into both the progress our students are making and the opportunities that remain in our pursuit of academic excellence and equity. I do want to extend um some sincere gratitude to all of our teachers who show up every single day with the pedagogical skill and the affective dispositions that help create environments that are conducive for learning. Those things are so important in our educators and we um deeply appreciate their commitment to our student growth and learning. I also want to thank our innovation design and learning team for compiling this comprehensive report. I know there are many hours that go into calling the data and telling the story and trying to be really thoughtful about what we think is most important to share with our community both in terms of what to celebrate and what to take a closer look at. And of course, our goal here in Hopkins is that every student is seen, supported, and academically thriving. That is always our goal. Um, we also received some questions about the proposed math curriculum adoption, which is on the board's consent agenda this evening. And so toward the end of this academic growth report, then Dr. Erdle will share a brief update to address some of the questions that we've received. And thank you for um for the preparation you've been engaging in that Dr. Erdle. So I'll turn it over to our director of innovation design and learning Dr. Erdle, one of our esteemed data specialists, Jillian Randall, and our literacy guru and specialist, Kimberly Smith. Thank you all for being here, and I'll turn it over to you. Thank you, Dr. Mary Perry Reed. Good evening, board members. It's nice to see you again this week. Um, as Dr. Mary Perryi Reid mentioned, we have been um, preparing this endofear teaching and learning update. You can go to the next slide, please. So, um, just I always like to begin us with some grounding in our district's shared learning and teaching goals. This should be very familiar. This goal serves as the foundation for how we measure progress both at the system level, but within individual schools as well. And the Hopkins learning framework is really our roadmap for achieving this goal. It guides all of the things that we do in terms of enacting the structural changes and systems that we know we need to align and improve our practices across the district and everything we do but especially assessment and improvement is anchored in this framework. So as a reminder um these are the quarterly reports that we have prep we have planned for board review. This is the summer or endofear report. Um but I want the board to know that this is certainly not a fixed list and can be modified based on the need or desire to look at additional metrics. And in fact, I'm working really closely with Jillian and the rest of our data team so that we are building aligned practices that cascade district level data into school level data. Um, and ensuring that we have shared practices for data reviews happening at all of our schools. Um, so that our data specialists, our school leaders have what they need in order to support and enact the instructional changes that we're working on across our system. So, first, um, I'm going to turn it over to Kim to talk about sort of the different types of or the different levels of data that we have in a system to provide some specific context for our math and literacy data. Good evening, board. Um, we will start kind of just with a quick review of our different data levels that we look at. And so, um, I think you've probably seen the cover of this book previously. I think I've seen it online in board sessions. Um, but I'm just going to kind of review it for you so that as we get into the data, you kind of know where the different levels are as we look at it. Um, so we have kind of three levels of data. Um, the satellite data are those really high level things, things like the MCA, the NAPE, where we're really looking at across a large system, um, but not able to necessarily tease out what those actionable steps might be. Um, our MAP data are things like FastBridge, universal screeners, things that are broader within our system. Um, and then street data are those things that are right there in the classroom. They tell us about instructional moves. They tell us about teacher implementation. Um, and pieces related to that. Um, so our street data is the closest to the classroom when we look at data. Um, one of the challenges that we have as a system right now is a lack of consistent classroom level street data across our system. So throughout this board report, we'll kind of tell you about some of the moves we're making to increase consistency with that across schools. Go ahead to the next slide. So, one of the pieces of satellite data that we pay attention to is the NAPE. Um, the NAPE and the MCA kind of our two big examples of this type of data. The NAPE is the National Education National Assessment of Educational Progress. Um, and it's kind of like the nation's report card. Um, it tells us compares compares across states, across suburban urban areas. Um, it can look at different subgroups, it can look at grade level specific things across the large nation. Um, and so that's kind of an example of satellite data. Um, and we'll look at what the most recent one is of that since it hasn't been presented in the the sequence of assessments. Uh, the MCAS looks at things slightly differently. It is paying more attention to Minnesota, our Minnesota state standards, um, the implementation of those standards and student success with those standards. Looking at the 2024 NAPE math data, um, you can see that there is definitely a trend sort of downward. we had gone up since about the 1990s. Um and then there's sort of been a falling off of that. Some of that may be attributed to um COVID learning loss. Um fourth grade you can see is starting to show some promising signs of recovery. Um so they're starting to to gain back a little bit about two points there. Um and overall they're up about 24 points since 1990. So math in general has had a more positive trajectory um outside of sort of those dips postcoid. eighth grade is a little bit more stagnant and you can see that there's really only an 11 point gain since 1990. Um, and they have not really recovered or come up since since that COVID time period. What's really important here isn't exactly those numbers, but looking at those trends because these are pieces that are more um systemic across our nation um that could be impacting instruction. Um, the next one is the NAPE reading. So I think back one. There we go. Um what you'll see about reading is that it's much more flatlined compared to math. So we have been pretty stagnant since the 1990s and then you see a drop off as we've hit um kind of postcoid without much sign of recovery. Um and the greatest drops are for those students that are in the bottom 25th and 10th percentiles. So our kids that are struggling the most are are that gap is widening. If we look a little bit closer to home, let's look at the MCA math. So this is Hopkins scores from 2019 and beyond. You'll see that dotted line from 2020. That's the year of COVID when the MCA was not given. Um and we can see kind of a similar pattern in Hopkins data that math in general is sort of on a downward trend. Um you see some stabilization happening in fourth and fifth grade. Um, and you see kind of the most variability in in those upper grades where really that kind of reinforces what we saw in the NAPE where the the kids who are struggling those gaps continue to get wider and so their ability to engage with content as it goes up and complexity becomes harder. Um, so we see a lot more variability there. Um, if we look at the MCA reading again, you see a lot of flatlining um, and not a ton of recovery happening. So overall a decline um over the last four years. Um noticeable dips in 2022 and that was really similar across all other districts in that year probably you know connected to uh postcoid learning um and starting to come up a little bit. Um and then again as you go up in grades you see higher volatility in grades. Uh the one that's a little bit unique is in a district where you have third grade and you also have immersion programs. we do tend to see third grade being lower and then that starting to rise again in fourth and fifth as kids get more English instruction. Um and so that's one that we kind of watch for in districts with with immersion programming. Right now um none of our grades are reaching above that 55% proficiency line. Um and we're really trying to get closer to that 80% or or higher. Um so when we look at both of these in combination sort of these downward trends um say that we we've got to do some shaking up of of the system and some of the things that we're doing. Um we're going to go a little bit even closer. So looking at things that we have a bit better understanding of specifically how it impacts our classroom. So we'll move into FastBridge. Um and FastBridge is really what we would consider map data. It tells us some very specific things about um students and where they are at the early grades. It's even considered kind of a diagnostic because we can do their one-on-one assessments looking at things as minute as letter sounds, reading nonsense words. Um the pieces that we'll look at tonight are um a reading which are a more general look at reading and math. We'll look at a reading and a math tonight. One more for me after fastbridge there. So some things to know about FastBridge is it's really important to understand how the kind of risk indicators are labeled um and what those mean. So FastBridge is considered a universal screener meaning we give it to all students um and then we look for students who are not showing proficiency and dig deeper and need to sometimes do some more diagnostics. Um so at at the early early reading grades we don't need to dig in much further because the subtests already are giving us a lot of that information. There might still be things that we do further, but in general, it's telling us um kind of that general information about where kids are. Um when we look at um how they rank it, so Fastbridge uses scale scores and they assign a predictability label based on those scale scores. Um and it's that predictability of being on target. So when we talk about meets target or low risk, those are students who are likely to remain on target with solid tier one instruction. When we talk about some risk, those are students who they might need a little bit more. It might be small group just within the classroom, some tier one interventions, um, but they have some risk that they are maybe veering off of being on target. And then our high-risisk students are ones where we know they need some intervention for them to stay on pace and to catch up to what the expected targets are. They're going to need some some intervention. Um, and so we use that information to help decide what are what are some groups, which students receive interventions, which students um get pulled for additional support. Um, and it it really drives our MTSS system, which is why that system is so important that we have ways of moving students in and out of of supported need. Um, if our if we're not getting to that 80%, it overtaxes our MTSS system. We don't have enough like intervention support to to intervene our way out. And so it means that we have to make some shifts to our tier one. Um and so we'll talk about some of those shifts we're we're doing right into the our tier one to address that we're not quite where we want to be yet. So when we look at the math for fastbridge from over the course of the 2425 year um you'll see some spots where there are um slight variations but in general it's pretty pretty similar across the year. Um, for all of the FastBridge assessments, the the the benchmark changes throughout the year. So, for example, we usually see a really high score on FastBridge early reading in kindergarten because the expected rate for kindergarteners coming in, there really isn't one. As long as kinders are coming in, they're at school, that range of what might lead to success is really broad. So, it's hard to say that they're not on target early on. By winter, we see that it looks like our data is actually dropping. And really what it is is they should be moving in at expected speed of learning. And so it's me a greater measure of are they keeping up with what the pace of learning needs to be when really it's a measure of all the stuff that fed into that previously. Um so just to say that that that score that benchmark and that changes over the course of a year. For example, in first grade they only have to do sentence reading at one point and then they move into doing a full CBM one minute timed passage. So those those subtests change in some of the the different categories. Um, so it's not stagnant that you're measuring against the same thing. Um, you can see right now that about 50% of our students met target or at low risk. So we kind of combine those top two categories because in general, those are the kids that as long as tier one is remaining solid, they will continue to to be on target. Um, and then our goal is always to work to reduce the number of students in the yellow or red categories. That first slide there is the entire district. Um, the next one is math for elementary. And then the following one is middle school. So again, you see some slight variations. Oops. The next area is literacy. And so when we look at the overall district, um the A reading for literacy is kind of akin to an MCA. It's reading passages with multiple choice questions. One of the pieces that we kind of see is t kids kids tend to do a little bit better in fourth and fifth third, fourth, fifth, and then by the time they're in middle school, there's a greater variability based on a greater willingness to click or to have less investment in the outcome of that assessment. Um, so this is the overall data. Um, again, passages with questions, the topics and the interest level vary a lot. Um, and so that can also impact the outcomes there. The second one there is elementary specifically. And then the next one is middle school specifically. We'll talk a little bit about our street data next. And so this is the one that's closest to classroom instruction, the one that is most impactful to students. These include things like diagnostics, interviews, formative and summitive assessments, observational pieces. when I go out and do the Otis learning walks, this would be considered um a street level of actually looking at implementation um and things that are happening right there at the classroom level. Um and so when we think about this is a piece that most impacts daily student instruction. Um and it's where we gather information around as we make curricular changes, this is where we look at implementation data um and pieces that are directly tied to the the shifts and moves that we're making. It's also the data that our teachers use to inform in their instruction. Um, and these are a few of the ways that we are putting some work into progress that addresses these. We're working really to build some coherence and consistency across our classrooms and schools and make sure that we have sort of a system of looking at where are we seeing greater success, where are we seeing um some things that we can can learn from and and um grow across our system. Um, so one piece that's in place that was piloted sort of this year was a K5 foundational reading skills pacing guide and common assessments. So, you've heard that we have been using UFly and SIPs. Um, at K2, we are moving UFly up into third grade because what we found is those advanced morphology lessons at the end, kids need them more. They need longer and more with those multi-elabic words. And so, we're pushing that into the first half of third grade as well. Um, so we're making some shifts there and then putting into place um a a stricter sort of expectation around the pacing guide and some common assessments that will happen at certain stopping points throughout there to see how kids are keeping up with that material. Um the K5 standards aligned math resource implementation is happening um or moving forward um and that is designed to include some common assessments as well that can inform classroom level instruction. Um and then related to our SEAL pieces purposeful people um and the new measurement tool that is more customized to our system is happening. Um so related to sort of just our overall academic data there are some some key pieces that we are doing. Um and so these are sort of our planned like noticings and next steps. So um the number of students in some or high risk is not improving. Some of the pieces that we've been talking and and kind of learning about is there's a lot less independent reading time in classrooms as teachers have been taking on UFly. It takes a lot longer than they were expecting. So there's just less independent reading time and practice. Um all of the surveys from home and across the nation are saying that parents are also reading less with kids at home. Um so just a general just in general kids are getting less practice than they have in the past. Um so we've got some moves to increase practice. Um the other thing that we've seen and I got a chance to go out during um fast bridge administration and then with the Otis is students are far more accurate than they have been ever before. And I want you to think about this, like if I gave you a a chocolate chip cookie recipe, you could probably go and you would dump in things and you might not measure exactly perfectly because you've made it a ton of times. But if I was going to have you over and have a French chef to teach you how to make macaroons, you're going to be much more careful. You're going to use a weight. You're going to really use that knife to scrape off and make sure you have the right amount. And that's what I observe with kids. They know the information and they are being really careful in trying to give you the right answer when they take these. Unfortunately, that means that you slow down. And so we're really looking at how can we increase that automaticity? How can we build their speed up? And that comes with a lot more practice. Um, so we're building some things into instruction for next year that will help to get to that. In general, we have an inconsistent kind of assessment environments from classroom to classroom. Um, and so we're going to be putting some pieces together that will help to build consistency across administration. Um, especially with FastBridge. Um, we are doing more monitoring of fidelity. So one of the things that we saw with the Otus that became clear is that there are some classrooms where they are sticking to that that foundational skills block with high fidelity. They are keeping the pacing. They are using all the components. And there are other places where the teachers picking and choosing the parts that they like or they they take longer to get through it and so then they leave off the encoding part and the writing which is on the the most important piece at the end and they're not getting to it as often. So we're going to work on on that a little bit. Um and then um the use of Fastridge. are adding some additional diagnostic tools um including some writing assessments so we can really see about how it's transitioning into daily work. Um some current actions that are already happening, we have regular data review meetings um and we're looking to systematize those a little bit more specifically for literacy and math. Um that's aligned with those assessment windows. Um we've increased our communication to home around how students are performing and provided additional information about what those different risk levels indicate and some things that families can do to support. We're utilizing structures like when um that what I need now time which is that that response to what student instruction is telling us and getting them intervention right in time um especially aligned to our tier one and then obviously ongoing professional learning with letters continuing um things related to math standards um and math resources um and adding those common assessments um and then our next steps also are to increase classroom and home practice. There's a parent toolkit. It's going out in end of year newsletters. It's on the website. Um MDE will also have one published, so we'll link that in eventually, too. Ours is currently K5 and will build up. Um and it has practice for all of the different pieces related to literacy that families can do, games, all the things ready to go. Um like I said before, we're adding some additional assessment practice or assessment practices in with our data specialists and how they can support and tease out the data we need in more real time. Uh we are building a high school intervention course back using that ADS money. um to support our struggling readers at the high school. Um and then continuing to kind of monitor fidelity across our systems where we're making some moves to shift outcomes for students. And I'm going to turn it over to Jillian to talk about student well-being. Hi, my name is Jillian and I've been serving as the interim district assessment coordinator for the 25 2425 school year as well as serving as a data specialist at multiple sites. And today I'm going to touch on the tools we use to measure social emotional well-being in our scholars. Some data we've received and what we plan to do with this data going forward. Um you can go back just one. So Panorama is our social emotional well-being screener administered to students in grades 3 through 12. The assessment is given three times a year. The data has multiple uses including serving as a site and district temperature check and schools and school teams use this data to identify what social emotional components need support or have strength in their buildings. Panorama scores are used as a metric in measuring school culture goals as well. Each grade band takes two separate surveys. One survey focuses on how students perceive their own social emotional skills and one focusing on how students feel about school. And every survey has a a bank of topics scholars respond to questions from. So these are the banks of topics that were covered in each survey for each grade band in the 2425 school year. Student supports and environments surveys ask what feedback students have for their school. And the student competency and well-being measures survey ask how students perceive their own social emotional skills. The revised surveys are for students in 35. Last year, we gathered a group of teaching staff and data spe specialists to revise the survey to have easily accessible language for our scholars. The desire to revise these surveys came from concerns from site staff and administration regarding the readability and comprehension of the questions for our younger scholars. We revised the survey for grades three through five with a goal of more complete and honest answers. After completing these revisions, we did receive feedback from scholars and staff that the students readability had increased and students understood the questions that were being asked of them better. Next, I'll review two questions, one from each survey and how each and how our scholars responded soon. Okay. The first question we'll discuss is how much support did the adults at your school give you? The question is included in the sense of belonging topic and is asked in the student supports and environment survey. 94% of scholars in grades three through five who responded to the survey had a favorable response to the question. Panorama's internal system ranks question responses based on favorability. You can see that here that responses marked in blue are considered favorable while those in orange are not. There are three other questions asked in the bank of topic in the sense of belonging topic and the favorable responses from all of those questions are averaged to create a composite score for that topic. In this case, the same question, this is the same question asked for grades 6 through 12. Not all questions are the same between all the uh different grade bands. However, this one is. And you'll notice that there are two favorable responses out of five instead of two out of three. 52% of 6th through 12th grade students who responded to the survey responded favorably when asked, "How much support did the adults at your school give you?" And this favorable response was averaged in the bank of questions under the topic of sense of belonging. and sense of belonging earned a 46% favorable response overall for grades 6 through 12 in the 6 through 12 in the spring panorama administration. Our second question um is growth mindset. Growth mindset is a topic aligned with a student competency and well-being measures survey where students perceive their own social emotional skills. When asked at school, "Do you think you can change how much effort you give?" 95% of third through fifth grade students responded favorably, meaning that they did think that they could change how much effort they were giving in the classroom. This question was one of five that created a composite score for growth mindset and growth mindset composite score was 91% favorable responses for students in grades three through five. A similar question under the growth mindset topic was asked of 6th through 12th grade students when they were asked how much can you increase the effort you give in school 38% of students responded favorably and the qu this question and four others create the composite score of 36% favorable responses for the topic of growth mindset in scholars grades 6 through 12 and this is down three percentage points from the So that takes me to my key findings, current actions and next steps. Uh, one of the key findings is that favorable responses have increased in grades three through six in part due to increased readability. A te as I had mentioned before a team of teachers and data specialists came together to revise these questions and we saw a more complete outcome from our scholars once they were able to understand the questions that were being asked of them. Topics of growth mindset and sense of belonging have seen a decline of favorable responses in the 2425 school year from fall to spring. Our strongest topics this window were supportive relationships in all of our grades, challenging feelings in grades 6 through 12, and rigorous expectations for our third through fifth graders. The current actions that we do with this data include data review meetings where school teams look at these student responses to gauge what traits are going well at their building and what traits they may like to focus on in the future. These this data set will also be discussed at leadership meetings where the data will be discussed um in regards to school and culture goals for their sites for the 2526 school year. Next steps for the panorama um or social emotional well-being survey include finding closer alignments between panorama topics and the traits of a Hopkins scholar. Um which feeds into increasing the understanding of why we do this and what we use this data for with our scholars. That leads me in to graduation rates. This year you'll see we have a graduation rate of 85.6% per MDE. All of these uh all of these calculations are per the Minnesota Department of Ed. 85.6% graduated and this is for the 2425 school year. 9.2% of students continuing on in their education. 4% of students unknown in their final uh year and 1.2% um dropout. Some of the findings that we have around these numbers, we have a rate declined concern. The Hopkins high school graduation rate declined 1.8% while the state's overall rate increased. We have found discrepancy in graduation data. Internal records show less than five non-graduates while MDE reports o over 20 which leads us to potential coding errors. Some schools marked as not some scholars marked as non-graduates by NDE may have actually graduated on time. Our current actions around this are data review meetings. We've had two meetings held to analyze discrepancies and concerns. We're investigating the MDE formula. We have a team that is working to understand how MDE calculates these numbers better. We're working on an audit of coding practices to identify who is responsible for coding graduation data and review what codes are used and why. And we'll also be working to correcting those errors and verifying mclassified graduate records. Our next steps include improving communication and developing strategies to communicate graduation readiness to our scholars before uh or earlier in high school. engaging families and scholars to begin outreach before senior year and ongoing monitoring to continue regular meetings to ensure accurate data and sustained progress. After graduation, we have post-secary plans. First of all, can we take a moment and recognize to celebrate our graduates and all they've achieved? Yes. Beautiful wall. It's a beautiful wall. Some things to some numbers to celebrate from high school. Our gra out of our graduating seniors, 290 of them participated in AP AP classes. 83 of them participated in PSO and 118 of them took at least one CIS class, meaning they were earning college credit. And the high at Hopkins High School overall, 833 TU students were taking AP classes, 97 participated in PSO, and 236 students earned CIS credit. And then here we have some re some data from our 2024 or 2425 senior survey. 90% of 2025 Hopkins seniors completed the survey and shared their post-secary graduation plans. We have 70% reporting going to a four-year college or university, 14 reporting a two-year college, 5% reporting at full-time employment opportunities, and 10% other. Um we have a list of our academic honors including 33 students um earning the sumakum loud and 41 scholars who have received bilingual seals um recognition. So where do we go from here? In Hopkins our historical approach to assessment has not always emphasized as much systemization as we would like to see. So we have standardized tests that have been valued differently internally but are continued to be valued um externally. Our current reality actually is that we know we want to do more assessment not less. Our needs have evolved significantly and so we are working on a more systematized assessment plan that is consistent across all learning environments. This shift though is not without its challenges. And so what we're currently wrestling with um is the time it takes to assess students takes away from instruction. Um FastBridge is a key example of that. It's a lengthy process. Um especially at the kindergarten through 2 grade level. Um a one-on-one test three times a year is a lengthy process. We want to make sure that we have created the space and attention for our educators to actually meaningfully meaningfully engage with the data that they are getting on students both as individual um classroom teachers but also collectively as grade level teams or department level teams. Um we want to make sure that the data we collect is accurate enough to be actionable for next steps. and that gets at some of those testing environment um components and then also balancing the unique programs of our individual schools with the need for reliable systemwide data that that tells an accurate story. So to guide this work, we are engaging with some research um some from the new teacher project which um has research around the opportunity myth and the opportunity makers that some of you might be familiar with and their work leans into trajectory changing schools as well as the extraordinary districts and extraordinary time series by Ed Trust. Both of those um research bases are helping us to develop our strategy as we move all of this important work forward. Um as part of our implementation of all of these changes, we are con continuing to convene monthly with school leaders and their building leadership teams as well as our quarterly goals process with each school. we are shifting our for our focus away from system building and toward implementation by looking for patterns and trends um from districts that have successfully reversed national declines. So, I think it's a very pivotal moment for us um as we continue to align our assessment practices with our values and aspirations for all of our students to make sure that what we collect is meaningful, actionable, and represents um the holistic experience that we want for our students. And so, we're very very grateful for all of the support that we've got. And you'll be hearing from Dr. NAT at the big data project um that is also helping us drive our strategy around the instructional improvements that we intend to make moving forward. So um Chair Andre, that's sort of the end of the data update and I do as Dr. Mary Perry Reed mentioned have a few math slides that I would like to share as well. So we can pause here if there are for questions or we can wait till the end whatever you prefer. Um, I think that let's do a quick pause maybe just to see be before I tend to forget when we move on to something else. So, does anyone have any questions for this presentation? Chair Andre. Yes. Yes, I do have a question for uh thanks again for this all this data. Uh, it's something to sink our teeths into. So, that's good. Um, just so uh maybe two things. One is um you talked about the fidelity versus non-fidelity and that there's a discrepancy. Um what what what are the differences in results that you know a teacher with good fidelity has right like do they move the needle like you know substantially and then you know have you kind of figured out like what the difference is as far as like impact. Um I can take a stab at that and then um Kim or Jillian if you have anything to add. Um so I think that um we will be able to explore that with in some depth when we um have our unembarged MCA data to start looking for whether there are correlations between um highfidelity implementers and I'm really specifically talking about that literacy foundational skills block. So, we've heard some anecdotal reports from some of our classroom teachers that have um felt really really good about their um like the MCA results that they saw um already and they have reported to us that what they changed really was that foundational skills block. But I think um we'll be able to dig in to that a little bit deeper once we have that unembargoed MCA data and um present to on that um more in the fall. Okay. I can speak a little bit in addition to the foundational skills. So one of the pieces I'm looking at is we just finished our spring Otus learning walks. We are looking at the stu the teachers that are scoring high across those 10 or eight elements. How are their students doing as far as growth on those early early reading indicators? um because that's that's where we expect to see the the implementation of both uh letters training and UFly curriculum showing in in that that like are they actually then implementing those same practices? Is it showing in their instruction and then what's happening with their outcomes? Um so because all of the Otis is anonymous, it's sort of like a backend looking finding. Um we have some of our teachers who have had really really high success um feel that their spring data is significantly what teachers will tell you is that their spring data is higher than their spring data was last year. That's how they compare is like oh my gosh my kids are ending way farther or better than they were last year um with the pieces that they do that are more specific. Um and that goes back to that piece I said around speed um and automaticity. Um, one of the pieces that becomes interesting is like when you look at our we implemented a fire curriculum which is our foundational skills for 35 and it does vocabulary, grammar and morphology. We were just sort of piloting it this year and our auto reading is our highest growth right now on fastbridge and that's the subtest that are measured measure morphology and and and those components. So we're seeing some small shifts where we've put pieces into place. I would say the other piece is I wouldn't expect to see significant shifts in our early reading until probably the end middle to end of next year. So this was our first year like teachers are just finishing up letters volume one or volume two and this was their first full year of implementation of UFly. So it's pretty new and in general what they have said and what we've seen in our our walkthroughs is that they're they're getting more confident with the curriculum but as as says it requires a very perky pace. Right. So, um you have to clip along really quickly um to stay on pace with what's expected in that lesson or what ends up happening is you end up having to leave off the connected text and the writing at the end and those are the pieces that lead to the greatest transfer. So, our our PD for fall during during back to work week is already focused on how do we get how do we get that pacing better? How do we get better with our our delivery of the instruction so that we're getting all the way through the lessons which is directly tied to fidelity. Okay. Yeah. And and just kind of related to that, I think, you know, for me personally, right, the uh you know, the map data, right, such as it is as you presented, you know, is not where I'd like to see the district, right? I you know, for me, I need to see, you know, a positive uh sec second order differential, right? It needs to go up. And so, you know, that's I'm not an educator, right? You you folks are the educators. Uh but I do I you know, it's plain to see with the outcomes. And so, you know, I think when we have these discussions, you know, if we can quantify and like set a goal of like, okay, you know, if we can move these levers, right, we can expect to see, and I'm just going to make this up, like a 2% increase in whatever, right? That we make that like our our kind of stretch goal, right, and we track to that. And like if we don't hit it, then, you know, we have a scientific kind of method of being like, okay, what happened? you know, and you're kind of doing it, but I'd like to just see it like, you know, have like a, you know, a consistent like reflection and be like, okay, well, you know, there's these things that we're going to fix and then we think that it's going to increase and then like and then we do see it or we don't see it and then we go back to the drawing board. Um, I just don't want a situation where, you know, we're flat for another four years. Like to me, that is not good. And I I think you all agree. Um, but I just wanted to express that for me personally. So, thank you very much. I know it's it's a difficult topic. Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that. And I think what I um the the one thing I would also offer is that's definitely um something that we work on as we're working with our building level teams in terms of their goal setting as well. Um to to ensure that, you know, we're all on the same page about what we want as the outcome and then how how are we impacting that at the building and and the grade level, classroom level. Does the curriculum offer a way to do what director Jiao um suggested, which is look at what we're doing differently with fidelity across a single school year and then match that with a prediction of how much we might be able to gain in terms of student performance by the end of the year. Are there are there guidelines that help us uh put together those goals? I mean, I can speak to the foundational literacy piece. So, we work as part of the transformation zone with MDE. And so, that's part of why we we do the Otis. Um, and so we do we have a district capacity assessment where we're looking at all of those pieces that are impacting outcomes and then we get recommendations or we work with them to identify these are are some areas that we think we can grow in. Um, I would say based on across the country in places who have implemented UFly five years ahead of us, we are we're on the right path. It's just a matter of getting teachers more confident. I mean, year one of doing something that's a pretty huge shift in instructional practice is big. Um, and then it's a matter of making sure that that practice that they're subbing in that they haven't had before isn't taking out taking up too much time and then taking out other important pieces. Um, and so I think um, the Otis I would say right now is our best tool for looking at at that implementation and fidelity to the curriculum and that block of time. um and then getting in classrooms as much as possible. I also think something that we touched on and and maybe could elaborate on is our desire to really standardize our assessment process outside of MCA's. What is nice about MCA data is that it comes with a very strict guideline of how to pro uh administer the assessment. when we work with FastBridge or possibly CAPD or whatever assessments are coming forward next, those are left a little looser. And so they're done differently across sites. And so something that our team is really working and focusing on is how do we standardize that assessment process across all sites to make sure all students are receiving a fair environment. We are also working on um implementing the process for data cycles. those four this the reports that we've provided for this last school year, the four systems are kind of the baseline of how we would like to implement data cycles with our data specialists in each site. Um, and while this has been something that's been growing over the years since the roles been created about four years ago, I think now we're at the strongest standardization point that we've been at. Thank you. Um, and I do want to also um just clarify if there is a difference because what I appreciated about this presentation was that at the end of each uh report there was key findings, current actions and then next steps. So, I'm wondering um how is that structure and the information included on those slides tying into what director was was wanting to see. Absolutely. I think that um through our data cycles, but also through our um Hopkins instructional leadership team, and in fact, we're preparing for our summer day, which is on June 16th, where we bring all of our school leaders and instructional leadership teams together. Um these findings, current actions, and next steps definitely provide both maybe some some goal language, but also some rationale for why as a system we need to attend to each of these things. um and h and that in fact district level folks, school level folks like everybody has a role to play in in making those improvements. Great. Thank you, Chair Andre. Yes, I just have a well, thank you very much for the presentation first of all. Um and I think it's really helpful for our community to understand the different types of data we have access to and then how we're using them. And so that um kind of graph that you gave or chart I guess with definitions on the second slide um around the different levels of data I think is really helpful. Um and my first question is a a little bit more complex and then I just have like a like a quick one to follow up. Um, so I'm curious, you know, we've been really socialized in this country to heavily rely on standardized testing data and on standardized testing as kind of the end- all beall for assessing how systems are serving students. And we know, we've discussed this many times at this table, that that does not tell the whole story. Um, and that, you know, the history of standardized testing is incredibly problematic and that the tests were designed to be racially biased. Um, and the tests that we have today, MCAs, still are not culturally competent and responsive. And so we know that these tests don't accurately capture what our students are able to do. And as you alluded to, some students I I'm going to use the term don't take them seriously, right? Um, not because they're not serious students, it's because this isn't how they prefer to be assessed or it's it doesn't mean anything to them, right? because nothing's going to happen if you don't do well on this MCA test. It really doesn't matter to them at that moment in time. And so I have some curiosity around kind of this this new appro approach moving forward where we're collecting more data which I do think is the correct approach because we need to really understand what's happening at the classroom level, the school level and the district level. How are we planning to use qualitative data um in that process and with kind of the knowledge that it is very time consuming to collect qualitative data and to do that you know in a rigorous way it's a I think it's a great question um I can think of some examples of of what we've done in the past so I think to your point um MCA data is important in that it tells us where we need to look and to investigate further. And so um one of the things that we have done in the past for example is um if you if you notice a particular trend that is showing up on MCA then it's it's our job as as a district leadership team but also as school leaders to really dig in and try to figure out what's going on. And specific to literacy, I mean, you can do a lot of different things like conduct focus groups or survey groups of students to see, for example, how do they feel about themselves as readers and what is their confidence level? And I would say the same thing works with our teachers, too. Kim's been talking a lot about implementation. You know, at the end of the day, what we want most for our teachers is to feel really confident in knowing if they've got a a struggling reader, for example, they can identify, diagnose, and they know what to do about that. And so, and you don't get that from like a quantitative measure necessarily. So I think we are kind of thinking about how to not just stop with whatever sort of the standardized data tells us but really to use that to catapult us into doing some further research uh to see what is happening either you know at the entire school at a particular grade level and I think our data specialists are really well positioned to kind of help with that more in-depth research component basically. That's great. Thank you uh Dr. Erle, I think um we've heard you talk before at the board table about our um dispositions and skills within the graduate profile, the trait of the Hopkins graduate and the competencies that can then be defined as aligned to those traits and then engaging with our teachers around how those competencies show up grade level by grade level and how students can then begin to assess themselves against those competencies as an additional way of filling out a holistic picture of how they're doing and how they're metriculating through the system. Absolutely. Chair Andre, can I ask a question? Just one minute. Did you have another question? Just thank you. Just a very very fast one, Director Roer, I promise. Um, so it's just about the discrepancy in graduation data. Um, so I don't remember ever seeing this before. Such a large swing between what we're showing internally and what MDE is showing. I'm just wondering if you have like any guesses as to what's happening there. Yeah, I I mean I I have some ideas. I think um so the calculating graduation rates is always um lots of entities do it in lots of different ways. And so one of the things that I've discussed with principal Ballard and and one of the reasons that we want to um really codify what the process is and who's doing it. So an example is um some students who participate in credit recovery may be considered as not graduating in time when in fact they might have achieved their the credit need by the date of graduation. And so it's it it's possible that some of that could account for some of it, but I I just what we want to make sure is that um we both deeply understand what is a coding thing and what is more of a systems problem that we actually need to address with our students. And so I I think when we articulated our next steps and and we're hoping that you know our our May my learning tool and some of the things that we the graduation planning tool that um we're using for students to register um we'll do some more of the sort of adaptive work with students so that students really can see where they're at. Then we do want to make sure that we're not making coding errors that would have our graduation data, you know, reporting the way that it does. Makes sense. Yeah. Thank you, Joper. Oh, thank you. Um, thank you all again for presenting this information. it is extremely helpful in how we um you know move forward with um you know with the uh like curriculum and just how we best support our students and improve outcomes. But I do have just a a few quick questions. So for one, is there a way that we can or is there any disagregated data available for these high-risk numbers that's available? So like could we see like which demographics are um sitting higher in this 20% uh like this 2022 and 21% between the different um the different uh years. So I know like fall 2024, you know, it was lower and now winter 2024 it was higher. And just so even having like even in like that 2% difference the demographics of who um were higher I think that would be very helpful in understanding what targeted services are being offered to support those high-risisk numbers and um to see how we can also improve those as to what director Zo uh was saying about you know how can we improve the metrics around the work that we're doing um to improve outcomes and then the second part question was um I know that we survey students on you know kind of like their experience and their learning styles but is there a way that we also ask or engage parents in those conversations as well because I know for a fact that my son is in um is in tutoring outside of um of uh you know uh his classroom and so I would love to be able to provide input to the school or my or my son's teacher around what that experience is because he's learning differently than what he's learning inside the classroom. And maybe that also plays a role and maybe how he's um adopting to different teaching styles because a kid is a kid so that they you know they can get used to one teacher style versus another and that can impact their learning as well. So was just wondering if there's any opportunities for parent voice inside of those surveys that are happening. And then three is a more kind of deeper question. I know fast bridge is a newer district assessment that we I think was adopted maybe a few years ago though I know it was conceptualized through the University of unh excuse me the University of Minnesota's educational research department and was wondering like if there is a specific um question or like word problems in fastbridge that you notice that most of the hybrid students are struggling with are we able to give that feedback to the U ofM for them to reimagine what that test could look like. Yeah. So then that way we could think differently about testing the students because like if we're keep giving them the same test question and they're all struggling with it, then maybe it's not the students ability to learn the question, maybe it's that the question is not being asked in the right way for students to learn. Um so I think maybe that would be a great and even if like the the U of M could even come and talk about Fatsbridge and what how they got to this level of questioning, I think that would also be helpful for parents. So that was something that I was just thinking of as you were presenting. So yeah, no, I appreciate that. So I can tell just I I can I think I can answer all three questions. Okay. Maybe. Well, sort of. Okay. Yes, we can definitely get disagregated data for fastbridge at each of the assessment intervals and we can um certainly share that um addendum. We can um share that with the board and include it in future um sort of board reports as well. Um to your second question about parent input, you know, the Panorama does not facilitate a parent survey um to report on those items about their children. I think that likely um happens maybe informally just via conferences or something like that. But I think it's an interesting idea um to to think about how our parents sort of also being able to share about their what their perspective is on their students strengths, weaknesses, learning styles, all of that. I think that's pretty interesting and we, as um Jillian mentioned, we're really working to um with that social well-be social emotional well-being tool to make sure it's it's doing the things that we want it to do. So, I I like that idea. And then the last um I don't know if if FastBridge is open to our feedback and in terms of item analysis, but I think we can definitely find out. The good thing about FastBridge, it's it's really widely used, but they are local, so they're they're easy to to connect with. So, I appreciate that suggestion. That's good. Chair Andre. Yes. Again, thank you all for coming here and um thank you Director Chiao for your comments. Um, I wonder as I I hear you talk about monitoring fidelity and like seeking to deeply understand and I really appreciate that and I feel like we've heard at least some variations of that here at the table in the past and so I guess I'm wondering you mentioned one you mentioned specifically having like a PD um already planned for the fall. So that's one concrete item that's going to happen to help increase the fidelity and help increase our teachers confidence. I'm wondering if you can provide any more especially as we are having some like leadership changes. So you were talking about everyone having a role and we are um undergoing a few leadership changes at our schools. I can speak a little bit to some of the other literacy pieces. So um we are sort of tightening up that expectation both with principles and schools around that foundational skills block. Um we have summer curriculum writing that we request every summer. So we have a team that's looking at both youly the pacing guides and what those common assessments would look like as well as the fire um which is the 35 program and building that up based on where we saw weaknesses. So we collected actual teacher feedback. We've compared it to the data on FastBridge and then we're using that to make changes to it this summer. So continuing to iterate to take that feedback and to um refine based on on where we see that we need to make some shifts. So that's, you know, another place where we're just taking exactly what we've seen happen and then making some immediate adjustments. I think the only thing I would add to what Kim said, um um and Elsa talked about this a little bit when she was talking about math um in terms of what we know about trajectory changing schools. And one of the components that I feel is uh really critical for our entire system is this concept of consistency and balancing um you know sort of each school's individual personality with some consistent tights like this is what we will all commit to um making sure is happening at the classroom level and this is why it's so important. And so I think that's um sort of one of my I don't know guiding lights as we think about you know the 2526 school year but but going forward is really ensuring that we are implementing those consistent evidence-based practices whether it's in math or literacy and that our teachers feel confident and competent to do so and that they understand why it's so important and that we are checking and and and and working with their school leaders to make sure there are no barriers to that consistency. Thank you. As you mentioned, everyone has a role. So then is there something that this board can do? You know, obviously from it's a different perspective that the board has to take, but is there is there something beyond scheduling these check-ins that that would augment your efforts? Um, I I'd like to think about that. I think, you know, to be honest, I think my first the first thought that pops into my head is um I think, you know, continuing to hold us accountable for strong implementation and cons consistency is really important. And um you know what I one of the things I appreciate so much about director Xiao is that like we can't always sit in an ambiguous implementation space like we do actually have to see strong outcomes based on our practices. And so I think um really kind of continuing to to hold us accountable to to be able to show that what we're doing is making a difference. And if and if we're not showing that then we we have to re-evaluate and change course. And I think um you know balancing what is sort of a reasonable amount of time to expect to see some significant changes with um the knowledge that new practices take a while um sometimes to to really become embedded in standard practice. So I I feel um I feel really confident in the work that we're doing. But I and I do think that, you know, continuing to have these conversations about outcomes versus implementation will continue to be really critical. I'd like to add two things. Um Dr. Erdle, you mentioned the moves that everybody will make. So I wanted to be um specific and say that Dr. Erdle and our teams will use our Hopkins instructional leadership team sessions next year to focus on those moves. So, in the past, we've really been building our knowledge and our understanding around what letters training requires of all of us. And now, it's really time for leaders and coaches to execute specific instructional leadership practices that are designed to support um teacher instruction. And that can look like um learning walks where we're taking very specific notes and giving very specific feedback to teachers. It can look like calibrating our feedback or calibrating what we see in classroom. So there are some very specific leadership moves and instructional coach moves that that we need to take and we want to do those in concert. And then item number two. Um, thank you for the question, uh, Director Hartland. I I think that if board members have time, we can orchestrate some learning walks so that board members can see instruction and action and then just start closing the gap between your theoretical understanding of what these pedagogies look like and and what what the teachers are actually required to execute. For um you know those of us who are trained in instructional um leadership, we have to also practice looking at the quality of tasks that are placed in front of students to look at is it at grade level, is it rigorous, does it require complex thinking, right? So those are maybe a couple of um ways board members can get more involved. Yeah, we'd be happy if those experiences would be great. Chair Andre. Yes. Yes. Sorry. Um, so I just wanted to say before, you know, I uh become the the cynic or the doomsayer, um, that, you know, I do appreciate the, uh, 84% of our students that are off to four-year or trade school. And I think that's a really really good number. And so, you know, I think it's just like, you know, we we kind of in the satellite get them there and but, you know, we can always do better. And I want, you know, and expect, frankly, that we improve all the time, right? and uh you know and just lastly right like the quickest way to get me to be quiet is to have improvement. So just consider that. Thanks. I just had um a a a different perspective uh that I wanted to run by you. And as I was looking at in particular the panorama data, which I find really well anyway, it it just inspires me to to think about a narrative of what kind of experiences our students are having in in the classroom. Um, and as I'm looking at the difference, I know in the the key findings you said that the the difference between 3 to 5 and the middle school um favorable responses could be because of the adjustments that were made to that that um survey questions. But I am also wondering is it because we are intentionally teaching these things now when we had an before as a district. So are our older students not having as big of a sense of belonging growth mindset. Um and uh what's what's the other one? I can't remember. Um, but I just I kind of as I saw those results, that's immediately what I thought of. We've been doing this for the time in which the grade school levels would be displaying an impact because we've been intentionally teaching that in classrooms. and our older students, it just started right for them in their career. So that was the only thing I was thinking of. This is our younger kids. This is school for them. Our older kids, not so much. How many did we lose before we started implementing intentionally teaching these things? Mhm. I think that's a really strong observation and definitely something that we consider when we do our data reviews between the two. Um I'll also say there are differences and discrepancies within the two surveys like you saw there's in the 6 through 12 survey there are five options for them to answer and two of them are favorable and three of them are not. And um in our elementary there's three questions and two of them are favorable. And so with the amount of students that we have, it's likely, I think it's normal and expected to see higher numbers in the elementary than you do in the secondary based on how many questions there are to answer and how many students are taking it. But I do think that to your point, Panorama is castle aligned. The purposeful people and character strong is car is castle aligned. And so our students are more familiar with this kind of conversation and these social emotional well-being skills. Yeah, thanks. And I'm sorry I didn't check to see if anyone else had questions before we move on to math. Great. Thanks. Okay. So, you can go to the next slide, please. It's just the same deck. Okay. So I um I wanted to provide just a little bit of followup to um Elsa and Alyssa and my presentation um related to um the math the K5 math implementation. So um we did get a couple of questions after the after um the board presentation. So I wanted to make sure that our board had um some additional information related to um a couple of items. So first of all um we were we did want to provide some of the national proof points um around imagine I am and one thing and um Elsa is traveling for a family wedding so she was not able to be here so I'm going to do my very best to represent um the work of the math team and Elsa's work well um but these are some of the school districts that have implemented imagine I am which is a brand of illustrative math. Um so illustrative math is um sort of a it's a math um curricula that gets that is um there are three publishers who are licensed to publish it and imagine is the is the one that we are looking at. So, these are apples to apples comparisons. And so, board members, these are just some highlights from um some of these other school districts. And then there are research briefs that are linked in the deck, too, if you want to um read the read the actual reports. Um another proof point that we wanted to share is through Ed Reports. So, Ed Reports is an independent nonprofit organization that provides free evidence-based reviews of K12 instructional materials, specifically um ELA, math, and science. And their mission is to empower educators and decision makers to select highquality standards. So, according to the um to Ed reports, they gave Imagine Learning Illustrative Math K through five the highest ratings in focus, rigor, and usability. And usability is important because um ele teachers in particular are really inundated with needing to to learn and understand many different material sets um because they're sort of the sole instructor for the students. And so we um it was very important in our process that we lean into usability because it doesn't help our students if there are you know 16 teacher manuals that a teacher has to u master before that before their instructional practices change. So this is what ed report said and then um the the other one that I wanted to share is um from evidence for ESSA. So, evidence for ESSA is another research-based website created by the center for reform and excuse me, research and reform in education at John Hopkins. So, it helps educators and communities again find K12 programs that meet the evidence standards for the ESSA act, every student succeeds act. Um, so this curriculum meets ESSA's tier 2 evidence standard, which means it has demonstrated statistically significant positive effects on student achievement through rigorous and independent evaluation. So what that means for us is you can go to the next slide. So it means that it meets the the um standard to use federal funds if federal funds became available for curricula p curricula purchase promotes equity. It is backed by research. Um it supports strategic implementation and I'm going to talk a little bit about that next. And then also um confirms that we're selecting a curriculum with demonstrated results when it's implemented well. So in our work with other districts who have implemented imagine IM um this is what we've learned. So number one it's the fidelity word again. You have to use it with fidelity. um and in year one in particular so that our teachers really um get a deep understanding of the resource. The resource supports learning across all tiers, tiers 1, 2, and three of MTSS. And so um we are leaning into a focus on learning this material versus trying to supplement with other materials that um might sort of muddy the the results. Um and we want to make sure that we are understanding the impact of this specific material set versus the impact of some supplemental materials. Um teacher prep should be minimized. So one of the criticisms with um that was brought forward um in some of the articles is that the teacher prep is incredible. Um and that is true for um illustrative math products that um teachers had to create a lot of their own manipulative materials. So our proposal includes manipulative kits which is important and also center centers kits which facilitate small group learning. And so the the proposal you see um in is inclusive of those kits for every grade level teacher and then shared kits for our special educators as well. Um, a pacing guide. Okay. Again, pacing is really important. Um, and Kim, what did you say? Peppy. Peppy pace. Yeah. So, we want to make sure that we are providing guidance to our teachers about how quickly they should be moving through material. However, we also know we need to balance that with meeting every child's needs. So, there is a sweet spot there um between having a pacing guide that doesn't allow for any remediation or enrichment um but making sure that we're getting through all of the grade level standards in any particular grade. And then finally, we have to balance our teachers time. So, our elementary teachers are implementing the learning that they have had through their letters training foundational skills and we're adding math into the mix. And so we're very aware that it's it's a significant lift. When we talked about readiness with our school principles and our u math review team, um they are also aware of the what the rigors of what we're asking of our elementary team and they all wanted to move forward. No, no, none of our school leaders after talking with their staff uh wanted to to wait on an implementation. So speaking of implementation and you know that this is a little bit redundant to some of the conversations that we just had but we do need a shared vision and aligned leadership. So we do need our principles and all of our instructional leaders um coaches in the buildings aligned with what this looks like and what we're trying to achieve. We know that professional learning is always there's always um a lot more learning to do than what we have time for. So, we're really leaning into what what kind of train the trainer models can we have, what can be delivered asynchronously, what are those in the-moment um professional learning opportunities that don't require um 75 people in a room, you know, listening to something. So, we're paying attention to what the professional learning plan is going to be. And then again, assessment and pacing that supports depth. So, um we we want to balance ensuring a rigorous um approach to all of our grade level standards um while knowing that um you you do have to kind of keep moving in order to achieve in order to achieve that. Um this particular imagine IM material set has support for all learners. um and in fact specifically multilingual learners, students with IEPs and those needing intervention. So this will by virtue of implementation, we will systematize the interventions and processes that we're using for interventions um at tiers two and three. So it's it's kind of ticking all of those boxes. Um readyto-use materials and differentiation slides. Again, this is to support our teachers um and really keeping their planning time to a minimum. So, they're not creating a lot of things. They are they are certainly able to modify these things, but they're not creating from scratch. And then um certainly family and community communication. Um just a reminder, these are all the folks who um have served and will continue to serve on the review team. And then there was um the the other um question that came up was around ancillary costs. So when you make a materials purchase, obviously there's sort of the the cost of of buying the stuff. The stuff for us will be these manipulative kits, the center kits, student workbooks. Um there there are digital workbooks. We are also opting to get the paper workbooks as well, teacher materials and then a digital there's a digital um subscription that goes along with it. So sorry you can go to the next slide. Um we are also dedicating um some elementary math coaching so that each school will have um a portion of math specific coaching that really will support them in implementing the materials well and troubleshooting too as um as as things arise. Um additionally I think you all know that through our HCM process which Dr. Stennis is going to talk about later. We do have peer coaching and we haven't traditionally used them to support with materials implementations, but we do plan on training all of our peer coaches to support with MA this implementation. Um, as well as a potential partnership with the new teacher project whose research I mentioned earlier. Um, we are blessed in the fact that we have onetoone devices and internet. So that is not um a cost that's specific to this. Um this material is integrated already with Infinite Campus and strongly support supported on Canvas. Um and we know that we will likely need to do some translation of materials. Um and then finally in terms of costs around implementation and monitoring um we keep talking about pacing guides but we want our teachers to work collaboratively under ILSA's um leadership to develop a pacing guide by at each grade level along with formative and summitative assessment development. And we'll start that work um pending approval this summer. And then again, um, just really staff and leader time to to both track the fidelity to the implementation, but also the outcomes. So that's not an an extra cost. We're already doing that. Um, but it is something to take into consideration as well. Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that additional information. And just to clarify for everyone, this is in addition to the presentation that we were provided at the last meeting about the math curriculum. So this is a deeper dive into um everything around that. So I'm wondering um if there are any questions from my board colleagues. Sharon Andre. Yes. Um thank you for the followup with this information. And I was curious about whether or not this implementation roll out will be effectively the same for each site because I think that's probably where some of the frustration came from from parents is that from the experience from the compacted math west seemed to have a better nonexit versus north. And so then a lot of parents who had their children felt probably their children didn't have enough support and they didn't know enough information about why did West. So now it's pitting West against North where some of the scholars at West um are going to probably be in high school math courses by the time they're in eighth grade where some of the North parents were not too thrilled and happy to learn from the last board meeting that there was a difference in the roll out. So I guess my question is Tanglin, Eisenhower, Jing Jing, you name it, Gatewood, are they all going to be the same roll out? Because I'm seeing the names on here and I'm not going to read everybody's name, but every site is represented from Alice Smith, everybody in between to Hopkins High School. Yeah. So I guess the question would be just to ensure that I understand when community members are stopping me in the grocery store. Um is the roll out essentially going to be the same to give parents that confidence that like for instance my rising fourth grader by the time he is presented with and he goes to North he's going to be like this is something I want to pursue. But now we have the context. Yeah. Learning from our two others that he will be better prepared. Yeah. Versus what they were. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, so yes. I mean, as you mentioned, we did have representation from all of the elementary schools. Um I Elsa and I both have worked um along with Dr. PAMI and our with with our elementary principles to make sure that um their understanding of what we're doing is is clear. And I think um we're going to you know continue to work on what are all of those sort of mechanisms for consistency to ensure that our experiences are the same. I mean, and I mean, certainly across all schools and sometimes practices can even vary, you know, among grade level classrooms in the same building. And so, um, I think they're probably going to get sick of me like talking about consistency, but it is critically important if we are ever going to have, uh, be able to accurately measure impact. So consistency is absolutely critical and our our school leaders are on board and understand that this is the the core material that teachers are intended to use. So that's really really important. And then I think the other thing um that I would say is that um Kim this year did um a literacy for leadership series where we had um school leaders and then really anybody who was attached to literacy in the building come together for some learning sessions around you know what do what does it actually look like when we are talking about consistency and fidelity. And so we're going to build up their skills to be able to recognize what the consistent practices are that they should be seeing. So it's not just use of materials. Materials are are really critical, but they're it's not the only sort of leg to the stool. We're also talking about, you know, instructional practices and and assessments and things like that. So, we're really going to help them to know what to look for to ensure that that consistency is happening both within um you know each classroom in any given grade uh but also you know driven by like what we expect to see across the board throughout all of the schools. Thank you, Chair Andre. Yes. Um well, first of all, thank you so much for putting this update together and you know, also that email that was sent with sort of the frequently asked questions. You know, it was clear that you had taken the time to kind of digest the experience of something like Philadelphia, parse out what were their concerns, how do we mitigate those? And so, you know, you've you've done a a great job of of work here with this. I think sort of my question from like a board level perspective is is sort of about the process. And so um I I and so as I think about a new curriculum K5 that's math that's coming out systemwide um and I think I had seen in there that kind of the thought of piloting versus everybody that the the reason that we decided to go everyone was that that's what the principles that's what the review crew asked for and and so just any thoughts on kind of start small and try it at one school, figure out what the bumps in the road are, figure out how to mitigate those, then go systemwide versus do this all at once next year. Yeah, I appreciate that question because I think one um point that Elsa and I probably didn't make is that um illustrative has been um used it's a different a different version of illustrative math, but that has been used um at Ellis Smith this year. And so, uh, Alice Smith teachers were who were part of the review process were able to speak to what that looks like. Now, it was a it's a different version than imagine um, and what that only means. They were kind of using the free version that um, one of the publishers offered. And so, some of their feedback again was related to some of what we read from New York and and Philadelphia. It was a lot of work for them to implement. And so we've mitigated for some of that by making sure we're purchasing some of the you know manipulative things and and things of that nature. I think um the what I could also say is that and I know that um Elsa's talked about this in in some of the ESAC meetings and so on in our system right now. We have several different math curricula happening and it it it was really important to me um to to create a a a system, right? I I I really want whether your child goes to Gatewood or to Alice Smith, like I I want consistency across what is happening in kindergarten and third grade and so on and so forth. Um, again, not to take away autonomy and agency of our staff, but I it's really important to me that we have um equitable and rigorous experiences at all of our schools. And so um that's you know that's another one of the reasons that I wanted to um along with our school leaders really move toward something that was consistent across the system so that we are able to provide um support to our teachers um and and and really kind of create broad-based um systems of assessment outside of of sort of our MCA and FastBridge uh to really paint a clear picture of how our kids are doing and and where our our pain points are. Yeah, I think you said it well, Dr. Erdle, and thank you for the question, Director Thompson. We heard clearly from our teachers, our families, from the community that there is strong urgency around math, improving mathematics instruction, and um being able to demonstrate the consistency across sites that we know will yield better student outcomes. So there was also a sense of urgency to smartly vet a few curricula and choose one that um is researchdriven and and backed by the state and national standards and begin implementing. Chair Anderson, may I say one more thing? Yeah. So I think having come out of a year of letters and foundational scale implementation, what Dr. Erdle mentioned is what I'm seeing from teachers. They want some consistency across our system. They want to be a school district, not a district of schools. They value their unique aspects, but they want to be able to talk with a colleague and be like, "How are your kids doing on this? I'm you and I'm finding this. Are you finding this? How are you doing it?" They really value being part of that larger community of Hopkins. And so that's a piece that even when I was talking about kind of that street level data, they are asking, can we enter some more of this into our system so we can see how they're doing on the letters spelling screener from the fall to the to the spring. We saw huge growth on that across the classrooms that gave it and they're like, "Oh my gosh, what's happening here?" And they want to be able to have those conversations. So I think what Dr. Erdle said is it's finding that fine line of they they want consistency across our system. they don't want um there to be sort of this thing where everyone's a unique and and can't can't come together to do the the big work that they're trying to do. So I've seen a huge ask from teachers for that related to literacy and so I think we're seeing that also happening with requests from that team for math. Thank you. Um I did also just want to mention so that people understand um more about how this process works for um Hopkins is that we as a school board have committees um and board members volunteer to be a part of the committees and that's where a lot of the getting into the weeds of this sort of thing. We have a curriculum committee that um three board members are a part of and I trust that if anything is of concern or note that those board members bring it back and talk about it in their board reports as they did. We heard about it here at the table. And so we do that with other things that are important like our our um citizens financial advisory committee that helps us with our budget way back at the beginning of the year. and then also our policy and monitoring committee, our legislative action coalition, and our um special education advisory council. And so I would urge all community members to become active members of those committees and because that is where these conversations happen and you get to dive into what's really critical and um something that you think is really important. I do appreciate that we've been able to do this with math because in my family it's a big deal and I just wanted to um give some context to I think that is much more long-term than what we're talking about right now if in a personal story if I may. So, um my eldest um became it w it was evident that that math was um her first language and was in all of the accelerated programs and got an early admittance to the University of Minnesota's talented youth development program and was doing that um starting in what was for her um sixth grade and then we hit a bump in the educational journey as often happens with families. And um when she was in junior high, we started looking at private schools in the area to send her to. And we heard again and again from the private schools that we visited that they do not accept credits from the UMP program because they are only computational focused and their curriculums are exactly what we have been talking about here today, illustrative math. that the curricula that it needs to be tied to real world experiences, all of the things that we've been talking about. And um then that program um at the University of Minnesota a couple years later completely changed their program and they now do this model of math. And that was a huge and difficult transition for my kiddo. There was a lot of struggle moving from that way of being a mathematician and a brilliant mathematician to this way but it has served her well graduated early with a math major double major at the University of Minnesota and is working um as an adult. So I through that um story applaud this decision. I think it is the right direction. it is certainly being done across our educational landscape. Um, and I would urge anyone who has questions about um where math is headed and the ways in which mathematicians find their passion and their joy um to to look at where it's all headed. So, thank you for this work. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Any other chair? Just one long stories that people want to share. one shorter story that doesn't go as far. Um but and you talked about ESAC. Um and uh and since I'm a math nerd and I really wanted to be successful here, I attended those and you know one of the things uh you know kind of personal anecdote is uh there was a lot of there was Shing teachers Leo Asher and Tisdell Asher. Um you know I think uh they are they teach my children right and uh I think they had a some some conversation and you know I chatted with them and they said you know um oh and and Shing has 84% uh meeting MMCA standards right so they know how to teach math that that's for sure and they said um you know by adapting this we're not losing anything in Shingqing but we're bringing the rest of the school the rest of the district up to our level and um I think you know frankly I trust them in math more than myself, right? Like if they they told me 1 plus 1 was three, I'd be like, "Okay, cool." Like I'll have to re rethink all my life, but I believe you and I trust you. So honestly, if they are happy with it and think that it will meet our needs, I'm, you know, 100,000% behind it and I'm very excited to have my children experience it as well. So just wanted to throw that out there, too. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? Great. Um, thank you so much for your time and all the energy and research that went into this. Appreciate it a lot. Um, looking forward to seeing you back here in the fall. Thank you all. You did a lot of work. We really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. And that then uh takes us to our next agenda item, which is the big data project. Is that the correct? Yes. Yes. Um, well, I want to apologize to our presenter. We're running a little bit behind. So, we might have to break this into two chunks. We'll see how far you get. Um, Dr. Nath. Um well I want to just frame this by um sharing that we are really proud to introduce a powerful partnership emerging from the unique collaboration we call um the big data project which is a shared effort designed to help Hopkins public schools better understand how our students are fairing over time especially those who face systemic barriers to opportunity. And uh this effort was born out of a senior executive from Optum who contacted us after reading about all of the work that we're doing in Hopkins public schools and asking you know a question. What if Hopkins could partner with data analysts to mine Hopkins longitudinal data, student data and uncover the variables that strongly influence student success. And so I just want to um thank Mila Hman for that work and all of our data analysts from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota, OPTIM and the University of Minnesota for this pro bono commitment and the trust that we're building through these um through these conversations and these data dives. And um this work is directly aligned to our district's commitment around eradicating predictability from our students achievement and performance results. And this the team's data insights are helping us better understand not just kind of where the disparities are and why they exist, but what levers we might be able to pull to accelerate student growth and learning. So, thank you so much Dr. Anushia Nath for being here. Dr. Nath works at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and um she is part of a larger team and she has um we had originally the the original presentation was a um a presentation around MCA results in Hopkins compared to statewide uh results. Um, and then also some intriguing findings that the team has identified that might help us systematize the role that peer networks play in um, high school to drive better outcomes around college applications and admissions, but we'll see how far we get. So, with that introduction, thank you so much for being here and for your patience. Sorry that we're late, Dr. Nath. And I'll turn it over to you. Thank you for that introduction and uh good evening members of the board. As uh as mentioned, I'm from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. So just a disclaimer, these are my views, not necessarily that of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis or the Federal Reserve system. Um and uh as was mentioned, um I'm part of a big research team. So who are we? Uh we are a multi-disiplinary team of researchers uh from across the country really. Um we have partnered with Katarina Boruch Kova from the Richmond Fed, Angela Krema from uh University of Rochester Department of Economics. We have some folks from the University of Minnesota, Paul Globy from the Applied Economics, Eric Cmerfeld from the Institute of Health, uh and Michael Rodriguez who is the dean of the uh center for educ college for education and human development. And we also have co-authors uh of Philip Premik who was a student here and now is at Monash University and Abby Holm who's now at Pearson. Next slide please. So um just a quick overview of the research partnership timeline. Uh this has been a long time in the making. In 2022 we started having conversations about what this project might look like. Uh and signed a data sharing agreement. Uh we identified data elements that we needed to analyze some of the things that we're talking about today. Where are you know where are the MCS scores? Where are different types of outcomes including social emotional skills? uh how do we measure some of these outcomes and what are the factors that we want to consider in trying to explain what we see in the data. So that took a little bit of work. Uh but more importantly we also needed to have an infrastructure for data storage and data transfer. Uh so that we created a secure environment at the University of Minnesota Institute of Health. 2023 started dis you knowident deidentifying the data and looking at um these patterns making sure we can merge different aspects of the data and really get a good sense of the longitudinal aspect cleaned. And then in 2024, we started documenting some of these patterns which I'll talk about a little bit today and then give an example of the causal analysis that we're looking at in really trying to understand the patterns that we see. Next slide please. So what I'll do today is um give you a brief uh you know introduction to the context. Some of you might be aware of some of these uh patterns but just wanted to kind of put where are what are we looking at? then give an overview of the topics we're considering in this research partnership. Um and then give an illustration if time permits of the work in progress and specifically um looking at u results from one of our papers which looks at social interactions within classrooms how peers as well as you know different um actors such as counselors and teachers help uh student college application outcomes. Next slide please. And the next one. Yeah. Um so just to give you a brief um background. So in this chart what I'm presenting is um how the relationship between um student body population characteristics um are across schools. So the x-axis is giving you the percentage of school of color in different schools in m Minnesota in grade three. So these are all elementary schools. and the y-axis is giving you the percentage of students who are uh enrolled in free reduced price lunch. And as you can see that this is there's a positive correlation between the two. Um it's a little bit steeper after you know the student body population um student of color is more than about 50%. Uh and relatively flat before that. But um so this is basically to say that um in the next few slides I'm going to pick one of these. So I'm going to choose students of color and give you the outcomes which are the MCA outcomes and kind of see where Hopkins lies within the Minnesota context. Next slide please. So what I'll present is a version of this graph. So next three or four slides are going to be a version of this. On the x-axis is going to be percent of students of color and the y-axis is going to plot the percentage of students who are proficient in a particular MCA test. and and I'll mention which one I'm talking about on each slide. Next slide, please. So, in the first slide, I'm presenting to you grade three reading proficiency levels across all schools, elementary schools in Minnesota. As you can see, um it's a downward sloping line. The red dotted line that you see is the state average. That's one number. That's 47.5 percentage. What you can see in the green solid line is the relationship between uh what is a predicted relationship between the proficiency scores and student body population. So it's declining but as you can see it's a nonlinear relationship. So but till about 45% of students of color schools which are students of color um minority it's pretty flat and it's close to the state average. But as soon as you have above 45% students of color in a school, you see this really steep relationship of a downward sloping line. Right? And that basically tells you that there's a tipping point uh after which you see really strong relationship. Whereas uh Hopkins related to this we'll just leave that in the next slide. So these are all Hopkins elementary schools then plotted against the other schools that are there in the state. Uh many of them are along most of them are along the line or a little bit above. Uh Zingzing Academy uh and Metobrook are above the predicted line as well as state average. Uh all the most of the others are along the predicted line. Uh and uh the Eisenhower Elementary is a little bit below. But you can see that some of the schools which you if you just compare to the state average might look like they're very below the state average. But if you control for uh the student population uh especially student of color in FRPL, you see that they're actually very close to the predictive line. Uh next slide please. So that was elementary school. The next slide is giving you the same uh plot but for uh grade 8 reading which is the middle schools and you can again see that um both Hopkins middle schools are doing uh above both the state average and above the predictive line. The next slide uh is giving uh the predicted proficiency levels and these are the the dots are again all the high schools in Minnesota and Hopkins compared to all the other schools which have similar student of body student body population is doing much better uh than other schools. So this is kind of giving you a good picture where uh Hopkins schools are um how much it can improve and so on. So what I'll do next in in the next slide is give an overview of how are we thinking about these big picture points. So these are some data. This was MCA test uh we're looking at across schools. But this data allows us to go deeper into other outcomes not just MCA but also look at GPA of the same students. Um as we all know there are varied different outcomes that we want to consider when we look at child development uh and student learning. Uh so we're going to look at some of those outcomes as well. And here are some other examples of outcomes we're exploring now. How are students skills evolving? What courses are they taking in math? And how does that progress over time? Uh once students reach um high school, what are the AP and CTE course patterns? Who's taking these courses and how well are they doing once they take these courses? Are they like more likely to go to college if they take these courses and so on and look at these in a more causal way. Uh we're also looking at risk risk of late graduation, college applications and so on. And I'll talk a little bit more about the college application project uh in a few slides. This is no way exhaustive, but just an illustration of what we're doing. The next slide um tells us the factors that we're considering in trying to understand these outcomes that I just mentioned. We're looking at demographic characteristics uh like gender, race, and age and so on when students started. uh parental background which includes uh some measure proxy measure using FRPL but also cultural factors looking at home language spoken uh and so on. We're looking at test scores in previous grades just to see how students are growing over time. Uh we know teacher and class uh counselor inputs as well because we know what courses each student is taking. So we can really try and understand how those interaction within classrooms and within the school are helping students develop. Uh and since we see the whole student body population, we can really try and understand uh some of these different exposures. Um we're looking at social emotional skill absences, health events, and disciplinary events and how over time some of these uh might be impacting student outcomes. from the surveys we can try and understand what what's leading to these absences and we're hoping to get into uh some of those uh details in our causal analysis. So again these are varied factors and we want to really understand all in in together how are they helping uh predict outcomes and can we can we really see any patterns where we're seeing some causal uh effects uh in the next slide. So given these um outcomes, these varied factors, what are we doing? So what we're doing is first documenting patterns in the data. What do these patterns look like? Um providing summary statistics, looking at time trends and really understanding those patterns and then trying to say okay, what explains these patterns and that's where the second part of our research, which is carrying out these causal analysis lies. uh and so we're using latest tools in statistics, econometrics and computer science to really get at this big data uh factor analysis um and specifically identify factors affecting these various aspects of student performance and one of which I'm just going to talk about in detail. Uh next slide please. Um so I'll just give an illustration of work in progress where we're looking at social interaction and college choice. And in this this big picture research question is who's applying to college where and where are they going? Um so we're going to today I'll show you uh these application outcomes and basically this is an this analysis uses 2024 senior survey uh along with administrative data that has been merged to this survey which includes data on demographics GPA classes the students are taking who their peers are and who their counselors are. So really trying to understand uh what's happening to application processes and what I'll show you today is that the information about colleges about quality of colleges likelihood of getting scholarship really flows through these sorts of interactions and that students who are more informed are the ones who are going to better colleges in terms of some qual quality measure that we've uh uh sort of uh come up with and using from the literature and also looking at scholar scholarship, who's getting scholarship and how is information flowing that allows students to get better access. Uh next slide please. So just to uh remind you of the uh senior uh senior survey questions. So these there are seven questions that we have in the senior survey which is what class they're in, their student ID. These are deidentified for us. So we don't really have the actual student IDs. Um this asked what are your plans for next year if you plan to attend to college which school did you get a scholarship? Are you a first generation? And the last question which is what we exploit the most is what counseling services did you use? Did you meet with your just your school counselor? Did you also meet with a college rep? Did you meet with a college and career coordinator? And did you participate in any prep courses? So students can uh check any one of those that apply. Most students meet with their college counselors. Some take up these additional resources that the school provides. Next slide, please. So, here's a summary from the survey responses. So, we have a sample size of 373 students. These are the seniors. Um, out of these 28% about 28% are firsttime collegegoers. So, their parents, none of their parents went to a 4-year institution. The share of students who took up more uh counselor services which is they met with their counselors but also did one of the other thing three things that are listed is about 41%. So not all students are taking or you know up taking up the resources that are provided to them. Um and then the out of the students who've responded the share who receive a scholarship about 45%. um this is any scholarship and the average quality of accepted offers is 28.2. And what that means is we've taken we've looked at all the colleges that students are applying to um and looked at what is the ACT score of those all the incoming students in that college and sort of created a quality measure. Um that's the best we could do given publicly available data. And so 28.2 is the average ECT score. uh 75th percentile of the ACT score in those colleges where our uh Hopkins students are going. Next slide please. So as I mentioned about only about 42% of the students are taking up these services. Um so who takes up these services? So here I'm just showing you an outcome uh output from a regression analysis where we look at what predicts the uptake. Um and the ones that I've highlighted in black bold colors um are the ones that are statistically significant. So they're statistically significant from zero. The others are not. Um we so we see that actually first gen and lowincome students are not more likely to take uh these services which surprised us because we thought maybe they don't have enough information at home and they they would be the ones um accessing these services and apparently they they're not more likely to access these services. um top top achiever students. So these are the top 10 uh desile of the distribution of GPA. Uh and females are more likely to take up these services than their male counterparts. Uh but none of the other demographic especially the race categories don't seem to make a difference. Uh all of all students across different races are equally likely to take up these services. Next slide please. So why should these services matter? Um so in this we try to show uh that they do matter. So column one is looking at how uh the prediction of going to a better quality college and the second column is showing you uh the predictive um predictive uh prediction of these factors and how likely are they increase the probability of receiving a scholarship. And again I'm highlighting in bold black colors the ones that are statistically significant. And in the column one, you can see that um the factors that matter for predicting uh going to a better college colleges are if you're a top achiever, Asian students are significantly more likely to go to better colleges and than their white counterparts, but Hispanic students are less likely to go to better colleges than their white counterparts. But conditional on these factors you still have up that uptake matters that students who are from similar background have similar GPA if they access these services extra services they're more likely to go to better colleges and in the second column you see that they're 10% more likely to get scholarship if they access these extra services conditional on all the other factors that we've controlled for so it seems that these services taking up these services does matter So the next slide um we're we're looking at well if you're not taking up these services how are you learning about you know where to apply and so on and how do your peers sort of affect your decisions. So here are the first two columns we're looking at again college quality probability of going to a better college or not a probability but a measure and then this columns three and four probability of receiving uh more scholarship and here what we do is we look at students and then have look at their peers. So we'd look at all students who did not take up these services and see are they learning from their peers who took up the services and how much are they learning from those peers who did not take up these services. So those peers who took up their services conditional and everything else are a little bit more informed and the student that we are looking at are not not that much informed right because they're only talking to um their counselors who everybody is talking to as well. So what we find uh if you look at again the bold black letters those are the statistically significant um uh factors and we see that yes the college quality of your informed peers affects your uh college quality of where you end up going and if your peers who do take up those services if their uh scholarship outcomes predict your scholarship outcomes not so much the peers who did not take up these services. So basically this table is showing you is that the students who are uninformed learn from their informed peers and those who are the informed peers those who took up these extra services. So even if uh as a student you're not taking up these services you're learning from other peers which I think uh sort of tells you that there is this information role being played by counseling services as well as peers uh within the classrooms. Next slide please. So what is the main takeaway uh from this section? So what we've kind of showing uh in this research project is that um conditional on all the characteristics that we see your out you know your background your what courses you've taken including your GPA students who are more informed do get go to better colleges and are more likely to get scholarships. Who are the more informed students? the ones who take up uh or take advantage of school resources that are provided to them or who learn from their more informed peers. And so this kind of tells you that um you know by improving access or improving take up of these services there can be uh there could be better outcomes for some of the students who are not taking up these services. So by changing some of these accesses to already provided resources which might not cost a lot but just changing those accesses could lead to much better outcomes for the college students u so that's all I had to say again um I'm happy to take questions if there's time thank you so much this is um fascinating I I I wish we had more time to ask few questions and to dig deeper. Um, thank you so much for this. Any really quick questions, thoughts, feedback? Chair Andre sent. Yes, please come back so we can ask more questions about this. I'm so curious how it relates to um kind of our evolving advising approach at the high school and Maya learning and all of that. And so this is really important research given the work we've been doing internally. Um, so yes, please come back. That's my request. I I would agree. Anyone? Chair Andre, I would say the same thing for um director Morland, like if we can maybe ask some questions via email. I don't know if you're going to be working over the summer, but I would love to dig deeper into the presentation. I think it was really rich with content and information that I would love to inquire more about. So, thank you for all the work that you both did on this uh critical work. Yes, Dr. Nath does have a day job, but she's been so helpful in looking at this data for us. And to me, the takeaways are that it's not up to our students to ensure they get into college. It is up to the adults. It is up to us. And we have to especially based on this research, we have to especially focus on our first generation collegegoers, our lowincome students, and our students of color. and it looked like boys as well or students who identify as male. It is up to adults to ensure that we are systematizing that college information, college applications, support process. So these findings are really powerful and then the power of the peer network, right? How do we organize students across demographic group so that peers can learn from their their other more informed peers? Very powerful. Thank you. That's right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Um and I know like we are right at 7 pm and um I just wanted to quickly um make the statement that the even your election um question is not on the agenda tonight. And um if any board colleagues wanted to make any comments about that here in the workshop, which is where we've had all discussions about the the issue, now is your time. Great. Okay, that um concludes our workshop for June 10th um 2025 and I will um move right into um the regular meeting of the Hopkins School Board if everyone's comfortable with that and take breaks as you need throughout the evening. Um okay, I use the bathroom. like a two-minute break really fast. All right, two-minut break. Okay, give us a chance to welcome everyone. I can't hear you, I guess. Oh, hi everybody. I'm calling to order the meeting. Um, I hope you heard the gavl. Um so our first item of business is to talk about our um our recognition at the beginning of our school board meetings of um our scholars and we do not believe that any are with us this evening since graduation has happened and school is out. But we do still want to recognize the achievements that um these um students have uh done throughout the year. Um so we're thrilled to have you all here in the room to to recognize them. First and foremost, um we'd like to welcome we'd like to give a shout out to the students and their families. um the support and encouragement that um families give play a vital role in nurturing academic accomplishments. So our scholars have worked exceptionally hard this year to earn their bilingual seals by de demonstrating proficiency in different languages across various grade levels. Some of our students took the AP language exam as early as grade nine while others successfully completed the stamp event and extempors qualify for this important recognition. We are proud to announce that this year Hopkins will honor more than 70 students who have achieved their bilingual seals in Chinese, Spanish, Somali, Ukrainian, and Russian. This accomplishment reflects their dedication and the rich linguistic diversity within our school community. Thank you, Chair Andre. And can we just double check? Do we have any bilingual seal recipients with us this evening? It looks like mostly folks over 18 in the audience. Okay. Okay. Well, just continuing with the recognition. um we may want to invite some of those students back for a September board meeting, but we thought we would um engage in honoring our students even though they're out enjoying the summer. We also want to thank our wonderful immersion and world language educators for all that they do to guide and teach our students. And also we want to show appreciation for our district's world language and immersion specialist Marel Rios for all that he does to support language acquisition in Hopkins. Everyone's collective efforts make a significant impact on our students overall success as well as their linguistic fluencies and well-being. And so at this point we would have had a royal blue runner kind of um down that the middle of the aisle there. And in fact, we used it yesterday to recognize our um 2025 retirees at the staff party. Um and then we usually call our students by name and they walk down the royal blue runner and receive a certificate from board members who stand in front of the table. So that's our process. So um we're not we're not actually going to read all of the students names because like chair Andrees said, there are 70 of them. But this is really amazing that so many students took that exam and truly excelled. And so the um the categories of achievement that we would have recognized there are several students in the world languages proficiency certificates for Chinese, Spanish and Somali. And then there's the gold seal of biiteracy for Chinese and Spanish. And then there is the platinum seal of biiteracy for Chinese and Spanish and multilingual platinum seal in Ukrainian and Russian as well as and uh one student um Katerina Kalashova received the multilingual platinum seal in Ukrainian and Russian. And then Carmen Trujillo earned the multilingual gold seal in Chinese and Spanish. And she was one of our two student commencement speakers at graduation on Friday. So congratulations to all of our students who received a bilingual seal of literacy and thanks to families and educators who supported all those students. We can cl [Applause] Um, so thank you for that. That's always my favorite part of the meeting. Um, and then we will go to a very close second in the favorite part, the public comment um, section uh, where we get to hear from our community here at the board meeting. There are several ways to contact um the school board because we do uh value um input from our community. You can um obviously show up here at a meeting. You can leave a voicemail that can be played here at the meeting during um the public comment se session. Um or you can send us an email at school-boardschools.org. we really do honestly read all of them. So that is a good way to contact us. Um so before we get to um the people who have showed up this evening and have joined us um were there any I believe we received a couple of voicemails but could not play them because um it's against our our public call mic guidelines. And then um we do have seven cards. So I will go ahead and read those guidelines for those of you who are here this evening. Um please uh bear with me as it's a little bit long and I don't like reading to people but here we are. Um uh each public comment se section will last for 30 minutes. We have 30 minutes at the beginning of our meeting and 30 minutes at the end. Uh we do not have 10 comment cards. So we'll be able to hear from everybody in the first section. Um we allow comments up to three minutes for each person. Um and these are the following guidelines. So please keep your comments to 3 minutes or less. Public comment is for input only. Members of the school board will not respond directly to public comments that are made at this meeting. No specific action will be taken at this meeting in response to comments that are made or issues that are raised um that are not related to that are related to items not on the agenda. If the board determines that action is appropriate, the action will occur at a future board meeting. If you have left your comment information on the comment card, a district representative may follow up with you after the meeting. I will recognize one speaker at a time. Only those speakers who are recognized will be permitted to speak. Individuals who interfere with or interrupt speakers, the board or the proceedings may be asked to leave. Personal attacks on any individual, including any other speaker during the public comment session are unacceptable, as are obscenities or profanity. Persistence in making such remarks will end the individual's opportunity to address the board and may result in the individual being directed to leave. I will rule out of order any statement that would violate state or federal law, schoolboard policy, or the privacy rights of an individual. Minnesota's open meeting law prohibits the discussion of private educational data during an open meeting. Accordingly, during the public comment session, no person may discuss private educational data on an identifiable student. The open meeting law also requires the board to close a meeting for preliminary consideration of allegations against an employee. Accordingly, community members who have concerns about an employee or want to file a complaint or allegations against an employee are encouraged to contact the superintendent. We ask you not to name an employee by name during your comments. Repeated violations of these time, place, and manner restrictions may also lead to the meeting being briefly recessed. Community members will have an opportunity to be heard within the limits of the law and subject to the time, place, and manner restrictions above. Thank you sincerely for participating in public comment this evening. And what I would like to propose because last time we had a lot of um community interaction after someone made a public comment which made our session go longer. Um if I could have people be ready to come up um after the person before you has completed that would make it go quickly and then we can applaud and and show support. Um, but keep things moving if we could all agree to do that. So, I'll let you know the order that you're in so you can be ready when the person before you is finishing up to to come up and then does that sound okay for everybody? Okay. So, the first one is Emily Ward. The second person is Eric Mandel. Um, the third is Carl Shepard. The fourth is Kendra Theory and Melanie Bristo. One 3 minute or six minutes. Let's do six. Okay. So, I'm I'm just going to say next now because I lost count. Next would be Tiana Morris. After that is Arya Jones and after that is Valita Moore. So thank you all for indulging me in that experiment and welcome. Thank you for being with us this evening. Thank you. Good evening. I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge that it's now been just over a year since a transgender student was brutally assaulted in a bathroom at Hopkins High School. That assault and the district's response cast Hopkins in a negative light on the state, national, and even international stage. Tonight, I'd like to reflect on what improvements have and haven't happened since then. From what our care parents and caregivers group has seen, the response to last year's assault has mostly consisted of words. Lots and lots of words, but unfortunately, very little tangible action. The same type of assault is just as likely to occur tomorrow. While it's encouraging to hear about possible safety and facility improvements in the future for students and staff here now, the past year has brought missed opportunities. Missed opportunities to make everyone feel acknowledged and supported to make Hopkins facilities safer for all and to turn a terrible situation into something positive for our community. The one concrete measure that was supposed to improve bathroom safety, vape detectors, hasn't even been activated yet to the best of my knowledge. So that action did not come to fruition. One of the most effective ways to support LGBTQ students through the challenges of bathroom safety and identity targeted violence is through strong engaged advocacy for student groups like GSAs. These groups provide community support and a valuable communication pathway to school leadership. There's probably a reason both middle school GSAs have a robust population participating, but the high school GSA remains small. That drop is telling. Without accessible staff presence, it's the students themselves who end up responding to peers in crisis, and that really should be the responsibility of adults. I'm happy to share specific examples outside of this meeting if that would be helpful. The bottom line is this. It's been over a year. Our schools must be places of safety and belonging for everyone so students can learn. There are changes that could be made right now at the high school and in every school across the district. Changes that should have been made last year to improve safety. With a new high school principal coming in next year, we have an opportunity to start a new chapter. And I hope we can seize that opportunity with meaningful action and not just more words. Thank you for your time, your care for our students, and your service to this board. I hope you all have an enjoyable summer. Thank you, Emily. Thank you, Emily. I'd like to welcome Eric Mandal. Thank you. Thank you, uh, Chair Andre, and thank you to the board for being here, and thank you for your service. Um I I'm here to talk about the implementation of the new math program this evening. Uh I did come in and caught as I came in the additional presentation being made from the learning group and I appreciate several of things that were said for the community to know I did have a meeting with with uh Dr. to read ear or this week or last week was it um last week and uh similarly I sent a email to the board with thoughts about my concerns related to the implementation of the new math program. We still have not heard in front of a board meeting in front of the so at a live board meeting about this program. There have not been questions asked in front during a board meeting. This is being placed on the consent agenda. Mathematics is a core discipline. It's a core part of our education. One of the largest components of our job is to as as people in the community is to educate our students. Public education is a gift. It's an amazing gift that our society has given us. It comes with it an enormous obligation. We have to care for the people who are the constituents of that gift. Those are the students and those are the teachers and the faculty who are responsible for implementation of education and the way it is taught in our schools. This program is extraordinarily well-intentioned. I like the ideas behind this program, but I have concerns about it. Those concerns have been brought up in implementations in other districts and I emailed everybody with those concerns and it sounds like a few of those have been addressed here. But I think it's important that when we talk about education, we talk about programs that are being implemented. We talk not only about the choice of the program itself of what program we're doing, but we talk about all the things that are required for the total cost of ownership and the total impact that is going to that's going to happen to all students to teachers. What is the load that is occurring for teachers and faculty staff? How does this impact everybody? And if it goes wrong, if something happens where things are not working well, how do we know that? How are we testing for that? How are we examining if we're getting the results we expect? And if we're not getting them, what are we going to do about that? I have no doubt this is going to be approved tonight, but I want to ensure that we are caring for everybody who's involved and that we are looking at the impacts as we go and if problems occur as they did in Philadelphia, we are properly and timely addressing them. Thank you very much. Thank you. I appreciate you. Next, uh we will hear from Carl Shepard. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening, board and Hopkins community. I'm the proud parent of a soontobe first grader at Metober Elementary. I'm here tonight to ask the school board to have a more open discussion around the math curriculum and declining performance in our school district. Tonight's consent agenda seeks approval to spend over $600,000 on new math materials. To be successful, this investment will require sustained commitment from staff and allocation of precious professional development resources. Decisions like these that shape education outcomes for thousands of students should not be on a consent agenda. We should hear from each board member tonight on the topic. That conversation should begin with a more honest discussion on math achievement in our district. While I don't believe MCA testing is a perfect metric, it does measure how students are mastering state standards. Hopkins was once a district that consistently outperformed state averages on these standardized tests. That is no longer the case. After years of steady declines, we have fallen behind both neighboring districts and state averages. In 2024, 38% of MCA math test takers in Hopkins met state standards. This is down 10% in just three years. Regardless of how you slice the data, the harsh truth is each year more and more students at Hopkins are falling behind. And given the size of our district, just small declines in percentage terms translates to hundreds of students who are failing. While curriculum decisions are important, the public deserves to know if there are other factors negatively impacting student learning. It is time for the board to begin asking the questions that many parents and staff have been thinking about for a long time. Are larger class sizes impacting achievement? How have demands on teachers and parents changed? Is tolerance of behavioral disruptions making it more difficult for par for teachers to teach and students to learn? What district level decisions are driving away high achieving students to enroll elsewhere? Are we spending too much money on administration functions and not enough on instruction? These are all common sense questions the board should address. But the question before the board tonight is how math curriculum will drive stronger learning outcomes for our students. I appreciate that there was some extra discussion tonight, but we need to be certain the curriculum can be implemented and is aligned with our class sizes and behavioral policies. The public deserves to be able to evaluate the proof points that were fredded earlier. Before rubber stamping administrative administration decisions, we should all embrace a process that drives meaningful board level discussion. We need to challenge group think and consider diverse viewpoints to drive the best outcomes for our students. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we'll welcome Ken Kendra Theory and Melanie Brist. And please correct your names if I got it wrong. You're good. I gave you two. Okay, I'm going off script tonight, so bear with me. Thank you. Okay. So, I'm going to walk you through the data as I see it that is going to be approved if the budget is approved today as is. Um, I've tried to ask if I have false assumptions and I haven't heard anything concrete other than what I'm sharing. Um, so the first page I'm gonna Yeah, this is data straight from the um budget and then from data principal Nest gave us um and then some assumptions on how schools would dole out their classes. Um but none of them are yeah anything wrong. Um so the first dark blue uh graph that you see that is the um class sizes if teachers were allocated based on how many teachers the budget gives them. So it's added up. It's divided by 25 for kindergarten divided by 30 for 125 and then that rounded that numbers added up rounded down for the FT teachers on the budget. That's the predictive staffing model. Yes. Currently in place. So if we just look at Tanglin for an example, you can see the dark blue bars at 33, 34, and 39. So those are the classes as a result of that rounding down um that need an additional FTE if we don't want class size of 33 34 and 39. Um so you can see that arrow kind of comes down to that three in my table there. So that's how many FTEEs I would assume Tanglin would add at their school to bring those class sizes down to where the light blue bar is. That feels reasonable to me. Um then you can see the very last line in that table is 682. That is the combination of that per pupil funding and the compensatory. So that is their discretionary fund. They need three FTEEs at $124,000. That's $372,000 they need to subtract from their discretionary funds and that leaves them with $39,000 that they can fund additional things additional student support paras etc. If you look at Eisenhower combined on the left that is when you take Eisenhower as a combined school. So you can see there is that dark blue line at 39 and at 32. Assuming we want that below those numbers, we would need to fund two additional FTEES. Can look at that. Discretionary funds available for Eisenhower is 719 plenty to cover it. 248 is the cost of those two FTEEs. We're left with 471. It looks like Eisenhower is left with more than any other school in the district. If you look at the three columns to the right of that, you see it as it actually is. So Eisenhower as community school, Huntos and Jing Jing. So you can see community school if you allocate out those 24 teachers, it leaves us with 38 39 35 40 38. if we don't want class sizes that big and then 27 for K, which the predictive staffing model says 25 is the goal for that. So, I brought those down, too. Then based on the newest numbers today, we need 11 teachers to bring it down. Unless you're okay with any of those dark blue line numbers, which brings us, if you add all of those up, those FTEEs, we are then negative $647,000 at Eisenhower as a combined school of three subschools. You can also see Metobrook is negative based on that. If they need to move that 31 32 32 Glen Lake as well 34 3435 um but nowhere near 647. The second page is if you cap class sizes at 32 um for 1 through 5 and 27 for kindergarten. It's the exact same analysis, exact same everything except for if you're letting class sizes be 32. That's where it gets you to. Uh the third sheet is like my information, how I got there. So that is my assumptions that I'm making that are correct. I'm really good at this. I enjoy looking at data. And this is wrong. It's inequitable because if you take a real look at exactly what's happening on the ground at Eisenhower, it appears from the predictable staffing model that we have enough funds. But we actually need more teachers in that because if you remember from the last time we were here, we can't average out across the entire grade level at Eisenhower because of the three different language models. And so that's kind of this the root of what's going on here. Why that predictable staffing model works differently at Eisenhower than at the other schools and potentially Alice Smith. We don't have their numbers for Spanish versus English. I don't know how theirs breaks out. I know how Eisenhower looks and I haven't heard any different from my math here and it makes sense. So, I would hope that you wouldn't approve the budget as is today without taking a good look at that and seeing if it's fair that I don't want you to take away from other schools because they have more. But Eisenhower shouldn't be left this far in the hole to pull from other areas. Principal Ness has done a great job based on these numbers pulling together what we have today, but we need more and it's not equitable the way I can see it. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Like to um next we'll hear from Tiana Morris. Welcome. [Music] Hello. Um dear school board members, my name is Tiana Morris. I am the current health associate at the Hopkins High School. I am here today to speak in full support of our current principal who recently submitted her res re resignation. I want to begin by acknowledging that our current principal is not just an outstanding leader but a black woman who leads with strength, compassion, and deep empathy. In a time when our students and staff are in need of it the most. Visionary leaderships more than ever before. She is not just a model but she sorry she's not just model but she shows up with integrity, courage and care. Her open door policy is not just a face. It's real. She listens and she sees people. She makes space for all of us. She makes space for all of us to be who we are as black staff members. I can say firsthand how rare and meaningful it is to work how rare and meaningful it is to work under someone who affirms and supports us while also holding high expectations and deep respect for everyone in the building. her. She creates a culture where students feel seen, heard, and valued. She has she is respected not because she demands it, but because she earns it through consistency, compassion, and clarity. I have worked in several schools, and I have never experienced a principal like her. I have never experienced a building like Hopkins High School where I, as a black staff member, felt seen, valued, and heard. This is why her resignation is not only deeply painful, it raises serious questions. It is out of character for someone like our current principal to leave midstream without the kind of notice and transition plan that she would have normally provided. We are seeking we are asking the board to deny her resignation at this time and to take a deeper look into why and take a deeper look into what may have led to her decision. We believe that there may be pressures or circumstances behind that that we as the community and staff members have not are not aware of yet. She would not she would not step away without reason and certainly not abruptly. We ask that you treat the situation with the sincerity it deserves for the sake of our students, staff, and school community. We are urging you to stand with us in seeking transparency, accountability, and justice in this moment. We cannot afford to we cannot afford to lose the kind of leadership and truth and the truth that would definitely make a difference. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Tiana. [Applause] Next, we'll hear from Arya Jones. Thank you for being here. Dear members of the school board, my name is Arya Jones, safety coach at Hopkins High School. I come before you today not only as an educator for 18 years of experience, but as a biracial woman who identifies as black woman. I have worked in multiple schools over the course of my career, but it wasn't until I entered Hopton High School when I truly felt I found her. That is because of one honor of our principal. From one from day one, she made space for me to be in my full self. She taught me how to be comfortable within my skin and and how to speak truth to power and how to recognize my worth even when I struggle to see it myself. Her leadership has been transformational not just for students but for staff, for black women like me, and for anyone who has ever felt unseen or unheard in education. This past February, I experienced a tragedy no one ever prepared for. I lost my son and my father in a safe month apart. In my years of education, no one ever told me to take care of myself. I was I'm sorry. I was consumed with fear about grieving, about money, about keeping it together. And she, our principal, told me to take care and take the time I need. She worried about the rest. She didn't just say that. She meant it. She helped me make hours up and make ends meet. She gave me the dignity and support in a moment when I had no one left to give myself. And when I felt like doors were closed to me, she opened one encouraged me to return back to school for my own education. This is the kind of leader she is. Not just a principal but a lifeline. So when I heard she had submitted her reignation without explaining or warning, I knew something wasn't right. That is not her character. She is transparent, forwardthinking, and deeply committed to the school and to the people. We deserve to know what is behind her decision. Today I am standing here before you asking to deny her resignation and investigate further. We need clarity. We need the truth. And most of all, we need the opportunities to her to stay and finish the work she has poured into herself. We don't know what tomorrow holds, but I do know that allowing her to remain in her role is the best path forward. She's the only one who reaches out to our scholars in the way she does. She sees them, she knows them, and they respect her because they trust her. Please hear our voices and stand with us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Arya. And now we'll hear from Valita Moore. Thank you for being here. Hi. Wasn't expecting to uh cry. First, I'd like to start with reading a letter from um another parent. As a parent of uh four children in this district almost at every single level, um I'd like to um respond to the recent news of um principal of the Hopkins High School's resignation by starting about reading this letter from another parent first. principal of Hopkins High School. I read I read your email the other day and wanted to take a minute to thank you for what you've done for HHS. My son Jay is going into his junior year and has had a positive experience at the high school. I only recently heard rumors of descendants from other parents. I'm sorry I was not more outspoken in support when I know leaders often only hear the bad from the people they are leading. There is so much negativity in the US from small communities to the nation and it's so hard to be a leader. That said, I don't know what you personally have faced and I'm genuinely sorry for have I'm genuinely sorry you have not been supported and have experienced microaggressions and outright agrievous agreions and as a black woman in leadership in our district and community. I admire you and your value and I value you and I hope you find a better place for you. I hope you are refilled and refueled as an individual and I hope you are valued for the woman you are. Thanks for doing what you did for the school and the district. You will be missed. So, in the last minute, I'd like to echo and say we would love for the board to take a closer look into the abrupt, very um poor taste and when it was announced um resignation of um principal of Hopkins High School. It doesn't sound or seemed like something this principal would have done in any other case. Um it doesn't sound like it was thought out and planned according to what um she would have done. Um and how she talked about planning other areas of her life and her future. And so in closing, we'd like for you all to consider that um this is an important matter before we just automatically transition to a new principle. [Music] Thank you. Thank you, Valita. Thank you. And that concludes our public comment section of open agenda. Um, I would just like to say again, um, thank you for being here. Thank you for your comments. Um, we do appreciate your engagement, especially as we are officially in the summer. Um, normally we would go we would go to our student board representatives reports, but they too have started their summer. So, that takes us to the superintendent report. Dr. Mary Perry Reed. Thank you very much, Chair Andre. Um, I'd like to just begin by acknowledging all the parents and community members we have in the space this evening. Thank you for being here. Your voice matters. We especially appreciate the courage that it takes to approach the board table and to share your honest and candid perspectives about issues that are important to you as an individual, to your family, to our students, to staffing, and so many other um elements of the schooling experience that we must all pay attention to. So, thank you for exercising your voice. It matters. And while it's not in the board's protocol, as chair and drees mentioned earlier, to provide an immediate response, um you will get a response within the next 3 days. So again, thank you for sharing your perspectives. I want to um take some time to just go through a brief superintendent report. And um I'm I am very thrilled actually to have reached the end of a school year and um it is always a monumental achievement to go through a school year. We serve 7,000 students here in Hopkins and 1300 staff and um to reach this moment where we have our um students now engaged in going out into the world if they recently graduated or out in summer programming or just really um taking some deserving time to relax and um for teachers to have that time to relax. Um we're we are thrilled to be in this space closing one chapter and opening the summer chapter. Hopkins is really a great place for students to learn, excel, and achieve. And it's a very special place for staff to work. And of course, this year um was not without its challenges. No school year is. Um, but Hopkins is a place where we work hard to get ahead of, embrace, and confront the responsibility and challenge of educating 7,000 unique learners the the very best we can. So, I wanted to also share that on Friday, as you can see on this slide, we did send 484 graduates into the world beyond Hopkins. It was a beautiful ceremony. I think it lasted what was it? Um just under two hours. We started right on time at 12:30 and ended I think right before 2:30. Um the graduates this year are truly a direct reflection of the labor, love, and high expectations of Hopkins staff. In the commencement speeches, it was shared that 70% of this class graduated with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, submitted over 2400 college applications, and collectively earned $20 million. Yes, $20 million in scholarships, which is a really huge figure. We now have our graduates attending over 250 four-year institutions and additional students attending two-year colleges or signing up for unique military, gap year, and other post high school experiences. The class of 2025 reminds us of what it means to invest in our young people. So, congratulations to them and to their families. We also graduated 26 students from virtual edu. Some of them participated in commencement at Maruchi. Others felt more comfortable participating in the ceremony hosted by virtual edu staff at their building on May 30. This was also a very beautiful ceremony, one in which associate principal Demand Johnson delivered a lovely tribute to graduates and all that they had overcome to earn their diplomas. He praised the virtual edu staff and teacher Regina Johnson impressed families when she read every graduate's name without any notes notes or pronunciation tips. That was very magical. So, congratulations to our virtual edu 2025 grads. One special Hopkins tradition is for seniors to do a senior walk at their Hopkins Elementary School. And if you haven't experienced this, it really is a very special event. So the day before graduation, all of the seniors go to the high school, they practice the commencement ceremony, and then they hop on school buses and go to the elementary school where they had their K5 experience. And if they were, you know, um maybe joined Hopkins in their uh 6th through 12th grade years, then they pick a school. Um, so everybody participates and it's really touching to see the elementary students literally looking up to the high school students as they walk through the halls and do fist bumps and high fives um at Metobrook where I um was able to watch this taking place. PTO volunteers had created paddles with the kindergarten photo of each Metobrook senior. And so they waved those paddles as they were going through the halls and it was just really special. Our community also celebrates kindergarten, fifth grade, and eighth grade graduations and transitions. So for example, I visited Miss Ellen Woo's classroom at Ellis Smith and found her students preparing for their own ceremony. Every kindergartener demonstrated the writing skills they've been developing all year producing a My Future is so bright poster. and I chose a few to share with you. Um, so on here we see my future is so bright and then there's several questions. In the future I see myself being one student said a gamer, another teacher, a third said a teacher and the fourth said a babysitter. And I would like to live in they said Texas, one student said Hopkins. One said, "I would like to live in a cloud." And the fourth said, "I would like to live in California. I would like to drive a The um the uh the um inputs were Tesla car. Does that say ice cream car?" I think so. Okay. And a pink car, which would be definitely my choice. And um lastly, I will be sure to always be helpful, love my family, 10 things that I like, and help the community. Um so it's nice to see those students practicing their writing skills and also talking about their aspirations. Our fifth graders across our schools all have special academic projects that they culminate um their school year with. So at Tangland, I visited the fifth grade wax museum, and this was an experience where each student had previously researched a modern figure or a figure in history, created poster boards to share the biographies, and then posed as those figures in frozen form, only moving and speaking when visitors pressed a special button. And so I was very I was very impressed with our students projects which included of course processing and synthesizing technical information and memorizing speeches that they delivered in first person. I am excited to share that principal aroma from North Middle School was recognized by the international balorate organization in of Minnesota just a couple weeks ago. the uh IB organization surprised him at a staff meeting with this award. And so I just want to publicly congratulate Julius Aromacelli who truly is a leader that shines in his efforts to create a culture of belonging, learning, collective efficacy amongst the staff and high expectations for students. Congratulations to principal aromai. Also, it was very fun to see many Hopkins staff at the staff party yesterday held at Hopkins High School in the afternoon. The Gatewood Goats did a great job of greeting all of us. And it was confirmed again that communications and marketing truly know how to throw a memorable event. So, thank you to Jolene and her team for all of the planning and execution that goes into that. We also with hundreds of folks in the cafeteria space, we enjoyed honoring our 2025 retirees and um winning raffles. There were some drawings and we appreciate our school board members for joining in and being visible with staff. That means a lot to our staff. So, thank you board. And here are the 2025 retirees. We thank them for their combined 248 years of service putting in the work month after month, year after year, and in some cases decade after decade. So, Steve Warner, Dr. Stanley Brown, who is back there in physically in the boardroom. Everybody give a cheer for Dr. B. Steve. Oh, is Steve? Where's Steve? Steve, I didn't see you, Mr. Warner. Let's give a a clap for Mr. Warner as well. I shared with all the folks yesterday at the party that when I talked with Steve at graduation, I asked him, "How many graduations have you done?" And he said, "3 in a row." Like 33 consecutive commencement ceremonies. So that's a fun fact. Also, Donna Byer, Allison Pertie, Lorie Larson, Kelly Anderson, Debbie Nitsburg, Michelle Stanford, David Conrad, Jenny Brown, and Abibat Salau. Congratulations to all of our 2025 retirees. And finally, I'd like to thank our communications and marketing team. They've been very busy lately for the hours and hours and hours and hours organizing and publishing this recent Hopkins report to the community. So, it should have arrived in your mailbox within the last couple of days. Please give this full report. Please give this report your full review as it does provide our community with updates related to safety and security, enrollment, achievement and learning, budget transparency, and community trust, and what future ready schools offer in terms of career and technical education, virtual and outdoor learning, immersion, and so much more. And there are several QR codes throughout the publication to direct you to web pages on our Hopkins website if you want to look more at achievement data, budget, and um other things that are very important for our system. So, thank you very much. Communications and marketing. And with that, I will end my report. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Mary Perry Reid. any um questions or comments from my board colleagues? Um I just want to reiterate that um graduation was amazing and we all get to be there as a board and I really appreciate you bringing the other graduations that happen across the sites um so that we can be a part of them too. I got to see the Gatewood kindergarten from across the playground. So, that was exciting. Um, cheer Andre. Yes, I might get in trouble. I did not have a slide for our transition plus graduation, which recently happened. So, to all of our T+ graduates, congratulations and thanks to our transition plus staff for all of their efforts supporting our 18 to 22 year olds. Great. Thank you, [Applause] Chair Andre. Yes. Can I just also just say that um just to our retirees that I really enjoyed working with them during my tenure on the board and I'm really going to miss just having those fun conversations with Dr. Brown um and um excuse my Steve Horn sorry about like your EV journey and how that's going and just how you're planning just to travel the country. And so, um, I'm just proud of both of you for making that decision for yourself. So, thank you. Thank you. Um, so that takes us to um approval of tonight's agenda. I would look for a motion. So, move second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any opposed? The chair votes I. And the agenda for tonight is approved. And we then move to the consent calendar. Um these are items that provide the board with information considered to be more routine in nature. If the board deems an item to be necessary for additional discussion, a motion will be made to move the item to new business. I would like to alert the public and also board members that there are three additional items on our consent calendar. Um, and the reason they were not there initially is because our amazing assistant was on vacation and these renewals, their lease renewals um for established um tenants that have been with the district for a very long time. they were sent to um her um mail, but she was on vacation and so they did not get put on uh the consent agenda in the manner that they normally would have in a timely manner. So the board members were given the opportunity to review. However, I would like um if anyone does have questions um about in particular those three items, I would say now is the time to ask for any clarifying questions. I don't see any. So then I would move for a motion to uh approve the consent calendar. So moved. I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a double second. Um any discussion? Uh Cherry and Drezen. Yes, Clerk Thompson. Yeah, I I just want to reiterate that um we we've had very good discussions particularly in the workshop that just finished that, you know, yes that elementary math adoption is a big topic but like there were questions and I felt like a lot of them got answered. So that's just a comment I wanted to make here. Thank you. Um, I would also direct anyone with additional questions to we did have a presentation on it at a prior board meeting. Um, and so a lot of um, information was shared at that as well. Um, and I believe you serve on the ESAC committee, correct? So, um, I think there's additional information there. Any further discussion? Seeing none, I would look for I would um All those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any opposed? The chair votes I and the consent calendar is approved. That takes us to the treasures report. Treasurer Hartland. Thank you, Chair Andre. Um tonight's treasures report will focus on the fact that um Minnesota's legislature did have a special session yesterday um starting yesterday but actually continuing into the early hours of this morning where they did finally pass our budget. And a super quick recap, our state runs on a two-year legislative session called a bianium. And so one of the years of those bianiums is a funding year where the state has to pass the budget for the next two years and the other is a policy year. So this has been a funding year and every funding year the state of Minnesota has to pass several broad budget bills in categories like transportation and health and human services. And the K through 12 or the public education benefit is one of those categories and obviously the one that we and other school districts across the state have been waiting anxiously for. And without that budget, we have no authority to spend any money after June 30th. And so obviously that would be incredibly disruptive. And so waiting to see that the working groups could come to agreement and then have a special session and pass this final budget has been um tense. And our we have a legislative action coalition here in Hopkins that has been um kind of staying on top of that and meeting throughout this process. Um some of the highlights of the budget bill that passed is that universal school meals have been protected at least for the next two years. Um there was a win for school districts that can start their school year um in se uh as of September 1st for the 2627 and the 2728 school years. Um, this is because Labor Day will occur very late during those two calendar years, meaning we'd have to start like in the second week of September and then we'd be ending school in like the third week of June. So, the district um I mean other other districts too. It was kind of a statewide coordinated effort, but our district and our legislative action coalition advocated for that and that did pass. Um, some additional flexibility was granted temporarily um for the use of our compensatory dollars. Again, those compensatory dollars are earned by students from lower income families to augment their learning and close any gaps they might have. Um, additionally, the legislature, it originally was on the table to cut this provision where our per pupil formula that we're given by the state. Um it was a victory a couple years ago to index that to inflation so that our we were sort of categorically awarded an increase in line with inflation and that has never been a given prior to um two years ago and that has created a big problem. You know in every budget discussion here we show a slide that's put out by the Association of Metropolitan School Districts that shows how much our per pupil funding has eroded in the face of inflation. And so securing that in Minnesota two years ago was a huge win. It was a possibility to be cut in this session and it was not. So that that was a win. Some additional challenges that we face um are that there's was they passed a decrease in per pupil school library aid and decreased um some reimbursement for student support personnel or pair professionals. And so it's important to remember that. So there's some numbers that are put out by the state of Minnesota for that. So it shows that our district pupil, our library aid will be decreased from our original award of $119,000 down to 76 from the state. And then for the student support personnel was we originally forecast to get $364,000 and that's been reduced to 225,000. But it's very important to remember that those numbers come from the state's research office and they have to be like vetted and tred up by our staff here. And that is a huge lift every year to take all of the implications that happen at the state level and then understand what they mean and systematize them here actually in the district. Um, one additional note about the legislative uh, session was that there is was a resolution to encourage school boards to have student board reps. And here in Hopkins, we have had student board reps for the last 26 years. So, a program that predates all of our student board reps. Um, and so we were one of the original models for that and had advocated for that at the state level as well. Um, regarding this month's expenses, you see many for modern heating and air. This is a local Minnesota company that we engage regularly to augment our maintenance staff as we have made staffing cuts um at the board table as a district and have endeavored to keep them out of the classroom. Unfortunately, that is a place that we have lost staff is in our building and grounds departments. So, we used to have staff electricians and staff plumbers and carpenters. And now we're down to one all-around maintenance lead for these like construction type projects. and he is assisted by various companies that we contract with. And given the rates of pay and benefits for employees, we do save money by contracting these services. Um, for utilities, we paid Centerpoint Energy, $7,117 for natural gas, uh, $3,895 to the city of Golden Valley, $10,310 to the city of Hopkins, $9,544 to the city of Minnotonka, again for utilities, um, to various third-party companies for solar panels and to use the electricity generated by those solar panels. We paid $100,827 and we receive very large credits against our XL energy bills for any energy that we get from solar gardens instead of the traditional grid. And because we have been in a state of deficit for the last two years, that is a program that's currently undergoing a cost and benefit analysis. Um, we've been in that program for nearly a decade and so it's currently being reanalyzed to ensure that we are still getting our full value out of it. So you this board and any community members that are tuned in can look for a report on that in an upcoming meeting probably in the fall. We paid $48,181 to teachers on call for substitute teacher services. Um, for prom you can see line item expenses of $15,197 paid to the Filillmore to rent the space and $850 for the events DJs. And while those events are paid from the school to the event, they come from our student activity fee fund. So families and students have paid fees into that account which cover those expenses and they're not part of the general operating um expense or our general operating fund. With that, I move that we approve total dispersements in the amount of $918,727.38 for the period of May 16th to May 31st, 2025. I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Chair Andre? Yes. Um, Treasure H Heartland, I appreciate you giving an overview of the action at the legislature um that just happened. And as I was reading through some of the outcomes earlier today, um I became really concerned about um this blue ribbon commission um that is being assembled to study how we can further reduce special education costs in the state. Um and we know what the outcome of that will be. It will be less money for special education which will increase the cost that we incur here on the district level. And this is absolutely a structural financial issue um that the state has refused to address adequately and I'm really fearful that this commission is going to exacerbate the problem. Um, and so I wanted to make our community members aware of that so that you can continue to to track the issue of special education funding at the state level because it is incredibly impactful for us here in Hopkins. Um, I was also um really disheartened to see that that private school funding um that comes from the state remain largely intact um and state dollars should be used to fund public schools. So, thank you. Any other discussion? Director Merlin, I'm sorry. Thank you for noting that. I'm going to be taking a look into that. You said it was called the Blue Ribbon Commission. Okay. I think there's an additional commission also formed to uh revamp compensatory revenue models. And so I'm uncertain exactly how the outcome of that's going to be, but there um will be I think opportunities for the public and our community to know about their work and to make comment on them. Thank you. I appreciate everybody's contribution um to what's happening at the state level. Um any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any opposed? The chair votes I. And the treasures report is approved. And that takes us to new business. Um, our first order of new business is the final fiscal year budget approval. I will turn it over to Dr. Mary Perry Reid. Thank you, Chair Andre. Um, I'd like to welcome our director of business services, Truro Chap Chapanduka, to the table and I'll just provide a framing and then we'll present the information and um engage the board and some Q&A. Um, so we have had several opportunities throughout the year to engage with our community and school board around our budget. Like many other districts across the state, Hopkins School District faced a significant budget shortfall this spring. These budget shortfalls are due to rising costs in all categories of spending and flat enrollment in some places in Minnesota result of declining enrollment. Here it's it's more flat. Um, and then this is paired with the most significant factor of state funding not fully covering past, current, or projected public school expenses. And so many districts across the state. And in fact, we had some opportunities to talk with districts around the country districts are many districts are facing budget shortfall this spring and potentially moving forward. So again, here in Hopkins, we identified $7 million in budget reductions and efficiencies to prepare for fiscal year 26. Our budget process this school year uh began as it always does and that is with partnering with our citizens financial advisory committee which is SEFAC a group of parents who have financial expertise who have several meetings with uh uh Dr. Lightfoot Mr. Chapanduka, myself, and then uh two board members also attend those meetings. And from there, we then have bi-weekly budget meetings with our principles and district leaders. First getting clear on what our instructional and operational priorities are and then engaging in the necessary work of scrutinizing spending patterns and identifying areas to reduce or create efficiencies. Our highest priority always is to try and protect classroom teachers, student learning, instructional support, and as you heard many of our speakers mention earlier, class size. And that is our continual struggle is to figure out where are the areas we can reduce so that we we are not leaving teachers with class sizes that um that are hard for uh student learning and classroom management. So, um that is just a a continual um focus of ours and um and we appreciate the perspectives that our school leaders, our teachers and others bring to the conversations and to the decisions so that we can and try to make the most responsible decisions possible. So, at this point, I'll just turn it over to um our director of business services, Truro Chapanduka, who has um been with us for six years now and really has um modernized our budgeting process in many ways. You saw a couple of speakers earlier who have the data to do their own analysis and present us with some scenarios for consideration. When I was hired in 2017, that never would have been a possibility. The the budget packages were centralized and we just, you know, staffed the buildings without really taking a look at spending patterns across program, across school. And um we then you know developed what is called a predictable staffing model which does then look at enrollment per school per grade level per um per school per grade level and um begins to assign staffing and operational components so that principles can staff and run their schools the next year. And so it's really amazing to have to have to for our public and for our parents to have that level of detail at their fingertips so that they they too can scrutinize our staffing and our budgets and and present some alternative ideas. Um it's really a night and day difference between where we were where we are now compared to a few years ago. So thank you Truro for that work for increasing transparency with the budgeting process. your job is very difficult and I will stop talking now and turn it over to you so you can present some information and we'll see um what questions our our board members have. Thank you Dr. Mary Period. Uh good evening board chair Anderson, respective board members. Uh it is a pleasure to be sitting in front of you uh the community uh colleagues and staff. Uh well it's been a wonderful six years in the district and uh I want to thank uh Dr. M Reed for bringing me to the district and working with uh the board, working with um my colleagues in cabinet, with staff, uh with the finance office, uh the operations office and uh the community at large. It's been a pleasure and um uh I'll go through the the budget. Uh this is something we've actually presented uh a couple times. uh starting with the preliminary budget on April 22nd and then uh did a first read of the budget on May 20th. Uh the information is still the same. So I'll just kind of go through uh some of the elements we have factored into uh into the budget and uh after that we'll open it to to the board. Uh Andrew, can you go to the next uh slide? Thank you. So uh as initially mentioned by the superintendent uh the process actually starts with uh some internal conversations we have at leadership when we look at our enrollment and uh we look at other variables and factors which uh we always put into consideration uh including any uh increases in uh basic uh per student allowance revenue uh from the state as well as uh any mobility we see in terms of students coming in and coming out of the uh out of the district. So uh when we do the budget we use projections. So we are kind of predicting based on a lot of variables and factors uh putting into consideration uh information we receive from the county around birth rates. uh we also factor in uh some of the competitive uh um uh businesses uh in the K12 industry around us. So charter schools uh we factor that we also factor in components around uh surrounding school districts where uh we either are gaining students coming into the district or students are moving from uh district boundaries into uh into uh those school districts. So there's a lot of uh data which has to be put together uh to at least give us some initial uh planning assumptions. Uh once that information is gathered together, we uh meet with our citizen financial advisory commit which is a group of financial experts in the community who kind of help us try to build the framework and parameters or which will start to uh build the budget after approval from the board. So uh some of the parameters we've used for fiscal year 26 which we've kind of done in previous years uh were around uh the projected uh increase in uh state funding. So when we did this uh we projected a 2% increase. Uh I know I'll kind of share some more information uh as previously uh mentioned by uh Treasurer Hartland on what just been passed by legislature yesterday. Uh we also projected a flat enrollment in fiscal year 26 uh and uh into the foreseeable future. uh we projected a 4% annual increase uh in cost of living adjustment knowing that we still have work to do uh with our negotiating bargaining units. Uh we kept our French benefits at a 42% uh flat uh as the same we did for this year. uh we increased our uh purchase services, utilities uh and supplies uh with a 3% consumer price index inflationary component. And then uh based on what we've kind of been seeing uh in uh transportation, our transportation expenditures have been escalating. So we did factor in uh some of those projections and started working on identifying uh opportunities to make changes within the transportation operations to actually close the uh 7 million projected uh gap we're facing as a system. Uh can you go to the next slide? So what has not been factored into uh into this budget is the new information we just received. So we've not factored in the additional uh 074 uh increases cuz uh when we did the initial projections we're projecting at 2% now that the legislature has come up with a 2.74%. uh that 74% amounts to about uh $400,000 uh based on my uh preliminary calculations. Uh we also did not factor in the uh holdless compensatory funding. So that information will come when we do the uh revised budget. uh we did not factor in uh reductions in special education transportation reimbursements of about 5% based on uh the information which has been shared. Uh any reductions in student support personnel aid uh reductions in library aid and any new requirements for the for the read act. So, uh those new changes will be factored in as uh uh time goes on uh into the four uh and presented back to the board uh in spring. Uh as uh mentioned earlier on by the superintendent, uh our budget process uh was very uh intensive. Uh it was uh collaborative working with leaders across the system. Uh we've worked on um bringing uh our priorities together meeting with leaders. Uh we uh held uh bi-weekly meetings uh with principles and district leaders. Uh we also had a group which was put together which was the weekly swift action uh budget team which would look into any priorities any alignments which we needed to factor in to identify the $7 million. Uh we did also look into comparative analysis with other school district uh for central level staff. Uh we did a transportation audit. Uh we also did a collocation audit. Uh we identify identified a number of programs which uh needed uh alignments for example with our uh counselors uh substitute reconfigurations we also did a secondary uh uh schedule reconfiguration. Um on top of that uh based on the work we had done in the last four years around the predictable staffing model uh we did an assessment of consistence and uh variability uh with the predictable staffing model across our different buildings uh just identifying uh common themes and any standardization when it comes to resource allocation. Uh the next uh slide uh is just the graph which um relates to the enrollment uh between some of the actual enrollment we've seen and what we are projecting here into the future and uh as I mentioned earlier on we did uh start the budget projections uh using a flat um projection for fiscal year 26 and then we'll start getting some more information later into uh July, August before the school starts and if there are any adjustments we'll work with building leaders to make any adjustments in terms of staffing or any shifts which may need to be um aligned. The ne uh next slide actually shows the breakdown of our general fund revenue uh between the basic revenue allowance which accounts for about 43.1% or $56.2 million our state aid in levies about 13% or $70 million. Uh special education about 11.3% or $14.7 million. Our general education aid $8.5 million or $6.5% in percentage wise. Operating referendum 13.5% or 17.6 million. Local option revenue 4.3% or $5.6 million. Uh federal aid 3% or $3.9 million. Uh restricted revenue uh 3.2% 2% or 4.2 million and other revenue uh which accounts for 2.1% or 2.5 u million for a total of $130 million $575,130 uh general fund revenue. Uh for expenditures uh salaries and uh wages account for about 55.4% 4% or $72.3 million. Uh benefits 23.3% or $30.3 million. Uh pitch services 15.6% or $20.3 million. Supplies 2.9% or $3.8 million. Capital expenditures 1.5% or $1.9 million. Other expenditures 1.3% or $1.7 million for a total of $130 million575,000 and $130 uh which brings our revenue and expenditures to uh structurally balance after the uh reductions and uh realignments we did. Uh one of the challenges which I uh would like to re mention uh to the board and the community uh is around how we get funded uh especially for our allowances per pupil which has been lagging uh for the last at least 22 years and that uh presents a lot of challenges when we are looking at uh cost of living adjustments of 4% consumer uh price index inflationary increases of about 3%. And then when you factor in a two to 3% in uh additional general formula allowance coming in uh that just shows that we always lag behind. So uh we'll have to make adjustments each each year until the state maybe changes the way they fund uh Kov education. Uh and it's unfortunate that uh that kind of creates uh a lot of unpredictability. it creates a lot of um uh uncertaintity and unproductive when we come to this time of the year and we start making cards uh which impact people's lives. So I just wanted to make sure that there's an common understanding about uh how funding comes in and some of the pressures and challenges we get as uh school districts in terms of trying to align our revenues to our expenditures. The next slide uh is information I've already shared uh where when we started the process uh we had to identify uh some cost cutting measures. Uh we also had to move some resources uh from some of our assigned fund balances to be able to uh close that uh budget gap of uh $7 million uh the district was was facing. Uh the next slide uh breaks down some of the cost cutting measures we uh undertook to get to a structurally balanced budget between uh transportation uh some of the changes and realignment we are doing with our holist uh holistic school safety. uh some of the assigned fund balance we are um shifting to uh cover up some of our operations and maintenance. Some of the shifts we are doing within our uh capital projects levy. uh some uh rep prioritization of funding from our proprietary funds which is the community education and uh nutritional services and uh certain reductions we need to make within our uh operational side of the of the district which makes up some of the uh cuts and reductions we we we made. Uh we also looked into uh our subshoot model and made some reconfigurations. Uh our targeted staffing uh model which we have always put dollars on the side to cover up for any shifts in enrollment. Uh we also uh made reductions uh in time cards. Uh we also did realignments on uh counselors as well as uh a roundown of our uh classroom teachers using the predictable staffing model. Uh can you go to the next slide? So the next slide actually shows the breakdown uh between when we allocate resources uh the resources we are allocating directly to schools the resources which are allocated uh to support districtwide programs as well as uh department allocations. So about 58.9% of our budget for the general fund which accounts for about $76.8 8 million uh is direct allocations to buildings. Uh 34.5% or $45 million is districtwide allocations. So when I say district uh districtwide allocations, this includes uh transportation, this includes uh services uh provided through our custodial services. uh things like utilities, those are central managed but the majority of the resources are be used in our buildings and then about 6.6% uh the department allocations uh which accounts for about $8.6 million uh these are centralized uh office departments. So for example, business services uh business services processes payroll for all district employees uh accounts payable, accounts receivable. Uh when you look at our human resources, when you look at our uh governance uh as well as uh centralized uh personnel for uh information technology for uh specialized services they offer within that uh departmental allocations. So that's what I have for uh for the general fund. Uh the other funds we are also presenting on the food service fund. Uh uh based on our projections and um uh claims for food service fund, we are expecting a food service revenue of about $3.9 million and food service expenses of about $4.5 million. Food service still has uh a health fund balance. So, uh, they are projecting a deficit of about $666,000. Uh, we've been working with, uh, the nutrition services to make some realignments and adjustments for for that so that we don't continuously, uh, deep into into fund balance. The next one is uh, community services. We are projecting uh community services revenue um of $12.3 million across the different uh services and pro uh programs provided within the department and expenditures of about $12.3 million. And again, some of this information will uh change over time and uh a revised budget will be presented uh in the spring for for the board's approval. And uh that's uh that's what I have in terms of the budget. Again, I want to thank the uh community in Hopkins for accepting me and uh I'm so proud for the time I've spent within the district the six years. Uh yes there were challenges but I also know that there were also a lot of accomplishments and uh as I leave the district I am going to be a great advocate of uh Hopkins a great ambassador of Hopkins and I appreciate all the uh trust and uh the uh collaboration uh all the learnings and everything which has uh shaped uh my six years in the district which I'll take with me uh into the future and uh I'm still going to be in the Twin Cities so I'm hoping to see uh each and every one of you uh but I'm very appreciative. I'll take any questions. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate you being here with us again this evening. Um, any questions or feedback? Chair Andre, director West Morlin. Well, first, Director Chap and Duke, I'd like to thank you for your service. Um, we have spent so many hours together at this table over the past six years and I'm like having flashbacks to COVID and um and how much we had work we had to do on the budget during that really uncertain time. Um, and so I'm really grateful for your service. And as Dr. Mary Perry Reed already acknowledged, um, I think your your lasting legacy to Hopkins will be, um, how you gave us a new way of thinking about budgeting that has allowed for much more transparency for our community. Um, which leads to more engagement and advocacy, and that is exactly what we want. That's the sign of a healthy democracy. Um, and you helped us get there. So, thank you. Um I do have a question about the budget before us. So not a lot of surprises tonight. This is um the fourth time we've looked at this version of the budget at the table um with minor tweaks here and there. Um I think it would be really helpful for transparency for our community um to understand a bit more about the process when it came to um building leaders because our school leaders are involved in all of these decisions every step along the way. talking about the predictable staffing model and use of discretionary funds to bring class sizes down and what that conversation looked like across the district. We've heard a lot of information about one particular site. Um but I think it's really important that we look at that in the larger context. Thank you uh director. I can start and then I'll give it to the superintendent. Yeah. And again the predictable staffing model uh came out of the desire uh to create transparency uh considering that uh a lot of the decisions before we moved to this process were kind of centralized. uh and we wanted to make sure that uh enrollment as well as any additional categorical resources we receive from the state uh are channeled into into the buildings to support the different priorities cuz what we discovered was there were different priorities uh in different buildings and um uh different needs. So for us to at least create a uh foundation and a level playing field for these resources to be able to be channeled into buildings. We started with what we called a base allocation. Uh meaning like for us to be able to open a building what critical base resources do we need? Uh we need a principle. uh we need teachers. In terms of teachers, what we did is we created the um uh at least a baseline of class size uh and uh determined that okay at least for kindergarten we need 1 to 25 students. Uh knowing that any additional remaining resources will be allocated to a building and uh building administrators in partnership with their staff will identify where they need to reduce class size, where they need to add additional resources to uh support the different uh programs. Uh and every year we look at this information because as you know enrollment fluctuates. So uh just knowing that our resources are finite, knowing that uh what we receive from the state uh is not in line with the demands and the needs uh of our programs. Uh wanted to give that voice to uh buildings uh and leaders and staff to be able to uh make decisions so that we create accountability So uh to cut this long story short uh we decided to create a base allocation get resources outside of that base allocation into the buildings and then buildings using uh uh tools uh looking at programs are able to prioritize the resources uh in terms of need in their um spaces. So you will find that uh there are different variations in each building uh because buildings are also leveraging those um uh those resources. What we've not done is cuz when we when we allocate resources we are using projections and uh lucky enough you know we did get some additional resources during the pandemic. So we were able to leverage those resources to create um at least uh additional uh allocations to buildings to address some of the nuances we had never experienced before with mental health uh with uh some of the needs which previously probably were not identified. Um and then we work with leaders as we go throughout the year in determining if there's any additional uh resources which may need to be shifted from uh from other spaces. Uh the predictable staffing model is a resource allocation tool uh which just kind of identifies uh and transparently uh put resources into the different spaces in our system uh with uh the understanding that uh collaboration is happening at the local level. I don't know if I answered your question correctly, but I'll also give the opportunity to superintendent to add any additional context. Well, I think you covered it well. So, I I I do believe that the ultimate challenge is to strike um the right balance between um shared instructional and operational priorities across all of our buildings so that we're all moving in the same direction, right? with collective commitments around what the instructional and operational priorities are and then recognizing that each school is a unique context and may have needs that are very specific to the students served and the programs within that building. So what is that balance between giving principal agency to work with their staff and identifying how they will use discretionary but also what are some shared commitments around the base allocation and the discretionary. So for example this year we did two things. We had all the leaders leader by leader by leader say okay how did you use your discretionary for this year spell it all out so that the leaders could see what was the same and different and it was very um illustrative for all of us in the space. And then number two we said okay this year you have to use discretionary to reduce class size before you can use it for something else. whereas in previous years there would have been a little bit more um discretion, no pun intended, with that. And so I think as we move forward, similar to what our um parents from the Eisenhower community have pointed out like what are those complexity factors whether it's Glen Lake small school size or a building like Eisenhower with three programs? What are those complexity factors that really require us to iterate the predictable staffing model even more to address these these distinct needs that really are different building to building and how could how could the PSM account for those differences in needs. Um but I hope that gives you a sense of the process. I mean it really is a process that is takes up the whole year there. You know all the leaders are in the space. We're trying really hard to look at um that again that balance between what we're all going to do the same in a uniform fashion and what needs to be different school to school and what then are the implications for the predictable staffing model. Mhm. Thank you, Chair Andre. Yes, director Roer. Um, I want to just say, uh, director Chapanduka, thank you so much for your time and services here at the district. It has been a wonderful experience working with you and learning from you. And I appreciate your in-depth analysts of all of our questions that we ask and um, doing it with with um, you know, such grace. I know that it's a lot of work. It's time consuming and I just appreciate your effort to ensuring that we have the information that we need to governance effectively. So, thank you. Um, I just have two quick questions. Uh, I'm just looking at the budgetary reductions and realignment in the instructional in the instructional services and it says secondary substitute coverage and refiguration. And when it says like redust reduce sub needs districtwide by using large large group spaces for multiple classes and have pair professionals as supervisors. Could you just clarify that just a little bit? So that does that mean that if we need a sub for two different subjects and we have a large room that those two subs would be using that same room for two different subjects like um that's just kind of made I'm just want to understand what that means for the $400,000 district-wide reconfiguration. Did you want me to try to answer that? And great Dr. Lightoot is going to check my understanding. So this this is a line item that is specific to secondary. So 6th through 12th graders. And yes, so because we do have opportunities for teachers to put onto Canvas what the learning will be should they be gone for a day. Then we are trying to create a scenario where we can bring a couple of classes together in a larger space and be supervised by an in-building sub or a pair professional rather than teachers who you know don't really like to do this unless it's a dire emergency, right? Rather than teachers covering these these um classes during the prep period. And we do need to compensate our teachers. Number one, we're taking their prep away. Number two, teachers are paid at a higher rate than inbuilding subs or pair professionals. So, it allows our teachers to retain their prep time and it allows students to be in a space where they can be supervised by a caring adult who can check in and make sure that they understand what to do with the the lesson plan, which would mostly be on that uh that canvas page. Is that correct? Okay. He nodded. Well, thank you so much. And then also, um, I'm just looking at our just one second. It was the targeted staffing specialist. So, does that also mean that for targeted services that we will be reducing or is that just targeting? So targeted services is the program where we identify students who need accelerated learning so they can u reach grade level and we provide opportunities for that enriched learning to happen after school um usually in elementary maybe a little bit in middle school. And then targeted staffing is a small amount of resources that we set aside for this time between now and the start of the school year in case let's say my goodness you know 25 kids um just enrolled in the middle of July and early part of August for Eisenhower these late enrollments then because Eisenhower hasn't been wasn't expecting these 25 kids then we would pull some resour sources from that targeted staffing amount to fund that classroom. And so what we've been communicating with our Eisenhower parents is like we do right now we're kind of in this space where principles are finalizing their staffing and we're going to be in these summer months where we have to watch any changes, any unexpected changes with enrollment or shifts between buildings so that we can use that small amount of resource in a targeted way. We don't want to give it all to schools right now not knowing what's going to happen in the summer months. Oh, okay. Thank you so much for that clarification. That's um really helpful. And then just a last quick question for food services fund. I see we have a deficit of $666,44. Are we looking at ways to increase the revenue in the food fund or to reduce our expenses in any way? Um cuz I could see that I don't know if that will impact like the meals for like the summer or if the um universal meals have anything to do with the deficit, but I think it'll be really good to just get some clarification cuz food uh security is really important. Sure. Sure. Yeah. We are actually looking at uh a couple different uh ways to uh realign the food service fund. Uh there's a couple things which have happened uh with food uh food service. So uh in previous years we used to get additional revenue uh through concessions uh but then the uh department of education nutrition services came and um uh actually uh passed some regulations which takes away any concessions from food services. uh the legislature does not want food services to be responsible for concessions. So we ended up moving the concession component to be managed by athletics. So uh that was a revenue of uh of $100,000 which was coming into food services which they are not getting anymore. Uh we are also kind of looking at different ways to uh uh realign the food service uh programs uh make some additional push for uh meals cuz the universal meals this is kind of the first year we've done it. So uh there was uh strong participation uh throughout the whole entire year. So uh working with our food services director we've been looking at ways to uh make sure that our structures are are balanced and one of the things which has happened in the past two was uh we did uh uh when we got the additional uh uh one-time fundings uh from the federal government that actually uh probed up uh food services. Now we are kind of going back to start uh making sure that our revenues and our expenditures are aligned. Uh the other component is around uh negotiations within uh within the group. Uh just knowing that our staff have kind of been some of the lowest paid uh in the industry. So trying to get them to where uh the uh meeting uh the market um uh rates uh kind of put pressure on the uh on the fund. So there's quite a number of things which have been happening so that uh we don't continuously eat into uh eat into the fund balance. I mean over time because of the fact that we leveraged uh some of the uh pandemic dollars to uh cover up food service uh needs uh we also created a healthy fund balance. So we are going to tap into that fund balance whilst we restructure some of the operations within the department. Thank you Jar Andre. Yes, Treasure Heartland. I think it might be a little bit helpful to contextualize exactly what the board is approving tonight. So this is the tiniest bit bending our rule about responding to public comment. But so this is my understanding is that today we're agreeing to your projections for our revenue and for your projected expenses especially in broad categories you know like um salaries and benefits. So, we're agreeing that we have reviewed this information. We've gotten to discuss it as a community. Um, and then we also approve or in this case like don't approve of the use of say our unassigned fund balance. But what we don't do actually is specifically the board is saying this amount of money goes to Metobrook. That is additional information that this board has asked business services and admin to provide so that parents, community members have insight into this enormous task that is passing the budget to prove kind of some due diligence to prove, you know, how district leaders, teachers, uh, community members voices incorporated in it. And so that's relevant because passing the budget today does to my understanding does not mean that as enrollment numbers come in as we true the budget and understand the impact of 2.74% you know that does it is slightly more money to us than the 2% budgeted here that no it doesn't mean that admin can't make additional allocations to schools. Is that accurate? Correct. That's correct. That's correct. Okay. And so I think I just want everyone who is tuning in to know and to remind the board too that we did this huge shift um to providing all this other information. and and we want to still do that and want people to be able to do their own analyses and to to be transparent and to let people participate on this granular level, but we didn't do it to lock us in and to like further restrict the process. So our our approval is high level. Chair Andre. Yes. Clerk Thompson, can I ask a clarifying question on that? when you know we have this budget book final in front of us in a PDF form and it you know has each school broken out that seems like this is the allotment that the school is going to get based on these factors. So is is that part of what we're approving this evening? Was that question for me? Yeah. Yeah. So the board is approving the overall budget for the uh for the system. Uh the additional information is uh uh from a transparent standpoint uh because all this information is public. So I want to make sure that there's an understanding uh when we allocate these resources that the resources are being allocated equitably uh on a standardized using uh formulas which uh uniform across uh across the system but what the body is approving today is the overall revenue and expenditures. Chair Andre. So basically function, sorry I didn't for you to recognize me. I just went for it. Um so basically functionally what this means is exactly what you were saying earlier director Chap and Duka that um that numbers are shifting right in terms of like what the allocations are to each school. They're probably not going to shift dramatically just in my past experience as a board member. But over the summer, enrollment shifts are happening. School leaders are assessing their needs, all these different things. We're not going to be meeting every week to approve a new and updated budget, right? That's never what we've done. Um, and so in the fall, we'll get an update of where the budget landed for the year. But yes, this is that high level approval that is that is our responsibility as a board. So, thank you, Director Hartland. Chair Andre. Yes. Director Xiao. Hi. Um and just on the subject of um it it is also a practice that we get an update around uh kind of like back to school and like opening of school and we get an update on things and one of the items that we have historically talked about and I think we will again is class sizes, right? And it will be, you know, something in our purview. We're all parents. We all are in the system, right? You know, first and foremost, we we definitely care about all the experience, right? And so, you know, if something were to explode that we that would come up in our due course, you know, when school starts back up and in our normal business, right? And we would, you know, ask the questions and, you know, if necessary, you know, um, have conversation around that, right? So, it's not like we're signing this, leaving, and, you know, don't care like we care very deeply. So, Just wanted to clarify and chair just to build on what sounds like everybody in the board is saying um essentially the attempt here was to do a forecast to say here's the projections and then actuals will come in post October to be able to say here's the actuals and then there is a big aotment that we approve and then that stuff trickles down to each site, but we don't want each site is they have the autonomy to decide what they're going to do with those funds. So then there could be um disproportionate where obviously Eisenhower has a larger population. So they would probably see something a little bit greater than I don't know a Glenn Lake that site because they have a smaller population. am I tracking just for the community to understand like this is how I'm seeing this is that this is to be we want to be very conservative obviously the details that was presented um today shows that it's a little bit above the con the being conservative versus if we came in higher then that is not really a good thing you know for the district if we say we're projecting we're going to 8,000 students and that is not the reality that we're coming into. So, it's very wise, especially in this frothy environment, to be very conservative financially, as painful as it is. Um but the good news silver lining for the community is that the numbers do show based on the legislative is that we are going to get a little bit more than what our ADM was showing. So am I tracking or am I just in twilight? Correct. So from a um from a projection standpoint, I mean the the challenge to all this year in terms of school finance is we are using a lot of assumptions because uh we don't have the students uh already in the system when we are doing the budget projection. So we are using a lot of historical information. Uh that's why we have to be very careful uh in terms of um uh what we uh budget for or what we plan for because if we uh we over project well we are going to be in big trouble because we have to lay off a lot of staff. Uh if we under project we are going to have serious issues with class size. So we try to kind of find that sweet spot based on information we've collected over time uh to at least get a better traction when it comes to uh planning for programs, planning for staffing, uh planning for any other discretionary expenditures. knowing that way into the year, that's when we start to receive the real data on like, well, these are the true numbers of students coming in. And we've always kind of been pristine in terms of when we look at our projections and then when we look at the actual students coming in cuz you want to be very close to each otherwise either being off either more or less will cause a more repercussions to the to the system. Thank you, Chair Andre. Yes, Clerk Thompson. Um, am I right in assuming that based on the student makeup of a population at a school, there would be a a different amount that needs to go into that school. If if there's more free and reduced lunch kids, different demographics, does that do those dollars follow those kids to that school? That's true, right? Yeah. The funding that is allocated for the different um title um groups of students by legislation, I believe, has to follow that student. Right. So that's what it's based on, right? and and and so then you know as we've spoken this evening and I'm I'm pleased to hear that there's a a directive to the principles as they look at their discretionary dollars that you know priority is hiring teachers to reduce class size. You got to do that first, right? Um but then you know if a school has to use all of that discretionary dollars to get their class sizes in line you know is that an equity issue if then they can't spend it on different supports for the kids that that school body has. Yeah that's correct. So that's what and I think that's what um our Eisenhower parents and principal Ness have been describing to us is that the majority if not 100% principal Ness of discretionary is being used to fund additional teachers to reduce class sizes across Eisenhower. Now, we are in the process of having all school leaders report how much of their discretionary they're using to hire additional teachers, reduce class size, and what kind of um what fears they have around their staffing, whether it's I need another.5 or I need another 1.0 or at the secondary level, I will not be able to fund this course and that course. So, we're asking for that spec specificity of information and putting it together in a in a little sheet so we can compare site by sight what are those worries and dire needs and I think as we've illustrated earlier we do have to figure out okay well like what would have to be different what would have to be true in order for schools to be use to be at more of a um have more of a consistent sightto-sight use of discretionary, right? So that we don't have one school using, oh, I only need 50% to fund extra teachers. I need 75, I need 100. Like what what has to be different? So we're not experiencing that level of variation sight to sight. And I still I I think we're still in the middle of that analysis. I I just had a quick clarifying question. Um so when we talk about discretionary funding does that include title and compensatory aid funding? So uh title compensatory uh so compensatory we include as part of discretionary uh title is categorical. So we have title, we have artsis, we have achievement and integration and uh those are all dollars which are flowing into into buildings uh based again on demographics and uh part of the application for benefits. uh then any resources after which are left after we have allocated the base allocation that is the the basic per student uh which is a uh port of money we give to buildings based on their enrollment uh uh and a calculation per each uh per each student in the in the building. So there's adsis, there's title, there's uh achievement and integration. Those are categorical which uh we actually use a formula based on different interventions which are required based on regulation to uh allocate those resources. And then we have compensatory. Compensatory is based off a state calculation. They tell us how much each school gets. And what we have done is we give 80% to uh uh to the building. Uh we hold 20% and that 20% uh kind of cross subsidized uh our English learners uh some of our special services uh needs for example with uh nurses uh because those dollars are earmarked for specific needs across our our system. Okay. Thank you. I just didn't want us to conflate those so that we understood what was part of discretionary and what was part of um categorical. So, thank you for that. Chair Andre. Yes, Treasure Hartland. Um I want to give a short comment that will lead to a question and one is for which um I am really grateful to community members who are really tuned into this process and as um chair and mentioned earlier we have a lot of committees one of which is CFAC and so director Jou and I are part of the citizens financial advisory council or committee I can't remember which right now but if you do have a special interest in that you can join that committee and can be involved in these conversations. um starting really early in the year and the district admin has been really responsive to SEFAC. So if you anyone cares to read a 63 or 68 whatever page count document um is attached to this agenda for the budget book final. You can see that the CFAC has like reviewed and discussed all kinds of um possibilities for revenue like including um you know using liquid amounts in cash accounts to see if we can get any more interest balance. And so the admin did some study into that and showed where we were maximizing um you know there's a lot of legal restrictions on how schools can invest their dollars. Um the SEFAC asked about the transportation audit and um that was already in purpose uh or already being done and so the SEFAC is in a position of really good partnership with the district and so there's the potential for um our community members that are really interested in this to join that. Um, so you could email district admin or the schoolboard in general to get more information about that one question. So the CFAC continues to meet and so most recently the SEFAC kind of brought up the question of administrative costs and um the admin team that was there provided quite a bit of context um including something that has been said at this board table already where in response to a similar question from the community last budgeting cycle um district admin actually did get reduced by four roles going into this year. And so I was wondering if um you know, as chair Andre talked about bringing forth the the big questions that we discuss in committee, I was wondering if um district admin wanted to reiterate any of that context and any of that work that you guys had done here, especially because part of your budget process specifically um talked about your analysis of comparably sized districts. Sure. Yeah, I mean we did uh reach out to other surrounding school district uh did a comparison of our central office departments uh and to be honest we found out that we are very nimble uh in terms of uh uh administrative staff at the central office. Um, one of the things we have kind of done to, you know, different school districts use different models when it comes to how they report uh and of the administrative uh stuff to Minnesota Department of Education. And you know, we've tried to uh be transparent in terms of how we code all the administrators uh all the different titles of administrators. And what one thing I found is when you go to different school district, they may use different creative ways uh for the very specific same roles. Uh but when we do an applestopple comparison, uh Hopkins is pretty much in the kind of in the middle when it comes to administration. I don't know if Superintendent have anything else to add to that. No, I think you said it well. It was it was very hard to do this comparison because of the different ways that districts title their positions and assign functions and key responsibilities to various positions. So we ended up sort of counting people and looking in more like uh more broadly at uh at uh key or core functions of each role and and found a lot of similarity. We were not an outlier um in in any area. We did find that um in our information services department, our principles noticed that maybe we have a few more staff supporting a student and staff tech needs which right I mean it's it's a very important service that our staff are providing because we pride ourselves on students and staff staff not having to wait a long time before they get that support. So, we have made, you know, some very minor adjustments in that area, but for the most part, there's a lot of similarity across all of these spaces. So, I'm hearing you say the Minnesota Department of Education does not have an exact definition that all school districts have to um have to say exactly this title with exactly these functions and then we all fall in. There's a lot of leeway in different school districts to assign what we might count as an admin function to another non-admin role in another district and then those get reported differently. Yeah. So when you look at the uniform financial accounting reporting standards uh there is like general description of uh what is considered an administrator or what is considered uh support staff and I think that's where some of those creative ways comes into play where uh somebody may be titled something uh they are doing administration work but because of their title they are considered to be report. Okay. And uh and those are some of the differences. I mean one one thing I'll mention is uh about 3 years ago the district embarked on a uh total compensation analysis which uh we brought in a consultant who does this work in uh K12 to come and just take a look at uh how our positions are structured. uh and then compared that with 10 other school districts. Uh and based off of that they gave some recommendations uh for us because uh first of all if we are going to be competitive in terms of uh hiring and uh uh attracting talent into the district. uh this is the best way we would structure our positions and then we used that as a foundational uh starting point to um uh build a structure which brings uh competitive talent uh to to the district and I mean again this is something I think to my understanding um had not been done in over 20 years. So I think from that standpoint we know for certain that uh our structures uh are not outliers when we compare this to other surrounding uh K12 school districts. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um thank you for all this. I want to um also talk about um what you've done for the district. I think that we started at the same time in the Hopkins schools. Um at least me being on the board and it was right before the pandemic. Um, and I I just so appreciate the the way in which you came in and at the time I didn't understand what was happening, but I heard a lot of things like rightsize the budget and um then I started hearing about this predictable staffing model and I have to say um I didn't know at the time but I so appreciate now the changes is the pretty radical changes that happened in the budgeting process here in Hopkins. When I look back at like I just remember thinking when you proposed that we turn to a revenuebased budget. I was like what are you talking about? Like what other kind of budget is there? and and it was being done the opposite way and it just didn't make sense. That's not how we b balance our budget in our house, right? Like you have to have income to cover your expenses. And so um I've appreciated just that fundamental shift but then also um I see when I am at a at the school um the ways in which the predictable staffing model really is in alignment with the charge that we got when from our equity audit of um that our budget process was not equitable and the changes that were made because of that. I can see how it is creating um the ability for site leaders to really know what they're going to be facing um and to problem solve on the front end instead of having to plug holes after school has started in the fall. And I see that happening like right away um in early spring the um the leader at Gatewood was working to get funds in and to see alternative ways in which to meet the needs of the building and so I see the direct impact of that model and I think it has it's not perfect and like we said changes um need to be made in order for it to be even more equitable. But I think the work that's been done is good work. So I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate that. Thank you. Um and the ways in which you've educated me on the budget process in schools. Um and the one question I did have um because I echo all of my colleagues in in saying that this is a living breathing thing. This changes over time. and you've got a slide um that is on what we now know finally are going to be the legislative changes that are going to impact this budget but not factored in yet. Um so I'm looking at these and I'm wondering I'm getting a feeling it's probably going to be a wash. Um but just wondering if based on your much more informed expertise. Is that what you're thinking as well? Well, close to uh so for example uh if we get additional resources for compensatory uh holdless uh those resources again using our AD20 will be able to be reallocated back to the buildings as additional resources. Uh what I'm trying to kind of uh figure out right now is for example that reduction in uh special education transportation uh reinvestment uh that might dilute uh some of the additional resources we're anticipating to get out of the uh formula allowance. Yeah. So uh and then you look at those reductions in uh library aid uh we have to figure out you know with the new requirements with the read act uh with some of the language around the par profofessionals uh what that might uh entail in terms of u cost. Uh so it's going to be close to a wash but we might get some um um u some additional limited resources which will be helpful in terms of uh addressing some of the challenges we've heard from uh community members but it's not it's not going to be it's not going to be a lot. Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate that. Um, and I also think it's it's important to note that this we're probably looking at another 5% in the next bianium reduction. That is what was proposed and it's probably going to happen to special education transportation. and the legislature could have um helped public schools out by um getting rid of our requirement to provide transportation for private schools and they chose not to do that. So that's where we are with that. Any other questions or comments before we move to a vote I believe is before us today. All right. I would look for a um motion to um approve that we adopt the uh fiscal year 2025 2026 final budget in final read. So moved. I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I I. Any opposed? The chair votes I and the board adopts the fiscal year 2025 2026 final budget. Thank you, Terrarero. Thank you. Thank you, Trurero. Thank you. I believe you get to stay with us for our next discussion on the bond referendum and capital projects levy. I will turn it over to Dr. Mary Perry Reed. Thank you, Chair Andre. So, um I welcome our director of business services to remain at the table and our two guests um to join us and I would like to our three guests, excuse me, director to um join in. I would like to just provide a framing before we get into this important topic and uh inform our community that for a few years now our district has been preparing for a bond referendum now scheduled for November of 2025. This opportunity for a bond referendum only comes around every 10 to 20 years for school districts and presents an opportunity for our community to support important facility upgrades which will include safety and security and ADA improvements, singlestall bathrooms, career and technical education renovations, parking lot and playground reconstruction and modernization of athletic learning and special education spaces. Our architecture and construction partners in the work are site logic and fielding international. They have helped us assess all of our facility spaces and grounds. They've helped us facilitate community engagement sessions. and they've also done the important work of helping us prioritize projects according to what students need and what community members have said is important. Um we also needed to uh to fit all of the projects that were prioritized into a budget. And so um some additional information is that although our schools and facilities must be updated, it is really important that we respect our taxpayers personal budgets and keep the monthly increase to under $10 per month for a $500,000 home. And there was some work that Peter Leatherman and Ellers did in helping us identify an amount that is appropriate for all of the projects that are needed across our spaces as well as appropriate for our taxpayers uh personal budgets. In November, we are also seeking to renew our existing capital projects levy, which mostly pays for technology, but would also include band instruments and school transportation vehicles. After we hear the update from our team, we are recommending that the board authorize the the district to send the bond referendum and capital projects to review and comment um to MDE for review and comment. MDE is the Minnesota Department of Education and that's a required part of this process and we are also recommending that the board authorize a special election in November which would result in these two questions being on the ballot. So I appreciate our director of business services remaining with us, our director of information services, John uh Weather or John Weather. I call him Mr. Weather. He's also a weather expert if you didn't know. Um, thank you for being here, Mr. Wedder and also John Bent and Jake Berg from Site Logic. Thank you for all of your work. I know this is a tremendous lift for a lot of people in our system. I do want to call out our um cabinet leaders and principles and um some teachers across the sites who have put many hours into this experience as well. and um our communications and marketing team which will be front and center with just just helping us ensure that our that our public uh feels informed um in ways that um are very respectful of these projects and their cost. So without further ado, I'll just turn it over to the team here. Thank you for being here. Thank you Dr. Mary Period again. Uh good evening respective board members. Uh I think this work is uh has kind of been a long way in the making. uh at least 6 years if I can remember uh of uh a lot of uh foundational work which has been done and I know you know with the pandemic uh we had to take a pause and then uh started coming back with a lot of collaboration with our buildings uh with staff uh creative ways where information was gathered Uh that was the first time I'd seen a request for proposal uh being implemented for ideas. I mean we always know requests for proposals when we are purchasing goods and services. Uh but there were requests uh for proposals which were done in buildings to identify in creative ways uh some of the projects which will be uh presented tonight at a high level. Uh which takes us to uh how we get the funding for uh making this a reality and how we become creative in making sure that our uh buildings are providing the right quality of service uh to address the new paradigm in education and uh what our community desire desires for uh our students. uh the future of learning and uh the shift in uh in terms of education when you look at how uh you know buildings were designed maybe in the 1950s uh 1960s and where where we are today and the need for modernization. uh I don't want to take too much time so I will uh give the floor to our partners uh from site logic to take us through and then if there are any capital projects uh levy questions uh we have director wait to respond to that too. Thank you. Thank you director Chapanduka. Um and thank you to the board and superintendent Mary Perry Reed. Um we have if you advance to the next slide um we have a brief but impactful agenda tonight. I want to ensure that uh the board comes away from this informed and um ready to be able to make this important decision this evening. So we'll review in a little more detail the planning process as director Chapanduka referenced the six years leading up to this evening. Um make sure we cover all of the potential projects and scope that are being considered here tonight. um and discuss a little bit on what some timeline of and next steps may look like going forward from this point. So I'm here tonight representing site logic and again we are your facility planning, architecture, engineering and construction management partner. We've also partnered with Fielding International who's been instrumental in leading a lot of the the design work and will continue to do so throughout the project. Um, my role is vice president operations with our site logic Midwest and I've been serving had the fortune to serve as the program manager for Hopkins for the past 5 years. Um, and with me tonight is our site logic president, John Bent. And I would like to echo Jake's comments. We really appreciate the board and the district um allowing Site Logic to be a part of the team to to really put this together and bring it to a position that we can show the community our our vision collectively together on how we could improve the environment for the students and the staff at Hopkins. So, um, just want the team to know that we're extremely committed to this project and you have all the resources at Site Logic at your disposal. Thank you. Uh, next slide, please. So, as I as I mentioned, the really purpose of the tonight, you'll be asked to take some some action after we finish here. So, you know, I want to make sure our goal is that you feel informed. We answer any clarifying questions. We provide all the updates. um and make sure you you have a understanding of the the shared vision that we present here tonight. Um I also want to take a moment to celebrate the progress that's been made over the last 6 years. Um you know recognize the superintendent as well as the cabinet member staff that that she referenced earlier. Um many many hours and a lot of work led up to the point we're at tonight. Next slide please. and you can proceed to the next please. Uh so briefly recapping um again we started this process back in in 2019 with a RFC RFP for a facilities report identifying future needs of the facility looking at ways to align with vision 2031. Um, next phase was really the RFP process that director Chapanduka referenced with uh led by Fielding International where ideas were shared and and selected and brought forward ultimately leading to conceptual designs for Pathfinder projects that uh that are being put forward in this referendum tonight. Um, also very important in the top right there, uh, was all of the survey and data gathering, um, that occurred, really throughout, but very heavy in 2024. Um, and as we moved into 2025, the planning and development of those potential projects um, really accelerated and and moved forward into high gear. Um, you'll see we're currently right now highlighted in the um, planning consensus phase. So, we just wrapped up the workshopping phase, um, which was very exciting where kind of all of the ideas and potential came to light and we were able to to to work with you all to help select some projects to be prioritized. Next, next slide, please. Um, as I mentioned, all the data that's been gathered, um, this is kind of the mind map. As we look at the top, we have all of the various inputs there. Um, starting with that facilities report I referenced, um, several community and staff surveys that have sent out that have been data points that have been informed. As you look to the middle, you see informational sess sessions listed there. Um, one of the key components of that has been a bi-weekly um, uh, meeting with the the cabinet and the referendum team where all of these inputs as they're gathered um, are analyzed, discussed, and and workshopped. Um, also a big part of this was the long-term facilities maintenance plan. So, understanding the full spectrum of needs across the district. Not just how do we improve the learning environments and the future of the school, but ensuring that there's a rockolid foundation in place for your your current facilities um and ultimately concluding with the decision-making workshops at the bottom. Next slide, please. Um, one of the very important uh components of those inputs was the community engagement or listening sessions. Um, these were very broad designed to engage families, students, staff, um, the broader community in both understanding all of those inputs and then soliciting feedbacks and feedback and input uh, that would be shared in the planning and prioritization process. This was a series of over over a dozen separate meetings both in person and virtual that occurred from uh March throughout through April um that provided a a really host of information um that informed the process. Next slide please. Um, all of that information, um, really provided the foundation then for what was really the most equitable, inclusive, and transparent planning process that I've had the fortune of being being a part of here at Site Logic. Um, you know, decision makers from across the district and the community came together to um, you know, make some decisions about the future of the district. A very exciting process to be a part of. Next slide, please. Um, as I mentioned, the decision decision-making task force um composed of the superintendent, principles, teaching and learning staff, cabinet members met over the course of five separate workshops. These were long meetings um in the tune of 90 minutes to two hours two and a half hours long where we reviewed priorities. We reviewed costs and budget uh we just you know competing priorities were discussed and ultimately leading to uh to consensus last week um in terms of potential project scope. So a lot of uh a lot of work led up to this point where we're at today here on on the 10th. Next slide please. And as we looked at, we said a lot about prioritization tonight. So, it's important to look at how were things prioritized, what lens were they viewed from. Um, this is definitely a a district decision in terms of how things are prioritized, but we've we've summarized today kind of the decision-making framework or matrix here. First, looking at health, safety, and security, educational impact, uh, community support. Again, informed from all of those inputs. Of course, cost and funding is an important component of that, equity and inclusion, accessibility, and then alignment with with vision 2031. Um, all of those categories really were examined as we looked at each project to determine what should be prioritized. Next slide, please. Um before we jump into the scope summary, just wanted to pause there and provide an opportunity for any questions or discussion on kind of the process of where we've come to tonight. I do also just want to um keep an eye on time. So if anyone does have a quick question, no thanks. We can go on to scope. Thank you. So, we're pleased to present tonight um a group of really transformational projects that um have not only been shaped by Vision 2031, but are really defined by your values. Um again, sitting here at the the board meeting tonight, getting to hear those values come out through board discussions, public comment. um you know feel confident that the projects that are proposed here are a great fit both for the future of Hopkins public sk schools and for your current current values. Next slide please. So we'll provide a a highle summary first and go into a little little greater detail. So there are six main categories of projects that that compose the $140 million um bundle of referendum projects. The first being safety and security enhancements, uh accessibility upgrades, parking lot reconstruction work, uh several playground upgrades throughout the district, indoor and outdoor athletic improvements, and then modernization of learning environments. And breaking these categories down a little bit further, uh we first have the safety and security enhancements. Um these were really projects that were based on recommendations from a study called the Rosen report which was commissioned by the district um a few years ago and these recommendations look to provide a standard um and enhanced security throughout the district. So, as we looked at specific projects, uh this is true across all facilities in the district. They will be receiving a um upgrade in interior and exterior security cameras as well as um exterior lighting both on the building and in parking lots to keep areas safe. Um installment of vape detection sensors. And there are several safe and secure entries that will be remodeled or reconfigured as a part of the the project as well. Um I also have listed on there a um acronym for a storm shelter. And um essentially what that is is when you when you add additional square footage um a certain amount, there's a state code requirement that that requires you to provide a storm shelter as well. So, um that's attached to some of the add building addition work you're doing, but it also has the added benefit of providing um you know, a safer environment for everyone in the community there. Next, as we look at accessibility upgrades, um again, a a code requirement with some of the work you're doing is to allocate a certain percentage of your budget to accessibility upgrades. The district has done tremendous work over the years in making sure its buildings are um staying up up to code with uh with ADA requirements and codes. However, there are some larger projects and scopes and things that have not been tackled that really only make sense when you're doing large renovation work. Um here what we're really looking at is a lot of restroom renovation. So, a lot of the smaller ADA items in terms of door hardware and things like that have been taken care of. Um, as we look across the district, there's um with the accessibility upgrades, there's an opportunity to, you know, just at the high school alone, renovate um restrooms up to 25 or more single-user restrooms um could be installed as a part of that. Uh so, a large opportunity there. Um, we also, um, will be adding in special education space enhancements. As we look at the parking lot reconstruction work, um, there's some deferred maintenance there is with your driveway. You're you're likely aware of. However, this goes a little bit deeper than that. There's utility lines located underneath those parking lots that'll be replaced. It'll be full reconstruction. At the same time, um, another code requirement, uh, requires you to, um, retain storm water runoff as well. So, both that utility work, storm water retention, and new parking lots will be taken care of with that. Um, while we look at doing those significant reconstruction of those lots, we'll also be looking at the design and flow of of traffic and opportunities to enhance and make that safer where there's opportunity to either add or reconfigure loops or or drop offs within the space. Um, also one of the one of the fun ones in the image you see there on on your right of I believe that is the uh West Middle School. Um there's an opportunity to upgrade several pre playgrounds throughout the district. Really provide a a best-in-class um outdoor recreation space for students at the middle school level and throughout the elementary schools. And our last two categories, the modern learning environments. Um here we have the Pathfinder projects that have been referenced several times in the path past. Um, we also have significant improvements across the district to your career and technical education programming and spaces. Uh, we have a focus on music and band room renovations at several of the sites. And overall with the Pathfinders and some specific projects, um, we have enhancement to outdoor learning environment and instructional spaces as well. As we look to indoor and outdoor athletics, um several gymnasium additions, some of them, um working out to also duly serve as the storm shelter requirement, others being uh identified as high priority needs, um from the school sites for additional capacity. Um a multiport dome that'll that'll continue to serve the high school and uh the community well into the future. And then some energy efficient LED field lighting upgrade and scoreboard opportunities. Um I'll briefly review the timeline and next steps and then uh we can we can pause for discussion and question. So following uh the board's disc decision tonight um um a next step would be immediately shifting to referendum umformational campaign planning. Uh we'd begin reaching out with to the administration and the cabinet to start that process. Um the next milestone is the submission of the review and comment by the end of June. Um and then we we continue to provide um really looking at design and implementation planning as we gear up for the referendum in November. And next slide will be the last. Um as we look at design and implementation planning, I just wanted to highlight that um the same equitable and and and transparent process that was followed in prioritizing the projects will also be followed in determining phasing of the projects. So as you look at $140 million of potential projects, that is too large of an amount to handle in say one summer break. It's going to be needed to phase over multiple years. Uh we're going to have to look at several different factors and criteria to determine which projects are done in the first year, the second, the third, the fourth. Um constructibility, community input, um equity, safety, cost, funding, operations are are just a few to to name. But again, wanted to mention that that's that'll be a planning consideration following again the same transparent process as the prioritization. and conclude with uh questions and discussions. Thank you. Great. Thank you so much for being here and for the presentation. Any questions or discussion chair Andre Director Xiao? Yes. Hello. Uh thanks for the presentation. I think uh it's a it's a big undertaking. Um my question I think you somewhat addressed in the last slide or the second to last slide but um how quickly can we get singlest bathrooms and can we do it quicker? Mhm. So it depends on Sorry, could I add just something because I had a question about that too and I heard you say at the high school alone. So I am assuming this is going to be implemented at other locations. So wi with the um with the ADA requirement to invest that percentage of dollars into the school um we have budgeted for the complete renovation of restroom spaces um because a lot of the other ADA upgrades that would we would typically be target have already been achieved there. So the next phase as after um voters potentially approve this is to enter into a design process where we would meet with all of the the pertinent building staff um administration to look at those restrooms and then determine what is the best fit for that school. So literally you can think of taking your restroom at home and clearing everything down to the um to the sheet or taking the sheetrock off. you're basically pulling down to the studs in the bare floor. You have the opportunity to move fixtures around, to add stalls in, to reconfigure, to make sure that space works. Each school will be a little bit different in terms of what exact needs are and even in different areas of the building that'll change. Um, so we provide the amount of flexibility now to allow that design process to occur uh post November 4th. Okay. Okay. But re so realistically could summer of 26 be like is that is that you know in in the realm can is that is there opportunities for sooner? Um so typically what we'd be looking at with a project um really of this size and really how we've we've worked on your past long-term facilities maintenance projects is you you have a about a year of a design phase. Uh so design would start you know really as soon as um you know after November 4th. Um there's and that would then need to be put out to the bid market right as well. And so there's a timing factor there where we want to do that to then gear up for construction. So you'd be looking at construction major construction of those projects um probably starting in in 2027. There would be definitely some projects with within the scope here that will occur um that can occur in 2026. Some of the parking lot work, some of you know I think there's an opportunity with some of the security projects, some of the lighting, the lighting is a great example where that gets upgraded that provides um operational budget savings right away. Um you know, however, the the heavy design intensive work. Um again, we can look at that and prioritize a schedule. we could look at pulling out if there's a certain school that that you want to prioritize, we we can certainly work within that, but since the construction is disruptive to school operations, it would it would likely be 27. Thank you, Chair Andre. Yes. Um, thank you, Director Joe and Chair Andre, for your comments. It's um it's a place that is a priority for me as well and for reasons. You know, we had a community member kind of pass around an article about schools that are just seeing such huge reductions in problematic behavior and chemical use from that design. And so it would be a big priority to us. And so I don't know exactly what kinds of conversations we'll have at the board table moving forward about that, but I appreciate a community-led approach to that. Um, and so thank you for being here. I got to participate in a couple of your listening sessions and thought that you really managed to capture a broad cross-section of our of our population, and I really appreciate that. And I remember your reps giving statistics like our 11 sites have over 1.7 million square feet and we have 170 acres and those buildings are on average 55 years old. And so I can see the need for big updates that keep us safe and keep our buildings accessible and let us provide a quality modern education for all of our students. And I know that this is just a huge lift. Even just looking at our attached documents, I see um new requirements for our clerk, for example, and that's just the least of it. So, will Site Logic or possibly even Aaylor's um director Chapen Duke be able to support our staff for this huge lift that it's going to take to communicate with the community and to answer, you know, the whole community's questions and then to manage the logistics of a special election. So from site logic's side um we routinely partner with um district municipal adviserss such such as Ellers to pull together the the pertinent project information. Our our role in that communication is is to provide information. Um you know we can we can work in also providing communication materials as well. Um but as a program manager we're we're more than just a architect, engineer, construction manager. We have a a team of marketing and creative specialists that that will um again upon upon approval and direction to to move forward with this will immediately begin meeting with the district to to map out thatformational campaign. Yeah. Yeah. So this is uh it's a partnership. So there's a lot of heavy lifting which is done at the district level and then there are a lot of technical uh elements which we don't have the expertise where we rely on either site logic or Ellas to partner with uh with the district uh for those efforts and I think that's what we've kind of been uh doing here for the uh last few years when we're pulling everything together. Um obviously it's a district project. So uh there's uh more visibility uh from a district um uh standpoint, but also uh our finite our resources are very finite. So so we have to reach out to uh to our partners to close some of those gaps. Thank you for that question. Chair Andre, Vice Chair Ross. Um, thank you uh all of you um the entire team here, Site Logic, obviously um Director Chapanduca um for working together and putting this um presentation uh together as well. The only question I have is does this uh referendum of this 140 million take into account the base the floor level of the 10% tariffs? So knowing that some of this stuff is going to be built in 27, 28, maybe even 29, that we're not going to go back to the voters and say, "Well, now we're charging China 500% and tariffs and most of that product is coming from China." And the only reason I'm asking is because I'm involved in the private sector in weekly conversations about how we source product from different communities or different areas in the world knowing that um right now we're hopeful that the administration and um the people's republic of China come to obviously a a really good deal of but we understand there's right now a floor of 10% %. So I guess my question is this 40 140 million is not going to be something like two years from now we realize probably should have asked for a little bit more upfront versus now we have to go back um and then squeeze more juice out of the out of this great hopefully that made sense trying to articulate great question and and a few things. Um, one is we, uh, Site Logic works exclusively in the Midwest with K through 12 school districts almost exclusively. So, all of our partner districts operate on a on a fixed budget in in that way, right? So, we um, in a normal project sense, when you're not dealing with tariffs, we always budget for a 5% contingency. Um, that covers normal unknowns during construction. When you start tearing walls down, you never know what's back there. regardless of what it says on the plans. So, your project is no different in that regard. We've carried that contingency. Um, however, we we've also looked at tariffs and the impact that they have. Um, we're seeing generally it it it varies by project scope, meaning to your point, how much of the material is being sourced in one country versus another. We've gotten down to the level of there's this much copper in the project and the copper is coming from this country. And so we look at really a range is what we've seen of of of 2 to 10% increase on on current day prices right now based on the information we have today. Um and that has been factored into the estimates we see here. Um so so those are two things and I'll just say the third thing to provide some reassurance and and further um um insight into our process as we get into design. There's several checkpoints where we internally estimate the pro the project and the drawings to make sure we're on on track and tracking with that budget. So that if we were if tariffs did increase or the design ballooned and we got a little bit out out in front of our skis on the design, we had time to pull it back before you went went out to bid there. Thank you. Appreciate that. You're welcome. Thank you. I'm wondering, are you from Minnesota with the skis comment? Yes. I outed myself. Yeah. Yeah. Any um other questions? Um I want to also reiterate my thanks for the process and also for the the presentation of the summary of that process. I don't think it's easy to do. Um, and I think that throughout this this time I felt um the communication was clear and also very centered on the community and um how we as a district serve the community. So I I appreciate that a lot. Um and the question before us is um one about wording. Um, I believe so. What we're looking at here is the the question one, question two that's going to be appearing on the ballot um at the special election that we'll be authorizing. Is that correct? Correct. Um, so I would like board members to um turn their attention to the wording of these questions um and also to know that that's what we will be approving is two questions. The first is the bond referendum and the second is the capital projects levy um which is we currently have and um is set to expire in 2027. So, those are the two questions that we will be asking our voters in the special election. Um, wondering if there are any questions specific to that. Chair Andre. Yes, Treasure Heartland. Um, I do have a question comment. So, did you say that band instrument? So, I know that we had mentioned tech as a primary use of capital projects love and you're not the band uh lead. Um, but it happens to be a community that I'm fairly connected with and know that if our building our buildings are 55 years old and every band instrument is also 55 years old and is falling all right not they're they're not quite that old but every band instrument is you know it's aging requires extensive repair and we have happily like greater uptake than ever before of students in our band program. And so is that true that this is potentially a use of those funds, musical instruments? Yeah. And so a little bit about the capital projects levy. Um in the previous capital projects levy, which we also currently are under, um we did have some pieces in there. Uh some members may recall the remodeling of our kitchens. um some some pieces from the current capital projects levy was used on the very front end of that to help uh remodel those kitchens to have that for the scratch cooking that's currently done in all of our schools. And so there are some pieces yes the the vast majority of it is around uh technology and uh supporting the technology in our schools. Uh however uh with this renewal we would because we have some changes you know that that kitchen remodel is not happening in this uh CPL we do have some room in there to help be able to offset some of these needs that we know exist in the schools. Thank you. And so we have this existing capital projects levy. So, we're authorizing the district to ask the question of the community, can we continue it? Correct. Correct. It is at the same level that it is level. Y Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Jar Andre. Yes. Director Xiao. Uh my only question or comment or something is uh we use we don't really use any acronyms except for ADA. Um, should we spell that out? Is community going to know what that means? And maybe they do. I mean, it's pretty common, but maybe not. No, I think that's a good feedback of spelling that out. Um, it could even be like spell it out and then have ADA in parenthesis because I think a lot of people are familiar with ADA, but they might not know what it stands for. So, I think including I think that's a great idea. and Drez. Yes, Clerk Thompson. Appreciated Treasurer Hartland's questions clarifying on the CPL was was and you know I know on the capital pro like question one you know there was a lot of thought with eers and whatnot about how much to ask for was there any thought given of like asking for a higher percentage on CPL or is that not even allowed? So uh to answer your question uh director Thompson, so CPO is usually determined by uh net tax capacity which is the uh property um the uh property values uh within the uh district. So it fluctuates every year. Uh if our property uh values go down, we also get less CPA. If it goes up, we also uh we always go for for the maximum depending with uh when the county determines those values uh that really uh determines how much of the capital projects levy comes to the district. So what you have there which is that uh $15,667898 uh is based on current uh property values within the community and that's what we are kind of getting at this point in time. Uh but if things change it might go down it might go up. All right. So, we're author, sorry. Then, just to follow up, we're authorizing this percentage, right? And this percentage then currently yields this $15.6 million, but you're saying that could go down or could go up. Is that one of the factors that actually led to us collecting what 2.7 million fewer dollars in taxes this year or was that actually a separate issue that was based around like commercial property? Yeah. Uh the 2.7 was kind of more tied to long-term facility maintenance. Our pay as you go. Yeah. And I mean we are in a commercial rich uh uh demographic boundaries. So with all a lot of the fortune 500 companies which are within here. So that's why we always kind of get a favorable uh revenue source out of uh capital projects live. Thank you. So I don't see any further questions or discussion. So I would look for a motion to um [Music] to approve the bond referendum and capital projects levy. um questions as um as written with the yay change um to the ADA to spell that out and include it in parenthesis. Um and to authorize the superintendent to submit all required information to the commissioner of education to request review and comment for the proposed projects and capital expenditures. The funding would be provided through the issuance of school building bonds and renewed capital project levy and adopt the resolution relating to the issuance of school building bonds, renewing the expiring capital project levy authorization of the school district and calling an election thereon. So moved. I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Clerk, please call the role. Chair Andre, I. Treasurer Hartland, I. Director Robbert, I. Vice Chair Ross, I. Clerk Thompson is an I. Director West Morland. I. Director Xiao. I. You have all eyes. Chair. Thank you, clerk. The um [Music] resolution has passed. Thank you all for your time and and attention to this. Appreciate it. And for being here so late yet again. Thank you all very much. I feel like you're like our late flyers. Yeah, they have a busy day tomorrow from their schedule. So um so what the next um item is a resolution calling an executive session. Um what I would like to do is to give board members an opportunity to do their board report before we go into that um executive session and then um when we come out we can adjourn. So I have completely lost track of who went first last time. What is it your turn Brooke? Do you remember? We're just going to do you. You're gonna just do you. Okay let's just do it. Um I don't have any for the sake of time I don't really have any big um boy reports but besides that you know I had an awesome time at the end of year um staff party yesterday. It was great connecting with the goats and all the um staff and then um also went to the end of year celebration for the educators of color which was amazing. Um, Paris Simmons is just an incredible leader in the district and um, just I'm just proud of the work that we have done this year and um, just all of the incredible challenges that we have overcome together and all the champions that we will continue to defeat together. So, um, I hope everyone has a safe and productive summer and that we will begin our work back in August and let's just continue to move forward together. Thank you. Uh, clerk Thompson. Uh, Kai Thompson, clerk on the school board. I have three kids in the district. They'll be in fifth, 8th, 9th grade. Um, yeah. I mean, other than to say it was great seeing everybody at graduation. Really nice ceremony. I don't uh have a board report. Thank you. Hi, Jen West Morland. Um, I've been on the board, well, this is my eighth year on the board, um, graduate of Hopkins Schools and parent of a rising ninth grader, high schooler. I know it's wild. Um, and yeah, exactly what Kai said about graduation. Hi, this is Jiming Jao. I use heh, him pronouns. I've got two kids in the district. Uh, they're now in fifth grade and second grade. And um yeah, it was uh it was lovely to see all our seniors. Uh wish them the best. Uh hope we well we prepared them the best we could and uh very excited to see their outcomes and uh you know I think every may every year be better than the last. My name is Jason Ross. Uh I have three kids in the system. Two rising seventh graders, one rising fourth grader. Um, yes. I would say to build on what every other uh member said, um, it was nice to be able to see uh everybody at the graduation. For some reason, the graduations always seem emotional. Um, that's I guess me being vulnerable, it just seems emotional cuz I keep thinking about uh my kids and how close they're getting. And I remember holding them when uh I was in the hospital and you know now they are sleeping in and um making fun of the lack of hair I have on my head. So um but yes, I look forward to the emotional day when I would have to yell at two of my kids simultaneously uh one after another uh when they walk. So, every year that I've been to the graduation, it was always emotional because I keep imagining that now, uh, 2031 is when I will have to do it. Wow. Um, uh, hi everybody. My name is Shannon Andre. Um, I'm in my sixth year on the board and, um, have a senior, uh, rising senior at the high school. Um, I also love um graduation. It's the best day um I think of the year. And um in the the um anyway, I will just say that um we we do have a couple of board members who need to get in compliance with state statute to um undergo phase one and phase two of the MSBA um workshops. And we got a little flyer. So I want to draw everyone's attention to um the upcoming opportunities to complete that um training. It is on August 6th um August 13th and August 20th. You can get bo all both phases done on those three dates and they are um virtual. So um please do your registration through Natalia. Just send her an email and she'll get that taken care of for you. Um, and that is it for my board report. Good evening everyone. I'm Roary Perry Reid, superintendent. I have a seventh grader, soon to be eighth grader at West. She actually wants to go to the high school next year and I told her to see her counselor. And I have a junior at the high school who will be a senior. Yeah. And I've already provided my board report for the evening. Um, good evening. I am Rachel Hartland, currently serving as the treasurer on the board, and I use she her pronouns, and I have three children in our wonderful district. I have one is a rising sophomore at the high school, a rising eighth grader at North Middle School, and a rising sixth grader who just finished at Mebrook. And speaking of emotional, that represents the closing of a 9-year journey that my family just had at Metobrook. and all of our teachers and staff deserve our love and respect and our work to advocate for them. But I wanted to take one second to give a special shout out to all of the people at Metobrook who have shown my kids and all of their wonderful classmates um just so much love, so much dedication over these past nine years. It has been amazing and I'm and I'm I'm really touched and sad about it. I'm excited about a sixth grader. um he's really excited, but um I will miss that Metobrook community and I can't even think about the senior walk at elementary school without tearing up. I can't even look at those pictures too closely. Um as far as the rest of the board report, I attended several end of the year celebrations. Um was at graduation and it was wonderful and um obsessively watched for legislative updates. Great. Okay. So that is our board reports. We will go um to the resolution calling and executive se session um so that we can do the superintendent year-end review. We uh the community will receive an update on that at our next um board meeting. So, I would look for a motion that the board approves the following resolution. It is hereby resolved that the school board of independent school district 270 Hopkins, Minnesota, meet in executive session to conduct the superintendent's year-end review for the 2425 school year. That the meeting be held in person and commence immediately um following approval of this resolution. Further that it be noted that all board members, superintendent and clerk were duly notified of intention to call this executive session. So moved. Have a motion. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none. Um all those in favor, please say I. I. I. Any opposed? The chair votes I and we will move into close session, executive session. Thank you.