at an attempt for closure for all of us. And it was the most heartbreaking thing I've been to at a school. Everyone was crying. It was not a joyful sendoff. It was not a celebration. It was grief. Um, a room full of people trying to make sense of something that didn't make sense, that was unfair and avoidable. No teacher should have to say goodbye that way and no child should have to carry that loss throughout the year, especially during a time of so much uncertainty in our community and state. And that is especially true at Lake Elmo right now with our Spanish immersion program. For students, this has been confusing and painful. They didn't just lose their teacher, they lost a trusted adult who made them feel safe and seen every day. And this has happened in the middle of a challenging year. they are in a mixed four or five grade classroom that is not going well. Um, and these children now are being asked to finish the year without stability of their teacher. Um, I'm also concerned about the support we offer to our immigrant teachers. Native teachers are essential to immersion programs. They provide authentic language, cultural context, and consistency, and they model how the language should truly be spoken, which is critical for developing fluency and confidence. Without them, immersion loses its integrity and becomes closer to language instruction rather than true immersion. What makes this even more difficult is that this situation appears to be have been preventable. How did it happen without any intervention without without a plan that put our students first? We are asking for answers and accountability. And we need transparency from district administration about what happened in this situation and assurances that no other immigrant teachers will experience this and our students won't either. I think we need to have more leadership that's grounded in responsibility and compassion. I understand there's tight budgets and competing pressures, but we cannot lose sight of what really matters and the heart of this work, our students and teachers and their families. When the when that focus is lost, the consequences are real and felt most by our children. Our children deserve stability, which they no longer have losing their teacher. Our teachers deserve support, which I don't feel was shown to this particular teacher. And our amigos community deserves better. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Tim Morton. >> Welcome. >> And Director Hawker will cue you with the time cards. >> All right. So, all right. My name is Tim Morton. Um, I have a student in kindergarten in the Amigos program. So, I am very new to being a student or a father or parent of a student, let alone in this district. The alarming information that came through regarding the the immigration status of the teacher and who is no longer with us, is extremely concerning. I want to know details that are available to the public. What failures took place? What could have happened to prevent those failures? Is this attorney still on retainer by the district? And if this was a male feance or a male practice issue, what compensation is the district looking at because of the horrors that it's been causing to our classes? Um, I want to know what other staff I is if they're under guidance of this attorney. I don't need names. I don't want names. I want to make sure that the processes are in place to protect them. As Allison stated, natural native speakers are critical to this immersion program. I want to make sure that we're doing everything as a district to make sure that we're maintaining that integrity. That said, because I am a new parent into the district, um I have I have some concerns. This year, we've gone to a combined fourth and fifth grade class. Seems awfully antiquated. Now, we've lost a teacher in those classes. What are we doing to maintain the consistency of the program and building the program for longevity outside of the direct impact that the teacher situation has had? Um, you know, I see emails coming through about um long-established protocols of of different on-site occurrences. We are not in a scenario where this is a longestablished process in our neighborhood. We are having immigration agents close to schools. We've had other schools in South Washington County have to go into a lockdown or a hold situation because of the closeness of immigration agents. What are we doing to protect these families and these kids when they are off school property? There's not a single person in this room that can't attribute where they are today to a positive impact a teacher or an educator has had on their lives. I want to make sure that we are in a district and a school program that does and will do instead of would have, could have, should have for those kids and those families. What are we doing to protect those families? What resources can we establish and build upon to make sure that these families are protected? That's all I've got. I've got more, but I'm I don't have enough time. >> Thank you very much for coming tonight. We appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, our next speaker is um Fioral Fiorella, I'm sorry. Uh Kaiser, welcome. [snorts] >> Hello, my name is Piera Kaiser. I have two kids in the immersion program at Lake Elmo. Um, English is my second language and I wouldn't be here without the help of the of public resources or you know education resources. Um, I came in 2023 and uh I went through a medical assistant program uh became an RN and have been giving back to the community as a trauma ICU RN and now I'm helping cancer care patients. Um, and I was uh in an immersion program in Peru and learned English that way. So, I'm speaking in behalf of the kids that are coming here with a dream. Um, and also speaking in behalf of all the kids in Lake Amo Elementary, because education is a right and right now the kid there's kids that can't go to school, immigrant or non-immigrant. I just want to know what is the district doing to protect their education. I know that after 15 days they get dropped from the system. However, we have those kids have the right to education and documented or not if they are enrolled in the school system is their right to have education. So I just want to know what is the plan to continue um to continue teaching them? Is there uh I know that in high school and middle school schooly is an option but what is the the plan for elementary school? What are we doing to reach those families? I understand some of them won't answer the phone. So it you know it is hard to reach them but what are what what are you guys doing? I haven't heard any communication I haven't seen any communications of what of of um what is the district's plan. Um and again like our the last speaker said um we had a great experience. What are we doing to give back to this kids experiences as well? Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Our next speaker is Molly McCertie Yates. Hi Molly. Good evening. My name is Molly McCertie Yates and I'm here to speak on behalf of a remarkable person and teacher that taught the fourth and fifth graders at Lake Elmo Spanish immersion where my oldest daughter went. I'm going to um first introduce kind of a little bit about myself and then the concern and then also a call to action where this could this big problem could be solved. Um, we're I'm new to Still Water. We um started uh driving our children from St. Paul last year. I would drive two hours a day to get to Lake Elmo Spanish immersion because it came highly recommended. I myself am a 20 plus year uh veteran teacher in St. Paul public schools. My husband is a St. Paul firefighter and US Airman. Um so different families do come to Lake Spanish at Lake Elmo Spanish immersion. So, uh, we found great success, uh, with student learning and student outcomes with Lake Elmo. So, we decided to move. So, in October, we did move to Stillwater. Um, we've loved being here. Uh, the coaches, the neighbors, just people we meet are very welcoming and we're glad to be here after 25 years of being in St. Paul. Um, we fel feel our kids are safe here and the focus is student learning and student outcomes. Like I said, um on Tuesday, January 6, we did receive an email from the principal at uh Lake Elmo Spanish immersion that our uh fourth and fifth grade teacher had to head back to Spain mid year due to a filing error on his immigration application, an error that was later corrected by the attorneys. The teacher started working with staff, district employees, the teachers union and Senator Tina Smith's office to work at filing the immigration and hoping to appeal um appeal it and get it amended. After I received this email, I went into action and came up with the calling script and um letters to start sending our senator's office believing this would have an impact. I heard from many families in the community that called sent letters. They had their families call and sent letters. Um, I personally heard from Senator Amy Clolobacher's office, Senator Tina Smith's office, and Congresswoman Betty McCullum's office that they heard our community voices loud and clear, that this mattered to our community. Then we were waiting to hear back from immigration. Although I can't say this teacher's name um, in this forum, I want you to know that all the Congress people and the senators know exactly who we are talking about. That is what a big deal this is. I even got an email on Friday from Amy Clolobacher's case worker working on this. Please stop emailing, stop calling. We hear you. Okay. Um, we have raised since January 6 over $21,000. Students were making bracelets. Um, all of this happened in a short amount of time that because that is when we found this out even though the district knew since August on 115 like Allison said, we had a sendoff um that was [clears throat] amazing. uh teachers, staff, parents, neighbors, students. I have a lot to say, but and if you can submit your comments in writing to the board and if you have a thought you want to finish it, I'll go ahead and kind of wrap it all up. But >> I want to say that there is work to do and we need to get this teacher back with a visa and Stillwater Public Schools need to um sponsor him and bring him back from Thank you. >> Thank you very much for for COMING TONIGHT. THAT concludes our public comment. And with that, we'll call the meeting to order. Joan, roll call. >> Director Gusovich here. Director Hawker >> here. >> Director Kelzenberg >> here. >> Director Lowour >> here. >> Director Parker >> here. >> Director Theelander >> here. >> Chair Sherman >> here. You have a quorum. Great. Let's stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay. I'm looking for a motion to approve tonight's agenda. >> So moved. >> Great. Director with the motion. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Great. Director Hawker with a second. All those in favor of approving tonight's agenda, raise your hand and say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed. Agenda passes unanimously. And we are going to start with our student report today. And we have Aurora here. >> Hi everyone. [laughter] Um, pretty much new semester, so everyone's coming back ready. Even though it's freezing cold outside, I think it's kind of good to have that fresh new start, especially when no one had any tests or homework they had to come back to. Um, we have a snowball dance this Friday, so it's going to be super fun. It's in downtown Stillwater at the JX, so it's a really cool venue, and I think a lot of people are really excited for that. Um, we also have blast week coming up in the next couple weeks. um pretty much a lot of guest speakers coming in um to the school and they talk about a variety of topics that are just just different like sharings of different things. Um and then sports are still in full swing. I think people are kind of starting their like second half of the year and I know boys basketball has had a lot of close games that they've came out with wins with and boys swim and dive has been doing pretty good too. So yeah, I don't have much today. So >> yeah, no, that's perfect. Thank you very much, Aurora. And we'll turn it over to Superintendent Funk for his report. >> Good evening. [snorts] [clears throat] >> As we heard from some of our community members tonight, these are turbulent times in our community and not only with what's happening in in some of our schools, but what's happening statewide with recent ice activities throughout Minnesota. As a school district, we do not promote one political view over another. Our responsibility is to provide a safe and supportive environment for students and to remain focused on teaching and learning to the Minnesota standards. I want to be clear, there has been no ice activity at any of our schools or on school property. However, recent events have affected students in different ways. Today, approximately 150 high school students left school early in protest of recent ICE related activities in the Twin Cities. School attendance procedures were consistently applied to all individuals who chose to participate. And I want to thank uh the high school administration and our district uh administrators for helping u make sure that our kids were uh um safe who were conducting this walk out. Now, if federal law enforcement were to come to one of our schools, the district is prepared. Staff are trained to follow established protocols, which include verifying credentials involving district administration and legal counsel and ensuring that any requests comply with applicable law. They do not get into our buildings unless they are cleared by the district administration. So they have to buzz in and they will wait outside until they they get cleared from the district administration. If they do not have the the proper credentials or judicial court order, they will be asked to leave and our expectation is they will leave. Our priority in all circumstances is student safety, privacy, and continuity of learning. Over the last few weeks, we've had students who did not come to school due to fear and anxiety related to immigration enforcement activity. For those students and families, we are providing academic flexibility, counseling, and other supports and direct outreach from our family engagement specialist. So the engagement specialists will actually go out and and work with our uh uh some of our social workers to the homes to uh ensure that uh the students are are receiving uh proper materials for education. Um we want our kids to feel safe, supported, and connected to school. No students have been dropped through the 15-day drop and we anticipate no students will be dropped through the 15-day drop. That's that is our uh due in large part to our outreach efforts. Some community members have asked whether the district will move to remote learning for all students. At this time, the district has no plans to do so. Our schools remain open, safe, and fully staffed, and in-person learning is essential for student engagement, access to services, and academic continuity. We will continue to work individually with families who have concerns. We plan to provide community updates weekly as we work through these challenging times. Last week, I had the opportunity to meet with the Amigos Unos teachers. I met with them uh for about 90 minutes. They shared concerns regarding program direction, resources, and plans for the future. And it was a very candid conversation. And I and I appreciate uh u what they had to offer. And we were able to share with them that uh you know, we are a year behind the the district purchase cycle for literacy, which was adopted this year. So, their their literacy materials will be uh um in hand at the start of the school year. But it it was a very uh good conversation and I told them I plan to follow up after they move into the new building next year. Um this week my superintendent and residence program has taken me to Lily Lake where I will be spending the week at Lily Lake Elementary. And that's my report for tonight. Thank you. >> Great. Does the board have any questions or comments for Superintendent Funk? >> Dr. Parker Parker, >> thank you. Uh, how are we addressing um our work with revising or reviewing our legal engagements or legal staff? >> Yeah. So, so in this particular case, the that uh some of our our people spokes people talked about tonight, the district in March of 2024 engaged with an immigration attorney um through anou that we had uh an agreement with with the [snorts] so we didn't use one of our normal attorneys for this because it was it was an engage it was an immigration issue. So, somebody who is experienced in immigration. So, that's the the route we took. Um, and as was stated, there was a clerical error um at uh at some point that was discovered this summer. Um, but we have been working with this uh attorney through HR uh for almost two years. >> Mask. And are there plans to put in a review of our plan for how we um onboard new legal adviserss or legal services or how we address this situation retroactively? Uh so the situation um was addressed through our human resources department with the attorney involved and uh I can have her provide details on that uh uh in the future, but the attorney came recommended to us because of their immigration experience. >> Director, >> I have a question about the 15day. You you addressed it and I've become aware of of it. If a kid drops out of school, we'll do everything we can for them. But if they don't come back within the 15 days, by law, they are dropped unless what? Can we uh it's that can we fix that? >> It's not coming back. It's are they receiving education? So, if we're able to provide um online materials or homework for the student and there's a back and forth between the school and the student, then for one day out of that 15, we do that. they they're retained in the district and the clock starts again. >> Okay, >> any other questions or comments? >> Great. Um, I appreciate the update and I know that our families appreciate that too. And I just want to thank um everyone in our school buildings who are working diligently to make sure our schools are safe and that our families and students are supported and um that the learning continues. So, thank you for that update and I'm glad to hear you'll be doing a weekly update, too. I think that the more information we can get out, the better. So, thank you very much, Superintendent Funk. Um, for my update tonight, I just wanted to give um a brief shout out to Aurora and also to our staff, uh, Carissa Rabbach, and Director Funk. Um, a few of us here at the board table were able to attend the Minnesota School Board leadership conference and we were invited there to present on the personal device uh policy and the implementation of of that. And so um Vivian and Aurora Vivian is another student not here tonight but she did a phenomenal job too joined our staff in presenting to a group of about 58 attendees. Um it was the most attended well attended um breakout session of that day. I don't I don't know about Friday but Thursday's breakouts. Um and I think that individual directors that were at the event were approached by other districts and very complimentary and complimentary of our students and of our staff and just of the community as a whole in coming together on something so um important and potentially impactful for our learners. Um, and so I wanted to acknowledge that because I was really proud to be there as a um, school board member to have such positivity. Um, and I just wanted to share with, you know, all the chaos and some of everything that's going on. Um, this was just such a great example of the community coming together with students, with staff, with administration, with the school board. Um, and it really is an approach that I think others are looking to within the state. Um, and so I just wanted to thank you and just a special shout out you guys. Aurora and Vivian were so articulate and so phenomenal and they just knocked it out of the ballpark. Um, of course we have staff that um, Principal Bach and Superintendent and Carissa who always do a good job and I just wanted to give a special shout out um to you and for your dad for driving you. [laughter] So thank you. So I'm I'm very appreciative. Uh I don't know if anyone else had anything to >> Yeah. jump into. Um so I got to attend. Um I was able to watch the whole presentation and I would say first of all the presentation was great. Um that's the second time I actually saw it. You guys get better every time. Good job. Um but having the students there was fantastic and hearing how this policy is impacting you guys on the ground. I learned stuff about how you're working on your homework instead of um on your phone. Like I I the peer pressure piece of looking at your friends on your phone just choosing to pull it out instead of working on your homework. Like that's a consequence that I wasn't expecting to um be remedied by this, but of course it would be. So um I so appreciate how the academic impact of this really you guys were highlighting that um and that it really became that much more evident to the whole room how great um a school without phones in it can be. So, I really appreciate you guys being brave enough to get up there and talk to all of us and share your stories very candidly. So, thank you so much. I was very impressed. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Anyone else or Yes, >> I'll just because I was there at the presentation as well. And yeah, I would just uh echo both director Hawkerts and uh Chair Sherman's um thoughts. You know, it just it was really well done. You know, this is my fourth uh schoolboard conference and having it see so well attended and you know, I think having attended so many different ones breakout sessions and then having Still Water being on the other side of it. We weren't observing and watching other school districts present on their best practices. we are able to be the ones demonstrating the best practice and then have the students help uh you know provide that insight is always just so well received and again well done Aurora and to Vivian um and appreciate you know district leadership and the staff and all the work that's been going on um you know throughout and it's continues to be a point of emphasis and I I know we learned a lot of why this matters and helping to bring the community along. So, you know, with everything that's happening and heaviness that's in the world today, it's just fun to have just a win >> that we can be proud of as ponies, um, and just to help shed some light on some good things that that are happening. So, so thank you for being a big part of that, Aurora. >> Thank you. Well done. [laughter] So, that was all I had. Um, and so we'll move on to to tonight's consent agenda. We have items A through F. Is there a motion to approve? >> Yes. >> Can I pull item D from that? >> Yes, we can. Is um Is there a second to pull item D? >> Okay, >> we had a second to pull item D. Um we'll address that after we then approve items A, B, C, E, and F. Is there a motion to approve items A, B, C, E, and F? >> I can move to approve. Great. Okay, we have the motion to approve and a second. >> Director Lowour and all those in favor of approving items A, B, C, E, and F, raise your hand and say I. >> I. >> I opposed. >> Did you? >> I got to abstain because uh the donations and treasures report. >> Okay. Um Okay. So, we'll abstain. Um and six pass. All right. And then we'll turn it over to you for item D. Uh yeah, I just had a question on the committee assignments. Um I noticed that there wasn't any assignments for the finance and ops committee. Um I think that's still in our policy. So I was just curious what our plan was for that. >> So when our last session we the study session we talked to staff and we decided I think the majority at least decided that we wanted to do the community finance group. So that is the committee that is starting right now. and then as an ad hoc basis we can meet with um basically any topic that was what was discussed. So staff did not have the bandwidth to do both. So there was majority support for that. >> Okay. And that's been dropped from our policy then >> that will I mean we haven't the policy is being updated now but we haven't been compliant. It's an older it's one of those older policies so we haven't really been compliant with it >> but that will be forthcoming. Thank you. >> Okay. Is there a motion to approve items D? >> So move. >> Great. Is there a second? >> I'll second. Okay. Director Hucker with a second. All those in favor of approving the school board member committee assignments, raise your hand and say I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> Nay. >> Great. Motion passes. Thank you. And we will move on to um under strategic direction C utilize systems and align resources in an efficient manner to support learning. We are going to have we have a special guest. We have um Marie and uh Ellers here to talk to us a little bit about Bonsale. Good evening. Um I'd like to introduce Jodi Zazba from Ellers. she is uh here tonight to give us a pre-sale report um up on our upcoming bond sale. Um again, this is the second half of our school building bonds um from over a year ago and then an upcoming sale also on our facility maintenance bonds. So again, the reports before you and she's going to highlight items from the pre-sale report. So >> there you go. >> Bri, good evening. So this is anformational report. There's no action required. The board authorized moving forward with this bond issue last July so that you could get the levies included in your pay 26 report since that levy will finance the first payments that were due that will be due in fiscal year 2627. So um when we prepared all the information last summer, we had a number of assumptions included in there. We've now refined those assumptions, have updated tax base information and all of those good things. So, just thought it would be good to kind of give you an update as we get ready for the upcoming bond sale. So, you'll see on the first page and someone is Joe magically controlling or am I magically or you're magically controlling? Okay. So, um the issue size is 90,335,000. So, that is made up of the remaining authority that the voters approved in your November of 2023 election. So, we issued 100 million of that to get you through projects at right about the time that we'll be issuing these bonds. So, that is when you're going to need money to finish up your remaining projects. So, the remaining authority is the 74 million roughly. And then we are issuing the next round of facilities maintenance bonds. As you know, you finance the projects that are included in your 10-year plan through two different sources of revenue. One is annual payroll levy and the other is the uh debt service levies and these uh the debt service I'm sorry the bonds um will finance the other component of it and generally we issue bonds to cover two years worth of projects in addition to those payo levies and we monitor the mix of those to make sure that we keep a nice level debt service tax rate and so that's what that was a strategy that we discussed with the board and that the board um liked you guys will remember a few years back. So that is what we're continuing to follow. Uh so again, financing the projects that were approved by your voters along with some of the projects included in the 10-year plan that you approved last summer. That's required to be approved every year every year by July 1. So that's been approved, submitted. The bonds have been approved by MDE. So you're all good to go from that perspective. We have the statutory authority listed. We have the call date listed. So, as you know, when we sell bonds, we set up a call date when you could prepay and take advantage of potential interest savings at that time, like you did when we issued the first portion of the school building bond authority. So, when we issued the $100 million, at the same time, we refinanced bonds that you had from 2015 and saved 3.5 million for your taxpayers. So, that was very exciting. Um, Marie will remember that day. Well, yes. So uh so we um we included that as part of the issue in 2024. The state credit enhancement is a program that is offered by our state free of charge. Um so we always recommend that you participate in that program because as you see on the next page then you um will get two ratings. One is the credit enhanced rating that is based upon our state of Minnesota rating which is a AAA and then Moody's assigns one notch lower to the uh district's bonds when they're issued under that state credit enhance program. You also have your underlying rating which is currently at an A1. And then um I'll just mention that we'll be seeking competitive bids again. We've been getting a lot of demand for the um bonds that we've been issuing so far in this calendar year which has been exciting to see. a little lower interest rates than we were seeing in 2025, which is also exciting. So, we're hoping that continues. Um, we'll likely get a premium on your bonds like we did previously, and I'll show you on the schedule what our estimates look like for that. And then on that last um section there on this page, we're constantly reviewing your existing debt for any refinancing opportunities. But that 2015 issue, of course, was the big one that we were watching for a while. and um and the timing couldn't have been better when we finally um pulled the trigger on that and did that along with your school building issue. So, we will certainly let you know if we have an opportunity um similar like that, even if it's a little bit smaller savings, we're continuing to watch that. So, page three is a number of regulatory items um continuing disclosure, arbitrage, uh investment of bond proceeds, and then you'll notice at the bottom of the page the other service providers we'll be working with on the bond issue. So, bond council is Kennedy and Graven. Your paying agent is bond trust services. And then the rating agency is Moody's. The next page is the schedule. So, again, the board already approved the um authorization for this bond issue back in July. We're presenting the pre-sale report tonight. We'll be scheduling a due diligence call to review the official statement, which is the prospectus that we send out to underwriters and investors. We'll have a conference with Moody's rating agency, and then we'll get the official statement sent out. We expect to receive the bids on the morning of your board meeting in February. So February 17th, we'll present the results that night and then we're scheduled to close on March 12th, just in time for Marie to write some more checks on the construction fund. So that timing is working out very well um according to the draw schedule that we have from Krauss Anderson. So we have a few attachments. You've seen these schedules from us before. So the sources and uses schedule shows us based upon the par amount how much we expect to deposit to your construction fund. That's at the very bottom of the schedule there. So uh um that is how uh we're just looking at the two components this time. Last time we had the refunding component as part of it. Also uh page six is what we're expecting the detailed debt service schedule to look like for both purposes of the bond issue combined. The next page is specific to just the school building bond or the 74,845,000 of remaining authority. The following page includes the debt schedule related to the facilities maintenance bond. This is a shorter schedule. Generally, these projects have a shorter um uh useful life. So, we do try to keep a shorter term on the facilities maintenance bond issue. Your school building bonds are 20 years and this is 13. Uh, next is our detailed schedule where we put all of the numbers together to make sure that we're maintaining that nice level tax rate. So, we have some updated assumptions now for interest rates. Growth in your tax base rebounded again this year, which was great to see, a little bit higher than we even expected. And um, so that is helpful as we fit everything in going forward. And then the final page then shows the uh debt ser estimated capital and debt service tax rates over the long run. So you'll starting with 2025 your rate went down a little bit for taxes payable in 2026. We're expecting to keep that nice and level with a couple of step downs in the future to provide you with some capacity for any needs at that point in time. So, it's all coming together even better than expected when the voters approved the projects back in fall of 2023. >> Bottom line, >> great. >> And we hope to be sharing good news with the results next month. >> Great. >> Okay. Any comments or questions? I always feel like when we talk about this, we always have to start by saying thank you to our voters um and taxpayers for supporting these amazing building projects. Um, but related to to this report, are there any questions? >> Thank you so much for coming tonight. We appreciate it. It was nice seeing you. >> Yes. Nice to see all of you. >> See you in a month. >> Yeah, see you in a month. >> And Marie, you're going to stick around >> for a report in a discussion on fiscal forecast. And Mark, you're coming up to you. Great. Okay. So, on to the fiscal forecast. Um, again, we're doing a threeyear forecast. And um before you here um are some of the influencing factors as putting together this forecast. Um we have the priority based budgeting framework. So again aligning that resources we have to our strategic plan. Um the enrollment changes again as we project enrollment. Um we're also looking at trends. um what's it looking like in the future with housing um those developments um going on all over the district. inflation, um our fiscal year-end projected expenditures, um what did that revenue fund balance look like? Taking into consideration, also contractual settlements, um what do our um our different contracts look like? and then legislative changes as the ones that um took place and settled, but also some upcoming ones that we have to consider. And then funding that's one time only or expires. We have um different grants um different uh pieces in our budget that you know are cyclical. They they kind of come on and they drop off at different times as well. So looking at enrollment um we put two different um scenarios up here. One is our budgeted enrollment which um is what drives the projections as far as our our forecast. And the budgeted enrollment is the current trends and uh what we have um based on enrolled uh students and the trends that we've been seeing um so far in the buildings and what we're projecting. The operational uh projections are more the housing developments uh what's going to be taking place in the future um and some of the other changes um that will be taking place. >> So yeah, I was going to >> I'm going to stop you stop you there. So [clears throat] you notice you didn't get this before today. Okay. That's because there's been some pretty significant internal discussions going on over which numbers we are going to use as far as developing our budget. Okay. So, we have the K12 budgeted the finance office and Marie's taking the numbers based upon historic trend over the last few years. Okay. But we also have Mark and that's why Mark is sitting up here today. Um, okay. Mark has been out working with Eric, working with local cities, um, identifying housing units that are going in and so we are making some assumptions there that these houses are being built, these kids are coming and so we've got two different numbers. Okay. And so some of the internal discussions were, do we split and take the average? Do we go with the low number? We go with the high number. And what we ended up doing was we thought we would show you both numbers. And then what you are going to see tonight is Marie's very conservative. She's building the budget off of her number. Okay. So, um, but I can also share with you, um, I think we've already had, we're already seeing, I believe, 24 open enrollles from nearby districts for kindergarten. um that aren't necessarily taken into account here. Um so you're going to see a very conservative number with a shortfall attached to it. Um >> and that's how we're building this initially. Um but we we figured because of the where our fund balance is at, we want to show you worst absolute case scenario u moving forward so that um if it does come to fruition, we're prepared for it. Any questions on that before we move on? >> Yes. >> Just so I understand. So you budget on the worst case, which is this top line here, >> but every extra student we get is really just that much better. Yes. For us, correct? Okay. Correct. >> So taking that into consideration, um you'll see what we currently have forecasted for revenue for next fiscal year and then we'll extrapolate into a couple more fiscal years. So, our state aid um we have in our current budget, revised budget, uh just shy of 75 million. Uh taking into uh consideration an increase projected at 2.7% um on that formula. Um you'll see 76.8 million, an increase of 1.9. And then um compensatory education, that one is a little tougher because there is a um legislative uh working group uh right now um working on recommendations uh for the formula. So we are going with uh what we know right now for projections and that's a decrease of just uh shy of a $100,000. uh special education. Again, there's a working group um out of the legislative session um uh working on some other changes to uh special education funding. However, uh we took what's in current law and again, you'll see about a $1.8 million increase. That's assuming some additional um revenue from our reimbursement. It's pri based on prior year expenditures. Um we did take into consideration the decrease in the transportation reimbursement that comes through uh for the special ed transportation. And then there is a little uh increase in the cross subsidy funding uh that goes to uh I believe 50%. there's a a formula in there. >> Can I can I ask a question on that? Sorry. And this is just kind of a discussion. So, if you have questions, but um with the special education, because I know there's like a a group also legislatively looking at cuts to special education. Yes. Is that >> factored into or because it's a delay in the way it's paid, is that future? >> Okay. >> Yes, that's a future. >> Okay. Thank you. I just wanted clarification. And then uh English learner um aid again um we saw just a little bit of an increase um that includes some additional cross subsidy revenue um some a change there. There was a formula change and um we just saw just a slight increase and then um our levy again that uh was just approved month or so ago. we saw a decrease there. Um our other postmployment benefits uh that's on a lagging revenue. Um that was a large component. Um and just some of our uh referendum funding too. There's kind of es and flows to some of those uh categorical uh revenue components. And then federal right now, as we know, we're leaving that level. Um once we get those awards sometime, um we'll we'll know more um based on those funds. And then other this is kind of your other category. This includes student activity funds, some of you know athletics, grants, interest. uh there was some slight changes for uh areas that we weren't going to receive. So about $400,000. So that changed just slightly. So overall um about $2.1 million uh increase uh projected for next year. And then uh looking at the excuse me the expenditure side um salaries uh you can see just shy of 76 million is in our revised budget projection there goes to 79.2 million. So an increase about 3.3 million. You can just see that that's assuming staffing levels. Uh currently um we we're assuming the same staffing levels. We know things will change, but we're just we're taking a picture as it is, you know, in the current budget. Um, assuming, you know, the negotiated agreements are what they are, steps and lanes were applicable, and our cost of living uh percentages are in there. And then the benefits, we we split out just a little bit more so you can kind of get a feel for the changes because there is a lot in that benefit category. Uh the bottom line in our budget for the benefits um are is $37.1 million in our current budget, but you can see that FICA and then our pension contributions that totals 12 million. Um but that would go up by about uh $700,000. And then our health and dental insurance um just based on what we're kind of we know um right now in in our projections that would increase from 17.6 million to 19.3 million on the employer side. So that's $1.7 million increase. And then um our paid family uh medical leave um the employer um share of that uh goes from 200,000 to 400,000 because we budgeted just a half a year for this current year. So, uh, that increases to 400,000. And then our other postemployment benefits, um, some of the ways, uh, that the district, uh, pays for that, that would increase by about 600,000. And then the other areas, worker comp, uh, life, uh, tax sheltered annuity, viva contributions, uh, those other benefit areas would increase, um, by about 600,000. So, you can see benefits is larger than salaries. There's some, you know, different things in there, uh, this upcoming year by about 3.8 million. And then our purchase services. Um again these are contracts. One of the larger is our transportation uh component of purchase services. Um but we also have lots of contracts different uh areas within like our long-term facility maintenance funding when we're doing contracts um to do our projects uh with our levy funding that payo funding that Jody mentioned. uh we do have a large component there. So we we did um also have uh utilities. We have our uh property and liability insurance that is not coming cheap. Um we are planning for um a large change there um just due to the nation uh what they're projecting uh there. So again about $800,000 difference overall for purchase services and then supplies, materials and other uh we had 12.6 million. Uh we are projecting that to decrease some because we had some one-time only purchases this past year. One of the larger ones was our uh curriculum that large readact purchase. So that that is we have inflation built in but we had a large um curriculum purchase and a large technology uh device purchase. So those are a couple things. So again you could see um we're about $7.6 million uh more in expenditures. Again this is the first um projection that we have for you. So um again this forecast um again extrapolated another couple years out um I'll just walk you through the column because that is a little bit of sticker shock here on the screen >> little bit >> just a little um and we just we're going to put the numbers up there because they are what they are um the first column again we have the balance budget from June and then uh the projection that I just showed you shows the 156 million in revenue. The 161.5 in expenditures shows that $5.5 million that we are projecting for a shortfall. If you then uh go to the fiscal year 2728 um column in doing additional projections and making assumptions uh for our revenue based on enrollment projections and additional assumptions. Our revenue um then looks to be uh 158.4 4 million with our expenditures increasing by about 7 million more um at 168.5 million. So then that uh shortfall if we do nothing and we don't reduce that 5.5 million then that shortfall would grow by an additional 4.6 million um to 10.1 million. So again, this is compounding over the years. Um it's not an additional 10.1 million. It's total is 10.1 million. And then um in fiscal year 29 um we then uh are projecting our revenue to be 161.4 million with expenditures at 175.7 million. and then compounding that um that shortfall uh over that three-year period um is 14.3. So that shortfall for that year um if we reduce the 5.5 million in fiscal 27, we reduce the um 4.6 million in fiscal year 28. Our shortfall in that third year would be 4.2 million if we do those things. The worst case scenario again um if we do nothing you see what's below you below in those uh areas there. >> So question for you. So your expenditures our expenditures in a three-year period are basically going up. What's the math here? 14 12 >> 30 million. >> Well, from 153 to 175. >> Okay. >> And I'm putting you on the spot here, but if you were to look back at the last three years, how much have they gone up? >> About they're growing some, but they're >> not like this. No. >> Okay. So, are you using about a 4% projection here? Somewhere around there. It depends on the category. I mean, the the salary and benefits are benefits is the highest. Um salaries aren't as much. Okay. >> Um and but certainly um >> you know, when you're growing about seven 7 million on the expenditure side and your your revenues basically in the twos to three millions. So this is no mitigation. >> No. >> Okay. >> No, no mitigation. >> And again, um, our enrollment, >> you're using your enrollment numbers. >> Yes. Using my enrollment numbers, >> which yes, are conservative. Yes. So, we'll take it few more steps here. Um, here's three of the most significant cost drivers that are again um putting pressure on this this forecast in the budget. Um, the employee salaries and benefits. I I think that doesn't come as a surprise um since it's the largest piece of our budget, but there's areas of that uh transportation and special education. Those are the larger um areas that we've seen uh large growth um in the past few years. Um overall areas that um we we're already doing um that we've mitigated some trying to mitigate some of the areas um in cost containment uh insurance contributions. Um last fall you know we put in a soft hiring freeze. you know, some of the there's critical positions, um other positions, we put in a hiring freeze, uh transportation efficiencies, uh high school strategic investments, recruitment and marketing efforts, and then employee negotiations. And superintendent, I don't know if you want to add any comments to that at all. Well, I I think the transportation efficiencies you're going to see, we're probably about a month away from rolling out our plan for next year. But the two parts um one, we're looking at a right now we're on a three- tier system. We're looking at potentially going to a two-tier and that's really due the efforts of Tom Wrizley who has um come in with years of experience and saying he thinks we can do it and with that we we see a slight reduction in routes and a significant reduction in time that the drivers are are looking at things. So that that's uh something we're studying. Um the other thing is um special education transportation. Um we have a number of routes that we run throughout the day that we we pay our contractor for. So it's the same amount we pay for a van that we do a bus. And so we're looking at we actually have purchased some vans um to do this inhouse so that we're maybe at half the cost of what we're paying the provider um which we can grow. Um high school strategic investments we've talked about um and and again that that's twofold. one um we're you know you look at purchase services look what we're paying out for PSO look what we're paying out for online learning um so we if we capture those back that helps reduce that that amount and we keep the students in house um recruitment and marketing um that is tied to the new buildings tied to the what we're doing um at the high school I met Chris and I met with our student advisory group a week or so ago and they were pumped up about marketing our new registration that we have coming out. Um, so that's going to be coming out here in the next next week and I think they're they're registering at the end of the month. Um, and then the really things the one thing that we have total control over not total control but we have mechanisms we have to work with our employees on is negotiations. Okay. So if we see a runaway rate train of benefits and and uh salary expenses going up and up and up. All right, we can try to work with our our units to say, okay, collectively together, um we have to do what's affordable, sustainable, and uh you know, along in line with the long-term stability of the district. >> Um on the previous [clears throat] slide, just to make sure I understand, so are these things not accounted for in any of the numbers and assumptions yet or The insurance contributions are um >> Okay. >> The transportation, the high school, some of those No, not yet. Okay. Yeah. >> Some of those we're yet to see. Some of those >> cost savings or investments. >> Okay. So again, as superintendent said, um our our district priority here um is student learning um again and aligning that with the long-term stability uh for this district. So again um the financial reality here really limits us uh with new ongoing commitments to and again it even for for employee negotiations itself. So again, uh cost savings the next three years. Um uh really incorporating that multi-year planning um so we know uh what's ahead of us and um aligning that uh with staffing models um to student enrollment. um the operational efficiencies, uh looking at special education efficiencies and um decisions that are phased to min minimize uh disruption and again that again is all aligning to student learning. some other uh revenue generating opportunities and um these are are different options again uh the local optional revenue and I know this is something that's coming on a presentation of ours is proposed legislation increasing that local optional revenue uh from 724 to 947 per pupil. And that would uh provide about $2 million more annually >> and that's board approved. So the board would have the ability to say we want to increase our local optional revenue um by that amount. >> How long again has that been since the state >> 2013 I believe. >> Yeah. >> I mean that is a long time since the state has updated that. And then a a voter approved levy again is another option that uh could generate an additional $448 uh per pupil and that's about $4 million annually. So next steps um >> could you go back? I'm sorry. Could you go back that one slide? So that okay for Thank you. So next steps um next month there'll be a work session um on our priority based budgeting uh focusing on that again the cost mitigation. This again uh was our initial projection um for the budget. um we'll be focusing on some of those areas, bringing you uh more information and uh those costs, those priorities and then March again uh diving deeper into those priorities with dollar amounts and and giving you um additional information before you and also um at that board meeting um including staffing adjustments. So the first meeting will be >> as necessary. >> The first meeting will be priorities with identified dollar amounts. The second meeting in March if we have to make any staff reductions >> and then April and May getting into that deeper dive um with priority based budgeting updates. Um so it kind of goes deeper and then uh the board meeting in June again is to uh recommend that approval of the [clears throat] budget and trying to get you again information uh before the June meeting on uh the details. And so that that concludes this evening's presentation. And it was to not to give that um it's kind of a depressing um but we wanted to give you as much information as we could on the projection. But again, these are initial enrollment projections and we'll we'll know more as um we go forward in the budget process. questions. Can >> I just ask one? >> It's an unfair question. All right. Um, you uh it's maybe right on the math. Uh, $448 if we did a levy, $448 per student. Can you ballpark an impact to a to a taxpayer to a household? >> I mean, we'll bring we'll bring that back in. Yeah, we'll bring that back in a couple weeks. >> I didn't know if that was just maybe something you had off the top of your head. >> Yeah, >> if if Jody were silly, >> I was like, >> she [laughter] could tell you. >> We'll get back to you. >> Any other questions? >> And and to clarify that 448 number that comes from maximum authority. We can't go higher than that number >> and our current authority. Yeah. Right. >> [clears throat] >> Great. >> So, obviously we will continue these discussions and um as we review these details, feel free to reach out to Superintendent Funk with questions and we'll continue to work through the process. Thank you, Marie, and thank you, Mark. >> Good job, Mark. >> All right. Um this is a little different tonight. Um we because we're in between on policy committees, uh we are doing the first read for our graduation policy with principal Bach. Um and so he's going to kind of walk us through um what is changing in his in this new policy maybe what just highlight some of the different the differences and maybe where we're were different than state standards or old policy that sort of thing. So thank you for coming. >> Absolutely. >> Um and after we have this first read, the committee will reconvene with kind of thoughts and feedback and then we'll bring it back for a second reading. So >> very good. Well, thanks for having me. Um here with Paul Lee. Paul's kind of the expert on policy and and policy revisions, but one of the policies um in our our list of all of board policies and district policies pertain specifically to graduation requirements. And so this is something that we called attention to specifically because with the change in schedule that's naturally going to u precipitate a change in graduation requirements. There's going to be a different number of credits. Um it's going to be a little bit [clears throat] um I don't want to say complicated but um there's a little bit of a sliding scale because for the next several years we're going to have different graduating classes of students who will have different periods of time on different schedules. So for the next four years each graduating class will have a slightly different number of graduation requirements. And so, um, what counselors, um, some other kind of key, um, team members and myself did was we took a look at the policy and just tried to figure out ways to streamline this for you language-wise, um, and make it the the simplest document that reflects all of the the changes that need to be in there. Two pieces, I guess, that I would just kind of call your attention to. Um, for the most part, um, most of the language in there is is fairly similar. Uh but as board chair Sherman said um you know it's been actually quite a while I think since this policy has been updated and so there was some language that was very out ofd. So some of that um we recommended just be deleted at this point. It's not relevant. It's not pertinent um or accurate um for what we currently have. But in terms of um some of the things that we need to revise and and some of the things that we need to change, there is a an article under um one of the sections specifically entitled graduation requirements where the gist of the article is designed to talk about school's responsibility with regard to college and career readiness and you know what kinds of steps are are taken there. Um and how does that tie into to graduation requirements? um little bit dicey and again I you know might have some questions on some of the the language with the way that it had appeared previously but we added um a I don't want to say a clause I'm not searching struggling for the right term but we added uh a piece on there just indicating that students in grades 11 and 12 who are identified as academically ready for a career or college shall be encouraged to enroll in courses and programs in high school that award college credit. As the board knows, that's been a concerted effort on our part at the high school to expand our college opportunities, our early college opportunities. So whether that be through a concurrent enrollment class, an advanced placement class, um PSO, college in the schools, any of a number of different things, those are all part of what students get through their experience at Stillwater Area High School. Whether that's sitting down with counselors, going through the registration process, um talking about four-year planning, all of the the kind of intentional pieces um that we've been talking about, starting with students in nth grade when they first come in, making sure that they are aware of all of those opportunities and then reinforcing that through the the four years. But that was the the language that kind of encapsulated that piece. Um the next section that I'd call your attention to is is section six and that's where it breaks down some of the specifics uh for graduation credit requirements. Um article A talks about eight credits of language arts that um remains intact, remains the same. Um article B um we had to revise the language a little bit to make sure um that it pertains explicitly to the the math requirements as they are currently. Um currently students are required to have six credits of math in order to graduate but there also is a layer of specificity in there. They do need geometry and they do need alge 2 as part of those um requirements. Um [clears throat] there um were some standard language in there that didn't necessarily correspond or align with um credit requirements. Um so we kind of moved those to a different section. Um we talked about six credits of science. Um, and we actually had to add a piece in there. And actually, I need to catch myself because I think that I may have made one slight language um, piece in here. So, um, I'll draw it to to Mr. Lee's attention here, but also to the board's attention. Um, science credits have also evolved since the last time this policy was in place. Six credits is correct. Students do still need biology. They do still need either chemistry or physics. That actually was a little bit different since the last time this policy was written. And then the other requirement is our new ninth grade science which actually is an integrated science class. And by integrated what integrated refers to is it means it has elements of earth science, life science and physical science. Previously we had used physical science as kind of the onboarding and that was the required course in ninth grade for students. Now we're doing integrated science and it has elements of all of these things and the one element that's new is that earth science piece that had not been a part of our curriculum previously in Still Water and because that part is so new a lot of times that's where I think our minds go and so we've been referring to things as earth science or integrated earth science the state um actually will not allow us to refer to the class as integrated earth science it's integrated science so I think I had that listed as integrated earth science but it should just state integrated science. Um, letter E, eight credits of social studies. That does not change. Um, letter F, two credits um, in the arts, that does not change. U, but then we also, um, we needed to add a couple of things because, as you know, um, I've been here presenting, one of the the main drivers and and the primary impetus for our schedule change is the need for students to to have more opportunities in their schedule in part because the number of requirements is increasing. One of those is personal finance. Um so we need to include the idea that personal finance needs to be taken. Um that starts with the graduating class of 2028. So that's not a requirement for um this year's graduating class. However, starting next year that will be the the case. Um one credit of nth grade seminar. That's also something that we talked about in conjunction with the new schedule. So, we've talked about um bringing students in and this is something that um we have talked a lot about both internally and externally um with groups here, but we had a team that sat down and wrote an entirely new course um that's designed to onboard students into the high school experience. Um it will obviously um include some of the organizational kinds of pieces, but there will be reading studies, studies around grit, um and just some of the um early college planning that um we want students to make sure is a part of their experience, but sometimes feels a little bit like an add-on when it's not included directly in a class. And so this is something that we've talked about bringing students in and making a required credit. So when students come in, they would either have nth grade seminar during first semester or second semester, but it's something that's designed to set them up for the rest of their high school experience. The one little caveat um that we did include with the nth grade seminar was we had some conversation. Um I'll give you one example, say to use last year um physical science as an example. Last year physical science is something that would have been required for nth grade students coming in. If we had a student say who transferred in in grade 10 or 11 or 12 and maybe physical science had not been a part of the curriculum where they had been that was something then that students if they didn't have it on their transcript and it was a required credit they were going to have to do that through credit recovery and you know it places incoming students potentially at a disadvantage to to have to to meet that. But that because that was part of our requirement that was kind of our standard operating procedure. We decided that although clearly we think the nth grade seminar course is an important course, um we decided we wanted to hold students harmless if they're transferring in as a senior and and nth grade seminar was not something that had been a part of their uh previous high school experience. That was not something where we wanted to sit down and and penalize them um and make them go back and and take something new. So, we added some language in there um some proposed language just saying that students who transfer to Stillwater High School after their ninth grade year are exempt from this requirement would be required to complete the total number of required credits to graduate. Um similarly to the the nth grade seminar course, um the one other kind of comparable piece that we had talked about was a senior capstone project. So we are looking for ways of trying to capitalize on what students have learned in the classroom and tangibly overtly asking them to translate that to things outside of the classroom. How do they begin to take their learning and translate that either to community service to an internship um to some form of postsecary to know that students have actively engaged in that post-secondary planning. So that's a a course that would be incorporated into their their senior year. That's something that would not uh be required, however, until the class of 2028. So, that would be um a year out. We don't want to hit our next year's seniors. Next year's graduating class is the class of 27. We don't want to sit them down right away and say, "Hey guys, we're going to have a new schedule." And by the way, you're going to have one more requirement to to do in order to graduate. So, we'll start that with next year's junior class. That gives them enough time to plan over the course of their junior year before that requirement would kick in as uh as they were seniors. Um outside of that the there's >> Can I ask a question about that? Sorry. Yes, please. So that's a one credit. Um [clears throat] is that done within an existing class they have or an advisory class? Do you know? >> No. The idea is is that that would be a separate class. So that would take up a space in their schedule similar to the the nth grade um schedule. And just to put that into context for you again, um, with our shift from a six period day to a seven period day, because we're on a semester schedule, that's two classes every year that are in addition. So over the course of four years, students will have eight more credit opportunities in high school. Yes, we're adding to requirements, but that still leaves room for six credit um, opportunities, six elective opportunities that that students have. Thank you. >> Any other questions on that? I should have paused for a little bit and asked for that. Sorry, I'm out of teaching mode. I'm rusty. >> Dr. Parker, >> one of the reasons why we were discussed adding the to the the to the seventh period day or whatever it was was that the state was adding more things. So, how do we factor that in with these two more additional classes that we're considering adding in here? Yeah, the state's been adding the the personal finance piece. Um, the state has considered and talked about other things in within the the realm of social studies. Um, not currently on the books, but again had discussion on that. And so our thought was we're going to need to to open that up. The number of students we have right now that take online health, online fieds simply because they don't have room in their schedule to do that. This now opens up the the opportunity for them to do that so that they don't have to take that online. So again, with two extra classes in their schedule every year, that's either a year-long course that they could take that they didn't take last year or two one semester electives that they could take every year. >> So So unlike excuse me, um personal finance is already added as a requirement. >> Personal F, it's added as a requirement, but again, it doesn't it doesn't kick in as a requirement until the graduating class of 2028. So actually technically that's next year's juniors. I think I misspoke earlier. I said next year's seniors, but technically it's next year's juniors. >> So, we have it on the books right now and basically the way the language is written from the state is that a student actually has to take that sometime in grades 10 through 12. So, technically a nth grade student's not eligible for that. So, we've started it on the books. A majority of our kids taking that class are in 10th grade this year and we'll go through. >> Yes. So, you know, going from six to seven credits, which means the credit now is less hours, but is it still an equal credit as far as graduation goes? >> Correct. >> It is. Okay. >> Um, so the capstone is that um is it designed to be sort of focused on career or college readiness or is it kind of broader than that? I mean, could it be like just community service or >> It's broader than that. Yes. And so some of the parameters still have yet to be written on that. Like I said, we knew that we were probably going to have a year to wait on that. So, but those are some of the philosophies that are going to go into that class. So the specifics of that class will be determined better probably over the course of this summer when the heads really have a chance to sit down and put pen to paper and then we'll come before you again in the fall to put that forward kind of as a a new course proposal similar to what we had done with the nth grade seminar. I was going to ask this question at the end, but you know, I was going to say how much is state regulated versus how much control we have, but that'll feed into my previous question is so does the state say you have to have a certain amount of hours per credit or is there a lot of flexibility we have on that? >> Yeah, this the state has some guidelines associated with that, but we are within compliance on all of that. You look at um you know, we talked about the studies that we did for all of the different bell schedules. There's schools that are on seven period days. There's schools that are on four period days. All of those have different numbers of minutes and we're fine with the the number of minutes that we have. The biggest piece that the state puts down is the number of minutes that students are required to be in school. Um there that language gets seems to get more prominence than the number of minutes that are associated with credits. >> Okay. >> My experience. >> Thank you. And because this is a discussion and I and I want you to be a part of this question I'm gonna ask um but I also want to ask it to the board. Uh do we want to make the capstone semester class a mandatory class or optional? Did you talk about that I guess as a part of your process coming forth with it being mandated? And then I just I want to know how does the board maybe feel about that? So maybe you could talk through that evolution. >> Absolutely. I mean, we have had conversation around that. And so, part of what we've talked about is um what we are looking to accomplish with the schedule change is to revamp the high school experience. It's not just about offering more courses, right, and more opportunities. That's a that's a huge part of it because we recognize that that's a shortfall right now for students. We need to do something to remedy that. But what we've tried to do is take a step beyond that. Also, we recognize this is a strategic piece and we're trying again to revamp the whole entire experience. We want to do something that sets Still Water apart from schools around so that students and families know when their kids are coming into to Still Water Schools, they're getting something different. And we talked before about the idea that, you know, schools are required per MDE language and things like that to find ways to incorporate college and career readiness into what they do. But we all know that some schools do that with much more fidelity than others. Again, when there's not a requirement in your graduation credits, in your course history, your transcript, anything like that, a lot of schools are kind of adding this in on the fly and saying, "Okay, we've checked the box to to say that we've done that because we've had a conversation with students." What this is intended to be is it's intended to be an experiential component where students can have multiple avenues or pathways of meeting that requirement, but it's something that's designed to show a tangible connection between what we have learned in school and taking a next step. So that for some students that could be a next step into post-secary college um education. For some students, it could be a direct and overt connection into the workforce. In some instances, it could be into other areas potentially like the military. But the idea is or in community service. But the idea is is that we are facilitating that as an intentional part of a student's experience to give them experience putting their learning actually to work. You know, you think about the the motto that's in the rotunda. you know, when you when you walk into our school, we learn not for school, but for life. What are we really doing to to actually promote that? We believe that. And I think almost everybody that I've talked to, you know, that idea and that quote resonates with them, but what are we doing to to really truly put our money where our mouth is and this is a part of, I think, how we're trying to do that. >> Thank you for that. Another one they're just trying to understand it all and that'll help since I'm going to be on this policy committee is um currently if you take all the credits you know all four years all the credits you have just enough to graduate right or do you have extra credits and then then the new system you take everything you will have more credits than you need to graduate right currently. Okay. >> On a six period day times two semesters, that's 12 credit bearing opportunities each year times four years is 48 credits. >> Y >> currently students are only required to earn 43 out of 48 credits in order to graduate. Okay, >> that's about 88%. So there's wiggle room that's built in there and that's actually quite a cushion. That's a that's on the lower end of a number of neighboring schools. So, as another example of how we're trying to revamp the experience and reinforce the importance of what we're actually talking about with students, we've changed that number that would be required. So, we're going to fast forward four years now just for the sake of easier math >> when next year's ninth grade comes in and they will have four years on a seven period day. Seven periods times two semesters is 14 credits each year times four years is 56. So the credit bearing opportunities will go from 48 to 56 but the requirement is also going to change and we have talked about going to 52 out of 56. So we're going from 43 out of 48 which is about 88% to 52 out of 56 which is upwards of 92%. So we're changing the percentage that students would be required to pass in order to graduate also. That's something again that we feel reinforces the importance of what students are learning in school. >> And will that be a policy thus a board decision or is some of that directed by state? >> That's actually right in here. That's the one section that I have left to talk about. >> Right. We'll wait for that. >> Okay. With baited breath, I'm sure. >> Any other questions at all? Uh, chair chairman, jumping back to your question. Um, and thanks for the explanation, uh, Principal Boach, but you know, I love the idea of, you know, the experential learning opportunities. I, you know, giving students the agency to be able to find ways to connect what they're learning in the classroom, that theoretical versus how does it apply and work in the real world. I think that's such an important part of the process to understand the big picture. Um, so I love the idea of of of putting that into play. um because I think it's just a really important aspect of becoming a lifelong learner, which I think is what we want all of our ponies to be ultimately. So >> part of what we're trying to capitalize on with that, honestly, if I could sum it up in one word, is engagement. We're struggling with engagement. Schools everywhere are struggling with engagement, especially postcoid, schools are trying to recapture something. You know, what what's important about us? Why why do you need to come here? You know, you look at the proliferation of online and the number of kids who are just saying, "I'm just looking for a reason to to not have to be here. How about if we give them a reason to want to come? Let's tie credit bearing opportunities to things that they are interested in and things that they are working towards." And again, a lot of our neighboring schools don't have that kind of a requirement. But if we can find ways to infuse that into the educational experience, that's something that we hope translates for students, that's going to keep students here, that's going to draw students here. The idea that, hey, I can actually tie my educational experience to something that I know that I want to be doing anyway. The idea is trying to leverage that. We have student leaders. Um, our our building is filled with student leaders. How do we capitalize on that and leverage that and provide opportunities and avenues for them to be able to use that leadership either through peer tutoring or any of a number of other things that we can translate to community service which then translates potentially to a a credit because that's tied to something that they're going to be doing. >> And then um just one more question because the capstone um course has not been approved by the board. This is just more of a technicality. Can it be in policy? Yeah, because you haven't I mean it's not going to be in a place until when? >> 2028 it says in here. So it's like a placeholder. >> So you have some time to >> Okay, just a technical question, but >> No, great question. >> I I had similar question, but >> I had a question. >> Thank you. Speaking about the capstone, um so looking at all of these additional requirements, um what kind of conversations are or are there conversations happening um around the barriers that could be presented by additional course requirements, especially going up I mean, you haven't even gotten there, but the the 92% and having the extra um additional still water requirements on top of the new state requirements. Um, are there conversations about what could be preventing students from meeting those requirements just in anticipation and kind of connected with that, especially with the capstone? Um, are there other districts that are doing that capstone? And are we in contact with them to try to maybe think about some of the troubleshooting of what that additional requirement specifically um might be challenging for which populations in our our student population. Totally a fair question. Um I'm g try to remember all of them. >> Sorry, there was a lot there. >> I don't I am not aware of a lot of schools nearby us. Um our immediate neighbors that ha excuse me that [clears throat] have that kind of requirement. So first and foremost, nobody near us. There are schools in Minnesota that do have requirements. So some western suburb schools have have similar kinds of requirements. We have not reached out to them specifically about this course yet. Really, that's because as we've tried to prioritize, we have a list of work that has to get done that we have to get really online for the schedule change next year. Knowing that this was not going to be a component of what we had this year, it's I don't want to say it's on the back burner, but there are other priorities that are more urgent right now just from a time standpoint. >> Okay, that's fair. And um not to belabor the senior capstone, but it's new, right? So, is it a senior capstone or is it like is so meant to be taken only senior year? >> Correct. That's the intention. >> Okay. Um, one thing that I noticed just in that another district, not a nearby, but on the west side of the uh state, they came in and did it appeared kind of like a capstone project, but there were some juniors in the mix there too. And the only reason why I asked that is that I could tell that they were going to be using that project for future like college um applications or other. So I don't know if there's flexibility or if the board or if staff where that would lie, but I guess I just would throw that out there as there seemed to be some juniors that were taking part in that for almost like a portfolio to walk out with something. Sure. Just a >> I think that's a very I think it's a very reasonable way to approach it. The important thing is that they've had some kind of um translatable experience during their high school career, right? And so we'll do the bookkeeping and the accounting and things like that as seniors. And again, probably a majority of our students would be looking to engage in that as seniors. But if there are meaningful and relevant experiences that kids have throughout the the course of high school, I would certainly think that we'll come up with avenues for that to to carry forward. Yes, >> it's not necessarily a policy question per se, but an implication of the policy. Um, if we go from 88% requirement for graduation to a 92% requirement for graduation, wouldn't that necessarily imply a somewhere like a 4% increase of staffing requirements or is it seems like how does this not have a budget impact? it wouldn't have a budget impact because the total number of credit opportunities which is what students sign up for and that's what we staff on is going to remain the same. So as an example, right now when students register for courses, they register for 12 courses. They register for alternates also. But the bottom line is whether they're doing PSO, whether they're doing any of these other things, even if they think they're going to take or know they want to take say a senior elective where basically because there's so much wiggle room right now, we actually have outlets for students to not take a class. Aurora, are you on a senior elective? >> No. >> All right. Well, wow. Okay. But there are a number that um that take that opportunity to to go um out and I'm sorry as soon as I did that I lost track of the question. I'm sorry. Um >> basically assuming that somebody taking study hall today you assume there' be stud staffing. >> So the bottom line is students that come in today are registering for 12 classes. We get those registration numbers and we translate those numbers into section numbers which then translates to our staffing. So the bottom line is our staffing is predicated on the number of students. It's it's predicated on enrollment because it assumes that every student is going to register for a full load. >> Thank you. But but the one thing we did discuss in policy semi-related to um to that is just that when you're taking it to from the 88 to the 92 is what it could be the potential impact in graduation rates and how does that connect with world's best workforce and the goals that we have or I'm sorry curriculum advisory committee and the kind of system impact. Not that it's not the right thing to do because um like you said it's more in line with what other districts are doing but I know now we're getting to the next section which you're going to talk about. So that's actually I think where I thought you were going to go with that question. And we did, as um Chair Sherman indicated, we did have a conversation around the idea that with a tighter graduation requirement, would that have an impact on graduation rates? It's entirely possible. I mean, it's logical potentially to conclude that. Um but a couple of pieces with that. Number one, um at the end of the day, the diploma that a student receives, especially one from Stillwater Area High School, is designed to mean something. And you know, we don't we don't hand out diplomas. Um it's not a participation trophy. There there are things that need to be earned and students know that. And the more we are upfront with students and clear with them about what our expectations are, the more they'll be better equipped to to rise up and meet that challenge. Um number one, the other piece to that is tied into the very last part. So, I'm going to skip ahead a little bit here if I can, which is um again to go to next year's senior class. The idea that um they've had three years on a schedule whereby they've had five classes actually is kind of wiggle room. If you remember, everything up till now has been 43 out of 48. So theoretically, a student could in theory fail or not have five credits and still earn enough to graduate because they've had three years in that system. That inertia is kind of built up. We didn't want to hit that increase right away with the the next um class of seniors. So for next year's senior class, um we would have a they would still have a wiggle room of five credits. Every graduating class after that would have a wiggle room of four credits. But again, if you remember, those numbers of credits are going to be different because each class is going to have a different number of years on a different number of um schedules. So, the way that we worded that much more succinctly than what I just laid out for you is by saying we just refer to it as the number of elective credits because after you get through all of the requirements, which really is what A, B, C, D, E, and F are all addressing. Those are all the required credits. At the end of the day then a minimum of 17 elective credits for the graduating class of 2030 and beyond. So that's next year's ninth graders. So when they come in and that group has four years on the seven period day schedule after you work through all of the requirements. 17 credits is what it would take to get to 52 out of 56. A minimum of 16 elective credits for the graduating class of 2029. A minimum of 14 elective credits for the graduating class of 2028. Those are the next three graduating classes. And again, what that does is it kind of staggers things in for each of them according to in a commensurate way with the number of credits that opportunities that they would have. >> Great. Any other questions? >> Um there's more in the policy, but was that was that kind of the gist of the changes and the alterations? That's the gist of it. There was maybe one small section at the very end again that referenced standards um and some of the requirement standards. Health was not listed in there, but health certainly has standards um through the state and since health is a required course um we added that and I think there were maybe one or two pieces related to to special education which I'll let u director Lee talk about. Yeah, I think I think for the first reading uh the only comment would be on the um if you can go back a page. So you'll see um item seven at the very bottom, the last sentence. That's that's really just a uh um kind of a draft error. So that won't exist right there. It'll it'll be moved. So if you're reading the policy through right now in the first reading, it's a little cumbersome when you get to that. So, just kind of uh ignore that and we'll have that fixed for the second formatting >> for the Yeah, it's a formatting issue that will actually go up to the overall the graduation requirements. But what that states is that um based on appropriate state guidelines, students with an IEP may satisfy state graduation requirements by meeting their IEP goals. And that that's in statute. um it really reflects our students with our highest needs um and students that aren't able to um to meet the kind of the standard standards requirements in that formal way. So um based on the IP and the development of their transition skills um they can earn and they have the the right to earn the same um diploma as as any other student. But that's for that kind of select group of of students with higher level of needs. So, it's good to have that in the policy. >> Um, so I went and this is my hopefully I think my last question. So, I was trying to go through like what the state's requirements were versus ours just just where you know we fall. And can you correct me if I'm wrong? We the state requires one credit in the arts. We have two. So, that's one difference. We have one additional. Is that right? Or is that or are are we doing semester versus year like it was a difference you know where the state says one credit is that does that mean a year? >> I believe it does. So if you're looking at MDE language I believe it does because I think it refers to even social studies as three and a half. >> Yes. >> So yes. >> Okay. Perfect. That answers all my questions on Thank you. [laughter] >> I was just trying to compare what we do. So Okay. >> I see the need for a policy committee. >> Yep. Great. >> Yes, we do. Well, we will when we when Joan son's out. So, meeting request will be coming for Sarah and Pete and myself. So, well, thank you for this first read and for having an opportunity to just review some of the differences. So, >> you're welcome. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> All right. Um the next item is um an action item. It's a resolution. So it'll be a roll call vote directing district administr administration to make budget reductions. This is an annual document. >> It's procedural which aligns with you're directing us to make potential adjustments or reductions, right? >> And then when it comes time to those actual reductions, we have a trail that said the board directed this. This wasn't the administration running off on their own just deciding to do it. >> Correct. So, we've done this for a few years now. So, um more procedural in nature. Um I will go ahead and make a motion to approve it. Is there a second? >> Great. Second. >> Director Theelander with the second. And with that, Joan, roll call, please. >> Director Gersich. >> Yes. Director, >> I'm sorry. >> I guess point of order. Are we going to have discussion? >> Oh, did you? >> Yes. >> Okay. I'll ask a question then just since I brought up the point of order. >> Um I'll ask the same question I asked last year. What is the board's expectations and what is our what is the current spend that we're trying to adjust? And then second question is this for 2627 or is this for 2526? >> The board's expectations are that we have a balanced budget for 2627 moving forward. And as a result, um, we're asking, the administration is coming to the board asking for the approval of this resolution. >> Any other questions? Joan, roll call. >> Dr. Gersovich, >> yes. >> Dr. Hackert, >> yes. >> Dr. Kellenberg, >> yes. >> Dr. Lowour, >> yes. >> Dr. Parker, >> yes. >> Dr. Theander, >> yes. Chair Sherman. >> Yes. >> Resolution passes unanimously. Great. Thank you. And then um tonight under um an action item is the legislative platform. So Carissa, I think is going to come and share that with us. >> I am. Good evening, Board Chair Sherman, Superintendent Funk, and members of the board. >> And actually, Carissa, I'm sorry. Because this is an action item, we would typically have a motion and a second and then open it up for your presentation and questions. So is there a motion to approve? >> I can move to approve. Yes. And is there a second? >> Second. >> Great. Director Law with a second. Okay. And sorry for that. I just No problem. It was an action. >> Okay. Well, [snorts] I'm going to wrap up some of the conversations you've had tonight in a nice little bow. We talked about kind of the fiscal forecast, where we are as a district. We've talked about some policy things tonight. Um, and the legislative priorities are really about all of those things. So, what I'm asking for tonight is approval of a platform that we can use as we're talking with legislators this year um to really meet the needs of our district. And so, the things that are outlined on this um were developed by our legislative committee in looking at what some of our um associations that we work with are also putting together on their legislative platform. So, we looked at AMSD and MSBA um just to see what kinds of things that they're talking about with legislators so that we had some common language. And really there are three main categories. Um education funding is the number one area and there are several different items on here. Some of which we already talked about um with our fiscal forecast including the local optional revenue. Um special education funding needing to be restored. There are definitely some changes that have been made there that are impacting us. And as you saw special education is one of our fastest growing um costs in the district. Transportation sparity aid. Again transportation is another one of our leading costs. um compensatory education we spoke about and then the ability to renew an existing technology levy. So the way the the platform is written, it's kind of each of these priorities with a little bit of information about how this would impact our district specifically. Um under safety and security, we talk about uh the need to increase the safe schools levy, which helps us fund for um some of the safety and mental health needs in our school district as those are increasing. security, SRO, some of those those positions that are so important. Um, the non-exclusionary discipline requirement, this is something that was put in place a couple of years ago. And while we believe the intent of it is good, what it really means for us is we we don't have enough people to help us handle students when there are behavior issues. When we have kids that are disregulated and can't be in the classroom, what does that mean for us and how do we handle that? So, just more more funding to help us support that. And then under policy priorities, we talk about the Minnesota paid leave impact on our district. Um, another legislative action I think with great intent that's going to impact our district as it requires us to have more subs in place and just increase costs with those sorts of things. Um, the flexibility, the modernizing hours of instruction is about allowing us to do more with um, learning kind of outside of the classroom, what that would look like. So, it's not the the seat time really, but giving us flexibility to have kids learning in different ways at different times. And then the high school MCA being replaced by ACT, which is a test more of our students are taking that actually has maybe higher stakes for kids because it does mean college uh entrance for them as well. So, we thought that would be another good one to include. It's been on platforms in the past. So, with that, um we are asking for approval of this. The intent is that we would share this with our legislators starting with our legislative breakfast that is scheduled for January 30th. So, we'd like to be able to have this information to share with them. And um if there's any questions, I'm happy to answer. >> Just comment. >> Check your 2019. Here's what happened with L based upon my knowledge. >> So, it used to be two different numbers. There used to be a $300 component and a $424 component. That's been around since 2013. I think probably in 2019 they changed it to the 724. So check on I would just check on that because I I think it looks stronger for us if we say 2013. >> That was my comment. >> Okay. >> I just have a comment. Um just the discussions in legis at the legislative committee. This looks great. We really talked about putting into words the why of the needs that we're asking for and I feel like you guys have done a nice job um kind of articulating things that make sense in real real world language. I think Director Parker made that comment of really needing it to be just plain English. So, thank you for doing a nice job on this. >> Thank you and thank you to the committee. We had some great conversations. Um, this will be, if approved, it would be posted to our website. So, the public's welcome to use this, too, as they're talking to legislators. We'd love for them to bring this with them and have those conversations and help us um make the case for what Stillwater needs. >> Any other comments or questions? >> So, I guess at this point there's a motion and a second. Um, can we approve it just with um >> clerical adjustment? just that clerical adjustment of fi of making sure it's either 2013 or 2019. >> Okay, >> great. With a motion and a second and seeing no more questions, all those in favor of approving the 2026 legislative priorities document, raise your hand and say I. >> I. >> I opposed. Motion passes unanimously. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Carissa. And thank you to the legislative team um that does the work on that. Thank you. And with that, that's all we have on tonight's agenda. We are adjourned.