[0:28] e [0:58] e [1:28] e [1:58] e [2:28] e [2:58] e [3:28] e [3:58] e [4:28] e [4:58] e e [5:56] good evening tonight is Monday November 16th and we do have a quorum so I will call this meeting to order due to the [6:02] current federal and state emergency declarations and guidance about limiting personto person contact due to the [6:08] covid-19 pandemic this meeting of the Dina Public School District School Board has been conducted online in accordance [6:14] with Minnesota statutes 13d 021 meetings by telephone or other electronic means [6:21] members of the public May monitor this meeting remotely through the district's YouTube channel school board members and [6:26] other meeting attendees are reminded to mute their microphon pH or phone when they are not speaking meeting attendees [6:33] wishing to speak should unmute their microphone so I can see who is waiting to speak and then wait to be recognized [6:38] I will determine the order in which attendees wishing to speak will be recognized this meeting this board [6:45] meeting is currently being conducted in the district office conference room on the third floor of the din community [6:50] center this meeting will also be conducted using the Google meets platform and will be streamed on the ad [6:57] Public Schools YouTube channel some board members will be present in the district office conference room and [7:02] others will be remote due to the rising covid rates in our community and for the health and [7:08] safety of our board members administrators and community members after tonight's board meeting our school [7:14] board meetings will revert back to the previous all online format members of the public who wish to [7:21] address the board remotely will still have the option to submit their statements ahead of time to have them [7:27] read at the board meeting the board will continue to read all emails sent to the [7:32] board the public is asked to go to the website and to send an email by noon the day of the board meeting to Schoolboard [7:39] edas schools.org add to the subject line board meeting comment please provide [7:45] what you want read in the body of the email if you have any questions about our board meetings please contact the [7:51] superintendent's office the first order of business is agenda [7:56] approval I just want to note that we are going to be moving the CES hourly [8:01] employees guide book nonaffiliated employees guide book [8:07] um or sorry the CES hourly employees guide book and the non-affiliated guide book um to action items um do I have a [8:15] motion to approve the agenda for tonight's regular meeting so moved do I [8:20] have a second second tonight's agenda is approved John will you please review no [8:30] you got to vote oh we have to vote by roll call sorry okay allenberg I Fox hi green hi [8:41] Jones hi Michaelson hi Shaw hi Wallen [8:47] fredman hi now the agenda is approved I was [8:53] excited to go back to pre-co times when we could just vote so I apologize for that error on my [9:00] part um John will you please review the agenda for us yes uh so tonight uh we [9:07] have uh an Excellence an action um we will hear from a members of the public [9:12] that um director John to will read we have on the consent agenda minutes as [9:17] well as contracts for services as well as contract with Brar facilities for [9:23] reports and discussion we have technology Levy update um and decision [9:29] related to this is the timing of that technology Levy and the referendum of [9:34] that Levy uh we have a policy uh review in um a rapid policy review 424 policy [9:42] review of 406 423 then under action uh in addition to the two guide books that [9:48] chair alberg just moved um we also have approval of the science curriculum adoption uh J will be here to present [9:54] that and then um series of policy reviews so that is the agenda great [10:01] thank you superintendent Schultz um first we have our excellence and action portion of the meeting and tonight we [10:07] want to honor the district's National Merit semifinalist and commended students our tradition in the district [10:14] has been to host a reception to recognize these students and in turn let them have an opportunity to honor an [10:20] educator who has influenced their academic success in these socially distanced times we instead offer a [10:26] virtual recognition event in a flip grid form format we hope you take some time to listen to these accomplished students [10:34] talk about the wayy din teachers have supported influenced and inspired them a [10:39] link to the flip grid can be found on the district's website's news feed and on Facebook here are the opening remarks [10:47] by EHS principal Andy [10:55] Beaton good afternoon ad high school students family staff my name is Andy Beaton I'm the [11:01] principal of Edina High School gives me great pleasure to provide some words of encouragement and support and [11:07] recognition to this year's National Merit Scholars I want to say thanks to the [11:13] Communications Department for putting together this program in a very challenging time thank students for [11:19] participating um and recognizing the teachers that have guided you along the way a special thanks to um our teachers [11:26] just in general for their great work their modeling their excellence and uh providing that uh feedback to our [11:33] students to be able to grow and truly become outstanding young people parents we know that uh the [11:40] village to raise such outstanding Scholars thanks for sticking with kids [11:45] when they didn't want to practice the piano finish their assignment make the edits on their papers um go in and talk [11:52] to their teacher for extra help thanks for pushing and thanks for showing your love for your kids um we're really proud [11:59] of the work that they do and finally to students um you make us proud um you [12:04] make us proud to be Hornets we're glad to be associated with you and we're looking forward to what you're going to be doing in the [12:10] future in closing I'd like to talk about this story I probably used it before um but it's just a a key story about [12:16] perspective it's a story about um a group of stonemasons and uh and someone [12:23] walks by and and sees these stone masons working and the person goes up to the first stone Mason and says what are you [12:30] doing and the stone Mason says well I'm laying bricks and the person continues on and speaks the next stonemason and [12:37] says what are you doing and the stone Mason says I'm I'm building a wall and he continues to walk on and [12:43] speaks of this third stonemason this stonemason says when he asks him what he was doing he says I'm creating a [12:49] cathedral and ultimately that's what we're thinking about in terms of your work um we need you to take the [12:56] knowledge the Excellence the experience the care forward into the world we need [13:02] young people like you to make a difference uh in the future and to be taken care of um the world around us so [13:09] we want you to build those Cathedrals thanks for your Excellence appreciate your time and go forward and good do do [13:15] good work [13:23] Hornets yay to our National Merit semifinalists and commended students and [13:29] I know it's in our consent agenda but I just wanted to point out for the public who might not actually read through all [13:35] of the documents in our board packet that we had 25 semifinalists and 22 [13:41] commended students um for one of the highest number of National Merit semi-finalist and commended students and [13:48] considering the school year that these students have had last year and this year I just think it's a huge honor both [13:55] for these students their families and the teachers so I just wanted to say congratulations to all of them and also [14:01] note that one of the students is uh the daughter of one of our board members so [14:06] congratulations um Lenny and to your family as well so yay to all of these students it's a great thing that we have [14:13] here so okay uh we're going to move on now to [14:19] um hearings from members of the public and um we have John taupe here to read [14:25] emails um the board received over 200 emails in the last week in response to our emergency meetings and related [14:32] issues and since we can't read alloud all of the emails we received um I [14:38] reviewed and summarized all the community feedback and I'm providing the community community with samples of the [14:43] public input all emails being read have been approved by the individuals who wrote them to the board um by far the [14:50] most emails we received were from parents who did not approve of moving to distance learning especially grades K [14:56] to2 um so John would you please read the first email that you [15:04] have yes chair allenburg first email reads hello School Board I was not going [15:09] to partake in the pile of emails you're inevitably receiving however as I [15:15] continue to teach my kids to advocate for themselves I need to do the same on behalf of my [15:20] family first my sincerest thanks for all your time comments energy and compassion [15:26] on Tuesday evening you're in an unended enable position and I appreciate how [15:31] hard you all are working to make it through a crappy situation I have three kids fifth second [15:38] and kindergarten all at Countryside we have the best school the best teachers [15:43] the best principal hybrid is hard but I have no complaints the teachers have [15:49] done an amazing job I have a kid in advanced academics for reading math two [15:55] in speech one in Orchestra so we are all all are well-versed in online learning [16:01] already and we make it all work my husband and I both have jobs although I have some flexibility again we make it [16:09] work I understand that middle and high school need to be distance learning for a while quite frankly I'm surprised they [16:15] made it as long as they did especially when I see the older kids out together [16:21] however our youngest Learners really need School in focusing on K2 these kids [16:26] are most at risk of falling behind they're learning how to learn learning how to read learning social skills these [16:34] cannot be taught on a computer second graders are still only seven years [16:41] old from social contact with peers they need that connection we have not had [16:47] Community spread in the schools elementary schools have done really well let them continue leave K2 in school [16:55] they need that day not half days the day is over by the time it begins where [17:01] cleaning and busting would make it absurdly complicated they need full days I'd rather see K2 keep school time two [17:09] days a week than half days but ideally things stay as they have been for those kids let them stay in school a while [17:17] longer let them keep learning with their teacher with their peers at our last PTO [17:22] meeting our principle shared that the one thing she keeps hearing from kids about their favorite thing at school is [17:27] being with their friends masks aren't preventing friendships and connections they crave this time [17:34] together please let K2 stay in school please keep trying with immense [17:40] gratitude Becky Peterson thank you John um we also had [17:46] some emails from parents expressing concern about having kids in school so John could you please read that [17:53] email that would be email number two chair Ellenburg yes okay hello hello School Board I'm [17:59] writing to you about my concern over the current covid Spike we are seeing Statewide at the moment the official [18:05] stats from mdh for school model guidance are woly slow compared to the current [18:11] situation I've been very impressed with our District's management and Communications since the beginning of [18:16] the year and our family has felt safe in the hybrid model so far I've included a [18:22] link for a website from a biostatistician at the uvm's school of Public Health that I have found useful [18:29] I'm sure you get more information than I do but that app has one dinina ZIP code at [18:35] 48.8 cases positive per 10,000 and henpen County at 61 cases positive per [18:42] 10,000 I know the last District communication spoke to new guidance to look at the local level and not just [18:49] County but I strongly believe that the best decision is to consider the appropriate model based on the worst zip [18:56] code stats locally which will likely be above 50 cases positive per 10,000 by [19:02] the time school starts tomorrow morning I've also heard numerous reports that the earliest people are able to schedule [19:09] testing right now as late as Wednesday afternoon this week it's not good I am [19:16] very afraid that many of my neighbors and my children's classmates are not taking appropriate precautions to [19:22] self-quarantine mask or social distance responsibly right now the good weather [19:28] this week week Halloween and mea recently all encouraged some people to make irresponsible choices we need to [19:35] accept this reality and be proactive now about what we know is coming in the next few weeks please be assertive leaders [19:43] and keep us safe many people will not make the right choices unless they are required to please consider moving the [19:50] dis District fully to distance learning as soon as possible until we have a better testing access and safer staff [19:58] don't wait for it to be worse I want my children to be at school but more than [20:03] that I want their teachers and their classmates families to stay healthy we are at a critical decision point Thank [20:11] you Tara Young thank you John um we also received multiple emails from teachers um [20:17] expressing concerns about their safety and their colleagues safety and so John could you read the next two [20:24] emails yes shanberg uh the next email starts with Dr Schultz and members of [20:29] the ad School Board my name is Anna Janowski and I am an eighth grade language arts teacher at South viw [20:36] Middle School I am writing to ask that you move Allina public secondary schools to distance learning effective [20:43] immediately I have served in this district for over 10 years and have never experienced the level of stress [20:49] that the 2020 2021 Academic Year has brought I have rebuilt every single [20:54] lesson in my curriculum with new technology tools multiple new modes of daily feedback for all 150 plus of my [21:01] students new attempts at engagement for both students online and in person [21:07] simultaneously and new ways to build community through a screen and while wearing a mask and distancing at school [21:15] I have been averaging 60 to 70 hours of work per week many of my colleagues have [21:20] done the same I do all this because that's what I do I am an educator I am [21:26] used to giving my all because being a teacher is part of who I am and not just what I do for a [21:32] career but giving my all during a pandemic has a whole new meaning [21:37] especially with the rapidly increasing cases of Corona virus in Minnesota and Hanahan County this year I am being [21:43] forced to make sacrifices that have also become physical emotional and mental [21:48] sacrifices from my partner my friends my parents and my extended family I have [21:54] never before felt so Expendable when I chat with my students at school I hear about their Sports [22:01] tournament last weekend or about their Halloween party their homecoming celebration their family vacation their [22:09] sleepover or their most recent extended family celebration I see them greet [22:14] their friends in the hallways with a hug and walk shoulder-to-shoulder to their next class share snacks as they leave [22:20] the cafeteria and pull their masks away from their face to chat Meanwhile my [22:26] family masks every time we are around any anyone from outside of our household take extra care with hygiene and high [22:32] touch surfaces in our house do not see our friends and extended family all as [22:38] the cases in henip County are average are reaching Excuse Me 73.3 cases per [22:44] 10,000 with no articulated plan from The District in short my family and I must [22:50] stay vigilant and distant because I don't have full control over my risk of exposure at work the health and safety [22:57] of my family and me is in the hands of my students and their families many of whom do not seem to care or even think [23:04] this virus is real as you make decisions about our school models remember that your [23:10] stakeholders are not just the students and families that attend Edina Public Schools your decisions impact the mental [23:18] health and physical safety of every person connected to every Edina Public School [23:24] employee the lack of a plan in Idina is deafening considering the districts around us have articulated [23:31] plan I will continue to do my job according to the contract and to do it [23:36] to the standard that I have served this community for over a decade please do your job in making sure that your [23:43] decisions respect the safety and needs of all Edina Public School stakeholders [23:49] sincerely Anna Janowski the next email is from Patricia [23:55] scoffield she writes after speaking with colleagues friends and family I was asked to put together an email to share [24:02] our feelings we are wondering when and how did you decide I'm sorry uh we do [24:11] not have a problem being there to support the students we just don't understand the logic behind the decision [24:17] if it's not a safe environment for the majority why is why is it safe for the select [24:22] few if we are going to be in person supporting students while majority of staff and students will be at home [24:28] distance learning maybe we should be compensated for it I personally lost 10 [24:33] hours this year that I am contracted for which is a lot of lost money don't get [24:39] me wrong we are grateful to have jobs and love what we do I can say that I am glad that my children are not school age [24:45] anymore because I would want them in school learning um we also heard from multiple [24:52] teachers that were in favor of staying in person and wanted to teach but they weren't comfortable having their emails [24:58] read um in the public but I did wanted to note that um we received some emails [25:04] from parents um of special education students and have the following email to [25:12] share sorry sure uh this emails from Rebecca [25:18] Schwarz she writes to the school board I am devastated that there is an Abrupt [25:23] move back to distance learning which was a horrible experience for us last spring [25:28] I implore you to reconsider your your cut off at allowing K2 to continue in school and no others why not third grade [25:37] why not fourth being home without support puts many children and parents in more immediate danger than [25:44] covid-19 in addition distance learning has been terrible for my child your erratic schedule changes have made it [25:51] impossible to have a solid plan for more than a week or two at a time and my child is suffering while I now have to [25:58] essentially pay for private supervision to keep him in public school he desperately needs an exception that will [26:04] allow him to have in-person school but it will be several weeks to find out if that's even a [26:10] consideration as a single mom you put me in the awful position of having to find and fund full-time help at home with [26:18] almost no notice and then no clear understanding of what services we should expect if you allow partial in-person [26:25] Services how should he get to and from school while I work if you allow [26:31] something else it will be an Abrupt change again in a few weeks from now in truth I think special needs [26:37] children are no longer receiving the free and fair education they are [26:46] promised thank you John um unsupervised I urge you to consider your decision [26:51] decision sincerely Rebecca schz thank you John uh we received received emails both [26:59] in support of continuing Athletics and activities and wanting the district to cancel Athletics and activities so if [27:05] you could read the next two emails John that'd be great sure the next email [27:11] reads Deary D school board members I write to you as a concerned father and medical professional who has seen [27:17] firsthand the health risks that covid poses to our children I have three boys [27:23] who attend Edina schools second fifth at Highlands 7th at Southview and work as a [27:30] pediatric cardiac intensivist at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's [27:36] Hospital I watched most of the board meeting last night and was impressed by the depth and thoughtfulness of the [27:42] board members as you considered these very difficult decisions I was encouraged by the focus to prioritize [27:48] in-person learning for the Early Elementary age student this is not just because I have a second grader but [27:54] because I believe K2 are some of the most formative years and the K2 students will easily fall behind in a distance [28:01] learning model I would like to provide my thoughts on the extracurricular activities Sports in particular that the [28:08] board discussed with regard to their use of Edina Public School facilities I agree with activities [28:14] director Stein's comments that if we don't provide extracurricular outlets for the students that they will find [28:20] other potentially less safe Avenues to play their Sports however there should [28:26] be a balance between providing a safe outlet for our kids and allowing facility access to sports associations [28:33] without fully understanding the risks to our youth and the community as a whole [28:38] basketball is considered one of the highest risk Sports and traveling to play teams outside of your community [28:43] greatly increases the risk of covid transmission and spread my wife and I allowed our [28:49] 10-year-old son to sign up for travel basketball this year because he loves the sport and has been practicing all [28:55] summer with dreams of making the eight we are hopeful that if there was increased Community spread of Co the [29:02] association would find safer creative ways to participate I.E local scrimmages [29:07] three onree tournaments practices without tournaments but that has not been the case we have decided not to [29:14] allow our son to participate in the tournament this weekend which includes over 12 teams from the metro area and [29:20] allows up to 64 people including 32 Spectators on each [29:25] Court other than the Edina Gator swim team which in my opinion has done an excellent job providing a safe [29:31] environment for their athletes I cannot speak to the other sports associations that are using the ad school facilities [29:38] I urge the board to consider all of the implications and risks that these extracurricular activities entail rather [29:45] than providing a blanket approval for use of all the facility as I'm sure most of you are [29:51] aware the Minnesota Department of Education recommends for the safe learning plan for 2020 2021 a localized [29:58] data approach that if the secondary learning model requires distance learning due to covid spread then there [30:04] is to be no inperson participation in practices or competition see attached screenshot from [30:11] Minnesota City High School additionally one of the board members asked about a colorcoded chart indicating the risk [30:18] levels of youth sport I was unable to find anything on the mdh or mshsl [30:24] websites but attended attached a graphic from the Illinois Department of Health [30:29] it should be noted that Illinois has decided that due to the community of covid spread which is currently [30:39] left allow no contct practices thank you for your service to our community and for your tireless commitment to our [30:47] children's education and safety kind regards Brian Joy the next email reads hello school [30:54] board thank you for all of your endless hard work during this awful time I've been watching the board meetings and [31:01] appreciate the effort by the board I just want to put my two cents out there having a six 8th and 10th grader at [31:07] South viw and the high school who are all in sports and activities I truly see [31:12] a 180 transformation to their Spirit mood and behavior when they are home all [31:18] day and then lead for hockey dance and skateboarding all mask they come home a [31:24] different kid huge Smiles laughter joy and energy for life that they didn't have being home stuck on a computer for [31:31] hours at a time kids need their Community involvement whatever that may [31:36] be for that child I am sure you all know this if you are a parent from my [31:41] understanding the schools are going all virtual mainly due to lack of teaching staff this isn't the case in sports and [31:48] activities try Stein said it numbers have been very low the Athletics team [31:55] does an amazing job keeping these kids safe I saw it with my daughter training All Summer with the Dina dance team in [32:01] PODS of eight out of 48 girls to this fall during Hornets with not one case of [32:07] covid they ran a tight ship activity can be traced keeping them going as Julie [32:14] said if we take this away from the students they will go row I saw it all spring with my middle son please keep [32:22] the activities and sports going in din if you don't they will go elsewhere and [32:27] find other Outlet taking away inperson classroom time and sports SL activities [32:33] is detrimental to their mental and physical health thank you for your time Monica and Phil [32:41] miral thank you John um finally I just wanted to mention that we received [32:46] emails for many topics including the following parents concerned about teachers and their health expressing a [32:53] want for better communication from the district concerns about interventions for non-readers concerned about the [32:59] number of days off with the shift to distance learning concerns about Eva students having days off concerns [33:06] specific to the French immersion program and we also received some emails with questions about data and parents [33:13] contributing their own data um to us um so I wanted to summarize um the emails [33:19] that we have received um I also wanted to thank everyone who's given their input and their engagement um with our [33:25] district during this challenging time um we're now going to move on to our [33:30] consent agenda is there anything that anyone would like to remove from the consent [33:37] agenda do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved is there a [33:43] second second we will now vote by roll call to approve the consent [33:50] agenda helenberg hi Fox [33:56] [Music] Matt Fox I think he might be [34:05] stuck looks like I'll come back okay I'll come back to him [34:11] green hi hi Jones hi Michaelson hi [34:18] Shaw hi Roland Freedman hi I don't know what what you'd like me [34:25] to do about Matt you've got a majority call him again I think yeah you have a majority oh wait are you back Matt oh he [34:32] left we have a majority though so um there he back [34:38] oh still did you want to vote for the consent agenda yeah I again triple thank [34:45] you thank you thank you sorry great the consent agenda is [34:50] approved okay we have three items up for discussion and the first is the technology Levy update um we have both [34:58] director of business business services John taupe and director of District media and Technology Services Steve [35:05] Butner here to um present this to [35:12] us Steve you're on mute Steve you're [35:21] M thank you good evening Cher olberg superintendent Dr Schultz and other [35:28] board members t i I just want to take a a moment to provide a couple of updates on our planning around the uh technology [35:36] Levy and um with that I will share my screen and provide uh the slide deck [35:43] there isn't um major change to this but there are a couple of items I wanted to to bring forth again just for review um [35:51] the current technology Levy expires in 2021 currently is at at six roughly $6.5 [35:59] million a year and and really the technology lever supports all aspects of [36:05] our organization provides the iPads that our kindergarteners will be using for distance learning the Chromebooks that [36:12] are middle and high school students and elementary students use the technology that our teachers use but it also does [36:19] things like provide additional Security in our buildings provides the management of of our heating and air conditioning [36:25] system it provides a lot of support uh by staff to support the use of [36:30] technology in our organization if you looked at that split up in a pie chart you'd see that that [36:37] money is um divied up uh roughly according to this pie chart with the [36:42] largest portion being again Staffing and professional [36:48] development and uh want to um point out what it looks like compared with our [36:54] neighbors and we are just in the middle of the road our spending in the technology Levy around $6.5 million a [37:02] year and I want to uh point out that the slide that you received in your board [37:08] packet was off it was uh had per pupil and that wasn't correct it's the annualized spending for the technology [37:15] Levy but as we start thinking about the expiration of our current technology [37:20] Levy we must need to begin thinking about the future of technology in the Dina public schools and the importance [37:27] of thisch technology funding and the role of technology in our [37:32] organization uh I'd like to say that what we want to start thinking about and we want to continue to do is continue [37:38] that idea of excellence in a Dina public schools and we want to make sure that we continue that Excellence by using [37:45] technology not when it's just the tool but it's the best tool to fit our teachers and our students as well as [37:52] making sure that we have the proper technology for our students and our staff and our organization [37:58] again I'll remind you that that technology this this uh funding uh doesn't just purchase the technology [38:05] devices but it also purchases the support in the form of Staffing in the [38:10] form of um staff software and networking [38:15] and other infrastructure in the organization and increasingly our software that we purchase is used for [38:22] instructional basis indeed 10 years ago [38:28] uh it wouldn't have been common for us to look at a curricular adoption in an [38:33] all digital format we would be still thinking about the textbooks the last five or so years we've seen a shift [38:39] where we've seen both the textbooks but also digital resources and now what [38:45] we're seeing is increasingly the digital resource is the prominent aspect of the [38:51] curricular material it is the online textbook it is the online material it's [38:56] the rich manipulatives that our teachers and our students use and it's the integration with our learning management [39:02] system that's important doesn't mean that our textbooks go away and indeed we'll always have a role for textbooks [39:09] but we are seeing that prominence is in that digital format with an analog textbook to come with it if we looked at [39:17] our future spending we're looking at around $7 million a year in so a roughly [39:24] $500,000 increase that is for um for the idea of this [39:31] curricular material or for resources digital software subscriptions and resources that are aligned to our [39:38] instructional practices it also is to uh cover the cost of providing a more [39:45] robust assistive technology and so last time we discussed this we talked a [39:51] little bit about the role of technology in special services and student Support Services I had opportunity to talk with [39:58] uh Jeff Jorgenson the department lead there and we do think it's important that we do Provide support there we [40:06] currently work very closely with that department and we think that we want to increase that role by uh bringing on [40:12] additional assisted technology resources for that area if you look at the breakdown of the [40:19] of the spending by category you'll see that um it continues to be providing [40:25] software Hardware and this idea of Technology information Support Services [40:31] in the form of how do we support the technology that we have how do we leverage and use the technology that we [40:37] use that's very much a people uh concentrate or people [40:43] Centric um role in our organization we looked at the financial [40:48] impact that this would have you'll see that we would be under the seven um7 [40:55] million Levy and so that it would be closer to [41:01] $18 um for a $300,000 house a year increase uh [41:07] $600,000 it would be under $40 and for a $900,000 house it would be under $64 [41:14] increase a year we last time we talked we talked about key dates and I shared with you [41:20] some uh election potential election dates February 9th May 11th and November [41:26] 2nd after talk with the board and talking with Administration our recommendation is we move ahead with the [41:33] May 11th election day the timeline would be we would continue to have planning [41:39] around the referendum this fall in January we'd have a board discussion to finalize the levy referendum uh by [41:46] February 8th would be the last day we could adopt that resolution and then we would communicate that with our [41:53] community with an election on May 11th [41:58] and I'll pause there and answer any questions that the board might have at [42:03] this time yeah I'll turn it back over to the board and just see if there questions or [42:09] comments from board members Steve I can jump in with some questions and observations right away um as uh our [42:18] earlier presentation highlighted technology has a life cycle of roughly 3 [42:25] years and so much of our technology has to be renewed within that threeyear cycle so we're we're faced with dealing [42:34] with a tech Levy so that's all all well understood and U we're keeping a breast [42:41] of things and that audit basically said that and you're to be credited for a [42:47] good bit of that and again congratulations on your award that Ellen pointed out um my my concern is I [42:57] understand that we're now at about 65 million per year and we're now looking [43:03] at asking for 7 million a year so that's basically a 7% [43:10] increase and um I'm concerned about that just because I don't like having our [43:17] costs inching up a little bit here a little bit there and pretty soon you've got some significant [43:23] increases um property property taxes are concerned concern for many residents in [43:28] udina and then uh we had a presentation with Tom John toe going [43:35] through our budget anticipated budget shortfall so in light of that I'm a [43:41] little concerned that we're going to be asking for more um and I won't be really concerned [43:49] if this $500,000 would be offset by uh savings elsewhere [43:58] um so I I think those that's my general question and then I'm also kind of [44:04] wondering we don't have a um a breakout year over-year comparison are some of [44:09] our budget areas jumping up I think you may have mentioned assisted technology but so that's my secondary [44:17] question but my primary question is why are we going up half a million in this [44:23] era of belt tightening uh thank you for that question um you [44:29] also um earlier this evening you heard from the Coen peer review and one of their recommendations was uh [44:37] understanding the costs and making sure that they are aligned to the [44:42] organization properly in the right budgets a large uh component of that cost is the software and the [44:51] instructional component of the technology licenses around software that [44:56] we use in the classroom and so that has been something H that has been creeping up and so I've worked very closely with [45:03] the director of teaching and learning also the director director of student Support Services to identify where are [45:10] those software applications that we've been purchasing in those groups as silos [45:16] to quantify what that the cost is for those curricular adoptions and those other softwares and to bring those into [45:23] the technology Levy where they belong so they can be managed proper you'll see that that increase or over [45:29] $400,000 of the incre proposed increase in the deck Levy is exactly that it is [45:35] the LI software licenses that uh we will need going forward to support our [45:41] instructional and student Support Services correct me if I'm wrong uh [45:47] director Butner but haven't we over time actually been able to help our budget [45:53] shortfall from our general fund actually leveraging our technology Levy and so [46:00] it's actually a tool we can utilize from a district perspective um to help us balance our [46:07] budget where you just use an ex a perfect example of software licensing um [46:15] but we can also look at percentage of salary that people use from a technology [46:21] perspective and make sure that really everything that we utilize um in our [46:27] district from a technology perspective um we can use the technology [46:33] Levy for and it's it's one place that we can actually um try to help us with some [46:41] of that um deficit that we do have Owen so I think that's one of the reason that [46:47] it's actually a benefit to the district to increase that lovey amount yeah that's a great point and [46:53] I'll let maybe I'll have John John toe speak to this but uh we absolutely follow the the the rule [47:00] and the letter of the technology Levy which means that uh we can use this funding when we are uh to pay for staff [47:09] in the management the maintenance and the access to data and assessment and so we've looked at our organization and we [47:16] looked at our staffing to identify is there staff that have a percentage or [47:21] are doing some work that could be coded to the technology Levy and where we that [47:27] that is permissible we have been shifting some of their funding from the general fund or other funds into the [47:34] technology Levy where appropriate I don't John if you want to add to that at all I would uh chair allenberg that's [47:42] exactly correct we are looking at what director Butner said as far as the amount of time that management and [47:49] administrative staff are spending on technology and uh actually moving some [47:55] of those costs from the general fund into the tech Levy as appropriate and as [48:01] allowable uh the other thing that I wanted to mention is the uh technology purchases for textbooks some of those [48:09] dollars have been budgeted in our operating Capital fund uh previously so [48:15] if there is some relief by charging those because they're they're now becoming software that would give us [48:22] some more flexibility in the operating Capital fund which uh if the board recalls we just [48:29] transferred $2 million to our general fund assign unassigned fund balance so that we could get through uh this year [48:35] and the next year without making too much reductions so just to answer director Michaelson's question it gives [48:41] us flexibility by asking for the additional 500,000 that's one reason and the other [48:48] reason is it uh puts the expenses uh in the technology area where we are [48:53] expensing those right now and into the future uh because technology is changing [49:00] and textbooks aren't books anymore like like uh director Butner [Music] said well a couple thoughts is I looked [49:08] at my annual property statement property tax statement that came on Friday or [49:15] Saturday and um my Edina School District portion did go [49:21] down and so in some sense we're sitting well regarding community [49:27] perception uh and Matt has spoken to that in the so that is that that's a good thing [49:36] um a levy is a sales effort and um to the extent that we can communicate to [49:44] the community that um this will [49:49] somehow uh net out to something budget neutral or um that these funds are [49:57] coming from maybe teaching and learning and textbooks I think that would make [50:02] the the levy have a better chance of succeeding the community as a whole is [50:08] you know just like everybody else is experiencing belt tightening and so they may not be too excited about an increase [50:15] so I think we have to be mindful of the of the public perception so um if we could have that [50:23] kind of information I think that that would would Aid the sales [50:28] effort um so that anyway I had a follow on [50:35] observation of just forgetting what it is right now I'll come back to that later so I can pass it on to somebody else Erica so so we will be uh working [50:42] with decision resources to do a a survey um to now I think January is what we [50:48] have set go um assess that question that you're you're [50:54] asking thank you mat yes um thank you Steve for the [51:00] presentation and all the work behind this just wanted to make either five or six points but I'll make them quickly [51:06] the first one is this Step Up of as Owen quoted 7% this is one time and then it [51:11] stays static right or is it a 7% increase every time every year [51:18] no it is one time correct and over how many years it's a it's a 10year uh Levy but [51:27] uh it is uh and John can explain it it is tied towards uh property values and [51:32] so it uh the impact is U correlated with uh the city of Adina uh residential [51:40] property values correct but the point I'm making thank you Steve and John I know the answer to this basically the [51:45] point is that it's not 7% every year for 10 years it's not a 49% increase so Owen [51:50] as you think about inflation in an annualized basis and the property value is going up it's not like your house [51:56] goes up to 4% this goes up seven the next year again seven the next year again seven you can stretch this out so [52:02] it's actually not that kind of an increase it's apples for oranges so that'll be a very important Point as you [52:08] said to educate the community on to understand the percentage increase versus the real [52:15] increase second point is um I do want people to understand these monies go towards security and infrastructure [52:21] that's something that I hold very important for our child our children across the buildings across any kind of [52:26] a time um I don't want to be an alarmist there were a lot of issues we were getting emails from people about our [52:32] defense systems for school intrusions prior to covid they haven't happened during covid uh but those were concerns [52:38] these kinds of things combat that um the third thing is we talk about equity and things for all kinds of children [52:45] especially things like reading which has been a big Focus for some people on this board not having the computers the [52:50] access the wireless the learning tools will affect what people on this board have said as a strategic imperative so [52:57] the tech Levy is incrementally important but critical for those additional On The Fringe students the fourth one that I [53:03] just wrote down the past few minutes is as Owen as you said we also need to educate that the EPS total percentage [53:09] wise has gone down on your Tech Levy balance also due to the bond refinancing so we could say that the bond [53:15] refinancing amount of money that we saved this year cut into at least a third of the incremental Levy increase [53:21] that's apples for apples um and then the fifth one is competitiveness if you look [53:26] at the chart we just saw where we landed compared to Minon and others that we want to compete with in order to compete [53:32] and attract students I would argue that the tech Levy will enable us to retain or attract more students than the amount [53:39] that people would not pay in their overall interest rates on their homes therefore not having the property values [53:45] go down and additional levies being needed and the sixth item is if you looked at three and a half or three% [53:50] versus 7% on a plus $750,000 home that's $35 a year I promise you if we do not [53:56] approve a levy in this range of6 to7 million then your house will go down by $35 a year and we will not be able to [54:03] provide services for competitiveness for overall equity for overall Safety and Security and for overall ability to make [54:10] sure that those learning and initial strategic imperatives we need and desire have been properly allocated so I've [54:16] gone through this from a budgetary basis and those are six key points that I just wrote down a minute ago so hopefully [54:21] those were coherent because I went kind of quick but I mean this it can be a [54:27] sales thing we've never had a problem passing a tech Levy and a Dina because we've done a good job explaining it so [54:32] it's on us to do a good job explaining that but there's six talking points that if I saw on a tear sheet would be a [54:38] pretty quick yes for me thank you uh thank you uh Sher our [54:44] board member Fox I'd just like to provide a little bit more context to what you said some of these curricular [54:50] materials that we're talking about are are the sunde um curriculum the hill wrap uh software so those those are [54:58] electronic now those are being delivered electronically and so as we talk about reading intervention the selexia uh [55:04] programming and things like that those uh are part of that $400,000 increase [55:10] that we're talking about it's not all of it but it is a portion of it so just to provide context to that is indeed the [55:16] software and the curricular materials that we're talking about um and and that this board has put importance on Steve [55:24] is there specific information or feedback you need from the board tonight I think the uh um direction of [55:32] the May Board election is something that we would want to know uh so that we can [55:37] begin planning and making sure that we hit all our deliverables to make sure that that's the timing of the [55:44] election correct okay yeah Lenny so I support what you're requesting Steve and [55:50] I support the May uh proposed date yeah so if if board members if you have other [55:56] feedback that's obviously fine but if you could when you're speaking um mention um the timing of the election [56:02] that would be great because I already went I'll just quickly say I also support what Steve asked for in the [56:07] timing okay Jamie yeah Steve uh I'm gonna jump in and say I do support that [56:13] um and has it been mentioned before I look back in my notes and I couldn't find it what the cost is of that [56:19] election because it is a single issue ballot then yeah I can answer that uh [56:29] go ahead city clerk what the estimate what the estimate was for an [56:37] election which we have to bear all the costs for being it's uh run only by us it's about 50 to [56:44] $54,000 okay and do you have that in the [56:49] budget I'm hoping yes where does that come out of [56:54] okay thank you um Ellen or Julie I'll go okay I've [57:04] got I have two um I have have a question um so we just heard um had a great [57:12] analysis in the work session about um technology and really looking at the [57:17] landscape and I imagine looking back 10 years ago how different it is now which [57:23] I actually think an increase of a half a million is remarkable with the difference in the [57:28] landscape to me it doesn't seem like it even matches up so my question is from the feedback that we just got do you see [57:35] any adjustments to this number um based on any of the feedback from the [57:42] Consultants that we worked with that's a great question and and you also heard from those Consultants that [57:49] um the ability to look into a crystal bow in terms of Technology out past three years is very difficult and so um [57:56] what I've done is I've looked back 10 years so I've looked at this technology Levy looked at areas where we've done [58:02] spending where I project where we're going to see increases or not and that's what I've done is I've tried to amortize [58:09] this idea out over 10 years I think it's an accurate so as you think about things [58:14] like projection systems and networking we'll probably have to upgrade our networking twice so every five years you [58:21] do it twice and so I know what that historical money is and it hasn't changed significant ly so I've done that [58:27] also when you look at technology in the hands of our students and our staff those things have been rather consistent [58:33] as well and we've been able to look at the software and the curricular materials the uh licensing for [58:40] curricular materials and we think we're accurate on that so what I'd say is that I I feel fairly confident that i' I'm [58:47] accurately projecting what it will be that we purchase will absolutely be something different and so I can [58:53] guarantee you that in five years when we talk talk about what is the next digital classroom standard it won't be what we [59:00] purchased this year but it will be something that will be used for digital classroom standard it'll be roughly the [59:06] same amount of money got it okay thank you um my question about the timing so [59:13] there's um Jamie that was a good question about the cost is there a cost [59:18] if we were to do it in November to the district or zero [59:23] cost uh the the cost for uh doing it during the general election director [59:30] green would be split amount out amongst the city county and the school district [59:36] those costs for the total cost of the election would be split out so it would [59:41] be embedded in that number okay so cost not as much right [59:48] well for example the last general election that we shared in the cost with [59:53] uh city of Vina and henan County cost us I think it was and I have the number [59:59] right here if you just bear with me uh [1:00:05] $109536 that was during a general election that was on 115 of 19 that election it was a [1:00:14] Schoolboard election okay okay um don't it's just helpful to [1:00:20] say I just wanted to do a comparison but I'm in support and of the recommendation of the May 11th timing I think that [1:00:26] makes a lot of sense and um gives us a little bit of breathing room um to give [1:00:35] Community the our community the information that they need so they feel very confident in what we're asking them [1:00:41] to vote on and then also November as a emergency backup if we would if we were to need it so those are my thoughts [1:00:49] thank you nice nice work Ellen yeah I just have a couple thoughts [1:00:56] um one uh I'd like to just state that the pandemic pandemic has made it [1:01:01] abundantly clear that our District's ability to fill our fulfill our mission to our students and Community is [1:01:07] dependent on our technology infrastructure teacher training software hardware and everything that the tech [1:01:13] Levy supports um this also includes the [1:01:18] important um the importance of adding to our cyber security for protecting [1:01:25] students privacy which is a topic we discussed at the work session um just a [1:01:32] an hour ago um maintenance and enhancement of all of these features are [1:01:37] critically important to our ongoing function both during the pandemic and into the post-pandemic future I [1:01:43] encourage the administration to create a campaign to successfully pass this essential lovey um and my my thoughts [1:01:53] about when this happens um speaking of our our work session we heard um the [1:02:00] budgetary needs that our district is under and um I know that we're one of [1:02:07] the few districts that still hold Standalone elections for these types of things um budget cuts will hurt our [1:02:15] ability to program and I would like the board to consider holding this Levy election on [1:02:21] November 2nd instead of May 11th um this year is going to be a school board election and um it is during that type [1:02:29] of campaigning that I think it would be a good way to get the word out to all of [1:02:35] our voters throughout the community about the dis the dire need to pass this [1:02:41] Levy so um I would like them to consider the other date of November 2nd both [1:02:47] budgetary reasons and um the ability to get the word out thank you thanks Ellen [1:02:57] um when um when do you need the final word on um [1:03:03] the date if you're going to do may we would need to um have you vote on that [1:03:09] in December because I think we have to have that um we have the call for the election I think in February is that [1:03:15] right Steve I think is what yeah okay so we you know date so we can plan for the [1:03:22] um uh make the plan for uh putting the referendum in front of you in February [1:03:28] okay okay I think um I think we have majority unless [1:03:34] anyone wants to change their mind I think we have the majority that support the May time frame with November as a [1:03:41] backup is that corre I think Erica can I jump in for just a quick second um I [1:03:47] think you might just be shifting here a little bit um building on Janie and Julie's recent questions so I'm hearing [1:03:54] that it cost us $50,000 to do it in May is that I heard y okay and then did I [1:04:01] hear that our contribution in last fall School Board election was [1:04:08] $100,000 uh chair allenburg uh director Michaelson uh the amount for the [1:04:15] Schoolboard meeting uh Schoolboard election excuse me on 1159 the cost for [1:04:21] Edina School District was $109,000 I believe will be running [1:04:26] another school board election on November 2nd of 21 if i that's [1:04:32] correct yes and so so that school board election plus the question that will be [1:04:38] on the ballot for the tech Levy if it were to be run on November second would cause that number to probably be [1:04:45] somewhat higher hopefully that answers your question oh okay um so I guess I'm [1:04:52] just looking for the net how much money would we save by having it in November [1:04:58] as opposed to May uh I have not got the answer to that question I could contact Sharon Allison [1:05:05] at the city of Edina and see if she can interpolate that number and have that available for [1:05:11] you well I guess given your presentation earlier tonight John um and how tight we [1:05:21] are financially I think I'm more comfortable with the November 2nd [1:05:26] time so and Eric I don't know if that shifts anything so I don't think it does I think Janie [1:05:33] Matt Lenny myself and Julie all support a May time frame okay so Erica I think we have to [1:05:40] have a vote on this just to have the board approve that date so we would put [1:05:45] this on the December action okay um can I just say to oh sorry I was [1:05:52] just going to add um that in the climate that we're in with the pandemic um it [1:05:58] does give us a second opportunity if we do a vote in May um that we can go [1:06:03] forward in um a second BT in November if we don't pass it in November um then uh [1:06:11] that's just the one time so it gives us more information if we don't pass it in [1:06:18] in May yeah that's what I was just going to highlight John is that [1:06:23] there's pretty big risk by waiting till November um and the cost of that risk I [1:06:29] think would far exceed any cost savings by pushing it to November that's my [1:06:35] opinion I I don't think it's worth the risk for us right now yeah and this is Matt we've done this in the past where [1:06:41] we've done the surveys ahead of time we've had things come through we've learned from the community if you remember the levy that we did during the [1:06:48] last School Board election we took feedback and then we changed the rate of increase of the levy because we did that [1:06:54] to focus on what we needed it is not about the cost of the election it is about getting the resources that Ellen [1:07:01] you just said are critical for the community and ow and you have vied for over and over again for people that have [1:07:06] learning disabilities this is not something to mess with and leave to next November it is just a bad [1:07:13] idea so I think we have the answer for now and um since we're going to vote on [1:07:18] December people can vote what they want to do and then we'll go from [1:07:24] there uh ch allenberg yes uh just wanted to make a comment uh from director [1:07:30] Michaelson's uh first couple statements where he said he was looking at his property taxes and seeing an actual [1:07:36] decrease in the school district uh portion of the taxes for this upcoming [1:07:42] 2021 year that pleases me because our overall school levy if you recall is [1:07:48] going to be about a 2.76% increase so director Michaelson's [1:07:53] taxes are going down what that tells me is our tax base is going up [1:07:59] higher maybe so did ours ours too so we're spread we're spread we got a [1:08:04] bigger tax base and we're spreading that out over a bigger tax base so that is really good news hopefully the tax [1:08:11] collector isn't watching because they might reassess your home no no can I just can I clarify one [1:08:18] comment that was made about the district's role in the effort to get this um elected and I don't know if I [1:08:25] misunderstood Ellen your comment about um that you were hoping that the district would put a campaign forward to [1:08:32] get this passed but the my understanding is the district is not allowed to engage in any yes or no vote on this Levy is [1:08:39] that correct that's correct so I just want to make sure that we have community members watching that the district actually doesn't run the campaign we [1:08:46] provide the information and uh whoever wants to help out with the campaign um [1:08:52] we'll run that campaign okay great I just want to CL thank you yeah okay thank you everyone um thank [1:09:00] you director Butner and director tote for the information um the next two agenda items [1:09:07] are policy reviews and I will turn over to our policy chair um Owen Michaelson [1:09:12] all right okay we have under rapid review how see [1:09:21] 624 this regards um Personnel licensing status we're going [1:09:27] through the 400 series you may remember for this year and we're just proposing that we um pass this uh we have some [1:09:36] small updates we have to be more accurate in um how we describe the [1:09:41] Department of Education actually the professional educator licensing standard um and then we have language [1:09:47] clarification so very small changes so we we would recommend that we pass [1:09:53] this and uh so any comments questions about that Lenny's saying no no no okay [1:10:01] let's move on past that then thank you Lenny for being so demonstrative um then we have two items [1:10:09] for discussion um two policies starting off with [1:10:16] 406 policy 406 pertains to public and private Personnel [1:10:22] data uh we have a lot of language changes here much of this is [1:10:29] consolidation and simplification in a word compressing much of the language [1:10:35] here um and much of what is covered here is already in the Minnesota data PR data [1:10:43] Practices Act and so in some sense this is redundant we had a good discussion [1:10:50] about this in the policy committee with Julie and Erica and um [1:10:57] Nikki and um a point of principle came up and that is if this is largely [1:11:03] covered by Statute then why do we even need it because we've talked about [1:11:08] resending policies that are completely redundant and [1:11:14] um so it actually create for a more complex policy structure this is one in [1:11:20] which I think we basically felt that in reducing the language we would make it [1:11:26] more simple and it then has Bears a communication responsibility it actually [1:11:34] communicates in a succinct way to our district stakeholders what our public [1:11:39] and private Personnel data practices are so that is my basic uh introductory [1:11:48] comments about this when we go into some detail Nikki is the one Nikki toucher is giving us a lot of guidance on on this [1:11:56] of course as a our HR Director she has some informed opinions so I turn it open [1:12:02] to the board for [1:12:08] discussion does anyone have any comments on these [1:12:16] two no no comments on either one great okay so guess I guess we move on [1:12:24] the second one was policy 423 this is student relationships we're just basically it's again language cleanup [1:12:32] and we're making two small substantive changes we're including Volunteers in this um uh this policy [1:12:40] would be applicable to and we're broadening it um [1:12:45] to also incude in being aware that um [1:12:53] undesirable Behavior had could discredit more than just the district but the students too so those are the only [1:13:00] substantive changes and uh with that we could just move on unless there's [1:13:06] discussion in either one of these it doesn't look like there are [1:13:12] questions or comments on this either um so we can go ahead and move to our action [1:13:18] items so first we have teaching and learning director Jody [1:13:25] open enrollment and benefits wasn't that going to be discussion we're taking that [1:13:30] off that'll be on action oh gotcha okay okay excuse me no problem um teaching [1:13:38] and learning Director jod D St Hubert is here with our science curriculum approval do I have a motion to approve [1:13:46] ratifying um the amplify or approving the amplifi science [1:13:51] curriculum for grade oh [1:13:56] so second was there a [1:14:02] second yes second okay great okay [1:14:09] so do you have anything additional that you wanted to present to us or review before I um ask board members say they [1:14:17] have questions I don't thank you chair alen Berg and superintendent Schultz and board members um the report is as it was [1:14:25] when it was presented um earlier in November and I don't have any additions to add great thank [1:14:31] you um board members do you have any questions or comments before we vote on this agenda [1:14:38] item um I do chair alberg I think I'm not enthusiastic about the um [1:14:46] curriculum change for two reasons first of which I talked about last week not [1:14:53] excited about having Native American studies brought into science and I think [1:14:58] it sets a bad precedent um so that's that's one concern the second just has come upon me [1:15:06] recently uh we are in the midst of Shifting to a um well we're in the midst [1:15:11] of a pandemic and the teachers seem they have their plates full and I'm a little concerned that a curriculum change midc [1:15:17] course here would be disruptive so that those are my thoughts [1:15:23] uh and I don't need any comment onless anybody wants to I just want go ahead [1:15:29] Lenny no the the inclusion of the Native American information is by state dictate [1:15:36] that's not something we're adopting on our own correct that is correct it is by state dictate um so thank you for [1:15:43] clarifying that and the other component about shifting to a new curriculum um [1:15:48] this this would provide curriculum for the teachers and it provides curriculum in a um in a format that Works um both [1:15:56] for distance learning hybrid and in person I should say um they currently um [1:16:02] are using this and don't have another curriculum source to use if we do not [1:16:07] adopt it at the time are there any other questions or [1:16:13] comments Janie did you have one or was that Julie sorry my I was just gonna [1:16:18] make the comment that Lenny made so okay okay when I'll vote by roll call to [1:16:23] approve the amplifi by science curriculum allenburg I Fox I green I [1:16:33] Jones hi Michaelson May Shaw hi Wen fredman [1:16:43] hi um this amplifi science curriculum is approved uh thank you thank you thank [1:16:51] you okay now do I have a motion to approve policies 411 412 418 419 421 622 [1:17:00] and 808 so do I have a second [1:17:06] second great um Owen um these are six policies that we [1:17:15] discussed last week and pretty much everyone felt good about where they're [1:17:21] at and I don't have much more to say than that unless would like to dive in on some more [1:17:27] discussion Ellen yeah I actually would like to discuss both policy 418 alcohol and [1:17:34] drug-free environment and policy 808 naming and I am sorry that I didn't ask [1:17:41] these questions last month when these policies were first read to the board um [1:17:47] I'd like to um direct the board to look at policy 418 um [1:17:55] and I'm trying to understand why we are specifically excluding medical cannabis [1:18:01] from allowable substances to be on EPS property if a person has a medical [1:18:07] condition that qualifies them to be prescribed medical cannabis why would that be treated any differently than a [1:18:13] prescription for another controlled substance and there are rare conditions [1:18:19] for which medical cannabis provides effective treatment that is not achievable with any other therapy [1:18:25] for example control of seizures seizures and complex epilepsy appetite [1:18:30] enhancement and pain control in certain conditions like cancer and chemotherapy can be managed with medical cannabis [1:18:36] alone or in addition to other therapies and why would the district single out [1:18:41] this medically prescribed and legislatively approved therapy and prevent people from having it on EPS [1:18:47] property by making the single exception to all controlled sub substances are we [1:18:54] exposing ourselves to discrimination litigation do you want to answer that [1:19:00] Nikki of course um thank you for the question director Jones um it's per statute and so that's a statutory [1:19:06] exclusion I'm happy to send the statute um your direction but it's per statute and msba actually reads the same [1:19:14] way they make the they make the one the the one [1:19:21] exception n Nikki wasn't it policy committee I think [1:19:26] the key was that I understood it is that the phrase having a Physicians [1:19:33] prescription was involved that that that is also involved and I [1:19:41] I'm sorry I don't have the statute in front of me um just because I wasn't prepared because it was for action versus for discussion but I'm happy to [1:19:48] send that towards the board if we need to um not move this forward but I'm I don't I just don't have it in front of [1:19:53] me right now but I know ba has the same exclusion and it is per [1:19:59] statute I asked this last month and you gave this answer because I mentioned that I've been in the epilepsy field for [1:20:05] a long time and working on this and I asked this exact question that was your exact answer last month why is medical [1:20:11] cannabis excluded because I've invested in companies that do that work for kids that have seizure so we did this last [1:20:17] month I believe the answer is if there's a physician's prescription that's no issue but that's not the way the policy [1:20:24] reads the policy says even if you had a physician's prescription it would not be [1:20:33] okay so um no because it's it we struck out without a a physician's [1:20:42] prescription the way that it reads right now is that it it reads [1:20:51] sorry the exceptions is for this policy is a violation of this policy does not [1:20:59] occur when a person brings into a district property for that person's own [1:21:04] use a controlled substance except medical cannabis which has a currently [1:21:11] accepted medical use and treatment in the United States and the person has a health care provider's prescription for [1:21:18] the substance the person will comply with the relevant procedures of this policy [1:21:25] that's um in section 4 a I was able to find the statutory site [1:21:31] it's Minnesota statute sections 15223 and so that's one of the sites [1:21:36] I'll see if I can't find another one but that's that's the that's the preclusion component of what um the msba revision [1:21:43] was and then therefore our as a school district's revision was so maybe I'm not [1:21:48] reading this correctly but doesn't that say that a person can use medical cannabis when they have a [1:21:55] prescription no no it's except for medical cannabis it's all others you [1:22:01] could be you could be on any kind of controlled substance with a prescription from a do [1:22:08] well with according to this with a prescription from a health care provider um except for medical [1:22:17] [Music] cannabis was the answer not because it's [1:22:22] a federally illegal substance that's what I thought the answer was last time I asked this yeah the state [1:22:29] statute that Nikki just referenced says that does refer to uh not allowing [1:22:35] medical use on school property or school [1:22:46] buses so Lenny is it your interpretation that this is fairly cut and dry that our policy cannot contravene state statute [1:22:55] well we can't so it's not my interpretation so what I said was that I [1:23:00] I referenced the statute that nikk referenced I do believe that we're obligated to follow state law okay Ellen [1:23:08] how do you react to that I'm sorry about that it just seems totally unfair for [1:23:14] those people that need this for medical conditions it just doesn't make any sense to me oh and I agree with you it's [1:23:21] just State Statute yeah okay okay so your objection is [1:23:27] satisfied yes did you have so the other so so that that is that was my comment [1:23:35] about that policy um I can move on to the um policy 808 please do okay are we [1:23:42] supposed to pull these out for discussion I don't [1:23:48] no that's consent so we can't talk about it so you're an 808 808 and I um and [1:23:59] I've this is another one that we've already discussed and sometimes I guess um I I need to hear it again I'm looking [1:24:08] at section um [1:24:14] B 5A um [1:24:19] and um the way that this reads it is when um the District that says [1:24:25] termination by the district the district reserves the right at its sole discretion to terminate the naming [1:24:31] rights without refund of consideration prior to the scheduled to termin [1:24:36] termination date should it feel it is necessary to do so to avoid the district being brought into disrepute as [1:24:43] determined by the district and my um concern is that in the discussions that [1:24:50] we've had as a board um it was my understanding that [1:24:56] we would have that right to terminate [1:25:01] the naming just at our own discretion and it didn't have to be just [1:25:10] for the purpose of to avoid the district being brought into disrepute so I would [1:25:16] prefer to just end that that sentence in a termination by the district to after [1:25:23] the in instead of The Comma just to put prior to the schedule termination date period so that we don't have any [1:25:31] condition on what would make us um uh what would be okay to terminate [1:25:39] the naming iing from the rest of the [1:25:46] board so I think if we're going it depends if the if [1:25:52] if I can't even see this is on this it's on page four [1:25:58] 808-488-0880 [1:26:07] h-3 808 d45 under five termination of specific [1:26:14] naming agreements um it's actually in the policy twice it's there and it's also at [1:26:24] very last um uh item in the policy it's on page [1:26:35] 2024 yeah so doing that would essentially eliminate the agreement [1:26:42] because what this policy contemplates is you entered into a naming agreement that has a termination date if you don't want [1:26:51] the donation don't enter into the agreement but once you enter into the agreement it seems to me that we're [1:26:58] Bound by the agreement subject to if it you know puts the district in a bad [1:27:04] light so I think that the answer Ellen is just don't enter into the agreement [1:27:10] but it doesn't seem fair to say to somebody you're donating x amount of money we'll keep your name on it for two [1:27:16] years and then one week later after the money comes in goes well we've changed our mind we're going to keep the money [1:27:24] no I'm saying that it it means so you are saying that for on page it might [1:27:31] make sense for 808-488-0880 [1:27:46] we get to D6 so this is for all naming of all [1:27:53] facilities it's a last very last item on the on the naming [1:28:05] [Music] [1:28:13] policy and I would just put I would just take out to avoid the district being [1:28:18] brought into disrepute I would just take that out and put a period after any name so is that [1:28:26] sentence necessary at all yes we there's no there's we we do [1:28:32] reserve the right um to discontinue any name and that that's what I always [1:28:38] understood the discussion has always been is that we reserve the right to discontinue any name and so that [1:28:45] sentence then should apply to where there isn't an agreement because if there is an agreement then we should be [1:28:50] bound by the agreement but where there is no agreement your [1:28:57] edit is fine right [1:29:02] exactly so I'm gon to suggest we take this back to policy committee and don't [1:29:07] try to edit it here okay I'm I'm in favor of [1:29:14] that so let's do that to make sure that we are understanding which section we're talking about as opposed to uh so we [1:29:22] don't vote on it so chair allenberg as a technicality I [1:29:30] might suggest that we vote no on the pending motion and then have another motion to approve every policy with the [1:29:37] exclusion of 808 um and I apologize my Wi-Fi stopped [1:29:43] working for a second um so we have a pending motion to approve all of the policies so we will have to vote if you [1:29:50] agree we will have to vote no for that pending motion or can I modify the [1:29:56] motion to not include policy 808 I think that the board as a whole [1:30:01] could agree to the modification Mak got a different Roberts rules but I think [1:30:06] that the technically the board as a whole controls the motion once the discussion is [1:30:12] started so are you guys okay if I modify the motion to approve all the policies [1:30:18] other than 808 can I just ask a quick question does this does does um delaying [1:30:24] this policy does that impact any Logistics and operations of the district good [1:30:32] question um [1:30:37] May I don't I don't know that okay do you know if this is going to slow down [1:30:45] something I had the impression now that there's something accelerated about [1:30:52] this okay [Music] did did John speak to that John said it [1:31:00] may sorry yes it may okay so [1:31:08] then so then [1:31:13] um may I suggest I understand the the concern by director Jones but I'm not [1:31:19] sure if the change itself changes the substance of the policy so we could uh a [1:31:26] proposal I might have to continue to move this forward so it can be approved so we have a process is that maybe the [1:31:32] board the board approves the policy as written but we bring it back forward [1:31:38] before the board with an amendment um for discussion next time and so that way we have a generalized process is not to [1:31:46] um as not to um truncate what the the other conversation going on but that [1:31:52] that way we have a process in place for naming if we're going to look at naming knowing that we may um have re a small [1:32:00] revision um as suggested by director Jones and talked about by director ju Freeman are you guys okay with that I [1:32:08] think in favor of that good that's a great idea great idea okay why don't we [1:32:13] do that knowing that the policy committee then will take a look at 808 again to see if it needs to be [1:32:19] revised okay so we have this pending or the standing motion to approve all of [1:32:24] um the policies that were listed before so we will vote on um by roll call to [1:32:30] approve those allenburg hi Fox hi green hi Jones [1:32:39] hi Michael [1:32:45] Michaelson hi uh Shaw hi Wen Freedman hi [1:32:54] okay so policies 411 412 418 419 421 622 and 808 are approved and the policy [1:33:01] committee will um take a look back at 808 um at the language that was um [1:33:06] brought up um now do I have a motion to approve the CES hourly employee guide book so [1:33:13] moved is there a second second [1:33:19] okay so I'll turn it over um I guess to John or Nikki our HR Director to talk [1:33:26] about this Nikki do you want to take it just [1:33:31] uh sorry my mute button all of a sudden disa or my mute button suddenly disappeared low so uh director Burke and [1:33:38] I bring this forward um for approval and what this is is this is the employee guide book so it's different than um a [1:33:45] unionized group it's a group of our employees and this is the guide book and appendix for the community aded service [1:33:51] in hourly employees of AD D Public School um we bring It Forward um uh for [1:33:57] approval tonight and and we want you to know that the the hourly compensation schedules do remain similar to um uh [1:34:06] past years um there is one very change and that has to do with our CES Child Care teachers but otherwise the [1:34:12] compensation rates remain the same and then the district's health insurance um has a small increase of two to six% [1:34:20] depending on what selection know that this is a uh overall increase of less than 1% and within the parameters that [1:34:28] the board has previously laid out to us and also um the community ed budget because this is a community ed driven um [1:34:35] a Community Driven um group so uh Val and I can stand for any questions that you might have thank [1:34:42] [Music] you Nick it seems reasonable to me I would just uh in the [1:34:49] future appreciate seeing this a little bit earlier reading the board pic and I will take [1:34:56] ownership that because it just came in earlier today and U because I was out I [1:35:02] did get to thank you so Nikki you said it's a 1% increase [1:35:08] do you know the dollar amount it's hard to know because of the number of people you know a dollar amount [1:35:15] in and I go ahead I defer to Val on [Music] [1:35:21] that judging from the amount of people who are taking health insurance um [1:35:26] dollar amount should be minimal um an exact amount I don't know uh it is [1:35:35] in parameters and so I apologize I don't have the exact like thousands of dollars [1:35:41] but it is we did proportionality depending on how many staff were taking it [1:35:47] um and I just wanna and I just want to pop in just because um right now Val uh [1:35:53] director Burke's um groups are Rel the recck leaders are relatively volatile meaning we have a lot more of them or a [1:36:00] lot less of them depending on what on um the way that we're using them now with um essential care and things like that [1:36:06] and so unlike a traditional costing where you have that easy number that's before the board um this isn't that type [1:36:13] of a group that that we can quantify that as easily because it really is dependent on how many like if we took [1:36:19] the snapshot in time in February that's what I like to call it the snapshot in time in February right now our community [1:36:26] head programs look nothing like they did in February so it's not an Apples to Apples and that's why we bring It Forward saying that there aren't [1:36:32] increases to the schedule itself but just those really small percentage increases to um health insurance [1:36:39] director Brook did I put that well you did because we don't have um the kind of [1:36:45] yearly uh history that we would have typically and so um it is I think you [1:36:52] said that [1:37:01] jie yeah I tried to go through the red line really quickly Niki and just um can [1:37:06] you just highlight were there any changes in any [1:37:12] [Music] other I'm sorry director sh you FR [1:37:18] benefits like vacation so I think I'm gonna try without camera [1:37:25] can you I think she's just wondering can you highlight are there any major [1:37:31] changes or main changes between the two contracts no between the two guide books there are not um one thing you'll see [1:37:37] that we cleaned up um before it was an hourly um and so basically there's there's an hourly component of how we [1:37:44] used to count up hours to see if people qualify for benefits we made it much easier where you have a 25h hour week [1:37:50] assignment and so when a when an employee gets assigned that they're really clear now that they qualify for benefits versus in previous years it'd [1:37:58] be a year-to-year determination depending on how much they worked and so there was some cleanup like that but that wasn't that's not substantive in [1:38:05] nature that just is more employee friendly if that makes sense B is there any other things that you would like to [1:38:10] highlight okay [1:38:16] no okay yeah I just just in terms of any other benefits I just wondered if there [1:38:21] were other changes but that makes sense are there any other questions from board [1:38:27] members about this or comments yeah [1:38:32] Ellen yeah I just have a a comment um before I vote I was just going to mention that I I recognize the need to [1:38:40] move forward and act on a benefits package in this in this this isn't a benef this handbook um before open [1:38:47] enrollment starts um so that the board does need to do something tonight I I [1:38:53] also recognize that director toucher and um Burke have put a lot of effort into [1:39:00] creating well-balanced um handbooks for employees and I trust their work um so [1:39:07] um I'm just going to mention that I did not have the opportunity to read and consider in their entire entirety of [1:39:13] these handbooks um before this meeting and so I must act based on my trust and [1:39:18] respect for their work and so I'll be voting to approve based on that thank thank [1:39:25] you anything else from anyone okay why don't uh we can go ahead [1:39:32] and vote by roll call for the uh to approve the hourly employee guide [Music] [1:39:38] bookard hi Fox hi green hi Jones hi [1:39:45] Michaelson hi sha hi Wellen fedman hi [1:39:53] um the CES hourly employee guide book is approved do I have a motion to approve the non-affiliated employee guide book [1:40:00] so move second um are there any comments on this [1:40:08] guide book I'm Nikki um not not in excess of the cover [1:40:13] page on it um just really this is a small guide book it it's six employees currently and so it's it's not a a large [1:40:20] group and once again it is a less than 1% increase and there are no um salary [1:40:25] schedule enhancements and then as and in with board parameters that was that were [1:40:31] previously given to us are there questions from board members about this guide [1:40:41] book no okay we can move to vote via roll call on um this guide [1:40:49] book Ellenberg I books hi green hi Jones [1:40:57] hi Michaelson hi Shaw I well fedman [1:41:05] I um the non-affiliated employee guide book is approved thank you thank you thank you [1:41:13] Nikki thanks Nikki um we're gonna move on to leadership or and committee [1:41:19] updates are there any committee updates from any board members [1:41:25] this is Matt can you see me yes I can okay can I go yes you can okay one quick [1:41:33] update um not Finance for once uh but there is a subcommittee again Owen and [1:41:39] Julia serving on this with me the three of us are working together with some community members on looking at testing [1:41:45] procedures and opportunities especially things we can bring back into the schools in the first quarter of next year I just wanted to thank the people [1:41:51] that have been working on that committee we're having our our third of three weekly meetings uh later this week we'll be going through feedback we've gotten [1:41:57] from speaking to two or three licensed outfits that are doing testing across Minnesota uh the gold standard would be [1:42:04] to have a rapid test so we could be able to utilize to analyze what's happening with kids and staff in a real-time [1:42:10] fashion no schools doing that in the state yet two schools have run singular pilot programs uh with once a week [1:42:16] testing as we understand so really trying to figure out what all the inputs are going to be to get to uh [1:42:24] understanding what we'd have to do from a funding and operational and Reporting and Regulatory perspective is ongoing so [1:42:31] I just wanted to thank people working on that Julia or ow if you guys have any other thoughts um I know everybody's putting putting time in so I just wanted [1:42:37] to highlight that as ongoing work even while our kids are unfortunately home at the time yeah no the only thing I would [1:42:44] add to that is I I think it's important that as we are looking ahead that this [1:42:49] would be um if we were able to do something like this this would be one of the tools that we could tap um you know [1:42:56] there's there's there's we've looked no no one's been able to find that magic path um to get out of this but um we're [1:43:03] working really hard to look at and un you know turning every stone we possibly can to see what we can do to support um [1:43:12] getting our kids back in school so this is one Avenue that we're we're working and I'm I'm super honored to be part of [1:43:17] the group it's a wicked smart group so Matt Julie I have a question for you do [1:43:22] you think it might be prudent for us to have a um a portion of one of our work [1:43:28] sessions dedicated to talking about what we've been finding in December or more likely [1:43:34] January yes okay I would not think in November this is the third meeting where [1:43:39] we're going through Logistics and we've done initial pricing and outcome discussions but um I don't think it's [1:43:45] Prime Time ready yet for a full work session okay so maybe maybe we can think about it for January that feels right [1:43:53] okay I think it'd be great to the rest of the board and to have everyone else's perceptions and observations about it [1:44:01] yeah and I think there's I mean the information as we know is changing by the minute and you know Statewide [1:44:06] testing is rolling out and they're working through the Kinks there and a lot of the same labs are crossing over [1:44:11] and the same um so I think I think that would be that Matt's right about the timing yeah good idea ow and I agree [1:44:18] with you and Julie I think January would be a good time to bring that to the Fuller board great thank you I just wanted to thank [1:44:25] the administration and people working on that right now because everyone's already overburdened with flying the plane but figuring out how to get it [1:44:30] back full of passengers is going to be a good effort great thank you um I wanted to uh [1:44:37] remind the community again our next board meeting will be fully a remote um and then I wanted to let the [1:44:43] community know that um we will be having another special board meeting on Monday [1:44:49] 11:23 at 5:00 pm where we will be discussing Athletics Fine Arts [1:44:55] activities as well as the use of facilities um I met with um Nick Kelly [1:45:01] with the Bloomington Department of Health principal Beaton superintendent Schultz Mary Heyman and um director [1:45:07] Stein today and we um are scheduling that meeting to um have a recommendation [1:45:14] to the board um as well as some data available um for the board to talk about [1:45:19] um this topic on day a week from today [1:45:25] so at 5 o' so I have a follow on question I'm [1:45:30] wondering if how people would feel about this I'm concerned about how the teachers are reacting to once they get [1:45:38] in gear and um how the perception of the student of the teacher survey went um [1:45:46] there's an issue of Optics that I'm a little concerned about an email went out and a meeting was held last Sunday [1:45:52] afternoon and uh about Staffing and it was from the union and the next day we have a [1:46:00] staffing shortage and the day after that we have an emergency meeting about it and so the I'm just concerned about that [1:46:07] the teachers felt that desperate that it went that direction and I would like to [1:46:13] have you know a little more clarity with how they're feeling that if there if [1:46:18] that desperation was that high that we went to those lengths I preferred to [1:46:24] have more of a PLL speed on exactly how the teachers are feeling so I don't know if that's something that we could [1:46:30] Institute maybe once a month uh for 15 20 30 [1:46:35] minutes just to get a feel for how this is actually really planing out with the teachers so we do have uh weekly [1:46:43] meetings um remember if you remember when this started that we have um monthly I don't know John if we have [1:46:49] monthly or bi-weekly meetings I think that if want to talk about having um [1:46:55] more regular communication between the board and teachers I think that's something that we need to talk about at [1:47:02] a a work session um not necessarily um right now but uh John I don't know if [1:47:08] you want to talk about how frequently you're meeting with the um group of teachers so um I think there's two [1:47:14] Avenues where um teachers uh teachers voice is heard um one is uh I have a [1:47:22] week L uh Co meeting with all the administration um in the district as [1:47:28] well as other program leaders and um and we really uh um really measure the pulse [1:47:35] of what's happening in the buildings at that time um principles have been very [1:47:41] um candid about um how how the program how the [1:47:47] instruction is being delivered and what teachers are saying because we have to respond to that um in in such a unique U [1:47:55] environment that's one place and then um uh so in the there's representative [1:48:02] uh on from the teachers from em on that um [1:48:07] that then we also have um according to the state I have to have a u Co incident [1:48:14] command team and uh the representative of is on that committee and those are [1:48:22] really the broader decision or the bigger decisions that I would bring to the board um that are discussed there so [1:48:29] the uh discussion last week um was uh around um moving to distance learning so [1:48:36] so we hear um the senent of the teachers at that so there's two really two places [1:48:43] where we get to get that okay so Erica this may not be the forum for me to bring this up but I would be interested [1:48:50] in some kind of maybe pulse beat I don't know if we can Institute some kind of regular easy survey so and again [1:48:58] I don't this is perhaps not the time to bring it up but just to express that interest okay thank you [1:49:06] Owen um if there's nothing else then um this no I just can I just say it's the [1:49:11] Ed fund kickoff or Ki off this week I don't know yeah the Edina education fund I [1:49:18] don't know if one of the representatives want to talk about that or if I can just keep going go ahead okay but um the [1:49:26] edine education fund kickoff is this week if anyone is listening but um there is a website set up and you can go on [1:49:32] and vote for um homemade bid on a lot of different um bakeries and sweets and um [1:49:40] donate and it's all in help with the mental health campaign that they are working hard on there's virtual coffees [1:49:47] um I highly encourage everyone to go to the website um the Ed Ed fund [1:49:53] and find out about it because it's they put a lot of work from this community and the funding is essential I think for [1:49:59] our students with Major Impact so great thank you good reminder thank you [1:50:06] Julie so on that unless I forgot something um we will adjourn the meeting [1:50:11] and um our next meeting will be next Monday at five o'clock so thank you everyone good night thank you good [1:50:21] night e