e e e e e e e e good evening the regular meeting of the Independent School District 279 School Board is called call to order at 6:00 p.m. on March 18th 2025 this regular business meeting of the oio school board 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 for my left and your right are director Kelsey Dawson Director Erica Foster director Thomas Brooks myself Tanya Prince director Keith Tate director Sarah Mitchell also present in the boardroom is superintendent Dr Kim H and members of the superintendent's cabinet as well as our student Schoolboard Representatives Antoinette Brown for oio Senor Gavin Chaba for Maple Grove senior Naomi Cooper Greer for Park Center Senior those of you who can please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance director tap will you please Le The Pledge the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation under God indivisible withy 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 is there a second second so moved by director Mitchell seconded by director Thomas dor Brooks is there any discussion all right seeing none all in favor say I I I motion passes six to zero our next standing agenda item is recognitions we have no recognitions this evening but we will have several next month the next agenda item is Schoolboard Representatives reports Antonette will you please share your report good evening everyone my name is Anette Brown and I'm representing oio Senior High at AIO Senior High we continue to show up for ourselves and for one another in excellence we continue to thrive and be our best selves on a day-to-day basis here's some of our Excellence throughout the month Avid Scholars lead through a tutorial process is where they utilize Avid Avid skills through the tutorial process that utilizes Higher Learning higher thinking skills and a deeper understanding of topics Scholars walk through the staff through the steps of of a tutorial process on February 24th our black student union presented the eighth annual U speaks a black history mon showcase this event included poem spoken words drum performances singing scholar written skits and a fan favorite traditional fashion show It's always important that we focus on celebrating black history and for this theme we circled around black love black joy and black Excellence the oo chamber choir performed the Minnesota state Educators Mentor win winter conference on Friday February 14th where they were excitingly performing a story that also included a world premiere poem written by Minnesota composer they had music from Korea France and Haiti the oio senior Varsity chess choir also run first place under a thousand rating division in the Minnesota State High School chess league on February 28th this competition was super epic and super Fierce AIO Senior High National Honor Society hosted our third annual blood drive where tons of Scholars and staff volunteer to donate blood we've also had a new store open up which was our oio thrift store our school started a new thrift store where oio students can pay whatever they want for an item to own our model un took a huge win last conference to end off the year our business professional of America had over 30 members both group and individual events make it to State some highlights from some sports is Nordic skiing Ryland renquist and quinland renquist both qualified for Minnesota state Nordic ski skiing event and unified basketball took a division a trophy which they took third place in their trophy gymnastics Ella heglin took second in the state on the ban she also finished Ninth Place on the floor exercise Carter Williams Vivian a all all qualified for Minnesota State wrestling tournament and viven S played second in her weight competition girls basketball went to the first went to semifinals for the first time in 9 years which was a huge milestone for them these are all the Excellence throughout ASU senior high thank you Naomi will you please share your report okay very good okay hello my name is Naomi Cooper hyen Greer and I'm so glad to be back in this seat to share our monthly story but enough about me and more about PC our PC students have been focusing hard and pushing through that finish line that we call trimester 2 it was a rough Journey but we all made it and now it's basically summer just kidding the start of this trimester has brought new beginnings and newer activities the upcoming developing sports that have been introduced to the public at Park Center have been girls Batman and boys golf these two sports have been making tremendous stride within their prospective Fields not only with so much time to spare but they have so many fresh batches of kids who are ready to play and show out other sports have been been starting up their seasons and practices with big bangs and massive amounts of members who want to join and attend the first meetings and I would like to backt track to put a little special Spotlight on our wrestling two members who went to state in our three Esports member who also went to state to and I hope that they know even though they didn't bring home the gold we're all extremely proud of them I would like to rewind it back to our musical department just a few weeks ago go our musical the music man has cloned closed up for their final night many audience members were left with memorable moments and when they walked out that theater moving on our jazz band has been traveling to our next door neighbor Maple Grove for their Jazz Fest as the clinician said just go for it cuz if you don't who else will those words inspired the band as they hit notes higher than they never did before and killed it before I close this up I would like to end my segment with talking about a few field trips our school has been going on one of our um Department's Educators Rising a group for students who want to become Future Leaders and Educators went up to St Cloud University to learn the craft of teachers and educating which they will be shaping our future hopefully these field trips have been very public and influential to our school not only to take the time for them to study their themselves but also to do what they love and have fun thank you so much for listening to me and I will see you all after the break thank you Gavin will you please share your report good evening everyone my name is Gavin Chaba and I'm honored to represent Maple Grove senior high school tonight first let's start with sports our boys basketball team took down the Apple Valley Eagles this afternoon in the state quarterfinals and we'll be playing in the semis against crat and durm Hall I hope to see you all there and I hear an upset coming hopefully hopefully don't not going is all right uh our girls basketball finished as State runner-ups this past Saturday capping off the best season in school history um and then that wraps up our winter sports uh so now let's get into spring Sports uh our track and field just uh wrapped up their triy outs our boys volleyball is currently in their first year as a full as a full-fledged Sport and is in the middle of trouts right now uh boys lacrosse looks great for looks good looks poised for a great season with many key returners girls cross enters this season as the number one ranked team and has high hopes for a state rod in addition both our girls and boys golf are looking strong as they gear up for the warmer weather ahead as for our clubs um our Deca Club had an outstanding showing at state with nine of our delegates uh becoming State finalists uh robotics perform well at their duth winter competition uh as they made the playoffs in addition um I want to take a moment to acknowledge the heartbreaking loss of espor Mite who passed away on February 25th from Cardiac Arrest uh just before their competition the robotics team lost a remarkable teammate and friend I had the privilege of sharing a French class with espir and his empty chair is a painful reminder of his absence he was one of the most intelligent funniest and strongest people I've ever met during my time at mle Grove and he will be greatly missed uh also in the last meeting I acknowledged that our grading system has some problems and have more detail in information regarding that now a teacher whose name I will not disclose ran statistics on uh learn and focus grading for 195 uh geometry students and to preface the teacher did not take into account Educational Theory his findings highlight significant issues with the learner focused grading system particular its disproportionate negative impact on Lower performing students including students of color and those in sped programs the data reveals a net decrease in overall grades with the lowest cour experiencing nearly nine times the negative effects compared to higher performing students this calls for immediate Schoolboard action to re-evaluate the grading system ensuring it meets its intended goal of equity a potential solution is allowing a course alike teams to to assign appropriate weights to learning standards while maintaining structured grading practices to uphold fairness and Student Success the district should conduct a comprehensive analysis with a larger data set and consider adjustments that mitigate the unintended consequences of learn and focus grading in addition to help survey um I would suggest to survey parents to see what they think of the grading system and to get their feedback also um the incentivizing on taking honor or Advanced courses has also been a problem um as a student who has taken 12 AP classes in my time at Maple Grove I've experienced firsthand how minimal GPA boost of 0.33 discourages students from taking Advanced courses with little reward students risk their gpas and academic standing without adequate compens comp compensation for their efforts in contrast wetta and menona school districts which significantly outperform hours in GPA test scores and college placements offer a gring system that heavily weights Advanced coursework implementing a simpler a similar structure would ensure gpa's gpa's more accurately reflect academic achievement while motivating students to challenge themselves gain college credit and better prepare for their Futures thank you thank you so much um student Representatives board members the student Representatives review the board meeting packet in advance and are prepared to answer questions from board members on issues to seek student input related to agenda items for this evening's meeting board members do you have any agenda items for You' like student input or any um questions on reports we have a lighter agenda today so um but thank you for your reports and thank you for um bringing issues and concerns forward in your reports as well okay you um you can go ahead and be dismissed at this time okay our presentation this evening uh is oio senior high high school building a better future presented by John Morad Executive Director of Finance and operations John thank you chair Prince superintendent H and board members so uh one again we're going to go through some of the uh items that are on the consent agenda today there are a number of bid awards that we've asked the board to approve um but in following with the Traditions we've done in the with some of the past Awards we're going to highlight our major projects so today's major project is oio senior high so we're going to kind of walk you through what the planned Renovations and additions of that building are uh a quick overhead view to kind of show you um we're putting one addition on this building which is the black section to the lower left and also you'll see a larger parking lot and loading dock to the um the south side of the building and then doing some work up in the main entry area from the exterior perspective and then obviously a whole bunch inside um so just to give you a view in some a lot of the pictures you're going to see existing off to the right and then kind of what we're going to be doing off to the left so the areas that you're seeing here are all areas that we're touching from the media center um main office student services we're making a secure vestibule that this building doesn't currently have we're going to modify that front entry to pick that up um so it's more similar to our other schools across the system make some changes in the media center um all of our health Suite area we're making and uh adding a school store to this building is one of the many things along with a whole bunch of other stuff and I'll kind of get to it as we go here here's an interior view of the media center so again off to the right you see what it looks like today versus what it will look like um and this project starts right away this summer and will carry through the summer of 2026 and it'll finish um in time for school starting the fall of 26 so I look at the exterior of the media center all the media centers in general if you've seen have kind of a living room feel area to them and then an educational portion so they kind of go together to allow better flexibility for students to have more choice in those areas another view of the main entry Corridor and media center um and what that will look in feel like I know the logo the big logo on the floor here changes from what was there it doesn't we're not actually changing it they just didn't color it for the picture um an interior view as you get a little bit farther into the media center I'm sorry for those of you that love The Pink Carpet it is going away um we can save you a Swatch if you really want it but uh we're just modernizing some things making it a little bit more fun a little more comfortable um and again that flexibility and multiple use for students a glance at what the school store will look like so this is going to give an opportunity to business programs to be able to run and manage the school store provide um sales opportunities for different merchandise in there for the students and staff and and any parents and community members that want to come in uh main floor uh plan for Health Sciences is getting a uh renovation so their current labs are getting updated and then we'll go through on here too but both athletic and fied locker rooms are also getting full renovations so you saw here sorry a an existing look on the right of what it is and versus a little bit look from the changes for the uh nursing lab oops um the cafeteria of this building is undersized so one of the problems we've run into is how do we correct that so one of the things we're doing is actually taking out today's weight room and we're opening that up to the cafeteria and being able to expand the cafeteria into that space so there's um fivefold doors that will open and glass so you can see in between the areas but it'll actually also create a little bit of a quieter area the cafeteria is pretty loud and it's cuz it's a very large and Tall space today so it's going to provide a few more options and choices for students here's another kind of look from that area you kind of see off to the far end in glass I think I got one more view so some modernization to that cafeteria just to bring it up to today's code and and make it feel a little bit better and here's what that extra room the interior view of that other room looks like you can see off to the right that it was the wrestling room um have heard some concerns that wait a minute you're moving wrestling wrestling must be smaller um where it's going it's actually not we're actually expanding the size of the wrestling room today's wrestling room is long and skinny and there's a stairway and kind of ramp off to one end so it's unusable space for the wrestlers um the new space is actually about a little over 100 squ ft larger than this entire space that sits where it sits today but the new space is 100% usable so they'll actually gain over 500 square ft of space to be able to use for the wrestling program and that's actually going where the old Automotive area is today as we build the new one on um down the main athletic locker room hallway some changes so just in the hallway we're just going to kind of brighten things up add a little bit more um athletic some Aesthetics just to make things look a little bit more bright a little bit fun um changes to the locker rooms to make them fit with the other locker room programming that we've already done at Park Center and are working on at Maple Grove right now the a view down the East gym again some some updates just make things feel a little bit more modern um here's that wrestling U or the the current auto shop area is going to turn into wrestling and fitness we can kind of give you a little bit look where it matches what that feels like you don't really see the wrestling room it's the tall window off to the um the back kind of underneath the the or above the guy with the orange shirt um that's where the wrestling is it actually connects into the fitness room though so you can move between those two spaces where we've never had that ability before uh now you're starting to move into the art area um one of the things that this building has had that we are changing is it has a huge Locker Commons in the middle of the um right off the cafeteria that Locker Commons is coming out um we're actually placing that with the Forum room will move to that area as we shifting around programs within the building uh you may ask why are we taking all these lockers out traditionally students just don't use them anymore like they did when say I might have gone to school and everybody had a locker um we typically see less than 20% Locker use in buildings so we're going to take out that space and give it back to the students to use in a different way um a big component of these improvements is focused on Career and Technical education so you're going to see the improvements to those strands that are going into Maple Grove and and how we're incorporating all of those again a lot of space a lot of lab spaces places where students can choose different ways to learn everybody learns a little bit differently so how do we um better provide a physical area for that for students and then this is that exterior addition to the auto shop um this will start immediately and will be one of the last things done that'll take a little while for us to build that on and up um that's the presentation so we'd ask as we get to consent agenda that the school board approve the the bids as recommended by the district and I'd be happy to take any questions if you hav't great thank you board members are there any questions comments it looks good yeah thank you it's always uh nice to visualize what's coming and um be updated on the progress thank you yep come um and of course we saved the best for last which is under budget currently under budget thank you looks great thank you okay the next agenda item is audience opportunity to address the school board I'll review a few guidelines for those who will speak to the board um and please refer uh there there is a full um uh set of information on the board table over there if you didn't see it 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 to ensure all voices are heard welcomed and respected in the boardroom we ask that audience members withhold Applause and verbal response to all speakers in the rare instance of a disruptive audience member we will pause and ask that the individual remove themselves from the board speakers will be called to the podium in this order student parent staff community members and others please keep your comments to three minutes comments should be directed to the entire board not to any 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 the board secretary will provide copies to board members the board and audience will listen and not respond back at this time if you would like someone to follow up with you on your questions and or comments please let the board secary know personel concerns should be directed to the individuals in the following order building principal executive director for human resources assistant superintendent superintendent and finally en 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 mic your phone and state your name and topic and whether or not you are a district resident we do have a number of speakers tonight um so um it will take a little bit of time um but we we don't limit the time for um this opportunity for the public to address the board so we'll start with Dr margarite Ortman well good evening my name is Dr Margaret Ortman and I'm the proud parent of Gabe Violet and finigan Ortman Gabe is a third grade student and v as a second grade student at oie Elementary in AIO I'm here here tonight as I recently learned that their elementary school counselor was being reduced to a 6 position for the first time in decades and there'll no longer be a full-time counselor at their school I also unfortunately learned that their school Social Work Pur was also being reduced as well and that more school and social workers were being cut across the district through conversations with their principal Ryan Gibbs and the alio director student support sunny I was surprised to learn that our district would reducing mental health support while other large districts such as St Paul an NOA hennipin and Minneapolis school districts are not cutting support staff in fact the Minneapolis school district and wetta school district will each be adding four Elementary Time full full-time elementary school counselors next year my understand this reduction is due to the fact that many school counselors are largely funded by compensatory money the Jer funds a minimum of4 or two days a week for counselors in every Elementary building with some larger buildings receiving more these positions are essential for the mental health and wellbeing of our students Elementary counselors and social workers teach social skills emotion regulation problem solving and many other skills that help students be successful in life if the district truly prioritizes mental health it should be funding these positions at 1.0 in all the elementary billions so that comp compensatory money is not needed in order to maintain these positions from year to year as we're losing amazing staff to districts that support mental health AIO has a strong School counseling program and host hosts 14 recognized American School counseling Association program schools which is half of the ramp schools in the state of Minnesota this procedes recognition is only given to about 1% of schools nationally there's 1,300 as of January 2025 Elementary counseling provides direct counseling students service to students in classrooms groups and individually I'm frustrated that we not providing these pre preventative Services to my students fulltime now even more frustrated due to the districting changes I will not be able to move them to an elementary school where there is a full-time school counselor even though clearly these servic are now not the same between schools in addition I'm struggling to understand how the referendum that was just passed is not supporting mental health as promised with a $223 million referendum is not evident that any of the money is actually going to provide Mental Health Services to students from exploring the budget it appears that is going going to physical building updates and technology updates only 30 seconds remaining yes even on the website is posting that the funds will be going towards mental health staing along with classroom teachers who directly teach emotional social ccum other District staff members will help achieve these work our school cers school psychologist and social workers workers last year with a district hold back of40 50 million why are we making reductions in midal health with a strong history of supporting student supports nashley recognized counseling programs and a growing population why are you not following through with with what was promised to voters and not moving forward to provide the best support for a students thank you for your time thank you Natalie Sonic good evening my name is Natalie Sonic and I have a child attending the school within our district as a parent I care deeply about the well-being and fair treatment of all children including those who are part of the lgbtqia community however I believe when it comes to teaching fairness and respect we do not need to make an lgbtqia specific lesson that is required part of the curriculum and let me explain why first and foremost treating every student with kindness and empathy and respect should be a core value embedded in every aspect of Education these values do not need to be taught through specific lgbtqia lessons our schools should model how to treat others with dignity regardless of their background Identity or beliefs it's part of creating a safe supportive environment where every child can Thrive not because of special lessons on one group but because of a culture of respect for all people secondly many families hold core beliefs that are deeply rooted in religious and cultural values where the understanding of sexuality May differ significantly from what is being taught in the classroom when lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation are framed in ways that implies that one student must or accept or affirm every individual's self-identified label it puts students in a difficult position for some it may conflict with what they've been taught at home or in their faith communities this can lead to confusion feelings of guilt or even isolation as they struggle to reconcile their personal beliefs with what they are being told is correct or acceptable during last year's lgbtq lesson the following statements were spoken to students by teachers leading the lesson quote students well gain an understanding of the importance of using correct pronouns and respecting diverse identities quote it's important to understand that gender roles aren't permanent quote let's also remember the importance of being an upstander this means accepting standing with and supporting the lgbtqia community this lesson is teaching our students that to truly accept someone we must affirm their chosen sexual or gender identity this is a concept that does not resonate with all families or individuals for many accepting someone does not mean affirming every part of their Identity or agreeing with every decision they make true acceptance for many simply means treating others with kindness and respect regard regardless of their personal differences when the schools tell children that acceptance can only be achieved by agreeing with every aspect of someone's identity 30 for division among students um and peers may be able May view each other not um as are shared experiences such as personalities or kindness but solely through the lens of gender sexual identity I believe there's a way to respect both individual identi identities and the right for students to hold diverse beliefs without having the lgbtqia lesson and therefore I'm asking that it be removed from their curriculum it's critical that we work together to find balance for schools to Foster Unity mutual respect understanding without creating unnecessary Stripes division or confusion among our children thank you Muno Muhammad hello everyone I'm a parent and resident in oio District some some of my children attend oio elementary school we send our children to school and educate them so that they can benefit themselves and us in the future education is essential part of a child child intellectual essential part of Ault intellectual development if they receive a good education and have great teachers their future will be very bright after 2020 following covid there was a decline in basic education including math and similar subjects therefore the therefore uh the focus therefore uh the focus should first be on rebuilding education that nures children's mind and finding way to improve it enhancing education will enhancing education will always to improve their uh enhancing education sorry enhancing education uh enhancing enhancing education greatly benefits children and will teach every child to think about the future development of their country this district is a home to people with diverse culture religion and perspectives therefore we teach our children to respect every person they meet we will also uh teach uh them we also teach them our children their teachers is a second my culture is a second parents our religion instructed us to respect everyone regardless of their beliefs we send our children to school to develop their minds not to have their minds played with or confused if a young child who is still grasping basic education is sadly thought something contradictory they will experience confusion which could harm their future a well educated child is one whose mind has been nured properly no one should for not no one should be forced to accept another person's beliefs I do not embose you my belief on you so I expect the same in return and I respect each other that's why children's mind should be natured through fundamental education speaking on behalf of our children and their future we do not approve of teaching them anything beyond basic education nor do we agree with Beyond do we agree with them sharing restrooms with individual of different genders this could lead to confusion and distress I hope the board would consider our request thank you for so much Ty Sullivan hi my name is Ty or tyus Sullivan um and I'm a parent within the o School District I'd like to discuss the flags in elementary schools specifically there's one there um so that you know what I'm referring to and my concern with them I'm a mother of three young girls my eldest daughter started kindergarten in the fall of 2024 at the districts um that were assigned to and while I'd been eager and excited for her to start at the public schools in the district and had recently bought a new house specifically with our assigned schools in mind we ended up pulling our daughter out of the school after getting a spot from a waiting list of a local Charter School the decision was extremely sad but our fear of our biracial daughter being fed information especially information that would imply that her black mother is inferior to her white father um was too much to bear and so we decided to give the charter school a try um since we couldn't afford private school I love talking to my daughter about how how people come in different colors shapes sizes in a way that's neutral organic and normal racial issues are complex and sensitive to have a flag with ambiguous meanings or ethnic issues embedded throughout courses has potential for harm and risk for further misunderstandings we act we can't oversimplify ethnic issues and racial issues um they should be left up to parents to tailor them in a way that makes sense many of my neighbors have opted to take their kids out of local oio school districts by moving to a more welcoming District that doesn't impose on them their own beliefs when I looked um into other private schools or other options we simply couldn't afford private school for three kids ultimately my point is that we need to get back to Martin Luther King Jr's dream that um and his point in mind of focusing on the content of character of each individual not the color of their skin thank you AB Ramen ibraim uh board members thank you all um I am speaking about the uh uh with Miss Muno spoke about before so the same topic the lgbtq plus um dear born members thank you all I believe we all have an obligation towards our community in a commitment towards upholding our values thought To Us by our parents teachers and our religious leaders I believe children's education should be based on Science Education should be educating not indoctrinating it should be respect full of students and parents Bel lately we've seen a deliberate and precise attempt to by to bypass all of that this is not an acceptable way to handle the education of our future generation subjects such as math reading should be front and center attention to test scores and students uh performance should be priority respect is a key component in every human interaction respect to everyone's culture and religion this is a divisive issue in our energy could be better utilized in spending time in education our children again thank you all Tracy Dorne hi my name is Tracy Doran I'm a parent in the district and I am in my 11th year as an Es at Oakview I work an 8- hour day consisting of four different job descriptions I work kid St in the morning I work a half hour each day in the ml department and four and a half hours as an instructional ESP doing math and reading interventions and I spend an hour each day as a clerical ESP during my hour as a clerical ESP I am actually helping our second graders in the lunchroom and out on the playground there is nothing clerical about my duties in that hour but because it is labeled as clerical I am paid $250 less an hour than I am the rest of my day $2.50 less for the hardest hour of my day so I took a look at some job descriptions when I looked up clerical ESP it lists one of the job duties as quote supervised students over lunch and recess and that's it it says nothing else pertaining to anything I do during that hour of my day and let me tell you I do much more in that hour than just supervise those 87 second graders what I actually do much more closely matches the duties listed for an instructional ESP which is listed under class two of our pay scale the current job description for an instructional ESP includes things like assist students and teachers in large group activities or projects such as art physical education and Dramatics it also lists working directly with students individually or in small groups on academic and motor or social skills example math science English Color recognition decision making and self-esteem building our district puts an emphasis on social emotional learning so much so that three times a year our elementary students are screened to see how much they know they get on their school issued devices and take three tests a reading a math and Sabers which measures their social emotional learning let me be clear that the lunchroom and the playground is where a huge portion of that social emotionally learning remaining and my and my fellow clerical esps are the ones in those spaces teaching those lessons we are asking you to respect our work and honor our dedication $25 an hour is not too much to ask because we are worth it sonma Greenfield apologize if I got that good evening my name is s Greenfield and I am work I work as a ESP um but this evening I'm going to be reading a story by my fellow um ESP Jesse Daniels hi my name is Jesse Daniels and I am an ESP for kid St and as well as Center Bas skills room at Rice Lake Elementary I've been in the district since December 2023 in April 2024 I became an ESP during the the school year doing during lunch and recess and one-on-one interviews interventions when I started that position I was a little it was a little challenging being that the only thing I got trained on was to get into the bridges for interventions part and not train on how to actually use it I had to self- te myself and basically do that I knew and and basically do what I knew so during the summer I was asked by the principal if I would be interested in the skills room working with special needs because I told her that I was uncomfortable doing the interventions because I was not trained properly she mentioned that there will be a little bit of a boost in Pay since it was a center based position fast forward to this school year started the I started the new position for centa Bas and it was a bit of a challenge didn't get the proper training for the position I've been kicked slapped bitten glasses broken since I've been in the position there was a teacher who started in the district but then left after Christmas break so it was just me in the classroom teaching the class by myself with little to no supervision to help accept another ESP there were some days where a sub would come in but it would only be half days I love my job and I love what I do but the pay and the benefits that esps have and we do basically what teachers do if not more and not only do we do we do for our students we also do for the teachers we work with thank you Michelle Ard good evening school board members Dr how our superintendent and the community my name is Michelle dard and I have had the honor of serving as an AIO education support professional for 21 and A2 years in that time I have witnessed firsthand the dedication resilience and unwavering commitment of my fellow esps we show up every day not just because it's a job but because we believe in this District we believe in our students and we believe in the work we do oio era schools priz itself on its core values values that are meant to guide how we educate support and uplift those within our community Integrity fairness respect and a commitment to achieving high standards these are not just words these they are promises but I ask you are these values reflected in how esps are treated we are the first faces students see when they arrive at school and often the last ones they see before they go home we support their learning ensure their safety and provide the critical service that make our schools function every day we embody these core values in our work but our wages and working conditions do not reflect the same commitment in return where is the fairness when we paid when we are paid wages that Force many of us to work multiple jobs just to survive where is the respect when we continue to show up with dedication yet are not prioritized in contract negotiations I don't want to work anywhere else I plan to retire retire from AIO because I believe in this District I carry the title of ESP with pride and I speak highly of the work we do here but belief dedication alone cannot pay the bills if we truly uphold our district core values then our es must be value not just in words but in action make it make sense make it get right we are not asking for luxury we are asking for dignity we are asking for you to recognize in action and in wages what we already know to be true esps are the foundation of this District without us the day does not begin or the day does not end we deserve to be a priority so help us understand why are we not treated as one we know ico's School District 279 stands for something now stand for us thank you Gale Huggins Dr H and school board members thank you so much for all of your support um that you give to us as esps my name is Gail Huggins and I am a spe special education ESP at in at Woodland Elementary but tonight I'm not going to tell my story I'm going to tell the story of Stephanie Schmidt who is an e uh ESP at Maple Grove Middle School she says that she has worked in oio school district for 16 years I have held several positions but the position that I have held the longest is ESP for E for English Learners my main responsibility is to support students and class room um with many different English Learners and at very many different uh English profic Proficiency in their core classes these classes would be near impossible for them to navigate without someone there to interpret and explain subjects my job requires me to be a professional and academical academically knowled eligible in all of the core subjects that I support I also uh know that you um are aware that behaviors have become harder to manage and classrooms sizes have grown so our support is essential my days are very busy and sometimes I feel like I'm running a marathon however I get great satisfaction knowing that I am helping children and I know that I'm make a difference in many of the lives of students as you know uh educational support staff have many responsibilities and are essential to the success of all students unfortunately the pay raises that I have received um have not increased my take-home pay at all with the increases in health insurance PR premiums I am now taking home almost the exact amount that I did 6 years ago if I didn't have a twers household income I don't know if I could have supported myself and this is years of working in the district it is my opinion that if the school of District wants to retain professional knowledgeable and hardworking Educators they need to to pay at least a livable wage that will keep up with the cost of living thank you again this is by Stephanie Schmidt an eel ESP at Maple grov Middle School Penny nney um my name is Penny nney and um I had four kids one almost went halfway through and the other three went through this this District um talking about the school a prayer for the school board decisions um my prayer today is that we would all open our hearts and listen to our conscience um let us first remember school is for Reading Writing and Mathematics and to prepare our youth um for their future careers and not so much focusing our youth um making their worth um just on their sexuality um also our children belong to their parents not to the school they attend um helping our kids to lie or cheat on their parents or murder their body parts or to steal them from their parents that's pride in yourself and um that you should know better um we should um not have our children bow down to you or having your own agenda or desires imprinted um on them it's wrong and I know everybody um knows this for it is written on your god-given conscience um let's remember our own induration um it's not the school's job um that's Reading Writing and math um um the only things um that we need to teach our kids are those things um at school everything else is written on your god-given um conscience it's up to you to listen to it but up to the parents to raise their own kids their way just remember there's an absolute truth we all know it it is written um God gave it to everybody on their conscience and on their heart to guide us otherwise we follow our own reality of the world and our own beliefs and that's not fair to anyone thank you to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that's it leadon severon good evening Leon seign District resident concerned parent uh tonight I would like to strongly urge that District 279 lgbtqia plus advisory lesson not be utilized this year for the following reasons and I'll just share five number one as we've shared many times over the last two years uh it is not the school's responsibility to present a handcrafted lgbtqia plus lesson created by an unknown Committee of people with one perspective on a very controversial issue number two the lesson caused Division and harm last year as many hundreds of students opted out number three despite certain laws and policies being cited as the compelling Force for creating and delivering last year's lesson there are literally no laws that require our district to have this advisory lesson and number four speaking of laws with the new Federal Executive Orders especially number 14190 there are now laws that jeopardize our federal funding if we do Forge ahead with this advisory lesson I know according to the work session last Tuesday we do have enough money in our Reserve funds to keep running as is for three years even without our federal funding but think of what an impact These funds could make in the classroom instead by maybe hiring a few more teachers in our most populated schools or maybe even giving a raise to esps that reach certain Milestones of service in the district it would be ashamed to risk losing those millions of dollars over an ideological battle that our neutral schools don't need to get embroiled in and number five our anti-bullying policies especially policy 102 506 and 54 which have already been in place for years in our district are robust enough if diligently followed and implemented by principls and teachers to create a zero tolerance environment for bullying of any type thank you that concludes the audience opportunity to address the school board thanks everybody for participation our next agenda item is the superintendent report Dr H thank you good evening chair Prince Vice chair Brooks and school board members and our audience that have seal here this evening uh this evening as we opened up space for dialogue during our audience opportunity to talk we actually witnessed something quite powerful I like to acknowledge that we have in the spirit of holding space allowed all voices to be heard and that in itself is an act of respect Heather PL beautifully describes the concept of holding space as stating that when we do so we allow others to share their truth without judgment we create an environment where people can be seen heard and valued for their perspectives they bring in this District we are committed to this practice not only to listen but also to ensure that in doing so we do not deny anyone their opportunity to to express their Viewpoint respectively it's important that we honor each person's contribution without undermining their individuality or their right to be heard this is the very core of the environment we strive to create in oio area schools as we move forward let us continue to honor and respect those that step into our district whether they are students staff or members of our community let us uphold the rights of all ensuring that we have a space where every voice can contribute and every Viewpoint can be shared with dignity and respect so thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to fostering an inclusive respectful environment in our district let's continue to honor each other and important work that we do together where we will reach our goal of oio area schools becoming one Community for all thank you a regular part of our superintendent's report is to share points of Pride by sharing a points of Pride we're taking time to recognize and celebrate our Scholars our staff and our community members who are contributing to the accomplishment of our mission so this evening we will have our district cabinet here to assist in sharing some examples from this month in the area of achieving dreams fourstar students from AIO area school's Community Education Program recently had the opportunity to enjoy a fun-filled field trip to the Minnesota Children's Theater Company to see the production of Leonardo a wonderful show about a terrible monster this enriching experience reflects Community education's dedication to creating Innovative and responsive programs that support lifelong learning and positively impact students staff and the Community students from Rice Lake Elementary School took to the stage and transformed the Maple Grove Middle School auditorium into an underwater world on March 7th and 8th in front of an audience of their families friends and community members students from five elementary schools in the district will perform Disney's Finding Nemo kids on stage from February to May through the school district's Community Education youth enrichment program in partnership with Stages Theater Company and bunch backyard Productions also known as the beat this after school enrichment experience provides meaningful opportunities for students to develop their performance skills gain self-confidence and make new friends in the area of contributing to community students in Jennifer Phillips first grade class at Fernbrook Elementary School recently par participated in a classroom service project students donated gently used books and made fleas blankets for families at Mary's place a homeless and transitional housing center on February 28th a group of families and staff from oio area schools Community educations Early Childhood family education or ECFE um program traveled to Minnesota state capital rotanda for the ECF day at the capital joined by other families and early childhood Educators they took part in the Statewide effort to advocate for early learning programs in the area of Life learn lifelong learning on the last day of February students in all grades at Basswood Elementary School gathered to celebrate Black History Month the celebration the first time the first time that Basswood had host has hosted this type of event was a huge huge hit among students and staff leading up to the event students have been learning about race culture and identity on Basswood TV sixth grade English students from oio middle school presented a Greek mythology statue statue Museum in their Media Center students spent a week researching a character from Greek mythology including Athena Camus Aphrodite Medusa Hydra and Zeus the students created a script and costume to tell about tell about their uh their character as Spectators moved around the library meeting the different Greek figures cheers and smiles filled the hallways of Crestview Elementary School as the school hosted its annual vocabulary parade every student selected a word studied its meaning then decorated a poster vest or hat with information about their vocabulary word for the parade nothing Sparks the magic of reading quite like author like an author stepping into an elementary school turning the library or gymnasium into a portal of imagination and storytelling for students scientist engineer and Minnesota children's book author sadena Grace visited Edenbrook Elementary School February 26 to share her book with students called adventures with sadena ABCs in space after Grace read her book to students they had the chance to ask Grace questions and she took the time to encourage them to dream big and follow their passions in life on February 24th local author educator and oio Senior High School alumni Keenan Jones visited students second grade through fifth grade at Elm Creek Elementary School to read his book Saturday morning at the shop a picture book about a young boy and his morning in the barber shop Jones was recently featured on CBS Morning News talking about his book advancement via individual determination or Avid students at oio middle school attended base camp on February 20th base camp is operated by the Northern Star scouting organization and provides a structured and adventurous environment where teams can strengthen their bonds through shared challenges and success Scholars took part in rock climbing archery and Leadership challenges all designed to encourage communication and Trust February was I love to read month and at Palmer Lake Elementary school students enjoyed many fun activities throughout the month with a catch the reading wave Aloha the new Adventure theme the celebration included a Hawaiian and favorite book character dress up days time for older students to read to the school's younger Learners opportunities for students to read while relaxing on beach towels and an Aloha Bingo board that encouraged students to make a bingo by reading in various locations and trying different types of reading students received a scratch on Haw bookmark and a lay during the the monthlong celebration of reading in the area of mission driven employees the dedicated library media Specialist Team on the Fernbrook Elementary School kept students on track during the end of I love to read month when they transformed the space into a train station full of locomotives train tracks and puffs of steam students read the book All Aboard the Alaska Train by Brook Hartman and then had their chance to take to pick out train and Adventure themed books and read on the train tracks students also participated in other activities such as completing a classroom book Bingo we have a few final notes and reminders for tonight kindergarten orientation events will continue to take place during the rest of March and throughout April and May at all district elementary school sites for students beginning school in the fall of 2025 to learn more and view all orientation dates please visit our website at district279.org kindergarten uh hyen orientation Community feedback from January and early February helped to narrow and refine proposed attendance boundary scenarios specifically scenarios one and two moved forward with some adjustments based on comments that were received community members are once again encouraged to share their thoughts on the updated scenarios feedback form or at our community in informational meeting on March 19th tomorrow at 5:45 p.m. at oio Middle School learn more and provide your feedback by visiting district279.org boundaries March will wrap up District feedback opportunities the school board is expected to approve final attendance boundary changes in May and the new attendance boundaries will then go into effect for fall of 2026 there will be no school uh for students for uh there will be no students for school March 24th to the 28th I hope that you enjoy your spring break as well as to our staff and thank you for your continued support that concludes tonight's superintendent report thank you our next agenda item is the Schoolboard member reports director Dawson do you have a report or update um I just quickly went to the association of metropolitan school district U meeting um a couple weeks ago where um the house Senate at policy chairs came to talk about just kind of some of the priorities around um MCA testing um different chronic absenteeism and other issues while you know also we know that we're in a challenging um fiscal environment so as they try to kind of work toward a b Bal budget so just a lot of conversation um I know a lot of the school district school school superintendents and whatnot are trying to ensure we don't have any more unfunded mandates and just um kind of not have so much of a burden on our schools um and so I know that there's a lot of focus on that as well um I met with our um American Indian um parent advisory um lead um just to kind of talk about the year and I think that's it thank you director Foster do you have a report or update yeah I was able to attend the DPAC committee meeting and that was actually last week I believe and they're finalizing some of their recommendations for the board and it'll be exciting to hear what they present in May director Brooks do you have a report yes uh so the rise committee actually just met today prior to this meeting um and spent some time exploring topics of interest and potential opportunities uh going forward with some of the priorities uh we have coming up um and then also spent some time reviewing past um accomplishments um the ltq advisory committee also met today as well separately um and uh that committee is primarily a staff and student uh run committee um many many of which volunteer their time outside of the classroom and outside of the school day to um talk about supporting lgbtq students and staff um as well as um the upcoming lesson um so those are my two updates thank you director Tate do you have a reporter update um um yeah just real so 287 is launching a new brand uh out with the old tennis shoes I guess I like the but uh the new brand is is really kind of accompanies of of the new vision right so it's kind of you know expressing the diversity of the district and and you know kind of the collaboration everything like that so um it it it was cool though because they did the stakeholder feedback and the uh parents and and caregivers were tied as far as the difference between the two options uh the teachers and staff were tied tied and then the students were 2/3 kind of swung one way that's the one that they're going with so that was pretty cool for the students to get the uh you know the tiebreaker in that so thank you director Mitchell do you have a report yes we had our CAC um Community Education um committee meeting that was last Thursday right in here and just like from our work session last week that's one of the Committees that is required by districts to have so it was um the majority of the time we went over the mid your budget update which is also necessary and it's a self-funded department and thankfully the report we are very strong and healthy fiscally um it was fun to see some new faces and it's a well-balanced committee it's fun to see the community engagement and some of the there's one woman I think she's been on the committee for 20 years but we also have parents that have really young Like Preschool age kids and I love that the woman that's been on it for so long she said I still learn something new every time I come so I thought that was fun to hear so thank you uh and the only report I have is related to policy committee we met last week and really we just spent time looking at what's coming next for the rest of this year and then um what we'll be picking up at the start of next year the policy committee meetings are open to the public and those agendas are posted along with the Schoolboard agendas so um anybody is welcome to attend so that concludes the Schoolboard reports the next agenda item is the consent agenda uh board members our consent agenda items this evening include meeting minutes and financial reports for February 2025 extended educational trips Personnel grants many construction bid approvals as was mentioned a 10-year Transportation contract and several other organizational business items are there any items that you would like to remove for separate consideration seeing none is there a motion to approve the consent to agenda as printed so moved motion by director Brooks is there a second second uh seconded by director Foster is there any discussion all in favor say I I I I'll oppose nay the motion passes 6 to zero the next action item is gifts to the district um this month uh we have a total amount of 27383 and88 is there a motion to approve gifts to the district totaling 27383 and88 so moved motion by director Tate seconded by director Brooks is there any discussion all in favor say I I any oppos name motion passes six to zero so thank you to everybody who contributes every single month it's really exciting to see the list of donors um and the dollars that um are provided so thank you our final item is adjournment is there a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:09 p.m so move so move by director Brooks SEC is there a second second seconded by director Mitchell all in favor say I I I I'll oppose n the motion passes 6 to zero and the meeting ised at 7:10 p.m. you don't