##VIDEO ID:rpMiRvRJJNM## regular meeting of the Board of Education uh this meeting is called to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Al 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 okay roll call vote all members are here with the exception of director bernick and director vquez and director vquez did uh let us know that he is running late due to traffic uh first item on the agenda is the approval of the agenda and due to the request by director Herman to remove policy 66.5 from tonight's agenda I'm requesting for a motion to approve the agenda as amended without section 13.3 policy 66.5 can I have a first and a second so by director Crosby by director olad second all in favor I I I that passes five Z opposed well since we all said I um next on the agenda is the consent agenda the cons um oh I'm sorry I totally forgot open Forum open Forum yeah yeah it was not on here so I apologize for that let's go ahead and proceed with open Forum we have one comment and that is by Dave Guild and it's a levy and Schoolboard oversight good evening everyone I'm Dave gild Prior Lake resident and a member of the teaching and learning committee nice to see you all so for be before I begin tonight I reviewed the latest MCA test scores and let's just say they were rather disappointing so our student scores declined in nine out of 17 categories and that's coming up the already steep declines following the remote learning experiment that this District put our students through so like I said disappointing but tonight I'm here to express my concerns about you all the school board and uh your potential oversight of $110 million plus that's the floor should the upcoming referendum pass so truthfully I have not been sold on the referendum you haven't done it uh for me but mainly because of rising living costs so I am looking around and I'm seeing gas and insurance insurance and food and property taxes all growing significantly and I've got neighbors who I've got in mind saying do I want to impose a $110 million levy on them so the answer so far I was leaning no so if the average citizen can make with do it less maybe the school district should not get more especially with the flatlining of the student population recent years so that was my main line of reasoning until last month so I've been following the school board meeting to gain more insights maybe find a reason to vote Yes well after last month's meeting I moved from a Leno to a firm hell no and chair France Mary France you are the reason for that change so when director that we have rules that you cannot call out or disparage individual members well now I'll just go to facts okay so that's that to me is my fact that's my truth but anyway so when director ainson raised what I thought was a valid budget question about a video curriculum EXP defense being split between two budget lines there was rudess somewhere up here uh and an outright refusal to address that particular question that set off alarm Bells it sounded like an attempt to avoid transparency especially since Lisa's earlier questions that were very simple were allowed to be asked and answered so I later learned and no thanks to you Mary which because I did send you an email and you did not reply that it was a sing single 30k expenditure that was indeed split into two lines with each staying under 25k and that meant it avoided scrutiny so the chair's extreme rudess sorry in shutting down a fellow member's budget question along with the board's acceptance of this Behavior so much for Minnesota nice raised serious concerns about this board's honesty transparency and willingness to be held accountable for how you spend our hard-earned tax dollars so my fellow firelake and Savage citizens until this school board conducts itself respectfully and forthrightly in its budget oversight responsibilities I urge you to vote hell no on the levy thank [Applause] you okay next on the agenda is the consent agenda the consent agenda items are considered to be routine in nature and will be enacted by one motion there will be no separate discussion of these items unless a board member or citizen so requests in which time uh the item will be removed as a consent agenda item and addressed the consent agenda item consists of financials purchase orders above 25,000 monthly financial report the enrollment report approval of the school board minutes from the regular board meeting on August 12th and the board retreat from August 26th and the study session from August 26th personnel items which includes candidates for employment resignations terminations non-renewals leaves of absences and that is it so um I would like a motion and a second on the consent agenda by director Olstead sorry second second by director Crosby he does any okay um all right then um so does anyone have anything I'd like to pull yes I would like to pull the purchase orders over $25,000 please okay so the purchase orders over 25,000 which is item 7B will get moved to the uh new business area under item 12 okay so I'm going to ask for a motion for the consent to agenda for all items let I mean ask for a vote on the consent agenda for all items less 7B which will be moved to the new business uh area so made by director Crosby uh second second by Olstead okay all in favor I I I opposed okay that passes 60 okay next item on the agenda is the resolution for for acceptance of gifts tonight we have one gift from shields for 24 backpacks donated through their give back program I need a motion in a second by director bullion second second by olad okay and this is a roll call vote director Atkinson I director Velasquez I director bullan I director Crosby I director olad I and I so that passes 60 all right next on the agenda we have Laker pride and I'm going to pass this over to Dr Thomas uh thank you chair Friends board directors um tonight uh we are going to uh have a little Laker showcase um one of the areas that um we are going to be focusing in on heavily this year as you all know is academic excellence and given everything that's happening um with the react and literacy and we just heard uh you know we are not exempt like many other districts in terms of this whole conversation around uh literacy performance of our students and this is something that we take very seriously and we wanted to share um an update with you all um and kind of showcase the work that many of our staff have engaged in and so with that I'll have Dr Edwards come forward um to talk about our efforts and our deep commitment around bolstering the academic Excellence uh specifically tonight around uh literacy thank you Dr Thomas uh members of the board like to share with you as Dr Thomas pointed out uh some detail further detail we've been talking about the redact uh since its original adoption in May of 23 and uh there was a updated adoption then in May of 24 as well by the uh State Legislature and in between that time which was last school year the 2324 school year we did some original uh in investigating and looking into that and we had a team of Staff who were uh kind of on the front lines of work in our learning as a school district around this and that's the team that I'm going to bring up here uh to share uh with us tonight where we're at in that process and where we are headed uh for this year the 2 2425 school year uh which will begin our training uh phase of the react and uh we'll go into greater detail here in a moment but um as Dr Thomas pointed out obviously uh our new adopted strategic plan in June uh this past June uh has identified our priorities and very clearly our priorities uh with relation to this presentation tonight are around the area of academic excellence and one of the things that we know and I've uh been up here a number of times variety of topics talking about the strength and uh the uh ability of our staff and one of the first things we need to do is invest our time and energy in making sure that our staff uh are uh trained to the best extent possible and we again identified a group that took a advanced look at this and looked at the options associated with the react and the components of the react and uh have uh worked on bringing that forward so without further Ado I'm going to bring up uh three members of our teaching and learning team uh two members of our broader teaching and learning team and one of our principles uh these were three of seven folks who were a part of our initial uh training that we went through last year and they're going to go into greater detail and they are be will be part of the team that will be bringing that out to all of our staff uh beginning at our October uh staff development day for those staff who need to begin that training process so without further Ado I have uh our principal at five Hawks Elementary Katie Sherman with us one of our peer coaches Michelle Guzman who is a peer coach uh currently at uh Jeff Pond and Lola D Lago and Gwen molden our district curriculum specialist I'm Michelle Guzman the peer coach um so the purpose of today is to share the professional development uh portion of the react um so as you know the react is a piece of legislation that Minnesota passed and signed into law in May of 2023 was just updated in May of 2020 four um and the goal of the react is to have all students reading at or above grade level um starting in kindergarten so the professional development that we're going to talk about today um is really in response to to the react um so the react is really an approach to take everything we know about what's called the science of reading um and apply that to our students in the state of Minnesota um so when we say the SS of reading or refering to is a vast body of research and evidence that guides Us in knowing how to teach reading and writing so the professional development we're going to talk about today really is grounded in What's called the science of reading good evening um we are getting excited we've been hearing about the redak since May of 2023 and now we actually get to start the work this year mde identified a number of people um key players in the instruction of literacy we have actually identified a few more than what mde is recommending our phase one training in Prior Lake will include all of our early childhood classroom teachers our K5 classroom teachers our prek through 12th grade classroom teachers all of our K8 reading interventionists our yell teachers at the elementary sites all of our pre k through fifth grade curriculum directors all of the elementary principles all of the elementary Deans and all of our peer coaches so when they came out with the legislation they approved three potential professional development programs I do think it's important to note that these are trainings and not curriculum that we will be delivering to students um through the carry Institute of the University of Minnesota they had advancing language and literacy the Consortium on reaching excellence in education or core presented online language and literacy academ or Academy and then you've maybe heard of letters which stands for language Essentials for teachers of reading and spelling so those are the three recommended um professional development programs when we broke those down the carry program required 67 hours in total 17 of synchronous 45 to 50 of online learning individually by teachers Ola was 57 with three hours of synchronous learning and 45 to 54 hours of asynchronous or on their own learning the letters is significantly more um more of an investment in time the training hours were 48 Hours of synchronous learning um 50 to 6 61 hours of online module learning and then 18 to 28 hours of training manuals so when we looked at that in narrowing down what we chose we are ending up um with Ola training through a long process of a lot of work our training hours will be three hours of synchronous training and our teachers will be asked to do 45 to 50 hours of asynchronous or Independent Learning of their uh with the online modules and the reading so some reasons that we landed on Ola is we worked very closely with plsa and we're committed to putting our trainings within our already approved school year calendar and this implementation was the most flexible that of the three the training hours fits into the district schedule seven of us in the district completed this training last year and feel it was a high quality training that will um meet the goals that we have as a district there are two really good resource books that all of our registered staff will get and um there is a strong emphasis on multilingual Learners which is important in today's world and established program for two decades this is not a program that was designed simply in response to the redact legislation that's um before I go over the plan I also want to just mention that of the seven of us that did that Ola training last spring there were four of us who had also done the letters training so we felt like we had a good comparable between the two and felt like um Ola was a better fit for our staff um so when we got to the creation of the plan um we worked in collaboration with plsa and we really came up with three primary kind of guidelines for us the first one being that we wanted to honor that approved calendar for this school year and so one of the guidelines is making sure we could fit it within the already approved calendar um a second goal was to make sure that we were also prioritizing that teachers were not putting in any time outside of their contract a day and the last thing was that we also want to be realistic um you saw all those hours that were listed for each of the programs when we did it as a group of seven it says 57 hours we found it to be more 70 to 80 hours in reality so when we created our plan we also wanted to be realistic about that as well knowing that teachers were going to need at least that amount of time so um with that in mind we also know that we have work to do with bridges that we are in year two of bridges math and as we we've talked about before that's a three-year cycle where teachers have one year under their belt and need more time um to focus on Bridges as well so we wanted to make sure when we created our plan that we were able to focus on this ol a training while also giving some time to Bridges so I'm going to just click into this was probably really small for you on the left was um the gened like the K5 plan on the right was the 612 special education plan which differs just slightly so if you look at this plan for this school year you can see we're starting our year kind of as normal and our first early release will be some Focus time on data and bridges so that we can start the year kind of get teachers started with that our actual kickoff for the Ola training will start with our district PD day on October 16th where they'll have the opportunity to get familiar with the format dig into some modules and begin their learning and then as you can see in those dark gray the early releases in November December and January will be continued work on that um with some January 20th you can see it's broken into two parts so one of the other parts that we wanted to make sure of with our teachers is as you know if when you're learning something new if you just simply are reading the material and getting through the course in a hurry you don't always take everything in and and we want the opportunity for our teachers to have discussion time and to have opportunities to take what they're learning and apply it into their classrooms so those connections to practice sessions are intended for that an opportunity to kind of slow down talk about what we've learned in those modules and talk about how we can Implement some of those strategies in our classrooms right away so you can see that on January 20th is an intentional time and we also have another one on April 9th a connections to practice um February 5th we have some fast bridge data that we want to take a look at um and then ending the year with some time again to be looking at Bridges so we have that year one plan pretty fleshed out and we'll kind of take feedback and look at how things go this year before we develop the year 2 plan there are a total of eight modules so we will complete modules 1 through four this school year so the other front loading that we've done with our plan is you can see that list of principls Deans peer coaches and the Lai directors completed the modules 1 through four the summer so that's exactly what the teachers will complete this school year and we wanted an opportunity to provide more support for the teachers so if they were able to get the content ahead of time they can um be more helpful for the teachers during the school year so the other group that we have our elementary interventionists are taking the certifi certification training which is what the seven of us had done last spring which means they're doing all eight modules within a short amount of time and they are a certified trainer then for the district so that helps us in a way because our interventionist at each building then can be a leader at each building to help guide through the process so each building essentially will have an interventionist their Dean their peer coach and their principal as support people during this process I think that takes us to the end um as you can see uh this certainly is Monumental legislation once again that came out from the uh May 2023 legislative session and Then followed up with adjustments one of those adjustments that came out of May uh 2024 uh redak 2.0 as it was referred to in the legislature was to extend the deadline uh the timeline rather um and as a result of that developing legislation throughout last spring that's where this notion of a 2-year plan uh evolved and at the same time simultaneously this team that was just here as well as uh four other folks were going through the training and it was very apparent as uh Gwen pointed out that the training was much more than just the required uh documented hours associated with that but the desire to make sure that it's deeply uh that it's timed out in such a way that we will be able to dive deeper into it as we know this is very significant work uh on top of as Gwen also pointed out the uh Bridges implementation that we enter enter into year two of that that impacts most of the teachers ident or the uh staff identified in that list specifically our K5 uh classroom teachers so uh we feel very strongly that we've developed a a comprehensive plan uh a plan that I know we have a lot of uh uh experience thus far with the teams of folks that have been through the training and are prepared uh to support that work and I certainly know also that we have teachers uh that are excited and uh a little anxious about what's to come uh but I think those that have gone through the training have found uh some great ties to the work we've done as well as deepening and up an opportunity to deepen our practices around literacy instruction and uh feel as if uh as a result of that work uh once we are through the training and to the point of looking at curriculums which by the way will be something that will be coming out uh we'll begin to explore the that later this spring as we've gotten uh further into the training uh we will be looking at uh possible curriculums uh MD is continuing to evaluate curricular resources uh and will that evaluation will continue throughout this uh fall they've identified certain curricular resources that meet criteria at this point but they are still evaluating additional resources so we we want to make sure not to rush into that process and have the training uh and background in the science of reading that was uh laid out here so uh without uh further Ado that is our presentation uh this evening and certainly open any burning questions that you might have does anyone have any questions um I had a few um with a lot of the movement that happens you know every school year between schools and and even levels so are there any um it says here I'm going back to the phase one training um page where it says prek through 12 uh sped teachers um will be participating are there any other High School level teachers that will take that will be involved in this training at all just knowing that sometimes there there is some of that movement back and forth so uh fa there we don't have any plans for that at this point uh all secondary teachers would be part of phase 2 training which also is uh being further flushed out at the MD level they have not identified the uh details associated with Phase 2 training specifically who all the Personnel that will be required to participate in that as well as the um training protocol or programs that will be approved to do that uh these programs that were mentioned here the three that we evaluated um they were approved help me remember Gwen when the actual approval of these three programs was like February yeah officially last year in January February so we're anticipating a similar timeline with phase two training and identifying which of the secondary teachers certainly understand um the uh the question around people that flow between and that is something that we also have talked about how we will we bring on staff at different points during a given year for example and that's another reason to uh support this notion of multiple years of implementation so we have through uh June of 26 to complete this training and uh the pace at which we're going allows for some of that fluidity of of Staff should that become the case as we look into next year for example and people that will have potentially missed out on training this year we would be able to get get them up thank you any other questions I just am wondering is there any funding attached to this professional development so um great question um and I'll jump in on this a little bit so this is this is uh speak very candidly as you all know me to be um this is a challenge in terms of uh some of our legislation that came through that um came out underfunded um as many of the superintendents met um through our advocacy groups um we costed out for the state that we are probably you know a good 100 million in the whole um collectively as a state if we truly want to do this with Fidelity um now I will also say that we are deeply appreciative of our ability to work with our staff in our district to uh develop a training protocol that fits within our calendar and within contract time the resources that came and followed the legislation came categorized and we can only use it for professional development and in a district like ours where we've worked with our staff to accommodate that already we've already covered staff development and now we've got this resource that we're going to have to get creative with and negotiate how we can utilize these res resources in a way that actually um deepens The Learning of our staff um and you ultimately we're going to be crossing over issues of you know are we double paying not double paying all that kind of stuff so that's the frustration that I think many districts are finding with some of this legislation is that as we get it we get told how resources can be spent versus giving us local control so we've had the ability to solve a real issue and that's how we're going to find time some districts can't do that and so they'll leverage those resources accordingly and that works great um but when you do have a district that does then we feel a little hamstrung so we would have loved to have some flexibility in that um but even if with the flexibility we're underfunded as a state by all calculations um I have a question um originally when we worked on the um or approve the half days or um early release days there was that time was supposed to be allocated for data data analysis and for students so obviously this is a priority and so where will that go like where will where I mean there's the teachers have a lot on their plate to begin with but where is that going to be taken great great question and certainly uh to take us back when we adopted uh last year was our first year of having those ear additional early release days and so we we brought in some of that work and establish some of that those systems for that one of the places I would specifically state would be our learning team uh time as a part of our being a qm district our teachers are all engaged in being a part of a learning team and typically those learning teams are grade level or at the secondary level subject specific uh groups of teachers who get together to analyze student data that's one of the things that we are working uh very uh diligently back to the Strategic plan and our focus on academic Excellence to create the uh reports and coming out of the assessment office if uh Dr zush would be here uh she'd speak about some of the work that uh she has been doing with the principles and the builts around data and members of our other uh Lai team we're actually we were just engaged in a conversation this morning around making sure that that first October 2nd I think Gwen alluded to that's a Bridges Focus professional develop uh early release time at this Elementary level specifically and how we look at the uh indicators of assessment and where students are at uh coming into the year we also are going to have those conversations related to fastbridge and where we find those opportunities either in staff meetings Andor learning team meetings throughout the school year okay thank you um and then the other question I have and this is for the um um the presenters who have been through the training um with this investment um what what are you seeing done differently you know I mean what can as parents as students in the district after we go through this training what's going to be done differently in the classroom because I know we've already adopted um a phonics based curriculum so what are we going to be see done differently I'll start then you can also I see it's more intentionality um a lot of our curriculum our foundations aligns very well with the science of reading I think it's just intentionality on like one thing thing is femic awareness um just some little blending routines that they talk about in the curriculum as a reminder for teachers that it might not seem as explicit in the manual but when you hear about it in the training you realize oh we have to make sure we're really explicit with that instruction another one that we talked about as a group is we've had word walls in our rooms for years and you might see in your children's classrooms like under a there might be a site word now the trend is really a sound wall so under that a it would be a picture of a student's mouth making the ah sound to help them with again that phonemic awareness of what the sounds of letters make um so trends like that I it's more of probably just tightening things up is what I P kind of perceive the changes that we'll see did you have something else Michelle um just something similar I took the training while I was teaching phonics in the classroom and I think as I learned that I understood why the authors wrote it the way they did so without the the knowledge of of Ola what they give you without the research knowledge you're kind of going through the motions but then that knowledge of the research really helps you to know why you're doing what you're doing you that's helpful any other questions I'll just close if I may on chair a question I'm sorry go ahead it's okay um so as you're going through this training and I know it's very much and its infancy for Distributing it but is there an idea of what the definition of success is for this ah Hadad a time I'll take a crack at that first of all success will be the confidence of our staff to do exactly what uh Michelle was just speaking of with regard to the foundation and understanding of why we do what we do that's always uh essential to do it well um so I think as our confidence of our teachers um and as we move into that looking at and analyzing curricular resources to understand what whether or not those resources achieve help us achieve that goal as we evaluate the resources and then ultimately obviously um once we have F been fully trained our staff that have been identified here are fully through that we've uh identified the curricular resource that's going to best meet that um it's going to have a direct impact on the student experience but prior to that I certainly believe that we're going to have uh impact as the year goes on even this year uh we won't be fully trained and just to be clear on that our our staff will not be fully trained until that two-year uh process but I certainly would be expecting that there will be some aha moments just like any new learning uh and we'll be uh immediately brought to the classroom and those are some of those conversation points that were alluded to and I can't remember which of our presenters were speaking to that but wanting to make sure that we provide those opportunities throughout the training for just the the robust conversation that happens when a group of third grade teachers having been to a certain point in the training say ah now I understand why and now I understand how to deepen uh our usage of the tools that we currently have available to us and I had one other question um and I I'm sure this is probably still also um in its infancy since everybody's just getting um trained and used to it but how is this is there a plan to adapt this to L Theo uh for their reading and also the bilingual impact um as a a teacher from Lao and the coach there um I really prefer laola over not laola preferred the Ola training um over letters because of his emphasis on um language um it really talks about reading and writing as a language um and not just about English so I think um our teachers will find our teachers at Lola will find a lot of use in it and I'm excited to help kind of guide them in seeing those connections great thank you Dr Thomas yeah thank you and sorry about that chair um I I will just uh first of all thank you to the team and the countless hours you all are putting in to really pull off a really he heavy lift and you know one of the things I want to just speak to is that this is not something unique to our district it's very clear um if if if anything has come out of covid it has been the long overdue disruption of public education in this country and looking at the structural aspects that need to be addressed to fundamentally change and be more responsive to the Learners that are coming to our classrooms every single day no longer uh are we kind of under that veil of uh for a lack of better term excusing why a certain outcome might exist we're really trying to get to the root and the research base behind the why as you heard many of our colleagues share tonight and just in this month's you know you know before I say that and what I was going is that if you take a look at our district and you take a look at many other districts in the state it's not a singular District issue it's not just a school issue it's not a certain grade level it's not just a student as Kim Gibbon says it is a systemic issue this state this country because you can see it across the board is struggling when you look at any standardized state level measures around math and literacy and we know that literacy is the Bedrock skill set for any other learning that occurs and I we were I was going through schools our first week last week and we were talking about math in one of our our Elementary classes and the teacher was was sharing with the with the uh students about how much she has to read to do math and how much she reads just to get in her car and drive to work I'm reading traffic signals I'm reading stop sign or you know signage Etc reading is something we will do for the rest of our lives until we die and I think as we root our ourselves in that reality and really dig into the signs of that we will better understand how we can be more responsive to our students um I will close with the fact that and and you all got this the Schoolboard members you got this this is actually in today's issue of msba um Journal but Kim Gibbons did a really big a really nice write up on this but she closes by what it's going to take it's commitment collaboration and continuous Improvement those three C's and this whole notion that you've heard from our team on this on this continuous Improvement is data is developmental it is not judgmental you know we can see the test scores no matter where you look we can see those aren't the scores that we would like to see in any student outcome we also know that those test scores need a discussion in and of it in and of themselves you all heard me say this at our back to school kickoff um are we even assessing properly and are we truly measuring reading and I will tell you as we peel this onion back our tests aren't aligned to the standards that are around the core reading skills they're understanding the context of reading and we're measuring that well we're not necessarily measuring the actual skill sets of reading there's a disconnect that's a part two of conversation that I think we'll be coming up in this next legislative cycle as well so I'm just really appreciated appreciative of this team and the work that you all are doing and our staff who are engaging in this learning it is a heavy lift it is a necessary lift and I know that our staff are really wanting to show up in their best every single day to give our students that Fighting Chance to exceed and chase their dreams so thank you team for for your presentation tonight and uh thank you for allowing us to Showcase this academic priority of academic Excellence you thank you thank you very much uh next on the agenda is personal items we have four items requesting board approval all under uh director Herman so I'm going to hand this over to you for starting with item 10A thank you chair friend members of the board um the first item we're bringing forward to you is a request for additional Staffing for a 10th Grade B Scot coach um in the last three years they have seen an increase in participation numbers um going from 56 to 60 to 72 and and the booster club has um submitted their commitment to funding this position okay I need a motion in a second so by director bullan second second by director vquez any discussion hearing none all in favor I opposed okay that passes 60 um the next one is additional Staffing per hours increase director Herman chair France members of the board um we're bringing forward additional staff ring request for a student need on IEP that is taking a um Elementary student that's taking a middle school class so they're extending the hours of the day a cue language transliterator is needed so it's an additional 0.5 hours per day um that will be funded through the general fund okay uh any need a motion so director Crosby second second by director Velasquez any discussion can I just ask for definition of transliterator okay thank you I was gonna say the same thing director Chuka here uh cued language transliterator um I don't even know that I can properly explain it they are able to communicate um with the student utilizing um different cues and items so it's not sign language it's not interpretation it's really utilizing different cues and um items and symbols in order to communicate so a very specialized technology very specialized skill set very very few people throughout the state are certified and able to able to do it um but I don't even know that I can properly explain it I think that's a really good way of doing it it's kind of like shorthand um of ASL and I was at our campus today watching our uh trans literator and it's a very unique um communication uh to watch um but it was very evident both from a large group literacy as well as a large group PE class why I followed the student to understand the needs and seeing this that ability to have that connection um to learning through this role was absolutely critical and watching that student participate fully so um I think you captured it very well it's a really um amazing relationship between the two yeah wonderful wow well thank you for that um I uh all in favor I I opposed okay that passes 60 and next uh director Herman the Prior Lake Savage um U psfa for administrative assistance uh tenative agreement thank you chair friends members of the board on behalf of the um uh support staff negotiations committee we're bringing forward the tenative agreement that we reached with the admin of assistance um Union we want to thank them for all their hard work and collaboration throughout um this process um so as you see listed out in the um memo the agreed upon tentative agreement included moving the juneth mou into the contract enhancing the sick leave sharing language to match the teachers bargain unit um enhancements to longevity language um enhancements to the health insurance allowance for two- party and family coverage salary schedule enhancements including year 1 1% plus steps in year two 1% % plus steps adjustments to the um reduction in force language um addition of posting of vacancy language extending our flexible Summers hours mou for the two years of the contract and then um some several formatting and language changes including titles and baring unit changes um that have that occurred last time but we settled the the contract before um the Bureau of mediation services finalized that so we're updating the baring unit language or name um moving forward the total compounded increase was within the board parameters at 7.53 3 for a total of 278,000 compounded increase over the two years a motion in a second by director Crosby second second by director Velasquez any questions okay hearing none uh all in favor I I I opposed okay that passes the 60 and the last one is the 2024 26 health aids contract and again director Herman thank you chair Crosby um me or sorry chair FRS members of the board um for the health aids again I wanted to thank the representatives that were that met with us to talk about and some collaborative ideas um so we're bringing forward the recommended changes to that employee group contract with enhancements to the health insurance um allowance 4% each year uh reduction or to reduce the amount of days to be fully eligible from 185 to 178 to receive full benefits and the reason for that is we do not have any health aids in our system that work 185 a full-time health aid in our system is 178 um so updating that language to reflect that change and and the positions that has been been in place for quite a while now um and the salary schedule enhancements including a 1.75% plus steps year 1 and a 2% plus steps year two and then um one priority that we really dove into some collab discussions around was personal leave limitations to ensure we have proper coverage in our health offices so mimicking the teachers contract with limitations to only three staff using personal leave on the same student contact day limiting no use on the first student contact day or the last five student contact days also allowing up to two days to carry over to the next year um and then having language in place in case there's any exceptions that need to be made for those exclusions that would be approved by Administration um and then again the several formatting and language updates throughout the contract the package um was within the board parameters at 7.59 for a total of 55,8 196 um over the two years okay I need a motion in a second so made by director Velasquez second second by director Olstead any questions for director Herman okay hearing none all in favor I I I opposed okay that passes 60 we have no unfinished business next we move on to the new business so the first item is a board report on the levy uh certification and audit updates and so director Frederickson thank you chair friends members of the board uh the Department of Education came out with their Levy certification report Friday afternoon a little after 5 uh they had their webinar this morning um to go through any changes or issues that they had with um the actual report there are they've discovered a few a couple um calculation errors that are not currently working correctly so they will be correcting those um there's also some data that didn't get into the report yet so they are working on that um but they will be updating the report um daily for like the next week and we are going through line by line the 39 pages to make sure that all of the data in our report is accurate and I will be bringing that to the um study session on the 23rd for your full review uh the audit update um I've talked to our auditor they've gotten all the information from us that they need they are in the process of of crafting the management letter um they will be prepared at the October board meeting to do their presentation um once they have the management letter I can give you an update of any findings or um comments that they may have but they are still working on that at this point that's all I have to update there any questions okay uh next on the agenda is the adoption of a resolution for the um Christopher Columbus Day indigenous people's day 7B oh the consent agenda sorry I have it up here so 7B uh and that was the items taken off of the consent agenda director Atkinson yeah thank you um I just have a question about the um illuminate which I is edu climber correct um for the purchase order it's $62,000 and I the question is is it says um the thir year the contract is it a three-year contract or where are we at in the contract for that same you know uh I do believe it's year three that is correct yes um I apologize that I don't have that officially uh but I do believe it is year three okay so like my memory so like we really couldn't get out of this expense if for some reason we this wasn't meeting our needs there's no way to get out of the expense yep we did we did look into that um yeah we contacted the vendor and because it's a three-year contract they um we're holding us to the commitment for the three years okay and um I'm sure we're evaluating that to see if that's something we want to move forward with I've I've heard some feedback I don't I don't think it's necessary to share it but um you know is the product working the way we originally anticipated three years ago and yeah we are definitely in that evaluation stage that's why we looked into whether or not we were uh because we were considering other options uh to meet that need but at this time we were committed to that recommend okay thank you and then um I had an a question on the insurance um on the EMC Insurance um you know was that um was there an RF RFP for that insurance so we did an RFP for a broker and we've discussed that with the board so um the broker is has the responsibility of finding the okay most um cheapest policy I don't want to say cheapest the the most efficient policy that we have that meets our needs um I meet with our broker about three or four times a year she did have I believe there were three options this year and she recommended the EMC which would be um it actually came in the um at the lowest cost with um all of the elements that we needed in there so we agreed to go with the EMC Insurance okay thank you I appreciate your um your email I just wasn't fully understanding it so thank you and that's that's all I have for questions on that thank you okay so then I need to take a motion in a second for the consent agenda item 7B made by director olad second by Crosby all in favor I opposed okay so that passes 60 um next on the agenda is the adoption of resolution and that is to take the action on uh resolution authorizing the school district to conduct business on Christopher Columbus Day indigenous people's day on the 2 Monday of October so I need a motion and a second so made by director bullan second second by director Vasquez and Dr Thomas did you want to make a comment or um sorry this is our resolution that we do every year um we are open in the state of Minnesota and conducting business on that day we have to have approval to be able to do so and so the Board needs to give authority to doing that and so um that that is our resolution I will also add the caveat um last year uh they changed the statute around that and so with us being open and doing business that day we are also required um to have uh instructional time dedicated to indigenous um peoples here of Minnesota and so that will also be part of our uh curricular plan on that day as well um to ensure that we are in alignment with that statute the new new statute any other comments or discussion okay this is a roll call vote director olad hi director Crosby hi director bullan hi director Velasquez hi director Atkinson I and I so that passes 60 and then next we have the resignation of school board director Enrique Vasquez has submitted his resignation from the school board effective September 13th the board is requested to accept the res resignation and also approve a process um so uh in consultation with a lot of people um and reviewing the latest legislation our policy 2011 permits the board to appoint a member due to reasons such as resignation however we have no set procedure or policy other than the process to appoint a replacement by the majority of the board the rest is statutory and there was a change in the statute in 20 at the end of 2024 for the 2024 session so uh after ensive conversations uh not only with members of the executive committee but also with the msba and have asking the administration confer with legal on the process um it has been uh uh informed of us via statute that the new legislation indicated that if a board member resigned within two years or less than the term the board could appoint for the remainder of the term however we are in September so um when his resignation goes in he'll have a little more than two and two uh and a qu years remaining on his term so per statute we have to have a special election uh within one year actually before the first Tuesday uh of November 2025 for the seat and so no matter what we do on the appointment we will have to have an election um the election can occur any time in 20125 or any time uh in general as long as it doesn't uh exceed the first Tuesday in November 2025 um because it is a process it is an expensive process I suggest number one that we leave it up to the new board in January to decide on the election uh when we do have the election in uh in uh honor before November 2025 um the seat will still be up for regular election again one year later in uh because that seat will only be good till December 2026 so the seat will again be up for election in November 2026 no matter what just want to make it clear to everyone we're going to have two elections in two years okay so um and one seat in particular and one seat for one well in in November of 2026 there will be um I think four up is it three four up four yeah so that seat will then again be up so is there are there any questions on that I just have a question at what what would have been the date that we would have um how do I say for an order it for go on to this election I know we're past that date but do you know what that date is in order for it to go on this Fall's election well the final filing was August 13th okay so anytime after that okay then uh we don't get to put another name on no I understood because of Secretary State and stuff like that I just wanted to be clear on that so thank you okay so any questions before we go into a proposed process on two elections okay um so we are proposing because this is going to be a short term and again another election's going to come pretty close uh we're proposing to open the Affidavit of candidacy forms for one week beginning first thing tomorrow morning September 10th at 8:00 a.m. and closing it one week later on November 16th at 4 p.m. September September um at 4 p.m. okay so when the district office here closes okay these are the same affidavit cacy forms that all other candidates that are applying for Schoolboard have to fill out okay except there's no $2 filing fee on this one so they save two bucks um and the affidavits still need to be notorized so even though the forms will be online on the website you still need the candidates still need to come in and have them notorized by a district person that is a notary okay uh along with the affidavits for candidacy we're suggesting using the msba uh standard four questions for each applicant to answer and we will post those on also on the website and we're going to be asking people interested to provide the responses to each of those questions and be prepared to submit their responses either with their affidavit or or at at the least before the deadline of Monday September 16th at 4 p.m. okay um we propose opening up the September 23rd study session with a board meeting and at the board meeting each board member will be provided the responses from each applicant and a ballot we'll allow sufficient time for each board member to review the responses from each applicant providing we have more than one and privately cast a vote quote we're recommending there be no public discussion on the individual applicants or their credentials uh their responses also or any type of their qualifications in the public we're me we're recommending this because the community of course is going to have a chance in a year or less to actually vote on the seat um after after the candidate is appointed um no matter what there is a 30-day allowance per statute for a petition to be filed to challenge the appointment process process providing no petition or successful petition is filed uh the seat may be sworn in on the October 28th meeting so I'm going to open it up to discussion on the board on that process um so chair France you had mentioned where um about the process where was that discussed at and where like how did you come up with that cuz you're saying we haven't had a process in the past so can you help me understand that um I know I sent in a couple ideas of what other districts have done and so I just wanted to get feedback on where that the process came from well um so I conferred with msba multiple times because the change in legislature so and then I I also asked the administration a few questions for legal I believe one of them is still outstanding um on how we should do this um and the answer came back that one we have to have a quorum and obviously with potentially two seats missing or maybe three at every single board meeting the other thing is is we need to also make sure that we actually have seven people on the board within so many days and the 30-day waiting period combined with the whole process and then waiting to have the candidates file actually put us dangerously close if we waited much longer to having not a quorum or whatever at the at certain meetings in November that are required and especially at to December Levy certification so and again um because we are only this is a very short-term appointment prior to the change in legislation we could actually appoint for the entire two years at the for the rest of the term um that's I believe that's the way it was because we did a change in legislation well there was a lot of debate so we went to Legal um and asked um but nonetheless it's a it's a short term so we would would like to expedite the process to make sure that we have a quum so that was a lot of great information but it didn't really answer my question what I'm trying to understand is um for the actual procedure so one of the suggestions in the I'll just in the oio um they have a procedure online that says how do you fill a board appointment and one of the things I really liked about it is that 3 days after the applications are received then all the board directors will receive the appli ations so that we have time to review them prior to the study session that you stated the study session date so I'm just asking like how did you come up with the procedure and I would like I personally think it would be helpful for board directors to receive the applicant information 3 days after we received the applications so that we can study them and we're not spending time at that study or the board meeting going through the applications um I also know in the past we've done interviews um of and this is like a long long time ago I guess um we did an actual brought the candidates in and did interviews um and so that's what I'm trying to understand is how did we how did we come up with this this procedure that you're speaking of first of all it's a proposed because we don't have one so is it your proposal is that what you're saying um I have conferred um with director bullan and with Administration on this so it is it is something that we put a lot of thought and effort into but it is open to discussion yeah it's a board decision right it is a board decision I am we're putting something on the table for discussion so I personally would like to see um after 3 days after reive the applications I think if for transparency um and in order for to ensure that all the board directors have the same information at the same time um per our policy I think it' be helpful for the board directors to receive those applications and then be able to review them and rank them before we get to that meeting um the next study session that you mentioned um let's see trying to read some of the other ones so that would be one of my suggestions um I also think we could possibly look at statuto do we have to be a seven more member board or could we be a six we have to be a seven okay okay because I know other boards have six member boards so and they now have to go to their communities to petition to keep it that way or okay I wasn't aware oh okay so you're basically saying there's a time period that we have to have it f okay understood so I just think and then you said everything's going to be on the website so they'll be like are we going to put it like a um I saw Farmington had a really great process where they had everything on the website here's how you apply here's the application um you send in you know here's all the dates of all the meetings of how it's going to happen just adding a lot of transparency to our community um on the whole process so is that something that we're going do from the sorry from the management side wherever the board lands on your process we will be po posting that through our Public Notices so that the community will be aware of that right so we have proposed that as just like in a normal candidacy and this is just a proposal this is for board discussion M and and that we follow the same process that the that the questions be put online but also the candidates as they file for their affidavits for candidacy be put online that's we're not suting changing that yeah yeah I mean I think the only thing I'd like to see is I think the board should have the same information at the same time and so 3 days after we received applications I think then the board should receive them and then we have enough time to review them and rank them prior to the meeting so to be clear the board gets the same information at the same time at the board table uh the only thing that that um that is different is that we do not um publish the responses and we don't um publish to the board except at the same time at the board table the responses from the candidates why wouldn't they receive them ahead of time so we can do our due diligence I mean other other districts something up for discussion from the board members like you know any other are there more thoughts about the process input when um discussing discussing this with chair France um listening to who uh she had a lot of time and effort put in with msba and understanding you know how to move forward the statutes meeting all of the requirements um in listening so things were prepared I we discussed she we went over them together um I think for me um I am in support of us doing this as quickly as as possible getting someone appointed as as quickly as possible um there was discussion on um in the past there had been um interviews um and you know I had thoughts that I actually like that that um um process in discussing and thinking about it listening to more opinions regarding the interview process or not um I think that uh whatever we do as a board the the applicants their their appointment is is rather short um they will be appointed in October and then up for a special election either in May or November um so in order to keep the process as brief as possible I think and also to um um uh I don't know if the word is to protect the um the process and the applicants that we receive the the answers to the questions at the same time and then we take that you know take a 10 or 15 minute break to go over the questions and and make our decision together as a board um I think that we each could probably have our own opinion on I I saw that your suggestions that you had sent in I couldn't open the AIO one the the link didn't open um I think that um you know there's there is options and we just need to come together here tonight to figure out how we're going to handle the procedure and so that we can fill the fill the seat as as soon as we can yeah I appreciate that I mean we I think we all have to keep in mind that this seat we are elected by our community to fill the seat so I think it's worthy more than a 10-minute discussion to review applications and to review it at the board table which is why I'm saying or suggesting that when the applications are finished then I think in aio's I printed it off here if you want to read it um in aio's administration pulls all the data together for us and then it's distributed to the board what's all the data um all the responses to the questions so the applications the for question questionnaire yeah the so whoever okay just to be clear yeah so whoever applies they're going to fill out the questionnaire but the the name okay so I just want to make sure I'm tracking the names are public yeah but the questionnaire you would want the board to get three days prior three days after or three days after after the closing date the closing prior to the meeting to review correct so that we can take our time and go through them and think about about it and you know what I mean and so that's I just feel like 10 minutes at a board meeting to make a really really important decision so it's not 10 minutes the board can decide how much time they need I'm just responding to said so well if it's you know one or two people proced but yeah I just think it's worthy of more time so I mean I personally I I'm not going to sit and look at a piece of paper and go like okay okay okay fine that's what my community wants no I think it's it's worth more time and there's a reason why there's procedures in place so I also like the idea of the interview process um I think again it allows for um our maybe our community community's voice to be heard um can you help me understand the timeline where you're saying we're within a certain time period I didn't see that in the statute of filling the position so we have to have seven members within I think it's it has to be sitting no more than 90 days right and then we have to have a quorum for the votes so we considered those um those aspects and going into the holiday season going into the tax levy and going into the fact that 90 days I believe it's um we can't go without full board for 90 days I think was the number I know we've got a couple of questions still outstanding uh that have been asked to councel on a couple of things um so what happens if somebody appeals if the community appeals the decision well that's why we needed to allow enough time also within that time period to go back in case that happens so that all kind of added together and we're like okay if that does happen then we've got to expedite another process and we need the time to be able to do that building a buffer exactly so we did play with timelines a little bit of when how where and all this kind of stuff knowing that we have some critical votes coming up not to mention canvasing the the next election and the tax levy and other things so um and we have had a board where we're going into flu season and we've had a couple of meetings where we've been a little afraid we didn't have a quorum so if we have one less seat then that's that's an issue well I think that um my only concern was with the process I think that having the board members to have ample time to be able to review the applications and put some thought behind it um would be my only um suggestion so do can can I get some feedback from other board members I'm pretty comfortable with the suggested process that you both have put together and that I'm sure involved a lot of asking and figuring out and legal in MSB and understanding statutes and all the things um and I'm comfortable with our board appointing to fulfill what we've just discussed um also comfortable in not doing public interviews knowing that it is while very important we are looking at someone could be elected in that seat as early as may maybe even potentially sooner I'm not sure what the filing data is on that but I mean May so that's that's just not that long you know and so I'm I think um I think it's a reasonable I know this board is been in that situation before and I think it's a reasonable process for it um I'm kind of indifferent on the on the suggestion to follow what another board has done with putting out um the applications privately to the board at of time um I I don't have a strong opinion on that I I'll I'll go with the will of the board on that um I am also comfortable with reviewing at this the applications at the study session because you know we you know we we we live here too and I think I want to try to avoid as much as possible um subconscious bias in reviewing uh too much ahead of time um we may know everybody who applies we may know one person who applies we may know you know whatever the case may be um and I would like to limit the amount of um time to review not because I don't believe in the transparency of it and I think um I think these questions are good and I think it will give us a good mirror into or Not Mirror a good lens into you know their reasons for wanting to be on the board um and I think timing is an issue and we have a policy um that guides our work um in this area um so I'm I'm comfortable with reviewing um at the study session I guess I'm you know kind of like director Crosby I'm a little indifferent to it but um as long as we have some time at that meeting and we can take our time with that I think that's important D I get to out p on it that's fun uh yeah I think the process itself is is fine with the questions not necessarily needed to go through an interview process as someone who processes things internally I think having the information in advance helps to uh synthesize what the comments are going to be and be better prepared for that study session um that's just one outgoing director's opinion and so if the will of the board is to not be able to see the um applicants information until that study session will it be true that all board directors will not be able to see those applicants until that study session that would be correct so they're going to go to um our election clerk at the administration and we will all get the same envelopes at the same time okay well I would like us to build in an ample amount of time I mean you know more than 10 minutes preferably to be able to R the redo because we're going to be able we're going to have some dialogue too right there's going to be a lot of dialogue on on these candidates it's I mean it's not just a it's my understanding there's no discussion of candidates at the board table so we're not discussing these candidates no we get 10 minutes to review them and we're not discussing them I'm really having a hard time with this process I'm sorry there's no public discussion is that by Statute no no not stat we do not have a written procedure so this is a shortterm appointment yeah no the statute leaves we're an independent school district there's 333 districts they all do it differently okay uh some of them actually throw out names at the board table and pick then if there were if we if we chose to have a public discussion about the board candidates um it would be limited to to only kind of like when when we had a discussion about superintendent candidates limited to positive feedback only correct and not any disparaging comments or negativity which is a difficult discussion to have when you're correct so we would want to make sure that we were not disparaging or um saying anything negative about any one person and quite frankly if you like the person or you like what they said or whatever per director olad um most people are going to know you know who and what and Etc and you're going to be able to read the questions uh equally with everyone else at the table I think it's really important that we maintain a respectful decorum in this um and um not um drag uh anything through any type of elongated uh discussion about somebody's qualifications capabilities or what they wrote or whatever in the public because we do run the risk of Crossing that line and I don't think it looks good for the board when that happens um and it certainly doesn't encourage other people to run for office so um well and I guess my feeling on it is that we our discussion is our vote that's kind of where we kind of summarized it and amongst ourselves yeah amongst yeah to avoid any disparaging comments or um so if you can um share I know you you discussed like when we are at the study session we make our votes you do the rank voting you you can you go into that a little bit like how we could we could um the vote could be a tie or the different scenarios maybe will help um G more understanding for so when we went through this we know that director vesco would no longer be on the board so we essentially could have a three- three tie um it depends on how many people actually apply uh we could choose to do rank Choice voting and then revote on the top two um and uh or if there's less there's just you know a couple of people it depends but we have that option and I think we did that before with the superintendent when we had more than one we kind of did a ring Choice and then brought it to the top two and then and then did it that way so it really depends on how many people apply I mean I'm not going to do a rank Choice voting on to um you know if we have a tie then I've got to announce that or director bullan or whomever is going to announce that and then we'll we'll figure it out from there uh but we do have that option and we did kind of play with that option a little bit in the scenarios of you know if we have uh six or seven people applying um maybe we send out the ballot for rank choice we figure out who floats to the top and then vote again with the top two or top three it kind of it's going to depend we don't we have no idea right now who's going to apply so that's kind of why I like to have a procedure button down at the table here so that we're very clear and honestly the oio one basically give the applicants to the board they rank them their top three candidates they give those top three candidates the superintendent the superintendent then gathers those to determine who are the top three candidates um they have a procedure in place I know we don't I understand that but that's what I thought the goal of this meeting was to come up with a procedure so there's no surprises so there's no like what if well this happened well we're going to do this you know what I mean so yeah I think that's our discussion right now so um I I feel like I shouldn't waigh in like I can wait I've spoken quite a bit but I am comfortable with the process that's proposed and I would personally support no discussion just have a vote anybody else want to weigh in yeah I think discussions absolutely critical I mean this is our community's voice this is not this is not our vote this is our community's vote and if we do not as a board align on a candidate that our community as a whole supports then we're looking at an appeal process which is 5% of the 22,000 votes which is not a lot of signatures it's only, 1600 signatures so it is in the best interest of our board to align on a candidate that we feel that our community supports which is going to take some discussion I believe I I Just Disagree that's okay that's why we're here respectfully respectfully I don't think a discussion will change the outcome because I think I think we all can vote with what we feel as best and we may all vote for the same candidate that could happen there could be one candidate might he's just one candidate you're right so I mean one with the appointment ointment the appointment really is it's the board's responsibility to appoint correct so um you know one as I you know kind of muddling through this in my own time thinking through this process um the board is to appoint this seat uh I hear what you're saying the importance of the community voice um and that's where the special election comes in not till the following year though right but when a when a a vacancy comes up it is up to the board to appoint the St yes I'm clear on that so I'm uh I I stand as well like I'm I'm indifferent with the receiving the questions beforehand or not or receiving them at the study session um as long as I have time to to read through however many applicants come and I will that's how I will I'll make my choice so I think that's all I have I have on that um also let I just want to make it clear that um sitting on this board the following year this board has the right to like you said either put it in a special election in May or it could go to a special election in November so this appointed seat could be almost a year on this board so I understand you said it could be as short as a few months but that's up to the new board ultimately so I just want and we only through out May because May is a normal time for special elections but the new board will have the opportunity to determine when as long as the correct filing and the time and all that kind of stuff but that's up to the new board so I want that's why we're not okay making any here in the in the we not exactly right but I just want to make sure everybody's clear on that that is also a possibility that's up to the new board so yeah it is for sure okay so I'm going to need any more discussion are there can I just get a feel are we good with the process that I just stated or does anyone want any changes other than director Atkinson anyone else I think the the goal for us as a board will be to figure out um the three days before or not like for this procedure you you're you feel strongly that we should receive the questions beforehand correct uh yeah but chair France just said that I'm the only one that's opposed to that or that I'm only one in support of that so no cuz we we all were indifferent like not necessarily we could see both ways so I think that's where we're right and the only reason why we um why we did discuss and have some pretty candid discussions about not allowing or not asking for the 3 days um is because of the potential for um research disparagement online comments stuff like that we wanted to make sure that we kept it respectful and treated all candidates the same at the same time and the same way and that everyone here got the same information at the exact same time um so director for I I just have to I just have to say don't we as a board we hold each other to the highest levels of integrity and we also assume the best of everyone so that that that in that comment in of itself I mean there seems to be a a level of trust that's that's not happening here at that board this board table that is is concerning you know and so I would I don't understand why if if the board you know if the board received the information 3 days after the applications we're all adults we take the time we read the information we come to the board prepared to make our decision I think then director Crosby I do think there's going to be less discussion because we've already done our homework we come prepared with the decision um but I just I don't like feeling or knowing that somebody thinks we're going to do something and it's just it's just not right I'm sorry that wasn't it I think if everyone receives the the information at the exact same time and they can take the information at face value that was what we were trying to do um but if if the board wants the information in advance with the answers and the questions Etc then this is the will of the board I am one person we made we put something down at the table instead of coming to the table with a blank sheet of paper so I'm I'm I'm looking for Fe one board member who feels really strongly and a few who are fairly indifferent to it so so I think we we can add that piece to the plan if if we're comfortable with that and make a motion are we comfortable with that I changed my mind I I I I would rather see it day of okay we still can talk direct vquez you can you're looking at me I just want to although I won't be here I think having it in advance um makes sense for the very reasons that director Atkinson mentioned just to be able to prepare in advance come equipped to the study session uh and prepared to make that decision of which candidate is the one that rises to the surface so um anybody else and I think let me let me clarify I I I do believe in preparation um I just I want to check myself because I know that I'm just going to be very Frank if I have whatever it is six names in front of me I have 3 days to do research on these folks and I'm not sure that's fair to them well the names are public when they're filed it'd be a matter of getting the questionnaires yeah yeah still I I I just don't think it's fair I mean we have six people running for office right now that we don't have the chance we as a board don't have a chance to interview or talk to I mean formally I guess as a board I'm saying um so I actually I feel this way out of respect for the applicants not because I don't want to come ill prepared right I think too given the fact that the names will you know we do receive the names when they file just as in a regular election I think um just that added I that added context for me I'm fine with receiving the um questions the night of so that that's my okay all right so and I'm fine with that too so that would put the majority at that point that's fine as long as we all get them at the same time yes that's important yes and I'm sorry I didn't realize my mic wasn't on for that whole thing sorry so a mo I've tried I've tried to capture what we said so I would make a motion to accept the resignation of board director Enrique Vasquez we're going to have to keep this open after we need to have a few words um sorry sorry everybody and um so motion to accept the resignation of board director Enrique Vasquez and [Music] approve the appointment process for replacing this board director's seat until a spe special election is held per state statute to and would include a candidacy filing period from September 10th it's tomorrow 8:00 am to September 16th at 400 p.m. with an appointment occurring on September 23rd which is a study session which we would open a board meeting for um by the board by the board via private ballot with no discussion and with a swearing in on October 28th after a 30-day allowance per statute for um the option of filing petition by the public did we say no discussion though at that meeting that's the part I'm not I'm a little confused by okay I mean I appreciate reading that whole motion but I don't think we landed on that okay so we can continue to to have that discussion I would my vote I made it clear is no discussion I think you're feeling like you would want discussion yes 100% okay can I just clarify question you want discussion between the board members on what we read on the board cand on the candidates so we we we come to the meeting we get their questionnaire um we take the time we read them and then maybe we I don't know if we rank our candidates or we discuss the candidates at the table why do I feel that candidate a and maybe we don't use the names at that time maybe we just rank them as ABCD and say I believe you know candidate a has a strong background for XYZ reasons um and we at least have that discussion to understand different viewpoints different viewpoints of different board members of why they're they recommend one candidate over another I mean we're all going to see different strengths some people might say oh well a previous board member might be more qualified than a business person or ex you know what I mean um but I I don't know I just have a hard time not discussing you know I mean this is the this is a voice we're the voice of the Community this is not just our voice sitting here at our T at the table we represent our community and so I think it deser it's a it's an important deal you know and so I think it deserves some discussion just my opinion I you feel differently that's fine so does anyone want to change it to add a discussion about the candidates okay um no okay me hearing nothing is there any other thing that you want to change with the motion that director Crosby just made okay um does anyone need director Crosby to repeat the motion okay um I'm going to need a second to the motion second second by director olad okay and Martha this is a uh not a roll call okay um just want to make sure because um okay good uh so all in favor I I I I all opposed nay okay that's 51 so we will uh have um the notice uh up on the website and the filing uh time will start tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. and we'll complete on Monday September 16th at 4 p.m. and the we will have a special board meeting on uh September 23rd that opens up before the study session uh to all receive at the same time um are um the information on the candidates that they hand in on those four questions and then we will have a vote and the vote will be dependent upon how many candidates we actually get whether we do a rank choice or just a straight vote and then we can decide from there there okay um moving on oh let's go ahead and go around the room and say thank you to director Enrique really uh director vesque is really quickly and by the way we can also do this in our board reports but because we just spent this whole time talking about him um it may be appropriate just to say a few words so I will start I will miss you I've been uh serving with you now for uh over six years close to six years and have gotten to know you and your family and your incredible son who's a great dancer um and uh it's truly been a joy so you will be missed and having served the second longest with you yes you will be greatly missed um I always appreciated your calm presence especially when I sat in the board chair seat it helped me and I think it um was really healthy for our district to have that I think you're a heart leader um and a really smart guy so it's a good combination and um going to miss you thanks for all your service yeah thank you I will say the same um Enrique I don't know you really well personally I wish I had the opportunity to uh know you more outside the boardroom you do have a very calm um presence your your heart is felt um you are thoughtful and intentional um very mindful uh you're kind and um I've really appreciated serving on the board with you you I appreciate that and there still time to get to know each other I there is well I'll have to deliver you some um pop po Pere scents for Christmas this year at your house well Enrique thank you so much for your service um you are probably one of the best humans um I've worked with and uh learned a lot from you you do I Echo the calming presence um you give us a lot to think about which I appreciate you challenge um you're incredibly thoughtful and um you're you're there to lendon year which I appreciate and um I'm Miss serving with you um and uh really wish you well in all of other endeavors that are coming up so thank you very much thank you appreciate that um and I would just like to add it's been a pleasure serving with you it's been a pleasure sitting by you you're most fashionable board member that on the table besides me of course but no he is fashionable anyway your kindness um your kindness your knowledge um your appreciation of respecting diverse opinions representing all your constituents in the district um I think you do just a fantastic job you've done a fantastic job I am very very sad to lose you at the board table but I'm um happy for whatever your next wherever you can focus your energy I know this is a this is a tough tough job to do and um so thank you thank you for everything and I wish you the best thank you so much appreciate it I'll just say uh Echo all the board colleagues here and um director Velasquez uh you are a strong centered leader um who really Embraces an introverted style of leadership with finesse and you know there's a couple of introverts on our team and I get to know their style I'm married to one as well and I've also learned after 25 years when an introverted leader speaks you better listen because they've processed they've really you know weighed various options and I think that shows in your character and your judgment and your decision- making here on this board and you've done a huge service to this community and I can't thank you enough wish we had more time but totally respect um your personal decision and things that you have to do for yourself for your family and you'll be sorely missed on this board but definitely still connected in our community thank you thank you very much so next on our agenda is the proclamation for it professionals appreciation week and I'm going to ask director vesz to read that Proclamation certainly be my honor it professionals appreciation week September 16 through 20th 2024 Prior Lake Savage area schools recognizes September 16 through 20th 2024 as it professionals Appreciation Week it professionals play an integral role in ensuring Technology's functionality Safety and Security in the 21st century classroom this week we celebrate our thanks and gratitude for these essential staff whereas Prior Lake Savage area schools has 14 DSC IT staff whereas it professionals support and manage devices in our district that students and staff depend on daily including 10,138 iPads 87 7 MacBooks 1,164 desktop computers 100 Apple TVs 600 projectors 1,70 telephones and 150 wireless access points whereas it professionals manage and ensure the safety and security of our network servers and infrastructure and follow practices that keep children safe online in education whereas it professionals provide technical support to staff and students across our district including but not limited to classroom audio visual account setup and maintenance mobile device and phone management and Hardware software licensing whereas our district print shop professionals provide well organized and efficient printing operations for the district by operating high-speed high-capacity copiers industrial Cutters and other miscellaneous equipment along with organizing and processing materials at the curriculum repository therefore let it be resolved the Board of Education here hereby extends its appreciation to all Prior Lake Savage area schools it Professionals for supporting the education of our students and staff and proclaimed September 16 through 20th 2024 to be it professionals Appreciation Week in Prior Lake Savage area schools Marcus do you want to say something director milazo sorry I go White dear friend board directors Dr Thomas good evening on behalf of the Prior Lake Savage area schools technology department I would like to express our profound gratitude to the school board for acknowledging it professional appreciation week this recognition inspires the department to Excel and supporting educational programs and all stakeholders their responsiveness their empathy their accountability and commitment to lifelong learning sets my team apart I am honored to lead this team and I thank the school for recognizing their contributions thank you thank you you run a great team they are always so kind and so helpful and they even if the questions I might feel that I have are very Elementary they never make me feel like like that so helpful thank you Marcus um and director malazzo I want to point out that you've run a 14ers team that handles 14 more than 14,000 devices and that doesn't include the core infrastructure and everything else so that's quite impressive there's not too many organizations that could do that efficiently thank you thank you thank you thank you okay next on the agenda is um basically an adoption resolution I'm going to hand it over to uh to Dr Thomas uh to honor the board which seems we than you chair France yes and they've moved this up to September versus February so it's a little change in the timing um you're rising to importance of of timing you know in the state now I will I will say before we go into the the proclamation um I can't thank each of you enough for the work that you do on this board um as was stated just a few minutes ago this work doesn't come easy and um and you know you put in countless hours to the work that you do and uh we are really better because of that um so I will read the school board recognition month September 2024 public schools have heart whereas Prior Lake Savage area schools recognizes the importance of public education in our community and whereas Prior Lake Savage area schools appreciates the vital role played by those individuals who as local school board members establish policies to ensure an efficient effective school system and whereas school board members serve as a voice that enables our community to preserve local management and control of our public schools and whereas the school board members are charged with representing our local education interests to state and federal governments and ensuring compliance with state and federal laws and whereas school board members selflessly devote their knowledge time and talents as advocates for our school children whereas local school board members are strong advocates for public public education and responsible for communicating the needs of the school district to the public and the Public's expectations to the district now therefore be it resolved that Prior Lake Savage area schools recognizes and salutes the members of the plsas school board by proclaiming September 2024 as school board recognition month and I have a um a certificate uh including our student board rep you um that I have for each of you Dr ainson uh I've got director berck I'll leave that with you I'll put it in her put director buan director Crosby thank you thank you very much and The Last Quest um and uh again on behalf of all the administration and staff here in the district we really want to just say thank you for everything that you do on behalf of the uh students and staff and all of us here in the district thank you and we would like for you all to stand forward and get a group photo uh your certificate holding your certificates goodness is cough on you everybody okay right um next on the agenda is policy we have um policy 506 606 and 722 we took 60 6.5 off of the agenda um so I'm going to open this up do we want to go through each policy um do we want to are we good with um comments on one or two or none anybody have a preference I know we discussed each one of these at length in the study session I have just a comment about one so I would like to approve them separately if we could okay that's fine with me we'll start off with policy 506 um uh director Herman do you want to review the changes in policy 506 chair RS members of the board and um 506 the only changes that were made based off of the discussion at the last meeting was to add the policy numbers um next to each policy that was um listed throughout the procedures so those numbers have since been added any questions okay uh next one was policy 606 in policy 606 um the main changes here was um changing the um procedure section um to have the two to four parent legal Guardians um and then therefore changing this the structure above to say seven to nine members and the rest remain the same okay um the only question I have after rereading this um the 606 the procedures for basically a parent to be able to review um the content in alternative instruction that we that is actually a different policy it's policy 61.1 so in those procedures we sort of reference the process if I'm understanding this correctly of we reference basically this is the procedure but I'm wondering if we could also reference this policy 61.1 because I've had Parents ask me well where is the policy because this this whole thing talks about you know reviewing the curriculum and the instruction materials but then where is like the the opt out the process for opting out could it be referenced in this does that make sense um director ainson we have it in the cross reference of 606 6011 um is that what you referring to we do but we don't have it in the cross reference on this one does that make sense I I do believe it is it is in the cross references of that oh it is sorry I didn't see it on the other page okay my mistake okay and then in the the the second question I had on this last part as I was reading it again so there's procedures number one and then there's number two textbook and instructional materials Review Committee so it says a textbook and a instructional material materials Review Committee shall be formed as needed and shall consist of seven to nine members which is fine but my question is who forms it and so when we go back and look at this policy it all refers to sort of the school board having oversight on this our as a school board we do have oversight on the Committees that we um we review The rosters for certain advisory committees so my question is who forms the committee is it the school board is it the do we grant that authority to the superintendent so we're not really it's very vague here so who's doing it is what my question is yeah this would be the same process as we do with the other uh curricular reviews or book reviews as well so I think that says superintendent yeah the superintendent the same process I mean it's the same committee composition um we tried to align those two last time as well but um I think to your point we would want to delineate that here as well yeah so it does say it in the other policy but not in this one where where are would be on proced under I yeah U textbook and instructional material Review Committee oh she's okay the piece of delegating to the superintendent or staff the the policy does state that while the school board retains its authority to make final decisions um accordingly the school board delegates to the superintendent the responsibility to direct the professional staff and formulating recommendations to school board on textbooks and other instructional materials so it's in there that it many times in the policy it says it's a superintendent delegating so we could call it out in procedure too I think it needs to be because that's not how we've been doing it in the past so the curricul director is the one who appointed the committee in the past is my understanding and so by by direction of the super delegated by the superintendent yeah right so in the 66.5 I know we're not reviewing that policy tonight but under um number 7 d.2 we specifically say kind of the same format we say by this superintendent or the design so I'm just saying to order into order to avoid any misunderstanding I'm just in that so whatever I mean I yeah I get that I guess in that it's more like the the upper part of that policy doesn't call out the superintendent like this one does but I I being thorough is never a bad thing yeah consistent is what I was trying to be that was my only feedback on that one so um members of the board I'm looking for clarity under 606 um procedures number two is the will of the board to add the Shel be formed as needed by the superintendent and shall consist of is that that the will of the board is to add that language to provide consistency and his just to the superintendent I can delegate because you can't delegate the staff so I I I don't have a problem bringing it out I do think it's I do think it's automatically uh in there but um I don't have a problem just saying superintendent yeah that's okay so um members of the board I'm hearing that we moving forward with this policy if approved tonight we will add the textbook and instructional materials Review Committee shall be formed by the superintendent as needed and shall consist of 7 to nine members is that accurate Y correct that's fine okay and then the next one is policy 722 members of the board I apologize I was writing that note um for 722 I do not believe there are any additional changes after the meeting all right um any with no further comments or questions um I need a motion in a second to approve policy 506 606 and 722 uh with the change to policy 606 as stated by director Herman so made okay so director vesas and Crosby all in favor I I I opposed okay that passes 60 now we're on to administrative reports and first superintendent chair France um I'll just first state that uh we had a really fun first week of school last last week and um really nice to see the energy in our our schools and our classrooms um and to see all of our staff coming back as well so it's been it's been a really fun a fun week and uh starting off on week two being in schools today again feedback from you all last year as we were doing my end of year review is just kind of where where is the time being managed and being able to get back into the schools and and really you keeping that as a priority so it truly is filling my bucket as well so it's it's great to be out there um I do want to just share just a quick update with the board on some of the uh administrative uh components that will be happening moving forward as we work through our brand new strategic plan um part of what I've been sharing along this journey is how this plan is more than just a shelf document but it's a living breathing we become this document and one of the aspects of this plan that we've been discussing for quite some time is you know once we land the plan how do we begin to leverage that as uh branding the distri and for what we stand for um and it's something that is really important that we have um uh a a brand and people know when you come into a plsas plsas school what does that mean and so part of our work that we did simultaneously with our strategic plan last year um was also developing a learner profile and that's some work that we really um had a lot of our high school students generating um and part of the conversation I had with um some of our student leadership groups last year was how some of that work around that leader or learner profile would also become some of the branding that would um uh be permeated throughout um the high school and some of our other uh school campuses as well now that we have a new plan um and that got approved at the end of June um we are going to be developing a process so that we can begin to um brand by way of some signage posters Etc um that reflect namely the core beliefs of our district um you know this whole notion of unity is a really huge aspect and I'll just use that as as one example um throughout the strategic planning process as you know we had a lot of perspectives coming together culminating into one comprehensive plan um there were certainly uh conversations and concessions along that Journey um people had various perspectives some of that made it into the plan some of it did not um but at the end of the day we found ways to bring Divergent perspectives together to come to a shared plan that the community owns and similarly um this is something that we're going to be engaging um our students and staff around um as we evolve into a new plsas and what does that mean and what does that stand for um and we have to balance a variety of factors so we know that um we have a variety of different um signs posters Etc all throughout the district we see them on various doors classroom Windows Etc and one of the things that we want to be consistent with is how do we balance all of um the signage to have some level of consistency that's directly aligned to our Strat plan and really positively focused versus you know on a strength based approach like what do we want to see what do we expect um and tying a lot of this back to some of those attributes that we partnered with World Savvy and heard from some of students of some of the signs that we have in our schools right now my ask and push has been and what do we want to see what would be evidence of certain things occurring so for example um we have signs that talk about erase hate and I don't think anybody in our district wants hate to exist so in the absence of hate what would we expect to see what's the positive of that what's the byproduct or the outcome of that and so those are some of the conversations that we are going to be having um as we move forward to um implement this whole plan as part of our branding efforts and we know that we have to be very cognizant of how we balance this process moving forward we know that as part of our history we've had some very um harmful historical things happen in our district that I think resulted in a lot of signs um we uh we've had a lot of social racial political division in our country that probably generated a lot of conversation locally here as well we went through a massive pandemic that also Illustrated a lot of differing of opinions and perspectives and how we approach things um so we've had our share fair share of things that really recognize the division Within our community and one of the our core beliefs is finding Unity finding ways to bring our community back from some significant issues of our past that we cannot unchange they are part of our story and as you all have heard me say um we can't be held hostage by that story how do we Embrace what is possible my very first opening coming here as your superintendent um it was all about embracing what is possible um to really breed that mood of ambition um for what is best centering also on excellence and that is our theme for this year as well um we also know that we have to do that in a way that balances government speech our policies you know our proclamations resolutions that we have as a board um that govern our district that governs a lot of speech that can occur within our district we also know we have to balance First Amendment free speech um uh within our district and I would say maybe tied to government speech we have curricular speech you know we have posters talking about y all over the place as well so how do we determine what's appropriate what's not appropriate and and what's aligned and what's not aligned so that's some of the work that we'll be engaging in and um uh really ensuring that where we land with branding um is one that really creates that whole notion of unifying our district and folks understanding that you know everyone no matter who they are is welcomed in our schools welcomed in our community our school communities and um understand what we stand for so those are some of the uh pieces I wanted to share with the board that we'll be working internally with as we go through that process of um um evolving into our and becoming this PL this new plsas um strategic plan so that's my update that I wanted to share with the board thank you um administrative reports thanks chair friends um I just want to give the board a little heads up for the study session on the 23rd um we're aware that there is some information out in social media some charts um and while we certainly welcome um our community's input and um sharing data the data that's being shared right now is um somewhat incomplete and um I I'm worried that it is because of its incompleteness is not being understood by everybody in the public so I have done a a deep analysis of some of the work that's out there and I will be presenting it on the 23rd so everybody is very clear on um some of the funding issues that we would like to address thank you I'd like just to uh add just a little additional context uh to Dr Thomas's uh points about the kickoff to the school year uh certainly has been uh energizing couple of weeks uh both bringing all of our staff back and uh all of our students back last week and uh looking forward to a five-day week this week um I think that uh there was as I was walking through buildings this afternoon um Monday uh was uh definitely a good kickoff to a full week and and teachers and staff uh and students I think I'll by this coming Friday are going to be a little bit tired as they uh get back back into the routines uh but nonetheless our Focus uh remains uh strong in terms of as I spoke earlier about our presentation around uh the react our commitment to academic excellence and we are definitely working uh with each of our sites uh we have a deadline out to our sites uh to submit their uh continuous Improvement plan uh next Friday uh September 20th and uh we as a as a senior leadership team team will also be submitting our department uh continuous Improvement aligned uh with our new strategic plan we've done a lot of work uh since the adoption of the Strategic plan throughout the summer to ensure uh that our uh School continuous Improvement and Department continuous Improvement plans are aligned to the components each of the priorities uh having goals Set uh at each site and in each department aligned to each of the priority areas identified in the Strategic plan so we're working through all of those details uh those are some things that we'll continue to bring uh to you as a board uh throughout the upcoming months uh again to uh continue to show our commitment uh to making sure that that document uh that strategic plan that you took action on as a board lives and breathes as Dr Thomas was pointing out earlier it's not just uh uh words on a page or on one page but there's a lot of work behind uh the scenes and a lot of that good work is already well underway has been for for a strong month now and it's great to have the students in place uh and ready to uh take full advantage of what our staff are going to bring to them and what's going to be a great year awesome okay so any other administrative reports okay uh moving on to board reports um we'll start with you director olad do you have anything I just wanted to Echo back to school um welcome back to everybody um teachers staff students um as a parent I am very happy we back to school as well um uh happy kids so that's good um wanted to welcome Ann um to our board table really excited to have you here um thank you so much for serving um really looking forward to getting to know you um and we have our first um Equity um meeting um soon I'm so sorry the calendar is not in front of me um so I'm really excited about that kick off um some committee meetings again for the school year so um really excited that's it direct bu um beautiful night on Friday under the lights for the football game looking forward to Community fast this coming Monday that's it okay director vas was no board reports for me okay dror Atkinson um we just we have a um Community Education advisory committee coming up on the 19th um also really it's um been nice to see students back to school and um in the buildings and then um I just have a question I'm not sure if this is relevant here or not but will you continue to serve on the Southwest Metro no that is one of the something we'll need to fill or um um director Ola was already his second on that um so she's just going to take over for the rest okay it's good for all our board members to know that thank you for sharing that she was listed as the second on the board but and I will say I forgot there's that meeting next week as well yeah so report I'm talking about the Southwest Metro not the special education Committee just correct okay okay okay all right um uh so um my board report amsd was a fantastic meeting um direct uh Dr Thomas uh sent out the uh Leatherman survey and uh I got the opportunity to listen in to his explanation uh of each of the graphs and interestingly enough we are split right down the middle uh but the priorities were the same for the different groups that were compared and contrasted so that was really really good um so there's a lot more in common that we have than than different so that was helpful um overall I highly encourage everyone to read that because it was really enlightening and um his presentation I believe is also online at amsd so please listen to it as you're reading through the PowerPoint presentation but it was very good they also gave a history of the uh the um Metro School District Association and how it's changed over the time so that was also interesting to hear from a historical perspective um another thing is that mcaps uh mcaps I'm sorry is having their HR day on Friday September 20th and they're still short some um uh professionals to show up at both the morning and the afternoon session to volunteer to help interview the kids for one of their first um events of the year so hopefully we can get some more people signing up from that and other than that I'm going to hand it over to our brand new board rep um and please introduce yourself and anything else that you want to say and uh we're looking forward to your first report he is it on okay um hi I'm an um I'm going to be senior obviously I have a little brother that goes to Glendale so I'm really excited to be here and hear all the like ins and outs of the schools and how they work and stuff um sorry I also like to apologize for any excessive coughing or sniffling I have really bad allergies um um as far as student council goes right now we're really excited to like kind of kick off the school year and start focusing on our homecoming events um our theme this year for the dance is Viva lost homecoming so it'll be kind of like a kind of like a party Vibe like night on the town type situations so um yeah and I also just want to say kind of echoing what Dr Thomas mentioned earlier about like creating like a welcoming and more inclusive community student council this year me and mag zboard are really trying to focus on like um not just making our events successful but also successful successful for the student body and making sure everyone is like enjoying our events and feeling more like school spirit um by just like attending or even just feeling that throughout the school like our posters um we're trying to do more with like um birthdays and stuff so I hope that um you guys get to see that reflected in our school and I'm excited to work with you all this year welcome man going be great okay um so future events we've got the fall Community Fest that director ban referred to on September 16th at the high school from 6:00 to 8:00 pm uh we also have the state of the district uh presented by our Administration staff and led by Dr Thomas on at the DSC at 700 p.m that will be live streamed for those people who can't make it in person and then our next study session is September 23rd at 6 p.m here and then also we have the Prior Lake chamber of commerce candidate Forum on October 2nd at Prior Lake City Hall for 6 pm. and that's the Schoolboard candidate Forum the day before that is the city council candidate form and with that um I need a motion to adjourn and a second so Me by director bullan second second by director vascos um all in favor I opposed okay that passes 60 we are adjourned and we are going to adjourn into a closed meeting for to discuss the neg excuse me the negotiation strategy