e e e e e e e e e e it is the time is now 6:30 and we are bringing this school board meeting for March 25th 2025 a regular business meeting the same Park School Board to order um before we get started I'd like to read Our Land acknowledgement we are gathered on the land of the Dakota oju peoples I ask you to join me in acknowledging the Dakota ojibway Community their Elders both past and present as well as future Generations St Louis Park public schools also acknowledges that it was founded upon exclusions and erasers of many indigenous peoples including those on Whose land the school district is located this acknowledgement demonstrates a commitment to dismantling the ongoing legacies of colonial power and a District's desire to support the ongoing work of local indigenous communities to thrive in our scho okay the next item on the agenda is the approval of the agenda and on our agenda tonight we have public comment we have superintendent report we have discussion item 6A midyear 2025 and budget assumptions fiscal year 2026 we have 6B world's best Workforce and Assa presentation we have 6C uh Phase 1 design team update on summer learning we have the consent agenda um and then we have uh action items and on that we have uh 8A policy development second reading and vote of policy 515 protection and privacy of people records we have 8B midyear budget approval for fiscal year 2025 and 8 C budget assumptions approval fiscal year 2026 followed by board member updates and then adjournment um it is recommended that the school board approve the agenda for March 25th 2025 as presented do I have a motion moved uh by Taylor uh do I have a second second second by Sarah all those in favor say I I I any opposed passes 70 um one other thing to note about tonight's um schedule we will take a break at around 7:33 um for uh prayer and ifar so it'll be probably about a 10 15 minute break around 7:33 okay um the next thing on our agenda is public comment um we do have public comment we do offer that at our regular business meetings is one way that you can communicate with the board um it is maybe the more challenging of ways because we don't comment on public comment at at the um at the board table so you will get to speak to us and I'll read through some of that information there are also other ways to to communicate with us including um emails and um participating and listening sessions okay to support open communication the St Louis Park School District provides an opportunity for the public to address a school board during business meetings if you wish to speak please complete the comment sign up form on our website which I think a number of people have done I don't know Jasmine is there any additional people that have signed up here okay so I have a list up up here that I will use anyone indicating desire to speak during the public comment will be acknowledged by the board chair and allowed three minutes to present their topic um uh Vice uh chair U menini will have the time over here and because we have a number of people signed up tonight we will try to keep it pretty strictly close to that three minutes as possible and if I need to I will um interrupt okay um dur this time the board and administration will listen to comments please note that disrespectful comments of are those of a personal nature directed at an and an individual either by name or inference will not be permitted okay so with that the first person that we have on our agenda is Kish and before you get started I will note that we don't have amplification in here you're speaking to us we'll hear you but it may be difficult for people to hear in the back of the room so as much as you can project as possible um that would be encouraged I will try greetings Schoolboard directors chair Cox and Dr Hines my name is Kesha Peele I am a St Louis Park resident parent of three Park kids and a teacher at the high school I am also a member representative for our teachers union at the high school we are a teaching staff in distress we have been informed that we will be teaching 5.5 sections out of seven next year in a transition year as a means of achieving budget reductions this means that for one semester of the year we would be teaching six classes out of seven periods daily currently our schedule has us teaching five classes a day with an additional supervision period such as a study hall Hall Duty or being on a student intervention team called bar the new schedule calls for replacing this supervision period with another content course for one semester of the Year there is Broad opposition to this schedule change amongst the high school teachers and we believe Middle School teachers as well because it is a grueling schedule that will bring teachers to their knees we believe that expecting teachers to teach six classes in a seven period day is an unreasonable expectation and it is a schedule that is rarely used in high schools across the metro area area I have researched the teaching schedules of many area high schools minona wetta Eden Prairie Hopkins Edina Richfield Bloomington and a few more I shared these numbers with you earlier today in an email for us to teach six classes a day for half the year would put us at the absolute top of teaching loads for that half of the year in the metro area for the schools I looked at whether you measure it in a percentage of the day teaching or in the number of total minutes teaching either way we would be at the top please hear me clearly on that in an age where it is well understood that teachers are overworked and stretched impossibly thin St Louis Park High School would have the distinction of demanding the most taxing schedule from its teachers I would argue that this is not a distinction that we want to carry and not only is it the highest teaching load we would be at the top in the number of classes only one other school that I looked at asks its teachers to transition six separate groups of students in and out of their classroom each day most schools do between three and five we would do six with a potential of teaching more than 200 students a day and with nearly the lowest amount of prep time for the schools that I looked at as I talk about teacher workload I am also talking about the student experience which is so intertwined with the health and well-being of the teacher we believe that we deliver an exceptional learning experience to our students at St Louis Park High School and we want that to continue this schedule change puts in Jeopardy our ability to have close relationships with students provide them with high levels of support while holding high expectations and our ability to be their biggest Champions and so we respectfully ask that our schedule remain at teaching five classes per day during the transition year next year thank you all right thank [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you and stand I do encourage you to to hold the Applause and hold it off because we do need to get through a number of these tonight so um next up we do have Robert ankam no no Robert okay then uh okay could hear you all right so I'll talk real loud [Music] that so I wrote a bunch of stuff down because that's what I do but um my wife recommended that as a parent which is who I am parent of a graduating student a parent of a high school student as well as a parent of a Junior High student that probably bested in this circumstance to just kind of speak about the changes from the heart so that you guys get an idea of where we stand as parents so essentially um and I don't mean to be uh disrespectful to any administrators but when I talk to my students my children about their experience at school and first and foremost comes their friends second comes class information third and in that priority scale is Teachers we get to hear about what their teachers talk to them about what's going on in their lives how their teachers helped them extra time that was spent with the students throughout the course of the day I don't think replacing that amount of time is the the juice to me is not worth the squeeze that information that is shared with the student at that time outside of coursework specifically is what in my mind set St Louis Park apart from other school districts as a graduated student my daughter was more than prepared for her uh time at the University of Iowa that she spent the first semester that she's been there that has a lot to do with the the coursework that she received in the classroom time but more about what she received outside of that classroom time extra time spent getting through coursework that she didn't have a good handle on time spent from teachers outside of school uh dedicating their time to extracurricular activities like Sports um you know time in the one act play things like that that she got to enjoy outside of school all those things come outside of what is being proposed for course level work going forward uh as a part of this block schedule so what I see as a risk and going from a 5.5 uh out of seven hourly uh I of course I I don't know the clature but what I see as a risk uh amongst our students is less time for that type of activity that really adds extrinsic value to our student experience and I think what we're seeing amongst St Louis Park's families at this time because we've seen data reported that conversion among our students in that actually live inside of St Louis Park is on a decline since 2025 I think the voices are being heard just in terms of enrollment that changes that are coming in as as a result of our strategic plan are being met with some resistance amongst our families so I think this is another change that puts that at risk going forward so I would respectfully request that if there is a need to go forward with a block schedule a 5.5 scheduling change please meet that with a high level of communication and support to our families because I feel like that's what's lacking if it's meant to address a financial concern an academic rigor concern please add more background to that because I think it's highly at risk of putting our greatest asset um in the background which is our teachers Robert thank you all right next we have uh Jill Merkel Jill Merkel hi all right I kind of want make sure you all can hear me too all right hi my name is Jill Merkel I am a high school social studies teacher department head JV girls soccer coach and high school track and field coach this is my 10th year at Park and I'm here to speak on behalf of my department and teachers at the high school I love St Louis Park so much so that I moved my family here last spring so that I can live in the community that I work and believe so strongly in and so my 2-year-old daughter can go to school in this District in the 10 years that I've been here St Louis Park has demonstrated that it values its community of teachers knowing that good critically conscious compassionate teachers make all the difference and because of this value we have been able to hire and retain incredible teachers who Center our students in the vision and mission of this District as teachers we are not merely deliverers of content but mentors coaches counselors therapists and so much more every day I see teachers centering students in the way that mattered I see teachers dropping everything to support students in need whether that's personal issues coursework or College and Career help this means that the work of grading lesson planning writing letters of recommendation planning Student Activities just to name a few are done outside of the school day they are done on week nights before and after family dinner on weekends during nap time and well maybe just for me and on holiday breaks in my department alone we advise over 15 clubs Sports and activities clubs like model U and youth in government things we know make a difference in young people's lives we advise these not for money because most of the time we don't get that but because we know they are important to young people and so they are important to us we know that these clubs can help students find a passion that lets them see their Futures in meaningful ways we know that students involved in sports and theater build lifelong skills and relationships and are likelier to succeed in college and the workplace we know that writing letters of recommendations can make or break a college application we know that helping students develop as writers and thinkers make them more equipped for the world ahead Community is not something you say it's something you do and we do that every day as teachers the thing we love about SLP and our job is the time collaborating celebrating and working with students in and outside of the classroom however in a 5.5 model we have less time for everything teaching an additional class might seem reasonable on paper it doesn't work in practice for anyone who has taught a full day knows that this addition is more than one class the labor of love and stress that comes with it is multiplied by the number of young people in the classroom this means that the time we currently used to support students academically emotionally and in activities is not just less will be exponentially less this means that administrators will need to figure out how clubs can continue without teacher advisors how academic supports like college test preparation and homework help happens when there are no more teachers with time during the day to help because teachers are stretched too thin the athletic department will have a similar issue when teachers like myself are questioning whether they can continue to coach while working in the 5.5 model I come to you understanding that the budget decisions are difficult however this decision puts too much on teachers and we with students and parents are the consistent community of St Louis Park we spend our time every day with students supporting their aspirations for their lives for this is human work this is community work and this is why I'm here to share this perspective with you this is not a for-profit business so we cannot treat people like robots when we are doing human work every day as teachers wrap up please we want to support our students we ask that you continue the long tradition and SLP of supporting us by coming up with a different solution than the [Applause] 5.5 I just ask please that you hold the Applause Just because we do need to get through a bunch of these we do have a meeting after this too so um I just please I understand that there may be some excitement but if you could just hold that back that would be respectful to all of us here okay Megan Dangerfield it Megan or Megan welcome I am a parent my family has an elementary and a middle school in our student in our home and I feel blindsided by the scheduled changes that were sent out via email a few weeks ago first I don't see any emails or notices containing information about proposed schedule changes I went through every communication in the past year and was unable to find it mentioned the strategic planning survey from January had no mention of it the focus group invite from December had no mention of it how were parents to know this was part of the agenda second the elementary changes in PE I understand from the email notice that there are concerns about the current model but I feel there must be a better way than cutting it from our students lives entirely or for their daily routine everything you read says that people need to move at least an hour we as adults have devices that remind us to move every hour yet we're expecting kids to sit for hours on end without an outlet what are teachers going to Institute math some math dance or something like that to get them to move around I don't see how that's going to work science Technology and Engineering are key to keeping our students competitive these classes provide a CR avenues for critical thinking problem solving and creativity this group of students are our future Technology and Engineering creat and they need a chance to explore music and Fine Arts engage parts of the brain that can assist with their academic goals music provides students a way to gain discipline and focus and their find their passion and express their feelings media and Library times are limited and we were going to push that even further libraries Foster literacy teach research skills and critical thinking we are limiting the opportunity for our students to challenge themselves learn and explore about the world and its cultures can help them find passion and joy in life the Middle School block schedule what kind of block schedule are we proposing I would like an Avenue to provide input and ask questions before implementation so our students can succeed and how do you expect the students to sit for an extra 20 to 40 minutes we have students with learning differences or trouble focusing this will lead to struggles for them and lower success without a break-in classroom time where can when can students go go to the teachers for assistance before school doesn't work because they aren't allowed in the school until 15 minutes before class begins after schools they have activities or they need to catch a bus or a ride so when are they supposed to get assistance if they're blocked into schedules all day these are just some of the questions and concerns I have and I don't feel we are being given the opportunity to discuss them thank you very much for your time thank you all right uh next up we have Andrea Rogers Andrea Rogers yes no Andrea no Andrea okay um let me just you that I'm reading all right yep all right uh Anon how doing welcome um good evening members of the board my name is Anson oara um I am currently a resident of St Louis Park um high school math teacher and the boys uh varsity boys soccer coach uh most importantly I'm a father to a four-year-old um who will hopefully be part of this District soon uh when my wife and I searched for a home we looked at 61 different houses uh we chose to live here not for the square footage but for the values the Community stands for I believed in them as I do now that St Louis Park is a place that puts kids first that's why I'm here tonight to speak not just as an educator but as a father a neighbor and a deeply invested Community member uh the proposed move to 5 and a half out of seven teaching schedule May look small on paper but the human cost is anything but uh earlier this year I taught six classes in a day to help cover uh Staffing Gap that we had um I've always considered myself very resilient someone who can push through uh but those months changed me um the added workload impacted the quality of my teaching my relationships at home and my overall health I wasn't sleeping I couldn't give meaningful feedback to my students I was showing up but I was in survival mode I thought I'd feel relief when it ended and I did but I also felt the weight of what I just endured um I wasn't alone half of our math department was in the same situation and I want to Echo what we shared in our letter that we shared with you uh this schedule made us less effective teachers it reduced our time to plan collaborate and support students it dulled our energy and joy in the classroom it limited the one-on-one help that we offer kids uh before and after school and and it's help that they rely on uh it's important to understand that teachers aren't just delivering content we're building relationships we're adapting adapting troubleshooting guiding and responding to student needs in real time that takes time and energy and space to reflect and prepare and when you reduce that space something has to give and too often it's the personal well-being of the teacher and the personalized experience of the student uh what concerns me most is that this is what this means for the future of our schools we risk burning out the very people that make this District special we risk losing experienced teachers to early retirement and promising young Educators to other professions and we risk uh creating classrooms where students receive less not because their teachers don't care but because they simply don't have enough left to give um my daughter sees her Preschool teachers as real life celebrities they light up her world in ways I can't even fully explain and I'm I want her to grow up in a district where her teachers are celebrated too not just with words but with policies that honor their humanity and their limits please reconsider this model not just for the numbers on a budget spreadsheet but for the people behind them let's find solutions that support both Student Success and teachers sustainability thank you all right next up we have Andrew Carlson Andrew Andrew Carlson thank you to the board for allowing me to speak here tonight also hello to the those of you on the board who I recognize from conferences in previous years my name is Andy Carlson and I'm an English teacher at the high school tonight however I am here as a representative of my children Sarah a fifth grader at Peter Hobart and Isaac a ninth grader at the high school my children's experience in this district is my main focus tonight how however as an educator in the district it's hard for me not to allow my professional experience in this District to play a role in what I have to say tonight I am a St Lis Park born and raised person from Methodist Hospital to Peter Hobart to Susan lingren to Westwood Junior High and to graduation on the football field in the spring of 1997 I've come to cherish the city and the school district when I came as a professional to this District 12 years ago which was my aim when I started in education 18 years ago I chose to move back here so that my kids could experience the top quality teachers present in this District so far my children have experienced just that wonderful teachers who care for them educate them and most importantly see them and have time for them my fear is that when my son enters 10th grade next year and my daughter enters as a new sixth grader in the Middle School their experiences will be different from students in previous years with the proposed 5.5 out of 7 schedule for secondary teachers I fear that the extra time teachers have given my kids thus far will diminish with the proposed schedule change brings more classes for teachers more students for teachers less time to connect with students individually for teachers and an overall overworked educator I fear that teachers may not have it in their capacity to advise National Honor Society put on a middle school theater performance coach a middle school or Junior Varsity Sport or go that extra mile to watch a Friday night basketball game due to being over worked I fear that those connections teacher M teachers make with students both inside and outside of the classroom will be affected due to an untenable workload going through budget cuts is a tough task I do not envy board members when it comes to having to take on this chore the fear I have for my children is that by adding more to teacher workload in order to alleviate this issue we're depriving them of the educational experience that they deserve please remember that teachers are who my kids see every day they are the ones caring for them educating them coaching them advising them seeing them and taking time for them thank you for giving me the time to speak thank you and all right next have Kate Kate yep thank you welcome thank you okay good evening I want to first introduce myself to give you an understanding of how as a community member I'm involved and integrated into the SLP School District my name is Kate Pearson and my husband daughter and I live in the district our child will likely attend SLP schools we have been a part of ECFE classes through the Central Community Center and I have been the varsity girls lacrosse coach at the high school for four years I've also been a high school science teacher in Denver public schools where we experience similar District level decisions that I saw trickle down into my classroom I want to strongly urge you to reconsider any proposal that would alter the current school schedule while change is often well- intended modifying the schedules at all levels of learning will have severe unintended consequences particularly when it comes to the relationships between students and teachers teacher burnout student motivation and ultimately the quality of Education each student receives research consistently shows that strong connections between students and their teachers improve academic performance emotional well-being and classroom engagement schedule changes that increase the amount of teaching for each teacher will prohibit teachers from having time to spend with students as they have less time throughout the day to prepare for their classes this will will make it harder for students to form meaningful relationships with the very people who Inspire and support them changes to the schedule will significantly contribute to teacher burnout teachers are already stretched thin balancing lesson planning grading and supporting students adjusting the schedule by reducing prep time will overburden Educators when teachers are exhausted their ability to provide quality instruction suffers this not only affects their well-being but also directly impacts students success if we push our teachers to the breaking point we lose we risk losing talented Educators who feel they can no longer manage their workload effectively in my experience teacher burnout means absolutely no time or energy to attend extracurricular activities to support their students teachers won't coach their students in sports they won't sponsor clubs all of this is a direct impact to each student's education a schedule change might seem like a small adjustment but it will have serious consequences for student teacher relationships teacher well-being and student motivation we as a family will certainly be looking out of District if these schedule changes are moved forward and and teachers continue to take on unnecessary burdens we should be making decisions that strengthen education not weaken it I urge you to prioritize stability and consistency for both students and teachers thank you thank you Laura Laura hyers is it Laura you sure you're coming okay great thank you welcome thank you good evening board members Madam superintendent I come to you today as a mother of a third grade boy at Park Spanish Immersion and as a St Louis Park resident for 13 years my name is Laura kypers and I'm here today to speak about my concerns about the changes proposed for next year in the St Louis Park Elementary Schools to physical education and specialist rotations it has been a priority to me and my family to live and to stay in the St Louis Park School District for the general culture and what I believed was respected and understood by the administration and the school board I also have a three-year-old boy who I had planned on unrolling in the St Louis Park schools but now I'm concerned about the impacts of these changes on his education too my biggest concern is the proposed change next year in reducing the frequency of the gym classes so dramatically daily um from daily which I know is very unusual but is something that parents really appreciate and choose St Louis Park schools for and changing to one to two times per week I'm here today on my own concern but I have spoken with numerous other parents at Park Spanish Immersion probably 15 to 20 other families who are very upset and very concerned about this issue I understand that the district and the board and administration have a desire to improve on our schools test scores I agree that that is needed throughout however the decision to increase instructional time at the expense of the students opportunity for exercise will not necessarily achieve this goal the academic studies on this issue have consistently demonstrated that physical activity actually improves performance and that taking students opportunity for movement away in exchange for more instruction time will not necessarily result in better academic achievement instead children tend to do better with physical activity the C the recommendations for Elementary School level are for 60 Minutes of physical activity daily for also further recommendations by the shape America Society of health and physical Educators have recommended about 150 minutes of physical education per week in elementary school I am very concerned as a parent and upset that the district is making changes that are inconsistent with the academic research frankly the moves that were popular about 10 to 20 years ago to reduce pH physical activity in exchange for academic time were popular to improve performance but since the academic studies and the research have proved that this simply does not work frankly this decision to reduce physical education time and limit the kids activity time at school calls into question the judgment and the Outlook of this Administration as it seems out of touch with all the data and a huge step in the wrong direction it appears that the school district is overlooking academic research about children's physical needs and what they actually need to succeed I would like to see the data that was considered by the administration and making such changes further children's physical social emotional success in school is also important we'll concern that we will see the increase in disruptive behaviors and may even see children's academic performance discre which is the opposite of the school I understand that there are concerns about the combined gym class sizes but it seems like there should be some sort of Al alternative to allow for more time in gym without such a dramatic reduction okay can you wrap up please sure I'm also concerned about the impact on my child personally he's a very active athletic boy and he barely has can focus in school with the gym time that he gets now and he's doing pretty well but with this reduction in time I can foresee that his academic achievement will plummet so I wish that the administration will reconsider and seek feedback from the families about this change thank you all right next up we have Katie Katie um it's really time Katie matella Matia okay thank you thank you welcome it's finished that's why it throws everyone okay um I'm Katie matela I'm here on behalf of my first grade daughter who is at Park Spanish um we've been living at St Louis Park for almost 8 years uh when we first got into PSI literally lottery winners and that captured the feeling of what an awesome school it was um it stresses me out to consider the changes propos because it asks much more of the current teachers and it um for the same amount of money and reduces the specialty teachers which is one of the biggest things that I think makes the kindergarten transition um possible that they have specialty teachers in English with music with art um Talent is a a steam amalgamation of science technology engineering art and Mathematics um that I think teaches science Concepts in Hands-On ways that are more accessible to students the specialty classes support core learning uh for goodness sakes they're cutting the library time in half Library support reading much more even I would say than some of the instructional time that works off of an iPad um I say this my daughter learns very well in the current format um you could probably hand her the workbook and she could figure it out but looking at the iPad and the stories that come up they're really boring a library has accessible books based on interest and ability um and one of the things that pulled her into reading in the first place was the ability to tell stories through ART through play through theater they're a collaborative effort so it feels like a false dichotomy to say that we have to support core subjects only through instructional time that these specialty classes are some sort of treat for behaving well it's not true it's all part of a holistic curriculum and what I think bothers me the most about some of these changes is that it's portrayed as a way that it's somehow necessary and is we're deliberately told it's not a reaction to the budget you're asking more of teachers you're cutting down specialty teachers and we're saying that this happens just happens to save us money it seems to be pursued solely for the budget at the expense of students and at the expense of teachers another moment that troubled me in this and how it's been communic at um there was uh let's um people reaching out to the various principles and the principal sent out a message and said this is not the budget this is of the the exact minutes I had to go through and calculate the exact minute difference of each topic so if we're looking recess 10 minutes more gym this many minutes less so we look at 250 active minutes versus 200 it's a 20% reduction and music maybe it's 10 minutes 177% but the library goes every 8 days it's 48% reduction so we're like looking at these different minute things which I had to put together for myself so was um troubling the district mentions all of these things but we don't even know what the Baseline is what the changes are um and that the the message from my principal who is at every after school event who pours his heart out who's been there 15 years I realized is the exact same message that came from the Aquilla principal which tells me my principal didn't write that but it's his name on it so I ask that the district be clear about our actual goals in pursuing these and not Mis abuse the trust parents have with principles and making them take the fault for it thank you thank you [Applause] K again we' got a couple more of these to get through I wish you could just hold off please um Amy Amy dobs uh good evening to all of you thank you for having me speak here tonight um I am coming in the capacity of a parent to a PSI first grader and a Middle School sixth grader I am an educator myself I work for haies um I guess for me what I'm going to do is just read this letter to you and give you a copy so you can look at the comments later and consider them so we received an email from Dr Hines regarding these changes and I appreciated the transparency in talking about these changes before they actually happen I'm glad this letter came early however I am very very concerned and surprised by the proposed changes there's no research showing for instance in psi's case that increasing instructional time at the expense of J of gym frequency results in student learning enhancement and academic success there is no study that classifies this scenario as high quality learning up to now I have felt like my son and daughter have gotten the highest quality learning here in public schooling in St Louis Park these proposed changes do not offer that instead research shows as someone said before me that daily gy supports cognitive functioning it helps maintain healthy weight levels it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease research shows that moderate intensity movement results in better scores in reading and math because students neurotypical and neurodiverse are better able to focus on single tasks like writing reading mathematics if the district's intention is to support academic rigor and to enhance student learning then retaining daily gy is intrical to those goals the proposed decrease in gym frequency sets students up to experience a diminished learning experience and more challenges in the classroom my husband Lis and I chose St Louis Park schools specifically for the public Spanish immersion school and for daily gym and recess we looked at tens of schools when we returned to Minnesota this was the school district that we chose we moved here when we weren't even in PSI hoping to get through the lottery we celebrated when our daughter got in now I don't feel very happy about these proposed changes because the whole purpose for us coming here or one of the two purposes for us coming here is now being called into question uh likewise the new schedule that moves the middle and high schools to a black schedule there aren't many studies on middle schools first of all but for high school the results are mixed 75 to 90-minute classes May support the economic considerations that the board and the superintendent have think about but at the same time they don't necessarily promote enhanced student learning across the core disciplines at the middle school level well studies show that black schedules can provide more time for different activities they have also been shown to disrupt the flow of learning because the classes are not every day they can interfere with long-term knowledge retention and also teachers grapple with maintaining student engagement at the high school level can you wrap up please students so how does that play out at the middle school level right y I don't know we need to wrap up here okay so schedules are part of the toolbox that you have here but it also re reflects your values and priorities the chaos at the Department of Education the precarious place of public schools causes us to try to control what we can right now I am urging the school board to maintain our current schedules and find other ways of making Cuts while supporting learning thank you Amy thank you all right next up we have uh thank you we have um Kelsey Kelsey and Kenny kelse I Am Kelsey iny I am a resident of St Louis Park I have three children at Susan lingren Elementary School um first I would like to commend you all for trying to make these improvements for our school's academics and as a parent I want that too but I have significant concerns that these proposed changes will not um achieve the goals that have been stated um while adding time for core instructions sounds like a good idea at first expecting kids to sit all day long with only one recess and PE being drastically reduced two uh once a week is really unrealistic kids bodies are made to move they need to move um it's not only good for them academically it's good for their overall health and I know other people have said this um and then I guess my other big concern is quality versus quantity of core instruction simply adding more time to core classes by itself is not going to improve our children's academic success you only have to spend a short time in almost any classroom to understand why there is one teacher for 25 to 30 kids and there are many different types of Learners there are kids who grasp the sub very quickly and are ready for more of a challenge there are children who need extra help and more one-on-one time there are kids who are more mainstream Learners and then in addition to that there's always a handful of kids who can be disruptive and always pulling the teachers attention away um throughout the day and we have amazing teachers at our school who are very passionate and they're I know they're trying they're doing their best and I don't think we can keep asking them for more and keep squeezing them for more without the proper Reas resources or support um for our students we need more staff in the classrooms and more helpers in our classrooms um to help support them and support our our kids and more time does not necessarily mean our kids are going to um get good quality instruction um I also I know you can't comment but I do have a couple of questions I would just like to pose you to you I'm wondering if any of these scheduled changes are to address the budget deficit and if so what changes reductions have been made in the administrative offices to adjust the address the budget shortfalls and What proportion of the cuts are being made at the administration level versus the level of the schools that directly impact our kids um and then finally I just um I know many of you look at spreadsheets and numbers to make these really critical decisions but I just want to remind you that our kids are not numbers and they're not statistics they're individual people they have individual needs and there's no one in the School District more in tune with what our kids need than the teachers who know them and work with them every day and any changes um need to involve not only the parents but the input and feedback and direction from our teachers as well you all right the last person I have signed up is Angela Angela phell thank you welcome Angela thank you um I'm Angela frell I have two boys um five and seven so I was hoping to have an incoming kindergartener into PSI um and I have a current first grader uh when I first saw the changes I didn't think much of it um it didn't really highlight what the changes were based upon what we currently have um and then when it set in and I really realized what the change were I had a moment of panic um surely this couldn't be right um one word blindsided how can a change of this magnitude not have parent feedback I am told parent feedback was given but the 50 plus parents that I have personally spoken to at the school and at other schools within the district did had no idea that this change was occurring 100% of the parents that I spoke to do not agree with this change it is especially disheartening for those who had no notice for a lottery submission for a school outside of the district we need more time to research other schools the way that we researched this school and this District in 2025 we have access and an abundance of data of what is beneficial to a child's developing brain I would be happy like like I assumed that data was reviewed before making these decisions but I would be happy to send you all of the research that many parents have compiled that I've compiled um kids need more movement not less putting this on individual teachers is not right their job is already stressful enough when I told my child about these changes now looking back against my better judgment he said no school is mean grown-ups are mean I'm melting so where do we go from here we present the problems and the need for the change we align on options together as a community we vote for change this district has an opportunity to evolve with the latest mental health and Neuroscience research what if we supplemented with a movement and mindfulness class that goes Outdoors when Nature there are options please help us evolve in the right direction thank you for your time thank you I don't believe we have anybody else signed up for public comment at this point so I believe we will move on with our agenda here and we do have a number of things to get through here still so um and as a reminder we'll be taking a break at 7:33 okay first thing on the agenda we have um discussion item 6 a midyear 202 and budget assumptions fiscal year 2026 oh superintendent report sorry sorry I I moved too quickly I skipped right over it sorry superintendent report Dr hind thank you so quickly as we move through spring season I am continually reminded of the strength and unity of our St Louis Park schools Community our mission to see Inspire and Empower each student every day continues to guide and Inspire the work we do this commitment is reflected in our classrooms across our schools and throughout our Community Partnerships over the past month I had the opportunity to attend legislative meetings at the state capital where I along with other District leaders and board members met with our elected officials to advocate for policies and funding that align with our district strategic priorities I'm grateful for the engagement of our legislators and their ongoing support of public school schools another highlight this month was the ifar community dinner put on by our Muslim Student Association it was a beautiful evening of connection cultural learning and celebration events like these are essential to Building Bridges honoring the diverse identities within our schools and strengthening the inclusive environment we are committed to fostering I want to take a moment to recognize the incredible Talent of our student performers and the dedication of our staff and families who help bring School theater Productions to life middle school students are producing a show of Beauty and the Beast and the students at Susan lingren Elementary School recently put on shows of the lion the lion king these performances are a testament of the power of the Arts in our students education I also want to share the SLP schools is partnering with penipen County Public Health to host a free walk-in immunization clinic on Wednesday April 30th from 2: to 6:00 p.m. this event is open to the public and families are encouraged to use this as an opportunity to update immunizations before next school year last week I announced districtwide School changes for students in grades K through 12 the school changes are for next school year were made to address two major areas the concerns of low academic achievement and the $2 million budget reduction that was projected and announced in October of 2024 since my official start in July of 2024 I have been intentional about listening to the values of our school community and the community at large I noticed two things one I heard the old overwhelming importance of ensuring that each student was seen inspired and empowered to live out their Brilliance the second was the importance of improving our student achievement and academic rigor I have heard this message loud and clear through budget listening sessions Community listening sessions strategic plan plan listening sessions survey data principal meetings School data team meetings parent meetings design team recommendations and packed meetings it became clear that we needed to adjust the way we are serving we are delivering educational services to ensure that we are actualizing our mission and it's not just words on paper at our elementary schools these shifts included increased instruction time in core subjects by increasing core instruction in by increasing core instruction by 110 minutes per week students gain deeper engagement in core subjects while maintaining access to specialist instruction in areas like music physical education and talent development Additionally the move toward consistency across grade levels creates a more structured an equitable learning environment helping students transition smoothly from one to one year to the next to be clear increasing instruction in increasing core instruction does not equate to additional screen time for students I also like to thank the parents who have reached out to share concerns about the decrease in physical education I hear how important this is and I like to reassure you that we have taken in consideration the recommended amount of physical activity sought feedback from our physical education design team and looked at what other school districts are doing physical activity is essential for our students and one of the recommend one of the recommendations from our physical education design team was to increase movement throughout the school day last year teachers received professional development on mindful movement in the classroom to ensure that students are able to move their bodies throughout the day elementary schools have been outfitted with furniture that will allow students to be flexible with their needs flexible learning spaces and sensory hallways are also areas where students can move and learn in a physical manner additionally recess has been increased by 10 minutes I know this may be an adjustment but I am confident in this move the transition to block scheduling at the middle and high school levels is also to ensure that we are providing a high quality Educational Opportunity each student should be able to make a choice of what they want to do after high school and their course opportunities help them make those decisions I shared information about how we how we plan to transition to the block schedule over the next year principal pad and principal Kinowski are working in collaboration with teachers to determine the final schedules and they are committed to including teachers throughout the process next year students will take the same amount of classes as they currently are while teachers and staff prepare for the transition to the block schedule in 2026 27 school year it is my intent to make sure all of our educational programming and choices for students are available while also remaining in a healthy Financial State there is much uncertainty that is before us and we have to prepare now for what may come while change brings challenges our district is making thoughtful research based based datadriven decisions to enhance academic instruction improve student safety and Foster great greater collaboration among among Educators all with the goal of creating a more effective and supportive learning environment for each student thank you okay thank you Dr Hines um it is 7:27 I think we'll go ahead and take a break now so that we can you know have to interrupt a presentation so we'll take a break at 7:27 we'll be back at 7:45 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e to our regular business meeting um we have some discussion items and some action items to continue with at tonight's meeting um I know that this meeting is not the best uh this room is not the best space um but this is our temporary quarter here for now so if you do want to hear something you can't hear it I do encourage you to move forward now um or move forward as you need to um there isn't really any strong amplification in here so we do our best all right with that we have director Magnuson here who is here to present on the mid year 2025 and budget and budget assumptions fiscal year 2026 director Manon thank you good evening um Dr superintendent car car Andre H um chair Cox and members of the board um I do have um two fiscal years we're going to talk about a little bit tonight um and the purpose is to prepare you to take action later in tonight's meeting to accept the midyear budget adjustments for fiscal year 2025 and our budget assumptions as we build the budget for fiscal year 2026 and we've been here a few times um we presented um the budget at the March 11th study session with some um and the assumptions with the finance advisory committee which I would recommend anyone who wants to join the finance advisory committee should go to the website and email me because we can use all of you um on our finance advisory committee um and so we have met over the year and brought the budget assumptions to the school board can I a quick question about that are um Educators invited toight yes we have um one PA of professional and there's a principal and they have been a couple of teachers who come sometimes to the they're on the roster so awesome yeah thank you so um we are going to talk about the midye budget update first but first I just want to show you the budget timeline um we start this work way back in the summer and we are down into the approval section of the budget where we've um we've done all the analysis and the da the data dive and we are into the process of approving um the components of the budget we've um been here with the finance advisory committee and with the finance team talking about these items in previous board meetings in a lot of detail so I'm going to first talk about the midyear budget update I just want to remind the board quickly that um this midyear budget update um brings in an unreserved fund balance of uh $5.6 million about 8 8.2% it's about a flat fund balance is just a very small increase from the original budget but it incorporates the impact of our enrollment increase this fall it imp it um incorporates the special education Revenue increases actual Staffing costs and and revised projections in other areas like utilities and transportation um we're working closely with um our vender Partners in transportation and in other areas to keep costs down and we've been meeting monthly with budget managers to manage budgets closely and we've actually have a spending cut off for this year unless it was um prepared as part of a budget um presentation to the superintendent um prior to um I guess it was March March 1st it had to be to the superintendent by March 1st so we're watching very closely every penny because we know the impact of budget cuts are difficult this is where we are at with revenue and we went through the the details of this last time but our midyear budget for Revenue in the general fund is 82.8 million that's up up about 2.8 million the the bulk of that is really in state aid for special education but that also comes with increased costs for special education so here's on the expenditure side our expenditures are going to 84 um million up $2.29 million and you can see the bulk of that is in salaries and benefits where we have staff um increases and salary settlements that um are now incorporated into the budget so so that's what where the budget is at as we discussed nothing has changed since the last two times we've been here the budget ass U assumptions as we move into fiscal 26 as Dr hin said earlier there is a lot that's unknown right now and so we'll talk about that a little bit in our budget assumptions for next year we have a recommendation to continue um maintaining an 8% fund balance that's only $5 million that will get us about two months if if funding went away and we need to create a strategy to grow the fund balance we are recommending to 12 to 16% we are a large outlier in the metro area with such a low fund balance there is no plan in this current budget or recommendation in this current budget to grow the fund balance in fact we were saying just hold the fund balance steady don't dip into it anymore and we are further saying that we are not going to build into next year's budget the impact of any loss of federal funding or the impact of any loss in state funding both are really possible for next year but we are not going to try to predict either of those things as we build next year's budget so if we lose funding we will dip further into that 8% fund balance so just a a quick clarification on that so essentially keeping that 8% is important in case as a contingency in case of those losses it's exactly why we have a fund balance um when times like this are upon us unprecedented times have been now for about the Last 5 Years and um a 12 to 16% fund balance many districts around us have larger fund balances that can withstand this um we are very fortunate that we've held this fund balance at 8% for a couple of years and looks like we'll be able to hold it this year our Pure per pup funding formula is set in state law to increase by 2.74% the legislature has not adjourned um this is just simply current law um that increases the funding formula and we won't make changes um as we build the budget um for for next year at this time because that is current law our student um enrollment projection is that we'll have 302 kindergarteners 4326 overall all K through 12 that's a small decline which has been the trend we're watching very closely our enrollment and our enrollment looks very strong for next year but until we um see particular numbers as we head into summer we can't make predictions that are different from what the trends have been telling us and we are going to persist in our really strategic efforts to attract and retain students um so this isn't a goal this is what the what our history would tell us the enrollment might be in local fees we're going to add a technology fee in the fall that will cover the cost of losses and um damage and there'll be all kinds of ways to work around students and families to make sure nobody's harmed in the process but to incorporate a reasonable fee like many other students our school districts have to um account for the for losses um we're going to increase Community Ed fees on pre prium rental spaces like the the turf field um the Performing Arts Center we haven't differentiated fees the community ad advisory Council has worked through the details of that we'll incorporate that into the budget as far as fees go no other changes we aren't increasing any other fees and the we are um along with the finance advisory committee encouraging um the development of a district-wide booster club if we could get this kind of energy to help support um our our students and um the activities and things that we need in the school district this is a district without a districtwide booster club and um that's sort of unusual for a district that's one community and one um School District so we are hoping that um we can be a part of helping to build that we are looking at District cost drivers have a Qui question yes how much are we going to Pi you for the local fees say that again how much money we going to keep for the local like technology things right it won't be very much money um but it will it will cover the costs associated with losses from technology I would say it's less than $20,000 between the two and that's for like lost things or broken broken things right so it's not like a pre fee that exactly right it's not a technology fee it's a it's like a lost or ruined library book sure that sort of thing that's a damage it's a damage feed yeah and we're catching up and then you know there'll be all kinds of things I want to make sure that the board knows that we won't um perhaps we'll give a student one pass and then they'll have to pay we'll think through all of the the details of the policy um as we implement it we are working very hard to understand our cost drivers techn or transportation is a big cost driver utility costs are big cost drivers um we've got um Insurance costs are a big cost driver property insurance health insurance all of those insurances are big cost drivers and we are looking at them making sure we understand them and we are working to reduce these costs and to stabilize them and that's the work we do every day and I just want um you to know that as part of the recommendation from Finance advisory committee we are committed to that we are focusing on retaining direct student facing positions and we are focusing on a clear return on investment for any budget changes so as it as additions are made to the budget such as the addition of an administrator um assistant superintendent last year we were very clear and thorough about the return on investment that that would um bring for students and that's what we commit um continue to be um committed to so those are the budget recommendations you heard them from Finance advisory committee we talked about them again at last um month's meeting I have a I have a question just because I mean uh I know the answer but I've heard it uh kind of come from community members again and I think it's a good question um and good to just repeat um so I don't really see much revenue drivers on the budget recommendations outside of the 2.74 increase in state budget which doesn't cover the increase in costs and then a limited increase from local fees we can't go out into the community and ask for more money at this point we can't Levy our tax base any further than what we're currently at is that correct that's exactly right on on the general anything that would impact the general fund um we can't ask for an increase we at the cap for the operating referendum as are many districts in the in the metro area and that is the state mandate correct that is a state law yeah um the one place is on student enrollment and we have done really hard work on increasing our student enrollment and our and increased outcomes for kids um will will establish um this as a more attractive school district and that's what we're trying to do with these changes make sure that students academic achievement is the number one thing and hopefully that will help us to grow our student enrollment as well so everything we're doing is tied together um and pointing toward the Strategic plan so our next steps are we are here tonight um with the board's approval of the midyear budget and then these budget assumptions will begin in Earnest to build the details of next year's budget in April we would like to bring the school nutrition and Community Education budgets we've been so focused on the general fund we do have some adjustments in those two funds as well that we'd like to get to the board before we move into our audit cycle and then in June we'll review the final proposed budget um and then have the approval at the last board meeting in June as usual and as required by state law thank you um thank you for this presentation again today as you were saying at the beginning for people who um might just be tuning into some of this now we've been hearing about this stuff for all during the past year and we already hearing you know we're talking 2025 and now we're talking 2026 and won't be long till we're talking 2027 and I think you've said your your team is operating in three different years and um as a board this is part of a regular business meeting you know it is our responsibility to keep up on how is how are we doing in term of um these numbers so we appreciate being kept informed and appreciate all the updates that you provide again we had we had a lot of this shared with us at the um at the uh last meeting which was our uh study session thank you a study session which informed the presentation that we have here today so with that any questions from anybody um thank you patri um one thing that I think would be helpful for folks to also understand is sort of we've talked about this a lot is the sort of broader landscape that we're operating in and you know you talked a little bit about our um fund balance which is sort of the savings account in case we you know there's unexpected expenditures or what have you um and I know I heard you say just briefly you know we're not you're not forecasting for next year loss in Federal or state funds but I think I'm not building we but I I think it's important for us to talk about the fact that we we do expect that to happen right and that is even though we can't predict and so it's it's almost impossible to budget for at this point you know our federal funds account for about $2 million $2 million um and what percentage of that of our budget is that a small percent um three 3% 3% okay a small But Mighty I think is what you said last because it funds teachers and pair professionals and and our special education work which we're required to do by law but also it's critically important for our mission and our values here um and and then also you know the governor's budget just proposed a 5% cut in reimbursement of special education Transportation costs and that coming out of the the governor's office right and so um I think we could expect that and probably more um and so I think as we're thinking about the budget for right now and the cuts we need to make in order to even stay within budget we know that we're forecasting forward that it's not going to get better from here um this is going to be a tough we we're operating in a difficult landscape is that fair to say that is very fair to say yes thank you thank yeah yeah I mean I think we heard those of us who were at the capital yesterday heard loud and clear from both sides of the aisle that not to expect anything besides that 2.74 um and probably like Sarah said um there will be some things that are got two so it might not be 2.74 it might be overall less um it is uh it is extremely difficult and disheartening and um uh I I mean I walked away yesterday feeling like I said to several legislators like like be happy we're only asking you for stuff that doesn't cost money because we know you're just going to say no I mean it was just it was so frustr it is I mean and they're frustrated too I understand that it's not um but having having special a transportation cut in the governor's bill I mean I don't we don't know if that will go forward but I don't like I don't even understand how that can be a thing um in a landscape where that cost the costs for that are growing every single year and um and like Sarah said something that we have to do and something that we have have to do because we should um I don't know I I I we I guess the other thing I wanted to say is just that we talked I guess a couple weeks ago about that the fund balance and the idea that we need to grow our fund balance and I'm I'm just I guess I'm glad to hear you say we're not trying to grow our fund balance right now like that's that's not possible um I and people have heard me say for years right like this you should be spending this year's money on this year's kids um and so I think um having a balanced budget is um especially at a time like this but um is is super important and um I'm I am proud that that is something that we were able to do for the past couple of years um and uh we just I don't we've cut a lot and I don't know I don't know it's really hard to cut more I I don't know I just I feel very and we're not alone no and we're not alone some there's other Metro there's another Suburban Metro District that's trying to cut 21 million Minneapolis public school is cutting 75 million and it's like you know to your point okay so they're not going to change the 2.73 we know that's not going to change but they're going to cut in other areas right and so it's not like we can just say oh you're going to reduce your reimbursement cost for special education Transportation by 5% so we're going to just do 5% less of that we can't do that we're obligated and we need to do that work and so we have to find that money elsewhere and in a budget that's driven by people we you know we're people organization these are really really difficult um times with with harder times to come it's really disheartening people whose contracts were going to be negotiating over the next year and who are going to want and deserve more than 2.74% I think the problem with being old is that you're old so that sucks but now that that fell away I also lived through the penti years right and I lived through the years of zero and zero and I was a part of the budget cuts I got cut so when I say I was a part of the budget cuts I'm saying I was the budget cut and it was um like I did try to find some sort of happy Silver Lining yesterday it was it was challenging um one positive thing is that three different legislators came up like other than Larry and Cheryl whom we all love complimented you on um complimented us on your our business manager so I just want to make sure that those Kudos get um get uh out there uh it is it is frustrating and so I think I don't when I first ran for the board when I first thought about running for the board um I reached out to another board member who is also an educator and her parent um her father was a part of um a board for a number of years and she always said you know a board member needs to be an ambassador for public education Steward um and this is the stewardship that we have is this budget situation and it's and it's deeply frustrating and so when you say absorb I just want everybody to understand that when when the governor is proposing to cut 5% from anything and then the federal government is threatening to take away our funding because we have an inclusive School philosophy and vision um we have to absorb those costs and so you know the maintaining that 8% fund bance feels painful um but it also feels as though good stewardship would have us do that because we don't know what the the uncertainty even within the capital was depressing um like uh the Silver Lining though is um we do have good people fighting for us and trying to look for Creative Solutions um for this so yeah I guess I just want to um offer that you know when we talk about that maintaining that 8% in the context of cuts from the state and the federal level and really we're maxed out on the amount of Revenue we can bring in and Co the reality of costs continuing to go up especially in transportation um when we talk about maintaining that 8% amidst all that we are talking about um impacts to staff and potentially impacts to students and that does not make me happy um I did not come here to do that um it makes me really disappointed that we talk about budget cuts and we expect it on an annual basis and I think even like for me personally um I think budget managers have done a really good job in school districts across the state almost too good in the past couple decades because before I got on this board I assumed you could just make continue to make budget cuts that don't impact staff and students in perpetuity and that's just not possible the alarm bells are going off in my head right now about where we are at as a district and as a state for public education and I think the alarm Bells should be going off for people we all are feeling it and we're trying we went to the capital yesterday we're expressing disappointment on that I don't think it can just be us I think we need Community Support going to legislators and telling them we need to fund public education it is a crisis or at least we're nearing a crisis I think we're there um we can't keep doing this annually we're we're at the limit um and the the decisions that are going to be made a year from now two years from now are going to be that much more challenging um so yeah it's it's disappointing to be in this moment right now um I think that's that's that's what I wanted to to addad I guess also just the last thing you know I sat on what does DPAC stand for District parent advisory so I was on I was a part of DPAC for three years I've been I was a part of the financial Adis um committee for two years and I think that one of the things that I heard in March of 2022 when I joined the board was um the revenue driver is is our enrollment um and I remember a year ago or two years ago talking no it was last year when the financial advisory committee sat and gave their budget recommendations and I said there needs to be some conversation between the two committees I um and I like student enrollment is the center of both of those committees and driving those and so it's not um it hasn't escaped anybody on this board that student enrollment and what um what brings students in uh to our district so it's not uh it's not being ignored like among all of these sort of bad conversations about budget um there is there is like that warm feeling of the reason why people stay in the district the reason why people come to the district so it is there other questions comments um I just appreciate you sharing this information as I said I appreciate the board and staff's involvement at the legislature I think that's a super lining this it's the strongest showing I've ever seen um I'm hoping that's not just because of the need but because we're proud of our schools and we want other people to know that and I think that was reflected in some of our meetings um we met as uh director Casey said with people on both sides of the aisle and both um and we had really interesting conversations with all of them in including one separate complimentary of the work that we're doing and saying and people that aren't our legislators but hold power and influence within those committees and it's really important that we keep doing that um as Virginia was saying you know uh one of the heads of the education policy committees was very complimentary of your information and that's really helpful you know the things that we are looking at in policy is we're saying they do have some cost drivers and some cost impacts to us too so it's really important that we are looking at those things and we are trying to influence those things because what they mean for us um but it um so I'm holding on to some of those things and thinking how do we continue to Har that energy how do we continue to spread that energy how do we continue to influence other people to understand when it's frustrating when people still don't we we see a lot of these numbers we understand the referendums we understand a lot of these things and we get you know that I understand that people can't understand all of it but this is our job that we opted to do to understand why we're at this place what we can Levy for what we can't Levy for how we're different from another governing body how much influence we have to say what we can do with our budget when we're given the money that we're given and it's it's this money here and it's for this and oh you only get 2third of what you really need for this you figure out the rest be creative do something um so there's a lot of work and um and I'm just appreciative of us continuing to Advocate and appreciate the way that you keep us informed of things and um just appreciate the way that we try to stay in conversation as much as we can so um we will have a vote on the on the both of these items I think right yep coming up as in here so thank you director Magnuson okay let's move on to 6B world's best Workforce and as a presentation we have Dr Becca star um who's our data scientist and title coordinator hey you made it up here right like I looked up and you were oh wow great thank you welcome Dr star good evening Cher Cox and superintendent hindes um directors of the board uh again my name is Becca star I'm the data scientist and coordinator for the district um and today I'm going to be presenting on the world's best Workforce goals and this is state required reporting so this presentation fulfills the requirement by Minnesota State Statute to report on the world's best Workforce goals um for each school district and this will be the data from um last year 23 to 24 uh school year so the world's best Workforce requires that um we look at four broad goals and then you'll see for each goal the district makes their own um more detailed goal so the world's best Workforce goals are number one that all students are ready for school number two to close the achievement gaps between student groups number three is that all students are ready for career in college and number four is that all students graduate so goal number one all children are ready for school for that goal our district Road as assessed by the early reading fast Bridge assessment will increase by 2% from the fall of 2023 to the spring of 2024 and in this case um what we mean by risk is the risk of not meeting their year-end Benchmark so where they should be at the end of um kindergarten um and this outcome was not met as you can see in the graph here we have across our four elementary schools this is again the early reading fastbridge composite literacy School and you can see in the blue bar is the fall 23% of kids that were at low risk and then in the red is the spring of 24 what kids were in the lowrisk group and as you can see Aquilla met their goal they uh raised that uh percentage by two points um but we had um dips in the other uh three elementary schools and this is kindergarten uh literacy measure the second goal is to close the achievement Gap and for that our District wrote these goals the reading gap between black and white students will decrease by 2% from Spring of 2023 to Spring of 2024 as measured by the um MCA or the mtas reading proficiency and this is across all of our grades that take this test and the math Gap will also decrease by 2% as measured by the MCA or Mt math proficiency this goal was not met um here you can see that the spring of 2020 23 is in blue we had uh 41% U this is again the achievement gap between black and white students and then um spring of 2024 went up 1% so we want that number to get lower and it went up 1% for reading and also for math the third goal um for world's best Workforce is all students are ready for career and college and we use act composite scores to look at this so act composite scores will increase by 2% from 2023 to 2024 um and this is the um 11th graders taking the act and this would uh be equivalent to 041 points and this goal was not met uh you can see for State Lewis Park um 2023 is in Blue uh 2024 is in red we went up 0.1 points um but just to put it in some context I also have the Minnesota state average for act composits and we are um above the state uh both years can ask a like tangental question if we moved because we're um one of the things that we're advocating for the state is transitioning from MCA MCA testing is quite expensive um and having and doing moving over to act would there I uh maybe Dr lafette knows too like is there um what would be the minimum required score on the MCT I mean would they have if they if we transition from the MCA to the acts um there's not necessarily a score for proficiency although there have been uh studies done if you will that have like tried to match proficiency levels with act composite scores right but there like is a lot messier than that so are they would they have that are they going to have that conversation if we list are they even having that conversation if we shift over to act from MCA from my understanding what I heard at the legislature yesterday was um that they want to have a conversation with act in order to have um a line of sight of making sure that the questions that are asked are aligned to our standards making sure that that happens and have an influence on the questions that are asked here in the state of Minnesota I believe that there will be probably some recommendations that will come from that in regards to that cut off cut off for the comp thank you can I add just that because because we're on it I think we did hear some support for this at the legislature yesterday and um specifically I think some of our there there was some discussion around the fact that the our opt out rate is high in St Louis Park higher than in other places our um what 10% more of our students took the ACT than the MCA so that's better it's just better data um and more students take it and um in the in the structure of the MCA we have to count all of the non the non-t takers um which is a legal thing for them to do they can oped out that's state law but it also means that they get counted as a zero in our data and some of our legislators did not know that um and that is the problem um one one in particular was like who made that rule like well you guys um but it sounds like there was some federal involvement there because it's I don't I don't know but in any case I think um the point just being that we need to keep talking about how it's it's not just it's just not good data practice to to say these people have zeros so they you know you don't but they count anyway that doesn't you don't come up with a good average that way it doesn't it doesn't help our system like look at itself to have good data right so I um I do hope that this can can get through the legislature finally we've been talking about it for years um and I think that I hope that we can finally sort of talk about how do how do we actually get good data that um our kids care about and that use right give your hand yeah I have three questions but I'm going to ask to uh how we address the achievement and virginity Gap uh identified in our Elementary School uh the data is inequality existed among PSI Peter hoer and AA Susan link and how are we monitoring the fality of the implementation across our all Elementary schools good question so that is exactly why last year what we did was we revamped the continuous Improvement planning process to include monthly principal Le learning walks as well as monthly data team meetings so as you know every site and because you heard it at a study session earlier um a couple weeks ago um every site has their own continuous Improvement plan and all of those plans have goals that have up to two academic goals and those goals doesn't mean that those are the only things we teach but we are monitoring them so for example if we are if we're trying to increase reading proficiency what we're looking at our fast bridge scores we're looking at NWA maap scores we're looking at formative assessments we're looking at learning walks we're talking to students we're talking to families we're looking at all of these different uh pieces of data which I call puzzle pieces because there is no one data point that is ever going to share the story of what is going on just like this data right here for example when we talk about our elementary schools although we are reporting on one data point to represent an entire School District which is so disingenuous and anybody sitting in the audience and listening knows that right um there's a lot of nuance and although it says the goal is not met I wanted to bring a couple data points here I want to give a shout out for example to the Aquilla fifth grade team okay so for their math proficiency they increased their proficiency by 14.6% last year and if you go to the Minnesota report card you'll see multiple um years of increases in some of these measures in addition the Aquilla fifth grade team increased their reading proficiency by 17.1% okay now I'm going to take you to Peter Hobart although we didn't meet the goal when you take a look at world's best Workforce our math proficiency increased fifth grade at Peter Hobart by 11.6% I'm going to say that again we set a goal of 2% and we increased it by 11.6% fifth grade reading also increased by 13.1% in proficiency Minnesota report card I'd encourage our community to go look at it there have been shifts that we have made I have been in St Louis Park now for six years and what I continue to hear is that we have been operating as a system of schools and we have made shifts in order to move to a school system and so some of those shifts have been teacher-led part of our curriculum review process right so in a timeline for example this is how new some of this stuff is we have a new math curriculum that was implemented in the fall of 2022 a new reading curriculum that was implemented in the fall of 20123 this year alone in the fall we have a new middle school math curriculum that has been implemented as a result of our scores as well and the Nuance that we continue to see that is not Illustrated in these single metric points is that when you take a look at those fifth grade teams for example at Aquilla and at Peter Hobart after being in those monthly data team meetings with administrators and teacher leaders and being on monthly Le learning walks what I see is collective teacher efficacy teacher credibility and Clarity direct instruction classroom discussions because our bridges math curriculum and our collaborative literacy curriculum allows students to talk it is engaging students in Hands-On learning right and there is a focus on thinking and processing rather than just a simple outcome of a multiple choice test okay and all of these things come from Hattie's visible learning strategies which is a body of research that talks about yes High effect size strategies so am I surprised that these particular grade levels in teams are making double digit percentage gains of proficiency no but we are not at a place where we are a school system yet which is why we have made shifts and I totally so beyond being the director of assessment research and evaluation I am a parent of a first grade kid at Aquilla one of the things I know that I have the privilege of is being in classrooms and in discussions where not only do I read academic research but I'm studying the things that we have in our school system I'm in classroom spaces I'm in direct conversations with principes and coaches and I know that many of our parents don't have that same privilege what I would encourage all of our families to do is go and talk to principles go and talk to teachers go and talk to teacher leaders that is one of the biggest assets I think we have in St Louis Park is we have phenomenal teacher leaders I know some of them are sitting in the room back here so and so and and if there is anybody who is concerned I totally 100% understand the concerns and why in certain places we're not meeting certain scores and metrics as exemplified here but we are in Pockets we have pockets of excellence and we have things that are happening that we need to be replicating okay yeah uh the second question is uh I forgot about no I yeah your I forgot about your second question yeah the second question is uh how uh will best Workforce align with our uh CBI continuous Improvement plan uh uh and how how are the indicators of wfb uh academic achievement and the growth especially multilingual langar growth does you mean do you mean that the Improvement plans yeah that each building is doing no world for uh world uh yeah yeah WB worldas for Align with a CB uh cbii CIB sorry yeah the continuous Improvement plan right all of these different metrics that are reported here that we need to report to the state are also monitored at at a local level at our sites so for example you asked about our multilingual learning students although they're not explicitly talked about here we have sites that continue to take a look at access scores and MCA proficiency so whenever we're talking about MCA data although we're presenting it as an aggregate one data point here when we're at the middle school for example we are just aggregating it by grade level we're just aggregating it by P ethnicity special education MLL we're taking a look at access scores and then linking them for example and comparing them to MCAS but not only that in our continuous Improvement plan as I mentioned we have monthly Le learning walks so then we are explicitly saying okay so we're taking a look at the access speaking score of our multilingual Learners when we are on a monthly learning walk and principal kalenowski does a beautiful job of this then she says let's pay attention to how often our kids are talking our multilingual learning students are speaking in class not only that but at our monthly data team meetings we take a look at what does it look like to meet proficiency on the access test because if they're speaking is one thing to be like talking about your weekend but in order to reach a level of proficiency you have to be actually engaged in a deeper and higher level of cognitive ability and talking about academic content and so these are the different nuances that we study in data team meetings and then they translate into the learning watchs which is part of our continuous Improvement plan and then they do have like explicit like increase our literacy scores by 2% or depending on the building but they do have explicit goals for Math and literacy quite often thank you which is totally in line you want to hear the fourth one yeah yeah don't keep us in suspense like you didn't hear it two weeks ago um goal number four is that all students graduate so for our district uh our goal was the percentage of St Louis Park High School students graduating in four years will increase by 1% as measured um reported by Minnesota sleds data this outcome was not met um you can see for um 2022 is in blue 2023 is in red and we increase by 4% and again to put it in context um we're about 4% higher than the Minnesota um State average rate of um reg thank you that's it right um we appreciate this we did every we saw the data that informed the conversation today so uh really appreciate it any other questions or comments seems like we have series just quickly I this is my last world's best Workforce presentation and I was thinking about my first one when I came in thinking world's best Workforce that must be about our staff like we are developing the world's best Workforce and then I'm like oh no it's about students but it is about our staff right and that's what I'm hearing I think in in the alignment with the CIP right that is about our world's best Workforce here creating the world's best Workforce which I think is a gross way to talk about our students but whatever um but guess what um changing since then I've kind of thought again this is the gross way to talk about our students and it it isn't it doesn't always feel super like these metrics which are given to us right or these it feels like this is just like a like a check we have to fill out every year what can we take away from this that is more than that I would say if you are curious about what is happening at your school with your your child go and talk to your principal go and talk to the teacher of course but so the here's the thing I'm a middle school math teacher right by training and so I know that I'm focused on my lesson plan I'm focused on my classroom but having moved to administration at the at the school level I have a bigger picture of what is happening in terms of um what is happening in the whole building right and why certain decisions are being made in order to increase academic achievement rigor all of these things that I don't understand why these decisions are being made but going to talk to the leader of the building who has a broader understanding of what is happening is so important and one of the things I've always been an advocate for always has been opening up our school walls to our families because I get to see the beautiful things that are happening again um I was just at Aquilla on a Friday afternoon doing a learning walk with a team of teachers and the principal and it was like noon to you know 2:15 right and I was like okay I'm not going to expect to see much I'm going to have a lot of leeway because it's Friday afternoon oh my goodness I didn't see any kids on iPads I saw kids learning I saw teachers teaching I saw kids talking to each other and this is a Friday afternoon in a kindergarten classroom I'm like if our families got to see what I get to see they would understand where like what we're trying to move to and we have so many brilliant spaces that are doing that and we just need to continue to build the capacity to bring everyone else along and support them along the way I just want thank you for asking that question because I think that as you know board members go into running for office and being on a board we often just focus on the singular data points so I just want to say kudos for asking the question and thank you for your answers because um our students shouldn't be a singular data point and our school district shouldn't be a data point singular data point even though it kind of feels like it sometimes world's best humans that's what we're yes thank you all right thank you again for your presentation today okay thank you and now that brings up uh Phase One Design Team update about summer learning with Dr Duffy I'll move right out way a second good evening superintendent hindes chair Cox members of the board um I'm here just to introduce the summer learning design team who's starting their work here in Phase One um as we look at the work that they're engaged in we know that we've had many groups come before this board and as they start engaging in phase one I just wanted to kind of introduce their work within the context of thinking of um summer learning as an extended school year and an opportunity for us to really dream about what experience we want our students to have in the summer um this group is going to be taking time over the next couple of years to engage in research and to engage in um really conversations with our students as well as with regional and and other local areas to try to understand um what it means to have a really high functioning um summer Learning Academy and they're going to talk more about their passion for this work and the the work that they intend to do hi chair Co superintendent Hines member of the board um thank you for having us um my name is Jena Shad um just a little bit about me um I taught Elementary School for six years prior to coming to St Louis Park um this is my second year as the um academic testing and system support specialist for the assessment research and evaluation team um I joined the summer school design team initially because I had an interest in teaching summer school um I believe that summer learning is important and has the potential to be an enriching opportunity for students especially those from historically marginalized communities to engage learn and continue to develop their identities and I want to make sure we can provide the necessary the necessary resources support access and high quality instruction that they deserve um I'm very excited to be the co-coordinator with the elementary summer Learning Academy this summer to make sure that systems and procedures are put in place that make it accessible for all students to best serve um our community needs uh hello I'm Phil Stern I teach fifth grade at Aquilla uh along with my amazing team yeah yeah just thank you sy um I also have a fifth grade student at PSI and I am currently the vice president of the P um I joined the summer Learning Academy design team um after a disappointing experience last year trying to help a student who recently moved to our district uh enroll in summer school this student had joined our district uh 10 days after the self-imposed deadline of April 1st after fleeing uh uh from Syria and spending four years in a refugee camp um and I was frustrated that we were unable to find a way to help this family that was so new to our community um so my Benchmark for success is going to be to make sure that we uh support and give help to all the families uh that want their students to participate in our programs I I think that there should be it should be as easy as possible it should be that easy if you would like to participate you can participate um sorry uh no family should have to struggle to access equal uh educational opportunities especially those who rely on District programs for critical summer learning and those who are least able to navigate the bureaucracy and artificial barriers we create for them uh as a member of the design team I want to advocate for better communication clear policies and a more inclusive system one that prioritizes the needs of all Learners from the start rather than requiring families to fight for Access um I am glad to say that this year uh having gone through that experience last year it seems like there are now systems and structures in place that have been organized uh and it has been a smoother process for me and my students and from what I'm hearing from my colleagues and so I am hopeful and what I would love to be able to do is continue the work that seems to be being done now with the summer uh Learning Academy team um to uh strengthen the program and and make it accessible to all of our students uh good evening um Cher Cox and superintendent Hines everyone I am Kate fer I am currently a middle school science teacher former High School science and former middle school math um I've been teaching the district uh this is my fifth year I am a parent of an PSI Elementary student Middle School student and high school student um I lived in the district for over 10 years now and I've been teaching for over 10 years um in Minneapolis and in Hopkins I started in this District as a summer school uh teacher um during covid as a way to try to inspire te students online and uh one of the things I did was I made home deliveries of experiments they could do at home and that's when I realized how far and wide our students um live to come to St Louis Park School District I was driving all the way out to White Zetta Plymouth um to find students in their homes to give them their science experiments um one of the things I one of the reasons why I joined the summer school curriculum team is because I do te each summer school but also I find a lot of the students that show up in the high school and middle school are the ones that generally kind of disengage um but need a spark something different to attract them to the subject something to ignite an interest and an experience um you know it's always that a wonderful thing where you're like oh you're coming to Minnesota if you've never seen snow right the Wonder the enjoyment the Curiosity and I want to instill that in our summer school program for all students so that they gain some kind of like joyful experience to propel them forward in their learning so that is why I decided to join the team um our racial Equity purpose statement um our purpose is to cultivate a learning environment that act actively dismantles barriers to succcess affirms students's diverse identities and nurtures their confidence as leaders and Learners Summer learnning Academy is an inclusive anti-racist and identity affirming environment where all students see themselves as Learners and agents of change in their communities we strive to create a joyful affirming and academically rigorous space where every student especially those from historically marginalized communities feels valued empowered and supported in their Learning Journey questions board members yes can I hear more about the spark the spark how do you plan on reigniting what sort of things have you done to get kids to be more active in in um summer school um the last couple years I've taught of Food Science class for High School Credit Recovery um so I combined biology chemist and a little bit of math because obviously if you have to cook anything or measure carbs calories carbohydrates proteins you're doing math right so it's like thinking of the whole system and like the energy needed to cook meat in a healthy way and create a certain type of texture so one thing that brings people together is always food right you can get everybody talking about a food dish something they enjoy so one of the finals is like you have to cook a dish like we learn the biology of how it digests in your body the chemistry the energy as we move through trying different recipes try to be healthier options but also what are you going to bring to the table at the end and they share a bit of their culture a little bit of everything and everybody tries to up each other it turns into a competition but also a very Joy joyful and they just like let me get your recipe right let's write it down like do you even know what your grandmother's recipe is and so that gets people thinking a little bit more about how they can use the math of science to share that joint other questions or comments from our board members and I think I'm right when I say that anybody can come to the summer learning academ correct it's not just for um students who are looking for credit recovery is that correct or am icorrect so there are different summer learning programs and so the what I was speaking to is yeah it's it's anybody if uh if a parent interested if they would like their student if it's teacher recommendation that it can be open um it can be open to anybody um that would be a conversation that that a parent would want to have with their child's teacher which is different from so what's often confusing I think I remember this from the early days as a parent what's Community Ed what's summer learning what's everything and so you have to navigate some of that what Westwood programs and all of those things right like but what we're talking here is really specific primarily focused on academic needs here in the school right and I think our district to its credit does a good job of um interweaving some of those programs so that if you're a student experiencing summer Learning Academy for instance this last year when we had the opportunity to go and see you know where does one start and where does uh the other end it it it was seamless for them so that they were being able to take advantage of a lot of different programs within our district um to to fill out their day and to find that spark yeah direct I don't have questions but I just want to say thank you um all of you for making easy accessible for Mar Community you know it's hard hard to figure it out um my son doesn't like some of the schools but ongoing conversation but it's really great we have been going to the last couple years in Peter that's right that's that's right we appreciate you just sharing this we know you're at the early part of it we are here to support that and encourage that and um appreciate that you stuck around this whole night it's been a long night and there's a number of other people stuck around the whole night but really appreciate CU you guys were sort of um had to stick around here too so we really do appreciate that so um unless there's anything else then we'll move on to our consent thank for all right um it is Rec oh on our cons agenda we have some business items which are payroll recap of expenditures electric fund transfers CS payable investment Holdings Personnel in minutes from various meetings um the are all things that because this is a business meeting we have to make sure that we get these things approved so it is recommended that the school board approve the consent agenda with the following business and Personnel items for March 25th 2025 school board meeting is present do I have a motion on this some moved oh thank you all right then we have a motion in a second then uh all those in favor say I I can oppos pass 70 thank you all right that brings us up to our action items 8 a policy development second reading of vote and vote of policy 515 protection and privacy of people s Dr H so um well go I was going to say can I first of all let's bring it to the table just officially so it is recommended that the school board approved policy 515 protection and privacy of people records is presented do I have a motion okay second perfect I think we have a motion for a second okay now Dr H thank you all right so there have been no changes um since the reading the first reading at our study session so any questions or com discussion um I just want to say again I appreciate this coming back and um strengthening uh families awareness and options around their students privacy and their data privacy um I said when we talked about this a couple weeks ago I think that there are a lot of really important reasons why families might want to protect their students data right now um and so this will help families do that in a way that works for them so appreciate that for the the committee and for Dr hin I guess I don't have a question for the policy itself but maybe for the what it will look like um is there I guess what is the timeline for that so once this is approved then they'll begin the process of updating the um electronic form okay for spelling all of that those details MH I guess I would be interested in seeing what what comes of it I it's very important work so thank you right if there's nothing else then all those in favor say I I any oppos passes 70 midyear budget approval it is recommended that the school board approve the fiscal year 2025 midyear budget as presented this is what we heard from um Patricia and do have a motion to bring this forward so moved moved by uh the vice chair Virginia I was just you know thinking no um the second I'll second it second by director Davis um any discussion on this we have lots kns but as always appreciate Dr Magnuson and her team Dr Magnuson director Magnus we're going to promote you no but and your team it's we know it's a team effort so thank you very much okay anything else then all those in favor say I I any post pass 7 z uh uh B assumptions this is also we have presented tonight it is recommended that the school board approve the fiscal year 2026 budget assumptions as presented uh do I have a motion motion who is that you direct director Anderson um the second second reluctant director William reluctantly um any discussion all right then all those in favor say I I anyos passes 70 that brings us up to board member updates board member updates late night so but I know we have important things that we want to share I'll Sor and go quick I went to both itar the students put on at the high school and then the one that um mayor Harmon or Golden Valley and then our mayor Muhammed put on they're both beautiful events I encourage everyone to attend this is our first of annual ones sorry this is our first one of annual to come um the students came out out and kind of talked about what this means to them starting off as young ones and um how they kind of beg their families to participate in Ramadan and fasting um although their families wouldn't let them for practical reasons but it just warmed my heart to know that there were little kids who um were merged so much in their own religion their own um culture that they kind of fought for a right to do something that I probably wouldn't want to do on any given day um so that was joyful updates I I did go to The Lion King as Susan lingren and my daughter all the first comment um after she watched it was we never did this I didn't get this and I was like that's just typical all kids going back to their Alma moners so it was delightful it was a delightful production and it was fun to see how many kids were involved that they had like an A B and cast so it was great I like le as a thesbian I was happy to see young thesbian uh I attended uh three events uh the first one was uh the Elder waser the sus Ling it was great first time I went L I wasn't position so uh it it was great and uh and I attended also a coola imagination Fair as a parents no it was uh me and my four years old four grade we did engineering project with the fun Parts was doing together not actually the project so that was that was great uh also and uh that was that great I just want to I'm seeing some people in the start here thank you okay a lot of Community member attended it was great uh we have more than 230 people that is PR attended May muhamad too Ramadan is coming to an end and I want to wish uh Muslims uh here at home and around the globe so it's going to be maybe s Sunday or maybe Monday which is good because if it's Monday going to still we have a off right so uh yeah that's it thank you one really quick I want to thank um director abim for at the iar at the high school he stayed around afterwards and like help the janitorial staff clean up and help kind of organize the thing so I just wanted to shout that out other people I also went to The Lion King um and I very much enjoyed it um it was a great performance and um I just consistently in awe of the courage of our young students of just getting out there and you know really participating in those types of events I could not make it to either of the ifar um but I've heard wonderful things and look forward to going in future years and um just want to you know grateful for the to live in this community where people care so deeply um about our about education right and I think um my wife and I moved here for that reason right we wanted to be in a diverse community that cared about education and and I hope that I guess I have a hope that that we can continue this engagement as we navigate the path ahead which will be challenging um for many reasons um but we are here and going to keep coming here and keep doing our work regardless of what's happening at the federal level um and I'm grateful that we have so many folks from our community who show up and I'm grateful to our staff our teachers our district folks um who are helping us navigate all of this and so I recognize it's a really scary time I feel like the most recent news since we were last together is the dismantling of the Federal Department of Education which just to be clear cannot happen without an act of Congress I let's just set the record straight on that um and you know there's lawsuits to try and stop that but nonetheless um I'm grateful to serve on this board filled with folks who are deeply committed to moving our work forward and continuing to advocate for um the children in our community and the education that we believe in in the vision of this community regardless of what's swimming in The Ether so just say that uh I would just add my my deep appreciation for everyone who helped organized uh the the ifar celebration um here the the high school I completely agree it was a beautiful event um fantastic food uh amazing uh tea and just great to get to together with the community it was uh wonderful um there's also so we're talking about the production of blind King there's a production of Aladdin coming up for Peter hogart in April that I'm very much looking forward to um so yeah that's my update um I want to say some appreciation all these things are great yes I participated in ifar here at the high school and it was great and um I attended a miserab um the at the high school as well and that was a great to see um that's a heck of a production to put on it's a deep show it's got a lot of singing and got a lot of challenges to it and kids Rose to the challenge and it's just great to see in the dedication of our staff and all the people who support that work also want to give a shout out to um director suku for her support on our efforts with the day at the capital and making sure information is in people's hands about legislative needs um it's really important information and we've not done a good job with this in the past we've made our own ways of doing this but this has been the first collaborative effort and that takes time and energy and um a number of people have participated in that and like I said I think it's having a lasting impact um that will continue to have an impact um so appreciate that also want to support uh to director zuku and Jasmine for just supporting um things such as public comment and making sure that that stuff that there's a sign up process that we're staying on top of that that the information that we provide is there that can keep track of all that we had a lot of interest in tonight which is encouraging um that people are interested and passionate as some of my colleagues have said um and we just look forward to continued conversations and people hopefully engaging with us in ways of asking questions and seeking answers and finding ways that we can do that constructively I think you know making sure that we are um can talk about um how we do all the things that we do and um how how we can Embrace so much of the change that we talked about with just so so many demanding resources and so just I I don't want to talk after the chair but I just want to give shout out Dr hin because yeah if our day and community community ad to she was with us the whole day yeah from like three or four till the end thank you and everyone thank you thank you everybody again for the hard work and let's get this meeting done before 9:00 so I'm going to call the J here at 8: for