Okay, I now call the regular school board meeting for Forest Lake Area Schools Thursday, May 7th to order. Please join us for a recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance 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. Remember Corcoran, would you please take the roll call of attendance? Okay, member Corcoran. Here. Member Christensen. Here. Member Castle. Here. Member Rebolledo. Here. Member Entziondo. Here. Member Tyson. Here. Everybody's here. All right, I would entertain a motion to approve the meeting agenda. So moved. Second. All right, a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All right, seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? The motion carries. Brings us to scheduled and unscheduled visitors. I have no green cards this evening. Uh member Corcoran, do you have a report on the listening session? I just gave Joy the report. There is uh I believe six people that came. Um, and we had a lively discussion about a lot of different things. Uh, the lever levy renewal, National Day of Prayer someone attended. Uh, we talked about some local events that we had in the community over the weekend, how much fun they were, what a great cause they are, the Fireman's Ball, things like that. Um, we talked about the new superintendent, some questions about that, how that uh, negotiations were going and and um, how we were excited to all be on board and for the six year old to move forward with the superintendent. Um, and um, we talked a little bit about uh, different kinds of groups. Um, community classroom also came up in the discussion. One of our Facebook group had some questions about that. And that concludes my report. Anything else? All right, nothing to add. Thank you, member Parker. And does anybody have any questions? All right, seeing none that will bring us to student achievement. Student report, Forest Lake Area High School Link Program. Welcome. Thank you for having us tonight. Um, thank you, Dr. Massey, school board members. My name is Molly Bonnett. I'm the career and college coordinator at the high school and also one of the Link advisors along with um, Lexi Engstrom, one of our English teachers, and Katie Kadyanski, our media specialist. So, I have three fantastic Link leaders here tonight, um, who will be talking a bit more about Link and what it means to them. That's our group this year. Um, you may remember that I usually visit you all in the fall after orientation day, which is a really big, important component of Link. I figured you were all well familiar with orientation day and what we do. So, this time we're going to focus on some of the lessons that we go in and work on with our ninth graders on a monthly basis. So, our Link leaders are going into Ranger Connect once a the and they are basically very intentionally covering topics that we think would be more beneficial for our ninth graders to hear from some of their upper class students. So, I would like our Link Leaders here to introduce themselves, and they're going to share a little bit about why they feel Link is important here. Hi, my name's Megan Hofsdal. I'm a 12th grader. I've been part of Link for 2 years now. Um for me, I think Link is important because it gives ninth graders the opportunity to be exposed to more of the high school and hear more from like somebody's close to their ages perspective rather than like their parents or teachers, which they're normally used to within the middle school. So, I think just hearing that slightly older perspective, but still within their age group, really helps them. Hi, my name is Ellie McKenzie. I am a senior, and this is my second year doing Link. My favorite part about the Link program is it gives upper classmen an opportunity to share their experiences with freshmen because whether or not people like it, freshmen tend to value what their peers' perspectives and advice more than adults. Hello, everyone. My name is Anya Wasson. Uh this is my first year doing Link, and uh something that Link helps to me especially when I got uh to the high school, it kind of gave me like an exposed The Link Leaders kind of helped me pave a path that they helped me to classes that better uh better that better Sorry. That better paves my future for what I want to study in college. So, we're going to go through a few slides about the topics we've covered since the new year and just how our Link Leaders share some of their own experiences and wisdom so far. So, we have registration in January, which is them registering for classes for the next year. Um with ninth graders, they don't really know a lot about what classes to take and so that's where kind of Link comes in and have an older perspective of what classes like you like, what classes you might like. I for me and my Link leaders, we really pushed my class to explore as much as possible. With so many different pathways that we offer at Forest Lake, there's just so many opportunities for them to have within even like certifications that they could when they're older or even taking like I know we have a lot of band classes, we have a lot of art classes. There's really something there for everybody even if like they don't know it. Um we also push them to possibly try to challenge themselves and take more AP and harder classes. Um a lot of the times they're very curious about that because normally when a teacher says like it's not that bad, they want to hear it from somebody who's actually taking those classes and been their age. Um I know a lot of my kids, they ask me a lot about AP World because that's what I did and I told them honestly I really liked it but it's not for everybody. It's a lot of homework. I was very honest with them. Um I know a lot of them are interested in taking AP Chem and I know as a freshman like their 10th grade classes that they can sign up for are very limited but you still like setting yourself up with harder classes, I told them is really going to like move you through high school and help you when start starts getting more challenging and it's easier to get that sense of how much work and work it really takes. Thank you. And then in February, the day before our college fair, we had a lesson on goal setting and Anya is going to take that one. Uh during this lesson, we kind of talked about what they can expect during the college fair. Some were not sure what they wanted to do. We told them to go and then what they talk to the colleges, the called the things that they offer, the programs that they offer, they kind of like narrow down their options that the options that they have. Also, they have a lot of them said this college is not for them because they just wanted to go directly to the workforce after that. And I just kind of like told them that we have community colleges that offer certain programs like uh electricity, plumbing, all of that, house construction. It just offers that and when they get go there, go through the college, it's more it gives them a a better opportunity to go directly from college to workforce. And then in March, we had a lesson on phone use and tried to help them understand where they were at with their phone use. Ellie's going to talk about that a little bit. Yes. So, as we're doing this year's as we're doing this 2 years in a row, I've seen the difference between these past 2 years. And one experiment that we did is we had people write down on a piece of paper how much time they actually thought they spent on their phone. Then we had them check that their their screen time. And while it was still pretty high, like it was averaging 6 and 7 hours, it's actually better than what I've seen in previous years. See, last year I was hearing a lot of people doing 8 or 9 hours. And there were a lot more outliers doing something like 13 hours on their phone at a time. And I had a lot more people actually actively putting restrictions on their phones for certain apps. People are now starting to become a lot more aware of how much time they're spending on their phone. I'm sure those numbers are probably shocking to you. >> [laughter] >> Um they're shocking to all of us, but I think the huge takeaway is some of them were starting to self-regulate and see the benefit of that. Um April was all about how to leverage your summer time and not just maybe be on their phone. Yes. So, last month, I we talked about about about different opportunities that they could have in the summer time. I know for a lot of my ninth graders, they were very interested in when they can work. And I know that was a big thing. They all were like, "Do you know any jobs I could have? How do I find them?" And I told them, "Well, we have a board up at school." Um and a lot of their questions also came down to how could they work during the school year? So, I was honest with them, it takes a lot of balance. Um they also were very interested in a lot of the career camps that we offer. Um I know I had a lot of questions about like how do they sign up? Who should they go talk to? I told them Miss Bonnett. Um and then I told them we talked a lot about continuing to be like curious about what they want to do. Like I know summer time for a lot of them is like a break, but it's also time to like figure yourself out and maybe think about what you want to do in the future. Like um maybe even job shadow or just like continue researching about different opportunities that we even have here at the high school. So. And then you may recall from orientation, um WEST stands for what every freshman should know. And this is how we start out orientation with guidance from our link leaders. And it's broken down into parent relationships, academics, teachers, social media, and friends. And at the end of the school year, Anya hasn't had a chance to do yet this year. It'll be happening in a week or two, but they will revisit WEST with the ninth graders, but instead ask them, "What did you learn about yourself in these different categories this year and how to manage those different things?" And Ellie's going to share some of that experience from last year. We had a wide range of responses because everyone's experience is inherently unique. But, the forefront that almost every single freshman stated is to not procrastinate on their work. I asked them, "Well, we told you not to procrastinate on the work. And they're like, "Well, yeah." And the same thing is uh like being nice and making a communication and a nice relationship with your teachers. That is another thing we also had a lot of people say is they said that their Link Leaders told them this was an important thing to do and they learned later on that it was actually very helpful. Because their teachers tended to be more lenient if they knew I did not mean to turn this in this assignment late. I was just really busy. And the teacher knows they're not just trying to get out of it. Yeah, I mean those are those are hard to read right now, but if you have a minute to take a look at them, it is fun to see how much they grow through their ninth grade year and come to these conclusions on their own. Um and to that point, I had the opportunity to connect with some ninth graders today and I asked them, "Tell me about your Link Leaders." I didn't feed them anything else. I just said, "What was your impression of what your Link Leaders did this year?" And I think these quotes um are exactly what we set out at the beginning of the year to accomplish. And so, I started our time here tonight by reading these quotes to our visiting Link Leaders so they knew that they are having an impact. We talk about planting those seeds. You don't always get to see the flowers. Um but I thought this was pretty cool that our ninth graders shared some of this. I'll just read the last one. Um they are really school spirited. I feel like they want us to be part of our school community. They are always welcoming us and encouraging us to get involved. I went to the Spring Fling because of them. So, the final thing I wanted to mention was that we host four um fun events for our ninth graders a year. The final one being our Spring Fling which just happened in April. And you know, we continue to try to make that event grow, but it was a fun experience for all the students who were there, and I think our Link Leaders who attended as well had a great time. So, thank you for hosting us tonight. If you have any questions, I'm sure our Link Leaders would be happy to answer them. All right. Does anybody have any questions? I don't think so. That was great. Yeah. Yeah. Mr. Tyson? I have a quick question. It's a great report. I can tell how passionate you guys are. And that's a big commitment to be a Link Leader. You're basically a role model for an entire grade level for the whole year, and you've done it like 4 years? >> I did it 2 years. >> 2 years. But it is still strange cuz a lot of my kids who I had last year, they're in a lot of my classes now, so Wow. Yes. Is there any one um student, one or two that you saw just really um mature and blossom and find their own way like mid-year, and um do you have any like story you could tell us? Yeah, uh one of the boys in my class, he like he never really took Link Leader cuz he was sure he can just do the assignments and not show up and still pass, but over the I think the stories his friends told him about how we changed things around, how we did things, he kind of like showed up more on time, participated in activities that we did. He just kind of like wanted to be more involved in everything that was being taken that was being carried on. So. Wow. That That must have made you feel great. >> Yes, I did. Yeah. Well, thanks for all you do. Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. McGregor? They you don't realize what an impact you make until maybe at the end of the year you see the growth and all the changes. I mean, it's true. You're not You feel more comfortable talking to someone like you than a staff member. I mean, it just hits more natural. We do have any I mean, like you said, do you have Now they're in your classes. I mean, how does that mean how does that work for you? Does that feel a little different for you or >> did. I mean, so there was one in particular, he came up to me, we sat next to each other and I just kept looking at him like, "Oh, you just look so familiar." And then I asked him, I was like, "Do I know you?" And he's like, "You were my Link Leader last year." And I laughed and we talked and I was like, and he's like, "You're the reason why I'm taking this class." And I was like, "Oh, cool." That's so crazy. It was Kev. So you guys are really making a great impact. Thank you for all your hard work. [clears throat] I mean, plus you're trying to keep up with your own school work and your jobs and whatever else you're doing in athletics and things, but thank you for all the time you put into that. It's a great program. Yeah, we are fortunate to have just tremendous student leaders. I'll just mention that tonight one additional is supposed to be here, but he got caught up at a tennis match. This one's headed to nationals for speech literally from here. She'll be happy we're going to be done right now and so yeah, our our Link Leaders we always look for leaders who represent everything that happens in our community and building, theater, sports, whatever, chess club and um we just have a great collective group as you could see from that beginning photo. Thanks for having me. Thank Number Castle. So I don't [clears throat] know if Twin Cities Tree Trust is still an organization. >> It is. I just received an email from them today. >> Okay, yep, I worked two summers when I was in junior high there. Okay, great. >> So that it was a very that was hard work, but it was an excellent opportunity. It is always on our jobs board. We have physical jobs board, career board, college board and scholarships board and that is almost always on the board cuz tree trust is a great outreach partner. And I don't know if they deliver paper around here, but I delivered paper before school, the daily paper when I was in junior high. I don't think they do that anymore, but that also is a great skill development. Where is this board in the high school? Where are the boards? >> Yeah, with the Yeah, right across from the media center right when you walk in from the front office. Those four bulletin boards right across from the media center. Okay, thank you. Well, I would like to thank each of you for the work that you do. We know how important school connectedness is for kids, especially in a new environment that has a lot of kids. And making school work for kids is so critical and important. I'm going to give you a just a a second to say to just speak to how important having advisors like Ms. Bonnett in others in an organization like this. What would you say to that? Um I mean it's super important. I feel like I feel like I come to her a lot for a lot of things. I'm like, I don't just like with like not even just with Link specifically, but like I feel like I've came to you a lot with Link this year being like, "What do I do with my kids?" Just like because we're supposed to be mentors for them. I still believe that we need a mentor on how to help them because like yeah, I just feel like it she's doing great. >> [laughter] >> I am incredibly thankful that you are willing to run a program like this because unfortunately, ninth graders quote-unquote think it's stupid. So, they don't put much value into what Ms. Bonnett is doing. We do, of course, we're here. And it's amazing that you're willing to run something like that even though you don't often get an immediate thanks in return. Uh for me, I think it's a blessing to have her because for the past couple of weeks I've been in her office three months every day. Next year, I'm looking up to go to college and you know, she just kind of like redirected me into like the classes that I should take and that will prepare me for what I'm going to or I'm going to face in college. And I feel like with that experience, I can tell my Link leaders or my Link uh my my Bridge connect kids that if you need something go to this person or that location at a certain time and they're guaranteed to get help. Wonderful. Ms. Barnett, well-deserved accolades FOR YOUR WORK. >> [applause] >> AND THE FACT IS FOR PEOPLE IN OUR community and adults in our community who are looking at the work that kids are doing in our system, you guys are a bellwether for our future is looking really bright. So, nice work. Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> All right, we will pivot to more positive happenings. Does anybody have anything for positive happenings? I do. Remember Tyson. You don't want to go first, Jill? So, anyway, I had the pleasure of going out to the Sister City Celebration at Scandia at the Scandia Community Center and it's between Scandia, the town of Scandia, the city of Scandia and Malarood, Sweden. So, our third graders are asked to perform every year there and I sat with a group of parents and they were so proud listening to them. They sang one um song that was just incredible. It was called Lovely Day by Bill Withers, which I thought was really tricky. I was playing it for some people on my phone. And then they sang in Sweden, it was called En Busshufer, which is a song about a bus driver. So, they get to have lunch and they get to be received as part of the ceremony and it's just really fun to see and that's what makes that richness in our community schools and the connection to the city and that collaboration on events and just how they both embrace that connection and it's so important. The other thing and I'm sure member Corcoran will talk about it as well, we went to the Taste. It was their 50-year anniversary. Um it was held at the Wounded Warriors new event space, which is lovely. But I didn't know this whole story. It was actually uh James Trudeau, he started it back in however 50 years ago, and he wanted it so it became the Lake Center, and the name has shifted a couple times. But the interesting part is that he started it because he one quote he his wife told me was that he did not want one day for a youth to define their whole life. One mistake in their life for a youth to define their whole life. So now um it's become an award, and Chief Peterson, who recently retired, was given it that evening, so that was pretty fun. We saw so many people that support our district there. Um we're just so blessed to have all of them there and attending. And then our food vendors do an amazing job um to bring in their their goods, and just it's just a great event. So the other thing I wanted to mention is that I am excited and thrilled and very humble and honored. I'll be reading the land acknowledgement agreement at the American Indian um event next Friday night. Um and also I want to mention that MSBA, the Minnesota School Board, is part of the Teacher of the Year selection, and this year it went to a teacher a music teacher from Park Spanish Immersion School named David Davis. So that concludes my report. All right, thank you. Anybody else have anything for positive happening? Remember Christian said? Oh, um well, I just want to mention it maybe Dr. Maxwell mentioned this, but Egg Day is this Friday um at the high school. I've been going to a lot of softball games. It's been very chilly, and some girls I was I was at Girls Across for senior night. Um and I missed the Bethel concert, which I was disappointed cuz it was so beautiful, but it was parents night for softball, so I had to go there instead, but I'm sure it was wonderful. That concludes my report. All right. Member Corcoran. Well, I had a couple of events. I went to the fireman's ball Saturday night at the American Legion, and it's it's amazing. It was sold out and so full, and they had Pop Rocks was the band, and it just was just a great event. Seen a lot of local people I hadn't seen in years. Um it was great to connect with a lot of people. And then also the Taste I went with uh Member Tyson. It was very It's always such a great event. Um so many people, and seeing people from long-standing contributors for donor donors that have given so much for our district were there. It was great. The food's great. I mean, they volunteered their time, those vendors, and it's it's a it's a big deal for them. Mhm. So, I always want to thank them when we're there because it is not only their time, it's their money. It's their money for for their um for their restaurants, but it does get their name out there and gives them some good advertising. But um great event and great I'm glad it was 50 years. That's amazing it's been going on that long, and we talked about all the different years when somebody mentioned about the year it was on a um Frisbee. Uh the plate was on a Frisbee. It was out at um in Scandia at the creamery. Creamery. I said, "Well, at least the trays this year were not a were not a Frisbee." So, that was good. Uh but great event, and um but yeah, so fun weekend. Yeah. All right. And also I should say, well, I'm other proud of happening is that we're working on superintendent contract with our new superintendent Dr. uh or Director Jacobson, and um so, that's going well, and I know uh Kurt Rebilas will be talking more about that later. All right. Thank you. Member Castle. So, I did go to the Bethel concert. Um uh and my daughter joined me with her daughter, and my I brought my son's two kids. They might have been a little bit uh restless, but it was very good and uh they had accolades for Dr. Massie. Mhm. And the concert, like they always are, was phenomenal. Mhm. Great day. Night. Mhm. Nice. Um I guess I The only thing I have to report is um I think it was last night. Yeah, my days are just rolling into each other. Uh football um football coach gave, you know, the talk to all the incoming football players for the season, so it's getting going. Mhm. Yeah. All right. >> very exciting. That's good. I I have nothing to add. I think everything's been covered there, so. Um we can move on to reports. Does anybody have anything for workshops and conferences? Okay, it's not really that time of year. That brings us to City of Forest Lake. Uh member Kristin, did you have anything to add? Go ahead. Yeah, just a couple of things. Um at the April 13th meeting um uh uh uh Chief Luke Hanegraaf took the oath of office, so that's exciting. He's a Forest Lake grad. Uh and Captain John Glader was also um uh promoted to captain, I believe, or um And then, let's see. Um there was um some agenda items, a lot of discussion about um an increase uh in uh dock slip area at Tim's Marina. Talk about that and talking about uh the public works facility. They have um decided to do a pause on that. Uh just some uncertainty with um the sales tax, which would help pay for the new facility, and the earliest the sales tax could be approved would be in November. It's still going through the legislature, so they're just going to do a pause on that for now. Um there's uh was a final um, approval or a discussion of the Amber Lee Woods uh, development 56 homes on 40 acres that's east of Goodview Avenue. Um, and um, I think that's it. Yeah, that concludes my report. >> Thank you. Anything to add member Christensen? No, I don't. Thank you. >> Okay. Any questions? Okay. Uh, we'll move on to community education. Uh, member Christensen or member Quirk? Yeah, I I went to the meeting on Monday night um, and that's always a fun one at the at the spring meeting. Uh, continuing education. Uh, they uh, they give out grants or the community well, the advisory council all of us come together and look at different grants from uh, community education departments like SAC or uh, other groups can apply for a grant and so we had a good robust discussion about that. We um, we gave out 11 grants mini grants 11 11 different grants for a total of almost $5,000 not quite. So, that was exciting to see um, the different things that they're going to be um, doing with that money. There's some life jackets and um, those kinds of things. Um, some things for a SAC and those kinds of things. Uh, and just a brief update from Mr. McKinnon because the this group just just met about a month ago, but uh, the fishing team is going great. I've been seeing a lot of stuff on social media about the fishing team. So, that is really exciting. Uh, T-ball, baseball, softball, everything's going. So, it's a busy time uh, over there at at uh, community education and we will not be meeting again until um, September. So, All right. Thank you member Christensen. So, we have MSBA next. Um, a little ambiguous. So, I'll ask if member Tyson has anything to report from MSBA. I do, actually. We just had our annual meeting and I was down in St. Peter. Drove back, drove down, drove down, drove back. Um we approved our 2026-27 budget. Um we also increased dues by 3%, which for Forest Lake Area schools [clears throat] that means it'll be an additional $264. So, that was evaluated on a tiered thing, and policy services has really increased. We've had some added some staff to cover that. So, um they they thought that 3% the executive committee approved that, and then the full board did as well. Um I'm on policy committee, so we went through and updated the president-elect process, making that more clear, more defined. What do we do when there's a three-way tie? We also updated the president-elect application. Um we approved appointments to Midslab, the board of trustees. And then last meeting the Superintendent Massey's reported on Kids Rise. So, we had a big update on that. That is going to be a public school campaign to build trust and highlight uh the 339 public schools and all the positive things that are going on in schools. So, we're going to have a big booth at the State Fair for that one day. Oh, nice. In the kids area. And then I just want to do we had a long legislative update from Denise Dittrich, but I just want to highlight one thing that will be on the ballot as a question for the midterm, and that is on the permanent school fund. So, we need to change the statute to raise the percentage. So, it's going to go from like a 2.2% to 4.5%. So, what that means is the 181 charter schools, the 339 Minnesota public schools per each pup- per pupil will get a increase. And for us that means $95 versus $45. So, it's public schools funding or statewide school funding, and no taxes are involved. So, that will be a ballot question because the statute has to be changed. So, we're just trying to get that word out that that's a really positive thing that's going to happen. The fund has just been holding at like Help me out, Steve, but I think it's like 2.2 million and with this percentage, 2.2% that they've been paying out, it just doesn't bring it down. So, they want to distribute it at a higher percentage rate, so. Public school funding or school funding and no new taxes, so. That concludes my report. Thank you. Do you know what it's going to be called on the ballot yet? Do they Is The permanent school fund. >> Public school fund. >> Yeah, it's PSF and it'll kind of be written out, so people will know what they're voting on, but you have to mark it. Yeah. Yes. Because if it's not marked, the vote doesn't doesn't count, so. Yeah, there's language in in the current bill that's going to uh referendum and and a constitutional ballot that essentially allows the fund to also be increased by dividend payments. Statute currently doesn't allow for the dividend payment, only the interest on the investments. So, that will further increase the value of the fund and then the percent that gets allocated out to schools is set in in the constitution. And the proposal would be the constitutional question would be to allow the the legislature through statute determine what that percent payout is versus if it is set in constitution. Right. And so, along with a lot of antiquated formulas that we deal with down at the capital, this is kind of one that's just lingered for a long time, just not been updated, just kind of sat there. And so, now it's >> Bipartisan if not unanimous support of the legislature. >> so it's kind of bubbled at the top and I'm excited that it can get voted on now. What I have a question if if you said I haven't heard I mean I haven't heard about this before and so I'm assuming maybe a lot of other people have not heard about it before either and so kind of who is leading the charge with publicity because you're saying if no if you don't check it then it's a no so how will >> Yeah. people understand and get the word out and how will it be communicated and And so it has been being communicated through MSB's Kirk Schneiderwins update in their emailings but there will be like campaigns. Yeah, through the statewide associations MDE MSB >> commercials Mesa all those organizations will come together and create a campaign. Okay. for media campaign social media to try to create awareness. Okay. Yeah, so it's just kind of starting now to get but it's been worked on in the legislator legislation for a long time. So Wow. So it's exciting to get to this point. So Dr. Massey you said that they're going to be taking the the the value out of statute and giving it to the legislators. That's my understanding. So then they can do whatever they want with it. In terms of setting the percent that gets allocated out to schools. Right but they could make that percent zero or right now it's definitely has to be a number. They're not going to increase it in statute. >> I said it is a number it's 4.5. Okay but I thought the director said >> on that number. That's my understanding. >> going to put that in statute then? That's my understanding. So it's a good thing. It is a good thing. Yeah, the the legislature would only I mean if they if they take action it would be through statute that they would set that number. So it gives the legislature a tool and it gives that the legislature some authority to adjust that number based on how the the finance office is doing. Hopefully it can only go up. Cuz it's right now it's fixed in the constitution from what I'm understanding in the discussion here. At the 2.5. All right. Okay, so the ambiguity on MSBA here was this was for also for a member Corkern on the uh MSBA uh facilitated school board. I always forget what the MSBA calls it but basically the uh strategic plan work that we have coming up. >> Yeah. Um we've selected a new superintendent. Hopefully we'll have him on board uh July 1st as planned. Uh that update's coming next but uh Yeah, I did talk to um Gail Gilman a couple times and she just said to give her um kind of a a 6-week window of time of when we're ready. Um we can do the um self-evaluation the self-evaluation whenever we want. Um but I feel like we should kind of just I mean we can I mean we can have talked about the timing of it. Sure. Um and I was thinking maybe later in the Well, as soon as he gets on board but then we have to get let him get on board for a while before we That's what I I was thinking that the the board piece we would do we would target uh for June 4th. Oh. At that meeting. Okay. And get that that work set up. Okay. Okay, do I Can you clarify do what at June 4th meeting? Do the the self-evaluation? That piece? Yeah, she said she could just send it to us. I mean she doesn't have to attend for that. That's kind of our piece before we get together. You know, that's kind of our way of thinking or how we want to work together and then that once then she provides information after that and then we get together and kind of go over Oh, perfect. working together. So she said anytime we want that she could send it to us. And that's electronic. Yes, it'll be electronic. Yeah. Yep. So, we we set a date? Do you want to have >> Why don't we target that? June 4th. >> We won't we won't take official board action cuz we need to to get their uh their input on this as well if they're if they're ready for that and if that works for them, but we'll target the 4th. We need to take a formal official board action. We can do that on the 21st. Okay. And then we'll have kind of the the the plate will be set for when Director Jacobson transitions into his role in Okay. >> July. Perfect. I will contact you. That sounds reasonable. Sure. Yeah. >> Okay. Good. We'll we'll do that and then we'll we'll pivot right there from Superintendent contract update and >> Excuse me. Yes, member Christian said June 4th we do not have a meeting. We have >> Graduation, right. Graduation. >> Oh, I have I have it on my schedule here. It's the 11th. Okay, thank you. Yep. All right, you have And you know what Thank you. Thank you, Joy. I mean, I contacted her. I should have known that. Our son graduates June 4th. So [laughter] I should have I I looked at my calendar deliberately and I went, "Oh, um it's not May 25th or the last week of May like we typically do." And I still had it on June 4th, so I'm going to change it on my calendar right now. >> So, the 11th. Thank you for that. We'll be a June 11th. >> caught it in my head. Correct. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's a it's a strange year uh for school board meetings this year just the way the the the dates fell this year, but thank you. Um that brings us to Superintendent contract update. Uh myself and member Corcoran had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Jacobson on Tuesday. And I'd say we worked through about oh, probably 80 to 90% of the text of the contract and um we have a little bit left to work on, but uh I think we're making progress on that. Um with that, one of the things that we do need to do at some point here, we've had enough statutory changes in the last uh 3 years here that we definitely We to have um a legal review. So, I did email this out to uh, board members here, but of course they don't have it pulled up. Um, so I would like to make a motion to request authorization for legal review um, of the contract and this is strictly so we can make sure that the the text that myself, uh, member Corkran and Mr. Jacobson put together uh, passes legal muster and everybody is happy and it it it fits the statute. So, So, moved. Uh, well, I will move to authorize the board chair and the vice chair to engage with Knutson, Flynn and Deans, Martin Law Firm and Pemberton Law to conduct a legal review of the proposed superintendent's contract. I'll second that. Okay, thank you. Member Corkran. Oh, I want to say that those were the um, the the attorneys that we are um, approving have been recommended by MSBA and um, Dr. Terry Moore. So, those are on specific lists to look at the contract. So, we're not going out of their their recommendation. Correct. >> So, And I would also add that we don't intend to engage with all three of them, but we just want to have the option to engage with one of them to make sure that we don't have a scheduling problem that would delay us. Yeah. Just to clarify, member chair, you sent it to all three of them. And to see who's open or No. We haven't done anything yet. >> done anything yet. Correct. We need authorization from the board. Um, we can we can work with one of those law firms already. We do have them on our like umbrella authorization. >> Okay. But uh, uh, we haven't worked with any law firms yet. We wanted to bring it to the board first and then we'll bring it to >> Correct. And you said the first one was Knutson, Flynn and Deans. Flynn and Deans. That was okay. I didn't quite hear it. Yep, I and I can repeat that here. Uh, of course I closed the email. Um, but the the three law firms will be Knutson, Flynn and Deans, Martin Law Firm and Pemberton Pemberton Law are of three that uh were in the motion. Great. And I believe all superintendent contracts go through legal. They they should. They do. Yeah. If if they don't, they absolutely should. I think they do. Great. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Okay, is there any additional discussion on that? All right. Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? Okay, that motion passes. Does anybody have any questions on the superintendent contract before we move it from that? All right. Seeing none, we'll move to the superintendent's report, Dr. Massey. So, first of all, I'd like to commend the board for your work and all the long hours in the superintendent search. Um that is extensive work. Um and I applaud on behalf of the district, frankly, your your work and ability to to come together on that process. And I'd like to personally extend my congratulations to my colleague, J.P. Jacobson. We have worked side by side for many many years. Um and congratulations and best wishes. And we'll have time to transition between now and then. Um earlier this year, I believe, we had a report from the middle school on the Best Buddies program, if you recall. The Best Buddies program in Minnesota has identified Forest Lake Area Middle School Best Buddy chapter as the outstanding middle school chapter of the year. This recognition makes the middle school eligible to be selected as Region 5 Outstanding Chapter of the Year, including the states of Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, and will allow um the middle school to compete nationally for recognition. So, the staff involved deserve a great deal of credit for this. Melissa Gooder, Lindsay Piran, Samantha Duten Hef- Hef- Duten Hefner, excuse me, and of course Sam Van Hefty, the assistant principal at the middle school. Through the Best Buddies program, the middle school staff form friendship matches amongst students. Students meet during advisory, play games, share leadership jobs. The program offers one-to-one friendships and leadership development experiences and opportunities for individuals with and without intellectual or developmental disabilities to form connections and relationships. You can see tonight with the Link presentation the power of friendship, the power of connection makes all the difference in a kid's experience. So, this is a super powerful, beneficial, dynamic program that just makes a difference. We have two student leaders in the program. Uh Paige uh Weg Leitner is the chapter president. She's an eighth grader. And Sophia Hinkle is the buddy director. She's also an eighth grader. We have 39 students at the middle school involved in the program. There are 12 different buddy matches throughout the program. And they meet during flex time at the middle school. So, way to go middle school. It's just um a great and accolades for their work at the middle school. So, I just want to ask, how can we highlight that? That is something to be so proud of. And truly fantastic. >> communications person sitting in the closet, but we're already working on that. Yeah, we're already on Wow. I mean, it would be fun for them to come back again and talk about it, but I know school is winding down, but We could try to pull that off yet this year. That's fantastic. Wow. The direct Yeah, I'd love to hear from them. >> [snorts] >> So, what does that mean for the program? I mean, it just means that they're going to be What do you mean? I wonder how what means to compete. Well, there there is an application, so they will submit different evidence of their program and the work that they're doing and uh fill out the applications for for the recognition. Wow, that's Well deserved. Wow. Do you know I'm sorry. It'd be fun to have a picture. What are they looking at to then present them with this you know, type of the opportunity? Like, how does that happen? It's it's a award recognition. I don't know exactly what that looks like yet, but that'll be forthcoming. Oh, okay. Wow. Thank you. Great news. This upcoming Tuesday, May 12th, is the Hall of Fame induction. I hope your schedules permit you to attend. Starts at 6:00 p.m. I'd like like to share with the board and uh by doing so with the with the public more broadly, that the district Hall of Fame this year, we're inducting Jim Friend, a 1981 Forest Lake graduate, um consummate community volunteer throughout the community, involved with the FFA program and the Community Scholarship Foundation. And the one and only consummate Forest Lake educator, now retired, Bruce Laventhal, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as well. He was actually identified last year, but had a conflict. Oh, no. >> He is traveling in from California to be part of the ceremony. Now, on the arts and athletics side of the Hall of Fame, uh veteran long-time, now retired, hockey coach, teacher, Forest Lake High School, Dan Forsythe, is in the State High School League Hall of Fame as a hockey coach. Uh Brett Graville, a 19 2014 graduate, went on to play collegiate hockey and pro hockey. Um also baseball at the high school and tennis. Lexi Alm Johnson was also inducted, 2010 graduate, volleyball, softball, basketball, collegiate athlete as well. Uh Zach Robbie, uh 2018 graduate, uh baseball player, state competitor, uh baseball player, uh nominee for base uh Mr. Baseball for Minnesota, uh played at the University of Minnesota and was actually drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers. Uh he will be in that currently playing, but was drafted. Um Ashley Shalansky uh will also be inducted, a 2003 graduate, uh played in Symphonic Winds, was a track style basketball player, and football player, lettered in football. Um she has a PhD in psychology and is a practicing child psychologist. And lastly, Megan Storken, a 2016 graduate, um speech, state speech competitor, Symphonic Winds, and theater. So, an illustrious group of graduates and community members being inducted. Again, Tuesday, this upcoming Tuesday, May 12th, at Tanners Brook, 6:00 p.m. >> [clears throat] >> And then earlier mentioned by member Tyson, the American Indian Honoring Ceremony, as I'm looking at Mr. Ward, is I think Wednesday, not Friday, if I can um provide that correction. So, Yep, sorry. >> 6:00 p.m. Wednesday in the auditorium, the American Indian Honoring Ceremony. Beautiful ceremony. Again, if your schedules permit, we'd love to have you attend. And that conclude my report. All right. Thank you, Dr. Massie. That brings us to the consent agenda. Is there any item that any member would like removed from the consent? I don't think I could see Steve. Pull it down. Thank you. Sorry. We had a technical issue. >> [laughter] >> We're good with consent then? Yes. Okay. If we're good with consent, then I would entertain a motion. >> Can I pull? I want to pull something. >> You want to pull something? Yeah. I want to pull the license for You want to pull 7.4? Yes. 7.4. Sure. Any other items we would like to pull? Okay. Seeing none, I'd entertain a motion to approve 7.1 through 7.3. So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed? Okay. That motion carries. It brings us to 7.4 license personnel. We'll start with a motion to approve. So moved. Second. Okay. We have a motion and a second. Remember, Parker? Uh I just wanted to recognize Jenna Parent. Does she resigned? Um she was a teacher a grad a graduate for Slate a 2018 grad. Um I've known her a long time and uh she was a math teacher at the high school and a great athlete and also a great coach. So, she's resigning and I just I didn't see that till today. >> out of the area. >> I know she is. I know she's moving out. She's getting married. I know that. So, um I just want to want to recognize all that she was an amazing coach and amazing athlete and um she was so excited to teach at the high school when I when I first when she first came on board with our and just want to thank her for um all she's done for the schools and I wish her well. Yeah. Very well liked by staff and students alike. I get a lot of feedback from the high schoolers that come through my house and Yeah. um it's always been positive. Yeah. I just told her I said to what grade she was teaching I think ninth grade and you know, she she looks very young and I said you look like one of the students and she was well, I'm teaching ninth graders. I said well, that's probably a good thing cuz she You like one of the students, but um so just an amazing person and I wish her all the best. >> she'll be missed. Yeah, she will be. Any additional discussion on this item? All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? Okay, that motion carries. Brings us to donations, item number Castle. We have a good list here. >> Wow. So $10,000 $302.13 from the [clears throat] Full Court Booster Club to the Flas Activities Boys Basketball Booster Paid Coaches, Martin and Demontsio. Demontsio. Demontsio. It's too many letters there. Uh >> [clears throat] >> $5,646.94 from the Girls Basketball Boosters to the [clears throat] Flas Activities Girls Bas- Basketball Booster Paid Coaches, Holmquist and Laqua. $2,731.40 from the Forest Lake Girls Lacrosse Booster Club to the Flas Activities Girls Lacrosse Booster Paid [clears throat] Coach English. $2,334 from Wilson Tool International to Flas Manufacturing Metal Shop Alum Carbide End Mills High Speed End Mills. $1,444.54 from Yours Truly to the Teaching and Learning Department. $1,000 from Morrie's Forest Lake Chevrolet to Flas HOSA Sponsorship. $1,000 from SMW Financial Credit Union to Flas Ranger Space Camp. $576 from Drolson Family Foundation to Floss CE metal middle school service club t-shirts. $500 from American Legion Post number 225 to the space Ranger camp. $500 from Drolson Family Foundation to the Ranger space camp. $500 from Johnson Turner Legal to the Floss Floss Hall of Fame sponsorship. $450 from Kelly Zurick to the Floss activities DECA National Conference attendance Owen Zurick. >> [clears throat] >> $225 from Amber Setter and Todd Curlow Kirk Curlow or Curlow to Floss activities Rangers Helping Rangers. $30 from anonymous to the Floss activities Rangers Helping Rangers. A trombone and case from Brandon LeBlanc to the Floss music department student use totaling 27,000 $240 and $0.01 for these donations. Donated to the John Lattigar Memorial Fund uh are all the following. >> [clears throat] >> $300 from the Lattigar brothers. Uh this is to support the Floss Ranger football and track stadium. $75 from Lisa Holdren Children's Minnesota. $75 from Curtis and Melissa Mann, $50 from Tom and Sherry Carlyle. $50 from Tom Pogreba, $50 from Carol Breitbach, $50 from Kathy Berggren, $50 from John and Susan Backus, $25 from Richard and Maureen Willard, $20 from Janice Johnson and Tina Stevens, totaling $745 total to memorial fund. And a grand total of $27,985 and $0.01. I move to graciously >> [clears throat] >> approve these donations. I will second that. Is there any discussion? I'm seeing none. Member Clerk, please take a roll call. Okay. Uh Member Castle. Abstain. Member An Johnson votes I. Member Christensen. I. Member Tyson. I. Member Rebolledo. I. Member Corcoran. I. And the eyes have it. All right. Wonderful. That will bring us to the Forest Lake Area School Staff Retirement Notice. Member Castle. I do not have any retirement staff on this paper. I have it pulled up. If you If you don't have it >> page Do you know what page it's on? Well, I just have it pulled up. Yeah. Well, here you go, Member Castle. Oh, it's not on here. Thank you very much. Uh >> [clears throat] >> the Forest Lake Area School Staff has submitted their intent to retire. Uh submitted retirements, Linda Wood, custodian at Forest Lake Area Middle Middle School, effective 7/10/2026 following 27 years of service. Administration recommends the approval of the staff retirements. I'll move to approve. Second. All right, motion is seconded. Any discussion? Just a correction. You might have misspoke, member Castle. It's Linwood. I just wanted to make sure. >> Linwood? I believe you said Linda, but I just wanted to Since she's retiring after 27 years, I just wanted to make sure we got her name correct. Linwood. Did I apologize? Thank [clears throat] you. Remember program. And I want to thank her. She was I ran many a tournament, basketball tournaments at the middle school. I don't know, maybe 15 years worth, and she was always there, working hard. She is phenomenal, and she always had a smile on her face, and I just can't thank her enough for always being there and being so great and putting all those Yeah, she just worked extremely hard, and she was always so dependable, and and I always said I had a smile on her face. So, I want to thank her, and I hope she enjoys her retirement cuz she's earned it. She sure has. It's going to be hard to replace her. It's what I think about all these retirements and resignations sometimes. It's She's so great. Such a happy person. Mhm. All right, any additional discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? Okay, the motion carries. That brings us to ratify the 2025 to 2027 Forest Lake Supervisors Association agreement, Dr. Massey. We're excited to bring this ratified agreement to you tonight for your approval, and we'll direct you to page 19 of the agreement. We may anticipate any question you might have. Who's included in this agreement? Um you'll see on page 19 the listing there. The accounting supervisor is Maria Palumbo. Nutrition supervisor is Paige Albrecht. Transportation supervisor will be Beth Dwyer. Buildings and grounds is James Landers. Um aquatic supervisor is John Olson. Ice Arena Manager, Mike Ewen. And SAC Supervisor, Nancy Seely. This contract that you will see here, in addition to a couple of the language updates, is within the parameters the board provided for us. The administration would recommend your approval. Thank you, Dr. Massey. I would entertain a motion to approve. So moved. >> Second. Can we have a motion and a second? Is there any discussion? Member Castle. Uh, I just want to verify that in uh section one, sick leave, there are strike outs in subdivision one, subdivision eight, subdivision nine, and subdivision 10. And they have to do with uh one part talks about the Minnesota statute. So, we are not violating the statute by striking these out, I'm assuming. That's correct. Thank you. All right. Any other discussion? If not, Member Clerk, please take roll call. Okay. Member Rebolledo. Aye. Member Castle. Aye. Member Corcoran. Aye. Member Antonsen votes aye. Member Christianson. Aye. And Member Tyson. Aye. The ayes have it. Okay. That 8.4 ratify the 2025 to 2027 Forest Lake Directors Association Agreement, Dr. Massey. I'm excited also to bring this agreement to you tonight for your approval. You know the folks covered in this agreement extremely well because you see them present in front of you on various topics throughout the school year. Um, they are uh part of my direct team and um we would we we could not get by without the talented group that we have. And just to highlight um in this group, uh we will uh we've got HR, uh Don Friedman, Teaching and Learning, JP Jacobson. business services Chrissy Weinberg Haiti, community education Corey McKinnon, and special education Dr. Kelly Boston are covered by this agreement. This The terms of this agreement in addition to a couple of the language updates which are nominal within the parameters that the board provided me to work with in terms of settling this contract. And then and I would recommend you approve it. Wonderful. I'll entertain a motion to approve. Move to approve 8.4. Second. All right. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on this one? All right. Seeing none. Member Clark? All right. Member Ann Thompson votes aye. Member Reveline? >> Aye. Member Christensen? Aye. Member Corcoran? Oh, aye. Member Tyson? Aye. Member Castle? Aye. And the ayes have it. All right. Thank you. 8.5 adopt the 2025 to 2027 terms and conditions documents for individual professional employees. Dr. Massey? I would present these somewhat as a bundle. >> [clears throat] >> Certainly happy to take any questions you might have. Obviously just to quickly review and and go down the list. Activities director it's Mike Cannon who we all know. And his work college and career transitions coordinator you saw Molly Bennett Bennett here tonight. Communications coordinator creates the front facing image and media presence for the school district even though she operates at board meetings in the closet there. Renee Weedy communities that care grant Carrie Caldwell and our department coordinators who do tremendous work throughout our teaching and learning department including Brad Ward, Katie Lorenz, Bethany Hardy Maria Poronto, Jill Crockramer and and Chad O'Toole. So, with um with that list and the the note that all of these contracts are again within the parameters that the board gave administration to work within these contracts, administration would recommend your approval. All right. Thank you, Dr. Massie. I will move to approve all five contracts as a bundle in a single motion. Second. >> So moved. Yeah. Second. Sorry. All right. Motion and second. Is there any discussion on that? All right. Seeing none. Remember Clark, you [cough] do some work tonight. Yeah. [clears throat] All right. Let's see. Member Castle. All right. Member Tyson. Aye. Member Reveline. Aye. Member Christensen. Aye. Member Antonsen votes aye. Member Corcoran. Aye. And the ayes have it. All right. Wonderful. [clears throat] That will bring us to the school board vacancy. I am very excited to report that in our last round we have five applicants. Um, we have an Urban Saavedra, a Windy Schroeder, a Tracy Templeton, a Shawn Thomas, and a Susan Young. Um, that is in alphabetical order by last name, so nothing there. I'm going to make a recommendation to the board that we move forward with interviews in 2 weeks at our May 21st board meeting um, on these individuals and we make a selection on that evening. Second. Uh, that that was just a discussion point, but uh, if if we want we can do it by a motion as well. I I just want to hear everybody else's opinion on this. So, our committee at next board meeting. Right? 21st. >> Yep, the 21st. I think that's a good idea. There was quite a bit of conversation the first round through this on the set of questions that would get asked. I would suggest maybe you have a brief conversation on how to structure those questions and uh, in anticipation of the 20 21st. Yeah, I think that makes sense. I was going to suggest along with the questions that we use the same questions that we used in the very first rounds. We we can go back and get them materials so we know exactly which ones we asked. Set the exact same parameters that we did in the I'm reflecting all the way back into I think November [clears throat] here at this point. And go through that exact same process that we followed that time. Remember Tyson? And I would concur that we should follow the same process, use the same questions, maybe if we don't have our copies at home we should get new copies so we can familiarize ourselves. I don't know if we want to select the ones that we choose the one that we ask or if we just want to divide them up. I think we we select the same ones that we did the very first time we went through this. So we had the the assigned questions that we had all selected from. >> Oh yeah. And Joy, I hate to put you on the spot but I imagine you still have those. Or we can go back to the record and we can know exactly what it was. As I recall we each had one assigned question we asked every candidate and then we had one question that >> same questions but I think I asked on top of that. But I'm just saying I I recall that I we had the same question list but I thought I asked different questions than last >> last time. We we each asked each candidate two questions, one that was pre-assigned and then one that we came up with for each candidate. >> Okay. So it'll just be the one that we were assigned on that familiar list. Yeah and then a a a second question. So I I I would just propose that we follow the exact same process that we had the last couple of times. Just make it consistent. >> Yes, I'm totally in agreement with that. Are you saying that we're going to use one canned question and one that we come up with ourselves? >> Correct. Just like we did. Yeah, just like we did. We We didn't the second time and Mrs. Morehead is here so she could probably even speak to this. We knew both candidates really well. So, I don't think we even used our canned questions for that one. We just invited them both up. They They sat down in front of us and we did kind of a panel interview on that one, but uh But I'm wondering if we make up our own questions, if we should submit them to Julian, the Member Corcoran and Member Arabedian, so that they know what we're asking, so they're not the same. Oh, the one that has the same question. Good idea. >> Yeah, or they're not in the same vein or something. That's a good idea. Okay. So, we know what they are, not necessarily them. We'll just uh yeah, and we're not doubling up. Yeah, we're not redundant. Yeah, then Member Corcoran and I can kind of review them and just make sure that we're not asking the exact same question in a different way. Yeah, I think Remember Corcoran said that? Well, I have a couple questions. So, um we have five candidates this time, and so I'm wondering about a time uh did Did we have a time limit? I can't remember back to November, but I remember the last round we had, it was you know, maybe an hour each or so, I'm not sure. And so, with five candidates and with our regular board agenda, I'm just wondering, do we want some sort of a time limit? I believe I think we had 3 minutes per question. >> Yeah. Yeah, we did. Yeah, cuz we had 11 applicants that time. I think we had nine interview the first time around. You're We're stretching my memory here, cuz that was November. But uh yeah, I think we did 3 minutes per question. >> Okay. And then um just a clarification. So, if we are forwarding all of these um candidates, that does not necessarily mean that we are all in favor of all these candidates. Um Yeah, I We're just not discussing them right now. We're waiting until the interview. Correct. I At least >> I do have some concerns, but I'm I'm fine with moving them all forward to an interview. I just don't want to be in the interview process of being brought up, "Oh, well, we all voted to forward these all. All. Which I believe happened one of the other times. So, I I will move or go along with moving everyone forward for the interview, but that does not necessarily mean that there aren't, you know, concerns or um I just wanted to get that I >> that out there. >> [clears throat] >> Do Do we need to discuss the I mean, we we can certainly discuss the concerns. I I don't know. I I know one name on the list I I recognize the second name on the list. No, I don't know that we need to discuss them. I just I just wanted to get that out there that that the agreement to interview all of them does not mean that that It's not an endorsement. Thank you. That's the word I was looking for. And thank [clears throat] you. Sir, we're not going to do any yes or no tonight anyway. We're just putting them all forward so they can all equally get their interview time Right. and be evaluated by all six of them. So, the So, the process will be every So, we're thinking like half an hour per person. Roughly. >> I think that's about the way it will turn out. Yeah. >> thinking about that's you know, 2 and 1/2 hours Yeah, because of the plus our meeting And then and that is and that does assume that that assumes all five of them will be available and want to come back for the interview, too. But, yeah. Yep, that's a good point. >> just saying we have to anticipate, you know, that time plus and then also deliberations are And I would encourage board members to reach out and try to get to know this this group prior to the board meeting, too, cuz it's a big decision to make. Yeah, I was going to say if it's 3 minutes per question and each candidate we we each ask two questions, I mean, that's like 40 minutes a piece. We might have to get that down a little bit. I mean, but I'm Try to Try to get it to about roughly half an hour or maybe 35 minutes, something like and [clears throat] give us a little break in the middle, but yeah, I mean, it's just we just I don't want it to be 11 or midnight. That's That's my problem. We don't want another late night. Nobody's terrible coming in at 10:00, 10:00 p.m. So no, it wouldn't be fair to them either. No, it's not fair to anybody. So. Is our agenda on the 21st heavy already or what? I don't I don't know what's on the agenda >> have superintendent contract to track. Yeah, we have a superintendent contract that we'll hopefully be able to approve and this and then we should have minimal routine action items for a mid-month and next month. Let's make it light. [clears throat] Yeah. So it yeah, it should be relatively lightweight. There's going to be a lot of positive happenings cuz there's so many things >> That's what we want. That's true. We'll ask Joy to schedule these right away so we can get get through this process early. >> are available. Yep. And maybe [snorts] you might want to consider one question per board member versus two. If you can whittle that down. Yeah, maybe. That's what I was going to recommend. Remember Tyson? >> That we could just go with one. Because we're all going to have a variety to ask so maybe that would be sufficient. And then we could also consider and I mean I'm just throwing this out there starting the interview process earlier. And then going into our meeting. That's a committee meeting. It's our last committee meeting night. Yeah. Okay. That won't work. Yeah. Yeah, so actually let's look at the schedule here. Yeah, so we we're scheduled to start at 7:00. So uh That's going to be >> [clears throat] >> Well, we can >> And it's our last committee meeting night so we don't want to uh How about this? Let's just see if everybody can come. At the next meeting and if they can't then perhaps it has to get pushed out to the next one. Well, the next meeting is a the first meeting of the month because that's the June meeting for >> Yeah. And that's when graduation And think you know Yeah. May 28th >> That'll be June 11th. You know, we're all anxious to do this but So it's May 21st and then May 28th. May 21st and then June 11th. >> Yeah. >> No, May 28th is another one. That's the June meeting. It's May 28th and then June 18th. Okay. We So, we do have two in a row. I uh Two Thursdays. So, I did that wrong, man. Cuz I For some reason I put it on the 11th when you were talking about that earlier. >> we have So, it's the 28th and the 25th. So, the 21st and the 28th. Yeah. >> that that makes more sense. >> So, we'll >> I would have for for the board perhaps to consider a general question of introduction. We could structure that question giving 3 minutes for the candidate to introduce themselves. And then a series of six different questions. Yeah. Yeah. One from each board member. Yeah. Yep. I like that idea. >> Yeah, let's do that. Are we going to do this discussion and then vote? Right? With each one or we going to you know, how how we did with the superintendent um search? I the rubric that he used. Well, we didn't I'm sorry. We didn't use that with the other candidates. So, I think we have to be fair and continue to follow I mean, that might have been a good idea like in the beginning when we started it, but since the people are applying for the same position and we're trying to keep it the same, I think we need to do the same. I mean, you know, that could be a good idea, but I think we have to keep it consistent. We have to keep the questions consistent so that we don't get in any kind of you know, concerns of doing anything differently. So, yeah, I think But, that is the question. I mean, if we're already interviewing five people, we already have our own meeting, are we voting on a member that evening then? I would suggest that we do, especially since there's a 30-day delay before that appointment can take place. and if we do this on the the 21st without counting days and then if we just count weeks it's you know that roughly the 21st it's it's the end of June. They would be seated immediately prior to Director Jacobson starting his role as superintendent so the timing would actually work out quite well. So kind of do the same process so do you think you could support this person like do the like kind of then you can weed out? So maybe we go down to two. Yeah. And then I don't know. I I don't know how. I guess we can see it as it goes on. Member Tyson. So I just want to add that in the context of time and everything that we're talking about and discussing we should be cognizant of the deliberation time. How much time do we want to allow for that and let's be consistent with that time. Are we going to say 30 minutes 60 minutes? So we need to have a time on that too so we know what to expect especially since it's going to be a long meeting and a lot of going on. I know I would agree with that because I think we've experienced as a group here that the longer we deliberate the more that means that we're just not going to reach a consensus and we just want to accept that fact. So I think that's something that we can handle the night of unless we want to set something in stone this evening. It's hard to know. So we have an end time and if we don't decide it means it's something that we can bring over to the next meeting. I mean I don't know. We we can make that choice on the 21st >> want it to be 11:00 at night. I don't know. I would be open for a special session to continue if we couldn't finish it that night. Yeah. Remember Christian. comment to that I I mean know, trying to come to you know, some flexibility and some compromise, but um this time of year we've already had multiple meetings in April for the superintendent. We May is so busy almost every night with different things. So, I believe firmly that we need to get this work done during our regularly scheduled meetings. Yeah, [clears throat] I prefer that as well. As would I. I prefer that, too. Yeah. Yeah. So, I guess we can see that night how it's going, and then either we can decide to reconvene on the 28th to complete deliberations about it if it's getting too late. Does that sound good? I just don't want to be Well, I think somebody should throw a time out. >> Yeah, I Yeah, I'd say 10:00. Yeah, let's say I 60 minutes? Once we complete interviews, why don't we agree that we have 60 minutes to make a decision, and if not um we we move on with the rest of business. And we either pick it up on the 28th or we accept that we do not appoint someone in that round. I think that sounds good. >> Does that sound reasonable? It does. Yes. I would agree with what member Rowland said. Yes. We've had good experience in this so far. If we are not able to come to some sort of an agreement in 30 minutes or what I mean we're not we're not going to. So, you know, I no need to belabor it and stretch it out. I mean, I >> [clears throat] >> We have other important work to get done that night. I just feel like we should be able to complete if we have 1 hour to discuss, we should be able to complete the work the night of the 21st and I agree. you know, move on. Okay. Does that sound good? All right. So, now I I I hate what Joy said. On the spot. But, can you help me? Extrapolate everything that we got together. I think we're going to have We're going to have interviews with We're going to ask you to schedule interviews with all five of them at the beginning of the meeting, so starting at like 7:10 ish because we have you know the procedural stuff before that. And we are going to each board member is going to ask each candidate a question. Um along with a a kicking off like an introduction question right prior to that. They will have 3 minutes to answer each question. And following the end of all five interviews, we will go into 1 hour of deliberation. And we will hopefully have a seventh board member selected by the end of that process. That's what I have. Okay. And then if for some reason you can't then you decide if you're going to go to the next meeting or whatever. >> Then we'll then we'll we'll make a night we'll make a decision that night on whether or not we continue that in the special meeting or if we just put it up on the agenda on the 28th. Yep. Same format as before, first round. Okay, do we want to conceptualize that into a motion? Or do we just want to move forward with that as an unofficial agreement? Let's make a motion. >> [clears throat] >> Okay, remember Tyson, was that your motion? >> [laughter] >> Yeah, cuz I don't I don't I'm not able to read it all or say it all, but I'd make a motion to concur with what Joy just said the the plan is. The plan is. Joy, do you you have that written down? I I do, yes. >> Okay, can you please read it back to us cuz I don't I don't want to get it wrong. Okay, so it's not pretty, but That's okay. Um So, following the same question and three questions 3 minutes as in the first round, the same format um they'll have interviews right away in the agenda after the uh procedural procedural [clears throat] opening. Have the candidates introduce themselves? Yes. And then followed by six questions, one per board, which is predetermined, that they will ask the same questions. There's 3 minutes per question. And then once the all the candidates are done, they'll go into deliberation time allowed of six 60 minutes um as a time time have a deliberation. Okay, perfect. That's a wonderfully crafted motion, member Tyson. Thank you very Yes, thank you, Joy. So moved. I'll second that motion. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any additional discussion on that? I would just add to the end of that statement that at the end of the 60 minutes of deliberation, the board will proceed with other board business. >> Board business, yeah. Correct. Yep. Yes, I agree with that. Okay, so through unanimous consent, at the end of the 60 minutes, we will proceed with the remainder of the the agenda items, whether we decide to delay or conclude that work that evening. Yes, 60 minutes. >> no objection to that amendment. Um, so that motion is amended. Um, if there's no other discussion, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed? Okay, that motion carries. This brings us to setting medical premiums for 2026-2027. Director Rumberger? Welcome, Mr. Naim. Um, at the last board meeting I gave a little bit of a preview because the medical premiums were discussed at the finance committee meeting. So, the administration is recommending, uh, along with our, uh, broker, National Insurance Services, a 7% increase on our medical premiums. So, that would take our single premium from $1,178 to $1,260 per month. And then an increase in our family premium from $3,050 per month to $3,264 per month. And so, with that, um, again, our self-insurance plan has been negative. So, we hope that this fiscal year we will, uh, get that into the positive. And so, very excited for that development, but we need to continue moving that forward, um, and adding to the fund balance. We also [clears throat] value the fact that we can't move too quickly because we know that premiums and the split between employer and employee um does come out of people's paychecks. We know that the 7% is favorable. We had an 8% cap when we talked with teachers. So, we're a little bit below that. Um so, that's really great cuz that means that their deduction will actually go down for the time. So, that's really neat. Um but again, keeping [clears throat] that overall fund balance in mind. Okay, so just for clarity to make sure I understood that, we have a 7% premium increase, but the total cost, the end cost, the net cost for our staff is actually going down. It would be for the teachers. So, classified staff will be different there. Um you know, bargaining agreements will open up um in the fall, and so we'll talk about what that medical premium would be. Um that's also why it's important that we approve this at this meeting um is [snorts] to allow for our classified staff to have deductions over three payrolls uh in order to do the catch-up for what they prepay for their medical. Okay, so for the settled contracts, their premiums are actually going down from what they expected. >> Yep. For the unsettled contracts, they're going into negotiations with their eyes open understanding what the premiums look like. >> Correct. So that they can Yeah, and they will feel the impact, and we you know, it is always hard, but it's an every other year cycle, and we see that, you know, with with the licensed staff on the other side um in the next year. And so, you know, but it is we do feel for employees and understand that they're feeling that impact. >> And we absolutely want to minimize the impact to their families, and it's good news that uh Yeah. for for many that anticipated costs will be going down. So, are there any other questions before we move to a motion? No. All right. Seeing none, thank you. Thank you. Okay, I'd entertain a motion to approve. >> Move to approve 8.7. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? All right, seeing none, member Clark, please take the roll call. Member Corcoran? Aye. Member Antonson votes aye. Member Christianson? Aye. Member Castle? Aye. Member Reboline? Aye. And member Tyson? Aye. And the ayes have it. All right, [clears throat] that brings us to 9.1 first reading of the Forest Lake Area Schools Language Access Plan. Uh Director Jacobson? >> [cough] >> Director Ward. Uh Mr. Ward. Dr. Ward, I'm sorry. I'm just going to bounce around from name to name tonight. That's all right. Thank you, uh school board, and thank you, Dr. Massey. What I wanted to do was to provide an update for the school board. We talked about this at the last um curriculum instruction and equity committee um previous to this, and um I'm just going to give you a high-level view of this and how it syncs in with what we've been doing, and then um I know that you have had an opportunity to look over the plan as well. Um I think what it's first important for all of us to do is to look at what exactly is language language access. And when you look at it at its most basic form, it is to remove any potential barrier from the school system when communicating with families and students. What might this look like? It could be interpretation, which um is when there's an oral or an ASL interpreter, or it could be a written translation. Some of the legal foundation that goes with this, it dates back into Title VI from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the anti-discrimination laws. It goes into Equal Educational Opportunity Act, um and that's where we first start to see that educational opportunities should be provided to students who are learning English. And then finally, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA, and that's um making certain that bilingual students are tested in their home language um in order to truly identify if if they qualify under that act. So, where does that lead it to this particular language access plan? And that's with Minnesota law. Um a couple of years ago, it was passed into statute that during the 25-26 school year, the school board must adopt a language access plan for the district establishing processes for how is it that we're going to communicate with families, how is it that staff members or families secure interpretation services, and that this particular plan should be uh reviewed, perhaps updated every other year. Some of the different examples for where we might see this would include parent-teacher conferences. I know that that's a real um high user for interpretation services, but it may also uh trickle into report cards, the school calendar, extracurricular opportunities, some important announcements such as what's on the lunch menu, transportation, and uh registration. And that's just a quick list. There are, of course, many many more. All of these could be either interpretation or translation depending upon what the family's need is and some of the parameters that we have in place. You might be wondering, how is it that we actually know who this might apply to? And so, it goes right into the enrollment process. And in the enrollment forms, uh families and perhaps students will be identifying whether or not they require or would prefer to have in information sent to them in their home language. If that's the case, it is going to be recorded into our student information system, and on the right-hand side, I show you what that might look like in Synergy when someone sees that. In this particular student's example, um the home language is Mong, and they also prefer the language and information home to be in Mong. I should note that you'll as you'll see in a little bit, they may have a home language that is, say, Mong, but they may prefer their information in English. So, the first one isn't an automatic that we would be providing these services. Staff [clears throat] members then receive notification, and this will be on the district website, where the interpreter uh request form. These are spoken or ASL interpretations. And it might be in person with one of our liaisons or one of the outside contractors, or it could be via phone or web service with Language Lines, one of our um vendors for this. For written translations, that's a little bit different. Uh we have access, like every public school in the state of Minnesota, to Transact. Transact forms um are commonly for federal and some of the other state boilerplate um forms, and they are automatically >> [clears throat] >> available in up to 25 different languages. School districts have the opportunity to put their masthead on these forms, and then utilize them that way. We have website translation. The screenshot [clears throat] that you see there is from our own website, and if you look in the lower right-hand corner, maybe even squint, you'll see that there are four languages, including English, that our website can be translated into and toggled into from that spot. Finalsite messages, that's the the text alerts that families might get or emails, those can go into up to 25 different languages. But that doesn't cover everything, and so we do have a process. It might be something like Winning Club, which is the the after-school additional support that we have in place. We work with with Principal Lavigne on getting those those forms translated. We have our e-learning boards also translated into the top three languages in the district, and then it's really on a case-by-case basis. We try to make sure that these are forms or pieces of information that are going to be in widespread usage, or that they will be lasting for a longer time. In some cases, rather than translating the form, we will connect and have an interpreter walk the families through. Again, this is on a case-by-case basis, depending upon the family's needs. You might be wondering how widespread this is. On the left-hand side, what I've done is listed from I think this is the 23-24 school year, Minnesota's top 12 home languages. And you can see that Spanish, Somali, and Hmong are far away the top three. That's also the case for us. Spanish is first, uh Hmong is second, and then uh Somali. And then it works its way around um down the list. On the right-hand side, again, it's not so easy to see, but it's a snapshot of the most spoken languages by city. Most of the time when we have people moving around, they tend not to move very far. And if you look at some of these, you'll find out that they are the same languages that you see on the list. Uh um the Minnesota list. So, if you're wondering, what does that mean for Forest Lake? Currently, we have 611 students who are coming from homes where they are speaking 47 languages other than English as their home language. Now, I referenced before, they might have a home language and yet they're still okay with uh receiving information in English. Of those, 282 students, now, note that's 282 students, not 282 families, um come from homes requesting information, and those are in 25 different languages. Again, most of them are in Spanish, Hmong, or Somali. Do you have any questions? All right. Thank you. Remember, Castle. Um do we have a reach out for volunteers to help these folks? Um >> do we just have contracting? We So, sometimes if we don't have um an available contractor or if it's an a language that's rare, we have in the past reached out to organizations um affiliated with the culture or the language and they have sent um somebody to help out. Um but we haven't reached out, no. So, I'm more interested in community reach out so that families that are in have had help can help the next, you know, the pay it forward type of thing. Most of those uh communities are connected, but we could make a concerted effort to put that out there. And the cultural liaisons are good resources for those connections in the community. Yes, definitely. And if I understand this correctly, too, this is work that we've done for several years. We just we're now formalizing it to As I read the plan, I I got the feeling that this is nothing new for us. This is just a uh statutory requirement that we write it down, we present the plan, and the board approve it. Uh because this this looks pretty uh pretty well prepared. And uh Thank you. >> been vetted out well and uh um And I'm glad that you mentioned that because I neglected to say that in the beginning is that we have been providing this service for several years. And we want to we want to help kids succeed, want to help families succeed, and this is just another way to connect them to the school system. So, um I think this just gives us an opportunity to formally review it every couple of years and just make sure we're on the right path. Yes. Remember Addison? Um So, speaking to what member Castle was asking about, is there any kind of laws around having to have like must have somebody interpreting because that's what they do for a job as opposed to, you know, friends and family helping out because there was liability things in the healthcare field. So, I don't know if that's the same here and So, it's recommended that um they're trained interpreters um and the ones who we use are all um from services, yes, who are trained um observe interpreters and our translations go out to one of our vendors is a a trained one is a trained group as well. Okay. And do we have any people working in our district specific like employed I mean, not just contracting, but employed within our district that do these translation services? Um there's not an identified position, but sometimes we have uh worked with staff members um who have these skills to assist. Okay. Yes. Okay. Um and I should also mention that um the cost incurred is not coming from general fund. It's from either achievement and integration or special ed. Oh, okay. Thank you. Thank you. Member Tyson. So, Mr. Ward, can you refresh my memory how long Transact has been around? Um It's been a long time? I've known about it for a dozen years. Yeah, and it's always been free. Yes. A free service. And we find that it's been utilized very well in our district, correct? >> Yeah, especially for rare forms. Oh. Sometimes um like for instance, they have a standard attendance letter, but working with principals, they wanted to and their counselors, they wanted to have a more prescriptive one. Okay. So in that case, we would have translated it through um our vendor. Got you. And how many I mean, we are a little bit bare-boned with our cultural liaisons. Can you refresh my memory how many we have besides Iliana Hilberg? Uh yeah, we have Itel Hersey Okay. um who works with East African families. Okay. Um and the in terms, we did have as I presented earlier uh a couple of meetings ago, Theo Marcel worked with the American Indian families, but he has since gone on leave, so we do not have um somebody in that position, but we're we're really down to Iliana and Itel who are uh a part of our work. Yeah, and so that they're spread very thin. Do we still have the Mong um interpreter that did the swimming lessons and could help them Long Yang? Yeah. Um he will do by uh on an as-needed basis with um interpretations. Yes. Okay, and so could we use more resources in that [clears throat] area or Um this is a growing group. Uh they are It's It's a growing um need um just with the number of EL families that we have. Yes. >> that's what I've been hearing for maybe the last 3 years or longer. So >> [clears throat] >> Yes. Okay, thank you. Member Castle. >> to expand on member Antonson's uh query. Um are there opportunities for certifying It's It's any of these. >> current staff as as trained translators. Um there was actually in one of the networks that I'm a part of, there was a discussion about different um training opportunities and they happen sporadically, but we can certainly look at that and offer that, encourage that. Thank you. Number four, correct? I just want to thank you for this great um plan and um it's it's a lot clearer to have all this information and and I know it's a growing need as I mean I can imagine the numbers has increased every year. Yes. >> Um and it's not going to go it's going to keep growing and we want to first see in our district. So this is a great thing for our students and for our our parents to be able to have these interpreters and and help help navigate through how things work here in our district. So thank you for all your hard work and um yeah it was really good to read through it and kind of get a feel for it. So I do appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Yeah, thank you Dr. Ward. Thank you. And this is our first reading this evening, so no action. Uh brings us to 9.2, the first reading of student attendance policy number 519. Dr. Massey. This is also a first reading, so I'm presenting to you some work from the policy committee with respect to this this policy. Uh the the changes are highlighted in yellow. You'll see most of the changes are uh related to uh updating language around making up work when kids are absent, whether it's excused or unexcused, um which I think is some really nice additions to this policy. We know that there are a lot of things that come into play regarding student attendance and we should should not be in the business of punishing if you will or kids for attendance issues. Now, learning is learning and we want kids to have access to learning whether they have an unexcused or excused absence. So, this policy does a nice job of updating that. Um and then there are updates in this policy as well regarding participation in after school activities based on absences um based on attendance and absences on the day of competition. You'll see that on page seven. Uh and then there's some uh county reporting provisions and some updates there. So, please take a look at this between now and uh the end of this month when we will bring it for your approval. All right, thank you, Dr. Massey. Um 903 first reading fund balances policy uh 1714, Dr. Massey. Yeah, this is um a policy being recommended by our auditors. It's kind of been a long time in coming. We've had some different conversations on this policy and we more recently in the finance committee spent a lot of time talking through this policy. Um it's um I think going to provide a a nice framework and structure for the district as we build budgets and communicate with the board and the public with respect to um overall reserved and unreserved fund balance. So, there's a lot going on in this policy. This would be a new policy. And I would ask that you spend some time reviewing the policy and this would be a first reading. I think it um might be a wise idea to use the mid-month meeting to workshop this policy a little bit. Uh rather than pushing it to the policy committee, I think it's best discussed here and any modification to the finance committee is spent a lot of time on this policy. And then uh the subsequent meeting the end of the the June meeting in May would be an opportunity for you. Right. Thank you, Dr. Mack. And member Quirk, [clears throat] you know >> Oh, can I request um I know the finance committee we had an original version of this. Is there a chance that I could get that and sort of compare the difference between the changes that were made on this one from the original policy? From what? Yeah, yeah. >> From the finance committee. I just want to kind of see what differences um I have some questions about um uh percentages and changes in some of the wording, so I just wanted to do a comparison. >> The percentages are the same. The only the only change as I look at this is the section 10, the remediation change was was retained. One of the other suggestions uh I had made was that we have monthly reports and that change did not get carried forward. Um I believe we had the original finance one sent to our email, but I'm sure we can retrieve that. >> sending that back out? >> make sure that that gets in your inbox. >> Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to compare. I have one question to clarify. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Under uh remediation, who was it you, board chair, that added the language in the red? I made that suggestion, yes. Okay, so it's a suggestion to be discussed. Yeah, as with anything with a new proposed policy, of course. So, I don't know if we want to discuss it at a later point, but um I think I shared with you that I didn't feel like it belonged here. Um I'm in agreement that you can change school board pay to a dollar, but there's going to be a drop in a bucket if you get to that point where you need remediation, and I think that ahead of that, you should be listening to your business director. We see the numbers at all of our committee meetings. If your district gets in a rear arrears, the school board pay is going to be like nothing. So, we need to be ahead of it. We need to be thinking what levy options we have if we get to that point. We need to be thinking of other things. So, I and I also think that this should be in the 100s in in our policy, not in this. I just don't think it belongs there. So. I think it's a great topic. Great topic to discuss when we workshop this. Uh Yeah. And uh Well, and I don't take the liberty of adding language to policy. So, sometimes I'm confused when you do that. >> This This came out of a public demand basically due to the uh uh fund balance at the time I took office being roughly 1/2 of 1%. So, public demand, what does that mean? Can you clarify that, please? Um as I stated in my very first meeting as a board member when I made a motion to amend that the board paid a $1 per annual um to to meet the statutory minimum. In In my opinion and the opinion of a lot of uh members of the public, if the school board isn't financially responsible, it's a direct failure of the board to correctly govern. And on that remediation point of it there, eliminating essentially eliminating uh board member pay and stipends is just a reflection and an acknowledgement that the board has failed their fiscal responsibilities. And so, I look at it a different way that, you know, the legislation passed that we could do our own renewal based on what the voters have approved for X amount of years already. And I believe that some people at this table, including you, didn't want to do that. That's correct. I wanted to ask the voters to uh make that decision on their tax uh basis instead. So, that's kind of confusing to me and I think to our community that you know, we think a drop in the bucket, taking away. I mean, you can have it, really. The nominal school board pay without having the foresight to think about levy options and doing new things that the legislation approves to give us local control because nobody knows our finances better than us. We see them all the time. Um and we hear from our business director and our um directors that work on our finances. So, we just have a kind of opposing views here. No, I I No, actually I think we agree. And I wasn't part of the decision-making process when we allowed our general fund unrestricted budget or balance to get down to 0.4, 0.5%. That's the fund balance I inherited um when I came onto the board. So, I would agree with you the board members should know that best and I don't know what decisions specifically were led to put us into a a state of potential financial ruin. So, um I think we agree on this topic. We just maybe disagree about some of the language in this policy proposal. So, yeah. And I I think that, you know, many things can lead to that and it was a long 12-year road when we couldn't pass a levy for 12 years. So, we know what it's like to really be going down that path. And we have been on this upward trajectory. So, I just think kind of you're looking at it in the past and >> that's a that's a community decision though. There are a number of communities that don't have school district levies at all and they find ways to responsibly fund their districts and that's something that the board needs to be cognizant of. This sometimes it's funding, sometimes it's spending. Yeah, and I think we've been fully cognizant of that. So, anyway, to be continued but I disagree and you could pass it to me and I could add some language as well. And we'll have that opportunity when we workshop it. Sounds good. Thank you. All right. Any other discussion? If not, we'll review upcoming calendar dates. We've kind of gone through this a couple of times here but we have another board meeting on the 21st and then the June 4th meeting has been rescheduled to the 28th. Um, number of events between now and then, um, check the bottom of the agenda here for specifics. And with that I would entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. Motion and a second, any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed? All right, we are adjourned.