Good evening. The time is now 7:02. The Visetta Public Schools Board of Education regular meeting for Monday, August 11, 2025 will please come to order. Will the clerk please call the role? Heidi Kedar is absent. Sheila Prior here. Sarah Johansson >> here. >> Harris Bendy >> here. >> Valentina Ays >> here. >> Dan Janestra >> here. >> Milan Sahony >> present. >> Chase Anderson >> here. Thank you. We have a quorum. Let's all rise to recite the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands nationisible and justice for all. [Music] >> He said, "Make it a great day." >> Whatever. >> Whatever. >> He said, "Make it a great day." because that's what they say at school every day. >> Oh, I see. Okay. Well, all right. Make it a great day. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you all for coming and attending this uh school board meeting. If you wish to speak during the audience opportunity to address the board, please fill out a form placed in the back of the room and hand it over to our district administrant Amy sitting to my right. The first item on our agenda is the approval of the agenda and the consent agenda items. Consent agenda items are considered routine in nature and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a board member or a citizen so requests in which event the item will be removed as a consent agenda item and addressed. The consent agenda items are listed in the materials on board book. The recommended action is to approve the agenda and the consent agenda items. Is there a motion? >> I move. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. Will the clerk please take a roll call vote? >> Valentina Ays, >> yes. >> Dan Janestra, >> yes. >> Sarah Johansson, >> yes. >> Harris Bend, >> yes. Sheila Prior, yes. Heidi Kedar is absent. Milan Sahonyi, >> yes, we have an agenda. Thank you, Sheila. >> The next item on the agenda is recognitions. And I will now join Dr. Anderson at the podium this evening. Good evening everybody and welcome to our school board meeting. Thanks for being here with us tonight. My name is Chase Anderson. I'm the superintendent for the school district and it's always uh my great honor to convene the recognitions portion of our monthly schoolboard meetings. So again, welcome. And uh we have uh three recognitions this evening. Two for employees of the month and one uh to recognize those who have announced their intent to retire. So at this time I would like to invite our two employees of the month to please come forward. Steph Weekekley and Anna Heatland. Congratulations. [Applause] So to start, I'm going to read the script that was presented to us on their behalf. Some very kind words and clearly uh deserving of employees of the month. So congratulations and thanks for being here. The Student Support Services is incredibly proud and excited to honor Steph Weekly and Anna Heatland as the August employees of the month. Our first August employee of the month is special education coordinator Steph Weekly. Steph is an educator of all learners in our district, and we deeply appreciate her long-standing service as a coach, teacher, and leader. For the past 5 years as a special education coordinator, she has grounded every single decision in student- centered approach. Steph's famous can and will do spirit is evident everywhere from our classrooms to the lacrosse fields and hockey rinks. She is a relentless advocate for consistently who consistently brainstorms new ways to serve everyone and her collaborative leadership provides trustworthy guidance during the most challenging situations. Her humor and passion elevate the work and we're able to do together on behalf of our students. Steph's contributions are centered on her commitment to student and teacher success and her ability to foster a positive, inclusive school culture. She is always putting the needs of students first while ensuring staff success by anticipating challenges and responding with thoughtful solution focused care. She builds strong, compassionate relationships with students, staff, and families, bridging gaps, and leading with integrity. As a valued resource and mentor, she makes a point to be visible in her support for others, bringing a calm and encouraging demeanor to every single interaction. Her colleague shared the following thoughts, and this is specifically from the principal, Ste Sarah Beth Dana. Staff staff has a deep understanding of both the staff and the unique demands of each individual she supports. Her connection with students is particularly noteworthy. She ensures they feel seen, heard, and valued. Her ability to balance responsiveness with leadership is admirable. And this comes from Ross Williams. Staff is a pleasure to work with in her role as our coordinator. She is an excellent communicator, always supportive, and never afraid to help staff, students, and families in any way she can. We know she is grounded in a student first solutions. A heartfelt congratulations to Steph. Your presence sets a positive and collaborative tone in support of our students, staff, and entire community. Please join me in congratulating Steph. [Music] [Applause] And you may now take the mic and share a few thoughts if you'd like. >> Yes. Take out my votes. >> Um, thank you so much Dr. Anderson and school board for the recognition. Thank you so much to the special education leaders leadership team for the nomination. Um my heart is exploding. Thank you so much. Um I, you know, throw out a huge thank you to Jerry Johnson. She's not here, but she's, you know, she is my right hand. She's my mentor, friend, and partner in this work. I couldn't do my job without her. Um and I just have to say I love my teams and I love my principles. And anybody that asks me about my job, I will tell them I love my job because of my teams. And I love my job because of my principles in the buildings that I work in. Um they are truly incredible and I look forward to every day coming to work. Um I love this community and anybody that knows me knows this. Um I come to work almost every day with a Weisetta shirt on. Um it usually says Weisetta Lacrosse, but it usually has something to do with Weisetta. Um, I own three pairs of blue and gold shoes, which I've gotten lots of people to buy. Um, so, uh, Wisetta has my whole heart for many reasons. It's where I started my teaching career. It's where my children attend school. Um, I coach both hockey and lacrosse within the community, so I'm super interconnected with a lot of the athletes. Um, my kids play sports, and obviously we live in this community, and I have a neighborhood of Weisetta families. Um, I love this district and I will always say that and I will always support it. Um, thank you so much for the opportunity to work here. Um, it's been wonderful and I can't wait to see where it goes. [Applause] Realizing I'm gonna have to up my game in my shoes. I wear black or brown every day. Those are my two choices. But anyway, um our next recognition is for Anna Heatland from our students uh support services department as well. Anna is a true rock star and the cornerstone of our multilingual team. Her dedication and impact on our staff, students, and families are evident in everything she does. Anna consistently works to better serve everyone, bringing her humor, passion, and expertise to every space she is in. It's clear that her commitment to her students and colleagues is not just a job, it's a calling. Her colleagues describe her as a powerful force for good. And this came from Rob Remington. Anna is a hardworking and caring advocate for her students and their families. Her ability to connect with students in both the self-contained class and co-taught classes help students feel welcome and confident in their learning. Additionally, Anna is an integral member of our staff who consistently makes positive contributions to the Central Middle School community. Becca Dvolas shared the following. Anna's commitment to putting students and families first is a priority at the middle school level. Anna has played a vital role in strengthening our program through her leadership in co-eing and her dedication to supporting colleagues on best practices for multilingual learners. Her passion and professionalism have made a lasting impact on our school community. We're incredibly grateful for all that Anna brings to our team. Anna's leadership within the multilingual team is exemplary. She serves as a mentor, coach, and partner to our new staff, generously sharing her knowledge and fostering a supportive environment that helps new educators thrive. As a tireless advocate and a leader of co-eing, she consistently partners with all teachers to ensure they have the tools and strategies needed to support every student. This collaborative spirit not only strengthens our teaching community, but also directly improves instructional practices and student outcomes. We're immensely grateful for Anna's leadership and dedication to student to her students and their families. Congratulations to Anna for being named an August employee of the month. Congratulations. [Applause] Thank you, Dr. Anderson, and the entire school board. And thank you um for writing such a kind and thoughtful recommendation. It is such an honor to stand here tonight and receive this award. Working for Weisetta has been an amazing journey. It is in my almost nine years in the district, I have met some amazing mentors, colleagues, and lifelong friends who have shaped me into the person I am today. Without mentors like Jen Ivers and Lucia Gardner, I would not be here today. There is such strength in having the community of people to learn from and lean on when things get tough. And these two women have shaped me into the multilingual teacher I am today. I am forever grateful for their support and encouragement. My role as a multilingual teacher has many parts, including having the privilege to empower students, collaborate with staff, and learn from and with families, which are some of the many reasons why I love my job. There is something so special about getting to guide and accompany and encourage multilingual learners and their families as they navigate new countries, systems, and schools. Each and every day they show up brave and full of grit while bringing a wealth of knowledge to us that they get to share with the entire community. It is truly inspiring. It is because of them that I get to do this work and why I continue to advocate for the ways to fully celebrate them and help them grow in their English skills. I wholeheartedly believe all students can succeed at grade level content standards regardless of their language background. As a result, creating systems to support all learners and collaborating with my colleagues and various teams of teachers through co-eing, collaborating, working with my PLC and co-planning are the best ways I know how. I truly it truly takes a community like Central Middle School to make this possible. Work like this is not done in isolation and by definition is collaborative. So, I can't accept this award without also acknowledging my amazing co-teers, both Audrey Ryberg and Jill Johnson, who trust me to teach alongside of them as a team, graciously share their classrooms, learn and grow alongside me every day, and my PLC members across the years, including Mariah Schweki, Lisa Blackenberg, Nahed Hussein, Ashley Anderson, Lucia Gardner, and Becca Deose, who have been the amazing pleasure to partnership with over the years, and the entire Central Middle School staff. who welcomed me eight years ago as the first ELEL teacher ever um and who have helped me become the teacher I am today. I am deeply humbled to be able to work alongside such amazing educators. Thank you. [Applause] Congratulations. [Applause] And our uh final recognition for the evening, and I haven't spotted either of these two individuals here, but two individuals have indicated their intent to retire, both having served 32 years in the district. First one is Kristen Baldwin, teacher at Plymouth Creek Elementary, and Michelle How, who is a teacher in our Weisetta transition program. Congratulations to both of them and thank them for their service to the district. And if you join me in a round of applause for them, I would appreciate it. And that concludes our recognitions for this evening. Thanks again for being here with us. Congratulations to the honores and thank you Dr. Anderson. Moving on, the student support services department in Visetta oversees a v wide variety of programs to ensure that all students receive the support needed to reach their full academic potential. This evening, director of student support services, Jenny Nyas will provide an update to the board. Jenny Good evening, board chair, members of the board, and superintendent Anderson. Thank you for the opportunity to share a look into our part of our community, the student support services department. Tonight I, our team, our students and our families will share how our work of fostering environments of inclusion and independence are having a positive impact on the student experience, align with our district goals, and ensure that each and every student thrives. >> We're gonna get this Our district mission is to ensure a world-class education that prepares each and every student to thrive today, excel tomorrow in an everchanging global society. Our work is deeply connected to the district's mission to prepare every student for an everchanging global society. Tonight, you will hear firsthand how the priorities of including an independence are creating empathetic and aware global citizens throughout their years experiencing a world-class education. A part of creating a world-class education is our portrait of a wiseetic graduate. The wise portrait of a Wisetta graduate outlines key skills and attributes such as believing in their ability to succeed, communicating effectively, valuing diversity and inclusion, and demonstrating learning, agility, and resilience. The student support services department plays a crucial role in helping all students develop these skills so they can reach their full potential. We support an exceptional educational experience for learners um birth through graduation and our learners of graduation ages 17 to 22. We are a multiaceted department dedicated to teaching, learning, and coaching to ensure that students have all they need to equitably participate in learning. We are centered around students in support of their ability to access a world-class education. And at the heart of our mission Oh, and at the heart of our mission. Wow. What's going on? Sorry. Excuse me. Oh, >> thank you. I was like, what is Well, thank you, Amy. Appreciate you. Uh at the heart of our mission to ensure a world worldclass education for every student as our talented, responsive, and passionate student support services team. We are a unified team who are invested in fostering independence and inclusion for all learners on their unique path to graduation. The department is one of many villages and is composed of specialized experts. Our special education and related service teams provide the specialized instruction and tools that empower students with diverse learning needs to become confident, capable members of our school community. Our multilingual staff serves as a critical bridge, ensuring our English learners not only acquire essential language skills, but are fully included in the vibrant life of our schools and prepared to thrive today and excel tomorrow. The underpinning of all this are our dedicated health and mental our health and mental health teams. They provide the essential foundation for learning, ensuring our students are healthy, safe, emotionally resilient, so they can be present and engaged in the classroom. Each of these teams is bound by a singular unified mission to provide the services and support that foster true independence and inclusion for each and every student every day. Our integrated integrated approach ensures that every student, regardless of their unique path, has the support they need to confidently walk across that stage and into a future full of possibilities. The strength of our department lies in our dedicated staff. This list highlights the diverse expertise we have from special education teachers and school psychologists to licensed school nurses and speech pathologists. Our teachers and staff are the heart of our mission, working tirelessly to meet the unique needs of each student and build a truly inclusive environment. These staff are all working to make the portrait of a graduate tangible and achievable for each and every student. We believe that providing students with the right support helps them develop a sense of belonging, which in turn fosters their independence and prepares them for success beyond the classroom. Some of the work that we are very proud of across our schools is our unified status in partnership with Minnesota Special Olympics. Special Education Supervisor Amy Van Dunk will share more about our unified opportunities across the district. >> Hello everyone. Um when we were putting this together and Jenny asked you know what I want to present and I'm like unified. It's what gives me joy. Um I love being uh with the students and I love uh seeing the smiles on their faces. And if you can look at the pictures that are are presented on this slide, there are variety of different activities that we have grown over the years. We started maybe 10 years ago or so. We're trying to remember historically when unified physical education started and we landed on about 10 years ago. Since then it has grown tremendously and it's it's every year another um club or committee or teacher is asking how can I make my uh program unified and so we have the unified track and field which is going into I think our fourth year this spring. Um we have the newest activity, the cornhole competition in which we went to uh Edina school district and had a competition with students from their district. Um and our unified theater which is something you will see smiles and claps and happiness every time you watch the students up on the stage. This year we had a middle school winter festival and the the not it wasn't just the students that shared how excited they were or that we saw on their faces, but it was the families and their parents seeing their kids interacting and laughing and dancing um in an activity that is a pretty typical school event for middle school. Uh although they didn't stand on the outer edge of the dance floor, they were actually in the dance. Um, so we're going to continue to grow our unified program and um the the activities that students bring to us at at West Middle School, we have approximately 200 students who volunteer to be a part of all unified activities across the school day. So, it's a pretty incredible um experience. One of our students uh I talked to this summer and she said, "The reason I do it is because I get so much joy. I make so many new friends and it makes me feel like I'm a better person and I think that speaks volumes for why we want Unified and to continue to have those activities for everyone. >> Um, next slide I think we have a young man um who happens to be one of our employees of the month's son. >> Uh, Ben Weekley was interviewed and he participates in the unified experience at the high school. So, go ahead. >> My name is Ben Weekley and I'm an upcoming senior. I'm also a board member for a Unifi club. I participate in many of the different Unifi classes offered at Weisetta and I'm excited to speak on my experience. I can't say that I ever had a bad day in the Unifi class. This year, I was part of the Unified Theater. I am not usually a big drama participant, but I really did enjoy this one. One of the many friends I got to meet through this class was Ronic. Ronic is a man of many jokes and we shared plenty throughout the semester. I learned a lot from these classes. I learned how to build relationship with people outside my inner circle. I also learned how to communicate with students of all different capacities, and I learned how to read social cues with both verbal and non-verbal students. All these skills I learned helped me become better friends with people like Ronic. In return, he has led me and many of my other classmates to support them at their Lakers game, which is our adaptive sports team, just like how they come and watch us play. I really enjoy these classes and I will 100% continue to take them throughout my last year. Thank you for listening. Have a nice night. In a note from a parent um who shared after she brought her son to our winter festival, she shared, "I wanted to send a note that the Weisetta Middle School specialed team having a winter festival this year was absolutely wonderful. It really touched our family and me personally that the school district is going above and beyond to make these kids feel special. Thank you so much for all your hard work. I just wanted to send a note to recognize such a positive activity and its great impact. So, thank you. Um, and we'll introduce Alana Walsh, one of our other supervisors in the special ed department. So, thank you for sharing about some um something we're all passionate about and the unified. Um, as Amy said, I'm Alana Walsh. I'm the special services supervisor both of our elementary and our transition uh program. So, as you've heard, we work to be responsive to the student needs and what and what we hear are needs in our WPS community. So, in response to those uh student voices and community needs, times like my time at middle schools have been guided by that student centered experience with flexibility to do interest-based learning. Students at uh West Middle School advocated to learn sign language. So the American Sign Language interpreter and the unified DAPE teacher responded by offering a my time session. It filled up so quickly that uh many more students were asked to enroll after it filled up and they couldn't. So over 65 students took that session. Um, and what was really cool in that experience is, uh, a student who primarily uses ASL for communication, uh, jumped in, helped lead that session too with their peers. Uh, we hope to offer more of those events uh, this coming school year. Another need that was identified in our elementary schools uh, was lost and found items. And so, uh, transition students who are students 18 through 22 years old go to the elementary schools and they collect lost and found items throughout the school year as a job site. Then, in collaboration with the early learning school, Transition opened a new clothing, which aims to address the essential needs of our district's youngest students and their families by providing access to free quality clothing, diapers, and formula. The Trojan Care Closet is open 2 days a week, every other week, and staffed exclusively by students at Weisetta Transition. Transition students are practicing their customer service skills through teamwork, stocking, organizing, creating the visuals to create a smooth shopping experience. This partnership is one of many examples of staff and students being responsive and passionate. And while I've shared two examples of how our staff are responsive, I want to highlight just how incredibly passionate we are. We're passionate about learning, about teaching, and our students in our community. So on the next slide, you'll see some additional examples of our students in our community. Both our augmented communications specialist and our assisted technology specialists shared their experience using eye gaze technology in our schools at a statewide event featuring Minnesota practitioners who lead the field in low incidence practices. The Weisetta Education Fund provided many grants to a variety of special services staff to support innovation excellence in our district's evolving needs. During the last previous school year, five grants were awarded up to totaling over $30,000. And topics included adaptive equipment for uh career and technical education class, assist of technology to support students with complex communication and physical needs, playground communication boards, and swell form machines for visually impaired students. We have um done co-eing launched first at Wisetta High School and now it's a cornerstone of our middle school redesign in all of our ELA and math courses. And that's been proven to be a powerful way to support students in inclusive environments by providing individualized support fa fostering academic achievement and ensuring students access learning in their general education classrooms. So those are just some of the ways that we've shown up and I'm going to give it back to Jenny. So we we are a number of things and we also support literacy. Our work is teaching and learning. Our work is to prioritize academic excellence for each and every student which includes a commitment to student growth at all levels to demonstrate progress in the reduction of student opportunity and the achievement gap. In pursuit of academic excellence for all, our focus is on students who receive English language or special education services and score in the high or some risk range on the A- reading or early reading fall assessments and that those students will make aggressive growth from fall to spring. This focus closely matches our school's individual growth plans and it's intentional because we are all in this work together as partners. Our students who are at risk in the fall need the most over the course of the year. These are our students who need our ser these are the students who need our services to help them make more than one year's growth over the course of a school year. As you can see, students are making aggressive growth. We strive along our partners and teaching and learning and our schools to have a greater impact in teaching and knowing what is making the difference for our learners. As a system, we are continuing to improve how we use data so that we can better identify the barriers that students are experiencing to show growth. This is a summary of the data and we have work to do. Our systemwide work in the area of MTSS and PLC's are the cornerstones to more a to more aggressively move the needle and address the opportunity and achievement gaps. We are support student support services and we support many areas that positively impact the learning across our schools. Sarah Stack, supervisor at Wisetta High School, will share more about who those students are. Thank you, Jenny. Thank you board for hearing about our wonderful programming. I'm privileged to share a little more about who make up our district's population of of special education services. So on the next slide, um special education services are provided once a student qualifies through an educational evaluation having one or more uh educational disabilities. There are 13 recognized disabilities in the state of Minnesota and Weisetta public schools provides services to students reflecting all disability areas. The next slide will show our district's disability demographics. And so as you can see on the slides I the we had to use acronyms which are something that we use a lot of but um this slide is representative of the primary disabilities. Students can qualify for more than one. So the primary disability is the one that we sort of lead with. Um the disability categories most frequent frequently served across the district are speech language impairments which is SLI, autism spectrum um ASD, and specialized learning disabilities which is SLD. And together these three disability areas make up almost 60% of the students that we serve. Low incident services are those with fewer students and allow the opportunity for the most creative in developing in their instruction and supports. These areas of service make up about 1.2% of our students and they include deaf blind, visually impaired, and severely multiply impaired. An example of this is a student who is visually impacted. A small sample of the services a student would receive include um learning braille, the ability to navigate spaces with orientation and mobility and uh support to access general education classes throughout the schools. All of the special education providers foster and build towards student independence as a goal for all students is to be as independent as possible. On the next slide, um this is a demonstration of in the past 10 years, um students who have educational disability in our district have almost doubled. This slide demonstrates growth over time and illustrates the changing demographics and needs of our student population. As you can see, the students served in this district have increased since a pandemic. And the bold line between 2019 and 2020 creates a visual of our district before and after the pandemic. And there has been significant growth in the last five years. One point of interest about the students who receive special education services is that 6.5 of the percent of the students who receive special education services are also identified as English language learners. and Becca Dalis, our multilingual coordinator, will share more. Thank you for having me here tonight to talk a little bit about our multilingual learners. My name is Becca D'volas. I'm the multilingual coordinator for the district. Um on the next slide, you'll see just kind of some growth patterns over the last couple years. Our knowledgeable and skilled multilingual team has been a crucial asset as our English language learner population has grown significantly. Over the past three years, we've seen an increase of 81 students um with our team serving a total of 713 students in the spring of 2025. In direct response to this increase, we strategically expanded our staffing to provide more robust support. This investment has had a systemwide positive impact. The staffing increases have enabled more opportunities for co-eing across all levels and provided general education teachers with enhanced support in differentiating instructional materials. The positive outcomes are clear and we've seen remarkable progress. One example at CMS 83% of students in the co-taught English language arts class that were identified as high-risisk made aggressive growth on their fast assessments. Additionally, this past year, 132 students successfully demonstrated proficiency on their annual yearly test, leading to 18% of our EL students exiting from service. This is a testament to the dedication of our team and the effectiveness of our collaborative approach. On the next slide, um you'll see kind of where they started um for the last three years. So in the past three years, Weisetta public schools has had more students entering the district at lower level language proficiencies. Many of these students are new to the country as well. Students with lower proficiencies in English require additional resources, support, and collaboration. Co-eing and collaboration with general and special education teachers support the social and academic language growth in our students. In 2025, 78 students moved from the lower level proficiencies of one and two to the higher proficiencies of levels three and four. These are celebrations we are all proud of. Thank you. >> Um Amy, mental health and Amy. >> I guess it just me. So in our district we have mental health and colllocated services and to make all this amazing work happen with our students partnerships with families and community provisor providers is essential. In 2021 the University of Minnesota shared in a news brief that approximately one in five US adolescents had a major depressive disorder and that fewer than half those adolescents who needed treatment were able to access treatment services. As a district, we have expanded our social, emotional, and mental health supports in our schools by adding school counselors and deans in addition to our school social workers. While schools are well supported, there are needs that continue to go unmet. That is where our community partners come in. Colloccated services bring community-based mental health professionals into our school buildings, which increases access to mental health services by removing barriers like cost, transportation, and stigma associated with traditional clinic settings. Particularly effective in reaching children who have never ac accessed mental health services before and support students from early childhood through transition. These providers operate in collaboration with building school social workers and our counselors. Woisetta school um public schools partners with relate counseling center a nonprofit community-based organization located in Minnetonka. Co-located services are funded by grant dollars from partners in health um partners in health kids Medicaid and billing privates um insurance. Another community partner is Growing Through Grief, which is funded by the Park Nichollet Foundation. Growing Through Grief is a school-based grief support and crisis management program from for early childhood to transition students who have experienced the death of a loved one. This is available to our families and students at no cost. Individual and weekly peer grief support groups are provided. Crisis response support to our schools. community following a death of a student or staff member, grief education and training for school staff and families. I'm going to pass this over to Jean to share more about our services. >> Well, hello. I'm Jean Parsons. I'm the health services supervisor. So, thank you Amy very much. Hello, everybody. So, our health um services team is the first point of contact for many students and families with 15 health offices. We have had over 80,000 um visits this year, student visits to our health services department. This demonstrates the vital role our health services staff play in keeping our students healthy and ready to learn. Our health services team collaborates with educational and support services within the school and the community to promote student health for student achievement. And so next slide and then the next one we're going to talk about 504. So um section 504 rehabilitation act of 1973 ensures students with disabilities have barriers to learning removed to access their education. We are committed to providing a free and appropriate public education to all students. So we currently support 440 students with active 504 plans which is approximately 3 3.4% of our student population. This service provides important accommodations that allow students students to be successful in the general education setting. While the percentage of students on 504 plans is small um compared to those with individual education plans which naturally uh nationally 3.4% of 504s compared to 15% um on IEPs but at public schools we have about 3.4% 4% of our students supported by 504s. And so this is where all of these pieces and all the support services you've heard about to come together. Tonight I have the privilege to introduce you to Ryan, Jessica, and Everett Wii. Ever is a proud and absolutely awesome third grader at Oakwood Elementary. He and his family are going to show share their family's journey with inclusion and our buildings and their experience over the years in our schools. >> Do you want me to put the table down so you have your Uh good evening. My name is uh Ryan Wy. This is my wife, Jessica, and our son, Everett. Uh thank you for letting us come speak uh this evening. Uh, as you can tell maybe by the gray my beard, Everett is the youngest of our four children. Uh, we have three older boys in our family. Uh, so we are certainly not new to the Weisetta district. Uh, our oldest graduated in 2017. He is currently an architect living in Minneapolis. Uh, graduated from the University of Nebraska. Uh our our second oldest child is currently a rising junior also at the University of Nebraska uh and is currently a polyai major and our third kiddo is a rising junior at high school here in Weisetta. Uh so very well-versed uh within the district. Uh I will tell you guys tonight the the mission statement that you put up there, you've hit it out of the park so far with our first two kids for sure of being completely ready for college. our oldest um is employed, doesn't live in our basement anymore. So, you've you've done an amazing job and I and I can't thank all of you enough for that mission statement because you you're you're killing it. So, um Ever was born in 2017 with a condition called uh arthroriposis multiplex congenita. Um I will apologize. I'm the crier in the family and I get a little emotional. Um you can see up on the screen that's um whatever it showed up in the world like um 20% of kids born with AMC uh don't survive the first year. So um we're we're very thrilled and and thankful to uh where Everett is at today. Um Everett spent 132 days in the NICU before we were able to bring him home. When we brought him home, we came home with uh 20 hours a day of nursing care to help take care of Everett because of all of the equipment and and things um that he brought home with him to keep him alive. So, um it's been a journey to say the least. Um we've basically been, you know, the moment we got home, we're in survival mode. We didn't know what to expect. um and school was one of the last things on her mind because it just it doesn't enter your uh mind as a parent of a special needs kiddo um that that you're ever going to get there. So, uh but our experience with Weisetta from day one has been amazing. Uh the staff has reached out to us uh even starting in COVID uh years of of doing online schooling and and online preschool and things like that to get ever engaged to to you know kick down the door. What does he need? How how do we get him engaged? things that we never thought possible uh as parents. So um certainly we're as thankful as could be for everything that's been given to Eert and and preparing him for the third grade that he'll be starting this fall. >> Hi, thank you for having us. Um we just want to reiterate how extremely we grateful we are for the expertise of all those people that you saw on the list that make up this department. um everything from the therapists, the physical, occupational, speech therapy to the special ed teachers to the AAC. I mean, everything that expertise that we don't have. And I actually am a speech pathologist, but I will say when it's your own child, everything's out the window. Like I I don't think logically when it's my kid. So for me to be a speech therapist him, uh not going to work. Um but this group, amazing group of people with their expertise has introduced us to things that we would have never known about. Um, one of the most amazing things from this past year is that he uses his AAC device and it plugs into a Chromebook and he can type. He sent I got an email one day that said, "Hi, Mom." Like, "Wow, that was pretty awesome." So, he >> he's a ham. Um, so that was one example just of the expertise that, you know, has been brought to us. Another thing um that is really important is sometimes as the parents we're a little hesitant to try new things and with this team has given us that gentle encouragement to really trust um them and to trust Everett and an example of this is this power chair that you see that he's been rowing around in. You know, he's only had it like two years and before that we pushed him in a manual chair and I was scared to death that he was going to kill another child. like it is 350 lbs and it can go fast and you know accidents happen. He's he's seven, eight years old and I was scared to death and the the PT and the team just assured me that he's ready. He can do it and it's going to change his life and they were right. It absolutely has. So, um we just really appreciate that Weisetta has acknowledged and supported just that wide variety of team members needed to help a student like Everett be successful. Um, and I think I want to touch on just really quickly, not only do you acknowledge and allow all these positions to be, you fill them with really amazing human beings. And to me, that just means the world. Um, a couple really touching examples, aside from the fact that we have like a fan group back here, um, which we so appreciate that so many members of his team came here to support him and us. Um, but when one of our many hospitalizations, um, the Dina students brought our family a home-cooked meal when we got out of the hospital. That was amazing. Um, last summer, Ever had a lemonade stand. Lo and behold, a few of the staff came by our lemonade stand. And just this past May at Ever's 8th birthday, unbeknownst to us, he'd invited half the school to come to come to Culver's, and they did. So, we super appreciate that all these people showed up to Culver's on a Saturday. And please know that we we recognize this is above and beyond their job description and it does not go unnoticed. Every feels that everybody at school is his friend and we we see that lived out. Um to close, whenever it was born, I remember thinking, man, I hope my kid can walk. You know, that would be great if he could walk. Everett's not going to walk. Then I thought it would be really awesome if Everett could use his arms because to brush his teeth, to feed himself, to comb his hair, Everett can't use his arms. I thought maybe Everett will get to eat and enjoy food like we all do. Everett is primarily gets his nutrition through a tube feed. And finally, I settled on I hope that Everett is happy and knows that he's loved. And this Wisetta family has contributed to this as much as we have at home. And I truly believe he knows he is loved and he is happy. So, thank you very much. And Everett has a very brief statement that we've practiced so it won't go rogue. Why don't you just >> I going to grade I have been doing I have an amazing team of people who help me every day. I have all my friends. Thank you. [Applause] [Applause] >> We have created independence. It's fantastic. >> Not all the time. just doing our job. >> As we conclude, I want to bring us back to our core purpose, ensuring every student has support they need to become a successful Weisetta graduate. The image you see here, Everett's portrait of a future Weisetta graduate, is more than just a picture. As you can see, it's a living testament to our mission and the collaborative spirit that drives success for every learner. It powerfully summarizes our belief that we are a unified community for all. The village it takes to fulfill the portrait of a graduate varies in size for each student. While some students may have a smaller team, others like Everett have a larger community of support. This graphic shows his team, the very people who are supporting to make his portrait a reality. Every bullet point you see is a represents a support services provider, a teacher, a leader uh or member of our global community uh from our special education or multilingual leaders to our dedicated health and mental health staff. This is what it looks like when a our village comes together. This is how a collective team including parents, families, and community works to champion a student's personal growth, communication, and learning agility. By fostering independence and inclusion, we ensure that every student, regardless of their unique journey, has the support to confidently walk across that graduation stage and into a full future of possibilities. Thank you to Everett, Ryan, and Jessica for sharing your experience. Thank you for your time tonight, board. We are proud of the work that we do in the support services department and are grateful for the opportunity to champion each and every student in Weisetta public schools. And this concludes our presentation for this evening. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Genie. >> Thank you all for bringing your experiences, your knowledge, and what you do for the for the kids at Visetta. And thank you, Everett, and your parents. It was an honor to to to meet you. And may the future be bright. Thank you so much. Um any comments or questions, board colleagues? Yeah, >> I think we're all very overwhelmed u by certainly the quality and quantity of care and service options for Wisetta Public School students. And um you know I reflect back on my time as a student and that multitude of opportunities students have. It is something special. It is something unique and to have those students with us today uh make things all the more special. So I'm very appreciative to um the team we have joining us today. Um and I think you know we'll go on with our meeting. uh you will all go on with our lives. But we'll certainly remember and apply what you taught us and allowed us to learn tonight for as long as we're on the board and as long as we are continuing serving the public. You do a remarkable amount of work in informing us uh in the work that we do while reminding us of why we're really here. So from all the opportunities we have to engage with the community, talk to students, talk to teachers, it uh goes a long way to have occasions like this because you remind us why we're all here and it is for each and every. So, thank you so much. Um, and uh, we're so grateful for all the work. >> I'm not overwhelmed, I'm proud when we talk about each and every this is what it means. And we saw it through our recognitions and then we saw from the data that came out of our recognitions and we've seen it through your presentation. Every student gets to show up in our school buildings being exactly and uniquely and perfectly who they are. And thank you to the team for greeting them for where they are and moving them forward. And thank you to our parents. You trust us every day with your most prized possession. And we know that's not always easy. And it takes bravery and courage and partnership. And we appreciate you and we and I appreciate our staff who goes to work that takes that very seriously every day. So thank you. So first of all Everett and family again you make us proud. You are really source of all of our inspiration. So thank you for that. Um I also want to acknowledge um just quick couple of things again you listed 19 roles on the slide and reading through those 19 roles and especially the last slide that so shows how the team comes together. It is a really great representation of how you support students and again um it's just unbelievable. I'm out of words here. Um just wanted to make one quick point again the numbers on the pie chart doesn't matter. What matters is even if there is one student who we can help and that's what you are all trying to do. So it's really I mean we appreciate everything that you do for all of our students. Um especially for unified I wanted to call out our own experience. Uh my daughter was selected for volunteering unified. So when we got a letter from teacher they wanted us to sign and make sure we are okay. And interestingly I noticed that it was during recess time. I didn't say it and I wasn't sure if my daughter understood that she won't be hanging out with her friends. She's going to help somebody else during recess hours. So, I didn't say a word, but it was an amazing experience. Um, and I know Ben said that in his video, but it's not about academics. She learned so much and she appreciated what she had and how to help others and again to your point to make them a better person. That was the best experience we had. So it wasn't about you know academics or I mean that's all important but how do we make them better person in life that unified pro program truly taught our daughters. So again thank you all and thank you Visetta for giving our kids that opportunity to learn and be better person. So again just wanted to thank you all again. Thank you again. I have a question for Jin Parsons. So you have been with the district for a long long time, right? >> Yes. Okay. So I know I should not be visiting the past during the COVID times, but you said you have 15 health offices, 80,000 visits. How was it during COVID? Can you give us just a just an idea? >> Well, that was um it was such a different time. You know, were in school and out of school and What we did is we just listened to each student. Everybody came to school different in a different place, whether they kind of wanted to be there, didn't want to be there, were worried about being there. So, we just kind of took that individual student and just listen and made it work for them. Um, our health office visits during posters weren't as busy um because they were fewer students. some some of the time there fewer students but um and people really were very good about staying home. They they appreciate it. They stay we're kind of in a different place now. Everybody, we're fortunate in ways that people strive to do good good things. The students do and they come to school maybe not always as healthy as they should because they just want to get they just want to take that test or they just want to do this or that thing and just they they feel the passion to be here to get something done and they then come into the health office just drained and you can see they're sick and like, "Oh, you should come today." Oh, but I needed to. No, please stay home when you're sick. But um so how We we're we just see a lot more illness today probably just generally um as opposed to during over co it was people were much more cautious. >> More cautious. Okay. >> Yeah. >> Not sure we I'm not sure we learned a lot of lessons. It kind of feels like five years later our lessons aren't learned as much as they should have been but here we are and we'll just take them as they come. >> Yeah. Absolutely. Thank you for your service. So, um I just want to make a quick comment about the Trojan care closet. Who's was the students idea or the teachers ideas? >> Um it was a combination of the the elementary school last pound that started honestly with me looking at my daughter one day at her elementary school. Holy buck, there's a lot here. What do you do with that? And then it went to when the transition students were organizing it and doing their job skills and seeing what could be donated to different organizations in our community. Then it was that we had a job site at the early learning school already and then they saw like could we do something here. So it's a combo of students and then I would say like coordinator support and the early learning school. >> Okay, great idea though. Thank you so much. There are no more questions or comments. Thank you again for coming and talking to us about student services tonight. Okay. [Applause] Okay. Next is the audience opportunity to address the board. Looks like we have one individual that wants to speak. This section of the agenda provides an opportunity for members of the community to address the school board. Speakers who wish to provide input to the school board must complete the signup sheet and return it to our administrative assistant Amy who is sitting to my right. Please note that you will need to complete a request form to be included on the speaker request list. When you are invited to the podium, please identify the subject and or agenda items to which your comments pertain. Priority will be given to students and families with students currently enrolled in the district. The school board practice is not to engage in a discussion or debate with the speaker, but rather allow the speaker time to express their thoughts. Please present your comments in a respectful and professional manner. This evening, each speaker will be actually there is only one speaker. So, the speaker will be invited up to the podium to speak for 3 minutes. Uh Amy will help us keep track of the time by holding up a red card. Oh, Sheila will. Okay. At the 3 minute mark, please end your comments when you see the red card. If you have already shared your thoughts with the school board, please consider letting someone else address the board. First, are there any well is is is the one speaker a student? Please come forward. Student advocacy for the school board by Ankita Kumar. Hello members of the board, Superintendent Anderson, and other administrative professionals. You may have noticed me and my fellow students in the audience of past four meetings and work sessions. Today I would like to introduce myself and explain why we attend these meetings. My name is Ankita Kumar, a rising senior at Wisetta High School and the founder and executive director of Weisetta Schoolboard spotlight. Our initiative aims to increase voter turnout and educate the public about the upcoming Weisetta schoolboard election as well as advocate for a student representative on the school board. Wisetta Schoolboard Spotlight intends to be a collaboration between the schoolboard and the public. We want to work with you to ensure this community is better informed about your important work. To do this, we attend community civic engagement events and schoolboard meetings in person and virtually via YouTube, creating nonpartisan summaries for our Instagram, Facebook, and soon our email newsletter. Board member Dan Janestra has advised us throughout this journey so far and ensures our information is accurate to the best of his ability. We are very grateful for his support. In just 3 weeks, we have gained over 250 Instagram followers and accumulated over 18,000 views on our educational posts. More students and parents are having meaningful conversations about local politics than ever before. And this is only the beginning. In the coming weeks, we'll be conducting student interviews with schoolboard candidates and publishing them on our platforms, giving our community, especially Wisetta High School seniors who can vote, a chance to get to know the candidates better through the student perspective. We are also working with the League of Women Voters on these interviews and look forward to supporting them at their candidate forum on September 30th. Recently, we've heard about a board initiative to have a high school student sit up at the table with you. On behalf of Voisetta Schoolboard Spotlight, I'd like to express our support for student representatives on the schoolboard. We believe that there are many benefits to having a student representative and I've outlined our findings in the proposal before you. It includes a basic outline of the proposed position, a pros and cons table, and highlights from our research. Please review it at your convenience. At the end of the day, we are just students passionate about helping others learn more about local politics. I want to emphasize that we are on your side and we want to do everything we can to ensure excellence for each and every student. Thank you for your time, consideration, and for supporting the voices that will shape the future of our schools. >> Thank you, Ankita. >> Moving on to administrative reports and recommendations. Dr. Anderson will present policy 607 for approval of the school calendar. Dr. Anderson. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. Uh we have uh policy 607 tonight which is titled school calendar. And I'll share the following. Uh the policies and regulations were reviewed as part of the regular review cycle and using the Minnesota Schoolboard Association model policy by district administration and other district stakeholders where necessary. A final review was completed by the policy committee of the school board. Uh the recommended action is before you relating to uh policy 607 titled school calendar and just to offer clarity that's uh more related to guidance for how and when the timelines are for the development of the school calendar uh in lie of a specific calendar for the board to consider and take action on. So with that I'll turn it over to you Mr. Chair. >> Thank you Dr. Anderson. So the recommended action is to approve the policy as presented in the attachment on board book. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. We wave the second reading. >> Excuse me. May I wave second reading? >> Thank you. And somebody second you second it. Thank you. Is there a discussion? I would just like to thank the policy committee consisting of see if I get this right. um Paris, Valentina and Sheila for your good work. Again, the motion uh the recommended action is to approve the policy as presented in the attachment. Um this is a roll call vote. >> Heidi Kedar is absent. Valentina Ays, >> yes. >> Dan Janestra, >> yes. >> Sarah Johansson, >> yes. >> Paris Bende, >> yes. Sheila Prior. Yes. Milan Sahonyi. >> Yes. Thank you. The motion passes. There are no teaching and learning, finance and operations and human resource services reports this evening. Um I would like to take a moment uh he's not here tonight but to congratulate newly appointed director of finance Jack Sterns who was formerly the accountant in the finance department. So congratulations to Jack and good luck to him in the in in his new position. All right, there is no board action either tonight and no board reports. So, we jump to the conclusion. The next work next board work session is on Monday, August 25th at 4 p.m. This concludes the Wisetta Public Schools regular board meeting. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> I move. >> Second. >> Moved and seconded. All in favor say I. >> I oppose nay. The time is now 8:09. The Visetta Public Schools Board of Education regular meeting for a Monday, August 11th, 2025 is adjourned. [Music]