[0:03] good morning and welcome to the school board candidate forum sponsored by edina public schools parent leadership council [0:10] my name is karen treeweiler and i'm a member of the edina plc and moderator for today's forum [0:16] thank you all for attending before we get started i ask that you each check your cell phones either turn them off or [0:23] put them on silent thank you we are gathered at the edina community center in boardroom 348 and overflow [0:31] room 350. all attendees in the building are required to wear a face mask [0:36] covering your nose and mouth attendance is limited to 100 persons and when capacity is reached the doors will close [0:43] candidates and the moderator may remove their mask while they are seated in the front of the board room and when [0:49] speaking during the forum this forum is being recorded so we please hold your applause until [0:56] the very end the form will be available for viewing on the district's website later this week [1:03] this forum is an opportunity to get to know the candidates running for edina school board all candidates who have [1:09] filed for the office of school board and who will be on the november 2nd 2021 ballot were invited to this forum and [1:15] all are in attendance today additionally all candidates were invited to participate in plc's flip grid video [1:23] forum flipgrid is used in many edina public school classrooms as a tool to engage students in learning and as a [1:30] creative way to show what they know the edina plc part partnered with the district's department of media and [1:36] technology to provide the public with an additional opportunity to get to know the 2021 candidates for school board [1:43] candidates who responded to the invitation to participate have video clips posted on the district website [1:50] candidates were asked three questions and 90 seconds were allotted for each answer of note these questions are not [1:57] being asked in today's forum please check out the candidates videos on the district website if you haven't already [2:04] here are the rules and format for today's forum speaking order was randomly assigned [2:11] before the forum and will rotate with each question i will call on each candidate to answer [2:16] the general questions by first and last name each candidate will have 60 seconds to [2:22] make an opening statement all candidates will answer general topic questions and i will indicate in the [2:29] question whether 60 seconds or 90 seconds is the time cap for that [2:34] question all candidates will answer lightning round questions that consist of [2:39] answering and either yes or no all candidates will raise their provided [2:44] paddle at the same time and candidates will state your yes or no verbally by going down the line in [2:51] alphabetical order i will indicate your turn with the nod of my head [2:56] candidates will have 90 seconds to make a closing statement members of the plc will be tracking the [3:03] time of your answers and will indicate to candidates when you have 45 seconds remaining 30 seconds remaining 15 seconds [3:11] remaining and when you must stop the plc solicited questions from our parent leaders and attempts in good [3:17] faith to cover as many topics submitted as possible within the time constraints [3:23] all questions are the property of parent leadership counsel [3:29] let's begin we will start with an opening statement from each candidate each of you will be [3:35] given 60 seconds to respond we will begin with nicole schnell [3:42] good morning my name is nicole schnell and i'm running as an independent candidate for the dyna public school board thank you to the plc for this [3:49] forum which allows me to have access and reach more people than i've had the pleasure of reaching [3:55] as a 18 plus year full-time working mother for the past 15 years i've spent [4:01] my days and nights working in the world of nonprofits where money is tight and prioritization is critical to accomplish [4:08] mission i grew up on drexel avenue in the country club area and i currently reside in south crest [4:14] i'm a graduate of edina high school university of iowa and then went on to do my master's work at northwestern [4:20] university in illinois my husband bob and i moved back here from california largely because of our experience in the [4:26] edina public schools i'm interested in running for school bar when because of the unintended [4:32] consequences these board's actions and inactions directly affected my family [4:37] and many of our neighbors and friends since then i've watched or attended nearly every board meeting along with [4:43] several other district board meetings to better understand the roles and fiduciary responsibilities of the board [4:48] thanks owen michelson [4:54] hello educational excellence has been the hallmark of edina public schools but that sterling reputation has been [5:00] tarnished lately by the news of last year's shocking decline in mca scores and the fling of [5:06] resident students now 22 being educated elsewhere uganda public schools is a 100 million [5:12] dollar a year enterprise employing over a thousand people and this requires the accountability and [5:18] transparency commensurate with this scale this includes recorded board meetings with unrestricted public [5:24] comment and the publishing of multi-dimensional aggregated map scores [5:29] edina deserves a school board unburdened by political ideology [5:35] or undue union influence edina deserves an independent analytical school board with a laser focus on [5:41] educational excellence knowing also that educational excellence in this context is social justice [5:49] uganda deserves a school board that offers unrestrained advocacy for parents and students [5:55] i'd like a second term to create such a board karen gabler [6:02] my name is karen gabler and i'm excited to be running for school board for the past decade i have been a champion of [6:08] edina public schools through my words and actions from being the pto president at the early learning center and at highlands [6:15] to being the co-chair of the last two school referendums to being the current co-chair of the dyna education fund [6:22] that coupled with the fact that i've been an educator for the past 20 years at the elementary middle and now [6:29] post-secondary level that means that i have experience giving the mca [6:34] i've been the teacher in the parent teacher conference and i've walked beside students as they've worked [6:39] through life's celebrations and struggles i'm excited for this next chapter of [6:44] edina public schools we have a strong leader in our new superintendent we have an ambitious and innovative strategic [6:51] plan and we have good things happening every day in our schools my experience and my skills make me [6:57] ready to join this board and help to make sure that edina public schools is elevating our work staying focused on [7:04] the areas where we have opportunities for improvement time leading the way [7:11] michael birdman good morning and thank you i'm michael berman i'm a proud resident of edina for [7:18] almost 20 years i have a fifth and seventh grader in fact my daughter is literally one floor below us right now [7:23] um at normandale my vision is to ensure edina is the gold standard [7:29] in public education this means every student gets what they need to learn and [7:34] grow as a business leader as a civic leader a former chair of the heritage preservation commission for the city of [7:40] edina i've been in the room i've understood the situation i've applied my knowledge and experience to engage the [7:46] stakeholders to be able to grow and execute the strategic initiatives that we have before us [7:52] the bottom line for me is that i'm committed to supporting each and every student to achieve growth from wherever [7:57] their starting point and i will ensure resources are allocated accordingly i'm excited to be [8:03] here today and to talk about why i'm running and to earn your support thank you [8:09] dan aaron i'd like to say thank you to the plc for hosting this event and giving me a [8:15] chance to share my commitment with this community and i'm a long time resident of udaino and a [8:20] champion of our schools generations of my family have grown up in edina and even before having children ali and i [8:27] discussed the that we would raise our three children here based on our belief in public education [8:32] and our connection to this community making the decision to run for school board has been a thoughtful and introspective process for me i've really [8:40] enjoyed you know my volunteer experiences ranging from being a coach to my kids sports teams to working on [8:45] food and security issues throughout the community to my time with the dynaed fund working on steam projects [8:51] i'm also grateful for everything that my family's received from edina and i'm passionate about making an impact and serving the udonna school board [8:58] as a member of the dyna school board i'll make sure that i represent the needs of all students and throughout this forum and in my closing i'll [9:06] look forward to answering your questions and sharing more about my passion and experience for our communities and schools [9:11] thank you erica allenberg [9:18] good morning my name is erica allenberg thank you to the plc for hosting this forum i'm the current chair of the edina [9:24] school board and am running for re-election i'm running for re-election not because being on a [9:30] school board right now is easy but precisely because it is hard it is hard and important work that needs [9:35] diligent experienced forward-thinking leaders who can not only navigate us through the current challenges of the [9:41] covet pandemic but keep our focus where it needs to be the academic and social emotional needs of all our children and [9:47] the strategic governance of our district every child every school that is not just a campaign slogan but it is how i [9:55] grounded my decision making as a board member through all the challenging decisions i've had to make each and [10:00] every student that enters our district deserves to thrive in our school system and it is my personal mission to work [10:06] towards that goal i'm excited at the prospect of working four more years for students parents and other stakeholders [10:12] and ask for your support in this election thank you [10:18] thank you the following is a general question for each candidate you will each have 60 [10:24] seconds to respond the first sentence of the edina public [10:30] school missions states eps is a dynamic learning community [10:36] delivering educational excellence and preparing all students to realize their full potential [10:42] what does this mean to you and how would you measure if this is being delivered [10:50] dan arum the dynamic learning environment to me [10:56] is a very key aspect of what udyno delivers as we've diversified over the years in [11:01] edina knowing from my experience and whatnot graduating from udine i should say [11:07] the dynamic aspect of it is important for us to address and also capture [11:12] different ways and how we've changed as a community and essentially how we're going to move forward with [11:18] our responses and reaction and education plans and interventions to me the the dynamic aspect of the community and [11:25] the interventions have to change and evolve we've learned different things over the years as far as educational tactics tools and technology [11:32] and i think it's important for us to address those elements and then also measure the impacts [11:38] in a way that reflects the actual technology and evolution of our educational society and [11:44] education and society and i look to the administration to identify which tools are the most appropriate measurement [11:50] items michael birdman [11:58] well let's first talk about dynamic dynamic means not static so it means we're constantly improving constantly [12:04] looking at growth constantly looking at what we've learned what's worked what hasn't and how do we continue to move [12:09] forward in growing what we're able to do for our students as well as the approach that we take [12:15] how do we deliver that how do we measure that i think there's a multitude of different ways that we do that i think today we [12:21] have an administration with dr stanley and a wonderful faculty and team that [12:26] is geared towards making that happen we heard last night at the board uh meeting about the update to our assessment [12:32] program that we're doing currently right now to start the new year i think that's another example of how to understand where we are in order to figure out [12:37] where we need to go i also think that the commitment of making sure that when we talk about each [12:43] and every student understanding not only where they are today but also where we want to take them we've learned that it's not just about [12:50] qualifying for a college education after high school but also many different tracks for which our students might want [12:56] to take thank you erica allenberg [13:06] because i helped write this i am partial to it i think it's great but um if i think if you parse it out into [13:13] three different statements one is talking about um our obligation as a district which is to [13:19] create a dynamic learning environment the next part is what we need to give to our students and we need to make sure [13:25] that we're preparing them to realize their full potential how do we measure full potential and how [13:30] do we do that as a district one thing i think we need to do which is something we're working on is creating measures of [13:35] success for our district we need to define what does full potential mean and [13:40] to me that means a whole child experience from defining these are our expectations from an [13:46] academic success perspective these are also our expectations from [13:52] a social and emotional perspective do children feel like they belong what percentage of those and saying [13:58] um this is our expectation and making sure that students that have [14:04] time thank you owen michelson [14:12] this is an exciting question because it strikes at the heart of what we do here in edinburgh schools [14:18] teaching starts education starts with teaching we want to have our teachers professionally trained and we want to [14:23] focus our professional development on education and academics [14:29] we have to have a nimble responsive organization that is sensitive to our success thus data is important to [14:35] capture and respond to we want to make this aware that the public aware of where we're going we want to be [14:40] accountable and transparent we want to put i'm proposing that we put the map scores [14:46] up on the website by by school by cohort by grade make the public aware of what [14:52] we're doing we want to listen to the parents in the community i am [14:57] advocating for thorough professional surveys of students teachers and parents [15:03] so we can establish longitudinal baselines and make comparisons off of that so i think we've got some exciting [15:09] things in place there we go karen gabler [15:17] so i like this as our mission statement i like that it talks about being a dynamic learning community because that [15:22] word to me means that we are innovative and i'm excited about what our next chapter is in edina public schools i'm [15:28] excited for us to start leading again i think that when i think about dynamic [15:34] it means that we're dealing with best practice that we're looking at who's doing this well what is the research say [15:39] around teaching strategies and it also means that we're reflecting we're reflecting and pivoting as needed [15:46] it means that we're making data of informed decisions about our students but also realizing that our students are more than a data point they come to us [15:52] as a whole child they come to us not in a vacuum they have impacts outside of our school buildings that impact what [15:58] they're bringing into our classrooms it means that we're personalized in what we give them we use parents and family [16:05] members as partners with us in their children's education and we make sure that we are making sure that our students are [16:10] college career and civic ready when they leave our schools [16:16] nicole schnell [Music] i believe dynamic learning requires a [16:22] processed approach of research planning communicating and then evaluating [16:27] so while this is our mission for an organization i think we have an opportunity to continue to engage more [16:33] people in our ecosystem to engage families to engage parents and to engage more teacher voice [16:40] i believe the world around us has changed pretty dynamically and i think we have an opportunity to change [16:45] as well with it including our communications input and output systems to better serve our students needs [16:52] in terms of measurement i think measurement is done on a systematic approach and then also on an individual [16:57] approach and i would look for growth in both areas [17:04] thank you a following is a general question for each candidate [17:09] you will each have 60 seconds to respond [17:14] in both the league of women voters forum and flip grid videos candidates express that building trust [17:21] and improving communication in the schools and broader community is important [17:26] if elected what specific tactics would you suggest [17:32] and employ to achieve this we will begin with michael birdman [17:42] i think i said in the women voters that communication is the hallmark and cornerstone of trust with anything that [17:48] you do both as a organization as well as with a community so i think this is a very important question [17:54] the specific tactics i think that that can be looked upon are what is our approach to engage with the different [18:00] stakeholders within the community um you have certain pathways to parents which i've heard a lot today as to [18:07] sometimes parents think that they're over communicated with sometimes i think they're not communicated with enough that we need to find the right the right [18:13] mechanisms to be able to engage them successfully on the issues that they have especially with their students progress and assessments [18:20] when it comes to the broader community i think we need to be able to educate our constituents who do not have kids in the [18:25] school district in order to make them better aware of what's happening the benefit the things that are happening well in the district in [18:31] the areas of growth that we're working towards we need to be able to bring them in so i think specifically how can we then work with dr stanley and the team [18:38] to be able to educate that i think she's already off to a great start thank you [18:43] owen michelson this is an excellent question to build trust i think we need to be very [18:49] available and visible to the community this is why i would like to continue having public comment at school board [18:54] meetings as we have that are unrestricted three minutes that can go on forever let's hear from the community [19:01] i would like to live stream and record all school board meetings i would like to make everything visible that's [19:07] significant to the members of the community as i mentioned earlier i'd like to have the math scores available by cohort by school by [19:13] teachers not by teacher but by grade i would like to establish baseline [19:20] one to two longitudinal surveys last night we had a very exciting report revealed to us about our success with [19:27] the literacy program we're kicking off a new literacy program and our data was clean we reported on ourselves things [19:33] that weren't flattering but we get better when we report on and act on where we're exactly at [19:39] um i think we can be better about our reporting to our parents what we're [19:45] going to be doing in some socially controversial classes nicole schnell [19:52] i love this question i'm a marketer and a communicator by trade so i'll keep a [19:57] close eye on the time as we're taking down here accountability and transparency are [20:03] critical having access to data but also streamlining the information the reason i think so many of us chose edina [20:09] schools to raise our family and is because we had a great level of trust [20:14] in the system and in the administrators the teachers and the school board and the decisions they make i'd like to see [20:21] us restore that trust a little bit more the ways we can do that is by revamping [20:26] our communications both internal input and output some of the specific ideas to [20:31] do that is to leverage the way that we do surveys right now and to make sure that they're designed correctly [20:37] for example less than 15 percent of our teachers weighed in on the mask mandate [20:43] before school started so i think it's really important for people to feel like they have a voice and that is the number [20:48] one thing that i would do to change erica allenberg [20:55] um so when i got on the board four years ago one of the first things that i did was [21:01] have a board and committee worked board and community committee [21:06] that actually worked on this issue and so i would suggest that we do something like that again which is bring [21:12] in some members of the community bring members of the board bring members of the administration and talk about [21:18] um gets a broader perspective about what are some ideas that are out there what are you seeing um [21:24] we did do some ideas such as live streaming board meetings posting what open meeting law does and [21:31] how it restricts us from a communications perspective but i think as opposed to us just coming up with [21:36] ideas on our own that we should bring in some individuals and continually evolve what we do from a communications [21:43] perspective and then it also educates people on the restrictions that we have and so i think that would be an idea [21:49] that i have is create another committee that we could tackle this issue together with members of the community thank you [21:57] karen gabler so communication has been brought up and i think that's a really important piece [22:02] i shared at the league of women voters forum the two-thirds of edina residents no longer have kids in our school system [22:08] so it's important to remember that they need to be communicated to as well [22:13] but in addition to that i would recommend as far as confidence it's important that we elect board [22:19] members who are committed to our strat plan who are committed to the work that's happening in our school who are [22:24] committed to public education because we are ambassadors in the community for what our schools [22:30] are doing um i think it's also really important um with partnerships i think that [22:38] i'd encourage people to go into our schools yesterday i was in the second and third grade writing classroom there are great things happening in our [22:44] schools every day and we have work to do um when i've been out door knocking i've had some great conversations with people [22:50] when people have questions a one-on-one conversation about our classrooms has really been a positive way to let them [22:56] know what's happening in our schools and that's how we build confidence communication relationships one-on-ones [23:04] dan aaron [Music] so for me uh trust is action and being able to engage with parents in [23:11] the community and with students is incredibly important to me um obviously forums like this are important [23:17] where you can talk to them but i i tend to realize realize that i'm much better suited for a personal engagement with [23:22] individuals and people in a small group i learned that from door knocking i learned that from meet and greets and whatnot i think being available [23:29] invisible to the community is incredibly important to build trust and i think that partnering with administration is another aspect of it that we could do [23:35] better on as a community i think with the what we've all said about the fact that two-thirds of the people in united [23:40] do not have students in the schools is a missing area where you know they're not on our [23:45] email list and they're not different i'm not being updated on the work that we're doing as a community for the schools i [23:52] think one of the things that was great this summer is we did an ehs summit that i was a part of with the parents teachers and community we spoke um and [23:58] learned a lot from the students themselves where they facilitated um the programming and we developed a lot of [24:04] different action items off of that which i think are interesting to me thank you [24:11] thank you we now move to our first lightning round the answer is either a yes or no by [24:18] raising your paddle and then your verbal response by moving down the row in alphabetical order i [24:25] will indicate your turn for your verbal yes with a knot of my head [24:30] go get your paddles ready did you support the eps tech levy that [24:37] passed in may 2021 [24:45] oh just say and it's the microphone yes or no yes [24:51] yes yes yes yes and then i voted that the public see [24:57] it didn't vote on it no personally no [25:03] have you received support or endorsement from education minnesota the teachers union [25:13] no no no [25:18] no no no have you or your campaign accepted [25:24] support or endorsement from a pac a political party or a political campaign [25:32] no no no no [25:38] no no do you support federal school vouchers [25:43] for private education [25:50] no no no no yes yes [25:57] given the recent covet stats should we continue the mask mandate for staff and students for the next 30 days [26:10] yes yes yes yes no [26:15] no do you agree with the policy that all eps staff should be required to get the [26:22] covet vaccine or submit to weekly testing [26:27] yes yes yes yes no yes [26:35] thank you we now move back to the general questions you will have 60 seconds to respond to [26:43] the following question per the strategic plan [26:48] literacy is identified as a priority in the district what is the most important element and [26:55] what are potential obstacles in the comprehensive literacy plan [27:01] we will begin with karen gabler [27:07] all right so i'm a reading specialist that's what i do for my job i've looked over the comprehensive literacy plan and [27:14] i do have to say that one of the most important pieces is going to be professional development [27:19] it there's a lot in here about professional development teaching teachers how to [27:25] do data collection data collection that's going to be important to drive their instructions but that's going to take a lot of time [27:32] and a lot of resources so that's the obstacle it is going to mean that as a board and as a school district we are [27:39] committed to this as one of our key priorities over the next five years i think what we [27:46] have here is going to make a huge difference across our district we're going to start to see if we implement [27:52] this right changes in the number of kids who get identified for dyslexia special [27:57] ed our enrollment numbers are going to change there's a lot in here and a lot of important things but the obstacle is [28:04] going to be funding and time owen michaelson [28:11] great question in our society adults need to be literate to be really functional and [28:17] this is what we do in our schools we have a new very exciting comprehensive literacy plan as i've [28:24] alluded to before last night we had a fantastic report that revealed in great [28:29] detail how we're doing and where we can actually uh step up our game [28:35] we it's a it's a three-year plan and we have measures in place [28:41] and what i think is so exciting about this is we are very transparent and to me it's a [28:47] model of how we can communicate in other areas in the district as well third grade literacy in particular is [28:53] crucial because kids need to learn to read by that grade after that they're reading to learn and last year 30 of our [29:00] kids were not reading to learn we're not proficient at third grade so it's imperative that we see how significant [29:06] this is and own this as a community and as a district [29:12] nicole schnell okay if you haven't seen it which i know probably everyone who's here has because [29:18] you guys frequent these things but i was super excited um to see it in the board [29:23] packet and it's in this last night's board packet and it's thick and we've been reading it for as candidates [29:30] for a little bit my biggest thing that i think is exciting about it is it's very robust i [29:35] think there's six or seven goals in there i like the professional development aspect of it i'm curious about the [29:41] community partnership aspect about it and how that kind of works into play some of those details are still being [29:47] flushed out um i like the early intervention i think that's so critical and i like the focus [29:53] on measurement for early in intervention so we can catch kids early [29:58] i'm concerned about the face-to-face time with teachers but i have full confidence in our [30:04] teachers i really think they're super great and we'll be able to do it i just think we're gonna have to communicate [30:10] really well with parents um so that they don't feel a decline in face to face time so that our teachers can do what [30:16] they want to do michael birdman [30:22] i remember when this was being discussed several years ago when i personally was experiencing with my own student uh [30:27] issues related to comprehensive literacy and programming and early intervention so first and foremost the fact that the [30:33] school board and the community actually made this a priority and it was executed in the strategic plan i think is first and foremost amazing that that it [30:40] happened um i believe the report that that nicole just mentioned which i heard last night um shows that we're off to a [30:45] really good start um but that there is a factor of time there's a factor of uh [30:52] capacity to be able to move as quickly as possible so even though we're doing professional development with 30 teachers today for the letters program [30:58] um will that be enough to get us where we need to go the presentation we heard last night was that we were focusing on [31:03] k through five first and then we'll move on to the next secondary components um again the challenge is going to be how [31:09] quickly can we move through that and measure the success that we're having ultimately having the intervention be [31:14] successful from k to third grade is probably the most critical part and i'd like to make sure that we are able to execute that successfully thank you [31:23] erica allenberg can you repeat the question so i make sure i'm answering what you're asking [31:30] per the strategic plan literacy is identified as a priority in the district [31:35] what is the most important element and what potential obstacles are in the comprehensive literacy plan [31:44] so i think the a plan is only as good as as it is executed and so i think the [31:50] most important element to the plan is our ability to like karen and people [31:55] alluded to our ability to appropriately fund it and staff it and get the teachers [32:01] trained and that also is one of the biggest obstacles because we have [32:08] a challenging year and we have finite dollars so we need to make sure as a district we are [32:13] prioritizing our funding and prioritizing this as an initiative um [32:20] i also think an obstacle is we are starting where we should which is um k [32:26] through three and five but we have to make sure that we don't neglect our secondary students and that we're catching up our secondary students um so [32:33] i think that's an obstacle that we're going to face is um it's more challenging when those kids grow into [32:39] those grades with learning challenges so those are two obstacles that i see with the literacy plan thank you [32:47] dan aaron from my standpoint the most important aspect of it is the science of learning [32:52] and understanding the science of learning in correlation with that it's the professional development aspect that [32:58] we've alluded to already as well and i think that um as far as that goes last night in the reports that we saw [33:04] there were there were definite pieces of it that were very intriguing when it comes to the use of new technologies and [33:09] how to move from the tool the intervention and i think that that those aspects um [33:16] as a part of the toolbar for the for the teachers is an incredible piece of the literacy plan that our investment [33:22] has done wonders for us i think one of the obstacles or to the obstacles i see are again funding and [33:28] time the sheer number of students that have to go through in conjunction with the [33:33] amount of work that it goes into the school day and how they measure that and how they actually make impact and then [33:39] lastly one aspect is when you have the intervention and it doesn't go as planned as a teacher how do you react [33:44] and how do you respond in a dynamic manner um is going to be another element that we have to be able to be cognizant [33:50] of and measure appropriately thank you candidates [33:56] this will be a 92nd there will be 90 seconds excuse me there'll be 90 seconds to respond to [34:02] this next question what do you think is the best way to use [34:08] standardized tests in eps which tests should be given [34:14] how often and how should the results be used across elementary [34:20] middle and high school [34:27] we will begin with dan arum [34:34] the standardizing testing protocol i think for us at udina is right now it's many of the elements are [34:40] required obviously by the state and then we have the maps testing that we've alluded to in several of the other forums [34:45] i think it's important to use these data points as a measure of a measure of success but not a full composite view of [34:52] the students at eps i think that it's important to say that some students are going to exceed [34:58] in the standardized testing model and some are not going to succeed in these models and it's up to the administration [35:04] and the teachers to essentially define the measures of measures of success with these individual students and see that [35:11] if we need to intervene based on these metrics and the test results we do that [35:16] in a way that incorporates the other aspects of learning in the in the models of learning [35:22] it's a challenge because we don't have all the data pieces and it's hard to to [35:28] when the teachers are making the connections with the students to use all those data pieces at their discretion so [35:33] i'll lean on dr stanley and her team as far as defining and designing implementation or [35:39] interventions that essentially use these data points and towards the benefit of the students in [35:44] the overall district i think there are challenges with the measurement metrics pieces of it that essentially [35:50] are going to reflect incorrect information about our district but i think that they are all part of the district data set that we should use [35:57] for making the interventions [36:04] karen gabler all right so the first part of the question was the best way to use [36:09] standardized tests so as dan alluded to it is one data point um so we need to [36:14] keep that in mind when we do that um as a board member even though i have a background in [36:19] education i would want to make sure that we're partnering with experts in the field which include our administration [36:24] and because i don't think a school board necessarily is the correct [36:30] body to be deciding what standardized test a specific school district should be choosing without input from the people [36:36] who are doing the teaching and giving the test um what test we obviously are [36:42] required by the state to give certain tests like the mcas we heard last night that the fast bridge assessment is being [36:49] used to kind of do a little assessment on where our students are in [36:54] literacy um and how should the results be used so i think that's probably the most important part we want to make sure that [37:01] the tests that we are giving are able to drive our instruction all right you don't want to be giving so [37:07] many tests that teachers have all this data but they don't have time to analyze it they don't have time to change their [37:13] their teaching strategies they don't have time to dig into it so we want to make sure that this is a partnership when we have this conversation with [37:18] administrators with teachers with board members that we are gathering data that is helpful for driving our instruction and [37:26] remembering that it is a data point um with an academic piece and there's more to our students than just how their [37:32] academic performances [37:38] nicole schnell not everything that counts can be [37:44] measured and not everything that can be measured counts and so that is my overall philosophy on standardized [37:50] testing i agree with what everyone has said that it's one two three sets of data but [37:56] there are also additional sets of data i am by no way the person that you want to pick which standardized tests we should [38:02] be doing i know my lane and i'll stay in that one i'm impressed by the number of [38:08] testing we have and last night we mentioned fastbridge but there's also ixl that was reported on as as well as a [38:15] standard test of mcas and map testing my biggest question regarding testing is [38:20] how's that working for your teachers and how much time are we taking away from [38:26] face-to-face learning for standardized testing so again more information needed i am fully supportive of testing and [38:32] measurements and understanding a benchmark not as a way of penalizing people but as a way of [38:38] measuring growth [38:44] michael birdman we've already heard that uh testing data [38:51] points what are they used for how are they significant what is the best way to utilize them things of that nature [38:57] for me any data set that you have whether it's a standardized test or not i always look at is what are you going to do with that [39:04] data you have to have a meaningful pathway to say if you got data x what do [39:10] you plan on doing with it if you don't have a plan on doing something with it is it valid then no matter what it says [39:17] the answer is no so when i had my my uh time with dr stanley a few weeks back i actually [39:24] talked about this a little bit and she provided me with a guidance of how the process of assessment and testing is used in the plan today and i really [39:30] appreciated the fact that we have sort of a short cycle mid-cycle and long cycle as far as how we do this [39:36] standardized tests are part of the mid to long term cycle of where that's at but again they're just one piece of what [39:41] we want to do with it what i would look at from a board standpoint is looking at that data what is the administration and [39:47] what are the teachers going to do in the classroom with that information to go from there we've heard about transparency about wanting to purport [39:54] data for use in different types of things just looking at rankings or where we rank amongst other people in the [39:59] state of minnesota or nationally while that is again one element that to me would not be indicative of how well we [40:05] are doing in the classroom and whether each and every student is progressing along the path that we asked for [40:10] so i believe it's just something that we need to look at carefully and not overstate the value or understate but [40:15] make sure that we have a good grasp on where we're going with that thank you [40:22] erica allenberg so [40:28] i don't believe that more data actually equals better data or even more information about our school district [40:34] and i believe as a governance body we need to clearly define the data we are utilizing what the purpose of it is [40:42] what it actually measures and what questions we're trying to answer with the data then we need to clearly [40:48] communicate to the community why we're doing this that to me is the difference between governance level data and data that's [40:55] used real time in our classrooms by the individuals that are working with our students day-to-day at a public as a public school district [41:02] we have very limited resources from a data collection perspective and this is why i've always advocated for a board [41:09] clearly defining the data we're interested in seeking what questions we're trying to answer because we can't [41:14] take away vital resources that are impacting the day-to-day instruction of our students in order to merely collect [41:20] data as a board that we're not going to utilize for any answering any questions that we have as [41:25] a board i do support standardized testing if to specifically answer some of the [41:31] questions um i i have questions about the utilization of the mca at the high [41:37] school i don't think many high school students take it seriously and i would like to see that potentially replaced [41:43] with high stakes testing like the act i would like to see our district implement [41:48] a cogat or similar test that measures cognitive ability so we can have a better articu or [41:55] understand time thank you [42:00] owen michelson when we talk about standardized tests we first have to realize what they do they [42:06] do two things one is they're essential for assessment they're essential for families to know where their kids are at [42:12] they're essential for teachers to know where their classes are at and they're essential for the essential for the school board the decision-making body of [42:19] the district to know where the students are at because statutorily we are responsible for establishing curriculum [42:24] courses of study so it's imperative the other thing we need to be aware of with standardized tests is that they are [42:30] disruptive they actually get in the way sometimes of instruction and they take time away from the class and they [42:37] force unnatural uh instruction to conform to teach the test in other words [42:44] so we've got to be alert to that we have essentially a series of [42:49] tests that we use one of which is the mca and that's the one that everyone in the public is aware of and that came in [42:55] because of common core and it is not nationally normed uh it is these tests are not the best that they [43:02] could be and we don't have a lot of students we don't have full compliance in taking the tests [43:07] so we need to concentrate on the maps maps the maps are nationally normed [43:14] across the nation and the teachers internally refer to them more often than mcas [43:20] we need we've started off with fall we need to move into having spring so we can see where we're starting where we're going fastbridge is great i'd like to [43:27] bring back the cogat and i would like to actually lobby with the lac [43:32] to get rid of mcas thank you [43:39] you will each have 60 seconds to respond to this next question [43:44] the district is currently exploring elementary magnet programming in the areas of steam and language immersion [43:52] with an estimated start of fall 2022 do you agree with this concept or not [44:00] what do you see as potential challenges to implementation [44:06] we will start with nicole schnell [44:13] i actually wrote this one out because last night prior to going to the board meeting i [44:19] was not a fan of it i have my kids in neighborhood schools and i really like the community element of [44:25] that both from going green but also just being with your community and doing it [44:30] last night we heard about stem and it's super exciting and the dual immersion [44:36] program is really exciting too so i'm excited about the programs i am now a fan of magnet schools my question now [44:43] becomes about timing and when i look at some of the trends that we're facing right now i would prefer to see us focus [44:49] on our core curriculum instead of trying to innovate something you know with the hopes that it will [44:56] attract more people to [45:02] it erica allenberg [45:08] um i'm really excited about these prospects i think that as a district i think we have to be able to [45:15] do what we're good at from a core curriculum perspective and be able to innovate at the same time we have to be able to walk and chew gum i think [45:22] it's imperative that we take a look at some of these the last time we really innovated our [45:28] elementary school programs was in the 90s and we need to refresh some of these programs to [45:34] attract residents into our elementary schools and do [45:40] provide future ready skills from kindergarten actually pre-k up through grade 12. so i'm really excited about it [45:48] the implementation would be only for kindergarten for next year so it's a small implementation that i think is [45:55] doable while keeping focus on the core things that we need to do so i think it's a nice balance from that [46:01] perspective and i'm really excited about it from an obstacle perspective i want to make sure all our schools are marquee [46:07] schools and that's time stick well i see thank you [46:13] owen michelson thank you i agree with the concept of elementary school magnets we're talking [46:19] language or steam stem and my family went through continuous progress [46:25] at highlands and it was a very successful program it attracted us to the district it's it's a fantastic way to educate not [46:32] one size fits all and it addresses multiple needs of multiple families [46:38] we live in a multicultural world it's very good to have members of our society bilingual and so i think it's excellent [46:45] that we're thinking about a spanish emerging class technology is [46:50] so important i guess i'm still in flight with some of my thoughts we talked last night about [46:55] steam versus stem i guess i'm tilting more towards steam and [47:01] the the biggest concern i have is with timing that i think we could [47:06] use a little more time to do some makeup this is a tough [47:12] uh covered year to recover from and i think i'd i'd be interested in delaying a little bit time [47:18] karen gabler so i'm in agreement of this idea um eric has stated it has been since the [47:24] early 90s since edina has kind of innovated or looked at their elementary programming [47:30] we have heard in community surveys that parents want more choices and so that is [47:36] where this directive also came from and we heard last night that normandale [47:41] has a waitlist of 50 students and so we know the demand is there for some kind of additional programming i think the [47:47] challenges will really be around communication i think it's very easy on something like this for the [47:53] winds of social media or whatever to all of a sudden start spreading things that may [47:58] or may not be true about the magnet programming so it's going to be very key that we have our ducks in a row in terms [48:04] of communication we're very transparent with the plan what it is what it isn't [48:09] and i want to make sure that we keep that focus on literacy okay as erica said we can do two things at once but we [48:16] really want to make sure that we're going to be able to do both of these things well and lead the way [48:22] as edina has been known to do michael birdman [48:28] i agree that this is part of the dynamic elements that came from the first question that if we're going to innovate and be dynamic that we need to be [48:34] looking at new things and innovative approaches for what we want to do in our our schools so i support that wholeheartedly i do agree with a lot of [48:41] things that have been said as far as can we you know chewing gum and walking at the same time i agree that that's what we need to be able to do the question is [48:48] do we have the capacity to do that so my issue is really still with the timing as you've heard from other candidates [48:54] for me the other thing too is as we try to then use this as an attractant to new students or [49:00] new resident students how do we then ensure that for our existing students [49:06] who are in grades one through five how are we going to ensure that they're still continuing to get what they need [49:12] even though we're innovating on this new program i know that that was a big issue when we were at cp at highlands as well [49:18] to where people felt were people getting more of something in cp versus what they were getting in discovery so again [49:23] karen's correct communication is key we need to make sure we keep that in mind as we consider implementing this program [49:31] dan arum i would echo the thoughts i agree um wholeheartedly with the magnet programming initiatives i think the [49:38] innovation aspect of it is incredibly important for our community based on the dynamic nature of the the people in this [49:44] community and what people want these days i think the reality of it is is that [49:49] education has been somewhat of a become more of a business model and it's a little bit of a pivot from the [49:54] standpoint of public schools versus some of the private schools that are out there marketing to our kids [50:00] i think that the innovation aspect relation to steam is incredibly important from my personal and professional [50:06] perspective we hire a lot of people who do computer programming and coding but we look for people that come from a [50:12] music background because composing music is very um has a different correlation with that [50:18] but it also works out for that aspect i think that from a perspective of challenges i think it's what many people [50:24] have said time money i think physical space is a big issue for us and as well as staffing issues related to [50:31] just finding the right people to work the programs [50:36] thank you now for another lightning round candidates please grab your plant [50:41] paddles remember that these are yes or no questions only and then your verbal [50:47] response by moving down the row in alphabetical order these next set of questions are aimed at [50:53] understanding what you have done to prepare for potentially being a school board member [51:00] have you volunteered in or for any of our schools since the start of the [51:05] school year yes [51:11] yes no yes no yes [51:18] have you spoken or met with any teachers at the elementary level to understand [51:23] their goals and challenges for this current school year [51:30] yes yes yes yes yes have you spoken or met with any teachers [51:36] at the middle school level to understand their goals and challenges for this current school year [51:43] yes no no yes yes [51:49] have you spoken or met with any teachers at the high school level to understand their goals and challenges for this [51:55] current school year yes no no yes [52:02] yes you spoken with at least one principal in elementary [52:08] middle and high school in preparation for running for school board [52:14] yes no yes yes yes [52:20] no have you attended virtually or in person [52:26] at least one board work session in its entirety and one regular board meeting in its [52:33] entirety in the past six months [52:39] yes yes yes yes yes [52:45] have you taken time to speak to the superintendent assistant superintendent or any members [52:51] of the district leadership team in preparation for this role on school board [52:58] yes yes yes yes yes yes [53:05] thank you we will now move back to general questions you will each have 60 seconds to respond [53:13] to the next question what is your view of edina public [53:18] schools approach to equity and do you agree with how equity is addressed in our strategic plan [53:26] why or why not [53:33] we will start with michael birdman [53:40] could you just repeat the question one more time please for sure what is your view of edina public schools approach to equity [53:47] and do you agree with how equity is addressed in our strategic plan [53:52] why or why not thank you i've seen a lot in the community as i've [53:57] talked to different people um and have received emails from different people about what they define equity to be and [54:03] what they think equitable is um in our community and i sort of subscribe to the mission that [54:08] says that seeks equality for all with recognizing and celebrating our differences in academic social and [54:13] cultural areas to ensure growth for each and every student all students need equity and access to [54:19] curriculum services and opportunities the outcome and results may vary based on the individual students own growth [54:25] and path and we must ensure that we are organized around mediocrity all students [54:30] needs that's how i define what equity is i believe eps also defines it that way [54:36] and is executing along those plans as far as the strategic plan goes i think that's at the hallmark of where [54:42] they're going with it and i support continued efforts in that area thank you [54:51] owen michelson [54:56] i've got a prepared answer let's abandon critical race theory it's distracting us let's commit ourselves to a full [55:02] accounting of the ugly aspects of our history but let's not sell short the marvels of our society government and [55:08] economy let's teach tulsa but let's not teach the 1619 project confronting our [55:13] history is different from rewriting it do we really need to teach in our professional development robin d'angelo's white fragility in its notion [55:19] that white identity is inherently racist can we move more toward local african-american business leader kendall [55:25] quall's idea of a post-racial america expanding on this let's embrace the thought leadership of america [55:30] african-american scholars of 1776 unites let's remember that much emotional health comes from proficiency competency [55:37] mastering mastering a task well let's teach our kids to read well last year third our black third graders [55:44] were at sixty percent not proficient let's teach them to read as local african-american educator jasmine lane [55:49] says social justice is literacy a quality education for every kid is [55:55] social justice nicole schnell [56:00] i work in the pr nonprofit world so no one will be surprised by my answer that um i am for equity and for inclusion [56:09] um as it relates specifically to our strategic plan i like the emphasis on [56:14] critical thinking and i really admire having two kids in high school right now [56:19] the way they're able to have civil discourse and discussion and i think a lot of the adults could take a note or [56:26] two from them so i am in favor of equity i'm in favor of having the conversation [56:32] i do not like critical race theory but in my research i've found that that is not an indiana school policy so no need [56:39] to talk on that [56:45] dan arum i'm a strong supporter of equity initiatives in the community and and the [56:51] school district i believe that the you know creating learning environments that allow students to [56:57] express themselves and also have civil discord is incredibly important especially in the world of [57:02] the diverse world that we are in now i believe that you know having to teaching the students to have the skills [57:09] to have those conversations and meeting the students where they are in terms of equity isn't [57:15] just along the racial or cultural lines it also has to do with their educational aspects in the way that they learn as a [57:21] student and that and from that perspective i think eliminating barriers when it comes to equitable resources and availability [57:29] of resources and opportunities is incredibly important and it's our duty as a board and as a district to [57:34] meet those students where they are and essentially provide opportunities for those students to succeed and match up [57:40] with our strategic plan [57:46] karen gabler so we have an entire strategy in our strategic plan about equity ensuring an [57:53] equitable and inclusive school culture that's how important we feel in the school district that this belongs [57:59] equity is as dan said not just race but it's learning needs its physical needs is socioeconomic [58:06] i would like to share a story that just recently happened where i saw equity in place in our schools last friday i was a [58:11] parent volunteer at south view middle school's fall fest and the student leadership team did a fantastic job of [58:17] hosting the evening but where i saw equity in action was 15 minutes before the party was to end when an [58:23] announcement was made that kids who had taken the bus to the party should report to the west side of the school [58:28] what dawned on me was that someone had thought ahead to make sure that transportation was offered for and communicated to those students who [58:34] wouldn't have been able to have transportation if it hadn't been offered they eliminated the barrier and guess [58:40] what by doing so it didn't take anything away from my kids who had a ride to the party in fact i would argue it made [58:46] their experience better because more of their classmates were able to attend [58:53] erica allenberg i first want to state that if we believe [59:00] our district should provide excellence for everyone in academic success for everyone then equity has to be one of [59:08] our key values equity is a pathway to academic success and [59:14] excellence period end of story retaining quality culturally competent [59:21] staff shows that children do better academically the [59:27] reason that we focus on equity is so children will succeed in school [59:33] that is why this is so important it is not to provide a social agenda it [59:39] is for the success of students i not only approve of this equity strategy [59:47] i would like to see it be more robust and include things such as participation [59:53] in advanced coursework how can we collaborate with time [59:58] sorry thank you you will each have 60 seconds to respond [1:00:05] to the next question in the flipgrid videos [1:00:11] nearly all candidates stated an area of priority was assessment and intervention [1:00:18] regarding the social and emotional health of students [1:00:23] how should eps monitor the social and emotional health of all students [1:00:29] what role should teachers play given the small number of counselors [1:00:37] we will begin with nicole schnell i'm glad you mentioned the small number of counselors because i believe it's [1:00:43] like one to one counselor to 398 students or something at the high school [1:00:48] so um what role they should play i have always worked with my teachers [1:00:55] in understanding my kids and they have been exceptional at that so i think we should continue the professional [1:01:00] development that they've been given to engage with families and then just overall what role of [1:01:06] social and emotional i'm not a fan right now of a ton of measurement and evaluation on that i'm a fan of [1:01:13] encouraging conversation and talking with the parents and the teachers and the people who surround the children [1:01:23] michael birdman as i've indicated i think this is a very [1:01:28] high critical area of focus for our students but also for our teachers [1:01:34] everything that we've been progressing through with the with the pandemic and all the challenges that we face i think it's one of our number one issues [1:01:41] in terms of how we address this yes resources and capacity continue to be a challenge i think that will still be the [1:01:46] case even if the pandemic were to end tomorrow i think where we need to be able to be supportive is trying to ensure that [1:01:52] we're trying to pick up on signs and early intervention of when a teacher might see a child or a student maybe [1:01:58] changing their behavior maybe changing their approach their focus ability their ability to handle assignments or ability [1:02:04] to handle interactions with students i don't necessarily think we should test the teacher to try to solve that problem [1:02:10] but at least to recognize that there might be a question there and how do we raise our hand both to the parents as well as to the administration to figure [1:02:16] out what resources there might be available to do that that's where i think we can probably support them the best until we can address our capacity [1:02:22] issues in that area thank you [1:02:27] owen michelson it's essential that we account for social emotional health of our kids and [1:02:33] we are doing that right now by having our kids back face to face that is the best thing we can do for their social emotional health [1:02:39] and we need to account for the fact that our major purpose is education we're not therapists we're not in the [1:02:45] therapeutical business and so while it is significant we need to be aware also that our mission is to [1:02:52] deliver content to our kids and to leave the families and other groups responsible for accounting for [1:02:59] the whole child well we do need to be aware of that we can't lose focus that we are [1:03:05] educators first and one of the best ways for people for humans for kids to have a sense of social [1:03:12] emotional wellness is by mastery and i think we can impart that on our kids by [1:03:18] making the masteries of their subject matter make them skilled individuals that can enter the workforce and become [1:03:24] competent citizens [1:03:30] karen gabler so when you listen to our students especially our high school students they [1:03:35] will tell you even before the pandemic that mental health is a big concern and top of mind for them [1:03:43] social and emotional health one of the things we do here that we started last year in edina a large scale is the panorama survey which gives us an [1:03:50] indicator across the board how our students are doing on some of those indicators but we also need to be having small [1:03:56] measures so that means listening to students listening to teachers listening to parents and [1:04:02] part of you can't learn you can come into a classroom and learn if you don't feel good [1:04:07] and so we can't even talk about academics if we have students who are struggling mentally [1:04:12] so it's making and also it's a realization that this is a bigger problem than us so we're going to need [1:04:18] to partner and i've talked about my work on the ed fund we've been bringing mental health professionals into our [1:04:24] schools but it's bigger than that it's going to be what kind of outside resources can we bring in for families [1:04:30] who are having a minor mental health crisis all the way up to a larger mental health crisis [1:04:37] dan arum i'd also comment along the same lines is [1:04:42] what karen and others have mentioned it with relation to the ed fund and the mental health piece of it we were the [1:04:47] recipient of a grant that's going to help address mental health resources in the community i think that's incredibly [1:04:53] important that we use that those dollars wisely and provide the resources in the areas where we identify that they're needed most i [1:05:00] think it's incredibly important to have improved communications especially in the instance of [1:05:06] between teachers and families and students themselves i think that that we can do a better job in terms of conferences and focusing on a little bit [1:05:12] of the wellness aspects when within those conferences and open up the window of communication for parents so that um [1:05:18] we can design interventions if needed as far as the teachers aspect of it i think the relationship building is the [1:05:25] fundamental piece of a lot of the the teaching relationship you essentially have to make that connection with each student and [1:05:31] understand where they are as a person and part of that unfortunately makes the teacher a part therapist part teacher [1:05:36] part whatever and being able to provide the right resources for the teachers is incredibly important to me as well [1:05:44] erica allenberg i mean the like uh karen said the social [1:05:51] emotional health of our students is imperative because it is some it blocks the ability to learn and i think [1:05:58] we also have to be concerned about the social and emotional health of our teachers because sometimes that blocks the ability to teach well so both of [1:06:05] those things are a concern of mine and should be a concern of the district some tangible [1:06:10] things that we can do karen talked about the panorama survey there's also the minnesota health survey that has a lot [1:06:15] of information in it i think we need to glean information from that and look at things like [1:06:20] rates of use of alcohol products do kids feel like they belong how many [1:06:27] kids are in extracurriculars and if you can drill down into that a lot of times people they say does the student have [1:06:33] one adult they can count on we need to make sure that kids in our schools have one adult that they can count on and [1:06:39] talk to um one thing we can do is elevate conversations about this in our schools that doesn't cost any money and [1:06:46] talk to students about the difference between healthy anxiety and bad stress [1:06:52] thank you thank you you will each have 60 seconds to respond [1:06:58] to the next question if tasked with budget cuts [1:07:04] what one thing would you focus on cutting first and if you could add something what [1:07:10] would it be we will begin with karen gabler [1:07:19] all right so adequate school funding is one of the biggest issues facing public education today [1:07:26] as the chair of both the 2017 levy and the 2021 technology levy i have an [1:07:31] understanding of how school budgets and school funding are connected everything we've talked about here today takes [1:07:36] money to make it happen so we know that school funding is not [1:07:44] keeping pace with inflation so i would like to see a district like edina be able to advocate for more appropriate [1:07:50] public school funding both at the state and national level at this point i don't feel like i can adequately answer the [1:07:57] question of what i would cut so i would say you know there's we've been cutting about a million dollars a [1:08:03] year from our budget we have um and we've kept a lot of that out of the [1:08:08] classroom so i don't see a lot of areas in our district right now where we're we're bloated so [1:08:15] i would have to take a closer look at the budget to be able to answer that question in more detail [1:08:23] owen michelson that's a tough question i don't want to cut very much if there's one thing i'd [1:08:29] cut it would be non-academic professional development but i think one [1:08:35] of the best ways to look at this is how can we get more money in [1:08:44] special ed costs a bunch of money and we're not fully funded for it we are mandated [1:08:51] to perform certain sorts of services that the legislature and the [1:08:56] federal government actually promised school districts and they have not fulfilled on that and so we have to [1:09:02] backfill that it's called the cross subsidy and so i would like our [1:09:07] congress and our legislature in st paul to actually help fill in that gap so to [1:09:14] me that would be the first priority i would have with a large issue of of the budget [1:09:24] erica allenberg um i agree i'd agree it's hard to pick [1:09:30] something that you cut first what i'd like to walk through is how do i prioritize when i am i'm tasked with [1:09:37] this every single year um and what i walk through is i try to understand what [1:09:43] is the need how many students will be affected by this decision is it an acute need to support specific [1:09:50] needs of students because not on not all the time is it the number of students sometimes there's a small [1:09:56] group of students that need to have a need i look at will it deteriorate the [1:10:01] overall quality of the education that we're providing here for example our middle school model offers a and d days it costs more but [1:10:10] educationally it's better than having a six day period that some other schools so it's [1:10:16] it's every single thing is a trade-off and it's excruciating to cut anything um [1:10:22] but those are some of the questions i walk through in my mind and then um i look at is it something that's having [1:10:28] fun next year sorry thank you [1:10:33] michael birdman as a business leader as a parent [1:10:40] we all have our challenges with resources and where we can allocate them correctly i too do not have enough experience or [1:10:47] knowledge about the schools to know specifically where there would be an area to cut i do agree with probably [1:10:52] everybody on this this panel that there isn't a whole lot of fat in in our budget in fact i think we're already [1:10:58] down to some bones already um but but the job for the people up here would be [1:11:05] if faced with the decisions where we don't have enough money to cover all of our our expenses and budget cuts are [1:11:11] necessary you could be assured that while it will be a very difficult thing to do we'll have to find a way to make that happen my priority is looking at [1:11:18] where are we adequate on our services where we optimize on our services and where are we inadequate on our services [1:11:23] so if i had to prioritize where i wouldn't cut are in areas that were inadequate we need to continue to try to bring our [1:11:30] things up from inadequacy up to adequate optimize try not to cut from there but if that's what an area where we can do [1:11:35] that's where you might start time nicole schnell [1:11:42] i was the champion for the tech levy in 2015 on the [1:11:47] 124.9 million dollar levy that passed and i would say from that experience [1:11:53] that's when i you know that was quite a while ago in terms of the budget the only other budget i've looked at was the [1:11:58] one that's in the back of our board pack so again i would want more information before i say cut anything i'm curious [1:12:06] about the transportation money not the bus transportation money but the other transportation i know we do have some [1:12:12] responsibility to transport kids that are not on bus routes into [1:12:17] school for learning and i just that's just a curiosity so that's just to let you know [1:12:22] i'm looking at it but i i again would want to prioritize based on our strategic plan if i could add i would [1:12:28] add where there's support um in the classroom i would start at the t at the studio at the student and teacher level [1:12:34] and then go up from there [1:12:41] dan aaron i too would agree that you know from my background i don't have enough knowledge [1:12:47] about where we would be able to cut and identify things that i do agree with that we have to look everything on a [1:12:52] continuum and say that you know are there short-term impacts long-term impacts and how that [1:12:58] how everything fits in those continuums and utilize the people that are closest to the [1:13:03] classroom piece of it to define whether or not or what those impacts are i think that we have an opportunity when it [1:13:10] comes to adding to essentially work with private or come up with innovative solutions between private and public [1:13:16] partnerships i think we can look towards whether it's the non-profit world or whether it's the local business community that we can essentially [1:13:23] identify areas where we can be champions and partner with them to potentially provide additional resources [1:13:28] i think our business community has been more than willing to step up for us but i think we can do more with that i know [1:13:35] that dr stanley has a business roundtable um discussion with the local community to see if they um if there's ways to partner and i [1:13:42] think that we can continue to look to that to see if there's ways to add to time [1:13:47] thank you now for our last lightning round candidates grab your paddles [1:13:52] remember these are yes or no questions only [1:13:58] should teachers and principals have input into deciding what courses are offered in their buildings [1:14:08] oh yes sorry yes yes yes yes yes [1:14:14] should it be required that the district teaching and learning department be involved when the board is crafting or [1:14:21] modifying policy regarding new course offerings yes [1:14:27] yes yes yes yes yes is it appropriate for the school board [1:14:34] to be involved in selecting specific literature and textbooks for eps classes [1:14:46] no no no yes no [1:14:51] do you think our current course offerings provide enough rigor for our students [1:15:07] yes yes it was a mostly too i think there's always room for improvement but for the most yes [1:15:13] i'm just with karen no do you think our current course [1:15:19] offerings provide enough intervention or learner support for our students [1:15:29] no no no no no [1:15:35] thank you you will each have 90 seconds to respond [1:15:41] to the next question what is the biggest area of challenge in [1:15:48] elementary at the middle level and at the high school [1:15:53] what would be your approach to addressing these issues [1:16:02] we will start with erica allenberg [1:16:27] i think my the biggest challenge i see at the elementary school is [1:16:35] we're seeing more complex students come into our school system that have [1:16:42] not have identified issues with fewer budgetary dollars to educate them and so we have [1:16:51] even if our class sizes haven't increased when you have a different makeup in the [1:16:58] classroom and more challenging students it [1:17:03] makes it very hard to teach that classroom so i think that's one of the most challenging things that we're [1:17:08] seeing in middle school or in elementary school what to do about that i think we need to [1:17:15] provide some more resources to our elementary school teachers to help from a paraprofessional perspective in the [1:17:21] middle school and and in the high school i i only have 15 seconds left so i think [1:17:26] one of our biggest challenges is interventions i think that we've worked a lot in the elementary [1:17:32] from an intervention perspective but i think that we haven't really tackled interventions in the middle school and high school we have a lot of kids [1:17:40] there sorry nicole schnell [1:17:45] i think our challenge at an elementary school level is consistency and what i would do to address that [1:17:52] i think we have some really great best practices throughout the elementary school areas [1:17:58] but i do think we need some clarity around what edina elementary experiences [1:18:03] and i'd like to see us kind of put some more consistency between the elementary [1:18:08] schools middle and high school is near and dear to my heart because i have two kids in the high school right now and i would say [1:18:14] absolutely the learning gaps um is the biggest challenge for these kids [1:18:20] and i'm concerned about us sending our kids off to schools with the gaps that they have right now and no plan to kind [1:18:27] of help accelerate um or mitigate the risk so um that's what i'm most interested in [1:18:33] from a middle in high school is the learning gaps and from the elementary school just ensuring some consistency and [1:18:40] clarity dan arum [1:18:47] i'll start at the high school since that's the closest to the age group that i'm affiliated with you know i think that one of the things [1:18:53] that i see in the high school that is a huge challenge for them is that the students today are [1:18:59] um they've defined what their measures of success are and i think that the challenges are is they're not always [1:19:04] aligned with the teaching model so some kids may want to be a part of concert choir some people may want to be [1:19:10] a part of athletics some people might want to be a part of the robotics team how you pursue those pieces of it and [1:19:16] then how you manage your time is an element that they that they need help with and so from that aspect the stress [1:19:22] levels and the mental health challenges that they have at the high school are incredibly important to me and i think we can do some work with that [1:19:29] from the middle school priesthood some of the conversations i've had is the is the learning models that are [1:19:34] associated with the middle school and are we doing the right learning models at the middle school level not being an educator i don't know the [1:19:40] answer to that question but the fact that some of the people that i've spoken to have said that that might be [1:19:46] an area of improvement or opportunity i think that we can assess that with the district administration and see if there [1:19:52] are there's ways to look at that differently on the elementary school level i'll echo a little bit what nicole said i think [1:19:58] each of the schools has its own culture and i think that they have different styles as far as the way they teach and [1:20:04] what's kind of the culture set by the principles i think that we can have some standardization across the [1:20:10] different elementary schools that might help out and then i think that the wide range of skills that people enter into [1:20:16] the programs with is something that the teachers are going to have to address [1:20:22] owen michelson i think the biggest challenge facing our elementary school has been literacy and we've known this for a while [1:20:29] last year as i think i've mentioned 30 of our kids we're not at grade level [1:20:34] which is a very significant amount that's one-third we are taking steps and we are moving very constructively in [1:20:40] that direction so that's very satisfying to me i think at the middle school in the high school we are still recovering from [1:20:47] distance learning and it was tough on a lot of kids and math [1:20:52] scores have been particularly set back by distance learning i think that this is a recovery year [1:20:58] and i would like to talk more on the board about what we can do to address that to think about conceptually [1:21:06] how can we step forward with bringing the kids up to speed [1:21:13] and i think this also affects the engagement of the high schoolers they're they're still kind of feeling their way [1:21:19] back in but i'm thrilled that we're in face to face again and we've got to realize that [1:21:25] for many of these kids they've had three straight years of significant disruption [1:21:30] so whatever we can do to get everyone back on their feet again after [1:21:36] after our covet years would be excellent [1:21:45] karen gabler so [1:21:51] as a teacher i will tell you i think the students coming into our classrooms today are more complex than we've ever had [1:21:57] and that's nationwide our world is changing pretty rapidly and [1:22:02] that means that the students that are coming to our door are different than they were even 10 years ago [1:22:08] with that being said i think that uh my kids i have elementary i have a [1:22:15] kid in still in elementary and will be for a while and i think the consistency piece is where i would say one of the [1:22:20] areas where we can get tight on as well i think by working smarter and tightening up on some of those areas [1:22:27] where it's consistent across the board it'll actually make our work and free up some time it'll make our work easier and [1:22:33] free up some time to focus on the things that we need to be focusing on like our literacy and and whole child [1:22:40] approaches and interventions at the middle school in high school um [1:22:46] you know i would say that pers any chance we get to have a more personalized approach is [1:22:52] important um that will help with interventions it will help with the balance that a lot of our high [1:22:57] schoolers talk about of feeling like they're over they have a lot on their plate um [1:23:03] and so what's the approach i think really sticking true to our strat plan and what our priorities are and making [1:23:08] maybe letting some things go while we focus on the things that we need to be being focused on um [1:23:15] and i'm out of time [1:23:22] michael birdman uh thank you for the question uh for me i would agree the consistency and [1:23:29] intervention capacity at the elementary school level is probably the most important i think the strategic plan the [1:23:34] comprehensive alertness plan is working towards that uh i think the consistency part is making sure we look at best practices [1:23:40] you know what worked really well this last year or two during the pandemic as we're progressing [1:23:45] through it this year how can we take best practices from normandale and apply them at concord and vice versa to make sure that we have [1:23:52] that different students at different neighborhood schools shouldn't have a holistically different experience of [1:23:57] education at the different elementary schools so that's where i would focus there for the middle school and high school i [1:24:02] have personally less exposure to those schools so i'm not as familiar with some of the academic elements related to that [1:24:08] and i need to work a little harder to figure out what those things might be but i think in general social and emotional well-being and executive [1:24:14] function skills are probably the most important at those levels considering that we're progressing through um still with covid i think it was said earlier [1:24:20] and i totally agree that you know you're looking at a third year of them going through a process that's completely different [1:24:26] how are parents doing with that by the way we're all doing really well we're all back on track okay so if we ourselves as adults who [1:24:33] already have a lot of education and training and capacity are struggling it's pretty fair to say that our middle schooler and high schoolers would too so [1:24:40] as far as how do we address that we have to figure out a way to support dr stanley and the teams at those [1:24:46] sites to get them as many resources as we can both public resources as well as private resources to help us assist and [1:24:52] manage that thank you thank you now we now we will begin with [1:24:59] closing statements each candidate will have 90 seconds [1:25:04] we will start with erica allenberg [1:25:11] thank you i've lived in edina for 18 years and it is my home and there has rarely been a [1:25:17] day that i have not spent thinking about or actively doing something for our school system whether i was serving on [1:25:22] this very plc facilitating code vaccines for our students or serving on our school board [1:25:28] why do i do this you might ask the answer is really quite simple i so fundamentally believe in supporting our [1:25:34] students teachers staff and public education system that it is my true passion in life i believe in edina [1:25:41] public schools and i believe in our future i would like to leave you today with more of what i believe in [1:25:47] i believe edina public schools has a unique opportunity to be a shining example of how to do public education [1:25:53] right and we are on the precipice of many great initiatives that will further advance the excellence we all desire for [1:25:59] our students i believe that each and every student that shows up at the door of an edina school deserves to thrive that is our [1:26:06] inherent mission as a public school i believe academic success and mental health are inextricably tied to each [1:26:12] other i believe in the importance of showing up and volunteering to strengthen our community and school system we all do [1:26:19] better when we all do better i believe in our new strategic plan and our new superintendent [1:26:25] i believe our district needs a continuity of forward-thinking leadership to lead our school district community through challenging [1:26:31] circumstances much to the chagrin and groans of my children one of our quarantine activities was to come up with a family [1:26:37] motto the winner was to whom much is given much is expected much has been given to me and i expect much of my time [1:26:44] return thank you dan aaron [1:26:51] again thank you for the great questions today and thank you to the plc and all the parents and residents watching this forum our engagement together in support [1:26:58] of our schools and kids really matters in my opening i expressed why ali and i are committed to this community and the [1:27:04] schools you have six people here today who all care about our communities and schools and so i'd like to share a little bit about me and specifically why [1:27:11] i think i can bring a unique experience set to the school board and a service role in addressing these [1:27:16] categories first service rules matter i'm passionate about service i've been [1:27:21] engaged in this community for over 20 years on the united ed fund i worked closely with parents teachers and staff [1:27:27] to advance mental health support for our students and professionals because i believe that providing positive outlets for students and staff is critical to [1:27:34] their overall well-being and personal growth secondly service roles across our communities matter i've worked closely [1:27:40] with the parks and rec department i've worked with on programming and construction of the braemar dome i think that that aspect of [1:27:47] it is i've helped deliver solutions that have made an impact on the lives of our students and our communities and third the professional experience in [1:27:54] working with local businesses i've worked for decades in the healthcare arena focusing on finding [1:27:59] practical solutions and across multiple stakeholders and managing patient care and delivering [1:28:04] patient outcomes i believe this experience has prepared me to bring forward and deliver public-private partnerships between the dyna schools [1:28:10] and the business community and in closing i'm energized to work hard on behalf of the community in [1:28:15] schools i ask for the your vote on support on early voting or on november 2nd [1:28:22] so i can bring my experience thank you michael birdman thank you to the plc and [1:28:28] everyone in the community for hosting this forum it's been excellent um udon has a history of excellence and a bright [1:28:34] future ahead we have to believe that we also have to act that way i will take intentional work and [1:28:39] continue commitment innovation and support to ensure that edina is the gold standard in public education those aren't just words those are actions that [1:28:46] we need to be able to take forth moving forward what you can expect from me is a strong work ethic a rigorous and fair approach to decision [1:28:52] making a solution-oriented mindset and an interest in hearing all points of view you can't just say that you actually [1:28:58] have to do that so you need to be able to listen you need to be able to try to understand you need to be able to acknowledge every single person you [1:29:05] encounter whether you're a parent a community member a board member or someone from the the staff or the [1:29:11] administration i will support and guide our superintendent in the district and i [1:29:16] will hold the district and school board accountable to achieve our highest goals as outlined in our strategic plan that's [1:29:21] critical i'm energized to serve the community as an edina school board member and i'm ready to take on the great [1:29:27] responsibility of governing edina schools i know the road ahead will have challenges but i believe that when eps [1:29:35] team and faculty and students consistently put the needs of our students first we can achieve anything [1:29:41] i ask for you to support my campaign and vote michael bergman thank you [1:29:49] karen gabler first i want to thank the parent leadership council for hosting this candidate forum and thank you to the [1:29:55] attendees for watching today to learn a little bit more about the candidates for edina school board [1:30:01] it is no surprise that i love education our schools and this community i see our [1:30:06] potential when the right pieces are in place and if something is possible in education it can happen here in edina [1:30:14] i have a lot of pride in our schools and in this community and yet i know we have work to do we should constantly be [1:30:20] striving to improve and elevate our work to make sure we are providing edina excellence for all of our students [1:30:27] several factors set me apart as a candidate for school board first my 20 years of being a classroom educator our [1:30:33] board doesn't have an educator on it and i believe that when policy is being made that impacts what is happening in the [1:30:38] classroom it is beneficial to have someone with a background in education at the table i've also been actively involved in our [1:30:45] schools over the last 10 years and i have three students currently in our schools [1:30:50] all that experience has provided me with working relationships with the people doing the work inside our schools and a [1:30:56] keen understanding of where we have work to do i'm ready to hit the ground running on day one and i'm ready to lead [1:31:03] edina is an exceptional school district and we have proven time and again that when we come together we can achieve [1:31:08] exceptional things we have important work to do and we need to be striving to make continuous progress but for that to happen [1:31:15] consistently and efficiently it will take people on the board who have the vision for where we can be [1:31:21] the skills to bring people together and the commitment to get the work done [1:31:28] owen michelson eden schools have been known for their educational focus and i would like to reaffirm that i would like [1:31:34] to reaffirm that by bringing our professional development back to 100 educational focus i'd like [1:31:41] to bring our assessments up i'd like to reaffirm the fact that we're starting having map tests in the fall i'd like to [1:31:47] have them in the spring see where we're going put this up on the website as i said as i've said a number of times this [1:31:52] visibility increases trust and trust comes about through transparency i think [1:31:58] we'd have greater transparency and trust if we had methodical test surveys of the parents teachers and students we could [1:32:06] longitudinally grade them i'd love to see us getting back into fastidious parental notification of controversial [1:32:13] subjects i'd like to see professional grade corporate grade annual reports i'd love to see recorded board meetings of [1:32:19] all kinds this sort of transparency will restore and rebuild trust [1:32:25] reversing i think our enrollment resident enrollment decline let's get to let's commit to a [1:32:31] politics-free classroom and let's have an independent board that collectively [1:32:37] represents the parents and the students let's meet our kids where they're at this magnet innovation is is [1:32:44] a direction that is moving in that direction my family has 43 kid years in edina schools we've had great success with [1:32:51] fantastic role modeling teachers cp ap [1:32:57] let's continue the good trend [1:33:03] nicole schnell for the same reason we championed diversity in our schools we need [1:33:08] diversity of thought and discussion on our school boards as a board member i will seek to represent stakeholders by [1:33:15] asking questions seeking clarity and doing the necessary work to bring measurable change [1:33:20] to ask the question not only who will benefit by this policy but who may unintentionally be harmed by [1:33:27] it what can we do to mitigate risk and maximize the benefit accountability [1:33:32] transparency and on a personal note and because apparently this has been an issue for [1:33:38] some let me say yes my nonprofit work much of it has been in faith-based organizations that is important only in [1:33:45] the way that it shapes me like erica said to whom much is given much is expected we have been given much [1:33:53] as a community and if we are to truly exude excellence much will be expected [1:33:58] of us i hope you'll consider me and vote to diversify the discussion on our school board to ask the questions to [1:34:04] seek transparency and accountability for all [1:34:10] thank you we've come to the end of our candidate forum the plc wants to thank each of the [1:34:16] candidates for taking the time to join us this morning we greatly appreciated the opportunity to learn more about each [1:34:21] of you and we thank you for your willingness to serve students families staff and the community of edina public [1:34:29] schools i also want to thank the audience for attending and those who are watching virtually as well and the edina [1:34:34] parent leadership council for hosting today's event a reminder that a recording of today's forum will be available online soon at [1:34:41] www.edinschools.org and the flipgrid videos can be found there as well and finally please [1:34:48] remember to vote on tuesday november 2nd thank you [1:34:53] thank you [1:35:10] you