##VIDEO ID:uRMxIvpz978## e e e e e e e e e good evening good evening everyone at this time I will call to order the business meeting of the fawell public schools School Board here on September 23rd uh 2024 uh as listed in the agenda we have our strategies and Miss Steves as clerk would you determine if we have a quorum present yes Mr chair we do thank you I would invite everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pled ALG to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all welcome to those of you in attendance and those of you viewing online uh on our agenda item number two is approval of the agenda a motion for approval of the agenda please so moved thank you Dr robish show and do we have a second second any discussion discussion discussion all in favor the motion signify by saying I I opposed motion passes agenda item number three recognition Awards and presentation there is none item four items of information student board Representatives Miss Julian huberty please hi so I'm reading off my phone cuz I was not prepared and did not charge my computer so that's what I'm looking at um I have a few things for you guys tonight to talk about um the first um thing is the photo voice project so I brought this I kind of told you all about this before school ended might have been that June meeting um about how there would be pictures students would take pictures of things that they saw around the community and then they would submit them make a photo gallery so that has been re-evaluated by the prevention Partnerships for healthy youth or ppy Coalition um and the team has a new plan going forward so Ashlin zerbin and then Angie Ramirez um are now having an uh you with answer a series of three questions I don't remember off the top of my head but they're like what makes you feel hope and fairbow what is something that you care about and what is like something healthy and safe that you do so much more positive um questions that then youth can take a picture of throughout fairo and then after everyone takes a picture and submits it um we will then go ahead and youth will get to decide on which pictures they think like best represent hope best represent um healthy activities in the community and that will be made into a traveling collage that can be spread around the community so it could be at the library for a couple weeks it could go to Subway it could go to different places around the community so that community members can see what the youth view as hope in the community um healthy activities whether that's like you know I view my church as a place that is a hopeful place for me or my dog or my cat um the swim team is something that's a healthy safe activity so different things so that we can get you know perspectives from um all different youth around our community and then that way everyone else can see those and this Gallery will move around town um that's what I have for the photo voice project um and then we had our district youth council meeting last week on Tuesday Wednesday I think um and so from that I have some feedback for you about just different things going on at the high school um regarding like the cell phone policy so one thing that I heard a lot was majority of students have found it to be very effective for themselves and for teachers so I think that's a really important note to look at that students themselves are recognizing that the phone policy like has benefits like they're recognizing it themselves um they also found that it was super helpful for teachers um a lot of students said that they believe that the first warning before taking the phone is really helpful too because it's like you know sometimes we just go on our phone when it's become such a habit of our day that we just pull out our phone that it's like you forget to do it so a warning first and not having to be taking down to the office immediately has been super helpful because you know yep I need that reminder got it it's a way for the rest of the day um some students feel frustrated that they can't use their phones after they finish assignments but then uh what I learned which I didn't know was that like during study hall students are given board games and coloring sheets that they can work on which I think is an amazing thing I would love to do during study halls um so that way it's like a time for kids to like connect and like play with other people instead of going on their phones which I think is a great um just different thing than sitting on your phone not talking to anyone um regarding substance AB abuse at the high school students feel that substance abuse is a very prominent issue um there are people puking in bathrooms do just substance of use this is like affecting other students right because imagine you you just finished third period English and you go to try to go to the bathroom and you see kids puking because they're on doing sub like illegal substances um and this is happening um and then what do you do about that like how's that affect the rest of your day does it make you feel great as a student um students feel that they can't use the bathrooms because of other students abusing substances um and then I think one thing that's really stood up to me is and that is a very important issue to me students are afraid to report information because of that information getting out that they reported it right those social and physical consequences even if they're unintended how they affect students um and a lot of students said that they feel as if it's placed on them to report these things when they feel like they should just be able to go about their day without having to take on the responsibility of and the burden of reporting every time someone is doing something um not being able to go to the bathroom stuff like that so that's what I have for you as a report on a happier note we have Homecoming in next hold up it's on my calendar next week um the fourth is our football game we have our neon dance Saturday at Jefferson at 8:30 to 11: so that's our neon dance that's become our new tradition Sunday we have Powder Puff uh so that's girls play football um one thing we've changed up this year with student council is we have now made all um the rest of our activities during the day during that Falcon support time because we found that's a better more equ Equitable way for all students to be able to come in and watch and participate in activities as then they don't have to pay and it's during the school day so if you don't have rides if you um have activities going on after school you can still be a part of our dodgeball um our powder buff which is uh volleyball um and all these different activities and then our regular coordination is on Monday and then we have our big petfest on Friday so that's my update excellent thank you um item 4B is items of information Schoolboard members looks like I would just like Miss thank you um I did visit Lincoln school which I supposedly represent and um I asked to look in the classrooms where we had 34 students and I did so um principal took me around the school and um they were doing quite well at that moment so I'm just saying um it was good to visit that class see um that we have teachers that are very competent in managing their classrooms I think it was a third grade class so just wanted to report that thank you anyone else Mr chair M Mo yes um I had the pleasure of meeting with the fabell U Middle School music teachers last week and two fairbell High School m m Mo excuse me would you pull your mic just a little bit thank you okay sorry about that yeah I had the pleasure of uh visiting with the uh with the uh I I was going around to the different schools and the fairell Middle School uh music teachers and two of the fairbow high school teachers music teachers and it was also a pleasant experience I got to listen to some of the practice practicing at the fairwell middle school of the choir and of the band and they really they are really good so I appreciate that and I can't wait to go I think the fall band concert I'm going to put a little plug in here for fairbow Middle School is November 12th at 6m and I I do appreciate the fact that two now at the fwell middle school they're you know teaching students how to read music and I wish that I had that in middle school because I still don't know how to read music but uh another thing here I'm going to just put a uh a little plug in here uh you know I I always talk about the basics of Reading Writing and math but I think music is also a fundamental basic because the research shows you know it's relationship to brain development and learning so I think it's important piece and because of this I'm really believe that we need to have a more viable uh music program in the elementary schools especially uh you know Orchestra and uh band and we don't have that right now we have otana has it I do believe in Northfield but um I think that would be a good thing to have uh to start up again I know we had it and I don't know when it we stopped that was it 10 years ago or maybe I don't know what the date was on that but I think it's very important for brain development and I think we should try to as a board you know figure out how to reinstate that with a band and the orchestra and have more of the music program at the fourth and fifth fifth grade thank you anyone else Schoolboard members no okay we'll move on to item 4 C then items of information superintendent benty yes thank you Mr chair um so I have a list of things here to kind of go through we we really recently found out that our farbo Multicultural adult drivers education program was selected as the Minnesota Community Education association's 2024 Statewide project award so Joe pinka yessica Vasquez Cassie rippel and Zach puit have done a remarkable job over the uh of launching this new program over the past year they set out to serve 25 adults and I think I think believe the board has heard this before and it end up serving 346 adults last year um the award is presented at the luncheon on Thursday October 24th at the duth entertainment Convention Center uh as part of the Statewide Community Education convention um and then we'll have a give them we'll have them give a presentation at our regular board meeting on October 28th uh the University of Minnesota surprised Andrea Moyer who's one of our eth grade uh teachers and they surprised her Avid class with a $2,000 donation for her classroom uh she was selected because of her dedication to the AVID program and her commitment to making memorable experiences the U ofm even made a second donation in the amount of $1,000 uh to principal Fox uh for use in the building there so thank you to them Jefferson students learned what it means to soar by being safe on task accountable and respectful uh principal Nick Jens did a skit with two students I will say uh he is not here but his acting skills were far less Superior than the students SS um uh and then Mrs Cox swore in some of the safety patrols and had them demonstrate how to cross the street safely he didn't just walk in did he all right just want to make sure um Mrs Isaacson and Mrs men's uh fifth grade participated in a diner experience where they sampled books to figure out what genre uh they were it was a fun way to make sure students were meeting fifth grade curriculum standards uh and then farbo F FFA partnered with Holden farms and gave away 250 burgers and pork chops at a recent football game to promote agriculture in Rice County Roosevelt sore program uh their student council uh were selected based on their application stating why they wanted to represent Roosevelt a few students shared I care about making Rosevelt a better place to be for everyone I want to be part of more events and be creative in our planning I want to take Roosevelt to even uh even higher as we SAR through the sky to success I want every kid to have an amazing amazing time at school um I was at Lincoln this morning and I was speaking with a young man I believe he was in third grade and I said hey do you know the sore acronym and he said yes I do and I walked him through each letter and I said can you tell me what it is and he said yes I can and he told me I said and can you tell me what that means and he said yes I can and he told me so our students are very much learning um around uh especially our PBIS efforts and our sore uh our high School choir and the theater students got a special lesson from a professional singers and actors and they learned how to use voice as a tool to express emotion build character and tell a story um hundreds of students parents and family members and staff attended Jefferson's welcome back family picnic sedexo served free hot dogs and hamburgers along with snow cones from Kona Ice uh this year was probably the biggest turnout we've had so uh Tean embery a junior at farbo high school was recently recognized for competing are completing I should say the requirements of the preg gold skating skills test conducted by the US figure skating um last week we celebrated it Professionals Day Our IT team supports our students parents staff and Schoolboard and we're grateful for the work that they do to keep our networks and programs running smoothly and securely a lot a lot of people don't realize that we've had quite a few Internet outages and kind of scares in the just the first few weeks of school already so um that was something and my last piece is to introduce our new Director of Finance and operations Barbie racler is here um she comes to us from New Alm and uh Fridley where she was a Director of Business and operations and she spent 25 years at region five correct smart Region 5 uh working for them as well which is a uh program and company that we use so welcome to Barbie Mr chair that concludes my report thank you Mr benty moving on to agenda item number five public comment we have one uh person for public comment it's Mr Damien bomb and his topic is reorganization good evening Mr bum good evening board um I don't want to steal any Thunder from uh superintendent bendy on the actual reorganization uh presentation but I do want to thank both the board and the district and the administration for the opportunity to have the reorganization committee to get a sampling of both staff and Community to get input on what I believe is a serious consideration this is something that at one of the meetings we did address that this is a need for the district this is not a school issue this is a district issue and I think as we look forward as even one board member mentioned tonight you know looking at programs you know one of the considerations is um looking at costs that we can eliminate and looking at efficiencies that we can achieve and I'm hoping as we look at the reorganization and and that proposal goes forward that we keep those considerations in mind and what's best for the community the students and the district and really keep a broad focus on what our future can be and should be so thank you Bor thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening good thank you Mr bom agenda item number six is the consent agenda uh the consent agenda consists of minutes from the August 19th 2024 and September 9th 2024 uh business meeting and work session employment additional assignments and other and authorization of payments transfers and investment account motion for approval of the consent agenda please so move thank you Mr Wolf second second thank you Miss Steves uh all in favor of that motion signified by saying I I I opposed motion passes agenda item number seven district advisory committee there is no report agenda item number eight policy committee uh Ms Moore and Miss Steves I will turn that over to you sure and then you can fill in um as at the last meeting that was on September 3rd uh we had a number of revision of policies and I just want to for the audience and to remind the board too when we when we do revisions we look at the revisions and changes we do not look at the entire policy and we had most of those I think all of them except for one and that was the last one uh which was a new one it was a library policy and I was voted to move it to the school board to discuss and I think it's I have a feeling it's going to go back and forth to the school board and policy committee for a while because it needs a little work so Cassie or Miss Steves do you have any additions to that I think you summarized by any uh board members any questions on the policy committee minutes or report okay very good let's move on to 7B uh consider approval of revisions to the following policies reviewed by the policy committee at the August 6th 2024 special policy um meeting uh first policy we're going to do these these two separate uh policy 613 uh graduation requirements uh motion for approval of policy 613 so moved thank you Dr robish show and do we have a second I'll second it and discussion any discussion the graduation requirements Mr benty any input policy committee members was all laid out Mr chair Mr Moore I I would like and I think this was a matter that should be brought up before the board I just do have one concern with that it's under definitions it's at the bottom of the first page [Music] concern with that is is that I I think that the state is essentially taking the health standards out of the hands of the local community um you know we are an independent school district and we should have say over our health standards um and you know I was elected to represent the people and uh for the community and um I think we should not allow the state to take away the will of the people of fair and so that's my problem with that that the state is coming in because it did take out locally adopted expectation for student learning and health and that's that's the problem I'm having thank you further discussion for the discussion Mr chairman Miss buo maybe I could ask the policy committee this also includes the revisions for the ethnic studies where is it's not in this component no that wasn't in the revision part but I I could have spoken a lot of bills today yeah this this is within we're still on policy 613 that does have to do with the ethnic standards too but it wasn't a it wasn't a revision but yes I do have a problem with that aspect too okay Miss buo a question answered okay very good thank you okay any further discussion we are ready to vote all in favor of the motion signified by saying I I opposed no no we'll do a roll call please miss Steve will you do a roll call Linda BR no Linda Moore no Richard Olson no Jerry Roba hi Cassie stes I Chad wolf hi John Bellingham hi motion passes 43 thank you polic 522 Title 9 sex non-discrimination policy grievance procedure and process motion for approval of policy 522 I so move thank you Mr Wolf and do we have a second second thank you Dr oish show and discussion Mr chairman miss budo this this policy which was supposedly took effect in August on August 1st has been brought to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court has upheld injunctions in about 26 States right now where is has allowed them to opt out of this Minnesota I don't think we can opt out but I feel like it's premature to pass this because I think there's more decisions to come and I am not able to support it further discussion uh Mr B Mr can can I just ask uh Mr benty U following up on Miss bu's comments um that she to I don't want to put a words in your mouth but to your understanding we we can't opt out um I don't believe Minnesota is one of the states that has filed a suit or asked for an injunction or anything like that so if we don't pass it what are we you know in in in where we sit today if you will what what do we potentially opening our district up to or anything like that to to the best of your knowledge I realize you're not a a lawyer or anything of that nature but so I I will actually have uh Nicole Yokum our Human Resources Director come forward to she put together a bulleted list on what could potentially happen to FBO Public Schools if it doesn't comply with this um what Mrs Buro said around the uh Title 9 uh policy is is exactly true 26 States at at current count have challenged this in court um Minnesota is not one of those States so there is no injunction at this point for Minnesota to uh to not do this um and it's highly unlikely that Minnesota will f uh simply because it's already in the language in question is already in either the Civil Rights documents of the state of Minnesota or the uh constitution of the state of Minnesota so so Nicole do you want to I believe your question was what what could be the possible repercussions if the board doesn't pass this and Nicole I know you put some of those together yes thank you good evening so I have put together kind of six of the top biggest um um things that stick out so um non-compliance with Title 9 which Pro which prohibits discrimination based on sex in any any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance can have serious consequences um especially well for public employers so the first the biggest one the most immediate and significant consequence is the potential loss of federal funding so if a public employer such as a school or a university univers does not comply with Title 9 the federal government can withhold funds for programs under its jurisdiction so that's the most significant and immediate one um the second one is we would be um opened up for liability against lawsuits and legal action um non-compliance with title n can lead to litigation individuals can file lawsuits for discrimination harassment or retaliation under Title 9 and in some organization or some cases organization ation s can have class action lawsuits brought against them as well resulting in costly settlements and judgments the third piece is um opening us up to Federal investigations and audits the department of education's office for civil rights or OCR is responsible for enforcing Title 9 um if a comp if a complaint is filed then OCR May initiate an investigation if violations are found then we may need to enter into a volun voluntary compliance agreement or face enforcement actions um another piece number four that I um looked up is just having damage to our reputation so if we fail to comply with Title 9 we may experience severe reputation damage it can negatively impact our ability to attract students employees or even funding from non-governmental sources um also from non compliance we would definitely have some increased oversight from agencies federal agencies so after a violation of public employer may be placed under ongoing oversight by the federal government this can include regular audits um detailed reporting requirements and compliance monitoring that can burden our resources that we have here at the school district and then lastly but certainly not least this can have a negative impact on our students and our staff um non-compliance may lead to negative impacts on student and staff experiences especially if gender-based harassment or discrimination goes unaddressed this can result in a less safe and Equitable environment for employees and students does that answer your question Mr Wolf yeah thank you I appreciate it further discussion board members M Mo CH yes I just wanted to mention that the original intent of Title 9 was an anti-discrimination law to ensure equal opportunity opportunities for student athletes and this was I think 1972 which is about the time that I was kind of in would have been in college women were legally excluded I think from athletic opportunities and I think um women and girls in athletics they they deserve fair treatment and Fair competition um and I I don't think this is really in a way it's not a bipartisan issue but I do think that um and because just the facts are uh are we being fair to our girls if we require them to compete against um athletic you know compete in athletics against um people individuals who are 10 time has 10 times as much testosterone or one a half times as much muscle mass and that's from medicine h.net um and you know just look at Riley gains with um uh Leah Thomas he was bigger than she was and there's lawsuits on that too from that end now um I think this could possibly um girls could in our athletic students the females could miss out on scholarships and championships and that has happened across the nation uh I think Riley gains was the biggest one but there's been others too and so that's my two cents thank you last call for discussion seeing none we are ready to vote uh I'm going to ask for a roll call just right off the bat here miss Steves will you do a roll call on the motion for approval of policy 522 please Linda bu abstain Linda Moore no Richard olon no Jer hi St I Chad wolf hi I motion passes with the exstension going in the affirm to the affirmative uh 42 and we will note that one abstention that one abstention was made pardon 52 52 sorry can't count 52 thank you agenda item C uh sorry 8 C uh first reading of policies policy 540 acceleration policy and procedures uh policy 30 308 Administration administrator directory evaluation policy 416 drug alcohol and Cannabis Testing policy 503 student attendance policy 515 protection and privacy of pupil records policy 532 use of peace officers and crisis teams to remove students with IEPs from school grounds policy 616 School District system accountability and new policy 66.5 Library materials any questions or input on the first reading of those policies I'm going to make a motion to move on item number 8 66.5 separately the first seven as a bunch well we're not approv this is just the first reading so we're not approving but so is your motion to refer policy 66.5 to committee is what you're correct y okay so so we'll have that as a motion but so we'll let's leave P the number eight the new policy 66.5 just want to rehash any of the previous seven as Miss Steve say there any questions regarding any of those for the first reading of those policies here I see none so then uh next n we'll moved on to that Miss Steves so you have moved to um put send new policy 66.5 to refer that to committee and I will second that and now we all the discussion do you wish to speak to your motion or yeah um as Miss Moore alluded to I think that this policy um is you know needed but I do think that there needs to be um significant discussion at the committee level um I you know I I don't think that the policy is ready to be at at the board level um even at first reading I don't disagree with the policy but I have quite a few unanswered questions um especially in regards to like the review process and as it relates to the policy in home very good Mr Bellingham Mr Wolf uh on that policy so miss Steves and other policy members uh committee members would you like if if we have questions or thoughts would you like us to send them to you uh would that make sense have several questions on I think it's section 7D 2 uh which is the committee makeup if you will I have just several questions regarding the makeup of that committee is is that the proper thing to do I mean obviously thank you to all of you and anybody else that serves on that committee um but is that the best way I think yeah send it to Mr benty and he'll forward that to the policy committee yes okay that was a question but yes we can forward that to maybe myself and Mr benty and he we'll forward them to the policy committee like that Mr Wolf thank you Mr chairman so if I may what you're suggesting is that if we have any concerns or possible changes we would forward to Cassie or Linda on who else on there two the board members well why don't you send them to Mr benty and myself and we will forward them to the the two committee members okay the the polic the policy Committee in entirety how's that just a point of clarification until a new policy is adopted by the board the current policy is in place is that correct we do not have a current policy of 66.5 you don't have anything about review of materials what what we do have is review of curriculum materials which falls in 606 but nothing that has to do with non-curricular Library materials all right thank you and board members I'm very pleased that this is being referred back to committee because um I've gone through this quite thoroughly multiple times I watched the uh committee the policy committee multiple times like that and um what I what I having a former member of the policy committee I believe for four years uh when a policy is recommended to the board here for approval I believe it should be a real solid um virtually no holes barred uh policy and I see there there's going to be and is a lot of questions with that and in watching that vote there was also a vote that it was understood by the policy Committee in that vote that it would be sent the board would probably be kicking it back to them or sending it back to them um my some of my questions will also be uh item number four I'm not going to go into too many Det detail on item number five and seven as well um but we'll get into more detail to do that but being a new being a new policy and and I and I I think this a a great thing of what the board is doing sending it back is that new policy we really need to vet this thoroughly and thoroughly and thoroughly because this this is uh was asked I believe back in April or so to deop procedures and policies on how we how are we going to do the library books and I and I think this is it so Mr chairman Miss bu if if I may um I appreciate the fact that it should be ripe for committee vote and I appreciate that it's going to be reviewed and I would just suggest that we also review those two letters we received from people who were very involved in this they had a couple of of suggestions and I just think it would be respectful to review those if you don't have them maybe we could find them and resend them um I think you know who I'm talking about I believe I still have two people I still have them yes thank you welcome yes Mr chair yes yes I do agree with uh Miss V on that and uh the one reason I think that that I wanted to send it back to the school board is I wanted some I wanted some guidance and I think maybe the other members too wanted some guidance from the school board as to what and I think we will be getting that with questions and so uh I'm pleased that that uh we are doing it this way because uh I think we need needed some guidance from the board and we will be getting that with the questions good so thank you last call for discussion one thing I I I I just want to be clear because I um I don't want this to be bouncing back and forth between committee and and the board you know multiple more times in it what it needs to I I do want to get it right but I don't want it to be just in this continual Loop of being bounced back and forth um the the questions are going to help us but also I think more importantly is if the board has concerns that were in there and I know Mr chair you asked for those last time and we received two maybe three emails I received one okay and I received one and I think so I think I believe there was two then um so and those those concerns were reflected in some of the changes that we made to this going forward to the committee um so the the what what we're really asking for is if you have pieces that you want changed sooner rather than later please get them to us because many times what I need to do is I don't just say oh yep put it in there many times what I need to do is call the attorney and say can I put this in here um and that sometimes will take a few days so um so the questions are great but we also are very much looking for the committee I should say when I say the Wii the committee is very much looking for how does the board want this to look so and and may I also add uh board members that there is a difference between policy and practice and procedure so policy sets the agenda or Arena but practice and procedure are the details which management decides so there's a big difference there so I know some of the questions might be in fact I was just thinking I have probably have some of those as well that might be more in the weeds of management but policy is not that so just just some items of thought but I think the agree with everyone uh we don't want to go back and forth till a year from now or another three months or whatever but let's just get this out and get it right so we are ready for a vote here to send policy 66.5 uh to refer to back to the policy committee all in favor of that motion signify by saying I I I opposed the motion passes thank you uh 8D is consider approval of the second reading of new policy 507.00 school um school resource officers motion for approval of new policy [Music] 507.00 is once again a new policy um more focusing on contractual duties uh with a couple definitions in there and then training requirements as well so those are pieces that are new uh for school resource officers okay excellent any further discussion last call for discussion all in favor of the motion signify by saying I I opposed motion passes agenda item number nine a finance committee the finance report from the August um finance committee minutes um seems like many many uh days ago but um basically the um as it says in the minutes here We the finance committee approved the fiscal year 2024 25 School resour offer contract that we just did uh approval of the we also approved additional kindergarten teacher Roosevelt growing number of students at Roosevelt and with the immersion program Etc and uh we approved the ice arena contract the 2024 2025 Ice Arena contract and then also uh we discussed uh approval of the fawell band choir and Orchestra extended field trip and that tabled that and that's coming up later in our agenda there so that's a report of the uh minutes of that uh meeting the finance piece of it uh you can see the um uh investment report on board book all our finances are all in order uh our numbers class our numbers that we uh have for projection of within our uh budget is spot on there so basically that was what discussed in a in a more brief meeting so Mr Wolf or Miss buo if you have anything else remember from August I appreciate that so Mr chair are you going to go over the September meeting well it just says August meeting here so I guess we're suppos some of the issues we're discussing tonight we just had at our last Finance meeting so maybe I'll mention that when we get to them we can yes I think that's maybe what we'll do that was approved by the finance committee and then I'll do it that way if that's okay with that P there any questions on the finance committee report all all right let's move on to agenda item number 10 other matter gifts and donations uh we have resolution excuse me resolution uh 25-4 um resolution 25-4 approvals of the uh donations to the nest of the United Methodist Church donated 60 backpacks pens highlighters feminine products folders and more uh also to The Nest Pat Johnson donated one bag and a box of scrunchies also to the nest male Clinic Health System donated various school supplies collected through mail Clinic estimated value of approximately $500 also to the nest the Salvation Army donated school supplies and hygiene products and lastly to the nest Morgan Clum uh donated feminine hygiene products also donated uh for the from the ferbo Rotary Youth Services donated $10,000 to support little Falcons the Knights of Columbus donated $32 to special services for ferbal Middle School Falcon Cafe to support developmentally disabled programming and lastly Josh and Amy Hager donated $4,000 to the farewell area Learning Center for experiential uh learning opportunities for all students so motion for approval of resolution 25 -04 as I have just read so move thank you Miss budro and do we have a second okay thank you Miss Steves and discussion Mr Bellingham just a huge thank you to uh all these people and organizations that continue to support our students in our school district and in our community executive some of these are substantial donations we're very grateful for all of the donations especially those substantial ones keep our program prrs operating exactly and I will Echo what everyone has said thank you uh your gifts and donations do matter and make a big difference for our students in our district so any further discussion discussion Miss Steves this is a roll call Item please Linda bro I Linda Moore I Richard olon I Jerry Roba hi Cassie St hi John Bellingham hi thank you 70 thank you Miss Steves 10B consider approval of the fbal high school music department field trip to New Orleans March 23rd and it says on here 24th but I believe it's a longer time than two days trip but that's what it says on my thing here I hope New Orleans back one day it's pretty good so um let's have a motion for approval of the ferbal high school music department field trip to New orings thank you Miss budo do we have a second second thank you Mr Wolf and before we have um discussion here to begin discussion just as a sidebar here as Miss budo pointed out this this agenda item was approved by the finance committee in our September meeting so Mr benty would you introduce our uh Mr Ben Boi is our uh um choir director at farbo high school um so go ahead and walk us through your trip to New Orleans yeah thank you for uh having having me here tonight I'm here on behalf of our music department which also includes our our band director Mr Andrew duel and our Orchestra director Mr Michael Sloan as you can see as is obvious by now we're headed to New Orleans next Spring Break um we are bringing about 20 students and um I think we're at four adult chaperons and um and two of our three music teachers um so a little under that 40 that is listed on the um the paperwork that's in front of you um we are going to all the classic new Orland sites we'll start with some of the the highlights to get you hooked on this trip right um I we're looking at a lot of um Jazz history going to Jazz Museum um hitting up Cafe dumon for some beignet of course the national World War II museum um the New Orleans school of cooking so we'll get to learn how and then taste how to cook and then taste uh some Cajun and creole cuisine the Jazz Museum the French Quarter swamp tour tour of the uh Whitney Plantation um before um a dinner cruise and and heading back to farbo um looking back at the uh paperwork that we submitted um we're using a company called Gateway they are a music travel company we've used them for years I've traveled with them as a a teacher and as a student myself they are phenomenal because they focus just on music trips and how to make um trips um ideal and and wonderful for music groups um the the cost of the trip currently is um is $11,900 um that has has fluctuated actually quite a bit in the the last couple weeks but we've been working really diligently um and when I say we I really mean our tour company our tour manager at keeping that cost at what was advertised to students if not lower um so we've been able to to shuffle around quite a bit uh I think those of you who work with numbers and finance for the district would be very impressed with how much um this tour company was able to um to keep this trip affordable for our families we of course present fundraising opportunities to our students every year that they are in our high school music ensembles two or three fundraiser opportunities every year so they can can raise funds as they March through the music program from 9th 10th into 11th and 12th grade we also this year were really excited Ed to receive a very generous donation to our music boosters program and because of that we were actually able to um present scholarships to students that wanted to travel so we awarded um we awarded let me pull my numbers over $4,000 in scholarships um not all of them are going to be um utilized in the end but um still about $2,500 um of those payments are being made on behalf of our students by uh a donor in the community so we're very very grateful for that with that being said I think I've covered what um I have on my sheet and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have board members questions Dr Roo Mr chair thank you just one question will there be opportunities for students to perform well down now yeah that's a great question um we we actually are not going to be performing on this trip and that's a change from previous music trips um part of that as we discovered on on some recent tours was that when we have 20 students for example going on this trip spread between band choir and Orchestra um the numbers are for balance-wise in our ensembles are really interesting um I know on this trip we only actually have three students from orchestra that will be traveling um we have uh then split about a dozen from band and choir and the the instrumentation of the band the balance between voice Parts can can be a little disjunct and it makes it really difficult and sometimes it's a disservice to the students that do travel um because they find themselves uncomfortable and out of place with um our ensembles that are performing in an Ideal World we have a full Ensemble and and can perform but that was just not the case with this um our tour company Gateway also um we express that concern that we wouldn't really have um a solid performance opportunity um and they told us that a lot of schools are actually switching to this kind of strategy of of traveling these these tours I know does say performance Tour on the itinerary but um less performance but more music appreciation such as going on the Jazz History tour um visiting Preservation Hall which is a really iconic Jazz venue in New Orleans so learning that sense of appreciation for music um through through other methods that aren't performance Mr chair followup question so then when they uh visit the uh Jazz uh history will they see a performance yeah so there will there will be opportunities to view performances I don't know about the Jazz History Museum I'm sure there's music recordings um left and right there but I do know that uh if we are at Preservation Hall they bring in live jazz musicians as well as on our dinner cruise there's uh live jazz bands there too so they do get that opportunity to witness performance thank you yeah thank you further questions sir board members I'd like to thank you for proposing this enriching our students opportunities um once again just a uh I hope many students take advantage of this and are able to take advantage of it obviously and and just enrich their love of music and broaden their education I I think it's really great so any last comments so we have a motion for approval of the feral high school music department field trip to New Orleans March 23rd through 27th I looked that up there we go so all in favor of the motion signified by saying I I I opposed the motion passes thank you so much thank you item 10 C consider approval of the agreement between Independent School District 656 and Independent School District 829 uh Mr Gunderson he had to leave he was here but I know he told me had four different places he need to be at okay so um let's just continue I we can go through this I I believe here um so let's have a motion for approval of the agreement between Independent School District 656 and independent school District 829 I'll make the mo I'll I'll make the motion for that and do we have a second second I'll take Mr will second and discussion so I'll do the best we can here and board members chime in but in the agreement in your preparation here you see this is agreement between fedal Public School District and Independent School District 829 of Wasa it is I believe it's for uh hockey is it strictly just girls hockey yes Mr chair this is this is your standard uh contract between two schools to share uh ice time and resources for girls hockey and in a co-op so this is simply looking to form a co-op with Wasa uh so that we can have girls H ice hockey this year very good everything is spelled out in there based on the financial support from both districts um who will cover what the referees the registration equipment ice rental um everything is spelled out in there for how it will be financially supported further discussion further discussion I think uh just my comment here I think as we see the next uh agenda item as well I think it's great how we're reaching out or other districts are reaching out to us and forming Co-op Etc so we can have a we we have our activities here and for our kids that are in this District think it's a very very positive thing Mr chair I just want to mention too as long as you said that um I think it's important that students if they want to uh you know uh be in a sport or whatever that it's important that they I think this is an important opportunity for them because sometimes they didn't have these uh operatives they may be not able to participate in any of the sports that they wish so I think this is a good idea great point and and as a reminder board members not every District wants to cooperate or will form a Cooperative or will form a Cooperative with other districts as well so in the best interest students this is good I think any further discussion we have a motion for approval of the agreement between Independent School District 656 and Independent School District 829 all in favor of the motion signified by saying I I opposed motion passes 10d consider approval of applications for disillusion of Cooperative sponsorships and applications for Cooperative sponsorship so in this agenda item board members we have two things I see we are dissolving a co-op and then reestablishing a co-op Mr benty am I correct on that yes so you not by by Minnesota State High School league rules you're not allowed to have two co-ops in place right so for us to add one team uh in this case it would be Wasa um this is actually a new co-op for us all together so you'll see it's Wasa farbo NH nrhg and weem um but we need to dissolve the co-op before we create a new one Mr benty I believe also jwp Randolph Medford and ba as well for girls hockey there's actually a second page so there's eight schools for girls hockey there we go you're right jwp Randolph Medford NBA correct so with that um Miss Kenny did I have did I get a motion for approval in a second um no okay I was thinking the other that so with that before we get into too deep a discussion let's have a motion for approval of the of the dissolution of Cooperative sponsorships and applications for a Cooperative sponsorship moved thank you Miss Bo and do we have a second second Miss Steves I think Miss Steves okay um discussion other than what's already been said Mr Bellingham I believe the only difference on soccer is we're actually adding msad as a uh partner if you will that is correct and I know Mr gunderson's not here Mr benty do you know with regards to girls hockey um it looks like we are the only class 2A school out of the seven so will we be a 2A team or a single a team yeah so none of this will move us in any of our uh different classes was was I is what I was told okay so thank you further discussion it's a very unique co-op in with girls hockey of eight different uh schools kudos to the transportation director that's okay yes very much so any further discussion on agenda item moved been moved and seconded all in favor of the motion signify by saying I I opposed motion passes 10e consider approving revisions to the administrative assistant employment agreement for 2024 2026 action item I'll entertain a motion for approval of the administrative assistant employment employee agreement so move thank you Mr Wolf and do we have a second second thank you Dr robish show and Miss Yoko would would you like to come up and present this please hi good evening I don't know if you saw this but I was giving um Rob uh look when I walked up here because he was my partner in crime during our negotiation sessions and he they did not call me opted not to come up here Mr if you let if you would come up as well please thank thank you for thank you for the queue m y thank you for your help Rob I appreciate it okay so um good evening again we have 29 employees in this group of um employees here with our district and so we had several uh meetings with them some of them were virtual some of them were in person but all really good meetings we had some good um conversations with this group of employees what we landed on is to increase their salary in year one by 5.7% to increase their 403b match by $110 per year in year one to modify their longevity language which will help we think will help with some retention and then also we have a natural rollup cost of health insurance for all of these folks that are on a single plan because our health insurance this past July 1 did increase by 5% so that is factored into this we did increase their HSA and their via contributions by $200 a year and then we added juneth as a paid holiday for the appropriate people that work around that time and then we also revised their vacation schedule as well in year two we made uh just a few changes the first one was a increase to their salary in the amount of 2.35% which would be of July 1st of 25 and then we also assumed the same health insurance increase would go into place on July 1st of 25 as well so we factored in a 5% natural rollup cost for single um insurance plans um and those were the only two things so it gave us a total two-year total package increase of $184,000 383 thank you board members discussion Mr chair Miss bud just maybe should clarify this was within our parameter is this within our parameter of what we had set in place prior yes thank you it was within our budgeted parameters thank you further discussion Mr chairman I need to abstain from this vote yes thank you noted any further discussion Mr chair Mr olon what do we have budgeted for this what what was the budget amount so we based our budget on a um a dollar amount that was just a right right around I remember the actual dollar amount but it was right around the 184,000 um dollars over two years but the the the complicated pieces in year one there's not actually or excuse me in year two there's not actually a budget built because we don't go out two years with our budget so we really only have a budget for year one but using our parameters we were within that $184,000 amount that was given to us do we have a 4% for the first year did we well we went above that right so in year one it went it it's over and above the 4% that's in the budget and then in year two it's less than that so we look at it as a 2-year contract so you're front loading this basically um yeah you could say that the changes become Mo pretty much the majority of the changes become effective in year one Mr anything else oh that's it okay thank you sir any other questions any other discussion board members last call we are ready to vote all in favor of the motion for approving revisions to the administrative assistant deployment agreement for 2024 to 2026 signified by saying I I I opposed no motion passes 61 thank you 10f consider approval of the 12-month healthy Community initiative uh Professional Services agreement uh Mr puit you're on Deck here for the next few ones here so if you would come up and while he's coming up let's have a motion for approval of the 12month healthy Community initiative Professional Services agreement so moved thank you Dr Rob show do a second and second Miss Steves and so Mr pu I'll have you give an overview quick here sure the um next two items relate to Partnerships with the healthy Community initiative um to reflect Grant contracts that um each of the entities have to be able to support um work in the community um the first one is funding that will be coming to the school district from gr HDI help to write to be able to support a variety of um after school programs swimming lessons Early Childhood programs um and a variety of other folk resources that folks can see um this we did it this way so that it was sort of one contract coming to the board instead of having to repeatedly come back so just in a name of efficiency brought these all together under one agreement and so that we had them for um auditing and other purposes thank you discussion okay Mr chair um M Mo yeah it's under I think appendix d uh it talks I guess I I need to know what what is the out of school program that they talk about what what is exactly yeah so we um run what had been called community school program and now is known as Falcons Beyond as well as the summer steam program during the summer and um these grants help to support a variety of costs whether from Staffing to transportation to supplies for those programs which are free and kind of open and across all of our buildings um it talks about Humanities um that the the workshops and art and the humanities humanity is a very broad area what exactly will they be working on um the funding is from the municial Department of humanities and so um that's a grant to be ble to support a variety of art activities other sort of enrichment opportunities for students um how is this going to improve achievement scores because our achievement scores are pretty low I mean I think there's pretty strong research out there that shows the importance of out of school time programming um to help kids and families feel connected to the schools um our out of school time programs also include acad ademic components to help support students um most of our goals are related to academic performance and so this is one of the strategies certainly not a strategy alone that will reach those but I think it's an important part of um a multi-pronged approach by the district to support Student Success Mr pu and Mr banty if you would clarify here I so these grants that are received uh for the healthy Comm Community initiative our grants that are run through the district for our partners that our partners receive out in our within our community am I am I correct on that that is correct it is a grant that HCI has received and we need to approve our piece of working our programming in our district so it's fun to support the work that we're doing and provide some additional resources to that so that we're not having to tap sort of other District resources in order to be able to do that very good and as a side note M bu said earlier this this agenda item was approved by the uh finance committee here in September just a week ago so we're with that further discussion Mr chair Mr Olson Zach just in general how many uh programs are we applying for and we I mean seems like we're loading up if there's money there we grab it but do we need all these programs these grants or what I would um pretty strongly disagree with that assertion that we're grabbing money just to grab it I think um we go through a pretty extensive process to vet grants um to make sure that they fit with the mission of the district and serve the needs of our students and families work with Mr benty often on evaluating grants we don't apply for all the grants that we could we leave some choose not to apply for some um so I don't think that I would strongly disagree with that statement that um we're grabbing money just to grab money well disagree with you on that okay just to follow up on uh Miss Moore's um rationale and questioning so my two children attended the summer steam program my oldest has attended since kindergarten um this this is the jam this is what helped him you know progress rapidly back after enduring covid um to get on level with both math and reading um it's a free service don't even know that they're learning um it's a great great program so encouraging us to continue this program um but also really encouraging parents to participate in this program um it's a it's a great thing so keep it up thanks so just for clarification so it's not just steam it's other we have other program y I was just talking in one line item yeah we run a very similar program to steam as an after school programming in each of our elementary schools plus our Middle School school and high school um so yes it's a continuation with the same staff and so it's the goal is to make it a year on program to be able to serve the needs of students and families last call for discussion Mr prud I just want to thank you and uh HCI and everybody else that works on this I I just the more stuff in the summer the more stuff after school I just don't understand how that could be a bad thing for our students and so um just a a big thank you Dr R Mr chair just a comment um if you take a look at the title it's healthy Community initiative and we are a significant partner in this community and to be able to work with other organizations in this community to create a healthy Community here to be commended for the work that you're doing Mr pu thank you any further discussion we have a motion for approval of the 12-month healthy Community initiative Professional Services agreement all in favor that motion signify by saying I I I I opposed no no motion passes 52 10g consider approval of the 14-month healthy Comm Community initiative Professional Services agreement beginning July 1st uh 2024 motion for approval of the 14-month HCI Professional Services agreement so moved second motion by Dr robish show second by Mr Wolf and discussion anything you need to add with this one other than it's 14mth and these are grants that we have that we are Contracting with HCI to provide services um to prevent where they have or areas where they have expertise um and it allows us to Mo most efficiently be able to access those resources without without having to bring on additional staff within the district thank you discussion uh yes Mr chair it talks about the health areas can you be specific what health areas we talking about that was on P appendix D appendix which appendix D it talks about the health areas what health areas are we we looking at specifically yeah we're exploring um school-based health services including the um we partner on Dental Care to be able to provide dental clinics um we most recently partnered on sports physicals um to be able to make sure kids can take part in sports activities um we're just under way to explore um how we can expand vision Services CU we know some of our students aren't able to access other Vision Services so working to explore those those are the current three that are kind of leading that work right now and there'll be more following I'm guessing yeah those are the three that we're looking at right now okay uh I I I noticed that they're Data Tracking uh what data specifically are are you tracking so we for many of the grants we have to track participation data to be able to rep participation data to be able to to share back um the number number of students that are participating in our programs um so that is probably the largest um okay where is uh where is that going then what's is it going up to the Minnesota Department of Health then or um most of it is most of our grants are through the Minnesota Department of Education so the data is going up there then and it's typically reported in the aggregate most often it's an aggregate so it's not it's not with okay no it's not all right all right further discussion that's Mr chair Mr Olson Zach where where's the parents or SLG Guardian involved in this you're talking about the health of a child where's the responsibility as a parent in this instead of the schools taking responsibility so for dental care and for sports physicals parents are involved in completing the forms to be able to access um we're making them a available to students and families because they may not have access to other health services so by offering them in the schools um we're able to expand access to them so parents are involved they're the ones completing the forms parents are often attending the sports physicals with their child um Mr chair Miss budo so Mr puit are you saying that parents are seeking these Services they're integrally involved in the in the children getting the services certainly with you you know with um Dental Care um sports physicals and I would imagine with vision too yes and as the data we talked about earlier when you said it's aggregated D data that means it's not identifiable correct thank you last call for discussion we have a motion for approval of the 14 month healthy Community initiative Professional Services agreement beginning July 1 2024 All In favor of the motion signify by saying I I I opposed no no motion passes 52 10 H um consider approval of the 18mon Riverbend Nature Center Professional Services agreement beginning July 1 2024 motion for approval of that agenda of that agenda item so moved thank you Dr robishaw and a second second thank you Mr Olsen uh discussion yeah we're really fortunate to be able to partner with the Riverbend Nature Center there are tremendous resource in this community um they've received some funding from the state of Minnesota to be able to expand um career pathway options for adults in natural resource management and conservation um the state recommended that we um be um listed as a a funded partner in this work because of the strong standing that we have with this State and the strong financial systems that we have in place and so this provides essentially $100,000 to the district to support our partnership with um Riverbend Nature Center to um around those adult pathway work so we're excited about the opportunity that we'll provide to adult basic education as well as to um the district as a whole thank you Mr puit as a as community members all of us here uh we are just so fortunate to have Riverbend and it's not just walk around the Nature Center but the education they provide the training like you said uh career Pathways Etc just just it's huge and and very very important so again thank you for facilitating this grant as well so any further discussion Mr chair this came through our finance committee and I've got a little more information it was a deed Grant and it's a substantial Grant and it does provide uh someone to help with organiz in and they're called an organizational Mentor correct um so I I think it's a pretty good find for us to help our students can rely on a very good organization at Riverbend Nature Center to utilize for their school activities thank you for finding it further discussion Mr chair uh yes I think it's it's always a good idea uh I think for you know for students to get out in nature and anytime they can do that I think it's great so uh I appreciate that opportunity for the students further discussion we have a motion for approval of the 18 month Riverbend Nature Center Professional Services agreement all in favor of the motion signify by saying I I opposed motion passes uh 10 I consider approval of the 24mon Riv Bend Nature Center Professional Services agreement beginning September 1 2024 motion for approval of the 24-month Riverbend Nature Center Professional Services agreement thank you Miss bud and a second second I'll take Miss Steves as a second uh as a side note as M buo reminds me this also was agreed upon or approved at by the finance committee with details and Mr PR anything to add with the 24mth no um just that this would provide the opportunity for students in our after school and summer programs to be able to go to RiverBend on um field trips over the next two years um as well as for riverb to come into those after school and summer programs to lead workshops for kids so it's a great partnership and we're really lucky to be able to work with riverb excellent excellent further discussion last call for discussion all in favor of the motion signify by saying I opposed motion passes Mr BR thank you for your work you commended for everything you do for our district and our kids thank you thank you sir 10j consider approval of the preliminary 24 pay 25 property tax levy um Barbie russler if you would come forward please to present so uh how about a motion for approval of the preliminary 24 pay 25 property tax levy please so moved thank you Dr R show and do we have a second second thank you Mr Olson and discussion so uh we did discuss this in finance committee and because numbers were changing from the Department of Education Mr benty explain to us Mr chair so um since Barbie was not on board yet today is actually her first day uh full-time with us so uh the the finance committee did see this um and there was a grossly grossly inflated number that was on there um like high 30% increase which we knew was incorrect but um we didn't know exactly where that was from so during that meeting we discussed about that I would look into it um we've contacted the Minnesota Department of Education there were ER errors I'll let Barbie talk about those um and what is coming we still don't have all the information that we need to have a number though so with that I'll turn it over to you Bary thank you good evening everybody um so uh looking at the levy report that is provided by the Minnesota Department of Education it was very obvious that there was something incorrect with the amounts that we were given um the adjusted pupil unit um rate uh per pupil unit uh the Minnesota Department of education's number was inflated by 700 $362 per adjusted pupil unit and so that of course is going to inflate the amount then that we have authorized versus uh what was calculated um I did check the levy run the the levy uh report this 40-page document is uh provided on a daily basis right now from the Minnesota Department of Education and I did look to see what that amount was um today at a quarter after 5 and they still have not updated it yet there is a new run out there but our uh Levy authorized operating referendum per pup unit is still not correct so I've been in touch with mde I've been in touch with the folks that actually provide this data and they are working on correcting it it's actually a three-fold process that they need to correct um and also in the meantime we were able to get uh better figures uh entered for other areas of the levy report for Community Education as an example as well as Debt Service so I'm feeling really confident in community ed and in debt service mde still has to make a correction for us and um this finalized data does need to be in by September 30th and so I know that they'll be working on it to get that corrected um what I'm what I'm guesstimating our uh Levy increase to be if will is actually less than zero so at this time I I um am feeling pretty good that that our community is going to be pretty happy with us in that there will not be a large increase or perhaps not any increase however I do not have those finalized uh numbers from the Department of Education but based on the calculations that I've run that's what we're looking at so the recommendation for tonight is to uh to approve the L at the maximum and that's what over 90% of school districts do at their September meeting is that they approve the maximum because that allows them the opportunity to um under Levy if they want uh most districts do not under Levy because that will bite you in years coming forward um but it is an option for a school district if they would like to under Levy in some area if we set an actual dollar amone at tonight's meeting then our hands are tied and we cannot increase or decrease amounts so the recommendation is to approve the maximum when we do the truth and Taxation meeting on December 2nd and um I will then present the finalized Levy and that is when it's actually approved as final so what you're doing tonight with a motion is basically setting a preliminary amount at maximum thank you and the again it's a preliminary amount and we approve the amount in the truth and Taxation I believe that's in dece the December de second December 2D meeting okay yes and my understanding of this is the district isn't receiving any more money no by this it's a shift in from state to local or shifting around correct what this is is this so the levy that we're approving is the 24 pay 25 Levy for Revenue that we will receive in fiscal year 26 so what happens is you approve this particular Levy in December of 2024 taxes are then collected from community members in 2025 calendar year and then we receive the revenue in fiscal year 2026 so we are not receiving anything on this particular um report or funding mechanism at this time and would you repeat that again did you say Le estimating less than zero yeah that's that's you know so give or take because I'm not a fortune teller yet but that is um that's the best guesstimate that I have at this time long way from 30% yes yes it is discussion mram a couple questions couple comments welcome um glad what a what a great first day to get up here in front of us and and make a prediction I hope you're somewhat correct on that uh number two will you pronounce your last name for us racler racer long yep racer okay perfect thank you now now we're all on the same page um nope that's all thank you thank you okay sure miss bu I'm just very relieved that we have Miss racler here tonight and she can Ensure us that we are not the figures we had at our finance meeting were a little scary to me it's like this can't be right we've got to we got to talk about this at the meeting and and um would you agree it was a a very big difference than what we anticipated huge it's 2.5 million so yes a huge huge difference yeah would have need to be raised yes not happening not happening nope nope so thank you and welcome Mr need something first good yeah barie um you name Barbie or Barbara be official what would you like to be called I Barbie is fine okay um what's the maximum amount that we're going to set so it's it's not a dollar value it's it's it's not a particular value what it is is we're saying in each of the different uh Levy categories that we're able to levy on we want the highest amount possible that allows us room to make changes if we want to if we set a dollar amount tonight then our hands are tied we cannot make any changes we're stuck with that number and that number May fluctuate up or down in different categories are we taking a risk for not for there it's not your fault it's the department of Ed are we taking a risk we don't have all the data we can't make a decision no you're you're not taking a risk tonight because you're um you're giving approval for a blanket amount so what what we do then is um we we just say maximum and then we're allowed to make adjustments as needed and then in December that's when you'll approve the actual amount doesn't that open door if we go maximum does that no it does it's there's no harm in saying maximum it does not lock the district into the maximum it just means that it allows us to go to the maximum if we choose to in December at the truth and Taxation meeting Mr Olson I I I'm kind of along your lines in that it's wonky if you will um there's not a set amount in this is my 10th year on the board and every September uh we get here and we approve the maximum at least in in the previous nine years we've approved the maximum however we've had a more formalized document in front of us because the numbers have been accurate and then we get to the truth in taxation in December and we have in my previous nine years we've always stuck with that exact same number not everybody has always agreed to it but the board has always voted in favor of that so I hear what you're saying and I understand what you're saying I also understand that this has to be done by the end of the month uh is that right at least SE some amount has to be approved at a ceiling right and so we're saying the maximum in this case um and we'll have more formalized numbers and Mr olssen to your your I don't want to put words in your mouth but if uh if Miss racler was um really Incorrect and maybe the numbers that she's seeing um are still incorrect and I'm just total hypothetical here I don't want to alarm anybody it came in higher than what she projected then we could have that discussion and do we want to go with that number or don't we want to go with that number thank you Mr Dr R thank you Mr chair um just a question um you're recommending that we identify the maximum which I understand yeah we can't go beyond that after correct we said that correct um but the maximum isn't zero what percentage are you recommending is a maximum based on your history and background so literally looking at the numbers um our our Levy is looking that it will go down so we're going down in community ed because we have more grants and and we don't have to Levy as much also because the 2023 legislative uh session um purposefully uh granted more Aid than Levy in many of their areas so that's going down our debts going down uh the amount that we have to Levy to our our taxpayers that amount is also going down and what I'm seeing for um the operating referendum and then all of the categoricals such as operating um operating Capital long-term facilities maintenance um declining enrollment all of those different areas there is a slight decrease overall not in each one specifically but overall so um at this point in time it does look like we will not have an increase my question Mr chair followup is um tomorrow's headlines in The Daily News would be school district set zero as a levy maximum no and and that's the so is there a percentage that you are recommending as a maximum that we set tonight knowing that that's not eted in stone that'll be modified in December at the truth and Taxation we're not we're not looking at a at a number tonight we because we're we we haven't received any of the correct information back from the state yet so you know through our calculations today it was a negative number that we were forecasting I would prefer not to lock us into that here um well we're not locked in because we adjusted at the truth and Taxation hearing yeah but we can only we can only adjust if we approve the maximum so but what is that you're not saying a recomend commending any configure tonight as a maximum I don't think we have the the data to recommend a a figure for maximum so I think uh I could be wrong here Mr chair and Mr Belling uh Mr benty but either we approve this tonight or we schedule a special session um to come back for this item when you get more information and that has to be done by September 30th is that correct correct week from today Mr chair will this the idea well with Jerry is that it could read School Board approve the maximum people don't understand the finances and say what what's going on um does it have to be in their office by the 30th M yes so if we have a board meeting a special board meeting the thir 30 would that be too late no no so we could have a meeting a week from today yes but you're still going to approve the maximum so so the the language doesn't change as far as what you're approving for a preliminary it would still be the maximum um and trying to figure out what is that maximum tonight I'm comfortable saying it's probably going to be around zero of course as a board we don't we don't we don't go with propably that's that's correct because I and I can't give you an absolute because I don't have the data yeah I mean it's not yours it's it's the state correct which I've never heard of this that we're supposed to get this data and you're not or we're not not you but we can't talk about we can't do anything and and even if we have a special meeting we're still going to approve the maximum that's still going to be the wording that's still going to be the the you know the certification that we provide to mte Mr chair Miss bu I'm I'm very comfortable voting for the maximum tonight that just gives us the opportunity to Garner what we don't know is available for us to get and it sounds like what is available for us to get through our Levy is not going to becoming an increase correct but just to ensure we get the maximum whether it's minus 1% or plus 55% we have to vote tonight and I am very comfortable with that I'm thankful you clarified the error that we looked at in the finance committee that was the only thing I needed clear on we're going with procedure that you've done and we've done in the past and I think all members can feel comfortable just V voting for the maximum Levy today thank you Miss pel further discussion board memb Mr chair M I agree with Miss B on that further discussion we have a motion for approval of the preliminary 24 pay 25 property tax levy I'll include at the maximum imum okay last call for discussion all in favor of the motion signify by saying I I opposed no motion passes 61 Mr chair Mr Olson yeah side issue could U Barbie um explain to her her history or you know introduce herself to the board is that would that be proper Mr chair at this time Mr benty introduce her but I guess if you would like to I'll I'll be flexible and go with that go ahead Barbie Okay um I worked uh about 25 years at Region 5 computer services and we do um we assist school districts in finance and payroll and actually provide the software that the majority of school districts in Minnesota use um the Region 5 area covers from Wisconsin Iowa all the way West to comrey if you're familiar with them and into the uh South uh Twin Cities area so um I've dealt with um we had 77 public school districts and 125 charter schools that we worked with so I got to see a lot of different uh public school districts and how each one of them work a little bit differently had the opportunity then to uh work for um Ellers who is actually your Municipal adviser and does your bonds and and those kinds of things so I work for them for a short time uh then I went to the Fridley Public Schools uh District up in the cities where I was the director of finance and operations however I live in southern Minnesota so that was kind of a trek so um then I uh there was a position in New Alm that opened up for a business manager and so I took that position I had actually applied here this is my second going around trying to get in here so I'm very excited to be here so thank you okay well thank you thank you for the information agenda item 10 K welcome we're glad to have you agenda item number 10 K consider approval of resolution 24-5 authorizing petty cash uh do I have a motion for approval of resolution 25-5 so moved thank you Mr Olsen second and second by Miss budro um I don't believe I have to read the resolution at all board members okay all right discussion Mr benty you wish to explain this uh just two different pieces with this one we needed to update to get Barbie's name on here and second we needed to increase the amount of petty cash in that office by $11 because one of the payments that has to go out was $241 versus $230 so we just wanted to be as transparent as we could with our petty cache excellent further discussion discussion we have a motion for approval of resolution 25-5 authorizing petty cash this is a roll call Item Miss Steves please Linda BR hi Linda Moore hi Richard olon hi hi Cassie Steves I ched wolf hi John Bellingham hi thank you Miss Steves uh agenda item 10 L consider approval of fiscal year 24-25 6 fths elel overload contract motion for approval so Mo thank you thank you Mr Wolf do have a second Miss Buro discussion Mr benty I'll turn it over to you yeah so um this is in the amount of 12,000 roughly $12,000 um it comes off of the heels of us reducing a el teacher at the middle school um we have had an increase in our newcomer students so we need a little bit more FTE we don't need a full FTE but we need a uh just an overload to be able to cover some of the needs for that building very good and this this agenda item was approved by the finance committee uh there and so um just wish to inform you of that any further discussion Mr chair this is a good bargain for the district we have a person that's willing to work overtime we don't have to hire a new person thank you to that person willing to to work over time good thank you Miss Bud any further discussion discussion all in favor of the motion signify by saying I I opposed motion passes 10 m consider approval of fiscal year 2425 school resource officer agreement good I have a motion for approval of the fiscal year 2425 school resource officer agreement thank you Miss bud and Miss Steves with the second discussion Mr benty um yes so this the dollar amount was approved by I believe the board and uh the finance committee back in August this is simply the contract the language that goes with that dollar amount Mr chair thank you any discussion Mr chair Mr Olson what's your general feeling well of course I'll vote for the but again Statewide after George Floyd they some schools said you know basically get our police out of the schools I mean what what's the general consensus out there you know with your superintendent that you've talked to so I can't speak for other districts in their views of school resource officers in theirs uh in their buildings I know the big nine conference that we're in here in southeast Minnesota what strongly supported retaining uh our SK school resource officers and farbo um was no different than that we had we kept ours through the entire time so thank you any further discussion discussion we have a motion for approval of the fiscal year 2425 school resource offic agreement all in favor of that motion signified by saying I I opposed motion passes 10n consider moving the regular business meeting scheduled for October 21st 2024 to October 28th 2024 could I have a motion for approval of moving the regular business meeting from October 21st 2024 to October 28th 2024 move thank you Miss budo do we have a second second thank you Dr overa and discussion I'll take this one uh in discussion with Mr benty uh he is out of town I believe you're at a conference or something um very important conference on the 21st we could have the board meeting here uh with him virtual however I do know that one of the agenda items will be the reorganization piece and it is very very important that Mr bent's a I going say the main Cog or the main wheel uh behind this so uh that's my rationale for moving it to the 28th there discussion Mr chair Mr wol are you anticipating that being just further update on the reorg or are you anticipating a vote that night uh just discussion and U things on the I do not anticipate a vote I was going to explain that when we get to the reorganization update but I don't anticipate a vote till November okay thank you I believe I'm out of town on the 28th and unable to join and I don't know that I'll have a public place identified 72 hours in advance so thank you further discussion local bar further discussion all in favor of the motion signified by saying I I I opposed motion passes thank you board members uh 100 reorganization update before we begin this board members uh would you be satisfied with a 5 to 10 minute break here I'm seeing nods of heads so I issue a uh let's have a 10-minute recess so we will begin again at 7:25 that's 11 minutes but 7:25 we are in recess oh e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e okay we'll call this we'll call the meeting back to order please thank you all so agenda item 10 is the reorganization update uh it's a presentation so before I turn it over to Mr benty just a couple of things from my chair here one is we'll have Mr benty go through his entire presentation here at the end uh we'll take some questions whatever and then to get the big picture here in my my vision we will we will use the October work session for review and discussion of these options and also the October now 28th business meeting for review and discussion and when I'm talking about review and discussion um Miss Steves and I are working on a rubric uh of how we can uh piece together these options here to and analyze them as thoroughly and vet them as thoroughly as possible and then uh by ranking them in a rubric or however whatever system we come up with here finalize that it takes the emotion it t it gives us more data more facts uh things like that takes the emotion out of it Etc like that so keeping in mind at the end when Mr bent's done presenting is uh the questions you ask or whatever and I I will ask you any questions that you think of or information coming from the board I guess the community Etc the input that information comes to M those questions and information come to myself and Mr benty we I will distribute them to the entire board and each question question and thing that and theories that are presented orever will be discussed at the next work session like that so any Clarity needed on any of that before I turn it over to Mr benty okay guess not so Mr venty the reorganization uh presentation please thank you Mr chair so this presentation uh has been a long time coming I know the district has toyed around with the idea of reorganization for quite a few years now um took a strong look at it last school year um which was just back in January February of this year um so this has been a kind of a combination of a lot of different work uh one of the pieces that the board looked at when it looked at this in January and February um was around what the community had to say or was there a community uh committee that that looked at this and the answer to that was no so this time there was a uh Community Committee that was put together um there were over 20 participants from uh whether they be parents whether they be teachers whether they be uh just people in the community that that don't have children in school anymore um we had we held seven meetings from June through the end of August uh and came up with uh different ideas so one of the pieces that we did was is that uh the committee spent a lot of time just learning about what some of the past items that have been brought up around reorganizations what the what is capable in the district and what is not capable in the district what are facilities truly look like we took a tour of six different sites so we toured uh the current ALC building McKinley Early Childhood Center and Roosevelt on one evening and we toured Lincoln Jefferson and the middle school on another evening um just to give people the opportunity to see those to physically see those sites and see what they look like um and then the uh five proposals were brought to the committee uh to to rank at that at that time the committee wished to look at a six proposal so I went back put that proposal together sent then six proposals out or options I should say out to the committee and they ranked those six and those rankings are part of this as well so the objective of this committee um is up here the primary objective of this organ reorganization plan is to optimize educational outcomes operational efficiency and cost Effectiveness for fairow public schools this involves addressing current facility limitations ensuring a smooth transition for students across grade levels and aligning resources to support student needs right this plan will provide multiple options for grade reconfiguration each with detailed impacts and culminate in a final recommendation based on a comprehensive evaluation of all factors some background information uh our historic enrollment and projected enrollment um you can see we so in the past and I'm going to use this so uh Dr Moore and Dr robosa I sincerely apologize if I hit you in the eye with this okay this laser so last year we were do we won't see you anyway last year we were right here and these are last year's numbers we have not updated this so um we are we last year when we talked about this we were the blue we are now the orange and Barbie um I believe the number we talked about today was like 3150 is so it so I don't I can't see the number that's on there but that number would represent 3150 if we're still getting a complete count um the good news is that we appear to be a little bit higher than what we thought we were going to be um so that that's that's a good sign and we're still projecting this leveling off okay um remember that I discussed that the declining birth rate still exists there was no CA covid Baby Boom like some people had projected so when people say why is is our um why is our enrollment declining a lot of our declining enrollment that we see coming to us now is honestly just babies are not being born um and we see that not only across farbo we see that across Minnesota we see that across the United States we see that across the world um it's a it's a worldwide uh epidemic that there's simply not enough children being born our current District structure is seven buildings McKinley is our Early Childhood Center Roosevelt is our preschool through and K5 building Lincoln is a K5 building Jefferson has preschool as well as a K5 building our Middle School serves grades 6 through 8 our area Learning Center is a N9 9912 Center and our high school is 912 some pieces to look at or to to take into consideration as we move through this is that our current ALC building site is worth about $933,000 now that was as of February of 2024 we have not looked this up since that broke down as 5.1 acres of land the tax value of the land was about 145,000 and the tax value value of the bill was about 788 th000 um at this at that time the and and currently that building is overdue for $2.3 million once again old number from January February uh in HVAC plus other required upgrades at additional costs right um it needs a significant security upgrade it does not have a secured entrance to it it is not centrally located it does not have access to a kitchen to be comparable with a site that we do have which is the McKinley site and it also does not have access to a gym indoor gym to be comparable with once again the McKinley site our McKinley site building considerations the site is worth once again 1.98 million those are numbers from February it is 6.8 acres of land the land is valued at 242,000 um and the building is at 1.74 million um it is also due for about $2.3 million in HVAC and other Capital upgrades over the next few years but it is not overdue like the alc is the alc is I would say con considerably overdue um I remember being on facilities committies 8 years ago and we were talking about that it was due or overdue at that time um it does have a secured entrance um it does have a kitchen it does have a gym all right and we currently have a weight list for our prek programming so that building it is not big enough for the program that we could put in it now I do caution the board when I say that it would mean investing more money in Personnel to run those classrooms but the the the need is there and the uh the desire is there from the community so are there any questions so far before we kind of move into any of the uh options all right coming up are the six options there will be three slides per option um there's some comparison slides after that uh and then you will see the ranking of the committee and uh each each option has a title as well as a letter that has been assigned to it so option A is what is referred to as our status quo option that means commonly referred to as the do nothing option we simply consider we continue to do business um and and house our students the way that we have been um so there's no grade changes across any of our areas um the ALC building still becomes a strong question I put that not applicable up there for the proposed change simply because um the board has stated that they do not intend to put more money in that site um but if we chose to do nothing we would still have to decide what we're doing with our ALC building um if we do nothing you can see the enrollment numbers these enrollment numbers are updated as of last early last week so let's say Monday of last week okay so they are the most recent numbers that we can we can bring um and then uh the capacity pieces over there and and treat those capacity numbers with just kind of that's there you can you can argue one way or another on those all right because those are old numbers that many times were put in place before the understanding of the space requirement ments for El special ed um and other programming option a status quoe considerations you have public perception people are familiar with it it's what we've been doing for a long time here in farbo um commonly referred to as neighborhood schools um although we used to have I believe at one time six neighborhood schools and now we have three all right so it's it's I I would argue that uh whenever it was either I believe field that closed down or Washington that would have been kind of the the final true understanding of neighborhood schools um academic environment the prek program is spread out across three different sites instead of one some people will say that is a good thing um I choose to say that is not a good thing uh because that is our one of our programs that has shown the most success um and that we are looking to grow that program um and and with that we can't grow it with with where it is and being spread out at this point um the alc stays at the current site which obviously like I said needs maintenance facility maintenance pieces are there um and it limits the space for Early Education if we maintain the status quo um looking rolling this to next year now all the budget pieces have been rolled to next year because that would be the budget uh that we would be looking at at most we would be able to reduce one classroom teacher and and one Elementary specialist at this point that is the most that I would be comfortable saying that we could reduce for a total Savings of about $160,000 option b is grade banding so if you're not familiar with grade banding what it is is you take a building and you shove two or three grades in it the entire higher grade in it all right so all first graders would be in one building together they would not be split up over two or three buildings all fifth graders would be in one building together okay so in this option grade banding Roosevelt would be a prek through kindergarten site right so all prek all kindergarten would be at Roosevelt Jefferson would house all grade all kid all students in grades one and and two Lincoln would house all students in grades 3 through 5 the middle school would stay 6 through 8 the high school would stay 9 through 12 the alc would be able to close um and then we would be able to uh move the alc to the McKinley site enrollment numbers are up there they add up with they within uh two or three of on each slide just so you know so if you add those up they come out within two or three and that has to do with uh just some of the rounding pieces in a spreadsheet um so it's the same it's the same total number of students they're just positioned throughout the district a little bit differently um some of the considerations around grade banding is the effic efficiency in Early Education you're going to see that pop up a couple different times because that's just with the prek-k model right uh the focused academic environment each Elementary School focuses on specific grade bands so if you were to go back and look at this your Jefferson site would be able to solely dedicate itself to just first and second grade right so they could really hone in on just what first and second grade needs likewise Lincoln could do the same with third third through fifth grade um it it dedicates an upgraded an ALC space at the McKinley site all right you have a efficiencies of fewer buildings there is an increase in transitions now this if you remember back to the late winter when we talked about this um one of the research pieces that was brought up was that one of the negative aspects of a student's education career is when they have to transition when they have to move from building to building right now with that being said this the the other piece is stability so research says moving from building to building not so great for education but stability in a children in a child's life is good for Education the the issue is that we have both here students are move moving buildings every two or three years but they are all moving together so they have their same cohort that is moving from building to building which wins in that we don't know all right but though there's at least a plus and a minus based on Research there uh logistical changes this is one that I do have to be honest we would have to I would have to have the transition uh the uh Transportation take a look at this uh I'm not entirely sure how this would work for bus Loops um and for drop offs um but I know that uh Faro Transportation does an amazing job and they would be able to figure this out for us so if this is something that the board is is seriously considering then I will sit down with faret uh fairbow transportation and I will say okay what would this look like financially versus what we're doing now to remind the board we can we currently run a one tier busing route which means we run one route we don't run and pick up all high school and then run again and or secondary and then run again and pick up all elementary some districts do that they have they have a two-tiered system where they they make a run for their secondary and then they turn around and make a run for their Elementary we do not have that here in farbo oh no nsco are you able to adjust that so that we can see the bottom of that thank you um so this if you can there you go perfect um let me there we go okay so the grade uh oh that's grade banding yep that's the right one grade banding uh so what you'll see is the possible now all of a sudden these efficiencies start kicking in and what you'll see is for the next three options it is the exact same budget okay there's no changes in the budget for the next three options so what you're able to see is if we do the grade banding we're able to REM uh we're able to uh reduce use in many different areas Administration uh teaching uh um clerical custodial and um uh the uh operations area as well all right that total comes to $690,000 that is an ongoing I should have said this for the last one that is an ongoing cost savings to the district so that is 6 $190,000 year after year okay likewise the other one was uh $180,000 year after year okay uh option C is referred to as fifth grade to the middle school all right or fifth grade moves to the middle school so what you see is that Roosevelt stays a prek through kite Jefferson and Lincoln would both house grades 1 through four farbo Middle School would house grades 5 through eight adding fifth grade to the middle school I preface that with saying that fifth grade would go to the middle school but would stay under an elementary model as fifth graders there all right so they would stay with the same teacher um they would not be changing classes every hour like sixth seventh and eighth graders do um the high school would have no uh excuse me no grade changes the alc would be able to close and move to the McKinley site you see your enrollment and your capacities here considerations that you have um once again that efficiency in the Early Education uh the focused on an academic uh environment what's referred to as El middle model that fifth grade in the middle school but in an Elementary classroom model to ease that transition uh dedicated space once again for the ALC at McKinley it improves the Middle School transition fifth graders get early exposure to Middle School um that is research-based so the idea is that the first year when they are fifth graders and they go there the site changes so the building changes but uh the model that they're under stays the same the next year as sixth graders the model changes but the building stays the same okay um minimal Reser Renovations would be needed at fabone Middle School to accommodate the fifth grade all right capacity issues there are some if you look back it does really start to max out the middle school now I know this says 900 but that 900 is a tight Middle School okay um and it becomes it's not even necessarily 900 you know belly buttons in discs it's 900 students that you need to run through the cafeteria it's 900 students that you need to get through five your your gyms it's we think of it more like that all right so there is some capacity concerns that is why I do have the Middle School principal here tonight in case there's any questions that pop up around that she is ready to uh at least take those questions down to bring back answers all right uh and then of course the public perception when this was brought up back last November this was very uh very scary idea for the public and we heard very loud and very clear and very quickly that the public was not interested in this the uh once the committee the uh Community Committee learned more about this they become they became much more open to this idea so a lot of them uh said I was very much against this once you explained it more in detail to me it makes sense and I would be in favor of it now uh option C it is literally the exact same budget as option b the same positions uh same categories uh same do amount down here at $690,000 ongoing option D is what is referred to as the previous plan option this is the plan that was sent to the board back in January and February of this past year this is that Roosevelt becomes a prek through K uh Kindergarten Center Jeff jeers and Lincoln are grades 1 through five there's no changes at the middle school there's no changes at the high school and that the alc would close this building and the program would move to the McKinley site all right enrollments are there for everyone to see option D or pre previous plan considerations once again efficiency in the Early Education the focused academic environment all right it is more of a traditional Elementary model view all right fewer transitions than grade banding all right it once again dedicated ALC space uh the space considerations on this one is really what I think makes it a stronger Contender than others it allows for room for increased enrollment at across the entire prek through 12th grade setting so what I mean by that is when we go back and that's why I left the C the capacity piece on here because when you look at these numbers versus these numbers on each plan when you look at enrollment versus capacity on each plan what you'll see is that uh while some while some plans have really good numbers at some levels their numbers at other levels become scary and this is where I I feel that it's necessary to explain that this is not the committee was not looking for nor am I looking for any type of Band-Aid or knee-jerk reaction when it comes to reorganization we are looking 10 plus years out all right so with the option D plan the previous plan it does allow room for growth across all grade levels right so it would give us plenty of time to be able to if we need you know we would have to have substantial enrollment growth to really outgrow that model um and it the public perception it's more of a traditional understanding of the middle school with fifth grade uh at the elementary this is one of the pieces I'm just going to go on a bit of an editorial here this one of the pieces that I have really become more accustomed to understanding is the the difference in views of what people understand as that middle level education so for me I went to a junior high school it was grades seven and eight all right some people went to a junior high school that was grades eight and nine all right some people went to a middle school that was grades six seven and eight and some people have gone to a middle school that is grades five six seven and eight and all of those combinations exist all across the state of Minnesota as well as the nation so those are all understood combinations that that still exist in our world today um so you know sometimes we got to we look outside to see what is out there um but all of those combinations do exist and people are successful with those combinations okay uh option D is once again the exact same budget nothing changes in the positions nothing changes in the categories or the amounts and it is once again $690,000 efficiency savings to the district ongoing option e ALC to Middle School all right so in this scenario option I should say uh Roosevelt is still a prek through Kindergarten Center right Jefferson and Lincoln are grades 1 through five the alc building will close but the alc program will be housed at the middle school right the high school will stay the same that would allow us to close both the current ALC site and the McKinley site all right effectively close in two buildings in our district the the piece with that is I do want you to take a look at your enrollment to capacities I'll talk about that in a second so some of the considerations once again that efficiency and Early Education stays there because we still have that prek andk Center all right there's a focus on the academic environment uh it allows for that still that traditional understanding of Elementary model with grades 1 through five and less Transitions and grade banding all right the alc is in a shared space with FMS students at the time that this was brought up a few years ago this was not supported by the alc staff and it was not supported by the alc students all right I I felt the need to put that on there because that was heard by the by this board well not necessarily this board but it was heard by someone this board loud and clear at board meetings right um facil adjustments significant Renovations would need to take place at the middle school to accommodate ALC students we would have to look at how we create a um separate entrance we would have to look at how we create some type of parking situation uh we would have to look at how we do the best we can and I'm going to use that as the term do the best we can to physically separate ALC and middle school students with the understanding that there is only one lunchroom that the gyms are on the other side of the building so that ALC students to use gyms would have to walk through the building and there are only two Banks of restrooms in our middle school so we can't just say these are the Middle School restrooms and these are the alc restrooms because it's not set up that way um so there would there would be overlap in the restrooms and the hallways as well right we would work to minimize that but we can there there would be absolutely no guarantee that that we can keep them 100% separated because we cannot um the capacity issues it does limit potential enrollment growth uh for the alc and the middle school so if you look back here the middle school and ALC site together becomes quite large um and the public perception there there is a concern by by many that I talk to of having high school aged students mixed with middle school age students okay option e is the uh does have the largest budget savings so everything that's on this uh option e budget is the exact same as the last three with the addition of the 50,000 10,000 additional savings from closing the McKinley site so it's an additional $60,000 a year simply in um operations around utilities and supplies to a tune of $750,000 a year ongoing option F the three elementary schools so option F would have Roosevelt Jeff and Lincoln all become prek through fourth grade sites right you see the enrollments there along with the capacities the middle school would would have to become a 58 site to take on fifth grade high school would have no grade changes the alc would be able to close and move to the McKinley site the option F uh ele three elementary schools considerations um it it P somewhat it preserves that perception of neighborhood schools all right for those that that still say I want neighborhood schools this preserves that right um it allows uh it one of the academic environment pieces is that you have a prek program that is spread out over three different sites um it allows for a more traditional Elementary model for grades prek through four with fewer transitions than grade banding right fifth graders get early exposure to Middle School easing the transition we've already talked about that one uh the capacity issues is that it does limit the potential enrollment growth for all levels of programming [Music] and the public perception is that Elementary age students mix with middle school students so once again um where you would have posit you would potentially have positive public perception around the whole idea of neighborhood schools you might have negative uh perception that still lingers out there around fifth grade moving to Middle School the option F3 Elementary School's budget um is significantly less than some of the other ones at $180,000 all right that is because running three sites we need to staff three sites fully um so you can see over on the left what we would be able to reduce um and what that total would be once again that is an ongoing savings there's been a a lot of discussion uh I guess I should do you want me to stop there Mr chair and see if there's any questions before I move on to class sizes so my the upcoming pieces are around class sizes um and some comparisons um and then savings over time and the committee rankings I I would say uh I would like you to finish and okay because I think they all tie in with with what you're getting to here okay so looking looking forward um and this is rolled if you notice this is rolled to the 2526 school year so this is what Elementary class sizes would look like at the three different sites if we do not reorganize um I'm simply using the numbers that each one of those sites had as of Monday and going through and um putting in what their sections are now I will say this one caveat is that currently this year the sites have there's a total of 47 sections this is reducing one to match up with that budget that I talked about at the beginning which would be removing one classroom teacher right so both this and the next slide look at a 46 section combined middle school or excuse me Elementary School uh program what I did was and I went through and I highlighted uh I ran the averages and then I highlighted in yellow anything that was 28 or above and I highlighted in red anything that was 30 and above so what you can see is that if we if we did not reorganize Jefferson would have first grade average audit 29 second grade at 34 and fourth grade at 32 Lincoln would have first grade at 29 fourth grade at 34 and fifth grade at 29 um and Roosevelt would be at 28 in first grade and 35 in third grade so a a discussion would have to be there because I think once we hit 35 especially in 30 grade we have to say something something has to happen that that that we can't do that okay if we were to reorganize just by being able to shift our students down to two sites our elementary students down to two sites what you see is that we would be looking at Jefferson at Lincoln and at Roosevelt all right Roosevelt I did not run the averages because that that would be that 386 is not all kindergarteners all right it would be kindergarteners uh all of our K4 and all of our early childhood pieces okay but if we if we were reorganize what we would be able to see is that Jefferson would be in the mid 20s through uh first second third grade they would have a large fourth grade and they'd be back down to the mid-20s for fifth grade Lincoln would be in the upper 20s for 2 third and Fifth and would be in the mid 20s for first and fourth and Roosevelt would have nine we we would roll forward approximately 200 kindergarteners was is 200 kindergarteners is what we would be rolling forward to expect um and we would run nine sections of that to be able to see those side by side this is just simply not reorganizing on the top and reorganizing on the bottom same section uh same total number of sections across the three sites the budget savings over time you heard me reference numerous times that those budget savings were ongoing so one of the pieces that I wanted to show you is what does ongoing mean for a district like us if we went with option A the status quo obviously we're going to need to cut more okay than just what is up there this is simply what these these Stat or these options could save us all right um but if we cut $160,000 then we balloon that out over years three years five years and seven years when you start looking at the different options you see the dramatic differences in some of them obviously with that option e being the largest um and option b c and d all being identical right and option A and option F uh being fairly close to each other um so that is that is what the budget savings over time time would look like um out one year three year five years and seven years this does not account for any type of inflationary um role or inflationary increase from uh the state or anything like that okay this would simply be uh what our um or any contract negotiations it doesn't include anything like that it's just what it would look like in today's dollars okay the last piece that I have for you is here are all six uh options that were ranked and I realize this is a little bit small um and that it's a little bit difficult to read and I have to preface that we do not when we run these we do not have thank you nosco we do not have control over what colors that each bar is all right so it can be a little bit confusing so the dark blueish which is this color right here that I'm circling that is the top choice or the number one choice by different people so this was the organiz uh the reorganization committee that ranked this now right your red is if they ranked it second orange is third green is fourth purple is fifth and then of course we went back to Blue instead of picking a different color for lighter blue is sixth so if you simply look at which option got the most first rankings like most people thought this should be the one that we do first it was option D the previous plan um the one that received the most the second most first place rankings was option F the three elementary schools if you look at where something would rank with the same number of first and second rankings if you want to do it that way it would be once again option D first but then it would go to option b as the runner up so it all depends on kind of how you want to look at these rankings um there was a clear number one in the rankings uh there was you know a a different number to depending on how you look at the rankings Mr chair that concludes my presentation thank you Mr benty really some interesting deep uh options here so with that board members I will open it up to you with questions remembering that we will have two further public meetings open meetings to discuss this and review this so anyone have anything right off the top of the head Mr Olsson thank you yeah you mentioned several times that you think that we're going to increase our population which all the studies saying we're going to drop or level off no what what what I'm saying is if it were to increase we want to make sure that we have room to to accommodate that we are up a little bit this year from what we projected but that is also common across other Southeastern schools uh big n schools this year so I was just with other big n superintendant last week and many of them were saying yeah we're up you know 20 kids we're up 50 kids we're up right um but I'm not forecasting an a a uh nothing is showing us a enrollment increase um we did have a little one this year um but if that were to happen if more housing were to open up in in farbo that could draw in more students we want to make sure that we're ready for we've been saying that you know more housing it doesn't come around it's expensive um also that some of these options um you're taking away from the uh neighborhood schools yeah you know that some of the as was Garfield and Washington and stuff like that you know um then also with the um fifth grade moving to the so they didn't like that to the fifth grade to the middle school so the the committee put it as one of their options so I guess I should explain what what we did so one of the things that that we did was in in one of the last meetings I had we had done a lot of information that the Committees had been given they had seen the schools and then I said I I said at your tables I said come up with different possibilities different reorganization possibilities um so I had a whole bunch of different reorganization possibilities what I did then with that information was I took the presentation from last year I took all the research that I had provided for the committee as well as for this board I took all of their options that they had put together I threw it all into artificial intelligence and I said here's the objective I said please create multiple possibilities with considerations positive and negative around this the reason I did that was one it greatly increases the speed of work that you can do but also it takes the human emotion out of it I didn't want any of my emotion to be in in this decision um and then it spit out a bunch of different options and then it you know you have to if you know anything about artificial intelligence there's hallucinations in there so you got to be able to go in and clean those up as well so after we did that these were the options that it came up with if if you're talking about the they that were not happy with fifth grade to the middle school that was a loud um that was a loud piece from our community back in November um I don't know if that will be a loud piece in our community again um but it was it was something from the committee that they said yeah we think that this needs to be an option that the Schoolboard takes another look at Miss bu Mr chair thank you first to the committee and to our superintendent for this of these comparables and they're very detailed I appreciate that I'm hopeful that we can um deal with some of our forecasted shortfalls in the future and I wondered that my questions centers around on that looking at the budget savings over time um I'm we probably don't have a work up on that but I know we are projected to have less income than we we need and I'm just wondering um if options b c and d how that would help us if you're not prepared to answer that question no I I can I can give you a roundabout answer around that so um with Barbie just coming on board we obviously haven't had a chance we've discussed it but she's heard numbers from me she has not been able to go in and and verify those numbers which with my you know with my vast background in finance with my history license um you know she should probably double check those numbers right Barbie um but when I spoke with the previous uh director of uh operations and business it it we were forecasting somewhere between 500 to maybe $700,000 of what we would be short for the next budget right and that was a number that we had kind of settled in on and the board had heard that number a little bit here and there that you know that half a million maybe pushing as high as 3/4 of a million that we were forecasting to be short understanding that last year's reductions were not the end of it okay um so one of the goals that that I know I have had is how do we get budget neutral after I mean this is my 12th year in the district we've cut every year except for one and that one year was was because we passed a levy right so we have reduced every year except for one that I've been here um so my biggest push financially has been how do we get budget neutral with options b c and d it does afford US that possibility of being budget neutral and then not having to cut having to Simply um adjust based off enrollment year by year if that makes sense that Mr chairman that that sounds wonderful that we have at least some options to look at okay Mr chair M Mo yes I I just have a question um with I think it's option C if you move the fifth to farbell Middle School uh have we thought about how much contact the fifth graders will have with the will this be in a separate Wing a separate space so there's that work there there's only so much we can do with a separate Wing because you have uh if you know how the CL how the middle school is laid out there it's it's kind of like spider legs almost with classrooms going off both sides of them and then each one of those legs exits outside all right um and it's all one level so a lot of people don't realize that that it's we don't have the luxury of being able to say you know ALC will in the second floor middle school will be on the first floor um it's all one level at our middle school so there we would have to calculate the number of rooms that they would need the issue with that is that if you you might be able to say well guess what they they need six rooms but they need fied and they need art and they need some of this well those rooms are in different areas of the building so that would require travel for sure 100% they have to travel across the building for fied all right um could we look at an art room potentially all right but if you get into the wrong number of rooms then you don't necessarily have a hallway or a wing that's ALC you might have a hallway plus one room in the next leg all right um so it it it really is it's that's why I said said we cannot guarantee and we also have to be very very careful I don't believe and and we I don't believe we would be able to build walls because it they would interfere with exit routes out of the building just the way that building is is situated safety features correct yes Fire Escape Routes yeah okay thank you Cassie well this is super uncomfortable to talk about loud and I'm um fairly confident I'm going to get tore apart tomorrow starting with the newspaper um moving ALC students to the middle school as opposed to a private area of the high school can you talk about the rationale the reasoning why it's not being presented yes so that was actually brought up uh in the committee by some of the committee members was to that they said how come there is not a propos proposal in here to move ALC to the high school um we are still under I am still under I should say a um oh and I just lost the term an an indefinite tabling of discussing or any planning around moving the alc to the high school um so that was a uh a an option that we that I I will take ownership for that I did not put together because I am still under order ERS by this board to not bring anything like that to to you I I can answer that a little more in detail I I believe that was three or four years ago that was that would have been under uh Mr ceser the previous superintendent when that when we were looking at re moving ALC or but like that and that got brought up and the amount of uh emails and calls I received a loan which was over 300 and then discussing with ALC people said that that is not a a viable option so the board did to table or postpone indefinitely that move for ALC to go to the high school so that that's what happened then it was approved by the board that was the will of the board could we ever I mean I would like to when we started this this process I mean and and no disrespect because I really appreciate that this is coming back in a really organized and Community Driven fashion but I'd like to see all of the options whether I'm going to vote for it or not I mean I'm a Believer in I don't know if I would be able to to choose that um but I need to see all of the options in my opinion and um I feel like we're doing kind of a a disservice to our community by not looking at all of the options whether they're uncomfortable I mean I I was on this board four years ago and that's why I made my original comment of tomorrow morning I'm going to get get torn apart but I think um we were elected to do uncomfortable things and we have to look um realistically and um unemotionally so uh Mr chair and Mr beny I and I may be missed this but I thought when we were pursuing this in the April May time frame whenever we started planning for this uh you know this uh reorg committee and whatnot I did think that nothing was off the table but maybe I misunderstood that and maybe that's just me um misunderstanding that so if I did uh you know and I agree with Miss Steve I have no idea if I support it or not either but I did think that everything was on the table with all of our um seven buildings and also potentially looking at anything outside the district inside the community if you will but um anyway I could be wrong so I I will say and I apologize I did not mention this earlier so one of the pieces that when I looked at this is that I did not look at building anything I did not look to you know break ground and either build or to add on to any uh current site and the reason for that is it is incredibly expensive and we are not in the financial position in my opinion to break ground anywhere um with with the enrollment that we currently have and with the footprint that we currently have in in the district um secondly was I did not I I have traveled around and looked at what is existing out there to uh to rent um not to purchase the piece with that is that if we were to rent it would be charged back to our taxpayers in lease Levy dollars and we do not have a lot of lease Levy dollars left simply because sevc our local co-op is part of our lease Levy so they eat up a good chunk of that um so so there were some restrictions that that I kind of imposed upon myself um just from a financial considerations for the district thank you Mr chair um and and I'd really like to thank the community the all the committee members that participated um I don't know six seven eight meetings whatever you all had and and the tours and all that stuff I do have several questions but I think I will email them to you and Mr benty and and um I think we had talked before you compile a list I don't want to stay here tell night with all my questions um so I'll I'll send those over on specific topics or Dr Ro show Mr chair thank you and I too as uh indicated by Mr Wolf have a list of questions and observations um I I just want to thank the committee for all of their hard work I know that you spent Blood Sweat and Tears to get up to these uh recommendations the one thing that I found missing and I would and you talked about a little bit is I'd like to see the research based on these options um what does it mean for student achievement uh to me it looks like we're talking about facility reorganization but missing is that student achievement part so I'd really like to see more of that uh included in this why is the rationale what does it mean you talk about the purpose of optimizing outcomes learning educational outc comes what are those outcomes that are going to come out of each one of these options that are presented both positive and negative um so I'd like to see that um also missing is the cost of any transportation that's related to each of these options as that has to be factored in as well so but I have another bunch of other questions and I'll forward those to you as wellc thank you Mr chair uh just for the public that's here or watching online or read in the newspaper the questions and answers will be public right we will address them at the next at the next session yes Mr chair M Mo um yes uh I know as a rep for the alc and I I think we as far as achievement and education every student I think is important and uh yeah and for the alc I I really think it's important for them that they have their own space I think that and I think that was brought out too in you know a few months ago but I I really believe that they need their own space and I think that's important so that's my my take right now and I hope my comments didn't insinuate anything of course every student in our school system is value no I I didn't take it as that yeah above all else I know exactly how it feels to be in a building that that you don't want to be in right um so any could offer that perspective um I didn't take it as that and I think you're right we need to look at all the options but for me I think it's very important that each you know that the students in the alc have their own building so I think you know I'm narrowing my options right now even though I tried to be you know open a bit and asked a few questions so well for one that's why we're going to have two more public meetings we're going to do this um we're going to vet this very thoroughly uh even though the committee has and I want to thank the committee and all that work beforehand but just a couple of thoughts on on my end here one when we asked Mr benty again in April or whatever it was to represent this and yes the comment was we all agreed nothing was off the table okay so it was presented to ideas and things were present to Mr B and the committee okay so to me that those ideas were presented there so whether the alc was presented to bring back to the high school there or whatever and then you had so then the committee and would recommend and they all they group them all together was to recommend to come with was to come with recommendations to the board okay options and we can Mo we'll we'll mold them over and ask our questions Etc but that was the work of the committee so come coming up with six uh options here um is impressive but my I guess one of questions here don't want to go too deep into the weeds here so right off the top of your head Mr benty were there any options seven through 15 that you would like to mention uh that just wouldn't work what I think maybe that's what uh Miss Ste is alluding to put on there was so you know there there were some different there were some different options that were floated around option F which was to have um numer uh to have three prek through fifth grade buildings and and still move the alc to McKinley spacewise that simply would not work um because we don't have enough rooms at Jefferson Lincoln and Roosevelt to accommodate all of McKinley and all of the three-year-olds and four-year-old program um in those buildings so with keeping fifth grade there as well so that's why when you see that option f it is doing that but moving the fifth grade to the Middle School um o other options there are there are different ways that you can grade band so one of the options is would prek through first grade fit at Roosevelt the answer to that is yes it would however it leaves zero zero room for growth for our Early Childhood Program and our Early Childhood Program is by by research wise and by what the the results that this board has seen our best performing program at this point so we want to make sure that we're able to grow that if we did the prek through first grade at Roosevelt which spacewise we could do it would be tight but we could do it it would leave it would not allow us to grow our prek programming at all um so there were options that like that on what you can do versus what makes sense to do obviously with keeping an eye to the Future as well um the last thing I want to do is reorganize and then turn around in two or three years and say guess what we need to do it again um we want this to be at minimum a 10-year decision thank you because obviously this decision changes and I I stated this the first time this changes the delivery How would how we deliver to instruction to students in Fair will grade wise maybe may maybe pedagogical wise I don't know with the grade banding Etc you can do all all sorts of different things it's it is but along with Dr robers show being a former teacher I'm very much um like concerned always want to know about student achievement and as this board learned a long time ago 75% of our board meetings should be about student achievement yes and we we haven't been and this gives us a good launching or jumping board here to really have something which we can have our students be successful and and really improve and it to me just right off the top of my head going if we can and and I know finances and student achievement don't go hand inand this a very complex that's why I want we're going to take our time but if if we save some money here by doing something we h and we don't have to reduce opportunities for kids which would leave to student achievement and research base would show us that and different things we can do and and that so uh I don't I didn't want to spend the rest of our meetings saying what other options were there I mean we can talk about them briefly da da if something comes up but now that we have six I guess I'd like to hone in on those in our next meetings and go from there but and if they come up which you said I mean people talk to say did you think about this what about this what about this we we'll talk about it at our next meeting let's let's do that and and go from there I think that's the best way to do it so I I just excuse me U Mr shair I just wanted to clarify because uh I understand what you're saying I think but uh I I would like Miss Steves you were saying you'd like to see all the options that are possible is that what you were saying is that and and and I agree with that you may disagree it and not to inter yeah but what I'm hearing is some of the options that came up during the committee level [Music] were shot down for feasibility correct outside of of the one that were yeah I mean you know it it was one of the pieces where it I wanted I wanted the board to have choice but you know there there was also the understanding of I mean I I can throw six more options at you by the end of this week would I recommend as superintendent of this District any of those no there's I mean if we're just being honest I I put six on there um and I have personal views on all six of those I have professional views on all six of those as well um but I I purposely did not put options on there that I could not support as your superintendent so and and that I mean I respect the the committee's work and so I feel like if we were given more options as a board you know I don't want to come to the next meeting and the meeting following that we're all going to have seven different options and and we're not going to be able to make a consensus at all um do I want to learn and and grow myself and and walk myself through the committee's you know thought process as as far as the options I didn't make it for I think I would be open to that but knowing moving forward we're working on essentially these six there might be small tweaks yes well definitely great Point any else Mr chair yeah I I would have personally would have just liked to see some of those options but so I agree with you on your first point there Dr just one comment and I understand and appreciate what uh fellow board members are saying but I would suspect that Mr benty with you in the committee you brought forth these six recommendations that you think are doable the others may not be doable so we could spend you know the next five hours talking about options that aren't doable why should we spend our energies on that and work on those options that you recommend and the committee recommends are doable in this District okay great points any further discussion excellent so again as a reminder to everyone uh questions comments um suggestions thoughts to Mr benty and myself here and all those will be presented publicly to at our work session and I probably don't want to step out but probably our work session agenda will be mostly reorganization I would assume and that's that's what we're here for as well so thank you how much space do you have on your computer mron are these options going to be on the website they they already are they're on board haven't looked looked okay somebody have yeah I just a clarification uh if we have questions we send them to Mr benty and you yes and you okay we will forward all the questions from every board member to I just want to clarify that thank you I just had a question how much room do you have on your computer I cleared out my inbox mostly today so I'm ready you too I'm ready we're ready I shouldn't say that probably that okay so item agenda item number 11 dates to remember October 1st 2024 3:45 p.m. policy committee God we're talking about October already where'd that go October 7th 2024 5:30 p.m work session October 14th 2024 7:30 a.m. finance committee that's virtual October 28th 2024 5:30 p.m regular board meeting agenda item number 12 is there a motion to move to a closed session as permitted by Minnesota statute 13d 03 for negotiation strategies with Local 70 Mo thank you Miss budo and Mr Wolf II any discussion discussion discussion all in favor of the motion signifi by saying I I opposed motion passes we'll go into close session in five minutes