Don't leave your planner in the sun, bro. Disappeared. Okay, no, I won't do... Oh. Hello. Hi, everybody. Welcome to this meeting of the Hopkins School Board for September 1st, 2026. I will call it to order at 7:05 PM. Thank you for joining us this evening. Our first item on our agenda is public comment. The Hopkins School Board believes that hearing from our community members is crucial for implementing Vision 2031. If you wish to contact the board via email instead of publicly commenting at a meeting, please use the Contact the School Board link. You can use the public comment, will be received both in person and through email. If you want to join us here in person, which we always like to see people here with us in the evenings, you can do that. Come and fill out a public comment card before the meeting starts, and then you can address the board. And you can also leave a voicemail to be played at the meeting. Are there any voicemails that were left for public comment? So we do not have anyone here in person this evening as well, so there will be no public comment section for tonight's board meeting. And that takes us to our reports section in our open agenda. Normally, we would have student board representative reports, but I don't believe that any of our student board reps are even thinking- ... about our meetings right now. I'm sure they will appear in the coming weeks. And Director Zhao, if you have an update on that, when you think they might be starting, feel free to let us know. Yeah. Next time, is that when- Yeah ... we should encourage them? Okay. Yep. Great. I can send a reminder. Wonderful. And then that takes us to our superintendent's report, and I will turn it over to Dr. Thomas. Thank you, Chair Andreassen, board directors. Good to see everyone this evening. And yeah, I think our board reps are transitioning into the new- Yeah ... school year and trying to get acclimated into that space again after a nice long summer break. So I look forward to bringing that student perspective to the board. Big news, obviously, back to school. And as Director Hyman was saying, talking with her student, it's getting real. School's getting real, right? And I love it. Our students, the energy in our classrooms, this is what I've been craving all summer long, and we've had a really strong start to the school year. A tradition for me is to ride the bus every first day, and that's something that I really enjoy, to get out and meet with students, families, and quite frequently, a dog or two that tries to get on the bus. So you get to do that as well. So thank you to our, I think Jade was our driver on Bus 109 that I rode with Eisenhower on Monday morning, and it was fantastic. And I will tell you, I'll kind of blend a little bit of our transportation update With this too. So obviously we have a new partnership with Schmitty and Sons, and I do want to say I really appreciate the build-up to the start of the school year. And I don't think I've ever been in any district, the first week of school, where there haven't been some hiccups around anything from transportation to classroom to recess to lunches, you name it. We're calibrating a lot of moving parts. And transportation is no exception, but I'll talk a little bit more about that in just a moment here. But I do want to say thank you to Schmitty and Sons for a lot of the prep, and also how we will work together to ensure we have a great ride experience for our students. We also welcomed kindergarten students today, and we also welcomed grades seven through eight and ten through 12. So we did that phased-in approach. So yesterday it was a little bit quiet in our halls, but today they were booming with a lot of student energy. And this year, our theme is Believe It and Achieve It, really helping our adults and our students understand that mind over matter, if you will. If you believe in something strongly and passionately, there's nothing other than yourself that will stop that. And that's just a message that we want to continue to send home to all of our stakeholders, students, families, staff, you name it. Let's believe it and achieve it, and we're really excited about that. And to open up a school year, there are hundreds of staff, hundreds of hours. So I just personally want to say thank you to our teachers, our paras, our school leaders, transportation, nutrition services. I finally got my lunch account set up, too. Mm. And people are like, "Well, you're the superintendent." I'm like, "Yeah, but I pay." So, our custodial and facilities teams, I'll tell you, working round the clock to beautify our campuses, thank you so much. I'm blanking now. We have one of our grounds folks that was at the high school during our all-staff gathering and prep, and she started off as a food and nutrition services staff member, and now is doing stuff with grounds. For the past couple of days when we were there, she was putting down mulch, pulling out weeds, picking up trash. I mean, impeccable. And I had to go up to her and I said, "Hey, I just want to say thank you. I've watched you out here. It was kind of hot." So she was out there doing it in the heat. And so just that's the type of commitment. And I know that she was just doing what she's expected to do and what she's passionate about doing, but it really makes a difference, and it's noticed. And so I just want to let everybody know that. Again, all of our technology that we had to onboard with students and staff devices and making sure our systems are going, thank you to our tech team, all of our enrollment staff, and working behind the scenes to get kids where they need to be on day one. So I can't thank all the staff enough for everything that you've done. It's been a wonderful first couple of days, so thank you. Transportation. Again, Schmitty and Sons is our new partner, and I can tell you on that first day, that was a very well-run day. We had a couple of late buses and some routes that were still getting calibrated, et cetera. And day two, a little bit more challenging today. And that's something that I want to acknowledge and also offer my apologies to our community, and our families specifically. I just ask for some grace and some patience as we work through some of these issues. Understand it's not intentional or by design. They truly are very well-prepared, and we are working through some of those issues as they come up. And tonight, we had a very late bus, or a bus that never showed. And so we're working through some of those understandings as to why that occurred. And so know that that's not going to be the norm for the school year. That is not a standard that we have, and that's not a standard that was promised or committed to us. But I'm also very confident in Schmitty and Sons for them to be responsive to meeting the needs. And so thank you to that team there as well. Ms. Niesha Williams and her crew, around the clock, constantly triaging issues. On the bus that day, I can tell you, I personally heard the two-way communication between drivers, the transportation base, base to driver, driver to base, constantly working through all these nuances. "Hey, I'm at an apartment complex. I don't see any students. Am I at the right entrance?" Just verifying, "Is it this address or is it the other, the north entrance, or is it the south entrance?" I watched our driver go into-- I don't know how she was back out of this dead-end street, but she had skills. And so, again, just really tight spaces. And I heard a driver saying, "Hey, I'm at a bus stop. I don't see any students. What's my ETA, and how long should I wait?" "Based upon where you're at, you should wait no more than two minutes." I mean, that back and forth triage live in the moment, I heard it for myself. And quite honestly, that is another thing of why I like to ride that first day, just to get that experience, to see how things are rolling, no pun intended, for transportation. So again, generally successful, and some early challenges that we're going to work through. Late routes, sometimes that was unintentional. Sometimes there was a driver route error. We had a vehicle inspection issue that something wasn't right, and so they didn't want to put that bus on the road, so that delayed getting another bus. And then also, just we're emphasizing with our community and our promise is to improve our communication and expectations with Smitty & Sons, and make sure that we have a very successful partnership moving forward. Ms. Williams and team outlined plans for the next days based upon working through the challenges of the day, so that we can ensure that we are addressing some of those challenges that we experienced. So, a lot of tight monitoring of routes, addressing delays in real time, as I talked about, and supporting drivers to get more familiar with routes. Something I've seen for the past two days at Eisenhower Elementary is buses are turning into the parent drop lane, versus taking that first left and going around to the side for the bus drop lane. And again, watching those negotiations of a bus trying to fit through a car lane, those are some of the things that we want to make sure that we remind folks. "Look, you got to take that first left. Don't come down the parent drop line." So again, tracking construction and traffic impacts. We were so great that the road construction in front of North and the high school was completed on time. So thank you to the city for your hard work and dedication in working around the clock to ensure that road was open, fully striped, lights were operable. And now we have to just continually ensure that our public utilities stay intact. And I will say that we experienced two situations. One with a gas issue at Alice Smith just hours before open house, and this morning and this afternoon, we had some brief interruptions with electricity at, I believe, the high school, North, and Tanglin, which are all seemingly on that same trunk line. In both situations, the gas and the electricity, through Gino and team and others, we had those triaged quickly, and within an hour or less with the gas, we had things addressed, and we were still able to continue. Thank you to the school staff for your patience, making modifications to still continue with instruction, just finding ways to do it in more lit areas of the building, versus maybe an interior classroom that you might have to move to a bigger window space or a shared hall space. I know it was not ideal, but we never had to send students home, and we were able to get back on track. So again, we're working through some of that. Let's see. I think we are working with our building principals and families, including district-wide messaging about longer than usual bus travel times. And we are using this new feature of the late bus log so that we can see if there's patterns being established. Director Z, you talked about that during our workshop of some-- You're right. This is a very data-driven process that we can track and monitor closely to ensure that we are getting the best service for our students and our families. I also want to thank Dr. Lightfoot in his support with all the transportation efforts and working through even our pay-to-ride implementation. Also, the Here Comes the Bus app and getting that coordinated with all the tech support and everything that we would need, Director Wetter and team as well. So again, those are some of the things that we're continuing to focus on to ensure that we have a positive experience. And I think lastly, our ongoing focus remains on stabilizing our route performance during the first week of school, improving driver familiarity with routes, and maintaining rapid communication during the delays so that there's not this long space of wondering happening like, "Where's my student?" et cetera. So I can imagine what that feels like and can empathize with our families that. So, more to come on that, and we'll continue to brief you all as a board, should any significant things occur. We had a great back-to-school kickoff with all of the Hopkins staff, with a variety of employee groups present, and we welcomed them on August 25th. We had a phenomenal keynote speaker, the 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Ms. Linda Wallenberg. I heard a lot of hype about the Nutrition Services team's lunch. Well, they delivered on the hype. I'll just say that. And so thank you, Food Nutrition Services folks, you put on an amazing spread for staff, and lots of positive comments. I can't tell you how appreciative staff were for that. Just a couple of other logistical pieces. At our last board meeting, we were talking about school board director school assignments. I understand that those assignments were decided last January-ish or so, or last spring. They are on the primary agenda landing page. So when you go to that, you'll see the schools that you're assigned. And today we uploaded just a reminder, kind of similar to what MSBA did of the do's and don'ts or whatever, of going into schools. Generally speaking, I really appreciate you all having face time in our schools. My simple request is just notify building administration in advance, just to make sure that if there's something that you would like to see, that they can say, "Yes, this would be a great day to see that," or, "You might want to come on this Friday to see that." And/or if they have a pretty tight testing regimen going on that day, external distractions might compromise some of that. So they might say, "Hey, today wouldn't be the best day because we're doing all school testing, so can we do this on Wednesday versus Tuesday?" Stuff like that. So just make sure you're giving them a heads-up. That's what I just ask. Otherwise, enjoy and engage. I think our staff love to see you in our schools and being connected to what's happening in the classrooms. And then lastly, just looking ahead, we are going to welcome our littlest of learners, September 8th, first day of preschool. So if you want to see a lot of boxes of tissues- ... come on out to Harley in Sites to see our preschool programming, September 8th. It's always fun, and it is bittersweet. It tugs at your heart because you see that separation, but usually that lasts for just a little bit of time in the morning, and those students are fully immersed in learning. I've met so many staff, students, and families, and community members at so many different events since I've been here for the first couple of months. And again, just want to say thank you to the community for the warm welcome. And many of you are following the social media, and tonight, a board director as well as some community members were asking about, "Wow, you've been pretty busy out there." And just to be clear, those are Michael's words. Those are not a bot. Those are not a different person sending those on my behalf. Those are just from my heart to the community of what I get to see every single day as a superintendent, and it's amazing. It's just absolutely amazing stuff. So I think staff really appreciate capturing those moments of excellence and magic that are happening in our schools, and that's really why I do it, so that our community can see the beauty that's happening within our buildings every single day. On that engagement note, coming up, we have a lot of sessions. I think there are six sessions scheduled for the Listening and Learning Tour that begins Monday, September 14th, right here at Eisenhower from 6:30 to 8:00. And you can view all the dates if you go to www.hopkinschools.org/listenlearn, and you'll see the full schedule. Board members, Ms. Natalia has put out a calendar invite or scheduler invite to ensure that we can get cross-representation of board members at each of these events and to not have any quorum at any of the events. So she'll try to balance that as well. So she just was doing that today, so please take a look at that. And I think that is all, Chair Andreassen, in terms of-- Oh, no, that is not all. I've got one more, and that is our Minnesota Kids Rise video that I would like to play for the board and the community. And again, tomorrow at the state fair, from I think 7:30 in the morning until about 9:00 at night, there will be a massive Minnesota Kids Rise tent that you can attend, and there's a variety of stations that you can go through. If you want to engage with me, community, I'll be down there, I think at 3:00 is starting my shift, to say hello and meet folks from our community and throughout the state of Minnesota. So with that, I will ask Natalia to play the video. The sound is only coming on my computer for some reason instead of out there. So- Across Minnesota, public schools help kids rise. Every day in classrooms, hallways, buses, and school yards. Could we take this time to maybe ask a follow-up question? Mm-hmm. Yeah, sure. I'm wondering, you said that the protocol for our school assignments were uploaded. Where would they be? They were shared with you. In Google Docs. In Google Docs? Okay. Okay. It was just this afternoon, so if you haven't had- So it would be a document that we received a notification that was shared with us? Yes. Okay. Thank you for that. Just so that we all know how to access that. And then I'm wondering, because you said that you rode the school bus to work on the first day. Yes. Did you get here on time? Yes. All right. That's all. Across Minnesota, public schools help kids rise. Every day in classrooms, hallways, buses, labs, gyms, cafeterias, and school yards, students are learning who they are and what they can become. Minnesota kids are learning to solve problems, develop foundational skills, create, ask questions, and work together. They are building the knowledge, skills, relationships, and confidence that prepare them for the future. Buenos dias From early learners to graduating seniors, Minnesota public schools are helping students find their strengths, discover new opportunities, and see a future full of possibility. Because when Minnesota kids rise, Minnesota families and communities rise, too. That impact reaches far beyond the classroom. It shows up in our neighborhoods and small towns. In our cities and suburbs, on farms, main streets, playgrounds, lake shores, and community gathering places. I'm a Minnesota kid. I'm a Minnesota kid. I'm a Minnesota kid. I'm a Minnesota kid. I'm a Minnesota kid. I'm a Minnesota kid. I'm a Minnesota kid. I'm a Minnesota kid. I'm a Minnesota kid. I'm a Minnesota kid. We're all Minnesota kids. Minnesota Kids Rise is a statewide effort to lift up the promise of every Minnesota kid and the public schools that help them rise. Very cute video. And at the state fair, there will be a station under the tent that you can give your Minnesota kids story and what public education has done for you. And then there will also be some very notable and recognizable folks that may be visiting the tent, as well as videos that you'll start to see as well. So I think it's important for folks to understand that public education truly is the bedrock in this country of everything possible for us. And so I just welcome everybody from our community to go out there and put our Hopkins story out there, and talk about how proud we are of what Hopkins has done for us in terms of preparing us for our future. So thank you, Chair Andreassen. Oh, if you go to School Board Pairings under the Google Drive, you'll find the document that was uploaded for you all in terms of protocols and you've seen it before, it's just something that had already existed. We just kind of resurrected it for you. Great. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Any questions, feedback for Dr. Thomas? Chair Andreassen? Yes. Yes. Thank you. Dr. Thomas, since I was not at the first board meeting of this school year, just again, a hearty welcome. We're so grateful to have you here. Thank you. And I've loved following your social media handle as the Hopkins superintendent, and it's been just a delight and joy to see the way that you have just leaned in so fully into the Hopkins School District and your leadership work here. So thank you for that. And my comment that I wanted to name, thanks for the transportation update. Mm-hmm. As I'm sure many of us have heard from parents who have been in the space where there was a late bus, I appreciate both how you've invited us. A, you've said, "Hey, we acknowledge that we're working on that. We've apologized for that." Also, thanks for the grace as we're working some things out. And I would just say what's helpful also as a reminder for me as a person who's not tasked with all of the pieces that go into making school buses come on time, is to hear a little bit about what's happening in the triage and the communication. Because when you're at the bus stop waiting, you don't think about, "Oh my goodness, maybe two stops ago they were waiting for kids," and trying to figure out- Yes ... all these elements that you just wouldn't necessarily think about. So just thanks for naming all of that, and we're grateful for the partnership with Schmidth and Sons. And just again, a shout-out though to the Transportation Department and to Dr. Lightfoot. Us having everything come out on time like we said it would, was a really significant win and we're looking forward to just the continuous improvement. Thank you. Welcome. Chair Andreassen? Yes. Thank you so much, Dr. Thomas, for the update in your board report or your superintendent report. For transportation, I do have a question. So I know that every school is receiving different directions for, I will say they're receiving different directions, like parking and things, and so I understand there's a difference in that. But as far as student behavior on buses, I know that we received something from our school yesterday about student discipline. So if there's behavior on the bus, you only get a certain amount of times before you get a suspension off the bus. Is that coordinated across the school district the same for every school, or is each school kind of making up their own rules around that? Yeah. Thank you, Vice Chair Roper. That is actually a consistent practice that we have in the district. We have a guide or a rubric, if you will, for various behavior infractions, and so we want to make sure that we are universally applying consistent progressive discipline. And so whether it's in our classrooms or if it's on our buses, which are essentially extensions of our classroom, those same rubrics would apply. So our student support staff, APs, deans, counselors, social workers, they would be the ones that are working with those students based upon what infractions occur on the bus and what type of progressive approach we would take to addressing that behavior. Obviously, lowest level, reminders, coaching, et cetera. But yes, if we have a repeated or a significant issue, there would be a suspension and/or removal from bus privileges. Mm-hmm And is that for every grade level? Correct. Okay. Yeah. We universally apply progressive discipline practices across every grade level in the district, and obviously age developmentally appropriate as well. And do Schmitty & Sons have their own kind of policies or protocols around student behavior? Like, for example, their bus drivers. Do they have their own standard procedure on how their bus drivers are supposed to report incidents? Twofold. Yes, there are standard procedures in terms of how incidents are to be reported. So whether that's a student issue or if it's a bus accident issue, there are standards for that reporting. They also have standards for their employees. And within our contract with Schmitty & Sons, we have standards of expectations for drivers as well. I think we might have talked about that a couple of weeks ago at our last board meeting, or referenced that. So yes, those standards do exist, both internally with us with regards to the bus protocols with drivers, and they also have standards as a company. Okay. Thank you so much. And just lastly, is there a place on our website where if a family want to review our universal policy around behavior, so they could see it, like that's not within our- I would say that they should check with their school administrators- Okay ... administration, and then they can get their guidance there. That applies to both classrooms as well as any kind of bus infractions. It's also part of our student code of- Conduct ... code of conduct. Yep. Which is, I think, Policy 505. But you would go onto our policies on our website, and it's organized by section as to which it applies, and it would be under the students section where parents could access that. And because of changes in state statute, it is fairly comprehensive. All right. Thank you so much. Chair Andreassen? Yes. I just also want to note, Vice Chair Roper and our community, Policy 707 is the student transportation services policy, which I believe we reviewed at the last meeting, and there is a section specifically on conduct on school buses and consequences for misbehavior that lists rules at the bus stop, rules on the bus, and consequences, including first offense, second offense, third offense, and other discipline. So anyone that wants to view the expectations per the specific transportation policy, it's Policy 707. Thank you, Director Heiman. And to Chair Andreassen's point, I believe it was Policy 506. Oh, thank you. That is the student code of conduct. Thank you. Any other questions or feedback? Great. Well, I just want to say I'm really grateful that you were part of the first day at each of our school sites, and also that I'm also grateful to Schmitty & Sons. I know we had a couple late buses, but I don't think it was nearly, and this is speaking from a special education standpoint, nearly as many as it usually is at this point in the year. There's still a lot of kinks being worked out in transportation, specifically those very particular routes. So, I'm grateful that it was a relatively smooth start to the year, and just lots of really big excitement, especially today, when those kindergartners come in. It's just a whole different energy in the building, and it's just really a lot of fun. So, thank you, and I'm really excited about the Minnesota Kids Rise. I think it's a great initiative. I'm really happy that you are bringing the Hopkins story to that part of the initiative and elevating what it means to be a Hopkins Royal. I think you can't spend much time in this community without running into someone whose grandparents went to Hopkins. Mm-hmm. And they want to talk about how great it is and how much-- Like, I've even talked to people who come back here specifically because they want their kids to be a Hopkins grad. So, I think that's a great story, and I'm really glad that we get to be a part of that on a national level, a state and national level. So, with that, I would look for a motion to approve 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 aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? The chair votes aye, and tonight's agenda is approved. And that takes us to our consent calendar. 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 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 aye. Aye. Any opposed? The chair votes aye, and tonight's consent calendar is approved. I did want to briefly mention for our community, who I know tune in every two weeks to watch our board meetings, and are expecting to hear an excellent and thorough and sometimes entertaining treasurer's report, that Treasurer Hartland has reformatted the report, and so we're going to be doing it once a month instead of bi-weekly at every board meeting. So I wanted you to know that if you're tuning in for that tonight, now would be the time, but you will be disappointed. Chair Anderson? Yes. I do have one minute's worth to talk about the format of that and I have one ask- Oh, okay, great ... of the board. Is that okay? Yes. Okay. Please do. As Chair Anderson mentioned, it's not exactly what the community is typically used to tonight. We are going to implement some changes to the treasurer's report in pursuit of a few goals, and one is sharing more and more transparent information with this board and the community. Two would be an increased understanding of the district's budget process and standing. Third would be reduced report preparation time for the business services team, and then fourth would be a more efficient meeting prep for board members. So, to that end, business services leadership has met with me a couple of times now and provided me with a lot of information to make some informed decisions regarding what data to include in our reports and how to format that. So, my current thoughts are that we will have a treasurer's report in the last meeting of the month. It's rare that we have three in September. We happen to, so it will be the final. It'll be on the 29th. And so that report, we'll look at the treasurer's report at the end of the month. We'll look at the previous month's financial data, and it will contain a reformatted check register sorted by our top expenses, and all the expenses will have dates, vendors, invoice descriptions, and from which fund those dollars originated. We'll also see a summary page. It shows total dollars spent in the previous month from each fund, and then even a higher-level summary that shows what we spend on, say, salary and benefits, and other large expenses. And then finally, we will also get to see the financial gifts that the district received in the previous months. So, as mentioned, you'll see this format for the first time during our September 29th meeting, and then again on the October 27th meeting. And so my ask for you is that you spend a little extra time in your prep ahead of those two meetings to look at this new format and to send me any questions, especially ahead of time if possible. And do let me know afterwards if there's something that we should consider adjusting, because this is our report, and so we can make adjustments if we need to. So, thank you. I look forward to bringing this to you guys soon. Great. Thank you so much, Treasurer Hartland. And that takes us to new business, which our first and only item is policies in first read. So I'd invite Assistant Superintendent Lightfoot up to the table to help us talk through these changes and turn it over to Vice Chair Roper. Hello, everyone, and thank you for attending our board meeting tonight if you are listening virtually. And so tonight, we will be going over a few policies that we went over on Monday, yesterday, in our policy committee meeting. And we will start with our first policy, which is Hopkins Policy 208, and that policy reads Development, Adoption, Implementation, and Communication of Policies. And now I'll let Dr. Lightfoot take it from here. Good evening. Good to be with you. As mentioned, usually right now with the monitoring committee, our first priority is to look at those annual policies. So, not only this evening, but in subsequent meetings, you will be seeing those policies that we look at annually. It's part of the policy either in statute or identified within the policy itself that we look at it as an annual policy. So I'll go ahead and start with 208, which is the policy on policies. That policy is in front of you this evening, has some specific changes. Most of those are really just edits to make sure that the nomenclature is correct. And with that, if there are questions on 208, I'm happy to entertain questions on that. If there are anything in particular that would be helpful to members regarding 208. All right. The next one, Policy 214, which is the out-of-state travel by school board members. There are no recommended changes for this policy. Again, it is an annual review. So we just identified that the monitoring committee had looked through it, not recommending any changes at the present time, and would entertain questions to 214 as well. All right. 402. 402 is a new policy for us in Hopkins. Part of the work that we do is we go through policies, and what we do is review model school board policy recommendations from the Minnesota School Board Association. Part of the work in 402 is, in 402, we are pulling this out specifically as it calls out disability non-discrimination in employment. Part of the work that we do is look to see if there is more specific information that we could utilize within a particular policy for ease of access to information. Some of this information is contained as referenced in Policy 413, some of the other policies we have. In particular, we wanted to make sure that we were intentionally making sure that we had this policy as we look at federal grants, as we look at other reporting agencies, to be able to identify that we have a specific title and a specific policy, especially if there is deeper level of audit or compliance. That is the reason for adopting 402 with this specific information, contact information, and additional inclusion in our policy lineup. Questions on 402? Chair Andreassen? Yes- Yes ... Director Brown. Hi, Dr. Lightfoot. I guess when I saw this, I was surprised it wasn't already a thing, or that it wasn't covered in some sort of EEO type thing, because isn't disability a protected class? Mm-hmm. We're not discriminating on race and other things, right? Correct. Why are we calling this out? It is- Is it redundant? ... included in other- Oh, is it? Mm-hmm ... policies already, which I think is probably why we didn't have this. Okay. At least that was my understanding because it's covered in a lot of other policies. Okay. So it's not that we were discriminating before, it's just clarifying. Correct. Right. I would've been shocked if you were like, "Yeah." Chair Andreassen? Yes. Just to note, if it's helpful, part of the reason is because with the new state statute, we are required to have a policy that specifically details this. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So it's a state statute that, if I'm understanding from our monitoring committee- Mm-hmm ... meeting and just looking at the MSBA, that was my understanding. Okay. It is detailed other places, but this is now a specifically called out statute. Mm-hmm. Chair Andreassen? Yes. Thank you both to district leadership and the monitoring committee for authoring this and making this explicit. My former professional life was as an American Sign Language interpreter, and so my work there was a reasonable accommodation, and have witnessed firsthand the extremely valuable work that humans can do with just the slightest bit of accommodation. And I particularly appreciate that applicants and employees here are given instruction on what to do should they need such an accommodation. And my question for you, Dr. Lightfoot, given that you are the person to whom this policy refers, questions to what kinds of things do you do, what kind of support do you have if someone asks for such an accommodation? This is possibly a little bit generic, but it's illustrative mostly. Mm-hmm. What would you do in order to accommodate a person's request? Yeah, we always really begin with that interactive dialogue. Because obviously, as an employer, we want to look at and learn what may be needed in order to meet those general expectations of the work that we know is here to serve and to deliver. And I think what is helpful is that there are a lot of other resources and connection points that really help look at what the possible options can be. And we always look at the individual sets of circumstances that people come to a space with. For some individuals, it may be a brief period of time. For others, it may be a more long-term series of adjustments that may be necessary that we need to look at, as an employer, what options do we have and what's the range of opportunity? And then having that conversation with the individual based on whatever medical information they might have, based on any needs that we may be able to address. There are also lots of other kinds of networks, job accommodation networks, other spaces that we can look to for some suggestions that we may not have thought of internally but are good resources locally, nationally as well. So we try to utilize all of that. And then we try to make sure that as we do that, we do that in partnership and collaboration with where the individual's working, what they have as their own needs, and then making sure that we have a plan moving forward. Thank you for that. And as a follow-up, I just want to say again that part of Vision 2031 is having staff members that reflect our student population, and there is something like, depending on what your definition of a disability is, something between 10 and 25% of the population has some form of disability. Mm-hmm. And so commend this addition to our policies. Thank you, Treasurer Hartland. I did just have one question for you, Nick, is in section D, it does list you as an individual. And I'm wondering, not that I'm imagining a day, but I'm wondering if it would require board action to change this information If you were ever not the district's appointed ADA Section 504 coordinator. No, appreciate that greatly. We'll go back to 208, which is your policy on policies. 208 allows you to make those ministerial changes, so that if you were looking at just these edits for the individual- Yep ... it is tied to the position. And part of even when you look at this policy and you look at the Title IX policy, individuals do need to be called out by name and by specific contact information, just as a general requirement of the policy itself. So that's why you'll see this information here, you'll see that in the Title IX policies, just because they're, again, part of the purpose of this is ease of accessible information so that someone can pull that out and get to that more quickly, rather than potentially having to go to multiple spaces. And so it would be then just standard practice that if that change were to happen- Mm-hmm ... that could be something that could be done by staff and wouldn't require the board to have a reading- Absolutely ... and a second reading. Yep. Great. Just the general update. Just wanted to clarify that so we weren't- Mm-hmm ... running into a situation. And then I think our last one. All right. Last one is 531. 531 is the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge of Allegiance policy is an annual policy. Part of the board's practice is that when we look at this, and do any approval, the board in the past has waived the weekly recitation at every building and every location. And as a matter of practice, schools will look at when they do the recitations, but the waiver does allow for not every week at every building. So with that, that is policy 531. No other change at this point for 531. Chair Andresen? Yes. Chair Andresen? Director Hyman. Can you, Dr. Lightfoot, just explain this waiver concept again? Mm-hmm. And if it is in the policy, where it's located? Sure. The actual Pledge of Allegiance is 121A.11. That work is part of the pledge itself. Subdivision three requires all schools to recite the pledge of allegiance on a weekly basis. It does also allow that for an annual vote, which the school board does, when it looks at this policy. Through that annual vote, it does allow that the waiver of the requirement for the recitation of the pledge can be done through board action. I see that now. It's section three. Thank you. Mm-hmm. And that is your slate of policies for this evening. Thank you. Thank you. If you'd like to... So just a quick update on weighted grades. We did receive a proposal from the high school that we will be reviewing in our monitoring committee, and we'll be providing an update to the board on September 29th. Thank you. Mm-hmm. With that, I would look for a motion that the board approves the above policies in first read, and further, the board directs the administration to prepare the policies with suggested revisions for approval in second reading at the next meeting as part of consent. Uh-huh. So moved. I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? The chair votes aye, and policies are approved. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. And that takes us to our board member reports. Okay. That takes us to our board member reports, and I will ask Clerk WG to get started since you didn't have the opportunity last time. Hmm. Well, thank you. In view of not having been here, I wrote out my comments. My name is Dr. Sarah Wilhelm-Garber, pronouns are she/they, and I'm grateful to be serving as clerk of the school board for Hopkins Schools, and beginning my first full academic year serving on the board. In addition to being a member of the board, I'm a resident of Hopkins in Senate District 46, and a proud parent of a pre-K human. And I want to affirm that my heart and care is with all within our community, as it's back to school week, and then obviously knowing we'll also have preschool starting next week, as was named in the superintendent's report. I just want to acknowledge that there's a myriad of feelings and emotions that people have. To quote my four and a half year old, who, when I asked them about their feelings regarding their first day of school, they said, "I was excited and nervous, Mama." So here is to the both and that a year often brings. Over the summer, I had the opportunity to connect with the community, including reading at Freedom School, which I heard many of you give an account for. Though I was not here, I did listen to the entire board meeting on two times speed. Ooh. You can do that. Yep. Also was able to participate in the ongoing monitoring committee work, and was able to learn more about our special education and other supportive services as a part of mine and Director Hyman's final onboarding, which we then had the opportunity to do some touring around the district, including the ECSE, Early Childhood Special Education services at Harley Hopkins, along with Dr. Contourus and Dr. Thomas, as we were welcomed by Jackie Hunke. I look forward to diving into more of this work this fall. And while I was saddened to miss the initial board meeting with you all due to scheduling conflicts, I wanted to highlight my absence was on account of our family's annual attempt to visit all of the national parks. And this summer we went to the Smoky Mountains, and while there, we visited Dollywood on the Thursday before Dolly Parton's death. Mm. And we saw one of the books in Dolly's infamous Imagination Library, which was my childhood favorite, "The Little Engine That Could"- Mm-hmm ... as it was brought to life in the Imagination Library playhouse. For those of you who don't know, Dolly's legacy is carried on through the Imagination Library, which has donated over 350 million books to date. And why is this relevant to this work? Well, because I think books and learning is something that we care a lot about. And as we begin this new year, I just wanted to name that I was so struck in that experience by the importance of our work, and the importance of public education in cultivating a culture of civic, personal, and moral imagination, and the way that books do that for our young people and our educational experiences. So as we begin this new year, I just want to extend profound gratitude to all of our educators, to all of our administrators, and everyone for all of the work you do to not just support our students, but fundamentally, to uplift democracy by investing in our learners. And it is my hope that indeed we might lean in together to foster a district and communities where, to quote Dr. Thomas, for one of two of my quotes of you in my soon to be done comments, that each and every student might, now quoting me, "flourish," and once again quoting you, where we both might "believe it and achieve it." Building on this proud tradition of Hopkins and continuing onward together, because we can only do this work and have a flourishing district if we do it together. So I'm grateful to serve, look forward to the year ahead, and also, I would like to conclude my comments by noting, I am a Minnesota kid. Hmm. Thank you. Coming this way? Okay. Hello, I'm Kai Thompson, director on the board. I'm in my third year here. Kids in the district who started 11th grade, 10th grade today, and started 6th grade yesterday. So really activities in our house have been around back to school. I would say just personal experience, I've been very impressed with how this year has started. I felt like communication was great for a first school experience for the 6th grader. Getting to go there several times for pictures, the open house. We're walking out of the open house and he goes, "Dad, I think I understand this school now." And so like- Aw ... it was just great that he felt like he could get to his classes and whatnot. So just the support around it, the 8th-grade ambassadors at the school on the first day, that is so cool that they would give their time to do that. It made me feel good as a parent knowing that they were there, too. So, yeah, shout out to them. Busing has seemed to go okay. Where I'm at and the thing that I've noticed is the fresh paint job on the buses, it just looks so sharp. And hearing that the drivers were talking to the kids, that all seemed really positive. And then very busy with sports as well, that have started up, and that's been exciting. I'm looking forward to the seasons getting going a little more. So, with that, that concludes my board report. Thank you. Good evening. I am Rachel Hartland, serving as the treasurer, and I am grateful to all of our staff, and teachers, and students, and families who lent their efforts, and their time, and their love to a pretty successful kickoff to the 26-27 school year, which is my sixth academic year on this board. And I've attended a great many events in our community and in service of that, though truthfully, most of those have been trailing behind my own children who are entering their 7th, 9th, and 11th grades. One of the events I attended was North Middle School's open house, and I served pizza there as a member of that PTO, and helped to raise money and support of students and staff there. We attended events, many at North Middle School and Hopkins High School, and want to commend the staff there in particular for just like Director Thompson mentioned, just how kind of welcoming and how many people went out of their way to make sure that students and families were comfortable with the place where their children will be spending so many hours, and doing so much learning, and so much socializing, and so much growing in the coming year. And I have seen firsthand the City of Minnetonka and all of their work. I live right near all of that stretch and have been sweating it on my evening walks, seeing how much concrete was laid and how many lines were painted, if they were going to get done with that work on time, and was very grateful that they did. I attended as part of the community went on the first day with Chair Andreassen and directed traffic at North Middle School to make sure that the drop-off line keeps moving. And I have appreciated the social media updates about what's happening at other schools since I cannot be at all of them, though you managed to do it, and I commend you for that. And, another thing, all of my children decided in August to join a sport. We have never been a sports family, and so this is a new world for me. So everyone who's already been a sports family and waking up at the crack of dawn constantly to go to one sporting event or another, I commend you, and I'm really grateful to the coaches. And all of the coaches that I have seen care so much about their activity and their students and have just gone out of their way. I cannot imagine how many emails and how many documents these people must prepare to try to communicate with all of the people and all of their questions. I know that my family has benefited from it greatly, and I think that is the end of my report. Thank you. Hi, everybody. My name is Shannon Andreassen. This is my seventh year on the board, and this is my first year that I did not attend any open houses or have a first day of school for one of my kids, in quite some time. But I do have a first day of Welcome Week coming up tomorrow. So that will be happening at the U of M move-in day, and I will not be crying. I did get to do a really fun thing on the first day of school, besides being at Gatewood to welcome all the kiddos back, which was helping to guide new families to North Middle School out in the drop-off lane. And thank you to Jen Cameron, who made it so much fun by having us all in inflatable costumes- ... including our former treasurer, Steve Adams, was out there as a T-Rex. And kids were amazing. I heard at least three of them come up to him and say, "Are you really a dinosaur?" And just everyone was thrilled. There were smiles and laughing the entire time, as we're telling them to keep moving. So thank you for organizing that really fun event for us and also for new families at North. I too went to the kickoff. It was a great event. I felt really inspired by our message for the year, and also really grateful to be there as a board member and also as staff member, and just feeling like there's a lot of energy and positivity going into this year, and excited about it. And also appreciate being able to serve beverages to all of our staff that come through, which is a nice tradition. I also attended a training with MSBA a couple of weeks ago, all about the upcoming amendment to the Constitution of the State of Minnesota to increase school funding. The plans are, they've created a really nice resource packet for advocates for this to increase school funding. It is a permanent trust fund that was put into place, and really needs an update so that we can maximize the funding for each student across the state. So one of the things that we will be doing is they've created a video that we can share out via, I'm assuming our LAC will take it and run with it, through social media. But the most important thing for our public to know is that you are going to see this amendment, the language on your ballot in the fall. And the most important thing for you to know is that if you leave it blank, it is a no vote. So please, whatever you do, vote. Because if you don't, you will be saying no. So I just wanted to make that clear to everybody, because oftentimes, I think we think if you don't vote... I know a lot of people, if they don't feel informed, they don't vote. So on this one, it's really important that you get informed and that you make a vote. And I was at the state fair yesterday and came across one of my favorite booths, which is the State Senate and the State Representatives. They do a poll every year, so you get to go and make sure that you are having your voice heard on significant legislation that might be coming up, and that amendment is in there. I think it is the Senate in their poll. So you can go and have your voice heard even before you vote. And the other thing that I came across that I think is really important, and I signed up to get information on it so I can forward it, is we have really great youth in government councils, and also ways that youth can have a really big impact. We know that at Hopkins. We have great students who are coming to the legislator with us. And then I'll be Shifting all that communication to our student board reps so that they can take advantage. But there also is a legislative internship coming up. So, deadlines are, I think, in October for becoming part of both of those programs. So I will share information. And then I wanted to make sure that everybody was aware, it's in front of us here, that we just got a really great final workshop for our transition for our new superintendent here at our board retreat. But also, MSBA provides training for board members that we have to attend so that we are in compliance with state law, and I just want to remind this board that we need to get into compliance, so please complete your trainings. The information is here on that. And then there's also an exciting opportunity for our student board reps. They're having the Minnesota School Boards Amplifying Student Voice Summit. It's on October 28th. I plan on attending that with our student board reps. The last one we went to was fantastic, and we actually came away with some board retreat work that we could do together. Oh, and I wanted to then say that, direct all board members to take what we learned at our transition meeting and bring it into our goals discussion that we will be having at our next workshop. So think about our current goals, review them, think about what we learned collectively, and what kind of conversation you want to have around our board goals at our next workshop. And then the other question that I keep forgetting to do, and I want to make sure it's top of mind, it can be part of our goals discussion, is it has been the historical practice of this board to have mentors. So new board members can have a mentor on the board of a more seasoned board member that will answer questions for you, and help you, guide you through your first year on the board. So I'd like to wrap that into our board goal conversation as well. And then the two other things that I've got done in the community was I went to a book signing at Cream & Amber for a really fantastic local resource book that is creating safe and welcoming classrooms for LGBTQ+ students. So I have that book in hand, and am really thankful that we have a really great resource locally for us to do that for our students. And finally, I also serve on the board for ResourceWest, which is a really strong community partner providing resources of all kinds to families in the West Metro. And we just concluded our back-to-school event where our kiddos get backpacks full of all the supplies they're going to need to be successful and to thrive in the coming school year. And the numbers were huge this year. We hosted it as a one-day event, which is new. The kids get to come in. We also had local resources. Hennepin County Library was there, and all the kids who showed up got a free book to go in their backpack and to take to school, and it was a really fun event. I think we handed out more than 1,100 backpacks and served over 500 families. So it was a really great event, and we continue to host events like that for youth and families. Also provide scholarships for early childhood. So that is the end of a very long board report, and thank you all for sitting through it. Thank you, Chair Andreassen. Hello. My name is Brooke Roper, and I have two incredible students in the district who just entered third and fourth grade, so very exciting times. I would just like to first start off my board report just kind of acknowledging kind of the pain that has been in our community just for the past few weeks. Just want to just give a heartfelt condolences to the family of Kenneth Green, of the male who was unfortunately killed by the utility pole that fell on his car. And so I know that a lot of our community members have been grieving that. There may be, well, there's families in our district who may have known him, so I just wanted to give him the same respect and just to say, community, I'm with you as we continue to navigate these things that have happened in our city over the past few weeks. And so, holding his family and him close to my heart. And then I also want to say thank you to Jordan from the executive director of Mad Dads and Nisa, the executive director of Youth Matters, who donates backpacks to our district for the third year in a row. They had a back-to-school event, and they hire my family's ice cream truck every year. And so they give us backpacks to give. I haven't got a chance to drop them off to ResourceWest just yet because there's my goal, that they're closed, I'm like, "Oh my gosh." So I'm like, "I need to drop them off." But they have donated two boxes of backpacks, so I'm so grateful for them. Thank you all so much, Jordan and Nisa, if you all are listening, for donating the backpacks to our school community. And then also on that same day, I went to a gun violence prevention walk in North Minneapolis with a Mother's Love initiative that focused on reducing gun violence across our Twin Cities, and it was youth-led. A lot of youth were holding up victims who have been of gun violence and just talking about ways that we can reduce gun violence. They were giving out free gun locks. They were giving out Narcan at the event and just other resources for families to take advantage of. And so, thank you again to Ms. Lisa Clemons and Monique Flowers for all the work that you do in our community to help promote Gun violence awareness. And then I also went to the Children's Defense Fund Celebration of Joy, and it was a really great event. They had a youth-led play just about all the things inside the schools. It talked about Operation Mental Surge and just voting. And, the Children's Defense Fund plays a really big role in making sure that Freedom Schools go smooth every summer. So thank you to all the staff and Paris Timmons for all of your hard work around the work that you do with the Children's Defense Fund. And then, yes, of course, it was the beginning of the school year, and I started a new tradition at home. Do not judge me, please. But I bake cookies for my kids the first day of school. And I don't know why, but I just felt like doing it the other day because I wanted a cookie. And so we just started a tradition, and so now my kids are looking forward to baking cookies the first day of school. And we celebrate and we say, "Happy school year." So just how we say Happy New Year's, we celebrate and say Happy School Year with baked cookies. So, I suggest you all try it. The kids may just love it, okay? It's breakfast. There's cookies here tonight. Yeah, I was like, "Come on, where are the cookies?" You know what? I didn't bring cookies, but guess what I did bring? Stickers from the state fair. Okay, so I got you all some- That's good ... some stickers from the state fair. They're circle psych cookies. That's why I was absent today for a little bit, because I was doing a presentation at the state fair on electric school buses and asthma awareness. And so, of course, you all know that I'm a really big advocate for health equity and asthma, my son has asthma, and for electric school buses. And so if you all want a sticker, I made sure there's enough for everyone, that you can get a sticker to put on your shirt or your computer. Because as you all know-- Well, you may not know. I read our nurse's report. We have 48% of students who have documented medical issues. And so imagine how impactful electric school buses can be to help reduce some of those instances. And 545 students in our district also have asthma. So I want to just make sure that we are doing our part to, first and foremost, reduce our carbon footprint because we've seen the flood that happened in Nepal, and I want to just also give my love across the world to all the things that are happening with climate. And so that's one thing. But also to protect our students' health. That is just really important. So we have a lot of students who can really benefit from electric school buses, so I'm going to continue to advocate for it. I know you all may just be getting a little bit tired of my advocacy, but I want to just say, come and get your sticker from me. It's right here. And also, yes, just like Chair Andreassen said, and thank you all, I went to the Hopkins kickoff. It was amazing. Dr. Thomas, you did an incredible job with your presentation. I loved listening to the Teacher of the Year 2025. Four? '25. 2025. 2025 Teacher of the Year. She gave an amazing speech, just on her service in public education. And I did enjoy serving drinks to everyone. The popular drink was the iced tea and the lemonade together. I just learned what is-- I forgot what the name of it's called. An Arnie Palmer. Palmer. A what? Arnie Palmer. Arnie Palmer. I just learned that. So I didn't know. People were asking what an Arnie Palmer is. I'm like: I don't know. I felt like a bartender. I'm like: I don't know what an Arnie Palmer is. And so they had to tell me what it was. So now I think I'm going to try one at home. I didn't get a chance to try one. But it was fun, and I just appreciate Hopkins and what we are doing to improve our community and just the joy that we are going to be celebrating this year. I'm looking forward to it. So, thank you. Yes. Hi, this is Jim Mingao. This is my third year on the school board. I've got two kids. One's now in West Middle School, middle schooler, and one's in the third grade at Qingqing in Eisenhower. So I think, I did the kickoff event, and my colleagues have went over a lot of it. But one of the really... It's my favorite part of the activity is recognizing all of our teachers that are Teachers of the Year nominees. And we had a lot of them. We punch above our weight for sure in that. And so it's really nice to recognize those teachers, shake their hands. And, I think it's really-- Not every teacher is recognized, and so I think overall, we have really, really good teachers in the district. So thanks for all you do. And just wanted to finally share my experience with transportation. So I'm actually in a no bus zone for West Middle School, and our experience has been quite good, especially compared to previous years. I think we've had just a few minutes wait while they're working out the kinks. And so I know everybody's experience is different, but I thought I'd share mine. And I do want to note the marked improvement from last year, so thank you, everybody. Mm-hmm. My name is Johanna Hyman, and this is my first full academic year also on the board. I have two children. One just started first grade, and the other just started fourth grade yesterday. And they came home very hyped up from school, lots of energy, really excited to talk all about all the new kids and faces and friends, and that they love their teachers. Aw. So it was just a very positive first day. We didn't have anyone come home in tears or say, "I don't want to go back to school." So that's always a good thing. I was also at the kickoff, which was incredible. It was just very impactful to see All of our teachers and staff and admin gathered together. The collective energy was palpable, and I feel that people are very excited for this coming school year and where Hopkins is going. I did receive an email from an individual who's requested anyone interested in becoming a board member of My Health. They are looking for board members. And so My Health for teens and young adults is the healthcare clinic that provides services to teens and young adults 12 to 29 within the district. They're specifically looking for folks with development experience or lawyers. And I don't have time to do that too. So, if you're a lawyer or you have development experience, let me know and I can put you in touch with the executive director of My Health. Very excited for football season to kick off. And between now and our next board meeting, there are two football games. On two nights from now, the varsity team will be playing at Edina, and on September 10th, they will be here playing at home against Eastridge, and that is also youth night. So everyone come out, bring your little ones, have them enjoy school spirit, and see how the big kids get it done on the field. That concludes my board report. Thank you. We appreciate everyone having a report and also for having time to get to them. So, thank you all. And with that, I would look for a motion to adjourn. 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 aye. Aye. Any opposed? The chair votes aye. And this meeting of the Hopkins School Board is adjourned at 8:25 PM. That's a record. That is a rec-