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[3:57] good evening the regular meeting of The Independent School District 279 School Board is called to order at 6:00 p.m. on

[4:04] February 25th 2025 the regular business meeting of the oio school board is being conducted in

[4:11] the boardroom of the Education Service Center the meeting can be monitored electronically by streaming online from

[4:18] the district website an archived recording of tonight's meeting will also be available on the district

[4:24] website seated in front of you this evening from my left and your right are direct dor Kelsey Dawson Director Erica

[4:33] Foster director Thomas Brooks myself Tanya Prince director Keith Tate and

[4:40] director Sarah Mitchell also present in the boardroom is superintendent Dr Kim H

[4:45] and members of the superintendent's cabinet as well as our school board Representatives reasen Atkins for 279

[4:53] online Gavin Chaba a Maple Grove senior and uh is that that's all we got

[5:00] okay thank you those of you who can please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance director Dawson will leave

[5:06] the pledge to the flag of the United States

[5:12] of America and to the repic for it stands one nation God

[5:19] indivisible andice for

[5:25] all board members are there any additions to the agenda

[5:31] is there a motion to accept the agenda as presented sove okay move by director

[5:38] Dawson is there a second second move by director Mitchell is there any

[5:44] discussion all in favor say I I I all opposed the motion passes

[5:51] 60 our next standing item is recognitions we have no recognitions this

[5:57] evening all right our next agenda we're very happy to welcome Scholars from our

[6:02] high schools this evening um and so this is part of our board meetings where we have the opportunity to really see and

[6:08] hear um from our Scholars um so tonight um they'll be presenting charting new Waters the CTE Journey at Park Center

[6:16] Senior High School Dr Antoine Harris Park Center Senior principal will start

[6:21] us off with introductions Dr Harris

[6:30] good evening everyone uh Madam chair Vice chair superintendent Dr Hy cabinet

[6:37] members directors I am Dr Harris the unwavered principal Park Center Senior

[6:43] High uh members of our leadership team that are present this evening um to share their insight and provide uh

[6:49] assistance Eric Thompson uh one of my assistant principles and Matt s our respected technical education instructor

[6:57] uh along with us today are two of our exceptional student Representatives Aaron dunie and Jack

[7:02] janowak we extend a warm welcome to the uh esteemed pirate families who have

[7:08] come as well we are pleased to join you this evening to share a brief overview of the remarkable experiences and

[7:14] opportunities our Scholars are engaged in at Park Center we have provided each of you a packet that outlines our CTE

[7:21] plan and their connection to our International back at principles I will now hand it over to Mr sa who will

[7:28] present the CTE information

[7:49] good evening my name is Matthew S I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you tonight about something that

[7:54] directly impacts both our students and the success and strength of our

[7:59] community Career and Technical education as a CTE teacher my goal is to connect

[8:05] the strengths and interests of the student with real career opportunities After High School in CTE we don't just

[8:13] create Engineers computer scientists skills trades people mechanics doctors

[8:18] nurses what we do is build student confidence through rigorous Hands-On

[8:24] industry-based projects we equip them with the skills to be competent by developing leadership and problem

[8:30] solving we teach resilience and give them the courage to follow their passions this is our mission and tonight

[8:36] I will show you how Park Center is charting new Waters throughout this presentation

[8:42] you'll hear me use the phrase preparing students for University Technical College and on the job training not

[8:49] every student follows the same path After High School My Hope Is these new strands equip students with the skills

[8:55] knowledge and opportunities to find a career path that fits them think of these strands not as direct or

[9:03] or destinations excuse me but directions so we've got construction management that will'll be introducing shortly and

[9:10] Manufacturing students that are passionate about these careers both stem and Technical it's not just about

[9:17] whether they become an engineer or a construction manager it's about keeping them engaged

[9:22] in the fields that excite them when students are aware of the many career opportunities that they have they can

[9:28] start at educ level that makes sense for them knowing no matter where they end up

[9:33] the doors will always open for them for future growth if we can capture their in interest we can they can find their own

[9:41] path CTE isn't just important it's essential tonight I'll be showing how Park Center is expanding CTE

[9:47] opportunities by launching two career strands giving students direct meaningful career options after

[9:54] graduation the first strand I'd like to introduce to our board is our construction management strand this

[10:00] strand is designed to give students a comprehensive understanding of the construction industry through coursework

[10:06] in management engineering design and business we will also include safety

[10:12] construction practices through the training for OSHA 30 as well as industry

[10:17] aligned technology such as the Drone program that introduces students to real world applications in surveying and

[10:24] construction site management additionally we are working to build a direct partners parip with

[10:29] North hennipin Community College giving students the opportunity to start on the

[10:35] path towards a construction management degree a construction management degree is typically a four-year degree but the

[10:40] skills and experiences students gain in this strand will prepare them for whatever the future

[10:48] holds these are the courses that we offer currently today um here at Park Center this is the foundation of our

[10:54] program but this isn't just Park Center these are courses that are offered throughout the district District

[11:00] students from many high school already have access to these foundational teched courses all designed to give them a

[11:06] strong start in career focused learning these classes prepare students for University Technical College and on the

[11:13] job training this means that no matter where a student attends High School in our district they will have the

[11:18] opportunity to explore career Pathways and develop technical skills I brought a couple of examples of the projects and

[11:25] you're going to see some from our our student speaker as well

[11:40] uh this is a box that a student made uh in our wood tech course so in our wood tech course we're

[11:46] really getting students engaged with the typical materials and construction uh

[11:52] machines and so students are making these along with a couple of other smaller projects 21st century skills

[11:58] I'll direct you to the screen this is a picture of students app Park Center that are wiring up kind of a mock wall so

[12:06] getting real life kind of construction practices uh skilled trades in a small

[12:12] classroom setting so we're not uh wiring up an entire wall but they're getting the same exact experience we've got

[12:18] light fixtures Outlets switches uh most common residential appliances I did bring in a

[12:26] robot this is a car that um just stole out of my classroom today actually uh

[12:32] this is a autonomous vehicle so everyone's heard

[12:37] of self-driving cars students are learning how to build as well as program these cars with the sensors I flip this

[12:45] around on this side we've got a distance sensor on the front uh Optical sensor on

[12:50] the bottom so students are not only learning how to you know physically design and build these cars but they are

[12:57] also getting the experience of coding programming and then testing it out like an engineer in the

[13:04] field one of the strands that you're going to hear about

[13:10] today um ties directly into intro to engineering and design um this is a

[13:17] little squirrel that a student uh designed we cut out on a machine um so

[13:25] 21st century skills um you know woodtech is fun I love teaching the class but

[13:30] truthfully this is where our careers are in Brooklyn Park and the regional area um learning how to run these machines

[13:37] code these machines design and have them fabricated by high Precision machines um

[13:43] this directly ties to the careers and the things that we need here in Brooklyn Park

[13:59] all right before I dive into the advanced courses for the construction management pathway I'm going to invite

[14:05] uh our first Speaker Aaron dunie to come on up and he's going to tell you about his experience in our uh foundational

[14:12] courses for construction

[14:18] management hello everybody uh it's a pleasure and honor to speak in front of you

[14:23] all my name is Aaron dunie and when I first came to Minnesota my sophomore

[14:29] year I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life I had a plan for how I was going to do it and I knew all the

[14:36] resources that were in front of me yeah right so actually I was more focused on

[14:44] not getting lost on the hallways and how to join the football team my counselor sat me down and had me look over the

[14:51] curriculum and classes available for me to take and mentioned the new class that was available 21st century skills and

[14:58] trades she said it was Hands-On and would be a nice shift from the usual computer work or writing I'd be doing in

[15:04] my classes that was enough to sell me little did I know the doors and

[15:10] opportunities that would open up from this simple decision in 21st century skills and

[15:15] trades I learned how electricity worked how to wire up an electrical outlet and the feeling of creating

[15:22] something with my own hands that had meaningful and useful value this was new I learned how to cut

[15:30] wood safely to turn into boards for projects and the Precision and patience needed in welding by using

[15:37] the augmented reality gear A New World opened up for me and when I learned how

[15:43] these small things we were doing in class could lead to a real career in high school a faint light bulb was lit

[15:49] in the back of my mind fast forward to my junior year and

[15:55] that was the same no no fast forward to my junior year in that same trades

[16:01] career fair flyer that had been sitting on the wall and I'd walked past countless times barely giving it a

[16:09] Second Glance suddenly had real meaning this this time it wasn't just a

[16:17] piece of paper on the wall it was a connection to something tangible a real experience I had lived

[16:24] through and found success in so a few weeks later I went

[16:30] there I met countless professionals and hiring Representatives that were all looking to hire or enlist in their

[16:36] programs before this I had no idea employers were actually looking for high schoolers or people fresh out of school

[16:43] for a good paying job at this career fair I met Miss Corey

[16:49] shingles who's in the crowd and I asked her about possible opportunities for

[16:54] people who haven't graduated yet she introduced me to Lake Street Works which is a 10-month

[17:02] program which is a 10-month program focused on building both soft and hard

[17:07] skills in propelling students into a career I also asked our CRC counselor Miss

[17:14] Shriner a similar question and she introduced me to GPS Ed which led which

[17:20] had internship and paid job opportunities with companies willing to work with high school students all of a sudden I was presented

[17:27] with opportunities that allowed me to think Beyond just a job this was different than Taco Bell it wasn't about

[17:35] a quick paycheck it was about building something meaningful something that could lead to

[17:40] a real career I ended up joining Lake Street Works which has been a great

[17:46] opportunity to give us networking skills growing and developing practical skills

[17:52] in the shop my previous work with our electrical and woodworking projects in the 21st century skills and trade

[17:59] program even gave me a head start in some of my classes so but as I stand here today I

[18:07] realized that this journey wasn't simply about learning skills it was about finding

[18:14] direction the path ahead is clear now but it wasn't given to me it was shaped

[18:20] by my own efforts and opportunities placed before

[18:26] me the support from this course helped me recognize the door that had been quietly

[18:32] waiting and I'm grateful for that opportunity is like a light switch

[18:39] in a dark room where only once you become conscious of it can you

[18:44] illuminate what has been in front of you the whole time thank you

[19:00] thank you the intermediate and advanced

[19:08] courses that you see up on the screen here will be for students interested in pursuing a career in construction

[19:13] management these courses would be offered exclusively at Park Center so

[19:19] unlike the foundational classes these ones would be offered exclusively app Park Center the construction management

[19:25] strand includes includes college preparatory coursework while while offering real world experiences like

[19:31] team leading Building Systems planning management estimating bidding budgeting

[19:37] all the necessary parts of a construction manager's job again these

[19:43] are directions not necessarily destinations we won't judge our program

[19:49] on how many construction managers we we graduate right we want to get students

[19:55] excited about a career like Aaron just uh illumin for us and let them find

[20:00] their path and find their way in what excites them for their future now we'll turn our attention to

[20:07] our second strand which is our manufacturing strand this strand will

[20:13] prepare students for modern Manufacturing Technologies through Hands-On learning students will develop

[20:19] the skills to control machines and robots that create the products we use

[20:24] today 3D printers computer numeric controlled milling and Laser machines

[20:30] Robotics and automation these are the tools of modern manufacturing Brooklyn

[20:36] Park is a manufacturing Hub according to the Brooklyn Park 2040 comprehensive plan which guides their long range

[20:43] vision for growth the manufacturing industry is the biggest industry by employment 177% in Brooklyn Park these

[20:51] local Partnerships will create opportunities for students close to home

[20:56] whether through on the job training technical college or university students will have a place in this career

[21:03] field at this time I'm GNA ask Jack up to the

[21:09] stage Jack is a student currently enrolled in intro engineering design and has been a large uh or a

[21:16] a what you call it an a participant athlete of Robotics participant uh of

[21:23] our robotics uh team at Park Center um and he's going to tell you how our foundational courses have prepared him

[21:29] for his

[21:52] future all right hello everyone um my name is Jack janok it's an honor to be

[21:57] here um I am a junior at Park Center Senior High and as Mr Mr solder

[22:03] mentioned um part of the robotics team at Park Center so I'm here to talk about

[22:09] manufacturing and my journey began in about halfway through seventh grade I got my first 3D printer purely because I

[22:16] thought it was really cool and interesting my friend who my neighbor friend had a 3D printer and I thought it

[22:22] was really cool so I decided to get one I got into the Hobby and I started making stuff and and it was amazing to

[22:29] be able to make my own little things I actually have right here and I think on this slide nope other one oh okay then

[22:40] uh I have my first ever 3D print right here um it's just a little little

[22:45] figurine that I designed um yeah it's really cool to be able to

[22:51] do that um yeah it was just a hobby though um I

[22:57] didn't get I didn't did a little bit of Designing on the side but main mainly I was doing um 3D printing models that

[23:03] were pre-created online but eventually I got more into designing for school projects in 8th

[23:09] grade I started using a software called tinkercad that is a very kind of beginner level design software that I

[23:15] believe many Elementary and Middle School uh level classes use currently um

[23:21] and I began to do school projects I also started making um projects for robotics

[23:27] um part intakes our fall robots that were specifically designed

[23:33] for the game element for That season um but still it was still very

[23:38] much a hobby at that point I remember 3D printing a bunch of little figurines that had Dwayne The Rock Johnson's face

[23:45] across them all sorts of variety it was quite interesting um but then I took my

[23:51] first CT class at PC in my freshman year it was intro to engineering or no intro

[23:56] engineering 101 so in the class we did a lot some programming some um building

[24:02] robots kind of like Mr solder showed earlier and then some 3D printing and we got I got introduced to Fusion 360 which

[24:09] is a more professional software that we use to design Parts which we use in IED

[24:14] currently now and I got to learn more about Cad and design through that class

[24:22] which allowed me then to um which helped me make a project after an the next

[24:28] coming try I don't think is it going to is it going to show try yeah try relo

[24:35] nope does that work oh that's unfortunate the one that you need the one the one that I need is the one that

[24:41] isn't showing so basically with with the skills I designed um an award pedestal

[24:49] for our robotics team our competition in duth for our winter robotics team which is actually this weekend um that year

[24:57] freshman year we won an award and so I decided to make a pedestal using 3D

[25:03] printing and 3D design as well as some programming and electronics to just kind of honor the

[25:10] team and their progress and the SE te is it going to work keep going keep

[25:16] going uh great now onto my sophomore year I did um more designing and 3D

[25:23] printing got further into it with another robotics um project and intake and then

[25:29] Along Came the IB personal project for this uh since freshman year I had always

[25:34] thought about I've always been interested in 3D printing ah we got we got three out of four four so the second

[25:41] one the second one uh is a progress photo from designing oh my

[25:48] goodness all right it's okay try we yeah yeah it's good um yeah so for my

[25:55] personal project I wanted to do a 3D printer and I had an idea about it from since freshman year and the IB personal

[26:01] project gave me an opportunity to do so and all the skills I had learned helped me design and kind of project manage of

[26:07] sort figuring out how to put it all together so the printer I designed and

[26:13] made is the one that you cannot see but it is um made from parts from 3D

[26:20] printers and Custom Design pieces put together and it works pretty well it's a

[26:25] proof of concept for an idea that I've had um but my the CTE classes and Park

[26:31] Center classes that I've taken have definitely helped or fully helped I wouldn't have been able to make that had I not taken those previous

[26:37] classes it supported my kind of exploration into that uh

[26:43] realm all right so now for my junior year um currently I am in IED which has

[26:48] been a very fun class we started off doing some kind of projects and then we got into some more 3D printing and I

[26:54] learned more skills with Fusion 360 um along uh during that time we also had

[27:01] win uh fall robotics which I'm going to direct you guys to this I spent about

[27:06] two and a half months designing an intake for our robot that would um

[27:13] effectively pick up the part so for robotics we have we play a game and we have have to score these little pieces

[27:19] this year was a little box so I designed an intake that would um pick up the box

[27:25] top down very um automatically and efficiently and it was product design

[27:31] for the most part um I got to work out the engineering design process over here are all of my iterations that I went

[27:38] through getting to the final product and all the stuff I've learned at PC and the CT classes gone through designing as

[27:45] well as the engineering design process and all the project design really helped

[27:50] in creating this final product which won awards and worked very effectively in

[27:56] our competitions um and then comes winter robotics which

[28:01] is currently the season I'm in right now um uh parallel with IED we started

[28:08] working on the CNC projects which we learned to manufacture and design using

[28:14] the CNC machine to cut out and Trace Woods similar to the squirrel that Mr Sher presented earlier and I decided I

[28:22] wanted to take a step forward and he with the help of Mr solder we made um I

[28:27] learned how to cut wood plastic and metal all for parts for our robot for this year all of which are currently on

[28:34] the robot and serve a vital purpose each in their own way for the functioning of our robot and I had I not taken IID

[28:40] class I would have not have been able to do that in the uh to the extent that I have and I'm very I've learned so much

[28:48] about all the manufacturing and I'm very passionate about it it is an amazing

[28:53] skill and so kind of to recap I started from 3D ing little Trinkets and starting

[28:59] as a hobby to designing and Manufacturing technical Parts at a high level for a robot that can it's it's

[29:08] incredible um all thanks to the CT programs and all the just the amazing

[29:14] engineering programs at Park Center so thank you [Applause]

[29:36] thank you Jack good luck this weekend um in duth and um hope those parts survive

[29:42] the trip all right so uh the intermediate and advanced coursework again this is

[29:48] going to be um students at Park Center so uh students from across the district

[29:54] invited to come and take these Advanced and intermediate and advanced course work classes um to learn about

[30:01] manufacturing engage in the Engineering Process just like you saw Jack demonstrate uh we've kind of got two

[30:07] main courses or I guess one main course and then um the Capstone and internship

[30:12] is really going to lean on those uh work-based learning opportunities those communities that uh we can rely on to uh

[30:20] help our students grow the computer integrated manufacturing is a Project Lead the Way class uh which we have a

[30:26] variety of Project Lead the Way classes here in the district it's a nationally recognized engineering and design course

[30:32] and this one really focuses on manufacturing uh and would give students the opportunity to learn more and dive

[30:38] deeper into some of the manufacturing things that Jack was talking about so throughout all of our program

[30:47] and our strands um really at the heart of CTE what is our focus and what do we

[30:52] really want to do um with and for students uh

[30:58] CTE we want to focus on transferable and Industry specific skills um you heard

[31:04] Aaron mention kind of the soft and hard we want to make sure students understand

[31:10] what is important in the workforce we want them to have the credentials and the certificates that prove that they

[31:16] are ready something that they can take directly to an employer that they can take with them to a technical college or

[31:23] to a university according to the Minnesota Department of Education 9 2%

[31:28] of students who take two or more CTE classes graduate high

[31:33] school this means that students inrolled in CTE see the value in their high school education and they complete it

[31:41] nearly two-thirds of those same students that take two or more CTE courses enroll

[31:47] in a university or a technical college so CTE isn't just jobs these are

[31:53] students that are looking for higher level education taking on high High skill High wage careers to advance

[32:02] themselves finally in Minnesota 86% of postsecondary students completing a CTE

[32:08] program found employment within four months these careers are high skill High

[32:14] wage and high need all right so how do this play out

[32:21] well in the fall of 2025 we are going to start informational sessions for

[32:27] students families to help them learn and understand these Pathways and make informed choices during

[32:33] registration our goal is to ensure that every student knows the opportunities available to them and how they can align

[32:39] their education with their future goals looking ahead after that we will

[32:45] prepare to launch these programs for the 2627 school year so they will register

[32:51] next winter and then the following school year after that we would start rolling out these Advanced uh and

[32:58] intermediate courses all right that is it for me

[33:04] thank you to the school board for allowing us to present thank you to those that are working behind the scenes

[33:09] our cabinet um and everyone that makes these strands and these these programs are reality uh thank you to our two

[33:15] student speakers and their families uh and everyone that was here to support them we're excited about the future of

[33:21] career and Technology education at Park Center and across the district these programs will give students real skills

[33:27] real opportunities and a real future thank

[33:38] you wow that was really incredible um are there board members do you have any

[33:43] questions or comments um I do actually I work in construction and we have a lot of

[33:49] manufacturing clients and um I there's such a huge need for this so it's really

[33:54] amazing to see our district invest in this and um see kids find this as a pathway because construction's such a

[34:01] great industry um and there's a lack of Workforce so it's a great fit in this

[34:06] area especially thank you thank you I just wanted to say excellent public speakers and I love the

[34:12] t-shirts is that part of your CTE or is that robotics that say be the leader you would just Park Center in general Dr

[34:19] Harris Dr Harris I love it I love it we all need one that's great thank you I

[34:26] yeah I think similarly um to director Foster um working for an employer that I

[34:32] know um is itching to build build jobs from time to time and um I've even

[34:38] talked about you know some of the programming that's happening in our district I was happy to see the internship program uh being built um and

[34:47] excited to see that you know students are already being introduced to these job opportunities um to be ready to go you

[34:54] know after graduation so um with that I know I really excited and hopeful from

[35:00] this presentation today um from all of you um I think one of the questions I had is when you mentioned that this

[35:07] would be promoted to students and families is it just Park Center families or will all um high schoolers from all

[35:14] schools get access to the same information yeah so these strands will be um kind of published and and

[35:22] broadcasted out across the district um much much like the

[35:28] um aio's got a pretty um solid uh Auto

[35:33] autot Tech and Health Services that's similar to how we will publish the

[35:38] information I believe there are booklets and yeah so information is being made

[35:45] and getting ready for uh fall which will be here sooner than we can really imagine

[35:51] so um I I just have to say I remember when we kind of first started talking about this was when I was on the board

[35:57] the last last time and just to see this um kind of in real life and and and hearing I mean Aaron and um Jack you

[36:05] know your Journeys are so um I love how you described your journey um and um it

[36:11] really kind of sparked and ignited your passion and I think that's why we're all here and why we believe in um the power

[36:17] of education and and and opportunity and so I I think it's just excellent and I think that I'm just grateful for the

[36:24] team at Park Center because um just how you explained of how these came to be

[36:29] just the thoughtfulness behind that and looking kind of um at the future and and um and to position our Scholars to be

[36:37] you know have every opportunity um and so this is very very exciting and um I'm

[36:43] just I'm excited as you roll this out yeah I loved the handson minds on

[36:51] learning and I think um just be able to demonstrate um what this industry is

[36:56] like at this point in time I think I think maybe sometimes still people still have an outdated image um around the

[37:05] programs and about the industry um it really is like so Hightech now in that

[37:11] integration of the handson um with that advanced skill set um in design in

[37:17] robotics uh just this is going to position our students so well for their Futures as as we saw and just evidenced

[37:24] in the way that um that you guys spoke and communicated this you're just

[37:30] exemplary for our Park Center and I know Dr Harris is creating all sorts of

[37:36] incredible change over there so thank you I know this is just one fantastic thing happening at Park

[37:44] Center thank you all right thank you everyone thank [Applause]

[37:55] you okay

[38:05] oh my gosh thank you in what are they called they're called something oel oel that's

[38:11] it that's fun so cool thank you

[38:16] so glitter oh my gosh we never get

[38:22] wow my God yeah you have a bright future

[38:28] awesome thank you again that was just outstanding we'll move on to our next agenda item which is concurrence with

[38:35] the American Indian education parent advisory committee Ethan nal's coordinator of Indian education will you

[38:41] come on up to the podium to lead off the presentation and introductions sure good evening members of the school board my

[38:47] name is Ethan nales I'm here tonight on behalf of the American Indian parent advisory committee to present our

[38:52] resolution vote of concurrence for U area schools as you know Minnesota statute 124 d78 requires districts with

[39:00] 10 or more American Indian students or within 50 miles of an Indian reservation to establish an American Indian parent

[39:06] advisory committee or APAC this committee ensures that the district is meeting the needs of American Indian students and families aligning with the

[39:12] American Indian education aid program plan submitted to the Minnesota Department of Education each year the

[39:18] APAC reviews District data and determines whether to issue a vote of concurrence or non-c concurrence based

[39:24] on progress towards program goals this is an important accountability measure ensuring that our American Indian

[39:30] students receive Equitable educational opportunities and culturally relevant programming I am pleased to report that

[39:36] the APAC has issued a vote of concurrence for the 20242 school year this decision was made February 24th

[39:43] 2025 following a thorough review of District data student outcomes and progress towards the six Key Program

[39:49] goals outlined in our approved American Indian education Aid plan the committee formally presents

[39:56] this resolution to the school board tonight February 25th 2025 in closing the APAC recognizes and appreciates the

[40:02] district's efforts in advancing academic success cultural inclusion and student support for American Indian students by

[40:09] issuing a vote of concurrence we affirm that the district is on track to meeting its commitments outlined in the American

[40:15] Indian education aid program plan however we see opportunities to build on

[40:20] this progress using elements from the American Indian strategic plan created by the Indian education department these

[40:26] include implement M menting culturally responsive multi-tiered support systems for American Indian students developing

[40:32] stronger intervention models increasing access to Native student tutoring Services additionally embedding

[40:38] indigenous perspectives across all subject areas enhancing landbased learning opportunities and experiences

[40:45] and integrating native storytelling and oral Traditions into literacy programs in addition to that expanding

[40:52] culture-based social emotional learning supports and further integrating traditional doot noj values into

[40:58] schoolwide initiatives expanding mandatory cultural competency training for All District staff and developing

[41:04] indigenous centered curriculum for all students fostering stronger Partnerships with local tribal Nations this clearly

[41:11] aligns with the statutory requirement of indigenous education for all at mde additionally ensuring long-term funding

[41:17] for native language programming specifically OJ andot language increasing indigenous based

[41:23] extracurricular activities and expanding culturally relevant Mental Health resources lastly it is also important to

[41:30] recognize the role of the Minnesota school trust lands Fund in funding ISD

[41:36] 279 each year assu area schools receives over $1.4 million annually to the

[41:42] general fund from the Minnesota Department of Ed School trust lands fund this revenue is derived from mineral and

[41:48] Timber assets on indigenous lands while these funds contribute to the district's overall budget we emphasize the need for

[41:55] increased transparency and and accountability in ensuring American Indian students receive direct benefits

[42:01] from resources generated by Lands that are stewarded by indigenous peoples we thank the school board for your ongoing

[42:07] support and look forward to continuing our work together to ensure Equitable and culturally affirming educational

[42:13] experiences for All American Indian students thank you thank

[42:21] you board members are there any questions or comments

[42:29] I just want I mean um I'm just pleased to hear that and I know that I know Dr H and your leadership this is um excuse me

[42:36] an Indian and an American Indian um students are is um you know a high priority and in terms of just um kind of

[42:43] standing in the Gap like you talked about and and building upon kind of that strong foundation and I know as for me

[42:49] as um the board member that's the ls on with apek I'm really excited to to be

[42:55] engaged and um and to um just have a stronger connection so thank you yes

[43:00] thank you thank you so much for um sharing with us tonight and I know we've had

[43:06] recently had the language Spotlight uh at a board meeting and we often uh have

[43:12] updates in our work sessions so um as you said there's still always work to be done and improvements to be made and um

[43:19] I think I can speak on behalf of the board that we're continue to be committed to the ongoing improvements um

[43:24] that you mentioned excellent thank you thank

[43:30] you okay uh our next agenda item are the student School Board Representatives

[43:37] reports uh reason uh would you please share your report

[43:43] yes good evening everyone my name is rean Atkins representing 279 online I'm

[43:48] sure that you guys probably missed out on hearing on how 279 has been doing these past two months but we have been

[43:54] doing well and it's okay because I am back to lay down another report once again we recently had our elementary

[44:00] activity night hosted on the 22nd of January with arts and crafts including a

[44:05] Lego room and a star a star lab I'm not sure what that is um our secondary

[44:10] registration night was the 30th and our secondary activity night will be held on March 7th with similar activities that

[44:17] are like more suitable for Scholars their age our student leadership team uh

[44:22] has been working a lot uh our staff member Miss Bano and a student named

[44:28] Brooke have been doing extra work to make sure that our online community is getting delivered a good amount of information on upcoming events and other

[44:34] interactive activities and opportunities so shout out to them our counselors have been doing a great job of uh pushing out

[44:41] scholarship opportunities and informations on how to apply as well including uh information on our upcoming

[44:48] commencement ceremony that is being held on later this year and other than that

[44:53] our staff members have been doing a great job allowing their students to take it it easy into the next trimester giving them all the time resources and

[45:00] availability that they need and that is all I have for you guys thank you thank you

[45:07] Gavin uh good evening everyone my name is Gavin Chaba and I'm honored and thrilled to represent Maple gr senior

[45:12] high school tonight uh first off I want to give a little uh report on all the sports going on at Maple Grove um our

[45:19] boys basketball team is looking strong heading into the section tournament our girls basketball team is on fire they're

[45:25] insane they're ranked uh first in class 4A um and they're looking like a top

[45:31] Contender for the state championship um our boys hockey team just wrapped up a fantastic season with an impressive 16-

[45:37] 10 record our girls hockey team had another Sellar season finishing 17-8 um wrestling uh we had a one of our

[45:46] wrestlers break the school record um Ben Schultz so a big shout out to him uh

[45:51] additionally four of our wrestlers are headed to State we also have had a girls wrestling team this past winter and

[45:57] we've made history with eight wrestlers in the program and our first ever State qualifier freshman Sten CC

[46:05] Stevenson um our most decorated team across all programs is our dance team and they have showed out yet once again

[46:12] uh coming in second in second at State our competitive cheer team went to

[46:18] Florida and the game day team finished third and vars Steve finished seventh in

[46:24] Nationals um our Nordic ski team team or both of our Nori teams did really well

[46:30] um the boys took first in conference and our girls came in third both of them going to State and then our boys swim

[46:36] dive team is looking great going into their section tournament this weekend as for clubs mod un has their mallister

[46:45] spring conference this Friday HOSA is preparing for upcoming events our DEA

[46:50] members are tirelessly preparing for their state conference this Sunday and our NHS had a blast uh this January with

[46:58] putting on snow days our robotics team will be joining Jack um in duth his

[47:03] Thursday and Friday um and we're proud to announce that seven Maple Grove students were recognized for their artistic talents with cat beer being one

[47:11] of the five from the whole state of Minnesota to take home the American Vision and nominee award and with the

[47:18] end of the try looking a little too close for comfort uh students are taking

[47:23] cramming and doing anything they can to finish well and with the really good weather we've had I hope that ends up

[47:29] happening um I'd also like to talk about some policies and updates that both students and teachers would love to see implemented across our schools first up

[47:37] I'd like to give a report on the phone policy um it seems to be still doing well um students are staying really

[47:44] productive in and out of school and I think the phone policy is a major major

[47:49] contributor to this um I also recently attended the DECA District conference um

[47:55] last month and I had the opportunity to see and meet so many so many other

[48:01] students from other districts and learned about all the resources and support systems that their schools

[48:06] provide so um basically just I had some thoughts on what we should Implement as

[48:11] a district um first up we have a fantastic Writing Center um I believe at

[48:17] all the schools in the district and I'm proud to be one of the tutors helping students with the writing however I've

[48:22] noticed that we don't have a similar resource for math especially as that being major struggle point for a lot of

[48:28] students and we only have tutoring up until I believe Algebra 2 so providing a

[48:34] math Center for students would be a great thing to implement um especially with material up to I'd say Calculus if

[48:41] not farther um and just creating a space where students can ask questions get tutoring and build confidence in their

[48:47] math skills um also it has been an ongoing discussion among teachers and students alike the grading system needs

[48:53] a change and or some sort of improvement many students feel our grading system does not accurately reflect Student

[48:59] Success well many teachers feel as though it is an obstacle both in teaching and over complicating their

[49:05] work lastly I'd like to propose incorporating LinkedIn education into our curriculum we already have resume

[49:12] work and interview skills or we do mock interviews within our English classes um

[49:18] so whether it's foundations English classes social studies um providing some sort of LinkedIn education and getting

[49:25] uh our students educated ated in that department because it is sort of the new way that careers are built um getting

[49:32] them some sort of Education I think is something that is very much needed in addition to just general foundations for

[49:38] the general foundations curriculum just providing more practical skills that we we recently had a module detailing how

[49:44] to build credit and I think that was great it was a lot of students enjoyed learning about it and just having more

[49:51] stuff like that with building practical soft skills and it doesn't have to be just something you can apply to job it

[49:57] could also be just psychological things but creating more learning opportunities within our foundations that are like

[50:03] ready to apply for life I think is very important thank you for your time thank you thank you reasoning Gavin

[50:11] um so board members of student Representatives review the board meeting packet in advance and are prepared to

[50:16] answer any question for the from the board members on issues to seek student input related to agenda items or

[50:23] anything that they shared as well you may I know I have some thoughts um so board members do you have any uh agenda

[50:30] items or questions for the student Schoolboard reps it's fun to hear Gavin from your

[50:37] mouth as a student that the cell phone policy has been made you more productive can you just tell us a little bit more about that how your day has changed for

[50:44] your fellow students I mean yeah in class I'd say students are much more productive they I I've noticed a lot of

[50:51] people say they're enjoying the subject material that they're learning which is something last year like oh it's such a

[50:56] drag all this stuff and now it's kind of people are really engaging in the stuff they're learning and thinking more about

[51:02] what they're going to be able to be doing in college and in the perspective careers and how these different things

[51:08] they're learning in school will help them so I think just getting people off their phones and getting them more engaged in class has really been a big

[51:14] success at our school it's fun to hear almost a protective barrier from protect you from yourselves so thank you it's

[51:21] fun to hear from a student's perspective Thank You Gavin um

[51:27] do have a question the so the LinkedIn learning that you're talking about you're talking about the courses that are available on LinkedIn that you can

[51:34] uh take and get they pop up on your um I'm more speaking on getting students

[51:39] accustomed with how LinkedIn works and how getting their account set up sure um I'm aware manat Tonka High School in

[51:46] their district and Yetta District both have programs that allow students to do that so they're very educated in that

[51:52] going into college and going into their prospective careers which is something that our district doesn't have and I feel like it kind of sets us back

[51:58] compared to them um so I think that's something that really needs to be brought into our

[52:07] curriculum I was curious if there's anything more you wanted to expound on related to the grading system like is it

[52:14] the complexity of the standards based is it like like the actual kind of U

[52:20] assessments um I not right I so I've I've been meeting with some teachers in

[52:26] like like hearing their complaints about it I do have one teacher that ran a whole study about it so I could bring that to you next meeting um however

[52:33] basically just why not A's and B's is what I've heard from almost every teacher is why aren't we just using

[52:39] simple a b c 90 and above is an a 80 to 90s A B that sort of thing instead of

[52:46] having this different system which is different from almost every other high school that we've seen um across the

[52:51] districts in colleges often times don't know what to make of our GPA because it's so different from every other schools and how um that works in

[52:59] addition our AP classes and advanced courses do not provide much weight in terms of GPA so there's not much

[53:05] incentive to take them and try to go further with your education great thank

[53:11] you any other question I have a lot of questions um

[53:20] but I I I'll save them um I think I just I want to say thank you for

[53:27] like that information that you added at the end is I think what we really need

[53:33] um and even more than just hearing it from you I think we need spaces where

[53:38] we're either having these conversations or you all the students are having these conversations to create these programs

[53:44] um but yeah I just want to say thank you for um the additional thought that went into

[53:50] this report today and um actually bringing back some information that um I think we can hopefully actually do

[53:57] something with so um I'll say the other questions but thank

[54:05] you okay thank you so much uh and student reps are uh excused at this time

[54:12] thank you so much all right our next agenda item is

[54:18] the audience opportunity to address the board and we have um quite a number of

[54:23] speakers tonight uh and so I'm going to share some comments um regarding U our

[54:30] public comment our opportunity to address the board uh as a board we welcome all

[54:37] voices and strive for public engagement and transparency in our board work

[54:42] public comment or audience opportunity to address the board is one of many Avenues to achieve this speakers will be

[54:49] called to the podium in this order student parent staff member uh Community

[54:54] member and others please keep your comments to three minutes comments should be directed to the entire board

[55:01] not any one individual board member if you have a handout for the board please

[55:07] place it on the information table or hand it to the board secretary Sherry the board secretary will provide copies

[55:13] to the board members the board in audience will listen and not resp respond back at this time if you would

[55:19] like someone to follow up with you on your question and or comments please let the board secretary know and of course if anything is raised in public comments

[55:26] that needs to be addressed we always um the appropriate staff members take action personal concerns should be

[55:32] direct Personnel concerns should be directed to individuals in the following order building principal executive

[55:38] director for human resources assistant superintendent superintendent and finally in writing to the school board

[55:45] the complete guidelines for public participation are provided on the meeting Materials table and on the

[55:50] Schoolboard section of the district website um we do ask out of resp respect

[55:56] for all speakers and their perspectives um that we withhold that the audience

[56:01] withhold from any cheering or Applause um just out of respect for everybody when I call your name please come to the

[56:08] microphone and state your name and topic and whether or not you are a district resident we're going to start with the

[56:13] schroer family um so uh several family members um go ahead and come up and

[56:19] share your uh name um and uh and you'll have your time allotted

[56:27] um well for the

[56:34] kids

[56:43] yeah okay that was fun um good evening my name is Chris and I'm a proud parent

[56:49] of Dana and Thelen uh two students at 279 online uh for them the the school it is

[56:56] it isn't just a preference it's the only place where they feel safe supported and have the ability to learn in the way

[57:02] that truly works for them um when they learned that their school

[57:08] was closing They begged for the chance to speak uh to share in their own words

[57:14] what 279 online means to them they spent uh weeks uh carefully

[57:22] preparing their thoughts and hoping that somebody would listen so tonight I ask

[57:27] um for your grace and your patience as you give them the time and opportunity to be seen and

[57:35] heard hello my name is Daniel S gr they can come

[57:49] out hello my name is Dan my second grader at 2799 hello my name is feel I'm

[57:58] a at 2799 people used to tell me that I have

[58:04] too much energy and to sit down but at 279 online people don't say that anymore

[58:12] I can the energy out and still Lear I love learning Lear sometimes I

[58:20] feel really shy and get really nervous but bullies and other bad things happening my anxiety Mak it hard for me

[58:25] to focus by today night online I feel safe and when I feel safe and learn please don't make me go in person

[58:33] school I I love 279 online cuz I get to eat

[58:41] swing with my with and play with and Jacob and we s

[58:50] with misson and playing in gy Plus

[58:56] I love to I love to on line because the teachers are amazing the is my favorite

[59:04] actually it was hard for me to make friends but 279 line I made so many and

[59:09] I feel safe being myself and I'm not afraid to make mistakes and I J focus without

[59:15] distractions oh I love Alla too please s yourbody s dress and all

[59:22] the other students you're in ping when you where to close our school there's no

[59:28] other online school we can be with teachers and friends all day like we can here I don't want Dad learn alone you're

[59:35] taking away what need to learn we love to9

[59:40] online thank you thank you guys thank you

[1:00:12] okay so um we did we have other we had Jennifer yeah yeah you

[1:00:24] can good evening members of the school board administrators and community members my name is Kira kissk I'm a

[1:00:31] teacher at 279 online and I'm a Community

[1:00:37] member my name is Jennifer schroer I stand here today with many of my colleagues to speak about the recent

[1:00:43] closure of 279 online Elementary I'm with the teacher and parent of 279 online when I heard about

[1:00:50] this closure 3 weeks ago I was shocked no discussion no warning no input from

[1:00:55] the families and staff directly impacted when I told my daughter the news she looked at me with tearful eyes and asked

[1:01:02] one question who decided I wasn't good enough that question didn't just break

[1:01:08] my heart it demanded an answer for weeks I have sought that answer speaking with my principals fellow staff members board

[1:01:15] members cabinet members lawyers and even the Minnesota Department of Education what I uncovered is deeply troubling the

[1:01:22] district claims this isn't a closure but it's a reconfiguration a conv a convenient loophole used to

[1:01:28] bypass Minnesota statute 12351 and Schoolboard policy and procedure 727 your justification well

[1:01:36] it's an online school and some grade levels will remain open but according to the administ

[1:01:41] Department of Education this is simply untrue 279 online receives separate funding for elementary and secondary

[1:01:47] students funding that classifies them as two distinct schools and definitely not a program the law currently does make no

[1:01:54] distinction between online and physical schools by exploiting a legal gray area the district is evading responsibility

[1:02:01] but is this the precedent we want to set one where definitions are twisted to avoid accountability one where families

[1:02:08] can be blindsided by the very District they trusted with their innocent children because let's be clear a school

[1:02:14] can't be closed without a public hearing a school can't be closed without a Schoolboard vote and a school can't be

[1:02:21] and just shouldn't be closed without input from the people it serves yet here we are if a district disregards policy

[1:02:29] and makes decisions in secret what recourse do parents have who holds them accountable the reality is unless the

[1:02:36] school board steps in a district can violate these policies or any other

[1:02:41] policies without consequence I've learned the only way to fight back is to hire a lawyer and take them to court is

[1:02:48] that the kind of system we are willing to accept one where Justice depends on who can afford it at a recent District

[1:02:55] Equity meeting I intended the leader quoted Ricardo Morales stating quote nothing about us without us is for us

[1:03:03] end quot but this decision was made without us and anyone who believes that

[1:03:09] it was made for us is lying to themselves as a teacher for 279 online I

[1:03:14] have spent years advocating for The Unique needs of our school yet I've never felt seen or heard we had been

[1:03:21] held down while we begged and pleaded to be recognized and understood in a Way Beyond non financials as I know I am not

[1:03:28] alone in this feeling I urge you to listen to our staff and students not to defend past decisions or Justify what

[1:03:35] you believe this program was supported it is a fact that 279 has online has not

[1:03:41] been given what it needs to thrive some board members said that the

[1:03:47] writing has been on the wall for this school but I ask who put that writing there over the past three weeks I have

[1:03:54] searched for other online op options for my children and I can say with certainty there is a need for a fully synchronous

[1:04:01] online Elementary School family after family has voice concerns looking for an

[1:04:07] option exactly like the one we are closing an option that they simply didn't know was out there and that

[1:04:13] raises a critical Equity concern during an interview with CCX media this

[1:04:18] District quoted 279 online was built to give a pathway to students for whom

[1:04:24] brick and mortar does not work end quote the district acknowledges that for some

[1:04:29] students 279 online is their only viable option and yet they are taking that

[1:04:35] option away without a plan for those Left Behind These Scholars cannot simply

[1:04:40] be busted to the next close to school which they're given less time than other schools to prepare anyway but their

[1:04:45] education their stability and their success depend on an option that is now disappearing without care without

[1:04:52] warning and without a transition plan so I ask what efforts were made to

[1:04:58] understand the needs of these students before making this decision what guarantees do we have that every scholar

[1:05:04] will still have access to the education they need and when did our district decide that a Scholar's education is

[1:05:10] only worth protecting if they contribute to the bottom line we have recently passed multiple referendums promising

[1:05:17] that funds would support all students so how do we justify closing a school that

[1:05:23] serves some of our most vulnerable Scholars who gets to decide which Scholars are worth the investment we

[1:05:29] cannot preach Equity while practicing exclusion some may say it's just a few Scholars but I ask how many scholars

[1:05:36] must be impacted before you're willing to care this isn't just about the elementary families losing their school

[1:05:43] this decision affects everyone in this District because if leadership can override policy and Silent stakeholders

[1:05:50] today what stops them from doing it again tomorrow what precedent does this set for the next decision ision and the

[1:05:56] one after that I was advised not to speak out tonight that it would just stir up anger rather than create change

[1:06:04] but I believe in this District I believe in our school board in the cabinet members and in this community mistakes

[1:06:11] happen oversights occur but real leadership means course correcting when an injustice is exposed tonight I Peg

[1:06:19] you will you stand for Equity transparency and the scholars you vowed to serve 279 online Elementary deserves

[1:06:28] to thrive thank

[1:06:39] you our next speaker is Mark

[1:06:50] brener school or members and superintendent H uh on Friday last week I read a news

[1:06:57] report that former Basswood Elementary teacher was charged with four counts of criminal sexual

[1:07:02] conduct towards fifth graders from September 2022 to June

[1:07:09] 2023 as a parent of two elementary students and two more on their way to elementary school I was shocked

[1:07:14] disgusted and saddened to hear of this report furthermore the report detailed a

[1:07:20] statement from our school district that quote there was only one complaint about the teacher that did not result in

[1:07:26] disciplinary action unquote and quote the teacher previously received two verbal warnings for touching of female

[1:07:33] students quote what has been unclear after subsequent news reports have been made

[1:07:38] was the district's response to the complaint against the teacher in one report it was reported that the response

[1:07:44] was no discipline action in another report it was reported that authorities and the Department of Education were

[1:07:50] notified what is clear is that two verbal warnings were made and our school

[1:07:55] district failed to act to protect these students altogether this is a shame and

[1:08:02] failure of our school district My Hope Is that steps will be taken by the school board and the school district to

[1:08:08] ensure transparency to the families of our district concerning these charges and the district's failure to prevent

[1:08:13] and protect students several questions that have come to my mind um could guide this one how is a complaint of this

[1:08:20] nature not followed by Swift disciplinary action by our district where students and parents heard by the

[1:08:26] district as this complaint was made uh two how was more than one verbal warning

[1:08:31] made without our School District Acting to protect students and alert authorities three how were families in

[1:08:37] the district not made abundantly aware of the situation earlier um seen as how it's

[1:08:45] 2025 uh What uh uh four what district policies govern complaints and verbal warnings what errors have been made in

[1:08:51] writing and enforcing of those policies within the school district uh number five um would this criminal sexual

[1:08:59] conduct have continued had a student not spoken up um we should be thankful that

[1:09:05] the students did SP speak up but we should not be satisfied when it when it only stops when a minor speaks

[1:09:12] up uh lastly for my estimation the time period involved in the charges has occurred during the period where our

[1:09:18] district has had a lack of focus on education and safety of all students in our district my opinion is the school

[1:09:24] district has chosen to focus on the Viewpoint of activist groups over the education and safety needs of all students and families in our

[1:09:30] district hopefully this terrible failure is a wakeup call to the district to work quickly and transparently towards

[1:09:36] creating a safer environment of schools where quality education is provided to all students I think an encouragement is

[1:09:42] that I work in an FDA regular environment and it is possible to eliminate failures to protect people

[1:09:48] through proper policy training and enforcement um and if it's possible

[1:09:53] there then we should be focused daily on that happening in our district thank you thank

[1:09:59] you the next speaker nick uh

[1:10:17] watler good evening um coming here basically to speak to the school board

[1:10:22] tonight just to raise awareness for the uh esps in the district that are currently going to contract

[1:10:28] negotiations and while I know a lot of that is behind closed doors not always you know fully open to everybody on the

[1:10:33] school board unless you're part of those negotiations I think it is good to bring awareness that um their colas and other

[1:10:40] pay has been lagging behind um where the rest of the districts are in the state and also the

[1:10:47] fact that right now I think what they're asking for is just above the uh federal

[1:10:53] pover poverty guidelines right now now and currently all the esps as are starting are below that and so just

[1:11:00] coming here tonight to raise awareness to you guys and bring support to that aspect and hopefully we can get a little

[1:11:05] more uh traction going forward with that and get that put through before

[1:11:12] obviously the uh everything keeps going up in price so hopefully we get that contract negotiation done moving forward

[1:11:18] so thank you thank you next speaker Tina Collins

[1:11:40] hello esteemed board members fellow District employees and members of our beautiful

[1:11:45] Community um I've talked a few times up here and this is pretty much a little

[1:11:50] bit of the same speech of little changes um my name is Tina Collins and I've have been in ESP in the oio district since

[1:11:57] 2008 over the years I have held many different positions I've been at my

[1:12:02] current site for 15 great years Through The Years my employment with the district has become not so much

[1:12:08] of a job but a passion I have been entrusted with the care and safety of over 2,000 students in my years with the

[1:12:15] district I take my duties very seriously I am a recess ESP and I'm one of the

[1:12:21] lowest paid esps in the district I am one of two adults designated to

[1:12:29] keep 120 to 150 children safe on an open playground 10 yards from swampy areas 10

[1:12:35] yards from open wooded areas and about a thousand yards from two major roadways the actual play areas consist of a large

[1:12:42] open field about two football fields in length and width two large climbing structures with multiple slides two

[1:12:49] goaga pits if you don't know what a Gaga pit is it's something um and four new

[1:12:55] um sport for new goal Sport Court this play area also has many swings and

[1:13:01] Spinners sometimes we may have a third adult with us but this is never a guarantee depending on what's going on

[1:13:07] in the school and on the grounds at the time not only are we supposed to keep all of our kids safe but we frequently

[1:13:13] have to let them in to use the restrooms because the doors are locked get hats gloves or even jackets that they forgot

[1:13:20] continuously help them solve problems or conflicts that occur help them learn compassion sharing taking turns kindness

[1:13:27] fairness how to be a friend and a lot of times simply how to make a friend we are

[1:13:32] also on the spot nurses we wipe tears bandage owies and comfort everyone who

[1:13:37] is either hurt physically or emotionally we are overwhelmed and understaff and

[1:13:43] while we do all of the above we still have to keep an eye on all of the other children outside we are also expected to

[1:13:50] build meaningful and trusting relationships with all of the children in our care so that they can feel safe

[1:13:56] and nurtured yet we are not considered as instructional esps personally I give everything I have

[1:14:02] in me to my job as an ESP no matter what my role is and keeping our kids safe our

[1:14:09] administrators on site do the very best that they can but they too are overwhelmed with the responsibilities

[1:14:15] that we are all entrusted with my story is just one of hundreds just like it across our district we need funding in

[1:14:21] our district to pay a livable wage at step one we actually know some instances where new staff is being hired at step

[1:14:27] two or even step three rates because our new hires will not accept the low pay

[1:14:33] that class one is currently at we need to offer relable wages if we are going to hire qualified and committed ESP

[1:14:39] staff and especially to retain all of us that truly care so much for our community's children thank you thank

[1:14:47] you the next speaker is Tracy Dorne

[1:15:02] hello my name is Tracy Doran I'm a parent of two Maple Grove graduates and my youngest is currently a senior at

[1:15:09] Maple Grove I'm also an academic intervention ESP at Oakville Elementary

[1:15:14] and I'm here to tell you a story this is my daughter Abby back in

[1:15:21] 2022 graduating from Maple Grove I'm 99 % sure that's the back of Dr B Bart

[1:15:27] Becker's head this is a picture of Abby this past

[1:15:33] January in Costa Rica Abby is a junior in college at Carol University in wakasa

[1:15:40] Wisconsin and recently spent an amazing two weeks in Costa Rica for a

[1:15:45] cross-cultural immersion class this was an opportunity that I highly encouraged

[1:15:51] her to grab hold of because it's one that I that but it's one that obviously

[1:15:56] came with a price a price that my husband and I were not able to help with

[1:16:02] so Abby worked hard this past summer to save up the $4,000 to pay for her trip

[1:16:07] to Costa Rica she worked three different jobs one of which was a sub for kidstop

[1:16:14] but the most lucrative of those jobs was when she worked as an ambassador for Target at the USA Cup Soccer Tournament

[1:16:21] in Blaine Target is a t tournament sponsor and set up an area with lots of fun activities for players and families

[1:16:28] to take part in along with samples aby's job was to hand out samples and to get

[1:16:34] the kids who came and to visit engaged in the activities there's actually two

[1:16:39] tournaments at the USA cup a short weekend tournament followed by a longer weekl long tournament because of aby's

[1:16:45] two other jobs she was only able to work the shorter weekend tournament meaning that she was hired for exactly three

[1:16:53] days as her employer Target did not need to keep her happy to retain her as an

[1:17:00] employee they did not need to show her respect they did not need to honor her

[1:17:06] dedication she was only there for 3 days after all they simply had to pay her a

[1:17:12] wage that they thought she was worth let me add that Abby had never done anything

[1:17:17] like this before she had no prior experience Abby was paid

[1:17:23] $25 an hour $25 an hour a wage that it took me 10

[1:17:32] years working for this District to reach a wage that is currently in

[1:17:38] discussion as a minimum wage for esps in the Minnesota state legislature as part

[1:17:44] of the ESP Bill of Rights as esps we believe the ESP Bill

[1:17:49] of Rights will pass we are asking for you to respect our work on honor our

[1:17:56] dedication $25 an hour is not too much to ask we are worth

[1:18:03] it time thank you uh Michelle

[1:18:23] dinard good evening esteemed board members cabinet members

[1:18:28] Dr how fellow District employees and members of our community my name is

[1:18:35] Michelle dard and I am a special education vocational

[1:18:40] trainer education support professional and I want you to know this is not about

[1:18:46] the district this is about ios's education support professionals and that

[1:18:52] is exactly Who We Are are professionals our work is the foundation

[1:18:59] of academic success we serve with passion expertise and unwavering

[1:19:06] dedication to our students now is the time for the district to match our our

[1:19:13] commitment with action we want oio to be the District of choice for esps a place

[1:19:20] where people want to work stay and build long-term careers a district that values

[1:19:28] us not just with words but with wages and benefits that reflect our worth $25

[1:19:37] an hour is not too much to ask it's an investment in US choose to be the

[1:19:44] district that leads with Integrity courage and vision choose to change what

[1:19:50] isn't working together we can create a Turning Point a moment where the

[1:19:57] district proves that esps are the backbone of our schools as we advocate

[1:20:03] for fair wages and Equity let's reflect on the district's own core values honor

[1:20:10] and integrity are we holding ourselves to the highest standards when esps

[1:20:16] cannot earn a livable wage belonging are we fostering a sense of belonging when

[1:20:23] many of us are forced to consider leaving AIO for better pay inclusion are

[1:20:30] we truly valuing the diverse voices of esps who dedicate themselves daily to

[1:20:37] our Scholars Innovation and Excellence how can we cultivate Excellence when our

[1:20:44] pay hinders professional growth and retention

[1:20:50] transparency will the district present Real Financial prop proposal in dollar

[1:20:55] amounts that prove its commitment to change intrinsic value do you truly

[1:21:01] value us if our contribution aren't reflected in our compensation we are not

[1:21:07] asking for anything that doesn't align with these values we are asking to lead

[1:21:12] with Integrity transparency and Equity to make AIO the District of choice for

[1:21:18] esps let's turn these values into meaningful action and remember what you

[1:21:25] are not changing you are choosing the time to act is now $25 an hour is not

[1:21:31] too much to ask because we are worth it thank you thank

[1:21:37] you uh the next speaker Kendra

[1:21:46] Coleman good evening School G members superintendent Dr H cabinet members

[1:21:53] community members fellow District employees my name is Kendra I'm a

[1:21:58] housing stability social worker for the district I run our homework starts with home program it is a grant-funded

[1:22:05] program in partnership with the county and the YMCA a program that assists our

[1:22:11] families in our district who have fallen behind in their rent so we help to pay

[1:22:18] their back rent um avoid eviction uh provide Case Management Services for

[1:22:23] Families uh if you would like for me to come back a different time to explain more about the program I am happy to do

[1:22:29] that I did give you some information cards um but I'm here to talk about the

[1:22:36] ESP contract today and so I also gave you a handout so it was mentioned before

[1:22:42] about the federal property guidelines so the program that I run homework start of

[1:22:48] with home we follow the henen County area median income guidelines and so if

[1:22:54] you look at the first line 30% Ami we follow that guideline so families um

[1:23:00] let's say for example the highlighted middle column a family of four uh who

[1:23:06] has a total income of 37,2 if a family is falling below that

[1:23:12] they would income qualify for our program and sadly I've had fellow

[1:23:19] colleagues esps in our district who have qualified for our program and so I would

[1:23:24] just highly encourage you to keep this in mind when you are looking at contract negotiations not only for our esps but

[1:23:31] I've also had uh AAS who have also income qualified for our program so

[1:23:37] thank you thank you uh the next speaker Steph

[1:23:49] Larson Steph here okay okay um the next uh speaker

[1:23:57] woodro

[1:24:10] Piner chair board members uh grateful to be here tonight uh first and foremost my

[1:24:16] name is wood Riner I'm here as a constituent taxpayer ISD 279 I'm also currently employed by the

[1:24:24] nor Central States Regional Council of Carpenters and I've been there for 10 years one of my key roles there is

[1:24:29] serving as a lead on labor exploitation task force that collaborates with enforcement agencies on cases where men

[1:24:36] and women are being exploited and contractors are operating outside of the law to gain a competitive advantage over

[1:24:41] law-abiding Union and non-union contractors this is what brings me here tonight our office was recently made

[1:24:48] aware that eert construction was was awarded one of the upcoming elementary school projects in this District

[1:24:54] typically this kind of information isn't shared at a school board meeting because contractors like the one I'm about to

[1:24:59] discuss doesn't end up on school projects last year eer construction was involved with school projects in Rogers

[1:25:06] and Oro and absolute Drywall Incorporated ended up as a drywall subcontractor on both of these in the

[1:25:12] past eert had hired absolute on woodframe apartment buildings but never a school project absolute drywall has a

[1:25:19] history of multiple States Federal citations for labor violations including employees a 14-year-old to work more

[1:25:25] than 50 hours a week two years ago a brave Woman by the name of Norma isera

[1:25:31] came forward about a sexual assault that happened on a construction site in Egan

[1:25:37] working for absolute drywall isager was hired by absolute to clean up after the other workers finished hanging drywall

[1:25:43] hauling out garbage and sweeping up dust it was one of the lowest paying jobs in the site but isiga saw as an opportunity

[1:25:50] to work with a large company and to pay her bills shortly after she started another employee for absolute Diego

[1:25:58] ciceris Medina started making unwanted advances towards her despite trying to

[1:26:04] avoid Medina he eventually cornered her and sexually assaulted her in one of the unfinished unit showers upon the

[1:26:10] horrific incident isager reported the incident to a supervisor for absolute the complaint was ignored and she was

[1:26:17] fired for creating a toxic workplace when company leadership from absolute was questioned by the Minnesota

[1:26:22] Department of Human Rights they responded with it was a consensual relationship that turned sour fast

[1:26:29] forward to February 13th of this year at a hearing at the Dakota County Government Center Medina pled guilty to

[1:26:35] felony sexual misconduct in the criminal court hearing isager has already filed a complaint against the contractor with

[1:26:42] the Mota Department of Human Rights there have been a request for list of projects that absolute has performed in

[1:26:48] two of the prior school districts around on those as elected school board members all of you have stepped up to take on

[1:26:54] difficult tasks as one of the most reputable school districts in Minnesota fiduciary responsibility for constituents who you elected is very

[1:27:01] important picking Lan numbers on contractors to perform work on school project is understood and part of the

[1:27:07] fiscal responsibility Norma could have taken a settlement from absolute out of court and started over she took the Hard

[1:27:13] Road time and and she went this way I ask you to not to take the low number if

[1:27:18] it's absolute drwall thanks for the opportunity thank you

[1:27:24] okay the final speaker We Have Tonight uh Cindy

[1:27:30] devonish is Cindy

[1:27:39] here good evening esteemed school board members and community members it's a pleasure to be with all of you tonight

[1:27:46] uh my name is Cindy devonish I am proud to uh introduce myself uh as a new

[1:27:52] community engagement experience manager for the city of Brooklyn Park it's a pleas pleasure to be with all of you

[1:27:58] tonight thank you for all your hard work and dedication um I'm here to uh tonight to

[1:28:03] share updates resources and supports and opportunities for our community members I have brought items uh that are placed

[1:28:11] on the table over there uh and they're also available on our website Brooklyn

[1:28:16] park.org um first and foremost is our um

[1:28:22] 700 uh acre project for the Northwest growth area I encourage everyone to

[1:28:28] participate in shaping this Vision um so we look forward to your response it is a

[1:28:34] QR code and it is also available online uh and once again your input is

[1:28:41] needed uh also I brought in resources for spanishs speaking uh community

[1:28:47] members uh frequently asked questions regarding citizens citizenship statutes

[1:28:52] in Brooklyn Park and including green card holders work visas Etc this

[1:28:59] information is also available on our website in various languages well um

[1:29:05] these documents ampli are available I'm sorry um there are to targeted to

[1:29:12] amplify awareness um I also brought red cards uh

[1:29:17] these come from various uh Community organizations you might have seen them in the community one side is Spanish one

[1:29:24] side is English and what they do is they just State constitutional rights regarding deportation and birth right St

[1:29:32] status um there is a lot of confusion a lot of fear in the community so this helps um hopefully address some of those

[1:29:40] uh concerns and fears um if anyone else is interested in being

[1:29:47] involved with the city of Brooklyn Park as the community engagement experience manager I look forward to interacting in

[1:29:54] with you um my per my work sell number is 612

[1:30:01] 946 9401 again my name is Cindy devonish I'm here on behalf of the city of

[1:30:07] Brooklyn Park as a community engagement experienced manager and my number is 612

[1:30:13] 946 9401 and I did leave some of my business cards as well thank you it was

[1:30:18] a PR privilege to be here so thank you thank you

[1:30:24] okay I believe we got everybody was anybody missed okay thank you everyone for your

[1:30:31] um participation and the audience opportunity to address the school board we are now going to move on to our next

[1:30:36] agenda item the superintendent report Dr Hy thank you good evening chair Prince

[1:30:43] Vice chair Brooks and school board members As We Gather here tonight we are presented what a significant period of

[1:30:49] change and transformation across our district there are several key initiatives that we are preparing to

[1:30:55] implement in the coming months each designed to improve our schools and better serve our Scholars these

[1:31:02] initiatives include addressing site capacities undertaking Renovations at various School sites placing new

[1:31:08] furniture to enhance learning environments and revisiting attendance boundaries we recognize that these

[1:31:15] changes pose challenges and we understand the potential impact they have or may have on our students

[1:31:22] families staff and all of of our stakeholders however please know that we are deeply committed to staying focus on

[1:31:29] our work to build a better future for our scholars in our community tonight I specifically want to

[1:31:35] provide an update on our attendance boundary process and shareed then connect and Insider newsletter this week

[1:31:42] we were grateful to receive feedback from a few thousand community members in our first four proposed attendance

[1:31:47] boundary scenarios via community meetings in online form and hotlines this feedback is now being

[1:31:55] reviewed and helping to narrow the number of scenarios and make and make tweaks to those that as we move forward

[1:32:01] these updated scenarios are expected be to be presented online this Friday

[1:32:06] February 28th this will begin the final round of community feedback once we the updated scenarios

[1:32:14] are released community members are once again to share their voice and their thoughts on the updated scenarios it's

[1:32:22] very important for you to share your voice during this time is would help our team make any potential adjustments a

[1:32:29] new online feedback form as well as a form to RSVP for two Community informational meetings will also be made

[1:32:35] available at district279.org boundaries as soon as the scenarios are

[1:32:41] available Tuesday March 4th will be our community informational meeting for round two the March 4th meeting will

[1:32:48] take place at 5:45 in Northview Middle School Wednesday March 19th will be the final community informational meeting

[1:32:55] for this process and this will take place at 5:45 at oel middle school and

[1:33:01] the feedback form will close on Friday March 21st the school board expected to

[1:33:06] approve final attendance boundary changes in May and the new attendance boundaries once again will going to

[1:33:12] effect a fall of 2026 again please take advantage of these feedback opportunities your voices

[1:33:18] are important a regular part of our superintendent report as well as our Shar we share points of pride in our

[1:33:25] district by sharing our points of Pride we're taking time to recognize and celebrate the scholars staff and

[1:33:30] community members for are contributing to the accomplishment of our mission I

[1:33:35] have members of our district cabinet here to assist in sharing some examples from last month

[1:33:42] please in the area of achieving dreams each February schools and students

[1:33:48] across the district about people or events that have impacted Black Culture in our country country's history during

[1:33:55] Black History Month to kick the month off students staff and community members

[1:34:00] gathered at Park Center Senior High School on February 1st for the family and Community engagement also known as

[1:34:08] face Black History Month celebration this event was organized by the

[1:34:13] dedicated face staff members and students from the Park Center and AIO

[1:34:18] Senior High black student unions the event included a meal Boo from bipac

[1:34:25] businesses organizations and a number of

[1:34:30] performances the AIO education center spent February celebrating Black History

[1:34:36] Month with a variety of events students gathered for an all school movie to

[1:34:42] watch the six Triple 8 movie based on the true story of an all black all

[1:34:48] female Battalion during World War II students also celebrated Black History

[1:34:53] Month with the sole food sampling tasting foods such as Fried Chicken

[1:34:58] candied yams cornbread mac and cheese greens with smoked turkey sweet potato

[1:35:04] pie and peach cobbler they also visited a a Minnesota African-American Heritage

[1:35:10] Museum and gallery multiple times throughout the

[1:35:16] month on February 24th just last night students in the black student union at

[1:35:22] oio Senior High School hosted the eth annual AIO speaks a Black

[1:35:27] History Month showcase the event held in a packed Auditorium included dance

[1:35:33] performances poems spoken words a drum performance singing skits and a fashion

[1:35:39] show it was fabulous and if you ever have an opportunity to go you should be sure to

[1:35:45] attend recognized for the second Monday in February each year National

[1:35:50] African-American parent involvement day celebrates the critical Partnerships between African-American families and

[1:35:58] schools around AIO area schools several elementary schools marked the occasion

[1:36:04] with opportunities to gather strengthen community and share information with

[1:36:11] students congratulations to the district students who put their hard work and

[1:36:17] creativity on display by submitting their work to the Minnesota Scholastic art Awards work work are submitted from

[1:36:24] high schools throughout Minnesota each year the art is submitted in 16

[1:36:29] different categories Ceramics drawing photography painting sculpture portfolio

[1:36:37] fashion print making design film mixed media jewelry digital art expanded

[1:36:44] projects comic art editorial cartoon and

[1:36:49] architecture the joyful sounds of young musicians filled the air as fifth grade

[1:36:55] band and Orchestra students took the stage these last few weeks at oio Middle School to perform concerts showcasing

[1:37:03] their hard work and budding musical talents students at AIO Middle School

[1:37:11] recently competed in the Minnesota Junior High Math League which enables

[1:37:17] students to meet mathletes from other schools and provides recognition for

[1:37:22] students excelling in mathematics after competing in five meets and getting first place in two of them the AIO

[1:37:29] middle school math team placed third overall at the competition for the 2024

[1:37:35] 25 school year with 12 other teams participating in the event AIO Middle

[1:37:41] School student Parker Lincoln was first overall in the individual rounds Andrew

[1:37:48] Erikson was third and Shawn Williams placed in the top 10

[1:37:55] congratulations to Maple Grove Senior High School student Jacob ranic who was named the region five doua AAA award

[1:38:03] finalist each school in the state nominates one male and one female student with the 32 finalists being

[1:38:09] selected from those students ranic will be honored at a recognition banquet in March where the league officials will

[1:38:16] announce the four Statewide AAA Award winners at that time shout out to oio Area School two

[1:38:23] Magnet Elementary schools that received merit awards from the magnet schools of America for

[1:38:29] 2025 Zanewood Community a steam school has been named a magnet school of

[1:38:34] excellence and Weaver Lake a science math and Technology School received a 2025 top Magnet School of Excellence

[1:38:43] distinction in the area of contributing to community District 279 foundation's a

[1:38:49] nightout fundraising event took place on Friday February 7th at Edinburgh USA Golf Course the event featured a Social

[1:38:56] Hour silent and live auction activities dinner and a program attendees were

[1:39:02] encouraged to wear Western attire and a best dress cont contest was held during the event Funda raised over

[1:39:10] $1,300 and the silent auction exceeded its $115,000

[1:39:17] goal thank you to everyone who joined us for all the all abilities resource on

[1:39:23] February 20th which was hosted in partnership with the Brooklyn Park Recreation and Parks at the event

[1:39:29] students families and community members visited with representatives from the district including CVB student services

[1:39:36] special education advisory Council and adapted Sports representatives from hopin County Special Olympics of

[1:39:43] Minnesota Wilderness inquiry rise Alina Health St David Center mini hops

[1:39:51] gymnastics best buddy the Wild and ween ride also had booths

[1:39:57] in addition to many other local resources that families and community members can utilize in the area of lifelong learning

[1:40:05] Brooklyn Middle steam school held a festive celebration of culture the evening of February 13th when students

[1:40:11] families and the community came out to the school in large numbers to take part in the colorful

[1:40:16] event the Multicultural Fair included student speakers a dinner with ethnic food offerings Gam games Hannah tattoos

[1:40:24] and a fashion show with traditional clothing from countries all around the

[1:40:31] world several district schools closed out the month of January with science technology engineering and math stem

[1:40:38] themed events for their students and families the recent events included a stem night at Garden City Elementary a

[1:40:46] math night at Zanewood Community a steam school and a science and engineering night at Palmer Lake Elementary

[1:40:55] oio area schools community-based vocational assessment and training or CVB program hosted its annual

[1:41:03] manufacturing skilled trades and construction career fair on January 29th

[1:41:08] though hosted this year at Park Center Senior High School the event was open to high school students from any District

[1:41:13] High School the career fair had 26 different companies unions and organizations represented

[1:41:23] I think she's approximately 75 students from parkbrook elementary school attended the

[1:41:29] luminary lopit February 8th where the school's choir performed a concert for attendees the luminary lpet is an annual

[1:41:37] winter festival that features a candle it Trail Ice features opportunities for

[1:41:42] outdoor recreation on skis and snowshoes fire dancers music and youth

[1:41:50] events thanks to a grant from The District Two 79 Foundation Birch Grove

[1:41:55] School for the Arts has begun offering ukulele lessons for interested students during the School's art electives time

[1:42:03] the students will perform at a Showcase Event March 17th in the area of mission-driven

[1:42:10] employees the Minnesota Association of school administrators or Masa recently

[1:42:16] announced their 20125 Regional administrators of excellence and our very own superintendent Dr Kim h has

[1:42:23] been recognized as the organization's Award winner for region 9 award recipients are chosen based on their

[1:42:30] leadership concerned for students an active involvement in professional and Community Affairs along with their

[1:42:36] strong communication skills and high expectations for themselves and others

[1:42:41] congratulations Dr

[1:42:49] Hy during the last few weeks we have been we have celebrated National School

[1:42:54] counseling week paraprofessional or ESP recognition week school bus driver

[1:43:00] appreciation day and school resource officer day check out our district website to learn more about these

[1:43:06] recognitions and some of the dedicated staff members who work with our students each day thank you to all of these staff

[1:43:13] members for everything that you do four oio area schools Educators were

[1:43:20] named candidates for the 2025 Minnesota teacher of the year award in the next

[1:43:25] few months semi-finalists and finalists will be named from the pool of 142

[1:43:30] candidates with the teacher of the year being announced at a banquet in May congratulations to the

[1:43:40] nominees Stefan Wolf the music specialist at Cedar Island Elementary School was recently named Minnesota

[1:43:47] music educator education associations mmea Elementary music educator of the

[1:43:54] Year this award recognizes exemplary music teachers throughout Minnesota that

[1:43:59] have demonstrated excellence in teaching leadership and advocacy in music

[1:44:07] education all right so we just have a few final notes and reminders for this evening kindergarten orientation events

[1:44:14] uh believe it or not will be taking place during March April and May at all district elementary school sites for

[1:44:19] students beginning school in the fall of 2025 to learn more and view all orientation

[1:44:25] dates please visit our website at district279.org kindergarten hyen orientation and once

[1:44:32] again just a reminder intendance boundary timeline February 28th updated boundary scenarios will be posted online

[1:44:39] Community Information meetings will be held on March 4th at Northfield middle school and March 19th at oil middle

[1:44:45] school thank you for your continued support and that concludes tonight's superintendent report thank you Dr h

[1:44:53] our next agenda item is our Schoolboard reports uh director Dawson do you have a

[1:44:59] reporter update I do not director Foster do you have a reporter update I do um I

[1:45:06] am a member or Le aison with DPAC as part of my board duties and I was able to attend the February 10th meeting that

[1:45:13] was held virtually the speaker that evening was Angie vaton I'm hopefully pres pronouncing that correctly um she's

[1:45:20] a teacher at Park Center that's leading the bar building assets reducing risk program um and this conversation came

[1:45:27] out of the December meeting the group um has chosen to pursue digging deeper into the middle school experience of our

[1:45:33] students and how we can create a better experience at those grade levels so it was a really cool meeting thank you

[1:45:40] director Brooks yeah I attended the rise committee meeting um earlier this month

[1:45:47] and um a couple of um topics that were discussed at the meeting were one um

[1:45:53] making sure that they were aware and had a space to ask questions related to the boundary changes um so grateful to staff

[1:46:00] for being able to being willing to dive in um a little more on that topic and then also uh spent some time talking

[1:46:08] about um the concerns in the community around immigration um impacting um you

[1:46:14] know many of our students while in school but also their families while um they're in school um and so talk to a

[1:46:21] little bit about our process um and some of the communications um that have come out from the

[1:46:28] district um to manage that process um and then lastly I feel like we forgot an

[1:46:36] important uh point of EX Excellence um the two part Center grads that were

[1:46:42] featured on Love is Blind on Netflix so um I just learn about that today

[1:46:51] yeah all right dor Tate do you have a report uh yeah I do so uh ebac uh was at

[1:46:59] that which is some you know great feedback there particularly around our all the work that's happening with our

[1:47:05] Elementary and Middle School boundaries um I love the tour and the session we

[1:47:10] had at northv Middle School uh even though I realize I can't help myself when I'm in a middle school I got slap the door frame as I go through um and

[1:47:18] then uh they've had some some really great intermediate 287 meetings um and

[1:47:24] they're doing some really interesting work around reshaping the goals for the students and staff and particularly you

[1:47:31] know as you as you're not looking at traditional quantitative measures uh that can't be you know universally

[1:47:37] applied um in those communities so it's good director Mitchell yes also the

[1:47:44] recent um ecme meeting and there with Keith and we were presented reports and an in-depth analysis taking a look at

[1:47:50] the enrollment and capacity numbers in light of the bond boundary change scenarios um and I think this was

[1:47:55] helpful to get in you know breakout rooms where you're talking with District staff and community members and parents

[1:48:02] um so that they can have some of those immediate questions answered um there's also an in-depth report taking a look at

[1:48:07] the growth of the Northwest part of our district and I really encourage people I recently drove in this area and I think

[1:48:14] your eyes are really open to see the growth the explosion of growth um and just the need for these changes so if

[1:48:20] you haven't seen that yet I encourage you to take a drive and check it out so thank you and as a reminder with all of our

[1:48:27] advisor committee advisory committees um they're all available on the website

[1:48:33] most of the Committees generally have openings and are always looking for more community members um parents and parents

[1:48:39] to participate so always go look and keep your eye out um and there are um times of the year where we specifically

[1:48:46] open it up for applications so just want to make sure to make that plug um sometimes serving on those committees

[1:48:52] like with ma there's a lot of monitoring and then we get to this point where there's boundary changes and and really

[1:48:58] um that's a key group that we use to provide input to the processes so um so serving on those advisory committees are

[1:49:05] a really great opportunity to have your voice heard for me I have one report for bbay the Brooklyn Bridge Alliance For

[1:49:11] Youth um as we serve on the board for joint powers and um that was just our first meeting of the Year where we

[1:49:17] reelected our officers uh for the the board roles on that uh organization and

[1:49:25] uh reviewed our strategic plans so um that's one of the organizations that we work very closely with and I I know you

[1:49:30] get the reports and um take a look at those I also want to pause just to uh

[1:49:36] acknowledge the award the regional uh administrator of Excellence award um that Dr H received and um we have so

[1:49:44] many incredible leaders and just even with the teachers that are up for the award and um our cabinet members and um

[1:49:51] and principals and educators are winning Awards um left and right we're really are yes our students um and so this is

[1:50:00] just really uh a district of excellence and uh who leads our district in the

[1:50:06] superintendent role is really instrumental to creating that environment and Dr H has always um

[1:50:12] brought integrity and honor to her role as superintendent so congratulations and we're thankful to have you thank

[1:50:19] you our next agenda item is a presentation to be shared by John mored Executive Director of Finance and

[1:50:26] operations uh it'll be on the Maple Grove Senior High School building a better future um okay so we're GNA have

[1:50:33] a little bit of a pause because the the few presentations we have coming up got deleted off the screen so Kelly's

[1:50:39] running to grab them real quick we have them all on a flash drive just give us a sec but I'll go ahead and kind of get started because um what I'm going to

[1:50:45] show you from Maple Grove is first of all thank you chair Prince and everyone on the board kind a little flustered but

[1:50:51] we can get it um the the Maple grow project is a little bit unique in one way in that we split

[1:50:58] it so normally when you're doing projects of this size it goes out for public bid and it's one everything we do

[1:51:04] in there is part of the public bid document this project is a little over $90 million as a total um but we had an

[1:51:10] opportunity to utilize a Cooperative agreement through sourcewell which is a um an organization that does joint

[1:51:17] Powers agreements that school districts and government agencies can use to to essentially guarantee we're getting the

[1:51:22] the best pricing possible um and so thank you and so we utilize

[1:51:33] that okay we'll get there we utilize that on our um the mechanical portion of

[1:51:40] of everything that we're going to do for all the mechanical Renovations at Maple Grove senior so that ends up being about

[1:51:46] a third so about about $30 million of the project will be in the packet as you see as just an approval of um a provider

[1:51:55] via sourcewell so the nice thing for us is with that we're actually able to

[1:52:01] guarantee a certain price level which is very rare in projects of this normally we are bound by the lowest um lowest

[1:52:09] bidder in the process and the benefit for the district is the contractor that won the the state contract for the

[1:52:16] lowest bid through sourcewell is the preferred vendor that we normally use for mechanical and definitely one that

[1:52:21] has a great reputation so we're really excited to be able to do this it is new for our district um the sourcewell

[1:52:27] contract has only been available for about 3 years so it's the first time we're you're we're using them though

[1:52:32] that's the reason why you're going to see in the consent agenda there's a bid award and a sourcewell approval just

[1:52:38] again from a transparency we wanted to put both even though by using that Cooperative agreement we don't technically need to bring it in front of

[1:52:44] the school board so that is my stalling while I try to figure out what happened here quick

[1:52:57] so what I'm going to show is um all the pictures of everything that's going on and all the changes that we'll have at

[1:53:02] Maple Grove um this will open for us we'll get

[1:53:16] started all right okay

[1:53:23] so I'm just going to kind of walk you through the building and I'll Orient you on um the first couple pictures as we start outside to the upper right is a

[1:53:30] little description of the building and the direction that you're looking and this is throughout the the presentation

[1:53:36] to just kind of show what the angle is um and if you're not sure your orientation in the building where you're looking from that's what that means so

[1:53:42] this is a view as you're if you had parked down in the student parking lot and you're walking up to school oh my

[1:53:48] what are we doing um this is what that view is of you from the upper parking lot for

[1:53:56] the high school the main entry we're we're actually putting a really large addition on the front to bring it forward to add office um make some

[1:54:04] changes to the um to bathrooms in that front area

[1:54:10] and really open it up so you have a much more open entry Commons that that you

[1:54:15] would see more traditionally in in newer school buildings

[1:54:22] um this is a view coming in from the the Northern end um as you coming down towards more towards the activities

[1:54:28] there's an addition that'll come onto this corner that I'll show you in a little bit that is strength and conditioning um this is your first view

[1:54:34] of the three-story Edition on the um northeast corner of the building this is the primary academic Edition we're

[1:54:40] adding 21 classrooms down here and this is a look at where the new

[1:54:45] um much much expanded cafeteria I think we a little more than doubled the size of the cafeteria here in this school

[1:54:52] um and so we push that out into the commons which as you can still see we still have plenty of space out front to have like a outdoor seating area um and

[1:54:59] even um a potential like Outdoor Classroom type

[1:55:04] environment this is just as you're going around continuing around the corner this isn't a view you can actually have because there's trees and a dome in the

[1:55:10] way once you get over to this spot but they uh they still gave us that view so we move inside this is a look at the new

[1:55:17] front entry as you just walked in the front door uh um as you can see it's a lot

[1:55:23] more expansive and it opened up and connected so no longer do you go through a sliding door that can come down and

[1:55:29] separate off the academic Wing or separate off where the auditorium is that's all gone and open and meant to be

[1:55:36] more of a central common space so here's a look back as you see kind of the main glass front entry um and each of those

[1:55:45] areas the the new um there's an addition to the front office to add additional

[1:55:50] office space conference space and a secure front entry that we have not had at that site previously you got

[1:55:56] buzzed through and could come in the door and had to walk across to visit with Mona our lovely colleague who

[1:56:02] always took takes care of everyone at Maple Grove um now that will be in a secure vestibule similar to the other

[1:56:09] security um that we have in our other schools this is now the um for lack of a

[1:56:15] better term the living room of the school it the media center has been expanded to come out into this living

[1:56:21] area soft seating comfortable places for students to gather do homework do

[1:56:26] projects um there's actually a tech help Des within it and then the heart of the media center is just behind it but just

[1:56:33] to kind of give you an idea and this also spills into what would be the lobby area of the

[1:56:40] auditorium as a look as a couple views of inside the media center

[1:56:45] here just updates and Renovations you's still going to have kind of a bookstack area and then a more teaching area on

[1:56:51] either side and some other flexible spaces with some conference rooms this is a look at the new

[1:56:59] cafeteria so just to orient you a little bit the The Columns that you see the big ones in the middle that's about where

[1:57:05] today's cafeteria ends so everything to the left of that is n um you will also

[1:57:10] see off in the distance a very large staircase so we're connecting the second floor to the first floor with a

[1:57:16] staircase that the the part on the right is really your circulation part and the part on the left is what's called The Learning staircase it's really an

[1:57:23] opportunity to either have an Amphitheater type impromptu class or students to just hang out if they want

[1:57:29] to on it there's actually plugs and and ways to plug in if you wanted to charge devices and all that along that it's

[1:57:34] just a good place to be able to go do something else that might not be sitting at a lunch table here's a view from up above that

[1:57:41] same area um we are putting a school store in

[1:57:46] actually all three of our high schools but this is the view of what Maple Groves would look like

[1:57:53] um the kitchen in and um along with the cafeteria Renovations the kitchen is getting a full renovation here too to

[1:57:59] expand it so we will go um to five full lines to be able to serve all the students that are expected at this

[1:58:07] building this is the um what's kind of the secondary comment so today when you walk into that building if you're on the

[1:58:13] main floor and you make your way back into the academic Wing towards the The Forum room there's a bank of lockers and

[1:58:19] a kind of a staircase that goes down we're actually removing that staircase out since the big learning stair and

[1:58:25] circulation stairs onto the side and turning that into a secondary common so there's another area to be able to do

[1:58:31] again the intention is independent work options to be able to break out and do something else in another space it's

[1:58:37] also over the top of the cafeteria so if you want a maybe less noisy area than the cafeteria you can come up here and

[1:58:42] eat if you want just giving more options so now we're moving into the

[1:58:48] academic Wing so this is the hallway that's that's connecting the two together um it's a hallway it's not all

[1:58:53] that exciting um once you're in the middle this is kind of what that feels like so you have again those those

[1:58:59] different learning options down the middle and then um classrooms on either side with learning on display so we can

[1:59:05] see there's glass into the classrooms and you can see in and out very easily um also allows teachers who might be

[1:59:12] working with some students inside the classroom to be passively monitoring students who might be working on a project out in the

[1:59:18] hall uh just a good look of what a renovated classroom looks like

[1:59:25] like um in a number of places through the building we have um updated our

[1:59:30] bathrooms to provide more of a universal or a privacy bathroom option so in this

[1:59:35] case there's six bathrooms that are all individual stalls with individual doors one of them has a sink inside it as well

[1:59:42] um but it's just again is with the intention of providing more privacy and options for

[1:59:48] students um the one of the big additions that was talked about with Park Center um is CTE and so while we're just in the

[1:59:55] planning process with theirs this is what the CTE Wing will look like in Maple Grove so again where we're really

[2:00:00] focusing on that career in Tech education there's dedicated space that will be 100% renovated a big portion of

[2:00:06] the addition is driven to this and then the last piece is the

[2:00:12] strength and conditioning area which is an add-on um this is an addition for two reasons one to provide more strength and

[2:00:19] conditioning but two to add another fiet space with the growth in students we need another PE space that could serve

[2:00:25] for the class and so that's what this space is and another look when you're in it and how it connects to the existing

[2:00:30] weight room and that is it for those so that is

[2:00:36] one of of there's a few other um bid approvals that you'll see in your consent agenda this is obviously the largest one and as we were following

[2:00:43] through with our BBF um presentations we wanted to make sure as we bring the major projects forward we show everyone

[2:00:50] what they look like and so we've already you've already seen Fernbrook and Eden Brook's views in the previous

[2:00:55] presentation but those are also in for your approval this evening so um any questions I can answer for you board

[2:01:03] members

[2:01:09] questions I don't have any questions but I think it looks amazing it's very

[2:01:14] exciting yeah this um so the mess will begin the Monday after um spring break

[2:01:21] we we're actually taking over the fied portion the locker rooms down there and this strength and conditioning and

[2:01:27] getting started immediately while school's still in session so we we're been working with the school to make

[2:01:32] sure that we can shift things but the the blessing for us is the athletic locker rooms really aren't used in the

[2:01:39] spring so we can shift and use fed locker rooms as athletic locker rooms while we rebuild the athletic locker

[2:01:44] rooms and start putting this addition on and then all the other additions you'll see start to go up but they'll take a a

[2:01:50] good year before we're connecting to the building in the summer of 26 thank you for stating school is still in session

[2:01:56] school is still in session for that one yes you you will see us do that on on numerous occasions and that the reason

[2:02:02] is to try to get a little bit ahead so we can meet the goal of being done when kids come back not still working trying

[2:02:09] to work through bugs and I mean there's always little things but trying to get through the um the 98% is done by the

[2:02:15] time we get there great thank you it's um really awesome to be able to see all of the

[2:02:21] rendition and we were like was mentioned we were just atthew middle school and there's been a lot of work done already there um

[2:02:27] I love that the the way that we're re um investing in our schools more closely

[2:02:33] mirrors like the real life experience out in careers and in college um all of

[2:02:39] the natural light creates a different environment um for the students and Scholars so um this is really nice to

[2:02:46] kind of show and tell so every time we do this it's it's fun and lots more coming

[2:02:53] all right thank you thank you okay the next agenda item is the

[2:02:58] consent agenda board members our consent agenda items this evening include meeting minutes and financial reports

[2:03:04] for January 2025 organizational meeting minutes extended educational trips

[2:03:09] fundraisers Personnel items grants many construction bid approvals and several other organizational business items are

[2:03:17] there any items that you would like to remove for SE separate consideration

[2:03:23] okay seeing none is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as

[2:03:28] printed move by director Brooks is there a second second seconded by director

[2:03:36] Dawson is there any discussion all in favor say I I all

[2:03:43] oppose nay motion passes 6 to zero all right moving on to our first

[2:03:49] action item uh the first action item is the approval of the fiscal year 2025

[2:03:54] midyear budget information will be shared by Kelly vusa Director of Business Services

[2:04:01] Kelly good evening chair Prince board members and superintendent Dr H the

[2:04:06] purpose of this evening's presentation is to PR provide information on the fiscal year 2025 midyear budget

[2:04:12] revisions tonight you'll see a few places where expenditure adjustments continue to be impacted by Staffing

[2:04:17] shortages these items are noted in the presentation as onee only adjust ad Ms and will need to be added back to our

[2:04:23] fiscal year 26 adopted

[2:04:28] budget at last year's June meeting the board approved the adopted budgets for all of our budgeted funds the first

[2:04:35] column on this slide shows the adopted budget for the general fund the second column highlighted in blue are the

[2:04:41] midyear adjustments for revenues and expenditures the net change is an increase to fund balance of

[2:04:48] 98,000 this is made up of an increase of 4.7 million ion or 1.51% increase for revenues and an

[2:04:55] increase of 3.8 million or 1.21% for expenditures overall the net

[2:05:01] change is 0.14% of the combined revenue and expenditure budgets will continue to

[2:05:08] project a deficit for 25 of 741 th000

[2:05:13] included in this revision are additional new revenue and expenditure categories that are part of this last legislative

[2:05:20] session as you'll see see these new revenues are being offset by new expenditures these were not part of the

[2:05:26] adopted budget since guidance was not available at that time on the next slides for expenditures we'll have

[2:05:33] highlighted items that are one time only savings or costs which need to be added back to that fiscal year 26 adopted

[2:05:46] budget the revenue budget changes are as follows $3.2 million increase in special

[2:05:53] education due to revised formula estimates and a $1.7 million for the

[2:05:58] prior year decreased tuition costs $775,000 increase in interest Revenue a

[2:06:05] $749,000 increase for new redact teacher training which is offset by new redact

[2:06:11] expenditures for one year only this is a new Revenue category from the 23 legislative session and a

[2:06:18] $426,000 decrease in summer unemployment

[2:06:24] this slide shows several smaller items such as a $37,000 increase to tax shift for

[2:06:30] re-employment and career tax and an increase in delinquent taxes a $284,000 net increase in general

[2:06:37] education which includes a prior year under acral of $300,000 a $250,000 decrease in

[2:06:45] desegregation transportation and a $200,000 increase for endowment

[2:06:57] this slide shows the remaining Revenue adjustments for third part party billing and non-public Transportation the

[2:07:03] decrease in thirdparty Billing is offset by moving expenditures out of third party billing expenditures and into

[2:07:09] either Federal special education grants or state special education all of these amounts total the $4.7 million positive

[2:07:17] Revenue adjustment

[2:07:22] next the expenditure budget is increasing by 3.8 million from the adopted budget throughout the

[2:07:28] expenditures you'll see onetime savings or costs that need to be added to the fiscal year 26 adopted budget we analyze

[2:07:35] those expenditures in four categories salaries benefits purchase services and other so starting with those salaries we

[2:07:42] have a $3.3 million increase in FTE estimates for counselors and psychologists and contract settlements

[2:07:48] and estimates a $1.1 million decrease for open special education teachers

[2:07:54] School psychologists nurses special education esps and human resource staff

[2:08:00] those are all being offset by increases in our Consulting Services those are onetime savings then we have the

[2:08:07] $749,000 offset for the new Reda teacher training component which we just talked

[2:08:13] about the EXP the revenue piece which is an also a one-time cost we have a $741,000 decrease for about 8 three FTE

[2:08:22] teachers that were not deployed due to actual enrollment being below our projections and then a $482,000 decrease

[2:08:29] for open positions for custodians and esps and those are onetime

[2:08:37] savings we have a $474,000 decrease for 4.9 teachers not deployed due to 27 line actual

[2:08:45] enrollment being below projection those are onetime savings we have a $379,000

[2:08:51] decrease increase for attrition and allocation adjustments and those are going over to the benefit area we have

[2:08:57] $110,000 decrease for open custo Information Systems tech support staff

[2:09:02] positions and those are being offset by increases to both supplies and equipment and those are onetime

[2:09:08] savings we have $132,000 decrease then for our thirdparty billing salaries

[2:09:14] which are being moved to Federal special education grants and then a $96,000 increase for one FTE student management

[2:09:21] specialist staff for safe schools which is offset by a decrease in the purchase Services area for the school resource

[2:09:28] officer open position and again that's for one year only so this is a combined increase to salaries of 691 th000 from

[2:09:35] the adopted budget and then some of those savings are going to need to be added back for the 26

[2:09:44] adopted next we'll look at the benefit expenditures we have A1 $35,000 net

[2:09:50] increase to employer paid health insurance premiums and HSA contributions due to a combination of plan migration

[2:09:56] our plan migration was actually 21% um at our midye and then we have a

[2:10:04] $379,000 increase for both attrition and allocation this was the offset that we saw in salaries and then a

[2:10:11] $348,000 increase in our FICA this slide shows the remaining

[2:10:19] changes for benefits for TR and disability insurance and this is a combined increase in employee benefits

[2:10:24] of about 2.4 million from our adopted

[2:10:30] budget so moving on to purchase Services we had an overall increase in

[2:10:36] expenditures the largest adjustment is for $1.1 million increase in consulting services this is off offset by those

[2:10:43] Open salary positions it's a onetime cost we have a $766,000 increase in

[2:10:50] postsecondary education or PSO intermediate District 287 and other Public Schools tuition and then we

[2:10:57] have several smaller adjustments which include a 36 $376,000 decrease in utilities for

[2:11:04] electric and natural gas and then $167,000 decrease for our safe schools

[2:11:09] unfilled position then we saw that offset in salaries and that's for one year only so this is a combined increase

[2:11:16] in purchase Services of 1.5 million from our adopted budget and then some of these onetime savings will need to be

[2:11:23] added back again to our 26 adopted

[2:11:28] budget so finally moving on to our supplies capital and other expenditures

[2:11:34] we had an overall decrease of $748,000 we have a $533,000 decrease for curriculum

[2:11:40] adoptions carryover based on prior year actual spend a $444,000 decrease in intermediate

[2:11:47] District 287 lease Levy for our area Learning Center instru instuctional spaces so based on Minnesota Department

[2:11:54] of education's new coding requirements those expenditures are now required to move into our capital expenditure fund

[2:11:59] and they're part of our Capital fund um Med your rision we have $120,000

[2:12:05] increase in judgments and then $110,000 increase in supplies and equipment for

[2:12:10] that offset that we saw in um salaries for custodial and Technology positions those are a one-time cost so overall the

[2:12:17] net expenditures adjustment is 3.8 mlion more than are adopted and it's about um

[2:12:25] just short of $300,000 that are going to have to be added back for our 26

[2:12:33] adoption so next we'll review the impact of a midyear adjustments on the five-year Financial projection for our

[2:12:39] general fund and this is a highlevel visual organizer of our financial

[2:12:47] forecast so there's three different sections to this projection top section shows our revenues expenditures

[2:12:53] differences our fund balance and then our fund balance percentage for a seven-year window that begins in 23 and

[2:12:59] 24 which are shown in pink the revised budget for 25 which is in blue and then

[2:13:04] projections for 26 through 29 which is in green so you typically see any operational adjustments that would be

[2:13:10] needed under the chart there aren't any at this time so then the Assumption section shows both the revenue and

[2:13:16] expenditure assumptions for revenues they'll fluctuate between a two and a 3%

[2:13:22] increase to the general basic formul allowance and those estimates are provided by the Minnesota Department of

[2:13:28] Ed and then our expenditures are projected to increase 3% which is consistent with prior your tactics and

[2:13:34] isn't being changed currently so if we exceed those 3% of costs we'll be outside our parameters and we be deficit

[2:13:41] spending at a greater rate than what's on this projection so also included in

[2:13:47] this projection is a potential hold harmless for compensatory funding of 5.5 million for 26 only so compensatory is

[2:13:55] currently estimated to decrease for our district by about five and A5 million from our fiscal year 25 to our fiscal

[2:14:02] year 26 entitlement so this would provide the district one year to determine a plan for potential

[2:14:08] reductions in compensatory funding due to changes in how it's being calculated so there is consideration at

[2:14:15] the legislative session to maintain compensatory at that fiscal year 25 level for 26

[2:14:21] however due to the timing of the session ending and then any guidance that they can provide currently um it would have a

[2:14:27] negative impact on our staffing which needs to start um in February for 26 and

[2:14:33] that's why it's being included so this next section shows the

[2:14:39] budget projections for both revenues in blue and expenditures in red and the lines show the general trends of each of

[2:14:45] those items so as you can see expenditures are projected to outpace our revenues beginning in the current

[2:14:50] year by by 741 th000 so we don't have another lever like the operating referendum that was approved by our

[2:14:57] community for last year to account for any additional spending in the

[2:15:04] future and then this final section looks at the fund balance projection for the same time the green bars represent our

[2:15:11] actual and projected fund balances for each year and then the orange bar shows that minimum required 5% as set in board

[2:15:18] policy again the lines show the general trend for the fund balance as it relates to that minimum as you can see fund

[2:15:24] balance as a percentage of expenditures is projected to start decline in the current year so we are going to continue

[2:15:30] to monitor the financial projection to maintain that board required minimum fund balance of 5% in the

[2:15:39] future so moving on to the food and nutrition services fund the revenue and expenditure budgets are increasing for a

[2:15:45] net positive change to fund balance of 1.1 million revenues are increasing due to higher partip in the prechool meals

[2:15:52] program for lunch and breakfast as well as allart sales expenditures are increasing for increased Staffing of

[2:16:00] previously unfilled positions and then food costs due to higher meal

[2:16:06] participation the community service fund revenue and expenditure budgets are increasing for a net positive change to

[2:16:13] fund balance of 339,000 revenues increased because of moral participation in youth enrichment

[2:16:18] and kidstop programs as well as interest and then expenditures increase due to filling open positions for kid stop due

[2:16:25] to more participation the capital expenditure

[2:16:32] fund Revenue budget will be increased by 1.7 million the expenditure budget is increasing by $954,000 for a net

[2:16:39] positive change to fund balance of 77,000 revenues are increasing by 830,000 for the redact curriculum

[2:16:47] component for fiscal year 25 only a $51,000 increase for e- rate Revenue

[2:16:53] collected from 24 projects and then $500,000 in technology equipment sales

[2:16:59] expenditures are increasing mostly in additional computer purchases purchase order carryovers for technology

[2:17:06] equipment and leases partially again due to that new Minnesota Department of Education coding requirement those items

[2:17:13] previously were in the general fund and then the last fund is The Debt

[2:17:20] Service fund and that Revenue budget will be increased for a positive change of 202,000 so revenues are increasing due

[2:17:27] to incre increased interest revenue and our fund balance for June 30th 2025 is

[2:17:33] projected to be about 11.5 million or 44% of

[2:17:38] expenditures and then this last slide shows a summary of the net midyear budget revisions in those five funds

[2:17:44] that we budget for which are all positive for this revision and that concludes the presentation

[2:17:52] thank you is there a motion to approve the fiscal year 2025 midyear budget as

[2:17:58] presented so moved so moved by director Tate is there a second second seconded

[2:18:05] by uh director Foster is there any

[2:18:15] discussion very thorough as always um appreciate all of the detail I think that's really um important for our um

[2:18:23] public transparency to see this and we've reviewed this in work session as well and um so I think we just have a

[2:18:29] really fantastic process as usual as we move through this okay thank you thank

[2:18:36] you all in favor say I I I I'll oppose n

[2:18:41] the motion passes six to zero the next action item is the

[2:18:46] approval of fiscal year 2026 general fund and community service adjustments and capital expenditure budget

[2:18:53] information will be shared by John Morad Executive Director of Finance and operations

[2:19:11] John thank you chair Prince Dr H board members good evening again uh the

[2:19:18] purpose of this evening's presentation is to provide information about the um FY 26 recommended operating

[2:19:25] budget adjustments and FY 26 proposed capital expenditure budget our

[2:19:30] recommendation this evening will be that the school board approve both budgets as presented uh the recommendations are

[2:19:37] being shared this evening are part of the annual budget planning process budget decisions are made using the

[2:19:43] longrange financial planning framework or lrfp this framework includes a financial forecasting model that

[2:19:49] projects out for the next several years and provides a basis for our budget planning while focusing on financial

[2:19:55] stability and you just saw that as Kelly went through it for the current year the budget decisions are evaluating using

[2:20:01] evaluated using the collaborative approach that engages a multitude of District stakeholders budget planning

[2:20:07] includes aligning our Resources with the mission and strategic plan an assessment of the impact on productivity and

[2:20:13] essential services and compliance with legal requirements the school board engages in

[2:20:19] several work sessions through throughout the budget development process and at the February 11th work session the board

[2:20:26] heard and considered budget adjustment recommendations so this evening our

[2:20:31] first action item for your consideration is the FY 26 budget

[2:20:36] adjustments in keeping with the direction provided by the score School Board the FY 26 general fund budget

[2:20:42] adjustment recommendation includes maintaining a zerob based budget the lrfp budget summary document in your

[2:20:49] board packet gives the details of all program efficiency abandonment and redirection or pairs including the

[2:20:55] category for the change of the dollar amount and the summary of the change I'll just give you kind of quick

[2:21:01] highlight starting with Community engagement in the general um this is a $350,000 increase for repurposing of

[2:21:08] Site Staffing and Operational Support which is offset and I'll jump to the division of leadership teaching and

[2:21:14] learning where we're offsetting that $350,000 um with a few changes um but

[2:21:21] I'm going to go through the full list so the addition of boys and girls lacrosse at all high schools including coaches

[2:21:27] supplies transportation and event fees expenses are offset by participation fees and gate

[2:21:33] receipts the addition of one shuttle for oec are the oio education center students for out of school job

[2:21:39] experiences due to an increase in the number of students in the program as you recall um in previous legislation they

[2:21:47] changed the range for the transition program from 18 to 21 18 to 22 so there's more students and we need to

[2:21:53] have more opportunities there the addition of 2.0 FTE special education teachers and 2.0 FTE educational support

[2:22:01] PA professionals or professionals excuse me in voluntary pre kindergarten to support additional seats allocated to

[2:22:07] oio Area Schools the reduction of 2.0 FTE special education teachers and 2.0

[2:22:13] FTE educational support Professionals for special ed General support these FTE

[2:22:18] will be funded through Federal special Leed grants the addition of 7.21 FTE social

[2:22:25] workers to continue the current FTE previously funded with a one-year Strategic investment now funded through

[2:22:32] the increased um in pupil support Aid provided by the Department of

[2:22:37] Education and also on here in the area or the instructional and informational technology team division or

[2:22:44] it22 um is the addition of 1.0 FTE cyber security analyst and reduction of 1.0

[2:22:51] FTE application analyst to provide dedicated Staffing allocation to support

[2:22:56] continuing cyber security efforts for oio schools these changes in the general fund result in a net zero change to the

[2:23:03] budget and the last item that we always add is our annual contingency for enrollment growth Pro above um

[2:23:09] projections this is an addition of 22.1 FTE teacher contingency this proposal

[2:23:15] creates contingent budget capacity to target areas of non-projected enrollment

[2:23:21] growth with additional classroom teacher FTE if needed the final three recommendations

[2:23:28] are listed here uh the addition of 87 FTE lead leave and absence management

[2:23:34] specialist to support changes in legislation related to Paid Family Medical Leave earned safe and sick time

[2:23:40] and unemployment the addition of 433,000 300 or so to add budget capacity

[2:23:47] to support a new payroll tax for the family medical leave change changes in legislation this is the number we know

[2:23:52] today um I did find out something earlier today that said that number will change they're already increasing it so

[2:23:58] just be aware we'll we'll at least start the approval where we can um the addition of 1.0 FTE principal 1.0 FTE

[2:24:05] resource manager for n months 1.0 FTE elementary school administrative

[2:24:11] assistant for 6 months 1.0 FTE building engineer for two months and 1.0 FTE

[2:24:16] grounds person for two months to support the startup of the new Elementary School in NorthEast Maple Grove and I will turn

[2:24:23] it back to chair Prince for a possible motion to approve the FY 26 budget

[2:24:29] recommendations is there a motion to approve the fiscal year 2026 general fund and community service adjustments

[2:24:36] and capital expenditure budget as presented so move uh motion by director

[2:24:43] Mitchell is there a second second second by director Tate is there any discussion

[2:24:52] so this isn't the capital part this is just oh sorry okay let me amend that we'll come back to the capital part

[2:25:02] okay any discussion no okay uh all in

[2:25:07] favor say I I all oppose n motion pass is six to zero okay so now we'll move on

[2:25:14] to the capital thank you so to continue the number parade we'll talk about the fiscal 26 capital expenditure budget

[2:25:21] again School Board discussed this at the February 11th work session and we'll give you a quick overview of those

[2:25:27] expenditures um that we're proposing this slide shows the proposed budget for our operating Capital by each

[2:25:33] division and Department operating capital is a zerob based budget so each item included in this funding proposal

[2:25:39] was accompanied by a capital request that was moved through the lrfp process the items included in the operation

[2:25:45] operating capital budget must align with statutory guidance for designation as a capital item

[2:25:51] any staff salaries benefits included in these Capital budgets must be directly related to the acquisition operation and

[2:25:56] maintenance of telecommunications systems computers and related equipment in the with the community

[2:26:03] engagement division uh just under $73,000 to replace two staff computers

[2:26:09] replace 200 student computers for adult basic Ed purchase eight computers for facility scheduling staff and a

[2:26:15] contingency for equipment replacement with the division of leadership te teaching and learning uh

[2:26:21] 3,1 100,000 to replace sports uniforms and equipment music attire and marching

[2:26:27] band uniforms following a predetermined replacement schedule Place instruction

[2:26:33] excuse me purchase instructional materials and curriculum resources maintain concurrent enrollment offerings

[2:26:39] purchase Media Center materials maintain online software resources maintain a

[2:26:44] contingency for the career and Tech education program maintain capit Capital

[2:26:49] allocation and replace Capital Equipment and pay leases for venues hosting oh

[2:26:55] sorry we're not doing that one anymore um the in the human and administrative

[2:27:00] resource team heart 5 million about 5,200,000 to maintain our lease

[2:27:06] commitments for instructional spaces athletic facilities flexible rooms

[2:27:11] equipment camera systems and so on contingencies for equipment special

[2:27:16] assessments Insurance deductibles and security and Emergency Management purchase Capital Equipment for a new

[2:27:23] Elementary for interior and exterior maintenance replace Grounds Maintenance and custodial equipment and replace nine

[2:27:29] automated external defibrillators or aeds um and the instructional and

[2:27:35] information technology team I2 T2 division they're actually just using eate Revenue to maintain Enterprise

[2:27:41] technology licensing support internet and Cloud backup SST um backup solution

[2:27:47] so it's just a zero net charge to the district overall operating Capital total of

[2:27:52] 8,347 485 the next slide shows the proposed

[2:27:58] budget for the capital projects or Technology and Safety Levy voters approved this in 2022 at

[2:28:06] 4.71% of adjusted net tax capacity so again by division just two divisions in

[2:28:12] this group um the hearts division is utilizing just under 2 2.1 million for

[2:28:18] replacing camera and card access systems maintaining camera licenses visitor Management Systems tip lines the door

[2:28:25] intrusion system um adding additional digital two-way radios throughout the district contingency for technology

[2:28:32] related security equipment the addition of 1.0 FTE Technology support specialist

[2:28:37] to support security and emergency management technology systems and in the I2 T2 division 12,

[2:28:45] 300,000 to continue Enterprise technology positions secondary support positions and administrative support

[2:28:52] position transfer 875 FTE instructional technology ESP staff from specialed

[2:28:59] federal grants to the technology Levy maintain Enterprise technology licensing support software and licenses internet

[2:29:06] filtering Wi-Fi access and Technology repair parts maintain existing

[2:29:12] technology equipment leases maintain digital displays cyber security services

[2:29:17] phone systems software switches wireless access points mobile device management

[2:29:23] software software subscriptions and licenses the school notification system and a unified print solution maintain a

[2:29:31] device repair contingency purchase and install Wireless displays for new Elementary classrooms and purchase

[2:29:37] charging carts the total Capital Project's technology Levy is1

[2:29:43] 14,400 497 so the recommendation from the

[2:29:48] district is approval of the 20 2026 capital expenditure budget that includes operating capital and capital project

[2:29:55] technology safety Levy expenditures which total 22 m747

[2:30:01] n82 and I will turn it back to chair Prince thank you is there a motion to

[2:30:07] approve the fiscal year 2026 capital expenditure budget as

[2:30:12] presented so move moved by director Tate is our second second seconded by

[2:30:19] director Brooks is there any discussion again thank you for all of

[2:30:26] the work from the finance uh department and all of the Departments that go into um preparing this uh and we reviewed

[2:30:32] this in depth at the work session as well so um with that all in favor say I

[2:30:39] I I I'll oppose Nate motion passes six to

[2:30:44] zero okay so the approval of these budgets will allow our leadership teams to proceed with the Staffing process and

[2:30:50] begin pre-planning for items that require lead time um significant lead time for completion prior to the start

[2:30:55] of the 26th school year we will finalize the budget details as well as monitor

[2:31:01] ongoing legislative sessions and the impacts on the 2026 budget these budgets

[2:31:06] will be included with the entire budget P package discussed at the June 10th Schoolboard work session and presented

[2:31:13] for approval at the school board meeting on June 24th thank you very much thank

[2:31:22] you our next agenda item is a recommendation for approval on the agreement on the terms and conditions of

[2:31:27] employment before the between the ISD 279 school board and student management

[2:31:33] Specialists July 1st 2023 through June 30th 2025 information will be shared by yvon

[2:31:41] shortz slin Executive Director of Human Resources yon thank you chair

[2:31:46] Prince excuse me um first of all I wanted to thank the Labor Relations director and the bargaining team of the

[2:31:53] student management Specialists this is the first contract for this group um I do want to point out um the dates were

[2:32:00] just read but I do want to point out that this contract um is uh starts uh

[2:32:05] the effective date is July 1st of 2023 and it ends uh this June um this

[2:32:12] group was um um was embedded in another contract and this is a new contract so

[2:32:19] um we're we're pretty much towards the end of that contract um so again I want to thank um all of the parties for

[2:32:25] reaching an agreement um I'm just going to provide a high level overview because the board has um the redlined um uh

[2:32:34] contract as well as the memorandum and your board materials um substantively

[2:32:40] the terms and conditions of this agreement um include uh compensation contractual increases in the first and

[2:32:47] second years of the contract the first year year of the contract which again is 2023 24 fiscal year is a 5% increase to

[2:32:55] base salary the second year a 3% increase to base salary um that second

[2:33:01] year of the contract is again this current fiscal year the um agreement also includes changes in other terms and

[2:33:09] conditions of the contract uh um changes to um employer contributions to Group

[2:33:15] insurance coverage some changes to the leave of absence section of the contract

[2:33:21] and also um deferred compensation um this contract also has

[2:33:28] uh five memoranda of understanding um and they were either uh again revised um

[2:33:34] some were pulled out from the I through M contract or added to this new contract with student management Specialists the

[2:33:41] total amount of um uh of the total package of the increase is

[2:33:48] 9.01% the total Financial investment for this um group of SMS uh employees is

[2:33:56] $28,750 which is within the financial parameters established by the

[2:34:02] board it is the superintendent and my recommendation that the contract be approved and with board approval and

[2:34:09] ratification of the contract HR and payroll will begin

[2:34:14] implementation thank you is there a motion to approve the agreement on the terms and conditions of employment

[2:34:21] between the Independent School District 279 school board and student management Specialists July 1st 2023 through June

[2:34:28] 30th 2025 moved move uh motion by director Brooks is there a second second seconded

[2:34:36] by director Dawson is there any discussion so echoing uh appreciation

[2:34:44] for everybody involved um and um I'm glad that we were able to come to consensus um for this group we value all

[2:34:52] of um all of our different groups and staff members every single um group and staff member contributes um to our

[2:34:59] district of excellence and to the student experience thank you all in favor say i

[2:35:06] allose n motion passes six to

[2:35:12] zero okay the next set of action items are the second reading of policies um so we have quite a number to

[2:35:21] go through uh all of the policies up for second reading were shared in the first reading on January 21st 20125 and we did

[2:35:29] go through those one by one in detail as well uh General Council Amy Moore will share the information and we'll take

[2:35:35] action on each individual policy Amy thank you um so these policies have been

[2:35:41] posted since last month um and we have not received any comment or questions

[2:35:47] for updates um so what is being presented is what you heard at the last board meeting so the first policy 404

[2:35:55] family and medical leave for School District employees we moved up the eligibility and qualifying reasons for

[2:36:01] FMLA leave FMLA leave and uh clarified uh what those two sections uh mean meant

[2:36:09] in more precise language and then some other um um wording updates uh that

[2:36:16] you'll see um and the other change was in section um nine uh really

[2:36:26] eliminating um some wording that wasn't needed uh for clarification reasons so

[2:36:32] those were the updates to policy 404 is there a motion to approve the

[2:36:38] second reading of policy 404 family and medical leave for School Employees with proposed edits so mov moved by director

[2:36:46] Mitchell second second uh by second by director Foster um any

[2:36:53] discussion all in favor say I I'll oppose n motion passes 6 to

[2:37:00] zero policy 420 students and employees with communicable diseases and infectious conditions we are proposing

[2:37:08] the policy uh to be approved as it is there were no um updates that we found

[2:37:15] were required for the policy we did include an update to the procedure talking about how we will comply with

[2:37:22] Minnesota statute as it relates to immunizations and documentation as well as as well as some

[2:37:28] other updates regarding that we don't um keep out students for eye drainage unless there's some other uh illness

[2:37:37] involved okay is there a motion to approve the second reading of policy for20 students and employees with

[2:37:44] communal diseases as presented so motion by director Brooks

[2:37:50] second second um seconded by director Dawson any

[2:37:56] discussion all in favor say I I I'll oppose n motion passes 6 to zero policy

[2:38:03] 427 work will limits for certain special education teachers what we did is we um

[2:38:10] removed the procedure which just included the definitions that you see now in the

[2:38:17] policy okay is there a motion to approve the second reading of policy 427

[2:38:23] workload limits for certain special education teachers with proposed edits moved by director Tate is there a second

[2:38:30] second uh seconded by director Foster is there any discussion all in favor say I I all

[2:38:38] oppose nay motion passes six to zero policy 442 travel uh we added a

[2:38:45] purpose and general statement of the policy consistent with other policies uh that we have um and then reference the

[2:38:53] fact that taxier ride share services are now in

[2:38:58] use is there a motion to approve the second reading of policy 442 travel with

[2:39:03] proposed edits so mooved motion by director Brooks is there a second second

[2:39:09] second by director Foster is there any discussion all in favor say I I all

[2:39:16] oppose nay motion passes six to zero policy 705 on investments um the updates

[2:39:24] you will see uh are to at that you will see with this and um other policies to

[2:39:30] come are to align the language with u Minnesota school boards Association

[2:39:35] policy language um as well as including scope and purpose and general statements

[2:39:41] of the policies is there a motion to approve the second reading of policy 705

[2:39:48] Investments proposed edits so moved Mo by director Mitchell second second by

[2:39:54] director Dawson any discussion all in favor say I I all

[2:40:00] oppose nay motion passes six to zero policy 706 Investments for other

[2:40:08] post-employment benefits trust um similar to the last we updated to

[2:40:14] include scope and purpose and general statement that aligns with Minnesota school board's Association policy

[2:40:19] policies um as well as with that one kind of clarifying that officials and employees part of investor prous uh sh

[2:40:27] act professionally really setting our expectations for our employees uh when they're involved in these um

[2:40:36] Investments is there a motion to approve the second reading of policy 706 Investments other post employee benefits

[2:40:42] with proposed edits so motion by director books second second seconded by

[2:40:48] director Foster is there any discussion all in favor say I I all

[2:40:53] oppose nay motion passes six to zero policy 722 public data and data

[2:41:00] subject requests uh for that policy we updated to include um an a section

[2:41:08] section J informing uh individuals of their rights um under data practices and

[2:41:14] kind of what that process would look like is there a motion to approve the

[2:41:19] second reading of policy 722 public data and data subject requests with proposed

[2:41:27] edits motion by director Dawson second second seconded by director

[2:41:34] Brooks any discussion all in favor say I I all

[2:41:39] oppose nay motion passes 6 to zero policy 730 fund balance uh we updated

[2:41:47] the language to align with Minnesota school board's Association policy and to make sure the language is consistent

[2:41:53] with other policies that you have now passed is there a motion to approve the second reading of policy 7:30 fund

[2:42:00] balance with proposed edits so moved moved by director Tate second second seconded by director Foster is there any

[2:42:08] discussion all in favor say I I'll oppose n motion passes 6 to zero policy

[2:42:15] 731 post issuance debt compliance policy uh the updates are really to the titles

[2:42:21] of this policy for consistency is there a motion to approve the second reading of policy 731 post

[2:42:27] issuance debt compliance with proposed edits motion by director Brooks is there

[2:42:33] a second second second by director Mitchell any discussion all in favor say I I'll

[2:42:40] oppose nay motion passes 6 to zero last one uh policy 740 electronic signatures

[2:42:48] this was a newer policy to us last year um and because it's in the 740s we're

[2:42:53] keeping it a part of the three-year cycle there were no proposed updates um since we passed it

[2:43:00] recently is there a motion to approve the second reading of policy 740 electronic signatures as

[2:43:09] presented so Move Motion by director Tate seconded by director Rooks any

[2:43:14] discussion all in favor say I I I'll oppose name motion passes 6 to

[2:43:20] Z thank you all right the final action item is gifts to the

[2:43:26] district is there a motion to approve gifts to the district totaling $66,872

[2:43:33] 18 all moved by director Foster is there a second second seconded by director

[2:43:39] Brooks um is there any discussion thank you so much to everybody who um gives in this way to

[2:43:46] continue to support our district every single month it's um you know large numbers after large numbers and it

[2:43:52] really makes a difference in what we're able to offer our students um in addition to our

[2:43:59] funding all in favor say I I all oppose nay motion passes 6 to

[2:44:05] zero okay at this time we'll take a brief recess and then reconvene in the

[2:44:10] Forum room for a closed session the session will close be closed pursuant to

[2:44:15] Minnesota's statute 13d do3 for labor negotiations with aesp esps kid stop

[2:44:23] instructors RNs and LPN is there a motion to recess the regular meeting for 10 minutes and

[2:44:31] reconvene in the Forum room for a closed session motion by director Mitchell

[2:44:37] second by director Dawson all in favor say I I'll oppose

[2:44:44] name motion passes 6 Z this meeting is recessed at 8:41 p.m. the school board

[2:44:51] meeting will adjourn at the conclusion of the closed

[2:45:17] session for