##VIDEO ID:7L_Z3K7bt5A## good evening and welcome to the meeting of the regular meeting of the St Peter School Board it is Monday December 16th 2024 6:30 p.m. St Peter Community Center Governor's room we will call the meeting to order first item up is the Pledge of Allegiance I FL of the United States of America stands na indivisible and we need to consider and adopt the agenda in front of us and also in our board book packet make a motion to approve the agenda I'll second we have a motion in a second all those in favor signify by saying I I I oppose same sign motion carries agenda is adopted Kimberly do we have any requests to speak not received thank you uh our first item up is the truth and Taxation presentation Miss Gracia good evening evening all right uh the truth and Taxation presentation will be on board book we do not have printed copies for you um but you should have access to that within the online version of your packets so we are required to do our truth and Taxation presentation every year there are certain date and time requirements that we have to adhere to so we follow those guidelines the county bylaw is required to send out property tax statement and then we do have to talk about the levy that will be calendar year 2025 we have to go over our 2425 budget and then we have to allow a an opportunity for public comment and question separate from what we just um went through before so um Turn the page so earlier in September we certified our preliminary Levy um in December then we are here to certify our final Levy and then these taxes we certify in the fall these taxes will be collected in the calendar year 2025 and it will serve as revenue for our 25 26 or our fiscal 26 school year um there are a number of factors that go into setting your school property tax the legislature and the government um they can decide different Equalization factors they can decide different rates for the revenue calculations um as part of statute so that goes into the calculation County Assessors look at the valuations of homes so obviously if your home value goes up or down that's going to change your property tax calculation the school board can make a number of decisions um first could approve something like the IQ um bond that we have so that would impact also on the on the flip side we could decide to under Levy um in certain components if we chose to so that would impact your property taxes and then voters for something like men the middle obviously if they approve something like that that would show up and impact your property taxes as well so um just as a as a summary we talked about it in September but there are 39 pages of Levy calculations and over 50 Aid and Levy categories that get calculated so it is very complex um and the calculations are done on two different tax bases so there is referendum market value that only looks at a few calculations um but it looks set all properties equally with the exception of agricultural land and then um seasonal wck like cabin properties then there's also calculations that are done on net tax capacity so that looks at all Parcels of land but they're treated a little bit differently based on what class they are so all of those 50 calculations are run on one of those two um tax bases and then when you get your tax statement they're going to be summarized into things that are voter approved or things that are considered an other category so as we discussed in September um there was a slight change from the September Levy it wasn't very significant but our 24 pay 25 Levy is increasing by 2.25 million or 29.41% um and we'll go over in future in subsequent Pages we'll go over what leads into that increase um the bottom page is what we've looked at previously in September it looks at the market value of St Peter School District so the market value in St Peter is going up by 12.7% referendum market value and net tax capacity are also both increasing the big thing to keep in mind with these increases is that as our market value is increase if our student numbers stay the same or decrease our property wealth per pupil goes up so it when they run their calculations there are a number of things that look at Aid and Levy if our property wealth per pupil increases we receive less aid from the state and we have to Levy our taxpayers more nothing that we can control but that's that's the name of the game so in this instance because we have our property values increasing and our student numbers staying relatively stable um we are losing out on any of those Aid components and being forced to Levy all of it um to get that Revenue so our current Levy is split between three categories general fund is 45% Community Education is 1% and debt service is 53% that's makeup of our our 24 pay 25 Levy um the next three pages just really look at what goes into that 29% increase so for the general fund there are some three larger categories that make up that increase so like I mentioned our property wealth per pupil is increasing so one of the things that we Levy for is local optional Revenue um that's where we receive $724 uh per pupil we have we have uh excuse me we receive Aid on L but because our property wealth per pupil is going up that Aid portion is going down the revenue itself doesn't change but because the aid goes down then our corresponding Levy goes up so you'll see an increase there we have three years that have an adjustment so as part of the levy process there's a three-year adjustment period for different categories so for unemployment career and Tech education and OPB um what we entered on a previous Levy was either over or under levied and so as they get our actual expenses through eup fars they'll make adjustments there so you'll see three prior year adjustments for different categories like I said it was unemployment Career Tech and OPB that were our largest adjustments that played in on this Levy and then the last thing is the ltfm bond so with this Levy we're having our first debt payment come in for the new IAQ and deferred maintenance as part of that for the ltfm we do receive revenue from the state for ltfm when you have an ltfm Bond though a portion of that Revenue then goes to help pay your um the bond it helps goes to help make your bond payments so because that revenue is getting shifted we have to Levy more to maintain our Revenue again not something that we choose to do it's just part of the calculation that mde does so those are some of the changes that are impacting the G general fund if you turn the page then we have community service which is seeing virtually um very small increase so we don't have anything to discuss there but then the largest part of the levy um that is increasing 1.8 million of our 2.2 million um is The Debt Service so again our IQ are deferred maintenance and our men the middle so we when we Levy we have to Levy for our bond payment our principal and interest and 5% extra um make up for any taxpayers that don't pay their taxes um and then they even that out every year through calculations that they do um but that is making up 81% of our $2.2 million increase so those are some of the different components that are going into that if you look on the next page we have a five-year Levy comparison for both the general fund Community Education and Debt Service you'll see just visually how much that debt service number is jumping up this year um again equating to to 81% of our increase so this next slide is what we are asking that you would propose uh the resolution that you would make so our total proposed tax levy if you were to Levy for the full amount tonight um would be 9,924 2016 even um so before I go on are there any questions that I can answer on the levy portion of it okay I'm going to keep going if you come up with anything please let me know like I said we also as a component of the statute we do have to discuss our budget for 2425 as well all of the information that's in our truth and Taxation presentation is based on our budget that was approved last spring so last month Dr Olson shared a quarterly fund balance tracker and we have continual updates that we've been making but for the sake of this presentation is what you approved last spring because it's the last board approved budget that we had available um so just keep that in mind as you look at these numbers um the first slide here is our fy2 budget you'll see Revenue at the top expenses at the bottom the only fund that we don't have included in here is our Insurance Fund for health and dental um but we have our general fund Food Service ComEd Debt Service and then scholarships so as you can see we have quite a few deficits across the board in our initial um preliminary adopted budget with our general fund being uh 400,000 we have since like I said made changes uh recalculated our numbers with a number of different components but at the time that was the budget that we had approved if you look at our Revenue by sources this is for all of our funds not just general fund um close to 70% of our Aid comes from state aid the levy which is the component remember this is so the levy the 7.6 million is the levy that we have had approved last year for this fiscal year that we're in right now makes up 19% then we have miscellaneous Revenue as well as federal aid if you compare that to the Statewide average you'll see on the bottom um we're trending in line with all of those categories I will say one thing to keep in mind is the Statewide average numbers um are based as of fiscal year 23's final data that's what we had most readily available and so um the federal sources on the Statewide level are a little bit higher than ours mostly because of covid dollars um people are using a lot of that where our column is the 25 numbers that we're looking at for this year so that Federal number will probably come down otherwise in most categories we're pretty aligned with the Statewide average in terms of where our revenue is coming from um and then we also look at both revenues and expenditures by fund obviously our general fund is our largest makes up 80 to 82% but depending on if you're looking at revenue or expenditures and you'll see that both revenue and expenses by fund are pretty similar um when you look at chunks of the pie so like I said general fund is 82% of our Revenue followed by our debt service then food service ComEd and down to give some requests very similar split on the expenditure side as well with our general fund making up that largest chunk at $81 % and then our other funds going down from there um if we something that we just wanted to draw attention to our general fund expenditures so 76% of our general fund expenditures are salaries salaries infringe benefits uh we are a a service of people that is where all of our a lot of our expenses lie um the next line down utilities travel and repairs is at 16% that would also include contracted services so if we contract for Tech technology um our mvet expenses are included in that number as well and you can see supplies and equipment are at 4% each and with a total of 33 million in expenses for the general fund the next slide is just a pictoral representation of that same um information again as you can see salaries and expenses making up 3/4s of that that fund Bal that fund expenses um we do have we did include two pages from the budget that that you have seen before um I'm not going to go over it because it's the same information we just discussed but we wanted to keep it in here so that you had something that you had previously seen a summary of that same information um and then I did include the quarterly fund balance tracker that Dr Olson had talked about last month um I'm not sure I wasn't at that meeting so I'm not sure what discussion there was around that but if you had any other questions about the quarterly fund balance tracker we can definitely discuss that at this time um the biggest thing to note though is that right now we're anticipating that our 25 unassigned general fund so remember we have unassigned assigned and restricted reserved so just the unassigned portion of the general fund we're estimating will end at 5.8 million with all of the changes that have happened since we last approved our budget um getting to the end um so Ellers puts out what we think is an interesting uh an interesting graph um but they just track if our the dollar amount that we get per pupil if that had kept up with inflation over the last 20 years where would be we be sitting now um what what types of Revenue would be we be looking at so right now if it had kept up with inflation we would be receiving an extra $1,364 per pupil from the state so for fiscal year 25 for this school year alone that equates to over $3 million um again that's if it had kept up with inflation over 20 years but it's just something to note there are reasons why our revenue and expenses are are not always matching um because it's it's really hard when your expenses are increasing by 4% and you're only getting 2% um you know it just an interesting pictoral so um the last thing that bar had included so part of this presentation um M and bar both helped put presentations together and so we incorporated some of the slides that they had provided um they just thought it was very important to remind you that we did have those three bonds that passed again they the principal and interest payments are coming in on this Levy so we had the three components the IAQ the Deferred maintenance and then the men the middle um portions of this Bond and then some of the previous uh debt that we needed to that they wanted to remind you of was the refunding bond um that's coming due this later this year um we have the operating referendum that was passed and um that was the first year that that Revenue was counted in our books was fiscal year 23 and then we had the 2015 bond for the high school so it was a lot of information are there any questions or comments from the board otherwise we can open it up to the public for their questions and comments it's a lot of information but you did a real good job of putting it together um I mean I yes you did a great job putting it together any questions or comments from the board any comments or questions from the public in attendance okay thank you Miss gra and a reminder we will be taking action later in the meeting based on this information that we next up is approval of the consent agenda items the consent agenda is uh filed in the board packet and packing before you maintain a motion to approve second motion and a second any items of discussion from the consent agenda any items we'd like to pull out hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I I oppose same sign consent agenda is approved thank you next up is the student Spotlight our St Peter Middle School student Spotlight is Belle Friedrich she will need to take a quick pop quiz on the truth and Taxation information so go ahead Dr gr did you take notes all right well thanks for having us guys um I have with me tonight Briel Friedrich um Brielle was nominated by her teachers uh very very quickly I said hey seventh grade team looking for somebody for the spotlight and without even taking a breath boom G so very uh highly regarded by by all of the teaching staff at St Peter Middle School um real was our September student of the month um so I just want to read what her teachers wrote about her and as a reminder student of the month uh is a nomination that teachers make each month per uh one student per grade level students that exemplify Saints Pride so here's what was written by about Bon so Belle consistently exemplifies preparedness in her studies always arriving with her materials organized and ready to engage in class discussions her respect for teachers and peers Fosters a positive learning environment making her a role model for others her determination shines through in challenging assignments as she tackles obstacles with resilience and a positive mindset Brielle is also empathetic which allows her to connect with classmates offering support and encouragement um and I would Echo all of those statement by our teachers so got some questions for real tonight just an opportunity for you guys to get to to know her about uh and then at the end we'll open up for questions from you guys and I did offer that she could ask you guys questions but earlier she didn't have any so I you should Pi them up yeah right okay so number one how how has your seventh year grade year been going um my seventh grade year has been going well um um I'm enjoying my classes and I've been able to um be able to like um balance my like academic and my running do you have any uh tips for us in terms of how you balance it all your business I just have to make sure that like I talk to my teachers before like if I have to go or I just got to make sure that I do all my homework or if I'm like Miss class or something very good um do you have a favorite class um my favorite class is probably gym or science um I like gym because I like being active and it's fun and then I like science because I enjoy what we're what we are learning and it's also really fun and that's a a life science class in seventh grade good um so what activities are you involved in and can you share a little bit about your experiences um so I do cross country and then I'm in my basketball season right now and then I plan on doing track in the spring um my cross country season was really fun um the team was really welcoming and it was just really fun being on that team um we made it State for the first time in 25 years this year and that was just a really fun experience um it was also just really like we have a small team but we're also really tight so I think that made it a lot more fun not many seventh graders can say that they compete at that level so congrat Christmas and I was also the only seventh grader so pretty awesome pretty awesome um and then outside of school do you have any hobbies or interests um I like hanging out with my friends a lot going to the pool um during the summer and then I also enjoy reading uh you reading any good books right now um right now I'm reading Twilight which is pretty good so nice team team Edward or Jacob is that what it is yeah I don't dating myself those books were super popular when I was when I was in Middle School that was like a new thing um so long ways away right long ways you got a long time to think about this but uh what what are your future plans um well I'd like to run in college and maybe become a doctor anything like in a special field as a doctor or just um maybe like being a family doctor super cool any colleges picked out yet no not really I hear MSU is a good one that's I and gak gak's okay too yeah that one too awesome well well thank you so much for coming do you guys have any questions for Brielle real I cannot believe you're in seventh grade first off um and I all the questions I was goingon to ask Mr graph asked I was gonna ask you about what activities you were in but are you um I was going to ask though I know that sometimes athletes do two sports have you thought about doing two sports in any season being a pretty athletic person or are you not going to do that probably not okay I was just curious do you know anybody who does that yeah my sister does I didn't know if there was a competitive thing there going on that's what do you run in track um like long distance and mid distance so the 800 mile and two mile impressive very impressive have you talked to your Prin about distance running um I've heard that he is he goes long yeah we haven't had that conversation yet maybe maybe we'll dive into that you might ask if he's available might see if he's available to be a little coaching on the side well congratulations thanks for being here and before we go would you mind uh just introducing who you brought along tonight um yeah my mom and Dad are here Nam um Jenny and Jed hey guys thank you thank you thank congrats y right another impressive St last of meeting yeah it is uh we do not have a student council report tonight um you'll notice that we shifted around information items and action items um tonight and our first informational item is the Native American parent advisory committee updates name is here welcome welcome the floor is yours thanks for being here hi good evening um most of you guys know me my name is shaine I'm the St Peter School District liaison I started last year here with me I have skyen Walker she is our napac Native American parent advisor committee this school Year's um chairperson that who I have with me and she will say a little piece after I do my piece so I guess I'm going to do a little report of what I've been doing um as liaison um well this year I'm kind of tackling that my main focus is like starting kind of like an Indian education program for our students at St Peter um my main focus right now I work with um the south north elementary middle school and high school and this year I'm doing native groups um I do it once a month I I am focusing next year I'm going to do it a little bit more because I am only allow I only allow myself 45 minutes because I have a part-time job in the morning um next year I'm looking to working with students a little bit more or might I don't know I'm thinking more focused as a Lea on next year not as a PA professional um with that said like I said I do cult um Native groups for those schools I work closely with the Native American parent advisory committee we meet once a month second Thursday of the month at the what used to be the inclusion Center at the high school um and we have about nine members nine active members and we just team up team up together and try to focus on what we can do to help our Native American students um you can see us about working every month uh we started off the school year at um nicholet County Fair new this year we went to um Mano and we had booth at the Mano wiii um what else uh we did the indigenous daywalk in October um not a lot of people showed but um those that did show up did get a free t-shirt this year so it was awesome very cold that yeah it was very cold that day um other than that in the future you will see um the graduation feather ceremony on May 9th in on 2024 we 2025 we will have two seniors participating um in four eighth graders yeah um other than that uh we napac and myself had submitted um our federal aid back in October we got it back and we had to do revisions which we sent back on November 27th with a little adjustments and we have not heard back whether we were approve or not we're hoping we do um the great thing about this year is I got a feedback in the um like the towards October and not in the past like when we would have a report back until March so that is a positive thing this year that we got a feedback before November um in that in that application our main focus our goal in the aid is supporting post-se secetary preparation for Native American students um supporting academic achievements in our Native American students our main focus in that area is our attendance rate um new this year we're trying to tackle um incentives for Native American students having I think two or less days in a month for those um third um most importantly is the implementing cultural learning in our Native American students and families and that we just provide Native American Cultural education like this last week we did a flint napping one at the middle school and then in the evening for our parents at the high school um we do have we did have a Tepe painting that was supposed to be coming up next week but um because of conflicts of time we moved it up until sometimes next spring um other than that things you will see from me is probably field trips for Native American students yeah questions for me so is there a middle school coming up a native like a Native American event for e8th grade students um yes that is the indigenous Jo Joy day for middle school and John Warren and John graph are working hard on that it is going to be I think January 24th on a Friday for our eighth grade students excellent hi my name is skyen Walker I'm chairperson for the Native American parent advisory committee um I'm just going to read this nervous it has been encouraging to be involved with napac over the years and to see the changes at St Peter schools we continue to gain the attention of the community for our indigenous people's daywalk and the cultural teachings that happen at our meetings thanks to the aid monies from the Minnesota Department of Education have seen increased increasing attendance by new families that did not previously participate with the support of the district we hope to continue to strengthen our bonds with other indigenous families in the district and to make more positive changes for our students AR leaz has been Been instrumental in connecting with the students on a regular basis and my own son Lucian comes home after her visits called native group so excited to tell me what he did and learn that he jumps around is and is almost screaming he's very excited about that so thank you now one concern that napac has is for the indigenous people's day Minnesota statute section 12842 pertaining to condu conduct on certain holidays now this uh this statute reads that on indigenous people's day at least one hour of the school program must be devoted to observance of the day as part of its observance of indigenous people's day a district May provide professional development to teachers and staff or instruction to students on the following topics the history of treaties between the United States and Indigenous peoples the history of Federal boarding schools for indigenous children indigenous languages indigenous traditional medicines and cultural or spiritual practices the sovereignty of tribal Nations the contributions of indigenous people to American culture literature and Society or current issues affecting indigenous communities it has been brought to our attention that not many teachers did that this year St Peter school's Equity coordinator reached out to teachers and very few responded with feedback on what or how they taught we would like to see a little bit more effort in educating about indigen peoples naac is open to support and guidance if needed in those areas so I with that said I urge the school board and the teachers to continue to ask us questions and to Pro propose new ways to collaborate together um for the betterment of our indigenous students it is my hope that my children can go to school and feel like they belong which is a very different story than what I experienced in the district before Equity inclusion and diversity was thought of or even talked about if our students can all feel included and like they belong it will open up all sorts of new possibilities for them thank you good thank you appreciate that question question concerns I just to comment I know that Mr Warren the equity coordinator has provided a lot of resources on a on a web access for teachers to be able to access so there's a lot of information out there so good thank you thank you all right our next informational item is a review of policy manual re revisions for a first reading Dr OLS so you have in front of you a revised policy 714 which is fund balances uh you're required to review your fund balance goal on an annual basis um the policy has been reviewed by both the business committee and the policy committee at their meetings uh on December uh 11th both committees recommend that there be a change in the fund balance goal uh to move uh the fund fund balance to 8 to 10% or 30 to 36 Days of operating expense uh and that approval requires a change to the minimum fund balance section of policy 714 and in that particular section uh the change would be the the uh district will strive to maintain and that word needs to be added in there a minimum unassigned general fund balance of 8 to 10% of the annual budget or 30 to 36 Days of operating expense that uh change then is a driver for the budget stabilization plan because it sets a target for fiscal year 28 uh and that Target uh even though our fund balance as you saw from Megan's presentation with the truth and Taxation information is up around how many how many days with that 5, 800,000 is that yeah it's like 58 or it's it's more than 60 days so we're well above that but looking at the the stabilization plan this target allows us to stay within that uh without having significant impact of programs and services for for students so the recommendation from both policy committee and business committee is to uh change the fund balance goal which then requires a change in the policy this would be a first reading questions or comments um how many days do we have 60 days is the is the policy now and moving to that percentage and which I know a lot of other schools have always just done percentages yeah I was always curious how because when you go to the School Board Association you listen they always talking percentages so I always kind of curious it's kind of nice to I mean so it's kind of nice to hear it both ways so he and I think as as we've talked and we talked with the business committee we're you know ideally you'd like to have a strong of fund balance uh as you possibly can but with uh all of the things that we're looking at with uh you know declining enrollment increasing expenses inflation uh changes po potentially uh at the federal level for funding for schools uh we think this is a reasonable approach to balancing and stabilizing the the budget over the next three fiscal years I mean I know that we spent many years um working to a 60-day reserve with the the intent of hey rainy days are going to come at some point we can help weather the storm stormy days are here it's raining yeah and we all know this but I just want to say it we can only spend that those dollars one time and they're gone and our problems are annual problems and so um I'm glad that we're working on it um I think this is appropriate just always looking at it from that lens all right well that was the first reading so uh opportunities for feedback before the second reading which would be at our next full board meeting and the policy Review Committee will be meeting in the first week in January I think it's January 8th at 4M okay that was the information items we will move into the action item section action item number one consider a resolution of certification of school district levy for taxes payable in 2025 Miss graa she's back all right time number two with a smile okay I am not going to go over all of the same information because you have WR truth in taxation there are four documents in your board packet um that are related to the levy all of them are what you saw in September just updated for our most current numbers um so again we are asking that you make a resolution to authorize the full 9 92,5 2016 for our 24 pay 25 Levy that will be our 26 Revenue I'll move the resolution all right we have motion I'll second we have a motion in a second for the resolution solution any further discussion discussion discussion discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote this is a resolution so we go around the table M rosbach Mr Russell i m Stewie I I Mr I Mr Dix i m i eyes have it resolution carries uh we certified School District levy for taxes payable in 2025 thank you Megan next up consider resolution establishing combined polling places Dr yeah this is a resolution that you also need to uh adopt on an annual basis it's a change from uh the 2017 Minnesota Legislature whether or not there is an election in the next year you still need to do a resolution combining polling places of course you do have a an election ction uh in November of 2025 and this resolution identifies the polling places as W one Precinct one at the National Guard Armory W two Precinct one at the community center outside the St Peter City Limits at Johnson Hall and outside the state P city limits in lur County at the coda Community Center uh and then uh if you pass this resolution uh or once passed uh we will notify both the Auditors in uh ncka County and lur County of the poll in place resolution I'd recommend your pass the resolution combining polling places for 2025 I move the resolution establishing the combined polling places for 2025 a second we have a motion and a second any fur we no longer use Ed for outside the city liit in County move that to oh nice much more accessible yeah I'm just saying that out loud because I don't know that Chang a long time ago and I'm just wake up I think it's changed the last few the last few elections I don't go there so but but for anybody else that maybe just realized that I think we're able to to change it once the Armory was done with all its REM okay that's why we have to move to JN all right I'm sorry we can go on no that was good question discussion good question discussion any further [Applause] discussion discussion discussion hearing none will'll proceed to vote this is also a resolution so we will go around the table Miss rosbach hi Mr Russell Hi M Stewie I I Mr hi Mr Dixon hi M Mar I resolution carries establishing the combined polling places for 2025 thank you next up consider approval of acceptance of the 2023 2024 [Applause] audit even just partner this time all right well I'm not going to do very much talking I'm gonna leave that up to Tom but again we did not print these because of the multiple pages but you should have them in your board packet on board book um so I'm going to let Tom take it away okay thank you Meg uh yeah I'm Tom Olinger I'm a governmental service partner that's worked with St Peter for several years now so I'll kind of briefly go through the audit results and also uh just kind of some Financial metrics uh as we kind of go through that I'm certainly open to any questions that do come up uh but we we'll kind of get uh get started there um if we turn to page two kind of the overall audit results um we do have an unmodified OP opinion which basically means a clean opinion um we're following Gap and and all the requirements related to that so certainly a clean opinion as part of our audit too we we take a look at is the school following State statutes you have various guidelines between deposits and Investments debt um miscellaneous items conflict of interest and Contracting and Bing um there so um with the Min and also uh with kind of Student Activities and various things like that um so we we did have one Minnesota legal compliance finding which we'll touch touch base there also if the school has over um uh uh 750,000 of federal dollars that the spend we we do have to have a single audit which basically means that we go through um specific guidelines per by a program so in this case we we analyze the Child Nutrition program uh for this year making sure both that there's internal controls in place to to ensure that the the grant is being administered properly and then also that those controls are being followed appropriately according to the grant requirements um on that and so um we kind of as part of that we did have one fin that's kind of uh tied tied to that too so um you know taking a look at the next page on the overall findings uh the couple couple things that I uh that I talked about there um was uh C certainly with the Student Activities on the legal compliance side there were a couple instances as we went through those activities that we found a couple deficits that were within Student Activity accounts um and then the other piece was as part of the process there they have to be a summary of purpose of the of the Student Activities so we take particular groups and do testing on that so there was a couple couple instances where that occurred too we talked to management about it and they're kind of putting into place uh various uh internal controls to kind of make sure that those are are reviewed on a regular basis to make sure that that that is the case um and then also on the on the um internal control finding with the with the single single audit side um was just the overall documentation approval of of of uh the internal controls just making sure that that is in place and we talked to management about that of just making sure that that that's in place too um just a couple other miscellaneous findings that we did have um overall the segregation of Duties um there was one just of just kind of also the approval process of the journal entry side of things so when Journal journal entries are made within the financial system there really should be like kind of a second eyes looking at those uh to just to make sure that they're correct and sign off on that so we just had noted noted that and once again there's steps being taken to to uh Rectify that going forward too um the couple of the other items that we did have preparation of financial statements is pretty common with with school districts there just kind of being aware that we do prepare the financial statements we send a draft to management and go through it with them to kind of make sure that in their eyes everything looks appropriate to what it is but at the end of the day day we do draft financial statements and um we could certainly take a look at that on kind of overall improving that process but at the end of the day it's like we draft financial statements on a regular basis so it's probably in most situations the school district looks at it's more efficient for us to kind of draft the financial statements and do a review than than having Megan trying to get all the notes together and stuff like that so I think as long as that review process is a place where uh that's pretty good too so um and then I think we continue to take a look at the overall segregation of Duties with the food service to see if there's some checks and balances in there uh too so those were a few of the items on the overall findings I um if we note on the next page just the the results from last year um you know some of them were kind of the same there we we were kind of um you know talking about there but I I do think there there is uh Improvement there and what I would also say in the overall audit process too um as far as the journal entries goal there was a lot less journal entries for this year so there was definitely some improvement there and I think just kind of continuing to work with management to improve this uh process is important and I do think uh this year compared to last year was a lot better in the overall process and and I think we're we're making some really good Headway in in that too so um with that any questions related to the findings before I get into the financial uh information here okay um we'll take a look at uh just uh couple a few metrics here uh first of all as I kind of talked a little bit about the average daily membership um we did see a uh you know kind of roughly a a slight de or kind of a decrease when you look back to 2022 the overall trend we've had kind of seen a little bit of a downward Trend there um you know it stayed pretty close to what was there last year but you know kind of taking a look forward you know keeping track of that um as we kind of talk about fund balance it was really great to hear you looking three years ahead on the fund balance I I'm a big proponent of looking forward uh on that because you don't you've seen the numbers come through um you know those expenditures and trying to manage that per per ADM is important to kind of keep that in mind as you move forward because that can be huge shifts in your fund balance and and trying to do that so um that was really encouraging to hear that keep looking looking ahead uh with that and and what that looks like uh taking a look at the general fund budget to actual um uh for this last year we did uh budget a deficit of about a million dollars in that in that uh fund balance um you know the the good news is is we did have a a $1.4 million fund balance increase which which is certainly good which kind of pulled us up to some of those percentages that that we had there but as you were saying That's going to shift the other way again as you kind of move forward if if there's student enrollment dropping also you know we had in the past we've had some Esser dollars of on the federal side that were out there covering some of these expenditures too that are starting to filter away um you know and then also this last year we had that uh nice boost in a little bit of the state aid uh on there so a combination of the state aid um and some of the federal dollars gave us a positive budget variance for this year and the revenue side um but for this year the this uh District did a nice job of of having the budget come under under for expenditures by about 1.4 million so a combination of that had a swing the other way uh with that to have an overall fund balance of 7.6 million keep in mind good chunk of that is restricted um you know so I think we were talking about that that 5 million of unrestricted you know a portion of that of that 7 million is restricted for various purposes that are from uh State uh state grants that are out there taking a look at the general fund balance um we did did have that uptick in fund balance as we talked about earlier which is the unassigned is at at that $5 million um you know I think kind of taking a look at that that goes back to 2021 and and as you look at this graph we are seeing those ups and downs that that are going there so I think you know looking over that three-year period is going to kind of smooth out those ups and downs As you move forward um the next page uh kind of the similar situation just kind of taking a look at that compared to Statewide averages and I um we we are seeing an uptick um where you're you're actually coming in a little bit below the percentages of the Statewide average for the for the fund balance um we don't have 20 24 numbers yet for the Statewide average um but General trend is I think a lot of the schools have been having a little bit of an uptick of that uh of that fund balance so we're kind of seeing that Trend move forward but once again I think they're all in the situation like you that you know what is the next three years looking like and that could certainly adjust as you as you kind of move forward okay uh taking a look just at uh overall general fund revenues uh uh per ADM and you know kind of keeping in mind that the Statewide average is last year's Statewide average as we're looking at that um we did look at the state sources did have an increase this year as we talked about before uh you know some of the additional funding from the state uh was a result of that increase and you kind of take a look at the the federal sources did have that decrease and both of these Trends in 2024 are going to follow with what your uh what the school district has to of of reduction in federal and an increase in the state side um overall taking a look at the the property tax indicators um you know the the one that I kind of take a look at is the district property tax per 100K value home because that's kind of the impact of the of there compared to what the Statewide averages are and you know just a little bit above where that Statewide averages um we've certainly had a trend you know as you know debt Levy U referendums uh come in that can also have an impact on that and we have that moving forward but um you know the per ADM uh per Statewide average average is below below that Statewide average but uh the the district uh per 100 is kind of right in line with where that average is taking a look at the general fund expenditures uh by program uh really uh we've kind of stayed pretty flat on the expenditures we did have a little decrease this year from from the previous year but if you look at the over the the last three years um both the mix of type of programs expenditures and the over all expenditures have stayed pretty flat uh year over-year so that's certainly certainly good especially with the rising costs uh you know additional uh uh you know wage increases and various things like that of managing that uh certainly uh going forward uh has has kept it kept it in line and even you know managing the self-insurance side of things of trying to keep those benefits uh there without those increases is certainly a big part of that uh big part of that too uh buy object code on the next page um I know uh you know Megan touched a little bit on this truth and Taxation side I won't get too much into it but obviously you can see your overall salaries and and benefits make up a big portion of that um and once again kind of follows in line with kind of keeping that consistent year-over-year um the general fund uh expenditures per ADM so this just kind of shows the track of of where you're at with other uh school districts across the state and and kind of taking a look at that the overall expenditures um you know stayed relatively flat year-over-year but kind of right in line with the center of where the state state averages are um I think for 2024 we've have seen an uptick in the expenditures um so you know that dotted line there could have a little bit sharper uh increase uh with other districts out there as those uh 2024 numbers come in um the elementary and second instruction um we did see an uptick in that um I would say that the state averages are going to project out higher probably really right in line with where you're at um in your trajectory there um so I think that should follow follow that line once we once we project out um special ed um you know I think that's kind of leveled off off here a little bit we're still having the increase uh of per ADM now keep in mind this is per ADM of the school as a whole not by you know so really the mix of you know Special Ed versus regular Ed can have an impact on that so that's probably why you're on the higher end of that uh that that expenditure side so just to kind of keep in mind and it's more just a a trend analysis that we have that we have there okay uh Food Service budget to actual um we had budgeted about $182,000 decrease in in the food service fund and actually with some additional um state and federal dollars coming in for revenues um we we just had an $18,000 decrease in that uh in that fund balance so overall uh the fund balance in the Food Service fund is is in good shape and and you know is is uh is there and just kind of keep watching as we as we track those budgets going forward on where that fund balance is um kind of same just a just a trend line um you know I think the the increase in costs um have kind of been going going going continuing to go up as we kind of officially got the co era kind of behind that we're kind of seeing those increases in overall food uh increase there uh the community service fund budget to actual um there was uh budgeted $275,000 deficit there uh we did come in a little bit better but we still have about a $200,000 deficit in in the community service fund um really kind of taking a look at that the last few years have had that deficit and has kind of created Created that uh $700,000 deficit there um I know we kind of talked to management about this on the on the process on what that looks at at on whether that is going to be funded by transfers or or expenditure reductions but I think there's a plan in place to over a period of time to reduce that um you know first to kind of stop the the the bleeding there and then then reduce that over a period of time uh going forward to get that back uh flush with the community service um in in that so okay and um just that overall trend line um you know the community service is kind of kind of following in line with what uh that trajectory is just kind of the inflationary increase um the next page The Debt Service fund um we do have a big amount in 2025 coming to mainly because of the refunding bond issue so we have a lot of principal interest there has there is a um a reserve set aside um restricted funds held by the Fiscal Agent to pay off that debt so you're going to see that 2015 drop off there and then you're going to have the um 26 through uh 34 balances there keep in mind this is no bonds that were issued in this current year so as those those would be added on to to this portion here this is just as of the end of the end of the audit season of what we had for bonds currently outstanding so anything uh would be added on to those 26 through 34 um overall cash and Investments um we did have a an increase that's just a slight increase just under 13 million in cash and Investments there um you know I think this year we did have um you know kind of continue to invest some of those dollars I think we had a good year in investment earnings uh for compared to a previous year there and and kind of continuing to build off of that but uh but yeah I think that's that's certainly Trend and this is something to kind of monitor as we kind of go forward uh with that so with that I would certainly open it up to any questions the board might have I think Tom just to to point out that you spent a fair amount of time with the business committee uh at their meeting last week going through this in uh quite a bit of depth in detail and answered a lot of questions at that point in time yep Y correct Tom I do have one question yeah our self insurance program do you see a lot of districts that do the similar format or not um yeah you know I think there there they're kind of pockets of them I think um so we certainly certainly do see that in the self self Insurance side of there so you know I think it kind of continue to monitor that and and you know and do that so yeah there there is a certain number when it reaches us certain size of districts so you would kind of fall into that and we're we're within a comfortable Zone there are we not yeah you you certainly you're you have the dollars reserved in there you know obviously that is another thing based on Claims can go up and down relatively quickly uh there too so you know I think that's certainly to kind of keep uh keep looking at that keep seeing what needs to be allocated each year to set aside for those particular reserves okay thank you yeah are some of the findings with the um segregation of Duties is just hard to do just because of the lack of Stack that we have within the district office yes yes uh that is that is uh that is certainly can be a case there in that situation I think there's probably some things that maybe it's not wouldn't necessarily be like a full segregation of Duties but I think is some internal controls of checks and balances whether it's with the the business committee review type of thing too there can be some certainly some oversight uh with that then to just to kind of kind of make sure that uh you know things are moving properly it kind of goes back to the journal entry side of things that that can certainly be a risk um you know with journal entries and it's nice just to have that second set of eyes to make sure that oh this makes sense okay I think fairly common with certainly districts our size but certainly smaller as well yeah you see those yeah probably more so on the you know on the smaller side we we have that and yeah but we'd be happy to talk through a few things if there's a few things we want to tweak just to kind of continue to improve that process and I think Megan's got a good good plan in place for all of those findings cool well not for all of them be the preparation fin stat Meg's got it I already wrote it down yes all right other questions comments well thank you and and if any questions do uh do come up we'd be happy to answer them throughout the year so we appreciate working with the school appreciate that thank you thank you all right so entertain a motion I move that we approve and accept the A and I will second that have a motion and second further discussion discussion discussion I would just like to make a comment Mr chair please yes uh Megan thank you youve done a wonderful job in my opinion so we appreciate all your good efforts any further discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I oppose same sign motion carries we've approved and accepted we have accepted the 2023 2024 audit thank you yeah thank you next up consider approval of second and final reading of revisions to the policy manual so you uh had a first reading of two policies uh at your November meeting policy 416 drug alcohol and Cannabis Testing uh there was one change to that policy since your first reading uh and that really just reflects uh what our practice is and that is in the case where the school district contracts for transportation services it shall be the responsibility of the superintendent to ensure that the transportation provider follows the provisions of this policy uh and it's interesting it's a required policy and we contract for services so we don't have all of the bus drivers that are referenced in the policy but we have to ensure that our transportation provider follows the policy so we do we do that on a regular basis and then the second policy is drug free workplace drug free school there were no uh recommended changes to that policy from the first reading I do want to note that in both of those policies uh not not only were there legislative changes but there were some reformatting uh that put us right in line with the msba model policies for both of those policies so uh this has been reviewed by the policy Review Committee and recommend your approval of those two policies you might want to take them separately or however you choose we can take them separately I move that we accept policy 416 as with the the change that's listed I'll second motion and a second any further discussion discussion discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I I post same sign motion carries policy 416 has been approved would entertain a motion for policy 418 I hope that we accept see 418 a second motion and a second any discussion discussion discussion discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I I oppose same sign policy 418 has been approved thank you next up consider policies with legislative requirements for approval with one you have a number of policies in front of you uh with uh changes due to legislative requirements uh policy 503 student attendance that updates excused absences and adds a note on unexcused absences uh I will note that the building principal spent a fair amount of time reviewing uh this policy and made some suggested uh additional changes and exceptions and those were reviewed by the policy uh Review Committee at their meeting last week uh policy 509 is enrollment of nonresident students that removes School Readiness en an School of Parents Choice Law um that policy we spent a fair amount of time on uh determining exactly what it meant uh but so that was interesting to to come to a a conclusion that I think we all agreed to in terms of the meaning of that particular policy uh policy 512 School sponsored student Publications that adds a student journalist law just really broadens away from just student Publications to any uh student sponsored uh publication in Media or other venues uh policy 513 student promotion retention and program design removes world's best Workforce uh there has been a s suggestion actually from Mr cout that in that policy we would just add one piece and that would be the acronym kacker uh by the comprehensive achievement and Civic Readiness reference so just keep keep that one in mind uh the policy 524 internet technology and cell phone acceptable use and safety policy um that one we might want to spend just a little bit of time on John if you want to uh come forward really what the the policy change to cell phones does is it's it it uh asks the administrative team to uh identify policy rules and procedures and then submit those to the board Bo on an annual basis as part of the handbook adoption process so John why don't you talk a little bit through kind of what the thinking is at this point yes we've started to draft what those handbook uh policies would look like um and what we've come up with is at the middle and high school cell phones would be allowed before school after school passing time and lunchtime so essentially restricting the use of cell phones during the instructional periods of the day uh which would include Saints time at the elementary school schools we would completely restrict cell phone and watches uh and things of that nature throughout the instructional day um each level has Provisions for if students don't meet those expectations uh step one the device uh would be turned into the office student can pick it up at the end of the day without any questions asked the second offense parents would have to come get the device third offense there's some kind of a behavioral contract put in place between the administration and families um we just want to be really clear on that with students in families um so that students know what that would look like if they are unable to to manage those devices any questions can see it's kind of interesting if you check out your I think it's called The msba Leader uh there that came out today electronically to you and if you look at a section where the uh uh the Federal federal government has issued uh some cell phone policy guidance and it follows into exactly what uh we're talking about here um so kind of interesting but our plan would be that these changes would be reflected in student handbook revisions in the fall in August for the next year so we're not talking about any changes other than what we currently have in our handbook at the present time which are very similar questions on any other the policies I am going to move that we approve all of these policies on first reading given the fact of the administrative reviews of all of the particular policies and that they're statutory I'll second we have a motion and a second to approve all of these on first the single reading any questions comments discussion are we including the acronym no it's not statut no but it is common use yeah both in statute and in general literature and I just think I mean everyone knew what world's best Workforce was you know WB WF but now you see whatever that is AC Hecker yeah and I just think the more that you includeed in things the more accepted it will become I just look at as an easy way to get that out in the community so we would just include that at the first reference at first reference parenthesize yes yeah that'd be fine like a minor sure sure sounds fabulous what C there amend the motion we have a second I'll second that Amendment with ker with ker yep in honor of bill so we have a motion in a second discussion discussion discussion hearing none we proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I I same sign motion carries okay consider acceptance of gifts donations and grants Dr Olsson you have a number of gifts donations and grants in this month's uh agenda for acceptance uh the first is a $500 Grant was received from masmus for Seth putts for operations and maintenance supervisor award that he received and that's to use towards buildings and grounds department so uh we made a really good hire and it's just March and we got 500 bucks back on of March yeah pretty good uh a $2,000 donation was received from the kuas club that's a significant significant contribution it will support community and family education youth programs uh $627 50 c donation from the ecology club that club has not had an advisor or been active for the second year and the money in their account Student Activity account will be notated to the general Student Activities account now that's also going to be true with the two donations from the classes so uh Megan has uh referenced you know the uh the statutory requirements that say if you have a Student Activity account that's been active at the for more than one year then those Student Activity accounts uh need to be closed and that money then either would go to the state or we can designate it back into our Student Activities account so that's the position that we been taking on these accounts so that's true with the ecology club uh that's true with the donation in the amount of $1,931 And1 from the St Peter High School class of 2021 and a donation in the amount of $1,576 55 from the St Peter High School class of 2023 in addition there's a generous donation in the amount of $5,000 by Nathalia Lopez and Larry Taylor uh educational scholarship trust that goes goes towards the annual Lopez Taylor scholarship and is to be used for the benefit of students who would be a first generation member of their family to attend a post-secondary degree Andor students who come from a socioeconomically disadvantaged community so very uh happy and grateful to receive these grants and donations and would recommend your approval I have a question about the class donations why don't we wait until at least the 5e re uh because we we can't with the the new really yeah I mean they the either I think I think going forward Megan can you pop up here for just a minute just to clarify I said why don't we at least wait till they fiveyear Reunion yeah so as as part of the youup fars for the mafa manual if they're inactive for a year we have to either um donate their funds or we have to cut them a check and then if they don't deposit it within three years it goes to unearned Revenue um Zoe and Shay did contact both of those classes multiple times um via email via letter and I Zoe even reached out to one of the presidents via text and didn't get a response with what they wanted to do with those funds oh gosh this I'm looking at my son's class and going what in the world well I think going forward the the goal would be to try to get the president of the class on before they get their diploma to put the I'm just that's that's in just I mean their diploma we were talking about that statement of purpose and that I think was something that came up in the business meeting that we're now required all those activity accounts the auditor mentioned that that they have to have a statement with a purpose that that would be part of it I understand that but we're taking $2,000 from a class that thought they were going to have money for their 5year reunion and now there's a change they didn't know about and two people didn't get back to them and now they don't have their $2,000 for their 5e reunion and this two-year requirement is one one I'm sorry one year in inactive requirement is imposed by who uh it's part of the mafa manual so part of you far is the like Minnesota statute and we talk about this last yeah well I know we are but I mean it seems as though the student council adviser would be the person who would need to communicate that to the class officers clearly as they develop a statement of purpose you know that's just that's what they need to do for but it seems like this just kind of came up like in the last like month or so they've been I mean we've been working because it was an audit finding last year it's something that Shay and Zoe and I have worked together for the last year they've been trying to contact them because we have these class of 202 three like how did that even happen then do you know what I mean like they just graduated like 15 months ago so they would have then until June 30th of 24 to take their money and create their bank account and I will say that that is one thing that Shay and Zoe are trying to implement in that especially before they graduate that they have an account opened up they can walk their check down there for from this year and moving forward to make sure that that doesn't happen ter as you indicated there are some frustrations with that and if I were a class member in one of those one of those grades and anticipated having money from our reunion although I didn't on the other hand we have no choice it's a legislative mandate let me finish please i' rather see go to Student Activities than to go to the state given our Alternatives what is the deadline before goals to the state so we have a year to get rid of the money so at this point we could cut them a check now and if they don't cash it within three years you have to send it to the Department of uneed Revenue and then they can go about collecting it from them but I've never personally ever gone down that process I don't know how that works they'd have to know it exists but and it sounds like so many people have tried many different times to get up hold of them without a response so that's where we felt our recommendation was at least this money would go towards our store students and other Student Activities versus just getting lost I mean theoretically could they create an account and cash it in the next three years they could but if they don't then it's not benefiting our students and we felt that was a better approach I would like to pull the two class for one month and see if I can find those two find somebody from 2021 and 2023 that's $4,000 of money that parents have paid that thought they are going to have extra money for reunion but that's my recommendation that we pull those two gifts out for one more month another possibility might be to make a recommendation to the Student Activities fund that were that class to make an approach for that money if it's in our Student Activity fund they could potentially try to access that money if somebody does come through and and wants it for their their fiveyear reion or something I don't know do that counting I guess I don't know is that acceptable or no I would have to ask I know that's the thing is just to check yeah does it sound it' be easiest if we just for I will say that ABDO is actually they were the ones that made the recommendation for the process that we did send them letters give them a deadline if you don't hear from them by this date we recommend you donate it to your other Student Activity funds which in turn would help us remove some of our findings for the negative accounts that we had um so it was that was the recommendation they had made that we followed I'm not saying we have to follow it but that was what they had guided us to do we for sure need to stop with the class students because if you take 150 time 50 do you know what I mean like te I mean that's parents money I mean so we for sure have to stop what the class do or we have to have a process in place at the end of the year to have them yeah put the money in a bank when there before they graduate which I think is what we talked about I mean I suppose Megan I suppose you could pull these we could uh write out a check and then if nobody comes and gets it it goes away with the check but we've had other classes that have done it right this is class of 21 and 2 three so the class of 2022 did yep their thing mhm the class of 2020 did their thing I don't know about 24 what what students are eligible to come pick up that check any of them that's a good question I guess I don't you know what I mean so Sam Stewie in 2023 can he come pick it up and it's probably a class I think it's the class offic class officer think so that's who they had been contacting but but I think that they would have the then have the authority have been the class officer that but we could check that I don't know who the class officers were I could find responsible people in those classes but I don't know about the class officers so well that should be fairly easy to find out though I mean sh through the what you've been in communication with them right they've been they've been contacting the class officers at least the president yeah if you're willing to try I'm willing to wait should be able to go to Cara she should know who they are she's been the senior I was just going to go to responsible people we do know who the class officers are yeah right that's not the question but I mean Tracy if she wants to try and contact them person well that's what I heard her say because I was going to go to people I knew in those classes that I knew would want to be setting up a reunion and say hey if you want your money for the reunion those people could talk to the I know correct contact information it's just a matter of yep cross commun so is that are we interested in removing those two from this month well I'll second the motion and give Tracy her chance you made a motion to pull the two we'll pull them I'll see what I can do that at least I go on records trying I and six so we have a motion to pull the two five and six to pull is that what they are to vote on that first okay we have a motion in a second any discussion discussion thank you tryable I mean yes and making a note about class dues and figuring this whole situation out because I just think that's just a lot of unnecessary all those in favor signify by saying I I I oppose same sign motion carries so we've pulled the two so now we need a motion I'll make motion to approve the other I'll second the first I'll second motion and second any discussion discussion discussion discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I oppose same sign motion carries have approved the donation first four donations and remove the last two for further exploration by board member stents he just that myself you got some homework self assigned homework all are appreciated that uh the uh the Taylor Lopez one phenomenal yes thank you to all who have given donation next up consider approval of ad hoc legislative Committee of the school board so at your November meeting uh we talked about if there was interest in establishing an ad hoc legislative Committee of the school board you indicated that you had that interest um we said we would come back with duties and purposes of an ad hoc legislative committee those are included in your addendum one is to work with the superintendent of schools in developing the legislative platform for the St Peter Public Schools two is to provide recommendations to the Schoolboard regarding the adoption of a legislative platform for the St Peter public schools and three is to share the legislative platform with the St Peter public schools with our local representative and state senator uh the goal would be to have a 2025 legislative platform brought forward for adoption at the January 23rd 25 2025 Schoolboard meeting or if not there at the February meeting we could have a in effect a first reading if you thought that was a better approach on January 23rd and then come back in February but we've got to make sure that we get to the legislators uh before Bill deadlines are in place and all of those kinds of things so they would uh be able to act on our behalf and part of our goal uh Megan and I have and John have been talking about this is to um well there will be similarities with other with educational entities like the Minnesota school boards Association uh the Minnesota Association of school business officers superintendent Association Etc with their legislative platforms we would try to personalize our stories into those items that would be part of our legislative platform so for an example if we're talking about um what would an additional $250 of local operating referendum mean to the St Peter Public Schools there's a specific number in there and that's the story that can then be shared with the legislators um so we would uh membership on that committee would be determined at the January organizational meeting if approved tonight the committee's approved we'd deign membership in January and then we would we would likely meet in uh in early January prior to the January 23rd school board meeting for at least a first uh look at a potential legislative platform for the St Peter Public Schools I move that we approve the ad hoc legislative committee I'll second that motion in a second any discussion I think it's a great idea absolutely thanks to those of you that are doing that work any further discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I I oppose same sign motion carries we've approved an ad hoc legislative Committee of school board thank you next up consider awarding bids for alternate number two South elevator hoistway for the Middle School construction project we're asking Seth to come up to to talk specifically about what some of those bids might be but U just as a a reminder this is something that we talked about at the special board meeting in early December uh where you did approve the base bids uh for uh the general construction mechanical electrical and fire suppression uh this discussion then shifted to what about the uh alternate bids and and there wasn't a lot of interest in alternate bid number one which was the chimney but there certainly was interest in alternate bid number two which was the uh South elevator hoistway so in your packet uh you have uh in award letter from AP or from IC that talks about uh the three components that have to be in place for that South elevator hoistway the general construction component that would be the apx Construction Group that's 57,200 the mechanical that would be Peterson sheet metal at $21,000 and the electrical that would be BLK electric at $253 70 Seth why don't you just kind of explain what would all go into that so right now what we' be looking at is actually be quite intensive Remodel and that actually fil with some of the other remodeling that's going on and restructuring that kind of fits in there to exactly what we're looking for uh one of the reasons this came up is just because of accessibility of upcoming students you know from North I believe there's four right now we had an instance where there was a substitute teacher who was in a wheelchair and she had to go from the south end of the building to the North End back to the South so that's where all these kind of came up um it is very doable and and some of the remodeling that they're going to do be doing it that Elevator Shaft would fit right into it any questions maybe the location the location would be where Room 205 is currently it's down by the nurse's office and it would be kind of by the liaison officers right across from the bathrooms also and that would be on the south side of the school John do you want to add anything I just want to stress the equity concern that I have um a lot of this project is designed to keep the middle school and the uh preschool Early Childhood separate you know with the new stairwell um the one sticking point that we have in the in the design is students who enter on the second floor for them to get anywhere um if they have accessibility issues they have to through the Early Childhood to get there um it increases the travel time for students um exponentially to travel from one side of the building to the other just to go up or down a floor um the main entry to our building for the public and for students is door a which is on the second floor so an elevator near door a would be very beneficial for accessibility so would recommend your awarding the bids for alternate number two as listed for apx General construction Peterson sheet metal the mechanical and BLK electric for the electrical as listed entertain a motion I'll go ahead I'll make a motion to approve the bids and I'll second Motion in a second any further discussion I have a question as we think about that and I'm trying to think back to the entrance that you referred to do we have handicap accessible doors in those doors so it's okay Mr chair just a a point of edification the uh the funding for this is not additional over and above what's already been been approved it basically would would be coming out what the would be the contingency money it fits within the the the existing budget exactly exactly and I know that we have not made a decision on this but the question of the um uh existing chimney and the possible de demolition of that if we were to move forward with that would we be locked in to apx to do that work pretty much I mean contract yeah yeah so the way it works is you take your your base bid and your alternate bids and you add them together and still see who's the lowest so with at least with alternate two all of these still stay as the lowest bids okay thank you any other questions or discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying hi hi same sign motion carries awarded the bids for alternate number two South elevator hoistway for Middle School construction project thank you thanks Seth declaration next up is Declaration of obsolete or outdated equipment I can de that uh so your board policy does uh provide you Direction on the disposition of obsolete and outdated equipment uh the process is on an ed needed basis you have some recommendations in your packet on disposing of weight room equipment that's no longer used uh there there are some updated uh weight room pieces that are in place and so these are are in a sense obsolete uh and so if you uh approve the Declaration of obsolete or outdated equipment these pieces of equipment would be placed on auction uh and we would do our best to get some money for instead of having to go pay the disposal which just as a just as an update for you uh we we did sell was it seven of those uh cafeteria tables for $7 at the at the high bid but we didn't have to take them out to the dis pay for them to be disposed of so we got de yeah so I'd recommend your uh approval of the Declaration of obsolete equipment as listed from the weight room pieces so moved have a motion I have a motion in a second any further discussion they are safe though right I mean when you declare them off leite it's still safe to use oh I mean I would hate to see something Happ they're just they're just uh there are new pieces that within the limited amount of space in even though that's a fairly nice sized W room within a limited amount of space and there is a use for these in the Middle School weight there's no place for them any further discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I oppose same sign motion carries thank you time for reports building principles are first we do have some of our principles at uh music events tonight yes Mr i' like you to note who is here now we are glad that they were able to attend those events for sure so early childhood this is the time of the year where we're focused on a lot of winter activities and so kids are kind of inside and it's been a little bit mild now um one of our teachers volunteered just set up an obstacle course for a week down in our little gym and so that's given kids just a little bit different scenery a little bit different activity and so that's been certainly fun for them it's also um we have been having families in to both do gingerbread houses uh decorate cookies few little songs here and there all winter themes or just songs that they sing every day in their class so that's been fun to have folks come in I mentioned gingerbread that is a big deal this time of the year gingerbread houses and we have had a gingerbread man running about the building so preschoolers often make a gingerbread cookie big gingerbread man and all of a sudden they go to the restroom and they come back and guess what he is gone so they travel about the building asking in the kitchen have you seen the ginger well they take it down to the kitchen to bake it and then they come back and the gingerbread man has left and so they do a lot of asking questions which is a good skill and following directions where the gingerbread may have gone next and so that is certainly a fun activity um exactly yes um so then they get to eat the Gingerbread and for snack in the end so it's all it's all good except for the gingerbread man um and then for our staff members we've recently um had our CPI training and so that is our training in that we put in place to make sure that the event of a student needs hold or restriction um we know what we're doing people are properly trained and following those protocols so we do that annually and we have a CPR um training coming up um after the first of the year so staff-wise that's certainly every day um um events were focused on with those two special trainings can't beat the gingerbread man can you well I saw I saw the gingerbread man on the on the cookie sheet today uhuh and I gave the puppy dog eyes when they walked by thinking they're coming to give me some ginger that's right that and they just kept walking no and I thought ah there goes my snack now I get it now I get it work on your puppy dog I thought I had it creeping yeah shoot shoot uh all right so at the middle School lots of cool things going on uh starting with last Monday chair pots some gak representatives and project for teens visited Mr st's seventh grade health class to talk about digital well-being uh students had conversations about how technology use um Can impact your social physical and academic wellbeing uh it was really well received we got some really good press uh KC I believe the herald and the Free Press all all with Dr po picture in it so it was really good and and thank you for that it was really really well done uh and that was thanks to a grant from the Mano Clinic Foundation um as Dr Olsson mentioned uh winter concerts for the Middle School are wrapping up tonight uh we had our sixth seventh and eighth grade band tonight and as you remember we had our choir concert last Monday um we will be ending our week this week with our winter assembly at that assembly we'll announce um this month's student of the month will announce our pride goal for the upcoming weeks we will announce our gingerbread house competition winners and we will play um some minute to- wiut games I know you're all dying to know um fifth grade is currently leading our house standings by one point over eighth grade so we'll see if the eighth graders can pull it off tomorrow with the gingerbread win and some minute to win at victories very good any questions can't be that thank you both at all thank you appreciate it thank you Dr olon I just want to wish everybody a happy holiday season coming forth uh and thank you for the opportunity to work with you this far we're ending about uh five months now and uh started the superintendent search process in Earnest tonight so there we go so the end is in sight for you yeah that's around the table Miss Ros oh let's see was the High School Musical that Friday after our last school board meeting I think or that weekend it was incredible I was so impressed with our students and with our uh theater um instructors I guess and I I was so impressed with the work that they did and with the talent we have so congratulations to all and we have a school board member whose son was amazing MH it was yeah it was great Mr uh just uh one thing real quickly I think we've all been here for a fairly lengthy time so anything important I might have to say which is remot by the way U can certainly wait till U till another time but I did just want to get acknowledge with the uh uh business committee and other committees too that were involved in the audit and the levy there's a lot of number crunchy it goes into that a lot of analysis so I I just want the public and everybody else to understand that there uh there's a whole lot more that goes into that than sometimes is is obvious at at board meetings thank you thank you I don't really have too much just everyone have a good time holidays um Stewie are going on some vacation to a very warm spot so I'm kind of excited about that but NE yeah over to NE behind the tree line pretty warm over there but yeah everybody has good time so cool uh I would add that the choir concert last Monday was fantastic and winter Athletics winter sports are up and going and it's been fun uh also a special birthday they wish to board member so happy birthday to you's the when you not here right now Mr C yeah I'd just like to congratulate Seth on his uh award nice to hear and uh I when I come up and and review the bills and that I end up sitting in that office where he is so I observe him hard at work a lot of times and it's welld deserving I'm sure and I'd like to Echo about the musical I enjoyed it yep congratulations to the cast The Crew the technical theater group for the musical performance it was uh great it really is a way for our community to shine and opportunity for a lot of people to come in to see the school um and uh see gorgeous theater in as it's functioning and um it's a lot of fun many many highlights and oh congratulations to the directors as well so abolutely thank you keep it up yeah and I just like to say I hope that we all end 2024 well and look forward to 2025 all right um we had a lot of updates of things that the Committees were working on but if there was anything specific that any committee wanted to call out this would be the time education committee I think we kind of cover everything we do business committee any additional oh I think we more than covered i' like to bring up about seven new things on the the January meeting will be great exactly March uh policy committee I think we got everything covered in we love kaker uh and then the HR committee anything new didn't me did me meet that's easy yeah we've got some upcoming meetings of the board um after the holiday uh winter break so Schoolboard organizational meeting will be Monday the 6th of January at 6: PM no the time change from usual but we will be at 6 PM right here in the governor's room then various the business policy and education committees meet all before our regular school board meeting on Thursday January 23d entertain a motion to aour I will make that motion and I will second it Motion in a second all those in favor hi meeting is adjourned thank you everyone thank you okay