RecordingTranscript available81:51
September 23rd, 2025 School Board Regular Meeting
Osseo Area SchoolsWednesday, September 24, 2025
Watch on original sourceDocument Analysis
Analyze the transcript to extract topics, key quotes, people, and more — then generate focused stories for any topic.
Transcript
Good evening. The regular meeting of the Independent School District 279 School Board is called to order at 6:00 PM on September 23rd, 2025. This regular business meeting of the AIO schoolboard is being conducted in the boardroom of the educational service center. The meeting can be monitored electronically by streaming online from the district website. An archived recording of tonight's meeting will also be available on the district website. Seated in front of you this evening from my left and your right are director Kelsey Dawson. Uh director Erica Abs Foster is absent this evening on a well uh deserved trip with her husband. Uh, Director Thomas Brooks, myself, board chair Tanya Prince, uh, Director Keith Tate, Director Sarah Mitchell. Also present in the boardroom is Superintendent Dr. Kim Hy and members of the Superintendent Cabinet. Those of you who can stand for the pledge of allegiance, um, please do. Director Mitchell, will you please lead the pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Board members, are there any additions to the agenda? Is there a motion to accept the agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> So moved by Director Brooks. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Tate. Um motion p um first seconded. Is there any discussion? Uh all in favor say I. >> I oppose. Nay. The motion passes six to zero. >> At this time we are excited to welcome our student school board representatives for the 2025 2026 school year. Dr. Hy, will you please lead us off in introductions? >> Yes. Thank you, Chair Prince. I'm honored to welcome the four amazing scholars seated here this evening as our student board representative for the 2025 2026 school year. Formal introductions will be done by Amy Toliffson who's our district level principal and mentor for our student board reps. I first want to thank each of you so very much for your commitment to serve in this capacity. Your voices are truly valued and we look forward to your reports and insights throughout the school year. In addition to their reports to our school board regular meetings, the student school board representatives will also have the opportunities to participate in designated board work sessions. These sessions will allow them to provide input and perspective on current topics that are shaping the direction of our district, ensuring that student voices are represented in our decision-making processes. So scholars, as you begin this important world role, I encourage you to bring your full selves, your experiences, and your ideas to the table. Your leadership will not only help guide our work, but also inspire others, reminding us of all the power of student voice in shaping a stronger and more connected school community. Mrs. Toliffson, >> thank you very much, Dr. Hy. Good evening for Chair Prince and Vice Chair Brooks and to all of the school board members. I'm very very happy and excited to be here uh to introduce our schoolboard reps this year. So you heard from Dr. Hy that our program has shifted which I greatly appreciate the feedback from all of you as we are evolving as this program continues now entering into the fifth year of entering it fifth year. Thank you. Um, so with that, I'm going to introduce each of our uh, scholars who are here with us, and then they're just going to share a couple of sentences about why they wanted to be in this role. So, I'm going to start with our returning uh, student board rep, Naomi Cooper Greer, representing Park Center. >> Okay. Hi, guys. My name's Naomi Cooper. The main reason why I wanted to be a student board rep is because when I see problems or issues, I want them changed. I'm not the type of person to sit down and just like be like, "Oh, everything sucks. Life sucks. I wish I could do something about it." Well, you can. And this opportunity like literally presented itself on a brick wall poster. And I was like, "Wow, this is like my golden ticket." So, I took it. Um, one thing I wanted to say is we had uh Ukrainian students come in and share their thoughts and opinions and stories and I really just want to be like them. You know, they're very brave, inspirational. So, I hope one day we can all find our Ukrainian student inside of us because they're just they're really great. >> Thank you so much. Uh, because last year typically our student board reps would share a board report. about Naomi coming into tonight had shared a board report and I said well we're not doing it in the same way but she said I still really want to share about our experience with the Ukrainian students because she said it was really really powerful for her. So thank you very much for sharing that. All right, Christian Vargas representing the OALC. >> Hi. So this is my first year here and my name is Christian Vargas. I became a schoolboard representative to see how I can make lasting impacts on our district. Being in this district for I would say all of my high school life, I've seen a lot of things I'd like to be changed and a lot of things that I'd like to impact. So, I'm just really glad to be here. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. And next is Aliyah Ja from Maple Grove Senior High. >> Um, hi, I'm Aliyia Ji. Um, and I became a student board rep just to to help give a voice to the people who don't have one at my school or like more of the minority. Um because the the majority of my school um is all the same and they're the voices that are heard most. So I wanted to um be able to represent the people who aren't heard. Thank you. >> Thank you. And Hikma um Adam from AIO Senior High. >> Hey everyone. Um, I wanted to become a student board rep to help make sure that our student voices are heard, especially when decisions are made, mainly impacting us, our futures, and even our education. And yeah, thank you. >> So, thank you very much to our all of our reps. We actually had a little bit of our own work session this morning um talking about thinking about questions around our stakeholder survey to get some more authentic feedback. So, we will be back in October at the work session to share a little bit more about our work together. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you so much. We're really excited to have you and we're really excited about the changes to the program so we can hear your voice and input to the decisions that we're making. So, welcome. Our next standing agenda item is recognitions. Uh we don't have any recognitions tonight, but we know as we get the school year into full swing, we'll definitely have a lot more coming. Uh our next item is a presentation. For our presentation this evening, Kelly Bonusa, director of business services, will provide information on the fiscal year 2025 financials. Kelly, thank you. Good evening, uh Chair Prince, board members, and superintendent Dr. Hy. Tonight, the preliminary year-end financial results for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 2025 are being presented. The district is required to annually complete an independent audit and submit financial reports by December 31st. We begin this process in August and the results are presented to the school board by an independent audit firm for final approval in November. By September, the process provides preliminary year-end financial reports to assist in budget development for the upcoming fiscal year. Although the numbers are not final, we don't anticipate any significant changes at this time. I would like to start off by thanking our entire business services team for their efforts during this process. I would especially like to recognize Mike Huer who's in the audience with us tonight, Michelle Larson, and Liz Lanto. These three individuals are instrumental in ensuring our audit is performed at the highest level of expectation. The school board has before them a memo along with three attached exhibits which summarize the financial results. The first fund being discussed is the general fund. This fund is this fund includes the primary operations of the district in providing educational services to students from pre kindergartens through grade 12 including our transportation activities. Exhibit two shows the general fund revenue and expenditure budget variance. The combined variance was a positive 1.45%. This was less than our budget planning benchmark of 2%. Exhibit one shows the actual results in comparison with the budgeted amounts. Tax collections increased 383,000 from our budgeted amounts, meaning that we collected more in taxes than we anticipated. The investment earnings were more than budgeted due to improved interest rates from our previous projections. Our general education aid was less than our budgeted amounts. Our actual students served were 62 less adjusted pupil units. Those are awaited students and 26 less extended time adjusted pupil units from our previous estimates. Special education increase from budgeted amounts. Increased current year revenue was more than anticipated based on formula calculations that were provided by the Minnesota Department of Education and thirdparty billings for medical assistance increased 548,000 from budgeted amounts due to more collections than anticipated. Included in the other category is our summer unemployment, which exceeded budget capacity by almost $127,000 due to higher reimbursements than anticipated. So overall, our revenues were more than budget by 3.5 million and had a positive 1.1% variance when comparing to our actual results. For expenditures, our salaries were under budget by 1.3 million or 68%. So not even 1%. The variance is due to several factors. So, first, $851,000 in savings from open positions and unused budget capacity. And second, $583,000 in unspent read training, which will carry over into fiscal year 26. And then these amounts are partially offset by 101,000 of increased contract settlements. The variance for employee benefits can be attributed to two main areas. First, employee health insurance and HSA contributions were $235,000 less than projected. And second, our summer unemployment was $21,000 under budget. Our purchase services expenditures were $1.3 million under budget. Our transportation contracted services and snow removal were under budget by 1.3 million and $521,000, respectively. So transportation actual costs were lowered due to several factors. Those include routing efficiencies, three weather day closures, and propane fuel rebates. Our other purchase services were overbudget by 348,000. The variance there can be attributed to two main areas. Contracted services for unfilled positions were overbudget by 516,000 and then our tuition paid to other districts were 186,000 under budget. In the category of supplies, capital and other expenditures, they were under budget by 2.5 million. Our general and instructional supplies were under budget by that 2.5 million. And again, our curriculum capacity of $2 million was under spent. The remaining variance is due to cost containment of our management and staff. So overall, a positive variance of 5.7 million or 1.8% 8% was achieved when comparing our actual expenditures with our budgeted amounts. Exhibit two is the fiscical year 25 general fund financial summary. The district's planning benchmark is that actual revenues and expenditures will be within 2% of budgeted amounts. The district's size of our operation is 6377 million when combining both our revenues and expenditures. The district's procedures are to analyze the revenues and expenditure budgets and then to revise the adopted budgets to match the available estimates. For fiscal year 25, the net revenue expenditure budget variance was 9.3 million or 1.45%. This was within that planning benchmark parameter of 2%. In comparing AIO to our financial benchmark districts, AIO's percent is similar to others with a range of 2 to 4%. Exhibit three is the fund balance summary for all of our funds. Overall, the fund balances for all funds, as shown at the bottom of exhibit three, decreased from the prior year amount of 410 million to 365 million at June 30th, 2025. for a combined decrease of 45 million. The general fund, which is in blue, increased fund balance by 9.6 million when including our non-operating funds like grants, gifts, and student activities. The capital expenditure land proceeds fund, which is in yellow, increased fund balance by almost 2.2 million. The fund balance of 7.9 million is restricted by state statute for facilities, equipment, textbooks, technology, and long-term facilities maintenance. The food nutrition services fund, which is in purple, increased fund balance to 6.4 million or 37% of annual expenditures. We will continue to utilize these resources to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of operations through future capital improvements. The community service fund, which is in green, decreased fund balance to 4.1 million or 19% of expenditures. Under state law, all revenue and fund balances are reserved for community education programs. The building construction fund balance decreased 50.6 million. This decrease was due to the spendown of 61.6 million of current and prior year bond issues for building projects and al OTFM projects. And the last fund we're going to talk about tonight is the debt service fund, whose fund balance decreased 5.6 million. The debt service fund revenue and expenditures represent amounts necessary to meet our principal and interest payment schedules associated with our long-term debt for the district. Next, we'll review the five-year projection for the general fund. Again, this is a highlevel visual organizer for our financial forecast. There are three sections to this projection and the top section shows our revenue expenditures, differences, fund balance, and fund balance percentage for a 7-year window. That begins with our actual for fiscal years 24 and 25, the adopted budget for fiscal year 26, and then projections for fiscal years 2027 through fiscal year 2030. You will see operational adjustments for combined total of 5 million for fiscal years 28 through fiscal year 2030 under the chart. The assumption section shows the revenue and expenditure assumptions being used for fiscal years 27 through fiscal year 2030. This next section shows the budget projection for revenues in blue and expenditures in red. The trend lines of those same colors show the general trajectory of each of those items. As you can see, our expenditures are projected to outpace revenues beginning in fiscal years 2026. The final section looks at our fund balance projection for that same time period. The green bar represents our actual and projected fund balances for each year. The orange bar shows the 5% minimum required fund balance as set in board policy. Again, the trend lines show the trajectory of the fund balance related to the minimum. And as you can see, our fund balance is projected to continue to decline through fiscal year 2030. We will continue to monitor the financial projection to maintain the board required minimum fund balance of 5% in the future. Under this model, again, we are planning for operational reductions for a combined total of 5 million beginning in fiscal year 28 through fiscal year 2030. And included in the projection are revenue tactics for basic formula allowance change for inflation, the special education cross subsidy funding, the 10-year transportation contract which was starting in fiscal year 26, judgment levies, funding for English learner student personal aid and school library aid changes and special education aid reduction for transportation, a 5% in 26 and a 10% in fiscal year 27. Included in the projection for expenditures are enrollment alignment and reducing our expenditure growth to 3%. Additional operating capacity for our new elementary, impact of the transportation contract, our Crestville new site startup costs which were approved in fiscal year 26 and are being delayed until fiscal year 27. Our student personnel aid and school library aid reductions due to legislative changes. our compensatory maximum hold harmless and boundary changes impact of transportation costs for new and existing sites. And then as we learn more about our tactics related to both our revenues and expenditures like contracts for services and other known cost drivers, we'll be adding those to the financial five-year model as well. So in summary, the year results are better than anticipated due to several factors in including the continued efforts of both staff and administration. We want to thank again our budget managers for their efforts this past fiscal year in helping us bring a positive year end to the school board tonight. These combined efforts have reduced future budget reductions from 14 million to 5 million through fiscal year 2030 as was previously reported in June of 2025. The fiscal year 25 financial results will be incorporated into the long range financial planning process as designed and as usual the board will be providing direction and taking action in three different fiscal years over the next several months. This action will be impacted by the positive year end results for fiscal year 25. First, on November 11th, we'll continue the formal fiscal year 27 budget planning process at the board's work session. And then these year-end results will be incorporated into the LRFP process. And then second, the auditors will present the fiscal year 25 audit report at the November 18th schoolboard meeting. And then finally, these results will be utilized in the 26 midyear budget updates and then brought forward for approval at the February 24th schoolboard meeting. >> Thank you. Board members, do you have any questions or comments? >> Yeah, sure. Uh just a quick comment. Um so one um always a huge thank you to uh you and your team uh for the work that you do but generally for staff um just appreciate the the efforts to contain costs um especially as we're looking at um you know growing expenditures in 2026 and beyond. Um so to see um some of these numbers come in lower than expected, significantly lower than expected because um staff are just being conscious of um the work they're doing and and how they're spending right now. I think um you know the community appreciates it. >> Any other comments or questions? >> I just echo what Thomas has said. It's it's so nice that we're very being very proactive, right? Rather than other areas where are having to be more reactive, right? So, it's nice that we have our our school in in this position that we can plan thoughtfully ahead. So, >> yeah, I agree with um both of those comments. um the proactive processes that we have, the fiscal committee where we engage community members, the pair process, all of those work together to um really be sure that we're um setting good direction and have clarity about um how we're spending and the choices that we're making. So, we're really um really are in a good position, especially as we see other school districts um needing to make difficult choices. So, >> okay. Thank you so much, Kelly. >> Thank you, The next agenda item is audience opportunity to address the school board. I will review a few of the guidelines for those who will speak to the board. Um you can also refer to the statements um that are on uh over on the table. So it's a little lengthy so bear with me. As a board we welcome all voices and strive for public engagement and transparency in our board work. audience opportunity to address the board is one of the many avenues to achieve this. To ensure all voices are heard, welcomed and respected in the boardroom. We ask that audience members withhold applause and verbal response to all of our speakers. In the rare instance of a disruptive audience member, we will pause and ask the individual to remove themselves from the boardroom. Speakers will be called to the podium in this order. Student, parent, staff, community member, and others. Please keep your comments to three minutes. Comment should be directed to the entire board, not to any one individual board member. If you have a handout for the board, please place it on the information table or hand it to the board secretary, Sherry. Uh, and the board secretary will provide copies to the board members. The board in the audience will listen and not respond back at this time. If you would like someone to follow up with you on your question and or comments, please let the board secretary know. Personnel concerns should be directed to individuals in the following order. building principal, executive director for human resources, assistant superintendent, superintendent, and finally in writing to the school board. The complete guidelines for public participation are provided on the meeting materials table and on the schoolboard section of the district website. When I call your name, please come to the microphone and state your name and your topic and whether or not you are a district resident. Okay, we are going to start with Caroline Schwarz and I um think you have some additional students with you. Hello, I'm Caroline and we're Oh, sorry. I'm Lauren. >> I'm Lily. >> I'm Maddie. And I'm >> We're here to propose the opportunity for students in our district to be able to earn a varsity letter for community service hours. There are several school districts in our area that offer this and is based on the Tonka serves varsity letter program which has the mission to inspire students to understand and serve the greater good. Wisetta, Eden Prairie, Minnotonka, and Dino all have a lettering opportunity for service hours. We also have direct information in the handouts we provided. OIO High School already has a volunteer class where students earn earn course credit but not a varsity letter. Park Center has a page on their website which shows students places where they can volunteer. Volunteer hours can be written and recorded on their report card and transcript. Um, currently at Mabel Grove Senior High School, the members of the National Honor Society have the opportunity to receive a varsity letter, but only the top third of the students who apply for and qualify for the NHS program are accepted. And we think that anybody should be able to have this opportunity because not only are they receiving letters, but they're also giving back to the community. The criteria for Tonka serves varsity letter program, which multiple schools follow, is that you have to have 150 hours of unpaid volunteer service completed in any 12-month period beginning the summer before 9th grade. At least 75 hours must be completed through one agency or for one cause to ensure understanding and sustained commitment to a selected social issue that is personally relevant to you. For example, homelessness, elderly care, poverty, literacy, environment, and healthcare. You must have a record of all service hours verified by an adult supervisor or parent and two recommendation letters from organizations or people served describing your service and performance. You must also complete a reflection project which could be a written reflection, a journal, a video, a song, a work of art, a children's book, a presentation, or any other piece of work based on your sustained service with one agency or in one area of need. You must be academically eligible, which is a 2.0 GPA or above. And you have to be chemical free during this year to participate in this program. >> Thank you. >> We can clap. We can clap. Thank you so much. Uh our next speaker is Sarah Heman. Good evening. My name is Sarah Hman. I'm a district resident, a parent, an active volunteer, and a former teacher that substitutes in the district. I am here along with parents and teachers um to address the growing disconnect between the promise of our building a better future referendum and the reality in our classrooms. When the community voted for the referendum, we were promised enhanced individualized learning, smaller class sizes, and more support for mental health. But parents and experienced teachers are now frustrated as those promises aren't being met. Classrooms on the west side of our district are overcrowded with some elementary schools having 30 or more students without the support of an aid. This is well above the state's recommended average of 17 per class. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the average elementary class size in the US is 21.6. This directly impacts learning and is a key reason why 75% of our elementary schools saw declining test scores in both reading and math last year. The data is an alarm bell and is telling us that our current approach is failing our youngest students. Student behavior issues have also dramatically increased since the pandemic, including violent and aggressive outbursts resulting in classroom evacuations or physical injury. This is not only a safety concern for our students, but is also affecting our teacher morale and retention. Providing teachers with manageable class sizes is one of the most effective ways to improve morale and keep our best educators. While the new elementary school may help this in the future, we would like action now. We are here to ask for a plan. What specific interventions are being deployed to reverse the trend of the declining test scores? Will you reconsider class- size targets to allow for more individualized instruction? Have more counselors and social workers been hired to address the increased need for mental support? And how will you ensure the referendum funds are being used to fulfill its core promises? Today, we the parents and teachers are ready to be partners in finding a solution. Our children deserve it. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next uh speaker is Michelle Dinard. Good evening everyone. Madame Chair, members of the school board, Dr. how and district leadership. On behalf of the AIO ESP local 7325, I want to first acknowledge the work that went into reaching our contract agreement. We recognize that reaching this point required effort and compromise from all sides. But let me be clear. While this contract reflects the agreement we were able to reach, it does not reflect the full needs and expectation of education support professionals in this district. Our members came to the table asking for what they deserve. Livable wages, affordable benefits, respect and safety in workplace. And while some progress has been made, we know and you know that this contract is not enough. ESPs are the backbone of our schools. We are the first to greet students in the morning. The ones who keep them safe. The ones who make sure they are supported in classrooms, cafeterias, hallways, buses, and beyond. Yet, too many of us are working two or three jobs just to survive. That is not sustainable. That is not respect. that is not valuing the work we do for the district and for every single student. So tonight, as we move forward with approving this agreement, we want to be clear. This is not the end of our fight. We will continue to stand up for livable wages, for the benefits that keep our families healthy, and for the respect and dignity every ESP has earned. We are proud to serve this community. But we will not stop until IO ESPs are truly recognized as the professionals we are. We deserve to be valued. We deserve to be respected. >> And we deserve to be paid fairly. >> Thank you so much. Respectfully on behalf of AIO ESP Local 7325. I am Michelle Dinar, the union president. >> Thank you, Michelle. Our next speaker is Jessica Bowen. Hello, my name is Jessica Bame and I'm a district resident and a parent. I am here to express my sincere disappointment in the district's failure to issue any kind of statement following the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the aftermath thereof. I sent an email to the board on September 16th asking whether the district planned to send out a communication on this topic. I noted similarities to past disturbing events, receiving worldwide news coverage when the district did send emails, conveying sympathy, offering care and support, and reiterating commitments to ensuring everyone felt safe, welcome, and respected. I received a response a few days later among various platitudes about district priorities and values. The message seemed to indicate that the district would not be issuing any statement due to the proximity of the event. In other words, it was geography that rendered the incident unworthy of any communication. I replied a couple days later and I'd like to read that message now. Thank you for your response. If I may, I'd ask that you please reconsider the appropriateness or need for a statement for the following reason. One particularly disturbing element present in this situation as well as the murder of Brian Thompson last December who was killed in New York but was a Maple Grove resident and CEO of a company headquartered in Minnotonka is the widespread celebration of killing. I'm not saying the deaths of Mr. Thompson or Mr. Kirk are inherently more tragic than any others. Simply that the celebration of murder is itself a separate tragedy and I'm not aware of any other killings that have been actively celebrated by anyone. If the focus is on geographic proximity, it's important to acknowledge that although the assassination of Charlie Kirk may have taken place several states away, the moral depravity reflected in the celebration of that assassination has most certainly reached our community and it needs to be addressed. Our communities are in desperate need of healing, but I don't know how we hope for productive efforts on that front when there doesn't appear to be a baseline shared understanding that a moral society cannot be one in which murder is celebrated. The recent resurgence of the free Luigi crowd following developments in the trial for Brian Thompson's murder underlines that alarming reality and the urgency of the problem. A recent survey of 68,000 college students conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, FIRE, revealed the disturbing increase in the number of young people who believe violence is sometimes acceptable to stop speech. 34% believe this, at least in rare cases, which is up two points from last year and 10 points from four years ago. District 279 has a profound responsibility to set a tone of moral clarity here at such a formative time in the lives of our scholars. You must ensure that they don't add themselves to the growing number of young people who believe violence in response to speech is justified by making it absolutely clear clear to them now that their educational leaders condemn such violence and critically the celebration thereof. I urge you to reconsider the gravity of this moment and the importance of conveying this message. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Our next agenda item is the superintendence report. Dr. Hy. Good evening, Chair Prince, Vice Chair Brooks, and board members. We're are off to a set fastest into another school year. We welcome back all of our students, staff, and families, and we appreciate you for choosing AIO Area Schools this evening. We also have a special recognition for our school board members. September has been designated as a Minnesota schoolboard recognition month and this year's theme is a guiding light for student success which truly reflects the heart of what it means to serve on a school board. This recognition month helps us pause and build awareness of the vital role our elected school board members play in shaping both our school and our communities. Here in Ocio Area Schools, we are proud to join districts across the state of Minnesota in honoring our board members for their unwavering commitment to our scholars, to our families, staff, and to our community. Being a guiding light is about more than just making decisions in meetings. It is about setting a vision that keeps students at the center, ensuring that every learner, whether it's a preK, elementary, secondary, or adult education, has the opportunity to thrive. It's about establishing clear goals and our accountability while also creating the conditions for success. And most importantly, it's about listening. Listening to our families, staff, and scholars to ensure that all voices are heard, valued, and reflected in the work that we do in the district. Our school board members dedicate countless hours preparing for meetings and work sessions, studying education issues, and staying connected with the needs of our community. The weight of this responsibility is significant. Yet our board embraces it with thoughtfulness, care, and a steadfast focus on what matters most, which is our scholar success. So on behalf of Ocio Area School District, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to our board. You embody the theme of guiding light for student success by modeling leadership, dedication, and a true commitment to serving others. Thank you for helping us create a district where every scholar can learn, grow, and where every voice has a place in shaping our future. Thank you for your service. Thank you so much. >> Next, we have points of pride. And a regular part of our superintendent report is the points of pride. By sharing these points of pride, we're taking time to recognize and celebrate our scholars, definitely staff and community members who are contributing to the accomplishments of our mission. I have members of the district cabinet here to assist in sharing some of those examples from last month. In the area of achieving dreams, AIO area schools was well represented with award-winning artwork at the recent 2025 Minnesota State Fair. Birch Grove art teacher Corey Brown won a fourth place ribbon for her seed art. Birch Grove fifth grade student Kennedy Bundy won honorable mention for her two-part bowl pottery piece. Four artists from AIO Senior High School also had their work featured and received awards. Senior Luke Scott won the grand prize for all 12th graders and first place in his class for his clay piece made on the potter's wheel. Junior Benjamin Sanvic won first place in his class for his clay piece made on the potter's wheel. Junior Shiloh Folks won first place in her class for her handbuilt clay piece. Junior Pton Fenbrook won second place in his class for his clay piece made on the potter's wheel as well. Congratulations to Maple Grove Senior High School senior Nishad Kanuka for being named a 2026 National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists. Nashad was one of more than 16,000 semi-finalists named nationally and scored among the top 1% on the PAT out of 2.7 million students. In the area of contributing to community, Ukrainian students recently spent two days with AIO area schools as part of a five-week exchange program through the UL lead youth leadership engagement and development program. The visiting students spent time with district leadership and students from several different schools, including Oakview Elementary, Maple Grove, AIO, and Park Center senior high schools to learn about leadership, connect with peers, and experience the American education system. In the area of lifelong learning, before school started on September 2nd, many schools hosted events to welcome their students back and get them ready for another successful year. On August 20th, the Park Center Senior High School community kicked off the new school year with a festive pirate palooa. On August 27th and 28th, elementary schools across the district held openhouse events for incoming kindergarten through fifth grade students and their families. 279 online middle and high school students and families gathered on August 27th for a back- to-school kickoff event. On August 28th, incoming kindergarteners and their families met up at the playground at Basswood Elementary School to meet each other, enjoy popsicles, and play. On the first day of school, Dr. Superintendent Dr. Kim Hy and staff across the district were excited to welcome back scholars to another great year of learning and making OIO area schools one community for all where all voices are valued and heard. At the end of the summer, numerous building a better future construction product projects wrapped up at schools across the district, including Basswood, Cedar Island, Fair Oaks, Oak View, Palmer Lake, Rush Creek, and Woodland Elementary Schools along with Brooklyn Middle Steam School's first floor, and Science Classroom updates at all the middle schools. Updates continue to be shared at aoschools.org/betfeuture org/bet future and on social media at facebook.com/osioschools. In the area of missiondriven employees, we kicked off the 2526 school year with an all staff event on August 28th at Park Center Senior High School. The event featured speakers, food trucks, games, and a marching band performance and community building for staff members all across the district. >> We have a few final notes and reminders this evening. Just a reminder if you are interested to join our District 279 Foundation annual reading is fun 5K on Saturday, October 4th. You can walk or run uh at Maple Grove Senior High School Sprintson Stadium. This familyfriendly event raises funds that are allocated totally to the media centers of OIO area schools. And you can learn more on our district website. And this is also a reminder scholars, there will be no school on October 16th and 17th on that day. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Our next item agenda item is schoolboard reports. Director Dawson, do you have a reporter update? >> Um yeah, I have a couple quick reports. Um the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, just a couple updates from the last meeting is um there was a special election and the Minnesota House former Speaker Mos Hortman seat. Um and um so that was done and so the House is still 6767. um the governor and then there's two other Senate special elections in November that could determine kind of the control of the Senate and then currently um the governor is still considering whether to call a special session on gun safety um in the wake of our the tragic shooting and enunciation um so there's just renewed attention a lot of talk around school safety, mental health and gun violence prevention. Um on the policy side, all districts have submitted legislative priorities and um AMSD the legislative committee over the next couple months will um finalize their platform with that. Um and also just there's two task force underway at the legislature now around compensatory aid um which had its first meeting and then the blue ribbon task force on special education which we're waiting for final appointees. Then they also had their annual survey kind of to get the pulse of of um our state and community. So some really interesting insights if anybody's interested in looking at a whole bunch of data, but it's on the um Association of Metropolitan School Districts website for that. Um I the other two committees I serve on RISE radically investing in scholars educ excellence looking um parents um and and community to get involved. Um they have their meeting, their kickoff meeting on Thursday, right? Yeah. At Park Center, I believe. So um I know it's open. They're looking for more folks to join that and they you can find that on our website and on Facebook. I think there was just a post about the social media post from our district on that. Um and then the American Indian um parenting parent um advisory council, they have also have their kickoff meeting on uh Thursday of this week. So more of the next meeting on those. Thank you. That's all. Director Brooks, do you have a reporter update? >> No reports yet. >> Okay. And um Director Tate, do you have a reporter update? >> Uh no reports. >> Director Mitchell, >> yes, we had our kickoff meeting right in here on September 11th for the CPAC committee with um Brian there. And we had some highlights of summer, kind of an overview of students serve this summer, which is always fun to see some unique opportunities for middle school students and multilingual summer academy. That was great. And a highlight was, oh, I see one of our members out there. And a highlight was seeing the Arborview View Early Childhood Education Center, the opening and renovation, and just to see the pictures and hear how excited the families are. It's a bright new space and being in the community attending there myself with my kids 23 years ago, it's just um really exciting for the community. So, that was great. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh and I do have a report for the Northwest Suburban Integration School District joint powers board meeting. Uh so in addition to our routine business of financial reports and and things similar to our board meetings, we had a strategic plan review and we approved uh the executive director goals. Uh so I just do want to mention um the strategic plan areas uh for the Northwest Suburban Integration School District uh include magnet schools, college and career readiness, student, family and community empowerment, and uh professional development. Um, so you can learn more kind of about what we do there, but just wanted to kind of share that that key elements of the strategic plan and that's the only report I have. The next agenda item is the consent agenda. Board members, our consent agenda items this evening include meeting minutes, financial reports, personnel items, grants, general liability insurance renewal, contracted work for the renovations at Northview Middle School, snowplowing services contract, and agreements with the city of Maple Grove for development and construction at the new elementary school site. Are there any items that you would like to remove for a separate consideration? Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as printed? So moved >> moved by director uh Mitchell. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by director Brooks. Is there any discussion? All in favor say I. >> All oppose. Nay. Motion passes six to zero. Okay. Uh we're going to move on to action items. We have several action items this evening. The first action item is a recommendation for approval for the educational support professionals terms and conditions of employment. Information will be shared by Ivon Schwarz Lind, executive director of human resources. Ivonne, >> thank you, Chair P. Prince. Um, we're pleased to recommend the ratification and approval of the ESP contract. It's uh for the it's a two-year term, 2024 through 2026. And this group uh represents 76 776 employees in various positions throughout our district from the classrooms to the buildings to programs um to buses. So a broad broad range across the district. I do want to thank um uh Michelle Dinard ESP uh president and Lisa Changik um for their leadership um along with the bargaining teams um in reaching an agreement. And so I'll just review the highlights, of course, the board has um the track changes contract and um and the memo and the board materials. And in terms of the highlights, um the uh class one starting pay now starts at $20 per hour. Class 2 21 per hour. Um across all three uh the two classes. Um so across the grid um the various uh percentage increases range from 5 to 9%. And then we also have cost of living adjustments and those will be across the classes and steps at a 2% um representing a 2% increase. We also were able to increase the highly qualified stipen. So that is for um those ESPs who um have obtained a certain status um for special education. Um so that was increased from 100 to 250 each year. We increased the contributions to um uh for health plan coverage in terms of the district contributions. We also made some additional language changes uh to ensure that we were um updating the contracts and compliance with changes in state law. The salary investment, the complete salary investment outlined is consistent with the board parameters. Um, and uh, for this contract term, the two-year contract term results in a 9.39 total uh, package increase. The total financial investment is 3,40,953 over the term of the 2-year contract. So, with the ratification and approval by the board, HR and payroll will begin the implementation process. >> Okay. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the agreement on the terms and conditions of employment between the Independent School District 279 school board and educational support professionals local numbers 7325 July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2026. >> So move >> moved by Director Brooks. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Tate. Is there any discussion? So, um, just want to echo the appreciation, um, for the work on this contract. Um, and, uh, as was kind of shared, um, there's still a lot of work to be done in this area and a lot of opportunity, um, that the district is, um, seeking to explore to continue to support ESPs. Um, additionally, just um my two cents might be that when we think about the legislative platform, um maybe there's more opportunity to um note uh the need for legislative action and funding um to be able to have more funding available for our contracts with our ESPs. Um any other discussion? >> I just want to echo that um Chair Prince and just our ESPs really are, you know, the heart of our district. We say it all the time and I know in my own kids' lives I mean it's source of comfort um so many times walking in the building and so um just to make every you really make sure all of our students feel seen and heard and um and I and I see that every single day like I said in my own kids and um and I know as chair Prince said this may not be you know like what you talked about and I heard you share um you know everything that you hope for but I just think it's a great step moving forward and that I know as a board we very much value you and we are very committed. So um thank you for the difference that you make every single day. >> I also want to e echo your thoughts Kelsey and just say thank you Michelle and to all the ESPs. Um we value you so much and every day and I love that you use the word backbone because you truly are. So thank you. >> Okay. Anything else? Okay. All in favor say I. >> Oppose. Nay. Motion passes six to zero. Okay. Our next action item is the naming of the new elementary school which has been kept top secret as I understand it completely top secret until now. Uh Dr. Hy and K Vala executive director of community relations will present the recommendation. >> Dr. Harl, chair Prince, members of the board, thank you for this opportunity to share more on the naming of our newest elementary school. I'm excited to be here tonight. Uh this is most definitely a fun piece to our building a better future projects. Um but before we get started, we have a few of our committee members in the audience here. If you just want to stand for a second, we have a few uh so just thank you for being here tonight and being part of this team. It means a lot. Um they reviewed um a lot of community submissions and did a lot of research to kind of land where we are tonight. So those just thank you to them. Um I'll add that we had a great well-rounded group too. The connections to our school for were from our earliest learners to high school. Um a few with grads uh from our district as well as interested community members. So it was a great group um to have working on this. So our newest elementary school is located in Northwest Maple Grove and is one of 66 building a better future pro projects that are happening over a four-year stretch here. Our community support of a bond referendum into the fall of 2023 is making this all possible. And as we have been sharing, um rapid growth and development is happening in this corner of our district, which has caused growing pains in schools nearby. Um building a new school in the geographical area that needs it reduces a number of students that are um impacted to move to address those space shortages that we have. This photo was taken just over a week ago. Um, lots been happening just probably since the first last time uh you saw a photo here even. Um, this is actually a view kind of from the inside now. Um, we're expecting it to be fully enclosed by December. Uh, and it's running on time and on budget. So, very exciting. Um, as always, updates will continue to be shared at aoschools.org future. As we've shared, it's important uh for the name of this new elementary school to be reflective of our community's vision and values. We've done this by inviting community members to take part in the naming process, which helps contribute to the school's identity and instills community pride. Additionally, this process is in accordance with schoolboard policy and procedure 811. Uh this is the timeline um that centered our work. The thought exchange ran from August 4th through September 11th. The committee and of staff and community members that I mentioned earlier met September 4th and 11th. And now we're here today, September 23rd, for a schoolboard vote on Dr. Hy's final recommendation. And this is just a reminder of all the different ways we shared that opportunity for the community um to participate in that thought exchange that I mentioned. And here are the results of those. So, taking a look at the feedback, there were uh 1,298 community members that participated in the that exchange. They shared 483 thoughts and even more than that the dots they shared ratings of those dots. Almost 25,000 ratings were recorded. Before community members participated, they were asked asked their kind of affiliation or connection with our district. They could select all that applied. And I'd say we had quite a thorough representation. 51% parents and caregivers, 35% staff, 15% community members without students currently attending a district school, 12% alumni, and 6% students. During the committee's first meeting, we talked about policy procedure 811s um non-use of an individual name. We then talked about whether or not we should have some more parameters beyond that and determined that we were in need of some definitely. This list showcases the parameters created by the committee. The recommended name should be unique to the Twin Cities Metro, preferably the state. It cannot replicate an existing district name. For two-part names, the first name can't be replicated, but the second part could. For example, the Elm and Elk Creek couldn't be replicated, but the creek would be acceptable as a second part to a name. It must include the words elementary school. It has to be easy to say and spell on the first try. Has to create an appropriate acronym. That was a last minute ad. Um, but a very important one. Uh, keeps our district uh our district strategic plan and values in mind. Um, and it may need to be checked by an expert, and we will see why on this in a minute. Um, and one added note, um, before the name recommendation, important side note, Arbor Ridge Elementary School was one, uh, the first choice amongst our community submissions. It's likely because a name in front of the school is Arbor Ridge Parkway. Much research determined this was unfortunately not the best direction. Um, multiple community members mentioned in the feedback that this name could cause confusion with our existing school, Arborview Early Childhood Center, that is just a couple miles away from the new elementary school. Lots of places in our community already have Arbor included, as well as many of you know Arbor Ridge Business Center, Arbor Lakes Business Park, Retail Center, Arbor Lakes Commons, Sky at Arbor Lakes, The Reserve at Arbor Lakes. I could go on and on. Um, I have many more. Um, this is really why the committee kind of settled on that second parameter that we talked about of not repeating the first part of a two-part name. However, you'll see here in a second a piece of the submission was still utilized. Uh, at this time, I'm going to turn it to Dr. How for the sharing of her recommendation. All right. Chair Prince and board members, I'm recommending a following name for the new elementary school based on community feedback and the committee's recommendations. Hy Elementary. I tease. Okay. Our new name for our elementary school will be Aspen Ridge Elementary School. And Kyle was not that bad, y'all. Okay. So, and we'll give you the reasoning behind that. It was clear in a thought exchange feedback that our community was looking for a nature inspired name tied geographically or historically in some way. So, Aspen Ridge was one of the community submissions shared alongside other aspen related suggestions and a desire for indigenous connection. The indigenous meaning of aspen is unity and protection as the aspen tree has several interconnected roots and it is used for medicines, food and shelter. The aspen tree species is the most common in Minnesota. I just learned that as well. And it is the first to grow in places of change. It is also indigenous to the city of Maple Grove which was fascinating. So, additionally, the design of the new elementary school is already set to include tree imagery on its interior walls. Using Ridge is the second part of the name is an old to the top community submission. As shared, Arbor Ridge Parkway is the name of the road in front of the school. The school is also being built near an elevated area of land and it will be our district's first two-story elementary school. So this recommendation recommendation does meet our policy and procedure 811 and the committee's established parameters. So Chair Prince, if you would please call a vote. >> Okay. Is there a motion to approve Superintendent Hile's recommendation of Aspen Ridge Elementary as the name of the new elementary school? >> So moved. >> So moved by Director Mitchell. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Dawson. Uh uh is there any discussion? >> Thank you K and communications team for the engagement plan um and all the opportunity that um we gave the community to participate. Uh thank you to the community for all the submissions and um even more so the readings um almost 25,000 readings uh and all the other opportunities that we have for community to participate. really appreciate the time um and creativity um and Dr. H and staff. I'm excited. Thank you. >> Excellent. >> Thank you for all the specifics to the meaning behind everything and the transparency with the process. So, thank you for that. >> I just keep looking at Principal Smith. I can't I haven't I haven't seen Exactly. I haven't seen a principal so excited. I see his post and I think it's so cool to have a name finally attached to the to the elementary school. So, this is very exciting. Thank you to the community members um and to the committee members. Uh thank you for being here. Thank you for participating. Um and I just thank you K, Dr. Hy, cabinet members. Um this is another example of how you've created a process to engage the community in ways um that are that are very elevated, innovative. Um this is breakthrough for the district this year. Um with the boundary adjustments and this process um this is really setting the stage for the future for how we involve the community in our decision making and reflect their voice in those decisions. So thank you so much for the process. Thank you for this outcome and all of the work to put this together. >> Okay. Um so all in favor >> I >> I >> opposed nay. Sorry Nate. No one's saying anything. Motion passes six to zero. Okay. I just wanted to mention um future students u actually we have a meeting already set up um on Friday are being asked to provide ideas for our mascot. This mascot will help us head in a logo direction. So logo ideas will be created with the families and students in mind. Um so definitely um keep your um eyes and ears open to that here soon. Uh, we'll definitely keep updates on the building a better future website. And then I agree, a big thank you goes out to our community for taking the time to share ideas and to the community who sifted through several submissions and research the best way to finalize the best direction for our district. Thank you, U board. I appreciate your time and support tonight. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um, that's going to be hard to follow. John. Next on the agenda is a preliminary levy. Information will be shared by John Morstead, executive director of finance and operations. >> Don't leave so quick. >> Uh, thank you, Chair Prince, Dr. Hy, board members. Um, we're just switching this stuff up here real quick and we'll get logged in. Um, >> as Kelly is getting that ready, one of the things I'll say is normally when we come before you and present the levy, there's a whole lot of numbers and a whole lot of information. Well, uh, sad to tell you that that's not going to happen today. I know you're going to miss the spreadsheets and that Kelly gave you a taste earlier of some, so that'll have to do for today. Um, unfortunately, and I'll get into the reasons why we're not able to present you a lot of the detail we normally would, but we will still get to the end and and accomplish what we need to do today. So the uh state statute requires that the school board certify a preliminary levy limitation by September 30th of each school year. The purpose of this approval is to provide information to the Henipin County auditor so that proposed tax statements can be prepared and mailed to all taxpayers by November 24th. The final certification will take place at the December 16th, 2025 regular schoolboard meeting, which will include a truth and taxation hearing and the opportunity for public comment. Um the school board will have an opportunity there to review the levy um before its final approval and certification in all its glorious detail. The Minnesota Department of Education calculates the levy for us and the legislature has a has authorized Minnesota school districts to levy and collect property taxes for specific amounts for school funding. About half of the dollar amounts levied are authorized through voter approval, such as the building a better future campaign. Um the remainder of the levy items are authorized by state statute as a mechanism to provide specific funding for student programs or operational expenses. This is a unique time of the year in with our business services staff that we are currently working across three different fiscal years. Um, as Kelly mentioned earlier, we're completing the close out and audit of the previous fiscal year. Um, we are also actively working in the current fiscal year and tonight is the first step in the creation of the fiscal 27 budget for next year. A quick look, and you've seen this before, this is kind of the timeline of the annual levy process. So MDE releases the Department of Education releases the first run of levy data to districts on September 8th and then from there till September 30th we have 17 days to correct any issues um make any adjustments and corrections and certify our levy. Getting to today from the 8th is 12 days. Um and so it's pretty tight to be able to pull that off. But again um we'll we'll talk about kind of the reasons why I'm not going to be able to put a lot of numbers in front of you today. But we will have all that detail for you in December. So on again December 16th, following that truth and taxation hearing, we'll have the board approve the final levy. There are four major ways that levies can change. Um other than through a specific voter approval, there are these four ways. So the first is to change in in state law, which we'll leave up to the legislature. The second is through pupil units or specific population changes. Some of our levy formulas are linked to the number of students served or the population of our community as a whole. Next is change in market value or tax capacity of district property. Um that's an very important factor for levies. Some levies are equalized which means that a portion of the funding formula is paid through state aid and the remainder is paid through a local levy. As the market value of a district grows, these types of levies are designated to decrease the proportion of levies picked up by the state and increase the proportion picked up by the local levy. For the previous year, our market value increased by 1.2% for our district, but our net tax capacity, which is what we use for our technology levy, actually decreased by 210 of a percent. And the final way levies can change is when um we have expenditure changes for programs whose revenue is based on actual expenditures. An example is our long-term facility maintenance pay as you go levy. MDE calculates adjustments and reconciles the areas back to actual where we make an estimate in in the first run of the levy. It's in this last area where MDE is having some timing issues this year with staff capacity in order to get calculations completed and why I don't have hard data to be able to present to you today. Um, for good reason. They had some very very key, very valuable members of their staff retire this summer um and just have not been able to catch up on the workload and the institutional knowledge that they lost in in translation as they're trying to catch up. So, they are working really hard. They're doing their best. We will have the information. I just don't have it to put um put for out for you today. However, we will kind of have a good general range to be able to have a conversation about. So, starting to look at some of the preliminary calculations for this levy. And again, because of those circumstances, we're just going to go over kind of the major change areas. Um our referendum levy authority, which is our operating referendum levy, is actually increasing by 2.7 million or about 5.3%. This increase is due to an increase in the um state statute cap level and also an increase in our total pupil units which also includes from VPK all the way up to seniors. Um our judgments from time to time our district will be party in a lawsuit that issues a judgment against us. By statute these judgments are added to the levy. For this levy cycle our judgment levy will increase by about $500,000. Abatements are another large area where we saw a big change. Abatements um are outside of the district's control. An abatement is essentially a decrease in property taxes that comes from a dispute between the property owner and the county. These disputes go through a tax court where a final taxable value for the property is determined. In most cases, these disputes result in a lowering of the taxable value of the property, meaning the property owner will pay less property taxes than they originally had and therefore we have to actually give some back in the process. So, the abatement levy this year is increasing by about $1.2 million. our debt service levy, which is um a normal part of our levy process is is to levy for the scheduled interest and premium payments for all of our bonds that are um voter approved. And our debt schedule for this year in order as part of Build a Better Future actually had a a planned increase. That increase accounts for about $3.3 million to cover those principal and interest payments. And then there's always a step with that where in order to guarantee that we can make our payments, we actually levy 105% of what those amounts are just in case we don't recover all the tax um collections over the course of the year that we hope we can still make the payment. Well, that little 5% extra builds up over time. It's called debt excess. And at times we will then take that additional money, put it back in the levy as a credit back to our taxpayers to lower the total amount. So, we're in the process of figuring what that out what that is, but need our other adjustment data to make a decision on that. Um, and finally, the adjustment areas again where we did mention this discrepancy. So, we're working through that. We're making progress, actually made progress even as a matter of a couple hours ago with the Department of Ed. So, we're definitely moving forward. Um, I wanted to kind of paint a little bit of a picture for you for levy increases on what you would see on your tax statements for the entities around us that encompass our district. So, starting with Henipin County, they proposed a 7.8% increase. Um, the city of Maple Grove, I believe, just had their council meeting last night and um started a little higher, but adjusted down to to about 6.4%. Same thing with the city of Brooklyn Park. They were actually um about 30% higher than what they proposed and came down to 8% which is nice to see. And finally, if you're looking for Ocoria schools, what we're recommending and and where we expect the range to come for us is between two and a half and four and a half% to cover those additions that I just mentioned previously. So, significantly less than some of our other partners, but again, um it is still a bit of an increase. Fortunately, we're not required to make a binding decision today. The district is requesting that the school board approve the 2025 payable 2026 levy certification at the maximum as we have traditionally done in the past. Approving a levy at the maximum allows for maximum flexibility for the school board. It allows our staff to continue to work with MDE to finalize data and ensure accuracy. When we bring the levy back to the board in December, we will ask you to certify an exact dollar amount. And with that, we recommend that the board approve the 2526 or pay 26 preliminary levy at maximum. And I'll turn it back to you, Chair Prince. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the 2025 pay 2026 preliminary levy at the maximum as presented? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Dawson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Mitchell. Is there any discussion? So, I just have a quick request. Um, it doesn't necessarily impact the presentation or outcome, but the levy estimate slide. Um, if updated or used again, can we include all of our cities? >> Uh, yeah, I actually looked at some of the others and they haven't posted agendas. Like I looked for AIOS, but they haven't there I think their next meeting comes up here shortly, but they haven't posted the agenda yet. So, I did look, I just didn't uh couldn't find that information for you. Sorry. >> Thank you, >> John. Do we anticipate having um an estimate of the of the dollars and the percentage before the next board meeting? >> Um possibly. >> Yeah. I mean, we can or else I can also provide an update directly to you with that information if you'd like. >> Okay. Yeah. If when it's um prepared, it'd be helpful to have that and shared um back with um this on our website if possible. >> Y >> like we traditionally would with our material. So not Yeah. Okay. >> We can do that. >> Yeah. Um any other discussion or I'll have a few more. Okay. Um so um while it may seem a little bit unusual to um approve at without like the actual dollars or the percentage um I think um you know we've got the estimate um we understand the components. Um we've always uh traditionally approved this at the maximum um so it doesn't change the outcome. Um, as we talk about every single time, uh, the state calculations really are are, um, really more representative of what the state requires us to contribute through our portion of the taxation. Um, so there's there's really not much leeway that we have discretion on. So, I'm very confident um, in being able to move forward with this with the information that we have tonight. >> Okay. So, with that is if there's no other discussion, uh, all in favor say I. I. I uh oppose. Nay. Motion passes six to zero. Okay. Our last action item is gifts to the district. Is there a motion to approve gifts to the district totaling $68,487? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Tate. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second by Director Mitchell. Any discussion? Uh, as always, thank you very much for all of the um itemized donors and um it's interesting because uh we do have we are required to report every detail. So there's school supplies and PTO's and um various funds. So thank you so much for that. Um is there uh all in favor say I. >> I post nay. Motion passes six to zero. Okay. Now we have a number of second readings for policies. Um we did read these uh in detail at the first reading um last month. Uh so I'll go ahead and turn it over to general counsel Amy Moore. >> Thank you. Um first off, we did uh decide to uh not include the 200 series uh for this meeting because we felt it was important for the full board to be around um to kind of go through the 200. So that will appear in the October meeting. For the ones that were remaining in the 800 and 900 series, there were no comments um no updates with the exception of policy uh 924 for volunteers. You can see on page 367 uh in section 3B, we just included the school district will maintain a riskmanagement plan for the screening. And then we included including background checks just to call that out specifically. And then in the procedure for 924, um, we included in section 3C that the criminal background check is required on all volunteer chaperones who will be with any student. And then crossed out, a school may allow a volunteer to chaperone. So, we kind of took out the language where it was a little more discretionary and just put in that it will be done. Um, what I missed but will be updated is just above that in section B. Number two, I'll basically uh have the same type of language. I'll take out the first sentence and just say a criminal history background check will be initiated if the pro prospective volunteer answers yes to any of the background disclosure questions and or if the volunteer assignment is one in which the volunteer will work with any student. So we'll mirror that language in the procedure. But for the policies that you'll be voting on, it was just the inclusion of including background checks on 924. Other than that, all the other policies uh have remained as we discussed last month. >> Okay, thank you. Okay, so we're going to move through these um each one separately. Uh but we're not going to read them in its entirety because we did that before. Okay. So, uh, uh, policy 810, school facilities. Is there a motion to approve the proposed revisions to 810 policy, school facilities? >> So, moved. >> Moved by Director Dawson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second by Director Brooks. Is there any discussion? >> All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Nay. Motion passes six to zero. The next one is there a motion to approve the proposed revisions to 811 policy naming school district educational facilities. >> So moved. >> Moved by director Tate. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second by director Brooks. Is there any discussion? >> All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Nay. >> Motion passes six to zero. Uh the next one 901. Is there a motion to approve the second reading of 901 policy community education? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Dawson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Mitchell. Is there any discussion? >> All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Nay. >> Motion passes six to zero. 902. Is there a motion to approve the second reading of 902 policy use of school use of school district facilities and equipment? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Tate. Is there a second? >> Second. Seconded by director Brooks. Is there any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Nay. Motion passes. Six to zero. >> Next one. 920. Is there a motion to approve the second reading of 902 policy employee giving campaigns? >> So move. >> Moved by director Dawson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second by director Tate. Is there any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Nay. Motion passes 6 to zero. Uh 923. Is there a motion to approve the second reading of 923 policy distribution of materials for students? >> So move. >> Moved by Director Dawson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second by Director Mitchell. Is there any discussion? All in favor say I. I. >> Oppose. Nay. Motion passes six to zero. 9:24. Is there a motion to approve the second reading of 924 policy school volunteers? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Brooks. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second by director Tate. Is there any discussion? All in favor say I. I. >> Oppose. Nay. Motion passes. Six to zero. All right, that was quick. Thank you everybody. Uh our final agenda item is adjournment. Uh there is not a there will not be a negotiation strategies meeting this evening. Is there a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:19 p.m.? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Dawson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Brooks. Any discussion? >> All in favor say I. >> I. Oppos. Nay. Motion passes six to zero. And we are adjourned.