and indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Uh, member clerk, will you please take the roll call of attendance? Sure. Okay, member Antonsen is here. Member Castle? Here. Member Christensen? Here. Member Tyson? Here. Member Reveline? >> Here. And member Corcoran? Here. And everybody's here. All right, with that I would entertain a motion to approve the agenda. So moved. Second. >> Motion and second, is there any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? Okay, the motion carries. That brings us to schedule been going very well. They recommended that we carry that forward. Um, we're also looking at pre-Labor Day start dates at 916, similar to what we've been looking at here. Uh, we also had a couple of uh policy modifications. We looked at budget assumptions for 2027, so very early in that process. And we did have [snorts] an approval of the um, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 70 contract. Uh, following that, we went into closed session to discuss um, other contracts that are currently in negotiation. And that concludes my report. Are there any questions on 916? All right, that will bring us to AMSD. Dr. Massey. Yeah, we've um, had quite a extensive update from the legislature at our AMSD meeting. In particular, topics related to special Got an extensive update from Morris Leatherman. They are um, a local Minnesota, but also nationally recognized research firm. They do a lot of surveying. Uh, and they just conducted a survey as we're heading into the midterm elections. So, data related to party affiliation, party leanings on different topics. Uh, even topics related to school funding and perceptions around school funding within the Minnesota and local communities. So, good updates from AMSD or from AMSD. Thank you, Dr. Massey. Um, we will now cover our committees. We'll start with buildings and grounds. Our director, Ember Gaddy. Thank you. Uh, in buildings and grounds tonight, we did a quick overview of the two summer projects that we'll be having going on this summer. One at the elementary, they're being all prepared for that, presented at the staff meeting with all the drawings and everything, so all the staff understand uh, what will be happening this summer and which rooms need to be cleaned out. Uh, maintenance building, again, putting a new roof on that and a little bit of furnace work over there. Um, so that'll be coming in front of the board here uh, next meeting to go out to bid for that. And then, we talked about three requests that was brought up last uh, meeting by Mark from the Hockey Association about some outdoor ice. Um, so based on that conversation, we had talked about that in buildings and grounds. It's a conversation that's been ongoing actually for several years. And so, we're just working with the Hockey Association. There are a lot of different um, hurdles that we have to overcome to get outdoor ice. Um, the first one is just a genuine land survey um, that we've asked the Hockey Association to do to figure out uh, what would be structurally the runoff of the water if we did a rink or what we would need to do to fill in to create a level enough to create the rink. Um, we do have storm water uh, ponds that we have and they have certain capacities. So, we want to make sure that those ponds have enough capacity for not only our future projects, but also if we were to allow the rink that it wouldn't take it up, that we would have to expand the rink when we had a future uh, project in need at the ice arena. Uh, also liability would be a huge thing that we've talked a lot about. Um, if there's outdoor ice, what would we be able to do uh, if somebody came over even off hours and you know, something happened at that um, time. Resurfacing, electricity and bathrooms, that's a big deal with the outdoor ice. Um, and then also rental revenue. So, again, looking at the ice arena, um, if that takes away from our indoor ice that we're trying to rent and make sure that we're able to sustain that ice arena, um, you know, with the ice time that we have. And then, we're also working with the city on that recreational audit that I brought up um, in my last report. And we just want to make sure that part of that's going to be about outdoor ice. So, getting the information back on what that would be. So, again, um, we've worked with the Hockey Association in the past and the district uh, is again willing to work through the project. And that's kind of the things that we talk about as we go through that and that they'll continue to work on. So, um, just in response to your question on that. Uh, if you get anybody that has questions, please feel free to refer them to me. It's me. So, mock OSHA inspections were completed um, at the high school. So, something that we hadn't done for a couple years, but got back in. It's a self-audit process where uh, IEA, which is our consultant, comes in and does that mock OSHA inspection. They were able to go through. We did really well on it. They're always going to find some things that we can improve on. And so, even if it's a paper cutter with a a little safety thing on it. Um, so we just want to make sure that again, we've seen OSHA come through some neighboring districts from the south and they're kind of working their way north. So, we know we're in that next ring of possibilities. So, making sure that our schools uh, would perform well on that OSHA inspection. Other than that, lead and water testing is going on. Uh, also radon testing. And then, we just finished up the fence at the Schumacher field. So, that has been replaced. It was a board fence. Now, we have uh, the chain link fence. Uh, also talking about this spring and the tree replacements. So, you may remember that we had um, pine um, the pine bark beetles that infested the trees. So, we had to cut down about 100 trees over at the back Schumacher. Um, and so, getting those replanted and making sure that we're able to do that. So, that's kind of our projects that we're working on. Any questions or adds to the No. Yeah, but just one question. So, as more information becomes available to you around this outdoor hockey rink, like size and scope of the project, cost, if we even get to that point, you'll be bringing that to us, right? >> Yep, we'll go through the buildings and grounds committee and then we'll report it out like I am tonight. Perfect. And you So, you don't know if that'll take up what part of that land or we don't know any of those Correct. Yep, part of it. We know that there's a huge need for parking is the other part of that and that's part of what the parcel Yes, part of what we hope to use the parcel for. lot. And so, we just need to make sure again what's the future of that space and then what would be put in place. So, that was the biggest thing when we looked at the south side of the rink to do the outdoor space. The biggest hurdle was also the fact that if we did make that space a parking lot, we would have to remove any of the footings that they had for those boards. And so, you don't want to put money into something that just a couple years later could get destroyed for a parking lot. Yeah, and number one for me for many years it's been the parking over there. I hear that. I live in that neighborhood. I hear about it from pickleball when there's big events, there's no parking but pickleball. So, it's kind of a year-round issue that's been bubbling up for a while. So, thank you for keeping us informed about that. All right, thank you. Any other questions on buildings and grounds? Did you say this survey it's going it's Do you have a date when it's happening or a date time frame when it's happening? I can't remember. >> Which? The >> Oh, um the consulting. Um yep, that'll be done in April with the city. >> Okay. Okay, yeah, thank you. Okay. All right, do you want to pivot to finance? >> [laughter] >> So, uh finance tonight Jackie Eagle from LB Carlson, our auditing firm, came each February. Her and I sit down and we review the revenue. It's just a double-check and so, we know that school districts sometimes can get numbers wrong. So, it's great to have a double-check by somebody that comes in who's neutral. She doesn't provide any guidance, she's just looking at the numbers and telling us that we're checking off what we need to be looking at for all the legislative changes and everything. With that, we increased enrollment by about 50 students. So, I know we've been reporting throughout the year great enrollment and so, feeling very confident in the 50. It might be a little bit more than that, which would be great, but we're always going to be especially when it's a big part of our revenue on the conservative side to make sure that we meet that revenue projection. The other area that we saw a hugely in that increase in revenue was special education. So, we had special education both on We had a proration at the time that we closed the audit. So, 2% was taken away. So, we didn't put it in the books because we didn't know if that was going to be funded at whole. It just last month was funded at whole. So, 2% of the revenue there and also we had a change in our tuition billing. So, our tuition billing amount actually went down, which is I know I love that look. Yes, it's very odd. And so, Jackie and I spent a lot of time digging into that because it doesn't happen very often at all. So, looking at that though, reviewed with the committee tonight the four areas that our expenditures went down and then about five areas that went up. So, we have those districts Kelly Wilson, our director, is looking into what caused those areas just to confirm that it's accurate because we also need to in FY27 create that budget and make sure we're as accurate as possible. So, when you see increases of 200, 400,000 dollars year to year and then all of a sudden you have a decrease of 300,000 dollars, then you're saying, "Okay, wait, how am I supposed to budget this?" cuz that's a big swing. So, we spend a lot of time on that. After that, we went on to the fund balance policies. So, that's timeline wise something that we've been talking about for years. And so, finally we're going to get this box checked this year. And so, finance in April is going to be reviewing policies from surrounding districts. We did review the MSBA model policy tonight to just get us grounded in that work. We're going to review other districts next month and talk about what the structure would look like. There's a signed assigning fund balances as an option then also what percentage that is. We're hoping at the May 1st board that the board itself will talk about what percentages they would be comfortable with. It is your policy. So, then we'd bring it to the May policy committee meeting so that in June we can do the two meetings in June to get it adopted. So, that's the timeline for fund balance that we'd like to do. And then we did also at the end just look at our FY26 budget status. Our percent spent year to date looking very good. We'll have that budget adjustment coming in with this increased revenue that we got during that revenue process and then enrollment again looking at that and justifying how we increased it. Any questions or additions that I missed? Excellent reports. Excellent reports. Thank you. Thank [clears throat] you. All right, that brings us to communications and family and student engagement. Director McKinnon. Uh thanks. So, at communications today we talked about print media. We have kind of a rotating [clears throat] lineup of things we talk about each month and today was print media. We don't do a whole lot of print items because it's so easy for us to communicate with our families via email or website or social media and it's also free. So, we do a lot of it that way, but we do There are There is a time and a place for print and so, this particular newsletter um is a once annual publication and it got mailed this past fall, normally in the summer, but we got a little delayed on it. It was a There was a redesign and that's what caused the delay. Um and there will be another one coming out this summer this next summer. This is just a general brochure that we have for the district. Those of you who are joining us at the expo, can't remember exactly which expo it is, but next Saturday we'll be able to We'll bring brochures like this for our district for those families we interact with. Um and we discussed if there was a way to get something out to our entire district. So, this newsletter goes to the entire district all residents, not just our families, and whether there was a way to do some more with community ed catalog that is already being mailed to get more district information in that publication. So, we had some discussion on that. And that concludes my report, but before I leave, I need to tell you that we're having a bit of trouble with our live stream computer tonight and I would respectfully ask that maybe after committee you give me a 5-minute recess to reset reset the computer and start a new link. So, those who are watching listening at home will have to go back to the live stream page and click on a new link, but I'm afraid if I don't do that, we might lose picture. I will pose that question to the board once we get done with the committee reports. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, curriculum and instruction and equity. Director Jacobson. Thank you for letting me join you tonight. At the curriculum instruction and equity committee this evening Principal Jim Caldwell and our high school career and technical education coordinator Mike Myron joined us. We spent some time looking at shifts that are happening at the national level in career and technical education in part around the guidance that they have on crew the the the uniform career wheels. We have We looked at our old wheel. We took a look at the new wheel that we are aligning ourselves with. Spent some time diving into our registration guide and looking at the courses that we currently have that align with the new career wheel. Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Myron took us through a little bit of a history and how we are right where we are currently with the courses that we have, the grant writing that has happened over the past couple of years to bring in more than a 1.3 million dollars to lift new courses up and off the ground in a way that has minimal to no tax burden on the local taxpayer. And looking at upcoming grant opportunities that the team there is looking at to now with the new career wheel career wheel in place looking at our course offerings and to see whether there are any emerging holes or career fields or course where that we should be looking at to bring into our system. The committee had some really vibrant conversation around what we currently offer and how we've gotten here and that was the top of our of our conversation. Thank you, Director Jacobson. Any questions? Did you identify any the whole in places where it might need to shift over the next couple years when you compare these wheels Um no, that process is going to begin. So, the So, anytime you do that sort of work, you find that there might be new talent that you'll want to bring into your district in order to teach certain courses or new equipment or curricular needs, the time that's invested in doing that work can be pretty substantial. Certainly part of that will be engaging with local industry. Mhm. Um business owners and other experts and employers and professionals in our community to sit down around the table and we certainly want to make sure that we have the funds to do that work. [clears throat] Okay. Um so, we are in the process of We We submitted a grant to help do some of to pay for the the cost of doing this. We're waiting to hear on that. >> Oh, okay. One one way or the other, either way, remember Anton we will end up doing that work. Just depends to what scale and to what depth we can. Got you. Okay. Thanks. All right, thank you. Okay, that brings us to policy, Director Freeman. Good evening, board members. We did a lot of conversation in policy about one topic. So, we took on some changes to our attendance policy to more accurately reflect some of the practices that have developed over time. And that also, as anticipated, morphed into a conversation about what do we do as a system to address We all know that there are attendance issues amongst some of our students. And it's not just within the Forest Lake Area schools. I would say that that is a statewide, if not a national-wide phenomenon. So, is there are there things that we can do toward outreach toward families to help drive home the importance of students being there, even if the student him or herself is just fine for the moment. It's a mindset. It's a way of life. It is an expectation. But then there's also some realities for other students, as well as for for staff members. So, we're actually going to continue this conversation next month, so you shall not be seeing a first draft of a policy coming in a couple of weeks. So, that's what I got for you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, staff welfare, Director Massey. All right, Director Massey. We had kind of a robust conversation around enrollment. Director Ramberg ID gave a little bit of an update there, so I won't spend too much time on that. And we spent the bulk of our time talking through our budget development process. And the work that we're doing, making adjustments based on revenue projections for the district. With enrollment being steady and increases in per pupil funding, we're still short on 40% of our budget in terms of revenue increases. So, we need to make right-sizing adjustments. We talked about those. But then we spent a lot of time examining class sizes as we build elementary staffing across the district. Work that we are steeped in as an administrative team currently. We looked at staffing at the middle school and the high school. And I'm really pleased to share with the board that the work we went through by eliminating one of our elementary schools, re-boundary our elementary attendance boundaries in an effort to create balanced enrollment across our elementary schools is paying dividends. We anticipate staffing our elementary schools more efficiently, resulting in fewer FTEs at the elementary without a noticeable impact on class size. So, creating that that budget tool and lever within our efforts to balance the budget and being able to do that with really FTE, the largest component that impacts the budget, in a way that does not impact class sizes. So, we spent a lot of time examining that. There's a lot of moving parts there. And then with the little bit of time that we had remaining, we took a look at some waning student enrollment in some high school courses and had some conversation there. I'll provide the board an update on some of those in the weeks to come. And then just in the couple of minutes we had left, we examined and had some conversation around parent communication with with respect to some struggles that kids have or identity issues that kids have in in schools. So, more conversation to be had on that topic. All right. Thank you, Director Massey. Any questions? All right. Seeing none, if it pleases the board, I think we would uh accommodate Director ID's request and recess for 5 minutes. I see no objection. We are in recess for 5 minutes. Okay.