All right. I now call the special school board meeting for Force Lake Area Schools, Wednesday, December 3rd, to order. Please join us while we recite the pledge of >> allegiance. 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 right, member clerk, will you please take the roll call of attendance? >> Sure. All right. Member Reveline >> here. >> Member Castle >> here. >> Member Antonson is here. Member Corkran >> here. >> Member Tyson >> here. And member Christensen >> here. >> Everybody's here. >> All right. All here. I would entertain a motion to approve the meeting agenda. >> So move. Second. >> Second. >> All right. We have a motion and a second. This is a special meeting, so no amendments are in order, but do we have any discussion? >> All right. Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Those opposed. Okay. Motion carries. Um that brings us directly to the Force Lake Area School Board uh vacancy seat applicant interviews. Um as many in the public are aware here, we did have 11 applications. We had two individuals withdraw before the uh interview process here this evening. Those individuals are uh Mr. Jeff Peterson and Mr. Tom Schultzenberg. Uh we also have two individuals who are unable to attend the interview for one reason or another. Um that in those individuals include Mr. Glenn Berg and Mrs. Laura Durango. As we indicated on the 20th, the inability to interview does not qualify them from selection, but uh that leaves us with, I believe, seven applicants that we are interviewing this evening. Um, per the process that we established a couple of weeks ago, we determined that uh each applicant will have uh approximately 20 minutes. Each board member will be given three minutes to interview them. Um, we have Joy over there who's going to help us keep track of time and we have a schedule established here. Are there any questions from the board on how the process will play out? All right, seeing none, we can jump right into it. That brings us uh our first individual of the interview is Mr. Paul Peas, I believe is Paul. Help me with your last name, please. >> Paul Peas. >> Peas. All right. >> Well, welcome Paul. Um, we'll kick right right into questions here. We each have a preassigned question that we'll start with. Each member will be given three minutes a piece. And, um, might as well start with member Christensen. >> Um, thanks for being here, Mr. Please, I appreciate it. Um, uh, what are your goals and aspirations for the school district? >> Yeah, thank you, Member Christensen. Uh, great question. So, my goals and aspirations are to uh, I think of, you know, what I would want to achieve, there's four main pillars. So student achievement, student opportunity, student safety and uh success for the broader community at large. So those would be like the four things that I would particularly focus on. And hopefully work with all of you towards those goals. >> Yeah. Thank you very much. >> You you have your full three minutes. So >> Oh, am I supposed to ask? >> Yeah, through all your questions. >> Sorry. First person. Um, what do you think is the appropriate balance between academics, academic instruction, and social emotional learning in our schools? >> I think that they absolutely go hand in hand. It's um we've probably all had off days where things were going on emotionally where that detracts from our ability to do our job, to learn, etc. So, I think it's really hard to separate those into two separate things. I think it's important like the emotional stability that social emotional stability is a foundation of the learning and learning also can provide some of that stability when students are able to have success in you know the task that they're performing. >> Thank you. Um I'll yield yield my time. >> Okay. Um member Castle, do you want to go next? Um, >> and I did fail to mention earlier, uh, Jill had or Jill Joy. >> Now, I was looking in that direct Joy has a, um, a card there that's going to let us know when we have about 30 seconds remaining in case we get to that point. Uh, and if we run out of time, >> can I >> Yeah. >> Can we get that closer to him at all? Is it >> actually is it ambient? >> Okay. >> Okay. All right. Member Member Castle, whenever you're ready. [clears throat] >> Okay. So, member of the equity steering committee, which we don't have. >> Oh, member Castle, we start with the question. >> Oh, yes. The question we were preassigned and then we'll move on to the >> each individual question. >> Stand corrected. Uh, what legacy would you like to leave as a result of your time on the school board? Yeah, I think that the legacy that I would like to leave if I'm lucky enough to be selected and serve on the board uh would be to leave the school district in a state that everybody in the community can be proud of and it that it can become a shiny example to the state and to the country. I always uh aim for excellence in everything that I do and I think that we have the resources here in Forest Lake and the community to achieve tremendously great things. >> Oh, and so the equity and steering committee, we don't have one. >> Uh >> is there a question? We have so um your relevant experience it says that you're a member of the equity steering committee. We don't have such a committee. >> So this is a this is what it was called when I joined in 2021. I don't know if the name had changed since then >> but we there was an equity committee made up of members of the administration um and members from the public. So, I was a as a parent within the district, I was a member of that committee. Happy to answer any follow-up questions you have about it. >> Um, no, that's fine. >> So, and I will relinquish the rest of my time. >> Okay. Thank you, Member Corker. >> Oh, okay. >> Welcome. Thanks for coming tonight. um if you have a really tough decision to make, how do you go about making that decision? What are your steps or your process? >> Great. Thank you for the question. So, as a scientist and educator and business person, um I use a lot of tools when it comes to making decisions. Um for me, it starts typically with a foundation of the facts and data. I'm tend to be very data driven. I excel at both analytical problem solving and creative problem solving. And so it depends a bit on the situation um what the optimal approach for reaching a decision is in in a setting on such as a school board. It obviously requires listening to the diverse perspectives because each of us brings our own experience, our own, you know, strengths. And so gathering all of the different perspectives to mitigate any potential blind spots that any one of us has is really important to me. >> Yeah. And that's exactly where I was going for it. Everyone comes to the table with their own ideas, but as a board, we have to come together and work together as a board. So, thank you for that answer. >> And um the other one was um what role do you think educators and support staff voices should play in schoolboard decision making? >> I think that's where the rubber meets the road. the the I just came from the science club this afternoon >> and being the one in the classroom working directly with the students that's where the reality hits about the level of resources and um finding that path to guide those students towards those pillars that I mentioned about achievement, safety, opportunity and you know broader engagement in the community. And so to me, I think it's absolutely critical. I don't know like that it can be successful to make decisions removed from that um reality in the classroom because it's one thing to come up with a policy, but it's another thing to implement in practice. And so I really think that um feedback from educators and staff is is critical. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. >> You have a little time for your last question now. >> Oh, well I you Thank you. No, I think it was Yep. Well done. Thank you. >> All right. Member Antinson. >> Okay. Thanks for being here, Paul. Um, so my first question is, how important is it for you to have a trusting relationship with the superintendent? If it is important, how would you achieve this? Yeah, I think um trust in all relationships is important and I think professional working relationships is no different. Um one of the important lessons I've learned in my career and in my life is to assume positive intentions. >> And to me that's where trust starts is assuming that everybody is here to do their job to fulfill their role. And then from that foundation of assuming everybody is here for the that greater good and that purpose. Um through um mutual positive interactions in that um I want to be the person that that superintendent you said specifically could count on to hold up my end of the bargain so to speak. Um because as a school board member the roles and responsibilities are very different from the roles and responsibilities of the superintendent. >> Correct. >> And so for example um our role is not to micromanage dayto-day activities but to fulfill an oversight role um and um in that in that capacity. Trust is also a delicate balance >> because um part of the role of the board is oversight and so I can't give away my trust freely >> and just >> give blind trust so to speak. >> Yeah. >> That an important aspect of the responsibility of this role is to hold administrators accountable as well. >> Right. Okay. Thank you. And the next question is, what are the top three guiding principles you incorporate into to your life for for navigating life? >> Top three guiding principles. Um, I would say kindness and compassion is one. Um, I would say fairness or equity would be another one. And I would um say the third one is um how do I sum it up? A growth growth mindset or continual improvement. >> Okay. Is that my time is up? >> 14 seconds. >> Oh, I guess that's it. >> Thank you. >> All right. Member Tyson. >> Yeah. [snorts] All right. Well, thanks for coming in, Paul. And this is a very well-ritten resume, so thank you for the time that you put into this. Appreciate it. So, my question is, what would you intend that your major contributions be as a board member of the Forest Lake Area Schools? >> Yeah, I think this overlaps with some of the the prior questions. So I definitely would I something I teach my kids is that always be ascending wherever we are. We should try to be improving from that point forward. Hopefully at a a good rate of improvement but forward progress in a sense. So in those four pillars I mentioned um what can we do to ensure student safety? Is there are there are there any gaps that we could be filling right to be improving on that? Of course, you know, schools are generally safe, but there's always room for improvement. Student success, where are the gaps? How can we specifically uh work to improve that? Um, obviously that involves a lot of thinking about what resources do the educators, the staff need to be successful in that um opportunity. Like for example, there was no science club. So I stepped up to volunteer to to lead the science club because that's an opportunity um I think is valuable for students but I think there's more opportunities in that case as well and then again the engagement with the broader community and bringing more more volunteers more people into the community because the school district is sort of the heart and soul of the community and I think it's something that we should all contribute to and something that we can be proud of. >> Terrific. My next question is what does shared leadership mean to you? among schoolboard members, district administration, teachers and staff. What does that shared leadership look like to you? >> Yeah. So, going back to the um understanding the different roles and responsibilities >> uh in my professional career, almost nothing is done independently. It's typically always a team. And so it typically um success depends on understanding everybody's sort of strengths and weaknesses, their particular you know what their defined roles and responsibilities are and making sure that we are supporting each other so that as a team as a group we can reach the best outcome. And so sometimes that means that we decide together and sometimes it means that I might not be the know the most and I might have to listen to somebody who I know has like that specific expertise that I might be missing. >> Okay, thank you. One last quick question and just in a couple of sentences, what motivated you to apply for a vacancy on the school board? >> Oh, great question. Um, I have a particularly unique education experience. I'm passionate about education. I as either as a student, as an administrator, right, as a teacher. Uh, so I feel like I want that opportunity to share that with the community. >> Great. Thank you, Paul. >> All right. Thank you. I'll dive right in here. Um, briefly describe the kind of relationship you want to have with your fellow board members. Yeah, thank you for the question. Um, I would say to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson in his view of the foreign relations of the United States, he said that he wanted to have friendly relations with all nations and entangling alliances with none. And that's the type of relationship that I would want to have on the school board that we would have friendly, cordial, productive, professional uh working relationships, but I don't want to um I want to be an independent voice and I don't want to be allies with anyone in that sense that I think that the community deserves Um, I guess I'll I'll if if I can take a second to explain a little bit more. I operate from a perspective of what I think is right and wrong, and I'm always going to make decisions based on the evidence for what I think is right in terms of achieving the objectives that we set out as a school board. And if I feel that um alliances can move us from a place of acting along the axis of right and wrong towards us and them. >> Okay. Thank you. Um earlier this year you criticized the board's adoption of MSBA policies on student groups at the advice of our district attorney stating that you were deeply disappointed that the policy offered no educational benefit and [clears throat] would cause real measurable harm. Since this model is used statewide, what evidence supported your claims and do you still believe your initial assessment was accurate? >> Yeah, at the time uh what I understood about the change in the policy is that there would be uh increased obstacles for uh the formation of clubs and student participation in clubs. And as I said, one of my pillars uh that I want to advocate for is increased opportunity. So, and I think that like through the debate um there's still good opportunities for students like I was able to form the science club. >> Um but it was a significant concern of mine that um the opportunity that students might have had uh was at risk. >> Okay. In October, the board adopted a letter urging the state of Minnesota and Minnesota State High School League officials to comply with Title 9. Your application indicates that you have a PhD in molecular and cellular biology and that you've made contributions to DNA research. With that background, do you support the board's position that biological differences between males and females are clear and that female students deserve respect and dignity in accordance with federal directives as outlined in Title 9? Can you clarify? You said you referred to the board's position. Can you clarify specifically what that board's position is? >> The board um submitted a letter um requesting that the state comply with the federal directives and title. >> Excuse me. To the time is up. I believe we have to respect everyone's time otherwise this is going to go on uh quite lengthy. >> Um we do have a few members that yielded some time. That gives us about five minutes before the next application. Um, I'll leave it at your option if you choose to address that question. >> Yeah. If if I'm not stepping on any >> or if other board members want to reclaim some of their time. >> Yeah. Yeah. I believe that the school board and the school district should always follow the law. >> All right. Thank you. Um, with that said, member C, >> I would like to reclaim. >> Okay. Um, so as [clears throat] a replacement for Luke Haggeland, how do you see your strengths and values line up with Luke's? >> I didn't know Luke very well, so that would be a difficult one for me to answer. >> Okay. Member Christensen, did you want to reclaim any of your time? >> All right. With with that, >> I would like to. >> Oh, member Atinson, >> how are we keeping >> 14 seconds left? >> Okay. I'm just curious. You said your understanding at the time when we're talking about these policies, the model policies and the change in groups and how they were going to be that your understanding was that there was going to be obstacles. Where did you come away? How did you come to that conclusion or that idea? Where did that come from? >> Oh, just speaking with members in the community. Oh, >> yeah. I heard about that there was some, you know, students concerns, some protests and things like that. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. Well, Mr. Pete, I'd like to thank you for coming in. I'd like to thank you for applying and I'd like to thank you for, you know, bearing with us as the first applicant. I'm sure it will get a little bit smoother as we go on this evening, but uh >> it's always hard to be in the hot seat, right off the >> bat. I want to thank you for starting that science club. >> Thank you for doing that. And >> spread the spread the word. >> Yeah. I tried to get my sixth grader. I'm like, "You want to do science club?" He was there at the thing and he's like, "No." I'm like, "Okay." >> It's it's been pretty fun. So >> awesome. Thanks for coming. >> Thank you. >> Who's next? >> All right, we still have about four minutes, but the next uh interviewee here is uh Ken Rutford. >> Um [clears throat] if he is here and able, he's welcome to to join us early if we want to get started early. >> All right. Would you like to to get started now? >> Sure. >> All right. All right. So, as you saw, we're just kind of alternating between board members. We each get about three minutes to ask questions. And uh um we each have a a pre-prepared question that we'll ask you first and then we have up to three questions in total that we can ask you. So, um might as well just get right to it. Member Corkran, do you want to start us off this time? >> Well, thank you for coming tonight. Um I my first question is if you have a really tough decision to make, how do you go about making that decision? What is your process that you currently use? >> My process of making a decision is kind of a pyramid game of which way do we go? Make notes decide what is the protocols? What is the best way to pursue for us, our district, our students and our teachers and our future and we have to build board of that and working together with that and bouncing ideas off of each other. What is the best way we can do what we can do on that note? >> Sounds wonderful. And I lost my question. Let's see. Sorry about that. Um, kind of going forward with that same what I asked the previous um person is what role do you think that educators and support staffs, their their ideas, their voices, how do they play in the decision-m process with your top decisions? Will you advocate, use their information? How how do you think you'll >> I think we have to utilize it >> and put that in our factors of what's going to happen next and what happened before do the prior and ahead ahead of ourselves and we have to work that as a team and figure out what is the best way for everybody and look at is it properly protocol going that way or not. They have a big role on our models. They're they're the ones that are on the front lines. So we have to listen to them what they have their concerns and where they would like to see and try and make the best >> and going forward. I guess I can ask more just one more um >> boards make you know we come up some of the disagree some agree kind of moving forward and decision of the board is you know how do you are you okay with if it doesn't go your way how would you support would you support the board's decision as a whole I know people sometimes carry that with them and they're not in agreement with that and how would you handle that >> if it if I didn't agree with it in my moment of saying my piece why I didn't agree agreed, but I would look at the factors of there's a reason why everybody sees it. So, I had to support that reason and uh go with it and hopefully it's the best reason we all do for the safety of our students and our our staff and our district and land around us. So, yeah, I would support each one you would not. >> Okay. Thank you so much. >> All right. Member Antonson. >> Hi, Ken. Thank you for coming tonight. >> Hello. Um, okay. So, my first question is, how important is it for you to have a trusting relationship with the superintendent? If it is important, how would you achieve this? >> I think it's very important to have a good trust relationship together because you're working as a team and you're collecting data together to pursue the best future of everybody here in the room and everyone in our community coming into it as we are growing. Yeah. >> So, we have to trust each other and build that growth. >> And what angle, how would you go about um establishing that trust, >> establishing that trust is working together, talking, taking on different roles to help proceed where we're going to do. If it's uh need a little extra help in this area of practice of teachers got these decisions to make what do we do or how do we go about the keeping the grounds cleaner and cheaper and save money from the taxpayers or or save money our time for our janitors and everybody else where we can utilize that stuff time and money later on. >> So basically through working together and >> work together. Yes. >> Okay. Um, what top three guiding principles do you implement into your life that kind of guide you through decision- making or just the way you live your life the way you are? [clears throat] >> My top three I had to say I had to look at what's the best for the golden rule. What's best for me and for everybody else. >> Golden rule. >> Yeah. You have to follow by that. You have to look around and guide yourself as what's going to happen next >> and what happened before why did it happen that way and how can we perceived ourselves to be a better role model and a better societ area to fix that area if it's a negative thing and if it's a positive thing let's spread the news and help out our fellow people around schools and maybe we can even help out other districts on that too as I've done that in my own community. >> Okay. And my last question, I thank you for all the I appreciate that answer. Um during your time, you are you currently working with the FFA in our schools? >> I still help out the FFA when they need some help and uh I bring equipment there for them to you uh for their show >> and support anything else that they need. And so during your time, however long this has been, I can't remember now, um, working with our local FFA, what kind of growth have you seen in that program? And, um, do you see that continuing to to grow or >> I see that growth as steady right now? >> Okay. >> And I would like to see it go further because our agriculture world of trees and everything, it's just more than just cows and plows. >> There's environmental stuff that I love and our teachers are slowly touching it now and getting there, which is nice. Yeah. Wonderful. Thank you so much. >> All right. Thank you, Member Tyson. >> Yes. Well, Ken, thank you for all the time you took in putting in your application for filling our vacancy. Um, [clears throat] one question I have, a couple of questions, but the first one is what would you intend to be your major or your big contributions as a board member of the Forc Area Schools? >> [clears throat] >> My big contributions in being on board, it would be more as a helpful person for the community, our schools, our children and around us. uh bring into the factors of different times I have dealt with the school, dealt with pacer and dealt with other community stuff, FFA and how I how we could work all together and be more a role model instead of negative out there. >> Unfortunately in this world there's so much negativity against our schools, against our government, against different things and we need to actually step up and show it. And I feel coming to the table, bringing a positive attitude in with everybody else and working as a team and collecting data, we could do it. >> Thank you for that. And member Antison's asked you a little few questions about FFA. How did you and I saw that you're a Forest Lake grad? >> Yes. >> Correct. How did you get connected with our FFA program? >> Uh my farm, my family farm has been up here on the edge of Hugo for many years. >> Okay. as of that I got into it through some other friends in school that has met through the agriculture department and now we are actually best friends hanging out a lot of times and going around in different activities and teaching children old antique tractors antique uh ways of farming and the way they do today [clears throat] um across the Minnesota areas and that's one of the things I do with open house I bring some of my old equipment to explain to children what they had before along with my new equipment so they understand how a tree grew and got planted there. >> Back in my day, we planted trees and we did planting of fields and all that for our community. And I understand time goes, insurance and everything. You can't do that anymore. But that's one of the things that [snorts] children don't really understand is the hard work of learning it. And I know they want to they want to see have their hands on and get in the community. And I know we have a couple local farmers here that welcome all that stuff. One's right up the road here. >> So, you got involved because you're a farmer. >> I got involved because I was a farmer and I also grew up my grandfather was the head of the agriculture department of University of Minnesota. >> Okay. Public schools serve every child, student, and family in our communities districtwide. What does that commitment mean to you? >> Excuse me on that one. What was your what would your commitment be to serving every student in [clears throat] our district districtwide and all of the communities that we have in our district? >> My commitment to all the students and everybody out there and and our teachers is better tomorrow. That's show ourselves to work together how we can do as a team and that we had done in the past as a team in the school year. >> Thank you for that. >> All right. Um, I guess I'll start with my questions here. Um, briefly describe the kind of relationship you want to have with your fellow board members. >> I would like to have the one-on-one family feel working together. Um, small world, we're all together here in the same ring. We're all together wanting the exact same thing. [cough] So, we're all family in a way because we want to work together and build better tomorrow. >> All right. Thank you. Um, in your opinion, what's the biggest challenge that the district currently faces and how would you go about solving it? There's a lot of big challenges that this district has has out there right now. And unfortunately, the media has grabbed a hold of a few of them and ran and made and it's sad. You know, the whole government stepping in deal what we can and can't do if we lose fundings. And I feel right now we're losing different fundings that we they're out there that we just got to research a little bit more to help recover that. our FFA, our sports academics, our math club, geek club, those different things. And I think why we can reach out and fix those and show others that we can do it. We can make it better. The same thing with the different genders that's have happened in their clubs. It's a hard one. That's a gray area. Which way do you go on that one? And it's I think myself the last year the school district has handled that subject actually really well. especially when the media has stepped in in there and that's one of the things I learned from watching the media and learned watching the videos here from that to how to perceive that and it's a really good protocol and way way we have done it already and I support it. >> Thank you. Um what are two to three strengths that our district can be proud of and why do you see these as strengths and what would you do to ensure their ongoing success? our strengths. Our district has we have probably some of the best teachers out there for supporting our students and then Satan not just one level but all the way up um even outside their school district. It amazes me when I go through the grocery store here with my child and his third grade teacher recognizes them and talks like their family, like they're and they they're perfect and they support them. We have a lot of teachers that have us a lot of support there. I think that's a really good strength that we have. There is downsides of it. I'm not, you know, where do we go and start on that one? That's a hard one. >> All right. Thank you. I think that pretty much runs me out of time there. Um, member >> Christensen. >> Yeah. >> Hello, Mr. Wilford. Thank you for being here this evening. Thank you for applying for the um open position. Um, what are your goals and aspirations uh for the school district? My goals that I bring to the table is support and working together, working with our teachers and our students and try to mingulate with each schools one- on- one and with parents as much as we can. My goal is to if a teach if parent has a problem, they reach out. they know they have a person on the board that they can talk to that will look into it, help them out as best as I can as knowledge as I can being the right way, legal way, and springing to the table if it needs to be tabled and working as a team together. That's my biggest goal here and support I have for that. >> Thank you. Um, what do you think is the appropriate balance between academic instruction and social emotional learning in our schools? Most important in the academics is learning. We got to get our students the right way learning [sighs] and understanding ourselves out there. There's a lot of struggles I see in the schools all the way through and that's one of the reasons I'm here today. I would like to help support those struggles for those students and it's all ages. Social it's there. It's great but I think a lot of it gets abused at times as of way things are taught on the social level and [snorts] I think we can improve ourselves on that to make it better all the way across the board and across our schools. >> Could you elaborate on that a little bit more? >> You said the social emotional learning um [clears throat] could you elaborate on that a little bit more? >> Um some of that is social learning. I lean that towards it kind of the way the online stuff is going and it struggle for a lot of students and I also lean on emotional students have getting pressured with some of that and pressure with some of just the community stuff happening along with with that. I see it with my own student. I see it with other kids across and from elementary school all the way up to the senior high. I think we could do a lot better job with that moving forward and kids that have less struggles and teachers have less struggles along with that too just by working and finding the right resources to help. >> You referenced um do you have a child in the school district? >> Yes, I do. [clears throat] >> And what ele is it elementary school? What school do they attend? >> Uh my biological son is at the senior high and I got uh girlfriend's kid in an elementary school. >> Okay. I was just curious since you mentioned it. Thank you. >> Y >> thank you. [clears throat] >> All right, that brings us Member Castle. >> Uh, what legacy would you like to leave as a result of your time on the school board? >> My legacy I would like to leave is that the community knows that there is somebody there supporting their students and the future students. they have a person and the teachers know that they got a person sitting up there on the board at the same time that understands their qualifications and what they have done and gone through. It's a hard one to do, but it's the legacy is a literally they know that they got the support and they got somebody they help support along with as a team as a board. Um, so you [clears throat] say you own your own business in the Forest Lake area. Um, and you list on this newest page here, uh, this outfit in Blaine. Is that the outfit or it's kind of a multiple question? >> I own a property maintenance business. Okay. Uh, >> snow removal, plowing, grave digging, uh, all that. And I also work for a diesel uh, diesel shop. And actually I actually we rebuild heads and new manufactur new heads there. And I just talked to the owners of the company here about our high school program to bring the students over there to see how the heads are built because auto mechanics u both small as a tour of the shop and learn so these kids understand the mathematics and understand what goes into the engine before it's on the car. >> [snorts] >> Um, the point of that question was that if we were to have a vote on something that had to do with your business, what would your how would you proceed? >> I would prefer >> Sure. I'm more than happy to step out and let the vote go through and avoid myself and versus me putting it down and a, you know, claiming that one vote, you know, extra vote. But I think it would be fair you guys would have enough people to vote on it without me and I'd be more than happy to step out of the room as you make that decision >> or simply abstain. >> Yes. And I don't know if that those two qualify as two or just one. >> Um, >> questions. >> Questions? >> Yeah, I I think we have plenty of time. If you have a >> Okay, so then um [clears throat] as Luke's replacement, how do you see your strengths and values line up with Luke's? >> I did not know him personally. Um, so I can't benefit off of that or say anything due to the fact of it's not right to on the behalf, but all I can just say is I can try my hardest to proceed in his footsteps where he left off and move forward with everybody. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I think we Joy, did we all pretty much exhaust our clock on that one? >> Julie has 24 seconds, Tessa has 5 seconds, and you have 17 seconds. >> Does anybody have any followups? We'd like to fill a little bit of time left. >> No, good. I'm good. I think I'm good, too. >> All right. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you for coming. Thank you for your application. >> Thank you for coming in. [clears throat] >> That creates a bit of a gap here. It is now uh >> about 20 to 6. Our next interview is scheduled for 610 because we had an individual drop out. >> Jim is here. >> I see Mr. Smith is here. >> Are you ready? Just keep going. >> Do we want to take a break or do we want to bring Mr. Smith right up and >> put him in the hot seat. >> If he's ready, keep going. >> Are you ready, Mr. Smith? [laughter] >> Anticipation. >> I'm happy to recess. You're you're not obligated to be here till 6:10. And we're going to we're going to end up with the same problem as soon as uh we finish with with your interview. Um I don't see Mr. Dominowski Doinski here. >> Sorry. Can I ask a procedural question? Yeah. Is there a way that someone would be able to contact some of these other um applicants and see if they are able to come a little bit earlier >> or a good idea? >> Okay. >> Try to do you have access for their numbers and [clears throat] such. Chrissy, >> I will give them some joy. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. >> Wonderful. >> You may as well just keep >> Yeah, that's a really good idea. Member Christensen, thank you for bringing that to our attention. Um >> Jim, welcome. >> Thank you. >> Hot seat. I think you've seen how this has kind of gone. Um we'll try to to proceed in the exact same manner with your interview and uh we'll start off with member Tyson. >> Good Jim. Well, thank you for applying for a vacancy. What motivated you to apply? >> Education has been my life. This is [clears throat] just another step in my life uh and my passion in life. >> Okay. And this is a very well written resume too. I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So, what would you intend that your major contributions would be as a school board member [clears throat] in Forsick area schools? Your big contributions. >> I have three. [clears throat] >> There are three areas of focus that I will emphasize. Um area number one, I will focus on learning by supporting and building on great educational pieces already in place in the district. for example, reading and literacy instruction, career and college pathways, the nurturing uh that the learning community of the district through the revamped teaching and learning department that supports our wonderful teachers are all great strides in the district. This recognizes that all of us including schoolboard members are lifelong teachers and learner learners finding new ways to adapt to an everchanging and challenging reality. A big piece of this will be the new strategic plan built on the strengths of the old plan which are many and recognizes the new learning realities we face such as attendance concerns and classroom issues like artificial intelligence. And again, I apologize for sending you that stuff I did under artificial intelligence. [laughter] I I never used that before and I did it and it blew me away. It was really an interesting thing. Area two, I will focus on learning in choosing a new superintendent. I will set a high bar for interested candidates and insist that the finalist be an accomplished educational leader. Thank you, Dr. Massie, for setting a rich learning table for our students. This is a great opportunity to bring in a new superintendent that will be the recipient of a district moving in the right direction and supports high degrees of learning for all students. There are many hats that super superintendents wear, but at this time in our educational journey, there is none more important than hiring a superintendent who is an educational leader, who knows how learning works and who understands when is needed to support a system that promotes mastery [clears throat] of critical learning outcomes. Area three, there's kind of a theme here. I will focus on learning leadership. It takes all levels of school and community leadership, including school boards, to support our students, their families, and those who teach them. Restoring community faith in our school board is a critical piece needed to [clears throat] keep growing a strong district culture of learning. For me, this will be a one-year focus. I will not run for school board again. >> Okay, Jim, I got a question because I'm running out of time. That's excellent information. And I know that your background is steeped in education. And could you just give us a little bit more about your classroom assessment and time as a data coordinator [snorts] >> and Centennial when I was there? >> Centennial. >> Uh that was a program I actually developed in grad school. Uh uh and uh it wasn't going to happen. Uh I had this position in mind. >> Um you you ran out of time, but I think we should allow Mr. Smith to continue and answer the question. >> Yes. >> Okay. Sorry [snorts] for cutting you off. I just wanted to check with the board. >> Well, I took it to my principal saying, "We need this person. We've got all the state testing going on. We've got classroom assessment work that needs to be done. We could have a position of someone leading that in the district." There wasn't anybody like that in the state of Minnesota. My principal said, "We don't have we can't do that." He said, "You're title. I was a title one coordinator. That's paid through federal funds. You can't do this other work." So, I went and moped for a couple weeks and then he called me his office and said, "Oh, by the way, we're going to hire you as the data and assessment coordinator coordinator." Within two years of working with our professional learning communities, Centennial Middle School was the second first or second highest performing middle school in the state of Minnesota uh in reading and math. Us and [clears throat] the Dina were the two schools that were right up there. A lot of this had to do with our the way our professional learning communities worked in the building. Uh, and my work with them was to pull all the data together to show them where their teaching was hurting, what questions the kids couldn't get, if their questions are legitimate. And they worked as a team. I don't take credit for this. It's the teachers that uh worked as a team to to make this happen. Two years later, we got a new superintendent that gutted the whole thing and the scores went way down. That's why I feel passionate about the superintendent. They can do a lot of good and they can do a lot of damage and you have done much good for our district. >> All right. I I think you created a great segue there because we'll move to member APson. >> Hi Jim. Thank you for being here tonight. Um I just want to say I enjoyed getting to know you over interactions during the campaign and I appreciated your um calm cooled collectiveness and uh wanting you know that that wanting to sort of avoid all the kuruffle of politicking. So >> and I appreciated that as well. >> Thank you. Um, so I was watching some um old schoolboard meetings and back in April of 23 there was a meeting regarding the ANI plan and you spoke about how achievement gaps do exist. Um, and stated that they were closing they were closing up until about the 80s at which time they began to then kind of start >> Does this sound familiar? Okay, I just >> Yeah, I'm just trying to get my brain to go back a little. [laughter] >> Well, I mean, [clears throat] so I am paraphrasing here, but um then they began to kind of increase again. Um, in my research about the read act, um, I came to understand that a popular curriculum creator, Mari Clay or somebody came over to the United States and and some other curriculum uh, creators and we started sort of incorporating these people's curriculums that weren't actually evidence-based. And I just wonder um so let me get back to my actual question ver um with your extensive experience in education and data-driven initiatives what if anything do you see in the system of education that we need to do so that we don't find ourselves which I don't think is going to happen with the read act and the way we're implementing things now because it's all evidence based >> you ask your original question. >> Oh, I skipped right onto this one, didn't I? >> Yeah, I think you >> Oh, we did. >> Is that correct, Joy? I did not hear the original question. >> I didn't. You're right. >> Um, thank you for bringing that up. But, um, I'm going to let Joy figure out how to deal with the clock on this one. >> Um, if you want to reset it and if you just want to go back here and we have plenty of time, so we can probably reset it. But, uh, yeah, please start with the original. Thank you for catching that. Well, we just want to be mindful that other people didn't have that extra time added. So >> So that that took 2 minutes and 9 seconds. So minutes. >> Okay. Okay. >> Reset the time. >> Yeah. My question ultimately is do you think in the system of education that teachers have enough like if they see a problem do they have enough influence on in in the system to to help >> hold that question though go back to the the original question we agreed to the to do the first the first question on the superintendent and then pivot quickly >> um >> I'll I'll try to pay more attention to that going >> I'm busy telling him how nice I think he is and I forgot uh how import okay how important is it for you to have a trusting relationship with the superintendent and how would you achieve this >> I talk about professional learning communities a lot and this is the time where I will do that again and that's I'm talking about our entire district here and perhaps even the community where we live relationships in a professional educational community dedicated to learning have at their core trust respect and a dedication to the teaching and learning mission of the school district. It matters not if this professional relationship is between student and teacher, principal and parent, between those who prepare and maintain our buildings and those who come and teach and learn in them. This professional relationship mostly most most certainly must exist exist between those who lead. To have a community where learning is paramount there much must be this type of relationship between the leaders in the case of the superintendent and the school board. Additionally, to nurture these types of relationship in the rest of the learning community, the leaders must must lead by example. Not only in this nurturing, not only is this nurturing important, it is essential to the learning culture of the entire school district community. These relationships are only achieved by doing the hard work of listening to others, finding ways of collaborating with others who may disagree with you, and digging deep for solutions together, honestly, clearly, identifying stumbling blocks as they come and never losing sight of our educational vision vision as list uh listed in the uh strategic plan. Excellence for every student every day. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Can can you briefly summarize your other question because I want to give Mr. Smith the opportunity to answer it and then I would say you're probably out of time. >> So I'm out of time. That's all right. >> No, just briefly paraphrase the question so Mr. can answer it because I feel like >> ultimately my question is like so we had just do you think teachers have enough influence like if they see problems do you think the system of education within it teachers have enough influence to help start creating change that's needed? [clears throat] I think that's a difficult question to answer on the look as a big picture with one answer because every school every school district is different. I've been in schools where the teachers their leadership has been promoted and [clears throat] they're listened to. I've been in schools where there's none of that going on. Reading was always a really difficult thing to talk about when [clears throat] I was out and work in schools. People would ask me, "What do you recommend in reading?" And I'd say I don't I'm not going to say anything because if I say something that you like, you're not going to like it and vice versa. I like this new approach to reading now because it's researchbased and it got me out of a position of [laughter] of this thing that was going on that was not healthy for kids. I don't Is that answer your question? >> Yes. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. >> All right. Well, we'll go to Member Christensen. >> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Smith, for being here this evening. Thank you for your application. And I'm looking over uh your resume here. And for the folks that don't have um access to it uh uh here and uh online, I'm counting up 42 years of experience. Seventh grade teacher for 17 years, middle school 5 years, um a charter school 5 years, 15 years as a national consultant. So I just think uh that you are highly highly qualified uh to be joining us up here. So, >> it's called my passion. >> Yes. Well, we can tell you're very prepared. You're answering questions. Uh, you're very prepared. I appreciate that. Uh, my first question, I think you've already answered. So, if it's okay, I'm going to My first question was, what are your goals and aspirations for the school district? I think we've kind of talked about that. So, if I could move on to my second question. What do you think is the appropriate balance between academic instruction and social emotional learning in our schools? >> Um, [clears throat] that's another difficult question. It really is. Uh that's something that I've been involved in in kind of a controversial way. Um I believe both of those pieces have are valid and have their place, but I also believe they go together quite well in the [clears throat] classroom. Collaborative learning is a social emotional piece. You have to address that that type of learning. I got so frustrating so frustrated when we talked to people that said you got to get the emotional piece first and then you can do the academics. I always saw this kid I had in school who was a big pain in the neck. He would not leave school at the end of the day because his home life was miserable. School is the only place where he was successful. We could do academics together and still work on these social pieces. I don't don't know if that's answers your question completely, but >> No, that's that's a >> it's a it's a complicated issue with a lot of moving pieces. I think a lot of them help kids in both ways, but I think the pieces that are really great when they come together. >> Yeah. One of our um one of the kindergarten teachers I know, she said um what is it with um with understanding comes patience, I think is how it goes. But same, you know, if if a kid is really struggling and you know, if you can just understand where they're coming from, um you're able to help them better or make a better connection. So, I think um I think that's wonderful. And um you um you also said that >> you this would be you would just finish out the term and you would not be running again. >> Yes. [clears throat] Uh and that's true for a couple of reasons. The major one is my family and I are not getting younger. Uh especially some people, my my 91year-old mother-in-law is going into surgery on Tuesday. Uh [clears throat] I have to be available for them and that's the main reason. >> Yeah. Well, I appreciate um your honesty in that regard. So, uh thank you very much. >> Oh, thank you. >> All right. Um member Castle. >> Hi, Jim. Uh what legacy would you like to leave as a result of your time on the school board? I really do like this question actually and it made me think a lot when I was writing this. Um, I hope my legacy encompass all of my career as an educator. And this is just another piece. When I was putting together my resume for the schoolboard appointment, I found myself remembering the satisfaction, joy, and just plain fun I experienced during my career working with both students and teachers. Lately, it seems like times have gotten darker. Conflict has deepened and animosity towards our schools and teachers has grown greatly. School boardrooms around the country have become a venue of discord rather than an environment of growth and celebration. This needs to change. Public schools should be a place of excitement and possibility supported and uplifted by the adults in the community uh and led in this process by the school board. Let's move away from dysfunction to working together, from strife to collaboration, and together celebrate this uh success, our successes, and build for the future together. On my tombstone, please engrave the words found in my email signature. There are no limits to learning. So, thank you for that question. >> Thank you. Um, okay. [snorts] And one of the questions I was going to ask has been asked. Um, so as Luke's replacement, how do you see your strengths and values line up with Luke's? >> I didn't know Luke and I talked to him fairly rarely, but what I do remember he was talking about he was working with grounds I think and facilities in the district and I was kind of amazed the way he would talk about those things. I mean he seems like he has this passion for [clears throat] that kind of work and I I was listening to him with interest. because that may not be my strong point. Uh looking at the budget pieces of all of that. Uh so I saw that in him and like I said I didn't know him very well. Uh but as a person person who is passionate about things I can see his passion in that and I hope I share some of that that passion with him. >> Okay. And [clears throat] so you taught American history and world geography. So, what is the one concept that is the most important about teaching American history? >> I don't know if a concept is the right way to put it. It's looking at two different concepts actually. It's looking at and we can't do this anymore because controversial issues are off the table. But where I had my most success with kids is looking at something in history, an event in history, a political decision or a movement in history and then saying let's talk about it in today's language in today's world. Do we have anything like that there and the kids went from you know being asleep to being engaged with doing that and that is the greatest success they had in education. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Well, thank you for coming today, Jim. Appreciate that. Um, I know in your wonderful um application, you did address some of the actual question I'm going to ask, but for the audience to hear it, um, if you have a really tough decision to make, how do you go about making that? What's your process for making that decision? [snorts] It >> it kind of starts with me. I have to ask myself questions. >> Do I fully understand the details and impact of that decision? And I have to be able to answer that. I do. [clears throat] Does and if I don't, I have to find out that information. Two, does the decision fit with the primary mission of the district. We have to keep that in mind on everything we do. How does it impact learning? Three, do I need to research other possible options? I'm a I like to research stuff. If if somebody doesn't have a good option and I can't find one either, I can't speak up. I've got to find those things if I think they're needed. If the decision impacts learning, is it researchbased? I think that is an important thing to do, as is the reading program in the district. If I agree [clears throat] with the decision, how can I influence those that disagree? Or if I disagree with the decision, how can I influence those that agree? No matter how the decision is decided, how can I maintain the professional relations with my colleagues and continue to strengthen our forest lake area schools learning community? Those are the questions I want to answer. >> Sounds like you go through a very thorough process. I appreciate that. Um, and I wanted to ask a different one. Um, okay. Forsight area schools has been in the news of conflict, division, and governance concerns. What do you think is the board's responsibility in repairing the trust that we have lost in our district? some of the conflicts we've had recently and a lot of news negativity in it with our district. Do you have any thoughts about that? >> I think it's important [clears throat] uh that we do that. Uh it's a slow process. Excuse me. [clears throat] Um so much what we do in education takes a lot longer to implement than we think it does sometimes. And it's important, I think, to rebuild those things as quickly as we can. Um, I have to go back this. [clears throat] Uh, it only happens through getting to know people, talking to people, building that trust one step at a time, clarifying misunderstandings. We can't walk out of this room without with this conflict deep within us. you have to resolve it and fix it and get it out there with the community and bring the community into these discussions. I think that's an important piece as well. When I talk of learning communities, I think the learning community is the whole darn city and state and school district. Uh we all can impact each other and it's think it's good for us to be models uh of of how to do that respectfully. You can disagree. We're gonna disagree on things. Kurt and I have talked in the past that we disagree on things. We start by finding what we could agree on and that's I think a good starting point for it. Build from there. Build from your strengths. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> All right. Thank you. You segueed right into me here. Um, briefly describe the kind of relationship you want to have with your fellow board members. >> That is so related to the one uh uh Miss Anison talked about about the trusted relationship with the superintendent. >> [clears throat] >> This is very similar in answer to that that question. So I'm going to just just read it as I've got it here. Uh rel relationship like I said in a professional education community is is dedicated to learning have has at their core trust, respect and dedication to mission to the district. It matters not if this professional relationship is between students or teachers or all of that. It has to exist between members of the board as well. if we are to have a community where learning is paramount. Additionally, [clears throat] uh and additionally, the school board has to nurture these type of rel relationships in the district learning the district's community. The school board must lead by example, serve as role models in this this nurturing. Not only is this nurturing important, it is essential to the learning culture of the entire school district community. In our community, we are all learners. We are all teachers in our community. We learn from each other, develop our capacity for leadership together. If done well, we grow together. If done poorly, it is the students who suffer. The school board needs to show leadership and be an example of how a collaborative and nurturing learning culture can support all learners. >> All right. With that in mind, in a recent Facebook post, you described the majority of the school board members as ultrarightwing and indicated that their influence is harming the students in this district. If appointed, how do you plan to work constructively with those members despite your rhetoric? And why should these board members trust you to work with them in good faith? >> I think the answer is with Tessa right there. Um, I did write that and I've talked about that in the past and I am concerned about the outside money that's coming in to the Minnesota parent association. Then I met Tessa on the street of Scandia and I found that felt we had more in common than we had uh not in common and I've I tend to be a rabble rouser sometimes and uh I'm not saying I regret that I said it because I still am really afraid of outside money coming into this district. Uh but as I moved through the district, uh meeting other folks that didn't think like me, uh that changed. [clears throat] My hardest day on the campaign trail, I met a man who was against everything I believed in. And [clears throat] I said, "I'm not going to talk about that. I want to talk about education." And he went through six different things. He said, "You're not going to talk about this, are you?" And I said, "No, let's talk about education." And then I said, "How old are you?" And he was two years older than I was. I said, 'What was your d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d number number in 1971? He said it was 151. I said, 'Mine was 153. You can imagine how our conversation changed. He went to Vietnam. I did not because the draft ended in 1972. Anyway, I could go on and on, but [clears throat] >> thank you. >> People have to find ways of connecting >> and you and I think have done it. >> We have. Do we have any time left or did everybody exhaust their time? Jill has three seconds left. [clears throat] >> Say thank you. >> Quick, Jill. >> All right, we did a good job of using our time there. >> Disappointed. I have one more question there. You are you're segueing into it beautifully. Um, >> Scott, did you say we'll be ready to follow after? >> Perfect. >> Okay, so we could pivot directly to uh Mr. Dobinski then. >> Thank you, Mr. Smith. >> Oh, thank you all. Thank you. Welcome. >> Thank you. >> So, I I don't know if you got here early enough to kind of see how the process is playing out, but each board member is being given about three minutes. We each have a um kind of canned question that we're asking each member or each applicant and then uh a couple of follow-up questions to that and then we just kind of pivot throughout the room. >> Okay. >> All right. Um member Christensen, do you want to get started? >> Sure. Thank you so much uh for being here this evening. Can you pronounce your name for me one more time? Do >> Scott. I wanted [laughter] >> I wanted to call you Mr. Doazinski, but I wanted to make sure I was saying it right. Thank you. Um uh what are your goals and aspirations uh for the school district? >> The goals and aspiration for the school district really starts with the baseline of the the board and and where they're headed right now uh to help them, you know, meet the district goals and objectives that have been set forward. >> Thank you. Um, what do you think is the appropriate balance between academic instruction and social and emotional learning in our schools? I think your academic um your academic structure is very important. Social uh is also is it's kind of secondary but very important. main goal as I see it from high school is to is to help students graduate high school and be able to provide for themselves, give back to the community and serve and I think high school education uh is predominantly where that starts but that's not the only place it it resides but the balance between a academic and social I think is important because emotional maturity uh doesn't happen while they're in high school. So you have to give them the baseline. You have to give them the background, the ethics, the morals to be able to go and provide that as they leave. So social has a contributing factor uh that they can apply to their academics and be able to go uh out into the world and and give back and contribute. >> Thank you for that. Um um you said that uh excuse me. Oh, I'm sorry. You're not a graduate of Forest Lake. You have a child that's a graduate of Force. >> My daughter graduates. >> Yes. Okay. Sorry. I was misreading that. I just wanted to um confirm with that. Um I guess I have some more time here. Sorry. Let me grab my the other ones went um went a little uh slower. Let's see. Um, can you talk about um can you talk about um ethical leadership and what that means to you? Um, what does a schoolboard member owe the students, the community in terms of conduct, professionalism? Um, >> ethical leadership is something that I've lived um, pretty much all my life, but I just talk about mil my military service to narrow it down. I spent 26 years in the army and uh, I would have never stayed in the army that long if I wasn't an ethical leader. So, uh, as a whole, to get to the heart of your question, the school board needs to, um, actually show that leadership and those ethics through their policies and how they support the vision of the district. >> And I'm done. >> All right. Thank you. >> Ask a followup question. >> Member Anderson. >> Oh, okay. I'm going to start from where I'm supposed to here. Hi, Scott. Thank you for coming. Um, so I'm starting with the question of how important is it for you to have a trusting relationship with the superintendent and how would you achieve this? I >> I think it's it's really critical. Um, as the as the board uh we're here to as much support the superintendent as the superintendent supports the board. It's got to be mutual >> uh relationship, but he's the executor of all that that has to happen. Uh and and that's critical. I mean, it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a village to educate a child. And it starts at home. And it and that supports the superintendent if if it goes back to the ethical basis that they have. Um you know, the moral, you know, supporting that superintendent is that's one way to do it is have a child show up uh regularly. um avoid truency and that's how you that's one way to support it. But as a member of the school board, those policies uh that go forward, you need to be able to listen to the experience they have and where they're coming from because they've they've got, you know, as we would say, money boot leadership. They they get their boots dirty and they know from experience what needs to happen. [clears throat] So those have to be conversations you have in the boardroom. >> Okay, great. Thank you. Uh all right. Next is what are the top three principles you use to guide your life? >> Top three principles I use to guide myself. >> Yeah. Like through life that you use or professionally, personally. >> Um very young age, my father told me there's very few things in life that are worse than a liar. Um so I believe in honesty uh and trusting people. Uh, and I I have a tendency to give trust before I I receive it. I've had stumbles and falls because of that with relationships, but reality is when I walked away, um, I never questioned whether or not I trusted them or the relationship fell apart because of something I did that was dishonest. Um, the second thing is in uh, integrity and personal integrity. For me, it's always doing the right thing um, and leading with that integrity. I I spent many years wondering where I was going to go. I found the army and it was going to be four years and out. And I found that the integrity of a team and someone that you could develop with and trust um and and grow with was integral to developing as a person uh as a family, as a community uh as a whole. Um and really if you look at it from an honesty, integrity, it's it's it's selfless service. Uh some is uh uh where I was going with that is selfless service is is giving back um because of all the things that you received. Um, so it's a matter of being able to give where um you have strengths and and help those that that uh can't necessarily always help themselves. >> That's beautiful. Thank you. >> Member Tyson. >> Yes. Thank you, Scott, for coming in. This is a very extensive resume that you have here. Just a few clarifying questions if you don't mind. >> Sure. >> Um some of your >> your first question member. go with my first question, then we'll catch up on that. My first question for you is what would you intend that your major contributions would be >> as a board member for Forest Lake Area Schools? >> It it really comes down to I mean this is a unique way to get onto the board. It's it's it's the middle of a term. Um, I think it's important not to totally disrupt where the board is going with their objectives, their goals, and what they have sent forward uh to support the district. So, I I would want to contribute to that. I'd want to look at the problems and help solve the problems that are are in front of us to to go forward. >> Thank you. Public schools also serve every child, student, and family in our big district. We have many communities. What does that commitment mean to you? [snorts] >> Really, what it means to me is being able to give back. Um, years ago, I uh was at a Memorial Day presentation. I happened to be speaking and I looked out over the audience and what did I notice? But I noticed every person that contributed to me in my life. Uh, one was a coach, one was a school teacher, one was the principal. Um, and each one of these were gave back when I was in school. And that was 20 years after I had seen most of them. And I think it's very important to give back to a community. And I I really believe that it starts with your kids and it starts with a basis of education and preparing them to go on to life and and and serve the community. >> Very good. Now, I believe I had a phone conversation with you. Is that correct? >> Oh, yeah. You did. >> You You and I did. Yep. Correct. >> We did. >> So, I was looking on here. I believe you told me that you worked at the high school with some groups at our high school. >> Nope. I never said that. >> Okay. Have you ever or did you say that you had some sort of input to >> I didn't work with groups at the high school? No. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> I must have misunderstood you. Thanks for clarifying that. And then in your resume, you have some um like certifications and clearances. >> Were those when you were in the military? Yes. >> Okay. And then you have many degrees, several here, which are very impressive by the way. Did you fulfill those when you were in the military as well? >> My undergraduate degree uh at St. John's University I did prior to going to service. >> Okay. >> And then the information of management uh management of information systems was in Germany while I was on active duty. I did it after after hours. Um, so it was something to better myself and I believe in lifelong learning. Um, so it was something I did. My wife enrolled in college, so I did too. Uh, it was something I would I saw that I would need to go progress in my career as well. Uh, and then my last one was the last education of my military career. It's a master's producing school and it was at Fort Mcneer in Washington DC, but that was on active duty. >> Okay. Thank you so much. All right, I'll jump right in with my questions here. Um, briefly describe the kind of relationship you want to have with your fellow board members. >> I [clears throat] I really view the relationship with fellow board members as as open and transparency. Um, you can have honest discussions. You're not going to agree on every point, but in the end, I think it's very important to understand the point, respect the point, and then come together in the end and and make the decisions that that's best outcome that supports the the goals and the the vision of the of the district. And I I think that's ultimately based on the discussions and the facts and evidence that you put on the table. >> Wonderful. In your past, how have you handled conflict in teams and how would those experiences be applicable on the schoolboard? >> I've actually uh done a lot in conflict conflict resolution from, you know, in small units, you know, 10 person teams to uh Ministry of Transportation with the country of Iraq sitting across from, you know, the the person that controlled every truck in the country. Um but the re the real basis of conflict resolution comes down to understanding each point of the individuals that are having the conflict and then that that entails listening to them, understanding that point and then finding what middle ground is there because sometimes it's not what they want, it's what they don't want. And sometimes that's an overriding factor is that they don't want something. So they're going to fight very hard to have a conflict. And then the last one is once you have that middle ground is how you get those both to agree upon that middle ground and walk away, you know, with a handshake or proverbial handshake. Anyways, >> all right. Thank you. Um, what are two to three strengths that our district can be proud of? Why do you see those as strengths? and what would you do to ensure their ongoing success? >> So, district strengths, I I I I really believe that and it has to do with my background. Uh, you have to set the example and you have to you have to lead by that example. Um, I know it's not all about, you know, what you have statistically on on the table, but when it comes to ratings for the school and you're bringing in students and your enrollment is in growing and the community believes that the school is educating, um, I I I think that's very very important. They need to have confidence in in the district. Um and you see that with open enrollment or you see that with incre in uh increased enrollment. Um you also see it with you know test scores going up. if you can address those issues that you see. Um I think there's very people in the very few people in this world that don't understand that if you see a problem and you start addressing that problem and you make that problem go not necessarily go away but get better and you continue to to grow uh in that area. I think that's very important. Um and those are strengths to see from a community standpoint. All right. Thank you. Um, member Corkran, >> welcome, Scott. Thank you for coming tonight. >> Thank you. >> Um, I um my first question is if you have a really tough decision to make, how do you what is your thought process and how do you make that decision? >> Well, first of all, I'm I'm fairly introspective and analytical. So the first thing I'll do is um I look at it from both sides pros and cons and then I start weighing where they are um you know which one is has more and that that difficult decision is going to come down to you know which side um has more weight and then ultimately I I would say I would say that uh the gut feeling is the one that is the overriding. So if there's a tie, it goes to the it goes to the gut and and it goes through that. I spend a lot of time analyzing um both sides of it because it's it to me if you don't understand both sides, the pros and the cons of it or however you you you kind of you know break it up, you're not literally looking at it from a 360 perspective because how it it how it affects its second and third order effects um can be outweighed by a very positive of you know pro you know so you gota you got to really look at how it's going to affect others too >> yeah it's not an easy task I know that um my second question is um force lakes's been in the news for conflict division and governance concerns this year as you well know I'm sure you've read in the paper and on seen it on news articles what do you think is the board's responsibility is repairing the trust ensuring that we do not repeat these mistakes Will you repeat that first sentence >> again? >> Forest Lake has been in the news for conflict, division, and governance concerns this year. What do you think is the board's responsibility in repairing trust and ensuring that we do not repeat these mistakes? you're very this question is uh from a standpoint of doing the right thing always is important from the board. Um if you continue to do the right thing every time ethically and morally um and that encompasses looking at both sides that encompasses looking at all options you know going out and asking those questions. The reality of it is is whenever you come into conflict or under scrutiny, which you're going to because not everyone is going to like every decision you. It's just it's a fact of life. U you can't please everyone. Everyone doesn't agree with it. So, you're going to come into conflict at some point in time. So, what you need to do is you need to make sure that you're always making the right decisions. And that's based on your, you know, you what you set up for your guidelines. >> Thank you so much. >> All right. Member Castle, >> thank you for your service. Thank you. Appreciate it. What legacy would you like to leave as a result of your time on the school board? H I I I guess my legacy as uh you my time on the school board would be pretty much uh my legacy in anything I do and that is that people look at me and respect me for what I did, the decisions I made um and and and honestly are are willing to come up and have a conversation and ask me those questions whether they disagree or support and just have a you know I I really believe in transparency and I really believe in being ethical. Uh and I a very young age I learned that I wasn't a good liar and when I was telling the truth and I was told that I was lying I I realized that there's there's no benefit out of it. So if I can look at everyone and and have a conversation and shake their hand when I when I go away I'm I'm really good with that. legacy is really about, you know, what I stand for. Um, but it's more about what we can do together. >> Ah, thank you. [clears throat] Um, so you have a I haven't heard of this term before. Usually people say they sell things, but you have reverse acquisition. >> Yeah. Um, how would that apply to perhaps school buses, old desks, >> equipment? >> I could answer that in a couple ways, but the truth of it is is you you you take it in uh you can do it on uh online auctions, you can there's always someone in need of of something that is is up for sale. Um, but the reality is, uh, you could repurpose school buses, either sell them to a district that, you know, needs to have a quality product that, you know, as you're upgrading it, um, or, you know, maybe you could turn them into a, you know, some type of RV or something, you know, sell them to a company that's going to turn them into. too. But re reverse uh logistics really has to do with getting it either in the recycling reuse or redesation of it. Um so um and [clears throat] as Luke's replacement, how do you see your strengths and values line up with Luke's? Um, so I Luke and I uh had a few conversations um throughout the last few years and I I would I would find that him and I agreed on more concepts than than less. Uh, so I I found him to be a uh really good um sounding board for different things that I was I was thinking or talking about. But reality um I I think we're, you know, somewhat aligned in our our beliefs of how to approach things. Uh actually very uh very aligned in it. uh look at all the aspects, look at all the facts, the evidence and and then open up discussion and and make a decision based on um what's best for the for the school district itself. So I think that was probably the most commonality is you know we mutually could sit down and have discussions and and come to resol resolution on them. So >> thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Um Joy, I think we all exhausted our time. Everybody's their time. Everybody is here for the continuing. >> Oh, wow. Okay. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Scott. >> And as Mark said, thank you for your service. >> Thank you. >> Long service. >> All right. So, we initially had a brief recess here scheduled for board members. >> Well, being that we had a couple of people drop out, do we want to take a recess or do we want to continue with the interviews? >> I think she keep going. She Well, she she's ready to go. >> The break. >> Yeah, the I'm I'm saying the break based on the the individuals that we've interviewed, >> but we we can keep going. Whatever the board's prerogative is. >> Keep going. >> Yeah, I'm good with that. >> All right. Uh Mrs. Hansen, then we welcome you to the hot seat and we'll uh um Have you [clears throat] had an opportunity to kind of see how the process is working? >> I picked up a little bit as I came in. I got the call of, "Can you come in early? You know, it's the classic night. My son's at ninjas and we've got church youth group. [laughter] My daughter's got swimming and confirmation." I'm like, >> "Sure, I'll be there." >> Well, thank you for making that work. So, I'll give you kind of a brief rundown. What we're doing is we're just alternating um between members >> and each member is given about three minutes to ask you questions. We each start with kind of a pre-anned question that we have >> and then we have a couple of others that we can we can kind of thread in there and then we pivot from member to member. >> Sounds good. >> And since we have a limited time um some of us we just dive right into it. So >> perfect. Thank you. >> We we'll just dive right into it and maybe this time we'll start with member Castle. >> Um so what legacy would you like to leave as a result of your time on the school board? >> Thank you member Castle. Starting right with legacy. I like that. All right. So, the legacy that I would aspire to leave is one of integrity, transparency, and long range stability for Forest Lake Area Schools. Um, I want my time on the board to be remembered for strengthening trust. That's trust between families in the district, trust in the decision-making process, um trust that the school board hears the priorities of the community, and that trust that our schools are putting students first. Um I also hope to leave a legacy of forward-thinking leadership. Um, as an engineer and an educator, uh, I naturally work to look at emerging trends and data and systems. And I want to help build structures and processes, strategies that don't just solve today's issues, but position us and the district to thrive 5, 10, and 20 years down the road. Um, my mother started her career as a high school teacher and she progressed on to serve as a professor at the university. Um, my grandmother was a teacher of a one room schoolhouse in southwestern Minnesota. So, I guess I would say it's no surprise that I'm sitting here today with you. Um, because I believe in our Forest Lake community. Our children depend on us. We're the adult decision makers and we need to do what's in their best interest to create an environment where they can thrive and grow and tackle the opportunities before them. I believe strongly in public education. Um, Forest Lake is a community where we have a number of charter schools and private schools and I respect that families are given options so they might select what's best for their student and best for their family. However, I will never be okay if our students and families feel that our public school is not affording them what they need to excel. Um, we need to ensure that our public school students are afforded learning environments where they feel safe, seen, and heard. Anything less than that isn't acceptable in my book. I certainly respect school choice, but I never want to hear of students leaving because our public school has failed them. And so I want to leave a legacy where I elevated a culture of collaboration with families and staff, students, and the broader community. and that I approached every decision with fairness, respect, and a commitment to doing what's best for our students. If at the end of my service, people feel that our district is stronger, more transparent, and more prepared for the future, that would be a legacy that I would be proud to leave. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um, member Corkran. >> Well, welcome. Thank you for coming in early. Appreciate that. Um, my question is if you have a really tough decision to make, how do you go about making it? What is your thought process on making that decision? >> So, I would say that my decision-making process would be that one that's generally grounded in probably three principles. Data, collaboration, and transparency. Okay. As an engineer and a teacher, I approach decisions systematically. I like to look at processes. Um, I begin by trying to clearly define the problem or the question that's being tackled. From there, I want to gather the most relevant information. Um, is that student outcomes, financial data, research, community input? I mean, it comes from a lot of different sources. Next, I seek the perspectives from the people closest to the situation. Okay, so in a school setting, that obviously means that we're relying on educators, families, and administrators. um to understand both the day-to-day realities as well as the long-term implications. I value collaboration because decisions are strongest when they can reflect the voices of the people that they affect. I then evaluate options through the lens of student impact, district sustainability, and alignment with board policies and the board strategic plan. Um I try to stay focused on what serves the students best. Finally, um once a decision is made, I believe in transparency. Okay. I think that families, staff, even myself may not always agree with the outcome, but I think it's critical that we clearly understand how um that decision was arrived at and what the outcomes were sought through that decision-making process. My goal is to try to build trust through clarity, consistency, and integrity. Um, I also recognize the schoolboard is not asked to make easy decisions. Okay. Um, hard decisions though require us to have a willingness to engage with different perspectives, to wrestle with potentially competing priorities, and sometimes compromise. So, I strive to try to listen deeply, and I'm willing to adjust my thinking when presented with new information. I seek consensus where possible, but I also understand that there's going to be times that my viewpoint would be in the minority. Even though I remain even then though, even if my opinion is in the minority, I remain committed to supporting the board's final decision. Um, and keeping our shared focus on the success of the students and the strength of the Forest Lake community. Um, I would say the board has really important work ahead of you. hiring a new superintendent, engaging the next strategic planning process. Both efforts carry urgency and I would say that it requires timely and thoughtful decision-m and that's something that you have demonstrated I think through the diligence and the pace at which you've tackled you know the board position and other activities. I also want to acknowledge that everyone here in person and online um being here matters and so I regularly attend uh board meetings and I serve in the policy and curriculum committees and I'm always encouraged to see the people when they show up to stay informed. It tells me that we are a community that cares deeply about our students and the future of Forest Lake. And I also acknowledge that showing up isn't always easy, okay? People have children and partners at home, competing priorities, other responsibilities, and so as a community, people choose to be here, and that matters. And I'm grateful to live in a place where people make the effort to participate. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> Member Anton. >> Okay. Hi, Pensa. Nice to see you here. And thank you also for um what is the word I'm looking for? Being part of the bullying uh prevention work group. That's I'm glad you're in there. >> Uh how important is it for you to have a trusting relationship with the superintendent and how would you achieve this? >> So I think that trust between this the board and the superintendent is absolutely critical and essential. It's essential to achieving the best outcomes for the district and the community. So, the board exists to develop vision, policy, and long-term goals, and the superintendent implements those goals through their day-to-day leadership and operational management. When we have trust, the board doesn't have to micromanage. The superintendent can lead confidently, efficiently, and transparently, and decision-making becomes faster, clearer, and more unified. Just as importantly, a trusting relationship between the board and the superintendent, I believe, reflects the health of the board itself. Strong relationships within the board are the foundation for strong relationships, a foundational relationship with that superintendent. Without trust, the district, its students, and the community all lose. Um, and to me, that's simply not an acceptable option for Forest Lake. Building trust with a new superintendent requires commitment from both sides. >> Trust has to be earned. It has to be continuously demonstrated and it has to be maintained over time. But I do also believe that that effort pays off for everyone involved. And interestingly, I was thinking in terms of this earlier today in the bullying prevention working group. Um I saw some of this. So I participate as a community member. So this is a group that Dr. Massie is convened that brings together administrators, staff, parents, community members, and board members. In our meeting today, what I saw was I observed a group of people, openly asking questions, sharing perspectives, learning from each other, naming gaps in the system, discussing how the system has evolved, why it is where it is today, and how it can continue to improve. A group can't engage in difficult conversations fundamentally without trust. Members need to believe in the information that's being shared that it's accurate that people are being forthright. They need to respect each other enough to listen to the ideas that differ from their own. And they need to be willing to consider a new approach even if they know a lot about the topic already. So, [snorts] could that group or similar groups in the district function without trust? I would assert that that would be extremely difficult. And so, I would say the same is true for the school board and the superintendent. Trust sets the tone for nearly every initiative in the district >> and it's tied directly to respect, a willingness to listen, and the capacity to innovate. >> Okay. Thank you, >> member Christensen. >> Thank you, Mrs. Hansen for being here this evening and for coming um in a little bit early. Um so my questions um what are your goals and aspirations for the school district? All right. So my goals and oper aspirations for Forest Lake Area Schools center on strengthening student achievement, building engagement with families, and ensuring that the district is positioned to thrive long into the future. Um the board is d really strong because the diversity of the backgrounds of your members here. So my degrees are in bios and agricultural engineering. I know totally geeky here but um it's similar to civil engineering but it incorporates the resiliency from biological systems. After graduate school I went on to work in federal government, the US Department of Agriculture. I went into consulting for a period of time and then I landed in state government. The whole time I was active in mentoring students through a science research process. Um and then mid-career I found myself in teaching which is where I am today. Um I coach volleyball, basketball, baseball, and flag football. I'm in my eighth year as the a girl scout troop leader and I'm a registered adult through Boy Scouts of America. Um it's kind of clear I care deeply about the youth in Forest Lake. So, what are my goals for Forest Lake Area Schools? First, I want to see our district continue to elevate academic outcomes and student readiness. I value rigorous instruction, hands-on project-based learning, and curriculum that prepares students for the real world, whether that's college, career, or skilled trades. My goal is to support initiatives that expand STEM opportunities, deepen career pathways, and give students more authentic learning experiences. Second, I aspire to help build a culture of transparency and partnership between the districts and our families. Families deserve to feel informed, respected, and heard. When partnerships between families and schools are strong, everyone wins. >> Um, engaged families volunteer their time. They make strong financial contributions. Um, they support the efforts of teachers. They support at home what's being done in the classroom. Clear communication, accessible decision- making, and community engagement are essential for maintaining that trust. and I'm deeply committed to strengthening those channels between the families and the district. Third, I really want our district to continue to be proactive rather than reactive. Um, public education is undoubtedly facing rapid changes. Okay, technology, AI, workforce changes, demographic shifts, um, funding volatility. We must plan strategically for the long term. Successful school boards are not responding um to the shifts we face today, but successful school boards have created systems for the shifts we're going to see in our future. My goal is to help ensure that we are financially responsible, future focused, and adaptable so the district remains strong and competitive in the years ahead. Ultimately, my aspiration is for Forest Lake Area Schools to be a district where every student feels supported, every educator feels valued, and every family feels confident in the direction of the district. >> All right. Um, >> well, similar to a previous applicant here, you've already answered [snorts] my pre question, so I'll just move on to my second one here. In recent schoolboard elections, teachers unions have contributed substantial amounts of money to get individual members elected as it pertains to contract negotiations. Do you feel that those contri contributions pose a conflict of interest for board members? So there are a couple elements to the question that you had previously had that I do want to just touch on just briefly and I want to say that when it comes to the relationship with school board members I very actively seek to be inspired by challenged by my fellow board members. I think it's truly critical that one person's different perspective is the catalyst for another person's new idea. When I look at this [clears throat] group of board members, I'm filled with respect for each of you. Um, because you were elected by our community to represent our community. And what I see at the table is a wealth of experience and knowledge and a diversity of backgrounds. Um, I see accomplished individuals here who have experience in business, healthcare, accounting, information security, and working in our schools. And that diversity of background and experiences that you bring to the board makes it so we can leverage that to the benefit of our district. I also see members here who want to be here and seek to serve to strengthen education in our community. Each of you has shown your willingness to work hard and invest long hours as needed to tackle the topics before the board. Um early in my career I worked for the environmental quality board and so that's a statutoily required body that exists to bringing together community members and the commissioners from nine state agencies whose purview um deals with environmental issues that cross agency boundaries. So the EQB tackles complex and priority environmental topics um and it does so through a collaboration of inter agency working groups. During my six years at EQB, I spent quite a bit of time at the legislature. I occasionally had the honor to uh help draft new statutory language. I led inter agency working groups. Um I engaged with the governor's office and I often brief commissioners on topics related to the agencies. I see a lot of parallels between the work of the EQB and the work of school boards. My time at the EQB was also marked by a transition from Governor Tim Pontenti to Mark Dayton and all of the associated changes that come with that within state government. What I learned through that experience about effective relationships, tackling challenging topics and creating long-term policy are things that I feel can really be applied to the school board as well. I want a school board that asks hard questions, can challenge assumptions, and brings different perspectives to the table while maintaining a spirit of teamwork. To me, that means listening actively, assuming positive intent, and being willing to learn from one another. >> Thank you, member Tyson. >> Yes. Well, thank you, Prince. And I saw you earlier today at the workforce meeting. So my first question is what would you intend that your major or your big contributions would be as a board member of Forest Lake Area Schools? >> So um as a board member in Forest Lake area schools I think I would focus around three you [clears throat] know core priorities. First I seek to strengthen the academic outcomes by supporting evidence-based instructional practices, thoughtful curriculum decisions and measurable goals for student success. Second, I would bring a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility, ensuring that resources are effectively allocated transparently and always with the students needs at the forefront. Third, I would focus on building trust and constructive collaboration among board, superintendent, staff, families, and the broader community. I believe a strong board functions through respectful dialogue, shared goals, and consistent accountability. >> Okay, I do have a second question, so don't go too long. >> All right. >> Thank you, dear. >> What I was going to say about this is that um I believe that our district has a very strong foundation. We have a base of accomplished teachers. We have committed administrators and we have engaged families. and I think that we really need to recognize them and leverage them. Um, one of my previous roles was as science department head at Brex School and I supervised 22 teachers and staff and I was responsible for our science curriculum preschool through 12th grade and >> going to talk about a contribution. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> And I absolutely love my time in that role. Um, because schools are never stagnant. Never. And so things are always changing. When teachers are engaged and supportive, they constantly innovate. So I always believe that my primary job as their supervisor was to remove barriers to make sure that my teachers were in a good place because I knew that when they were doing well, the students would thrive as well. >> Okay, I'm stop you right there. >> Go ahead. >> Otherwise, I'm going to run out of time. So you've talked about the district having financial stability, and I agree. We always want that for our district. So a lot of the formulas that are given to us are developed by the state legislators and we have inequities because of that in force like area schools with our transportation with the basic education formula all of those. How do you feel about advocating at the capital and how would you go about that and what would your priorities be? >> Well I certainly okay that's a waited question for a brief period of time. I know >> absolutely essential to be doing those things to come in with an informed voice and to look at opportunities to leverage how does it make sense? How do we get buy in? Can we have partnerships? How we can we have collaborations? How do we make it a logical outcome so we can actually aspire to what we seek? >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Does anybody have any time left? Jo. Okay, >> I suspected that. Thank you. >> Um, >> that brings us to uh Andy Cornia, >> if he's here this evening. >> Um, >> please help me. Did I pronounce that correctly? >> Cornier. >> Cornier. >> Cornier. >> Cornier. Okay, I will I will try to remember that this evening. >> No, no problem. >> Okay, I I think you've been here for a little while here. I think I saw you come in. So, um, just to kind of recap, the process that we're using is we're just alternating between board members. Each board member is given three minutes to ask their questions. They have one kind of canned question that we're asking and then um, where each board member feels to deviate is appropriate. We just kind of alternate back and forth. Yes, sir. >> Make sense? >> Sounds good. >> All right. >> Well, I wanted to lead with I I appreciate you guys taking time out of your evening to do this. I was thinking about preparing a joke for how long your day was going to be. We didn't need to do that. So, but I recognize you guys went through quite a process and made personal sacrifices to be here tonight and do this, which I know you didn't expect to have to be doing this year, but here we are. So, I I do recognize that and I I thank you for it. >> Well, thank you for that. Um, member Tyson, would you like to kick us off? >> I'd love to. Well, thank you, Andy. Um, your application and your resume is very impressive. >> It's got a lot of very inclusive, a lot of pertinent information, dates, all of that in there. And a lot of your leadership work is based around um working with groups and people. >> Mhm. >> Correct. >> Yes. >> Could you elaborate? I got >> question. You started. [laughter] >> Okay. I got to ask. >> You backed yourself into that corner last week. >> What would you intend your major contributions to be as a foresight board member? >> My major to like three. >> I I got you. My main contribution is to enable the district and its people to get out of the way of the superintendent to oversee the educational activities of our kids which benefits the community. And as we build that community and that education model follows, we have strong schools. And so my job here and you guys's job, which I you're doing a great job of, is to make sure that that way is clear. >> Very good. And the second question was, could you um expand a little bit more about your leadership work at your position? >> Yeah, I I'd love to expand on a couple of those things. Yeah, I just met with um so I I'm working with Carlson School of Management business students um in a mentor mentee relationship. Now, these kids are about the my oldest daughter's age who currently lives in Japan um with her Air Force husband, but so I kind of know how to talk to these kids and so I've had a really good time uh listening to them and how they think about things and then I've seen them put presentations together. That's why I got served up today. and just seeing them integrate knowledge from people who are twice their age ostensibly but then being able to be conversational with it and everybody in the room was growing at the same time in different ways right that's been a really rich experience for me um and so and I find that in my everyday life too and so to pre-ress one of the questions about superintendent relationship yes I think that's important because uh I believe Dr. Massie offers some mentor mentee capacity to me um with conversations that we've had and I know that you and I have also had conversations and a couple of the rest of us have too and I think that that is not necessarily just intergenerational the mentor mentee sort of thing. It has to do with experience in domains right and so um my role is to fit in there and sort of learn what I can and absorb from everybody and then integrate that learning into our overall experience. >> Very good. So, one more question. When our community turns up in big numbers, as you know, >> to schoolboard meetings, they send emails, letters, speak on multiple green cards. Um, we've had a petition that's garnered lots of signatures. What do you believe [snorts] the board's responsibility is in responding to that level of engagement? >> Well, I do I think transparency, you guys have heard all about that tonight already. Transparency is um Oh, >> you can finish answering your question. Well, okay. Transparency is important. And so in that case, it's just, okay, honestly, we're we're looking at this and these are the numbers. I was just looking at numbers with a colleague tonight on something unrelated, but we look at the numbers and we're just honest about it and we go, yes, this must be addressed. And then it's it's not about the number anymore. It's about, well, we've recognized it. Now, what are we going to do to solution this? >> All right. Member Castle, [clears throat] >> what legacy would you like to leave as a result of your time on the school board? >> I would like to leave a legacy of collaboration. Honestly, that's why I'm here tonight is to work with people. That's the theme of my resume. That's the theme of the mentor stuff that I do. That's the theme of the trainings that I do at work is that we're walking in here with a with a common cause. And we know our cause is for the kids is to make education and community stronger and that that will be our our measure of success. Um as Luke's replacement, how do you see your strengths and values line up with Luke's? >> Well, I am I do lean fiscally conservative. Um and so as the interface between the taxpayer and the school system or the education buildings and model itself, um we have a responsibility in that area to trust but verify which again leads back to being able to build a trusting relationship with the person running the show and um and to just foster that and make sure that that's good and Does that answer your question, sir? >> Sort of. >> Um, sort of. Yes. Um, >> the I I don't have a more complex answer in relation to Luke directly. So, I do apologize for that. And uh so as with the first amendment, the constitution being the highest law of the land, uh free speech is imperative. U how do you see that versus so-called hate speech? I think that that we have a right and a responsibility to um put that that we can have a code of ethics, a code of expectations that once you're in school space that there are expectations. We're given those expectations the minute we get out of school and into college, you it doesn't matter if you go to a liberal arts school, there's still a code of ethics that you got to live by. And that may or may not include free run of whatever you want to do or say. And so it would be a disservice to our kids to to remove any safety rails, to remove any guard rails that are teaching them about reasonable human interactions. That's where I'm at in quite all honesty. >> All right. Member Porridge. Hello there. Thank you for coming. Um, and thank you also for serving on the policy committee. Appreciate that. >> Um, my first question is if you have a really tough decision to make, what is your process on coming up with a decision? What is like how would how do you come up to those decisions? >> When I have big stuff come up at work, I'm wrapping up some big stuff right now, but it it makes me think um, you know, I I sit with stuff for a few minutes. Um, sometimes more than a few minutes. Um, but I'll I'll usually step away if the problem's big enough and and sort of ruminate about it and come up with different scenarios for how to think about it. How do different people think about this same thing, right? Um, and so I try to attack it from different angles and figure out um what my options are. And then that'll often involve and in this case will involve discussion with others and bouncing ideas around. And that's what it's all about. So, it all boils down to collaboration and our ability to interop, right? >> Yeah. And I read that in in your information packet. So, thank you. Um, and also the other question I have, um, Forest Lake's been in the news for conflict, division, and governance concerns this year, which we all know. Um, what do you think is the board's responsibility in repairing the trust and ensuring that we do not repeat these mistakes? goes to the future of Forest Lake as a district, doesn't it? >> Yeah. >> It goes to what the image we want to build up in the long term is. Um Dr. Massie has done an outstanding job building us up to where we're at. And it's going to be it's going to be a task to move forward from there, but we need to shift the narrative at this point um because the downsides are too big. Um, and if there's too many of them, they become insurmountable. So, um, you know, that there's a lot of directions I could go with that, but we need to not let that happen. And it it is the board's responsibility to sort of steer that. And I see I see Fortune 5 companies that don't have enough oversight over the public image that they're putting out. And it disappoints me, right? And so if my district disappoints me in that department, that's on me because then I didn't step in and I didn't raise my hand and say, you know what, I'll I'll do it. >> And so that's why I'm here. >> Okay. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. >> All right. We'll move on to memory have 30 seconds. Did you know that? >> Oh, did you have another question or was that three? >> I had two. Um, no. I can I'll give up my time. That's okay. I mean, I >> I thought you were on three for some reason. >> Well, no. And you know, I think he answered everything the way I mean, I just I will just say that um uh your resume was great. And I think you're I like the words you used in it as far as collaboration and trust, integrity, those words. That is key and the way I that we want our board members to be. So, I appreciate you're including that in your application. >> I appreciate you having looked at that so I don't have to recite all of it. >> That's right. >> Thank you for catching that, Member Tyson. >> Well, I'm working right across from Joy, so sometimes I don't think people >> Oh, a little easier. >> Yeah, I like. >> All right, we'll move to Member Antinson now. >> Okay, perfect timing. >> I've been in exactly that spot before. >> I know you [clears throat] have. [laughter] Yeah. Um, so thank you for coming tonight, Andy. >> Thank you. >> Um, you pretty much I, you know, one of my questions is about principles. You answered in your resume, collaboration, openness, community. >> Superintendent question first. >> I know. And he's already said, >> oh, he important the superintendent question is >> I I can elaborate a little more. >> Yeah, you should. >> Yeah. So, how would you go about >> achieving this? Like, let's say the a new one. >> I I that's exactly it. I I understand the board is under even more pressure than just right here tonight because we have to stare down the barrel of doing that now. [clears throat] >> Um I had the privilege this summer of serving on the um >> principal selection committee for Lo Lakes Elementary. >> Thank you. >> And that was a tremendous honoring. I was so privileged to be able to serve with that and I met so many wonderful staff and I got to know so much about the collaboration that Dr. Massiey's built into the culture from the top down. That doesn't happen another way. It can it can happen bottom up, which happens on my team in the organization I work for, but we it stops at that right at that leader that's willing to do that. >> Yeah. >> And I see it here and it's rich and it's building community. And I see it even at the elementary kids school level. My these kids are all hugging each other all the time. I I don't want to see this go anywhere. They're just all they they just don't they don't care about anything except being together and and they're learning. Like my kids are doing great. I understand some kids don't do so well and we will figure that out and that's what we're here to do and that's what we're here to work on and our policies and everything that we do in this room should support that mission of starting at the elementary school. We bring them up so that they're better so that we get in the news for the right reasons for being a model school district for being the school district that is doing right by the kids who are exceeding the standards. >> Okay. Thank you. Um I'm going to move on to the next question though. After the board approved the application for this open board seat, I received an email from the creator of a local Forest Lake schoolboard watchers group asking for clarification on what would be considered um deceitful propaganda or dishonest information. um questioning the statements that are on here and you all read you know everybody read through this and I'll just I can say them I guess because it's I am not part of any groups that promote directly or indirectly hate or violence against elected officials and or publicize dishonest information or deceitful propaganda about ISD 831. >> Okay. Um, so during Where did I go? What did I do? I lost my spot. Okay, so during multiple meetings and discussions on the dress code policy. Wait, what did I just do? I'm so sorry. Uh anyways, oh yeah, during all these meetings about the dress code time. >> Oh, well great. >> Did you want to respond to that? We want to give everybody the opportunity to respond. She didn't quite get to the question, but uh >> uh I mean we we had we had a response to something that I disagreed with. Uh uh >> well I my question is ultimately this this site that I'm um talking about has on there that >> the board itself is >> this um Forest Lakes School Board Watchers. There's a Tik Tok and other things that it's affiliated with. But they have posted on their site that the board currently is pushing for kids to wear, you know, allowing hate speech symbols and things on their clothing. And we have reiterated over time and time again through these board meetings and Dr. Massie himself has acknowledged that that is definitely not the case even if we were to adopt model policy. So, do you see that being on somebody's site as deceitful propaganda or >> do I see that as deceitful propaganda to watch a group who's watching >> post that >> cuz I >> to post that as true >> that would make the person who observed that being posted deceitful. That would make the poster deceitful. Yes. >> Yeah, that's what I'm asking. >> Point of order time up >> because that was a whole new >> Yep. We I just wanted to give him the opportunity to address that. question. Thank you. >> I messed up reading. >> I I don't know if I understood the questions, so I'm sorry. I do welcome follow-up questions if time allows later in the evening. >> Okay, >> loose process. Member Christensen, >> thank you for coming, >> Mr. Coney. Um, what are your goals and aspirations for the school district? >> I think I touched on one of them. I want us to be in the news for different reasons um that are positive reasons that elevate the students experience and make them proud to wear Forest Lake gear in public because they're so proud of the brand. There are districts like that in Minnesota and I know kids from them and that's attainable and I do see it around in our community and I'm proud of it and I think we've got some headroom to to grow that. Um and so that's what I want to see. I want to see um I want to see an outstanding community. That's my aspiration for it. And the board's role in that is to make sure that we've enabled that culture to happen. >> Thank you. Um, again, just looking at your packet here, I mean, you have um kids at Lo Lakes Elementary, you're on the policy committee, you, as you mentioned, you're on the selection committee uh for the elementary school principal there in Lino. And so, I appreciate your um commitment to the district and the different um ways in which you've been volunteering. Um, and uh what do you think is the appropriate balance between academic instruction and social emotional learning in our schools? Well, that boils down to testing and all of those debates that we've been having, right? Um I mean it academic achievement is important and it's not more important than the socioeotional um development of the kids, but they also are not exclusive to each other that they symbiotically happen in the appropriately supportive classroom. And so what we're after is creating a situation where the academic learning happens but the emotional support and development is also there as part of that. Um and so you know and you know I I know kids my kid has had to have conversations right has had to um handle emotional situations. Um and I'm so grateful that those supports are there. And so I would I would protect those. >> Thank you. Um I was also just going to mention in your packet I really liked um how you said uh it is critical for board members to be open to being compelled by new data and experience and experiences of others as this openness is what can shift viewpoints and lead to more effective future decisions. I just really like that part um that you said. And um if we have time um public schools serve every child in the community. What does that commitment mean to you? That commitment means every child in the community gets an equal shot when they enter the Forest Lake School District. They're that we're all the same. And I have to, you know, it it's important for kids to remember, hey, you're you're not the only person here. And there these other kids matter too just as much as you matter to you. They matter to them and they matter to their parents and and so on and so forth. And so, but what I'm starting to see with these younger kids is they're starting to get that message younger and they're starting to figure it out and I like it because now they're starting to interact differently and so I'm really excited for the next few years, what what we're going to see. >> Thank you. >> All right, I guess I'll jump in here. Um, briefly describe the kind of relationship you want to have with your fellow board members. I want to have a collaborative relationship where I'm dialoguing much like we are now, which is why I didn't come in with prepared notes because I wanted to have a candid conversation with you guys. Um, so that's how that's how I operate business-wise, too, and a couple of decades of business experience and various leadership opportunities. This is just how I operate. And so kind of what you see is what you get. Um, I'm always open to a conversation. I love questions. If I'm misarticulating something or explaining something not clearly, I love questions. Um, I do like to be challenged, but the answer might be I'm going to have to find out, right? If I don't possess the answer, I'm going to I'm going to have integrity, transparency, and I'm going to be honest about, well, I don't know, but I'll find out because that's how I address it. >> All right, that that's excellent. And I actually have a pretty long-winded question here, but I think it sure piggy piggybacks on that very well. Um, after a meeting discussing uh funding for transgender student clubs in our middle school, you contributed to a Facebook thread dedicated to developing strategies to pressure select board members to support your position. This thread discussed ideas of how to specifically target what each of these board members cared about. Given that those board members and their families faced heightened threats of violence following your post, please explain the motivation behind it and how you will assure the board and the community that you would foster respectful, lawful dialogue rather than contributing to a climate of hostility and hate if appointed to this position. >> Well, thanks for bringing that up because you and I actually had a really nice email exchange over that very topic uh after the fact. So, I don't believe I contributed in that thread in any meaningful way. Um, but that said, um, I shared meaningful emails with several of you after the fact. Um, and I did appreciate your canoandor and your transparency in your position, too. Frankly, I understood where you were coming from. Um, I just wanted us to be acknowledging of the downsides, too. I wanted us to be to be at least talking about it, what the implications were, and it didn't seem like we were, and that was what I was trying to articulate, and I might not have done a great job of that. But um that aside that's you know that's why my participation in like I am in board watchers I watch I watch that group I just use it to get information primarily. >> So um and I do that with a lot of other things too. Um because again back to the information assimilation right is uh I need to know what I'm looking at in order to understand what the perspectives are in order to integrate that learning into the decision-m process. All right. I I appreciate that. Um, in recent schoolboard elections, teachers unions have contributed substantial amounts of money to get board members elected. As it pertains to contract negotiations, do you feel that those contributions pose a conflict of interest for board members? >> I'm sorry, I know I heard that question earlier, too. Read it one more time, please, so I understand it fully. In recent schoolboard elections, teachers unions have contributed substantial amounts of money to get board members elected. Okay. >> As it pertains to contract negotiations, do you feel that those contributions pose a conflict of interest for board members? And we are out of time, so but please make your answer brief if possible. >> I will make it brief. Um, >> I do not know and probably can't say for sure conclusively whether it's ethical or not. I have not run a campaign before >> so I don't have any context. >> Thank you. >> All righty. I think that concludes our question. Thank Thank you very Thank you very much. Thank you for your application for coming in. >> I would uh suggest we just finish with member with Mr. Two out here and then we break into our subcommittees and maybe we take a recess at the same time. Does that seem reasonable? >> Everyone. Me too. But we can do it. We can do it. >> We're up. >> Am I pronouncing that correctly? >> Two. Like 60 watt only uh not as bright, right? >> Two watt. >> Two watt. >> Two watt. >> I'm electrician. So I get a lot of jokes about that. >> Oh my goodness. >> Two watt's actually a wire size. So >> perfect career for you for the electrician. >> Oh yes, it is. That is perfect. >> That makes perfect sense. >> All right. I don't believe that I've >> taken the liberty to go first yet. So, I think I'll I'll jump in and go first here. >> Um, so Joy's ready. Um, briefly describe the kind of relationship you want to have with your fellow board members. >> Start off. I would say how do you work together as a team? If there's no trust, there is there's no working together, right? So, um I was let me preface this by saying in um very end of April, my older brother passed away. Um and this was just a few years after my younger brother passed away. So, kind of May and June, I was a little bit tuned out because we had a lot of um >> our family was grieving, right? And my parents especially getting the one-two punch. And so I've probably ah maybe over the last few years I've probably listed 40 board meetings you know on you you know just online afterward but those two months I really didn't see many of the meetings and uh holy smokes you go back there's a 5 and a half hour meeting and it's just bang bang bang bang bang procedural and it just was like okay now I see why there's been so much uh division lately and I thought you as an outside perspective, I don't think it it what was meant to be, hey, let's get things in line with the current laws. Let's put in MSBA, you know, framework, etc., etc., and then what started as something more simple turned into all of a sudden, whoa, this got blown up into a huge, huge thing, and then the fighting started, and then the trust was broken and right. So my thought is how do you repair that? Cuz that was kind of like that was a big deal. And and so you back out as a 30,000 ft view. What is the point of all of us being in this room tonight? Well, the point is, let's say you think of um Laura Engles back in the day and there was a one room schoolhouse and they hired her to come to a community next door and teach and they said, "Hey, we want, you know, the parents of that town said, "Hey, we want you to come and teach our kids. We're all busy farming and building a community." Right? And so they kind of got together as a community and hired her to come and teach kid. Right? So that was like the humble beginnings of this. Obviously, we're not a one room schoolhouse days anymore, but it's the same concept blown up to a $90 million corporation running tons of buildings, a thousand employees, you know, like it's it's become a much bigger uh community, right? The same idea still in the 30,000 foot view is we want our kids to succeed because 10 years, 20 years down the road, whoever came out of the schools is going to be who's in the community. >> It's going to be what our community is built of is the kids who came [cough] out >> and and you can finish your your answer when she holds up the red card if you want. >> So So my my thought is [clears throat] I guess I kind of got on a tangent. I'm so sorry, but my my thought is the 30,000 foot view is we all want what's best for the kids. That's the purpose we're here. And the only way to to work together is as a team. And the only way you can work as a team is if you trust. And so building that that trust back in more communication, in more explaining of things, in less, you know, last minute adjustments, that kind of that that whole um Yeah, it's a dynamic. It's a dance, but but it's very important because it it it kind of runs everything. >> Thank you. Um Member Christensen. >> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Tuah, for being here this evening. Um, what are your goals and aspirations for the school district? >> So, goals and aspirations. The I want to thank you for being here also because I know you're skipping your son's uh event and >> thank you. I [clears throat] appreciate that. >> Actually is really a bummer. >> So, >> um I would say >> I know it's not a popular topic, but safety is number one. Um, and so I would love to see, you know, there's tons of retired law enforcement officers or retired, you know, military that would love to volunteer their times just to walk through each building and give give a with administration and just give a, hey, here's a simple here's a medium and here's a a a large, you know, list of things that could be done just to tighten up the ship. And I know like there's plenty of security measures, but what are our kids worth, right? It's it's everything. And so just just the safety would be just huge if if we could have and obviously not talk about anything in open meetings. You don't you don't show your hands, but but just having safety be a a constant on our minds with um behind the scenes and making sure every building is is as tight as it can be. And then another thing would be um students who are behind. It's like when you are following someone in traffic and you get, you know, you're following them back before cell phones, right? And they get two, three, four cars ahead. You're like, uh. Then they get five, six, seven cars ahead in traffic. All of a sudden, you're not focused on anything around you during the drive. You're just focused on trying to keep keep that car because they've gotten so far ahead. When kids get behind in class, it it's really hard to focus on what's happening right now in class because I'm still not caught up to where everyone else is. And so it kind of creates this panic, right? And so it would be really passion of mine to to like we do so many things well with with the the the trades and the the arts and the agriculture, all these different programs. It's amazing. So I would say that's our strong suit. And then what would my goals and aspirations be? Keep that but also like remember the kids who are struggling the most. If there's a way to get help >> for them, then that would be um >> Yeah, thank you. That's a good answer. Thank you. Um, what do you think is the appropriate balance between academic instruction and social and emotional learning in our schools? >> Is eating better or showering? I mean, you need both, right? They kind of go hand in hand. Like, it's not one or the other. And I know people say, well, you know, that the test scores are everything. Are they really? Like, to know all your prime numbers and whatever, that's good, but you get out in the world, it's not really going to help you that much. I mean it's good to know but I'm that's not how life works right and so social and emotional is hand in hand and it's it's very important so whatever we can do to bolster that >> thank you thank you >> member Castle >> what legacy would you like to leave as a result of your time on the school board legacy is probably not only what you did but also like how you acted or how you conducted yourself, right? U Dr. Massie, you would be the perfect example. I I know this might sound weird, but because I listened [clears throat] to a lot of meetings, right? You announced your retirement and I was working with earbuds in and I it's like a sucker punch. I thought, "Oh, damn it." You know, like the uh it I think I might have even had a tear or two. And I feel I feel stupid but you've you've poured your life, soul, and everything into the school and the students and that can be seen by how you conduct yourself. And so maybe not necessarily one thing that you've done, but your legacy is how you cared about students. And and that comes through blaringly obvious and clear. And so I would I guess if you think of a legacy I would think it'd be a very short time to be a one-year stint. So what can you really do in that? Who knows? Roll the dice will come up during that for meetings. But I would want my legacy to be a peacemaker, right? Because um I feel like that's you know it's really important. Blessed are the peacemakers. So yeah. >> Okay. And uh as Luke's replacement, [clears throat] how do you see your strengths and values uh lining up with Luke's? >> Um he was building and grounds and you know I'm I hold my journeyman's and masters electrical license. So that's what I do all day every day. And I would love to be on that um that aspect of of Okay. You see a lot of contractors, they see schools, they see government money, they see dollar signs, right? And so is it um sometimes like you're on you're on a school remodel and you're looking at something, you're like that didn't really need to be replaced. I wonder why they're doing this. Like it kind of scratched your head and you're like hm I think somebody sold him a bill of goods on on that this need needs to get changed and it really didn't right. So, I I would I would be really excited to look at the school buildings and just be be uh dialed in on that on like what are some really good repairs working with staff and and and you know, not being sold a bill of goods from contractors, but really looking what are the needs and then what can we do with, you know, to be wise with our money and to get the best upgrade out of that. Um, I don't know if that that's probably a really bad way to explain it, but yeah, billings and grounds I I would I would say would kind of be my forte because it's what I know. Um, >> well, he was on the finance committee, too. So, that goes right along with what you were saying. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> All right, that brings us right to the the three minutes. Um, member Tyson. >> All right, I'm up next. So, what would you intend your one major contribution would be to the Forsick area schools as a board member? major contribution I would say well the safety thing that would be huge for me because you >> kind of answered that >> that that would be the worst call I could get as a parent right so um >> so yeah I would I would love to contribute to that like I said before that helping kids who are falling behind and they they feel that sense of panic and they can't and then um I mean it's pretty cool all the, you know, link and web and all the different groups that are fostering and bringing up as well as, you know, we're going to build a house or, you know, we're going to >> trick's car, teach you how to reset the sensors on cars, right? I rebuilt a was a mechanic growing up. My dad would always ship our vehicles over to him because he'd try to work on it and rusty and break a bolt. This is why I hate cars. Just send it to Jerry, right? So, I never had the the fun of the privilege of tearing apart a dirt bike or, you know, like uh working on engines and stuff. We really didn't do that much because it always went over to Uncle Jerry's. And last year I I bought an old camper and engine needed rebuilding. I did that and it was so much fun um rebuilding this engine and learning how it all works together. It's like, "Oh my gosh, this is so simple, but it makes sense." and just to get that like that is half of what school is right there because that might be your your spark of what you want to do as a career and so I guess protecting that and making sure we keep those well funded and like what can we keep our eyes open right there's always stuff learning and and and growing in society and so >> that's a good contribution >> so yeah I would say >> so I have another question >> the advent of AI right all that >> what was that an AI >> the advent of AI But there's always something new coming in. Right. >> Right. Thank you for that answer. So in the recent Anoka Henipin election, $157,000 of outside money was flooded in to secure those board seats. Part of it was from Minnesota Parents Alliance and part was from the state of Virginia. 40,000 from the 1776 pact. >> Okay. >> How do you feel about that in an election? And do you think there needs to be change or is that okay? I guess I have no idea what about that election. So >> it was like a month ago. >> Yeah. But I'm >> I just the premise of it. I'm wonder kind of like that Curt's question earlier with the unions giving money to a same idea like should there be money be allowed to given to a to an individual to a >> Have you heard of the Minnesota Parents Alliance? >> I have. Yeah. >> Okay. Because I I figured you did. So >> yeah, absolutely. Just wondering where your thoughts are on that. >> So, honestly, I don't think anybody should be given money. I don't think it should even be I mean, I realize it is and there's millions of dollars every year spent on every campaign. And so, you go out and you fund raise and whatever. I don't think it's probably I don't think it served our country well. Do [clears throat] you remember Jefferson? He he pens he says I believe it was Jefferson that said this constitution will not work if it's not um used by a society that has values that has like um basically that fears god like it has some kind of a moral compass. He says this constitution, this this what we've laid out will not work if the moral fabric of society starts to pull apart. Right? And when you have all this money pouring in, it could be from a union or from any pact. Um then there's strings attached, right? Or there could be. And so I mean back in the day it was you just go around and you talk like we're doing right now and you get to know people and and and you you garner support that way. And now it's dollar signs and it I don't feel like I'm not saying I don't know how to answer that like how to articulate but >> let me ask member Tyson do you feel that your question was answered it was >> because we we we have run out of time >> no it's it's quite all right we want to give we want to give individuals the opportunity to fully answer the question >> yeah thank you >> it would be fun I'm just saying this it would be fun to have a presidential election where there was no money donated and you say, "hm, that would be really interesting, right?" Have people sit down for two hours with like a Sean Ryan interview, you know, like where they just talk >> and then everyone watches that and makes their decision. It would be quite interesting, right? It would be a whole culture shift. >> I think we capture the essence of your answer. Thank you for that. And we'll move to member Anderson. >> Okay. >> Hi, Daniel. Thanks for coming. Super. >> It's good to see you. Yes, I'm I [clears throat] superintendent question. I got it >> already. Sorry everybody. Um, how important is it for you to have a trusting relationship with the superintendent and how would you achieve this? >> 100%. >> 100%. >> So, we have an >> I'm going to call it a $90 million corporation. What do we want to call it? Running. >> I feel like you should bring a orchestra stick every time you come to a meeting because like you're literally >> running how many buildings? Like there's >> is there 11? >> We have 10 schools. >> 10 schools. But isn't there an >> Yeah. And community school? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. You're running a ton of building like >> an orchestra stick, right? So, >> so I'm not an expert. I don't do this, you know, like I see the board members as kind of, you know, the weekend warriors and then uh the superintendent as the the person who's literally running the army. >> And so it I mean, anything we can do to help support and give tools to do your job better is is going to make the district better. I I feel like the the board is more of a um they're a representative. are elected by the community. So, it's a representative from of the community, but but the superintendent literally runs the day-to-day. So, he's the expert. So, who I'm not the one to tell the expert how to run, but but I can ask questions and I can talk and we can, you know, like say what do you need? Like what what is areas that are doing well? What are areas that are deficient? How can we help bring fill those gaps and bring better tools to the table for you? Um, and then and then think of it like, uh, you're driving a car and maybe a headlight is burned out or something. The schoolboard might be the people to say, "Hey, we we see the car driving, there's a headlight out. We want to get that fixed, right?" But they're not the person running the car. You know, when you're inside the car, you can't maybe see that, but but they're not the person driving the car. So >> I would say it's a hand-in-hand relationship but it's it's a very important relationship and and yeah communication constant would be really huge for >> definitely thank you for that. Um my next question is what are the top three principles you use to navigate life? >> Um well humility uh I pray a lot I guess. um I don't know everything right and I know that I don't know everything and so um asking questions really is being humble and asking questions and then 30,000 foot view that whole that's that's huge because sometimes we get lost in the weeds of there's something really big and it feels really important and then we're >> we're getting Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Great. We'll have uh Corkran finish us off here for the evening. >> Okay. Thank you for coming in tonight. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Um my first question is when you have a really tough decision to make, how do you go about making it? Like what are your steps or your processes that you use? >> Yes. So, like I said, I'll pray about it and then I'll ask lots of questions and sometimes you don't know the answer, right? And so it's everyone has like everyone does what they do for a reason. You might look at it and go, "What the heck?" Like, but they did that for a reason. And so to find out to find out why they did that, right? The only way you're going to know is by asking questions and being humble and and and like seeing things from different perspectives is is imperative. So I would say um communicating, asking questions and and not not talking you know like I hate water cooler talk like talking behind people's backs up you know negatively about because it feels like well just ask the person like go out don't talk negatively about them just talk to them and find out why they did what they did right and and it's very interesting um there there's several movies that have um anyway Anyways, it's it's interesting to see things from different perspectives, I would say. So, >> yeah, to >> thank you for that answer. I was just looking for the next one. Um, >> well, I can ask this for a few other people, but Forslake um has been in the news for conflict. >> Yes. >> Division and governance. Yes. >> Um, definitely over the last year or so. Um what do you think the board's responsibility is in repairing the trust and ensuring that we do not repeat these past mistakes? >> Yeah. So I feel like there's been a lot of well a lot has happened gosh in the last year. I feel like there's been a lot of wins and a lot of like whoops stepped in that >> and and the wins I mean enrollment's up. The budget has recovered. it was down to very low like state almost coming taking over the district right this being a Nolan void meeting um and then now we're up in healthy budget you know enrollments up all that really cool stuff um I really like that the meetings are all live stream now where it used to be just I think one of the two now now they're both not only recorded but also live stream and then the green green cards on both meetings that's really huge so I think there have been some really big wins. And then again, I feel like the communication piece in like for instance that 5 and a half hour meeting, my gosh, it was wild. and and and I feel like it wasn't necessarily wasn't that far off, but I think that that it had gotten blown really big in proportions and you have a angry mob thinking that, you know, like we're doing this or that and it's because the communication piece wasn't there and everything spools up and then it's really hard to unwind. And so I guess just completing continuing on that path of transparency, of communication, of uh head notice, all that all that stuff, right? Um I really appreciated your comment at the end of that meeting about, hey, I've this is the steps that I went through in coming to this point that we're at. I realize it's gone all over the news and gone crazy, but like this is actually what it was meant to be and this was the trajectory and it was not meant to be some crazy division thing and this is just literally where we're at in our decision-m process. And I really appreciated you communicating that to kind of quell the the the division the mob that was forming of like all these crazy accusations. >> Well, thank you, Mr. Tu. I I believe that concludes our interviews. I don't think anybody had any time left on the table. >> All right. Thank you, Joy, for clarifying. >> Thank you, Daniel. >> Thank you, Daniel. >> Thank you. Um, at this point in the meeting, we had initially decided that we break out into subcommittees. Um, prior to doing that, I just want to ask the board and see being that we had a few of our applicants um, withdraw their application prior to this evening. Um, we had decided that we were going to select each subcommittee was going to select up to two um, individuals to pass on to tomorrow night. Do we still feel that's the appropriate number or do we want to discuss maybe uh altering that to select each subcommittee selecting one? >> Should we break up in subcommittees first and then >> Well, no. I'm I'm saying before we go into subcommittees and we make that selection. Do we want to decide if we want to select two from each subcommittee or one or do we still feel that's appropriate? >> I'd be fine with one. >> You'd be fine with one. I' I'd be fine with one as well. Um >> yeah, we couldn't do just one. would be easier process I suppose. >> Would that make sense? >> Well, >> since we did take official action on that, we would need a motion to to make that change. >> I thought we couldn't do any motions at the >> We we can >> Yeah, then I withdraw my one. >> Yeah, I think we need to talk about it before we make I don't even know what we're all thinking. >> That's what I was thinking. >> We need to have in that case at this point, we'll we'll break out into subcommittees. Um, members Corkran, members Tyson, and member Christensen will remain here in the boardroom. Um, member Rebel and myself, member Anderson, and member Castle will meet in the conference room. Um, following this selection, uh, we'll we'll find somebody to coordinate things so we can reconvene here in the boardroom and we'll announce the final selections for each committee. >> So, I would I would remind the the board that these are open meetings. We are not going to live feed the committee meetings due to technology not being available in the committee meeting. We'll resume the live feed once the board reconvenes. >> That's a very good reminder especially for the viewers at home. >> All right. Any questions? Well, just to clarify so I understand. So people can stay in here and listen to what we're saying and people can go into the comm people can just but we are going to test first. >> Yes. Why why don't we do that? Um I'll make a motion to recess for 10 minutes and then convene in the uh the subcommittees immediately following the recess. Each committee will handle uh um their uh their reassembly I suppose. >> Okay. I'll second that. >> Okay, we have a motion and second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. It was already on the agenda, so I don't think we needed to motion it, but >> Oh, it's okay. >> No, maybe not. But now it's our