Calling the meeting to order at 6:13 p.m. This is the board of directors regular school board meeting for Monday, May 18th, 2026. Welcome to all of our visitors, guests, and media. We're going to start tonight off with the board and administration roll calls. Mr. Felt here. Mr. Burns here. >> Miss Danielson >> here. >> Miss Schultz >> here. >> Miss Gatskco >> here. >> Miss Nathan >> here. >> Mr. O'Neal >> here. >> Mr. Scheler >> here. >> Mr. Hennon >> here. >> Mr. Girtton >> here. >> Miss Okonnell >> here. >> Miss Payeyton >> here. >> Mr. Dalton >> here. >> Mr. View >> here. >> Mr. Samsky >> here. >> Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> We have had no public comments prior to the start of the meeting tonight. So, is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> So moved. I'll second. We have a motion made by Miss Danielson, seconded by Miss Gatsco. Any further discussion on the agenda and addendums? >> Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. All oppose, nay. Motion carries. Moving on to the consent agenda, which includes the school board minutes for the regular school board meeting on April 27th, 2026, the personnel consent agenda, and the business consent agenda. Move app roll. >> Second >> motion made by Mr. Burns, seconded by Miss Nathan. Any further discussion on the consent agenda items? >> I was just going to point out on the personal consent agenda, the approval of the manager's um contract and there were a few other >> Was it the managers and the >> building and uh building ground? >> Building and ground. >> Correct. Yes. >> Yep. >> All right. All those in favor say I. >> I. All oppose, nay. Motion carries. Moving right along to our recognitions, presentations, and showcase. Is it Mr. Scheler? >> Actually, Mr. Girtton. >> Oh, Mr. Honor. >> All right. >> Look at that young. >> Oh, good evening everybody. Well, I'd like to recognize Bill McDonald. After 19 years of dedicated service in our community as a school, as a fet and a health teacher, he has decided to step down from that role. Uh over the years, Bill has gently touched the lives of countless students. He'll be deeply missed in the classroom. His positive impact he leaves behind will certainly endure. They often say everyone is replaceable, but Bill is truly a rare exception. Largely because of his unique, heartfelt gift for connecting with every student that he meets, every student. Uh, fortunately, Bill isn't leaving us completely. He plans to continue serving as our varsity wrestling coach and he also is now a grandpa. >> So, we'd like to congratulate him for that. Yes. So, uh, it's it's mixed feelings, but we're incredibly happy for Bill. He starts a new chapter and starts to do some of the chores around the house that he's been asked to do for decades. So, join me in wishing him a peaceful, happy, and well-deserved retirement. Congratulations, BILL. >> YES. I thought maybe you'd make some comment about how he's there's big crocs to fill. >> All right. >> Thank you so much. >> Congratulations that the new one has to wear shorts all the time. >> Should be. >> Yes. off the legs. >> All right, moving on to our first action item is the acknowledgement of donations, contributions, and fundraising. Mr. Schuler, >> thank you. >> Thanks, Bill. >> All right. All right. Um, here are our made donors uh and where those donations are generously going to. So, our American Wart American Legion Post 121 donation to BPA for $1,500 for nationals that they recently were at. uh Trinity Lutheran Church uh Watertown mayor Middle School student fund account for $415 to offset field trip fees for families in need. Um Box Tops uh Watertown Middle School student funds for $9.90. Offset field trip fees for those also families in need. Mic fell off. Watertail Mir uh middle school PTO uh fifth grade field trip for8670 to cover the cost of field reservation for Highland Park. Roger and Elvina Nelson for uh Warttown mayor Middle School student funds $50 to offset fees for those families in need. Hexel Machine Incorporated to the agriculture department. Uh metal and again that's to utilize in welding classes and the mayor baseball club to BPA for $1,500 to BPA nationals. And that uh is it for tonight. Thank you to all those groups. Move >> approve. Second. >> We have a motion made by Mr. Onell, seconded by Mr. Burns. Any further discussion on the donations, contributions, and fundraising? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. All oppose. Nay. Motion carries. >> Moving on to item B, the second and final read of district policies requiring annual review. Mr. Schuler. >> Yes. Uh board members, if you recall, uh this policy uh was back a few months back. Um we did a a little bit of time to review. Uh thank you to Mr. Felt who did a little leg work. uh in talking to MSBA and some of the the leadership there in terms of what is truly a good range for uh the procurement policy. Um and again when I talk about range it's the spending range that the superintendent and the business manager has um uh per policy. So, uh, if you go down, I want to say it's, uh, down to, um, standards in thresholds. Uh, the bottom of page five, you can see the superintendent range is 5,000 to 25,000 for non-budget items. Uh, it's the same for business manager. Uh, in our case, it would be Tom Griffin right now. So, um, that was the determining factor in getting that information. So, thank you to Mr. Felt and um and Tom and Todd as well for weighing in on this and looking for a second read and approval. >> Move approval. >> I'll second. Oh, >> motion made and that was you, Erica. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Motion made by Miss Schultz, seconded by Mr. Felt. Any further discussion on the procurement policy final read? >> Hearing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. All oppose. Nay. Motion carries. Moving on to item C, the 2627 parent student handbook. Mr. Schuler and the admin team. >> Yeah. Tonight we'll start with uh Miss Okonnell and the elementary principal. Um you may not you need to come up it looks like but uh >> it's very short. >> Very very short. >> The notes of course are the changes that are being made from the previous year. >> Just changing the date. Yep. >> Any questions? >> Yep. >> Is it correct? >> I got it correct. >> Yes. >> That might be the shortest we've ever seen. >> Love it. >> Okay. And in addition to we have the middle school handbook. Uh Mr. Girtton would speak to a few additions. >> Good evening again. So we have two like Mr. would point out for AI is something that the middle school and high school added just a paragraph talking a little bit about the intent to embrace the technology resources with responsibility. So we're dipping our toes into that. We've started this year with just a lot of training for staff but obviously as a onetoone building it would logically make sense to leverage the understanding of how to use uh the technologies. The second one is just an athletic academic eligibility policy which should mirror the high school as well. So starting in seventh grade we apply expectations for eligibility. So that is really it. Any questions? >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. had a few similar nicks with the AI use again as more and more we're just trying to as best we can keep up with that. Um we did we are putting something to be more clear with there about extracurricular attendance policy. We have a an issue with some of our athletes especially with unexcused absence. Technically if you have an unexcused absence at any part during the day you can be declared ineligible for that night and just it seems like it's unfortunately getting a little worse. So I just want to make that very clear to them from day one that if you miss anything excuse you can be sitting out. Um eligibility policy just what Nick talked just having there. And then the rest of the updates one was the academic resource time just a change of language over to the trimester just had to clean clean it up a little bit. Um and then commencement exercises just had to clean up the credits of 56 out of 62. And then the last thing just some eligibility for validictorian saludiatoran just it was unclear a little bit about how long you physically had to go to Watertown mayor. Um and then obviously with the online academy just to make sure that just again we want to make sure that they're at least taking rigorous classes for at least part to be eligible for these awards. So we wanted to update that language as well. Other than that that was it for us. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. Thank you. So, is there a motion to approve the elementary, middle, and high school? >> So, moved. >> I will second. >> Sorry. >> Rock and roll. >> Motion made by Miss Danielson, seconded by Miss Gatskco. Any further discussion on the handbooks? >> Awesome. Um, all those in favor say I. I. >> All oppose, nay. >> Motion is approved. Item D, the Watertown Mayor athletic and activity fee schedule for 2627. Mr. Schuler and Mr. Samansky. >> Yes, Mr. Samansky uh is walking up to the podium. Um we met last week. I asked um a couple of our board members uh kind of a subcommittee. Um board member Nathan and board member Danielson uh joined us for a t uh just a quick, you know, hour or so meeting uh with Mr. Spansky and I and Tom uh our business manager. Um and just again to kind of talk through this a little bit to give us some direction um and walk through uh some of the data that had uh Tom had collected also uh what Paul had brought to the table and some updates. Um so Paul is here to kind of uh share what uh that group came up with. >> Darren, maybe could you go to the other slide? >> Absolutely. >> We'll probably start. >> Oops. I'm sorry. I have one. >> Yeah, we'll start there. If you take a look at the bottom graph, um what you see there in the blue, that light blue, that's our activities department revenues. So, you've got the activity fees collected, you've got the gate receipts, and then the totals. And we went back the last four years. Just kind of take a look at where we're at and and you know, the kind of money that we're bringing in in the salmon color there. That's the expenses over the last few years. And We decided to to take a look at we'd never be in a position where we would take in 100% to cover our expenses. If we did that, you'd be looking at probably $750 to play a sport. And that's just not very realistic. But we do want to bring in a reasonable amount of money just to make sure that we're trying to offset some expenses as we possibly can. So, what's that right number? And just kind of taking a look at the last four years, um that last column there in the gray, the revenue um to expenses percentage. And that kind of just gives us a guide. You know, four years ago, uh our revenues covered 35% of our expenses. Uh you know, 35% again, 3 years ago, 31% and right now we're sitting at about 29%. And I think our goal or our target would be at a minimum get into the 30s a little bit just to to have that as kind of our our bottom there. Um when we look at the expenses and the expenses in that category, that's everything. That's coaches salaries, transportation cost, officials, equipment, you know, mini biffs, workers, you name it. It's it's everything. And unfortunately, everything has gone up. Every year something's going up. I can't think of a year. I can't think of anything that is cheaper today than it was last year. So that's just the nature of doing business. So with that u information there, if you want to jump back to that first slide, what we're proposing is a $15 acrosstheboard activity fee increase. um we'd love it to be zero, but I just don't think that that would be financially responsible. So, for a middle school sport, you're looking at uh this year it was $100. Next year it would be $115. Um the family cap we looked at and we made the decision to raise that $50. So, the family cap would be $900. But if you just take a look, everything across the board, high school sports, uh trap, um everything there that's listed, um that number is a um with the $15 increase. The only one that is not affected by that is boys hockey. That is controlled by West Tonka. That is what West Tonka is going to charge for boys hockey next year is $375. Uh we go down to the admission fees. what we are proposing. Um, kind of a a you know, bad news, good news. Well, here's a little bit of good news. Um, our admission fees are going to stay the same. We're going to keep adults at $7 and students at $5, but starting this fall, we're going to have card readers available at our athletic events. Um, it's really a convenience thing. You come in, I don't have cash, um, you know, use my card and that sort of stuff. There is a fee with that. There's always a processing fee whenever you use your card. And what we have decided to do is if a student or an adult choose to use a credit card, they will we will pass on the 90 fee to them. So, um it's just one of those things. It's again, it's kind of the cost of doing business. Uh seniors we're going to keep free and the only exception to that is come playoff time and and with our theater performances and that sort of stuff. Down at the bottom are athletic passes. For students, it will remain the same. Adults, it went up $10 to now an even 100. And the family passes went up $25 to 275. And again, seniors are still free. So that is what we are proposing for next year. Um any questions? >> Mr. Scheler, can you go back to that other slide? >> You bet. So with the revenue to expense, the percentage, you know, kind of being around 35 33 the last couple years, >> is that kind of our sweet spot where we want to get to? Because obviously with 29% everything is going up, you know, the last couple years it's gone up 50 grand a year, >> but the revenues have not obviously kept up with that, >> you know. Um, I think this is the first time the the information was sort of put in this format. >> And I think one of the difficult things is you always want what's the number? What's the keep it simple? Just give me a number. What's our target? >> And I like the idea of somewhere in that low30s of okay, that's our target. And then we can kind of start hammering away at expenses too, you know, at any time. And and we do that now as it is. I mean, we try to, you know, when we're buying soccer balls, we try to get the best quality for the cheapest price. Um, you know, we but unfortunately sometimes it doesn't work out that way. But I I like that idea of a percentage just to kind of Okay, that's a target for us. >> Yeah. >> Are our enrollment in activities down pretty significantly this year? >> No. Our participation numbers over the last few years, we always try to beat last year. >> Yeah. And we've been doing that. We haven't been doing that by much. And I think as we get into the declining enrollment, it's going to start to dip a little bit. So that's going to get tougher. >> I was thinking we were up on activity. That's why I was surprised to see I know that's a budget number. It's not a final number, but >> the 130 versus, you know, 133 last year is down. >> It's not a huge percentage, but >> Yeah. And our current night three class is like the smallest ever. >> Yeah. That's probably why. Okay. There's like 90 students. It's not. >> Wow. >> Yeah. >> So, if based on the new rates and if you I mean obviously the total the revenue totals have been pretty steady consistently. >> Yeah. >> Crystal ball where do you think then that with the new rates are we going to be more closer to that 35% or >> Well, I think if you take a look um just underneath that graph Oh, I'm sorry. >> We're probably looking at >> 31.5%. However, um >> that's what the new fe that's what the new current budget increase reading >> 75. >> So again, expenses are they're going to go up next year, but expenses are something that we can really focus on and try to >> eliminate as best we can. Paul had mentioned too, there's some, you know, expenses that are really out of our control and you talked about referees being one where those are set by those referee associations. So, and we know it's hard to get referees. So, those numbers are climbing. So, we don't get a choice. You know, if it used to be $125 for a night for a referee, now it's 150. We don't get a choice in that. That's what we have to pay to get referees in the building. Um, so you know, and and coaches costs obviously have gone up a little bit with with salary increases. Um, so there there's some of those outliers that are a little bit out of our control, so to speak. But, um, we felt like this was a a legitimate smaller increase that, uh, hopefully we'll start getting that percentage back up, which I'm glad you mentioned because that was an interesting take on that. Um, actually Tom brought that to our attention saying, you know, that percentage is getting a little out of whack. you know, let's try to work that the other direction. Um, so appreciated him doing that. >> You see, we tried to keep the students fees the same so we get participation from them. We tried to hit it more on >> Yeah. >> adult side. So, we were cognizant of that also. >> Yep. >> I appreciate the extra work. >> And then also, thank you for doing the the deep dive in on the the admissions too, >> kind of based on our discussion that we had last month. So for like West Tonka and Howard Lake, they charge 7.90 and then the district writes a check for those fees then. Is that how that works? >> Yep. >> Versus >> Well, they would just get less back from So >> yeah, Versus us keeping it at a nice even number. >> It's easier to pay cash that way. >> Yep. You don't get that dime back. Any further discussion on the athletic and fee schedules? Hearing none. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion made by Miss Nathan, seconded by Miss Schultz. Any further discussion on it? >> Paul, thank you for coming back with the information. Definitely appreciate it. I know it was kind of a lot of work pulling that together. So, thank you. Um, all right. With all those in favor say I. I. >> All oppose. Nay. >> Motion carries. Moving on. Item E, the resolution 26.17 2026 20227 resolution for membership in the Minnesota State High School League. >> Yes. Uh, Mr. Chair, this is the annual resolution that the Minnesota State High School League provides to member districts to sign um to be a part of the state high school league programming and um we get uh you can see kind of who's involved in that piece. Um Mr. Nell is our schoolboard rep. Um we also have uh Mr. Astad, our music instructor as an activity representative along with Evie Mant and then our local advisory committee members are Chris Barren uh Zack G and um Paul Samansky and Katie Joe mentioned if I missed that. Um so what happens is uh once this is triggered we do get a um an email from the state high school league uh for a digital sign and uh completes that process. So, pretty straightforward. >> I'll make a motion to approve the resolution for the high school league. >> I'll second. >> Motion made by Mr. Felt, seconded by Miss Gatskco. Any further discussion? >> Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All oppose. Nay. Motion carries. That ends the action items of the evening. Moving right along to the review and information items. Mr. Schuler about financial stewardship and facilities. Yeah, and actually I'm sorry we changed gears a little bit to go to people and partnerships this month. Um I think it was incorrect on the agenda. I apologize, but it should be corrected on the electronic agenda there. >> Um reason being we uh just announced our Royal Champion Education Award winners. This is our second annual um and uh the process is staff can nominate folks um for a non-dist employee um a business or local organization. And lastly, uh, a school personnel member. Um, and, uh, again, uh, we had some really good nominations and we'll have to share some of those, um, as well and some of the kind words that were mentioned. Um, but the first, uh, honore is the individual who is a non-dist employee. This honor is given to an individual who has been a vocal and visible supporter of the district uh, individual school or a specific program. And this year's recipient is Pat Hill. So, uh, welldeserved, very active in our education department. Um, Pat was nominated, I think maybe multiple times this year. And just backing up, we have a committee that meets u once all the nominations are in. Uh, it's a representative from each of our bargaining units gets to sit in on that, myself. um and uh we look through the um the process of who's been nominated and we work through a process to get it down to the finalists and and these were the recipients. Um the second one is the Royal Champion of Education Award for a community business or organization. Uh this honor again is given to a business or organ organization in our uh communities who has supported the district um an individual school program, teacher or students in invaluable ways. And this year's organization is the Watertown Lions Club. So, congratulations to them. >> And then lastly, the Royal Pride Award that's given to someone who is school personnel. Uh this honor is given again to uh school employee who has supported staff and students in invaluable ways. The person builds connections with uh students and staff and exhibits a high level of royal pride in the role of their in the role of the district. Um this one was interesting. It came down to two finalists. Uh there were six, seven of us in the room. I was not voting. Uh the we went to a three to three tie. I was supposed to be the tiebreaker >> and uh we we stopped and paused and we said let's give it to both of them. Very welld deserving. >> So our two winners are Dustin Stzman and Heather Huan. Nice. >> She's not here to accept the award, but we'll we'll get that another day. Um but very welld deserved uh for both of those individuals. So, we will recognize them um at our end of the school year lunchon uh with staff and uh get a very nice plaque and I'm sure you'll see some of that on social media as well. So, um the Lions Club has asked too that we come to their meeting here in June to or excuse me, May, that'll be June meeting, I'm sorry, and uh do a formal presentation to the whole group. So, excited about that. >> Yeah, >> that's all I have. Any questions? >> No, thank you. >> And I hope, you know, can't wait to see all that posted on social media. So, >> needs to take Heather's picture. >> I know. >> Maybe Abby will do it. Her intern. >> All right, moving on to the admin reports. Starting out, Mr. Hennon. >> Sweet man. >> You have nothing going on, right? >> Yes. so far. >> Yeah. >> Uh, three things that I have for you. Uh, one, we hired a chemistry teacher as you approved tonight. Uh, we're I mean, and we hired a licensed chemistry teacher. So, we are really excited for that because that was a pretty big hire. Um, given that I know a lot of schools are struggling, so excited for that. So, we're we're fully staffed as of now for with our main teaching staff. Um, this past Wednesday, we had our scholarship and awards night. It was a really cool night. We had 56 seniors apply through the foundation for scholarships. All of them received a minimum of $400 scholarship. Um I think with those scholarships and some other ones we gave up over $92,000 that night. So just a really cool night again for I mean a school our size that's it's just remarkable and just thanks again to our foundation for all the work and all the people who donate. I mean I think our kids were were blown away with you know again that everybody got one >> and just that so many got multiple and and then just to recognize all their accomplishments and the extracurriculars as well. Just it's a really cool night for them. So, and then lastly, obviously at graduation Friday, um, you know, the forecast has changed about 20 times. I was probably asked about 80 times a day about it. Um, yeah, we'll make a decision Thursday or Friday. I mean, we're ready for both. And to be honest, the program doesn't change whether it's inside or out. It's the same thing. And, >> um, but we're going to obviously make the decision when we get a little better idea. And, you know, right now it's not looking very good obviously, but um, either way, the program is the same and we'll prepare that way. And um we do have eight speakers. Eight of our valtorians are speaking. Um otherwise it'll be the same as always. And get a reminder. I would, you know, be there early with parking. It'll be a nightmare. And we'll we'll meet depending on where it is. I'll let you guys know. >> Yeah. I think if we're in the high school competition gym, we'll meet in the high school office. If we're on the field, we'll be in the district office. So, >> and and you'll let us know. >> We'll keep you posted. >> Yeah. Again, I'll send an email. I mean, I'll just probably send it to Darren. communicate with you guys on their I mean again when it becomes pretty clear but I mean obviously kids are excited and they're hoping but it's outside but I said at the same time we can't be not like two years ago ever again so >> I was fine but I think you guys might have been a little cold so >> it was rock >> they graduate either way >> was a bunch of bull >> they graduate either way >> any questions for me >> now are we the I guess inside now we have the new better school board thing so we can use that can't we >> yeah We'll use that for the, you know, the slideshow and everything. So, I mean, it it'll still be a very good ceremony. I mean, again, it's just, you know, in today's world, our outdoor pictures mean an awful lot to them. >> So, but it'll be fine either way. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Whatever, >> Mr. sunglasses crying. A >> could still wear sunglasses. >> Well, we're wrapping things up. Teachers are doing a great job of keeping keeping kids engaged. Uh, we have field trips galore starting to emerge. So, I think in every grade level they're taking field trips, lots of different project based types of learning uh that kids are participating in. So, everyone's in a great spot. Today's cool weather honestly helps a little bit, too. So, things are moving along. Um, as far as just staffing goes and the schedule for next year, that's where my brain is. I think we're really close, uh, Mr. Henna and I, in terms of our master scheduling pieces, things have come together really well there. Staffing wise, the only position that we're filling is the FID health position, which by the by the end of the week, we may have filled. >> Awesome. >> So, that's really all we have. Any questions for me? >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Miss Okonnell. She's like partying in her own brain. >> I know. She's like, "Woo!" >> Um, we've completed our fast bridge testing and we are continuing to see growth patterns across the cohorts from year to year when we look at that spring data. So, looking at longitudinal data of the cohort from last spring of 25 to spring of 26 with math, three of the four cohorts had improved performance data and one just maintained. And with reading, all of the cohorts had growth from last spring to this spring. So that just reflects continued progress in student achievement. Um and learner outcomes and people. On May 2nd, we held our annual strides for students event. A huge thank you to our PTO for their organization of this event, which takes a massive undertaking. The event was a smashing success again. For the fourth year in a row, we broke records again, bringing in a net total of over $35,000, which was up from last year's record of $32,000. Students were challenged to bring in over $25,000, which they succeeded in. So, as a result, they got to pick a staff member and cover them with temporary tattoos. Um that's included myself and some of our teachers who were good sports. Tammy Coots, Melissa Gets, Jenny Libra, Sarah Res, Hannah Russell, Leah Jacel, Madison Fleming, Katie Brandenburgg, to Kyla Surell Horton, and Kurt Becker. So um I myself was covered in 39 temporary tattoos. I had two full sleeves. Some are still remaining. As it turns out, it's awfully hard to get them off even with nail polish remover. >> Oh my goodness. Um, lastly, next Thursday we'll have our last family engagement evening of the year, which is our celebration of learning event, which serves as our culminating event for students to showcase their growth over the course of the school year with their families. The event runs from 4 to 6. Also, at this event, we'll hold our school of excellence award, which will occur at 5:00 in the gym. Any questions? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Dalton. Good evening, board chair and chair. Um, in May, you know, community education, we're kind of ramping up for summer that we're taking registrations, we're hiring staff, getting programs lined up, making sure we got the balls where we need to have the balls, all those sorts of things. So, that that's kind of what our main looks like. We are planning for our fall catalog. Um, one thing we've done, and I've talked about it before, is we we're we kind of solidified our periods for our catalog. It's a September through December. So, we're we're kind of working with our partners. If you want to have something with the holidays, you got to get it to us now. It's not we're not going to put it in the January catalog. So, that's that's, you know, getting people to get stuff in on time is always a challenge, as we all know. um registration software. I've talked about that before that we're we're still working on transitioning from our current LEO to ax software. That's probably going to be somewhere in in August or July that we or July or August that we do that. It again the consumers really won't see anything. It's uh it's really just an upgrade to the same software, but they they've changed their business model. So, we'll be writing checks to somebody else. This is kind of how it works. So, um, our fine arts and our pack scheduling, this something that that we're I'm pretty excited about. We've worked with activities and work with Paul on, um, developing a longer range fine arts um, calendar. What that does for us is it allows us to to work with groups that will come to town and say the dance group or or whatever they might be and rent the pack. and it's it's a lucrative weekend for the school district and the community. Well, if we know a few years ahead of time, we can enter into those agreements, multi-year agreements with those people. And that's been a that's been a great improvement for us to to work on that. So, we we kind of have a five-year plan now out there. And that's that's something new and and we're excited about that. And we do we have we have one group that they're ready to sign up for five years with us. So, we're excited. Um the facility use handbook and the cost recovery piece. I mentioned that I I brought that up at the last um kind of present presented a little bit about that. We are working on that still. We had a meeting on May 7th uh special advisory council meeting that generated some really valuable feedback on the handbook. Um we'll be coming to this group probably in June with that to to finalize that. And I just want to say that our our our goals there, we're looking for practical ways to close that that cost recovery gap that we talked about, but yet keep those rental costs reasonable for for our local groups. So, it's it's kind of a game and figuring out how we're doing that. So, there's a there's a few more pieces to put together on that. Um, at the CLC, we do have a project going that some of you sure are aware of that we're um we're looking at a uh improvement to the courtyard and make that more of a userfriendly playground. Um, it's kind of in the funding and planning stage right now. More to come on that. And another project we have going is we're working on um looking at a better better way or more more clear signage for all the different fields in the school district. including the one including the uh some of the city fields that are at at up at the elementary schools. So, we're we've got a plan going there u to put that together. >> That's what I've got for you. Any questions? >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Samansky. >> Hello again. Um just a couple things briefly here. We had our senior athletic banquet back on May 6th that was very well attended. We gave away two main scholarships. We had a good problem with the first one. The vote came back and there was such a um it was pretty much locked in a in a three-way tie and we were able to give multiple scholarships out. So, our leadership scholarships this year were Lauren Grim, Titan Frederick's, and a Micah Schmidt and that was very welld deserved. Our Bud Han award winner for this year was Ellie Laml and again very very welldeserved. Spring sports are wrapping up. Softball section started today and they had a win at Maple Lake uh 124. Uh that just wrapped up about 20 minutes ago. They will go to Anandale tomorrow. So now they're in the double elimination phase. So that's very exciting. Um they've really worked hard and have come a long way since last year. So it's exciting to see. Baseball seating takes place on Wednesday and section play will start on Thursday. Track day one of sections is next Tuesday at Delano. Boys and girls golf, day one of their sections is next Thursday. Uh trap in the next couple weeks will be wrapping up. They're currently in third place and they're closing the gap on the second place team within the conference. Triple Crown pictures will be taken on Thursday. We have 42 uh on the Triple Crown and our Royal High Five. We have 21 for this year. So, those pictures will be taken and and banners made. >> Um, let's see here. Uh, a little bit of good news. Um, it was official as of today. Our booster club, the Royal Boosters, donated to the activities department $85,000 today, which is outstanding. I can't even begin to fathom a school our size in a group that small as far as our boosters go to be able to generate that kind of revenue is it's incredible. So that's very exciting today. Um in the activities world, our immediate focus as we wrap up section play and kind of into the summer is our transition from our schools to our new system bound. Um unlike community ed, you will notice a difference on the um public facing side of it. it will look much much different and it's uh going to be very exciting and it's going to be a lot more possibilities. So, we're working on that and there are only 92 days left until August 17th, which is the official start of fall. >> Can you remind us the um triple crown and >> Royal High >> Royal High Five is? >> Triple Crown are the participants have um participated successfully in three sports. So, typically your fall season, your winter season, and your spring season. That one's pretty easy and most people understand that. Our high- five was a program. I think this will be year number four. I want to say we offer 17 either activities or clubs or music groups or all different sorts of things. And in order to be in those, um, it takes an, you know, just as much effort to be in one of those as it does to be in a sport. And some of those kids, they're in multiple activities. So we kind of establish a threshold of five as that. Hey, that's really impressive that you're in five different activities and some of them are even five activities and I'm in a you know multiple sports too. But uh our our high five is five particip or five activities that they participate in throughout the school year. So >> great. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Scheler. >> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, just an update on the elementary principal hiring process. Um, that was posted on May 1st. Uh, it'll close on Wednesday, May 20th. So, uh, right now we have about 25 candidates that have applied >> on a varying range from some experience to no experience to um, you know, some have had high school experience, but still want to be an elementary principal. Uh, it's just it is a wide variety um, both male and female as well. Um, so that'll wrap up. I'm screening those as they come in. Um, we will have our first site committee interview uh next Wednesday, the 27th. That's an all day uh interview process. We'll bring in six candidates for the first round. Um, and then we will transition uh three to the final round. So, the groups the first round uh committee is tasked with getting it down to three finalists. Uh those three finalists will move on to June 2nd where we'll have a um opportunity for the entire staff to meet uh the three candidates at a meet and greet. Um while they're out in the meet and greet, the other candidates are interviewing with our admin team. So our admin team gets an opportunity to to interview them as well as uh some students. Um a few years back um in our process we had three or four uh third grade students also interview the candidates and they had an opportunity to give us some feedback too which is really neat. I think Miss Okonnell would state that it was kind of neat that when she came back in the fall there was three or four or five uh fourth graders that she had met previously. So those connections are kind of neat and the kids really give some cool feedback. So um the other part of our process is that we use human X venture to do a um a screener on the three finalists. Uh it gives us another layer of data to kind of see whether or not they're the right fit for water tub mayor. Uh we use that uh at our last um our last time we went through this process and uh we'll use that again. Uh that is a phone interview with a Human X representative um about an hour long and again we get a really nice um uh feedback on that as well. Um oh and we'll do a tour of the building on the 2nd as well. Um and then uh we'll look for a recommendation to hire uh hopefully by the end of that week. I'm targeting the week of the 5th through the 10th somewhere in there to u close uh the deal and have a new principal named. Um obviously the June board meeting will be approving that contract. So >> do you have community members sitting on those interviews? >> Yeah. Um we have board chair uh Mr. Felt who will sit on and as a parent and as a board member and then the PTO president. >> Um I guess she's outgoing but Megan Ericson will be a part of that former parent rep >> and also too this morning >> being a parent of two in the elementary school. Uh a survey went out to all the parents. Oh. >> Uh, K4, K3. >> Oh, thanks. Yeah. Yep. >> To to kind of say what are your qualities do you want in in you know the next principal. So, and it wasn't limited to one per household. >> Got it. >> So, everybody's right that had a email address and correct. Got it. >> Got that survey. And you're doing the same thing with the teachers. >> Yeah. The staff and I sat down last week and we did a a qualities um find and what they're looking for in their next principal. And so, um that was really good. data. Um what we do is insert that into their packet. So when the interview team, which is made up of their leadership team at the elementary, we insert that as a part of the packet as well as the parent feedback. So as we're looking for candidates whether they get an idea through, you know, what they're looking for to kind of see if we can find that right match. So um yeah, it's been a good process. Um so we'll look forward to getting that going here. Uh Wednesday again it closes and we'll hope to wrap that up. Um real quick uh as you know the legislative um session ended uh last night. Um I think there was some mixed reviews um I guess specifically for Watertown Mayor um the compensatory piece um that we've talked about um you know we are going to see a reduction of about 58,000 according to these initial runs. um still trying to get some information on what's the why and it I think it has something to do with uh loss of enrollment and um kind of readjusting. Um so that was kind of a a negative. Also there was no safe schools funding as we were kind of anticipating hopefully for some help there if we were going to engage in the SRO conversation with the city. Um so uh at this point yeah that is not coming through. There was some money set aside um uh for um detection system. If you had a complaint or knew of a threat, the state's going to come up with a a process for that. Um that was one item that was a a a new request, I guess. Um but really nothing uh else on that end, which was kind of disappointing. Um so basically, I guess just looking for some feedback. I know Mr. Burns and Miss Nathan were part of initial conversations with the city on the SRO. um discussion, but if no funding is apparently available, I you know, I guess where do we go next? Um so, >> and I think too we have a finance committee meeting beginning part of June. >> So, so I think you know having SMS kind of help us. >> Yeah. >> See if we have the budget for that because without that excess funding it's >> Yeah. really hard. >> $200,000. It's almost $280,000 over the next three years. >> Yeah. >> So, that's a lot of money that is teachers, curriculum, all of that stuff. So, it's just trying to figure out if we have that in the budget. Um, and also too, as as Mr. Scheler said, >> um, you know, as Nate, Mr. Burns, you know, value your guys' input as you're part of those initial discussions, too, as we can kind of get to the next kind of make a final decision if it's a do we want to keep exploring it and go forward or or not. And I think right now to our safe schools funding that we currently get goes to a high school counselor. Mhm. >> So that might be I mean >> it's just sort of where do we want to to put our money and where we're going to get our our biggest bang to. So >> more to come on that from my perspective. >> Yeah. No, and again city has been great. They've been checking in. We've been keeping the communication open. Um I have basically shared that it's probably tied to any additional funding that we would have received. Um, so I guess I'll update them this week on that piece and and uh see where it goes. What I'm hearing is just maybe for the finance meeting in June to have a little deeper dive into what other funding could be potentially available. >> Okay. >> And and kind of where where we are at. Yeah. From the budgetary side, >> you know, could we swing it? >> You know, what's that going to look like? Impact our our general fund and and other programming we have too in our district. So, okay, thank you for that. That's all I have. Any questions? >> Thank you. >> Any board member reports from the last month? >> Crickets. >> We had the marketing and communication meeting and unfortunately I can only go for just a little bit. Um, but things seem to be going well in that realm. Um just um our coaches are doing a really good job of filtering things through the marketing and communications um smaller committee to make sure that everything looks good. And then um we are kind of looking at the graduate yard signs. So like that um cuz I think Harold you Harold Journal was at uh the chamber meeting and said they were doing them for $10 and um Holstead also was doing a special on. So I think Heather was looking into >> Yeah. the boosters maybe um helping fund that so every senior could get a a sign that wanted one. And then there was some talk about the next um uh royal >> oh roundup >> royal roundup and >> what would be in that newsletter >> and then continue using the signage the electronic sign board and like what pictures would come up and so forth. So it's been a seems like a worthy investment very good visibility and >> I left before that. Have we talked about doing some of the stationary ones too or are we still just on the electronic? Don't know. I think Heather was going to look into some of the just >> the one in St. Bonnie, like just the stationary, >> more bigger communication type stuff. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Anybody else? >> We're meeting tomorrow for Southwest, so no report. >> Um, we had a uh facilities committee, what was it last week? um really kind of the it was a a deeper dive into sort of some of those upcoming projects between now and school comes back and and beyond. Uh just trying to figure out where we are from the budget and the the the funding that we still have. Um I I think right now our still our biggest unknown is the geothermal project. We're getting a lot of data on that. Um, and we're also discuss the the bonding time frame for the roofs that we approved. Was it two months ago? >> Y. >> Um, just kind of trying to nail down when that bid opening is going to happen and and everything like that and sort of what that bond time frame looks like. >> And also too, uh, as Mr. Dalton mentioned, we had a community education meeting. Um really we kind of went over the the changes the the first pass of the changes of this handbook and really kind of did a deep dive into how the fund for works. It's the community education fund. It's not tied to the the general fund, anything like that. Um and right now kind of he alluded to it a little bit. Our our child care program is helping fund the facilities rental program. So that the facilities rental side is kind of upside down a little bit. that child care is helping supplant some of that funding. So, one of the things that that we talked as a group and a committee is is sort of how do we try to equalize that a little bit more. Um, and then from a Minnesota school board side, we had our annual meeting. Uh, we are going to be deficit spending from an MSBA side and that's an okay thing. Um, there's going to be some marketing that's coming out. One of it is going to be from the Minnesota kids rise. So, it's the big kickoffs again, the state fair. It's it's sort of the taglines. I'm a Minnesota kid. So, kind of, you know, Minnesota has really good stories for public education. How do we market those out there and and kind of getting other organizations to help us with that? And then the other one is the uh permanent school funding. It passed. And so, that question is going to be on the ballot in November. and that was a push by the MSBA. Um, and and so they're kind of taking the lead on the communication on that. Again, it's $2.3 billion fund that's only paying interest in dividends. So, what they're doing it more of like an endowment. So, it'll actually about double what most districts 40% 50% what most districts get. So if it passes, but you have to change the constitution to be able to do that because it's in the constitution. So that is all I had. >> Anybody else? >> Education foundation is meeting tonight, but obviously they just had the big event last week, Wednesday, where they gave out all the awards and whatnot. So >> planning for summer events, Rails for Trails and some of the other things again. And yeah, >> looking for some fall events. >> Chamber meeting tomorrow. Yes. >> All right. >> I make a motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Have a motion made by Miss Danielson, second by Mr. O'Neal. All those in favor say I. >> I. All oppose, nay. Motion carries. Meeting is adjourned at 7:06 p.m. Wow.