[Music] [Music] good evening and welcome to the April 24th 2014 regular meeting of the Diana School Board we do have a quorum this evening like to call the meeting to order first item on the agenda is the approval of minutes we had a special meeting and a regular meeting on March 17th a special meeting on March 27th and a special meeting on April 15th uh can I get a motion to approve those minutes so moveed so moved in seconded to approve those minutes uh because uh David Goldstein is joining us by phone uh we will have roll call votes this evening uh any addition or corrections to the uh minutes as written seeing no will now proceed to a roll call I I I I I I thank you sir motion carries we do have a series of recognitions tonight uh Rick could you start us out there I will uh if we could have Mark Kaki come up Mark is one of those amazing spellers seventh grade red Valley View right here Mark taking first place in the S County Metro Regional spelling [Applause] be and Mark where are you headed now the national spelling be wow and when is that May 25th through the 31st so talk a little bit about your experience of going to that Regional level and uh what was the word that of course we we got to know what was the what was that big word for you and then a little bit how you're preparing for going out to Washington so for the regional be I originally I started with the school bee and I won that in a tiebreaker round and I wasn't expecting to win the school be and then so we had a region uh Regional qualifying test that was online after that and it was only with words that were on the study list so I did pretty well at that and I wasn't too worried but I didn't expect to win the Regionals and then eventually it got down to like maybe the F last five people I started getting really nervous and I was like I was wondering like am I going to win and that was the first time that thought really crossed my mind and my winning word was Serenity so we're going to ask the board chair how to spell that no so what when do you head out now you head out to Washington and what are you what are you thinking you're going to experience out there I mean it's just a great leadership experience for you and you've already done great work so what what do you think it's going to be like well I I'm pretty excited because the national spelling beat is a pretty prestigious competition and I'm als so excited to meet new people who share my interests well Mark on behalf of the entire Community congratulations and we're going to wish you the best of luck out in [Applause] Washington Avery HKS if he's here Avery there he is an eighth grader at Valley View and this is is a new one for me Avery sculpture mhm gold medal National Scholastic art and writing competition talk a little bit about your interest in sculpting and uh what this uh award's about and a little bit about your your love of sculpting well this is my first year sculpting and um my second year uh doing this competition I like to do photography a lot but sculpture I just wanted to try to do every single category that there was and sculpture sounded like a really good idea and the sculpture is about how like our consumer-driven culture has kind of gotten out of hand and we need to take control of it and take better care of our natural resources and I don't know if people have seen the work but it's very clever it's very creative and it tells much more than just sculpting I mean it really does tell uh your commitment or your interest in the environment and so congrat congratulations to you I wish you best luck in the future and it's quite an honor [Applause] congratulations Michael Tang Michael is a ninth grader at Valley View and Michael is going to be recognized twice today for his his great work uh Michael do you like math yes I think so I think so um you were in first place in the Minnesota State High School Math League state tournament which you won in overtime is that correct talk a little bit about that competition and what did it mean to win in overtime how does that all take place um well they call up the 10 best People based on a qualifying round and you write your answers it's about it's at most two minutes per questions it's really quick and you write your answers on whiteboards and so how would happened in overtime um well this one person during the last question we thought he had the answer right but I think he wrote down some numbers strong so we were actually still tied so there were a few people left in overtime and it was sudden death so the so the first person to answer a question correctly would win and so the for the first overtime question I was the only one to answer it and so I won wow Michael that's as a nth grader and then you had a perfect score in the American mathematics competition your one of nine in the nation to get that perfect score unbelievable [Applause] so what's the interest of math what what do you enjoy about it so much H you know just tell us a little bit about that we've got some young scholars out here that are just early in their years um the importance of math and if you could talk a little bit about that'd be great um well my interest for math started last year at a state math counts competition uh I joined the middle school math team and so we qualified for the state competition I like math mainly because um I I think of it like sort of a puzzle or a game you get to learn new things discover new things by yourself and that's why I like math well I tell you what Michael that's quite a quite an accomplishment we wish you the best in the future and congratulations these great accomplishment [Applause] good job now we want to recognize our triaa award winners for uh this school year at Edina High School so Mark bran and Jessica Bentley if they could come forward two very active people at ad High School Mark uh is very active in takes on challenges with ap National Merit semi-finalist a band member football player and being recognized as a AAA Award winner uh busy guy yeah what what drives you like that um just I I feel like I'm a motivated individual kind of just challenging myself being well-rounded both academically athletically and and extracurriculars so that's great and next year your plans are uh I'm going to Cornell to study engineering so it's going to be fun so how was some of the experience you have here do you think help you U not just in college but into the future that you had this broad experience you were very active you had a lot of leadership opportunities well I hope to maintain these types of involvements for instance um I was involved with the jazz band at idana high school um as a guitarist so I hope to get involved with that in at Cornell so Jessica uh same type of schedule I mean it looks like all kinds of AP courses um band and Orchestra National Merit commended scholar Nordic ski track and field so softball and cross country do you sleep uh no not enough so again talk about why what's the passion I mean you're active all year around in activities um what what drives you um I really don't like to have downtime I like to have just a tight schedule it just keeps me focused and kind of um helps things to work out better I mean just like time management keeping everything going all the time that's great and your plans for next year um I'll be at St Olaf College in um I'll be playing softball for sure and then in band and maybe cross country I think you're going to be busy Mark and Jessica congratulations on this great [Applause] recognition oh Jessica wait we've got one more that's right we've got a double winner because you also were recognized as the rose no the Athena Award winner and that's a Rec for a top women's athlete and so we congratulate you on that as well so [Applause] congratulations now we've got the Idina hockey team joining us making their annual visit is that what this is guys come on we'll make a couple rows if we can right there there's a lot of you so the guy in the white shirt Captain guy congratulations thank you very much so let's talk a little bit about the season about your memories um some of the highs and lows of a hockey season for the ad Hornets uh I mean obviously teams have up and downs uh we knew that we weren't going to be perfect but uh I think coaches stressed enough that if we dedicate our 96 days um to the season that the outcome would be pleasing and and and sure enough it did um and we're fortunate that we came up on top and I couldn't ask for a better group of guys um and the community it was just an amazing experience so there are just people who dream including the superintendent being on the ice so you wouldn't want that but what is that experience on the ice at that State Tournament game finals national anthems playing they're about ready to drop the puck what what's that emotional feeling you're having uh I mean when it's happening you don't really know that there's 18,000 around you but um I mean beginning of the game it's yeah a little jittery but uh as soon as the uh buzzer rang and we we got the victory it was uh incredible and I mean words can't describe what we were feeling and uh I mean just great to be the best team in the state um at the end of the season it just hard work pays off great so what I'm going to do guys is I'm going to pass mic along if you give us your name your grade level if you're um a graduating senior if you could give us maybe your plans for next year we'll just send it all the way down and then we want to make sure we get the coaches in here as well but we'll start off I'm Dylan mquest and I'm a junior I'm Matt masterman I'm a junior Colin mson I'm a senior I don't know yet I'm Sam F I'm a junior uh Alec aich I'm a senior and I don't know yet I'm kefir bells and I'm a sophomore Tyler Nanny and I'll be playing Juniors at sou Falls next year and then off to Ohio State I'm Paul Meyer and I'm a junior uh Ryden zorf sophomore uh Kobe B Junior uh I'm Ben Foley and I'm a junior uh Casey dornbach sophomore Andrew O a senior and I'm undecided for next year uh Henry bulby and I'm a junior I'm Calvin Pew I'm a freshman Garrett wayon I'm a sophomore Patrick Howard Jr Parker Miss MH Jr Kurt Gil senior Dave Lan Grandpa Dan delandis dad dick blon senior citizen and I don't know yet and Dave twilliger coach coach stes we got to ask you a couple questions here sure so this was a lot of change in this team from uh your previous Championship how did you build it and you've got this range of athletes from freshman through seniors talk about how you uh from a coaching standpoint and from a leadership standpoint how this you gel this together I think the biggest thing was we lost 12 kids from our championship team last year and everybody kind of counted us out in this whole process but as you can see uh we're very very fortunate to have not only uh great athletes but really really good quality kids and that's the key to the whole program um you can find good hockey players in a lot of different places but it's the quality of the kids the character of the kids that really makes a difference in how successful we are uh we have a wonderful coaching staff that been together for a long period of time but we have a great opportunity here in a great Community to work with great kids I mean we're very very fortunate we feel very fortunate as far as the team chemistry pulling the team together and things like that we had great leadership from within the team that just didn't mean the seniors it meant all the classes from freshman all the way up through seniors and they just jelled at the right time they all got along um As We Knew It Anyway so I there are certain disagreements and those types of things they kids but um I've got to give them an awful lot of credit um they came together and played I think uh I've been doing this and mo uh coaching staff been doing this for 15 years now and this was maybe the best team we've ever had it really has it really is their skating abilities their Puck handling abilities um the mental approach to the game this team here um I give them the credit of being one of the top teams we've ever had well Edina hockey Hornets congratulations [Applause] s incture like congratulations team next we welcome conquered so Rick if you could talk about your state championships at this time well yeah I don't know if we uh not yet we're we're just grooming so far um well thanks Rick sanad principal conquered Elementary School and uh we're here to share so lots of great things happening at conquer we had a food drive going this week uh there's a little story on KSTP yesterday um so that was fun to uh to share some of that good news uh the the Wildcat Wellness team is up and uh doing great things that conquered we planting seeds for our garden coming up so uh lots of great stuff happening uh tonight we want to share a little bit uh of a real partnership project and uh so I'm going to introduce and then we'll let the uh the kids uh share some of the story and and Miss Holland so Lori Holland our media specialist is here um Phoebe zamoff is here K Shapiro yeah you can wave or say hi uh Jay Shapiro uh Emma Richards and Lily Whiteside are here to share uh some of their experiences and with that I'm going to turn it over to Lori well over the past few years uh at conquer we've noticed that the uh kids have demonstrated a growing love of mobile devices uh and at the same time uh conquer has been investing quite a lot of money in iPads and Chromebooks um and it quickly became clear to me that it was time for a library in my pocket campaign with access to any internet connect mobile device students had the ability to bring an entire library's worth of books and resources with them almost anywhere they went no need to sit and play games on your device when you can just as easily download and enjoy a book or so the librarian supposes the library in your pocket website includes valuable reference resources like our online databases our library catalog and brain pop a school favorite it also includes favorite resources like tumble books and Starfall but new this year is something called Mac and Via Mac and Via is a collection of more than 200 ebooks which began as an ed fund Grant and continues with great support from our PTO it contains both fiction and non-fiction titles at all levels specifically chosen for the students and teachers at conquered in fact many of the titles were selected especially to support our science and social studies curriculum and the new language art standards with their emphasis on reading non-fiction the intent was teachers could use the books for whole class instruction by projecting them on their smartboards or the students could use them for research or homework help on devices and computers in the classroom and at home students and families are enjoying the free resource because it ensures their children are never without books and teachers are finding the ebooks to be valuable teaching tools schols and those accountable to sticking to a budget like mac and Via 2 because for $50 or less an entire class can log in and have access to the same title at the same time that's for selected titles only being able to put the library in our pockets this year has been exciting we continue to find new ways of using the resource and new titles we are anxious to add this is not to say however that we're ready to give up our print collection students still love coming into the library to browse for books talk about books get book recommendations check out books and read books printed on paper what they appreciate however is being able to have the choice of what kind of book to read so here are a few of our biggest ebook readers to share what they like most about reading ebooks my name is Phoebe and I like reading ebooks because sometimes a paper copy isn't available but you can get the ebook book and it's easy to carry around a lot of books at once no matter where you're going I'm Kay and I like reading ebooks because you can get them from the school or public library no matter where you are or even if you're on vacation and if an ebook isn't available you can get an email when it's ready to download I'm Jay and I like reading EB buts because you never have to worry about overdue butts because they returned automatically and you never have to worry about losing or damaging your book hi I'm Emma and I like reading ebooks because if you come to a word that you cannot comprehend you can click on it to see the definition and the correct pronunciation of the word you can also bookmark as many pages as you desire I'm Lily and I like reading ebooks because it's easy to turn the page with just one click you you can also just you can also jump to any chapter um in the book at on the table of contents great job kids thanks not all students at conquer have embraced ebooks like these students have however we're pretty sure uh use of our library and my pocket website and mac and Via ebooks will continue to grow and we look forward to watching that happen and continuing to to develop the resource uh with new things in the coming years thank you and uh wanted to take a moment to see if you had any questions uh for staff or students and uh I think we have some future maybe spelling be Champions here given the uh I like the vocabulary idea that was good so any any questions or uh comments for our students or staff do you tend to have uh more selection from ebooks than the actual printed books on the shelves yeah there tends to be a lot more ebooks in in the library on the computer or tablet or any place then there is in the printed copy on the library I mean yeah I think I think you mean that you can f you can get the book more easily um in the ebook collection because there aren't as many kids yet with e-readers and so the books are more likely to be available in the ebook collection than on the Shelf where there are longer longer um more kids using the resource the books the printed books and longer waiting lists but do you have a wider I mean do you have more ebooks than you have act no no no we have um they're the same okay well we only have uh 200 ebooks in our Mac and Via collection and um maybe 50 more in um assorted other collections so um we have far fewer ebooks uh we have hundreds and hundreds of print books how find a book you want to read do you I mean is it do you go to your ebook collection knowing here's the title I'm looking for or are there resources on library and my pocket to help you find a book on library and my pocket there is um you can search by genres or grades or um anything that you would like to do if you're just looking for a book and you don't know what you're wanting to find yet you wanted to add something else oh yes I just wanted to point out that um there is more room um for ebooks in the collection because um having actual paper books takes up more space in shelves any other questions for students if not uh thank you for uh having us here to tonight to share a little bit about uh library in your pocket at conquered Elementary School thanks thank you all next up I'm going to make a slight tweak to our agenda and allow Dr Dron to provide his leadership update and that might provide some additional background for some of our speakers who are here tonight to share their thoughts thanks Rick good evening board members and community members and attendance um I'm going to kind of play the coordinator of the uh report we're talking on a variety of topics we're gearing up for the 20145 year we're wrapping up on a lot of work that we've done this year and so this really is a a a summative report of our board agenda so it'll give the board opportunity to to have some discussion that will also be addressing later on in the meeting in a variety of discussion items uh our first area of uh discussion is uh around our budget planning and I've got Margo Bach here our director of business uh who will provide an overview of that work again here's here's the timeline that we work from for building our 20145 budget it's built on a very strong projections uh model that's been very successful for us we actually start in December and in January where the board learns of the projections built by the business department and some of the projections uh we then set our established targets of what we're trying to to reach so that we can be fiscally responsible Al continue to provide quality programming uh February and March are times when uh this year our administrative team uh looked and explored how we could uh make our budget adjustments and our enhancements within that budget uh February 17th we presented some initial information to the school board uh and then tonight is our first time where we'll be presenting the budget recommendations as it relates to the uh alignment work both uh adjustments or reductions revenue reallocations and then some possible enhancement programming uh March 17th is when the board would approve that this concept and the work here but the total budget is not approved by the school board till June 16th I'll let Margo kind of take over and uh give you an overview of our budget work this is a chart that uh we look at often in finance and Facilities committee it's uh where we started our work in December um we take a multi-year planning approach versus just one year to look at the long range plan and see uh where we are financially and balancing revenues to expense historically we've had um a stable fund balance in in Idina which is good fiscally responsible um we just want to look in out in the future planning um uh balancing the revenues to expenditures so we avoid that trajectory and and um making adjustments along the way on an annual bases certainly help that uh the next chart shows uh there's just a red section over to the right and up on top that shows the revenue to expenditure Gap so to speak um if we uh Carri that out to 15 16 and Beyond you would see that get a little bit wider so um we've taken actually for a number of years here we've taken a multi-year approach to the adjustments and continue to do that uh we have a history of uh adjustments as many districts do uh in various categories Administration uh direct instruction uh revenue allocations and instructional support uh we try to uh keep away from that direct instruction but uh we are 80% of our budget um primarily goes to instruction or structural support but over that period of time we have reduced 6.9 million in total of adjustments uh and on an annual basis just for reference uh we have just under $100 million budget we have um looking we've looked at several areas uh if we made no adjustments this year uh what would that do uh again we're looking at a multi-year approach um but uh would we be able to St assist stain and maintain at that 8% fund balance um and then also looking at net adjustments uh of 500,000 or 750,000 and showing that impact if we make an adjustment in 1415 how that helps us moving out to 1516 and and keeps those dollars at a more re reasonable level in what in terms of what we need to adjust in 1516 assuming um all the assumptions uh stay the same in terms of enrollment and state aid etc etc and so as we move forward with the plan we're presenting T tonight it's just a little over that 750 uh th000 amount on an ongoing basis and then there's some one-time funds out of fund balance so we are using or uh spending down a little bit of the fund balance for onetime reasons so if there's no budget adjustment this year we would be looking in 2015 2016 in cutting 2 million in order to maintain the 8% fund balance that's what that is telling us that's what that chart is telling us thank you and my if I could insert a question here too on this similar topic with the information you just presented I had a question by email from a Community member this evening that summarizes a lot of um I think she wrote this question very well asking if we could explain to the community why budget cuts are still needed and why why is spending outpacing funding especially in light of recent legislative funding so it's the Gap that you showed on there yes if we go back to that um so when we receive increases in state funding which we very much appreciate and we did in last legislative session we received a percent and a half um in 1314 and again we will in uh percent and a half in 1415 that is on about 70% of our Revenue budget and and so it's not when we um talk about a percent and a half that generates just a little over a half a million dollars for us on the new formula a percent on expenditures is just under a million dollars and so that's where uh there we constantly do have to balance our budgets because the revenue coming in does not match the the expenditure needs and um it is what districts have to do do now uh and it's commonly um um assumed that the um when the state does increase the funding that it is on all of our rent revenues and it is a portion a significant portion of our Revenue but it is not all of them and again we very much appreciate that Revenue we uh targeted then initially different levels of adjustments and uh starting at 250,000 and working our way up to a million dollars again we uh landed right around the 750 50,000 Mark in terms of ongoing and then some one-time uh dollars that we'll explain further here so we were looking both at at reductions or new revenues or reallocation but we're also looking at saying are there some programming adjustments we need to make to enhance our work as we look at our strategic plan as we look at our mission so we're looking both at uh alignment uh adjustments and enhancement adjust so we did have a task force task force was made up of Elementary principles secondary principles district office administrators uh again seeking their input on this effort a lot of the information that was information that we had gathered over the years because really there there are only so many places you can go and over the last seven years we've worked hard at Trying to minimize any impact uh that we have to the classroom and yet uh over the past years we've seen class sizes grow and we've tried to minimize impact to staff because we know staff impact the learning and so we've really tried to make our adjust M and if you go back to that one of those first graphs you'll see that we really did try to keep the the dollars away from where the instruction is occurring um as that task force went through the study they were looking at a variety of ways of measuring is this something we should bring forward one is that we had to make sure we State and State federal laws as well as follow District policy uh are we supporting the mission and the Strategic initiatives that we're driving forward uh for that success of all Learners uh are we making sure we have quality programming and then is this financially sustainable able so is the reduction that we're making sustainable is the new revenues going to be sustainable long term uh can can we make sure that this will hold for us to be fiscally responsible so the budget adjustments uh generated through this Pro process um total a little over $1.1 million and the ongoing enhancements and as dressen said we had conversations about enhancements and reductions uh and aligning dollars uh those enhancements are a little over $260,000 for a net budget adjustment total of $859,000 um to the general fund and then additional one-time enhancements for the 145 year that would be uh taken out of fund balance of almost 460,000 so part of the uh general fund adjustments uh are Revenue adjustments so they do not in uh impact uh particular individual or program uh their revenue generation they were listed on that historical chart as a category that we look to to try to identify areas of Revenue third party billing um we are seeing increases in that funding source also we have a one card and a payment plus in terms of our accounts payable uh that we're re seeing some additional revenues on those dividends um usage of of our tobacco settlement Revenue uh slight increase in our building fees and then also increased activity uh Student Activity fees um to the general fund so 160,000 of uh just a little over 160,000 of Revenue generation in terms of reallocation we have uh higher than expected retirees this year uh and we do realize some savings uh uh with uh hiring newer staff uh that is at a different pay scale or pay level than um more senior staff and so we're able to um account for that in the adjustments also media clerk expenses um going um being transferred or reallocated I should say to the technology Levy area also our uh intermediate for special ed services 287 some savings there we have some students graduating out of a program and then um uh a reallocation of Strate IC implementation dollars where we had those dollars set aside in an ongoing fashion in the budget and you will see that uh later in the enhancement side that we're suggesting or recommending that that um that be a one-time versus an ongoing budget item so some of the creative work we did was uh media clerks and this was an area last year that we had to look at reductions and we reduced those by 0 five was we wanted to sustain this program but uh again it was an area of support service that we we were trying to figure out how could we continue to provide that what we're able to do is take some of our technology Levy dollars again those are targeted for technology 150,000 of those dollars we're going to be retraining our media uh clerk position so that they will be able to respond to some of the technology uh needs in the schools that we're going to continue to see very much what coner uh presented tonight we're going to continue to see that growing in all our schools so we know that that media clerk position can be asset to us if they grow their skill sets uh we're going to at the end of the year then do an assessment to say was it successful was this a good place to put this 150 $150,000 but this is a a refinement that we're doing uh through that process for our media clerk positions so we're not making any changes in that 0. five position for this year uh additional re reductions and we had adjustments in revenue and realignments and now these are reductions uh we did a half% districtwide uh reduction in in the cost centers or program areas that everybody would take a half percent reduction um there's 0. five uh teacher on special assignment reduction um elementary math science U par professionals and some special education Staffing realignment so there's um an enhancement in special ed for uh some Kindergarten com um staffing needs and also a reduction for special education and also realignment so again drilling a little bit deeper on that on that point five the task force decided that we would go districtwide um so districtwide by department but because special ed was already taking reduction we didn't ask for them to go deeper so they were not part of that 140,000 Elementary again because of our work with the uh recommendation to go forward with an elementary uh science and math per we did not have them but the middle school and high school that's where they had to make some adjustments with uh .5 FTE teacher at the middle school and at the high school you can see again a reduction of a02 FTE and then some other areas where they're saving some of their dollars but again it was across the board both at a districtwide level So within the district office uh in some of the specific areas like our building and grounds and some areas like that as well as uh by our program areas the Elementry math science par plan was an $86,000 savings um again it was looking at saying this is important work we've been trying to hang on to this this has been uh through the Berg process it's been you know a position these positions have been always something that we've tried to examine tried to hold on to um we recognize it's important we recognize the value of it has on the science and the math programming um and in the problem solving working with Elementary principles we started looking at how could we possibly do a reassignment much like we've done this in the past year with our media position and these are tough choices that we're trying to sort out uh We've started looking at restructuring the day using Capital dollars uh in different ways so that we maybe have to buy more materials that would be a one time rather than an ongoing looking at volunteers again encouraging teachers in a teaming setting maybe trying to find some efficiencies around that as well but we know there has to be more problem solving working with the teachers on how that could work special ed real assignment um maybe I'll ask Penny Codd to uh just share a little bit about some of the realignment work that we're doing in the special education arena in terms of some of theing changes excuse me um we are have taken uh some of the contracted uh money that we've used in the past For Occupational therapists and um certified occupational therapist assistance and we were able to take that money and create a staff position uh that would become uh part of the regular staff in the district we also um have taken um money that existed to create two positions 1.5 position team leader facilitators at the high school and at South youu became really evident that we did not have the support we needed in those two settings and then we have um created some uh reductions in pair professionals that are across the district from Early Childhood special education through the high school uh with no particular building taking a significant cut in that area but is being shared across the district thank you Benny uh so now we're to the enhancements the ongoing enhancements then would be uh kindergarten pair of professionals um special educate as I referred to earlier special education um Staffing to support the transition to the all day K program into the general fund which also uh relates to the kindergarten pair of professionals uh relates to that transition of Al de K into the general fund uh success centers in summer eel program uh language translation services and then Saturday school and the athletic supplies and equipment uh both of those are enhancements but they also had funding sources so uh we want to note those that uh we are addressing those enhancements but identified funding sources for both of those so you that's why you see zero dollars there in ongoing um dollar amount so ongoing enhancements of a little over 260,000 could you explain maybe a little bit more um for um our community about the change in kindergarten pair of professionals now that we've moved to full day across the board rather than the way we had um a full day um paid program fee fee based program uh lastly just late of session last spring um the state fully funded um kindergarten programs uh which was uh a what what we call a 04 increase in the revenue Source um they partially funded because students were attending part of the day and um so we did receive an increase in funding for that um on the the way it was offered before was through Community Services uh that extra half day because the state only funded U half of the day through a fee based program program where parents pay and uh that funding source is actually greater than the additional uh point4 funding from the state so we're transitioning though uh the program into the general fund and uh providing that service and it will no longer be a feeb based program to parents um and all students will have the opportunity for that all day programming so previous was run through the Community Education Program and then they had established that at 24 that would be a 5-hour PA but if it was less than that there were less hours and so really our work is trying to align to that we you know right now the numbers are looking uh that we are going to be not hitting that 24 number that we're going to be more in that 19 to 22 range and uh we're continuing to monitor changes on a regular basis um but we are going to try to support some paradig and again it's going to take some more problem solving to say exactly how would this work our principles have been working on this they'll be working more closely with our teachers going forward our teachers have been doing some planning around the programming the board is where we're adding two classrooms to make sure we have space and we're equipping these classrooms so it'll be very good it was a big part of our strategic plan we want to support with par of professional as much as we can and that's why we're bringing this $100,000 of new money into onto the table and then to clarify there's the reference what I'm seeing on the slides is a total of $179,000 in kindergarten support 79,000 dedicated to special ed at the kindergarten level was that accurate yes that was the um so that would be for special education students special education students in the kindergarten setting so there's support for so there'll be a variety of supports as there always are but as far as pair of professionals it's it's just 100,000 but there are two different types of supports there's various supports that's correct that are planned for next year and this is our first year into the all day program so we're going to have to say how do our liter literacy Specialists and our math Specialists and and some of the other people have typically just served that one through five program how do they reach down into the kindergarten and so there's going to be a lot of learning going on in this first year and we're going to be working very closely with other school districts who are in the same place we are of trying to figure out what's the best way to serve you know something that's no longer fee based that is available to all students it's really going to be a benefit and how do we do that so we know this is a time of uh good news and yet we know we're going to get better as we as we walk into this a little bit deeper so if I understand this the from last year were funded through the fee service through the fee service because all classes were 24 they had five hours had they had less than that they would not have seen that many hours and that's not a fee of course that we can charge for next year we have to rely upon the state funding which doesn't give us enough to have that same level of parent support but we also don't have 24 students projected that's correct and and we're adding the $100,000 enhancement to provide some additional support that the state is not providing that's correct I might ask but we would not be allowed by state law to charge any type of fee to say bring that PA level in terms of ours back up to say the level that we had it now at 24 students right I mean that we can't charge families right to attend school but you know if the board approves a fee structure but again that's a practice that the administration wouldn't be recommending I know there's some Elementary principes here with us and I don't know if they have some comments to share about how that we might be looking at this pair of professional work or the um work that we're doing with the math and science and so I think I saw a couple of them in the back Rick Sans said from conquered Jerry lcasa from Normandale Elementary and Karen Bergman from uh Countryside if uh just want to talk a little bit about the challenge but also how you're going to try to respond to this challenge so I would agree this is a challenge it's a new way um we do have it's so all day kindergarten for all kids uh yet our funding sources are different no longer Community Based I'm also a kindergarten parent next year as well at Countryside um Teddy's gonna move on over to the big school um but I we are going to need some creative problem solving our part of this challenge too as this change occurs is we've got really high quality staff in a number of these current positions and um that makes it difficult uh because we have good people doing good work and uh and then to transition that is uh we need to be creative and and I think like you said we got to we got to make sure that uh working with our teachers we've got creative teachers uh we have to figure that out um together and and figure out how we're going to staff and support learning in a way that we currently do and knowing that it'll look different but um we're going to have to really work together and be creative around that managing our enrollment which I know is also important in that as well watching those numbers carefully and and those are going to be key pieces of the puzzle I think we uh would Echo everything that Rick has said one of the nice pieces of this puzzle is that we've done some very significant work with plc's so that our teachers are now very skilled at working together and problem solving solving solving together cooperatively so that they can deliver the best instruction as a group it's not just one single individual that that the teams are working together so that's a strong foundation for this continued problem solving um I think that everybody understands that education is a fast moving train and that it that what we did in the past is not something that we can always continue to do in the future so what I'm the most proud of is is that the pace at which the staff is willing to learn to meet the needs of all Learners couple of other things that are already in place that we have talked about a lot and how can we capitalize on what is already in place would be the fact that we are all um working in a system under response to instruction we're taking a look at the data that we know about kids our teachers are experts at it they are so very good at what they do and how can we how can we look at needs of kids in a little bit different way is there a way that we can support them in the teachers in the classrooms as they're delivering that instruction is there uh you know training resources things that we can bring to them to help them do that job in a little bit different way one of the other pieces that's already in place um in in each of our buildings is the fact that we have reading and math specialist and those folks are guiding us through some of that process of taking a look at that how do we flexibly group kids together how do we take a look at the information that we have about them and and look at that differently currently our first or our uh reading Specialists and math Specialists are um focusing more of their time in those first through fifth grades and we need to take a look at how how we can reallocate their time and focus more of their their attention to those those kindergarteners we know really well that our youngest students are the ones that are most fragile in that in those beginning years as far as acquisition of their reading skills and their math skills so we're going to be taking a look at how we can restructure that at each of the buildings um we have three buildings who are currently right now um Title One buildings um identified as title one we currently have um certified staff who are working with students under that program and um in in moving forward those of us that are Title One buildings can can also utilize that resource in a little bit different way or are there ways that we can we can look at that a little differently to make sure that that we're putting some extra um time and attention to our kindergarteners and again looking at it differently um don't say it louder say it differently um and try to figure out how else we can support them thank you so so on on the enhancement side we've also identified a variety of onetime enhancements so we've got the ongoing for 20 $63,000 and about $459,000 is just some onetime dollars um included in in the one-time enhancements um is a secondary Intervention Program where we're looking at providing more support at our secondary schools uh in the areas of math and reading um some of the programming that's been successful for us in the past after school we're using that um from the uh intervention side at the elementary level we're expanding our um g&t link arts program by 0 2 so that uh grows that to a point four and that means we'll be able to provide Fidelity in our intervention programs uh all the way through from third fourth and fifth grade in a much better level and so we're pleased that we're able to bring that into play um and so when you again take a look at um the numbers um we made recommendations of a little over a million dollars of adjustments both uh some revenues and some reallocations but also some reductions we've done some improvements around 263,000 that will build into the budget and then some one time for $450,000 that being said uh this is hard work and I appreciate everybody being here tonight I appreciate the work of the teachers and the parents and the commitment and the emails um this isn't fun this is hard um what can we do this is a model that's that's really tough because we are seeing that the revenues are not keeping up with the expenditures and that's a National problem it's a national problem of how level what level of funding can we provide education and this community does a great job of supporting it because you give of your time and your talent you give of your funds uh you're always there when we need and we ask dollars and we really appreciate that and there are teachers and Paras here today that are going to be impacted we have five teachers who are going to be unrequested leave because we don't have positions for them for next year and that's hard work and uh we know that they're all valuable they're all valuable and yet we have have a responsibility to be fiscally responsible what can we do we're going to have to be creative this year and going forward that's very much about what our planning is around next generation is how do we use our resources to maximize that learning for our young people uh we can be calling our legislators and calling the governor's office right now because there are new dollars potentially on the line in this legislative session typically on the off year we don't see that new funding but if you want to do something today to help us for New Revenue it's to call that local uh representative and Senator uh and the governor and ask for the support of the house bill that's on funding because that's that will be able to help us that will help us drive it forth that's sustainable funding um and so that kind is the overview of Where We Are Tonight uh we are um going to again look deeper into this we have a month to work on this we'll bring it back to the board um for more information and uh then we'll bring the full budget which we're required to present to the board in June I mean there are other things things that are uh for consideration um the toses would be again in that administrative management function staff development we could reduce that but really a time when our teachers are needing all this training time and finding time for them uh we we know Fine Arts is always an area that's again these are old ideas that have come forward we need to look at different ways instructional class sizes we've seen that growth um especially at our secondary level where we've really stayed focused on keeping the elementary numbers down but our secondary they continue to see this creep and we have noted in class size secondary for this year uh Elementary specialist these are all things that aren't good options so as we do our next Generation work we don't want to be in this Arena and so we are going to have to be creative and we're going to have to continue to problem solve as a community but I'm I I do believe we can do that um so those are our next steps in the process May 19th we'll come back to the board uh after listening tonight and learning tonight then that task force again we'll do some more reflection we'll be working much closer with our teachers going forward so that we can have a strong budget in June uh June 16th uh later this this school year thank you Margo thank you principles I'm going to shift our conversation you want me to keep going yes okay shift our conversation now to take a look at um some of the other topics that you're going to be covering later in the evening um one is instructional class size uh the change that we're making here is the um programming due to the all day everyday kindergarten that our desired uh kindergarten range is 18 to 22 we're also looking for support of 1.25 Paras uh so then if we would get to that 24 number we'd be looking at adding additional time to support um the classes at this time Mary what's our numbers look like in kindergarten Mary Manderfield that oversees our enrollment this point in time M at this point in time we have 558 students enrolled in kindergarten in our present kindergarten class we have 576 so when we look at the numbers I'll conquered as an example has 100 students for their five sections so they'd be averaging 20 it would take an additional 19 students that conquered to get up to 24 in a class because again we went from some half day and all day to all day every day uh Cornelia and Countryside have more 23 Highlands has um 21 21 22 and 22 uh Creek Valley is 19 in every section so that would take uh for Creek Valley to get up to 24 they would have to have 20 new students enroll in kindergarten and Normandale is at 109 and Normandale so there's is about a 21 to8 ratio and the reason Normandale is lower is their first grade ratio is 27 to1 so we have five sections of kindergarten in uh five sections of kindergarten that feed then into four sections of fourth grade four sections of first grade which are 27 to a class so right now we are below last year by approximately uh below this year's numbers by about 21 students and uh numbers change uh weekly we get students that are doing holdbacks we have a number of students that have summer birthdays we have students that are enrolling we have students that are choosing a different avenue than he Dina public school so uh the numbers 558 are a little higher than they were uh probably two weeks ago but they've been pretty consistent and uh so that is where we're at at the kindergarten number Mary and Rick as we continue to discuss the the situation with Paris support in the classroom and I think that you know the thing that confounds us what you've discussed is that we went from a model where we were charging in our district to a model where now the state is paying for it and when the state makes a law that blankets the entire state it you know there can be unintended consequences in a district that you know may be doing things well the way they were doing it but as I was looking at the numbers Mary that you've been discussing I've just been mulling over in my mind the DAT the information that Rick provided us which was how we base the hours of pair of time in all of our Kinder kindergarten classrooms and as Rick said when we could have it at 24 we could afford the five hours of pair but then we did pair down from that if it was 23 there was fewer hours 22 21 and down and I just think that some of the creative ways that we may have to look at that is to look at those guys lines and think about you know when we have a classroom where we only have registration of 19 we may not be able to have a standard across all classrooms that is maybe you know the magical number of 1.25 hours that we have to provide extra support in a classroom where we've gone up to 23 kids and we need to maybe look at how we can balance this based on individual enrollment in individual schools and take that those dollars that we're looking to put towards this figure out how to balance that better because I do think we need to be creative with this and when kindergarten teachers are challenged with 19 Kids versus 23 that can make a huge difference and then the needs of those individual students in that room and I would hope that as we move forward on this we can maybe talk about some of those things and how we're coming up with those M those dollars to fund that great great great I'd agree uh secondary level on class sizes you again we've not made a change uh this is a staffing Factor so these are just a number of staff for that many students doesn't necessarily speak to class size because that class size could be smaller it could be larger but that's how we staff that then we have a variety of other programs that we also have ratios on these are some of our specialized programs many of them in special education uh and again these numbers have stayed consistent but it helps us in our planning efforts teacher contract the board later tonight will be voting on a two-year teach fut contract uh it's been a long journey um and I'd ask Gwen Jackson to talk a little bit about uh this two-year agreement that was approved by the teachers group uh last week Gwen was it yes they U voted in favor of the contract of about 70% and um I would say the largest highlight was the fact that for many years we have been working to um look at a different salary schedule for our teachers and this time um there was a agement that we would move to a new salary schedule beginning in 2016 and um for the next two years teachers will have the option of remaining on the current salary schedule or moving to the new one the overall package as it chose on there is 6.4% which includes a 1% increase in year one which is this current year and a 1% increase next year um for teachers and then for health insurance they receive a 05 increase as of January 1st of this year and 3% increase for health um uh for um health and medical needs for 2015 January of 2015 Gwen can you just share the total cost of beyond the 6.4% surely um the total cost is [Music] yeah for 4.6 million over two years toal cost and just so people understand when you have one in one was really loud um to get to 6.4 there are other costs that are built in maybe you can just do a quick overview of [Music] that Lenny I apologize but could you repeat your question because we were switching the microphones so we you got 1% in year 1 1% in year two one and one is two not 6.4 I do understand how you get to 6.4 but maybe you can give a confus quick explanation as to why 6.4 is the total cost rather than two so with in a con can you hear me okay so within the contract um total package of 6.4% it includes um things like Social Security and F across it also includes includes uh step movement and assumptions for Lane changes which we do have staff that want to continue educating themselves which is a certainly a good thing um any uh language items that have additional costs to them um the extra pay parts of the schedule so it really encompasses anything in the contract with the cost and The Bard will be voting for action on that later tonight I want to talk a little bit about our next Generation work of our strategic planning this is starting to uh move uh more quickly um we've got some strategic work where it's a comprehensive look um across the board we're looking at our birth through five study as well as our 6 through2 program study and next year we'll be looking at doing a Community Education study so when we look at our planning efforts um the secondary study is in its second year of implementation uh and it is uh moving along there will be some more formal recommendations coming uh to the board tonight for discussion and then in action uh in May the birth through 5 study will be coming forward with discussion in May and action in in June again uh a journey of looking at how we can get the best ideas at an international level and bring them back with input from our communities to grow both our grade 6 through 12 program as well as our birth through grade five program um these are some of the deadlines that we're looking at when we comes to strategic recommendations at a district level we'll be talking tonight about educational competencies we're continue to grow that that's a key piece of our strategic work that Randy will be talking about we're talking also at the secondary level with a phase one set of recommendations that we'll be talking about tonight we'll be bringing a phase two set of recommendations on May 19th and then June 16th we'll be seeking board approval for the implementation of the work that we're doing around that study the birth through grade five will bring a framework of discussion in May and then June for Action we look at educational competencies I'm going to ask Randy uh ma to talk a little bit about that if you could throughout the work last year with our uh secondary study uh through the survey with staff and the community conversations with students evaluating the research looking at National schools and international schools we took a uh a new look at what is it that we expect the next generation of Edina Public School Learners to be about what does their profile look like as Learners when they leave our system these six areas represent and I know that they may be hard to read on the slides so I'll just read through these very quickly uh Global competency as a skill set uh effective communication collaboration skills these are the general categories uh Innovative thinking and creation uh responsible and engaged citizens uh motivated lifelong Learners and a well-rounded person that understands balance in their lifestyle these six categories is our highlevel view and we have some more detailed breakout of what these actually mean but these represent the the areas of competencies that we will expect our Learners to achieve as a result of attending Edina Public Schools so the board will be discussing this later tonight I'm going to um hit the pause button before we go further with our birth through 5 study or our secondary study and um um I think we're going to move to public comment and then we'll come back with a finish of this report and as well as our math presentation thanks RI apologize for the delay folks sort of a busy meeting tonight but we appreciate your patience several members of the audience have asked to speak this evening uh we ask that you keep in mind that your presentations are limited to three minutes we ask that you avoid redundancy um and also that you abide by policy 206 uh there'll be mo no board discussion but we will follow up with you after the meeting and uh we thank you for sharing your input put uh first up we have uh Maddie Schnell Michael Dunn and Paul Thompson who are here to share about the environmental Forum thank you unfortunately we lost our star speakers uh for uh we didn't know that there would be that long of a delay so you are too bad you couldn't meet Maddie and Michael uh their fifth grade uh students at Cornelia and they will be two of the presenters next Monday night at Southview uh elementary school or at Southview Middle School uh they'll be talking about their paperless project that they did at at Cornelia uh and they have a wonderful uh Google Drive presentation they're very excited to be presenting to the community so this is part of the uh Edina energy Forum that will be in its third year sponsored by the energy commission we'll also have high school students talking about their solar panel project to power their cell phones and devices that they now all have and we're the theme is what we'll turn you on in 2030 powering our Energy Future so in 2030 I'll be 81 I hope I'll finally be able to be fully in retirement and seeing solar panels all over Edina and having Edina be the leader that it always is in sports and education and now in building a sustainable future so we invite all of you uh to come uh six o'clock there'll be a a resource fair with 12 groups they're all Edina based and then we'll have uh wonderful food we'll have music by students and all of the speakers are young people except for Michael Noble from fresh energy so you have it in your packet we invite you to come I know there are other things and we're busy but uh this is a important issue and we uh thank you very much for the work that you're doing to make Idina a leader in sustainability thank you so much you thank you we will also have three electric vehicles uh and if you ride your bike uh we have valet bike parking and door prices thank you Paul thank you uh next up we have Jenny followed by Shannon Jenny Chapman she's here to talk about science fair professionals welcome thank you you guys can sit there first thank you for the opportunity for allowing me to address the board this evening and first I'd like to introduce myself my name is Jennifer Chapman I'm a mother of five I have four children with me this evening I currently have three children at Valley viiew Middle School and two at Creek Valley and while I'm here to talk tonight about the science pair of professionals I'm also speaking about the PA of Professionals in general I don't think it's a debate that anyone on the board or here this evening um does not think that they're of value so that's not what my point is my point is essentially to speak how invaluable our science par professionals are and how they cannot be replaced with school administratives staff and parent volunteers and I'm sure you all are aware back in 2009 the White House pushed a campaign called educate to innovate and basically it's pushing schools around the nation to do science technology engineering and math education and how do we ignite that passion in students I say in the early years we can't just do it in middle school and high school so we need to have those math labs and those science labs really at an early age so my question is if we get rid of the science pair professionals and we place them with administrative CL work s which is one offering I believe in addition to possibly having parent volunteers I don't think that they can possibly do that job Justice whatsoever I have copies here for you this evening which I will give to Sarah if you'd like to look at them but the job of one pair professional serves 50 teachers at two different schools assembles all the materials serves over 1,000 students and while I understand budgets are incredibly difficult to manage and I appreciate all the work that you do on that um it's $86,000 for all of our elementary schools one pair professional makes $21,000 and serves over 1,000 students so while we may be adding $350,000 in the proposed budget for additional um gifted and talented resources this science pair professional is serving 1,000 students and that's reaching every student not a small percentage of students every student so that is my strong urging this evening is that we take that into consideration when trying to service all students of Edina not just a small percentage of them in addition to that they prepare science materials for over 4,400 science projects every kit she copies all materials for science notebooks raises the fish beetles iPods um purchases the squid I'm quite certain a parent volunteer would not be willing to do that um order materials picks up all the materials brings the parent Volunteers in your time one minute please wrap up okay thank you very much abundance more that I cannot and do not have the time to go over but I will leave this with you this evening I did bring my children in to say something really quickly and I will wrap it up by saying I will leave a copy of a petition that was just started over 12 hours ago and in that 12 hours we only have 98 signatures in the mere 12 hours that we had however I've gotten a lot more interest and I'd like to keep that open with your permission real quickly here's my daughter who is a second grader at Creek Valley just a few seconds here way be on time I like science because it it's fun and my favorite thing I did there was from Mother's Day we got to make plants for her I like doing the science lab because we had a square dissection and it was really fun and I'm in third grade I have two other Sons here but there's not enough time thank you for addressing the board or letting me do that this evening I know you have a big decision on your hand but I urge you to reconsider thank you for your time thank you thank [Applause] you next up is Shannon Murphy Robinson welcome Shannon thank you to the school board for giving me this opportunity to address you as a parent and as a community member I'm here to EXP exess my concerns around the pair of cuts I have three daughters that are in this district and two of them will be directly affected by this cut one that gets Math and Science help and the other it's in special ed and when I see 10 special ed cuts across the board I see the special help what we're talking about for next generation is how do we set up all learners for success I live in this District because of the tradition of success we started this meeting celebrating academic and athletic success these cuts are going to be counterproductive research shows that the more we can do in the early grades especially for those children who need it the most which includes two of my daughters the more it sets them up on that lifelong trajectory of success this cut will directly undermine that not only that but I also believe it's going to cost the district more in the end when they get into middle school when they get into High School the complexity the demands the skills that they're going to need to have in place to be successful in those environments begin in elementary school they begin in early childhood so I'm very worried about this cut and I also know this District I know the brilliant brains that are part of this district and if we can come together with some of that Collective wisdom some of that Collective Brilliance and figure out other options that doesn't undercut a trajectory of success for all Learners thank [Applause] you thank you next up is Chris Tower followed by Mike camera thank you um thank you for giving the teachers of ad this opportunity um I'm here uh not just in support of the science par professionals but all par professionals although I'm going to focus on science a little bit more I'm going to share something I heard about erosion in my science class the other day and uh this girl said Oh Mr tower now I get it that's how erosion works I've always heard about it seen about it read about it but now I understand how it works where does all the soil go in the erosion this student led the inquiry this is a typical inquiry that happens every day F science is an inquiry Hands-On based science program that question was formulated from and through the fast landforms science kit which included a train with premix sand and clay water wooden angle one liter a basin two hands Lins meter tape two water pictures a poster a map towels newspaper broom and a dust pan a vacuum three student data sheets and duct tape and that was just for one group the science pair allows for this type of activity and student thinking to occur and while the making sure it all tied to our state standards like the surface of the Earth's changes some changes are due to slow processes and some changes are due to Rapid processes I'm going to share a few concerns of uh my colleagues and some of the parents just the other day there was a Twitter announcement out that Indina schools congratulations to us is rated number one in Minnesota and top nationally in by news US News and World Report this is from a parent so please explain to me why it would make sense to eliminate science and math program that has been part of the curriculum for 18 years this is a large part of why din schools has been so highly rated as was just previously stated this happened because the fast full option science system and Engineering is Elementary curriculum is an inquiry based program that focuses on engaging students in active learning through Hands-On experiences and the need to collaborate think critically and creatively and communicate with each other all of this type of learning requires time experience knowledge and organization of materials and science equipment and that is what a pair of provides to us so we can ensure a d stays rated at the top and again we do not want our success to erode here's a quote from uh a recent U memo sent to teachers and parents uh we meaning the district are looking at a combination of ways of redistributing the responsibilities of this position to include assigning to other support positions in the building utilizing parents as was previously stated um in response to this I'm going to paraphrase each year the special education department has faced multiple years of professional Cuts these Cuts increase our workload decreases our ability to work with prepare professional staff and decreases the quality of programming not only for special education students but for the students in their class due to these repeated Cuts we have been forced to Cluster more students together decrease the amount of support given to some students this increases not only our workload but the workload of the classroom teacher as well the science par position is tangible accessible example of the work that is missed when a pair of professional positions are cut history seems it will repeat itself money's the obvious issue if that's the case out of time okay uh just gonna wrap up um just uh how many are here in sport of the pair of professionals today teachers how many are [Applause] parents okay we're asking you not to water down our Science Program not to let it erode or end up down stream the science par professional position is a is crucial to Our Success last year I was fortunate to receive the National Science teachers award for elementary teachers that could not have happened without support from a parap professional that's the standard he daa achieves that's just D the standard that Diana is going for thank you [Applause] next up is Mike Hammer followed by Winnie M Mike we can grab the mic there you thanks I'm a parent of a kindergartener at Highlands Elementary and uh I just uh received some information regarding uh the uh reduction I guess in the budget and the pair of professionals um my daughter really enjoys her time here at Highlands and especially does love her second teacher um and I believe it's the best interest of the kids to keep that second teacher um I guess before kindergarten she went to uh Morningside preschool and I think there was about one one teacher per uh about 10 10 12 kids and she also went to a little in-house daycare which again was probably about one one teacher for 10 to 12 kids I think the state law at that level is about around that about one teacher per dozen kids and now in kindergarten you go from that almost double um which seems kind of odd that Edina is known for Education people move to Edina because of that and we're seems like we're wanting to take a step backwards I don't think that's a very good idea and so I just want to I guess show my support for keeping a fair Professionals in the kindergarten classes thanks thank thank you thanks Mike [Applause] next up Winnie Martin welcome Winnie thank you y y yeah you're good um my name is Winnie Martin I'm a parent of two at Concrete Elementary and I'm here to voice concerns over the proposed elimination of the math and science parap positions in addition to the other parap positions at all Adina elementary schools ironically today superintendent Dron tweeted that EPS high school was rated number won in Minnesota by US News and World Report it is because of vital positions such as the science and math perah that allows our community this type of success we all understand that it is a financial decision to eliminate staff positions as quoted by several board members I've spoken with and even our own principal staff is the greatest cost in our EPS budget but let none of us disregard the fact that staff at PS is our greatest asset in the system our conquered science and math paros has been held by an individual for 18 years the conquered science math paros exemplifies what a science and math curriculum coordinator should be at each and every Adina Elementary School some of the duties include multiple service learning projects mealworms and Butterfly hatchings full curriculum coordination and implementation of seedling and garden plantings for Outdoor Learning Centers rain Gardens and conquered Community produce Gardens annual staff efn food drive coordinator Earth Day Champion Water Filtration specialist I could go on and on but we know I have three minutes concert's coordinator works with each teacher individually and sets the Hands-On experiment calendar she transfers all supplies and equipment from room to room grade to grade thus maximizing exposure for the classrooms and minimizing the cost for the district she coordinates the math curriculum calendar and the sharing of math manipulatives within and between grades she prepares order forms for Science and Math materials for the upcoming school year as well as special orders for needed supplies this position represents a full-time science and math professional to each teacher within the school even though it is a part-time position this position teaches kids from every grade every single day this position greatly impacts every child in subjects that are crucial and integral in parts of tomorrow's job world if this position is eliminated it is grossly evident that EPS kids of today will not be prepared for tomorrow the district will inevitably spend more dollars thousands more dollarars per each each Elementary School purchasing more supplies without the facilitation of a science and math curriculum coordinator the children will not be will be exposed to less science and math and there will not be a coordinator to navigate the curriculums as well as the size and the demands of multiple experiments this is why we the parents of this District boldly ask that the board closely look before you cut six part-time math science position positions for $86,000 you can't afford not to thank [Applause] you last speaker is Erica Erica Ellenberg welcome hello thank you for allowing me time to speak uh my name is Erica allenberg and I have three children in the district ranging from kindergarten to grade nine and I am co-president of the creek Valley PTA when my stepson James started at Creek Valley in 2004 there was a program called Bravo music a foreign language program a media center specialist there every day and more pair of help in the classroom sadly none of that is there now now the district wants to cut science Paras and reduce spe special education and kindergarten pair a time which means that gradually over time the educational experience received in our elementary schools has been greatly diminished I do not argue that there is a budget deficit and tough Cuts have to be made I get the pressures being put on our school districts today but I feel our district has done a very poor job of looking into ways to raise revenue do you know that schools like minetonka charge SE a $75 activity fee on charge of registration fees for things such as band debate Sports and drama and Yetta charges $25 do you know that schools like New Trier which we like to compare ourselves to charge a $110 registration fee and an8 $80 activity fee maybe raising our athletic fees $50 is not enough have you asked parents out there if they're willing to pay a $20 science fee to cover the meager wages we pay our science pair per professionals how can we as a district sit and over and over again cut programs and people that touch our kids every single day without challenging ourselves to be more creative financially I also feel our district is prioritizing the needs of small groups of students over the greater good of O of all how can this District justify adding $350,000 to the budget to enhance gifted reading which touch a mere 3 to 6% of the student body who already received special services and two of which are mine so I do not have a myopic view on this while cutting something like P science and math Paras at a cost of $86,000 which touch every student in addition to kindergarten Paras which touch every student at such a critical point in their education I take exception to the fact that every time I see a bullet on cutting human resources one of the answers is to engage volunteers I can tell you from the perspective of a volunteer and the PTA president of Creek Valley we have reached a point of critical saturation from a volunteer perspective we cannot get enough volunteers to staff the events and programs we already have this cannot continue to be the continual answer to cutting resources the assumption that parent volunteers can and will do the job of a paah shows a current lack of appreciation for the work the pair is do now and is stressing our current volunteer system when I told my daughter who was a kindergartener that her current perah Mrs Liz Rosenthal will no longer be at Creek Valley she said but why mommy she has helped me so much this year and I want each and every one of you to know that these Paras are not line items and they're not difficult budgetary decisions our science per maras brandlin had her science supply budget cut a few years back I want you to know that she personally digs up worms from her yard snails catches isopods and keeps them in aquariums in her house all year so our kids can have the best science samples possible she drives to grocery stores to get squid these are the people our district should be thanking not getting rid of I challenge you as a board to say to the district this budget is not acceptable be more creative we are Edina we can and we should do better than this [Applause] [Applause] thank you all we're off to math instruction update will be discussing these agenda items during the discussion portion of the agenda correct po you might uh folks before you all take off we will be discussing these items as a part of our action uh our discussion items this evening and towards the end of the meeting so thank you all good evening uh chair Meyer a superintendent Dron school board and uh community members uh my name is Randy smel I'm director of teaching and learning I'm joined here this evening with Scott wber who uh works on K12 math and toy Harter who is a learning specialist from Highland Elementary uh we're just going to talk to you for a few minutes to give you an update on some things happening in math instruction across our district um in the past few years through our adsis state grant funding and District contributions we have put resources in place to support math and learning at the elementary level RTI response to instruction is our intervention framework in our school district and through that intervention framework um it is designed to incorporate support for Learners who need additional time as well as Learners who need something different which might be a different pace or different curriculum um learning Specialists are a support structure for those students who need additional time we've had learning specialists in place for nearly two years and we have one learning specialist per building and the main role of the learning specialist is to help support a huge factor in learning which is guaranteed and viable curriculum the guaranteed and viable curriculum is really about students Lear learning the big ideas and the standards mastering those through common assessments and our learning Specialists help track that learning throughout the year at this point I'm going to turn it over to toy Harter to describe her role and give you a little bit more information about what she does and what it looks like sure thanks okay um my role as math specialist and those in the other buildings as well provide evidence-based intervention of math instruction during the school day to qualifying students in grades 1 through 5 that happens either in the classroom or in additional time outside of the classroom we do have a curriculum of Our Own in addition to the one that's happening in the tier one classroom uh it's a great curriculum because we know that struggling students benefit from a multiple model approach to learning and this curriculum does that it provides concrete pictoral and Abstract learning progressions through heavy use with manipulatives um just to be a little bit more specific that's a gradual approach starting with those things that you can handle uh very literal to drawing pictures of them and then finally representing them as um using numbers and symbols and operations it is engaging and it involves learning through games and math through cross curriculum curricular connections with children's literature which you'll see a little bit more of those two things coming up here um do the math curriculum is uh provides meaningful practice it provides foundations of understanding in the numbers and operation standards primarily it provides small groups with opportunities for more intentional and personalized instruction which is important as well we know that no two children are alike the small groups allow us to continue to access what students already know and therefore how we can meet their diverse learning needs um next uh in addition we also use am web in addition to our do the math curriculum am web is an online progress monitoring tool each student we service has an account that's created and managed by us we give them regular probes they are called which are basically time tests 8 Minute time tests of VAR in operations and varying degrees of difficulty at each grade level the information is put in online and then you get uploaded a nice chart such as this that's easy to share with teachers to see a visual of the students progression and progress and here's a little clip I could sit and tell you all about the details of what we do but I think this clip sort of sums up what we do and you can see that most importantly students are feeling supported they are feeling successful and they are enjoying what the MTH Specialists are doing in each building so here's a little peek at that [Music] it's improving my math because at the beginning of the year um my math wasn't really good and I needed help and then when I came to this class I think my um math is improving a lot uh it's fun I get it uh there's two other people that come down with me um the math games that are like uncover cover up and all those other things good and if you were to describe our class to another student or a parent maybe a different teacher how would you describe our class a fun loving little classroom that makes me feel like I belong here and there's like no put Downs in here so it's just joy and happiness thanks Bella can you tell us something about what we're practicing on this game um we're practicing to to find equal Frac like if you cut 1/4 and half you get 1/8 because four goes in the8 two times good job I like coming here because I get to play game and I get to get on computer and I like taking the test here I like playing games down here and stuff but it's not just all about playing games it's just about math good sometimes I'm not good at Mat no you are good at matth everyone needs time to think about it okay so I so close what did I do when we do more math it get stuck in our brain which is good so like when we have a test we know it right away good will do you want to add that how do you think it might help think it's really helping me CU before I came in this class I was really stuck on math and this C help me out a lot and now I'm not behind I love playing the games accomplish a lot of stuff and I like when I get the answer right and I'm just happy we do lots of fun math that really helps kids out by helping them keep track of in math and we lost what I did at math is we were learning multiplication we were doing division we were learning fraction and decimals and I got help sometimes and I sometimes do it myself and I it just makes me happy well sure I have to follow the kids now so I want to highlight um uh just a couple of the evidence-based instructional practices that we have put in place with this program program which is directly tied to our response to instruction program that the principales referenced earlier we've really built this um to to make sure that what we're doing with these students is evidence-based terms of materials and instructional practices so uh targeted direct intervention instruction a key component to intervention is that you personalize learn learning for the students and make sure that the students are very clear both they're supposed to learn that day in that small group um you you saw in the examples here um some meaningful practice the fraction example is an example of meaningful practice and also playing the game uh with the the tic-tac-toe um vocabulary is critical for some kids that they just need to have very specific um focus on the words and sometimes that's why they're falling behind they don't know all the words um verbalization uh um the more that students can verbalize their understanding to the teacher uh the better it sticks in their brain you heard him say it manipulatives are worked with heavily um conceptual understanding is emphasized as well as ED practice and and we're working to develop um problem solving models that students can car over multiple grade levels more of that kind of is happening next year uh a a data piece with this is a nice and example of one slice of the data in uh in 11 12 we didn't have learning specialists in place like we do now um uh and and to to clarify the numbers on here the the percentage you see they 38% this is starting with a group of kids that were below the 40th percentile on their fall map math scores so there's a group of kids that are low the 40th percentile in the 11 12 school year 38% of those kids moved to above the 40th percentile by the spring and then we started with math learning specialist and there was a a much a big increase in the 12 13 school year where we had learning specialists in place for most of the year so I'm going to say it again we start with the kids that are below the 40th percentile on map in the fall that's one of our primary qualifying criteria of that group of students 64% were above the 40th percentile when we test it again in the spring so that's one broad sweep about how um we're having an impact on student learning with this program so the kids that are targeted for this program are the kids who are below the 40th percentile to start with that's the primary qualifying criteria we have a couple other things in place that's and that was the metric for this slide okay so then at after having them in place for part of a year you were able to move 64% of them out within a year that's right so 64% of the 38 64% no that's different years different years if I look at the if we look at the 1213 school year of the group that was below the 40th percentile 68% of that group were above the 40th in the spring and before the math learning specialist it was only 38% so we've doubled the group of atrisk kids that have moved out of that sort of graduate from Intervention because of the intervention yeah because of the intervention that's right because it sticks in their brain and again and that was not having a full year of intervention versus this year now you've got it going from September that's right right because that's last year's date we don't even have and it was late fall when they really got started yep those were Highlands kids weren't they I thought so and just next ups with this what's happening in place right now um as a core component of our PLC work is is common assessments based on power standards in elementary mathematics it's been a big push this year we've selected our our power standards and and we also have an assessment tool in place so a big component of this next year is tier one assessment on power standards to even better informed toy what she needs to do with those kids in the precious time that she sees them and then uh we're also doing some work this summer to build instructional resources directly tied to those benchmarks to those Tri power standards Randy can you just remind the community um what power standards are because we throw that term around a lot and make sure that everybody understands what that means so power standards are really the Big Ideas in the curriculum and they re they represent the standards that have the most endurance or our longest lasting ideas for kids they represent the ideas that uh uh apply to other courses or other areas and so they have leverage for student um learning in other content areas or they are standards or Big Ideas that provide Readiness for children so that they are best prepared for that next level of mathematics those are three prime criteria The Leverage The Readiness um th those elements are prime criteria for what a power standard would consist of so at this time any other questions or comments by the board I just want so this curriculum is an addition to the Everyday Math not supplanting everything additional questions it's great thank you all thank you thank you thank you sorry for the late night uh Dr Dron is going to follow up uh two additional topics he wanted to touch on in his leadership report that we've uh pushed back earlier and then we'll go on to consent agenda so again um just wanted to give a brief update on where we are with our birth through grade five study this is all going to start rolling forward and it's a lot of information and want the board and the community to be aware of this first year of the study that uh we've been uh working hard uh since D um this fall December January that's when we started doing our first round of uh surveying doing a lot of the internal research uh external research Gathering more information we're starting to identify options uh March and April we went back out and gathered more information we had Community meetings uh and we're at a point now where we're starting to gather that data make some refinements so that we can bring recommendations to the board in uh May and then uh would' have the board take action in June um I'm going to ask Gwen and uh Randy who are kind of key players in this work just to talk briefly about uh some of the options that are starting to evolve that will get refined uh much more over the next weeks and then be brought to the board for discussion in uh Mar me sure so I I will um speak a little bit about structure and Randy maybe can talk about program don't think your mic ising I'll try to speak up a little bit louder there now you got it so um regarding the structure one of the things that we have done is uh taken a look at other programs that have um where schools have done some different things with their Furniture they've purchased other Furniture um newer Furniture other than the furniture we have um been using since um it was designed in in the late 60s or even the late 50s and um it is it allows schools to do or classroom teachers to do other things with the students regarding small group sessions um some of our schools that we have visited they have done other things with the space such as glass walls and provided large spaces for as many as a hundred students and a group of teachers to work with students either in small group or large group so there's more flexibility so those are some of the things we've been looking at we also asked for input from our staff as well as our community and parents about um the flexible calendar and schedules we have been using the same calendar type of calendar for many years and are there some other options that we can do such as year round school or just um just a variety of other things so we're gathering information from that another thing we are looking at um there are whole several things but one of the things we're looking at also is loop which allows um a team of teachers to move with the students so first grade team would then move with the students to second grade and then loop back around to first grade um the following year so that those are those are just some of the ideas that we have looked at with structure and um as Rick said next month we will come back with the information that we are um looking at at this point as I was describing earlier at uh in terms of the profile of the learner the future and this whole concept of global competency question comes out of well what does global competency look like if you're in first grade what does global competency look like if you're in fourth grade and so one of the things that we're trying to do through this study is identify um some of those elements at the Early Childhood level or at the elementary level and determine what they look like and it could be that one of those elements is about language programming so what does language programming for Next Generation look like at the El so one of our discussions that we're having uh in terms of additional Choice programs that people have expressed interest in at least pursuing or investigating uh stem programs or steam programs stem be and science technology engineering and Mathematics add an A in there for the Arts or immersion programming should we look at additional immersion programming or additional languages immersion and those are questions that we've been exploring through the program conversations with staff and community and through the surveys uh one of the options is around uh putting the prek program at the elementary sites so that uh we can attack that Gap that can be created through lack of opportunity at an earlier age uh certainly integrating more physical movement for students in the day is very well supported from Neuroscience research um we've received a lot of positive feedback around that particular recommendation thus far and that that's really about priming the brain for learning and getting it ready to go uh certainly promoting use of technology has been a a popular discussion uh we just had a conversation with a a kindergarten teacher about flipping the learning experience in K flipping it in kindergarten so the teacher can team teach with themselves in that classroom um integrating uh curriculum looking at other ways that we can help kids make connections across curricular areas and certainly any time that we can increase leadership opportunities for students uh that's an important piece to also look at so those have been the program conversations that we've been having we still have to collect the feedback from community and process we have collected we need to process it and then we're very close to uh narrowing down the choices and the recommendations thank you Randy and Gwen questions of them on the birth through 5 you'll be hearing more about it in May want to welcome at this time Susan Tennyson Susan is our strategic data uh coordinator and Analysis analyst um does a lot of the work that we've been doing she's got an extensive background both at uh uh in a variety of settings uh here in Minnesota but also internationally and so we've been very fortunate to have her join our team and she's been very instrumental in moving forward with uh the work around our secondary study we are bringing this forward in a variety of phases because this is Big Ideas and so uh we have to roll it out in that that fashion and so the board later tonight will be taking a look at our action plan and you'll continue to see that'll be an active action plan that we'll be talking about of taking these 15 initiatives that the board approved last June that we're now moving them into motion we've had an implementation team that included uh um six teachers um and uh District administrators as well as building principles Susan was on that team and I was the facilitator uh so I just kind of facilitated and made sure everything was moving along uh they have been focused on 15 areas of action uh which are are described very thoroughly in the board packet tonight we want to highlight just a few things about that uh as we move forward in the second year um but as they moved into the year they did their work around uh that first phase of once they got the recommendations the team went back out and did more data research much like the design process talks about they had narrowed the field so we went very specific on some of the target targeted areas made contacts with school districts throughout the world uh did some site visits in various locations in the Upper Midwest um did some uh live chats with uh school districts uh throughout the United States as well as internationally uh then we started narrowing those options and started narrowing the ideas in January and March went back out to the community and staff to get more idea throughout the process and are starting to bring those recommendations forward again it's a phased process um the board and their packets and will be available online you can see the phased approach you can see how we have this alignment so it has to be phased because we're aligning it with the birth through grade five study so we have to make sure as we move this forward we uh have that cohesive look that uh we have to continue to seek that ongoing Communications but in the actions that we be drawing is what is the responsibility of the board what will be board governance actions what would be policy development that you'll be looking at what are some things the leadership is going to have to take on and then that we're going to continue to Champion going forward and it isn't just administrators it's building leaders it's uh parent leaders then what's the professional learning side that we need to be looking at what kind of key Communications what's the resource assessment you know how do we make sure that we can afford this both from a a funding standpoint but from a staffing and a staff development and a Time standpoint so we're doing a resource assessment then also what are things that no longer need to be part of our system and what are some things that need to exit or adjust that we move on out as we move into this next generation of work so that's how your report is formed and uh again we'll talk more about that later in the discussion I'm going to ask Susan to talk a little bit about this phase one advancements work and some of those key uh components of of the work that we're doing good evening um as you can see in your packet there are several uh recommendations that are part uh in advancements that are part of Phase One World Language competencies we have been working on World Language compet competencies and um ex exploring how we can help prepare all Learners in EA as they leave our system to be ready to interact globally and looking at World Language as part of that so thinking about every learner having opportunity to be proficient in a language other than English as they leave us we have been working very closely with our world language department at the secondary level and they are very engaged in this work at this point and as we think about how to implement next year we have uh several Pilots that have been suggested by the World Language Department teachers themselves that they believe can expand opportunity for our Learners in terms of how they learn when they learn and what they learn so we're excited about their involvement in that process credit by assessment is an opportunity for Learners to demonstrate Mastery of standards that have been identified if IED as important in a variety of areas of curriculum here and so students rather than perhaps sitting in a traditional course they would be able to demonstrate their learning in some other way and we are looking at common assessments for that purpose portfolios perhaps creating some way for them to demonstrate their learning that is Meaningful to them post-secondary Partnerships this work has been ongoing throughout this year and we continue to um navigate potential Partnerships with local resources such as universities technical schools and even some business Partnerships that would allow our students to have internships and uh perhaps expand their learning beyond what is available in our curriculum e-learning squared of course is always exciting we as you know have been working on expanding opportunity for all of our Learners uh throughout the uh 6 through 12 program and uh Steve Butner and his team have done a really nice job of making sure that all of our students have opportunity to use technology when we think about it from the perspective of the secondary study and Next Generation learning technology is going to be an integral part of that and it doesn't replace classroom experience and interaction with teachers and advisers but it can help uh the student and the parent and the staff here at the school navigate that system together we also know that kids are highly engaged in technology and uh prefer to engage in interaction even worldwide with uh peers in other countries using technology personalized advising is something that we have been researching since we began the study last year and we have looked at National and international models for secondary advising and there is a difference between um having an advisory and an advisor at our Middle School we have an advisory system personalized advising really en encompasses having an advocate within perhaps an advisory system or in conjunction with an advisory system so we are looking at an uh possibly expanding what we are currently doing in our middle school and also then having an advisory in the secondary level all the way through grade 12 and perhaps even beyond that into grade 13 so the phase two is um you know some more recommendations some more advancements but it really does tie a lot of things together you know we are going to be uh bringing some uh direction to the board in May for discussion around grade level configuration at the secondary level what what's the best way that we can service the students as far as uh how we can provide those services at which site and how that uh should be shaped and grown and what type of programming do we we need to provide and so we've done a lot of research to to take a look at that but again how does that all tie together that would also possibly impact uh building project and and so we have a lot of information we need to gather before we could really bring that forward to the board so that's still a phase two recommendation a daily planning schedule a yearly planning schedule looking at time differently uh the implementation team has done some very deep study on this they've done some dry runs of what's possible but again it deter a determinant of that will be grade level configuration so before we can make some of these other decisions we're going to have to have all these things line up um we will have to determine a time frame because if we want to implement this in 20156 uh there are some decisions that are going to be early fall decisions probably a September early October decision so we know that this the recommendations are are going to be this flowing process that we'll have a series of recommendations that we ask the board to act on in June we may come back again in August again in September around the secondary study but also the birth through five because this is a big initiative we want to be purposeful and planful in the process finally we also want to take a look at different Pathways for learning so when we look at some of the information that we talked about uh a lot of research has been done too of how students can learn and some of the opportunities that that might be available to them that will be a little bit alternative to that current model we have even though that model would still be available so those this kind of phase two efforts be working with the teaching and learning committee and some of that work going forward again this talks about how the recommendations tie together so they work on educational competencies that the board will be talking about the power standards how we use space all tie together with that will make sure our phase one recommendations align with our phase two um some of the key areas that we're already talked about uh e-learning squared I'm going to ask Steve Butner to uh just again this is an action item later for the board tonight if he could comment on the work being done there that would be great um this is a recommendation that was discussed um last month and we'd be moving uh for a board action on this Steve thank you so as you've heard a number of times today one of our critical components for moving the our next Generation learning together is the power of technology to help engage our students in learning to provide opportunities for our students for learning anytime anywhere and then also providing resources for our teachers to be able to leverage technology to bring in learning opportunities that we might not find in uh normal um classrooms and so uh we've worked with closely with all the teachers in the secondary schools specifically met with uh sixth seventh eth and ninth grade teachers to discuss um what were their needs at going forward and what were some of the opportunities for the technology we also met with the fifth grade teachers and from from that we really learned that uh e-learning squar seems to be working fairly well providing that technology to enhance learning and so we're recommending that we actually move forward to that continue to provide professional development provide a device to our families through either through the Best Buy web store or through the district and then moving out of a area of highly recommended to more of a required phase for our families so that we ensure that that barrier to entry of having a digital device in our instruction is met again this will be an action item later tonight with that in mind um if there are questions about the secondary study I'm going to ask uh Susan one area we forgot to mention is that we're into a variety of Pilots going forward um and so Susan if you just want to touch on that at the secondary level that' be great over the course of this year the implementation team and specifically the six teachers um meet who meet every morning at 7 o'clock have communicated to their six through 12 colleagues in reference to our work and have provided opportunity for our teachers who are in the buildings with kids every day uh to understand the work of this team in over the course of the last six weeks or so we've invited colleagues in the buildings to submit pilot ideas and we've done this in a two-tier approach the first was to just generate some ideas and teachers had the opportunity to submit what they what we call a concept form and it was essentially a paragraph saying here's what we would like to do next year and here's why we believe it fits into the framework of the secondary study we received 59 of those concept forms and they came from teachers across the entire um Middle School and High School uh program and covered many many areas of the curriculum so we reviewed all of those concept forms and happily said to 38 of those um teachers or groups of teachers that we would love to know more so we are asking them to submit a formal proposal for a pilot and those are due next week and we will then have a team um of an administrator and a few other identified people use a rubric to then evaluate those and move those forward the areas where we have Pilots coming in integrated content there were four that were approved Flexible Staffing there were five student design programs there were 11 personalized advising there were five World Language competencies there were five and then 21st Century Learning space and or Furnishings there were eight so those were the six areas we identified fit within the framework and teachers were able to uh submit ideas that were quite creative and Innovative in terms of how we might do things a little differently our big criteria how did it fit in the framework and first and foremost how did it improve the learning experience for students so you've a you you these are submitted and approved or you're still determining which ones you're going to tier one were approved and are now back out for a formal proposal and the team is supporting their colleagues in completing that proposal um form if they need some assistance with that because it is five or six pages long it's it's pretty detailed the concept form was really just a paragraph so that's where we are we have finished the concept form approval 38 of those those Concepts were approved and so now those proposals will come back into us for consideration the timeline is they will are to be submitted by May 1st with final Decisions by May 5th and to be Implement implemented next year the year after this is for next year okay this is growing our piloting projects we had a variety of projects that we piloted this year and we've done assessment to them and we'll bring a report back to the board we did share a paper copy with the board earlier but we'll bring it back to the public of how the pilots have worked thus far but this is another series of pilots and some of that onetime funding where it said strategic work would help support some of the funding so that's exactly how we'll use those dollars thank you there no questions or comments can you give an example of a couple of the pilots that were suggested the concepts that were considered fitting within the framework and uh demonstrated that students could potentially benefit in terms of their learning experience um when I think about uh personalized advising for example there was a proposal for looping of advisory teachers at the middle school there's another one at Valley View that would provide a a different advisory experience for grade nine students much more um aligned with transition to high school and also looking at College and Career curriculum that might be a little more developmentally appropriate for them and then partnering of teachers in terms of advisory rather than having an advisory teacher they would be working with a team of teachers in terms of World Language competencies there are a couple of proposals from different members of the World Language Department to identify students in a different way for learning grouping them for learning as opposed to just grade level seventh grade Spanish or eighth grade Spanish that students would be gathered in a group that would be based on proficiency so those are some ideas there's some really uh interesting ideas around flexible space and one example that I think is interesting is from um Valley View where the hallways are quite wide several teachers have identified areas where with some simple Furnishings they could become learning spaces for students and to be used by a variety of departments not just within one Department area so those are some ideas that have come forth all right thank you you're welcome thank you next up we have our consent agenda and a motion to approve so moved second it's been uh moved and seconded uh to approve the consent agenda any additions or Cor I'm sorry Rick you want to walk us through before we go to that I certainly can um it's not long enough yet you know we figured we extend her out a little more we have Personnel recommendations again this is standard business um we do have some terminations non-renewals it's that time of year that uh we are being responsive uh to that need um we have the expenditures payable that again we're asking the board to approve for March 31st and April 21st we have a variety of lease agreements those all tie in with the Adina Community Center um we're asking for the board to support the Dina wrestling program to be a standalone program historically that's been a co-op program over the past several years with Richfield but now both the Richfield High School as well as un High School have enough students to direct their own programming uh Troy Stein has been able to put a plan together that does uh financially have uh responsibility that will fit the programming as far as uh funding as far as space um as far as Staffing it so we're recommending that action move forward we have a big Google Summit coming up and then we've got sponsors that we're partnering with and again this Falls within the district policy want board support for that a variety of commendations and then again gifts we're getting from uh the community and that would conclude the consent agenda thank you Rick uh any additions or Corrections or items you'd like to remove from the uh consent consent agenda see now we'll proceed to a roll call vote hi hey you're still awake on the other end I I am still here yeah hi I I I I next up we're on to our uh first of our action items uh the eme agreement uh motion to bring that to the floor so move it's moved and seconded uh Gwen provided uh some earlier background any additional things you'd like to add we appreciate all the work that's going into this on everybody's part um just that I appreciate it working with the uh we appreciate it working with the negotiations team from em it's very difficult to um move to a new salary schedule when the current one has been in place for so so many years but we have um we've continued moving so thank you uh Gwen uh any additional discussion comments there's a lot of lot of history here ju I would just like to publicly thank Gwen and Margo your team and the EM negotiating team for the work on the negotiation but specifically the contract it's it's a wonderful opportunity for the district to Pilot something new and I appreciate all of the hard work that went into Having the courage and the Deep reflection to look into another salary schedule the the current structure has been around since the 1970s and uh really uh appreciate the uh teachers stepping forward back in August with a proposal and uh it took some time and uh we appreciate this transition because I think longterm term it's a it's a good move uh for everybody involved so we thank them for those efforts any additional discussion again I just you know reiterating that you know although it says you know the 1% and 1% that you know the way the numbers the rollup costs of around I think we've said you know 3.2 million and then the additional costs that that's how we get to the 4.65 million just so that it's clear that it's not you know that it's more than that thank you Sirah additional discussion all those in favor please value saying I I'm sorry R call late night hi hi hi I I I motion carries uh next up we have uh e-learning squared uh support for the expansion of uh e-learning squared can I get a motion moved second been moved and seconded uh Steve provided some uh background early any additional background you'd like to share you get a mic uh how do you get through there the technology guy they don't give him a mic huh who's in charge of the technology huh they got me they got me in the the good SE uh good evening board and superintendent and the community I just would like to say is I what we look at is e-learning squared is um a recognition I think of the power of the technology that we can use in the instruction uh We've we've had conversations with the community with teachers and with teaching and learning to to Really identify the power of that and it really is three ideas and that is is that uh incred increasingly we have digital content that can be brought to bear to engage our students and and to bring a level of productivity and opportunities to our teaching staff it is uh the professional development and the support that we provide our teachers as they look at engaging their students with the technology and then finally it is about ensuring that all of our students have a digital device and with Fidelity they bring it and know how to use that device daily in their instruction that doesn't mean that they use it every day but that they have the availability of that device and that's the power of the technology it's not taking away from our teachers or not taking away from opportun ities that we know and traditionally have been very successful but it's providing that vast opportunity so I seek your support and in increasing and bringing e-learning squ forward next year thank you st may I ask one question absolutely Steve if you could please just give a quick summary on how the e-learning square program will be implemented in fifth grade since that's the youngest grade for which we are introducing a device thank you much like most of the content that we we introduce in in teaching there's a style of called introduce practice and master and so what we see is fifth grade is really our opportunity to introduce uh using technology and having technology that's available more um and more frequently for our students the idea is not to have that technology leave the classroom but to have it available and again we don't we're not saying that it's getting used every day or all the time but that it's there and available so that when there's a learning opportunity we can leverage that technology to be able to Le to use that right away and to increase our learning and so so those devices won't leave um those schools and they'll be there for our teachers thank you can I just add last question so can you just confirm um would this be coming out of the technology fund or where just to be clear yeah thank you it will be coming out of the technology fund to support this and the professional development as well so and oh go ahead um we're going to be adding a lot of devices presumably having a lot more people accessing so have you done an analysis of the capacity of the system to be able to meet the needs so that if you know all of a sudden we happen to have 40 or 50% of of the students accessing the system do we have that capacity and do we have the support available within your current budget to help people in Implement all of this it's a great question um technology continues to expand and so it is a it is a challenge for it departments and educ ation to stay up with that that demand what but what we have done is uh from what lessons learned last year we've put in place quite a bit more infrastructure in order to be able to do that uh earlier um in the fall I came back to talk about ex expanded pipes and bandwidth and we talked about the increase of the bandwidth we're also uh as we speak we are putting in additional access points in all of the high schools and secondaries will there'll be at least an access point in every other classroom for the wireless technology and then we're also ensuring that there'll be access points in the fifth grade classes in conjunction with the work that the facilities is doing over the summer we will be putting access points in those buildings that undergo major renovation Highlands and Creek Valley they'll be getting an access point in every classroom so we are uh really trying to keep up with that and then the other thing I would say is on the professional development area and ensuring that our teachers have the support they need I think that the vision that the media centers and the media specialist are starting to evolve our around where our media Specialists can become those digital learning Specialists with support from the tech paraa and the media clerk within those media centers that we're going to be able to provide additional support and training to those teachers to leverage the use of Technology uh last last question um in terms of bringing along our families so that they're aware of how the program works what it's going to look like in say a fifth grade classroom versus our you know seniors in high school can you just explain how some of the communication will flow and maybe Susan can help as well just so that we're keeping them moving along with their kids communication is a critical component of this project as well as professional development and having the devices I'd like to call out Tim Barren and Mike Walker who are major uh people that have done made this project as successful as it has been and part of the way they do that is the communication Tim does frequently use our school messaging system to communicate on regular intervals with our families throughout the project we also will be holding parent information nights in the next couple weeks and so we'll be having those at Valley View South View we've also uh have extended uh the opportunity to meet at in the elementaries as well we provided the elementary principles with some documentation with the help of the communications that they'll be sending it out and then one of our big focuses is in the fall is the digital footprint and ensuring that our students have a good understanding of the importance of positive behavior on the internet with technology and to that end we're working again with the media specialists in our communities to do uh using a curriculum called Common Sense Media to really talk about a curriculum and standards based content on what is really the good ways of using the technology so we promote the good ways and mitigate the negative ones and so that we be working uh here still in the and then we'll have parent nights within the falls and we're actually doing a digital passport so our students will be able to earn passports that they say they're good digital citizen as well as working on certifying our schools that were digital uh Common Sense Media digital certified schools and so we'll continue to really have strong Communications on the end of how's it going as well as what to do and what are some of the good expectations of using technology great thanks Steve I think just to add to that um we've you know part of what we've been able to do with communication a is really listen to our families our families you know whether it's through a survey I know at a recent parent leadership council meeting we had a couple of parents uh speaking to how do we help our kids because how do we do homework when homework doesn't look like it did when we went there in the technology and things so we're really trying to make sure that we're partnering and continuing those conversations as well so it's a learning experience for everybody thanks thank you additional questions comments yeah I just want to again congratulate Steve and his team and do a special shout out to Mike Walker Mike was part of the journey when we had Ono ones back with the laptops and Mike has just been a champion of this with families and staff and then Tim and uh Tim has been our go-to guy with a partnership with Best Buy and uh they were so committed that they're here to see this to the end when the board votes on this so I appreciate them being here tonight and Steve and his team it's uh this is a big moment for us to to take this uh step it's been a very thoughtful process and the great things are going to come from it maybe we should touch on the free and reduced aspect of the store and how that works yes for the free and reduced lunch kids yep uh again we we understand technology is incredible tool in our teaching and learning so we want to make sure there's no digital divide and so we are um providing through a checkout process through our district a uh device for our students of with of need in the free and reduced lunch so what we do is uh we provide them an opportunity of either going to the Best Buy web store and taking advantage of that if they choose or if they don't what we do is check out a Chromebook which is the most popular device we don't label it any way so we keep it Anonymous as possible and we provide that student that device uh for the time that they're in the institution and then we uh change it out every three years so it is much like um our parents and how they're using the device they really don't try to differentiate that but make them equal access to it the other piece that we we are very cognizant of is internet access in the homes and so we work very strongly with the Adina give and go and other community organizations to when we identify schools or parents or families that don't have internet access to get them the internet acces they need so that they can be online as well I I think your team is just to be commended because with this program now every student from fifth through 12th grade will either have access to or actually have a device and we've done it in a fiscally responsible manner thank you all additional questions comments all those in favor of the Roll Call roll call roll call roll call we get to go home yet no we don't hi hi hi hi hi I motion carries uh next up is the conquered elementary school edition can I get a motion please so moved second moved and seconded to approve the contract with black and do for the kindergarten Edition at conquer uh Margo little backgr a little background both on uh conquered agenda item and the next agenda item for the corelia kindergarten Edition in uh similar fashion as our previous uh construction bids that we've had um uh they did come in over budget it it is the market right now we're we're hearing from other districts that uh they are experiencing it also um so just want to quickly talk about uh some solutions that uh since I received this final bid information that we're working on because if you combine the two together uh we're a little over 470,000 over budget uh so there's some possible solutions to that um one is uh cutor value engineer quote unquote uh something out of the project uh another would be to use some Capital dollars um we an option that isn't available to us uh since we were talking about a different budget tonight is we can't take dollars out of the general fund so that is not an option I want to be clear that this is a different type of budget issue uh and then I did call the Department of Education because the scope of the contract hasn't changed for the two additions uh the the construction environment is just significantly higher uh even though we adjusted uh projections in February and uh they are hearing from other districts that uh this is also occurring and so they're allowing an option uh as long as the scope of the contract or the uh construction hasn't changed if we submit uh the change be as a result of the bids uh they will revise the approval letter from the commissioner to reflect that change so I've also worked and researched with our financial consultants uh that we also can uh adjust our lease Levy uh to fund the change uh which if we did end up going through that uh that would be an additional $2 annually in taxes on the average taxpayer we don't have all our research on all these components completed yet as of today my recommendation is you approve both the conquered and Cornelia Edition um because if we delay it it will significantly in Impact our ability to open in time for school that we will uh figure this budget component out through the options I just talked about while work with finance committee um the beginning of May and U more than likely be bringing a recommendation forward to adjust the lease Levy component there might be some value engineering um maybe some components out of capital but we'll bring that forward in um at the May board meeting thanks Margo any questions so you're you would like us to move forward but not I'm just want to be clear that we are not going to approve an addition that's $400,000 over budget so that's what we're doing so if the state for example if this option wasn't available we we have to make that budget balance we're going to either have to take it out of the project so for example there's some switching of kindergarten and art rooms in both projects you know that would be a conversation what's the cost of that is that something we do or not um what's the cost of furniture fixtures and equipment and look at Capital funding we would have to resolve this internally and and we have options they're not great options but there are options to be able to do that um so my recommendation is to move forward with the additions um because to not move forward with approval tonight would we we wouldn't be able to open with the early start or it would significantly impact that opening and then we will in some form or fashion we will balance this and make this work um and if I had my recommendation if I had to give it tonight will be that we will move forward with requesting additional lease Levy funds again there's a a little bit more research to do around that but that's my if I if you kind of want to know where I think we're headed and we also at finance committee has some uh certainly uh we'll work with finance committee on May 8th uh to review all that information and then bring it forward to you and wal was um felt good about both of these two Contracting companies uh we have worked with both of them yes okay good and to clarify these two additions or two points on the agenda the conquered and Cornelius to add a classroom for the expanded all day kindergarten correct additional discussion so we have the conquered motion on the floor uh roll call no Cornelia I'm sorry I'm sorry con coner Wishful I both Comin I Meer I Neville I don't think we can I O'Brien I patl I Wallen fredman I motion carries next up we have the uh Cornelia elementary school edition I had a motion please so moved second moved and seconded to approve the contract with Dural construction uh any additional discussion uh I saw the alternate is is is the intention to do the alternate or is that a question at this point the intention and the recommendation is to do the alternate for $1,000 it has to do with where the building connects um and trying to uh when we connect to Tazo trying to keep that connection so that we have a district standard if uh if we weren't connecting to that but we want the addition to look uh similar to the part of the building that it's connecting to so I would recommend that we do that that alternate yeah and I would support that because the terazzo seems to be a permanent fix versus tiles or something else that we always have to fix or repair so and terazzo you mean the the speckled flooring yeah the steps you walk down here that are 50 plus years old and still look so nice that's right uh additional discussion or comments uh roll call please sah hi Goldstein I Meyer I Neville I O'Brien I pav I Wallen fredman I motion carries next up we have garbage refuges and Recycling services can I a motion please second discussion Margo better news to report on this bid we uh it's been 5 years since we uh conducted a bid for the refugee use and Recycling and I'm happy to report um that uh with this bid there is a reduction in cost from current Services estimating that to be between $4 and $5,000 on an annual basis which is good also this bid uh We've expanded our recycling efforts in The Last 5 Years so it more clearly uh delineates those services and um this would be for a five-year um term and uh you can see calculations in your board packet but would recommend Waste Management as our um Recycling and refu services the other component that they will have they have partial their Fleet is partially compressed natural gas at this point by the first of the year it will all be in that uh par uh the compressed gas which helps with noise and sometimes we do get complaints from you know our neighbors when uh there's Refuge removal and it also is more environmentally friendly so more green thanks Margo any questions or comments roll call please s i Goldstein I Meyer I Neville I O'Brien I patsa I Wen fredman I motion carries uh next up we have special education Transportation a motion please so move second moved and seconded uh Margo again uh two years ago uh we bid out special ed transportation services we received two bids this year um successful biders the current provider Adams services and there is a 0% increase from what we're currently pay paying um so I would recommend continuing and uh we have been pleased with our service with Adams recommend approval thank you and what's the annual budget I see it's just an basically a daily rate what's our annual one depends the number of specialized students we have but it's roughly between 6 and 700,000 and maybe this isn't the time for the discussion but the cost of bringing that in house uh we can provide we believe we can provide the service more economically inhouse the issue is we would need to invest in more buses uh special ed buses in particular obviously to provide that service and then be able to um house those bus so uh long long term if we are able to um have uh explore that we would like to do that um and and the transportation analysis that was done two or three years ago did recommend that District consider that and so as we look at our building project going forward and we study our transportation needs I think we'll include that as a study component excellent and this is a two-year contract again this is a two-year and we brought up the same thing in finance of facilities and ask if we could take that okay great roll call please C hi Goldstein hi Meyer I Neville I O'Brien I Poff I Wallen Friedman I motion carries uh we've got uh policies for 427 903 904 can I get a motion to combine those so moved it's been moved and seconded uh to combine uh policies 427 903 and 904 into a single motion uh roll call please C hi Goldstein hi Meyer hi Neville hi O'Brien hi patl I Wen fedman I those motions have been combined I can a motion to bring them to the Flor so moved second moved and seconded discussion I I I've got one question about 903 um in paragraph 5B and I can't believe at this time of night I'm asking this but it uh it says this person may be detained by a building administrator or a person designated by principal building administrator should there be an article before principal building administrator the probably like the word the and I think we can accept that as a friendly Amendment Amendment and David would you please repeat the paragraph the location uh [Music] no a major correction since we saw it last no there were no changes because one of them were just resending the policy and the other two is are exactly the same as we saw last meeting except for the pickup that David just found additional questions or comments seeing none roll call please C hi Goldstein I Meyer I Neville I O'Brien I patof I Wallen Freedman I motion carries on to discussion budget alignment plan comments thoughts how we want to walk through this um we have the information that Dr Dron and I presented and would entertain any questions that the board has well so i' got some awful good data we'll we'll be taking this information back but would seek any further direction from the board but also before we would come back to the board we'll be uh reviewing this to the board finance and facility committee as well but again we'd entertain any questions board might have or comments um one of the things I was going to bring up that I kind of brought up when we were talking early here was and this is just My Little Numbers mind looking at things and playing with numbers but based on where we are with numbers provided by Mary and based on the information of 24 equals 5 hours 23 students equals 4 hours Etc I put together a little Excel spreadsheet just for myself to say okay in each building here's where we're at here's the number of sections Etc if Cornelia as averaging say 23 students a classroom based on current policy here's where we would be at for numbers of hours of pairs but on the other hand you look at another building that may only have 19 kids average per classroom current policy would state that we don't have pairs in that room just looking at those numbers and doing some just basic hours Math instead of looking at it as a everybody gets the same regardless of number of students of this one and a quar hours of pair of time trying to at least look at and consider you know if it's 23 it's four hours if it's this is zero um I come up with a difference of say 48 hours total under the old way of looking at pairs versus versus say about 32 33 hours under our as as it's currently proposed and I'm not saying one is better or worse than the other I guess I would say that I hope we could at least ENT entertain that and look at it and I've just shared my geeky numbers with Margo um it's just something to think about and look at it differently and see if there's a way that we could come up with it I do realize that there's no way that that doesn't cost us more money when we're talking more hours but I still think it's worth taking a look at that's my my thought but I guess when I was reading the reading the graph I wasn't thinking that it was you got an extra for every CH every student above I thought it was when you hit the upper limit 24 then you got one additional hour rather than getting a an hour per student it's currently at one and a quarter hours per section per classroom based on the what is it 18 to 22 in the proposal and then it's adding more hours once we get to 24 right but you were saying but you were proposing a whole different schedule that you were looking at it based on the old way because one of our discussion points tonight is also looking at when do we add additional hours so like I said I just was playing with this in my mind based on the the feedback that we're getting but again I mean that would also mean though in a class of 19 no PA support oh y but we'd have to have you have to look at the balance yep we can take a look at that and the elementary principles have looked at too so we've got to look at how that how we staff that too so they have a model that allows for some staffing options but we will pursue that so I've got a couple of questions on the math science um the first was one of the speakers asked this question about could we charge a fee a science fee uh is that an option how does that work um have we considered that that's one question by the way okay so so um later tonight uh in the appendix you see we've taken a look at fees and there are some real limitations of where you can uh charge fees the board has to U have a hearing around it yeah fees are very much defined by Statute and there's really limited categories for what you can charge fees for so we'd have to really look at that to see if we could even come into one of the exceptions for that my belief here but i' ask for clarification is that the district has recently done an analysis of fees with neighboring districts to see whether or not we are competitive if we're way below or in any case above and my understanding is that we are currently in l is that accurate so that's for activitiesi for activities activities that we're talking no different for academic I know the academic fees are another discussion and we've had the board has had concern expressed from parents to date about charging a fee for an academic yeah and their state statute that yes an under State Statute that's the tough thing is to charge fees for academics my concern is equity with everything on that I think that there is great fundraising capacity within the community I think it's a question of how we approach it um we're fortunate to have the strength of Adina education fund and AD give and go which is brand new I also know that our you know for the wonderful things that they've done our community participation is very low so I think it's something to just encourage the community to look at the resources that are available and encourage families who are able to to review the options we have and participate um for families who can support the district through the education fund or give and go or any other means um the funds are useful and the partnership with the district is very strong I do commend both of those organizations for stepping with the district to identify what needs exist how can we meet the needs of all Learners as equitably as possible and distribute the resources that we have so I believe that those appear to be quite underutilized opportunities for our community where there's room for a lot of growth you had more questions my second question and this is probably one for you to think about and come back to but the second question is you know we've heard this questions about you know volunteer burnout so um how comfortable we are we that we will be able to replicate the services in the math and science if we get rid of these positions yep so I think that would be where we'll come back I mean we know that we're expanding our volunteer efforts uh through Our Community Education resource and I think we have a more seamless approach but I can't disagree that uh it's becoming more challenging um you know to have that that volunteer who is going to be that consistent accountable volunteer because if you ask for a volunteer and that volunteer doesn't show up you know that class is stuck so we understand all that um and principles again have done some problem solving around that and we'll just have to come back again with a recommendation but I thought the again the sharing tonight was very good and uh we'll continue to explore what's possible with that approach okay I have a question I commend the finance facilities committee for trying to go through this sorry if you can't hear me um I have a question a little bit about The Writing Center and the math Center and the discrepancy in the amounts needed for both of those um so we have 124,000 in change for the Writing Center and the 69,000 for the math Center so I'm curious why there such a discrepancy there and and I need some clarification on The Writing Center I was under the understanding that it was ninth grade peer reviews so I'm trying to understand the 1.8 FTE needed there and then I'm sure that's what's related to the expense but that seems high to me I won't do justice in answering that question directly but what I will say is that will take that concern back and and discuss that and bring that information back to the board the reason I bring it up is that $555,000 difference between the two and if we are concerned about the math and science pairs at an 86,000 if there's some wiggle room there we've already come a long way to that 86 and I guess I I think we had brought this up at a previous meeting again what it boils down to I think when it's 1.8 it's 6 FTE so 60% of a full-time employee working on a Writing Center and I think some of us had concerns around the fact that you know it is very much peer based so I guess I'm wondering why it takes that much of an FTE to fulfill that need although you know there is it we see that it's a good need but also I think some of the other concerns we had discussed too were you know the teachers requiring kids attending or offering extra points for attending the writer Center and not necessarily doing it based on need although I'm sure that there is need but I think we just need to delve into some of that before we continue to fund it at that level if if I could make a point of clarification um between both of your question comments The Writing Center and Math Center in the detailed information you received you received um they list a a variety of enhancements that were requested throughout our process and then the total dollar amount if you go further over to the right it says net amount and those two are not part of the recommended enhancements rather than uh specifically that doesn't uh because it's zero there specifically what uh we did with the secondary is allocate just a dollar amount for enhancements of the 112,000 that we spoke to in our presentation and the second secondary is planning on they're modifying modifying the writing and the and the math centers within their FTE is that a fair statement that's correct so they are not getting that funding support that was recommend that was what they requested okay but but they we're not able to honor it so we were able to honor the intervention of $20,000 per site and they're doing it from an internal then so they are modifying it and uh having to do it from an internal Staffing standpoint and remember there again their their allocations are so many FTE per students and so then they're they're having to do an internal adjustment but that was the request that we weren't able to honor okay so just to be clear for those out there the the packet these are the requests not what we've recommended correct well in the net amount I would look at the power point in this detailed part it's over to the right in the net amount is what is being recommended the other is listed just so that uh the public knows that we did consider a variety of enhancements a variety of reductions and over to the right on the enhancements is what's currently being recommended thank you thank you Margo for the clarification there was um I guess I had a question maybe for Randy this will probably go too a couple people had talked about the the gifted and talented language arts expansion and and talking um specifically that it was only benefiting a small group of our students and so I guess I have a couple questions um if we're just looking at numbers for gifted and talented what percentage of our students qualify for that service and then if you could also go on to explain um how we've looked at that with the math program and how that has benefited all the students by by including that in the RTI model sure I I might ask Chad to jump in on on percentages here but um gifted Education Services is an integral part of the RTI framework it is about meeting the needs of all the kids that we have in math we have uh created a tier three intervention service so tier three is intensive intervention because the students are several grade levels above their peers and so they they get something that is different H to meet their needs in where they're at in mathematics and we've been collecting data around that that suggests very strongly that those the students that are in that programming are meeting their um expected growth targets the language arts uh um tier three intervention proposal is modeled after that uh math Intervention Program and so what we would be looking at is A4 FTE at each of the sites so in grades four and five uh students would have this tier three intervention around language arts what that the impact that that has is more widespread than just the students participate in language arts because when students go to a tier three intervention that lowers instructional size for teachers um during those times whether it's mathematics or with language arts and as any teacher will test to it is easier to build connections and to get to students and to personalize learning when you have fewer numbers in that classroom at a time that's a reality so when students are pulled for one of these interventions tier three in math or if this is uh accepted later on in May then that reduces instructional size and that starts to impact all of the students across the system so uh there there are other impacts that are broader than just in that pure intervention system itself um we we can certainly dig up the percentages and and describe that but when we look at the students that make up our Edina population we have a large percent of students that qualify for GT services but we can bring those exact percentages back so Randy I believe that we were given data earlier that said that the GT Language Arts students were not meeting expected growth in comparison to the rest of the students who were meeting expected growth and so that this is an effort to get each of the students to get to the growth level they're supposed to be at and I don't know if that that has wasn't discussed tonight but we've seen that before correct I and I thank you for bringing that back up and so with the0 2 FTE model that we've had in the past we did not see the data uh to support that the growth was happening uh for their expected growth targets and so so we really felt that that wasn't an effective way for students to grow to their expected level so we're looking at a slightly different Model A more intensive intervention to meet their need I don't know that I want to answer this question when I'm going to um if we go back before we started RTI and look at our in the elementary and look at our our head count and I don't know how best to describe it other than headcount of of of teaching staff not necessar all teachers but Paris and whatever and then look at it now with RTI with the mass Specialists and really quantify where we're at you know tonight we heard uh a discussion about all the cuts that have hit Elementary but compared to some other places it's been pretty minimal just really look at those numbers so we can start to think about really you know where we at I think we've got become more targeted and focused on who we are Staffing and where we are Staffing but I I don't think we've always done a good job of articulating that and I and I think it's fair to say where we're trying to get tighter is to identify the specific needs in our students and how to align resources best to those needs and I believe if we look at a a long history here we have increased instructional support in the schools for students to meet those needs and so part of the RTI framework has been to identify where that needed support is and then to shift our resources to create that support yeah what I'm suggesting is is there some way to frame that uh or to talk about that and I don't know if it's student teaching staff ratio or what but because it really has evolved over time and Randy the point would be to to clarify the current system that we have or to restructure no better understand the point is to help the public understand yes we're seeing Cuts but we're also seeing ads the cuts everybody remembers but the ads are overlooked and so really to demonstrate yes we've made changes but it's really changes uh versus just cuts and so H and it's again it's how how do we best use are resources so uh and is there a way to frame that uh that you know people just walking in today can understand how we've evolved the system so so you know I I agree with what you're saying which is that we've reallocated resources to make sure that we're meeting the needs in a you know using the old model behind and going on to a different approach I I do think we do need to revisit to make sure that Math and Science in terms of what what we're looking at isn't going to fall behind in in this proposal absolutely and I would Echo that I mean that certainly the communication to the board in the last couple of days everything shared tonight shares what I agree with what I hearing everybody here agrees with is there's clearly value in what's happening with math and science there's clearly value in per support at the kindergarten level I don't believe that there's any question about this nor do I expect any conversation to question if that's the direction we should be going of course it is there what I see and what I thank Margot for articulating is that we have a systemic issue on funding that exists from outside the district it's not unique to our district I believe that we do have great capacity to find Creative Solutions but it's not a an issue that can be addressed this year and then solved it will be here next year and the year after and that's what I think Margo again for helping to illustrate but would ask that we can try to continue to communicate to the community this is part of the way education is funded um thanks sen representative Rosenthal for being here this evening and the work that you're doing at the legislature this is a an effort that is clearly Statewide it's not just our district uh it is something that we need to take a look at at a much larger level to attempt to change how education is funded in terms of looking at our issues here what I appreciate from the principal's team in taking a look at this particular recommendation that's brought before the board tonight is I know they've tried to keep the cuts away from any impactful instruction the question I would ask but I believe it's when they've already discussed is there an alternative $86,000 that would not impact the classroom and I I don't know of that I'm sure that this is what they have looked at we'd certainly have another month to discuss this um I don't believe that one student's needs can be pitted against another every student deserves that best learning opportunity whether it's the proposals that are on the table this evening for Paris support Math and Science support RTI support language arts they're all important they're all important if it's just one child it's the most important thing for that child this is their learning experience and that is what we are here to provide so that creative solution needs to look a little different and it's probably Randy indicated it's in reshuffling these resources it won't look the same as the way we've been delivering it and that's not because the old way wasn't good it definitely has value and we see that we don't have a lot of options well particularly when it's year after year that we have to cut it's not will be it's not like that we can say well if we make these Cuts this year then for the next two years we're good and there's nothing we have to do because come next year we're going to be in the same boat we're still going to have to make Cuts because the funding's not going to keep up with just the you know increase in the cost of things that we have to buy so we're going to be looking for other cuts and we're still going to have then new needs that we're going to say we've got to have you know enh it'll be new enhancements it's a never it's a never ending cycle and it's not easy and it's not fun and I would add to that that after two plus years of going through this and now seeing us you know it's given me an opportunity to see go through all of our contracts with all of our bargaining units and the reality is when the majority of our expenses as have been said tonight are people and when you know you get so much money from the state funding and increase over last year and the year before you know there's so much money but then just one contract negotiation with with only 1% raises or whatever you know roll up costs Etc take up the majority of that and when we're talking about people that's what and and and it looks it sounds so awful to say it's $86,000 it's just a line item because it's people but do we take it out of that contract negotiation versus that one where do those dollars come from because ultimately it is it's people and it I it is it is difficult although I do think as we continue to move forward and we have we go into negotiations with various bargaining units we have to continue to remember that you know there is a bottom line any other budget uh budget comments uh yeah even if if even if we were to keep up with inflation uh we'd be way way ahead we aren't keeping up with inflation we're 2% behind inflation I'd say on average is that a good number Margo yeah so you're falling behind 2% just before you start so uh additional questions comments uh where we at here we did budget uh instuctional side guidelines did we touch on that enough size guidelines uh education we have a visual for the screen for the specifically the kindergarten so we did show that at yeah we did oh yes thank you uh educational competencies we touched on that anything else there we just say that uh I mean this is a major shift that we're going to look at competencies versus uh course requirements as we move forward we're going to walk into this it's nothing that we're going to move and quickly on um so that we may leave this as an open document for us to continue to discuss and make sure that we have it correct we're continuing to doing some some auditing around that Randy and his team and the teachers will continue to work with this and common assessments uh but I commend Randy his team Susan Tennison uh a lot of work has been done by the team to get to this point so my only comment on that is that as I read through all those documents I still have a lot of questions as to the specifics of what we're going to be doing even within phase one and so to the extent that we're looking to approve this document as it's written I I just I'm going to need more information and it's probably going to stay an open document for a while so just to clarify so this this document that we got in our packet that document not this one I'm talking the educational competency document that okay page 382 the one page 382 ah okay that's still a document underdevelopment got 382 this one I'm working on if I might add uh to the educational compasses one of the things that we're excited about is we look to other organizations we look at World Savvy we look at Asia Society we we look at Harvard Global education we are right on track with our Global confidence definition and our indicators it is right in the line alignment with those organizations so you look globally at what people are talking about what they're saying what we're developing is right in line with that and it really came from our staff it came from our community it came from the research and so that is that's kind of a a a summary of how we're continuing to audit what is in there and further MD's world best Workforce competencies are embedded within the uh within this document and um I I would offer that we even go a little bit further in how we describe this uh well-roundedness this commitment to to health and wellness because those are key elements that provide pillars of support around learning and so we're excited about how it's developing we feel like it's in line with International organizations and uh we'll continue to uh continue to make it a better document thank you Randy additional questions comments uh next we're on to uh grade nine GPA last year's secondary academic study this year's uh uh support from our secondary implementation team is to continue to move forward with a a request uh for the board to count the grade nine uh courses in the GPA for for students um some rationale for that would include that our honest students transcript they have their ninth grade courses listed um currently the GPA of students who have a lower grade in one class and grades 10 through 12 are more greatly impacted since that GPA is consisting of fewer classes than if it was consisting of the four-year range um with that above or with this above change the the GPA uh would more accurately be represented uh across all the courses that would be on the transcript uh and another significant element is that currently colleges recalculate the GPA based on what's in nth grade so even though we may have a GPA that we are articulating to the students the colleges we calculate that to incorporate the 9th grade into it to look at that full 9 through 12 picture we do fully realize that there still are some concerns with staff that this could negatively impact students and we need to continue to vet some of that out and ensure that we've explored all those concerns uh before um we're ready for that to be an action item with the board I'm getting feedback that the in fact colleges don't across the board recalculate our gpas and include the ninth grade grades that I'm hearing that colleges who are recalculating are doing a calculation that is geared to what their most interest so they might recalculate by throwing out fiet or health or choir band Orchestra anything that they don't consider a core class and that across the board colleges aren't just putting in our ninth grade grades so they see them on the transcript they look at them as a part of the students history and you know there's a a progression or you know they're either going up or they're going down or whatever but they're not recalculating so if we're using that as like a major reason I think we just need to go back and make sure of why we're doing it because if they're not recalculating and we're saying it doesn't make any difference because they're already doing it and they're not we should be clear on that so just more information before we vote I guess certainly and not that we should do what other districts are doing but what are neighboring districts doing in terms of nth grade G depends I would suppose if they're N9 to 12 high schools and we're 10 to 12 High School right right y yeah so are the vast majority of schools nationally are a 9 through 12 and there'll be a 9 through 12 transcript additional questions comments discussion uh on to secondary plan recommendations so again this is that larger document I think Susan Tennyson and Susan BR uh for their work in formulating it it reads similar to the uh plan that the board approved in June it shows the advancement work I think it's going to be a living document and when we have specific actions that we're asking the board to take we'll bring it to you in a motion so as we get deeper into this around personal advising or World competencies that we'd bring it specifically if if it's a governance issue that we're bringing forward would bring it through a board action specific versus this report this report's going to continue to evolve um again we have a phase one phase two and I know it's going to need some discussion before we continue uh moving it along but it's it's again a framework that we're working with that is moving a big system in a very systematic way so we're not approving this document you said that there when there is an action item that's governance related it would come to us and but let me finish where I'm going on this because when we approved this document we were told that that implementation would be approved by the board and so that the parameters that we agreed to were I would say General in scope and so I would still expect that to the when we get to the point where we're going to actually Implement specific things that those would come to the board that's correct because right now this is still still work in progress right yep so we're not going to see this as an action item in May for example um we're gonna I I think it's something we'll talk about more as a board is how we want to move it forward we we know this is the work we're doing and we want to make sure that the board uh is is you know giving us the right charge around this work and so I think we can wrestle with it at our work session a little bit to give us better Direction whether we approve this document formally uh whether we uh get you know again I think anytime there is a specific program option you know a specific uh action item that requires board action to make sure that it is implemented with Fidelity then it would come as specific action that make sense depending upon how you define define define see it's getting late depends on how you define an action item that requires governance decision so hopefully we're on the same page on that if we're not then I'm not okay with it yeah but I mean each action in that list I don't necessarily think it requires a board action I would agree yeah yes I'm I have don't believe that every single item here requires board action that's right anything else in secondary plan I I just had a couple questions maybe point of clarification um some notes I had made around um it was on the page called educational compet competencies um dw1 under the actions so far for this year so the 20134 year you know we just reviewed the educational competencies but it said that there was a draft of enduring skills and I was just curious if we had seen that or so this is a name change is is probably oh the the issue here so when we started this work it was really trying to identify Global competencies enduring skills and literacies that was the language we were using and as that work continued to evolve we dropped that long title and just shrink it to educational competencies okay so the okay thank you thank you and then another question was under the um s-3 personalized learning options and under this year's actions was completed a special education strategic plan and and then I guess additionally on top of that was just you know within the budget where we were talking about the $200,000 um you know adjustments so I was wondering have we I'm not very familiar with the the Strategic plan for special education So the plan hasn't been finalized yet so we we've completed the work on it it's in a refinement stage okay and then it'll come to the board but there's some staffing change again the approach is changing it's aligning with what we're doing with Next Generation okay but it again we'll have a the board will have a look at that I think we meet next week on it to with our consultant to finalize that anything else uh we're on to uh meeting date again these are uh a a similar calendar what we've kept in the past uh it's certainly open for uh board discussion if this is still the format uh that we want to use of that monthly meeting in that time frame I think it's it fits into the rhythm of the school district but uh it would be something that if board members would like to look at differently we certainly could do that we would uh want that finalized in May so that we could have the posting and get all the reservations done that we need I'm I'm seeing a two different uh December I'm seeing a December 2nd tax hearing date on on the second uh page [Music] here is that an old County date okay that's the county date so we're still correct with the 15th that's correct that's just the truth in taxation one okay anything else next policies 413 the harassment policy has been reviewed with msba and n SBA um there's just basic language updates that are included in the version that's intr documents so if there's any questions we'll take this back to the policy committee to discuss one more time before it comes back so happy to make any notes and 435 move on keep going yes 4:35 uh in this case the language is intended to cover a broader scope that was part of our discussion at the last policy committee meeting so the language some of the Amendments that we see in the document represent language amendments that are intended to address board approval ofus but not including M us as appendices and a lot of this language is taken out because a lot of this is covered by the new teacher evaluation program that will be put into place so this policy is superseded by that is it for policy now policy's good okay uh information announcements uh just uh again the board has a work session on May 5th uh legislature is moving along and we're tracking that and funding is one of the things we are tracking so we're looking for support in that Arena um our testing window is soon to close and I know we have busy months and busy weeks ahead for our students and we wish them the best and appreciate all the work that they and the teachers and the families are giving toward that work uh and also the several of the national reports are out was recognized by US News and World Report which we feel is much more Broad and it's look uh successful in the top 200 uh the the reason that that's a top 200 versus the top 100 it's just that there's simply so many specialized high schools today so many charter schools so manys so many unique settings that uh for a public school to be in that range it's a real compliment again to the uh services and the programs and the the work that's done in our classrooms and in our homes each and every night so it's a great success excellent anything we're missing longest meeting I've ever been at uh can a motion to adour so moved second moved it seconded any objection to adjourning at this time seeing none we are ad Jour thank you all e