##VIDEO ID:AmO96zwgmtY## welcome we're the otana school board this is Monday the 28th of October 5:30 I'm going to call this meeting to order Eric is going to give us an update on our attendance we are just missing I tonight let's uh hope that we see him roll in let's start tonight with the pledge pled 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 thank you everyone uh up first tonight would be to approve the agenda as presented so moved second have a motion and the second any further discussion on this hearing none all in favor with an i i any opposed that motion carries item four is Mission moment I for one am very anxious to hear more about tonight's Mission moment thank you Mr chair members of the board on every other board night when we recognize Mission moment Sarah Hoffman and Lori bugler put together the information for our mission moments tonight I'm turning the tables I want to lift up these two colleagues that are amazing at their work and even better people Lori bugler is our district communication specialist she works tirelessly to make sure the happenings in our district are communicated to our staff and Community I am grateful for her guidance diligence and strategic thinking and for her commitment to tell the story of ISD 761 where there is an Nana Public Schools event you will find Lori taking pictures and capturing some of our best moments Sarah Hoffman serves as the executive assistant to the school board and to the superintendent I tell people often that Sarah is the CBO of our organization that's an acronym for clearly the brains of the operation her masterful skill set makes sure that our school board is prepared and that the office of the superintendent is running smoothly in her career Sarah has seen most everything including many school board members and a couple of superintendents I am grateful for her guidance counsel patience and Grace that she grants me every day this work can be difficult at times but having these two amazing individuals makes every day brighter and better in our school district please join me in thanking Lori and Sarah for their outstanding work in our district and for their unwavering commitment to our students staff and [Applause] Community more do Mr chair uh Mr had very nice words and uh very welld deserved as well thank you both uh we will move on item five tonight is public forum we do have one card um and Francy call if as you if you would please make your way up and you'd have a seat here at the U that Center table Mr elad's going to make sure that the microphone is working appropriately for you um I need a booster chair it's a little bit of a I'm going to have to be I might have to just sit on my knee Francy you can stand can I stand okay that'd be better sorry this is not going to work if we can just make sure that you're able to be picked up by the microphone that would be great so can I to have to push it when I'm starting well make sure that we get it turned off the only thing that I would ask is that uh I forgot I realize I forgot my sheet that um asks you to U keep your comments to 3 minutes and um uh specific to the nature of of the school board sure go ahead yeah so I have read The People's press article about the data requests and the money that it it cost us which was a lot of money and I I was between what 300,000 and 500,000 I'm not sure um and then also the national an NPR also did a big thing about this um I think that the fact that that money was spent was bad enough but the worst part about it is that it was spent because people didn't want to teach history to our children and I am absolutely just baffled because if we don't teach that history whether it's the Native Americans that we have you know k killed and the or the Holocaust or things like that we're doomed to repeat it and our children have to be resilient they have to know that bad things go on in the world but the world goes on and so will they and so that's just my basic that's message I was really Disturbed that all of that money was spent but even worse that there were people on the school board who do not want to teach history and that's my whole statement thank you for your comments thank you appreciate it item six tonight would be the uh general information there's an enrollment report that was made a part of your packet you'll notice that there weren't any red squares in any of the uh schools or grade levels any questions for Mr elstead with regard to the enrollment report okay okay hearing none we're going to move on uh item seven these are just uh discussion items only first up would be board forum and if you don't mind Deborah I'm going to start over on your side with the board Forum no don't have anything nothing for me no other than the Committees which I assume we'll get to shortly yep we'll talk about that in just a second um I have a couple of things I did notice that coffee with the superintendent is on Friday 8 th excuse me Thursday morning Thursday Thursday of this week at the district office to Thursday morning because of a previous commitment on the 1st so it's 8:30 a.m. on Thursday morning at the district office okay and I would guess if there's a couple of Schoolboard members that would be able to join you for that you you take that would be great okay do we have any volunteers that I might I may not be able to make I can make I can check my calendar okay all right you said 830 8:30 okay okay just can't have four can only have two if I'm available I'll be there okay Lori will be there and did I hear you Jolan yeah I'll be there y perfect and perhaps Deborah okay all right um the second thing uh we had made available for all of the board members of the book uh the anxious generation and this is just my quick reminder to say if you have a chance please dig in um please pour in yourself into that um there will be a point in time in the not too distant future where we'll reconvene and we'll take some time talk specifically about the nature of that book item three Mr elad and I will be joining iub and Aon tomorrow at the msba there's some leadership training for our upand cominging generation and uh so we're looking forward to spending some time with them Eric I'm going to turn it over to you nothing tonight Elizabeth Aon what do you have uh today the oana orchestra Symphony Orchestra went and partnered up with the Austin Symphony Orchestra which is professional Orchestra and we performed for a bunch of Elementary schoolers over at Austin High School and that was fun and we also did that on Sunday and then the NHS blood blood drive took place so that was super cool got to donate some blood and then girl state cross country country is coming up uh so go to that if you can uh and then the mock trial case is supposed to be released tomorrow IU and I hope that's it all right thank you uh moving on to item one that would be the committee meeting reports kind of make our way around the horn again debor do you have anything for committee meeting reports only that I thought that I was at the last facilities meeting I came late but I thought I was there Pock no not that I recall no no I wasn't I was sick that's right you were yet yeah okay Tim anything uh no the policy committee meeting committee met but I didn't I I'm deferring to Julene okay yeah we might continue to work through policy after policy the best we can as quickly as we can very good yeah and just for to kind of further that conversation um there's a a list of first reading um policies in your packet tonight so you can take a look at those fairly fairly straightforward I don't think any surprises but constant work there so we have another me couple of meetings scheduled we were meeting virtually every month so good um Eric I'll I'll touch on the facilities meeting and if there's anything that I'm overlooking or forgetting you'll fill in the blanks but um facilities met uh just before our last work session and there is an item here that you'll see that uh is board action that is the sale of the bridge bridge street property and that was something that the facilities committee worked its way through and then the board worked through in a work session um and we'll hear more about that in just a second uh but the other component to it is that the um the building that is uh going to be a storage facility uh on the old original oana High School site there will be a 40x 80 uh building that is going up the board has approved the expenditure for that and we just got some updates with regard to the progress and the speed with which that building is going up anything else um no that you Pro covered all that yep okay Elizabeth right the only thing in regards sorry about the the building is we're just waiting still in state permit mhm right yes uh item two would be the Schoolboard work session report um everything was covered in your minutes any questions any relative to that uh and item three would be policy revisions there was a first reading it looked like there were just a couple and if anybody from policy would like to give us just a quick overview on that that would be great well I I'll jump in you guys can comment so again um you'll find three um excuse me make sure I get my right list this one uh five policies up for um you know review we'll we'll take another look at these in a month or so and actually approve them so this is just a first reading um board committees again these are really just edits that um align practice with with what the policy says so kind of cleaning up some things student medication I think it's pretty straightforward I thought of you Elizabeth you can take a read but primarily it's about teleah health and and mental health treatment available to students so good good changes um likewise 521 uh 532 again just brings us back to I think where we all wanted to be a year or so ago when there were challenges with um School officers in the building and there was some um difficulties there so this is bringing us back to really where we want to be I think and then 535 again just additional protection for those with disabilities so should be pretty straightforward if you have questions obviously reach out anybody have any questions with the benefit of this first read on any of it that I noticed in the in the list of um things that were in there we're going back to Title Nine has there been a change because of um things that the state has decided so that's not on the agenda and it's not included in that that group that I just described yeah I didn't see that as a policy that's up for potential review at least for this time in in the policy committee meeting minutes it just said that that was further further or future um discussion all right any other questions hearing none I'm going to move on to Item B which would be the administrative report I'll turn it over to Mr elad thank you Mr chair members of the board there are uh five items I want to touch base on tonight the first of which I've been spending quite a bit of time as of late working on legislative platforms this is the time when we typically start preparing those platforms uh to meet with our locally elected officials obviously next Tuesday we'll decide who am I meeting with uh to do that with the exception of senator jinsky who is not up for election this time so uh working with them there are two items that are uh probably most most prominent the first of which is and you've heard this from me before is Equalization it's trying to find a way to allow us to have the same amount of dollars per pupil unit without impacting our taxpayers negatively and there's there is a quite an unequal um formula in fact that last count and I'll go back about 10 years 10 years ago uh in our district the state was paying approximately 65% of the per pupil unit um Equalization for us now they're at 25% so we've lost 40% in funding uh for to equalize the funding and and um it needs to be addressed and so that will be probably priority number one uh the other one would be exploring the opportunity for local optional Revenue if you remember as a school board you have the right to assign up to $724 per pup unit in local optional Revenue that hasn't been changed since 2013 and with inflation and things like that it appears that that will be an item that will be discussed as well um we recently if you remember um reorganized our major lobbying Group which is now schools advocating for fair funding and we have uh retained uh two lobbyists uh one of which is a Sam walth who is a longtime lobbyist at the capital for educ ational issues the other one is Nick zerwas Nick is new to the firm um he's a former uh Republican senator from the Elk River area and he is serving as well uh on our team uh to move these items forward with our legislature um I the expertise that they bring uh to the table um is insurmountable it's it's they have a lot of experience and they have been able to both reach across the aisle to gain uh both B bipartisan support on these items so those are two items that I'm working on diligently right now because either of those items being impacted will have an immediate impact on our school district financially in the positive so those those are good things uh we're preparing for our board data Retreat on Thursday November 7th in fact today we went through the next iteration of our presentation to you we'll be finalizing that and have that ready for you and just as a quick reminder that's 3:00 to 6:00 on November 7th at the district office in the uh main uh professional development center room downstairs um you mentioned the student Schoolboard event looking forward to that tomorrow uh Friday um this is going to sound crazy it's the end of first quarter on Friday um it has gone very quickly and so um students uh will be wrapping up their first quarter work and then of course next Monday is a teacher work day uh for GR and things like that for our staff and then lastly you touched on something uh Mr chair that I want to make sure that I mentioned which is uh the anxious generation book and again this is a book that uh for me was profound in just looking at the technology that our teenagers have access to um and now adults and how are we managing that best and so I'm going to double down on the encouragement for you to read that text but furthermore I'm working actually with Julie Sullivan and Casey Clen and and we are trying to generate uh what would then be a community book study around that I believe that this is one of the most instrumental texts that's been written about the mental health of our teenagers in a long time and there's a call to action and I feel like this is something uh that we as a district want to certainly facilitate so looking forward to that further discussion um and then I think we covered coffee and conversation and I believe those are all the items that were on my list tonight thank you excellent any questions for Mr elad um I had one question and I know I don't know if Corey CF is here maybe this is better um I can reach out to him one of his comments you know we we've learned about how particular the High School attendance by students was a real challenge coming out of covid and it's taken some time and I was just curious if you had a reaction or any insight as to how that's progressing so far this year I don't have any evidence with me tonight anecdotally I would say it's improving uh for us um one of the things that has changed dramatically this is probably in the last I'll say 15 to 18 years is just um the services that are provided outside of school for those students that are considered habitually or chronically Trent um there's been a little Gap in service where the school district is continued the obligation to provide the documentation around truy um for many many years there was a very good system built in from steel County Health and Human Services that was providing treny workers uh that were helpful in helping families and students um find a plan to make sure that they were attending regularly um I think there's still a gap in service there um I do feel like our new County attorney is paying attention to this and so uh we're seeing a bit of a resurgent but I think at this point um it's improving but I do think we have to improve the supports around this uh to make sure that um cuz there are many reasons why kids are missing school and some of them are not the fault of the child and so we have to get those things straight as well so good thank you any other questions hearing none uh item eight tonight is the consent agenda requires the board action and this would include the minutes from September 23rd October 15 dispersement and Personnel report does anybody have a reason that we would pull any item out none we'll entertain a motion to approve so moved second have a motion in a second is there any further discussion roll call hearing no discussion Eric I'll ask you to do the roll call for us Elizabeth I Deborah I Tim I Jolan I Lori I Mark I and I myself as an i s old pass motion carries thank you item nine tonight also requiring board action the first would be the policy revisions this is the second reading and this would include the policies that we had talked about at our last meeting um affords us an opportunity anybody have any questions relative to the policies that have been presented I had talked earlier with Lori just about some fine touching yeah and um there were some administrative um fixes we need to do Sarah I think on the the lettering and the numbering on the paragraph So this nothing substantive um so I would propose that we can approve the the subst of these and then then just correct the uh numbering thank you [Music] Eric okay uh would one of you be kind enough to introduce the motion for this I move that the board approve the policy revisions as presented second we have a motion and a second any further discussion all in favor with an i i any opposed that motion carries Item B would be the Bridge Street property this is something that the board went into a closed session following our um or during rather our work session at our last meeting and um no great surprise to anybody the The Bridge Street property um has been vacated the district office has been moved out and it it's time for that property to be sold so the board at the board's request we instructed the superintendent and the administrative team to uh put out a request for proposal asking um professional real estate firms firms commercial firms to submit a bid uh and and explain to us the the wise and and how they would go about selling that property um the motion is in your packet um everything relative to the sale of that property or at least making the request for proposal available to the community is in your packet do you have any questions with regard to this and I trust that you'll find that it's consistent with where we' left off at that work session great questions any thoughts no all right would one of you be kind enough to introduce this motion I move that the board approve the request for proposals document for the sale of Bridge Street property as presented second we have a motion in a second any further discussion all in favor with an i i any opposed that motion carries item C would be an extended trip request I'm going to ask Mr elstead to give us quick update on that thank you Mr chair members of the board this is a request that we've seen um almost annually now um Miss asmos who is our high school concert choir or choir director I should say um has requested um students to be present um at a Twin Cities mini tour if you will the reason why it's coming to the board is an extended trip request because of in our policy at State set of students are missing any school it requires board action uh to approve their so they're leaving um looks like January 25th um and they're returning back on the 27th of January uh number number of activities they have uh set up including participating with other uh choir High School choirs as well as uh they will be singing the National Anthem um at the University of Minnesota this time last last year they were at a I think Timberwolves game last week and sing the or last year excuse me and sing the national anthem so seeking your approval on their opportunity to have an extended trip anybody have any questions everything appeared to be in order uh would one of you be kind enough to introduce the motion I move that the board approve the extended trip request to the Twin Cities second Motion in a second any further discussion all in favor with an i i any opposed that motion carries item D tonight would be gifts to the district Mr El said one more time if you would please number of gifts uh tonight I'll just call out a couple of them you'll see a number of gifts that are given to thriving Minds which is one of our newest student groups uh at the high school really uh seeking an opportunity to make mental health awareness for our community um as and also finding ways uh within themselves to provide support for one another uh in mental health uh the other thing I would call to your attention so U you'll see a number of gifts that were given in honor and memory of Wayne Hermanson who was a longtime Community member and supporter of the otana public schools and so just wanted to call that to the board's attention as well including uh many other gifts and 30 hard hats were given our as our Tech Career Tech Ed um construction class gets underway so that's all thank you very good thanks any questions if you happen to have this queued up I move that the board approve the resolution for acceptance of gifts as presented second we have a motion and a second is there any further discussion Eric if you would yep Elizabeth I Deborah I Tim I Joline I Lori I Mark I and I myself s i 70 pass carries very good item 10 tonight would be to adjourn I am going to make the motion that we adjourn second have a motion in a second all in favor with an i i any opposed motion carries thank you good meeting folks thank you I'm sorry actually I am going to be at a new United wave fundraiser that open house they invited people L to this do you want to ride for the speech with me okay s let me just