[1:36] tonight is Monday March 13th then we do have a quorum so I'll call this meeting to order [1:42] um do I have a motion to approve the agenda for tonight's meeting so moved second [1:47] we will now vote to approve tonight's agenda all those in favor of approving tonight's agenda say aye [1:53] aye the agenda is approved um Dr Stanley would you please review tonight's agenda for us [2:00] absolutely so really excited about our excellence in action this evening [2:05] um we'll have discussion um about legislative action committee [2:10] work we're going to get an update on our preliminary operating capital budget [2:16] we will have policy review quite a few policies coming through we are going to [2:21] hear one more time about our K-5 science curriculum [2:28] and we have policies that are actually coming through that have been reviewed before [2:33] and then we'll give our updates we are moving into a closed session related to [2:39] employee negotiations thank you Dr Stanley moving on to our excellence in action [2:45] and tonight's excellence in action segment will feature Edina High School students and staff who are going to [2:51] share experiences from their trip to Vietnam and international travel opportunity that's recent that was [2:56] recently reinstated since the pandemic we're going to welcome our student presenters Claire Shane and will [3:03] seidelman and then our staff presenters are Edina High School social studies teacher of the year I might add for the [3:10] state of Minnesota [3:16] Chris Griggs sorry if I embarrassed you um and then edit High School assistant principal Jen Carter so welcome [3:45] it was almost unbelievable that as a group we were there and throughout the [3:51] time that we traveled in Vietnam we saw the north we saw Central Vietnam and we saw South Vietnam [3:57] and again it was just such an impactful opportunity for each student to be able [4:03] to experience this very immersive experience and so I will um just a [4:08] couple things I want to include the picture here on the left is one of the times where we stopped at the airport before we were flying from Danang to Ho [4:16] Chi Minh City where students had the opportunity to reflect they kept a journal throughout the experience and [4:22] the other picture is from when we went to a cooking class and students again had that hands-on experience I'm going [4:29] to turn it over to everyone else to speak about what was impactful for them [4:36] oh there we go thank you [4:42] um at the at the outset of of these types of uh the planning for these types [4:47] of Tours like back in 2019 for this one um I often bring up the the phrase learn [4:53] learn by doing and um we we had lots of moments like that on [5:00] this experience one of the ones up here in the picture that I've highlighted uh [5:05] is a moment where we were invited into the home of a um uh air force uh veteran from the North [5:13] Vietnamese Army and we went into his home and we had this uh really rich [5:19] discussion about the war the American War as they call it there [5:24] um and so we had a just various opportunities and various uh different [5:31] subject matters that came up in that conversation um related to the war that we just [5:36] simply couldn't get if we were in a classroom um and then also just [5:42] on a more basic level the fact that we were in the home of a Vietnamese person just gave us this access into daily life [5:49] there that we just it you know it's just just not something we can get uh just every day uh anytime [5:56] so um a couple different ways to access a different style of learning a different [6:02] kind of learning that uh that I felt was pretty impactful um yeah [6:10] someone the most impactful things to me is one night in Vietnam we our tour guide uh like [6:17] um gave us this opportunity to go into this Public Square and just talk and find a conversation with anybody and so [6:24] me and a friend we found these two teenage girls and we just started a conversation with them talking to them [6:30] about their daily life in Vietnam their school their travel experience and just [6:35] whatever they wanted to talk to us about um and this experience really gave me a [6:41] new look onto the like um daily life of a teenager in Vietnam [6:47] and it made me reflect in my own life and how like uh privileged I am and it [6:54] was just a really good experience and it also gave me an opportunity to like [6:59] positively represent our diet community and All American teenagers to [7:06] um these two girls and also everybody else who met on the trip foreign [7:13] s that were like super impactful coming back one of them being we were in Hoi An [7:19] which was one of the Cities we stopped along um and that was like a big opportunity to shop and with that came bartering and [7:25] that was like a big difference like that kind of like challenged me between you know you literally just tap your card [7:31] here and you're good to go but then there you'd have to like kind of barter down the price and I was really nervous about doing that initially and then it [7:37] became like a really fun game um along the way so that was like one of the most impactful things and then the [7:44] second one was um at the first stop we went to Hanoi which is in North Vietnam and uh to the [7:53] Hanoi Hilton which is where like John McCain a lot of American prisoners of War were and we were there and one of [7:58] the pictures I included was like all of them having fun and playing basketball and like new Converse and I remember [8:04] walking out and talking to Mr Griggs and I was like were they like actually like prisoners of War like this seemed like [8:09] really fun and then it kind of was like the realization oh this is like propaganda we're in North Vietnam so that was another like like aha moment [8:17] when we were there where I was like oh there's multiple perspectives to a war [8:22] um not just the American point of view so I'll leave you with our final picture [8:28] that we had after the growth of traveling with this group of 15 amazing Eaton and public school students we [8:35] thank you for all of your support as the changes and at one point um it never looked like this would happen but we [8:41] thank you for the opportunity to represent our school in Vietnam [8:49] [Applause] [8:54] well thank you so much for coming and speaking to us and thank you for representing our community so well in [9:02] the district of Edina and being good stewards of both our district and like you said our [9:08] country as well over in Vietnam really appreciate it and learning about the opportunities it's just wonderful [9:14] okay we are going to move on to our consent oh we have no Community comments [9:20] today so we're going to move on to our consent agenda and um [9:26] it wanted the board to know that there was a late add to the consent agenda for hires um Jennifer frielick was added [9:33] she's replacing Lisa Hawthorne who has retired so that it is in the packet but [9:39] it was added this afternoon so I just wanted the board members to know that that was added to the consent agenda do [9:45] we have is there anything anyone would like to remove from the consent agenda [9:51] do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda [Music] so moved is there a second second [9:58] we will now vote to approve the consent agenda all those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed the consent agenda has [10:06] been approved we're going to move on to our discussion items and our first discussion item [10:11] um is an Lac legislative action committee mid-session update from director Greene chair of the Lac [10:18] great thank you chair allenberg the legislative action committee just wanted to do a quick [10:25] um mid-session update to the board that was included in the packet tonight with kind of the activities that have gone on [10:31] since we started meeting this past September two things to note we did have [10:37] a very successful Lac legislative breakfast that took place on January 24th and we had just about 60 attendees [10:45] there and it really built a lot of momentum up to what we took place last [10:51] week which was March 8th we went down and had the day at the Capitol that the Lac hosted and it was just fantastic we [10:59] had over 20 students join us and the board was with us and Dr Stanley and we [11:07] met with legislators and we had one-on-one time and we really worked at communicating our priorities [11:14] to the session um one of the other things that we did do was we did present a letter to our [11:21] local representatives and it has since been shipped out to other legislators outside of our district but [11:28] in lead positions on the cross special education cross subsidy really asking [11:33] for this session to rectify that and really get us moved in the right [11:38] direction in terms of not just special education but also ell [11:44] so that was just a quick overview two things or three things that have [11:49] happened since this document came out one is it looks like our Lac will be meeting with representative Lori Pryor [11:55] in the next coming days which is great she is chair of the education policy committee for the house so we will [12:02] continue to Advocate as much as we can and then two the high school newspaper [12:08] zephyrus came down on the capital date and followed us around and reported they have started putting stuff out on social [12:14] media if no one has seen it they are really pumping things out and it's getting a lot of traction with photos [12:19] and quotes and all sorts of things so I thank zephyrus for their coverage of that and look for that social media and [12:27] then number three is if any community members are listening and want to help get engaged send us an email at [12:33] legislative.action at edinaschools.org or you can go on to the school board [12:39] part of the website and find letters of legislative action committee information but please continue advocating along [12:46] with us this is a super super important session for education so [12:52] that's it unless board members have any questions are there questions from board members [12:58] well thank you director green and director Aram and director Shaw for all the work you've done on this it's been [13:04] amazing to see all the students on the Capitol and really excited about [13:11] potentially what could come out of this session so thank you our next discussion item is with [13:18] Business Services director Mark Woodard and it's our fiscal year 2024 preliminary operating capital budget [13:30] thank you [13:37] good evening chair allenberg members of the board Dr Stanley those in attendance tonight many school districts across the [13:44] state including Edina will typically bring the operating capital budget for adoption before the full budget in June [13:50] this allows the administration to order some of those items that require long lead times while in advance of July 1st [13:56] so that we can get them into place and ready for staff and students many of the items that are listed as [14:02] part of The Proposal are items that are recurring in nature although the the amounts May differ from year to year [14:08] I'd like to call your attention to the item at the very bottom of the list the 550 000 Cost Containment recommendation [14:14] so that's a budget item that will be budgeted but not used and all that money will go towards our Cost Containment [14:21] recommendation of four million dollars in total um I have no other comments besides that [14:27] so if you have any questions I will field them now I think we do plan to bring this item to the April regular [14:33] meeting for a full approval board members [14:39] I have a quick question mark could you please explain the difference between or [14:44] could you explain exactly what adjusted pupil units is so there's not confusion [14:49] in the community how that's not actual students in our district absolutely so adjusted pupil [14:55] unit is simply one way the state measures attendance and the revenue that's derived the first step is to [15:02] measure the average daily membership of a student then there's a waiting factor between first or K through sixth grade [15:09] students and seventh through 12th grade students each K through sixth grade student can derive a maximum of 180m [15:16] whereas the 7 through 12 can derive 1.2 which becomes the actual pupil unit so [15:22] pupil units will always outweigh average daily membership which is more of a head count [15:27] thank you anything great thank you very much [15:34] our next discussion item is our policy review with our policy committee chair director nibble [15:41] thank you chair allenberg um thank you mert for staying up here just [15:47] to give a presentation of our seven some of our 700 series policies these were [15:53] discussed at our last policy committee meeting with several suggested updates [15:58] as noted in the board packet and I'd like to invite to walk us through what that is maybe we'll just take all of [16:05] these together as a lump and just go through them okay thank you thank you director [16:12] Neville before I begin going through the policies I'd just like to remind the members of the board that [16:17] um the Slate that are that is before you tonight has been reviewed in detail by both the finance committee of the board and February 6th as well as the policy [16:24] committee last week or perhaps the week before I can't remember now policy 701 establishment and adoption [16:31] and modification of the school district's budget the main changes or proposed changes to this policy are [16:38] section D paragraph three the 2021 special session required that the county [16:43] auditor Supply individual homeowners with additional financial information regarding the school district this is [16:50] something we already do as part of paragraph E I thought it was important to make sure that the current [16:55] Administration and future Administration comply with this and make sure that the county auditor has the information that [17:00] they need otherwise they'll put all zeros on the tax parcel mailing which [17:05] you may have noticed last year Section 5 modification of the budget [17:10] paragraph a has been a proposed modification rather to include the [17:16] revenue budget and not just expenditures this then makes portions of paragraph C [17:21] redundant so that's been suggested as a deletion [17:27] foreign [17:33] policy 702 fund balances the main changes here are concerning the minimum [17:39] fund balance the committed fund balance and the assigned fund balance Section 5 minimum fund balances The Proposal at [17:46] this time is to offer a ceiling to our minimum fund balance of 10 rather than [17:51] just a floor of six this provides additional Financial Security and gives the board a governance tool to have a a [17:58] higher fund balance Target rather than just a six percent also it defines the [18:03] calculation for deriving the percentage it was not on it was not clear before the language was added [18:11] section 7 committed fund balance years ago the district had a policy to have a [18:16] two percent committed fund balance that was since revised to one percent and we're proposing that that be brought [18:21] back up to two percent again enhancing the district's Financial Security for context the committed fund amounts [18:28] of one percent represents about one million dollars so this would bump that figure up to two million dollars which [18:33] the district can easily do by rearranging the fund balance assignments that currently exist and Mer if I could ask that we just [18:40] pause for a moment we had what I thought was a really helpful explanation at the policy committee discussion about the [18:46] different fund balance definitions which is included as part of the policy language but if you wouldn't mind just [18:53] for the community and for the rest of the board providing that General overview it'd be very helpful absolutely [19:00] so the government Accounting Standards Board offers five different fund balance categories which all public entities [19:06] must use those are the non-spendable portions of fund balance so those are items that are paid for in a previous [19:12] period but will be used in a subsequent period for example inventory if I buy a collection of books on June 29th they're [19:18] really going to be used in the subsequent school year so those become a non-spendable fund balance there's then [19:23] the restricted fund balance those are residual values which must be restricted for purposes determined by the state of [19:29] Minnesota operating Capital would be one of those any leftover money in that fund must be used for those purposes in [19:36] subsequent years there's the committed fund balance that's an unassigned fund balance that [19:41] is committed by a school board action so the school board could pass a resolution saying that x amount of funds must be [19:48] used in subsequent years for a specific purpose um the assigned fund balance is similar [19:55] to the committed however that's the designation made by The District administration for example we have a [20:01] assigned fund balance of about 3.8 million dollars for severance costs and other post-employment benefits that's [20:06] one that the administration proposes on a year-to-year basis and finally the most unrestricted portion of the fund [20:12] balance is the unassigned that can be used for any lawful purpose determined by the school board or Administration [20:20] thank you so that brings us to Section 8 assigning [20:26] a fund balance the way this read previously it really fit the definition of a committed fund balance so I propose [20:33] striking that language and replacing it with language that allows the administration to propose assignments [20:38] however those assignments would need to be approved by the school board via the annual Financial audit [20:46] any questions on 702 [20:52] policy 703 accounting no updates here with the exception of some minor [20:58] language and grammar changes [21:03] policy 704 annual audit again no real changes or updates to this policy with [21:08] the exception of language that links the audit policy to the fund balance policy language changes that I just referenced [21:13] as part of policy 702 specifically the assignment of fund balances by the administration [21:22] my apologies I had a comment back on 703 I got lost in the 700s which one that I [21:30] um wanted to ask about on the appendix [21:36] um the inappropriate expenditures number one [21:42] this is really nitpicky but can we change secretary to Administrative [21:47] Assistant because I don't believe that's their title anymore [21:54] so are you you're talking referencing what in the language says Secretary's Day yes [21:59] yeah I think it's an administrative assistant I think yeah thank you just to be um and then thank you sorry [22:06] um and then in the same policy I just had it in front of me but then I flipped [22:13] um [Music] [22:19] there was one place where I I'll find it afterwards but there is one place in this policy where it [22:26] used his and her verbiage that needs to be changed to there [22:32] um so if 703 could just be reviewed again to make sure that um [22:37] it's gender-neutral pronouns thank you that's it thank you thanks for pointing those out [22:45] policy 705 the development and maintenance of a fixed asset inventory system the only change or proposed [22:51] change here is a definition item defining what a fixed asset actually is [22:57] that criteria is actually published in our financial audit on a year-to-year [23:02] basis so I thought I would point that out as well as Define what we think an asset is so no real changes to the [23:09] policy besides that [23:14] policy 706 again no changes of substance here except for an addition to the exhibit [23:20] which describes allowable Investments the vast majority of the school district's funds are held in Money [23:26] Market funds at either Minnesota trust or the Minnesota school district liquid asset fund I thought it would be [23:31] important to specifically note those as part of our allowable Investments [23:38] moving on to policy 707 again no real changes of substance here only minor language updates that provide a little [23:45] bit more clarity and I believe that brings us to the end [23:50] of our policy review for non-instructional operations thank you mert much appreciated any [23:57] other questions from the board that you'd like the committee to review before we bring it back [24:03] okay thank you thank you very much policy committee [24:09] um that concludes our discussion items we're now going to move on to our action items do I have a motion to approve the [24:15] K-5 science curriculum so moved is there a second second [24:21] thank you Julie and Regina um we're now going to welcome up Mark Carlson to discuss the new science [24:28] curriculum [24:39] good evening chair Ellenberg uh superintendent Stanley and board members [24:44] thank you for having me back again to talk about K5 science [24:50] um just here today to to seek your approval for the purchase of Mystery Science as [24:56] our core curricular materials for our K-5 students beginning in the fall of [25:02] the 23-24 school year um just a reminder some of the key [25:07] components that we really liked about the program was it aligns very well with the new three-dimensional standards it's [25:14] a very flexible tool that teachers can use it's very easy for teachers to use [25:20] and we also feel it's really a good backbone for future steam work in the [25:26] district so if if there are any other questions I'd be happy to answer them but we're just here today to seek your [25:32] approval for that purchase questions report numbers I don't have a question I just wanted to [25:39] make a comment um thank you so much for bringing this forward tonight for Action we have looked at this a lot over the [25:44] line had a lot of discussion and I'm just thrilled that it's going to be hitting classrooms in the fall so thank you you and your team for all your work [25:51] thank you I just have a couple questions just to make sure if a Community member hasn't followed along that they understand [25:58] could you explain the basics of the 3D curriculum that you just mentioned sure [26:04] um 3D represents the the way the standards are kind of aligned and and the way they're kind of set up so if we [26:11] if we look at standards in the past they've been much more very fact oriented whereas now it's it's [26:18] really about students being more scientifically driven so they're they're [26:23] looking for as as they look at their science it's going to include a cross-cutting concept it's going to come [26:29] include science and engineering practices both of those also along with the scientific concept that they're [26:36] learning so those three things are going to be woven together kind of throughout all of the lessons [26:42] that students will be doing throughout the year and then um could you just explain where are we [26:48] in the phase of rolling this out and when are we anticipating it being completely rolled out to all the K [26:54] through five yeah so we we would have it completely rolled out to K5 starting at [27:00] the fall of this 23-24 school year great thank you very much for the information you're welcome [27:06] anything else great we will now vote to approve the K-5 science curriculum all those in [27:12] favor of approving the curriculum say aye aye anyone opposed the new K-5 science [27:19] curriculum is approved thank you very much for all your work um do I have a motion to approve [27:24] policies 301 302 and 613. so moved is there a second [27:31] and we will go back to our policy committee yes we had an opportunity to discuss these on February 13th there are [27:39] no changes since we last discussed these policies [27:46] oh sorry about that do any board members have questions before we vote on these three policies [27:54] we will now vote to approve policies 301 302 and 613 all those in favor say aye [28:01] aye aye anyone opposed policies 301 302 and 613 are approved [28:08] we're going to now move on to board leadership and committee updates um do we have any committee updates from [28:14] any committee chairs I just had one quick thing that I wanted [28:19] to say before moving to superintendent Stanley for her superintendent update [28:25] and I don't know if anyone noticed but over the weekend there was a hockey [28:31] tournament and a lot of people in our community were engaged in that tournament [28:37] um and I wanted to just acknowledge and tell our students [28:42] not just our hockey students but we had our girls hockey team come in third in the state [28:48] we had a wrestler coming forth in the state we had our dance program did do the best that they've ever done in the [28:54] state tournament before so many wonderful things happening with our students [29:00] I am in a very very competitive person no one in my family likes to play games with me or watch sports with me [29:07] um but I want to make sure that our athletes and other student leaders are so proud even though they didn't come in [29:13] first coming in second in our state third in our state fourth in our state [29:18] is such an amazing accomplishment something most people never ever ever achieve [29:24] and I want to make sure our student athletes our other student leaders that [29:30] participate in academic events band theater whatever you do [29:35] you know how proud our district and our community is of you and I just wanted to pass that a message on and know that no [29:43] matter where you are on the scorecard at the end your hard work and dedication to [29:49] your craft makes you it's your winner so I just wanted to say that here [29:54] I have one comment if I may along the same lines I'd like to just acknowledge [29:59] um and the wonderful job that director Neville has done as far as Valley View Middle School's the theater production [30:05] of Beauty and the Beast I had the privilege of attending that with my family my daughter who's a sixth grader there this past weekend [30:13] um that was an absolutely amazing performance of our middle school students at Valley View and listening to [30:19] the commentary from other families and other people who attended it was such beautifully produced and directed and [30:25] not solely for director Neville's purposes I know she's just one component of that but it just goes to show to the [30:32] Excellence that you just described about everything that our students do and our programs that we do we get to see them [30:38] in all sorts of different facets and it's something that I was quite proud of first as a parent but then secondarily [30:44] as a board member of our wonderful District so congratulations on such a wonderful outcome [30:50] thank you as I think we all know we have phenomenal Arts programs as well in [30:55] addition to our Athletics so a lot to be proud of in Edina all around thank you [31:01] thank you thank you very much Dr Stanley I'm gonna Echo exactly what you just [31:07] said um over the past month I have had the opportunity to attend incredible [31:14] performances theater performances I've had a chance to spend time with our [31:21] students watching them in their athletic endeavors I just want to congratulate all of the [31:27] many Hornets on all of your successes throughout winter sports throughout winter activities [31:34] brings our community together in a way that is different than anything else [31:39] that we are doing and I just truly appreciate that it is truly living out our mission our mission says that [31:46] through academics and activities and opportunities we are helping to build [31:53] varying skill sets including creativity our theater production including [31:59] um including developing critical thinking skills including encouraging [32:05] collaboration all of those pieces are so important and [32:11] I just want to thank all of our students because of you you're bringing us together across the community so thank you for that [32:17] the other thing I will say one of the best things is to meet our Alum who are so proud of you I want [32:26] all of our students to know how much our Alum are proud of you grandmas and grandpas I met an Alum who graduated in [32:33] 1949 the other day and he was just so proud to be there and to be honoring our [32:40] students so thank you for that another thing that I want to note is uh [32:46] last time I mentioned that we had a couple of teachers who had been recommended for Minnesota teacher of the [32:53] year I'm really proud to share that Giovanna margoli has moved on as a [32:58] semi-finalist she is a fourth grade teacher at Cornelia for Minnesota teacher of the year so congratulations [33:05] to Giovanna really excited for her for that [33:11] thank you I also want to congratulate David Higley he is one of our [33:19] Edina virtual Pathways teachers and he was selected as the February National [33:26] virtual teacher of the month by the virtual teacher Association so [33:31] congratulations to David [Applause] and then uh Normandale Elementary was [33:42] identified as the best of Edina finalist in the annual [33:50] survey so finalists for the annual best of Edina were just announced by Edina magazine in Normandale Elementary French [33:57] immersion school is among those on the list of best language immersion programs [34:02] or schools readers are invited in January to well they were invited in [34:08] January to vote for the best Edina has to offer and winners the official [34:13] winners will be announced in the July issue so congratulations to Normandale [34:19] clap clap clap and then finally just received an [34:27] incredible note from a parent and she writes hello Ms Pryor and Dr [34:33] Stanley I'm sure you are busy with all the weather related decisions but I [34:38] wanted to give a quick shout out to a few people at Valley View Middle School there have been a variety of personal [34:44] highs and lows this year for my daughter at Valley View Middle School with the most recent that she has had covid I [34:52] just wanted to recognize the following staff for going above and beyond Jennifer Smith and Ann Lindquist and the [35:00] Valley View Health office these are two superstars working with my daughter on various Health needs that have come up [35:06] throughout the year but especially with the recent covet diagnosis they helped [35:12] us process decisions related to covid and went way way way [35:18] above and beyond to make sure we had tests as requested I cannot put into [35:24] words the Gratitude I have for how much these two have patiently helped our [35:30] patient and our family Kim Griffiths Valley View math teacher [35:37] she's my daughter's math teacher she has also gone above and beyond and trying to help my daughter succeed this year in an [35:44] advanced course she not only works with her on content but has also met with her multiple times [35:51] outside of her regularly scheduled class to work on organizational skills I am a [35:58] math teacher myself and Ms Griffiths is an inspiration for what it looks like to [36:03] go above and beyond to help a student reach success not only with the content but life skills too [36:11] the snow this snowy day seemed like a great day to share some bright spots in [36:16] Edina Public Schools thank you [36:24] so lots of great things happening in Edina Public Schools and really pleased that I could share those [36:30] thank you very much Dr Stanley so as Dr Stanley said before we actually have a closed session right now and so I'm [36:37] going to recess this part of the meeting but know that we are not coming back so [36:42] this will end this portion of the meeting and I will be adjourning our meeting from our closed session that [36:48] will technically be opening but it won't be for a while and it will be in a [36:53] different room so there won't be no more video feed from now on so we will be in a recess now for five minutes thank you [37:00] everyone