Edina Public Schools — Transcript
Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Agenda Approval
Board Transition and New Member Orientation
Committee Assignments for 2024
Board Officer Roles and Positions
Board Liaisons and External Representatives
Closed Session Motion - Legal Matters
Votes (5)
Approval of Agenda
Dissent: None
Moved by Unknown [Early in meeting] · Seconded by Unknown [Early in meeting]
Chair called meeting to order on December 4th with a quorum present. Technical difficulties with live streaming were noted; the session is being recorded to ensure public access. The chair explained open vs. closed session procedures under Minnesota law.
Committee Assignments for 2024
Dissent: None
The board proposed committee structure with Finance and Facilities (chaired by Michael with Jen and Elliot), Governance (chaired by board chair with Karen and Dan), Policy (chaired by Karen with Michael and Jen), Teaching and Learning (chaired by board chair with Cheryl and Elliot), and LAC (with Cheryl and Dan). Discussion focused on ensuring new members receive proper orientation from current committee chairs and balancing workload across members.
Board Officer Roles and Leadership Development
Dissent: None
The board discussed proposed officer roles for 2024. The chair indicated intent to continue as Chair to build leadership capacity among newer members, with emphasis on developing succession planning. Michael assigned as Treasurer (chair of Finance and Facilities), Dan as Vice Chair/Clerk, and others assigned to assistant roles. The chair noted plans to discuss the role of chair and required skills at the January retreat.
Board Liaisons and External Representative Assignments
Dissent: None
The board assigned members to external liaison roles including MSBA, AMSD, Talent Development, Student Voice, Special Education Advisory Committee, World's Best Workforce, Community Education Services, Meet and Confer, and school site representatives. Discussion included time commitment expectations for each role (ranging from monthly to quarterly meetings) and efforts to balance workload. The board noted these assignments would be revisited in summer.
Motion to Enter Closed Session
Dissent: None
Moved by Board Chair [End of public session] · Seconded by Unknown [End of public session]
The board chair made a motion to enter closed session pursuant to Minnesota Statute 13D.05 Subdivision 3B to discuss threatened litigation against the district, legal advice regarding allegic claims, and the district's options for response. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. The chair explained this was one of three closed session topics for the evening (legal issues, contract negotiations, and employee reviews).
Notable Quotes (10)
we were having some technical difficulties with live streaming tonight and so this is um a recorded um work session which does not usually happen but we wanted to make sure the public was able to view it
the state of Minnesota allows um this is an open session where members of the public are here and then you'll hear after we talk about this I will make a motion to go into Clos session which means members of the public can't view it and there are very few specific things the state allows us to go into close session for
I would ask whoever is the chair of the committee now like so you're the chair of teaching and learning that you would meet with me if I'm the incoming chair of teaching and learning and sit down and say this is the process that I've utilized that I think is most effective this is where we are this is where we're going
for Lac we set up a meeting already for with Dr Stanley for the week before the break I believe and so Cheryl will send you an invite to that um if you want to come to that it's basically and and Dr Stanley and colly bus talk about the transition of the LC
I really like how we're getting a little bit of different flavors from that standpoint and you know whether you're the leader of it or not I think it's just a matter of the participation is really important
I unless someone objects would plan on being chair next year um not because I think I'm the only one that can be chair I think it's more of issue of getting people to get some more experience on the board
I think that's super important that we build leadership capacity um so that's intentional um and that is one thing that I want to talk about at our January um Retreat which is the role of the chair what skills do we feel people need to do do we need to limit the scope of the chair um I think that's an important conversation that we need to have for the longevity of leadership of their board because we do have a lot of newer board members and um if I got hit by a bus tomorrow we need to make sure they have people that are prepared to be leaders
msba It's relatively minimal there's um a weekly sorry a regular call like kind of a Cofe in um they call dist and then you can go person never so it's like a once a month yeah virtual meeting
I think I'm I think I'm fine because I'm not doing any schools at all and people are divided does that sound good for anyone
I'm now going to make a motion to go into close session um pursu to Minnesota statute 13 d05 subdivision 3B um to the board is able to go with a close session with the school board's legal council regulated to litigation that has been threatened against the district the school board seeks legal advice on the status of the of the matter allegic claims against the district and the district's attorney analysis of the same and the district's options for responding to such claims
Ordinances & Resolutions (2)
School board committee policy provided to new board members as training material
State statute authorizing closed session for discussion of threatened litigation, legal advice, and district response options