service center in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. We would like to acknowledge that the land in which we gather is the land of the Midwalk Dakota people. Midawakin means dwellers of the Spirit Lake. The first item on our agenda is roll call. Dana >> Luise Hines is absent. Ryan Clark >> here. >> Sharon Ventler >> here. >> Eric Tesmer >> here. >> Melinda DS >> here. Sammy Pneak >> here. >> TA Alvaringa >> here. >> Andrew Chaston >> here. >> Matilda Samuel >> here. Katie Schwarz >> here. >> 2.0 pledge of allegiance. Please stand. >> 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. >> 3.0 O is the approval of the agenda. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? >> So moved. >> Moved by Sharon. >> Second. >> Second by Ryan. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. 4.0 is our student board representative reports and that will be introduced by Superintendent Julie Nelson. >> Thank you, Andrew. Andrew, I have your microphone tonight. Andrew was just reminding me that he was really loud the last time and not don't hold it so close. So, Andrew, I have your mic if you want to use it. Um, I'm excited to introduce our student board reps. Again, what I asked the students to do, um, is to just share three things that were happening at their schools andor that they're part of. So, they're going to take time to do that. Um, but it's also an opportunity having students on the school board to talk about just process and procedure. So this uh past week we talked about what items might come to the school board as a first reading and then why we would send something to the business meeting for a final reading or an approval. And so like our calendar tonight, we know that's a first reading. Policies are always a first reading with final approval at the board. So we continue to work through leadership opportunities with our students as they learn more about the work of our school board. So starting us off tonight will be TA. >> Hi everyone. I'm TA. I go to park. I wasn't here last meeting. So, hi. Nice to meet everyone. Um, my three topics that I'm going to talk about for park, the things that are going on is one, um, our winter sports are starting on Monday. So, for me, that's basketball. So, I'm really excited. Um, my second thing is that I'm a national honor society and yesterday was our election for officers. So, everyone that was interested in running for officer got to do a little speech and the students got to vote. So, I think that's something fun for us. And then my third thing is that an athlete from each winter sport was invited to go on a field trip to Cretton and um us I was one of them for I was the representative for basketball. Um us and other athletes from the district um were included in a leadership seminar. So I thought that was really fun. I thought it was very applicable not only to my sports but just to my student life. And yeah thank you. >> Hi every of course. Hi everyone. I'm Andrew. Um I'm going to be talking a bit more about um mechanical stuff that's happened more at Eastridge, more about construction. Um construction process has been going pretty smoothly so far. Um it's going by very fast. Truly, they've gotten by very fast than I thought they would. Um moving on, I would like to talk about a new procedure we've implemented at Eastridge that we've talked about with the cabinet at Eastridge. Um, we implemented a procedure that Woodbury, both Woodbury and Park have implemented about new online locations and new kind of safety regulations on keeping students out of the hallways during school hours or more of non-passing time, I should say. Um, which just puts more seniors and juniors in the cafeteria until our new business or our old business pod will be turned into that online location. and our uh sophomores and freshmen are in the media center at the time and it has it's worked so far. And then lastly, I would just like to talk about our theater program at the loft stage. The Matilda play will be hosted from 7 to 9:00 p.m. Mon through Sunday. Um if anyone would like to go see it, I'm going to try to as well, but they put a lot of work into it. I'm very proud of them. Okay, so my three things are kind of going all across the board. So firstly, also about a musical happening at our school. We're on week two of the Mean Girls musical. There's three more showings. One of them's today and then Friday and Saturday, both at 7:00 p.m. And they've done a great job. I'm hoping that I can see it soon, but I'm not too sure. And then the second thing is the early action deadline for seniors. It recently passed for most schools not on November 1st and a lot of seniors have been working on college applications and really had that on their plate. And then the third thing is our Latino student union. They have a show coming up called Roots. It's on November 14th. It's at 6 p.m. and it's their second annual show for their club. So, it's great. I think you guys should all see it if you can. >> And so, thank you to our students. Uh they represent a nice balance across our three high schools. And one of the things I've also asked them with their packets in front of them, I'm not going to ask them to go online, but to actually take notes and so there may be opportunities where they don't ask questions out loud, but we will do some debriefing behind the scenes as it relates to leadership. So, thank you students for being here. >> Thank you all. Okay, we'll move on to 5.0 and that is our workshop items. We do have two this evening. We'll start with 5.1 and that is a strategic plan update and that will be presented by Julie Nielsen, superintendent. >> Thank you. Um, kind of like construction, the strategic plan is going quickly as well. When I think back and people around the table, it was 2022 when we first embarked on creating a new strategic plan. Um, if you recall, we adopted a classroom to boardroom process that focus on desired daily experiences with that final strategic plan sheet actually being the work of the board. And I will be showing that here in just a minute. We had well over a hundred staff members, community members, and individuals involved in the creation of this. Um, we received input from our district student ambassadors, community members, and parent advisory groups. And as we be begin year three, uh, we'd like to focus a little bit more on that district vision card. And board members behind the scenes got to see the very complex look at all of the data and the desired daily experiences. Um, as well as, uh, just taking a look at what student, staff, and families shared as it relates to those desired daily experiences. So, our outcome for the presentation, we'll take a look at the road map. Um, as I said, we'll talk about the district vision card. And then finally, we're going to share the big work that supports better meeting our measures on the district vision card. All right, board members, this should look familiar to you because this is actually the document that you approved. Um, so the board approved the final five um core values which are listed in the uh center, connections, integrity, equity, excellence, and innovation. Um, you'll see the mission statement at the top. Um I believe that 100% of our system leaders would be able to recite um what our mission statement is. And the first thing about being able to implement is people need to know it and feel it. And I would say that 100% across the board, people know that we're here to educate students for success. Um the bottom area I just want to draw your attention to is really where the work lies. If you take a look at the first three buckets, the student experience, mastery of learning and expectation, student pathways and supports, that really gets at our students and instruction, um that includes a lot of different perception data along with the data of our MAP testing, our early entrance to K or excuse me, our kindergarten data, our ACT, um SAT scores. Um and that really combines everything in the first three buckets. The fourth bucket is operations and staffing, which you'll see some measures in that area, as well as that opportunity to engage and connect with our community. So, let's take a look at our vision card. Um, I call this I don't know, sometimes I call it a moldy burger or something because it's kind of like a hamburger. Every time I present I say something different, so I always look at Sean and he's looking at me like, "What are you gonna say this time?" You know, part of it looks like a burger because it's sandwiched with the two blue blue pieces, but that really is the sandwich uh and the bread is really that desired daily experiences. And those experiences of staff, students, and families, they were created with staff, students, and families. I would say probably in the next two to three years, that's all information that we will want to go back and review and maybe update. Um but for the time being, we don't want to be moving that a lot during these these opening years. You'll see sandwiched in between there are vision or our vision statement and mission statement along with those what we call strategic directions or those five buckets of work. So our vision card um our vision card reports key measures and metrics for strategic planning and it helps us assess the progress that we're making as a district. when we take a look at the measurements all the way from intervention to vision achieved. Um what we're looking for as a district to be at that point where we say we're continuing to make progress and we've achieved our vision. And so to that end it's important to understand uh those data sources and and with board members we have talked about this and sometimes there's confusion because people are wondering like why just those grade levels or that's that's not enough people. And so just to take a look at um what we've used as the basis. So and what I mean by that is what surveys are we already doing. So as a district we already conduct the Minnesota student survey. Students have you been part of the Minnesota student survey? Okay. So Minnesota student survey is always conducted grade 5 and 11. So we have data points from that particular survey. You can see that with those groupings of students we had about 80% response rate. Um the second survey that we use is our Morris Leatherman survey and that's the survey that as a district we have conducted every three years but that talks about the finances of the district um the culture and climate of the district but that's another kind of consistent survey. The third um area that is very consistent would be our assessment data. It's our MAP data, our MCA data. So all of that data is known as well. Then we fill in the gaps with what we call our um South Washington County survey. We conducted a survey with students, with families, and with staff members. And one might ask like how did you select the questions that were asked? If questions were not asked on the Minnesota student survey or on the Morris Leatherman survey, then we knew somewhere we had to get that information from from students, staff or family members. And so hence we created our own South Washington County Schools survey. And so you'll be able to see up there. The reason it was grade 5 through 12 um we felt like those were the students that would give us uh the perceptions that were looking to answer those specific questions. Earlier grades would probably not understand. So grades 5 through 12 for students. Um you can see we only had 1,763 respondents for community. Not a huge number, but again, we use this as perception data to take a look at trends over time and what people are saying. And again, staff members about 54% um across all bargaining groups. And we did have a large turnout um in terms of staff responses from our teacher bargaining group. All right. When we think about our vision card, it is that continuum of requiring intervention like we need intervention. And I think as our curriculum teams I'm looking back here onto my side. As our curriculum teams presenting presented the reading and math data, we know that in the area of reading and math, we know that we're in that area of requiring intervention and we're not shying away from that. We know that we have work to do. Um the next area up would be continuing to make or excuse me, making progress. Then it would be continuous improvement, advancing toward vision, and vision achieved. And I'd like to say that I am the psychometrician behind all of the percentages, but we actually have Dr. Mao Jacobson who has combed through all of the data to help us set up the percentages um so that we can continue to monitor and and move toward that vision achieved. Just to remind the staff and community, these are the three copies of at that time in 2022 what students, staff, and families um said they wanted from the school district. And one thing to note, someone said, you know, Julie, nowhere in the students and the families, uh, do they talk about learning outcomes or we want our kids to be proficient. That's correct. At that point in time, families, staff, and students did not talk about that academic portion, but we have absolutely included the academic portion under underneath that mastery of learning. So on the next three sides slides, excuse me, you're going to see the desired daily experiences in that lefth hand column. Then you're going to see a couple of the survey questions that were asked, the level we're at, and what that response looked like. So, if we look down that lefthand column for students, and these are exactly what students said that they wanted out of school. Um, an experience at school to provide opportunities to prepare for the real world and explore options for future. You can see and two questions were pulled. I can design my class schedule to help me be successful. You can see in that category, advancing toward vision, 82% responded almost always or often. In that same category, having experiences at school that prepare me for life after high school, advancing toward vision, 80% responded almost always or often. It's always important to keep in mind that when we do these surveys, this is all around student perception. And so, uh, we take the information they have or they give and that's how it's reported back out. The next area desired daily experience is I feel welcome, cared for, heard, valued, respected and accepted for who I am peers and the staff. Two two survey questions that monitored that at my school teachers care about students. You can see from student perspective, they said vision achieved 90% agree or strongly agree. I feel safe at school. That one landed in advancing toward vision. Uh where 89% agree or strongly agree. And then the next one, sometimes you'll see that desired daily experience and then that survey question is exactly the same. Um, sometimes we could do that and other times it took more questions to get at that desired daily experience. So I can use my voice to include other people. You can see for that particular one in terms of student perception, 91 of our 91% of our students agree or strongly agree. And then the final one, I see my race, culture, and ability supported and acknowledged in the classroom, in the curriculum, um, the staff and throughout the school. Um, and the question we took a look at it, how would you rate the performance of the teachers and instructional staff in our district? Advancing toward vision, 89% of our families responded with a rating of excellent to good. So, what do our staff want? Again, on that left hand side, you'll see our staff want students and families uh are the center of our decision- making. I'm proud to work in South Washington County schools where I feel ownership, value, and invested. I am thriving because of intentional focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. I have opportunities to create relationships with colleagues, students, and families. I work and learn in spaces that are physically and emotionally safe, equitable, resourced, and welcoming. And so, again, those survey questions in the center, um I'll just have you take a look at those. I don't need to read those uh every single one of those, but those are the ones that align with what our staff wants. You're going to see that first one. I want to point out um areas where we know we need improvement. So if we go to that area that the areas that talk about continuous improvement um decisions are made based on what's best for students and family. You can see while 72.2% agree or strongly agree that the category that places us in in terms of our continuum is in that continuous improvement area. Um also um opportunities at work to connect with families. Um we we have continuous improvement in that area. that 79 per 79.1 agree or strongly agree. And then finally, we have um additional progress to make. Do you have the resources and tools needed to do your job? And you will see that staff reported 77.3% agreed or strongly agreed. So again, another area that we can take a look at in terms of improvement. And then finally, what our families want. Um our families had three big bullets on the desired daily experiences. and that is uh that opportunity to explore their individual interests, passions, and ideas. Uh making sure they're aware of policies and procedures that are consist consistently applied across the district and staff at my school are reflective of black, indigenous, and people of color. Um and so as we look at those survey questions, um I will just go to the second question. Has your child experienced personalized learning that aligns with their learning style? You can see that particular area making progress. 65% 65.1% of parents that responded agreed or strongly agreed. Um this next one um while surprising because it's policy and policy is not always that interesting um there still is some concern about district policy. Um knowing that every single meeting we have policies on um our board agendas knowing we have a policy manual online you know the transparency in terms of reviewing the policies. So again from our parent perspective um how familiar are you with district policies and procedures and while we don't go through those publicly many times you can see that that's an area that as a school district it requires intervention. So thinking about how might we communicate how might we engage 47.1% of fam our families agreed or strongly agreed um that they were aware. So that leaves a well over 50% that aren't aware. Um, and then how familiar are you with tools and supports to communicate with schools? And that one actually was in the requires intervention. 52.5% agree or strongly agree. And so that's an area as well as we work with families that we can um certainly improve. And then staff at my school reflect uh black, indigenous, and people of color. The first question actually is right from our human resources and that was 9.69. So that was actually a piece of data. Um and then from the perspective of our parents and families, there are staff members from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Um that that fell in continuous improvement at 73.6% agreeing um or strongly agreeing. And then how will we know we're successful? One of the things with our strategic plan is making sure that we have things written down. Um as people come and go, move in and out, we want to make sure that we have procedures. Um, our policies are annually reviewed and we have handbooks and implementation maps that really lay out the work that we're doing so that the next person or people that come after us don't have to recreate that they can just pick things up with process and procedure and move the system forward. Um, which gets into then having our district vision card which leads to improved student outcomes and educating students for success. So, I want to highlight just those five buckets of work because when you take a look at the next slides, those really are the areas that we are focused on um and have been focused on. We're really working to keep keep the target as the target, meaning we're not going out and looking for brand new initiatives. We really want to make sure that we perfect the work that we're doing. So our five um strategic priority areas again and as I shared one, two and three really revolve around student learning um and four and five of course operations and engagement and partnerships. So let's take a look at our big work and around the table we have leaders that help um lead in some of these areas. So if there are any questions we certainly are happy to answer those. But as you're aware uh board and thanks to last year with our opportunity for professional development um just our continued focus on literacy and I say continued uh literacy is an everyday all the all the time thing. Uh this week we had our pair of professionals being trained. Um and so you can see the end of the year outcome is that we will have training completed for our pair of professionals. Some of the highest quality training uh that I I believe our pair professionals have ever received. And not just great learning for them as pair professionals, but if they have younger children, wow, what an asset to help support their own children. Um we have implementation of a K12 identification. We've talked about that screening process for literacy interventions and um making sure that the learning that occurred last year through the read act is being transferred and applied in the classroom and all of that work um the literacy work is being done through our teaching and learning department and our curriculum review cycle. The next one we get into that acronym uh Sean and as I see that out there like there's that MTSS thing. Um and like outside people are like what's MTSS? It's the framework for supporting students whether that be in an intervention, whether that be an enrichment, it's a framework. Um, and so as part of our MTSS or framework work, um, we have an identification of our guaranteed viable curriculum. That means having priority benchmarks and resources. Meaning regardless of which elementary school or middle school you go to and whichever class you're taking, if it's the same class, that we can expect the benchmarks and resources to be the same or very similar. Um the third area, focus on consistent delivery of the core curriculum. We know that when we're talking about the need for students to have interventions when they're behind that when we see a high percentage of students that aren't achieving at a particular level that we know we need to go back and fix what we call the core curriculum. And the core curriculum is our regular curriculum that's taught in every single classroom that all students should have access to, including students who may qualify for special education. So you can see underneath that delivery of the core curriculum what we're looking for at the end of the year and our focus is that we have consistent PLC's in place throughout the district and PLC stands for a professional learning community that really those are our teachers and teacher teams coming together to talk about students to talk about learning to talk about assessments and to say which students are getting it which students are not and what do we need to do to circle back um the fourth one I think there's a lot of excitement around the table. Um, and that is our new um, data warehousing system called Educ Climber. Educr, everybody has a little bit different pronunciation for it. Um, and that one of course fits underneath student pathways and support, but you could see completed intentional and foundational training for staff. And now we're actually at the point where staff are beginning to go in and utilize it. What is um great about this system is it allows us to take multiple measures and pull them all into one database and we've never had that as a school district. So, it's going to be really really cool and great for our teachers as we take a look at student performance. The next one, again, another really exciting p uh exciting exciting area, career pathways through community involvement. I'm looking at Christine because uh just this week we had a community partnership meeting um and it was very well attended thanks to our chambers, our CTE teachers, but it's really working with our community partners um our staff to determine what placements might we have for students to go outside and engage with actual businesses and companies within our own um communities. Um, so you'll see uh comprehensive project plan and guiding change document focus on expanding those career pathways and opportunities. And then I think the last bullet point addresses the meeting we had this week um a cross- sector partnership meeting and it was really great to take a look at the the circle uh it was multiple layers but to take a look at those pathways that as a school district we provide for students. Um, next one. Chris is down there smiling because uh we just did true time in her department in human resources, but now we are exploring something called Skyward Q. And if I could share with the board and with our community, um, while a lot of investment has gone to our classrooms and sometimes uh to that end, some of the systems uh that run all of the operations need continued work and Skyward Q is one of those. Um, it's that alignment. It's that behind the scenes. It's taking care of finance and HR and student information. So updating those systems so that they're secure, that they can operate and talk to each other. So we're not always downloading information to move it over here to insert it this way. So this system right now is in the research phase. And so Chris and her team in human resources are taking a look at what the current program does and what something like Skyward Q would move us toward. Um, many Minnesota school districts are already using Skyward Q. Um, I'm not going to say that we're behind. We've had other priorities. Uh, but this is certainly a direction that we need to keep moving. And then to close out, um, many of you, if you, uh, work outside of education, you're familiar withation of Minnesota pay just all the logistics. And that work is being done by our human resource team. Um, they have shared information with system leaders. We know that we're coming up on that January 1 um timeline. Um and then what they will continue to do uh throughout the year is to review usage and feedback to make any necessary adjustments and guide how we move forward with the Minnesota Paid Lead Act. Uh the next area of big work is my ride K12 app. And it may seem like a while, but we have most of our kids now carrying their little bus passes to get on and scan, which has been invaluable and it's going so much better year two. Um but the next thing we would implement is that my ride K12 app which not only allows parents to see where the school buses are um but it allows um Sean what's the other thing that allows see where the school buses are timing >> if they're running late and so that would actually we would probably still communicate but that might uh it would be less important to send that communication out because parents would already be able to get a text or a message on that my K12 um app. And then finally, a big area of work that was happening last year and we we've been setting the stage and that is thinking about multilingual communication and that really ties into that engagement and partnerships. Um, tonight you'll hear about the language access plan and that will move forward for approval next week. That's one of them. We have a new newsletter platform and board members hopefully you like uh your Friday updates because that is on our new newsletter platform. It only took a couple of training sessions before I got the hang of it, but now I am the spokesperson um for for Frontline. So, I feel really positive about that. Um and then also making sure that as part of that multilingual communication that we have a tool that's on demand um so that anyone needs to access a different language um has that accessibility. So next steps as we think about our strategic plan um we will continue to work with um our departments um and our departments have what we call department improvement plans. It's really a layering strategic plans. We have our departments and then we have our schools um continuing to work with our schools. Our assistant superintendents and those that monitor departments are always working handinand always monitoring and reviewing district data. Uh we will continue to update the district vision card. and then finally providing updates on our district website as it relates to where we're at with strategic planning. With that, I will take any questions and also open up any executive cabinet members who also work on our strategic planning. >> Does anybody have any questions? >> I just have one. I just have one. Um Chris is the Skyward is the Skyward Q like the school district version of like an SAP integration. >> Yeah. So it's our ERP or so it does our finance payroll and HR functions is really what the purpose of that particular software and we were notified by the Skyward company right that our their um goal is to sunset all the Minnesota districts by 2028. And so we know we have kind of a nice um long pathway to that. I always joked with Rochester public schools that they could go first because they're very similar sized and they actually are converting a year kind of this coming J um July. So I kind of said thanks for blazing the trail and we'll kind of piggy back and learn some lessons from them. And so the idea behind this is that this will both reduce like data errors but also presumably make your department more efficient or would require less PE people hours maybe. >> We'll see. I think so what I would say is it's similar to any other um system change right when you change software even um if people have ever used Quickbooks or something right it just changes how your work um is implemented really rather than maybe the work itself in the volume of work right so it'll just look different for us um I run reports all the time in Skyward and I'll be like oh let's create a report for this and that I can't do it just looks different the interface does and so I think for our users we know that all staff utilize it for their time off for their checking their paychecks Um, so they'll be able to the interface is just a lot more updated and userfriendly right now under the current version where it's considered SMS is what they call Skyward, the version we're on. And there's actually kind of a web- based version. And then I behind the scenes that and Aby's giggling right now too, but that our benefits team and our HR specialist, payroll, and our finance team utilize that we call it pack. And um I believe it was most recently portrayed to me as, oh, I use the Oregon Trail version um because it really does kind of look a little bit more thatesque. So, um, hoping to join the 21st century a little further and just have some additional functionality. >> Thanks, >> Chris. I can tell you made a connection there because there are a lot of smiles about the Oregon Trail. That was a while ago. Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Okay, thank you. We'll move on to 5.2 and that is Title 9. On October 9th, Director Clark sent an email to board members and administrators asking that the Title Nine resolution be added to the agenda. Tonight, we will have a discussion around that and I will hand it over to Ryan. >> Thank you, Mer Schwarz. Uh so, a little bit of background here. Um, on September 30th, 2025, uh, the Federal Department of Education and the Health and Human Services Department, Office for Civil Rights, uh, issued address to, uh, the Minnesota Department of Education, uh, the Minnesota State High School League and the Attorney General that Minnesota has been found in violation of Title 9. So the official word or the verbiage here is a letter of violation or letter of notification informing this uh all the districts within Minnesota that we are in violation of title 9. So I'd like to read a little bit here of what they say. Um so I guess I'll start down here. So uh in accordance with the office for civil rights they have reached the termination using the prepoundonderance of evidence standard that finds to support the conclusion of non-compliance for title 9. Um it is further explained that the statute does not discuss gender identity or gender identity discrimination but one that of sex discrimination. According to the office of civil rights, sex does not mean nor has it ever meant gender identity. Title 9 and its implementing regulations have never used the term gender identity, let alone defined this seemingly identifiable term. When recipients of federal funding treat transidentifying males as they were as if they were females, they defeat the very purpose of Title 9 to ensure equal opportunities for women and girls without jeopardizing their privacy, safety, and other rights. Allowing men and boys to compete in women's and girls sports is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies females the same equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports afforded to males. So, this is coming from the federal government. These are not my words. This is what the federal government is saying. Now, maybe a question for y'all. Have you guys read through this at all? Has anybody on the board read this in its entirety? because it is about 55 pages of case law um specific examples multiple districts within our state that are cited in this um from both the department of education's perspective and the department of health and human services perspective. So it is worth I think prudent for us to be aware of what this is saying and what this could off you know ultimately mean for us. Um obviously I'm not going to be able to recant or reread all this. We'd be here all night and you guys don't want that. Um, so basically what it says here at the end, this is kind of the conclusion. The denial of equal opportunity by allowing unfair competitive advantage is evident. This is citing the transgender individual uh softball pitcher for the recent class 4A state championships. So it's saying is because we are our district and all the districts within Minnesota are recipients of federal fund assistance from youth and health health and human services department of education Minnesota department of education is obligated to comply with title 9 when cover when the covered entity receiving funds adopts policies that conflict with federal law it risks placing itself in violation of federal funding conditions. There's some court cases here that are cited. I won't go through all of them right now. Um, so the uh Minnesota Department of Education had the choice of accepting or declining to seek federal funds. But since it has accepted federal funds, it is required to comply with Title 9 regardless of Minnesota law. Indeed, federal law must prevail where compliance with both state law and federal law is impossible or that the state law is an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress. Okay. So, it is uh thus a no answer for Minnesota Department of Education to assert that Minnesota state law requires the Minnesota State High School League's policy. MDE's choice to accept federal funds requires that applicable federal law preempts conflicting state laws. It cites the constitution here, article 6, clause two. When a state law such as Minnesota's Minnesota Human Rights Act frustrates Congress purpose, imposes an obstacle to the accomplishment of those purposes, that state law is preempted. Okay, so this is what essentially this is what the federal government is is saying. Okay, so this is their argument. This is all the legal justifications. I think it's worth going to a little bit of background. So we know that title 9 is the education amendments of 1972 and that is a federal statute that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions receive federal funds. So that pertains to our district and all of the districts in the state of Minnesota. This is important background for all of us to understand. Uh the Biden administration's department of education issued a title 9 final rule on April 24th, 2024. This final rule broadened title n protections by using gender identity as a prohibited discrimination on the basis success basics basis of sex not success sorry expanding the definition of sexual harassment to encompass sex stereotyping um gender identity and gender expression discrimination and changes the procedural requirements for investigation and judication of complaints. Because of that rule, multiple states sued. In August of 2024, the United States Supreme Court rejected Biden administration request to allow the rules to go into effect. This affected at least 10 states that then sued, meaning these rules were never adopted at state level, at least from the federal government's perspective. Minnesota decided to do its own thing and and write its own laws. Um, so it's that's separate. Um, in January of this year, Kentucky federal court vacated these amended regulations instituted during the Biden administration per the state of Tennessee versus Cardona and returned Title 9 to the 2020 foundation. This ruling does apply nationwide and all of us board members voted to return Title 9 policy to the 2020 version. So the reason why they the federal court determined this is uh they determined that the department of education exceeded its authority in expanding the scope of prohibited discrimination to include gender identity. The court rejected the department of education's argument that the US Supreme Court decision in Basttock versus Clayton County, Georgia uh supports the expanded definition of discrimination on the basis of the basis of sex. For the folks who don't know what the Basak uh case is, that's a title seven equal o equal employment opportunity case where employers are not allowed to discriminate on people via gender identity. But what the Biden administration was trying to do is say because it was upheld for title 7, therefore it will apply to title 9. That is the crux of what this is. So relying on the plain language of the statute, the federal court determined that when Title 9 is viewed in its entirety, it is abundantly clear that discrimination on the basis of sex means discrimination on the basis basis of being male or female. As the court and others have explained, expanding the meaning on the basis of sex to include gender identity turns Title 9 on its head. I'm quoting here. Second, the court determined that the final rule was unconstitutional. The final rule expanded the definition of sex discrimination and sex based harassment to include conduct that is both objectively and subject subjectively offensive and either limits or denies the ability to participate in or benefit from an educational opportunity or activity. The court found these new definitions in the final rule would compel title n institutions including school districts, teachers us to use names and pronouns associated with uh students gender identity asserted gender identity in the violation of the first amendment. It also found that the new definitions were so vague that recipients of title 9 funds have no way of predicting what conduct would actually violate law. And finally the court found that the final rule is arbitrary and capriccious. court reasoned that the Department of Education had not provided sufficient basis for its title N changes, reiterating that BOS is a very I'm quoting here is a very shaky place for the Department of Education to hang its hat. Okay, so that's the background of all this. Where are we at now? Idaho Idaho passed a state law that prevented trans athletes from competing in sports of the opposite biological sex. In 2020, a trans athlete challenged that law and was successful in getting a federal judge to block the law. Thus, this allowed the trans athlete to compete on the women's team. The ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction to block the law in 2023. This has now been elevated to the US Supreme Court, who has agreed just within the last month or so or less to hear oral arguments in early 2006, roughly the January time frame. The US Supreme Court has also agreed to hear West Virginia versus BPJ, which is a very similar case. Slight nuance. One of them was a a high school student and the other a collegiate student. One of them focuses more so on Title 9, the other on the 14th amendment equal protection clause. However, they're more they will be more similar than they are different in this case, most likely when we hear the oral arguments. Um, so I just want to reiterate that this is not about my my view here is not about the trans issue. I'm not taking a stance on the issue of trans. I'm simply saying that because we are in violation, federal government has found our state, the Minnesota Department of Education in violation of federal law. Erggo, that puts us at risk because we rely on federal funding. Well, how much federal funding do we rely on? Well, between eight and 10 million, right? So, according to my methods and sources, uh about 4 million, 3.95 to be exact, I know you appreciate that. Uh of federal funding for section 419, the individual disabilities education act part B section 611, we get about $456,000 per title one part Amic enhancements for disadvantaged people. For 414, we get about $267,000. That's title 2 part a teacher and principal training 422 or section 422 we get $225,000 um that is for infants and toddler programs section 417 about $217,000 title three English as a second language or second English English language support section 420 about $75,000 individuals with disabilities education act part B section one or 619 preschool um section 433 14.4,000 title 4 part A student support and the lunch program about three million federal lunch assistance. Now I'm not suggesting or saying that this means that all this stuff will go away but it is important for us to know and at least acknowledge that this exists. So this is why I asked to bring the resolution forward and it's just for discussion and when I read when I prepared the resolution I thought it was to protect our school district and protect us. So do we have any questions thus far? >> Does anyone have any questions? >> Okay, >> I have I have some questions. >> Sure. >> Where did this resolution come from? >> Uh I made it up. So, where would you send it if since it wasn't a legal document, it wasn't anywhere, where does it go if this board would pass it? >> That's I would assume as the chair you would have the answer. >> That would not I would not because I did not create this document, nor would I know to send it. >> Correct. >> It if it gets that far, yes. But what I'm asking is where does it go then? >> That's a good question. Where does it go? >> That that's that's you. >> We should send it to the Minnesota Department of Education. We should send it to the Minnesota State High School League and we should send it to attorney John General Eson. >> And you know, you have all the contact information of who that would go to? >> Do. >> Okay. Um I do have one question for you, Chris. Um have we lost any federal funding based on this? >> So as of for 2526, the current year that we're in, we have not we've received all the federal funds to which we're currently entitled. So um as we know there's annual allocations. So, >> so we have not >> no for 25 26 not. >> Okay. And then Superintendent Nielsson, have we actually received anything stating that we are in violation of any? >> I have not received anything. Um I think the board was made aware of legal counsel's advice around Title 9 and that really is the only information that I have and that nothing has changed since that time. >> Okay. So, we have not as a district been sent anything stating that we are in violate. So, it's worth pointing out that it's not per individual school district. It's for the Department of Education of which we receive funds from. So, the federal funding doesn't come directly to our district, unless I'm mistaken, Chris. My understanding is it goes to Minnesota Department of Ed of Education, which then disseminates it out to the various districts. So, it doesn't have to come to Independent School District 833 specifically for it to not It still affects us. >> But, we have received all our I My question was if we received all our Okay, if no one else has any other questions and we'll start with our comments. Um Sharon, >> I do have a question actually. Sorry. Um do we know is there any timeline for potential consequences I guess if the Minnesota State High School League and Minnesota Department of Education don't I guess come into compliance with this? >> I wish I had an answer but because the government shut down I don't think we know. Okay. >> Okay. So Sharon Well, since we have not received a letter, um I I've been listening to our attorney general, Keith Ellison, and he has adid has issued um statements that uh that is is conducive to discrimination that it's is against the law or against mo our um laws that um discrimination is is is imo is not is is um prohibited. The uh the Minnesota human rights prohibits discrimination ed based on any of the of of constitution of of of criteria that we follow whether in compliance with the executive order or not. We haven't received anything stating that we are in violation. The court of appeals um decision reflects a sound policy. Uh whether the court um the court's appeal decision is immoral, it was not based on that. It was based on law. So our role is to support the decision of the laws that exist whether we agree or disagree with the Minnesota uh court of appeals decision. The court of appeals decision is a law of Minnesota and it is binding for all Minnesota schools. So that's where I stand. >> So as a part of this I would also like each board member after they give their input to share if they are in favor of moving it to the next board meeting for a vote or if they are opposed to moving it forward. I am opposed. >> Before we move on, I want to point something out. This is not about executive order. So, this at this has nothing to do with President Trump's executive order. >> No, no, you had mentioned the executive order. This is the we are found in discrimination per the Civil Rights Act of 1972, Title 9. That's what this says. Has nothing to do with Trump's executive order at all. Just want to point that out. >> Okay. At this time, each board member is going to have an opportunity to speak. So, um I am going to read um Louise since she could not be here. Um she said, "I appreciate the legal information our district's attorney shared with us about Title 9. Under federal law, court decisions across the country have been consistent in stating Title 9 protects transgender students according to their gender identity. The decision of the Minnesota Court of Appeals states that transgender students have the right to access facilities and participate in activities that align with their gender identity. Not complying with these laws opens our district to significant financial and legal risks that do not benefit our students or community and we do need to comply with current law. That is from Louise. Um Sammy. >> Sure. Um so when I joined the board the sort of the overarching message I remember in my first training from Mick our lawyer was that our obligation as a school district as school district board me schoolboard members is to follow the law and that we follow we have to follow the law of Minnesota and there are a few ways where Minnesota law and and federal law come into conflict like marijuana is legal in Minnesota. Uh it is not legal federally. Um the minimum wage in Minnesota is several dollars an hour more than it is federally and we have to pay Minnesota minimum wage. We don't get to pay seven dollars and change per hour. And so um when we I mean what that says to me is that when Minnesota law and federal law are not the same, our obligation is we follow Minnesota law. We are in Minnesota. Uh the lawyer, you know, I I appreciate what you said about this having nothing to do with um Trump's executive order. Um when I read uh Mick's email, he talked about how this wasn't really an executive order. This was a an interpretation of Title 9 by this current administration. And so um kind of, you know, I did a little Google looking myself, not to the extent that you have the that you have done, and uh it turns out that every administration has a different interpretation of Title 9. And so what that says to me is that in 2028 or 2029, sorry, right, when we get a new president, whoever it is, there's going to be a different interpretation of Title 9. And so it seems more prudent for us to look at sort of historical precedent and not change with the whims of whoever happens to be in office. Uh and and as our lawyer pointed out, executive branch interpretation does not carry the force of law. And to Sharon's point, Minnesota law is super duper clear. And I don't want us to end up like Anoka Henipin where we discriminate against a trans student and we have to pay several hundred,000 in fines. I don't want plus legal fees to our lawyers because I'm certain Mick will not work for free. Um, we cannot violate students rights. It's just plain plain and simple. And this is a a generally speaking, this is a high-profile topic. If we violate students rights, we will get sued. I don't think as a as a as a board member, I would rather spend our taxpayer money on teachers or paras or bus drivers or nutrition services or paper for the copier or whatever um than to spend it on a lawsuit uh or in a legal settlement. And you know, inviting a lawsuit is a waste of taxpayer dollars. It's a waste of all of our tax dollars. Well, not Sean who lives in Still Water, but the rest of us. um poor Sean catching strays. Uh and so for these reasons, I do not support any further discussion. >> Okay, Linda. >> Yeah, I have written in my notes everything you just said basically. But yeah, so um I think it's important that you know we comply with the wellestablished Minnesota state law that we listen to our attorney and we don't um risk having uh litigation like an Okaoka Henipin School District did several years back. Um it's important that um also that we follow our strategic plan as much as we can which has to do with integrity and equity for all students. So, I do not support this, Eric. >> I could be wrong here, but I I think you guys are potentially missing the point of this of this letter. We're not, the goal here is not to vote on are we going to go against Minnesota law or are we going to try to um go our own path as far as um what we do with with trans athletes. The point of sending this letter is to urge the Minnesota State High School League and the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota Education leadership to review their laws and what they're doing as far as biological males and women's sports. Okay, that's all this letter does is to urge them to review the laws that they have passed and the policies that they have passed that have been found to be in contradiction with with the the federal department of education. So that's all this letter does. It doesn't it doesn't mean that if we vote if we push this forward to vote on it and we vote hypothetically yes on it that all of a sudden all of our policies in 833 change. that's not the point of this. So I I just want everybody to understand that um because that's a huge distinction. So we're not I don't know that I just want everybody to understand that because it seems like there's a misunderstanding of the whole purpose of of this letter. Okay. There was a there was a a large consortium of um school board members across the state that essentially wanted to and this is how this got started that wanted to acknowledge that the federal government has determined that the state of Minnesota is in violation of title 9. Okay. And we wanted to or Ryan wanted to essentially do something to urge our state leaders to get in compliance with Title 9 because of the financial implications or consequences that may filter down to our school district itself. All right. And we don't know when what the timeline for that is. That's why I asked. Um but potentially there could be uh uh implications for it in the future. Uh I we don't know. Um, and it it really starts with the top of the leadership in the state of Minnesota. It doesn't start with our school district. It starts with the the educational leadership in the state of Minnesota. So, for that reason, yes, I would like to see the letter get pushed forward for a vote. >> Okay, Ryan, >> that's exactly right. This is not about going against Minnesota law or going against their own policies. This is simp whereas the independent school district 833 board affirms its commitment to providing all students with opportunities to participate in school athletics in a manner that is safe and safe and respectful of both competitive fairness and individual dignity. And whereas Title 9 and longestablished athletic policy frameworks were designed to protect equal athletic opportunities of biological females in sex separated sports. And whereas our community has expressed significant concern about preserving competitive integrity in girls sports by ensuring clear eligibility criteria for sex specific teams and events. And where Minnesota State High School's league current policy has created situations where biological males may compete in girls sports resulting in a loss of competitive opportunities, scholarship, safety, and advancement of biological females. And whereas local school boards currently have no formal process for input into the creation or amendment of Minnesota state eligibility rules despite bearing responsibility for representing the interests and values of our local community. And whereas the United States Department of Education and Health and Human Services have formally found the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League in violation of Title 9. And whereas a federal investigation concluded that Minnesota's policy of allowing participation in girls sports based on gender identity rather than biological sex constitutes unlawful discrimination against biological females and denies them equal athletic opportunity. So what this is basically saying is this is this is where people are coming from. It's not about going against state law. It's not about discriminating against people or trying to prevent discrimination that's already occurring. And basically we're saying we want the state to to rectify this. So Eric's point is spot on. I'm not saying let's let's be rogue and go against state law. I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is we should be asking our state leadership like hey you guys need to get your proverbial stuff together so that we as a district know what to do because we're we're essentially caught in we're violating the law in one way or the other depending on which way you look at it. Right. I mean, we don't hold on and we don't want to have to be responsible for that's not our job as school board members to have to decide all that stuff. We are not legislators, but this could affect our school district. It already affects the the girls playing sports and that's not fair for them either. And it's not fair for the trans kids. It's not fair for anybody. So maybe we should, I don't know, push this forward and say we want you guys leadership, our our leaders in the state to to make a decision about what this means. How are we going to comply with federal law? Or maybe we just stop taking federal funding and then we don't have to bother. Then we, you know, that's an option, too. So, I would like to see it at least discussed. And if we want to amend this, if if if other board members feel that there's something inappropriate about this or if something in my resolution uh adds uh undue risk or burden to our district, I'm happy to have a discussion. We can amend it. It doesn't have to go with the exact verbiage I have right here, but it's at least to get the conversation started. That was that's why I brought it forward. And thank you for your time. >> Okay. So, I am against bringing it forward because I do know what this is saying and I do understand what it's saying and I think Minnesota has been very clear on their stance on this. I don't think um doing this is actually it says right here to immediately revise and review the transgender athlete participation policy. So we are going to urge the state to change their policy and their procedures and their law and I'm currently in agreement with their current laws. So I don't agree with bringing this forward. Also, um the fact that Director Clark did not know where this would even go had, um it been brought forward um does not um put a lot of weight for me into um that this this is something we should do. So, um at this time, we do not have a majority to move it forward. So, it will not move forward to the November 20th um business meeting for a vote. Um and we will move on now to um 6.0 and that is our information items. 6.1 is a financial update and that will be presented by Chris Blackburn, director of business services. >> Sean still has the clicker. I'm just excited I don't have to click and um so thank you this evening. Uh tonight, as you know, each month we bring a financial update and tonight's focus is really um kind of twofold. It's a little bit of a little glimpse into our 2425 preliminary financial results as well as just kind of um a little talk about how we're looking for the current year. So, diving right into the 2425 preliminary financial results. And on the revenue side, uh we were within 1.8% of budget. So, we came in just slightly above. Just a reminder that we have more than a thousand lines across all the funds. And so sometimes when we're talking about what that looks like, I always teased u my old predecessor that I did better on him and expenditures because there's more lines. Um but to that end, so just a graphical tried to move a little bit more to um some visualizations tonight instead of just a lot of numbers and um sometimes to not make anybody fall asleep. So basic state formula, I'll point that out again that that is by far our biggest driver of revenue um for any school district in Minnesota, but so no different here. And so we came in real close to budget, state special education. And so you'll see the blue is the revised budget and the red is the actual amounts. State special education, as you'll recall, um during revised budget season at that point, the state was talking about prrating our state special education aid. And so we chose to budget a conservative amount for that and they actually did not prorrate that aid. So we received our full entitlement and so that largely accounts for that difference there. um other state aids, you know, always sometimes a little bit there's some le levy and aid mixes and so within that um some things come in, we get a little more aid maybe than we perhaps anticipated right away. And so that came in a slightly higher. Our federal dollars um is actually our lowest amount um just pertinent to this conversation this evening, our lowest amount of revenue, but again, we came in right close to budget on those. local property taxes, another significant source and we're always thankful for our community that's been so supportive to um for operating levy in particular. And so that came in right at budget and then again local other and we generally budget a little conservative there. That's largely interest um dues, participation fees, um admissions to events. So if you attend a theater event or a um you know football or volleyball or basketball, hockey, any of those um that would fall into there too. Typically interest in this case is the um driver of that difference. So again a nice little piraph and this is why I point out the state basic formula when we look at the 2425 actual um and I'll say preliminary results. We're still we just wrapped up audit last week. So I always am hesitant to say these are final because we're still wrapping that up. So but that basic formula state is 42.1% of our actual revenues from last year. Why that's important when we talk about receiving 2.74% increase for 2526 on our state aid that's the portion of which we receive that 2.74. So when sometimes when we're looking at those numbers and we know when we get to the expendure side we'll see that significance of salary and benefits that 2.74 is just on that 42% of our revenue. State special education just wanting to point that out the significance of that in our budget. Um and again that's a reimbursement. So it's based on prior year expenditures largely. And then the other most significant there is that property tax piece. And again that's 25.4% on um actual last year. So again just reflective of that support in our community that we're extremely grateful for. So on the next slide is the expenditures. So, we'll transition and um pleased to tell you that we were within I'll let Simmyi cough for a moment that we were within a half a percent of budget and so we have over 15,000 lines across all funds. Um and so to be that close we always take a tremendous sense of pride and utmost um respect to my team Nikki Kasle um and the rest of the finance department who largely particularly with that salaries and benefits piece. So you'll see that we came in just slightly under on salaries, a little bit under on benefits. Um services, we came in a little higher. So we always I tell people it's kind of like the price is right. We hope to come in close without going over and that one went slightly over. Largely due to transportation in that category. Um the contracted transportation is always a little challenging just to determine exactly what our need might look like the following year. supplies we came in just slightly under capital almost spot on maybe just slightly over and other um dues and memberships and such like that. It's a real small part almost spot on. I'll comment on the benefit side that with midyear election so we actually have open enrollment going on right now. So I know Abby and her and the benefits team um are working diligently to get everybody enrolled. I know I have mine yet to do so I'll get that done Abby. Um but we with that mid-year enrollment particularly it's always a little bit of a challenge to just predict what people will do for benefit elections. And so even a revised budget, we try to capt capture that. Um and sometimes we get a little closer than other years TSA elections if people decide to put more away into retirement, which we were, you know, hope people do make that choice. Um but those always impact that number. So in the next slide, we look at the 2425 actual and again the um just point out as to the significance of that salary and benefit. So it's 76.6% of our actual expenditures was on salary and benefits. So we really invest heavily in our people. So whether that's custodians, teachers, um the people around this space, our office professionals, bus drivers, um there's just a nutrition services, I think there's just well maybe not them because they're not in this fund. Um as I said it, but there again just that reminder of that investment in our people um again because then that directly impacts the students. So the most significant of that would be our teaching group just as far as number of staff, but again that 76.6%. on this slide then is the fund balance. Um right now that uh I'll kind of color code coded a little bit here and Sean probably was like oh gez Chris color coding. Um but so the green is the historical information. This does also show projected. So the blue is the current year projected. The red shows based on current year um original budget and then the gray is kind of as we look to the year following. So historical and projected on fund balance this really just so to caution on this side is unrestricted fund balance and I point that out because we know that the state does have various restricted funds that we also receive. We know board policy is based on unrestricted fund balance and so that board policy as a reminder is 16.6 and I do anticipate that we'll be um again we'll have met that board policy goal again for this year. So pleased at that. But we as we look forward, we know that um as we look for enrollment, which will be on my next slide, we'll talk about that. But just to note that those red and gray numbers are both just projections at this point. So as we talk for current year, so we'll transition to current year and enrollment. Um we speak about and um sometimes people might say, "Oh, Chris, enrollment again." But yes, it drives our revenue. So we um as of October 28th, so last week we have um the K12 count was 18815 and we're projected right now to be just slightly under budget. And so we'll continue to monitor that as we move forward through the spring. Um 84 students, as a reminder, is equal to about a million dollars in our budget and that we are paid based on actual average daily student count. So, as students attend classes and things like that or they move in or out of the district, we're paid on that average daily count and that those counts are finalized the ne next fall. And so, right now, I know Trisha and her team kind of wrapped up the most significant portion of the work in student information system um for this past year and then they're kind of just cleaning up the data just a little bit yet. So, it is kind of that leg in um that cleanup. So again um color coding the green is the historical the blue is where we anticipate 2425 to land and the red is our projected budget what we utilize for budget on and then the gray is projected numbers for enrollment and so you'll see that that trend kind of we go kind of ticked up a little bit. Um last year was our highest enrollment ever and we know um this year we're kind of projected to just be a little bit above that and then we'll anticipating to decline some and we know that we have a growing community which we're also thankful for but we also recognize that with those lower class sizes coming in with those kindergarters those low birth rates are impacting that. I looked back the past several years and we've lost about I'll say just attrition wise. So I think graduating senior class the next year incoming kindergarteners it's been about 200 students gap. So we graduated 200 more than we've received into the system. And so that naturally as it flows through the cycle all the way up um and we continue that pattern. It's kind of increasing in future years. Um and then we also know that with enrollment options we'll start to see some of that decline. And so just trying to make sure that we can um get in front of that and mitigate that however we're able to. Again, for 2526, so the things we're watching, I'll just a reminder that preliminary budget was approved with a nearly $2 million budget deficit. And so we knew going into this year that we had projected a deficit at um as was approved in June. Enrollment, again, we're looking at slightly lower than projected this time, not significant, but just again that we'll continue to monitor. interest income. I do highlight that only because I highlighted that we had come in a little above um last year and so we know that the Federal Reserve just cut rates again and so we'll continue to monitor that just to ensure that we didn't get too maybe aggressive on that as well. expenditures. We'll continue to monitor and make adjustments wherever possible as well or you know if there's things that make sense to again with the significant portion in staff there's some of those a lot of that is set um cost but we'll continue to monitor salaries and benefits that reminder again that 70 as a budget percentage it actually is 78% of general fund budgeted expenditures for the 2526 school year so the exciting future dates so truth and taxation which I think you know I I believe again my predecessor just called the Super Bowl of Finance um is on December 11th. So our board meeting in December um will be the truth and taxation hearing. At that same meeting we will seek board approval on the for the final tax levy. The audit presentation um Mayor Neielson of LB Carlson will be here in January. Um typically he attends the workshop meeting so to allow a little more discussion in January in 20 in December. So starting already we well just right around the corner we'll start planning for budget for next school year for the 26 27 and then we'll move right into staffing as well. I know um Abby we already have a bit of a timeline already set and so we'll be working towards that in March next year we'll bring the 2526 revised budget. We'll bring that forward for board approval and then next June we'll be talking already about the 2627. So, just seven months away, we'll be here talking about the preliminary budget for next year. Um, with that, any questions? >> Does anyone have any questions? >> All right. Um, hi Chris. Thank you so much for this. Um, so one, I do want to say like looking at um the preliminary financial results slide. Um, it's so pretty. Um, and I really want to thank everyone in executive cabinet for how diligent you've been on trying to ensure that we get to our fund balance and keep, you know, at that 16.6 level. It's it's a I know it's a lot of work and I know it's kind of thankless work and it's not fun work, but I appreciate it. Um, and so one of the things that, you know, I look at is for 2627, you know, there's a a fairly significant decline in in what our fund balance might be, right? And so, um, I know we went out for a levy in 2021 and I remember at the time when we were talking, we said that we wanted to go as long as possible before we go back out to taxpayers, right? Um and so uh but then we also know that we are trying to settle all these contracts and we've got we want to pay people as well as we possibly can. So given those two sort of like tensions right that I laid out, when do you think we would have to start looking at potentially a new budget adjustment process or thinking about how we're going to manage our budget longer term? >> Right. That's a really great question. So, I think as we look knowing that we have um some expansion in the charter school world and just different enrollment options sometimes for students, we know that this next year will really be um I'll say kind of a bell weather of what that might look like. We know there's a lot of uncertainty and so we were a little hesitant to get too far ahead of it um and make some adjustments that perhaps um were a little more challenging when maybe we need not have either. And so I think we've always been really good at making sure that we're fiscal stewards of taxpayer money and I think we'll continue to do so. That said, I think certainly as we look forward, so um you know, Julie and I have a lot of conversations about trying to can we get to 2031, um we know that we'll have the opportunity to do a one-time renewal via board approval if so chosen, and that would be at that same level if we wanted to uh maybe seek voter approval for additional funds. Right now, we're about $225 under the cap as of today, and that changes each year. So, we'll continue to monitor that is there. I would say right now um our goal is still to get to 2031 and so certainly capital projects levy you know might be too that we know technology as we continue to just have a need and a on the system for those type of not only um devices and supports and the tools that our teachers need but also the staff to support those needs. So I think that would be another opportunity and again I think S our goal is really to not go back out if we're able to but certainly be ahead of u those things and also to make those budget adjustments. I would suspect a year from now we'll know a lot better and be looking at a process for that very likely because at that point we should know have a much better sense for what that enrollment and what type of um adjustments may be needed. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Okay. Thank you, Chris. Okay, we'll move on to 6.2 and that is our language access plan and that will be presented by Dr. Megan Hickeyi, executive director of student support services and Sean Hoganorf, director of communications. >> Good evening everyone. Um, I'm here tonight to talk and Sean is here to answer any hard questions that you might have about our language access plan. We started sharing this with you this summer and we're here today to share um our completed plan. Okay. So the core purpose of this plan is really simple but it's critical. It's equal equitable access for each and every family. Our plan details how cool schools will ensure that every family can receive information about their students education regardless of the language that they speak or read. And it isn't just about compliance. It's really about creating partnerships with all of the families that we serve. Our goals are really to increase family participation in their education and make sure that all of our families feel welcomed, included, and valued. Our plan also helps to standardize our operational procedures within our school district so that the process is consistent and reliable across all of our school buildings. We also seek to make sure that all of our employees are aware of our language resources and have the training to use our resources. And finally, we seek to create systems for feedback so that we can continuously improve and serve our families and our community better. So, what's included in our plan that we have here tonight? It includes our commitments to our families and their rights. We define words commonly used in our language access plan so that it's accessible to people. We define how families preferred language is identified and how that information is used. We're sharing information about how we use interpreters and translators and when it is appropriate to rely on our multilingual staff. We're sharing resources on training for our so staff so that we can communicate with multilingual families. And we're also providing information around evaluation and improvement opportunities related to our language access plan. So you might be asking why is this needed? And we talked a little bit about that related to our strategic plan earlier this evening. Our school district is made up of families who speak and read more than 80 languages. Since July 1st of 2025, our school district has welcomed more than 125 new to country families. That's over 125 families navigating new school systems, a new culture, and often a new language. We've had more than 400,000 words translated on our website to ensure access and information is available 247. We've utilized more than 5700 minutes of interpretation from qualified interpretation interpreters through our language line. That's over 95 hours of direct real time communication for and support for meetings, conferences, and phone calls. So, WASCO schools use a variety of services to provide both interpretation and translation to our families and community members. We offer in-person phone and video call interpretation. We have a number of multilingual staff who are able to deliver in informal interpretations to our families. We also use a Minnesota based professional translation service for our formal and some of our information document translations. Our website uses Weot. Is that the right Okay, close. Um to translate into seven languages. Our district newsletter and most of our school newsletters are translated automatically. Educators are also able to use different software to communicate with families in their preferred language. We also have a paid artificial intelligence translation program for informal and crisis communications. related to staff resources and support. Currently, all staff have access and will or ha have or will receive training opportunities regarding title six of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. We'll train folks on how to work effectively with interpreters, including how to write using plain language so that it can be translated more clearly. will train on cultural understanding related to the delivery of information and on services to provide students receiving English language services. Finally, we'll be looking at equipment and resources available to all staff to communicate with our multilingual families. By communicating with families in their preferred language, we'll allow them to participate in their children's education more effectively. When we remove language as a barrier, we empower families to be active participants in their children's education. That means more families at conferences, at PTA meetings, and engaging with our teachers. It also helps send a tangible message to our families that everyone belongs here. This feeling of trust is really foundational to everything we do. And most importantly, this leads to improved student outcomes. When families are engaged and feel welcomed, students have better attendance, they have higher academic achievement, and they have stronger well-being. >> Thank you so much. And Sean is ready for any questions that you may have. >> Anybody have any questions? >> Um, I did have one question and I actually prefed it to Nikki in the hallway because I ran into her. Um, but I was hoping you could explain some of the outreach that we do to multilingual families so that they understand kind of their um, resources that are available to them. >> You get the first hard question. >> All right. Good evening. Um, yes, I am happy to talk a little bit about that with you. Um, we've done a variety of things. So, um, one thing to just remember is that we're just one department and our priority has really been to, um, put processes and procedures in place that schools and our community partners can help us with, um, this work. Um we have implemented newcomer meetings at the elementary schools that um have been very successful to engage families in the the building learning and understanding just the culture of school. Um and another thing that we have done is partner with community ed and a lot of the events that are happening right now. our warm code event has been hugely successful and well attended by our multilingual families. Um and then just the continual outreach with our our EL teachers um and just having that representation on numerous um district and school um committees and it it's been it's been helpful. Did that answer your question? >> That that was great. Yeah, I really appreciate that. That was honestly my only question. I was going to say I read the plan and I was really um excited to see it kind of laid out in black and white like here's where you use an interpreter, here's where you can use yeah, you know, someone who speaks Spanish in the front office or whatever, right? And so, um I just appreciated that how clear how clear it was. Um Sean, I did have one question for you. We had talked somewhere I had seen that there's some like wait time for doing translations and stuff when we go to that company. Inco >> Ingo Yeah. In Edina, there's like, you know, it's not like you can send it and then you get it back, you know, in an hour or whatever. Like, has that turned into an issue or have have we've had ample like people have had ample time to get turnaround on what they've needed to have translated? >> Yeah, that's a good question. So, when we talk about translation services, we oftentimes say we need a week, right? So, that's what we ask for in that. Uh, when there's a crisis letter, and it would absolutely be necessary, it's an increased cost, right? So I can get it back in an hour depending on right that's a 500word document or something like that. Right? If it's if it's 15 pages, it's going to take a minute, right? Um but but I I would say that it's they've been they are great. They they really are. Um um most things about a day, maybe a three-day one to three day turnaround. Um and those are not crisis related. Those are not big things. Those are things that are within uh you know, three to five pages or something like that. A flyer is is quick. So, we have not had that problem to to be succinct in my answer to you, but if we needed it really quickly, it would just be an increased cost. >> Okay. Um, and so, how have our families received kind of the this plan? I'm assuming the implementation of this plan is happening now. So, how and it's I know that we've been doing a lot of this work before, but how have our families received it sort of now that it's more formalized? >> Yes. So, um the the just within our team, the outreach, the calls to families just to explain some of the school processes and how they can access in the district is really what we've been working on. >> And that way we will have a website. We will have it in the PDF that you see here. Um we'd put that in our family newsletter. We'd bring that out to our family ambassadors and our and send it out to our schools that way to also put in their school newsletters and things like that. So we would push it as and with all of the ways that we we do disseminate everything else. um we're just waiting to make sure that you didn't have any suggested changes or updates or things like that that we'd want. So once it's final, then we would get into that that dissemination of it. >> Great. Thank you so much. >> Any other questions? Um I just more had a comment. Um I think the district does a great job of welcoming families and letting or having them be as involved as they would like to be. And this is just another way that we're really making sure that we are reaching everybody and being really inclusive of all of our families. So I appreciate the work. >> Okay, on to 6.3 and that is our academic calendar 2026 27 and that will be presented by Julie Nielsen, superintendent. >> Thank you and thank you to our community um who's patient because I know that you wanted this calendar about two or three years ago. Um so people in the audience if you want a copy of the calendar it is over here. We don't have slides up uh in the space this evening. So please feel free to grab a copy on the table. Um but maybe just to summarize a little bit when we think about the school calendar. Um first of all we have a steering committee that works um on drafting that calendar. Uh that steering committee is made up of executive cabinet members, representatives from our departments as well as professional development. We have membership from our United Teachers of South Washington County Schools. our student information department. We have an athletic an activity director and of course uh principles from various uh levels. Um our steering committee met twice. I think what we found over time is there are so only so many ways that you can adjust the calendar when there's a set number of days um that students need to go to school and teachers and staff um need to work. Um so this evening you're going to see that. You're going to note that um according to considerations all schools must end the school year by June 30th. We have 165 days of instruction and when we count those days it also is a matter of seat time from the state. And then finally our current teacher contract requires 183 duty days. So as we take a look at the calendar and we uh have had neighboring dual school districts that have done different things. Um we are continuing to have an after Labor Day start and so we know that by starting later more than likely that's going to push us into the middle of June. So with an after Labor Day start, you'll see that our first um full day for all students would be September 9th. That September 8th day would again be used for onboarding. Um our let me think here, sixth graders and 9th graders and elementary would have that assessment day. Um the rest of the month of September um looks almost identical to this year's calendar with that ATBPS day on September 28th. As we roll into the month of October, just to point out October 14th, um that day was slightly changed and on October 14th, our middle school students, that will be a student contact day. I believe this year it was a professional development day. So that will be adjusted to be a student contact day along with 10th and 11th graders who will be in school. And then you're going to see 9th and 12th graders on that day because of testing would be asynchronous learning. Um the remainder of October October looks similar. Um we again on November 3rd would have no school due to an election day. Uh that will be a general election. And then um October, excuse me, November 26th and 27th would be offer holiday. And then some may look at the month of December and wonder why are we having a teacher workshop day on the 4th? Um because of the start of the school year, we actually had to extend that first trimester. So first trimester won't end until December 3rd. In past calendars, it actually ended right before Thanksgiving. And so this extends it a little bit. And we did talk about that opening trimester and the importance of making sure that we have equal days to trimester 2 and three. Some of that is because you're just getting to know students and they're just getting back into the groove during that first trimester. So you see that workshop um perhaps a slightly condensed winter break um with students being in session December 22nd and then arriving back in January on January 5th. um much of January and then February looks similar. We have a professional development day in February. Um March 12th, you're going to see that purple day and that is a teacher workshop day and that marks the end of trimester 2. Then our spring break, March 15th through the 19th. And then for the remainder of the year, um it looks very similar. You're going to note April 20th is a testing day. It's really difficult. One of the considerations we have breaking up kind of that last two months of school is that professional develop development day in May. And what we found with AP testing, it's really difficult. Um the schedule isn't posted yet, so we're not sure when that AP testing is going to occur. Um so right now we've kept that professional development day um in April or on April 16th. And then our last day of school um for K12 would be June 9th. You'll see then that there is an HPS day and then a final workshop day that we would wrap up the school year June 11th. Um, with that, any questions about the proposed calendar? >> Any questions? So, I mean, I I don't know that this is necessarily a question so much as a comment, and I know that there's probably not anything that we can do about it, but um I really don't love first trimester ending after Thanksgiving just because I know from having a high schooler or I guess I've had multiple high schoolers at this point and maybe you guys actually this would be a great opportunity for I would love to hear what our students have to think about this. Um, I know one of the things I've really appreciated about how our calendars have worked thus far is that finals happen like Monday, Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, then you're off. You don't have to think. No one like you know not even your calc BC teacher is assigning homework for that weekend you know and then you get to spring break and you take your finals you know and then you get to go on spring break and you have nothing you know and it's just I think it's a really excellent time for our high schoolers to have like a an actual proper decompression mental health break um where they're not worried about you know I got a lug the, you know, chemistry textbook with me to wherever, to grandma's house or whatever. And so, like, I understand how how time works, right? But I just I I really struggle with this one specific piece just because I think breaks I think our children I think our children deserve to have like a an actual break break and not just um I don't know I I this I this I struggle with a little bit but um you know that being said >> and Abby I want to say that that was a conversation we had we originally had as a committee. Everybody's shaking their head. We originally had as a committee that day before Thanksgiving, so the 25th. And I think by contract, it needs to be at the end of a trimester. Is that correct? Yeah. The teacher work day has to be at the end of a trimester. But we I think we completely hear what you're saying. It is really nice for our kids and kids. We would love to hear you. Do you agree with uh with Timmy? Yeah. Having that time to even have two days where you don't have to think about finals. Any other questions or comments? >> I just noticed that the spring break is a week later than normal. What was the reasoning for that? >> Because school starts so late. >> We we can start before Labor Day if y'all want. Everything will get pushed back a week. I think that that is the ever ongoing debate and we've heard other districts that have gone before Labor Day and we discussed that and I think um when people went out and got feedback uh the majority of feedback came back starting after Labor Day. So, I will be bringing the calendar forward next meeting for a final approval and then we will get it posted because we know that people are already calling Dana and wanting to know uh what that spring break and other dates look like. >> Um, can I can I offer one piece of constructive advice on the page after the calendar? Um, is it possible to make the font bigger? >> It's already asked. >> Oh, really? No, only because it doesn't fit because it's in an it's in a um Google spreadsheet and so to save it to a PDF. >> Girl, I'm gonna bring a magnifying glass. >> Maybe we can work on a different platform. Sean, right? >> So, when it does go to families, it is larger and it is more uh user friendly. For sure. >> Thank you. Some of us have terrible middle-aged eyes. to me. We're always open to good feedback like that. >> Okay, on to our last information item and that is 6.4 and that is the first reading of proposed policy changes that will also be presented by Julie Nielsen, superintendent. >> So, I'm thinking back to the strategic planning people talking and understanding policies and how they work and I think we've all tried to be so intentional. Um, this evening I'm bringing forward 10 policies that have been reviewed and revised to reflect updates. Um, our board policy committee met um and made some of those adjustments and they're reflected in your packets this evening. Our current board policies are located online underneath school board and right there are all of our policies. Um, those policies come forward to the board in a cycle. Um, some are reviewed annually and others are reviewed every two years or every three years. Um, and then following uh my conversation around policies, there will be an opportunity to address the board regarding any of the policies presented this evening. Um, also just to communicate as I'm uh educating our students, um, all of our policies are in series. So tonight we'll be covering uh policy in uh series 200 which is related to school board. In the 700 series it's business services and our 800 series policies, our school facilities and grounds. So to start out with our 200 series, schoolboard committees, there was added language just clarifying the role of schoolboard members um as it relates to advisory committees. policy 704 uh development and maintenance of an inventory of fixed assets and a fixed asset accounting system. There were updates to the statute and that was a change in dollar amounts um as per Chris. And then we hop into the 800 series which are school facilities and grounds. 801 equal access to school facilities for students. There were no suggested changes. 801.4 the policy was conducting bond campaigns. Um and there is no MSBA model policy and so the recommendation from the committee is that it would be deleted and that there would just be a procedure if we were to ever hold um another bond campaign. 802 disposition of obsolete equipment and materials. There was a section added on disposing of surplus books. 805 waste reduction and recycling. There were no suggested changes. 806.2 buildings and grounds security. There were no suggested changes. um 806.3 insurance recovery and replacement. There is no MSBA model policy and so the recommendation from the committee was to delete the policy and create a procedure. Um next 80.4 parking, traffic and safety controls on district property. There were no suggested changes to that as well as no suggested changes to 807 health and safety. >> Does anyone have any questions or comments regarding the policies? Okay, seeing none, this will come forward at our next business meeting. Oh, wait. Sorry. Are there any? No. Okay. This will come forward at our next business meeting for a vote. Okay. 7.0 is reports and comments. Superintendent Nielsen. >> Thank you. Um, our students covered our two upcoming plays. I'm there the tomorrow Mean Girls and then Matilda the following Friday. I'm so looking forward to it. I've heard wonderful things. Mean Girls is already in its second week. Um, also a reminder we have a November 18th all district advisory and that is where we have our parents and community members who representative on our nine advisories come together. And then finally, um, I want to just say a few words about graduation. Uh, because I know that there are many people kind of sitting on their edge of their seats wondering what are we going to do about graduation? And obviously with the news from the University of Minnesota, um, it threw many school districts for a loop. And uh Christina is shaking her head because she is working right now on trying to track down that location um that will hold the amount of people we need. What we do know for this year, and we continue to hear a lot of feedback of why don't you just have it on your fields or why don't you have it in your gymnasiums? And what we know for this coming year is right now we're struggling with parking for our students that we know we just don't have the space to host graduations on our home sites right now. Um, so that being said, there are a couple options out there. You know, following the announcements, we did have um some different locations reach out to us. We are hopeful in the next couple of weeks, we will have a date selected and then we will begin communication once we have that done. Any board members have any events to report? Okay. Then we move on to 8.0 and that is our future meeting dates. November 20th, 2025 is a schoolboard business meeting here at the district service center at 6 PM. And then December 11th is also a school board business meeting here at the district service center at 6 pm. We do only have one board meeting in December. Um and then 9.0 and we are adjourned.