of the Independent School Board of ISD 622. Uh, first up is our pledge of allegiance. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Thanks for joining us today. Um, first up we have the approval of the agenda. Could I get a motion and a second? >> Moved by Sore. >> Second. >> Second by Livingston. Um, any discussion of the agenda. All right. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All oppose say nay. All right. The agenda is approved. Um, we have our public comment. This is an opportunity for the public to comment on items. Speakers shall register by completing the public comment signup sheet, state their name, and then we'll have between two and four minutes depending on the number of speakers to speak on a topic. The public comment section of the meeting shall last no longer than 30 minutes. Um, we do have some individuals signed up tonight. Uh, first up is Miriam Janitech. Hello. Thank you for your time tonight. Um, I am a parent of two elementary age students in the district. I'm an active participant in my kids elementary school PTA and community engagement and the community education um, board advisory board. And I say that all because I want you to know when I say this that I really care about ISD 622 and the education that happens in this district and I'm fully participating in it as a parent. So, as we head into November and the school district invites voters to support a technology levy, I'm asking the school board to work diligently with serious oversight to support effective and appropriate uses of technology in our classrooms. I support the levy. I will vote for the levy. I've told many people to vote for the levy. This does not mean that I do not have serious and well-founded concerns about the use of technology in ISD 622 classrooms. There is a disparity that is highlighted by research between what we know about child development and how the human brain learns and what research shows us happens in our brains as we use technology. screenbased learning. When I say technology, for example, there is no evidence that elementary aed outcomes are improved with technology supplementing learning. In fact, research seems to indicate that devices, even devices used for educational technology purposes, has a detrimental effect on elementary level learning. Our elementary school students are given iPads and Chromebooks from kindergarten on. This is a serious concern that I hope the school board takes in light of the fact that we're asking for money to support technology in our district. For in fact, um while there are many education technology offerings that present themselves as robust and a positive impact on learning, these claims are not supported with research. These companies say whatever they want to say to get us to sign our kids up for these experiences. And our need for meeting many demands across the spectrum leads us to agree to things without necessarily ensuring that they align with child developments, like what we actually know works. And we're moving much faster with our giving kids technology than we are in understanding those long-term impacts on our kids. So a science app that claims to enhance learning through videos, threedimensional models, a wide variety of content doesn't mean that accessing that information is actually helping students learn. Learning is not just about content and it's not just about the breadth and depth of content. It is about the physical act of learning with our hands and our brains and our bodies in our physical space. I am very concerned that our desire to offer as much content as possible to our students is leaving us with a deficit of the necessary acts of learning. The kinds of physical acts that leave permanent learning in our brains, not temporary content. And we have a lot of articles coming out that are voicing this concern as kids are reaching college and college professors are saying I am now teaching kids things they should have learned in high school. So how is our district making sure that rather than sort of moving with the wave of investment in technology, we are really understanding child development and child learning to make sure that those things that we give in the classroom are going to help our students learn. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miam. Um, next up we have Sam Rosemart. Hello everybody. Uh my name is Sam Rosemark. Um it's a pleasure to be here tonight. Oakdale resident. Um also went to uh Cow Elementary School and Maplewood Middle School in Tartan High. So go Titans. Um pullers are great too, but um but uh thank you for the opportunity to say a few words. Um, I'm here to voice my strong support for the for the two referendums. Um, you know, this this is really essential to provide the funding to maintain class sizes and support our support our teachers and retain high quality teachers. Um, you know, our district is blessed to be retaining a lot of great teachers and we need to make sure we we keep those folks because they're core to our students success and we got to make sure that they're um that they're supported. Um, I know everyone's feeling it. Inflation has really hurt people's budgets. It's hurt the district's budget especially. Uh we've had to cut about 11 million over the last two years, which um those are really tough and hard choices. Um and ideally we we shouldn't be making we shouldn't have to make those those tough decisions when we're already facing such um critical cuts. We're kind of getting to the bone as as they say. Um so you know we really need to meet our students where they're at whether they're students who are excelling and need those um high potential kind of uh high potential learning courses or um folks who are maybe struggling and need additional resources or whether they're students with intellectual disabilities too. Um you know my nephew is on the spectrum and he has challenges in the classroom and it's hard for teachers to address that at times. So how do we support our teachers um on that front too? Um and then when it comes to the the question number two around capital projects, you know, safety is a big concern. What Tartan is doing right now with safety is really amazing and impressive to see that both safety is happening and students are are feeling safe without kind of feeling, you know, that they're out of prison, so to speak. Um so I think there's been great efforts there and there's a lot more to do as well. Um so just encourage everyone to go vote on November 4th um for both the levies. So thank you all. Uh Sam Rosemark again. Thanks. >> Thank you, Sam. Um next up we have our consent agenda. Um this is um consists of routine items that are acted on in a single consolidated motion without board discussion. Um board members do have the option of pulling items off the consent agenda if they wish to discuss them or consider them individually. Does anybody um want to pull anything out to discuss? Okay. Um, seeing none, I'll go ahead and read the resolution. Um, and then I'll take a motion in a second. Um, so be it resolved by the school board of independent school district number 622 that the consent agenda items um A through H uh be approved as written and a copy of the agenda items is attached to the minutes. Um, could I get a motion and a second? Second, >> right? Uh moved by Yer, second by Livingston. Um all in favor say I. >> I. >> And all oppose say nay. >> All right. Um so that motion passes. Um and then now we have our reports from our student school board representatives. >> Okay. Hi. Um good afternoon. Okay. So this week, uh, we're student council will be hosting a movie night on Friday. The movie that will be played will be Hocus Pocus. I've never actually seen any Hocus Pocus movies. There will be concessions, so that also convinced me to go and also because I made executive on student council. Um, concess the movie will start around 6:30 or 7 and it will end around 8:30 or 9. You can get your tickets online, but you have to make sure you put in the promo code, which is capital MN25. Um, we are also having our blood drive next week. North High and Student North High Student Council and NHS are going to be the ones volunteering. Um, and if you donate blood, you'll also be getting a $20 gift card. Tonight, our football team is having their section game against Chisgo Lakes and the theme is blackout. It started 12 minutes ago. Uh, and I'm wishing them luck and I hope we can actually make it far to sections. Um, our boys also had their sections game. Uh, we beat the number three seed, but unfortunately we lost um during overtime. And Andrew Ortiz is a senior that was nominated to become a Mr. Soccer candidate. He was a recipient. And Gino is a junior. He is one of the star tribunes varsity top 25 players in the state. And Dan Torres, our head coach for soccer, was the section coach of the year. Congrats to him. And I think Miss Tutario knows about this one. Our north band went on a tour to Kansas City. They went and participated with high schools touring the American Jazz Museum and a clinic at William Jewel College. And for my friend that's on the band, he told me that somebody I know very well was there. Miss Tioario, >> thank you. >> I happened to be visiting family in St. Louis over the weekend, so I decided to surprise them and pop in and and surprise them at a museum. It was pretty fun. >> Yeah. Good evening, everyone. So, there's a lot going on at Tartan. I don't even know where to start. Um, I know that our Tartan Theater presented their Putinham musical. Tickets went live yesterday. The live shows will be performed November 7th through the 9th. And I can't wait to tell you guys this, but I am that type of person to set up my Christmas tree on Halloween. So, it is very exciting to know that our musical um for Christmas will be Elf Jr. It'll be performed December 5th to the 7th. Um our football team hosted a game dedicated to a fellow classmate of mine and the theme was orange out due to um this particular student having leukemia. He's consistently in children's hospital and he has he was diagnosed with leukemia the day after relay last year in May and it was really hard because I don't it was just like shocking. He he was just such a healthy student like he was consistently like in sports you ne you really never know right and it was very heartwarming like going to that football game that was my first ever football game of the season so just like going and like seeing everyone's like support and then I know that our uh HAC gave out um orange glow sticks to everybody in the crowd and like we cracked it at half time just to show support. So I am a very emotional person. I And so I started tearing up. I let a few tears out, but you know, it was very heartwarming. I really liked it. I enjoyed it. And everyone there was just so sweet. And then our football game, our football team has a game. It's their sections game at home against Harding. The theme is blue out. I will sadly not be going. I have to go study. So, I will be going on campus after this. And then I also know that last week Miss Descent held grade meetings um ultimately discussing the fights that have been going on at Tardan. Just like putting an end to it. Well, you can never really put an end to things, but like like putting out a statement saying that like, hey, that's not tolerated here. Like keep like your hands to yourself and just like don't bring drama to school. Um, I also know that our boys soccer team went up against I think it was Central for sections. We lost. I think the score was like two to one. It was a very close game. I honestly I thought that like we were we were going to like make a comeback. We were really close there. We literally were at an open net and uh a soccer player just like tapped it in the wrong angle and it went the other way, but that's okay. Um, it was still a really good game and our girls soccer team went up against Woodbury and our end of season banquet will be held November second. Winter sports registration opened up and I'm just excited to see our basketball team play. I mean, like I feel like we were pretty good last year and I know that some students have um transferred to Tardan just to play for our basketball team. So, I'm excited to see our potential this year. One clever thing that I thought was like, wow, I really like this was that our athletics office or activities office started to promote a se like a a yearly pass for all sports events. Um, I know that for students the fee will be $35 and for adults it'll be 70. I think it's just really smart just because um for students who don't play sports, you have to pay $5 um for your entrance and that can honestly rack up. So honestly, just paying 35 online and just like having that to go to like any sporting events year round, which is really nice. Our girls volleyball team has their sections game tonight at Mountains View at 700 PM. Also, student council opened up their applications. I am a part of student council, but it's just really hard with my PSO like schedule making it to meetings and like whatnot. Um, I also know that student council implemented a new system where if you consistently miss meetings and you don't have a reasoning behind it or if you skip mandatory volunteer opportunities, you will be asked to leave and they are giving your spot up to the new applicants. I think that's that's fair honestly. So, not mad about it. Um, BPA had their blood drive. I know a lot of students gave uh blood, which I wish I could give blood. My mom told me no, but next maybe like next year. Um and then our NHS had their Minneapolis marathon. It was so hard waking up that morning for me. I was just like, h my bed is so warm. Yeah, we all had to be there like at I think it was 7 in the morning and I'm just like this is too early. I don't know on school day. I just wanted to sleep in. But yeah, that's everything that's going on at Tardan. Any questions? >> No questions. Thank you so much. Okay, we have our operations update. They're loaded. >> We've been having some uh technical difficulties this evening, but um I know Andrea is in the back recording, so hopefully we can get the projection screen working. All the more reason to pass a capital project. Thank you guys. >> Thanks. >> Here's a login. There we go. Um, one moment. Okay, thank you. Anybody see it? >> And that's it. Madame Chair, members of the board, Superintendent Tucio, cabinet members, nice to be here tonight. Want to give a great summary of what we did this past summer for construction and hit a little highlights, a couple of highlights here for sustainability and what we've been working on over the last couple years. So, uh, first I want to highlight our ongoing construction at our Harmony Learning Center. We've started that about a year ago and we're about 65% complete. Um, we were able to occupy the two-story wing of the building, which is where adult basic ed is and now we are now working on phase two, which is our alternative program space that will be occupied next summer. So, moving along and we're tracking slightly under construction, which is great. So, another two-year project halfway through and almost done. Um, we also this summer completed a lot of deferred maintenance work. Uh we did exterior replacements at Beaver Lake and we also did furniture uh replacements there and at Gladstone. That was part of the school building bond. We upgraded and replaced the parking lot and lighting in the parking lot at Gladstone. And then also did some work at Cowin, replaced that playground, the hard surface play area and are continuing to work on the electrical expansion to get ready for that next construction project at Cowan Elementary School. We also did some work here at the DEEC. Uh we replaced some muchneeded cooling units um that that really serve our servers for the district. We did a boiler replacement. It was one of the last steam old steam boilers in the district that um isn't too efficient. Came out and we replaced it with a high efficiency boiler. And then we did some exterior replacements, some doors and windows. So, North High School, we also finished up a basketball hoop assembly replacement. And the artificial turf was replaced this summer as well at their stadium. And the stadium at Tartan also finished up in conjunction with what we have at Tartan Arena, which was the replacement of the original refrigeration system, which cooled the ice in the floor. And we also um upgraded some finishes as well. Uh, transportation also got some great deferred maintenance work, some garage door replacements that were original to the building, some window replacements, and we needed some parking lot and repairs and lighting replacements. But the big one I want to hit on obviously is the last one we are completing as part of the 2019 building bond project, Tartan High School, that completed its final phase, which was, I believe, how many phases? 13 phases over four years of construction. And happy to say that that came in on budget and obviously on schedule. There's still some punch list items they're doing. But uh a few uh teasing images is what it looks like. I know everybody was there for um the ribbon cutting a couple a month ago already, which is great to have a great turnout. It wasn't done in conjunction with the homecoming that Tartan had that weekend um just to celebrate that that event of you know welcoming people into the building and they got a chance to wander around and see what was new and what had been changed. The other thing I want to highlight too was we held our construction bond open house a couple weeks ago on October 2nd. So, we were able to set up displays for each of the schools um that uh had construction work over the last five, six years, show the history of what it was beforehand, what happened um during the construction and how it looks now, some artifact artifacts out on the tables for people to look at as well. So, that was a really great event and eventually we'll have those uh uh slideshows up on our website as well, so people can check them out. But in addition to all this construction work, I wanted to highlight specifically over the last five, six years the work we've been doing to become more sustainable and energy efficient. So in addition to obviously the construction work where we put in energy efficient windows and mechanical systems in add recycling, expanding that we're starting to expand to organics. We've opened our kitchen dishwashrooms which obviously saves in throwing away disposable things. Um we've also have our our policy on our asset disposition plan which focuses now on reuse and recycling, not just uh throwing away. And then uh we've you probably even noticed here some storm water and retention ponds. We've got a pollinator garden out here at the DEC as well. But the big thing I want to point out is that we've been doing a concerted effort to actually update our database, which is our B3 benchmarking system. It tracks the energy, water, all of our utility usages um throughout all of our buildings and then measures us against other state buildings and how we're doing and performing. So this data will come in handy over the next several years to track how we are actually progressing and help us check um for areas that maybe look a little off. We can go and investigate if there's something going on there too. The other thing I wanted to mention and you may have heard that we received a $1.1 million grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce for electric school buses. So, three of them will be rolling into the district uh at the end of 2026. We just put out the RFP today, so biders have got in hand. And what was great about this grant in getting this award was it actually is paying for 85% of the infrastructure as well. So, the charging stations, the electrical conduit, and the panels that are needed to charge those buses. And obviously we know benefits in sustainability with obviously low no emissions but also improved air quality and believe it or not noise pollution is a concern that we we have when it comes to buses as well as it does show a reduced cost of maintenance and operations for electric school buses over the life cycle. So we're excited to be uh one of the districts in the in the area northeast metro that's going to be rolling those out. And lastly, I want wanted to highlight our solar program. We put together a video to share with our community on what we've been working on. Get the sound on here. No sound. >> That's a plane. I don't know. >> A company to help us analyze the energy efficiency of our buildings to help us. I'll start over again. We were so fortunate as a district to receive the Minnesota [Music] Now we're ready. Here in district 622, we are on a mission to become incredibly energy efficient. In 2016, we began a conversation about how to improve energy efficiency for our school district. At that time, we had just passed a recent operating referendum with our community, and we wanted to really show our voters that we were going to maximize every single dollar. We brought in a company to help us analyze the energy efficiency of our buildings to help us understand where we needed to start our improvement process. We were so fortunate as a district to receive the Minnesota Department of Commerce solar for school grant and that actually provided funding for three schools to receive solar arrays on the rooftops. That's phase one. We're going to have three phases over the next three years. And by the time we're done in 2027, we'll have 12 buildings with solar. These solar panels are going to first and foremost bring down energy costs for our school district. This coming school year alone, we anticipate a savings of approximately $85,000. That's just year one, and that's going to grow exponentially over time. The second piece is the incredible educational factor that goes along with this. >> If you have solar energy, you can help with stopping climate change or at least slowing it down. I know that when the sun beams at it, it gives us energy for the school. I kind of would like to learn more about solar. So, I know how the sun energy is actually turning into energy through the solar panels. >> I think that this type of education is really important because it allows our students to really apply all of the knowledge that they're building in the classroom and see it out in a real life context. We have live data dashboards where everyone can see in real time how much energy we're collecting from these solar panels and really see the impact on our energy consumption and the cost of our energy resources. We're really excited to have the solar panels here at Richardson. Elementary schools are a place where kids love to think about ways that they can impact the world around them and their community and this is a great way for them to do it and see it all the time. In addition, we're super excited to announce that we have also received another grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce for the purchase and installation of the infrastructure of free electric school buses. Our team has done an incredible job of braiding and blending different funding sources together toward our ultimate goal of becoming energy efficient and incorporating renewable energy sources into our plan. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our community partners, especially the Minnesota Department of Commerce who funded this latest grant. We also want to thank Excel Energy for their support, our 622 voters who helped us with our bond referendum in 2019, and of course our local city and counties who have always been great partners with us here in 622. Finally got to the plate. So, with that, I will turn it over if you have any questions. Be happy to answer them. >> Thank you, Sarah. This was really, really great to see. Um, uh, I'll start with a question on the electric school buses. I don't know if others have this question, but, um, it gets cold and, uh, electric batteries don't always work really well when it's cold. So, um, how have we like tested to make sure that I know we don't diesel buses also have issues when it's really cold outside. Um, but can you talk a little bit about how they're going to work during >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Um, yeah, we've been working with um other school districts in the area that have been rolling out school buses that are electric for several years. Um, some of them also do not have bus garages to park inside. It really the key is the charging consistency. Um, we also have several vendors that um are one of them is actually built in Canada. So, it's it's tested and tried and true in colder uh temperatures. The biggest issue we've heard from them is really that range. So, the colder it gets, the range on the batteries isn't as far, but um what's nice about our district is that we're averaging about 40 to 50 miles per day between a morning and afternoon route. So, at the end, we don't have a large range um over three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon. So, it should be fairly ideal for us to get back to that garage and charge it up again before we hit another tier. >> That's what I have to do with my car, too. So, that makes sense. Um uh I was really happy to hear, uh that Harmony continues to be on budget and that Tartan was on budget. Um I did notice in the change orders that one of them was for the tariffs. Um can you speak to how that is affecting our sort of construction outlook and whether we think we'll still be on track? >> Yeah, there are some tariffs that um we are seeing more in steel and aluminum. Um however uh based on the current estimating that we've been doing for the recent construction projects uh the the market is really getting soft and so contractors are a little hungry for work which we think is going to start to offset the cost of rising tariffs and material costs. That's all the questions I have. Thank you so much. >> Yep. >> Oh and go solar. I think that's pretty awesome. And I do appreciate I think it it marries well with um the public comment that we had earlier about sort of that hands-on learning and how to kind of apply what you're learning in the classroom to um what's happening in your building. That's really awesome. I >> ask about the buses. Are they replacing other buses? Are they, you know, for buses that aged out or are we bringing new buses in? Um I know it's always kind of balanced. >> Yeah, it in looking at our fleet right now, we will age out three buses, mainly our diesel buses that we have going on. They'll replace those. Um and they will be driving specific routes because it was a Department of Commerce grant. Um they want those routes to be in um what they're calling social economic areas. So we're going to specifically work with the state to map out those bus routes that they're on to. I was just going to add a quick comment about the busing too. Um Sarah and I have talked about this, but it wasn't until I was at a conference a year or two ago and um you know, we always think about these electric school buses for energy efficiency, of course. Um, but one thing that caught my attention that I hadn't previously thought of until I saw a presenter speaking about this was, and Sarah mentioned the noise pollution factor, but when you think about students who maybe have sensory needs, um, if you haven't ridden on a school bus lately, they're very noisy, very noisy. And so the idea of being able to ride on a school bus that's just so much quieter. Like the ambient noise is just so much quieter. Um I think has a lot of potential for helping students start and end their day more calmly if that makes sense. So that was an interesting added benefit that I hadn't thought of until I had had seen that explained differently and it really made a lot of sense to me. So it'll be interesting to see over time how that experience evolves as more and more electric vehicles come in the mix. Sarah, I don't think this is necessarily in your wheelhouse, but um across from Webster School, there's a a home that was built by the students and uh through the 916 uh program. So, our district and and other partner districts and the 916 and um um and it's a beautiful home and and it's now sold. I and so I was just wondering if um you you had any more information about that or whatever and it's such a gift to the neighborhood when that happens and um yeah >> I if you want I can answer that actually um there's been quite a tradition with through the 916 construction program of the city of North St. Paul was purchasing homes and then the the 916 construction program with student helpers would build the home. Um this year um there's actually a change in plan with that. They're actually not building an home from beginning to end at this point. Um they are doing some other kinds of projects that are smaller in nature and more of them. So they there was some feedback through the 916 program and I don't know if Andy or Trisha knows more about this but um that there was a lot of elements within the home building part that wasn't entirely done by students and so they wanted to find some more smaller projects so that students could do all the parts of it and see beginning to end more more often and more um more frequent. So I I I want to say like sheds or um things like that so that they would have um shorter projects that wouldn't take the entire school year for one project but get them to be able to do more of them. So that's an evolution of that program new this year. >> Oh, okay. Yeah. >> Okay. Interesting. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> I just want to say thank you for the open house on all of our buildings. I came with my family and it was really neat to see kind of the past and the present because I think that really speaks volumes to how much our district needed those upgrades and all the work that went into it. So, um I thought that was really cool. I liked the idea of it being an open house and that the community could come because you can't get to the buildings. And so that was a really neat engagement tactic to really show the community this is what they voted on and for. Um you don't always know what a building looks like from the outside and so really seeing some of those before and after pictures is really amazing and it really helps our students have good learning environments. So thank you for that opportunity. Uh just along the line of uh Julia's comment, uh if community members weren't able to make the open house, but they still wanted to see what's happening at Tartan, can they call the principal and and make an appointment? And >> yeah, I would say have us have them call operations. Our number's on our website and we can we're taking a list of for those that are interested in tours. >> Okay. >> And we'll set some of those up and like I think we'll actually put that up on the website as well with the the slideshow. Oh, good. >> So, we'll try to get those taken care of within the next couple months here. >> Thank you. >> I think that's all we had. Thank you so much. >> Um, next up we have assistant superintendent uh referendum reminder and proposed policy revisions. See if this is plugged in. Good. Okay. Hi there, Chair Yang, members of the board, Superintendent Tuchiosario, Andy Beaten, Assistant Superintendent. Thanks for the opportunity to visit with you a little bit tonight. Um, we heard a little bit from public comments and thank you to those that came tonight to talk about our levy and and supporting the two questions that we have on the ballot. So, a reminder for folks that are listening at home, we have two questions on the ballot. We have one that is an increase in our operating levy. It's really important that you do check on the website for just clarity around the ballot because we know that the way that it's written by attorneys can be a little bit confusing. Uh we do have that language on the ballot where it says it's going from $26 to um $1,100. It's a $946 increase. That is not what an individual taxpayer pays on that increase. It's really important to know that the average taxpayer on a $300,000 home would pay about $22 more per month. And that's for question one. For question two, it would be about $4 more per month uh for a $300,000 homeowner. So, it's really important that you see that clarity. We have a lot of that on the website, but there is some confusion about uh the concept of revoking and replacing. We are revoking um a previous uh operating levy and replacing it with a new dollar amount. And that dollar amount puts us closer in line to many of our neighboring school districts where we are currently um at the bottom um of our neighboring school districts. And if these two questions pass, we would look again not to be at the top, but maybe kind of be in the middle um in terms of our per pupil spending that we have for students in 622. Question two on the ballot um again is a reminder that it's a capital project lobby that is um used for both we're calling that for security and safety and for learning. So it is the networks uh that we are all using tonight. So you can watch this broadcast at home. It's for all of our emails. It is for digital curriculum and things that we use in our systems. Um, it's for the operations that keep our cyber security safe. It's the operations that keep our uh cameras going in our systems. Um, for the networks that be able to run all of those operations. Right now, uh, we do pay for those things and even if this referendum does not pass, we will continue to pay for safety and security and learning. But right now, those dollars come out of the general fund, which puts stress on the things that we think matter most in the classroom, which is our teachers and our support staff. So, we're really hoping uh that our voters will be informed. I want to share just a couple of things that uh we are doing currently. Um if you've been on our website, you've probably seen a number of videos we call the why this matters videos. There's been six weeks of videos, and I'm going to show you a video. You'll see some cameos from some important people here on this first video. And I hope the sound works. [Music] >> Two questions, one future. >> We've worked hard to be responsible with your tax dollars. Without this funding, the cuts will continue. >> This vote affects every child. It's about the heart of our schools. >> It's about our future. >> This is Christine Tujioso, the very proud superintendent of District 622. Please get out and vote on November 4th. Because strong schools make strong communities. So, some other things going, you've seen the why this matters video series. If you want like videos, those have been pushed out on social media and on our website. Um we have a I voted competition going on between our schools right now. So the highest percentage of parent participation as voters uh will get a special shout out from the superintendent, probably a visit um after November 4th. Um so we want to make sure that there's a little spirit of competition between our schools. So we do have Castle Elementary in the lead right now. So um if anybody out there that has kids at different schools and you want your school to win, get out there and vote. Um, so again, percentage of voters. Um, one thing we're doing uh recently this week, and I think our first one went out this week, is um we're calling it one, two, three, uh, with the superintendent. So it is a one minute video where a student asked the superintendent two questions about the levy and and she offers maybe three facts about the levy as well. We had our first video that was pushed out at Cowin Elementary and a very uh or Carver, excuse me, thank you, at Carver Elementary. A very sharp kindergartenner, Knox, uh that was our interviewer of the superintendent and uh some tough questions and the superintendent responded about what is a levy and and why. Now, these are two tough questions uh that the superintendent answered. Uh today, we were at North High School and two students uh two seniors asked uh two different levy questions. You'll see those throughout the week. um and leading up to the election and we just hope you get engaged. Um so I'm here to answer questions uh from the board, but just a reminder for everybody at home uh how important this is that you are engaged, you are informed, and you get out and vote. Any questions? >> Also, if anyone wants to be in one of our videos, let us know. >> We will have a bloopers reel at the end of it all. I promise that. Andy, thank you for the update and the clarification on the two questions. So, besides our website, where else can community members go to get that clarification? Because it the our questions are being shown, talked about, debated in all the different forms of technology. And so, where else can individuals go to learn about the clarification on the questions? Um, well, there's lots of options. I mean, um, if you're on social media at all, again, district sites on Facebook, Instagram, and so on. Uh, the website is really comprehensive. You can call your principal. Um, if you have a relationship and a connection with your principal, you can call your principal and and they can share a little bit about that as well. Um, anyone can call me at any time. And I've had email correspondence with parents, community members, and sometimes you need clarification. I even got some shoutout. I said I I got some points on a Monday morning when they say great answer uh to a community member that needed some clarity. So, um I'm happy to do that and we just really want people to have the right information so they can make an informed decision for us. >> Okay. Thank you. Yeah, I want to say thank you for uh championing this and making sure that there are many avenues and um not just sort of the written question but the videos explaining and why it's important and stuff and I always love seeing the kids and you know that's what this is for. Um I I also share the the I don't know if it's a concern or the the challenge I guess in breaking down the ballot language. Um and you kind of I was going to ask about making sure that we emphasize that it's not $1,000 per household, for example. Um, uh, and can you remind me what that we always talk about in terms of like, uh, property owners, uh, what about renters and how might this affect them in the in the area? >> Um, if you're a renter, um, then you're not seeing an increase in your property taxes in the short term. If property taxes go up, um, could a renter experience an increase over time indirectly? I think yeah, I mean, that could happen indirectly, I think, within the economy, but for a renter in the in the community, there is no property tax increase, so no increase on taxes. >> Thank you. Um, and can you talk a little bit about um just an answer to people saying, uh, well, I don't have kids in the district, so why should I have to pay for this? Yeah, it's a it's a really good question, but um we know um when you read the Star Review article today about safety, when you hear about um mental health in the community, when you hear about um training kids to be our future to help support programs like social security and so on, um a healthy school community um impacts the entire community um in terms of property values, terms of places where you'd want to move to and come to, um where you'd want to send your kids and and raise a family. All those things matter and that really starts with strong public schools and 622 is a fantastic product. Uh and we're looking to continue to have that strength in the school district for the future. And you see some of the investments that you saw from uh Sarah's presentation here that construction maybe is not always impacting that student that's that senior said, "Oh my gosh, I've been here for four years of construction and now it looks so beautiful." But this is an investment in generations uh to come uh to have safe and and um outstanding places for kids to go to school and make friends and make connections. >> Yeah, thank you. And that that does sound familiar. I think I was at the um the ribbon cutting ceremony and their alums coming back to Tartan who were uh so impressed with the updates and the changes and also I think pretty proud of what the district is providing for the students. So, um, uh, and final question, um, I think there's been, uh, now that we're getting closer to the election, there are now more early voting polling places as well. And so, I just wanted to share that I decided that I needed an absentee ballot and I had it by the end of the week and returned it the next day. And >> um, that's one option. There are multiple libraries around that are now doing early voting. Um, and then election day, of course. So, >> absolutely. and and we are fortunate in the state of Minnesota that um our secretary of state and our state has provides opportunities for us to vote and and it's very accessible in the state of Minnesota to vote early and to vote in person or vote absentee. Um so we just really want people to get out and uh support their schools. >> Oh, and a reminder that you can register the day of go to your polling place with your driver's license or something and register and cast your vote that day. You know, one thing before I'm I'm done here tonight is I just want to remind voters too that um we have not gone to the voters in nearly 10 years for an operating increase. And we all know that the cost of living and the cost of eggs and energy and construction materials has gone up over nine and a half years. And that happens in schools as well in terms of uh the wages we pay labor, uh the cost to run schools, curriculum, transportation, all those things have gone up. And so that's why we're back. um to say that we need this investment um to continue to maintain and strengthen the programs that we have. Okay, thanks. Have a good night. >> Do you also want to do the policy revisions or >> You can't take that away from me. >> I'm sorry. Good evening, Chair Yang, Superintendent Tutario, and directors of the board. Um, tonight I have the opportunity to do the second of our three required readings for five of our different policies um with some recommended revisions. So, I will go through each of those here to briefly summarize what those uh proposed revisions are. First policy is 534, which is the unpaid meal charges. And the changes throughout this policy are the recommended revisions reflect updates to um include language specific to 622 as well as provisions regarding the purchase of a non-program secondary breakfast and or lunch or allocart item. Next policy is policy 707 which is the transportation of public stool school school students excuse me. Um and the minor revision in this uh or the minor revision for this policy is to update some language that reflects a disability to the word disabilities throughout the policy. policy 707 which is student transportation safety policy. Um recommended revision in this policy has to do with removing outdated um safety training dates for throughout the policy. We have policy 802 which is the disposition of obsolete equipment and materials. And this update or recommended revision includes uh provision for the disposing of any surplus books in the district. Excuse me. And lastly, we have policy 806, which is the crisis management policy. And the updates reflected throughout here include updates to the removal of the active shooter drills and simulations language as well as the removal of reference to the policies of outdated policies at the end of the outdated procedures rather excuse me at the end of the policy. That and being that it is our second reading we're not required to take action this evening. So >> any questions? It's not a question. I just want to say thank you for incorporating a lot of those changes that we had talked about in the study session. So they look good. All right. Thank you. >> All right. Um we're going to move on to the superintendent's report. >> All right. Well, as a reminder, every year, um, I work with the school board to establish what my goals as a superintendent will be for the coming school year. Um, and we had a good discussion about this at our last study session. And so tonight, um, we are bringing forth those goals to share publicly. Our goals are aligned to our strategic plan which has five key areas identified in our strategic plan that we completed um two summers ago with a whole lot of community input and student voice and and working groups. So um those five areas are identified here and then additionally we always establish uh one or two professional development goals for me as the superintendent as well. So the first goals are district district-wide goals and then the next ones are professional goals. So I'll read those to you right now and um thanks to the conversation we had at our study session um two weeks ago. So the first goal is goal number one related to academic achievement. Um increasing academic achievement for all students at all grade levels. And this includes um closures of opportunity gaps um discrepancies in outcomes for various student groups as we um as we work on every year and those are measured through formative and summitative and standardized assessments um throughout our school year. The second goal is strengthening develop development of marketable skills among our secondary students while increasing access to career pathways and exploration. Um these are this fits under our graduation and post-secary bucket. Um the day the way that we're going to be evaluating that is of course graduation data, participation data within our various programs, courses, clubs tied to career pathways. um and also incorporating the use of our our sleds data, statewide longitudinal educational data system with planning and evaluation efforts. We have not previously done a lot of work with the sleds data and so that's something we're looking to dive into more this year um as a learning opportunity to see how we might incorporate that information better. Um the third bucket is under safety and security. Of course, strengthening efforts to ensure our students and staff feel safe at school. And this of course not only means physical safety but emotional safety, well-being, inclusion efforts as well. Um student and staff surveys as well as discipline data um safety data will help us to measure how well we are achieving those goals. Um the fourth goal is under social emotional learning. So improving our social emotional learning to strengthen critical thinking skills, communication skills so students can advocate for the well-being of themselves and others and solve conflicts together. integrating supports for new and emerging threats to student well-being, whether they be social media, safety, risks with AI, predator prevention, weapons, hate speech, all kinds of ways that we can help students to stay safe. Some of the ways we'll measure that, of course, will be with our student surveys, um registrations of our complaints and anonymous tips, our discipline data, police referrals, incidents of investigation, and that would also include Title N investigations um as well. And then the final one is our district goal around equity and inclusion. Strengthening our engagement with individuals and groups of students, staff, and families that may feel marginalized or undervalued within our organization and working with each stakeholder group to develop ways to improve inclusivity and engagement so that everybody sees themsel um as equal and valuable members of our community and shared voice in in the direction our school district is going. Of course, we'll be measuring our participation rates and engagement of um students and staff with regard to clubs, sports activities. Um engagement of participation in different programs and also even retention data, retention of students, retention of staff are also key indicators of how well people are feeling um included and valued within the organization. And then we've got two key professional development goals that we agreed upon. One of which is just strengthening fluency and experience with AI tools and applications in order to be better prepared to lead student education related to this emerging field. I think that um as one of our speakers said earlier, there's a lot that happens. The cart goes before the horse in society. um you know as we were exploring ways to deepen uh technology integration into our school systems, the pandemic came along and just plopped devices in the hands of everybody and and everyone had to sort of scramble to get ahead of it and then it's kind of like in the days when social media emerged and students were already in it experiencing it before guard rails were put up um and they still are you know being evaluated and studied to this day. We know that same area is happening with um AI. Artificial intelligence is is creeping into society at all different areas and ways around it. But we know that our students are dabbling in it. And in order for us to be able to be um prepared to be able to lead our students in an educational environment that is going to eventually be including more and more AI tools. We as adults need to get more fluent with that. And then the second professional goal is again just learning a little bit more leaning into how we might analyze and better use that um sleds data that statewide longitudinal data on postgraduation outcomes for students how they're doing out in the in the uh society and in their career pathways including earning power and um really being able to look at what information might we find that could be useful in analyzing which of our programs are working, which are not, which are having the greatest impact on that. So again, building more fluency and um learning around those areas. So those are basically the goals that we discussed at our study session. Um and I'll be ready to answer any questions on this. >> No questions. >> Yeah. No, they look really good. And as a reminder, we always have long discussions at our study sessions ahead of these meetings. So, we kind of kicked around a lot of the language and went into a deep deep dive into these topics when we met a couple weeks ago. But, um, I think it's really important that that we stay truly aligned to our strategic plan and what our community has told us they value and and view as priorities for our school district. >> Thank you. U, so we're going to move on to our action items. First up we have um for finance our acknowledgement of contributions. >> Minnesota statute 123B02 permits school boards to receive for the benefit of the district bequests donations or gifts for any proper purpose and apply the same to the purpose designated in that behalf. The board may act as trustee of any trust created for the benefit of the district and for the benefit of pupils thereof. Therefore, the director of finance recommends the following resolution. Be it resolved by the school board of independent school district number 622 that the school board accepts with appreciation the following contributions and permit their use as designated by the donors. And uh first we have Evans Transportation Services who gave $1,900 to North High School the BSU club activities. Susan Warner, uh, Polar Pride gave $25 for purchasing food, clothing, or hygiene products for the pantry. Bruce Tim gave $50 for purchasing food, clothing, hygiene items for the pantry. Cub Foods, Maplewood East gave school supplies for students in need. Promo Advantage Marketing, Nicole Fierra, gave school supplies for students in need. Thomas and Laya Campbell gave $500 to the North High School Girls Volleyball Club. Katherine McMongle gave clothing, school supplies, and shopping bags for donations to the 622 Pantry. And Gary Heaser gave $700 to North High School's Showquire program. Um, therefore, I' I'd like to make that motion to accept those. and it brings our total fiscal year 2526 contributions to $18,444. >> So we have moved by Anderson. Could I get a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Martins. Um any discussion? >> Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. >> And all oppose say nay. >> All right. And that passes. Thank you. Um next up we have human resources uh with our principles. All right. Good evening, Chair Yang, members of the board. Superintendent Tuchio. Um, tonight I am recommending resolution for board approval. The district has reached a tenative agreement with our principal group um in North St. Paul Oakdale and this is for the contract period of July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2027. The membership of the principal union has voted and ratified the agreement. The proposed settlement covers a two-year contract period. The terms and conditions of the agreement for year one includes a wage increase of 2.75% and for year two an increase of 3.0%. There were other contract language that was updated to reflect some more flexibility with vacation time, but other than that, that's sorry, go ahead. Oh, other than that, that's um what we have for our tenative agreement with the principal group. >> Thank you for your um for the district's work on that. >> Yeah. >> Um any discussion or questions? >> Okay. Um so I'll go ahead and read the resolution. U be it resolved by the school board of independent school district number 622 that the 2025 2027 North St. Paul Mablewood Oakdale principal master agreement be approved um as presented. Could I get a motion and a second? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Anderson, second by Swore. Um all in favor say I. >> I. >> And all oppose say nay. >> All right. Um that passes. Thank you. >> Um and then now we have um the school board. Um and so um each year um we're encouraged to participate in schoolboard um and related workshops and activities. Um so this year we're doing um let me pull it up. Sorry. Um this is for the NSBA conference. Um and so this is guideline policy 214 for out of state travel by board members. Um, we're looking for approval for Caleb Anderson, Nancy Livingston, Charlotte Natardi, Katie Swore, and Kea Yang to attend the NSBA conference, um, annual conference April 10th to the 12th of 2026. Um, so I will go ahead and read the resolution. Um, be it resolved by the school board of independent school district number 622 that Caleb Anderson, Nancy Livingston, Charlotte and Tardy, Katie Swore, and Kea Yang attend the NSBA conference April 10th through the 12th of 2026. Um, could I get a motion and a second? >> Okay. Moved by Yenner, seconded by Martins. Um, any discussion? >> All right. All in favor say I. Nay. >> And all oppose say nay. >> All right. Um so that go ahead and that passes as well. Um and so we have to um Okay. So we have the date for the work uh study session, but we need to set the time, location, and agenda. Um, so I would I'm recommending that we the November 11th, 2025 work study session begin immediately following the spe special session and take place in the conference room 202 of district 622 Education Center um and include the following agenda items. Audit report, superintendent check-in, board officer committee discussion, and then the board check-in. Um, could I get a motion and a second? >> Second. Right. Um moved by Swore, seconded by Livingston. Um any discussion on those items? All in favor say I. I. >> I. >> And all oppose say nay. >> All right. Um so that passes. Um and then the last thing we have to do is uh set the special meeting to canvas the election. Um this is under Minnesota statute section 205A.10 10 subdivision 3 states that the school board needs to meet in canvas the returns of the election between the 3rd and 10th day after the after the election. So I recommend that a special meeting to canvas the election be set for November 11th, 2025 at 6 p.m. in the boardroom of the 62 Education Center. Um could I get a motion and a second? Second. >> Moved by Martin, seconded by Anderson. Um any discussion? All right. Um, all in favor say I. >> I. >> And all oppose say nay. All right. Um, so that also is approved. Um, next up we have board communications. Julia Nancy. Um well, I appreciated um uh Sam Rosemark uh uh bringing up the um referendum that let's um people can vote on November 4th. I I'm one who always enjoys going on election day. I know we can all vote early, but I like going on election day. Tim and I go on election day and uh planning to do it again. Um so um and I think we've made the case very well for um for passage and and for um supporting um this asset to the community. We are the biggest employer for example in uh North St. Paul Mapwood and Oakdale. We have over what 2,000 employees. Uh we have a 20 200 million dollar budget. We have uh how many teachers? 700 teachers, >> 11,000 students. Um, so we're a we're a big operation. I think we are very transparent relative to our finances and I think we've um done a really good job handling people's money and um and also providing the best that we can for their for their students. So um and then the second thing I wanted to say is kind of a fun thing. I went to the children's theater last week to see um the play Treasure Island and the lead in the play and he was just outstanding was Kea Yank's son Mason Yang. Oh my goodness, blew us away. He's so good. I can't even tell you. And and that play is still on. So I would encourage you to go if you're able to. Um, it is really a remarkable theater experience and I've been going to the children's theater for, you know, 40 years. Um, it was right up there. So, Mason just did a great job. So, thanks. Yeah, that's it. >> Um, I I also like going on election day. Um, I uh I I just uh if anybody doesn't have students in the district, if it's been many years or maybe if you um you don't have kids or uh if you moved into the district after kids, um I if you're undecided about um if you're going to um support the levy, I just would really encourage you to um go to the website and uh to uh sign up for the senior past. So, you could go to one of our school's games and watch a game or two. Um, and uh I think that that will help you uh make your decision. Um, yeah, >> sorry, I was just looking. Um, I uh do appreciate the communication that the district provides. Um, and I am looking forward to taking my son to the free Skate with the Titans Halloween bash at the Tartan Arena. Um, and a shout out to operations, I am uh appreciative that there are places to skate uh close by. >> And um, for anyone who is at the ribbon cutting, you remember how much my son loves Titus the Titan mascot. And so he's going to be over the moon when I tell him that he can go and skate with him. Um, I don't have much either. Um, my son is a senior, so um, here in 62. Um, and I also like to vote Deo. Um, Mason, who Nancy is talking about, it turned 18 this year. So, I'm very excited to take him to go vote in person. So, um, but yeah, so I would say, um, learn more about the the, um, referendums out there that, uh, we have a lot of information on our website. Um, our cabinet is a working cabinet. Um, I always I love hearing that because they they truly are uh really hardworking. Um, they don't just sit in their offices. They're they're out in the field uh helping helping folks out. So, um um I What else did I was going to say? Oh, um in addition to the sport sporting events, our our both our high schools have really great um play productions coming up, musicals. So, those are also really great. Um, so if you're looking for um something that's non-sports related, they also have um that available as well. So um other than that, I don't have much much else. So but um okay, so our future board meeting dates, we have November 11th, 2025, which is our work study session, and November 18th, 2025, which will be our next business meeting at 6 PM here in the boardroom. Um could I get a motion and a second to adjurnn? Okay. Uh moved by Sweden by Martins. All in favor say I. I. >> And all oppose say. All right. Meeting adjourned. Thank you.