Mhm. >> Today is Monday, May 11th, 2026. This is a regular meeting of the ISD 728 school board, and I'm calling the meeting to order. I'd like to start by please saying the Pledge of Allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> There's some protocol reminders and a statement of core values at the beginning of the agenda just remind the board members to review those, be familiar with them. Need to start with an approval of the agenda. I need a a um let me think here, sorry. A motion to approve the agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Any discussion on the approval of the agenda? Hearing no discussion, all those in favor of passing the agenda as listed, say I. >> I. >> I. All those opposed, same sign. Agenda's approved. Next item on is our student leadership recognition, one of the fun things we do. Tonight we have students from the Hankey Center and the Compass programs, which are going to be recognized and awarded certificates. >> Good evening, Chair Noto Noto, Superintendent Almost, and members of the board. Um I'm going to start with um members from Compass. And I'll turn around and face the audience. And so, Hannah Moss and Laney Sorry, if you want to join us. This is Hannah and we're going to read a little bit about her. All right. Hannah, we have had the privilege of working with Hannah since the fall of 2023. During this time we have watched her grow not only in her academic and transition skills, but also in her ability to recognize and embrace the value she brings to our community each day. Hannah proudly works at Culver's in Elk River, where you may be one of the many fortunate customers she greets, whether she is taking your order or delivering your meal with a smile. Over the past few years, Hannah has made meaningful strides in her self-confidence. She has gone from wondering what her future might look like to taking significant steps towards independence, including earning her driver's license. In addition, she serves as a student role model through her involvement in the Ambassadors for Respect Program. This initiative focuses on promoting inclusion, disability awareness, and self-advocacy by empowering individuals to share their experiences with younger students. Hannah has done a remarkable job sharing her story in a way that is both impactful and authentic. Her growth, determination, and willingness to lead by example make her a valued member of both our school and the broader community. Congratulations, Hannah. And Laney couldn't join us tonight, but I'm going to read about her accomplishments as well. Laney has demonstrated remarkable growth as a young adult over the past 3 years. This year, she has fully embraced the challenge of finding her place in the working world, navigating the often intimidating process of being screened, interviewed, hired, and trained with determination and resilience. While Laney would be an asset to many employers, we are especially proud of her dedication and accomplishments in her role as an afternoon crossing guard at Lincoln Elementary. In this position, she has shown responsibility, consistency, and a strong sense of purpose. We extend our sincere appreciation to the staff at Lincoln Elementary for welcoming Laney and making her a valued member of the team. Laney takes great pride in her role and often shares how she has an important job helping students safely cross the street, no matter the weather conditions. Her commitment and positive attitude make her truly deserving of this recognition. Laney, we wish you the best in your very bright future. We look forward to hearing about all the amazing opportunities ahead and the continued success you will achieve. Congratulations to Laney. And I'd like to invite staff from Compass, members from the board, the superintendent almost to join us for a picture. And any family members as well who would like to join us. Next, we're going to recognize some of our youngest learners. So, if I could have Lashawn Thomas join me at the front. Lashawn is truly a delightful child who brings warmth and kindness to our classroom each day. He arrives ready to do his best and has a special gift for making others feel welcome. Whether greeting staff in the hallway or helping a classmate, his caring nature shines. He's often the first to notice a new face offering a friendly introduction or a handshake. Lashawn also loves animals and enjoys creating imaginative play scenarios complete with really impressive realistic animal sounds. His joyful personality and positive attitude brighten our classroom every day. We feel so fortunate to have him this year and are confident he will continue to delight both peers and teachers as he begins kindergarten. Congratulations. Next we have Zaire Brown. Could you come up to the front? You can come up. John, stand by your friend here. Look at that. Okay. Zaire is a friend to everyone. He is patient, kind, and truly models what it means to be a great friend. He treats others with respect and compassion, consistently demonstrating positive leadership and the values of the high-five program, being kind, safe, helpful, and respectful. During conferences when students ask who they like to play with, many quickly answered Zaire, a true reflection of the impact he has on his peers. His integrity and care for others set him apart and I'm confident he will continue to be recognized for these qualities. Way to go and congratulations. If I could have staff and family join us up front for a picture. Yep. Finish right there. That's it. >> Good job, you guys. >> So, another fun thing we do each year is honor some student art artwork. So, each year artwork from two students per school is selected to be displayed at the school district office, and students whose artwork is currently on display up for next year will be up next will be recognized. So, Leah Schultz is going to take it away and do a presentation for us. Thank you. >> I sure am. It's so nice that I can make this bigger. All right. Which button do I push here, Joe? It's different than mine. Oh, it's just right there. No. Sorry. All right. Here we go. Um hello everyone, and thank you so much for allowing us to have this evening to recognize the artists in our school. Before I get started, I just want to thank you all for again having this night. Um there are some other people that are more behind the scenes maybe that we don't know about are doing this. Um Damian Houston, he's the art teacher at Elk River High School. Um he gets all of the images ready and gets them printed so that they can hang in the district office. Um so, if you haven't already, families, be sure to check those out. Um Londa who retired, but now we have Jody coordinated with me to get everything set, so thank you for doing that. I want to thank the student artists for being so amazing that your art is showcased here tonight, and the art teachers for tirelessly helping everyone, and of course the parents and families for supporting arts because it is so important in our school. You guys mentioned this process, so I will um not repeat that, but I do have a slideshow that we're going to view all of the beautiful arts before we get into the certificates. >> All right, that concludes the program. All right, so how we're going to present the certificates is I will announce the school. We're going to start with high school first cuz I know sometimes they have obligations this evening and then middle school and elementary. If our teachers are here from the school, please come up to present your certificates. Um Um, students will smile, of course, with their teachers and families, um, and any board members. And after that, families are free to leave after the certificates. So, we will start with Oak Harbor High School. Our teachers are Lisa Rabinovitch, Damien Houston, and Aaron Fleming. >> Hello, I'd like to introduce Estella Youngquist and Caden Collins, two amazing artists. >> All right, next up we have Rogers High School. Our teacher Mark Peterson and Shawna Rountree. I found him some. Okay. Here he is. >> Uh, Rogers High School is represented by uh, works by Eliana Schweil and Lauren Pervinich. >> Excellent. Uh next is Zimmerman High School. Our teachers Tina Kuduba and Emily Zahn. All right, we have two Christinas. We have Christina Rotts and Christina Hernandez Perez. Ivan Sand Community High School, our teacher Veronica. >> Representing Ivan Sand Community High School is Haley Lehman. >> And Kylie Kerrish. >> And then we have our online artists, our teacher Erin Fleming. >> She's here this evening. >> Okay. Um the students, if you are here this evening, uh Sydney Best and Trinity Wilkins. We will uh be sure these artists get their certificates. Next, we're going to middle school. So, let's start with Prairie View Middle School. >> Veronica's presenting again. >> Fantastic. >> Representing Prairie View Middle School, fifth grade, is Aubrey Elders. >> Representing Prairie View Middle School for eighth grade, Olivia Zong. >> And now we have Rogers Middle School, our teacher Chris Inga and Trevor Cowles. >> Okay, first we're going to recognize Brianna Chokti. I always say it wrong. >> And second, we're going to recognize Mayve Larys. >> Sag Middle School, our teachers Caitlyn Yurky and Sue Redfield. And Sue or Caitlyn unfortunately couldn't be here tonight, so I will present these in her behalf. It's Asher Walton and Audrey. >> Moving to Vandenberg Middle School, our teacher Chad Jerzak also could not be here this evening. Um but if artist Elliot Powell and Julie Messner would come up. >> Okay. >> We'll take them. >> Sorry, I don't know. >> There you go. >> Give it up for them. >> Congratulations. >> And our last middle school, Zimmerman Middle School, Emily Zanon and Tina Krudup. >> I'm presenting to Victoria Davis and Layla Polsley. >> All right, now we're going to switch over to our youngest artists that elementary and I love that there's kindergarten all the way to fifth grade represent. So, great job. We have Hasten Elementary artist Audrey Birdwell. >> I'm presenting to fourth grader Emma Hall and second grader Clelia Cain. >> Next is Lincoln Elementary art teacher Tanna Riggle. >> All right, I Why am I looking this way? I know. Um, I have Jackson who's in fifth grade and Carmen who's a kindergartner. >> And next is Meadowvale Elementary, art teacher Bill Hammer. >> I'm here to honor Lillian Hearings and Kai Underwood. >> Next up is Parker Elementary. Oh, wait. Did I No. Parker Elementary, art teacher Sarah Patton. >> I think I popped over at the same time, so we all just moved back here. Sorry. I'm here to recognize kindergartner Brett Fleming and fifth grader Sheldon Bruce. >> I don't think you should be back here. >> Congratulations. >> There is Arts C Go. All right, Arts C Go Elementary art teacher Starsha Wolf. >> Hello, I am here to honor kindergartner Georgia Eschliman and fourth grader Coco Bush. >> I think I'll do one more real quick. Sorry. There we go. >> And next is Prairie View Elementary art teacher Carly East. >> All right, I'm here to honor Sharon Nieba and Alana Lapin. >> You're doing so pretty. >> Next we have Rogers Elementary. Our teacher is Sophia Duran. >> My two artists are Lydia Tao and Michael Wooden. >> Next is Twin Lakes Elementary where I am an art teacher and I'm proud to present Hudson Feld in fifth grade and Benjamin in third grade. >> Next is Westwood Elementary art teacher Leah or Lindsey Jungers. Sorry. >> I've really gotten a chance to know both of these girls really well. I've got to have them for all three years, which is awesome. So, I have Reagan O'Hare and Tatum Strehlow. Come on down. >> AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST is Zimmerman Elementary School with art teacher Linda Richardson. >> I'd like to honor Haley Olschan and Hayden Olschan. Both girls They are kind. They're creative. They care about others in the classroom. They're real leaders in the room. I'm very proud of both of them. Thank you so much. >> And that concludes our recognition. So, thank you again. >> A thank you to all our staff and our teachers who make that possible, and congratulations to all the students. I see that everyone's already gotten the memo that before we move on to the next part. All right, next on the agenda is our public comment. Just quick protocol reminders that the public of public comment period is to give the community members an opportunity to provide input directly to the school board about issues that fall within the school board's authority. So, for this purpose, comments should be directed at the school board, not the audience. And the school board will not reply to comments during this portion, answer questions, or engage in it in discussion. Um So, the board is going to ask that each individual limit their comments to 3 minutes. We do this to keep order and to keep the meeting moving forward. There will be a timer being set, and you'll be notified when you have 1 minute remaining. At the 3-minute mark, we will ask you to submit any further questions to the board in an email format so that we can address them. Again, we do this to maintain order. We don't know how much how much time you have left, so we just to be fair to everyone we set 3 minutes. Our first um our first speaker tonight is Andrew Hite. Good evening, and thank you for allowing me to speak at the meeting tonight. Um and I'd like to commend you guys on the way you guys do run the school district. I think it's a good I think everybody in here would mostly agree. Um and I just want to commend you on that. I am limited on time. So, what I'm here to talk about today is uh the flags that we have flying at our schools, the state flags, which is no secret to anybody what's going on in our state. I'm just going to refer to that flag back there as the 2024 flag, and the other one as the 1983 flag. Um there's three schools for sure, I believe. I haven't driven by it today in the last couple of weeks, but Twin Lakes at Elk River High School, and Salk Middle School is the three schools that's still flying at. And the Elk River community has spoken, and I I can assure you I see Rogers and Zimmerman are on the same page with the unanimous vote at the Elk River city um council meeting uh I don't know, four Mondays ago. Um I did watch it. It was good, and it was unanimous vote, and everybody in the room, I mean I'd say 80% agreed. So, I believe I fully believe that that flag has been created to uh cause division in our state, and it's no secret what's going on here. And the problem is that our kids are walking underneath that flag every day into school. And if you look up what that star is on Siri, it's a Muslim star. It is not a North star. And I happen to be born in 1983 and I I happen to have lived in a state my entire life and both my kids go to your schools. I highly urge you to remove that flag and fly the 1983 flag instead of causing division in our school district as when the rest of the community is flying the 1983 flag, why would our schools be flying the 2024 flag? Is my question to you. And and also, um, you know, it's it you know, it it's going to show, you know, we urge you to do it by the end of this school year, over the summer, or beginning of the next school year to change the 1983 flag. With the elections coming up this year, we will all be paying attention. And I guarantee you I do speak for the majority in this community and surrounding communities. So, I highly urge you to remove that division flag and fly the 1983 flag because united we stand and divided we fall. Thank you for your time. >> Um, next speaker is Ellie Wright. >> Good evening, superintendent and board of directors. Thank you for letting me speak tonight. The recent school perception survey asked if the schools use materials that reflect their families' cultural and racial background. I think that's an important question that we should measure each year because the equity and inclusion discourse I've heard during board meetings is troubling and I can see that rhetoric take shape in the direction our district is going. Despite growing diversity in the district, this board approved budget cuts that eliminated two student advocate positions and a multilingual coordinator. I've even heard that a college multicultural literature class may not be offered in some schools next year. You also approved the latest achievement and integration plan. One board member called the new plan much better than the previous plan. So, I compared the two plans and the only notable difference is that the current plan eliminated equity-focused training for educators. These changes are not surprising given the influence that the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, or FAIR, has on some board members. For example, there was a recent attempt to change the definition of racism in a policy to match the FAIR definition. And a board member who sits on the curriculum advisory committee publicly referenced using FAIR's curriculum in our schools. FAIR presents as a non-partisan, but they are not a neutral organization. They actively campaign against diversity and inclusion programs, ethnic studies, and anti-racism initiatives. As a governing body, your decisions and direction either perpetrate or dismantle systemic racism in our school system. Systemic racism doesn't require anyone to hold racist beliefs, but it exists when policies and practices produce unequal outcomes for students based on race, regardless of intent. So, tonight I'm asking the board to direct school perceptions to present the findings for that question broken down by demographics at the special meeting. It's also imperative that you keep that question on the survey each year and continue sharing the details of the response so the public understands the impact of a deep prioritizing equity and inclusion. >> Our next speaker is Liz Frank >> Hi. I'd like to start my speech by reading our mission statement and seven core values. Our mission is to educate, inspire, and empower our diverse learners to shape their futures, to accomplish their dreams, and to contribute positively toward our local and global communities. Number one, all people have value. Number two, valuing and respecting differences strengthens the individual and the community. Number three, people thrive when they feel connected, supported, and affirmed. Four, everyone can learn. Five, hope inspires and empowers. Six, lifelong learning is essential for personal growth. Seven, change is an opportunity for growth. I was an employee when these core values and mission statement were created with community input. We used to start every meeting reciting them. It was a great way to anchor ourselves and remember that all our efforts, work, and decisions should be made with these in mind. I wonder if any groups in the district still do this. Last month I spoke out and also reached out via email regarding the author cancellation in January. I was looking for transparency on what caused the author cancellation cancellation, which I'm still not clear about. However, if I read between the lines, I'm led to conclude that the author may have posted political views on his personal social media account. My second request was to ask accountability for Mindy Friberger's actions and response on her school board representing social media page. A month later, I'm more confused and concerned than I was before. Mike Nordo, you did tell me that the school board does not have the authority over the board members posts on their school board representing page. And inform me that admin made the decision and the board was not involved, confirming that Mindy's content is also spreading misinformation. So, the school board, I'm bringing these questions to you. Have you forgotten you actually oversee leadership to ensure they make decisions that align with these values? From the district website, the role of admin is to improve culture and climate, to recognize the significance of diversity, to have an ability to align constituents in support of priorities, as well as the ability to balance complex community demands. Two, why are we holding a visiting author to a higher standard than we are our own board members for having political views? The board's conduct and ethics protocols claim to set an example of respectful and civil leadership and take full responsibility for its act activity and behavior. Under accountability, it claims to be accountable to the community monitoring conditions affecting the district as a whole. To me, this makes it clear that you should be involved in how the author cancellation was handled, and you should also hold board members accountable for their perceived content. I wonder how our immigrant families feel when they learn that leadership canceled an author visit due to his support of immigrants. I also wonder how trans students feel about Mindy's personal mission to target and restrict them from activities within the district. Three, how do these messages align with our mission statement or value? I assure you I'm not coming with malice or ill intent. I'm simply pushing the board to reflect on what is happening and the message that you're sending. Since speaking out, I have learned there are many others who feel the same way, including some staff. But many are afraid to speak out. Is this the culture you were going for here? What are you going to do to improve this and ensure our school board and leadership are making decisions for our community together? >> Please submit your remaining comments to the BOARD IN WRITING. >> ALL RIGHT, THAT BRINGS US TO GENERAL REPORTS. And we'll start out with the superintendent's report, Andy. >> Uh yes, good evening, board members. Thanks for the time again as always with my report. Um just some things in my written report to highlight for you. Um it's the end of the school year. Can you believe it's mid-May already? Hard to believe we're already here. This is one of the busiest months of the school year. It's the time when spring concerts take place, track and field days, our academic celebrations, loads of field trips to get in before the year ends. It's just a really busy time and exciting time. Culminated with our graduation ceremonies coming up and in the important dates you see those and please take note of those. Absolutely amazing events to go celebrate our graduates as they depart our system. So, excited for that. I want to highlight just a couple things in my report that are written there. The community facilities survey has concluded. It closed April 27th. We had a number of responses that were actually mailed like that day. And so, if you remember those those those surveys came to people's homes and so, I want you to know that even if it was after those deadlines, those those responses that were mailed were included in the final count. So, the total number was 4,841 responses and I know that Director Weiss will talk about that a little bit more with the facilities report as well. Um I wanted to touch on a couple of frequently asked questions. I think it's important when we get questions multiple times that the board understands those questions and knows and know about what we're hearing. So, there's two I want to bring to your your attention right away. What is the timeline for decision-making in this process? I've had that question a number of times with the with the with the survey. I think again Director Weiss will mention that from our from our facilities presentation, but I've been calling it big decision day on May 26th for the board. As as I go around and hit the different sites and meet with staff, big decision day is May 26th. So, Director Weiss will talk about that I think a little bit more. Last but not least is the question of why can't the district wait until the 2019 bonds are fully paid before considering additional improvements. I've had that question a number of times. If you remember from 2019, those were 20-year bonds. So, from 2019, that's going to take us to 39, right? So, if we look at that, Um, schools will be really full by by by 2039 and you know that from seeing the projections. Also, the district's debt is set to step down over time. So, it's a little bit different than than other debt that you might have personally. It's set to step down. So, there there are step downs built into our debt when we structure that allows us to put more debt on at times. Obviously, it would be great if we could if we could issue debt, we could pay it off, and then issue more debt. That would be ideal, but it really doesn't work that way often for school districts, especially ones that are growing and adding you know, with potentially having to add buildings and more space. So, we try to structure that to make the least tax impact as possible, but I wanted you to know that we've gotten that question a number of times and it's it's a it's a simple I'm it's a simple question with a very complicated answer. And so, you'll be seeing more of that with the budget presentation tonight and in the future when we talk about that big decision day coming our way. Um, last but not least, I just want to remind folks that the let's chat feature is out on the website. So, if you are getting questions or if you want to submit questions, it's out on the website. I think we talked about that last month as well. So, please direct people to that. And then, finally, the the annual school perception survey has launched. We've got lots of responses back from parents and staff and kids. And so, we're watching that data. If you remember from last month, I think I shared this as well. It's important data for all of us as we talk about setting the direction of the district. And so, that has launched and that's well well underway. So, that survey deadline is May 18th. So, we're hoping everybody to get everybody's voices heard and they get their they get their surveys complete. So, with that, I'll stand for questions. John, did you get some? No? All's good? >> Great. Thanks, Andy. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Uh, now we're at school board member reports. So, we'll do our committee reports first and we have the facilities up. >> Thank you, Chair Nordos. Uh, to piggyback Superintendent Olmos was saying, just wanted to reiterate some of the timelines coming up. First though, I wanted to extend a big thank you to our communications team, to our administration team, um and working with School Perceptions to get the community's facility um survey out um and back timely and going through the data uh quickly so that we can have it to review and discuss um as um uh Superintendent Olmos said, we had over 4,800 survey responses um with a little over 1,000 of those being the paper responses that came in. So, very exciting to see that level of response from our community. Um so far, we have shared some very, very high-level trends with the board, um but the data is being reviewed in a much deeper level. Um we plan to have a receive a full report and recommendation from School Perceptions administration next Tuesday at our special meeting May 19th. Um right here, um and then this meeting will offer us an opportunity as a board to have that thoughtful discussion um based on the results. Well, we won't be taking any action that night. We won't be making any motions or making decisions um that particular night, but we can hear the information, ask some questions about the information, have some conversation, and then kind of take it back um kind of think about that a little bit more, and then as uh Superintendent Olmos said, we will have big decision day on May 26th. That is when we do need to come back and we do need to take action on how we would like to move forward with that information. Um and the reason, you know, May 26th is is important date is there are additional steps that then need to take place after that um to get whatever decision we choose to move forward with um presented and ready and facilitated really by August um if if we're going to be putting a question on that November ballot. So, we do have a tight timeline. November and uh May 26th is a big, big day. So, um hopefully everybody feels like they have the information, time to discuss it and review it. Um so, we'll get everything out as fast as we can, have that conversation, um and have a little time for additional questions before May 26th. Any questions for me on that? >> One thing to note is that the participation was five times greater than the 19 you know, survey that went out. So, we've got a bigger sample of the community than we did back then. >> We do. That's good to know. Thank you. >> Other questions? Thank you, Director Weiss. Next up is our policy committee. >> Yes, we met last month and there were some few policies up for renewal and most of them just had minor edits with MSBA updates and there wasn't substantial edits except to policy 903 and we did have a fairly lengthy discussion about that. Part of it was it was a combination. It's a policy with a lot of what you'd say procedures built into it. And part of that was due to having a commonality among the school sites. So, normally the policy would be higher level, but this is a little bit more granular in how it was put together, which is fine. And I think Superintendent Elmore made some good points on why it was set up that way. Um Also, one of the things that came up is under the definitions uh the section three uh paragraph F visitor and how that relates to board members cuz board members are left out of the definition. And so, that discussion was had at the policy committee and we thought we'd just leave that up maybe for a board discussion on what we want to do with that. So, that's just a basic summary. There wasn't a lot of discussion. It was a about a 25-minute meeting and we're over. But, that's a quick summary. >> Thanks, John. Any questions for John at this time? Thanks, Director Anderson. Next up is our Superintendent evaluation. I can tell you that um there's no report on it. We haven't worked on it too much. We've started discussing how we want to do it. Um so, we'll get more information to you guys soon. That's it on our committees. Our next is our appointments. Our first is the Northwest Suburban Integration School District. >> Yep, the process for finding a new superintendent for Northwest Suburban is underway. Um we have some meetings coming up later this month, so I've nothing substantial to report. >> Thank you, Director Hamlin. Next is the Minnesota State High School League. >> Yes, Chair Norton, a quick update on that. Um from the high school league uh standpoint, there was no there was no meetings this month. Um some work sessions on on their part. Um the next meeting will be on June 3rd. Um one of the big expected agenda items, which we will have some discussion on later in the meeting, um will be on um uh emerging activities. They'll also be looking at some uh girls hockey classification proposals and uh the bylaw committee review will be meeting. Um but, they are looking at three different sports, as I've mentioned the last couple of months, um with e-sports, girls dual wrestling, um and girls light football, um up for conversation as a potential emerging sport or um presenting partner uh agreement level sport. Um two different um options. For those up and coming. What's happening in ISD 728? Well, there's a lot. Spring actually is one of our busiest seasons for activities for our teams and our athletes and our activities directors. And you know, June hits the section tournaments, the state tournaments and all of that right on top of graduation. So, it's incredibly busy for our schools for our high schools involved in that. I do want to extend a big congratulations to the Rogers High School girls track team for winning true team section championship this past week. This is the first time in school history that they will be attending the true team state tournament. That will be this weekend in Eden Prairie. So, that's an amazing accomplishment for for Rogers High School. The individual state tournament will be early June. So, anticipate we'll see some more athletes from all of our schools hopefully participating in in that coming up. But true team is is kind of a different different layer and this is the first time they're competing. So, very exciting for them. And just as as spring is going, I know our ADs are in full planning mode finalizing schedules for those fall and winter sports already and getting those in place cuz those do come quickly and those are usually done in the spring as well. And then tonight I know in Rogers and I know the other high schools too have their scholarship nights. I just want to throw the congratulations to all of our scholarship winners across our high schools as they as they're recognized by many many more organizations, internal and external organizations for their hard work and for their future endeavors. So, congratulations to our scholarship winners. >> I might add anything? >> Nothing to add. >> Any questions? Thank both of you. Next under appointments is the Association of Metropolitan School Districts. >> All right. I'm going to give the report tonight. Um at our last AMSD Board of Directors meeting on May 1st, we had guest speakers from the Minnesota State Board of Investment share a presentation of the Permanent School Fund Task Force report. And then we also had two state representatives, one including our um local state rep Brian Lawrence from the Zimmerman side of our district as well as Representative Kelly Rehauner from Rapids. Um both of those legislators are members of the Education Committee and they shared an update on the current education bills that are still being considered. Um some of you might know that the last day of the legislative session is next Monday and so they have a hard deadline to complete all of their um bills before then. Um so it's final crunch week, crunch time this next week. Um the Senate's omnibus supplemental finance bill includes a one-time compensatory aid and another bill would provide a one-time school safety aid. Um and so that was passed in the Senate. Um and then while the funding in the Senate's bill is modest, it's significantly significantly outpaces the proposal from the governor and the house. And so the governor proposed an additional cut of 50 million dollars in special education on top of the already 250 million cut approved last session and then the house budget resolution does not include any supplemental funding for education and the house has not advanced the school safety legislation. And so AMSD is urging the governor and the house to approve at least the level of the funding that is passed in the Senate. Um and so our AMSD organization continues to encourage all board members to send letters in support of these funding bills to legislators this week before the session ends. So, it'll be quite an interesting week coming up here. >> I was just going to mention on that special ed education cuts, I think if we were to look at every school district in Minnesota, special education is the biggest or largest unfunded mandate. Would that Would you concur with that? >> I would. >> Yep, I absolutely. >> Yeah, that's cutting that even further will take money's right out of the classroom. So, just be cognizant of that, how important it is to maintain funding for special education. Cuz that's going to lead to more cuts. >> Any other questions or >> Thank you, Director Mattson. And last under appointments is our District Advisory Committee on Curriculum. >> Um, the last meeting of the year was held in March, and so there won't be another meeting until the new school year. >> Thank you. >> That's it for our appointments. Now, we're to governance, and we're only at first reading this week, no second readings for policy, so nothing requires a vote. So, just ask board members to review the policies that are on the first reading. And as John had mentioned, if you have any um any concerns or anything that you would like addressed, submit it to um Superintendent Almquist or myself, and we'll get it to the committee for consideration at the next meeting. >> Item B is a resolution supporting registration commitment for emerging status activity for the sport girls flag football. So, just before I ask for motion to motion here so the board kind of understands what's going on here is it's really the resolution is one part of it, but really what it is is a commitment. Um they're looking for a commitment to a certain number of schools that if it were to become an emerging sport we would continue playing. So, we have um a couple of schools in the district, but before I get too far ahead, don't want to break any rules, I need a motion to um approve the resolution supporting the registration and the commitment for the emerging sports activity for girls flag football. >> So >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? >> Uh Chair Nolas, I'll just, you know, just add a little bit as as we've been watching this new emerging sport come over the last few months. I've reported on this since January, February when it first kind of started to hit the news wave. It's really uh exciting to see additional opportunities out there for for um all of our kids and and and for the girls we're seeing this sport emerge nationally um at a pretty pretty fast rate and uh flag football for men's and women's will actually be an Olympic sport in LA 28. So, it's very exciting to see. It's very exciting to see the the fast growth and it does have um backing from um Minnesota Vikings and the NHL at a national level. So, it's it's it's very exciting. Um you know, this resolution just, you know, kind of states that you know, we are in fact, you know, excited about it. We're supportive of it and want to continue to see it work through the process. There is a process in place with the high school league that, you know, our AD our ADs will look at it more um with scheduling, facility needs, budget resources, all of those, bring those recommendations back to the administrative channels uh and provide those commitment letters as needed and continue to work that through through the channels. Um I, you know, was able to experience that process as boys volleyball came a new sport just a couple of years ago. So, it is a is a is a great process. Um, it does do a nice job of vetting uh, vetting these sports and setting that up for long-term success as well. So, um, exciting to see new opportunities for our kids um, and see where this takes us. As I mentioned, there are two other emerging sports that don't impact our district as as as largely as these do, but uh, e-sports uh, is is also requesting approval for a presenting partnership model, which is a little different than a fully sanctioned sport, but um, high school league recognized uh, nonetheless. Um, and then more opportunities for girls for girls wrestling um, both at the individual level and um, even some team level. So, they're looking um, to be identified as emerging status as well. So, exciting to see new opportunities and activities for our kids. >> Thank you. Yeah, I would just um, I would throw just a little word of caution to the board. As as exciting as this is and we want to support this, but there will have to be a conversation about what does this mean for facility usage, locker room space, uh, finding coaches, finding referees, all those things that come with running a sport, right? As exciting as it is, we want to think about, you know, feeder programs for the sport. How do we make this sustainable over time? So, maybe when the excitement of the newness of it isn't there as much anymore, does the does the sport sustain itself over time and we have more athletes coming in? So, obviously we're supportive and we love it when we see our kids involved cuz we know that when kids are involved, they do better in school. And so, excited to see so many kids out doing this and we just have to think through all those things when we when we if this were to become an emerging sport and eventually a Minnesota State High School League sanctioned sport, we need to be thinking about all those things. >> Excellent. Superintendent Director Fryer. >> wanted to say I'm excited to support this resolution tonight. The demand is real and the growth is here. So, I'm excited that right now our school board is in support of recognizing that. Um so, it's no longer just an idea. I know it's going to take a couple years for the emerging and then 2029 it could be an official sport, but as you said with the facility planning Um I'm excited. I think it's great. Go for girls. >> Thank you. Yep, it's just that the board's clear. Part of the resolution on here as you can see is we are signing the commitment letter. Or you're authorizing myself and Superintendent Elrod to sign a letter, which means we would be in support cuz they need how many 20 director ways? >> They need they need a minimum of 20 schools across the state to do it. I just wanted to clarify that it does require a minimum of 2 years participation. So, the Elk River program is in their second year and would qualify under those requirements. Rogers is in their first year and so, hopefully there's, you know, the same excitement next year as they anticipate they're definitely will. But, that that might be just a consideration, but with over 100, I think 104 teams participating this year, I think the the minimum will be easily met. >> Thank you. Thank you. Any other discussion? >> No. >> Being none, I'm going to call for a vote. All those in favor say aye. >> Aye. >> Aye. All those opposed, same sign. Motion carries. That brings us to operations and this is we're going to hear a presentations on the 2026-27 So, no motion is required. We won't be voting on the approval of the 2026-27 budgets until the third meeting in May. So, I'd like to recognize John Reagan who's going to come up and give us a presentation on where we sit with the budgets. >> Good evening. Thank you. Chair Nardo, Superintendent Almas, members of the board, I appreciate time that you've given me to present this to you guys. And will give me a minute to get this pulled up. Lashon really knocked it out of the park, so it's kind of a like it's been a downhill thing. And now we're here to talk about money, but money is what ultimately makes opportunity but what Lashon gets to do every day happens. So, I appreciate the time on this even though it may not be the most exciting thing you guys have seen in the last, you know, hour. You guys have budget information in front of you. So, you have been shared detailed budget books and provided by us. The presentation is intended to be an overview on those books, not a detailed experience. The budget materials will also be posted at the district website when that is We're going to start with general fund, which is our big one. That's where we fund K-12 education and we do maintenance for our district or some of our maintenance for our district. It is over 85% of what we spend our money on. So, this is the big one that we go through. This is kind of some things we're going to look at before we begin. This budget has estimated pupil enrollment projections and we'll talk more about that when we get to the actual number, but it is showing us that we have growth and that growth continues to be mostly in the south. There are projected revenues and expenditures that go with what we know as of the time that this budget is created and most contracts have been settled with this budget, so this is reflecting those settlements. And then there's approved budget adjustments that are in place in this budget also that you guys made a decision on in February. Revenue, there's some assumptions. We have projected enrollment of 14,306 ADMs. This is the the where I want to talk about ADMs versus people in the seats. ADMs is our average daily membership. So, if a student starts at the end of the year and leaves in January, and another student comes in January and finishes out the year, that's only one student. And it averages it throughout the year, and because we are a growing district, we have more kids that we end the year with than we start the year. This is our average of what that looks like, and that is how we get paid from the state is what is our average daily membership. We have a formula increase of 2.69%. Our legislature was so kind to put in place a couple years ago that this is an automatic escalator that goes into our funding formula, and the minimum is 2% and the top is 3%, but it is tied to inflation. What I want to say to that is that is actually about half of our budget. So, half of our budget gets an increase of 2.69%. The rest is usually pretty stable when it comes to increasing funding, unless we gain students, which we do. So, just be aware of that. General aid is projected to increase by 2.8 million from prior year. The state pays us 90% in the current year, and then follows up with the 10% of the following year. This will be important as we talk about some of the unknowns when it comes to our budget beyond next year, cuz they have they have changed that. And then, we have been approved for voluntary pre-K for next year, also. We talked about that in your fives, so that is a really good thing for us. And as we talked about in your fives, that runs through our general fund versus community education, where the work actually takes place. General fund revenue, we have property taxes at 50 over 50 million. Our other local revenue is 5.9. State revenue is 170 million. So, most of our revenue comes from state aid. Federal revenue is 3.6. Miscellaneous sales are 350,000. We transfer 1.5 in and then we get investment income and just over 3 million. We're going to talk about that at the end, too, because that is very important to our budget as we continue to navigate this. Our total revenue is 234 million, just a little bit over. We made some assumptions in this in our expenditures, too, and that's adjustments of 4.9. So, that was what we approved to make adjustments on. That is in those expenditures. Salary and benefits include contractual settlements, known staff turnover, and then we take what we people elect for benefits and we just move it forward. So, we are doing our best to estimate what next year is going to take place in a moment in time in the spring, which allows us to just over think and we're pretty good at it, but know that some of that changes and we'll talk about that when we get to the deficit. There's a transportation adjust transportation adjusted based on current routing and billing rates. You guys remember last year's preliminary budget came to you and you're like, "We're going to opt in." So, we think it's going to cost us more. This budget is trued up to what it did cost to us, but we know that the the increase in the contractual billing amount and then we put in place what our normal increase around transportation and what our kids So, that is less of an unknown as we go into next year. Our breakdown of that is salary and wages 128 or almost 129 million. Employee benefits are 53. Purchases services are almost 36 million. The one I want to point out in there is Director Madison talked about it. Ours most of our school safety money is spent out of purchases services and we overspend in that department in in to make sure that our schools are as safe as they can be. So, if the legislature is going to give us more money around safe schools, it would be out of that budget. Supplies is the 6. almost 6.5, capital equipment is 10.5, other expenditures are 1.1, and then we transfer 1.5. So, we have a total expenditures of 237 million or over 237 million. Fund balance, we're going to talk about two different fund balances tonight. This is the one that is best equated to what we do in our home budgets. So, this is how much money we have savings and how much we spend. So, if you look at this, we have a a projected beginning fund balance of 42 million, 42.5. The revenues are 234, the expenditures are 238. We have an expected fund balance of 39, so it drops by about 2.9 in our general fund, that's a deficit of 2.9. What I want to point out in that is we conservatively budget when we do this. And the other thing that goes into this budget process is we assume every dollar that we budgeted is going to get spent, which generally does not take place, but that is how we create our budgets to make sure that when we get done approving this, this is the worst case scenario, and hopefully we're going to come in better. This is our policy fund balance, which is unreserved or unassigned money that we have in our fund balance, and what we spent in unreserved and unassigned. So, if you look at that, it starts at 34.7, ends up at 32. This is a 15.425% unassigned general fund balance or unassigned public expenditures general fund balance. That's about a 2.7 deficit spend, and we'll we'll talk about why that's where we're going to be next. You guys have a policy for 8% so I want to touch on this. Your policy is 8% we're showing you 15%. I want to talk about why that's important when we do this. So there's a couple things that play into this. First of all, this supports our long-term financial health as it We brought you recommendations for budget adjustments last fall is because we saw the trend and you guys saw the trend when the initial preliminary budget was presented that we are starting to move in a direction that is unsustainable over the long term. We need to interrupt that trend, which is the second point. So if you look at this, I believe we were at 18% now we're at 15% so we've interrupted that change in a way that is sustainable in the worst-case scenario. It also provides us flexibility for future investments in the district. The one I want to point out in here is you guys are going to make a decision on whether to go ask the taxpayers to build schools. We already own the land. When we have a fund balance that allows us to purchase that land, which is cheaper for the taxpayers when we can do that. So this money is not a savings account in a way that we just want to hoard it. It allows us to spend when we need to spend to save the taxpayer dollars as we work through what it looks like to have long-term healthy schools this year. And then the other one, which we kind of touched on, which is common, is that there is a lot of uncertainty around state funding into next year's budget. So they do a bi-annual budget bi-annual budget, and that there's a lot of uncertainty around that at the state level. This is a protection that we can put in place to help us be sustainable. We talked about the 90/10 metering of payments. They have in the past, and they could as an option, to only going to give you 80% and we'll pay you the 20% the following year. So, having a bigger fund balance specifically as we go into next year is a benefit to make sure that we can work through what we need to do to provide the education we do and not have money short-term money decisions make our decisions for us. So, the five top budget takeaways from the general fund that I want you guys to be aware of is that our enrollment is still growing. So, we're getting better. We're in a position that's better than most districts. The district fiscal health has improved due to the budget adjustments. So, again, we've leveled that out and we're good with that. The legislative work is still in process. So, there's two things that could affect this budget in a positive manner. Compensatory aid, which isn't giant for our district but still an amount of money. And then the safe schools part that they're still working through. So, those two can still play out in the water we're having. We've incorporated many estimates in this. Again, this is a 3-year process, right? We're finishing up this year, we're creating next year, and we're starting to look at the following year, which is why we're talking about legislative moves is because we have to make sure that over time we're ready and we have the money we need to do it. So, this is taking the estimates that we know at that moment. And that projected fund balance show that we are back on track for sustainability. The other thing I want to point out with that fund balance with a 15% is if you looked at our expenditures or noticed in our expenditures, we actually make about $3 million on investments. So, if we get to an 8% fund balance, we would essence half what we make on investments. Right now, our investments is about 24 teachers on average. So, having that money there and growing that money through investment actually plays into long-term success for our kids having great educators in place. We will bring back to you at the last of the month school board meeting. There was two meetings, now we got three, is good. And then, you guys will have the opportunity to revise this budget also in the spring of '27, like we normally would. I will stand for questions on general fund. >> Representative Anderson. Yeah, I was just looking at the Minnesota paid leave. And if I just look at our payroll, I'm just a quick guess of in 550,000 just from the 0.44% of employer costs. And then, you add on the sub costs. Do you know >> I don't know what that dollar is, but I can tell you that we have increased what we spend on covering the people that are out. >> Yeah, I was going to say cuz what's important about that I take issue when you say legislators work still is in progress. I would say their spending is still in progress. But But the thing is is that unfunded mandate right there took money right out of the classroom. And that's what's going on right now, and we see the impact of this at our dis- district, you know, and then the 2025 special ed revenue, you know, hit that was taken. Um we're we're taking several hits. And this is And what's going on is if you look at total revenue is outpacing expenditures. So, it's creates a untenable long-term solution unless the legislature you know, it's just left the communities with the bill. Basically, they they pass the legislation, and then they give us the bill. Say, "You local communities figure this thing out." I mean, would you agree with that statement? >> Yeah, that often is the case. I think that is absolutely the reason a healthy fund balance is important because we get to ride that wave sometimes when things are passed and put upon us, right? And then we advocate like crazy. If we don't get it right away, then we're back there the next year saying, "This is the impact of that." And I think right now the impact of paid leave is a is a big deal, right? If we Whether you agree or disagree with paid leave, right? Whether it's paid for or not, we we'd love to be able to say we we have the money to fund it, right? And so I think you make a really good point that a lot of times unfunded mandates do come our way, and we have to find a way to make it happen. We talk uh Executive Director Reagan and I talk all the time. Sometimes we we are really good at implementing unfunded mandates, and that may not help. That that that may not help because because school districts are quite good at making it happen. And so those are those are points we have to continue to make with our legislators on that. >> Yeah, I mean, when you think about some of the comments that we get as a board, you know, why aren't you cutting costs? Well, we are because we have to pay for the unfunded mandates that are coming through from St. Paul. But those cuts are not really realized in the sense of you're still spending the money, right? But the thing is is we're forced to spend money on things that we didn't sign up for. So, hopefully this legislative session they'll they're going to listen to some of the recommendations, and one of them is give us a year before implementation on any new unfunded mandates. Better yet, no unfunded mandates. >> Who wouldn't like that? >> So, no, it's it's good. I I appreciate it you know, based upon where expenditures are and projected deficits. This is a preliminary budget, I know, because MDE has to has their deal, and you There's no way you can put a budget together without legislative impact because you don't know. So, I think we're in really good shape compared to last year, the forecast where we were. So, thank you. >> So, you had said you had showed it you've been very transparent all year, so the 2.9 isn't a surprise cuz we've we've always known there could be about a $3 million range, right? >> Yeah. >> And you're always presenting us worst case scenario. >> Yes. >> Outside of what the legislature does, we're still in control of some of the money is because I noticed in the budget and this is why I like you just expand on for the board board and if I'm wrong, tell me. But you show like zero spend down carryovers for some schools. So, you said we're showing we're spending every dime, but we're not cuz there will be some carryover. So, is that cuz you are we thinking that we're going to come in much closer? Oh, I know we are. So, we might be at budget or really close to budget. Is is that where that is coming in or could you tell us a little more about that? >> As we get closer, that number I get more to publicly agreeing with you. >> Okay. >> It's going to end up there, but you know, as we work through this, we can only control so much, but ultimately, yes, tradition has led us down a path that that number gets a lot closer the closer we get to actually dealing with the money. >> Is is that Go ahead. >> Yeah, I I would say it's an ongoing debate we have when we build a budget. How conservative do you be in your in your approach, right? We talk worst case scenario, but even within worst case scenario, there is some debate about how conservative do you be. How conservative are you with student counts? How conservative are you with the spend down of carryovers, right? Happens all the time. We like to bring you what we believe is a worst case conservative budget because if unforeseen things happen or the legislature pulls the rug out, right? We can say, "Actually, we were closer to our budget target and we had the fund balance to support it, right?" We're not going to bring you a a budget that's going to put you on track for a like a financial cliff, right? We just wouldn't do that to you. Or we'd be here like we were last year saying, "We're seeing a trend coming. We need to right-size this, right?" It it often happens organizations will won't do much about it until they really have to, right? That wasn't us and you guys made a very good decision to move ahead with those adjustments cuz it put us on a much better track. So, we intend to come out better on this budget with those things as you mentioned like carryovers as an example. Questions? >> All right. >> Thank you. Again, you can get information from Joe and I. So, now we have the other nine funds, which won't be as long as the first one, but there is money that we put in When we talk about school finance, we talk about all the different buckets. That general fund is the main bucket. These are the buckets that we do other things with them. And so, for the regional, so here's a list of them. First one is food service fund. Food Food service fund. This is how we feed every kid that walks into our school. We are assuming that like it's continued that more kids take the lunch and breakfast every day, which increases our revenue and increases the amount of kids and staff we need to feed. We are also bumping up against we have a fund balance in this that is above the three-month reserve limit they set for us, so we navigate with that. So, again, contracts have been settled, they're in this one. Current management company estimated contract increases in this. Uh we are putting according to the assumptions that were approved, we're putting more staff into super food service fund that we legally can, and then we are also we've reduced the capital capital expenditure out of this fund not knowing where the right answer is and what we can do next summer. So, this this part is still we will put more money in there. It's just we don't have the accurate plan to give to you at this point. We have a fund balance of 5.2 million. We have 11 in, 11 out, and we end up with a projected fund balance of 5.9. So, this is 53% fund balance. That's well over our three. This includes a lot of capital expenditures since last summer, too. So, we are working through what that looks like to make sure that this fund is doing what it should do to support kids. And we're taking that to the highest level. When you're talking to the legislators, you can ask them you can absolutely ask them to transfer money out. We'll take that. Community service fund, which is generally all of the services we do that is not K-12. So, older than K-12 and younger than K-12 is generally what plays under this. These are all those courses. We offer quite a robust amount of things for our community, which is really good. Our job as a school is to be community schools, and that community doesn't just happen for K-12. It happens from birth to life. We have some We have made some assumptions. There are fees are based on the current year expected activity. So, what we think is going to take place because of this year. We can increase fee to improve the health of this community service fund. And that it also includes a transfer of 118,000, which is preschool screening. State asked us to track that and then put it in. It does reflect staff contract settlements, chargeback for facility use of 125,000. So, everything that we use when it comes to our facilities runs through fund four, our community service fund. My kid is playing baseball tonight, that field rental is through community some service, and the custodians still do the work to get that right and make that happen. And then there's a budget chargeback of 0.8 FTE both in the finance and the human resources. So, we're we're working with it to support this fund as a whole. But I think I want you guys to take away from this one for sure is that the general fund is not over supporting this fund. This fund is self-sufficient. Which is good in the way it should be. We have a beginning fund balance of 605,000, 12 in, 118 in, 11 out, and we have 1.4 projected to be our fund balance at the end. So, if you guys remember for the last couple years, that was reducing quite a bit. We are to a point where we're starting to level that out and build it back up a little bit. The goal is not to keep building it up, but to level it out as we roll through it. This all gives us a cushion to as we play through what this is. In that, the reserves of the fund balance, everything in there has to be reserved, so it's not an unassigned fund balance. Most of that is in our general education reserve. Some is in ECFE, and then we have local collaborative time study. But that all adds up to 1 million. Building construction fund. Anything that we bond for, those proceeds go into an account, and that is where this account spends money on construction work. So, 2019 referendum, it also is LTFM bonds and up in this. And we pay for that out of We pay for projects out of this. We are assuming that this includes our 2-year LTFM bonding practice, and then in February 25, we did do $32 million of bonding for LTFM that it gets takes place in the last year and next year or this year and next year, and all these projects are on track to be completed as promised. We have a projected fund balance of 19.6. We have revenues and we have expenditures and we're looking at a fund balance of 39. We have the debt service fund. So, when we bond, we have to pay back the debt. This is the fund that pays back the debt. So, we get the money at 105% tax rate in case people don't pay their taxes. So, when you get to the next slide, you'll see that our revenues are more than our expenditures and then they settle up year year to make sure that we don't charge the taxpayers more than what we said, but the school district is in a point where they don't have enough money to pay this. So, projected fund balance is 6.6. We have revenues of 27, expenditures of 26 million, and then projected fund balance of eight. So, when we get through our levy process, they'll start to level that out to make sure that that fund doesn't keep growing beyond what we said we're going to take from the taxpayers. We are self-insured. I think we have three self-insurance funds. The first one is property and liability and we have a fund balance of 88. We have a revenue of 1.3, expenditure of 1.3, and then we have a fund balance of 56. So, we have dental that's self-insured. So, when our employees elect into dental insurance, we self-insure. We have a fund balance of 133, 000, revenues of 1.8, expenditures of just over two, and then a fund balance of 26. We're still working on making sure this is a more level. I don't think we like how much it's dropping, but this is where we're at without having to raise those fees too much. Next is our health insurance fund. I just want to take a moment, again, self-insured, but I want we have the last eight years, I think, seven years of increases when it comes to insurance on this line. If you were to take outside of self-insurance, that would be everybody's envy that we have only raised it that much. Self-insurance is really good for the health of our school district when it comes to health insurance. As you have your conversations at the state level, please keep that in mind. Our stuff is much lower than others because we are self-insured. We have 4.3 in there. Revenues are 25, expenditures are 27, and 2.2 is about where we think it's going to come. So, again, we navigate where that's going to be actuals versus where we think it's going to be, and we keep track with the whole year to make sure that we're not going to end up in a position that we don't want to be in. OPEB irrevocable trust fund. So, that is other post-employment benefits. When we we have contracts, almost every one of those contracts have benefits for people when they retire. This is a trust that will can pay for those benefits, so it doesn't come out of the general fund. This trust has to be solvable. So, what that means is if every one of the people in that contract retired tomorrow, there's enough money in this trust to write the check for those benefits without it coming from the general fund. So, what that plays out is we actually at this point don't spend a lot out of it, but it is growing when it comes to making from our investments. So, in the future, this is going to be something we're going to spend out. As those contracts have sunset in most of that language. So, 12.9 is our beginning, revenues are 1.3, expenditures very low, and then 14.1. Every 2 years this gets evaluated to make sure that you actually have enough for it to be worth what it's worth. be. In order to get that money in the trust, we took your debt out and bonded debt to put it in there. That debt is paid back through tax levy. That's this fund. So, we have a fund balance of 91, we take in 241, we spend 264, we have a projected fund balance of 69. This will be out of something that we do not charge the taxpayers in about 4 years. So, this is a rare thing in a school district, it's a fund going away. We're almost there. And that's good. I'll stand for questions on the rest of the funds. >> Any questions? >> I I have a question about the self-insured. How many districts do that? Do you know? Or like, is it uncommon to be self-insured? >> In the background, it is not uncommon. In the smaller districts, it is very uncommon. Or very Yeah. Yes. Bigger districts, very common. Smaller districts, uncommon. >> Okay. >> Um food service fund, you know, it seems like that's you got a lot of money sitting there and you're earning interest on it. >> Mhm. >> And I think it's siloed into that fund. So, you can't use it anywhere else. >> Yeah. >> We We have talked to the legislators about that. They'll give you a one-time transfer, but I don't know if that's They're not going to They may not allow us to do that, but a lot of people don't realize that all these funds are silos and you can't move money from one silo to another. So, I mean, you could actually serve steak and eggs every morning for breakfast, and that would That would be fine, right? That'd be The legislature would say it's a great use of money. But, uh unfortunately, that's not practical. But, uh we just need to continue to put pressure on the legislators to let us release some of that money. >> We use stewards of the taxpayers' dollars, so we run that fund like we would with a lot of money or a little money cuz we take care of the money that they give us, and we run it with what's best for our students, as we do it to your point. Some flexibility is absolutely needed, whether that's to spend it on other things or to transfer it. >> John, I like your comedy, but it it is a good point because to to you, Andy, our district has spent wisely. There are districts out there who see that money and just use it use it use it, right? We haven't done that. We've only spent it as it's needed, so that it's there. So, if we do get that chance to move it to another bucket, we have it. So, I think your team's done a good job of that. >> Thanks. Yeah, I would I would I would give credit to John and his team, too. Recently, they've gotten approval to spend some of it on the on our construction projects. So, that frees up LTFM and capital dollars because we can use it this way. So, John and his team have done a really nice job of working with the state to make sure that we're all above board and everybody's following the letter of the law, and they've allowed some of that expenditure. So, that's a that's a big win for John and his team. >> Just to clarify, that's construction of like kitchens and that stuff. >> Correct. Has to be related to food service. >> Right. Related to food services, yes. Not general construction across the district, but they've given some latitude to use it when directly related to food services. >> In the past, you could not buy lunch tables or actually pay for the installation of the equipment. You could buy the equipment. They've opened the door to we can actually pay for the installation of equipment. So, when the plumbing people are like, "You need a 6-in line instead of 3 and 1/2 in that's been sitting there for 50 years. Let's allow some of that money to play with that. >> And are lunch tables included now? >> Yeah. Yes. >> I heard a principal when I was subbing bragging about the cool lunch tables that were coming, so just so you know. >> It's a rare pendulum swing that actually be like, yes, we can buy lunch tables. That's a good thing. >> Well, we need more in Rogers cuz they keep blowing out there and they're eating lunch in the gym. Which I guess we can now call in as kitchen space. >> There you go. >> I like the way you think. >> Are you working on allocations for that now? >> How much latitude can we take? >> The new gym floors for the >> Any other questions? >> Thank you. Great job. >> Uh thank you and thank your whole team for putting this together. One thing I want to say is you've been giving us great information throughout the whole year, so nothing has been a surprise. And I know I and others I spoke to really appreciate it, so thank you and make sure you thank your team for us. >> Absolutely. We appreciate the kind words. >> All right. That's it. That brings us to the consent agenda. So, per as we've always been doing, we'll be approving this by unanimous consent. So, is there any items on the consent agenda that a board member would like extracted for discussion? Do you think anyone would like me to pull out of the consent agenda? Okay, hearing nothing, the consent agenda passes via unanimous consent. Uh What is that? So, that's brings us to the informational parts. There's some upcoming dates of importance. Just so everyone knows, the May 18th, so this month's policy committee is canceled. Um it was right after one of our graduation ceremonies, so we had to move it because we're not going to have time to go there and do the other. We do have the special board meeting coming up on the 19th, as we mentioned. So, three meetings this month, but the big thing is all of the graduations. So, it's about to be that fun time of year. Everyone should have the invites on their calendar and and gotten that, so be aware of that. And after that, I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Motion and a second. All those in favor, say I. >> I. >> I. >> All those opposed, same sign. Meeting's adjourned.