seven and is a whole thing. I know that's not like the expectation either. Um, however, again with like having a second baby, we're looking at daycare costs and we just can't afford daycare for my second grader after school and daycare for this baby unless one of us quits our job. I don't know how we'd pay our mortgage if we did that. And we're just we're in this place where I don't I literally don't know what to do. I'm supposed to have a C-section in about a week and a half. And if it comes to that and I have to have the C-section, I can't drive, I literally don't know how my kids's going to get home from school. And so for me, it's a big big issue. And like I, you know, we'll figure it out. Of course, I'll string along, you know, neighbors and friends and whoever I can find who will take her. It's a community. I know that. And I I love Hopkins. And I don't want it to it be so difficult just to get my kid to school, you know. And that's that's really why I'm here today is I just want to express I know this is not I'm not the only person who's dealt with this. I have a few neighbors who straight up just move their kids to Minnotonka schools because they have the pay for bus options and that is I I don't want to do that. I love I love Hopkins. I love Eisenhower. My kid loves her teacher this year even though she has so much homework. Um and it's it's just it's really sad to see this. And what I also want to do, please keep my card. I am more than happy to help volunteer my own time to come in and look at blessing for next year even and try to see like if you guys need people to help with that. I was a school counselor as well for a while before kind of switching into other things. And I used to do mass schedules like that. And like I just want to work as a community to make it happen so that my kid can get to and from school safely without us, you know, going completely broke and having to move. So yeah, that's my piece. >> Thank you. Appreciate you coming here tonight. >> Thank you. Oh god. Come here. [Music] Um okay. Um so Natalya, are we ready to play voicemail? >> Yes. Um and before that um I I guess we are conducting our first um listening session and just wanted to make it clear that we have our public comment card submitted. The listening session started 10 minutes ago. I believe two people arrived who want to speak. Um, and what I can do is we have an hour slated for public comment. If we do have time after the people who arrived before the listening session started, we can hear those two people. If we don't, um, we won't be able to get that. But if you submit a public comment card, indicate the school that your child goes to, you will have a board member follow up with you. So we will then go to the voicemail. Is that queued up? >> Okay. Then I would like to invite Sandy Johnson to the board table. And if we could have Katie Goldlust ready to come up right after, that will help us get more people heard tonight. Thank you for being here this evening. >> Well, thank you very much for having a listening session. I think that's a really nice thing to for a school board to do, and I don't want to be too adversarial, though I'm very much opposed to the two-mile uh denial of service. I am the grandmother of a seventh grader at North and for her entire career at Hopkins, she has used my house as her safe uh drop off and pickup place. There's been a bus stop at Hillway Road and Live Oak Drive for the entire 28 years that we have lived there. So, it was very convenient for her parents to do that, especially in light of um the junior high or middle school having an 8:40 to 3:25 school day. That does not work for any parent that I know. It certainly wouldn't have worked for me. So, we're sort of her safety net. Uh the state law, as I read it, it's Minnesota statute 123B.88. In subdivision one, I read it as creating a legal obligation on the part of the school district to provide transportation to students at the two-mile mark and beyond. This is a right of the student subject to revocation or withdrawal. Therefore, it is the duty of the school district to provide that transportation. It cannot wave that duty due to the cost. This may position that has been cited that is for uh transportation for students who are outside the district or extracurriculars and it is limited to uh as funds are available. That's the section not the one for the regular school day. Subdivision 3A more importantly creates an mechanism for a pupil transportation safety committee and that safety committee would consist of schoolboard members, bus drivers, um administrators. They suggest police officers and maybe some local officials. And what they would look at is even if you're within that um walking distance uh one mile or two miles, they'd look at the type of roadways. They'd look at does it have sidewalks? You know, is it um well lit? Do you have to That's a big thing is where do you cross roads? What's the speed limit of the road you have to cross? Is it signalized? Does it have a flasher? Is it safe? And um I failed to see that the board took any of that into consideration in making this decision. It's part of the safe routes to school um that the state promotes. The route my granddaughter would have to take is Hillary Road to Live Oak Drive. There are no street lights. Um, according to Map Quest, at her age, she'd probably have an hour to walk to get to school with her backpack. No street lights, curvy, hilly. The worst part is she'd have to cross Hopkins Crossroads. 40 mph speed limit mostly exceeded. There is no signalization there. There's no lights there to speak of. >> It 3 minutes is up. Um, thank you for being here this evening. and you will have a board member um following up with you. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Katie Goldlust is next. Hello. Hi. Welcome. >> Hi. Thank you for being here. Thank you. I'm nervous. I think it's this microphone. Um okay. I've never done anything like this before. I've had so far really good experience with Hopkins. And um I have a third grader at Glen Lake and a sixth grader at West. And um when I found out about the no bus zone, I immediately started emailing and calling, as I'm sure you guys recognize my name from the emails, um I called Transit Link. I called nursing homes with buses to see if they could do routes. And I stumbled ac across a solution through MTN that was a pay to ride solution and I got very little response from really anybody except for MTN. Um it's $6 a day. They require a 100 contracted families to commit to the route. There's hub routes. Um but then it fell apart. I was told this was totally outside of the services of the Department of Transportation and that parents would need to coordinate them this themselves. And while I'm happy to help, um I don't know bus routes and addresses and names of impacted families. And um my concern is that I feel that this is very much within the scope of the Department of Transportation and that there is a solution. And I understand that $30 a week um is a burden to some families. I think that there's a lot of people in the community that would be willing to lean in more um fund raise, cover more than our fair share to figure out if it is strictly a budget solution. Um but yeah, I I just I think there we can close the gap between the the problem and and if if MTN no longer has the capacity to provide the service, there's got to be other companies that can do this. I mean, you see buses all over town. There there was buses last year. there the shortage can't be on the buses or the bus drivers, but rather just the gap between the cost and and the solution. So, um that's my main concern. Um walking is not even an option. I won't even go there. She had a lot more information and data than than I have, but um yeah, I just I just feel like if we lean in together, we can figure this out and hopefully before it gets cold in winter. I have put my son into an afterchool basketball program that he loves, but it ends in October. Um, so I have to return to office 4 days a week. I've been leaning into my village with a car poolool and um I'm hoping that we can figure something out before the second semester. So, okay. >> Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Appreciate it. >> I would like to invite Sandy Menddeville. And if I pronounced your name incorrectly, please do correct me. And then um next we will um have Hans Goodman Goodmanson. And if I said that wrong, please correct me when you come up. Thank you for being here. >> Hello, my name is Sandy Mendeville and I am the parent of two Meenbrook students. My family lives in one of the new no bus zones. I won't spend a lot of time on how frustrating the lack of communication was around the no bus zone lottery. Instead, I would refer the board back to the email my husband and I sent to each of you on August 23rd. It outlines our many unanswered emails to the transportation department after the August 15th lottery notification date came and went with no communication. At 300 p.m. on September 1st, the day before school started, we were finally notified that our children were placed on a bus for this school year, which was a huge relief. However, I'm concerned that we will experience this same mess next year and that we may not be so lucky to get transportation. I'm also concerned for the many other families in no bus zones who did not receive transportation. I ask that you re-evaluate this policy. Many of the routes in the no bus zones um are unsafe for children to walk. My kids, if they didn't get a bus, would need to cross two Highway 100 exits on Glenwood Avenue. I've seen countless near accidents at one of those intersections with cars that are exiting, seemingly looking for other cars, but not pedestrians. Certainly not small pedestrians. I also know that this problematic intersection likely pales in comparison to what other district families are facing in their own no bus zones. I recall that the external consultants who helped come up with this policy were very intentional and advising Hopkins to use the term no bus zone rather than a walk zone because they knew that there would be unsafe walking routes. Calling it a no bus zone would make it easier for the district to dismiss safety concerns from families. But I know, and I believe most of you know as well, that without a bus, many working families don't have another option except for to have their children walk. So before continuing this model into next year, I challenge each board member to following. In December, when the sun sets at 4:30, please walk to homes in the outer part of the no bus zone from Alice Smith, Gatewood, and Metobrook when those school days end just after 4:00. In January, when the sun doesn't rise until 7:50 a.m., please walk to Eisenhower, Glenn Lake, and Tanglin from the outer homes in those no bus zones, making sure to arrive by 7:40. Ask yourself if you're comfortable with children as young as five walking these routes in those weather and lighting conditions. I know that all you do that all of you do very hard work and I know there are no easy options, but please ask yourselves if there might be a better option than what you approved this year. Thank you for your service and your support of public education. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. Hi. >> Um, my name is Felicia Goodmanson. My my husband, it's very hard for him to come up here and talk >> Oh, >> about this. So, I'm just >> So, you're in place of Hans? >> Yeah, I'm just taking over. I've done tons of plays and stuff. He is not used to the whole thing. So, >> um, so my name is Felicia Goodmanson. I have two kids. One's in high school, Hopkins High School, and the other one um goes to Hopkins Junior High School. And we live a quarter a mile away from our house. And what's dangerous is Ford Road. People go like 40 miles an hour instead of 30 m hour. And they don't pay attention to kids half the time. And that's a very dangerous road. driving, I mean, walking from our house all the way there. And um yes, my daughter does take the bus, but I'm I really feel sorry for all my friends that live in that neighborhood that have kids that cannot even they don't have any buses to go to Hopkins West Junior High School and to Hopkins North Junior High School and Hop, you know, and it's it's very hard for those kids that can't even go to Tangland, you know, in the whole area of Tangland because there's kids that go to Tangland, too. So, it's just very difficult seeing this happen that there's no buses and I'm wondering maybe that would be really great to have a wonderful, you know, output of saying, hey, we should have a we should raise money for buses, you know, like at a restaurant or like Culver's or somewhere that they would be happy to help you with Hopkins because I know for sure Culver's will definitely help you with um fundraising or the place where you can get like popcorn and walk around. kids could actually go, all the Hopkins kids could walk around and say this is for bus transportation and um you know raise money anywhere that they can. I mean the kids love the schools. My daughter loves Hopkins High School. She made so many friends and she's on the swimming team. My other daughter, she's on the tennis team. She loves Hopkins and I myself went to Hopkins High School and it's just a wonderful school. I graduate 1995 and I lived in St. Louis Park, but of course the buses never came to me because I was like by Roller Gardens in that area. But I was thankful that my parents could actually drive me every single day to go to Hopkins or Junior High School, Hopkins High School. Tons of memories there. And all I can tell you is that I think it'd be a good idea to do a fundraiser. >> Thank you so much. Appreciate you being here this evening. >> Um, we have the voicemail ready to play. Correct, Natalyia? So, we will go ahead with that. >> Hello, my name is Brian Borman and I'm calling to submit this comment for the October 8th transportation listen listening session. I'm a single working parent of a student at Hopkins West Middle School. I'm calling to speak about the two-mile no bus zone policy, which I believe is deeply flawed and needs to be reconsidered. Expecting children to walk 2 miles to school in Minnesota weather is not realistic or safe. This is a state where winter brings sub-zero temperatures, ice, and darkness during morning hours. Even for healthy middle school students, it's a 45minute walk each way carrying backpacks and instruments. For working families and especially single parents, this policy creates impossible logistics. The school day runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., which falls entirely outside most work schedules. Without reliable transportation, parents are forced to choose between getting to work on time and keeping their children safe. Our district should be doing everything possible to support children and families, particularly those who need extra help in accessing education. My child is a gem and an incredible asset to this district. The kind of student we should all be working to bring safely into our schools every day to learn, grow, and give back to this community. The two-mile no bus zone policy cannot stand. The standard should be safety, accessibility, and support for families, not an arbitrary mileage cut off. Thank you for listening and for making students safety and family realities central to future transportation planning. >> Thank you. I'd like to invite Jen Cameron up to the table for comment. Don't serve my time. Good evening, chair, members of the board, and district leadership. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm here this evening because our transportation system is not working and it's costing our students real learning time every single day. In just the past three days, 278, 308, and 385 late passes have been issued to students at the high school who ride the bus. That's nearly 1,000 students arriving late in less than a week, 1,000 interruptions to learning, 1,000 moments of frustration, and 1,000 examples of a system that is failing to meet the most basic promise that we make to our families to get their children to school safely and on time. Each late arrival isn't just a number. It's a student walking into class already behind. A teacher forced to stop and restart instruction and an administrator managing yet another wave of tardies instead of focusing on proactive student support. And for families without other options, the ones who rely on district transportation because they must, this becomes an equity issue. These students are not oversleeping or choosing to be late. They're being delivered late by a system they depend on. We talk often about closing opportunity gaps. This is one that begins before the first bell even rings. To put this in perspective, if a student arrives just 15 minutes late every day for the 165 days of the school year, that's over 40 hours of loss learning time. More than a full school week gone. Multiply that across hundreds of students and the cumulative loss is staggering. We can and must do better. We're now more than a month into the school year and while some challenges are expected early on, we are well beyond the point where these should still be happening. That means holding our transportation provider accountable for consistent, reliable service. It means exploring partnerships with the city of Minnotonka to improve route coordination, traffic flow, and communication during peak hours. It may mean getting creative with morning schedules until the issue is resolved. Re-evaluating bus schedules and exploring contingency plans to ensure no students education is dependent on luck or geography. This issue isn't addressing the budget cuts, transportation distance limits, or even the broader safety concerns that many families here and across our district are facing. Those are real and important conversations I'm certain you are already having. But what I'm talking about here is something more fundamental. the consistent failure of buses to get students to school on time. This isn't about policy constraints. It's about accountability and reliability. Our families have already adjusted to longer routes, changing stops, and what they can't accept is a system that simply does not deliver on its most basic promise, getting kids to school ready to learn when the bell rings. Our students are showing up. Our families are showing patience. Now, it's time for us as a district, as a whole, to show accountability and action. Thank you for your time and your continued commitment to do right by our students. >> Thank you. >> I now would like to invite Tim Malpski up to the board table. Thank you for being here this evening. And next will be Kim Vander Way. All right, good evening. Thank you everyone and thank you everyone for showing up here and speaking as well. I'll keep this really quick so that parents with more serious um concerns than my students have have time to speak. While my students were not directly affected by not having a bus this year, I'll note that my high school students bus has had very low ridership. I want to express my recommendation that we need to adjust bus routing to maximize ridership on all buses. He said that often there's only 15 kids on his bus. to those families who've been more directly impacted. As a candidate for school board, I do hear you and I hear your pain. I hear your concerns and I agree with I agree with everything. I agree that this policy is not um was not rolled out well and was not communicated as well. Once policy changes are made amongst complaints added by other caregivers, I will note disappointment in the poor communication that the transportation supervisor andor designate did not analyze and adjust eligibility for extraordinary extraordinary hazard areas as is described in the board policy. areas such as Baker Road, um crossing Highway 7, as well well as some of the others I've mentioned today, um definitely in my viewpoint would be considered extraordinarily hazard and would allow transportation to uh extend busing to those families. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Please um correct my pronunciation of your last name if I got it incorrect. >> I'm sure it's my bad handwriting. Um I'm Kim Vanderwal. I'm a parent of a kindergartener at Metobrook. Um I moved to the this district in March because I wanted my kindergartenner to go to her neighborhood school rather than open a role. And having a bus was critical to my decision, especially being a single working mother. However, the new bus policy has made a no man's land for families that live too far for walk, making families in my neighborhood feel that they do not belong to their um schools community. This is especially frustrating since my house and others near me are 1.1 to 1.2 miles drive distance from Metobrook according to the district website and a bus actually stops on our street inside the no bus zone to pick up students that live outside of the zone. At the same time on the other side of me there are 10 streets that are less than one mile drive distance that all receive busing some as little as.7 miles drive distance from the school. This calls into question how these lines were drawn so inconsistently with the stated district policy and to the fairness of its implementation. I understand the budget limitations facing the district. So I have some solutionoriented comments that address issues and how the lottery was implemented. These relate to the inclusion of indistrict transfers, openen enrolled students and students in the former walk zones in the lottery which is at the expense of those attending their assigned schools that are impacted by the newly created no bus zones. If the no bus zones cannot be reduced to a smaller radius, I first urge the district to address zoning that results in families like mine 1.1 miles drive distance from their school being denied busing, which is inconsistent with the stated policy. Second, consider a distance-based lottery to increase access for families attending their assigned schools with no viable walking options. Third, consider a transportation fee to improve the consistency of ridership and ensure that those that register for the bus actually utilize their seats. Halfful buses are inefficient and there are many families that are desperately desperately would like to have seats on those buses. Finally, I have looked up the bus policies of all the districts within two cities of Hopkins. Only three of 15s have a onemile policy for elementary school. twothirds have a policy of 75 miles or less, making Hopkins policy an outlier for the metro area districts. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next, I would like to invite Marina Kern up to the table. >> Excuse me. Hello and thank you for hosting this listening session today. I have two students in the Hopkins public schools. With transportation cuts this school year, my seventh grader is required to walk almost 2 miles to West Middle School. There are no sidewalks on his route to school and half his route includes walking north down Baker Road. If you're unfamiliar with Baker Road, this primary road to West Middle School has no sidewalks, minimal shoulder space, some areas with no shoulder space, and multiple curvy spots with cars going significally significantly over the posted 35 mph speed limit. Our neighborhood has many carpool groups to get our children to school safely. As part of the as part of walk to school day, a group of parents from our neighborhood walked with neighborhood children today to experience this firsthand. This route is not safe. I know there are plans for a new bike trail along Baker in 2027, but this will not solve the problem now. Last spring, the board discussed including making exceptions in this proposed no bus zone for kids who needed to walk in hazard areas. We need safe routes for our students to get to school or transportation options. I urge you to reconsider your cuts. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So, we are at the end of our lineup and we still have time for additional comments. So, I believe there were some people who wanted to address So I would like to invite Suzanne Sheffik to the table and then after that will be Matt's seand. >> I am Suzanne Shepsik. Um I have four kids, three of which are in the district. Um two at North Middle School and eighth and sixth grade. One at Metobrook. Uh and one will be in the Stepping Stones program next year. We live in Golden Valley. We are a two- household family and have had a struggle every year signing up for transportation for both households in the district. Every year I write to the transportation company and I have yet to get a response because each time that I sign up for the form or their mom signs up for the form, it eradicates the other one. Every year they're not or they're not on a bus in our district. We live in the district. We have the right to busing. We are not in a no bus zone. We should get busing every year. This is a problem. This year, our kids were told not to get on the bus. They were forced to sit in an aisle going to North Middle School from Golden Valley on the freeway, not once, but twice. They also have had their bus route changed three times, if not more. They have had no access after school, one of the days where they told my sixth grader that they were no longer busing to Golden Valley. They sat in the principal's office with 20 other kids and waited for over 30 minutes while they tried to figure out how to pick them up. And they were an hour and 20 minutes late coming home. Today, they were an hour and 15 minutes late coming home, which is why I was late to this meeting today. This is unacceptable for my kids. My two middle schoolers do not want to take the bus in the morning, and I do not have capacity as a working parent to drive them every day. I am enraged. I am disappointed. And I'm not even commenting on the Metobrook bus that comes at 1000 a.m. every day. I have had one day this entire school year where my kids were able to get on the bus that they should be able to get on. And this is such a disappointment not just to myself, but to my entire community and neighborhood. I'm here on behalf of others who are in the no busing district and it's been completely unreasonable that they don't have access to a bus. So I I made my peace. Thank you for the time. I appreciate your time. I just hope we can resolve this and make this better for our students so that they're not the anxious ones coming to me every day that they don't want to be on the bus. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Matt is now >> Seland. Thank you. Uh, I'm following a lot of other really great parents here that are probably much more prepared to speak than I am today. Um, I am one of those other uh, families that has been affected by this. My son has had an IEP since he was in prek. Uh, he is a special ed student in the Bridges program now over at at West Middle. uh we live 2.1 miles away from the school and were offered no busing. That was until uh September 29th when I got a phone call from the special ed manager saying that after further consideration, my child with an IEP who has special needs, who lives 2.1 miles away from the school, now qualifies for special eding. That's great. The problem is the two kids his same age that live three houses down from us also live 2.1 miles away from West Middle. That is a single parent household. There is no way to get those kids to and from school. This is compounded by the fact that we've already staggered busing times from the different level levels of school from elementary and high school and middle. So, we now have a fivehour gap between the time that my oldest goes to school and my youngest comes home or is supposed to. Um, the only way we've made this work is by shifting work schedules around, taking paid time off, some unpaid time off just to make this work. Our employers have both said enough. We can only get so much time that we can take off. It's an unacceptable uh situation. and I have the the fortunate privilege of working as a firefighter and paramedic. Um I'm retired from the city of Minnetonka. Uh I currently work with the city of Edina. Um and I've unfortunately through my job have seen children hit by vehicles before. They don't do well. Okay. as uh as people that are making decisions that that can affect this in a great way and you have an opportunity, please please take it. Um I again with with the other parent that spoke earlier challenge you to try to walk that 2.1 miles down Willist Road and across 494. Thank you very much for your time. I hope we can resolve this quickly. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. [Applause] And that concludes our comments for this evening. Um, and like I said, I um we will now spend the remainder of um the listening session um designating followup by board members to everyone who came here tonight as well as everyone who submitted a contact form. um you are welcome to stay for that although I don't know how interesting it will be for you. Um but I do again want to um just express my gratitude for for you showing up this evening. I know it wasn't easy for everyone to get here. Um, and I also am grateful that um, you cared enough to give us your opinion and also share your um, personal circumstances. So, thank you for that. And, um, I don't know if anyone on the board, we do have a few minutes if we wanted to go around um, if you have anything you wanted to add to that to the thank you. Oh, and I do just want everyone to know we are going to have a transportation update coming up at a board meeting that is October 21st. So, we will be hopefully um having real updates on um what's happening, but in particular, I wanted to make sure we had this listening session before that update happens so that community concerns can be addressed in that update. in particular if you had something that um wasn't able to be resolved before that. But the hope is that with the designated board member, you will have your situation um addressed in a very personal manner. So, anyone have anything they'd like to add to that? This is our first one, so we're kind of figuring out how this works. So, Chair Andre. >> Yes, Director Xiao. >> Hi. Yeah. So, um I think you know, thank you everybody for coming out and expressing your um concerns and your your issues. Uh we definitely are all parents here um that have are similarly affected. And so, you know, I've got kids that are also uh going to be in the no bus zone. And um we used to walk um across seven over here uh to get to Eisenhower. So I definitely understand uh everybody's concern and um I think uh you know within the context of trying to close our budget gaps you know this was a uh measure that um we we thought would kind of have a balance between uh you know making the numbers work from a budget perspective as well as um getting our kids here on time uh with a um something to you know with teachers that are here that we'll be able to teach them. So um I you know Personally, I you know, uh it's it was a hard decision. Didn't uh make it with no consideration. Um and uh you know, I look forward to talking with some of the uh parents that are in my schools and um we'll we'll try to help as best we can. >> Thank you. Thanks everyone. We can now shift to um >> Oh, cheer Jason. Yeah, >> I just make a comment. Thank you all for being here. Oh, sorry. Thank you all for being here tonight. I really appreciate it. Um, like many of you and like director Zo mentioned, I've also been impacted by transportation before, I understand the frustration about it and I've was very clear in a board meeting a few weeks ago about my position on us doing this better and us being able to meet the needs of our community. Um it hurts my heart to hear about some of the things that are happening with transportation and I really want us to be able to regain your trust and so please know that we are going to be looking at this and you know trying our best to mitigate the solutions for you all. So thank you for again being here on this beautiful fall day. Um, but again, I want to be very clear that this is something that I would be personally looking at as a board member and um, look forward to following up with whoever from the Gatewood community or just in general. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Director Oper. >> I'm Chair Anderson. >> Yes. Um, I do want to echo my thanks for all of you guys taking your time. I know it is not easy and I I also know that you guys came here with a really kind of generous perspective. You came here to partner and you came here um asking for us to rebuild trust and I don't take that lightly. Um, we appreciate that and many of you were like kinder and more patient than I even expected and I do just as um, director Roer mentioned see these places where we need to rebuild your trust and you should not have to worry now about how your next school year is going to go. Um, so thank you for taking time. >> Chair Andre. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Thank you so much um for for being here and for your thoughtful comments. Um, so many of them resonated with my personal experience as a single parent um, who actually opted out of busing because it had been so unreliable for me for two years. I had to figure out um, other solutions with my village. Um, and so I I've I hear a lot of that and um, and I empathize with that. Um, I'm also aware that there and and several of you mentioned this that there are provisions in the policy that we approved that we are not following as a district. Um, and so there's absolutely an accountability conversation that needs to to happen there. Um, and we we will do what we can at this level of government, but there's there are several other levels of government that need to be included in these solutions. And I know our district leadership is working collaboratively with the cities and the county around some of these these more dangerous areas that you brought up. Um, but we also need to bring into the conversation our state legislature. Um because when we talk about funding shortages, that's where it comes from. Um and so I I hope that that you'll bring this same level of passion um to our our state legisl legislators as they're making decisions um about funding and policy at that level as well. So thank you. >> Thank you. Um I'm going to go ahead and um get started in designating um for um board members for followup. What I am finding quickly um is I think if we go mostly by what school board members are paired with which school, I think it's going to work out. Um especially considering the forms that we got. um that people will have about equal. Um so I'm going to go ahead and um assign the North Middle School commenters to you, Vice Chair Ross. you and um dire and clerk Thompson share north middle school but clerk Thompson there's a lot of Metobrook here so I thought you could take Metobrook and are you okay vice chair Ross with the north so I will hand those off some of these are also the high school thank you and these would be yours clerk Thompson um and then I have Eisenhower, one Eisenhower, and that is director Xiao. Um, and then two West Middle School. Who is my West? Oh, and then Glenn Lake. I can take that one. That's my school. And then we have a high school, Hopkins High School. Is that you, Rachel? Um it is both director Roer and I. Um and I also have Alice Smith. So I >> we do have a lot of Alice Smith on the forums. >> Okay. >> Any Gaywood? >> Uh no Gaywood. >> Okay. Chair Andre. >> Yes. >> I'd like to say something to the audience, but then I want to ask an operational question. So, um, many of the commons had very specific requests or concerns in there. So, I do want those specific situations to also be attended to by the transportation team. So, how do we make sure that we have copies of the names and contact info for those pertinent situations? Um I think that the way I envision it and board members can um let me know if you have a different idea. I envision it that the board member will reach out to the um to the commenters to the community members um hopefully by email and then um would CC you um Dr. Mary Perry Reed so that whatever staff member would be able to directly address the concerns um if it isn't a board member like if it's a policy concern that is something we can talk to talk about at the board table but beyond that um would CC you on any responses so that then you could follow up with the appropriate staff member. Does that feel reasonable to board members? >> Natalia, >> um would it help if um I take the cards, take pictures of them, and then create a spreadsheet and put all the information in and send it off to each >> I do have a spreadsheet already happening. >> Okay. >> So, we could add on to that. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, we can do that then. >> That's great. I can input it too right now if you guys Yeah. Does that feel good to everybody here at the table >> wants to give the cards back? >> Um, yeah. Why don't we do that and I'll just input them now. >> Okay. >> See, this is this is like you're doing this with us. How's that feel? >> Do you still have yours, Rachel? or do we give it to >> Well, I pass it out to director Roert in favor of Alice Smiths from the spreadsheet. So, I currently have no card. >> Okay. Well, I would then if all questions are answered regarding the process, I would look for a motion to adjurnn. >> Can I ask one quick question? I'm sorry. So, if we don't have any for Gatewood and there's like a overload for one school, can we can someone like pick it up just to support with that? >> Yeah, absolutely. I was going to look at cuz um the forms online are very heavy Glen Lake. So I was thinking I would disperse those to people that don't have any. >> That's okay with you. >> Yeah. I don't want to be left out. I don't have any yet. So please assign me some. >> Cheer Andre. >> Yes. >> So before we close, um I too just wanted to thank everyone in the audience for being here this evening. um you had to leave something to be here tonight. And so that does mean a lot to our school board and also to me. Um and um the reason why we want to um pay attention to the fact that a board member will respond to you, but also somebody from our team will respond to you is that there were some specific concerns that were presented and we want to make um sure that we attend to those in particular. Um, I do want to um express gratitude for some of the solutions and ideas that you brought to the table. That's just a really important part of the partnering process. And then finally um realizing that there were some pretty difficult challenges to implementing the transportation changes which I think some were to be expected. I think what I am also recognizing is the communication piece. We have to do better with our communication which is something that is within our control. And I just want to acknowledge that out loud and let you know that uh we will be working on that. So again, thank you to all of you. >> Thank you. >> Oh, so I would look for a motion to adjurnn. >> 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. >> The chair votes I. And this listening session is adjourned at 6:25 p.m.. Ride three. >> I think these are switch. >> There were two Sandies and this was the second lady who spoke and she was um a seventh grader at >> Okay. >> This was the other Sandy then. >> That works. I mean I know where Hilloway is anyway. I I she was a person I could definitely empathize with because I've walked that before. So I knew what she was talking about. >> But I they told us Thank you and welcome to this special board meeting of the Hopkins School Board for um October 8th, 2025. Um this should be a um short meeting. Um thank you all for being here and part of it. Um I would like to call this meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. And I would look for an approval of tonight's agenda. >> 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. >> The chair votes I. And this um agenda is approved. And that takes us to our consent calendar. This is for items um 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 look for a motion to approve the consent calendar. >> 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. Okay. And the consent calendar is approved. And that takes us to our first item of new business, which is a resolution appointing election judges. And clerk Thompson, you will be busy at this meeting calling some roles. Um, I would invite Natalyia Peel up to the table >> and Andrew Witworth. >> Wetworth. >> And Andrew Wetworth. >> Wworth. >> Wworth. Thank you for being here this evening. I will turn it over to Dr. Mary Perry Reid. >> Thank you, Chair Andre. So, um, we would like our community to know that November 4, which is a major election, is coming up. And here in our district, we are hosting the election because we do have two items on the ballot, a bond referendum and a renewal of the capital projects levy. And so our um fabulous election liaison, facilitators of the election, Natalia and Andrew, have spent a great deal of time partnering with Henipin County and getting us all set up to ensure that we have a fair um process that aligns with all of the regulations. s of which there are many. And we are currently hosting absentee um voting here at the district office for Hopkins residents who live in the Hopkins portions of Edina, Eden Prairie, and Plymouth. And then for those who would like to engage in an early uh voting process and live in Hopkins, Minnotonka, Golden Valley or St. Louis Park portions of the Hopkins district, they those individuals can go to the respective city halls in those municipalities. Another responsibility for us is to identify election judges and these are individuals obviously who help out at our polling places. This is a huge task because the school district of Hopkins serves seven municipalities and so we're managing multiple spaces and so I'm grateful to Natalia and Andrew for all of the time that you've put into this and I'll just turn it over to you so you can explain what this particular agenda item is and what it requires of us as a system. >> Yes, thank you. Thank you board um for having us here today. Um, so today's resolution is um for us to be able to appoint our election judges. It also has a portion that allows us as clerks to appoint judges after um we after we have you guys approve it. Sorry, I'm a little nervous. I'm on the other side of the table. It's weird. Um it's so that we don't have to have your permission to appoint judges after a portion of time. um because we do um the 10th is the day that we have to appoint our last election judge for you to be approved and we won't be able to meet um this is the meeting before that time period. So this resolution will also give us the ability to if last minute we need to hire another election judge, we have the ability to do so. Um right now, um we have three different polling locations that we have to um staff. Um and we need at least I think it was six >> six or seven >> six or seven people at each polling location. Um but people don't really like to work that entire day, which is an 6 a.m. till 9ish. So we have to break it up into shifts. So that makes it into finding more people who are willing to do an AM or a PM shift. Um, and so far we have shared the list of the people who we've been able to reach out to. Um, and that's who you are proving to be our judges. So yes, thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that work. All right. So, I would look for a um motion that the board approve the resolution appointing election judges. Um do we do we need to wait read the entire resolution? >> Yes. >> All right. >> I I can do that. >> Okay. >> If you want me to. Um, so pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a special meeting of the school board of independent school district number 270, Hopkins Public School, state of Minnesota was duly held in the district on October 8th, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. for the purpose in part of adopting a resolution appointing election judges. So here's the resolution. Be it resolved by the school board of independent school district number 270, state of Minnesota, as follows. One, the individuals specified on exhibit A attached here too. Each of whom is qualified to serve as an election judge are hereby appointed as judges of election for the school district's general election on November 4th, 2025 to act as such at the combined polling places listed on set exhibit. Two, the election judges shall act as clerks of election, count the ballots cast, and submit the results to the school board for canvas in the manner provided for other school district elections. Three, the school district's the school district clerk and the clerk's design are hereby authorized to appoint additional election judges as needed to fill vacancies that may occur on or before election day. That is our resolution. >> Thank you. I would look for a motion to approve the resolution. >> So moved. >> I have a motion. Is there a second? >> Second. >> There's I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? >> Seeing none, clerk, please call the role. >> Chair Andre. I >> treasurer Hartland. >> I >> director Robber >> I >> Vice Chair Ross >> I >> clerk Thompson I director West Morland >> I >> Director Xiao >> I >> that is all in favor chair. >> Thank you and thank you for all the work you're putting into this. I really appreciate it as someone who serves as an election judge. So thank you for doing that. Um that now takes us >> Thank you both. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. That now takes us to a resolution um supporting workforce housing expansion. Um I wanted to bring this before the board because um we are in the area that the school district is in. We are increasingly seeing costs of housing rise um as other um uh I guess pressures on family budgets also rise. Um and I feel it's really important that we as a school district join um other municipalities, counties that are working on this issue. in particular. I know from from being in the schools and I think we all know that um most of our staff can't afford to live in the communities where um they are working and certainly um home ownership in particular is out of reach for a lot of our staff and um to build vibrant communities. I think it is essential that um the people that we entrust our children to are our neighbors and are able to live alongside us. Um so I thought I would bring this resolution to the board in hopes that we could support it and um continue to work with our partners um at all levels including um nonprofit to increase workforce housing in the district. Does anyone have any questions or comments? >> Chair Andre. >> Yes. >> Um, if the school board passes this, does this mean that say the legislative action coalition might take up actions to support this? Does this mean um you as a MSBA delegate might bring this there um to look for other organizational support? What happens after the district passes a resolution? >> Um, I think that, you know, if the LACE wanted to advocate on behalf of this, um, it would not necessarily be at a state level. Um, so it' be something that we would be working in partnership more, um, with our m municipal partners. Um, certainly Henipin County has been a really great um, partner in um, initiatives like this. So, that would be another one. And then community organizations, like I think back to um one of the pieces when this really came to my attention was when they were looking at um affordable housing um in Minnotonka and the the city had a number of hearings on it. And one of the things that I felt compelled to share with the city is the number of um students that we have that experience housing instability in the district and how that could really help those families if they had this housing. but also again that um I think that it creates a lot of pressure on a district when we can't afford to pay our staff enough to live here. Um, so it's another way of approaching the chronic underfunding of um, school districts and also that um, we all know that students do better when they have stable and safe housing. I don't think it's an MSBA. Any other questions or comments? >> No. But thank you so much for um introducing this resolution. I think it is so critical and so important at the right time. Um especially as um you know housing is a bigger topic that's being explored like by multi cities. So I appreciate Hopkins school district getting ahead of this and addressing this in the manner of a sol I mean of a resolution and expanding that work. um additionally. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Uh yeah, just one um comment. I'm assuming we'll be working with um both mayors or I guess soon to be new mayors of both Hopkins and Minnetonka in regard to um connecting partnering with them and collaborating with them and the city council members on affordable housing to be able to see what within our control we can do. Um, knowing that obviously I was just at Walmart and I had a customer that I didn't even ask make a comment of like, "You're staring at the prices too hard. You might as well just grab it as the price is not going to change." So, I know at least I'm hearing more people talk about prices have been increased, but companies have been very smartly and quietly increasing them without drawing the attention or eye of the administration. Uh, so it was especially seeing this elderly gentleman tell tell me not to stare too hard at the prices of some cookies that I was going to get for my kids because he was like by the time you decide the prices would have already gone up. So my assumption is like within our control. I I definitely appreciate everybody's wanting to do you know looking at affordable housing. Um maybe I have more of a contrarian view where I thought after COVID housing basically became unaffordable for those who did not already have a house. Yeah. >> So it will be lovely to understand what our part collaborating partners on both well all the municipalities I would imagine Golden Valley as well what they can do within their frame to be able to help with this because I see this is always going to be this was an issue when Rachel Jen and I first started running because I believe Kimberly um that was one of her uh platforms that she was running on and it seems like four years later, we're still trying to work on affordable house housing. So, yeah, this is it's just challenging every day when you wake up and you just turn on the news and see what's going on. So, no, I appreciate this. I'm just look forward to like hearing more from our municipalities on collaborating. >> Yeah, thank you for that, Vice Chair Ross. >> Chair Andre, yes, thank you for bringing forward this resolution. Um, you know, this type of collaborative work is pretty common place in other states. Um, I'm part of a national school board network. Um, and I talk frequently with colleagues in other states and municipalities about how they're working with their city and county partners around housing issues. Um, and it's not as common for us to do that in Minnesota. Um, and so this is really an opportunity for us to lead. um we already do that really well here in Hopkins. Um and model to other districts how we can start a conversation and signal our priorities to our fellow electeds at the city and county and and to a certain extent state level. So thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you everyone. Um, I would then go ahead and read the resolution. Um, and then we can have a vote. Um, so whereas the Hopkins School Board recognizes that access to stable, affordable housing is a critical factor in the well-being of students, families, and staff. And whereas many educators, support staff, and other school employees face rising housing costs that make it difficult or impossible to live and own a home in the same community in which they serve, creating barriers to recruitment, retention, and long-term workforce stability. And whereas stable, safe housing for families is strongly linked to student success, predictable educational outcomes, and reduced mobility that can otherwise disrupt learning. And whereas research shows that students in stable housing have lower chronic absenteeism, better test scores, and higher graduation and college enrollment rates. And whereas housing instability causes stress and disruption that harms cognitive development, frequent school changes, missed instructional time, and difficulty forming social connections. while housing quality issues like lead paint and poor air quality negatively impact academic performance. And whereas research demonstrates that disparities in housing affordability disproportionately impact families along along racial and socioeconomic lines, exacerbating inequalities in educational outcomes. Sorry, that's inequities in educational outcomes. And whereas expanding workforce housing opportunities within our district would strengthen community ties, support economic diversity, and improve the ability of staff to fully participate in the civic and cultural life of the communities they serve. And whereas ensuring that staff and families have access to safe, affordable housing contributes to the district's mission of providing a just, supportive, and worldclass education for all students. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Hopkins School Board affirms its support for policies, partnerships, and initiatives that expand affordable workforce housing within the district's boundaries. And be it further resolved that the school board will collaborate with local municipalities, Henipin County, community organizations, and housing partners to advocate for and promote the development of housing options that enable staff and families to thrive in our community. And be it finally resolved that the school board commits to continued advocacy for housing solutions that advance educational equity, strengthen family stability, and ensure that all Hopkins schools remain strong, inclusive, and rooted in the communities they serve. I would look for a motion. >> So move. >> I have a motion. Is there a second? >> Second. I have a motion and a second. Clerk, will you please call the role? >> Chair Andre, >> I. >> Treasure Hartland, >> I. >> Director Roer, >> I. >> Vice Chair Ross, >> I. >> Clerk Thompson, I. >> Director West Morland, >> I. >> Director Xiao, >> I. >> Motion passes. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you for all your support, everyone. And I just wanted to mention um you all saw when you sat down that um you have a a certificate um last month. Sorry I was a little late. Um the Minnesota school board um has um MSBA um has designated September as the um school board recognition month. So I wanted to make sure that all of you got a copy of this certificate. Um, and just I I don't think it it was I think it's a difficult job right now. So, I just wanted to make sure that you all know that you are appreciated. Um, that the work you do is really critical. I see it every day um in the classroom and I really appreciate all of you working collectively for this community and for all of our families. So, thank you for doing the work. I know it's not always easy, but hopefully it's rewarding. And with that, I would look for a motion to adjurnn. >> May I say? >> Yes, you may. Sorry. >> I feel like I need to thank our school board. So, um, what I want to share is that um when superintendents are all together in a single space, we all talk about our boards. and I have always talked about um the board that we have here in Hopkins, not only because you are um consistently and authentically supporting students and staff, but because you hold high standards for the superintendent, for our system, and you do what it takes until the right thing is done. And I appreciate each and every one of you. So, thank you. Thank you, >> Chair Andre. I'd like to thank you for your leadership um and for chairing this board. It is a very challenging role um and you do it in such a thoughtful way and I'm grateful for that. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, chair. >> Thank you. >> And we're not going to make me cry. So, I would look for a motion to adjurnn. >> 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. >> Any opposed? The chair votes I. And this meeting is adjourned at 7:24 p.m. Thank you.