It is 6 o'clock and I would like to call this meeting of the school board for the Robbinsdale Area Schools to order. It is Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025. We are in the education services center of the and in the boardroom. I'm going to read our land acknowledgement. We acknowledge Robbinsdale Area Schools is located on the homelands of the Dakota and Ojiway people. We recognize the painful history of genocide and forced assimilation of the indigenous inhabitants of this land. We honor and respect the many indigenous peoples who live on and hold sacred these lands. And we stand with members of these nations to fight injustice in all of its forms. We uphold the preservation of Dakota and Ojiway languages, landbased education, and tribal sovereignty. Will the clerk please call the role? >> Thank you. Director Basset >> here. >> Director Bowman is here. Chair Evans Becker, >> I am here. >> Director Hillbrand >> here. >> Director Holmes >> here. >> Director Long >> here. >> Director W >> here. And Dr. Stalo >> here. We are all here. So, let's get going. Um, first item is the approval of our agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda? >> I'll move approval. >> Moved by Bowman, seconded by >> second to Kellen Brand. All in favor of approving the agenda, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose say nay. We have an agenda. Okay. The consent agenda is next. Let me just get to it. Items on the consent agenda are routine in nature and are generally enacted with a single motion. If there is any item in the con in the consent agenda that a schoolboard member wishes to have withdrawn to be voted on separately, they may do so. Do I have an a move items on the consent agenda tonight are um administrative, financial, and personnel reports. Do I have a move to accept the consent agenda? >> I'll move approval. >> Moved approval by Director Bowman, seconded. >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Wuto. Um, since this involves money, it needs to be a roll call vote. So, will you take the roll call? >> Of course. Director Basset, >> yes. >> Director Bowman votes yes. Chair Evans Becker, I >> vote yes. >> Director Hillbrand, >> yes. >> Director Holmes, >> no. >> Director Long, >> no. >> Director Wuto, >> yes. >> We have a quorum. >> We actually have um passed. We have accepted the consent agenda. Okay, we're going to move on to unfinished business. And uh the first item under unfinished business is acceptance, let me get to it, is to approve the superintendent's goals and timeline for the 2025 school year. I move and I am going to move that the board accept uh the superintendent's goals and and timeline for this year. We've had opportunities to discuss it at several >> I'm I'll second that. >> You're second again. We have had opportunities at two set um two board meetings to work on this and so um unless someone has something new to say I'm I'm asking for a vote. Yes, >> I do. And and actually I did send a comments in. They are related to the superintendent's goals but not but it also involves the board because it's usually a collective process. Historically, it has been more of a collective in the front end, you know, uh, of the board having input and and and so I'm asking that in this and the reason I'm raising it now is because it really would need to have, you know, certainly would want to have input from the superintendent. Uh, but for this is would be for the board. So I can certainly talk about it at a different time because this is not it's related to the superintendent goals but since we have a timeline here uh I want to be very transparent about it because uh for the first time this last time the board did not have an opportunity to kind of go through uh and make it what we have done historically is just make our selections every evaluation I've ever done make you know do our scoring and then hand it in. Now why is this phone and of course it would be your my daughter Who else? I'm I apologize. I'm sorry for that. You know, we usually meet on a Monday night. So, um back to the matter at hand. So, uh and because we typically do that, it gives an opportunity for directors to score their sheets. Uh they all have usually gone into the chair and then the chair compiles it and then we would come together for a bit of time before for a conversation about it. And the reason I raise it is because it gives an opportunity for directors to talk to each. I know I've changed my some things I've scored before. I mean, I'm just saying it's an opportunity for discussion first and that happens as part of the process because then we come together with the superintendent and talk about them. So, I wouldn't want to say anything to infringe on the superintendent's goals right now that she's as she has written them because I'm don't have any issue with those. Um, but I'm saying if we're talking a timeline, then perhaps the board can can discuss at a different time in front of this to make sure we have adequate time because we don't want it to look like people are not supportive of of the superintendent's goals. Quite frankly, when you get them at the first time to have their first discussion and we haven't had a time to talk with each other, it can look different than what it really is. And so that's the comment I want to make. I want to make it now because we're going to adopt this timeline and uh it's to the superintendent's point, but this is really more for colleagues at the board table, something that we have done historically. >> Thank you. >> So, that's my comment. >> Uh Director Holmes, >> um yeah, I had emailed late in the day today. I apologize for the lateness. I didn't get to review the timeline until today. Um, but I was hoping we could pull the two items separately because I think there's value in having this document as a standalone for the board's use. And then I had noted some changes to it um based off of our last meeting. And one of them was the school board may elect to change the language on the goal document at the midyear review. Um, so again, if they're going to be approved separate or I would ask that they be approved separately for a couple of different reasons that I outlined in the mail and I can go through them. Um, but it tied again and I sent them later today. So, I'm not sure if you had a chance to review them. >> I did read them. I'm keeping my motion to approve the goals and the timeline >> and I'd like Yes. Thanks for that, Tom. Um I'm going to go with um my corrections were to try to put time for the board to meet to discuss areas of focus for the upcoming year should come in the July August block ahead of the first bullet point. Um the second action block was looking for the addition the school board may elect to change the language on the goal document which is what we agreed upon in the last work session. Um and then I had a question about members aggregate scores. Are we talking about each goal area? Are we averaging them? Because that has changed in a couple of practices. So, if we're going to utilize the document, we should really solidify it. And then July 6th, bullet point, are we including the scores in the report to the public? >> No. Okay. I hear your suggestions. I don't hear any seconds with where you would like where you like moving to. It's just just like suggestions. This is not an amendment, >> right? >> I sent them into you. You're leaving it the same. Those were my points. So, okay. Your points. >> Super. Okay. Seeing no other hands. >> I'm going to ask us moved and second. Right. >> Pardon me. >> It's been moved and second. >> It has. So, it's been moved and seconded. So, I'm going to ask for a vote. >> It's a voice vote. >> It's a voice vote. All in favor of approving the superintendent's goals for the 2526 school year and the timeline, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose, say nay. >> No. >> No. >> Okay. We have approved the goals and the timeline. [Applause] All righty. Moving on. Uh, thank you. Item 5B, uh, dates for additional schoolboard study sessions. Uh we have several dates that we've been have been set for additional study sessions because there is such big work ahead of us coming up. Um is there a move to approve these? >> Move approval. >> Moved approval for the additional study sessions. Is there a second? >> I'll second those. >> Thank you. Director Basset. >> I do have a comment. 13th uh is a bit of a maybe a bit of a problem. My sister is quite ill and uh I'm thinking about I'm trying to time it when I go see her and so it may be across that time period. Um so I just wanted to raise that because I wouldn't want to miss it. >> Sorry about your sister, but if you did leave, would you be able to zoom in? >> Well, I might or might not because her her internet's not always stable. That's the only reason I raise it. Other than that, I can just jump on Zoom. But >> uh Director Holmes, >> are we extending a invite to the financial advisory committee for these meetings? >> Good. >> That would be my ask if it already hasn't happened. >> Just make a motion to do it. >> Dr. Ho High School, are you thinking that would be possible? >> Good evening. Um it is entirely possible. Right now we are working on the formation of adding new committee members in addition to what exists um on the finance advisory council. Our charge this year is going to be budget assumptions. If um of course it is a meeting they're welcome to attend uh with recognition that the board has a significant amount of work in front of them. uh we are trying to do a different path that uh still addresses uh issues that or budgets that need to be done but it doesn't conflict with the work of the board and the SOD planning and what is in front of them if that makes sense. So they're welcome to attend. Um it's just not I don't know that there is value to the FAC at this point to intersect with the board's work as it relates to the SOD plan and uh recommendations moving forward. >> Okay. So we have one board member who feels that they should be invited and I'm going to make that a formal motion. I'd move to extend the invite to the financial advisory committee the members that are sitting right now. So I need a second. >> Second moved and seconded to amend a comment. >> Oh yes. >> Uh so my comment is that it's a meeting that's open to the public and so uh if I understood uh director Hohisel effectively then we can just do a special invite you know um you know and invite them to come and if there are any parameters because typically we if if we're not really looking for a formal engagement we certainly can you know lay out parameters. we'd love you to come and be observers and then at maybe a future meeting we can have a conversation. That that's my take on it and it's not my motion. So I don't know if that if my take is prop you know is what you're thinking but that's what I'm thinking. >> Okay. Um Director Hillbrand >> I'm I'm just I'm sorry my computer decided it had to restart right now. So um do we have the we don't have the agendas or the topics of these meetings yet. Correct. So therefore, >> getting them later tonight probably. >> I mean, my point is that then I don't know, at least I don't have enough information to know that their presence would be necessary at these meetings. So I'm a little confused and maybe I just don't know enough to know that we're putting the cart before the horse essentially. And so therefore, I'm just confused about why we would automatically be inviting them. So I I guess I just don't feel like I have enough information to vote on that. Okay, just vote. >> So, yeah, >> we have an amendment to the motion to approve the dates to just invite the FAC to attend. It's not like we're asking them to speak. They can just come and listen and it's an opportunity for them in case they weren't aware of it. Okay, I think people are ready to vote. >> Let's do this. Okay. If you'd like uh we're going to be voting on the amendment to invite FAC. Pardon me. >> Did you have a say something again? >> Uh Director Holmes, >> are we leaving the date as is October 13th? >> At this time? >> Yeah. >> At this time? >> At this time? Yes. >> And if if there's a problem, >> we can always talk >> immediately. I mean, I'll I'll let you know as soon as possible. >> Okay. But right now, the amendment is to invite the FAC to notify them of our meetings and invite them to attend. It's not going to be to require them. It's just letting them know and inviting them. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. All in favor of letting FAC know and inviting them to our extra meetings, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose say no. >> Okay. We will invite them if now we have to now we have to pass the entire motion for the extra meetings. So, um, busy night. >> Oh, night. >> Okay. Um, she's our timer. >> Oh, good. >> And she's not getting cold. She's our timer, right? >> That was the five minutes was up for that part. >> Unlike unlike me. >> Okay. Um, so what we have now is a motion to add on the dates for our special sessions with the extra little amendment to let the FAC know. So, all in favor of this, please say I. I. >> I. Say no. We're going to have those meetings and FAC will be notified. Next thing up is the preliminary levy certification for taxes payable in 2026 and director executive director Hohheisle is on her way over to talk to us about this. This is routine nature. >> Good evening, superintendent st members. tonight talking about the preliminary proposed levy taxes table 20 26 that means uh for the public and I'm super excited because I have never given a preliminary levy presentation with such an audience so I love it I actually love it people don't typically show up for this presentation and I'm sure that's exactly why you're here so any anyway tonight um what we're going to do is go over the preliminary levy for 2026. What that means is that for taxes that our uh residents will pay in 2026 then get applied to the 2627 school year. So I always say or I open with this is literally the first mark in the revenue category as it relates to next year's budget. We always lead with the levy. Uh, and I will go over uh significant changes as we see them so far tonight compared to last year's levy. Again, this is part of the overall levy process. We started it, the board started it with long-term facility maintenance and and setting that plan, the 10-year plan. Um, this is the next step in that plan. It is not the final step. So, I uh would be looking tonight to uh request the or ask the board to approve the maximum. And the reason why I ask for the maximum is because adjustments are still being made. The state uh has not finalized anything. And by not setting a dollar threshold, you allow for that flexibility of um pretty, I would say, relatively speaking, minimal adjustments. We will be having um another hearing on this which is our truth and taxation hearing that happens December 1st 6:00 looking at all of you looking for the next sequence and then final certification by the board is on um December 15th. So we still have a few more steps in this process. Uh again uh the deadline for us to do this is September 30th. I know had a question had come up of why doesn't the board get an opportunity to review this information um at a study session and before it comes to the board. Unfortunately, the timing of the uh of the state doesn't afford us that opportunity. Usually numbers um from them for our levy are coming out uh end of first week, beginning of second week in September and they're asking you to take action by September 30th. And so given the timing of our board meetings, it doesn't afford that opportunity. Um but again nothing is final tonight. And then mid- November um taxpayers can expect that property tax statements uh showing uh the impact or what is going on and what their commitment uh is going to be that is going to be delivered with estimates about mid November. Then we move into our truth and taxation meeting on December 1st. So, as it relates, just getting down to the quick of it all, uh the different levy categories. The first one is our general fund levies. When looking at kind of the big sweeps, and if you see the column all the way to the right, when you see black, that's saying that that is an increase uh from last year's levy. And when you're seeing items in red, that is saying it is a decrease from last year's levy. Now I can say there is probably a significant number on here that are enrollment related. So the reason why the levy may be going down is because our uh population is going down and there's just the the the taxable formula or the formula that we use with students versus the taxable benefit actually drops. And so with the exception of and I'll call your attention to a few that are that are going up. Um were the formula changed. Yes, they're impacted. They could be impacted by student count, but they're also impacted by an inflation factor. One of them is the very top line, our voter approved operating referendum. You can see that is a slight increase. Um now again that is based off of of students. However, uh there is an inflation factor that goes up. um that was voter approved. So even though students are going down, the inflation factor of what was approved is going up and you can see the net results. And then the other one is our uh capital projects referendum voter approved which is the very bottom of that again um a five uh oh almost a $600 change. And that is again uh the inflation factor that was part of the uh request. We move into different categories of how we collect money and different formulas uh legislatively that have come into play. The increases here um are a couple of identifiers that we control that may or may not be formula well they aren't formula based as far as reduction in students. One is reemployment insurance. We know with um the reduction in staff last year that in reemployment insurance equals um unemployment insurance that the use of unemployment insurance is likely going to go up and so therefore uh our projection of what that's going to look like has increased slightly. The other piece uh as you go down to the inc the large increase is the long-term facility maintenance. That's a confusing one and let me explain that a little bit. So in previous years uh the district has uh issued debt. We seem to be on a trajectory at least in the last handful of years of issuing 18 to20 million in debt. Different category. It's on the full levy. It's just not on this page. We are not issuing debt this year. We have not done that$ 18 to20 million. And and for all the reasons that have been explained prior, we're slowing up on the projects. We want to make sure our money is spent well and we're allowing the whole facilities vision, uh, reimagine, whatever our facilities look like, we're allowing that to play through without making investments into our buildings that are absolutely necessary um to continue to move on. That said, we did bump up long-term facility maintenance. We are doing um continuing to do roofs, uh areas, parking lots, and so the swing in totality um from what we've probably done in the past to what we're doing today is I mean it's 16 to 18 million. That's not reflected on one-year levy, but what you see is a large increase here, you'll actually see as a decrease on a next slide. community services levy. They are uh all in all not a significant change um to the overall levy piece of it. I would say again there's nuances to why things are happen but to me when I look and say you know $200,000 in the scheme of a multi-million dollar levy it they're they're relatively neutral. And then debt service and this is where you see the other side that I was talking about. But we have debt falling off. Um and and the the significant red column. So this is to support anything that we've taken out debt on. Consider it like our mortgages for various things, the payment of that. And we do have debt that's falling off. So what does that look like at the end of the day when taking into uh the the account of the general fund, the community ad fund, and the debt service fund? at least what is presented today and this is the tricky part or on this presentation. This is the tricky part about when I talk about the state is still making adjustments and tweaks when looking at this levy and when I created this PowerPoint presentation a week ago. Um there was a 0.01 difference between last year's levy and this year's levy. When I ran that again today, there was about a $50,000 increase in uh what is propo proposed for this year's levy, which means it's a 06. Again, we're talking neutral in the scheme of when you look at spreading that across our tax base. Um, but we do have to allow for some of that flexibility for uh misses. you know, it's a 37page document and sometimes um human error or updated numbers exist at the state level that are just working their way through the system right now. So, I would say all in all our taxpayer experience should be a um should be even. I would be cautiously optimistic that with tax uh base increase that it might actually be less. Again, there's other factors that come into play like a people's market value and you know, classes that they're are they um residential like there's different things that come into play, but as far as dollar amounts go for us, we are looking to be relatively neutral right now. So, I am uh recommending to allow for the the play of all of the adjustments that the board adopt the maximum on the proposed levy knowing that you will have um our community will have an option to speak again December 1st. You will have until December 15th to finalize our numbers. Questions? Judge Long, >> what exactly is the maximum? >> There is no maximum. What it does when you say the maximum when cuz I'll turn around and I'll submit the document um to the county and to the Department of Education. What that says is you're just not setting a number. You're not saying it's going to be, you know, 77 million and that's it because they they take that that that's it. maximum allows you to or allows the uh process to work its way through. Um for us, what I can say is I don't see any other significant changes happening. Like there's not going to be big swings for us um where we're missing a component of our levy. Last year we had a potential of almost a $7 million swing because we were out to our voters for the capital projects. And so that was going to be what was presented versus what you actually approved really depended on the election and and what that could look like. I'm saying when you're looking at go back when you're looking at 76.5 million I I don't see I honestly don't see more than I mean it's a best guess. I I would be very surprised to see anything over a h 100,000 from what you're seeing up there today of a 77.5 million because most of our numbers look pretty good right now as far as what I uh believe them to be and formulas as best I can see them are projected enrollment numbers all of that that's in the system. So So will we have a number soon that we could that the community could know about? I'm just worried about with like Henipin County going up to 8%. Um just you know heard uh Brooklyn Park is talking about a 12% property tax increase. You know um 10% in Brooklyn Center. You know I'm just trying to think about what people will have to be paying and and how much burden we're going to then be putting on top of those property taxes too. >> Yeah. As far as final, the answer is no because again they could it could change daily. I've seen ours change once since I um did this presentation or created this presentation almost a week ago now. We had uh they were two categories that changed. Um one was uh building and land lease and the other one was prior year adjustments. you know, so as final numbers get rolling in, if you have adjustments that are affecting your levy and now final numbers are rolling in and those adjustments swing, that's probably the only area. And I'll go back so you can kind of see what I'm talking about. If you look at the bottom um in red, those are our prior year adjustments where maybe estimates were off um and it's coming off of our levy levy. Now, that could go to the positive, too. um or at least uh lower the the negative the subtraction from the prior year adjustment. That's really the only area that I see any potential as final numbers come in. But I can't we won't have final numbers until people until we're coming into our uh truth and taxation hearing on December 1st. Again, you have all the opportunity to make those adjustments up until December 15th. I just can't possibly communicate what that would I I could give the board information on uh September 30th, but they're still going to be working their way through. It's not going to achieve necessarily anything more for us a week from now than it is today. >> But when we vote in December, we'll be voting on a specific amount. >> Yeah, you're voting on final numbers in December. >> Uh Director Bass, do you still have a question? >> I do. And so it really kind of goes to this tax capacity question because when we set our levy uh our our levy is set based on our tax capacity. All of that is a bundle. So as I understand it uh so since it is uh the fluctuation that you're talking about that is affected by the enrollment numbers and all of that. So that might move around the the legislature might make some tinkering with some of the different categories of the levies. And so my understanding about how that fluctuation happens is based on those factors. If there's some tinkering or changes that work themselves through as the county is figuring it all out >> uh and based on our tax capacity here that those things all come together. So when the board sets its maximum tax levy, it sets it within the parameters of what our approved tax capacity is. So it's not a unknown number. when we say to the max, there is a number that can be known. So, it would be helpful to kind of help the board maybe un maybe pre prepare something for us. Uh, if you're if you're tracking with me and I'm tracking with all the presentations I've heard in the past. >> I think I'm tracking with you, but I'm going to make a statement. Tell me if I'm off, Helen. So, the board ultimately, the school board ultimately is issuing a number, right? So if it's whatever millions of dollars that's what we submit when you are looking at a taxbased scenario it is the value of the properties within our taxing district right it's the seven communities of which cities come into play counties come into play I don't know if there's watersheds like all of that comes into play >> right >> we set our number and then how that rolls out with all of the other entities and how it's the levy is spread across the entire value of our seven communities is the impact and and again all of the different factors of how each individual experiences that and you know are they residential are they seasonal are they egg are they I mean there's different classifications but that's how their an individual's tax get determined what we send as a dollar amount is what we control >> I I think we're we're talking different things because if we when we pass our uh approved levy and we passed that we're going to go for the maximum levy. Uh for example, uh we have been approved to we have an approved amount that we can go up to that we can tax tax up to. >> Mhm. >> That's the number. >> Well, that I mean well >> but those are certain categories. >> I understand that but I'm saying in in totality we cannot exceed the amount of tax capacity that has been that the board has approved in prior. We live within that. That's the budget we live within. >> I'm getting hung up on the word tax capacity, but that's true. Yeah, it's not tax capacity, but it's true. Like >> the referendum is like that's already voted in. That dollar amounts voted in and the number of students is voted is what it is. >> I understand that. I I guess what I'm saying is that to the point to the question that director Long has, I think maybe um we might benefit from a little bit more of a tutorial about the levy setting uh so that people have it because because there is a finite number. There's a finite number we can go up to in terms of where we what we tax and we have to make sure we live within that. Once we approve it, we have to say what it is, but it also has to be within the parameters of what's what we've been approved to based on our tax capacity. It's kind of a a a process that works together. So now you're the finance director. I'm just a board member. So uh that's why I'm saying we might need a little bit of a tutorial on this one because I think have a little bit more information because if we are we passing each other in the night, >> that's not good. Especially if we're going into a statute, you know, some other kinds of things. So for the board to have more of a discussion about that and what it means and how it works at a work session might be an appropriate thing for us to do. That's really all I'm saying. >> I am completely uh more than willing and happy to do that. I'm just saying the numbers that you're looking at are typically formula based, which is already set. >> You're saying the same thing. That's what fluctuation in there. >> And so your fluctuation again typically comes in adjustments or maybe a formula error that the Department of Ed has missed thus far. Otherwise, it it it kind of just is unless you choose to underlevy. And my recommendation would not be to do that at this time. Let the process play out. Make the decision in December. And >> and that's what we've typically done. We've tax we've we've set it to the maximum. So that's not a foreign concept. And I I understand and and agree that that's the best thing to do. But I do think uh it's important that the full board has a grasp of how that all works together. And a little bit of more tutorial about that would not hurt. >> Agreed. >> You know, in this climate we're in right now. Thank you, Director Basset. Director Hillenbrand. >> Yeah, I think where the the tax capacity comes into play is when you're talking about aid. So, when you reach your tax capacity for your for your residents, then the state comes in and provides aid. That's the way they help even out imbalances between communities and their ability to to pay um the taxes so that you don't get huge imbalances between um richer districts and less affluent districts, right? And so I think that's where maybe you're hearing tax capacity play in. So then yes, even though the formula says you get this much, but the tax capacity is only here and the state comes in and fills in with aid for that gap. So I think that's maybe where um the disconnect is right there. So that's >> Thank you. Thank you. Director Holmes, did you have your hand up? >> I did. So just for the sake of clarity for the average because this is a lot of information and it doesn't make a lot of sense to a lot of people. >> Agreed. >> Um myself included. I mean, I'm coming along and it's been a long time making this. Um, but I think for the average people I heard you say, you're expecting little to no movement >> based on this what was already voter approved your anticipated bill. I mean, I know it's not 100% confident, but you're just your best guess right now is there should be little to no movement from >> on items we can control. Yes. >> On items we can control. Yes. And to clarify, this has nothing to do with what we're talking about in our work session. It's totally separate because we're talking about taxes. I just I'm going to make those really clear distinctions where we can because of the audience we have. So, >> agreed. But I'm really happy that they're here to listen to this. >> That's it. >> Thank you, Director Holmes. That was a good point. All right. Um, do I have a motion to have the board certify the preliminary tax? >> I'll move approval for >> the uh for 2026 at the maximum levy amount. We have a motion and a second. Omen and Basset. This requires a roll call vote because it has to do with money. Would you take the roll call vote for us? >> With pleasure. Director Basset. >> Yes. >> Director Bowman votes yes. Chair Evans Becker. >> Yes. >> Director Hillbrand. >> Yes. Yes. Director Holmes, >> yes. >> Director Long, >> no. >> Director Wuto, yes. >> Motion prevails. >> Okay, we have to the max. All right. Next thing on our agenda is the resolution accepting donations. Um, do I have a move to accept the donations? >> I'll move. >> Thank you. And wave the re and we'll wave the reading, but let people know that it's $30,000 worth of donations that we are accepting. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Hillenbrand. moved by Basset. And this is a roll call vote because it has to do with money. So, let's do it. >> Of course. Uh, Director Basset, >> yes. >> Director Bowman votes yes. Chair Evans Becker, >> I vote yes. >> Uh, Director Hillbrand, >> yes. >> Director Holmes, >> yes. >> Director Long, >> yes. >> Director Wu, >> yes. >> Unanimous. >> Thank you everyone for the donations. Okay, next thing up on our agenda is a resolution to rescend uh the ad hoc safety and security committee. And I would like to read the resolution. Whereas on April 18th, 2023, a resolution of the board established the ad hoc committee to consolidate board priorities on safety and security and report back to the board at future work sessions with recommendations. And this group did indeed consolidate priorities on safety and security and report back to the board on several occasions. Whereas the ad hoc committees are not permanent. Whereas today, the Robbinsdale School District has a director of safety and security, a director of risk management, and further, the Robbinsdale district has in place a district safety and security team, a district emergency management team, a district care and support team, building and emergency, let's see, building emergency management teams, building care and support team, student safety squads, a workplace accident and injury reduction program, and a district health and safety committee. Be it resolved that the Robbinsdale schools board the board of Robbinsdale schools disband the ad hoc safety and security committee at this time and thank the members for their service. I move this. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Wuto. Uh Director Holmes. >> I will be voting no on dissolving this critical committee. I'll emphasize again that this should in fact be a permanent committee. The committee was formed in a 70 board approved resolution in 2023 and worked collaboratively with administration up until March 2025 when meetings abruptly stopped. The committee worked on identifying gaps in policies and procedures including specifically to policy 525 529 staff notification of violent behaviors by students. developing a board threshold notification document to allow for board monitoring of events. Successfully bringing in the Sandy Hook Promise programs which empower youth and adults to prevent violence. Prevent violence I'm going to say that again in schools, homes, and communities. Gave voice to student, staff, and family concerns around vaping and bathroom accessibility in high schools. and worked with administration on safety and security needs such as cameras, two-way radios, and safety and staff needs and concerns. Unfinished recent work includes identifying the gaps in the student handbook input and review process and continued bathroom concerns such as illegal drug use and vaping issues relating to policies not being adhered to. I urge my colleagues to keep this very important committee at the minimum an ad hoc but I would urge for permanent formation. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. I just have a question. It says that this is a roll going to be a roll call vote. Is there a reason for that? Is there a reason for that? >> Well, it was a resolution. >> There wouldn't need to be a roll call vote unless the board determines it does. >> Wait. If it's a resolution, then it's a roll call vote. Thank you, Director Basset. Okay, seeing no more hands. Oh, Director Basset. >> Well, um I want to speak to this uh this committee and uh what I have said before and I will just say it again because I believe it is that um I understand and I really do appreciate uh all the things you read out about what we've instituted. I don't have that resolution with all that language in front of it. So maybe it's on our cuz I have my printed copy I get, you know, beforehand. Uh so it's if it's on the in and I'm sure it is, but I don't have that. So when I hear all of that, I'm I'm very encouraged and very happy and a lot of that has happened. Uh but one of the things that I think about is I think it would be helpful for a couple of things. One is perhaps this committee and I know we're going to speak to another ad hoc in a bit is to maybe uh maybe talk about the the structure of them. Maybe they're and and I guess I would argue not that they just even say they per they're permanent. I would say I think that it would be good if they would meet quarterly. I think to step down from where we were because we had nothing and quite frankly in the years when this was put together. There were a number of incidents that happened in the district. Now we have a number of things that have been instituted. I think and then there hasn't been from what I'm hearing a good way to crosswalk the work the committee had been doing handing it off making sure that you know everything is where we would want it to be because I think crosswalk is important if you're going to wind down a committee that the board resolved to have and there's not been agreement on it on the dissolution of them among board members since this first got raised. So I think in the spirit of consensus in in the spirit of recognizing and appreciating the committee's work in the spirit of making sure that we crosswalk between what the committee has thought was important and what we now have in place I think a meeting a a meeting or two or I'm don't I'm not suggesting how many but I mean an opportunity for that to happen I think matters um you know because that work has been done and I think a lot of good did come out of that committee And so because the committee members themselves are saying that they have more they want to do. Uh I am of the opinion that ad hoc committees with any luck at all they either can sunset or be found to be important enough to continue. I don't know that I feel like that we've sorted that through as a board. I think that there have been different opinions about it. Uh but I think now that we have leadership and and uh we actually have some things in place because I'm really impressed by the long list of things that have happened. It's great you know. So uh is what's wrong with crosswalking that with a committee of board members who've been committed to it and who want to work on it with the notion that I think it would be better to have it be if it's if it is going to stick be around have it be quarterly. I I don't think we need to have I don't know how often they were meeting, but I think a quarterly coming together because we still haven't determined what are the things that the board feels like should be monitored, if you want to use that word uh in in those in those matters. We haven't talked about that. We haven't set our own goals as a board. So, you know, I think that's still work to be done. >> So, that's all I have to say. Thank you, >> Director Bowman. Yeah, I uh because it was an ad hoc committee, that's what makes it uh um that's why I can support getting rid of it. I think that was really important is that uh we did our role at the time and we never knew how big that role was. We didn't have any leadership at that time. There was a lot of chaos. There was a lot of complaints from a lot of people. >> And now here we are in the fall of 2025. Uh I can you know I can take it from I'm seasoned enough to know that when I get emails I get a general sense of what's going on out there and there just haven't been the complaints and not that things are perfect but rather we have a new superintendent in place who is making sure that the job is getting done. uh re as regarding I mean it's always something that the board can talk about um um how we get information to the board directors themselves but um we we keep our eye on safety through the reports that we received and through the comments received from the community and the other most important uh source that we have is uh our own Dr. Stalo who has her finger on the pulse of what's going on in this district and can answer those questions or at least get answers to them. So, I'm very confident in the work that's being done today by Dr. Stalo, by the cabinet, and by the numerous other people throughout this district who are um working to educate our kids and and keep them safe while they're doing it. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Director Long. >> Um I would just like to reiterate everything that Director Holmes has said. There's still a lot of work that we need to do. Um, I've even seen recently on the Robbinsdale Facebook page a parent uh reaching out wanting to know what was going on with the weapons at one of our schools. Um, so I still say that we have those same concerns. Um, you know, people have still been emailing us about things and people have been reaching out then too in other ways to to uh give us information about things that aren't being communicated out or gaps in some of the safety that we're having in some of our schools. Um, I I think that there, you know, if we want to talk about ending it, then there should have been some kind of bridge to end it and there there wasn't any that way. Um, I just I think that this is a bad move at this point in time with things that are still currently happening in our schools. >> Thank you. >> Okay, seeing no more hands, let's take the Let's take a vote. >> Roll call. Okay, >> it is a roll call. It's a resolution. >> Thank you. Uh, Hel uh, Director Basset, >> I vote no. >> Director Bowman votes yes. Uh, Chair Evans Becker, >> yes. >> Director Hillbrand, >> yes. Director Holmes, >> no. >> Director Long, >> no. >> Director Wuto, yes. >> Thank you for your service. We are disbanding the ad hoc safety and security committee. The next item is a resolution to resend the ad hoc transportation, capital, and infrastructure committee. I will read the resolution. Whereas on August 19th, 2023, the school board passed a resolution to establish an ad hoc committee to consolidate board priorities on transportation and capital infrastructure and report back to the board at future work sessions. And this committee's work on transportation related to bus contracts was finished in November of 2024. Whereas an ad hoc committee is not permanent. And whereas the upcoming facility and capital infrastructure work will be an ongoing project for the entire board. Therefore, be it resolved that the Robinsdale Area School Board disband the ad hoc transportation and capital infrastructure committee at this time and thank the members for their service. Is there a second? >> Second. >> I moved and director Bhau second. >> Okay. >> Okay. All right. Uh, Director Basset. >> Well, um, I guess I would say that I don't feel as this strongly about this one. What I do feel like and particularly it goes to the point that you just made about um the fact that the board will work together with this new committee and that will be important to me and if and I hope they're not necessarily have we'll hear more about what that means because it's one thing to say it but it's another thing to to we don't have a map of what that really means and uh if we're going into this reorganization and we're talking about doing all these things and I I can't help but say that 108 page Nexus document I think That's a group that talks about the facilities and all that stuff. It's quite comprehensive a things on paper and how they actually get lived in terms of process, procedure, policy and practice are two different things. They have to be implemented and it's great to have a leader and a team that's doing it, but I think the board has a role in that. And uh so I'm I'm looking forward to hearing from the superintendent how that will work because I really do think it's important that get that get crosswalked. So >> Okay. Uh I see no more hands. Oh, I do. >> Okay. >> Approval of the resolution without having to >> Well, I already read it. >> Okay, then it's done. Just move approval. >> I did. I moved it and director I moved it. Director W seconded it. And so I see no more hands. Let's take a vote. >> Perfect. Did you have your hand up >> ready? Um, >> director Basset, >> we're voting on rescending >> Yes. >> Director Bowman votes yes. Uh, Chair Evans Becker, >> yes. >> Director Hillbrand, >> yes. >> Director Holmes, >> yes. >> Director Long, >> no. >> And Director Wuto, >> yes. >> All right, we have disbanded the ad hoc transportation and capital infrastructure committee. And thank you um there's still two of us who are on the committee uh for the service. Okay. What happens next? Oh, policy. >> Okay. So, we have the second read on several policies and uh these changes are related to uh legislative changes. We have to change our policies to be in compliance with the new legislative changes. And so, I'm going to turn it over to Director Bowman >> policy committee. >> Yeah. Thank you very much, Chair Evans Becker. Uh, this is a a second read for compliance to state, federal, and Minnesota schoolboard association uh, statutes and rules, and the committee itself did not receive any further inv. So, we have moved this all forward to its second read. >> Okay, quick question. I believe we have to vote on each one of them separately or can we do it as a group? >> I think we could. group. All right. Is there a motion? >> I'll move approval. >> Okay. Director Bowman has moved approval of the uh policies on 7A and the seconded by Director Hillbrand. Okay. Just checking. Is this a roll call vote? >> Uh no, I don't think so. >> Voice vote. Thank you. Okay. We're voting on the changes to to meet with the legislative updates on these policies on 7A. If you are in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. Oppose. Say nay. >> No. >> Motion carries. We have these policies. All right. Whoops. I just lost everything. >> Administrative report. >> Thank you. Uh, the next thing is administrative reports. And it says we have no reports this evening. >> We have no reports this evening. >> Okay. Okay, future agenda items will roll and that means it's time to adjurnn. Is there a move to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved, seconded. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> We are adjourned. And this the study session, the work session will start at 7:00. See you then. Wow. Well, that was by you settling in. >> Yeah, I just finally got >> Well, yeah. I mean, you know, I mean, >> I love all the talking in the room. I love all the volume that we had in the room. But it is time for the work study study session to begin. So thank you. Welcome everyone. Welcome vision team members. Welcome community. When we start a study session, we introduce ourselves and we generally introduce everyone in the room and we are not doing that part tonight but we will introduce ourselves as board members because that is a tradition at today's session. So I'm Gita Evans Becker. I am the board chair. We'll go this way first. >> Caroline Long, vice chair. Aviva Hillenbrand treasure >> Renee Bowman clerk school board >> Helen Bassid School Board and Kim Holmes school board Terry Stal superintendent Allrighty okay let's get right to it I'm going to turn it over to our superintendent and let's get started. >> Excellent. Uh the purpose of study sessions is for board members and the administrators to share information and prepare ultimately for decisions that are made at the board table during business meetings. Tonight, as we look at the board planning document that's uh posted, the sole agenda topic falls under the board governance role of community engagement, engaging the community, and the reimagine Ardale vision 2030 recommendations. And as we prepare to hear from the vision team, I'd like to provide some thoughts and just a little bit of context. The Reimagine Ardale 2030 initiative has three components, all geared toward learning from and engaging with our diverse community of stakeholders in a common effort to shape a new vision for Robbinsdale Area Schools. First of all, there was the comprehensive community survey. It was available in multiple languages. We mailed brochures to all community members to make sure that they were aware of it. Uh we made the survey available online and then we also administrated it in multiple face-to-face uh engagement events. For community engagement, we had eight district-wide community events, including two virtual sessions and four sessions specifically geared to indigenous, pan-African, Somali, and Latino affinity groups. We had student meetings or activities at every school kindergarten through 12th grade including including grade level meetings for all 6 through 12th graders at every school. We had staff meetings at every school and in most departments. We had popup engagement events at various locations within the district and the vision 2030 team who many of whom are sitting in front of me this evening. This was an advisory group of students, parents, caregivers, staff, and community members who met for eight months, reviewed and discussed huge amounts of data, engaged in deep and challenging discussions about challenges and possibilities for Robbinsdale and created recommendations for board consideration. All told, to date, about 17,000 stakeholders provided input that informed the vision team's discussions over the course of those eight months on topics that were both weighty and oftentimes emotional. It's important to note that the vision team was advisory only. The team was fully aware that the school board is the body that holds decision-making authority and provides direction to staff regarding implementation of board decisions. Authentic community engagement requires leaders of organizations to be vulnerable. Groups may have very different views about what can and should happen on particular issues. Sometimes community engagement is really hard because it requires deep listening without trying to influence or jumping into action. According to Penn State Center for Economic and Community Development, authentic community engagement requires letting go of some of the traditional reigns of power and trusting that citizens can and will effectively engage in issues. When done well, the result is a partnership that is nearly always healthy for a community and can more effectively address the issue at hand. From my perspective, that has been the experience and the outcome of this process. I've been part of many community task forces and advisory committees throughout my career. Some of these have been facilitated by outside consultants and some by district leaders. I've served as a district leader in multiple processes and I've served as an outside consultant for school districts. I have never been a part of a process with more honest and difficult discussions. I've never seen a group so engaged and invested. I've never felt such genuine sense of working collaboratively toward a common good rather than individual interest. I've never entered a process so open to trusting that the outcome would be based on the collective. I am so proud of the work of this vision team and I want to thank you all for your work and I'm also incredibly proud of how my team set up, facilitated and organized the process to get us where we are tonight. I also want to thank them for their work and partnership. So tonight, while we have a lot of our vision team members here, three representatives from the Vision 2030 team will be sharing the team's findings and recommendations for moving toward a brighter future for Robbinsdale Area Schools. I'll invite them now to introduce themselves and start their presentation. Um, we'll have them complete the entire presentation and then they'll hand it back to me. um I can give a few more uh directions before we engage in board members comments and questions. So with that I'm gonna hand it over to the team. Thank you very much. >> Thank you very much Dr. Stallow for your uh kind words and uh good evening. Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to present the recommendations of the 2030 vision team. The vision team is a group of community members who have worked together for eight months with the shared goal of reimagining our school district as one our students want, need, and deserve. A detailed report of the recommendations is available for the public to access on the district website. We strongly encourage everyone listening to download it and read through it because the information that we give tonight is not enough opportunity for us to present everything tonight. Before I go into introduction of myself, I first want to say thank you to all of my teammates that have spent the last eight months diving in deep because without you, we would not be here today. So, thank you 2030 vision team. Hello everyone. My name is Willie Howard. I live right here in district 281. When I accepted the job years ago, I made it a priority to be seen, live where I work. So, I built a house in New Hope. And District 281 is where four of my children proudly graduated. I wear many hats in this community as a father, an administrator, a coach, a mentor, and a realtor that has helped staff me members find homes for the last 19 years in our district. But above all, I see myself as a servant to this community. 16 years ago, when I applied to work in District 281, I told the hiring team one thing. I am a man who runs to the fire, not away from it. Back then, the district had its share of challenges. But instead of backing down, I leaned in. And ever since, I made it my mission to be there for students and families. Whether it's long hours of support to showing up at funerals to cooking for teams or even raising well over 200,000 for a new scoreboard in a community weight room. My daughter summed it up best during her graduation speech last year when she said, "Like my father always says, "Family, forget about me. I love you." That's the heart of why I do what I do. This is why I applied to be on this vision team. I want to help put out this fire. There's work to do and I want to help save all the greatness our community has to be proud of. This isn't about me. It's about all of us. It's about making sure all of our students and families have the best and that every child in this district knows they can and should dream big and I will have and they will have support for their dreams. Good evening. I'm Brienne Foss. I'm a former student of Lakeville, Lake View Elementary, Samberg Middle School, Cooper High School. We've raised two boys through the district at RSI, Meadow Lake, PMS, RMS, Fair Crystal. They both graduated from Cooper. We have a nephew who lives with us. He's a junior in the district. and we have two little ones that are elementary students in the district. I'm a former cheerleader. I'm a former booster club president. I'm a community member. And above all, someone who loves this district deeply. My heart has always been here through my own school years and now through my children's. I know firsthand how strong our community is, how committed our teachers are, and how much our schools provide for our kids. But the last few years, I started to feel discouraged by what I was seeing and hearing. I realized I had a choice. I could stay frustrated or I could step up and be part of shaping the solution. That's why I applied to be a part of the vision team and I'm grateful to be here helping ensure the future of our schools reflect the best of who we are as a community. >> Hello, my name is Kylander Nelson Shepardia. I am a junior at Cooper High School and I have been in the district my whole life. I live in New Hope. I went to C elementary. I went to Plymouth Middle School and Fair Crystal. My purpose on this vision team is to bring the student voice in perspective. In a room full of adults worrying about taxes, I make sure to advocate for the needs of my fellow peers, students, and how to support them during their development. For me, being part of this team was crucial to the process so that kids are not just heard, but actually listened to when it comes to what they want in education because what they need is so crucial to everything that we do. And it is so important that their voices are heard and that their voices are seen and that they are understood. Um, and there's been a multitude of conversations where we've had and I've just had to say, "Wait, hold on. A student would not agree with that. No kid would say that." and it's so important that has developed so many of our conversations. Um, we'd like to emphasize that we are just three members of this much much larger committee. Every single one of us has our own story and what this process means and what these recommendations mean to us. Um, I would like to invite everybody on the team to stand for a few seconds and identify yourselves. Thank you so much for being part of this process. [Applause] Before we start our presentation tonight, we want to acknowledge that because our recommendations will include suggestions to school closures and programmatic changes across the district, they may lay may lead to a range of emotions from strong enthusiasm to deep apprehension. And since the report was posted to the district website last Friday, we imagine that community members may have already started reaching out to you to share their views. We know change doesn't come easily, especially when it involves our children's education and the school communities we have deep history in our district. Board members, we you will make the ultimate decisions. So, as you consider these recommendations, we ask you to consider the following critical questions. Do you believe our recommendations will lead to a brighter, more equitable future for our students and a healthier financial position for the district? And if not, what is your plan to solve the changes we are facing, including our district's serious financial crisis? The choice and responsibility ultimately is yours. The challenges the district faces are serious, but they also present the district with an opportunity to make bold changes for our students, our staff, and community that they need and deserve. Today's board stands at a critical turning point, working alongside district administration and staff. The board can chart a path that strengthens our schools, supports our staff, and ensures better opportunities for every single student. So, why are we here tonight? Let's level set. If you've had any role in this district, you know there is so much good to be found here. We have fantastic teachers and staff and rich diversity. We are genuinely committed to equity and we have a long history of exceptional visual and performing arts. This just scratches the surface of all the good in our district. At the same time, our district is facing significant challenges that clearly have been growing for many years. Our test scores fall below state averages. We're experiencing declining enrollment. We've seen a lot of leadership turnover and many of our facilities are in need of major updates. Those were the challenges our district faced even before the $21 million deficit that put our district into statutory operating debt and affected more than 180 staff. Even before the current financial crisis, our district needed to change. But now it's essential. That's why district administrators created Reimagine Ardell. When Dr. Stalo launched the effort, she called it a bold initiative that invites us to dream big about the future of Robbinsdale area schools. And that's exactly what the Vision 2030 team has been doing during our last eight months of work together. The vision 2030 team is one part of the overall reimagine Ardell initiative which also included a comprehensive survey and robust community engagement campaign. At every meeting, we reviewed our purpose. A community group reflective of the diverse makeup of our students and community population will engage in study, learning, and analysis to develop long-term recommendations for districts priorities, financial stability, and considerations to reimagine the school district our students want, need, and deserve. The application and selection process is described in detail in our recommendations paper. In short, 46 out of 155 applicants were invited to serve on the committee. All accepted and after eight months of deep and intense work, 37 committee members remain and all sign the recommendations before you. During our time together, we studied a range of topics. We looked at student data, summary results from the vision 2030 community survey, enrollment trends and projections, facilities data, and more. And through all of this, the vision team stayed focused on equity. We imagined our own personal biases and future we had each envisioned for our own kids and identified disparities and barriers all with the goal of evaluating data and making recommendations that will have the greatest positive impact on the students in our district. Because vision team members brought varying school and life experiences to each meeting, there were occasional conflicts among perspectives. Emotions sometimes ran high, but we worked through our differences in a respectful and collaborative manner. We ultimately achieved consensus on our final recommendations, meaning we agreed on what we put forward as a whole, believing that these recommendations will make a positive impact on our district. what to expect next. We'll spend the majority of tonight sharing the insights the vision teams uncovered together and our consensus recommendations for Robinddale area schools. As we acknowledged earlier, these recommendations will include suggestions for school closures and programmatic changes in our districts. But we also want to address right from the start that our recommendations do not include exactly how many schools the district should close, which ones, and when. While we understand these are details the community wants to know and they want to know now, the vision team believes these decisions will require additional intensive effort from district staff who have the specific expertise and experience in working through school closures. Later in the presentation, we'll share more about what people can expect to happen next. As difficult as it is to hear about school closures, we want to emphasize that our recommendations are not just a plan to close schools. Throughout all of our work, our goal has been to identify ways to expand opportunities and raise academic excellence by creating learning environments where every child is inspired, supported, and safe. So, let's jump into some of the key findings and considerations that formed our recommendations. Our greatest district strength is its people. There is a strong consensus amongst survey results and in conversations that our teachers and staff are extraordinary. They bring dedication, care, and talent to students every single day. Combine exceptional staff with our diverse set of academic and extracurricular programs, and it's clear Robbinsdale Area Schools has a foundation to be proud of. Ask almost anyone with firsthand experience in our district and you'll soon learn that the arts and in particular visual and performing arts are the core to our district's DNA. We also heard this through the vision 2030 survey where students ranked the arts among the most important areas they want to learn and participate in alongside math, reading, and hands-on learning. The arts also provide students ways to express themselves, explore culture, and celebrate diversity. In Robbinsdale, the arts and our community's diversity are deeply connected are both amongst the greatest assets that we can celebrate. The vision team also look directly at academic performance. Our state tests, Robbinsdale schools, and students consistently score below Minnesota averages in reading, math, and science. We also know that MCAs aren't the only measure of students success, but they are visible and families and community members pay attention. Thus, we cannot ignore the reality. Now, our enrollment numbers and an enrollment projection expert, Hazel Reinhardt, studied our district's enrollment trends and created projections that we reviewed in depth as a team. And this is what we've learned. Our enrollment is declining. And since 2014 2015 school year, it's declined 16% which is equal to nearly 2,000 students. Many of the reasons for declining enrollment are factors being faced by schools nationwide. Lower birth rates, limited real estate for new housing developments that would attract school-aged families, and older residents staying longer in their homes. The competition for our students has also increased, and we're seeing losses of our resident students to other public school districts and charter schools. While we gain nearly the same number of students we lose to open enrollment, the trend is still concerning. Our capture rate, which is the percentage of residents, students who choose our schools over our neighborhood public option, has fallen from 70% to 62% since 2014 2015 school year. Even though there are things we can do to increase our capture rate of these resident students and even attract more open enroll students into our district, we also need to recognize the significant impact of the factors that are outside of our control. Like I talked about, birth rate and we should continue to expect our enrollment to decline. Reinhardt projects that Robbinsdale's enrollment in 2030331 school year to be between 9,341 and 9,759 students. To put in perspective, last year we were at 10,253 students. >> Another key finding and considerations is that Robbinsdale operates more buildings than needed. Couple our enrollment data with our facilities capacity and utilization rates. It becomes clear that Robbinsdale is operating more buildings than it needs, resulting in significant costs for the district. The written report includes capacity and utilization data for all of our school buildings. For now, we'll just note that half of our buildings have utilization rates less than 60%. Facilities are also outdated and expensive to maintain. Our current facilities were noted as a top challenge for area growth according to the vision 2030 community survey. Our review of facility assessment, which evaluated district facilities for their condition, remaining life expectancy, deferred maintenance needs, and performance, paints a serious financial picture. If the district were to address all of the identified deferred maintenance needs, it would cost 216.6 million over the next 10 years. 76.3 million of that is in urgent needs, which among other things reflect issues tied to health, safety, and system failures. The written report includes a detailed table showing the estimated deferred maintenance cost for all of our school buildings. It wasn't just numbers that demonstrated the need to address our buildings. During an all-day tour of facilities in other districts, vision team members were inspired by what could be possible of our own students. We saw bright, open, and airy communal spaces, state-of-the-art career training and art facilities, flexible learning areas, modern performance theaters, private music spaces, and safe and modern private stall bathrooms. Updated facilities don't just support effective learning. They promote pride and belonging. During our all-day tour of other metro schools, one of my student peers on the vision team said, "I would really like to go to the school." And I have to say, I would agree. Now, this is really close to my heart. It's safety and security are priorities, which they are. All of our buildings have fundamental safety and security protocols in place. We also know that there is always room for improvement, though professional audits of facilities, staff know which areas could be strengthened. Through regular student surveys, they also know where students feel the safest and most vulnerable, including the bathrooms. I personally feel strongly about the bathrooms and I think it's really important that the district remodel bathrooms to help students feel safe when using them or strongly consider student voice when evaluating them. Unfortunately, however, the funding available for safety and security is not sufficient to take on the comprehensive list of currently identified needs. Finally, we must address reputation. Robbinsdale has a lot to be proud of. dedicated staff, reach rich diversity, strong programs, and caring school communities. But reputation is shaped not just by strengths, but also by challenges. Factors that have hurt the district's reputation include concerns about the district's financial management, academic achievement, student behavior and safety related incidents, and facilities that are in need of major updates. We want to recognize the extremely difficult decisions elected board members face on a regular basis. We strongly value your service and the countless hours you put into your work. Unfortunately, our school board has been described in a less than flattering terms in local media and governance was one one of the factors tied to recent decline in the district's bond rating. We believe board members now have an opportunity to rewrite the board story by demonstrating bold action, courageous leadership, and strong collaboration. Now for the vision 2030 team's recommendations. [Music] >> Our recommendations fall into four general categories. First, the core pillars serve as a foundation on which the district can build stronger schools where each student is seen, supported, and fully prepared for life beyond graduation. Second, a new district-wide identity of arts and innovation would incorporate the most effective initiative from the school of engineering and arts and fair into every school. Third, closing excess buildings would help the district gain financial and operational efficiency that could in turn positively impact the students experience. And finally, renovating school buildings where necessary would help ensure every student at every school has access to learning spaces that foster academic excellence, innovation, and collaboration. Our recommendations for core academic pillars mean that learning pathways will provide every student with access to learning opportunities that honor their unique gifts, experiences, interests, and ambitions. These opportunities develop enthusiastic, engaged, and adaptable learning learners eager to contribute to their communities and to the world. Every student will have access to a highquality learning spaces that are safe and designed to support well-being and belonging. These environments promote effective learning, connection, and pride in school community. Every student will have access to exceptional educators and staff who are wellprepared, passionate, and supported to thrive in their roles. By investing in our staff, we strengthen the caliber of academic excellence. And finally, every student will be supported by our active and engaged community of positive or of students, staff, and residents. The community connection creates belonging and positive collaboration, helping both the district and the community thrive. We want to note that the magnet schools that are an exception to the trend of declining enrollment. Our recommendation for an arts and innovation programmatic focus would give Robinsdale area schools a clearer identity to students, families, and community members, and more importantly would lead to expanded access to highly effective programming for all students districtwide. >> We recognize that full implementation will take time, but choosing this programmatic focus would be a monumental step forward for our district. An arts and innovation focus would mean that C and Fair would no longer operate as standalone magnet schools. Spanish Emerion would continue as a standalone magnet school due to its unique requirement for staff who are proficient in Spanish. Children would be assigned to their neighborhood school using new boundaries unless they opt into Spanish immersion. Teaching staff would undergo professional development to effectively implement a robust arts and innovation infused curriculum. Key community partnerships like those that already exist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Stages Theater Company would be expanded across the district to provide a greater access to educational opportunities some students in our district are already receiving. We would also expect that arts and innovation programming would be delivered across the district at a high standard. We believe that if Robbinsdale is truly committed to equity, all students should have the opportunity to participate in arts innovation programming. We recommend that Robinsdale create one high school, preferably as a new build in a new location to provide a unified high school experience. The school would offer specialized learning communities. sometimes calledmies and would enroll about 2,800 to 2900 students. Planning and constructing a new high school would take years, so it would likely not affect any current high school students. We also recognize that research would be needed to determine the feasibility of new construction versus remodeling of an existing school. And I do just have to go off script here to say that I was completely against one high school. Um, I had a lot of concerns about safety, about how my child would flourish in this huge school, uh, and also what sports and extracurricular activities might look like for them. Um, and then we as a group talked a lot about it and there are these pathways and smaller communities that our children would be able to have that small school within a big school feel and not feel like they don't have that community connection. Um, also to be able to build a building with the technology and the architecture for safety. Uh, to be able at a click of a button, you know, lock down a corridor. Um, those were things that I was impacted by and thought this would be really great. And we'll talk more about the sports, but back to the script here. Um, data reviewed by the vision team indicate that fewer middle schools are needed to serve current and projected enrollment. The exact number of middle schools needed would become clear over time as additional variables play out. for example, whether the Spanish immersion program is preK to fifth grade or preK to 8th grade. This is something we weighed as a committee but didn't reach consensus on. We recommend further study of pros and cons. We currently estimate two to three middle schools would be needed. We recommend that the retained middle schools be strategically located to balance enrollment and access. The data clearly show that fewer elementary schools are needed to serve our current and projected enrollment. Considering enrollment capacity and utilization data, the vision team estimates that six to nine elementary schools could serve our enrollment over the next decade. Additional research would be needed to determine exactly how many and which schools would be retained. We recommend that each elementary school have space for prek. As we have shared already, decision-making around how many and which schools to close requires that expertise that is beyond the scope of any advisory committee. That is a staff's role. Staff would also create comprehensive transition plans to support students, families, and staff moving from one school to another. We know a voter approved bond would be needed to pay for significant facilities improvements, and we'll talk more about that a little bit later. We do not recommend increasing class size maximums from what already exists today. And we believe there are meaningful benefits both financially and educationally that could be achieved through our recommendations. Our recommendations also include specific physical requirements for every school building, which range from flexible learning spaces and dedicated art and music spaces to reliable HVAC systems and private single stall bathrooms. We believe these are necessary aspects of any highquality school building. They support effective teaching and learning and provide learning environments where students feel safe, secure, and ready to learn. The vision team has identified intended outcomes and potential challenges associated with the recommendation. A critical intended outcome is that the district would operate within its financial means. Financial responsibility is a duty of administration. The board has another level of fiduciary responsibility which is the duty to care to ensure proper use of all the district assets. The slide shows estimated annual savings that could be achieved by reducing the number of schools we operate. The numbers are compelling. The transformations the vision team is recommending would require upfront investment in order to achieve significant reductions in ongoing operating expenses. To create modernized, future ready schools with enhanced security, the district would need to need the community support through a bond initiative. The bond would ensure that every student, regardless of which Robinsville school they attend, learns in a safe, high-quality environment designed for the future. It has been at least 45 years since our schools have been able to benefit from a voter approved bond to improve school buildings. The reality is that meeting those needs requires community support. Robbinsdale would not be unique in this need. Other metro districts are investing heavily in their facilities via community supported bond referendums. Here's a sampling of some of those recent bonds and we list more in the report. If Robbinsdale chooses to move forward with a bond referendum to invest in facilities, building trust will be essential. That means more consistent collaboration, clear communication, and visible action on the priorities families care most about. Some might wonder what happened to the funding provided through the 2024 technology levy. That renewed levy extended the 2014 voter approved technology levy at the same tax rate. Beginning this school year, it is providing about 7 million annually with nearly twothirds of funds dedicated to technology and one-third to safety and security upgrades across our schools. This levy provides critical support, but it does not address the major facility needs across the district. We are recommending that the district double down on exactly what has made its magnet program so desirable. hands-on and project-based learning, outdoor learning spaces, arts integration, and more. Sharpening the district's curricular focus delivered in this hands-on, innovation-minded, and arts infused way would allow the district to offer more opportunities to more of its students. When it comes to athletics and activities, we anticipate a positive net impact. Many of our sports programs already operate as co-ops between Armstrong and Cooper and in some cases with other districts because there's not enough participation for each school to sustain its own team. Even at the club level, Armstrong and Cooper share several activities. In this way, combining schools is a natural extension of what is already happening, and it would allow the district to expand offerings rather than cut them. And for example, we might be able to add more levels to existing sports teams. While combining schools creates new opportunities, it could also become more competitive for students to earn a spot on certain teams and groups. Undoubtedly, this would require the district to hold triyouts, and some students might not might not make the team. The upside of this would be the district's ability to compete at a higher more competitive competitive level and still offer athletes who may have cut many other options for activities and clubs. >> Robbinsdale area schools span seven cities including parts of or all of Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope, Golden Valley, Plymouth, Brooklyn Center, and Brooklyn Park. It is not an easy feat to build a unified identity across multiple cities, each with their own individual sense of community. Implementing a focused vision districtwide creates an opportunity to change that. Fostering greater unity as students, families, and staff rally around one vision instead of being divided across competing schools or programs. A key part of this shift draws from our recommendation to combine our existing high schools into one. This means every student beginning in preK would start their educational journey connected to the same brand. The new high school would carry a new name, mascot, and colors, creating a powerful district-wide identity. From the earliest grades through graduation, every student would share the same school pride, wearing the same colors, cheering for the same teams, and belonging to the same Robbinsdale Area Schools community. And while we recommend a new identity, we also recommend providing space to highlight and preserve the history of the schools that would close. We believe this change represents a profound opportunity to unify a diverse district around core identity, strengthen community pride, and build a sense of belonging that spans all seven cities. Equity has guided the development of our recommendation and we believed increased equity would be a key outcome of this process. By moving to one high school, we eliminate the division between the current two high schools and ensure that every student has access to the same teachers, extracurricular programs, advanced learning opportunities, and highquality facilities. This unified approach also prevents disparities in offerings by expanding arts and innovation programs districtwide rather than only allowing such access to programmings via lottery. Consolidating into fewer, better supported schools may also strengthen collaboration and camaraderie among staff. teachers could gain more time and support to focus on what matters the most, their students, their instruction. In addition, reducing the need for teachers who are currently assigned to multiple sites to travel between buildings would likely give them more time in the classroom directly supporting student learning. These recommendations will also require significant amount of staff work and one of the most important outputs of that work is the timeline for change. We are urging prompt board action of these recommendations because our district does not have the luxury of time. The reality is that the district has pressing financial problems and is now in statutory operating debt. A schoolboard SOD plan must be submitted to the Minnesota Department of Education by January 31st, 2026, outlining how the district will get out of debt. The vision team is not engaged in the development of that plan, but we would anticipate that some of the cost-saving measures recommended in our paper would lead to some implementation sooner than later in order to make aggressive progress towards a healthier financial position. While we are aware that many in our community may desire more concrete details about what will occur and when, we would encourage all to consider the district's current situation has many interrelated variables and any action taken will likely cause an impact at other areas. We trust the board and administration to determine how to best move forward knowing that these recommendations and the SOD plan may have to go hand in hand. We also recommend communicating as transparently and proactively as possible with the community and implementation details become clearer. The vision team recognizes potential challenges related to our recommendations. First, we understand the grief and loss associated with school closures. Those feelings come from a wonderful place. people who love their school, their friends, and the gifted staff who transform physical buildings into beautiful, caring communities. Fortunately, for many other districts have paved similar transition paths following school closures, so we can learn from them. Everyone is deeply rooted in their individual school community, but this provides for an opportunity to become a larger community and form the identity of Ardale and through the students. We are also aware that today's uncertain economy may have an impact in our residents willingness to pay additional taxes, but again it is for the benefit of the students. We've also identified factors that could help navigate those challenges and we would frame them as expectations. Strong alignment between between and among leadership and key stakeholders, a clear vision of responsibility and possibility, transparency, empathy, and compassion, and a strong transition plan for students moving to a new school. We understand how big truly transformative change is. So, while phased implementation may make sense, phased decision-making will only slow progress. We ask the school board to lead with bold action, courage, and a unified voice, positively collaborating in district with district administration to build a stronger, more unified district for all students. As we close, we would like to share a select few quotes from vision team members. The quotes provide a glimpse of what being part of this vision team meant to those team members and how they hope that their work would lead to positive impact. We want to thank you for your time and your attention on this matter. We will now turn things back to our superintendent, Dr. Stallow. [Applause] Kylander, Brienne, and Willie, thank you for your courageous presentation. Thank you for representing um over 2,000 hours of work from these amazing individuals and those who aren't able to be here tonight. Um and thank you for showing your passion and your commitment and the honesty about how hard the work was, how hard the recommendations were to come to consensus with and how hard and challenging the path forward is. Thanks for also setting a vision of possibility, of potential, and of the school district that our kids want, need, and deserve. Uh before uh chairman, before I turn it uh over to you, um and have you open up for board comments and questions, um I'll request board members that as you're thinking about what you might want to comment on or ask about, you'd consider the following. If you have questions or comments about the team's recommendations and process over the last eight months, please feel free to ask them directly. Uh presenters, if you get a question that you can't answer, um because you'd have to speculate about it, don't feel pressured to answer. Just turn it back over to me. I likely can't answer it either, but then you won't be put on the spot. Okay. Um board members, if you have questions about the data, the what the implementation will look like or any on any of the specific recommendations or any of the operational aspects, um please hold those for after this part of the presentation. Um we administratively, um have had time to look through the final recommendations as well and we believe we really have a solid draft phasing plan for both the the statutory operating debt work as well as the future planning. We know the board has been wondering and asking about a timeline um and what phasing could look like. So we want to be sure to share that after the presentation. Obviously um could not provide some of that before the recommendations this evening. So at this time I'll hand it back to you chair Becker. Thank you. >> Thank you. First of all I want to thank the team and the writers of the the people that did the writing and presenting. Uh, it's thorough, it's thoughtful. I read it and it's like, whoa, did not see that coming, but it's like, oh, that really makes sense. And so, thank you very much for the work that you've done. And it presents us with not fear about 21 million, but exciting opportunities. It's like, oh, it's it's it's like opened up hope and excitement about the future for our our schools. So, thank you. Thank you for what you did. Okay, board members, just raise your hands if you have questions or comments. And um Director Long will make a list. Anyone? Director Long, I mean, oops, I did it again. Director Holmes, >> can you just quantify the process because I think some of us might have more questions. What kind of time expectation are we on? Um, this is so the board has just received this information as of Friday. So, you just saw the volume of work that went into it and information. So, there might be a lot of questions and um reflection for us. So, I'm just trying to quantify what our expectation is >> right now. Just if you have a question about the recommendations or about the process but not about the timelines that are coming or see what you got and we'll see if if we can do it. Director Basset. >> Well, I I want to thank the uh entire committee. I want to thank our presenters. you did an excellent job and we really appreciate uh the time and care you took and the presentation you did and particularly enjoy having one of our students here uh helping to lead this. So you did a great job. Thank you. And to the entire committee, I extend my thanks to you uh for the time and dedication that you put in. I will say that um I was one of the people who thought have been used to having the board be involved in the process itself. Um, and I still have a little bit of a bias toward that, but I will tell you that you have you have modified my strong opinions about that with your presentation uh tonight. Uh, that doesn't mean that we don't have a a great deal of work to do ahead of us and uh you haven't seen it, but we've got this big fat thick thing about how much it you know 108 p I like to say that 108 pages of um you know some of the full scope of different kinds of changes that need to happen. And so um to my colleagues point uh right now we have just got this and it will take some thoughtful contemplation. So, um it it perhaps might have been um wise of us to actually schedule a follow-up meeting for the board to kind of go through this. Um because I think that um anything worth doing well is worth taking the time you need understanding we've got a hard stop at January 31st. So, I don't think anybody's into dragging their feet, but I think uh you know, rushed decisions are often not the best decisions. And um so within the time frame that we have, I think that I certainly want to be mindful. I don't think that anybody else doesn't want to be mindful about moving as quickly as we can. That's not an issue. However, I do think that there's a lot to contemplate and the kinds of questions that might come forward. um are just unfolding. So um and if we're having this meeting tonight and given the impression that all of our questions are on the table, we've asked all our questions, well that's I think that's a little naive quite frankly. And uh for for something of this scope that will end up going to taxpayers potentially for money and so I uh those are the comments that I have to make at this moment. I have a page full of different kinds of questions and I'm not quite sure till I hear from the superintendent about what the path forward. I don't know what the path forward is. We we don't know what the time frame is. We don't know what the process is has been envisioned. So without all of that knowledge then I can maybe route my questions in a better way. So I'm I'm interested in hearing what that is. >> There is another presentation tonight that will be helpful with that information. >> Okay. I'm just sh Thank you for that. I appreciate that, but I'm just, you know, kind of these are my comments to the community right now. >> Thank you, Director Long. >> Yeah, mine were the same as what Director Basset was just sharing. I was just wondering if maybe there would be, you know, more about the process. There'd be like a work session that some of the vision team members could come to to answer some of our questions after we've had time to process all of this information. Um it is a lot to process and think through and um you know just have gotten it on Friday started my wheels spinning and then I wanted to hear what the presentation was going to say and which is spinning my wheels more and now I need my brain to settle so I can figure out what those questions are so I'm not just spewing you know stuff out. So, um would like to have some time to process and would like them to come back to like a work session so that we could ask them the follow-up questions that we have if that's a possibility. >> Okay, Director Bowman. >> Thank you. Um it left me speechless. Um, I really felt that the report was comprehensive in a way that I haven't seen uh that type of compre comprehensive subject matter pulled together and then knowing that you all discussed that is amazing to me. Um, uh, it also for me it checked every one of my boxes that I ran for when I ran for this office in 2022. and I ran across some of my literature today and I went, "Oh my god, this report reflects all of my questions uh that I had and my concerns from this district." Um, and I've been in the district for a long time having been a graduate of the district. Um, my assumption I don't have any questions right now about the report because it was so clear and it was so comprehensive and it was um, it was just so very clear. I really understand the pathway that was laid out in front of us. So I don't have specific questions from this group but I hope that the group stays open to answering questions uh if we uh if those present themselves but kudos to you guys for putting that clarity into the report. My questions will be uh most likely as the administration and Dr. Stalo bring forth the actual plans because it's like if if um making sure that equity exists across the program as was discussed in this uh in every place in all of our buildings in the report. It sounds rather lofty and really nice and all the things we want to agree to but the rubber is going to meet the road when Dr. Stalo presents that stuff to us because that's going to give us the opportunity to take a look at possibility, feasibility, accountabilities, and all the other things that go with it. So, um, I will be asking many questions, I'm sure, between now and final decisions being made, but it won't be around the comprehensive and credible nature of this report. I think you've given us a pathway to follow. So I will turn it back and and look and also say that I really look forward to the information that will be brought to us from the administration team. So thank you very much applaud your work. Really do. >> Thank you Director Hillbrand. >> Well let me echo the thank yous. This is really amazing. I just had I don't even know if there really questions or thoughts but one one thing was about you know having the the arts and um innovation all across the district. You know, one thing about magnet schools, of course, they feel special, right? So, one question I thought I had is, you know, how how do you make parents feel like if they're not getting in by lottery, how does it feel special, right? And so, how do people feel like they're getting something? I think that's a big part of it, right? And so, how do we how do we build that? And I think we can. It's just something a thought that occurred to me as we were listening. And the other thing is, you know, and I appreciate what you said about the one high school. One thing I think a lot about is because, you know, we have a giant high school in a district next door. And I definitely did not want my kids to go to that giant high school. And so, um, and it it does, you know, other than sports opportunities, it's also arts opportunities. There's only so many parts in a play. There's only so many spots in the in the jazz band, right? there's only so many spots in the, you know, in the choir, right? And so, you know, how how do we make sure kids get those opportunities? And then it makes me think about all the different programs we have, right? IB, AP, you know, all those things, too. How do we make sure that we have those broad per and I think there's an answer. Those are the things that are in my head and I I think that's been answered for you guys and that's why you guys feel good about it. Um, and that's the question that I have. And I think that as parents who are hearing this, who haven't been part of this process, I think that's cuz nobody wants their kid to get lost, right? And when you hear a high school of 2900, right, that's what you that's I think as a parent, what you wonder is, is my kid going to get lost? And is my kid going to have the opportunities that they have now, right? when you have four soccer teams in a high school, I don't know how many kids are at Armstrong right now or or at Cooper, but there the chances of my kids being on that team when there's two schools with four teams or whatever are a lot higher than if if it's one school that has four, you know, levels of teams. So, I think um I think like you said, the communication is going to be really big and helping people understand these things um is going to be a huge part of it. So, I think this is tremendous work and I think the next step too is the teaching and and the teaching the community um the value of this including me. So, but I I'm sure it's there. I believe it. Um I'm just looking forward to learning. So, thank you. Are we allowed to talk? >> Yeah, please if you want to answer. I just didn't want to put you on the spot. No, like please answer because um the things that are going through your head went through our head 3 months ago and there were a lot of discussion and tears and anger, you know, respectfully, but there was a lot of emotions and so I think it's really important for you to ask questions so that everyone can understand the process that we went through. So, thank you for bringing those questions and just keep shooting them. Um, but as far as the magnet question, um, that was another thing I was really strong about. I, you know, I wanted to really keep the magnets as standalone, but the more we talked through it, it was like, we have so many things in this district that divide us. Two high schools that are rivals. We've got these magnet schools that only a certain select people can go to. Why are we not bringing those things to everybody and becoming a magnet district? You know, that is what makes us special. We're not losing it because only three schools get it. We're a magnet district now. Um that and that is our brand and we can feel good about that as a whole. >> What were the other thing? >> Can you go to the mic? >> Microphone. >> I'm just trying to remember what the next question was. >> Oh, the large high school. And I kind of touched on that a little bit, but do you want to talk about it? Cool. I just want to touch briefly on the last point is the importance of like the special schools and having the attraction of certain schools is that the entire district becomes special and that the only thing that you decide between um which school your kids should go to is whichever school their friends are going to. So that's really what's important is we want all kids to have the same opportunities. Touching on the larger high school, I was also very against it. um just coming from my experience within the district between Cooper and Armstrong, but having those similarities and connections between students um and having them and like we mentioned in our report, there'd be opportunities for smaller um learning facilities within that learning facility, giving opportunities for them to connect and within like you mentioned IBS and APs. um touch on athletics, but um in my experience that would be more opportunities for teachers to come to the district and staff and students to get more involved because in my AP US history class last year at Cooper, there were 15 kids in my class and it would be so beautiful if the um 21 students who are in this this year to again multiply. Um, so yeah, there's just more opportunity for growth and that's the beauty of the recommendations is that there's so many ways to reimagine and like you mentioned having just one musical. Why do we have to have one musical? Only so so many parts in a play, multiple plays. There's that opportunity for growth and there's an opportunity if there's not enough room for plays in the school, we can go to the community theater. I've seen that happen many times. Um, yeah. Do you want to touch on >> Sure. Well, being vulnerable, right? Uh got it tatted on my arm as coach in Cooper Colors. So, the team will tell you that I started off and one high school was never an option to start off with. But being part of a team that helped you to understand that it's forget about me, I love you. It's not what's best for what I think, it's what's best for what we all think. And the opportunity to go on the tour and see the possibilities. I just so happen to have my son who's here and knowing that I've had four kids go through our high school program to think about had they had the experience of what we toured what that experience could have been. I won't get that opportunity for any of my kids anymore because they've all graduated. But doesn't mean that everybody else that has prek and growing up doesn't get the opportunity that we have. And so for that reason, being able to explore what it looks like, what it means to be able to her point allow for us to have one act at both schools now turns into one school of a bigger one act. Having the opportunity for multiple levels where we're not having to co-op every single sports program because they're already participating. So we have opportunities to grow the things that we offer and then offer more that our neighborhood schools are offering that we can't based on our participation. and what people have. So that's the vulnerability of me and being honest and just being able to say that it took a group of us coming together to talk through those things and being able to see what's possible. >> Okay. Um ensuring that each board member gets to talk once before others do. Director Wuto. >> Yeah. Um I do want to use the opportunity to thank all of you. Um I started in this group um and I even the few meetings that I attended I could sense the load that was coming. The work that you guys have presented to us is amazing. Um I maybe like some of the other community members. I was a little disappointed that you are not naming schools that we should close. >> But I also see why you didn't do that or why you shouldn't do that. um you're leaving the work to the experts and us to make those decisions. So, uh thank you guys for all you've done. Uh the work now belongs to us and let's see what we can do with it. I'm proud to be part of it. >> Thank you. Uh Director Holmes. >> Yeah. Um so I'll just get into kind of some of the specifics of the report. Um it's noted in there better supporting the staff. Can you expand on that and how you think these recommendations will strengthen in your the report's words collaboration and camaraderie amongst staff gaining more time because we're talking about new facilities and combining. So can you elaborate on how you think that would benefit staff fighting over the mic here? Um, I can think of a lot of ways, but some of the things that we talked some of the things we talked about is we currently have some staff that are divided between multiple schools. So, they're starting at one school one day and then driving another day. So, it would be nice for them to have one solid home that they can build and grow and flourish in. Um, also, when you combine the schools, you are putting more students in there. That doesn't necessarily mean we have to get rid of, you know, a bunch of staff. we can actually have more staff in the building to help support each other. Um, al also we think it's really important that we stick to a curriculum, an idea, an identity, and don't keep changing it up on our staff. I think that's a mistake that we've made in the past where our teachers and support staff just get comfortable with a curriculum and then we're rolling something else out and they're having to learn something new to teach to our students. So a consistent curriculum that they can really feel like they become professionals and um what's the word experts in in the subject matter and the in the curriculum. >> So I guess I just want to ask and maybe this will be an operational piece because when you talk about staff moving from building to building you're looking at a lot of arts or band or orchestra that kind of those natures where they're breaking down instead of a you'll hear a lot of things instead of a 1.0 O position you look at point8s or point 4s or point sixes and that's when the moving comes into play and they're servicing different buildings. So is that a service model conversation where we're going to have where we would be assigning full-time art teachers to one school? Is that the operational piece? >> That'll be an operational staffing. >> So I just want to see there are a lot of pieces that go with these. And so you guys were given, you know, dream big, I think, is how you were you were introducing it. And boy, did you, you know, and now the details are going to come in in terms of the FTEEs. And so I'm going to echo what director Basset said early on is the details are going to be really, really critical. And that's where we get into the feasibility of it. And I know you alluded like I don't know where that came in the feasibility piece um or when the bond started coming up into play in the process. So I don't know if you can um elaborate on that at all because I'll I'll give you an example. We all go well some of us do parade of homes and you go and you tour these big beautiful homes and you're like oh gee I would really like to live in this house and then it for me at least it doesn't occur. Um, and so you have to balance what what is happening and what you're dreaming to be. And you can still shoot for it. I can still shoot for, you know, whatever a hot tub in my backyard or whatever that is. But where did the feasibility proponent? Because I'm seeing it's kind of um you're asking for this big bold plan. And so I'm interpreting it an all or nothing. Was there any room in there because you're s you're advising against a phased approach. Um, so where's that feasibility component come in? And how was that? Are you following what I'm saying? How was that brought into >> So, um, there's going to have to be phases in building, right? Because we're going to have to figure out what buildings we can build upon, what buildings we, um, need to, you know, just start a new with. Um, so there's going to have to be phases in the plan, but I don't think we can phase making a decision now that this is our dream and this is what we're going to do. And I just I guess my counter to that would build on what Director Long was saying. When you're living and breathing in this and going through the sweat and the tears and there's clearly a lot of emotion in the report too. >> Um and we do it as a board up here, right? That's trying to get into these conversations. And so I think now recognizing that this is going to be hard for a lot of people to hear and you did acknowledge that. But that's a process and that's how we I'm looking for a lot of input on does the community get behind this because not only do first and foremost one of my concerns I'm kind of jumping here is the tax component because we know we are living in unstable times and we know so many families are paycheck to paycheck and you know um permanent costs are escalating so there's not a lot of room for that and to make this big of a vision happen we're going to have to have buy in on this And I don't want to break the backs of our community. I don't want it to become a litmus test of loving this district if people are really looking at their financials because that is the reality of our current climate. So there are a lot of things for me and like I said, I hope I alluded to that and processing it and um this is a really good starting point and I think what you gave us is commonality is here. The pride in this community, this seven communities that make up this district is amazing. And I think that's what I've seen living here for 25 years. And I think that is something a lot of us share and we've got a lot to work on and build on. So I think I was really happy to see that that what's going to bring us together and we've got work to get into and details to discuss. So thank you all for the effort and time you put into this. It is it is something you guys pulled together. So if you're appreciated, >> I just want to say that we the vision team believe that this big dream is feasible. We would not have presented it to you if we did not believe it was feasible. And so [Applause] as you have as you have heard um there has been a lot of work and a lot of effort and a lot of hours and a lot of conversations that have gone into this. And of course not all of the details are for us to figure out. It is for you the experts um to hash those. But we believe that all of these big ideas and all these big dreams and all of these um things all at once because it's true that we don't want it to happen in phases or to pick and choose what happens when. Um that these are all recommendations from across our district within our community that need to happen that are so necessary and so crucial to our community members, to our students, to our staff, um to our parents that these are they're so important and they've been voiced over and over and over again. But now a group has gone together and done all this work and actually given it to you and we can learn from projects that we've done like going to visit other schools. We can learn from looking at graphs, looking at data, test results, all things like that. And we have produced this big dream that we believe is feasible. >> And I wasn't I wasn't saying it's not I'm saying the details of when it comes in because you're talking about cost savings and the different buckets that funding come into. Those are the details that I'm talking about and that's the work. I think that was referenced in the beginning. So, this is a good point and now I think most of mine are operational questions. >> Okay. >> Thank you for your comments. We have a couple more board members. Uh, Director Long, >> I was wondering could we get that PowerPoint that was not in our packet at all? >> Yeah. >> Like to be able to refer back. >> Yeah. I think I said to the board in my update when I sent on Friday that this would be um this would be posted to board book at the meeting start time. >> You just finished it yesterday. So >> So that's what the board the board members received that information on Friday in my weekly update to them that that's when it would be available. >> Thank you. Uh are you on? >> Yep, that was it. >> Dr. Basset. Well, I I have a question uh for the committee and uh and then I I think I have a it kind of points to the administration too and one is that um the identity of arts and innovation if um now I'm not a brand person you know there's marketing people kind of brand stuff and so they can package this in a way that says that may not use the exact birds. So, and I say that very deliberately because just because I didn't see I math, AI, and technology in that title [Music] makes me have to imagine that innovation encompasses that. [Music] imagining that something's encompassed and the substance that really does anchor it can be two different things. So for me is there is it is the vision expansive enough that when we really massage it we can get to that through innovation? Because when I think about the academic status of our district at this moment and I think about the future which is one of the things we had to do when we thought about bringing C into fruition from nothing C imagining a future that encompasses the where the future we we have no idea where the future's going you know it's moving at warp speed however innovation in the in a random comment about innovation without a substantive anchor may leave us floundering. And so uh I think that substance I would ask the committee to think about that because what does that substance look like? What does that innovation mean for the children who will have to go out and make a living? So we have to they have to have substance so they can get those jobs, secure those careers and move forward. So how the substance get embedded into the innovation will be critical to me, you know. So I mean the terminology I'm I'm cool with it, but I want my my my thought behind it to to to come out clearly and I and I and we're the public setting. I don't want it to be a surprise, you know, and and so one last thing because for this because the cheer always says well breakfast you got enough. But anyway, um I really no I just say I'm trying to get it all in. That's that's the point. Gita, so the other thing I would say too and I asked you to think about this is that I really like the part of this report where we talk about the uh facilities and we there's a lot of information about that and the capacity. Excellent job. I do wonder because when we the section that talks about our academics and the comparison between where we are academically as compared to the state average and so on and so forth and the work we have to do. I didn't see a comparable chart or focus and to uh director Holmes's point the substance of how we get there. I'm believing that that will come. I'm just saying I I'm just you're here. you did all this work. I'm being honest with you. That is a concern of mine because the same amount of substance in that area is critical. They have to be married. You know, you have to have the innovation has to marry what we need to do academically to move it because to the point of losing enrollment, people move for a variety of things. Chief among them is climate, but chief among them is academic. And if they don't think that we're producing the academics that the students need, we can be as flowery and as excited as we want to be cuz I tend to kind of lean that way really. That's the kind of person I am. But I'm just as serious when it comes to what are we getting? What's the product? You know, and if we don't have a product, meaning our students aren't achieving. I love it when I go to the farmers market and all these places and people tell me, "Oh, my kids went through here and what are they doing now?" Oh, they're engineer, they're science major, they're, you know, splicing stuff. They're a doctor. I hear it all. That's been the history. And we're at a critical place in this country, you know, and if we bring all these children together, we've got 30% white, 30% black, the rest of them are a mixture of other demographics. That matters. How are we addressing those things? We we're going to prepare our teachers and prepare our families. We've got to prepare them all the way. That's the reality of Robbinsdale area schools with seven communities that we live in right now. It is extremely diverse. How does that all come together? So, this is kind of rhetorical. I don't really, you know, it's rhetorical, but it's real. >> Agreed. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> As far as who will be making the decisions on our curriculum and what we teach our kids, my husband's in the room. You don't want me doing that. Okay. I >> No, no, I didn't. >> I'm just saying that's why it's not in the report because we're not the experts. That's where we're going to have to bring in our teachers to make those decisions because I trust them and I see what they do with our kids every day and I think they'll be able to make a really great product for you. >> You're need it. Um, and we thought long and hard about how we were going to help students graduate and become, you know, these functional human beings, you know, great caring people that can maybe they want to go to college, but maybe they don't. Maybe they want to do a trade. May maybe they want to be a stay-at-home mom. Doesn't matter as long as they're productive, loving people in this community. If we invest in our children now and we can start creating children who can have careers, who can be a good neighbor, who can be good people, we're all going to benefit from it when we're in the nursing homes. So, I I said me, I didn't say you, but >> I'm closer than you are. But we got to do something because what we've been doing isn't working and we've got it's time to start investing in our kids. >> Thank you. >> Okay, here's a surprise. No more board members have comments. I'm turning >> I have one more. >> I just wanted to add quick. I'll be quick. Um part of our re because we have had conversations about that. Believe believe it. Um we've had conversation about virtually everything about um the academ like academics test scores um how it looks in actual classrooms was a big big huge point for me is how was this actual going to translate in a classroom if I were to picture what's happening in our conversation happening in an actual school what would my first reaction be what would it look like to me um but part of our recommendation was the safety and security of students in schools will attribute to test scores >> and the um belief that students have in their school system and belief that they have in their administration and in their staff and in um the functionality of the school and their belonging within that school um will also attribute to them academically. >> Okay, board members have finished their questions. I'm turning it back over to you, Superintendent Stala. >> Excellent. Again, I want to thank the three presenters who are representing the other almost 40 community members uh who represent every geographic region area of our school district as well as demographically aligning with our student population. Um so the makeup of this community or committee was absolutely amazing. So I just want to thank you again. I'd like to once again recognize the full team. Um and again, thank you [Applause] So at this time and I think uh go ahead. >> I just want to do a special shout out to our writers who put in a lot a lot of effort. [Applause] We have we have um Katie and Barb. Barb is not in the room right now, but we have Katie. Thank you so so so much for all the effort you put in. All >> the writers stand up. Katie, you're being asked if you could stand up, please. [Applause] and Barb Olsson was the other uh major writer uh who was unable to be here today and I know this five member team I don't even want to think about the hours in on top of everything else that you've put in preparation of tonight so thank you very much um so now uh we are going to take a look at and again board members I want you to know um these are drafts we just knew where your questions would come because these are the questions that you've had. So, we wanted to be sure to be able to follow up um immediately so that we now have time to think about um what is next. So, again, these are draft uh timelines phasing um I don't know. Sorry, just for timing point of clarification still a part of the >> Oh, no. I think I've got I think I've got another 20 minutes here before questions. I I think overall we're hoping left. >> Yeah. Overall, I think we're hoping to be done by 10 o'clock tonight. Okay. >> So, Bob and I just have a presentation here. Yeah. >> Okay. Because it wasn't. >> So, um you got it. Do you have the clicker? >> Okay. >> 40. She wants 20. Go to 40. Let's win. >> Okay. >> So, the next slide showcases a slide that y'all have seen a million times, I hope. And if not, you will. um our students and our mission is certainly central to our work. And while we are in statutory operating debt, uh and we have significant challenges in front of us, our promise to our students, to our staff, to our families and community stays the same. We exist to inspire and educate and that's exactly what the work has to be going forward. I appreciate the comments and the questions about academics. Regardless of what our statutory operating plan is, regardless of what clo buildings get consolidated, regardless of which of these vision recommendations the board accepts, that's work we have to do and we're on a path to doing it because we simply are not um doing as well by students right now as we need to. So, I just wanted to put that out. So again as we thank the team with the next slide you can see this team again it wasn't just their vision recommendations they used data from 17,000 input and different people. So, in terms of community engagement, this entire effort was far larger than the 37 people who made up this committee. Um, in terms of all of the surveys, all of the community meetings, all of the grade level meetings, that's the input that helped refine the vision. So again, looking at these statistics in terms of hours and meetings and um all of the data that you looked at, I think it just uh highlights the amazing work that you all did. Um so thank you for that. So in brief, here are some of the things that we heard. Again, having an opportunity to unify the district um around who we are. We talked so much, the team talked so much about what is our identity, who are we? So again, some of the things that you just heard in summary, right sizing the district, what does that mean in terms of where our enrollment trends are looking at this districtwide identity and notion around arts and innovation? And certainly um director Basset and all of you, those are detailed and operationalized uh ways that we'll define and bring that to life should the board move forward with these recommendations. Ensuring the environments and learning spaces and work spaces for our staff are contemporary, safe and secure. Maintaining Spanish immersion. Again, we heard about the specialty area of staff. Maintaining that, narrowing the focus, expanding the opportunities. Um, I think for a lot of districts, including Robindale Area Schools, we try to be everything to everyone. What do we want to do? What do we need to do really, really well? based on what our community says they want for our kids and our kids say that they want and then obviously that that bonding question comes into play. Um though the question wasn't asked of me of me. It was asked of at what point in the process did the notion of bonding come. Um, and I I'll be really honest, and I don't I don't know that I can pinpoint a spot, but I don't think there's ever been, as we look at where this district is, the question that there wouldn't need to be some investment into facilities. Um, so again, I don't know that I can pinpoint it, but I know probably since my interview or shortly after here as we look at the current status of our facilities and what it takes to rightsize a district, um, I can't imagine being able to do that at the scope that we need to without additional funding requests. So again, I can't answer specifically of when the team came to that, but um, I think there were pieces of that that were uh, inferred maybe from the beginning at points. I would say that the other thing that I just want to before I hand this over to assistant superintendent actually Bob you can go to the next slide. Thanks. Um I just want to reiterate some of the things that the team said as we as we really talk about this notion of of where we are based on what I just said. I think from the beginning of my time here um whether I was with PTA or PTO's or with Rotary clubs or with our staff or with any other civic organization or wherever I was as I came into the district. Um I shared broad broadly and honestly with where our current reality is. Um, our financial reality before November was incredibly bleak. Uh, and even if our financials were healthy and we were sitting with a fund balance aligned to our board policy, if we look at the other metrics that we also use to measure schools, we know that we're not where we need to be. We've already talked about the academics of where our students are. Um, we take a look at student opportunities for pathways and some of the other career, trades, college programming that other students have advantage of that we just aren't offering at that same level. Um, years of declining enrollment that's been supported by that demographic study for a lot of reasons as our presenters pointed out. Um, and the facility needs as outlined in that comprehensive facility assessment. We simply don't have funds and deferred maintenance to take care of year over year after year after year of old buildings and what they need first of all to stay up to date with safety codes and things like that and also what they need to have some of the 21st century learning um spaces that we would want for our kids if we want learning to be more collaborative and hands-on um as all of our student or all of our survey said. So, I think it's really important because as much as this community loves our schools, as much as the people sitting at this table and sitting in this room love our schools as much as I love the school district, we have to do better. And we've got some options in front of us. You all heard me say a lot of times during the 21 million, we have to cut 21 million, we get to reimagine. And that's what prompted the work that you heard tonight. So, we still are in a position right now where we have to create a statutory operating debt plan. We have to figure out a way to get us back to financial security. And the other truth of that is we've got some options in front of us. We can reduce and rightsize and continue to work on our academics and or we can really take a look at that bold vision of a future for what our kids want, need, and deserve and what we're willing to do to invest in that. And ultimately, that'll be something that this board decides and our community decides. Um but the community who came together around data and around hours of meeting have set forth a vision for us um to see what that might look like. So again, thanks for all of that. I'm now going to turn this over to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Bob McDow who's going to share the timeline the draft timeline path forward. >> Draft. >> Yeah, draft. I know I've said it 18 times. I should maybe say it again. It's in draft form right now. Chair Evans Becker. It's in draft form currently >> going to be a draft that we're hearing now. >> Thank you. Thank you. Good evening board and community that's here. So, as the board has kind of articulated already, uh the anticipation was all right. So, what? Now what? Right. Um what seems pretty simple in trying to figure that out. I think people have articulated there's a enormous amount of layers to how you end up pulling off a small dream, a big dream, any dream within a school district that is going to cut across buildings, that's going to cut across grade levels, that's going to cut across cities. But what we do know is that by January 31st of 2026, we have to have a statutory operating debt plan. And so to kind of set the stage for what is involved in that on this slide you'll see there's really four parts to that. So the work that we have to do is we need to put together clear financial projections. So these include realistic enrollment assumptions, revenue assumptions, really everything that would be included to get us on a path back to structural balance. Meaning revenues are more than expenditures. Right? The second piece is you have to dig into the specific strategies. What are you going to do? The actions you're going to take, whether that's regarding staffing adjustments, programming changes, budget realignments, anything that directly addresses that operating debt issue. And it's not just a single year. It is a multi-year, multi-stage plan. >> Right? We need to find ways every year essentially showing how we are going to steadily move out of statutory operating debt. And then we finally have to include a monitoring and accountability piece to it. What does it look like to track the implementation of what we're doing, the progress of what we're doing? How do we present that and report that to the board? How do we present that and report that to the Department of Education? to get there. I'm going to say this word a hundred times. Draft. Draft. Draft. That's how we get there. We start with a concept. So, some of the questions and I know the board has already alluded to their their question. Your questions are around how do we do this? What we know is the first task is really by January 20th. Notice it doesn't say the 31st, says the 20th because right now the board's last meeting in January is January 20th. So at this point in time, January 20th is the date that we need the board to finalize the statutory operating debt plan. That means it's going to include initial reduction of facilities footprints and all the related items that go with it. So for people that like to see that in graphic form, this is the next four and a half months. The board hopefully starting tonight will give administration direction. go forth, get this statutory operating debt plan figured out and bring it back to us so we can chew on it, so we can provide input to it so that we can figure it out so that we can meet that January 20th benchmark. You'll notice that October and November that's where we are going to be presenting, coming up with considering options, having conversations with the board, having conversations with other people, maybe coming back to this re-imagine group, all of the inputs that need to go into options and considerations for what does you'll see in green the final facility recommendation for 2627 seven that has to happen and you're going to see it in a different format in a minute by the end of November because when we get into the conversation around closing schools there is a sequence and timing that starts with the board saying this is what we're proposing as a board a written document that has to go into the paper for a period of two weeks and after that the ability for the community to provide input on that and only after all that takes place, can the board take a vote on closing shuttering a building even if it's repurposed for a different reason? So, we have to back into that. So you'll see in the purple the SOD planning and refinement process really is from before today but we'll just call it today for now through December because we have to have that public import and input and board approval by December so that remember anything that's a closure piece is only a piece of the SOD plan. So, we got to have that done so that we can spend January working with the board to finalize the statutory operating debt plan by the magical 20th date, unless the board decides we need more time and we got to add another date in there to look at stuff so that we can have it submitted by the 31st of January. For people who like to see chronological, this is the exact same information, but it's detailed out by board meeting starting today, and it includes the three additional dates. noted by asterric that were added tonight getting us all the way to January 20th. What I will have you notice is that November 24th, so the people that were trying to track what I meant by the two weeks, if you can imagine, November 24th is when we make final facility recommendations simply for the 2627 school year. That gives us a two-eek run so that the board can hold a public hearing on December 8th and then potentially vote. It also allows for uh the ability to move backwards into December, but for planning purposes for the 2627 school year, we really don't want to go any later than before winter break to get this done because the minute that decision is made, the rest of things start falling into place really quickly and it impacts a lot of people. And I'm going to get into that in an extended draft draft draft plan and timeline. So here's what it looks like conceptually at this point in time as of the 23rd of September based on all the information. If we divide up this into a phased approach, five phases getting us to 2030, it looks something like this. Phase one, September of right now through next fall. We I just talked through our SOD plan. We got to do that. We would need to be doing things like how do we reduce our footprint? We'd see the initial things come out in the next few weeks and months about what building closures, consolidations, reconfiguration, what does that plan really look like? Board is going to have to weigh in on what does that look like? What's our tolerance? What more information do you need? all of that stuff uh comes into it. Administratively, we're also then having to plan the remaining building configuration as soon as we start getting an inkling what the board's tolerance is because this starts to become a giant domino effect. One decision of a domino sets us in this direction or this direction because we're not just talking about single buildings and single levels. We're talking about elementary schools. We're talking about neighborhoods. The reimagine team brought up magnets and changes there. Any one of those dominoes puts us in to a giant landscape of different decision makingaking that has to take place. So we would be working on that. You'll also notice that we would already start any related bond work because what's going to happen is as decisions start to be made, new ideas of whatever this reimagined plan ends up being are going to start coming to the surface. And that starts to fill in the answers to what do we need to check for a tax tolerance for as far as what the community is going to be willing to support because we have to balance all of that out. So information will be our friend with our community, with the school board, so that people see transparently how we're working through this process and understand the why behind a lot of it. You'll also see boundary adjustments. That's going to be a tough one. It's always a tough one, right? But it's going to be part of the process. And so that happens all in this first phase. As we get ready for the fall of 2026 and you start looking at phase 2, you'll notice that it doesn't start in September of 2026. Phase two starts this January. You'll notice that in order for us to conceptually pull off and operationalize what's going to happen, we will be in multiple phases at the same time. We will be implementing the parts of phase one. We will be designing and working with teams and with the schoolboard for phase two because as you read through that, what you're noticing is we're initi we're implementing the initial reconfiguration as part of that August 26. At the same time, we're finalizing longerterm building configurations and related bonding needs. November of 26 is our first chance. really we'll have enough information potentially to put something out for a building bond. So that really becomes that next big benchmark to backwards map from if the board so desires, right? And so this is going to take lots of conversation with the board to decide what do we want to do while we're implementing the first phase of the SOD plan regardless of whether we do a bonding piece. You'll also notice that in phase two, you start seeing the word programmatic. We have to start designing what the programs will look like for future years because as we change buildings, it is going to be the stepping process between we might move into one physical plant that is not yet ready for all the programming we want until we can address the facility needs for that building. So again, now we're back to visioning and visioning gets us back to operational. The operational and boundary changes are happening and then we might even depending upon what happens at the end of phase two, you start seeing the initial facility improvements. So you can imagine if you do a bond, if you get a bond for whatever it it it is, then we can start making those first facility improvements during that August of 2027. You'll notice that we move into phase three. Phase three starts in March. We can start a little later because we're not at that at least right now draft. We're assuming that November 26 is a bonding thing. As an example, if that's not and it moves a year out, phase three has to start in January because we really need to have our ducks in a row in January if we're going out for a bond in November. There's a total ton of stuff that's got to happen and be in place. So we we make the right decisions. We have the right input uh from from a variety of people and the right information and data. However, you'll notice phase three looks a lot like phase two and that we're implementing additional reconfiguration moves. So what what will potentially be part of this process as we balance SOD because remember we're still working through SOD planning as we're reimagining here. there's potentially going to need to be reconfiguration plans to get even more efficiencies and that's all dependent upon some of those dominoes that first happen um because we might have to even get a smaller footprint depending upon what decisions are made. You'll also notice in phase uh phase three that not only are we planning for programmatic changes, we are actually prepping. So you'll notice that the reimagine team talked about we need to get teachers ready to go. We need to transition. So as we hit March of 2728 draft timeline, we have to actually put into place the academic side of the house, which is all of the prep work. So now we're talking about who do we have to hire? Who if I'm a if I'm an elementary teacher, but I'm moving to a different building. I'm teaching a different subject. We land on a different curriculum. What is all the programmatic work that has to happen behind the scenes that has to happen during summer that has all that goes into it? If we have a high school that wants to domies, we could have a multi-year lensure piece that we've got to get people licensed in order to do things. So, we need to be thinking about all of that stuff that goes into this, which is why it's so crucial to have expedient decisions being made very, very soon in direction. We hit phase four. It's it's the same process as phase three. We start in March of that year. And that is simply because now we're on a staffing schedule sta. So typically if we can get our curriculum and our staffing uh pieces aligned by December, January, then March is when we do all the hiring, we do all the focus direction setting for that year and finalize that process. You'll also see that um we would be in in process of getting the final facility moves in place. So on the one extreme, if we do nothing, there's going to be final facility moves, right? We're going to have to figure out as part of our statutory operating debt plan, what are some more final reductions we can make? What are some efficiencies? That is going to involve facilities. And it's probably not just going to involve academic facilities, it's going to involve all of our facility sets. Um, if it's on the other extreme of what the reimagine team focused on tonight or something like that, we should be in a spot between March of 28 and August of 29 where we are actually planning for any final construction to be in process and getting the plans set for any of those final moves into new facilities or updated facilities. which then leads us to the final phase, phase five, which coincidentally ends August of 2030. I could not have planned that better. Um, but what it does do in a five in a five-year plan, as you work through all the stuff that I've explained so far, what it does allow you to do is conceptually, you can have all of your building construction completed or in process of being completed in that 2930 school year. And that would be the final year of the 5-year SOD plan, moving through that 20 school 2030 school year. so that in the fall of 2030 you would be in a position to realize the full implementation of reimagine Ardell 2030 and be successfully out of statutory operating debt. >> Woohoo. So that's a whole lot between the presentation that we heard between the timeline and you know I keep coming back to the first question I think that we asked when we convened the vision team in January was who are we? What's our identity? And as I listened tonight to the recommendations that came forward, I think those pieces of identity that I heard from this represented community group for eight months was who are we? Community. Who are we? We're about inclusion, belonging. All means all. Equity and diversity are our strengths. Who are we? The strong sense of pride. And I think that's the first thing I noticed as I met people and the folks sitting in this room, who grew up here, graduated from our schools, chose to come back and live here, raised their families here, be employed here. That's unique to this community. And I think that as we think about all of that, what I felt tonight, what I felt probably the first week that I was here, and what I feel in both the optimism and the hope behind the strategy and the clear plans that we need is a whole lot of love. Because this is about our future. This is about what our kids deserve, not what our kids currently have. And I think those are where some of the decision points um for the board and for this community will lie. Um so board members, tonight um I'm seeking direction. We are seeking direction to begin working on this really complex and urgent timeline. Um that means we want to be sure that you signify with a vote that you support us moving forward to take the next steps. Um you're not making decisions. I'm not asking for decisions tonight on this piece of a recommendation from the vision team, but when you looked at what assistant superintendent uh McDow just laid out, we need some direction in terms of being able to get to work and continue the work so that we can come back on October 6th with the next step uh in our planning journey so that we can hear from you, figure out what other information and data and questions you have as we collaborate and work together over the next couple of months. >> So that's what we're can that's what I'm seeking right now. >> Which one do you want? >> The timeline. >> This one >> either >> or this one or this one. >> Not that one. >> I can do any one of them. >> Can we >> I have the clicker. >> Can we get the electronic? >> Yeah. This slide deck will get shared. I know. >> Thank you. But >> yeah, I can director Holmes, I can go back to whichever one you want. And >> if you're looking for something specific, I do have a single print of the copy if that's easier. >> Did you have a question? Well, mine was just when we when are we going to get this PowerPoint because we haven't >> as I said in my update that I gave to the board on Friday that this presentation would be available and then I think I also emailed today that this presentation would be available at the end of the meeting tonight. Okay. So, having listened to all of this, I I move to direct the administration to begin action on the draft timelines outlined for both SOD planning and reimagine 2030. >> I'll second that. >> Okay, we have a move and a second to direct the administration to begin. Uh, Director Holmes, can you go one slide forward? >> One more. Sorry. >> Yes. Thank you. So you're going to create a variety of scenarios if this then that if this then that falls in this timeline. Is am I understanding that right? >> Yeah. I think what we would do is well I know what we would do is the first step is part of the 26 20 for the 26 27 year the first focus is on addressing the statutory operating debt plan. So we're going to need to come back to you as a board with some options of here's what the first year looks like the second year looks like. the third year looks like regardless of the reimagine work, right? Not regardless of your work, regardless regardless of what the decision is about that we have to do the SOD plan. So, yes, we're going to be coming back for sure with that because we have to get we meaning you as a board and us as administration, we've got to get this thing nailed down um as far as what the draft of that looks like. And I will turn it over to executive director wholeheisel. >> Thank you. And I'd just like to piggyback because it came from a comment uh director Holmes that or a request that you had made um during the business meeting about the finance advisory and the SOD plan as a board as a collective there is a significant amount of work um as it relates to the discussion I'll say the expenditure side of the house right like as it relates to buildings what that looks like what that looks like for 2627 this fall the finance advisory committee will be focusing on truly just uh budget assumptions and I know Dr. McDow had addressed that as far as you know what what is our current revenue in whatever that committee's work is going to be very concentrated it's going to be in October and November and they're just going to establish like they would in any budget year here's our assumptions so while you guys are doing the exceptional heavy lifting of designing essentially our expenditure side of the house they will be working on you know here are like the day-to-day operations of how many students do we think we estimate um what do we think compensatory dollars will look like kind of the things we've talked about in the past that will be coming that will be available to you do they need to participate in the expenditure side of design which is ultimately going to be a budget reduction no will their work part uh contribute to the information that's presented um as far as it relates to the SOD plan of course it will because that's the you know just establishing assumptions on what the next three years could look like without taking into account reductions, realignment, and all of that. If that makes sense. >> It does. And I why I'm asking them to be there is because obviously if they're going to be looking at assumptions for student enrollment and the report had its own assumption of their line. So I'm trying to where the points are going to come together and what we're going to actually move forward with. That's why I'm saying because I knew they would have different assumptions just based on their role. They may or may not. >> Correct. Yeah. But that commit >> but understanding the mindset of what got there because I don't even understand how the team landed on their assumption other than maybe it looked like a mid line >> but yes the method to it. >> So again just keep in mind that we wanted to keep the the direction of the board um when we had this conversation last year with the finance advisory committee was let their work is going to be their work. they're going to come with um with recommendations and and guidance towards you. We're going to focus on an area of that because your lift is pretty significant in another way. We would have done it annually anyway as part of the budget process. Um and so we'll make sure that the two are overlapping and crossing, but just so the group, the community, everybody knows that's kind of the work that we have in front of us. That group is a very intentional uh concentrated time as well. >> Thank you. I don't see any more board hands up. Okay. So, we have a motion on the floor. The motion is to uh direct the administration to begin action on the draft timeline uh timelines outlined for both SOD planning and reimagine 2030. All in favor, please say I. >> I. Oppose. Opposed. Please say nay. >> No. >> Motion carries. You've got a direction from the board. >> Thank you. >> Thank you for your work on this and you have a lot of work that you'll be doing and so do we. Okay. How's our agenda looking? >> I think that is the end of our agenda and it seems just a little antilimatic right now. No, I know it's not. >> Okay. So, if this is the end, I want one more round of applause for our [Applause] Thank you. Thank you. Um, when work sessions end, we don't have a move to adjourn. I just say we're done. So, thank you everybody. Thank you. >> Oh, yes. >> I just wanted to say to the members of our Jewish community, a happy and healthy new year and thank you to those on I know there's at least one member of the committee who came here tonight on on the holiday. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thanks y'all. Thank you very much. We are done. And this is a new record for this board. >> Oh my god. >> Before 9:00 [Laughter] [Music] has to be >> Holy moly. >> Oh my god.