Good evening. Tonight is Monday, August 11th, and we do have a quorum. So, I will call this meeting to order. The first order of business is agenda approval. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda for tonight's board meeting? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> We'll vote to approve our agenda. All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Tonight's agenda is approved. Tonight we have the honor of having some new staff members in Dina public school, some new and returning staff members um here with us this evening to be introduced. And so I'm going to turn it over to Assistant Superintendent Nate Swinson who is here to introduce us to these new Hornets. Welcome. >> Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board, Dr. Bitman. So good to see you. I am thrilled to be able to introduce uh new leadership here for Edana Public Schools. Um and I'll start with our duo from Countryside Elementary. Uh Miss Lisa Barnold is the new uh Countryside principal and next to her, Aaron Finn is the new administrative dean. uh Lisa Barnhold. She was a previous principal in another school district and Aaron served as an MTSS coordinator in her most recent position as well. Next to her uh to Aaron is Sarah Majoro. Um she is the new administrative dean at South View Middle School. We're excited to have her. Prior to being the dean at South View, she was an instructional coach and math teacher. So, we're thrilled that she uh joined our team in that capacity. And finally, uh next to Sarah is Mr. William Britt. Um he is the new assistant principal at Edina High School. William comes to us via Andover where he was previously an assistant principal. So, my gratitude to you all for joining EPS. We're so glad you chose us. Welcome. Uh, moving on. This month's Excellence and Action features the new name for our early learning center. And we have Dr. Dr. Ann Marie Leland, director of community education and strategic partnerships, Kim Illey, assistant director of the early learning center, and Laura Pongoth, uh, early learning center manager are they're here to unveil the new name. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. Appreciate being here. Good evening, Chair Gabler, Superintendent Bitman, and directors. As uh uh director Gabler said that chair Gabler said, my name is Anry Leland and I have the pleasure of being here tonight. So I wanted to point out restoring our family center legacy and coming full circle. We're going to be scripted because we know it's five minutes and we will be quick but very um genuine about this. So tonight we're here to share something truly significant. not just a name change, but the restoration of a legacy that has touched countless families in our community. Before we begin, I'd like to introduce my incredible colleagues, Kim Eley, our assistant director of early learning, and Laura Pong Sovat, our early learning manager. With that, um, I just wanted to talk about that I get, you know, I get to talk about the beloved family center and it continues to be for many of you on this board and throughout our community that well-known family place. And so, why not bridge our early learning and family center together? Uh, as someone who deeply values these connections, um, I continue to hear from Dr. Cheryl Gunnness, my colleague. Um, she reminisces about her time at the family center and it brings her nearly to tears every time she talks about how special of a place it was. So, I also hear that similar um feeling and emotion from so many community members. So, I am going to There's our new logo. Look at that. Isn't that great? Okay, there we go. So, I'm gonna pass this over to Kim Eley. Yeah. All right. Thank you. Um, and Marie, um, what you see here re represents our core commitment that early learning thrives when we nurture the whole child alongside their families. The name change acknowledges the multitude of programs we offer throughout our center. Our developmental screenings alone serve over 500 families each year, and for many, this is their very first experience with Edina Public Schools when their child is between three and four years old. That first impression matters and the family center signals immediately that we are here for the entire family system. >> Thank you. And I'm going to pass this to Laura. Laura is going to talk about something very special with a Sagot. >> Yeah, thank you so much for having us here. Uh so our early learning program specialist Af Sagat captures this beautifully in his quote here. Um so over the summer I took the time to really listen to our family's evolving needs. Um, and what became clear is that supporting the whole family means adapting to their realities. So, that is why we're excited to announce that we're gearing up to offer comprehensive childcare programming next summer from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Uh, this wraparound care recognizes that when families have the support that they need, children really thrive. Um, restoring family to our name isn't just symbolic, it really reflects our commitment to being a true community resource. Thank you, Laura. I appreciate that. And um Af is such a good member of our team. He serves so many families every day. Uh another wonderful picture, a school for the whole family. Um just in terms of what we're talking about is coming full circle. Uh for those who remember the original family center, this restoration honors that legacy while embracing today's dynamic families. We serve as more than an educational institution, but we're a gateway where families from all walks of life discover new possibilities for their children's futures. Our families are dynamic and everchanging. Some are navigating financial challenges. Others are new to our community and many are simply trying to balance work and family life. What ununites them all is love for their children and hope for their futures. By strengthening our identity as a welcoming community hub, we're saying that every family belongs here and every child's potential deserves to be nurtured. So the word family uh in our name represents our understanding that a child's success is inseparable from their family's well-being. Some of what we talked about at the work session tonight. When we support parents through early childhood family education, when we provide accessible programming, when we create connections between families, we're building the foundation for every child's academic, social, and emotional success. This isn't just about what we call ourselves. It's about recommitting to our core mission and community values. >> It's about honoring the legacy of excellence that has served our community for decades while adapting to meet tomorrow's needs. So, thank you for your time and continued to support um for your support of our families. We're proud to restore the family center name and excited excited about the bright future ahead for the early learning and family center. >> There you go. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Board members, do you have any questions for our presenters? >> Well, great. Well, thank you so much and this is exciting change. Right, moving on. We uh next is hearing from members of the public and we have no members uh this evening to come and speak to us. So, we will move along to our consent agenda. Do I have a uh is there anything anyone would like to remove from the consent agenda first? All right. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> All those in favor of approving the consent agenda, say I. I. >> Any opposed? >> The consent agenda has been approved. Moving on to our discussion items. Our first item is our summer construction update for 2025. And I will welcome up to the microphone uh Mert Woodard, director of finance and operation to take us through a rundown of the busy work that's been happening this this summer. Good evening, Chair Gabler, members of the school board, Superintendent Bitman. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to present um some of the progress we've made on our construction projects throughout the district. As you know, summer is arguably the the busiest time of the year for our buildings and grounds team. Not only are they doing their regular cleaning work and maintaining our facilities in an excellent state of repair, we're also busy managing more than 16 different construction projects throughout the district. At last month's regular meeting, you had the opportunity to approve our long-term facilities maintenance revenue plan for fiscal year 27. Um, however, we thought it'd be a great opportunity to share with the community work that's going on this summer, which was um approved at last June um 2024 when you approved the long-term facilities maintenance revenue plan at that time. Before I begin, I would like to give a special shout out to our um buildings and grounds team. They're doing excellent work this summer. Um, also under some difficult um, circumstances which you may have heard. So, please support those people um, and those those valuable staff when you get the opportunity to do so. Um, and also note that this is not an exhaustive list. There's more going on in the district um, in terms of construction than I'll mention tonight. However, I just want to hit some of the major projects for you. So, the Danic High School remains our our busiest site um, as it has for the past three summers in a row. There's been significant construction at that site as part of a three-year mechanical upgrades project um which is about $25 million um funded exclusively by local taxpayer dollars via the long-term facilities maintenance program. Um really the main aim of that project is to upgrade our mechanical system so that we're use using um warm or hot water to heat the facility rather than um an older system which relied upon very hot steam coming out of our system. So, it's going to be safer for our staff and longterm, it's going to be a more reliable um and efficient system. Also, part of that project is replacing some of our aging and obsolete air handling units. Um that bid package was actually put together so that we can also maintain and renovate some of the spaces that are being demolished as part of the upgrades to the mechanical system. So, interior surfaces, flooring, tile, etc. Um the FIC auditorium upgrade was also included in that bid bid package. That's all about replacing flooring, um electrical instruments, lighting, sound panels, sound clouds, um etc. And finally, we have a little bit of work being done in one of our gyms. I'll show you just a few photos. Um this was actually really cool. This is Fick Auditorium. And so what's happening here is our construction partners have assembled an array of scaffolds which basically creates a new floor within the structure um putting it closer to the ceiling so that our construction workers have easier access to the electrical instruments, the lighting etc. So they can replace all those components. Almost every part of Fick Auditorium is being um renovated. Everything except for the seating. the seats are in still pretty good condition and we'll address those, you know, 5 to 10 years from now as they start to wear out. Um, however, that's going to be a beautiful facility that'll serve the district and also external users who rent our facility for many years to come. I mentioned that the work um at the high school related to the mechanical project does affect other areas when we're taking down walls or um ceiling compartments and and whatnot. And so at times we've been able to renovate and wrap into that project uh restroom renovations and I will show you that here. So this is what used to be a gang restroom. That's kind of the technical term we refer to as so a group restroom. Um as the district proceeds in its long-term facilities maintenance planning in spaces where it makes sense, particularly at the secondary level, we think that replacing those gang restrooms with individual bathroom stall spaces um is probably more appropriate. and um for a number of different reasons and we had an opportunity to do that in this space and I think it came out really nicely. Um you'll recall that two summers ago we also began work and I don't have photos of that here um renovating the locker rooms and and that's complete. Um there's also certain spaces and hallways that as part of the construction are being redone. We're slowly moving towards more of a larger form factor tile which is easier to maintain. Um I think it looks nicer as well. So, this is an example, the gymnastics hallway, um, is something that you can look forward to throughout the high school and and potentially other district facilities as we advance and mature in our long-term facilities maintenance planning. And this is not the most exciting picture, but this is a photo of some of our brand new mechanical systems. So, um, not the most entertaining thing to look at, but absolutely vital to the operation of the building. And so we're super happy to have those in in place and they should um touchwood service well over the next 30 years. Finally, this is the gym that's directly northeast of the athletics office. And so a total re um stripping and repainting of our Thanks for the the nod, Chair Gabler. There's the gym floor totally being restriped, repainted, and complete with a brand new, freshly painted Hornet logo. The Dina Community Center um is seeing some pretty robust activity as you may have noticed driving by the facility over the last few weeks. It's a complete rehabilitation of the existing tennis courts as well as a relocation. Um previously that site had two courts kind of up the hill and two down below. Um, when designing that project, we thought it made sense to move the two lower courts up to join the other courts. Um, that's going to provide for better maintenance for um, uh, easier maintenance for our buildings and grounds folks and as well as we think a better user experience um, for tennis players and and fans and families and whatnot. They were involved in the early design process. Um, you'll also recall from Dr. Bitman's last two weekly updates that there is a storm water retention um, issue for us to consider in the future. Tonight's presentation is not meant to delve into that. However, school board will get a chance to interact on that matter beginning at next Monday's finance and facilities committee meeting followed by um more public discussion at subsequent board meetings. And for reference, that's about a $ 1.3 million project. Um we have seen some um change orders to actually reduce that amount for now. Um and we'll we'll give you updates on that next week. I wish I had a prior photo um maybe from a couple weeks before this was taken, but you'll notice that there were very large mounds of of dirt um at that site. What was happening there is we were um removing all the soils and materials that were not um or did not have the best water retention property. So clays and other types of um soils were removed. the soils that you know are you know able to be used were put back in place and then additional soils were brought in so that we can get a nice level surface ahead of repaving. Um so that project is um proceeding on schedule and on plan. Unfortunately it won't be ready for the um the season, the tennis season. However, it will be for summer of 2026. We're really looking forward to having new tennis courts. Um, for now the facilities we have at Creek Valley will serve us well. And there's a picture of the repaving and and what it currently looks like. Moving into a more of a minor project is the turf at Normandale Elementary, which we spoke about at our finance and facilities committee meeting, I believe in April. um kind of the edges of the turf and other hard use areas are beginning to fray and peel upwards. Um which unfortunately means that those tiny rubber black pebbles are kind of going all over the place and also creating um potentially unsafe conditions for our students. And so we brought in um the original manufacturer and in installer of that facility to redo the turf. Fortunately, we're not having to replace the turf. We're able to repair those areas which are damaged and have harder use. And also, we've found out that the subsurface below the the top layer is also in fantastic condition. And so, we'll get another at least three years of use out of that um before a potential full replacement, which is part of our 10-year facilities maintenance plan. And so, you can see some of those areas that have been replaced. Um on the picture to the left, that's where the swing set is. And those round circles that are a slightly different shade of blue is actually a different material than the turf. um as the kids feet kick off against the the turf there, damage occurs and so we're going to a different material that'll hopefully um last a little bit longer and not need to be replaced as frequently. You'll notice the swings are also missing and we found that those are beginning to meet or exceed their useful life and those are those will also be replaced. Cornelia Elementary is kind of the rock star of our elementary schools um this summer in terms of construction. two pretty major projects going on there. One is the uh maintenance and repair of all the exterior brick walls, also known as tuckpointing, and then um a pretty robust uh renovation of restrooms. That facility was constructed in 1959, I believe, and the restrooms for the most part are original to the building. So, you can imagine um what a nice upgrade that'll be for that school community. That project is still ongoing, so I can't really show you a finished product, but it involves kind of a total makeover. So, tile, flooring, drainage, plumbing, um toilets, sinks, etc. I think they're going to be really nice. We're redoing four gang restrooms for students, three staff restrooms, and then also um quite a bit of um ADA work on all of those facilities. That should be ready and fully operational before the start of school. One slight hiccup, the new sinks that are arriving for the the student restrooms are delayed, unfortunately. So, what we're going to do is put the old ones back in, and when the new ones arrive, we'll just swap those out. So, um shouldn't be any disruption for our for our users. And there's a picture of the the tuck pointing. So really, it's just um removing the aging um mortar that's between the the bricks, reinstalling fresh mortar, uh making it look nice and pretty, and and then hopefully um not having to do that again for the next 10 or so years. Creek Valley Elementary had a little bit of work done this summer. We weren't planning this, however, um due to the accumulation of damage that the loading dock has taken, um that became, you know, a pretty emerging need. And so we we decided to take care of that this summer um just due to safety and usability. So what has happened over time is when delivery trucks back up, you know, they don't always do the the best job and and that's also a canal levered loading dock. And so um damage has occurred over time um eventually creating, you know, gaps between the concrete and the brick. Water has escaped down through the gaps and created additional damage to the point where we don't think it's usable or safe. And so it's a pretty straightforward job. We're actually removing the cantal lever because we don't we don't think it's necessary in that spot. And so we're just going to we cut it short completely um repaving and re-bricking that area. So should look nice and clean before the start of school. And then finally, our transportation center. As you'll recall, we um successfully acquired two different grants which are going to nearly fully finance the acquisition of two electric buses. In order for us to be able to charge those buses and store them in our heated bays, which is ideal, we're needing to run some electrical wire from um the transformer to a couple of panels that'll be situated in the heated bays. And so really, that's just running conduit, installing the panels, and then installing the chargers. Really not much to it. Also, not much to show you at this time. You can kind of see the conduit um coming down. That's about 50% completed. The project um should be ready to go um in a few weeks. However, the buses likely won't arrive until December or January. But that project is um it's on it's on the way and we'll likely have a nice ribbon cutting ceremony this time or during the holidays rather. So, that'll be something to look forward to. And then we've got some work going on at our other sites. You might have noticed um that there's no parking in the South View parking lot at the moment. In fact, work has already started on resurfacing that um lot and and we do that at all of our sites, you know, as the needs arise. Valley View, we've had some restroom repairs and some ADA work to accommodate um our students and staff with needs. Um we've also begun designing and planning the lighting replacement project. That's one of our last sites that is not fully on LED. Um the weight room has been already um fully converted to LED, new controls, everything. The rest of the site will do throughout the school year. Um of course, we'll keep in mind u minimal disruption for students and staff. Um that should be fully completed by the end of next summer. Um Conquer didn't have a lot going on, although we are um you know, really thankful that their PTO donated funds to um add a little bit of outdoor learning space. So, a couple of large um blocks of rock have been set down in the um courtyard where students can can sit and receive instruction from their stu um from their from their teacher. And also, we've been rekeying the doors as staff come in and out of the building. Um sometimes keys get go missing. And so, we're rekeying the doors and then redistributing keys to those that have them. Um that's an ongoing thing that we're doing at all of our sites. Um earlier this summer, I believe we did the community center and and Normanddale and district offices. So that'll be something that happens um annually until we have all of those doors rekeyed. So it's kind of part of our ongoing safety and security. Um countryside after a couple years of pretty major construction for the Spanish to language edition as well as the um the new playground. Nothing of note at countryside and also nothing of note at Highlands um ahead of a year next summer. Well while they'll have plenty of plenty going on. So that's kind of our our recap of construction the summer. Everything appears to be going on plan, on budget. Um, and so we're we're quite grateful for that. >> Board members, do you have any questions for director? >> Director Barry. >> Um, so minor sync hiccups aside, everything on plan means on time, too. Is we anticipating >> as far? Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> I just wanted to say thank you for including the bus uh depot. I know I asked you about that about a week or a month or two or so ago. I know people are interested in hearing we haven't talked about that recently. So I'm glad to say that the conduit's coming in and eventually we'll get to going on this in by the end of the year first next year. >> Thank you. Um, are the all the recent inflation reports and some of the issues with getting supplies from different countries affecting any of our construction both from a delay perspective and from a cost perspective or do you anticipate that? >> That's an interesting question. So far, I don't think we've experienced much of that. I don't think the um sinks not being on time for Cornelia is necessarily related to inflation or the tariffs. >> Um all these projects were bid out, you know, well in advance of this summer. So um we're kind of agnostic to the tariff talk for now. Although, you know, it'll be interesting to see when our fall 2025 and winter 2025 bids come back what those look like. So it' be it would more be in an upcoming bid as opposed to adding additional cost onto bids that or current construction projects. >> Absolutely. I think we were ahead of the hype um for this summer um for next summer. You know, your guess is as good as mine. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh, thank you Director Woodard for this update and please pass along our thanks to your team who work overtime during the regular school year and really have a lot of work to do over the summer. So, um, we appreciate the work that they do. So, thank you. All right, board members, we are moving on to our action part of our meeting. Uh, do I have a um motion to approve policies 113, 414, 415, 533, and 806. >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Policy Chair Alenberg, I turn it over to you to talk us to us about these policies. >> Um, so these policies were discussed at our July board meeting and there aren't um updates from the July board meeting. Um, so I don't have anything to say shockingly unless you guys have questions. Board members, any questions? All right, then we are ready to vote. Uh, we'll now vote to approve policies 113, 414, 415, 533, and 806. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Policy 113, 414, 415, 533, and 806 are approved. Uh, do any board members have leadership or committee updates at this time? All right, then I will turn it over to Dr. Bitman as we get ready for back to school time. I'm sure you have a couple of updates for us. So, >> I do indeed. Um just really excited and appreciative for all the work happening behind the scenes. Tonight we talked a little bit about facilities, but similar activities are happening from each of our cabinet members and each of our administrators across the district. I often talk about the tireless hours that everybody's spending to make sure that the magic happens. And that includes our district office staff uh to my left here as well. So just grateful for the work that's happening, the intricacies and efforts that go into things like being prepared for new teacher training or being making sure that our students with IEPs have what they need or thinking about our family center and the work that happens around each and every person on our cabinet. Just really really grateful for that. As you know, um we're starting to see more and more people come back to the district. Not all of our employees are staffed year round, so we're excited. that brings an extra piece of energy and flavor, a rejuvenation, but we also recognize there are lots of folks that never get that summer break. So, also want to make sure that we're mentioning those folks because we have, as you know, board members, just a significant amount of programming that happens all year round and we're grateful for that. Our new teachers, our new staff, we were able to meet a few of our new administrators tonight. Uh tomorrow we'll have the opportunity to meet with our new teachers. again uh significant training is going on and just appreciative for our director of teaching and learning and our director of student support services all that goes into that and you also hear that our hiring has gone well our hiring has gone well and that doesn't uh happen without a lot of efforts behind the scenes so again just grateful for each and every cabinet member whether it's with our CPSS training or other things that we've talked about along the way just really proud of that work and what we're providing as opportunities for our new staff and excited for them, excited to learn with and from them. Also wanted to mention I had notes last time. I'm going to call on director Barry here in a minute, but I recognize also that our kids continue to perform at high levels. One of the things I had on my list last time just talked about one of the clubs at the high school that recently received a national recognition. Um, not only have they won the state competition, but they were second in nationals. And so I'll turn it over to Director Barry to mention that. >> Just a shout out to our varsity boys ultimate frisbee team. Um we have one of the biggest ultimate frisbee teams in the country. It's amazing. And um they won state again and placed second at nationals again. So great job. Yeah, >> it's hard to mention everybody who's doing just such amazing things at every level, but when there are ones we often don't hear about, just want to make sure that we're we're giving a shout out to them. Also, uh, of note, it's fun to have the kids back on campus as we think about fall activities. So, that different level of exhaustion and energy and recommitting to our teammates, etc. A lot of work goes into that. We see that throughout the year and we also see that in the number of state championships that we compete for and earn. So again, just appreciative of our coaches and the work happening. So thank you to our teams. Thank you to the board for making that all possible and we look forward to an amazing year. >> Um yes, the board is looking forward to a great year as well. So thank you for that. Uh the board is going to now move into a close session to discuss employee negotiations. So pursuant to Minnesota statutes section 13D.03, the board is authorized to vote to move into close session to consider strategy for labor negotiations, including negotiation strategies or development or discussion and review of labor negotiation proposals conducted pursuant to sections 179A.01 to 179A.25. The board will vote to move into close session to discuss labor negotiations and strategy for the district's negotiations with the following bargaining units of teachers. Can I get a motion to move into close session? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Second. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> The board will now move into close session.