[0:24] all right we'll call tonight's meeting to order Joan roll call Director Gerspitch here Director Hawker here Dr

[0:30] Kellenberg here Director Lowour here Director Parker here Director Theelander here Chair Sherman here We have a quorum

[0:37] Great Let's stand for the pledge of allegiance I pledge algiance to the flag of the

[0:44] United States of America and to the republic for which it stands One nation

[0:50] under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all

[0:57] Our first action tonight is the approval of the meeting agenda I'll make a motion

[1:03] to approve Can I get a second i'll second it Oh great We'll go with Director Kelzenberg with the second All

[1:08] those in favor of approving tonight's agenda raise your hand and say I I I Opposed

[1:15] Approval of agenda is unanimous Now we move on to our consent agenda And we have our payment of

[1:21] invoices and a field trip request items A and B Is there a motion to approve

[1:26] tonight's consent agenda so moved Director Theelander Is there a second director Lowour thank you for the second

[1:32] All those in favor of approving tonight's consent agenda raise your hand and say I I opposed Motion passes

[1:41] unanimously All right let's move on to our next item

[1:47] Under strategic direction A ensure the learning process is adaptable to meet individual student needs We have a

[1:53] another opportunity to hear from one of our building principles Tonight we're going to hear from Stonebridge Elementary and get a little bit of a

[1:59] building update on some of the great things going on in their school and some of the challenges that they're facing

[2:04] that may help the board in its work Welcome Right Thank

[2:12] you Chair Sherman Dr Funk members of the board Thanks for having me tonight And I will be spending a few minutes talking

[2:18] about Stone uh Stonebridge Elementary and uh some of the good things that we have uh got going on and that some of

[2:24] the challenges as well Uh first of all just a quick

[2:30] snapshot about our school We uh we are a preK through fifth grade building We

[2:36] have 455 students uh in the school We have capacity for 425 It feels really

[2:43] good quite honestly We have a little space to do some things that maybe other schools don't have the opportunity to do

[2:48] if they are uh closer to 100% capacity But bottom line is we do have some room

[2:53] to expand uh if our uh enrollment ever increased Uh you can see the table on

[2:59] the left and uh you see that Stonebridge is below the district average in three

[3:05] of those four categories The free and reduced lunch category multilingual learners and also students of color And

[3:12] then we're a little bit above the district average when it comes to to special

[3:18] education Uh here are some of the current realities that I'm going to be speaking about uh tonight Uh you can see

[3:24] on the left uh we've got five of these realities that would be in the strengths column And then on the right we have a

[3:31] couple of uh challenges or opportunities that I'll be speaking about uh towards the the end of this presentation But

[3:37] that's kind of the menu of things that I'll be talking about here tonight So we'll start with the campus and the the

[3:43] building Uh first of all we sit on a little bit more than 11 acres of land Uh

[3:49] we're at the southern end of the attendance area And when I say that we're at the southern end uh I'm talking

[3:54] about like we are 200 yards to the north of the southern boundary of our

[4:00] attendance area So we have students that come to us from areas that surround William O'Brien State Park and all the

[4:07] areas uh in between Uh and of course we have many that are walkers as well But we sit right at the the tail end the

[4:14] bottom end of our attendance area In addition to the 11 acres that we have um

[4:20] we work in cooperation with the city of Stillwater and we have a nearly 4 acre

[4:26] school forest Uh so we have uh staff members and kids that are able to enjoy

[4:31] that space as well and do a wide variety of activities and outdoor learning opportunities that they have

[4:38] We've done a number of building improvements over the past uh five summers and uh it it's really amazing

[4:46] what we've done within the building It looks really sharp Some of those things are uh updating the lighting the carpet

[4:52] the casework the plumbing We actually have hot water right now uh at Stonebridge Elementary which sounds

[4:57] somewhat humorous uh but it's true We had hot water in the kitchen We had it in the health room We had it in the

[5:03] staff lounge but nobody else had hot water So if you can if you can think about elementary kids on a January or

[5:10] February day coming in from recess you know we're wanting them to wash their hands before they go on to uh to lunch

[5:17] or uh or other things within the classroom And it really didn't promote a whole lot of uh fantastic handwashing So

[5:25] we are really pleased to have hot water in our building right now And it's just something that I wanted to to underscore

[5:32] Um first time the board has heard something like that Yeah it's a true true story It is I I

[5:38] witnessed and experienced the cold water It was really surprising Y So uh this is

[5:45] the 53rd year of Stonebridge Elementary And one of the things that I think stands out is it does not have the look

[5:52] or a feel of a 53y old building I think we are primed and set up to serve students in that building for for many

[5:58] many years to come Um I do want to acknowledge that as nice uh as our

[6:03] campus is as nice as our our building is I' I'd like people to all remember that

[6:09] what matters most are the people in the building And that kind of gets me to our next uh uh our next slide here We know

[6:16] that having high quality people in our building is what is going to make us uh successful and we speak about this as a

[6:24] as a staff but we know that everything ticks when our relationships are centered And so that is something that

[6:31] we uh that we are after We're chasing after that Our building is filled with

[6:36] people that are consistent They are reliable and they are predictable And we

[6:41] just talk about the benefits of having some clear common expectations So at a

[6:46] at a base level I talk about um something along the lines of if I stop

[6:52] commun uh communicating with you which I won't do I will continue to communicate with people but if I were to stop

[6:57] communicating with people if there are four things that they are doing if they

[7:03] are getting kids reading at grade level that's critical If they are showing up

[7:09] we know that we can't impact others when we're not here Both adults our colleagues uh but also the kids uh we

[7:15] want to do today's work today We don't want it to drift and build up because then it becomes unbearable at that point

[7:21] and we want to be easy uh to get along with And if we talk specifically about what that means it means taking an

[7:28] interest in others It means encouraging others It means that I am bringing a positive attitude and I am slow to take

[7:36] offense as well Um it can't be something that we do one time per day or one time

[7:42] per week or one time per year and check that off the box That has to be a daily

[7:47] part of our fabric So it's consistent It's daily We hope for it And I know

[7:53] that hope is not a strategy but our hopes do identify where we want to be

[7:58] and then we need to take action on that So if we want to have a first class school if that is our hope we've

[8:05] identified that What are the things that we will always do in order to achieve

[8:10] that and then what are the things that we will never do because some things that we do may uh may distract us from

[8:17] having that first class uh school So uh I want you to know that our people and

[8:22] our school culture is not an accident It is something that we do pursue daily Uh

[8:28] we talk a lot about it We talk a lot about the people that we want to have at Stonebridge Elementary and and people

[8:33] with these types of characteristics uh are the people that I think can propel us to to new levels uh

[8:39] academically and it's such a benefit to to our kids Uh also before I move to the

[8:45] next slide uh oftentimes I think that our kids will take on the personalities of our our teachers or our building And

[8:53] I just want to point out that um we currently have 19 kids in our building

[8:59] that have zero absences on the year They are 100% uh attendance rate at this point And we

[9:06] have an additional 36 kids that have missed only one day of school so far So we've got 55 kids in our building that

[9:13] have zero or one absences on the year So our kids are showing up also And I think

[9:18] that's something that uh that that really excites me I'd also like to point out that our

[9:25] families volunteers and our PTA is a is a strength of our building We have some volunteers that are part of the vessel

[9:32] program Vessel is volunteers for elementary school literacy Uh most of the people from our vessel program are

[9:38] from the Stillwater Sunrise Rotary Uh they are coming in two days a week and

[9:43] they are providing some additional supports for our uh our learners in the

[9:48] area of literacy So it's added practice it's added reps that our kids get with

[9:54] our vessel volunteers Uh by the way our vessel volunteers they too are just

[9:59] first class people and they have blended in so well uh with our staff members and our whole school community Uh we have a

[10:06] host of parent volunteers Uh these volunteers are doing things from Friday folders helping out on field trips They

[10:13] are classroom helpers A few years ago we just had some things that we needed to address in uh our restrooms with some

[10:19] restroom behavior Wouldn't think that we would have a whole lot of parents that would want to help supervise some restrooms and make sure the behaviors

[10:26] are okay Uh we had people jumping on that and I think that really speaks to uh to our parents Uh we have a PTA

[10:34] uh that is exceptional and they host a lot of events that also build community I have four events here This is not an

[10:41] exclusive list of the activities that are that are hosted by our PTA These are

[10:46] just some of them and they they build great community Uh and then we do have an an engaged parent community as well I

[10:54] want to thank them for their efforts because it really is a cooperation between a school uh and our parents

[11:03] I'm going to move to some of the systems that we have We've got a a pretty robust academic system Uh and it's growing and

[11:09] it's something that we continue to to improve upon but I think it's a support Uh uh first of all we've got just a

[11:17] universal academic screener We do it three times a year for all of our K5 kids It's called the FastBridge Screener

[11:24] Uh and the screener is really valuable to us The data tells us who is

[11:30] responding well to tier one instruction And if students are showing that they

[11:35] are not responding to tier one instruction then we make a plan for them through these in-class interventions

[11:42] which would be like a tier 2 intervention or in some cases even a tier three intervention which may be a

[11:48] pullout intervention uh with a with a reading or a math specialist

[11:54] So that's kind of how we roll with that universal screener We have these schoolwide intervention uh meetings that

[12:01] take place We're doing them four times a year but that's where we come together and and we talk a group of professionals

[12:09] uh about where our kids are at and where we need to target some supports and and

[12:14] how we can how we can best do that uh we decide at that time who's going to be uh

[12:20] served with these in-class interventions who's going to be served with these pullout uh interventions and then we

[12:26] continuously uh monitor that I'd also like to point out that in the tier one piece as it shows

[12:35] on the screen we have in fact separated tier one into and these are my words uh

[12:41] you know I would call it the high achieving tier one students and the lower achieving tier one students Now

[12:48] tier one is is really good We want about 80% of our students to be in that tier one category We're not there quite yet

[12:55] We're not at that 80 uh 80% of our kids at that tier one but it's a broad group Tier one is a really broad group And so

[13:01] we have one group that's higher achieving one group that's lower achieving And um we also have a building

[13:08] goal this year where uh initially based on our fall data we had 95 total kids in

[13:15] our building that met the target Uh they're in tier one but they were in

[13:20] that lower achieving tier one area And based on our winter data we had 36% of

[13:25] those students that now have moved to the higher category of of tier one which

[13:31] shows that uh there's some really good things taking place within our uh within

[13:36] our instruction in that tier one area So I'm excited to see what happens when we do our spring fast bridge screener If we

[13:44] could get another 36% that would go into that higher category I think that would be pretty outstanding So just know that

[13:51] there's a lot of a lot of work that takes place with that A lot of data collection and a lot of purposeful

[13:57] planning uh that goes behind it The last bullet point I have is about our our wind time It stands for what I need

[14:04] We're doing this on a daily basis in all of our classes It is something that is uh scheduled So when teachers are doing

[14:11] in-class interventions simultaneously you will have some kids that leave the classroom to participate in a in a

[14:18] pullout intervention or maybe even in a special education service as well And you can see here you know the rhythm

[14:24] really is we're going to teach we're going to teach we're going to teach we're going to teach Uh you know after that we get a chance for the students to

[14:31] perform You know we can measure the progress and then we can make adjustments uh if needed based on that

[14:37] So a little bit about the academic systems which I think is a a strength and a and a growing strength for us When

[14:43] we take a look at our student achievement this is based on uh MCA data

[14:48] uh the the left graph you know it's the reading graph and comparatively I would

[14:54] say it's it's okay Uh but honestly you know none of the scores here you know overly excite me I think we've got room

[15:01] for uh growth with this Uh I do think that the long-term trend speaks to some

[15:08] of the gaps that we uh baby seen in our current literacy uh curriculum Uh and I

[15:13] will tell you just anecdotally we've got classroom teachers that are excited about the benchmarks curriculum uh that

[15:19] was approved at the last meeting and we are hopeful that that will close close some of the gaps that we see Uh on the

[15:25] right uh it's our math uh our math graph Uh and again I think last year we took a

[15:31] a step in a in the right direction Uh but I'll be really excited if we you know can continue that trend uh with

[15:38] math as well Uh the last strength that I want to

[15:43] talk about is our uh sightbased emotional and behavioral disorder program So there's seven elementary

[15:49] schools uh within the Stillwater School District Four of those seven have a sightbased special education program

[15:55] Stormbridge Elementary has the EBD program There are 18 students from across the district that are served here

[16:02] There are daily curriculum and instructional responsibilities They are in a sight-based program but that

[16:08] doesn't mean that they are not receiving uh high quality curriculum Uh it's

[16:13] delivered to them on a daily basis They're also learning uh social emotional and behavioral skills There

[16:19] there's classes that are taught in regards to that They have service learning opportunities as well when they

[16:25] are serving others we feel that that promotes uh something within them to continue doing that And they know that

[16:31] it feels good when they are contributing to our school or contributing to people outside of our school There's a ton of

[16:37] praise shout outs a lot of recognition for these kids We want to capture them doing good things Even even if it's

[16:44] small good things we want to capture them doing uh doing these good things And then maybe the most important bullet

[16:50] point here is is the last one The skills and strategies that these kids are being

[16:56] taught and using sometimes successfully sometimes not as successfully 100% of the time Uh they are really applied in

[17:04] all of our classrooms So just just an example I can go into one of our sitebased uh program classrooms and the

[17:12] teachers may be teaching on uh conflict conflict would be the topic and they are talking about the the sentence stems or

[17:18] the language that we will use uh to uh to start a conflict uh but also to

[17:26] stop a conflict So we're talking specifically about conflict starters and conflict stoppers And then these kids

[17:33] have an opportunity to uh apply that And again sometimes they're not 100% successful with that but when they are

[17:40] we are we're jumping on that and we are praising them for that But the real benefit is that other students in the

[17:46] building other staff members in the building uh are are hearing this language and we are replicating that

[17:52] language with the broader good So because of what our our EBD kids are

[17:59] learning in the sightbased program I believe that it's raising the bar for everybody within our school and it makes

[18:04] that program uh extremely special to us All right I'm going to transition to

[18:12] a couple of opportunities uh that I'd like to talk about One is uh

[18:17] we do have some unfilled pair of positions Uh just this past week we uh

[18:23] hired a new pair professional Uh she started she's actually in week two uh with us right now Uh and she's done a

[18:30] fabulous job so far We still have one other unfilled position These positions were filled at one time but again

[18:38] attracting people and retaining people uh has been a challenge uh for us at Stonebridge as it has been for for other

[18:45] schools within our district Bottom line is we need really skilled people in

[18:50] these roles Uh just like I spoke about our our strength of our building is our relationships Relational greatness is a

[18:57] must in these roles Uh we do have a limited pool of subs And uh with the

[19:04] inconsistencies that we have in subs it just increases demands on the existing

[19:09] staff Um and you're probably wondering well what does that mean how does that increase the demand on uh on the other

[19:17] staff members and let me share with you um a little bit about that When we have a sub that comes into our building we

[19:24] have classroom teachers and we have special education teachers They are sharing details about the children that

[19:31] the paraprofessional will be serving What works what to avoid what to do

[19:38] academically what to do and how to respond behaviorally when is specialist time when is lunch when is my personal

[19:45] lunch there's a whole host of things that they are going over And uh you know

[19:51] I guess the the true message is that the teacher's time is spent preparing others

[19:56] to be successful but it also simultaneously will eat up the time that they need to prepare to be successful

[20:03] themselves So I would like you to imagine for a moment uh how great it would be if we

[20:10] could hire somebody in the summer or at the beginning of the year and they would carry through with that that role and

[20:15] responsibility for the for the entire year And that would allow uh our

[20:20] teachers to have these conversations um you know a few times throughout the year

[20:26] but not every week or in some cases multiple times per week when we have uh

[20:32] various subs that work within our building We have really nice subs uh

[20:37] that come into our building So I am grateful for our subs Uh but what I'm talking about here is just the

[20:42] inconsistency that it provides and the demands that it puts on our on our existing staff Also when there is uh

[20:49] inconsistency in our subs it just leads to a higher volume of uh potentially uh

[20:55] inappropriate student behaviors uh you know one sub expects one thing another

[21:00] sub may not expect that and it's not really not unlike what we experience at home as uh as parents too you know my

[21:08] kids may ask my wife something she may give them an answer but if they don't like that answer sometimes unknowingly

[21:14] they're coming to me and uh if I don't give the right answer you know there's

[21:19] inconsistency you know it brings some challenges uh that that take place so

[21:24] along those same lines that's what takes place within in our within our school

[21:31] too So the last one that I wanted to speak about is uh that's a growth opportunity for us is uh our systems for

[21:39] social emotional learning uh and behavior support and I say and I I I bring the slide to you with a lot of

[21:44] humility as well Uh but I just want to share you know we've got one administrator and we have one social

[21:50] worker and we have 455 uh students and the the support for students that have needs it's not always

[21:58] consistent and it's not always timely Before I get to the next two bullet points uh again just something that I

[22:05] want you to picture in your mind uh if we have 98% of our students that hold it

[22:12] together for the day uh they are doing exactly what is expected Uh that should

[22:18] be celebrated and it is celebrated Uh but it also means that we have 2% of our

[22:24] kids that may not be holding it together during the day 2% of 455 is about nine students And the reality is that it

[22:32] takes a significant amount of time if there is an issue an incident even an

[22:37] allegation that takes place uh within the building It requires somebody to investigate to retach the desired

[22:44] behaviors to facilitate apologies if needed to patch up relationships in a

[22:49] way that is lasting to follow through on consequences to communicate with parents to communicate with bus drivers if it's

[22:56] a bus situation uh also to keep accurate records of the incident and all of that

[23:02] does take a significant amount of time and that is just one example with one

[23:08] student if it happens to be two students or four students or five or nine

[23:13] students in the day uh you can see that uh supporting behaviors is something that begins to to drive the day and it

[23:20] does start to limit the ability uh for the academic leadership uh opportunities that take place as that urgent work uh

[23:27] seems to take priority uh over a lot of that important work So it's just one of the things that I thought I would share

[23:33] is an opportunity uh that I think we can we can grow in Uh in summary uh the

[23:39] things that I want you to take away tonight about Stonebridge is it is a wonderful school with exceptional

[23:46] educators And when I say exceptional educators am I talking about our teachers yes I am But I'm also talking

[23:52] about our support staff uh food service staff our custodians We all play a role

[23:58] in developing this type of positive environment where kids and families want to be Uh and and we we are a school We

[24:05] are filled with exceptional uh educators Uh we've got a positive culture and we

[24:11] are continuously seeking uh academic improvements throughout our building And our challenges of course are a couple of

[24:18] things that I spoke about already about recruiting and retaining highquality pair of professionals Not just any

[24:24] paraprofessional We want highquality pair of professionals and also providing uh consistent supports to to our kids

[24:32] That's what I have for you So thank you open for questions if people have have questions Um thank you so much for that

[24:39] It was wonderful and we got a really good idea of how great things are in Stonebridge So and some of the challenges are we've seen and heard

[24:45] before at the board table But um I wanted to open the floor up to any questions for Principal Berg Yes Thank

[24:53] you very much for for doing this because it is really insightful for us to or

[24:59] gives us insight to to be able to hear that from you and from all your fellow principles Um one thing I haven't heard

[25:06] other principles talk about is that you tracking the the tier one uh students

[25:11] and and the the lower and the the higher ones and it's and it is nice to be able to see you you bring those up the ones

[25:19] that are lower and that that's a really good metric Um does that also allow and

[25:24] may maybe there isn't the bandwidth for it but to give some attention to those higher

[25:29] achieving students that you know that you can see are doing really well and challenging them even further Is there

[25:36] an opportunity for that uh yeah there is an opportunity and we try to capture that during our win time as well I do

[25:41] think that most of the intensity uh during the win time is for our tier 2 students uh but it doesn't mean that it

[25:49] uh that our instruction is absent for our kids that are uh achieving at extremely high levels Uh we also have

[25:56] opportunities uh to do that within the tier one extru uh instruction And when we get to fourth and fifth grade we also

[26:02] have kids that uh they may not have qualified for our gifted and talented program Uh but they are highly motivated

[26:09] and they are high achieving and we cluster them together into groups And we know that there are benefits when kids

[26:15] are clustered together when like minds have opportunities to uh read the same

[26:20] literature work on a project together uh dialogue together There are benefits uh

[26:25] uh to do so So there are opportunities to do that Uh but it may not be in a pull out type of a a setting if that

[26:32] makes sense Thank you Yes You had one stat early on where you

[26:39] are have a higher number than the district average and that was special ed Is that because of kids that are bust in

[26:45] or brought in from outside of your attendance area that makes that number higher uh I don't know if that's the

[26:50] reason that it makes it higher Again we've got four elementary schools in our district that have a sightbased program

[26:56] and all four of those schools would have a similar situation where kids are are busted to that school for that

[27:02] specialized program So um uh off the cuff I wouldn't say that that is the

[27:07] reason why we are a little bit higher Uh I I don't really have an answer on why it's a little bit higher but I don't

[27:14] think it that it's our our sightbased program That's just my my sense with that Okay

[27:20] Dr Theer Principal Burke thank you for your time Great presentation Um my understanding is that Stonebridge is not

[27:27] a bar elementary school yet Correct Correct We are not Okay Yeah Um I guess from your knowledge and what other

[27:33] schools are doing and working with your peers I guess what are some of the opportunity costs that you're thinking that Stonebridge is missing out on and

[27:40] um what excites you about it or maybe what concerns you yeah

[27:48] Um I think what excites me about BAR is it seems like some of our schools

[27:54] uh their structure is set up where you've got teachers that are interacting

[27:59] with teachers across grade levels uh and they are they are they're having conversations about what's working in

[28:05] their grade level and uh what they can do at uh other grade levels as well to

[28:11] help propel kids to uh to having greater uh greater achievement So I think part

[28:16] of that excites me Um you know at the end of the day it seems like some of these schools have

[28:22] some really uh decent scores too you know academically they are uh they've

[28:27] shown some good improvement And so that's something that's tough to turn away from if if you've got bar schools

[28:32] that are performing at the level that they are uh performing at Uh so if we had the opportunity I know we've applied

[28:39] uh in the past to be a bar school Uh it just it just hasn't worked out uh at this point Uh uh but we would certainly

[28:46] uh entertain the idea I think there would be a benefit in having all seven of our elementary schools uh all be

[28:54] participating in bar so we could be speaking the same language and supporting one another as well And and

[29:01] really we have kids that that transition from one school to another school uh all

[29:06] the time And you know if we have a student that's at a bar school and they come to Stonebridge and there aren't bar

[29:13] opportunities um I think it would be a benefit if we were consistent with our approach with

[29:19] that One thing that we've heard from other

[29:25] schools and I think one of your bullet points maybe alludes to it but not directly in terms of your time as an

[29:31] administrator Some of the administrators have come up and said sometimes the behavior is where you end up spending

[29:36] more of your time and less on that academic leadership that you would prefer to be doing with your staff and

[29:42] students right would you like to comment on anything like that is that something you're experiencing uh yeah Yeah And I

[29:48] think that's you know I'm kind of coming back to the uh the last two bullet

[29:53] points of this slide here is you know I use that that example of 98% of the kids

[29:59] that you know if they're keeping it together that's that that's great They're they're doing the expected behaviors but it doesn't take much to

[30:08] uh to drive my day in a different direction And like I said it could be an incident It may not be an incident It

[30:14] just may be an allegation but there's a significant amount of time uh that that that takes place Uh if I'm calling a

[30:21] parent you know it may be a 7 minute phone call it may be a 10-minute phone call it may be a 20-minute phone call

[30:28] But if there's an incident or an allegation that takes place if you do that times five people that were

[30:34] involved with it you know again you can see that that uh that really builds up I

[30:41] think another part that I didn't mention is uh as a principal of Stonebridge and and I'm not unique in this I think all

[30:48] of our principles are doing this but we are out we are visible we are in the cafeterias we are in the hallways Uh we

[30:54] are trying to be in classrooms Uh I think where I see the the limits is uh

[31:00] when I'm in a classroom it may be to support a student and get them reintegrated into a classroom it may not

[31:07] be uh as much for that academic support or the academic leadership Uh with that

[31:12] it seems like those opportunities are fewer um fewer and far uh in between

[31:18] with that Thank you Thank you so much for this presentation

[31:23] It's really interesting to hear so much about our different schools Um and one of the themes that I definitely been picking up on is the PAR issue Um and

[31:30] that they are incredibly difficult to find and retain Um I don't expect you to have a perfect answer for this but is

[31:37] there anything that the board should consider in how to address this issue in the district and in at Stonebridge in

[31:44] particular is the issue more that people are not staying through the year that's kind of what you were alluding to versus

[31:50] coming to Stone Stonebridge and how can we help yeah you know I I don't want to

[31:55] go places that I shouldn't go and I don't want to get into you know labor negotiations and things like that but I

[32:01] will tell you I I do think that at the entry level uh for our pair of

[32:06] professionals to get a pair of professional in at the entry level um they can work other places and make

[32:14] as much and probably have a little bit less stress in their lives uh a little bit less intensity in their workday And

[32:21] uh so I think that's one thing that uh uh that I think could be addressed at

[32:26] that entry level of our uh a pair of pay scale Like I said I I I don't know if I should be should be even going there in

[32:33] this venue with that but the the pair of professionals that we haven't retained

[32:38] it is not because we haven't liked them uh or that they haven't liked us Uh it's

[32:44] been it's been really challenging for them and for us like there's a lot of tears but they are leaving for a higher

[32:50] paying job elsewhere and um so I think that's one of the things

[32:55] that probably is it's on my heart with that and that's just an honest answer with that is uh we we've gotten some

[33:03] really good people but we've lost some really good people due to that reason also Thank you

[33:12] Great Okay seeing no other questions Thank you so much I know you're sticking around so it will be Yeah Thank you Okay

[33:18] Thank you

[33:24] All right

[33:29] Our next agenda item is an uh item on a priority based

[33:36] budgeting elementary schedule change And um we're welcoming a

[33:42] few people here A couple principles Gina welcome back Principal Bird and

[33:47] Caitlyn's here And um before we get started I just wanted to I think that a

[33:52] lot of people are here to hear your presentation So I'm excited the board's excited to hear from you Um I want to um

[33:59] for background for the for the community I want to just stress that the district has really been looking the board has

[34:04] really been working with our administration to look at academic indicators that are concerning and have

[34:10] been concerning um for a while now And we brought our superintendent in and and

[34:16] he has your his leadership team here to kind of help address those indicators The board's role we've invested probably

[34:22] over $2 million in curriculum updated curriculum curriculum that has been

[34:28] needing to be updated for a long long time So the board is really excited about those investments as are our

[34:34] taxpayers Um we're here today because we have both science and literacy

[34:39] curriculum new curriculum new standards and it's overwhelming It's a lot And we

[34:44] want our teachers to be able to engage in the new curriculum and in the standards And so hopefully we're here

[34:51] today to listen to um the solution from our administration on how to meet that challenge So thank you for coming here

[34:57] today And with that I'll turn it over to you Well thank you for teeing that up so well director Uh thank you for having us

[35:05] We uh we are here to talk about uh a change that we are making to our specialist model that will hopefully

[35:11] alleviate some of the day-to-day uh instructional stressors that our classroom teachers have with regard to

[35:17] meeting all of the instructional minutes and academic benchmarks that they're responsible for And um I have along with

[35:25] me two of our elementary principles because this has been something that we

[35:30] have been discussing off and on for the last year and a half and um are re we

[35:37] have found that now is the time to revisit it with the adoption of our new literacy curriculum So with that I want

[35:45] oh can you click for me post sure Thank you Uh I want to just ground us in our

[35:51] strategic focuses which are literacy equity and inclusion and social emotional learning and mental health

[35:57] both student and staff And so I think this touches all of those with regard to what we need to do is find 40 additional

[36:06] minutes in our classroom instructional day for literacy curriculum um aligned

[36:11] to the science of reading which we've all been engaged in very robust professional development in the science

[36:16] of reading And to do that like I said we need those that additional time And there's opportunities for us to

[36:23] integrate dis different discipline areas to further enrich that literacy experience and provide a more inclusive

[36:31] and equitable experience in both literacy and science So hopefully you

[36:37] will hear many of those things and of course any questions that we don't address we can address at the end of the

[36:42] presentation So with that I will kick it over to Gina and Derek to walk us

[36:48] through some of their thoughts Thank you so much for having us

[36:53] this evening Um we want to talk about the rationale for change So change is hard We're going to acknowledge that right away Um but one of the things as

[37:00] Caitlyn talked about is our strategic focus and literacy is our high priority And so we're using that priority based

[37:06] budgeting approach to reach these goals And so we didn't come about this lightly

[37:11] Um and we've taken a lot of time but with the adoption of our new literacy curriculum we need 120 minutes for

[37:17] literacy instruction daily Any curriculum we looked at required that much Currently we have 80 minutes So we

[37:24] needed to find 40 minutes somewhere as Caitlyn has said So moving science to the special schedule is going to allow

[37:30] teachers to focus their time on implementing the new curriculum and improving literacy instruction the

[37:36] amount of prep time for the fewer standards that science requires was taking away is taking away from the

[37:42] literacy focus So it's a high amount of prep for not as much instruction that you're doing Um

[37:57] so I I guess that's how we're testing to see We're working on trying to get the audio turned up for you guys Sorry for

[38:02] that interruption but I know that's what we're trying to do thought it was me

[38:08] Did I break okay Um so it's taken away from the literacy focus and so implementing a new science curriculum

[38:14] has just been a challenge and we knew it was a heavy lift but that with our

[38:19] intentional focus on literacy has been has been a stressor for our teachers So this change which we'll walk through a

[38:25] little bit more is going to give fidelity to the science curriculum and will lead to improved outcomes for student learning in science and in

[38:31] literacy So we feel this approach is going to tackle both these things How we got here So we did not

[38:40] arrive at this decision lightly or in a knee-jerk manner This has been over time So we wanted to walk you through how we

[38:46] got to this part um in our decision So um our thoughtful approach started in

[38:52] 2023 actually So August of 2023 um we had our science adoption We had concerns

[38:58] with the heavy lift of curriculum option time to prep science lessons but it was a start So we're just starting and

[39:04] seeing how it goes So in August of 2023 we embarked on this So then 2324 school

[39:10] year still um we implemented heavier swim and built um initiatives to

[39:16] attention focus on our schoolwide improvement This was additional meetings for teachers Um it's adding constraints

[39:22] on teachers time This is where we're focusing truly in on um the the

[39:28] instruction as Dererick talked about in his presentation looking at all learn tiered learners and how are we helping them So that's another part that came in

[39:35] Um and then we had a so we saw this and we're like this is so much heavy lift

[39:41] science We're getting feedback from our teachers Can you you know and I'll be honest how much more can you put on

[39:46] their plate so as what happened in November of 2023 the elementary principles came together and we proposed

[39:53] a change to science specialists at that time Um we thought this would be a good switch Um at when we presented it to

[40:00] district administration we were told it's not the right time and we were told that this we're not going to as I've

[40:06] heard before not rush to failure It wasn't the time We hadn't give science enough time maybe to see if it could

[40:11] even itself out with the amount of focus that it would be So we put it on the

[40:17] shelf and it was just an idea at the time Then 24-25 school year read act in

[40:22] letters So that lot more putting on teachers plate we're going to do letters training right I love the the I think

[40:29] it's great and I want to do it We want to do it but that's another thing that came on there Um I was part of the

[40:34] literacy committee and during our discussion during the literacy committee as we um researched different um

[40:41] curriculums that we could adopt We found that like I said before we require more

[40:46] time We require more time to teach literacy And where do we find it is the

[40:52] problem And so I don't think we're adding to the school day That's a whole different budgetary discussion But how

[40:58] do we accommodate these new literacy requirements then we adopted um literacy adoption

[41:03] which I'm so grateful for Um we're going to implement new literacy curriculum and complete liter training which then led

[41:11] us back to where we were before How do we find that 40 minutes and that was

[41:16] even talked about at the literacy curriculum committee Where do we do it science specialist was even floated by teachers at that point Could we do this

[41:23] in my head I'm thinking we asked before right so it's just came full circle So it wasn't the time before but now it is

[41:29] the time with the heavy lift of science a new curriculum that requires more minutes And Derek will walk you through

[41:36] this next part of how it will look and how we got to this point with the standards Could I before we move off

[41:42] this lovely slide um why did we need to adopt this new

[41:47] science curriculum and I'm asking this because I kind of remember discussions coming to the board table explaining the

[41:53] necessary um new adoption of curriculum in science particularly because standards changed or something and you

[41:59] keep referencing that it's going to be more difficult to teach science So if someone could kind of explain or more

[42:04] timeconuming in the adoption of um this curriculum two things with that yes science standards changed and we hadn't

[42:10] changed our curriculum and please someone tell me it a long time a long time like overdue for sure and so

[42:16] bringing this new one is more robust it's a more robust curriculum in general like it's just more intensive and so

[42:23] that plus any new curriculum is going to take a lot and a heavy lift So when you're adding the rigor and the

[42:30] intensiveness to something that wasn't very intensive before that's what's been the balance So we needed to because we

[42:37] were so behind in it which we see in our science scores So then that was part of the change

[42:45] Great So I'll turn it over to Derek as he walks you through what it currently looks like and what it will Can I take

[42:51] the You can have the click All right I'll just share a little bit

[42:56] about our uh current elementary specialist schedule Uh right now we're on a six day cycle a six- day rotation

[43:04] Uh kids have two days of fed They have two days of music and then they have two

[43:09] days of media or two days of art depending on the quarter In this example here kids would have media in quarters

[43:17] one and three Uh they would have art in quarters two and four We also have fifth grade band and orchestra uh that we

[43:25] integrate into this uh cycle and I'll explain that more in a slide coming up as well But no change to fifth grade

[43:31] band or orchestra that will continue on Uh and this is our existing specialist

[43:36] schedule uh as it is today I'll move to uh some science data

[43:43] Uh these are just this is fifth grade scores and these are comparable groups and they're comparable groups simply

[43:49] based on their demographics and their their size that is somewhat similar to to Stillwater area schools Uh you can

[43:57] see in the the the darker red line where we fall with our science scores And I

[44:02] want to uh point out again something that Gina had mentioned already In 2023 that is when we adopted our new uh

[44:11] science curriculum and we took a pretty significant jump in our science scores

[44:16] between 23 and 24 And to me I would I guess I would submit to you that the

[44:22] materials I believe work You know perhaps the method uh could be revised

[44:28] or revamped uh or enhanced as well Uh but when we take a look at the data it's not it's not great data Uh but we did

[44:35] have nice improvement over one year It's one year's worth of data Again I'll be really excited if we can continue doing

[44:41] this and get to a much higher level as well Uh but we want to be on that

[44:46] improvement track I'm going to talk a little bit about some of the uh our rationale uh

[44:53] for change here Um and I'll probably spend a little bit more time on this slide than I have on the uh on the other

[44:59] slides but um I want you to understand that we have had difficulty recruiting and retaining licensed art teachers

[45:10] Um this is the 11th year that we have offered art as a a specialist So and in

[45:18] the 11th year in the 11 years that we've offered art uh just speaking for

[45:23] Stonebridge we are on our seventh art teacher in that time So there has been a

[45:28] lot of movement within uh within our our art positions Not all of the art

[45:33] teachers have been licensed art teachers We have hired people on an out of field permission uh as well So so know that uh

[45:40] that is something that that takes place Uh we also know that when we rehire

[45:46] people on a continuous basis it does lead to inconsistency uh within that art instruction Uh I'd also like to talk

[45:53] about the second bullet point and that's that our classroom teachers are having to prep for language arts for math for

[46:02] science for social studies and all in-class interventions And uh and I just

[46:09] want to say this is a demanding and a heavy lift on a daily basis for our

[46:14] classroom teachers And it's important to know that I cannot lighten the load for

[46:19] our classroom teachers without interrupting something on that list So

[46:24] just for example we are not going to do these things These are just as as examples But if I were to tell teachers

[46:32] that they would not need to complete their bloodborne pathogen training or their hazardous materials training that

[46:39] would feel really good to them for that hour or two that it takes them to

[46:44] complete that takes something off their list They would like that But it doesn't

[46:49] fix the daily weight that is on their shoulders When that is done they are right back at it The same example could

[46:56] be used for a day off I I want to acknowledge for example I want to acknowledge you're working so hard I'm

[47:02] going to give you a day off That day off helps on that day but it doesn't fix

[47:09] that Our teachers are coming back to that same daily expectation of things on

[47:14] this list And for us to to to interrupt that then we have to address something

[47:21] that is that is on this uh this list here Uh the last bullet point is that

[47:27] our our media specialist their focus is on instruction They are in front of kids

[47:33] and that is where they are focusing uh their their their instruction They have other parts of their job but it's tough

[47:41] to get to those parts of their job when they are preparing uh for lessons delivering on lessons and in front of

[47:47] kids for the for the day Uh and this is what a realigned

[47:55] specialist schedule uh would look like Um it would be fed for two days No

[48:02] change with that And when I say two days I'm talking two days out of six If it's

[48:08] a three-day cycle uh that means every three days kids would have fed they would have science and then they would

[48:15] have music as well So it it really essentially moves to a three-day cycle

[48:21] rather than a six-day cycle But one of the nuances that I just want to share with people that when the schedule comes

[48:27] out it is going to show a six day cycle

[48:32] because on the side we have to integrate uh band and orchestra And again using

[48:38] Stonebridge as an example our orchestra teacher is teaching orchestra to fifth

[48:43] graders at Stonebridge only on cycle day two She's serving kids in other buildings on all of the other cycle days

[48:51] So we would not put our band and orchestra teachers on a three-day cycle We would maintain a six-day cycle for

[48:59] them But for fed science and music in essence it really is a three-day cycle

[49:06] that they would be uh would be working

[49:12] with This is just an example for a K2 class Uh some of the content on here was

[49:18] talked about uh by Gina a little bit earlier but you can see on the left side our current 2425

[49:25] uh schedule We have 390 minutes in the day We spend about 80 minutes in our

[49:31] reading and writing instruction We add on another 30 minutes uh for phonics phonics instruction That's 110 minutes

[49:39] that we are committing to to all things literacy In 2526 there is an increase in time The

[49:48] time commitment has increased and we need to respond to that Uh and we'll be

[49:53] looking at 120 minutes of reading and writing instruction plus 30 minutes of

[49:58] phonics phonics instruction It's 150 minutes is is what we're looking at next

[50:03] year So we will be integrating uh uh the areas such as art media social studies

[50:10] into the other content areas And I think that cues it up for Caitlyn next who's

[50:15] going to talk a little bit about how we how we accomplish that Okay next slide So this is uh an example

[50:25] This these are the benchmarks I know it says standards across the top but these are the benchmarks

[50:30] uh that classroom teachers are responsible for uh on the left So you

[50:36] have depending on the grade level 42 to 43 English language arts benchmark benchmarks 24 to 29 math 10 to 11

[50:44] science and currently they're teaching social studies within the classroom as well So those 21 to 22 social studies

[50:51] benchmarks Right now our visual art and media arts standards are met through that

[50:57] specialist model with the adoption of our benchmark advanced curriculum And

[51:03] two two things right we need the additional instructional time I think we've covered that right but also it's

[51:10] um it's really important to note that within that curriculum already in these three content areas 86% of the social

[51:18] studies standards are covered in benchmark advance 60 to 65% depending on the grade level are covered of the 12

[51:25] visual art benchmarks and 70 to 73% of the nine media arts benchmarks are

[51:31] covered So with some realistic modifications we can embed the

[51:37] additional art and media standards to get at those areas of instruction that

[51:43] becomes much more difficult with the 10 to 11 science benchmarks we have a year because that science instruction is much

[51:50] more cumbersome It does involve as we talked about much more prep and rigor and it's not as connected and you'll see

[51:57] that in the the next slides It's not as connected to the content in the same way

[52:03] So for example this is an example of a language

[52:08] arts fifth grade language arts benchmark and a lang a visual arts benchmark So if

[52:15] you look at these these are very similar skills that we're trying to teach

[52:20] students to understand around theme in a text And so there are lots of different

[52:25] ways within one literacy block that we can address the skills and the learning that needs to happen within both of

[52:32] these content areas and make that content that much more enriching for

[52:38] students So they'll be able to have an arts experience within their literacy experience which just furthers and

[52:45] deepens their learning Similarly with integrating our media arts

[52:51] instruction So sequencing in media arts as we do lots of sequencing within text

[52:58] right so these are very similar benchmarks that we would teach very similarly within a literacy block And

[53:05] again these these two things really just deepen student learning and increase

[53:10] student engagement and social studies as well Whoops sorry Social studies as well So

[53:17] this is a first great example around perspective and retelling of stories and

[53:24] thinking about how who and what and where these stories happen and how they impact people simil very very social

[53:31] that's filled with social studies opportunities right it's also a language arts opportunity I can also think of

[53:39] ways that we can integrate very interesting media and arts within this

[53:44] as well when you're learning about IND indigenous art or um indigenous storytelling So lots of opportunities

[53:52] for integration of content

[53:58] So the benefits of integrating the content is is there very many ways to do that but

[54:03] knowledge should not be done in a silo right and so that's the old way of thinking is I learned socialize now I

[54:09] learned this now I learn this now but it's a great way the crosscontent learning makes meaningful connections

[54:15] and subjects so they can give a deeper understanding so it's not just this is here this is here and so we know that

[54:22] works um by doing that you can maximize instructional time if our curriculum is

[54:27] already hitting so many of the standards let's do it better there then add on more later And so we can just do it and

[54:34] we see that happening Um develops critical thinking and problem solving skills So back to that deeper and so I

[54:40] think um you Dr Low or member Low you had said you know what about the kids that are achieving higher right like

[54:46] what about those kids well this is where we can do that and they can dig deeper and go a different way Um and encourages

[54:52] deeper inquiry and analytical thinking So one of the examples here is you know you could illustrate endangered species

[54:58] but you could really get in you could do that in art class but you could really get in deeper and do an informational write up practice your writing skills

[55:05] and so everything can come together Um and so it just promotes synthesis there And I can give a personal example I

[55:11] taught at um seventh and eighth grade science at Crosswind's arts and science school for eight years and that's all we

[55:16] did You know I integrated art into everything I did and it just gave kids a deeper understanding Socialized did the

[55:23] same thing we would put science and socialize together So it just makes a deeper um connection to learning for all

[55:29] our students So in anything this is great to

[55:35] integrate everything but how are we going to support it um so anything you do needs to make sure that you're thoughtful about this process So to

[55:43] support this new model this new schedule we'll have science specialists at each school So when we talked about before

[55:48] about staffing um we would have dedicated science specialists We would have two K12 media coordinators in the

[55:54] district So that wouldn't be per school but that would be within the district And that's going to free them up from

[55:59] the teaching and instruction and we're still covering the standards but it t frees them up so they can modernize our

[56:05] collections and review our materials So keeping everything up to date and

[56:10] bringing in new materials for our students And then another one is another way to support this is a K5 art

[56:17] coordinator because we're not all artists I can't draw and but I would love if as a classroom teacher they're

[56:23] like well how do I how do I integrate back to that integrating everything how do I put it together so there'll be

[56:28] someone that can help our K5 teachers do that in a meaningful way so those are

[56:33] some of the things that can enhance and like um help us make this model change

[56:38] in a thoughtful way Can I ask a question on this sorry the does the K5 art

[56:44] coordinator would they provide like any kind of lesson plan or like do you see

[56:50] it like that or is it would I mean would it be like a streamlined system for our teachers

[56:56] that is something I'm not sure how to answer yet because we're still developing that position I can answer I think our right now our focus is to get

[57:04] through our staffing Right Right But uh what I want to say about these positions is these are teacher and special

[57:10] assignment positions And I know um with this change there is there is emotion

[57:16] right because this means that people are shifting roles and shifting responsibility and uh we very much value

[57:23] our art teachers our licensed media specialists and these are positions that I hope um we will continue to see our

[57:31] our current employees bid into these positions because they'll bring with them their

[57:37] experience and their knowledge and they will be key stakeholders for us in

[57:43] developing what does it mean to integrate our media standards what does it mean to integrate our art standards

[57:49] and then partnering with teachers to do that work side by side so after we get

[57:55] these positions hired then we'll be able to engage the teachers in how will we best do this work in this model And

[58:02] that's I think kind of I guess more what I meant than lesson plan Sounds kind of I guess like tactical but there'll be so

[58:08] I'm assuming we would try our best to find a actual licensed art teacher which easier to find one We have we have had

[58:16] better luck this year with art teachers than we have in years prior So we have individuals

[58:22] um who are impacted by this change but may be eligible I I mean there's like

[58:27] contract language and I'm not HR so I don't pretend to know that but there are opportunities for our current staff that

[58:34] are serving in these roles to bring their experiences and their expertise to these positions

[58:42] question This represents 10 people here right one at each of the seven ele not

[58:47] exactly It's oh yeah rather complex when you're thinking about the science specialist Yes um there will be a

[58:54] science specialist at each school So that is accurate Now some schools don't

[59:00] require a full-time science specialist based on size So there might be a

[59:05] position a science specialist that is across two schools depending on the size of the school So that could be one

[59:10] person serving two schools and then yes two K12 media coordinators and one K5

[59:17] art just like we do with I mean we do the same thing with music and PE and FIAD So they are shared across buildings

[59:25] All right Thanks Can I have just a clarifi clarifying question um so it's a

[59:31] K5 art coordinate coordinator This hopefully is obvious but secondary art

[59:36] middle school and there's no changes No changes happening No changes happening in secondary Okay Thank you

[59:44] So just with that like Caitlyn said is we value these things We just have to think differently to reach our outcomes

[59:51] So this is our way to support still media and art and make sure this is done with fidelity within the curriculum that

[59:57] we have the new benchmark curriculum but adding you know look I shouldn't say adding but just looking at it in a

[1:00:03] different way if you go back to the schedule which I think the had the

[1:00:08] sideby side of the schedule what I think is important that that is our current reality right now is if you look in our

[1:00:15] 2025 sample schedule here you'll see those you know 110 minutes of literacy instruction ction that's happening If we

[1:00:22] were doing even in our curriculum that we have now which we all acknowledge is not good and not aligned to the science

[1:00:27] of reading which is why we're moving away from it If we were to be doing that the way it was designed to be to be done

[1:00:34] to be delivered we would be using those 40 minutes for social studies and science on that Lucy Caukins curriculum

[1:00:40] We have kind of strategically abandoned that a little bit because we're not getting the outcomes that we need

[1:00:46] because we have a curriculum that is not aligned with the science of reading and teachers are using that time to

[1:00:52] alternate between teaching some of the social studies standards and some of the science standards But it's putting it's

[1:00:59] creating an inconsistent experience for students because every day our teachers

[1:01:04] are faced with making the decision Do they continue with literacy instruction especially as they're learning more about the science of reading and

[1:01:10] learning more strategies that they could be employing in the classroom they're faced daily with a do I capture some of

[1:01:16] this science and social studies time to dig in deeper with this literacy concept or do I move on and cover these the

[1:01:23] science and the social studies information So it exists It's a current problem now Um but it's it's fixable

[1:01:32] and it will allow for much more rigorous science instruction for all students

[1:01:38] because I think there are pockets based on individual teacher comfort that they're really embracing and fully

[1:01:44] understand how to get a lot get really going and dig deep within that time

[1:01:50] frame for science And there are other teachers that maybe are focused more on the social studies and there are other

[1:01:55] teachers that are learning more within literacy and they're recapturing some of that time So it's creating a very

[1:02:00] fractured student experience if that makes

[1:02:08] sense So just like anything we want to make sure what are our outcomes what are we measuring and what are we looking at

[1:02:14] and so we know in the short term what we're going to be looking for is our academic growth indicators So we're

[1:02:20] going to look at our fast bridge testing right we're going to see is that making a difference right away You know Derek talked about that his fast bridge

[1:02:26] screener We all do that And so we're going to be able to see that in with our literacy growth observational data We're

[1:02:32] going to be able to see how much time are we investing in time do we get to actually dig into our literacy

[1:02:38] curriculum and how much time is there for us to make the obs observational data Can I actually see where my

[1:02:44] students are can I make changes do I have a moment to breathe and think about and reflect what I could do next and win

[1:02:50] time things like that that frees up the schedule will free that up for teachers a bit Um teacher surveys and interviews

[1:02:57] We're going to ask how it's going You know that's how this came about as principles We're hearing what our teachers are saying and the load on them

[1:03:04] and why we might not be seeing the literacy growth we needed So going back and asking for that long-term this is

[1:03:10] where we are going to our hopes are to see academic performance and growth data MCAs So MCAs will see growth in literacy

[1:03:17] and science right so the reading MCAs and the science MCAs So we saw a small jump um small increase I should say with

[1:03:25] science with the new curriculum But if we have someone f we have a focused teacher on science with fidelity we are

[1:03:31] hoping to see growth and in turn with spending more time and finding the time for our new benchmark curriculum and

[1:03:37] rolling it out with the appropriate amount of minutes to start the launch we're hoping to see MCA growth Um with

[1:03:44] staffing stability it's been mentioned it's it's hard to staff art In my four

[1:03:50] years at Afton I've had three art teachers so it's the way it has been And some have been out of field permission

[1:03:56] but also consistent side and staff and education like I said is going to help with our outcomes And our classroom

[1:04:02] teachers stability in that in in their jobs right that they can actually show up and focus on what's important every

[1:04:08] day So that's going to help And of course parent and community feedback We don't is we don't work in a bubble right

[1:04:15] so we're looking for feedback and how is it going and we ask questions as we go

[1:04:26] All right this is a summary and just being a summary a lot of these things are things that we've touched upon already Uh I'd like to mention that we

[1:04:34] uh we view this as a a great benefit to our classroom teachers uh there is an opportunity to focus on core academic

[1:04:41] instruction Uh we know that there's going to be increased instructional minutes for literacy and we need to

[1:04:47] respond to that There will be more time for teachers to prep for literacy math

[1:04:54] and social studies and they can focus their efforts in on that Uh we believe that there's going to be more focused

[1:05:00] science instruction Those things were covered a little bit by Caitlyn and by Gina as well Uh it will allow teachers

[1:05:07] time to implement the new literacy curriculum Uh again we are integrating

[1:05:12] art and media standards into the classroom instruction Uh media access

[1:05:19] remains a priority Media centers are open every single day They are run by

[1:05:24] media technicians Uh the circulation of books is going to continue for for our

[1:05:30] kids And really I said at the beginning of the slide that this is a a benefit for for our classroom teachers but

[1:05:37] ultimately we view this as a benefit to to our children as well Uh and that's truly something that we we are

[1:05:44] after So with that it's it's uh I know you've asked some questions already but

[1:05:50] if there's other questions that you have we'll we'll try to help you out with that Yeah Great Um questions

[1:05:57] One Director Um you said it's hard to staff an art teacher but instead you'll

[1:06:03] be staffing science teachers Will that be easier um I think it will be And when

[1:06:10] we think about art and media you know remember they teach half the time in a

[1:06:16] building compared to FIED or music And I think that's been part of our uh

[1:06:23] challenge as well is you've got people that are going between two buildings and they're not even full-time And so when

[1:06:30] we have lost some people it's been because they've been offered a full-time job in one building There's no travel

[1:06:36] between the buildings And that seems to be a more desirable desirable position

[1:06:41] Um but if we have um you know with the new schedule with science it's going to

[1:06:48] operate similar to music and fed where we aren't seeing the the turnover like we are uh in in in the in the area of

[1:06:55] art So I I don't think that it's going to be a rollup where we have a turnover

[1:07:01] in science uh like we do in the area of art I think that we will see stability in the area of science like we do in

[1:07:08] FIED and music And I think I can say with that too is to teach science

[1:07:13] classroom teachers are already teaching science You don't have to have a science specialist degree or anything like that It can be a classroom licensed teacher

[1:07:20] to teach that So that's a benefit as well Um another thing I see with it and I see some teachers are super passionate

[1:07:26] about science and they love teaching that I did I really like that And so to be able to

[1:07:32] do that is something that is probably going to strike quite a few of our current classroom teachers may want to go do that

[1:07:39] Okay thank you Oh yes Um would like the creative outlet

[1:07:44] for students in having a dedicated art time Um how would taking away an art

[1:07:52] class um impact like their creative outlet because I know students they like to have a break in their day Like I take

[1:07:58] AP art for example and having like that break of taking an art class and having a dedicated time to work on that is

[1:08:06] super helpful So I was just wondering how would like not having a qualified art teacher with the dedicated class

[1:08:13] impact their education yeah I think it's a great question

[1:08:19] Um I think one of the things that I would speak to is those creative outlets

[1:08:25] don't need to take place specifically in a pullout class Uh we have teachers for

[1:08:30] example that will take kids outside for uh for recess time um or for physical

[1:08:36] education on days when they don't have physical education as well uh you know they can just tell they can sense our

[1:08:42] kids are going to benefit and they are going to learn a little bit better in the afternoon if I can get them outside and do an activity with them for for 10

[1:08:49] minutes Uh so some of those things could be uh integrated within the classroom or

[1:08:54] by the teacher It wouldn't have to be just a designated pull out into an art classroom to get this done So these art

[1:09:02] things will take place Uh they're just and those outlets will take place I view them taking place within the classroom

[1:09:08] uh or even an outdoor classroom like many of our schools have uh but not in a

[1:09:14] designated art room as we have right now And that's a great question because you

[1:09:19] wonder like I I have students said that they look forward to that right and so we want to find time and when we adjust

[1:09:25] the schedule and we're adding time for literacy but it also is giving time for breathing room in there a little bit

[1:09:31] here and there So teachers can continue on with the project right a lot of times they don't do it right now because they

[1:09:36] are scheduled to the minute I have to get through the science lesson So sometimes that does stifle the creativity of the classroom teacher to

[1:09:42] work with the students too Um but I see your point that what I my high hopes is the part of the K5 art coordinator to be

[1:09:50] able to work with teachers to look at what the teacher are teaching like you could do this Have you thought of this

[1:09:55] maybe you would have done this worksheet before but what if you did this art project instead and just having taught

[1:10:00] in that type of environment That's what I'm hoping for that they find it um like a lot of different teaching

[1:10:06] opportunities like to have diverse teaching for students with uh because not everyone learns from the same cut

[1:10:11] and paste um curriculum structure So like I think that having a different opportunity integrating those areas

[1:10:18] would also benefit for students that don't find lectures as or if you're not a strong writer yet Yeah Right We'll be

[1:10:26] working on that But if you're not a strong writer yet is there a way to show your your comprehension of a story or a

[1:10:32] literacy lesson through a piece of art sketch journal something there's just so many creative ways that I think that we

[1:10:39] could do Thank you Yes Um well thank you all I I

[1:10:44] just greatly appreciate every time you guys come and we get an opportunity to learn more about uh how things work and

[1:10:50] and how things could work better potentially So just really appreciate that and and just want to echo and maybe

[1:10:56] build on Angley's point Thank you Angley for that great question Um thinking about how we show appreciation or

[1:11:02] celebrate some of the kids' passions because that's some of the areas that I cons worry about missing uh for kids

[1:11:08] that are big readers big um big into the arts That's an opportunity for them to be celebrated Uh it's something that

[1:11:14] they have some uh great qualities So I just want to echo or amplify Anley's

[1:11:20] point Um my question is around uh the targets

[1:11:25] Uh what does a win look like what does re-evaluation look like and what does a loss look like in this and then second

[1:11:32] um I saw I was looking at the science course Can we also look at things like circulation of books um I don't know how

[1:11:39] to quantify art Uh but is there something like uh uh participation in

[1:11:45] the Da Vinci Fest quantities or something like that that we can quantify and and just start to think about how

[1:11:51] some of those other things are being impacted i could adjust it The funny part is the Da Vinci Fest just came up with one of my teachers and we were

[1:11:56] talking about that She's like "Oh I have so many ideas We could be reading this book and they could create this artwork." And I think that's something

[1:12:02] we will have to think about differently right and pair with the like I said the K5 art coordinator but like how can we

[1:12:09] bring it out of our classrooms because right now the Da Vinci art is art they might have created in second quarter

[1:12:16] when the art teacher was there and they haven't done anything with it until it goes to Da Vinci fashion in January so

[1:12:21] there there could be some benefits there too but that would be something we could measure participation of how many

[1:12:27] different classrooms just address that talking about so I think the win is

[1:12:34] being able to integrate ate these content areas in a way that keeps the fidelity and the integrity of the

[1:12:39] literacy instruction but also provides a more inclusive more

[1:12:45] accessible access to both literacy and art and media because they're not done

[1:12:50] in a silo and we're giving students multiple opportunities to show the skills that they're learning in

[1:12:56] different ways And then I think it becomes the job of the principal and the teacher teachers and teacher leaders in

[1:13:02] that building to elevate those examples um because then we can build a culture around there's not one way to show what

[1:13:08] you know and we can learn across contents um effectively within one area

[1:13:15] and and dig deeper and have um increased student engagement I think to your point

[1:13:20] we can look at you know obviously we have our academic indicators our MCA scores circulation of books Uh our

[1:13:27] principles also do student engagement surveys with students So we can look at getting student input What is this

[1:13:33] experience like for you you know what specific art experiences are you looking to have or media experiences are you

[1:13:40] looking to have or not or haven't had yet and so there's just an opportunity

[1:13:45] to develop that and that that creativity in and of itself I think is exciting and provides opportunities You are right

[1:13:52] We're going to have to be intentional about what key indicators we're going to be measuring and bring those back

[1:13:59] frequently Um one of the one of the things that um wasn't

[1:14:05] reflected within that timeline slide is we have the intention of moving ahead

[1:14:11] with our specialist committee So we have engaged with around the creation of a specialist committee that got put on

[1:14:19] hold a little bit this winter We need to re-engage that from the standpoint of this is the model that we're moving

[1:14:25] forward with now as a specialist committee give us your input What what

[1:14:31] barriers do you see right now already i can think of a few you know prep barriers that principles are going to

[1:14:37] have to work through in collaboration with teachers with regard to prepping multiple grade levels of science

[1:14:43] instruction So those are the kinds of things that the we'll work with that specialist committee on We are not the

[1:14:49] only district that will have science as a specialist So we can leverage what it is other districts are doing and what it

[1:14:56] is that they are measuring and what tweaks that what have they learned along the way um and how they've made those

[1:15:03] adjustments so we can maybe capitalize on their learning before we even start with

[1:15:09] implementation So those are all of our kind of next steps I feel like I've summarized to you what I'm going to be

[1:15:14] doing the next two months but those are some of the things that that we will

[1:15:20] look at and continue to progress monitor and hopefully also see these things show up in our fastbridge scores and our

[1:15:26] student engagement as well

[1:15:31] So how do you address the issue that we're getting rid of art and media

[1:15:36] we're not Yeah Well I've been told we are So I'm just curious to hear what

[1:15:42] your thoughts are on hearing that statement Well that's why we're here tonight is to explain I had a five minute conversation

[1:15:48] with a parent after school and I kind of basically did this in five minutes Oh I'll get it Okay You know the whole idea

[1:15:53] is that we're not we value it We just need to think differently and just structure it and move it around And so

[1:16:00] these things are all being taught They're just being taught in a different way which can be hard to to make that

[1:16:06] change And sometimes we think of it in people and that's hard but they're going to be all these standards what the

[1:16:11] students are experiencing will be integrated into the benchmark curriculum and then supplemented by those people

[1:16:17] that we are going to move around right to help with the coordinators to help make it happen So that's how I would

[1:16:24] address it It's still happening just in a different way Yeah And I would echo the same thing We we are not abandoning

[1:16:31] these things but we are retooling them and we're doing them in a different way And uh we do have an emphasis on

[1:16:38] literacy You know we we are adopting a new literacy curriculum We can't ignore the fact that there is an increase in in

[1:16:46] minutes that are required Uh so I I probably would sit here thinking

[1:16:53] it would be inappropriate if we did nothing and uh you know adopted a new

[1:16:58] curriculum without addressing the needs that the curriculum requires Uh but but

[1:17:04] you know here we are um you know trying to address that and trying to meet the needs of our teachers and our kids Uh

[1:17:11] but it does mean doing things differently It doesn't mean that we're not doing them It just means that we're doing them differently There's a lot of

[1:17:17] academic vocabulary in science as well right so the things that when we're looking at our at our achievement we we

[1:17:25] have to improve our reading We have to get kids reading at grade level because that is going to just open up their

[1:17:30] worlds And so if you are a student that loves art you're going to love it even more if you are a literate student that

[1:17:37] loves art And so what we need to do is capitalize on student strengths and be able to integrate all this content so

[1:17:44] that we can increase student achievement and align our pra our instructional practices with the science of reading

[1:17:54] Did you yeah I had a question I thought there was a question over there too but I'll go first Um so in in talking

[1:18:00] specifically about art but also media as well uh we talked a little bit about standards and how they can be integrated into other

[1:18:06] um sections of the day Um how do we currently measure art and media

[1:18:13] standards is that something that comes up on MCAs or where how do we keep track of those standards that they're still

[1:18:20] happening and then kind of a two-parter Um since we are looking at licensed staff and you did mention that we don't

[1:18:26] have a lot of art um licensed can you just give me a number of roughly how many art teachers we have that are

[1:18:33] licensed art teachers and do you know that off top of your head to answer the first question So media and art

[1:18:38] standards are not a tested subject and so we don't have a measure of that in

[1:18:44] like standardized testing or anything like that it's the teachers do teach them and then they assess them on the

[1:18:50] standards like you know throughout and given them report cards and so there are ways that they do measure it but there's

[1:18:55] not like a a school you know a district-wide measure of those or statewide measure of those and then as

[1:19:00] for art teachers I wouldn't be the best to answer that I can say you know um Derrick gave his example in 11 years how

[1:19:06] many he's had I've had this year was more successful yeah this year was more successful I believe this year we have

[1:19:11] three licensed start teachers um out of seven or out six Well they're shared So

[1:19:19] like half will share an art teacher right half the time is spent at Stonebridge

[1:19:25] half the time is spent at a Yeah this was a more successful year So um I can speak for Anderson for example when they

[1:19:31] have to staff a point four or you know whatever it is that isn't easy to come

[1:19:36] by and that's when we often go often and not every year and I'm not even going to speak to this year but we go to off out

[1:19:42] of field permissions to fill those spots which and often what happens is we'll we'll get like we had a good year this

[1:19:48] year and then a full-time position will open up at one of the secondary schools and I mean of course you're going to

[1:19:56] want to bid into that position where you're in one school and you can really focus on your content Well and to be

[1:20:01] clear and that was something that that asked is like my for example a point8 is

[1:20:07] what our position is and so when someone finds a 1.0 and it just because of how we staff a different district that

[1:20:13] happens too So it does change Okay Thank you Yes director Yeah Well uh principles

[1:20:20] do and Burke thank you Uh really great information and executive director Willis thank you as well So um I mean

[1:20:27] obviously from a a board standpoint as we approach it you know definitely seems to make sense from a a systems

[1:20:32] standpoint to make that consistency and um a couple things that stood out with some of the things that you both had

[1:20:37] said in terms of uh you know Principal Dole we need to think differently you know and change is hard and that is true

[1:20:42] and um and principal Berg I mean one thing you mentioned is just like it would be I don't remember the exact

[1:20:48] quote but essentially um it would be wrong not to try to find a way to do it better Um and that's one thing I do

[1:20:54] appreciate what you know Dr Funk and the approach you have taken is just you know what can we do better um there's some

[1:20:59] things that we do really well but being open-minded to what can we change and what makes sense and you know I think as

[1:21:06] a board I think we want to figure out for these subject matter experts to you know give you the sandbox to do those

[1:21:12] things and and try to best support it Um I guess one question I had was just from

[1:21:18] uh I guess two questions You know you both are very passionate and and not trying to speak for other principles but

[1:21:23] I assume there's obviously buy in and uh working with each of your individual schools of looking at this is something

[1:21:29] that we need to do Um and then the second question is you know any potential unintended consequences um by

[1:21:36] moving to maybe a science specialist type of approach Um you know obviously we've seen that uptake with the new

[1:21:41] curriculum um you know was that something that potentially could be harmed and I know um um you know a

[1:21:49] statement was made in terms of some of the checkpoints of essentially thinking what's the winds and what's not Um so I

[1:21:55] guess those are some things I'm interested in terms of um you know what can we anticipate and or do you really

[1:22:00] see those are really being a spark to making it uh even better So sorry for

[1:22:06] the long-winded question Yeah Take any Yeah Hi

[1:22:13] I do see it as being a a jumping point or a spark and something that could have some long-term and some lasting benefits

[1:22:21] Uh you know right now I don't you know the

[1:22:28] uh the loss or the shortfall is we're just doing it differently It doesn't mean that we're not doing it We're just

[1:22:33] doing it differently Will it be toolled differently yes it will be toolled differently Uh but it doesn't mean that

[1:22:38] that's necessarily going to be a a loss We're just doing differently uh compared to how we are doing it now

[1:22:46] And I just I think to answer about the principles we did come together as a principal group like I said in November

[1:22:52] of 2023 We're aligned Something needs to change and we knew that And so we knew

[1:22:57] but it wasn't the time because we didn't have the you know we could feel it off the teachers and the pressure and what's

[1:23:03] going on But then when the new curriculum came it's back to a D It was irresponsible not to try something And

[1:23:10] so that's why it came back around and all principles we talked about it on board you know what what needs to change

[1:23:16] for our students to achieve better and for our teachers to be able to teach I don't want to say better that sounds

[1:23:21] terrible but like to be able to invest the time and to do what they are here to do and so that's part of it and then I I

[1:23:28] see it as a spark and I think there are some things that could be difficult at first like anything that's new but we

[1:23:33] aren't the only district that does a science specialist so that's where I think we can learn from other districts

[1:23:38] I mean I've been in I've worked in four other districts I think of other districts that have that And so it's

[1:23:44] again not that we're teaching in silos We also aren't learning in silos So we can say well what's worked what hasn't

[1:23:50] worked and being willing to change because we tweak things all the time This is bigger right change is bigger

[1:23:55] But that's where I see it as a spark that we could look at it differently and achieve differently

[1:24:01] Thank you Any other questions go ahead I was just

[1:24:07] ahead Sorry I was just curious how other you said that there were other schools that had science specialists that you know of Um how do those schools run with

[1:24:14] those science specialists and how is it different from research on this little I know anecdotally but um it's different

[1:24:20] at different in different districts Um so most places within K3 uh are doing

[1:24:28] very similarly to how we've proposed like on a rotating schedule Um when you get to the higher grades the fourth and

[1:24:35] fifth grade there's it's like hybrid model where maybe there's some embedded content within the classroom instruction

[1:24:42] like a non-fiction unit within their literacy block They'll do a focus around like an earth science concept that then

[1:24:48] they're doing some lab work or hands-on work within that specialist So diff

[1:24:54] different districts are slightly different depending on how much time The other thing that I will say is part of

[1:24:59] the research I did with with when I was looking at different districts is I also figured out how many instructional

[1:25:05] minutes are in their day So some elementary schools actually have more than 390 minutes in their day to work

[1:25:11] with And so there's their approach is even more of a hybrid approach where they have a science but they also have

[1:25:17] some embedded classroom time that we we don't have within our instructional minutes So I look forward to not doing

[1:25:25] that research in a silo by myself but but engaging with our specialist committee The individuals who end up in

[1:25:32] these science specialist positions will be key individuals to engage in planning

[1:25:37] this work out and thinking about how we can do this in a way that is manageable and will get us the outcomes that we we

[1:25:45] want and need for our students Thank you No just I guess just a comment not

[1:25:53] really a question You know may I think we we heard a lot from the community over the course of the last couple last

[1:25:59] week anyway about people concerned about losing art in particular Um um and and I

[1:26:05] get it and and hopefully you've converted some people tonight Um

[1:26:11] certainly I I think the opportunity is great to both create some consistency in

[1:26:17] learning across all of our elementary schools but then I mean when I think about

[1:26:22] adults that have that ability to integrate art and literacy you know I mean they

[1:26:30] can tell stories using ideas that you don't just necessarily get from any one

[1:26:37] particular discipline that you that can pull things from different places those are very successful individuals and so

[1:26:44] hopefully we're we're starting them off you know young also I mean in anything there's there you know any decision like

[1:26:50] this there are winners and losers and that that's a reality I've got two

[1:26:56] boys both of them found uh elementary art very stressful like I I know a lot

[1:27:04] of people really love it they did not and so you know that I could have seen

[1:27:09] them maybe engaging a little bit better with you know here here's here's a a story we read and now you know give me

[1:27:16] an image of what what's in your mind's eye from having read the words I I could see that have worked maybe worked better

[1:27:23] than you know make make an ashtray I don't know I'm not not not trying to

[1:27:29] minimize art I'm just you know it's for for them They We don't do astrays anymore We don't do astrays anymore I'm

[1:27:36] old I'm sorry Uh and everything looked like an ashtray whether it was or not Um so I I I'm

[1:27:45] really excited about this So thank you Thank you for the work Thank you We are too And the last thing I'll say Anley

[1:27:52] you kind of hit it really well with your question and I don't know that you meant to but my background um prior to to

[1:27:59] being getting to serve in this role as special education and what excites me about this opportunity is it feels so

[1:28:06] much more inclusive So if I am not a student that is a strong reader or a strong writer or has a harder time

[1:28:12] connecting to rigorous academic contents I now have multiple ways to show my learning and multiple ways to engage in

[1:28:19] the content And so I think that ability to increase student choice and um that

[1:28:26] interdisciplinary approach will make it a lot more accessible for all of our students And I hope that shows up in our

[1:28:31] scores and we work we will continue to monitor that as well

[1:28:39] Um maybe as a as a new board member this is a question that that uh I particularly will only ask but we'll

[1:28:45] find out Um this I was curious about the process of how this this came about Um

[1:28:52] so thank you for the context going back to 2023 That was super helpful to me Um for some reason this still felt a little

[1:28:58] different than some of the other uh changes that have come up uh throughout the district And so I was just curious

[1:29:06] um maybe two port portions of it One is how were like teachers or other

[1:29:14] specialist coordinators involved in the process to help bring them along or to comment on the changes And then second

[1:29:22] is um as this has some

[1:29:28] uh potential and I maybe I should just ask is there a budget implication to this or not and if there is I would have

[1:29:33] expected that potentially to come to a board for a vote So um so maybe you could comment on both of those Yeah I

[1:29:39] can I can take those unless Okay So with regard to input and stakeholder input uh

[1:29:47] you you are right This work has lived primarily with the principal proposal

[1:29:52] from 2023 some ongoing conversations that have happened at different pressure points along the way It was a larger

[1:29:59] conversation of our literacy implementation curriculum this fall So those teachers were certainly sitting in

[1:30:05] spaces I will say when you're sitting in spaces ideulating you don't always think about the systemic impacts of those

[1:30:12] decisions right so there's a lot of emotion tied to this because these are people and these are people's jobs and

[1:30:17] people's passions And so I just want to acknowledge that in that space With that said when we're looking at having to

[1:30:25] shift within our specialist model our options are limited It's not realistic

[1:30:32] to integrate PE standards or to integrate music standards into classroom

[1:30:37] instruction That's just not something that we can do without being disruptive and detracting from the learning But

[1:30:43] what we can do is take these standards within media and art that there are

[1:30:49] already so many connections to the content in literacy and frankly even in some areas of science and we can

[1:30:56] integrate those into those areas So it it's not nobody likes to feel like

[1:31:02] they're having things done to them not with them right and I know that right now in this moment it feels a little bit

[1:31:08] like having something done to you What I hope people hear is when the decision is

[1:31:14] made there will be so multiple opportunities to engage in the process

[1:31:19] of given this decision how can we roll this out in the best way for students

[1:31:25] and staff and so that's what I look forward to doing next is engaging the individuals that are going to be working

[1:31:31] in these positions and supporting these positions and supporting our classroom teachers and principles in doing that Um

[1:31:37] with regard to the budget you know it's interesting that this you know the title of this presentation is priority based

[1:31:44] budgeting and Marie is going to do a presentation next on our priority based budgeting discussions and decisions

[1:31:51] Components of priority based budgeting aren't just eliminating right when we're looking at priority based budgeting we

[1:31:57] have a finite amount of resources and our job becomes aligning those resources

[1:32:03] with our strategic plan in a way that's going to give us the best outcomes for kids that is realistic and is

[1:32:09] sustainable And so this is not a totally neutral budgetneutral change It's not

[1:32:18] But it is a sustainable way for us to meet all of those instructional

[1:32:23] requirements without significantly impacting the classroom teacher daily

[1:32:29] load with regard to implementing a rigorous science curriculum a brand new rigorous literacy curriculum continuing

[1:32:35] the letters training So this is a fiscally responsible way to be able to do that and sustain that

[1:32:43] So great question on the budget So we are going to show you as as Caitlyn just

[1:32:48] mentioned um our our priorities here in in a presentation or two that's coming

[1:32:54] up As part of that we're going to be reducing a number of dollars We are

[1:32:59] actually adding some to our fix our specialist area um to to fix this

[1:33:04] current situation And that will be reflected in the slides you see and that

[1:33:10] will be reflected in the budget we are going to ask you to adopt in in June for the 2526 school year So we're ahead of

[1:33:17] ourselves We're we're planning this is the way we're going um with the budget But you that is what you will be doing

[1:33:24] as part of that I'll go to you Oh thanks Um just on the

[1:33:32] topic of budget uh one of the things that I've been thinking a lot about in previewing this presentation and now thinking about it is how much the board

[1:33:38] has already invested in curriculum in science and in literacy Um these are two huge areas that we've not been meeting

[1:33:44] the needs of our students with We know that from the numbers um it's born out in the data and it is something that we

[1:33:51] have been striving to improve in this district and I really appreciate that the principles have recognized the

[1:33:58] challenge that that that our u classroom teachers are facing in implementing this new curriculum with fidelity That's the

[1:34:05] only way we're going to be able to move the needle is if we can support our teachers And it is a huge challenge to

[1:34:11] take on new curriculum especially like two three years apart in two core areas

[1:34:17] both of which are tested in our MCAs So I really can see the value in you guys

[1:34:24] advocating for the needs of your staff recognizing the structural um changes

[1:34:29] necessary in order to support and make sure that this investment is successful because ultimately that's what we want

[1:34:36] as a board is for this investment to actually have an impact Um and I do appreciate that there is going to be a

[1:34:42] small cost to this but I see that as protecting the investment that we have already made So thank you for all your

[1:34:48] work on this I really appreciate it You you may have covered my question but

[1:34:53] uh within the last couple years we approved a new science curriculum right in the elementary schools And then one

[1:34:59] issue is that is all the teachers now had to get up to speed on that Will they be able to back off of that now because

[1:35:05] now you have the specialist coming in to do it instead right so that'll allow one person to focus on those standards which

[1:35:12] are less standards than literacy um and focus on that and then teachers can roll out this new curriculum benchmark

[1:35:19] literacy and focus on that instead So it does take off their load and we'll still be using that same curriculum I know

[1:35:25] part of that came with a lot of materials that they'll just will be used

[1:35:33] Yeah One thing that stood out to me uh director Willis is you kind of mentioned um and director Lauer had mentioned as

[1:35:39] well just you know some of that interdisciplinary learning approach which I think that's such a great life skill as you mentioned those hard and

[1:35:46] and soft skills what I'll call the left and right brain I mean that's real life I mean and and I think the more ways

[1:35:52] that we can encourage that and and incorporate that even when maybe kids don't even know it um I think that's

[1:35:57] such an important approach for them to you know learn and grow as you know

[1:36:02] little people and becoming adults um so that's what I'm I'm excited to see how that can be further amplified you know I

[1:36:09] think things are done in some ways in different ways but how can we even make that more of a priority because I think those are the skill sets that we're

[1:36:15] going to be able to see that really will make impact in their in their lives as they get older and um you know move on

[1:36:21] from Still Water Um so that's you know I guess that's one thing that really stands out what I to me is be hopefully

[1:36:28] a really exciting um you know positive additional outcome So so thank you Yeah

[1:36:34] So I just want to echo you know thank you for the time and work I know this is a process I know there's a lot of additional buy in and work that's going

[1:36:41] to be happening Um and you know just you know from a board standpoint what we can do to continue to support the work

[1:36:47] that's being done all across the district Um because at the end of the day it's all about the kids and that's

[1:36:52] what I'm excited about So thank you Thanks

[1:36:57] Question Um I just had a question about if you could explain maybe a little bit about the older grades and the impact

[1:37:03] because sometimes you know you'd say like some schools probably not every

[1:37:10] school they do switch a little bit like they maybe have a teacher that is already their science teacher or already

[1:37:16] their specialist teacher Um so you know

[1:37:21] why couldn't we do K through three one way four five a different way what I

[1:37:27] mean I know that this is just community questions right like why do we have if we're already doing it like this in our

[1:37:33] older grades i know we don't do that everywhere consistently but could you maybe elaborate on that for say not

[1:37:40] everyone so we call it departmentalizing So maybe I'm in let's just use fifth grade So maybe I teach literacy I teach

[1:37:48] math and I teach science and the kids all rotate right not every school does that So that's more of a decision within

[1:37:54] a building and that's not wholesale So to say to everybody could do that and that's because of sections that's

[1:38:00] because of lots of different things So that's not a consistent experience They get science but they might not have a

[1:38:05] specialized science teacher So that isn't always possible at every building So that's one one reason that you

[1:38:11] couldn't And then the K3 and please interrupt me here but like if K3 did it

[1:38:17] one way with specialists and you know four or five did three four five did another that would blow up our whole

[1:38:22] specialist schedule right they all are balanced together in that six day cycle So that would be an even larger change

[1:38:28] for that to even be a possibility and they couldn't but it would be another Yeah One of the other pieces that poses

[1:38:36] a challenge doesn't make it impossible but it poses a challenge is with literacy there is 150 minutes next year

[1:38:44] of instruction but that's not the requirement for uh that's not the requirement for math

[1:38:50] So even if you had two teachers you would have one teacher departmentalizing

[1:38:55] with one group of kids for say 75 minutes but then the literacy teacher would be with a group of kids for a

[1:39:03] total of 150 minutes and with lunch that's involved with wind time that's

[1:39:08] involved These things are scheduled with recess Um you know we are going to have some literacy sessions that are not um

[1:39:17] 150 minutes of sustained time uh there may be a portion that takes place in the morning There may be another portion

[1:39:23] that takes place after their specialist time but it just adds to the complexities uh when there is

[1:39:28] departmentalizing that takes place and then that's just if you have two teachers you know you know if you have

[1:39:34] four teachers it's a the minutes are just different if you have three teachers in a section it's different yet

[1:39:40] so it becomes inconsistent across uh across buildings doesn't mean that it's impossible uh but it's there are some

[1:39:46] challenges with it I think departmentalizing moving forward will become more difficult um with writing in

[1:39:53] our new curriculum You can't separate it It's embedded and throughout the

[1:39:59] literacy components that are being instructed and that's intentional because that's what we know is best for

[1:40:05] kids And so what some of how we've balanced those time constraints that Dererick's referred to is we've peeled

[1:40:11] components off and said "Okay you're teaching social studies and writing." That's just we can't segment this

[1:40:18] curriculum in the same way nor should we because we know better now I appreciate

[1:40:23] that because you get that question in the community a lot and although and you answered it far better than I do So um I

[1:40:30] appreciate that And then in terms of extending the day I know I mean that's a that's a cost I would assume contracts I

[1:40:38] mean that is not so just because I do get that in the community too that you know why don't we just make our days longer and that's one thing we you know

[1:40:45] working within our parameters we have 390 minutes how do we make it work and

[1:40:50] that's what we spent a lot of time looking at options how do we get this time and this was the one that seemed to

[1:40:57] integrate curriculum meet all this the benchmarks and standards and you know still honor those subject areas

[1:41:04] I love it because I personally hear I talk to a lot of kids and I work in a school and so you hear like what's your

[1:41:09] favorite subject and it's usually this a lot of times it's the specialist time right the gym like kind of like you were

[1:41:15] saying it's the art it's the music it's the gym and I look forward to like I love this um idea of embedded learning

[1:41:22] of different subjects because sometimes you'll hear someone say I love social studies oh why and it'll often say

[1:41:28] because it it's a subject that has stories and engagement and it's reading it's you know actually academic but

[1:41:34] there's also some art sometimes in there so I look forward to you know having kids that'll say "What's your favorite

[1:41:40] subject?" Well it's re it's reading because I get to do I get it's more than just sitting and being lectured at or

[1:41:46] reading a book It's it's art It's writing It's it's all kind of embedded together So um yeah I I just really want

[1:41:53] to echo the comments that have appealed to the board here that that embedded learning is appealing

[1:42:02] My only last question is because the board has um a two plus million dollar

[1:42:07] investment in this curriculum we want to see improved outcomes academic outcomes

[1:42:13] and indicators We want to be able to measure that is does this change give us

[1:42:18] the best opportunity to actualize and um make that a reality engage like fully

[1:42:25] take advantage of the investment that taxpayers have made in purchasing this new curriculum and moving the needle in

[1:42:31] results and by your estimation is this the best route well they started the conversation a year and a half ago so

[1:42:38] I'll let them answer Yeah Well you know I I would come back to that with the new

[1:42:43] curriculum that's been adopted we would be compromising that curriculum right out of the gate if we didn't do if we

[1:42:51] didn't make any adjustments Uh so that's why we're here to share what those adjustments are Uh because I think we

[1:42:57] are seeking the same thing that you are uh that you are seeking but not doing anything Again

[1:43:05] that's it doesn't seem like that's going to cut it or move the needle if coming right out of the gate we're compromising

[1:43:11] that new curriculum I echo that to look at my teachers and say "These are this is the outcome we

[1:43:17] want right we want increased student learning but we're not going to give you enough time and just do the do it as

[1:43:22] much as you can." And then we just start to lose pieces of it And so we wanted to start just like Derek said the right

[1:43:29] amount of minutes the right amount of everything so we do it well and not have to go backwards later and be like "Okay

[1:43:34] now you can have this much time or this much time Let's do it right the first time."

[1:43:41] Thank you very much I mean I know this is a ton of work It was an excellent presentation and I hope that like for

[1:43:46] the community that we have some um we can clarify that we're not getting rid of art or media We're just kind of

[1:43:52] changing the way it's delivered to our students and we look forward as a board I think to having all the data that

[1:43:58] comes along with it when we look to measure the impact in our schools So thank you very much Thank you Thank you

[1:44:08] Okay Next on our agenda is our budget update

[1:44:19] I'm gonna steal your thunder for just a second Marie You don't even know I'm doing this Okay So I've heard a lot of talk in

[1:44:26] the community over the past week or so that Still Water is cutting you know

[1:44:33] between 4.35 million depending on if you look at our additions back to the budget

[1:44:39] um or you're just looking at our cuts So can you zoom on that a little bit Joan there you go So a little more if you can

[1:44:48] Okay Thank you So this is a metrowide survey and we didn't fill it out because

[1:44:53] we we had two different numbers we could use So with our adjustments that we're adding back or versus just our budget

[1:45:00] cuts So a survey was conducted about six weeks ago um districts in the Twin

[1:45:07] Cities metropolitan area And so you can just take a look at the list These are the budget shortfalls they are

[1:45:14] facing with current language Um the the current proposal within the legislature

[1:45:21] and on the right hand column it's the governor's proposal So you can look at

[1:45:27] um if we take a look at some of our lakesiz districts Um go down to Prior

[1:45:32] Lakes average you can see they're cutting $4.1 million If we were looking

[1:45:37] straight at cuts we'd be about $4.3 million So very similar to where we are

[1:45:43] Roseville a little bit smaller than we are They're cutting $4 million Um you can look at Minnetonka

[1:45:49] they're a little bit larger than we are they're cutting close to $5 million And if you take a look at the bottom right

[1:45:56] hand column or the bottom columns depending on the governor's proposal or

[1:46:01] the uh um legislative proposal Twin Cities metropolitan school

[1:46:08] districts are looking at a $280 million shortfall

[1:46:14] This is coming on top of what we heard this last legislative session the

[1:46:20] greatest investment in public education that people have seen in a number of years All right and so when we're

[1:46:28] talking cutting in the range of four to5 million here we are just similar to our

[1:46:35] neighbors throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area And so I I just wanted to give the board that little bit more

[1:46:43] of a local view um prior to uh entering into this discussion with Marine And I'd

[1:46:50] like to Katie and I go um we serve on behalf of the board at AMSD and this is

[1:46:57] I mean this is a painful process for the board members there for the administrators there It's um it's hard

[1:47:03] times for public schools right now So thank you for sharing that

[1:47:16] So this evening um we'll be giving a budget update Um and again it's it's

[1:47:24] kind of a process where we're building on um what we provided as a fiscal

[1:47:29] forecast back in February and we're we're building on that Um each one of

[1:47:34] these presentations um up through June um we'll provide um additional detail uh

[1:47:42] the next update again will be um in the next few weeks and we'll we'll give more

[1:47:48] information as uh it becomes available Uh we'll also have a um revised budget

[1:47:56] uh for the current year So as as we continue to compile more information as

[1:48:02] it becomes available um we'll certainly share that Um so again um these will um

[1:48:10] have more uh we'll have a budget book available again early June that has a

[1:48:16] lot more detail Uh previous budget books are posted out on our website There's a

[1:48:21] lot more materials out there Uh so again um you've seen this slide

[1:48:27] before I'm just going to highlight some of the main points here Again our current financial reality unfunded state

[1:48:35] mandates Uh some of those you're familiar with Um Caris uh Caitlyn just

[1:48:42] uh reminded us of the uh redact uh that curriculum We received about

[1:48:50] $300,000 of revenue and uh that is certainly a lot more than that Uh that

[1:48:57] curriculum is over a million dollars And um the paid uh family

[1:49:04] medical leave act that uh goes into place during our next fiscal year That's

[1:49:10] about um3 to $400,000 summer unemployment that still has uh

[1:49:18] costs that impact our district And then legislation um as we watch what's going

[1:49:25] on up at the legislature uh impacting revenue It's not really impacting revenue a lot this year Uh we

[1:49:33] continue to watch um what will um become of all those um different

[1:49:39] proposals inflation rising costs and then projected enrollment levels Um

[1:49:45] what's interesting right now our current year uh enrollment levels um as of April

[1:49:53] um as compared to April of last year at this time we're currently down about 56

[1:50:00] students overall and our current fiscal year projection for this fall um for

[1:50:09] budgetary purposes we're down about 54 students So it we're we're in that 50

[1:50:15] range of being down um for our projections plus what we're actually um

[1:50:22] down overall from last year So we're trending right in that 50 being down um

[1:50:29] for students and um looking to um find ways to just you know boost that

[1:50:36] enrollment because as you know gened state aid that's what uh brings in the

[1:50:42] most revenue for us um one-time only funding Uh we'll cover

[1:50:48] that um shortly here in our slides but uh one of the larger pieces is um

[1:50:55] federal grant carryover that we won't have going into next fiscal year Uh that

[1:51:01] was some of our specialed carryover funds So just another uh slide to highlight is

[1:51:10] our unassigned fund balance and you can see that historical uh chart there Uh

[1:51:16] we're currently um as of uh our fiscal year 2023 24 fund balance at

[1:51:26] 1.1% and that amounts to just shy of 1.7 million um with our board policy being

[1:51:34] uh 5% So some of our general fund budget

[1:51:41] assumptions and again this was highlighted um in our previous

[1:51:46] presentations We are using the current formula allowance uh the allowances in

[1:51:52] state legislation for our revenue Um we did update our um general ed formula for

[1:52:00] that slight inflationary amount Uh the levy amounts are from our school board

[1:52:08] um certification in December The federal revenue again we're basing that on the

[1:52:15] information we have Um we will update that uh once we know additional

[1:52:21] information but we have to assume that we are receiving the revenue right now

[1:52:27] Expenditures uh we based our forecast and budget uh that that forecasted

[1:52:36] number on current year's staffing levels uh we assumed negotiated agreements and

[1:52:42] our cost of living was steps and lanes and then also increases in benefit costs

[1:52:49] Um we had made a projection uh and then pension

[1:52:54] contributions along with that legislative change in the uh FMLA and

[1:53:00] then also the cost of inflation for other purchase services and

[1:53:06] utilities insurance supplies materials there's a lot of other things that um

[1:53:11] the district does have to um pay for And then that use of uh restricted fund

[1:53:18] balance um in order to uh and you'll see this shortly for the curriculum for our

[1:53:26] uh redact um that would be the um funds that we would use for um fund balance um

[1:53:34] utilizing that uh not unassigned fund balance So you see in the blue column

[1:53:42] here um the updated numbers for our revenue as of April 4th uh 152.6 6

[1:53:52] million That is the general fund budget uh for 202526 That's the projection at this

[1:54:00] time And the major changes there or the difference from our current year budget

[1:54:06] would be um the most of the funds or the revenue is our general ed aid Um that

[1:54:16] formula Uh the other larger area is our levy that's very categorical uh in

[1:54:24] nature um and those funds are restricted to uh levy law and then um also within

[1:54:33] the revenue uh we have that loss of our federal dollars and some compensatory

[1:54:40] dollars on the expenditure side Again um what you're seeing there as the larger

[1:54:48] increase um is a lot of the salary assumptions with benefits along with um

[1:54:55] services uh materials and that curriculum um piece added in there So

[1:55:01] overall that balance of um minus5.4 4 million that we're um going to present

[1:55:10] to you how we are mitigating most of that shortfall And then we're um adding

[1:55:16] back that use of our restricted fund balance in operating capital

[1:55:22] uh 1.1 million to cover the curriculum purchases and then uh leaving us with a

[1:55:29] minus $4.3 million um as that projected uh budget in which

[1:55:36] we'll present how we're um planning to cover those

[1:55:42] So right now in our priority based budgeting framework and this is the framework we've been using uh for

[1:55:48] current year and also last year we're in that allocate to school sites So we're

[1:55:54] working on uh the budget allocations staffing and then uh working toward uh

[1:56:01] finalizing that budget for a budget uh presentation and documents

[1:56:07] uh to be published So that is we're kind of in the middle there working on those

[1:56:13] budgets um getting staffing and coordinating that final um those

[1:56:19] documents uh to be presented So again just to highlight um we we

[1:56:27] touch all of the different strategic um directions and initiatives and focus

[1:56:33] areas Um we mainly um in strategic

[1:56:38] direction C but I I do see us fitting in all of those different areas um in

[1:56:44] supporting um as a budgetary um

[1:56:49] purpose And then the initiatives this is um the areas when you're doing priority

[1:56:56] based budgeting And what we did this year is we looked at areas to expand and

[1:57:04] um areas to fix and areas to eliminate So those are the three that we're going

[1:57:10] to highlight um in the next few slides One thing I would just inter uh interject here and

[1:57:17] I'm here as the the wingman for Marie but also to represent the fact that she did not do this work alone This is

[1:57:22] really a team effort All of our leadership team worked really really hard to put together a plan that not

[1:57:28] only looked at addressing the 4.3 million we had to cut but where did we need to make an investments and how did

[1:57:33] we make the best decisions to make sure that we were continuing the good work that we needed to do and supporting kids but also addressing the financial re

[1:57:39] reality that we have So again this priority based budgeting process has really helped us to look at things from

[1:57:45] a systems lens like see the whole entire picture instead of how we used to do budget cutting was like we have to reach

[1:57:51] a target so let's just take a little from here and a little from here and a little from here without being very strategic So I just want to acknowledge

[1:57:56] that um there was a lot of work a lot of conversation You heard some great input from um the last team about some of that

[1:58:03] but just so you know this is not that peacemeal um approach we've used in the past It's very strategic I think I also

[1:58:10] I'd like to just kind of complement to how we've taken priority based budgeting

[1:58:17] and also um it complements our strategic plan and um the action cards and how

[1:58:24] that works to complement all of the the different areas and um how we're able to

[1:58:32] assess those outcomes for the different um areas we invest in too Chris I'm glad

[1:58:39] you kind of said that and I just want to add and echo what you said for how the district has worked in the past as a

[1:58:45] community member I think we're used to um a board taking a look with its you

[1:58:52] know governance lens which is not a system lens not professional educators Um that's not why we're here And it used

[1:59:01] to be like okay here's your list of potential cuts and you cut this and you cut this And it really lent itself to a

[1:59:08] total misalignment of all of our systems and structures And I in in hindsight and

[1:59:14] I think Dr Funk um analyzed this when he first came on board The areas that typically were getting cut were

[1:59:20] curriculum and professional development because they really didn't impact people And so it was like you're making popular

[1:59:26] decisions but you're not necessarily making or you know short-term decisions because we all love our staff and our

[1:59:32] community but you it led to where we are today with our academic indicators lagging So I just want to I know that

[1:59:39] this budget priority process is different This is only the second year we've done this So I think that it's a

[1:59:45] change for sure but I too have appreciated a little bit more of just a a focused um approach to it and kind of

[1:59:52] guard rails So I just want to add to that

[1:59:58] So as you see um this slide this is um just kind of putting into perspective

[2:00:04] and this isn't everything This these are highlighting some of the major areas

[2:00:10] that we did You will see a lot more as we present um our final

[2:00:17] um areas um in pre as we present the budget book Um these are highlighting a

[2:00:24] lot of the major initiatives and programs Um but there are some you know

[2:00:29] adjustments overall to our budget Um you'll see in the expand area um the

[2:00:36] curriculum in many different areas highlighting literacy

[2:00:41] uh science personal finance MIGO Unidos um AI and uh science uh that programming

[2:00:51] at Bellwin and then uh fixing um the support positions that elementary

[2:00:57] specialist model um that Caitlyn and the team just highlighted

[2:01:02] and then PSO and concurrent enrollment options um at the high school And then

[2:01:09] uh our district role and the benefits uh contributions and then music uh

[2:01:16] instrument replacement um that making that mindful um investment um in a lot

[2:01:23] of our instruments that uh that capital dollars and then uh eliminating uh that

[2:01:31] the curriculum uh there's been lot of uh historical investments I'll just say uh

[2:01:37] the co years where there were a lot of apps um online apps and just um team

[2:01:45] kudos to the team back there for uh really assessing those and um making

[2:01:53] those um mindful decisions to uh eliminate a lot of those uh apps and uh

[2:02:01] staffing adjustments based on enrollment uh department program reductions and

[2:02:07] then those one-time only commitments which I will also highlight So you'll see two different lines here One were

[2:02:14] the priority based uh budgeting reductions and realignment because it

[2:02:21] wasn't only elimination of things Um it was also expanding or investing too and

[2:02:27] that and that is the process sometimes you're eliminating more to also invest

[2:02:33] um in areas um for uh student outcomes And then the restricted fund balance use

[2:02:40] really is to use our operating capital dollars we have um for some of our

[2:02:47] curriculum uh using that the capital dollars

[2:02:56] Oh I'm sorry It's all good Uh I had a couple questions on on this Can you talk

[2:03:01] about how we prioritize like science and the programming at Bellwin

[2:03:07] um as something to expand investment in during this time of of budget and then

[2:03:13] second I didn't see block up here How does that factor in

[2:03:19] i can answer the first part of that So we have an opportunity with Bellwin to

[2:03:24] you know one of the things that we look at when we're looking at um providing educational opportunities

[2:03:31] for our students is what's the investment and what's the

[2:03:37] impact And so Bellwin is in the finishing stages of adding an additional

[2:03:44] classroom to their um to their site And so Bellwin is a uh

[2:03:52] conservancy in Afton that has uh I don't even know how many acres it has but they

[2:03:57] have a nature basically a nature center out there And currently St Paul uses

[2:04:04] another one of their buildings and and the St Paul School District buses their students out there um they're I think

[2:04:12] they're elementary students um pretty much every day of the school year and they have a naturalist environmental

[2:04:19] experience um and it's Bellwin is located in our district and our our kids

[2:04:25] can go there if St Paul cancels They'll call Afton Lakeland Elementary and they'll say "Hey we got a spot You guys

[2:04:31] want to come over?" So last year Bellwin approached us and they said "We're

[2:04:37] building this new building We have an opportunity to teach your elementary

[2:04:44] students environmental education in our environmental you know in our environment out here." And

[2:04:51] so we said "Okay there's some interest here and what's the potential cost?" And

[2:04:57] the potential cost I think you're going to get to it another slide is $125,000 And that will impact every

[2:05:04] elementary student in this district who currently I think what was the nature

[2:05:10] center up north that we used to send the kids to warner What was it warner Warner

[2:05:16] We haven't had an opportunity to do that for years And so this is an opportunity

[2:05:21] with Bellwin to um to really provide kids a a nature

[2:05:30] experience that we currently don't have the ability to offer them So the budget number is

[2:05:36] 125,000 and that's um you know what what we believe okay that's our exposure on

[2:05:42] this We're also working with uh Bellwin and we're also looking with with

[2:05:48] different area foundations to see if they can help us um reduce that even

[2:05:54] more because I think they see the opportunity for our kids to have this experience So it's a unique

[2:06:02] um situation that is uh it's a slight increase to our budget but it is uh um

[2:06:09] the impact is elementary wide So great question Thank you Yep

[2:06:17] Block block schedule Is that what you're referring to that's a 27 Yeah there's

[2:06:23] nothing on here for the block schedule It's for a future year

[2:06:30] So just to build off of the expand as you see in the first uh row there um for

[2:06:38] the curriculum uh this is implementing um what we uh see for the readact um for

[2:06:45] the first year in addition to the fir personal finance curriculum and the

[2:06:51] secondary science materials What you see highlighted here is um that intended use

[2:06:58] of the restricted fund balance um of about just a shy little shy over a

[2:07:03] million dollars um of the operating capital funds So that net uh impact to

[2:07:10] the general fund would be zero um Amigos Unidos um again expanding that grade

[2:07:17] level um to grade 8 by one FTE for that

[2:07:22] uh estimated cost of 145,000 and then um artificial

[2:07:29] intelligence um investment in a tool um called Brisk would be uh a cost of

[2:07:38] $50,000 and then again that um expansion of the to the bellwin of

[2:07:45] 125,000 So you can see the expansions there on this

[2:07:51] slide And sorry just a real quick question This is my sort of ignorance in this space That 145,000 for the FTE for

[2:07:58] uh Amigus Unitos Wouldn't that be somewhat costneutral since they're going

[2:08:04] to be in a class somewhere else it's a it's we we're hiring an FTE to

[2:08:13] fill the position Um depending on how the middle school staff said it could be

[2:08:19] less than that Okay This is again this is worst case scenario on our budget Thank you

[2:08:27] And then the areas um prioritizing um

[2:08:32] the fix would be the support position the model um for the elementary specialists

[2:08:41] Uh one area is um the green room paras

[2:08:46] um having one in each building So that's actually a reduction of one

[2:08:53] FTE and then replacing the um media and art with science

[2:09:00] specialists and um also providing uh K5 media and art coordination So that

[2:09:06] overall cost there um is an increase of about

[2:09:13] $28,000 And then uh for PSO and concurrent enrollment options uh what

[2:09:20] we're doing there is expanding um those current college credit options at the

[2:09:26] high school so that they would be more um located there um on site at the high

[2:09:32] school And uh that right now um is looking to be more cost neutral as we

[2:09:39] project those costs because a lot of those uh costs right now are paid to the

[2:09:44] colleges We're looking um as um principal Bach had presented

[2:09:51] um bringing back those options um into the high school um teaching on site

[2:09:58] actually would save the district some dollars So that um projection there um

[2:10:04] we're not looking at any additional cost and then um the benefit

[2:10:10] contribution um that uh whole projection there was already accounted for in our

[2:10:17] general fund budget assumptions when we did our inflationary costs And then the

[2:10:23] music repair replacement Again this is another investment that we would use our

[2:10:29] uh restricted funds with operating capital That's about $70,000

[2:10:36] I just wanted to comment um and I know this is a team collaborative effort but I'm sure that the specialist

[2:10:42] presentation that we heard could have been costneutral had you not prioritized a licensed art coordinator and two media

[2:10:50] specialists overseeing the stacks of our media materials I appreciate that we're

[2:10:56] having those we're maintaining that so that we have that focus on the arts and the media center throughout the district

[2:11:02] still and it's not going totally away Um so I know this probably could have been cost neutral and I'm sure I don't know

[2:11:08] but I'm sure you guys probably toyed around with it and I appreciate the um keeping maintaining it

[2:11:18] And then additional um slide here with the eliminate uh the curriculum on align

[2:11:26] apps again not aligned to the core instruction that was about

[2:11:32] $48,000 additional staffing So again um in alignment with our our enrollment

[2:11:39] that is uh the projection to be down uh this fall uh elementary was around six

[2:11:47] FTEES secondary just shy of one and a half FTEES So again you'll see that uh

[2:11:54] savings there just shy of 1.1 million And then department and program

[2:12:00] reductions um eliminations central uh office support

[2:12:05] positions three and a half FTEEs uh secondary social workers uh three

[2:12:13] FTEES Uh bar coordinators uh two FTEES and then AVID uh 1.4 four FTEES

[2:12:23] and then a a half uh position gate coordinator

[2:12:29] Yes Dr Funk So I know people see secondary social

[2:12:34] workers up here and they say "What's going on with that?" And I can share with you

[2:12:42] that we added a number of positions during

[2:12:47] COVID including these social workers and the co funds have gone away and so I

[2:12:56] don't know what the instructions were when we were here but in my previous

[2:13:01] life when we hired co positions all those employees were said you are hired

[2:13:07] cleared and then when the co dollars are gone your position is going to be eliminated And that's what's happening

[2:13:13] here Um so we we did not have a dedicated ongoing funding stream for

[2:13:19] these positions I also want to to let folks know that we are aware of this and

[2:13:25] we're sensitive to it And this year this during this this year's budget we

[2:13:31] actually increased our commitment with family means to provide uh counseling

[2:13:36] services um external to the district uh where they they come in and they can meet with our students So um we look

[2:13:43] forward to continuing that relationship moving forward but I want to acknowledge that that is causing some stress on uh

[2:13:50] on our system And I was Katie and I and I don't know if Pete if you were I don't

[2:13:55] know if you Pete was might have just be me and you We were on the board at the time of those coed dollars and we knew

[2:14:00] full well we were spending one limited time money on staffing because that was the need and when you have 76 or 77

[2:14:09] cents of every dollar that goes to staffing I mean that's where it made sense but we knew going in it was going

[2:14:16] to be hard to see them go because they're here and they're necessary and I just want to you know community members

[2:14:22] ask us like what can I what can we do to help and um AMSD The Association of

[2:14:28] Metropolitan School Districts has a great position paper on student mental health and um the challenges in school

[2:14:35] districts and so writing your legislators in support of that position paper so that we could get adequate um

[2:14:43] mental health support in our schools adequate funding would be very helpful I just I know that comes up frequently in

[2:14:48] AMSD So

[2:14:53] um while we're here uh bar coordinators and we've talked a lot about bar and the effects that it has Where does that

[2:14:59] leave us with or or now are we relying on fil people in the buildings yeah I'll I'll uh address that So currently our

[2:15:07] elementaryaries don't have bar coordinators I mean they have people who are picking it up but there's not an official compensation for those

[2:15:15] positions We added this past year coordinators at each middle school to

[2:15:21] get the program up and running The high school because of its large size has

[2:15:27] their own coordinator as well So this year we said we need to reduce and so

[2:15:34] um basically we are cutting back to I think a6 person will be covering one

[2:15:42] person will be covering part-time the two middle schools the high school's position was reduced as well but the

[2:15:50] high school principal said I can adjust staffing elsewhere I need a 1.0 0 here

[2:15:55] So so he's making cuts elsewhere within his team um to maintain a full-time bar

[2:16:01] coordinator at the high school So we're reducing two FTEEs total Uh but he's

[2:16:06] picking up part of one of those Um so and and I feel I don't feel great about

[2:16:13] this but I'm more comfortable with it that at least the two middle schools have got a year under their belt to have

[2:16:20] got a solid framework um with bar And we still are receiving support from from uh

[2:16:26] from bar itself um for the next I think two years for uh the two middle schools

[2:16:34] Can I ask a yeah question on this one too since we're looking at the um program reductions um between bar and

[2:16:40] avid and gate Are those programs going to be affected by these um coordinator

[2:16:46] positions are they still around like what Yeah people might find this alarming So bars still exist AVID still

[2:16:53] exists gates still exist All right I I think the difference um

[2:16:59] is we are AVID is going to fall under more the

[2:17:04] opaces of teaching and learning and the the building principles Um gate I think

[2:17:11] our focus we we tried to expand our focus to gate to provide more support to our clusters We just really haven't had

[2:17:18] done that And so the gate gate coordinator's focus is really going to be on the self-contained program that we

[2:17:25] have and and uh identification of students Um we have a uh a gate

[2:17:32] community school community task force that has been meeting for the past number of weeks They're they're

[2:17:38] scheduled to meet I think in May at some point Um so you'll be receiving a report from the board on some different

[2:17:44] opportunities that we are we could potentially be looking at for gay moving forward Uh but at this point in time um

[2:17:52] we're making it just so that position is focused on the the uh um self-contained

[2:17:58] program And then my question just for community

[2:18:03] members because we hear a lot about class size and um is this the additional

[2:18:09] staffing the reduction in staffing we're not changing class size This is based on your enrollment projections This is not

[2:18:16] okay So the stat the existing class sizes we are within the board parameters

[2:18:21] for the existing class sizes Okay Yes Alison Uh just to follow up on that

[2:18:28] question it seems like if we are down potentially 56 students and we're eliminating seven and a half FTEES that

[2:18:35] it would either suggest that our current class sizes are misaligned currently or

[2:18:42] that the future would be you know there's some other change happening as well So I guess it could be true I guess

[2:18:49] what your answer to the question was we are within parameters right now and we will be in parameters in the future I

[2:18:55] guess my assumption on that is it may affect class sizes It may not affect

[2:19:01] class sizes outside of the parameters Correct Y right and so the parameters and that's what I mean the high the high

[2:19:07] and the low that's all And so part of that is you know staffing is a is a

[2:19:12] moving target all the time but we will start the year staff to a certain level

[2:19:18] because that's what our enrollment starts at right okay If we're down 50 some kids this year okay well we're

[2:19:25] losing them in some classes So we may start with classes that are you know

[2:19:32] mid-target and then okay they lose two or three kids Okay suddenly they drop And so it it is um based upon the

[2:19:40] enrollment that we're rolling forward uh we are looking at a a reduction in

[2:19:47] point of six FTEEs at the elementary Now suddenly if August rolls around and

[2:19:54] we get a significant uptick okay we we will adjust from that but we will have

[2:19:59] the students coming in to say okay we got 30 more kids coming in or 25 more

[2:20:04] students okay we can add an FTE um but again that I wish it worked that cleanly

[2:20:10] well and it's it's really challenging um and so I think our principles and their

[2:20:15] their admin assistants do a great job of you know we're trying to identify my incoming c kind kindergarten classes

[2:20:22] Okay what's it going to be what's what what do we know what do we have in hand and we are making decisions here in um

[2:20:30] April based upon projections Now we again as as Marie stated as we get

[2:20:37] closer and closer to June we will have a better target of okay what's our

[2:20:42] enrollment looking like we will have a better idea of what the legislaturator is actually going to provide us and and

[2:20:48] this um forecast you're seeing tonight will tighten up as we as we move further

[2:20:53] into the year But having said that you know we have to have our budget in place by June 30th Well June 30th comes and

[2:20:59] and now we start the new school year on July 1 Well okay we will see influxes

[2:21:06] throughout the summer on enrollment So that's what we know as of today what we're we're planning for Thank you

[2:21:15] Then the final area is one-time only commitments And th this area for me is

[2:21:20] the first area I look at when we do budget reductions because to me it's an

[2:21:26] area where you're not you're not um these are areas in our current year

[2:21:32] budget that you don't repeat the next year Um it's it's a purchase that you make once Um for example the K5 uh

[2:21:41] science purchase um we completed that so you don't budget for it next year Um we

[2:21:48] had some general fund um one-time capital projects um like our wireless

[2:21:54] project um that we currently are doing uh that was um for example the amount uh

[2:22:02] that the general fund um obligated was about 380,000 for that So again that

[2:22:10] project will be completed um hopefully by the end of this year but again those

[2:22:16] dollars are obligated You don't budget for that again next year So these areas those commitments um are a savings for

[2:22:24] next year's budget long-term facility maintenance uh revenue Um that the

[2:22:30] revenue that we have um varies from year to year and uh we had a levy back in

[2:22:38] December that was approved based on our 10-year plan for projects The board saw

[2:22:45] that uh last June and approved that So every year we have to realign what the

[2:22:52] budget is and uh for this upcoming year there's about

[2:22:57] $840,000 of savings or expenditure budget that we can reduce So again

[2:23:03] that's another commitment or project commitment that we reduce here or a

[2:23:08] budget reduction Uh and then the last areas uh we had some federal specialed

[2:23:14] carryover funds um that we reduced um because we are spending those in our

[2:23:20] current year You don't plan again for that um next fiscal year So again that's

[2:23:26] about $780,000 So those totaling just shy of

[2:23:32] 2.4 million are items that will not exist in next year's budget um their

[2:23:38] funding sources and the expenditures um do not exist next year So those are

[2:23:45] just reductions out of your

[2:23:51] budget Additional considerations Um just to summarize again we're awaiting uh any

[2:23:58] further legislative action um before we do any um other reductions

[2:24:05] um further reductions um likely will be in the area of salary or benefit um

[2:24:10] increases as we negotiate contracts Um we

[2:24:16] consider other um we'll be considering other reductions or cost savings We

[2:24:23] continue to look at that Um if there are contracts um not at the negotiations level but

[2:24:30] other cost savings if we can save it other things that we're doing in procurement or um other things at the

[2:24:37] district level we certainly do that to help balance anything helps Um and so we

[2:24:44] continue to do that at our level Um and so that's what we have for you this

[2:24:50] evening Um again you can look at the budget timeline here The next uh area

[2:24:55] that we'll be presenting is our current year fiscal year 25 revised budget um at

[2:25:02] the next um school board meeting coming up And that's

[2:25:10] all And again I want to reiterate what Chrisa said Um it is a team effort to do

[2:25:18] this budget And I just um thank all of the team um including principles too Um

[2:25:25] there's a lot of work that goes into this and there's been a lot of committees and things that um people

[2:25:31] have been on to get to where we are today with a lot of this work So kudos

[2:25:37] to the entire team Questions or comments

[2:25:44] i have more of a comment um just to acknowledge all that work that you guys have been doing Nobody signs up in education to cut people or to cut

[2:25:51] resources like this is a job where we are working in a tough ecosystem So um I

[2:25:57] I appreciate how much work and how much thought has gone into this and going back to your comments earlier on how

[2:26:03] this system of priority based budget budgeting um is really focused on a

[2:26:09] systems lens and that it's tied to the strategic plan and it's a very what I find a stabilizing

[2:26:16] um system systemic view of our budget and I appreciate that as a board member

[2:26:22] um as um Chair Sherman was mentioning having the responsib ibility fall on us as board members to cherrypick different

[2:26:28] things um that's not going to help the system long term It's a short-term fix So um as

[2:26:35] difficult as it is to see all of these cuts I don't want to cut any of this I no none of us do Um but it's our fiscal

[2:26:42] responsibility to make sure that this um district is financially stable So it's an ugly part of this job and we

[2:26:49] appreciate all the hard work and the difficult decisions you guys have made So thank you for that Well said

[2:26:58] Other comments or questions thank you very much for your time and efforts Thank

[2:27:09] you Okay we have um an action item

[2:27:14] There's actually a a resol resolution here So we'll first accept a um a motion

[2:27:22] for an unrequested leave of absence So moved All right Director Hawker with

[2:27:28] the motion Is there a second okay Great With a first and a second I'll comments

[2:27:33] and questions but it will turn it to Do you want to explain to the board what's going on with this yep So um um as we go

[2:27:40] through um the staffing process um occasionally we do and it hasn't happened here in a while but um we do

[2:27:45] occasionally end up with a situation where we do not have um FTE available um in a particular license area for a staff

[2:27:52] member And so this um individual has is we don't have we're missing point two of

[2:27:58] that person's FTE Um so this is unrequested leave um that you that you

[2:28:03] would be approving Um and that makes that puts her on a list so that if we do

[2:28:09] have that FTE come up available then that would be assigned to her or offered to her

[2:28:15] So this is different She's a tenur staff member Yes Okay The other action we're going to have you take are probationary

[2:28:21] teachers Yes So there's a different process for tenur staff members So she will have rights to a position I think

[2:28:27] for five years Yes Um so something comes available we call her and we say okay

[2:28:33] it's come on back Great Um any questions for Chris with a

[2:28:38] motion and we can ask questions Okay Um Joan roll call vote on

[2:28:44] this please Dr Gersovich Yes Dr Hector Yes Dr Kelenberg yes

[2:28:52] Director Lawauer yes Dr Parker yes Dr The Lander yes Chair Sherman yes

[2:28:58] Resolution passes Correct Thank you

[2:29:04] All right Um and then we have an action on staffing adjustments I'm just going to ask for a motion for approval I'll go

[2:29:11] ahead and make the motion Is there a second i'll second Great Director Hawker with a

[2:29:17] second and then we'll turn over to you Chris to explain and then we can ask questions Sure Um this resolution is um

[2:29:23] regarding our probationary staff Um as we go again through the staffing process

[2:29:28] we do have to make room for tenure teachers who um through the staffing cuts perhaps may either be losing a

[2:29:34] portion of their position or all of their position And because they have uh rights to a position um we need to make

[2:29:41] room for those And the way to do that is to um release probationary teachers in those areas So we have before you a

[2:29:48] resolution to uh release um the teachers listed above Um and so we're just asking

[2:29:55] for your approval Any questions or comments

[2:30:01] so can you talk about the effective dates for this uh first off I'll have a

[2:30:07] couple other questions but yeah So they are um released as of the end of the school year So technically it's June

[2:30:13] 30th um is the release date but obviously the last day of school

[2:30:19] And then second is this all of our um probationary teachers is this a

[2:30:26] subset no this is not all of them No this is um this is what we needed to we try to make sure that we're not

[2:30:32] releasing anyone extra We just try to make sure that we only release what we

[2:30:37] need And this is about average for here It's around this many every year And

[2:30:45] then last question for me so far uh would be how does uh

[2:30:51] future staffing needs like retirements factor into this is that already

[2:30:56] factored in or is that then they reapply for the jobs that are vacated because of retirements or

[2:31:04] other openings so retirements are due to um to our office in February Um

[2:31:09] obviously people still retire after that but yes the retirements that we know about are already figured in so that we

[2:31:15] don't have to um so if we already had if we had enough spots then we wouldn't release more probationary teachers um to

[2:31:21] backfill those retirement spots Um so a after we go through the first and second

[2:31:26] round of internal postings if there are still openings available then you know most of these teachers or the majority

[2:31:33] of them by far would be eligible for rehire And so they we would just work that out with principles and these folks

[2:31:41] Thank you Um and then just because I know this happens every year these teachers can

[2:31:48] apply for they'll I mean sometimes they are able to bring we are able to bring them back right yep We're often able to

[2:31:53] bring them back Great Okay There's a motion and a second Any other questions

[2:32:01] great Joan roll call Dr Gersovich Yes Dr Hawker Yes Dr Gellzenberg Yes Director

[2:32:06] Lowour Yes Director Parker Yes Director Theelander Yes Chair Sherman Yes

[2:32:12] Resolution passes Thank you everyone And then under strategic

[2:32:18] direction D develop strong partnerships with the communities we serve We have an

[2:32:24] update from the adventure club um group and Annette Welcome for an update on

[2:32:29] staffing and enrollment Thank you Chair Sherman Superintendent Funk and board members I have a brief

[2:32:37] presentation to update you on where we're at with the Adventure Club members Let's see if I can get this right So

[2:32:43] first of all this is just a snapshot look at where we're at today Uh for summer we have 640 students 43 students

[2:32:52] that are fully enrolled 25 more that are partially enrolled And what partially

[2:32:58] enrolled means is that they have more of a need than we've been able to accommodate but we've been able to

[2:33:03] accommodate some of their need And we're working on fully serving them And then

[2:33:09] we have zero on our weight list For next school year at this point in time we have

[2:33:14] 794 students that are completely enrolled 182 that are partially enrolled

[2:33:21] and 68 that are on a wait list when we're estimating the staff and

[2:33:26] when I'm looking at this this is for next school year We're looking at our hiring needs for next school year It's

[2:33:32] really very much an estimate at this point in time That is a moving number no

[2:33:37] different than the school district experience with um enrollments going into this school year Things are going

[2:33:43] to adjust Family schedules are going to change Staff schedules are going to change Um so we did our best to give

[2:33:51] ourselves some cushion here but we do believe it's going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 to 25 staff that

[2:33:58] we'll need to hire And this I feel like there should be a drum

[2:34:03] roll if you've already taken a peek at this So this is the last three years where we are at at the same time over

[2:34:11] the last three years um the past two years and then this year And so we are

[2:34:17] in ex in really very good shape We're feeling very good about the fact that um

[2:34:24] uh we've been able to successfully place so many people

[2:34:29] We have had an quite a bit of of success actually in sustaining staff So that is

[2:34:35] helping us with this number But in addition to that we have already started uh hiring additional staff So these

[2:34:42] these efforts are very similar to what I've shown you in the past if not identical Um and we'll continue to use

[2:34:48] those strategies as we found that they have been successful um to try and complete that 20 to 25

[2:34:55] staff So with that do you have any questions

[2:35:01] it's on the list there but have you gotten much traction with getting students through pathways we uh through

[2:35:07] pathways that's uh really happening at now more than it has because that's something that the students would be

[2:35:14] exploring for next year So uh we have had actually um success in hiring

[2:35:20] students but that's because their schedules right now work with our schedule So it's a little bit different

[2:35:26] factor for next school We're looking at different approaches at the high school to offer kids credit for a school to

[2:35:32] work type opportunity So more to come on that but that's definitely an opportunity for us I think

[2:35:41] Yes Dr The uh I'm sorry Yep The the numbers jumped up quite a bit from April 24 to 25 And do you speculate that a lot

[2:35:49] of that is because of the time change uh the number of people enrolled Yeah Yes I

[2:35:55] think it it is in part that although I will say that our numbers are higher this year than they were um in previous

[2:36:01] years And so I think that there's just an increasing need for the care and an

[2:36:06] increas increasing ability to serve those individuals So it's sort of a combination of that Okay Yeah

[2:36:15] I just want to commend Annette and her team Um you know I think one of the concerns the board was really looking at

[2:36:22] a year or so a little over a year ago was this situation and would we be able

[2:36:29] to meet the needs of our community if we flip-flopped our high school and elementary or secondary and elementary

[2:36:34] start times and it appears you have risen to the challenge here And uh um

[2:36:41] but I we still need 20 to 25 more people So we're right we have not slowed down a bit We're the postings are up if anyone

[2:36:48] is interested I did list on that slide where to go Um

[2:36:55] and please apply Does your car have it on yeah Right Really not a bad idea This

[2:37:01] is really good positive news I know there's work to be done still but it's to be commended So thanks to you and

[2:37:07] your team to HR and to all the people involved in this So a lot of people involved and they have done an

[2:37:14] exceptional job Yes Thank you Look forward to continued updates All right Any questions before

[2:37:20] we have her go Great Thank you

[2:37:29] It's always so harsh but with that we're adjourned Thank you everyone And my voice held out

[2:37:36] Held out