I will now call to order the June 16th regular board meeting of the MSU School Board. >> Good evening and welcome. The first item of business is item 1.2, adoption of the agenda. I would entertain a motion. >> So moved. Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Great. We will move on to item 2.1, announcements. Jim, would you share the gifts with us tonight? >> The gifts. Oh, let me see. I am illprepared this evening. Oh, there it is. Okay, there we go. Um, there were seven gifts for schools and programs received this period for a total of 32,944. The Ralph Reer Food Shelf received 17 gifts for the total of 21,69614. It is recommended that the board accept these gifts and extend thanks to the donors. >> Great. Thanks, Jim. Um, next upcoming meetings. Our next regular meeting of the Monzie School Board will be at 700 PM on August 16th with comments to the board preceding that at 6:30 that night here at the district center. Next, we'll move on to item 2.2, superintendent report. Turn it over. >> Thank you. Yeah, I have a couple things uh this evening. Um being our first meeting since the end of the school year, I just wanted to congratulate all of our graduates and their families. We had some wonderful celebrations. We held our high school graduations this year at the University of St. Thomas. Uh received a lot of positive feedback about uh about the venue and the ceremonies themselves. So, we're pleased with that. We also had three other programs that we graduated and celebrated with our graduates from our ALC, the AB program, and our CLT, which is career life and transitions programs. Um, I also want to extend a big thank you to all of the staff who work with our students over the years as they progress through our schools. Sometimes these are are big events for our high schools, but but it takes everybody as as we have kids progress through. So, want everybody to know our staff how much their work is appreciated. So, thank you to everybody and congratulations again, class of 2026. Second uh announcement. On June 4th, I had the opportunity to participate in the dedication of the new outdoor classroom at Belair Elementary. Um, as the board knows, and I hope the public, we are working to create outdoor classroom spaces across the district. For this one, we were very fortunate to be able to partner with Amanda and Chris Duffy, uh, their family and friends and the Bair PTA who all helped raised funds for for that project. Over the years, the Duffy family has generously donated to our schools in memory of their daughter Ree. Uh, this project really was special and we are so appreciative of their donation and the work they did to make this possible. Their gift will live on for years. as you can imagine the students and staff uh continuing to use that at Bair for year after year. So, thank you again to the Duffy family and to everyone who had a hand in that project. That's my update this evening. >> Great. Thank you. Uh we'll now move on to item 3.0, approval of the consent agenda. >> Heidi, can we go back to 2.1 and give a review of comments to the board? >> Yes. Um, so the board was available at 6:30 this evening to hear comments from the public. Tonight we had uh one stakeholder present who uh expressed some concerns over the middle school um model and specifically middle school um music. So we heard from that person this evening. >> Great. Thanks for that update, Shauna. So now we'll move on to item 3.0 and the approval of the consent agenda. I'd entertain a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> The agenda has been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Great. Hearing none. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Motion carries. Our next item is 4.1 fiscal year 2026 27 budget. And Superintendent Lennox and Paula Steele, director of finance, will present that budget for us tonight. >> Yeah. And welcome Paula as she comes up. I uh we had a chance as a board to go over this last Thursday and and talk through this and now we have our expert here to to take us through the the summary budget for 2627. >> Thank you for giving us the opportunity to present the budget the summary budget for 2627 this evening. Each year school districts are required to adopt a proposed budget for the upcoming school year by June 30th. The figures presented in this summary budget serve as a conservative baseline built on initial fiscal projections, legislative session data and enrollment estimates available as of June 2026. Because these initial numbers rely heavily on projections, the district will be revisiting and updating the budget in the fall once more concrete historical data is finalized. I'm going to touch on some key points of the summary budget you have in front of you. If you flip to page one, the budget summary, you'll see the the this page provides a summary of the five major funds of the district. As you can see, for the general fund fund, we're budgeting conservatively by anticipating lower revenues than expenditures. For nutritional services and community services, we're anticipating expenditures will match the revenues generated from programming. As for debt service, there's an increase in expenditures due to principal payments starting on the 2023 long-term facility maintenance bond. As you will see later in a later page, there is a fund balance for debt service that will cover the increased expenses. The next two pages are the initial budget assumptions that you would have seen in January. One thing to note is that the basic gened revenue increase was actually 2.69% 69% an increase of $22 over the last year for an adjusted pupil unit of $7,683. There were no changes to the class size assumptions or the instructional expenditure assumptions. So, if you flip ahead to page four, which is the general fund budget summary, you can see the general fund by category. If you note on the bottom of the page, the fund balance has remained consistent over the years. This is largely in part to the conservative budgeting approach the district takes. On the next page are the general fund expenditures separated by program detailing how the funds are spent. And if you flip to the next page, you'll see the district continues to spend the majority of its budget on student instruction and sport and support se about 75%. The next four pages detail the nutrition services and community education funds. It shows a budget summary and then a summary by program. As you can see, the district anticipates expenditures will be correlated to the program to the revenues generated for the programming. If we jump ahead to page 11, this page shows the building construction fund as you and as you can see on the bottom that the district intends to spend the remaining bond proceeds by the end of fiscal year 2627. And it's noted that the revenue had been received in prior years and now we're just spending it down. So our goal is to have it spent by the end of this fiscal year 27. Pages 12 and 13 show the debt service fund. And as you can see on the bottom of the page that even though expenditures are anticipated to exceed the revenue, there is a balance available to cover this. It should be noted that when districts levy for debt, they levy 105% to account for the tax delinquencies and abatements that could potentially happen throughout the year. And that's why we end up with a fund balance if there are some. And on the next page, it's the um shows the debt schedule going through uh the year 2043. The final two pages show revenue and expenditures by fund and by category. The chart shows the percentage by fund. And then under the totals, it shows the percentages by the source categories. So as you can see on the revenues, the majority of the general fund and nutrition services revenue is state aid. For community services, it's participation fees. And for debt service, it's levy dollars. And then for expenditures, the majority of the funds are spent on salaries and benefits. With that, administration is recommending approval of this proposed budget for 2627 school year. And I'd be able I'd be happy to take any questions or comments if you have any. >> Great. Like Chris said, we the um board looked at this extensively last Thursday at our work session and asked quite a few questions. Um did any anything else the board would like to ask or clarify tonight? >> Oh, just comments. Uh thank you for all your good work. Our finance department is award-winning and we're very proud of that. We're also very proud that we're a school district that takes our fiscal responsibilities very seriously. We run uh positive balances and it's um an accident. It's on purpose. Um, also the budget is our big policy document. How we spend the taxpayers dollars is a big deal and we go through this very quickly at the school board, but um in our work sessions, and our study sessions, we uh spend a lot of time on this because it is the most important document we do at the schools. So, thank you very much for your good work. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Paul. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. As you were talking about the building construction fund, Paula, I just remind people that that is is from the 2017 2018 facilities bond. Correct. And then there's monies elsewhere in the budget that's for the new capital projects levy that just passed this past fall that will start receiving money in this next fiscal year. Correct. >> Correct. >> Two separate revenue sources. But yeah, that's great to clarify. Um, I'm g piggyback a little bit on what Jim said too. As we go through the year, I know board members, you know, that for but for those watching at home, we we we see this uh cycle. So, you the board will approve this uh here end of year by June. All school districts have to approve a budget for the following year. We'll be back in the fall. Uh our auditors have already visited. They'll visit again. They'll be back. We'll have our audits. So, then you'll have actuals. then we'll update those. So you'll see a pretty regular cycle of budget amendments, budget updates as we continue through the school year all the way around to next June when we'll adopt another preliminary budget and that cycle continues. So, um, for the public, if you follow along with us, you'll see the board working on this document multiple times during the year, making the appropriate revisions, uh, to asssure that we're good fiscal stewards and and maintaining a fund balance. So, thank you, Paula. Thank you, your team. Good job. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions before we take a vote? Great. So I would entertain a motion that the board approve the fiscal year 2627 budget as presented tonight. >> So moved. >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion carries. We will move on now to item 5.1, superintendent evaluation. Uh vice chair Shauna Bach will share a summary of the superintendent evaluation process and results with us. >> All right. Thank you, Heidi. So, this is a superintendent annual evaluation summary for the 2526 school year. Um, the board recently completed its annual evaluation of superintendent Chris Lennox based on the district operational plan goals in core leadership competencies. Overall, the board found that superintendent met or exceeded expectations in all evaluation areas and demonstrated strong leadership during a year that included significant opportunities and challenges for our district. Here are some of the highlights uh from the evaluation. Career readiness and student opportunities. Significant process was made in expanding career pathway opportunities for high school students through the implementation of school links, enhanced career exploration, and strengthened connections between coursework and post-secondary opportunities. Another highlight was healthy learning environments. The district successfully completed a comprehensive outdoor learning master plan and began implementing new outdoor learning spaces uh including as you heard in the superintendent's report the recently dedicated outdoor classroom at Bair. These efforts were widely recognized as innovative and wellreceived by students, staff and families. Um the next highlight was shared leadership and accountability. The district successfully transitioned to the new Synergy students information system and enhanced staff onboarding and mentoring programs. Board members recognize that these efforts are important investments in both student success and employee retention. Another um area that we highlighted that uh Jim just brought up was financial stewardship. The board commended the administration for the successful capital levies project. the uh completion of labor negotiations, enrollment and facilities planning and the implementation of the energy audit that is expected to generate long-term savings while um supporting district sustainability goals. And then the last area I will highlight was the leadership and professionalism. Board members consistently praise the superintendent's professionalism, strategic leadership, fiscal responsibility, and ability to navigate complex situations while maintaining focus on student, staff, and district priorities. Uh the board also identified a few opportunities for growth uh particularly in strengthening communication and community engagement during periods of significant change. Um, lessons learned from the middle school model discuss discussions highlighted the importance of ongoing stakeholder engagement and clear communication as a district moves forward. Overall, this board recognizes Superintendent Lennox's strong performance, commitment to continuous improvement, and dedication to advancing the mission and strategic vision of the Mazu public schools. The district remains well positioned for continued success through thoughtful leadership, strong fiscal management, and a focus on providing exceptional opportunities for each student. And on behalf of the board, we want to just say thank you, Superintendent Lennox, for your leadership. >> Great. Thanks, Shauna, for that great summary of evaluations completed by all the board members and and uh discussion at our close session last week. All right. At this time, we're going to move on to item 5.2, updates. Jim, do you have an AMSD or legislative update for us? >> Yes, I'll be brief. Uh AMSD meeting last uh Friday morning. We uh did a legislative review, which is a long list of what was done and what was left undone. Uh we talked a bit about the constitutional amendment that will modernize the uh permanent school fund. It will be on the November ballot. Basically, the permanent school fund by the state is um when the state leases uh timber, mineral resources, this and that, um a percentage of that money goes into permanent school fund. They're looking to uh raise that about $40 a year for uh um each um each student in the state. And so that'll be on November ballot. So, we talked about that and uh that was about it. Thank you. >> Great. Thanks, Shauna. an update from Northeast Metro 916. >> Yeah, so Northeast Metro 916 is a intermediate school district made up of 13 member districts. Mounds is one of those member districts and I am the representative from this board to that school board. So we met last week, Wednesday. Um and we just finished the last of our employee contract negotiations. Those just got approved um on Wednesday. So that was a long um process but those are completed. Um and we had quite a few policies uh that needed some revision and updating. Uh we recognized two employees who were retiring. Both had over 20 years um in the 916 school district. Um we uh take the month of July off for that board as well. So, we will be back uh together the first Wednesday in August. >> Great. Our next item is 5.3 school board member reports. I'll open up the floor. >> I'll go. Um I had the uh privilege of uh attending the Moundsu graduation and handing out diplomas, which is really one of the great honors of being in the school board. It's lovely to see the grads, the families, the teachers there, and the community just celebrating uh the success of our kids. And uh it's really heartwarming. Um I'd also like to uh note our local cable TV and our vast viewing audience here on 9 North is that uh I missed the Irondale's pop concert the other week and I was cruising around on the cable and I actually saw it and it was wonderful and it was a great concert. but uh remind people you want to catch the ball game sometime, if you want to catch uh the concert, they're actually on cable TV. So, it's pretty fabulous. And uh at the end of the year, a big thank you to our teachers and our staff. They are dedicated to the kids and uh we really really appreciate that here at the school board. So, thank you. >> Any other members have reports? >> I'll just echo what Jim said. I had the uh privilege of being at the Irondale graduation. Um and as superintendent said, the new venue was spectacular. I really felt like it was um the audience got to sit closer to where the graduates were and it was just a a beautiful venue. So that was really nice and it was just really fun to see all the kids get their diplomas. Um >> one in particular, >> one special diploma got handed out to my daughter. Um, but I just want to thank the the family members that came to that graduation and made it such a special event and thank you also to the staff and I hope they have a um restful summer. >> I got to hand diplomas out at the CLT graduation um and that my face hurt. My my face hurt when I got to hand out diplomas last year and the year before as well. But my my face hurt especially um with with this opportunity. Uh not only did the graduates get their diplomas, but they had all of the students there to um to be awarded one type of award or another. And so, you know, all the families and all the family members support people were also there. I mean, it was just it was it was really neat. Like I I was nearly brought to tears. I mean, I cry easily, so we all know that, but um a couple of times it was is a really neat experience. And I think um Chris, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there's roughly 50 students at CLT. And so to see basically the entirety of the of the student body um at CLT there uh was just a really neat experience. So, I felt very very honored uh to share that uh time with with those students and with those families. And I'm going to also echo thank you. Thank you. Thank you to our teachers, to our paras, to our other support staff. Um you know, our our our kids could not be as successful as they are without without y'all. Um and so it is it is not lost on us. We appreciate you so so very much. >> And I Sorry, Mark. I would like to uh give a shout out to Bethl University that hosted the ALC graduation. It was beautiful. And um I wanted to just mention one one person came up to me afterwards and mentioned that it was so wonderful that grandparents were uh recognized and she was a grandparent and said, "I worked so hard." and she said that she felt uh tearyeyed when when people were applauding grandparents and that was really meaningful to me because this is a community and we value everybody. Um so I just wanted to point that out. It was wonderful >> and like everybody else, it was an absolute honor to participate in the graduation for the adult basic education with Chris and Carl and Sky. It was um very moving, very touching. There were um three speeches um two of which were sort of off the cuff and I I like you I got I got teary eyed and emotional um because the speeches were really about how they made some mistakes early on in their life and were able to to change it and get back to getting their GED um and their certificate. So it was just an honor to be part of that. I mean, going to a graduation and and watching it from afar is one thing, but being part of it and participating and seeing the happiness in everyone's eyes just oh, really got me. So, um, thank you for everybody for allowing this to happen. It was great. >> Andre, any report today? >> Yeah, just uh just a little bit. um with the kind of the little guys uh over at Pinewood. They celebrated their uh their carnival and uh one of the the things that was a highlight of of that particular carnival was the talent show portion. So, the fifth graders voted to uh to have a talent show portion. And um it's just amazing when kids put their minds to things. Uh they had uh a violinist who played because she was in in the orchestra at Pinewood. Uh they had some vocalists and uh some of those Tik Tok dances are a little more challenging when you're in front of your your peers. And so that was uh that was great. And I I believe families had a really good time and the staff there really uh provide an opportunity for families to get together and celebrate um their students at the school. So hats off to that staff. Um and all of our staff do such an amazing job. But uh that was something that that certainly stood out before the end of the year. So thank you. >> Great. Can I piggyback on that because I um I'm honored to be the liaison to the Pinewood Elementary School and the the fifth graders actually thought of pitched and like did an official proposal for this talent show and like thought of all the different things and asked for I mean it was just the whole proposal was really well done and to have you know what how old are you in in fifth grade? 10, right? Um to to put that together and the they actually stood up in front of the PTA because they asked the PTA for support. So I got to kind of sit and and watch their proposal. Um it was really outstanding and what a great experience in leadership and encourage. Um, so you know, it's it's not just uh the reading, writing, arithmetic that is important in our schools, but just all of these other life skills and life um lessons that our our students are learning. It's It was pretty dang cool, >> right? It was cool. >> Well, I also got to um participate in Irondale graduation and love that night. I'm also so grateful for all the staff who are there and again celebrating our students at that momentum. um momentous time and um Shauna talked about some of the teachers at 916 retiring and um I've looked through the list. I reached out to a couple of my kids as teachers who are retiring this year to share what an impact they had on my kids. But I want to officially recognize tonight Angie Peshel who's been with our district for 28 years. And uh Angie was a teacher at Chipoa and uh had roles in the district before coming over here to the district office serving the last 16 years as our director of curriculum and instruction. And Angie will be definitely missed, but we know just based on her relaxed attitude these last couple months how much she's looking forward to retirement. So Angie, thank you so much for your dedication to the district. Um for all the students and families and staff that you've impacted over the years. Um I don't think we can even start to think about that. So, um, enjoy your retirement. Congratulations, and thank you. And while we're talking about kind of the end of the year for so many things, we also know that lots of things go on during the summer in our schools. So, thank you to all the staff who are getting in our schools and um, working on improving our facilities, our grounds, all those kinds of things, and all the summer programming that's happening. So, um kind of a a thank you in anticipation for those staff who continue to work during the summer and continue to um feed into um our students and our staff and make it the best environment possible. >> Great. Well, if there's nothing else to come before the board, we are adjourned.