right over two people at a table. I'd like to call to order the March 6th regular board meeting of the Mountains View School Board. Good evening and welcome. Our first item of business is 1.2, adoption of the agenda. I would entertain a motion. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I I Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 2.1, student representative reports. Uh we just found out that our representative from Irondale is ill this evening, but can move for Monsu High School is going to give her report. So, thank you for being here. All right. Hello. So, this is a brief overview of what's been going on in February and some plans for March. All right. So, for our sports spotlight, we've had um our boys swim that's been going on, swim and dive. Um their season is just about wrapping up. I believe they have state tomorrow. But some important things to note is that they took second at sections finals this past weekend with many state qualifiers and this was at Still Water Middle School. Um and just some people to shout out at the medley relay. We had Danny B, Luke S, Holden T, and Ben Ben L. Um, a 200 free relay team of Danny B, Payton K, Luke S, and Ben L in the 1500 free. And for diving, we had Micah P and Charlie Hollo. And something incredible is that the Mustangs beat the ponies for the first time in 18 years, 94 to 91 earlier this season, which is very impressive. Still water is hard to beat in many areas. So good. And we also have wrestling. Um, we sent actually 10 wrestlers to state this year and seven replace as winners. Um, and we have two seniors that won their state titles. Brett Swenson is a senior. He won his second state title. And Joey Molstein became a fourth three-time state place winner. It's very impressive. All right. And for music, um, on the 21st, um, we had our chamber and symphony orchestras played at Bethl Great Hall. We played with um fourth and fifth graders from Just Island and Turtle Lake. And I believe from my teacher, Mr. Shogun, he said we had about 300 performers on stage, which is very impressive and just speaks to the music program that we have here. Um we also had the best of sight regionals contest um at Rapids High School this past weekend, which is essentially where um the top um high school music ensembles perform and compete either in like ensembles or soloists. And there's five sites with five different judges. And three out of five sites were won by MSU soloists in ensembles based on their technique and presentation. And other schools included Ocio High School, Irondale, Rapids, and Priy Lake. And we also have a annual best of sight recital in two weeks, which all of these students will be performing at. Um we also had our choir open mic fundraiser night on Friday the 21st. um their theme was Old Hollywood and it was at Peace United Methodist Church um one time. And then on the 15th we had um All State Orchestra which is essentially or and all ensembles. They um we had 10 to 15 students from like all over our music groups. Um they got to perform at orchestra hall. Um basically they had a week-long program in August where they rehearsed for hours and hours on end and this concert was like the cumulative concert for those pieces. And then for clubs, we had a speech showcase on the 28th. And something cool about our robotics team is its own first text challenge team. We it's called potential energy. They qualified for state and will be competing at nationals in April. We also have our volunteering outreach club that hit um feed my servant children on the 28th and over a 100 boxes were packed which is pretty impressive. I consider myself to be more of a scooper than a packer. So, and we also had our winter pepfest and this year we had a special surprise karaoke performance given by equity staff Mr. Iverson which was very exciting for all the staff and students. And lastly, for a recap, we have science Olympiad regionals which were on the 13th at at Bethl. Um, our varsity team took first place and JV took first, second, and third in the JV tournament. And this past Saturday, we had the state tournament at Bethl. And varsity came in at third place out of 26 other high schools. And then for our upcoming events, we mainly have our National Honor Society events, namely Music for Mounds View, which I'm sure you've heard of. Um it's our annual benefit concert. Um we actually have an official date and time. It's going to be March 15th on Saturday at 6 PM. And something new this year is that it's going to be free to attend with a suggested donation of $5. Um, I spoke with the exec board and they said the main reason was they're really trying to emphasize the service part of NHS this year and they're trying to break down those barriers and invite more of the community into um, Mountains View and just see what our program is all about. Um, again this uh, money is going to go towards DMG research which is diffuse intrinsic pontene glyoma which is an aggressive type of brain tumor. Um, and the money will be going to NAMI and National Mental Health Foundation and the Meritt Spencson Shining Light Foundation. Um, and also we are going to have our NHS chapter members putting up posters at over 34 local locations including our elementary schools, Valentine Hills, Turtle Lake, all that. So, um, we're hoping to see a lot of kids this year. Um, and for our art fair, we had it postponed. It was going to be on the first. I believe it's going to be later this spring um to meet NHS chapter requirements, but I believe they'll be hosting an art fair during a parent teacher night later this spring. And lastly, just some more events. Um we have our symphonic winds band, which is composed of juniors and seniors. Um they'll be traveling to Italy later this month and performing across there. So that it's very exciting. Um we also have our sports kicking off, um girls and boys track and field, boys golf, and lacrosse triyouts. and our annual physics fair and showcase and judging contest will be held next Thursday the 13th. So very busy at Mounty right now with all the physics projects, but we'll get there. Um and then on the radar, we're having a lot of students register for our 2025 social studies trip um which will be hosted by um economics teacher Mr. Osland. And the students will visit Austria, Hungary, and Czecha. And it'll be a 10-day trip over Thanksgiving break, so next fall. And then lastly for student council, we're just keeping a leadership seminar on our radar which will be um from a weekend in April. So from the 4th to the 6th. It's hosted by student council on the state level or capital division. And it will be at Hibbing High School. And students will be able to register and stay at a hotel and network with um a lot of other students. And these are for students that are interested namely in being president or class officer on our student council exec board. And that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Great. Thank you so much for coming tonight. I am curious. Do we know what song Mr. Iverson sang for karaoke? I This is important. I believe it was um Luther by Kendrick Lamar and Siza. Okay. The trending song on Tik Tok. Um but it it was very funny and enjoyable from my perspective. So hopefully there may be a recording out there. Maybe I can send it to you guys. I feel like I feel like this could be used for blackmail. Yeah, I think it already may be used for black listening. Thank you. Thank you. Next on our agenda is item 2.2, announcements. Shauna, could you read the gifts for us tonight? Sure. There were eight gifts for schools and programs received this period for a total of $5,17. And there were 11 gifts received for the Raler food shelf this period for a total of $3,527. It is recommended that the board accept these gifts and extend our thanks to the donors. Great. Thank you. Um, upcoming meetings on Thursday, April 3rd at 5:00 PM here in the district center. We have a work session and on Tuesday, April 8th is our next regular meeting of the board at 7 PM. Also here at the district center. Going to turn it over to Superintendent Lennox for your superintendent report. Yeah, thank you. One uh update tonight and I'm happy to be able to announce that uh one of our teachers, Zoe uh Courage, has been named a semi- finalist for the 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year Award uh for the public. I know the board knows this, but this award is one of the oldest, most prestigious in the state. It's presented annually and honors educators for their excellence in education. A panel of about 20 to 25 people review the portfolios of the candidates. They eventually narrow that group to about 10 to 12 finalists from whom the teacher of the year is selected and named in early May. So tonight we just want to recognize Zoe uh and wish her well as she moves forward to the competition. Yeah. Great. Now we're going to move on to item 3.0, approval of consent agenda. I'd entertain a motion. So moved. Second. The agenda has been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next is item 4.1 policy approval. Tonight we are bringing forward two revised policy and one new policy all for a second reading. Um let's see here. So we have policy BG0303 policy formulation and adoption and EG311 5 electronic technology acceptable use and safety policy. Both of these um have been have had slight revisions to them and uh we are bringing the following policy forward for the second reading. Our new policy EG 3116 student cell phone possession and use and I I think you wanted to give a little bit background on that. Yeah, I want to remind everyone, especially the public, this is um a required policy based on uh new legislation. So, every school district has to have a specific cell phone policy. You will recall that we had an advisory group bring recommendations to the board back in December. Since that time, there's been ongoing conversations. Uh the board has had an opportunity to look at that. We had a first reading at the last meeting, February 6th. So, plenty of of time to talk and look uh at that policy, but this really is the um uh the point at which we're asking for approval from from the board to move that forward. Great. Reminder to the public, as as uh Superintendent Lennox said, we've not only had many many people in our community involved in this, the board has been talking about this policy since the fall and um feel like uh we really have heard from so many members of our community, which has just been great. Um we're so uh grateful for the um students, for the staff, and the community members who served on that advisory committee. Um for everyone who completed surveys, um contacted us with feedback. Um and actually as as part of that, Care 11 actually did a story on how the district is handling um this new policy, which was fun to see as well. Any other discussion or comments about any of these policies? Great. Well, I would entertain a motion to approve these three policies. So moved. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. I. All opposed? None. Great. Motion carries. We're going to move on to item 5.1, summer operations projects. I'd like to welcome Darren Johnson, executive director of school management, to share those summer projects with us. Thank you. Good evening, members of the school board. Pleased to be with you this evening to provide a preview of the work that is scheduled to be completed during the summer of 2025 in our district. Uh districtwide projects will include painting projects as needed throughout our buildings, concrete projects including curb and sidewalk repairs on school grounds and parking lots, seal coating and restriping of parking lots on a rotating basis, cafeteria flooring projects at Pinewood, Island Lake, and Snail Lake. These projects will include the installation of vinyl composition tile, better known as VCT, casework and cabinetry replacement and repair throughout the district, beginning of a phased project of the Turtle Lake Library to include the installation of new bookshelves and carpeted flooring. Specifically at Irondale High School, this summer will be uh phase two of the geothermal project. Phase two is the final phase of this project with an anticipated completion date of mid August. Work done this summer includes underground wells being installed on the east side of the building. Tying the heat exchange system to the current mechanical system will also be completed. There will also be a remodel of the science and art rooms which will be which will include the installation of new casework and flooring, new lights and a fresh coat of paint. So that will be the summary of the Irondale projects at High View Middle School. This will be uh phase one of their geothermal project. In this phase, there will be the replacement of domestic water distribution lines. There will also be drilling for two wells and the boilers will be converted from steam to hot water. This project in its entirety has an expected completion date of August of 2026. Although the planning is underway, these projects will certainly be appreciated by our district community when school resumes in September of 25, which is only six short months away. Additionally, I'd like to extend our public appreciation for the work of Chris Pquette, who is our director of operations, and his entire team for the coordination and the completion of these upcoming summer projects. Finally, I'd like to thank our site custodian teams and our building and grounds crew for their dedication to the Mountains View Public School District. The removal of snow after this recent storm is just one example of the hard work they do. This completes my report for this evening. Are there any questions? Well, it's great to hear that you're planning for summer already despite the weather this week. So, that's good to know that uh eventually we will see grass and uh and we can get underway with those projects. So, great. Thanks to Chris and his team as well as all of our custodial teams for all the work. Well, awesome. You get to stay here for item 5.2 as well. Enrollment update. Yes. Thank you. So this is the enrollment report for the 2526 school year. In January, as part of the preliminary budget work for 2025 2026, we had projected our enrollment at 11,128 students. That number included a projection of 11,078 resident students and 50 additional non-resident students. Since that time, we have exceeded those predictions and are pleased to see additional students enrolling in our district. Our enrollment staff have been working closely with school sites to track enrollment on a weekly basis. As of this week, our new projected enrollment is sitting at 11,228 students. And while a lot can change in between now and September, we are trending upward again with our enrollment. Because we get questions about our non- studentent our non-resident enrollment, we want to remind the public that all non-resident students are being approved on a space available basis. You will recall that birth rates are down, which means there are fewer resident students entering our kindergarten classes in the last several years. Based on the work our district has done with former former state demographer Hazel Reinhardt, we have identified our target enrollment for kindergarten to be 800 students. We have been and will continue to focus our efforts on meeting that enrollment number, which has allowed us to offer enrollment to non-resident students. In addition, as these classes move through our system, we continue to watch the total cohort enrollment to determine if we have any additional space to add to students in specific buildings and or subsequent grade levels. Currently, our focus has been on elementary. And in the future, this may also include secondary schools as the co as these cohorts age through the system. And that concludes my enrollment report. Thank you. Any questions? Thanks for the update. Um, it's good good to know. I was at a Turtle Lake PTA meeting last night and Principal Skinner gave an update on enrollment there and uh, great to hear that. Um, I know we're the staff is continuing to look at building by building and get frequent updates and planning for next year. Great. Thanks, Darren. Awesome. At this time, we're going to move to item 6.1, um, updates. Uh Jim, do you want to start with an AMSD and legislative update for us? Oh yes. Um AMSD, we have a meeting tomorrow, but the legislature is in full swing. Um a lot of things going on there from elections to cell phone policy to budget. Today we had a budget forecast from the state. Um it wasn't too rosy. Um um the the 2627 bianium balance, they're predicting a $1.2 2 billion surplus. And now they're only predicting a $456 million surplus, which means the economy is slowing down. Inflation, slow growth, um, uh, declining federal funding, all our great concerns over at the capital at the moment. And, uh, in the out years in 2028, we're heading to a budget deficit situation. And that, if nothing changes to about $5 billion, why does this matter to schools in the school district? Most of us get about 50% of our funding from the state. So we always watch the state uh financial situation very very very close. On the other hand, much like us, the state has reserves and they plan for rainy days. They do have, as I said, five billion sounds scary. They do have 3.7 billion in reserve at the moment. And so um that's what they're up to. Um and uh we spent uh all our time uh we spent some very good time reaching out to our community on cell phone policy and uh what you may ask what does the association metropolitan school districts do? We go over to the capital and say let us make these decisions and so uh there is a bill floating around saying that we have to do something in the cell phone policy. There are bills floating around that says we have to have elections on certain dates, but as I said, we uh usually go over there and say, "Hey, uh we can handle this. We are very um focused and in touch with our communities and do these types of things." So, uh that is my report and uh AMSD day at the capital is March 23rd and I urge any of my fellow members to join me down at the cap. I will be there and I suspect Superintendent Lennox will be there. So, great Jim. Thanks for the update and thanks for your advocacy for our district and our students. Shauna, do you have a a Metro 916 update for us? Yeah, so we met yesterday. Overall, it was a pretty um standard meeting. I will highlight one thing that um District 916 partnered with an organization called Souls for Souls. Um and this organization partners with schools all across the country to provide new tennis shoes to students. Um, so they were able to provide over 200 students from 916 with a brand new pair of tennis shoes. And from what I heard, the kids are pleasantly surprised to get like Air Jordans and not other brands of shoes. So, um, it was just fantastic that we were able to provide shoes for all those kids. Great. Thanks so much, Shauna, for your report and for your work with, um, Northeast Metro 916 District. Next on our agenda is item 6.2. two school board member reports. Anyone have anything to share tonight? I'm going to give a a shout out to the Irondale um band strings ensemble. They were the invited band for the music Minnesota music educators association. Was that a couple weeks ago? Um and uh Superintendent Linux and I were both able to attend. Um it was a phenomenal concert. Um those students worked so hard. They uh came to school early, stayed late, came weekends um all school year to work on this music. It was extremely challenging music that they were playing just at a really high level. So, uh kudos to those students and to uh CJ Longo and his direction and um for all that ensemble did. They were very impressive um at the Minneapolis Convention Center that night. Excellent. Great. Well, if there is nothing else to come before the board, we Charger.