School board work session September 22nd, 2025. Test Good evening. The time is now exactly 5:00. The Wisetta Public Schools Board of Education work session for Monday, September 22nd, 2025 will please come to order. Let's start with a quick introduction beginning from my right. Heidi Kedar, Sheila Prior, >> Dan Janestra, >> Paris Vende, >> Valentina ears, >> Chase Anderson >> and I am Milan Sony. Thank you and welcome. We have a we have a I guess we have a quorum. Uh this evening we have one item on the agenda and that's a discussion on exploring the concept of having a student representative on the school board. At the outset, I want to make it absolutely clear that this discussion is intended to gather input, review possible models and consider the potential benefits and challenges of student participation at the board level. Please ask as many questions as you will as you wish after the presentation. There is no recommendation and there will be no resolution on this this evening. All right. First let me introduce uh our guests. Uh we have the great pleasure of having two guests who will make presentations and there is a student representative from Hopkins High School who is on the Hopkins School Board. Um I'd like to introduce first Katie Clerwood who has been the MSBA director of board development for 18 years. Katie also has experience as a former school board member. In recent years, she has been working along with other MSBA staff to create opportunities for students, district staff, and school boards to come together to foster discussions about student voice and board governance. I have known Katie for almost three years now, having been on the MSBA board of directors. So, welcome Katie and thank you. We also have Dr. Just uh Jen West Morland, a Hopkins School Board member. She has served on the Hopkins School Board since 2018. Her educational research focuses on the importance of student voice in public E through 12 and higher education settings. She's honored to serve as the liaison between the Hopkins student board representatives and the school board. Our third guest is Claire Fischer who is the Hopkins High School student who currently serves as the student rep on the school board. So, welcome all three of you and Katie, I hand it over to you to get get the proceedings started. >> Thank you, board chair. Um, so, um, what we want to talk about tonight is really student voice and school boards because we know there are several different models, um, for that to happen. Um, I'll just get started at the PowerPoint here. You have my, uh, contact information if you need that. So, first, we wanted to give you a little bit of history. Um, back in 1993, there was a law passed that the a student representative was required um to be on the school board and um that then was that mandate was removed in 1996. Um it didn't prohibit school boards from having um a student representative um but it did not mandate it. And then moving up into current history um in 2000 um they were looking at bringing that back again um to revive the concept and then um they wanted more of a permissive approach though so you could um choose to include st uh student members rather than being required to and then that did not pass. um but it did bring uh more recognition to the possibility of doing that. And then in 2025 um we saw that again um it was being looked at as a possibility. We also um in there are other states that um I think believe there are two now that actually require a school board a student representative to be on the school board. um one is New York when it ju and it just passed in July of 2025. So um the requirement to have somebody as a student on the board where back in 1993 and you see after three years and I do not know um the history in those three years what um what the reasoning for it to be changed. I don't I don't know all of that. I know there's lots of things that we talk about um that can be um good practices and challenges as well and and hopefully we can explore some of those this evening as well as now um we are what we are doing today um um as your schoolboard um association we're here to help boards gather that information and also really looking at the local choice. So how does that work for you? because our districts throughout the state vary different sizes and makeups. And so we want to make sure um instead of having something that's very prescriptive, we want something that is a variety of different models and for you um at each district, each board to individually choose what's going to work best for them. Um and so we are working to help share the models um with everybody and help gather that information. So, we do feel it's important that you hear from students and student voice. Um, we have a student board representative workshop um that we've done. We've done four of them in the last three years. Um, we um have found the best time to have those are in the fall um when we're starting the new school year. Um those representatives are perhaps new, but the representatives are not or the the workshop is the dayong workshop is not just for those that already have a representative. It's those boards and those students and those staff that are interested in looking at the different models, hearing and sharing from one another, and then um talking a little bit more about some of the models that will best work for them. It's been really interesting to see and hear the students um get together talking to one another because as you all know being a schoolboard member in your community, you're one of seven. Um and so that that's not a lot of people for one community, right? So it can feel like a lot. Um and so if you can imagine being the one, two, three people that are representing all of your students from a student um board representative perspective, it can be a lonely spot for them as well. For them to be able to come together and talk and share has been a really great um opportunity for us to watch and see that, but to listen and hear what it is that that um they're talking about, their questions and concerns. So listening is the next one, right? um being um but what what we're hearing persistently from the students is that you need to hear our voice. What we're hearing consistently from the school board members is we need to hear your voice. We need to figure out how to do that. Okay. Um then we really talk about so I have a resource sheet that I set on the spot for all of you but it was also in the board packet but suggested guidelines for success. some of those things to think about. These we've gathered not only from those um four different meetings that we've had, those workshops, but also from other state associations and talking to them and finding out um what they find in their in their states, what are what does work and what doesn't as well. So, we're seeing um a variety of different formats. These are some just some basic ones. And within each of these, there's also a variety. So perhaps a youth advisory council. So perhaps a student representative. So having somebody that is specifically one sometimes two students that specifically come and sit right up um at the dis along with all of you as well. We've also seen youth advisory council. So something that's put together of representatives of students throughout your district and then they are they might then they would report to the board in a variety of different ways, give feedback, those kinds of things. Student reports sometimes we see the student council report. Maybe the president comes to sit at a table and give a report to the board. Um we've also seen u rotating schoolboard members uh meet with student leaders um maybe at the school. So you as board members going to the schools meeting with the students maybe over lunch that kind of thing and having conversations with them and then also we've see often times because we don't want to put all of that um not only responsibility but all of that extra work onto one board um one student uh board representative a rotation of a couple of students as well. Okay. Um the uh last count that we that we have figured out is there's 134 school districts out of 331 in the of your traditional public schools um with the student schoolboard representative. That can mean a lot of different things, but more specifically um not it's it's going to be more of a dedicated couple of people um that regularly come to boards when is what we see for those that 134. Others may be receiving student council report or that kind of thing. And then the last one is that we provide a couple of scholarships every year um in memoriam of our former executive director um um Roberty Meeks or Bob as many of us or many of you probably um called him as well. Um and so um we have the opportunity for that for that to happen too. Um, I really want to share with you that there is such a variety that we see that we really are trying to not be and really encourage there not be a prescriptive way. So, when we look at our legislature, um, we want to let them know that, um, we're already doing the work and boards are already doing the work to hear student voice, that we don't need something, um, real prescriptive. But, um, I think your best bet tonight is to be hearing from, um, the the students, the student and the the staff member themselves. And I'm here to help answer questions more maybe regional or statewide basis as well. So, I will step back and let you go ahead. >> Thank you. Thank you, Katie. Can I just say one as long as this slide is on the screen? >> Yes, absolutely. >> I'm sorry. U, we have three I think MSBA now has three $3,000 scholarships since two years ago. Yep. So, two $3,000 scholarships for a total of $6,000. >> There are three now with $9,000. >> Oh, okay. >> Yeah. So, I'm I was on the I was fortunate enough to be on the committee that Yes. >> All right. I will do that. >> More options now, more more possibilities. So, thank you. >> Yeah, >> Dr. West Morland, please. >> Wonderful. Thank you, Chair Sahony, and members of the school board. Um we are thrilled to be here to share our model that we've been using Hopkins School District for our student board representatives. This is an iterative model. Um it looked very different when I joined the board in 2018 and it has shifted over time based on student needs and student interest and the priorities of the board. So student voice is a key component of our vision 2031 which is our strategic vision in the Hopkins school district. Um so we have defined traits of a Hopkins scholar and one of those traits is that each Hopkins scholar has their own voice and so we live out this value through our student board representative program. Hopkins was one of the first districts in the state to adopt a student board representative program 26 years ago. Um the model uh originally had um two to three uh student board representatives and even with that small group um it got a little lonely uh for our student board reps because sometimes it would just be one board student board rep at the table giving their report. they kind of rotated through and this was the am the the model that was there when I first joined the board and our student board reps um really just came and gave reports. They weren't serving on committees of the board. Um they weren't engaging in a lot of um community engagement or student engagement. It was really focused on that board report. Um so in working with the students and this is a research passion of mine too. I'm an educational researcher. um in working with the students um we decided that a different model was needed. So we revamped the model in 2021. Um our current model has um nine to 10 student schoolboard representatives, two from each grade at the high school and one soon to be two from our virtual edu program. So our board reps um serve on committees of the board. Um not all of them. We've kind of decided with our student board reps what would be most appropriate, which committees align with their passions and their interests and um and they have they have really um expanded their role and their reach in terms of impact. And so I'm going to turn it over to Claire Fischer who is one of our currently nine fabulous student board representatives to talk a bit more about um each of these categories. >> Yeah. Um so here are the um primary roles of a student board representative. So we have student and community um engagement. So an example of that would be um one of the biggest parts of the student board representative program is that we like to hear not just from high school students, we also like to hear from elementary and middle school students. So, we like to go around and collect data and just opinions um from different students all across um ages and schools um from the district so that we can kind of build on that student perspective and bring that to the board. Another one of our roles is reports at school board meetings. So this is probably the most frequent um kind of role task for a student board representative. Um when we do these reports, we like to talk about the different things that are going out at the high school, what students are liking, what students are not liking. Um and we like to bring the needs and wants of the students up to the school board and present them. This can also be used to report the data that we found through the student and community engagement and it's a it's the most communitative way to kind of show the student perspective at the school board meetings. Um, one of our other roles is meeting with principles and district leaders. So this is a task that we have that um kind of is really like what we do to communicate. Um so usually as a student board uh we meet as a group with our principal and we just go over what we would like to talk about at the schoolboard meeting. um just kind of updates from you know um educators about what's going on. And this is super it's like it's good to use so that we can kind of communicate and bridge like student educator communication. And then our last um task is serving on committees on the board. Um, we had Jen talk about this a little bit earlier and this is another way to kind of have that student perspective on the school board. So like the legislative action coalition, policy, budget, all of those different committees um is another way that you can have the student board voice heard and just hear from hear from that. >> Thanks, Claire. In addition to giving their reports at schoolboard meetings, our student board representatives are really encouraged to participate in our discussion items um both at workshops and during the meetings and we often seek out your input um at the table and this particular cohort um as Claire said is really passionate about student engagement. Um and so we've asked for data both quantitative and qualitative. We use a youth participatory action research model um to collect that data and we've asked our board reps to bring data to the table to support uh different decisions that we're looking at. Um so over the years certainly um throughout my tenure on the board the impact of student board representatives has been significant. Um so our student board representatives were um instrumental in helping us develop our gender inclusion and cell phone policies. Claire, I know you were part of the cell phone policy process. >> Um, successfully advocating to the Minnesota legislature regarding issues impacting our schools. So, Claire mentioned that we have student board reps who serve on our legislative action coalition. So, that's the convergence there. Um, developing a more equitable district calendar. So, it was our student board representatives during their board reports um about four years ago who started advocating um for a redesign of our district calendar to be more inclusive of our major religious and cultural groups um demographically in the district. And um we were one of the first districts in the state to make the change to include uh major Jewish and Muslim holidays in our school calendar and planning. that was the direct impact of student voice at the table. Um, and I'll turn it over to Claire to talk about our holistic school safety model. >> Yeah. So, the holistic school safety model, this is coming from more of a student perspective of the impact of student board representatives. So this um holistic school safety model um kind of if you'd like to kind of talk about that sure but like just having the I kind of wanted to go over just like having the student perspective on that since that is directly in the schools and impacting the students. Um I think that that has been a big impact of having student board representatives. um and also increasing student collaboration in decision-m at Hopkins High School and virtual edu. So having a student uh one student board representative hopefully two for virtual edu um is also just a good way to have that student voice there since it is kind of a smaller community at Hopkins High School virtual edu. Um, so it's also good to have that student voice there so that they have the same amount of representation and equity as the students who are there in person um as well. So thanks Claire. Before we close um I just want to make a comment that a lot of districts um choose their student board representative from students who are already participating in the student council. Um we've chosen a different approach in Hopkins. um those students are already in leadership positions and they already have quite a bit of contact with the administration. Um and so we do a separate recruitment process for student board representatives because the roles are very different. Um and we're looking for students who um really want to work with the board on um policy decisions and um strategic governance decisions. Um so just kind of a another unique aspect of our model in Hopkins. Um, we're here to be thought partners with you as you continue to explore this. Um, I'm actually rolling off the Hopkins School Board at the end of the year, but Sher Sahony has my contact information um to engage in kind of a more nuanced conversation about these things. Um, if that would be helpful. So, thank you. Thanks, Claire. >> Thank you. Thank you all. Um I I know I I think it was last year that that MSBA had a workshop at Shakupi High School last year, right? For the for the same thing you're doing in Farmington this October. Is that is that slide available if you want to put that up? uh the workshop coming up for the student representatives on the >> So the workshop coming up is um October it's a Wednesday >> and um it is >> there you go. >> Yeah. Wednesday October 29th y >> and it is free for the students and for the um schoolboard members and the staff who choose to um attend. and it's a full day in that it's from 9 till about 1:30 because we know people have travel on either side of the day. Um but it's where we come together as a large group and then we split into students and then the um staff and schoolboard members kind of split to kind of talk about the different perspectives um for having student uh representation. And then we come back together and and certainly have lunch together. We come back together, have more conversation. And then one of the things we did um last year and we're still in the planning stages of the of the details, but we really did kind of a a gallery walk of of a variety of different questions. And we asked the students to do theirs on one side, their answers, and then the um the staff and schoolboard members on the other side. And then um we found that consistently on both sides they were asking for wanting to learn about very similar things. It was just who had the uh the the ability to help answer >> um on either side but very consistently as I said before the students were saying you need to hear our voice and the school board members and the staff were saying we need to hear your voice and we need to learn how we can best do that. >> Okay. Yeah. I I I I I found that workshop very very useful and that I think was a turning point at least in my thought thought process about why import why this this thing is so important. So I do not want to bias anybody's mind so please go ahead and ask questions of Katie Jen or Claire. So go ahead. >> I I guess I'll go first. um uh about how many applicants do you get um from the student body and like what does that selection process look like? >> I can talk about that. Um so I have been on the um student board representation program for about a year and um we are currently recruiting um freshmen right now so that we can have on the student board um representative program and we are getting a lot I think more than ever than we have had before. We have about 15 applicants right now and we are just starting the recruitment process. Um we just uh we we were at the school's open house as well as the freshman orientation and the school's like club/activity fair. Um, so we definitely did a lot of outreach there so that we can we could kind of like let the freshman know like, hey, this is an opportunity at the school that's really important. And so we have them we have a Google form right now when we have about 15 applicants. Um, and after that we go on and do interviews. And then after the interviews, we like to have them submit a quick little video of an example of what they would do for a schoolboard report. And that way we then we can kind of pick out the people who we think would be best for the role. and we end up with about like two people out of those that group of people >> and the board liaison whoever is in the role that I'm currently in um or our administrators at the high school are there as adult supports for that process um but it's really led by our student board representatives >> and the ultimate decisions on the selections are made by the students correct >> thank I have >> should I go? I have few. So, how much time commitment is required from those representatives? Does that impact any of your high school classes? >> Uh, yeah, I'd say it's about um one hour per week. I think it depends. I'd say like an on average one to two hours a week. I would say that it's not super impactful. It's not too much of a um time commitment um on that side of things. And I think it's just the right amount of time where you can stay involved with the student the with the school board but also still focus on your commitments outside of that and in school and outside of school. >> Okay. Thank you. I have few but go ahead I'll come back. >> Can I I have a follow-up question actually to that. Do any of the because you said you're involved in some of the committees. So, do any of those committee meetings happen in the middle of the school day? >> Yes. Um, some of them do. We that is kind of one of the things that we're trying to problem solve right now is how to make that accessible for students because it's kind of like you know they're during the day sometimes they're at night like after school but then again some students have like sports and after school activities. So we're definitely trying to um make a solution for that and hopefully have it more accessible to students in the future. to be to be clear, the adults are the problem um in this particular situation and and we're working to resolve that. Um so one thing we've done for our students who are interested in participating in our policy work is um we've had different ways for students to give our student board representatives to give input asynchronously. So um either commenting on a policy draft in a Google doc um sometimes whoever is in the liaison role will meet with the student board representatives. I happen to be on the policy committee so that's a real natural um kind of information flow that type of thing but the the scheduling piece is a challenge. How do you gather inputs on any specific topic? Let's say it's very sensitive topic and the second part is once the decision is made by the board do you go back look at inputs feedback did it work did it not work like how do you go about it? Yeah. So, you're talking mostly about process, like do we do a process analysis after? Yeah, we did on our gender inclusion policy. So, we used several different approaches for collecting data on that. Um, we had a a board member and a student board representative go to our um gender um inclusive groups at each school site to collect some um qualitative data. We also uh had a survey that went out about what people would like to see in the policy. Um and then the board hosted some it was during COVID so we hosted some virtual engagement sessions and our student board representatives were on that. Um, and so I think part of the the process um, uh, analysis review after we created the policy and it was approved and all that was um, did we get as much input as we could have and did we collaborate with our student board reps as effectively as we could have and um, there were improvements to be made in each of those areas. Um so I think you know at the beginning of the presentation I made the point that this has been iterative for us and um your question is an excellent one because um we can always be doing things better um and more inclusive. Um I'm hearing in your question too kind of you know some of the more sensitive things that we discuss as a school board sometimes it's not possible to have students as part of those conversations >> and I was thinking does that create any unnecessary tension within students because there are times when you know you need to focus on studies and not in any other policies so have you run into any those type of issues practical challenges or how did you guys manage it? Yeah. And I I think what we've done is really um leaned into relationships that we have with our student board representatives and just being honest with them, you know, like this is this is what we're looking at right now. We're going to be looking at some sensitive information in a closed session. You're not able to come to closed sessions, right? Um and this this will inform how we move forward on on this or this, right? Um so it's it's applying the same level of transparency as we do with our community always. um with our student board representatives and really doing some of those process conversations and that's all part of the learning experience too. It was part of my learning experience when I joined a school board. You know what conversations happen in public? Um most of them have to right and what conversations happen in close session. So doing some a lot of that governance kind of education with our our student board reps and that's another area where we need to improve. Um Claire and her colleagues as part of this cohort have given us the feedback that when new student board representatives join the board they don't have enough onboarding um to navigate you know some of some of the systemic challenges that you're talking about. >> Can I ask one more or Okay. So obviously the council members or the selected members they are high school students. How do you do outreach with middle school or elementary? So when we look at some of the challenges whether it is class size you know cafeteria lines I mean those are usually at the lower grade level. So how do you guys outreach what have you done where where have you seen student body making more impact to lower grade level? >> Sure. Um yeah, so to kind of have that outreach for the younger students, we like to um us as student boards, we like to go to the schools ourselves and collect that data um and also just like testimonials and just like opinions and all that stuff because yeah, like there isn't totally a way where you can have a student board representative that's like somebody younger. it kind of has to be somebody who's older um and more mature and stuff like that. But that's kind of the way that we have that student perspective and voice with um younger students because uh it's kind of easier that way when we kind of talk to them ourselves um rather than like adult adults and stuff. So yeah, that's kind of how we get that opinion. >> Okay. Thank you. And we've typically defined a research question before students go in. So like class sizes for example, right? How are students experiencing um the the environment in their classroom? Something like that. And then our student board representatives have questions that they ask. They've had lunch with students at the elementary schools and middle schools. Um and then another tool we've used um with the younger grades is surveys too depending on what information we're seeking. >> Thank you. Thank you so much for being here. I think it's been a tremendous opportunity for us to understand better the programs you all take on to engage a student perspective. My question is for all three of you um which is to better understand how has this been a opportunity for learning >> trying to think what would learning >> I think well I think for me I'll speak from my perspective as a as a school board member so that last slide that we um had up about the impact of student board representatives um each one of those issues as they were brought forward presented a challenge for us as schoolboard members. Right? Anytime we're going to make a change, anytime we're going to make a change that could potentially result in some push back from certain members of our community that that is a a difficult experience as a board member and it's an opportunity for us to learn and for us to learn to lead in an engaged way where we're um we're really taking student voice seriously. Um I think there are some models that can really tokenize student voice and we have um really tried not to do that and so that has been a learning curve for all of us on the board. If we say we value student voice then we need to make space for it. We need to believe what our students are telling us. And of course, after doing our own research and analysis in collaboration with our student board representatives, we have to make decisions um that take into account what they're bringing to us. So, it's it's really been a leadership learning experience for me. >> Uh yeah, I'd like to add on to that. Um I think it is also a learning experience for the student as an individual which then affects the student community as a whole. Um, I think it's like a uh developmental experience where you get to learn and improve on your like leadership skills, public speaking, um, all of those kind of things that um are honestly like vital to, you know, have uh as an experience like growing up and into adult. Um, and having that personal experience, that kind of growth also reflects on your peers and kind of improves school communities as a whole. When you have students who kind of have that bigger picture of things and are kind of committed to um improving uh, you know, student voice and representation in the bigger aspect of the school board in the district. students actually know who schoolboard members are now and what the school board does, which I think is huge. That was not the case when I was a student at Hopkins High School. >> I can just share quickly that um when I was on the school board several years ago now, we didn't have any weight really unless we went out and asked ourselves. And that was before there was, you know, LA kindergarten and those kinds of things. So we, but we were looking to do some of those things on our own. And at that time, my child, one of my children happened to be a kindergartener. So when we were talking about all day kindergarten, I asked her, I said, "What do you think about being at kindergarten all day?" And her comment was, "Well, gosh, then we could maybe actually get something done, you know?" And I shared that at the board table and it was kind of like a shock, right? But it's like kind of you know as we say mouths from the mouths of babes but you know that really for me is a good example of we need we need to ask and we need to learn and and hear. So, >> so I'm wondering um as a student when you are in in many ways representing the entire student body, you and the nine other students, um do you find there's some pressure there or if there's maybe some disagreement within the student body that you've ever felt pressure from other students that you know, I don't know if there's ever been anything that contentious, but I just worry, you know, because you have to you you live with these people every day. You have to be there and, >> you know, I I would never want to put a student in a situation that made them feel uncomfortable because they're getting peer pressure or because they're having to like, you know, they're having to defend the decisions of a school board that they had voice in, but you know, were they, you know, did the voice that you provided, was that representative of other students? And has anybody ever gotten mad or anything like that? Um, yeah. So, I think it's honestly a little bit less of an issue, which is kind of surprising because you'd kind of think like it's like, oh, everybody knows that like you're a um you're you're like on the school board and all that stuff, but it's honestly like kind of a little bit more low-key than that. Um, and like not in like a bad way. I think it's like students are like very respectful and like if they if they do know that you're like on the school board, I think that um mostly people are respectful of that and aren't going to and they kind of know like you're not the ultimate decision maker in things. like they kind of understand like you're there to give your opinions and kind of um have like input in on stuff but I don't think it's like people understand like you know you're kind of that I wouldn't say like middleman but kind of like communicator there um and we do have a kind of a form I don't know if this is still up but it's like a form anonymous form where student where students can put in their opinions that they would like the school um student boards representatives to bring to the school board or just even have in mind to have that and that has been a good tool to kind of have that communication there where it's not where it's like more professional and not just like hey you should do this. Um, and I also think that the way that we make it rep our opinions and us speaking at the school board representative of students as a whole is like I said before um going to the different schools and getting those opinions and data and just having that in mind when we're speaking at the schoolboard table and putting in our opinion because it's not only our opinion, everybody else's opinion. And I think that the co cohort that we have now, they're very like understanding that it's not just like you who's putting in that opinion, it's everybody else and you kind of have that in mind. And I don't think that anybody's like biases or something like gets in the way of that. I think that it's very like holistic and just like representative of the >> students were if there were differing opinions, you would bring both of them because they were >> brought forth by students and >> Okay, that makes sense. >> Yeah. And just like having that communication there and kind of working together to like problem solve that is what we would usually do with that. >> And then I I'm sorry, can I just ask one more? Okay. Well, I have the mic. Um uh so Jen as you know a board member have you has your experience been that the students come a lot of you know ideas and and things that you kind of have to like calm them down or say like you know this maybe isn't this isn't going to this isn't our role essentially like and and is have you ever I don't know there's that term scope creep you know where you you have to like make sure everybody manage everyone's expectations and and do you experience that a lot where you have to kind of you know say we're this is not what we're doing? >> It's a really great question. Um I think my approach it's more like the more ideas the better and then let's figure out what we can do with these things. And when I um was chair um I would work with our student board rep liaison to figure out what are the things that the boards are the student board reps are passionate about and how might this fit into our agenda planning, right? And how might we really leverage student voice in some of these decisions. And so I think being strategic and planful um as a board chair and superintendent around how to include student voice has really been the key for us um because there's no shortage of ideas and passion that comes from the students. And so um I I appreciate that question. Um, I think another thing that's important to do as board members, and Claire alluded to this, is um, really framing up the narrative at the board table for our public that it is board members who are making the decisions and we are responsible for those decisions and we are so grateful to our student board representatives and they bring so much value to the table. But if you community members are upset about this decision, talk to me. Don't talk to Claire about it. Um and that's that's important especially in our current context. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um you brought an example that you go to elementary middle school and collect data. Uh but when we were discussing um here about us being able to visit to schools, we heard from administration that it can cause some disruptions and um I'm curious how it's appearing in your case. Can you bring an example of a day when you are coming into school and how are you collecting data? >> Yeah. So, I think that the way that we do it, it's very kind of integrative to the um day that they're having at school. Obviously, we communicate with their teachers beforehand and we say, "Hey, what's a good day for us to do this? What time is good for us to do this?" Um, and honestly, it could even be just when they're having like work time or something like that. So, it's not just like this like, "Oh, this is like a scary interview." is kind of just like, "Hey, we're having this discussion." Um, and and um like Jen said, like just over lunch or something kind of more casual like that. So, it's not like, "Hey, we're like interrogating you." It's kind of just like it's just like, "Hey, we're, you know, we're having these and um and you know, not every response that we get is like a super like serious one. Sometimes they're just like we ask them a question, they're like, "I don't know." or um they're like, "Oh, what?" We ask like, "What's something that you like? What's something that you don't like?" And you know, they say like, "Oh, I don't like it." Um not being able to have my phone or something. And it's like, "Okay." Like, so we kind of kind of have that like perspective like just knowing um kind of knowing how to gain that valuable information without causing too much disruption in their day and kind of just having it be like natural um in the flow of their school day. We've had to do some work on communication pathways to um really respecting, you know, working through the superintendent, working through the school principles to make sure that everyone's on board with this idea of having the student board representatives come in and then as Claire said, even working with the teachers to determine when would be the best time to come into the classroom. And so I think this ethos of no surprises and respecting communication pathways has really um served us well. Um I have one more question. Um so I really appreciate that MSBA has a training for the students on how to engage in schoolboard work. Is there a training that's also available or you know Jen do you recommend something for the adults on how to engage with students because clearly you have a very deep background in how to engage with students but not everybody has that right and so and and there's boundaries and there's limits and there's appropriate behavior and all of those things that have to be considered that schoolboard members may not be engaging with students on a daily basis. So is there a training that you would recommend or that you have considered for work like this? Yep. Um, so the full day that we do is not just the students. Remember, it's the the schoolboard members and administrators that are there. And when we split into those two rooms, that is what we're talking to the adults, if you will, about is that, you know, how are you engaging? Um, how are you respecting as well as the student voice? Um and so we do do that as part of it as well, but you may have more to add to that certainly. >> Yeah, I would recommend kind of at the beginning if you decide to implement this program doing some norm setting. So having a work session with all schoolboard members and the administration and the student board reps if you have them already um to really figure out like what are those boundaries and what are the kind of the rules of engagement here, right? Um and then in terms of um approach um I mentioned earlier youth participatory action research. Um so there's um an entire kind of program at Harvard that's dedicated to um to building out this model and they have a lot of really great resources. I'll share some resources um with Sher Sahony um as well and I'm again happy to be a thought partner. So Um I'm curious farmington my understanding is also already has student representative at their board. Am I right? Farmington school board. >> Yeah. And my understanding that they they like it very much. So that is it that's the reason why it's happening in Farmington or the training. I'm not specific about I don't know specifically what their model is but each year we ask another um we ask what district would be interested in in engaging their students in creating this workshop. So it's not just us doing that but the students are involved in Farmington. So thank you. I'm very much so example personal. Would you be able to bring some examples when adults uh did not even think about some issues or some things uh which can be helpful for students and students broad and you had a good outcome. Would you be able to bring some examples please? >> Sure. So I think um a few of the examples that was on our our the last slide of our deck. Um so I I wouldn't say these were things that we weren't thinking about as a board. I think having students bring them to us added a level of urgency and importance um and nuance to the conversation. So, one of these things was the the calendar equity work that we did um our gender inclusion policy um holistic school safety kind of reinvisioning what does it mean um to be safe in school. These were all conversations that we had sort of begun as a school board. Um, but really having that student voice helped propel us to the next next stages of those conversations. Um, the cell phone policy, obviously that was mandated. We all had to do that work as school boards, right? Um, but having students come forward and like read through the policies. Yeah, that's not going to work. Like you can write that down, but that's never going to happen. Um, I think that's more where we've found real value is in the nuance. Um, like we as adults think that this is a foolproof idea and then our student board reps are like, nah, this is this is a much better way to do this if you really want it to work. Uh, one more question is at least my assumption that one of the reason is I mean schools exist for academics also. So can you bring an example that something what uh students representatives brought you were able to solve such way that you have uh academic success. >> If you can bring an example please >> I'm trying to um not that like when I've been >> Yeah. So um I think as we're look we're looking at different um curricular models um so for example our immersion programming um getting student input on that um we've done a lot of work around personalized learning in Hopkins schools um so having students share their experiences with different personalized learning models um has been really helpful for us as a board so that we can continue to you know obviously it's our administration that does that and our teachers who do that really hard on the ground work every day. Um but helping us figure out if we need to make policy shifts to support that. Um personalized learning and immersion pathways um in particular. Um trying to think what else like specifically related to to academics um that's been helpful. Those are the two that come to mind. Thank you. Thank you so much for the wonderful presentation. I think you know uh obligation we have is to serve those we um represent and those are the students, teachers, staff uh first and foremost and to engage their opinion so we can make better decisions um is really going to go a long way. I see it as a great opportunity for us as board members to learn and no matter what form or format um this might take. We can tell our story to more people and definitely I think students will appreciate hearing why a public school story from one of their peers versus maybe let's say an adult. That's a way to build community um and build a sense of unity and support for you know future initiatives or topics the board might uh take up. So thank you so much. This really means a lot. It gives us a lot of information as we evaluate our um options as well as future decisions. So thank you so much. >> Okay. So I am in the interest of time I think Katie has driven here like 90 minutes from St. Peter. So yeah u so thank you for for being patient and you know this went a little over our schedule time but I have a two of my questions that I was going to ask were already asked. one was the scope creep and what was the other one? Um the other one was about the training of the students and know also of the board members. Um I have heard that there are it's always a good idea to have mentors from school board members for the representatives right student representatives. You have something like that in place >> like a studentto student mentorship program or >> a board member to student? Yes. >> Yes. So that's the the role that our liaison serves. Um so we have one school board member who when we do our committee assignments and our officer assignments at the beginning of each year um that person takes on the student schoolboard representative liaison role. Um and our student board representative cohort now we're building out an onboarding model um that's much more robust than what we have in place now. and that was their idea. Um, and you know, within that model, then student board representatives who have been serving for a while, um, they they're really helping to mentor the new board rep student board representatives who are coming on. >> All right. Okay. There are no other questions. >> Just one more point around that too with um, at MSBA. So, anything that we provide for our traditional school board members, we offer or would love for the students to join us as well. And um we offer that at a um discounted rate. It's the very basic of what the materials might cost kind of thing. So, um as well as a as a mentor rate as well. So we we we invite that and certainly um at the conference that comes up in January or anything else that we hold as well. We invite this to be a part of that. >> Thank you for that information. Again, thank you for coming, taking the time and you know for driving from St. Peter all the way here. So thank you Katie, thank you Jen and thank you Claire. Uh colleagues I would recommend if you have time it's a 9 to 1:30 workshop. So it for most of us it's basically during during work hours. So I understand it's difficult to attend those but if you have the time please please you know go to that workshop. I I found it very useful last year. So if not anything else we'll you know we we learn from those things. So thank you again and um colleagues this is this was like I said just a discussion. What will happen next is yet to be determined. So thank you. Thank you for your participation and thank you ladies here. Thank you. Work session for this evening. We will take a short 10-minut break. Amy, is that okay? 10 minute break. >> 5 minute 5 minute break and reconvene for the special regular board meeting. The time is now 5:55. We'll reconvene at 6:00. The Visetta Public Schools Board of Education work session for Monday, September 22nd, 2025 is adjourned. [Music]