Heat. Heat. [Music] Evening. It is Thursday, September 4, 2025 at 6 p.m. We are at the District Service Center in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the land of the Midawakadan Dakota people. Middlewakington means dwellers of the spirit lake. Our first item on the agenda is 1.0 call to call to order. Dana, can I get the roll call? >> Louise Hines here. >> Ryan Clark >> here. >> Sharon Vanlair is absent. Eric Tesler >> here. >> Melinda Doss. >> Katie Schwarz is absent. Simnik >> here. Item 2.0 pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of America. to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Next up is 3.0, approval of the agenda. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? >> Second. >> Motion by um Melinda, seconded by Ryan. Uh all in favor? >> Any opposed? Motion carries. Next up is 4.0 0 workshop items. And up first is 4.1, our elementary bond update, presented by Tyrone Brookens, assistant superintendent. >> Thank you. Good evening. Uh this evening we will uh do a construction update uh for phase two, which includes our elementary schools. And so we're going to uh give you an update on Greycloud, Bailey, and Pinehill. In the audience this evening, we have our newly assigned administrator, Jennifer Schwarz, who is the new principal of Greycloud Elementary School. She joins us from uh being a veteran leader in Centennial uh schools and also ISD 622. And so she has taken the reigns of uh Great Cloud Elementary School. So Jan, I'm just going to have you wave to the board. This is your formal introduction to the board. Also present tonight, we have Laura Lushik, who is the principal of Pineh Hill Elementary School and formerly principal of Greatcloud Elementary School. And we also have Christine McDonald, who is the pre uh principal, I was going to say president, principal of Bailey Elementary School. Yeah, you can give the president wave if you want to. uh they have had a busy week welcoming students back uh to their sites, but they are here uh this evening to listen in and answer any questions that may come up. So, thank you all for being here and as soon as we're done you with this presentation, you can enjoy your evening. Okay. All right. So, uh for this part, uh we're going to begin to shift to question two. And question two uh that was passed in 2023 began to focus on uh meeting our elementary needs uh adding additions to Bailey Elementary School, Greycloud and Pine Hill to meet capacity concerns and then uh in the future we will bring an update for Red Rock and then we will get to the uh bathrooms at the remaining four elementary schools. the phasing uh plan shortly after we uh passed the bun in uh November of 2023, which seems like a long time ago, we hit the ground running and we have not looked back. Uh we have began construction at our uh secondary schools and now we're uh leaning into the phasing uh uh point for the elementary schools that began in January uh with Pine Hill and we've added uh Greycloud and we've also added Bailey. Uh this chart here that you've seen numerous times uh outlines our phasing for the uh construction projects. Total of 15 projects. We've uh launched seven and now we're dump uh uh jumping into the remaining eight. And this evening we will hear three of uh those eight projects. And with that I'm going to pass the power source which is the clicker to Mark Deo. And we have Mark representing Koma uh architect. And we also have S Bagley and Paul Appalos Appalokausski uh with W Architects. >> Okay. Good evening. Thanks again for having us here to give an update on the elementary schools that are currently in the design process. Uh Greycloud Elementary and Bailey Elementary, as you're aware, are fairly similar buildings. Um but we'll walk through each one of them and touch on their unique uh points as well. Um, we started the design in March of this year and the plan is to have it completed and out to bid before the end of this year construction starting next summer for both of these projects. For Greycloud Elementary, um, the scope of the work included, as Dr. Brookens mentioned uh expansion of the facility to house 835 students was the target plus uh prek and um also the uh additions uh trigger the storm shelter requirement that I'm sure you've become very familiar with. So we have provided a storm shelter design on this site and uh we also are planning to renovate the existing classroom pods. the first through fourth grade pods um to mimic the Red Rock Liberty Ridge uh configuration. So, a slight change and we'll look at that detail in a bit. um because the additions and the renovations are um of a nature that is an expansion. But um part of the the design goal was to uh create spaces internal and exterior that are blending together with the existing architecture and materials. Um this is part of the requirements from the cities themselves. Um we uh established a leadership team as we have done in all the previous projects with uh the high schools and the middle schools. So the leadership team included myself as the architect uh the principal uh the facilities group and Dr. Brookens and we had a series of meetings throughout the spring, summer and into the fall to get us to the place where we are now which we would say is at the end of a fa design phase called design development. So there's a schematic design phase, design development and then construction drawings or documents prior to bid. So we are not at the end of the documentation phase but we are far enough along where we can present some pretty solid information. This is an overall site plan of Greycloud and it indicates the existing building in maroon and then the lighter additions the the storm shelter edition and the classroom edition. We'll get into the details of that. There'll be minimal site work uh in the northwest corner. You'll see some uh expansion of the storm water retention system that's required as part of this project. The overall floor plan shows the color coding areas are uh the additions. Uh unfortunately the gym and storm shelter edition color went away. Uh but that is part of the addition on the northwest corner. The other addition is that special education uh two classroom edition. Everything in blue is an interior renovation of existing space. I'll cover the scope uh on this plan and then we'll get into some of the details as we go. But as I mentioned, there's two classroom pods um north and south of the central media center. Um those are the pods to be renovated. The uh existing gyms and cafeteria will also be renovated. Um, one thing of note that, uh, you may notice from referendum to now is that there's been a slight change in the program and the scope and that's due to uh, the design process and identifying what was truly needed at the site. So, uh, in the referendum itself, it talked about the addition of a new kitchen and cafeteria, but early on in the design process, we determined with food service, the leadership team, facilities that the need was not really for a new kitchen and servery, but it was simply to expand this the kitchen storage. So by doing that uh which the kitchen is and storage is in that blue area north of the um gymnasiums. By expanding the the storage of the kitchen, we basically were able to meet the requirements from food service that then allowed us to save the money that would have been for a new kitchen and cafeteria. And then we um made the cafeteria that is a multi-purpose space now. We made that a dedicated cafeteria and expanded it to allow for greater capacity and then replaced the third gym station in the new uh storm shelter edition. So, it's sort of a a puzzle piece um of moving around, but in the end that uh ended up being a more effective, efficient, and cost-effective approach to the entire project. In addition, it was determined during the programming phase um that the classroom addition um would be best used to increase the special education capacity. So you see that addition is adjacent to the existing special education classrooms and then the renovation of the classroom pods themselves expanded the capacity of first through fourth grade. PreK will be housed in the existing special education room right adjacent to the front door. And then we've uh planned for a new bathroom to uh be attached to one of the classroom pod corner rooms you see identified on the plan. So the two prek rooms will be interior space. There it was. As I mentioned, the intention is to continue the finishes, materials, themes throughout that are already in the building. Um so that's just an identification of that. This is a picture showing the existing classrooms. Um one of the main drivers for renovating those pods is that the existing walls in them are demountable and they're fabric covered. Um there's two main concerns with that. One is the fabric being 30 years old now is um beyond its life. And the other driver is that the technology that's needed for the current education delivery is not able to be supported by those walls. So by taking down the demountable walls and replacing them with fixed solid stud walls. Now we can achieve both uh improvements. This is just a an image of the classroom pods. some interior renderings showing the new classroom pod renovations. Also, there will be common areas to each of the grade levels. So, we were are renovating those spaces as well with some new casework, some new drinking fountains, sinks. As I mentioned, there's a renovation of two existing rooms um to create the prek capacity. Also uh unique to Greycloud is the renovation of an existing room and an expansion of it, creating a bathroom and storage and a larger kindergarten room um to go along with the existing kindergarten spaces. As I mentioned, the the gymnasiums are being renovated, new flooring throughout, uh new gym divider wall. The space on the north is currently a cafeteria and uh gymnasium multi-purpose space, but as I mentioned, part of the scope of this project is to make that space an expanded dedicated cafeteria. So, that will no longer be used for a gymnasium, but the addition will be that third gymnasium. This is an interior rendering showing that expanded cafeteria with large windows to the west opening it up for some additional seating. The special ed spaces, the new ones in uh the maroon color, um take their queue from the existing special education spaces adjacent. It will create a four room suite. Um but through uh user group meetings and discussions with the leadership team, we've tweaked a little bit of the interior program to improve the delivery of the education. As I mentioned uh architecturally on the exterior we the intention was to um replicate and extend the existing forms materials um as if this was already in place. Um the one thing of note here is uh that we're also planning to move the uh playground. There's a small play playground space. We're planning to move it so that it's adjacent to the special education wing so that that can be used exclusively by those students. Another interior rendering and this is an enlarged view of that uh storm shelter addition. A few things of note. Um, as I mentioned, the storm shelter is a requirement by code, but we are um using this as the third gymnasium station, but also um replacing the existing multi-purpose gymnasium within the uh extent of this addition. The other thing of note that you can see um south of the the large gymnasiums is a secondary entrance. So that entrance will be used um can be used for before after school weekends evening programming that might happen in that gymnasium by community ed kids club so on and so forth. So there'll be a dedicated entry and check-in point now um rather than having to go through the existing building to get to it. This is a exterior rendering of the the design of that uh storm shelter gymnasium expansion off the uh existing entry. So that you'll see you see the secondary entry. It's kind of tucked in the corner. And this would be the uh rendering of the interior of that gymnasium space. As I mentioned, the schedule uh will continue through design through the fall and it will go out to bid in the winter and um then construction in the summer of 2026 through the summer of 2027. Currently, uh through design development, uh we are under budget on this project. Any specific questions about Greycloud before I move to the Bailey School? >> Does anyone have any questions? >> I do. Um, so my one question is with this construction schedule and there's the two p the two pods that are going to be um renovated. So, the pod renovation, the classroom pod renovation will how disruptive will those be during the school year, if at all? >> Uh, the plan right now, and we're working continuing to work with the construction manager, constru uh Krauss Anderson, on the phasing specifically, but we know that the classroom pods will be renovated during the summer. So they'll be starting in June of 26 after school gets out and be finished in August of 26 before anybody comes back. >> Okay. So that would be so these student so when students come in the fall they the disruption that they will see will be primarily from the additions not from >> correct >> anything inside the building. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> And then um Chris I guess maybe this is a question for you. So, um, Mark said that we are in under budget, so like to date. And so, when we do come in under budget on one of these projects, do we reallocate the money within each individual school project or do we just give it back to the taxpayer or what what is what do we typically do? >> So, that's a really great question. Um, so, as you know, we bonded the first hundred million. We issued those bonds um a year ago. And so as we come up to this next um kind of winter, we'll be issuing that second set. And so at that point, we'll analyze kind of take a look at where we're at on budget. Do we feel that we need the full amount? We know some projects as well have been uh maybe a little above budget or sometimes, you know, again, some of the requirements, the turn lanes and some of those things have come up. Um some of the repeaters and different things that maybe were unexpected previously. And so we'll take an um take a broad look at that and say where do we think we need do we need to issue the full amount? at which point then we could issue choose to issue a little less. That's just the max authority that we're able to issue. Um and then if we decide that we do perhaps again know not knowing with current environment as far as tariffs and you know some of those things if that um and maybe the other unexpected items that might come back um and so that would be our plan would assess at that point to see do we need to issue the full remaining authority or not. Um and then really look we try to look broadly across all the projects to ensure that we have sufficient funds across them all. So >> because we we levy or we bond 105% of >> so on the debt service we have to levy for 105% of the debt service but this is the authority that was approved in the um as Mark referenced the you know that we issued the 200 million between those two questions and so we have authority to issue up to $200 million in >> Okay. So this is so it's only in the repayment of the bonds that we issue the extra 5%. >> Correct. Okay. Okay, thanks. Um, so I will move quickly to I'm sorry, move to Bailey, but as you're aware, uh, Bailey Elementary is a similar but not identical building. Um, so some of the themes and some of the additions you'll see are similar. Um the goals were basically similar uh as far as achieving the student capacity, the prek space, um the storm shelter, the classroom renovations and uh expansion. Um but because the programs within the two buildings, Greycloud and Bailey, are slightly different, some of the design took a little bit of a different take. Again, we had a similar leadership team structure and meetings throughout the same process. We were running both projects concurrently. Here you see the site plan uh rendered for Bailey. And again, we have that storm shelter gymnasium edition, which again was driven through that same design process I explained about starting with the kitchen and the cafeteria needs and then building it out from there to determine what made the most sense for that storm shelter to house. The other classroom addition at Bailey was determined to be the best use to be two kindergarten classrooms. Um they already have prek housed within the building. Um and they don't have the same special education uh population or or capacity need. So again, here's the overall plan. similar uh I won't go through it in the detail again but I again highlight the two additions in red red particularly the kindergarten edition in the southeast corner similar um as I mentioned prek at the Bailey site will be uh housed in in essence the same location that it currently is after these classroom pods are renovated. These two corner rooms are currently being proposed to be the prek spaces, which they currently are across the hall from the restrooms. As I mentioned, the uh classroom edition will be a kindergarten edition, taking its cues from the existing four uh kindergarten classrooms. So that there will be a total of six uh sections, six rooms available for kindergarten when the addition is built. The kindergarten room rendering again shows as I mentioned the the fixed walls. Um again you see the the smart TV in the middle and that is a technological driver for uh some of the construction. the addition again to mimic the existing architecture, materials, glazing. Um so that from the city standpoint and everyone's standpoint, it appears that this was always always there. Similar renovations to the kitchen, storage, to the cafeteria, to the gymnasium. Again, the expansion you see to the west, a little different color scheme of acoustic panels um in the walls. One of the main um variations with Bailey is in the fifth grade wing. So, if you're familiar with the two buildings, Greycloud has a relatively new uh fifth fifth grade pod um with a large commons area in it. Bailey there that that fifth grade edition was built prior and did not have such a common space. So because we were able to uh include a new multi-purpose gymnasium in the storm shelter, we can repurpose the existing multi-purpose space that is in the fifth grade wing to become that commons, fifth grade commons to make it more equitable to what Greycloud has. This is showing the floor plan. So, a lot of flexible furniture that can be used. Um, but the main thing is that it's opening up to the hallway and opening up to the outside. So, currently uh the existing uh space, it's a multi-purpose space. It has a glass block window in the corner. So, we're taking that out and expanding the corner so that the whole corner is glass. We're also opening up um with our structural friends to uh to the hallway. So now this entire space will be open to the entire fifth grade. The flexible furniture, the technology will support uh multiple types of uses, large group meetings, small group activities, um gatherings, lectures, uh anything that that u the principal can dream up for the fifth graders. Again, the gymnasium addition, storm shelter, interior schedule similar. Um we stagger the bids the bidding period by a few weeks uh from Greycloud to Bailey to allow for um sufficient and uh uh the contractors to bid on one or both and not be staggered not be stacked on top of each other. And that's part of the the phasing plan from a bidding standpoint that we've been working with Krauss Anderson and with W to get all of the projects um aligned so we get the best bidding um possible. Any questions specifically about Bailey? Okay. Well, thanks again for your time. I'll hand it over to S. >> Good evening everyone. Nice to see you all again. Happy first week of uh September. Um Paul and I are here to talk about Pineh Hill and we also have our colleague Claire Lef France who's in the audience over here in the green shirt who was pretty integral. Uh project scope at Pinehill Elementary School um is a classroom edition. I'll show you a site plan and a floor plan uh to explain where on the building those are proposed to be and the uses proposed inside them. There is also um a gymnasium edition. So, some common themes with the projects that Mark just talked about. And then we have some interior renovations happening in the building um to support special services. So, um there's a couple of classrooms getting renovated there. We are adding some um new central bathrooms and then we have some adults with um Americans with Disabilities Act renovations, ADA, um that needs to be done just based on the age of the school. So, I'll point those out when we get to the floor plan. um we had an advisory committee for this project. Um it's a little bit bigger project. It's got a um a little bit larger classroom edition and so we worked with the um then principal and Laura when she came online um on the advisory committee that had representation from all grade levels including um some of your specialist departments um and they helped us develop some guiding principles and design criteria similar to the design outcomes that Mark mentioned for his projects. Um, so some of those key points that really drove the design was that the project be welcoming for student, staff, in the community. We heard a lot about what works well at Pine Hill and what could be better. Um, and one of the things that we heard a lot about that could be better was having some sort of breakout or flexible learning area. It's not a pod-based building like some of your other elementary schools. So, a lot of that activity is happening, you know, in the hallways or things like that. Um, creative spaces, vestibules. So it was a goal of the design to the fullest extent possible to make sure we had some of that. Um they were really looking for um a little more co colllocation by grade level and department. So even though the project isn't to go in the whole building and renovate it tiptoail um it still presented the opportunity of who could we move around where um just to get those uh relationships and collaboration. So, there was a lot of discussion about that, including wanting to be by kind of by grade level um and to increase some staff workspace. So, here is a site plan of the building. The existing building is in gray and then the two additions are in that kind of orang-ish color. Um so, I'll start at the top of the site and move down. Um for those who are um trying to orient themselves, Hadley's on the lefth hand side of the west side and then the you can see the labeled um staff and visitor parking which would take you into the main entrance. Um so uh off of the northern side of the building um you can see there uh two small classrooms uh in the upper lefthand corner. That's the existing special education area and there's a hallway in front of it that we're connecting into. So our classroom addition will connect in there and then it will also connect into the existing media center which is that um kind of volume at the intersection of the two um legs of the L. It's a kind of an L-shaped building. Um and that's um was actually a driver of the design to make sure that the building is a little bit more of a loop. Right now it's a ser kind of a a series of deadends and everybody has to pass through this one intersection and it it causes flow problems. So that really helped land how the addition should connect to the existing building. We of course will have our own storm water management. So you see the infiltration basins uh labeled. Um and then we do have the the gym addition by the existing gym on the south side of the building. Also, I didn't have it on the scope list, but um there is a small amount of work in the kitchen and cafeteria area to um better um have uh both storage and um flow I would say for the servery lines. So, some equipment rearrangement, taking over an existing mechanical room to create a dishroom, things of that nature. So, here's a floor plan of the building. Uh similar to both uh Grey Cow and Bailey, the color coding on here really reflects kind of areas of work. So the existing building is the uh the two legs of that L I mentioned going north, south, and east, west in the gray. And then anywhere inside that existing building that has some color coding on it is really an area that there is some um scope in the project. So we've got some um ADA or accessibility um sometimes referred to uh renovations throughout the existing building, including in the main office. The nurses area had to have some um renovations to improve that. Some finishes happening. Um then we have some bathroom renovations um along the hallway there. That's what the color with the tea is. Um I'll go to the upper left. We've got those two existing special education areas getting renovated to create a motor room as well as a staff space and a sensory space. So kind of taking the same square footage they have today, but um creating some better uh space relationships to serve those students. Um and then you can see on the north side there connecting to that hallway I mentioned is where the new addition will be. So, six classroom edition along with some bathrooms, a small group room, and then some flex or breakout space. This project will also have a storm shelter. So, in that dashed red box as a part of the classroom edition is the storm shelter extent. So, not the full edition, but um little more than half of it. H and then that you can see how that connects to the existing um media center. There is currently a tiered um area in the media center in the I kind of call it the back but um it's labeled sped resource on here. So there's um a desire to wall that in to have another space to do um support services um whether that be intervention or special education down the line. >> What' you say? >> Uh yes and and flatten the floor. Yep. So that it's a little bit more flexible. Um then moving to the southern half of the building, you can see some of the modifications in that kitchen area on the very bottom of the slide. So um moving the freezer as an addition uh to allow there to be more serving and prep space. And then there's not a label on it, but just to the left of the word kitchen is where we're taking over um a former mechanical room to to increase flow. Last but not least, from a floor plan perspective, uh you can see the gym addition. So, it connects to the hallway that's kind of between the existing gym and the um classroom edition wing. And that's the set of doors that they oftentimes go outside from. So, that will still be a kind of a main door to go in and out from, but that will be where the new gym edition connects. I think I'll let Paul do the next couple. >> All right. Um so, as we've talked about when we've presented other projects, we like to come up with a concept for the design. um this building has enough going on that we thought we could um use it to make a statement about the building. So we worked very closely with the group of of staff there to come up with a concept. They really chose the idea of the pine tree um and really wanted to invest in that as being an important part of their community. Um what we're suggesting is that we take some components of the tree and think about the experience people have when they interact with that. So, um, you'll notice we've highlighted the forest floor, um, where people occupy as part of, uh, their interaction with the tree. The trunk sets up a spatial relationship. The canopy almost hangs over people, so you can, um, dwell underneath it. And then the crown as it meets the sky. So, you'll see those as a theme as we go through the design. So here um one of the things we like to do is go look for inspirational images and this help in helps inform the colors, the materials and the experiential um environments that we're trying to create. So you can um take a mental image of those. Um as we look into them in more detail um you can see some wonderful things that we start to experience as part of the forest. And part of our goal is although it's a school, although it's very practical, although it's going to have a flat floor, we try to bring some of these sensory experiences so that kids can have a little bit more stimulating environment as part of that. Um, so trying to get some of the sensory experiences that go with that and the colors. Um, the trunks again set up a pattern and a texture and a feel to things. So there's a tactile part to that. Uh, the canopy um we're really seeing as a way to help create space. So, one of the um wonderful things that's happening in schools is more flexible learning space. And a lot of times that wants to be small group space. And so, we're looking for ways to define that space without building walls that constrain you. So, you'll see in the design how we're using the idea of a canopy to help define space within the flex learning space to um help give a sense of identity. And then there's some celebration of the idea of the tree meeting the sky. Um, and that's going to um, we believe bring some lightness and aireriness and openness to this addition to the building. Here you can see some other um, as we transition from kind of the inspirational images to materials. Um, on the left um, we have carpet and so the carpet is meant to invoke some notion of the forest floor. Uh in the middle you can see we have some wood paneling and again that's a tie to both the the tree bark on the wall surface but also somewhat of the canopy going above and we are planning to use a little bit of a um a haptic pattern to that so that it feels a little bit like branches in the tree. And then you can see those round dots are primarily those are color palette choices. So there'll be different color paints in the in the space. And then this just kind of lays all those same pieces out. These are the actual materials that we're proposing for that. So, a theme that um is evocative of the forest and also conveniently the building has quite a bit of green in it already. So, while this is going to look a little bit different than the rest of the building, it at least ties together that it it uh will look like it's built from it. Um this is um on the left you can see the floor plan that S already introduced you to. On the right you can just see a three-dimensional version of that. So, that is populated with hypothetical furniture. you haven't actually picked furniture for the space yet, but that shows you about how things fit. Um, and then I will just point out that there's kind of those two areas labeled flex are where a lot of this design concept is going to be shown in the next slides. So here um the first rendering is in one of those flex areas and what we're doing is in the corner of that space we're trying to um create the notion of a celebratory or ceremonial tree. Um, so there's a a piece of paneling in the back that is a teaching wall space. And then there's that um piece that comes up over above as the tree canopy. Um, and there's one of those in each flex space. It kind of backs over, ironically, around the edge of the storm shelter wall. It's built on the storm shelter wall. Uh, then this the ceiling will be painted a lighter color with some uplighting in there to give the idea of um lightness and aireriness and open up the space and make it feel more volutric. Um, here's a little bit more distant shot that lets you see the tree concept a little bit better. So, that's the corner and then those doors on the far end there are going right into the media center. So, that will be the other path through to the media center. Uh, you can also see there's a a small group space built on the right there with a lot of visibility so that students can go in there and be supervised. And then now we're in the other flex space. So, that also has a corner of the ceremonial tree and then um that one is out the end of the building. So that gets a a nice burst of daylight through those windows looking out to the green area. And then just looking at a different angle again at the same same set of trees there. And then this um with the help of the core group um we are working to make the classrooms as flexible as we can make them. They've chosen to break the kind of the pods into two sets of three and then two classrooms in each of those have an operable wall between them. So that will give them the opportunity to double up that classroom space if they choose to or close that wall and make it two individual classrooms. And then that's a shot with that wall open. So you can see the difference between how they might use that space. And now we're jumping over to the main office area. Uh the main office area is not getting a lot of wall improvements or uh changes to the configuration of it. Um we're creating a better toileting situation in the nurse's office. Um there's some rearranging of who's in what room there and some renovation of those spaces, but we are taking the opportunity to kind of update the branding of the space a little bit. So we're bringing some of that tree concept in a smaller format here and bringing in the school name in a little bit more prominent way. And then our proposal, as we've done in some of the other buildings, is to bring some of the district branding into that space to help tie things together. And then the gym space. Um, so, uh, this gym is it's a fairly small gym. I might call it a playroom. It's more of a playroom, but we'll provide them another teaching station and a place for, um, before and after school to happen. And we're bringing some of the similar theme in here. Uh, the materials here are a little bit more pragmatic because it is going to function as a gym. A little bit more of this is done with paint on the walls and the ceiling, but we will be bringing some of the same acoustic panels into the space to help again tie the pallet of the two spaces together. And then again proposing some branding on that wall. There will be some daylight that comes into the space. We're putting some windows on the north side so you'll get nice daylight in without too much glare in the gym space. Uh then we jump outside and again as in Mark's projects, we're mostly trying to blend into the existing. So these are some shots of the existing configuration of the outside. There's actually a couple of different eras on the building. Um so we're doing a little morphing of all of them. Um, and you might note that on the on the upper left is the front of the building with those long, skinny, tall windows and um, kind of colonade almost pattern. And then on the back of the building there's more of these kind of ribbon windows with stucco above and below. Um, so on the left here, well actually most of this is the new addition. Um, you can see we're mimicking that pattern of kind of ribbon windows with the shape up above and below. We're bringing some of that pre-cast in to help make it more durable at the ground level and tie some of the details together. And then I believe we've decided to do those out of metal panels and not stuckle in this area. Is that right? >> Stack brick. Oh, that's right. We're doing them as brick instead of stuckle because it's a little bit longterm durable material. And then just another shot going around the corner and looking at the the end of the classrooms. And then finally around we're on the media center side back here. And that's that larger window that goes into that second flex space. And then on the gym, we're pulling in more of that language from the front of the building with the the tall verticals. And you can see on the one side on the north side, that's actually the windows. On the other sides, it's more just that lighter brick decorative element. And then finally, the last view of that gym. All right. Do you want to go again? >> Sure. I can wrap up with um schedule. So, um actually pretty similar to the other two elementary projects you heard about tonight. Um we're going out for bid at the end of September um for an October bid opening. Uh construction is intended to happen again kind of spring or summer of 2026 through summer of 2027. Um and with interior renov renovations happening in the summertimes. Um so the project will be completely done by the start of the school year 2027 2028 school year. >> And we should probably also report we're a few months ahead of Mark's schedule. So, we're getting closer a month or so from going out to bid. >> We believe we're on budget, but there's been some finagling up and down to make sure we stay in budget, but um we think we're there now. And so, we hope for good luck on bid day. >> Thank you guys very much. Um does anyone have any questions? >> All right. I also have no questions. It's kind of Bizarro night. Okay. Um, so thank you all very much for coming. >> Have a good evening. >> Thank you. >> Paul, I would like to know that if this was the eras tour, what would those different eras be called? So maybe you could think about that and incorporate that into your design. I like how you said it's a couple of different eras. That's a real nice positive spin on it. Thank you all. I'm not even a Okay. All right. Uh, next up we have 4.2, which is a review of procedure 203, and it's going to be tonight by Superintendent Julie Nielson. Thank you. Um, board members, if you recall at our last policy review, we took a couple of policies and determined that we would eliminate them um because much of the language language was procedural in nature. And those policies included 203.1, 203.5, and 203.6. And so following that board meeting, um, what occurred is between Dana and I, we took a look at the policy and we drafted it into our procedure form, uh, and then also had chair Schwarz at that time review the procedure before we brought it back here to all of you. So, the procedure we're reviewing tonight, um, is, uh, a procedure, and as for board members, procedures aren't voted on. It's really a consensus of what we agree on. Um it's connected to policy 203 which is operations of the school board. Um interest interesting to note when we look at this procedure there's also a tie which many times there are there's a tie to another procedure and that procedure um is actually the procedure for policy 206. Um, so with your copy in front of you, before I turn it back over um to uh the chair, I want to just point out a couple of things. When we look at the procedure document, we've given some definitions. Um, in definition 4, it talks about comments to the board. And there's a definition. What was not added to that particular definition is how it's currently done, and that is that comments to the board are currently not livereamed. And I know that that has been a conversation point with school board members. So in order to accurately define like what comments to the board look like we would need to include that particular statement into number four at this time. And then um procedurally if you go down to bullet point number seven. Seven is during comments to the board the school board chair will call up members of the public to speak. Members of the public who wish to be heard shall follow school board procedure 206 and SCO and a reminder that the procedures for 206 and many of you recall this terminology um the procedure was our time place and manner restrictions and procedures and so um as I have walked through these as we've had conversations I don't know if there are any other um procedure points that board members have any discussion about but I know one of the procedure points that board members will have a discussion about will be about live streaming our comments to the board or continuing um to not live stream them. So, I'm going to turn it over uh to Simei and she can begin the conversation. Thanks, Julie. Um so what I wanted to do tonight uh I think just to make sure that everyone's voice gets heard is that we'll just go one by one and everyone will share how they feel about um the uh procedure. And what I want to do is kind of do this twofold because we've we've talked about live streaming before. We talked about it last month at our workshop. Um what I want to do is strip out live streaming as a separate conversation from the rest of the policy just so that anything that happens with um the first part of the policy or one part of the policy we can we can have robust discussions but I don't want to kind of have everything intermingled especially if we're going to talk mostly about live streaming and live streaming is the is going to be the primary topic. So, first off, I would say um does anyone have anything about the um procedure that is not live streaming related? Okay, perfect. So, we're just going to assume that everything unrelated to live streaming is as written is everyone is on board with that. Correct? Great. Thank you. All right. So, next up, let's talk about live streaming. And um Louise, do you want to start? >> Sure. Um, so I remember when we first took things off of live stream and the the place we were in when it was encouraging um actions within the audience that that were not kind to each other and and so there was concerns about the community. And so that time has passed and but I'm thinking about it in a different way now. So this has always been intended as a time for public to talk to the board, not public to talk to the public. So in the same way that someone could send us all an email or talk to us on the phone. And when I think about it in terms of what is fundamentally fair, it's fundamentally fair that those things are treated the same. That if you contact me by email, it is just as valid. it has just as much weight as someone who would come and talk to me here. So, for those reasons, I would like to continue not doing the live streaming. >> Eric, >> yeah, I my position really hasn't changed on this. I've made the correct decision to um live stream not just the business meetings, but also the workshop meetings in their entirety. And I I believe that um in the interest of maybe not transparency is the right word, but to not give the appearance or or the optics that we're leaving things out of the meeting. I feel like the whole thing should be live streamed, including uh public comment. >> Uh Melinda. >> Yes. Um, so I agree with Louise as far as um, you know, if people want to contact the board, they can do it via email and that the it's the reason we changed it instead of um, public comment to comments to the board is because it's comments to the board is what it really is. Um, I'm not fully opposed to um, live streaming the comments because people often are here with their phones recording everything anyway. Um, and a lot of times you don't get the full thing then that way because people are posting the things, you know, on social media that they want from the meeting. Um, but yet I am concerned about privacy. Um, I know we've had an issue before where like a parent used a child's name when they were talking about something mental health related. So, I am concerned about that. So, if we do go back to live streaming the comments to the board, I would want there to be some type of um safety measure in there and how we would deal with that. Um I'm more about probably 75% that we should keep it as is, but I'm open about 25% to live streaming. Belinda, if I could just comment. I think someone asked Sean about our ability to um delay live streaming and unfortunately that's not something that we can do. The live streaming would go out as it is. What could be done is after the recording it could be edited. Is that the correct understanding Sean? >> Yeah, we would have to pull the live stream down, edit the video and then re-upload it to YouTube. So it it can't be done in real time. >> Okay. So, it would only take care of people that are watching it at another time, but not that aren't watching it live. >> People who are watching it live would see the comments live and then if it was inappropriate, we would have to determine that, remove that, and then re-upload the video. >> And another reason that I'm leaning more towards keeping it as is I mean, people do have the option to come watch our meetings live if that's what they want to do, if they, you know, really want to hear those comments to the board. So, Thanks. Uh, >> Ryan, >> my name is Ryan. >> She's trying to figure out where her microphone is. >> I thought you were gonna say someone else. Uh, I can understand the reasonings the I can understand the reason to not live stream it. Um, although I think just generally speaking, we should. I think if people are going to come to the board and and discuss concerns, there's likely other members of the community that have similar concerns. And so if we have uh within the procedure, if if there if it's listed out that these are the things that you can do and this is what we want you to avoid and we already have that we already read that out every time someone comes to the board. No disparaging comments to the board members. You can't talk about specific things. You shouldn't bring up people's names. If we put some of that stuff in place, then I think it's very reasonable that the public should be able to hear what other community members are concerned about when they come to the board because maybe that will get more people to be engaged. Maybe more people will come and speak to the board. So, we're here to serve the community. So, I don't think we should be trying to we're not trying to because we're here to serve the community. I think ultimately it serves the community's best interest to know what concerns other people have. So on the whole, I think we should bring the the whole live stream back. And if we do have a situation where someone does something that we're not supposed to do, they're not supposed to do, pardon me. The chair can stop that. Why can't they stop it? Chair Schwarz could stop it. No, we're not doing that. And then when the recording goes out for posterity, it can be edited. So I think that there are avenues to assuage some of the concerns that are legit while also being you know fully transparent and saying this is what people are are discussing or feeling or bringing to the board. And when people email us to that example people email you privately as email is a private thing. So if I emailed somebody, I the expectation generally speaking, although it's not really fundamentally true, but the expectation still is they're not going to take my email and distribute it to everybody, although they could, which is why I'm careful what I write in email, which I hope all of you are because that's smart. But the expectation is I'm emailing you. I'm emailing you for a reason. If someone comes to the board, yes, they're speaking to the board for a reason, but other people in the community might have they appreciate that. And for what it's worth, virtually every single person who's talked to me about things on the board has expressed disappointment that we do not have the comments to the board available for the public to see. So that's so my position is we should change that. I understand why it was put in place when it was, but I think that that time has passed and just because we've always done something some way doesn't mean that's the right way to do it. >> Thanks. So uh I'm generally very indifferent on this. I don't um like Melinda said, she's 70 75 20 like I'm not even I'm 50/50 on this. Um, one of the questions I did have, um, well, so one thing I had asked Dana was how frequently people do come speak to us. And so, um, this past year, 12 months to through today, um, we've had 13 people come and speak comments to the board and five of those were about the racial equity policy. Um and so but about half the months we have no one coming to speak and then um the year before um we had 16 people and um half the months nobody came to speak and the plurality of comments that year was about transportation to Pine Harbor. So um just so that everyone now now it's all public now everyone knows but I um so we don't get a lot of traction to comments to the board and I don't remember there being a lot of traction like before the pandemic when we when I would come to board meetings too. So, I'm not sure that this is like um maybe the most I don't know that this will tip the balance on transparency for anybody. Um just because I just don't think that there's there's not a lot of there there. And that's another reason why I'm not so hung up on either way. Like I just don't think we get a ton of participation in of all the things for us to think about as a board, you know, budget or you know, potential boundaries. boundaries are not changing, but just potentially in the future maybe. Um or whatever. Um I this just doesn't really rise to me to the level of something that we should stress about particularly very much. Um Sean, one of the questions I had is that when we live stream, is it live streamed just to YouTube or does it live streamed to South Washington County Cable Television also? >> Yeah, it's to both. >> Both. And then when we um in terms of p like pulling something down to correct or to to adjust for what might happen um or what what somebody may say when they come to present. What is the time commitment involved for communications or for or is it the cable commission that has to do this or how does that work? >> No, we can do it. I mean it's it's not all that time intensive. I mean, it's cutting a small chunk of something out. We're not editing it to say something different, right? And so, it's a relatively simple process. Um, the time is in how much you it takes to download the the video and and you know, re-upload it really. I mean, so that's that's really where the time is. The the editing is pretty simple. It's a pretty simple tool. >> Okay. And so, do we know how many people watch the meetings when we're live streaming them? I can get that to you. But it's also it's also I think if you're look at YouTube, you can see you usually you can see the viewers per video, >> right? No, I know you can see the total number of you. I'm just wondering like who like how many people are watching right now as opposed to watching over the next month or whatever. >> I mean I could look it up. Uh I I mean I I think we average probably 15 to 30. I mean at a at a time. Yeah. Yeah. When I've checked it. Yeah. >> Depending on Yeah. Correct. >> Okay. Um, so you know, I share Melinda's concerns around um, like I remember the dad who came in and he spoke about his daughter's um, mental health problems and suicide attempts and he used her name and I don't know if he had her consent to say her name or he may have had her consent to say her name in um, in the meeting, but I'm not sure that she would have consented to her name being on YouTube in perpetuity, right? And so, um, being able to take down the video and edit that out, I think would be I I think that's a pretty non-negotiable for me, just to make sure that students aren't suffering because of a decision that some adult in the community has chosen to make. Um, there was another parent who came in and outed another student in like outed one of their ch children's classmates. um which you know parents can speak about their own students but when they speak about other people's kids you know that's kind of a line we don't we don't allow. So um making sure that you know we we cover that. Um do we have to upload it like immediately or can we can we because we can't tape delay but can we >> so we can't delay it? I I mean so I think I think there's two things right. um they can delay it or they can mute it immediately. So, so if so if they're hearing something live that is against the process or the procedure, we have the power to mute somebody if they're just losing, you know, they're not they're not doing the right thing. Uh it's a separate process that would be with the editing of it, right? And so then that is after the fact and Yeah. Right. You can't do it in in the live, but we could have it up. I mean, um, I would have it up the next day. So, every now and again the live stream will go down. I mean, we've done this before. So, the live stream has gone down before. We have a system that that records it all on a hard drive. And so, a lot of times I just have to go to it, ask them to to share that video with me, and then I'll upload it as a as a regular video. So, the next day it certainly would be there. That night, it would be difficult for me to be able to do. Um, if it was a really important topic, I'm sure that our IT team would assist me in getting that and we could get it up there pretty quickly. >> And so with the if they Okay, so they have the ability to mute it back there. >> Correct. >> Okay. And so if they mute it and we realize, oh, this isn't going where I thought it was going, can we recapture what was muted or not? I really >> I don't think so. I I you know I'm I'm not back in that room and I'm not gonna I can ask that question and get back to you, but I I don't believe that you could kind of play that game. I think that's asking them to really >> So it's either it's it's either muted or it's not muted. Like it's either And so if it's if it's muted accidentally or whatever for whatever reason, it's just kind of it's gone. >> Yeah. I mean they can unmute it. They can unmute it, but I don't think we're recording what's muted. Okay. That's what that's what I wanted to know. Are we recording what's muted? Okay. wondering if there's any um added expense at all that that would be if we go back to that for for the district or would they're already back there, right? So, it wouldn't be any added expense. It would just be more added time for you as far as >> editing things. >> Right. Right. Correct. Yeah. There's no there's Yeah. Yeah. >> No, there's no expense. I would I would I would say that it's not an extra expense. It's it's procedural. It's they they would just let the video keep keep going versus shut it shut it down when when we have public comment. >> And I mean would we wait to find out what the other two board members want to before we make a decision? >> Uh since we don't vote I think we would come to a consensus as the five of us and then because there are five of us and we come to a consensus that's what the consensus is. Um, and so I mean this is I guess for Sharon and Katie like I don't know what they I have no idea what they think and so I don't know what they're I would just add the other great thing about procedures is because we live in a procedural world out in our system with the consistency is that yes the board can change the procedure now tonight and say they're going to make an adjustment but it could come back to the next meeting and you could have a conversation because remember because it's not voted on it allows us to make adjustments to what we consider to be our standard procedure. Now, it doesn't look good if every meeting we're jostling back and forth, but I think in the event we have two board members absent, remember procedures. The reason that that language is there is because it is more of the step by step and it does allow the board, it does allow our executive cabinet in our schools, whether we're talking about the visitor policy, you know, we have a standard procedure with visitor. If we find that we need to make an adjustment, then we don't have to wait for board approval to make that adjustment because it's a standard practice. So again, I wouldn't go back and forth. Um, and I think you're right that the five members are here tonight. >> If we have the ability to mute it in real time and we have the ability to write the procedure out with very clear like list of rules like this, this is what you're going to do. If you're going to come to speak to the board, this is what the obligation is to you. If we have that in place, then to me, this is kind of a no-brainer. We should change the the procedure to allow the whole thing to be live streamed. And if we end up in a situation where we find that that doesn't work out for us, we can change it. But this way, everyone gets to see what folks want to discuss or what people have to say. And I think that in the effort of being fully transparent and accountable to the stakeholders that we have, I think this is the best way forward. >> Other thoughts, Louise, Melinda, Eric? I'm I am still going back to the place where I don't um I understand what Ryan was saying about an email is intended to be a single you know to me directly. I think that's the intent of these comments as well. The intent was to comment to the board and so I I see um again in fundamental fairness someone who might not be able to come to the board, someone who has a night job, someone who has this does not have that opportunity to broadcast is basically what it is to take my words and broadcast them. And um for that reason again to me it is fundamentally fair to treat all those comments the same no matter how they come in to me. And so yeah again that is that's why I'd like to keep the policy as it is procedure. Uh, okay. So, it looks like even though we're not taking a vote, but it looks like we are fairly evenly split on whether or not this should be live streamed or not in that Louise and Melinda both feel. Do you still agree, Melinda, that we should keep the procedure as is? >> And Eric and Ryan agree that we should live stream and I I am 5050. So, I will go ahead and I am going to um I'm going to say that if we can if we can protect students privacy and make sure that that they don't come to harm based on what an adult says when they come to speak to the board, then I think we should go ahead and experiment with like like go back to live streaming. >> We can do what I like highlighted. But yeah, and three people are watching your meeting right now. >> Three. Three people. Okay. So, I'm so curious what else what they're like the US Open is on or something. Something else has got to be on, right? >> Oh, it's football tonight. Oh, who's playing? >> Dallas Cowboys. Philadelphia. >> I mean, honestly, as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, I should have rubbing that into Tyrone's face. He's down. He's like, "Yes, come on." No. Okay, Tyrone, now that I know uh No, I'm joking. So, um, oh, go ahead, Melinda. >> So, I was just going to say I would agree with kind of trying that out with the caveat that if it becomes a show where people are just trying to make it about hearing their own voices and having the public, you know, instead of it being actual comments to the board, then that we would go back and um, look at that again. >> Yeah. I mean, one of the things you always see online are people who like go viral on the taxpayers's dime, right? Like they come to some public event and try to be public or like aggressively public and so I would say yeah if they if that happens though I I don't know that I mean I don't think we've seen it here but if it does happen I think that would be a reason to revisit >> yeah I mean we saw it over the whole masking time you know when people are bringing signs and everything like that so I'd want to make sure that it doesn't become like that again where people are bringing signs and making it a show >> I had Um, I had blocked all of that out, Melinda. So, all right. So, do we have a do people feel like this is a workable solution where we can we'll give it a go? We'll u with some assurance something in the procedure language about protecting students or ensuring that students privacy is not >> I think what we'll want to do Dana and you have the script that is typically read on the nights we do that. Um, do you have that with you? Can you pull that? Can you pull that up? >> Um, so what I hear the board saying, what's that? >> It's on Simey's documents. >> Okay. Um, yes. Go ahead. Do that first. Okay. So, this is what we read when people come to speak to us. At this time, individuals may comment on the policies on the agenda tonight only. The board will not respond to Oh, actually, this is just for procedures. Oh, for policy. At this time, individuals may comment on whatever. The board will not respond to or discuss your comments. Character abuse or specific complaints identifying staff, students, or task force members will not be permitted. Each speaker is permitted to speak for up to three minutes in total. The school board will allow up to 30 minutes of comments and three speakers per topic. At three minutes, the microphone will be turned off and we will move on to the next speaker or next agenda item. So, that's what's read at the beginning of the meeting. So, I think based on the board's conversation, is there anything else that we would want to have included? I think the other reminder is that we're now putting our um South Washington County communications now they're in charge of doing the muting. It's not like anyone around this table is going to be. So, you know, we think about training, we think about discretion and making sure like we're the board is establishing these rules for the people who are back live streaming. So, we just will want to make sure whatever the board decides that that's clear because what we don't want to do is have some mistake made or an error made and something wasn't muted and it goes through. So, we just are going to need to be clear because that's not something that anyone around this table is going to be controlling in the moment. I mean, I think the only thing that would be missing here is something about, you know, just a reminder that like parents may not refer like talk about students other than their own students or something. I I don't know exactly how we would phrase it, but something like that. So that if you're mad because you know it says they can't talk about staff students or I mean it it's we have like >> make it stronger. >> Yeah. something stronger or something more I guess more pointed about like if you're going to talk about a kid it has to be your kid. >> You can certainly add that no names can be used. >> That would actually probably address a huge Yeah. And then so for clarity so in this procedure and then in procedure 206 which is posted on the website when people sign up for public comment we will I will edit that toe that it will be live stream or I'll take out the not live stream portion however it's worded correct I think what we'll do is underneath the definition of comments to the board when we define that we will put there the next or the last sentence will be um comments to the board will be livereamed period and then in the reference in number seven when it says schoolboard procedure 206. We're going to hop over to procedure 206 and we're going to make sure that it reads the same. And then um we will I will share that out with board members um in a Friday update. So you have the procedure. So if you see anything that doesn't look right, please let me know after you review that. All right. All right. Thank you all very much. Next up is information item 5.0 0 information items and we've got 5.1 financial update presented tonight by Chris Blackmer, director of business services. I know everybody's been waiting just on pins and needles here to hear me talk this evening. So, um, thanks again very much for tonight. I have to tell you that sitting around the table here, I found out that Sean has more tabs open than I do ever and which is impressive to be honest and, um, that Jake is currently looking over his budget. So, I said it's great night to great start. So tonight then we're going to talk about the preliminary levy. And so um on this first slide just a reminder that we talk about the preliminary tax levy for taxes payable in 2026. And so by September 30th each year, school districts must set their preliminary tax levy for taxes payable in the following calendar year. So we're a little off cycle on some of that. Um I always say it's very early. We commonly refer to it as pay 26. Um and so if you hear us talk about that, that's the taxes payable in that year. Property taxes collected in the 26 calendar year are actually accounted for revenue in the following year. So in our 2627 fiscal year or school year, the Minnesota Department of Education, MDE, must provide preliminary reports to school districts uh no later than September 8th. And so as you may know, we are not yet at September 8th. So Monday, I'm very excited to come to work and review lots of pages of documents and find what errors or not errors or questions I may have for them. Property tax levies are made with voter approval um or at the discretion of the local school board. And so um certainly as we walk through that and we have the final some of those are at the discretion of the school board um but many are with voter approval and local levies are about 26% of the general fund revenues. Clicker pages. I got lots going on tonight. School district um funding then. So the state of Minnesota as we know sets the following. They set formulas that determine revenue, which most revenue is primarily um amounts per pupil. They also set tax policy for school districts. So, including like what we're allowed to levy for. They set those. They also set the maximum authorized property tax levy. And so, school districts can't go above that at all. That's the maximum we can levy for. We can, however, underlevy. And so, we can choose to levy less, but we can't go more than that with the one exception that unless it's approved by voters. And so, um, we don't have anything on the ballot this year, but in those years that we have, whether it be, um, for the operating capital or the cap operating referendum or the capital projects levy, certainly then that we've sought voter approval for those levies. And so, again, we are authorized to seek referendums um for that operating and capital needs, but they do have to be voter approved if we wish to um have that otherwise anything above what's authorized by the state. So, just as a result, the school district funding is highly regulated in Minnesota. A little bit of background on the basic formula then since that does drive so much of our um aid and kind of impacts maybe what we might have to ask taxpayers for. So since 2002 and three the state general education revenue formula allowance has not kept pace with inflation. We've talked about this quite frequently at board meetings for fiscal year 2526 um or school year 20 2526 an increase of uh we did receive from the state the 2.74% again um that reminder that now there's the minimum or the maximum of 2% or 3% um in statute and so we received $142 more per pupil on the basic formula than the prior year for 2627 of course we don't know that number yet they'll set that um expected again in February because I think by statute they have to set it fairly early and so it's again tied to inflation now the basic formula increase again with that minimum a maximum so just a reminder then had the per pupil formula allowance kept pace with actual inflation um for fiscal year 2526 we would have needed an additional $1,470 per pupil which is 19.7% more than the 7,481 that we're um scheduled to receive and so to kept pace the allowance would have been 8951. And on this slide, this is why that's important when we look at the just a visual representation of that gap. Um, but in 25, so you can see that kind of even though they've made some adjustments and now it's tied to inflation, that gap just continues to grow. And so I put a budget impact number in there because if we did look in our 26 budget, that 1470 um per student would result in over $30 million in revenue for the current year. And so that's a significant portion. And so again, we've been reliant on our taxpayers for that operating referendum to kind of help bridge that gap in funding. All right. Underfunding of special education. So according to Minnesota Department of Education, another impact to our budget um and one of those that sometimes we have to rely on local taxpayer dollars. In fiscal year 2023, the cost of providing programs were underfunded statewide by $726 million. And so even with the recent funding improvements on the last few years, they did raise the cross subsidy aid and that's scheduled to raise again in 27. And I'm going to asterisk that for everybody. And I'll tell you why I aster in a moment. But the fiscal year 2026 costs um of providing the program statewide will be underfunded still by 506 million. So even in the 26 year again we're scheduled to raise that cross subsidy um which would help us tremendously. It'll go up to um from 44% to 50%. However, the asterisk as they did in the last legislative session, and I've spoken about it, I think a couple of times now, but the blue ribbon commission on special education that is solely tasked with in the next two-year bienium either one finding adjustments of $250 million statewide or if they can't reach that goal, then the cross subsidy that scheduled to increase will actually be reduced to make up that difference. And so again, on a statewide basis, that means that we will likely have that amount go higher um as we look forward. So the primary options to bridge that gap in funding are to either cut regular program budgets or to increase referendum revenue. And most districts have done both. And so again, we've had a very um supportive community for operating referendums. And so we've been able to help offset some of that difference. school district property taxes. Um so in each school district um we may levy taxes in more than 40 different categories. The maximum levy amounts are calculated by the Minnesota Department of Education for each category and they're either set by state law or voter approval. Some of the category examples that we levy for are locally approved operating referendum or the capital projects or capital projects levy, Q comp, long-term facility maintenance, lease levy, and then also in those are in general fund. And then we also have community service. There's some levies that are associated with that as well as our debt service. So send me your 105% earlier. That's where that would fall in. So, one of the things we try to always do is remind our taxpayers and our public and our community that a change in tax levy does not determine a change in budget. So, even though we might receive more um or less in tax le that doesn't necessarily drive the change in budget. So, tax levies based on many state determined formulas plus the voter approved for referendums. And so, some increases in tax levies are revenue neutral. So, they offset in state aid. So, there's called an equalization factor on many levies where they offset. So we either get levy or aid, but we don't get a greater dollar amount. It just shifts the dollar amount. So kind of the teeter totter goes between levy and aid. Expenditure budget is limited by state stat state set revenue formulas, the voter approved levies and fund balance. In other words, we can't spend more than either we have on hand or that we're receiving in revenue. And so again, when that changes, if that levy just changes that aid and levy mix, it doesn't change dollars. to just adjust that an increase in school taxes then does not always correlate to an equal increase in budget the difference in levy cycles. So again, we talk sometimes because we're on that fiscal year end of June 30th, start our budget year on July 1st. The 26 um taxes payable will provide revenue and the taxes collected in the year calendar year 2026 will be revenue for our 2627 fiscal year. In the budget, as we know, we adopt in June of 25. So it's sometimes that leg of well where is that? And so um 2627 of course we'll adopt in next June. city and county though they run calendar years so their budget cycle begins on January 1st and so it aligns itself with that um kind of property tax collections as well as we know they collect twice a year typically in May and October and so the 26 taxes for a city or county those revenues are actually that calendar year revenue as well for 26 so slightly different from ours without that leg property tax background so every tax owner of taxable property pays property taxes so there's various taxing jurisdictions as well. If you've ever looked at your statement, it's kind of like who else is taxing? You know, some I always say tell people that we are the only taxing jurisdiction that a taxpayer can say no to. Um because we have to go out and we do have to ask for operating referendums, capital projects, levy, bonding. They can say no to us. Um little less common in cities and counties especially when it comes just to regular um kind of operating levy. So the county, the city and township or township, school districts, special districts. So maybe um there might be a watershed district in your community. Um but wherever that property is located, those taxing jurisdictions all are able to tax that property. Each taxing jurisdiction also sets their own tax levy. And again, it's often based on limits in state law. So it's not just it's unlimited either, but sometimes there is state law that regulates some of that. But again, um like I said, I always try to tell people that we're the only one they can say no to. The county uh in Minnesota operates as the tax collection agent. And so they send the bill and collect the taxes from property owners and then they distribute the funds back to all the taxing jurisdictions. So this is the one that sometimes makes Julie a little hungry. I was watching last year's and she's like, I want that big piece of pie. Um but we do talk about because quite often we um hear, well, if my value went up, you know, you must be getting more money that you can spend. And the reality is we don't. um the tax levy is the levy and so again when we can set to the maximum but it doesn't change our dollar amount it just changes how it's distributed. So a higher market value increase just makes a bigger slice of the pie and if there's a lower market value increase you get a smaller slice of the total pie but again just each homeowner is a little piece of that pie and so we can't change the size of the pie just who's paying what part of it or eating what part maybe. So to illustrate that, the impact of the property valuations, if we had, for example, two properties um in the school district with both houses valued at $100,000 and if the total levy is $500 and so they're equally valued, they would each pay $250 of that levy. However, the impact of the property valuations then if those same houses, so the orange house, if their value increases 10%, so they're now valued at $110,000. And if the blue house value increases by 25% and now valued at $125,000, the total levy again is still $500. However, how much the orange will pay a little bit less because now they're of that total pot of what it distributed over. They're a little bit lower than that blue house. So, the blue will pay a little more. So, again, even though the value of the levy the market value went up, it isn't doesn't change the levy amount for us. So, sometimes we do have that little bit of misover. Next steps. So, again, MD is going to release preliminary levy reports this coming week. The tax levy workshop is set on September 9th. And so they'll I think last year was about four hours of going through the um preliminary reports with everybody to kind of walk us through where numbers came from, where might be to watch for, where some things they might be working on from um Department of Education, the finance staff. Then so we look over each one of those lines to ensure that we're receiving the appropriate amount and that our levy appears correct and the numbers that they're using to generate whether it's pupil numbers or other that those appear accurate as well. Our um financial adviserss Ellers and Associates also takes a look particularly at the debt levies to ensure that there doesn't seem appear to be anything missing there. The board will uh will request approval um for the 25 pay 26 preliminary levy at the next board meeting. So September 18th and then the final levies are in December. That's when we seek um we'll have the truth and taxation hearing as well at that meeting. And then we'll seek board approval for the final levies for the preliminary levy. One note is we do set those and we request the board um set you can in the state of Minnesota they call it just set at the maximum and so it's just a rather than have a specific dollar amount and that's to result again we know that the levy reports from the department of education we aren't going to get until next week even with that September 18th that particularly early meeting that the state is still running new runs and getting more information and new information and so they are always updating those numbers and so we just always ask that we set to the maximum so that we don't have to somehow revise those numbers and we and make sure that we're maximizing and capturing the levies um that we are entitled to. So, with that, any questions? Thanks, Chris. Uh does anyone have any questions? I mean, I feel like I asked a lot of them at CFAC, but um one question I did have, so what we get on our So, we'll get a tax a tax statement later this year. So that tax statement has our school district levy on there and that is not inclusive of what will be what MDE is calculating or that can change because of what MD is calculating because how long does MDE have to change their number? >> So typically so um I believe you're referring to the kind of the preliminary when tax statements or the proposed taxes payable I guess. Um at that time unless there's voter approved they should be finalized by then. So typically the end of September 30th we have to say what are we doing those final levies there are some eb and flow a little bit but largely they're going to be minor and so the statements largely will be very reflective of there may be again maybe some market values if somebody appeals their market value there's so there could be potentially some adjustments but that's usually pretty close to what you'll end up paying okay when those statements go out unless you have a uh vote so if there's an operating referendum or for districts that are seeking some voter approval then there would uh be some adjustments Okay. And so then we we pay our property taxes in May and would you say October, November, something like that. And so the November money will then come next July that it's applied to our July 2026. >> So actually every the tax collections the way they work, anything that we in a calendar year 26, so any that pay 26 will actually be in full revenue for 26 27. So, we'll have actually gotten cash. Um, so the May collections the county distributes out. Um, so kind of before the end of the year, but those are actually kind of in advance and so we've received those ahead of when we'll actually claim them as revenue. >> Really? >> Yep. >> So, when do we So, when do we ultimately Okay, that I'll just talk to you about this offline because this is like >> we'll get when Aaron comes in January to present the audit. to be a great question for him. Maybe I'll see if you can come to CFAC early, but it does it gets very nuanced and so there's um because it is we're collecting some you know we receive some cash but it's kind of like unearned at that point and so >> we like acrew for it and then okay fascinating. Okay, for the sake of the three people watching and Tyrone watching football, >> um, does anyone else >> is from Texas? So, >> one one quick one, Chris, when you were talking about levies, I thought I heard you say we levy for Q comp and I thought ATPs was a separate line of funding >> outside the formula that came from state. >> It's so it's one of the levies. So, um there's a levy aid mix sometimes with QC comp, but there largely it's a levy um based formula. And so that we it's not part of the basic formula that we receive aid for, but it is one of the things that we can levy for. And so we've typically levied the max um on that as well. You can under levy. That's one that you can under levy if you so choose. And so we usually work with whoever's um at that point overseeing Tim Bundle, you know, um as you may recall, recently retired from the district. And so um Patty Diamond now will be taking that role over. and so excited to work with her just to help kind of answer questions. I said, I know I spoke with U. Miss Dana Larson today and we're going to set up a meeting regarding that, but it is a separate um so like when I come at the next meeting, I'll have kind of a very preliminary estimate of what that will look like on the pay 26 levy. And so we'll talk about that'll be a line item on there. It's typically Q comp um or ATPPS, alternative teacher pay, professional pay system. Um that just reminded me of one more question which um so I know we have shifted over the years some of our voter approved levies to local operating levy and that is something that the state allows us to do like what is the are there opportunities to do that coming up or is that something that is like the state will affirmatively tell us? >> Yep. So for local optional revenue, um the state did and it came to be kind of in a time when there was really difficult for a lot of districts to pass particularly in rural Minnesota to pass some of those. I said um I actually sometimes joke I have the best of three worlds. I live in the north branch school district open enroll my students um children they went through the Forest Lake school district and they work down here so I won't share which the best is but I might be sitting here. Um so to that end I think that's when local optional came to be and so it's increased um once it was initially I want to say it's at $724 if I'm not mistaken it was 424 and then 300 and so at that point like in our district's case all of those dollars were at one point voter approved. Um, however, not all districts that's the case and so right now there's no more opportunity that that's still that cap is still set at what it has been and so there's no more um kind of additional action on the board to be able to say, "Hey, we would like to participate in that additional amount." So, okay. All right. Thank you. Um, does anyone else have any questions? >> All right. Thanks so much, Chris. Thank you. Um, next up we have 5.2, which is our first reading of proposed policy changes presented by Julie Nielson, superintendent. Thank you. Uh this evening bringing forward eight policies for the board's review. Our small uh subcommittee did meet and review all of the policies. Thank you executive cabinet members bringing those forward. Um this evening we're taking a look at policy 709 which is our student transportation safety policy. Um there was just a legislative change and that had to do with um the training timeline. 901 and 902 both community education policies. Um no suggested changes there. What we realized is that they were just reviewed recently if I recall. Um 903 are visitors to the school district building. We added in um section three and that included our P PSO students to make sure that they had a space and technology um not necessarily what we would consider like an outside visitor um because we do have to find space for those PSO students. Um and also just to answer a board question that we'd like to wrap into this policy is that um visitor background checks are done every two years. Um and that has been our standard uh for background checks. 903.4 public solicitation in school district facilities. No suggested changes. 903.5 Oh, I did the wrong one. 903.5 volunteer background checks. Thank you. This was a question from Louise. There were no suggested changes, but the change we're going to s suggest is that background checks are done every two years. Um 904, distribution of materials on school grounds. Just one grammatical change thanks to our fabulous communications department. We don't write out 18 anymore, 18 years old. And 905 advertise advertising one more grammatical change um being more encompassing using the word families and South Washington County schools. So, with that, I would turn it over to board members if you have any questions. >> Thanks, Julie. Uh, does anyone have any questions or comments on the policies tonight? Right, Dana. Do we have anyone signed up to talk about the policies? All right. Uh, next up is 6.0 reports and comments. And we'll start with Superintendent Nielsen. >> Thank you. Um, I don't know about everybody else sitting around the table, but I'm real tired. I did kind of look out at our principles and they looked real tired, too. And I actually was thinking they're probably thinking why tonight on the first week of school do we have to be here? Um it's just a whole different energy level this opening week of school. But just to share a couple of highlights. I think we've had a great start to the school year. Every year we think it's better than the last school year. I don't know. I guess what I found is that there's never an absolutely perfect year. Um, but I'll tell you what, um, the way many of us, uh, the executive cabinet sitting around the table, we have all spent time out in the schools and with programs and we were there to visit and be part of the excitement. But through all those visits and classroom visits and talking to staff, we also were able to troubleshoot and answer a lot of questions. Just about the time we had a transportation question, Abby pulls up. She's like, "I'm so happy to be here to help your transportation." And, you know, the same thing happened with all of our departments. And so, um, just a couple of highlights. First, I want to note the students at Crestview Elementary School. They were so excited they must have been in the queue lining up at least 30 minutes early. And they were so excited they started crawling out of their vehicles, literally. Um, meaning the parents opened their sunroofs and the windows and how the kids are yelling and talking to the teachers, carrying on elaborate stories of what they did this summer and just amazed not just at Crestview but across our system how our staff calls the children by names, how they know something about their families, how they know siblings, watching siblings get their littleer siblings out of the vehicles. We just have some of the most amazing kids and I said if we don't get some award for relationships that our staff has. Um the families we had dog treats. I mean someone thought I had dog treats for the dogs in the car. I'm like no I don't carry dog treats. But just all the stops were taken out in this opening day. And I also want to highlight um the drumstick club as I called them. You know we always wonder especially at the elementary level about um what's for lunch the first day. And we've gone from syrup, I think one year we had walking taco, which please don't do that again. And then there was the hot soup. Um, but this year we had the drumsticks. And the drumsticks were bigger than our children's head. And that little group, Sean was out with me. I think it was Red Rock and they had the the Clean Bone Club. And so once they saw he had a camera, they wanted their picture taken with their clean drumstick. And so I hope the parents somehow get to see that picture. But truly so much joy um throughout the dismissal of our schools just watching that whole process from our middle schools to our high school level and what happens and students rushing out to find the doughnut bus or the candle bus or whatever bus we have out there waiting for them. Um really just a great start. I also want to share with the board as I have in my updates um as well as with our community, we just are asking for a little more patience when it comes to transportation. It's not unusual that these first weeks are difficult and tough when you're moving 12,000 students around the district, but we're also faced with more road construction and pipes and detours than I think we ever really could have imagined. And so I just want to do a thank you Abby. Um Abby oversees now our transportation department, but Carrie Gail, Andy, Tracy, the office staff there, and all of our drivers. It takes a lot to make sure that our kids are transported safely. meaning when we have a student get on the wrong bus, um sometimes bus drivers have to loop around and redo it, putting our bus, you know, 10 to 15 minutes late. So, as of today, we've had no loss students, and that ultimately is our goal. Um we want to know where the kids are at all times. If we're going to be 20 minutes or 30 minutes late, um today we started with our communications and with Abby being right down at transportation so we can immediately track that and communicate with parents and families. So, we as ask for a little more patience. I'm going to say this may be a patience until the some of the construction is done, until some of these main roads open up. Um, it's just difficult moving our buses around. And then finally, um, our students uh, may have been a little excited thinking, I don't think park's going to open. I think we're going to go virtual and online. Matter of fact, I heard a student say that to someone in the district and they didn't know who I was and I said, no, I don't think they're going to be hybrid or virtual. Um, we're going to be in person. And while our architects play a big role in our construction, Krauss Anderson, um, wow, it was the last, uh, 24 hours, 48 hours, really the last week, uh, in their time, they just did a great job of making the, uh, making sure the schools were ready. Um, two weeks ago, I was not sure, but I'll tell you what, when we walked into those schools, everything was cleaned up. Tape was off the floor. Um, things were out of the hallway so students could could move around. Um, and as it as we talk about that, you know, it's it's the remodel while the kids are there. And so, just for the board and for the community to know that while we have construction workers in our school, we do have an expanded safety protocol in terms of allowing um those individuals into our schools um you know, and what that process is in terms of access to the building. So, just know that conversations have occurred with Krauss Anderson and with our school leaders, but really a great start to um to the school year and looking forward to um getting out and um seeing more of our great kids. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh any board members have any events to report? All right. Next up is 7.0 future meeting dates. Our next meeting will be September 21, 2025. It's our schoolboard business meeting that will be here in the DSC at 6 PM. After that will be October 2nd, 2025. We've got our schoolboard workshop meeting here at the DSC also at 6 PM. And with that, we've got 8.0 and we are adjourned.