Good evening and welcome to the May 19, 2026 regular meeting of the Board of Education. The time is 5:30 p.m. As a reminder, public comment will follow the approval of the main agenda, and there will be a 45 minute total time allotted for public comment. Members wishing to speak may visit the public comment section of the Board of Education website for more information or call our board secretary at 651-767-8149. Public comment sign-in for this meeting ended at 5:30 p.m. We'll begin with roll call provided by our board secretary Director Valiant. Here, Director Henderson, here. Director Ward here. Director Lowe here. Director Allen. Doctor Carrillo. Here, director Franco here. Next, I move to approve the order of the main agenda. Is there a second? Second, seconded by Vice Chair Valiant. Comments or discussion. Vote please. Director Valiant, yes Doctor Henderson. Yes, Victor award. Yes. Victor Lowe Yes. Doctor Carrillo. Yes. Director Franco. Yeah, motion passes unanimously. Next on the agenda is recognitions and I'll turn it over to Superintendent Stanley. Thank you, Chair. I'm really excited to bring forward several of the recognitions, and I would like to introduce Anna Chan, our career, uh, pathways coordinator in the Office of College and Career Readiness. Thank you, Doctor Stanley. Uh, good evening, Chair Ward Superintendent Stanley, board members, and community The career pathways team, the career technical Education CTE team, and the Office of College and Career Readiness leads multiple programs where students can explore interests and career pathways. Earn As You Learn is one of the programs where our SPPS high school students explore career pathways through earning industry-recognized certifications and by completing any two industry certifications. Such as OSHA, which is a safety certification agriculture, automotive, construction, cosmetology culinary, healthcare, manufacturing, and so many more Students can, um, students can earn Microsoft certifications in Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, and entrepreneurship and small business, certified medical administrative assistant, first aid CPR, IT certifications, and so many more. Since the program started in 2020, students have earned over 2500 industry recognized certifications So today we're here because I'd like to recognize two students who completed their small unmanned aircraft system certification through the Federal Aviation Administration. This means that we have two students who are licensed to fly commercial drones. So imagine attaining such an incredible feat as a junior in high school. So I always share that we have incredible students in SPPS who shine when given the opportunity and then these students have have shown that. I'd like to invite the students to share about their experience and career pathways and their FAA certifications. Please help me welcome our first student, De B Ley Stole Hello, my name is Dave Lee Stow. I'm currently in the 11th grade going to Humboldt High School. I took the drone flight training with Mr. Michaelson, and some of the highlights from the classes was being able to go at my own pace, being able to, uh, talk with other students, and being able to go over important topics in the class. How I felt uh before taking the test was feeling of nervousness and dread. During the test, I felt comfortable with the environment and how official it felt. After taking the test, I felt nervous about the results, and the results came as I, uh, felt proud and accomplished when I found out that I passed. What I could do with ah with drones later in the future would be taking pictures or videos In a career in my future careers, being able to work for other companies using the drones and being able to go to go into a career that is uh in wildlife, biology or even uh agriculture. Some of the other CTE classes I've taken were business. Agriculture, welding. Environmental studies. And Um, urban education. How this uh has impacted me in my personal life is making myself feel proud as well as those around me, such as my family and those who have supported me feel proud and has also opened up more opportunities for me in the future and understanding, helping me understand. Ah, some of my more. So more about uh what I would like to do in the future. Uh, I would like to thank you all for having me today. So Da Ble Stoll does not know this, but I've asked Coach K to come from Humboldt High School, and he's gonna present, um, the cadet our cadet, uh, Dave By Stoll with a special pin. His colonel was not able to join us tonight, so I'm so glad Coach K is here. So do you wanna stand up, Dave Thank you all for having me. I'm happy to be here This is my first time ever being in, you know, one of these board meetings, so I'm excited to be a part of this. Also more exciting is an opportunity to present um, the certificate to our student. Um, again, we always Think about the negatives that happen all the time in the schools and things like that, but we don't spend enough time recognizing the positive things that actually happen. So, again, So when I got the call to be here to support our student, it was a, it was a no-brainer for me. I had other things I was obligated to, but I made the opportunity, I took the opportunity to come celebrate him because of all the work that he did. So again, thank you for having me and I'll present to you this certificate first, and I'm gonna do the pen next. It's my first time doing this, so please bear with me. Take your time. Thank you, sir. Thank you. OK, next I'd like to introduce another student, Adam Scholl from Johnson. Adam, could you come up and say a few words, please? Good evening My name is Adam Scholl, and I'm a junior at Johnson Senior High School. I moved here from California this year, so starting over at a new school as a junior was a big change. What was helpful with the transition transition was the opportunities that I found through Saint Paul Public Schools aviation programs and other resources. I had always been interested in aviation but in Saint Paul, I've been, I've, I'm able to turn that interest into a real certifications, career experience and other paths to my future. I, I don't say this to criticize my previous school. I had good teachers there too, but I did not have the access to this, um and this kind of hands on career, career connection path to pathways, career connection pathways before Through this path, through this program, I was able to pass the FAA drone certification exam, prepare for my private pilot's written exam, and connect my schoolwork to real career possibilities. I was also able to accept the right track internship with 3M which is something that I'm really excited about. This program gave me direction. It made school feel connected to the real world. I could see how I, I could see how what I learned could lead into the future in aviation engineering or technology. I've worked hard to keep my grades up while adjusting to a new state and a new school, but having access to this program made a huge difference. It gave me motivation, structure and other opportunities I might not have had otherwise For students like me, programs like this are not just electives. They can help students see a future, set goals, and understand why school matters. I hope students after me continue to have access to opportunities like these because they can really change what students believe is possible. Thank you. Thank you. And next I'd like to invite Doctor Yanowsky, senior executive academic Officer, to come to the podium to present the next recognition. Thank you so much, Hannah. Uh good evening, Chair Ward, Vice Chair Valiant, Doctor Stanley, and Directors. I have the privilege this evening of presenting a recognition to a special, uh Highland Park Senior High School student, Anika Fulkin who has earned the Minnesota Aspirations in Computing Award through the National Center for Women and Information Technology. And Anika, I'm gonna ask you to come on up here so that the crowd can see who we're talking about. OK. Anika discovered her passion for computer programming through developing software for her first robotics team, where she engineered autonomous routines and implemented triangle interpolation for precise shooting accuracy. Alongside her strong interest in biological research and genetics, she has cultivated skills that align with her goal of pursuing computational biology. In the summer of 2025, she participated in the Harvard Open Bio Student Research Institute where she developed a computational brain stimulation model to study taste memories in fruit flies. Currently Anika is developing an application that matches students with nursing programs for a local nonprofit as part of her IB Computer Science higher-level internal assessment combining technical expertise with meaningful community impact. Aw. It means so much to be recognized for this award, and I hope that more students from Saint Paul Public schools will consider entering the field of computing technology and apply for awards like these. I certainly couldn't have done any of this without the mentorship from my teachers at Highland Park, the Highland Park Robotics mentors, my two mentors from Rutgers University, and my parents, of course I'm very grateful for the resources that Minnesota Aspirations in Computing has given me, including my upcoming internship with SPS Commerce over the summer And I look forward to using my skills in my upcoming internship and at the University of Washington, where I'm continuing my education this fall to enter the field of genetic research. Thank you. Our next recognition will be presented by Chang Zhang, who is the K-12 Social studies coordinator in the Office of Teaching and Learning. Good evening, uh, everyone. Superintendent Doctor Stanley and board members of our board and the community that are here tonight. I'm here to talk about History Day. Um, it's a fantastic academic program that turns students into historians, and through the quarter-long, uh, project-based experience, students choose a historical topic related to the theme. The theme this year was revolution, reaction, reform in History. Um, they conducted the in-depth research and then created their own interpretations in 6 different modalities this year. There was one new one, that Minnesota. was a pilot for a podcast. So students are able to create, um, and put their findings in a documentary, an exhibit, a performance, a website or research paper. So the program not only brings history to life, but empowers students with critical thinking, communication, and research skills that are essential for their future. In Saint Paul, we had, uh, 14 students advanced to represent Minnesota State at our upcoming nationals competition. Uh, and at the national competition in Maryland College Park they're going to go in mid-June, so next month. So we want to wish them good luck at Nationals, and I'm gonna invite, uh, two teachers, Carrie Newman from Murray and Laura Bonnin from American Indian Magnet to recognize their students who are here tonight. I just wanna say how proud I am of these 4 guys. It's our first time at American Indian Magnet that we're sending kids to nationals, and they are, we're so determined all year round. It started with an email to the guidance counselor asking if they could change their schedules so they could be together to do this project. Um, they overcame virtual learning and had Google Meets together and kept working, and um they came up with a wonderful website that they got first place in the state, and I'm so proud of them. I'm the Rwandan Democrat. So, here with me is Theodore Yang. And Dante Chapel. Ewe, sure and Dylan Kerr. Hello um, I'm Carrie Newman. I teach at Murray Middle School also was junior high a long time ago, but I was old um, I am old, um, and these, uh, we only have 3 of our 4 students who are going to nationals from Murray um, and we had to chuckle when Zhang said it was a um, quarter project. Um, these kids started. Thinking about their topic during opening week where I'm trying to set up my room and they come running in and they're like, do you think like lead would be a good topic And I'm like, uh, OK, um, but they did amazing and they're headed to nationals. Um, so Lucia is doing her project on the Amber Alert, the girl before the alert, and Peter, who is not here, and Robin and Emmett are doing theirs on. Oh, I almost said the wrong topic Lady leads lead learning, the occupational hazards the Atlas Hamilton story. Good job. In addition to these two other schools, we also have, uh, projects going from Capitol Hill Magnets representing, um, Saint Paul in Minnesota and from Open World Learning. So let's give these wonderful students a hand, and I'm going to pass and rep uh bring up Megan Bucky next from Immersion Indigenous and World Language coordinator from the Office of Multilingual Learning. Uh, through the chair, board members, the, uh, Superintendent Stanley, uh, tonight I am here to present to you Ibrahim Hussein. Ibrahim is the Somalian Arabic language teacher at East African Magnet. He received the Early Career Award from the Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures. This is a state-level award in recognition of outstanding promise in providing excellence and instruction in a world language classroom by a Minnesota language teacher in their 1st 3 years of teaching. I met Ibrahim 3 years ago when we first started East African Magnet. And at that time, we were directed to build a language and culture program and we didn't really know what that was. But we had some ideas of what we wanted it to be. And so we armed ourselves with research about language programming heritage language learners, and culturally responsive teaching. And we are very proud of what Dr. Adam, Ibrahim and all the East African teachers have built at their school. Ibrahim not only created this program, but he's often designed and created all the resources to go with it, as there are not always widely available resources in Somali in print. In addition to building this program and being a busy father to his kids, he also enrolled in the master's program at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. This is the same program where some of our Hmong teachers graduated with their master's degree and earned their Hmong teaching license And I'm so proud to share that this month, Ibrahim graduated with his master's in world language instruction and his teaching licenses in Somali and Arabic, and he is our first. He is our first SPS SPPS teacher to do so, to get his teaching licenses in both Somali and Arabic. Um, he has built a beautiful program. He's built new courses, created new content, and he applied all of his learning from his master's program in his work. If you ever get a chance to visit his classroom his students will serenade you in Somali with their songs and anthems every time you visit. And we have had a number of visitors to our East African magnet school to see the program and school and learn more about it. And every time they go to his classroom and they come back, the number one thing they say is, I cannot believe how much Somali the kids are speaking and using in the classroom. And that's just a testament to Ibrahim and the culture he's created and the safe space that the students feel they can use their language and feel very recognized for it So, it's a great honor tonight to present Ibrahim to you and please join me in congratulating him in this very well-deserved recognition. Thank you. Thank you so much, uh, for the recognition tonight. The receiving E Carer Award is really, uh, you know, it has a lot of meaningful for me. Uh, I'm proud to be there to help my students. The community and the children who I need. Um, this program started at East African magnetic School. Although we did not have, uh, a solid curriculum that I can follow, we built a great, um curriculum for the students, and I'm so happy to be part of that. I wanna thank you, all of you. Thank you, Megan. Thank you, Zam Zam. Thank you, Doctor Adam, for supporting me to go through this. And thank you so much for everyone else who also supported me to complete the program and get my master's degree and the license. Thank you. OK. And next, I'd like to invite Jackie Turner, Executive Chief of Operations to come up and present the next recognition. Thank you. Good, good evening, or Doctor Sally members of the board. I have the honor of bringing up our next honoree, and um I like to just start off by reading what the recognition and, and award and honor is. Um I'm just say a couple of personal words. But we are tonight, uh, uh, recognizing our community action partnerships of Ramsey and Washington County, which we better known as CPRW Head Start and our partner at Saint Paul Public Schools, Agape School, which is our, um, teen parenting program along with our pre-K program. They were awarded the National Head Start Association 2026 Sergeant Shriver Shriver Excellence and Community Service Award. The award was presented to Agape High School and the Saint Paul Public Schools Pre-K program on May 5, 2026 at the Head Start National Conference. The Shriver Award celebrates partnerships that have made significant achievements through innovative community service to Head Start and Head Start. The nominees for this award have excelled in addressing issues around poverty. Early education and community health. And um tonight I'd, I, I'd like to call up um People who are receiving this award on behalf of this recognition um from the National Head Start. I'd like to call up um Carry Kearns, who is the um deputy director of Head Start. And I'd also like to call up Nicole Mining, who is, and I'm gonna get your title wrong, but the director of Head Start, and also like to call up Doctor Laurie Erickson, um, who is, um our director, assistant director of um pre-K and also Stacy, um, Jones, who is our, um, Principal at Agape And, and before that, um, I've asked a couple of them to say words, but I just wanna say, I have worked um with Doctor Erickson and um Head Start for many many years on trying to collaborate and partner and put programs together. And regardless of who's at the table, what ideal it is, this team always gets to a yes. We always get to a yes, regardless if it's Head Start, if it's Head Start with an ideal or a grant or a situation, they come to us and ask, can Saint Paul Public Schools help? And we're, we are yes. And if we need Head Starts, um, partnership and they say yes, they get to a yes too. So it's been a wonderful, um, partnership with Head Start and, um Uh, who's gonna start here, Doctor Erickson? You're gonna start. All right. So, Doctor Erickson. Kerry Kearns. And they OK, doctor, oh yes, you do. I'm sorry Thank you, Jones. So, um, Doctor Erickson is going to say a few words. Thank you. Um, the relationship between the Saint Paul Public schools and Head Starts has come a long way, a long way. Um, we've gone from an MOU, where it's literally spelled out Saint Paul does, Head Start does, Saint Paul does, Head Start does. Um, really pretty rudimentary, and we are now at a point where I'm calling Head Start and saying hey, I have this idea, can we do this? And the answer is yes. Um, it is incredible, the, the gains that we have made. Um, and at a time of reflection, I'd like to take a moment to thank Carrie Kearns, the deputy director, who was a breath of fresh air when she stepped into the Head Start leadership role, and Nicola Mensing, one of the best thinking partners I have in, in my career. So, and then I'm probably gonna cry. Um I'd also like to thank Executive Chief Turner for the best possible nudge, and I do mean nudge, um, in moving this partnership forward. Um we've gone beyond shared leases, spaces to a true mixed delivery partnership that's increased pre-K enrollment by 60 seats, and it's honored our commitment to ensuring that the most critical interventions for the programs and children in Saint Paul are making a difference. So thank you. And with that, Nick Lee has a few words as well. Uh, good evening. I just want to say on behalf of CAPRW and our Head Start program, we're, we are extremely honored to receive this joint award with, um, Saint Paul Public Schools and Head Start. We deeply value our relationship with Saint Paul Public Schools, and it is not always that there is such a strong, um, working relationship between Head Start programs and their school districts. And so we really do value the relationship and collaboration that we have with this team. Um, we would like to thank Doctor Erickson for her leadership in providing um, in, in operating a high-quality pre-K program Her hard work, responsiveness, vision, and grit make the operations of our pre-K partnership possible. Um she is always answers phone calls and emails, and she just makes it work every single day. We would also like to thank Principal Naparrella at Bruce Vento We started, um, we opened two Head Start classrooms there this year and also have some pre-K partnership slots there, and she has from the very beginning made our staff feel very welcome and part of her school community, um, and then in turn our children and families also feel welcome and part of the school community We would also like to thank Principal Jones, um, from Agape. So we started our partnership with Agape in 2021. Um, and Tony Walker from Community Ed was part of that as well, and the stars aligned. We received an Early Head Start grant, and they needed, um, infant toddler services for the children of teen parents and it's just been an amazing working relationship ever since, especially in the last year under Principal Jones' leadership that we are very grateful for. Um her enthusiasm and dedication to the success of the teen, the teen parents at Agape and their children makes our partnership work every day. And then finally we would also like to thank Chief Executive Chief Turner for always being a champion of the partnerships between Head Start and Saint Paul Public Schools, and for her vision and support in executing services that provide a positive impact on the children and families in Saint Paul. So, thank you all. And I'd like to um call up Casey Ulrich from New um New Educator program in with human resources. Good evening, Chair War, uh Superintendent Stanley, director of the board and community. Uh, my name is Casey Ulrich and I have the privilege tonight of celebrating the finalists and award winner for the 2025, 2020206 Mentor, mentee Program, Mentor of the Year. The vision of the mentor-mentee program is that every educator new to the district will be mentored by a highly trained, equity-driven educator to support their social, emotional, and professional needs. The individuals being celebrated this evening are mentors helping to realize that vision. Mentors are full-time educators who meet with their mentee outside of the contract day for at least 20 hours throughout the school year, often much more than that and attend up to 5 hours of mentor training throughout the school year. This school year, there were 214 mentors across SPPS, 40 of which were nominated for this award, with 3 ultimately chosen as finalists which we'll recognize tonight. Mentees nominated these mentors for the impact they had on their first year being in the school district. To be selected as the finalists for the mentor of the Year, the mentors who are celebrated tonight submitted artifacts and evidence of their commitment to high quality mentoring including a recording of a mentoring conversation First, I'll invite all three finalists to come up to the front, Carrie Feldhamer, Annie Bachman, and Salma Siddiqui. Uh, first, I want to celebrate Carrie uh, from Battle Creek Elementary, uh, who is both mentoring a first-year teacher and serving as a suitor mentor this year. Um, her mentor shared, quote, Carrie has been an incredible grounding point for me to share with. Receive advice on how to balance it all and see a path forward. I felt that I can trust Carrie and go to her continually for thoughtful responses and a helpful lens. Second, I want to celebrate Annie an occupational therapist at Horace Mann in Coma Park Elementary, who has been a mentor for the past 3 years and it's been a pleasure to get to know. Uh, her mentee shares Annie has been deeply intentional about building maintaining, and repairing trust. She used her knowledge not to position herself as the expert who has all the answers, but to create a mentoring relationship rooted in support, respect, and genuine care. And lastly, I'm excited to celebrate the 2025-20206 Mentor of the Year Award winner, Salma Siddiqui, special education teacher from Highwood Hills. First, I will share what the selection committee recognized in Selma's work, and then I will turn it over to Selma to share a few words. Salma is receiving this award for the impact she has had on all 3 of her mentees this school year, and her commitment to transformational coaching As our district seeks to recruit and retain special education teachers, Salma shines the light on the way to do it. One mentee shared, having support like the kind Selma provides has made it so I can more easily navigate through the emotional struggles I experience as a new Fed Setting 3 teacher, allowing me to focus on the higher priorities for my students And sometimes in the midst of all the chaos and paperwork that comes from being a Fed 3 teacher, you need a gentle reminder of why you are there and what you value. Your values can ultimately guide you through any situation, sometimes with a little nudge from your mentor. Selma is reflective and a thoughtful leader that is well deserving of this award and recognition before the school board and before the larger Saint Paul community. Those who know her speak of her curiosity compassion, and willingness to connect. Please join me in congratulating this year's mentor mentee program Mentor of the Year. Um, hello, everybody. Thank you so much. Thank you, Cassy, for such kind words. I'm deeply grateful for this award. As a special education teacher, witnessing my students' growth is the ultimate reward. However, my mentoring work has shown me that guiding new educators creates an even greater lasting difference for our school community. Thank you for the honor and the platform for this session. Thank you, everybody. All right, let's give a, another round of applause for all of our uh recipients of awards tonight, students, teachers, community partners. That concludes our recognition program for this evening The recommendation is that the Board of Education recognizes the students and staff acknowledged above for their contributions and outstanding work. Thank you. Thank you. Right, the next item on the agenda is public comment, and I'm gonna turn it over to Vice Chair Valium. All right. Thank you. All right, good evening everybody. Public comment is one way community members can bring issues to the attention of the Board of Education. All speakers are asked to sign in on the sign-in log and complete a blue sign-in form on the table. You can sign in ahead of time by calling the board secretary or online at the Board of Education website. Public comment sign-in will end at 5:30 p.m. and it has ended. Individuals will be allotted 2 minutes tonight during our 45 minute public comment session this evening. We do have a lot of people signed up for public comment, just FYI. So, if you happen to be together and speaking on the same thing, and you want to either shorten it a little bit or share, that might be helpful to give everybody a chance to speak Um, otherwise we might not make it to everybody, but that's just an FYI. Uh, speakers will be called in the following order students, speakers referencing an agenda-related item, and then others in the order of names received, with preference given to those who have not spoken in the last three months. Those who have signed up prior to the meeting but did not check in at the table at or before 5:30 p.m. will be called at the end of the list of speakers who signed in, time permitted. And again, we have a lot of people signed up and we have 45 minutes. Each presentation will be timed and the black box at the podium will beep and show an amber light when one minute is left and a red light will show when time is up. When time is up, speakers are asked to complete their statement After that time, the microphone will be muted. Written remarks may be left with Ms. Payne and will be shared with board members. Speakers are advised that any complaints or issues related to personnel must be made in writing. For your own legal protection and the legal rights of staff, please do not include identifiers of Saint Paul Public school employees, such as names job titles, grades taught, or work location. And I know that is a very difficult when you're trying to explain something to us. Um, but try to. The board values this time to listen to members of our community and encourages respectful engagement from speakers and audience members. In the absence of respectful engagement from a speaker, your speaking time may be forfeited. In the absence of respectful engagement from audience members, individuals may be asked to leave the room, or the chair may call a recess. To make it easier for all to hear, we ask all gathered here to remain quiet during the speaker's remarks When it is your turn to speak, please begin by stating your name. No additional information is necessary The time is now 6:07, and we have 45 minutes allocated for public comment. I will be calling 5 speakers at a time. When your time is called, please begin to make your way to the podium. And with that, I am going to welcome Heidi carry on. Paula carry on. Charley Seth Jublin Anita. A day. If I have mis mispronounced your name, please correct me when you come to the program. Uh, bueno holamhombres Paula lo espanol. Hello my name is Paula, and I'm going to talk and my name is Matteos. I'm going to translate English and Spanish with her. OK, no I meanemi nombres Paulaidevatijuntocommirmana queando como finalistas and egundo lugarden el campionatoacion representano Minnesota nonia de harbor. Uh, my name is Paula, and we are in the 2nd place in the championship national championship in Minnesota and in the University of Harvard. Que que espanos bres de espanol siesta dejara brino como comunidad minor darnoso. I would like to, to talk as Hispanic people that's difficult to talk about in a debate in Spanish and I would like to. Uh, represents the how difficult the community and the minority we have to recognize. No quiron pesara blando de copeel devatino de como era yo in esque I don't want to talk about I have started a debate I want to talk about how I started in the school. Era una chique cordiava socialisa paramilescula mucha decentia coun lugar deficil inclusocomun lugar demiedocorreidio mala differentes culturas itoloque masia center for a de lugar. I was a girl that I hate to socialize To me at the school too many times was a difficult time. Also, I was afraid about the, the language, the different cultures, and everything was uh behind my place. Perauna sissique algo faltava bibasio quenosabiacoma explicar ifral deb can contrealgo que cambioletamentemivida unlu garseguro. To me, I always feel something was missing. I have, I have seen in debate something has changed since I was in the debate and now I feel something safe. initiel devao parami tena muipocas expectivas porquesseramentereya queuerami pensava cavia de cacaunada yemas soyuna persona mu introvertida condo blareoalinque preferirias silence. When I started the debate, everything was new for me, was, uh, few expectations because sincerely I was believed it was not for me. I was thinking because I was not this, uh, I wasn't everything and nothing was made for me. And however, was I, uh I am a person, very introvert. I sometimes I was afraid to talk in public and I am someone I want to. Uh, remain in silence. Perel deva cambio eso menno quenose trata eserla mejoornista carso relo demassinoda reverse dablar incluso cognido apprendi mibostnevaloricada schem expresso podori portas canes nisiqueravela. I have learned that it doesn't matter if I need to first uh. Be myself and learn about however, I don't need to be afraid to talk. I have learned to. I need to have my voice, my values, and how I can express myself and this opened my open doors to me however it's coming after. In no trata de stososinoda cerlo partemi icreseratravez deo. Now I understand how important it's to me or or not, whatever it's. Something Come around me. So OK. Article deva no solupasa tempo no actividad mas elevate transformavidas bre caminos i construe futuros I believe the debate is not just some activity. However the, the debates change lives, open ways, and build futures. Ilojoresquepodo larealto cogioma. However I can express myself in my, my language, Spanish. Thank you. Good. Thank you. Buena stares mihombre Julianair represento levaten espanol. Uh Good afternoon. My name is Juliana and I represented the debates in Spanish Quandenral programmanuque mao quetendremi ona mental pricipio solo penseque serial divertido own actidad mas depose the classes. When I started the program I never imagined how the impact, how I was impacting myself. Honestly, I have started to think how fun is the activity after the classes. However, after the time, I feel I have more connections. The debate made me feel I was, uh. Feeling, uh, I was not believing in myself, first of all. Ante mecosa muchisima bla frenta res personas tenia tenia mido de quivo carme miedo de chemigos no for portanto de nosar sufficiente pero poca poco gracias sala pollo de mis coach demi quiu de tolasperias quetube and esa creser appren expressarme a defender miss yao quearmeada. Before it was so difficult for me to talk in front of the people. I was afraid to make mistakes. I was afraid about my, my voice, my language, this was important was not enough for me. However, I was, uh, I was grateful the, uh, uh, about my coach that have been helping me, all the team, and all the experiences I have been learning. I have learned to grow with my coach, however I also express myself, my, my ideas, and sometimes I need to don't express. Perolo mas important esque deaboso puede cambiarla vida iante porque muchas velosjone solo samos pasos de la portunidad intent. The the most important thing in the debate, they give me voice and this came my life as a student because most of the students, they need a space where they can create and together we can create the opportunity to try Forrestandoloros escucharqueste programma podria perdea pollo prosupuesto porquel deva no soles actividad extracurricular para muchos estudianteensullu garseguro una comunida ya portunidad detruumturo. To me it's so painful to know that program could be lost because that's debate is an activity is an extracurricular activity and to many students is an important place a safe place in a community where the important to growth and a better future. Sis the programma desapareseoierda pollo muchisimos estudianes perderan esa supportunidad de stambien is erona grand perdida para nostra comunidadi paratistrito. If this, if this program disappear, it's a big loss because too many students is going to lose too many opportunities this is, it's a big loss to our community, to our district. Josi Prevadeso el deva cambiomi vida is que toda via pode cambiar la vida de muchos masses tantes depose demi. I am proved myself. The debates changed my life and, however, changed my, uh, the life of too many students after me. Megustaria minartiiendo irrecuerde no est dardineroes invertil no es dardinero esta pollaron sueno no es dardinero estarla liberta de demonstrare nostro propioioma quepodemos ganar gracias. And last I would like to say it's not give money, it's to invest money, it's to. Invest in dreams is to not give money is to is to give freedom is to demonstrate the language we can change ourselves Thank you. Asarammarekum hello and good evening. Thank you for giving me the chance to speak tonight. My name is Neda Ade and I'm a junior at Highland Park Senior High. Today I hope to convince you to continue supporting debate at at Saint Paul Public Schools Right now, the contract for the upcoming school year between Saint Paul Public Schools and the Mid. Urban Debate League is not finalized. Without this contract there may not be debate at Saint Paul Public Schools next year. I've only been in debate for one year, but in that short time, it has changed me in ways I've never expected. Debate is not just arguing, it teaches students how to think critically, speak confidently research responsibly, and listen respectfully to. People with different perspectives, those skills can be applied far beyond high school. For me personally, it has given me confidence to publicly speak. I remember vividly that I had to do a speech in my literature class for 5 minutes. For at least the 1st 20 seconds I was not able to force any words out, and for the rest of the speech, I stuttered through it. Because of debate, it has given me confidence, confidence to speak in front of people and confidence that I'm using right now to speak to all of you. Debate also represents our school in a positive way in a time where productive discussion feels rare, debate helps to teach students how to disagree respectfully and back up their ideas with evidence. If debate is removed students lose more than an extracurricular. Their activity we lose opportunities, mentorship, and community I understand budgets are difficult and decisions are complicated, but I hope you will see debate not as an expense but as an investment in students and in the kind of education that our school wants to provide and represent. Please keep debate funded and give future students the same opportunity that meant so much to me. Thank you very much. Hi, my name is Seth Juvel. I, uh, initially signed on to talk about, uh PSCO, the PSEO program, but I will also later be speaking on, uh, debate. Uh, first off, I am currently a senior I'll be graduating very soon. And, uh, for the past 4 semesters, I have been using the PSCO program to take college classes at Saint Paul College. Uh, I've completed 9 college classes, college courses, and uh, with that, I have, uh, gotten college credits to be able to save thousands of dollars when I am going off to college. Uh, and I've spoken a lot to uh, other high schoolers about this program because I feel like it's one of the best options for high schoolers with access to it. And what, uh, a lot of people have told me is that they either haven't heard about the program or, uh, can't get transportation to a college to utilize the program. Uh, I think that uh, there's a, a simple solution there of just speaking about the program more and also, uh, possibly, uh allowing for an extension of the program to give transportation to students that are, uh, using the program. Uh, I think that it's a very good investment because, uh that gives people the opportunity to take those college classes for free and would, uh, give them credits that stay within Minnesota if they're looking to transfer credits to a college, which, uh, keeps all of that Uh, circulating within Minnesota, which is good. Uh in addition to that for, uh, debate, I have been in debate for just a year now. It's been a great program I've met many people through it. I've also, uh, built my social speaking skills through it. And I think that, uh, reinstating a contract with the Minnesota Urban Debate League, uh, as others have said, would be very good. Good evening, Saint Paul school board members. My name is Shirley, and I will attend Hamlin University to study neuroscience and political science after I graduate from Washington Technology Magnet School this spring. Walsh Escapes the Vape is a group of student leaders who meet every week to discuss ways we can prevent the spread of tobacco use among our peers. I joined this group because I want to eliminate the use of vapes among young people like me. The nicotine industry has thrived on the limited knowledge the public has about its products, marketing them as a better and safer alternative to smoking cigarettes We are here because we want, we want your support for limiting access kids have to nicotine products This is a vital area to target. Target because pricing is the single most important factor in reducing smoking When we target the price, we target the leading cause of premature preventable death among the youth in Saint Paul. Signing this resolution not only assists in progressing the prevention of nicotine addiction in young people, but also encourages adults who are supposed to be role models to quit. This is why we are asking you to put the lives of young people over industry profit by supporting our resolution to keep commercial tobacco prices high in Saint Paul. The work we have done with Wash Escapes the vape won't end once we graduate, because continued advocacy against the vape usage among young people like myself will be sustained through the work of existing and future members of our group. We won't go away, and we won't quit until we see our community here in Saint Paul unburdened by the tobacco industry. Thank you. Good evening, Saint Paul school board member. My name is Dawn. I'm graduating this June, and I'll be attending Saint Paul College this fall. I'm also with Washington Escapes Debate from Washington Technology Magnet School Vaping has impacted young youth across Saint Paul's schools with addiction and influence. We know that our youth are increasingly using both e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, and that keeping tobacco prices high is one of the most effective commercial tobacco prevention strategy in keeping youth from using and those that use quit. We have been talking with community members and city council members over the last couple of months, and recommend that the city of Saint Paul increase the minimum floor pricing of cigarettes to $10 to $15. Set a minimum price on vapes at $25 and a minimum price on pouches of $1 per pouch. Takedown um, WV participated in Takeown Tobacco Day, a national day of action to spread awareness among our peers by tabling during lunch, students participated by signing banners showing their commitment to take down tobacco. Students also signed postcards that were sent to the Saint Paul council members to show support for keeping commercial tobacco prices high in Saint Paul. We can and should stop the. Tobacco industry from targeting our community with cheap tobacco. We TV has been working hard on this and hope to have your support on this resolution, along with several other organizations to keep commercial tobacco prices high in Saint Paul. Your support will not only help our group but the people you represent and speak for Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next I'm calling uh, I'm going to welcome Charlotte Pinches, Aubrey Reed. Benjamin Berger, Mia Silva, and Sonata Cow. Hello members of the board. My name is Charlotte Pinches and I'm currently a 7th grader at Highland Park Middle School. I'm speaking today about the contract between the Minnesota Urban Debate League and Saint Paul Public Schools that remains unsigned. I had the honor of participating in the 2025, 2026 debate team at my school, and I had a fantastic experience. Every time I had a debate, I was so excited for the final bell to ring so I could go practice and prepare for my next tournament. You see, not only did debate give me a community that I could rely on, but it gave me confidence and speaking skills. I worked hard on improving and doing my best in debate, and it has taught me so much. And if I didn't have the debate community I have today, if I didn't have my coach pushing me to do nothing less than my absolute best, I wouldn't be standing here speaking to you right now. That is how much I've learned from just one year of debate If the contract isn't signed this year, I won't be able to further advance these skills. But more importantly new debaters wouldn't have the chance to learn them at all. That is why I hope this contract will get signed and help many, many more students learn the skills they need to succeed. Thank you. Members of the board, thank you for having me. It is a privilege My name is Aubrey Reed. Anyone who knows me or a debate member knows their binder is their life. Their binder is also debate, a physical binder, most people know but what they don't know is it's also a mental binder a vision of what debate is, skill building, like public speaking, career readiness, but also community and jokes. Today, I, like many others, am proposing to continue the sport of Minnesota Urban Debate League Debate is not only important because of skill building but it also makes us more aware of issues in society like the topic of this year, the school to prison pipeline, affecting students across America. Additionally debate made me more curious about the justice system and law enforcement. This program has helped me in more ways than one. It has helped me with confidence team building, among so, so much more. Debate is a binder, physically and mentally. Each student a different card or story, telling us our hopes, dreams, and aspirations We're all held together by our amazing coaches, mentors directors, and everyone else who supports Minnesota Urban Debate League. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Mia Silva. I'm a freshman at Highland Park Senior High, and I'm asking you to make continuing debate in SPPS a priority. It is so valuable to not only me but my community. I've been doing debate for 2 years now, and it means the world to me. Our Highland Middle Debate team is the largest middle school debate team in the state with over 70 members. Students can't wait to learn about policy and issues that affect their community. Debate allows us to make real life connections with what we learn in school. It allows us to express ourselves and learn how to do so in a manner that sparks change. For me, it gave me confidence the space, the space to make my own conclusions of the world around me and believe that I am smart. I recently graduated from the special education program in February, majorly because of debate. Additionally in Spanish debate, it's helped me dramatically improve not only my speaking and comprehension of the language but in confidence. I've experienced overwhelming support from the debate community. I want to continue to be involved for the rest of my life. Now in JV policy debate, I've been able to develop critical research skills in finding my own evidence. I use these skills regularly in school, as well as public speaking, time management, and communication. Recent topics like police brutality, space exploration, funding for the IDEA Act, intellectual property, the Arctic, and health insurance give students an in-depth understanding on timely and important issues. These topics give us the opportunity to debate over geopolitical issues the economy, and impacts on marginalized communities This provided political and social education that it would have not otherwise received. The MNUDL has given me the opportunity to go to Harvard debate camp this summer under scholarship. Without debate, the skills in life I'm working towards disappear. If my school does not offer policy debate next year, I and other students will not be returning to SPBS. Thank you for your time. Good evening, board. My name is Ben Berger. I'm a current junior at Saint Paul Central High School. I've also come to speak about debate I think one of the most important parts of debate in the public schools is the fact that it's available to students at public schools. Since debate's inception in the early 1900s, there's, it's been considered an elitist activity forced into. Private schools and to my knowledge in the state of Minnesota, there is a there is a majority of our schools that are public have debate. It is thanks in part to the work of the NNUDL. Open access is one of the largest urban debate leagues in the United States, as well as having successful debaters from around the country for years. The reason why that's so important is that access to debate, like many people have said tonight, give opportunities for education on public policy, the way that the things that we do, the way that policies, even down to education or the Arctic geo geopolitics affect people in the United States, people in our local communities every day. It opens the door for middle schoolers to learn the skills of argumentation, the ability to have conversations that are productive, especially in a climate right now that is so, uh, so intense and so confrontational learning those skills early on is important. Especially in a public school setting, having access to that early. Set students up for uh success later in life Beyond that, public, public speaking and debate opens the door and increase opportunities. It gives students studies have shown higher GPAs, better test scores and abilities to write essays faster. I know I've certainly got better at writing essays and public speaking because of debate. And I urge the board to consider and helping continue the contract with the Minneota Urban Debate League. Thank you, Superintendent Stanley, Chair Ward, and the rest of the board. Thank you. Hello, my name is Sonata Gao. I've been debating for 2 years at Highland Park Middle School. Today I'm asking that debate continues in SPPS. Most of the time you assume debate is about reading, writing winning, and losing, but that's not all what it is Debate has taught me many things. The community has lifted me up and told me it can do things when no one else believed in me. I remember one day I had lost all three of my rounds. All the practice for reading, writing, speaking was all gone in just 3 hours. I wanted to quit right then and there, but my team said no. They reminded me of all the hard work I had put through just to debate, just to stand up there, and just to tell every other person in debate what I was standing for. I know it's not just my community but also debate has taught me many things about myself Debate has taught taught me much more than any teacher subject, or elective could ever do. So if the contract is not signed, this is no worse than taking away a subject students need. And no, it's not just a few schools. This is over 10 schools, 15 schools and 500 students. We are having our hobbies and communities stripped away from us. If the contract is not finalized what will the 500 students do? What will we do with our hobbies and our communities and the things we stand for and the things we go to school every day to just do? What will we do with it? So I'm asking you again to finalize it. Thank you. Thank you. Next I'm going to welcome Petra Mueller, Mariah Adams. Uh Lanela Ballorice Patson Larae. And Yasmine. Ben Habib OK, my name is Petra Mueller. I'm a 7th grader I'm a 7th grade student at Murray Middle School. My name is Murray Adam. I'm an 8th grade student at Murray Middle School. I have participated in a debate for the past 3 years. Debate has provided us with confidence skills, and critical thinking and communication and quick thinking capabilities. A couple years ago, the UFO. The UFM debate coach told me a UFM debate coach told me that kids who stick with debate are some of the most hireable, competent, and successful adults His advice has encouraged my involvement, knowing that the hard work I put in after school and during competitions is helping me be a better student, a better. Communicator and a better community member Our favorite teacher and debate coach recently told us that the contract between SPPS and the Minnesota Urban Debate League has not yet been signed for next school year. We're nervous because this year our school Murray Middle School, has made the brave decision to include debate as one of their electives. I've been thrilled to have more friends join the debate team as the schedule will no longer compete with other after-school activities. It would be devastating if the opportunity to debate at Murray is no longer possible for me, my 3 younger siblings, and all the other kids who put themselves out there in the future. We're urging you to please restore funds for debate in the upcoming SPPS budget and to make signing the contract with the MNUDL a priority so we don't lose the invaluable asset of debate in SPBS. It's not just for us now but it's for the people in the future. Thank you for your time. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Lanila Ballou, a senior at Washington Technology Magnet High School. Coming to a new school district during your senior year can be really difficult and isolating but debate gave me a place where I belonged. I'm asking that you make sure debate continues in SPPS. Right now, the contract between SPPS and the Minnesota Urban Debate League has not been finalized, and without it students may lose access to these opportunities next year. Debate is so much more than a competition it teaches students communication, critical thinking and how to speak up for themselves and others. These skills go far beyond high school and college, careers and everyday life. I've always been very gifted at public speaking, and debate allowed me to showcase that skill, not no judgment, just room for improvement For many students, it became more than an activity It becomes a support system. Without debate, I honestly don't know what my experience this this year would have looked like. The resources I've gained have been more than valuable to me. It helped me grow as a person and made my transition into SPPS so much easier. As someone who personally benefited from this program I don't want future students to lose the opportunity that I had. Debate gave me confidence, friendships and experiences I will carry with me far after graduation I hope SPPS continues to support debate so that other other students like myself can continue to succeed through this program. Thank you for your time. Good evening. My name is Passon Lara. I'm a sophomore at Washington Technology High School. I have participated in debate for the, uh, in the debate team for the past 3 years, and I've enjoyed my time during debate Now I'd like to highlight some things that I've learned from being on the Urban Debate League team. During my time in debate, I've learned to be confident in speaking aloud about things that matter. I've also learned how to argue both sides. I've gotten so many achievements during debate, and I've made it to so many championships. I've also gotten to experience um my time during debate with different people and grow relationships with them as well, making my high school experience greater than ever with a diverse community and learning experience, a dream come true We as a collective community have shown out today um, can I please see a raise of hands of if you're here for the continuation of debate. As you can see there are so many of us that are here to support debate and we are showing out. We strongly urge you to fund the Urban Debate League program that connects communities builds self-confidence, and improves public speaking Shout out to Mr. Kozi at Washington Technology Magnet High School, Jake Sweetie, Malik. Uh, Auin Toyo with the Minnesota Urban Debate League. Um, the debate league has also made me want to pursue, um, lawyering because if I'm good at arguing at both sides, I can also be good, um. Being a lawyer and defending people when I know something is wrong. If I didn't have the experience with debate, I don't think. Um, I don't think I would have known what I wanted to do with my future and that I wanted to make a difference in the future. Please help us continue the debate because I know it matters to a lot of people. Thank you. Hi my name is Yasmine Benna Habib. I'm a sophomore at Central High School, and I've been doing debate for 5 years. Throughout middle school and high school I've been involved and continue to be involved in a multitude of activities, yet none have had as profound an impact on me as debate has, and it is valuable for many reasons. First off, research skills and the ability to form arguments are all things that I learned from debate, and I can um apply in other areas as well. I also learned more about the world around me and the issues and policies that are being talked about. I also gained confidence that I need to advocate for myself. It's how I'm able to stand in front of you all today. And I've also learned that there are so many different perspectives. You can have two people who are for something, but are solving it in different ways, or even today, all these people who are here for debate and are talking about all these different reasons why it is good. I also learned how to disagree but be respectful about it. And I think one of the most important things about debate to me is that it's made up of so many people from totally different backgrounds and have so many different perspectives, yet it has the strongest community I've ever been a part of. Even in an environment that is structured, competitive argument arguing, I leave tournaments having made new friends out of my opponents. Upon joining debate, you are instantly welcomed and supported even by people you would normally consider your competitors. Debate gives people the skills and support that help them succeed academically and in life. The ability to advocate for yourself is useful in any field, at any age, wherever you go in the future, and it is particularly important for kids to grow up and believe they can make a difference That is how our world continues to improve by empowering future generations, and that is the core goal of debate and that is why it is essential for schools. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Before I call up the next five people, just a reminder that we have 45 minutes We start at 6:07, which means we'll be ending at 6:52 and that is in about 10 minutes. So I'm gonna call the next 5 people, um, Safari Duffers, Ethan Yang Bernita Freeman, Mary Voight, and Thomas Cochran. Good evening, board members and superintendent. My name is Ethan Yang, and I'm a Hmong senior at Washington Technology Magnet High School. I'm standing here before you today during Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and in recognition of Hmong American Day. As I approach graduation, I'm compelled to speak on the historical foundation that brought me here and thousands of other students to these schools. The presence of the Hmong community in Saint Paul is not an incident not an accident. It is a result of a profound and costly alliance. During the Vietnam War's secret war in Laos, Hmong men and women sacrificed their lives in partnership with the US CIA. We must never forget that the Hmong youth, many the same age as the students currently in our middle school and high schools, were forced to become soldiers. There they lost their lives guiding and protecting American troops in a war that remained hidden from the world for decades. I'm urging this board and administration to ensure that decisions are made regarding academic support, mental health resources, or district district-wide priorities. This history serves as your starting point. It is not enough to celebrate us one month out of the year. Our background must be the bedrock of how you approach our academic success. We must be clear about the stakes. When Hmong students are made invisible in our schools, the sacrifices of our ancestors are avoided. When you fail to see us in the curriculum or fail to account for our history and administrative decisions, you disregard the lines that our families paid for with their lives. As a senior looking back at my time in SPBS, I'm asking you to ensure that the students coming after me are truly seen. Do not let our history be treated as a footnote. And our families gave everything in alliance with this country. I ask that this district honors that alliance by centering our stories and our needs and every decision that you make in the future. Thank you. Uh, good evening. My name is Mary Voyd. I'm a 20-year teacher at Johnson Aerospace and Engineering High School, um, 18-year resident of Saint Paul's East Side, and a proud parent of two Saint Paul Public school students. And, um, I have one of my own students here. I think just to bring notes. Back to my class tomorrow. Uh, so, uh, I have never been angry enough uh, to come to the school board, but I finally have been. Uh, we do such a disservice to students when we tell them to dream big when it comes to their future but we don't give them a real education on how to make those dreams come true. Uh, we know that kids only know what they know. Uh, and Johnson serves an area with a poverty rate of nearly 8 points higher than the state average. This data is from the Legislative Advisory Committee on poverty. Their number one recommendation was to interrupt this high poverty rate with workforce development. Um, that is CTE. And, uh, because of CTE and the program that was created by, uh, two, staff members who were cut, um, It, uh, has brought my students to so many places to see so many different career paths. Uh, we started so many new classes like, uh intro to Medical careers, engineering Essentials, emergency medical response. We were able to create the aviation program that brought Adam here from earlier and my colleague who's going to speak next, um, all because of CTE programming, um, in Saint Paul Public Schools Um. Because kids only know what they know, we need to show them more so they can know more. Uh, and I say this not just for my students at Johnson, but I say this for my own students as they matriculate through Saint Paul Public schools, um. Please support CTE and Career Pathways in Saint Paul Public Schools Thank you. Good Morning, Doctor Stanley, Chair War members of the board. I I'm Tom Corcoran. I speak to you as a teacher and a parent of students in the district. Um, I'm here to support the career pathways department. Um, when we heard the news that the two positions were cut, everyone in my school was completely shocked. We have worked exclusively with them for so many great things at our school. Um, just a couple of examples. We got a new state of the Our flight simulator that's an industry standard that students can get piloting hours uh towards their pilot's license We got an anatomy table that's usually reserved for the top tier medical institutions in the country. We got a new joiner and belt sander for our wood shop Um, we got a new school store that's student-led, that teaches them entrepreneurial skills. We got 3 new classes, the medical careers, first responders, biomedical Uh, those positions also help with teacher certifications Uh, we got two new CTE teachers to make sure that these classes are taught by, uh, the correct teachers Um, and then at the flight simulator, uh, the, the remodel, um, a lot of you attended that. You saw how inspirational and, uh, incredible that space is. And when students come in there, they start fulfilling the mission of Saint Paul Public Schools of pursuing their dreams, um. You know, changing the world. And that's exactly what the CTE department does. Um, I also wanna just emphasize all of these things cost the district $0. These are all funded by outside, um funding, and you're cutting the department that brings in so much to the school, um, that inspires the students Um, the supervisor that was cut has been. I've with the district for 10 years. The examples I just gave you was 1 year at one school. So you can, that, that supervisors worked with every school in the district so you can literally multiply all the great things I just said by 100, and you can see how much of an impact they have on student learning and our district So I please urge you to reconsider the decisions to cut career pathways. Thank you very much. All right So I'm gonna welcome the next 5 people and we have just about 5 minutes left. Um, so I'm going to call Stephanie Anderson, Alicia Gustafson, Laurie Kui, uh Clyde Scully and Shanna Lee Shanna Lee. And Thomas Watson. It I'm tall. My name is Laura Cousy. I'm an SPPS parent and mental health clinician serving our community. I'm here to speak on behalf of Mr. Errol Edwards, our school guidance counselor, and our SPPS children. 12 days ago, I met with my cousin Mark and his children, Ingrid, who is 9, and Greta, who is 6, in Mr. Edwards's office. Mr. Edwards and I witnessed as Mark held his children and told them their mama had completed suicide, and that we would be going to the ICU to say goodbye to her body. Ingrid's first question to us. Was how will we live? How will we live? I'm telling you what, the wisdom of children Isn't that the question we all ask ourselves after tragedy? I've told Angy since then that I asked myself the same question. And the truth is, I don't know how we're gonna live, but we're gonna. And we need Mr. Edwards to do that because our family and our children trust him. Mr. Edwards and mental health support in our schools is a necessity for the survival of our students and families. We need counselors for the kids who are afraid to come to school. We need counselors for the kids who are afraid to go home We need counselors to continue to see and know our staff. We need them. I'm here before you. Advocating on behalf of our children. Who need and deserve mental health support in our schools. It is essential for the health and survival of our community. Thank you 2 minutes. Good evening, Chair, Bo, Doctor Stanley members of the board. I'm here, um, with several other people from Global Arts Plus La Campus. Will you let yourselves be known? Um, my name is Stephanie Stegman and I'm the proud parent of, um, two students at Global Arts, um, a 4th grader and a 6th grader. Um, I'm here tonight regarding the decision to reduce the art specialist position from full-time to half-time for the school year next year. Our family believes in the power of the arts to educate and bring cultures together. That is why we chose Global Arts Plus back in 2019. The school's name says it all, Global Arts Plus. I have volunteered in the art teacher's classroom, and I have seen firsthand why she and her curriculum. Are so important to our community. While volunteering in her art class, I embarrassingly was brought to tears by how deeply she loves and connects with the kids, just as if she was a superstar counselor. She starts every class by reading a book to the kids that sounds, um, that grounds them in the social-emotional skills, and then relates it to the art lesson. Our school is diverse, and she beautifully explores a variety of artists and creative mediums to show them that art is more than Vincent van Gogh. The kids, um need skills and opportunities to feel good about themselves not more discipline. Um, They have decided to cut the art teacher and add a behavioral specialist, and I feel that is deeply backwards. My son Eddie is a 4th grader, and he asks to do art with us at home Now keep in mind, Eddie is a stereotypical white boy who mostly is interested in sports. Um, but what makes our hearts skip a beat is when he asks to make art with us, to show the lessons that he learned in the art teacher's class. We call them art nights. I believe only a special teacher and a special school can foster that excitement for learning at home. Our Eddie's tender, inclusive, and more empathetic heart shines when he gets to teach us about artists we've never heard of. I'm at bedtime. Sorry. Thank you so much Um, please, please consider full time, not halftime We're arts, we're an arts magnet. All right. Thank you. We're out of time. I did. OK, go ahead. Go ahead I'm here. Go ahead. Good evening. My name is Alicia Gustafson, and I am a parent at Global Arts Plus Lower where I have been part of this community for 3 years A few weeks ago, staff and families were informed that the principal reduced our visual arts teacher from full-time to half-time without notice to families without seeking input, and without any explanation of how the school intends to keep the promises it made to us in writing. Those promises are not vague Global Arts Plus Los family engagement plan is a Title One required document that the school itself says was developed together with families. It commits specifically to an arts-infused learning environment, to named partnerships with Upstream Arts, the Twin Cities Opera Guild, and the Purp Center for Arts Education, and to an annual arts residency with a culminating student performance. The school's mission in that same document says students will thrive through the arts. A visual arts teacher at a half-time capacity cannot honor those commitments. This is also a process violation That same title and document commits to involving families in school improvement and budget planning That did not happen here. A unilateral 50% cut to the only visual arts position at an arts-focused school with no parent involvement and no revision to documented commitments is a breach of a written agreement this this community helped to develop. We are asking the board for three things. A written accounting for the from the superintendent of how this decision was made a requirement that future changes go through the Title One family involvement process and restoration of the visual arts position to full time for the 2026 2027 school year. Thank you. All right. And now, now we're in the public comment, we're a little bit over Um, however, before we go, I do want to thank everybody who spoke with everybody who came to speak, um, even though we didn't have time to hear everyone. And I also want to say that for those of you who didn't make it to the podium, but who spoke with your signs we also did see those, so thank you for coming. Um community members can reach out to the board by email at sb.members@sPPs.org. Contact information for individual board members can be found at www.sPPs.org/BOE. And with that, I will turn it back over to Chair Ward Alright, thank you Cher. Sorry, could I just ask if people had written comments that they were planning to say, is there any way that they could still leave those, um, with, uh, Miss Payne or before they leave if they have written comments? Oh, Miss Payne is over by the door, so if you guys could leave those written comments with her so they make sure that they make their way to us. Yeah, for sure, you can leave them with Miss Payne, and you can also send us an email Um, please give us your comments. All right. Next is the approval of the order of the consent agenda I move to approve the order of the consent agenda with these items pulled for separate consideration 4D, memorandum of understanding between Saint Paul Public Schools and City of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation and 4E, Memorandum of Understanding between Saint Paul Public Schools and Sisters of Saint Joseph of Karondale. I'm pretty sure I pronounced that incorrectly but it is Caron delay. Is there a second? Second, seconded by Director Franco. Comments or discussion. Vote please Director Valiant. Yes, Director Henderson, yes, Director Ward, yes, Director Lowe, yes, Director Alan, yes Director Carillo, yes, and Director Franco, yes, motion passes unanimously. Next, I move to approve the minutes of these meetings. Minutes of the regular meeting of the Board of Education of April 21, 2026. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Director Henderson. Hey everyone, if you could have, if you're trying to have ongoing conversations, if you can move them out to the hallway, that'd be appreciated. I you. I OK. I I believe that motion was made and seconded. Comments or discussion. Vote please. Director Valiant. Yes Director Henderson, yes. Director Ward, yes. Director Lowe, yes. Director Allen, yes. Director Carrillo yes, and Director Franco, yes. All right, motion passes unanimously. Next on the agenda is the committee report from the May 5th, 2026 Committee of the board meeting Topics of the May 5, 2026 Committee of the Board meeting included. 2025, 202026, gender and sexual diversity Parent Advisory Council Board update, analyzing the cost of charter schools for Saint Paul Public Schools Tribal Nations Education Committee, and APEC resolution response, fiscal year 27 budget update and community budget meeting update. Full minutes of the Committee of the board meeting can be found in the board book on the Board of Education website or the full audio can be found online. I move to accept the report on the May 5, 2026 Committee of the board meeting and approve the recommended motions and minutes of that meeting is published. Is there a second? OK. Uh, seconded by, was that Buster Valiant? OK. Thomas discussion Oh please.rector Valiant, yes, Dictor Henderson, yes Director Ward, yes. Director Lowe, yes, Doctor Allen yes. Director Carrillo, yes, Director Franco, yes motion passes unanimously. Next on the agenda is the future meeting schedule. The future meeting schedule can be found online at www.sPPs.org/BOE or by calling our board secretary at 651-767-8149. There will be a special meeting regarding non-renewals on Tuesday June 9, 2026 beginning at 4 p.m. in conference room 5A, which will be followed by the Committee of the ward meeting scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. or immediately following the adjournment of the special meeting. Our next regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Just as a reminder the majority of graduation ceremonies are scheduled for June 1st through June 3rd, 2026. Next, we'll move on to superintendent's announcements, and I'll turn it over to Doctor Stanley. Thank you, chair. First of all, I, you know, we had several students come and talk about their certifications, and that is so exciting. And I just wanted to honor a couple of certifications that we went to last week as well. So we had several students who were awarded with their EMT certification We had 9 students graduate and I went to that graduation I know it was really exciting and several of them Uh, plan to move. Actually, my understanding is there there are openings in City of Saint Paul Fire Department and so several of them plan on moving in. And so I was just really excited about that. Uh, the other thing that I wanted to talk about is the fact that we were at the new sandbox that started for the operating engineers. Actually, Director uh Franco was there uh, that day, there were several of us there, and it was. Incredibly. Moving to see so many of our students In the large machinery and using it, and uh using the machines. I mean, I'm, I don't even know the names of them, but, you know, they're digging in, in the dirt and things like that. And, but what was really powerful is to hear students talk about how it was changing their life, how it was going to change their life, that they would have the certification and they would be able to go out right away and get a job. And so, you know, I just want to give a shout out to our Um, career and college readiness department and program they continue to do things that. Just amazed me. Hannah said, 2500 plus certifications, and what I say is those experiences are allowing students to pursue their dreams. Uh, they will change the world. And more than anything, they are providing economic mobility for our students. And so I'm incredibly proud of that continuing program. And then the other thing that I want to say, you know, tonight. Uh, administration is going to come and provide the board with the proposed uh, budget recommendation. Um, the budget is a reflection of our community's priorities and, uh, parameters that have to be set by, uh, the board of education And at the same time. I've said this so many times when I've been out talking in the community. It represents real constraints and limitations on how we spend our limited resources. Over the past months, we've shared that St. Paul Public Schools is facing a shortfall of approximately $14.3 million for next year. The shortfall comes after two consecutive years of even larger budget cuts, and it also comes after the approval of a new operating levy, which we cannot thank our community more, because we would be facing a shortfall of $51 million without that. The new revenue, um, did help to close that budget gap, and we are incredibly grateful. At the same time, St. Paul Public Schools has fewer students this year, and we anticipate that number to keep going down. This is due to factors uh, a number of factors, including fewer children being born and the federal immigration policy that negatively impacted families and our enrollment. Simply put, With fewer students, our district receives less money, which means we are forced to make incredibly difficult decisions and adjust our spending to balance our budget. Now, I want to say, at the same time, we are also working to welcome and retain more students and as many students as possible. So I do want the community to know that, um, that is a priority of administration as well as the school board. Uh, our principals have had to make, and, and district leadership team have had to make difficult decisions. They were the best decisions possible at that time, and we know that the changes affect real people, real relationships Real personal budgets. And, um, I want to let the community know that I, I just don't, and the board to know that I just don't take that that lightly. Um we have worked to engage the community, and we are so grateful for the many opportunities that they've reached out to us. They came to the April 28th, uh budget meeting, and, um, Difficult decisions and we are going to be uh bringing that budget proposal before you this evening. Are there any questions or comments from board members? Right. Next, we'll move on to agenda items that require board action beginning with the approval of the consent agenda. I move to approve all items within the consent agenda with these items pulled for separate consideration. Item 4D, MOU between SPPS and the City of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation and 4E, MOU between SPPS and Sisters of Saint Joseph of Kondale. Is that right? OK. Is there a second? 2nd seconded by Director Franco, comments or discussion Vo please. Director Valiant, yes. Director Henderson yes. Director Ward, yes. Director Lowe, yes. Director Allen, yes. Director Carrillo, yes, and Director Franco yeah. All right, that motion passes unanimously. Next we'll move on to a separate discussion for items 4D and 4E, um, both of which were pulled by Director Franco, so I'm gonna turn it over to him. Great, thanks Chair Ward. Um, these were both pulled, um, and I'm glad we're considering them together for the same reason. Um, City of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Department is my employer, and so I'll be abstaining from voting on these two items separately. Any questions or comments from board members? Then I move that the Board of Education authorize the MOU between Saint Paul Public Schools and the City of Saint Paul Parks and Recreation for a temporary construction easement Is there a second? Second, seconded by Director Henderson Comments or discussion. Vote please. Director Valiant yes. Director Henderson, yes. Director Ward, yes. Director Lowe, yes. Director Alan, yes. Director Carrillo, yes and Director Franco Epstein. That motion passes with 6 yeses and 1 abstention. Now, I move that the Board of Education authorize the MOU between Saint Paul Public Schools and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Kondale for a temporary construction easement. Is there a second? Second, seconded by Director Henderson Comments for discussion. Vote please. Director Valiant yes. Director Henderson, yes. Director Ward, yes. Director Lowe, yes. Director Allen, yes. Director Carrillo yes. Director Franco. Right, motion passes with 6 yeses and 1 abstention. Um, now we're moving on to further agenda items that require board action. Um do we want a break or are we good to keep going? Does anyone want a break? Let me ask you that way. Thing none, we're gonna go ahead and I'll check in again later. We'll move on to the policy update with these readings. Third reading, policy 426.00 use of social media. Third reading policy at 707.02, transportation student conduct, and I'll turn it over to Doctor Stanley Thank you, Chair. I'll invite up, uh, Erica Wacker our director of communications, and Mario McHenry executive director of Technology services, and then immediately after that, uh, Benjamin Hari, director of transportation, will come up. Good evening, Superintendent Stanley, members of the board, chair ward. Uh, we are here to present, uh, the policy update to Policy 426, which is staff use of social media. This is the 3rd reading. Um, we can go through this really quickly The only change that we have made since our last meeting addresses the um discussion around letter D. Sorry letter B under um. The work-related use of social media and we wanted to clarify that those student accounts that staff are ultimately responsible for Um, are only those that have to do with, um, school activities or athletics, so the new language is district staff are ultimately responsible for any such accounts including those that are primarily managed by students The district reserves the right to report accounts that have not been authorized or are found to be in violation of content standards. Other than that, there were no additional changes since the 2nd reading. People Uh, chair work, members of the board, Superintendent Stanley, I'll continue with slide 6. personal use of social media. Uh, letter A. Employees may not use social media for personal use during work time or district devices. Uh, B, to ensure the safety and privacy of the school community, employees must adhere to following standards. So we're talking about confidentiality Essentially, we don't want to post information that shouldn't be publicized or protect the information such as student images or their names. Um, if we go to slide 7. We're looking at II harassment prevention Uh, what we want to do there is not post harmful information about inform about individuals with our personal social media. Uh, number 1 I I or I I I, we have distinction between content, uh, essentially we don't want to use, um. Postpartial uh opinions through school media so. And then on slide eight letter C, uh, we're talking about the district may take appropriate actions. Uh I'll just read this. The district may take appropriate action when it becomes aware of or reasonably suspects conduct or communication on social media that adversely affects the workplace, impedes their ability to do their job, or violates professional codes of ethics or or the laws. So the items that I mentioned earlier when you talked about confidentiality. Um, the harassment um, policy, and then, um, As well as the distinction between the content, if there's a violation of those areas, the district could take appropriate action Um, are there any additional questions about, uh, policy 426? Are there any questions, comments from board members? Great. So I think that we're Good on that Procedurally, I can't. So the recommendation would be that the board approve the proposed revisions to policy 426 staff use of social media and that this be considered the third and final reading. Right. So then I move to approve the proposed revisions to policy 426.00 use of social media, and this be considered the third and final reading of the three rating process Is there a second? Second, seconded by Director Allen Comments or discussion. Booklets Director Valiant yes, Director Henderson, yes. Director Ward, yes. Director Lowe, yes. Director Allen, yes. Dictorvillo, yes, andrector Franco, yes. All right, motion passes unanimously Thank you. Great. Chair Ward, Superintendent Stanley members of the board, I'm here to present. The third reading of policy 707.02. Transportation student conduct Uh, no changes have been made from the previous reading So with that, are there any questions? Questions or comments from board members. All right, seeing done Sorry, maybe just one quick question. If you may just um. It was like a real brief overview, just in case there's anyone tuning in that this is the first time they're hearing about the policy and they're watching at home, like what y'all actually talking about up here. Just a real like. Couple of sentences on what this policy is changing. Sure. Uh, so we're updating the policy to the current, uh, standard, uh, formatting Uh, so we've added a policy purpose here that's included uh, in, uh, number one. Uh, we've added or updated the general statement of the policy, so that has been updated. So, uh, we struck out the information there and added, uh, number 2. And then we've included uh some information, uh, partnering or collaborating with a specialized services department on some information regarding manifest determination and then alternative transportation for students who have an IEP or a 504 plan. And then the IEP team consultation. So there was a question, uh, that we had earlier at the committee of the board, um, and how quickly we need to consult with the IEP team. Uh, so we've added some information there regarding that. And then, um, We've added definitions so regular school bus stop, what that is, uh, we've updated the definition for boarding, leaving, and serious, and then some additional information or, uh definitions about repeated suspension, revocation and what an IEP is. And then we've updated the legal references and included the statement of what that statute actually is or what the title of that statute is. OK. Any other questions or comments? OK, Vice Chair Valiant. All right, sorry about this, but I had this question earlier. However, um, With the leaving the bus in the afternoon, um, it says it remains the responsibility of the parent or guardian, which I don't really have an issue with, but, um, and this might be addressed in a different policy, but what happens when, as tends to happen sometimes, the student is let off on the, in the wrong spot. Yeah, I mean can you tell me more about that or say more about that question? Uh, yeah, so, for example, I've had a child or two let off on the wrong spot, put on the wrong bus, you know, even with IPs, and um, At that point, I, I guess I wouldn't necessarily say that once they leave the bus, that the responsibility for them is on the parent if they were let off in the wrong place. Through the chair, uh, vice chair Valiant So, real-life situation of this happening, uh, we have a safety team that's on the street until all students are home safely. So, if a student is let off at their incorrect stop, um, we discover that that happens, and then we go and find them. Um, a lot of times, I don't have the actual percentage, but students will walk to a friend's house or they'll you know, they go to the park or whatever the case may be. So we're the mom or parent guardian will call us and we send people out to find that student, or we'll call other students on the, the bus route. So we'll ask, was the student actually on board. So, we're going through a bunch of different things, processes in our office. Um, to ensure that that student, you know, has, has made the connection with the family Um, so I, I mean, Uh, it's hard to really, like, lay all of those out, what those all look like. Um, we're not just, you know, letting kids off and then trying to, you know, find your way home type of thing. We're we're making sure that, that driver's watching. Are they walking to the, to their home. Um, So there's a lot of different procedural things that we, we wouldn't necessarily spell out in the policy itself that we do from our department. I suppose maybe. I would feel better for some reason if it said um supervision of children until born in the morning and after leaving The bus In the afternoon. At the correct stop. I know it seems obvious, but This I don't know. It's just something about it. It's just. I don't know, nagging me a little bit. And maybe it's OK. Well, in the first sentence it says when they are delivered to their regular school bus stop. The district league responsibility but then when it talks about supervision of children and the parents, it doesn't say anything about the regular bus stop. So maybe just adding that in that senses would Make me feel better. Well, I think that covers through the chair, uh, vice chair Valiant, this that covers it. I feel like regular school bus stop because what you're referring to is a student being let off at the wrong stop. We're talking about, you know, were they let off at their regular school bus stop. So I think it's covered in there. With, with this definition. Yep, it's just, but that's the district's responsibility. The district's legal responsibility but supervision of children until board in the morning and after leaving the bus in the afternoon remains the responsibility of the parent or guardian. I did see Director Frankly, your, your light came on. Was there something you wanted to add? I was just gonna offer an assist on that, but I think to your point Director V and, I think if we say. If you add in the word regular, stop, um, somewhere in there, that may if that satisfies you, I would support that. That will satisfy me. Uh, general counsel, I know that you're, you're probably looking at this, this policy as, as we're discussing it too. Is there any reason why just adding the words like regular bus stop, again would be problematic for the purposes of, of this policy? I have to be careful here about giving legal advice in a public forum, right? Just, I would caution everybody that this is a policy that talks about student conduct while they're on the bus. It doesn't really address what our responsibilities are to the students when they get off the bus, whether it's at their stop or someplace else. So remember that the, the policy is focused on student conduct. Um, I don't think that um, adding the word regular to this at this third reading would change it or make us have to go back through the reading process. Oh So, I think there are a couple of ways we can approach this, right? Like we could, uh, as a board, give this as our direction and then ask the team to come back again next month or we can amend it right now and approve it as amended And I'm not sure what the safest bet would be. Like I don't, I want to make sure we don't mess anything up, and I'm seeing nods and shakes from heads, I think giving me different indications of preference from board members. Um, so, uh, I guess, um, Director Harry and, and general counsel, what do you all think is is best in terms of how we proceed if we wanted to make that, that small amendment? Um, I think that you can approve it with an oral amendment to add the word regular. If that would satisfy Director Valiant's concern, and I don't think that that will interrupt or cause the policy to have to come back next month I'm fine with that through the chair. OK, so then what I can do then is whenever I make the motion, make it with that amendment, um, Director Carrillo. Just for clarity purposes, where exactly are we adding regular? So I believe what it would say, uh, uh, the the last sentence of, um, Section 2, General Statement of Policy 1, the part that's highlighted, instead of saying supervision of children until boarding in the morning and after leaving the bus in the afternoon remains the responsibility of the parent or guardian it would now say supervision of children until boarding in the morning. And after leaving their regular bus stop in the afternoon, remains the responsibility of the parent or guardian. OK, so it's just repeating like earlier, the, the previous sentence says delivered to their regular school bus stop. So we're just adding to their regular school bus stop, yeah, in the afternoon OK, yeah, that makes sense. Thank you. OK. Any other questions or comments on this? If not, then I will make the motion to pass it as amended in that way OK. Then I move to approve the proposed revisions to policy 707.02 Transportation and student conduct with the one change being uh The bus struck out, replaced with their regular bus stop. In section 21. Uh, and that this be considered the 3rd and final reading of the 3 reading process. Is there a 2nd? Second. Seconded by Vice Chair Valiant Comms discussion. Oh please Director Valiant, yes, Director Henderson, yes. Director Ward, yes. Director Lowe, yes. Director Alan, yes Director Carillo, yes, and Director Franco, yes, right motion passes unanimously. Next, we're moving on to You know, you don't have to vote on that money. So we didn't, I, we didn't like do the Roberts rules like, vote on the amendment. I just made the motion cause no one had made a motion to begin with. The first motion was to pass it with the change. Are we is that correct, procedurally? So the question was if we're doing this correct via Robert's rules because there was not a motion on the table to approve the um there was an a motion like the original motion was to pass it with the amendment to it right so like we're good, OK. Oh Cool. Next is informational agenda items and we'll begin with board initiated goals, governance career inventory, and I'll turn it back over to Doctor Stanley to introduce this report. Thank you, Chair I'll invite up Corita Green, executive director of College of Current Pathways and School Supports to provide the report. Well, good evening, Doctor Stanley chair ward, members of the board. Back again. I'm Corita Green, um, executive director of College and Career Pathways, and just here to give an update on our, um, big goal. Related to the um. Career inventory and the goal is, um, as a reminder that we want to have, um, 78%, well, let me just read the goal, the percentage of SBS students who complete a career inventory before graduation will increase from 78% of students in 2024 to 99% of students in 2029. As a reminder um, in January I came to speak with everyone and, um shared a little bit about where these inventories come from. They're administered in, um, foundations and advisory classes in our schools, typically 8th 9th, and 10th grade, uh, systematically. And what we have for our update. is for as of April 27th, 2026 our seniors have are currently at 80% have taken one or more of the career inventories, um, 9 19% points away from our, um, our target of 2029 for target away from our target in 2029, um, which is just a slight improvement. I do want to note that um during the time between January and May, our seniors are busy We've seen them, we've seen them today doing lots of wonderful things with internships and uh certifications and um College scholarship application time, all, all of these things are, are happening um during this time and so I'm gonna share a little bit about um that. So, uh, in April, we had our spring internship and since 2020 our spring internship celebration, so since 2021, we've partnered with Right Track and our work-based learning, uh, coordinators who are licensed teachers in our buildings and we've empowered over eight. 100 students to complete uh work experiences with more than 100 employers and um this year we had 120 students complete uh internships with uh 32 partners just this current year. And um yeah, it's a wonderful thing to celebrate. And a lot of times, as we know the students, they learn about what they like to do but they also learn about what they don't like to do. So it's a great experience for them and we're happy to be able to provide that. Um, Also, we have earn as you learn. So we saw a few students today who earned, uh, their aircraft, uh, unmanned aircraft drone pilots through this process and, um, as I feel like everybody stole my thunder, so mine's gonna be really quick here, Doctor Stanley mentioned and Hannah That 2500 credentials have been met and for this current year, um, so far 225 credentials and this that was in April, um, that, um, students have been meeting their credentials and they can, um, earn all of these things that are listed on the slide and more and, um this, um, happens on their own time and depending on the number that they complete they can receive a stipend as well. I want to highlight um two pathways One is an education pathway, so we always hear and learn about all the different wonderful things that are happening in the world and we work for Saint Paul Public Schools. And so with our education pathway we started out, um, when I first joined, there were about 50 students in a few different schools and, um now we're up to 384 students in our education pathway program. We're so excited about that. And 90% of them are students of color. Um, we get the credits, college credits from Minneapolis College and the University of Minnesota, and just recently, so we talked about the spring internships, 68 students did spring internships in our middle schools and high schools, or excuse me, elementary. So our high school students provided internships in our own schools just this spring. And Two students earned our new, um, future educator scholarships $5000 apiece. Yes. Um, and to highlight one of the partnerships, we, um, we are partnering with partnering with Black Men Teach and they currently have cohorts in, um, Como Park Central and Johnson, and, um, these students get mentorship and they get support for their um, teaching classes and their interest in teaching careers. All right. And then the other one, like the big drum roll, um, our trades pathway. So exciting Thank you for everyone who was able to attend or not attend, but Share in the joy of our operating engineers pathway, um, Students earn 15 can earn up to 15 articulated college credits and 55 apprenticeship credits just for one year um going through this program. Um. We had, uh, obviously our ribbon cutting, which was amazing The mayor was there, so many people there, and, um our business partners, so the Local 49, um, really the, um, painted the the the playbook for how to have a sandbox, and then the Minnesota Virtual Academy helped us with the um The curriculum and also the teacher, um, compensation, St. Paul Port Authority with the land and several local businesses. Um, and one thing that was really neat, um, that maybe is not known as well is that along with our teacher, we did have a job navigator, um, the person spoke at our, um, at the, um, the ribbon cutting and so she met with all the students and helped them like With finding jobs, like how to navigate through the process And so, um, 12 passed the RAMSay test, which I understand is needed for private employment in this area, um there's a different process for public and We're just like super excited. Only sandbox in the metro area and it was a long time coming, but we're very glad that it got here and the students were able to get into the into the sandbox. We're looking forward to the continued growth um with their trades pathway Um, with all this, you heard me mention a little bit about our, our partners, um, we cannot do this without our partners. We have Hundreds of 100/100 partners that we work with. Um, one that I'd like to highlight is the, uh, 8 educator externship partnership, which is really neat because our current teachers go out and learn about business or industry and then they bring that information back to the schools, back to the classroom. So they learn about that. Um, the two photos there, so the one at the top is actually um the 3M innovation Center that our students, um, go to, and then recently we, we were just, um, received some information about our, um, students who go to Lego League robotics and or the 3M, um, internship and how, as Doctor Stanley said that it is, um, economic mobility. So we actually saw that over years how these students, their reading, their math, their college high school and college graduation scores like increase noticeably, um, and it's it it helps all the students and in particular, it helps our students of color even more. So all of those things that we're we're offering for our students are actually changing their lives. Yeah Yes, um, and so I will just wrap this up by, um, sharing that, uh, we're gonna make sure that we continue to do our career interest inventory As I said, it's, um, more 8th graders have taken it already than our current, um, seniors, so we'll continue that. Uh, if you may recall, we added a career pathway option because we knew. That, um, we know like the um, things that folks are interested in, but what we didn't know is like where do they actually go? Do they go into medical? Do they come to education? Like where do they go? So we added that survey this year for our seniors for their exit survey. So next year we'll be able to see if their interests are, um, lining up with where they're going. So we're really good uh, we're excited about learning about that. Um, we are exploring, um, microcredentialing for students so we wanna make sure that there are, uh, stackable um, career options where they can, um, get a credential and then go right into employment. And it was so interesting today I was just. Uh, um, in my office area and there was a student that came in and she was and she was getting, um, her, uh, verification of some of her certifications through Earners You Learn, and she um, had just finished the microcredentialing program at Saint Paul College called, um, sterile Processing And so, and she had said she's interested in nursing and in the medical field. So it was really neat that I just ran into her today, um, with that. So we know that that's an opportunity and we want to look into that further to see how we can grow that. And as always as we know, um, students really rely on their parents and their guardians, they're trusted adults, um, to help guide them through this whole process of education and careers that they go into and so we're gonna, um continue to attend the parent advisory councils and have a bigger. Residents at, uh, school events as well for career pathways. So like the, um, student had mentioned about um the PSCO earlier on, so we wanna make sure that all the students know what the options are for um college or apprenticeship credits here in Saint Paul. And with that, I will close and ask for any questions, comments. Great, thank you Questions or comments from board members, Director Carrillo. Yeah, I have one question. Well, first of all, comment. Thank you very much, uh, um, for the presentation, and very, um, uh, encouraging to see all these numbers and to see the different partnerships that we've, uh, developed and the, the potential and the continuous research into them. I'd be curious to know, um, out of the, you know, 20% of non-respondents that 514 kids, um, if, if, where they're concentrated in. Um, and more than anything really to understand if the effort that the district is gonna have to do is, is comprehensive across all schools to try to get, you know, the inventories, um, answered and, and what level of engagement is happening around, around careers and college readiness. Um, or if it's concentrated in, you know, a couple of sites, and it's not really to name and shame, it's more just interested in what what level of, of effort do we have to see in the next 3 years to get, you know, to that 99% or close to. So, um, could consider it even, uh, you know, uh a request, uh, a data request, um, to see that number broken down and, and shared with the board. Thank you. Other questions, our comics director, um, Alan Um, thank you. I just wanted to publicly say that thank you so much for this. This is the vision that I've had for Saint Paul Public Schools in ending the school to prison pipeline, as I've spoke about regularly um, that economic mobility. is one of the key factors We can talk about literacy for sure on the front end of it, but by the time they're ready to graduate, that economic mobility is the key piece to keeping um young people focused on their goals. I'm excited about these exit surveys, but I've been working with the groups 16 to 24 since I've been on the board now, and I'm learning oh so well, how they changed their minds You've got a wonderful young One who should be pre-law At Howard University, just called me to tell me that she wants to be a DJ farmer teacher. So, um, you know you just support it, you take them to the farm. And and, you know, we hope that she ends up pre-law, which is her ultimate destiny, but it'd be interesting to see how these things start to match up, and thank you so much for this work, this is really important Thank you. I always like to say, career pathways, know where you might go. OK Director, Director Henderson Uh, thank you. I just have a quick question. So, uh one, all the information about everything is really helpful. Appreciate, um, you taking an opportunity to go beyond just the current inventory. That's super exciting, um, and to share some of those updates. But uh, thinking back to when we were first drafting the goal and we were talking to families and to stakeholders I think One of the things that came forward is that families didn't actually know a whole lot about this Um, there were questions around like, one, what is this, right? Like, I didn't know this was the thing that my child was supposed to do. Um, but also, can you just share how do families keep track of this How do they access it if their child, um, or their student should be accessing this versus they're not Um. And then I think the other question that we got and I remember it stumped me, which is why I'm gonna ask it here, is what does this provide for students Why do we have them do this? And why is it important to get closer to students starting to think about it early rather than later? And then I, um, but, you know, just like basically why should they, why should our students take this outside of the fact that it's a requirement and now we have a board goal around it. Through the chair, Doctor Henderson, I'm trying to remember everything. Um, OK, so how do parents get access to it? Um, actually, all parents have, uh a login to the Zello account. And so part of it is the schools, uh, as we know, um, parents pay closer attention to information coming out from schools, um and so the schools send out the information to the parents. Another, um, way is through the PAC, the Parent Advisory Committee, so we go and, um, speak uh, with them. Also, um, events that we attend, we've attended, um, powwows, and we attend like the Um, thinking college early fairer, so like folks who are showing up, we have our own booth and then we share and we talk with them about what, um, what there is to offer We have a little, um, kind of a brochure that shows like each grade level what students can be doing all the way from pre-K to, um, senior year. And I remember sitting at a booth at, um, When we have our um school showcase and There was a little walking by and they saw the big sign and they said, Oh, the parent was like, Come on, let's go. And I'm like, No, we have something for you. And I opened up the brochure and right at the top it says Pre-K on it. And I'm like Is this you? And they're like, Yeah. And they said It's for me. It was so sweet. And that's part of it is the thinking part. People need to see. Students adults need to see themselves or students and their their parents need to see themselves as, um, what they could possibly become. So that early exposure just something as simple as that is really, um, helpful Also, we have the college-bound savings account. It's now, um, through kindergarten. And that'll continue to grow and there's different opportunities with that And so that's just helping parents learn about savings helping students learn about savings, and then with our partnership with the City of Saint Paul, it just means like anything after college or after high school So it does mean you have to go to a 4-year school to get the money, um, it's for the students and so if they do an apprenticeship, internship, whatever um, job, that money is, is for them. So those are a couple of ways that we're working at that. Um, OK Director Franco, yes, thank you. Thank you, Executive Director Green. I, this is like where I spend a lot of my day job thinking about pathways and supporting young people in out of school time and in school time um, career opportunities and starting to see that So I appreciate this work and, um, really get the opportunity to work closely with a lot of the work-based learning coordinators at our comprehensive high schools and Their work is um very essential to the success of a lot of those students and so thanking them, um for that work and everyone that is on that team in the um college and career pathways office. So, I did have. A question. Well, actually, also, uh, a great some gratitude around um sharing some of the opportunities that our young people are experiencing or having the opportunity to experience here in Saint Paul Public schools, and I know I've heard Doctor Stanley say this several times just about the The robust offerings that we offer here in Saint Paul as compared to this is certainly a bright spot, um, in our district. And I did have, and as I was hearing this, I was kind of thinking back to just the career inventory and like that being our big goal. And so I have a question for our board members after what. In your best opinion um, what is the data from those career inventories telling us? Um, and, and I know we don't have any aggregate data in front of us, but like, What, um is the purpose and similar to maybe Director Henderson's uh, piece, what is really that purpose for them taking those inventories and like, I think it was 8th, 10th and 12th grade, and then the way we're getting our data is, if you experience one of those at any time that, that means that we're like counting it towards um this big goal. So, can you just give us a little bit more insight of what those surveys are like, what they're Telling us about that what the the those surveys are telling students about themselves. Through the chair, um, Director Franco, um, the surveys, when the students take them, they tell them, um, like different areas that they might be interested in in in studying or just off of, um, the way they're responding to the, um, the questions. And so some students, and then it's, it's usually like, um, not just one area here's two or three. And then, um, what I find is that some students will be surprised at some of the areas where they like they never thought of, uh, thought of that, and then they will, um, pursue areas that they never really thought of, um, and they're, um There was a counselor today just talking about meeting one on one with the student, um, they were in middle school and doing their inventory and how, um, they really appreciated that because they learned so much more about the student by having that, uh, conversation with them to go into more detail. So basically, They're giving the students options. Um, they share with their parents and guardians, they also have those options But, um, you find that sometimes people just don't know what's out there. And then they might be like Oh, cool. The other thing that's really neat is, um you know, they talk about, hey, it shows pay. And sometimes students are like, Oh, well. You know, teachers they don't make that much. I show them that little skill. I'm like, Baby? They're like, What? What do you do again? How did you get? And so it's really just educational on what opportunities are out there for students. Thank you. That's helpful. And I think um, I know we see often that, um, you know, a title or something may just spark interest to like go a little deeper. And so I, I appreciate that, and that's was my assumption around kind of some of the survey right? Cause I think we survey our young people often and then it's really what we do after that and the opportunities we provide them after the, the survey is completed, that actually connect the dots in real-time And so, I, I ask those questions just in, in Post our board as we um prepare for a, um, a retreat in which we will kind of reassess some of these goals Um, I, I encourage us, um, to think about, um, Career pathways as this whole umbrella and thinking about if this is a goal, while I know it will continue, um if there's something that we may need to make it a little bit more robust and think about the experiences that young people, um, Get to experience in our district as maybe a stronger or more intensive goal or a more ambitious goal, um, because I think the surveys again will continue. Um, and so I just implore us to be thinking critically about the data that we're getting back and then if there's maybe a need to start thinking about how we pivot, possibly this goal particularly To ensure it's um doing the dots connecting as opposed to just the data collection. Right. Before I ask for more questions or comments, just a quick pitch, we are gonna be talking about big goals at our board retreat. If you do have an idea for a new big goal please like, share that with me so we can share it with the rest of the board as soon as possible, so we have time to consider it before we get there. And if you're interested in us. Amending a goal or adding a goal that has something to do with district operations that's, that's something that we need to pull in soup and, and our team on to make sure it's something that is actionable if you're hoping to try and, and, and have that be an addition during a border retreat. Um other questions or comments about this presentation Um, I had one. So you mentioned that the, uh, the new, um, uh, apprenticeship, uh, students can get uh, 55 apprenticeshipship credits. How many total apprenticeship credits do you need before your apprenticeship is done? Like how close is that to a student being done with the apprenticeship? It's a ways. It's still a ways, OK, yeah, um. I know that typically apprenticeships go for about 5 years. That might be a year's worth OK, great, awesome. Still hugely helpful, right, but like just wanted to, to get a frame of reference for what exactly that meant in terms of getting someone like on the job as a, as a full employee there and if, if I could add. I love your words. Extremely helpful because our students are leaving our four walls, going out into the world with experiences, apprenticeship hours, credits, all of those pieces that, uh, many students aren't. And so it's, it's positioning them To be more prepared and to step into the businesses that, that are looking to employ them. It's, it's changing their status in our local labor market, and that is what we're hearing from students, that's what we're hearing from families, and that's what we're hearing from our business partners as well. It's exciting Right. Other questions are gone. Is sure. Yeah, I don't have a lot to say, but this is all really cool I'm happy to hear about all of it. I remember doing um, learning things in high school when I went to school somewhere else. Um, but I was, um, I did go to a tech school and I did learn, um, I was in the business department and I did learn how I learned access and I learned how to uh make, what do you call them things, databases back when you had to count the longest number of letters in a word or sentence in order to make space for it. So it's way back when you know, we were learning WordPerfect, which is now just Word, um, but those types of experiences now they, they give you An idea of when I'm when they give you the understanding that like, I can do a job this is not too hard. Um, when you go to talk to an employer and you tell them that, hey, I did this thing in school, they're like, OK, you have some experience or at least you have an idea of like the types of things that we do here. So, and, and it gives you a, a lot of confidence too, even if you have learned something that you don't like. They're like, oh, I learned that, that was cool, I don't want to do it You know, for a long time. So, I'm just um really excited about our career pathways work and I really um, I'm looking forward to a time when uh our students are coming. Into high school knowing, you know, which schools have access to which pathways and potentially get to choose what school they wanna go to based on what they're interested in. Um, so I don't know for sure if that could happen, but I'm just happy with the idea of that happening. Sorry, Chair Ward, I, I'd be, uh, in trouble with my team if I didn't bring these two things up that we see really just deeply on the ground related to young people being prepared for the workforce. And while I think, you know, I already said all the other things, but there's two really technical skills that I just have to bring up right now, um, of things that I think truthfully because of us being a district that heavily relies on iPads. Um, that our young people are missing out on one is truly an ability to type. Um, and I think a lot of positions that are outside of our, um, You know, that are, you know, those kind of jobs that are working in office and that an ability to actually type is, is critical, um, and what I'm learning is that young people have a lot of questions on how to capitalize a letter if it's on a keyboard and not on an iPad, and I will tell you, um, over 100, um experiences in the last year that I've had to teach that skill as we're filling out new hire paperwork and 2. With our reliance on iPads and technology, our ability to actually like write and like care about handwriting is also some true employability skills that I also think from a real technical standpoint um, our reliance on technology has gotten us away from. And let me just be the first to tell y'all as somebody who's processed a whole bunch of I-9 documents in the last Three weeks, um, having to start over because those are federal documents, and if you write in pen, you can't erase and you can't scribble. Anyway I just felt like the moment needed those technical skills to just be like, elevated, just a little bit So. Anyone else have any questions or comments? Great Seeing none, uh, thank you so much for the, the presentation Um, the next item is the proposed budget update. I'm gonna suggest that we take a break here. Yeah. So let's do 10 minutes and come back at 8:06. Yeah, let's just have it around. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. All right everyone, we're gonna come back together. The time is 8:06. Um, the next item is the fiscal year 27 proposed budget update, and I'm gonna turn it over to Doctor Stanley. All right, thank you very much. We have, uh brought, um, information around the budget to you uh, to the board and the community several times over the past month, uh, several past few months, and, um Tom Sager, executive chief of Financial Services, is going to come up and I do believe that, uh, Chief Gurriachea is going, oh, and actually, Chief Gurriachea and Chief Pratt Cook are going to join him. Well, good evening, uh, Chair Ward, Vice Chair of Valient, other directors. Superintendent Doctor Stanley, uh, tonight um, we will review the proposed, uh, budgets for the FY 27 school year. Uh, this, uh, tonight will be just a presentation. Uh, there will not be a vote. We will bring back the final, uh, version of our budget in June and recommend adoption at that time. Much of the information we will share tonight, you've already seen, we've been communicating this for quite some time. And the first, of course, is that we know that we are working with a budget shortfall for the 26 27 school year of the 14.35 million. That represents 1.7% of our budget. And it was because of that necessary to make some reductions to balance the budget for the upcoming year. We also know that the reasons for this shortfall include increased expenses outpacing state aid revenue, including employee wages, benefits rising costs of goods and services, and Approximately 900 fewer students over over two years from what was expected from this year and then moving into next year, and that was a key driver behind the necessary work behind these reductions. There's our anticipated revenue that we've shown you in the past. Those are all the primary revenue sources. The key ones there of course, they're all important, but the key ones there is the state aid. You can see that at $518 million And of course our property tax revenue of 185.8 million And then there's other, other categories that Uh, bring us to that 814.5 million for our revenue. On the expense side, this is where we take the information, the best information that we have, and start with a revised budget and then say what are all the other things that we believe are going to happen that will drive to an expense budget for next school year. Many of these, uh, you know, are somewhat parameters, 4% on inflation. We know that we are continuing expansion of new programs, our strategic plan and facilities portfolio analysis. We also committed to adding some FTEs at the 58 schools. We're specialists, uh, we're anticipating a potential fund transfer next year into our food service, uh, transportation costs, and paid family leave. All told, the difference there between the revenue and the expense is that shortfall of 14.35 Anticipating we will end the year and you will see a proposed budget for next year, ending our fund balance This is the unassigned. That's what we're focusing on is unassigned 43.63 million, and that'll be approximately 5.26%, which is above the threshold required by your policy. There's, um, again, just kind of summarizing the revenue, the expense, and then making a note here too that other factors could impact this shortfall For better or for worse, and you know, enrollment we always have to keep, keep close tabs on that, especially as we come into the fall, October, November time frame Our funding formulas, employment contracts, health insurance, impact of new federal policies and structure pertaining to education and the economy, and we always know that these numbers can shift from time to time We've seen that through the spring. And um so these are subject to change, and they're never really, really final until the year closes out. We pay all our bills we go through the audit and we say, and here's where we landed. Uh, one of the things that we looked at of course, that you helped us with was identifying some budget options. Um, you can see there on the elementary side, we considered no split classrooms uh, no splits in, in grades K through 3, K through 1, and K through 5, and then going across the top there for the secondary, where we are going to, uh 3 below class size. 3.5, 4, and where we landed and what we put into the budget is that combination of 4 below class size for secondary and then no splits K1 and that was going to generate a savings of a little over $5 million there in the green. So how are budget decisions made again? Um, We've shown this quite often Uh, we start with the district mission and community values, and there we listen to what students and staff and families are asked, what they value and help uh guide the budget process. Uh, we also rely heavily on our board to provide some guidance and parameters and you did that for this budget process as well. And then, of course, um, district budget decisions. District leaders make those decisions on funding and reductions based on the community values. And then the board parameters, and then that's what drives to those decision making. And then finally, the implementation is where the programs, the principals and the department leaders make choices around in their specific areas around staffing, contracts, and programming based on the funding available and the allocation that each school and or department received. Um, also here, we also like to point out that There are many, many required expenses that fall outside of these parameters and priorities that still must be funded using available resources, and those are things like paying the utility bills and state and federal mandates, staffing ratios and other fixed costs. So we do have some flexibility and at the same time, in a lot of areas, not much flexibility at all. And I'm gonna turn it over to Doctor Graaa Who will talk to us about community budget engagement. Care ward. Members of the board, superintendent I have two slides this evening. Uh, you've seen this slide before around our community budget engagement summary. We do have some updated, um, information that is displayed on this slide with our newest, um engagement of April 28th. And this is, uh, uh, so now we have an overall summary of our community budget engagement. Um, across our our budget process, we've engaged with over 6000 parents, guardians, staff, and community members. Um, Including, um, Through surveys which is the first three rows that you see, parent and guardian surveys, um, we've gotten about 1000 responses and then about 1400 responses on staff, um 3400 responses from students. We had our fall community budget meeting that was facility. t ated and organized through our Office of Family Engagement. And in December we've did and given you the um summary of uh of that That was in December, and then you'll see our spring community budget meeting, most recently that was um conducted at Como High School, again, organized and facilitated. Um, through our Office of Family and Community Engagement, and we had 127 parents, communities uh, and staff members attend that, giving us, um, between December 2025 and April, the end of April or early May 2026, um, 6140 participants. Um, throughout all of that, we asked around our, um, Budget priorities and um our top three community priorities have largely been sustained and we've heard that there is strong support for them. Our literacy, which is our instructional priority in the center of the visual and then respectful and reflective schools, community um value and safety and a sense of belonging as our other um community value. Um, the survey results and our feedback has also showed strong support for arts, music, mental health supports, definitely our required course offering our building upkeep, and our college and career readiness which you heard a little bit from. Um, earlier this evening, and of course our language and culture programs and I will turn it back over to Executive Chief Sager Thank you. Those budget parameters that I mentioned earlier include this time around, there were 3 guidelines that you helped us with, and one was to maintain a commitment to full day pre-K, pre-kindergarten, and that includes um those seats that we serve and provide but we're not, we're not funded for those. Uh, the other is to retain at least 95% of instructional support services to that. And we wanted to demonstrate a continued commitment to language and cultural programs. Then in the end, we knew that we had to land this budget um, the fund balance at or above that 5% threshold for daily operating expense. Her port policy. The other priorities that we identified with our work was to avoid the split or composite classes and gauge grades pre-K through 1. That was a grid that you saw earlier. The other was to adhere to class size averages in all schools. Uh, maintain full day pre pre-K kindergarten enrollment, retain current levels of instructional support staff, and demonstrate a continued commitment Language and culture. So, how did this work out? It um, the budget reductions, um, were divided up and overall, I mentioned earlier, it was the 14.35% was 1.7% of budget, OK. So school-related services made about $10.5 million in reductions, and that was 1.5% of the reductions of that total budget in that area of about $684 million. And then In the non-school related areas, um, that was those reductions were 3 million, and that represents 2.3% reduction in administrative areas in a total budget in that zone of 130 million So you can see you have in one area the percentage a little bit smaller, relatively speaking, the other area a little bit higher, relatively speaking, and overall it's 1.7% average, OK. And this is how it kind of broke out. Now Chief Pratt Cook will get into some more detail here in a little bit when it comes to the staffing, but these were the areas that we looked at when we've shared in the past, school-based FTEs, aligning school staffing with enrollment, also district staff FTEs and central office expenses. Also reduce carryover to schools by 50%. So again, we normally allow carryover of about 1.5%. We're still going to allow some carryover. Not 1.5, but half of that or 750, um. Absorb 6 FTEs through attrition, um, modify the allocation practice for kindergarten, uh. We have some fall adjustments set aside. We normally set aside a million dollars, and we're going to set aside $600 and therefore savings of about $400. And I will pause there and just let you know that there have already been several areas that we've been, we have identified where we strongly believe that we're going to have to go into this zone. And, you know, so, um, that's just. You know, it's already there, you know, so that's and that's why we put it aside, um, 2% increase in all budgets, uh, supply budgets, and then maintain partnerships where grants are being reduced, and that's why that's a negative number there where we're actually taking away a reduction, otherwise. Uh, that reduction at the bottom there would have been 14.65. But we're just setting aside some money for some of these grant areas that we, we are losing some revenue. So, revenue by fund, uh, you can see there, uh, general fund, largest 1, 79%, and then you have your, our construction fund which, you know, is in excess typically of around $100 million or so debt service, community service and food service. And expenditure follows the same pattern, um, general fund, the largest building construction um, right there, and then of course our debt service community service and service funds consisting of the five funds that we work with. A little more detail on general fund, you could see there that the state aid is very important at 68%, as is property tax. A little nuanced observation there. Usually that state aid is a little bit higher than that percentage wise 70, 72%. The reason it's a little bit lower this time around is because the property taxes due to the operating referendum is higher. So that's taken a little bit bigger share percentage-wise, which kind of lowers the percentage for the other end of the of the state aid in the total. But this general pattern stays the same that we've seen for many years. General fund expenditures 81% to school and student support, 12% for maintenance and operations, and 7% for administrative support services. A couple of points on that. Uh, and I've shared this, uh, recently, you know, that 81% for school and school supports is higher than the state average. I think state average is around 78% last we checked. So we're a little bit higher in that zone. And then, um, in the area of school administration support services, here we are at 7% and state averages around 6.8, 6 point or excuse me, 8.6, 8.7. So higher in schools percentage, lower in admin relative to state averages. The other thing I want to point out here, if that's all right, is, um, the community engagement that we talked about earlier. Remember we showed you a slide at one point of how uh families and students community wanted us to prioritize our allocations And the first thing they wanted us to prioritize is anything that, that has to do with related to school and school support services. That was like the prevailing theme, and then the second theme underneath that was the maintenance and operations and facilities. OK and then the last um uh priority was administrative support services. OK. So that was feedback that we got. It wasn't necessarily surprising because we knew that for a long, long time, that is how we're aligning our budget to be consistent with the community. The community values and wishes. And how the budget should be put together. A general fund budget. This is just kind of a year to year. We started doing this last Last year to compare where we were last year compared to this year and the the column there in the middle is, is probably the main one, the FY 27 proposed budget You can see there are beginning fund balance that's total fund balance, by the way, not just the unassigned that's the total including OPEP and all of that. Um we have revenue, and we have expense, and we, um, are planning to grow our fund balance slightly by about $14,000. So that's really pretty minuscule on the grand scheme of things of a. $800 million general fund budget, but we wanted to provide a balanced budget and that's what it's looking like right now. In a similar way, we have our food service budget. Um, we know that we have a deficit beginning fund balance there. Our revenue, um, is gonna, uh, we're expecting our revenue to come in about $34 million and then our expenses, um, about 33.7 million. And actually um reduce that deficit a little bit for next year in our food service fund. Uh, so that's a change in a positive direction. Community Service fund, uh, similar there, I'm looking at the FY 27 proposed, uh, the beginning fund balance of, of, uh, 12, uh, revenue of 33, expenditures of 35, and then actually a reduction in that fund balance of about 2.2 million. Now, um what I'd like to point out also that in fund 4, that fund balance still remains relatively healthy, I think at about 28%. OK. And then our construction fund, uh we're starting the year at a fund balance of 43, revenue of 84, expenditures of 111, and that'll bring our fund balance in the construction fund down to about $17 million. And that's kind of what happens. I mean we go to the bond market, we get the money, it comes in. We, uh, we invest it while we're not using it and then as the bills and the construction bills come in, then we gradually, slowly pay those bills and um, Uh, reduce that fund balance, um, as time goes on. Our debt service, that's, I like to think of that as our mortgage payment. So we know that we started the fund balance or the beginning fund balance of about 20 million revenue expenditure expenditures in this area are very closely aligned on a year to year basis. And are really put together by all of the financing schedules and MDE. So you can see here that our revenues come very closely to matching our our expenses and ending fund balance of about 19.7 million, very similar to what we had at the beginning of last year. And then the summary page, and this is really the page that we will recommend for approval and adoption. All the other documentation that is part of this PowerPoint or the budget work and all the work that's been done is really the supporting evidence. And the supporting data that funds that funnels into this page. And when we ask, um, and recommend the approval of the budget uh, this is what we're asking approval for. And, um and you can see there again on that top line, you'll point out. The revenue of uh of the 814477, and then the expense of the 814, 463, the difference there is a positive $14,000. So for all practical intents and purposes, that's a, a balanced budget. Similarly with the other funds, food service, community service building construction, and food service, the debt service. And I'm gonna turn it over to my colleague Chira Cook. You'll see from this slide that basically it provides an overview of the repositions that were cut across the district in terms of schools and departments Um, we're provided you, um, the number of cuts that have been made by, um, bargaining group. One of the things that happens every year is that when, um, Employees are cut from their positions if they're not familiar with their collective bargaining agreement or the reduction process. We have a number of people that automatically assume that because their position has been cut, it means that they're being terminated from the district. So, a reduction in a position does not automatically equate to um the fact that that person is going to be laid off or they're Gonna be a probationary release if they're in a probationary status. Um, some employees will have the ability based on the rules that are in their CVA to be able to participate in some type of a transfer process. Um, some individuals will go directly to placement, and so we don't actually get to layoff until we actually have gone through whatever that. Transfer process is, or we've done the placement process. Um, individuals who are still probationary would be a probationary release or termination um, and individuals who've passed their probationary period would then actually be put in layoff if there are not enough positions available for them once we get done with the transfer and the placement process So you'll see that overall across the district, um there were 167 um positions that were actually cut during this budget cycle. Was there a question? No Um, so the, the previous slide talks about the actual cuts that happened at um departments and schools. This slide actually talks about, um, what we are anticipating in terms of probationary terminations, um, or the number of potential layoffs. And you, so you'll see again by bargain. Group that we have identified uh the number of um positions where we're expecting that there are either gonna be probationary releases or we're going to be looking at layoffs um by bargaining units. Now, sometimes things end up shaking out differently We're still receiving um people making Requests for leaves of absences, we still have people um uh submitting retirements and resignations. So at the end of the day, these numbers may change, um, once we get to the final, um, date. Um, but as of today, this is what our numbers are looking like in terms of our probationary releases and the number of people that we're estimated to be laid off. So what we've, uh what this slide actually shows is we've already actually started the process. We're already meeting with some of our bargaining groups or in the process of setting up meetings to meet with our bargaining groups to talk, uh, to meet and talk about what our placement process is gonna look like. Um, we've got our timelines on here for when we expect placement and bumping, um to take place, as well as when we're, uh, looking to provide some layoff notices. One of the things that we will be doing, uh, differently this year as it relates to teachers, typically the first time that there's any, um, notification to an employee about the fact that they're gonna be a probationary release I'm talking teachers specifically here, that normally happens after we meet with have a closed session with the board in early June and so this year that date is June 9th, um, but because of the way things have been. Playing out, um, we actually will be sending out letters within the next couple of days to, um teachers who are going to be probationary releases um, actually giving them what we're calling it is an informal notification of the fact that we're expecting to, um, submit their name to the board on June 9th um, recommending that they are a probationary release and we needed to do that differently this year because of the fact. That in some of our areas, things are pretty the positions are pretty tight, and it's important for us to be able to um put positions together, um in a timely manner so that we are clear as to exactly how many people are still without um positions in order for us to finalize what those probationary releases or potential layoffs might actually look like. And we felt that it would be, um, inappropriate. It for people to see their positions being posted, especially I'm talking teachers right now, specifically in the 3rd round of interview and select catalog. And so we will be sharing that information with principals this week. Um, we've asked principals to meet directly um, with teachers to let them know that this is going to be happening, um, and that once we've actually gone through that process, they will receive final notification after the board acts on June 9th. So um, are there any questions about any of that before we move on? Questions, comments from board members questions about what specifically because I know there's more presentation so board members might be holding some of their questions to end. All right, very good One thing that I did wanna make sure that I, um, did mention before I moved on is the fact that initially if you remember as we talked through the various scenarios for what those budget reductions would potentially look like that initially we had talked, we had expected that we would be reducing by 20 EL teachers, um. I wanted to let the board know that we'll be reducing we're expecting to reduce by 16 instead of 20. Um and that we were also expecting to reduce councilors by 9. we have, uh, several principals who have actually bought up their counseling position at their locations And as a result, instead of 9 FTE reductions for councilors we're looking at 5.5 FTE reductions for councilors So I thought that would be important to share with the board. So you'll see in terms of looking at the budget timeline update that we've already given out allocations to buildings that happened quite a while ago. Buildings hosted their budget and information sessions with their community, March 26th through April 23rd. Staff reduction. Letters all went out um, in the month of April. We had, um, the community budget meetings that took place on April 28th, and we are now getting ready to, um, within the next week or so, um, begin the posting for the third round of interview and select. So, um, in terms of next step our proposed FY 27 budget is being presented today Um, budgetary staffing reductions and layoff will be finalized by June. Obviously, we have timelines based on language that's in the various CBAs, um, and the board will vote to approve and adopt the budget on June 23rd, and the district must approve the budget by June 30th. That, I'll turn it over to Tom. Here's our ongoing timeline. You can see here the the star is now over at May. Where we're proposing the budget Uh, for FY 272, Board of Education, and then we'll be back next month with a recommendation for approval and adoption. Thank you. All right. uh, questions comments from board members? Who wants to go first Yeah. Director Henderson, is that he? Yeah, I can go first. Um, my thoughts are a little jumbled, so I'll start with, I think, one, I appreciate this information It's, it's helpful to continue to, to get it, to see some of the consistencies that we've, we've been talking about this for some time. Um, I guess I would love to start with, we talked a little bit about Um, the three priorities and how we came to those from the broader, uh, engagement. Can you tell us a little bit about the fall budget engagement efforts specifically Um, and some of the context, I think, for that is I think we know, right, that the opportunity. To really shape the budget, to understand, um, where community wants us to continue to invest happens there. So how did some of those conversations impact, particularly thinking of the fall community budget meeting on, in December? How did some of that impact what we know now? And it's OK if it's anecdotal, so I can open it up to other folks as well. Uh, through the, through the chair, Director Henderson. In that, in December um, and in the surveys, which Happen um concurrently Um, one of the things that we asked was specifically about the priorities that we had been um Working, which was um prioritizing literacy. Um, safety and sense of belonging and respectful and reflective schools And we asked, is this still important in terms of a priority? And we heard in all cases, yes, these are still important things. Um, and so one of the ways that that will translate, um, into our proposed budget for FY 27 is the continuation of some of the positions that are related to literacy support as well as our um continued investment, which is also now um a state requirement in our um Literacy efforts Um, so that's one way. The second, um, and I think that, that I can think of, um, offhand is Um, The we asked about their preferences in terms of the five areas and how they should be ranked in terms of prioritizing for um resource allocation and for budgeting. And in all cases, um, Students, parents, and, um, staff all said that schools and um students' instructional areas should be prioritized first, and then, um, buildings and staff, and then sort of central office and administration should be last. And that has been our pattern of the way that resources are allocated and I think that on slides. You know, we, we see it on slides 14, we see it again on um slides 19 in terms of um how we How our expenditures are proportioned, um, with 81% um expenditures going to school and student programs and services, and then 12% going to maintenance and operations, which are our buildings and our facilities and then 7% going to administrative support services And in those cases, and that has been our pattern um, not only is it Um, higher than state average in terms of the allocations to schools and student programs and services. It is in, you know, direct alignment to what we heard in, in those cases in terms of most of the resources should go to buildings and students and student support services and The least amount of resources um should be directed to administrative cost. That's helpful. Thank you. Yeah, thank you, uh through the, through the chair, uh, Director Henderson The, the other part to that I think is, um, you know on that slide where we we showed the three community priorities, there was some pretty clear opinion, strong support for things it says right here, arts and music mental health support, required course offerings, building upkeep, college and career readiness, and language and cultural programs. So that, that was some, some clear. You know, direction, and then when we get to that other part where we had the program, the the process of a budget, and we can actually start making allocations and then push those out in the implementation into the departments and the schools as we're going through those part 3 and 4 really tried to the best of our abilities to stay. As clear of these areas as possible, OK, so that was kind of where that came out and um some of the reductions that may have occurred in any of those areas were really a direct result of the drop in enrollment and fewer students, uh, uh you know, in those areas or um. You know, I'm thinking EL is a good example, you know, so we didn't really want to go there, but And uh we're going to, we anticipate having fewer EL students, and, you know, that was kind of a pervasive theme throughout the whole process of that type of. You know, uh, thinking and rationale Appreciate that. And I think, one, because you named it, I, and I, I don't think we responded to the superintendent when she talked about this earlier, but we would be remiss not to, to name, right, the, the impact of federal operations, the impact that they're having on, have had on our community and will continue to have on our community. Um. And from a very real space that shows up in a lot of different ways. It shows up as the folks in our classrooms, but it also shows up in the ability to continue to invest in our programs and in our schools. Um, so again, my, my mind, I have a million different things that I could ask, but I I think one of the, the things I, I want to maybe be able to level set and to talk through. Is We understand right? That when we went out, we were talking about the referendum and we're talking about all of these different things, that that did not mean that there was going to suddenly be um a massive expanse of funding but instead we were, I think we talked about it quite a bit as we're filling a hole that we've been trying to dig ourselves out of and we just keep slipping down it, or at least that's how I, I thought about it. And the hole is a little bit more filled now. It's a little bit more consistent. I wonder if you can talk a little bit about how do we see the impact of you talked a little bit about the percentage of the the differences in percentages in our budget now, but how do we see the impacts of the referendum and, um and I'm sure other board members will talk about this as well, but how do we reckon with that investment as well as the financial burdens that we're navigating right now from a state and from a federal level? Yeah I can start um through the chair, Director Henderson You know, one of the things that we've talked about through the spring is the reckoning of we kept showing that funding gap of the $51 million and, you know we know that we're going to have $37 million coming in through referendum, and the difference between 51 and $37 not surprising, is $14 OK. And I think where we're at right now is um making those. Those adjustments in the budget to bring us back to balance And then from there, um, try to keep it that way, you know, the, there's gonna be a lot of, um, things to watch. I mean, we're going to keep an eye on enrollment obviously, that's a biggie, and I know that Doctor Graya Cha and her team have done some. Pretty extensive research on the impact of the loss of our EL students due to immigration policy, right? And in fact, I think Kara was here last month and, you know, spoke to that but that's significant, you know, 300 students or more. Um, so, uh, those are, I think, uh, challenges and realities that we have that we're just going to have to keep an eye on and work through and try to uh, continue to provide the services that we have commensurate with the number of students we, we serve I appreciate that and, you know, I, I think I've heard a number of times from this dioce, um, that there are really only a few ways to grow enrollment. You can bring more folks into the district, um, people can have more babies, or in the way that I think we were hoping on is that our communities, people would continue to come here, right, to Minnesota and the actions of our federal government, um, so many different pieces, whether it's cost of living or the very clear targeted attacks on our immigrant community have impacted that. Um, And I, I, I wanna say that there are no there's no aspect of this that feels good, right? And I, I also recognize and see the reality that we are in. Um, I think we, I think I named this at COB that we've worked really hard over the last few years to try to keep cuts as far away from the classrooms as possible. And we're now at a place where it's, it's almost impossible to do that, right? We've talked a lot about, we, we've cut from administration about as much as we can cut. Um, as far as the integrity of our programming is concerned. And now we're here and so it's, it's, yes, how do we continue to cut but it's also, I would, I would challenge folks here who are gonna be here after I'm gone, um, how, how do we also think about the future and how do we think about the opportunities that lay ahead, knowing that right now it's painful, but there is a pathway for us to continue to, to look for the opportunities to learn from the schools, um, and our students and our teachers about the programming that we need and that we can, that we go after the funding that we also need as well. Thank you. Uh, I do wanna, um, I'm gonna uh, just underscore something real quick before we go on to other comments. One of the, I think, requirements of our, um, budget policy is that whenever we adopt the budget, we indicate how feedback influenced the the budget that is brought to us. So it'd be great if whenever we have our, our budget presentation in June, if you all can have like a, a slide that says exactly what y'all just said, making the connection between what we heard and the, the budget that's been brought to us. Um, director Carrillo. Yeah, I'll be short because I think um uh Director Henderson uh said what, you know, I feel much more eloquently that I could. But I was gonna add um one. Request and one comment. The request would probably not necessarily be directed toward you, but more towards, um, Superintendent Stanley. And this is, um, having to do with the feedback that we received from families and which doesn't differ a lot from the feedback that we received prior years um, regarding, uh, budget cuts. And it has to do more with the, um, the net effect of our, our, um, our Um, strain communication patterns, which, uh, you know, we're, we're working, I think, as a, as a community to, to improve. One of the areas where I would like to see more, more internal ownership is, um, there seems to be, uh, a disconnect between the proposals that, that we make, and then, um, individual decisions that, that drive families to come to us and say, wait a moment. Um, you know, at this specific site, we lost this specific program by 50%, and it's, it's integral to, you know, what we are as a community And so I'm curious to know if there's a way to address that, um, Uh, internally to be able to come to a place that when we provide, um, our budget summaries to schools, and then, um, school leadership is having to make decisions, that there's no breakdown in communication and that there is somewhat of a unified approach that we can have where uh we are supporting our, our school leaders and school leaders feel like they don't have to. You know, throw a hot potato and say, well, it was the district who made this decision. It wasn't me. But really, we're all making this decision together as far as like what does, what do these, you know Painful decisions that we have to make look like, and I think involving our families. Early on in that conversation is going to help. Is it going to make the process you know, ultimately less painful? I don't think so necessarily, but I think it's gonna give clarity and the ability to um allow our families to have a voice in, in the process. And I know that, unfortunately the experience is not even across the board. I'm sure there are school communities where families have felt involved in the process, and there are some others where that's not been the case. And I don't wanna lay, you know, individual blame on, on either side whether it's us, the school leadership, or the parents or the educators. Um, but, but I think we do have an onus as, you know, district leaders to improve that and to make sure that, um, we lay a foundation of, of good communication and good practices in our in our, um, in our school community so that they can They can get to a place where budgeting is not gonna be, you know, this kind of hot potato that we pass along and, and it, it's almost feels like we're, we're shifting blame. I know we're, we're improving on that We've, we've had, you know, I've, I've gone through this multiple times and it just seems a little bit um repetitive in that way. And I think, I think there's opportunity for growth. Um. The other comment that I wanted to make or was, was really just, you know the, the reality that that we face. Um, is going to demand of us. As we go through, you know, um, As we're going through, uh, districts, um, how do you call it, uh, um, Uh, planning, you know, around our facilities um, what does it look like to, um. To To go through these budget processes without cutting ourselves into a corner. And when I mean cutting ourselves into a corner is like strategically avoiding a place where um the cuts that you, that you perform. Uh, don't allow you to grow anymore, and, and that's, that's I think, you know, ultimately my My hope and and goal is that. You know, going through this process and with, with a very, very, you know, strong hope that you know, our federal government will stop being uh an enemy and will become an ally, um, and with a strong hope that, you know, our, our state, uh, representatives will see the value in investing in, in, in the, in the younger generations. And with a strong hope that you know, Minnesota can, can see growth again in, in population and in, in children. Um, when, while we get there, um, we, we have a, an opportunity to navigate you know, these budget cuts in a way that does not cripple us in the future. And I say that because Um Having seen this in, in other districts in a previous life, uh, we, it's very easy to trim, trim, um, where To trim at the time that seems convenient without thinking about the impact 10 years down the line, and then having to face, you know, a future where, um growth is not possible because we lost the investment and we lost the leadership, and we lost the attractiveness that we once had. And I think that's, that's something that's, that's difficult, um, but those are conversations that we're gonna have to have. And we're gonna have to weigh, you know, cost initially versus long term costs and long term investment. And I just, it's just a seed that I'm planning, it's not necessarily, you know, uh, a specific call to action or a specific call for data right now, but it's just a seed that I'm planning to help people not just envision, you know, what does it look like to be balanced, you know within two years, 2029 or 2030, but really like thinking about um All of the, the hopes and goals that we have and, um, and really all of the obstacles and, and the The concerns that we carry, that some of them we can't control, but I, I do think that it, it would be responsible to make sure that we look at what makes Saint Paul unique and uniquely attractive, um, and so uniquely attractive that would, would bring students um, like one of our, um, honorable mentions who came in, who's literally arrived, um, in the 12th grade from another state. And I think that's, that's something that we should always aspire to is to be a destination uh, district, a place that people wanna come and move to Saint Paul specifically to enroll in our schools And at a minimum, we're gonna create an attractiveness to the city, and I think we need to, um, become, you know, one of the pillars of the community in terms of, um, value and in terms of, um, um, you know. Community building, so. Just some thoughts, very rambly, but I'll leave it there. Other questions or comments from board members? Franco, yeah, I, uh, I have several technical questions, um, that I think may help just kind of frame of reference based on some of the questions we've received from community, based on some of the questions that I think emerged from our presentation today that I may not have thought about, uh, until now. So I'm gonna start with just a couple of questions that I had related to, um, the presentation, and I did, I will do this one day, but today is not the day, um, where I Don't know what slide it was, but I know the context. So, um, in part of our budget we typically put forward a million dollars for fall adjustments for staffing. Chief Sager, you mentioned that there was a $600,000 equated or allocated for that, which is a $400,000 saving, but what you also mentioned was that there was some areas that were uh, There are several areas that we strongly believe may need an adjustment, um, come fall, uh, because they may be, you know, maybe more enrollment in that one specific space and understanding that those allocations come. That time, I guess my, one of my really technical questions is, if we are identifying some target areas now that may need an adjustment, is it too late to make those adjustments now, um, as opposed to in the fall, or is there a specific threshold that We need to achieve in order to make that adjustment. And I and I ask just because I know that fall adjustments whether you're taking a staff member away um from a building to reallocate them somewhere else or you need to add another teacher because folks are starting to hit their cap or go beyond their cap. I just, is there a rationale that's, um, may move us to making those adjustments sooner than later? Sure, um, through the chair, thank you, Director Frankel. A good example of that, yeah, I did point that out, and I wanted to just, you know, put that on your radar that we did set aside 600 and we've already identified some areas that we're gonna dip into that. I'll let Chief Brad Cook talk about the timing of, of when that, you know, when those, um. Decisions and or communications with individuals would be made, but in terms of the technical side of things, uh, one area that we're thinking about, and this was referenced, the counseling area. So we originally had a plan of about 19.5 counselors and it looks like it's going to be something closer to a reduction. I'm talking about something closer to 16. Uh, possibly even 15.6. The reason I say that 15.6 because just today we were looking at a case where we might have to add another 0.4, you know, so here we are, and. You know, we look at that and we know that we have that 600,000 sitting aside and we're like, well. We might have to go into that, you know and not wait till the fall. So with that, I'll turn it over to my colleague about the timing of, of when that would happen. It just, I think you said, uh, up to 19.5 counselors, and I just wanted to make sure we were talking EL teachers, right? In that example Uh, thank you for that correction, yeah, it was, uh 19.5 EL. The counselors similarly though. 9 to 5.5 right, I just wanted to make that point because that would be a 19 FTE uh council reduction would be. Significant Yes, we do. Thank you for that clarification and correction Through the chair, Director Franco, I think actually I'm gonna, um, add on to a couple of things that Chief Sager just said, and that is, while we've been looking at, um, are there some places that we may need to make some adjustments, we've also been a little hesitant about what is really the best time for us to pull the trigger for those adjustments. Um, we have always been cautious, um, in terms of not making adjustments too early, um, because oftentimes what hap what we're anticipating at this time of year and what actually plays out at the beginning of the school year are not necessarily the same. And because of the fact that we've made, um, a reduction to that 1 million down to 600,000, we're really, I think, being cautious about, are we, should we really be pulling the trigger at this point when we don't know what those fall adjustments might actually look like and. We could have already spent a good portion of that $600,000 and allocated it already and not have enough resources in the fall to really look at making those adjustments in the most appropriate and most strategic way across the entire organization. Um, I think the other thing that we also need to think about is the fact that even when we've made staff adjustments, we've never truly fully implemented all of the adjustments that could be made. Um, at that point in time, we have typically given. Um, additional allocations to schools that really had, um, a larger influx of students than what was anticipated and where there was clearly a very significant, um, number of students that actually didn't. Show up and then it made it really easy for us to say let's make an adjustment here let's make an adjustment there, but in many cases there are buildings that where we could have made an adjustment which have resulted in composite classes. Um, but we've chosen not to make those adjustments, um, because once the school year has started, we have not wanted to release or lay off any staff, and so I think that's also a big part of why we're being a little cautious given the fact that we have less money available. We wanna make sure that we really maximize the use of that $600,000. So I think based on the conversations that we have been having, we're probably gonna be making those decisions closer to the beginning of the school year, um, or after school starts versus making a lot of those decisions. At this moment in time, if there are some situations that come up that we feel that this really is urgent and we absolutely need to make that change, then, um, as a cell team we would probably be making that decision, but we're trying to be more cautious this year given the fact that we know that we have less money to deal with And if I could add to that, there's the caution of that, we have the 600,000, um, 400,000 less than we have typically had, and there's the complexity of the unknown right now. We know that in addition to The number of students that we were already down. This year that's causing, would have caused for an adjustment anyway. We don't have the specific information as to how many. Of our families who were impacted by the surge. will be for students. It's, it's something new for us, as everyone has said, Minnesota, and particularly the Twin Cities. Have been known for. For places where people wanted to come to, we were destination. Um especially for our immigrant families, and we don't know what that impact is going to be. It could be as high as an additional, um, An additional 30 or 400 students. And so we're trying to navigate this complexity. While at the same time, Uh, really being thoughtful about the FTE that um are being asked every Tuesday. At SALT meeting. This is a regular agenda item that we are talking about. So we're not, uh, putting it off or saying, well, we're not gonna talk about that until July 1st, or let's talk about that on August 1st, every Tuesday. Today, we had a 90 minute conversation about this, and so we're taking it, uh, very seriously And um trying to be as pragmatic about a humanity situation as possible, because we do understand. Uh the humanity around. The decisions that we're having to make. Thank you all for um that, and I think that's just helpful context, right? Cause I think there could be um A lot of interpretations of when that best moment is, and I think just like understanding some more of the, um, kind of decision-making, the considerations around being the least disruptive, um, and being, in asking a lot of staff, right, to be nimble and, in the way that we receive that and adjust to that, I think, um, The complex is the best word to put it And, um, with the narrow margins of having a very very short fund balance, um, I know that just continues to add to the complex nature that we're already, that we're always dealing with, um, here too. So thank you for, um, that, uh, rationale, um, behind some of that. I will. Say, um, I did have, maybe, maybe more of a suggestion, um, for our, uh, as we kinda continue with our next COB and then into our BOE, um Thinking about, um, for me, I, I like to see numbers right? And this is a lot of numbers. Um, although I think some of the numbers that I think would be helpful for me making the connection to understanding how enrollment truly impacts the decisions that we're making in terms of staffing allocations is really understanding, cause I don't know that we've, and I don't know that we can get this granular. I assume we do, but um understanding the, the Projection of um Number of uh fewer um students that receive EL services that have aided, um, our understanding of how to place sections or classes for next year, um for that, that next iteration of that budget, I think will be helpful, um, for me as a board member, um cause that, of course, is causal, and I think when we had the initial conversations about this, we understand that as enrollment goes down. So will folks that are um delivering those services to the tune of where we're at currently. And so I think that may be just something helpful for For me, um, and then maybe putting that in the same context of, um, Counselors. Um, if I, I know that's a, that ratio is a lot different and I know those decisions become different in that regard too. And I guess maybe I'm looking for some I think anytime we have to reduce in any of those positions, it's, it's uh very difficult, um. I guess maybe a really technical question, um, to ensure there's at least 1.0 FTE counselor assigned to every school building or could somebody provide context around that, and if there's an answer on that today, that'd be great. If not, um, getting that information to us might be also helpful. To the chair. Thank you Director Franco, for that question. Um, I'm looking at Karita to, um, before I just pull up some documents around that 1.0, um, 1 thing I wanted to share around context with councilors is, um, we're working toward a 250 to 1, um, district-wide ratio. It's not something that, um, is a hard and fast ratio like the, um, the multilingual, which is the 52 to 1. But, um, sharing some information, uh, this, this year right now, we are currently at a 268 to 1 ratio of our counselors Next year, even with the reductions, we are at a 263 to 1. So actually reducing That rate, closing that ratio a little bit. Um, and with the buyups that, um Chief Pratt Cook shared, we're actually at 256 to 1. So actually next year having a closer ratio, um even with reductions. And I think one of the reasons that that has happened is, um, like Chief Pratt Cook said, we haven't taken away the allocations in the fall when we've had fewer students come. And so, I think that's another, we've been doing that with, um I think that we're facing that with the EL reductions as well, and so it feels even harder because we've been, I hate to say overstaffed, because You know no school has enough staff, right? But we've been um, way under that 52 to 1 ratio with, um, um, our EL services for the past couple of years. And so, this year, trying to be as responsive as possible to that staffing, it's feeling even more constricting, I think because we're We're not overstaffing and we really are um allocating to that 52 to 1. And so, I think that's, I just wanted to give a little bit more context there. Um, through the chair, um, Director Franco and, and Karita, you could, um, back me up on this I think one of the other things that we need to also remember is that SPPS is unique in terms of our, our staffing of counselors and social workers. Um, it is my understanding that we are meeting the national um, recommended ratio, but one of the things that's specifically unique for us as an organization is that we have counselors and social workers, and that includes in our elementary schools and other districts do not So we consistently provide more social emotional support and guidance for our students than is typically the norm in any other Minnesota district. And so while I know that it is really hard when we have to make these kinds of changes based on our. Current enrollments and financial situation, we also need to recognize that we are basically uh we're like at the top of the pyramid in terms of what we are currently providing for services in comparison to other districts. I just thought I would share that. Thank you for that in a context. Um, I do think, um, And, and I, and I'll just add, I think that my question to is there a 1.0 in buildings is really more so related to the availability of that service, or is there gonna be, like, I guess like, I'm just trying to understand the impact for students if there is maybe uh uh not um an available mental health support if there is crisis happening in a building, as opposed to like, do we gotta call somebody to come. And yes, through the chair, uh, Director Franco, there is at least a 1.0 in every building Thank you. So that, that helps me help put a little more. And I would also say through the chair Director Franco that every building has a mental health team So no one single person provides that support in a building because there is a team of staff at every building that's providing that some level of support Yeah, thank you again for all the context. I also I, I, I recognize that all of those, I, I appreciate that all of those pieces are in place. I guess I just wanted to just re-emphasize that, um, So, while that is a shared responsibility, having a person whose role it is, um, to provide that level of service and response that's a trained, uh, trained professional and that I think is critical, and I appreciate that SPPS has a commitment. To staffing, those positions and districts that I know down the street in South Saint Paul, they don't have a middle school social worker, right? And so like I know that we are providing services in a way, um, but I just wanted to make sure that, um, I understand what impact could exist, right in the case that some of that may be void, um. And I, I have other questions, but I also wanna recognize that, um, that there's other people here, and I asked some deep questions to start, but I just wanna also um, acknowledge that like, uh, Director Henderson said that these are difficult. Um, I think as we passed the referendum, I was, uh, abundantly hopeful that we weren't gonna be in a position of having to reduce that even a level of $14 million which is the Least amount we've had to reduce in the time that we've been here. Other complexities just around we've been deficit spending and our fund balance is now at a place that we can't deficit spend, um, while the new revenue help close that gap, we're certainly still in a place of, um, non-abundance, um, for our students and, and that is, um, unfortunate. Given our current state of budgets. I mean, also, I, I think also just maybe, and this is something that we can call clear attention to in our final presentations, but Um, something that's always stuck out to me is the, like we budget 4% inflation across the board for our budget, knowing that some of those areas are certainly going to see a higher impact. And we don't have money sitting around for a contingency on if there is a, a bill that comes in significantly higher from that either. And so, um being inundated with these, these numbers is, um, Complex and it is, uh, something that we need to, we all will continue to find creative ways to telling. The the story to the public that are receivable, um. And our revenues just don't match the. Expected expenses in every year, and that is a basic formula there. So anyway, I will stop there and can send other questions cause those are my key ones I wanted to stay. Other questions or comments from board members? Yeah I have It's OK, um. Uh, Uh, a few things. Um, thank you for highlighting the, um, percentage of costs in like admin versus schooling and, um, you know, something like. And anytime a school district is, is making cuts, like, you know, some of the, the first things you're gonna hear from, from constituents is like oh, well, why don't you just cut administration instead of, of cutting schools. And I think that um as we continue to try to make sure that we're operating effectively and You know, spending money where our community wants it to be spent, like a check that we as a board can do is, is exactly what you shared with us, which is making sure that we're not spending more on administration than our peers. And so that's really helpful to, to see, and I appreciate you, you sharing that, and that was going to be, you know, a question, and you answered it already. Um. Uh, I want to say that I'm really grateful for all the community engagement work that we've done, um, heard from, from folks that showed up, how grateful they were for the opportunity, um, how, you know, it's great to see the budgeting process shift to, to, to being one that community is genuinely more involved and, and we're taking community feedback and using it in meaningful ways. Thank you to, to all the work that you did there Um. The, uh We're responding to some of the concerns that we're hearing from, uh, from community members um, you know, we're, uh, we, you know, not everyone got to speak in public comment today, but it mirrors a lot of what we're seeing via email, which if anyone is still listening, we are seeing and consuming and and, and trying to, to process and figure out what's going on. Um. Uh, you know, we, we heard about a reduction in a, in an arts position, which sort of like raises one question for me, like, as a board, we sort of handle, like, you know, the, like, governance district-wide um, uh, like that's sort of our, our level and like one of the big goals that we set was around maintaining funding for, for music and arts. And the way that we construct the goal does not require. An increase every year, although it does say that by, I think it was 2029 that there would have been a certain increase and it was on track for a 4% increase to the music and arts line item every year. And so I just wanted to check in to see in the draft version of the budget as it is now, are we on track for that or is there not that 4% adjustment up this year in the music and arts line item. Uh, thank you, chair. I can speak to that, um, and provide a little bit of, um. Context so the um. That board goal of the, of the increase that you and I worked on together, uh, for music and arts, you know, that was, um, kind of planning for that 44 or 5% per year. And at our last check-in, and and that takes us to, I'm thinking, uh, my memory I think that 2029 is what the kind of the target was And the last check-in, uh, that we, we looked at, we were within. You know, after one year, more than halfway there. So we're well on, well on pathway, and I can look and see where we are, you know, after this budget but I would anticipate that we're still on pathway to, to reach your, um, big goal. OK, great. Yeah, yeah if you could check on that, I just want to make sure that, that we're on, on track for that, right, um because that is like the, the commitment that we, we made there. Um, the other thing, you know, I was, uh I was not at, at COB this month, and I know that I think y'all, y'all had a bit of this, this conversation but in terms of, you know, non-single school specific budgeting concerns that we're hearing, the most consistent thing has been around, um MLL funding, um, across the district and our change from allocating those positions from either a 1.0 or 10.5 to increments of, of 0.2. And I think y'all have discussed that with, with concerned folks with SPFP discussed it at the board meeting, um, earlier this month when I wasn't there. And I, I was wondering if maybe you could share just a little bit of the concerns that you're hearing, um, and how, uh, how that's gonna work logistically, you know, um, how, how is this gonna work practically for, for positions to be allocated at 0.2? How's that gonna work? Through the chair, I'll take a stab at it. I don't know that I have the answer Um. What I can say is we certainly are trying to work through it. I don't know that I can give you a definitive answer what that's gonna look like on the back end Um, we made a recommendation to SPFE that we not post 0.2 positions, um, because we had a number of people that had, um, 0.8 positions and we wanted to get those people paired up and done. And then we'd deal with the other positions that needed to be paired together like 0.4 and 0.6s. SPFE did not agree to that. Um so that, and I actually think that by not agreeing to that, that, that will, could potentially create a more negative ripple effect. We'll see how that plays out. Um, what we will be doing. Doing in the third round of interview and select is that we will be posting all the 1.0s in any part-time positions um that we have available. um uh Doctor um Schmidte Carranza will be working to pair positions together so that we can create as many 1.0. Um, FTEs as possible and, um, by virtue of the um number of people that we know are without assignments that need assignments we will be using that information to determine and finalize the number of probationary teachers that need to be released in order for us to create the FTEs that we needed to try to make people whole. That's that's what I can tell you today. Um, people who, um I guess one additional thing, individuals who are not able to, um, get a position through the interview and select process, then we will work with them in placement, and this year we've changed what that placement process is going to look like. We're having that in person and so in seniority order, we will work with people to place them in positions that match their FTEs and to make them whole. OK, so it. Is it, how likely is it that we end up posting positions that are like just 0.2, or, or is it like we're really trying to make sure we will be posting 0.2 given the fact that SPFE insisted on that. I think we have a good. I, I think the question. Is you, you mean just we would just need a 0.2. Um Just need a 0.2 EL teacher or are you asking, like, it's a 0.2 and a 0.8 to make a whole FTE? No, I, I guess what I'm, I'm, I'm trying to, to think through, right, is are we going to find ourselves in a position where we're trying to find people who like are only working a.2. That's not our goal, right? That, that is absolutely not our goal Um, it's, it's one of the reasons why there are two reasons why we did not want to point, um, post 0.2 positions. One is we wanted to make the 0.8 people whole and be done. Um, then we wanted to be able to um, identify, um, 1.0 positions that we could either they were truly 1.0s on their own, or that we piece 0.6s and 0.4s together, or that we have identified a 0.6 or a 0.4 for someone who needs That 0.6 or 0.4 and that we've worked to try to make those schedules match so that we're clear these positions can go together so that we could have as minimum disruption as possible And that's still our goal is to have as minimum disruption as possible, but we will be in positions that are To They are entitled to a 1.0 position. OK. Right I think So sir, can I just ask, please, when you say post, are you meaning like publicly or are you meaning in interview and select in interview and select, OK cause I think what I was interpreting initially, sorry to jump in Chair Ward, but what I was interpreting from the initial response was that the point tos were gonna get posted publicly, and I don't know, Chair Ward, if that's what you were also thinking that we're gonna have to recruit externally to find somebody to come in to work. 5 hours, 2 hours, 6 hours per week, because that would likely be very, very difficult Um, and so what I hear is that folks wanted the opportunity to be able to interview and select for their 02. In addition to the 0.8 that they also have to interview and select for in order to make themselves whole. Is that what I'm, we have people who have been reduced from 1.0 to 0.8. All they need is a 0.2 to be a 1.0 And what we had wanted to do was identify.2s that match their schedules. And then they would have been matched before the 3rd round of interview and select and they would have already been made whole. So, I I apologize if my, my questions, uh, don't make sense I'm just trying to make as much sense of this in my own head as I, I possibly can. Are there gonna be situations where Uh, one staff person is like a 0.2 at 5 different buildings. That is not our goal, and that's again why we wanted to try to pair as many positions together as possible. That's something we would ideally like to prevent. I cannot 100% guarantee you that that will not happen, um, because we have limited control once those positions get posted. OK I think, does any other board member have questions I think that's a good starting point for me right now. No. OK. About your Valium? Oh sure. Yeah, sure I, I guess on the subject, so. For example, if a teacher has a 0.2 somewhere, right? What, what does, what does that, what do they do with, with that point? What does that look like? I know, um, through the chair Director Elliott, I, that equates to one day. I can't tell you exactly what that looks like. Um, the goal would certainly not, I mean, cause I don't know what those scheduling pieces look like, but 0.2 equates to 1 day, which is again, why we wanted to try to pair positions together so that we can have schedules that match, so we don't have people running all over the place, um, from location to location. So, um, I don't know if, um, Director, um, um, Doctor Yanowsky has some additional information she'd like to add Sure, uh, through the chair, um, Director Valiant for example, if, if somebody were a 0.2 and they served in a building one day a week, um, I know that when I was a principal, I had a, I had, um, 2.2, uh, multilingual uh, allocation, and the person who served 0.2 came on Mondays, and this person went through, um, four different grade levels, and she taught the mini lesson and went over the vocabulary from the mini lesson of the ELA curriculum, um, to 4 different grade levels all of the multilingual students on Monday. So that was like what that person's role was, pre-teaching um, the ELA lesson and the vocabulary for, for kids And so that's how she served in my building as a point too. So that would be an example. And, uh, Doctor Schminta Carranza will work with Principles to help um, and teams to help if there's any questions around that because this is a new way for us to allocate and so we would be supporting them and our, our tosis and our assistant director Sophie Lee would also do that too. That would be an elementary example. It would make you look different in high school. But again, remembering that our, our service model is typically push in, it's not pull out. And so we want to make sure that we're also focusing on our teachers partnering with one another to push in as much as possible. And right now we're not getting as many newcomers. So, and newcomers are the ones who we would typically pull out. So if we could also use this time to make sure that we're reinforcing the pedagogy of pushing in and keeping our students in class as much as possible, um, I think that that could be a real positive step too. OK. And um uh the Wondering about the, it's like people, we, we get requests, right Like, you know, like what if this stayed at the, the the, the previous practice of allocating at a 0.5 or 1.0, the cost of that would be close to a million dollars, right? Or like a little less, just under just under, just under a million dollars. OK. About 90925,000 $925,000. OK. Um, Other, uh, other questions from board members? Questions, comments? OK, um, Thank you, like for, for, for answering our questions, and I know that some of these have been um Rough, especially you know. I, I think like for most years I've been on the board, I've said kind of the same thing around budget time, which is, like, whenever you run for for school board or whenever you go into education you don't uh go into this work wanting to do the best job making cuts, you know, you, you go because you wanna add to, to what the school district is doing You, you go into it because you have ideas for, for how you can improve learning for kids. And, um, year in and year out, having to, to, to look at budget cuts is really frustrating. Um, and I'm grateful for everyone's partnership in this work and the care and thought that that you put into it and the hard conversations you've had to have to, to, to get us to the point where we can. Um, you know, next month, um, uh, hopefully approve a, uh, a, a budget that puts us in the best position to do the best for kids that we can with what we have. Um, and sorry, it's always like this But anyway, um, if there's nothing else, then I think that, I think we're good to move on. Thank you all Next on the agenda is information requests and responses as well as any items for future agendas, and I'll open it up to board members. I, seeing none. Uh, next is Board of Education. Board of Education reports and communications, and I'll open it up to board members No, great. Next is adjournment, and I motion to adjourn Is there a second? 2nd, seconded by Director Henderson Comments or discussions like you do. Vote please. Director Valiant, yes. Director Henderson, yes, Director Ward yes, Director Lowe, yes, Director Alan, yes, Director Carillo, yes, and Director Franco, yes. Right. The motion passes unanimously. The time is 9:34 and we are adjourned.