[4:51] good evening it is a little after seven [4:57] and it is I actually don't know what day it is I apologize thank you it is April [5:02] 17th um the first day of the NHL playoffs um so welcome [5:09] um we do have a quorum so I will call the meeting to order um the first [5:14] um order of business on our agenda is approving the agenda do I have a motion [5:20] to approve the agenda for tonight's meeting so moved second okay we will now vote to approve [5:27] tonight's agenda all those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed the agenda is [5:33] approved Dr Stanley would you please briefly review the agenda for everyone absolutely so really excited about [5:40] excellence in action tonight we have teachers and coaches here who are going to share about our work uh with letters [5:46] so excited about that um for discussion we have comprehensive literacy update for 6 12. some [5:53] information about student travel few policies for everyone to go through ratification of sale of um [6:00] bonds really excited to hear that information and approval of our 287 partnership [6:09] long-term facility maintenance expenditure budget and then some more [6:14] final policies that'll be for action and we'll get some updates from the board [6:21] members and their committees as well as me thank you Dr Stanley we are moving on to [6:26] our excellence in action tonight and I would like to welcome Bethany van osdall our assistant director of teaching and [6:33] learning Alyssa Barnes a kindergarten teacher at Countryside Sue Johnson learning specialist at Countryside and [6:40] Sandra Hardley literacy coach who are all going to present some information to [6:45] us and to the public about our letters training that we're doing on literacy so [6:51] welcome thank you pretty Dr Stanley board members colleagues and [6:56] Community we're so excited to share with you this initiative around our letters programming and I'm going to let Sandy [7:02] just take it away Andrew Harley literacy coach and um [7:08] so letters is an acronym for language Essentials for teachers of reading and spelling and we are all very excited to [7:15] share with you a little bit about our letters initiative and so if you want to go to the next [7:20] slide thank you so what is letters letters is a [7:26] comprehensive extremely empowering professional learning all based on the [7:31] science of reading it is the knowledge it's deep knowledge [7:37] and it's knowledge that helps our teachers and allows our teachers to understand the science behind how [7:44] a child's brain learns to read and then also what might be happening if the [7:49] child is struggling to read and write so it's professional development letters is [7:54] not it's not a curricular resource and or a reading program [8:01] uh although it does allow our teachers to have different tools strategies and [8:07] scaffolds for using with any good reading program and so last but [8:13] significant is that the diner curriculum does align to the science of reading at [8:19] all tiers of instruction and it's also allows teachers to differentiate with [8:25] intentionality so why letters um [8:30] it says letters Bridges Decades of research-based practices [8:36] inspired by I can't even see that can you see that improved outcomes improved outcomes for [8:42] all of our students and so and we know that that reading is is key right to both academic and life [8:51] success and so if you want to go to the next slide please okay so what's happening here in Edina [8:58] we have our early implementers and so this is our initial cohort we started [9:03] about two summers ago so we have 24 Elementary uh teachers uh in volume two [9:10] right now and so we are on track to complete Letters by uh July of this [9:15] coming summer and it is really if you don't know the structure of letters there's two volumes volume one volume [9:22] two and each volume consists of about four units which is about 72 hours of [9:28] graduate level work so totaling about 144 hours so it's a lot [9:33] and we also have 157 K2 teachers with that includes also our multilingual [9:40] teachers our special education teachers we have our speech pathologists and our intervention teachers are all involved [9:47] in letters and they are on track to complete Letters by the summer of 2024 [9:53] with many of them opting to complete this coming summer so that's a great thing [9:59] we also have 15 Early Learning staff that are on track to complete Letters by [10:05] this coming summer as well as 12 Elementary principals and District administration I'm completing their [10:13] course which is an administrative piece to letters it's kind of a big picture overview and they are also on track to [10:19] complete the summer and then uh with really with the end goal here in Edina [10:24] is to get all of our kindergarten and third grade teachers trained in letters [10:31] and again that includes our speech pathologists special education multilingual and then also our [10:38] intervention teachers and we are also in the process of piloting what they call [10:43] letters evolving it's it's referred to as Aspire and we are currently piloting [10:50] some of that work for the fourth through 12th grade teachers so and I'm going to turn it over to [10:56] our teachers good evening I'm Sue Johnson this is my [11:02] 23rd year teaching in Edina and I'm currently reading interventionist at [11:07] Countryside my name is Alyssa Barnes this is my eighth year here in Edina all in [11:12] kindergarten at Countryside and we are going to move forward and show you guys a little video of some of the work of [11:19] letters in action [11:26] foreign [11:36] [Music] let's find it on our word wall [11:43] [Music] [11:48] okay look at the mouth is open two teeth yeah [11:55] should be good nice beginning or the end where is it [12:02] kill come on the first word is ship let's do [12:10] it together [Music] [12:23] yes at that say we're both no I'm about two of [12:30] them good I'm gonna change this to a book wow perfect [12:35] [Music] oh you're good [12:42] oh [Music] [12:50] the leaf Zone has our voice box turned on but I want you to look at his mouth little is my tongue sticking out like [12:58] this um [Music] [13:06] where do you think door would belong over by balloon or by dogs I agree [13:14] because door dinosaur duck they all sound the same at the beginning right if [13:21] a word is heavysyllables one one syllable and it ends in which four [13:28] letters uh I'll see which four letters fuzz [13:53] okay you know it doesn't get better anytime I [14:00] watch that thing but wow um I guess the the biggest takeaway I've [14:05] had from my experience with letters is just the importance of the explicit [14:10] sequential instruction in the the 44 phoneme sounds as well as phonetic [14:16] awareness and then the phonics I think it's important for all for all the students but [14:22] for me I work with small groups of students and I think for certain student groups that I work with it's pretty [14:27] crucial like our ml students or any students that are struggling with any of [14:33] their literacy skills it's it's pretty it's a it's a game changer quite frankly um and I think our you know the language [14:39] is more understandable if we explain to them how the sounds are organized right [14:45] and so that's what that sound wall does it kind of shows the kids like how do [14:50] you shape your mouth and then we give them practice we model it and then they practice it as well as like what are the [14:56] ways to make the long a sound it's all up there for them so we can reference it and really um give it sort of a [15:02] tangible connection um and I I mean really it's it's a lot [15:08] of work the letters training but it's so worth it and it's been really a game changer I've been here for 23 years and [15:15] it's it's phenomenal in my opinion it just really shapes some of the um background of what I already know and [15:21] then making it presentable to students and uh you know Alyssa I don't know what you think about absolutely I think that [15:29] I agree with Sue it's the best PD I've ever had um I haven't been teaching as long as [15:34] Sue but I can tell you that I am blown away through every single unit that [15:39] we've gone through the biggest shift I've seen is just the anchor of our literacy shifting from the lens of 26 [15:47] letters to the lens of 44 sounds I grew up with word walls I'm sure you guys did [15:53] the same where you had 26 letters and you put all of your words that you're focusing on underneath one of those [15:58] letters and you'd have the word to and the word the right next to each other but if you think about that it really [16:04] doesn't make sense to have two and the it's two different sounds in the beginning and so shifting to the sound [16:10] wall where we have all 44 sounds and how to explicitly make that sound with our [16:15] mouth that is the anchor to everything that we do and so as we dive into our tier one resources in kindergarten our [16:22] first two words are he and she and so right away we can say wow there's that long e like in feet there's that sh [16:30] sound like in shell and so instead of teaching you oh well those aren't one of the 26 sounds no we actually already [16:37] spent the time understanding all of those 44 sounds and so all of our [16:42] resources seem more Rich um I feel like I have another teacher in the room that's helping me in everything [16:48] that we do a quick little example we were just we do calendar every day in kindergarten we [16:54] um it's a big part of what we do and we were talking about the month of March and one of my little kindergartners [16:59] completely on their own said wow the word March Arch it has a consonant a bossy r like [17:07] arm and a Digraph like chair and so that was an example of wow they're applying [17:13] this wide lens of literacy into all parts of our day and so I can't [17:19] recommend letters enough it's been a game changer I feel super honored to be a part of that first cohort and I can't [17:25] wait to see how it really shifts and continues to improve edina's literacy strong arm and I think just the the more [17:32] they know about the actual sounds they can manipulate them and it's just going to help them with their reading and [17:39] spelling going forward and um it's it's really been a real helpful [17:44] tool for us as teachers to be successful and for our students to be successful absolutely [17:50] you go ahead to the last slide please so as you heard Edina is definitely [17:57] defining Excellence with this initiative I'm often in circles in the in the Metro of curriculum leaders and they they want [18:03] to know more about how we're making this happen go ahead to the next slide please um so I'm just grateful to be alongside [18:09] the next slide one more I'm just grateful to be alongside Educators like Sandy Sue and Alyssa and all the other [18:16] Edina teachers that are making such a positive impact on students and what we wanted to end with was what is this [18:21] really doing in terms of the data for our students we know that the teachers are really engaged and we want to make sure that it's landing on kids and it [18:27] sure is as you can see in this data we have the first and second grade fast bridge data and it's showing how just [18:34] from fall to winter we increased by six and seven percent and the amount of students meeting Benchmark and then on [18:40] the right hand side this is a chart showing growth from fall to winter and you can see 80 percent of our students [18:46] who are in these classrooms with these teachers who are getting so trained in letters achieving that typical or [18:51] aggressive growth and so we're just seeing such a positive impact on students so I will close with an [18:57] acknowledgment of the support of edfund who's making this happen for teachers and students in Edina this would not be [19:02] possible without the work of Kathy rendelman [19:08] and our amazing Edina students and staff so thank you [19:13] thank you so much do any board members have any questions or comments click here as a teacher who has trained [19:22] 23 years ago I am so excited to see us doing this [19:27] work because if you are an educator you know that you were not trained this way and so this is so critical to literacy [19:35] and literacy like you said is a foundation for Equity it's a foundation to everything else that goes on in the [19:41] world so I want to say thank you to the teachers and the administrators that are putting in the time because this is no [19:48] small ask and it's great to see that the impact that you are seeing from the classroom is is real and you're here to [19:56] tell us about that and I want to thank the administration for making this the priority and saying this is the work we [20:02] are standing behind and putting our work behind and I was also going to say thank you to the Ed fund because this is they [20:08] were able to secure the funding for this this is not a cheap thing and so that partnership this is what we talk about [20:15] and so it's really great to see that and I last comment how did you get a classroom of kindergartners to stay [20:21] still when there's a video camera in the classroom that's kind of amazing as I'm watching that I'm like you don't see [20:28] kids running around in the background just doing what they're supposed to do so thank you [20:35] oh sorry go ahead Regina just a quick comment because again this is phenomenal it's making a difference for each and [20:41] every one of our students and I want to tag member gabler shout out to the education [20:46] fund and if anyone is curious who or what is the Edina education fund it is [20:52] all of us everybody in the community of Edina has the opportunity to support [20:59] every single student in our school by supporting the Ed fund so the Ed fund [21:05] Edina giving go we have so many phenomenal Partnerships in the community and this is just a testimony to all of [21:14] the great things that happen when we all work together so thank you [21:20] I'm also going to give you guys a big thank you and Bethany thank you for your hard work and pushing this out um [21:26] you may never know the number of students that you are helping their mental health by teaching them this at [21:34] an early age right like we know now that that kids don't read the way like you [21:40] were saying Karen that a lot of people were taught and so kudos to you please know that you are honestly helping [21:46] students live better lives because of the way that you are meeting their needs where they're at so thank you I [21:53] appreciate your hard work I'm just going to Echo what everyone else said and also comment that change [21:59] is hard especially this change when you're fundamentally changing the way people have been taught to teach [22:07] I like to tell people my mom is a reading professor and she taught the [22:12] opposite way of help so it's sort of funny to see this shift but I am just so [22:20] thankful and thank you to you for for leading that's also hard to be a leader [22:25] so I really appreciate it a shout out to one last shout out to our [22:32] city who actually granted us tens of thousands of dollars of coveted recovery money to make this happen so there's so [22:40] many thank yous so many thank yous to go around and [22:47] appreciate you coming to highlight all your hard work so thank you thank you thank you [22:58] next on our agenda are hearing from members of the public and we don't have any requests to speak tonight so I'll [23:05] just um let the public know you're welcome to come and speak for three minutes each [23:13] Monday board meeting so if you have something to untalk to us about you can [23:18] do that next month we're moving on to our consent agenda do I have a motion to remove anything from the consent agenda [23:26] no then do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved is there a [23:33] second second okay um [23:39] all those in favor of approving the consent agenda say aye aye anyone opposed [23:45] okay the consent agenda has been approved we'll now move on to our discussion items and speaking of [23:51] literacy our first discussion item is our comprehensive literacy plan for grades 6 through 12. I will invite [23:58] Backup Assistant Director of teaching and learning Bethany van osdal and our director of teaching and learning Jody D [24:04] Singh Hubert [24:17] okay good evening chair Ellenberg Dr Stanley board directors colleagues and [24:22] community members the early learning through 12 comprehensive literacy plan has been [24:27] developed in response to and in alignment with the 2020-27 Strategic [24:32] plan tonight we are discussing specifically the 6 through 12 comprehensive literacy plan this plan [24:39] defines the unified commitment for secondary Ela programming in Edina and [24:44] its implementation sex success will be measured by the data metrics plan [24:50] at this time I'm going to turn it over to Bethany van ostel our assistant director of teaching and learning to [24:55] provide a high level overview of the plan and then turn it over for questions and feedback thank you [25:02] well thank you for letting me share about the Edina comprehensive literacy plan for grade 612. as you know this has [25:09] been co-created with a lot of Educators that I get to just stand up here and speak on behalf of so I just want to [25:15] give acknowledgment to that the many middle and high school teachers that have been partnering alongside me with [25:21] drafting the work that lives in this plan the Edina staff I can tell you they recognize the need for Change and they [25:28] are definitely leaning in to Champion that change I'm honored to partner with them as we all know the landscape of literacy [25:34] has changed as we all process the impact of the recent pandemic and digest the new literacy research that's coming out [25:41] around the science of reader science of reading Educators and parents I will say [25:47] no that the way we have always done things will not no longer be the same moving forward [25:52] and so we know that our students and staff both have different needs than they've ever had before and so this is a [25:58] 40 page comprehensive literacy plan that is our initial response to um to respond [26:05] to these needs and I use the word initial on purpose because this work will take time [26:10] this is an intentionality and a unified commitment as Jody mentioned to see this [26:16] really live in our schools and classrooms and the good news is that edine already has a really strong [26:21] foundation in literacy you heard about all of the initiatives with the pre-k5 plan that work has already begun and [26:28] that's already becoming coming to fruition and so now we just build on to that for our secondary students so at [26:34] the board Workshop meeting you all had some questions specific to measurement and monitoring and so one ad has been a [26:41] link to the comprehensive literacy data metrics plan that just details further how we will measure each piece when that [26:48] will happen with whom and how we will use that data but also to Jody's Point many of these data points will be [26:54] monitored within that data metrics plan so I just wanted to call out that ad so you know this is a big plan with [27:00] lofty goals and if we imagine what literacy programming will look like in 2027 following this plan I believe it's [27:07] pretty exciting I picture teachers who are supported with meaningful professional development and transformational tools to support [27:14] students at all levels I picture school systems who have a well-oiled data literacy enrichment and [27:20] intervention supports that function seamlessly and I picture students who are confident [27:26] successful joyful and empowered by literacy that I imagine with this plan it'll be [27:33] hard work and it will be worth it and I just will sum up with a Picasso quote that I came across as I was [27:39] planning this this evening our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a [27:44] plan in which we must fervently believe and upon we much vigorously act there is [27:50] no other route to success and with that I open up for questions thank you very much board members do [27:58] have questions or comments [28:04] director shell yep um thank you for there is so much information in here so thank you Bethany [28:10] and team for that um so one of the things that I struggled [28:16] with when reading through this and reading through it again and then reading through it again today was [28:24] where in the plan are we identifying what we currently are doing that isn't [28:30] working right like it and and I'm not I just want to make sure people understand that something isn't working otherwise [28:37] our scores wouldn't reflect with what they are and also then we wouldn't be doing what we're doing right so there are students whose needs are not being [28:43] met so what I'm struggling to kind of understand is [28:48] I see the information in there about um our ml students and strategies that we [28:55] need to do to meet their needs and I am so thrilled to see that but I'm also struggling to see [29:02] where we're identifying the these needs for change right the only thing that I'm [29:08] able to see is you know plans for mtss strategies but what about our [29:15] everyday students in classrooms right um we know that we are going to have [29:22] students who are coming from a different environment in elementary and middle when they get to or you know Elementary [29:28] into middle and then into high school they will have had a different um structure of literacy teaching and I [29:36] have worry that we will not be meeting them with what they need in order to [29:42] thrive and not just be where they're at right I want to see [29:48] them flourish right I look at other districts who have these massively [29:53] compelling offerings to students and it is hard for me to not figure out where [29:59] in the plan that we are considering options like that for students and where we are considering really offering [30:06] students not just a chance to be at grade level but if their learning needs [30:11] are different to just Excel right and so it may be living in here and I'm [30:18] not seeing it but like I said I just feel like sometimes you can't [30:25] sometimes if you're not honest with what needs to be done then the work to make it happen isn't as meaningful right [30:33] I heard two really good questions there how are we going to know what the needs of students are and then what's the plan [30:39] to really meet them where they're at and so the the one thing that I would offer is that with [30:45] so I've been in education Now 23 years and or something like that [30:52] and it is a constant job to identify needs and respond to those needs and the pandemic has created [30:59] a different a different game for us and so we are in a place of finding our footing and I would say that with the [31:04] implementation of fast bridge that is going to be done three times a year and so and that hasn't been done in our [31:12] middle schools or our high school yet and so with six eight six nine we're talking about that it is I always do [31:19] this it's plan to study act it's a constant cycle of identifying where they're at which again having been in [31:25] education for a very long time with multiple screening measures fast bridge is amazing at helping us identify need [31:31] and then helping us identify the intentional action or instructional match and so it is not the be all [31:37] end-all but it is an amazing starting point and new students coming in our current students coming in always have [31:44] evolving needs and so getting that data point three times a year really does provide that consistent and we're [31:51] working to build that data literacy right we need to be able to build in other Assessments in that as well but [31:57] that screening is that overall look that really helps us to know which students need a closer look and from there then [32:04] we have the Diagnostics we know that and we know that along with this plan this is really new for secondary [32:10] teachers this is really new and so the professional development required along this that we're really looking into the [32:16] teachers are very eager for that I can tell you that and so I will also say that we are going to be looking at tools [32:23] to support them right so we know that there's embedded interventions within that but when you think about the mtss [32:29] system tier one is all students we have to think about what's happening for all students and then in addition to that [32:35] students who need more we've really been focusing on tier one right now just thinking about what what is the data [32:41] telling us in terms of how effective our programming is and what does research tell us should be happening so all last [32:47] year we really did spend time with the team deep in data deep in research deep in current reality [32:54] and so there are links in there to that work around their data their current [32:59] current that would be under towards the end around the work that's [33:04] been happening so I just wanna um respond to that in the sense that we don't have all the answers of course and [33:11] I said this is an initial plan as intended because we will always need to be modifying as we move forward but the [33:18] data that's been put in place this year has already proven to be so impactful so I hope that somewhat answers a little [33:26] bit of your questions I know there's a lot more to that that again like I said you know we can we can more easily steer [33:31] by school when it's rolling and so we know that we will continually come back to that each and every time right each [33:37] and every testing season each and every opportunity to look at what our students need and the programming that will be a [33:42] best fit for them thank you that's helpful and where in the timeline would any sort of [33:49] evaluation of our current course offerings lie so we did a current reality scan and [33:57] data data dive last year and we identified the need for some so one [34:03] thing that's interesting in my role is that I pull teachers together from multiple buildings and so we have that [34:08] time to come together to look and see what is our consistent programming and that's really what our job has been the last few years is to two plus three [34:14] years the last two years year and a half is to identify what's happening in each building where are things different that [34:20] need to be aligned where are things that are working that need to be replicated right so that's really been the conversation so it is fuzzy right now [34:27] because we're working through that process but what we know is that with our data and with our current [34:33] programming with some gaps and inconsistencies we need to level the playing field and come to that [34:38] consistent approach and that's what really we're working on in this exploration phase so I don't know if that if that helps [34:45] that's a timeline for that yeah go ahead Dr Stanley go ahead no no [34:52] I was just gonna say you remember that gosh it was probably January when we [34:58] brought or maybe December the new courses that we brought and so the [35:03] initial start with providing supports in addition to I mean those Sports cannot [35:09] be in place without the fast bridge and utilizing that data is that course that we brought where we're starting to help [35:16] support um and then in addition to that is Bethany saying the next phase is to look [35:23] at the courses that are there determine what's kept what needs to be modified [35:29] what might we Sunset if necessary to make sure when she talks about that tier [35:34] one that is that Ela class that's at Ela class that every ninth grader every 10th [35:40] grader every you know 11th grader is taking um to make sure that every educator [35:46] who's providing that is well equipped to provide that as well that instruction as [35:51] well thank you that that was the piece that I just wanted to hear that we were going to be I I very I remember the [35:59] course that we put in place I just I wanted to hear that we would also then be evaluating the existing classes so [36:06] thank you and some of that Janie goes to some of the questions I've been asking about the curriculum rollout because I [36:12] think part of that will take place during that process and I would hope [36:19] that during the curricular rollout that we would be evaluating our courses and how [36:26] we're going to implement the coursework and meet all students needs and then come to the [36:32] board with classes that was my hope too I just needed to [36:37] hear it so thank you other questions comments go ahead uh [36:46] thank you for this robust 50 page document [36:51] there's a lot of work that's been put into that and a little bit off of what Janie's saying just the awareness that [36:58] as we have shifted to letters in our elementary we have a whole raft of kids [37:03] that are coming through that didn't have that and so until we can say those kids [37:09] that are getting it now have made to to high school we will have some kids that haven't been taught [37:15] the 44 sounds and so and never were taught that way so we might have some gaps and just [37:22] um you know whether that new ninth grade course there's probably going to be some kids that don't qualify that for that but [37:28] aren't quite meeting their potential because they were never taught the sounds and how to to read [37:35] as well as they could so just that awareness and I know you know that but just wanted to make sure we're we're [37:41] stating that that they'll be students that probably kind of falling through for a little bit [37:46] Yeah and quite honestly we're not waiting we're not waiting for those for that [37:51] professional development to just move forward from our third graders on up like we're intentionally building in professional development right now to [37:58] help our ninth grade teachers respond to fluency gaps or phonics gaps or phonics needs too so that we it's new it's it's [38:06] new information and it's taking some really dedicated time and intentionality [38:12] but the teachers are really rolling up their sleeves and and using that data so but I understand what you're saying [38:19] thanks for your work on that Regina oh sorry [38:25] I'm good but since you asked no I just want to say thank you I've had the opportunity to go [38:32] a little more deeply with this in our teaching and learning committee discussion you've presented in work session I am grateful to you and want to [38:39] extend gratitude of the board to all of our staff who are involved with this professional development they're they [38:46] already have a full schedule so just to acknowledge that they are teaching full-time doing amazing work and taking [38:55] on the new learning which is exciting it's a fabulous Direction but I just [39:01] want to extend that appreciation at all levels any other comments from board members [39:08] Dr Stanley the last thing I I want to thank teachers as well the last thing I want [39:13] to say is unless you earned your teaching [39:20] licensure or certificate before 1975. [39:25] you did not learn the science of reading and so that pretty much means that any [39:32] of our teachers who are in our system right now were not trained on this back then it was probably called phonics but [39:39] we're not trained on this idea of the science of reading and so this is very new it's incredibly new and [39:46] significantly new for our secondary teachers and so I Echo the same our [39:52] teachers are learning differently they are also incredibly highly [39:59] qualified and well positioned just like Sue and Alyssa are to take in this new [40:05] information and make an impact for our students and I'm I'm incredibly proud of them [40:11] thank you Dr Stanley and thank you both next up on our agenda is our talent [40:18] development Universal screener recommendation presenters are Jody D Singh Huber director of teaching and [40:24] learning Leanne is it feely I apologize I am not great with pronunciation [40:29] student Support Services continuous Improvement specialist mtss and mtss coordinator and Deborah [40:37] Richards Talent Development coordinator welcome thank you [40:45] see if this point this to move it [40:52] oh look I got it okay okay it was this one that one okay [40:58] yeah okay thank you for giving me a moment just to check out the technology and get [41:03] set here good evening again thank you for letting us be here to talk about our [41:09] talent development Universal screener recommendation chair allenberg Dr Stanley board members [41:15] um when the 2022-23 assessment calendar was approved teaching and learning was asked to form [41:22] a talent development Universal Design Team to research and review if any [41:27] changes needed to be made in our current or the assessment calendar in relation to talent development at the time [41:34] so the team a team was formed and we had amazing leadership from Deb Richards and [41:40] Liam feely as we just discussed their roles at this time I'm going to turn it [41:45] over to the two of them to give us a high level overview of the committee work and the recommendations and then [41:51] turn it over to all of you for questions and feedback [41:56] so when we think about a talent development Universal screener what [42:01] we're really talking about is a way for us to really discover exceptional [42:07] potential as well as uncovering some of the Hidden talents that we might not find in an achievement measure [42:15] it's considered a best practice in the field of gifted education and strong [42:22] recommendations that a talent development Universal screener be given [42:27] um by the end of second grade go to the next slide please [42:33] and so our our team that we pulled together um as Jody mentioned to look at what [42:38] what the screener would be um it was grounded in implementation science and really was part of that [42:44] exploration phase where we were assessing the needs assessing the fit and feasibility and looking at different [42:49] things you know based on this recommendation and approval then we'd move into the installation phase next uh [42:55] next school year next slide so our team consisted of a variety of different [43:03] Educators and different roles from classroom teachers to Talent Development staff to principals to administrators to [43:10] psychologists we really wanted to get a multiple perspectives as we were looking [43:16] at what is the best talent development Universal screener in addition to this District assessment [43:23] team we also we also um gathered feedback from our parent [43:29] advisory team and so that is comprised of two or more parent Representatives [43:35] along with our talent development staff and they were able to provide some [43:40] feedback um Janie Shaw is our board rep that's on that committee and some of that [43:47] information was shared with her as well next time [43:54] it was important as we conducted this this investigation that it was grounded [44:01] in research and best practice we our literature review relied heavily on [44:07] three different documents one was the Colorado Department of Education their gifted identification guidebook you [44:13] might wonder why we selected Colorado and it's really because Colorado is [44:19] mandated services or the state mandates gifted and talented services in the state and it's also under special [44:25] services so they have a lot of research and a lot of really good information for [44:32] us to draw from also we looked at the National Association for gifted children and we also looked at what the Minnesota [44:38] Department of Education had to say next line [44:43] so just a really quick overview of the meetings that we had so we had several meetings from November to February [44:49] started with grounding an introduction to the process as I mentioned rooted in implementation science and research and [44:54] best practice we then dug into defining what our current reality was with assessment for talent development kind [45:01] of doing a SWOT analysis what are the strengths and weakness of that opportunities and threats getting stakeholder feedback in December we dove [45:08] into the literature that Deb just mentioned and looked at utilizing an affinity process to create a rubric that [45:14] we would use then to look at different tools and how they would best fit our needs then we had the vendors or the [45:21] vendors come in and assess those tools uh once we you know utilized our rubric to land on that the cogat would be part [45:28] of our recommendation we then again circled around to develop what would be the protocol for the use of that [45:33] assessment based on literature and best practice and then determining um you know whether we had everything that we [45:39] needed within our TD portfolio to ensure that we were identifying students appropriately for services then lastly [45:46] in February bringing forward that recommendation and making sure we were aligned with the Essential Elements of [45:52] cultural proficiency and our assessment accountability next slide this is just an example of [45:58] the rubric that we use to evaluate the tools and so you can see that there was kind of three big headings when we came [46:03] together through the Affinity process around characteristics of the tool Administration and then whether the tool [46:09] was culturally responsive the two tools that we looked at was the pets curriculum which is what we are currently using in the system as our [46:16] talent development Universal screener and then we also looked at the kogat which is you know was a tool that came [46:22] recommended through many of the the literature reviews and as you can see there the totals pets received kind of [46:29] 18.78 overall with the kogat receiving 43.22 overall with the total being 54. [46:34] so you can see how the code got rated highly among the you know characteristics that we were looking for [46:41] in a talent development screening tool go ahead and the next slide so with that as I mentioned we then [46:48] pulled our team together to say okay how will this actually look when we were to move into initial [46:53] um you know implementation and so the recommendations from the team are that the universal screening uh would be the [46:59] kogat full battery starting in the fall of 2023 with all second grade students it would be administered by our [47:05] curiosity lab teachers which are our talent development teachers so that we would be sure to increase the rate of [47:12] reliability and diminish the responsibility for our grade 2 teachers as you heard they have much going on with letters and with other things so [47:19] our will lean into our TD teachers to help administer the kogat [47:25] scores then will be reviewed as part of a team we really want there to be a team around this looking at how does this fit [47:31] in with the other pieces of data that we're seeing with our students because we want to be sure we're not only using [47:37] these scores as part of our comprehensive talent development screening portfolio but we want to make sure that we're utilizing it to [47:42] determine strength areas for all of our students and matching um you know the right instructional matches with all of [47:49] our students and using those strengths to propel those students forward and then um following the use of the [47:56] cogat in second grade which again is the recommendation for fall of 23 we would consider adding the koget at the end of [48:02] fourth grade as well based on how things went with the second grade rollout [48:07] next slide please and then just a really quick brief overview of what the kogat is kogat [48:14] stands for cognitive abilities test it's a norm reference cognitive instrument that's designed to measure students [48:19] reasoning ability so it's not measuring specific academic knowledge and content areas like reading and math it's at that [48:26] reasoning ability divided into three batteries looking at verbal quantitative and non-verbal reasoning [48:32] next slide so with every new initiative we know how [48:38] important that communication plan is and so although you will not be taking action on this until next month we want [48:46] to be sure that we are ready and to communicate with all of our elementary teachers to know that this is something [48:54] that we will be doing in the fall there'll be some specific messaging to [48:59] grade two teachers we've learned that it's always good to prevent to provide [49:06] Communication in different ways and so I think that personal interaction with [49:11] second grade teachers will be really important just to get some of their feedback about this as we move forward [49:19] all of our elementary families will need to have some type of communication [49:24] around the use of the koget again grade two families sorry next slide [49:32] second grade families will also want to know that their their child is going to [49:37] be taking this exam and and why it's important and then again that personal [49:44] conversation we are thinking of having the second grade teachers share at [49:49] parent conferences kind of the strength areas and if they do any student Love Led conferences to be really nice if the [49:57] students could share with their parents what their strength is because it's really important that students also are [50:03] that they took this assessment not just as another data point in a talent [50:09] development portfolio but this was really to discover what their strength area is and that is the why and then [50:17] again that Talent Development assessment team there's a lot of different staff [50:22] that work with students maybe you know with their ml staff or learning Specialists and sometimes they might not [50:28] see the child in the same way that this um that this assessment will provide so [50:34] again just allowing teachers who work with all kids to have different perspectives on kids [50:42] next slide please so what are our next steps [50:49] um I want to start with the communication plan this spring we want to administer the kogat in the [50:55] fall right after the fast assessment is given then we want to review the scores to [51:02] support strong and structural matches for all students in all settings so we certainly want to use it as an [51:08] additional identification component in the Curiosity lab for an accelerated math extended reading and then like [51:15] Leanne mentioned we do then want to measure the effectiveness are we really [51:21] um is this tool able to provide a way for us to identify strengths in [51:27] all kids and give us a better measure of potential and unhidden talent [51:33] our goals are really three-fold to identify strength areas for each and every grade two student to highlight [51:39] exceptional potential and hidden talent in all populations and then to enhance [51:45] the talent development identification portfolio yeah you can go next you can go to the [51:51] next two slides one more thank you how are we going to measure this so um [51:58] we're going to measure it to make sure that students and caretakers are able to [52:03] identify what their child's strength area is that's going to happen through family [52:08] conversations and communication written communication we want to make sure that [52:14] parents are provided with some suggestions to have their child [52:20] participate in activities that strengthen their talent area we also want to see a shift in mindset [52:29] we really would like the school culture to reflect a talent development mindset where we're looking yes at kids that [52:36] might need some additional support but also what their strength area is and looking at this from a positive lens [52:44] we'll want to provide some professional development to help teachers [52:50] find ways to kind of help them capitalize on student Talent areas [52:56] and then important we want to increase the number of students from historically underserved populations participating [53:03] and finding success in Talent Development programming and we're going to measure this through the data metrics [53:09] plan there we have it that we'll open it up [53:15] for questions thank you thank you board members questions comments [53:21] just a really quick reinforcing statement um in the slides a few minutes ago when you talked about how it would [53:27] roll out this is just an additional tool for it to figure out what the strengths [53:33] are to go from that it's not the end-all be-all the only thing that's going to be used so and so forth I just want to make sure that everyone in the community [53:38] understands this is an added measurement tool to help us in that assessment process for all students to figure out [53:44] their strengths thank you [53:50] I'll go a little bit of discussion at the work session it was brought up about [53:56] implementation timeline and I just first of all I want to say I recognize the intentionality behind bringing other [54:02] members of the school community and to help support this work sooner rather than later and so I appreciate that it [54:09] sounds like the main role of the classroom teacher at this time would be to receive the [54:17] information and to start the Journey of kind of learning how to use that information [54:23] um so I I'm a huge fan of the kogad I think you guys have all heard me say that I'm thrilled that it's back I'm [54:30] thrilled that it's an opportunity you know sometimes assessment more times than not is looking for deficits right [54:36] where this is really just looking for strengths and I think any child who can be told what a strength is that they can [54:42] hold on to it and grow from it even though we know we won't be at like full capacity from day one on on how to [54:49] utilize it I am totally in favor of those children having that information [54:55] sooner rather than later so thank you so much for the hard work on this I am more [55:00] than thrilled at everything you've put into it and the opportunity for our students to to gain strength from this [55:06] so thank you [55:12] um yeah going I guess more about what director Shaw was talking about could you speak to I I [55:20] think more about the role of the classroom teacher because that's that's my main concern is [55:26] rolling out the letters training and the science curriculum and then asking our second grade teachers [55:33] I know there's a professional development day so I think the question I had was around [55:40] um are we asking them to focus on too many different things in one year [55:46] that's a really good question and I think the bulk of the professional [55:51] development will occur this summer with my team Riverside has some really nice [55:56] learning or modules that we can go through in terms of being really clear [56:02] on the administration of it I think you're absolutely right at this point in [56:08] time what we're going to do is meet with teachers and provide them a list of the [56:14] strengths of their students we will ask them probably to share with [56:19] their families at conference time and then from there I don't Envision this being an isolated [56:27] additional professional development I look at it when we're looking at mystery [56:32] science or when we're looking at literacy and we're creating units steam [56:37] units like how do we build in activities for kids [56:43] with their strength area so like if you are if you have a high non-verbal right [56:48] you want kids to have the opportunity to demonstrate their learning in some visual format or you're going to want to [56:54] present your material your content in a way that's visual for those so it's more [57:01] hopefully it's not going to be an add-on but it will be embedded in some of those big rocks that we have and I think just [57:08] through I plan to visit their plc's um and try to get a feel for where [57:15] they're at and I think we're just going to have to monitor and adjust that if we just feel like next year [57:21] is not the year to do some of the Riverside training or I I think we're [57:26] going to be really mindful of that I would also love to just add a little [57:31] bit of um how all of this is coming together because it's a really important question [57:37] we have staff that are in letters they're finishing units one and two this year but we'll be jumping into units [57:44] three and four and we are working really hard to provide opportunities for choice for staff of when they are able to do [57:50] that so there'll be some summer opportunities some school year opportunities so staff can weigh where they're at with what works best and then [57:58] I think it's really important for me just to emphasize that the science for K2 is an initial implementation [58:06] installation so it's not the full we're not at the implementation so in the [58:11] beginning of the year all the way most likely through February it will be a choice for our K2 teachers to engage in [58:18] using Mystery Science at the level of fidelity that will will shift to so they'll be gaining some professional [58:24] development on professional development days but there will be no hard requirement that we're jumping into [58:30] Mystery Science as a curriculum so definitely recognizing how many things are on all of our plates [58:38] right now and being cognizant of how we present that and support teachers with that thank you I appreciate that I think [58:45] that to your point if you could be cognizant of that um and I think we I personally think we [58:53] need to Pace appropriately I think the flip side of that I think it can could also be overwhelming for families [58:59] because we're trying to get them to digest the importance of fast bridge and what that means from a testing [59:06] perspective I think it could also be information overload so I'm 100 in favor [59:11] of all of this and appreciate I'm super excited about it I just think it's so [59:17] important how we Pace the rollout to integrate it the change management portion is the only piece that I'm a [59:22] little concerned about so thank you for bringing that forward it's important we continue to partner on that [59:29] and yeah and collaborate on it great thank you guys very much [59:34] thanks thank you [59:40] uh next up is our policy committee um and oh my computer died for a minute [59:47] so I was making that up off the top of my head next up is student travel oh and [59:52] so you still have director do you say Hubert um to talk about uh troops yeah [1:00:00] trips to Japan and France okay thank you very much chair Ellenberg Dr Stanley and [1:00:05] board members colleagues and community members tonight we have two travel experiences in front of us for [1:00:11] discussion the first is a career in technology department travel experience to Japan [1:00:18] that would occur in June of 2024. and then the second is the France student [1:00:23] exchange and although the CTE experience the career and Tech experience is new [1:00:30] the France student exchange is something that has been a part of our system [1:00:35] before so the first exchange with this High School France Edina High School [1:00:41] partnership was created in 19 in in 2019 and 2020 that seems like forever ago the [1:00:50] proposed exchange dates would for this experience would have French students coming to us in the upcoming fall and [1:00:58] then our students would be traveling later in the year we are still working [1:01:03] the later in the year would be kind of towards the end of February and beginning of March of 2024. we are still [1:01:11] working with this team and determining the exact dates and trying to narrow down the number of days that students would be out of school and we're also in [1:01:19] partnering with the board still working through what travel organization will work with just so once we have if we [1:01:27] have board approval that we can create the experience at the most affordable cost for families so there's lots of [1:01:32] Investigations going on however both both of the proposals are brought [1:01:39] forward with policy 538 in mind and all the different components that we are working through with 538 and they're [1:01:46] also brought forward with a link in the report that gives an overview of all the [1:01:51] travel experience that it experiences that are happening not only at the high school but also the elementary through [1:01:57] Middle School through high school that are both International as well as here in the United States so you can see the [1:02:02] um the whole picture of travel that's coming up for the 23-24 school year not only like where students are [1:02:10] traveling but the times of the year that students are traveling as well as the Departments that they're falling under for the educational experience [1:02:16] so with that I'll turn it over to questions and feedback board members questions feedback [1:02:22] director Shaw my feedback is that Japan trip is amazing and our students are so [1:02:28] so lucky so I love seeing that so thank you [1:02:33] director gabler [1:02:38] I think that's it okay great thank you very much thank you now we're moving on [1:02:43] to our policy committee um we have three Paul [1:02:49] three yes I was right three policies to discuss I'll turn it over to director Neville our policy committee chair all [1:02:56] right thank you chair Ellenberg um with the three policies they are all [1:03:02] part of our regular review cycle we have policy 206 regarding public hearings and [1:03:08] two 700 series policies we're going to begin with 206 and I've invited director [1:03:14] Karen gabler to share a little background as she has been involved with a lot of the research on 206 so I want [1:03:21] to thank her for that and invite her to give an overview thank you director Neville [1:03:28] um as stated one of the policies up for discussion tonight is policy 206 which is public hearings and public [1:03:34] participation in school board meetings and data privacy considerations and as [1:03:40] the policy states the school board recognizes the importance and the value of hearing from the community [1:03:46] and this policy outlines the procedures around public participation in these [1:03:52] meetings so as director Neville talked about this is part of the 200 series which is one [1:03:58] of the series that we've looked at this year if you've been following along we've looked at the 100s we are have [1:04:03] looked at the 200s and the 700s as part of our review cycle for the board and the pop [1:04:10] and the Public's background the policy committee consulted Minnesota School Board Association [1:04:17] our own District's legal counsel reviewed more than a half a dozen metro [1:04:22] area school districts policies 206 and had one-on-one conversations with [1:04:27] several school boards who had recently reviewed their policy 206. what you see in your board packet are [1:04:34] recommendations from the policy committee based on the information that we gathered from the previously [1:04:39] mentioned sources so one particular line that I would draw like to draw people's [1:04:45] attention to is at the top of page 206 3. and you will note that the word [1:04:51] address is Struck from our policy here and when we were looking at msba's model [1:04:59] policy they did not have address included in that and so initially we [1:05:06] struck it from ours but after our policy committee met we received further [1:05:13] clarification that there is no legal recommendation to strike it meaning that [1:05:18] we can ask participants for that information so we can talk about that there are also a few editing errors that [1:05:25] we've caught that we will make sure we clean up but if you want to make sure we we uh if you want to point them out [1:05:30] we'll make sure we get them all and so our goal this evening with this policy is really because it is a board driven [1:05:35] policy to hear from you what do you think about these recommendations in here we will certainly take them back to [1:05:41] policy committee and for further discussion [1:05:48] board members yes I just have one quick question um thorough love the updates [1:05:55] um very well done uh if you had to summarize the actual additive things [1:06:00] that were then done did they actually change anything about how we've actually operated under this provision [1:06:08] so when you're looking at the policy the blue is are the changes when you look if [1:06:13] you've been a public member that's come and spoken to us you are not going to notice a big difference but this is put [1:06:19] in place as we've um a lot of districts in the last couple of years have had to review this policy and just make sure [1:06:25] that we are keeping it a safe environment for people to come and speak to us that we have procedures that [1:06:32] protect our staff members in terms of their information being shared so a lot of what you hear see here is just more [1:06:39] procedural and you wouldn't necessarily note much difference would you agree with that director Neville I do yeah and [1:06:47] so part of our clarification of language is reflecting current practice but as well as the updates to site statute as [1:06:55] statute adjust title of Statute address the language adjusts but it is in [1:07:01] alignment with our current procedure thank you I I know that not everyone will probably read it all the way [1:07:06] clearly from that standpoint but that I'm glad that that's exactly what we're trying to do so I'm full support of what [1:07:12] the additions have been made thank you good um yeah I concur that I thought the [1:07:19] additions that were made as far as procedural changes or additions were um [1:07:24] were really well done I would ask that the word address not be struck through I [1:07:30] would like to include continue to include that in our regular process as we have in the past I think it's an [1:07:36] important one that we maintain thank you [1:07:42] any other comments or questions about 206 I have a quite a few I was just [1:07:48] waiting for other people too um I was wondering um a couple of mine were grammatical I'm [1:07:55] just going to assume that you guys have caught those so um does a couple substantive [1:08:00] questions I was wondering I was wondering about your inclusion of the word students [1:08:07] under three and if you could explain that and not that I'm opposed to that but why only [1:08:14] adding students so this was actually a recommendation from a neighboring District that had in [1:08:20] their policy and when I think about when we as Apollo we brought it to the policy committee um as a district we've really [1:08:26] prioritized trying to make sure that students know that they are part of this system and that their voice matters and [1:08:33] so that was an addition that you know the school board was it used to read the school board will strive to give all [1:08:38] community members an opportunity to be heard we felt like it was important to put that in there including students [1:08:45] because we want them to know that their voice is important when when they speak to us whether they're voters or not [1:08:51] their voice is an important part of this process my only hesitation and not it's not that [1:08:57] I don't think we should include students I think when you add only one group The Natural [1:09:04] question is why aren't you encouraging other groups to come and so why aren't [1:09:09] we we've also talked about the importance of educator voices why aren't we saying [1:09:14] we'll strive to give all community members including students Educators and [1:09:20] staff members I think that I just personally have always aired on [1:09:27] the side of you either are vague or you include every single person that you [1:09:32] want to encourage to come and so that's that's my only [1:09:39] hesitation about only calling out students sure so a clarification question on that because I hear what [1:09:45] you're saying and I agree with that would you then strike students as well as community members [1:09:52] no I think we have to talk about community members I think when you [1:09:58] this I mean our uh I think our obligation we strive to give all [1:10:03] stakeholders an opportunity to come so should we change it to that should we say the school board will strive to give [1:10:10] all stakeholders an opportunity and take out Community would that work better I like that I would only comment that [1:10:16] that's what we've been talking about in terms of from a governance standpoint and the stakeholder lays on all the things that we've been doing on the work [1:10:22] side stakeholders is the term that we've used and then we did provide definition of what that was but for this purpose [1:10:28] stakeholders probably goes along is aligned with where we were going with that and the I mean and we could [1:10:33] potentially include like by by stakeholders we want to encourage students if you guys want to go that [1:10:39] route I am really concerned about isolating only students and are we sending a message that I went back and [1:10:45] forth on that yeah caregivers right right but I actually like the inclusiveness of [1:10:51] the word yeah so stakeholders do stakeholders I have that down I appreciate the feedback and I think that [1:10:57] what I'm hearing in general is a desire of the board to not exclude to make sure [1:11:03] that we are inclusive and recognizing that by naming a particular group and [1:11:08] not naming another one it can be exclusive so I think it's helpful feedback and we'll take that back to the [1:11:13] committee and take a look at either stakeholder or another term that would be the most broadly defined thank you [1:11:21] and welcome I really appreciate that my second question is under B [1:11:27] number one it says school board meetings are not an appropriate venue during which to file a specific complaint [1:11:33] against a staff member or the school district totally agree with the language and the [1:11:38] intent of what you're trying to put in there my question is is it going to be confusing to to the [1:11:47] general public who don't they might Define a complaint as the the [1:11:55] reason that they're coming here is to complain about I don't like the lunches at Valley View [1:12:01] not how we Define complaint from a policy perspective which is I believe what you're trying to Define in number [1:12:08] one which is that if you have a complaint you need to follow the complaint process and so I was just concerned about the [1:12:16] way it read that someone could read that and say we don't want people to come here and complain [1:12:22] about the school district would you change at least to that formal or sort [1:12:27] of specifically formal formal complaint or to take out School District [1:12:32] because really a b and c d underneath them are about individuals yeah [1:12:42] what was Janie what was your recommendation well I was thinking file [1:12:47] a formal complaint but is the word file the right word [1:12:54] a file would be in alignment with policy 104 which is where people are directed [1:12:59] for that particular action but again what I'm hearing just to make sure [1:13:05] that this is accurate is uh making sure that we differentiate clearly between a [1:13:11] formal complaint process particularly one that is against an individual a particular staff member or a formal [1:13:18] complaint against the school district so specific against a staff member would be in alignment with policy that's not part [1:13:25] of what public comment may be used for but formal complaint against the school district I think that that is helpful [1:13:32] for us to take back to the community see if there's additional research that we need to be aware of in terms of whether [1:13:37] there is a a legal ramification or meaning behind one term versus another I [1:13:43] think that's a good idea but making sure that complaints I think possibly the [1:13:49] definition of that section is misleading I I agree I I didn't want someone to read that and think for dissuading [1:13:55] people from coming and saying negative stuff about the district which is the whole point why sometimes oh sometimes [1:14:00] you can also say nice things but but thank you I think that there may be [1:14:06] some um confusion just with that title of complaints that's worth reviewing as well so thank you I appreciate that so [1:14:13] Regina did you capture that uh yeah no thank you okay yes and the only other small it's just a really small thing but [1:14:19] under C open forum the last sentence is periodically closed [1:14:24] the meetings may be held where attendance and speaking opportunities are not allowed I would [1:14:30] like to add like periodically per Minnesota state law okay just to really reinforce that we're not just closing [1:14:37] meetings where people can't speak so thank you periodically as per and we [1:14:43] will cite the appropriate reference thank you thank you all for the feedback [1:14:49] this was really great beneficial I don't have comments on any other policy but we will introduce them though [1:14:55] anything else on 206. okay thank you and we are also looking at 700s I want to [1:15:01] express my gratitude to business director or Director of Business Services Mark Woodard and his team for [1:15:07] taking a look at 700s tonight we're looking at 710 acceptance and use of grant funding and 712 signing of checks [1:15:15] on behalf of the district and Mer thank you for giving us an overview of any [1:15:21] adjustments to these due policies good evening chair allenberg School Board directors and superintendent [1:15:28] Stanley for policy 710 the acceptance of and use of grant funding there were really three minor updates the first of [1:15:34] which was to the definition of Grant itself the current reading of that definition may lead some to align that [1:15:41] to donations and we want to be clear about what we think is a grant in this District so we updated the language to [1:15:47] reflect that and add Clarity the second would be an update to language in section 4 paragraph a where we replace [1:15:53] the director of teaching and learning with the Director of Business Services and director of Community Education and [1:15:59] strategic Partnerships that change was made because all grants have a financial [1:16:04] component and a partnership component but not all grants have a curriculum component so we thought that those two [1:16:10] particular staff members would be well served to carry out this policy the Third change would be the added [1:16:17] appendice which describes the preferred method of Grant application that was designed by Dr Ann Leland who did a [1:16:24] great job and so we thought that would help any potential Grant procurers in the future [1:16:29] any questions regarding 710 I just wanted to say thank you to the [1:16:35] two of you for adding that appendix when we were in policy we asked for that and you delivered that as really thorough [1:16:41] and hopefully will be a good resource so thank you [1:16:47] policy 712 signing of checks checks on behalf of the district there were no changes made to this policy with the [1:16:53] exception of a couple of style updates regarding our legal name and the title of the policy [1:17:00] any questions any questions about 712 all right [1:17:06] thank you mert thank you Mark thank you thank you very much we are now going to move on to our [1:17:12] action items and our first action item is the ratification of sale for General obligation Capital notes do I have a [1:17:19] motion to approve the sale of General obligational General obligation with capital notes and Facilities maintenance [1:17:25] bonds Series 2023-a so moved second oh wow that was very fast thank you [1:17:32] it was Genie and Michael I'd like to welcome Mark Woodard again and um Jody [1:17:38] zezba thank you for coming good evening chair allenberg members of the board I'll just point out one minor [1:17:45] typo that was made on the agenda sheet and the first sentence of the background paragraph that should read February 13 [1:17:50] 2023 instead of 2022 at that meeting the school board authorized myself the [1:17:57] municipal advisors and other board officers to take and execute the sale of the 2023 General obligation bonds seven [1:18:05] million thirty five thousand dollars of par value which are used to finance a portion of the district's long-term [1:18:11] facilities maintenance plan which you adopt on an annual basis a portion of that issuance is also to finance the [1:18:18] purchase of Pupil Transportation vehicles and technology devices the sale is contingent on the true [1:18:25] interest costs of the award better being at four percent or lower I'm pleased to share some great news about that which [1:18:31] Jody will share in just a minute now before I do I just want to remind the board and the public that as part of [1:18:36] that process the district owner went a credit rating call with Moody's investor Services very pleased to report that [1:18:42] they elected to maintain our underlying AAA rating which is the highest possible rating [1:18:51] thank you it's always great news so congratulations and with no further Ado [1:18:56] Jody zezba from Ellers great thank you thank you so I will just touch on a few [1:19:01] items within our sale day report and then if you have any questions on that or the ratifying resolution I'll be [1:19:07] happy to respond to those too so you'll see on the inside front cover the first [1:19:12] page of our report the purpose as Merck just described the two purposes with the Deferred maintenance projects as well as [1:19:19] the capital notes for the buses and technology devices and as mert mentioned [1:19:25] that rating is listed next with your underlying reading at the highest rating that Moody's assigns at AAA you are one [1:19:31] of only three school districts in the state of Minnesota that has that rating so also wyzed and Minnetonka are the [1:19:37] other two okay I could ask that frequently and then you do participate in the Minnesota State Credit enhanced [1:19:42] rating for most districts that's a higher rating than what they have it's lower rating for you but it still gives [1:19:48] the investors additional Security in the debt that you're issuing there's no cost to participate in that program so you [1:19:54] always participate in that program also you receive seven bids which is fantastic so we have been getting a lot [1:20:00] of demand for municipal bonds and we've seen rates come down so at the time that I was here presenting our pre-sale [1:20:06] estimates rates were going up and so we had some cushion added in and so you'll [1:20:12] see that the low bid is a 2.90 percent so a little under three percent which [1:20:17] was great to see we have a summary of sale results table and then some notes there showing that we had an estimate of [1:20:25] 3.7 percent when we presented the pre-sale report to you on March 13th so nice to see that coming well below that [1:20:31] and with an additional premium that we got from the winning underwriter as well [1:20:37] as a favorable interest rate you'll have about 420 000 more for projects than we [1:20:42] were expecting so that's really great news too uh you the true interest cost [1:20:48] rate again was well below the parameter that the board established at four percent so you've already had two [1:20:55] individuals signed the proposal form on your behalf and so uh that is the reason [1:21:00] that you're ratifying tonight so that's the action that we're looking for tonight I'll quickly touch on the [1:21:06] attachments that we have to the sale Day Report the first is the bid tab so Hilltop Securities from Dallas Texas was [1:21:13] the low bidder at 2.90 percent followed closely behind from by be okay out of [1:21:19] Milwaukee Wisconsin at a 2.92 and then Raymond James and Associates out of St [1:21:24] Petersburg Florida Piper Sandler out of Minneapolis Northland security is out of Minneapolis Key Bank from Cleveland Ohio [1:21:31] and then buried at Milwaukee out of Milwaukee Wisconsin at a 3.07 so lots of [1:21:38] interest from throughout the country which is great to see and then the next financial schedules are the exact same [1:21:44] Financial schedules that we had in the pre-sale report which we talked about in March they're just updated with sale [1:21:49] results now so that first schedule is the sources and uses schedule includes a higher premium and a little bit more for [1:21:55] project costs as we just talked about the debt service schedule is labeled attachments page four at the bottom [1:22:03] the capital notes portion of the issue is attachments page five that actually has a true interest cost rate of just a [1:22:10] little over two percent so 2.09 percent is the rate on that portion of the stat issue because those are the shorter [1:22:17] maturities your facility's maintenance bonds then have an interest rate of about 2.96 and [1:22:25] that schedule is shown on page six the detailed plan that we are always monitoring for you that is in about size [1:22:32] four font so on page seven I'm not going to point you to too many numbers on there just direct your attention to the [1:22:39] far right hand tax rate column because we're always monitoring that to keep your tax rate level or with some step [1:22:46] down so that you have some future capacity for any needs that you need to meet so an attachments page eight that is the [1:22:54] chart with The Debt Service tax rates and you can see that we are keeping that [1:22:59] tax rate very level with again some step Downs in the future and this provides [1:23:05] the information related to the majority of your Levy so it has all your debt service levies your lease Levy your [1:23:12] Capital project Levy that finances technology that's a voter approved Levy so not all of your levies are shown on [1:23:20] this schedule but a majority of them are and then next you will have two rating [1:23:27] reports that Moody's issued so the first report that the issue is their press release and that is labeled attachments [1:23:34] page nine at the bottom and I'll just draw your attention to the ratings rationale where they say the AAA issue [1:23:40] rating reflects the district's growing local economy and full value per capita in the Twin Cities metro area very [1:23:45] strong adjusted resident income strong competitive position supporting relatively stable enrollment and above [1:23:52] average leverage from debt and pensions paired with moderate fixed costs while cash is strong fund balance is a little [1:23:58] low compared to peers in the rating in your rating category and they've mentioned that before and your debt and [1:24:05] leverage number is generally elevated because of your tra pension amount so that report then continues on through [1:24:12] attachments page 14 and then they provide you with a more detailed credit opinion starting on attachments page 15. [1:24:21] and thanks to both mert and Dr Stanley for participating in the rating process they were very well prepared represented [1:24:28] you extremely well and that was very critical to maintaining your AAA rating [1:24:33] so we appreciate all of their efforts and assistance as part of that reading process too [1:24:39] foreign just want to add one quick thing Jody earlier referenced the the capital note [1:24:45] portion of the issuance yielded a true interest cost of about 2.09 percent you'll remember that this strategy is [1:24:51] relatively new for the district and the the private debt that we had shopped around we're offering rates north of [1:24:56] five so that strategy has paid dividends and so thank you for the finance committee for trusting the administration to pull that off [1:25:03] thank you that's amazing thank you board members questions [1:25:10] I just have one quick question um from the credit rating standpoint that process how often do we have to go [1:25:15] through what's the time cycle for every time we have to do that so anytime you issue debt they will want to talk with [1:25:21] you um your rating once it's set is always under their surveillance though so at [1:25:27] any point in time generally once they get your audit report every year they take a look at things and they'll initiate a process if they want to talk [1:25:33] to you about any changes or anything that they're seeing so for sure each time you issue debt you go through the [1:25:39] rating process but they can initiate a call or a process with you at any point in time while your ratings are [1:25:44] outstanding thank you and by the way I think the finance committee is going to be pretty happy when they see the that rate [1:25:50] consider what we talked about the last meeting so that's awesome thank you I don't have any questions I just wanted [1:25:56] to thank the finance committee and Dr Stanley and Mark for the outstanding work you've done on our finances and [1:26:03] keeping your AAA credit rating big big deal so thank you [1:26:08] um we will now vote to approve the fiscal year [1:26:13] 2025 long-term facilities maintenance that's the next topic sorry we will now [1:26:20] vote to approve the general obligation Capital notes and Facilities maintenance bonds series 2023a [1:26:27] all those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed the bonds are approved the sale [1:26:35] of the bonds are approved thank you very much thank you very much we appreciate the opportunity to be of service to you once again and are just thrilled with [1:26:41] the results so thank you do I have a motion to approve the fiscal [1:26:46] year 2025 long-term facilities maintenance expenditure budget so moved is there a second second [1:26:53] thank you good evening so in order for Intermediate School District 287 to [1:26:59] access and other cooperatives to access long-term facilities maintenance Revenue each member district of the Cooperative [1:27:05] must pass by board resolution the approval of the district's proportionate share for the fiscal year in question as [1:27:12] well as approving their overall 10-year plan and so that's why this action is before you tonight the district's proportionate share for fiscal year 25 [1:27:18] will be 67 520 dollars and with that the recommended action is [1:27:24] before you questions from board members [1:27:29] nope all those in favor of approving the the long term the 2025 long-term [1:27:37] facilities maintenance expenditure budget say aye anyone opposed the fiscal year 2025 [1:27:43] long-term facilities maintenance expenditure budget is approved to have a motion to approve the Food [1:27:48] Services management contract contract renewal for 2023-2024 so moved is there [1:27:55] a second second I believe we have some individuals from Chartwells here thank you for sitting [1:28:02] through our board meeting I'm sure you learned a lot yeah absolutely appreciate it [1:28:09] good evening once again um in the spring of 2022 the district conducted a rather robust RFP and [1:28:16] selection process for our food service vendor contract Chartwells received the highest score of [1:28:21] the three vendors that underwent the more robust process during the current school year we've received really [1:28:27] positive feedback regarding their performance from a variety of stakeholders including students staff [1:28:33] members Administration as well as our food service Our Food Wellness committee and due to that feedback we're super [1:28:39] confident in recommending that we extend their contract by one more school year at least and that's why the recommended [1:28:45] action is before you tonight with me we've got several members of the team we thought it'd be great for you to put a [1:28:51] face to the name of the wonderful folks that are feeding our children on a daily basis any comment from the team [1:29:00] Year my name is Kirsten krusenga I'm the food service director this is Abby dollar shell she's my assistant director [1:29:06] and this is Christian Clune he's our executive chef yes nice to meet you finally put a face [1:29:12] to all of your names um I was just talking to them how special this district is and how we all are just [1:29:20] so excited for the like the coming year and we sit down and we have meetings and we're just so excited to like keep [1:29:26] giving you better food options for these kids um just a really great District to work [1:29:32] with so thank you thank you we absolutely appreciate all [1:29:38] of you and working in Food Services it's one of the things that sometimes you take for granted during covid we're like [1:29:44] wow we need to get our kiddos fed and so it's an integral part of our school system so thank you for what you [1:29:51] do um do any board members have questions about the contract director Neville I don't have questions about the contract [1:29:57] I just want to thank you for the partnership for the fact that we've been able to do this for a period of time I'm [1:30:04] grateful and for pointing out the value of what you do well-fed students can [1:30:10] learn and you make learning possible so thank you [1:30:17] director gabler I too want to thank you for the work I know a lot of your staff members are here long before students [1:30:23] hit the buildings and I asked my three students about the food service when I saw we were going to be talking about [1:30:29] they said oh it is it's better this year so I Echo that um the three at my house [1:30:34] agreed with that and then I learned a fun fact a couple weeks ago that you have an employee at Highlands that is 92 [1:30:41] years old is this true yes is she the oldest employee we have I probably can't ask that yeah [1:30:52] you're right you can't he said she likes to she gets I asked my [1:30:58] elementary school she said oh she gets hugs every day from some of the kids so [1:31:04] um just wanted to give her a little shout out Donna [1:31:10] I'll let her know you say that okay free tacos [1:31:16] anything else before you vote if you could to Karen's vote not about the age of our employees [1:31:22] if you could pass along how grateful we are to those that actually serve the kids I'd really appreciate that [1:31:30] um we will now vote to approve the Food Service management contract for 2023 all [1:31:36] those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed the contract is approved thank you [1:31:43] we'll move on to our policy review do I have a motion to approve policy 701 [1:31:50] 702-703-704-705-706 and 707 so moved is there a second [1:31:56] second second I will turn it over to policy chair Neville for our policy review [1:32:05] um there I think I appreciate all the comments we had at our discussion at the last board meeting we have no changes [1:32:11] except for the one that I think was requested at the board that we change [1:32:16] language in policy 703 accounting appendix one B number one had a [1:32:25] reference to what was known as Secretary's Day to Administrative Professionals Day and that change has [1:32:32] been updated but other than that murders or anything that you'd like to share about this series [1:32:38] are these policies yeah I'm prepared to review the major changes that were made as part of the policy however in order [1:32:45] to expedite the process we can also move right to action I would love to move right to action on [1:32:50] the less board members would like to review all the changes hearing no objections I will move to [1:32:57] action we will now vote to approve policies 701 [1:33:03] 702-703-704-705-706 and 707 all those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed [1:33:10] 701 through 707 are approved thank you very much for all your work [1:33:15] this month I appreciate it that is all for Action items we now are [1:33:21] going to move to board leadership and committee updates to any of our committee [1:33:26] committees have any updates I have one quick update from the LA Lac [1:33:31] and that is just to let community members and students especially know that applications are now open for the [1:33:39] Lac um and are available on the website in the Lac portion of the [1:33:45] School Board section thank you very much I just want to make a quick announcement for our 287 [1:33:53] families uh graduation for the different programs at 287 will be held on Tuesday June 6th and Wednesday June 7th um and [1:34:01] it's my first time my opportunity I just got the list of it I look forward to participating at several of those for our students great thank you very much [1:34:09] we'll now move on to superintendent updates thank you so first of all I'm really excited to [1:34:15] announce that one of our students Anand on our Career Technical [1:34:21] education advisory committee has um worked with other committee members [1:34:27] to organize our very first career fair which will be held on Thursday April [1:34:32] 27th from 10 30 to 1 30 PM this is a [1:34:37] great opportunity for local business owners if you're looking for some summer employees they're in my opinion are no [1:34:44] greater than re dinos students so we really encourage you to sign up to join [1:34:49] the career fair then the other thing that I'd like to mention [1:34:55] before I moved to several just amazing letters that we've received about our staff and students in the community is [1:35:03] community members may have read the information in the sun current or in [1:35:09] Star Tribune about a piece of property that we submitted a letter of intent to [1:35:15] purchase and I just wanted to provide some clarity that we were contacted by [1:35:20] Sun tide realtor directly they reached out to me on on March 13th and uh [1:35:29] mert Woodard our director of business services and Eric Hamilton our director of building and grounds and I went and [1:35:35] toured the property um knowing Edina and knowing the fact [1:35:40] that we could purchase just over well about 3.36 acres of land for uh what [1:35:47] they were asking for for two million dollars we just decided that it is just an incredible investment and we needed [1:35:54] to try to add that to our portfolio I do understand and knowing that we went [1:36:01] through a four million dollar Cost Containment recently I think it is very important to let the community know that [1:36:08] the funds that we would use in order to purchase the property in the event that they selected us [1:36:15] um are restricted operating Capital funds [1:36:20] those are dollars that cannot be used for anything else except for purchase of property construction things like that [1:36:28] so we would never be able to use those funds based on statute to pay for [1:36:33] teachers salaries or um you know to hire paraprofessionals or anything like that and I think it's [1:36:39] important to make certain that the community has that information [1:36:45] so then I'll move on to just some incredible letters that I've received [1:36:50] from the community and actually across the United States I can't wait for individuals to hear about this but first [1:36:57] of all I'd like to recognize a couple of our students Abid and Zoya Hassan who [1:37:02] actually organized um an opportunity for individuals [1:37:07] yesterday this was yesterday to receive free glasses and so there was a company [1:37:13] that did that donated 141 pairs of frame frames and then free [1:37:21] lenses were provided by the Cherry Optical by Cherry Optical in Green Bay [1:37:27] Wisconsin they organized this themselves and absolutely delighted that 141 [1:37:34] individuals were able to get eyeglasses who could not afford them so congratulations and really proud of [1:37:41] obedience Hassan so here is a letter that came from a [1:37:48] family member and she says hello friends I just want to reach out to commend Elena Zapata for her support and care [1:37:57] for her students so much has thrown at teachers and Elena has gone above and beyond improvising tools and solutions [1:38:04] for students who need extra help she has gone outside of the realm of quote unquote just a teacher to help [1:38:11] advocate for our son and assist in educating us her patience resources and [1:38:17] support do not all uppercase go unnoticed you probably are not aware but [1:38:24] our son has some special needs to assist in his development we are going through the process for [1:38:30] diagnosis and support through the medical field as well as the school Elena has had extra meetings with us to [1:38:37] get on the same page Elena has created safe spaces family books a calming kit [1:38:42] introduced headphones just been there while he processes processed his big [1:38:49] emotions been in the process of him being evaluated for school Services through [1:38:55] Richfield and have been on a wait list since September every time I speak with Richfield they have been amazed at the [1:39:02] tools that Elena has set in place for our son and can't really recommend [1:39:07] anything any other things to do as Elena has already done them I want to say [1:39:13] thank you to Elena and for you to understand how important she is and how impactful she has been in my family's [1:39:19] life please let me know how we can recognize her more and so this is her [1:39:25] public recognition and she says thank you for the support and energy you [1:39:33] the district gives to Elena without that understanding of leaders it does not [1:39:39] happen thank you Rebecca [1:39:44] and then here is um another email thinking many many [1:39:51] teachers at our high school from Katie and Tom Dalton and they are so grateful [1:39:58] for the past four years that their that their their son has had that all of [1:40:03] their kids have had actually um they mentioned Mr Buckley Ms Ramirez [1:40:08] they mentioned Mr Franson and Ms Belton Graham and they say our sophomore is [1:40:17] finding his way despite the challenges of being part of the quote-unquote covid bubble and losing ground during the [1:40:24] pandemic thanks to his amazing teachers he is rebuilding his math and English foundations and working to build back [1:40:30] his quote unquote brain stamina if that's really a thing they wrote that in there although [1:40:37] executive functioning skills will always be a challenge he is getting there he's got a truly terrific group of teachers [1:40:44] he feels supported and even when classes are tough he isn't giving up which had [1:40:51] been an issue in the past a huge thanks to Mrs abdella and Mrs [1:40:57] Benson for individual individualizing their lessons to support students they [1:41:03] also want to thank Mr visnor and Mr amborn and Ms Landers as well [1:41:11] I can't tell you how much we appreciate each and every one oh I missed a couple Mr boltman and Ms Balco we can't tell [1:41:20] you how much we appreciate each and every one of these people they are all of your staff [1:41:26] they and all of your staff are making a positive difference in our students lives it has been a long winter haul and [1:41:33] we wanted to say we appreciate and thank you we hope you enjoy your well-needed [1:41:38] break that came to us just before spring break so it's a little like getting out there then finally uh you know we [1:41:46] had our students on a cruise and they actually performed on a cruise now I just want to [1:41:53] say there were probably 50 or 60 letters that came in from Cruise members just [1:42:01] thrilled and so I receive voice messages just thrilled and are [1:42:08] um you know just for students and how they performed and also just how they acted on the ship so [1:42:15] I'm just going to read a couple this is from Ryan Aldridge in Denver Colorado he [1:42:20] says I was recently on the cruise that your high school band was on and I can't say enough nice things about them the [1:42:26] two concerts we saw were great and you could tell the kids loved it and are very talented when we saw them [1:42:32] throughout the ship they were always friendly happy and well behaved I heard nothing but positive things from the [1:42:39] other passengers too just wanted to let you know you have a great group of kids please pass the compliment on to the [1:42:46] band director and their staff support too they did an amazing job and Paul and [1:42:51] I have spoke every time one came in I would send Paul an email or I called [1:42:57] them to talk to them about this here's another one from The Villages in Florida which is in [1:43:04] Central Florida North of Orlando you probably know that where that is um [1:43:09] Erica so dear Dr Stanley it is with awesome memories that I write this note [1:43:16] of thanks to you on behalf of director Paul Kyle and the students of Edina High [1:43:21] School Mr Paul Kyle and the students entertain the passengers with the two concerts presented on the Regal Princess [1:43:28] last week these two concerts were some of the most special times on this cruise for me I thoroughly enjoyed every minute [1:43:35] of both shows I only wish there could have been more it is very obvious that [1:43:41] Mr Kyle has worked with these students in a very special way they were extremely polite well behaved and I must [1:43:48] say extremely talented hats off to Mr Kyle for all his work with these young [1:43:53] people it was so refreshing to be around such polite and talented folks [1:43:59] Mr Kyle is to be commended for his talent and what he is doing for our young folks today I hope you will thank [1:44:07] him as well I did thank you for allowing these students to be part of my vacation [1:44:12] as it was their vacation as well and that is from Debbie derhoff again of The [1:44:19] Villages in Florida again I received many many of those and [1:44:26] I won't read all of them tonight but it just really speaks to just the Excellence Excellence Excellence that [1:44:33] um all you know that are all of our teachers all of our band you know I'm sure that we would hear this from [1:44:39] Orchestra as well and I'm just so incredibly proud of them [1:44:44] um so here is a mess an email from Shilpa guti Kanda says hello a couple of [1:44:52] exclamation points I just wanted to say thank you for all of the noticed effort and hard work on the kids club program [1:44:59] you heard a lot of feedback and in my opinion Incorporated it perfectly I'm [1:45:05] sure developing the prioritization criteria wasn't easy but what you came up with makes total sense all uppercase [1:45:13] letters and how refreshing to not all of her case letters have a first come first [1:45:19] serve system that typically benefits those who have certain privileges the [1:45:24] online enrollment was super slick took me less than five minutes so a heartfelt [1:45:29] thank you for all that you did and all that you continued to do to support our [1:45:35] community Chopper [1:45:40] and that is it wow thank you thank you for reading [1:45:47] those yeah I know [1:45:54] thank you wonderful to end on a high note do I have a motion to adjourn [1:46:00] so moved second excellent all those in favor of adjourning the meeting say aye [1:46:06] aye anyone opposed our meeting is adjourned thank you [1:46:22] thank you