[Music] I don't know good evening it is Thursday March 27th 2025 at 6 PM we are at the district service center in Cottage Grove Minnesota we would like to acknowledge that the land in which We Gather is the land of the mawakan Dakota people mawakan means dwellers of the Spirit Lake our first item on the agenda is roll call Sean Ryan clerk good evening y'all Sharon vener here Eric Tesmer here Melinda dols is absent simy patn here Katy Schwarz here Milan Chi here John Tey here and Bren hacker here okay 2.0 Pledge of Allegiance please stand to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for okay 3.0 3.0 is approval of the agenda can I get a motion to approve so moved second motion by Sharon seconded by Eric any comments all those in favor any opposed motion passes moving on to 3.1 and that will be our oath of office for Louise and that will be presented by superintendent neelson on up Louise I think I'll have you stand to my right all right so this evening as the oath of office is recited you are assuming a tremendous responsibility as a director of our school district with the duties empowered by the Minnesota Legislature this power puts you and the other members of our school board in in the position of being both morally and legally responsible for Equitable and quality education of every student in The District in carrying out this responsibility you will be asked to fulfill the roles of vision structure accountability and advocacy in providing Vision the board with extensive participation of the community envisions the community's educational future and formulates the goals defines the outcomes and sets the course of our school district to achieve the vision the board establishes the structure and creates an environment designed to Ure all students the opportunity to attain their maximum potential through a sound organizational framework as a board member you will be accountable to the community ensuring a continuous assessment of student achievement and all the conditions affecting the education of our children you serve as education's key Advocate on behalf of students and our community to advance the vision of our school district furthermore you must strive to work together to lead the district toward fulfilling the vision we have created fostering Excellence for every student in in the areas of academic skills and knowledge citizenship and personal development at this time Louise please raise your right hand and repeat after me I swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of Minnesota I swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the state of Minnesota I will discharge Faithfully I will discharge Faithfully the duties of the office of school board member the duties of the office of school board member of district 833 South Washington County schools of district 833 three South Washington County Schools to the best of my judgment and ability to the best of my judgment and ability congratulations and [Applause] welcome welcome back Louise okay now we will move on to 3.2 and that will be uh years of service for Pat Driscoll presented again by super intented neelson and U Miss Pat Driscoll thought she was going to sneak away from us just quietly um you can move but we can find you um today for those of you that don't know um is the day that I typically call board members on a board meeting day and I'm sure Pat was surprised like why is she calling me today I'm no longer on the board um but I did want to call her and remind her that we were going to take the opportunity to recognize her for years of service so this evening on behalf of the school board and administration we would like to present Patricia Driscoll with an award of appreciation for her service from 2016 excuse me 2018 to 2025 um Pat Uh and those of you don't know uh Pat has spent many many years in education and being part of our school board you have been so valued and so we appreciate everything that you have done um advancing our school district and your leadership on our school board and so congratulations and best wishes as you move forward [Applause] thank you Pat okay 4.0 is comments to the board at this time individuals may speak to the school board on any item relating to South Washington County Schools the board will not respond to or discuss your comments character abuse or specific complaints identifying staff students or task force members will not be permitted the superintend may be asked to prepare a response to your concerns the comments to the board period will be held open for up to 30 minutes in total each speaker is permitted to speak for up to three minutes in total the Schoolboard will allow up to three speakers per Topic at the three minute Mark the microphone will be turned off and we will move on to either the next speaker or the next agenda item e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 2.0 will be our student District ambassadors and that will be introduced by superintendent neelson thank you um and good evening I uh was down at the podium so I'm going to start back up here here um it has been over a month and I just asked the students if they missed coming here to spend time with us and they did I don't know if they missed the food or just the fun um but I'm going to start off this evening with um our elementary student and so Milan I'm going to have you start by introducing yourself and just talking a little bit about you and what school you go to um I'm Milan chi I go to Pine Hill and I'm in fifth grade and so um what do you enjoy most Milan about being a student leader coming here it's fun what what have you learned what have you learned about the school district I know we took a tour we've done different things what did you learn on the tour anything that you can remember oh big it is and like how much money see the important things the size and the money do you remember how many students we talked about Wow Let's get him a hand that was it thousand you are right because sometimes when our students come down here they just see one little specific school and so we be when we begin to open their eyes that we are a really large District they're like wow and then as we toured our district service center seeing all the Departments and seeing the paper and the printing and mounds and boxes of paper because we're such a large District um what is something interesting that's happening at your school um we're going to do an egg drop challenge and so what do you have to do to prepare for that egg drop um and don't tell me drop an [Laughter] egg um just find out what materials could cushion it and do you work with a partner or is it a solo just by yourself activity partner a partner so just one partner and is this the activity where you climb to the top of the ladder uh I don't know I hope you don't climb to the top let your teacher climb to the top that is a a fun activity is that for all students in the school just fifth grade just oh we like it when it's just a grade specific project um if you could create a class or program for students what would you uh create um I would teach um just uh fishing and sports and tell us why you would choose fishing and sports well I like I like learning about fish and I I like playing a lot of Sports and what sports do you like to play Milan um baseball soccer and football well you know what Milan you're going to have lots of opportunities in the school district and we are so excited and so happy to have you here this evening um normally I told the students that if they look up there they get to see their picture so who's ever behind the scenes our students do like to see how they look right there now look at the kids please um they like to see it see there you are kids sometimes sometimes when our students speak they actually speak up there to themselves and look at the board right thank you so much um we're going to move next to our Middle School student and John I will let you go ahead and introduce yourself and share some comments about being a student leader hello hello my name is John sey I'm an 8th grade and I attend Lake Middle School one of the things I enjoy most about being a student leader is getting to come out here and see all the wonderful people who work here something interesting going on in my school right now is tomorrow the jazz band and I are going to for the elementary schools and play songs for them uh as a student ambassador I provide feedback about teachers student policies and soon Behavior I think that I'm motivated to learn because I know that one day I'll be able to apply that information to find a job and use in my day-to-day life I've had many positive experiences throughout my eighth grade year one being when we went to eidge with the LMS band and then we went to get Culver after I think that the student programs we have like B important I think idea I have for one is making sessions with a therapy dog to help reduce student stress and boost mental health finally I just want to say that one of my favorite times of being a district Ambassador is when we got to sample new foods for the cafeteria thank you for listening and just it wasn't just about the new foods uh can you remind the board and those in the audience when we stamped food it wasn't just to say like it what what were our nutrition services staff doing why did they do that activity uh they're trying to make the foods that Su and eat healthier um like reducing salt and sugar and other not as nutritious ingredients John is really paying attention to details be because what John realized is some of the new regulations coming out are reducing sodium and reducing sugar and so exactly um they get to sample things and see does that look like there's too much zucchini or we could put a little more in and students wouldn't notice all of those different things so thank you John for sharing um Bren we're going to move last to you as our high school student hi my name is Bren hacker I'm a junior at wber high school one of my favorite things about being a student leader is hearing all the things that are going on throughout our district I especially like to hear about what's happening at EAS ENT Park the fellow high schoolers and hear all the amazing things that are going on there and trying to bring those back to Woodbury and see if we can integrate them um something interesting that's happening to woodbery High School is that there's a lot of Renovations going on me and my fellow student ambassadors at wbury have met with principal Mrs S and Wagner and we have talked about all the changes that are happening and we've gave our input on what we like and what we might want a little bit differently from our experience as students as a student ambassador at woodbery we meet once a month to talk about all sorts of things we talk about what's going on in our school we ask questions that we've heard throughout the school to try and get an answer to share with our peers and we also have a Google form that students can fill out to talk about things that they have problems with with within our school and we try and work through ways to improve that for all of our students um with this new change to our school and the enlargment that's happening there's a lot more classes that have a potential of being added and as a junior and working through the ACT I've really been thinking about classes and I think it would be really nice if the school could provide uh act study course in class like during the school day because I know that all online courses or inperson courses can cost a lot of money and some people do not have the financial means to take those and so then they have limits to what they are fully capable of um one thing that motivates me to learn and keep going is just the future that I could have and I have a lot of goals that I would like to achieve and I know that I have to keep putting in the effort and keep learning to be able to achieve those goals um I love working with the district Center because I'm able to just meet with everyone I like to hear from the elementary schoolers because I remember my elementary school days and it's fun to see what stayed the same versus what has changed and yeah I like to bring that back to our school and share everything I've learned I thank you brand I wish that we could keep the same group of students year after year after year because it takes a year uh for them to get to know each other um and it's great to watch how our elementary school our elementary students you know follow and model after our middle and high schoolers and it's great to watch our high school students as they sit at their their table right here right Bren um and just how they're able to connect with our three um big high schools and so um let's give our student ambassadors this evening a round of applause thank you okay on to 6.0 and that's our consent items all consent items are considered routine and not non-controversial by the school board and will be approved by a single motion there will be no separate discussion of these items prior to the meeting board members to have had the opportunity to review each of these items and may request that any item be moved to the action items for individual consideration that did not happen this evening so can I get a motion to approve so moved second that's Sharon and Louise all those in favor I I any opposed motion passes okay on to 7.0 and that is our information items we do have one this evening and that is 7.1 and that is our Community Education update Early Learning and that will be presented by Jake Winchell director of Community Education good evening chair Schwarz members of the board superintendent neelon thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight and share with you a little bit about the great Early Learning programming that we have going on here in the district here with me tonight are two of our leaders in early childhood uh Joyce beard and Beth Quist they will handle the majority of this presentation here tonight uh being my first year in the district that has been one of the more rewarding uh parts of this role is to see the high quality programming that we have across community education but especially in early learning one of the biggest takeaways I have had from this presentation that you'll see tonight is the overwhelming number of students uh that this team connects with annually uh not only that but they do it across many different sites within the district it's a very big and complex complex program and most importantly it's a very high quality program I think that says a lot about our teachers our Paras our Partnerships with ecse District leaders uh and Leadership within the program so with that I'm going to turn it over to our two leaders here Joyce beard and Beth Quist for the presentation good evening chair Schwarz and the members of the board superintendent neelen and distinguished guests my name is Joyce beard and I supervise the Community Education Early Childhood programs I have supervised these programs for the last 11 years but have been supervising or working in early childhood programs in school districts for nearly 30 years tonight we are excited to share with you information about our District's Community Education Early Childhood programs this includes Early Childhood family education preschool and early childhood screening in this presentation this evening we plan to highlight the role of early learning in South Washington County Schools as well as provide a highlevel overview of our early learning programs under the Community Education umbrella over the next four slides I will highlight key Empirical research findings that demonstrate the importance of early childhood education these findings provide valuable insights into the critical role of brain development in the first five years the long-term benefits and high return on investment and early childhood education early learning as the foundation for literacy success and the importance of strengthening schools through family Partnerships did you know that by age a child's brain is 90% developed the early years are a critical window of opportunity shaping a child's ability to learn think and Thrive early experiences positive or negative lay the foundation for a child's Future these critical brain connections for higher level abil abilities like problem solving empathy and self-control are formed or not in the early years without positive interactions and stimulation these essential connections may not develop fully making it much harder to build them later in life early childhood education Fosters the development of neural Pathways that underpin critical life skills laying the groundwork for lifelong learning and personal growth the state of Minnesota invests in early childhood programs through specific allocated funding an abundance of research over the years has found investments in early childhood education helps to strengthen families improve improve schools build a stronger Workforce and boost the economy nobel-winning Economist James Heckman found that every dollar invested in quality Early Childhood programs generates $4 to $16 in Returns the earlier we act the greater impact for kids families businesses and communities early literacy is a foundation for a child's success in school and life it starts with language hearing ing words building vocabulary and learning to communicate in ad in addition children need nurturing experiences and interactions to develop foundational literacy skills and it all begins from day one gaps in children's vocabulary start to appear as early as 18 months by the time children are 33 and four years old their vocab sorry their ability is one of the best sorry their vocabulary attention and general knowledge are predictors of third and fourth grade reading comprehension third grade reading ability is one of the best predictors of high school graduation in early childhood programs we established early connections with Children and Families to support the foundational building blocks of literacy research consistently demonstrates that early family engagement in a child's education is strongly linked to improved academic performance including higher grades and better test scores Early Learning programs through our Community Education Program provide Early Access for families with children prenatal to age five supporting strong family Partnerships from the start our early learning programs have a multifaceted approach to support to supporting services to families in the 2324 program year our program served 3,677 participants and provided 817 Community referrals to families this number represents an unduplicated count for those enrolled in early childhood family education Early Childhood screening and preschool the preschool numbers included were those enrolled through Community Education and does not include those children enrolled through special education services an additional an additional 268 3 to 5y- olds enrolled through Early Childhood special education was placed in the Community Education Program during the 2324 program year in addition 1996 children birth to five attended our various Early Childhood family education drop in classes our team consists of 76 program staff including 71 instructional staff and five support staff our instructional team includes licensed Early Childhood Educators for both preschool and ECFE as well as licensed parent educators who primarily serve ECFE but also support families across all early learning programs additionally PA of professionals play a ro vital role in supporting classroom instruction in both ECFE and preschool our support team mirrors the structure of early learning programming in our district 30 years ago when all early learning programs operated from just two centralized sites at that time preschool was only located at the district Program Center currently Early Learning Program program is distributed across 12 different District buildings our extraordinary Early Learning office coordinators located at Liberty Ridge site 2 handle all ECFE and preschool enrollment throughout our 12 buildings as well as support Early Childhood screening each year our early learning office staff enroll participants in 128 various classroom sections for both day and evening learning opportunities this includes process ing over 1,800 tuition based class enrollments annually as I mentioned previously we are located currently at 12 sites including 10 Elementary and two centralized sites our two centralized sites include 14 ECFE and preschool classrooms Liberty Ridge site 2 also houses our Early Learning Program offices where we handle all Community Education Early Learning enrollment 13 addition additional preschool classrooms are housed within Elementary sites all Early Learning Staffing and instructional direction is supervised through Early Learning next I will provide an overview of the unique structure of early learning including the state district and funding framework I will then highlight the Early Learning programs within Community Education after that Beth quis will share insights into our ECFE Outreach initiative beginning with the state level in July of 2024 public school early learning programs transition from the Minnesota Department of Education to a new agency the department of children youth and families this reorganization aims to streamline Services by consolidating programs previously spread across multiple state agencies by centralizing these programs under one Department Minnesota seeks to enhance Service delivery and better address the needs of its children and families at the district level two specialized in distinct Early Learning areas are supported under special services and Community Education Early Childhood special education is part of the Department of special services Early Childhood special education provides specialized services for young children birth to age five with developmental delays or disabilities Community Education Early Childhood programming includes a range of Early Learning opportunities such as Early Childhood family education preschool programming and early childhood screening Community Education programs are open to All Families unlike ecse participation and early childhood family education and preschool are typically voluntary and may involve tuition or sighting fees the funding the funding streams for Community Education Early Learning programs are varied Minnesota's Community Education Early Learning programs are funded through a combination of state aid local levies and parent fees and tuition funding for early learning programs is diverse and only partially covered with nine different funding streams supporting these Key Programs All State funding is governed by statutes and guidelines that regulate program delivery and services to ensure quality and accountability next I will outline these the three Early Learning programs offered through Community Education beginning with preschool State funding provides preschool access for children who are three and four years a of age by September 1st in addition eligibility criteria curriculum and instructions service hours and Li lure requirements for teachers and administrators are determined by state statutes and funding stream guidelines our preschool classrooms include a mix of tuition-based seats financial assistance options and place ments for Early Childhood special education students 44 class sections of preschool with the current capacity of 800 slots for three and four year olds moving to Early Childhood screening the purpose of Early Childhood screening is to Prov promote healthy development identify children who may need further evaluation and or to connect families to community and District resources parents can expect a brief simple check of their child's Vision hearing growth development and immunization status along with a short parent interview screening is required before children enter kindergarten in a public school in our preschool program screening is also required for four-year-olds before enrollment and for three-year-olds within 90 days of the start of preschool while screening before kindergarten is mandatory Minnesota encourages screening at age three to identify developmental health and learning concerns rally ensuring timely intervention and support before kindergarten additionally screening at age3 offers an opportunity to share information about early learning programs available to children in our district and Community our third program area Early Childhood family education otherwise known as ECFE provides education and support for all families with children birth to age five ECFE in our district has a multifaceted approach acting as a partner creating collaborations with other community providers as a connector providing resource connection for families and as a service provider offering parent hug classes and family events ECFE is a unique program in the nation with no other state offering a similar initiative ECFE began 51 years ago as a pilot program in public schools ECFE is now offered in every school district in Minnesota it is a Statewide program ensuring that all families with young children have access to early childhood education and parent support in our district ECFE serves many families with children from birth to age five and is our largest Early Childhood enrollment program in the 2023 24 program year we provided programming for 1756 on duplicated participants through classes family field trips family events home visits preschool parent child events and childcare training our ECFE team consists of licensed Early Childhood Educators and licensed parent Educators as well as licensed administrators ECFE classes include three component areas early childhood education parent child interaction time and parent education our Lear Early Learning advisory council is a requirement for ECFE programs and provide advisement and councel to support program program Effectiveness next Beth Quist who has been our ECF Outreach coordinator for the past 5 years will talk briefly about ECFE Outreach hello Outreach refers to the intentional and strategic engagement with individuals and groups outside our organization or program the ECFE Outreach programming goal is to identify new and underserved populations identify child and family risk factors particularly those that impact Children's Learning and Development and assess family and parenting education needs in the community provide programs and services that are tailored to the needs of families and parents as prioritized in the community needs assessment which is a state report provided annually to the Department of Children F Youth and families and raise awareness of early learning programming Services throughout the district Community both internally and externally the following Outreach areas or roles have been established to deliver programs and services specifically designed to meet the needs of families and parents in our community the overall purpose and intention of utilizing these Outreach areas is to create alignment across Early Childhood programs and the community overall ensuring all children have a high quality Early Childhood experience our infant Services provide information support and Community Connection ction for new parents aimed at addressing the unique needs of babies and toddlers birth through 24 months and their families our families learning together program is a multicultural multilingual ECFE class for families with children ages birth to 5 years early childhood education parent education and parent child interaction components provide the format for engaging in a supportive learning environment sharing crosscultural perspectives and making community connections the families learning together community of shared learning focuses on children's development as well as discussions related to Parenting and school practices that are both shared and unique around the world licensed child care support works with our local child care providers and community-based preschools to horizontally align evidence-based Early Learning practices that are grounded in early childhood State Standards our preschool and screening parent Liaisons offer an alternative method of delivering parent education and resources while increasing awareness of early learning services and events for families with children ages three through third grade this includes families enrolled in preschool participating in early childhood screening and engaging in parent consultations and home visits organizational Outreach participates in activities to increase awareness about early learning services and events in our community and utilizes social media as an alternative approach to to deliver parent education information and resources on the screen is a quote from one of our preschool parents who opted into one of our parent consultations with one of our preschool and screening parent liaison it speaks to the impact of a parent consultation she said one of the best supports we had at home for our son's social anxiety was the parent consultation she met with us gave us great ideas for books and language to use that was the same as School parent encouragement and it made a huge difference listed here is a sampling of highlights um in regards to outreach during the 2023 24 program year we provided 487 parent consultations these were provided by three of our staff the breakdown of consultations by age includes seven prenatal 110 new baby 15 toddler 331 preschool and 24 um for children kindergarten through third grade their parents parent and child preschool nights provide an opportunity for parents to attend their child's preschool class with their child and then attend a separate parent presentation facilitated by the preschool and screening parent Liaisons this year's topic was playful Beginnings nurturing your child's heart mind and joy for learning parents learned about the importance of play and how it supports children's development in the areas of language and literacy and social emotional development through our Outreach efforts to connect with families through local licensed child care providers and community-based preschools we successfully trained 209 providers in key areas such as child development managing child challenging behaviors executive function and the importance of learning through play each training also included a parent education component empowering providers in our community to confidently share the knowledge they gained with families ecfd Outreach would not be possible without the continued support and collaboration with Community Partners here listed on this slide are just a few examples we have an extensive relationship with various departments in Washington County in addition some of the other Community Partners include the Cottage Grove Fire Department Washington County public libraries and sashco cares I'd like to highlight a recent example of Community collaboration with Washington County that aligns with the stated goals in two of our Outreach areas licensed child care support and preschool and screening parently Liaisons a picture of Our Community Partners from Washington County are pictured on this slide on Saturday February 8th Soco ECFE collaborated with Washington County child care licensing to provide a halfday training for 27 licensed home child care providers in our community our ECF childcare trainer led a session on managing challenging behaviors in early childhood offering a variety of strategies used by South Washington County early learning programs to support children strategies that providers can also share with the families they serve additionally our ECFE preschool and screening liaison shared valuable insights about Early Childhood screening what it is and what it is not and offered guidance how they could effectively discuss early childhood screening with the parents that they work with through this collaboration we were able to horizontally align evidence-based Early Learning practices that are grounded in early childhood state standards and increase awareness about early learning Services specifically Early Childhood screening in our community this concludes our presentation for this evening we appreciate the school board's commitment to early childhood education and look forward to continued collaboration and shaping a brighter F future for all Learners thank you we'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have at this time uh not a question but a comment like wow um the more I learn about early childhood development and what you're doing and the number of moving Parts you have going on this is rocket science it's amazing what you're doing thank you thank you Jake I did have a question so so I saw they they mentioned that there's six full pay slots six um special ed slots and six uh I forget the financial assistance financial assistance l so what happens um so what do we do with students I mean what if there are you know 10 full pay or 10 Financial assistants or how does that work or how do we accommodate that yeah so the you know that is how we have it set up but of course you know we children that we may have been identified in our preschool programs that maybe then move to Early Childhood special education services so it's not always 66 you know but that's how we set it up um but it does it does shift okay yeah and then is it like the classroom space availability is kind of the rate limiting step on expansion of early childhood education like we just don't have enough what like how do we not or how do we expand this program if we wanted to yeah um that's a great question uh I think transportation is an ongoing issue and I think a huge barrier for uh you know children to attend the program so that would be one thing um I I'm not certain I I think the capacity is a little bit of an issue in terms of maybe where we're located because that can be difficult sometimes when there's needs for k12 and then you know the enrollment grows and then we have to maybe move to another site so that tends to happen okay so where the demand is and where the space is are not right not okay don't overlap okay yes I I agree with Louise this is sort of this is amazing I I'm really impressed with all that you guys are doing thank you thank you I have a followup question um how long has this program been in place in South Washington County do we know when it started H good question I mean I know I was actually teaching here quite a while ago in the 90s um and before that I would say it probably started here in the 80s but it was very small back then it was ECFE um and then preschool just at the district Program Center so it's really grown right thank you thank you we'll move on to 8.0 and that is our action items we do have three of those this evening and the first one is 8.1 proposed policy changes and that will be presented by Julie neelson superintendent thank you um the policies being brought forward this evening have been reviewed and revised to reflect updates in Minnesota statute definition of terms legal references and cross references our board policy committee met and has reviewed and made any suggestions um if you recall on March 6th we discussed those during a workshop meeting and so this evening I am bringing forth for approval um in our 400 series seven policies um in our 500 series just two policies so 400 um policies that incorporated are Incorporated by reference 401 equal employment opportunity 402 non-discrimination disability 402 point2 non-discrimination Section 504 403 discipline suspension and dismissal of School District employees 418 drug-free workplace and drug- free schools 419 tobacco free environment and in our 500 series title um nine sex non-discrimination or sex non-discrimination and 524 student technology acceptable use and safety okay can I get a motion to approve moved second motion by Sharon seconded by simy any comments okay seeing none all those in favor I any opposed motion passes okay on to 8.2 and that is our revised budget for 20242 and that will be presented by Chris Blackburn Director of Business Services good evening chair Schwarz members of the board superintendent neelon and student ambassadors and I love that you love the food I got to try pickle pizza the other day because I sit in your food service so tonight we're seeking approval of the 2425 revised budget school districts revise their budgets annually after student counts state and federal allocations and labor expenses are better known when the preliminary but then when when the prel preliminary budget was compiled in June of the previous year the school board was presented with the 2425 Revis Budget on March 2nd 2025 with significant variances from the preliminary budget were highlighted I would one note is that the general fund balance on the um graph that was provided with the admin um admin report reflects a fund balance in general fund of 14.4% and I just wanted to note that that actually is the total just overall fund balance inclusive of all restricted funds and so it's all expenditures the total fund BS divide by all expenditures whereas the board policy actually reflects only the unrestricted so we remove it we match the mde calc so we're projecting that to be at 15.8% um would be the board policy percentage Administration recommends approval of the 2425 revised budget at this time can I get a motion to approve so moved second motion by simy seconded by Sharon any questions Chris I just had one question absolutely which was um thank you for providing the board fund balance but do you remember offand what our Target Fund balance for this 25 26 year is um we had anticipated going up about 2% each year so I believe it was 14.6 would have been this current year um because our goal was by 26 to be at 16.6 so the 15.8 we're we're ahead of our we would still be slightly above yes okay perfect thank you any other comments or questions okay all those in favor I I any opposed motion passes thank you and then we are on to 8.3 and that is our release of probationary teachers and that will be presented by Abby Baker Executive Director of Human Resources and operations good evening chair Schwarz members of the school board superintendent neelsen and our student ambassadors um tonight I will present on 8.3 the termination of probationary teaching contracts um during the 2024 2025 school year as in past years we have many exceptional teachers working for the school district it is necessary to pass a resolution to terminate the teaching contracts of a number of probationary teachers the reason for release includes student driven scheduling changes in enrollment curriculum changes Union contract transfer article language lenser issues licensure issues and performance issues tonight you will receive the non-renewal letters of the probationary teacher who must be released at the end of the current school year the resolution terminates teaching contracts at the end of the 2024 2025 school year with non-renewal for the 2025 2026 school year Administration recommends approval of the resolution can I get a motion to approve so moved second motioned by simy seconded by Eric any comments or questions okay Sean can I get a roll call vote Louis SS yes Ryan Ryan Clark yep Eric Tesmer yes Simmy pedag yes and Katie Schwarz Sharon vaner I'm I don't believe you're fired um okay yes yes okay motion passes thank you thank you um 9.0 superintendent report and that will be presented by superintendent Julie Nelson feel like you said superintendent neelson quite a bit tonight um just three quick updates for the board and for the community and those viewing um the construction staging has started and it looks so nice that you can hardly tell I know we have some Easter ID people out there yet uh yet but um I was out at EAS and I was looking out toward the um athletic area and I thought it looks like there's not quite as much light well here they have the wood all up in the paneling and there's just an opening and then I stepped out and looked up to second level and all of it is already trimmed out around the poles very neatly so very tidy um and we know that athletic and activities entrance is going to be closed down there's going to be a new entry coming in but we are already staging um atland today uh the blue flags are out where the I'm sure the diggers are going to be coming I said it'll be a great way for our middle schoolers to end they'll be get to watch the big diggers outside and you know that can be entertaining for many many hours so construction staging is beginning and a lot of time and energy went into the planning and the design work and I really try to make sure that we prepare our staff um that it's going to be messy um and for our three students sitting up here each one of them has something at their school so Woodbury High School has the remodel which will be real messy um John has uh the secured entryway at Lake Middle School and of course at Pine Hill they have an addition as well as some reconstruction so all three of these students while they may not be at that same school um in the coming years remember most of the work won't be done until 2027 but it has begun um last night I just wanted to give a shout out to our Elementary art Specialists um I know that we had our media Specialists here this evening uh South Washington County Schools takes great pride a number of years ago back when I was hired to actually hire Specialists so music media art and fied and so last night we got to celebrate our young artists and you can take a look around here as well as in the hallways there were photo opportunities this place was so packed with people um and just really a nice recognition of our student students in the great work that they do and finally um this is maybe a little bit early uh but communication has gone out but April 17th I guess it's not that early we're almost to April April 17th is our kindergarten welcome night and for anyone viewing anyone in the audience if you have a kindergartener know someone who is going to be in kindergarten please please make sure you get your enrollment paperwork in because we are setting Staffing now and if we get paperwork after which we always accept um then we just have to take a look at considerations around Staffing so April 17th will be our kindergarten welcome night thank you thank you Julie okay 10.0 and that is our future meeting dates April 10th 2025 is Schoolboard Workshop meeting here at the district service center at 6 p.m. then April 24th is a Schoolboard business meeting also here at the district service center also at 6 pm and with that 11.0 we are adjourned [Music] he [Music] m I [Music] m [Music] he