[9:02] good evening tonight is monday february 14th and we do have a quorum so i will call this meeting to order happy [9:08] valentine's day to everyone here and at home and it is also a val burke's birthday today so one of [9:15] our special cabinet members [Applause] [9:22] happy birthday val so you get double pleasure being here on your birthday and valentine's day um [9:30] yes yes uh do i have a motion to approve the agenda for tonight's meeting [9:36] so moved is there a second we will now vote to [9:43] the agenda for the evening all those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed [9:50] the agenda is approved uh dr stanley will you please review tonight's agenda for us [9:55] absolutely uh chair ellenberg so this evening we have excellence in action and [10:01] our students from highlands are here we're so excited to hear from them of course we will have hearing from members [10:06] of the public we have a consent agenda there but we have discussion of some policies 425 522 613 [10:14] we are going to move into action on the covid update and recommendations that we [10:20] spoke about during work session get information regarding our revised [10:26] 2021 2022 budget our data metrics plan that we looked at [10:31] a couple of months ago and the proposal to include additional special education classroom space that we talked about at [10:38] our last meeting of course we'll have uh leadership and then committee updates [10:43] i'll provide updates and we have some staff celebrations that we want to honor as well tonight [10:51] thank you dr family tonight we first we're going to start [10:56] with our excellence in action and we have highlands elementary students here in [11:02] dr carla rickenburg's fourth and fifth grade cp class and they've actively participated in the [11:08] minnesota zoo's zoom stem design challenge so students [11:14] have completed a three-month fully integrated unit of study to understand exhibit design [11:19] they research observed collected data measured wrote collaborated and created the end product was a 3d model of a new [11:26] exhibit for the wolves at the minnesota zoo a completed research paper and a tri-fold board showcasing learning [11:33] and collaboration here to tell us more is hyland's principal katie pony [11:39] good evening principal mahoney hi everyone hello um hi students [11:45] so we have some amazing fourth and fifth graders who are here from highlands to talk to you about [11:50] their stem project that they have been working on for a very long time so i'm going to hand the mic over to dr rickenberg who is here with them to help [11:58] us present thank you i am thrilled to be here with the students [12:04] because it's the students who have been doing all of the work and so i'm thankful that the parents were able to bring this group of awesome kiddos here [12:11] and so they're actually going to be doing the presentation tonight we have some different slides with pictures [12:17] because we couldn't bring all of the work in that we've been doing and so if we where do i look for the slides up [12:23] on the monitors there they are okay so karen here first [12:30] and here we make sure that the mic is on yes [12:49] there you go the minnesota zoo zooms stem design [12:56] challenges is giving us the chance to develop a situation to a real problem that the zoo is experiencing [13:05] one problem that are that we had that we helped to solve [13:10] was creating a new exhibit area for the gray wolves habitat we had [13:16] to consider the needs for not only the wolves but also the minnesota zoo staffs and the [13:23] visitors after we learned about the challenge we [13:30] voted as a class to do the exhibit design challenge instead of the enrichment design challenge it was a [13:36] tough assignment but we were up for the challenge we had a lot to consider with the exhibit design how would how could [13:43] we make the visitors better interact with the wolves how could the exhibit be [13:52] designed to be easily cleaned how could a training area be incorporated into the design [14:04] you can change the slides the first step in the whole process was research we read a lot of books and watched a few [14:10] movie videos to get us familiar with the gray wolves as an animal but also more [14:16] specifically the gray wolves at the minnesota zoo [14:21] you can change this life [14:28] of course we didn't design a new exhibit for the zoo if we didn't have a chance [14:35] to see the current exhibit and the study of the wolves we spent a few hours in [14:41] december making up observations and collective data so if you go to the next slide it's a [14:47] video of the students when we arrived maybe it didn't make it into this final [14:52] one but the students when we first arrived right at the zoo we went straight to the wolf exhibit [14:58] and the students right away started howling because we've been talking about the communication [15:03] and so oscar go ahead with this next slide we studied different habitats looking for the evidence that the [15:09] exhibit was built for the animal zookeeper and visitor we participated in class and with the [15:17] zoo staff to learn about the exhibit requirements so you can click to the next slide [15:24] and there's us participating in the class with the zoo staff and then you can click to the next slide and the stella will talk to us about more [15:30] research [15:43] and we did we did more research we had to take all the [15:51] data we collected all and create questions that could be researched [16:00] [Music] [16:08] the at the same time we were doing the research we also had to learn how to draw maps and scale models so he's not [16:13] going to whole you know study on geography learning map skills and map making [16:22] we flexed our creativity and designed our very own islands to scale with many natural features this important activity [16:28] helped laid the foundation on how to draw a blueprint our next step for the minnesota zoo stem [16:35] project was to create a blueprint of our exhibit design we took into consideration all the needs of the [16:40] wolves zookeepers and visitors as a team [16:50] you can see that the zoo provided us with some sketches but we had to [16:57] really focus in on what was important for the three [17:02] stakeholders we didn't do just one draft either many of us had at least two different drafts [17:10] and with some teams having more [17:18] as we worked on more research we also worked on creating the final draft for the bloom so we could start creating a [17:24] 3d model once the blueprint was finalized we had [17:30] to keep our creativity going and create a 3d model based upon the blueprint we [17:35] created we learned a lot about representation and that a tree in our model doesn't necessarily have to look [17:42] like a tree we see out our window [17:50] here are some of some additional pictures of our 3d model creating [18:01] the next part of the minnesota zoo zoom stem project was creating a trifold [18:07] to showcase all re all our research and blueprints and 3d model [18:27] this video shows us [18:33] working on the trifold in our teens [18:44] [Music] oh yep you can show this video we made sure the project [18:56] it's a magical moment in the classroom for the teacher when everybody's doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing [19:01] so i had to capture it on film [Music] [19:19] you can go ahead and click to the next slide thank you okay we made sure that the project met all [19:26] the requirements asked from the minnesota zoo this was our guiding document the whole time [19:37] in the beginning of the project we knew that the minnesota zoo was having a competition with all the participating [19:42] schools so we voted to participate in the competition about midway in the project we had a [19:48] reset on the importance of learning the project and how to re-vote on whether to participate in the competition [19:54] in the end we decided it was important to have highlands represented in the zoo competition we appreciated the guests who came into [20:01] our room to interview the groups and judge the final projects [Applause] [20:12] [Music] here are all the teams we [20:19] with their finished project projects [20:29] even after the projects were finished we weren't finished learning a week after our projects were done we [20:37] all finished our research paper papers and had an author celebration leaving [20:42] feedback for one another and then our next slide is a video [20:47] because all of the students couldn't be here we wanted to make sure they could all be represented because this was a big deal this took us [20:54] about four months to do we started in november and just finished it up two weeks ago so it's a big content [21:00] integrated so go ahead and show the video and this is the students answering the questions of what i learned and what [21:06] i liked best [21:14] my favorite part was probably making the 3d models and i really also liked [21:19] working as a team um i learned a lot i also learned a whole bunch of stuff but i learned a lot [21:24] of facts and i also learned that my ideas aren't always the best for the group and i need [21:31] to accept that it was really fun and you didn't have to [21:36] do a lot you could always have some ideas you can use others like this [21:41] um i really liked the research because wolves have always been like a super cool topic for me [21:47] so to learn more about them that was really fun my favorite part of the wolf project was [21:53] all the teamwork and something that i learned was that wolves can eat up to 20 pounds at once my favorite part of the [21:59] wolf project was building the 3d model and um i learned a bunch of fun facts [22:04] while i was doing it i learned a ton of things like how it's [22:10] giving me 20 pounds of meat they have 42 teeth that are about two and a half inches long in other jokes [22:16] my favorite part about the project was building the exhibit and something i learned was probably how [22:22] to work better my favorite part was working with my group and i learned that everybody has ideas and [22:29] that you need to include them the project was probably working together in a group about how they're endangered and [22:36] that's really important and important because we need to save them um what i wanted was just like how [22:44] we were all working together as a team and we could really feel a strong bond of teamwork together [22:50] and that just made it more fun uh what i learned was like teamwork comes a long way and you can't have one [22:57] kid slack off because they need you everybody needs you on their team i'm in fifth grade so my favorite part of [23:04] doing the wolf project was working together with my teammates um i learned that you don't always have [23:11] to do your ideas it probably was 3d models because uh you learned group work it was fun [23:19] and you get all the stuff you would if you were just writing it down on what was the most important thing do you think about the wolf project [23:26] maybe like actually getting to design it for the message so it could have flew my [23:31] favorite part was building the 3d model and i learned that it's hard to work together my favorite part was um [23:38] learning with others my favorite part was building the exhibits and going to the zoo and to new worlds [23:44] the one thing i learned in this stem project is that [23:50] um wolves only eat the sick of the week and my favorite part about it was [23:57] that um going to the minnesota zoo to learn more about the wolves my favorite part of the [24:05] project was building a 3d model and i learned that the first things you [24:10] do don't i learned that i could not have done this project without my team [24:15] my favorite part was was working with my group and that and i learned that wolves are not [24:22] bad my favorite part was going to the minnesota zoo country my favorite thing [24:28] about the wolf research was probably um that [24:34] um we all got to work together and share our ideas and one thing i learned is that everything that i don't everything [24:41] doesn't have to go my way my favorite part was learning new things about wolves and my favorite thing i learned [24:47] was that wolves can eat up to 20 pounds of meat per meal which is equivalent to 200 health [24:54] one thing i liked about the wolf project was that uh we got to do like all of the [24:59] subjects in more fun ways without really knowing it like we did like math and like geometry without like really [25:06] knowing it and um i learned a lot about like designing and like how to format [25:12] your uh typing to make it look really professional and like learned about a lot about [25:17] teamwork [Music] [25:27] [Applause] [25:33] do any of you have any questions for the students [25:50] okay now i'm on what was the one most interesting fact about wolves [25:56] that surprised you in your learning [26:06] you guys knew everything about wolves [26:15] well i didn't know exactly everything about wolves in fact all i knew that they were basically like i thought they [26:21] were like savage killers of people but they aren't there they're actually beautiful creatures and [26:27] they control the elk population because technically there was this because technically if you took the [26:33] wolves out of the ecosystem then there wouldn't be anything to eat the elk [26:38] and then they would overpopulate thanks buddy excellent [26:50] there you go other questions that you might have we did bring pieces these are um pieces [26:57] from two of the different projects um we were fortunate to have our judges recommend two of our projects [27:03] two of our seven projects to go on to the zoo competition and we just heard [27:08] last week that one of our projects was chosen out of the money to continue through the [27:14] competition and that is in march so we will be working to polish it up and and get it ready great [27:21] other questions you have for the students though i don't have any questions but i just [27:26] wanted to thank you and thank all the students for coming here and being brave to talk to all of us you all did a great [27:32] job in your projects look fascinating so thank you very much for letting us come absolutely this was great can you let us [27:38] know what happens in march yes yes i will good luck thank you guys thank you [27:44] good luck guys thank you [27:52] and thank you to all the parents that came too yeah [27:57] i think they're probably clearing out that's awesome [28:06] okay we're going to move on to our hearing from members of the public um i [28:11] just want to remind everyone that pursuant to board policy 206 we ask that you try not to duplicate information [28:18] that has been previously presented if you have a complaint about individual employees board members or students in [28:24] the district please direct these comments to the appropriate site administrator the superintendent or [28:30] submit them in writing to the board the board typically does not respond to or have discussions on any issues [28:36] presented but questions raised during presentations will receive follow-up as directed by the board [28:42] and i would like to remind all speakers that your presentations are limited to three minutes we have a display that [28:48] right there that will let you know when your three minutes are up so please finish at three minutes um thank you we [28:54] have uh quite a few speakers tonight so i will let the speaker know and then the [28:59] speaker that's up after that no just so you know to come up or that you're on deck [29:04] our first speaker is paul thompson um so welcome paul and then after paul is sophia [29:10] seidelman so welcome paul thank you thank you so much for inviting us and [29:17] for for the work that you do and happy valentine's day i never thought i would learn so much about wolves [29:23] by coming to a school board meeting but it's it's exciting to be in a room with parents and kids and teachers and and [29:29] school board members the work that you do is so important and i know there's some hot topics that [29:36] you're dealing with right now with masks and with covid the next big hot topic is climate change [29:42] edina has just become one of over 20 cent cities in minnesota to announce a climate emergency declaration [29:50] they also uh passed a climate action plan which you have in your [29:56] packet some ideas we're working with grace hancock [30:01] the city sustainability manager and working toward neighborhoods with schools with faith communities to get [30:08] the word out that this is the next nine years is going to be a crucial period for us to make to lower our greenhouse [30:15] gases and bring the community together in an inclusive diverse way of dealing [30:21] with these issues and we want the school board to be fully on board you are the biggest energy user [30:28] in the in this in the city so tonight it's my pleasure as uh the volunteer [30:34] project earth advisor with my wife mindy aller been working with them for 15 years [30:40] we have students both current students and former students that are now coming back [30:46] into the community to help us so i'd like to invite sophia settlement [30:52] [Applause] [30:58] hi my name is sophia settlemen and i'm a junior at edina high school i'm representing the project green [31:05] challenge as well as project earth um but also representing over 100 students [31:11] at edina high school who have signed a petition requesting that our school no longer uses styrofoam [31:17] in school cafeterias there were once compostable trays but now styrofoam trays are the only option these trays [31:23] are at edina high school and valley view middle school if not more schools in the district styrofoam has been banned in many states [31:29] throughout the united states for good reason styrofoam is made with a chemical called styrene that leeches into our [31:35] food when students eat off of the styrofoam trays this is toxic to humans especially when [31:41] students are exposed to the chemicals every day of the week at lunch it is so [31:47] necessary to put the well-being of students in the district over the price of these goods styrofoam trays are also horrible for [31:53] the environment in the lunchroom zoos use the styrofoam trays for [31:59] less than 30 minutes but after that they're thrown out and each one will take approximately 500 years to [32:05] decompose um or to break apart in the landfill while each producing toxic methane gas [32:13] throughout those 500 years [32:18] as styrofoam and other plastics break apart they never fully go away they just break down into smaller and smaller [32:23] pieces until we cannot see them we ingest a credit card of plastic every [32:30] week due to these micro plastics in our food um edina needs to do what they can to [32:36] reduce single use plastics especially in styrofoam you can ignore that it didn't reset when you started i apologize [32:43] um i'm asking you all to think about the safety of students and the well-being of our world [32:49] um we need to find an alternative to styrofoam your pa your options are to have reusable trays that are washed or [32:56] to have compostable trays that can be effectively composted when asked why edina high school [33:01] composting program has stopped it is said to have do have to do with covid and lack of student support [33:07] i um the project green challenge and project earth are all enthusiastic to [33:12] begin this again a common misconception that is often brought up is that food waste will just break down back into soil no matter what [33:19] bin it is put into that is false food waste needs oxygen to be able to decompose [33:26] when put into landfill where it cannot reach the oxygen it needs it releases methane gas [33:31] just like plastics and styrofoam in composting facilities the waste has plenty of access to oxygen to [33:38] effectively break apart it is more important now than ever that edina public schools is a leader in enforcing [33:43] sustainability and we can do this by restarting composting programs at schools and discontinue these the [33:49] styrofoam thank you [Applause] [33:57] next we have olivia mayhardt and after that will be emma hudson [34:02] and olivia if you can just wait to make sure that i get the clock reset to three minutes okay thank you [34:10] okay um hello i'm olivia mackhart i'm a junior at edina high school and i'm one [34:15] of the leaders of our environmental club project earth and in the last year and a half we have [34:21] worked on a sustainability plan that we have been pushing for the district [34:26] the latest united nations intergovernmental panel on climate change report says that we [34:32] have less than 10 years to limit devastating global warming and avoid a climate change catastrophe [34:39] the world has already experienced serious detrimental costly impacts and the [34:44] younger generation will face most of the burden of these consequences minnesota is the second fastest warming [34:52] state in the country and the state has started to see the effects of climate change [34:57] through increased precipitation higher temperatures and more extreme weather patterns [35:02] edina has seen these effects especially with increased flooding in the morningside neighborhood and other [35:09] areas identified by the city of edina it is our recommendation that the school board [35:17] create a 20-year 20-year district-wide sustainability plan [35:22] that will include goals that could that should accomplish be accomplished every five years [35:29] and base these goals around the general statements the statement of environmental [35:34] resource management policy specifically in the areas of clean and [35:39] energy and energy efficiency climate literacy student well-being clean transportation waste reduction as [35:47] well as preservation and restoration of natural resources on school grounds [35:53] the re-establishment of the go green community school board members students teachers [36:00] staff and community members apart being a part of it and to foster edina school's leadership [36:06] and sustainability among other school districts in the state and to align the district's greenhouse [36:13] gas emission goals with the goals of the city of edina and to ensure that [36:18] district manages resources in the most efficient manner which reduces utility [36:24] costs and protects the environment and then also to input the feedback from students and families in regards to [36:30] sustainability priorities we will continue to work on our [36:37] sustainability plan and we are also currently focused on getting a sustainability [36:42] assessment for the school district in a few weeks we are speaking at the [36:49] buildings grounds and management meeting and we look forward to [36:55] working more on that in the future it is my honor to present a former student emma who was [37:02] also a part of project earth and that works for the green corps [37:17] hi there um i'm just gonna adjust this really quick my name is emma hudson i [37:22] graduated from edina high school in 2017 and from loyola university chicago in [37:28] 2021 and i'm now currently was and currently am a resident of edina [37:34] um i volunteer with project earth on a weekly basis i provide mentorship and [37:40] guidance i'm also currently a minnesota green corps member working on waste reduction [37:45] and diversion at the minnesota department of veteran affairs [37:50] i wanted to provide a little bit of insight to my journey as well [37:55] one of the main reasons i chose to study environmental politics at loyola was because of the ap environmental science [38:02] course that i took in my senior year of high school in fact i applied directly to loyola's [38:08] institute of environmental sustainability and declared my major in my first semester of my freshman year because i was so certain that that was [38:14] the path that i wanted to take with the rest of my life and my career having the opportunity to learn more [38:20] about the environment and the impact that humans have not only inspired changes within my [38:26] personal life but also my educational and professional life as well edina high school and the broader edina [38:33] public school system can and does shape the lives and the future of the next [38:38] generation and i'm excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the district alongside the students of [38:44] project earth to create implement and achieve sustainability goals [38:50] that are in alignment with the recently passed city of edina climate action plan thank you so much thank you [38:59] i'm so sorry we also have the students are creating um a climate action summit as well that we [39:05] will communicate details about um in the next coming months great thank you very much [39:11] next we have sarah hermata and after sarah hermata will be owen michaelson [39:26] hello board it's been five years since i first [39:32] asked this board about dyslexia and excuse me and basic literacy [39:40] so now i'm here five years later and there have been some great conversations [39:46] there's a new strategic plan and there's a comprehensive literacy plan [39:51] what i'm not seeing is a commitment to the letters program language essentials for teachers of [39:58] reading and spelling and i'm not seeing that for either the [40:05] teachers or the principals and administrators there are two different training programs [40:11] and you know it if the [40:17] principals were knowledgeable about the basics of literacy it would [40:22] just go very far in supporting the kids [40:28] in reading and writing and building the base the foundational base they need [40:34] for school um i'm also not seeing a commitment to [40:41] literacy in the legislative action committee that the board runs [40:49] last week two of the three legislative education committees discussed literacy and letters and [40:57] what the state is intending to do i would like to see [41:02] our board and our school district paying attention and supporting that [41:08] literacy piece currently edina schools [41:16] knowingly graduate more than 125 students each year who are [41:21] not proficient in reading that's proficiency that's the bare minimum that's not [41:28] um you know whether they're mastering literacy or something like that it is [41:34] like the bottom rung and our kids need to have their literacy skills down [41:43] so my question is that the full potential expected [41:49] that leads to discovering possibilities and thriving [42:03] owen michelson and then sarah petzloff [42:08] i got some props here [42:13] i recognized the bag owen all right hey well guys i miss you and [42:20] uh i do can you believe that for the camera i'm owen michaelson former board member and uh first off dan [42:27] and michael and karen congratulations this is your full dress dress board meeting [42:34] and i had to come back and for nothing else to thank julie and erica and janie and [42:40] lenny for all these go away getting get out of here presents like these little [42:45] things for my my bike to let people know i'm in the way or my little ringy thingy [42:51] thank you and uh a little ranch dressing inside joke [42:57] so but you know the thing that you gave me that i like the most and i've been reading it every night is the [43:02] constitution and can i take my mask off up here okay [43:07] um is the constitution and i've been picking away at this every night and [43:12] something fascinating about it is the word education is not in here at all isn't that strange [43:18] where does education get picked up it's dealt with in the 10th amendment which delegates to the states anything that's [43:26] not in the constitution and education then is that is delegated to the states [43:31] and then by virtue of the state of minnesota delegating it to our elected officials you actually get the large [43:38] majority of the authority over our education it's not somebody else it's i would much rather have you all make those decisions [43:45] for us than a distant bureaucrat in dc so i think we ever so often need to [43:51] really note and commend the fact that you all are our decision makers so thank [43:56] you for your conscientiousness and i'm excited to watch how this board plays out [44:02] and well you know me i just love to be able to express my opinions and my second substantive remark that i want to [44:09] make is that i hope we can do away with the masks or at least make them optional i mean for sure make them optional [44:16] because there's a lot of people there are a lot of people would like to wear them but to make them optional um [44:22] masks are not very effective cloth masks with omicron and ostrohome has said as much recently [44:31] nickely has also said that they're the least effective of our mitigation strategies hepa filters are by far the [44:37] best here in edina our vax numbers are very high um we [44:42] are we're encouraged to follow the science and the science isn't real strong on masking and just two and a half weeks [44:48] ago the atlantic monthly had an excellent article about how the evidence is really not very strong for masks and [44:55] i can leave this with any of you if you are if you're interested they had a very interesting quote [45:01] that um they speak of well the cdc is recommending masking but the who isn't [45:09] the world health organization is not they have a quote from [45:14] pertinent to this for even children ages 6 to 11 the who does not routinely recommend masks because the [45:20] potential impact of wearing a mask on learning and psycho social development is not good [45:26] so that's just recently and owen can you wrap it up oh is it all [45:32] right oh bomber you know what i was gonna say is that [45:37] my final prop would be all of you and if we can get to mask optional then we can see your [45:44] beautiful faces again and when i bring you that would be for everybody so [45:50] it's worth bringing a bell for thank you owen [45:55] [Applause] we have sarah patzloff and then katie [46:01] peterson [46:08] it's generally not easy to follow up after owen but i'm sarah patzoff and i'm here to talk about math as i'm sure many [46:16] people are um and as an additional former school board member i i'm sure [46:21] this hasn't been easy on any of you and i i understand that particularly for the new members we're having to jump into [46:27] the middle of this but leadership isn't easy it's tough and you have to make those tough calls [46:34] and as owen was just saying those those decisions are put on to you and it's only seven of you with a superintendent [46:41] who's given you what i think is a very good recommendation she's given you recommendations before [46:47] around masking that have not been approved and i would hope that tonight we would go forward with this [46:52] leadership is tough i know that you're hearing from both constituencies those who want the mass on and those who want [46:58] them off but after two almost two full years of this it's time [47:04] and i heard in some of the discussions tonight during the work session even concerns around our early learners [47:11] yes they may not be eligible for vaccines but what is the potential damage of children learning the most [47:17] basic skills of talking in human expressions the little pictures that we show them so [47:23] that they understand that and yet we're having them cover the most two of the most important features of their faces [47:29] we need to move forward it's you're recommending that it be optional [47:36] those families who want that for their children can continue to do that same with our staff [47:41] but we need to allow our children to get back to some kind of normalcy [47:47] when you make these decisions and continue to want to move forward say with masking [47:54] those results long term will fall on your shoulders we have a lot that has happened to our [48:00] kids in the last two years from miss graduations to to being behind in basic skills [48:08] to actual depression and potential suicides we have to start making those [48:14] tough calls to say we want to work with the community we want to allow our kids [48:19] and parents to make those decisions i heard you talk about protection and kids [48:25] being protected but what about that long-term damage where's the protection for that we don't [48:31] know what that's going to be but i think it's pretty clear based on example that owen gave and many other publications [48:38] and doctors coming out and saying there is damage coming down the pipe we're [48:43] seeing it we have to be strong enough to say we're ready to allow this parent [48:48] this choice to be up to the parents and the students and i was really glad to hear you guys say that for those [48:55] families who want to continue this that you're not going to hopefully put the additional pressure on the teachers our [49:00] teachers have also been through a lot having to enforce another thing it's time to focus on education that's what [49:08] we're here to do we need to get you guys back to the work of education [49:14] and let's stop with the discussions of this going forward my time's up thank you [49:20] [Music] [Applause] [49:26] after katie peterson will be tariffing [49:33] good evening i was reading an article recently about an exchange between a mom and her [49:38] daughter and the mom was explaining to the daughter that they wouldn't have a masking requirement any longer in her [49:45] child's school and the daughter's response was one of fear but mom [49:51] they're going to see my face in my own small world i have two [49:56] children my name is katie peterson i have an eighth grader at valley view and a fifth grader at normandale [50:03] and we've been fortunate they're doing well they're doing great really across the board but here's what i see [50:10] i see them now going to school as a place of rules and compliance they can't [50:16] interact with their friends they're wearing masks on the playground outside [50:22] school has become a place of rules and compliance versus a place that inspires a joy of learning that they can take [50:28] with them the rest of their lives and this breaks my heart i thought i would be later in the list [50:33] somehow because i'm kind of a newbie to the school board circuit here but um so i thought i would be coming after a lot [50:38] of other people sharing the statistics and the details but i've read much of the same work that owen was [50:44] referencing so certainly i think there's a lot to be said for what the science and the data are [50:50] telling us on this journey we're learning a lot but here's the additional kind of from the heart and what strikes [50:55] me as a parent in this community we know i think it's broadly aligned [51:00] that children are at lower risk with covid than any other part of the population [51:06] and yet we are holding our children to a higher standard of masking compliance [51:11] than anywhere else in the community i go to sporting events i go to [51:16] musical events i go to restaurants i go to target and we don't have the same level of [51:22] requirement and then for this element of our population that is still learning and developing we're asking them we're [51:29] holding them to a higher standard than we're holding anyone else to and as far as i can see and i'm not an [51:34] epidemiologist nor i don't think or any of you there's not really any data to support [51:40] that we hold our children to this standard and meanwhile we are doing damage to their love of learning and [51:46] their ability to relate to other people and to build that empathy that is what will sustain us all into the future so i [51:53] am here to voice my overwhelming support for dr stanley's recommendation and in [51:59] support of this community community being part of the movement to move on from this virus and start to accept it [52:06] as part of how we live but not letting it dictate how we live thanks so much for your time tonight in [52:11] your leadership [Applause] [52:19] um after tara finn we have a shelby ritz [52:26] [Music] it's been nearly uh two months since i [52:33] spoke at the december board meeting regarding parent volunteers not being welcomed into our elementary school [52:39] weeks went by after i spoke at that meeting with no follow-up and we finally made the decision to withdraw one of our [52:45] children from countryside elementary since we withdrew her some discussions have taken place regarding our concerns [52:51] but we're still left wondering why why are other elementary schools across the district why do they continue to [52:57] welcome parents into the building but we're still very much not welcome with the exception of helping support our [53:02] short staff chef we just don't understand why we get communication saying due to covid19 [53:08] guidelines we cannot have parent volunteers in our classroom meanwhile we have friends three miles away in the [53:13] district helping out at their kids friendship parties and other activities including in-classroom academic support [53:19] it sounds like pending some decisions tonight countryside will be opening up their doors to welcome more parents back [53:25] into the building tonight i urge you to think about equity across the schools and create some consistency here as you [53:32] make decisions i'm also here tonight in support of dr stanley's proposal to downgrade the [53:37] masking expectations to strongly recommended like many parents we've been telling [53:43] ourselves for almost two years that kids are resilient masks don't bother them masks don't interfere with their education but the [53:49] reality is these statements simply aren't true it wasn't until we stepped foot through [53:54] our daughters new mask optional school to drop her off on her first day that we fully realized this as we walked down [54:01] the hallway toward her classroom we had an overwhelming sense of emotion and it was a good one we were actually being [54:07] welcomed into the building seeing smiles on kids and staff's faces and feeling a strong sense of community this was quite [54:14] the contrast from watching our kindergarten stare at a wall six feet apart from his friends while he eats his [54:19] lunch it's just sad one thing i want to make sure that's clearly addressed in this proposal [54:25] is if it's approved which i hope it is is the quarantine and isolation protocols i [54:32] see in the packet that mdh contract tracing will continue and cdc quarantine and isolation protocols will continue [54:38] but my question is what does this mean for an unmasked child who sits next to somebody who tests positive [54:44] at the new school community we're a part of within the edina city limits families are notified if somebody tests positive [54:50] in their child's classroom via email and it's no more complicated than that no child is kept home simply [54:57] for an exposure no quarantine for an exposure all healthy children are welcome in their seat in the classroom [55:03] no questions asked and this is how it should be in edina public schools it's worth noting we still have a child [55:09] enrolled at countryside in kindergarten with a super awesome teacher and two more coming up the ranks we are still [55:15] really invested in edina public schools and will continue to advocate for them one way we can do this is by sharing the [55:22] things that are working or elsewhere to see if we can apply them here this new school we're now a part of has been operating safely under a mask optional [55:29] protocol all school year long and i'm eager to see our district adopt a similar strategy [55:34] last week i extended an invitation to all of the board members dr stanley and assistant superintendents mazel [55:40] to walk through the halls of the school with us for almost two years you've been inundated with links to media reports [55:46] and statistics and um it's really different to experience it firsthand especially [55:53] within our community if um so none of you took me up on that offer but if any of you aren't in [55:58] support of scaling back the mass mandate i urge you to reach out to me and take me up on the opportunity we'd love to [56:03] have you there thanks [Applause] [56:12] after shelby will be is izzy wagner [56:20] hi everyone it's nice to see you again second time this week i'm shelby wright i'm from concord elementary school i [56:25] have three kids there and then one who should be starting kindergarten this fall and i am also here to express my [56:31] support for dr stanley's proposal to roll back the mask mandate i agree it is time to let our kids get back to normal [56:37] and i don't think there's going to be any better opportunity than now between the low the plummeting case [56:42] rates and the high vaccine rates and the number of children who have recently had omicron and now are sort of in good stead for at least 90 days this is [56:49] really a shining opportunity to sort of off-ramp from the crash course that we have been on for two years [56:54] and i will preface it by saying that i was not categorically opposed to masks like at the beginning of the pandemic i'm pretty sure i got some elastic from [57:01] member shaw i made so many mess that i got free shoes from my favorite retailer but we've learned a lot in the last two [57:07] years and this is not two years ago i think we have known for 18 months that the children are at the least risk of [57:12] the virus there's whole countries and whole american states where young children have never been massed in their hospitalization rates mortality rates [57:19] are not any higher than ours and two years on we still haven't seen a well-designed controlled study showing [57:25] any statistically measurable benefit from wearing the masks i think the cdc director has recently come out and mr [57:30] kelly has told us that the cloth masks simply are not that effective so the benefit to masking the little [57:36] kids is basically zero unfortunately the costs are not zero [57:41] i realize that there are kids who have adjusted to mass just fine but the fact that kids are resilient doesn't mean that it's right to impose hardships that [57:48] they don't need to bear and some of the kids have not adjusted just fine the masks are an ongoing problem for my kid with anxiety she [57:55] doesn't like how they feel she can't understand people she can't tell if other kids like her because they can't see themselves smile you know [58:02] so i don't think that we could keep her in the district if you know we don't drop the masks and [58:08] having done one round of masked kindergarten i will unequivocally say that we won't do it again so that's two kids out and we're a very invested [58:15] family and we don't really want to leave so if you have no benefit and you have some [58:21] cost it's not a good deal that's just a bad policy so i think it's time to move away from it [58:27] i will also note that it's sort of ridiculous that the kids are wearing masks at school and nowhere else the kids they are not stupid you know [58:33] they're out and about and they see what's going on in the broader community and when they know that they can go to birthday parties and gymnastics and [58:40] art and hockey and sky zone and tuttles and all these other places not in a mask but that they have to wear them at [58:45] school they know that it's a bit ridiculous and i think it erodes their trust in our leaders and it erodes their respect for [58:52] the authority that you know we want to teach them to respect when it's justified so [58:57] i think when you see the people out in the community not wearing masks it's a signal that the families have moved on and that parents value normal [59:04] experiences for their kids and that even the people who were very worried a year ago are returning to live [59:09] like living full normal lives and as the center of our community the schools should reflect that [59:14] so i would encourage you to adopt dr stanley's mask recommendation immediately and also to not stop there [59:20] even once we drop the masks there are a host of other protocols and restrictions that are sort of making the teachers [59:25] lives more difficult and are making the kids lives more difficult and making your pto's lives more difficult and so i urge you to revisit those as soon as we [59:32] can but i do think that dropping the masks or making them optional would be an excellent first step and there is no [59:37] better time than now thanks [Applause] [59:48] um after izzy will be ellie and i apologize i can't read your last name [59:54] mac mackin [1:00:00] hi my name is izzy wagner and i'm a senior at edina high school and i wanted to take this opportunity to voice my strong [1:00:07] support for continuing to mandate masks at schools we've heard a lot from adults in the [1:00:13] district and well i think they make some valid points about socialization it's really [1:00:19] the students that this will be affecting while i do feel that [1:00:24] for younger students it may hurt social interaction to be wearing masks and i don't doubt that it's inconvenient [1:00:30] what would really hurt my mental health and the mental health of many students at udyn high school is to feel like we have to go to school [1:00:36] every day in a place that we don't feel safe in and that doesn't provide a virtual school option [1:00:42] and to know that even if students aren't at risk for covid our teachers are and our families are and that every day we [1:00:48] go to school we make the risk that we will catch covid and bring it home to other people [1:00:54] so um it was last march roughly two years ago that we first went into [1:00:59] quarantine and in that time code has gotten better and worse and better again as each new variant has been introduced [1:01:06] and new outbreaks have occurred and if there's been any one constant as it has been the idea that there's no [1:01:12] certainty in a global pandemic and that as soon as cases go down there is likely to go up again in a short amount of time [1:01:19] so as the board considers removing the mask mandate um let me ask this with the unlikelihood of cases staying [1:01:26] low for any significant amount of time why would we remove a mandate that has been proven throughout the pandemic to [1:01:32] reduce the spread of covid the cdc and mdh both recommend universal [1:01:38] indoor masking and as one of the few schools that has remained open throughout the entire school year why should we stray from what has [1:01:44] undoubtedly allowed us to continue in person school time and again i have seen the students [1:01:49] at my school step up double masking and making the efforts to wear cannon 95s even when they're difficult to access [1:01:55] especially for students and though i obviously can't speak for all students many of us just want to get [1:02:01] through this pandemic without having to worry about spreading a deadly disease while we're at school [1:02:06] thank you for your time and thank you board members for all that you do thank you [1:02:12] [Applause] ella and then will be alana [1:02:19] hello hello my name is ella mackhart and i'm a junior at edina high school today i'm [1:02:25] here to talk about why i think it is essential to continue the mass mandate as a district it is crucial to [1:02:31] prioritize the health and education of the students if you decide to make mass highly recommended i guarantee that [1:02:38] coveted rates at the school will increase significantly which would potentially lead to the closing of edina [1:02:43] public schools this will not only put more stress on the students but also sabotages their [1:02:49] academic experience as well as their mental health i want you to consider that this pandemic is not over yet [1:02:55] which means we have to take the right measures to help ensure that students stay in school unlike many school districts within [1:03:02] minnesota that didn't require mass we have stayed open so far for the whole entire school year that is not a mere [1:03:08] coincidence as for the credibility of mass according to the cdc mass reduced [1:03:13] infection rate by 70 percent furthermore we shouldn't get rid of something that is working thank you [1:03:24] is it alana okay thank you [1:03:31] hello members of the board thank you for this opportunity to speak i would like to add on to the opinions [1:03:37] of my peers in discussing the issue of the mask mandate i along with most students i'm weary of [1:03:44] masks i agree it's much better to smile and see people's faces but like most of the students at my [1:03:49] school already down in high school we don't want them gone yet to be honest when i first heard that [1:03:55] there's an option of masks to become optional or go away i was scared [1:04:01] me and my sister are immune compromised and the belief that we could catch covet and potentially miss moore school was [1:04:08] terrifying and i believe that there are some um important things to consider when making this [1:04:15] decision to make masks optional within the school firstly it's important to consider that [1:04:20] it's not just the students and teachers that are affected by this it's the families it's the friends and [1:04:26] especially the young students who can't be vaccinated yet um so many teachers have young children [1:04:32] so many families have siblings that are younger and can't be vaccinated and the effects of covid long term it's not [1:04:38] known yet both neurologically and physically and honestly i don't think that's a risk that we should be taking [1:04:45] as well it's honestly terrifying to go to school knowing you could be carrying a deadly [1:04:51] virus someone else could there's just so many uncertainties and as well i think it's just safer [1:04:58] to wait masks have proven to work as ella and izzy have stated [1:05:03] i mean it's been working so far why stop now i mean online learning for so many [1:05:09] people was terrible both academically socially and no one wants to go back to [1:05:14] that if masks were to be made optional no doubt teachers would be getting sick [1:05:20] and missing school and that would affect entire classrooms it's virtually impossible to be productive when you're [1:05:26] at home or working with a virtual sub which is the current measure in place when a teacher is out of school [1:05:33] and it's much better for me to be working with masks when i can still communicate with my classmates and be in [1:05:39] person and i think overall it's much safer to at least continue masks till the end of the school year and wait for things to [1:05:46] fun and figure itself out thank you thank you very much [1:05:55] thank you to our speakers for coming tonight and that ends our community comments [1:06:09] uh we are now moving on to our consent agenda is there anything anyone would like to remove from the consent agenda [1:06:15] do i have a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved second [1:06:21] did you get those in okay we will now vote to approve the consent agenda all those in favor say i i i [1:06:28] anyone opposed the consent agenda has been approved [1:06:34] um we're moving on to our discussion items and i'm going to turn it over to director greene who is chair of our [1:06:41] policy committee to guide us in our policy discussion uh director greene [1:06:46] thank you chair ellenberg we have three policies for discussion tonight policy 425 522 and 613 [1:06:58] just so that the public knows and board members already know all the policies come through our board policy committee [1:07:04] they get reviewed with our administration and staff and then um through msba best practice minnesota [1:07:11] school board association and on top of that um they also are looked at for united public school specific [1:07:18] um a perspective specific perspective um and so i will start we'll start with [1:07:24] policy 425 this policy is [1:07:29] um our staff development and mentoring the edits that were made was really [1:07:34] updating policy format um and making it consistent it came through the review cycle so i don't know [1:07:42] if any board members have any questions [1:07:48] no fantastic great so that'll move to policy 425 will move to action at our [1:07:54] next meeting the next policy that is policy 522 i'm going to invite our [1:08:00] counsel up trevor helms and this is title 9 sex [1:08:06] non-discrimination policy [1:08:11] and this is a policy that was revised um really based on statute and federal [1:08:17] statute that came down and so it looks a lot different than our old policy 52 522 to be updated and [1:08:25] current so i thought that maybe one of the board members had a question or a comment [1:08:34] i'm looking at director shaw i do have a question um [Music] [1:08:40] one of i actually might have more than one so i'm just trying to get the letter of [1:08:46] where it is um hold on sorry i was scrolling through [1:08:51] the board book this is not wording that's changed [1:09:00] and can you walk me through it i'm sorry i should have this open [1:09:05] it's the part that talks about where it can occur that it cannot occur [1:09:12] on school grounds but it can occur on school grounds that's it was confusing to me and i [1:09:19] think i read it maybe 10 times i'm sorry that i'm trying to find it [1:09:27] oh it is g section 2 general statement of policy g [1:09:35] yes just clarify for me since i'm not in policy committee it's not this is just my time to get clarification on that [1:09:43] yeah and i i think so first of all i would um i'd share that a lot of this [1:09:48] information a lot of the msba's model policy which is that this is largely based on come directly from [1:09:56] uh the federal regulations on title ix and you know that it it follows that [1:10:02] very closely so i would apologize uh federal regulations aren't always written in the most clear and concise [1:10:08] way um and so i think that what this is attempting to say is that essentially uh [1:10:14] title ix applies if it occurs within our educational programs whether on or off [1:10:20] campus but then it says that something that isn't in your educational program that [1:10:25] is off campus wouldn't be wouldn't be covered by this policy and then there's also an additional [1:10:32] piece that talks about something that happens outside the united states is not covered by this policy [1:10:39] so it i think that essentially the the important thing is does it have some [1:10:44] sort of impact on our educational environment or within our educational system so it's not saying that all [1:10:51] off-campus conduct couldn't potentially fall under this policy and for that you really would kind of [1:10:57] have to go back to in general when we talk about conduct that's off campus there really [1:11:04] has to be some kind of a tie or a nexus to the district to our activities to the [1:11:10] educational environment so i think that's the important factor there and then it you know the the on or off [1:11:16] the awkward phrasing um kind of takes care of itself from there [1:11:22] thank you related to the not or um having this [1:11:27] only apply within the united states what then happens if there is an incident when we have student travel outside of [1:11:33] the country is it you know there's a lot in here that i [1:11:38] know i don't love i don't agree with but it is [1:11:44] the law is there what is different and how would we address something that happened on [1:11:49] say a student travel outside the country yeah and i think um it's important just for the whole board i don't know how [1:11:54] much background you have on this to know um the the title ix regulations when you [1:12:00] read them they were very clearly written for colleges they were written for college campuses and sexual assault [1:12:05] allegations that are made on college campuses so frankly if you ask me to armchair quarterback [1:12:12] this and say why is that in there that it talks about being outside the united states it's because colleges have study [1:12:17] abroad programs and they didn't want to have to use this entire process for their study [1:12:22] abroad programs so it is very clear that anything that happens outside the united states is not [1:12:29] covered under title ix that being said if we have band kids going to china if we have students [1:12:35] traveling somewhere else we have expectations and requirements that they are still going to follow our policies [1:12:41] while on those trips as part of an educational program as part of edina public schools and just because the [1:12:48] title ix policy doesn't strictly apply that does not mean that you can't follow [1:12:54] one of your other policies your harassment policy your discrimination policy your bullying policy those would [1:13:00] all still potentially apply in that situation so it's not saying that if you send students to another country [1:13:08] as part of school that that you can't do anything it's just it doesn't fall under this particular policy and these [1:13:14] particular procedures so would we not have to adhere to the changes in this [1:13:21] policy if it did happen outside of the u.s correct so the big change in this policy is the um [1:13:28] the resolution process and the grievance process so no in that situation if there [1:13:34] was sexual harassment that occurred on a banned trip to china you would not have to follow this in the [1:13:40] same way that you would if there was sexual harassment on a ban trip in minnesota [1:13:46] not to say that you wouldn't follow one of your policies and that you couldn't potentially discipline but you wouldn't go through this particular grievance [1:13:52] process okay my last comment is a little bit more of a kind of a granular formatting issue [1:14:01] so in reading this policy it's complicated like you said [1:14:07] i in an effort to have information be readily available to a student who's [1:14:12] trying to access policy my question was under [1:14:18] v section a in reporting where we talk about [1:14:25] contacting our coordinator i just was hoping we could add some language in there referring [1:14:31] a reader back to where that information is or even including the coordinator i [1:14:36] want to make that information as accessible to any student or teacher or parent or anybody looking at it without [1:14:43] having to kind of get into the whole reading of the policy it's more of an accessibility [1:14:49] and kind of a courtesy is with the way i looked at it [1:14:54] so that's just kind of more for you guys for formatting yep so so right now under [1:15:00] 2h um the coordinator's there what you're saying is you would like the coordinator [1:15:05] listed wherever it refers to the coordinator not in every place i uh in [1:15:10] section five let me get to it [1:15:17] there it is which would not be i mean i'm not saying that would be difficult i just wanted to make sure that i had [1:15:22] clarity of what you're referring to i just felt like in section five letter a where it says harassment toward a [1:15:29] student should report the alleged acts as soon as possible to the title ix coordinator it felt like a natural place to refer the reader to who that what to [1:15:37] who either who it was or where in the policy that person was named it's more [1:15:42] of a trying to make it ease of use if anybody needs to access it [1:15:50] i think that's a good suggestion does anyone else on the board have an objection to adding that [1:15:55] okay great those were my questions [1:16:01] does any other board members have questions on this policy thank you [1:16:09] we'll go ahead and make that change and then we'll bring this back for action at our next meeting [1:16:14] and the last policy that we have here is policy 613 graduation requirements [1:16:20] and just a few notes this policy was changed to reflect current requirements [1:16:27] and changes from the state and current eps changes basically making it up to date [1:16:34] we wanted to make sure that with the new changes that rolled down um with like our language arts that [1:16:41] it um was reflective in this policy before this graduating class um and we've also talked as a board [1:16:48] about profile of a graduate and how that will be coming back to the board and um through teaching and [1:16:54] learning and so with that when that comes then we will bring that we have the potential to bring this back if if [1:17:01] so needed so that's where the setup is so does anyone [1:17:06] have any questions about this policy one quick question so in the appendix [1:17:13] where it talks about what the high school graduation requirements are [1:17:18] for english there's eight semesters of english for math it's six credits in [1:17:23] grades 9 through 12. so most of the other subject areas don't specifically call out in grades nine [1:17:30] through twelve so i'm curious as to why for the math one we do so if you could take that back and take a look at it [1:17:36] so for example if you're an umtium you're not going to take those in nine through twelve you might take them in six seven or eight [1:17:43] uh if you're double accelerated you're not going to take him at nine through 12. so i just don't know why it's there [1:17:52] is director do you think hubert here i can't see her do you mind coming up and talking about [1:17:59] that [1:18:04] okay good evening chair ellenberg and dr stanley and members of the board um we have we've had a lot of discussion [1:18:10] around this and with mark carlson and with randy specifically in our math department and [1:18:17] the importance of our students to continue their math learning through the high school years so [1:18:22] for a variety of reasons really hard to go on to your college and postgraduate education with ending your [1:18:30] math credits early on possibly even 10th grade right through some of the acceleration pathways that [1:18:36] we have so we thought it's really critical that we have that in the [1:18:41] policy so that that is clear to families that that nature of [1:18:47] math and the sequence of it and preparing our kids for college readiness that that should be in there that way [1:18:57] like it looks like more questions lenny i don't have another question i'm not sure [1:19:03] i agree with that because if you've taken it and you're you know if you've taken algebra in [1:19:08] eighth grade you will not take it in nine through twelve and so that that person oh so is it the the classes that [1:19:16] are listed that you're asking when you say that requiring it in grades nine through twelve because the students will have [1:19:22] taken it i hear what you're saying part before and in part during those years yeah it's the it's the continuation of [1:19:28] the math credits but yes right i hear what you're saying with algebra kids really because double [1:19:33] double accelerated students do have math opportunities through 12th grade but the umptium kids [1:19:40] would not um would not but within the high school opportunities is not the same as requirement [1:19:47] right but i think if what i'm hearing jody say is that we would require so if a kiddo is double [1:19:53] accelerated going into ninth grade there's still the expectation that they would take six credits of [1:19:58] a math class yes yes and there are opportunities but does [1:20:04] that go to the question of do we have opportunities for our ump students and i'm not sure that we do within the [1:20:10] school right they would be outside they would be off campus but yes [1:20:16] i think that would be the only thing that would be the issue yeah lenny's question yep so lenny the clarification of the [1:20:23] classes with the six credits is what i'm hearing that we we wouldn't have them i don't [1:20:30] have the wording in front of me but we wouldn't have them do algebra again if they've already done it is what [1:20:36] you're clarifying yes and that is true we would not but we would we would want the continuation of [1:20:42] math to happen on the pathway in the trajectory of choices that we have so that we don't have a student not taking [1:20:48] math after 10th grade okay [1:20:53] so a question on to lenny's question are there other areas [1:20:59] subject matter areas where that wording would need to either be removed or added [1:21:05] like science now that we're looking at that as i say the only other subject area right now is that where [1:21:10] we don't have complete answers yet is science because we have [1:21:16] our new pathway and we'll have students starting to enter the high school in that compacted pathway [1:21:22] and so our science team is discussing that and determining what's the best [1:21:28] approach for the language within the policy for that okay so then when we revisit it it would be okay thank you [1:21:38] any other comments or questions on the policies [1:21:48] excuse me i think it's just something we might want to revisit at some point [1:21:54] i think we can we'll make a note of that and when it comes through with profile of a graduate when we go back to look at this again [1:22:01] perfect we can have that discussion through teaching and learning i would assume [1:22:06] okay okay thank you and that's it if so if no one has any more questions policy 613 will move for action at the next [1:22:13] meeting thank you thank you thank you julie [1:22:21] um we're now moving to our action items do i have a motion to approve the coven 19 update with recommendations so moved [1:22:28] is there a second second dr stanley [1:22:34] i will turn it over to you to introduce the topic thank you very much cherylenberg so [1:22:45] my team and i have come back to the board as we promised throughout the school year to [1:22:50] provide covet updates to provide an update on how we've been [1:22:56] monitoring data and [Music] since the omicron [1:23:03] surge we have gone back and monitored data as well and we know that there are there is a drop in [1:23:09] in covid case rates both at our schools as [1:23:15] well as within the community we have also looked at the [1:23:20] while omicron is highly contagious it is less virulent [1:23:25] and we know that we have an increase in vaccination rates as well [1:23:31] as a percentage of students who have reported that they have contracted covid [1:23:36] and yet we do not have data in our system that shows that they are [1:23:42] fully vaccinated so based on this information we believe that [1:23:47] this point it we are in the position where we could move to [1:23:53] masking strongly recommended as opposed to universal masking we would continue to [1:24:00] monitor this at all times i proposed my team and i proposed [1:24:07] a metric that we would use around absence rates [1:24:13] i've worked with my data analyst and pulled absent's average [1:24:19] data for two years ago and we believe that this may be a metric [1:24:24] that we can use that would be reasonable we i believe that our [1:24:30] as our community case rates would begin to rise we would also see absences [1:24:35] within students and so that that would be an actual um metric that we could use [1:24:42] so what is important to note is that um [1:24:48] there would still be several mitigations that are in place we would still follow the cdc [1:24:55] recommendations about isolation and about quarantine we believe that [1:25:02] that is important we will we would still follow physical distancing at this time [1:25:09] we believe that that is important when you make changes and you change too [1:25:14] many variables at one time it is too difficult to track [1:25:21] what could possibly be making a difference in a system and to move from [1:25:29] masking universal to masking strongly recommended and then change several other variables in my [1:25:37] opinion would be incredibly irresponsible and so that is why we would maintain [1:25:44] focusing on cdc recommendations for quarantine for isolation [1:25:50] i would like to invite up if i could director jorgensen to talk a little bit [1:25:56] about how we would expand some work that we would do around [1:26:01] quarantine [1:26:12] thank you superintendent stanley uh the question that you were asking about was you know in and again in the in the vein [1:26:19] of not trying to complicate things more really maintaining the cdc [1:26:25] and mdh guidelines related to isolation and quarantine but there is another avenue that is available to us [1:26:31] especially in the area of quarantine and this is a project that has been [1:26:36] trialled in different areas and it is one option that we can utilize in addition to the the quarantine model [1:26:43] that currently exists we currently have the the quarantine model where if [1:26:48] students can't wear a mask that they will need to remain in quarantine for for the full 10 to 14 days depending [1:26:54] whether it's a home exposure or whether it's the school exposure we have the early return guidelines with quarantine [1:27:00] in which we can do a testing so that students can after five days of isolation after day zero [1:27:07] or excuse me of quarantine after day zero they can come back with a negative test on day six [1:27:14] that being said we also have another avenue available to us which is called test to stay [1:27:20] i talked about this a little bit the last time that i came in front of the board the test to stay model was something [1:27:25] that we were taking a look at specifically for students that could not [1:27:30] wear a mask they were masked exempt and they were not vaccinated and so it was a very small population of students [1:27:36] at that time that we were taking a look at what it amounts to is is that students that are identified as close [1:27:42] contacts can then go under a testing protocol and the testing protocol is us actually [1:27:47] sending test kits home with the fan with the family and then each morning for the next five to seven days students would [1:27:54] be required to test before coming to school as long as they're negative on the test that they can continue in [1:28:00] school without going through the standard isolation or quarantine practice so this [1:28:05] is a model that we believe that we have enough capacity within our system right now because we have actually a surplus [1:28:11] of test kits that we can send home with families and as dr stanley was saying we're really talking about a fairly [1:28:18] small population in consideration of our 8400 students we actually have more [1:28:24] we have we have more students vaccinated obviously then we have unvaccinated at this point in time [1:28:30] so we're talking about a population that is either not vaccinated fully yet or is [1:28:35] a population of students that is unvaccinated really when we take a look at the the [1:28:41] metrics that dr stanley and greg gusweiler had put together regarding our overall student population the number of [1:28:48] students that would have the natural immunity based on covid positivity within the last 90 days also puts into [1:28:55] the category of a group of students that would not be required to quarantine those that are fully vaccinated are not [1:29:02] required to quarantine in response to being in close contact so the only population students really that we have [1:29:08] left that are required to quarantine are those individuals that are either under [1:29:13] vaccinated i.e they've only completed one shot or have not been up to date with the number of shots they've taken [1:29:19] or are unvaccinated all together that's actually a fairly small population right [1:29:25] now when we take a look at the way things have come together especially after the omicron surge because there has been a number of [1:29:31] students that have turned up positive that we're not vaccinated but now because they've had omicon have the natural immunity that we would suggest [1:29:37] for the next 90 days which really almost pushed us right through close to the end of the school year [1:29:43] so the test to stay model once again is is one that could shorten the quarantine [1:29:48] process now the give back here is is that if we pursue the test to stay model [1:29:53] then the student would be required to test each morning for about seven days straight [1:29:59] and that they must the parents must report uh that the student came up negative [1:30:05] to that testing but during the next 10 days so from the point of exposure for [1:30:11] the next 10 days the student is in attendance they would be required to wear a mask [1:30:17] so this may sound like it's restrictive but at the same point it's an opportunity for us to keep students in [1:30:22] school and that is our primary goal is to keep our students in school this would be an avenue by which we could [1:30:28] avoid that quarantine all together as long as we're willing to make that sacrifice of wearing a mask [1:30:35] for 10 days and doing that testing on a regular basis again we believe that we can we can work [1:30:41] through this with population students that we have that don't fit any of the criteria for not having to quarantine [1:30:47] and we believe that it would be an effective strategy to keep our students in school [1:30:57] thank you for that jeff i appreciate that you know i think the other thing that i would like to [1:31:03] say is that we've learned during this time of covid [1:31:10] that nothing is fixed right there is not a bookmark [1:31:15] for that reason and in alignment with policy that has been set [1:31:21] um i can't guarantee exactly what would happen next month if a new strain [1:31:28] or variant of covid came that um became more virulent [1:31:35] i will say that in this time in this context [1:31:40] i believe that it's the space where we could move to um [1:31:46] downgrade masking downgrading meaning moving from the most restrictive [1:31:51] to a lesser level of restrictiveness for masking to strongly recommended [1:32:01] dr stanley in public we had a work session about this earlier today so the board asked a lot of good questions [1:32:08] and if you weren't able to watch then i have a couple questions written down that board members asked i was going to [1:32:14] ask dr stanley um in case people weren't able to hear the answers earlier um one question i [1:32:21] thought that was important to ask is why are you suggesting the delay as opposed to having [1:32:26] if it does get past get implemented tomorrow or in two days um if you could explain the pacing of your suggestion [1:32:34] absolutely culture and climate is really important in our schools and [1:32:39] i see one of my students sitting out here in the audience and i had my other students come [1:32:45] earlier and i say my because they really are my kids right i'm responsible for them [1:32:52] and they are my biological children however i am responsible for the kids [1:32:59] and a shift like this we've been in masks [1:33:05] for all school year long and we've been in mask last year really for for the [1:33:10] vast majority of the school year that we were in school and there's some learning that needs to [1:33:15] happen there's some learning and how to take care of one another there's some learning in um [1:33:23] to understand that everybody has their choices and we're talking about four days [1:33:29] now i know for some those four days it's a long time for others we heard [1:33:35] our students at the high school there's going to be some adjustment that needs to take place we do not have school next [1:33:41] monday we do not have school for students next tuesday [1:33:46] and that would allow for us to adjust to that climate and culture for teachers to be able to go into their classrooms to [1:33:52] talk with students to explain what's going to be acceptable what is not going to be acceptable how we are going to [1:33:58] take care of one another if we choose to wear masks and we're going to take care of one [1:34:04] another if we do not choose to wear masks so that transition period is about [1:34:11] culture and climate we also have students who we know are immunocompromised [1:34:16] and they are going to be able to stay in school in person after this decision is made we need to [1:34:23] give them space to transition into our virtual [1:34:28] pathway and we want to make sure that they have a [1:34:35] quality transition as well because there's going to be a change for them that is taking away some of their social [1:34:42] experiences that they have had this year by being in school massed so [1:34:48] it is important in my opinion [1:34:55] for us to be civically responsible and to take care of [1:35:01] our neighbors our classmates our friends kids [1:35:07] to make certain that we allow for that transition time so that everyone is prepared on [1:35:13] february 23rd as we would transition into strongly recommended masks [1:35:21] thank you dr stanley could you also speak to the role of the educator and [1:35:27] administrator if this does pass in assisting keeping masks on students [1:35:35] absolutely so in this process i was able to speak with several of my colleagues who have been [1:35:42] in strongly recommended masking for a large part [1:35:48] you know the school year of course omar khan came and and that changed our lives for a while there [1:35:55] it represents about 68 000 students and what i heard from them is [1:36:01] um teachers at the elementary level definitely partner with families [1:36:07] they are not necessarily able to absolutely monitor and guarantee [1:36:14] and so again this is a partnership it is a partnership with families to [1:36:19] say we honor that there will be students who who want to desire and need to [1:36:25] remain masked and teachers will work [1:36:30] to the best of their ability to have the students mask however they will not [1:36:35] be guaranteed to make certain that the students are masked i love [1:36:42] i love how is is principal mahoney still here in the room yes oh there she is [1:36:50] if you could come up i could not have said it any more eloquently than you said it during the work session [1:36:56] um we remind students put their glasses on there are kiddos who come to school they [1:37:02] don't want to wear their coat even though it's 22 below i think you just said it perfectly dr [1:37:09] stanley no i mean i just think in elementary school um you know being a kindergarten teacher [1:37:15] for six years i think we do everything from help kids zipper their pants to put [1:37:21] on their mittens to try to get them to wear coats when it's negative 20 and it's really cool to not wear a coat [1:37:28] and you know we kids deal with a lot of things whether it's braces or glasses or [1:37:34] different obstacles and we try to recognize those differences and just [1:37:40] recognize them as beautiful and i think the masks are just another component of that and families [1:37:46] one thing that we talked as a leadership group about is that families that are committed to [1:37:51] masking for reasons that are important for their family [1:37:56] those kids are masking and they know their why whether they're at hockey at birthday parties or they are at school [1:38:04] and that won't change whether we do strongly recommend it or we do universal masking those kids will still [1:38:11] come to school and they'll mask and they'll proudly say that my mom told me i can't take it off [1:38:17] and kids will say cool and move on so i think teachers [1:38:23] work right now to make sure kids remember things and do things in a partnership with families and that [1:38:28] will of course continue um masks won't change that [1:38:34] thank you and that's a common conversation that was had amongst elementary [1:38:39] principals as well now you can imagine you move into the middle school and the high school that just becomes so much [1:38:45] more complex and it's just not something that that we would be able to um even give a friendly reminder about [1:38:52] because it's just too difficult to know which family wants their child to wear a mask in a 2700 student school [1:38:59] and which family doesn't i think the key [1:39:05] specific is we will do our best but we cannot guarantee that that will [1:39:10] happen thank you principal mahoney so at this time i'll open up the board [1:39:16] members for any comments that they want to make and then after that we can move to the vote [1:39:27] i could make some comments um you know i heard it mentioned earlier tonight that [1:39:34] that the seven of us have some have a tough job we have tough choices [1:39:39] we have to make i was very clear at the beginning of this pandemic that in no uncertain terms [1:39:46] did i ever think or take a decision like this lightly and i don't think any [1:39:51] of us do we didn't take it lightly then and i don't think any of us take it lightly tonight [1:39:57] i think mask served a purpose in our district to keep kids in school dr [1:40:03] stanley made that a very clear priority and we all latched onto that because that was the right [1:40:08] priority to have to keep kids in school to have them masked before all of our [1:40:13] students could be vaccinated allowed them to not be quarantined at the rates that other schools did [1:40:19] it worked it worked for its purpose and we are so fortunate that we have high vaccination rates in our community and [1:40:26] not all communities can stay the same we are so fortunate that we have facilities that allow us to have not only the [1:40:33] recommended ventilation but sometimes even higher levels we have facilities that allow us to have our kids distanced [1:40:40] and allow our kids to be outside we are fortunate that we have the capacity and [1:40:46] a comprehensive testing plan in place in our schools we have nurses that can administer a test during [1:40:54] the day we have tests that we can send home with kids we live in a community where tests are accessible [1:41:00] we have that capacity we have so much that we are so fortunate for [1:41:06] i think i agree with dr stanley that now is the time [1:41:12] that we can say we can peel back one of those layers of mitigation but what i want to make sure our [1:41:18] students here is that mask i want you to know that there is [1:41:24] science that says masks can work it's it's out there you agree you brought it to our attention it [1:41:30] there is science that says masks work and i encourage our students to see this [1:41:36] as the verbiage that dr stanley used mass strongly recommended this is not saying [1:41:42] masks are going away and that we do not believe masks work because that's not the case it's just at this time [1:41:49] to me it's peeling back a layer of mitigation and allowing [1:41:54] some of that benefit of having students who are comfortable who are in a position to take their masks off have [1:42:00] that benefit in their education so i just wanted to take a moment to make sure that the public knew that i do not [1:42:07] take this decision lightly i didn't take it lightly at the beginning of the pandemic and no decision do i take [1:42:12] lightly right now [1:42:20] from my standpoint there's nothing in life that is zero risk there's nothing in life that's 100 risk [1:42:27] which member in this audience and at home and on this board might feel differently about what risk is okay for [1:42:33] you versus what's okay for somebody else for someone to say you have to take my [1:42:38] risk or i have to take your risk that's part of being in a society that we all agree to be a part of [1:42:44] but we also need to look at how we decide where we're going to go [1:42:49] with this from my standpoint dr stanley has done an effective job of understanding where are we today now where we were last [1:42:56] month now where we were two years ago where are we today and what is the context of that and where we are today is that people [1:43:03] who wanted to mitigate who've taken the steps that they needed to do and wanted to do that for themselves their family [1:43:08] and their community they've done so for those who've chosen a different path they've done so [1:43:13] we now have to find a middle ground as to how we move forward from here so [1:43:18] we don't have to agree we don't all have to come to the same conclusion using the same data or different data [1:43:25] but what we do need to do is realize the intentions of all this are meant to find the best way forward [1:43:31] so kids can be in school learn in the best environment that they can in a safe environment that they have [1:43:37] here you heard students this evening who gave very clear voice to they don't feel that way [1:43:43] that's not to be dismissed or to be um somehow lowered or not as important as a [1:43:50] parent's right to say that they're concerned about their kids safety and their kids learning and their kids needs [1:43:56] not one is more important than the other but is there a decision that we could make that would satisfy both of those [1:44:04] no because there's no such thing as zero risk so all i would ask for people to [1:44:10] consider and i have considered and why i would choose to support dr stanley's recommendation is that we're doing the [1:44:16] best we can with the circumstances that we have with the pop right intention [1:44:21] of doing that for everyone in the best way possible it's not for me to tell you what you should do for your child [1:44:27] or what you should or from that standpoint all we can do is represent the 8 400 children who are in our charge [1:44:34] and doing the best that we can with that i'd only ask people to remember that regardless of whether you agree with this decision or not [1:44:41] that's actually the intention that's how i'm approaching it [1:44:46] thank you [1:44:56] so i kind of look at this as a balance of risk and benefits and [1:45:02] that kind of leads me for the moment to be supporting the recommendation [1:45:08] i'll note that there was a community member or two that wrote in that suggested that there was a data error [1:45:14] and i suspect that community member is correct that some of these numbers are a little higher than they [1:45:21] actually are but we have other vaccinations that are in process that will actually increase [1:45:26] those numbers so i don't want to ignore the question that was raised about that [1:45:32] i do rely very heavily on the fact that we as a board have designated the [1:45:37] superintendent as in charge to make changes on the fly [1:45:43] so that if we saw a circumstance where there was a greater severity of risk [1:45:48] from say another variant i would anticipate a change in this policy by the superintendent [1:45:55] immediately and that there are other factors that i anticipate that she would take into consideration again it's an analysis of [1:46:02] what are the benefits and what are the risks and so that [1:46:08] ability to react to different circumstances is is critically important to me [1:46:15] and so that's kind of where i'm sitting at the moment [1:46:21] i wanted to kind of echo much of what board member friedman said her phone freeman said about being able [1:46:27] to react in in a dynamic environment when it comes to it i put the trust in dr stanley and [1:46:33] her team in terms of monitoring the data points and the in the metrics that we're setting up for [1:46:38] thresholds and i feel that those are reasonable when it comes to ways to measure and if things change [1:46:45] when we set out at the beginning of the year to keep kids in school for as long as we could i felt that that was the [1:46:50] right goal and i think by having the mechanism about maintaining that and being able to um [1:46:57] if there's a reason to pivot whether it's staff related absences or bus driver shortages or whatever um where [1:47:03] those numbers trend up and we get to a point where we need to make a change that will mitigate it for a week or two [1:47:08] or three or a month i feel that's important that we have that piece in place and i think that i also would be [1:47:13] in support of dr stanley's recommendation for this mitigation or removing this mitigation [1:47:19] strategy [1:47:28] i echo a lot of what i've heard my fellow board members say tonight the gravity of [1:47:34] being a new board member and having this is one of our first major decisions has weighed pretty heavy on me [1:47:40] and i'm very aware that no matter how this vote goes tonight there will be people in our community that will not be [1:47:45] happy um in edina we talk a lot about excellence and we demand excellence [1:47:52] and i ask i think my ask is that no matter how this vote goes tonight [1:47:58] as we move through this transition period starting tomorrow we start to show some of that excellence in the way we treat [1:48:04] each other and the decisions that people make i ask that we're respectful of our [1:48:09] teachers and our administrators as the rules don't change until the 23rd i ask that we be respectful of each [1:48:16] other and the choices that people may choose to make for some of our families they are worried about kids in their homes that [1:48:22] can't be vaccinated yet we heard from families that have babies toddlers preschoolers [1:48:28] some of us are past that point and our kids can be vaccinated and so remember that sigh of relief that we felt [1:48:34] they're not there yet some people have worries because they have grandparents living in their homes [1:48:40] and some have worries because some have people in their homes with an underlying health condition and some of your kids have really [1:48:46] struggled wearing masks their development is struggled we've heard from [1:48:51] both sides and every time i get one of those emails i put myself in those people's shoes and [1:48:57] i think this is a hard decision but i hope that we can as a community [1:49:03] move forward with respect for each other and model for our children [1:49:09] the kindness and respect that we want them to show to each other and so um [1:49:16] i'm moving forward with the vote of support for dr stanley's proposal [1:49:28] um i i echo a lot of what you've heard up here tonight from the board dr stanley [1:49:34] um and i just want to you know it's been it has been two years [1:49:39] and a couple of points i just want to make that i think are really important one is from the very beginning masks were never [1:49:46] uh all or nothing at all i'm really proud of our district and [1:49:51] mostly in our district our students because we brought forward and tried to [1:49:58] have a comprehensive approach to covet none of us wanted kovid none of us voted for kovid i'm not rooting for it to win [1:50:05] um despite what's been said on social media which i'm going to put out there because [1:50:11] i know that our community is better than that but that we have been really clear and so we [1:50:17] are at this point where we can look at our mitigation strategies and roll one back [1:50:23] because of the comprehensive approach that we took vaccine clinics [1:50:28] testing hours fire administer hours by our administrators to keep our kids in school that has been our number one [1:50:34] and we have not taken our eye off education over the last two years somebody really clear about that we have [1:50:39] seen that we are moving forward with different plans we took a both and approach and i'm really proud of this [1:50:46] district our principals our teachers um and dr stanley's lead here in the [1:50:51] last walking in as a new superintendent into this into this environment so [1:50:57] um i am in support of this recommendation i um look to the leads as the timing and [1:51:04] how it rolls out i know that the current data supports this in our [1:51:10] system we have tried to figure out how community spread relates [1:51:16] to spread in the school and to try and balance that and we really have tried to [1:51:23] make sure that we have things in place to keep spread down in school to keep kids in school [1:51:30] which is what i'm really proud that we've been able to do and the masks served a purpose in that and they may [1:51:35] one day again i hope not we all can hope not but that is that is where we're at [1:51:41] um the only other thing that i just wanted to say is that um [1:51:48] as we move forward with this rollout um and what director gabler said is that respect of [1:51:56] how this works and um this is a heated emotional topic [1:52:02] um and every if there's one thing i've learned over the last two years every single student and family comes at [1:52:08] things differently everybody you have no idea why someone's wearing a mask [1:52:13] and so um i just would ask for that respect and i i have no doubt that um [1:52:19] i have the confidence that the district will continue to keep a close eye on things so that um if [1:52:25] things were start to bubble up anywhere that there would be a plan in place so thank you and i'm i'm in support [1:52:34] uh thank you julie i just have a couple words and then we'll move to vote sorry [1:52:40] um every covent mitigation decision that i've personally made over the last few [1:52:46] years has been a series of trade-offs and no decision that i've made over the past few years has come easy or with a [1:52:53] satisfying answer each has been a choice with consequences that are less than desirable [1:52:59] but i've done what i've had to do is weigh the risk and benefits of each decision [1:53:06] so here's what i believe i do believe that mask and social distancing do help redu reduce the spread of covent i think [1:53:12] that this is a viable coke food mitigation strategy that cannot be put aside permanently [1:53:17] it needs to remain part of a layered toolkit that our district has successfully been using in the past [1:53:24] to help the spread of covid within the walls of our district i trust that we have the ability to be dynamic [1:53:30] and respond if we need to make a change and i wholeheartedly just trust dr stanley's leadership to do that if need [1:53:36] be however i also believe the following factors are true the masks have a social and emotional [1:53:42] impact on our students and an educational impact on our students so for me the question has always been [1:53:49] what is the cost benefit of these masks and what is the cost benefit at this specific point in time [1:53:56] the pandemic here are the factors that have determined my decision to approve dr stanley's recommendation [1:54:03] first other than those that are under five parents have now had the opportunity to have their children completely [1:54:09] complete a full series of vaccinations for their students if a parent chooses to have their student unmasked they are now not [1:54:16] directly impacting the ability of another child to stay in school due to quarantined protocols [1:54:21] before parents had the ability to vaccinate that would have been the case given the high vaccination rates in our [1:54:28] schools and the moderate efficacy of fabric masks i do support downgrading masks from mandatory to recommended [1:54:35] however i do have two caveats one is that i would like a friendly amendment to [1:54:42] your recommendation dr stanley and add in that [1:54:47] mask are recommended recommended for all students and staff [1:54:53] except for those returning from quarantine after five days and for those students it is required [1:54:59] until they are off of quarantine protocol i think we need to be very specific [1:55:05] and spell out that very short requirement period [1:55:11] and i don't know if other board members support that friendly amendment but it's basically [1:55:17] just clarifying that we do have students that will be required to wear a mask [1:55:22] for following we do say we're following see the cdc guidelines but that's spelling [1:55:28] out the guideline that we are following so i support that i that supports the [1:55:34] conversation that we had in the work session as well so i think if that makes things more clear yes i support it [1:55:40] yeah i support it as well as in notation for isolation [1:55:46] does anyone else have an issue with that i think he just follows exactly what director jorgensen pointed out and is [1:55:53] already the policy that we have it is it's the policy we have so it's not changing anything it's just clarifying it for [1:56:00] communications sake and the other it's not really caveat and i know you [1:56:06] would do this anyway dr stanley but i want to see a report back on the number of students quarantined [1:56:13] if we're able to maintain our in-person learning environment and if you feel there are any disruptions to the educational environment [1:56:20] due to quarantines at our march 7th board meeting [1:56:26] lastly i want to remind people that this is just one piece of a multi-layered mitigation [1:56:32] approach our district is taking we are one of two districts in the entire state with a vaccine or test [1:56:38] policy for staff we are still contact tracing and we're still offering and expanding [1:56:44] testing that director jorgensen brought i do not want to discount the following [1:56:50] factors that have been brought to our attention and i want individuals to know that i've [1:56:55] listened and empathize with people that have students that cannot get vaccinated yet i've listened [1:57:02] to students that i know this will make anxious including my own daughter who is very upset about this decision [1:57:11] and for those that question the timing of this as i said earlier there aren't any great [1:57:16] answers to this situation but i do think it is time to move forward rolling back [1:57:22] this measure unless anything has anything anyone has anything else to say i think it's time [1:57:28] that we vote um all those in favor of [1:57:35] i don't have the right words here sorry all those in favor of the coven 19 recommendations say aye [1:57:42] anyone opposed the recommendations passed [1:57:49] we will now move on to [1:57:57] uh we're now going to move oh do i have a motion to approve the revised 2021-2022 budget so moved [1:58:03] is there a second second it was michael and i don't know who was the second [1:58:09] karen karen was the second [1:58:20] hello director tope [1:58:33] good evening chair allenberg superintendent stanley and members of the board tonight we'll present the final [1:58:38] or revised 2122 budget that budget starts on page 255 of your [1:58:44] board packet the all funds summary fund balance page is on page 271 [1:58:51] of your board packet and i'd like to spend just a little bit of time making a few comments about that for [1:58:57] for your knowledge and information [1:59:04] in the general fund the general fund staffing for the current year remains incomplete [1:59:10] staff positions are still being filled we have tried to reflect this in the overall general fund budget in salaries [1:59:16] and benefits to the best of our ability this budget also reflects an increase in [1:59:22] the marketing communications budget of twenty five thousand dollars the reason that we're doing that is that we're [1:59:28] incurring expenses for online programming to advertise that right now [1:59:34] the substitute salary budget has increased by about 300 000 from past [1:59:39] historical spending we are using federal stimulus funding to support this additional [1:59:44] expenditure budget for heating costs has been increased by 244 000 over the original [1:59:51] budgeted amount reflecting higher natural gas prices that we are seeing for this winter [1:59:58] current retirements for the next school year as of february 1st are refl are reflecting about 26.8 ft's of teacher [2:00:06] retirements our average has been about 11 retirees [2:00:12] per year and since we are required to make an initial payment on or before june 30th of the current [2:00:19] fiscal year we have increased the severance budget by an additional five hundred thousand dollars to accommodate [2:00:25] this level of retirees in this budget federal stimulus funds uh [2:00:31] revenue and expenses are equal and i'll go over that in a little bit [2:00:37] this budget preserves in its entirety the uh subsequent fiscal for the [2:00:44] subsequent fiscal year excuse me the assigned amount of one million seven hundred and thirty eight thousand [2:00:50] eight hundred and eighteen dollars for literacy and virtual programming that remains untouched [2:00:56] this will play a key role in next year's budgeting this final projected budget keeps the [2:01:02] unassigned fund balance above six percent and allows for continued flexibility as [2:01:07] we move forward with next year's budgeting process the other operational funds school nutrition and community education also [2:01:14] remain in good financial position in this final budget i'd like to move on to page 278 which is [2:01:22] a federalist stimulus funding page this shows the amount of federal [2:01:27] stimulus funding and the expenses incurred for 2021 and for 2122 to date as of january [2:01:35] thirty first twenty twenty two to date we have had seventeen different [2:01:40] pots of money to spend out of of which only five were completely spent out last year [2:01:47] we have more federal stimulus funding we can spend this year than last year 3.7 [2:01:52] million this year versus the actual amount we spent last year of 3.1 million dollars [2:01:58] these federal stimulus funds have been budgeted for the start of our comprehensive literacy program [2:02:04] additional mental health staffing substitute salaries letters training [2:02:10] coveted testing and contact tracing summer programming and small amounts of transportation custodial over time [2:02:16] technology and personal protective equipment [2:02:22] my thanks to raj auth our district controller for his help in putting this 2122 final budget together for [2:02:27] presentation questions from board members [2:02:38] does this include the very last round of federal funding yes it does we are up to date with what [2:02:45] we have received from through the state with the federal funding yes thank you [2:02:55] director tope this was someone who does not sit on this finance committee this was a very robust report [2:03:03] and very well explained of how the different streams of funding [2:03:08] work and so i just wanted to thank you for laying it out like that and [2:03:14] i have no questions do any board members have any questions [2:03:22] no questions i just want to thank you as usual for all your work and your team's work putting this together thank [2:03:28] you we will we will now vote [2:03:34] on the revised 2021-2022 budget [2:03:40] all those in favor say aye aye aye anyone opposed uh the 2021-22 budget is approved thank [2:03:47] you chair lindbergh thank you director tope thank you do i have a motion to approve the data metrics planned [2:03:53] so moved is there a second second excellent we have assistant superintendent [2:03:59] schmazel and uh director of teaching and learning dc [2:04:06] hubert here welcome [Music] [2:04:12] greg are you able to come up and join us greg gusweiler our data analyst here in [2:04:20] udina public schools good evening chair allenberg superintendent stanley school board members community [2:04:26] remember remaining audience members good to see you one of the great challenges in education [2:04:33] is to measure and monitor learning growth and readiness in kids it truly is [2:04:38] one of the hardest things for professionals to do is to assess learner progress [2:04:46] our team has developed some key metrics in assessing our progress toward our mission our vision and our strategic [2:04:52] priorities the initial draft of these metrics was presented to the board back in november [2:04:58] that feedback was incorporated into this current document that is before the board [2:05:04] tonight what you're going to see in those metrics are metrics organized by grade band [2:05:10] we have included the metric the reasoning or the rationale if you will and then some of the proposed data and [2:05:17] goals around those metrics the metrics include both quantitative and qualitative [2:05:23] they include standardized and local data or another way of thinking about that is [2:05:29] from satellite data all the way down to street data [2:05:34] all data will be disaggregated by our student groups to assess the progress of all of our learners that will include [2:05:41] gender race ethnicity and this plan is being used as the basis [2:05:47] for our dashboard development that dashboard development will help meet the personalized needs of our site leaders [2:05:53] our program leaders so that they can monitor in real time the progress of our learners throughout the district with [2:06:00] that i'm going to turn over to uh jody to talk some more specifics about some of the metrics [2:06:06] after our board discussion in november as dr smuzzle mentioned we also continue [2:06:12] to have conversations in our teaching and learning core team around the feedback as well as the plan and [2:06:18] teaching and learning board committee meetings and so we in in those conversations we really [2:06:23] kept an eye on our strategic vision mission and our strap plan our strategic [2:06:28] plan as well as the purpose as dr st um smuzel went into why we are collecting [2:06:34] the data to guide our instruction for students some of the key things i just want to highlight that are [2:06:41] ads to the plan that we're not there when we first discussed it in front of the board in november um [2:06:47] there were a couple of small additions one was to talent development we added a component not only looking at attendance [2:06:54] but also performance in talent development and you'll see that through each of the grade level bands we did add [2:07:00] a component of science at the middle school and high school level and looking at that and the data metrics [2:07:06] that we would use to see how our students in our instruction is working there and then there was an important [2:07:12] component about post-secondary enrollment options currently in the plan it talks about [2:07:17] that under college and career readiness areas in the high school band i did want [2:07:22] to say that we will write right now what reflects pseo and that will expand to include our [2:07:29] other options as well college in the schools dual dual enrollment options so i just wanted [2:07:34] to note that as an addition that will continue to and continue to look at and encompass [2:07:40] more components beyond pseo so those are the highlights i wanted to [2:07:46] share that were additions to the plan from our first discussion [2:07:51] at this point are there any questions or comments questions or comments from [2:07:57] board members [2:08:02] everyone's super quiet i have a comment and a quick question i'm so excited [2:08:07] about this i could like jump through the roof um i just i'm super excited to get the [2:08:14] baseline data and start tracking performance a question i had was [2:08:19] that just came to me after i we had commented on it was [2:08:25] how best to integrate the online program and you don't have to answer me now [2:08:31] but i know we've had a couple of work sessions and such talking about how it's a unique program [2:08:37] and there might be unique ways that we'd be interested in measuring success such as [2:08:43] the number of minutes do students are actually having face-to-face time with each other and stuff like that so it's [2:08:49] just a thought i have because it's not really represented in here and maybe that's for a second iteration of it i [2:08:54] really want to get it passed and start utilizing it but i would also it's a wonderment i have i randy's word [2:09:00] about wonderment a wonderment i have about um should we have some unique measures [2:09:06] for that specific program to make sure our students are successful in that unique environment [2:09:13] i'd love to comment that it's a great wonderment and definitely something we can we'll work on incorporating and that we [2:09:20] will be very conscious of including evp and a lot of the the metrics here that we've worked hard this year to see how [2:09:25] assessment works within the virtual pathway so yeah absolutely and a lot will be similar from like we want to [2:09:32] have the same academic yeah um measurements but then some are going to just be a little tweaked for that [2:09:38] there are yeah definitely that was my only good for us to think about questions slash comments so but i appreciate all the work on this [2:09:44] i'm so excited so okay i think that's all [2:09:49] um we already did a motion okay cherry ellenberg oh i'm sorry no that's [2:09:56] okay i just have a clarification so once we once this passes tonight then what is the next time that this comes before us [2:10:01] with some data [2:10:07] it's okay i was wondering i couldn't tell if you were looking for something or not [2:10:13] chair ellenberg so i'm sorry no the um what will happen is immediately uh [2:10:19] greg's gonna get to work and he has a lot of data to pull uh to give uh at our baseline data so that we can set some [2:10:24] goals some goals that are based on you know they're data driven that are smart goals that we can set for [2:10:31] ourselves typically in the fall we come with the world's best workforce plan [2:10:36] which includes data i envision that our world's best workforce goals are now [2:10:43] encompassed in the data metric plan um and so we would include that during [2:10:49] that presentation so in the fall you would which is november ish you know the [2:10:54] second meeting in november you would be able to get a look at the performance of students [2:11:01] in all of these different metric areas what i really appreciate is that our plan focuses on our strategic plan [2:11:08] focuses on the whole student and this data metrics plan is going to allow us to focus on the whole student and so i'm [2:11:17] really excited about it as well so it will be in the fall [2:11:22] set like um see spring data used to establish 22-23 goals we will start working on that [2:11:29] right away so that we can set these goals this this spring so that we have something to monitor for next year [2:11:39] we all now vote to prove the data metrics plan all those in favor say aye [2:11:45] anyone opposed the data metrics plan is approved thank you [2:11:50] thank you thank you um do i have a motion to approve the proposal to include additional special education classroom [2:11:56] space at concord elementary school so i moved is there a second second [2:12:04] we have director jorgensen here to talk about this [2:12:14] hello director jorgensen superintendent's family it's nice to be talking about something [2:12:20] other than um so let's talk about special education just a little bit as i included in my [2:12:26] packet what we've seen over the past five years in special education is it's pretty dramatic growth in terms of [2:12:33] the number of students that were identifying in special education and it's happening at every single level so if you actually take a look at the [2:12:39] metric that i put into the board report we we've seen increases [2:12:45] in early childhood we've seen increases at our elementaries at our middle schools and our high schools it's one [2:12:50] thing i'd like to point out is that that increase in the middle schools uh continued to take place even after we [2:12:56] made the transition of the ninth grade over to the high school and so there wasn't even a blip there we filled those [2:13:03] spaces up just as quickly as we opened them up and so we're seeing a large number of students in special education [2:13:09] uh being identified within our district but also moving into our district as we've talked about there is a we've got [2:13:15] a significant open enrollment population that comes into us that is trying to access our programming and we welcome [2:13:21] them with open arms and so with that though becomes some additional space needs that are taking place within [2:13:27] our schools while our recent more recent building projects have really been able to meet [2:13:32] the vast majority of those growth needs that we have in special education there are an increase there is an increase in [2:13:38] the number of students that are accessing our services with higher more specific needs in the area of special [2:13:45] education these students come in with specific needs that require specially designed [2:13:50] space in order to serve them appropriately and so as we've taken a look over the past year and actually the last two or [2:13:57] three years we've actually seen an increase in the number of our students that would require what we call site-based services which is they have [2:14:05] over 60 percent of their day spent in a specialized instructional space [2:14:10] we've run out of that space within the district uh for us to be able to serve appropriately we will need to increase [2:14:15] space we're serving in some less than optimal spaces this year because of the the need that is out there right now [2:14:21] with the current building project going on at countryside with the with the addition of the multilingual program [2:14:29] uh that is going to address some of the space but we also need additional space since that's what this proposal is about [2:14:35] is about trying to tack on some additional space out of concord elementary school to address the space [2:14:41] need and so we're masking that we attach this building project to the existing [2:14:46] building project out at countryside so we can get that all put into one levy application [2:14:54] questions or comments from board members no the only thing i'll say is um thank [2:15:01] you so much director jorgensen um we had seen a pretty in-depth and had a pretty in-depth conversation and [2:15:07] discussion about this before so i just appreciate the work that's being done because i think it'll benefit our [2:15:12] students at concord so thank you [2:15:22] okay we will now vote to approve the proposal to include additional special education space at concord elementary [2:15:28] school all those in favor say aye aye anyone opposed the proposal is approved yes [2:15:38] great we will now move to board leadership and committee updates [2:15:44] the only update i have is i wanted to make sure people in the community noticed that in our consent agenda we [2:15:49] had to change the dates of three of our board meetings coming up [2:15:55] so instead of having a board meeting on the 22nd of february it's now going to [2:16:00] be on the 24th and then we had a board meeting on the 15th of march it's now going to be on [2:16:06] the 14th and then we're supposed to have a board meeting on the 19th and it will now be [2:16:12] on the 18th and all those will be reflected on the board calendar but i just wanted to give everyone a heads up [2:16:17] that we did change three upcoming board meetings um dr stanley did you have any oh i'm [2:16:23] sorry are there committee updates from anybody yes [2:16:29] i just wanted to give a quick update on the legislative action committee there was information um sent to board members [2:16:36] but just an update um the platform of priorities since it was approved we [2:16:42] were successful in having a pre-legislative meeting before the session started with state representatives heather edelson and [2:16:48] steve elkins and senator melissa franzen and we are so grateful that they [2:16:53] attended we had a great conversation we're able to share kind of the highlights of our of our [2:16:59] platform and just had a really good discussion about a lot of movement that they believe they'll be [2:17:05] seeing at the state during this session um and then there's just ongoing lac efforts so [2:17:12] if anyone has any questions for dan or eye great thank you thank you director green and [2:17:18] director aaron for putting that on i appreciate it yup we'll keep we'll keep at it thank you absolutely [2:17:25] uh anyone else then uh superintendent stanley i'll turn it back over to you [2:17:30] okay well i'm really excited to share in my update some staff commendations [2:17:36] so it's really great i have a few of them and first of all i'd like to recognize melody snyder who became [2:17:43] nationally board certified in december i'm joining the 24 other nationally [2:17:50] board certified teachers in edina melody is a band teacher at valley view [2:17:56] middle school so congratulations to melody [2:18:05] absolutely and now i would like to read a message that came from a parent regarding lisa [2:18:11] burnham one of our counselors at the high school the parents said i'm sending this note [2:18:17] to recognize the outstanding work of lisa burnham an edina high school counselor lisa continues to be an [2:18:24] excellent resource for both students and parents during this very busy time of registration she has been so responsive [2:18:31] and timely she literally responds to an email within one to two hours [2:18:37] it makes all the difference and has allowed real-time feedback for my son who needed to make several adjustments [2:18:43] to his senior schedule she provided advice from my specific student and shared links and resources [2:18:50] to the summer programs through northern star that we would need to meet all his requirements [2:18:57] i also needed to ask her a question about a class from my incoming 9th grader who she will serve in 10th grade [2:19:03] and she got right back to me on that too even though she technically won't serve him for another one and a half years [2:19:10] right now is a busy and stressful time for everyone especially counselors and i [2:19:15] just wanted you to know that ehs counselor lisa burnham is [2:19:21] crushing it congratulations and thank you for your service lisa [2:19:27] [Applause] [2:19:34] this is about a first grade teacher at creek valley [2:19:40] i want to say how glad we are to have beth dowling darlene [2:19:45] darlene thank you beth dullin as our son's first grade teacher [2:19:52] it's been a difficult transition to a new school for him and we couldn't be more pleased with her effort and [2:19:58] patience with him we are so happy with his progress [2:20:04] thank you so much beth and congratulations [Applause] [2:20:11] and then last but not least i would like to recognize our director [2:20:16] of special services jeff durginson for his recent [2:20:21] administrator of the year award given by the minnesota school [2:20:27] psychologists association at their recent mid-winter conference [2:20:33] this award is designed to identify and recognize principals supervisors directors and other administrators who [2:20:39] support the field of school psychology we are proud of the work [2:20:45] director jorgensen does in our district every day and for the passion and dedication he [2:20:51] brings to helping each and every edina student discover their possibilities and thrive [2:20:58] thank you so much jeff [Applause] [2:21:08] those are my announcements amazing jeff well with that great news we will [2:21:14] adjourn the meeting thank you [2:21:39] you