##VIDEO ID:owtjeh9db2Y## [Music] good evening and Welcome to our regularly scheduled November 4th Schoolboard meeting at this time please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance after the pledge please remain standing for a brief moment of silence I pled aliance 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 at this time I would like us to share a moment of silence for East East View High School 10th grader David roses who passed away on October 14th thank you all right good evening School Board um first order of business today is the approval of our agenda there are no additions or soltions to the agenda today is there a motion to approve the agenda as outlined motion to approve the agenda second motion by sowen seconded by Jackie all those in favor of approval say I I I motion carries or those opposed motion carries on a 40 vote um next our first item of business after the approval is our recognition um by the school board I would like to welcome David lader principal at Thomas Lake Elementary to the podium Thomas Lake has been awarded a positive behavioral interventions and support certificate from the Minnesota Department of Education uh good evening uh thank you so much for having us today as you said my name is Dave loer I'm very proud principal at Thomas Lake Elementary and I'm joined here tonight by Jen zaski our school of psychologist and Colleen Frank our assistant administrator and us three are just three of the members of our PBIS team at Thomas Lake and I want to emphasize how important teamwork is to creating a strong PBIS within a school um PBIS at Thomas Lake stands for positivity respect Integrity determination and excellence and those are the values and characteristics that we want to see or character traits that we want to see in our students and that we teach every single day and we know that for kids to be successful in school it starts starts with the whole child and so all the academic Pieces come from knowing how to be part of community knowing how to create good friendships and knowing how to be able to take care of their their themselves and their feelings and so that stems from PBIS um like I said it's a team effort at Thomas Lake the whole team works together our PBIS leadership team Works to implement the systems and then of course it takes all the Buy in and support from our community from our kids from our staff all of us working together to to help and I just want to recognized that PB our award was an sustaining Exemplar so that means it's something we've been doing over a long period of time so although it's been long since my arrival I'm so proud to see it in action and get get to see the positive results that's had for our school so really proud to be recognized and thank you for that recognition [Applause] excellent next I'd like to welcome Adriana Henderson principal at Glacier Hills Elementary to the podium to introduce the art educator of the year for the state of Minnesota good evening chairperson Johnson school board members and superintendent bson I major Anna Henderson as I me as you mentioned principal at Glacier Hills Elementary School of Arts and Science and we have with us Estelle suku assistant administrator and I am just thrilled to introduce you to Mrs Aaron Paul son our art teacher at Glacier Hills um we recently uh found out this summer that she was named art educator of the year uh by the fall uh art educators of Minnesota AEM for the 2024 25 school year this award recognizes exceptional contributions in art education Miss Paulson has been a phenomenal member of our school Community for 19 years fostering countless students love of Art and creativity her passion pass for art and commitment to Student Success are evident in her lessons she has created a vibrant and inclusive inclusive art program that enriches the lives of all of her students her lessons and projects are Testament to collaboration as she works closely with our school's magnet core team and our classroom teachers some of her most cherished Pro projects have been those that allowed her to connect with students and learn more about their cultures in addition to receiving this most recent recognition Miss Aaron pson was named schools of America teacher of the year for region 6 and 2022 we are incredibly proud of Miss Aon pulson and the recognition she is well deserving handshake well done congratulations congratulations very proud of well done congratulations right next up I would like to welcome superintendent Bon to the podium for his recognition of students and staff good evening chairperson Johnson school board members it's a pleasure to be here tonight I'm going to combine some of the recognitions um still to come with my superintendent recognitions as well so first off congratulations to the Rosemont High School Marching Band on winning the youth in music marching band championship and the East feww High School Marching Band for taking second place we will be inviting both to be recognized at the December board meeting and I think it's fair to say that district 196 is becoming the best District in the state for marching band competitions secondly I'd like to recognize many different district 196 athletic teams that had an outstanding fall Sports season and many teams are participating or did participate in postseason competitions including our Apple Valley girls volleyball uh won their six AAAA 4A section championships and are headed to the Minnesota State High SCH League state tournament this week Cassandra Lee from Egan High School placed third in the girl State tennis tournament our Egan High School girls soccer team tied for third in the state tournament and our Egan boys soccer team won the State Championship held at US Bank Stadium last week four to three in overtime um we also had individual qualifiers from all four of our high schools Apple Valley Egan East VI and Rosemount in boys and girls cross country uh meet and the Rosemount boys cross country finished fifth in state so it's a really exciting week and we still have uh at least one team here still alive with Apple Valley volleyball later this evening the board will be asked to approve resolutions designating the week of November 14th to the 18th as clerical and secretarial employees appreciation week and maintenance support employees Appreciation Week in district 196 there are more than 800 clerical and secretarial employees who fill various important positions and provide services that are essential for the day-to-day operations of our schools and the district there are also more than 180 maintenance support employees in district 196 they protect the community's investment in our schools and help to provide safe secure and clean environments that are conducive to teaching and learning and at this time I'd like to ask any clerical secretarial and maintenance support employees who are with us this evening to stand and be recognized and if not we'll make sure that get this message to watch the board meeting thank you um next I'd like to invite our Director of Finance and operations Christopher anango robshaw coordinator of Finance Danny duchaine and controller Adam Lloyd to join me at the podium for the next recognition I am pleased to share that district 196 has earned the certificate of excellence in financial reporting from the association of school business officials International asbo for the 22nd year in a row as esbo International recognizes districts that have met the program's high standards for financial reporting and transparency the school district earned the certificate of excellence for its annual comprehensive financial report the afcr for fiscal year 2023 I'd like to thank these three leaders of our finance team and all of our budget managers who serve as responsible stewards of public resources as you will hear during the annual audit report later tonight we are a large complex organization yet each year this team employs systems and controls to ensure that we are adhering to high standards in government accounting budget allocation monitoring and Reporting and they do it exceptionally well so thank you three for your leadership and congratulations to the Department [Applause] okay finally I'd like to invite invite art Coulson to the podium to receive recognition for his many years of board service welcome art as many of you know um art Coulson resigned from the school board this summer after actually this fall after 16 years of service art was appointed to the school board in February 2008 and was elected four times in 2009 2013 2017 and for the last time in 2021 over those years he served in a variety of capacities and was the liaison to a number of committees in the district his work um prior to being on the board as chairperson of our Native American parent advisory committee napac and then later as the board representative to the tribal Nation education committee has enhanced our understanding and partnership with our indigenous Community since 2008 he has seen the district office open the state withhold School District funding resulting from the recession new stem Grant funds to for learning opportunities in the district the start of the 196 magnet schools the passing of our operation technology Bond referendums the opening of our 19th Elementary School and the approval of the 20th the move to one:1 technology for students new program uh programs like full day kindergarten and Aviation and an enduring commitment to our AAA philosophy with students thriving in academics arts and Athletics art you've spent more time serving uh our schools than most School than most students typically spend in our schools um and in doing so you've impacted generations to come we want to thank you for your dedication to 196 always making decisions in the best interest of our students and our community and as a token of our appreciation we'd like you to please accept this Brass Bell as a symbol to your service to our schools so thank you [Applause] art yeah congratulations y all right thank you and that concludes my recognitions for this evening excellent thank you superintendent bony next on the agenda is our special communication requests we have three special communication requests uh this evening people who would like to speak during a special communication request must submit a form at least five working days in advance of the meeting 10 speakers receive up to four minutes to share comments we do use a timer for public comments um the timer when you're time is started for our speakers tonight there is uh three little lights on the podium it will turn green when your time is started it will turn Amber when you have 30 seconds left and it will turn red when it turns red please conclude your comments um as a reminder the board uses our special communication request as a time to listen as such board members generally do not respond to special communication requests or there are any if there are any questions or follow-ups asked a member of the administration or Schoolboard may follow up after the meeting our first special communication uh request speaker tonight is lilan Norland lilan I'd love to for you to approach the podium and if you could just start by introducing yourself and connection to the district good evening chairs person Johnson school board members and superintendent Bon my name is Lily Norland an eighth grade student at St Joseph's School in Rosemount I stand before you today to share my heartbreaking experience with district 196 this fall and to discuss a policy that that has made me question whether our school district truly has the best interests of its students in mind from a young age I've had the privilege of playing basketball with the rosemar area Athletic Association I remember when I first tried out for the traveling team in fourth grade over the years I played Down The A Team from grades fourth through seventh and we consistently ranked among the top 16 teams in the state throughout this journey I've always felt included and appreciated by my teammates and coaches despite the fact fact that all my teammates attended Public Schools while I have been the only student attending a private school basketball has always been a source of joy and positive experiences for me in Rosemount until recently this summer I received an email announcing that due to a lack of numbers some eighth grade girls would be asked to play high school basketball this year I learned through conversations that the plan was to take the entire returning a team and move us up to high school I was excited about this opportunity to represent Rosemount High School I hope this experience would help me learn more about the school and establish friendships and connections with students and staff my mom diligent diligent diligently researched my eligibility and discovered with the help of Minesota State High School league that I could play for Rosemont High School however when we reached out to will Finley the athletic director at rhs we were met with disheartening news he informed us of a district 196 policy that forbids me from playing for the high school and due to this fact I could play for any other private or public high school in the state he informed us to use this information to find somewhere else to play to hear this felt like a slap in the face every returning player from my past team plus two additional players from the team below are now playing Rosemount high school basketball without me this process had made me feel like I'm not wanted or valued in Rosemount Athletics I've been forever changed by endurance during this painful policy I have more Irish and Rosemount high school apparel in my closet than regular clothes I regularly attended Rosemount High School sporting events to a cheer on my hometown I'm embarrassed by the lack of reciprocating respect this District have shown me I'm incredibly grateful for my mom's persistence in reaching out to The District athletic supervisor and the superintendent but their responses only confirmed the hurtful nature of this policy I received an outpouring of support from teammates parents and coaches voicing their disagreements regarding this unfair policy and that I deserve to be playing with my teammates while this policy change if voted upon won't affect me this season due to timing I want to work with my mom to advocate for a change that will benefit future students from St Joseph's I want to ensure that future generations of students don't experience the pain and heartache that I did if this change does not take place I don't plan to give up I will only work harder to prove to you all this is wrong and make students feel unwelcome and ashamed for those who may not know St Joseph's is a small private school in Rosemount serving students from preschool through 8th grade I've cherished my time there and the strong sense of community we share is evident tonight with many parents family students and faculty members showing up to support myself and this cause numerous times during the process it was suggested I just transfer schools I would never want to cut my time short at St Joseph's and find it offensive that adults would suggest this as a solution to this issue in closing I urge you all to consider the impact of this policy let's work together to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all student athletes in our community thank you all for listening thank you [Applause] [Music] I'd like to invite our next speaker to the podium is Kelly Norland and Kelly similar if you could start by stating your name in connection to the district good evening my name is Kelly Norland good evening chairperson Johnson school board members and superintendent Bon I am a graduate of St Joseph's School and Roseman high school and mother to the brave young lady who just spk thank you for this opportunity to address an issue affecting our students and our community tonight I am here to discuss the current District policy that prevents private middle school students from non-continuation schools from joining public high school sports teams this policy restricts access creating an unnecessary divide in our community and contradicting the values of inclusion and community that our district promotes our district has a strong commitment to fostering a welcoming environment where every child can pursue their interests and talents yet there is a discrepancy in this Vision homeschooled middle school students can try out for high school teams while private school students cannot this raises a simple question why do we allow one group but not the other take for example the students at St Joseph's School with an average gr graduating class of fewer than 28 most students continue on to Roseman High School by allow o ing them to join High School sports we help form bonds with future classmates team sports build more than physical skills they Foster teamwork commitment and relationships by barring PIV private school students from these experiences we limit their opportunities to grow and connect this policy is also an exception among neighboring districts in fact most follow the Minnesota high school bylaw which allows private school middle school students to particip in public school sports this bylaw is included in the packets supplied some even go above and beyond providing buses to bring students from private schools to high school practices a powerful example of inclusion I have heard arguments that because our district is so large we do not need additional students to try out for sports teams but this perspective misses the point when we close the door to some students we risk sending the message that they are less valued this is not the message that Rosemont or district 196 should be sending it is easy to think this policy only affects a few families but to those families it is significant it influences whether our children feel like they belong whether they have a seat at the table and whether they can fully engage with public school peers in high school denying private SCH school students the chance to participate risks creating a divide and labeling them as unwanted no notably larger school districts like Anoka hennipin St Paul and Minneapolis all allow private middle school students to join public high school sports teams we're only requesting the same opportunity for district 196 students some may worry that if this decision is left to athletic directors it may face resistance but as board members you are here to advocate for our students and establish policies that promote inclusion by reconsider reconsidering this policy you'll be sending a clear message our district values every student's right to grow learn and be included the Minnesota State High School league requires only a simple form to participate I've included an example in the packets provided demonstrating how other high schools manage this easily these procedures are straightforward and require minimal administrative effort offering a significant benefit for students who might otherwise be excluded finally I want to thank Lily for sharing her experience your courage to stand up for others even if the change does not benefit you is personally remarkable please remember Susie cas's words strong people stand up for themselves but stronger people stand up for others thank you for your time and attention as you consider this important step to more inclusive District let's ensure every student has the chance to build lasting connections develop life skills and experience the pride of being part of our community thank you [Applause] you I'd like to welcome our final speaker for special communication request to the podium Erica birkenholtz and Erica similar if you could start by introducing yourself and connection to the district um my name is Erica birkenholtz and I am a resident of Apple Valley good evening everyone I'm here tonight as a parent of two children I have a seven-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son and my husband and I are raising a multilingual family which we see as a major asset I am also here tonight representing the hundreds of families who have previously or currently enrolled their children in one of the four Spanish meran daycare centers located within our district boundaries we like many families have been worried about where to enroll our children when it is time for kindergarten this is a reality for parents raising multilingual children in district 196 you see there is simply no option for families wishing to continue Spanish language acquisition instead they are forced to turn to other districts that offer immersion programs just to meet their children's educational needs these are districts like Eden Prairie Edina Minneapolis St Paul Richfield Prior Lake minetonka Roseville South Washington County uh Cottage Grove and St Louis Park just to name a few unfortunately our family became one of those statistics when we we made the difficult decision not to enroll our daughter in this District however we are proud to share that she is currently thriving in second grade she can fluently read write and speak in Spanish due to the education she receives from the Richfield dual language program here is where our district is creating a profound inqu it as you heard from a 196 student last month at the same board meeting not all families have the means to afford driving their children to another District simply because there is no opportunity here I'm not only representing the hundreds of families from daycares but also on behalf of our Nate our thousands of native Spanish-speaking families I'm an ELD or an English language development teacher at the elementary level at the last District professional development day I participated in the science of reading training along with all of the other Elementary teachers in Unit 17 the text we read emphasized the need for Spanish language instruction and the benefits it has on English and Spanish reading proficiency one quote from the text read explicit Spanish phonics instruction has been shown to improve Spanish-speaking students reading achievement in both Spanish and English Additionally the reading League's joint statement about literacy needs for multilingual students States whenever possible student students should have access to dual language instruction it's clear that the science of reading training our district is providing supports the idea of Spanish Immersion programming we already have some systems in place at the secondary level that indicates our district um values this initiative in the high school and middle school level we offer Heritage Spanish classes and often the challenge of starting an immersion program is making sure that the opportunity is supported all the way through graduation in our case we already have the secondary portion addressed so it's simply Elementary that we need to complete this opportunity even though I've spoken on behalf of the large number of families that I'm here representing tonight I am most importantly here on behalf of my three-year-old son for him this is an urgent issue with over 110 dual language programs in the state according to mde can we prioritize creating a timeline and creating an initiative to add just one program time is of the essence as the number of residents interested has compounded and will only continue to increase thank you for your time and consideration [Applause] [Music] tonight all right next on our agenda is the consent agenda tonight we have 20 items on our consent agenda they include the minutes of the October 7th 2024 regular Schoolboard meeting that the minutes of the October 7th 2024 special school board meeting gifts grants Treasures reports for September 2024 summary of claims for September 2024 revenues and expenditures report for September 2024 schedule of Investments for September 2024 Personnel pay rates for substitute and temporary employees agreement for clinical experience with the University of North Dakota agreement for student teaching with North Dakota State University agreement for student teaching with University Minnesota Morris agreement for student teaching with University of Wisconsin Superior clerical and secretarial employees appreciation week November 18 through the 22nd maintenance support employees appreciation week November 18th through the 22nd employment agreements Minnesota State University Mano joint Powers agreement temporary construction agreement with the University of Minnesota and Rosemont Middle School construction bid package are there any items on the consent agenda that board members would like to remove tonight seeing none I'll take a motion to approve remov motion to approve by sakota second by Leah all those in favor of approval of the consent say I I I those opposed motion carries on a 4- Zer vote that brings us to our report section i' like I'd like to welcome Mark STS to the podium to give us an update on the bond construction chair Johnson members of the school board superintendent balani um I'm here tonight to give you a presentation and an update on our current construction projects within the district um as everybody recalls but I'll say it anyway uh this is a result of the referendum that passed in May of 2023 and um some projects are in the construction phase other projects are in the planning phases at this point and so I'll update some of those uh this evening so the agenda tonight I'll provide you some construction updates on projects that are already started then I'll review where we're at with our activity centers um I'll talk a little bit about the privacy subcommittee and then the projects that were just getting off the ground and we in the preliminary uh planning stages for Valley Middle School Scott Highlands and Falcon Ridge so Elementary 20 if you've been up near the site at the intersection of akan Avenue and Bon Air path in Rosemount um you can see that there is a lot of progress being made on on the new Elementary number 20 uh we do not have a name yet that will come at a later date but it's a replica of East Lake Elementary in Lakeville um constructions in projects and we're projecting completion the fall of 2025 and we have a link to um time lapse that show the construction obviously it's evening right now um but if we go to just the last day probably not a lot happened today um because of the weather but you can see there's substantial progress being made on this building and if you get the opportunity to go up there or if you would like to um go on site you can contact me and we can arrange um for a tour of what's happening right now Dakota Ridge the building we're in right now again you've probably seen the con instruction outside um it's the addition of six classrooms as well as a multi-purpose gym and schedule completion is also fall of 2025 and with if you follow this link we also have um construction updates on the website Rosemount Middle School we are getting very close um so the designs have been done uh the bids were received in October we are on budget for this project uh again the location of this will be at the intersection of County Road 42 in biscane Avenue in Rosemont we did close on the purchase of that property on Friday so very recently um construction is imminent we don't have a a really set in St Stone timeline but we hope to get started this fall and here this is just a r rendition um the entrance to this facility is going to be um oh shoot help me out Scott no not biscan Boulder Trail Boulder Trail which is the road yet to be constructed um but the entrance will be on bowler Trail this shows the entrance off to the right is where the Bus drop off will be if you go around the building um it'll be where parents can drop off students and there will be staff parking there and again it's a replica of East Lake Show so it should look very familiar to people can't believe that we've talked so much about Boulder Trail I can't believe I blanked out there I apologize um so the activity Phil Center philosophy committee we have a committee made up of athletic directors from all four high schools as well as principals there's been representatives of Community Education on this committee as well as operations staff um and in fact this work is ongoing the committee met for two hours today and uh but we're getting very close on design plans and so forth East View and Apple Valley will be the first two activity centers that we'll start on and then Rose mountain and E Egan will start a year later um so the activity center is made up of really two different spaces one is what you would call some people would call a Fieldhouse um we listed here as an activity center box um the other section is a storm shelter which will house various components uh like a lobby area weight room those types of things but what we're trying to do is be as consistent as possible at all four activity centers at all four high schools and so every Activity Center will have Four Courts a three Lane upper level walking Track um lower level straightaway Lanes on both sides of the track for um track purposes uh six Hoops per Court sound system scoreboards volleyball badminton pickle ball touch touchscreen controls storage in the corners 1,200 squ ft of storage below the mechanical and curtain dividers between the courts daylight windows and of Court pull out bleachers also long jump pits pole volt pits connections and links to the anciliary box and connections to the main building will be included in all of all four activity centers um so if you look at an activity center what the design is going to look like in the main box is four wood courts and then a multi-purpose level Court um at each of the four sites and then you can see the running Lanes on each side of the courts on the upper level it will be a three-lane walking Track which will be a multi-purpose surface um and then stairwells and storage on each of the four corners so in the ancillary box um this is a fairly recent code uh where they it has to serve as a storm shelter for the staff and students in that building um it'll have daylight and windows two Lev design restrooms on both levels lobbies on both levels um a community ad office at the entry of both levels storage for concessions flexible multi-purpose space and weight room and here we see East View High School which is probably the furthest along in terms of planning uh the main School you can see there is in the middle of the diagram the white um building and the activity center is off to the northeast of the existing High School it'll be connected by a link that's indicated in yellow in the diagram and this is a rendition and the current site plan and then this just shows the layout again the four cords three of them will be wood one is multi-purpose surface and then in the storm shelter we have the lobby and various components what's going to differ we're going to be consistent between the four um High School activity centers but the layouts might look a little bit different because of the way they connect to the building um and so the connections are all going to look a little bit different and there will be a connection from the main floor as well as the the second level and this is just a rendition that shows um the existing building and then the new Activity Center this is Apple Valley high school and again the main High School building is shown in white here um the activity center is off to the Northeast um right north of the existing Stadium and this is a rendition you can see the stadium there and then just north of the stadium is the new activ or where the new Activity Center will be located um anybody that's driven by Apple Valley High School might ask the question in fact board member Magnuson asked this question what's going on in the front of the building um actually this activity center is going to step on the existing tennis courts and so we thought okay let's replace those tennis courts a year early so that they'll be ready for next year and then we'll start construction on the activity center next year so what you're seeing at Apple Valley High School in the front lawn is the new tennis courts and again it shows the rendition of the activity center both main level and upper level in the connection and we're trying to keep with the theme of the building and so on the existing Apple Valley High School you'll notice the circle circular windows and so forth um we're trying to incorporate that in the activity center also this is Rosemount high school and um so the activity center you can see is just south of the existing stadium and uh or I'm sorry West of the existing Stadium south of the existing turfield and you can see it's going to take up some athletic fields there our intent is to replace those athletic fields um there's a lot of work to do there and there's going to be a lot lot of work going on this summer um the roundabout on Highway 3 is going to be uh beginning construction next summer as well as the city plans some projects on Chile Avenue at the same time and we are going to be begin construction at Rosemount high school next summer so there will be a lot of activity um going on on this site as well as temporary construction roads some of the access might have to be from the Rosemount Community Center to get to some of the athletic fields um so it'll be a busy place and again you can see the activity center off to the right in this diagram um and we're also proposing an additional parking lot to service the activities at the activity center um on the site and again a rition of what it will will look like here we have Rosemount high school again with the activity center and the new parking lot and we're showing um potentially a new practice field or a half practice field uh located on that site also and the interior layout and this is what it should look like on the outside with the link off to the right on this diagram or left on this diagram Egan high school we have not begun planning on this project yet um this Project's going to present uh some challenges the city of Egan is proposing to to do a project in the park uh right next door where the tennis courts are located and so we're trying to cordinate our construction and activities with the city of Egan we have a lot of plans planning to do still on that um we're not even quite sure where the activity center is going to be located on the site we've got three options that are going to have to be studied um one is there to the Northeast the other is kind of to the Northwest in the parking lot and uh there's a third option kind of to the to the east um so stay tuned on this one we uh are just beginning the planning on this particular project Activity Center timelines uh East View will be bid in January February time frame coming up and it should open in the late fall early winter of 26 similar to timeline for Apple Valley High School bids are are hoping to be received in February uh open late fall early winter of 26 Rosemount High School um a year later uh bids in March of 20125 opens late fall early winter 2027 the delay here is that Rosemont High School is having a major renovation done over the next three years and so once the activity Center is completed we may have to house students in that Activity Center while the renovation is going on in the existing building so it may delay opening that particular facility um by a year and then Egan High School will start the design in January coming up uh opens late fall early winter of 2027 okay um one committee that maybe gets lost in the shuffle or isn't as publicized as our privacy committee and it seems like every project that we deal with we're dealing with restrooms um and so I just want to give you a highlevel summary of what this committee has been working on um new construction we're going to have a mix of single stall restrooms as well as multi-stall restrooms um a mix of enhanced privacy so the sink is inside the the toilet area or the restroom area that's mainly for handicapped restrooms and then inclusive restrooms which have a communal handwashing if you've been to Falcon Ridge Middle School they have a real good example of of how that works um renovated facilities if restrooms are in the path of renovation we're considering updates to an inclusive model or enhanced privacy uh given the space constraints and budget and everything else we have going on with those projects and in existing F facilities every facility should have an inclusive option which is multi-stall and the quantity is based on building and again these um particular items are in secondary schools only so our middle schools and our high schools quantity considerations um one on each level of the facility access in academic areas and access in public areas so near gymnasiums and cafeterias um performance areas that type of thing and uh we're currently working on the Apple on Apple Valley High School East viiew High School Rosemount High School Falcon Ridge Scott Highlands and Valley Middle Schools okay Valley Middle School renovation um design is happening as we speak uh we're hoping to go out for bid in March of 2025 and Construction in summer of 2025 and just as a reminder at Valley Middle School um they are getting science room improvements restroom Renovations performance space improvements and then special education improvements um which are really not part of the bond um but because we're going to be doing work in the building we'll we'll renovate those areas that at the same time and here's the layout of their building and you can see the toilet renovation science remodel whoop so um restroom performance space and special education and those were the areas that are going to be renovated here's the performance space area as well as some other um toilet renovations scy Highlands um we're in design at Scott Highlands again we're hoping to go off for bid March of 2025 uh summer fall of 25 will be begin the addition and the summer of 26 will uh begin the science room improvements restroom Renovations performance space improvements and then there's going to be some ltfm or long-term facilities maintenance improvements which are um needed this should this just shows the current site and then the addition will be to the front of the building on the east side and there's also additional parking on the east side of the current parking lot and you can see the spaces affected and I did it again um but if you have questions you can take a look at that one of the big Renovations here at Scott Highlands Middle School is the performance area they don't have a performance area per se right now um this will be similar to Valley Middle School where the performance area will be combined with the cafeteria the cafeteria will be used for um seating and then there will be a stage area where the performances occur and this is just a rendition of the seating space Falcon Ridge Middle School design is happening right now bidding is scheduled for February 25 and again you're starting to hear a common theme Here science room uh Renovations restroom Renovations performance St space improvements and long-term facilities maintenance and this is a picture of the current site and then the spaces that will be affected we are um renovating some of the core areas in the houses to provide more classroom space um so that'll be really helpful because the science classrooms will take up more space than a regular classroom so as we convert science classrooms we have to create additional classrooms to make up for that lost space and this is the upper level and then we're doing some parking lot improvements at Falcon Ridge right now um there's Jersey Barrier barriers that are outside and they've been there for a couple years um we're going to make that more permanent with curb and improvements to that area so that should be a real help in terms of traffic flow so next steps uh Rosemont Middle School we receive bids and you approve bids this evening we are within budget and we are progressing with Rosemont Middle School East viiew High School we hope to um to go off for bid January February of 25 Apple Valley February of 25 rosem Mountain March 25 and then Egan High School design starts in January 25 questions I know a lot of information I could have spent a lot more time uh going through there there's so many details involved in these projects that it's just absolutely mind-boggling but I've got representatives of world Architects here this evening if you have really hard questions they can answer those um so any questions thank you are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members Jackie I really like that we've kept into that Activity Center in the box and making sure everybody has a consistent experience because all of a sudden you build one and two years later you're going to build another one and oh but we we we could add more and we could do more feat and if we did this so I think that that's helpful the schools then will get to pick out their logos and their colors and what they want and I'm sure there's some moveing movement around the inside the box of what they want but basically we have a consistent plan of what is going to be in all four of them that that was kind of the topic of the meeting today um those items that are going to be consistent in every Activity Center in every box and those items that may be site specific or the building can kind of pick and choose um but I would say for the most part it's going to be very very consistent when you go from one to the other um again the layout's going to look different just because of the way the um storm shelters attached to the building um but for the most part they are going to be um replicas impressive too that you could figure them all out on the footprint of the property that they can be you can access them from inside the building right that they're all being able to do that not just stand alone okay well we got the activity center but you have to go outside and before you can yeah they'll have links um um where you can access them from the current building but then there also be exterior entrances also so very nice and here I thought after you said you closed on the middle school I thought maybe you were done out of out of work but maybe not no not quite yet quite yet any other questions or comments from board members Leah just one one quick question um when you were talking about the enhanced privacy um with restrooms I will say thank you for bringing that up because I've been out in community quite a bit the last couple months and it is a topic of a ton of questions um more than I could respond to at first so I'm learning sure um and just quickly does that also can you just speak to does that relate to also locker rooms or kind of other similar spaces or how does that factor in we are not really touching locker rooms in this um Bond referendum they weren't included so maybe they'll be included in a future referendum we do have locker rooms that need renovation without a doubt um but you know the more you go to places in public whether it be restaurants or Grocery Stores um a lot of them have privacy restrooms with individual stalls um and and we're replicating that type of situation um I think there will be an option for traditional toilets with partitions and so forth um but then there will be a privacy option also additional questions or comments from board members thank you for taking a very very large project and breaking it Down concisely For Us in the community because I know that there's a lot when you put it like this there's definitely a lot of moving Parts going on at any given minute um it's really nice to get an update thank you thank you all right that brings us to the new business portion of our agenda oh no I'm sorry old business I almost skipped to the old business look at me um I would like to welcome Jeremy senson to the podium to go over our elementary tenants Elementary attendance areas part two all right good evening chair Johnson members of the board and superintendent bson um I'm here tonight to do a final reading of our Elementary attendance area adjustments we're asking the board to take action on this item this evening so I'm going to start by reviewing our process and then provide a two-part recommendation which includes creating an attended here area for the opening of the new Elementary building and then balancing enrollment at the at the elementary level across the southern portion of our district all right in terms of process we learned from the secondary balancing process in 2022 and are replicating that process because of the scope and scale of proposals we're bringing tonight these proposals fan across the southern portion of the district and will affect many schools we use internal steering committee and multiple subgroups to develop these proposals our process has been a collaborative effort involving building principles from the impact in schools a diverse group of St District staff and then Community feedback key departments such as Transportation student services Community Education secondary education special education finance and communication have all contributed to the planning we reviewed enrollment across the district consulted with our city planning departments regarding their comprehensive plan for future growth and an have analyzed multiple scenarios in terms of meeting the needs of balance enrollment we've gathered public feedback through multiple methods including a survey where approximately 240 questions or comments were created by community members and by hosting multiple Community Information sessions we use this feedback to make adjustments before bringing our proposal back to the board for a final decision this evening so I've been looking to make these attendance area adjustments and using our facilities efficiently and effectively there are some districtwide focuses in mind first we want to maintain optimal School sizes and provide Equitable experiences for our students and staff by targeting an ideal student population range of 600 to 800 students per building we aim to ensure consistent educational experiences across the district this is similar to the approach used in 2022 to establish more balanced secondary enrollments next we are looking to alleviate overcrowding in elementary schools and last lastly we're mindful of space needed for expanding Early Learning programming which was d a direct of the board provided Us in June we are not yet prep prepared to bring a recommendation for Early Childhood however this proposal accounts for existing Early Childhood classrooms and neighborhood schools and then our ultimate goal was to ensure our facilities can continue to meet the needs of all students from Early Childhood through Elementary education in addition to our strategic priorities there are a wide range of considerations we look at during this process consistent with past attendance area adjustments our guiding principles have been to create attendance areas that protect the concept of neighborhood schools are contiguous and follow natural boundaries when possible and allow room for growth consider middle and high school tenant areas and adhere to all state and federal guidelines specifically the Minnesota state desegregation and integration rules making sure that through our adjustments we are not creating any racially identifiable schools so Zone one is the new elementary school it's located at the corner of Arron Avenue and Bonair path in Rosemount it's located in the current Red Pine Elementary attendance area just north of the border between Red Pine and Rosemount Elementary attendance areas Red Pine is designated by the color pink and Rosemount Elementary is designated by the color gray on this map and develop the attendance area for the new Elementary School we've carefully considered several key factors because of their proximity to the site both Red Pine Elementary and Rosemont Elementary are the two schools most impacted by the adjustments one of our primary goals is to alleviate overcrowding at Rosemont Elementary while ensuring the new boundaries promote balanced enrollment across all affected schools this process reflects a commitment to maintaining neighborhood schools and supporting the well-being and academic success of all of our students and taking into consideration future growth from Community Development this slide shows the addition of the proposed attendance area for the new elementary school it is the purple space highlighted and circled in the above image it encompasses densely populated areas with close proximity to the school it also encompasses a rural and industrial area of our district that connects to neighboring District boundaries there's a chart on this page and we show charts throughout this um and they all read the same way it shows the current number of students living in an attendance area so in the yellow there we have the current and you can see the new Elementary doesn't have anybody yet because that's our current and red pinees at 851 rosmont Elementary is at 9:13 and then what it would be through our proposed changes um so balancing them out to new Elementary be at about 635 Red Pine at 636 and then Rosemount Elementary at 493 so looking at that chart we can notice that 2third of the students for the new building are actually coming from Rosemont element El one of the main goals of creating this attendance area was to alleviate overcrowding at Rosemount Elementary this prop proposal reduces the number of students leaving in the Rosemount Elementary attendance area from 913 to 493 students this allows room for growth from the Amber Fields area and additional developments within its attendance areas this is a known area of growth in our district and we anticipate that Rosemont Elementary will quickly be within the optimal zone of student population within the next few years so so far we've received about 240 questions or comments related to the tenant area proposals for both Zone one and two through our survey and as mentioned before we've hosted multiple Community Information nights where community members were able to engage in asking questions and share comments there were some clear themes within the questions and comments here we're talking specifically about Zone one so creating boundaries for the new Elementary building and alleviating overcrowding at Rosemont Elementary a theme for Zone one has been why wasn't my neighborhood or why is it my neighborhood included in the attendance area of the new building we looked at a variety of possibilities and our software shows us through pin maps of students that this area is a very densely populated area about 2third of the population of the new building were taken from the existing rosma Elementary attendance areas and as part of this process we used our guiding principles to develop natural boundaries and roadways for transportation adding additional neighborhoods to the attendance area of the new building would require us to remove other neighborhoods to keep us from overcrowding the new building another theme in zone one was about families staying at their existing School families can apply through the interdistrict transfer process there would not be Transportation provided and acceptance would be based on availability of space however based on community feedback we recommend prioritizing any families who are impacted by the attendance area shifts who complete the inter District transfer form our main goal here was to alleviate over carding at Rosemont Elementary by making room for future developments in this area all right moving on to zone two zone two encompasses attendance area adjustments in the southern portion of our district these are being proposed due to Rapid population ation growth and the imbalanced distribution of students across schools the schools impacted by The Proposal are diamond path in the pink East Lake Red Highland which is aqua and then Shannon Park which is yellow so here we have the same chart showing our current in yellow and then what it would be through our proposed adjustments in terms of students living in the attendance area of these schools since East Lake Elementary opened in 2017 the area has become densely populated leading to significant overcrowding the number of students limit in the East Lake attendance area is currently 913 students in contrast Shannon park has 355 students and Diamond path has 384 students living in their attendance areas the range or difference between the number of students living in a School's attendance area is as much as 556 students or a whole Elementary School's enrollment this creates inequities in Staffing allocations operating budgets and opportunities for students the proposed adjustments aim to balance enrollment to be more Equitable among East Lake Diamond path Highland and Shannon Park moving all schools towards optimal enrollment of 6 to 800 students under the new plan Diamond path will have 578 students living in its attendance area leaving room to accept intradistrict International Studies interest East Lake drops to 710 Highland will have 662 and Shannon Park will be at 489 and they currently accept about 150 students who are inter District transfers or open enroll all schools will now be closer to the optimal range of 6 to 800 students and more capable of providing an equitable experience for our students families and staff the secondary process completed in 2022 works better than expected to stabilize and balance Middle School enrollment the only only Middle School pathway that would be affected by the elementary balancing is this small neighborhood it's 59 elementary students that is moving from East Lake to Shannon Park currently 100% of students in the Shannon Park attendance area are also in the rosemal Middle School are attendance area as we increase the Shannon Park attendance area we pick up one neighborhood that is zoned for Scott Highlands Middle School we're proposing to adjust only this Middle School tenants area so that this 10% of Shannon Park students can accompany their classmates to rosemal Middle School strengthening their secondary pathway even though there are district-wide attendance area adjustments to Elementary this is there is no impact on high school and this is the only Middle School adjustment we are proposing so here we're talking about zone two and the rebalance of a number of our Southern elementary schools East East Lake Diamond path Highland and Shannon Park our goal here is to balance enrollment and alleviate overcrowding from East Lake Elementary a theme of the questions and comments for Zone 2 was for students who are current third and fourth graders being able to finish their Elementary time at their existing school because of this feedback we are proposing a transportation transition plan for our current third and fourth graders who will be fourth and fifth grade next year to allow them to stay at their existing schools if they wish to do so this plan would Impact Zone 2 only where there are students who are moving from an existing school to another existing school if a family with a current K through second grade student wishes to stay at their current building they may apply through the interdistrict transfer process Transportation would not be provided and acceptance would be based on capacity however based on community feedback we're recommending prioritizing any families that are impacted by the attendance area shifts who complete the intradistrict transfer form this is also part of Zone 2 in this Pro in this proposal Diamond path would be moving away from its Magnet School designation Diamond path was originally configured as a magnet school however unlike our other magnet schools it was not a racially identifiable school it became a magnet school because of its International Studies theme Diamond path will continue that instructional theme however in moving away from the magnet school status we will phase out transport transporting students from outside of the School's attendance areas with this attendance area rebalancing Diamond path's attendance area increases so it will have more students from its neighborhood stabilizing its enrollment Diamond path will maintain capacity for interdistrict transfers or open enrollment based on its International Studies theme if you recall from the previous Slide the current attendance area is 380 four and the proposed attendance area would have 578 students in the long run this reduces overall Transportation cost saving between $400 and $600,000 a year there would be no other changes to magnet programming so again questions here specifically related to Diamond path Elementary uh in our proposal Diamond path keeps its theme of international studies but moves away from its magnet designation meaning we would move away from providing magnet transportation to Diamond path so that's providing transportation to the students living outside their attendance area a community feedback theme specific to Diamond path was similar to in other areas the ability to stay in school in the school because of their International Studies theme for Diamond path the transition process we're proposing would be the same as the rest of Zone 2 we are proposing a transportation transition plan for current third and fourth graders who will be fourth and fifth grade next year to allow them to stay at Diamond path if they wish to do so if a family with a current K through 2 grader wishes to stay at Diamond path they may apply through the in District transfer process Transportation would not be provided and acceptance would be based on capacity however based on community feedback we recommend prioritizing any families who are impacted by the attendance area shifts who complete the interdistrict transfer form all right we believe this proposal has a number of comprehensive benefits for our district IT addresses overcrowding at both Rosemount Elementary and East Lake Elementary The Proposal also stabilizes enrollment at multiple elementary schools we protect current Early Learning space in the elementary schools for example East Lake has two rooms that were specifically designed for Early Childhood programming however because of their overcrowding these rooms are currently being used for K5 programming under this plan those rooms would be used for they originally designed for early childhood and then lastly we believe this proposal allows us to have improved resource allocation across all impacted areas and on our communication plan and next steps are shown on this slide so we're bringing our final recommendations to the board this evening for board action by November 15th All Families impacted by the attendance area adjustments will receive messaging notifying them of the final decision and providing information related to the intradistrict transfer process and deadlines December 15th is a priority deadline for interdistrict transfer forms to be completed families can continue to complete these forms after December 15th however the 15th is our priority deadline where families impacted by the attendance area adjustments would receive preference families who completed the interdistrict transfer form prior to the 15th would be notified of approval by December 30th and then the Elementary Magnet School application closes on January 3rd the state is important for families who are applying for any of our magnet schools other than Diamond path at this time I would be happy to take any questions you may have thank you this is an action item for us tonight so before we move into questions is there a motion to approve the proposal for new attendance areas as presented move approval second motion by Jackie seconded by Leah are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members Jackie I would really just like to thank you for this complete report it's never easy to move people from one school to another and that's a good thing they don't want to move because you love your school do you love Shannon park or Red Pine or wherever you've been and that's a good thing but you've done such a nice job here when you start looking at your guiding principles that you started with your keep keeping neighborhoods together you're allowing room for growth in the schools when you're moving people continuous boundaries natural boundaries transportation for efficiencies consideration of feeder schools into the secondary secondary attendance we wouldn't want that one little poor little square of kids going to over there when they should be going over over Rosemont with their rest of their school people and hearing to state and federal guidelines I think you've done just a really nice job and it makes a difference in an elementary school if there's 9133 kids or if there's 355 kids it just makes a huge difference for all those little bodies so I think you've done a really nice job I will support this and just thank you g you gave families voice we heard what they were saying you gave them some choice and I think this is really a smart move yeah thank you for that I appreciate that and that that's definitely something we heard through our community feedback sessions is that people are really connected to and love their schools yeah Y and that's good we don't want them to say oh good I can finally get out of that school any other questions or comments from board members um I just want to say I noticed a few changes that seem to be um from Community uh Community uh involvement and I really appreciated seeing those especially the prioritizing of transfer applications in District transfer I think that's a great idea um if anyone is out there that window is currently open now correct so there's families watching they could even apply tonight if they wanted yeah so in fact that as we've been talking to the community we've been encouraging to fill this out uh in the event that this does pass so to date we have about 91 of those applications already accounted for and filled out so yes people can fill them out right now excellent thank you all right we have a motion to approve the proposal for the new attendance areas as presented by Jackie seconded by Leah all those in favor of the motion please say I those opposed motion carries on a 40 vote thank you very much all right that brings us now to our new business portion of our agenda I'd like to welcome Shelley Munson to the podium to go over 2025 26 school calendar good evening chairperson Johnson members of the board and superintendent balani I'll be referring to the proposed school calendar for the 2025 26 school year this planning calendar was developed and reviewed by district and building administrators and representatives of Dakota County United Educators and shared with parent leaders for their feedback the calendar you're looking at is our planning calendar we'll provide a calendar specifically for families to clearly identify school days once the C calendar is approved I want to highlight some characteristics of the proposed calendar for you um this calendar would continue the recommendation made by task force last year and approved by the board for three additional professional development days for teachers to provide adequate time for the extensive teacher professional development related to the district's transition to structured literacy as required by the re act the district will continue the transition to structured literacy in 2025 26 with professional development for secondary and other identified teachers requiring approximately 45 hours of training these additional days also allow for needed professional learning for our staff to support the implementation of other new curriculum in multiple subjects with our students at the elementary and secondary levels this aligns with our district 196 strategic priority of achievement of strengthening and aligning curriculum and instructional practices across all classrooms to improve student outcomes and staff efficacy uh similar to our current school year middle school and high school students will have two school days prior to Labor Day our secondary students have two more days in their school year than our elementary students this allows for a calendar where all grades kindergarten through 12th grade finish school on the same date in the first week in June we'll continue to have a student assessment day for elementary students prior to Labor Day with the first regular school day for grades um kindergarten through fifth grade on September 2nd winter break would be for eight days of no school for students and school term staff but connected to that break School term or teaching staff would have two professional development days really a data um analysis instructional alignment day and a professional development day this provides for two full weeks of break for our students during that time spring break continues to be the first or to be the last full week in March and the last day of school would be June 4th as we look ahead the calendar committee would like to seek some input from stakeholders and explore more options for the next calendar the 2026-27 before bringing that calendar proposal to you at a future meeting so tonight uh on behalf of administration I recommend that you would approve the 2025 6 school calendar at your next board meeting on December 9th and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have thank you at this time are there any questions or comments from the audience good job seeing none questions or comments from board members sounds good we look forward to seeing you on December 9th thank you thank you um next I'd like to welcome Rachel Hughes to the podium to go over 2025 26 Middle School and High School course revisions thank you is it yes it is thank you all right good evening chairperson Johnson members of the board and superintendent bosomi I'm here this evening to present an overview of the proposed Middle School and High School course revisions for the 2526 school year thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight I'm excited to present the proposed courses offerings for the upcoming school year and demonstrate how these proposals align with the district's 196 strategic priority of student achievement as well as aligning with our district Vision engaging students with opportunities in academics arts and Athletics or otherwise known as our AAA philosophy this presentation is a part of an annual cycle to share how our collaborative efforts results in a wide range of course offerings for our students our course revisions each year reflect the story of what is happening in education at the local state and National levels many factors shape the proposed course changes each year one key factor is the academic content standards developed by the Minnesota Department of Education school districts are responsible for integrating these standards into specific courses and ensuring alignment across the curriculum while the standards themselves may not always change where and how the content is taught might shift an example of this is personal finance we currently have this course in place and with the new legislation we are realigning our current class to include the standards that mde has established additionally courses May occasionally be restructured or renamed to better aligned with updated content or reflect changes in academic standards one area we continue to enhance is providing opportunities for our students to earn college credit while receiving High School Credit by taking College in the schools advanced placement and other dual credit options these courses continue to help our parents and our district save tuition dollars and engage our students to be College ready for the 25 26 school year we are excited to continue expanding our college credit opportunities with the proposed edition of psychology 1110 introduction to psychology at Apple Valley High School this course will provide students with transferable college credit from Normandale Community College additionally our collaboration with Normandale enables us to off offer an introduction to teaching courses at our high schools which also results in college credit these programs not only enrich our students academic experience but also lay a strong foundation for a seamless transition to college in addition to expanding oops here we go in addition to expanding college credit opportunities we are also focusing on providing diverse career preparation pathways for students who plan to enter the for Workforce directly after high school by offering specialized programs and Partnerships we are aligning with emerging work Workforce needs developing essential career Readiness skills and addressing student interests for the 25 26 school year examples include a new web design and development course at Rosemont High School along with the introduction of a level three American Sign Language elective which has gain remarkable popularity building on student interest Eastview is prop proposing a Spanish six course as well expanding their elected offerings with the addition of Yoga 2 Egan high school and Eastview have course proposals focusing on leadership which aligns with our District's mission of educating developing and inspiring our students for lifelong success in addition there's a proposal for a new Career and Technical education course advanced welding for our high school students and at the middle level Valley Middle School of stem creating a pathway to high school in science Technology and Engineering by offering Advanced Fab Lab 3D printing and Fab Lab design further supporting students and gaining Hands-On skills for high demand careers all of these amazing courses proposals begin with a dedication of our teachers and administrators their collaborative efforts with instruction achievement lay the groundwork for developing these programs the entire process is Thoroughly reviewed and approved by our cabinet culminating in your final approval in December you can see on the detailed course list in your board packet a number of new courses are proposed to be added and many courses are renamed or restructured at this time I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have thank you for your time this evening thank you at this time are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members oh I do go ahead Jackie I'll just keep talking here tonight I like how these these have been set out um I think we've talked about this before and I love it when you can look at this class that's being added the one I have pulled up right now is Fab Lab design and that's an advanced Fab Lab in 3D printing and a lot of them are involved around leadership but you've got the rationale you've got the established goals you've got the essential question what are kids going to be able to learn and know out of this what is this understanding what are what will students know how and understanding of what students will be able to do and I think it really helps kind of cement that in your head when you're reading these this is what we're doing it's not just oh well we've got a Fab Lab in here and you can make some stuff but you can go through and look and how you design how do you how do you use design how do you use cab software lab how do you do how do you create a 3D and so every and every class like that is is run through and very structured so it's really easy to see what we're adding so the some of the classes are just our teachers are always amazing you know when we're now we're looking at Spanish 6 another College in the school so we can get kids get dual credit leadership classes the the on um from our fact teacher in in um East viiew High School she's got a lot of kids doing a lot of amazing things and she was just here um I lost her name Mia Henderson Mia Henderson and she's got a lot of ones in here too that we've talked about we talked about with her before so congratulations to everybody I mean nice job it keeps our our curriculum fresh as we keep moving on and meeting our students needs thank you we have some great teachers and schools that are supporting all the great works I agree there's some fun classes out there other questions or comments from the board I remember for many years on the board um whenever this this agenda this agenda item comes up every year and I still remember Joel Albright saying every year this is my favorite agenda item ever and it's quickly becoming one of mine too so absolutely love seeing how just just the diversity of courses here that we're offering everything from physical education to college in the schools which actually save our families money and postsecondary education um to trades courses um to web development I mean there's just so much in here and I know that some of these uh courses that we do might only be at uh might be only available at one school right now but depending on the success we have with it then you can easily expand it to other schools um love seeing that as well so just uh a great agenda item I look forward to this every year now as well to see how we're evolving to meet the needs of our students and I think this is another um great way to show that so I look forward to welcoming you back on December 9th for the second reading thank you chair Johnson thank you all right that brings us to the other action portion of our agenda and I would like to welcome Danny duen and Jamie faay to the podium to go over our fiscal year 2023 Financial audit weird good evening chair Johnson Su superintendent bony members of the school board and our district 196 Community District administration is pleased to present the district 196 annual Financial audit for the 2023 24 fiscal year the fiscal year 24 audit includes a clean unmodified ifed audit opinion tonight's presentation will also Note One process Improvement opportunity related to Child Nutrition direct certification eligibility of which our nutrition services team has already addressed assuming board approval tonight the audit documentation including in the board packet will be posted on the district's Finance website later this week before introducing tonight's presenter from the audit firm ID Bailey I'd like to take just a brief moment to thank a few individuals and departments who are instrumental in completing this audit as you know the audit is a monthlong Expedition that requires many hours of planning collaboration and execution across many departments within our district a special thank you goes out to Christopher onyango robshaw Director of Finance and operations Adam Lloyd controller and kib woods manager of financial systems reporting and compliance for their leadership and teamwork on various components of the audit we'd also like to extend a thank you to other individuals and departments across the district who helped pull documentation answer a lot of questions sometimes answer those questions again and again and again and providing the important guidance and context to our team as well as our Auditors finally our finance team would like to extend a great big thank you to Jamie and her team from M Bailey for their work and their partnership during this audit season at this time it's my pleasure to introduce Jamie Fay partner at I Bailey to present the district 196 20232 24 annual Financial audit thanks Danny good evening chairperson Johnson school board members and superintendent bosani uh as Dany said I am Jamie Fay I am an audit partner with the firm IID Bailey uh my team is physically located in Mano Minnesota but we do a number of our um audits remotely so we kind of work from anywhere so tonight we're going to talk about the year-end financial statements for June 30 2024 so when I say this year that's what I mean it's July 1st 2023 through June 30 2024 um so when we come in and do our audit we do a number of procedures we do um kind of planning procedures we do normal procedures we do an unpredictable procedure every year and that's all required by the standards um so this year our unpredictable procedure looked a little bit at some payroll processes we just picked a couple things um that we've been seeing in in some schools around the country um did some procedures nothing to note there so any of the findings we will come up with um or we would talk about in this presentation uh but nothing out of that procedure so first and foremost the first question I get when um we get talking about the audit is what did you do what is your what is our opinion so when you hire ID Bailey to do an audit you hire us to come in and test a handful of transactions to recalculate a few things um and to really take a sample of what the district is doing to give an opinion on if the financial statements are materially accurate or not the financial statements are 167 pages so if you want you go ahead and read those you let me know if you want to chat through but we're just going to go through a few slides here to give you kind of the high level I know not everyone loves numbers as much as myself and the finance team um so the as Danny said the district received a clean unmodified opinion what that means is the financial statements are materially accurate I just like to point that out because that does not mean that we recalculated every single transaction it does not mean we tied things to the penny it means that we looked at a sample we had a materiality threshold and everything looked good from that standpoint the second piece of the audit is the financial or the federal audit so you get a financial statement audit which is over the district's kind of normal operations general fund community service those types of things then if if governments expend more than $750,000 of federal money you have to have this separate audit a lot of times it's called a single audit or a federal audit um so we give an opinion on that as well so we um we gave the district an unmodified opinion on that as well this year we looked at the essr dollars and the Child Nutrition dollars so that made up about 65% of the district's um total 27.9 million in federal Awards there so once we talk about the opinions you have clean unmodified opinions that's what you want that's what you've gotten in the past the second question I always get is what were our findings what do you have to tell us so as far as findings for the financial statement audit we had no findings to report there which is great news uh with the federal award audit that that specific Federal audit as Danny alluded to there was one uh finding that we came up with in the Child Nutrition it's really the food service there was an improper eligibility really it was a data input error from a a certification report uh a student was input incorrectly in terms of if they would get free meals or not uh it was selected as part of our testing and so we we um walked through that with the district it did not seem to be a widespread issue it was only we only found one instance of it in the 60 transactions we looked at um and we talked about it with the district at length they have already worked on implementing some changes there so um definitely um nothing that we saw as widespread if there was anything that was material we would need to modify an opinion over that so I'd like to clarify that and then the last piece in terms of findings is the state auditor's office in Minnesota requires us to test a certain number of um State statutes and making sure that our governments are in compliance there we noted nothing that we needed to report there which is great news as well so now we're going to look at some numbers and I've put them in graphs and colors so hopefully um you can get some value out of that so first and foremost cash and Investments there's not a right or wrong number here this is just to show you where the district's cash and Investments have been for the last 5 years this is the district overall it does exclude any cash held with f Fiscal Agent or Bond or building construction cash really because those dollars are being set aside for construction or payoff of a loan in the future um so this is where the district's cash is at at the end of 2024 it's uh 232 million so then we'll talk about the general fund so the district has a number of funds the general fund seems to be where we focus the most amount of time because that's kind of the most of the operations so first and foremost the one thing that drives the general fund operations is adms average daily membership student count um we take this number uh and work through a number of different tests along with alongside of this number um and you can see the fluctuation in The Last 5 Years is really pretty small for the district so just a little bit up and down here and there um so pretty consistent the next page this one's the all numbers page so bear with me I know it's small um but in summary this is looking at the budget of the general fund compared to what really happened and then on the far right there's a variance column to say how do we do compared to where we budgeted so for revenues you had about 56 million of revenues that actually came in that is about 10 million more than you had budgeted which we like to call conservative budgeting meaning you budgeted a little bit less than you actually got um that's only 2% of the total budget so very very close there and then for expenditures um total of about 495 million for expenditures for the general fund that's only a 8% variance from the budget um spent a little bit less than you budgeted which again is also conservative budgeting you're budgeting a little more for expenditures than you actually had which is pretty common from what we see in Minnesota first school districts all of that comes down to um at the end of the day a change in the fund balance of a positive of about 20 million there's a few other financing sources and uses there's a couple in there that are accounting based items for different um lease type Arrangements um but all in all an increase in the fund balance for the general fund of about 20 million so at the end of the day the fund balance in the general fund is about 112 million that's a big number so we'll look at that in a little different breakdown in a couple slides but that's where they at that's where we're at for the general fund so when we talk about that number why do we want to have that positive fund balance number one it contributes to a favorable Bond rating so if you're going to go out for bonds you get a lower interest rate if you have a good rating in order to get that similar to how personal finances work you got to have something on reserve um number two it produces some investment income for the district so you've got some money set aside you can invest that and and kind of utilize some of those working capital needs and then third and I would probably argue most importantly is that it offers a cushion for the district if there is something like a global pandemic so you've got a little bit there that you can utilize so I there's a number of ways that you can kind of analyze fund balance but really wanting to make sure you're comfortable as a school board with what that cushion looks like there's a number of categories also with fund balances um so I'm not going to go into too much detail on these but I just want to point out that there are a number of categories that go into that number and we'll talk about the details of those on the next page um but a couple of them the district has control over what they are and a couple couple of them the district doesn't really have any control over so this is I apologize there's a second number page this is also a number page so this is again the general fund uh so this is that 112 Million number broken down into those different categories so the top line is called nonspendable in accounting terms that is required to be equal to things like prepaids and inventory so the district doesn't have a lot of control over what that number is we just have to have that there um next is a number of categories under the restricted um title there's about 339 million there in restricted what that means is you have gotten a revenue Source from an outside party that is legally restricted to be used on something typically this is a lot of times um dollars from mde or from the state of Minnesota or from a federal government or something like that um so things like capital projects levies safe schools levies that's all restricted um so that is set aside you will spend that at a later date on those specific restrictions the next category is called a assigned there's about 26 million sitting in the assigned numbers there's three different categories there these categories are really the ones that the district has a little bit of control over what they want to put in there I know the the finance department we chatted a lot about these numbers they put a lot of thought into what these numbers should be so at the end of the day landed at about 26 million there and then the unassigned number is really at the end of the day kind of what's left in there so about 69 million is left in that unassigned number which sounds like a big number and again we'll analyze it with a little bit of a percent in another couple pages but I just wanted to break down the numbers for you the next slide is that same kind of breakout this is for the Last 5 Years just so you can see where the district is compared to where the district's been overall you can see that there is that jump that we talked about um there's a jump in a couple of the categories um not a huge significant shift in any of the categories um but just kind of moving up the ladder so when we look at that number the first question I always get is well what are we supposed to have just tell me what to have and we'll put it in there um really there isn't a right or wrong answer to that the only guidance we have found is from a national government Finance Officers Association so what I like to point districts to is their policy the district has a policy of a minimum unassigned fund balance no less than 5% of your annual operating expenditures so that's what the district has put in place that number can be looked at if you think ah we've got some big projects we want to kind of bump that up that that policy can be revised um I do have a number of districts that kind of look at that and kind of do a gut check we have a conversation with the finance office every year hey did you make any changes yes no um let's take a look at that um for perspective 5% is about a half of a month of expenditures so this is the this is the slide that's going to show you kind of that breakdown so the red line on here is that 5% so this um this graph is showing you what the unrestricted and unassigned fund balances are as a percentage of general fund expenditures for the year um so you can see the blue and the green U there's a little bit of a difference in whether the assigned numbers are included or not um so you can see you are above your minimum so for 2024 you had 19.2 and 13.8 and you can see you've been above that minimum for the five years um in the past so that is the general fund for the rest of the pages we're going to look at some of the other funds of the district kind of the big ones that we really talk about um the first one is the community service fund this is the ending fund balance for the community service fund went from about 3.9 million in 2023 up to about 4.2 million in 2024 the next one is Food Service fund so this went from about 7.9 million up to about 10.2 there is an extra red line on this one this extra red line is mde has said that you have to have a there's a maximum there's a cap on what you can have in this fund balance that has been a challenge for districts ever since um really since 2020 since Co hit because there are requirements on how much you need to charge for meals there is federal fun funding coming in there's a lot of restrictions on how you can use this money um so staying below that threshold I have seen really challenging for a number of my Minnesota districts and really all it means is you got to work with mde let them know yep we're we notice it um and they'll work back and forth with the district um on that number but we just like to put it on there so you're just aware of that because it is in a state statute the district does have a couple other funds that relate to some construction and debt but those really aren't operational in terms of you know the general fund and kind of the day-to-day um so that is all the graphs I have and with that I will take any questions that you have this time are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members zoten just wanted to say thank you for the report that you give us it's always good to have a clean audit report it tells us that we're doing something right and uh but I'm just curious I know that we've been maintaining that that assigned Reserve which has been in discussion is before with some of internally on the sidelines we have been talking as well as a board to that 5% uh minimum to have on reserve which is then with the inflation everything given and the large projects that we have you said that's a a month recommendation on personal level at least you need to have ring fund of three months something like that so that you could sustain you mentioned other district and mean I think now is like 12.4 16 with the you know GFA recommends what is the recommendation or the go around nowadays on other districts on our level sure so there really isn't a recommendation it really has to do with how each district operates I have some District districts that want that number to be really high because they want it to be a stretch goal that they're reaching towards and they want people to know that it's important that they get there eventually I have other districts that set that policy really low because they never ever ever want to go below it and if they go below it they make hard cuts um I have other districts that kind of put a range in place and they say hey we want to kind of be in here and as long as we're in here we're good um and it it really depends on the life cycle of each district every District spends their dollars differently so that's kind of non-answer answer but it really really depends by each specific District on how they operate okay thank you yeah absolutely thank you any other questions or comments from the board thank you all right with that I would like to say thank you to the district thank you to the finance department um as Danny alluded to a little bit the Auditors come in and we shake things up and we ask a lot of questions and it takes a long time and we really appreciate their diligence with it and um getting us to the Finish Line excellent before you leave is there a motion to approve the audit um um as presented still moved thank you second motion by sodin second by Jackie all those in favor of approving the audit say I I those opposed motion carries on a 4 zero vote thank you so much thank you all right next up under other action I would like to welcome Jill Coyle to the podium to go over policy 502 student transfers good evening chairperson Johnson members of the board and superintendent Bon I am before you tonight with other action with policy 502 student transfers so earlier tonight you approve certain Elementary boundary adjustments these boundary adjustments may result in some students seeking to stay at their current schools and uh utilize the interdistrict transfer application process policy 502 as written is Broad enough to cover such transfer applications with the exception of the two years of Transportation eligibility for certain qualifying students specifically third and fourth graders current third and fourth graders in zone 2 so the proposed edit of policy 502 can be found in section 3.6.3 of the policy which covers Transportation due to boundary adjustments the change is simply to add a reference to tonight's November 4th board action regarding the Elementary boundary adjustments um minor updates were also made to the references section and a couple of typos were caught and changed while we were at it um so while I'm here with these very small changes to policy 502 I also wanted to take a moment to to note for the board and the audience that we're not here with new business and old business as is typical with policy changes it's here with just one reading as other action and so that is something that we're able to do in certain circumstances and the four circumstances in which we can do it with one reading rather than two would be situations in which a law change requires us to make a change it's not the case here uh we can also do it when there's emergency circumstances such that we need to make a change right away uh we can do it for very routine types of um uh ordinary changes and then we can do it when it's deemed necessary to act just once uh as determined by the board chair and superintendent so here I think we've got three out of four right uh the timeliness here is the um interdistrict transfer application process is open now until mid December so we'd like to get this little change made sooner rather than later and then it is a very small change quite routine and there is the recommendation of the superintendent and the board chair to do it in one so while I was here I thought I'd do a little birdwalk and give you that background so you're not wondering why is she doing it just once instead of twice um with that uh you do have the board uh the proposed changes before you to policy 502 it is an action item tonight for your approval happy to answer any questions thank you and before we go into questions is there a motion to approve good I heard a motion by Leah seconded by Jackie correct all right are there any questions or comments from the audience see none questions or comments from board members no thank you very much as you said pretty routine and timely so there is a motion by Leah seconded by Jackie all those in favor of approval say I I those opposed motion carries on a 4 Zer vote thank you very much thank you that brings us almost to the agend the end of our long agenda tonight I will turn it over to superintendent Bon for superintendent updates okay thank you chair Johnson as part of our district goals this year we are scheduling a series of board reports related to our district strategic priorities and tonight at your tables I'm providing a proposed schedule of those reports as agreed to on during our goal setting meeting which occurred earlier this year these reports cover specific implementation plans that support our four strategic priorities which are achievement Equity well-being and resources please review this list of reports and let us know if you have any questions or see any gaps we have an ambitious agenda for this upcoming year and I have been talking with chair Johnson about the possibility of scheduling two meetings per month beginning in January and we look forward to spending time with the board to both inform and monitor our most important priorities on a lighter note last week I was able to see the Apple Valley High School's performance of Sister Act and I would encourage all members of the public uh our staff and the board to attend uh this week there are shows on Friday and Saturday I'm continually impressed and also inspired by our talented students tickets are still available for this weekend's performance and just a quick reminder that we are in the application window for parents and Guardians who are interested in applying to have their child attend a magnet school and district 196 for next year the deadlines to submit applications are December 15th for Valley Middle School of stem December 20th for the school Environmental Studies and January 3rd for Elementary Magnet Schools the Elementary magnet schools are hosting events this month for people who want to learn more and for more information and links to the applications please go to district196.org magnet schools thank you that ends my report for tonight there any board members with they'd like to share just another thumbs up for Sister Act at Apple Valley High School it was great it was super good so so make sure you go get tickets fantastic and I just wanted to share real briefly that just reminder for anyone that's been following along we do have two um board vacancies that the board will be working to fill after the election tomorrow that's your other reminder to not to forget to vote if you haven't done so already um that application will again be open next week for anyone interested in apply to be a member of the school board um and for more information you can go to the district 196 website for information and I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge on November that next Monday November 11th is Veterans Day please make sure to thank a veteran also this is one of those um random uh uh Mondays of Veterans Day where we actually don't have kids in the classroom but a lot of our Veteran Day activities are going to be taking place in the schools on November 12th the following day so thank you with that that brings us to the end of our agenda is there a motion to adjourn so moved second motion by Jackie second by Leah all those in favor of adjournment say I I I those opposed we are adjourned until Monday December 9th [Music]