I'll just do it as practice.>> Hello everyone. Thanks for joining us this afternoon again for our regularlyscheduled work session. Let's go down the table for introductions. Starting tomy right, >> Sheila Prior,>> Dan Janestra, >> Bisindi,>> Valentina, >> Sarah Johansson,>> Chase Anderson. >> I'm Heidi Kedar. I am acting chair thisevening. So the first item on our agenda is a student enrollment and staffingupdate for our upcoming 2526 school year. Our presenters are already withus. Um and uh it is Jenny Eert from she's thedirector of community ed and Judy help me out.>> Aachu. >> Ahachuku. Thank you. Um from the welcomecenter. >> Great. Thank you members of the board.Dr. Anderson for having us here tonight to be able to share some updates aroundum activities with the welcome center this summer and then uh studentenrollment and staffing updates from our colleagues as well. We'll follow ourpresentation here. So, uh this evening we're going to talk about a couple ofdifferent things uh related to the welcome center. We'regoing to share a little bit about summer outreach activities, some updates thatwe're doing around our census data collection, uh some enrollment trendsthat we're seeing from the welcome center standpoint, as well as work we'redoing to welcome our incoming kindergarteners here in the next fewweeks. So, from a summer outreach standpoint,one of the things we're really focused on is how do we find our familiesearlier? Now, this is work that we do all year round, but as summer comesaround, it becomes even important because um we want to find our familiesearly. so that they can have a good start with our schools, that they canfeel prepared, our students can feel ready, as well as it's important for ourschools to have those numbers as well, as you'll hear from my colleagues hereshortly, when it comes to staffing. The sooner we have people enrolled, thebetter. So, we've really focused on um continuous improvement when it comes tocustomer service. Got to hear about that at your schoolboard meeting earlier thismonth. We do that in a number of ways, but really focusing on how do we makeoursel accessible through appointments, walk-ins, um online meetings. You cancall us, you can text us, you can reach us in a whole lot of ways to help getyour questions answered. Additionally, Judy's going to share a little bit aboutsome of the outreach we're doing directly in the community.>> Yes, thank you so much, Jenny. So, this summer, one of our focuses focus areahas been to engage with our community. So recently we visited a coupleapartment complexes um specifically within the Sunset Hill and Birch Viewattendance area just to connect introduce ourselves, right? Like we'renew staff so we understand that um they might not be familiar with us as theymight have been in the past and connect with them in terms of asking questionslike what events do they have going on? would there be an opportunity for us toessentially have office hours out of their community spaces to be able tobetter reach families? I would say overall the communities that we wereable to connect with were very open and receptive to us coming back. Um, one ofthe suggestions that came from that was night toite that's coming up next weekon August 5th. Um, working with our family liaison team to kind of divideand be present in a couple of those apartment communities. some of the umcomplex managers shared with us that they'd be happy to share with theircommunity that we were coming in advance so that if they had any questions, theywould know to expect our presence there. So, we're currently speaking with ourfamily liaison to divide up which specific communities that we want to bepresent at next week so that we can offer that inerson support and answerany questions families might have. Um, and then recently I attended the Somalicultural festival with one of our family liaison. Um, just to be able to bepresent, learn a little bit more about their culture, but also answer anyquestions families might have. Um, both families that might already be withinour district, as well as folks we know summer is a really popular time to move,folks that might be um, wondering what it's like to complete the enrollmentprocess if they're looking forward to moving into our district boundaries.Yeah. Yeah. So, we appreciate the work that Judy and our family liaison havebeen doing. We, as Judy mentioned, we have people moving in all summer long.So, our hope is is to make those connections early with our apartmentcomplexes on July 1st or August 1st that we're connecting with them shortlythereafter and getting their students registered for school.Another area that we're focusing on is um census data. So census data is uminformation about families that have children uh infants through age five whoaren't yet enrolled in our school district. Uh this is information that westore in our Skyward student database that helps us to do planning forincoming kindergarten classes and enrollment projections, but it's also away to really connect with our with our families earlier and have them um learnabout our school district, engage in community ed, of course. And um we foundthat there's additional room for us to make improvements on how we'recollecting that information. Um we are doing that through some improvedprocesses through online forms using jot form. You might have noticed this inyour WPS news postcard that came out or your community egg catalog which ishighlighted here on the screen. Really looking for those additional ways wherewe can find families who are moving into the district at various times throughoutthe year. We do have birth records that we get from Henipin County every monththat we're able to track new babies that are being born. But as you mightimagine, there's a lot that happens between babies being born and themturning five and people coming and going from our community. So, it's aneverending uh opportunity to find families and to connect with them. So,really looking at how do we make it easy for families to do that? How do we lookfor lots of different ways to connect whether it's at events or throughmailings or through email or through our website and and a variety of differentplaces. We also really want to look at cleaning up that database. So, we'vedone some additional mailing from a community standpoint to do outreach aswell as through some of our school sites and really tracking carefully the uhletters that are being bounced back to us. We had the great opportunity to mailto a whole lot of people when we had the boundary changes and did some learningand cleaning up databases at that point, too. We also want to do some baselinedata collection. So, we have a kindergarten tracking spreadsheet iswhat we call it internally, but it's a document that really um highlights thedifferent ways that people are coming and going from our district. And so,collecting some baseline data around those that have moved out of thedistrict that we've maybe had in our database for the past 5 years and umhave now found that they've moved on. It might be people who have chose to attendelsewhere for their educational needs. Um families that might be choosing towait another year or now families that are new to us. So, we're tracking all ofthat baseline data to be able to look year-over-year at how is that changing?Are the things that we're doing to uh really shore up that census data beingeffective or do we need to look at additional ways to do that? So, lookingforward to sharing more on that as we continue that work.Wanted to share a couple of slides just to highlight the volume of work that'shappening with Judy and her team and others within the school.This really looks at the time period of mid July through the end of August. Sothat blue section is um the end of July. The yellow is the end of August and thered is the middle early part of August. So this highlights um all the differenttransactions that might take place from an enrollment standpoint whether it'snew K12 enrollment, open enrollments, interd district transfers, non-tuitionagreements, um continuity students, and a variety of other things. So from avolume standpoint, there's a lot coming and going from our database and justgives you a little feel for all that's happening in that month and a half rightbefore school starts. The slide that our administration'susually most interested in is really looking at what's kind of that netproduct of families that are enrolling versus families that are withdrawing.So, this is those numbers that uh Jen and Dave will talk more specificallyabout that really influences um our staffing needs going forward, but wantedto share with you again from just a volume standpoint to see um we net about235 students the last two years coming in from mid July to the end of August.Um that blue bar is the July 15th through the 31st. So, we quite haven'tquite hit that yet for this year, but you can see we're on track for similarnumbers from the last two years at this point in time. Anyways, so anticipatinga lot more coming in here in the next couple of months as has been the trend.Um but wanted to just share that for again that um knowledge of where we'reat at this point in time. Other things that we wanted to highlightis work that we're doing around welcoming our incoming kindergarteners.So we have a couple of different opportunities to do that. One which is afavorite for a number of us in this room is the bus ride and information nightthat's coming up on August 7th. It's at Weisetta High School. All families areuh with incoming kindergarteners are welcome to join us. We typically haveover a thousand people who show up, ride the school bus, um learn about bussafety, and they can have get their questions answered. Uh just about Ithink every department in the school district is there. So whether it'snutrition services or transportation or technology or any number of otherthings, health services, you can come and ask your questions and there are alot of people waiting to help our families really. Um, everybody is welcome. It's free forpeople to attend. Additionally, we have a a camp calledJump Start TOK that's coming up on August 18th, 19th. This is the secondyear that we've been able to offer this camp. It's been it's free for allincoming K again, thanks to a grant through Partners for Healthy Kids. We'reextremely grateful for the funding to be able to pay kindergarten teachers whocome in and support our our new students coming into kindergarten to reallyfamiliarize themselves with what it means to come to school, learn where thelunchroom is, learn where the bathroom is, learn navigate the hallways, and umjust get a feel for what it means to start kindergarten and ease nerves. Umwe aren't a unfortunately aren't able to offer it at all nine of our elementaryschools. Last year we could do four. This year we're up to six. it'sdependent on construction and other things happening in our building. So, wejust work to maximize the space wherever we can. And so, you can see here thegreen ones are the facilities that we're able to offer it at this year. Um, asyou might imagine, those are the places that are most popular then for studentsto attend. We will be doing additional outreach. Registration is still open.So, we hope to engage students from some of our other schools. even if it isn'ttheir school that they're attending, it can be a really good experience to umjust get a feel for what it means to be in a classroom and navigate those basicthings around a kindergarten school day. So, people can still register and we'llcontinue to uh connect with families. We had 218 people total uh participate lastyear, so we're up from last year and hope to continue to grow that. The last opportunity I want to highlightis around our incoming kindergarten families for um rising K's preschool. Sothis is a full day summer preschool experience. Uh this is again the secondyear for this as well. We used to have our incoming K participate in our fullwise at a kids childcare program and over the years really found that havinga specialized experience for those students was really um what would bestmeet their needs. And so we've pulled that out the last couple of years andhosted it at the Wisetta Early Learning School. Have 121 or so kiddos that arepart of it. You can see they come from all nine of our different elementaryschools and it's an opportunity for them again to experience kind of get a tastefor what it means to be in kindergarten to learn routines um and really get agood fresh start as you get ready for kindergarten. So excited to have thesenew opportunities. We continue to work with our principles who are doing lotsof really wonderful work too to welcome our incoming K and are excited to havethem start with us here in September. On that we will hand this off to ourcolleagues. Is it okay if I do a quick introductionof you guys? So um we have Dave Loots who's executive director of humanresources and Jen Welk um with the district welcome center.>> Good evening everybody. Um we are Dave and I partner umNext slide. >> Dave and I partner early in the calendaryear to start talking about projections uh for enrollment so that he can workwith um staffing. And so this kind of is a grid. I think you've seen this circlebefore when we've talked about the budget early 25. We started talkingabout projections, reviewing and planning our staffing. Finalized thebudget book in February and March. May and June is when we it says monthlyenrollment checks, but we do them more often than that. July and August weekly,but I think it's more like daily. And then in August, um we get to updatingour staffing so that we can start the school year um fully staffed.This is just a little bit of enrollment projection information again talkingabout where we started this school year. So for 2526, as you're aware, we did useteamworks international and Hazel Reinhardt to do a demographic studyalong with the boundary adjustments that we did. In addition, we used an internalmo internal modeling tool um that provided projections per grade andschool. Teamworks and Hazels was more of an overall um district projection. Thefinance team HR along with Dr. Anderson met to discuss the final projectionsthat we would use to create our staffing for the school year.And then in March to May, it's been constant tracking of the potentialwithdrawals and incoming applications, weekly meetings uh with finance and HRto discuss where we were at, where we watched for sections that might tip dueto increase or decrease in student enrollments per school and grade level.And then in June, and we're still continuing through August, is a dailyreview of enrollment. Weekly reports have been sent for the month of July tokey staff um in the district and we'll start sending to a larger group herethis Friday. Then as the school year begins, we send monthly reports um HRand finance will talk about any um bubble ups of new enrollments that comethroughout the school year um for any anomalies in growth or decrease, but wehaven't seen the decrease in a while. This is just um I think most of you haveprobably seen this uh numbers for the last 10 years showing our growth as adistrict. That decrease year was the year of COVID. Um but you can see whereas of October 1st of each year where our numbers were for the 2526 school year,we are projecting 13,251 students. We um are not there quite yet.Um, but as you saw from the slides that Judy and Jenny shared, we the thenumbers they're still the applications are coming in and it's not even the endof July yet. Um, so then we'll pass it off to Dave. >> All right. So, I'm going to start out byjust saying thank you. Uh, thank you to our welcome center uh staff who've been,you know, this is summer months are uh for a a big portion of our district.slow for some of our employee groups, not for the welcome center, right? Andso they're processing um all of our enrollments and and uh getting gettingall of our systems updated with information. So, thank you so much umJenny and and Judy and their team uh for all the hard work uh getting our ourfamilies ready to go for the fall. Um and then as Jen Welk mentioned, uh wework together regularly. So, thank you, Jen, for uh when I walk down the halland say, "Hey, I need some new numbers." And that's just about every day. Um, andso I just want to say thank you for for the individuals that are working to tryto to hit which what what's a very much moving target, right? We we don't we wehave projections. We we you know do the best we can to create models foraccuracy and there's just a bunch of unknowns with that. And so, um, withthat said, um, that staffing timeline, we have, uh, hired quite a few teachersalready. Uh, so we're up to 79, um, as of Friday and counting. And so many ofthose are are replacing positions where someone has, you know, uh, left thedistrict, retirement, resignation, etc. Um, but there are a number of new staffin there, uh, hired in response to the enrollment projections that we have. Soabout 35 of those are elementary, early learning. seven high school, uh 17middle school, and then 20, uh special services staff. Um we know that, uh asour student enrollment increases, so do our needs and special services as well,typically. So, um we have uh filled quite a few of our vacancies. We stillhave a handful uh 10 are out there right now and probably have emails with uhhiring requests on any number of those right now. So, um, again, it's it's justconsistently trying to to monitor students coming in and make sure that wehave high quality staff, uh, that are ready for them in the fall. Uh, most ofwhat we haven't filled so far are going to be part-time or or, uh, long-termreserve LTR positions. Um, that's kind of the the bulk of what we're hiringthis time of year for licensed positions. Um, we're also hiring anumber of of non-licensed uh positions, but tonight we're just focusing on anupdate for those teacher positions. Um, we will have additional vacancies thatjust happen, you know, if somebody up and moves uh to another state orsomething like that. Um, we we need to fill their position. Um, but uhhopefully we're slowing down in terms of the staffing season as we have our ourstaff hired for the fall. uh secondary. So, middle school and high schoolstaffing plan is is pretty much aligned with enrollment. So, uh middle school,you'll notice we're we're really close to our projection right now. Um highschool, um we've actually exceeded it a little bit. Now, there's going to besome withdrawals in there, etc. That that should keep us pretty much on parwith what we projected. Um, but besides some adjustments because they don'tstudents don't always come into the exact grade level or exact building thatyou hope they do, uh, besides some adjustments for across our middleschools, our secondary staffing is is actually uh, pretty much aligned withwhat we anticipated. Now, we could see increases uh, from now until the fall,right? And so, we have to closely monitor our secondary enrollment to makesure that we have staffing that's responsive to needs. Um, we're alsoclosely monitoring elementary sections. That's probably the most of our focusright now because our projections uh have not, you know, come to be with withour enrollment. And that's typical that you'll see. You know, we have late Kenrollments and some later enrollments at the elementary level that we'danticipate. Um, but we do have quite a few students that we need to see uh uhenrolled to to meet our projected numbers. Um we just to kind of bring youin uh we had a a meeting I I led a meeting with with uh uh our elementaryprinciples on on uh 723 um and we discussed here's the trends we're seeinghere's where our students are here's where you know you tell me what knowingwhat you know uh having many of our elementary principles done this for anumber of seasons now you know what do you expect um what are some of theproblems that we can solve uh right now so we decided added together um that wewould meet again in 2 weeks to kind of to get those trends. Again, any any dataset that we can use to say this is where the students are coming in. Um we willuse that um and and buy a little bit of time um we do think we haveapproximately the number of teachers that we need on staff right now. And soat the elementary level and so it's more or less um you know do we need to makesome internal moves um within buildings or or look at grade levels etc. Um butwe want time uh to be able to make some of those decisions so that we can get asclose to possible. Um, again, uh, you know, with school starting, we also knowthat there's some change throughout the school year, right? And the and the goalis to try to to to have your your section staffedappropriately. So, not only do you start the year correctly, but you also havesome room um or or make plans for some of the adjustments that you'll see afterthe start of the year. And that some of our sections can grow with some of thosechanges that we'll see. So, we're going to bring in some trend data, you know,from the last few uh seasons and see what have we seen from August, you know,to October 1. What are some of the trends that we might be able toanticipate? Um, and then also knowing that there's a complicating factor inthere with uh boundary changes, right? And so, the that those trends might notbe 100% what we would expect because we've changed boundaries. So, um, yeah,working with a bunch of great people on a very complex problem. Um, and it's agood problem, though. Uh, we're we're a growing district and that's great. Um,we just have to monitor those numbers and be able to respond appropriately,uh, with a staffing plan that we can feel good about going in this fall. So,uh, that's the update that I have and oop, wrong, I'm clicking on the wrongthing. There you go. We'll open it up for questions. Um, and there's our teamfrom the presentation. >> Thank you all for your presentation.Board colleagues, do you have any questions?>> Great. Thank you so much. Um, it's alwayswonderful to hear these updates and to uh know you guys have us well on trackto meet the demands of our students um and their needs. So um my question is umjust one. So, you mentioned that you've hired some new new teachers as well asanticipate hiring future new new teachers. Um, do you have a kind ofanticipation as to what the final count of brand new teachers will be by the endof hiring? In terms of new to the profession, newtoetta. Okay. New toetta. Um, I will get that for you on an update closer to thefall. I'll kind of take a snapshot of of everybody, you know, new to the new tothe district, new to the profession, etc., so I can provide that data foryou. Um, like I said, I think we're close to what we might need right now.Um, that said, you know, we usually hire around 100 new teachers a year. Um, justwith all the different changes, uh, changes that we'll see even from now tothe fall. And you know, I'd be surprised if we didn't get to that mark again. So,um, I don't have an exact number for you now. I will as we get closer to the fallon that. Um, so I'll provide an update then.>> All right. Thanks so much. Your presentation's been very informative.>> Dave, it seemed like you might have had the number 79 new teachers hired at thispoint with 10 postings out. Is that >> Yep. So far? Yep.>> All new to the district or some are rehires? Probably.>> A handful of them are rehires. So, individuals that worked uh let's saythey were a long-term reserve last year, did a great job for us. We have a numberof those that we've then hired uh into regular contract teaching position. So,most are new to the district of those 79. Um off the top of my head, probablyless than 10 are going to be rehires. >> And so, just to clarify, those are newpositions. Then not only some of them are new tothe district, but those are like positions that were created because ofincreased enrollment or >> not all 79. No, many of those positionsare actually from retirements, resignations, etc. So, there are somethat are new due to the increased enrollment that we have, but the largemajority of those are replacing positions that have have uh becomevacated from this spring. >> Yeah. So, my question is actuallyextension question. So from parents or community members standpoint how do theyinterpret this data? So there are net new teachers uh as a result of you knowenrollment growth but ultimately when it translates to let's say a class size orhaving you know paras to help teachers how does that reflect would would theysee would we see any difference >> 2025 2026 as compared to prior yearwould you be able to give us some insights into Yeah, good question. So,uh I believe I uh I can't remember if I presented at the board on this topic,but if I haven't, I'll I'll kind of recover it. Um so, we held to similarstaffing levels uh for this upcoming school year. Again, we have a bunch ofuh known unknowns in terms of of what we can expect for funding um etc. So whilewe did add some new positions based on that new enrollment obviously to meetstudent need um we also added I believe I shared with the board some studentsupport positions uh counselors at the elementary level etc. So, we have addedsome positions. Um, and we also want to make sure that we're positioned so thatuh should we experience less project less students than what we projected uhandor some some different setbacks when it comes to funding or or unfunded uhmandates from the state or federal level, etc. that we still are are wellpositioned to um be fiscally sound heading into the new school year. um atthe elementary level um because our projections are a bit ahead of what weinitially staffed at. Um we do need to still see some some enrollment increasesuh to to meet some of those those staffing levels. Um that said, you know,the the if if not all the students come, I said I think we have approximatelywhat we will need. You know, we might see slightly lowered class sizes as aresult of that. So ideally your goal is to to staff so that um you know on thehigh end you can still have you know classrooms functioning effectively etc.Um and you're not so far off the target. Um but at that elementary level rightnow we're a little bit under target. So if I were to look at class sizes todayuh they are pretty low. That said we know um we have spots for students tocome in and they will come in and and and grow to that. Um we did maintain uhthe same similar staffing targets uh than last year. The thing that we did atthe elementary level to address some student needs is uh in in fiscal year 25or 24 I believe 24 um we had taken um as a part of cost containment. We had takenuh some FTE out of math intervention at the elementary level and applied it toour K5 staffing uh model. And what that did is it reduced class size, you know,uh, appropriately. We were able to lower our target uh, at the elementary level.Um, what we did this year is we maintained that lowered target levelwhile reintroducing, uh, the, uh, intervention positions thatwe had had pulled. And so, um, while that doesn't, you know, again, directlyimpact class size, it definitely impacts, sorry, the mic might be cuttingout a little bit, impacts the support that we have for students. Um, and andsome much needed interventions. So, that was based on feedback that, hey, theseinterventions are for sure needed. As soon as we can bring them back, weshould. Um and we were able to do that again because of these these enrollmenttrends that we were seeing and the ability to to um bring back some of thepositions that we had to reduce through cost containment. Uh at the middle levelum we did we we did lower um the the class size a little bit to helpaccommodate some scheduling difficulties which you may or may not have have uhyou know been made aware of. Whenever you introduce a new model, year one,you're going to have a lot of learning, right? And the learning at the middlelevel was uh making sure that that you know our our uh principles and and uhbuildings could schedule uh students appropriately into this new schedule. Umit's a little bit easier at central because of the number of students. It'sa bit bigger economy of scale when you're building a master schedule at amiddle level. Um east and west it's a little bit more challenging with thoselevels. So, we were able to make some adjustments so that um you know, we'refar ahead of where we were last year. Uh Dana can probably speak to that, but interms of building our middle school schedules, we're a ways ahead of wherewe were last year. Um just with this new new model, uh having the staffing to beable to make it work. >> Thank you. And um appreciate you keepingthat broader view because again just because we have more students thatdoesn't or teachers that doesn't mean the class sizes will be reduced becauseagain there could be space issues and as you said whether it is intervention orsort of you know supporting staff for teachers that helps too. So if I mayrequest again and I know this changes on daily basis and you guys are staying ontop of it but once we get close to sort of you know beginning of new school yearand once we are done with all the hiring um when the appropriate topic ispresented if you can give us that summary that hey we're done through ourhiring we've hired 75 and as a result we anticipate you know class sizes to godown or we have added more you know intervention staff. staff, right? If youcan give us that summary for us as well as for community members and parents, Ithink that'll be helpful so they can relate what that increase in staffingreally means to, you know, students outcome.>> Yep. That's no problem. I'll plan on it. >> Thank you.>> And Sarah, go ahead. >> Have a question. She can she I don'tthink she has. >> Thank you. This is so exciting. I thinkthe best news of the week so far is the math interventionist that isdemonstrating our commitment to student achievement. And so I appreciate that. Iactually just have a couple of of um I might have a question for Jenny andJudy. Um it's exciting as we think I was just reading something about studentachievement data and the importance of involving parents, right? And so theoutreach that you're doing to some of our neighborhoods and creating thatsense of belonging with families um we know has an impact. How has it been? Imean, and you mentioned a bit, how has it been received from the neighborhoodsand and is that an area of opportunity to expand um in future years andreaching out to more communities? >> Yeah, that's a a wonderful question andit's something that we're really looking closely at because we want to do more ofit. We know the importance of connecting with our various communities and reallykind of bringing our work to them to reduce barriers to participation. So,I'll let Judy talk a little bit about the reception because she's the one beendoing all the really great work connecting.>> Yeah, so far it's been good. Um, the apartment communities that we've reachedout to, we've spoken mostly with like managers and people that work in thefront office. Um, and they've asked us really good questions like, "Hey, whatschool um is this building assigned to?" Because they tend to get thosequestions, too. Um, so they I felt like this sigh of relief of like, "Oh,goodness, someone that actually knows what they're doing is going to be hereto answer these questions." So we're hopeful that we're able to startbuilding those relationships and hosting some regular office hours there. We alsoknow that this work is work that's being done in our district. Our family liaisondo go out across our different communities as well as different peopleat our school sites. So we just want to be an additional support. Um we alsolove that our family liaison when they do go out help with the enrollmentstuff. um especially if a family transportation is not an option or it'sdifficult for them to get to us and get those documents that we need, they canbe an intermediary of um getting some of those things. So, anything that our teamcan do to help be an additional layer of support, reach more communities is whatwe're starting to do with that. >> I would add to we appreciate the supportof our communications department. They've been working closely with Judyto develop materials that we can leave on sites whether it's posters or believethere's a flyer that the some of our apartment communities are going to putthen in their welcome packets so families get that and whether it'sduring the time that we're there or anytime throughout the year. Again, justreally trying to focus on how do we connect sooner with our families. Yeah,that's really fantastic. And as I I know of a couple communities where they'vemaybe had four different property managers since the start of the calendaryear. So any work that you can do to um make that um transferable to toleadership whenever that comes in that's pretty incredible. Thank you. >> Any other Valentina? Yeah,>> I'll piggyback on last question. Can you please clarify what does it mean that Imean why do you need to go uh to apartment complexes? And I'm kind ofsurprised managers don't know where the what district boundaries the buildingsbelong to and people who there also don't know if they don't choose uh whyis that or where do they go? >> Yeah. Yeah, those are a lot of goodquestions. Um you know as Sarah mentioned that there tends to be a lotof turnover in those manager roles. So they don't always share that informationbetween them of like what school or which particular school in the districtare we part of. Um it's a very common question that we get. So it's somethingthat we're really actively trying to engage with. Um our families that aremoving in in different apartment complexes um may have other barriers toto engaging with our schools to navigating our school system. So we'rejust looking at ways where we can really be supportive. um when you're moving inin July, for example, you might have a lot of other things going on in your inyour world. And so, what can we do to really streamline that process for ourfamilies because we don't want them waiting till August 15th and getting alltheir materials together so that Jen and Dave can start counting them and beready for them. >> Yeah. And I would just say I thinkthere's something that's just like a breath of fresh air when the servicecomes to you instead of you having to go and seek it out. Um, so if we can bethat breath of fresh air of like, oh, okay, I have 30 minutes. I can at leaststart the process. Um, and that gives them the momentum to finish it or ifthey have the time to sit down and do the full process of enrollment with us,then that's one less family that we need to enroll later in the school year,right? Um, and we want them to be enrolled as early as possible becausethen they don't miss out on opportunities, especially for thekindergarten families of the events that we have going on in early August and allof those things that help them build community. So if us reaching out to themhelps them get into our system sooner and get that education and theinformation and attend the events that I think is net positive for them.>> One more thing I'm a little bit still surprised though being in an apartment.I lived myself in apartment and you typically to be honest there is no wayyou can pass your neighbors without seeing that another house uh anotherapartment has children and typically at least you would communicate if you havequestions by the way um I have a kid I don't know where to send they don't dothat they don't talk to each other >> I think it depends right every complexis different in terms of how they communicate I think also if somebody isnew in managing that apartment complex they might spending some time getting upto speed as to what is the best avenue to reach their folks. Um, and anotherthing that I think is helpful with us doing the outreach is different familieshave a different lens or understanding of our educational system, right? So, wehave some families that don't need a lot of help from us. They know to go onlineand fill out the form and all that good stuff, but we have some families whetherthey're new to the area or even new to the country where where do they begin?What is an enrollment center? What does that mean? what documents do you needfrom me? So, being able to try and break down some of those barriers and explainthat stuff um instead of having them do the leg work, especially if it's alreadyconfusing to begin with, to try and even get to the point of understanding wherewe are, who we are, and what we need from them. If we can go there and havethose conversations, that would be a really great place for I think thefamily to start in terms of building that relationship with our schooldistrict. >> Thank you.>> And you make a really good point. those natural communities where we connectwith each other is a way that we really lean in and want to invite people totalk to their neighbors and share information. So, thank you for thatreally important reminder of how we build those internal communities toowithin our systems and really lean into those neighbor connections. Thank you. >> Did you want to close us out, Dr.>> I just have a comment and then a quick question. So I think it's reallyimportant to have multiple ways in which we reach out to and developrelationships and connect with the community. So um I think over the yearswe've always valued and uh looked for ways to be responsive to the uniqueneeds of our families and our community. And there are a lot of different ways toconnect and make uh those develop those relationships whether people are new tothe community or um um making a change to another school level or whatreturning from a private school to our school. So I just think it's importantto keep a a broadbased toolkit of ways to reach out, make those connections andoffer that level of customer service. And I think we've had a long history ofthat. So, we appreciate uh finding new ways to continue doing that. Um, I had aquestion come to me earlier from a board member actually about exit interviewsfor families that leave. And I'm wondering if we have any informal orformal ways that we track um reasons people leave our school district andmaybe if a few top contenders come to mind for why we do have exits, whatmight some of those be? Yes, we um recently sent a survey to westarted with our kindergarten families um that we know are choosing to attendelsewhere. Um and we created a really short survey that asked them essentiallyto um provide us with their top reasons for why they made the educational choicethat they did. Um, and the second a secondary question we asked them is ifthere was anything that we could do as a school district that would essentiallywelcome them back um into enrolling with us. I would say so far from the familiesthat have chosen to complete that. We sent it out to all the families thatchose to attend elsewhere and a portion of them have completed it. Some commonthemes are families that might be looking for an educ um a religiouseducation in some way, shape or form that's important to them. Um, another umfactor that came up for um our families was something related to maybe either umclass size or some type of services that they feel like maybe the school thatthey are attending um has that opportunity. Um and then in terms ofthings families um identified that we could do to welcome them back, weactually had some families that said maybe there's nothing really that wecould do to welcome them back. they just chose to go somewhere else. Whether theyare leaving us um because they're moving somewhere else or because they'rechoosing um a religious education and they know that that's not something thatwe can provide within public school district.>> Yeah. And so that's an area where we're looking to do more. This is kind ofdipping our toe in and we look forward to bringing that information back to theboard to share uh what we learn as we go through that process. But really havingum I know there's been work that's been done in the past too, but adding to thatwork of really doing some learning around why people leave and how we cansupport them in that process. >> Valentina, yeah,>> I just need to clarify about that exit interviews. Can you explain you saidkindergarten families, not all families, Emirate?>> Correct. We started um like Jenny mentioned with dipping our toe into ourkindergarten families. Those are families that we've interacted with mostrecently. They've got through the process or maybe they just notified usthat they're choosing to enroll elsewhere.>> Okay. And second question is what kind of questions do you put? Is itopen-ended question or do you uh put your own I mean guided questions? Whatkind of questions do you put in survey? >> Yep. We kept it short on intentional.Try to motivate people to complete it. We don't want people open.that feedback. So, the only open-ended question is the question about ifthere's anything our school district could welcome the family back that wouldhelp them reenroll into Wisetta Public Schools. Otherwise, the other questionis them selecting their top five or so um reasons that they selected to enrolltheir student in the school that they're um currently enrolled in or will beenrolled in in the fall. >> And it was a list of 10 or so items andthere was an other as well. So you're planning to do in future uexit interviews on other grades. Am I right?>> Yes, that's correct. >> Yes, that's the hope is to integrate itas we know that families are withdrawing the that followup.>> Thank you >> Jen, Jenny, Judy, Dave. Thank you forjoining us this afternoon. This is wonderful. Thank you for the outreachthat you're doing. Thank you for welcoming our families and bringing theminto our school community. And it's really great to be able to see I knowthat this is new for the welcome center and so it's great to see from anorganizational perspective how it's working out and it seems to be goingvery well. So thank you for that. >> So our next item on the agenda is aschoolboard report on a process for school members visits to schools.Superintendent Chase Anderson is our presenter. Board colleagues, as you'llrecall, this is a topic that we've been discussing for some time. Historically,schoolboard members have been able to visit schools in somewhat of an informalmanner. In current practice, this raised some questions amongst board membersabout how to accomplish school visits. Um, in the spirit of partnership, theboard submitted its goals through a process through the teaching andlearning committee of the board for school visits um to the administrationwho was then tasked with creating a process and parameters for regularvisits to create consistency across buildings and amongst school boardmembers. Dr. Anderson and Austin Terson will present us the work of theprinciples and teaching. Thank you, acting chair Kedar andmembers of the board. I would like to thank Austin Tolerson who's here tonightto uh co-present with me and uh to further extend that a thanks to him andalso to um our other director of teaching and learning Abby Bra uh who uhthe two of them offered uh on their own will to uh take this uh idea and spendsome time developing a preliminary draft. And then the three of us did someediting and drafting together. And then we uh had principles review it and uhhave presented to you tonight the preliminary uh document that uh outlinesa process for how we might be able to implement this. You may recall fewmonths back, can't remember exactly when, I indicated that by the start ofthe school year we would have a plan in place. So, uh, we are here tonight topresent what the our plan looks like, uh, for the time being and, uh, how wewould propose moving forward with the start of the school year and monitoringit as we go and then determining if there are, uh, changes or modificationsthat we might want to make with it in the future. So, hopefully you've had anopportunity to uh, review that. And, uh, uh, I think what I'm going to do is justkind of give a quick fly over of the document, not going into detail detailabout everything. you've had an opportunity to review it and uhhopefully um that along with a quick overview and an opportunity forquestions um we'll be able to u uh gain your perspectives as well. So with thatI'll just uh start and uh uh highlight a few things that are in the document justmaybe for the benefit of the listening public as well. So there's the generalintroduction and uh some overarching uh purposes uh of the guidelines areincluded uh in that first section um including and I'll give readers digestversions of those bullet points but an opportunity for board members to observeuh district and board adopted policies help foster deeper understanding aboutschool needs supporting ability to make informed decisions as board members uhthrough some firsthand perspective building relationships uh between boardmembers and school leaders, demonstrating commitment to publiceducation, celebrating positive accomplishments of students and staff,and reinforcing a shared sense of pride and purpose across the district. Therewere some guiding principles that were included, a total of five um that again,I won't read all the detail, but uh uh the the headers or the topics are onthis documents on the board book as well and available to the public for thosewho may want to review it in more detail. Um, governance and management isthe first guiding uh principle and then there's some narrative about kind ofwhat that means and what that might look like. Uh, non-disruption to theeducational process or uh classroom uh activities that are occurring. Uh,maintaining confidentiality and legal compliance uh partnership and respect,equity and coordination and equity being in the form of uh visits across thedistrict in uh multiple buildings. So you kind of balance it out so that onebuilding doesn't have all the visitors and others uh may not have visitationsuh during the course of a year. Um the scheduling process is laid out. There'sreally three different types of visits that kind of came to mind I guess as weuh put this together. Uh the first one just general building visits. It may notbe uh right within a specific classroom but visiting a building. It could besomebody who's interested in learning more about a construction project. Notthat we'd ever have any of those, but we might at some time starting soon at WestMiddle School. Um, so that might be a reason somebody would want to go orthere could be other non-classroom types of observations that would be ofinterest to school board members. The second one is just that classroomobservations. Uh we ask that in the first case, the general visits, atwo-day advanced notice scheduled with the uh oftentimes referred to as theprincipal's uh assistant or the uh building's administrative assistant. Andfor classroom observations, we'd ask for a 5-day advance with that and againscheduled through the building administrative professional. Uh we'resuggesting an initial visit of 30 minutes in an elementary classroom or afull class period at middle school or high school level. And uh the third onewould be school events or celebrations. And those are pretty much the types ofuh opportunities or school visits that many of you have made many of in regardto athletic competitions uh performing arts events, visual arts, uh displays ofart, etc. that might be in individual school buildings. Uh many of you havebeen in this room for the compass presentations and probably some uh othertypes of things around the district. So those are generally things that are uh Idon't know for all practical purposes relatively open to the public and ofcourse you know we encourage you to go to those and if you've not frequentedour uh performing arts events or athletic contests or other things thatour students put on display I'd really encourage you to do it. There are someexpectations during visits. Again, I won't uh read through all those, but Ithink they're pretty straightforward and uh would contribute to helping enhancethe experience for yourselves and also uh make sure that uh the work theteachers doing and uh the work within the building um is able to continue tomove forward. Post visit communication and reflection. I always think it's niceto do a follow-up, connect in with the teacher that uh individuals may havevisited and certainly would be more than welcome to do that. If there arequestions or concerns that might crop up, I'd ask that those be forwarded uhto me andor to the board chair who like it then would forward them on to me forfollowup or clarification or determination working in tandem with theprincipal about uh how we might be able to provide clarification or or feedback.And there may be an opportunity. I know the board would have to decide this onyou know observations made or whatever and how you may want to at board reportsor summary opportunities when uh that they present themselves at school boardmeetings on on how you might want to uh speak about this. We included a sectionon visit frequency and rotation. This is kind of a new process. Uh we thought wewould start with uh uh providing some guidance on kind of what makes sense atthe start. We're suggesting two visits uh per year at each level. So if weconsider prek, elementary, middle school, and high school, two times thosefour would be a total of eight visits times seven board members potentiallywould be mid-50s to 60 visits during the course of the year. Um we could considersome type of a rotational system um again to ensure that board members havean opportunity to visit across uh different buildings. There may be someunique opportunities that we would consider as well in tandem with thiswhere uh there might be a reason that a board visit by um I don't know a boardcommittee or maybe an invite to the entire board during the day. Forexample, we meet with student council at members at the high school. Um there maybe some other types of those uh opportunities or activities that crop upthat we could certainly give consideration to coordinating andorganizing as well. There are some board policy uh uh policies listed on uh Idon't know what page that is maybe page four and uh they uh relate to um thetopic and then there's just u kind of a closing section there. So that is andthen there's also um a summary of that in a more concise form a two-pager thatkind of hits the highlights for each one of those categorical areas. And um withthat, I don't know if Austin has anything else that uh he would like toshare. I should mention, maybe I did, but uh Obby would have been here, buthe's out of town today and tonight and through part of the week, all weekmaybe, and uh unable to be here. So, he sends his regrets, but he was veryinvolved in this process as well. So, again, thanks to he and to Austin. And Idon't know what I left out, Austin, but feel free to share any other insightsthat you may have. Yeah, I don't know that you left anything out, but justwant to take the opportunity to thank the board and thank you, Chase, for theopportunity to be here. Um, and behalf on behalf of Abby as well. As many ofyou know, we've been uh working through our uh administrative superintendentlensure program this year. Um, and so through our just involvement in hearingof this need and and and seeing that as a request of the board, uh, weapproached Chase and just asked if this something we could take on as one of ourprojects. Um, and so using the background of of the meetings and andrequests of the board and some of our personal experiences and just someresearch of other districts, I've been able to put this together and have beenenjoying being being a part of that and again appreciate the opportunity andhappy to answer any questions that might relate to that. But um, yeah,>> thanks Austin. With that, I'll turn it back over to you.>> Sounds great. Thanks. Anybody have any questions? Board colleagues,>> you can go first. >> Sure. Go ahead. So no questions butagain Chase um team thank you for putting this together again um this ismeant to be collaborative um we obviously want to experience um some ofthe decisions or policies that are being made by board or sometimes whencommunity members they bring any issues we just want to see and experience so wecan make better policies better decisions right and some of theguardrails that you guys have put together completely make sense we haveto stay in governance 's role. The goal is not to go and you know be critique onsomeone's behalf, right? That's not the intent. Um uh one thing I would say andagain something for a board to consider is um when it comes to the rotations,right? and the frequency um again I'm assuming we're not making hard and fastrule whether it is you know two visits per quarter because it could bedifferent based on the quarter or year right maybe there is a quarter where wedon't do any visits other than the plan visit like with you know student councilso as long as there is a provision and flexibility I think that's whatpersonally I will look for not necessarily like rigid rules around Hey,I have to do two visits every quarter, two buildings at different levels. Ithink then we are binding ourselves in kind of that mode where those visits mayor may not be productive and we are just doing it because it's in the policy.Right? So again my request would be to keep that provision but again make itflexible. So there could be a quarter where we we may need three visits andthere may be two quarters where we don't need any visit. Right? So again thatwould be my ask. And then the last sort of comment to the board is um what areour next steps, right? Do we add that in the board policy or how do we kind ofimplement it? Um that again at least not clear in my head, but I'll look for myboard colleagues to shed some light on it.>> Any other questions, board colleagues? >> Um yeah, so thank you for putting thistogether. I think it's important for us to have something, you know, this waskind of missing from our board SOP and handbook previously to so to havesomething in writing to make sure that expectations um are clear to everyone sothat you know the board is aware of concerns people, you know, theprinciples might have is just been important and I thank you for the workyou did to put this together. Um I I'm wondering kind of following off Paris'squestion when we think about next steps um this is kind of your it's a draftessentially um I mean are I I assume do you want board feedback will we have anopportunity to maybe to make it a little bit more flexible andthen with the ultimate goal of putting it in our board handbook. Um, is thatkind of because I do think that yeah, you know, when I look at only two visitsper level, I go, well, well, there's three middle schools, you know, so theremight be some some room there to say like board members, the expectation isthat you would not, you know, because we don't ultimately want to disturb likethe normal process of things going on in schools. We don't want to disruptclassrooms any, you know, if we can help it. and going too many times it could bepretty disruptive. So like having that overarching like you know considerationI think is important and we should say something about that in the writtendocument. Um I don't know how comfortable I feel with like limiting itto only two or or just limiting that flexibility and and it would be up forto the board um essentially to decide do we want to assign you know ele do wewant to assign buildings to different board members and and that kind ofthing. So all that to say are what are the what are the next steps? So, I canspeak to part of that and I think in our um our um superintendent evaluation andcompensation and board development committee um we are looking at puttingtogether a handbook. It's in draft form right now um and we are getting closerto sharing it out with the rest of the board. It will come likely I believe inOctober we had talked about um to a work session and yeah and then um it will bein use so that we can finally use it coming up in our December organizationalmeeting. So it'll be finalized by that December organizational meeting. But thethe intent is for this process to be a part of that.>> And we we would be able to visit schools potentially starting in the fall basedon this initial draft before before we as a board officially incorporate it.>> Is that a question for me? >> Yeah.>> Okay. >> Um yeah, that's our plan. I mean this ifthere's no further inputs on it to revise or change it, this the plan we'llimplement at the start of the school year. So um I have informed principlesthat in the event we move forward with this that they should apprise theiradministrative assistants that board members may be reaching out to them. Ithink the protocol and indicates uh you know if that uh outreach is via emailjust to copy Amy G on it as well so that she kind of has the ability to track alittle bit as to you know where board members are going and uh maybe what whatthey're observing or visiting. I've heard the term flexibility utilized. Youknow, it's not our intent to be inflexible. I don't know. It's astarting point. This will be new to teachers and principles. So, I don't Idon't necessarily have any uh prefab expectation that it won't go well andthat it's going to create some type of a um I don't know what the right word isum response. that requires uh engagement with teachers or principles to kind ofnavigate through. I don't know. But I think it's okay to start, you know, wecan review it even during the course of the year. I guess things crop up and Ithink, well, it's working great. I don't know that we need, you know, all theseguard rails or, you know, here's what we've learned. And um it it has impactedworkload and it has resulted in I mean, I don't know. I don't know what toexpect. Um, but I I think you can I think it's reasonable of you to expectthat we'll demonstrate reasonable flexibility and we'll monitor as we goand and uh respond and or make changes that seem to make sense. I don't know ifthat was helpful or not, but um yeah, and in regard to the boardhandbook, I don't know that would make good sense to if we, you know, we'restarting this as sort of a starting point, I guess, and then we'll review itand as we develop it and it becomes a little more standard operatingprocedures, I don't know, it would probably make sense to include it frommy perspective. >> And I'll I'll follow up with one morepiece. The handbook is actually it includes a lot of items that we arealready in practice of. So all of our policies, our putter of B, our code ofethics, all of that we already abide by. So we're already without it being a partof a handbook per se, like a a very hard copy item, we're already implementingit. So it would make sense for us to implement the process prior to it beinga part of a standard handbook. >> Any other questions?D. >> Oh, I can yield to you, Valentina, ifyou'd like. Um, all right. Thank you. Well, thank you so much for respondingto um a really profound interest from the school board to be able to visitboard buildings, excuse me, school buildings um for the board's interest.Um, you know, we have a lot going on in our district um certainly as we moveinto um you know, future building um and construction and so on so forth.So, the better we know our facilities, the better. So, I really do appreciateyou responding to this interest. Um I think some of my questions kind ofpopped up as I was reading the document and we've kind of now discussed the umyou know the two visits the section um number that's been placed. My preferencewould be um I think as as board members we um you hold ourselves to very highstandards and we um you know will behave um you know honorably and follow yourguys's expectations. So my preference would be not to have um the numberassigned there. I think we understand and have profound respect for ouradministrators and we'll reach out and do time to um to meet their needs so wecan um visit at a time that's you know convenient and uhin line with their ability to provide for their students. Um my question isabout the selection of the buildings and if you guys have as we go about theprocess of implementing this plan. Um you have any um preferences orrecommendations for you know what buildings you might want us to um visitfirst, what buildings you might think um you know warrant us uh going to. Thank you. Um, in regard to the number,again, as I indicated, this is new and I think it's a starting point. Um, itwould still be my preference to uh keep some type of a a limit on the number andthen we can review as the year goes on and uh consider modifications along theway in the event that that makes sense to do so. And in regard to um yourquestion about which buildings, I don't know that we've gotten to the point ofdetermining what that might look like. Um I've heard flexibility a couple oftimes, so I understand that there uh would be I think it'd be fine for thereto be some choice by board members without us over directing that piece.Um, I think if halfway through the year there are three buildings that havenever had a visitor, I would imagine maybe it would be a matter of justletting you know, by the way, no one has visited these three buildings yet. Ifyou have a building visit on in mind and you'd like to uh do that, you might wantto consider these buildings. So, I don't want to overly formalize it so that it'sclunky and difficult to implement. Um, in the same token, um, anytime you startsomething new, I think it's good to have some pre-thought on it and try todetermine what's, uh, the best likelihood of maximizing starting offwell and the possibility of success. So, I think that's why uh, we chose to, youknow, limit it at the front end and with time we can reconsider. Other boardmembers have expressed that too. In fact, I'll just share that Milan hadreached out to me and had indicated that um he was hopeful that maybe we couldtake a look at the limitation of two and expand that. Um I'm not immediatelyopposed to that, but um I would like to at least just give this and this entryuh plan of action and opportunity and then we'll uh monitor and makeappropriate adjustments along the way if we think that makes good sense. So thatwould be remain my preference. >> Dr. Anderson, if I might, um, Dan, toyour question, um, we'd also be very open. I know in teaching and learning,it it might depend too on what it is you're wanting to see or what youragenda is or your hope to see. Um, it might be nice to reach out to us inteaching and learning if it's got anything to do with teaching andlearning. Um, because we might be able to make some suggestions. So, I want tosee a new Bridges lesson, math lesson in action, or I'd like to see some of thenew reading curriculum going, or I'd like to see what our CTE programming is,then we might be able to give you some suggestions. Um, we also have ourregularly scheduled visits as well. So I think um as we keep in mind how many umgroups we have going to the building. So it might be nice if if you knew youwanted to go and see something and we could then maybe tie it into a timewe're going and we'd be happy to answer some questions. So um that might be away to you know if you have a specific purpose if you let us know um we mightbe able to help in that instance. >> Thank you so much. Um, Director Miller,um, I think my final question is, you know, sort of for my colleagues, um, aswell as with input for administration, just to ask, um, with the school yearstarting, I think a real interest for all of us is that we be able to, youknow, once the principles and the teachers have their school year underwayand there's been that, um, you know, adjustment that can be lengthysometimes, um, that, you know, we will be able to, um, visit buildings. So justkind of any input from colleagues on you know um you know when we might want tobegin uh when we might want to start um you know that would certainly um youknow be welcome as well if colleagues you had any any ideas for that >> Valentina>> I will be coming from different perspective originally when myunderstanding this one started from when uh Rachel who Falsowski invited us andwe started uh I mean asking if we can uh go to school buildings. Uh myperspective is that um when we came to that document I was taking it that uhthis document will be like a courtesy uh so that everybody knows what to expect.Uh but it would not be as prescriptive as it appears. Uh this is I'm readingfrom Wisada website. It is saying just a minute. We wisd elected members of your Wisadaschool board we are responsible for working together to set policy andoversee our district budget curriculum personnel and physical facilities.uh we look out for the best interest of our district as a whole to ensure thatwe can effectively serve each and every student. And then um the language fromstatutes is uh uh board authority. The board musthave the general charge of a business of a district, the school houses and of theinterest of a school thereof. Uh the board's authority to govern,manage, and control the district, to carry out its duties andresponsibilities, and to conduct the business of a district includes impliedpowers in addition to any specific powers granted by the legislature.So um it's I amI am glad that we are coming to the point of such a long time waiting thatwe are finally talking but at the same time I'm kind of surprised thatnobody's questioning. It's like almost like um CEO of Target is being asked notto go to uh his own stores or have a limit of uh visiting.That's how I see it. And another one is when I see the word equitable,I to be honest personally might have not be able even to go once. I don't know.Maybe I'm not even have that interest. I am perfectly fine being not equitableallowing somebody else um who has more time or uh another uh like maybefacility question comes to and I would like that committee to be able to go notjust based on numeric uh nu uh orders and numbersand another one is actually I would like to ask uh Dan you are sitting at another4 to 87. Correct. Do you have any documents um pointing out to you howmany times do you can you go to um the buildings? Um I would like to clarify.>> Absolutely. I appreciate that question. Um, you know, one of the, I think,experiences I've had that's really, I think, shined a light on how special itcan be to visit buildings and engage with the students, teachers, um, andstaff, um, of those buildings are the, uh, get on the bus visits we have to,um, our various buildings throughout District 287. It's a multi-memberdistrict made of 12 traditional school districts um who contribute students toprogramming that would be difficult for um a traditional district like Weisettaor maybe more challenging for a traditional district like Weisetta toprovide. And so we have a very diverse array of students, a very diverse um setof facilities that students are able to um use and take advantage of and to seethose in person um I think really helps. Um we work with administration to decidea rotation of buildings. Um it's well embedded in our practice that we willvisit four buildings per year. Um usually those are four buildings in aschool year. Sometimes um that's one uh summer program. So we're not exclusiveto the school year. Um and it's a it's a big part of what we've been able to doand to my understanding a big part of what other school districts have beenable to do. So to see that value in virtue of building visits through 287has inspired me to really be a strong advocate for this because I've learned alot. I feel more confident in the decisions I make and it really um isspecial. um you know to to be at a a graduation in New Hope or Brooklyn Parkand see students with very profound needs walk across that stage to see thatin person then to be able to connect with them earlier in the year beforethat big moment to see all the steps they had to um take hurdles andobstacles they had to overcome to get to that very special moment. So it's a bigpart of what we do. I'm excited for the next get on the bus. The invite will beout to Bora colleagues and we welcome folks to join because they're such aspecial thing and they're a big part of what we do.>> Clarification. So you said you have a limited uh you have limits. Am I right?>> We set it to four. Um however we have received um you know just from umadministrators. they've said, you know, if you're interested in a certainprogram, um, reach out and we'll we'll connect you with that um, building um,and we'll we'll make something work. We'll put something together.>> So, they will work with you the answer. >> Yes, they will. Um, but I will also addthat it is a uh, request that is not often utilized. Um, you know, we're veryconfident in the um, services programming provided by 287 and wereally appreciate the get on the bus visits.So if I can clarify, Dan, I want to make sure I understood correctly. So with 287kind of the opening guideline is four visits per is that per academic year inthe schools for 287? >> Yeah. Um it can be four in the academicyear. Um it could also be three in the academic year with one in the summer. Umlast summer we visited West Suburban Summer School and saw some of theirsummer extracurriculars. So that was very special.>> So it's four in a calendar year. Yeah, four in a calendar year. Someone's fourin an academic year. Like this year for example, um it's four in the academicyear, not the four in the calendar year. So it varies and we provide thatflexibility because we know it's um important to our district team.>> Right. >> Dan, if I can get some clarification,too. Um you call it get on the bus and so in my former district, we also didthose with our um consortium schools. So, if I'm remembering correctly, anyboard member that wants to go gets on that bus and goes. And so, it's not eachof you making four different visits. Correct.>> And I apologize, Director Miller. I should have been more clear. Um, youknow, the uh entire school board um which is 12 members on 287 is invitedand then we can bring um colleagues from other school boards. So there's thereare a lot of I think ways that districts do this and there's a lot of flexibilityin terms of how this matter can be handled. Um for example, our uh schoolboard chair Melen Sahony has joined me on some of these visits and they'rereally foundational to our learning. So um because of the kind of geographicseparation, we have some buildings in Richfield, we have some buildings inBrooklyn Park, we do get on a bus, we meet at the district service center,it's a really great time. Um I'm not advocating any kind of, you know, stufflike that. Um I think it would be on board members to provide their owntransportation but you know certainly we can um you know have that uh crossdistrict exchange of knowledge and in terms of you know how do you do it howdo we do it um let's find a way to meet in the middle thank you for the question >> and uh I also communicate with our uboard members of our district and I also heard that not only they go and is someof them don't even have any paper of that sort. uh looks like theadministration is working with them together or if they have like forexample I suggested Hastings they had literally one pager which um give likecourtesy what is the expectation expectation very short uh uh descriptionbut doesn't have that kind of uh limitations but other um schooldistricts even inviting other school board members for example if uh there isa new curriculum in question of purchasing so that in in order I meannot to make expensive mistakes other uh school board members of a differentdistrict can go to another and observe it so that they can see yes it'sactually good uh it works so um I would like uh to uh I mean you to keep it inmind that and again uh this one comes from perspective as if um we are tryingat least I am trying to go numerous time as I said maybe I would not even uh andas I I'm I'm I'm perfectly fine being not equitable and allowing somebody elseto go more especially if that need will arise like um uh facilitycommittee had uh I mean it's I I think it it's much more easy to go and look atthe um and make decision then talk too long and I would perfectly fine I wouldbe perfectly fine kind of giving away not even giving away I mean as I saidI'm not sure why we uh hang up on the numbers and um that is my asking>> if I just offer um in regard to equitable I think it was inregard to visiting across buildings so that we don't have a building that maynot have any visits when others might have had several so I think that is howthe word equitable might have been used in the report, but I could be wrong onthat. But, you know, I understand maybe there will be board members that won'twon't go at all and others that will go eight times maybe early in the fall andand I wonder if there are more opportunities and much like uh I thinkit might have been Dan who indicated uh you know if there's after if you've usedyour four and you're just absolutely really wanting to see something else in287 or I mean we are reasonable and flexible and I think our administrationdoes work really well with the board and is not looking to be exclusive orclosed. We're just trying to wrap our arms around it so that we're sure thatwe do it well. And if we uh need and want to expand it in the future, um I'mnot initially uh concerned about that. I think it's a starting point. Um and it'seight visits in a year. That's one per month. And if we decide we want to domore, then we can talk more about it later. I don't know. I'm suggesting thisis a starter and then we uh let it evolve after we learn more about howit's working and maybe uh you know uh create new ways to make it moreconducive if if that's what if that's what the board would like to do. Uhthanks thank you for explanation of other side of equitable which I can seetoo but uh then with this one I'm going to say too for example I you just saidthat uh visiting to can be disruptive and let's say that every year there aredifferent needs and um I don't see a reason of going to building just becauseof a um I I feel like uh you go to the building if there is a need so that youdon't uh you you in order to make let's say that okay the board members had beenin this building three times let's go to these three uh building three times eventhough there is no reason then actually by definition we are disrupting so uhthat side also I'm not completely it's not completely clear to me how it'sgoing to work out >> I might just clarify too I don't knowthat um there should or would need to be areason to go to a particular school. I think the intent is uh to have anopportunity to observe and I would suggest that those things that boardmembers might be interested in observing could be done in any of our buildings.And um there may be unique programs that are at one building versus another, butum I I think it's for the reasons cited on the first page that really should bethe rationale driving uh rationale or reasons why a school board member mightwant to go to a building regardless of which one it might be.Just a thought. >> I just want to say thank you for yourtime and energy. Um, and thanks to Austin and Avi too for putting thistogether and working with our principles to balance all the needs. Um, havingdone years of get on the bus tours, I think they are phenomenal. I'm so gladthat question got asked and I think as we continue on flexibility, um, lookingat that get on the bus model could be really fantastic and with a 40 mileright radius or something of our district, we we could use a bus ride tolook around. So, so thank you for that and and great suggestion of the of theget on the bus. >> Thank you.>> One more comment. Sure. Um >> I just Yeah, thank you again foreverything. I think this is a great starting point. Um it is nice to have,you know, a scheduling process, you know, in place so that again we knowwhat we're supposed to do as board members. Um, I appreciate I mean as aboard member I want to work in conjunction with the administration andthe principles um to make sure that you know we're not just showing up atbuildings and and not that we would but you know that we have something inwriting and and I think that's a really great start and it sounds like thismight evolve um over time and you know we'll I'm excited for the fall to seehow how it goes and look forward to you know re-evaluating if we need to. Um,and then I also, um, you mentioned Milan emailed you. He also had a statementthat he was hoping that I would read, which is primarily pretty mucheverything most people have said already, but just so that he can have asay even though he's not here. Um, he said, "Thank you, Chase, for your effortand diligence and pursuing this initiative. Since Director Prior firstrequested it to be considered in early 2024, I hope we are able to bring thisto fruition soon. I believe visits to schools and classrooms are an integralpart of board governance and agree with all the guiding principles Chase hasstated and agree with all the guiding principles Chase has stated in hisdraft. The process of scheduling visits and board member expectations duringvisits also seem fair and appropriate. The area of concern for me is related tovisit frequency and rotation. So, I won't go any further because we'vealready discussed that at length, but just wanted to again let him have hisstatement read. >> Again, thank you, Dr. Anderson. Thankyou, Austin. Thank you, Obby, wherever you are, for all the work that you'veput into this. We did ask for we we came to you asking for this. And so, thankyou for presenting us with what we've asked you for. And I also am lookingforward to starting this process in the fall with the new school year which weall should be excited about. So um we have one more item on the agenda and Iwant to make sure that we have time to get to it because we have anothermeeting that is scheduled after this um that we need to be respectful of thetiming of. Um so the last item on the agenda is a superintendent report on thestrategic roadmap and the district goals update. As you all know Dr. Anderson hasbeen giving us approximately quarterly updates uh along with many many inbetween um throughout the school year updates from the various departments umon how things are going in our district. So I'll hand it over to you.>> Thank you again, acting chair and members of the board. So I have aPowerPoint that I put together. Much of this will look pretty similar to thereport that I did uh back in April um because it's an overview again of the umuh work of the school district centered around the strategic roadmap and uh thegoals that the board had uh shared with me in uh prior to the start of theschool year and to provide you with some updates. I also provided a narrativedocument that uh is in board book and available to the public for those whomay want to review it in greater detail. And I believe this PowerPoint isprobably also on board book uh for anybody who might want to go back andreview this. I might suggest that the narrative or the word document may bemore helpful actually than the PowerPoint just because there are someadditional uh detail and some information there that uh may be helpfuland in providing a little bit more context around uh some of the thingsthat are uh in the uh the the PowerPoint that I'm going to be going through. Sofor many years I've kind of lost track now. This is the beginning of my 18thyear in this role. I've oftentimes at the end of the year provided such anarrative to the school board as kind of an overview of of the things that uhoccurred both strategic work and standard work. Um a lot of the work thatwe do finds us rather than us going out and seeking it um because it's whatevercomes our way. So, as you know, there are a lot of moving parts within apublic school district and a lot of work that uh gets done that we don'tnecessarily tie to a strategic direction or to the roadmap or to other things,but yet it's it's really great work and and high quality work. We heard quite alot about that in the first report tonight just in regard to welcoming newfamilies and students to our school district and how we onboard them andhelp ensure that uh they can get off to a great start. So, I'm not going to uhread through the full six, seven, eight page document that I provided to you.You've had a chance to review that and may have some questions uh after I gothrough these slides, but I did want an opportunity to um uh give kind of atleast a quick fly over of of the slides that I've included. So, uh again, Iwon't spend a lot of time on some of these higher level preliminary reports,but as a review, we developed a road map similar to this back in 2011. It's beenupdated now three times in 2015, 19, and 23. Our mission has stayed thesame. Our vision has been very comparable with only minimal change. Thecore values have stayed in place uh for almost the entirety of that. As well,um the strategic directions were a little bit uh different at the start ofthe last school year compared to what we'd had before. I think we had fourbefore. Uh we extended that into seven. I think we learned a lot about each oneof these throughout the course of the year and I recognize that uh I think thethe themes and the topics are really good and they're the right ones. Onething I wrestled with a little bit is how do we create um objective measuresaround each one of these that are uh look differently or that uh are higherlevel than all of the different reports. So within the narrative there was a along list of all the reports that we've done from July through uh June over thecourse of the year. There were three that were specifically engineered for uhacademic uh uh student achievement data that uh our teaching and learningdepartment uh presented along with some of our other staff members. And then uhwe did the building reports which is another great way for uh schoolboardmembers to become aware and acquainted with the different types of things thatare happening um within each one of our schools. Those uh school spotlightevents are really great ways for us to highlight all the great things that arehappening in the schools. We also in uh 2021 the board approved uh our equityequipment which is a amplification of our core values and really reinforcesour mission, vision and strategic directions. And uh for us the uh uhconcept of of equity really is uh focused on meeting the specific needs ofall students. And that's uh in response to our mission which indicates uh uheach and every excellence for each and every student which is really ourtagline and has served as our uh primary focus. looking briefly at uh the sevenstrategic directions. And again, these were the uh seven areas that uhprimarily were developed by um our strategy leadership team and we hadvisions of developing these maybe a little more deeply during the course ofthe year than uh where we may have landed with them. It doesn't suggestthat there isn't specific work happening with every one of these. And I'll lookat these and just kind of give a couple of highlevel overviews. I think thosefirst two really tie into uh the work of our built teams and our leadership teamswithin each of our schools. The principles working in tandem with theirteachers. Um it kind of reminds me when I used to be a principal and Iinterviewed teachers and they would ask me what do you look for in a teacher andI would always say you have to be able to develop relationships with yourstudents and deliver high quality instruction. And that's really whatthose first two things are. Uh that daily experience is critical. We wantour students to feel great when they come to school and feel comfortable andsettled and enjoying it so they'll want to come back tomorrow. And that's anongoing uh strategy for each and every one of our teachers to help create thattype of environment. And I think our teachers are second to none in doingthat. And we have to deliver high quality instruction. And if we think interms of the CEL work, there was quite a lot of that that uh references to thatwithin um the packet that I provided to you that really hits on these twothings. And oftentimes built goals or building improvement plans will have astudent experience goal as well as a instructional goal that are tied into uhboth quantitative and qualitative standards and measures uh within each ofthose buildings. Recruiting, hiring, and supporting uh great staff. Again, um tokind of build a little bit more on the CEL work, we're implementing a new 5Dplus um teacher supervision evaluation process in each one of our buildingsthis coming fall, which will roll out and it's tied directly to the CEO workof our built teams and what's happening uh within the schools. So, we think it'sgoing to bring greater alignment to um the work that's being done in thebuildings so that we have that uh uh horizontal alignment. We also havevertical alignment so that everybody is able to utilize similar language and andreally help enhance those first two things which are related to the dailyexperience and high quality instruction. Uh building awareness and capacity onthe health and well-being of our school community. And you know I think probablywe serve our students best with that rather than the larger school community.We have limited capacity I think to have impact on all 72,000 of our community'sresidents. But our focus is primarily on uh enhancing the experience andproviding student support services that help students grow and flourish. Uhwe're in the process and have been and this year for the first time in my timeand maybe ever. Every one of our buildings will have uh a counselor uh inthem. All of our elementarymentaries will have one this fall. Our middleschools and high school have had them for a while, but we're happy to be ableto bring that to uh all of our elementary schools as well. We have hadsocial workers and a dean and and working in tandem with the principal,but uh we will be able to accomplish that this year. Learning from communityengagement, as I think the board's all aware, we have a community relationsboard committee that uh meets periodically and discusses uh discussesoptions for how we can expand that. We heard from our welcome center andenrollment team tonight the u uh different measures that we'reimplementing to help uh maximize community engagement and strengthen andand demonstrate those uh strategic partnerships which is really important.Um ensuring the effective and efficient use of district resources. Um, I wouldsuggest that one of the uh uh perhaps best indicators that we're not bad atthat is the fact that once again our AAA bond rating was recently affirmedthrough Moody's uh rating agency in preparation for uh sale of the bonds forthe West Middle School construction project. So um they take a look look ata broad array of factors related to financial management within anorganization and that's a huge uh component part of achieving thatparticular uh benchmark. So we can feel good about that. We don't necessarilyset as our primary goal um we must be aa bond rated organization. I don't know ifwe'll always have it or if we'll be something there that's forever butoftentimes it finds us more so than us going out and seeking it. Um, and it's aresult of of uh, you know, all the things that you do, not just to try toget the AAA bond rating, but all the things that add up and stack up in orderfor that to be the end result um, after a review. So, I think you should allfeel really good about uh, that and I think that that does demonstrate aneffective and efficient use of district resources, what we oftentimes calloperational excellence. And finally, uh, just streamlining our decision- makingprocess. I would say for that one that's more of a administrative alignment ofour team. Um I indicated in the narrative document that we've had someleadership turnover in the district this year. So I think that that's kind of uhmade that a little less of a linear path during the course of the year. We've uhwe're in the process of getting our team rebuilt and I think have one of ourvacated positions yet. our director of finance. Uh we're still in the processof filling that position, but as I indicated in the the packet, uh our SLTgroup and I believe our leadership council group and our all of ourprinciples and associate principles are in place and ready to roll for uh thecoming school year. Um so those are the seven strategic directions uh the goalareas that were suggested uh to me and that will provide a little bit ofinformation on. I also want to be cognizant of the time here. it alwaysclicks by quickly. But, uh, the district operational plan, uh, that are tied tothose strategic directions, I spoke a little bit about, uh, that and, youknow, that that's in progress and I'll be recommending that that continue onthrough into the 24 or 25 26 school year. You have to get used to sayingthat. Um, engaging and partnering with our community. Again, I think we've hada long history of doing a really good job of that. We're always looking fornew and improved and better ways to uh engage with our community. Monitoringstudent growth. You heard a lot of uh about that during the course of theyear, whether through uh committees or uh presentations at board meetings. Thiswill be a big deal in the coming year because we really need to uh do a greatjob of vetting what our needs are with uh uh facilities and uh working hard toensure that we have a adequate space as our community continues to grow. andthen prioritizing academic excellence for each and every student. I think thatties into all those presentations we did during the school uh school year uh atboard meetings uh with all of the uh building reports as well as um thereports from our teaching and learning team on student uh achievement and andthe progress being made. And uh you know again we'll continue to uh develop theseand have some conversation here in the next month as I work with you to helpset the direction and you can uh provide me with guidance and and direction onwhat you'd want to be looking for for the coming year. Uh these slides aremaybe slightly updated from when I uh presented this in April. So I'm probablynot going to go through uh all of these again. Uh you'll see the term world'sbest workforce. And when uh Dana and her team presented earlier, we madereference to the fact the name of that's actually been changed now tocomprehensive achievement and civic readiness. So we don't know if there's aword associated with that acronym, but it's CACR is sort of the acronym forthat and it's somewhat uh replaced uh what was formerly known as the world'sbest workforce. Um and then you can see the other uh bullet points there. Idon't think anything has really uh changed in regard to and these again arejust indicators of the things that we've been working on. Maybe one thing I'llpoint out with the MTSS program, uh you'll see another acronym up there, theABRE, Aubrey is a software tool that'll be new to us. Uh I don't know if do wecurrently have that in place or it be for this fall?>> Yeah, we will be piloting at Sunset Hill East and one house at the high school.>> Thank you. And we think that's a real robust uh tool that's really going tohelp us with the um um tracking of MTSS data. Um I'm going to maybe kind of skimthrough these pretty quickly because I know we have another meeting coming upuh at 6 and if you wanted me to I can come back in August also and give uh alittle more detail and go through some additional information if that would behelpful to the board. Um so with the development of the strategic directionsagain ensuring a high quality daily experience for uh each and every studentis uh strategic direction one strategic direction two and some of the uhspecific goals that we're working on and I think all of these would have evidenceor data that could be supported. Maybe I'll highlight where it says yet to bedetermined TBD possible modifications for 2526. I see a lot of these obviouslythe strategic direction staying in place but I think uh you know that thereprobably needs to be a few modifications to it as we think about how can we bestuh measure some of the things that we're focusing on and how can we change if uhneeded uh the way that it's presented to school board during the course of theyear. So I think those will be some conversations we can have as we meethere in the near future. Uh again, I think I kind of went through all thesebefore, but recruiting and hiring, all of that staff development and the Imentioned the TDE process changing to match up with the CEL uh direction. Uhhealth and well-being strategic direction number four, um strategicdirection five, again, just finding uh ways to continue to uh engage with andand develop uh really strong strategic partnerships in the community.Operational excellence, strategic direction. number six and uh againnumber uh direction number seven the development of a committee. I don't knowI I'm kind of reluctant to develop yet one more committee. We've kind of beenusing SLT as that sounding board. So I think we'll probably incorporate that.That's where I I believe some of these need some reworking as we head into the25 26 school year. Uh goal area number two continue to engage and partner. Um Idon't think I added too much uh on this list from before. We have surveys uh myattendance at district leaison meetings. We always have a rotating board memberthere too. You all had a turn for that during the course of the year. Um PTAmeetings. I'll start my journey in September. I already have I think mostof them scheduled and I'll probably do a round two uh in January uh assuming thatperhaps we'll be coming to the community for a question on facilities and I wantto make sure that I have an opportunity to engage with them and and provide themwith information. I did add the community relations committee of theschool board at the bottom the the final uh bullet point there. They aren't inany particular order but those are just examples of ways that we uh continue toengage and partner. Goal number three. Um again this is going to be the big onefor us I think uh in the the coming year a couple of changes that uh I includedon here. You were aware of my last reporting of the work that we had donewith teamworks international. Um we work with bold architects and engineers andKrauss Anderson as our architects and as our construction managers who uh reallyare outstanding in in their roles and their work. We have a long-standinghistory with them. We're going to be looking at and uh probably makingrecommendations for what we need to do to uh improve or uh uh expand ourexisting facilities. Um remodeling some of those facilities. You know, we haveuh operational functional needs around the district that we have to take a lookat. Um there's been conversation about some schools not having functionalkitchens to be able to prepare food on site and adequately serve. So those arethe kind of things that are likely to be packaged for board consideration as wethink about bringing facilities questions to the community. Uh we did asecond study because this is such a big deal in regard to what's the growth looklike in our community with Hazel Reinhardt who did an enrollment study.She did not do any work with the boundaries. That's not work she does.She only does enrollment studies. That's why we went with teamworks originally isso that they could also help us with that. And we've changed the structure ofour SLT meetings. So twice a month, those meetings are specifically focusedon uh facilities and uh possible pre-referendum planning. So we reallyneed to zero in on what uh uh the plan will look like, what facilities we mightask the community for if you all decide to move forward and do that. And uh wehave kind of a tight timeline on that because I believe it's somewhere aroundNovember 25th that the board has to uh make a determination on uh if and uh inwhat format we would bring a question to the community. So that's quick overviewof number three. Uh goal number four again just really ties into academicexcellence for each and every student and uh you know the uh comprehensiveachievement and civic readiness uh program or the world's best workforce.Um we presented uh on those dates that information to the board and I also justwanted to share on that bottom line that school built that's buildinginstructional leadership team uh are all operating and reviewing site goals twicemonthly. um I think at least and then also uh teams of grade level teachers ordepartmental areas or whatever uh include that in their PLC meetings aswell. So again the built and the uh site goals are tightly tied to all of the CELwork and uh helping to enhance that student experience as well as theiracademic achievement. So there's a quick flyby. Um, I apologize for the brevityon some of those slides, but I I know that we have a 6:00 uh kind of a hardend maybe perhaps, but if we don't get a chance for uh questions to the degreeboard members are hoping for, you know, where to find me. You can always followup with me if you'd like. So, with that, I'll turn it back over to you.>> Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Board colleagues, we have eight minutes forquestions. And like Dr. Anderson has said, if we would like him to come backin August, I think that's a good option. But um because we do have visitorscoming for the candidate information session um I want to make sure that werespect everybody's time. So with that, do we have any questions?>> Dan, >> I'll be very quick. Um this is aquestion for you, Dr. Anderson, as well as perhaps uh you Dr. uh DirectorMiller, excuse me. Um you mentioned um piloting for the MTSSprogram at Sunset East and one did you say house at the high school? Did I hearthat correctly? >> Yeah, it's not piloting the MTSSprogram. We're all doing that, but um we've purchased Aubrey, which is a umstudent data software program, if you will. I knowWade would have a much more specific title for that work, but um and thatwill allow us to house all of our student data in one place with umvisibility of that very quickly. Um and it has been a huge lift. We purchasedthat last winter after about a year and a half of of vetting programs. And thenthe lift we're doing with technology right now between teaching and learningand technology is to get all of our systems to talk to Aubrey, bring thatdata in. So it really gives a visualization tool to our buildings andto um our teachers in those PLC meetings so they can get just in time data ratherthan waiting for Dr. Lackner to create charts and pivot tables and those kindof things that are not very um agile. So that work is what's happening right nowwhich will make that MTSS work much stronger. And so we're working the kinksout of that at Sunset Hill East. And then um one house of the high school uhGreg Swoden has been our principal um on the MTSS group. So, we were planning tostart with his house because of the change in APs at the high school withJulie Johnson going over there. There could be a slight shift in that, but wewill start with one house. Um, with the goal of trying to get us up and runningin all of our schools by the end of the year. That might be ambitious, but wewant to make sure we're slow and steady and get it right. Um, because there's agreat deal of training involved with that. So, by next fall, a goal would bethat we're up and getting everybody at least up and running.>> Excellent. Thank you so much for really the plethora of information, Dr.Anderson. Thank you so much. Um look forward to hearing more in August.>> All right. Thank you. >> Any other questions? Valentina.>> Um my understanding that equity was um voted for so that that we are going tohave um out uh good outcomes. But looking at the MCA uh data looks like sofar it didn't come to uh fruition and given the fact that many even um bigcorporates uh dropped DI and now DI had been also uh pointed out that it is umcited as an example of a discriminator a discriminatorypractice that violates civil rights laws. Are we at thepoint of uh dropping uh DI at Weisata public schools?>> Well, the way I would respond to that is um as I shared before, our definition ofequity and our uh core values is meeting the specific needs of all students. Um Ithink that's a goal that's really hard to argue against. I believe that we needto be responsive to the unique needs of our students. They come to us uh in uhwith all different types of needs, with all different types of experiences. AndI think it's essential for us to be responsive to that uniqueness. Um Idon't know what I mean, we're not the corporate world, so I don't know all thedetails of what they're doing with DEI. Um we have an equity and inclusion uhdepartment. It's tied tightly with our teaching and learning department and ithelps us move toward meeting that goal of this meeting the specific needs ofall students. If we read our uh mission statement uh it says the following toensure a world-class education that prepares each and every student tothrive today and excel tomorrow. That's been our mission since 2011 when wedeveloped uh our strategic roadmap. I think it has stood the test of timebecause I think it's a really good mission statement and it's essential andimportant for us to be responsive to each and every um and really it tiesinto some comments that I made in the uh slides that I shared as well thatthey're really two key component parts and those are creating an outstandingstudent experience and doing our very best to ensure that there is academicsuccess. Yes, we still do have some gaps to close. I think probably many schoolsif not all of them in the state of Minnesota maybe across the nation wouldsay that's an ongoing goal and challenge and a way we continue to look for waysforward with that I believe through creating an outstanding educationalexperience for each and every student as well as uh uh helping deliver anoutstanding academic program. Those are the two best ways to get at that and itall ties into being responsive to the unique needs of individual students anduh delivering excellence for each and every student. So I know there's a lotof narrative in the media and across the country about DEI and what it is andwhat it isn't. Um, when I think in terms of equity and inclusion, oftentimes whenI'm trying to make uh points for uh I don't know justifying and or uh stayingthe course, I think in terms of what would the opposite of that be and Iwould have a very difficult time coming to you indicating that uh we shouldreally focus on uh inequity and um uh uh exclusion. I don't think that thosewould be very commendable um approaches. So I do stand by what we are doing.We're not breaking any laws. Um we are uh implementing our academic program inways uh with through differentiated instruction that uh we feel we'll beresponsive to those unique needs. we have more work to do and we feel bycontinuing to modify or change our approaches whether it's welcoming newfamilies to the school district improving our instructional practicesthrough CEL um improving our uh engagement betweenprinciples and teachers through the new uh teacher uh the TDE uh plan. Those areall ways that we do that and we're going to continue to uh stay the course withthat work and and continue to refine our craft in hopes that we'll make itstronger and better. Um this one is with assumption that oneof the thing we're forgetting that uh the result is looking for that it isequal outcome and I'm from Soviet system it equal uh anybody who has at least twokids can tell you right away that it is not possible and um my motherland livedthrough that and at the same time one more time there are quite a bit of rightnow colleges had been sued because there were civil rights um being violatedbecause there were um merits uh had been also all of a sudden abandoned and uhwhen um people are being judged based and people uh students being put intogroups instead of actually being judged b uh based on merits and based onindividual individual achievements. uh this is what is happening and as I saidthe thing that we as a district already run with this um for several years sofar looking at uh M uh MCA uh data it doesn't show that uh things came tofruition and um it is sad to see that we stillput students into groups and we do not value students as individuals.And um at certain point uh as I said it comes to uh violating civil rightsand I'm hoping that at at certain point there are going to be enough parentsenough students uh to say this uh because I would like to see at least ifit is uh if there isn't um something to show I would like to see that data uhthat uh use doing these practices actually brought some positive outcomes.Thank you >> board colleagues. We are out of time. Ifyou have interest in Dr. Anderson coming back to us in August for a continuationof a work session, please email me and uh Chair Sahony and we will have thatput onto the agenda for the next work session. Um if I don't hear from you, Iwill assume that it's a no. Um uh I just want to kind of wrap this up. So ne nextsteps as we always like to talk about is this um year in review is kind of thekickoff for Dr. Anderson's annual evaluation. Um this year will look verysimilar to what you are used to. Um so we do the year- end review which hashappened tonight. Um you will be receiving a questionnaire in your inboxjust as we did last year. Um it is still in the process of being developedamongst the uh board committee. Um and then we'll have a date for you to getthat finished. Timelines have shifted a little bit because um we were unable toget meetings on the calendar and so we're able to shift things around alittle bit and we'll get that um timeline to you as well. Um it's thenfollowed up with a closed session, a couple closed sessions. One for us tomeet and develop uh Dr. Anderson's feedback, another one to meet with Dr.Anderson as a board and to share that feedback with him and then we have a ashare out um likely in October um to the community of of what our feedback was toDr. Anderson. So if you again if you have any questions on the process or howthat goes feel free to reach out to any one of us on the board committee. Um andthat will conclude our agenda for this evening. Today was July 28th. I'm notsure that I said that at the very beginning but it was July 28th and thetime is now 6:03. Thank you all for joining us for this work session.