Okay. Good evening everyone. I'd like to call to order the Roseville Area School Board meeting for Tuesday, June 10th. Uh clerk will please take the role. Thank you. Good evening. Director Boseski here. Uh Treasurer Treasurer Clark here. Chair Anderson here. Clark Gogggins here. Kakashaw here and um what did I just say? Oh my god. Clerk. Okay, I'll answer. I'm sorry. Director Gagans, Director Shaw, and Cler Chu is here. Oh my goodness. Thank you. We know what you mean, clerk. Yes. Right. Any agenda adjustments for this evening? There are no agenda adjustments. All right. Under announcements, comments, recognitions, uh this evening's land acknowledgement will be read by Treasurer Clark. Thank you. Roseville Area Schools acknowledges that we reside on traditional ancestral, contemporary, and unseated territory of the Dakota people. From Bedote, a confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, a place the Dakota people poetically claim as the center of the earth directly beneath the center of heaven to Indian Mounds Park, a sacred place of burial built by ancestors of living people and home to the only known remaining burial grounds within the Minneapolis St. Paul Urban Corps. Indigenous people have cared for this land through warfare, genocide, relocation, and removal perpetrated by colonizers. the state of Minnesota and the federal government in justices that reduced over 150 million indigenous people to around 300,000. Indigenous people have given their blood, tears, heart, resilience, and love to this land. Enduring boarding schools that were in operation from 1879 through 19 the 1930s where assimilation through humiliation was a curriculum and unspeakable atrocities occurred daily to the foster care system where more kids were removed from indigenous homes than any other group in Minnesota. Indigenous people have not lost their culture or identity and still reside on this land. Roseville Area Schools is committed to ensuring the culture of our indigenous relatives, the original and rightful caretakers of this land is studied, preserved, and celebrated. We are committed to the understanding and honoring the sovereignty that has been denied to nearly 600 indigenous nations, including 11 federally recognized tribes in Minnesota through the breaking of over 400 treaties. and we are committed to the truth of history of our indigenous relatives, the success of our indigenous students, and to the healing we hope to create through this commitment. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Um, we are pleased to have with us our 2025 Minnesota Teacher of the Year candidates, one of them or some of them. Uh, Dr. Le, three candidates. Please come forward. Miss Turner, Miss Lysaf, and Mr. Patton. Please come to the table. Congratulations. [Applause] I think they're also meeting one another and exchanging experiences. Please come to the table. Yeah. Yes. And I had asked that they introduce themselves and talk a bit about their experience and maybe what why you graduate education and and what what makes your world so exceptional in Roseville area schools. And maybe uh Barca you if you'd start and then Miss Turner and then Mr. Patton. Sure. Um hello everyone. Good evening. Thank you for inviting me here. My name is Vsha Lysad. This is my 12th year teaching here at the high school. Um you can blame Dr. Lake for that. Yeah, she was the one who interviewed and hired me and I'm very grateful for that opportunity. Um I immigrated here 25 years ago from India. um took the traditional route of it, you know, spent my 20s um in computer science and but eventually really uh felt compelled um I I'm still get teary eyed when I think of when I first heard um that any child here could go into a school and receive education. That was not a fact of life where I grew up. Education was the privilege of the wealthy and the upper strata of the society. And here in United States, any child uh irrespective of the circumstances of their birth or other surround can walk into a school and receive quality education in a public school system. Um I still feel very emotional about that and I so once I felt that I had gotten a strong enough foothold in the American middle class and my American dream had come true I felt really compelled to give back to help preserve that dream for the future generations and uh to be a part part of something so wonderful and um so that's when I decided to be a high school teacher in my late 30s and Dr. Lake was brave enough to give me a chance and uh this is where I started my high school teaching career. I have thoroughly enjoyed every day. It's not been without struggles at times. Um but this is where I'm meant to be and I'm really really grateful for uh the school board's vision for our schools for just including everyone. All the children at our high school just feel very very welcome and very well cared for. and the school board and Dr. Lake are mainly responsible for that, for making us all feel so connected to that cause. Um, I'm sorry I'm taking too long. Um, but yeah, that's that's what brought me here and I hope to retire from Roseville Area High School. So, we're thrilled you're here. Thank you. Thank you for taking that job 12 years ago. Thank you for giving it offering it to me. Uh, hi everyone. I am Avery M. Turner. I use she, her, aa pronouns. Um, I started in education six years ago. Um, what actually brought me to education was Teach for America. Um, I didn't know what I wanted to do after college. I graduated from a historically black university, Morgan State University, and um, it was probably January. I knew I needed to figure it out. I knew I didn't want to stay in Baltimore. Um, I didn't know that I would land up back here, but Teach for America, this specific region, was putting together a little package to get teachers who were out of the state or people out of state to come back and teach here in the state of Minnesota. So, actually, Minnesota wasn't one of the places that I qualified for to teach in, but it ended up being my 11th choice. So, I ended up coming back home to teach. Um, so yeah. Um, I am an elementary education teacher by trade. Um, I just got my principal license on the 15th and it just posted yesterday. So, I'm excited about that. Yes. Um, so I started off in second grade. Uh, then I went to fourth and fifth grade. Then I went to adults, then I went to high school, and now I'm back in elementary education. I still sub on the side with adults. Um, but yeah, so what brought me, like I said, Teach for America. And like what's keeping me is the will to want to make education better, specifically here in the state of Minnesota. And I feel like I'll be able to do that by continuing to advocate for myself, for my scholars, for families, and for the community. Thank you. Thank you. Glad you're here. Thank you. Hi. Thanks for having me. I'm Sean Paddton, seventh and eighth grade health teacher at Rams. Um what what brought me to education, oh man, 19 years ago now. I think this is year 10 here at Rollersville. Um was a happen stance. I ran into a buddy of mine I used to play hockey with and it was one of those things where he's like, "Let's get a team." I I was micro computer technology guy. I was going to go make money, right? That's what I was I graduated in 97. That was the thing you did. You went into computers. And he called me, you know, it was one of those things. You exchange phone numbers. You're never going to talk to the guy again, you know? And he called and said, "I got a team." I'm like, "Oh boy, I don't even have skates anymore." You know, but um I wound up helping him and realizing I like kids better than computers. And more importantly, they seem to like working with me. And I guess that's where the rubber hits the road, right? A lot of people love working with kids. But if kids don't love working with you, find something else to do. And um it took off from there. And I was blessed to have parents and family members and friends support me after going to college and getting that degree in computer technology, turning around and telling them, I have a bunch of loans and I'm going to hang this on my wall and I'm going to start over. Um because this isn't me. And I was blessed. I was fortunate enough to make it to the top 12 and spend the weekend in St. Paul. And it was, yeah, everybody told you, Doug Der told me going in, it's gonna be lifealtering. And I'm cynical. I teach middle school. Come on. Um, it'll be great, but I don't know. And it was it was lifealtering. The people that I met, I spoke with Todd here briefly before the meeting, and it was humbling. And now I walk down the halls at Rams and I'm like, you could have gone, and you could have gone, and you're worthy, and you're capable, and you're amazing. And I think I would love every educator to experience the weekend that I experienced. Um to feel that level of honor, right? And and again, I was just blessed to have parents let me start over and support me in that. And I think if you look back, we can all at this table and in this room think about somebody we didn't know what we want to do or we were struggling, whether it's a loved one or a family member or a partner that pushed you and gave you that guidance and was that support. and they mean the world to you and they push you to be a better person. And I go to work every day and and remind myself that there's a student that I am that person for that student because they don't have that person, right? And and that's what drives me into education and keeps me coming back because when they asked at the St. Paul Hotel during the interviews, they said, "What teacher sticks out in your head, you know, um that push you in education?" I said nobody. I hated school. I loathed it. I was marginalized and bullied and ostracized. I didn't belong anywhere. I if if somebody had told me I would have been a teacher, I would have laughed at their face. Um not at all. But I had parents that said, "Hey, the system works for somebody. Just because it doesn't work for you, but if you don't like the system, we don't have to burn it to the ground. You can change it." So that's what I do. I became part of the system, right? and now I'm I'm doing my best to change it and give that next student that support that maybe they don't have outside of our building. And um it's a calling. I think education saves lives and I wouldn't do anything else. And I am fortunate enough having spent that weekend at the hotel with a phenomenal 11 other finalists that are just my lifelong friends now. Um I got to tell them, we talked a lot about it's great being honored. Teachers would give up being honored to feel supported. I think I think I can speak for every educator that we we don't need to be honored. We love it. It was great. Don't get me wrong. We like to be supported. And I got to tell them that I work in a district that does that. So, I'm eternally grateful for that. And I would choose Roseville. I know that's the catchphrase these days. I would choose it 11 out of 10 times again. So, I thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Anybody questions for the No questions. Just again, thank you so much. And um you know as you were talking and I think you said the word it's a word that you hear very it's either thrown around casually or not at all and that's calling and and vocation and it seems that that you all and I think your your colleagues teaching here that's how you see you see this vocation and a calling and I'm also happy for you that you you know whatever shape you are you found the hole that your peg fit in and I'm so grateful that it's here with us in Roseville and um I honored to hear you say you feel supported by the district because you know as a board as leadership we certainly we certainly do support you and all your teaching colleagues. So just thank you so much and really appreciate you being able to come here tonight too. Thank you Mike. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Moving [Applause] on to number four uh in evening's agenda summary of community input received for action items. I do want to let the board know that I received an email uh from a resident of Lauderdale um who had questions regarding student attendance and absenteeism. So we will be responding uh to that resident at least when they inform the board. So, since we do have uh student attendance later on this evening as an action item, uh consent agenda. All right. Uh I will entertain a motion besides uh we do have a retirement we got and obviously we have gifts, but I will entertain a motion to approve this evening's consent agenda. I move approval of the consent agenda. All right. Is there a second? Second that. All right. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed. Okay. Motion carries. House retirement. Ju just a point of order. I just want to clarify with you. It's true, isn't it, that if we do have guests who come and speak with us that they're not required at all to stay for the remainder of the meeting, they're certainly free to go unless they want to stay. They are free. This is true. Thank you. I just wanted to check in with that with you on that. Yep. They do not have to stay for our very policy heavy agenda. But just want to make sure they go that if they their choice. Yes. Thank you, sir, for that point of order. Yeah, we do have a retirement. Yep. Uh, clerk Chu with the retirement. Yes. Uh, today we have uh one retirement. Uh, her name is Deborah Inut. She is uh with the nutrition services at Pville Center School and she has been with the district for 17 years and we really thank you for her service. So I move for her retirement. All right, it's been moved. Is there a second? Second. All right. Any further discussion moving the retirement of Deborah Inut? Um, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. All those opposed. All right. Motion carries. Uh, thank you everyone. And we do have gifts this evening. Uh, director, it's my honor to read the gifts. Uh, first off is a gift, uh, financial gift from Joe's sporting goods and ski shop to Harambe Elementary School. Joe's sporting goods is a great neighbor to Harambe and has has has worked with them closely through through the years. Um, I have three gifts here for the boys golf team, one from Dawn and Patrick Keenan, one from Heidi and Chad Salonic, and one from Chad Finger and Carla Zbat Zbachnik. Um there's a financial gift from the US Bank Foundation for school needs to Roseville Roseville Area High School. Another uh series of gifts to the high school uh for various athletic uh endeavors. The Roseville Girls Lacrosse Booster Club uh giving a financial gift for lacrosse officials pennies and staff appreciation meals. um the Minnesota Vikings Foundation with another uh financial gift toward uh girls flag football program. Um the Roseville Area High School girls hockey booster club uh giving streaming streaming services and supplies to Roseville Area High School. uh a gift for from uh Amamira Quilters uh for the food shelf at Roseville Area High School. The Roz Bullpen baseball booster club uh giving tarps and awards to the um Roseville High School baseball team. Uh a gift from Gary Gray uh for the boys track and field program. Uh, and then two gifts for Rams Robotics from the Minneapolis Foundation through Marne Wells and the Ros Firebears Robotics team themselves. And, uh, finally, uh, gift from Scott and Katherine Harmon, uh, financial gift, uh, to the Rams Theater. It was at the Rams theater that my children learned about theater and became highly enthused about it. Enthusiasm that stayed. Uh so it's a great program. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you, Director Shaw. All right, moving on in the agenda, reports and non-action items. Uh 6A, capital projects levy for security and technology presentation. We're joined by business director Sher Thompson. And we've got some special guests here as well as well. Please come on up. Our guests all familiar faces. Yep. Thanks for being here. So first of all, um focus area five of the district's strategic plan states that uh secure to secure and allocate financial resources to support the district's mission and vision. technology plays a key role in that uh in the operation of the district including um security uh safety, student learning, cyber security, communications and infrastructure. Uh the district has is facing some challenges in adequately funding our technology related operations without a dedicated funding source. Our operating capital does not adequately meet those needs. we rely more and more on technology. Um so we are here to review with you this evening the role of uh security and technology in the district in a um and then a possible uh remedy for addressing that. You see familiar faces here this evening. Uh we have Peter Leman here who will re review his survey data. uh Jodie Zespa from Ellers, uh our trusted financial advisor, Tina Clawson, technology information uh supervisor, and um then you hear from me probably all the time and too much. So, we're going to start with um with an overview. We're going to keep you in suspense for a few minutes um before we get into the the good information and uh here's survey results but we're going to start with um the security and technology levy what what we are looking at what we are proposing and if if I may Sherry if you go back to the first screen it's simply backdated because the board has heard this presentation at a study session but it wasn't made available for the public and also it was made available to our district finance advisory committee so now it's being presented today for the public. Yes, and thank you for that clarification, but yes, that is the reason for uh for that date. So, we have several areas of impact um as far as technology in Roseville area schools, looking at safety and security, cyber security, student learning, uh our infrastructure and communication. Tina's going to touch a little bit more on those those areas. So safety and security is definitely an area that we've been investing in recently. Um we've got over almost 700 cameras that we've got across the district and we continue to add to that. We've got the secure we've got a secure entrance and we've added also many of the card readers to different areas to try to keep them more secure. But it is it is it is an area that every single day there is a need in that to I get a request to add a camera or can we please fob this door. So it's one of the the more growing areas I think that we did not see expenses. Um we did not have the level of investment and the cost to support that even 10 years ago. Um it's new area. And then um student learning of course is the primary focus. We are um onetoone student iPads in grades six through 12. And then at the elementary levels our ratio is probably 2 to one. at at most of our elementarymentaries were a one device for in the like K4 um K5 actually areas. Um another area teach during COVID I was just going to step sorry that's all right um the the for us during COVID our teachers did not have laptops and so that was a expense that we were still using desktops in a lot of the elementary classrooms specifically. So that's another area that we've got an ongoing cost to that we didn't have even five years ago. Then cyber security. Certainly everybody hears this word every single day if you turn on the news. Um we've invested with for a two-factor. And then we also have had to have uh we outsource um our security monitoring and have software on every computer which again is a monthly cost that we did not have um five years ago that we need to keep up with and infrastructure which is I'm definitely not one of the glitzy areas that you think about but at the same time without the without the data closets without the access points without all of the servers and things that we need to support technology is useless if it's just a device if it can't get on the internet these days and there we have a lot of um upkeep that we have to do with our data closets to keep everything functioning. And the final area is communications. Um certainly very important to communicate with our community and our families and keep them informed. Um we have a couple of new uh systems we'll be rolling out next year. Parent Square, which is a different tool we've been using. Another tool that really just was is a text and phone call. This will be a tool that will also allow us to um bring texting to teachers to directly contact families. So again, just emphasizing that every single time um every single year we're we're having to put in new systems or keep our systems up to date and that is an ongoing cost. So again, this ties back uh a technology levy or technology funding source uh would tie back to our strategic plan in area number five. Uh we are um in need of uh additional resources for the success of our students um in today's digital world. Uh this is just an overall kind of snapshot uh right now of what we when we've broken out our security cost or our technology related costs. Uh we have yearly technology software and support costs of $2.1 million. Uh the security aspect of this is $46,000 and again this is just a snapshot from this year. And then technology capital just the the capital aspect uh for an annual cost is 2.5 million. To put this into some perspective um right now we generate we have what's called operating capital and we generate about $1.8 million in operating capital. All of these expenses would qualify for operating capital. Um however, you know, we generate 1.8 8 million. Also, from that 1.8 million, that's where we buy equipment, district vehicles, furniture, uh all of the other capital type items need to come out of that. So, as we move forward, it's getting more difficult and challenging to keep up um to keep up with these costs. Uh and that's why we are seeking additional funding. In addition to that, um, you know, you've had the first look as far as the, uh, budget for next year. Um, and you'll be adopting that on June 24th. We are looking at deficit spending by $2 million next year. Um, on our based on our prelim budget, as we project forward, that deficit will continue to grow. So, um, and of course, we have slightly declining enrollment. Um so we also are looking at how we keep uh our class sizes intact uh so that but we need a funding source in order to continue these operations. Uh this is kind of a timeline. Uh we actually started working on this in January pulling all all this information together. Uh we have reviewed it with our district finance committee. We've actually done that a couple of times. uh uh we have conducted a survey rather Peter has conducted a survey and he will share those results with you. We are looking for approval uh from the board um to move forward uh in hopes of um uh approving this um at your next meeting on uh June 24th authorizing the ballot um and then moving forward to a November election day. Uh so that's uh that's basically the the timeline that line that we're looking at. I also want to make mention of the fact that we do have the district finance advisory committee. We've reviewed this. I know I mentioned a couple of times with them last week. Um they did recommend moving forward with this. Unfortunately, none of the finance advisory committee members were available um this evening other than the board members that are here uh because it is a busy time of year uh with the school year ending. But I wanted to share that information. Um we're going to jump forward from here and if I can click correctly, this is the part that where Ellers comes in and helps with their expertise. you have paper copies of this in front of you. Um, and then this is also on the website, but uh, Jody um, and the folks at her team at Ellers has done some analysis on the tax impact and then also um, discussion about other districts and what authority we have and what authority other districts have. So, I'll hand it off to Jody. Thank you, Sher. Good evening. So um the document that you have front in front of you tonight looks pretty familiar. We've done tax impact information for the district many times. Uh this shows the estimated tax impact of a range of different capital project levy or technology levy revenue amounts that with a successful election in November would take effect for taxes payable in 26. So the taxes payable this year already set. um that funding then if you were to um put if the voters were to approve it for taxes payable 26 would provide revenue to the district for fiscal year 2627. So the preliminary budget that Sherry's talking about um would not receive this funding. So you would need to um uh get through one year before you're able to access these funds. So you'll see the tax impact on range of different types of properties and different values. We've highlighted the $350,000 amount because that's at the approximate average value of a residential home in Roseville area schools. And you'll see at a $5 million level, the tax impact annually would be about $182 or about $15 a month. For a $6 million 218 or about 18 a month, and then for $7 million would be about $21 a month. Different than an operating referendum, you do have a voter approved operating referendum in place. We'll talk about that in a minute. This is a tax rate that is applied against your tax base. So your operating ref referendum is a per pupil amount. So that grows with growing enrollment. It declines with declining enrollment. The um capital project levy is nice because um it would um grow along with growth in your tax base. If your tax base declines, it goes down. So it's not dependent necessarily on that enrollment piece, which is a nice feature of it. So then we'll take a look at the list of capital project or technology levies that are currently in place. And I kind of use those words interchangeably, but we do have some districts that use this source of revenue for more than just technology. Most often it is used only for technology, but you can use it for some other costs, too. And you'll see the list of districts here has um if you would have looked at this a handful of years ago, it would have been a lot shorter list. It's grown quite a bit. used to be pretty much isolated to the metro area, but now there's quite a few greater Minnesota districts that are accessing this funding source, too. So, I'll just point out a couple. For example, um Hopkins School District has one of the higher uh uh levies for um suburban or you know, first ring sub suburban schools and they are relatively close to you in terms of their enrollment. So, I just wanted to highlight that they are accessing $15.5 million of revenue for their budget this year and that's certainly supporting um their uh educational system tremendously there. There's a number of them that are above the $10 million threshold, too. But you can see how much each district is accessing. These are all of the districts that have this voter approved authority in place, what their um student um adjusted pupil unit count looks like. And then um we did calculate it on a per student basis even though that isn't the uh language that you'd see on the ballot question but just to give you some context around that. So next you'll see then uh isolated to the seven county metro area. You're a little more than halfway down on this list. This shows in orange the voter approved operating referendum which is on a per pupil basis. And this shows then the capital project or technology levy which is converted to a per pupil basis just for illustrative purposes on this chart. So one thing that you'll that should stick out to you right away and that sticks out to us right away is that you are one of the only districts without that blue chart that blue portion. So most of the districts in the seven county metro area have had or have recently approved um like Stillwater for example just a few years ago approved this their voters approved the technology levy for for their school district. So Roseville um doesn't have that in place now. Most do and you can see that you know you're a little more than halfway down the chart in terms of the revenue per pupil here. And that is the information and data that I have to share. So I think we move on to the survey next unless there's questions on any of that information. I do have some questions. I think mainly maybe even for Sher or Tina. So um understand the 5 million a little over five million that it takes to handle all this is today being pulled out of other things because we don't have this. And so it that that would be able to go back into support the general fund, teaching, staff, all that kind of stuff. That's current year or most recent year. What do we expect growth of that 5 million cost? Because this is not spend 5 million and it's done. This is like 5 million each year because it's not just replenishment of hardware maintenance. It's also the security systems subscription fees. I think it's also covers I'm guessing the the insurance premiums for like cyber security insurance all that kind of stuff. next year is it gonna be six million g be seven mill like what is there any thought on that? So, we tested and we've talked about the increase here because um we really kept and I would say 5 million was kind of really our our bare bones, right? Um realistically, it is our cost this year, especially when we look at some of the technology infrastructure salaries, right? They're not instructional technology, right? Um we are really at at that $6 million mark already. Okay. Um, we have built out Tina's done a nice job and continues has for years and continues to do that. This is even still considering leasing some of some of our technology. Right. So, we're not buying it outright because we're able to spread it over three years and get a very good um interest rate on that. Very low. So, yeah. So, this is planning forward. Um, and really I guess before I hand it over to Peter, I would say that we looked at an administration is recommending the $6 million and that's what Peter tested um as he got into uh the survey data because you're right, there's going to be some incre some increases there. Yeah, because I wouldn't want to go through all this, have one chance to do this, correct, in like the next 10 or 20 years. And you know, there's obviously a trade-off intersection between what what the voters feel they can support Yeah. and what's needed, but I wouldn't want to short change ourselves either and go for an amount that leaves us in the same hole two or three years from now. Yeah. So, yeah. And and and I also want to stress when I talk about the infrastructure related salaries, that is restrictive, right? It is. as far as maintaining our network. It's not like any kind of salaries that we just label technology. Okay. Um so I'll hand it off to Peter. Take it over. Unless they're Peter, welcome. Pleasure to be here with you this evening. This is and like I mentioned the superintendent. This is really neat to be in this building. Uh I remember being in here in the 90s with Karen Sha when I was very old. So, I mean, I walked in and thought, did they remodel this? It's really impressive. Just to review with everybody what we undertook for the district this time. We spoke with 400 randomly selected residents across the community. Uh, interviews were conducted between May 19th and May 30th. Average interview time was 12 minutes. Non-response rate was 6%. Uh, results are projectable to plus or minus 5% in 95 out of 100 cases. putting up some demographic profiles. 66% cell phone only. They're still there. 10% landline only. And then both land having both uh landline and cell phone 34 or 24%. First set of demographics. Uh we look at how long has the person resided in the Roseville area schools. 18% have been in the district for 5 years or less. Well, 38% have been in the district for over 20 years. Typical residents been in the district right now for about 15 years on average. 27% are 18 to 34 year olds while 37% are over the age of 55. Uh you kind of have too big. It's an inverted bell-shaped curve. If you look at the age distribution, uh but the typical residents about 46 and a half years old. 23% have a child attending the Roseville area schools. 13% have a preschooler or an infant. And then 71% are empty nesters. And once again, empty neester does not imply an age. It's just a lack of presence of a child. So we could have a 23 year old. For classification, if they don't have a child, they're an empty neester. So your core constituency parents is about three out of 10. Uh seven out of 10 are not your everyday customers, shall we say, as we look at this data holistically. Continuing, 29% are renters. uh self-assessed home value comes in a little bit under the 350 about 335,000 uh is the typical you see the distribution based on the number of uh registered voters in each of the areas uh with Roseville being a flat majority at 54%. Continuing with demographics, uh, fairly always been highly educated, short of a majority being college graduates, including post-graduates in that. Well, 24% are high school graduates or less. 60% indicate they're white, 17% African-American, 9% Hispanic Latino, 8% AsianPacific Islander, 7% multi-racial. The bottom bars are the biggest imp has had the biggest impact on the success or failure of referendum over the past two years in Minnesota. And it's had nothing to do with what was on the ballot. It is the financial situation of the household. To give you an idea, and now the timing on this, it's been fascinating as a pollster to watch since April 2nd, tariff liberation day. uh there were all sorts of expectations on what was going to happen and what we were finding in the first quarter of 2025 was 45% indicating they were financially stressed with April 2nd there was obviously an expectation that was going to spike up. It has actually done the inverse right now what we're finding in April and May is the financially stress has dropped down now into the high high30s. Um will that be the case in November? Who knows? Uh but it is moving in the right direction. It continues to come off of the high that we had in the first quarter of 2023 when we had 60% of people indicating they were financially stressed. It is moving in the right direction, but it's still going to be a factor for districts because pre- pandemic the norm was about 26% financially stressed. So we're still up 50%. And how that impacts financial uh funding requests from districts is it creates more people that are support would be supportive. They can't afford it. Um so it is moving in the right direction. You have the other macro issue that we're going to talk about in a couple slides that other districts have coming in play uh more particularly than the economic situation of the household. Right now looking at the political ideology uh 37% indicated they were liberal. 33% conservative, 26% moderate, community education users at 23% and then women outnumbered men by 2% in the sample. If we start out with what folks are thinking about the school district and the general atmospherics, first off, what do they like most about the school district? uh good teachers at the top of the list, but if we combine a couple categories, um variety of programs and the broad curriculum, um that actually combines to 18% and good academics, high achievement stats, and excellent academics is 21%. So, you have a statistical tie uh between the top three, who's teaching, what they're teaching, and the quality of their teaching. And some districts vary. Some are very focused on curriculum, some personnel, some academic quality. It's always been historically here um that it kind of all three buckets are equally represented. Um you do have a very outstate Minnesota response though in your top three and that's the sense of community, the community involvement piece. We don't see that in the suburbs very often. uh suburban school districts that that's what they value is the sense of community uh within the Roseville area schools. If we ask what the most ser what they like most, what's the most serious issue? Then I really just could cut and paste this slide for every school district you've seen me do this at. Jody, uh at the top of the list, lack of funding, 21%. um you're actually a little bit lower than what we're finding in May because as the legislature continued to not do anything for a while uh it's continued to grow people's concern on the lack of funding. Uh but it's typically now somewhere in the 20 to 30% range. Um everything else is single digits. Uh lack of discipline, poor spending, budget cuts. Um, where you're unusually low as a topofthe- mine response right now is the high tax piece at 3%. Now, we're going to see data that's counter to that when we ask specifically. It's not on the top of their mind like we're seeing in other districts where it's between 15 and 20%. It's still there. Um, and the other area that's key is you still have one and six that see it'll be news to you there are no problems in the school district. Your nothing's at the bottom. uh their boosters, everything's wonderful. Um and that's, you know, we're that's about 50% higher than what we're seeing now. That's typically about 10%. Um so, you know, the key takeaway is, you know, that discussion, foundational discussion on the adequacy of funding is already at the front of one in five's uh folks minds and we haven't even started a discussion yet. The quality of education in public schools. Now the the 2019 I always debate right now and keeping this in because it is an apples to oranges comparison when we're talking about uh people's perception on the quality of education. Uh but I I decided to keep it in because it still holds up favorably. You were at 89%. Um last time you were at 79% you're back up to 83%. It is moving in the right direction. It's increasing. Um you had the drop that we talked about in 21 that every district did in the excellent rating the you know the enthusiastic rating that has stabilized. This continues to drop though the norm right now is 78% in the for the uh positive on the quality of education. This is the the macro issue of education once everybody got past masking or virtual and all of that. They've now settled at the macro concern with the learning loss and things like that coming in and the concern on the recovery. But when we ask if they think about the quality of education since 2020, do they think it's getting better, about the same or worse? By a 47 to8 ratio, so better than you know 6:1 almost 6:1. uh people see the positive momentum of the quality of education improving. So there might be overarching concerns but the momentum is going in the right direction. Almost a flat majority saying it's getting better. How does a district do on meeting the learning needs of all students? Most, only some or very few. Uh just short of a majority. 49% say you're meeting the learning needs of all. It's about five points higher than the norm and it's a stringent standard. uh we follow up with those that say most only some or very few and you see that array in the upper leftand corner the type of student whose learning needs are not being met and it's the same everywhere it's the struggling student low low income average special education um so there's really nothing unusual here but the key is you almost have a majority say you're meeting the learning needs of all at this point in time some specific perceptions and the the 2021 one data in here is interesting because you could see the spike in uncertainty, the yellow bar. People weren't paying attention. They were worried about all sorts of other things back in 21 uh with the pandemic and especially non-parents were disengaged, paying no attention. Um and so, you know, on does the district spent taxpayers money effectively and efficiently? In 2021, almost 30% said, "I had no idea." Um so, we're back to down to normal ranges. Uh the agreement's gone up to 74%. Norm on this right now it's it's it's upticking. People are feeling a little more positively. It's about 61% right now. So about 13 points higher than the norm. Do they see a good value for the investment? Uh it's stable from 21 uh at 82% and this has gone down across Minnesota and it's because of property taxes. When you look at value, the two inputs are the taxes and the quality. And you're going to see the concern on taxes. Do you ask for a tax increase only as a last resort? Well, that always goes up the further you are away from a funding request. So now we have a high of 73%. Are they satisfied with the decision making 76 to 20 better than almost a 4:1 ratio? continuing. Do they trust you to do what's right for the children? Even at the height of the pandemic in 2021, um you were ex you were an anomaly at that 79%. I mean that th those results back in 21, it was often times a 50/50 coin flip in districts whether they trusted. Um so it's still extraordinarily high. Do you involve the community? That has recovered. That's about 10 points higher than the norm. And you can see the 8 point increase from 21. Have you spent past funds responsibly? That's up to the high now over the past six years. And the bottom question is always the key question key question to this point leading into a funding request. And that is the schools are a good investment and I would support a referendum to protect that investment. The key on this is always the no because as it's phrased it doesn't say operating levy, bond referendum, dollar amounts. It fleshes out your core. No, the 23% is about 10 points. We're finding this in the mid low30s right now in 2025 in school districts. Just at the outset, I'm against anything. Um, so that doesn't mean everything's going to pass, but the lower that number is means there's much more of a tolerance for a discussion about a potential funding increase. Safe and secure learning environment. This one we haven't asked in the past, but we decided to because a portion of the capital projects levy is for safety and security. And in testing this through the years, safety and security is always at the top. And it always, especially a lot of elected officials will people will support a funding increase if they see a deficiency. So then if they support a safety and security, do they think that the safety the buildings aren't safe and secure? No. Safety and security is a whole different animal in the minds of voters. This is an insurance policy. So you have 88% saying that the buildings are safe and secure. It's basically it's right at the norm of about 90%. So when you see support for funding for safety and security, it's not to fix a deficiency. It is to provide the insurance. And and the turning point to this was New Town Connecticut all those years ago. Uh, Coline changed it for about two years, but then it kind of fell back. New Town, Connecticut, and now it remains. People will invest whatever is needed to in safety so it doesn't happen in their town. Job performance ratings, uh, the board 72 to 23. Uh, norm board rating right now is about 58 to 40. So you're up eight points and compare comparatively uh 15 points higher. Superintendent and administration. This one is always the ratio uh looking at better than 2:1 and you're almost at 3:1. And then the teachers you can see in 21 it was the height of the pandemic discussions on teachers unions and that sort of thing. They have rebounded nicely all the way back up to 90% above where they were in 2019. Um the teachers overall ratings though uh in the metro area are still in the low 80s. They have not recovered like yours have. Overall assessment of financial management then last time it was 57% this time it's 57%. Um this is really a tight range. You know the the norm on this is 52% and there's not a lot of variation. It's plus or minus 5% on each of this. So um when we look back on the previous questions on financial credibility and stewardship, the district does have trust with residents when it comes to financial man matters. I I love this chart for you because this shows the impact of politicians in 2021. That was done right after Governor Walls did the victory tour talking about the largest funding increase in the history of med Minnesota. And boy, everybody believed him. 58% said, "Yeah, my district's adequately funded." Well, two bianium budgets later and a lot of discussion, it's inversed. Um, people hear all the money that the state has given. And then they look to their school district, they look to their neighbors, and they have no idea. There is a complete dissonance in the in people's minds. Their experience doesn't match the rhetoric. Uh, amazingly, from a politician. Um this is almost a snapshot in every district now with about 40% saying yes and 55 to 60% saying no. This is the issue in the state of Minnesota. Um, for those that are old enough to remember Phil Cranky and the taxpayers league uh in the late 90s that rose out of the property tax uh increases under Governor Carlson that really created uh the this that environment in the '9s. Over the past two years, we've seen property tax hostility explode. Now, you have a large increase. Um, you've gone from 35% saying they were high in 21 to 51%. Um, the 35% is was extraordinarily low. The 51% is still pretty low. Uh, even with the 16 point increase, the highest level I have in 2025 is a district at 77%. Um, the norm on this right now is in the low 60s. So the average at 41 you still have 1% and I always joke I have their names and numbers for you. Uh but then but then 8% unsure but like every school district right now keep in mind 51% high. What's their perception of school taxes? The high it goes down 10 points to 41%. 30 years ago when I started doing this people were not it wasn't that they weren't sophisticated. They really didn't look at their tax statement and look to see what the city, county, and school district does. Now they do. And this tells us, and it's district after district, that if they're mad about taxes, they're mad at their city or county. That's who they're putting the blame on. That's the good news. The bad news is you're the only show that has to go to the voters for a property tax approval. So, it really is a critical piece in the narrative. I've have many school districts working with arguing with their cities and counties to say, "Give us a break for one year." Because the problem, what happens in the timing of this is their preliminary tax assessment comes out the middle of September. Well, what happens the third week of September? Everybody starts early voting. And so, it's having this impact. Our data still shows that people if they had a $100 tax increase to give, they want it to go to the school district. The problem is cities and counties have taken it out of their pocket before they have the ability to vote for it. this [Music] this result now is becoming very consistent in 2025. And like I've I've mentioned to many with our statewide that we do in the summer that I'll share with all the education acronyms. This is an area where I'm going to get into because the people's view on the importance of technology is cratering. The absolutely essential 10 years ago was 60%. 3 years ago it was 45%. We're now down here at 27%. I don't have a district in 2025 that has more than 30% saying it's absolutely essential. So there's something going on. I think the ne one of the next slides on when we look at screen time is going to be impacting it. But it really is important to understand the why because there is a difference. If something's absolutely essential versus very important, it's a nice to have versus a have to have in the minds of residents. And where folks continue to be is they'll support have to haves. They give nice to haves a lot more scrutiny as they're thinking about a property tax increase. Now, how do they rate the tech opportunities here? Very highly. 89% only 10% unfavorably. So they don't see a deficiency uh with with tech in the minds. Uh so part of it is and I think when you talk about the investments that have had to go in, you know, listening to her 30 years ago, you didn't have any of these expenses. Uh all of these new expenses on top of the system, uh I think is part of the communication effort. I think this is part of it with the drop is the concern on screen time at 65% either very or somewhat concerned 35% not two or not at all. Um and I you know keep in mind seven out of 10 people don't have kids they don't understand that textbooks are now on the devices that's staring at a screen. Um, it goes back to, you know, you know, it was about 1999, 2000 where you had to bring people, they would do tours in schools with seniors to show them what a whiteboard was. You know, we don't we're not cleaning erasers anymore. This is a whiteboard. And the seniors, you could see the scales fall from their eyes. They go, "Oh, I get it. This is incredible technology." It might be something along those lines. Kind of like a reintroduction on how technology is being used because people have never been comfortable through all the data and all the years of testing this have never been comfortable about just having a device for devices sake. It has to be linked to curriculum. It has to be linked to education impact. Artificial intelligence uh it's a big I don't know right now. Uh 48% say it's about right. 23% say I have no idea. those that want to make an evaluation, a quarter think it's going too fast, 5% too slow. Um, so this is pretty typical to what we see. This is kind of a wait and see in the minds of how this is going to play out in education. Could you could you tell us what exactly the question was that was answered in in this case? There's been a lot of discussion about artificial intelligence. From what you have heard or seen, do you think B Roseville areas are moving too fast in its use of AI too slow or about right? Okay. Thanks. So on the predisposition, if they heard the district was going to ask for a property tax increase, are they for all against all or are they persuadable? You you have the highest you you're a plus three. It's celebration. You actually have 3% more core support than core opposition. 28 to 25. Um the norm right now that we're seeing in all the surveys is about neg -3 kind of just the exact inverse of where you're at. But the key is always going to be the persuadables, the 46%. So on the let's make a deal question. Uh and this is this is an atypical chart also. Normally it's a ski slope from nothing all the way out to the upper ranges. You actually have a valley. Um so 30% say nothing. We always want that under 35%. You have 14% at six bucks, 27% at 12, and then you have 22% at 18 or more. Typical residents coming in right at about $15 a month, the tax tolerance at the outset, 180 bucks a year. So, what we tested with folks is the $6 million capital projects levy. And as Jody had up on the screen, just to remind everybody, we told them it would be used to fund safety and security, cyber security and data privacy, computer hardware and software and technology support staff. On a $300,000 home, it'd be $15 a month. And on a $400,000 home, it would be $21 a month. So on a $350,000 home, it's about 18 bucks. It's a little bit higher than the tolerance. Um, but still you have 64% support. And keep in mind, you have 30% that are going to support nothing. You have 32% opposing this. You only pick up two points in opposition when they hear what the funding is going to be used for and the tax impact. So, what's the reason for their position? At this point, it's the same reason. There's been no campaign. Education's important. That's wonderful. Nobody votes in a special election because education's important. They vote and it will come to the top over the course of a campaign that it's needed that there are logical consequences if it fails. Where's the opposition based on taxes too high, cost too high, no children, poor spending, and it's not needed. We tested four arguments in support and I'll read them for you because I just could give a brief uh couple words on the chart at the top. It is important to invest in technology or no no in this day and age it is absolutely essential to invest in the best safety and security measures available to schools. Followed by it is important to invest in technology- based cyber security and data security at our schools. Next, up-to-date technology is the key to ensuring students have connection to anytime, anywhere learning. And at the bottom, Roseville area schools is one of the few metro area school districts without a capital projects levy. Now, the the the comparisons, it matters, but it only matters to supporters. And this is we've tested this all over. There's certain school districts in the western Henipin suburbs that they want to keep up with what the other school district's doing. The other 80 333 school districts in the state of Minnesota say, "I don't care what they're doing. This is what we do." Um, and so it motivates supporters in that. But it doesn't change the persuadable. what enforces if we look at that persuadable check the most impact is the safety piece that's what's p persuades them on the importance of passing it now what's the argument in opposition it's the inflation and cost of living uh 27% the the statements are with inflation and the cost of living increasing many cannot afford a property tax increase then uh being able to use technology effectively and efficiently is given too much emphasis in the schools today. Property taxes are going up too quickly. We just can't afford to put more taxes for education on the backs of homeowners. And finally, funding for local schools is adequate. They need to spend the money they have better. The bottom three operate in the echo chamber of opposition. All it does is reinforce their reason for opposing. The one that impacts the persuadables and it's because of the financial situation is the inflation and cost of living piece. So keep in mind where we were on the pre-EST 6432, the post test 6630. Now I don't expect big changes. They've heard eight arguments over the course of three minutes on a survey. It's not going to change a lot of people's minds. But what I want to see, does it flip people at all into more negative? You actually pick up 2% support and a 2% drop in opposition. You are left with the 30% that said they're not going to support anything anyways. Okay. And then finally, communication. In 2019, 64% said they were at least somewhat informed. 2021 it dropped to 58 and now it's back up to 73%. So on people's attitudes and opinions that they we we've already looked at it in the survey. Um it is based on having more knowledge. It's not more knowledge makes them unhappy. It actually is in reinforcing their attitudes and opinions. Where are they getting their information? Uh part of this is because the district has a strong communication network. uh district newsletter and mailings 31% the website 20 email e newswsletter 18 almost excuse me 70% of people are relying on school district communications so you don't have the gra the growth of the grape vine that so many other school districts have as local newspapers disappear um because that there are some districts that the number one source of information in the metro area is right now is word of mouth local newspapers don't cover them anymore. Now we just gossip. Uh but having strong district communications is kind of that good insurance policy on that. What's the most effective way for them to receive information? Uh the mail newsletter and the newspaper. If we look at print versus electronic, it's 46% print. On the electronic piece, it's 49%. So it's an even distribution. Very specific demographics. on um how they prefer parents. They're set in stone. The the um pandemic, they lived and died looking at their email every morning. Uh and it hasn't stopped. That's how they prefer to receive it. Are they satisfied with the amount of information? Absolutely. That actually went up 18 points uh to saying yes, I'm satisfied. uh 14% said too little. Uh we dropped down to 0% saying I think there were there was one person that said too much but you don't round up um on that. So uh you could see a drastic difference from 2021 and then the quality of information also increased uh by 21 points uh from 69 to 90%. So I mean overall the big picture with the atmospherics in the district look ex the the district started to recover from the pandemic in the minds of residents. There's strong uh credibility when it comes to trust of the board, the administration, decisionmaking, financial management, involvement, all of those that laid the foundation for a potentially successful referendum. Um what we tested looks very good and it passes the threshold. The threshold I always have for a survey, this is an early survey. There's been no campaign. There's been no vote yes, vote no. Always want to see the support at 60% or higher because the typical over the course of a campaign, the typical regression is about eight points. And if you're at 59% with the margin of error, that becomes a coin flip. Um so this really is positioned in a way um that you know it it's it looks very good at this time. It will be factors out of your control. Economic factors uh and property de tax decisions by other government entities um that would be the uh uh potential issue for this uh proposal. So I'd be happy to answer any questions. [Music] Um, so it's intriguing the suggestion that being a little more educational around what tech means. That's intriguing. That that could help potentially. Yeah. And but I think for the purpose I would recommend at this point don't try to skin I don't know skin peel that apple for this I think this is a bigger this is a bigger thing for MSBA AMSD and everything to start that reintroduction shall we be of what technology is okay all right so then that then if that's if that's handled that way then it kind leaves the safety and security message is the one that the data suggests could resonate most. Yeah. With those people who care. Yeah. Yeah. Second question, are there the way it was collected? Can you correlate things like between the 29% of renters and those who might feel financially stressed and yet renters may not andor empty nesters, especially the younger ones, may not be even inclined to be likely voters necessarily andor renters don't see explicit, you know, county taxes on their on their on their monthly rent bills, right? That's all handled by the landlord. So, just you get where I'm going on that just Yeah. No, absolutely. Yeah. I can cut the data. And what what we do in the report is we have two questions up front about asking about past voting behavior and intention to vote in in off your election. Wink wink. Uh that oh yeah, I'll definitely vote and then you don't. Uh so we have standard, you know, we discount people's intention, you know, to behavior in that. So looking at, you know, I just did a quick look at it for the purpose of the presentation. What I always want to see at this point for a likely voter is are they more likely are are they more supportive at this point in time and your likely voters go up into the mid se or to the low 70s. So you get an increase. Part of it's driven though by parents saying there there are more parents falling in the likely voter profile. We know over the past 12 years it doesn't play out that way. parents under reppresent. Um, and is that true even for off-year elections? It's especially true for off-year elections. Okay. Yeah. Since since 2013, before 2013, you know, I always pinpoint it. It is the Eden Prairie School District that we saw it first happen and it is there has not been one exception to the rule. um in looking at this uh that traditionally so you had your parents were 23%. Correct? Yes. Yeah. 23%. In 2005 in an off-year election you would expect parents to over represent by 10%. So they would be 33% of voters in an off-year election. Now, they more times than not do not even get to the 23% representation that they are demographically. And we've done surveys and ask parents who didn't vote, why didn't you vote? They forgot. Busy. They're busy. They're only the key constituency. Yeah. I mean, there really is a there's a bigger sociological change. In 95, everybody had kids when they were parents, uh, but still made the time to vote. Um, but yeah, I mean there was one district a couple years ago that had 8% turnout. And then my final question for now, unless another one occurs to me, and you'll think this might be an Aaylor's question, but it's really a Leatherman question. So if you look at this, right? And if you look at the row that was highlighted just as an example, right, the $350,000 home. So, if you do the back math from the percentages, it looks like the typical annual tax bill for that home is about 3,750 bucks. It's like 3,750, right? Like if you took the increase and divided it by the percent, it's 37 3753, 3748. So, that means that the either that the 5.8% at the 6 million that you tested came out to be 218, right? So, be 218 on top of the 3753. So it go from 3753 to around 37 or 3971. You see what I'm saying? So just for clarification on that, this isn't that percentage rate at the bottom. This isn't a percentage increase in their taxes. Okay, that's what I'm getting at. That's what I want to know. Just for clarification, maybe it is an tax rate. It's an ellers budget. What is the actual percent and dollar amount on the typical annual tax for a $350,000 home in the district? Because if if if $218 is $28 compared to I'm paying $1,000 a year in taxes, that's very different than if it's $28 and I'm paying $5,000 a year in taxes. Yeah. I don't have that in front of me right now, but I can get that. This is just simply the rate that results in this revenue for you. Because again, if it's the way you word it, I think was excellent. It's you feel financially stressed, you feel financially comfortable. If I'm told that, oh, this is going to increase my annual taxes 218 bucks or whatever that is per month. If that's against a big number already, it doesn't necessarily add a lot to my stress. But if it's against a smaller number, then it does. And then what I was going to ask you is if we had that in your experience going from like a six million test to a seven million test would that have shifted maybe just in your estimate the answers on some of the you know I would support it and not support it et if we tested seven instead of six. Yeah. Yeah. You would have lost because you're you're pulling it further than on a $350,000 home $250. So, you're going to $21 a month on the average home. You're about 40% higher than the tax tolerance. Uh it's not going to shift it a lot though. Um because it's you have that core. Yeah. Um, but you know, the older I get, the more conservative I get on on on recommending things just simply because things happen that are out of your control. And I agree with that. It's just getting back to the very first question. I remember your first going with it. Y, you know, we don't want to short change yourselves either. And if the what you just call it tax uh are you leaving money on the table? you leave it on the table that that might not have that large of a dilitterious effect on the voters given you know that amount and that could be tied to the Aaylor's question of well what is the total tax and what's the actual real percent that this would bring it up and right you get it yeah no I I agree and that's I mean in the survey as it's structured we always test the big number and then because we I I very rarely go forward hey how how much more can we get? And normally I'm telling you you can't do this or you need to do two questions or you need uh that sort of thing. Um you do have some room I think if you wanted to but I don't know if it's worth the risk. Yeah. Y with the factors out of your control. Thank you. I have a question for Peter. Um thanks by the way. This is love the work you do for the district. Good. It's just really good. Thank you survey. Um against the backdrop of you know a capital projects levy campaign this fall. We also will have a local school board race. So we will have candidates out there and I guess I would just like your opinion um you know any candidates who are you know friendly to the district. I'll say would you say that maybe just your opinion but this would be something they could you amongst other things something they could mention it'd be okay for them to mention talk about um or just you know stay away from something like doesn't does doesn't let me make sure I understand your question does endorsing this help or hurt candidacies right yeah it helps in Roseville Uh, I I would expect I would expect if a candidate seriously wanted to win in this school district, they would endorse this question. Um, that's not the case in many school districts. Um, but this one there's a high value in education. Um to be fair on the districts that have divided boards now kind of you know you have your own two political parties just not labeled Democrat and Republican. Um some of those both sides endorsed the funding request because it was needed. It was important and they didn't want to have to cut coming in. Um so no I I I endorsement in this district part of it is the high value of education the highly the high number of educated uh folks in the district. Um all of those things impact but no I I would not recommend as a political strategist to anybody to run in the Roseville area schools against a funding request. Thank you. Anybody else? Uh, what was my question? Oh, I have sort of heard on the street that we're anticipating a large increase in the Ramsey County taxes. Have Have you heard that or is that uh is that out there on account of of uh federal funding, drops in federal funding? I have heard I not nothing specific for Ramsey County. Okay. But I think that there's an expectation with federal funding and counties um and cities. But they set them I I would say talk to your county, talk to your cities. Um a lot of school districts are talking with the officials about for one year Don't put us in a position like in Rochester last year where the it was an operating levy. If it failed, they were closing schools. And a week before people started voting, the city came out with a 10% Yeah. tax increase. And then that put the district in the position of having to say, "Don't hold us responsible. If you're upset about taxes, vote them out. but don't hold us because if this fails, we're closing schools. Um, and it really just kind of it's creating this wedge over the last couple years between the three local the three levels of government people actually like um as opposed to the state and the federal. It's kind of it's kind of an it's an oddity. Um, but I wouldn't be surprised, but I definitely would would work with the county or and just have discussions on it. Yeah. And the good news is you have the perfect foil of St. Paul and all the wonderful work that they did this year for education. I just find this so impressive. I mean, especially also putting it in context. Um to know that our community is that supportive. It's just it's a incredibly powerful message. Um some of those numbers uh I mean, I have to say, you know, my five o'clock presentation last night, I won't name the school district, was much different. So, it's always interesting when I come in and say, "Oh, yeah." Looking through the charts again, "Well, that's wow, that's 20 points lower." Yeah. So, this is Yeah. Well, I appreciate you providing that context because it makes a big difference when you look at a number and you're going, "Oh, that doesn't seem very good." And then you're saying it's 10 points higher Yeah. than uh Norm. It's like, "Wow, that very different perspective." Thank you. You're welcome. Appreciate it. Yeah. All right. Anybody? Wonderful. Yeah. I would say similar to to Kitty, it's not just this time. I mean, you've been our go-to for this kind of work for the last number of years and I think we just keep coming back because of the same level of clarity and and due diligence. So, yeah. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Thank you so much, Jody. Anything Jody? Oh, yeah. I mean that that's that's a given with with a lot more I'm talking about the survey stuff not the numbers you know of course I see her everywhere right now we should do a road every time Aaylor's has added two plus two they've come up with four so that's good I tell you what though Jody can do my presentation now I still cannot do this 30 years thank you Tina thank you thank you guys could we talk a little bit about the question what the question. Sure. Yeah. Question, please. Oh, yes. Let's stay for that. Um, Corm Michelle, she also always has to be on the fly. I need to read the ballot question language. So, okay. The ballot question is in your packet. Right now, we have a draft. So, you'll see that it's edit. We've had some edits uh because we've received it from our legal council. Um, and we've submitted it back and he is on vacation. I think he's back tomorrow. Tomorrow. That's correct. Tomorrow or Thursday. So, yes. And, uh, maybe Jody, you can speak a little bit to that. I mean, the language does need to be prescriptive, but also with a capital project stating it as a capital project levy, my understanding is we have a little bit more flexibility in how we can spend those dollars. Yes. And so if you think about a operating referendum question that language is prescribed by statute you really can't vary this you can be more descriptive in the types of items. And so um I would say that as I listen to Peter Martin who is the person who's working on drafting this ballot and and drafts ballot language for many many school districts. He generally recommends that you put something at the very beginning of the question that um is a priority and then end with something that's a high priority. So, um the beginning I think is you know that first sentence is kind of required and then um the list that you see there I think is helpful and important but know that the order um can be changed and the order is important I think as you're especially if you have an uninformed voter um going to make their selection at the ballot. So yeah, agreed. Yeah, you do have an opportunity. The capital project to to your point, an operating levy, somebody walks in and reads it and had doesn't know what's going on, they're going to vote no. You do have the ability to give them information on it. So, the verbiage does matter. Following Peter's survey, we did elevate and change the order. Prioritizing security and cyber security, the only edit that we made. Yeah, the red line reflects everything that we've heard tonight in terms of prayer. Was there anything else you would recommend we consider on the wording? No, I think it looks good. And just I I have a question. So So this there there are two dollar amounts there at the end and I'm assuming that one is anticipated to be bigger than the other. That is the last one that is that the the total number the total cost would be higher than than what taxes are being asked for. Yes. Because that's over a 10-year period. So, it's really just going to be a multiple of 10 times whatever the first year is. So, if we put a $6 million annual levy in there, we'll say 60 million. Oh, okay. Okay. So, it's not it's not about the notion of, well, we have to fund these things and we're using this much money to do it and this isn't as much. No, this is so it's just 10 times. It is because we're seeking the authority for the 10-year period. Oh, okay. Okay. And and it would be estimated because if you have growth in the property tax base, that amount can be higher. Ah, I see. Or if it goes down, you know, if it goes down. Yes. Absolutely. Yes. Yep. And it both ways. That does happen. More often it goes up, but there have been times when it's gone down. So, we just simply do the multiplication times 10 to keep it easy. Okay. This will be a tiny number this percentage then because you're multiplying times the whole tax capacity. Yeah, that is the percent that you see on the uh on the chart that we talked about the tax impact chart. So the 6 million is a 5.808 rate. That's the Yeah, that's where that comes into play. Got it. Okay. All right. Okay. Because it's the tax rate against the um tax capacity. Excellent. Okay. Thank you. And we are supposed to get updated numbers from the state beginning of July. So, okay. If anything changes a little bit, but you guys are voting on this at the end of June. So, at the end of June. We'll see. Lawn Mo is the one who gives us that data. We'll see if we need to get anything a little earlier. Okay. Okay. Or potentially. And if there's anything that changes dramatically, we could talk to you about it and see if you want to do anything. Yeah. What is the tax rate? Let's go next. Sorry, she's been Yeah, I apologize. She's been waiting. So, I I'm curious. Um, we talk a lot about safety and security and cyber security. So, the word safety got taken out, so I don't know whether I I'm just wondering about that. Yeah, I looked into that. Safety is more things that you can they're things that you can avoid. cracks in the sidewalk, you know, things that might hurt you, but you sort of create things safer. Security are things that you are you cannot that are that you can't that you're protecting against. Okay. And so it really is that's what we are going for security. Thank you for the clarity. We also use safety pretty predominantly in the 2017 bond ask around safe and secure entrances in our buildings. Yep. Yep. I always thought the safety had this nice feeling to it, but actually there literally are Kenny, go ahead. Well, I was just going to ask you talked about the tax rate. Why is it such a large number? I would have thought if it's a tax rate overall and all the taxes collected would be a lot smaller. Could can you help us? That's the rate that's applied against the total net tax capacity value of the school district. And that is arrived at by looking at the estimated market value and all the different tax class rates that the legislature approves. So there's, you know, higher rates um for commercial industrial property as compared to homes, for example. So after all of those calculations are done and you add it up for all the properties in the district, this is the rate times that value that would result in a $6 million levy. Thank you. I think people so so it would be one of these numbers that would appear there. That's correct. And that tax rate must be included also. Yep. Yeah. So people will interpret that very differently. Oh my god, my taxes are going up 5.8%. It doesn't really mean that but true. But we can't change that. That's the part that correct, right? And it does say times the net tax capacity of the school district. So if someone's reading, everybody that has a CPA will understand what that means when they So there's good educational piece, communications. Yeah. All right. Context before you go forward, right? To understand what that means. Well, and that's why we want people to be looking at this information, right? So um if you you know the website again or however you want to communicate this information, of course, right? That's the most important is what does it mean to me? Yeah. And as um as we move forward, of course, Ellers has always been a great partner and provided us with website with the website information. Yep. calculator so they can put in their you know estimated market value. Yep. And so in the in the redlinining of the language depends in our hand now, right? Basically the district. Okay. And then what's the deadline? When when do we need the language finalized? August 12th. So August 12th is the final date for um approving a resolution to have a ballot question in November. Okay. Ideally June 24th. Yep. I think we have to. So the board can have their eyes on a final ballot question. Got it. Yeah. But as you were mentioning, if there are changes, we'll talk about that if we if we need to adjust that. Yeah. We'll figure that out. Yep. When we finish and we'll get to that in advance. Yes. Yeah. You won't be waiting. I I Yeah, we'll look at that. Okay. All right. Thank Thank you all. Great work. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, we're moving on to 6B, a summary of the closed session for superintendent performance evaluation. On Tuesday, May 27th, in close session, the school board evaluated the performance of Superintendent Lake. Um, uh, the strengths of Superintendent Lake were discussed. Um, some growth opportunities were discussed and just kind of, um, as a message to the community, to the public, um, that process will conclude this evening. Uh, we will have another close session uh, to review um, of the discussion uh, with Superintendent Lake and presence. So, That was the summary. Thank you. Okay, moving on to action items. Uh 7A, policy 104, uh the equal educational employment non-discrimination having its second reading. Uh director Mccardi. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Right. Well, this evening we're just we're looking at the second reading of policy 104, which is equal educational and employment non-discrimination. This policy was last revised in 2018, as I mentioned last time, and published regulation changes were in January 2019. Um, there were some revisions made to some policies similar to that last school year that were approved by the board as well. So after the first reading at the May 27th board meeting, there were no suggestions in terms of requested um edits and so at this time there are no additional changes. All right, I move we approve the policy as it had been presented. All right, it's been moved. Is there a second? Second. All right, move it and seconded. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. All those opposed. All right. Thank you. Right. Moving on to policy um 504. Uh school attendance gets its second reading. Associate Superintendent Melissa. Thank you, Chair Anderson. Uh tonight is the second reading of policy 504 which focuses on attendance. Uh there were no recommended changes to the policy. So we're asking for the board to approve the policy as presented. I move approval of policy 504 student attend school attendance. Okay. It's been moved. Is there second? Okay. It's been moved and seconded. Any further discussion? Not. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. All those opposed. Motion carries. All right. Uh, moving on to policy 520, student discipline. Associate Superintendent Melissa Sonic. We're going to do it again. Uh, today we have the second reading of policy 520, which is on student discipline. There were no recommended changes. So, we're asking for the board's approval of the policy as move approval of policy 520, student discipline. Is there a second? I'll second. All right. Been seconded. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. All those opposed. Motion carries. Thank you. All right. Moving on to policy 616. instructional materials selection gets its second reading. Yes, Linda. Lindy, thank you for being here. Thank you, board, for having me here. Um, this is the second reading of our instructional materials selection. And this um the changes included some language around library and media centers and library materials that we made um some changes and revisions to to include those. Um we had very few changes from our first time. We included some ores within there and um some language around supporting the the love of pleasure of reading and um I am asking for approval for the second reading. I I move approval of policy 616 as presented tonight. Second. All right. It's moved and seconded. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed? Motion carries. All right. And Jake will be staying up there. Approval of new course proposals. Yes. So, this is our second look at our new course proposals that we had um looked at during our study session. The last um time that we had looked at these. We have three different new courses that we're looking at approving. Um one of them is the AP Art and Design. It's an optional third trimester for this course. Um we had that as a uh unanimous um support from our district curriculum advisory committee. We also have our multilingual learner peer tutoring course. Um again uh unanimous support from our district curriculum advisory committee. And the third is the online physical education 2 course. Again um unanimously unanimous unanimously approved and recommended by our district curriculum advisory committee. So Does that include online swimming too? Not that third. Actually, it it it actually could if a student chose to do that as part of their, you know, cardio workouts that they were tracking. So, entertain a motion. I I'll move approval of the new courses as presented. Second. Okay. It's been moved and seconded. Any further discussion on the new course proposals? If not, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. All those opposed. Motion carries. Thanks, J. Thank you. Thank you so much. All right, that moves us on to our evening's board reports. How about we start with uh Director Frank Shaw? That'd be all right. Board report. Yeah, board. Uh yes. So, I as pretty much everyone here uh attended a lot of uh wonderful um needn't say more about it, wonderful graduation ceremonies and people moving on to the next step uh including I should say the um the American Indian um uh honoring ceremony and that was was it was very exciting. exciting to see that uh very moving and I thought it was particularly nice to see Ursula Pen Conan was honored for her for her work on the parent advisory on the parent committee and uh was quilted in front of everyone. It's wonderful to see. That's all I have. All right, Director Gogggins. Um, in addition to our standard uh, graduations that everybody made, I had a chance to attend the um, dual language um, Spanish immersion uh, I believe along with um, trying to remember who was there. It was another board member. I apologize. Manx, of course. Sorry. Manx and I were at that one and it was really exciting because this was I mean 13 years ago when we started this program um you know it was basically enhancing one grade each year. So this is the very first time we have a graduating class um from that program and it was a lovely celebration of the students. um attended the finance committee um where there was the recommendation for the tech levy that we got earlier today. um had a chance to and I believe and Rose and Manx and others may have attended the Spanish one class from Katherine Castillo and Todd I believe also um where the eighth graders uh from Spanish one put on restaurant skits and that was wonderfully fun to to see um the pride and and um engagement there. Um the Harambe steering committee continues to do its work and had a a couple of different meetings. And then the last thing was today I went to a all day kind of a work session from education evolve um around working on student centered education and um the intent was to really understand how we could take the education change efforts that are strategic and and make them sustainable and um how to try to organize that for our state in terms of how do we move forward in That vision um was really well done in terms of thinking about the different components of making a strategic change sustainable and and and having the conversations uh with various supporters across the different entities um on um what work needs to be done to move that in that direction. Thank you also for representing the board at the RAM celebration yesterday. Of course, I didn't even I had that down here somewhere, but I missed that. Yes, that was also very fun. lots of different exciting celebrations that I know many of us board members have made. Thank you, Treasury Park. Um I'll start with the 916 board meeting was um last week and um Dan Natives, who's the assistant superintendent for 916, is retiring in the middle of June. So that'll be a big loss for them. And then Megan Mallister, the director of HR, um is also leaving her position. She had been there for 16 years. So um a little change in some of their cabinet members there. um they provide a literacy and math update for the first time um the district for 9:16 they had a universal screener for both reading and math. So as they um look at the read act and some other things and some things changing there um and also attended two of their graduations um there the two that had our students who graduated from Roseville there. Um it's always good that for the wells graduation that many of those students have worked in our district and whether it's in food service um or in our facilities area. So, it's always nice to see that they had those opportunities while they were going through that program. And the last thing I will say, I got the pleasure to attend with Dr. Lake, um, associate director Smith, um, I'm thinking, um, director Ardo, um, the AVID eighth grade class at Park View, um, invited US House Representative Betty McCullum to um, speak and she did a great job chatting with the students and then answering all their questions that they had for us. It was a good opportunity. Great, Mike. Uh, just due to work stuff, the only things I had a chance to attend the last couple weeks were the big three graduations, the adult learning, the um the Forever Alternative High School, and the and the Roseville Area High School. And not to belabor too much, I'll just say once again, it's just a reminder of why the school district exists. It's helping these these people uh reach a point in their lives where they now have opportunities that they didn't have before we were able to help them in their learning and their educational journey. And um they're all moving. They're all wonderful. I think again in particular to me uh the the adult learning and the favor alternative high school are particularly so just because of the individual stories that some of the students are able to share about what they've overcome whether it's just in their personal journeys and interruptions to the traditional pathway or whether it's folks who as one young speaker said spent 12 years in a in a refugee camp in a foreign country before being able to come here and complete their education. And those two in particular, as as crusty and cynical as I can be sometimes, I'm never able to go through those without shedding at least a tear. Those are just so moving. So, it just reinvigorates, I think, me and I think my colleagues too and why we do this and why as a board we we devote the time and energy we do because that's really what it's all about. which is very moving and I'm I think everyone who was involved in putting on those ceremonies whether it was here for the adult and the and the faz or down at Roy Wilkins and I applaud the decision to move it into Roy Wilkins had no concerns about weather this year. So well done to everybody who put that on that that's all needle to the here part. I don't I don't think I could sit there for like five minutes in and I'm already like balling tissues tissues tissues. Um, so I'll add, um, last night I went to the early childhood ice cream show show. It has become such an annual event. Even though it was a little bit cooler or it didn't matter, ice cream does does not know whether it was packed and just was just wonderful to see families there. And one of the staffs said something about how many families like to do that for the community, but it's also a way to thank the staff uh in terms of the way they have been taking care of their children. So, it was just just a lovely event um just become such an annual thing. And then finally, I I'm going to really wanted to acknowledge um um Dr. Lake for first of all agreeing to be a partnering organization for the elevate teaching event that happened um May 31st. I said you forgot to say that this bunch of us were there. You were there. Director Gaggins and director Anderson were there. A chair Anderson were there. Um and I have to say um uh the ET team were so impressed with this space. Now I know the space so I can brag. You know, I'm a little biased, but the space was amazing. Um, everyone was very helpful. Michelle help us with some printing. Uh, Christine with the facility. We visited a couple of times just to make sure we know what we're doing. Um, Wayne and his team was amazing. So, it was just like the perfect venue for trying out the satellite idea. Uh, it worked perfectly. So, really, thank you. Um, thank you. Oh, and I have to say Binn McConnell pulled through and we had some avid students there and they were so helpful setting up in the morning. I mean like they were working they were working trying to set up all the tables in the conversation part. So really just thank you for being a partnering organization for this event. And I have to say it I was like balling already when our three um um um teachers of the year finalists were talking and thinking about what they say right that kind of like why they came into education and the idea of it's not so much an award or anything but what does it mean to feel like they are supported they are honored and I'm thinking that's exactly why we wanted to do it. So um so yeah so thank you for for their support. Yeah, thank you for that. And a shout out to our HR team who also represented because they share they share mission around elevate teaching. That's right. Thank you. Thank you. See, I I knew I left the name on my list here. Thank you. Thank you for that. Yeah. Right. Thank you, Rose. Um couple things. Um Dr. Lake and I had an opportunity to attend uh together the last Falcon Heights PTA meeting of the year. Um, we had a very unique opportunity to kind of go through a question and answer and which Dr. Lake handled remarkably well superbly and I will state she answered the majority of the questions. I I think I swung for a decent couple few but uh um but just peppered with a lot of good questions but um just a fantastic Q&A session engaged with those parents um you know all of our community schools but certainly Falcon Heights um some great questions and back and forth and then just uh from the actual PTA perspective um fabulous news uh during their actual meeting um they're getting a grant Falcon Heights PTA is getting a grant from the Jeffers Foundation $2,000 worth uh than the PTA. Um I don't think they're going to exactly match it, but at least $1,000 from what I remember to work on a monarch way station and pollinator garden at Falcon Heights. And we saw like some of the design concepts. Um just looks fabulous uh for the community getting involved with and engaged in just just fabulous. And um also uh really positive note, their family fun night at Falcon Heights. Uh they always raise a lot of money, but they, you know, it doesn't surprise me they raised $13,000 at family fun night this year. You know, food trucks, everything. So, I mean, that was just a fantastic meeting overall. And, um, another really important announcement I'd like to mention, um, we learned earlier today that Associate Superintendent Melissa Sonic has accepted, uh, a fantastic opportunity, a wonderful position, Minneapolis public schools. Um, so Melissa, uh, thank you. Thank you for your dedication and service to Roseville Schools. Um, your passion, your love for students, for staff, your experience, um, your knowhow, um, it's going to be very, very hard to replace. Thank you. Thank you very much. [Applause] Well, I'll I'll echo chair's sentiments and just say you'll be missed tremendously. You're a dynamic leader and you have your handprints all over so much of what we do in Roseville area schools. I will always be cheering you on too and I'll give you opportunity if you'd like to share anything. Oh, sure. Thank you. Um, I have been in Roseville for the last 11 years in different roles. I came and served as the principal at Edgerton Elementary School. I was then in teaching and learning um for a few years as principal at special assignment and for the last four years in this role and um it's been overwhelming thinking about leaving. It's really hard. I've cried a lot today in beautiful ways. Uh Roseville has loved me into being and the fingerprints um of Roseville are all over my leadership. Um I will take pieces of every student, family, staff member, colleagues, board leadership in this community with me um wherever I go. This is a district that values instructional leadership. It inv it values our mission of excellence and innovation and equity in all we do and just being good for kids, especially our kids furthest from justice. Uh when I first stepped into this role, um I'll tell like a 30 secondond story. I um I try to outsmart traffic sometimes during my commute and so I put it in my Google maps um to figure out what was the best way to to get here to try to outsmart traffic and it accidentally saved it as home and so I've kept Roseville as home ever since. Um, and something um tells me it's probably going to stay in my Google Maps forever as home because it just feels fitting. Um, so I feel incredibly honored to have served here, to have run alongside so many phenomenal phenomenal educators. Thank you, Dr. Lake, for giving me this opportunity and the board for um just being so supportive and um committed to the work that we do here. Uh, the last thing I'll say is just how lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. I know um Minneapolis will keep you busy. I know that will. Uh, but um, you know, don't be a stranger. I I I hope we do see you at some AMSD events, MSBA, just whatever capacity you might be showing up for those with your new position. But I will also drive through Roseville every day and just like shout out a little like choose Roseville. You have to go to Nissan sooner or later. Absolutely. There you go. Thank you. Thank you. And no, we didn't give you anything. You earned everything. Right, Dr. Link? Well, my statement this evening is a thank you for an incredible year. on our last day of school for most of our students and staff. I'd like to take a moment to offer my heartfelt thanks to every each and one of you. Whether you are a teacher, staff, support member, administrator, student, or family member, your commitment to our students and their success has made this school year one of care, connection, and community. At the same time, I want to recognize that the role of public schools extends far beyond academics. Public schools are cornerstones of strong communities and we are so fortunate to be a part of a vibrant, supportive network that spans the seven communities that make up Roseville area schools. Our foundations, volunteers, local organizations, faith-based partners, and individual community members show up for our students and staff time and time again. They remind us and the world what we value as a district, that there is a place for everyone and that everyone is welcome here. No matter a person's race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, ability, home or first language, religion, national origin, age or physical appearance. Roseville Area Schools is a place where all are valued and all belong. I'm deeply proud to be part of a community that continues to stand boldly in that truth. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Um, remember board, we are not going anywhere yet. There's no adjournment yet. Um, we do need to move to a close session to evaluate the performance of the superintendent. Um, how about we make the motion? Um, I think I'll announce to Wayne. Just give us get into it. Couple minutes. Katherine break. Well, let's let staff leave. Five minutes. Staff can leave. Yeah. Yeah. And all that, but anyone started. Yeah. But just Yeah, do read it verbatim. Uh, Mr. Chair, I move to close the meeting to evaluate the performance of Superintendent Jenny Lake as permitted by Minnesota Statute Section 13D.05, Subdivision 3A. Is there a second to that motion? Second. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Um, any further discussion? Um, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. All those opposed, motion carries. We will be moving into a close session. That's five minutes. All right. Um, okay. We are um coming back into our regular session for the evening. Um, if there is no more business, regular business before the board, um, Rosary School Board stands adjourned.