Good evening everyone. I now call this March 9th meeting of the Prior Lake Savage Area School Board of Education to order. Please stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance as you're able. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All board members are present this evening. I'd like to welcome student representative Ju Justin Justin Borg sitting in for Obi tonight. Um first up is Laker Pride. Uh Dr. Thomas. >> Thank you, Chair Bullan. Um tonight we um have some of our Bridges staff and students joining us. Miss Alexis Sapi and uh assistant principal David Brown will be presenting and uh they will be joined by two of our outstanding students with us tonight. Sydney Staer and an Anastasia Odar odor um who will share their experiences and showcase the impact of project-based learning firsthand. Turn it over to you, Dr. Brown. >> All right. Thank you, Dr. Thomas, board chair Bullion, and board directors. It is a pleasure to be here tonight. Thank you. and I'm super grateful uh tonight to be here to showcase the instructional and academic excellence through Bridg's project-based learning. In 2020, Bridges moved to a project-based learning format as part of our school day after several years studying, carefully considering, and planning for PBL in addition to visiting several schools that were implementing this format. And so while our current PBL format at Bridges differs significantly from that initial year that we started uh as we learned how and understood how PBL works for bridges uh some things remain the same from that first year such as student engagement in their learning uh which increases when there's a high degree of relevancy and uh authenticness when they see themselves uh in their curriculum. I'm pleased tonight to invite a couple of our students to showcase their projects. Uh Sydney Staler and Anastasia Odarren to briefly talk about a couple of their projects that they've worked on this year along with their teacher, Miss Sarah Fea. So Anna, you want to go first? Yes. >> All right, come on up. >> Hello board directors. My name is Anastasia Dark and I'm here this evening to talk about a PBL that I created at Bridges. PBL stands for project-based learning and it's something that we work on every day at Bridges. I like PBO because it gives me the opportunity to really explore topics that I don't know about. And I found that it's just a really great way to learn new things and expand my understanding of the world. This specific project is one that I did for a chemistry credit and it's all about PIFFAS, which are the compounds also known as forever chemicals. They're called forever chemicals because they take thousands of years to break down. So, they end up building up in the environment and inside of the bodies of people and animals. I picked this project because I was interested in doing something with the chemistry of pollution and what makes different substance toxic or bad for the environment. I heard people use the term forever chemicals, but when I started, I didn't know much about it. So, I just wanted to learn more about it. Over the course of this project, I learned that PIFA comes from many different sources, including factory waste, car exhaust, and many different plastics. because they are very stable mo molecules that don't break down easily. Some of these molecules will stay in the air, water, and soil for thousands of years. However, one of the ways that they can be broken down by is plants, which is why it's so important to protect and preserve our largest forest like the ones in Russia, Canada, northern, and northern Minnesota. It was definitely concerning to me to learn about how much pas there is in both the environment and inside our bodies. But I'm glad I learned about it and had the opportunity to share what I found. I think that the more people know about this issue, the more people will care and the more companies will have a reason to create new PIFAs free products, which I think a lot of consumers would want. So, that was my PBL last quarter. Right now, I'm working on a US history project on the Lost Cause ideology after the Civil War. I'm looking forward to doing more PBLs in the future. Thank you so much for your time, and I hope you like my presentation. >> Thank you. Hello board members. Thank you for having me this evening. My name is Sydney Staer. I'm a senior at Bridges ALC. And today I wanted to share a project that I did through our PBL program. PBL stands for project-based learning. And it's a class where you get to choose a topic that interests you and then work with a teacher to create a project that meets your credit needs around that topic. I've always I've always really liked PBL because it gives me the freedom to organize my learning in a way that works for me and to work more at my own pace. If I'm doing research and I'm feeling stuck, I can pivot and work on the final presentation a bit or shift to a different line of research. For my most recent PBL, I needed a health credit. And I wanted to learn about something that had a personal connection to me. I think the biggest benefit of PBL is that you get to choose a topic that you feel passionate about or interested in and the teachers will always work with you to make sure you are meeting the right standards. I always struggled to stay locked in on projects at the high school because it was often a big overwhelming project that I was not interested in. But on this PL, I was very engaged. I did an overview of alpha 1, which is which is a disorder where your body doesn't produce enough protein that helps protect you from environ environmental stressors. And if you don't have and if you don't have this protein, it puts you at high risk for lung and liver disorders, even if you are otherwise young and healthy. I picked this topic because someone close to me has it and I wanted to understand her condition better and also make something that would educate others. I actually learned quite a lot from this project. I went from hearing, "Oh, she just has Alpha 1," to understanding what it means, how it impacts her, and how I could how and what can help her to stay healthy. I definitely feel like I learned more about real life health and wellness from this than I would have from a health textbook, but I'm h I'm really happy with it and I feel like it helped me to connect with this person and help support her. And having this option to choose what I'm interested in through PBL has helped me to engage in a way that I never could before at Bridges. So, thank you all for having me here tonight and hearing my presentation for your support of the Bridges program. Hello directors. Just briefly, thank you so much for having us here tonight and for your ongoing support of the Bridges program. Uh I'm very proud to work there and to represent these two young ladies as their PBL adviserss. I think project-based learning is one of the big highlights of our program. It emphasized independent research, critical thinking, problem solving, all skills that help provide a great springboard to post-secary options, whether that's trades, college, military, or the workforce. Our program continues to help to reduce student dropouts and increase graduation rates. And we're very, very proud of the community that we have at our building. Thank you so much again for your time tonight and for your continued support. >> Thank you. I have some certificates. >> And I'll just conclude by uh saying thank you to our students parents who joined us tonight as well as our strive mentors who are here tonight. Uh we partner with Prior Lake Rotary in a great program. Uh so uh our students speak for themselves and I'd just like to relay and emphasize thank you so much for your support. >> Students uh students don't leave quite yet. I got some certificates. >> Quite yet students. >> All right. >> You were told there were pictures. The pictures will be over this way. And u Thank you. >> Good to see you. >> Good to see you again. There you go. >> Thank you so much. >> Step out here. We'll grab your picture right over here. >> Thank you so much. Thank you. >> You guys wonderful. >> All right. Next up on the agenda is the superintendent report. Dr. Thomas. >> Thank you, Chair Bullion. Um, just a couple of quick things this evening. Uh, one, just want to remind everyone in our community about our annual surveys. Uh, on February 23rd, we opened up the window for our annual staff stakeholder, our annual staff, student, and family stakeholder survey window. Um, the survey is open through this Friday. So, if you haven't taken it, please make sure you do so. It's very good information for us. Um the results will be shared um at the April 27th board study session and we'll also report those back out, you know, to our community that we do every year. Um I anticipate a couple of board directors, we'll talk about MSBA day at the capital. Um so I'll defer to um those of you to speak to that. And then just to foreshadow coming up April 13th, um there will be uh the AMSD day at the Capitol as well uh that I'll be attending. And then lastly, um, every year in the spring, we do a realtor meeting. And part of this, uh, this will be coming up on April 29th. And, uh, part of what we're trying to understand is kind of building off the some of the engagement that we've been doing around our budget as well as potential levy conversations with our community to get their perspectives, but also understanding kind of what's happening as we're seeing changes in the real estate market, interest rates changing, um, are do they, you know, see anything on the horizon that we haven't been learning from our city partners, um, as well. So that will be coming up on April 29th. And uh that is those are my uh quick reports. >> Very good. Uh next up we have some proclamations. Um we'll maybe the directors can read it. We'll start with Director Olstead. Uh first proclamation is on um National Assistant Principles and Deans Appreciation Week. Um is uh Dr. Anderson, do you have something to say for that? Uh, I'll I'd be happy to say a number of things after the proclamation. >> Very good. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. Prior Lake Savage Area Schools recognizes April 6th through 10th, 2026 as assistant principal and dean appreciation week. Our assistant principles and deans provide essential support to our more than 8,600 PLSAS students and more than,300 employees. This week we celebrate our thanks and gratitude for these essential leaders. Whereas Prior Lake Savage Area Schools employs five assistant principles and 11 deans. Whereas assistant principles and deans are vital members of their respective buildings and the broader district leadership teams, instructional leaders to students and staff, culture and community builders, facility managers, special program managers, and are entrusted with the education and development of young people. Whereas assistant principles and deans provide students with opportunities and guidance to ensure their success and development as positive contributors to our schools and broader community. Whereas assistant principles and deans inspire a passion for learning. Whereas assistant principles and deans work with all stakeholders to foster a sense of community and pride within our schools and district. Therefore, let it be resolved. The board of education hereby extends its appreciation to assistant principles and deans for supporting the education of our students and proclaims April 6th through 10th, 2026 to be assistant principles and deans appreciation week in Prior Lake Savage Area Schools. >> Thank you. >> Well, once again, good evening, Chair William, superintendent and board members. um a brief word to underscore that proclamation which said uh volumes about the role that these folks play those assistant principles and deans. One of the uh reasons I appreciate the work of that group of team members is uh as a former dean and assistant principal. I know about the very many hats that those folks have to wear and sometimes uh those efforts are seen as reflected in the proclamation. You know, you you talked about uh supporting instructional leadership, members of building leadership teams, culture bu culture builders, fostering a sense of community or helping to do that. Student mentorship, there's countless ways that those folks get to provide formal and informal support uh for our learners on their journey. And certainly operational excellence. There's a funny smell coming from the FIAD area. We will deploy one of those people to go help solve that problem. Um, I remember with great fondness my duties to be the parking lot ZAR at the high school level. And not always are you thanked for your service in those roles. You sometimes are positioned to not be thanked. Quite the opposite. So, I just appreciate uh and we do I think the the support role that these folks play and and the many hats that they wear. So, uh we really are grateful for their service and thanks for the opportunity to share about them. >> Thank you so much. Uh, next up, the proclamation is for the media specialist week. Uh, Director Mason, would you read that? >> Sure. Uh, Prior League Savage Area Schools recognizes April 6th through the 10th, 2026 as media specialist appreciation week. Our media specialists provide media support and guidance for our more than eight um 8,600 students, preparing them for success in a globally competitive world. This week, we celebrate our thanks and gratitude for these essential staff. Whereas media specialists provide guidance to students through print media, literature, digital resources, and technology. Whereas media specialists provide professional development and support to teachers and other school and district staff. Whereas, um, sorry, we lost my spot. Uh, whereas media specialists set students up for success in their future education and careers by teaching them how to search for and research information. Whereas media specialists support students in their use of technology to help create equitable access for all students and to empower empower and enhance the teaching and learning experience. Whereas media specialists are a wealth of knowledge and information who come up with creative ways to teach and connect with students. Therefore, let it be resolved the board of education hereby extends its appreciation to all Prior Lake Savage Area Schools media specialists for supporting the education of our students and staff and declares April 6th through the 10th, 2026 to media specialist appreciation week in the Prior Lake Savage area schools. >> Thank you, Director. >> Thank you, Chair Bulling, Superintendent and Board Directors. On behalf of the district, we want to express sincere appreciation to our media specialists and our media support pair professionals for the knowledge, care, and daily support they provide to students and staff. Their contributions positively shape learning experiences across our district, and we are truly grateful. >> Thank you. Our next proclamation is on Unity Appreciation Week. Director Atinson, would you read that? >> Sure. Thank you. >> Okay. Whereas the month of April is celebrate diversity month, a time to recognize, honor, and celebrate the diversity surrounding us. Whereas each student brings unique strengths, talents, and needs to the classroom. And student success depends upon ensuring that every learner has access to the opportunities, supports, and resources necessary to reach their full potential. And whereas educators and support staff across our district, including teachers, support staff, counselors, paraprofessionals, culture liaison, specialists, administrators, and many others, work each day to help ensure that students receive what they uniquely need to learn, grow, and succeed. And whereas these dedicated professionals build meaningful relationships with students and help families help remove barriers to learning and foster school environments where every student feels welcomed, respected and supported. And whereas their commitment helps ensure that all students have opportunities to experience belonging, engagement, and academic success in our schools. Therefore, let it be resolved that we express our dear appreciation to the educators and staff members who dedicate their talents, compassion, and expertise to supporting the success of every student. Through their work, our schools continue to grow as places where every learner is seen, valued, and heard as we pursue our common goals together. And unity appreciation week is also celebrated April 6th through the 10th. >> Dr. Thomas. >> Uh thank you board and uh I also want to just uh echo a lot of the sentiments uh from the proclamation and thank our staff who uh work tirelessly to ensure that um our students needs are met. You know when I came here we were having conversations about equity and I came with a very simple definition of what that really means for folks and that is to give every student and staff what they uniquely need to be successful. Um, and that is something that we are proud of and we have countless staff who are committed to doing that every single day as well as many of us who are supporting our staff and ensuring that they're getting everything that they need. This is actually a message that I shared last week when I was doing some leadership conversations at the middle school that as a superintendent, my job is to be the lead learner and to make sure everybody has what they need to be successful. Um, and and again during this week and aligning to our our strategic prior or core belief of unity, this is where we come together as a learning community. irrespective of the perspectives that we might have, the beliefs that we have, the families that we have, the languages that we speak, you name it, we all come here to get the best and to be successful. So, thank you to all of our staff who are committed to seeing this out every single day. >> Thank you, Dr. Thomas. Uh, the next proclamation is National Occupational Therapist Month. Uh, Director Johnson, would you read that, please? Prior Lake Savage Area Schools recognizes April 2026 as National Occupational Therapy Month, celebrating the vital role occupational therapists play in supporting student success. Whereas the school board acknowledges the invaluable contributions of occup occupational therapists to student learning and well and well-being. And whereas occupational therapists help students overcome physical, cognitive, sensory, and emotional challenges to fully participate in school. And whereas occupational therapists collaborate with educators, families, and staff to design individual supports that build independence and engagement in daily school routine. And whereas they through initiative inclusive and evidence-based practices, occupational therapists encounter students to thrive in academic and social settings. Now therefore, the board of education proclaims April 2026 as National Occupational Therapy Month in Prior Lake Savage Area Schools and extends sincere appreciation to all occupational therapists for their outstanding service to students. >> Thank you, Dr. Thomas. >> Yeah, thank you. And uh on behalf of all of us here in the district, I do want to say thank you to our occupational therapists, kind of uh allowing um tying back to our um previous proclamation. These staff are absolutely instrumental in removing barriers for students to actively engage in their learning. Um, and for any of us who have ever been through occupational therapy, maybe due to an injury or something of that nature, you know, the critical work that they play to getting us acclimated back into, you know, our daily living experiences. And I think with the support that they provide to our students every single day, um, they are allowing students to access high quality learning and to fully um, participate in that learning experience. So, thank you so much for everything that you all do. >> Thank you. Next up is open forum. Uh this time is set aside to receive citizen input in input. Citizen input is important to our governance role in serving our students, staff, and community. We thank you for your engagement with the board, and we ask that speakers respect the threeminut time limit and that you uh please speak in the manner that you prefer being spoken to. Our first speaker tonight is Lauren Harding. All right. Uh, good evening and thank you board chair uh, Bullian, Dr. Thomas, and board members. My name is Lauren. I'm a parent of children in this district and I'm a resident of Prior Lake. I'm here tonight because academic excellence has become a hollow slogan in this room. You cannot claim excellence is your priority while you're resisting the fundamental in um, investments that are required to achieve it. The reality is our reading and math specialists are stretched to the breaking point. Our teachers are drowning in overcrowded classrooms. They are performing heroic work. Um but we're asking them to provide individualized attention while denying them resources to do so. We are asking them to swim without or while refusing to throw them a life vest. Let's talk about these extras. I hear frustration over the field trips, the programs that are being scaled back or even cut entirely. We all value those experiences. Um, and we all have programs like that that are important to us, but we can't continue to prioritize the extras while the essentials are crumbling. The district has been very transparent about our financial needs. There's an entire website on the district page um dedicated to this information. You can't continue to sit back and claim ignorance. Director Ryder has been quite open and honest. She's straight and she's providing information in a straightforward manner. I am no financial expert, but if I can follow her data, you guys should be able to as well. You certainly cannot continue to push your personal agendas and suggest that we don't need more funding. Um, after everything that has been shared about the state of this district, our district needs more money. That's that's it. That's simple. We need more money to get smaller class sizes. We need more money to support our specialists. We need more money so that our educators feel supported and not abandoned. This is my ask of the board. Please stop the empty rhetoric. You were elected to serve families, all families, not just the ones who voted for you. Stop working against the district's needs. You were elected to work with the district, to support our schools, to support our teachers, to support our children, my children, all of our children. Start listening to the teachers who are in the trenches every day, who in um invest in people who actually make uh learning happen. Um the people who actually care about our children's education. I will continue to show up. I will continue to be loud. Our children are counting on you guys um to put their success above any of your politics. So, do the job that you were elected to do. Thank you. >> All right. The next speaker is Don Leno. >> Leno. >> Leno. Sorry, Don. >> No, that's okay. very close. >> All right. Good evening. Um I missed the last study session meeting and I am just the kind of dork that watches it back online when I'm not here. So um one of the conversations uh comment mentioned by one of our school board directors was that um there are kids in our district who will never ever set their feet in skis. their parents don't ski and they don't have the resources. Um, and that we're giving our students an opportunity outside of the classroom to do something that is a lifelong skill. Uh, so, and sorry, I skipped over. Um, I'm Don Leno. I am a district parent. I have two children in elementary school, third and fifth grade, and we are proud to be Lakers. Um, and I just wanted to say, what about reading? Um, what about the children who have never read at grade level and their parents don't have the resources to get them reading help outside of school? Um, teaching our students to read is giving them an opportunity to do something that is a lifelong skill. I think that if we're going to talk about board budget priorities, we maybe need to arrange our priorities to be the right things. Thank you. Next speaker is Ashley Schaefer. Ready? Okay. Uh, good evening and thank you. I am Ashley Schaefer. I am a Prior Lake resident and district parent to a daughter at Twin Oaks and to Ellie, a fourth grader at Jeffers Pond. I have two related topics I would like to speak on. The first is a language arts curriculum pilot. Ellie has been a part of the arts and letters and morphology pilots and she would like to share her feedback. Hi, my name is Ellie and I want to tell you about arts and letters. I like writing summaries and revising with my friends because I find it helpful to get other points of view. I feel like I am more engaged in the characters in my books and I like that other subjects are covered like health and history. I like the mix of writing and reading because it gives me more break gives me breaks so I stay focused. I really like arts and letters and I hope we get to keep doing it. >> Um, as a parent, I've seen a marked improvement and Ellie's understanding of what she's reading, being able to connect content across texts, and her overall interest in reading. I know that pilots are costly and timeconuming for the district and teachers. So, we wanted to make sure to share our enthusiasm for the curriculum and our appreciation for the work being done to support acade academic excellence. The second topic I wanted to touch on is the topic of academic excellence and field trips. I know that the past few years have required incredibly hard decisions. Facing $4 million in cuts year-over-year means there are no easy choices, and they appreciate the thought and care that goes into balancing those priorities. Like many families, we love field trips and other enrichment experiences. They can inspire students and make school memorable. But when we're forced to make trade-offs, I believe we have to prioritize the things that most directly support student learning if we are going to follow our strategic plan. Research consistently shows that class size is one of the most important factors in educational success, especially in elementary grades. The landmark Tennessee Star study followed more than 6,000 students and found that students in smaller classes significantly academically outperformed those in larger classes, and those benefits lasted all the way through high school. Smaller classes allow teachers to provide individual attention, build relationships with students, and identify learning needs early. When class sizes grow, it becomes harder for even the best teachers to meet every student where they are. In addition to class size, academic specialists, reading specialists, interventionists, and other support staff play a critical role in helping students succeed. These positions directly support the district's strategic plan and academic excellence. My kids and I love field trips and the experiences they provide, but I feel strong instruction, manageable class sizes, and targeted academic support must remain the number one goal of the district. As the district continues making difficult budget decisions and discusses another taxpayer levy, which my family will support, I encourage the board to focus on the things that most directly impact student learning first, reasonable class sizes and the academic professionals who support our students every day. Thank you. >> THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT, moving on. Uh, I will entertain a motion and a and a second for approving the agenda tonight. So made >> second by Director Atinson and Director France. All in favor? >> I opposed. >> That passes 70. Uh, next up is the consent agenda. Consent agenda items are considered to be routine in nature and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a board member or citizen so requests in which in which event the item will be removed as a consent agenda item and addressed. Um is uh does anyone have anything to remove from the consent agenda tonight? Okay. Hearing none, uh, I will entertain a motion in a second to approve the consent agenda. >> So made >> by Director Smith and Director Olad. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. That passes. 70. All right. Let me find where I am. resolution. Okay, next up on the agenda is the resolution for acceptance of gifts. We have a few gifts this evening. Uh the first one is from uh the Prior Lake Savage Optimus Club in the amount of $500 for the PLHs PLHs Unified Club in support of programs. The next donor is Lester and Janet Shalom in the amount of $25 for everybody's playground. And the next donor is Laker Promote Promotions Tracy Fleming in the amount of $790.90 um for everybody's playground. Uh so uh accepting donations is um done by a roll call vote. Do I need to take a motion and a second for that? do. >> Um, can I have >> I'll make a motion. >> Director Johnson >> and and Director Olad >> Mason. >> Oh, and Director Mason. Thank you. >> We sound very alike. >> And I'll start with you. Uh, Director Hackinson. >> Uh, thank you for your generous don donations. Um, I >> Yes. >> Director Johnson. >> I. >> Director Mason. >> Hi. >> Director Olsen. >> Hi. >> Uh, Director France. >> I. Director Smith. >> I. >> And I. That passes 70. Thank you for the generous donations. Yes, indeed. Um, next up on the agenda is personnel items. Uh, and that goes to Director Kern. >> None at that time. At this time. All right. Thank you. Um, no un unfinished business at this time. Uh, next item is uh the propo proposed names for the DSSE community and transitions program at Greenwood. Is that correct? >> Mhm. >> Okay. Um Dr. Thomas, >> thank you. Um yeah, thank you board. Uh this evening you have attached in in the in the board agenda uh the proposed names that uh we have for the new colllocated building. um and having conversations with programmatic staff and um DSSE service staff, community education staff, we've landed um on uh a name for educational services center at Greenwood. Um keeping in the same uh name moniker of at Greenwood. Um but uh educational services center we feel captures everything that we might be doing around educational support. So whether it's through our community ed programs um and our district services that we currently offer uh we felt that that would bring everything together under one roof there within that same building. Sorry I'm a little out of uh sequence here. Uh this is where we'll be um supporting our transitions program. And so we uh have had conversations with our special education advisory council to get some perspective on um what that could be called. And that will be called Laker launch which stands for lifelong learning achieving dreams unveiling potential cultivating independ independence and heading for a bright future of which every single one of those students are destined for. So um we are recommending that we uh call that program Laker launch and then um as we transition uh Laola from Greenwood we would like to um keep the same name moniker of Laola but now at Westwood. So, those are the recommendations that we have before the board. >> Thank you for that, Dr. Thomas. Uh, I'll entertain a motion and a second. >> So, made by Director France. >> Second >> by Director Smith. Uh, is there any discussion questions? Okay. Hearing none. Uh, all in favor? >> I opposed. >> That passes 70. Uh, next item for action is the three-year achievement and integration plan approval. I will entertain a motion and a second for that. So made >> by director France. >> Second. >> Second by director Olad. Uh, is there any discussion hearing? None. Um, >> I have a few things that I'd like to add. Yeah, direct actions then. >> Sure. Um, first of all, I would like to begin to acknowledge the time and the effort that went into developing this achievement and integration plan. Oh, I'm sorry. That's okay. Sorry. I thought we I thought we were doing something else. Okay. Sorry about that. Um, I appreciate all the work that's gone into this plan. Um, however, as I shared during our study session, I have a significant concern with the plan as it is written. My concern is that the plan lacks a clear explanation of what the deans and culture liaison will specifically do to create programs or services that directly benefit students. 80% of this budget is allocated to administrative roles rather than to innovative innovative programming for students. If we are dedicating this level of funding to these positions, we should also be able to clearly articulate what new opportunities, programs, or learning experiences students will receive as a direct result. For example, another district uses ANI funds to support the JA BisTown, a program our district previously participated in before COVID. Bistown gives students hands-on experience with career exploration, financial literacy, leadership, and civic engagement. Students spend weeks preparing in the classroom and then participate in a day-long immersive experience where they run a simulated city working in one of 18 different businesses. Programs like this give students real world skills and meaningful learning opportunities. That is the type of direct student impact ANI funding was designed to support. Another opportunity aligns with our district's commitment to ETEM. ANI funds can be used to build a stronger STEM framework by partnering with organizations such as SIMath Minnesota or by implementing programs like engineering is elementary. These types of initiatives can increase student engagement, strengthen proficiency, and expand access to STEM opportunities for students who have historically been underrepresented in these fields. A third example comes directly from Minnesota Department of Education guidance, providing differentiated differentiated instruction and interventionalist support to help identify students who are traditionally underrepresented and gifted and talented programs. With the removal of the SAGE program and our district's commitment to strengthening gifted and talented services, investing in additional elementary level gifted and talented staff would ensure students who are often overlooked are identified and supported so they can reach their full potential. We also heard in our town hall meetings just recently and we'll hear more about it in the um in the balance of our agenda, our community strongly supports advanced learning opportunities and gifted and talented programs. This aligns directly with our strategics plan focus on academic excellence which calls for challenging, rigorous, and relevant instruction that meets the unique learning needs of every student. While this plan is better aligned with our strategic plan than I've seen in the past, my concern is that primarily funding the same positions, deans, and cultural liaison versus interventionalists or reading specialists without introducing new student centered program. We risk seeing the same results as we've seen before. For these reasons, I cannot support the plan in its current form. Achievement integration funding should prioritize innovative programs and meaningful learning opportunities that have a clear and measurable impact on students. If we are truly committed to improving student outcomes, then these resources must be clearly connected to opportunities that students can see, experience, and benefit from directly, not just positions in a budget. Our students deserve more than a continuation of what we've done before. They deserve bold investments that expand opportunity, strengthen learning, and prepare them for their future. Thank you. >> Any other directors have questions or comments? Director Smith? >> Yes, thank you. Um, so a couple of things come to mind when I am thinking about this proposal and reviewing it. Um, we have at this table repeatedly asked the district to improve proficiency within our reading scores to address the gaps in proficiency with reading scores. We have discussed reading scores endlessly with this with the district and and with the team to have a proposal that specifically focuses on K through three reading where it is again statistically shown that that is going to be the most impactful not only for the individuals immediately receiving it but well into the future. therefore avoiding having students perhaps needing additional resources because we invested early on. Um so it's not only um academic excellence that this plan would be achieving but also it would be fiscally responsible and optimizing resources because we're focusing on now and then in the future we're not having to um use additional resources to catch people up because we've addressed it early on. Um, I say all of that to bring about the notion that if this is what we have asked the district to do to focus on reading, to address reading proficiencies, if we are not voting for this plan that the district has specifically put together to address K through three reading in the classrooms and reading proficiency throughout uh our buildings, uh And I don't know what we're doing here. I'll be honest. Um I think it is very important that not only do we acknowledge the work that was put into this, but we also acknowledge that we are not the experts here. And I don't know uh how more specific the district can be when it comes to what this plan is outlining. Um, we are at the 30,000 foot view right now. So, for me, this is about as specific as this plan can get. uh and after its approval, if it is approved, uh which I strongly believe it should, we are in a place where that does go down to the district leaders, to those built teams, to folks who are tasked with implementing this plan, to work on those tactics, to implement them, and to work them into their work plans so that they are able to deliver on these specific specific targets. Uh we are only a couple of months removed from this board advocating to have increased reading proficiency added to its board goals. Um the district is saying we want to increase reading proficiency and here's how we're going to do it and here's how much we're going to improve it and here's when we're going to improve it. Those are smart goals. This is academic excellence. This is optimizing resources. This is fiscal responsibility. I don't see any reason why we should be voting against this. I think this is a very sound plan and it is up to the district to execute it. Yes. But we are not here to judge them on those merits right now. We are here to judge the merits of this proposal and not rewrite it at the board table. So with that, I would strongly endorse voting for this proposal. >> Any other directors? Yeah, Director Mason. >> Yeah. Um, I guess I would like to just, you know, counter that a little bit. So, um, I agree the student student success coaches in the elementary schools is a great idea, but that's 69,000 of the 993,000 that we're spending on this plan. So, I do appreciate all the work that it went into this, but I feel like I'm disappointed by it. I I feel like it's a missed opportunity for students. um you know we get this planning cycle every three years and with the additional revenue um it it presented a meaningful opportunity to make some changes and focus on you know improving some of the academic outcomes for these students. Um I think it's important to acknowledge that the ANI plan from the past three years has not achieved the intended goals nor has it significantly reached >> point of order. It may I ask it has achieved the goals that was that was addressed by Dr. Thomas in an email to the board. It is not it did not fail in its in its goals. >> Um that's not the case. We went through the ANI goals um a couple meet November. Yeah. >> Yeah. And they were not >> what specifically did we fail? >> I don't have it in front of me but we can pull it up. It's a November meeting >> per the point of order um Dr. Thomas the chair is supposed to um answer the point of order of clarification just for point of order. So um if I if I may um last meeting that we had um this uh same assertion was made and again when we talk about the goals that were tied to the current plan um there were several goals that um I referenced and I noted that um we have a couple of our goals that were on our committed and carrying conversations with some of the community unrest that that um did get um slowed in terms of the ability ility to meet some of that uh due to comfort levels of families um whatnot. Um the um goal around our American uh Indian students attendance um was met. Um the 4-year graduation rate for black students um and Hispanic students was uh noted to be on track. Um our continued um proportionality in AP courses with uh underrepresented populations was still showing on track. um our um staff development around incorporating strategies relevant and responsive to unique learners um goal was noted as met. So there was nothing that we reported in our November report specifically to the goals tied to the ANI plan approved by the state um outside of um some of the um student and family engagement components due to some of the unrest that was occurring um in our community. So, um, outside of that, um, that's the context that I shared, um, with the board, uh, last Friday night and a couple weeks ago, >> right? So, sorry, all of the November, um, ker goals that were related to academics and those numbers were not met on on that report last November. So, that's what I was referring to. Um so sorry if I can continue but you know I think um we just haven't significantly reduced or or made progress in reducing achievement gaps which is the overall purpose of this ENI plan. Um, and I think given those outcomes, um, I would like to see more substantial changes and into and to what we're doing to drive measurable improvement, um, a large portion, significant portion of this, um, budget that we have for ANI is allocated to student support staff. So, 300 and some,000 to deans and 263,000 for benefits alone, for employee benefits. Um, you know, those new investment positions were added three years ago and again with all the data that we've been getting whether whether it's been academic performance or behavior or attendance, we haven't seen meaningful improvement. Um, continuing to invest in that same approach just raises the question for me of whether we should expect any different outcomes. Um, I also, you know, reading the guidance from MDE, it indicates that admin costs within the ANI plan should generally not exceed the 10% mark. Um, while it may be up for interpretation on what's admin or student support staff, it does state that those costs include salaries and benefits for support staff who do not provide direct instruction within the ANI activities. Um, you know, I this current proposed plan with that is is nearly 60% of the budget. So, um, I would just strongly encourage the district to shift more of a focus towards strategies that directly align with student learning and instruction. So, I would advocate for more student success coaches to all the entries, not just three of them. Um, because I I agree that that um, you know, helps strengthen that foundational literacy. Um, I would love to see that expanded. Um, I would love to see increased access to tutors and mentors and providing targeted academic support. I would love to see strengthen gifted and talented programming to better serve some of these students and expanding ETM opportunities. So, um yeah, I mean I I also am not supportive of this plan for those reasons and um I really hope the board would consider just taking more time to kind of strengthen the overall plan. >> Other board members, >> uh Director Mason, thank you. Director Mason hit a lot of my points. I think we we heard it tonight from our speakers that they wanted academic excellence and um we're this has a lot of points in it. Um I think director Mason hit it home that there's a lot of uh there's a lot of staff >> here, not a lot of academics. >> What else? >> Um I just asked a question. Um, Director Mason mentioned that this should be going towards improving academ academic outcomes. Um, besides reading, I I would wonder what we would point to as as improving academic outcomes. >> Well, >> that is an academic outcome. >> I agree and I would like more of it versus some of the other, you know, other items that are allocated from the budget. So, I'm advocating for more student success coaches for other things. Um, again, I think that the the massive piece of this funding is to support staff that don't directly educate our students. And, you know, we not that they're not valuable, but we've we've tried that for the past three years. It it hasn't made a significant difference. Um, so I mean again I I realize that we're just, you know, trying to focus on certain things with this particular funding. Um, and that's where I would advocate for some change. >> So just to um continue my my point um so this is different from the last ANI proposal. Um Dr. Thomas just spoke to um some of the things that were in the last ANI proposal which were graduation rates, community conversations, um things of that nature. This is a very pointed and targeted uh proposal that looks at K through three classrooms. Um and I do want to give Dr. Thomas I have uh just two questions. Um it was stated about the uh the 10% threshold for administrative. Um I was wondering if we could get some clarification on that. And then additionally it was said that this only uh supports three schools. Um I just want to get some clarification on that as well. >> Um so the positions that are in this uh plan um are coded at the state level as direct student support. Um they are direct student facing and um there is a combination of roles that do um both the academic support, the um community and family engagement support as well as the overall student engagement and attendant support as well as um uh behavioral components as well. Lots of these roles are tied to a larger infrastructure within our schools of our stu our um student assistant teams. And the reason that we're integrating this, and I think this was a question that came in um over the weekend, was, you know, when I when I came in several years ago, and even had to make some really uh challenging decisions of reworking some of our resources um to remove some of the um administrative costs of of having a coordinator of this and then redistributing that administrative coordination amongst the senior leadership team. Um that came with a lot of controversy and it's not something that um I wanted to do but again given the fact that we had an opportunity to reduce administrative overhead which was actually coded as admin um at the state level that is something that we um pushed into our student success coaches. So the positions that you see here um are coded and approved at the state level as direct student support. Um and then yes, we service all schools. So we have um uh deans at every one of our schools. A portion of those uh deans um have uh job assignments that align to the aspects of this plan. We do have success coaches that based upon um school data review, they would be assigned based upon the three um highest need schools in terms of where we see our gaps. And then our liaison service the entire district and really serve of um helping reduce some of those family linguistic uh barriers of access. And then all all of them have access to supporting some of our student you know our students that um qualify for free and reduced lunch as well. And so um I think I might have answered the two points that you yes needed information. >> Thank you. >> Any other members? Director France. >> Um I just would highly encourage the community to actually read through this. As you'll notice that all um all of our buildings, all of our schools are actually mentioned. Um it not only talks about reading uh which is a very important thing that that uh we've been trying and and working on as you can hear from the open forum uh but also um you'll see the other descriptions in here about improving access to AP and the college and schools and how we've met our goals uh in each of the previous years or we're on track to meet those goals. And um education is not something that you just buy a book basically and not have staff to actually teach the book or the course um or support the student. So um there's some common sense here and of course the benefits whenever you allocate a portion of somebody's time you allocate their salary which includes their benefits. So, all of that is pretty well laid out in here and um if anyone has any questions then please read through it and then discuss it with the administration. But this is a far more um directed um ANI plan than we've had before. Even though the ones before uh were trying to figure out programs and of course we were dealing with COVID and stuff like that, we still met uh nearly all or exceeded uh some of the goals and uh I'm glad that we have the opportunity to get this funding from the state. Uh we desperately need the funding. Um our financials need it and our students need it and they definitely benefit from it. So I just want to say thank you for putting the plan together. Thank you for making it so prescriptive um and more and more so as we find out what we want to really focus on uh to continue those improvements and um thanks to the state for providing us this extra money that is so desperately needed to help our students. >> Dr. Do you have anything to say? >> Yes. Um yes and I I think the um what's important to remember too that's new for this plan is that we I mean it's not grand scheme of things right but hey you know more is more um we got a little bit more um this goround um what was it like a million10 or something like that >> about 10,000 >> 10,000 >> 15,000 >> yeah yeah so I think that's that um speaks to that as well. Um and I I just wanted to point out that we had a director of equity and inclusion who in lie of that we created or you know made two more direct to classroom people >> three thank you um so I think that's worth noting that plans can shift and be revised within reason and within what we can do obviously. Um but I think that speaks to realizing where the needs were and revising to compensate for that. So I that's appreciated. So um I also agree that um uh this plan is um I I think it's really well done and I look forward to hearing how it goes. So thank you. Hello everybody, Representative. >> Yes. Hi, I'm Justin Borg. Um I'm filling in for Obie today. Uh I was just reading over the narrative description of this plan and I just so happened to read over the um implementation of more structural supports for AP and um trying to emphasize the identification of students with academic potential. I was a student uh at Twin Oaks and I was originally enrolled in general science 7. Um and Miss Fasking actually was able to identify that I should have been placed in advanced and because of her I have been able to move on and forward onto more advanced courses and AP courses in high school. Um and I've taken every AP course that I have had the opportunity to be able to take. And if it wasn't for um Miss Fasking and other and other educators and directors that have um pushed me towards uh advanced placement, this this this definitely um I could see help other people and students from just reading over the narrative description. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um Dr. And I just like to add and in addition to that um that's exactly what I was trying to communicate with the um identification specialists at an earlier age at um the elementary level for our SAGE program because we no longer know I don't know if you're aware but we do no longer have the SAGE program. So if we were to take um some of the funding that we use for the deans um and we could put them into um specialists who are either differentiates I can't say the word or interventionist specialists at the elementary level we identify those students who may get missed at an earlier age and so um while I agree that this plan is a lot better than where we were in the past I won't deny that my concern is the amount of money be that we are receiving um and putting towards like I said the deans particularly um if that funding could be put towards like I said differentiate differentiate specialists interventionalists I feel that that in that that would um better serve our students. Um my concern also is that while this is additional revenue and there is a lot of flexibility as you can see how we can use the funding based on the three examples that I gave these are in other um districts plans or even on the MDE website. Um my concern is we are getting a substantial amount of revenue for read act and so this it says particularly in Minnesota statute 124D that the revenue that we receive must be used for innovative and integrated learning environments. And so I understand the role of the dean, but what I feel is lacking in this plan is what are they going to do to create that innovative and integrated learning environment to help our students succeed. >> Dr. Thomas. >> Okay. Um yeah, so you know, we we actually have um I think a a dean or so here this evening. Correct. Two of our deans are here this evening. Um, I thought we I saw a couple of them out there. Um, and you know, if if either one of you wouldn't mind coming forward to just talk a little bit about the roles that you play. I know a couple of some we had a a dean here two weeks ago um that talked a little bit about the engagement aspects at um Red Tale, but more specifically when we know that we have students um who may have barriers to their learning um may have barriers to being engaged in the learning environment um with the additional resources that we brought in um around the scope that aspect of the scopes of your roles. if you could just speak to some of that um so that they can you know the board and our community can understand you know boots on the ground how this actually has been transformative in some of the work that you're doing. >> Sure. >> Good evening. I'm Lindseay Ktock. I am a dean at Glendale and one of the main huge main parts of our role as a dean is we really set the groundwork for students so that they are able to learn. Right? We know that if students aren't able aren't in the right mind space to be able to learn um that they aren't going to be able to learn and we won't see that academic excellence. So we do a lot of supporting students throughout the day and that looks like a lot of different things. It looks like going into classrooms and helping support. It looks like meeting with students in small groups, meeting with students one on-one. Um it looks like doing a check-in and a checkout with students throughout the day and or or you know throughout the school K5 um variety of students. Um it looks like a lot of different things. Um as well as really building relationships with students so that they feel safe, comfortable, and welcome at school so that they are able to do their best learning and achieve that academic excellence. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> Alan Thompson, proud, proud, very, very proud Dina students at Westwood Elementary. >> Couldn't have landed in a better place. Um, when I showed up, went around to meet staff the first week, I said, "What what can you tell me about Westwood?" They said, "This is magical." And I heard that from over five staff and I thought it was a setup. Um but it wasn't. That's what every teacher thinks, every staff thought and I'm like, "Wow, this is a great place to land." And um I committed right then and there to work for students and to support staff in every way possible. And my role and I think every dean's role in every building that we have here in Prior Lake or building in in the state country can look subtly different based on what the students need and based what we're seeing and basing what the information the data we're gathering from student or staff and students and families. So like Lindsay said we are in um very faced direct with students. We are covering needs that aren't necessarily written or specified in plans. Um we are making sure that students are safe, they're secure, they're supported, we're working towards their well-being in every way we see possible. And and sometimes the dean might be a dean here, might be a a success coach in another district. Titles can change, titles can vary. Our job is to do and meet with every single student that we see and get them to be in a safe and secure place mindset, emotionally, mentally, every way we we can. And we don't stop that until we seeing success. A lot of times I'm seeing students in small numbers. I'm seeing students one-on-one. Um, I took a a student in my uh office that was struggling at the beginning of year just to integrate with their classroom. Student has special needs, has the skills and abilities but not the security to be vulnerable in front of students and staff. Um, she likes to tell me poems and she likes to read me stories and she likes to sing me songs and she thinks I'm weird because we sing songs together, but she loves being weird. And she wrote me a song literally on paper. It was about a fox. So I went to the teacher. I said, "She just wrote me this story." And they had just read a book in second grade about a fox. And then from that point on, she's writing in class. She's reading, writing in class. That's just one example of kind of what we do around Prior Lake. So happy to be here. Um, if you have any other questions or you're wondering about what deans do, what our role is, come visit. Um, if you come to Westwood and you come to the office, you'll rarely see me because I'm out in the halls. I'm out in playground climbing the spiderweb with kids. I'm in classrooms working one-on-one. Like I said, small groups. So, yeah, appreciate the visit. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you, uh, Chair Bully. Just in closing, um, you know, I want to acknowledge the perspectives, um, the questions that, you know, many of you had and some of the conversation here this evening. Um, this is this is really critical work and consequential work. So, um I I appreciate the the inquiry and and and the wonderings about how we are maximizing the resources that we have to ensure that we get those outcomes and those results. And I do also appreciate that you see a very tight scope and a very narrowed focus. Um I I am I I am not above fairs food and festivals and those types of things that you often type see with a lot of u some of the work that has been um surrounding ANI over over the years. The state has also tightened the reigns around that. They really want to see you know how we get a laser focus and not just do these additional things. um and how when we have programs or staff that they have a direct connection to our infrastructure because that has to be the constant that carries every single student, you know, across um you know that that finish line for them. And um so I appreciate, you know, hearing some of that perspective tonight. And I I also want to say that there are opportunities within this grant. Um and and we have resources held available as contract and community supports. Um I spoke last week or two weeks ago a little bit about, you know, partnerships such as Junior Achievement and other types of uh community partnerships that still can exist and support this plan. They're not specifically written because we know over the course of three years things may eb and flow and change. Gives us greater flexibility and autonomy to be able to make some decisions based upon what we see in terms of the student needs. And then lastly, I'll just share that um we all want what's best for students and uh you know, we were looking at a lot of different data to really figure out how we want to hone in. And when we look at the aggregate um of our um student uh populations that uh uh qualify under um ANI, many of our students of color, uh many of our free and reduced lunch students, and when we were looking at some of those aggregated groups of of MCA data, our overall trend shows that gradual improvement for historically underserved students um and that we are starting to see a proof concept around modest narrowing of of our of our achievement gap. apps um and reading and math proficiency, for example, with our students in free and reduced lunch price meals. Um that the um that has increased over the past several years. Uh math and reading just for free and reduced uh lunch um uh uh students that qualify for free and reduced lunch, that has narrowed over 5% points um over the course of our last cycle of the plan. Um we see similar patterns uh also when we look at some of our uh different um ethnic uh demographics of our students. Uh gaps decrease between you know our white students and our um students of color by two to three percentage points uh in the course of the past um uh three years of our of our plan. Um and we know that every year that learning can fluctuate. Um we also know that the eb and flow of enrollment can fluctuate. And so what I also shared with you is that even over the course of that same time frame, the past I think 3 or four years, we've doubled in terms of our students of color as well as our students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. And even with that higher concentration, which we can correlate ties to some of those learning barriers that we can see across the country, unfortunately, um we've maintained um that continued um narrowing of that achievement gap even when we have higher concentrations. So are we there? Are we where we want to be? Absolutely not. Um, I don't think there's a district in this country, heck, in this world, who has fully arrived, that every single student that they serve is at the top par, you know, of of their game. And and so we want to make sure that we remain committed to serving all of our students um as well as students that we know historically have um experienced some barriers to those learnings and and we remain committed to doing that moving forward with this plan and anything else. So um that's all I had to share. >> Well, thank you, Dr. Thomas. Uh the board's decision is uh whether to approve the plan as uh presented. We have a first and a second second um on that. So I will >> chair, may I request a roll call vote, please? >> Sure. Absolutely. We can do a roll call vote. Um I think we've heard a lot of great perspectives here tonight and I will start the roll call vote with you. Director Smith, >> I. >> Director France, >> I. >> Director Olad, >> I. >> Director Mason, >> nay. >> Director Johnson, >> nay. >> Director Atinson, >> nay. and I am an I. So that passes uh 43. Uh next up on the agenda is the construction services loading dock recommendation. Uh do I have a first and a second for that? >> So made by director France and I heard second. >> Oh, thank you. >> Uh by director Mason and director France. Um, hi Director Powers. Um, do you have anything to share with us before we take a vote? >> I I do. Um, >> when we got these bids in, I was a little bit surprised. I mentioned this a couple weeks ago and uh what my recommendation to the board tonight is that we proceed only with the uh five hawks um replacement and that we hold on all the other ones. And then I recommend fireplaces and more to be our vendor um to do this work. >> Is that an up is that updated or is that what's >> that was what I put on there, but I just wanted some >> okay >> explanation on >> Okay, thank you. Is there any discussion questions? Directors. Director Johnson, >> um do you have an estimated time on completion and then when you would come back to us um for uh moving forward with the remainder of that, especially if the cost is to change? >> I'm unlikely to come forward this year with those. >> Okay. >> Um we've run into a couple other challenges this year >> um that make it um >> it's just better to hold on those right now. I've got um the uh student entryway at the high school. We had a a pipe burst um for the uh sprinkler system. >> Yep. >> That's much more of a higher priority. So, there's a couple of things that are working them way their way up to being a higher priority than those. Understandable. >> So, I just I'm going to put those on hold for the moment and we'll reevaluate that in a year or two. >> Okay. Um last question with that. Are you talking calendar year, fiscal year, or school year? So, it's going to be this summer. I I apologize. I didn't tell you timeline on that. Um, we cannot start that project until July 1 because of the funding that we're using and everything else. So, they'll start >> July 1. Um, and uh, we'll be looking at Well, let's rephrase that. They can't charge me until after July 1. Whenever they start the project, we're all good. But they can't charge me until after July 1. So, I suspect that that this project um if it takes more than 3 to four weeks, I'd be surprised. >> Okay. >> But I will be with as with all projects when I'm doing this type of thing, I'm checking on them daily and weekly as need be to make sure that they're on task and making sure they're getting things done for us. >> Understand. Appreciate it. Thank you. >> Any other questions or >> Yeah, I was curious too about just, you know, why it sounds like it's just a prioritization of of projects. Is that correct? >> Yeah, that's exactly it. Um and then my second question was just around like there's a pretty substantial difference in the in the bid amounts. Um any concerns with like quality or change authorizations coming or anything like that? >> So I talked a little bit about this earlier. Um fireplaces and more have done a lot of work for the district. So I'm less concerned about quality or anything like that. Um could there be a change order coming up? Probably. Um, but when we're when I'm looking at the differences between those, um, even a change order of $20,000, that's a pretty big change order. But when we're looking at the difference between the next bid, um, that's still a a pretty small number comparatively. >> Okay. You wouldn't expect substantial differences. >> No, no, I don't I don't I don't expect any substantial change orders. >> Thank you. Anyone else have any questions, comments? Okay, hearing none, I'll take a vote. Um, all in favor? >> I opposed. >> That passes 6. >> Thank you for all your hard work. >> Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Director Powers. Uh, next up on the agenda is the 2026 27 health and dental insurance premium increase. Director Coern, >> thank you. Good evening. uh in front of you, you have the recommendations from the uh insurance committee in regards to our health and dental uh rates. And uh we'll start with the health insurance. And so after the the thorough review of the 2526 claim data, the committee is recommending a 13% increase in our health insurance plan for the 2627 fiscal year. Um, analysis of the most current data available tells us that a 13% increase will allow the district to continue to operate its self-insured health insurance plan in a financially re responsible manner manner by maintaining the plan's fund balance. Maintaining a healthy fund balance for the plan is important step in achieving consistent and substantial premium increases for the district and our employees. for our dental rates. The insurance committee is recommending a 10% increase in our dental um insurance premiums for the 2627 school year as well as a 10% increase in our dental insurance premiums for the 2627 school year school for retirees that are 65 plus years of age. And same as the analysis of most of our current data tells us that this increase will allow the district to operate its self-funded dental plan in a financially responsible manner by covering claims and returning a healthy fund balance. and our self-funded dental plan is experiencing only its second premiums increase in 16 years. Um, just a couple notes on top of that, conversations currently are going around the state right now in regards to health insurance um throughout the throughout the state for a lot of school districts and a lot of the comments are talking about, you know, if things continue to go at the pace that they are that soon school districts are going to be choosing between, you know, health insurance and salary increases. And I, you know, right as of right now, I will say we're not getting there. Prior Lake is there, um, where we are, you know, at a point with the health insurance that we offer our staff, um, we are at a point now where we are going to, you know, be choosing between those um, two things. And so because of that start next month in our insurance committee meeting in March, we we are going to start discussing um you know a new insurance model um for the district that can still provide our staff with great you know health and dental insurance benefits um but to not jeopardize uh salary schedule increases. So we feel that that's important for us to start uh looking at uh seeing as how we will be going for you know an RFP next year. And so we just feel that it's the right time to start um looking at some different plan options um to help keep our insurance cost low. >> Thank you. Can I before we have discussion, can I get a a first and a second um motion for this? >> So made >> by Director Mason and Director Johnson. Thank you. Um any discuss discussion or questions? >> Um no, I just want to say thank you. I've been through this also with my businesses and it went up substantially more than this. So, I know how hard this process is and the um the volatility right now of the market and um the risk pools that they're not sure are going to be there in order to balance those those out. Um hopefully we can get some significant change in health insurance legislatively going into the next couple years, but that's also a long shot. always hope. Um um I want to know, do you guys have to contend with what's known as the benefit utilization percentage uh for your um for the plans? Does that at all influence our rates? >> I'm not aware. Director writer, are you aware? >> Yeah. >> Well, the benefit utilization is uh there's two ways. uh for self-funded plans, it's the it's the actual utilization of the benefits particularly at the higher rates and what that uh what that breakdown is. And then on uh managed plans, uh they usually go with the the benefit utilization is the calculates the risk. It's the millamin algorithm that goes into that. Um I just didn't know if that for self-funded plans. Um, I don't know what what's done with benefit utilization if that has actually been looked at cuz we we have a lot of really good stuff in our health insurance. If people aren't using it, what happens to our overall rates? >> Yeah, I think that's something we can take to our um >> our our administrative services and they will have a much better handle on the data to pull to be able to help us understand that better for us. And that's one of the beauties of being self-insured is the fact that you you have the data to look at. And so we'll we'll dig into that. >> Yeah. And I know I was going to say the same thing that I mean yeah with our um current administrator I mean he does a great job of getting us all that and and the report we put he puts together for the committee every month is is is topnotch. And I mean he does tell us about like you know some of our um uh health services through like and different things like that where people are doing some different kind of weight loss strategies and things like that and we track you know how much total you know uh is being lost by the district as as everybody who's on that plan and stuff like that. So yeah there's a lot of data in there that they're able to show us what people are using and and and what they're not in our health plan. So yeah, we can definitely get that for you. Any other discussion, questions? Okay, hearing none, I will uh entertain the vote. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? That passes 6. Uh, next up on the agenda is the setting of the 2026 27 school board meeting dates and those have all been presented in your packet. Um, >> excuse me. >> I will take a motion and a second for that. second. >> Second. >> She wins. >> I think you beat me to it. >> I think you did too. Director Director Smith and Director France. All right. Is there any questions or comments on the on the schedule as presented? >> Hearing none. I will take a vote. All in favor? >> I opposed. >> And that passes 6. Uh next up, we're having a transportation RFP recommendation. This is update only. Um the recommendation will be presented to the board requesting board action on March 23rd. Uh Director Powers, welcome back. >> A short stop, wasn't it? Um we had uh we had quite a few respondents um to our RFP and uh through conversations with staff um and questions with those vendors we've narrowed down uh the companies that we would like to invite back so that we can have a much more in-depth conversation with them. Um the four companies that we are looking at, one of them is CISO, the other one is Transportation and Delivery Inc. Collaborative Student Transportation and of course our current vendor, Prior Lake Area School Bus Association. Um we plan on starting those conversations um with board approval starting this Wednesday so that we can bring a uh formal recommendation um with all the numbers to the board um for the next uh board meeting. Any questions, discussion? Director France, >> did they submit formal written proposals behind there with detail on them that you're going to be comparing or is that not yet? >> Yes. Um, and that's part of our extra conversations that we'll be having with them. There are um there was a um a question that came up today when we're doing more of our research. one of the uh proposals the uh the sped busing part was more expensive than the general ed busing part and by the current rules that's not something that we can have. So we want to make sure that we're um continuing those conversations so that we can get uh the best um the best appropriate um contract for the district. Are you surprised by the number of vendors that that responded or did you expect this? >> Uh, that's an interesting question. Um, surprised, no. Um, some of the replies that we've gotten were a little interesting. Um, we've got uh we had one vendor that um has 500 vans that was talking about doing our general ed services. And that's just uh that would be beyond a nightmare situation if you could just imagine that many more vehicles in every one of our drop areas. No, that just it's not workable. Um I appreciate that they came up with a novel idea. Um but those are not the proposals that we will be bringing forward. >> Thank you. >> Can you say the names again? I'm sorry. >> Oh, sure. Um the first one is CISO. Second one is Transportation and Delivery Inc. Third one is collaborative student transportation and the last one is Prior Lake Area School Bus Association. >> Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? >> Um just a further question on that. Uh would you ever consider like splitting up the services between gened and special ed if Okay. So you might have to I know there was a separate piece in there. that that's part of our discussions that we're engaging in. And uh we actually when we did the RFP, we issued that so that we um a provider could do one or both. >> Um and the other thing that we ensured um also was that routing was a completely separate endeavor. Um so we're we are looking at um a combination of things with a variety of the pro providers that submitted proposals um to see what that total package could look like. So yeah, >> anyone else? >> Okay, we'll move on. Thank you very much, Director Powers. >> Thank you. >> Uh, next up is 2026 27 preliminary budget discussion. Uh, Director Ryder, >> um, Chair Bullion and board directors, I'm just going to set the context for the conversation. um you know under the preliminary budget discussion we'll be uh hosting a a series of targets um that all kind of tie together if you will. So, um, uh, one of the things I just wanted to share a couple weeks ago when we were having some discussion about the budget and even just some of the comments that we heard this evening, um, I want to be just very mindful of the reality that's before us and, um, and the tough situations that we're finding ourselves in and, um, you know, the comments tonight or from the board directors. uh we know that there are a lot of uh experiences and opportunities that our students have in our district and unfortunately over the past couple of years and then looking ahead to the future um we are going to have to make some tough decisions as to you know what those uh experiences and opportunities may be um pending you know future discussions um and I can't stress enough and we even saw it you know in our own conversations here at the table and I hear it from the community these are very personal conversations. These are very um emotional conversations and uh and even you know our team and having conversations with building administrators these are not easy conversations and if you were to ask me Michael is there anything you would not like to do I wouldn't want to do any of it you know I mean there there's if I be honest there's always an opportunity to tighten our belt and we will be mindful of that but you know cumulatively you know if as we cut next year over the course of three years we've cut almost $12 million or around $12 million from from our from our district. that's very impactful and um and at the same time we want to remain a viable district of choice um and have enough attractant that families see the value of highquality education enriching opportunities scaffolds and supports um and you know ultimately graduating to go chase their dreams in life and and that's something that all of us share and I believe every one of us sitting here at the board um um have that same passion um for what we want for our students. Um I will say that as you know couple years ago when we were going through the the levy conversations and we went to our community for a levy um we gave a one-year spend exemplar for the levy. We heard feedback about well what would happen if it doesn't pass. We put up you know those conversations. um we try to to give the community as much information as we possibly can and ultimately through a democratic process the community voted and and and that's the outcome and and I just can't stress enough that I will always respect that you know that that is in the the the hands of our voters. Um, and I think we were very transparent um to share that, you know, there are going to be a series of conversations that we may have to have if that levy does not pass. And we had a list of things that we were going to have to talk about and take action on. And all but two of those things we we ended up taking action on. And the two remaining things are conversations that we are having right now with our schools. One of those was around our um immersion pathway at the secondary level and one of those was around the MENCAPS pathway um at at the high school level. Those are the two that we did not take action on. We thought we might be able to hold on to them, but we're at a point where we're having to have conversations. Um we know our secondary schools just went through the registration process and we do this every single year, so this is not unique, but registration drives a lot of what gets offered at the secondary level. So, uh, you take that coupled with, um, our declining enrollment, you've got kind of a compounded effect. So, with fewer students, we'll need fewer classes in general. And based upon their, uh, enrollment choices, supply and demand will come into effect. And so, if we don't have an elective that has a large demand for it, that's going to be an elective that's going to be a conversation for us. So we are having conversations about everything from core classrooms to shifting resources across core classrooms. We're looking at reductions of of sections. We are looking at reductions of elective opportunities um based upon enrollment and as well as uh uh student uh uh choice uh with the electives. Um and when we look at the overall enrollment at the K5 level, um we can look at um where our current class size targets are at, we are um only going to staff up to that target. Um and because that's one of the parameters that we we must adhere to, but historically we've been trying to keep things several students below target. Um and so we're having conversations now at the elementary level given our our uh projected uh enrollment that we will be staffing right up to that uh target level. Um which then uh looks at you know how many sections uh will no longer be needed based upon uh declining enrollment. You know anywhere from 14 to 16 um sections across the elementary based upon capacity of our schools and enrollment of our schools. This was a conversation that we had I think uh last year u when uh executive director Herman was here and we were did that you know capacity study and we were showing how many sections of each that we could have based upon enrollment and then any changes to that we'll start adjusting those sections. So very real conversations that we're having um within our district and um not fun conversations at all. We've had a regular cadence almost weekly, sometimes twice a week um with our building principles. Um and uh we've shared with you all um some of our financial targets that we have both for uh the central office as well as our schools and we are working tirelessly trying to find ways to meet those targets and there is no easy way of doing this. I don't believe there are conversations that we are having and I'm sure my colleagues can attest to this where we say, "Oh yeah, we got that one. That was that was really easy." These are really tough decisions and as I've stated, we are choosing between what's really good for our students experiences and what's really good for our students experiences and those are probably the worst decisions that you could be caught between. Um but at the end of the day we are committed to ensuring that we are meeting the mark of that 4.1 that ties directly back to having a structurally balanced budget. Um you know over the past you know four or five year or four years. This is our second executive director of business services who is saying the exact same story that her predecessor said. The numbers haven't changed. The forecasts really have not changed. Um and so um we will have to have these conversations moving forward and then ultimately you know uh as you all tasked uh me to do, we will be having some conversations with um uh you all in terms of what are some opportunities should the board decide that they would like to entertain a levy. And and again going back to uh the town halls that were mentioned and we'll talk a little bit about that in in a moment here. um you know whether it was the most recent town halls that we were having around uh the three primary questions um or whether it was our strategic planning process. Um we've heard a lot of value ads or things that our our students and our families really enjoy and those same things that you know they enjoy. These are the conversation topics that we're having. uh unfortunately like that's the reality that we are finding ourselves in. And I'll close and get ready to turn over to executive director Ryder by just restating that um we know the very thing that um attracts someone to our district might be the thing that we have to have conversations about reducing. Um, we understand that and I want our community to know that. We understand that and we are working tirelessly to try to find the the the least impactful um decisions um for the overall experiences. But knowing that everything is interconnected and that you know as small as we are and as um thin as we are we will feel those kind of um impacts you know much more greater than maybe a much larger system. So with that, I want to turn it over to um executive director Ryder and team who will walk through a couple of uh uh update topics. >> Thank you, Dr. Thomas. Um, we want to start with enrollment updates as we are at that time of year in which every board meeting we're trying to bring to you those updates uh where we're treat keeping track of our enrollment monthly for our current year as well as then for the kindergarteners um taking a look at next year's kindergartener class and wanting to make sure that we're updating that on a weekly basis with comparative data from prior last five years. So to begin the enrollment retention period, enrollment history report that you have that is one in which every month we're laying out the the counts and I say counts particularly because that's that's different from ADM and I want to make that emphasis again. So, as we take a look at these counts as of March 1st and lay them out by grade level and see the totals and then I'm comparing it to what was the final fall count that's in blue for the current year as well as then what is our our revised budget amount enrollment for um the overall budget that we anticipate hitting by end of year that is by ADM. Okay. So the revised budget is average daily membership whereas everything else for the final count or final fall as well as every monthly those are counts. There's a difference there because a student for example may be one count or then they drop to a PSO class for example maybe second semester for half of their classes. Now all of a sudden their one is going to show zero. But on the average daily membership when we get to the end of the year, they will have a proportion of that that will be counted and will show up in the ADM but isn't going to show in the count. Okay. So some of what we're seeing here um and you can see it from year to year. The same thing's happening when you get past January. It's not uncommon that you see this when in the upper grades. So just wanted to make note of that. Um again, just monitoring this and keeping an eye on it. it is um on a trajectory that indicates that we might be coming in lower than budget, but again that's going to depend on how many of these that are now zero count are actually going to bring in more ADM than we anticipate. Right. So that's kind of one of those things we're just going to have to wait and see and um and work from there. The next report, if I may, >> please. >> The next report then is the uh kindergarten enrollment. And so as we take a look at the kindergarten enrollment, this is as of February 27th and February 20th was updated. Um I'm just going to keep rolling the weeks and adding them as we show these to you. One of the things we're doing is we're then taking a we list out the number of students that we know are open enrolled at this point in time and also those that are our resident district kindergarteners. We see for 2627 that we now have as of February 27th, 411 in total, 95 of which are open enrolled. And so what we want to then look at is what's the average of the last five years as far as percentages. Um in the in the past this time of year, you would find our ourselves at around 82 to 86%. So if we assume 84% is where we are at then the number calcs out to be 489 is what we can anticipate at the end um as we get to fall. This is just an estimate at this point in time. 489 is lower than the 529 you see in my header as to what was used for budget assumptions. Uh we want to keep a closer eye on that in the next four weeks and see what happens. And it may be that we want to adjust our revenue assumption for kindergarten classes for 2627 if that number doesn't improve more than what we're seeing right now. There's a 40 count difference from what I budgeted compared to where we're anticipating being. And if it's that high still in a month, we're going to need to adjust the budget, my revenue calc. Um, so that's kind of how we use these this information and work with that. I do encourage any family who's listening and has a kindergartenner, you know, go ahead, get them enrolled. Um, that helps us to know for sure and make sure that we have the resources necessary for those students. Um, if I may then continue >> please. >> Okay. As we move on then the next um topic is um budget targets and I just want to make comment on the slide that's included is the one slide that showed the various different buckets and the total adjustments of $4.1 million. As we develop the 20 fiscal year 27 budget, we are assuming the inclusion of $4.15 million in reductions in our line item budget. This is intended to maintain our 8% unassigned fund balance uh that is in in policy. This past week, Moody's completed their review of our bond rating and have adjusted our bond rating to AA2, which is where many districts are in Minnesota. as they review bond ratings, Moody's they look now they are now looking for an available fund balance ratio which is your unassigned plus your available debt service uh fund balances of at least 10 to 20% for the category of AA2 with an 8% unassigned fund balance plus our available debt service fund balance we are just above the 10% threshold I needed to make that um information, you know, clear to people as they take a look at things and to understand that the Moody's review of our bond ratings as they do occur on a periodic basis that's shifted over the years. I'll be honest, it's it's tighter and they're looking more towards those fund balances to be an indicator that they wait heavier than maybe has been in the past. Um, and so that was something that we learned last week and I wanted to make sure that we understood and shared that out tonight as we also talk about um, >> you know, any any items on the budget. >> Um, >> Director Ryder, if I if I may ask, can you >> with what you just shared? Yes. >> Um, what does that mean for what does that mean for us? Um so the uh adjustment to our bond rating is something that will show then should we sell bonds that that is um something that those who invest in school district bonds they're looking at what is the bond rating. It's an indicator of what is the likelihood of them getting their bond payment you know their money back. Um, we also are a part of the credit enhancement program within the state of Minnesota, which actually means then that our bond rating becomes an underlying one, or I should say that the state's rating actually takes over. And so, um, for us, it's not too much of a a concern with regard to the ability for people to invest in our bonds, they will. Um, I think that it's something that is it's one of the indicators that Moody's uses to identify and compare fiscal health from organization to organization and I just think it's something we have to be aware of. >> If I could um add another layer to that question um uh you shared that it's not an investment concern. There's not an investment concern. Can you can you say uh is this moving us to this AA2 status? Do you consider this positive or do you con like is this a >> it is an area that um we need to strive to see a you know if this is 10 to 20% that they look for for the AA2 the next category up which is the AA um I'm sorry this wrong hang on one moment >> sure take your something here. Okay, I have been saying AA2. The bond rating we have is AA3 and that is the 10 to 20% for category AA3. That's our new bond rating. >> Our new okay >> AA2 they expect a 20 to 30% fund balance for unassigned plus debt service. So as we talk about unassigned fund balance, it's important for us to understand that that's a component that is used in formulas by others like Moody's. And so as we have a bond rating of AA3, they are looking for it to be between 10 and 20% for their their calculation and we are at 10 point just above 10. Um and that's with our 8% unassigned fund balance. So moving forward, they are encouraging us to do what we can to ensure that our fund balance on assigned stays, you know, at that 8% or higher and to um strengthen things. They understand school districts are seeing decline in enrollment um as they go through. Not everyone gets rated at the same time. Everyone has a different timetable. If you happen to sell bonds between now and the time they would otherwise have you on their schedule, then you're going to get rated at that time when you're selling bonds because anytime you sell bonds, there's a bond rating review. Um, we haven't sold bonds for a while. So that's where the our our mark came up. So um so bond rating as of now AA3 10 to 20% is what they're looking for in those combined uh fund balance available fund balance. And um I guess my point in bringing this up is that working with an 8% unassigned fund balance is um something I think we can need to continue to strive for and to see if we can improve upon that in the future. Understood. Thank you. Thank you for explaining that a little bit more >> and I apologize for my error in >> No, no problem at all. >> Um I I have one other question regarding the um kindergarten enrollment and uh uh in the in the given possibility that we may be um doing a um what am I what's the word? I'm a what? No, no, no. Um, a revision. So, a revision. Yes. Given the fact that we may be looking at doing a revision because of um enrollment maybe not being what was projected. Uh, can you just can you expand on that a little bit for us? What? >> So, I think to do it now might be a little bit too soon because I want to kind of see if some of our resident families come through. um we're working off from what we have as as our we call them kinder list and so it's the students that we've seen through other programming or we have we know they have siblings or whatever the case might be and so I know all schools in meeting with the elementary principles they are all making calls and checking in with families um some families are deciding you know my student needs another year at home before I send them to school um and that's always an option for families too to especially those summer birthdays Right. Um, and then there's others that just haven't put that kind of at the top of their list yet and so they just aren't yet enrolled, but the anticipation is that they will be and there's no indication to indicate that they wouldn't be. Their other siblings, for example, are enrolled and and there's been no notification. So, it's a little soon for us to expect that if they're not enrolled now, they're not going to be here in the fall because that's probably not the case. So the challenge every time we do a budget, you know, enrollment is the core of our revenue and that kind of determines then what we have room for for expenditures, right? And then we're working on on adjusting our budget to to get to that point. Um, from the beginning, these projections are going to shift and change and they're going to change because of the assumptions that we have. will have more information, more updated information that tell may tell us like an increase or a decrease, right? One of the buckets is under review revenue and compensatory adjustments. That is exactly where you usually have it when we're doing the the fiscal audit. One of the last things we do is we redo our state aid calculations because we want to make sure that nothing's changed from the time we first calculated until that audit is going to be complete. And so similarly, when you're building the budget, you're going to want to review and recalc if there's any adjustments that need to be made on some of those numbers. Kindergarten from the beginning is always a big question. Um es and flows with regard to the number of students that will be on our list, the number of students that we're aware of. Um some things in the community can um prevent others from participating in the early learning programs. And if that's the case, then you won't know about the kids and the families possibly. Um, so we need to just hang tight, I believe, for at least another month to know kind of where we're at with those numbers and um then we have to probably make an uh an assumption and and land with that for our adopted budget. As you noted, when we did the revised budget this year, enrollment shifted and we recalked and um increased the budget for that reason as well. So, I think that as we take a look at this, we will um potentially find that that recalc needs to be done relating to kindergarten particularly and um in conjunction with the compensatory conversations. They just scheduled another meeting this week statewide regarding um compensatory revenue. So, interested in hearing what the MDE is saying about that. Um we've seen new numbers come out from the state as far as their their projections as well. We also know the stressors that are existing. So, there's just a lot up in the air at this moment, but we're going to need to come down with our assumptions at um at some point and and stick with those for our adopted and then adjust when we get to our revised. >> Thank you. >> Yes, directors. Any questions or anything else for director Ryder right now? Okay, hearing none, we'll go on to the next item, which is town hall themes. Uh, three town hall meetings were held in February. Uh, and table facilitators documented participant comments and identified recurring themes. The themes um are to be discussed now. Dr. Thomas. >> Thank you, Chair Bullan, board directors. So, um you have the uh synthesize themes that are in the board packet and then Friday night I sent you all um access to a Google folder so you could see more of the raw data because not everything gets picked up you know when we run things through a synthesization process. In addition to that, um, you all have been in your own conversation spaces. We are in constant conversation spaces. Our teachers and staff are in constant conversation spaces. Our student survey data shows themes that, you know, aren't directly asked, but you can pick them up from there as well. Um and essentially what we wanted to do um one is just kind of share what we gathered from this most initial um conversation we had with our our community and um ultimately asking the board um based upon what you've seen in the disagregated data set and some themes that you've seen tonight, are there some things that you would like um to pulse test with our community? um you know, should we go forward with a levy? Um what are the top x amount of things you would like to see reflected in that levy conversation? Uh whether it's class size or enrichment or career pathway programming or more, you know, what whatever it might be, right? That the the things that we're hearing. Um, I think we're at a point where we know enough, we've heard enough, um, formally and informally through a couple of engagement sessions, um, uh, with the community um, but also like I said, other data sets over the course of the years, what we've heard also from our last levy campaign. If we pull all of that in, what is the will of the board to say, "Yes, Michael, let's let's uh pulse test, you know, through a survey, broadwide, broad citywide uh communitywide survey around, you know, top items that you all decide, yep, this is where we would like to pulse test and then rank order those." So you can solicit, you know, what are the three or four top things that might resonate with our community to say, okay, if we're going to go for a levy, Michael, here are the three or four things that are top, run a costing model now on what that would take. Um because as we've been sharing with you all to date, the conversations that we've been having with you as well as with our community and this was part of our town hall conversations um was um around our current levy scenario and just uh you know let letting that play out. Kind of a entry point conversation with our community um at about a 3 mil a year and then at um a 7 mil a year. So, um, this was just our pure operating. Turn on the lights, unlock the doors. Let's just keep things moving and trying to stay afloat as long as we can. Forgive my casual, uh, uh, language around that, but that's essentially the conversations that we've been having. This was the conversation that we had with our community at our town halls. Um, I can't tell you the amount of times that um I was asked at my table and or in large groups to say, you know, this e either all the scenarios you're showing us get us nowhere fast, you know, um and and and everyone can see kind of the situation that we're at. And so uh to keep us in a 10-year trajectory, you can see it's going to be more than 7 mill a year, you know, to to stay above at that 8% uh that director Ryder was talking about as well as then the things that families would say this is what we would like to see. Okay. So, um, basically wanted to ask the board and engage you all tonight around some of you were at, you know, the town halls, you've seen the feedback, you've seen some of the disagregated feedback. Um, are there things you would like us to, you know, do a broad-based survey on to really narrow this in now on areas that you see rising to the top um, naturally and put those all out to the community so that we can run a costing model on what we believe would be the reflective value um, ad proposition from our community. So, we know I think going back to Director Smith's question. So, Michael, if we were going to do all these things, what would that true cost be? I'm paraphrasing, but somewhere in that in that neighborhood. Um, and obviously we want to uh do that within reason and also do that based upon, you know, your your guys' uh direction. So with that, chair bolin, I'll turn it for discussion. directors, student reps. >> Um I do want to open the discussion to um the fact of uh class sizes and highquality teachers. Um I know given a couple of of payment issues and a couple due to a couple of payment issues and concerns um and and whatnot with teachers that there has been quite a bit of teacher burnout. and I am experiencing that within my own classes. Um, and I'm I'm observing my peers um, experiencing that within our own teachers. Um, our teachers do amazing work at the high school. Um, they're they're amazing educators and I learn something new every single day and I'm proud to say that. However, um if it's in the hallways or if it's sitting in lunch and hearing teachers talking and whatnot, there are occasions where I do see teachers either putting off assignments, putting them towards TAs, or overall just being burnt out with their class sizes. I mean, I'm in a couple of classes that have upwards of 35 students. Um I know that there's definitely a lot of scheduling issues due to PSO and other concurrent enrollment programs at the high school. Um so for example my A push class um AP US history class last quarter there was no students whereas the hour before me there was about 40 students in a small classroom giving my teacher Mr. Mesnik a lot of of work to be dealing with and more than than he should be able to handle and more than he needs to handle. Um, so I I definitely think that class sizes and um making sure that uh class sizes are smaller is is important to to the community because um it allows my teachers to be able to be more on one-on-one with me. Um a lot of the times teachers often overlook students that may be having challenges. So um I think that that may be something that may be important to open up to the public on on talking about. >> Thank you. Yeah. >> Anyone else? >> I have a couple of questions. Um if I may. Yes. Um the um under the one two second bullet under funding instability, it says many participants noted confusion about how school funding works. Join the club. Um and a desire for clearer communication. I should I mean I understand it, but it's it's it's very complicated, right? the desire for a clearer communication. I'm just kind of what does that mean? Is that the channel of communication? Does that mean um what they're maybe hearing? And and this is what I I'd like I'd maybe like to find out is is it the information that they're getting isn't clear? Is it the channel being used? Um so that kind of stood out to me. Um I would be curious if anybody else um wondered about that. Um and then um under increasing student complexity um it says broader learner diversity. So I just um I would love to know maybe more specifics about what people may mean by that. And I realize this is a um >> synthesized. >> Thank you. Synthes synthesized version. So maybe it's just that. Um but those are the two things that stood out with me where oh I'd like to learn more about that and what people maybe thought about that. So >> I um >> director Olstead I'll uh share what I heard in several of my table conversations and some of the larger group. Um so the broader learner diversity um meaning that the needs that students are coming in to the classroom with are growing uh increasingly more complex more frequent. I think to what we heard our student talk about if you know if I'm a student who you know has some additional needs and I'm in a space where I feel kind of overwhelmed or swallowed up I may not express myself. I may just naturally withdraw and so out of sight, out of mind. Um, but what I heard throughout my table conversations were just the vast um learning needs that our students are coming into the classrooms with. And I'm not talking about like you I mean it's everything from significant dysregulation to, you know, significant twice gifted and everything in between, right? So we we've heard it all, but that's where that's where I heard that coming across. And for a teacher to be able to differentiate >> to the level of needs that are presented in the classroom every day in 2026 is sometimes seemingly insurmountable. We have teachers and staff who dedicate their lives in in their careers to helping young people, and it's not for not wanting to do that. Um I I think they're finding and and how um with with so many varied needs and so many students, how can I possibly find that individualized um you know connection point, you know, with my students um as my heart desires putting words in some of our staff's mouths. Um the last question you had about clear Sorry, did you want to add a >> So it's diversity of need. Um that that's what I heard a lot of. That's what I heard a lot of. >> That makes a lot of sense and I appreciate that. Thank you. >> And then building trust through clear communication. Um I vividly remember a conversation I was having at a table with um uh a family who no longer has uh kids in the system. Um their kids are young adults at this point, but they're convicted to supporting our school district. And um the the mother of this adult uh former student was saying, "Yeah, I never I never knew there was a levy last time around." And um you know, we we would we should have put this into the paper. We should have put this onto the web. We should have, you know, been hosting, you know, town halls. And and I'm I'm I'm clearly, you know, with thousands of people in our community, we're not going to reach everyone. And I jokingly said, "Boy, you should have seen my tour schedule." Um because uh I was on the road 24/7 and see my wife's like and you are when I would come home. Um so uh so we clearly know um as much as we engage our community and um and staff hear me call them living room sessions and literally I've been in living rooms of famil family's homes um having conversation. um we can do everything that we believe is sufficient and we need to do that like a hundred times more, >> right? We will never be able to communicate enough. Um and so we just know that we'll have to continually find multiple multiple modalities um multiple engagement times of day, weekends, etc. like we've done in the past and just keep doing that. um clear communication in in the complexity of school funding and uh and I really appreciate uh Director Ryder uh and how she can really take very complex conversations and break them into small digestible pieces. Um that is truly a gift that she has. Um and there's only one of her, right? So, we know that we may have to find ways that we can, you know, like we we have school improvement or school funding 101 on our website. We have some diagrams of a dollar bill. We show pie charts of how how we're funded, all that kind of stuff. Um, but we just need to continue to find ways to make it extremely clear that, you know, our student right here could lead a conversation in school funding, right? Like, how do we break it down that simple? Um, that was actually a compliment by the way, not not to belittle you. Um, but just to make it that approachable for for that some, you know, even some of our students would be able to understand. Okay, I I see it. And you actually spoke to a couple of things tonight to let me know that you're dialed in to understanding kind of these connection points. So, that gives me some hope. So, I think that's what we're hearing, Director Olstead, around um clear, consistent, frequent communication. Um, oh, and I will say our last two town halls definitely attracted more of our um actually no, not or our students, the other end of the spectrum, more of our um retirees perhaps um some of our um more seasoned community members. Um and uh they don't have kids in the system. They might have a grandchild in the system. um at best. Um maybe they interact with community ed um but one of the things that they said with having no newspaper that was a huge a huge disconnect. Um, and we knew that, uh, you know, and I'm not, you know, I'm not advocating for against a newspaper, but they are the folks who probably still have a paper newspaper subscription at home to Star and Trib or whatever and sitting down with their coffee every Sunday morning and doing their thing, right? Like that's their tactical learning. They're not going to go to a website. they maybe they'll come out to a town hall because they were there um those last two times, but what's the modality that um they are going to connect to? We did a very intentional engagement, you know, in Prior Lake um to attract more of our senior communities last time around and it was a packed house and right afterwards it was bridge so we had a captive audience, right? Um they were there. Um it was great conversation. Um so those are the types of things that we're going to have to be mindful of that, you know, they may not have students in our schools, but one of the things that was also a common theme, and I'll own it because I know there's one that I would bring into the conversation, too, um is the value ad of a strong school system on the greatest equity investment you've probably made, and that's the purchase of a home. um or if you're renting, you know, the folks that might own that home to maintain and keep that property so that you can stay there as a renter, right? I mean, the value add in the interconnectedness between strong schools and home values is immeasurable. You go anywhere in this country and you'll find a direct correlation to that. So, if I don't have kids, but I do have a very important investment, my home, and I want to protect that investment, here's an opportunity. Um, so those are some of the things, Director Olstead, that I think really came out in my conversations. >> Well, on um on the receiving a pulse test, um we've heard from a couple directors. Is there director Mason? >> Yeah. Um, I mean, I think, uh, first I just want to say thank you to everyone that came to the sessions. I think, you know, we had pretty full rooms, which was fantastic. Um, >> and I think some great feedback. Um, you know, I think I sent this to you, too, and I just again go back to, yep, we had 150 people in here. That was great, but how do we reach the other 27,000 voters, right, in this district? So, I think it that will be a important thing for us to consider as we move through this process. But um I I mean I think this a lot of this feedback is pretty spot-on. I think the things that really stuck out to me and the things I hear constantly from teachers, parents, students, everybody is the class sizes. Um if there's one thing I would advocate for, it would be, you know, trying to get back to that pre December 24 um class size targets and potentially looking at middle school and and high school class size targets at least for core classes. Maybe. I know. um I don't think we have them. Um I think uh you know I I think that teacher retention goes hand inand with with class sizes. So um appreciate that comment too. Um I think you know some of these great feedback we could maybe leverage partnerships or um community partnerships specifically or just optimizing resources on on obtaining them. Um others we would need to do in house. So, um, you know, for me it's the reduced reduction of class sizes and reinstating the advanced en enrichment programming. Um, those would be the two key things. Um, and I did continue to hear over and over to just, you know, how our special education brings families here and what a great job they're doing in the inclusive programming. So, certainly continuing with with that as well. Um, but I think those were my key feedbacks. Oh, sorry, one more. The one thing I didn't see mentioned in this summary and I had read through all the details and just ran a little AI quickly too but um and I heard this at both tables I was at two different days was around the technology usage um and just um balancing that right the ask is to balance that somehow um so it seems like maybe there's an over reliance specifically at the middle and high school on technology so I guess that would be something I didn't really see called out in here that I heard quite a bit. >> The last bullet. >> Oh, thank you. Is it in here? >> Yeah, I guess. >> Is that what you're talking about? >> Yeah, I guess. Yeah, that kind of leads to that. Yep. >> Yep. >> Thank you, >> Director Johnson. >> Yeah, my my point is not so much towards the comments and more Dr. Thomas for you. I don't think we need to waste the uh extravagant amount of money to go out in a survey um that we did the last time. >> Oh no, that that's not this would be something in house >> that that okay >> that we would run not a >> I think we've came up with ideas in order to get surveys out there. I think we've came up with new ideas, right? Um i.e. targeting different different avenues, right, in order to get individuals from our community to to fill out surveys. I think we stick to that. >> Um, >> yeah. So, I want to be clear with the board. This is not going to be like a Morris Leman. >> This is going to be something that is organic that we construct, >> but it's based upon what we are hearing. um very local kind of that grassroots approach but trying to get to Director Mason's point um outside of what we just recently heard how do we get more to the more of the masses um and and get a good pulse test on that and I think we can construct that ourselves and then say yeah this is this validates what you all as a board feel um that you've been hearing andor yep it's these two things that we thought and this new thing that continually came up, you know, with with our community. And that's, Michael, what we want you to run a costing model against. But ultimately, what I'm asking the board is direction on what to cost out for a levy beyond an operating. Um, that's that's my ask of the board. Um, and and how you can guide that conversation. Um, because ultimately that will come to you for a decision. >> Dr. Thomas, will that um be that ask be coming again to a future study session? >> Um you know what, let me come. It would be so we would essentially what I was hoping tonight is to gather um perspective on that >> and if this is a direction from a pulse test, what are some of the things that we could come back to you and say, okay, based upon what you said, here's what we believe we would u bring out in terms of our own internal organic, you know, survey. um here's a timeline that we think that we could run it um based upon a rank order system if you will. We'll sol the top perspectives and themes from our community and then share that with you all in terms of how we would cost out then here's what here's what it would entail and then the board you would gauge yep that's something that we feel that we should go forward with or no we're going to scale that back and go a different direction but I'm looking for the board to kind of direct the parameters of that >> post can Yes. >> Um >> I don't know when your your one-on- ones with everyone is, but I would honestly um prefer to have this going faster, right? So we can gather as much data as possible. So um can we all could you throw something together and send it to everyone in an email >> so that we you could put something together for the study session, the upcoming study session? >> I I can do that. And I think just like what a couple of you are saying tonight I'm >> or via via one-on- ones >> and that as well. >> Director France, it is it is something I could do. >> Sorry. >> Yeah. >> Sorry, I didn't mean to. >> No, you're fine. All good. >> Okay, Director France, >> you know, we obviously we've done surveys before um and we've asked people and each time, you know, what do you want to see different? What do you want to see changed? You know, etc. What do you want to add? um class size has always been one of the key issues um as well as other things um that have that have gone on. But one of the themes that I hear every time and um not being able to look at it from an unbiased perspective because I've been sitting on the dis for so long, but um people when they're given a structured survey are trying to pigeon hole what their ideas are into one of the choices that we give them. and it's confusing. There's definitions, there's interpretations. Is there any way that we could do this in a phase to kind of throw out not really a blank sheet of paper because that's not necessarily going to get us everything either or at least even be able to be uh synthesized, but some think that's structured but allows an enough open comments so they can we can really gauge the pulse of the tens of thousands of people that do not make it to these uh town halls, which is the vast majority. ity of of people. Um because I'm not sure we've really gathered that because each time and all the years I've been living in this community and each time we go out there um when we do decide to go forward with a levy, whether it's a building bond or uh or an operational levy. Um there's just a plethora of different opinions that don't even synthesize with all the work that we had done for months ahead of time and we find ourselves kind of backpedaling. And yeah, there's a lot of other stuff going on and a lot of, you know, say no groups and all that kind of stuff that are kind of, you know, mudding the waters quite a bit. But um but really what it comes down to is exactly that issue with not understanding uh what's going on with the full 60% of our community not actually having kids in the district. >> Um so if there's a way that we can kind of throw out a more highlevel question before we narrowed it down, I think that's going to help us quite a bit actually. also speak in the language and change our framework so that we're talking in the language of the average community member. >> I I I agree. And um I'm also mindful of if we're believe it or not, if this is a conversation that the board wants to entertain, November is right around the corner. >> I know that. And and so um I I think blending both, you know, you and Directors Johnson, like is there a way that we can kind of speed things up? >> Yeah. >> But also give openness to a blank slate. Um you know, so where do we meet in the middle on that, you know, to to get some additional feedback? Um, I would wage to say and and I know not every board director has spoken, but the most recent town halls and the strategic planning engagement sessions, I heard very parallel themes. >> Yeah, >> very parallel themes. Um, but that's just me and >> and we've heard parallel themes last time, too. >> Right. So I'm just trying that you have enough data already. >> No, actually because of that concept of >> you know when I was there I saw I was very grateful to see some new faces. However, I saw a lot of the same faces too that have come to every single other one and they all tend to come kind of with the agenda. They're either pro or con or blah blah blah blah blah. Um, I was grateful to see the new faces, but again, banking it on the town hall is as much as valuable as it was, um, we're not even scratching the surface of a population sample. >> So, so no, I get that. So what I'm saying, Director France, is versus versus essentially starting with a blank slate communitywide, we have enough survey data from whether it's our stutter data, whether it's the Morris Leatherman survey data from a year and a half ago, whether it's this town hall data, we've got a plethora of data that was some guided, some open. Um, strategic plan very, very open, extremely open. blank slates. Um, this these last three were open. Morris Leman, as you know, very structured. Um, so I'm I guess I'm asking given what Director France is saying, which makes sense. Do do we take that approach? Do does the board want to take that blank slate kind of approach to open up a new data set or do you want to look at existing data sets to to combine? And and I guess that's more the question I'm asking of you all. >> Can I just add something too because even in the previous ones we also had very structured questions y >> with four or five. Do you agree or do you not agree that sort of thing and we kind of led >> the the the the survey >> doer into that? >> Um isn't there any way that we can very and and also the other thing that I want to add from the previous years and I've seen this happen every year. we've gone through a November uh referendum and that's at we end up sending these surveys out around spring break and we make the deliverable date right after spring break which isn't usually the best timing but we have to do it just because um is there any way we could throw out something even online on the website that you could advertise that just say listen what would cause you to want to let's say you know what is what is the in what is the one incentive that's going to help you in, you know, invest in our schools and leave it up to them to write it out because I think that the the responses may be the same that we've seen, but I'm guessing you're going to find some nuances in there that are really going to kind of help use the language of the people in in our favor. >> Y it's doable. >> Sorry, I didn't mean to monopolize the time. Chair Bullion, >> Director Alston. >> Um, yes. And, um, I think with all of the data sets, I, you know, we mentioned, you know, the town halls, the strategic planning process, the Morris Leatherman surveys, um, heck, we might get some really good information out of the survey we have out now, correct, as well. Um, I I want to be, um, careful that we're not entering analysis paralysis. Um I I look at this list and I don't see any surprises. Um a couple of things are already on our board priorities um that we laid out. Um and so I think that is a very that that suggestion I think is an easy I say that not being the web builder. >> Um but I think an easy way to ask one open-ended question as one way to get a little bit more data. Um, and I think maybe between the seven of us, I think maybe we can um, also not trying to create any work, but maybe give Chair Bullan our top three. Like maybe from this list, the key challenges identified, what would you say your top three is? And then by the time she gets everybody's, you know, we can kind of rank them, if you will. Um, bring it back to maybe a study session or something like that. Um, I just want to be careful that yes, I want a lot of the information. I want to make sure that we're hearing from people because you're right. I think both of you said, you know, town halls, it was amazing and I was also very glad to see a lot of new faces, but it's certainly not a representation of our community. So, I want to make sure that yes, we're hearing from as many people as we possibly can, but I don't want to delay either the process because we've got some really yucky decisions to make. And I'd like to start down that path. As much as I don't want to start down that path, I just don't want to get paralyzed by so much data that it it ends up causing confusion. And we've already got a survey out right now that we really want people to take. So, and I realize those are families of our district. So, it's not, you know, not all voters or anything um or people don't have children in our um district, but um so I just I don't want to confuse people either. So, if there's maybe a happy medium to ask one open-ended question, I think that's fair >> because we might learn we might learn some surprises or we might hear the exact same things. And can't say we didn't try to, you know, utilize all all angles and all channels and all the things to try to get some feedback. >> Director Johnson, >> can I kind of merge and with Director Francis? Um I think a very short easy three question. Do do you want a levy? Yes or no? How much would you support adding right with four or five? Kind of like the Morris Leatherman. And what's your more most important issue? Leave it blank. Short, simple, to the point, right? >> I like it. I think the do you want to love yes or no? I think is >> right. little >> someone can someone can someone can word >> read into that and >> right hopefully the point's getting across short sweet to the point >> no I think we can word smith that and I would agree with that like you said we' we'd have to think about the language being used but >> um make sure the open-ended question allows them to put as many points they want and not just one right >> because then you're going to get a really >> probably >> my biggest point is >> the goal is to get one passed and we're not going to No, unless we give a dollar value and that's something no one here has talked about >> and is not on right where's the dollar value >> that's what we really want to know >> there's there's one in Morris Leatherman I'm I get that >> but yeah so so um you know if we and I will say thinking back to the Morris Leatherman survey there there was open-ended endedness is that a word to that survey. Um it wasn't all uh scripted and structured from the what we did. Um might be a little bit different what he does across the state. Um so that data is still accessible. Um but yes, a very short brief three question kind of deal quick and easy for families perhaps. Um timing wise given where we're at with stutter coming to a close and just us culminating all of that. Um we would be looking at targeting after spring break um probably midappril that we would push something out for about a week or so um and and see if you can gather you know additional feedback from the community at large um then anchor that with the most recent stakeholder feedback from um stutter as well. I think you'll have ample data as a as a board to make some decisions as to how you'd want to proceed forward and say these are the things that we're hearing from our community. These are in our top box student language and that's that's what we're going to that's Michael what we want you to cost out >> because ultimately it's going down like what's the what's the price tag? >> Yep. and and and that's what I'm trying to get us towards in terms of our engagement with our community so they know if this is the ideal state, this is what it will cost us. And that's what we talked about in our town halls. We know the blueprint for doing the full remodel and addition is this. Now, will we how how might we chunk this out? Can I can I just make a So >> when when it doesn't matter if somebody's only paying $5 a month or they're paying $100 a month. >> Um they're still going to want the Cadillac for the price of of >> Yeah. >> But I I think our reality is, you know, the numbers are the numbers and and if if this is what the community is looking for, then this is what the ask would would be. And and I people's, you know, budget for what what they want if they want a $5 Cadillac versus a >> and I get that, but we need to have when before we put that >> open-ended statement out there, we need to have a narrative out there >> that basically states um because if if we get enough money to tread water, they're going to say, "I'm not going to give you more money because I didn't see any benefit to it. You just stayed open." >> Yeah. >> And and that's kind of what happened last time >> is that there was two rates. one was we're going to tread water. We make no changes. We can't improve anything. And matter of fact, if we have um that blip in the economy or something like that, then we're still going to have to make a lot of these cuts >> and you're going to have your average Joe who as as as um as director Olad pointed out, not understand the language of school finance >> and then be upset. So, we have to figure out and I would look to the wonderful >> sch smoozing way that the writers do here >> um to kind of make sure we lay that foundation of the narrative >> and I think that that would help when they also answer the question. >> Going back to the pulse test, um director uh Smith, do you have anything that you wanted to share? >> I can. Yeah, >> we haven't heard from you yet and I have a couple things that I'd like to share, but I want all of you to have opportunity first. >> Um, no, I mean I to just briefly say >> I agree with uh Director Johnson. I mean, very short, very brief, and it's been said around the table, but I mean what we want to know is would you support a levy at what amount and what's your biggest priority? I mean, I and I agree with hearing everything about, you know, the narrative and making sure that people underschool understand school finance and there's a lot that's going to go into this and I I totally get that. But what I'd really like to know is given everything that's happened over the last couple of years in terms of and we would have ended up cutting anyway, but we're um you know, possibly not as much if the last levy had passed. So given some of these discussions that the board has been having, given some of the decisions that we've had to make as a district, a dis district district, given the fact that these town halls painted a very real picture of being in statutory operating debt in 2028, um you know, maybe that has changed the community's view on would I support a levy. So I mean like getting to the root of it, would you support a levy? what's the amount that's going to help us understand, you know, like what is that price tag like if we want those things that we wanted to either bring back or class sizes or interventions or whatever it is. Um it'll give us an idea of what might be possible in a levy. So, I mean I I agree. I think it's it's a very short simple um yes amount and then outlining what the what the priorities are. Well, I think we've received a lot of great feedback. I appreciate the the synthesizing ability, Director Johnson, um of the three uh things, but when I listen to Dr. Thomas, your first your initial ask is um the pulse test. um you know, gathering feedback from the board, asking what are um top things so that you're not you and your team aren't costing out things that aren't um you know, when I think back to um whether it be the last levy or the strategic planning and these most recent town halls, um I think the overall I think like to Director France's um comments. Last time with the levy, you had um was it two different amounts or three different amounts that we chose? >> Two. >> There were three in the beginning. >> Three in the beginning during the town halls, right? And >> town halls. I'm sorry. And so you had you had stated at those town halls time after time that um you know the reason why we went for the $45 was because we it we weren't you wouldn't be able to give us anything. We would just be remaining the same. And you um I feel like you use the word ethically. I'm not sure if that's the word you but like ethically you didn't want to go for a levy that didn't offer anything. I said I would feel disingenuous to say disingenuous let's raise your taxes with nothing in return outside of you know I mean >> so you know when I think about like this pulse test um I think about however we can be as clear as possible now we're always going to have feedback that not enough people were were you know knew about it we're always going to have feedback that um things weren't as clear as some would like them to be but but keeping that super top of mind that being extremely clear on what the levy will bring and I I would say for my pulse test would be um not cutting programs. You you mentioned um two uh discussions that are even now hard discussions taking that are taking place. um looking at things that will possibly be cut if nothing changes in our district. And so when I think about um when you're asking what is the pulse, what are things that we don't want to do? I mean, we don't want to cut any more programs from what we've already cut. And so, um, tying that with your feedback from the last levy town halls, right? Like we have to be at this amount to even do this. I think where we are at as a district right now, the programming that we have in in in place, um the the class sizes, you know, we that's kind of been our our um board goals is not to increase class sizes. And so, uh we already know that they're at places in some classrooms that we wouldn't like them to, you know, that we'd like to lower them. So, um, that's my I guess I don't know if that's as clear as mud, but that's kind of my pulse is that we are as clear as possible. Um, and that we we are being mindful not to cut any programming that we any additional programming. You you mentioned immersion at the middle school and minaps at the high school is a discussion that is in the foreseeable future if not already starting. And so unless I heard you wrong and I wrote my notes wrong. >> Yeah. So I'm I'm talking about Yeah. I'm I'm referencing the levy conversation from before. Those were the two carryover items that we said we were going to need to address if that levy didn't pass and we've been holding on to it. >> In this current cycle of budget reductions that we're in, we will be um cutting programs. We will be cutting supports. I mean, we will be cutting, but moving forward >> in the future >> to prevent that. >> I I I think I'm hearing from the board. I you know, and and I think we're getting there in different ways, >> but to to pulse test on what does our what would our community support? I actually appreciate the brevity of the three questions and kind of Dustin or Director Smith how you kind of reframed a couple of things from Director Johnson as well. I think it's something in that that space. Those are the three quick points that could give us um potentially a lot of unique new information um that really speaks to what the community is looking for. Um, I think you can then triangulate that with a couple of other big data sources that we already have um to kind of check against that. So, I think we'll get that pulse test to say this is what the community is looking for or here are the top things that the community is looking for. Um, so again, I think from a timing standpoint, um, I would like to go back to the team tomorrow to talk a little bit about this conversation more on what could that look like and then perhaps give an update at the 23rd study session. If I got my date right, m March March 23rd um study session to say um based upon the feedback um this is approach that we think would get us the outcome that the board was coalesing around tonight. >> Just a a question on what you mean by pulse test. Like I kind of took that as like giving some giving some examples for like different ranges. So I agree with keeping it brief, but I also like the approach of like saying, >> you know, for $45 here's what the three things you get. >> Maintaining programs, >> reducing class, whatever that is. >> And then for $30, here's what you get. You know what I mean? And then I hear you. So So that's that's where I started. >> Yeah. conversation shifted tonight that okay so >> I kind of like that approach because I do we have so much data and feedback >> I I I concur but um I'm looking to the will of the board not not what Michael wants to do um and and so if if the will of the board is to lead a little bit based upon the data that we know um we could certainly try to do that with a couple of scenarios and then keep it open at the very end as well. So, if we're looking at um would you support a levy? Um if yes, here are three different scenarios. If none of these scenarios, what would you like to see? you know, is something to we we obviously word smmith that to make it make sense. >> I I think it only has to, as much as I appreciate what you said as as laying it out that way, remember they're going our community is going to go to the polls and they're going to see a dollar sign, right? They're not going to see the flyer, right, that the school board and the school system and every member of the community who's going to go out there and try and work to get the levy passed, right, has been going out there. They're going to walk into the poll and they're going to see a dollar sign. So, if we ask the question, you have to ask the question with only the dollar sign, no other data data behind it. Like that that's that would be for me, right? If you're going to ask it, you ask give give five things, right? Or or four, right? 15, 30, 45, 60, how however it is. That would be that's mine because that's the realest you're going to get is what they're going to choose because nobody that's what you're not going to know, right? And you're going to ask the question. >> So, can I ask something with that? >> Just my opinion. >> I didn't mean to interrupt. >> Nope. Um, reducing class sizes is incredibly expensive. >> Incredibly expensive. >> About a million bucks per student, K12. >> Yep. >> Again, I think the ask >> So, if you start putting dollar values out there, nobody's going to walk into a store and say, "Just give me a hundred bucks, but I'm not going to tell you what you're going to get." And if we don't know what they want, we don't know how to create the product. >> So, we're kind of right now in a catch 22. Mhm. >> Um, I like the idea of just putting a dollar amount out there like a options of what are you willing to spend and then leaving it open again, but I think we already kind of talked about that. I just want to be really careful that if a lot of that if everyone in the community says we want you to reopen the pool and reduce class sizes >> and then they say we're only willing to spend $15 a month. >> Yeah. That's >> then we've got how do we go back and communicate that to to the district? So I think that that's what I would like to see the administration kind of noodle around. >> And again, my goal with also leaving the open is to understand the lexicon that our community is using, not the language we use, but where the way they're interpreting it because that's going to help us actually develop a campaign. >> Well, and and I think Yeah. So I um I I think I have enough to go back and have a good conversation with the team. Um, I I'll I'll close with this one parting thought, and this was part of our last campaign. In our current conversations today, in our most recent town halls, um, our our maximum revenue generation was around 7 mil and that would last us about three years. So I I I just kind of like for the board do do the math. So if we're looking for a 10-year levy, roughly three times that is what 10 years buys us, right? So that could be and this is real back of the napkin math. So I I just you I'm just having the conversation. But if if if 7 mil buys us 3 years, you know, 21 million is the ballpark to to to take us out to to 10 years or so. And and that's general operating and builtin 3 mil reductions every single year. And that's >> and and and so I just so the p and this goes back to your point director France about I want a Cadillac for a $5 car payment a month. >> So >> but that's the feedback that we actually got and that beca that was because what we found out as as we went through the years people I didn't know you had to cut that. What do you mean you got to cut this? The whole bit >> is that the understanding of the financials wasn't there >> and and and they were going you asked for too much. Well, if I'd only asked for this, we'd still be making these cuts. >> Yeah. >> And then they'd come back literally and say, "Well, I didn't gain anything, so why should I give you any more money because I saw no improvements?" And that's the narrative that really needs to come up on the front of this. >> And and and I'll just So, so going back to Director Johnson's point about a number, even with context, sticker shock is a real thing, right? So, so we're we're mindful of that. And and so that's that's the fine line that we're walking here. And this goes back to some conversations that we were having as well about um the operating conversation and with the bonds coming off does that get converted to supplement the reduction. So, um, in theory, we would have, you know, bond payments that are no longer they're all paid off that could get converted into almost the equivalent of what we are projecting to make a cut. So, we can actually realize the levy that comes in, right? So these are the things that you know as as a board as a community you know that we've been sharing with you all and again trying to gauge what's the appetite what's the will that you want us to go forward with um based upon you know you all being uh duly elected uh representatives of of our community. That's that's what I'm looking for. That's what I want to make sure that we can come back with uh you know to you all um in terms of a a survey of sorts. So I I think I have enough to come back to you all on the 23rd with kind of an approach as probably well as some cleaner nonback of the napkin um costing of some scenarios that might make sense to pulse test and keep some openness to to your point Director France. Yeah. I mean, I like that approach. I think that costing these scenarios is important because I think that's, you know, if it's going to cost us $100 a month to reduce class sizes, people need to know that, right? >> Exactly. >> I mean, exactly. >> It's worth the exercise. >> Okay. >> Good. Thank you. >> All right. Next up on the agenda, >> policy. Uh we are in second and final reading of um a few policies tonight. they've been reviewed and read prior to this. Um, we can uh go policy by policy or h however you'd like to take us through this, Director >> Coern. >> Okay, we'll start out with policy 101.1. >> You want 101 or do you want 101.1? Oh, I want 101. I'm not going to do that to you. Thank you. >> Yeah. So went through last time uh the draft of of policy 101 and uh at that point in time um this is now the second reading and we went through the changes that we made in regards to either aligning those to MSBA or any sort of clerical nature ones or the any sort of policy committee recommendations. >> What I want to do actually is I want to take a motion and a second. I want to get a motion and a second to pass pass these and then we'll go through one by one. Thank you. >> Can I get a motion and a second? Thank you. >> Second. >> All right. Now, with that being said, um does anybody have any discussion points on um the changes that are in red in our packet? Hearing none >> in 101. >> 101. >> Okay. >> Okay. >> 101.1. Same thing we made uh some uh changes either that were aligning to the MSBA or some clerical and nature ones and also the recommendations uh from the policy uh committee in regards to the legal references and cross references. >> Any discussion or comments on 101.1? Okay. Hearing none, we'll go on to 10. >> Are we going to vote on 101.1 and then 101.1? I thought we could take I took a motion and a second for all of them. >> Okay. >> I mean, yeah. I mean, probably eventually if one gets sent back potentially, then you would probably have to vote on them >> individually. >> Individually. >> Well, hopefully we'll get hopefully we'll do it, but we'll see what how it goes. >> Okay, sounds good. uh 104. Uh there was some once again some changes in regards to that as well as some of the discussion around the board table um to make some uh changes in regards to the review uh where we struck out uh two put in three uh along with some other uh language that's in your board packet and then in regards up in the district mission um is to we updated that to our to our current mission. >> All right. 104. >> Yeah. you know. Um, so when 104 came up last time, I was kind of shocked it actually came up, but I figured, okay, we'll try to manipulate it so it matches the strategic plan and where it needs to be. And the more I thought about it and the more I looked at all the other districts that actually dropped it, which is the vast majority of them in the state, um, it's because they have a strategic plan. They no longer have a mission. And the one that was pulled up, like many other MSBA templates, um, this one probably makes the least amount of sense. It's the 1977 template. As I realized, it hadn't been changed since then. Um, and the vast majority of the districts have completely rewritten it or dropped it completely. Um whereas it's somewhat benign, it really doesn't make any sense because again like I stated last time. Um the MSBA is like some of those templates are like going to Google and asking for an HR policy or something. You don't take them as they are. You modify them. Um as the majority of other districts have done um or gotten rid of them. Um, so, um, I'm actually going to ask that we either drop this one completely, um, or adjust it so it's actually for our strategic plan. Um, cuz it makes no sense. We're never going to review the mission. Uh, the language that was put in there last time that I was still struggling with was about the school board reviewing it. It's a 100 policy. It's not a 200 policy. So the school board and using the training of every couple of years when we change boards, none of that made any sense. And so I didn't have it with me, but I like I said, I was surprised that it was even kept. But I did f I did look at every other uh um uh district and found that only two of them still have it and they're highly modified. Um, and of this, like I said, the two that have it, they actually stated their strategic plan and mission statement in there. They did not um, ever keep it. Matter of fact, there's I didn't find one that kept the 1977 model that that was pulled up there. Um, so I would suggest that we actually just drop this one from the list and then see if we want instead of the mission plan that was originally done there before school districts went with a much more robust uh method um that we actually change it and put our strategic plan in there and say we're going to re you know the as a district because the 100 uh policies if we stick with what the MSBA wants not what other school districts have actually done which is getting rid of a lot of the 100 ones in general but actually say okay if they're going to be district as a whole then we put in there the strategic plan it's reviewed every 5 to seven years um and I do have the list of of uh districts that I looked at here and everything like that like I said I have a hard time finding any district that used this this core template matter of fact I didn't find one uh in our immediate Twin Cities area and the one that I did was in outstate Innesota and they hadn't updated their policies in over 20 years. So, >> okay. So, that being said, Director France, your suggestion, I think we need to get the will of the board on, um, whether >> do we need an amendment? >> Well, um, >> yeah, >> a motion to amend the motion. >> Yeah, I think so. >> That's my favorite. Robert's thankfully our student rep is okay. We can we can do that. >> Yeah, exactly. We can make an amendment to the motion um to take out the amend. Help me to help me with the amendment. >> I I would like to amend the original motion to only include uh 101 and 101.1. >> Okay, does that make sense? >> It does. >> Okay. So I we can amend that motion, but then what do I have to do next? >> We just need a first and a second and then you vote on it and if it doesn't make it, then we go back to the original. >> Okay. So can I get a first and a second for the amended motion of approving policy 101 and 101.1? >> So maybe >> the motion. >> Okay. >> Did I get a second though? >> Yes, you Yes, you did. I director Olset. So this is excuse me an amended motion and please all in favor of the amended motion say I. >> Well I >> don't we need to discuss. >> Oh do we need discussion? >> Yeah. >> You want to discuss cuz nobody else. >> Okay. >> Let's have discussion. Discussion on the amended motion of removing policy 104. >> We the district mission is the mission in the strategic plan. Is it not director Cthorne? Didn't we change it to to match that? >> Yep. >> So, it's there and then we've I mean we've already hash this out and then we as a board can change our strategic plan how we want. If we wanted to change it every year, we could. It's I mean this broadens our scope to when we want to do it uh and says whenever we can. We're we're just I don't see any issues with it. We we've already gone through this. Uh I think this is the second reading. Um I think the the way that it's it's written, everyone um got a little bit of everything within here that they were very pleased with, especially the every three years or when school board members change. Um but the biggest thing was this is I think you hit on this was the district mission which is exactly from the strategic plan. >> Um >> so I guess my question and director Catherine I'm going to lean on you and your expertise because I mean yes we've heard that other districts do not have this. Director France pointed out that there's a couple that that do. Um, I am particularly interested in what your opinion is because this is we're talking about our district and whether or not you feel like this is an accurate reflection of what we intend to do with this policy. Um, I mean, if it is the mission and and you feel like that is coming from the strategic plan, then I'm I'm fine with it as it is, but if if you have thoughts that you would like to share, I'd be open to hearing them. >> Yeah. I mean, just looking at MSBA, you know, once again, it looks like they originally wrote it in 1997. Um, and their last revision was in 2024, and that revision was just, um, a couple date changes and things like that. So, to Director France's point, I mean, yes, it is an older policy that MSBA has had around since 1997. Uh, with that said, once again, I think just being on the policy committee for this very short period of time, I think there's been two consistent themes with the policy committee. One is that they want to try to, you know, uh, take what MSBA has out there and try to adopt it the best way that we can towards our policies and what Prior League wants to do. Um and the second one is that um you know there's a lot of you know asks it's kind of gone back and forth to you know do we just want to mirror everything or do we want to kind of make it our own and I think um with this mission policy um you know when we talked about it at the policy committee uh once again uh did not necessarily have the history um that you know some of the districts have moved away from and stuff like that. But I do feel that the committee felt value in the policy um saw value in having the district's mission statement out there um and understanding that it's in the strategic plan. But once again, I just think um that's where some of the recommendations to cross reference the the strategic plan was to put that into this policy to then reference that. So from the committee standpoint, I I believe that they felt value in the policy. Um, and once again, I mean, it's, you know, been reviewed every, you know, on the cycle now, um, as it should, and the last time it was reviewed in 2023, and there was, um, I understand there was some conversation about holding off at that point in time. Um, in in regards to that, but once again, I can only speak to what the current policy committee is is feeling and and they fed they felt value in having this policy, >> right? Can I respond to that? Um, the policy was created 1977 because I called the MSBA and 1997 is the first time that they actually put a binder together. So, it's one of their earlier policies and when they reviewed it last year, they basically didn't make any changes. Um, or the two years ago or whatever. Um, and um, it was put out there as a template for people who do it. Now, we have a vision, a mission, a mission, and a plan. And the reason why the vast majority of other districts stopped using it is because you cannot separate out the mission from the vision and the plan. And with all due respect, even Rochester um made some significant changes to theirs. Um and actually reposted that um in there. Um, and that was the primary reason we talked about it in 2023 and we just decided to just leave it alone because we knew we were going into and there was already talk about getting a strategic planning committee and everything like that. So, we didn't want to try to usurp that. Um, and um, and again, this isn't the hill I want to die on. But the thing is is that the board should never if we make a commitment to the community that we are going to have a community uh do the strategic plan, we shouldn't put language in there that allows us to change even only the mission and not the vision or the strategic plan. Um that would be a that would cause distrust with the community. Um and second of all, again, it's a template. All the MSBA policy chapters are templates for the most part. Um, they've got tons of them out there that we don't use. Um, and um, like I said, um, you don't go to the web and grab a corporate policy and just use it verbatim. It's put out there as a template. Um, so, um, I just wanted to to say that yes, it was 1977 because I was shocked at that, too. I was really shocked when I when I called and asked for the history of it. Um so >> okay I think I think that we we hear the point and um if we are to is there any other discussion regarding this amended motion otherwise I'm going to ask for a vote on it? No other discussion. Okay. So all in favor of the amended motion of only uh of approving um 101 and 101.1 say I. >> I. >> I. >> And those opposed say nay. >> Nay. >> Nay. >> And so that amended motion fails. Um 24 or 42. Um 42. Uh so then we will go back to the original motion. Um if there's no other discussion, we'll go back to the uh original motion of approving policies 101, 101.1, and 104. >> All in favor say I. Discussion. Sorry, discussion. >> Sorry, I just wanted to add I'm I'm okay with this policy uh 104. Um I also I I wasn't here for the last discussion. Um but I remember at the time it stuck out stuck out stood out um to me as well in terms of the mission is included in the strategic plan. So it feels weird to review and possibly revise a mission statement without you know every three years and again like with the because school board members changed that just personally didn't make any sense to me. Um and then the mission is part of the strategic plan. So I I'll I don't have a problem with the the the policy. It's just that that was a concern I had. Um so I just wanted to put that on the record. >> Very good. Any other discussion? I guess I mean is it just the first sentence under the review that you feel like is because I do I personally like that we have a policy that states our mission and I do like that in the policy or that we have a policy saying we'd conduct comprehensive review of the strategic plan every five to seven years because I'm not sure that exists elsewhere for us to do that. >> So I think that's important. However, I'm not opposed to just striking the first sentence under review if that's how we would like to amend. >> And and I I I agree with reviewing the strategic plan every five. I I think it's it's the first I think it's even just the heading of the of the policy school district mission statement. Can we change that to school district strategic plan? Because really it's we're talking about all of it because you can't really amend a mission separate from a strategic plan. I guess that's where I'm getting caught on it. Does that make sense? >> Yeah. >> So, I mean I >> on this on the strat plan I'm sorry I didn't I didn't mean to interrupt. Go for it. >> Um it's just it is the mission on the strat plan. >> No, it is but like we did the mission, the vision and the strat plan all together. Like I look at the mission and the and the vision statement as part of the strategic plan. So taking a mission out of it and reviewing that and possibly revising it. I mean, because reviewing it doesn't necessarily mean you revise it either, but just taking that out of something that was done as a whole is is is weird to me. So, I just I wonder if it's like school district strategic plan. And then I feel like that gives us a little bit more flexibility in this policy. And then I think I would be and I think it's that first sentence that just >> so could we just say if you want to cross strike out that first sentence and the second sentence could we just have it read the school board will conduct a comprehensive review or revision of the strategic plan which this mission is a part of including the beliefs and values in the community every 5 to seven years. >> Yeah. Yeah. Something Yeah. Well, I I you know, one of my first asks was why don't we just make it the school district strategic plan, >> right? >> I mean, that that makes more sense. Um, and by the way, we've never really had a singular mission statement ever. We've never actually used this policy um per se. And um if we just said school district strategic plan, which is what a lot of other districts, matter of fact, the vast majority of them have done, they've created like a 105 instead instead of conflicting with a number from the MSBA. But um that actually that was my initial issue with it. That was our issue last time and as I was issue the time before that, um at this board um to just get it done and get it done right. Um, the other thing is is that I would like to um stay true to the process of the strategic plan and say that the board is not going to override, you know, if we're going to review it five or seven years, we're not going to override what the community put into place and actually go through the the full process. But gosh, at least let's change the title. So, if I'm capturing what everyone is saying, um, if we change the policy name, and Director Colearn, will you please I got it. Um uh if we change the name of the policy to say school district strategic plan and then down under section 4, if we removed the first sentence and just leave the sentence, the school board will conduct a comprehensive review or revision of the strategic strategic plan including the beliefs and values of the community every 5 to seven years. Um does that capture? Yes. Can we >> I think that's great. >> I think solid. >> Okay. Could we say instead of review because again the the slip last time was review and revise. What if provide will will provide oversight? >> The school board will conduct >> I got to open my larger. I can't see it. >> Um so we're on the second sentence. >> Yeah. The school board will conduct a compreh comprehensive review or revision of the strategic plan including the beliefs and values and typically the strategic plan is is reviewed that in that cadence and this >> that is correct in three to five years. Absolutely. Yes. So >> I mean five to seven years actually. >> Yes. So, I I personally don't see any issue with leaving the second sentence intact. I think it creates less confusion for us. Um, if we just remove the first sentence and um change the name to school district strategic plan, but I want to get consensus. >> I concur. >> Would you like me to make a motion to >> do it? I like that. >> Can we just pass it? Can we just vote on it with those? >> We can with with those adjustments. >> It's a substantive change. I would recommend a motion. >> I recommend a motion. Yeah. >> Okay. So, I'll make a motion to approve these policies with the revisions to policy 104, changing the title to school district strategic plan and striking the first sentence under section 4. >> We have a a motion. Can I get a second? You also need to make a change to um the strategic plan instead of the mission statement should be adopted under section 3. >> That wasn't part of No, that was >> made exactly like the chair said and I will second that motion. >> Okay. Because now you're you got two different words in there and one of them isn't even defined anymore. So that's just >> Okay. What do you mean? >> Okay. What what just happened? The first sentence under general statement of policy still has the mission in there. >> We weren't talking up there. >> Oh, I know. But I'm just saying make it consistent in the lexicon. >> Yeah. No, she's Yeah, exactly. So, this under under two, the schoolboard believes that a strategic plan should be adopted to match our title. >> So, that's actually a good catch. So, I think because this before was about the mission statement, this should just be >> make an amendment to the amendment. Well, she just restated the original. She never got a second. >> We've already got I mean, we we're so far gone here. >> I would like to make a motion to approve 101 and 101.1 as is and modify 104 with the title stating school district strategic plan. Also replacing the word mission in section two with strategic plan >> three, >> three times, right? and striking the first sentence of section four. >> And do I have a second? >> Okay, >> me too. >> Everybody second. >> Uncle, >> thanks. >> Um, sorry. >> All in favor? >> I >> I >> opposed. Thanks, guys. That's great. >> Okay, >> I've been studying Robert's rules, but come on now. This is just this is too much. >> That was great. >> Moving on. That was that was a that was great. Moving on to administrative reports. Um directors, >> any administrative reports? >> Yes. Thank you very much. Um, so as you uh approve the consent agenda, I'm sure that you uh notice in our uh district retirement sections that we have a a lot of retirements and uh a lot of folks that have put in a lot of years of service with Prior League Savage Public Schools. Uh many of them, you know, in that 15 plus years, 20 plus years, 25 plus years. Um and there's a couple um that I wanted to recognize in regards to that. First one, um, Deborah Perezic. Uh, she was the Westwood child nutrition manager of 32 years of service with PLSAS. And this is, uh, from director Malone. Uh, Deborah started as a cashier at Hidden Oaks back when we used tickets for payment. >> She was there for 4 years and then she went to Westwood to be the assistant manager and has been there ever since. When she first started at Westwood, it was only K through three and we didn't feed kindergarteners. She has seen it grow to a K5, then added preK, and at one point we added a whole school for her to feed when Loadal was housed at Edgewood. In retirement, she plans to do some traveling and enjoy her free time. Thank you, Deborah. The second one, selfishly, I hate to share a bittersweet moment for our HR HR and payroll team as I announced the retirement of our benefits specialist, Terry Shane Bower. Um, and here's what our HR and payroll team has to say about Terry. Terry's been much more than our benefits expert. She's always been the first person we turn to when we need to understand how we got here. Terry is the only benefits person for the whole district, was dedicated to helping every employee here at PLSAS navigate the tricky waters of understanding our benefits. That wealth of history is only matched by the compassion she shows to everyone she interacts with every single day. Terry truly puts the human and human resources. We are thrilled to see her head off into a well-deserved neap next chapter. The office is going to miss her compassionate and nurturing attitude that she would bring to work with her every day. We want to wish her the very best and thank her for her 16 years of dedicated service. Thank you. >> Thank you. I' I'd like to just say for the um retirees um thank you and I I I think that the best is yet to come, right? We thank you for all your service, but the best is yet to come. Any other administrative reports? Okay. Uh what's next? Student rep. >> Hello everybody. Um thank you again for having me here today to fill in as Obie. Um I have a couple of updates of things that have been going around in the high school um over the past month of February. Um for academic updates, uh students third through 10th grade are preparing for their upcoming MCA testing. Um a huge appreciation towards the teachers efforts to align instruction with the new state standards. Um and then juniors are preparing for their ACT next month, which and there's also a practice ACT coming up this Saturday at the high school. So, um I believe that testing date is April 15th. Um, our MENCAPS program at the high school has continued their work on real world applications. Specifically, our trades program had the opportunity to go to HTC Brooklyn Park campus and our healthcare pathway visited McKenna Crossing and played bingo with the residents. So, that's a little fun update um from Minaps, which I notice in in in the school environment that a lot of students are are really appreciating that that curriculum. A lot of students are really really loving uh the implementation of Minaps. Um I've only heard good things about the the teachers as well. So um yeah, students seem to be really enjoying it especially at the high school. Now um in regards to arts, uh huge congratulations to the wind ensemble for their recent performance on February 27th and all students that participated in the all district band concert on March 2nd. These events uh again showcase the immense talent within our music behind our music uh department. Um and our anthem team captains which is a team where we sing national anthems at our school sponsored events and other events. Uh they sang at the wrestling state tournament last week. um which was a big big deal for the choir program as we didn't really have a big anthem team program last year and it was a really really great opportunity this year for our anthem anthem team to sing this year at the wrestling state tournament. Um our choir trip is preparing uh for their trip to Ireland over spring break. Um and it's super super exciting. We just had our u meeting overlooking on where we're going to go and what our itinerary is looking like. And um I'm going to say that I'm excited cuz I'm going to be attending. But um a huge props to Hani for their their amazing organization and all the work that they've put into organizing this wonderful e educational opportunity for for students. Um in regards to athletics, um come support our basketball team this Friday at home. They're playing their final section uh their section finals at 700 p.m. and they'll be facing Chaza. Uh big a big congratulations to themselves for their huge season by winning South Suburban Conference for the first time in school history. Uh another huge congratulations to the Laker gymnastics team for their impressive showing at the state tournament. The program demonstrated their incredible depth this year with four individual athletes placing in the top 10 of their respective events. Um the boys swim team capped up an elite season by finishing fourth overall in state which is really really good. Um, in addition to this podium finish, the team set uh a new benchmark for the program by breaking multiple school records um at the state meet. Um, a couple of uh students were recognized for their contribution to the swim um team this year. Um, and as we're moving forward into our spring athletic season, captain's practices are officially underway. um athletes I can see are going back to the gyms in the school and they're preparing for for all their spring sports. Um in regards to the activities that are going on at the high school, um DECA, our business um activity that we have at our school for students that are interested in in in a future business pathway. Um a huge congratulations to our 25 DECA members who represented Prior Lake at the state competition last weekend. Uh we're especially proud to announce that four of our members have qualified for the inter international career development conference um which will be hosted in Orlando and they will be competing at the national level in a few weeks which is amazing to see. Mock trial um our mock trial program demonstrated ex exceptional um performance um this year and this past weekend. A huge shout out to our second highest varsity team, team white, um which went to state this year. Uh we saw two individual members earn uh big uh awards uh all state honors. Uh Katarina von Schmidt and Rachel Vegd Doll. Um congrats to them for both being attorney, all state attorney and all state witness. Um Prior Lake High School placed 13th overall. um which is still a big accomplishment because it's 13th out of the hundreds of mock trial programs that are in this state. Um our speech team on February 26th, our speech team hosted a big showcase at the high school. I attended this showcase and I thought it was an incredible um uh display of the talent that all these kids um have. And I got to see Miss Olstead's kid perform. Uh, sorry. I got to see Miss Olsson >> perform. Um, uh, Kenzie and I was just brought back by the incredible talent that our speech kids have. Um, this event was just a wonderful platform for our community to come out and view what all these students are are attending every single Saturday and spending their times with. Um, and again, we keep seeing at these competitions the same individuals placing um, varsity finals and championing. So we we definitely have a very very strong speech program at the high school currently. Um in regards to student council, um we had a huge new um event called Winterfest. Uh student council has officially wrapped up our huge uh February season of our winter uh season. Uh big highlight was our first annual winter fest which brought the community together um in a hockey tournament where a lot of our varsity boys hockey players and also junior gold members and other other members that wanted to play hockey came out and we had an amazing tournament. It it was a little bit cold but um they they really really seemed to enjoy it. Uh we had live music as well um and we also had sledding hot cocoa. Uh we also had our letters of love um club come out too and we were able to also do a service project to tie in the community as well. So we're giving back to our our community um through through those kinds of events as well. Um cafeteria improvements. So in response to our evolving program, we have seen a significant increase in students bringing meals from home because um a lot of students were relying on and depending upon the alleart options at the high school specifically. So, um, a thing that I'm right now in contact with administration at the high school is to install microwaves in the cafeteria to ensure that, uh, students have the opportunity to have a warm lunch option um, with their with throughout their day so they're not just relying off of cold food that they may be bringing from home. I think every student should have the opportunity to have a hot meal. Um, and then we have a future development. In April, two individuals are running for the Minnesota Association of Student Leaders Executive Board. I, along with Sarah Yousef, two members of our student council, are going to be running for uh Minnesota Association of Student Councils vice president position, as well as the Minnesota Association of Honor Society's president position. Um, this is a um this is something that hasn't happened in in quite a few years. So, um to even have the opportunity for two individuals to be running for for a position um is is pretty big. Um and we will um keep you updated with any further things. But thank you again for having me today. I really really enjoyed my my little brief um seat here today and I hope that um I get to contribute more in the future and I'd like to thank each and every single one of you for having me today. >> Great having you. Yes, it's been great having you, Justin. Thank you so much. Wonderful report. >> Um, board members, board reports. >> Um, I'll give a shout out. Sure. I'll just keep going. Uh, great job to the basketball team >> and I hope they keep going because I think this is >> 50 years if they make it all the way since the last tournament. Am I right, Martha? Do you know? >> All right. I was I was just trying to remember the thing on the wall. Um I think this it'd be 50 years since they won a state title. Um I know someone's going to yell at me because I got it wrong. So um >> what's that? >> Give or give or take. Perfect. There we go. Right. Uh and then um just another shout out to the speech team. So they've got 10 uh 10 students going to the national qualifier next week in Richmond, Virginia. So great job to them as well. Just give a quick shout out on both sides of that. That's it. >> Yeah. Um a few things. So uh seek meeting was held February 25th. I sent the notes, but just for the public, um I think the key agenda items, we reviewed the progress towards the key department goals and just highlight the midyear reading growth for middle school students reaching the 61% toward annual target. and um they've already achieved their target establishing community partnerships um which is amazing. We have these six work-based learning partnerships. So that's great. Uh we discussed the transitions program quite a bit, the 18 to 20 year old and the new location at Greenwood and of course the um name which we voted on earlier. Um also just the projected enrollment increases over the next three years with that program. uh we c celebrated some successes in the unified basketball uh fourth place state finish and um the record- setting polar plunge participation in fundraising. So um again, thank you to everyone in the community and everyone that jumped and fundraised and supported and did all the things. So um that was amazing. Um and then also just discuss some of the statewide funding concerns that um are potentially coming up. uh concerns with sped transportation reimbursement reductions um as well as potential statewide budget cuts coming forth. Um I also attended the 50 state expert fair at Hamilton Ridge. So went through there. Appreciate the uh invitation and the fourth graders for presenting their state projects. They were super cute and great and um that was fun. Uh, and I attended the band concert last Monday, um, evening featuring our sixth grade bands. It was, um, great to see their progression over the last one from the first one. They did a great job. Also, the seventh and eighth grade um, honor bands and the high school wind ensemble were were there. Fantastic. Um, great job to all of the students and the staff for putting that all together. Um, and then the finance committee. So, that meeting was on the 3. Also sent the notes to the board. Um but just for our community, we reviewed the same um 2027 budget and staffing alignment conversations that we've had here. Um also just had more general discussion around the purpose of the committee and what it looks like going forward. Um committee members um certainly emphasized a desire to shift toward more advisory role and just trying to um going forward maybe review those materials prior to things coming to the board. um and um just try and help strengthen governance and and help with decision-m uh and then also discuss the transportation services a little bit at the end. Um I think that was really great feedback from committee members um for things to consider as we're looking at the RFP and around just like vendor capacity, the performance metrics, um the contract duration and then cost comparisons versus like operating an internal fleet. So I think that's it for me. >> Good. Director Olstead. >> Sure. Um Southwest Metro last month um the biggest highlights um the strategic plan midyear check and everything is on track um in terms of goals. So that was really really great to see and that was that we spent a lot of time on that. So it was really great to um run through that uh new strategic plan as well. Um and we also um updated the legislative platform. Um which brings me to our legislative platform which we were able to present a couple of us um today at the MSBA day at the capital. Um Chair Boyen, Director Smith and I were able to go to St. Paul, spend the day there um today um and meet with a few lawmakers and hear kind of the status of the session. As you know, it just started um what two weeks ago. Um and uh it was it was good. It was just good to be in St. Paul and be in those buildings and um uh be there to talk to our lawmakers and we were able to give them um our legislative platform which was adopted earlier this year obviously and um tell them you know what we're kind of thank them them for their service first of all um and um walk them through you know kind of what's important to us here in Prior Lake Savage area schools um as well as we're acknowledging that we are not alone in some of the um trials that we face here um other districts are as well. Um, so we went through that. Um, and I'll leave it at that because I don't want to steal anybody else because there were two of us or three of us there today. Um, no teaching and learning committee um, in March. So, we'll um, meet again in April. Um, and Justin, I think you could probably give Jeff Marshall a run for his money when he does his uh, quarterly reports on activities. >> I think he should feel very threatened. Um, and uh, I almost ran out of paper with all of your with all of my notes from your update and you just made my heart grew grow two sizes tonight. So, thank you for being here. >> Good, Dr. France. Um, well, um, we didn't have a TAC meeting this month. Um, but I did attend history day. It's one of my favorite events of the year and got to see all the students and of course congratulated the students that did make it to state. Uh it's um hopefully that's one of the things that uh we can continue to grow because it is a fantastic learning opportunity. Um MENCAP Shark Tank uh they are in line for starting all of their test products and ideas and stuff like that for their Shark Tank. So, if anybody's interested in volunteering to judge or help a a team, um, uh, just contact the Minaps team. But that's always a good thing to come visit every year. And the ingenuity from those students at the end of the year from what they did and asking for investment dollars for their products is it it's just a combination of entertaining and wow. Um, these kids really do a phenomenal job. uh as well as you learn a lot uh scale this last scale meeting um Dr. Thomas was there and um we have an upcoming one. Is it It's not this Friday, is it? >> It's next Friday. Yeah. Um and uh they had a long discussion which actually was carried on into uh talking with legislators uh about the cost shifts from the federal government uh back down to the state and to the counties um and uh the school districts, the u health and human services uh was was uh there. uh Dr. Logger from Bell Plane and um the Association of Minnesota Counties, Matt Hilgurt was there also. And there's a lot coming down on us from the from the decrease in federal funding and the redistribution from last year's state legislature that um that they are currently campaigning for policy changes, particularly with the unfunded and uh underfunded mandates. Um the um um this is not uh a board sponsored thing, but this year we did have seven individual members that went to the state science and engineering fair from the um from Prior Lake Savage. The uh state finals is going to be for those who made it out of regionals and applied to state, which their their applications aren't due until March 16th. um that state um science and engineering fair will be March 27th and um I think that's it. So thank you >> Victor Smith. >> Sure. I actually have one of these now. This is great. Um, so again, yeah, uh, congratulations to to basketball and and speech teams. And as a first-time plunger, it was great to be, um, involved in in in that event and and be able to, uh, plunge for the first time with so many people. So that was that was fantastic. Um, did spend the day uh, at the capital. Yes. Wow. Um, that was an incredible experience. Um it was surreal. It was kind of um not overwhelming, but I mean it was just it was it was very it was just a what a space to be in. Um so yes, was able to meet with some of our legis legislators and advocate for our legislative agenda. Um I also thought the um the opening panel discussions were very enlightening as well. Um, and just because it was talked about quite a bit in one of those panels, I do just want to um talk about one of the priorities from uh MSBA, which was the permanent school fund constitutional amendment um because this is um tied to revenue and that is something that I think we're all keenly interested in. Um but it does require a constitutional amendment because right now it is not in statute. is um it is laid out in the constitution of Minnesota. Um and what this would do is support a constitutional amendment to adopt a change to that model for a 4.5% um what gosh darn it now I lost the um what the acronym stands for POV um permanent school fund. Um, basically it increases uh the ability for the legislature to stabilize legis education funding uh without raising taxes and it doesn't require them to approve more funding because it's already something that exists. Um this is something that I am very very interested in and I think it is again um one of those things that we talk about as being a piece of the puzzle not only from a local perspective of how do we solve this this this particular problem but also at the state level. So if this is something that uh is is something that we can look at I'm definitely all for that. One other thing is that it can be um adjusted if needed. So right now because it's a constitutional amendment, you really can't do anything. But if it were in statute, it would give the legislature a little bit more flexibility in terms of of managing that fund. And it is uh right now um uh $2.2 billion, but it only distributed about $62 per pupil um because there's a lot of things tied to it that it has to do first. So, constitutional amendment uh for the permanent school fund. Um I'm going to be talking about it and because it's a constitutional amendment, it's going to be complicated. So, just know that that's out there. Um I was also able to attend the the finance and operations committee, my first one. Super exciting. Um so, I won't go over everything that uh that director Mason went over. Um, I will just say that, you know, there were some things um kind of related to the budget and the timing and the process that director Ryder kind of stepped through in terms of just um making sure that we can manage those conversations with staff who are going to be affected by these by these decisions um before it comes to this table and is made public um public records. So, um it is just a um a service to those people that are going to be affected by those decisions to make sure that they are going to be informed about them first and this isn't the first place that they are going to be hearing about those decisions. So, that was a good thing to always remember when we're talking about um cuts and and budgets that there are uh employees tied to those. Um the other interesting thing was just an example about making sure that um the special education data reporting application Cedra right um so again just another unique thing but that has to match the financial statements in in the accounting system so it is is it say is it fair to say it's redundant a little bit or but it's just there are some things there that require the accounting system to match Cedra and that is additional work that that is put on the district because it is required. Um so again it's just those types of things that are remembering that it's it's not just forecasting, it's not just presenting a budget, it's not just u financial statements, but there are reporting requirements that go along with this that have to match that accounting system. Um I also toured um one of my district buildings. Uh so I was able to go to Edgewood. No offense to the high schoolers, but I will spend all day at Edgewood with the prek kids because my gosh, does the day go fast. Um, so it was so great seeing again since I so recently there, a lot of familiar faces um to some folks that help support my boys, but um also just the amazing work that they're doing there. I also got to talk with uh Gina Miller about their school continuous improvement plan, their skip plan um and some of the things that they're working on are um early literacy development. So um again that whole demonstrating meaningful progress in literacy development so that when we get to K through three they are um able to start kind of talk or start comprehending some of those things. Um, so the goal is to move thre's preschool from 50 to 70% meeting or exceeding expectations with early reading. And then, um, the four's preschool already has really strong, um, literacy benchmarks. Um, but the goal is still to advance that from 88% meeting or exceeding to 92%. Um, and there's a number of things that they're doing there. Um, coaching cycles for teachers. um you know and in speaking to optimizing resources they're able to utilize a portion of a teacher's FTE towards that work so that it is more peer focused and peer driven instead of kind of being an evaluation um they're doing some supplementing piloting some supplementing with the letters program um and just implementing various systems to streamline and maximize the staff time so that they're not having to spend time ordering things but they can spend time in the classroom um working with their kids. Um the one last thing was, you know, when we talk about um community partnerships, um really want to grow um their outreach to the community. Um specifically when it comes to screenings and being able to um go to different family outreach events. Um so partnering with community child care providers. Um offering on-site early childhood screenings. um there is a desire to um kind of strengthen those community partnerships and get some some stronger family engagement. So, there's a lot of really great things that uh that they're working on over at Edgewood and um very very pleased to see the progress that they're making. >> Thank you very much. Well, thank you board members for your board reports. Um I will skip mine because I feel like you guys did so great. Um uh I think the only thing that I would like to add is gratitude. Gratitude for the day uh with our legislators. Um they have a they have a hard job and uh I also have gratitude for for all of us that you know it's not easy sitting in the seats um but it's good work and so I just wanted to extend gratitude. Um with that we'll go to future events. Um future events events include uh the next uh study session is March 23rd at the DSC here at 6:00. Uh there is no school grade E through 12 at March 30th and then uh no school grade E through 12 for spring break March 31st through April 3rd. Um, and with that, I am uh going to state for the record that pursuant to Minnesota statute 13D.03, this meeting is being closed to discuss negotiation strategy, do I have a motion and a second to adjourn and transition into a closed meeting? So >> director France and uh director Johnson. Um >> all in favor I >> opposed. That passes 6 and we will adjourn. Take a 5-minut break.