on December 1st, 2025. And I call to order this regular meeting of the Richfield School Board. Attending this evening's board meeting live and in the boardroom will be board members Rachel Banko, Director Paul Cole, Director Kendless, Director Kirk Spencer, and on board chair Eric Carter. We're joined tonight by our student representatives, both of them, Vanessa Rosa Miguel and Tania Breenidge. Also at the table, we have superintendent Stevieoski and assistant to superintendent Cassandra Qua. All here other members of the district team are in attendance and will be participating throughout the meeting as well. Richville Public Schools mission is to inspire and empower each individual to learn, grow, and excel. And we aim to keep that focus at the heart of our discussions this evening. Thank you to those of us here live and in the boardroom. We also want to thank those of you streaming the meeting or watching it after the fact via YouTube. We appreciate when people bear witness to our meetings where we conduct the necessary official business of the district. Our first item of business this evening is to approve the agenda before us. Has approved the agenda is routine business that will briefly I will briefly pause to see if there any comments or questions related to the agenda hearing. And seeing none is anyone prepared to move the agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. We have a motion by director Cole and a second by director Spencer. Bring it right to a vote. All in favor, please say I. >> I. I. >> All post, please say nay. Chair votes I. And the agenda is approved. Next item on our agenda. It's not fully. It's information proposals. We are not fullon public comment, but we are truth and taxation night, which is a once a year event where people could speak if they wanted to, but nobody signed up, so we're not. So, we're going to move right into our first agenda item with Superintendent Yuneski. All >> right. So, we have three items in the superintendent update. Truth in taxation, uh, community education presentation, and our annual staffing report. So, without further ado, I'm going to turn things over to Craig Holy to begin our conversation around truth in taxation. >> Good evening, everybody. Uh, yes, this is the public hearing for taxes payable in 2026. It is a mandatory hearing that we do. Um, the presentation is part of Minnesota state requirement to ensure governmental budget transparency and opportunities for public comment. Much of the information is required by state statutes, but also provides us an opportunity to share with the community our financial status and operations. Following this presentation, the board is able to act on the final levy for the coming calendar and fiscal years. Uh we're going to jump in a couple slides here. Sorry. Um the slide, this slide highlights the Minnesota requirement for this meeting regarding scheduling, what must be covered, and availability for public comment. Uh tonight we will share information about the background of school funding, go over the current year budget, present the proposed tax levy for taxes payable in 2026, and then provide an opportunity for public comment. It is important to note that Minnesota's state constitution requires the legislature to provide for funding for a thorough and efficient system for public schools throughout the state. Local taxes are one opportunity along with other funding that comes through the state. School funding is highly regulated and any taxing authority of the school board must be within guidelines identified by the state. Most of our revenue is specified on a per pupil or per student basis. The state authorizes a maximum levy. Um each school district can levy. While local boards can authorize less than this amount, they are not able to authorize more. School boards are also authorized to submit referendums for operating and capital needs, but those also must be within state required limits. One of Richfield's largest funding sources is through a state allocated formula for general education revenue. This is state funding generated on a per pupil basis for the 2526 school year. This formula allowance is $7,481 per student, which was a 2.75% increase from our previous year of $7,281. When comparing state funding increases to inflation since 2002 2003, state funding has not kept pace. It would require a 19% increase or about $1,420 more per student per year to close that gap. Special education is another area that has seen increased costs for specific programs serving students with identified needs. While programming in this area is specialized and often within certain required services to make sure all students are served, this programming comes with additional costs that are not fully covered by the funding specified for these services. As such, districts are required to bridge this gap with other funding sources such as local revenue or general education funding. It is important to note that even with the recent improvements in funding from the legislature, by fiscal year 2028, special education is projected to still be underfunded by $524 million in the state of Minnesota. Tonight, [clears throat] we will also be sharing information about our current 2526 budget because the budget funded by the proposed levy is still being developed and will not go into effect until July 1 of 2026. School district budgets are broken up into multiple funds with the general fund being the one that provides most of our regular education programming. Each year, the budget is authorized by the school board in June for the budget year beginning July 1. Uh the next slide shows an overview of the fiscal year 25 and fiscical year 26 budgets. It highlights the revenues and expenditures for each of the funds as well as the fund balance. The general restricted fund is funding that can only be used for specific purposes with our general operating programs. You'll notice that most funds are relatively stable with revenues and expenditures. Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in our general fund reserve associated with additional federal funds, state funding increases, and contained expenditures, but we are seeing this start to flatten out with anticipated declines in fiscal year 26 and moving forward. If you're wondering why the revenues and expenditures are shaded for the internal service fund, this is because these funds come in and out of other funds in our budget. And reporting those funds in this format would inflate the overall revenues and expenditures in our district. Uh next, we're going to examine our revenue sources um for our general fund accounts. Um our revenue sources for our general funding accounts for 84.3% of our overall revenue or just over $16 million. Our debt service, which accounts for funding associated with our construction programs and other post-employment, is the next highest category. Food service and community education each represent about 2 to 4% of our overall revenue. Focusing on our general fund, 68.7% of the revenue in this area comes from the state, 28.6% comes from local property taxes, interest, and fees. And 2.6% comes from federal government. And looking at our general fund expenditures, because we're highly because we are a highly human capital based organization, 74.6% of our expenditures go to pay salaries and benefits for staff. 16.4% of our budget goes to purchase services for things like specialized transportation, construction, and fees to other schools. When we look at our expenditures by program, 40.6% 6% or 36.9 million is spent on regular instruction. 20.5% is sent spent on special education instruction. 15% is spent on pupil support services such as transportation and counseling. 9.6% is spent on sites and buildings. 5.2% on instructional support such as technology, media, curriculum, and staff development. And 3.5 to 3.7% is spent each on license administration and support services. Uh because school funding is complex, a change in the tax levy does not always correlate directly with a dollar for-dollar increase in the school budget. Tax levies are based on many different formulas and some increases in tax levies are offset by reductions in state aid. An expenditure budget is impacted by overall changes in state formulas, voter approved levies, and the use of fund balances or reserve dollars. The next slide highlights the advanced planning that is required for school funding, which is a little different from cities and other municipalities. Our budget year begins July 1 and coincides with the school year. The taxes authorized by the levy being presented this evening will be collected from property owners between January 1 and December 31 of 2026, but will be used to fund the school district from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. Our preparation for this levy actually began this past summer, July of 2025, with the preliminary levy authorized in September, so property owners could receive information from the county about their proposed taxes in November. In November of each year, owners receive a notice of proposed taxes from the county. Henipin County is responsible for distributing these statements to Richfield School District residents. It's good to note that because of the expiration of the technology referendum, the two funding questions approved by voters. Sorry, this was last year's presentation on that piece. Missed that delete. I know. School district property taxes. As identified earlier, school levies are very complex and are calculated by the Minnesota Department of Education. The levy is based on various categories and limited by state law and voter approval. Uh this slide highlights the steps in the process. Only one of these steps is controlled by the school district. The city or county determines the estimated market values. The legislature sets formulas for how various properties are taxed, residential versus commercial. The county auditor calculates the tax capacity for each parcel based on these formulas. The legislature sets maximum levy limits for school districts. The Minnesota Department of Education calculates the detailed levy limits. The school board adopts proposed and final levies and the county auditor then takes the final levy information to finalize the tax for the individual properties. Uh this slide articulates the process that results in the levy being recommended this evening. So you can see it started in September and then moving through tonight's meeting. Uh looking at the proposed levy for this evening, there's a proposed increase of 1.2% in the local revenue. We will illustrate the reasons for major changes in the levy and impact on property owners. The next slide illustrates some of the various aspects of the levy and the various funds. In the general fund, you will note larger increases in the prior year adjustments, which is based on actual versus projected enrollment. There are also decreases in most categories associated with a reduction in the projected enrollment. Changes in the debt service generally offset each other based on the categorical type of projects as we have worked to stabilize the amount of the debt service levy over the years. But we do see an increase associated with abatement adjustments that result from reduced valuations for specific properties in the district. In the voter approved referendum, there's a decrease of $242,488. This is primarily the result of the decreased enrollment projections while also factoring in the annual inflationary increase. In the prior year adjustments, there's an increase of $32,541. This is primarily the result of increased enrollment that occurred in previous years after the levy was set based um using bas set set based on lower projected enrollment. In the debt service abatement adjustments, there's an increase of $458,564. This is primarily the result of an increase in tax abatements um and a requirement for the district to levy at 105% of the debt service payments to make sure that we can cover delinquencies and tax collections and abatements. Um moving forward, there are many factors that result in a change in a taxpayer school taxes, including change in value of an individual property, change in all property values in the district, and changes in levy amounts due to formula changes or voter approved referendum. Um, in addition to changes in enrollment, market valuations of individual properties can impact taxes paid. If all properties increase in value at the same rate, taxes would remain relatively flat. But if a property has a lower market value increase than other properties or the district-wide market, their share of the taxes would be smaller. Similarly, if an individual property value increases more than the broad market, that property would see more of an increase. As you can see here, if two properties each have the same valuation, they would each pay the same amount in levy. However, if one of the properties increases more than the other, that home with the higher increase in value will pay more than they did the previous year, and the home that increased value less would pay less than they did the previous year. The following slides um will show examples of changes in school district portion of property taxes from 2023 to 2026. They're looking only at our school district taxes and will illustrate the impact with no change in property valuations. Um as well as a 3% increase in property value over this four-year period of time. Um which our financial municipal adviserss had identified as the average increase in property values. Actual changes will vary from parcel to parcel with estimates based uh um with estimates that have been prepared by Ellers, the district's municipal adviser. Uh the next slide provides an overview of various property values in Richfield School District for residential, commercial, and apartments. It illustrates the tax impact on various property values holding the value constant from 2023. Uh the increase in taxes from 2023 to 2024 was the result of the voter-approved operating referendum that was approved in 2023 and has been relatively stable since then with a slight decrease actually proposed for 2026 for those residential homesteads. Uh the average single family residential property in Richfield is about $325,000. This slide shows the year-over-year school tax change of a couple of property valuations in this range. For our average home values, the 2026 taxes are projected to be essentially flat with a very slight decrease. Uh you can see both the 325,375 show about a dollar decrease in property taxes um if their values are staying the same. Um similarly, the next slide illustrates the net changes to commercial and apartment properties over the same period of time um with no change in market value. And here you can see that there's a slight increase in those taxes for those commercial properties. Uh the next slide shows the year-over-year school tax changes for residential homestead property when the increase in the market value is included. Um here you can see the increase in school taxes paid by homeowners in the first year illustrated um because of the voter approved referendum and then relatively flat taxes payable in 2025 and 2026 even with the average increase in home values. Um for our average home values with average increased property values, this year's increase in school district taxes is less than 1%. Finally, we wanted to highlight a couple of tax savings opportunities for property owners. Uh the first is a homestead credit refund or circuit breaker program that is available to homestead property owners or renters within income guidelines generally about $143,140 or less. This refund requires completion of the M1PR state tax form. Uh [clears throat] there's also a special property tax refund for homestead property owners with higher gross tax increases. Um this also requires the completion of the M1PR tax form. And finally, there's a senior citizen property tax deferral that allows people aged 65 and over with income less than 96,000 to defer a portion of their property taxes until the home is sold or the homeowner dies. Um, looking at next steps tonight, next steps, the board um will accept public comments comments this evening on the proposed levy and we are also requesting that the board certify the proposed levy later this evening during the action items on the board agenda. Um, so with that, I would open it up if there are public comments of anybody attending this hearing. >> Looks like we have none tonight. So then that, thanks for all the detail and going so fast. My head's spinning. Uh, anybody have questions? It's a lot of silence in here. >> It's very clear. >> I mean, we have student >> educators in the community yet. They're excited for what's be to be presented next is what I think is happening here. >> Is excited and yet unfortunate that he went ahead of our exciting presentation. No pressure, >> right? Good job, Greg. >> I didn't have questions, but of course I had jokes that I wanted to make throughout, but I refrained from doing so. >> Bravo. Well done. >> Uh, >> second to last meeting. You know, I can't guarantee what's going to happen next time. Craig is always great job. I'm glad you're you. >> Good to know. >> Um, so Craig, you made the comment that one of the slides it looks I don't know what number it was. 25. [clears throat] Page 25. I don't know what slide number that is. um was a mistake from last year and it's is that just because >> the it's still valuable information, right? I mean just the wrong data. >> Yeah. So um the slide is accurate. Um what I started to talk about was that the property tax um proposed property taxes that went to taxpayers did not include the referendum option because it had not been approved yet. So, what I had stopped saying was that the 23 proposed the voter approved referendum was not included in that um tax statement because it's only those that are actually authorized and it's not authorized to be included until after the vote in November, but the county mails those at the very beginning of November. >> Try to restate it. >> So, notes were I'll try to translate. My notes were not my notes were old on that second paragraph that I started to say. [laughter] >> Go ahead. >> People's tax forms are correct this year. Previously, they did not include the increase that came from the referendum. >> Sorry. So Craig was pointing out that a year ago the tax forms everybody received in the mail were not correct because the referendum info was not yet on there because we did not have a referendum this year. The tax information people got in the mail is accurate. >> Check. I wasn't sure because it said proposed taxes for 2026 and I was like how is this happening last year? I think that's >> the slide was sorry the slide was accurate. >> Got it. the notes um incorrect. >> When the technology referendum needed to be renewed >> and the voter approved increase hadn't been included, those increases weren't included in the tax notices that year. >> But it was because of timing. >> It's because of timing because you the board proposes the levy that they have authority for and what gets listed is what the board actually has authority for. The board did not have authority until after the voters approved those two action items. Sounds like we should have had our meeting later or something last year. >> But this >> and it actually was two years ago that that >> it's [laughter] like a blur. >> I love this meeting. Where's Tim at? >> My effort to be succinct. Sometimes a couple of these slides I miss. So >> you were fast. Uh it's a lot of information to process for all of us. >> More question. >> I'm good. >> You're good. >> Not all of us. Some good. >> You're good. You got it. [laughter] >> [clears throat] >> Are you so good that you want to propose? Oh, wait. Are we >> No, there's no vote on this. >> Vote now. Come back. >> It's later on. >> I I'll stop messing with you. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. Worried about a computer reboot. >> You look sleepy, so [laughter] >> you're the best. [clears throat] [snorts] Any more questions for Craig or we will dismiss him for the moment? >> Thank you. Dismissed. You are >> right. All right. So, I'm going to bring up Laya and Grace. Actually, I suppose fine. Abby and Amy can come up, too. Um, and we are excited to present to you um information about Richfield Community Ed and some of the interesting things that we do overlapping with our students. >> Take it away, Director Scari Clacker. >> We'll go formal for Thank you all. Good to see you all. Um, I am here. I'm Amy Scari Cler Clucker, the director of community ed, and I'm here today with some of our community ed staff. I have Abby Dubet, Jolene Litwinchuk, and Llaya Strucker. Um, and we're here to do a quick highlight on a couple of community ed programs. So, um, one of those is Kids Zone, which is the afterchool program at Centennial that I came to speak to you about in August. And the other is an update on our aquatics program. um and you'll have an opportunity to hear from some of the young people who work in these programs um in community ed. So, but first I just want to run through a very high level overview of community ed programs. Um because I only get to come usually once a year, it's always important to do just a real basic update. So, community ed offers opportunities for all ages to learn, grow, and connect. I threw a cover of our winter catalog uh picture up here because those are going to be delivered to homes next week. And just so you know what you're looking out for, you'll see the the kids on the cover actually are um students from the kids own program at Centennial that started this fall. And uh the other cover picture is from our Latinx family fun festival this fall, which was a lot of fun. Um, when you get your catalog next week, you'll also notice it's six, eight pages longer than usual. And, um, that is because there's some district information in there. Um, there's some like six pages of school district updates covering school enrollment and upcoming strategic planning sessions. And since this catalog is mailed to every home in the district, we think this could be another way to make sure that our district information is getting out. um especially when our catalog seasons fit well with the communications department timelines. So, it might not be in every time, but it's just something that communications and I will work together on if if there's a a good timing with the catalog. Um the next three slides just cover some of the basic areas that you know um community ed does. You may you've seen these slides before. There's some updated pictures and some updated numbers, but just a reminder, we have um adult programs. So we um offer around 180 adult enrichment classes every year. Um around a thousand registrations in those programs. And then there are English language classes and GED courses through Metro South. And um adults with disabilities courses through Learning Exchange, which are some of our partner programs that happen [clears throat] for adults. And then uh we have youth programming, which is the next slide. Um we uh probably know we have swimming lessons, youth enrichment classes, driver's education, family events, and now the kids zone um program at Centennial. There's around 2,200 registrations for those um programs each year. And then uh we also um offer early learning um in partnership with the district. So, early childhood family education classes um and then preschool for threes and pre kindergarten for fours at district elementary schools and central education center. The funding for three-year-olds and ECF all go through community ed. And our funding for four-year-olds is primarily through VPK, which is in we kind of braid those funds for all of our early learning programs and around 400 students per year um in early learning. So tonight I'm joined with two of our coordinators. So Abby and Jolene are both coordinators um in community ed. And they'll each go over some highlights in one of their assigned areas. They have lots of different areas they work in and then they'll each introduce you to one of our staff members that are RPS students as well. Abby, you go ahead. >> Perfect. >> Hello everyone. My name is Abby Dubet and in community ed, my role is a youth and family programs coordinator. um that in that entitles um enrichment after school classes, driver's ed, family events, and um the new program, Kids Zone, after school at Centennial. Um the last time I was here, I was with Amy. Uh she did most of the speaking, but uh we were introducing Kids Zone while we were still in the planning stages, but I'm happy to announce that we officially kicked off Kidzone October 1st with uh 36 contracts um that were that signed up. So, we're at Centennial Elementary after school. Um, because this is a new program, we truly started from the ground up developing our parent and staff handbooks, establishing program practices, creating our billing cycle, and putting operational systems in place. Um, it's been significant amount of foundation work, but it has set up for a strong start. Um right now currently we have 30 active contracts with daily attendance ranging from 16 to 25 students depending on the day of the week. Our target is to increase daily attendance to 30 to 35. Uh that would help us better utilize the staffing strengthen group dynamics and increase program uh sustainability. Um next bullet point there uh with our Dreams Academy program after school. It just started up. It's on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Um, our kids zone staff has been supporting by helping supervise the cafeteria during snack time and submitting enrollment numbers to the lead kitchen staff for the afterchool snack and washing off the tables at the end. [clears throat] This collaboration with these two programs with Kids Zone and Dreams Academy has helped improve transitions and maintain student safety and provide consistency and familiarity across both programs and some growth opportunities. We're also exploring potential enrollment from RDLS and STEM families. Uh recently we just sent out a survey from the uh fund club weight list um to confirm the current needs of them and over the next month we hope to add more students by offering transportation to Centennial. So next slide. Uh pictured here on the left is Grace Westman. She is a senior here at Richfield High School. Grace works alongside with Eleanor Carr and Jackie Ola Rosano. Uh we are now going to hear from Grace and unfortunately she's not here with us, but we did pre-record a clip to share with you. So we'll listen to Grace. >> Hi, I'm Amy with Community Ed and I'm here to introduce you to one of our staff people. This is Grace. >> Grace, what grade are you in? >> I'm a senior at Richville High School. >> Cool. And where do you work at? >> Uh Centennial Kid Zone. Sweet. >> Tell us about your job with community. >> My everyday job involves taking attendance as well as the kids to get snack, washing hands before meals, going outside with an encouraging play, whether that's inside or outside, crafts or sports. >> Why were you interested in this job? >> Um, I was most interested in this job because I love working with kids. It's well, >> what have you learned working in this job andor has it impacted how you are thinking about your future plans? I've learned communication and understanding the most. I think learning how to communicate with their big personalities has been my biggest takeaway so far. It has also impacted my future. I've learned so many skills like leading groups, managing my time, problem solving, and teamwork from my job. >> Thank you, Grace. We are so happy that she's a part of our team. Um, her enthusiasm for working with kids is evident and she is reliable and dedicated. So, now I'm going to pass it along to my co-orker here, Jolene, and she's going to give us some highlights on our aquatics program. >> All right. Thank you. Um, hi. >> Oh, you're good. >> There we go. >> Uh, my name is Jolene Litwinchuk and I'm the coordinator for adult enrichment, aquatics, and some partnership programs that we share with the city of Richfield, um, parks and wreck, and then some other local community eds in our area. Um tonight I'm just going to give you some highlights of our aquatics program. Um our Olympic style swim lessons uh was created by the high school coach Mark Cameron um and has been in existence for nearly 40 years. Uh we currently have about 600 registrations um per year. Our summer lessons run Monday through Friday during the day. Um, and our school year lessons are on Saturday mornings. Um, over the past two years, we have built a consistent staff of instructors and lifeguards. We continue to use Coach Hamron's um, curriculum and have added important water safety components to our lessons. Um, and we have also been able to streamline the way we evaluate students progress. Um, we have hired three bilingual staff members who speak both Spanish and English um, with our students and we have added adult swim lessons and the master's swim program just recently. Um, and with the increase in staff, we have been able to decrease the staff to or instructor to student ratio um to just four students per instructor. Um, so I am excited to introduce um our aquatics staff member, Llaya Striker. She is also a senior here at Richfield High School and has worked in our aquatics program as a swim instructor and a lifeguard for three years, right? Yeah. Laya has a natural gift for teaching with endless amounts of enthusiasm and patience and she is amazing with all the kids. Go ahead. >> I'm Laya. Working for community ed has been the best experience that I've ever had. Anybody [clears throat] who knows me knows how much I love my job because I never stop talking about it. Being able to work with kids who especially I've noticed a lot of the kids in our community are kind of timid around the water. Um, and being able to watch a kid go through all the steps of, okay, maybe this isn't so bad to finally nailing their freestyle or whatever stroke it is, and being able to jump into the deep end is the most rewarding thing that I think you can really do. I also hope to become a classroom teacher one day, and I was a little bit on the fence, but being able to teach at this program has solidified my love for teaching. Um, I love it. It's like the best job ever. [laughter] I tell everybody that I know that they should come work for us. >> She does. It's been great. [laughter] >> And sometimes we hire them. >> Yes. Yes. >> All right. Thank you very much, Laya and Jolene and Abby. Um, I will say I don't want to call myself old, but now that I'm [clears throat] kind of seasoned, we'll say, in community ed, um, the highlight of my job is watching young people who get the the job opportunities I had. So, my first jobs were as camp counselor. I worked in school age care as a fairly, you know, just out of college person. And um those were like I learned so much and you get a lot of responsibility handed to you at a young age when you're working with kids and it you you like it helps people rise to the occasion to give that kind of responsibility. So it's really fun to watch um young staff who are learning and and growing. Um one last slide for us just some future considerations thinking about um other things that are coming up. So kids zone obviously is a new program for us. Um the board approved that opening with a potential risk of 65,000. Um if all remained as things are right now, like the number of kids stayed the same and the staffing stayed the same, it looks like we'll lose less than that. I'm thinking more around 45,000. And I'm hoping we'll do even better than that by adding students from some other schools. So that's some of the things we're working on right now. Um, and then looking ahead to next year, we're looking at, you know, one, if we continue that program, and two, if there's ways we can wrap some of the some things going on with preschool, um, by if there's some wraparound care items that could happen or helping to, um, support a full day preschool model. Um, we'll also pursue certification, which is what allows families to qualify for county assistance for that program. Um, we knew we couldn't get that started on day one starting the program so quickly, but that's something that we're working on as well. A couple things to note in the adult basic ed world. Again, adult basic ed is uh run primarily from Bloomington, but our Richfield dollars go to that and also our Richfield adult students are served through that. So, it's important that we remember it's part of our community program as well. They received a grant, an LCE grant, and they have more career pathways classes offered this year. That's a three-year grant cycle, and this is the first year of it. So, they've got a lot of career pathways classes going on right now, like getting your CDL license. Um, there's classes for uh, you know, for CDL's, bus drivers. Sorry, I should say that. Um, there's classes for paraprofessionals. There's classes for um I don't remember those are the two that stuck out to me because they're ones that the district hires but there's several different career pathways and um that's going on and so it might be interesting to check out. And then federal funding for AB is at risk. Um I did talk to our director at Metro South and she said about 10% of Metro South's budget is federal. So, you know, Metro South is not at risk of closing, but it could make a big hit for them. And then, um, community education based funding is always something that, you know, we're looking at. That tends to remain flat and still has remained flat. So, we continue to look at staffing models and program fees to keep our budget viable. [clears throat] So, that's the information we have for you. Do you have any questions for us? >> Thank you for that. Thank you for joining us as well tonight. >> Questions. >> I want to say Julian, I'm so happy to meet you in person. I think I'm your I don't know biggest caller. [laughter] Uh my my family has really grown with all of you. Uh from my kids learning to swim uh to the classes. I take a lot of classes and sometimes I don't go, but that's okay. Um, but just thank you because it this truly feels like you all make me feel like you all know me. Uh, even though you don't know who I may be from a random email, but it's just so personalized and and and it just means a lot. It really feels, you know, community. It's building community. So, thank you so much uh to to all of you for your your hard work. >> Thank you. Um, so I guess just a comment. [clears throat] I think when you were last here, I made a comment along the lines of impressed by how fast you were going to set up the Centennial after school program and that you came through with it is amazing. So really well done for that. Um, and um, I think the word you used on the second to last slide was that we might lose some money. I think it's a it's a good investment is is how I would look at it and I'm looking forward to opportunities for us to maybe make that you know a smaller investment next year because it's it's funded. >> So thank you for your work. >> I usually have comments not questions. So I just want to say Laya your energy is infectious and my [laughter] heart was smiling just listening to you talk. So, just take that passion and run. Don't let anyone or anything get in your way. And if it's anything does get in your way, just Kool-Aid man the crap out of that. All right. Just go right through it. All right. >> Thank you. >> Got big plans. She's got She's got a lot going on. >> I will say when we met with Laya last week and we were going through the slides and one of the pictures came up and she's like, "Oh, I know those kids." And you know, she kind of you can just the energy was palpable. >> She I'm telling you, she brings it to work and the kids love her and it's such a positive experience for them. So, it's it's fantastic. >> I feel it. >> Thank you. >> I think we all do. I I would and I would echo that when I look at this some of the questions I have or comments are um what do we advertise for these opportunities >> for the like job opportunities >> um I mean we post them right just like we do with all positions and then um we've gone to like the high school to the job fair in the spring >> has usually been a good place and then um for kids zone since we were starting it so early we you know We posted the position, but we also I talked to the person in charge of the work study kind of situations at the high school and there was a student the student Grace who we hired um was already had no last hour of the day so she could get there on time was very interested in the position. We had a couple students interested and her schedule worked perfectly for it. Um, so yeah, I mean there's a multitude of ways, but >> I'm just kind of curious just, you know, the um the spring job [clears throat] fair sounds like your opportunity to also bring some of the students to go ahead and speak on your behalf, right? It's your excitement, not that you guys aren't excited, but your excitement is >> overflowing, which is fantastic. Um, which I would also even say, I mean, I know Jennifer tends to listen to these, um, that I would think that we should do some more promos because I think your interview with um, Grace, right, is like for future reference to put on the website would be fantastic as well to propagate that energy, right? >> Um, so kudos to you. Great job. So, >> a couple of added comments as we wrap up. I I want to echo what what Kirk said to Amy, Abby, and Jolene. We did throw them an expectation with federal funding falling through and beacons pulling out of their ability to support Centennial, the the need to launch fast. Um, and they did an exceptional job. Uh, can you go back one slide because I don't want the board to miss what's also on that slide. Uh, as we talked about, um, because they've been thrown another one for next year to really look into to start planning. Um if you look at looks like the fourth bullet um looking ahead to next year possible to offer preschool wraparound care. So as you know we weren't able to have full day kindergarten at all of our sites and our kindergartens from Centennial and Sheridan ended up being moved to central and combined. Uh so one of the things I've asked them to examine um based on their success at Centennial Kids Zone is looking at partnering four-year-old child care with a half-day program, figuring out the four-year-old scholarships and pairing that to create a full day program, creating ways to make sure that we have four-year-old programming in all of our buildings. Um and so they are already examining things to possibly build on Kidzone uh to launch for the future in the fall to make sure that we can have that fully comprehensive preK through 5 program in all of our buildings. So the reward for their successful work turning around Centennial Kid Zone was more work. >> So yay team. And they're not just working with our youngest and oldest as you as you saw. They're working with Grace and Laya and some of our students and that that they're working with all ages. So good work. >> Great work. So with that, thank you all and we are going to transition to the scintillating HR department. We're going to call up director Michelle Axel and human resource manager Erica Strand. Heidi Savati, finance, are you coming up too? You're standing up. >> Oh, were you Got it. We'll say goodbye to Heidi, our director of finance. Sorry, that was awkward me moment. Wow, I made her embarrassed. Got it. Got it. We are shifting in the room. So, our HR team is coming up to present the staffing report. So with that, I will turn things over to Michelle and Erica. >> Thank you. >> Oh, good evening board and student board members. We are here to share the annual staffing report. This staffing report is a point in time that was pulled on October 29th, 2025, which is reflective to a year ago when we pulled our staffing data last year on that same date. Before we even get started, I want to introduce Erica Strand, our HR manager. She is the magic behind this report. She compiled and worked hard to ensure that the data is accurate as of this time. So she and I are going to together present. So thank you Erica for that. Well uh just to kind of give Well, we can just go right in. Let's go for it. Right. I talk slow. Craig, Erica might talk fast, so Erica is gonna start. >> I'll try not to talk so fast. Uh, so this first slide is just a district overview. Um, we have as of October 29th, we had 672 total staff, which is equal to 629 FTE. Our largest group of staff are teachers, um, 343 employees or 339 FTE. The next group would be our pair of professionals. Um we had 121 pair of professionals which is equal to 104 FTE. Um this is very similar to the totals we had for last year. Um but we did have a decrease in FTE from then. So we'll move on to the next slide and kind of get into the details. So our district-wide changes overall there was a change of 4.74 FTE. The biggest change was in our teacher group. Um that decrease of six FTE. Um and those reductions were mainly uh districtwide and non-classroom teachers, teaching positions. Um that included but weren't limited to counselors, uh social work or uh technology coach, and instructional coaches. Um and that decrease aligned with our decrease or projected enrollment decline. Um we had an increase in par profofessionals um and that is because we had further supports in special education and an additional parah in our high school that's helping facilitate activities and access to resources to support career and college planning. Um another thing to note about our par professionals at that we currently we only have one opening um out there for a pair professional for this school year. So we have filled almost every single position. Um our decrease in administration would be the two administrators, our assistant superintendent and a special ed supervisory position that were eliminated and not refilled. Um and then our administrative support staff look increased by two. Um and the reason for that is the two positions were open last year at the time of doing the report. So they are now filled for this school year. Okay, let's keep moving here. So, building changes. So, those changes in FTE. Um, this is specific to each building. There is either an increase or decrease for FTE. Um, we'll [snorts] start with the increase. So, you'll see that multi-building increased by about 10 and a half FTE. Um, and the reason for that is that we are now categorizing staff who work at more than one building in that location. Um, before they would just be placed into one of the places they worked. Um, so a variety of teachers, the largest group would be teachers that moved in there. um and that are teachers such as speech pathologists um e social workers and then a few specialists like music and adaptive fied that are now being housed there instead in our groups. Um and then we have a few support staff. Um the district office has a large decrease um and that is that either positions were moved out of there or there have been positions that were eliminated. And so we eliminated as I said before the assistant superintendent and the sped supervisor. Um our director of extended learning moved to become assistant principal at STEM. Uh there were teachers who were either returned to a building itself or that position was eliminated. And then we had five staff who moved that were in facilities and transportation that had been located um as the district office but really should have been at the garage. And that's why you can see that increase of about 5 FTE at the garage. The next big decrease was over at the middle school. Um and as a note, there was a decrease in enrollment in that building. Um and so we believe some of that reason is that there was a decrease then in support staff there. And additionally, um teachers who were now coded at the middle at the multi-building or they were a staff reduction. So we'll move on to our student uh service ratios. Um so this is our identifies the current staffing rations for students service programming for counselors and social workers. Um from the counselors the one difference that's there is that there is one less high school counselor from last year to this year. Um, and then for our social workers, um, there really wasn't a large change in the student ratios. So, they've pretty much stayed the same from this the past year to this one. You want to Now, we're talking about teachers. Back to teachers and um, and our hiring in this this past year. We hired 40 new teachers and um happy to say that over 70 or 70% have a master's degree or higher. This is even an increase from last year where our new teachers had 63% of a master's degree or higher. And our education level across the board though we still see hiring across bachelors and even PhD. So, we're very much our current teacher percentage aligns very much similar to the prior year. Um, but as we look and we see about all of our new hires and our current teachers, I always feel like [clears throat] uh this is really reflective to our teacher salary schedule and the agreement we have in place that continues to attract and attract and encourage lifelong learners. keeping on with teachers, talking about those with uh their years of prior experience. And um you know, in terms of our our count of our new teachers and our goal in terms of our hiring, um we've hired 31 um experienced educators that had at least five or more years of experience. At the same time, we've got emerging talent. We've hired nine new teachers who are in their most recent um starting of their career. I like to say that our strategic plan, one of our values is our [clears throat] diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that fosters unity empowers all. And this is really reflective of what our hiring has brought in the diversity from newer teacher experience to um all the way to 25 plus years coming to Richfield. Then I'd like to turn this over to years of teaching in Richfield and um we're this is one of our goals is always to maintain or improve staff hiring and support and um you know again large number of our student teachers 144 of them are in their first uh zero to four years and yet overall we have 201 make up 58% that have been teaching at Richfield for five plus years. Ah, now we move to diversity. >> Yes. So, teacher diversity. Um, this slide illustrates our teacher overall teacher diversity. Um, 35% of our new teachers are teachers of color. Um, and that's an increase from last year of 9%. Um, and our current teacher diversity has also increased, not as large, um, but 20% of them are teachers of color. So, here we see more specifics regarding diversity and our count and percentage over the last eight years. >> [snorts] >> So if you want to take a moment to look it over. So if we compare last year to this year um you can see that many of the non-white races have decreased from last year. Um we believe this a significant factor to this is that those staff that have identified as two or more races are now being reported under multi-race. um a category that we added specifically this year. So to teacher diversity compared to the state um so this compares Richfield's teacher diversity to the state teacher diversity based off of the 2025 Pelby supply and demand report that's on their website. Um overall, uh Richfield has been able to hire and return retain a diverse workforce. Um as shown on the table of the non-white teachers, their percentage either is equal or close to or more than that of the state. So as an example, you can see as the Hispanic Latino, um the staff that ident identify as Hispanic Latino here at Ridgefield are 9.28%. um in comparison that there is only 2.08% of the teacher workforce in the state of Minnesota that are identifying as Hispanic and Latino. So I think that is an interesting um kind of fact and notice the same with black and African-American. >> [laughter] >> Uh so now that we're on to uh total diversity and so as we acknowledged on the other slide, we are now taking into consideration those staff that considered themselves multi-race um and so that is why I we will see that there's a decrease in those the other non-white races um overall. So there are 17 of them. One person actually identified as three races. Um they identified as Asian, American Indian/Alaskan, and white. Um the other 16 of them identified as two or more races. Um two of or one of them stated that they identified as American Indian and Hispanic, Latino, and the other one as a black, African, American, and other. The other 14 actually identified as both white and then a non-white race. Um the m majority of them actually um were identifying as a black Africanamean. Um and that is why I think there is such a decrease um in the a black African-American uh race category where you can see it went from 8 to 5%. Um this is just another way of looking at that change over the course of the last 10 years of our percentage of uh staff who identify as different races. Um you can kind of see that the white is going down while the others are kind of increasing slowly. Now we like to here's here's [snorts] our percent comparison. So it feels like a lot. 80.29% of our teachers are white. Yet there is a celebration there. This is a decrease from last year from 81.25. So we we continue to increase in our in our diversity. We also just kind of wanted to point out about the multi-race again, that area that you'll see that increase because of our change in how we're reporting now and we're including multi-race versus breaking that out into individual races. >> Can I ask a question? >> Yeah. So you're saying it's attributable only to the categorization, not that people are actually leaving. You know, I that's a really good point that you make that it sounds like that's what we're saying and therefore we missed in a sense of making sure you understood that we feel a strong factor is that yet we recognize and understand that in that it uh employees leave and and that reason and behind that reason and that attrition we don't have an answer behind but we do know that right it that could be a factor as well. Okay. Because >> it sounded like it was purely just >> uh a categorization thing because >> you know I think there needs to also be >> some assessment of maybe why people of color might be leaving the district too. >> Right. >> Okay. Just wanted to >> thank you >> say that. And this is our very last slide that we have here about our our new staff uh from a year ago, you know, from when we took this snapshot. And um we, you know, again, um overall, we've hired 57 employees who identify themselves as white and 25 employees who identify themselves of color. And we just also want to identify that we've hired 21 less staff um this year from last year at this time. >> That was all we have. What questions do you have? >> Thank you for that. I got one. Um, I'm looking at the new teachers and I know you hired that new Dakota teacher. Wouldn't that make you have a higher percentage of Native American hires this year from zero to 2%. >> Yep. So, across there, if you I'm just going to pull pull that up under the American um Indian and Alaskan Is that what is that? >> Well, I was looking at the I was looking at the at the pie chart. And so again, this goes to if [clears throat] last year we did not um individuals who may have identified more than one race that we may have um not included that and so might have listed it as three or we may have lost >> um an individual. Okay. >> I can take a look at that data and let you know that. >> All right. I just remember meeting the guy and >> and he's here. He's here. >> Yeah. >> Mhm. So, >> and so actually um like in our breakdown when um when Erica spoke about the individual who identified three races, we had one staff who identified Asian, American, Indian, Alaskan, and white. So last year, I'm not, you know, looking at it, that might have singled them out and >> may have only placed them at the American Indian and Alaskan and not the multi-race. >> Okay. >> But I can definitely take a look to see under you make a great point, Rachel, around did we lose two individuals and so I'll take a look at that. I will say that as I looked at the data before choosing to put multi-race [clears throat] in there, the percentages were much closer to each other than it looks like on here. And that's why we attain it to a factor of it being that we added in multi-race because instead of those staff being white, right, they would have fallen under the another the other race that they had that's non-white. And so when you did that, the numbers changed, but that didn't wasn't reflective of what they were identifying as specifically. >> Before I get in trouble, he was OJ boy teacher, not Dakota. She'll probably talk to me about that later. So [laughter] >> I want to um in this report I is I recognize it to be even more disegregated than I've seen >> and and I can see that some of the questions that that I remember Rachel and [clears throat] I have brought up have been also incorporated here uh the responses. So thank you. Um I know that research basically you anyone can find research to support whichever point they want to make and one of the few things that I think uh you cannot really argue against is the research that children learn from people they identify with and uh I'm very grateful for the efforts here uh from all of you to diversify um our our staff particularly instructional because it's not just the impact on the academics, but there's also something about uh the way that we identify disciplinary issues, the way that we identify special education uh challenges and that representation is I I think it's important for everyone who gets to work with those teachers. So, thank you. >> Thank you. I mean, I think there are a number of factors when you look at the data. [clears throat] There is the addition of the multi-race category. This is a slight pattern break that the data has been going consistently in a positive direction. Um, and it did not make the same progress in the same way. Um, and so there are some questions for us to reflect on because that is new. Um, I know that I reflect myself from a leadership perspective and I can just say looking around our district office, um, you know, with some reductions and some promotions and some changes, uh, Dr. Daniels, you know, Dr. Taylor, Dr. Mobly, um, Monnique Twe, who is now the lead social worker in Minneapolis public schools, um, and more. uh we have lost a number of very strong leaders of color over the last year or two to larger positions, bigger districts, different opportunities. Um that has negatively impacted the data from a diversity perspective also. And so there are there are a number of things that have happened to shift that and then things that we need to continue to do to keep pushing back in the correct direction. for which we will. And I think too, just even as an HR professional of color myself, I think when people do actually leave, finding out the reasons that they left in order to create an environment that makes people of color want to stay and creating a culture of inclusion. Um because you know when you have so few um professionals of color in you know a district like this um they're already underrepresented based upon the number of students of color that are here and you know we want and I mean it don't get me wrong Steve you have you know done a tremendous job of and everyone here has done a tremendous job of increasing the number of teachers of color here. I mean, just even in the short time that I have been on this board, that has increased tremendously, and I'm extremely grateful for it. But when we have 70.7% students of color, the teacher ratio and professional ratio needs to be higher. So, I do get alarmed when I do see those numbers dropping and we're not entirely sure if it's because of the multi-race category or if people are actually leaving. So, you know, I do I mean this is one of the whole reasons why I even ran for school board and because just like Paula said, representation matters in so many more ways than I think people even realize. And so it's it's it's critical that we not only hire, but that we keep our professionals of color here. Those kids need to see those faces every day. More questions, comments, then I will go. Um, if you go to slide three. Um, for me the format of the slide, I I think this might help if you use a similar format for the multi-race issue. Uh, and I say that because if you put down, and it's going to sound weird, but if you put down races instead of position, and then count because you guys were flip-flopping back and forth between if I'm Native American, Asian, and Caucasian, all three, I'd be I would count myself as the multi-race. But you also know the breakdown. So then say a third, a third, a third, if that makes sense, right? And so then you've got a total count of people and then a total count of how they mark themselves from a race perspective just to see it instead of kind of referencing back and forth. It just it might it might make sense visually. Just throwing that out there. [clears throat] Uh especially and like as you say that and I think and I and I can speak candidly as a person of color as to how I would have barked myself down, right? It's like I think of going, you know, it's like in the past I would have said African or black African-American and Native American. Um but then when I think of my children, right, they probably would put Caucasian, African-American, Native American. Um and so then and and I know that we've had these discussions and we've talked about my children in the past and thinking like how they show up on these numbers and it's like it's just interesting as as it evolves, right? that that might be another iteration just to just to see how it looks if it's not too weird especially like races FTE. >> I personally take huge issue with that because as a native the fact that the government has like colonized us in a way to like quantify who we are >> like that is like a horrible like horrible I think like thing to ask of people to do because we are the only people that does have to quantify their existence. So, I don't see any point in having to break down by percentage of like what you are. >> That's not what I asked. So, let let me let me explain. >> Did I misunderstand that? >> Yep. So, I'm I am talking about how they're reporting it and tallying it up. >> I thought you were saying to break down by percentage of how much like >> Yeah, let me reiterate it. So, um, if I understand what you guys are saying is that when when you and I'm not sure where you're referring to it, is that there's a an option where I can check multi-race. Correct. Or not. Or if I put down multiple races, then you're categorizing it as multi-race. >> Correct. What I think I what I think I'm hearing is so we would have the number of employees or 672 employees. If you tally yourself as Native American, African-American, and white, you would have a tally in each category in column two. >> Yep. Or a third count. >> Just right. It's not perfect. >> Right. >> I I'm more [clears throat] So getting at what you were asking, you were saying the question of um if I marked myself down, see if I say it right. So if I marked myself down as multi-race and so in their categorization it said I think the number was 17 down later or it said 17 people were multi-race and other numbers looked like they were zero right the the we weren't losing people they were just being lumped into multira what I'm saying is break it down and say if I check three just say it's a third a third a third if I check two it's 50/50 >> I I think you know what would be a a report on retention may solve the the question. >> Yeah. >> Because I I think like trying to Okay. So when I think about diversity, you have the the the uh white caucasian uh staff members and then everyone else. So when we're talking about diversity, we're talking about that that number of nonwhite, right? And so that's what I see here. But if we really want to see to uh to the discussion that we're having uh the retention piece then that will tell a different story and it will make it clear that you're not comparing like the h you know one person that may or may not be you know the one in this year is not the one from last year like the the the one number. The challenge with retention because we've talked about that over the years is there is voluntary retention. There is retirement that doesn't stay. There is we have made a decision to move on that is a non-retention. There there's a range of things for retention um that make that a little more complex but that's certainly a number we can we can certainly look at who comes back from year to year. Um >> well and that was going to be one of my next questions or comments is um you know I think it was brought up here in our discussions is what about um exit surveys right is I believe you guys are doing them and >> I don't know if like the question is is when do we get a kind of report on just general exit survey like I don't necessarily need all the comments but if we're doing a ranking like how >> well um >> I think there's value in knowing what the comments are. >> Yep. And uh yes and so um the question is is when when is the right time to present that data? Um this seems like it might be a good one. Um and I think kind of echoing on apologist said um you know going to slide nine. Sorry making a multitask here. >> Yep. So I think this one for me I like was a bit confusing because it's um I was also interested in uh years of teaching experience right so when I look at this it's like this is years of being with Richfield >> and I could have been five years a teacher and then 10 years here right and so that I fall the 10 year category but really I'm 15 years >> so in slide eight we have our new hires and how much teaching experience they had coming in. Yep. And then slide nine is those just their teaching in Richfield, >> right? Yep. And so it's just kind of curious um what total years experience are. Got it. >> Uh let's see. Exit survey. And then I think the other thing about exit surveys and I don't know if we'll do the same thing with admin with staff. Have we talked about admin diversity? >> Um >> I'm just thinking about your comments and I think one of the stories and I don't want to sell our district short and I think the slippery slope tricky problem we have is that >> when we talk about administrators of color leaving >> and the opportunity to leave to go be a more senior leader at a different district. Mhm. >> isn't a bad message, right? I mean, it's unfortunate for our district and we're grooming the leaders of the future >> and we're helping other districts diversify. So, I don't think that that's a bad message to share. If that makes sense. I mean, so it's not just a knock to say that >> our people of color are leaving because they're taking opportunities like right Dr. D as an example, >> right? I think that's a good story, not a negative one. Like we're we're building the leaders of the future tomorrow. So, um I just want to make sure I'm saying that on camera, too. >> Yeah. >> No, we are very proud of the growth um of our leaders in this district. We have, I believe, five superintendents that have been on this team in the last 12 years. Uh we have multiple assistant superintendents that have come off of this team in that same window. We have had a lot of people take larger positions after coming out of Richfield in in operations and and elsewhere, all over the place. >> Maybe that's just more work for our marketing team because I know that they're watching. Exactly. Exactly. [clears throat and cough] >> Developing superintendents for everyone else. >> Right. [laughter] >> Instead of just great places to work, right? It's great places to work here and elsewhere. >> Yeah. >> Any more questions, comments? >> Thank you for this detailed report. >> Thank you both. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. We we do appreciate your feedback and we did take that time to listen and think about what did you had asked for last time. So I appreciate some more thoughts around that and did write some of that down. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> All right. We have one commendation today. So RPS would like to commend Sheridan Hills family and the city of Richfield for partnering in a joint event benefiting the Spartan food shelf. So, City of Richfield's annual pumpkin smashing event partnered Sheridan families to receive donations for the RHS food shelf. So, we're thankful for the thoughtfulness and partnership of our Richfield communities and families and the city. So, thank them all. >> That sounded like such a fun event and I I put it on my calendar, but then I read I had to bring my own pumpkin and I'm like, I don't have a dying pumpkin, so I had to miss it. So next year I'll make sure I have a pumpkin ready to rot and smash. >> Tell me that schools. >> Oh, it's true. They will take care of it faster than this. Yeah, >> I like her planning. Planning ahead. Maybe we give her a gentle reminder to save your pumpkins. >> They say that they get your pumpkin. Next up is our consent agenda, which is a uh I want to see a a collection of routine or fairly routine business items that we consent to pass in bulk without individual discussion. I will pause for a moment to see if there are any questions or requests before we proceed. Hearing and seeing none, is there a motion? I move we put um accept the consent agenda as presented. >> I'll second that. >> We have a motion by Director Banks and a second by Director Liss. Any discussion? We will bring it to a vote. All in favor of the consent agenda. Please say I. >> I. >> I. Post say nay. >> The chair votes I. And the consent agenda is approved. Brings us to old business. Our first item on old business is policy 116 equity and administrative guidelines 116.1 and second read. >> All right. So this is second read of policy 116 equity and administrative guidelines. So we did hear um conversation from the RHS senior social studies classes um in relation to our mock board meeting um with a wide range of feedback. They also gave feedback in their class. Um we will continue to gather feedback um including management team RMS and REP students groups of the safe and supportive schools committee before we bring this back um gathering that additional feedback before we come back um for passage. And so you have a small amount of changes in at this time. Um for those of you who were at that presentation, you note a definition has been added um in regard to hate speech. That was a question that the students had because it's referred to and we don't have a definition. So that has been added in uh to clarify that for our students and for those who are reviewing the policy. There's a number of branding additions. Um we also added um some clarity that our students multiple times um portrayed page 128 of the packet. uh making sure that um our students are taught specifically not only accurate uh state standards and multiple perspectives but really showcasing positive contributions of diverse cultural groups. We heard from multiple students that they heard about the negative impact and marginalization of groups but not enough about the positive impact and positive um additions. And so we wanted to be very deliberate in putting that into the policy and then utilizing that in some of our social studies review. Uh we'll continue to gather additional information as we move forward. Um but we have this for a second read. Um so we do have that for you. Um and it'll be back for a third read. Questions or comments? Hearing none brings us to new business. And now we bring the final levy certification 2025 payable 2026. >> Yes. Thank you. Um so the board heard the presentation from the truth and taxation hearing earlier this evening with a proposed levy of $34,629,96455. Um we are recommending your approval of that levy this year. Um if there are any questions I can respond to those questions. Otherwise, we would um request that authorization tonight. Um action does need to be taken before December 30th of this year. So, >> questions, comments for Craig after the speed presentation earlier. >> You already did such thorough coverage of it. Craig, as always, always dotting your eyes and crossing your tees. >> Is that a Is that a motion? >> Oh, yes. I would love to [laughter] move the final levy certification 2025 payable in 2026. >> Second. >> Perfect. We have a motion by Director Banks Cup and a second by Director Spencer. More discussion. See some head shaking and diverted eyes. Looks like we're ready to bring it to a vote. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. >> I. I. >> All post, please say nay. The chair votes I and the final levy certification 2025 payable 2026 is approved. >> Congratulations. >> Brings us to draft RPS legislative platform 2026. All right. So this is the first of three reads. So we have in front of you uh last year's draft platform with some highlights um both in green and a new edition in yellow. And again this is just a first read. So last year's platform is here in full. Um, a reminder that this is not a budget year, this is a policy year. Um, so we wanted to really focus on the components that are related to policy and there are currently some very significant policies at risk that could be very financially damaging and also things that we wanted to push um at the legislature. So one is providing permanent funding for future comp revenue left in jeopardy due to universal free meals. So, while that could be interpreted as funding, that is more a specific policybased question of how they calculate that. Um, and so we want to make sure since that's $ 1.9 million yearly at risk. Um, we also added protecting state ADSIS funding system to provide support for students struggling academically. So, ADS is what supports our interventionists. It's about $800,000 a year. Um, they're looking to fill um or make a reduction of $250 million in special education. And this is one of the things that is under consideration. So from a policy perspective, we thought that those were the areas um funding wise that weren't specifically adding dollars, but protecting through policy um overall dollars. We thought about reiterating um in our first draft um in green um enacting protections for immigrant refugee families in Minnesota. as you know that there have been federal changes that have removed um some of those protections and so we want to make sure that we are enacting those at our state. Um and as part of that we want to make sure that we're allowed to maintain uh student privacy and student data privacy and staff privacy. Um and then in regard to mandates um continuing to protect our ability to support all students protect particularly those who could be impacted by those new federal laws. Again these are things carrying over. Um our students have repeatedly asked us to allow uh districts to choose which standardized test to complete particularly at the high school level as the MCA is not something um that has been told to us by our students has huge value for high school students. Um they have currently also asked questions about things like AP writing um or the ACT writing which may or may not be utilized by colleges. So things for us to examine we would like to be able to have that conversation. And then finally, continuing to reduce special ed paperwork requirements to allow teachers to spend more time with students. So there are larger laws at the state level than there are at the federal level in regard to um special ed paperwork. So in our first draft um we had posed those to you. Uh since then we've also heard um that there is a push to possibly come up with a policy to require everyone in districts to be on the exact same health care plan. It's called PEEP. Um it is the public employees insurance program. Um we are required as a district to when we take quotes um and we're self-insured take a quote from PEEP. Um but there is a conversation about pushing a bill to have all uh school district employees required to be a member of PEEP and to make that the statewide insurance program. Um and so we also are going to suggest for consideration um allowing local control and allowing us to continue um our self-funded insurance program um has continued to have lower insurance costs to our employees than many of the others and our self-funded insurance continues to outpace PE in its insurance um quotes. Um and so that is also something for us to look at which is local control in insurance. So with that, that is a first draft and some additional words for you all to see and think about, but also um to pause and hear if there's any input or feedback. >> What was that acronym? >> PIP. It's public employees insurance program. >> Okay. It's very timely because the schoolboard association assembly is happening this weekend and so as we review resolutions for vote uh it's good to know where we're leaning anything else at the moment otherwise we do have this will come back twice more. And then a reminder, our first meeting in February um is when we will host our legislators for our state legislative conversation. >> I think it's it's interesting that um we're not really talking about funding this year. It's all policy, but everything on here is about making sure that the policies are funded or go back and and previous policies get those funded. Um, and so at the end of the day, it's us trying really hard to use the resources given to us by state, federal, local, and and our taxpayers. >> Um, and you know, as we saw earlier in the truth and taxation, that gap between how we were funded 20 years ago today continues to to grow. And many of these requests for um closing the gap on mandates that um we must provide um and fund ourselves and asking for the state to cover those I think is a is a fair way to try to close that gap. think too that even though it's not a budget what we call a budget yet the benium but that our advocacy I mean collectively as school boards in favor of the whole harmless has been very effective because as we've seen funding that was appropriated just two years ago has been taken away from many pockets and it's the advocacy that that that keeps them in check. Uh we still have to figure out how we going to get a you know an official formula and so being I think we should be very engaged in that advocacy next year starting in February. There's also a a committee that's going to be evaluating how to cut a lot of money from special ed. So I I do have some feedback that like like the way that we are writing in here doesn't acknowledge that we know about that >> because in the past we generally go at the like fully fund the mandates right >> and so but that's just really a way of of going backwards um in the the the one about protecting uh school district's ability to support our students I think it would be okay if we get a little bit more specific about what it is that we're talking about. I know that there's a >> uh there's a real author already who's willing to bring the Minnesota version of the ply vido from Illinois uh enshrining in the state constitution the students right to an education undocumented students. Um, so yeah, a lot lot of good stuff to continue to talk about in the next two times that we see this. >> Thank you. >> More questions, comments? >> I think I would echo Kirk's comment about the whole um if it's a non nonmoney year, right? there's a lot of funding that like funding there's a whole section on funding >> and and maybe it's a nuance of moving that section like not saying to remove it but maybe move it down >> uh for the purpose of this year >> um to try to stress but you know what it's like let's focus on the the diversity you know diversified staff workforce since we can't go ahead and well funding is going to be in the forefront and if it's not going to be voted on then then maybe we should push it down >> right so to be clear they will be so there are as director Cole said, there is a group looking at special education funding and so they will write new policy around a reduction of $250 million of special ed funding. They will be writing policy around compensatory education. Um and so it wouldn't be us asking um and we'll we'll work on the wording. So I appreciate that input. Um there's a whole group looking at adequate funding for compensatory education >> around the policy, not the dollars. So we assume it's not about deciding a different number of dollars for next year. It's the distribution method of those dollars. Um so we'll we'll figure out some differences that will help >> students too is part of that discussion like how are we def defining. So the the the task force is looking into how other states are measuring poverty now that the forms are not the thing that we can follow especially under so many threats to to families who are going to be even less willing to sign those. >> Right. I know. >> Okay. Any more discussion? If not, brings us to policy 651, athletics and activity program and administrative guidelines 651.1 and 651.2. >> All right. So, just a reminder, this outlines purpose and expectations for athletics and activities, process for adding and deleting activities um and then also um activity fees and those components. Um and so this is here for a first read for us. Um and so we have this in front of you for that first read >> because we talked about it, right? >> Uh no, that actually is passes to athletic contest. That is the next one. >> Got to say this was >> just coincidental. >> This actually is on the five-year cycle. The one we added, we'll call it the ERIC request policy >> just because uh passes to athletic contests. talk about next >> D check to give extra scrutiny for our second read more questions. Well, there are questions or comments now. No questions or comments and we'll move to the next policy policy 978 pass athletic contest and other school activities. All right. And so this was a request of not just Mr. Corder but actually a couple of board members. Um so we have brought this forward. Um so we are going to be gathering a little bit of additional information. Um but what we noticed um is that our season pass pricing um is following a different model and different method um than our other sales. Um, so there is no current written into policy change in pricing for free free lunch families or students um or students qualifying for free or reduced lunch um versus students and families who have not qualified for free and reduced lunch. So they pay the same prices for year-long passes and season passes. And so uh we have already brought this to the team who is beginning to look at um and this is on page it looks like 156 of the packet. Um, are season passes, are all sport passes, and how do we adjust those price tags um in relation to reflecting um a sliding scale connected to free and reduced lunch qualifying um status. So, you can see you will be seeing some revisions to that um as we do our our future read. questions or comments? >> Um, >> yes. >> Yeah, I I've got questions. I've just have questions about how we came to these dollar values for each of the sports. Is it a a formula of like a single ticket times a certain number of >> I'm going to give you the I have no idea, but I'd be happy to answer that for you at our next meeting. All right. >> You know, I look at school board members getting a free pass and in a way I see that as bad optics. We as the school board should support the school in that we should pay for the activities that we go to. It just I don't know. It just seems like oh yeah, I'm the school board. Okay, you can get in for free. But as a school board member, it just seems like bad optics. It seems like bad form to me. To me, >> I think it depends because >> the fact [clears throat] that it's free may motivate me to go to more sporting events that I wouldn't already go to as a community member. >> Yeah. But at the other end, like the play, like the school play, >> I'm going to pay for that because it supports the theater department, >> right? So, let let me pose a >> counter proposal >> a counter counter theory. All right. So, if we look at page 155, 156, right? So, residents in a school district 62 or older can ask for a senior resident pass. So, you're 62 or older, you get a pass. Richfield high school students with a current school ID, free pass. Richfield Middle School students, current ID, free pass. Richfield employees, of which you are in some ways employees of the district, show your school ID, you are admitted with a free pass. And so when you think about all of the folks that are getting in [clears throat] free, high school students, middle school students, school staff, people over the age of 62, retirees as employees from the district. Um so it's not school board members an extra bonus. It is functionally essentially everybody um at the middle school and age older who has an ID for our district um and folks that have worked or retired from here in the past. And so there's there's a wide range, not just you six, that are getting this bonus. I would also suggest that you are welcome to pay for any and every event you would like at any time [laughter] >> and we might just do that >> and you can and that would be great and that would be great. >> To your point though, Ken, if we are staff as schoolboard members, do we need to be called out especially as the first element on there because we are staff. >> What do you mean? I'm also saying you schoolboard members is staff in a different way, right? We certainly don't have to have it as a and we can reorgge that you get [laughter] in free admission. >> So even after December, I can attend events for the rest of my life. >> I can go >> upon request. You must request. >> Oh, I didn't see that >> part where it says includes free admission for one guest. [gasps] You can even be still bring a friend. >> I know. >> Clutching my pearls. [laughter] >> Had you known, you would have run again for the board. >> OH WELL, GAD ZUKS, NO NEED BECAUSE this is for life. It's like I'm a US senator. >> You have good [snorts] [laughter] You have 30 days to go to the athletic office. Okay, I agree with Ken like we we I mean with uh both of you uh and Kirk like we don't have to be at the top though. >> We will take that feedback and we will shift the order for draft number two. >> Going to be like look at them giving >> if you can notice Miss typing furiously. Ignore all the side comments and shift board from top to lower in the order of those who get free passes >> or at least I'm eligible in three count. Yes. Your Yes. Your staff, your board, your senior. You get it all. Okay. >> I get it all. >> Multi- discussion. >> Let's do this. >> More questions or comments? >> What was that? >> More questions or comments? >> Okay, that brings us to policy 407, leave of absence. All right. So, this is um an annual review typically and was reaffirmed in August, but there are changes necessary because there's new changes to the Minnesota paid leave law. And so, we are currently working on suggested changes. So, we have a read for you uh just to review um and we will have some changes at our next meeting. Um and then we'll bring it back for enactment on I believe January 5th. Any questions or comments on that? >> I just want to reiterate that the HR department is not currently working on suggested changes. Those are mandated changes as the law is a statewide law that was passed by the Minnesota legislature and will become effective January 1. >> Correct. >> Any other questions or comments? brings us to our last item of donations. >> All right. So, recommended that the board um accept the following donations with gratitude. Richfield High School received a donation of $271 from Living Lands and Waters of East Molen, Illinois for field trip transportation. Thank you, Living Lands and Waters. Richfield High School received donations of $300 from John Lindley of Bloomington, $75 from Nathaniel Lindley of Richfield, $50 from Jim Kleinite of Eden Prairie and an anonymous donation of $50. So, thank you. Thank you. RHS Spartan Food Shelf received a donation of $50 from Dan Olstrom of Edina and Julie Van Deroststein of Richfield. Thank you. RHS cheer team received donation of $3,144 from the Richfield cheer boosters for new uniforms and pumps. Thanks for your generosity. Then the Richfield High School French Department received donations of $50 from Karen Wolverton of Richfield. $25 from Valerie Thompson of Spring, Texas. $25 from Erikica Wallace of Richfield. $25 from Michael Manning of Menota Heights, Minnesota. $25 from Brian Bergstrom of Richfield. $25 from Kathleen Straa of Richfield. $25 from Amanda Ike of Richfield. $25 from Melissa Cole Karnnitzky of Eden Prairie. $25 from Carrie Haynes of Minnesota Minneapolis. $25 from Summer Nims of Richfield. $25 from Wayne Anderson from Minneapolis. $20 from Delaney Duffy Lofts Garden of Bloomington. $17 from Olivia Kate Needleman of Minneapolis, $15 from Brow Luna of Richfield, $10 from Susan Barry of Houston, Texas, and an anonymous donation of $150. So, thank you to those generous donors. Thank you to all of the donors. With that, would anybody like to accept? >> I move that we accept these donations with immense amount of gratitude. >> Yes, I second. >> We have a motion by Director Banks Cup and a second by Director Cole to accept these donations with an immense amount of gratitude. >> All in favor, please say I. >> I. All post, please say nay. >> The chair votes I. and we have accepted these donations with an immense amount of gratitude. >> Thank you. >> Brings us to advanced planning. First item is legislative update. Um we already worked first read platform. So we'll bring that back given the input and feedback for our next meeting. >> Fantastic information and question from the board. Feel like we already got some in there. brings us to f suggested for future agenda items. >> Karaoke. >> We've heard that a couple times. >> What? I thought you said karaoke. >> She did. >> Yeah. Karaoke. >> Yes. >> This is not a new topic. >> I suggest that every time. >> She would like that as a celebration of her four years as a board member. >> Okay. >> I'm always ready to party. We'll keep that in mind when we're having our cookies. >> Don't [laughter] >> I mean not to let the cat out of bag. Anyways, >> I'm baking cookies. Is that what you're suggesting? >> No, I said well you could. >> He is. >> For our next meeting. I am not. >> That's what I heard. >> All right. Last item is our future meeting dates. Uh the next two meeting dates are December 15th, which as a reminder will be an opportunity for public comment. Uh that'll be the last one of the year. And then that brings us to January 5th, 2026, which is a Monday, and our exciting organizational meeting. >> You are welcome to attend [laughter] >> in the audience. Perhaps >> in the audience. >> And there. [clears throat] >> That brings us to our final agenda item, adjournment. The final business of the uh final item of business on the agenda is to adjourn. As this item does not require a full board vote, I will officially join the meeting at 8:41.