Mounds View Public Schools — Transcript
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Student Representative Reports
District Announcements and Community Engagement
Q Comp Program Progress
District Recognition and Events
2026-2027 Enrollment and Class Sizes Report
2025-26 District Operational Plan (DOP) Review
State Legislative and Inter-District Updates
School Board Member Activities and Appreciation
Votes (7)
Item 2.1 Student Representative Reports
Roslyn, the student representative from Irondale High School, delivered a detailed report on numerous student accomplishments. These included the robotics team's strong performance at a Texas championship, the Winter Guard's undefeated season and circuit championship, and exceptional individual and team achievements in state and national speech tournaments. She also highlighted student successes in the Personal Finance Challenge and numerous college athletic commitments, concluding with recognition for their principal.
Item 2.2 Announcements - Gifts and Public Comments
Jim reported on gifts received, totaling nearly $7,000 for schools and programs and almost $40,000 for the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf, recommending board acceptance and thanks. Shawna summarized public comments heard prior to the meeting, noting concerns from Highview staff and district parents regarding the proposed middle school model, stating it's an ongoing discussion. Upcoming board work sessions and regular meetings were also announced.
Item 2.3 Superintendent's Report - Q Comp Progress & District Updates
Superintendent Lennox presented the annual Q Comp program update, detailing its five components: career advancement for 113 teacher leaders, job-embedded professional development including microteaching, integrated teacher evaluation via TDAP, alternative pay stipends, and high completion rates (95% tenured, 99% probationary) for full compensation. He also reported on Staff Appreciation Week, the district's Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting, the 'Walk, Bike, and Roll to School Day' event, and elementary track meets currently in progress.
Item 4.1 2026-2027 Enrollment and Class Sizes Report
Darin Johnson presented an enrollment update for the 2026-2027 school year, noting a total K-12 enrollment of 11,297 students, which is 90 students higher than projected, after adjusting for kindergarten. He detailed figures for kindergarten centers, elementary schools (above projection), middle schools (slightly above), and high schools (above projection). Johnson reassured the board that schools are not overcrowded and the district strategically manages open enrollment to ensure adequate space. The board reiterated their goal of maintaining enrollment between 11,000 and 12,000 students for optimal operations.
Item 5.1 2025-26 District Operational Plan (DOP)
Superintendent Lennox reported the successful completion of all eight goals from the 2025-26 District Operational Plan. Key priority goals highlighted included the creation of a comprehensive master plan for environmental learning and outdoor classrooms with integrated curriculum, the successful Capital Projects Technology Levy campaign (now moving to project prioritization), and the Enrollment and Facilities Study. The study updated building capacities, assessed utilization, and recommended maintaining district enrollment between 11,000 and 12,000 students. The Superintendent thanked the team for their efforts, and board members praised the district's innovation and stable enrollment amidst statewide challenges.
Item 6.1 Updates - AMSD and Legislative
Jim provided an update on the recently concluded legislative session, noting a 2.7% formula increase and $12 million in behavioral mental health grants. He expressed disappointment over the lack of major progress on school safety and the projected 'cliff' in special education funding for future years. Jim also discussed a constitutional amendment for the permanent school fund, encouraging support but cautioning that the potential $45 per student increase would not resolve the broader public school funding crisis. Shawna reported on the Northeast Metro 916 School District, detailing a successful teacher apprenticeship program, a budget first reading, and staff recognition.
Item 6.2 School Board Member Reports
Mark reported on community engagement, including the highly successful Bell Air Elementary PTA carnival, praising its high attendance and revenue, and the positive feedback from a new family. He also shared his positive impression of the new outdoor classroom and attended a romantic play at Irondale. Board members extended congratulations to the graduating Class of 2026 and expressed deep appreciation for all district staff, acknowledging their hard work and dedication during the demanding final weeks of the school year.
Notable Quotes (23)
We finished as the eighth succeeding team in the 75th division and was seventh alliance captain in the Newton division playoffs, which is amazing.
So yeah, we literally stayed undefeated this entire season, which is insane. Wow.
Asma is the third state speech championship in team history. That's actually insane. Wow, okay. Boyana is the only three-time speech medalist in team history.
We're just setting so many records.
There are 10 gifts for schools and programs received this period for a total of $6,969. There are 20 gifts received for the Ralph Reeder Food Shelf for uh this period for a total of $39,986. It is recommended the board accept the bid gifts and extend thanks to the donors.
Uh this evening we heard from several Highview staff and a couple um district parents around the proposed middle school model. Uh this is an ongoing discussion and we will continue to engage our community on this topic.
Mounds View Public Schools, for those of you following along, was actually one of the first districts in the state to implement Q Comp. Um, over the course of that time, it really has been a very successful program for this district.
By recording that instruction, it allows groups of teachers to come together, watch the instruction, talk with their peers, ask questions, gather ideas, and then go back and implement that strategy in their own classrooms.
This award really is considered the gold standard for promoting and recognizing excellence in financial accountability and transparency.
As of May 12th, 2026, the number of enrolled students at our two kindergarten centers for the upcoming school year is currently 794 students, which represents six students below our projected count of 800.
Finally, the number of enrolled combined students at Irondale and Mounds View high schools for the upcoming school year is currently 3,649, which represents 48 students above our projected count of 3,601.
Correct. Yep, so we're in a good spot. Um sometimes we have questions related to the students that we allow into our schools related to open enrollment. Um we do have schools that are closed, schools um that are partially closed, right? We sometimes will close uh you know, sections or or grades within a school. Um yeah, but we do not um will not take kids uh under that open enrollment unless we have room for them. So, our schools are in good spots for right now.
as a board, we really want to get kind of between that um 11,000 and 12,000 numbers to be right-sized, and you know, looking at 11-3 and 11-4, um it's really good size for our school district.
We are pleased to be able to report that a comprehensive master plan for our outdoor classrooms and environmental learning opportunities has been completed. So, we are happy to have all of that documented.
Ultimately, we were very fortunate to receive support from our community and a positive levy result. We're very, very pleased with that.
It is recommended that the district focus on maintaining an overall enrollment between 11,000 and 12,000 students. It really puts us at a great point for operating our schools effectively.
as we look around the state and see school districts with declining enrollments or financial troubles, it is uh both refreshing and exciting to see where Mount View is in the midst of all this with uh steady and growing enrollments and winning awards for our uh financial abilities.
the session has concluded and it concluded on time, which actually helps us with our budgeting next month, which is very helpful as I've always pointed out. We get about 60% of our funding from the state, so what they decide is uh very important to us.
There's just some minor uh probably big disappointments were uh school safety things. Uh we just got some minor grants. There was really not any major movement in there, which is after what happened last fall and where we as a board have been very concerned, are we doing everything to keep our kids safe and asking our community to invest in that, um that we didn't really make any progress there. That was unfortunate.
We will certainly appreciate give $45 more student, but please realize that you know, we spend about $15,000 per student to educate our kids in Mounds View and we get about you know, on a formula about 7600 and odd dollars per student. So the $45 is not going to fix the crisis that we have in a lot of public school districts right now.
we had a presentation on the 916 teacher apprenticeship program, uh which is um all the intermediate school districts got together for a grow your own program, and they got a grant from the state to do that. So, um it's fairly new, but uh going really well, and uh we have quite a few teachers in that program.
the number of um of kids that showed up was I think over a thousand. They exceeded their expectations on kids and fun and um uh revenue. They actually ran out of tickets. Uh so, it was an incredible success.
So just appreciation to all of our staff. We know that staff appreciation was great... but we know these last couple weeks are hard. Lots of little people have lots of energy. So thank you to the staff that continue to educate until that very last bell rings and just hope that last couple weeks is a good experience for all of our students and all of our families.
Ordinances & Resolutions (13)
State-mandated program for teacher career advancement, professional development, evaluation, and alternative pay.
Teacher Development and Appraisal Process, integrating teacher evaluation and professional development.
Annual plan outlining eight strategic goals for the district, including three priority goals.
Approved community levy for district capital projects and technology infrastructure.
Study focused on aligning student enrollment with school building capacities and planning for future needs.
Award from the Association of School Business Officials International recognizing financial accountability and transparency.
Periodic update on current and projected student enrollment and class sizes across the district.
State legislation mentioned in the context of minor tweaks.
State fund generated from state lands, subject to a proposed constitutional amendment for increased school funding.
High school speech competition where Irondale students achieved top placements.
National speech competition where an Irondale student was the first finalist.
State-level competition where Irondale students placed in the top 10.
Winter Guard championship where Irondale Gold Guard placed first.