OK, OK, so that's, yeah. It's still safer. Do what you gotta do, you know, that's right. All right, is everybody ready? Ready. If you're ready, I can hear you say yeah. Yeah. Say yeah, if you're ready, let me hear you say yeah. All right, all right, we're ready. We're ready. Good afternoon and welcome to the September 1st, 2026 Committee of the board meeting The time is now 4:31 p.m. If you would like your name to be included in the meeting notes, please sign in at the table near the door. This meeting is also recorded in audio streamed. We will begin with introductions for those at this table. Director Henderson will be absent from tonight's meeting. I will start. Erica Valiant, vice chair. Uriah Ward chair. Carlo Franco treasurer. Sarah Del keyboard secretary. You said Carrillo, board director, Chantelle Allen Clerk. Uh Katie Bergstrom, general counsel, Stacey Stanley, superintendent Thank you. Next, I move the approval of the agenda Is there a second? Second, seconded by Director Allen Comments or discussion? All right. Those in favor please indicate by saying aye. Aye, aye. Those opposed please indicate by saying nay. All right, the agenda is approved. Next, we're gonna move on to the superintendent's announcements and I will turn over to Superintendent Stanley. Thank you, Vice Chair. I appreciate that So this time of year is just a really fun time of year because everybody's coming back. There's lots of great energy. Last week, we did a um formal recognition of all of the Many of the individuals that were involved in the strategic plan that was approved by the board there was so much energy in that room. Um, this morning Director Franco and I got a chance to talk with EAs and they were just such a fun group to meet with. Last week I was with new teachers, and then several of us marched. With our St. Paul Public Schools marching band today at the State Fair. And it was so. Can you raise your hand if you marched with us? It was so much fun. There were so many people there cheering cheering us on. SEO SEO Turner's kind of just happy to be here right now because it was, it was a march for sure. It was a dance march, but oh my gosh, the people at the fair were just cheering us on. I mean and like not just like cheering for St. Paul Public Schools. And so um it was just so much fun to be there And so I'll leave it with that energy. All right. Are there any questions from board members? I have a question What kind of dance did you do? Well, you know, I'm old school. I did a 1970s hip hop, uh, no. I just did a wave your hand to the music on beat. It's important And it was classic 70s. We appreciate that. It was September by Earth, Wind and Fire, so that is my 25 year old favorite. There you go. Just please don't show up like our um sister city mayor. I, I, I was on beat. I will say that. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Represent Saint Paul, please. All right. Next we're gonna move on to the facilities portfolio task force update presentation and I'm gonna turn it back over to Superintendent Stanley. So as you know, board uh, facilities portfolio task force has um been meeting since September and we want to make certain that you have ongoing updates to let you know the status. We do have um board members that sit on that task force and we believe it's important to continue to update all board members. And so, um, Senior Executive Officer Turner is here to provide an update. Thank you. Doctor Stanley was on the board, um. As I said, the task force and what we've shared before is a 30 task force We, um, support in a collaborative role. Um, they are an advisory to the, um, superintendent and, and administration and so along the way our role is to um, advise. They're gonna help create the criteria Their role is not to, um, decide which buildings are gonna be. Purpose close or move or combined, it really is to help create the criteria that we will follow Um, they review and analyze data that, um, all kinds of data, data from the research evaluation team, data from other districts, other cities, other programs that have been similar. We've been looking primarily at building utilization data, um, and next we're gonna move into, um, providing some program data and doing some of that, um. It's a multi-phase, uh, process and we are right now in phase one, that's gonna take us through the fall. Right now we are really defining the criteria, a couple more ways of defining the criteria and as well, the plan is to take that criteria out You'll notice there's a cordion down in the bottom that uh this process is we're calling it accordion process, meaning that information will come in, go out, come back in, go back out, come back in. So all along the way we will be seeking feedback and getting input from others on it. Um, it will end up at the spring of or summer of 2027 a recommendation from the superintendent to the school board about um a plan to adopt. Right now, we um just finished meeting 5 and really, like I said, that the group has been formed into teams based on your, your um perspective whether you're a parent, a partner, community member a staff member, a teacher, um, and they are working at creating the criteria. From that, they're each going to prioritize that criteria, and then we're gonna meet together and, and discuss that. As we looked at some of the criteria, they are calling it a criteria design studio. It's a process that actually taking us through. And remember when I say us I think about speaking louder, uh, we have worked with partner with Wilder to help us through this process. And these are some of the categories that they have encouraged the teams to review and come up with criteria under So we're gonna be looking at characteristics of building that may include the building size, how well does the building support technology, how safe is the building perceived to be, what's the condition. of the building the potential upcoming maintenance that is needed and then how um sustainable is that particular building We're also gonna be looking at the programming that's inside of the building, um, where do we have a really great program but not enough room for the program to grow. Where do we have a really strong program that's growing, but we don't have room in that particular building. So we want to make sure that the, the program fits with the correct building. So we'll be looking at demographics, um, areas of the city, um, it's was really important to this team that at different parts of the city of the Saint Paul, that we are not more um, Um, working with a particular part of the city that we are given a more, um, leniency to or either that we are, um, closing too many particular programs that have too high of an impact in that particular area or neighborhood, so they are reviewing some neighborhood and city data, um, with that as well. And then of course achievement, uh, how well our programs, um performing academically. And then finally location Location has been a big one. That uh the committee is really leaning towards that there should be equitable distribution of programming throughout the city. And um I'll open it up for any comments or questions at this time. Again, um, and I invite Director Frico Director Criel to join me in answering those if there's any questions or comments from the board. All right Any questions or comments from our members? And also welcome Director Lowe. Um I'll need a comment to start um, um, so far the work has been very instructive and understanding, um, What different members uh of the work group are focused on, but there does seem to be a, at least in my understanding, a strong uh interest in making sure that, that, um, the criteria are equitable and importantly that they, um, um, the impact is distributed across, across the city. It's not just, you know, focused on, on one area. So that does seem to be at least in my understanding that um. There, there's a uh Uh, a lot of questions I think that are still out in terms of data gathering, and I don't know if they've, they've been answered yet so that's, that's one area where I would maybe have a lingering question, um, is, you know, um, specific to demographics, if we've been able to answer all outstanding questions that are out there, cause I know that there's a few people in the work group that are either demographers or were demographers, um, and so I'm just curious to know if, if those have been answered. And then, yeah, I'm it I'm, I'm very um I would say I'm uh it's not pleasantly or surprised I'm, I'm just, I'm very happy or I feel very supported by the Wilder Foundation. They've done a great work um, kind of making sure to um manage the conversation and the flow and and keep it moving without getting stalled on specific points. Alright, I have a question Two questions about the same thing. So for the programming criteria section, um, I guess I would want to know what we mean specifically by programming and what's considered a program because I don't believe that we have defined that yet. And so like without being able to answer those questions, I don't see how we could fairly I guess await this across schools. Um thank you for that. Um, I sure, we are, um, it's broad right now, so programming that we're defining it as a program within a school or the whole entire school itself, as you know, some of our schools have multiple programs within it, one physical school, but several programs. Wellstone is a perfect example that has a Corinne program, has the um. Uh, BioSmart program and then has a Spanish dual immersion program. So that's 3 programs within one physical building, um and then in another building, um, um, for instance uh, Crossroads has 2 programs, has a Montessori school with a separate school code, as well as the, um. Crossroad Science has a separate school code, two different schools because of the school code in one, in one school, in one building. So it is a little different depending on which site, um, and we work with the state to define whether or not a school is an individual school. Or if it's a program. If it's a program, then it is embedded within the physical building of itself Central, for instance, has programs in there, but it's one actual school code. If I, if I could just add in, um, that question actually came up at the beginning of our last session, um, and, uh, and it was like in a similar context, right? Like programming could mean a lot of different things, so like how are we defining it, right? And so, to Chief Turner To, um, SEO Turner's point, um, I think I believe at this point, majority of the members of the task force understand that there is kind of some nuance when you're looking at programs, and I think the way that they've encouraged us to think about it is that um Any and everything is on the table, right? Like this may be us starting to think about pathways, this may be us starting to think about um what geography where do certain programs exist, where do certain programs not exist. Um, and so, um, I think keeping it broad made sense for us, but it's my understanding that As we start narrowing down curriculum criteria we're gonna get more specific into um Digging deeper into the program offerings. And, and not to the point where criteria would say, you know, we will no longer have pets. That's not what the criteria would be. The criteria would still be high. Actually, um, Director Frankco and I were with a student, um, one of the days that we were meeting because we do have a few students and, um. She was profound, in my opinion and she really started talking about Pathways programming and the access to Pathways programming, or the lack of access to Pathways programming. And so it's all still really high level conversations that Wilder is leading with us, and conversations that are allowing the different teams to really start to narrow down in that funnel what criteria might OK. I think I, I have my own questions that are not fully answered yet, or, but like one of the questions that I have and I think it'll, it's not gonna be answered immediately it's gonna be answered throughout the next few weeks or months, is like, um, what, what do we consider a successful program, and how do we measure that, and who gets to measure that? And, and, and what, what what is that conversation look like? Because we talk about expanding successful programs or allowing successful programs to thrive, and that absolutely involves the question of our facilities. Like our facilities have to be set up in a way that allow um successful programs to thrive and don't just, you know, uh tamper them down. Um And we need to see what, maybe what criteria we've used in the past and how, like what, what the net effect of that has been. But, you know, those those are things that, that are going through my head and I'm sure most of the work group uh is thinking about similar things about like, well, what have we done in the past and what has it got us and, you know maybe we need to change the questions that we're asking Yeah. So, I still have questions, but they're not something specific, so I need to ask them right now Any other questions? Mhm All right, so next we're gonna move on to the Zucchi real estate market study and I was gonna turn it back over to Superintendent Stanley. All right, thank you, Vice Chair. So, um you remember that on, uh, well, actually well before December 18th, um, the discussion about having an expanded facility to bring K-8 students together for um, Suchi. Was had in FMP um facility and put placed in the facility maintenance plan and then in December in particular um the board gave me the direction that um we needed to work to make certain that uh that facility that new K facility would open up in 2033 and um so. The first step in that has been to uh work with a realty firm that knows St. Paul Public Schools very well, has worked with St. Paul Public Schools um, to just give us a lay of the land about what's available out there, what properties are available and a really high level look at that. We are not, um in the position where we're bringing it down. And saying, this is the address or something like that but to just give us a really strong cursory look about what what is what might be available um within our city as we move forward with that. And so I'm really excited to um invite up, um, actually, I'm going to invite CEO Turner to come up first, and then she'll do the introductions. Thank you, Doctor Sammy. So um, As Doctor Stanley shared, this is, um, a partner um, collaborative, uh, process, and we have been working with, um, Cushman and Wakefield for a number of years on various different projects and things, and so we have, um, sought them out to help us, um, with this part of the zuki, um. Um, building an update. And so if I would like to invite um Jacqueline May and Jason Sell, who's going to join me and they're gonna primarily do um the presentation. I'll come back up later to um entertain some questions and we have also have members of the facilities team here, Kathy Wallace and, and Jonathan Pettigrew, who's also gonna help answer any questions you might have about Jacqueline and Jason. Well, good afternoon and thank you. Uh we are eager to share more information with you today and welcome questions as we move through. Uh, to get things started, we'll just establish the parameters that we are working within. Uh, we were advised to look at 8 acres minimum, although that's not an ideal number. Uh, we wanted to start as low as we could go and as high, you know, you know, the options endless at the top end, but we want to start low and And then we looked at the district boundaries in terms of the other layer of criteria to look at. Um, there was a preferred search area too that we took in mind and we also went a little bit outside of the district boundaries just to ensure we're not missing anything Um, our role as a real estate advisory team is to ensure we, um, achieve ultimal, ultimate optionality for you and so leave no stone unturned, um, and that means. Considering all sites, you know, it might be a site that serves an industrial purpose today and no way would you think it could serve a purpose as a school in the future, but it's still in our list and we went through, uh, retail industrial office specialty, and then vacant land sites and probably stating the obvious there's not a whole lot of vacant land sites out there, so there's many sites that would have a building that would perhaps need to be, um demolished or maybe there's a way to, to renovate and retrofit for a future education use. In terms of the approach, um, you know, as commercial real estate brokers we have access to different databases that we leveraged, uh, we cold call the organizations that aren't marketing their, um, property for sale but just they fit the criteria so we place cold calls to them. All the while maintaining confidentiality um, uh, just stating that we represent an investor uh, with interest in acquisition of said property We also issued an email blast to the brokerage community in the Twin Cities which comprises of 750 individuals Uh, we explored government-owned properties. Um, the Archdiocese, as you probably know. Own a fair number of properties and wanna make sure we documented that as well um and uh the uh central business district was excluded from that search um in residential properties um certainly we don't wanna unhome people um that was not contemplated and lastly railroad owned properties were not contemplated. This provides a visual illustration of the preliminary options. Um, there's roughly 30 and the pink are the ones that are not Saint Paul Public Schools own properties. Um, the ones that are uh, in the square purple, those are Saint Paul Public School properties we looked at, you know, the. The um, portfolio of real estate and again using the same metrics of the 8 acres minimum as a threshold. Um so again, uh, you can see also the, the gray hash is the school city boundary and then the yellow hash is more of the preferred search area. Um, and so that just gives you a visual illustration. So, when we think about steps to ownership, there are a number of items that come into play. Um, certainly, we need to tour, evaluate sites for suitability, access, safety configuration. Um, there is what we would say kind of two phases of due diligence. There's preliminary um, before you enter any sort of contract, um, to understand kind of what What would this look like You know, there, there's probably gonna be some apples and oranges. Site A might cost us to buy it, but there might be a heck lot more site preparation work that's gonna add cost to the site, whereas another site might not have as much. Um, so getting an idea of what that project budget might look like site to site and certainly survey title, soil environmental tests. Um, zoning and approved uses again, if, if historically it's been an industrial, um, use, we'd have to explore could this be an education use in the future or not Um, and then there's a non-binding letter of intent that we would enter into with any owner of a property Um, certainly internal consensus building and approvals from a cost standpoint and then ultimately you reach a purchase agreement which there is, uh, you know due diligence process that's formal, um, that's typically 90 to 120 days more or less, um, and then the closing following the completion of said due diligence would happen within a couple weeks thereafter. Um, once a site is owned, then you would proceed with remediation or demolition and certainly design and construction process would start at that point. Um, you know, when we, when we look at all the, the options out there you know, folks are probably like, well, gosh, what does this cost? Like where, where do we even start Um, and the options range in terms of size and whether it has a building and, and Jason, I don't know if you just highlighted a couple of comments there. Yeah I think it, it's, it all depends on if we are able to pursue, you know, just kind of raw land, which of course there's not many options. That ends up being probably on the lower end of an acquisition cost, say somewhere in the 8 to 10 million range, all the way up to properties that have existing facilities on them, which could be 30+ million for acquisition, and then a fair number in between depending on the size of of the land, the size of building currently on it, and and so forth. So there's quite a few, quite a large range on what we're seeing in the market today Before we move into questions, I apologize. Um, The board directed to have the school pre-K8 building operational no later than the beginning of the 2032 2033 school year. So it is 2032, not 2033. September 202021 yeah. So, um, how long does it, uh, from, from doing the evaluation to identifying a place, like how long does it normally take to, to get to the point of acquisition? You're probably, yeah, um. So I would say once you identify the site that you would like to pursue, uh, it could be probably the shortest. It would be about 6 months and that would, that would be negotiating. As we, you know, negotiating a letter of intent, uh, negotiating a purchase agreement, going through the due diligence of, you know, whether it's title issues or or, uh, environmental. Potentially these days is, we see a lot of sites with environmental contamination on it. Cleaning it up, you know, delays it even a couple more months. So the quickest we see is probably in that 6-month range. It can go quicker than that, you know, but, you know, to set expectations probably 6 months up to a year plus depending on if there are certain entitlement issues and Uh, environmental issues and stuff, yeah, yeah, sure, because there's such a wide range, we like to, you know, encourage our clients. Time is your greatest asset in this process because the moment you start thinking it's gonna take less time, that I mean time's not on your side then and there's just a lot of moving parts, um, in preceding like Jason mentioned. There is that time before you identify that site you like, and that time clock is TBD, right? You might enter the market. And you might not see anything you like right away. So then, not to make it akin to fishing, but you're trolling the waters and continuing that expedition of what other sites might work and That part is just unpredictable but from the moment of identifying this as the site 6 months minimum to 1 year plus. OK Um, just so the board knows if you didn't already that as we get closer if there was going to be an acquisition or an offer offer we can close the meeting and have it be a privileged meeting so to avoid, for instance, if you're interested in my house and I heard about that I might triple the price of it so so. I'm willing to talk, but no but so as we get closer into those kinds of discussions we'll, we'll be able to put some confidentiality around it. We, we do see that happen quite a bit where, you know, we need to remain completely confidential and and not disclose who we represent, whether it's, you know, school district or, or another client that so we, you know, there's. There's NDAs that can be signed but even that things get out, right? So most of the time, if we're touring, if we're talking, we don't use any names. We ask, you know, when you tour not to wear any. Uh, you know, material that will, you know, show who we're working, who you, who you represent and stuff, so, and we're subject as a school board to open meeting laws in the state of Minnesota, so we just have to watch all that kind of stuff closely and quorums. So we'll, we'll watch that as we get further along in the process. So So, I'm always asking for the impossible, but if we can go back to the parameter page, I feel like there's a piece that we kind of missed, but it might just be like an impossible situation So when I think about the dollars that we're generating to make this project happen, it's coming out of our property taxes, our referendum. And so if we're buying property that used to generate revenue in the city of Saint Paul and establishing that space as a nonprofit space for the next 100 years, we're actually reducing the amount of dollars that we're bringing into our Dollars. And so I'm wondering if there's a way to try. I know it's very small properties, but if we could maybe really look at properties that are already um in that nonprofit status or tax-free status, like I don't know, city properties, or I see you had the archdiocese on there, um, or maybe properties that belong to some of the colleges. I know they're not of nothing. But I'm just saying it out loud because it is a lot of tax-free property here in the city of Saint Paul, and I'm wondering if it's possible that we can just transfer into that and not prevent another company from taking over a revenue generating property. One wonderful point. And, and those, um types of owned properties were contemplated, so the 8 + 8. size developable sites we work with our um research team to identify all the parcel owners within the borders and so some of those owners are nonprofit owners as long as they met that 8 acre minimum. If they're 4 acres it wouldn't have been on our radar so those were absolutely considered and we only call that the archdiocese given the fact that it's, it's a large. Real estate owner in Saint Paul, um, so, so that's absolutely contemplated. OK, thank you, yeah you bet. I wanna follow up on uh Director Allen's question because the the the way that um you framed it challenges like the way I thought it worked and I wanna like correct my my own understanding if if I'm I'm wrong and this might be a question for general counsel, but if hypothetically uh a property. Goes from being um taxable to to a nonprofit non-taxable the school district doesn't lose money, right? But everyone else's property taxes go up a little higher to make up the difference, is that right? So there's still good reason to avoid, you know, switching from from generating to not, but we don't actually lose money as a district, is that right? I would, uh, concur with that. Uh, we'd look at, you know, we could double check that, but it almost be similar to like a TI you know, we've talked about tax increment financing what happens when a property is generating tax revenue or that, but there's another company that's gonna move in there private and they're gonna have a tax increment finance. That revenue is still going to come from somewhere, so the city, the county, the school district, our levy is our levy. And what's gonna happen typically is that that revenue is gonna be generated and that tax burden is gonna be pushed to other properties so it'll be pushed to other commercial it'll be pushed to other, uh, residential, uh, things like that, right? And we, we represent a, uh, a constituency that has told us over and over again that they feel overtaxed, you know, and so, yep, just, you know, just checking on that. Yeah, thank you. Any other questions or comments? Thank you Jacqueline and um and Jason So just as we close out this process, so what next steps will look like with this, um, our real estate partners will continue to, to look, uh, we are going to meet, um, as a facilities team along with Doctor Stanley and, um. Take this, um, map and actually come down to some sites that, um, we, we might call a process of elimination just because of either the location or the size really just will not work for our programming needs. And then after that, we would like to bring um a more of a prioritized list to the board under that those conversations that um Our general counsel spoke of and then really get down to um a few sites that we would like to begin pursuing along of course with our real estate partners so that's what next steps look like um. Uh, um, we maybe we have the same question, but what, uh, type. What kind of like tangible timeline are we looking, I mean, and I, and I think um I appreciated the kind of understanding that 6 months to a year I've learned um more about how plans become like how long it really takes right to break ground even on our internal projects so. What, what are we, what are we thinking in terms of when that will kind of start the question, um, OK, OK, so we did talk about as a team to have that internal conversation meeting, um, by the end of this September 1st week of October, just depending on everyone's schedule and then work with of course with the board to see when we could get a, um, closed meeting on that. So probably sometime in mid Octoberish was when we would Yeah, additional discussion. Thank you. And this is maybe more a question for, for the facilities team but I'm curious to know about in the, um, one of the concerns I have is the environmental testing, um, what um. Is that something that we pre-know before we start eliminating sites that we have big concerns about environmental testing and, you know, the impacts that that may have on, on students, on the community. Um or is that something that we just have to assume best intent and then test, uh, once we are able to do that at, at a, you know, much further down the line. Typically there's historical information that you can get, sometimes not though, so most likely it's using your best. Uh guess on what's, you know, what the previous uses were of that site, what the contamination could be if it's an area that we know is contaminated. Most of that, uh, testing happens after you're under contract because ownership, when, you know, ownership doesn't wanna allow anyone to do anything with their property And discover known environmental that might decrease the value that could cause issues down the road. So most of the time all that investigation happens after you identify a site and after you have it under contract If, if we went into contract and then we found out environmental testing issues, do we get into a potential litigation where we would have to try to recoup the the, the, um, abatement costs. Or is that something that is usually on contract? Without giving you legal advice, we would contract around that. I mean, just let me give you a quick example. Our lovely sandbox project, you know, we leased that from the Saint Paul Port Authority. They did remediation at the site as a brown site in advance, and then we work with our insurance company to work on what we're gonna do and how we're gonna use the site, and that's all carefully orchestrated, yeah. Thank you. Thank you, counsel The one, the one thing that um I'd like to bring up is when we start to talk about timeline, we certainly have the facility's portfolio analysis um team going and, um, as we start to look at the timeline to ensure that we have our building open in time for our children they might not run exactly right alongside one another or intersect with one another, and we are just I just want you to know that we are looking at that to figure out what that may look like, because in the end, there may be, maybe, we don't know, a decision that has to be made before the final. Um, recommendation comes to you, um, in June of 2027 for all of our facilities depending on where, where the board lands at in the direction that we want to go with the facilities of the smaller recommendation. Mhm. All right. Any other questions or comments? Thank you, thank you. I'll see you. Good God, I'll see you. Thank you. Next we're gonna move on to the redact update and I'm gonna turn it back over to Superintendent Stanley. All right what is Honestly, it's been hard to believe that it's been 3 years since the Reed Act legislation was passed and in those 3 years, I've learned that St. Paul Public Schools has done just some amazing work to continue to ensure that our students are reading. Everybody knows that I say that literacy is the currency of power, and I fundamentally believe that the science of reading work that we're doing is a key aspect of that, and so tonight I'm really excited to have executive Director Rachel Larson, executive Director of Teaching and Learning, and Sue Brightwhite, Assistant Director of Teaching and Learning, to come and provide an update on where we're at with the reading. Thank you very much. Good evening, Vice Chairman Elliott, Superintendent Stanley, member of the board. First snaps to that with the RED Act and all the work that um Director Braithwet has done uh to lead the Office of Teaching and Learning and also Jenny Davis has been a key instrumental leader in this and also SPFE have been incredible partners in looking at how we can make sure that every staff receives the, the quality professional learning um that comes through this RED Act. It's one of those moments in a career that I'll never forget. 234. I was so excited to watch that press coverage on TV and I'm getting a little reclipped, right? Literacy is the epicenter of equity. And for Minnesota to take a stand and say, not enough, we're gonna do better and we're gonna make sure that we all gather together to look at the science of reading and give the professional development needed to every school across the state was unbelievable. And so with that tonight, um, very happy to share that we are 100% on the path of having staff, um, Complete all the professional learning that is um required. And this first part of the presentation focuses on the compliance, but the more important pieces are towards the end. So, uh, the professional learning began in 2024, 2025, and we've completed 100% of that. So that's incredible with the number of staff we have. So huge kudos to the system for that. And 25, 26, same thing. We still have um 100% completion on track with those that are still in unique circumstances um completing that learning. And this is for all certified teachers within the system. And currently, we're continuing the carry-all professional learning into areas that have not had the training yet, but also the secondary level. And so you can see the number of educators that will um be certified pretty soon. And so, as we think about that implementation that um MOU with SPFE has been significant to make sure that we provide the quality of the adult learning that gets to immediate impact for students. And so the teachers engage in virtual sessions. They do asynchronous studies and um they work through this across two phases So, with that, um there is work they do outside of the general contract day, so they have um agreements for that in place that they came to. At the early childhood level, we have the letters, uh, professional learning, and that has had 100% completion as well And so you can see that in 2026, 2027, we have six new educators in the early childhood level and they're on their way and going to be enrolled in the professional learning. Yes. It is unbelievable, right? Snaps for this, right? Thank you, um, to the wisdom of this expectation that educational assistants and paraprofessionals who work incredibly closely with our students on a daily basis are part of the expected professional learning participants, um, which they're thrilled about to, um, have this inclusivity and the importance of that. Professional skill that they deliver. So happy to share that we're at 74% requirement for that um, and we're on our way to 100%. It's just working through the scenarios that may exist in different buildings or with different people within their careers or personal lives and how that fits together, but that will be 100% and so excited to share that. And When we think about professional learning, And the science of reading with literacy, one of the biggest pieces is the transfer of practice immediately, right Professional learning isn't valuable unless it changes and leads to a better outcome of something, and improved practice. And so for our students, We had incredible results through the Carry-all survey that staff took And I just wanna highlight a couple of things. Um 91.5% of our educators reported that it helped their understanding and ability to implement. That's significant These are really high approval ratings and engagement ratings for staff, and the strategy transfer, the idea that um 89.5% of our staff said that they could immediately transfer to practice for our students that meant it isn't something that they wait to do it's something that our students are immediately benefiting from. To bridge that gap. And then impact on immediate instruction. 64% rated transfer activities at the highest levels, confirming that the training delivered immediate actionable tools. We're breaking that down to look at what does that mean for the other staff what additional Support or skills or resources might be needed to help increase that so that 100% of our staff say they have the skills and resources they need to deliver the best literacy instruction for our students early childhood through 12th grade. Here are a few reflections um with key ideas of confidence the science of reading strategies you fly. We've seen qualitative results come through that staff will say they're seeing increases in student confidence, um and hoping that that leads to, um, increase in skill development and look forward to bringing more information back to you as we continue this multi-year implementation of the science of reading. Um, but even read alouds to have someone say it took them to the next level of learning and enjoyment for students and poetry and reading comprehension. That just brings the excitement of literacy alive to our students and that empowerment and agency that um will get us all to 100% of our students reading at grade level here at Saint Paul Public Schools. So with that, any questions? Any questions for appointments? Doctor Franco, thank you for the presentation. Um, could you share if you have the information, what percentage of staff participate that, what percentage of staff completed like the survey that gave us that data? And if you don't have it now, that's OK. I do not have that and I don't want to misspeak. I would assume it would be a requirement of the completion of the training, but I will check on that and get that to you. Thank you. Um, and I and I ask that question not as like an indication of the work that we're doing here in Saint Paul's schools, more so. To just make sure that the feedback we continue to give legislators is accurate and um this would be I mean very strong feedback right but if it's um a a different percentage than the full uh participants then I just would like to add that caveat so that was rationale for that question um Second question is, um, so what is the strategy, and I may have missed it in the presentation, what's the strategy for ensuring that new educators that um were not here in 25, 26 school year or the previous school year are. Going to be getting access to this content Great question. That's essential as we move forward not just within these initial years of. Training, but moving forward. Um, we did acknowledge it, uh, so there is something with new staff, um. Since it's a requirement, we track it and so we know all the new staff that come in and so as you can see some of the percentages that we laid out, I can't find it quite here, um, someone else, do you see it through the vice chair? Yes, um, it's new. So when you look at phase one year two on the 2526, it's new, um, yeah new staff engaged last year and then if you go to the next slide. We also have, um, part of that is we have our new staff who are new to SPPS and we don't have a lot of new staff this year but the new staff is still able to engage. I also did hear that we have our first hires who are coming out of their college preparation program with it, which was super exciting um, because we do need to make that transfer to our um, college preparation programs. So, um, I did hear that and then. Since I already have the floor, let me also add, um, Doctor Franco, that, um, the survey results was, um, they were a gotten from carry all from, um, from Carry because they are the ones who provide this training, and it was the 2526 cohort so it was the cohort of, um, like 250 educators rather than the cohort the year before where we had like the, you know, 1100, um, because that's, um, the data that they shared with us, but we can find out the completion rate. That's, that's helpful context. So thank you. Um, and just one follow-up, I guess I'm curious, so I appreciate calling attention to what was up there in my question. Thank you. And I guess I'm curious like longer term, um, I know it's a constant battle, right, to try to get funding and have programs continue in ways that they were, I don't know, designed to, although cost shifts typically come to our Districts to continue the service and so beyond, well, what is our current um Expectation of funding from the state that um new educators will continue to receive this year over year as it remains an expectation. Do we have that information? Um, Available. We do not and it does sunset those funds as we know it, so there will need to be planning, and the Office of Teaching and Learning is already engaging in that and looking at how that relates to our strategic plan for the next 7 years as well and making sure that we align everything with literacy strategies and the science of reading implementation. So that will be an interesting investigation into that expense so we can bring that to you of what that would mean past these initial years because it will be essential that it is part of our practice and expectation. Thank you, yeah. Is there an expectation as we go forward, uh, with Fun Sunsetted that, uh, we will be only hiring, um, educators who have this training, uh, whether they come from other districts or are rising as, as new, um, as new um, you know, educators, uh, out of, out of school systems, and I'm curious to know if, if there is legislation that supports that or if we're kind of like in a little bit of a gray area as far as, um, uh, Requirements for for employment. That's a great question. Um, some of the teaching and learning, um, curriculum directors across the state are involved in advocating for ongoing cohorts throughout the state so that if you have educators that come from out of state and are applying for positions we don't want that to be a barrier, but we want the expectation of. Practice and science of reading to be there. And so what does that look like to continue training programs that maybe you don't need enough in one district for, but you can pool resources. So that will definitely be something that we take into account. It, I can't speak for HR practice, but I know philosophically and uh through an instructional lens, it, it's an expected practice. So how do we help staff get there if they aren't and hire the very best people um to teach our students. Thank you. Oh Thank you for this, and I'm happy to hear that we have so many people that are getting trained, and I guess I'm wondering at what point is the, is the state gonna look at the impacts of this, or how are we as a district gonna look at the impacts of um our investments on this? Yeah, thank you. That's what it's about, right? How do we know that we're making a difference because we will. That will be part of what we do within the division of OTL Office of Teaching and Learning, but also the North Star accountability and different pieces as we look at the formal assessments of student learning. So, being new to Saint Paul Public Schools, I don't know the cadence of that data reporting um, but I know the practice would be to bring you those results and keep you updated as we track that and really take that through a lens of multi-tiered systems of support that's outlined in the strategic plan too. How are we making sure that every student is growing, um, because with the qualitative data that staff have already shared, that's pretty positive But how do we know through common assessments or through PLCs or other feedback um that our students are growing and gaining those grade-level literacy skills if they aren't there yet? Yeah, and I guess. I'm, I'm interested even, I didn't take the training obviously cause I've been on this board, but um I'm interested in like some of the new strategies that they're using, if they're able to Address some of the specific gaps that we saw like around phonics or um whether it was disengagement or whatever those things that we saw were the interrupting pieces of of uh literacy achievement I guess. And and are we able to like test that to say, OK, these are the pillars of the thing, at 2nd grade we should be able to see like Uh, a shift in how our students understand phonics, for instance right? And are we able to personally do a test just to make sure that it's not just natural growth or that our strategies that we're actually implementing are actually working. That's a fantastic question So there's multi-layers, so I hope to get there. When we think about measuring that student growth, there's the personal level in the classroom with the teacher that can monitor that, and then there's the learning work that students provide and demonstrate, and then you have assessments, and then you have state required assessments. So we should see crossroads of all those pieces of student achievement. And one of the pieces with the explicit instruction through the science of reading that is exciting is it builds the common practice of small group instruction so that the instruction can be tailored specifically to the instructional needs of a student. And so the teachers have been engaging in professional learning that gets to those strategies. If there is a, a phonics, um, lagging skill, right, which group of students should I give this extra support to and how and what does that look like? Um, so that could be reported through a variety of mechanisms, but the professional learning. Through UFly that our teachers have engaged in and most recently the summer and then also the carryall does provide those explicit strategies that aim at which level of the literacy skill set the student may need. Cool yeah, I'm exciting to see. I know, I know, I know it's gonna be really exciting. One Through the vice chair, if I could also add um Doctor Allen, I love that question because um. And first of all, it sounds like you did take the training. You can hear very well first, um, and no, you are, and, um, I think what had happened is, um, what happens with reading instruction is like that it's this pendulum, and we tend to go back and forth and we don't just land in the middle someplace. It's either like all or nothing we're all phonics, and then we swing and we're whole language and um and conversation, right? And so we really 10 years ago, we were not teaching phonics In this district, um, because most, most districts weren't, that just wasn't what we did at that time and we actually, I was here when we chose, we had it's actually assistant director, um, Sue Braithwaite identified that this phonics was a gap for us, and we really needed to, um, to begin teaching phonics and we're at the time where we at, we're doing a new literacy selection. And she decided we don't, we're not going to um implement the um the comprehension component first we're actually going to implement the bionics component first because that's we knew that that's what our students are missing and so we chose the program, got ready to implement in March of 2020. Than COVID, so it was implemented during the year where students were, were learning from home and teachers were teaching from home and so that was a little bit shaky, um. And then a couple of years later, UFly came in and UFly started to fill those gaps in K1 alone, um, in 21, 22, as a district, our kindergarten and first graders were, uh, were performing at 32% on track. And as of last spring, spring, 42% on track. So simply since spring of 22, up 10% points And I think that does speak to the uh Effected UFly and it's hard to just, you know, pull it all apart but it's UFly it's um teachers going through carry it is um a carryall and letters it's, um, the science of reading it's mindset shifts going away from some of those older practices and into the newer practices So it's, it's hard to distinguish what exactly is working but something is working. Are we following a group of students through that process as they they OK, so we saw that that was the increase, but then there's this, you know, comprehension, and then there's critical thinking levels to make sure that all of these different states are we following a group of students to, well, we can actually follow every grade level, uh, on their trend. We can kind of see what that trajectory is, and we know that now we really need to focus on that knowledge building curriculum um, so we'll be talking about that in a couple of months. Sweet, I'm excited. Sounds good. Any more questions or comments? All right, appreciate your time. Thank you. Oh. Oh, no, we're good. You know I was gonna sneak one last one. All right, I am gonna ask, so. One thing that um I believe in some previous conversations we've had regarding Carry all and just the science of reading. It's just, uh, and I think the last conversation we had was around, um, How this is going to be. Integrated into middle and high school where like, you know, teaching this level of Reading is just not necessarily the norm. Um, could you speak a little bit about how this is getting utilized at the high school level or at the secondary level where things just move at a, a little bit of a different pace? Yeah. In a simplified way, we sometimes frame it as the younger grades, you're learning to read and in the middle high, you're reading to learn. However we need to shift that, right? Because we're all still right? Learning to read those higher-level strategies for critical thinking. So, with the secondary schools now joining in that professional learning, you will see that embedded into instructional strategies and practices for professional learning in the content areas. So, one key pillar would be academic content How do we really focus on that being one of the pillars for reading strategies and strong literacy? What does that look like at the middle and high school level So what are the specific strategies that students may need to keep bridging that gap with information and knowledge to make sure they have accessible text and are able to comprehend and break down the meaning in critical ways. I don't know if Senior executive if you have more context in the system that you would like to provide, the only other thing through the vice chair that that I would add, um, would be, um this year it is going to, um, it's high school, um it's 6 through 12 ELA teachers that is the cohort going through this year and Um, last year all the multilingual teachers, so that's all the way up through 12th grade, and then, um, special ed, so this year is the big chunk of ELA teachers and so they are doing the bulk of any, um, like reading strategy work as well. So that's what we've moved to this year. Just you. OK Thank you. All right. Any other questions or comments? Or wonderings. OK. Thank you. Thank you And now we're gonna take a break because I need one So, um, let's come at 5:30 is great. Let's come back at 5:10 or 5 or 10. You're the one that needs a break You tell us. Yeah, 5 minutes. 5-ish, you know. Oh man. I like that. Evening, um, Vice Chair Valley, Superintendent Stanley, um, members of the board. Um, if you remember back in November, I introduced the PFML policy prior to the implementation of PFML, um, Jan that became effective January of this year. Um, that policy was approved on an emergency basis, and as a result of that, based on policy 209, we are actually, um, basically bringing it back to the board so that this policy can receive final approval. So these are the policies that are gonna be reviewed this evening, starting with uh policy 420. So, a lot of the changes that are that have been made in this policy, from my perspective so we'll have a conversation a little in a little bit, from my perspective, they really are not substantive they are really procedural in nature, um, and it's really about providing clarification to our employees Um, we had, um, it was clear once the policy was implemented that there were still some questions, um, around some of these procedural areas. And the team felt that it was important for us to add that information into the policy because it becomes the source document that employees are referring to. Um, and so we've added, um, a few changes. So In section 5 of the policy you'll see that under applying for um benefits, we've added the sentence that employees enrolled in a district short-term disability program are required to submit a claim directly to the program administrator. And that clarification is simply because people were thinking they would submit it to us, they're not to submit it to us. If they have an STD policy, it goes directly to the carrier. Um, under section 7 of the policy we've added, uh, these couple of sentences, and again this really is about clarification. Um, while awaiting the state's decision on a leave request, employees may choose to top off, um, their, um, sick or vacation hours or short-term disability pay. And we, we have a calculator. Our website and we're really trying to encourage employees to use that calculator to help them figure out the difference in what their pay is gonna be so they can identify what might be the maximum amount of hours that they may need to use either for vacation or sick time or STD in order to be able to top off so that they can get as close to their regular paycheck as possible. And we've also added here. That if an employee uses excess sick or vacation hours or short-term disability and they receive more than their regular pay, the district is not going to be restoring any sick or vacation hours. It is the employee's responsibility to balance that out. The state is very clear in the legislation that employees are not able to be paid above what their normal paycheck would be. Um, and the employees are, is required to report that overpayment to the state of Minnesota, um, and then the state will make the appropriate adjustments One, again, we emphasize the calculator because we want people to have a sense of what that's gonna be What we've figured out, it seems as if most people um, uh. Receive about around 1,200+ dollars um from the state in terms of what they're gonna get from their um check from the state so they really need to be thinking in terms of what's their regular paycheck versus what that amount is going to be. One of the things that we also talked to employees about is. Um even though the state has gotten better, there have still been a cer a few circumstances where the state has not been able to process those requests in a timely manner. Um, and we did have one situation recently that was very extenuating, and we did try to work with that employee to try to recoup some of their sick leave time, but we were not able to do it because the The employee um actually wasn't returning to work and there was no way for us to do that if we couldn't actually um take some of that money out of their paycheck But the employee needs to make sure that they have a sense of what that amount is going to be and they've got to report it and if they get overpaid, they're gonna have to pay the money, that overpayment back Uh So under section 8, and again, this is a clarification so during PML, um, um, basically, and also when they're in an unpaid status of FMLA, right? Um, it's in those two circumstances that the employee actually is gonna transition from having the deductions coming out of their paycheck. To our COBRA administrator, which is BRI, because if they're not getting a paycheck or they're not getting enough of a paycheck, we can't possibly make the deductions out of their paycheck And so they transition to BRI, um, but we continue to pay their, um, insurance as at the active rate so they're only paying the regular employee portion Um, of that contribution. Now, if at any point they go into that, um, if they're done with the leave, and they're continuing to, um, be off, then and they're not coming back, then they're gonna continue to have to pay, um, BRI. But once they return to work, we'll actually restore them, and we'll continue to then start taking their, um, The money out of their regular paycheck. But again, this is about clarification, um and employees also when they're on BRI they need to know that they've got a 30 day window. So they've got to pay BRI within that 30 day window or BRI is going to stop their insurance. So making that payment becomes very critical to the for the employee to make sure that they continue their coverage. Um, benefits so again under section 8, coverage will terminate um, if premium payments are not received as I, as I just shared with you. Um, once they're done with their, um, their leave, the employee is no longer protected under these continuation guidelines, so they're protected under the FMLA. 12 weeks depending on what leave they're eligible for under Minnesota paid leave, it could be either 12 weeks or up to 20 weeks. Once that protection period is over, the district then will not continue to pay at the active rate if that employee does not return to work. They will then be responsible for paying the full closing rate at that time. Those are the changes, questions. Sorry just, just, just one for me, and I feel like we had this conversation with in policy work group. I think it might be important, so. Is there any changes? What are the changes that the employee if I pay uh PFML no PML, how do y'all, what do we call it? MPL I don't know that the Minnesota Paid Leave Act, um. For transitioning to the CR, like what, like what requirements do employees need to make in order to transition. To the COBRA plan if on P or MPL. Well, they're automatically, so so most employees who have taken that, they've had either no top off. Most people actually had some level of top off if they have sick leave balance. But if when they're on PML, most of their pay is coming from the state, it's not coming from the district. So as a result of that, there is no pay for us to deduct their premiums from. So when they transition to PML they are automatically going to be transitioning to to our COBRA administrative BRI because they're gonna have to pay them because we cannot collect the money from them. BRI does the collecting of the fees from them. We're continuing to pay the active rate and they're only paying the employee portion. But they're paying that to BRI. So if they go into an unpaid status because they're not getting paid by the district, so that would be on FMLA or any other kind of leave, right Um, or if they go to PML they're gonna transition to BRI. Got it. And, and I guess like, do they have to like take specific action steps in order to continue Their coverage while transitioning to BRI or like does there like the carrier doesn't necessarily change like we're not adjusting any type of carrier doesn't change the plan doesn't change everything remains the same except that they have to pay BRI, the employee portion of their health insurance contribution, but they don't have to like sign up for the cover. It's an automatic transition. Well, we've made it as seamless as possible, but BRI is gonna send them some documents and because part of that oftentimes is they send them like a pay statement kind of a thing, and then they would submit that um as a part of their payment to BRI. OK, but they received a letter from BRI that explains all of that, and we've actually reviewed that information. We've streamlined that information We've tried to make it more user friendly in terms of reading because people were going all past that information and going, uh, and not necessarily. Paying attention. So we really worked to try to improve that process and we've made some changes in terms of how people transition from us to BRI to try to make that process as seamless as possible because we did have some hiccups in the beginning. Thank you for that I think um. I appreciate the work to try to make it more seamless. I just know that that's if folks are going out on uh PML, MPL, um, just leave in general it's typically for extenuating circumstances. And so I think like I guess my, my line of questioning rationale really being, um. As seamless as we can make it just because even filling out one letter, right um, while being out on, on a leave is to maintain benefits coverage like missing, then that just also means missing one letter, right? Means that your benefits coverage may be discontinued as a result and I wanna I, I don't know if there's any safeguards that we can put in place, but again, it's just my, my way of thinking right now, um, just because they're going out, likely in crisis in some way, medical in nature and so, um, just ensuring best as we possibly can that they have continuation of coverage, um, is important Oh, I, we agree wholeheartedly and, and Actually, I uh, most times that people are applying for PML, it's not really extenuating circumstances. There are some times that that's the case, and certainly if there's an emergency situation and someone explains that to us, you know, we work with the person, but in most cases, that's not the case. And so we've been really clear with employees that it's important that they they can't just apply to the state. They've got to let us know because If we find out about it a month later, you know, I mean, so they've got to communicate with us. And once we know someone's, um, cause they apply for typically a leave with us, and most most people do first, and that goes into the system and that then triggers. the process for us internally and we send them a communication, and then um we connect with BRI and BRI also sends them a communication. So it is key, unless there's extenuating circumstances that they must read their mail. Because that's gonna have the information that they need to make sure that they follow the process. You got through the chair director cover you. Yeah, just, um, I think the question I have was, and sorry to belabor this, but When we transition to the CR plan, it's not a different rate right? No, it's not the same exact rate that they would have paid, that would have been deducted from their paycheck. Right. Mhm, right. OK, that's it. That's the only question I had on that. And then in terms of the um Uh, let's see. No, I think I don't have any other questions. Are there other questions from the board? So the question that I have up for Gordie is, do you consider these procedural changes to be substantive changes that warrants the three-reading process? That's the question that I have. Yes. The 3 reading classes you said? Does, does legal have an opinion? Like, normally that's, that's where we look. Although, also if any board member feels like this is worth the prereading process, then I would probably want to have a prereading process, I think because we're at, we're in, and. Not after having these questions answered, I feel comfortable. However I think for the purpose of being transparent to the public and especially when you put in the word COBRA it's a very scary word. A lot of people who hear COBRA hear of, you know, usually termination of employment or loss of employment, and it's a huge burden in terms of costs when that happens, cause it's a different contract that they're signing up with that with that and so I think it's important that we, we go through it. Part of our conversation and policy also was, um because we initially passed this under kind of the emergency clause of Adopting a policy that it might also make sense for us to go through. A 3 reading process since this would be the first time that we went through all of those readings. I will remind the board that it did go through two reading processes I think the public should know details, but Oh. When you say 2 reading, that means in the policy work group in here. No, the first time it went through the emergency bases, it went through the committee of the board and it also went through one complete board presentation It was very detailed in terms of my giving an overview of the law and all the implications of the policy as well. Yeah, I, I'll just reiterate, like, I can I can see a case for why, you know, maybe this could be um like justified as, as something that we, we do via Um, you know, the, the procedure, like the I'm losing my words, the exception where it's not a substantial change, but at the same time, um, I I think if any board member wants us to do the 3 room process we should, um, because I don't wanna stop anyone from being able to ask all the questions they have and, and, and, uh, approach this as thoroughly as they want to. So yeah, since we have two board members that have said they want to, then I would also, uh, lean that way too. So the next question I would have for the board is, can we consider this to be the first of the three readings? Yes. OK, great Thank you. So if there are more questions, I'll transition to SCOWACA. Thank you. I'm vice surveillance members of the board. The next policy tonight is policy 718 which is currently called branding um supply slash stationery. I think we have stationery spelled wrong I should have an E. Um, but this is a policy that has not been updated since 2008. Um, so this revision includes updating the format to our current format with the policy purpose and guidelines, um, updating the name of the policy, so removing the supplies and stationery piece to make it apply to all types of materials that include branding, um, which is far beyond supplies and stationery. Times, um, and then this is the new purpose statement, so establishing standards for the use and development of both school and district logos as well as other branding standards so that includes things like colors. On we have a full branding tool kit on the website that covers all of those things and more. Um, so within the general statement of policy, these changes here in red are really just to reflect current practice as well as just 2026 um standards of branding and logo usage so, um, removing the References to stationary as well as letterhead and printing, as well as the graphic Services Department, which I'm guessing is the former name of the Print Copy Mail Center. Um, So it doesn't matter where you're printing your t-shirts or your letterhead or whatever, whether you're doing that through our print shop or through other vendors because people are ordering t-shirts and things like that all the time from various vendors. So these changes mean no matter what the product is or what vendor you're using or what materials you're creating that You must be following um this policy and using only approved school and district logos and following our branding and identity standards. Mhm Um, and just added two cross references. So policy 716, that one has been updated within the last couple of years. That is the district advertising and name or local use policy, and then policy 801.01, which I believe is in the queue for coming to you in the next couple of months around buildings and grounds name selection because that policy does have a section around um mascots and logos. Yeah, that's all. Any questions It was. What? OK, so then we, uh, as discussed at policy work group, we would request that this is considered the first reading and that this one will go through the three reading process with the second reading being at the Board of Education meeting on September 22nd. Thank you. We have I. Good evening, Vice Chair Valiant, members of the board, Superintendent Stanley I am joined by Director Olson this evening to present some proposed changes to our school emergency management policy. Linked here is the original policy and then the proposed draft policy changes. The reason for the proposed changes are stemming from a new statutory requirement around cardiac emergency response plans which requires beginning this school year, every district needs to have a cardiac emergency response plan in order to address any cardiac emergencies that may occur on school grounds. I thought I'd begin with a little background information about why that statutory requirement is in place. So, a sudden cardiac arrest is uh a condition in which the heart stops unexpectedly Um, it stops beating its normal rhythm. It can occur at any age in both athletes and non-athlete. Athletes and it will result in death if it's not treated within minutes. Last year there were approximately 36, 360,000 sudden cardiac events outside of hospital settings and the annual survival rate is less than 7%. 23,000 of those were pediatric cases. And if CPR is performed immediately, those cases, the survival rates more than triple. And in school settings with that have AED programs, the survival rate increases to 71%. So it is very, very significant, and that's how we came to having this statutory requirement. A little background in some pathophysiology for you. Um, the difference between cardiac arrest and a heart attack is that a cardiac arrest is really a disruption of the electrical activity of the heart. It's the beating and the rhythm of the heart that stops functioning. Think of it as more of an electrical problem, whereas a heart attack is a disruption to the blood flow to the heart. It's more of a plumbing problem. Um, so, like a Clogged pipe. Um, so those are the differences. This requirement is addressing the electrical portion of it, the sudden cardiac arrest, and that's where AEDs are most beneficial There are 7 statutory requirements, and I'm going to walk through each of those and how we are addressing that within the district in the next few slides. So the first statutory requirement is that every school will have a cardiac emergency response team and a plan of activation during the event of a sudden cardiac arrest. So our plan in SPPS is that every building currently has a safety team that is identified. Every person that is on the safety team will automatically be a member of the cardiac emergency response team Additional members can be added by the administrator if they choose to be a part of that team. We would Recommend that that would include PE teachers, um athletic directors or assistant athletic directors EDL or flip side leads in addition to who is already on the safety team. Those members generally include administrators, nurses, health assistants, some staff um, a, a variety of people can be on the safety team if they're already automatically on a safety team They're gonna be a cardiac emergency response team member as well. This week during opening week is when we are asking administrators to um nail down and identify who their safety team members are and then that will be a part of their emergency operating plan. The second requirement is that automatic external defibrillators or AEDs are on school grounds following nationally recognized cardiovascular care guidelines. What those guidelines are is that we should be able to respond to an individual with an AED within 3 minutes. So this. This past summer our facilities department has been mapping where all of the AEDs are within buildings We will take recommendations from them if we need to move AEDs around to ensure that we have an optimal 3 minute response time. Then we will, we will put that, uh, work on implementing that over the course of this school year. Um, we do track our AEDs monthly and we have, uh, a software system that we, um, make sure that we have expiration dates for pads, um, that the batteries are functioning. We do that monthly between health, um, health. Staff and athletics, um we will not be transporting AEDs off of school sites so we're the statute requires that we address things that happen on school property. So at this time our plan would not include going anything going off site um, and the mapping for all of the AEDs will also be included in the SEOPs. The 3rd statutory requirement is for routine maintenance of AEDs. As I already said we do check the monthly. Facilities oversees all of the AED, um, operations, and, um, and so we, if we have any concerns about our AED's functioning, then we report that to facilities. They will, um, get replacements or replacement pads or batteries for us. The fourth requirement is that the distribution of the plan will be provided and we would coordinate with local emergency response providers. This is where our SEOPs come into play and every plan will be, every building plan will be updated with the cardiac emergency response team um, and they'll all have the language for how to respond to a sudden cardiac arrest event. The fifth is that uh we will have annual cardiac emergency response plan drills for all students, staff, uh, school staff and students. We already have statutory requirements around students receiving um some AED training and uh and um. Cardiac emergency response. So that is already in part of curriculum. What had not been previously addressed were the training for staff and running the drills. So that's one of the main things that is new with this. Um, we have developed a plan where a nurse on special assignment as part of her duties she will be going out to every building, um, that they have to sign up for a date and time that she will come out, she will train the. Cardiac emergency response team in hands only CPR and AED training and run a mock drill at that same time for somewhere on the school grounds there will be a a drill that uh an individual, a mannequin will have suffered a sudden cardiac arrest event. They will time that, um, and then, um, run those drills, debrief afterwards, and um, learn from those drills. The 6th requirement is that the school board will be annually, annually review and update the effectiveness of the plan. And so at a minimum, I will provide you an annual summary of our cardiac emergency response plans and focus on ways to improve the effectiveness of the plan. And lastly, um, the requirement is to address how school staff will respond to cardiac emergencies at school sponsored activities including athletic events on or off school grounds. Um, as I said, we will not be sending AEDs off school grounds. So not on field trips. If athletics practices at a site that is not an SPPS site, we would not have an AED on those grounds But any, any practices that occur on our school grounds we have AEDs available for athletics. So, as we are adding that drill language and the cardiac emergency response language to our proposed um revisions, there are also some other changes that I will have Director Olson walk through, um, so that we're doing all the changes to the policy at the same time. Uh, Vice Chair Valiant, members of the board, Superintendent Stanley when, uh, Director Schmidt said that she was adding this to our emergency management plan, I said, great timing because we need to update just some of our standard language, so it's matching the training that we're doing for all of our staff across the district and our administrators. So you'll see that it once said um the school response plans, and Director Schmidt already alluded to its emergency operations plans so very minor language changes there. And then, Just to um clarify again, right now, our administrators are in the thick of updating their individual school emergency operations plans. So, we wanted to make sure that that was reflected here as well, um, that it's reviewed and updated by each school administrator annually. And then adding the designee onto the um updated by the district director of security and emergency management because we have some staff, specifically our SA managers that work directly with building administrators and their um school emergency operations plans. And then here we just added again um the language for at least one drill for cardiac emergency response So that's addition to the 55 and 1. And then again just changing the language to District Emergency Operations Plan. So you'll hear acronyms, we use them a lot in SEM SEOP DEOP, um, School Emergency Operations Plan District Emergency Operations Plan. And then we just added the new statute there. It All right, any questions or comments from board members? Uh, oh, I have one question. So for the, the AED drill, is that like a full school drill or is that just like safety team drill? Uh, Vice Chair Valiant, our plan for right now is that it will be just the cardiac emergency response team that's identified for, for the building Eventually we will, my dream would be that we move to offering some hands-only CPR trainings to any staff that would like to attend those, um, on professional development days or outside of school hours. Um, we are. As we're building this, uh, throughout this year we'll learn more about what our capacity is to offer that to other staff. Certainly other staff would be invited to by their administrator to attend that training but they may not be part of that cardiac emergency response team. The more people we can get trained the better. OK. Connected question but not. About this specifically. But what about, I guess. I don't wanna ask this question. How would you? OK. So, what about students who are CPRAED certified, who may respond to a situation? Is there any like protocol around that, or do you like, once they do get certified, do we tell them like, hey, but don't do anything here or like how does that, I don't know if you've thought about that, but I'm just wondering like how that works cause we do er. Certified student get students get certified sometimes just from work, sometimes through us, you know, different ways. That isn't I had not thought of that scenario. It's an excellent question Um, when I'm thinking back to when I'm in CPR training whenever anybody comes upon a scene and says, I know CPR, can I help? We're not going to say no to that It would be. Out of the realm of even my imagination that someone would come upon a scene and say I know CPR. I can help if they don't actually know CPR. So if a student says they are trained. If if there's one responder. 2 is better than 1, we would take that help. OK, just I will just defer to legal duty. It can be that not CPR trained. It could be the guy that runs for 911. You call 911. He's he's that guy. My guess, I, I haven't looked at that issue. I director that or Vice your value and, and, um, but my guess is that is the answer all hands on deck and you know there isn't the statements of the good Samaritan law so you know people are protected, yeah. I'd like to add, if I may, um, this summer, thanks to Director Schmidt and her staff, all of our SSLs, um, were trained not just in basic CPR and first aid, but we were given the opportunity to take basic life support, which is a whole another, and just so I could understand what they were being trained, I took it with them Wow, I mean it was a lot. I mean it, it's a really a lot, um, so it's very impressive training and we're grateful to have it, but all of our SSLs have that level. Now, which is a step above. I have some questions um for the AD management, um, how does facilities understand like the concept of coverage. And like access to being able to get to the AED and bring it to the um the person who's suffering from the cardiac arrest. And And I'm not saying that we shouldn't, but I'm just trying to get a sense of is there an expected investment that to make sure that we meet that 3 minute range or better. What, what is the expected like? Or do we not understand that yet? Through the vice chair Director Crio, um, thank you for the question. The uh, we partner with or we subscribe to, um, Uh, company called School Health Connect. They come out annually and they go to every single one of our schools. They walk through every, every portion of the school, um they, they were partners in helping to map out where our AEDs are, um, and part of our ask of them this summer when they came out was to give us recommendations on where they felt would be the best locations for AEDs. Uh, there were some pieces that we had done last year over the course of the school year where we had a lot of our AEDs in health offices, which is great. However, after school hours those health offices are locked and closed and people can't access them, so we had facilities moving many of those AEDs into boxes outside the health office in a hallway which sometimes resulted in there being a box. Outside the health office and another 1 50 ft down the hallway but maybe one's missing on the second floor so we're taking a lot of that information and looking at, you know, now where do we need to redistribute so to make sure that we have some optimal coverage. On top of that, are there additional purchases that we may need to make, um, and looking at how we can access apply for grant funding, um, and. Add to our AED supply in order to. Try to ensure that 3-minute response time as best as possible. Yeah, one question I had too was, um, is, is there data on, on the, um, occurrence of cardiac arrest, um, sometimes related to, um, intense sports that may, may induce that arrest in somebody who did not know that they had some. You know, atrial fibrillation or some, some kind of issue in their heart that, and that, that happens a lot sometimes in, in elite sports, but I know some of our students may, may experience that for the first time in, in middle or high school. And so I'm curious to know if having the AEDs close to the fields. Close to whatever equipment area is that that might actually reduce that time to that. So let's, but I don't know that would have to be some data around, you know, the, the occurrence of those if it's if it's heightened or not. Um, and then one question I, I had to was, uh regarding students. Are we directly training students uh, in, in CPR through this specific program, or is that, uh, only the, um, security emergency team at each school? Uh, to address your, your first question or comment, um, I don't have data around, um, athletes and the incidences that occur there. The sudden cardiac arrest can occur in athletes and non-athletes. We do have, um, our athletics. Team and Director Schmidt has been working to secure more AEDs for her athletic directors and coaches so that they do have access to more on the field um and in their um athletic departments so recognizing that that that is a potential issue um. And not having the solid data which I can try to get for you, um, we, we are building that AED capacity within athletics as well. Um, the second question Was, um, specifically students and like, like, um at what ages do we consider them to be able to start being able to. Deliver CPR, what grades are covered because I would assume little ones are not, yeah, um They are not part of this training plan. Um, this is directed solely at staff. Uh, I may need to defer to. Someone in Curriculum and with what grades are trained in receiving. CPR. Teaching Office of Teaching and Learning, I, I believe it's high school. I don't think it's middle school. OK, yeah, through the vice chair, it would be in health class and so health class is gonna be in the middle school curriculum and then most high schoolers are gonna take that in either 9th grade or 10th grade depending on, you know, the scope and sequence of their high school or their individual Right. One last one, sorry, I have a lot this time Um, it'd be interesting to know, um, when we get, cause I think one of the requirements is that we get an update every year, um, if in the update we could get some data on the effectiveness of the um the drills like how is that going, you know, and it could be It could be like, it went well and we measured our time responses are 5 minutes and it's improving, or our measure times are, you know, 2.5 minutes, which is great, but it's just something that we understand like the metrics of what's happening, you know, around our schools. Yeah. Any questions or comments? OK. We would like to recommend that this be considered the first reading of the 3 reading process and that the September 22nd Board of Education meeting be considered the second. Thank you. I think it's me. I'm gonna stay here unless y'all want me to go up to the podium You gotta go to the podium so the public can hear you. Closer to the speaker here. There's not a mic at the podium anymore. Yeah, OK. Happy to go to the podium under your recommendation though, Director Alan. Um, I'm gonna just move through this. It's pretty quick and I'm gonna do it from my seat. Cause my colleagues don't mind. Um, so the first policy, so we have 3 policies that are, 2 that we're taking up tonight but 3 that were still outstanding to move to the new updated format, some of which will have more updates than not, but, um, the ones tonight are very much formatting. So, policy 211.03 is Student Voice and Decision Making. Rationale updating um to align with our current policy format. Um, we added a general statement of policy. This policy has not been updated since its adoption in 2016, um, and really you'll see is just some language and kind of formatting cleanup We added the word policy in front of purpose to align Nothing else in that has changed. We added the general statement of policy which again just reinforces our commitment as a district, as a board of education that student voice is critical in the way we do business as a school board and as a school district. So, the rest of this policy was really everything in black Um, it was like just one policy or it was one, there was no headings except for valuing student perspectives And so, what I've done is, um, removed valuing student perspectives as the header just because it is absolutely baked into, um, our general statement of policy and our policy. Um, purpose and then broke down the rest of the policy into 4. Categories, um, first one being establishment, the language under establishment, um has not changed. It was just more, I think, a stronger header to let us know what that section is talking about, that we are, um, by resolution could establish a committee that would active, be active to advise the board. Secondly, um, the role of the committee again, language not necessarily changing outside of swapping, um, role for purpose, which I guess probably I'll let you all decide, but, um, swapping role for purpose, um, and then I added the word established committee there, um, because if there is no established committee at the time, then we'd be referring to Really nothing. So I just wanted to be clear that that's established. And then I did include and switch is to, and this could be a debate, but I did switch is to, to may include just because there may be an opportunity to establish a committee um that may uh hit on some of those. I, I also believe that if a committee is established, they may not necessarily Hit on all of those. And so, I know it feels like a small grammatical shift, but we know that there's some intention there as well. And we just um shifted the language a little bit there. Um, as you can see, recruitment and selection that language did not change, it just is added a header And then operations, um. Grammatical again but switching will for shall. I don't know why it just sounded better um, and this is one that is, um, also reworded to reflect our current practice, but the committee shall be allocated an annual budget to support operations period. What it said before was, um, the committee will be allocated resources to effectively operate and that to me, in, in our discussion, we felt as if it was way too subjective to continue that way because effective um operations, um, It is important absolutely to that committee. However, um, what we know is that in our annual budgeting process is when we establish an annual budget, and so I attempted to align that closer to ensuring that we're allocating a budget as opposed to trying to find a budget midway through a year. In that, folks, um, I added a couple of cross references. To our board policies, but nothing in legal. So, um, with that, happy to entertain questions Sure. Um, under you go back to operations, um, 0.2 it says the committee may appoint student representatives to participate, etc. um, whenever it says student representatives, um, you know, whenever we've had CEP in the past there would be like 1 representative per meeting, but like that could be like 1 city representative that's a regular appointee or it could be, uh, a rotating Thing where it's true that there are representatives plural but like only one per meeting so I guess I'm just wondering like what the the language here means and I know like there's a may and like we can probably clarify how this will actually work whenever the the resolution passes to establish the committee but um you know, should it say like student representatives or representative or like should the S be in parentheses to suggest it could be either um that's a question I have. Chairward, I think that's a great question I was not around when this established in 2016. Um I know there were some folks probably in this room that were, if they have any context, however, I think we can do what we, what we please with it. I think it's as encouraging that there are young folks that come in. Engage with us, um, if they're ready or want to do that, right? I think, um, the may is kind of permissive in that manner. So, um, I, I have no strong preference if you have an amendment that you'd like to recommend. Not specifically because I also don't know how like how CA is gonna work in that regard right? Or, or whatever it ends up being called, right Like whether it's um uh a rotating um uh representative from the committee or whether it's one person who is with us through the whole year, um, and since I don't know what we're gonna do, I'm not sure how this should be worded. So yeah, I'm unsure. I think that's fine since the 2nd census says the process will be agreed upon between the committee and the board, and that could look different from time to time depending on, you know, what we come back and discuss. So I I think that kind of carries it. Yeah, yeah, you're right. One thing that I was thinking as we're kind of updating this policy as well and trying to make it a little bit more general why I think like CEB of course, is not referenced in this policy. Um, I think this may also kind of give us an opening to establish if needed, um, additional student advisory committees, um, while not in our current kind of operating Um, I, I, I think this gives us an opportunity to keep it a little bit more broad and if there's a, a a committee that we think is important, we can establish and I think this also gives, um, some flexibility in the current language. Do that, um, as opposed to requiring a student or students from any established committee to join a board meeting. OK, I'm OK. So one more thought, um, with the language being the process for such participation is to be agreed to by the committee and the board, what that suggests then is that we cannot lay out the committee as we or or lay out the process as we establish the committee We have to wait until the committee is established to then talk to the committee about. That process looks like. So if that's what we want to be the process that's OK. But like that means that we as a board cannot say this is how it's gonna work. We have to wait till they're established and then agree with them about how student representation, um, will be uh, sent to the board. Yeah, I'm OK with that. I think that's because I think, I think, um, well, here's a question. If we, if we like variability and change that's OK. If we want it to be fixed, then we might wanna fix it right now. But if we like the ability to change it over time and be like, you know, it, it might work better this way, or the students themselves like are like this, this time around, we just don't have the time to commit to this specific model. We'd like to do this different model. I think, I don't know, I'm, I'm open to, to that type of approach to be more flexible. If I may tier award, I think a part of Um, kind of student leadership is some kind of having the opportunity, right, to, um, say what's needed in that time, right? And so I think for us to prescribe that on the front end to your point would be kind of counterproductive, um, and almost kind of, uh, and if we. Prescribed it, then it almost feels like a check box as as opposed to a partnership. And so, I think to your point, It makes sense. Yeah, we should probably make sure that, uh, that good Trouble knows that this is then our requirement for how we're setting up seed, um, as we, uh, prepare for that. So just flagging that. I would, I, I think that's a good flag too, but I will say that the language, um, has not really changed. So I think the expectation has remained consistent, and I think it's a good reminder for us to make sure that they are aware that. The collaborative effort will continue as their project continues. Cool, great. Oh, I, I think you're, yeah you had it in first, um, I guess I'm just I do want the students to define this, but I think that it's important that we define what a student representative is and what they do. And so maybe if that can be part of that process that they go through and that maybe that's something um I don't know, good trouble can help with because it seems like that would be the steady thing that we're looking for until the group comes back and says that stupid student representative style is dumb, right, which is ultimately what will happen in 10 years. So right, but, but like how we we need to define what that means and what it does and I want them to define that for us and so I think that that's really important. I think that's a great point, and I'm almost wondering. I, I mean, like, I know that it's gonna be a little bit of a minute before they're really up and running with that project, right The school year is starting on Tuesday. And so I assume that there'll be some Uh, for momentum at that point um. Mm, and I guess like I'm wondering. To you all and I haven't thought about this before today. So like, is this something that we wanna continue moving forward with this policy or is this something that we wanna put in front of or ask if there's some interest in getting some feedback from any established group to kind of postpone this, um, if it makes sense to do it. If not, I mean, I guess that's just one wondering that I'm having as a result. I, my initial reaction to that question is like most of this is formatting and Once we get this committee up and running, like there's no reason why we have to wait 5 years to review this again. Like they can immediately look at this and say we want changes. Yeah, I agree, and I, and I think the, the need to have, um, the allocated annual budget question is pertinent now because we're gonna go into, uh, a cycle, and if, if we delay this, then we miss that cycle and then have to go back to. Some point next summer. Um, one question that I have is just, uh, the committee is composed only of students correct? Cause it says a committee composed of students So it's it's purely student led and student managed correct? It's, uh, so I think, yeah, I think that's uh, um, I'm sorry, a facilitator, right, right, they would typically have an adult support, um, to kind of Help navigate through some of the bureaucracy that we create. Yeah, cause I'm curious to know specifically when it comes to like votes, is there gonna be voting members, non-voting members, are they all like part that that's something that they're gonna decide how they govern themselves? my experience just as a youth worker has been they kind of co-create a democratic process for decision making. And it's typically part of their kind of onboarding when they agree upon some of that. I'm not the one facilitating that, but I think that's a good point to just No, it's fine. We documented as part of our conversation though, uh But yeah, some adult support and facilitation is typically Yeah, and I don't think we have to name that. I just wanted to understand like the what that looks like yeah, that makes sense. Other questions. This is great Um, my only question is for Teachers in here because it's been a while since I was a language arts, but typically. Um, If there's capital letters and then bullets and commas and then a period at the end, is that really just like a sentence broke up into bullets Or, and then if it's a Fractional sentence, should it be a comma at the end or just a bullet and no comma I think it gets to be fractional with a bullet. That's how I operate. The bullet gives free range for saying how you want when you want. It's a great observation You're, well, you're through the pipes here you're looking at me, um, so I would say, um, pick one. I I think you could go either way. When you have a colon you could just finish the sentence on each bullet and have the period. Otherwise just don't have the period. So just pick one and stay with it, OK, so take the commas away. Well, I think it currently flows Oh yeah, take the commas. Or are we removing y'all know I do not take the commas away. So are you trying to sequence it like there's multiple things and you're putting a comma there? To sequence them. I'm gonna get rid of the commas. I think we need to have a work session about these commas. I I will clean up the poor baby. The parent says the parent in the room says do your thing. We knew what you were talking about. I think that was a very great observation though Vice Chair Valiant, and I appreciate you keeping us on our toes. Um, no more questions? Lovely. So, um uh, so we will request that the review, that this review, uh, be considered the first reading, and then we'll move to a three-reading process, um. Our second reading will be at our next meeting on the 22nd. Mhm Cool, cool. Lovely. You don't have to go to the podium for that one. I don't know. I will, y'all know I will Um, so we do have one more that's brought, uh, one more policy that's brought up from our board today Policy 301.00, the board and superintendent relationship So, similarly, we're updating this policy to align with our updated policy format. It's been since 2008 that this policy had been reviewed and then finally um, Based on our conversation at our board retreat this year, um, we've made, uh, slight adjustments to align our current practice for longer term kind of policy, um, but we've translated some of our, um practice into policy, as you'll see, um, based on our board discussion at our Most recent retreat. Policy purpose was added um here. And so really, um, just defining the governance relationship between the board and the superintendent, which we, of course, um, know and it's governed by statute as well, but we're um adding it to our policy purpose. General statement of policy is, of course, um, going a little bit more in depth, uh, into, um, uh, uh, to the relationship how the, how the superintendent shows up as part of our kind of board governance and, um, Kind of manages the operations of the district, uh, That's awesome And then, so previously, this was the policy 1 through 7, and what we've added is bullet 0.8. Um, and I'm gonna read it out loud because this one again was what we were trying to get at as a result of our conversation at the retreat. Um, the Board of Education and Superintendent are committed to maintaining open, transparent, and effective communication. Together, they shall establish and maintain communication strategies and mutual mutually agreed upon protocols that ensure board members receive timely, accurate, and relevant information while supporting efficient operations, informed decision making, and a strong governance partnership. And so, um, Feels like a lot, right? But I think this is our opportunity to really just kinda say that um it's important for us to be in close working relationship with the superintendent um, and we will mutually agree upon um ways that that will happen. So, not necessarily prescriptive in any manner, but gives us Um, as a board, um, con continuity in the practice that we've had right now without Scaring anybody away. And that, folks, uh, we did, I did add um, just a Uh, cross-reference the superintendent selection, um, which that policy is coming forward I believe next month for, um, for this meeting to review which is more robust in nature now. So a cross-reference there and then, um, a legal reference because I got one of those. And so with that, happy to entertain questions and I will go back to this cause I assume if there are questions, it will be about bullet 8 Any questions? What's good. Yeah, all right, it meets the goal that we set forward at our, I don't know if we actually set a big goal, but, um, no questions Sounds like us. Sounds well, cause it is, it's us collectively in this, uh, number 8. All right, hearing no more questions that this should serve as I, I'm requesting that this serve as our first reading. Second reading will take place at our September 22nd board meeting. Any objection? Lovely. OK, I'm moving through this and like it's great. I believe I have like your belly. boards, bring home his family. Happy to have the final policy on today's meeting. Someday I want to do letter A and one. Anyway, um, so we're here with the policy 902 of buildings and grounds, and we are proposing, uh, to just cover a couple things First, some quick facts to illustrate the scope of permits, um. In terms of community use and as far as modifications, we want to hear your reactions and questions, and then we have a couple next steps, not just the standard recommendation. So, a couple, did you know, uh, we, we permit over 418 hours of uses a year and just under 90%, 373,500 hours of those were for Saint Paul schools uses, and that includes you know, typical plays, concerts, athletics, conferences meetings, clubs, and community education, which is large. Proportion of that. So that's just under 90% um, and then of the remaining hours, 98% of those non-SPBS hours are for nonprofits or partners, and we just want to highlight that because when we think about how we do rates. You know, we are, we're not getting a lot of external folks that we can count on to pay, pay the big bucks. So our income for fiscal 26 as it stands now is 268,000 and that's both space fees and personnel fees. The related personnel expense is um 214,000. Hm Again, looking at where permits are most often being granted or where where our buildings are most frequently being used, um, the Pie chart shows that it's primarily the high schools, that's that 41%, um, another 17% at our non-traditional buildings really community at buildings, um, and then a quarter just over a quarter are at the pre-K5, the elementary schools. Um, the remaining 16% are at middle schools and um PK 8 buildings. And then the top 10 buildings which are 56% of the permits are at our high schools plus Rondo, huge building, and then the two community buildings, JJ Hill and 1781 West 7th. That really tells you a lot about uh where Where this applies where the policy applies to. So next I'll go over the modifications that we are proposing. This is a policy that was last revised in 2008. So many of these changes are uh expansions for clarity as well as reformatting and again, uh or everything in red is added. No, we don't. I'll comment where we have deleted, um, the policy purpose and the general statement policy purpose is added. General statement of policy is a rewording um. With an important addition of the statement when so we're encouraging broad community use, when that use does not disrupt or diminish the educational district mission of the district. Um The next B is a just a slight rewarding to. State that this Facility use has to comply with the state statute that relates to it, which largely talks about types of uses. On the slight rewarding the administration shall implement the policy through the procedure. And just a note if you're tracking what we've deleted, uh, procedures that include a, an appeals process, the procedure does include an appeals process. We took out that clause. That just that part of the sentence. This next page with the exception of D is all additional language and expansion to uh really to add clarity with a couple definitions about what we mean when we say the district's educational function, about what we mean by administration because there's a number of places where we have uh substituted administration for either the superintendent or the school board because it is an administrative. Typically it's done by that administration. The change here in item D is um mostly it's, it's really just rewarding new language. But saying very much the same thing. And bringing the repentance. Now, if you're looking at the actual policy, this next page is page 2 of the of the modified policy document. And under E, this is a place where it's the administration rather than the superintendent, may waive fees, um, and otherwise it's, it's a rewarding to say. Regarding the types of activities. Point F is also in the morning primarily Stating that activities have to be supervised and that users um assume responsibility for damage. Uh G, here again, changing out administration into the board of education. Cooperating with other agencies by providing facilities without charge. Next section enforcement is new language to state the expectations that we have around um how new users are expected to treat buildings and grounds. And requirements for insurance. And this last bit uh related to elections is new, it's all new language to make the uh Minnesota statute requirements for elections explicit within the policy. And finally, Um, as you can see, no change to the legal references except to add the descriptions of what they are, and then we've added a couple of cross references, one to, MSBA and massive use of school, these were reference policies that were used to help create this, but then also a reference to the procedure. Thank you, Director uh Paulus. So we um, Structors, we know that they're, um, wanted to you all wanted to have some conversation and engagement regarding this policy. We felt that we needed to bring a policy forth to at least get some of your, um, Your reactions, your comments, and then the plan is to bring this back to um policy work group after we hear some of the discussion today, um, to work on some of those non-technical things. Earlier Director Wallace presented a lot of the technical part, which, um, don't anticipate there'll be a lot of maybe discussion around that, but we know there are a number of comments and things you want to talk in general. So we thought we'd take some time to hear what those are. And then also we um want to just kind of go over, um, there has been a request for us to um Do some work outside of the board, outside of the district regarding, this is a policy that we engage with the community and we should probably get the community's input, um, as well as our permit users. So we um have incorporated a process which is a little different than normally how the, the policy process works, but we'd like to incorporate some feedback from some of our high permit users, some of our, um, Um, for-profit users, some of our nonprofit ones, some of those ones that we always hear from, and some of the ones that, um, you know, that we don't often hear from. And so we plan to work on a timeline that incorporates that and then have that done prior to its third reading. Um, so you would get that feedback along the way prior to we're asking prior to us asking the board to adopt And then just before we start your comments, um, hear from you. It would be remiss if I didn't introduce um Miss um Jenna Hernandez, who is um Has been doing permits for years and years and kind of created this framework and the, the, uh, kind of procedures around it, and now she's at a supervisor level of it. That supervises the person that actually does that work but she's here today to also, um, comment on if you have any questions that I can't answer, Kathy can she can certainly answer. And otherwise we're here just to take your notes. So at this time, vice chair we'd like to open up the floor for any questions or comments, um, that directors may have about this policy Right, floor is open. Do not file in. Any questions or comments? The fluoresce lava is kind of. I, yeah I, you know, um, I think we've all probably heard um, concerns about how, um, like it's difficult and expensive to use, um, SPPS facilities. I know that we've looked at cost before and compared that to. Other districts, right? And so like, um, I know that even if it is expensive sometimes we are competitive. I know the, the, the picture is complicated, but like I do want to, uh, the idea of going out to community members who are trying to book our facilities and are having trouble doing so I think sounds really valuable to me and I would wanna rely on that feedback to to figure out how we can make the policy better um, and I'd be really excited to see how those conversations go and, and how we can improve it from there, um. Uh I did have a question about, I think one of the early slides that were, that were sort of like reframing this whole conversation because it talked about the um, the total, um, uh, amount of revenue that we get um, yeah, income from, from use of facilities by non-SPPS uh, entities or nonprofits and partners and then the rate related personnel expense, right, um. But like uh you know there are more expenses than just personnel expenses, right? Whenever you're talking about like using um facilities because there's like wear and tear like if people mess up the grass you gotta fix the grass. If people, you know, if um someone like kicks a ball and it breaks a light fixture, you gotta fix that. Um, and the more you use something, the the more it sort of deteriorates over time, and the sooner it has to be replaced, and I'm just wondering and I think the answer is yes, but like, do we have a way of kind of estimating that or calculating that and is that built into the, the, the price or the facilities already? And that may be more of a conversation for like whenever we actually look at the um the, the rates again, um, because I know that we're probably gonna hit that, that, uh, time pretty soon, but yeah I'm just wondering. Um, so to answer your question it, it is, it is built in, um, It, it is often hard to determine exactly what that, what that is. Um, that typically is the building or usage fee itself, which is generally a very small portion of the actual permit cost. Most of the permit costs, um, ends up being for staffing. Um, but Kathy, did you have any specific numbers in relation to per like percentages? No specific numbers. Just wanted to comment that we use something that's developed for facility owners around the country a cost calculator, which helps you establish your space fees based on some of those known costs of operational expenses as well as wear and tear, um, or regular needs to upgrade buildings. The other thing I think I'd like, uh, we should point out though, um, it is written within the contractual agreement for a permit holder. If they do unintentionally break something that they do bear the cost of that. And for the most part, our permit holders really hold true to that Um, if they, um, Um, you know, accidentally, uh, break a piece of equipment or something like that, um, they do know that they have to pay for that piece of equipment And we uh have a process in which we charge them for that. OK, great. Other que questions or comments uh when you think about this policy that you'd like to see included in it or? Yeah, um, so I read, um, Section 4 subsection G where it says the administration shall cooperate with recognized social service agencies and other government. Uh, entities by providing facilities without charge during wartime or community emergencies Um, and I was like, hmm, that sounds odd. I haven't heard of that. And I was looking at the legal references It is actually Minnesota statutes. Um, you just need to, we need to reference it. It's Minnesota statute 1223 and Minnesota statute 1234. Cause I guess there there is a mandate that during an emergency or wartime crisis, the governor. Um, must utilize the services equipment, supplies, and facilities of existing public departments and, and agencies to the maximum extent practicable. So I wonder if we need to maybe think about reframing this, and this what I would maybe have the um the um. Uh, policy work group look at it just to make sure that we, we, if, if, and work with legal to see if there's a way that we can look at this to make sure that we don't, um, corner ourselves into saying that, you know, um, certain entities that you know, harass, um. People based on their language or national origin, uh, feel entitled to use our facilities and so I think, I think I would wanna look at a way to rewrite this possibly, yeah, even, even though I know that is in the statute, we need to follow the statute, maybe there's a way to say that. We're following this statute, but, you know. It's usually the governor who has to, yeah, I don't know. To say more about that, um, director, you mean if there was an organization that didn't align with our values, but they call themselves a, uh, a government agency needing emergency, um, access because of wartime or community emergencies that we would have to honor that statute and give them. For free. So you'd like us to work on some verbiage that wouldn't, that would discourage that type of entity from using our space? I don't know. I'm, I'm gonna ask the, the policy worker to think about it and then and then come back to me and you, yeah, OK. Oh, in in our general, yeah, really, really, I think we're we're limited by what the statute says, but I think maybe just restating the, the statute might be easier than, than what's written right there. Or summarizing that statue. I guess I'm, I'm also, I guess I'm interested Are there other bomb shelters in the city other than schools, cause I think that, I don't know, is there That's a good question. Those existed from what the 1930s, 1940s or whatever. There's certain schools that are bomb shelters, and I think that that's why that statute was in play. It's because they were built specifically for that, like nuclear nuclear war. I mean, I know one particular school that I worked in that was a that is a bomb shelter still, and it has it on the wall, it's still certified there. So I mean I don't, I'm, you know, I mean we, we have to have safety places, so then I guess it might require us to work with the city to create some other spaces and we're not gonna let people use them, you got it And just so the board knows too that, um, you know anytime the governor has called upon or the city or the mayor um has called upon Saint Paul Public Schools we have been very strong partners. And had made sure that they have access to our buildings. Transportation you may remember when during the initial onset of of COVID and when some other things joins Floyd, um came, um, issue came, community unrest came, um, they used a number of our resources to help support their buildings as well as our transportation for buses I think the scary part is the social service agencies OK. Cause I don't think there's any way around. Government entities, but I mean talk about it in policies. Do we know that we'll take that advice and move that along to policy work. Any other comments, feedback just a quick comment for me. I think partially, um partially I've really recommended that we take it to community folks because I mean I've heard time and time again from community just around kind of excess barriers to getting in or cost barriers, um really with the intention of providing. Low cost services right, um, to young people in our community and so I really, um, I think it's important for us to Attack this policy with that lens um of how we are a public entity with public resource with our resource being our capital infrastructure and how do we leverage that to continue providing um the biggest impact to our um students who need additional support beyond our traditional. 3 or 4 o'clock school in time and so I think um part of my reason for wanting to get some feedback from community is really making sure that Their voices can be reflected as part of this policy and or as updating in our procedures cause I will say like this is Policy never, the first draft of it did not come uh fully in front of our policy work group. And so, um, knowing that it would be coming back to us, um, And I'll just be fully transparent with you all. I initially recommended, or I at least stated that I was gonna recommend several changes to the policy, um, to kind of codify some procedural language. And so, nonetheless, I appreciate the, um Kind of plan of attack of this, um, of getting that feedback from community and, um, incorporating it into an updated policy. So, um, I intend to be engaged through that process. So I'm going way over here left but y'all got me fired up on this literacy thing. Um and I'm just thinking about like I know that there are groups that, um, utilize our spaces for cultural uh, trainings and education and all of that. And now I'm going way, I'm going even further left with me Ride with me y'all, ride with me. I'm just wondering is there some sort of parent training for the science of literacy that has really important, like two of the pillars that are really important that we could implement. along with our discounted prices in those spaces and be able to train, do, you know, offer that training on those Saturdays for the groups so that the parents are starting to understand this concept and maybe even deploying it in the Saturday cultural educational spaces that they're using from us. Y'all still with me? OK, good, good, good. That's all I'm thinking. I'm just, my brain went there and I wanted to share, so that's where I'm at, is how, how can we start to get parents on board now with helping with this process because we know that um if we're truly gonna increase literacy scores, it's gonna have to come from home. So, as long as those parents collaborate and um You do the training, you get a discount. You do the training, you get the discount. The Teaching and Learning department secures that permit, they're actually That works. Yeah. Just thinking, just putting it out there, y'all work on that. The work is above my pay grade. Thanks. Questions and comments that again, um, this was really just a first, very, very first pass. Um, we didn't intend, um, this is not going to become and we're not recommending this is our second, uh, at the board meeting is our second reading. We're actually suggesting at this point, we actually take your feedback back to and have a very fruitful conversation at the policy work group. And then we will come back in October with our additions and our modifications, um, and then take your feedback again and then take that back to policy work group again probably and then come back, um, in November probably. So this policy will not be a fast 3 reading uh, pilots, uh, quick reading. Uh, we're gonna follow the extended format on it and take longer if we need to. Awesome. I got a couple of questions. So, um, under general standard policy Part A, it says the Board of Education encourages broad community use, and I see that broad was inserted, and so what does that imply, cause I, I suppose to me looking at the chart of use, it doesn't look like it's really broad use and it looks like it's mostly. Us using our own stuff and then some community partners and nonprofits but Was something else, were you thinking something else when you see it broad community use? Uh, really, really broad. I just think that our facilities can be used for, I mean, um, the uses go the gamut, and we most likely think of athletics and in classes, but a number of our spaces are, um, leased out for weddings. They're leased out for special events. Um, I should have got married at Central. This is my opportunity. Uh, we have had, um, you can renew your vows. I'll be back It was during COVID. At memorial services, funerals in some of our church, in our, in our schools, uh we actually have faith, um, communities who, um, lease the space for the ongoing, uh, spiritual services on Sundays, um, so it really is broad, um, of use of our, of our buildings. Is that, is that, are you asking us, vice chair to, to look at that word or is that word not clear enough as broad or? I don't know. I mean, I guess, I guess if I don't not like it, but I'm just saying if we're saying that we're doing it, how are we doing it? Like we're, are we just saying it? Are we like advertising? Are we like inviting people or groups or saying, hey, did you know you could do this here? And then with the encouraging black community use, does that, does that, um, I guess does our fee schedule like make sense for what we're looking for or what we say that we're encouraging Um, from a community standpoint, do we really mean like, and when we say community, do we mean like community groups, community, or is the community members like What if somebody wants to do a birthday party or what if somebody wants to do a um A baby shower, yeah, a wedding shower, yes, uh-huh, that all works. That all works, and we've used and people do a permit for all of that, um, and when, um, within the policy also it does, um, say that the board will look at the fee structure, um. And, uh, categories of rates every 2 years, um, and that in there you will see that there is, um, a desire to encourage youth groups as Director um, Franco talked about because that rate structure is different and it does look different too if you have over 50% of your participants are Saint Paul Public schools youth. And so there are different rates um, there are different rates for our partners, if you will, partners of our city, um, that we also partner with. There's different rates for for-profit versus um, not for profit. So I think, I think it's right schedule does encourage that broad base. Sure. When are we due to look at the um the uh fee structure again? I'll let Director Wallace was gonna look that We, we likely we're gonna bring that to early, um spring is spring of 20. It was last done in, I think 2019. I was here 2019. 0, so we're overdue remember doing it since I've been on the board. Um, the personnel that doesn't necessarily have to go to the school board because when the school board approves of the collective bargaining units that kind of implies the structure, the rate fee that we would charge, um, for community members for any personnel, but I believe it was 2019 the last time we actually did the space fees. So then we're due and so then we're due. Awesome You've notified about it. I remember voting on it too, but I don't remember on the board changing it Because it says it should be changed. Yes, what, yeah we, I think what makes sense with that is that we should probably get the policy down that way, that way you'll have a framework before we actually look at the rate structure, um, and if it was 2019, you'll certainly bring that forward. Yes, at the same time I know it's well over 2 years that we've done it, so yeah, it's always good to see it every 2 years. So Oh, OK. And then my second question. Oh, wait, another question. I'm done before I ask my second question You didn't. I believe you only asked one question OK. So I'm gonna ask my second question, then I'll go back. Um. Also for F where it says all activities must be supervised by competent adults. Is there a reason why you put competent in there? I'm just wondering but I know for sure that all don't. I tried to hold it, but I coached for a lot of years, so I know what you're going through. Thank you. That's actually in black, so that is not new language. That is. It depends on how they use semicolons. I mean, yes. Do we count as competent adults? I don't know if I do. I'm sorry you said you don't know if you like it. No, you don't like that word. OK. We can look at that. Do we know it? We'll take that back. I would maybe offer the word responsible as a, um, maybe responsible alternative responsible seems like legally more adequate. Yeah I, I understand the language as written, um. But responsible feels like is what we're going for. We're like they can be responsible for. Yeah, I think competing sounds like a job skills reference for a staff member. Yeah that sounds good. That's that's what I think. OK, we we wrote that down and thank you for that suggestion OK, and then Director Alan, you were in this, right I think I brought this up, uh. At another meeting But is there, I know that there's a different sliding scale, but is there a sliding scale based on people's annual budgets? Mm, um. No, because I know my nonprofit is poor, but I know that there's nonprofits in the city that are not poor. And so thinking about it in that perspective too. OK, so look at maybe adding like a small, medium, large type of nonprofit, yeah based on the annual budget. OK, good. Quick information too, right? Yeah, you have the file. What if that's just a volunteer group? What if they don't, you know annual budget is 0. I mean, that's true. I think that's not a nonprofit or for-profit. That's what I mean I'm just. The one, you know, as we look into this and just to share, we'll go into this a little bit more when we go into the, the rate structure that the, uh, the team does a really good job of trying to encourage permit holders. To use space when um they can leverage other resources. So for instance you know, um, be in the building while there's already custodial there, maybe while there's other groups already performing, um, and so that that burden of that cost doesn't necessarily just fall on, you know on, on them, um. So we do encourage that maybe to use the building on a Friday, I mean on a Wednesday from, you know, 6 to 8 versus on a Sunday when um there's no one in the building and staff have to come in for that, but you'll see a considerably different costs in that. Um, I also want to just um remind the board that um When staff do have to come in, which is typically custodial grounds and also the um school support liaisons depending on the size. That's mainly the mainly the staff. There's also some, um, if you're requiring to use equipment like technology equipment that it is written in contract, that that equipment is run typically by um the school staff member, whether that's from somebody from technology service or EA Um, but that, so that just depends on the type of permit you request. However, I will say that that is a real cost because that person is really getting paid, and they're getting paid, um, dollars, and typically they're getting paid out of general fund dollars. And so it's not a, um, so that either comes from the permit holder or it comes from St. Paul Public Schools, because that employee based on contract does have to get paid And so it's just something to think about that even though that we really want to do a very good job of um doing a very competitive and some, you know, and free if we could to the permit holder, the cost of of that permit, it's real hard. It's a hard cost. Any other questions or comments? All right. Question, question Mm mm oh I don't have to ask him right now. Any other questions or comments? All right, thank you. OK. So Let's Let's hope. All right. So, the policy 420 Minnesota paid leave. That was a few houses back. I move to approve that the review of policy 420-000 Minnesota paid leave after September 1st, 2026 Committee of the board meeting be considered the first reading and that the review of this policy after September 22, 2026 Board of Education meeting will be considered the second reading. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded by Director Carrillo. Comments for discussion. Vote please. Director Franco, Director Valian, yes, Director Ward, yes, Director Lowe, yes, Director Allen, yes Director Cleo, yes, thank you. Motion passes unanimously Next we're gonna move over to policy 718.00 branding supplies slash stationery. I move the review of policy 718.00 branding at the September branding supplies stationery after September 1st, 2026, Committee of the board meeting be considered the first reading of the three-reading process and the review of the policy at the September 22, 2026 Board of Education meeting will be considered the second reading. Do I have a second? Seconded by Director Lowe, comments or discussion. Vote please. Director Franco, Director Found, yes, Director Ward, Director Lowe, Director Allen, Director Crio, yes, thank you. Motion passes unanimously. Next, we'll move on to policy 812.00 school emergency management. I moved that the review of the proposed updates to policy 812.00 School Emergency Management at the September 1st, 2026 Committee of the Board meeting. We considered the first reading of the three-reading process and that the review of this policy at the September 22, 2026 Board of Education meeting will be considered the second reading. Do I have a second? Second, seconded by Director Franco comments for discussion. Oh please. Director Franco Director Valian, Director Ward, Director Lowe, Director Allen, Director Cadio. Thank you. Motion passes unanimously Next, we will move on to policy 211-03, student voice in decision making. I move that the review of policy 211.03 student voice and decision making at the September 1st, 2026 Committee of the board meeting be considered the first reading of the three-reading process and that the review of this policy at the September 22 2026 Board of Education meeting will be considered the second reading. Do I have a second? Seconded by Director Franco. Comments or discussion? Vote please Director Franco, Director Valian, Director Ward, Director Lowe, Director Allen, and Director Cadio. Thank you Motion passes unanimously. Next, we will move on to policy 301.00 board and superintendent relationship I move that the review of policy 301.00 board and superintendent relationship after September 1st, 2026 Committee of the board meeting be considered. First reading of the three-reading process and that the review of this policy at the September 22, 2026 Board of Education meeting will be considered the second reading. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded by Director Carrillo. Comments or discussion? Oh, please. Director Franco, Director Valiant, Director Ward, Director Lowe, Director Allen, Director Crio, yes. Thank you Motion passes unanimously. Um, and we've already gone over policy 902.00. So next we have the memo for the big reporting calendar which can be found in the board book. Would you all like to read to go through it It's in the board though. All right, any comments for discussion? Alright, so. Is there anything else anybody would like to Add or bring up or insert or throw out there before we move to adjournment. Once once twice. Not through tabs but thrice. All right Next is the adjournment of the meeting. Is there anything else board members would like to add? You said no So that concludes our committee of the board meeting for September 1st, 2026. As a reminder, our next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be Tuesday September 22, 2026, beginning at 5:30. Public comment will be included as an agenda item within the meeting Thank you, everybody. Our motion to adjourn. Is there a second? Seconded by Director Franco, and comments or discussion. Those in favor, please indicate by saying aye. Those opposed, please indicate by saying nay. All right. The time is 7:21 p.m. and we are adjourned Thank you. Good luck.