have a quorum. So, I will call this meeting to order. Uh, our first item is to approve the agenda. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? >> So, move. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Uh, we will now vote by roll call to approve tonight's agenda. Assistant clerk agenda. I >> arum. I >> Barry. >> I >> Gabler. >> I >> call man. >> I >> Bergman. >> I. >> All right. >> The agenda is approved. >> Tonight we are discussing the proposed superintendent contract. And board members, I don't need to tell you this, but this is an important decision >> and I want to take a couple minutes to frame the conversation correctly. So anyone that is watching, I want to draw your attention to the board packet for this evening where you will find a cover sheet with detailed background information about the governance committee's decision process, the data we used and the rationale for the recommendation before the board tonight. >> Our responsibility as a board is to balance three things with this contract. fiscal stewardship, market competitiveness, and long-term district stability. >> The proposed adjustment represents a significant percentage increase over the prior contractility. It is important to acknowledge that openly. At the same time, our B benchmarking analysis shows that our district has been meaningfully below comparable lake conference districts in both base salary and total compensation structure. >> At the same time, >> the question before us is not simply whether this increase feels large. The real question is whether this proposal corrects a market gap in a responsible way and whether it positions our district for leadership stability moving forward. We have confirmed with our finance director that this contract is fiscally sustainable within our long-term budget projections. However, sustainability alone is not the only factor we must consider tonight. We must also consider organizational impact and how this decision aligns with our district values. I encourage to approach us this conversation thoughtfully and respectfully, which I know you guys will, recognizing that leadership stability and fiscal responsibility are both essential to the health of Edina public schools. >> Before I turn it over to questions, I wanted to take a moment to make sure that we highlight some of the things in the board packet for the public and anyone watching this at a future date. It's important to note that the governance committee has been negotiating this contract over the past six weeks and the contract before you represents the due diligence of the board, district staff, and a jointly bargained compromise of terms. >> The contract has been approved by Dr. Bitman and has been reviewed thoroughly by district legal counsel and the board's governance committee. compromise. >> Whenever a district negotiates a superintendent contract, especially when it's a new superintendent, it provides an opportunity to benchmark the current contract against the individual's skill set, their experience, and the situation of the district as well as look at comparable districts in the market. >> Given Dr. Bitman's 15 years of experience as a superintendent and in looking at a review of superintendent salaries in the Lake Conference and around the state, the governance committee determined that our current contract is comparably less than what other districts are offering and not competitive. For example, when comparing Edina's predecessor's 2026 27 base salary to comparable districts, we find that Dina's base salary is 10.12% below the districts that we tend to benchmark when we are negotiating contracts. It's worth noting that you are considering superintendent salaries. It is important to end up adding to the base salary making the potential total payout. Examples of this can include annual payout for vacation and sick leave, longevity bonuses, performance bonuses. Edina has historically not structured their contracts this way. comparable districts, we find that Adina's total comparable package ranges from 26.3% to 72 and a half. >> When the governance committee was analyzing how to structure this new contract, we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of adding compensation through supplemental categories versus incorporating compensation into the base salary. Ultimately, the governance committee determined that by adding the increase in compensation into the base salary, the contract is more transparent and better reflects the market demand for an experienced superintendent. The governance committee fully understands, and this part is important for the public, that this approach is different than is sometimes done in other districts, and may lead people to make inaccurate comparisons when looking at other superintendent contracts without doing a true applesto apples comparison. The governance committee also kept in mind as they were negotiating uh we avoided we tried to avoid adding categories or benefits to this contract that would set a precedent for future superintendent contracts >> based on the additional 15 years of superintendent experience that Dr. Bitman has compared with his predecessor and the knowledge that we are 49% on average 49% below comparable lake conference districts when looking at total package. The governance committee is recommending a 40% total package increase. Dr. Bitman's new base salary for all three years will be $364,000. This contract represents this contract increase represents a 0 6% increase to the total budget district budget for next year. >> This increase is a reflection of two things. The experience that Dr. Bitman brings to this role coupled with the fact that bringing the total compensation p package to meet market level. >> This increase ensures that Dr. Bitman's salary is comparable to other Lake Conference superintendent. And if approved, this contract will put us at third or fourth among the four districts referenced in this document and on average will still put us at 6.02% less than the total contracts of those other districts. >> The governance committee believes this investment is critical to the health, stability, and future success of Adina public schools. committee believes >> high-erforming, experienced superintendent are in demand and superintendent leadership is foundational to district performance, strategic implementation, staff retention, and community trust. We recognize both the demands and complexities of a role like this, as well as the board and community expectations that come along with holding the role of Edina Public Schools Superintendent. So with those remarks being made to set the conversation, I now will open it up for board discussion, questions, and comments. >> I now will open it up for discussion. >> I just wanted to say thanks to the governance committee for all the work you've done. Um, and as well as Sonia and Mer in terms of the the detailed analysis that you all did. Um I know that you know just based on some of the work that I did when I was on governance last year that the comparing um contracts is not an easy thing because of the way that um they are listed within each of the districts. And so I feel that the due diligence you did was representative of what I would have wanted um if I was on governance as well as as a board member. So I thank you for that no additional questions about I would have wanted if I was on governance as well as a board member. So no additional questions about Director Alenberg. >> Um, I don't have any questions. Um, I I probably echo a lot of what Dan said is, um, thank I know this is a lot of work. Um, I've done it a couple of times. So, thank you to the governance committee. Thank you to everyone that was involved in it. Um, I appreciate the I think you guys have done a really great job of balancing um what um you mentioned, Chair Gaitler. Um I think it's hard to balance both the fiscal needs of the district and the fiscal needs of the superintendent. Um and I think you guys have done a really good job considering both of those. And so I appreciate um the really work and attention to that. Um I think with every contract, I'm not an expert on contracts. The main things that I consider are really has it been reviewed by legal? Has our governance committee done their due diligence? Has our finance director said it's sustainable? And we've checked all the boxes with those. So as far as anything more granular than that, I don't have any questions. um and I just appreciate the job that you've done. And then um for the community, I just want to reiterate again that um this position has become increasingly challenging. Um and um the pool of quality candidates has become increasingly small and I think that's a lot of what we're seeing in um some of the income and salary variables here. So, um I appreciate um the tenure that um Superintendent Bitman has and that we're getting such a quality candidate and um I don't have any reservation about this um contract being put um forward or towards us and approving it. Um the only small note just from a process perspective I wanted to comment on is um I would love in the future or just for consideration's sake. I don't personally love voting on the things this important in a special meeting out of cadence with our normal board meeting when it's so close. Um I just think that when the community is used to seeing us in our published um regular board meetings, I >> I personally would have preferred to vote on this then, but That's a minute um detail in the grand scheme of everything and doesn't impact this contract. I just wanted to put that forward in the future when we're working on contracts. Um but again, thank you to everyone that worked on this. >> Thank you. >> Additional comments from the board. >> Thank you. I guess um just to uh to take the personalities out of it or actually leave the personalities in for a second because I want to say I'm uh I am thrilled with Dan Pitman's job so far as a superintendent and I think um he'll be a great superintendent. I think he has done a great job so far. Um but taking the personality out of it for a second and just talking about numbers on a page, I know um for members of the community it's going to be some sticker shock looking at it. It always is that. Um, and I know it looks a lot from, you know, that market correction from, uh, where we were at with our previous candidate. Um, and that is tough for a lot of people. I definitely understand that. Um, but I wanted to also thank the governance committee for their work in terms of >> not playing that kind of shell game >> as far as with some of the bonuses and things like that. I think there is a bigger conversation to be had someday in terms of you know there are school superintendents and public school districts who choose to structure their contracts in a way that is not always extremely transparent to the greater public and you know there are districts that's legal it's their prerogative to do so. Um but there are those districts who are paying their super superintendents through bonuses and what have you double what is supposed to be the salary on the page. Um, I wanted to thank our governance committee for um, making that a more transparent conversation and it'll be a more difficult conversation I think too at some point. Um, those things are going to happen at some point. Every couple years TV news or or what have you does a um, story just listing all the different contracts. They're all publicly available. Um, and I just hope at that point people are able to remember this conversation to realize that it is not necessarily apples to apples to just take that number because so many other things are in, you know, so-called performance bonuses and and things like that. Um, with that said, you know, I'm I'm really excited with the candidate we have and I think uh again, thanks governance for for their for their work. With that said, you know, I'm really excited we have thanks for their Um, I just wanted to re reiterate some of what you'd already said, Chair Gabler, with um the depth and breadth of Dr. Dr. Bitman's experience >> um not only as a superintendent but also at the state level and experience >> um in some not only as a superintendent but also big districts and key roles and um echo what director man was saying with um >> you know as an interim um I've been happy with his performance and I think it's a great opportunity as a sort of a long runway of a interview almost. Um, and so I feel comfortable with where we are and appreciate >> getting us aligned with >> comparable districts with superintendent who have um, >> you know, numbers a number of years of experience um that more closely aligned with Dr. Bitman than our our predecessor had. um >> and I had the opportunity to work um with one of those superintendents in this comparison and and know the caliber of of what that is and >> community expectations etc. So >> I feel good about where we are and I also appreciate the transparency >> I feel good about where we are and >> governance committee members do you want to add anything or >> ask question >> um I'll just reiterate that um when we spoke about this at our last work session the comments sorry my back to you that um kept coming up was we want to make sure that nothing additional gets added to the contract so that moving forward we wouldn't be setting any precedents that we couldn't be financially responsible for and we were very mindful of that um over these past six weeks and I feel like we accomplished that with this contract and in putting the base salary where it is um keeping that value transparent and forward we were very mindful of the comments from the work session >> is keeping that value transparent and forward >> I think the only thing I would add is that you know in our experiences over the last several when we look at all contracts that we have within the district, we're always constantly looking at benchmarking um all contracts uh against our comparables. Um not that that >> there's a strategy that says well we must be a certain position based on those comparables, but those comparables are a great sort of measuring stick as to saying where are we within the market frame of doing that. Um, and so I really felt that this sort of approach that we took, not only dealing with how do we make sure the superintendent contract is is comparable and competitive uh for the talent for which we're we're seeking to to bring on as the full-time person. I think it's also a good thing to where we're also always trying to figure out where can we within our contracts continue to try to drive them for value, right? that the the talented people that we have throughout the district, we want to provide fair compensation and benefits for them so they feel valued, that they feel that they can make a living, that they can do that from that standpoint. I think even though this contract is specific to one person, it is the CEO and leader of the district. I I think that we still accomplished those same things we do in other contracts where we're trying to put that forth as our principle uh for making that happen. And I feel good about that part of the process. Um yes, I think the statements that I I had during the six weeks um that really mean something to me is that we are all public servants um being paid by the public tax dollar. The amount of transparency and obligation under that and our fiduciary responsibility to manage every penny um effectively is not lost on me. And I think that's critical important to the to the elected people who are up here. Um, and I think that that's never lost on me when we're going through this process, whether it's for the superintendent or whether it's for our other contracted um, uh, staff members. So, I just feel good about that and I felt honored to be able to be a part of it on the governance committee. Um, I'm glad that, you know, when we were doing the interim contract, I wasn't on the governance committee and I certainly had my comments and feelings about my colleagues who were doing that contract. It's a very difficult thing to have more have information as you're going through this process and not being able to fully share it um because it's a negotiation um with all members of the board in the time that you're doing it because it just can't have you can't we choose not to have that open um in public session. Um and that's common throughout you know this world that we live in. And I have my own feelings about that. But nonetheless um I'm glad that we were able to to have a process that was as transparent as we could make it. And as we come here tonight, uh, be able to to demonstrate that, uh, those goals and those needs as were articulated by our colleagues on the work session a couple weeks ago that I feel that we did a good enough process to adhere to those people who were not able to be in the room and see every detail and have every uh, conversation with Dr. Bitman about the negotiation that we were able to try to be connected to what we're eat because it's not just about the three people on the governance committee's desire to do something. It still has to be representative of all seven. So, I appreciate the the appreciation from the other people um who comment about that tonight. And thank you to uh Chair Gabler's leadership on this. Um most people the chair's role is a very extensive, very detailed and very heavy lift um in everything that we do in the district and especially in this type of process. Um I just wanted to compliment Chair Gabler on that as well. So, I'm glad that we're we're here. Um I think it's a good contract. I think it's a good set for our future. Um I hope that it's a fair value to Dr. B. It's a fair value to be done in public schools and hopefully we look forward to approving and moving on. It's a fair value to document a fair value to be done in public schools and hopefully we look forward to approving and moving on. >> Thank you. >> I had one question I forgot. Um within the contract there was also room for it says you know contracting other activities. I know it's really common. um you know we have a cont we have a candidate who's previously um done >> oh we have a count we have a candidate who's previously done executive search consulting and I think as a board it would really help us to have maybe some level setting there have a conversation to see kind of maybe what that looks like um for our expectations and um our superintendent's expectations as far as um what those opportunities in the educational sector kind of away from Adana public schools what they look like what they maybe we don't want them to look like or what we would like that to look like um I feel like you know we're we're making a commitment you know compensation on par where we shouldn't have too many issues with that but I think it's a good conversation to have at least just to so we don't have surprises either way. Um and as far as you know at least >> the mark correction thing it was >> it's not taken lightly by any of us certainly I don't think um >> we had a a previous superintendent candidate that we you know really liked we have a candidate that we really like now um understanding the different market forces at play and those things um doesn't necessarily make it easy but you know the market kind of is with the market at that point but um otherwise I wanted to say just as far as you know level setting about um contracting other activities otherwise just as far as a level setting about contracting activities. >> Thank you board members for your uh insights, questions, due diligence on looking over this material for today. Are we are there is there anything else that anyone would like to add to the conversation? >> Are we ready to vote? >> All right. Can I get a motion to approve the employment agreement for superintendent Dr. Dan Bitman? >> Can I get a motion? Is there a second? >> All right. Uh, assistant clerk, would you please do the roll call? >> Alenberg second. I >> Arum I Barry >> I >> Birdman >> I >> Gabler >> I >> Hooie >> Arum I >> ma'am >> I >> All right uh the employment agreement for superintendent Dr. Daniel Bitman has passed seven to zero >> and welcome on board >> employment agreement for superintendent Dr. Daniel. >> All right. Uh, may I get a motion to adjourn tonight's special session? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Uh, may I get a motion? >> All those uh, assistant clerk, would you please call the roll call for us to adjourn? >> Alenberg, >> I Barry. Mr. Clerk, would you >> I Gabler >> I alen >> I >> man >> I >> The motion has passed and the meeting is adjourned. Thank you everyone for your time.