1:00 p.m. on April 21st, 2026. This regular business meeting of the Osseo School Board is being conducted in the board room 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 available on the district's website. Seated in front of you this evening from my left near right are Director Kelsey Dawson, Director Erica Foster, Director Thomas Brooks, myself, Board Chair Tanya Prince, Director Keith Tate, Director Sarah Mitchell, and present in the board room is also Superintendent Dr. Kim Hile and members of the Superintendent's cabinet. Those of you who can, will you please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Director Mitchell, will you please lead the pledge. >> Yes. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Board members, are there any additions to the agenda? Is there a motion to accept the agenda as presented? I so moved. Uh moved by Director Brooks. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Director Dawson. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion All those opposed, nay. Motion passes six to nothing. Our next agenda item is recognitions, and this evening we have no recognitions. Our presentation this evening is the Austin area schools survey results, presented by Peter Leatherman of the Morris Leatherman Company. Mr. Morris, will you please step up to the podium. Perfect. It's a pleasure to be here with you this evening uh to go over the results. Um this is a shorter uh presentation than when I shared at the work session. Uh I took out some of the specific things and kind of look at it more globally. Uh for the purpose of everybody so they understand what we did for the district, we spoke with 400 randomly selected residents across the community. Um within that there's approximately 30% that have a child attending the Osseo Area Schools. So, we pull those folks out and call an additional uh set of parents and put those together. So, we have a 400 sample of parents also. Um the telephone interviews were conducted uh between January 7th and the 23rd. Average interview time was 14 minutes. The non-response rate was 6 and 1/2 uh percent. And the 400 samples projectable to plus or minus 5% in 95 out of 100 cases. The margin of error is determined by the size of the sample, not the percent of the population. So, a 400 sample in the Osseo Area School District, a 400 sample in Hennepin County, or 400 sample across the state of Minnesota is always going to be plus or minus 5%. Putting up uh the first set of demographics, 69% are cell phone only households. 11% they're hanging on are landline only households. And then 20% have both landline and cell phones. For the purpose of the presentation, uh the blue is always going to be the overall results. The green are going is going to be the parent results. So, if we look at how long the resident has lived in the school district, uh the typical resident has lived in the community for about 13 or 14 years. Well, amongst parents, it's actually under 10 years the typical parent's been here. 11% of the community has a preschooler or an infant. 32% have a child attending the Osseo Area School District, and 66% are empty nesters. And just for clarification's sake, an empty nester does not connote age. It's just lack of presence of a child. So, we could have a 23-year-old here in the sample. Um if they don't have a child, they're classified as an empty nester. Obviously, uh in the parent sample, everybody had a child attending the Osseo School District and 25% of parent households indicate that they have a preschooler or an infant in their household. Uh amongst the community as a whole, the typical resident's about 47 years old. Amongst parents, the typical resident is 37 years old. The schools are much more diverse than the community overall. 56% indicate that they're white, uh 21% African American, 11% Asian Pacific Islander, uh 6% multi or bi-racial, and 5% Hispanic Latino. Amongst the parents, it's 40% white, 26% African American, 16% Asian Pacific Islander, 10% Hispanic Latino, and 8% multi or bi-racial. Uh and then finally, women outnumbered men in the main sample by 7% and by 16% in the parent sample. And you can see the geographic distribution. We tracked the geography of the overall, not for the parents. 50% Maple Grove, 32% in Brooklyn Park, 8% in Plymouth, 6% in Brooklyn Center, and 5% in the remaining areas of the school district. Um we do have some comparisons that we can look back historically. What I've been doing for clients post-pandemic is it's not fair to go back to 2018 or 2019 and do comparisons. It's an apples to oranges. Public opinion has changed about everything in the state and across the country. We actually have two data points post-2020 that we can look back to see how the district is moving. And so on the overall quality of education in 2026, we have 85% rating it favorably. Amongst parents, 93%. Now, this is counter to the trend that we're seeing across the state of Minnesota. Most recent statewide I did the overall favorable quality in the education now is in the mid-70s. Um this has shifted. Uh less people are saying excellent. More people are saying only fair. Um and so yours is almost 10 points higher than the norm. People feel more positive here in the Osseo Area School District than they do across the state. Now, we ask two open-ended before we've introduced any topics and we just ask first off, what do you like about the Osseo Area School District? They can tell us anything and we collapse them down into categories. Uh amongst the overall, it's good teachers at 20%. If we combine a couple categories, the good education or the high-quality education, that's at 21% and the variety of programs and the broad curriculum is at 20%. Basically have a three-way tie. Who's teaching, what they're teaching, and the quality of the teaching. Some districts are different. They fo- fo- some districts focus on curriculum, some at staff. Um yours all three are important, but you do have an anomaly that we don't see in the suburbs. Much more so outstate Minnesota and that's that community involvement, the sense of community, um which is really impressive considering the size of the school district. This would be much more what we would see in Grand Rapids uh or in the down, you know, um uh where was I last week? Uh good lord, I can't even remember. Uh uh it's just very uh the the schools not only provide education, but it provides a focal point in their in the respective communities in the metro area and that's very atypical. Now, if we ask what they like most, we always follow up with what's the most serious issue facing the district. Um on this one, um you have some differences for what we're seeing across the state. Lack of funding leads the list everywhere across the state, but now in 2026, that is typically between 25% You're at 15%. Large class sizes come into play this very some districts. Um, they're they're shrinking. Um, so the concern is a lack of children in the district. Um, and so in the metro area, if we look at the third ring, the exurban area, it would be pretty typical for growing areas of the metro. Budget cuts are concerned for 12%. Lack of discipline is typically rated about 10%. High taxes is about half of what we're seeing. High taxes is the going to be the issue that everybody's going to be talking about um, across the state, uh, in the upcoming November election. Um, and so we're seeing this as a top-of-the-mind response somewhere between 15 and 20%. Amongst parents, a little bit of a a large class sizes goes up to 19%, lack of funding at 17%. But down at the bottom, um, we differentiate the unsure versus the nothing. The unsure simply say, "I don't follow the schools. I don't know what's going on." The nothings insist that there are no problems in the schools. Um, which is, I'm sure, a surprise to everybody in the room, but that 15% is about twice the norm right now. Um, it's actually, uh, higher than it, uh, we we're seeing across the state of Minnesota before the pandemic. Um, and amongst parents, one in five are what we call boosters. Um, they are positive throughout the entire course of the survey. Now, we gauged what they felt about the quality of education, and you were higher than the norm. But when folks think back to 5 years ago, we're not asking them to think back to 2019, we're talking about 2021, do they I the education's getting better, worse, or is it about the same? Well, 45% of the community say it's better, only 3% say it's worse. It's a 15 to 1 ratio. Amongst parents, it's 50 to 3. So, even if you do have some concerns on quality of education, folks have an overwhelming feeling that things are moving in the right direction compared to where we were a year after the pandemic. What about the quality compared to neighboring school districts? Now, this one um it's important to always think about who your neighbors are. Um and that will put into context what people are feeling because it's what they're hearing and seeing in neighboring school districts. So, 45% say it's better here, 6% say it's worse. Better than 7 to 1. Amongst parents, it's better than a 10 to 1 in the comparative to your neighbors, 52 to 5. What about in comparison to the quality to local charter schools? Um this one that people see a clear uh um uh competitive advantage for the Issaquah School District. 44 to 5 and 50 to 2 amongst parents. And then finally, the quality compared to private schools and homeschooling. Um this one is typically even amongst the community as a whole, um the opinion has shifted on private schools and especially homeschooling. Typically, people would see a competitive disadvantage for their local public school district versus private schools and homeschooling. You actually have more people saying the quality of education's better here than worse. Um and amongst parents, it's 35 to 12. Now, we saw early on on what they liked most um was part of what tied at the top was the curriculum and programs. Um so, how does the district do on offering a wide range of options for education in the district. So, we know this is important and the district is judged doing an overwhelmingly positive job. 92% to 9 amongst the community and amongst parents 93 to 6. How does the district do on meeting the learning needs of all, most, only some, or very few students? In 2026, 49% say all students. Amongst parents, it's 54%. This is taking a hit post pandemic. The norm on the all right now is about 40%. So, relatively, I have only a couple districts that actually are higher than 50% on this. So, this is a very strong result. Meeting the learning needs of all students is a stringent standard. And so, we do follow up and ask those that say most, some, or very few. So, it's 50% say what type of students' learning needs are not being met. That's what's arrayed in the lower section of the chart. And it's the struggling. It's the average, special education, lower income, and at-risk students. That's where the dust has settled amongst along across the state of Minnesota is if there are perceived gaps for students who are falling through the proverbial cracks. It always starts out with the struggling and the average student. Has the person personally graduated from the Osseo School District? 18% said they had. How do they rate did the did the district prepare them for success after graduation? Absolutely. 97 to 3. And even more impressively, cuz a lot of parents are unhappy the first 5 6 years that their child is off to college or finding themselves, 28% indicate that they have had a child graduate from the Osseo school districts and by a 96 to 4 verdict indicate that their child was prepared for success after graduation. We went through a series and asked folks to rate excellent, good, only fair, poor these characteristics of the Osseo school district. This is the overall first and what we're looking for is a sea of blue instead of a red rip type and it's cross the board extremely high ratings. Athletics 93, after school activities 91, regular academics 89 all the way down the list. The highest negative is still is 21% for special education and the 19% world languages, gifted and talented and visual arts. If we normalize this though because they don't all add to 100 cuz some people said I don't know. And so if we normalize those that were willing to give an opinion, the if we and do a mean across, it's an extraordinarily high mean of about 87% favorable across the board. Parents are even more positive. Just short of 90% if we normalize across the board. Very, very little red. Typical though for similar to what we saw in the overall sample. The world languages, gifted and talented opportunities and special education. Now we went through a series of perceptions and asked folks a simple agreement disagree statement. First off, do they trust the district to do what's right for their children? 91% of the community and 94% of parents agree with that statement. The norm on this right now is in the mid 70s. Across the state of Minnesota and you can see it's an 8-point increase from 2023. Does the district do a good job of involving the community in decisions? The empowerment question. That's up 14 points to 91% 94% amongst parents. That's almost 20 points higher than the norm. Um the pandemic made it hard for a couple years to involve the community in decisions cuz we didn't meet. We met over uh Zoom. Um and so it was difficult. And so that got to a point in '21 where there was uh 60% agreeing with that statement. Uh it had nothing to do with what the district was doing. It's hard to involve people. It's gone back up into the low 70s, but that 91% is the high over the past 2 years. Does the district provide a safe and secure learning environment? Absolutely. 96% of the community, 97% of parents. Are they proud and would recommend the Osseo Area School District? That's a statistically significant increase of six points from 2023 to 90% amongst parents, 95% And then we added a question in the survey, do they hear uh do they feel heard and valued? 87 and 94% of parents indicated that was the case. If we turn over to job performance ratings, um some really impressive. And you can kind of see the pandemic play out in this. If you go back to 2022, you have much higher levels of uncertainty, the yellow bars. Uh people weren't It was hard to be involved. They weren't paying attention. Um and now the uncertainty like on the administration's gone from 28 to 2. On the board, 17 to 1. Uh the school board right now is at 85 to 14. The norm on that is 60 to 35 across the state of Minnesota. The administration is at 82 to 16, better than 5 to 1 ratio. We I do ratios on the superintendent administration cuz a lot of people there's higher levels of uncertainty. The norm on this is 2 to 1. Amongst parents it's 89 to 10 and 87 to 11. It also shows a well a district functioning well because the governance, the school board and the administration ratings match up. I can always tell that there's dysfunction in a school district if the board is high, the superintendent's lower or vice versa. They view you all as one entity, the governance and the administration. Teachers about 10 points higher than the norm of what we're seeing. 91% and principals 82 and amongst parents it's 95% favorable for teachers and 87% favorable on principals. An overall assessment then of financial management. In 2023 we had 63% rate the district positively. Now we have 72%. You're actually one of the few districts that this went up. Over the course post pandemic. A lot of districts have made a lot of difficult decisions. They've made financial errors. All of those things have come into play. The norm on financial management favorable is 52% right now. Amongst parents 79% favorable. Has the district spent past our bond and operating funds responsibly in light of the past bond that was from a few years ago? Absolutely. There's trust in the district. 82% in the community, 89% of parents. The value proposition has really been an interesting question to look at in the research especially over the past 2 years because the value proposition asks folks there's two inputs into it. The quality of the education and what are people paying? Well, we know people have more concern about the quality of education and we know property tax hostility is at the highest levels we've seen since the late 90s. Um, so what the norm on this on the on the excellent and good is approximately 70% right now. Um, you are at 80% and amongst parents it's 85%. Um, so you don't have those drops that other school districts have seen. In fact, your value proposition went up from 71 to 80% in the interim between 2023 and 2026. Is the district adequately funded? Uh, just like everywhere in the state of Minnesota, nobody knows. Um, 50% say yes, 44% say no. Amongst parents, a majority of parents say no, but 44% say yes. Um, th- this is impacted not only with what happens at the legislature, what the politicians say after they do their bi-annual budget. It's also impacted by the neighbors. Um, if you hear about neighbors making what's considered draconian cuts and you're not making draconian cuts, then you must be adequately funded. Um, it's just a lot of confusion right now in Minnesota when it comes to the adequacy of funding. Overall communication ratings. Um, this is always interesting uh, to look at. Uh, so how do people feel about the communication? We know how they feel about the school district. How highly informed do they think they are? Um, your folks think they're extraordinarily highly informed. 90% rate the overall communication positively. Amongst parents, the the most difficult audience to for communication because communication, there's an immediacy with parents, is actually at 94%. Those are 15 to 20 points higher than the norm. How informed do they feel? Well, 79% of the community feel either very or somewhat informed. Amongst parents, 96% with almost 60% indicating that they feel very informed. Where are they getting their information? Overall in the community, it's district mailings, it's district website, social media, and word of mouth, which you could combine into informal um uh communication uh network, uh local newspaper, and email. For parents, it tips electronic. Um it is the website, it is mailings, and then it's email. Parents lived and died in 2021 to see if the kid was going to be in school the next day and check their emails, and a lot of them still heavily rely on that. Um you also don't have the phenomenon that's happened across the metro area that as local newspapers have disappeared or they don't cover the district like they used to because of resources, there's been a tremendous growth in the grapevine. Because the person who traditionally would read the local newspaper is not the type of person who's going to go on social media. Um they're just going to get together in the coffee shops or in the golf course and talk about what's going on. Um and so there are some metro metro area school districts now that the primary source of information is the grapevine. Uh but because the communication coming from the district, you have over half pointing to mailings and websites, and amongst parents, almost 60% Um that's kind of an insurance policy against the grapevine that other school districts don't have. Now, how do they prefer to receive information? This one I always tell clients look at this as a simple print versus electronic. Do they want to hold something in their hands? 34% say mailings, 10% say the local newspaper. So, 44%. The website, social media, and email uh we have 50%. So, you have two audiences and you can see by looking at the parents preference the parents drive up uh the push and the preference towards the electronic, but you still do have 27% of parents indicating I want to hold something in my hands. And then finally, we did a series of statements just with the parent sample. And talked about their their child's experience in the Osseo area schools. And they were agree disagree statements. You can see you can barely see the disagreement across the board from your key constituency, the ones that have the most experience. From Now, there's rounding, so that's why some of them add to 101 or 99%. Um teachers and staff care 100 to 1. Do they feel welcome? 100 to 1. Uh 99% the district provides a quality education. 98% the district does a good job of informing. They feel accepted. They feel respected in emotionally safe environment. Um so, from your core constituency, an overwhelming feeling of positivity about the district. The district at the moving into 2026 uh and forward is in a unique position that a lot of school districts are not in in Minnesota. Um people have fundamentally changed their view. Um, when you move from good to only fair, you have to now convince somebody a person that something's not what they think it is and get them to think positively about something they think negatively. Uh, you're in the unique position that your challenge is how do you make people more enthusiastic. It doesn't require a conversion. You're moving people from good to excellent. You're moving people from agree to disagree or strongly agree. Where many districts are in the unfortunate position of having to move people from only fair to good, from disagree to agree. Um, so with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. Board members, do you have any comments or questions? Well, thank you for the presentation. This is really exciting to see for our district. We did, um, look at this at our work session in some detail and, um, when we just look at all of the statements from the teachers to the principals to the staff to the leadership, um, it's just it's really, um, incredible and when we look at the support from the community, um, when we think about having passed our bonding and operating referendums, um, and the ability to provide the education that we're providing because of that community support, that taxpayer support, it's just an exciting time to be a part of the district and if you look at our work session topics and board topics this past year, you know, we're talking about curriculum, we're talking about instruction, we're talking about standards-based grading, we're talking about class sizes, we've talked about special education. So, um, I appreciate the cabinet and your work and your leadership to keep elevating, um, the outcomes for our students. And we know our work isn't done, we know that, um, the positive results doesn't say that everything is perfect. We are always striving to ensure that our mission is accomplished in the life of each and every scholar. And but I think the results do show that the community and our parents are seeing that commitment at every level of our organization and again I appreciate Dr. How your leadership and continued transformation of the district. I appreciate every school board member and your commitment to work together to bring the topics to our work sessions to ask the questions to dig in to support the leadership with the work and ask questions that are our challenging and have that great dialogue and the interactive work sessions that we've had with cabinet to set metrics. So this is an exciting time to be here. Other thoughts? All right. Well, thank you so much for coming back and sharing this with us. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, the next agenda item is the audience opportunity to address the school board. I'll review a few guidelines for those who are going to speak tonight. 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 many avenues to achieve this. Speakers will be called to the podium in this order: student, parent, staff, community member, and others. Please keep your comments to 3 minutes. Comments should be directed to the entire board, not to any individual board member. If you have a handout for the board, which we have, if there's any additional ones, please place it on the information table or hand it to the board secretary, Sherry, and she'll provide copies to the board members. The board and audience will not listen or respond back at this time. If you would like someone to follow up with you on your questions or comments, please let the board secretary know. Personnel concerns should be directed to individuals in the following order: building principal, executive 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 school board 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 resident. Our first speaker is April Lipkey. Hi. Uh my name is April Lipkey. I am a district resident and I'll be speaking about the use of educational technologies in schools within our district. Um I'm here because as a parent and as a professional, I've recently become increasingly concerned about children and technology use. Um I'm a parent of a first and fourth grader at Basswood Elementary School and I'm also a speech language pathologist currently working as an early intervention provider in a neighboring school district. In my professional life, I spend my days doing home visits with parents and their children under the age of three who've been identified with a developmental delay or disability. I've have observed that overuse of screens is impacting children's ability to engage with other people and with experiences in the real world. I see this every day in my professional life when very young children spend too much time on screens and it makes them less interested in participating in other hands-on or screen-free activities with their caregivers. The passive nature of engagement that happens when children interact with a screen is less conducive to learning than the active engagement that occurs when they work together with an adult or with a peer to complete a task. Social, emotional, and interpersonal skills in children have been identified as one of the primary predictors of success in adult life and overuse of screens is impeding the development of social emotional skills. I know that part of Orono School's mission statement includes preparing each and every scholar to achieve their dreams, contribute to community, and engage in a lifetime of learning. And I think in order to support this mission, the district needs to assure that its teaching methods are providing a strong base of social emotional skills, including self-regulation for focused attention, and ability to empathize and cooperate effectively with others in a variety of situations. I'm fearful that the one-to-one device model results in screens and educational technology being the default method of teaching across all subjects. The more I learn about for-profit edtech companies and their goal of gaining more users by any means necessary, the more concerned I am that these companies truly do not have students best interests in mind. In order to fully live the district mission, we need to examine the data and put research first when making decisions about pedagogy. When use of technology shows no significant benefit over non-tech teaching methods, non-tech methods should be favored because they better support focused attention and human to human connection. Um here's two changes that I asked the district to implement. One, pause introduction of new edtech tools >> remaining. and begin a technology audit of current edtech tools, especially YouTube, given the recent landmark court case against that company. Two, formalize a process that allows families to opt out of one-to-one devices at any grade level. Thank you so much for listening with open minds. I look forward to seeing how you decide to move forward to continue to further the mission of Issaquah School. Thank you. The next speaker, uh Jessica Lloyd. Hello, my name is Jessica Lloyd. Um I'm also a parent in this district. Um I'm also a clinical psychologist and have an upcoming kindergartner starting this fall. My statement today is also around the use of EdTech in classrooms. My role is also shaped working with children as a neuropsychologist and as in a therapeutic context and how um how hopeful I've been about sending my kids to public school because I love just everything about so many good reasons to. However, considering I have an upcoming kindergartner, I'm really on hold with with public school because of the EdTech policies and preparing my child for the district I've been less than optimistic hearing about what's going to be like for her to be thrust prematurely into having a one-to-one one-to-one device before she's developmentally ready to consider all the consequences. I'm hearing about lack of parent input, consent, the misleading increase in apps just because they're accessible and available, and then the overall lack of options and acceptance for when parents want to opt out. In my role as a psychologist, I hear daily about parents who have no knowledge about what's going on during the classroom and how much tech is used as standard education for their children. The research as well as providers who see these children every day in various contexts are seeing the profound effects that these kids are having on their development. We see the rise in increase of learning disabilities, executive functioning challenges, not alone, all as well as mental health related issues related to depression, anxiety, and all of the suicidality and bullying. My first ask is to increase the family guardian parents engagement in having shared values for their children across home and school. We can't do this job alone. We have to do it from all angles. It's critical that parents are informed about their choices to be given alternatives to screen-based tools knowing what we know about the negative impact on small screen usage on the developing brain. We need to prioritize talking to children and modeling our intentional screen use even as adults. As a parent in a minimal screen household, I know that children need that face-to-face interaction. They love and care about their teachers. They learn from their teachers. They cannot be distracted by a small screen and teachers who are also distracted having to moderate those screens. Research shows that the distraction and the cheap dopamine consumes that consumes of these gamified apps breaks down the deep focus and the and learning that um is involved in meaningful learning. Uh my other ask is to eliminate the one-to-one devices all around in the ele- 30 seconds remaining. >> and middle school grades. Tech tools should be supplemental and intentional, not standard use. Teachers should be trusted to use their knowledge and passion to teach rather than monitor their devices. To quote the famous Maya Angelou, "Do the best you can until you know better, and then when you know better, do better." I believe we have been misled by these large tech companies to think that the ease of access of these learning apps is beneficial to our children. Clinical research, new laws being passed around the country, and our providers that see these children day in day out are strongly showing a different story. Thank you. Thank you. And our final speaker, Beth Sowden. Hello board members. Uh my name is Beth Sowden and I am the parent of three children who attend Basswood and I'm a district president. I'm also here to talk about EdTech today. I work as a school psychologist and I am currently at a middle school in a neighboring district. I am here because I believe deeply in the value and power of education for all children. I have seen firsthand the ways technology can provide educational access to students. I have witnessed the power of communication devices for children who need them. I know how crucial an MTSS platform is to tracking interventions, sustaining systems, and supporting matriculation. I want to be clear that I'm not anti-tech. I'm pro-learning. I fully support the district's bell-to-bell no personal technology policy in elementary and middle schools, and I appreciate the intent behind it. However, I am concerned about a growing contradiction. Maintaining a one-to-one device model directly undermines the intentions of the bell-to-bell policy, especially in middle school. Even though our family has made the decision to wait to give our children smartphones until after 8th grade, they will still have access to internet-enabled personal devices at school every day. That disconnect matters. Middle school-age students are not developmentally ready to manage a personal device throughout their school day. I watch my teacher colleagues spending significant instructional time monitoring screens, redirecting attention, and managing off-task behavior related to devices. That time inevitably comes at the expense of instruction and relationship building. I am also not convinced that the edtech tools currently adopted are improving learning outcomes in meaningful ways. We have seen in other areas of education, like reading instruction, that commercially driven practices can persist without strong evidence of effectiveness. We are now rightly returning to the to the science of reading. I believe we also need to take a closer look at the science of learning when it comes to edtech. For these reasons, I am asking the district to reassess its policy and investment in one-to-one devices for all students, as well as offering an opt-out option. I urge the district to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of student-facing edtech tools using clear data on student learning outcomes, and to to continue their use only when there is evidence of improved learning outcomes. This is a conversation happening across our state and the country, at dinner tables, in staff lounges, and at PTO meetings. We all play a part. I ask that Osseo Area School District leaders take a thoughtful, evidence-based approach that protects instructional time and strengthens student learning. Thank you. Thank you. Cinco de Mayo, but we will be meeting. So, if you want to If you have time to come to that, if not, it's recorded as well. Okay. Okay. Thank you, Chair Prince, Vice Chair Brooks, and school board members and stakeholders. So, as I share the superintendent update tonight, I do so with deep gratitude for the collective commitment that continues to move our district forward. In a time when education systems across the nation are navigating complex complexity, change, and heightened expectations, I remain confident that greatest strength is not found in programs or policies alone, but it is found in people. It is found in our scholars, our families, our staff, and the board's shared commitment to serve with courage and with purpose. So, we continue to lead transformational change as a human-centric district, one that recognizes achievement is strongest when people feel seen, heard, and valued, and connected. So, unity and belonging are not just simply aspirational words. They're essential conditions for learning, growth, and sustained excellence. When our students know they belong, they thrive. When our staff know they are valued, they lead. And when our families know that they are respected, trust is built. Our district's continued improvement depends on our willingness to lead boldly in times of change. That means listening deeply to evolving needs of our scholars and families. It means adapting systems to prepare our students not only academically, but socially and emotionally for a changing world. So, it means ensuring our schools are places where every child can bring their full authenticity and know that they will be honored. So, we also recognize that commitment to belong to belong it extends well beyond our students as well. Every employee in this organization deserves to feel their voice matters. Their expertise is respected and their authentic self is welcomed. So, when our adults experience belonging, they create the same conditions for our children. So, as a superintendent, I remain committed to building a district culture that is rooted in excellence, empathy, accountability, and innovation. We will continue to pursue high expectations while centering humanity. We will continue to improve outcomes while strengthening relationships, and we will continue to move forward together united in our purpose and grounded in belief that every person we serve deserves to flourish. So, I want to thank our partnership, your trust, our stakeholders, our community members, and your unwavering dedication to do what's best for our babies or scholars. Thank you. Oh, that's me again. All right. Next. Uh regular part of our superintendent's report is a update is to share our points of pride for the district. By sharing these, we want to take time to recognize and celebrate our scholars and our staff and our community members who are contributing to the accomplishment of our mission. So, I have members of our district staff here to assist in sharing some examples from last month. In the area of contributing to community, construction has officially begun on the district's new community learning center on the former site of Crestview Elementary School in Brooklyn Park. The new learning center works will serve all ages with programming that the community helped to determine. Some of its uses will include early childhood and preschool programming, community partnerships, an American Indian Cultural Center, spaces for professional development, academic support, summer targeted services, tutoring, and credit recovery. The Community Learning Center is tentatively set to open fall of 2027. It's that time of year when district elementary schools officially begin to welcome the upcoming class of kindergarten students at kindergarten information nights. These events will take place at each elementary school between April 2nd and May 19th, with the exception of Aspen Ridge Elementary School, which will host their kindergarten information night August 19th. These events allow incoming kindergarteners and their families the opportunity to meet teachers and school leaders. Um learn and uh excuse me, learn about daily schedules and curriculum, explore classrooms and school spaces, and ask questions about transportation, services, and school programs. Oak View Elementary School recently came up with a fun way to introduce its fifth grade students to their new middle school principal, Maple Grove Middle uh School's Xavier Reed. Reed joined Oak View's staff team at the fifth grade student versus staff basketball game on April 10th. The school's younger students cheered enthusiastically at the game, which ended in favor of the staff with um no surprise there, I guess, with the score of 26 to 18. In the area of achieving dreams, the district received positive news regarding 2025 graduation rates from the Minnesota Department of Education or MDE in early April with Osseo Area Schools' four-year graduation rate graduation rate exceeding the state's average for a second year in a row. Overall, the district graduated 85.4% of students in 2025 compared to 84.9% at the state level. In addition to exceeding the state's average, the district's graduation rates rose 0.8% over 2024 and represents the highest mark achievement at mark achieved under the current measuring methods used by MDE. Students from Park Center Senior High School are taking part in a full-year course on exploring the teaching profession, which is concurrent credit course with Saint Cloud State University. As part of the class, students have become teacher cadets and are spending two mornings a week at Birch Grove School for the Arts, where they are completing field experiences with the same teacher and students throughout the spring. These field experiences provide a hands-on opportunity for potential future educators to explore the teaching profession and for relationship building and mentorship from teachers to teach cadets. Four students from Osseo Senior High School competed at the Scholastic State Chess Championship last month at the University of Saint Thomas. The students competed in seven rounds of two-hour matches with 380 other participants. Competing students included senior Arya Raycurd, senior Harmony Shaw, sophomore Elvin Moua, and freshman Dominic Moss, who placed second in his category and making the best performance for Osseo Senior High Chess player of the state championship in school history. Our next area is mission-driven employees. Osseo Area Schools' counseling departments continue to strive for excellence and best practice in their field. And that dedication was evident recently with the announcement that four additional district schools have achieved a model program designation this year through the American School Counselor Association, ASCA. This designation, called Recognized ASCA Model Program or RAMP, has now been earned by 15 district school counseling programs. Only about 1,200 schools nationwide have received this recognition over the past 22 years, making it a rare distinction. The newest designees include Fair Oaks, Garden City, Oak View Elementary, and North View Middle School. Brooklyn Middle STEAM School Social Worker Kayla Schilling has been named Minnesota School Social Worker of the Year for 2026. Schilling was nominated by co-workers and will be formally recognized at a Minnesota School Social Work Association event on May 29th. Brooklyn Middle School Principal Kim Onett said, "Kayla's heart shows in so many ways. She always puts students and families first. She is endless in her desire to ensure that students and families needs are met, are cared for, are safe, and always know that they belong. She is one of a kind." A few final notes and reminders for this evening. Families can explore about our summer programs now for children from early childhood through high school. They can visit the Osseo School Summer Program website at osseoschools.org/ uh summer to learn about each enrichment opportunity, camp, and program that will be offered. This year we are holding a final community conversation has been held on Tuesday, March 12th. Please visit osseoschools.org/communitycombo for further details, to provide some feedback to help us prepare uh for the evening's topics, whether you can come or not. But, we highly invite everyone to come and just share your thoughts and how uh you feel that we're doing and how we can continue to improve. And with the change in the weather, like the highway and any area of Osseo area schools, you're going to see more construction. So, continue to stay tuned to osseoschools.org {slash} future better future for the latest. I do want to give a shout out to the students in all the fifth graders in Oak View with the basketball game. They gave the old people a run for their money. Thank you. Thank you. Our next agenda item is school board reports. Director Dawson, do you have a reporter update? Um, I do have a quick report. Uh, we had the radically investing in scholars excellence committee on Thursday, I think it was last week. Maybe it was this week. I can't remember. They're all running together, but Um, you know, this committee is really about hearing and lifting up voices of our families, um, caregivers, um, of color. It really came out of the George Floyd, um, resolution that we passed a couple years back. Um, and it's to, you know, bring forth ideas, suggestions, um, uh, ways to really continue to cultivate a sense of belonging in our district for all of our families. And as we heard from Peter, um, we're doing, you know, um, we've made great strides under this leadership administration, um, to really build that and and continue to do that. Um, and so we had a really engaging meeting, um, last week with a lot of ideas, um, to bring forth to the board to talk about, um, around our strategic priorities and some actionable items. So, I'm really excited about that and I know, um, even this summer, um, Director Brooks and I, um, are the liaisons to that committee and we are working with the team to, um, really identify some more priorities for next year. So, really excited about that. Um, and with that, this team is very, very, very busy, um, and we have they have a couple events that I want to make some, um, announcements about. On May 2nd, we have an uh, Asian Heritage Month celebration from 11:00 to 3:00 at Northview Middle School. And then following that, May 9th, a Black History Month celebration which was postponed due to the immigration surge earlier this year. And so that's from 11:00 to 5:00 at Northview. And both of those will have will have different community members and families and staff there really recruiting people letting people know about RISE cuz the more the merrier. We always want people to join and participate. And then finally on May 18th, RISE is having its final meeting of the year from 5:30 to 7:30 at Park Center. Director Foster, do you have a report or update? I don't this evening. Director Brooks? No report. Okay. Director Tate? No report. Director Mitchell? Okay, mine's very exciting. I have two. So we had a fifth meeting. I feel like you Kelsey, I'm like, what day was that? It was last Thursday, I think. We had a OPEB update which stands for other post employee benefits. A thorough review of our portfolio history and looking at long-term investment investment strategy. Looking very financially strong with even 10 years out projections. So always adjusting, maintaining, monitoring. And also last night, it was just last night, our ECMAC committee meeting. Also always monitoring and tweaking, looking at boundary changes. So kind of a recap of the whole year. An update on 12 projects this summer, construction projects. We took a look at a draft recommendation for both over and under capacity schools. And again, just monitoring growth in the in the district, new builds construction. And the goal of this committee and district leadership with John is to limit any tweaks to boundaries as much as possible. So it was also fun kind of like the survey to hear a lot of positive feedback about all the communication about boundary changes and on this committee I love hearing from district parents, you know, residents and then even principals. So it was just it's good to hear that positive feedback from a variety of people. So Like Kelsey said, you can come join any of these fun committees, too. So Great. Thanks, Dr. Perry. I do have a couple reports. So BB met last week and one of the focus areas was kind of reflecting on our joint powered partnership across the multiple school districts and cities and kind of what that has meant and how that's evolved over time. Another key piece was our the youth to youth survey and I sent everybody kind of a note on that that if you have input on what you'd like to have the BB group and um the youth committee that administer that take a look at. Definitely open to the feedback there. If you recall last time there was a big focus on social media and that impact and increasing youth awareness about responsible use and kind of that the intentions maybe mal-intentions that social media companies have in some of the ways that they attract young people and and increase addictive behavior. So that was really a good outcome from that work. So they administer the survey and then they take action on the survey as well including kind of making some recommendations to the partner districts as well. Um Then Northwest Integration School District I serve as vice chair on that one and we have hired an interim executive director Dan Nidich and we're in the process of the search for full-time a new full-time executive director hopefully with a start date of July 1st. So a lot of activity around that effort as well. Um for those who don't know what Northwest Suburban does Um, it's our seven member integration district um where we're really focusing on creating um oversight for the magnet school programming, um but also more youth opportunity um and youth leadership. Um, they do a lot of career readiness, college visits, leadership and empowerment. And uh 2 weeks ago we had the um the Giving Voice Leadership Conference where over 400 students attended. It was amazing. Like it was at um uh I can't the DoubleTree or the Marriott in Bloomington and the whole room was just filled with students um including students from our high schools as well where they engaged in leadership workshops um and they engaged in competitions like around debate um and all sorts of different skills and um displays. So, it was really incredible and I know that they want to have even more opportunity for more students to participate. So, maybe next year um we can check that out. So, and then um lastly just kind of recognizing that uh the last couple weeks have been really busy for our board and administration as was mentioned the groundbreaking ceremony that we had at former Crestview site. Um, we had a joint session with the city of Brooklyn Park uh on the issue of vaping um and that was really kind of eye-opening and thinking about how cities and um can partner uh with us as school districts as we face that issue um like many school districts across the state. Okay. That is everything. So, our next agenda item is the consent agenda. Uh board members our consent agenda items this evening include meeting minutes, financial reports, an extended educational trip, a grant um grants, personnel items, uh a number of bid awards for renovations and contracts for building and district services, SRO agreements with the cities of Maple Grove and Brooklyn Park. Are there any items that you'd like to remove for separate consideration? Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as printed? So moved. Moved by Director Tate. Is there a second? Second. Uh second by Director Mitchell. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes 6 to 0. And next there are uh gifts to the district. It's our one action item. And uh this month we um have gifts totaling $119,560.40. So um is there a motion to approve gifts to the districts totaling $119,560.48? So moved. Moved by uh Director Brooks. Is there a second? Second. Second by Director Foster. Any discussion? Um just as always we it's incredible the community engagement and support and um donations we have. And this is down to every um site level as well and every um every school often staff as well um and parents. So we really thank um everybody who helps support us in that way. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes 6 to 0. The next agenda item is uh information items uh on our policies. General Counsel Amy Moore, will you share the first reading of our policies? Yes, thank you. Uh good evening. Tonight we have nine policies to go through. Um five of these policies you will remember from our work session with the student representatives giving their input to you back in December. First one of those, uh policy 504 student dress and appearance, is um and you'll see this in some of the other policies, making sure that our protected categories there in section C um are consistent throughout all our policies. So, you'll just see some updates in that regard. Then the only other change to the policy was to just move up the section B under other requirements into to include both protective footwear, headwear, and eyewear to keep students safe. Um for procedure 504 on student dress and appearance, um this is where the students input kind of came into effect here. Wanting to clarify that, you know, when an accommodation is needed, whether based on disability or religion, that that is recognized and how students can ask for that. As well as in B3, you will say see that we took out the word suspended, that a student who doesn't comply with this may be temporarily removed from participation versus suspended, um as being more accurate. Suspended obviously has a very specific meaning to students. Um and again, the the focus on the reason why we have these things in these particular classes are for safety reasons. Um in school expectations, uh again, kind of clarifying from more vague language to more specific language, rather than being appropriate, clothing should be material, shall not be materially and substantially disruptive. That's in line with what you will see in in case law and the legal standards of today. Um Right, you'll see clothing advertising promoting products or activities that are illegal are not allowed, along with clothing that creates safety issues for students, something that substantially disrupts materially. And then uh we clarified uh specifically headwear, uh which includes hats or any head coverings are allowed uh provided it doesn't cover your face. Cuz the point is is like you shouldn't be walking around with now nobody being able to see who you are. Um but that we do recognize both um accommodations um in number eight for religious reasons um or medic medical reasons um and then specifically call out face masks. Um that face masks may be worn for um right? You don't want to catch a cold, you have a cold, you don't want to spread it. But uh shouldn't be worn just to evade um detection. For lack of a better word. Um so calling that out specifically there because that what the students in particular had found um uh that happening in their schools. Um and so also then clarifying that the intention of the policy is to not interfere with students' rights under our first amendment to express themselves through clothing, but to make sure that we are able to focus on uh educating and that the clothing doesn't disrupt that purpose. Um the other piece of the student really wanted the students really wanted to uh uh bring out is that the fairness of the enforcement of this policy. Um that it is done consistently. Um and that it is also not done for the purpose of shaming. Um you know, body positivity was talked about in this. And so that's where that language um regarding um uh the fair, consistent, you know, implementation um uh supporting students in that. So, that's that policy and procedure related to student dress. Policy 506 then was next, uh, student discipline. And this is one, uh, that we did, uh, revise and update in 2023 when there was a lot of changes that came out through legislation. Um, so the policy itself didn't necessarily, uh, need a lot except for what we wanted, you'll see it there are a few of these, uh, wanting to focus on student supports, education, communication to families and students, and also clarifying and being clear about what staff are expected to do, uh, what administration's expected to do. Um, and the students in particular felt like and had a the discussion about, um, if a student's misbehaving, absolutely there needs to be some, you know, consequence, uh, intervention, uh, but they wanted to make sure that the student receives support and education, uh, so that the behavior doesn't continue if that's possible, um, so that's where you will see that the discipline includes both, uh, exclusionary and non-exclusionary consequences and behavior, and that um, that appropriate support and interventions for students after exclusion also happen and consider, you know, whether it's social emotional learning, counseling, and such. So, right, behavior happens, there might be an immediate consequence, but what else are we providing to support that student? So, in the procedure on student discipline, starting on page 486 of your packet, um, on page 487, I updated the bullying and hazing. For some reason it just referenced hazing, so made sure we included bullying and what that means. Then on page 489, since we have a cell phone policy, wanted to make sure that that was referenced in regard to cell phone misuse. Um And then you will see starting on 490, you know, again about the behavior interventions and support in an effort to positively support students. Um identifying supports, potential actions, and then specifically specifically calling out the non-exclusionary disciplinary and disciplinary corrective actions um under there A7, you know, previously it said referral to legal system, but really is referral referral to partner agencies for support like our counties and such. Um Then later in that on page 494, this is one of the longer procedures. Uh that will folks felt it was very important to call out is that um there's obviously a student involved, but there might be other impacted students. So wanting to make sure that other impacted students are considered if there is any intervention skill building or restorative work need there. Uh and then on 496 of your packet, you will see under building procedures, it was important for us to make sure we called out that um procedures for documentation of incidents um were also going to be required and expected of our schools. Policy 514 students bullying and hazing prohibition. Um with this policy we did um the outreach of including this in um staff and parent communication newsletters to solicit feedback. We received some feedback, not as much as the cell phone policy. So that along with the student input was all considered um and again you will see the focus on you'll see even in the purpose the education and appropriate interventions and considering all students that are involved, not just those who are doing the actions but also the those who may be impacted. Um that is the the thrust of a lot of these updates to this policy. Um also wanting to call out we include you'll see in C prohibited conduct including cyberbullying and then referencing all forms of social media both directly and indirectly through a third-party or tech technology application. That's something we talked about making sure we call out that specifically. Um and then and then you'll see kind of later on at the bottom of that page on 498G an example of this would include when a student who reacts positively to social media posts of bullying who stands by and laughs at an incident, might record that incident. So providing some um examples of what that behavior would include. Um and then on page 499 a violation of the policy will include both an administrative action but also interventions and support. Um and then also that the training really calling out our responsibility to provide training to staff and students and communication uh families. And then for the procedure on that, starting on page uh 500, um we take what we discussed there and make sure it's also in the procedure, you know, and they will see that in cyberbullying, which includes bullying through all forms of social media. Um this includes bullying that occurs through social media through direct or indirect uh messaging. Hazing was a term that wasn't very familiar with our students. Uh when we kind of brought out sports, then they made the connection. So, that's why you'll see the the drop of such as a sports team in that hazing definition. Um it was a little bit encouraging to hear that they weren't familiar with it. Um that, you know, they hadn't experienced it. So, then starting on page 502, uh you will see the um in section D, employees will receive training on this policy. Um to help them understand what is bullying, what does it look like, how do they intervene, how do they report. Um because that's where um we also talked about the need not only to report, but then how we are documenting and making sure that we are documenting. So, that Yeah, and so that then continues through the rest of that uh procedure through 503. Uh page 503. On page 505 is where there's policy 519, interviews of students by outside agencies. Um this really involves uh interviews by law enforcement, uh Minnesota Department of Education, or potentially uh county um uh our county agencies. Um there's two types of interviews that happen. Uh the main bulk that you'll see in the procedure is interviews related to reports of maltreatment, um whether inside the school or outside in the community. So, for the policy, we just uh wanted to make sure that um it's principal or school site leader or a designee. At some of our sites, there's only a principal. Um so, having that designee in there um uh was important uh to be called out. And then in the procedure, what you'll see are some clarifications um in regards to how these interviews happen when we have law enforcement or county um agency person come to conduct these interviews when they've received a report of maltreatment. So, it really is just clarifying um what happens when when um those folks come. And it really is about um under statute, they control how the interview happens, where it happens, but then we also include we want it to occur kind of an administrative office. We're going to take care to make sure there's privacy uh and to not disrupt the student as much as possible. Here's some free time. So, it's setting up all those standards um in the procedure. The the other time when interviews may happen is that for any other purpose that maybe it's something happened out in the community and law enforcement is wants to interview a witness to something. That's where uh that section three on page 507 of the procedure comes in. Uh we wanted to make sure that we call out that um this can happen only after making attempts, reasonable attempts to contact the student's parent or guardian. You know, we need to have make sure we try to have that discussion first cuz it's not something that occurs very often at all. Uh if maybe just a handful times a year. Um then policy 520 student surveys starting on page 509 of your packet. Um really with this policy we wanted to make sure we called out the optional nature of um these surveys um when we're communi- communicating. Um for students they felt it was important to have this language that why do we do this? Well, the reason why we do this in the you know, statement of the policy is that it helps inform and in shape the student experience. That's why we're doing all these policies. When they heard that they said, "Oh, that'd be great to know." So, putting the expectation that we let students know that that is the result of these uh surveys. They don't have to take it. There are options. Um and then making sure that the opt-out process is uh simple and accessible to our families um was included in this policy as well. And also then how we communicate to families and the students. Because the procedure starting on 511 uh really didn't add anything. The policy really included everything. Uh uh it seemed duplicative. So, we um our uh looking to strike that in that procedure. Then policy 532 use of peace officers and crisis teams to remove students from school grounds. This is another policy reviewed in 2023. Um there haven't been any legislative updates since that time. And um after review there we didn't see either with the policy or procedure any need to update cuz things have been working pretty well since the 2023 update. Policy 541 chemical use and abuse starting on page 517. Again, this is where you will see that we talk about how we assess and support and educate a student who is involved in chemical use or abuse. We And then some clarification kind of on on the language in the policy. The bigger changes that came from student and other input especially around really making language understandable is in procedure of the chemical use and abuse. You know, who really is involved is a school drug and alcohol counselor. There might there will be a student intervention team if a student is experiencing this or might be experiencing this. There will be a group of relevant staff that come to teach together might include a teacher, a social worker, a counselor along with that school drug and alcohol counselor. And then we really did a good job of clarifying the language about the data that comes from this and 6-month this and that and simplified it to any documentation related to concerns and services for students will be private data and will be deleted and destroyed at the end of the school year unless it's determined that it might be needed for the following school year because there might be ongoing issues. Policy 543 use of restrictive procedures as behavioral interventions another policy reviewed in 2023 and updated with legislative changes. We have found similar with the other policy that the policy and procedure and those updates in 2023 are working well. There is one minor update to the procedure on the last page, page 526 of your packet. Because section B there beginning with the 24-25 school year we've done that so we just remove that. The last policy is one we're proposing for repeal. Policy 555 student recognition plan you'll see is five lines and the procedure even less. It's it's not needed and so we're just proposing that one for repeal. So these will be posted till the next board meeting when you will take a vote on them. Thank you so much Amy. That was a lot and it it I would say it actually reflects a lot of the work that's already being done and so it's not that suddenly there's a bunch of new stuff necessarily being implemented to the extent that there's adjustments, you know, we can love to continue to be informed on that in terms of implementation but we know this has been work in terms of consistency, uniformity that has already been ongoing so it's nice that we have it reflected now in the policies and procedures. Can I ask a question? Oh Dr. Prince, okay. Or Dr. Dr. Prince, tonight you're Dr. Prince. Okay. On five on 520 Amy when you said making the opt-out simple and accessible, are we going to be making any changes to how we communicate like the purpose both the why and the um the option to opt-out? Yeah. So it's um making sure that when we communicate with with with students in particular that it includes the purpose of this will help shape and inform your experience. They get that communication through the student information system. I think they get emails, but they it also pops up when they sign in. So, yeah, it would include some statement like that. Okay, so that will be different than how it's currently. It will be updated. Updated. >> Yeah, like look slightly different, but utilizing similar systems as Chair Prince said. Okay. A lot of this does reflect what is currently happening with some enhancements. Okay, thanks. Other questions or comments? Um, I have a question on 541. So, I know this is kind of an emphasis on illegal substances and things. Did we think about kind of those questionably those synthetic and designer drugs like the, you know, spice and gas station heroin and bath salts and, you know, things that aren't technically illegal or controlled substances, right? But Yes, so that would be I think it like references like a look-alike or a similar type that's if those would apply here. >> That's what That's what a look-alike means. Okay. I'm not as familiar as look-alike as maybe designer or synthetic or something like that, right? Yep. Oh, and that that it doesn't include Tylenol, Advil. Yeah. We did call that out as well. Okay, so um, as was mentioned, so we act on these at the next board meeting. So, the public is always um, able to go online and provide commentary or feedback on these. All right, we will move on. That's the final item on our agenda. So, at this time the board will take a brief recess and then reconvene in the forum room for a closed session. The session will be closed pursuant to Minnesota of 13D.03 to discuss labor negotiation strategies pertaining to all employee units. Is there a motion to recess the regular meeting for 10 minutes and reconvene in the forum room for a closed session? So moved. Moved by Director Brooks. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Director Mitchell. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Motion passes 6 to 0 and we are recessed at 7:20 p.m. The board meeting will adjourn at the conclusion of the closed session.