- [Scott] Clerk, please call the roll. - Skaar.- Here - Streiff Oji.- Here. - Thompson.- Here. - Arcand.- Here. - Beloyed.- Here. - Daniels, here. Ellison.- Here. - All right, please standfor the Pledge of Allegiance. - [All] I pledge allegiance to the Flag of theUnited States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with libertyand justice for all. - We have before us an agenda. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? - So moved. - So moved by Beloyed. Is there a second? - Second.- Second, oh. - Second by Ms. Thompson. Discussion? Yes, Mr. Skaar. - So I would like to make amotion that on the public forum, since we don't livestream that, that we summarize the publicforum in the meeting minutes. And then any questions that thepublic has that we log those so that the board can follow up on those questions to makesure that they're answered. - Okay, we have a motion to amend and summarize the public forum. Do I have a second? Do I have a second? Do I have a second? Okay, that fails. Maybe we can also stilllook at it and see about making sure we get something in there. - Yeah, point of clarification. I think that thatrequires a policy change. - We'll look into it. Okay, any other discussion? - Do you want to move the motion, sir? - That would come. Can you get this done first?- Those came in. - Yeah, I know I missed it. - Yeah. - All right. All in favor say aye. - Aye.- Aye. - Opposed, same sign. Okay, it carries 7-0. All right. I missed an agenda item. We're gonna also do our missionstatement for Ms. Daniels. - The mission of the WhiteBear Lake School District, the community at the forefrontof educational excellence, honoring our legacy andcourageously building the future, is to ensure each student realizes their unique talents and abilities, makes meaningful contributionswith local and global impact through a vital system distinguished by. Students who design andcreate their own future. A culture that respectsdiverse people and ideas. Safe, nurturing, andinspiring experiences. Exceptional staff and familiescommitted to student success. Abundant and engaged community partners. - Thank you. We also have before us a consent agenda. This contains a variety of business items that come to us monthly,including donations. We are truly grateful forthe support shown every month to our staff and students. Thank you for everythingyou've contributed to us. Can I get a motion toapprove the consent agenda? - So moved. - By Ms. Ellison. Is there a second? - Second.- Second, all right. By Ms. Daniels. Okay, point for discussion, Mr. Skaar. - I don't know whether I need to pull the payment of invoicesoff of the consent agenda. I just have a couple of questions on it. - Okay, you just wanna ask them now while we're in discussion of it? - It's up to you.- Sure, go ahead. - So, you know, one of the things is, is that on our last audit, we had a double paymentthat we didn't detect, staff didn't detect. I think it was $545,000,something like that and change. So when I look at the invoice register, and I think I've askedthis question before, you know, there's duplicates, you know, with the exactsame amount and same date and so forth. They're probably, you know, okay. But my question is, what did we do with our internal controls? I'm assuming everybodyknows internal controls are to help safeguard our assets and our payments and so forth. So we don't do these things again. So what did we do to assurethe board and the public that we don't have doublepayments in this invoice register or any of the invoiceregisters that we're paying? - [Scott] Okay. I think Ms. Johnson's gonnacome up and talk to us. Welcome. - Thank you. We are under, we are in the process of looking at our transactions over the last year. And in our accounts payable process, every transaction does get reviewed. And so, if there is aduplicate, it is looked, everyone would be looked at. And it wouldn't actually be a duplicate, it would be an intentionalpayment of invoice. And so it may look likea duplicate, for example, the way that this shows upis perhaps it's a split code, like it might be split betweentwo different departments. And so it might be a $20 payment split between two different budget codes, and it would look like a $10payment and a $10 payment with the same exact check number and date. - Did we do anything to ourdisbursement or payable system to trigger like, this looks unusual, thiscould be a double payment, therefore, it kicks outfor a supervisory review? In our system, in the payables. Have we automated that or are we still, or do we rely on humans? - We don't have programmers. Like that's not an internal software. So we're not able to programour software in that way. It's a purchase software. And so it does have an automatic trigger that if a invoice numberis entered in a second or in a duplicate, or if a duplicate invoicenumber is entered, then it will trigger it. But it's not able to like elevate that to a higher hierarchy. That's not a like a programmingthing that we're able to do. - Okay. But we don't know whether the system hasthat capability or not. - [Andi] It does not. - What system is it? - It's Skyward. It's a school district specific. - Okay. The other question I had was, you know, I've been tracking these. It'll be quick.- Yes, sir. - I've been tracking the, you know, the solar leasing costs. And we have these Ideal Energies, and then I saw Anchor Solar Investments, so it kind of threw me for a loop. So is that different? That's a different company then? - [Andi] Each individualagreement that we have has a different name. So like each array that we have, each solar array has a different name. And so some of them areunder solar, under Anchor, some are under Ideal. - Are they different vendors? - Yeah.- Oh. So each school may havea different vendor for. - Correct, and each year, each time we have like summer2001 or 2021, summer 2022, yeah, for tax purposes, it'sa different vendor for them. - Oh, for their tax purposes?- Correct. Because they get an ITC, aninvestment tax credit on this. - Yeah, I don't know.- Yeah, that's how that works. - But we just get a different W-9. - Yeah, that's how theymake the numbers work. - Sure.- All right, thank you. - Yeah. - [Scott] Anything else? Yes. - I just wanted to-- Ms. Ellison. - Jessica] Yeah, I just wantedto add a brief correction to the consent agenda. And it's a small thing. For in the minutes fromthe meeting on May 18th, I left at 7:04 to go attendmy senior's band concert. And so all of the votes afterwardthat have my name in it, my name needs to be struck. - [Scott] Okay. - [Kathleen] Apologies. - No, it happens.- Yeah. - So I just wanted make sure.- Thank you. - All right.- So that's on page 11 and 12 of the board packet. - [Kathleen] Thank you for that. - Okay. So we will strike those in the consent agenda in the minutes. - [Jessica] Thank you. - Any further discussion? All right, if there'sno further discussion, this will be a roll call vote. I'll ask the clerk to call the roll - [Kathleen] Skaar. - [Daniel] Aye. - Streiff Oji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - [Kathleen] Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Okay, motion carries. (gavel thuds) Okay, now it's time for our public forumportion of the meeting. Public forum allows for upto three minutes per speaker. We have three requestssubmitted to speak tonight. And with one minute remaining, you'll see an orange card and it would be held up with 30 seconds. You'll see a yellow card. At the end of three minutes, we'll tap the gavel and letyou know your time is up. School district policyand data privacy laws preclude personal and student matters or data from being discussed publicly. Speakers may not make allegations,charges, or complaints against any student or employee. Speakers will be called to the microphone and recognized one at a time. Only those individualswho have been recognized may be allowed to speak. Members of the audiencemay not engage in conduct that disrupts any part ofthe school board meeting, or otherwise impedes theschool board's ability to conduct conduct business. Item C1, Student Recognition. Dr. K. - All right, thank you ChairArcand, members of the board. Tonight we proudly celebrate the achievements of boys and girls track, boys and girls trackand field team members and girls and boys golf team members, the girls flag football team, Escape the Vape statevideo contest winners, and Make48 national inventioncontest participants. Congratulations to each of you. We also extend a sinceregratitude to the dedicated staff and support of family memberswho played a vital role in these state and national successes. Please join us in watching a video highlighting their accomplishments. Go Bears. (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (attendees applauding) - [Scott] All right. Next, we're gonna go toinformational items C2, Superintendent Report. - All right, thank youagain, Chair Arcand. Over the last couple of weeks, schools throughout the district have celebrated the endof successful school year and honor students who aremoving on to the next chapter. White Bear Students who completed programs at White Bear Lake Area High School, the Area Learning Center, or the Transition Education Center were celebrated in ceremonies last week. Congratulations to our students and to the staff and family members who supported them along the way. To celebrate our class of 2026, we asked graduates to share what being a White Beargrad means to them. Enjoy their feedback in this video. (upbeat music) - Being a White Bear graduate means finding a community that is. - Rooted in school spirit. - And shows up for each other. - Being a White Bear gradmeans the acronym ROAR, relationship, ownership,awareness, and respect. And for me, the strongestone that I built here was relationship with myteammates, my classmates, and my teachers. - [Students] Being aWhite Bear grad means. - Learning new perspectives. - From our peers and teachers. - Within our community. - Being a White Bear grad to me means being rivals to Hill-Murray. - To be a White Beargrad means to be proud. We have so many resources to take advantage of in this school, I think the least we coulddo is to use them fully and to be the best ourselves we can be. - Being a White Bear grad means being better than all theother schools in Minnesota. - [Students] Being a White Bear grad means prospering friendships. - Being a White Bear grad means supporting all the sports teams. - [Students] Being a White Bear grad means finding your place in a community. - We persevere through the thick and thin of like school life. And we accomplish somethingthat is, you know, extraordinary and likesomething to look forward to, not forward to but like lookback on and be proud of. - And we make lifelongfriends along the way. - To be a White Bear grad is to always wear orange, black, and white. - Being a White Bear gradmeans to have a hometown that you get to. - Come back to and give back to. - [Students] Go Bears. - [Students] Go Bears. - Go Bears. - [Students] Go Bears. - [Students] Go Bears. (upbeat music) - All right, congratulationsagain graduates. And that video will beshared out this week. All right, thank you toour retirees who represent more than 749 years ofservice to the district. Later this week, wewill honor our retirees in person with a celebratory event as we commemorate theirtime in the district. Thank you for all your service to White Bear Lake Areaschools and to the community. Free summer meals availablefor kids age teens through, for kids and teens age 18 and younger at four district locations. The Area Learning Center,Central Middle School, Transition Education Center,and Willow Lane Elementary. There is no enrollment and no cost. The healthy meals are basedon USDA nutrition guidelines. Additional information is available on the district's website. And district representatives will be back this summer at Marketfest, which runs Thursdays, June18th through July 30th, in Downtown White Bear Lake. Stop by the district's boothfor pencils, bear paw tattoos, and conversation. Also, the district is sponsoringMarketfest on June 25th with White Bear LakeArea School Spirit Night. We'll fill 4th Street withdistrict booth and activities. Please wear orange and join us at 6:30 for the scheduled Orange Outphoto that we'll be taking. So thanks for a great yearand welcome to summer. - All right, thank you. All right, we're gonna goon to discussion item 1, D1, Alternative LearningProgram Name Recommendation. Mr. Wald and Jenni Sjosten. Yeah, sorry, I'll get it. - You got it.- Okay. I just wanna start by saying it was nice to go to the graduation and hear the stories andsee the kids succeed. It was full of hope whenthey were talking and stuff, so thank you for allowing us to be there. - [Jenni] Yeah, thank youso much for being there. - Good evening, ChairArcand, members of the board, Dr. Kazmierczak. At the February 23rd work session, Jenni Sjosten, our assistant principal at the White Bear LakeArea Learning Center, along with Dr. AlisonGillespie and Brenton Shavers, shared a recommendation to change an alternative learning pathway status for Area Learning Center to Alternative Learning Program. As we prepare to begin the'26-'27 school year as an ALP, we spent some time rebranding. And Ms. Sjosten led anaming committee and process for what was the, the name of ALC that is expiring to a new name for the schooland rebranding for the school. So, I'll let Ms. Sjostenwalk us through that process. - Awesome. Thank you so much for. Am I close enough?- Yeah. - Okay, awesome. Thanks so much for having us. The first thing I wouldlike to start with is just some great news thatour application was accepted to shift from the ALC designationto an ALP designation. So we just got news lastweek of that approval, so that's really exciting. And one of the, as Mr.Wald started to share, one of the shifts necessary is that we're changing from anArea Learning Center to an Alternative Learning Program. And really this highlights the partnership that already exists betweenthe ALC and the high school, but it allows us a greater focus on our White Bear Lake students. So we'll still allow foropen enrollment as an ALP, but because it really deepens the collaboration and partnership between an ALP and their main high school, it just allows us a greater focus on our White Bear Lake students. And so, just wanted to highlight that. And so one of the necessary components is to change your name because we're not an AreaLearning Center anymore. So it really providesan opportunity for us to look at how we define ourselves and who we want to kind ofcontinue to evolve to be. Those of you who are at graduation, I think heard about howseriously we take our vision of students feeling safe, valued, and proud. And I think that really shined both in what the advisors said, as well as the student speakers, and how they feel adeep sense of belonging. So really that's what wewanted to capture in our name, is kind of like who we areand what our purpose is. And so that was kind of for me, the opportunity of this to say as we make this name change, like what can we do tohelp us define who we are and what we strive to be every day. So the process that we underwent, which aligns with other name changes within the district andwith board policy is first generating a list of possible names. And the staff generatedthat list together. And then we ranked each name on a four-point scale as a staff. Each staff member could voteand say for each specific name. There was over 30 names generated. And then through that process, two names emerged asour top two contenders. First is Manitou Campus andthen the second is Atlas Campus. So I'll talk a little bit more about kind of what that process looked like. So. Oops, did I skip one? No, we're good. Okay, so all ALC students also, so once we had that list and we kind of had these two names emerge, then students were all polled and staff were polledon just those two names. And we also polled community members. And then the final step was that there was a Name Change Committee that convened to basically seekconsensus on our two options and bring it down to one option. So that's basically theprocess that we went through to get us to. Drum roll, dun, dun, dun, dun. Our final recommendation is White Bear Lake Area HighSchool Manitou Campus. Okay. And the reason that we landed on this is through our conversation is that we feel that Manitou hasdeep roots in our community. I think for somebody who'snot from White Bear Lake, don't hate on me, I'm not from the area, but I can see the deep rootsof Manitou all over town. And it speaks really I think to, the direct translation isthe spirit and light force and a connection of every person who carries inherent value and purpose. And again, I think for thoseof you that were at graduation, you saw the unique storiesthat come out of the ALC. You got to hear them and how we really try tocapture their potential and tap into their inner resilience to help students get to the finish line. And that we just walk along with alongside students no matter where they are,when they come to us. If they have two credits or they're two creditsshy from graduation, like we will walk alongside of them wherever they come to us. And it was really important and really awesome part of this process that the staff came up with including campus with the name. And I think that itreally demonstrates for us the partnership and connection that we already have with the main campus. And I know campus has, we had north campus andsouth campus before, and we're not trying to replicate that but really just to make surethat we are standing firm and the connection andcollaboration that exists between an ALP and their main high school. And I really think it'san important aspect to really signify that connection between an ALP and their main high school. So that's basically the process and why we are recommending Manitou Campus as the new name of our ALP. Are there any questions?- Thank you. Any questions? Ms. Beloyed. - [Deborah] Just one, where did Atlas come from? - So it came throughthe process of those 30. And I think it camethrough like the idea of kind of how an Atlas shows where you are in relation to the larger world. And also, it had connections with like Atlas who holds up the world, which is what our studentsreally connected with. So a lot of studentsreally liked that name. One downside of that name is that they also called it Atlantis. And so, it was like Atlas and Atlantis, and we didn't want there to have any confusion on the name of our school. So some of them would saylike, I really like Atlantis. No, it's Atlas. I really like Atlantis. And we're like that's not the option. So that was an interestingthing that many students did. It was just really funny. But that's kind of theorigin of where Atlas was, which we think also wehad a strong connection with that as well. But we didn't feel like it had a strong connection with this area, which I think is really whatspoke to the staff and students - Well, I think it's really important that the kids at the ALP do understand and feel that connection tothe regular high schools. So they're not just- Yeah. - out in the wilderness somewhere, they are part of the White BearLake High School community. - Absolutely.- Thanks a lot. - [Scott] All right, other questions? Yes, Ms. Streiff Oji.- I just wanna, thank you. I love the name. And I love that each personhas inherent value and purpose and shine who the other night at thegraduation for each student. So thank you for workingon making that more, not that the partnership wasn't there, but making that connection stronger for our students and our families too. - [Jenni] Thank you. - [Scott] Mr. Skaar. - Jenni, thank you. I'm really disappointed though. Nobody asked me. I'm really good with names. But I don't think I would've-- Duly noted. Duly noted.- Okay, thank you. Maybe next time.- Hopefully, we won't be in this spot again. If it happens, I will ask. - No, that's good. It's a great name. I don't know. Do you need an action from the board to approve the name? - No.- Okay. - [Tim] Are we required for board actions? - [Scott] No. - Well, it's endorsed. - [Jenni] Awesome, thank you. - Okay, other questions or comments? Well, thank you very much. - Thank you so much.- And keep up the good work. We're gonna go ahead addto discussion item D2. This is the first reading of school board policies 210, 515, and 605. These policies listed abovewill be on the July 14th agenda or subsequent agenda for a second reading. Are there any questions? Please refer to the policy number and the page of thepacket you're looking at. Yes, Ms. Beloyed. - I just have a question for the people on the Policy Committee. The change from. Sorry, the page is 79. And it is under area C, 5C. No. Sorry. Yeah, I guess it would be 5C. The amount to be earned bythat school board member under that contract oremployment relationship will not exceed $20,000. That's replacing 8,000in that fiscal year. Was there something inthe statute that somebody, can somebody tell me what that was? That's just raised to that amount or that was the minimum amount? - [Christina] I believethe statute changed. - Or the maximum? - [Christina] I believethe statute changed. I don't know if Rachel's here. Through, yeah, statutory change. - [Deborah] Yeah. - [Christina] So we just align the policy with that statute change. All right.- I could just add a little. I remember in one of my firstcouple years at some training, it has a lot to do withsome of the districts that are out in therural areas not having, and like maybe the school board member also is a plow driver in their community and so they plow the school parking lots 'cause there is nobody else. So I think that's reallymainly what it was for, is to help those districts have people that could do those services for them but also still be a board member 'cause they don't have a lot of people volunteering to be board members. And you know, so it was a way that. - Yeah, I just remember wevoted on this a couple years ago and I think we set it at eight. And now I was just wondering if the statute was thepart that was updated in. So that was it, thank you. - Okay. Mr. Skaar. - Yeah, I had the same question on that. And we're not a rural school district. I would say that weshould leave it at 8,000 and not change it to 20,000. Because I think 20,000, you could have an inherentconflict of interest with that. So I would keep it low where8,000 is more de minimis. So I wouldn't, I thinkwe keep it where it's at, 8,000. - [Scott] Yes, Ms. Beloyed. - Just, Chair, as clarification, the reason why we added anamount in the first place was because some of us actuallyworked within the schools. Myself, personally, I was one of the lunchladies at Oneka and Hugo for a period of quite a few years. I never made anything close $20,000. But basically anything that you could do was gonna be an hourlypart-time kind of thing. So that was why we didit in the first place. - Yes.- I'm not opposed to 20. I'm not sure that itmakes a huge difference because typically board members have not been employed by the district or anything other thansomething like what I did. - Yeah, Ms. Daniels. - I just have a comment. When we did the 8,000, at that time there were a few of us that had our teaching licensesstill and it was a hard, it was a very difficult timegetting subs for the district. So some of us had agreedthat we'd sub here and there. And I did sub about fourtimes or five times that year. And I, you know, I don't even know what the daily rate forcasual subs are anymore, but I think maybe we should. I mean, I'm okay with the 20,000 but if we wanna bringit back to the committee and discuss it, I'm okay with the 20,000 because I think, I mean I don't think any of us maybe worked more than maybethree or four times. I think there were two orthree people that subbed and that was it. But, I think we could discuss it. - [Scott] Okay. Ms. Streiff Oji. - And I would just say thereit is hard to find staffing. We don't know when therewill be need for that. I was just talking to someone that came, was hired as an international teacher. So I know that districts arehaving to go out of the box and find different ways. I'm fine with the 20,000. - [Scott] Okay. Mr. Skaar. - Yeah, I'm more of a, maybe a little stricter on this. I don't think any board membershould have any contract or employment relationshipwhatsoever, period. That's a clear conflict of interest, so they shouldn't have any. So I would say justeliminate the dollar amount and say that no board member should have any contract or employmentrelationship with the district. - [Scott] Okay. Ms. Ellison. - I would be interested in seeing exactly what the statute says, and I think we shouldalign with the statute. And that just keeps it clean. Then we know that we arefollowing state law to the letter. And then we can makedecisions as a board about, you know, 'cause I thinkwe do have to approve it, all seven. Correct me, if I'm wrong. If a board member wantsto work in the district, all seven board members haveto approve it in person. And so that does still give ussome leeway to make decisions so that if we feel like there is a conflict ofinterest or a problem, we still have that power. But I just, in general, think sticking to thestatute keeps it clean. - [Scott] Okay. Ms. Thompson. - It does specificallysay that in the policy that the determination as to whether there's a conflict of interest exists is to be made by the school board. And any school board member who has an actual or potential conflict shall notify the school boardof such conflict immediately. And the school boardmembers shall thereafter cooperate with theschool board as necessary for the school board tomake its determination. So the language is already in there. And I would be comfortablekeeping it the way it is. - [Scott] Mr. Skaar. - Just one thing, you know, the statute and the laws arethe minimum requirements. We can go above that and be stricter. And actually from a compliance standpoint and from an ethical standpoint, it's better to go strict and above the law on matters like this wherethere's a potential conflict. - Okay, can I make a comment? - [Scott] And I justwanna say I'm not sure we ever had anybody evenhit the 8,000 have we? - [Board Member] Not that I'm aware of. - Okay. Okay, I'm sorry, Ms. Daniels. - I just think because ofthe language of the policy, we could do case by case as Angie and and Jessica pointed out. And I think there would be a case where if people were certifiedand we needed subs, I mean in that particular instance, it was great to have some people step in because we had no adultsthat were certified to sub. And so we made, we actually named the people on the board that were certified and that were going to do those,that work for the district. And I think it was aservice to the district. And I think we, you know, I think there might be acase where we need to use it. So I don't wanna saylet's not do it at all. - And what I'm hearing I think. Can I just say something?- Yeah, go ahead. - What I mean you say is that we don't want to be employingsomebody in a position because of a conflict. And when I read this, I'm thinking this is for like a sub or a temporary playground person. I don't see this as somebody who would be hired to run a building or do anything for that. These are the smallsubstitute-type positions. I think that's what'sthe meaning behind it. But I can understandwhat you're saying is, there'd be a major conflict if we took somebody to make 20,000, they were gonna be makingbuilding decisions. That would not be appropriate. - Well, I just. - Yes, sir.- Be recognized. I find it really ironic thatsubbing and so forth is okay, but when I have volunteered to evaluate the safetyprogram here at the district, which is where I have a lot of experience or the financial controlsand things like that, can't do it, right? Can't do it. And I'm not, I'm just, and I'm doing it as a-- Point of order. - As, you know, somebody-- Point of order. - Somebody that has experience to help. - Okay.- But then it's okay. You know, I just see that's a concept. - [Jessica] It's a license and a certification and an opening. We had openings for sub so.- I get it, I get it. - Should I keep it together now? Yes.- Point of order. That is a governance. That gets into governance,what Mr. Skaar is saying. That is not our role asschool board members. We are not to be intothe day-to-day business. Being a sub in a classroom for a day doesn't mean you're making any decisions that impact the district as a whole. What you are asking for is not our role. That is not what we doin our position up here as a governing body. That's a whole different thing, what you're asking to do.- I don't know exactly. Well, I don't know exactlywhat you just said. - Point of order. - Yes. - I think that we've all hadan opportunity to discuss. And I agree that maybe this one should go back to the committeefor further discussion, and then it can come backto us for another reading. - I'm fine with that. Do we need to vote on that? I can just send it back. - No, because we don'tvote on this at this point. - So we're gonna go ahead and send 210, Conflict of Interest-School Board Members back to the committee to check it out. Is everybody okay with that? - That's fine.- Any other questions? Thank you all. All right, we're gonna headinto operational item E1, Action on Tentative Agreement. Mr. Mons, this is for the'25 to '28 fiscal year Bear Adventure Club staff. - Yes, good evening. So there's been a fairlyrecent name change here. So just to put this in context for people, we're talking about our employee group that has traditionally been known as our extended day employees who work with our students through the Bear Adventure Club program. And that group is representedby SEIU Local 284. I want to thank both the district's team and also the team thatwe worked with there. We had a really good roundof bargaining and discussion. We were able to come to the table, share our perspectives, and get that done within twosessions which was lovely. And I think that people felt really good about the outcome that we reached there. We also have a three-yearagreement with this group, which will give us a little bit moreflexibility moving forward in terms of how we set ourrates for our community members that participate in theprogram moving forward. And so with that, I make the recommendation that you approve the tentative agreement. - [Scott] All right, wehave a recommendation to approve the tentative agreement. Do I have a motion? - [Angela] So moved. - By Ms. Thompson. Do I have a second?- Second. - Second by Ms. Beloyed. Any discussion? Okay, hearing none, thiswill be a roll call vote. Will you please call the roll? - Skaar.- Aye. - Streiff Oji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Okay, motion carries, 7-0. Now we are gonna go tooperational item E2, Action on Tentative Agreement, 2025-27 fiscal year Paraeducator School ServiceEmployees SEIU Local 284. Mr. Mons. - All right, for this one, we did not get this done in two meetings. We had a longer process here. A process that went from November of 2025 through to May of 2026. But what I really appreciated was, you know, nobody tooktheir ball and went home. Everyone kept coming to the table. And it was a tremendous commitment of time both for our paraeducators who were represented by SEIU Local 284 and also for the district'steam that kept coming and showing up to continue that dialogue. So I'm appreciative toeveryone for sticking it out and reaching the conclusion that we did. And so with that, I'll make the recommendation to approve the tentative agreement. - [Scott] Can I get a motion to approve? - So moved.- By Ellison. Second?- Second. - Second by Streiff Oji. Is there any discussion? Yes, Ms Daniels.- I just wanna thank you for your hard work and the union for their hardwork and coming to the table. I know it takes a long time sometimes to come to an agreement, so thank you for that. - [Matthew] We got there. - We got there. - And I just wanna make the comment that our paraeducators are importantpart of our school system and we do appreciate them. And so we're glad that we have this done. Okay, any other? Okay, so this will be a roll call vote. Will the clerk please call the roll? - Skaar. - Aye. - Streiff Oji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Motion carries, 7-0.- Thank you. - All right, we're gonna goon to operational item E3, Action on Property and LiabilityInsurance for 2006, 2027. Excuse me, '26 and '27. Mr. Wald and Ms. Johnson. - Thank you, Chair Arcand,members of the board. The finance team hasthree operational items for the board tonight. The first of which is the renewal of our property and liabilityinsurance for '26-'27. For a property and liability insurance, the school district is amember of an insurance pool comprised of Minnesota schooldistricts that is called the Minnesota InsuranceScholastic Trust or MIST. And before we dive into the numbers, Nick Lano is with us tonight. Nick is area senior vice president with Gallagher Insurance. And Gallagher oversees or is the administrator for the MIST pool. Over the years, Nick's been instrumental inworking with our school district and guiding us through a veryvolatile insurance market, as well as on behalf ofthe entire MIST pool. So thank you for being with us- Yeah. - tonight, Nick. We'll hear from him in just a moment. The expiring premium for'25-'26 was $922,832. And the new proposed rate is $856,712. That's a 7% reduction overthe current year of $66,000. Great news for us, as the property andliability insurance market, as I mentioned earlier,can be very volatile. Nick, or excuse me, Nick Lano is well versedin the insurance industry. And he'll share with us someinsights on the new rate, as well as what's happeningwith the MIST pool, and changes that are designed to reduce the risk for all members of the pool. - Good evening.- Mr. Lano. - Yeah, thank you, Tim. Good evening, everyone. I know some of you I've met over the years and some there's some new faces. Nick Lano with Gallagher, been the insurance brokerfor the district since 2016. For some of you, that's whenWhite Bear Lake joined MIST. So you've been a greatpartner in the program for the last 10 years. Over the years, Dr. Kazmierczakhas sit on the MIST board. MIST is a member-owned Minnesota K through 12 insurance program. So there's nothing elselike it in the state. It's ran by the members itself. So Dr. Kazmierczak is on the board. Andi is currently on the board as well. So it's been a great program. Right now, we're insuring just under a hundred thousandstudents across the state in this type of program. One of the unique attributes at MIST is coming up with solutionsfor its members, right? Better way to do things. Over the last couple years, the property market has beensignificantly difficult, especially within the public entity space. Gallagher, two years ago, we actually created aprogram called GovPro. It's a property program just for public entitiesacross the country. So we took that sameconcept this year and said, what if we do that for four ofour pools across the Midwest? And this year we actually created, our property program is gonnabe moving to this GovPro. And that's where we're seeing a lot of the decrease this year overall. So it's been a great program. 31 members across the state in it. Roughly about 5 millionin surplus right now. So the program is working exactly like we have anticipated it. When White Bear Lake joined, I think you're still probablyone of the largest savings we saw with a membercoming into the program. In 2016, that was roughlyabout a 30% decrease plus increasing coverages,reduced deductibles. So it's really worked well forthe district over the years. Any questions to that? - [Scott] Ms. Streiff Oji. - So what drives the cost down? The number of members? - Yeah, so number of members, yup, it spreads the risk across that. Through this type of program, we're able to act almostlike an HSA type of way. We have a self-funded but with a protected stop gap in there. So because of that, the program itself, not one individual memberbut the program itself is able to take on significantrisk on a higher level where no individual memberwould be able to take on that type of deductible. Right, so now we're tellingthe insurance carrier, all right, we only wantyou to start giving us coverage at 500,000 insteadof any other program, you know, 25,000 or 50,000 so. - And as Nick said, we're pooled now with differentpools in different states. And so when the carriers look at us, you know, if Minnesotagets hit by a tornado, Ohio is probably not going to. And so that's kind ofhow we spread that risk. - Yeah.- That's advantageous to the carriers. - Thanks, Andi, yeah. MIST itself is about $9 billionin total insured values, and we created GovProwith these other four. Now, when we go to like the London market, we're buying roughly about$25 billion worth of values. So far greater scale, right, and we're able to drive that down so. - [Christina] It's like the first time I've heard of insurance costs going down. - Yeah, right, yeah. Everyone's experience- It's great news. - is personal. - [Christina] Thank you very much. - [Scott] Other questions? - Scott, quick question. The equipment breakdown,is that like CarShield? I mean what do we, what is that for? - No, equipment breakdown, anything from boilers in the school to rooftop refrigeration, HVAC units, that's gonna be your equipment breakdown.- So is it just the equipment or is it labor as well? - No, it's labor as well, yup. So if we have a new rooftop unit that gets damaged by hail and that's 500,000 for theunit and another 100,000 in, you know, cost for theHVAC company to replace it, yeah, 600,000 would be covered by that. - [Daniel] No deductible? - It's $2,500 deductiblefor individual number. - [Daniel] Oh, okay, that's pretty good. - [Andi] 2,500 or 25,000? - It's 2,500 on that, yup. - So do you do risk assessmentsof the school district? - Yeah.- Have we asked? - Enlighten me a little bit on that, of what you mean by that? - I don't know like, I don't know like asafety or risk assessment in terms of how our built cyberliability. Do you do a risk assessmenton our cyber profile? - Yup, so back to yourinitial question of, you know, safety in the building. Yes, every member every year goes through, safety and risk controlconsulting comes on site. Members have different options. It's almost like a cafeteriaplan they can go through. So some members will do an overall fleet safety kindof review of that program. Your district has gonethrough playground safety. So they go and walk the whole playgrounds, make sure all the bolts are tight, you know, slides are in working condition. Some years it's justoverall physical assessment. So they walkthrough inthe individual school, take pictures, you know, outlets maybe that need to be replaced, or certain other- Got you. - safety aspects of it so. - Okay. So on cyber reliability,does it include ransomware? - Yes.- Okay, thank you. - So-- Yes, Ms. Streiff Oji. - So we're doing thesesafety assessments regularly. - [Andi] Correct, every year. - Every year.- Mm-hmm. - Thank you.- It's built into the program. - Thank you. - And recommendationsfor contract language, sometimes the insurancelanguage and contracts we run by Nick and the team, to make sure that thelanguage we have in contracts with vendors and joint powers agreements protect the district inthe best way possible. - [Scott] All right. It sounds like the recommendedaction is to move to approve the property and casualtyinsurance package with the MinnesotaInsurance Scholastic Trust in the amount of $856,712. It will be effective July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2027. Can I get a motion to approve? - So moved.- So moved by Ms. Daniels. Is there a second? - Second.- Second by Ms. Thompson. Any further discussion? Once again, this will be a roll call vote. I'll ask the clerk to call the roll. - [Kathleen] Skaar. - [Daniel] Aye. - Strife Oji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - [Kathleen] Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Motion passes, 7-0. All right, we're gonna goto operational item E4, Action on the WorkersCompensation Agreement. - Yes, thank you, Chair Arcand. This spring we took quotes forour workers comp insurance, workers compensation insurance, and asked two high-qualityfirms in Minnesota that specialize in public school districts to compete for our business. One was our current provider, RAS, who we have a long-term relationship with. And the second is SFM, who is a highly regardedinsurer in the Twin Cities here, who we have worked within the past as well. SFM won the contract withthe low bid of $667,948 outbidding RAS by $26,000. So even though they won the bid, if you look at the historical data, you see this still reflects a 14% increase over last year's worker compensation rate. And I wanna explain what'sdriving the increase. So workers comp or workerscomp rates are calculated by two moving parts. First is that the premiumscale automatically with the audited payrollof the school district. So as gross payrolls grow over time, the baseline premiumsadjust along with that. So you'll see that small percentage just increase each yearjust based on your payroll. Second is rates are impactedby our experience mod rate. That's a numeric multiplier based on a rolling three-yearaverage of our past claims. And so, as you can see on thegray table on the slide here. In '22-'23 and '24-'25, those two years combined for about a million dollars in claims and estimated claims. And so when I say estimatedclaims in this regard, it is because some of the open, there can be open claims for which the carrier hasn't paid out yet, but they're holding funds available. So the 519 for '24-'25, really, the payout so farhas been 352,000 in change not 519. So it may end up being less than that. But until that year is closed out, the provider needs tohold, you know, hold money just assuming the liability still exists. The good news is that the number of claims hasdropped significantly. So you look on the graytable, the right-hand column, number of claims you see in '22-'23, 215 claims went down to 185 the next year. The number of claims hasjust continued to drop. And so that's a good signand I think good reflection on our district safety committee, district-wide safety committee that examines employeesafety in the building, and, you know, recommendschanges and improvements throughout the year. So that's our workerscompensation proposal for '26-'27. And again, Nick Lano has worked reallyhard with the school district. When we've gone out for quotes, he's done a great job ofrepresenting the school district to get the best rates possible. So I'll turn it over to you if you have some comments as well. - Yeah, thanks Tim. So we've been with RAS since 2016, right? It's been a good long-term partnership. Unlike property and liability, the work comp markethad been very, very soft the last few years. When we look back from 2016 to today, one thing that we reallylike to look at is how much are you payingper $100 of payroll, right? This year, you're paying about70 cents per 100 a payroll. If we look back to the2015-2016 timeframe, the district was paying roughly $1.12 per 100 a payroll, right? So I understand up front, when we look at this type of increase, we have been at the bottom of a bell curve for the last eight to nine years, right? And we're starting to see anupward trend on that premium. Bottom line, when we addMIST and work comp together, the district now sits at about1% increase year over year for total insurance costs for property liability and work comp. When we look at it, claim dollars 2014, those are made up of a couple claims that are driving that larger number. So while the mod is a piece of it, it's not the end all be all of it. At this premium rate, it really becomes more of anactuarial function, right? So underwriters at timeseven throw the mod out, 'cause now it becomes moreof what premium do I need to make up for the claim dollars that historically havebeen on the books, right? SFM is a great work comp carrier. All they do is work compin the state of Minnesota. If you ask them, they'llsay they probably write 80 to 90% of the schooldistricts in the state. So they know work compfor schools very well. We had a call with them withKevin, your lead safety, or head of your safetycommittee and emergency team. They were very impressed with him and everything that the district is doing. So I think it's gonna be the start of a really nice new partnershipwith us with them. - Okay. Let's go ahead and make the motion then we can open for discussion. The recommended action is tomove to accept the quote of 667,948 SFM mutual insurancefor workers compensation effective July 1st, 2026through June 30th, 2027. Can I get a motion to approve? - [Deborah and Angela] So move. - Okay, was that? Oh, Ms. Beloyed. Any second? - Second.- Second by Ms. Thompson. Now we're gonna open it up for discussion. Any questions? Yes, Ms. Beloyed. - So the claim history for 2025 to 2026, the year to date total, 190, we think that's a firm numberright now with 82 claims. How much of that has been paid up so far? Do we have any that is sitting there in lieu?- Those are numbers from May. - Yeah, so through May of the 190, the insurance carrier has paid 89, just shy of 90,000 of that. So the remaining balance is what their adjusters believe, right, based on type of injury, type of employee, maybe what the futuremedical might be of it. What they project would bethe outstanding reserves they would need to pay those claims so. - So then each one of these years, so '22 to '23, 475,000, '23 to '24, 293,000, '24 to '25, 519,000, that isn't from what you're saying, Tim, that's hasn't all beenpaid out necessarily. So some of it is being held?- So in '22-'23, that year is closed out. - That's closed out?- Yeah. So one thing we reallywork with districts on and the insurance carriers do is getting employees back, right? The sooner you can getthem back, the better. It cuts down on any typeof indemnity payment, so lost wages. It also, employees that are working, it's healthier for them, it's better for them and evenif it's within restrictions. So really, since '22 all the way back, there are no open claims for the district within the last 10 years. So '23, '24 and '25 arethe only policy years with open claims. - So, just to clarify then. So that 293,000, if that gets closed out and some of that money isn't used, the mod will change next year when that number is included and the lower number would be included? - [Nick] Yup, your mod'salways the three previous years minus the most recent. - Okay. - The state of Minnesota has a ruling, aggravated inequities that allow, let's say, we had 300,000 in open claims for one claim, right, closed out zero, none ofthat 300,000 was paid, we could actually then run to see what a new mod would be without that. And if the mod movesmore than three points, we can actually send a rulingback to the state MWCIA and ask them to recalculate it. It has to move at leastthree points though. - Okay. So then if next year, if the 190 that we're at right now holds, that rolls into next year'sthree years worth of mods. That will help next year.- Yeah, you'll see some stabilization to it, yeah. - Okay. All right, thank you. - [Scott] Other discussion? Mr. Skaar. - So thank you for the review. So our X-mod rate in 2024 was 1.23, 2025, 1.25, and 2026, 1.39. And what the X-mod means at 1.39 is that our actual losses are 39% higher than the expected lossesfor similar businesses or school districts inour classification, right? - Correct.- So, in the commercial worldwith X-mods like this, I would not be able tobid construction work for schools or the federal government because you need one or below, or you have to have, if it's above one, you can't be over 1.4. But if you're above one, if you put together a game plan to say, here's what I'm doingfrom a safety program to get it down to one or below. So to me, this is somewhat, it's alarming. I understand what you're saying. But part of it goes back tolike classification of payroll. I mean, if we don'tclassify payroll correctly, that can impact X-mod, right? And it can impact how our ratings are. Are we certain that we'reclassifying payroll properly? - Yeah, so with school districts, you really have twosignificant class codes. It's a professional class code and then a maintenance class code, or I should saynon-professional class code. And then outside of that, you add in a transportationclass code, right? So if there's a publicschool district in Minnesota that does not do any oftheir own transportation, there's really two class codes to it. We rely then on the HRdepartment within the district to help run those payrollreports of where do people fall. And we do provide a breakout of, all right, if they're apayroll, they go here, if they're facilities,they'd go into here. So we do provide that breakoutand assistance when needed. And then payroll's auditedevery year as well. So the audit payroll goes onto the mod. So that's somethingwhen the audits come in, we also discuss withAndi or the HR team of, all right, does this lookaccurate for what you sent in? - So what is our TCIR at this district compared to other district? Our incident, right,that we report to OSHA. - We'd have to talk to Kevin because as you probably knowin the construction field, not every incident is a work comp claim, but could be an OSHA reporting.- Right. - And we do not, as a broker, we do not do any of the reporting. If there's a significantincident and they're questioning, hey, do we need to notify OSHA on this? We'll help guide that andwalk through what happened. But that would be Kevinand your emergency team that looks through allthat OSHA reporting. - Yeah, that's like a leading indicator for the X-mod I would say. As well as first aid. So when we're doingour reporting for OSHA. I'm gonna talk about OSHA-related things that feed into our X-mod. Do we have separate? When we report, you can report differently,like you can report centrally, or do we report by each school? Does each school havelike a safety officer that reports incidents and so forth that keeps track of all of our incidents, first aid versus thingsthat are incidents, OSHA reportables as we call them? - Well, yeah. Each building has a representativeon the safety committee. And through Kevin Klecker's office, all of the referrals or anyclaim would go through there. - No, but from a reporting standpoint, is each facility a separate reporting unit under OSHA reporting or do we consolidate it as one? - [Tim] I don't know the answer to that. - I think we would need to have a separate presentation on that. We're presenting on workers compensation specifically tonight. - Yeah, but it fallsinto the same category. The workers comp andOSHA reporting are very, they're like this. I don't, you know, I would like to go intosome level of detail as far as the incident reporting,how we report facilities, those types of details. If instead of, you know, as well as our X-mod contributing factors to our X-mod, right? But do it separately. We don't have to do it here and people are watching paint dry. So I would like, what I'm suggesting is I'd like to go in a little deeper on this, on safety and the X-mod ingeneral with the team here. and just get a briefing. And, you know, talk to him about this, 'cause it's significant. - [Scott] I hear what you're saying and the concern we have tothink about as I believe, the other policy is expiring on June 30th. - Correct.- And so that would leave us without any coverage if we don't vote on it.- Oh, no, I'm not. Sorry, Scott. I'm not saying we delay the decision. I'm saying-- You would like a presentation by the safety group? - No, I can just go and talk to them. We don't need like a presentation. - Okay.- I'd rather just bring me inside the tent so Ican talk to them about this. - Quick.- Yes. - [Jessica] I would say that if there's gonna be a discussion, it should be to the whole board. - [Daniel] Do you really want to do that? Well, I could give a report to the board after I talk to them. - I think if, I think we're moving away from what we're supposed tobe talking about here. But I would recommend that any information that we need to understand as a board should come to the full board and not just to one individual. So-- That's not how all boards work, but that's fine. - Okay. Is there any other questionsabout the motion on the table? All right, this will be a roll call vote. I'll ask the clerk to call the roll. - [Kathleen] Skaar. - [Daniel] Aye. - Streiff Oji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - [Kathleen] Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Okay, motion carries. Thank you. - [Nick] Appreciate the time everyone. - We're moving on to operational item E5, Action on the Fiscal Year2026-27 Preliminary Budget. - [Tim] Okay, thank you, Chair Arcand. Ms. Johnson and I presented to the board at the May 18th meeting. We also presented I think kind of the foundation ofthis budget back in February. But most recently at theMay 18th work session. And the budget that you'll see tonight is the same budget that we reviewed at the May 18th work session. And so much of this presentationis very much the same. This is the budget cycle. It's a graphic representativeof budget cycle for the school district. And throughout the year, we're really working on theprior year, the current year, and future year budget. And so different dates throughout the year touch different elements of those budgets. This slide here you've seen many times. And it's a reminder of the state commitment tofunding public education. And as you look at the blue line in 2003 and follow that to 2027, you can see that thefunding level would be. What does that say? 9,157?- 57, mm-hmm. - [Tim] Yeah, thank you. If you follow the orange linefrom bottom left to the right, you can see the actual perstudent funding from the state, which is $7,683, leaving a shortfall of student funding from where we were at in2003 of $1,474 per student. And the state funding formulastudent funding formula is the core fundingmechanism for public schools. And so when we look at this gap in funding from the state of Minnesota, it's a significant amount that totals $13 millionin purchasing power that school districts are short today compared to where we were in 2003. I'll also note that while thestate has made some movement over the past couple years, we're very thankful for that, it hasn't made up the gap to be clear. And it has put significantstress on local property taxes as a funding mechanism for schools. Districts across the state are often forced to go to their taxpayers to help support public schools. So what was once a state responsibility has more and more so been passedon to local property taxes. In February and May, February, we identifiedthat we would be making a million dollars in reductions for the '26-'27 school year to get to the 8% unassignedfund balance goal. Those reductions came in theform of total of 1,094,000. Majority of it is in transportation. And that's by makingsome slight adjustments back to where we were threeyears ago where it's moving the high school starttime up five minutes, and middle school back 10 minutes. A 3.0 FTE reduction is related to a district leveladministrative position, assistant director of educational equity, two FTE at the Area Learning center, which is to match enrollment. Our high school has been very successful in keeping students ontrack for graduation, reducing enrollment atthe Area Learning Center. And so we're able to just staff at the same level that we have, and we'll save two FTEs in that. Okay, Ms. Johnson. - [Andi] Okay, today, as Tim had said, we're focusing on the'26-'27 preliminary budget, which is what you see inthe gray shaded column. So you see that there'sa $10 million increase over the previous year in revenue. Half of that is special education revenue, which is in response to the increase in special education expenses in the previous school year. And then, the legislature increased the English learner revenuebeginning in fiscal '27 as well, which brings in nearly$700,000 of additional revenue. The remainder of the increases are normal property tax andstate aid formula increases. On the expenditure sideafter budget adjustments, expenses are going up about 2.2%, which is based on knownsalary settlements, and then inflationaryincreases were appropriate for utilities, transportation, and then the insuranceincreases that you approved. In looking at fund balances, you'll see several of the fund balances. We estimate flat untilthe actuals are known. We have a few small changes, budgeted and operating capitaland capital projects areas. And then the main fund balance that we focus on is highlighted in blue, the unassigned fund balance. You see we're budgeted to come in at an ending fund balanceof $12,185,000 next year, which puts us right at ourfund balance target of 8%. And then in '27-'28, we'reprojected to be at 8.2%. And then in '28-'29, we're projected backat our 8% fund balance. So now we'll look at thepreliminary budgets for all funds, looking at specifically revenue. For the general funds, the bulk of our operationscomes in at about 159 million, so 75% of the total district's funds. The debt service fund, which is where thedistrict's bond payments are accounted for, is about 17% of thedistrict's total funds. And then community educationand nutrition services account for about 4% each. Then we look at ourpreliminary budget revenues for the general funds specifically. So most of our revenue comes in the form of state aid at 52%. Special education revenueis another form of state aid for a total of about73% total state revenue for next school year. Then we have a smallamount of federal revenue for special education, Title I, and American Indian Education. And then property taxes,both general at 20%. And then long-term facility maintenance make up the next largest sourceof revenue combined at 23%. And then rounding out the general fund, we have small amount ofinvestment earnings and others such as donations, activityfees, and gate receipts. Then we look at our expenditures, and we look at thosein two different ways. First, we look at it by object area. So 80% of the district's funding goes towards salaries and benefits. The next largest area ispurchased services at 13%. And then this includes ourcontracted transportation and then a large portion ofour LTFM expenses as well. And then finally, just 4% of our spendinggoes towards supplies. And then the last 3%, towards capital and othermiscellaneous expenditures. Then we look at it by program area or kind of by department area. Starting at the right withthe regular instruction and then wrapping down and around. We have regular instruction, vocational ed or what wecall career and tech ed, special education, instructionalsupport, pupil support, and transportation. All of those areas are directly involved with student contact each and every day. These programs add up to83% of our total spending. Then we have our buildingsand grounds department, which is responsible for site and LTFM, which includes our custodialgrounds and maintenance. That totals about 9% of our spending. Then we have 2% of miscellaneous spending reflected in the other category. And then administration includes all of our building principals and administrative assistants,the superintendent, and then school board budgetsfor about 4% of our spending. And then finally, districtsupport services includes the rest of the district center staff at 2% of the district's expenses. So then here we have all ofthe other operating funds that come before theschool board for approval. So we have nutritionservices, community services, and debt service. So the nutrition services budget is budgeting a deficit of220,000 for next school year, which is very similar to the current year, while maintaining a veryhealthy fund balance at 26.5%. The Community Services Programstruggled through COVID when families weren't ableto participate in programming in the way that theyhistorically had been able to. So they've been workingtheir way out of the deficit. And we're proud to report that they'll be back in theblack very likely this year. But definitely next school year with a projected deficitof just shy of 250, or projected surplusof just shy of 250,000. And then lastly, we haveour debt service fund, which is the fund that reports the activity related to our bond payments. So we report our debt schedule. The Department of Education, they calculate ourproperty tax levy revenue based on that schedule with a 5% cushion. And then this year, we'll have a fund balance ofjust over 7 million or 20%. So as I said earlier, all of this was reviewed previously in detail at the May work session. So the recommended action is to approve the fiscal year '26-'27preliminary budget as presented. - [Scott] Can I get a motion to accept their approval of the fiscal? - So move.- Ms. Streiff Oji. Second?- Second. - [Scott] Second by Ms. Daniels. Any discussion? Any further discussion? Yes, Ms. Beloyed. - [Deborah] Employees arecalculated by FTEs, correct? Like a full-time employee? - [Andi] Yup. - So those, an FTE can be split amongst different job codes, correct?- Mm-hmm. - Can you give me an example of that? - Yeah, so a teacher, for example, may work in the CTE program. They may have some classes that they teach that are CTE approved and then some that are not CTE approved. So their salary would be apportioned out, you know, accordingly. So maybe they're 20% CTE and then 80% regular instruction would be an example.- Does that happen quite a bit, at leastwithin the teaching staff, splitting the FTEs between job codes? - I would say not real often but every teacher is split orevery staff member is split according to their job duties so. - All right, thank you.- Yeah. - [Scott] Other questions? Mr. Skaar. - Thank you. Thanks for the presentation. I just wanted to share with you some analysis that I did over. I looked at the last, well, first of all, let me just say, if you look at the last six years on your general fund revenues, we've exceeded inflation by 3.6%. So our actual six year increase, and that's all in withthe general funds, 28.1%, the six-year inflation, CPI as calculated by the Bureauof Labor statistics is 24.5. So we exceeded that. The other thing-- Sir, with that. - Pardon me.- What's also included in that would be COVID spending. And so those were largely one time. So.- This was all over the six years. So this is six-year trend.- Sure. I would just put anasterisk on that number. - I wouldn't. But thank you for the input. Per pupil fund, pupil funding revenues. That's a tongue twister. Also six year increase,31.2% over the six year. And then again, 24.5 was the CPI. So 6.2%. And this all comes fromthe wonderful report called the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report that's posted on the website. And I can give you the page references. Also, so per pupil spendingis 17,665 per pupil. And then I looked at enrollment. And enrollment over the six-year period declined by 389 students or 4.4%. So the question that I have before I get into the 10-year trends, expenses, cost, revenues, they're tied to enrollment, right? - Not always. So they're also in tied tospecific categorical funding. So a good example is long term facility-- I'm talking about, I'm talking about expenses not funding.- Did you want? Yeah, but can I answer the question? - Sure.- So they're also tied to long-term facility maintenance expenses or revenue for example. And so that fluctuates based on our long-termfacility maintenance plan. And so, sometimes that'sup, sometimes that's down. And so, we'd have to peelback the onion a little bit and look at the categorical revenue. - So, but 80, 20, 80%driven by enrollment. - There's a lot thatgoes into that though. I mean the COVID funding was a lot. The LTFM is a big portion of our funds. - So.- It's not simple. On $150 million budget,it's just not that simple. - I've dealt with budgets larger. - Yup, I'm sure you have. I'm not trying to say you haven't. - Zero-based budgeting. Thanks to Jimmy Carter. I'm showing my age. He kind of institutedzero-based budgeting. Have you guys ever done one? I know at least one zero-based budgeting where you justify every dollar. Have we ever done that in the last 20 years?- No. - No?- Well, I've not been here for 20 years, so I can't place the past but. - All right.- Yes, since I've been here, we have not. - Thank you. Then I looked at the 10-yeartrend from the same report, that Annual ComprehensiveFinancial Report, and I adjusted it for capital outlays and debt principle and interest. Took out the capital, all of that. So what I noticed was, I broke it down into administration, which is like support services, classroom, and then sites and buildings,like our annual costs. That's listed on the AnnualComprehensive Financial Report. So over the last 10 years, we have spent 5% less in the classroom. It used to be at 60.7%. 2025 was 55.9%. So five-- Point of clarification. How many years? - 10 years, 2016 through 2025. And it's on pages 107 to 108 of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. So 5% less in classrooms and3% more in sites and budgets, and then a little bit more in admin. So what I was getting at iswith the less enrollment, and I've been talking about this before, and we, you know, we calculated the bondand the LTFM based on, what was it? Like 11,000 students, we have 8,000. So we have a miss there. So what I'm getting at is, you know, we're gonna needto protect ourselves from, because we're gonna spendmore on sites and buildings because that's a fixed cost. You know, there's somevariable, but it's a fixed cost. So that's gonna chew up more of our budget that goes to classroom over time because we have those fixed assets. So what I'm thinking,when I look at the budget. And last year we had like, we had a deficit of 4.6 million overall between revenue and expenses, right? It was like 4.6 accordingto the fund balances, which I don't know whatthe page number is, but it's lines 104 to 133. So then we're generatingsurplus estimated 2016, or 2026 to 2027 of 2.6 million. So I'm thinking, just to be simple, can we just cut ourexpenses another 2 million so that in our preliminary 2026-27 budget, we're at a surplus of 4.6 million. So we make up the deficit that we had from the previous year. So that's what I'm, and I actually make a motion to that, that we would direct staff to reduce expenditures by $2 million so that we generate aexcess of 4.6 million to zero out the previousyear's deficit of 4.6 million. - [Scott] So you're making, you're trying to amendthe motion on the table? - Yeah. - [Scott] Okay, so we've heard that. Can we get a second? Can we get a second? Can we get a second? Okay. It fails. Just for clarity then. Are you speaking in favorof the approval of this or against approving this budget? - No, I would approveit with that amendment. - Okay, but without it,'cause we didn't pass it, are you speaking in favor or against? I'm just asking clarity for myself. So if we don't make that amendment then you don't think we should approve it? - Right.- Okay. Yes. - Can I just ask ifMr. Skaar has a plan of where we're going to come up with like which staff members are wegonna release from the district so we can have that 2 millionextra dollars in our budget? 'Cause it will require us to, I mean that's how school districts work. We're not a manufacturing business. We're not a retail packaged business where we use a lot of like. In order to have, I mean I don't know a lot about it, so I had to do a quick Google myself on zero-based budgeting. But from what I cansee it is an extensive, it says it's a highlylabor-intensive process that most corporations use. We are not, again, I don't know how manytimes we have to say this, we are not a corporation. We are a public school district. We do not profit off ofwhat we do in this district other than our education of our students. That is the profit of the school district, it's our amazing students who all just graduatedhigh school this past week and showed us how amazing they truly are and how they benefit from the things that our district does for them. This is not. We're not in a- - Can I have a point of order?- We're not a corporate. - I don't need a lecture.- We're not in a corporate environment.- I don't need a lecture on this.- I let you speak. Would it be all right if I let her speak? Are you finished? - Or I guess I would like to know where your background is, because you always say youhave all this experience, but we've never heard actuallywhere you've done the work. - I just want make one point.- Why? Why do I need to talk about that? - I just wanna make one point.- Point of order. You've not been recognized. - What was just said, we were asking someone to do management and we've continuallysaid we're governance. So it would be out ofbounds to ask somebody to make a management decision. And I know that you didn't ask management.- No. - You made a budgetary comment. And so, but it would beinappropriate for us to say, I want you to cut this ortell us where we're gonna cut. - [Daniel] Right. - The motion on the tableright now is to approve the fiscal year '26-'27preliminary budget as presented. Does anybody else have comments on that? Ms. Streiff Oji.- I have a question. Are you asking that we reducethe budget by 2 million for the coming school year in June? - 2020, I'm sorry, 2026 to 2027. Yes, reduce expenditures- So, yes. - by 2 million.- Okay, that was. - Yes.- Just needed to clarify that. So it's a bit late to be making a decision to cut the budget thatstarts in like three weeks. - Can I just make a comment? Can I make a comment?- Just a second. Did you have something? Ms. Ellison. - I would say that I appreciate as always the expertise of people whowork in school district finance. And the things that changeare not always necessarily having to do with enrollment. That's what I'm hearing you say. And for example, transportation. Transportation routes change depending on who needs the bus, right? And if we have morestudents who need the bus, transportation routes are going to change, which is going to be an increase, which is not necessarily tied to specific enrollment numbers. And so it's a very complicated formula of trying to educate 8,400 students who have varying needsthat might be here one year and might not be there the next. So I would say that looking at what you have done for the budget, and I would say too, I commend you in that if you look at other school districts having to cut 10, 14, 15, $16 million, it's never fun. It's never easy. And so I appreciate that you look at the specifics of how thenuance makes up this budget so that we can move forward and it's knowing thatit's not specifically just tied to how many kids in buildings. I would also say that based on the documents that Mr.Skaar found on the website, it appears that there'sa lot of transparency about how our money is spent and how the documents areshared with the public. So I appreciate that as well. School district financeis incredibly complicated. And so I appreciate your work. - Okay. Ms. Beloyed, did you have a comment? - No.- Okay. Mr. Skaar, I interrupted you. Did you have a comment? - I forgot what the heck I was gonna say. - [Scott] I apologize. - But anyways, that's okay. Age. You know, it's a 1.3% decrease. I mean, it's not like it's substantial. It's $2 million. If you multiply that157 million, it's 1.3%. That's not a big ask. Just get us down to wherewe're whole with last year. - [Kathleen] Can I make a point? - [Scott] Okay, Ms. Daniels. - That translates into positions that serves students.- No it doesn't. We've overspent on purchased service. We purchased-- We would not be- (gavel thudding) - [Daniel] I'm gonna allow her to finish. - Okay, sorry.- Thank you. - When we propose cuts, which we did a million dollars, can we plan way ahead? We look at lots of options,in and out of the classroom. We do the best we can to make those cuts notimpact the students. And at this late stage in the game to come up with a proposalI think is irresponsible. And so I just say we call for the vote. - [Scott] Are you calling for the vote? - I am. - [Scott] Do we have a second? - Second.- Second. Okay, now for us to move forward, this has to be a 2/3 majority of that. So I'd like to do this at roll call so I know we have it correct. So call the roll. - [Kathleen] Skaar. - [Daniel] No. - Streiff Oji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - [Kathleen] Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Okay, discussion is now closed. We have a motion on the table to approve the fiscal year 2026-27preliminary budget as presented. Will you please call the roll. - Skaar.- No. - Streiff Oji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - [Kathleen] Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Okay, motion passes, 6-1. Thank you. We're gonna move on tooperational item E6, Action on the ResolutionEstablishing Dates for Filing Affidavits of Candidacy. Dr. K. - All right, thank you, Chair Arcand. The period for filingaffidavits for candidacy for the office school board member will be from July 14th,2026 to July 28th, 2026. And the resolution in theboard packet has been provided by our elections attorney, Peter Martin of Kennedy & Graven, to formally establish the filing dates for the 2026 School Board Election. So the recommended action this evening is to approve the resolution establishing dates for filingaffidavits of candidacy for the 2026 School Board Election. - Okay. Can I get a motion toapprove the resolution? - So moved.- So moved. - Who is it? Ms. Beloyed.- Beloyed. - Second. - Second.- Ms. Thompson. Discussion? I got it right here. Okay, so we have the motion on the table to approve the resolutionestablishing dates for filing. I'm just checking. This will be a roll call vote. Will the court please call the roll? - [Kathleen] Skaar. - [Daniel] Yes. - Streiff Oji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - [Kathleen] Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. - Okay, motion carries, 7-0. We're gonna go aroundto operational item E7, Action On School DistrictPopulation Adjustment. Mr. Maurer. - Thank you Dr. Arcand andmembers of the board, Dr. K. As stated in the board packet funding for our community eddepartments across the state is calculated by totalschool district population as determined by the US census. On June 1st, we did receiveour annual census adjustment reported by the MinnesotaState Demographer's Office, which shared a population adjustment for White Bear LakeArea schools to 76,148, which is an increase of 384. And we are recommendingthat the board approve the census adjustment with the updatedpopulation total of 67,148. - [Scott] Can I get a motionto approve the change? - [Kathleen] So moved. - [Scott] So moved by Ms. Daniels. A second?- Second. - Second by Ms. Ellison. Any discussion? Hearing none, this willalso be a roll call vote. Will you please call the roll. - Skaar.- Aye. - Streiff Oji.- Aye. - Thompson.- Aye. - Arcand.- Aye. - Beloyed.- Aye. - [Kathleen] Daniels, aye. Ellison.- Aye. (gavel thuds) - Okay, it carries, 7-0. We're gonna go to operational item E8, Action on School Board Policies 203.2, 208, 503, 649, and 902. These motions came to us previously, we're gonna take them in one fell swoop. Can I get a motion to approve? - So moved.- So moved. - [Scott] Ms. Beloyed. A second?- Second. - Ms. Streiff Oji. Discussion? And if there's anydiscussion or a questions, please let us know what page policy number so we can follow along. Hearing none, this will be a voice vote. All in favor say aye. - [Board Members] Aye. - Opposed? Motion carries, 7-0. We are now on to board forum. This is time for the board forum, the opportunity for theboard to talk about, update things they've been doing on their committees or in thepublic on different things as their officialcapacity of board members and create awareness of upcoming district and partnership events. Are there any board memberswho'd like to share? Ms. Beloyed. - Well, I just wanted tocongratulate all of the teachers for making it through another year. So congratulations to you. And congratulations to all the students that graduated this past week. All the parents that supported them and their siblings that put up with them. It's a really big honorto be able to be part of watching all of these kidsgraduate over the years. So congratulations tostudents, faculty, teachers, and families. - [Scott] All right. Ms. Thompson. - I had to write it'cause it's a little bit, but it's all about graduation ceremonies that I attended last week. So if you bear with me, I should get through it prettyquick 'cause it's quick. But I had a great pleasure of attending all of the graduationceremonies last week. And it just was reiteratinghow amazing our students are. So I heard students whoovercame addiction and trauma that most of us can't even imagine. And that is a blessing that I hope that we never have to know. At our tech ed graduation, we had students shine on stage. And we had a concertperform by one student who sang "Singing in the Rain," and reminded me that even whenthe clouds are hanging over, it feels like the sun might not come out, we can find joy in thesinging of the rain. At the ALC graduation, we overheard some of thestories of our students who overcome hardships and milestones that wecelebrated that night. As one student reminded us all, this was a quote from this student, I don't remember their name but, "Be a better person, be a better Bear." I thought that was just fantastic. And then we had our first class who had gone through the new high school without ever having to transitioninto any other buildings. And it was fabulous to watch them. And all of the speechesthat they gave that night, we had several speeches by our students, and they just reiteratedour mission statement in every single speech. They talked about creatingtheir futures in our schools. They spoke about diversity, respect, about feeling safe and nurtured by the staff and our educators, about the engagement of our community and their educationalexperiences and pathways. They spoke about the bond referendum and their utmost gratitudefor our new facilities and how these facilities have impacted their school experiences. We saw how even thoughit rained that night, they found celebrationin the eventful ceremony. And hearing them sing out go Bears as they threw their capson their home field, well, it was noted by one student whose parents I thinkare probably pretty cool because this student quoted Journey, and just reminded students that even when they're feeling scared of what's gonna come in the future and the unknowns that are coming to not stop believing,don't stop believing. And so all three of thoseceremonies reminded me, A, of how proud I am to bea part of this district, of all the hard work anddedication of our district staff, and that includes everysingle staff member in every single building nomatter what their role is. You make a difference. And to our superintendent, Dr. K, who also had a studentgraduate in this ceremony, it's just a reminder ofyour steadfast leadership in our community, and how great it is to be a Bear. So thank you to our entiredistrict and community. It just really was awe-inspiringto watch our students. And the sky glow orange. It was just orange as far asthe eye could see that night before then the thunderand lightning came back in. But it was just, it was really wonderful to be reminded. And our students know. So thank you. It's a great year. - [Scott] Yes, Ms. Daniels. - I just wanna congratulateall the retirees and thank them for theiryears and years of service. There are many educators in all different roles inour district that retired. And I want to thank them from the bottom of myheart for all your service. So thank you very much. Also, I attended thegraduations and they were great. And I also attended the"Pride and Prejudice" play at the high school, which is a big undertakingfor high school. And they did a fabulous job. and it was a lot of fun. And also Bear Tank in the high school with 10th grade communication class, where they present a problem and they have to solve the problem and present data and sources and what problem they wanna solve and why it's personal to them. And I'll tell you what. Those students gave me somuch hope for the future because they took onsome really big problems and they had some greatideas on how to solve them. So I just was so inspiredby their presentation. So I was happy to volunteer there. And thank you for askingfor community volunteers because I think the morewe get into the schools, the more we can seewhat's really happening and how great our students and staff are and the people that servethem in this school community. So thank you all and havea great summer everyone. - [Scott] All right. Yes, Mr. Skaar. - I attended all the graduations, and growing up Catholic, you know, you bring back the bulletinto demonstrate to your parents that you actually went to church. So I have them all here. And I just have one word thatdescribes kind of the theme, which was inspiring. The tech graduation was inspiring because of the dedication of our staff, you know, to our kids. The ALC graduation was inspiring because of our students' determination, really to find the roadless traveled and graduate. And while the weatherdidn't exactly cooperate for the high school graduation, I was inspired by the maturityof the graduate speakers. I can tell you when I was in high school, I could have never done that. And it was just, it was remarkable. And I wanna leave the graduation with a quote from Charles Darwin. "It's not the smartest orthe strongest that survive, it's those with the abilityto adapt to change." They thrive. And I wanted to weave thisthought into our governance model here at the district using two examples. And I think why we couldbe more adaptive and move- - [Scott] Okay, just wanna make sure we're talking about your roles- - You know what, I would like to be heard on this.- Okay. - Because I have been lecturedabout this governance model - Okay.- for the last year. - Please go ahead then.- And I wanna make some comments regardingit and I think it's fair. So I wanna weave that thought, adapt into our governancemodel here at the district using two examples, and why we need to adapt and move to a different governance model. First, recently I informed the staff that I intended to ask questions ofthe district outside auditor. Shortly afterwards, I received an email informing me that I had permission tospeak with the auditor. Permission. I understand that thedistrict should be notified when a board member wantsto talk to the auditor, but using the term permissionis kind of bizarre. The auditor works for the district, the board hires the auditor, the board is responsiblefor questioning the auditor, that's how oversight works. But this exchange revealed something I think much larger-- Chair, point of order. This isn't. This has nothing to do with board forum. This is a grievance session. - No, I just-- Again and again and again.- It's not a grievance session.- Enough. - I'm talking about-- It's board forum. - I get like- - What are you aiming for?- Hey, hey, hey, stop. - May I make a- - What have you attended?- I will. - You recognized me to finish. So may I finish?- No. Point of order. - [Scott] Point of order. - There's no point of order on this. - There is a point of order. And it's mine.- There's no motion. - And it's on the table.- There's no motion. - You are not recognized. - He just recognized me.- I did. - Just, what I'm hearingis the board forum is the opportunity for board members to update the school board and the public on the committee workthat they have engaged in their officialcapacity as a board member and to create awareness of upcoming district and partnership events. It doesn't sound likewe're speaking to that. - That's not in the policyif I can be recognized. And also there's nopolicy that states that. And the other aspect of this is, on several occasion, board members havelectured me and the public on the governance model. I want an opportunity torespond to that lecture and actually offer somethingthat may be of interest to the public and other board members. - Then point of order.- So what are we afraid of? What are we afraid of for me to talk? - I just think it doesn't fitthat portion of the board. - When will it fit? Tell me when it can fit. What are you afraid of? Why can't I discuss this? - Point of order. - Okay, yes. - If we are going to discuss the way that we operate ourselves, that needs to be an agenda item. It needs to be included on the agenda if you would like to discussour governance model. The time to do it is notwhen we're talking about how our committee work and how we are in our communityworking with students. So I would ask you toplease follow the rules that we have set out by the board and ask for it to be added to the agenda. - I am on the Community Education and Recreation Committee.- Is he recognized Chair? - Yes.- He recognized me. - Go ahead, state what it is.- Yes. So I'm making a comment about that. Can I make a comment about that? - About what?- 'Cause it has something referenced to governanceand I'm on that committee. - What committee is it? - It's the. It's Tim, Tim's committee. - Okay. Go ahead and quickly. - Okay, so this gives me the,you know, my second example. The same mindset shows upin the district summer 2026, Community Educationand Recreation catalog. In a section titled Understandingthe Role of the Board, residents are told that theboard's primary responsibility is to supervise and evaluate one employee, the superintendent. Really, that's not whatMinnesota law says. The board's job is much broader, deeper. We're responsible for overseeing the district finances, policies, curriculum, academic performance, and the overall operation of the district. - I don't think.- The district claims to operate under apolicy governance model, a management philosophydeveloped more than 50 years ago. - I'm gonna cut it off there. I think that we'vestrayed from board forum. It's something we have toadd from our committee. - So, Chair? - Yes, sir? - Can we add this to the next agenda? - I will work and see. Can you send me specificallythe agenda item, the exact words that you want. Email it to me and then we'll try to see ifwe can get some discussion. I can't guarantee, but send it to me. Yes. Do you have something about board forum? - No, my question is that how we come up with agendaitems during board forum? - [Scott] You cansuggest agenda items too. - Suggestions, right.- You could send them. I would like just to wrap this up because I have one morething that I need to do. - Can I just make a commentabout the graduation? - [Scott] Sure. - Okay, thank you. It was a wonderful ceremony. And, you know, I had a kid who graduated and she was in fourth gradewhen I started on this board. And it has been aninvestment of my family, my family's time and propertytax dollars and commitment. And to see her and her colleagues succeed in the way that they did was such a joy. And I think that's always, always where our focus needs to be. And I appreciated in theweeks before graduation also the celebration of their success. The banquets. There were so many banquets forsports, for performing arts. There were final concertswhere the seniors were honored. There were so many opportunitiesfor us in the community to celebrate our students. And, I. Oh, I cried on stage,I'm not gonna cry here. I think it's really a great honor to be able to serve this districtand serve this community. And though, you know, I won'tbe running for another term, I have appreciated the opportunity to be at graduation and handout diplomas. That's been the greatest perk of being a school board member. And I'm so proud. - All right, thank you. Yes? - One more thing. Cinderella performs their medley for Spotlight tomorrow night at 7:30, which is a really big deal for us. I will be there. And if you can, please come. - [Scott] Thank you. - [Kathleen] Is that at, the performance? - It'll be at the state theater. - Ooh.- Awesome. - [Board Member] Wow. - All right, I have. (attendees applauding) (gavel thuds) I have one item I want tobring up and talk about. The 26th Annual White Bear Lake Area Education Foundation Golf Tournament, it is June 15th, 2026. In the past, the boardhas sponsored a hole. And I spoke with them today and they still have a hole available. If you would like tocontribute as a board, see me. And I wanna make it very clear,this is not district money. This would be the school board members donating the money to sponsor a hole. So if you're interested, stop by today and let me know if you wantto be part to sponsor it. - How much?- And then. I think $30 each would cover it. And this is a valuable part to support our communityand people come together. So if you want, let me know. And, we've got time. But I'll send a checkover for to sponsor it if you're all okay with it. - [Daniel] We trust you with cash stuff. - Sometimes. My wife does, so I think you can. All right, that's what we have. Now, we won't be able to seeeach other for about a month. So let's have some great time to spend with family in the outdoors and whatever you're gonna do. And could I get a motion for. - Mr. Chair?- Yes. - I motion to adjourn.- A motion. Do I have a second?- Second. - All in favor say aye. - [Board Members] Aye. - Opposed, same sign. (gavel thuds) Okay, we are adjourned, thank you.