[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 [5:28] e [5:58] e [6:28] e e [7:19] because additionally just a reminder to the community because board members are online this evening all votes will be [7:25] done via roll call um first item on our agenda is approval of our agenda do I have a [7:31] motion to approve tonight's agenda so moved is there a [7:37] second second we will now vote by roll call to approve tonight's [7:43] agenda allenburg I Aram I Barry I [7:53] Birman Mr Birdman [8:12] gabler Birdman here or I I just came in [8:22] IA I ovie Hi [8:28] man he's that'll be back in a minute okay by a vote of 6 to zero [8:33] tonight's agenda is approved um Dr Stanley would you please review tonight's agenda for [8:39] us absolutely um so tonight we [8:48] um we have no hearing from members of the public um we have a consent agenda [8:53] um for discussion we are going to hear about an update on um strategic plan uh [8:59] we're going to receive an update the board will receive an update on um the media Specialists and the new the new [9:06] model and and where that has moved to um we'll receive a legislative action [9:11] committee recap we have uh policies that are up for review and then for Action we [9:17] have um Metro adult basic education joint Powers [9:23] agreement director Woodard is going to bring forward the preliminary budget we have several policies uh that the board [9:31] will act on and then we'll have leadership and committee updates and superintendent [9:38] updates thank you Dr Stan Stanley next on our agenda is our excellence and action portion and this month's [9:45] excellence in action will feature the favorite things mural that was designed and painted for a Normandale fifth grade [9:52] class as a gift of their school or by a Normandale fifth grade class our presenters are fifth grade teacher Sarah [9:58] keel and a parent volunteer muralis Kimberly S [10:04] welcome thank you so much for inviting us to share this project um it's been [10:11] such a joy to be working on this with the fifth graders and I'll actually let Sarah start to um kind of tell everybody [10:19] how it even came about so if you could go to the next slide okay here they are our fabulous [10:25] fifth graders from Normandale um it started because Kim was a guest at the Normandale Media Center she was doing um [10:33] a presentation for um Kim remind me the name of the art [10:39] Adventure art Adventures right through the Minneapolis Institute of Arts thank you um and so she had done a [10:44] presentation for our students they were very engaged in the presentation and as they went to check out their books from the media center I heard Kim having a [10:51] conversation with other adults about how she paints murals um and so I kind of wiggled my way into the conversation and [10:57] I said oh gosh you know I've kind of had this this dream of doing a mural painting in my classroom and Kim at just making [11:04] small talk right but Kim said hey you know we could probably make that happen um and so we did a little bit of [11:10] discussing and we checked in with Mr hold Mr Holden um and there was some concern about doing mural painting [11:16] inside of a classroom where there um the space might need to be switched up or [11:22] um um if there were some restrictions that might have gotten in the way so he suggested we use other space in the [11:29] building and um offered that we could use the collaboration space but there was a lot of wall space there and so we [11:35] were able to in invite all four classrooms to be part of the project um so Kim came in and and really pitched [11:42] the project to my fifth grade class and they were super engaged super motivated right from the beginning to be part of [11:48] this project and I think Kim you would agree they felt ownership right from the get-go it was their project from the [11:55] start they had ideas when it was opened up to questions or even ideas they immediately started throwing things [12:01] things out there and so we sort of let them lead it um we we definitely kind of [12:08] had a plan for how it was going to go I had an idea for how it would work but it was really a collaboration sort of a [12:14] co-creation with our fifth graders how the process would work as we went through things were changed up we asked [12:20] for their input throughout the entire process um so they were engaged from the start our first our First Act was [12:26] actually doing a brainstorm with them which is what you see here in this picture so they wrote down their ideas [12:31] on a Post-It and they're busy here categorizing their ideas because initially we thought okay well we need [12:37] to come up with a theme that's very specific um that will help get this project launched um and so they're [12:42] organizing their ideas into categories but as we watch them do this they had such Amazing Ideas um and to Kim's [12:48] credit she looked at all the ideas and she said you know what all of these are fabulous ideas we should use all of [12:54] these we should create a mural of all of our favorite things and it was funny Kim [13:00] I don't even know if you remember this but kids were asking wait do we really get to do this is this do we get are we [13:06] going to get to paint on the walls and so really it was it was um a process where they were um engaged and motivated [13:13] and collaborated you can see right there in the picture collaborating right from the beginning so um once we had established that we were going to do a [13:20] theme of all of our favorite things it really it took off in the fifth graders got right to work so we used a lot of [13:25] oural time um Kim would come in once a week um and and work with fifth graders [13:31] to help them get their collages um to to help them come up with [13:36] ideas for their collages and help them um work through that process so um bedon [13:42] if you can go to the next slide I think we'll see some pictures there you have a um an image of all of their different [13:49] ideas favorite things can you go to the next one Bon okay and here you can see them hard [13:55] at work so this was a process that took several several days of time but if oural if our goal is to [14:02] establish um a strong community and belonging in our community you can see it happening right there students were [14:08] so eager to work with each other um in in in fact some of the best pieces were [14:15] pieces where they each pitched in to help create the image so we'll I think [14:21] Kim will see the macaroni and cheese yeah this was several several students [14:26] who worked together to create to bring an image to life yeah so this is them we gave them colored paper uh scissors glue [14:34] art supplies and we just asked them to collage their favorite things or Express themselves in some way with their [14:40] favorite thing and you can even see in some of these pictures like in the top left there that um pink piece of paper [14:47] has hearts cut out of it that's just scrap paper I kept that all and I used [14:52] it in the mural design so everything from the scraps that were created the murals that were created every single [14:59] single kid 100 fifth graders each made an original piece of art that's represented in the mural um you could [15:06] actually skip to the next slide to see examples of some of these um collages that they made and this is a very tiny [15:14] selection of the over a hundred pieces that were used and created um it's [15:20] everything from food um quotes that they find inspiring um Sunshine Of course [15:25] cactuses places they love um there were a couple travel uh specific themes that were used um flowers um that gorgeous [15:34] hand with a pencil writing like this is just like everything was so good it was so hard to even pick this small sampling [15:41] um but really interesting and really creative and everything was very different but it all came together if [15:47] you flip to the next slide um where I sort of stepped in was in the sort of [15:53] digital Recreation of things because you have to assemble a mural has to go on a specific space and the flex space that [15:58] we we were using had the locker wall in the hallway there was a whiteboard wall [16:04] there were two giant pillars in the space that we also were able to paint on and then some uh a wall with windows [16:11] that we sort of you know climbed on some furniture to get to but it was lots of lots of corners and lots of spaces so in [16:17] order to make it work with all these original pieces of art I digitally recreated each one of them and then [16:23] assembled these little vignettes to represent each one of the kids each one [16:29] of their original pieces of artwork and then kind of put it together so it would be fun um just little little scenes for [16:36] everybody so you know you can see in that right page there's the banana um but it's behind the airplane and you can [16:43] see behind that that's a cut paper that has clouds in it so that was just a scrap paper that I found in the folder [16:50] and I was like oh that's cool we'll put clouds with the airplane um so this was every single kid was able to contribute [16:57] um if you go to the next slide um that was sort of the easy part I'll say that [17:03] we had to that we had to make sure that um there was a plan for actually getting [17:09] the paint onto the walls and in order to do that um we wanted to transfer that [17:14] Digital Image almost like a paint by number onto the wall so we were able to project it um most of the spaces the [17:21] projection was really easy some of the spaces were pretty tight and so we had to do a lot of math I did pixels to [17:27] inches conversions and made it work so um there's another picture in the in the [17:33] slide of my eighth grader helping me outline all oh there he is um Rising [17:39] ninth grader now but you can sort of see that um image is very faintly projected [17:44] there we were climbing on furniture to cover up the fluorescent lights to make it dark enough um but we made it work [17:50] and then we had this beautiful outline on the walls so the next week when the kids came in they had a plan so we had [17:59] um if you flip to the next slide actually you can start to see their work [18:04] um this is just there's if click it once more there's another picture in there thank you um they put in the work on [18:13] this so they took those outlines we had um printouts of the plan posted [18:19] everywhere in the space so kids could reference it they could find the right colors they could see what was going to [18:25] be next to what um they could really sort of completely own the painting process we had a bunch of parent [18:31] volunteers washing brushes and helping them change out paint making sure the drips were picked up um you know we did [18:37] our best to cover the floors but really every single kid every single class were [18:43] able they were able to um come in and paint on the walls and huge credit to the teachers for readjusting schedules [18:51] and sort of getting really creative about how to make sure everyone could get involved and have an equal opportunity to you know paint a wall at [18:59] school yeah and they really it was it was funny because some third graders walked by and we heard them say we can't [19:06] wait till we're in fifth grade and we kind of looked at each other like oh nope this this is not an annual project [19:11] but but it did give us the idea that or it gave us the um you know it told us [19:17] that this is Meaningful work that we're doing and that it created it created a sense of community and there was [19:22] engagement and one of the best things Kim I think that that came out of the project was at first kids were so [19:28] excited to see their own collage projected onto the wall and they really were so excited to paint their collage [19:35] but logistically that was going to be hard because we had one class come in at a time because already 25 kids running [19:41] around with cops of paint was a little heart stopping um but we had good you know we established good guidelines and [19:47] we had systems in place and and we had parent volunteers and and Kim was a great leader and so it really did it [19:52] worked well but um we explained to kids that this was a group project it was a collaboration and that everyone was [19:58] going to help with all of the painting and so quickly kids stepped up to to work together um you know to paint [20:05] different spaces even if it wasn't their piece um and we were a little bit worried that kids would kind of feel [20:10] like that's my piece like I don't want you to paint it that way or um it was it was it created so much positive energy [20:17] um that there wasn't even room for the negative it just we did it didn't even um occur to kids to [20:26] um uh to to you know compete with each other they were working together and it [20:31] was just a beautiful project to see come alive on the walls and um yeah and one [20:37] that the kids are so excited to gift to Normandale they're so excited that they're leaving a piece behind at [20:43] Normandale really feeling they really felt proud of it yeah this is It's amazing these [20:49] pictures look very calm the kids were so focused but there was a lot of energy in every day of painting they came in with [20:56] maximum energy to do this um and it was really fun to see them when they when they like grabbed their paint cups they [21:02] lined up they got their paint cups and they went straight to work it was amazing um I'll go to the next slide [21:08] please so and then the next one our impact we this is like funny little [21:13] stats but just to show that it was a true Community project it wasn't you know just the two of us it wasn't just [21:18] the fifth graders um I brought in an artist friend my friend Sarah came in weekend my friend Megan came in my [21:24] husband came in and helped um we did a lot of the touch-ups when kids were done painting we sort of wanted to um just [21:31] basically like just touch it up clean it up make sure everything looked really sharp the way that the kids really [21:37] envisioned it um all four classroom teachers we had two interns plus um Madame West in the library came and [21:44] painted for a couple days as well um I was in on the weekends a lot of the weekends so the weekend staff that you [21:49] know called Pat he had to let me in a few days and um just got to know the weekend staff and the admin the entire [21:56] administrative staff was super supportive and excited about the project so this was sort of like the talk of the [22:02] school for a couple weeks and um it was really fun but 12 gallons of paint we went through about 200 something brushes [22:09] and 104 fifth graders contributed so this is um this is just a lot of great [22:14] work um can go to the next one please there they are so that's it so I had a [22:22] photographer friend who was able to um come in and volunteer her time Chelsea Lopez she's amazing we've worked [22:28] together for a few years and she came in and we had what Sarah 15 minutes to get [22:35] it was it was not a lot of time we got a lot done and you can see like just I think that this picture is a visual of [22:42] how um collaborative the process was because we weren't sure that we were [22:47] going to fit a 100 kids in the collab space to take a picture but there I think that they're there might be like [22:53] one exception but everybody's looking at the photographer that in itself is a is a feat but it just shows you like how [23:00] much that they were that they took ownership of the project and how proud they were of the work that they did yeah [23:06] and if you click through the next couple of slides it's more pictures um yeah [23:11] this is kind of part of like you could see the inside of the space and then to the left of that is the locker wall that [23:16] we um that you'll see in the next slide but there's the mac and cheese kind of back [23:22] Center so that was a collaborative original artwork that made it to the wall um but it's really it was [23:29] incredible to see the kids come in and find where theirs was and see how people painted it and they got to touch it up [23:36] usually on their own um and it's fun to see the younger kids come in too and sort of discover things they're like oh [23:42] that's cool there's a switch there's a you know oh that's an Oculus oh that's a dog like mine or pizza and they it's a [23:48] sense of Discovery like every kid comes in and they find something new on the wall um and it brings a lot of Joy to [23:54] the space so I think it's it was a lesson for me sometimes we get we get [24:00] really focused on the on the curriculum that we're teaching and we want to make sure that we're doing all the things that we need to be doing and when when [24:05] we step back and we we make this opportunity available for for students and this was really Kim who made this [24:11] opportunity available for our students it created a whole different um sense of [24:16] of belonging and like it it it was a collaborative project that allowed students to feel engaged and motivated [24:22] and it really brought the the community of fifth graders fifth graders together at Normandale so we're really grateful [24:28] for that piece of it to offer that experience to our students and then we get to keep this amazing artwork um and [24:35] continue to enjoy it so it was a win-win a win-win winwin a win-win win we're gonna click to the next slide and Sarah [24:42] will pronounce what's on the wall and tell everybody what it means right so one of one of my fifth graders worked [24:48] really hard to do and you maybe can remember from a previous slide um we can do hard things um and she she took it [24:56] home to finish it because she wanted to make sure that it was done just right and she brought it back to me and I thought oh gosh like this could be this [25:03] we're a French immersion school and there could be people who are hoping to see French on the walls like that's that's part of our identity at [25:08] Normandale too so can we I I went to her and I said would you please could you um [25:16] also do it in French for us and she was very excited to um to bring it alive in [25:22] French too and so you see it here in French um on one of the walls we have the original English version and then we [25:28] have the French version um and it really is I think the centerpiece of of the [25:33] work that we did together yeah um into the next slide [25:38] please so there you can kind of see it yeah you can see and the next one is actually even better but um this is sort [25:44] of an example you can see the girl on the left her flower and see it on the wall and then that's my son Freddy and [25:51] he made a little potato man that's just above there the little orange potato guy um which was an inside joke with fifth [25:57] graders like the every time they could they would weave in the word patat um but it's part of their the the joy that [26:03] they brought to this project so it's a little inside joke for them and then in the next slide you see um the student [26:10] who created the you can do hard things and then another student who honored her her puppy um in there with some paw [26:17] prints and the dog and then another student who created a little a little character um and the final slide Sarah [26:24] do you have anything to add for these um just that these were students who really I think it was a boost for all [26:32] students social emotionally um and then there were some students who really benefited um who really I think felt [26:40] uplifted by this opportunity to collaborate with their peers and and with yukim um and I and and so it was [26:48] more than just doing an art project together I think that they they left Normandale as fifth graders um knowing [26:55] that they were um supported and love and part of a bigger Community yeah yeah [27:02] that was very cool and then the final slide um they signed it so it's there um [27:10] class of 2024 it makes me emotional um but we did if people want [27:17] to learn more about it we did create a website Normandale mural.com and anybody can go there see photos um there's all [27:25] the photos of all the original art are on that weite more photos of the finished piece lots more detail um it's [27:33] just an incredible incredible process and now it's there hopefully for a good long time because we worked really hard [27:39] on it that's right yeah so there it is come to Normandale and see it it's not it's hard [27:46] to miss it's there for you to enjoy thank you so much that's [27:51] absolutely amazing and um Sarah I apologize I had the wrong teacher's name down for the presentation I want to make [27:58] sure that you um get recognized for coming and joining us tonight thanks I heard you say my name I'm glad to be [28:05] here thank you for invite okay I just wanted to make sure okay I just wanted to make sure I had the right name um [28:10] direct Bergman I saw that you had your hand up yes oh can you hear me yeah okay [28:17] um thank you very much um as a former Normandale parent myself I know exactly [28:22] where this space is my number first of all Amazing Project it's I mean far out there aren't words to probably describe [28:28] how amazing that is the one question that came up to me was how did the rest of the school respond to this amazing [28:36] effort how did all the kindergarteners and the first graders who were in that wing of the building [28:42] and so on so forth as they watched this happen and so so I'm just curious as to how they were impacted by all of this I [28:48] can yeah go ahead I want to just say one thing I think in in the early [28:55] stages Chris Holden was nervous that that kids would walk by and and maybe [29:01] not be respectful of the space or fingers would swipe across the wall unintentionally um and kids were just so [29:07] fascinated they were very careful with the space and they were very in awe of [29:12] the work that was being done and so you could tell that it was meaningful not just to our fifth graders but to the the [29:18] other students in the building as well just by the way that they treated the space when they walked by it there was so much curiosity like an entire [29:27] classroom of kids would quietly walking down the hallway and the teacher would stop think they'd stop and they'd want to look and the teacher you know a lot [29:34] of the teachers would say like yep like you can look with your eyes don't touch with your hands um and when I whenever I [29:39] was there I would say do you guys want to hear what we're doing and so a lot of the kids were able to stop and i' do a [29:44] quick um just kind of introduction of what the project was and what the [29:50] outcome was going to be and they were super excited about it so there was so much curiosity and I love to see that [29:58] and Kim I just want to extend our gratitude to you for volunteering your time and please extend it to the other [30:04] parent volunteers and community members that volunteered it's just amazing and [30:10] clearly impacted the students and the school environment so thank you both for [30:15] the extra work and thank you for explaining what the little potato man was I was actually wondering if it was [30:21] Mr Peanut or a potato so so thank you for coming tonight yay [30:28] thank for having us thank you bye thank [30:34] you um before we move on to our U consent agenda because we don't have any [30:40] hearing for members of the public I have one more thing to add to our excellence in action tonight and I want to make [30:46] sure um assistant superintendent smle is on and can [30:52] hear and um though some of you in the community might not know that tonight is [30:58] his very last board meeting um for Ed public schools and so the board has a [31:05] commendation for direct uh assistant superintendent smle that we will be [31:10] voting on in a consent agenda and I wanted to make sure that it was read into the record um in case for or the [31:18] community wants to listen to it or anyone in uh assistant superintendent Mel's family wants to uh listen to this [31:26] recording um subject Commendation of Randy smle be it resolved that the [31:32] school board commend and recognize Randy smle for his service to be DED of public [31:37] schools from 2012 to 2024 the board hereby expresses its [31:42] sincere appre appreciation and that of the staff and residents of the school district for Randy sm's 12 years of [31:50] devoted service to the to Edina Public Schools in its Affairs During the period of 2012 through 2024 [31:58] for the past 12 years assistant superintendent smle has been instrumental in bringing Dina Public [32:03] Schools Mission Vision and values to life his embodiment of the district's [32:09] mission to help each and every student discover their possibilities and Thrive has been inspiring Dr smle is Guided by [32:16] Integrity compassion courage commitment appreciation and [32:21] responsibility some of his most apparent values are his compassion and Care his ability to listen and collaborate with [32:28] others and his enthusiastic passion for our students and what they are learning [32:33] especially all things science in his roles as both director of teaching and learning and assistant superintendent [32:40] there are very few District initiatives that D um Dr smel has not been involved in some highlights include engaging [32:47] Community students and staff in developing the next gen EPS strategic plan in the early 2010s as well as the [32:54] current 2020 to 2030 strategic plan implementing and leading the coordination of an early childhood [33:00] through grade 12 program to create a personalized learning experience for all students coordinating the use of [33:06] technology and learning spaces to enhance the learning experience for students during Co e Public Schools was [33:12] fortunate to have the leadership in place his leadership in place to launch learning in Edina kids homes Randy was a [33:19] key leader in making this difficult transition and provided collaborative leadership to ensure student engagement [33:25] was top of mind for schools launching our Spanish dual language emersion program at Countryside Elementary School [33:31] our Mary stem programming and our Pathways programming Randy has worked under the [33:37] leadership of three different superintendents who each had the following commendations for him Rick [33:42] dresen Dr Randy smle has numerous leadership talents that have been instrumental in advancing the mission of [33:49] the district his Visionary skills blended with Innovative talents caring ways and collaborative connections [33:55] helped them Champion numerous educ ational initiatives that enhanced personalized learning of all students [34:02] his leadership impact will be part of the ad public schools for years to come [34:07] from John Schultz Randy smle is a special administrator in his leadership [34:12] he is always committed to understanding what kids need for their day-to-day growth and future Randy would often be [34:18] found at Edina schools participating in a variety of activities with d students in classrooms he was found most often in [34:25] science classrooms pushing students to inquire asking them asking them why they are [34:30] amazed at what they see Randy always brings his teaching expertise to conversations with school and Community [34:36] leaders and as a result students are at the core of his work and for Dr Stacy Stanley Dr Randy fil's value for the [34:43] people he works with under underg guards all of his work his warm personality and genuine interest in the well-being of [34:50] others have made him an admired Le throughout the district in the recent years Randy but design teams to launched [34:56] two of our of our new Marquee programs the Spanish dual language program at Countryside Elementary and the student [35:03] space flight experiment program these programs embody the district's vision for each and every [35:09] student to discover their possibilities and Thrive we are grateful for Dr sm's many contributions and wish him much [35:15] happiness and fulfillment as he prepares for this next this new chapter of his life over your years of service to the [35:23] district the board has had the privilege of watching you grow as a leader and work diligently to advance the dinos [35:30] School District's goals in numerous ways we will greatly miss your enthusiasm strategic mindset and compassionate [35:37] leadership the board members congratulate Randy smel on your retirement and extend the collective and [35:43] individual thank you for a job well done go [35:51] Vikings yay do you have anything you'd like to [35:56] add before I have a very very special um presentation from the board for you well I thought that was the special [36:04] presentation that was amazing and thank you um boy um it's humbling [36:12] because there's so many talented incredibly talented people that work in [36:18] E public schools that work for the board or are the board that um work for kids [36:25] and um this is the greatest place to work the families the community the the [36:32] staff the the students I it has been an amazing opportunity for me and I am so [36:41] grateful for that and um I can't think of a a better place to [36:47] spend your career and education this a fantastic Community thank [36:54] you thank you Randy this works better in a board room but we happen to be in the same room tonight so I am going to turn [37:01] my camera off and bring Dr smel or director smel of assistant [37:06] superintendent smle a little present from the [37:26] board thank you expl part of it so you have to open it [37:55] then this is a incredible it's like [38:04] magic there we go right there we finally got it on a board [38:10] meeting thank you thank you so much that's [38:17] fantastic so thank you thank you very much thank you Randy thanks [38:24] Randy okay we're going to move on to our um there were no hearings for members of [38:29] the public um but please feel free to um use our form to fill out if you'd like [38:35] to um provide public comment at our next board meeting we're now going to move on [38:40] to our consent agenda is there anything anyone would like to remove from the consent [38:46] agenda do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda so mooved is there a [38:53] second second we will now vote by roll call to approve the consent [39:02] agenda allenburg I arum I Barry I [39:09] Birdman i gabler i hovie i man [39:16] I I a vote of seven to zero the consent agenda is approved moving on to our [39:22] discussion items we have four items for discussion tonight and first is our strategic plan core planning team [39:29] overview and I would like to turn over to Dr Stacy Stanley and she will introduce our guest [39:35] tonight all right um thank you very much chair allenburg so um every year I bring [39:42] together a group of about 50 to 52 people depending on how many people are there to really dig in and analyze our [39:50] efforts toward realizing our strategic plan um you remember last year when we [39:56] brought the team together they gave uh some feedback that um caused us to change strategy C that caused us to [40:03] extend out our strategic plan from 2027 to 202030 to ascertain that our staff was [40:11] uh represented within our strategic plan in strategy C around staff mental health [40:17] and wellness um so this year uh Paulo Laughlin who was from an organization [40:22] called partner Ed who we contract with to facilitate the processes is going to [40:28] come in and uh share about the days that we came together uh we were able to actually get out and visit sites this [40:35] year as well as provide reports to the um members of the core planning team [40:41] which includes a couple of board members and so Paula are you on I am hello Dr [40:49] Stanley good okay um so um thank you very much for being with us um this [40:55] evening Paula and I will turn it over to you thank you so much superintendent good evening chair [41:02] allenburg Dr Stanley members of the board and see lots of cabinet members [41:08] and any friends fam students and community members that may be watching uh thank you so much for for allowing me [41:15] to uh join you this evening to share about the day and a half that we spent [41:21] with the core planning team and if I may I'm just going to share my screen [41:27] uh hold on just a moment what um hang on just a [41:45] moment okay I believe you should be able to share your screen now okay thank [41:53] you all right let me put this in slid show show [42:00] mode okay whoops I thought it was at the beginning here okay we you're seeing a [42:06] little rewind all right so again my name is Paula Olan and [42:12] I've really had the privilege for three years now uh consecutive years to work [42:18] with the core planning team and have just been so impressed as a former [42:24] Schoolboard member knowing that the Strategic plan is really our North Star [42:30] and the road map by which we all are are working toward those common goals and [42:36] and strategies and strategic priorities and it's just been amazing to to see the [42:41] work of of this Collective group the last few years so as Dr Stanley mentioned kind of [42:49] the purpose of the core planning team really to to come together and hear [42:55] updates uh accountability piece as you know is is really important and so [43:02] receiving those progress indicators and and hearing firsthand from students from [43:08] staff and and from parents in terms of the impact and and the work that is [43:13] being done and just to Echo again what Dr Stanley said that this strategic plan [43:22] originally uh as you know uh the school board was voted uh approved from 20 to [43:27] 2025 the plan span that time and then in lie of the pandemic uh and upon [43:34] recommendations from the core planning team in 2023 the plan has been [43:42] extended all right and of course the real purpose right our students and for [43:48] din for each and every student to discover their possibilities and thrive [43:57] the mission ground Us in that and [44:05] overview so the first meeting in April of 2022 came together and then this year we [44:13] met on April 4th and 11th and again multiple opportunities for the core [44:20] planning team to receive information to ask questions to really dig into to the data and then ultimately come up with uh [44:29] what they what they were able to um process and and analyze from that [44:36] data again as Dr Stanley said that site visits were new this year I I helped [44:42] facilitate the conversations upon the return from the site visits I did not go myself but just hearing from staff and [44:51] students and families and board members just what they were able to to see and [44:57] just uh how much it related to again fulfilling those strategic priorities of [45:03] the district and you'll see here some of the schools the sites that the core planning team members were able to to [45:13] visit so each member was equipped with a journal and a writing utensil and really [45:20] had the chance to interact and again kind of just dig in and and see the work [45:26] in action and really have this experiential opportunity to to see [45:31] firsthand uh the work that has been uh the work that is taking place in in your [45:37] schools and so in their Journal they were asked to answer three different prompts what were those things that [45:43] really stood out what are things that they might want and need a better understanding of and then what are those [45:50] celebrations that we really want to lift up that our students and our staff and families are doing [45:58] this just kind of gives you an oversight it looks very cryptic with all the uh acronyms and and uh the groupings but [46:06] this was just something uh to show the group how all those site visits related [46:11] to different strategies uh the inperson presentations that we had some of them that didn't [46:18] lend themsel um to maybe seeing in person uh for example uh Finance uh with [46:27] with mer who gave his uh presentation uh that maybe it was harder [46:34] to see him in person so uh these were all the the site visits and the [46:39] strategies that they applied to so key takeaways when everyone came [46:45] back we had a working lunch they shared all the responses to those three prompts [46:53] and they did some mind mapping and what were some themes and some things that really stood out uh [47:00] we started in small groups they found another small group and then eventually we had the large group and a large group [47:07] discussion and these were really the four takeaways from their site visits [47:12] and these themes of agency inclusive Partnerships continuity and excellence [47:19] in [47:25] instruction and again a couple of the presentations that the core planning team members were able to hear around [47:32] finance and marketing and some other special student programming with special guests um of the students who came and [47:39] presented uh core planning team members were able to hear more in-depth [47:44] information uh and and progress made toward those [47:51] strategies once again the core planning team engaged in the sore analysis [47:57] so looking at those strengths opportunities and the aspirations and [48:02] the results for all the multiple data points that they saw and really being able to synthesize that data so that [48:10] they can provide some modifications recommendations insight to Dr Stanley [48:16] and her team as they continue the implementation of of the work of the Strategic [48:24] plan all right so I won't read all of these individually I'll I'll highlight a few uh ones that really uh kind of had a [48:34] really came through I think strong and uh for each strategy but here strategy a [48:40] Advan academic Excellence growth and writin there was so much conversation [48:46] and so much pride around letters and just the not only the the results which [48:53] are amazing but really the the effort the collaborative effort between the [48:59] students and the Educators and the families and really coming around to to [49:04] support that learning many opportunities that were that were identified there and [49:11] aspirations around how do we better prepare each student and results what [49:18] are some of those indicators how will we know that we've reached our success and [49:24] lots of a discussion around the Career Technical [49:31] education strategy B ensure an equitable and inclusive School culture so Edina [49:38] unified uh was really kind of the in my personal opinion kind of the the star of [49:45] the of of the whole process this year uh as every year coming in to to Really [49:52] demonstrate and show kind of what the what work is being done to really build [49:59] and um have not only a culture of inclusivity but just a culture of how we [50:05] are are interacting and being with with one another and again moving toward those progress indicators of the of the [50:13] Strategic plan you'll see the opportunities here and the [50:18] aspirations and results a lot of conversation about how do we continue to [50:25] to Foster and and ensure a sense of belonging for each and every student [50:31] staff family member Community any D Public [50:38] Schools so strategy C Foster positive learning environments and whole student [50:44] and staff wellness support excuse I my um forgetting the space missing the [50:49] space between the S and the capital as of support so you'll see the strengths here and again really talking about that [50:57] alignment and and how seeing that across all buildings that social and emotional [51:04] uh growth especially in the in the elementary curriculum opportunities [51:11] aspirations and end results so again conversations about how do we better uh [51:19] nurture and make sure that every safe every excuse me every space is is safe [51:25] and inclusive for for everyone in our schools all right strategy D develop [51:33] leadership throughout the district again the strengths you'll see letters again [51:39] uh Pathways web lot of student leadership groups which were really [51:45] Amplified and lifted up and some of the students that were part of the core planning team uh speaking to their [51:51] experiences so the opportunities there around or your gr flexibility and [52:00] scheduling aspirations talking about uh what are some other additional [52:06] leadership opportunities for students so that everyone can have a chance to to connect and to really serve as as the [52:14] leader that they are in whatever way that looks like for them and then results again what are the the tangible [52:22] outcomes uh that we will that will show and uh provide evidence that we are [52:29] making our our sorry progressing to our desired [52:37] outcome for all students all right and strategy e engage [52:44] parents school and community so again this is I'd have to [52:50] say just in the in the three years one of my big takeaways is the [52:57] um the engagement and engagement of the community uh the care the generosity the [53:05] pride and just really U the willingness to want to be part of this Collective [53:14] that is udina public schools and so lots of strengths that that focused on that [53:20] opportunities how do we continue to include more students more families as [53:28] aspirations and results and again how do we make sure that [53:35] everyone feels really connected and feels that they truly belong uh to Dina [53:41] public schools in in those different different access points to which they can be connected and so working toward [53:51] that all right so again in the LA as we did the last two years after they did [53:56] the sore analysis and we went through the strengths opportunities aspirations results then we talked about all right [54:03] what are some of those celebrations we really want to call out and then what are some recommendations that can be [54:10] passed on to Dr sanley and her team uh similar to the one that resulted in the [54:16] um strategy C to include staff uh as well as extending the timeline of the [54:22] Strategic plan so what are some of those things that Dr Stanley can take facture her team for for [54:31] consideration so first and foremost there always students to be celebrated [54:38] uh again Edina unified communication and marketing Daphne um shared some amazing [54:46] work that she and her team are doing to really um make sure that everybody knows [54:52] about the amazing things that are happening in ID in public schools a lot of talk about the intentionality and the [54:59] purpose by which uh teachers and staff and um educators are are really coming [55:08] together elevating student voice I know Dr Stanley that's something that uh is [55:15] again comes through so loud and clear definitely in the core planning team but just so many other examples in which [55:22] students student voice is really centered and then and the amazing staff [55:27] as well all right so the recommendations [55:33] again these are uh when I look back to the over the three years some similarities around how do we continue [55:41] to elevate awareness about what is going on in Ido Public Schools so more people [55:47] can participate more students can belong and increasing access so what are those [55:52] things with maybe within the systems or structures that can be examined to make [55:58] sure that all students All Families have [56:03] opportunities looking again uh continuing on the work that has uh been [56:09] done and continues to be done around cultural awareness uh talking about um [56:15] again really um amplifying uh the the experiences and [56:23] the breadth and depth of of the richness of the different cultural [56:28] uh cultural um differences that you that you have in [56:34] the uh more intentional in the efforts in strategy B again going back to [56:40] ensuring a sense of belonging for every student every staff every family member and then the last one again [56:47] speaking to that that piece around sharing our story how how do we make [56:52] sure that this uh that we are really making sure that we can tell tell the story and and let [57:01] people know all the amazing things that are [57:08] happening all right so the three key messages that really came through through discussion was the team really [57:16] wanting the public and others to know that it's so much more than just maybe [57:23] what is on kind of captured on on on paper in a document but there are very [57:30] specific action steps that are being uh very [57:36] intentionally um implemented and developed and monitored and and [57:42] continuously responsively adapting to to meet the needs of of of our [57:48] students the accountability piece uh transparency is I know uh a huge value [57:55] of of the boards and Dr Stanley and her team and that was another common theme [58:01] that came throughout how do we continue to do this work as transparently as [58:06] possible and making sure that our community uh can help keep us [58:11] accountable to to Meeting those goals for our students and then the last one [58:19] continuing to to Center the the voices of our students and families and staff [58:26] uh we really can have that Collective impact um of what is possible for each [58:31] and every student and a list there of the [58:39] 2024 committee [58:45] members with that I will stop sharing and I'm happy to take any questions that [58:52] anyone might have thank you so Paula for the presentation board members what [58:58] questions or comments do you [59:08] have Dr Berman thank you um thank you very much for the presentation the information um [59:14] I'm always curious as we go through as we're now in our third year of doing so have we noticed anything or did anything [59:20] come across this particular year that surprised us um either in an area that we excelled or exceeded what we thought [59:27] we were going to do or in areas that popped up that we thought huh we hadn't really thought about that and it really [59:33] kind of surprised us um in an area that we might want to focus on going [59:40] forward so I can speak from a facilitator standpoint but I think that in terms of being able to hear from you [59:48] of course Dr Stanley um the two board members that were there director Gable and and Cher Ellenburg um Gabe lurks [59:56] excuse me uh as well as others who served on on the team I don't think that [1:00:01] there were any surprises um and this might actually sound kind of like a paradox or or a kind of antithetical [1:00:09] statement it wasn't a surprise at just how committed and dedicated and [1:00:16] hardworking this team continuously comes together every year they take their charge so seriously [1:00:25] so um that wasn't necessarily a surprise it was really become kind of a a standard of Excellence and expectation [1:00:32] with this group but uh just incredible to see [1:00:37] nonetheless I think director Birman the one thing that um I feel has been a [1:00:43] consistent theme is every year um we have Educators that go to [1:00:50] different it going to buildings were new but we have Educators being exposed to [1:00:56] what different buildings are doing parents and students being exposed to things and every year it's almost a [1:01:03] revelation what is going on in our buildings and people are so [1:01:10] impressed by the hard work that is going on and I think that's some of the um [1:01:16] background behind people were like we need to tell more about what is going on [1:01:23] because people are just amazed by the work and I think that we're so immersed [1:01:30] in the work on a daily basis that you sort of lose track of if you're focused [1:01:37] on your student and busy um you don't see behind the scenes how much hard work [1:01:43] is going on and so I think that um it's a really hard thing to try to do [1:01:50] communicate all the work that's going on since we we know that um we've been [1:01:55] doing a great job about communicating our wins and people are like give us more give us more show us show us all [1:02:01] the great work that's going on and I think every year I just it's surprising to me only in the sense [1:02:09] that I'm so immersed in it um it's always a [1:02:14] um just a such a good news story that um no matter who it is whether it's an [1:02:20] educator parent or student people are just so impressed by what's going on [1:02:26] kind of kind of like that wonderful Normandale presentation of what we just saw it's a [1:02:31] great example of what you just said and I would add to that too um this [1:02:37] year we got to go into buildings and I think there was that was a really neat new experience and like Cherry Ellenberg [1:02:44] said um to even hear from our teachers who said how valuable it was to go to a [1:02:50] different elementary school or even more so what I heard was elementary teachers saying it was so great to see middle [1:02:57] school because now I kind of understand where my students are working towards [1:03:02] and they just really appreciated that and then I would also say a theme across [1:03:08] the three years is Dr Stanley has done an excellent job of bringing a vast variety of stakeholders to the table and [1:03:16] so it's beneficial Eric talked about how we have a front row seat to a lot of the [1:03:21] work going on but it's so valuable when we're talking about these big strategies [1:03:26] um to have different input from parents and students and teachers on some of [1:03:34] those strategic initiatives to say um you know to share their ideas and then [1:03:39] to you know Paula's group always does a great job of gathering that information and then distilling it out and looking [1:03:45] for themes so I really appreciate having the opportunity to hear from so many different stakeholders [1:03:57] I don't know if there's any necessarily any um surprises I would say a theme is [1:04:03] um intentionality um diligence [1:04:10] um voice common voice and engagement engagement of our staff throughout the [1:04:17] process engagement of um students throughout the process um and [1:04:24] that this the other the other thing that I commonly hear is to know that um the [1:04:30] Strategic plan is not just a piece of paper that um is hanging up on a wall [1:04:36] someplace or is posted on our on our um website it is something that we are [1:04:45] intentionally working [1:04:54] on anything from board [1:05:00] members well I'll just thank both Dr Stanley and um Paula I Dr Stanley what [1:05:05] you said about the intentionality and the um about making sure a strategic plan is living I can't stress the [1:05:13] importance of that and the value that you've brought to the district in doing this and bringing it [1:05:20] to the community um I really appreciate that and I appreciate um Paula and your team's work in doing this on an annual [1:05:26] basis so thank you and thank you for bringing it tonight appreciate it thank you so [1:05:33] much thank you we are going to move on to our next discussion item which is a media [1:05:39] specialist board update um led by Dr Randy smle and um before I turned over [1:05:45] to Randy I just wanted to make sure the board understood that this is a um information update about the media [1:05:51] specialist model for next year um because board members and I know community commun members are interested [1:05:57] in the implementation of media Specialists for next year but the model itself is not up for debor discussion [1:06:04] and so if board members have questions obviously ask them um but I just wanted [1:06:09] to make sure that we're level setting expectations about the intent of what this this item for discussion is [1:06:17] um um superintendent or assistant superintendent swel thank you chair allenburg uh [1:06:22] superintendent Stanley board members and community um I'm joined this evening with Nathaniel Lindley our new director [1:06:29] of media and Technology services and Matt flugum our digital learning coordinator and we're going to provide [1:06:36] an informational update to the board on our media specialist plan uh so the [1:06:42] purpose of that report is to really just share what are the roles and responsibilities of our media Specialists moving forward into the 2425 [1:06:50] school year and to share a little bit about that Staffing model that was solidified through numerous meetings [1:06:57] with principles and media Specialists and again this is an informational update so just for a little bit of [1:07:03] background uh and then I'll turn it over to nathani to talk about process and for Matt to talk about some next steps so um [1:07:12] recall of course that on March 4th um the board approved the budget [1:07:17] containment proposal A1 that included the reduction of media specialist Staffing from 9.0 to 7.5 [1:07:24] FTE uh District leadership partnered with principles in the building we partnered with media Specialists to [1:07:30] evaluate various uh media specialist Staffing models and then we collected [1:07:35] information from District uh surrounding um Idina Public Schools so many [1:07:40] neighboring districs and then a final model was developed for the 2425 school [1:07:45] year and then we will also be developing an evaluation framework for that model [1:07:51] so that we can uh take in information and assess that model for needed adjustments Beyond [1:07:57] 2425 so with that I'll turn it over to Nathaniel to talk a little bit about our process that we went through to get to [1:08:03] that point and then again uh to Matt to talk about next steps and then back to the board for [1:08:09] questions thank you Dr smel good evening chair allenburg superintendent Stanley [1:08:15] members of the school board so the process that we undertook think you're muted [1:08:22] Nathaniel nope you can hear me okay um to design this Staffing model with [1:08:30] the reduction put in place was um setting parameters of what were [1:08:35] acceptable and non-acceptable means to guide the options for Staffing assignments to align with our program [1:08:41] goals the three main considerations we used were structural programmatic and professional [1:08:48] structural considerations included enrollment course sections building Staffing travel and consistency at the [1:08:55] sites programmatic included our strategic directions A1 A2 B1 C4 an [1:09:03] alignment of student experiences digital literacy and stem professional considerations [1:09:10] included the teacher contract the pby guidance the media specialist job description and media programming [1:09:17] models so through these structures we utilize the irod process to gather [1:09:22] information and reactions and work through that frame work to guide the conversation through information [1:09:27] reactions and decision making discussions and feedback sessions were held multiple times with various [1:09:34] stakeholders including the media Specialists Human Resources District leadership teaching and learning [1:09:40] leadership principles and EM representation so on April 15th through [1:09:47] an irod decision-making framework with all principles we led to a staffing allocation model of 3.0 FTE at secondary [1:09:55] and 4 and a half FTE at elementary then on the 19th of April we [1:10:01] presented this Staffing model with the media specialist and the change in Staffing in our elementary schools with [1:10:06] 4.5 FTE was presented and potential iterations of that Staffing schedule [1:10:13] were started to be developed based on the Elementary classroom sections at each grade level [1:10:18] it was agreed that the elementary school would receive either A8 FTE or a 7 FTE [1:10:24] of me media specialist support this requires some schools to have more than one media specialist supporting their [1:10:31] programming and some specialist would need to work at more than one [1:10:39] school think Matt is going to step in with the media programming model thank [1:10:45] you director Lindley chair allenberg Dr Stanley members of the board uh thank you for this opportunity to give you an [1:10:51] update looking at the the program model and what this looks like for the the [1:10:56] schools elementary schools will receive three and a half or four days with that shared model that director lley talked [1:11:02] about uh we prioritize keeping media spaces open and accessible to students so they can still check out books they [1:11:08] can still use some of the technology within the media spaces even if the media Specialists aren't there and when [1:11:14] the media Specialists are present they will be focusing their efforts on teaching classes on coordinating with [1:11:20] teachers and on supporting uh students to uh develop that reading that we know [1:11:26] is so important secondary schools will receive five days of media specialist Services each week uh and we again want [1:11:33] to make sure that our media centers are as accessible as possible within this and we'll be accomplishing that through [1:11:39] um some staffing supports with our media assistants as well as our Tech Pairs and our media Specialists really planning [1:11:45] together to figure out what that looks like media Specialists will continue to develop physical and digital management [1:11:51] of our our curated resources so that students can see themselves eles in the books that they have access to as well [1:11:58] as to help to support classroom teachers in integrating literacy we will work to continue [1:12:04] alignment within the media programming so that K12 we have a vertical alignment and we have horizontal alignment across [1:12:11] our district so every student receives a very similar uh experience and we can count on that experience as we go [1:12:17] through again this has a lot to do with the Strategic plan and we want to focus especially on digital citizenship and [1:12:24] digital literacy as we know that's become so important and will continue to be so as well as [1:12:29] continuing work with steam and computer science as computer science standards are developed our next steps as we move [1:12:36] into the next year the digital learning coordinator and assistant director of teaching and learning uh will help to [1:12:41] establish a daily schedule uh that teachers will understand that will be pretty common across the district so [1:12:47] that our Educators and our students will know when they will have the media specialist present and available to help [1:12:53] support that learning uh as well well as establishing as Dr smel represented a [1:12:58] program evaluation of how do we know that this is working and what elements do we maybe need to put some more [1:13:03] information and effort into assessing as well as goal development as we move [1:13:11] through so with that if you have any questions we'd be happy to [1:13:17] answer board members what questions or comments do you have [1:13:31] Dr gor um thanks you3 for this update and [1:13:37] for the report um is there um is it do you anticipate [1:13:45] that maybe a year from now when you're analyzing the past year and how this [1:13:52] model worked would this either go would the board possibly get an update on [1:13:59] things learned um Reflections on the model [1:14:04] um or you know since since you said they're building out what the [1:14:10] measurement model will look like um is that something that you envision coming back to the board or going through [1:14:15] teaching and learning or just kind of a um management [1:14:22] issue well I think uh that definitely would be something that provides value [1:14:28] to the program and to report on what we set out as our measurement goals and um [1:14:34] being able to see if we accomplish that and then learn from that experience of what adjustments might need to be made [1:14:41] um based on that so I would predict that's a valuable uh thing to do with the [1:14:51] board any anything else from board members [1:15:01] Dr huie um just the assumption is that it's [1:15:07] a evaluation from an annual [1:15:13] perspective or are you looking first year to piece it out even more if [1:15:18] there's adjustment that's needed mid year yeah I think I think for sure I [1:15:26] mean right now we're trying to make the adjustments especially at elementary where the Staffing numbers have changed [1:15:33] to try to see how we can deliver a consistent experience across the six sites given that we're at0 7 and 08 and [1:15:41] so there'll be some immediate adjustments I would guess in the fall as we start working with the schedules at [1:15:47] individual schools of what that instructional delivery looks like um so [1:15:52] I'm predicting there'll be some adjustments in the beginning of the first half of the year as we get comfortable with that um moving from a [1:16:00] full 1.0 in the building that has the flexibility to work with the teachers courses and sections to a more a little [1:16:07] bit more limited availability um but also at the end of the year looking back [1:16:13] at what was accomplished and what instructional goals were [1:16:22] met thank you um director Linley and congratulations on your promotion um [1:16:28] thank you I really appreciate the work that you guys have done on this and I [1:16:34] appreciate the uh work you've done on non-negotiables and trying to keep this as closely aligned [1:16:41] to um or giving as much coverage as possible to our elementary schools um [1:16:48] given the budgetary constraints that we have um I do I would appreciate a [1:16:54] followup up um probably a year to see to better understand given our [1:17:00] non-negotiables how was this able to meet are non-negotiables and then I [1:17:06] don't know if it'd be included in this or a separate discussion but um I really [1:17:11] appreciate you guys pulling out the specific elements tied to the Strategic plan around digital I mean as you [1:17:17] mentioned or maybe as Matthew mentioned how important digital citizenship and integration and information literacy are [1:17:24] as well as our Steam and computer science programming are um I would like to get a better understanding and the [1:17:30] board to get a better understanding of from a curricular perspective um how are we engaging our [1:17:37] students in those and I know that we get so I I guess more from a digital citizenship perspective since we're [1:17:44] getting um steam updates on a fairly regular basis um and but what does that [1:17:50] curriculum actually look like and how are we implementing it consistently AC across the district and so maybe that [1:17:57] could be something else a year from now that we could get some more information about um how are we building out that [1:18:03] capacity um to educate our students on those important [1:18:09] topics [1:18:16] yes anything else from our board members okay thank you guys so much [1:18:24] thank you next we have an Lac board recap I'll turn it over to um director arum and [1:18:31] director Barry uh thanks everybody um know just a [1:18:36] brief recap of the uh 2024 uh legislative session um I wanted to say thanks to Cheryl for all your [1:18:42] help with everything and planning and then um a little bit of a discussion kind of about where we're at what we did [1:18:48] this past year in terms of the uh Lac platform and whatnot we had a very broad platform that focused heavily on um more [1:18:56] policy related things uh since it's a non-budget year um but we did um some budget work as well around letters and [1:19:04] some of the training associated with that uh we mirrored a lot of the um the [1:19:09] larger uh initiatives and platforms of msba and um amsd so um success uh was [1:19:17] judged a bunch of different ways but I feel like we made some um Headway at least for sure in the um the letters [1:19:24] training and then also some of the the mental health initiatives and then also the uh SRO um legislation that got [1:19:30] passed as well or Corrections that got passed um you know just from an event [1:19:36] and activity perspective of the Lac um we hosted an Lac breakfast that had representatives from um all the uh local [1:19:45] um or state legislature as well as some of the federal legislator Representatives that attended we also [1:19:50] had some prospective candidates attend um so that was a well attended event um each each group got to speak a little [1:19:56] bit about their platform what their priorities were and um most importantly I believe the students in the in the Lac [1:20:02] members got a chance to network and build relationships with those um individual Representatives um and that [1:20:09] kind of let us out to the U to the Lac day at the Capitol um we had about I [1:20:15] think it was like 35ish uh people that were went there and we were by far the largest contingency of um students and [1:20:23] communities represented there um we are pulled aside by numerous other districts to say how do you get all these kids to [1:20:28] participate so a big thank you to um the the teachers and the staff who are [1:20:34] encouraging the students to advocate for themselves and kind of push forward with um being a part of the whole process and [1:20:40] so I think we wouldn't be able to do that without the strong social studies Department that we have at Adina um you [1:20:46] know from the other the ongoing Lac advocacy efforts piece of it we mobilized um the students and the [1:20:53] community members as much as possible possible um community members put together some really great um guidelines [1:20:59] for how kids could or students could interact with them and then so we had each one kind of assigned a different um [1:21:06] piece where they were going to go out and contact them either via email phone call or a letter campaign and I think [1:21:11] those are um at the very least very successful from an advocacy standpoint um you know and getting them engaged [1:21:18] with individuals and kind of um responding to the fact that most of the legislators and representatives say that [1:21:23] the student voice is super important so we're we're glad that we were able to elevate quite a few of their [1:21:29] voices um and then we also legislators come visit and tour our facilities um [1:21:34] earlier in the school year uh I believe that most of those legislators came back and said that was a very helpful [1:21:39] exercise to to see um the their program in action and this the different programs um and to be able to speak with [1:21:46] teachers and faculty and District administration um it was very helpful for them as well in the last month or so [1:21:54] we've uh had a several graduating seniors who are leaving Lac so we went through an um application process um to [1:22:02] bring back you know incumbent students who wanted to be a part of it and then add more so um you'll see in your packet [1:22:08] there's a list of um students who are going to represent the Lac for next year [1:22:14] and next year being a um Financial or fiscal year uh there'll be a lot of [1:22:19] activity that we're looking forward to so we'll get started with that a little bit over the summer and then start ramping up in the fall [1:22:26] Cheryl anything you wanted to add um something we heard from some of [1:22:31] the students was they were interested in getting more involved and so now that we have returning students on our board we [1:22:39] are hoping to structure the board slightly differently where we can give those students the opportunity to head [1:22:46] up some of our events for next year um give them more of more responsibility in [1:22:53] contacting the leg lators in planning some of the events so that's going to be exciting and um some of them are [1:23:00] interested in doing more of a social media campaign for us to get the community involved and uh informed in [1:23:07] what we're doing and hopefully get some people willing to um make some [1:23:13] calls for us this year so good things to come stay [1:23:18] tuned involved and uh informed of what we're doing hope guys oh [1:23:27] make some calls for us this year so good things to come stay tuned to move around there we go uh thank you guys all for [1:23:34] invol [1:23:39] informed team effort and as you said um director Aon it's a finance year next [1:23:45] year so it's going to be a even larger effort on everyone's part um so thank you very much um do any board members [1:23:52] have questions or comments okay thank you thank you um we're going [1:24:00] to move on to our next agenda item which is our policy review and I'll turn it over to uh director [1:24:08] gaer thank you chair Ellenberg we have a shorter list of policies to discuss this [1:24:13] evening and the first one up for discussion is policy 506 so I'm going to invite uh assistant superintendent Dr [1:24:21] smle to talk to us a little bit about this policy and just as a reminder this [1:24:26] is a policy that has to be reviewed by the board every year and um there's been [1:24:32] some massive overhaul of this policy within the last I think it was last year [1:24:38] was when we really dug in deep um Dr smel has worked really hard to engage lots of stakeholders and have lots of [1:24:45] different eyes on this policy and so he's going to talk us through some of the changes uh that you're seeing this [1:24:51] time around thank you director um the proposed changes are reflection [1:24:57] of clarifications made to legislation uh updates from the msba [1:25:03] model policy and then feedback from our K12 administrators our Schoolboard policy committee and also our district [1:25:10] Equity advisory committee on our district Equity advisory committee uh they often look at policies to give [1:25:17] other perspectives back to the board um so we have representative administrators [1:25:23] teachers parents and students students that participate in De or District Equity advisory committee so our [1:25:29] district Equity advisory committee met on April 27th to get some feedback about desired changes and updates to the [1:25:37] policy and then we took it to our K12 principles and site leaders in May and [1:25:42] then we also had our legal council do a review in May of the policy compared to [1:25:48] any changes uh via statute Etc and then our Schoolboard policy committee May [1:25:53] 30th and then again we're here this evening so this is uh as uh director [1:25:59] gabler mentioned an annual review of this policy is required um just as a couple of background pieces as a [1:26:07] reminder you'll see the word uh dismissals reference sometimes in policy [1:26:12] 506 and that refers to suspensions expulsions and exclusions and those are not allowed in pre3 except for [1:26:20] situations where non-exclusionary practices have been exhausted and only [1:26:25] in circumstances where there is an ongoing safety threat to the child or others so sometimes there's a little [1:26:32] question about whether or not we can do that or we should do that uh but there are there are situations where that does [1:26:38] still happen but it's only under those circumstances appendix one describes [1:26:43] about 50 different categories of behaviors that um sometimes we have to [1:26:48] provide discipline around or correction around if you will a lot of those categories have asteris that denote that [1:26:55] when the action is at the discretion of the administrator and it's largely based upon maybe some unique or specific [1:27:02] circumstances uh each category of actions is developed with a progressive approach to ensure that behavior [1:27:08] expectations are met and some categories have small adjustments to provide some additional Clarity or better match [1:27:14] desired practice from our administrators um our priority is for students to learn from their mistakes [1:27:21] and so a big part of this policy is to make sure that we are providing an educa [1:27:28] taking it as an educational opportunity to help students understand what was the impact of that behavior and um how can [1:27:36] we better curb that behavior in the future and then parent and student communication are key to the partnership [1:27:42] between schools and families um related to this policy so I'll go I'll walk [1:27:48] through a couple of the proposed changes and then um we can turn it back over to [1:27:54] director Gable here for U for questions with the board uh the first proposal is [1:28:00] to have a a an adapted purpose statement and this [1:28:07] really came from the feedback from our district Equity advisory committee with the desire to really try uh tie that [1:28:14] purpose statement to the vision and Mission and to also really focus on the opportunity for restorative practices [1:28:21] and educating students when they have a behavior that um isn't align with our [1:28:27] expectations and um we can talk about whether that purpose statement is needs [1:28:33] to be adapted or not but that was what was proposed and then presented to the committee uh there's also under [1:28:40] definitions in section three there's a new definition around uh removal and [1:28:45] what that means and that was provided through uh Trevor our attorney as an additional definition and then under [1:28:52] section four under of responsibility we did streamline some of the language uh [1:28:59] at the end of C at the end of D and at the end of e because it was really redundant and we added it to F which was [1:29:06] really about a clarification around reasonable force and when reasonable Force under what [1:29:13] circumstances um um let me back up uh in terms of [1:29:18] reasonable force that um we have school employees are agents of the district [1:29:25] that are not able to use prone restraint for example and so that would not be an [1:29:30] example of reasonable force that would be a limitation to that so there's some language that we added in F to [1:29:36] streamline um CD and E and then I will [1:29:41] fast forward to Roman numeral number eight where we [1:29:47] add some additional language about restorative practices and again this came out of our conversation with the [1:29:53] district Equity advisor advisory committee and the desire to be a little bit more clear about what that is about and then there's some bulleted [1:29:59] descriptions of what disciplinary action may include but not be limited to and so [1:30:04] we added a little bit of information there about um what restorative practices refers to and then I will jump [1:30:11] to uh section Roman numeral 17 where it says open enrolled students [1:30:17] um we just remove some of the legal references in the body of the policy and [1:30:23] so we just have those General legal reference statements so that we're more consistent with how other policy is [1:30:30] written and then the actual specific legal references are listed at the back of the policy in terms of the appendix [1:30:39] um our principles have developed a few updates to the appendix around first [1:30:44] second and third offenses as indicated most of it is minor cleanup for consistency or to better align with [1:30:51] desired practices um one that I'll point out is under physical infractions for 16 [1:30:59] 17 18 uh is the statement that school administration remains or retains [1:31:05] discretion to advance to higher levels of discipline based on the severity of an infraction just because there's such [1:31:11] a variation um that can occur under those categories so they wanted to be able to [1:31:18] have the ability to elevate that up if that really is at the level of a second or a third type of offense um in terms [1:31:26] of the other um items and adjustments again most of them are cleanup items or [1:31:32] consistency items and then the last thing I'll add is [1:31:37] that upon approval uh which would come back in July uh we will do an update in [1:31:43] our superintendent uh back to school letter and we'll also do an update in our website and then this information is [1:31:49] sent to families um we would do an update for staff in the fall in service and then [1:31:55] one of the things that would be a great next step for our administrators is just [1:32:00] training around inrat reliability on the use of the rubric given different kinds [1:32:06] of behavior scenarios because that's an opportunity for us to continue to grow the way in which we consistently apply [1:32:12] the policy so with that I'll pause and see what questions our board members [1:32:21] have uh assistant super attender pule I don't have a question but I do have a comment um around the purpose statement [1:32:29] that you alluded to and um I like some of the updates I'm struggling with two [1:32:35] things about the statement one is the very last sentence um about our ultimate goal to [1:32:42] provide each student with the necessary tools and support to navigate challenges develop resilience and discover their [1:32:48] possibilities and Thrive I absolutely agree with that statement however I don't know that that [1:32:56] to me I don't know that that belongs in a purpose statement about student [1:33:01] conduct and discipline that to me reads very much like a our ultimate goal for [1:33:07] the district from a social and emotional perspective I think that when we're talking about student conduct and [1:33:14] discipline our ultimate goal is really what the first two senen talk about is [1:33:22] having a safe respectful supportive school learning community and that's what the ultimate [1:33:28] goal of discipline is um I could see maybe if we want to include that [1:33:34] statement I could see maybe adding it to like the statement about students below [1:33:39] I just struggling with having that in the purpose of student conduct and discipline um and then my other comment [1:33:47] um or question is I I love the statement through an [1:33:55] equital approach to discipline I'm struggling inserting the use of [1:34:00] restorative and restorative alone because I don't know that that I feel like it's a [1:34:08] little disingenuous because our approach to discipline is fairly balanced we have [1:34:13] a lot of different types of discipline um I think that we can strive to want to [1:34:20] be restorative um the real reality is that [1:34:26] they're um that's why they have 50 pages of an appendix is because there are [1:34:32] times when education and restorative practices work and there's probably times when they don't and [1:34:38] so um I don't know if like we could under [1:34:43] the purpose statement talk about like striving to be restorative um I I [1:34:51] or if we want to have a broader conversation as a board about what restorative disciplinary practices mean [1:34:58] and is that the purpose of our discipline I'm just struggling with it feels like a sh a real shift to me that [1:35:06] we haven't really discussed as a as a board or district and so I'm just [1:35:13] um I'm a little uncomfortable with adding that um to just to update our purpose [1:35:18] statement without broader discussions [1:35:28] thank you for that chair elenburg um helpful clarification about that and [1:35:35] this is why it comes twice to the board is to kind of have some opportunity to [1:35:40] discuss and so um other board members [1:35:46] I'd love to hear your thoughts on that um as we work to get this to be a [1:35:51] purpose statement that we all feel comfortable with and we feel like is [1:35:57] um indicative of what we're striving for [1:36:06] here go ahead Michael so Erica I'm just trying to make sure I understand you're saying the the [1:36:13] second sentence through a restorative and Equitable approach to discipline the way that that's worded [1:36:20] did I hear you correctly when you said you thought that our only approach is through a restorative process and you [1:36:25] were concerned about that that was a shift can you just I didn't quite follow which language part was the most raising [1:36:32] for you I said that I think that only saying through a restorative [1:36:39] approach to discipline because I'm I'm concerned that we [1:36:47] actually have a multiple types of discipline but in our purpose statement we're being we're limiting it and saying [1:36:53] in our purpose statement that we are offering restorative [1:36:59] discipline and we're not reading any other types of discipline right and so you're you're [1:37:05] using the word only in a in a pretext of what the meaning of this is it doesn't [1:37:10] obviously say that the only it's the only way to do it but it's your your concern is that it could be implied that [1:37:17] that's our only approach is through a restorative and Equitable approach to discipline when there are multiple ways [1:37:22] of doing because then if you look actually down in the definition I mean it's it depends how you're defining [1:37:30] restorative and we've actually defined it below as a type of discipline restor [1:37:36] practices but they had a lot of other types of discipline and so I'm concerned that like putting it up in the purpose [1:37:42] it looks like we're defining all of our discipline as a restorative approach to discipline so I'm concerned we're [1:37:49] limiting ourselves in the purpose statement got it okay thank you [1:37:55] I don't want to put the cart before the horse but I'm wondering if I put this idea on the table and maybe the rest of [1:38:01] the board will come back and say actually we really like that sentence but I'm wondering if we would take the [1:38:07] first part of that sentence off we strive to create cultivate a culture of [1:38:12] accountability growth and understanding because within that we talk about I mean [1:38:18] growth is about part of restorative is a growing process and understanding and [1:38:26] accountability um I wonder if that would be an [1:38:31] option can you say that again Karen sorry I wasn't tracking with so this I'm looking at that second sentence with if [1:38:39] we removed the first Clause so it would just say we strive to cultivate a [1:38:45] culture of accountability growth and understanding [1:38:50] Elliot uh if we want to yeah that that I I think would be fine I'm fine either way I was say if we want to keep [1:38:57] Equitable in there as well we could say um we strive to cultivate an equitable culture of accountability um and then [1:39:04] that still and I think that still includes [1:39:09] having an equitable approach and then we still have restorable or restorative practices in our um definitions too with [1:39:17] that it's amendable I guess but I'm fine either way um I guess I don't strong you [1:39:23] don't do okay Cher lber thanks I would like to [1:39:28] keep in there and I and I have no opposition to the [1:39:35] um what's the word I'm looking for for the like thought around restorative I'm just wondering if there's a different [1:39:41] word other than a specific word restorative because I think since we're [1:39:46] using it as a definition below as a type of discipline so I think if the team [1:39:54] could maybe just work on um that clause and if if we do want [1:40:00] to say some type of if we do want to make a statement about an approach to [1:40:06] discipline um that is a similar type of phrasing [1:40:14] just I don't want to pigeon hole ourselves with that one specific word if that makes sense yeah I think I think [1:40:21] what's really important is that there is a lot of elements throughout the rest of the edits if you go through all the [1:40:26] document there's a lot more reference to restorative practices throughout different elements and you'll see that [1:40:32] in the blue as you go through the edits so I think we can accomplish what you just said I think your point I think has [1:40:39] a lot of ability to restorative practices is an element of discipline as opposed to the core of [1:40:47] all discipline and while I didn't necessarily read it the way that you're interpreting it I could understand based [1:40:53] on how you've presented it that could raise a question in some people's mind so I think that's where I would sort of [1:41:00] think we're we're doing what you said in the rest of the document this part I think there could be some word smithing [1:41:06] around that okay before we take it back just so [1:41:11] that I make sure I have the consensus of the board there's been a recommendation [1:41:16] that that second sentence is word smmi a little bit to maybe make sure that we [1:41:22] are talking about that an approach to discipline has many different approaches and that might mean taking some words [1:41:28] out um but we feel fairily comfortable that we want to keep Equitable and the [1:41:34] second half of that sentence am I understanding the board that that is how the majority of the board [1:41:41] feels okay great and then the other recommendation on the board was that the [1:41:46] third sentence maybe gets further worked out or maybe even [1:41:53] eliminated how are people feeling about that [1:42:01] see any thoughts it was my recommend I would [1:42:06] agree I would agree I would agree the removal part of it if well I shouldn't say I I'm not I don't think it has to be [1:42:13] removed but the reality is is I don't necessarily know if it needs to be in the purpose [1:42:19] statement okay anyone have strong feelings in the opposite direction great [1:42:25] um administrators I do want to give you an opportunity based on what you've heard or if you want to kind of uh share [1:42:32] your insight into why it might work to keep some of those things in or some things that we you've heard missing from [1:42:39] this conversation yeah I I really appreciate the conversation and the time with the [1:42:45] board um I'll go back to the conversation we had in the district Equity advisory committee with the need [1:42:52] to help people understand both families and students that part of what this [1:42:59] policy is about it's student conduct and discipline and part of what this policy is about is also educating kids about [1:43:06] the impact of their behavior so there was that recommendation from De about [1:43:11] how do we do that how does this policy articulate that in the purpose that part [1:43:17] of what we're doing is we're not only just curbing that discipline curbing that behavior in a punitive way but [1:43:23] we're also educating kids at the same time and that was that was the feedback that we got from Dee but I think there [1:43:29] are some good suggestions about some word smithing that we can do and what I hear is we haven't quite landed on that [1:43:37] but we can take that back and try to evolve some of that language a little bit to adapt for the conversation we had [1:43:46] tonight okay thank you Dr smle I really appreciate the work not only this time [1:43:51] but through throughout um the last several years to really get this in working shape and we hear from our [1:43:57] administrators they really do use this policy um and really refer to it so I [1:44:03] appreciate the work on it and board members thank you for this discussion it's very helpful thank you okay then we [1:44:10] are going to move on to policy 717 and um I this is a policy that we [1:44:17] discussed last month and there were some specific questions that came up around [1:44:23] who had the permission to view the video and I might call on Dr Stanley a little bit to add her perspective on this um [1:44:31] because it did come back to the committee and there was a specific question around [1:44:37] um that the policy did not directly address that school resource officers [1:44:43] can view video and law enforcement can view it at their request and so the question was do we need to state that [1:44:49] specifically and Dr Stanley do you want to talk a little bit about about kind of the thought process behind why we didn't [1:44:56] feel like it needed to be specifically called out yeah for sure you know we checked in [1:45:02] um with Trevor and what he explained is [1:45:07] that in situations where there is something criminal that has happened [1:45:12] something that is serious enough to rise to the level of working with the police that we provide that data to them um we [1:45:19] own the data ourselves and there's a lot of data there that is um private data [1:45:25] that might not pertain to something that is specifically a child that is specifically involved um he looked at a [1:45:32] variety of policies and so we're going to share that data with SRO but it [1:45:38] doesn't mean that they ought they or the police department would come in and just be able to say I want to see the data [1:45:46] from June 8 the video from June 8th if that makes sense [1:45:54] thank you and I think another question um or as we were talking about it too the superintendent has the ultimate [1:46:02] decision in terms of who would who would be able to view that video and I because [1:46:08] I know there was another question that came up from a board member that talked about you know what if we had something happen where um another school district [1:46:15] needed information and it's it's um in the jurisdiction of the superintendent [1:46:21] um to decide when video would be viewed by people outside employees certain employees of [1:46:27] the school district so with that being explained [1:46:34] does that does the board feel comfortable with this with 7117 moving on next month for [1:46:41] Action okay great thank you and thanks Dr Stanley all right next up we have a [1:46:48] conversation around uh two policies 805 waste production and Recycling and 8811 [1:46:55] environmental resources management and we have director Woodard here to walk us through these two [1:47:02] policies yeah thank you director Gaber uh the policy committee um through a [1:47:07] couple of different meetings actually I think is moving towards recommending that 805 be um actually repealed for the [1:47:15] simple fact that it reads a lot more like a procedure or administrator manual um which we believe is not to be the [1:47:21] intention of Schoolboard policy nor is it practical to administer to the fullest extent at all times at the same [1:47:27] time we believe that 805 lists a number of values the school district believes in and we wish to have those live on [1:47:33] within other policies which is why we've recommended a couple of amendments to policy 11 which we believe um keeps [1:47:39] those alive within policy 811 those two being a reference to recycling and the [1:47:45] um another reference to the procurement of recyclable or otherwise sustainable Commodities um one thing to note is that [1:47:52] the Minnesota school boards Association does not actually have model policies for these two items and so we're kind of [1:47:58] running alone on this matter at this [1:48:04] time thank you for that director Woodard um and just to restate what he what [1:48:10] director wood talked about the policy committee as we started to review 805 [1:48:15] specifically it really got in the weeds and the details of prescription of how [1:48:22] the school SCH District should do all of these things and generally in practice [1:48:27] policy should be um much broader and kind of visionary on things like this [1:48:34] and the management side of things then is tasked with the implementation of we [1:48:39] are going to recycle we are going to make sure that we are um preserving natural resources with the decisions [1:48:46] that we make and so on and so forth so I just wanted to kind of add some color up to that as well board members do you [1:48:53] have any questions chair [1:48:59] Ellenburg um I totally agree with um consolidating the policies I think [1:49:05] actually the appendices to policy 805 are more important than the policy itself and so my question is where would [1:49:14] the appendices to policy 805 live would those move to policy 811 [1:49:19] or because it talks about how to get rid of medical waste um and things like [1:49:27] that director Whitter do you want to speak specifically the appendices the medical waste question we did talk [1:49:34] about um and it sets expectation for sites that you will have a recycling [1:49:41] program um like will those live [1:49:48] somewhere you know I say that I would say that some of those items are things that we would naturally do anyway so um [1:49:56] you know to the extent that this might affect how we view other policies um you know my personal opinion would be that [1:50:02] we we wouldn't necessarily go to that extent um on this policy because we then might have to go to that extent on all [1:50:08] other policies um but again that's that's the will of the school [1:50:19] board I think the question is I think the question is whether or not the appendices as it has those calling out [1:50:27] items if it doesn't live in a policy but it kind of falls into the operational [1:50:34] unit that is responsible for that that's there right it it it still [1:50:40] lives and breathes as what we do it just doesn't take the form or gets its quote [1:50:45] unquote authorization out of policy which I'm fine with I'm just [1:50:51] wondering where it would live which I'm wondering is maybe that's how it ended up in policy because there wasn't a natural place for it to [1:51:02] live yeah I would say that if we were to maintain those appendices as they are now um then our recommendation of [1:51:08] actually removing 805 is actually um kind of pointless at that at that point [1:51:14] so I guess I'm not understanding the question I wonder if I'm understanding [1:51:19] you correctly Cher elenberg um director wood some of these things that are in [1:51:25] the appendix are kind of discussed and worked on through go green committee [1:51:30] buildings and grounds kind of the day-to-day operations is that fair to say and and we do designate we do have a [1:51:38] policy that calls out our go green committee am I remembering that [1:51:45] correctly oh Dr Stanley I think some of the conversations that we had was related to [1:51:56] um whether or not a policy [1:52:02] should go that deep into the funnel very specifically those were [1:52:07] those were the conversations that were had on the policy committee and whether or not having it's kind of hard to talk [1:52:15] about 805 without the context of 811 and so in [1:52:20] 811 it moves the work to [1:52:27] um to more of a I don't know any other way to say except to say to more of a policy level so that what is so specific [1:52:34] and laid out step by step in 805 in the appendices it's brought up maybe [1:52:42] to instead of um being deep deep in to [1:52:47] the very steps it says the district will focus on the following areas of Environmental resources in management [1:52:54] reduce the amount of energy consumed reduce the amount of resources consumed [1:53:00] um separation and recovery of recyclable waste which some of those things that are um procurement and recyclable [1:53:07] sustainable Commodities so some of those items that are very specified [1:53:14] in the appendices they're in 811 it's [1:53:19] just not to the very specific steps and um individuals were wondering [1:53:28] if that should be the very specific steps should be in [1:53:33] policy and to clarify I'm not disagreeing I'm just wondering where in our district then [1:53:40] does this information reside like probably in probably in building [1:53:46] and grounds manuals okay that's that's all I'm wondering is making sure that somewhere in our district this [1:53:53] information lives somewhere so when we have a new building Browns person come [1:54:00] on that they actually see oh the district expectation is that we're recycling fluorescent lights or whatever [1:54:08] it is that's that's all I'm saying is making sure whatever's here lives somewhere in our district I absolutely [1:54:15] agree it should not mean a policy manual it's way too granular for a policy manual I just want to make sure is [1:54:21] living somewhere they don't lose this [1:54:27] information noted that was [1:54:33] it other questions comments discussion around this recommendation to Sunset 805 [1:54:41] as a policy the practice will still live on but through more procedures and and the [1:54:49] management side of things and move forward with [1:54:57] 11 everyone okay with that okay great thank you director Woodard and um [1:55:04] outgoing buildings and grounds um supervisor um for working on [1:55:14] this okay then these policies will all move forward for um approval [1:55:22] next month thank you director gaer and policy team and everyone that worked on that um [1:55:30] we're going to move on to our action items do I have a motion to approve the 2024 Metro cell adult basic education [1:55:36] joint Powers agreement second okay I don't know who [1:55:43] did what but hopefully and I'll second okay there we go uh director [1:55:50] Leland good evening it's wonderful to be here with all of you tonight uh this is [1:55:56] yet again our agreement with Metro South consor and this is a longstanding [1:56:02] agreement we have with Bloomington Public Schools who is the Fiscal Agent [1:56:08] who helps us provide programming uh family literacy programming which is [1:56:14] robust we are in year two of some really great family literacy programming which [1:56:20] means that we've got um parents coming in or caregivers with their with their [1:56:26] little ones um they have time together learning together as families and then [1:56:32] there they go their separate ways for a while and um our parents and caregivers [1:56:38] get some really good information from our ECFE facilitators so it's just been [1:56:44] wonderful we also have a growing program around adult basic education and um we [1:56:50] are thrilled to have our our community members take classes to learn English [1:56:56] and to learn skills that will uh possibly lead to great things um [1:57:02] literacy numeracy all of the things that we do prek K12 we also do with our [1:57:07] adults so um leading to Great careers there were minimal changes to the [1:57:14] agreement however they are uh Bloomington is going through a bit of a transition so I was able to talk to [1:57:20] their assistant superintendent about some of the changes um to the agreement [1:57:27] we needed to update the uh language around the workforce Innovation and [1:57:34] Opportunity Act that has changed um a few years ago and they had old language [1:57:40] uh adult basic education lives in title two federally of the workforce Innovation Opportunity Act and they had [1:57:46] some old language there um I caught some things here and there as this was what I [1:57:51] used to do for living in the adult education field at the state level so um [1:57:56] it's been a good it's been good programming and I'm happy that you are [1:58:03] here to approve this agreement thank you director Leland um [1:58:09] questions or comments for board members hearing none um and do you want [1:58:17] to call do the roll call for this vote allenberg I [1:58:26] Aram look like an i Barry hi Birdman hi gabler hi [1:58:37] hovie hi maam I I don't know if you need me an [1:58:43] but I sorry I a vote of 7 to zero the 2024 [1:58:48] Metro adult basic education Droid Powers agreement is approved thank [1:58:54] you do I have a motion to approve the preliminary budget for fiscal year [1:58:59] 2025 so move second second Dr [1:59:07] Woodard thank you chair alberg uh we have finally reached the conclusion of a process that formally began in November [1:59:14] of 2023 informally began actually in late September and early October um at this point none of the information [1:59:21] throughout our dozens of uh public and non-public meetings has changed all this information again was provided at last [1:59:27] month's work session um the only change is that the packet um that is included in tonight's materials looks a little [1:59:33] bit better it's branded with our our Edina colors I'll quickly go through some highlights before moving towards uh [1:59:39] recommending the formal action for board consideration page eight of our executive summary tonight um list the [1:59:47] revenues and expenditures of all district funds however we'll focus on the general fund portion of our budget [1:59:52] for now there's one minor revision and one major revision to our fiscal year 2024 budget um last fall and in spring [2:00:00] when we developed our budget for the current year um conservative estimates regarding interest revenues were used um [2:00:07] those in the uh who follow the Federal Reserve um noted that there were four or [2:00:13] five rate hikes or Cuts rather um predicted by the FED at that time uh we did not get four or five rate Cuts in [2:00:20] fact rates have stayed higher for longer we're expecting that stance to to continue for at least half of next [2:00:25] fiscal year um so we're going to upgrade or um improve our interest Revenue [2:00:30] projection for both this fiscal year and for next fiscal year um returns of about [2:00:36] $625,000 in excess for the current year budget which is great in terms of State AIDS no material [2:00:42] revisions final enrollment for this school year should end within 10 to 20 of our budget which is within well [2:00:47] within the acceptable range for next school year are 8630 expected um average daily membership is also [2:00:54] being maintained we'll look at updating that next November when we get our October 1 enrollment counts that we're [2:01:00] going to reports this state for fiscal year 26 Revenue the one major revision we have [2:01:06] for fiscal year 24 which was also the impetus for our fiscal year 25 Burg process was the $4 million or so of [2:01:13] additional staff compensation as a result of collective bargaining agreements being higher than expected um [2:01:18] we live in a highly inflationary world at the moment and Collective bargain in Agreements are following that inflation [2:01:24] so we've added $4 million to the expenditure budget this year that $4 million has continued on to next year [2:01:29] and has in fact grown um with steps and lanes for those employees overall expecting the current [2:01:35] fiscal year to end at about 5.87% unassigned fund balance which is slightly higher than the 5.67 that we [2:01:42] discussed over the previous weeks and months uh please note that at this stage all figures are un audited uh we may [2:01:50] overperform or underperform in certain areas due to um unexpected dispersement [2:01:56] timing so if we expect to pay for something in June but that actually is paid in July we have to account for that [2:02:01] in a separate period and vice versa so those timing changes can make differences to the way we report our [2:02:06] fund balances that being said we've um budgeted in such a way that any variances to our budget will likely be [2:02:12] favorable rather than reductions to fund Ms fiscal year 2025 at this stage as I [2:02:19] mentioned earlier is exactly the same as the the bird process indicated so that includes a $3.62 million budget [2:02:26] reduction I would like to add that over the last two years um we've done Cost Containment measures to the tune of [2:02:32] about $ 7.62 million at this time none of those reductions to my knowledge has resulted in one single licensed [2:02:39] classroom teacher being terminated due to means of unnatural attrition I think that's a celebration for the district [2:02:45] and something that's going to be more and more difficult to um repeat as the years go on hopefully we won't have to [2:02:50] have Cost Containment to this this degree in the future we are expecting I believe two years of fiscal stability [2:02:57] we'll revisit our five-year um projection um in October or November this coming [2:03:03] fall moving to the Food Service fund on page nine you'll notice significant increases to both revenues and [2:03:10] expenditures that's uh due primarily to the the free meal program um so not only [2:03:15] are we now receiving um the highest Federal reimbursement rates from both the state and the federal government [2:03:22] we're also noticing a lot more participation um so more revenues um that's also being slightly offset by um [2:03:28] increased cost of course we're serving more meals that cost more money um but that fund is going to continue to operate in a structurally balanced [2:03:35] manner with no support from the general fund which is exactly what you want from your special Revenue [2:03:42] funds page 10 depicts our community service fund um which like the food service fund continues to operate [2:03:48] without any financial assistance from the general fund um in the current year fiscal year 2024 we're expecting a [2:03:54] healthy addition to the fund balance of about $300,000 and we expect the fund balance [2:04:00] increases for fiscal year 2025 and Beyond on the next page in the building [2:04:07] construction fund we've increased investment earnings soil much to the general fund higher rates um have lasted [2:04:13] for longer than expected and also we're expecting decreased expenditures next school year due to the completion of the [2:04:19] countryside project this school year um so that's a a designed spend down that occurred this school year um next school [2:04:26] year we'll be back to normal ltfm projects for the next few [2:04:31] years finally we have our last governmental fund The Debt Service fund um not too much excitement in this fund [2:04:37] all this fund is directly um contributed to our principal and interest payments for our general obligation bonded debt [2:04:44] that supports our long-term facilities maintenance program as well as the 2025 voter approved bond which was in the the [2:04:50] level of about 13 $4 million so we'll continue to pay that off over the next 10 [2:04:57] years and that's the conclusion of our of our budget for next school year um we [2:05:02] recommend that the school board adopt it as presented tonight and with that I'll turn it over for any [2:05:11] questions questions for board [2:05:17] members Dr bman uh just as we've said all the time [2:05:22] um just want to reiterate again thank you mert and Dr Stanley for the continued financial management um all these different mechanisms and the [2:05:30] education not only to the board but to the community as to how we're doing this um and we're executing exactly like we [2:05:35] said we would and hopefully we can continue to provide the best financial [2:05:40] scenario that is given to us um by all the variables that are at play so I just [2:05:46] want to extend my appreciation for all that work thank you director bman of director [2:05:56] gor thank you um I too wanted to say thank you for this report um this is a [2:06:03] this is a beautiful report I mean it really looks it's a NIC looking report and it's very informative and very well [2:06:10] laid out and so I don't know if you have intentions of putting this on the website but I would encourage you two [2:06:16] because it is or maybe even having some hard copies I don't know I feel like I want to just hand it out to everybody [2:06:22] and be and share how School financing Works um and I also want to thank you [2:06:29] director W in Reading in your consent agenda you uh the M report you also [2:06:36] saved us some money there too in terms of our underestimating or overestimating [2:06:41] so I want to thank you on that okay I do have some questions though um my first [2:06:46] question is on the on page [2:06:52] um of the general fund page eight um under other financing sources [2:07:00] um I noticed that we have a number for 23 but not for 24 and 25 is other financing sources things like [2:07:07] contributions we takeen through pto's Ed fund things like [2:07:13] that yeah good question director G so other financing sources refers to things [2:07:18] that are actually not considered Revenue under general account ing principles of the United States um so this would be [2:07:25] things such as the proceeds of bonds if we sell a bond that considered another financing source rather than a revenue [2:07:32] um you know it's just kind of a a technical accounting term in the way that we have to produce our financial [2:07:37] reports so last year that 1.27 million refers to um a capital note that we had [2:07:43] issued um to procure some buses um and also some technology equipment and so [2:07:48] for next school year if and one the school District um uh intends to sell a [2:07:54] capital note which we have already kind of said that we would do um at that time we'll revise the fiscal year 25 budget [2:08:00] and move that um into the other financing sources category and out of the expenditures where I have kind of a [2:08:06] placeholder um until we actually make that formal intention so good question and on the foot side the other financing [2:08:12] uses would be um dispersements for construction basically we're moving funds out of the general fund and into [2:08:19] the building construction fund so those are considered financing uses rather than ongoing [2:08:24] expenditures okay thank you for that clarification um I thought another interesting and this is my last qu [2:08:31] comment I guess on page 14 the general fund balance history and comparison was [2:08:37] really interesting for me to look at um as we as a board talk a lot about our [2:08:42] our fund balance and just to kind of see this comparison um was an interesting [2:08:48] data point for me so thanks for including that [2:08:56] thank you director G any other questions or comments from board [2:09:02] members okay um and I think we're ready for a r call vote allenberg I arum I [2:09:10] Barry I Birdman I gabler I [2:09:17] ovie hi man I I vote of 7 to zero the [2:09:23] preliminary budget for fiscal year 2025 is approved thank you director [2:09:29] Woodard to have a motion to approve policies 714 716 718 720 721 801 802 804 [2:09:40] 808 and 8813 so moved is there a second second [2:09:46] second director gor [2:09:52] thank you the only two that I want to draw to your attention um 721 was uh there was a question asked [2:09:59] last month about background checks for um Trainers for animals in our schools [2:10:05] and so there you will notice on 717 that that has been explicitly um that has been called out [2:10:12] in there and then also a cross reference to our policy that um deals with uh [2:10:20] background checks for our our volunteers and then the other one that I wanted to call out to you is [2:10:26] 8813 which is our Aquatics policy um we have just made sure that it is cross [2:10:32] referenced with our health and safety policy uh because that's the overarching policy that kind of drives some of those [2:10:39] things that are mentioned in 813 so any questions about this otherwise we'll [2:10:45] move forward to a vote on this slate of policies [2:10:54] I think we're ready to vote an allenberg hi arum hi Barry hi Birman hi [2:11:08] gabler uie Hi man [2:11:14] hi I apologize I didn't hear director gabler's vote did you vote director gaer [2:11:19] my internet froze I okay um by a vote of 7 to zero policy 714 716 718 720 721 801 [2:11:29] 802 804 808 and 813 are approved nice for policy [2:11:36] committee um are there any committee [2:11:42] updates director Bergman um I just wanted to share with everyone as uh edina's representative of [2:11:51] Intermediate School District 287 I also got to participate in the graduation ceremonies at Several of their campuses [2:11:57] for the different programs that they have um which included many Edina students and families and it was a real [2:12:05] pleasure and joy as it is every year to celebrate uh our students in that [2:12:10] District uh completing uh their education uh programs and continue on to the next stage of life so I just wanted [2:12:18] to share that uh it was a wonderful uh rep presentation for Dina uh in those [2:12:23] ceremonies so thank you thank you director Birman and congrats to all those students for [2:12:29] graduating um uh before I move on to superintendent updates I just wanted to point out um to make sure families um [2:12:37] and the community see our information item about days off next year um that connect and assessed day will be earlier [2:12:44] than last year um to enable teachers to analyze data prior to um student data [2:12:50] prior prior to school starting and then there is going to be an additional day off next spring um we do not know which [2:12:57] day yet um but that's an additional um day for um educator training around the [2:13:04] read act um and as soon as we know the day we will be voting on that um to do [2:13:09] an update to the calendar but I just wanted to make sure that um families saw um that information item and now I'll [2:13:16] turn over to Dr Stanley for any superintendent updates [2:13:21] all right thanks Cher Lumberg so um director gab you are absolutely right that that um budget report is beautiful [2:13:31] and um that budget report actually even received an award and so um director [2:13:37] Woodard would you turn on your camera if you're still there because I really want to recognize him um because of the work [2:13:45] in um just the level of detail of the [2:13:52] report um IND Public Schools earn the certificate of excellence and financial [2:13:57] reporting from the association of school business officials International this was our first time [2:14:04] receiving this award as a district and now that he has put in place this [2:14:10] comprehensive type of report um and as long as he continues [2:14:16] to provide this um [2:14:22] as for um our audit um we will now continue to earn this award in [2:14:30] perpetuity so congratulations Mt I know that that was a goal of yours um Mt put [2:14:37] that down as a goal of his for his continuous Department Improvement plan two years ago and it was just really [2:14:45] exciting and thrilling um to receive that email um saying that uh his [2:14:50] Department was being honored for that so congratulations to mer and um the entire department on your [2:14:57] work for that all right I do have a couple of um Communications that I [2:15:03] received um that I'd like to read to the community and this is from Brit the she's a first grade teacher at Creek [2:15:09] Valley I think it's is it TH or is it teas I know that I know that Erica would know for sure th okay um she says Dr [2:15:18] Stanley I had a guest teacher in my classroom this past Friday she's a veteran Chicago Public Schools [2:15:23] teacher she started subing full-time this past fall in surrounding districts and only Subs in Dina on Fridays she was [2:15:31] very complimentary of my first graders reading she made a point to write quote unquote by the way your class is [2:15:37] advanced in their reading for first graders I have been teaching in the distance since 1996 and this is my 15th [2:15:45] year teaching first grade never once has a guest teacher pointed out the quality of my reader [2:15:51] as an entire class I can only think that the difference is our deliberate focus [2:15:57] on Phonics I've been using hegr for many years but that paired with Sunday has [2:16:03] truly made a difference with my students I myself see a difference in the quality of reading in my class to share but have [2:16:10] but to have a complete stranger point out pointed out made me feel so proud of [2:16:16] all the hard work we have been doing I thought you might like to know that I appreciate the work we are all all [2:16:23] uppercase letters doing as a district to provide our students with the gift of [2:16:28] being able to read that is pretty [2:16:34] incredible um and then this comes from a parent and she writes to to Sarah me she [2:16:41] says Sarah I wanted to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for your unwavering dedication and remarkable [2:16:46] efforts in nurturing the growth and development of your students particular particularly my son over the past year [2:16:53] and a half I've witnessed firsthand the profound impact you have had on his life your patience kindness and tireless [2:16:59] commitment to helping him overcome speech challenges have been nothing short of transformative your ability to [2:17:06] create a supportive and inclusive learning environment has truly made a difference in his journey it is not an [2:17:12] exaggeration to say that you have changed his life your Innovative approaches tailored interventions and [2:17:18] genuine care have not only helped him improve his speech but have also instilled in him a newfound confidence [2:17:25] and belief in his abilities the progress he has made under your guidance is nothing short of remarkable and for that [2:17:33] I am eternally grateful your passion for teaching and your genuine concern for [2:17:39] each student's well-being shine through in everything you do your dedication [2:17:44] goes beyond the classroom as you consistently go above and beyond to ensure that every student feels value [2:17:50] You' supported and understood from the bottom of my heart thank you for being [2:17:56] such an exceptional educator and Beacon of light for my [2:18:03] son and then I have one more here and this is from um she's actually a teacher [2:18:11] in our system um and Bianca writes hello Amry my name is Bianca suglia you you [2:18:18] will remember Bianca was one of our um candidates for Minnesota teacher of the year and I am writing as a parent of two [2:18:25] kids who attend kids club at Countryside and as a staff member in EPS fourth grade North Normandale I wanted to let [2:18:32] you know how much I appreciate the palpable difference that the entire Kids [2:18:38] Club staff have made in my life these last two years a special shout out to [2:18:43] Jane Tierney Lucas Bates and the fabulous Countryside Kids Club staff Brian Libby Owen and Christa each and [2:18:51] every one of them all bold printed has been extremely responsive positive [2:18:56] creative and collaborative in ensuring my two daughters have a positive experience in their care these last two [2:19:03] years especially this personalized and culturally proficient approach is not [2:19:09] only validating in opening doors for my family as it operates so efficiently on [2:19:15] the healthiest side of the cpss Continuum but it is also empowering B [2:19:22] printed for me as a mother and a teacher to see my daughters growing and evolving [2:19:27] thanks to these amazing staff members and the community ed family I would really appreciate it if you could [2:19:34] somehow disseminate all of this feedback to everyone that I mentioned to celebrate their [2:19:40] successes thank you for the huge difference you are making each and every [2:19:47] day um we we had a graduation 614 students [2:19:53] graduated the other day we um are just super excited and pleased for them and [2:19:59] then um I just had to smile because we also had a lot of students start um [2:20:05] their drivers in class and when you walk past that classroom they are sitting there straight up diligently listening [2:20:13] to their teacher um summer programming started uh through Community Education [2:20:19] and we have literally thousands of kids who are back in school and um having [2:20:25] just so much fun uh with Innovative programming and so kudos to the Community Education Department also for [2:20:31] their summer programming and um congratulations to all of our EA Public [2:20:37] Schools graduates thank you so much Dr Stanley [2:20:44] um I think that concludes our meeting so I don't do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting so move [2:20:51] is there a second second I we will now vote by roll call [2:20:58] to adjourn the meeting allenberg hi arum hi Barry I [2:21:08] Birman i gabler i uie i man [2:21:17] I by vote of seven to zero the motion to adjourn the meeting is approved and we are officially adjourned thank you [2:21:23] everyone have a good night