there we go all right call the meeting in order we do have a quorum tonight uh Rick could you walk us through the agenda please certainly will um good evening everybody uh we did have a work session earlier tonight so that's the one meeting we've had prior to this regular board meeting uh at that meeting we received construction update from both our construction management firm and our Architects and how we're going to continue to move forward with our next generation public schools and there'll be action being taken later tonight on a variety of those topics we also had a brief leadership update just to catch up as we continue to move into planning for the 201617 school year as we move in tonight the board will approve minutes we'll be hearing from the audience we have several audience members who want to address the board tonight we have a consent agenda item that I'll talk about a little bit later those are again pretty straightforward items uh under the report item we'll do a leadership update uh again just giving highlights of some of the things happening with within the district we have two guiding change documents these are all both problem solving documents that help shape how we're going to move forward the first is going to be around daily schedules as we look to the fall of 2017 what the uh daily schedule will be at an elementary level Middle School and High School level so it'll be framing up how we study that and gather data there's some preliminary work already occurring we're going to talk a little bit about the start and end times to the school day again this would be for the fall of 2017 it's a document that'll help shape how that goes and the board approv that before before we begin that study we have some policies that we'll be looking at and then under the action item we'll be taking a look at office schematics as it relates to our construction the elementary construction bids uh that will actually be rejecting there's a high school construction bids will be moving on uh the Improvement site Improvement document the administration's recommending we move forward on that we have a termination and non-renewal recommendation this is an annual uh work that we do administratively and that's a roll call vote for that and both that and on the unrequested leave recommendation ations we also have the general fund alignment plan that the board first learned of at the March meeting we'll be taking action on that we've got an update on our teacher evaluation plan we've got some materials to purchase both in the area of reading we learned a lot about that at the pre at last meeting as well as our learning management system which is going to be called schooly we uh identify the key board dates for 1617 and finally do some more policy review before we close out the meeting uh for tonight great thank you very much the first item on our agenda is approving the minutes from the March 14th work session and the March 14th regular meeting can I get a motion please so second all right are there any uh changes or questions regarding the minutes hearing none all in favor vote I I any opposed motion passed the next item on the agenda is hearing from members of the audience uh we do welcome input from the community before the school board we do request several things one keep any of your presentations to three minutes uh second try not to repeat what other people have said I do notice as I look through here there a number of people speaking I think on the same topic um please comply with policy 206 which is board policy some aspects of that are not to discuss individual employees or individual school board members typically we do not have discussion at the time that presentations are made I know that for one of these topics there will be later discussion um and if you have additional comments please feel free to share them with the board afterwards in writing the first person is Miss hacket could she please come up come up and grab one of the microphones hello again just gonna read a letter have my three minutes started they'll start yes right now okay I am here to speak on behalf of the 408 change. or petitioners and countless other Adina community members who were concerned to hear of eps's plans to replace four grass fields in our community with artificial turf with crumb rubber infill if you choose to continue down this path you would be committing this community to an influx of approximately 120,000 groundup tires where our children play sports tires that have been proven to contain multiple toxic chemicals you would be making a financial commitment on behalf of eps parents in the Adina community of millions of dollars you would be spend spending our tax dollars on a substance that many parents will not allow their children to play on there is simply not enough known about this substance in terms of its short and long-term effects on human health and the environment the consumer product safety commission which was the initial government agency that declared Crum rubber safe to plan on has now backtracked on its position the federal research action plan on recycled tire Crum rubber infill has promised the deliverable of its initial findings by the end of 2016 don't you think you owe it to your community to wait until these findings come out what would be the negative impact on EPS in this community if you waited eight months and in that time allowed your constituents to have a voice in this decision at least with that scenario you the superintendent and Schoolboard are not solely responsible for this crucial public health and environmental decision in the opposite scenario you ignore the voices of your community and move forward with artificial turf with crumb rubber what is your contingency plan should information emerge from the federal study and others in the next year that crumb rubber is talk xic to humans in the environment those millions of dollars will have been spent wasted and because you were made of the aware of the potential risk to this community when you made this decision you open up EPs and yourselves to potential legal action I think it is clear which scenario sounds more thoughtful prudent and fiscally responsible I will ask you one more time do not approve the earthwork bids do not approve the purchase of artificial turf with crum rubber material do not commit this community to 120,000 groundup tires in our midst simply wait and keep the fields grass we need more answers we need you to listen to our voices we love this community in this school district and we are dedicated to keeping it safe thank you thank you Miss hacket there will be a discussion on this later so I would invite you to stay throughout the board meeting great thank you next person is Miss Flanigan hello please pick up one of the microphones hello thank you for the time to address the board I'd like to start by saying we've had children in the district since 2001 since then I personally have been part of groups of parents asking the school board for consideration on various things that have disappeared from the district we ask that the extra PA not be removed from CP gone we ask that Spanish not be removed gone we ask that the media center clerks not be removed D gone we ask that the 0 to 33 month program be given further consideration gone we ask that playworks be reconsidered not gone now I ask that you consider delaying accepting a bid on Turf for athletic fields fields that could prove harmful and costly to place in the future I ask that you consider using these dollars to improve Security in our schools or utilize it for the elementary school construction when you asked us for $10 million for technology we said yes when you asked for $125 million for improved security and to improve all of our agent structures we said yes all we hear is no if you don't start listening to your voters perhaps the next time you ask us for something we will say no please reconsider your acceptance of this bid and table it until the EPA Studies have been completed it harms you in no way but going forward could harm those we hold dearest are you prepared to be liable for even one issue thank you thank you Miss fan next person is M Williams hello thank you okay in an attempt to raise awareness about the impending use of crumb rubber for the field update Clover Hackett and I began safe athletic fields Z and launched a group Facebook page and a change.org petition 6 days ago as of 6:30 p.m. tonight over 400 people had signed the petition in favor of holding off on crumb rubber infill the following comments are from the petition and submitted by Edina residents only I hate this stuff there were a few of these fields in Chicago in the summer heat the rubber gives off a terrible chemical smell we know of several incidents where rubber crumbs have gotten into the eyes of kids and adults and had to be surgically removed in one case causing permanent damage I get the temptation to use these fields indoors but the idea of replacing our outdoor natural grass fields just seem crazy I would hate for the district to spend money on something only to have to pull it out in the future like they've done in other cities let's do the research first if there's even a question of the safety of this product for our children the School Board needs to do the responsible thing and halt its plans and all you need to do is look online for story after story of the real Potential Threat this product has on has on our children and our environment my teens do not want to risk field play marching band or any exposure to a potentially toxic outdoor field there is no reason we can't pause on this until further investigation voices need to be heard and considered Ed this could be a costly mistake slow down on the process and listen to your constituents I understand the shortage of field space and the desire to look for grass alternatives to meet demand however the need immediate as it is does not justify a rush to installation I respectfully ask EPS to pause until the study findings are released thank you for your time thank you very much next is Miss CA hello thank you so much so I fully support Miss hackett's comments I think she did a great job summarizing it so I'll be uh pretty brief uh with my remarks um in addition to the potential health risks and issues that arise from the crumb rubber I think there's also a huge Financial Risk uh for the board if we um um move forward with this decision right now if the ongoing studies determine that there is a link between these fields and health risks then the district really ensures a huge liability and huge risks on itself the large additional cost that is going to that it's going to be incurred by having to remove all the field and then correct it is going to be a huge impact on the district so I would ask you just wait there's nothing wrong with waiting a few more months to understand and really get that information so we can make fact-based decisions before we move forward thank you thank you very much next is Ms babusa Ray did I get that right I was close um good evening thank you for giving us this opportunity um others have touched on this a bit um but I would like two questions answered specifically how much money does it cost to remove crumb rubber Fields the ones that we are putting in specifically and how much does it cost specifically in a dollar amount to redo fields in natural turf or an alternative that is safe should rubber crumb be deemed dangerous thank you thank you very much Mr warry thank you thank you staff for the opportunity to represent our community wasn't necessarily intending to speak today but it's an important U opportunity to help bring some light to some potential issues I too am here to discuss the turf replacement and first question have we committed to a contract to in in fact use Crum rubber if not let's answer that later if we can my first question is when you ran for this position assuming you weren't appointed I'm I I'm going to have to assume you your ideal and purpose was to serve the community and help protect our assets our resources um whether it's taxpayer dollars um various resources are our kids un but I I'm assuming that it had to be your purpose my perspective in looking at this situation is unfortunately in law schools studying many institutional failures and decisions and making um choices that were really based monetarily whether it was to save money to make money it didn't really matter and with strict strict liability these issues become very serious we've come a long way as a society but I don't think we're above making mistakes and taking some time to make some very good decisions whether it's today but also also to protect ourselves our roles in this community but um not the least of which is our school district so I'm hoping that you'll um consider an alternative Crum rubber to me just seems like there's so many issues um generally the old expression when there's smoke there's fire it could be true in this case I don't think it's worth playing with thank you thank you Mr R next is Miss Shaw thank you for letting me voice an opinion also on the same topic as a parent staff member and resident of udina I was frustrated and disappointed to see that the administration is moving forward with its recommendation to install crumb rubber Fields as part of the facili referendum I understand that based on the position paper that the district is willing to re-evaluate when more information becomes available but based on recent experiences with the current Administration I feel that response is not enough and is being given to appease the masses without real compassion and consideration for our children and the environment surrounding our schools in essence they are asking you to allow them to decide what risk is acceptable to this community when any safety concern is raised by local state federal and international agencies why are we even spending time justifying a position based primarily on cost and durability no one questions those two things obviously the tires are durable that's why hundreds of thousands of them are still around and they're obviously cheap because the supply is huge but what's the rush the answer right now is not to bury our heads in the sand and move forward with this project the community has been told that countless other items from the spring 2015 referendum plan are delayed compromised and changed the position paper quot says and I quote the growing demand for outdoor competition and practice fields in Idina limited the ability for the natural fields to quote unquote rest to restore the field for safe playing conditions as a side note maybe we should be talking more about our kids resting instead of the grass resting but that I digress there did you know that the average synthetic athletic field has about 40,000 tires in it the same tires that our government deemed unfit for landfills when making this recommendation how can the district fail to recognize the families of over 200 young athletes with direct links to these materials who have been diagnosed with cancer some having since died they surely could not have read the Yale University study that found 12 known carcinogens and dozens of chemical irritants in each one of those small black dots our kids are covered in when they play on crumb rubber Fields while the studies that I'm guessing the district is B basing their decision on May say these materials are safe what they're failing to recognize is that our kids will not be exposed to just one of these chemicals they will be exposed to all of them simultaneously and and I think that if you ask any high school chemistry teacher they would agree that this most likely enhances the toxicity so to say that they are okay with this product based on the safety of each individual chemical is truly false logic listen do I think we have all the answers today no does anybody have all the answers today no but any organization with the responsibility of the safety of young and developing Minds should take pause until more information can be provided that means putting this project on hold directing precious resources to those items that deliver a more direct impact on my child's learning I compel you to vote against the recommendation for now the risks are too great The Financial Risk alone of spending this money now only to have to replace these fields in the near future is huge and irresponsible it only takes a few minutes in access to Google to see that not just in the US but across the globe professional athletic organizations school districts and governments are putting projects on hold and opting against these products thank you thank you next is Miss kareah hi um So lately I've been reflecting kind of deeply on Ken drag Seth's um key guiding question for all involved in decision making is it good for kids when I moved here in 2012 I described A din public schools like this Progressive holistic wellth thought out intentional and most definitely good for kids first in the nation for high school late start Middle School block scheduling Flex groups differentiation music and PE twice a week free play Recess comprehensive birth to grade to age three programs yes good for kids please listen listen to our teachers our students and our parents before you Whittle away everything that makes this school district unique bring it back to the Simplicity of Ken's question is it good for kids thank you very much the next person is Miss p hi I'm Elizabeth P okay and I have two kids in GT and we came over here from the da program and elements program and we came over here specifically for the Edina program and we were not alone there was three other kids or two other kids that were in the da and one other kid that dropped out sooner that also came over to here and the reason why we took chose this program was because the math wasn't hard enough and the reading wasn't hard enough and this way being in a classroom that they were in it was spread between 95th percentile and 99th percentile and there was still a range because there was also kids in there who had high iq's but did not have the math or the reading skills so what we found here is that our reading has really the reading curriculum here has gone is by far harder and so the math is finally at her level I just came from the meeting downstairs and things that were said that I find very upsetting is that please ask per give us permission to experiment and explore I asked to find out what the reading scores were and are we really growing Four Points in our current program and are we really growing 10 points in our current math program and two years ago when I came here the answer was yes I just asked again for that information and hopefully I will receive it soon but I think one of the great things about this school and this system is that we um you don't have to be good at both you can be good at one and still get the services and still be challenged and we have specific GT teachers who are CH trained for GT Learners and if we move them back into the classroom like the Baltimore um schools we will be losing a lot of kids Bloomington right now has the problem that their 99 percentile children are regressing to the mean and when that came out a lot of people left and I really hope that you consider keeping the GT teachers and specially trained kid uh teachers and administrators for our children thank you thank you very much so I want to reiterate for those who have spoken about the crumb rubber that it will be a topic within the leadership and it'll be topic later on the in the meeting so I would encourage you to stay the thank you everybody for speaking we do appreciate it the consent agenda is next are there any requests to remove an item from the consent agenda hearing none can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda so move second all in favor say I I any opposed motion passed next are reports and discussion first is leadership update Rick okay wait for it to pop up here um again this helps frame how we're doing our work going forward as a school district um lots happening in the district as we continue to wrap up this school year and we thank the teachers and the students uh and the parent Community as we continue to get geared up on a lot of assessment work being done and hopefully a lot of excitement but we're also having one eye focused on the future as we uh take a look at next gen construction um we are moving forward forward on a variety of uh areas here as it's starting to get active uh we hope again to close on our land purchase uh before the end of the month that would allow us to continue to move forward with the the district's plans to have a new Transportation facility uh that would also put our current facility for sale so that's all in moving forward later tonight we'll be talking about rebidding the elementary construction project uh again we're wanting to make sure this project remains whole so we're taking a look at rebidding that rethinking the schedule reinking the scope and reinking the spending not only of the elementaries but all of our projects because we want to make sure that we reach the scope and the commitment that we had uh in the review and comment document that was approved and that what we shared with the community in May um construction bids for the higho very favorable we'll learn more about that the east east turf fields I talk a little bit more about that in a second but we are uh bringing a recommendation forward to the board tonight uh to to prepare the soil for improving uh our campus on here in the W on the East Campus for some additional Fields uh we're still sorting out the new furniture selection we have plans around that and we're going to ask our design teams to take a look at that at the elementary level but again wanting to make sure that that furniture uh is adapt and flexible to meet the needs of our students as we continue to look forward to the future um communication updates we're going to continue to keep the community posted on how we're rolling forward with our Communications as especially as it relates to construction and once the construction begins we'll actually try to keep a weekly update going so that people are aware of how things are rolling forward with our construction uh so when we look at our next gen construction again it's scope schedule spending that's how it's going to be a success we've known that from day one and we're going to continue to work on that we've had some very you know over half of our um tonight the board will approve the the uh construction bids at the high school that's over half of um the total package so we now know where those dollars sit uh we now know where we need to adjust some uh scope hope a little bit around our various projects and then take a look at how we need to possibly modify the scheduling to make sure we have a successful project and we're looking at 11 different sites uh now taking a focus on the um athletic fields uh as it relates to um the Synthetic Turf uh the district has done a lot of discussion on this dating back to 2003 when uh we first uh decided to go into looking at the Synthetic Turf um and that was in the referendum of 2003 uh there was the football field as well as a field up at the high school that installed uh Synthetic Turf which had a crumb rubber base to it uh and all that and that's been a very successful uh field play for us it's been successful uh in a variety of ways but uh we are finding that the main field here at Coleman just through the heavy play that's starting to wear down and break down and so there's a need to upgrade that and bring that back to another level um so as we looked at this in the fall of 2014 from the um facilities advisory task force is made up of community members of Staff members of students and of parents they they took a look at all of our needs and when we looked at that entire project I think there was almost $220 million of project needs and uh then as they looked at both the external needs as well as the internal needs of our school facilities uh they determined what were the priorities and what were of value and we determined that it needed to be across the board but we also need to look at our outdoor space and so as we looked at our outdoor space back in 2014 it was determined again based on durability and B based on player safety and based on uh health concerns and looking at cost and maintenance and all the different factors that Synthetic Turf did make sense for us moving forward as a school district and so in the referendum we talked uh and presented in the review and comment adding turf fields both at the west campus as well as the East Campus uh as we move forward with that then we continue to study we worked closely with our Architects our working closely with our Engineers who are involved in this work uh construction managers we've talked to numerous other school district to find out what they're doing and how they're studying it we too have done our research on it uh both at administrative level but uh the school board level uh board finance committee obviously has been very engaged on this we started looking at this as we were getting closer to uh preparing our bid documents uh late this fall and early winter December the board uh facilities committee spent quite a bit of time talking about it again learning a lot of the research around it we brought it to the school board as a full discussion at the December board meeting and then again at the January board meeting at that time we had uh some of our Consultants speak to it and this was really the slide that we were talking about when we were looking at the synthetic fill infill and the choices we were making as it related to costs as it related to durability as related to player safety safety uh we know that this is a third generation Turf that we're looking at so some of the uh findings of previous studies this has gone beyond it it's it's made improvements as relates to the uh actual the turf and it's made improvements uh as it relates to not having metal contaminants in the rubber um and installation they've improved that as well so we've improved the drainage process again because of just the research being done on that uh the excessive heat issue is one that we'll continue to monitor we have excessive heat plan already in place as a district as a whole so this would certainly be included in that but when it gets down to uh sorting out um crumb Rubber and sorting out um other alternative fills uh there's very little research that we can find scientific research as relates to the alternative fill um and because there's just so few of them out there yet 98% of the synthetic turfs in the country are crumb rubber filled 97% here in the U Minnesota are crumb rubber fill um and so we've studied that uh we know uh that there's no current studies that show um uh elevated health and risk factors from the crumb rubber um EPA has addressed this and yep we are aware that the EPA is going to move forward uh with doing some further study and we'll continue to track that um and uh we will continue to manage that with our suppliers with our contractors um but uh and then if there are findings we will be responsive to it just like we're responsive uh in other situations where we've learned more information um again it's a tide together of how we need to make sure um that we have the fields ready um and so tonight the board will not be acting necessarily on the turf itself but they'll be acting on the um the uh ground work the preparation work the soil work for the East Campus uh also when we're approving the high school bids uh we're preparing the soil for an Synthetic Turf as well at the west campus so um the administration is recommending that we go forward with it we do have appreciated and I think the comments that have been shared tonight uh again there's some followup that we will certainly bring to that uh the information shared I think are things that we've all reflected on uh at an administrative level I think board members probably have done a very similar thing and so we appreciate those comments and those have sharpened I you know my Reflections on this going forward and my concerns and ensuring a the safety piece of this um that I still believe this is the right direction to go and that's the why the recommendation is shaped in that manner so this was um where we stand tonight uh again the board will not be taking action on the turf itself but they'll be taking action on the the plans uh for the soil the turf will probably be in another week we're just now working through that contract and getting the details worked out on that um but I'll pause at this point if the board has further disc discussion or questions we have some of our Consultants present tonight that may be able to answer things or if there's anything from the administrative team are there any questions or points anybody would like to make or input from our Consultants we'll start with the board first could we address um the the question around um waiting and and the time um I know that as when we went through the process of preparing to do the referendum in the late summer early fall of 2014 there was a great deal of discussion at the planning level around um fields and where they're at and the need in the city and the and the community and the school district specifically but then um I'm wondering about the the concept of this what they're requesting in terms of waiting um what are the Imp implications of doing that one and we going have introductions and we'll uh be able to respond to that question around the timing Chad yeah Chad red key with CR Anderson Construction Bon Dirks with World Architects and engineers and Jay Pomroy with Anderson Johnson Associates civil engineers so the biggest question is the impact to delay on waiting uh I would say from a constructibility standpoint we know we're already down fields in the district that was one of the reasons that drove the referenda is the availability of play Space within the district uh currently in order to move forward with high school construction we need to occupy Uh current grass fields that are just north of the existing Synthetic Turf practice field at the high school uh so we'll be down an additional field in that location uh we also know that waiting uh has a direct correlation to inflation as we move forward and so there is a cost impact to that as well but from a constructibility standpoint that really is the big issue is that we're going to be going down in fields and we've worked extensively with Troy Stein and the other members of The District in terms of looking at schedules and and play time and moving forward with something that will give you the ability to continue using space that meet your needs I've been reading some of the comments on well a lot of the comments on change.org and some questions that the board has received from parents many have asked about why natural grass is not an alternative and I'm wondering if any of you can provide a little background as to why any synthetic product is being considered that's a lot of question um now natural grass fields need a lot of Maintenance obviously to keep them up to a performance standard where you can use them 30 40 times a season let alone hundreds of times as a synthetic turf field could be used would be used um obviously with maintenance practices on natural grass with fertilizer water use phosphorus um pesticides Etc it takes quite a bit of Maintenance to keep those up to a to a standard um years ago in 2003 it was decided that two of the fields be converted over for that very reason they just they're overused um Synthetic Turf answers that need um as far as the alternatives on the Synthetic Turf side of things um as as superintendent mentioned earlier 98% of the fields Nationwide use crumb rubber it's the time- tested um product for the infill alternative fields of the 12 to 13,000 fields that are in use now only a couple hundred have an alternative infill meaning EPDM or coconut or cork or a thermoplastic bonded material um which were used not so much for environmental issues but more for playability more dirt like um maybe harder maybe better balance for baseball for instance so there's very little background on those alternative infill studies um hence the Chrome rubber does that answer your question yes thank you yeah World Architects and Engineers wal Architects and engineers and then I'm with Anderson Johnson Associates cross Anderson Construction so as a followup to that if we went with pure grass fields my understanding is that they're going to wear out before the school year wears out and they're really not going to be playable for us more than likely and you know I think your maintenance staff could speak to that other questions State discussions I'll just add what helped me make up my mind on this was the question about children's safety because as many people in the audience pointed out and as we've said in our discussions that's the number one consideration and we have children in the district my oldest is actually in kindergarten my youngest is a one-year-old so I'll be playing soccer with my children on these fields for 18 years I've looked through all the studies that we've been referring to the ones that talk about what it does for children as far as impact injury or play long-term considerations we've looked at what other states have looked into and I've been comforted by what I've seen in these studies by the notion that there's long-term assessments of inhalation that have shown no correlation to any of the dangers but there's a real fear when you first start to hear about something like this and when we first started to hear about it that's why we looked into it that's why we spent so much time looking into it and we spent these months talking about it and for those of you who have only heard about the issue this week I understand the fear because I felt it too but we are considering children's safety and we're at a point in our conversations in these public meetings where we feel that that's addressed our children are safe and now moving on we have all these other responsibilities planning for the long-term health of our district we still have more discussions that we'll have but there is a comfort level that's come with time and research on this issue in particular I want to Echo some of amir's comments I don't need to repeat what he said but what he what I will share is that his experience with kindergarten students and what many of our speakers have shared with young children was my experience when I moved to a diner from California in 2000 I had an infant and two Elementary children and it was the 2003 referendum that introduced me to the concept of turf I didn't understand it it didn't make sense to me I had the opportunity to be a parent representative on that referendum committee and I asked a lot of questions uh probably uh many of them to Krauss Anderson that time as well to just gain that research so I've had that opportunity to look into this to now live with the results to have my students play on these fields for over a decade and that has also provided a depth of understanding for me that was brand new when I joined Minnesota and when I joined this District what I appreciate is the respect that I was always given with my questions and that's no different this time what we've had the opportunity to do as a board is to go into depth spend time with the questions and deeply appreciate the concerns that are expressed and it is right that the research is continuing because we're I don't know that anybody can say that this is finished we are working with the best research available at this point in time and with additional research we will continue to study it and respond accordingly and I'll just uh chime in too uh because I think you're entitled to understand how the decision was reached and this is a decision that is being recommended by the administration but which was also considered by the facilities committee as as others have mentioned in great depth and it was the facilities committee recommendation uh to send it to the board um the idea of having our kids play on groundup rubber tires intuitively does not sound like a great idea um I have that same feeling uh I prefer grass uh at an intuitive level I'm completely with you and all of the comments that I've heard tonight are things that I've had to work through uh to get to where I am now and and I completely acknowledge uh the legitimacy of all of the feelings that you are expressing but at the end of the day the board has to make its decision based on science and facts not on emotion not on media reports and and as a sidebar I do to mention the media which was here to hear the controversy then all packed up and left to hear the answers to the concerns you've raised so I have to say I give fairly limited credibility to what I read in the Press um and I think all of you need to do that too you should look at the actual studies look at the actual evidence as Rick quoted the EPA this is the EPA statement there have been no current studies showing elevated health risk from Tire crumb and other than going by that information I don't know what else a school board can go on there are risks to kids from playing on ill-kept grass fields there are risks to kids from playing on grass fields that use pesticides there are risks to kids from using new products that no one is familiar with and we don't know what they do we are being asked to approve a product that has been in use for 20 years and has been continuously improved over that time we've been assured by the scientific per reviewed literature we've been assured by the experts that this is the appropriate way to go and I've got to tell you I've listened to all of you very carefully but did not hear anything new tonight that would make me change my support of the administration's recommendation but we as Regina said will continue to monitor things we certainly do not have closed minds about it but we have to go by the facts as as they are on the ground at the moment and I think the only thing I would add is this wasn't something that we've just started disc discussing this last couple weeks this has been coming up like Sarah said since 2014 I think even before in 2003 it is been continually reviewed and continually assessed and we've wrestled with all the same issues that you brought up but again I think we went back to the data from the scientific studies peerreview journals there's nothing there at this point that that would make us have a different decision any other discussion Rick you have more in your presentation I I do I just um thank thank you gentlemen for being here and um we will be calling you potentially for Action a little bit later um as relates to uh some of the work going on are strategic work uh again facilities and Furniture uh the district is continuing to the dialogue on personalized learning and not that we're going to land on that because that is a concept it's taking best practices we're currently using in the classroom with our teachers getting some alignment we've got received some great input from teachers uh we'll continue to get the best practices going on but that's an exciting piece of how we're going to roll that forward we are going to have an extensive staff training program and appreciate the Randy smle and his team's leadership around that because in order for the Strategic work to be successful we need to make sure that our teachers are strongly equipped they've got great talents but as we ask them to continue to look at how we serve our kids going forward we know it's going to take some training we're assessing Staffing models as well making sure that we have the right staff in place for us as we continue to move forward uh we feel we've got quality teachers quality support staff across the board we're excited about that um school programs we'll continue to study that we're talking more about daily programs and School uh start and end times with bus schedules but the bottom line is that this will all be shaped and brought together uh for the community to understand for our students to understand uh in November and December of 2016 so as we look for the fall of 2017 when our a lot of our construction work will be complete when we're liking at grade level changes U when we're rolling out the new schedules and and starting our journey more directly on personalized learning um we will have six months again to be able to put this together and then bring it forward to show the the positive future that we have going forward again it's not a revolution it's an evolution but it's important work that we'll make sure is public as it goes forward a couple leadership updates so we are moving forward with the hiring of a South viiew Middle School principal uh we have uh that event happening tomorrow where the staff parents and students will be interviewing them so soon behind that the following week we'll be interviewing for the Highlands Elementary principal position and after that the assistant principal at Valley View Middle School uh also we're in the final stages of planning out the Adina learning Institute which is set for August 15th and 16th that's kind of a quick flyover of things happening in the district uh any other specific questions the board might have just want to the the interviews for South views principal is Wednesday not tomorrow did I say tomorrow excuse me it's Wednesday Gwen at what time 3 to 4:30 3 to 4:30 okay and then do we have Highlands dates Set uh yes it's on the 21st of April and it begins at 4 o' 21st of April for Highlands Great thank you thanks for the catch all right thank you the next next item on the agenda is the guiding change document for elementary middle and high school daily schedules looks like you've got that one again I do um so as we look at uh our schedules uh we are looking at ways to enhance student time as well as the staff time to be more effective um so we're looking at that daily schedule and what we want to do is um and The Guiding change document is a framework that allows the study to be done uh by a team of uh staff members at both the elementary middle and high school levels uh so we're looking at the best way we can bring this together but we also want to make sure it's locked together that it fits the elementary the middle and the high school that they they work in in tandem on this and so uh the board has some parameters that will help guide that and shape that study as it goes forward we'll con do a completion date we're looking at early fall with a check-in with the board uh sometime in June to say here's how this is moving forward uh we're taking best practices we're taking a look at what we currently doing and seeing how we can mix those two together and then do it in a sustainable way all right thank you any questions on the guiding change I think that this is going to go before teaching and learning I think teaching and learning we did briefly discuss it at our last meeting and then last we didn't discuss it given the document there you go and then we'll talk about it at the next meeting so it'll get board discussion in between action great any other questions questions on that I think some of the things that um I wanted to point out particularly around Elementary is that although we're talking about from what I understand we're talking about language back in the elementaries this schedule this this looking at a new schedule is not with the intention of hopefully affecting the other types of I guess elected if you want to call them that but the the specials uh art music Med CER Media Center Etc gym um looking to work the schedule so that it can be added in without affecting the other programs well I mean I I don't know I mean we're looking at time in general saying how do we block our time differently and how do we do that and we are adding a you know a new top new subject into it so we're not adding to the day so we're just going to figure out how do we do within the day figure that all out but those are all key um components of the elementary experience so we'll make sure that that's does that is part of the discussion so maybe if I could clarify my own probably didn't say it the best way no I think it was good my own understanding you know a foreign language will be returned to elementary schools and it's the delivery the method of delivery that is being considered along with and I'm looking at Randy smel because he will say this far better than I can uh but what is the best delivery with all of the other competencies being maintained in elementary school is that accurate yes can you untangle that so I think that is our that is our challenge moving forward is looking at um the educational competencies that are desirable for the elementary program and then looking at different ways that we can manipulate time to continue to get better results and so part of looking at the schedule is to examine where those areas are where we can continue to evolve how we use time and and unlock some opportunities there you said it much more eloquently yes thank you with no other discussion the next item for discussion is the guiding change plan for district start times for elementary middle and high school Rick you've got that one too yes again it's a framework for us to do the problem solving around and we'll be seeking input from the board policy committee prior to uh bringing this forward for a final recommendation it is the balance of that educational priorities with the economic efficiencies of a bus schedule um Ed does own its own buses and we run a very effective an efficient Transportation schedule on a three system or three tiered approach um and so with the ninth grade going up to the high school that does change our work and it also gives us a chance to pause and step back to say what works best for us going forward on the start of a school day and the end of the school day and so again this will uh continue to get more discussion uh both here at the board level as well as with the community and the staff and uh trying to find that sweet spot in between what we'll be seeking this again will come back to the board uh along the way but we're hoping to have recommendation brought to the board in September or October of next fall and this would begin for again fall of 2017 and again these are guid changed there're just guides for the administration to follow and putting together a plan that's great can we just share why we why this is why we're actually having a guiding change document I'm looking at start times I know the board has asked just for us to research the start times because you know there's always the ongoing discussion about our middle schoolers you know starting school at 7:40 in the morning some of them being on the bus by S or even earlier um maybe we could just address why we're taking a look at this well it's our opportunity to do it I mean one is because uh with the ninth grade going to the high school that changes a number of that transportation and mean within the guiding change Doc and we're not recommending a change to that late start at the high school that's been a key piece that I think we do want to hold on to so then that creates a shift on how we can serve our middle schools and elementary schools and so we are going to step back again look at what best practices what look at some of the research we have several Metro School school districts alone that have just recently made some changes in their schedules will certainly use the data that they've collected uh again going out and uh listening to uh what some of the priorities are of at the site level as well as at the community level to get that best practice and then to blend that together to try to find a recommendation that uh is both educationally sound and economically feasible and Mr chair if I could add just another comment on that same guiding change document there are several things I appre appreciate about what will be studied with this but one specific item listed on our intended results is considering student need for sleep and impact on families as a priority so I appreciate that and endorse it it's the right direction for us to take a look at a good move thank you any other discussion the next item on the agenda is scheduled review of policies Rick looks like you get a break here thank you so we'll start with policy 5113 someone from the policy committee wrong one's up here it is policy notes uh 513 this policy is a dis up for discussion this evening regarding student promotion acceleration and retention and early kindergarten admission uh the key points that have been put together in this policy are to help guide people through the policy part of that language as we took a read through it at the policy committee level wasn't necessarily helpful so I do want to extend thanks to Stacy guy and Jeff Jorgenson for contributing to that clarifying language that's in the draft that we have this evening um there are specific changes in the appendices to make them what we hope easier to navigate appendix 2 specifically clarifies who the decision-making team is at each level as well as the procedure that happens next and then appendix 4 is a new rubric for assessment of whether the right change is being made how to discuss that so if there are any points that other board members have on this policy that they'd like the committee to consider further let us know and we'd be glad to do that and did you say appendix 4 is new the rubric in the appendix is new there has been an appendix for but the uh way that this one is structured is including a rubric that is different than the way the policy was laid out previously great thank you any current discussions comments so we'll go on to policy 538 okay 538 uh 538 on field trips and travel comes up with the policy committee on a regular basis and what I've shared with the community before but do want to reiterate that as a board we endorse the fact that field trip opportunities are important and we see a lot of value we also want to make sure that they are conducted safely and that there are the right kinds of helpful guidelines in place as trips are organized for this policy again I want to St thank Stacy guy and Sarah shandel for navigating a large number of changes as this policy has gone through many different updates and revisions I also want to point out that Susan Tennyson has done a great deal of research to help us navigate international travel and safety and we definitely appreciate her work as well as we try to support continued intern International travel uh the board had an opportunity to review this policy in our March 14th Workshop uh there was focus at that time on appendex 5 with the chaperon agreement there have been no changes since that particular Board review um policy the policy committee is making the recommendations in this evening's packet to provide Clarity to families about non-s schooled sponsored field trips uh this draft also includes the creation of an extended trip coordinator recognizing that there are a lot of details to put together when navigating a trip so we're hoping that this new position or respon set of responsibilities can be of help to families and to staff members we also continue to express concern for Equity of access opportunities and affordability so these are some of the key points that are addressed in this particular draft so we will continue to look at the field trip policy but at this point point in time our goal is to have discussion this evening as appropriate um if everyone agrees that the draft Works in May will bring It Forward for Action so that there is something in place for planning for 201617 trips great thank you thank you question um you talk about the district will create a partnership here I'm on H page 196 so are we targeting a a percentage for scholarships or how do we think about that is it based on need or uh do we touch on it somewhere else in the policy we don't have it specifically defined need is definitely a component but as we've discussed this in the policy committee the recognition is that it differs quite a bit depending on the group if there's a very large group there may be a capacity for many fundraising opportunities that can provide scholarships for participants in that group who have a need the need need May shift if there's a group of just a few students participating in an activity they want to travel but then it's just a difference in ratio that it's a small number of students looking at an opportunity so it hasn't been defined further but are you asking that we perhaps review that it's there's no easy answer I'm just how think how you're thinking about it as part of the discussion was more the question thanks Regina right because I I think at our our work session I believe when we discussed this one of the concerns around field trips was some of the exorbitant costs to some of the bigger trips whether it's a band tour or a choir trip or whatever um you know if they're going overseas or even going to one of the coasts it gets very expensive and it's not just families who may qualify for certain you know programs it's for families of all kinds that you know it could be an expensive cost and then limit students abilities to participate um I know as a we struggled even during that discussion to try to come to some kind of a resolution of how to address this um one of my concerns as I looked at the policy was around the the non-sanctioned district sanctioned field trips and how we're addressing that and really what how do we choose what is sanctioned and what isn't I mean I know there has to be an educational thing but I think there's field trips currently going on but you could have an educational component to them yet they're not school sanctioned and I think I'd like to see Clarity around that um okay because I think that we need to have I just think it's a risk sometimes when we have field trips that are a tradition in the district yet they're not you know officially sanctioned yet they continue on that's a good question thanks thanks any other comments All Right Moving on the next item is Early Education schematics Susan and Von we have slides we do have slides on this thank you members of the board okay so um it's now it's on now it's on um thank you for members of the board we just wanted to bring you up to date a little bit on the Early Childhood planning I just want to start out a little bit about process and then Bon will kind of go through what the schematic PL designs are this is similar to the processes we've used for the high school and the elementary schools to date um The Early Childhood planning we had given you some updates um a few months back and then we took a pause for a little bit while we um finished up some programming decisions and then we've come back to it I will say that we reconvened the early childhood core planning team which is comprised of um some staff in the early childhood both Early Childhood special ad and the D Family Center as well as parents um and we looked at a variety of topics uh when we brought the team back last week uh the the schematic design really hadn't changed a lot we just sort of affirmed that where we had placed things still fits with the programming Direction so that being said um the core planning team has agreed and signed off on the schematic design understanding all the other construction uh issues and challenges that we that we always have in any construction project but they're excited to be able to move forward to really create that comprehensive Early Childhood space and not have it be so separated between you're an early childhood specialed when you're over here in the building and you're an early childhood family Ed over here and really building that cohesive program for our earliest Learners so this approach will be very similar to other ones that we've presented as we've gone through the district um one of the things that we've tried to do from the beginning is rather than attack these projects in a lineal fashion we're designing everything simultaneously and that allows us to do a number of different things including uh look at criteria as you progress from Early Childhood all the way through 12th grade and on to adult education programs in the district it also gives us an equity approach in terms of how we look at the buildings and so we start with the groups in looking at both commitments and criteria and those commitments again are things that are more the quality of the space or how you'd like it to look uh criteria are the functional relationships within the space and we really start with uh not asking about question questions of which rooms do you want us to renovate but how do you want this building to function and so as we go through the um the program I won't go into reading each one of these you have this in front of you and this will be available online uh but you can see page after page of criteria uh talking about how the building should function and work uh starting with the first criteria the design shall designate one main Early Childhood entry as we take a look at this building this building is a complicated one in that it has lots of different stakeholders and users within the building and and so we balance all these as we go through and we rearrange the spaces and and take a look at what needs to be achieved within the building so if we look at all of our different tenants on the first uh floor right now we have our kids club programs we have Community Ed we have block care we have ECFE we have ecse uh we have five different entry points into the building we have some um um adult wood shop space along the side we have multiple parking lots that enter into the building so uh very confusing when you're trying to figure out how you approach the building uh here's a more detailed floor plan from that uh but what evolved was really this concept diagram and you've seen similar diagrams for the elementaries and for the high school and for the Middle School uh this really looks at bringing people in through one common entry point uh to the building to An Early Childhood office that would share functions for each of those different programs be they family education preschool or uh special education and then looking at how those classes are organized within the building uh where we would have support spaces like multi-purpose rooms or family gyms how parent education would incorporate into the diagram and it really relocates into this type of building so our new main entry point would come off the east side of the building uh we would have our our parking lot designated along that side of the building for Early Childhood uh as you're aware we'll be looking at the Eastern parking lot between South View uh Normandale buses parent pickup all the different uh people that use this as we untangle that parking lot and really what this design will do is it will create secure line along the sort of the north part of the building so that we can keep our early childhood and parents within one area of the building so we'll have a secure entry point into that office like we will have at all the other buildings coming into the space our main offices will be located directly adjacent to that entry point uh as well as a parent Commons area directly in front of that um entry as you come in so as you get oriented in the building as you're waiting for uh students or um different instructors you have a place that can be common to that we have our multi-purpose room and our motor skills and family uh education on opposite sides of the building to provide direct access for those spaces and you can see our classrooms are organized throughout the building as we laid them out initially we looked at the different age groups that would be in those spaces but we also know that based on what we're doing at the elementaries it was important not to designate any one classroom a single function but to look at how they might change uh over the years as you have different programs and different age groups in those classroom spaces uh we have Staff office space um distributed through that area as well uh we really are using all of the space uh in this part of the building for Early Childhood with the exception of our wood shop will remain a wood shop with their own entry point coming into that area of the building and a designated area for them to access public toilets that are outside of that secure Zone as we come into the space uh our community ad offices remain at the front of the building our adult education spaces remain at the front of the building so that we can create that secure Zone uh moving back into the south side for our Early Childhood Program and that really is sort of the overview of it I I know we're up at 30,000 feet at schematic design and our next stages will be to move into user group meetings like we've done with the other projects to start to add detail to these spaces say one comment I would make as a user of the family center in the past um the secure Lo entrance I think is great it's something we haven't had at the family center um the only downside to that is the parking um and if the parents can only enter through that side door and if that parking lot is full and you're dealing with babies and toddlers it will not make as a friendly welcoming to get there because I remember many times you know you're up in that parking lot you got your stroller you got all your stuff and you're trying to get into the building so just something we may want to think about to prepare us because I get the secure entrance and I think it's a valid valid thing to add I I just I know parents are coming in from all different entrances based on what they're dealing with at the moment some of the concerns along the north side were with the strollers that there's no accessible route on the north side of the building and so getting the strollers up the stairs prove problematic we think that um we know that the Eastern lot needs a lot of untangling let's let's be fair uh there's a lot of work that has to be done there with uh rerouting and retraining and that will be part of the overall design uh as we move forward as well um this will allow us to restructure who parks in what area how we sign the lots for that better use to create better dedicated parking along that east side of the building to reflect that issue and part of that entrance as well that we're talking about with the um the new office area and everything is really looking at that space out there because right now there's stairs coming up on the one side and they've got kind of that weird ramp thing over on this side so really trying to create that a more logical space but indeed uh we've had numerous conversations between the Early Childhood discussions the district office discussions the Normandale discussions the South viw discussions about parking and we know that we're challenged with that but we do feel that some of it's going to have to be a behavioral shift um I know you know some of us in the district office love parking over there but we can probably park somewhere else where it's a lot easier for the Early Childhood families to come in there we also know that um over here where this is still the main entrance in the Welcome Center and stuff we have had discussions about how could we keep this secured area um but you know understanding that maybe we need to have some flexibility so maybe when there's a large event going on or something we have some way that families can still access that space and funnel into the office from the other way but obviously that would be our ideal entry would be to come in from the East and as with South View's entrance moves someday um then a lot of that parking will move to that other and I think there's there's some movement there so we'll be looking at the entire East Campus here as a whole as we move forward in the parking lot designs I have a question about the wood shops space um two parts one was it considered at any point to move it to one of the maker spaces at the high school or another one of our sites but two is it space that is needed as part of the Early Childhood renovation uh if Val were here she'd say it's absolutely needed uh we did take a look at not as part of the Early Childhood not as part of Early Childhood no we don't have a lot of toddlers using this up uh but we did talk about that actually as we went through the high school and looked at space uh it has a a tremendous Community used to it and in order to continue that uh we found a would it would um not work as well with high school access and secure entry points coming in and B it's in the right location in terms of its proximity to Community Education and so uh we decided that since that was not part of our referenda to relocate that it made the most sense to leave that in that location and to work with how our secure entrance does allow our parents to come in without conflicting with that space any other questions I would just add too that uh we actually had a lot of conversations with the Early Childhood Corps planning team and and there's a lot of um strong Affinity with the Early Childhood staff and those wood Shar participants and really wanting to keep that intergenerational experience nearby that is a belov space thank you very much thanks next we move to our action items the first item is the district office schematic design proposal can I get a a motion to advance the schematic designs so move a second yes same team same team no wonder you didn't move yes thank you for putting those back to back um so we know that as part of the referendum um of redoing the first floor for our early childhood space um also looking at the second floor with the Normandale which you've seen before and so part of that is the expansion of Normandale into what is currently some of the district office space on second floor and so it is relocating district office up to the third floor so just as we've done with our other teams we've had a core planning team of district office staff um and how do we create space on the on the third floor for the district office function as well as maintaining that strong Community aspect of Community Education and a community center F so we have met uh the district office Corp planning team has met several times in um February March March mostly March and April and so we've had a schematic design and we just wanted to bring that to your attention today you've seen this before and but we would like some formally approving of the schematic design tonight to proceed so this space was a challenge for Susan she had to move from co- facilitator to actual participant in the design process as a member of the district office so uh she figured out how to do that make is really nice right uh same same basic principles here we start with commitments uh look at commitments and criteria for the space in terms of functionally how to things work and with this building uh the district office is in sort of a key spot as we uh consider Normandale and the possibility for Normandale expansion how we relook at kitchen space uh its location on the second floor uh as problematic for that as well as our secure entrance points for Normandale as we look at security so relocating the district office was a a very important piece as we went through uh we knew that the plan needed to be uh flexible uh and allow for different uses but it also needed to work in conjunction with the space that we're up here on the third floor in uh we've got some of our district functions up here but we also have a number of the meeting rooms the boardroom our large group Gathering space that the district office accesses on a regular basis uh our Welcome Center would stay on the first floor as part of this but we'd be looking to relocate those district offices to the upstairs uh it's our existing building here our site that we'll be untangling uh the existing district office layout you can see that uh this used to be classrooms back when this was a high school it's been converted in 2004 uh and this really is the diagram again starting with that diagram of how we looked at spaces knowing that we would need a conference center which is the existing boardrooms and meeting rooms on the north side of this third floor and a project Center which would support our instructional departments for the district office function as well as our operational departments for that uh we have our main two stairs which are public stairs on the North uh West and Northeast corners of the building and we wanted to maintain those as we went up and so this really became the layout for our district office functions not a lot changes on the north side of the building in terms of our conference space uh in this area our instructional offices run along the east side of the building we're relocating some of our community ed classroom functions to the west side of the building as a result of that our operations moves into the former workspace uh and we have a collaborative Zone uh for those offices in between that area uh collaborative zones down in the center of the space as well secure entry points at the front and the back of that area uh as well as some shared reception space um Susan maybe you want to add more to this she's jumping into detail I was gonna say well I've been living this a little bit but um there's also a secured entrance Point uh down here on this side as well and really the goal as as van has said is to try to create uh a logical way finding for the the consumer who's coming up to the third floor so when they come up to the third floor particularly if they come up the public elevator there would be a clear understanding of this is where you would go for community ed and and then you would go to the other side more for the district office function um and we have been looking at how the reason really the rationale came back to it's really where it is right now it's Community Ed has done a wonderful job of making use of wind spaces become available but it's a little popcorned if you think about it that way um you know there's well okay and then somebody comes up and I know it's always a challenge for me when somebody says I have a class in 329 and I have to think okay which side is 329 on so this will be a lot easier for our for our users to find um and really trying to group and create a more collaborative space for the district office as opposed to just all individual cubes and we've been having a lot of discussions about what does that collaboration look like uh we know that it probably you know where on the spectrum of modern office feel is is what we're trying to to work through but we know that it probably isn't just a replication of move what's on second floor up to third floor we know we can do a little bit more collaboration with that and then we also needed to look at um we have some tenants in this building and so really trying to centralize them as well over here in this um I'm directionally challenge today but in the uh what is this southwest thank you southwest corner um to again try to create an ease and say if you're a tenant you're in one area so right now we have you know we have a tenant over here we have some tenants over here so again just trying to make it more logical for the community space we do have a little space here in pink uh that currently says to be determined uh we haven't exactly figured figured out what that space is as kind of a placeholder right now we're trying to see how are we make sure that we've got the same amount of uh footprint that we need for Community Ed on the other side of the hallway we have the same amount of footprint that we need for district office um currently that space is where we have some of our uh itinerant health staff people who come and go a lot we do early childhood screening that will be moving to the first floor obviously with the Early Childhood so really trying to save that space that could become another community space um if we look if it looks like we need some more conference room space so we're trying to keep that as a placeholder just in case the main thing that we know is that there isn't going to be um dollars in the referendum obviously set aside for a wholesale redo of this and so it'll probably be a phased process and trying to take advantage of the spaces that are there right now in terms of there's a there's a classroom space that we can put some people in but trying to look at how do we maximize that a little bit great great any questions any discussion what what just remind me again the timing on when this would actually occur of the construction so um we're trying to keep all the dominoes you know hitting one so ideally we're thinking that this would probably take place sometime during the 16 17 school year knowing that we would need to be vacating that to make space for the Normandale Renovations um and then the Early Childhood would probably be uh next summer as well so great hearing no other questions all in favor vote i i i any opposed motion passed the next item is voting on the elementary school additions and this I'm looking for a motion to approve the resolution which rejects the bids for the elementary school additions and Renovations so move second presenter is Margot good evening um well the majority of our bids came in at or under budget uh we did have five components of the elementary bids that came in uh significantly over or over and so we are recommending that uh we reject the bids as the uh resolution says and as administrative team architect team and construction management team we are working together have been for a couple of weeks uh on brainstorming about ideas in terms of scope schedule and funding um to reframe that and bring that back through the facilities committee actually on uh working with them on Thursday ongoing we're meeting again tomorrow so I would be happy to answer any questions that you might have um as a note we had a work session before this meeting and spent about an hour plus just on this topic could we give some sort of uh maybe Lenny or Rick uh kind of recap on some of the things that we discussed about the ramifications of not accepting the bid um I mean there's state issues that that guide our work in terms of timing and how we can react to these things differently and then how that Fallout would come in terms of timing and types of things that we were discussing I think I'm going to call on our architect and construction manager to help me with it I'll kick it out the door just again it's it's it's a full project so while the bids were over for the elementary um and we had favorable bids at the high school level um the still is a whole and so we need to figure out how we're going to make this whole thing successful and so it is this modific modifying the schedule the spending where we need to and yet still reaching the scope and uh I'll ask ion and Chad to kind of chip in again uh just if you can talk a little bit to some of the planning that we've got as far as next steps I I'll start with an overview concept I mentioned earlier in the presentation that we're simultaneously designing all the projects uh mostly so that we can keep things in balance that we can make sure that as we're trying to uh do one thing or another that it spans districtwide and I would say that that also includes the fact that these projects represent a whole referenda there's scope within that referenda that needs to be achieved and as we look at all the projects we want to make sure that we're able to achieve that scope in each of the aspects so when we look at rejecting bids for the elementary that doesn't mean that that's the only area we would be making adjustments uh we still will be able to implement full referenda scope as we will at the high school and and just awarding High School bids doesn't mean we won't be making changes or modifications there as well uh we're already looking at that with the Early Childhood pieces with the middle schools that we'll continue with so we'll continue to adjust to make our changes minimal in terms of their effect uh but still achieve the referenda scope and more as we move forward with those aspects and so I'll let Chad talk a little bit about some of the strategies that we'll start to employ as we do that yeah I think that you know one of the differences between uh Elementary and high school pieces as well is that the the the changes that um maybe not the dollar changes but the making those schedule component changes and other variables to the bids that we had to award and move forward would be problematic whereas the high school um making some of those changes is not going to be as problematic and is not as big of a concern out there so that's the reason for the recommendation to reject and you know retool some of the elementary pieces and not at the high school um some of those can be made post bid and we can look at Alternatives there as well as look at the elementary pieces and then put those back out uh one of the biggest concerns uh right now is the the schedule and the amount of work that's out in the school market right now and uh any anytime you can look at taking work out of the summer schedule um there's definite advantages to pricing that come with that and so that's one of the strategies that we'll be looking at is looking at how to move things out of the summer months but still do them in a way that's effective and safe for kids and learning so so when we reject the bid the expectation is that we may make a modification to the timing of well we will make a modification to the timing of the project we'll send it out for bid the expectation is the propo the ideas that we put forth in the referendum and that we put to mdn will end up being in whatever project gets completed Fair absolutely um while we might break the project into different uh scope packages or schedules as we take a look at things uh we want to maintain those design issues and the referenda issues that we worked with the core planning teams on so this Wednesday we'll be reconvening with the elementary groups to talk to them as a whole about U what we're looking at what the challenges are uh and um retaking a look at how we make those minor scope adjustments within those projects we'll be doing the same thing with the high school group and as we reconvene our Middle School group we'll do the same things as well we already had that conversation with the Early Childhood group so it's all about maintaining that scope of the referenda project M maintaining what the uh commitment was in terms of that vote uh and making the adjustments in ways that we feel the projects can sustain that what I heard tonight was that just so people understand we will not be completing three elementary schools this summer and the the reason for that is so that we can extend the construction time over a longer period of time which then one element of that will be hopefully getting more uh bids that are less expensive than the bids that we received um the drawback to that and one of the questions that we asked is how do we manage this when our kids are in school um you know whether it's particularly if it's outside of the building even though it's outside of the building there's still construction equipment it may affect play Space Etc and then how you manage um you know the learning that's going on can you guys address that a little bit there's already plans in place uh to address a lot of those concerns because we had planned on starting the additions this spring before school was out and so the projects really don't change in terms of how we address those issues we we had uh acoustic issues uh that we were dealing with we had fencing issues we had how students were safely access in the site it simply shifts from a spring issue to a fall issue as we take a look at that yeah and we've also been working with the the city on you know exiting and maintaining all those safety features while those jobs are going on like Von mentioned men even before school was out this year that just shifts to potentially in the fall and getting those in place for when the kids come back that everything's already in place and ready to go any other questions or discussion hearing none all in favor vote i i i any opposed motion carried we're on to the next action item which is the Dina High School construction bids can I get a motion to approve the contracts as per the attached documents from CR Anderson Construction for the high school so moved we get a presentation with this bid as you can tell with the attachment it's very detailed and many components to it it's a large project in your attachment a couple things I would point out and certainly Chad and Bon can uh chime in with additional information is um it is p approving alternate number three which is relocation of the tennis courts to the creek Valley area but that approval is pending working through uh the Watershed district and so um if and we we anticipate that we will be able to do that but we just want to be clear that the approval is pending that and um there are two bids in detail uh one for operable wall and mot motorized bleachers that because of the timing of when this bid was received and needing to get it prepared for the board that we're still working with the vendors on that we'll bring those individually back to you it will not slow up the project uh and again Chad can speak more in depth to that but would request your approval of the Adina High School additions and renovation bits any questions can I ask a question part of this bid is the field the turf um I think we've all discussed that that there is definitely a desire that that some sort of a turf field would be superior to our grass and soil Fields as they stand now my question is from what I understand when we were discussing this right now what we're approving is the initial uh cutting into the ground and preparing to have a turf field what how long is the process between cutting into the ground and then actually uh putting in the actual turf field the crumb rubber the other things that go with that at at the high school campus that we've got right now the the turf fields are not slated to be uh usable until fall of 17 and so but the there is a u a great amount of underground utilities and other work that has to start to get in process for that uh demolition pieces that the work will start yet um in the next month um but it will be not finalized until next spring of 17 in preparation but there's a lot of underground components that have to get started uh there's some utility relocates that need to be done and there's some time periods that need to be waited for uh on settlement issues to make sure everything's good before the field is put in place then I'm just G to ask the question which would lead to my next question um when we've dug the when when it's all prepared and we're ready to move ahead with putting in the actual Turf if that were to be after say the EPA comes out with their findings would we have the ability at that point to choose whatever product is appropriate based on those findings I mean as far as the turf itself The Fill I guess yes and that's that is not um that is not something that we're approving in this package tonight the turf itself this is the earthw components for that um the subgrade preparation if you will want to call it that is very similar in the different applications um there is some differences but it's similar thank you I've got a unrelated question in case anyone had a followup on that first uh the question I had is board members received uh a couple of emails from labor organization Representatives questioning the competence and maybe the Integrity of one of the successful biders Ebert and just wanted to give you a chance can you can you comment on whether you have any concerns about that uh contractor yeah so the so the uh I think the original concern came in regards to the elementary school projects which we've already acted on rejected but as part of this packet there was one um work scope 6A that the apparent low bidder uh made an error and Upon Our review a after the bids has asked to withdraw their bids but that puts Ebert as the second then or the lowest responsible bidder um CR Anderson has worked with them in the past uh I don't know if there's any reason right now that the district should be rejecting their bid for that reason you're you're you're comfortable with their ability to perform adequately y thank you we've done projects with Ebert before both as a general contractor and under a construction management approach and we're we share their opinion and they've worked with other school districts yes I've worked with eert previously also and I also contact or got information from two other districts that have current projects going on with them right now so while we're not putting in the actual turf field until 2017 I I don't want people to leave with the impression that that's when the decision is going to be made about the turf fields so I think there may have been some confusion sure I I I think this is the high school is different than the next action item where the other fields that are would bid separately from the high school are on a little bit different schedule um so I was referring to the high school schedule that's there but even then even with the high school we're still going to see see a bid for the field the the infill and the turf itself well before 2017 part of that is is looking at districtwide to um have one manufacturer one provider and so wanting to lock in prices at this year's current rates and not look at bidding it two or three different projects because then you could end up with multiple different manufacturers of your Turf product which isn't a benefit for maintenance and ongoing operations for the district is that yes yeah Chad can you chadon can you talk a little bit about once this is approved now we start construction at the high school what does that mean to the families and the community and sort of how does this thing lay out over the next uh 12 to 18 months or even six months would be helpful sure so at the high school project the overall Construction time period is is yet to get started this month and to be fully complete by the fall of 2017 uh there's a couple of different Milestones that are going to come with that um the major addition is really going to get started uh real quickly with all the earthwork operations and where that sits on the northwest corner of the building and that's going to be in progress from this spring all the way through um summer of 2017 then on the interior of the building there's U multiple different remodel areas so we've looked at uh timing of this bid what can we put in the package to have work done in 2016 Summer and what is in 2017 on the inside of the building the majority of the remodeling operations are in 2017 so uh on the inside of the building there is still work going on there's um work in the third floor Commons and there's mechanical room improvements and there's various areas where we're trying to get what ever we could this summer to limmit the amount that's all just in 17 as well so they'll be ongoing operations both Summers which are going to occupy a lot of that building and there's some mechanical electrical shutdowns and different things that have to be done but it will be a very active site most of our operations to start here in April and May are going to be limited to um the areas right to the north side of the turf field the existing turf field on the west side as as well as to the north side of the building uh and down in the lower Fields uh once school is out so a lot of site work operations and earthw work operations thanks chair other questions hearing none all in favor say I I I any opposed motion carries uh the next item Rick we may have had a walk in on the D Community Center site improvements y pa i' ask Margot to address that the board does have a walk-in and if you can explain the the walk-in if you would uh initial information was provided in your board packet and what you have is one change um that deleted the recommendation for an alternate uh but the existing recommendation that you received uh last Friday uh to approve the contract with man Max steininger for the din Community Center site improvements with his earth work and site improvements uh in preparation for uh artificial uh turf fields uh it is not an approval for the actual Turf itself um we are still as mentioned earlier this evening receiving uh final pricing on on turf at this point in time and that'll come at a later time so can I get a motion to substitute the walked in U action item for the one that was in the board book second any any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I any opposed motion carries now can I get a motion to approve the walked in action item to approve the contract with Mac steininger so second Margaret do you have anything to add that you haven't already told us nothing additional any questions hearing none all in favor say I I any opposed motion carries next item is the ter termination non Ral recommendations can I get a motion to approve those recommendations so second and Gwen could you sorry didn't mean to wake you up I ready could you give us a little background for yes we do have some uh non-renewals and uh the reason for those are variety of reasons um we as we are working on student schedules we may not need as many teachers in specific areas and so there are reductions for that reason or um budget cuts come with some of the staff right and actually what I meant was I just kind of said your name loud I was are there any questions for Gwen so we do have a roll call on this one Sarah can you run us through I hi hi hi so motion passed the next item is unrequested leave recommendations can I get a motion to approve the unrequested leave recommendations so Mo second and Gwen could you go through that one for us please uh yes we do have two teachers who um we are requesting be placed on unrequested leave up absence and these are teachers who are tenured but at this time we do not have positions for them and so um that is the reason for the recommendation any questions or discussion there I believe it's a roll call again hi I I motion passes the next action item is the general fund budget plan can I get a motion to approve the 201617 general fund budget plan so moved can I get second second Margo could you run us through that well as you know we've been working on the budget uh process since December and we had the budget advisory task force uh Team uh de help the administration developed recommendations which were presented to you at the March 14th board meeting and uh since that board meeting and we also worked with finance committee through uh throughout the winter um since that board meeting we have not had additional feedback to to uh tweak or bring changes to you so uh the recommended approval tonight for the 16117 budget plan is as it was presented at March 14th um overall total of net reduction of 535,000 to the general fund budget which is about a half a percent of our budget and I would ask answer any questions that you have um and recommend approval any questions discussion I do want to thank the budget advisory task force for their work on this they were great to work with and hopefully we will see them again on some other issues all right all in favor say I I I any opposed hearing none motion passes next is the teacher evaluation mou can I get a motion to approve the teacher evaluation mou for 20168 second uh Randy and Libby you're both listed or somebody Gonna Take the Lead here uh I'll do the update and Libby will handle the difficult questions uh so we have uh updated the EM uh partnership and Schoolboard partnership regarding theou for a teacher evaluation system uh it was first um drafted in 2013 and so this is um an updating of thatou agreement part of the changes to theou in or some of the changes to theou including the combination or merging of teacher evaluation in alt comp I'll just hit to highlight a few of these in our resolution uh conversion from four rating levels to three in our uh proficiency descriptors uh we combined um descriptors as an example 17 and and four to have a have a better way of making sure that best practices are implemented across our classrooms and then we have our teacher evaluation committee um developing and modifying the rubric on a regular basis so we kind of pulled the rubric design out of theou and have assigned that to our teacher evaluation committee so that we can um continually keep that updated and as we have become more efficient in our process we are proposing to um increase the ratio of our our teachers to coaches from 70 to1 to 80 to one in 2017 and 18 which would be a reduction in one of our peer coach positions in the 201718 school year those are a few of the changes they are described in the uh additional information for theou and uh I would just like to say publicly we certainly appreciate our uh partnership with em we've had a very effective committee and um look forward to just continue continuing to problem solve with them as we work through um things like this particular thank you are there any questions no discussion all in favor say I I I any opposed motion carries next item on the agenda is purchase of the kindergarten through five reading program materials can I get a motion to approve the purchase of the materials so moved Randy are you up again there uh Caroline Lynden myself uh uh Lisa Hopkins and a student presented at last month's board meeting regarding the purchase of our reading program materials for K5 for next school year and this resolution is just a reminder for a call to action from the board on that purchase it's been about 10 years since our last adoption um a couple of changes in our uh resolution from the last meeting was a change in price we've um reduced the price from 268,000 to 255,000 so we've gotten a little bit better deal with our vendor there's about $60,000 worth of items that are uh Grace items so these are free items provided by the vendor the consensus Choice from our elementary language arts uh design team were these materials so we're very excited with the work of that language arts design team and um the work or the materials that we will be purchasing will mirror the purchase that we did for the uh wrting WR materials uh one year ago and then I would just say that there's there's also a phase two and a phase three to this purchase phase two would be 2017 and 18 which would include adding materials to each of the Elementary's leveled libraries in the schools and then phase three would be 2018 and 19 where we would focus on purchasing single copies of books for uh classroom use this is Phase One of a of a multi-year process but uh we are very excited about the materials the quality the rigor and again um a much needed update to what we have for reading support in our K5 program thank you Randy any questions discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I I any opposed motion carries next is the purchase of LMS from schoology can I get a motion to approve the purchase of the learning management system school school schoology well thanks Steve for putting that nice word in there for me yeah this um there will be a few years I think trying to figure out if it's schoy or schoology it is schoy but um we did have a pretty thorough process as we started reviewing the sis to um to determine if our learning management system we currently use Moodle is going to be sufficient for us for next Generation learning we had an RFP out and from that uh we whittel our our candidates from 11 down to three and then we did a pretty extensive pilot with parents students and teachers and after reviewing those uh one system fell out at the review process it was between canvas and schooly and after the review uh we really think that Schoo is going to serve us well as a foundational tool one of the things we're super excited about is parents will actually be able to log in and see their child's email uh child's homework and be able to actually see the work that's going on in the learning management system that's one of the big things also help facilitate communication and it will allow us to do standards tracking and assessment within this learning management system so we think that it's going to be a great foundational platform our plan is to migrate to this tool next fall and use the year as a transition year to to Sunset Moodle and spin up schooly G next year great thank you any questions go ahead would you clarify what you said about parents seen homework what was that sure so one of the common questions that we have when we use Moodle is um sometimes parents don't see the assignments or the homework or they come home they say do you have any homework and they'll say it's in Moodle and then the parents will go can I see that see what it is with school it actually has a parent facing tool so parents actually will be able to log on to it see information be able to communicate in a guarded or a Walled Garden environment so they won't be able to actually do the homework for the students or see it but they'll be able to access the information that's not just for any online type assignment but it's any assignment that's given out posted there for parents to be able to see is that what you're saying for Content that's posted in the learning management system and this they'll be able to see correct and the future we aren't locked into the system we could migrate onto another system that's correct uh it's a three-year contract and so our plan is is to migrate our Moodle content so this vendor will help us migrate all the current Moodle content that we have into this new system we'll keep copies of that so we always can go back to the Moodle comp content if we will and then we'll be able to migrate the content out of this learning management into another system it's not a trivial process but it is a process that we can do thanks Steve so are are we getting rid of Moodle or just accessing Moodle through this no we'll be sunsetting Moodle so we'll be moving away from Moodle within a uh next year will be our last year of using Moodle we'll continue to use Google Apps for Education and those tools but we will be sunsetting Moodle moving to this as our learning management system any other questions Andy will this be closer link to our current grading system or how's is there some kind of integration that's going to happen great question Randy yes and that is another feature that we're very excited about is um starting in the fall uh it will automatically what we call provision and so uh staff will automatically see their students in classes within this learning management system and the information will be able to flow back from this into our grade books as well down the road um it is a feature that is tentatively scheduled for fall implementation um we don't know if it will be there but it will be there by the end of by probably the end of semester one so that we have the potential of uh a teacher being able to grade in one spot and a parent to be able to see that information in one spot and it will also end up in the permanent Gradebook if you will as automatically so it's going to help I think reduce some time and effort that that our teachers have and our parents for finding information about where's the homework what grade did they get on the homework and what's coming up in my child's kind of academic or instructional plan thanks any other questions discussion hearing none all in favor vote i i i any opposed motion carried next is a approval of the 201617 school board meeting dates can I get a motion to approve those dates so moved second Rick is this one yours uh yeah we just had minor change from what the first reading was again it falls in line that it's that uh still looking at a Monday evening meetings U regular meetings and then we make a few additional quarterly meeting special Works sessions that we have traditionally uh placed we did make some changes with the January uh moving the organizational meeting a week earlier and then delaying uh because is uh we also delayed the week uh to get a better pacing on our January regular board meeting but those are the only two changes and would recommend the board support the calendar as presented so are you representing we're only going to have four work sessions next calendar uh that's what we schedule Mr chair that's what we schedule just checking any questions discussion hearing none all in favor say I I any opposed motion carried next is scheduled policy review can I get a motion to to approve revised policy 7:15 mve second Regina are there any changes on this one there are no changes on 7:15 since we saw it at our last meeting right any questions discussions hearing none all in favor vote i i i any opposed motion carries uh any informational items I would just make the Community aware that on Thursday of this week we have a couple presentations to the League of Women Voters it's Thursday April 14th um these are both occurring at the senior center one is at um 10 o'clock and one is at 7 o'clock in the evening um Mr chair will be able to join me for the 10 o'clock meeting correct but we are looking for a board member who could just join Susan BR and I for the evening meeting so if you can check your schedules and let us know they would like to have a board member present as well um we also are continuing to pursue other communication Avenues as we move forward with our planning for the spring into the summer and next fall as well but that would pretty much conclude my informational updates and I just want to note as I've started to do the recognition of Staff there's accommodation of John Ford and recognition of the work that he's been doing is there anything else from a member of the board just remind the community that there's another GT Mee tonight but there'll be a similar one again next week on Monday as well right correct correct can I get a motion to adjourn so move all in favor say I I we areer and thank you very much everyone