not that we can't go outside of that. It's just going to cost a lot more money. There's a lot. >> Exactly. Right. >> Okay. Um uh I share director Thompson's um interest in relative age appropriate age appropriateness of um various technologies as part of the curriculum part of um uh what we use. Um when I handwrite something um I'm right-handed so I use my right hand. I am using the left hand portion of my brain. When I'm typing I'm actually using different parts of my brain. Um uh so um part of the reason why things don't stick as much as when people type it is that they're using different parts of their brain that are not associated with that. They have to develop those. Um and it's also much more of a timing thing. I'm typing with my right hand. I'm typing with my left hand. I've got to coordinate that. So it becomes much more of an exercise as opposed to a memory retention of what you're doing. Um, so as you're developing, as kids are developing those tasks, those skills, um, you know, handwriting it, repetitiveness, um, those those mundane tasks that they do over and over and over again, it sticks in their head much faster. So, I'm um, largely in agreement. Um, so maybe we just do like the 808 ' 80s kids and go back to that model for like in elementary school. >> Everybody gets patient. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> Um, hey, mullets are coming back. So, it's like the whole 80s. Um, indulge me a little bit longer here. I apologize. Um, I was wondering if you had, um, various standards of technology at the various high school groups. I mean, you did kind of touch on it. Um, I appreciate the the the level of the the PowerPoint. Um, but if, uh, we dive down further as far as like how it gets into application. It would be a week-l long seminar. Um I was wondering if you could touch on a little bit more as far as like the different um levels of technology proficiency at various ages like say in middle school what we expect kids to understand as far as technology in high school um uh and uh as they graduate what they should be able to do in relation to various technological aspects and then I've got one more question after that but go ahead. Um, we do have that actually. Our digital media specialists have come up with like a scope and sequence of what we want students to know and be able to do with technology at each grade level. Um, and they have that because they want teachers to know. You don't have to retach this because the kids already um, understand that. And so they have that. It's not right off the top of my head, but Sandy looks eager to talk. So, I'm over here. >> I don't know about [laughter] eager. Um, I think the other thing to think about is our Minnesota academic standards embed digital media literacy within those standards and computer science standards within there. So, they're already baked in um not only in um each of the grade levels, but then there's also the anchor standards so you can see what that trajectory looks from a K12. So the state of Minnesota is already looking at those pieces too which also help us guide to make sure um that we're meeting those markers for each of those age outcomes. >> Okay. And then I got one more question um involved and and and it involves the topic of the apps. You know you had 250 apps that might be outdated from like you know co and might have been over uh over inclusive as far as what you're looking for. Um it is getting exceptionally easy to develop some of these apps on our own. You know just basically plugging something into claude typing in you know create me a javascript or python script that does this um and for teachers to um incorporate that in the class. I mean they use the quizlets they use the um other features that um you know various versions of that you can you know basically mimic um using different scripts and stuff. um what kind of training there's actually two parts of the question. What kind of training do we have as far as providing teachers with that knowledge as how how to create those things, how to do those things? And then is there a like a clearing house or a process we have in place where um people uh catalog the apps um for various you know like maybe somebody creates something for Sentry and it's very good then you can use it for you know Maguire or for Kenwood. Um what kind of uh process do we have in place for that? Uh well, first off, we do not have any training to teach people how to create their own apps. Um the second part of your question is um around our our vetted and approve our vetting and approval process. Um we have a pretty strict process um where teachers submit what apps that they might want to use and then we have uh one of our employees, Joselyn Maine, in the tech center. She actually goes through every single privacy policy and she's been trained um in how to look for this, but she's looking for um uh is it um children's online uh protection act certified? Um I is the app following students geollocation because uh apps do that. Um they can see where kids are located at any point of the day and so we don't allow those types of apps. So once a teacher submits an app for consideration, it does take us a little while because I always say, you know, when we were with the new teachers, how many of you actually look at the privacy policy before you choose to download that app? And really nobody could really say yes, I I thoroughly investigate the privacy policy. Um, but Joselyn does. And so it takes her a while to go through that privacy policy. She does look at other school districts and maybe what they're using, but there are red flags that say absolutely no. And it's it's really hard to be that barrier to teachers to say no, this it seems like it's a really good app and might help, but no, we can't use it because the kids that you want to use it with are under 13 or it is um sharing the geol location. So, we are very very strict and tight on what apps we allow people to use. After Jocelyn goes through that and vets it, it does come to Sandy and her team so that they're able to look at it to see if it aligns with um teaching and learning and our goals and objectives. And if there's an app that aligns better that we already have in our catalog, then we can go back to those teachers and say, "Here's one we already have. Um we're not using that one. We're not approving it." um or if it doesn't pass our privacy privacy and security then uh we go back to them and say that as well. Um again we hate to be a barrier but we need to keep our students safe online. >> Dr. Thompson. >> Yeah. Um [clears throat] I think you're right. I mean we we we need we do probably want to need uh review that policy the AI policy. And again the policy I haven't had a chance to read it but there's a we have to make sure we look at it through the lens of how does our school district want to use AI? how do we want our staff to use AI and then how do we want our students to use AI. So we so it's a very uh uh you know a lot of different ways that it could uh um the outcomes could be uh but you know lots of good dialogue and I just wrote this down just briefly because like what what's next? I mean, what do we need to do as a school board or are you guys already moving down the path? And back to what Director Carbell said, like you've got this kind of plan, you're you're vetting out, you're it's a very long, you know, evidence-based research, whatever. But for for the school board, do we need to have a working session and talk about what is our priority? Do we feel are we aligned with the direction you're going? And more importantly, are we aligned on the duration that it's going to take to get this done? Because here's the bottom line. Like, we're going to fall behind. I mean, we've got parents right now where uh when their kid comes home and they don't know a particular answer or the homework assignment, they're on Gemini, they're on Grock, they're on Copilot or uh um and Claude, and they just ask the question, "What is this?" And if they don't if they don't know the answer that comes out from from it, they'll say, "Explain it to me like I'm a seventh grader." And then there's the answer. And so when parents start to see that and use that uh it it becomes easier for parents to start wondering and start questioning you know if it works for me as I do homework with my child what is going on while where AI can't be used at school for these kind of answers and so uh it's going to get adopted where businesses are adopting AI which means parents are using AI and then they're going to be able to easily start tinkering with it with how do I use it at school? So, if we don't have a plan yet and we're and we're and we're in the process of planning the plan, we're like AI is moving 10 times faster and and so um I don't know where things are going to be for us in the next six months or or even at the end of the school year. Uh but AI is going to be a disruptor and the question is how do we take advantage of the technology and the tools and implement it where it makes sense for our school for for our students. Uh but again back to what you're saying director reckenberger like may maybe we do need to go back to 80 style uh at least for elementary and and we can argue the case yeah you can use AI as much as you want but it's not coming to our classrooms in elementary because there's too much uh uh evidence base to to back to back that up. That's that's my concern and and as a board what do we what are we doing next? I think we can have continued discussions at a work session and I think you mentioned coming back by December for with more information. I'm gonna I want you have more questions so we'll get to director Swanson. I think we can commit to that and I think I mean I what I appreciate about the presentation is that you want the goal is here student success right and if technology is a means to get us there by all means let's figure that out and and I think the question likewise and if it's not the means what do we what are we supposed to do instead right so while I appreciate like AI is you know obviously it's here a lot of people are using it is that how our students are going to pro do better academically is is the question for me not not how do we implement an AI, right? So, I think you're asking those questions. For me, that's the question. And AI might be the way to do that, but it might be something else. It might be ordering everybody the textbook from the 80s, right? >> So, [laughter] all right, Director Swanson. >> Yeah, [clears throat] I I do want to remind people that, you know, for Lakeville at least, and I think it's probably nationally, I mean, our test scores were dropping well before COVID, right? I mean, this wasn't a, hey, CO started this problem and now we're trying to, you know, resuscitate our academic performance here. I mean, I think it was 2015, 2013. I mean, it's been dropping for a while. And so, while I I think we can all agree that it's probably not the best practice in the world to just give a a kid unfettered access to an iPad um or to a laptop in school and just say, "Good luck," you know, and they're googling everything. So, I do like that, you know, the drawback and having restrictions and certain apps are only accessible. Um, but yeah, I don't think they're the the sole problem or the only cause. Um, so I wouldn't, what's the saying? Throw the baby out with the bathwater necessarily. And so that's why I'd go back to the question of like how are we figuring out if anything we're doing is actually being effective in increasing performance, academic performance of our students. And I'll plug it again. And I mean I think you have to have some sort of consistency in your curriculum and some sort of common assessments that are built in. So we have markers that we can test and say okay how how are people doing? We're introducing a new tool. Is it working better? So you can have like little laboratories where you know one school is doing it. I mean we talked about maybe offline more so like do we do an AI tutor program at one of the middle schools you know for the kids who are a little falling behind and might need a little extra attention. you know, it's an affordable way to provide a resource, you know, that doesn't tell them the answer, but guides them. And then you can see, okay, well, is that group now performing better or improving at a faster rate than than other students in other schools that don't have the access to that resource? And then, you know, should we expand it or not? Because you know, as multiple people have said here and and Paul led off with it, I mean, you have one teacher and we can ask them to be experts at differentiating in a classroom, but there's still only one teacher, you know, and if you have 20% of your students who are are below proficiency, it's going to take more time with them. And then while you're working with them, you know, maybe the higher learners are sitting there being bored. So, um, yeah. So my my challenge to the board would be why not you know try to utilize additional resources again where they're limited in designed to actually educate and not just provide you the answer. I don't think chatbt and claude like the open AI generative models are are the answer but there are other tools that other schools and programs are using. Do we have to do it exactly like them? No. But uh yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing a presentation even from from the people at Khan Academy like what's your program? And then we can ask them the questions, you know, how do we ensure that it's it's working well and actually advancing our students academically better than just one teacher for 30 students. Um because they're they're dealing with it. I mean, it's it's spreading like Brian said. I mean, it's almost malpractice in certain certain industries to not be utilizing AI. Um and and Tony would know like the the legal industry is very opposed to it but now I mean it's an incredible tool if you use it right. So >> we should build an app and then sell it to other school districts as a PPEM you know model. >> No [laughter] I think we think >> make some revenue for our school districts. >> Director Anderson. >> Yep. Um so I um I this is something I' I've been passionate about for a while. So, I know I I have a lot of emotion in this and um appreciate your willingness to hear my questions. I do I think something I've been talking I've talked about before is yes, all of these changes were occurring before co um and if if you look at a lot of the evidence in the educational world, it was starting around 2013 2014 that we really started to see this academic slide which was the introduction across the world of smartphones. And so it's it's a drum I will continue to beat that I think some of this in terms of what kids have access to in our schools is a serious distraction and taking away from their educational opportunity. Um and so I I think the concern that I have is cell phones just got unleashed without a lot of evidence of how it helps people or harms people. And we know both now more about that. and AI similarly came onto the scene with no regulation. And so this is the kind of thing that I think years from now we're going to know more about harms versus benefits and we just don't know. Um my [clears throat] questions for you have two. Um with regard to I heard you guys say that there's kind of 90% at the elementary level 90% instruction happening not through any sort of um digital technology kind of thing. So, I would be interested in knowing how much we're spending at the elementary level on the devices and the security and all of that because let's say we just had um maybe not take them entirely away from the educational or the elementary level, but just had them in the STEM rooms and there's just the devices that are there for everybody to use. So, they don't have a onetoone, it's just for certain. So, I'm curious about that. Um, and then the other piece that I'm curious about is, you know, I've been on TELOC for a period of time and we and I've um been on as a board member and I've served on various committees as a parent before I was a board member. Um, I always think it's important for us to remember what the role of a parent is in these committees because I think parents come into the committee thinking like they're going to have a voice and it's really as a parent, I never really felt like that was really I I more felt like I got education about what was happening in the district. And so I I would like to um maybe toss out the idea of how do you how do you plan to engage parents in this process? because um I would guess if you pulled the entire community, you're going to get different opinions. And you know, I know there are some um advocacy groups during doing work, survey work, but they're going to target a certain part of our community that is concerned about technology versus what is the whole opinion of our school community. So, is there an opportunity for surveying around this that could help? Not only um I do want to see more of the evidence behind the decision- making, but also what is the community input and how do you take that into into account for your decisions? >> That's exactly what we've been talking about. Sandy, Jake, and I have had many conversations about what this looks like, what our leadership team coming together looks like, and what we can bring to the teaching and learning um advisory committee. And so, uh, when we meet with that leadership group in September, we want to get their input as to what this could look like. How do we gain the voices of our families? How do we gain voices of community? We're going to be bringing research to them so that we are um, uh, starting with the foundation of research. So, more to come. I don't have those answers for you, but that is something that we're definitely talking about. How do we um, bring more voices to the table? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. Any other questions right now? >> Okay. So, continue discussion on this right at the board table. So, we'll schedule that in. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Thanks for engaging in the conversation. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you both. >> All right. The next item on the agenda is um the 917 board member vacancy appointment. We have a volunteer. Director Tony Reikenberger is interested in serving um on that board. I think almost everyone was considered it up here. U and Tony said he could he'd be willing and able to do it from September through December >> and then come January we can figure out you know who and if that if if Tony wants to continue perhaps or if not a new person but >> Director Thompson. >> Okay. So here's a question. I don't know if that if it's if we can or cannot. Uh does it have to be a school board member on 917? because as a board uh we just have to send a representative to uh uh you know be partake in the discussions and and and provide influence uh in the best interest of our school district. And so since we have a new executive director of student services um potentially I'm just wondering is this something that as a board do we want to reallocate some of those respons responsibilities elsewhere or or do we maintain it? It was just a question I don't know. >> Yeah. So, I looked at um all four intermediate districts. There's four of them, right? We we belong to one of them. And of all the board members, there's one who is not a sitting board member. Um and that comes from Randolph. It's a special ed teacher who lives in Randolph. So, she she is I forget her name, but she is appointed to the board of the Randolph school board to to fill that. Otherwise, every other board member on an intermediate comes from their board table. Um, so yes, we are allowed to. It's generally not what people do, it seems like. Um, but that doesn't mean we're prohibited. Yep. >> And so, so then for now, maybe you know, you're good and but over the next three, four months, maybe follow do a follow-up with our executive director and ask, hey, is this something uh within your scope or someone within your team that might have an interest? Would there be value in having someone more closely aligned to the 917 operations? Uh but it would be good to know if there's interest. If not, then we can continue on. But if there is, maybe we can we should discuss that as a board. >> Yeah, I think we can discuss that. Um >> definitely worth a discussion at a work meeting down the road. I think for me um personally I see the sending whoever in this case perhaps Tony they're an extension of this board and was voted by the community to make decisions on behalf of the community in which they live. So, I'm I think that is an important thing for me that is content-wise, yes, there's definitely alignment, right, with some staff members, but in terms of fiscal stewardship and um alignment with our the reasons why many of us were elected to be on this board, that that connection might not be as strong um if we were to appoint a staff person. So, especially one who doesn't live in the community. So that's just some things I've thought about with it. But are is the board comfortable with having Tony serve in that role for the next how September through December? >> Yeah. Do we need a vote on that? >> No, technically there's no vote Kim. Okay. Unless someone objects Tony, you are >> Good job, Tony. Good job. >> So I think the first meeting is next week um September 1st and then um subsequently thereafter. So thanks Tony. And I think we're adjusting meetings, making sure that he's able to make it back. >> Yeah. There's one our November meeting is the same date. So I think it's a seven o'clock start for us to accommodate their board schedule. Yep. >> Okay. Great. >> Um with that, um we are going to be moving to close session for the preliminary consideration of allegations against an individual who is subject to the board's authority pursuant to Minnesota statute 13D.05 05 subdivision 2B. Um, these are allegations against an individual uh against individual Lucas Yoho. Um, is there a motion to move to close session? >> I would move to go into close session under Minnesota statute 13D.05, subdivision 2B. >> Great. Is there a second? >> I'll second it. >> Okay. Second by Carbone. All in favor of moving into close session signify your vote by saying I. >> I. >> All opposed. Motion passes 6. And with that, the board will adjourn into close session. Thanks everyone. >> Okay, we are open u in open session again. Thanks everyone. Um I would like to make a motion uh to support the resolution terminating employment. Is there a second? >> I will second. >> Seconded by Anderson. Any further discussion? >> Can I just clarify? We're adopting the resolution, right? >> Yeah. Okay. >> Thank you. Um, any further discussion on the resolution? Okay. And we'll do a roll call vote. I'll start to my far right. Reikenberger. Um, either say yay or nay. >> Uh, in favor of the resol. >> In favor of termination. >> Uh, yes. I >> uh Swanson, >> yes. >> Anderson, >> yes. >> Cameron, yes. Carbone, >> yes. >> Thompson, >> yes. >> Right. The resolution is adopted. Uh, 6. And with that, um, I'd entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. Is there >> so moved? >> Uh, first by Anderson. Do I hear a second by second? >> Second by Swanson. All in favor? >> I. Any opposed? All right. Motion or sorry, meeting is adjourned. Thanks everyone. [clears throat]