##VIDEO ID:TLDBqndBmrM## good evening and welcome to the regular board meeting of the St Peter School Board it is Monday November 18th 2024 we are in the St Peter uh Community Center Governor's room first item on the agenda is to call the meeting to order and it is like 6:30 32 right on the dot uh we'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the repu for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all remind me thank you um Kimberly do we have any oh no sorry need to consider and adopt the agenda that is before you and also in the board book we have a motion second Motion in a second any discussion we will proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I I oppose same sign motion carries and the agenda is adopted Kimberly do we have any requests to speak I have not received thank you next up is consideration of the consent agenda which is in the packet before you and in the board book if there are any items that you'd like to pull out and discuss please let me know otherwise we would consider a motion Mr chair I move the approval of the consent agenda second we have a motion and a second any discussion I will say that I went through all the bills and water transfers and that things seem to balance awesome thank you Rockstar Treasurer there yeah discussion discussion discussion heing none will proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I oppose same sign motion carries the consent agenda has been approved next up is our student Spotlight we have a a couple of students tonight miss Sora chair us all right this is the real reason you all come isn't it 100% the reason good good even best part of the night best part of the night welcome oh my gosh let's see here so I am so lucky today to introduce two very special students from South Elementary both of these young ladies are first graders um we have Helen rage and deisa wos and they were nominated by their teachers for multiple reasons many reasons um for being recognized tonight so we are really excited to have them but before we get too far they brought a lot of guests so I'm going to have them tell you who all they brought do you think you can do that Helen okay who did you bring with you maybe people can kind of give a little wave um I two of my grandma and then my stepmom uhuh my mom my dad my two grandpas and my three sisters and my brother yes that is quite the fan club that was really nice of them to come wasn't it yes and deisa you have a fan club too don't you mhm who's here with you my mom mom my grandma and my aunt yes awesome welcome everyone yes lots of support so these students show a star Pride every day and that was one of the things that their teachers said and um Helen's nomination came from Miss Alderman who is Miss Alderman to you um she's a teacher yep but she's a long-term sub right she's not there all year okay so miss Alderman and she said that Helen takes great responsibility in class for her own learning and has a strong work ethic and during independent work time she produces amazing results what is independent work time mean um I don't really know okay so it's time when you're working by yourself right so when you're working by yourself you're really working hard and deisa is very helpful to others that's what Mrs Bor said and you gave me an example when we chatted what are what's something that you like to be helpful doing I like helping people up when they fall down yes if somebody Falls kind of helping them out yes so Helen would you be willing to tell us what you like best about school um I like free choice and recess so much like free choice and recess what do you do during free choice um we get to play and one time um is my Bubblegum party and I got to chew bubble gum when I was playing yes yes and what flavor you were excited about your flavor um pink bubblegum pink bubblegum flavor Delisa what do you like best about school uh math math so this girl is a numbers wizard over here mhm and one thing that deasa told me is that these two were actually in the same kindergarten class last year weren't you who is your teacher I'm Miss Harvey Miss Harvey and I thought to myself boy she must be a really good teacher if she produced two Spotlight students was she a pretty good teacher yeah yeah what's something that you learned in kindergarten that helped you be such a good leader in first grade either of you did she teach you anything special about maybe star Pride or like Star Pride yeah what does star pride mean yeah what does it mean um doing good choices and not doing bad yes that's for sure do you have anything to add okay okay um our character strong theme this month is do you anybody remember what we're studying character strong gratitude gratitude yes can you tell some of these grown-ups what it means to have gratitude um appreciating the things in your life appreciating things in your life yeah would you be willing to tell me something that you have gratitude for deisa my mom yes moms are pretty special are you grateful for anything my life just for your whole life Wow gosh well I'm grateful that you came tonight and that you were willing to talk to these grown-ups with me um do you have any questions for these wonderful first graders I haven't got a question but I have a really good comment for you you guys did really well talking to all us scary old on you just really did a great job thank you I have a question can you tell me your favorite thing that you do out on the playground the bars the one-handed bars the one-handed bars awesome going to get strong arms what about you you have a favorite the monkey bars the monkey bars I love that upper strength awesome we got lots of climbers congratulations yes thank you so much for coming keep up your St pride and your learning thank you thank thanks for being here all right you're all done ladies didn't HT yet and thank you families for being here yeah all right that was awesome was uh student council report I don't think we have one they must be busy with mandatory theater practice mandatory theater practice everybody should be indeed have my tickets all right uh next up is action items the first of which is consider acceptance of gifts donations and grants Dr Olson there are a number of things listed in your packet u a donation of $200 made to the school district by Paul and AIS McDaniel and Paul and Diane buo this donation is to go towards the Emily Croc scholarship Emily was a beloved El teacher within the district and we appreciate the commitment her family and friends have in continuing to support her love for Education uh secondly the governers Performing Arts Association they continue to offer music lessons through a partnership with St Peter community and family education they have provided instructors with a $750 donation to help defray some of the participant fees for private percussion lessons and we're grateful for their generosity and continued commitment to inspiring people through music then there are two donations in the amount of $1,576 55 cents from the class of 2023 and $1,931 and one cent from the class of 2021 an attempt was made to connect with class officers over the past year and that was unsuccessful so this money would then end up in the Student Activities account so questions I'm the boot you didn't say anything about no I would like to pull items three and four I just don't feel comfortable in taking funds from classes and putting them in the general activities account either we set him aside identified and continue to attempt to find people or I would just feel more comfortable and if we can't get a hold of the officers we ought to be able to get a hold of someone in those classes who maybe can contact the officers I don't know where Mrs engleder went did she she went out take pictures that okay so um I you know I think uh I think we'd be comfortable with that it's been a past practice to try to clean up these accounts we certainly could research and explore uh trying to find class members oftentimes and this is an experience of multiple years ago when I was the high school principal we would um the the class would elect to donate the money for a specific cause but um you know I I don't know what the rest you think we'd be comfortable with that or at least holding and to see if we can maybe research and exploring if we can get a hold of the uh class members or class officers if we can't the money stays in the Student Activities account anyway yeah I just feel more comfortable with they would donate it rather than seize it Mrs enginger do you want to speak to to that one yeah I can speak to that when um the when classes grad graduate with a balance in their Student Activities account it usually goes follows them downtown to a bank um it hadn't been being done for a while and Jordan Paulo was working on that so it's been several years that we've been attempting to to contact these classes to no avail but we'll keep trying typically that extra money they have a lot some will make a donation and then they'll leave some um to help pay for their class reunions sure so is it typical to have about you know, 1500 to 2,000 that's a lot we we really don't I think we've low we've lowered their dues and all that kind of stuffing because hopefully they can afford a reading yeah not every if we need to look at like yeah the class does situation because that's always kind of yeah a contested that's tricky for some and raise money through prom pizza sales or prom if there's something left over from prom and the junior class has Peggy's pizza sales so yeah but they're they're they haven't had a balance for really since Co it seems like so right so like the class of 2022 obviously you must have heard from them and so they just have elected to do yep they it goes it goes with the class president if they're around down to I think it's Hometown so they just set open up an account then so the key maybe is the day of graduation the class president does not get a diploma Corner them yes yes she's right right up on stage with me so I just won't let her down you say your name and then you say her name and you're like and can you please speak into the microphone where you would like yeah okay thank you yes okay so I'll make a motion to approve uh donations one two and five five is in the board packet but doesn't look like it's yours go to Five would you please five is the donation from the Boosters club $700 okay 77251 to reimburse for which was ta yeah okay so I'll second that motion okay so the the motion is to for to accept donations one two and five and then hold three and four until we gather more information and can figure out what's those two classes want to do with that money okay so we have a motion I'll second that motion and a second further discussion discussion discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I I oppose same sign motion carries thank you very much to the those who donated uh next up item number two Declaration of obsolete or outdated equipment so your board policy 802 disposition of obsolete equipment and material gives direction to us on uh disposing of obsolete and outdated equipment and the process is used on an as needed basis as equipment is removed or sometimes as it gets put in storage in multiple different places uh so in your materials for the meeting there's a a list of materials are being recommended to be deemed obsolete if approved it allows the school district to either disos of or at auction try to receive some funds for the equipment if the equipment is badly damaged or broken or you know is just unusable then it would allow us to dispose of the equipment but we do need board action in order for that to occur in your packet there U you'll see a listing of the things that are and we're recommending to be declared Obsolete and appropriately removed from the district so with this particular list are are you saying that it's going to be one way or the other or you're just saying some of it will be uh and Seth could talk maybe specifically about that some of it will be dumped some of it will be placed at at auction and we we've used a like an online auction service in the past correct yep the stuff that's listed now is stuff that's been sitting around like the 13 at the middle school the tables they've been sitting there since salt updated their tables I'm not even sure when that is that's been quite a while um the 7 at North they're keeping some of the good ones they need a few extra the seven that are there are getting it changed out for a reason broken seats strip screws stuff like that um the chairs same thing we have so many chairs sitting around this District right now that trying to clean up because especially with getting the referendum coming up we're going to need as much space as we can to store stuff move some of the this old old stuff out to move some of the old stuff in to get ready for the auction well that's where this list was derived from stuff that is in my opinion not fit for auction sure okay thank you yeah thank you I would move that we dispose of these shems of History oh you have a motion I'll second that and a second any further discussion discussion discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I oppose same sign motion carries thank you and thank you Seth for getting rid of that junk come to my house uh number three consider approval of world's best Workforce report and comprehensive achievement and Civic Readiness report Miss engeling yes that is a mouthful that is um that we appreciate from the state uh in the past it's been the world's best Workforce plan um and the state has changed that to what we are lovingly calling kaker the kaker goals um the I know every year you patiently listen to this explanation but the report that's in front of you the multi-page report is reporting on last year's goals um and those five goal areas for the 23 24 school year um are listed on page two uh School Readiness third grade literacy closing the achievement Gap career and college readiness for all and high school graduation uh for the current school year number two is going away and they are adding a goal area of preparing students to be lifelong Learners um so we've been talking a lot about what that looks like as a as a goal um I I have provided a a brief a more brief cheat sheet for you um since this is for this is for the current School Year's goals the only one that's not on here is that um third grade literacy so if you go to page four for third grade literacy um percentage of all students enrolled in grade three at North Elementary before December 15th who are proficient on the state accountability test will increase from 48% to 50.9 we met that goal at 53.6 in Spring of 2024 and we only expect that to go up now with all of the additional U reading instruction that our teachers are getting this year um we met most of our goal areas last year goal area one all children are ready for school um they met that at 88.5% of our kids um are are meeting the the goal areas or skills necessary um for success in kindergarten um I think it was Tracy who pointed out um we were over 90% in in all areas but one uh in fine motor skills so so that's they're doing really great um and a lot of kids participate in our um Early Childhood programs and kindergarten Readiness programs so they did a fantastic job goal area two was not met um the district goal was to reduce the math proficiency gap between English Learners and non-english Learners and that goal was not met um we're switching that goal for the for the current school year to reading um since obviously a lot of what we're working on districtwide matches up with switching everybody over to a reading goal um I believe most of our site goals our building site goals are also um fall in line with that reading goal so let's let's hope we do better on on this year's goal and and Mr single Dinger just to to clarify and maybe a Jenna as well so we have all of our K4 teachers in redak training we have our K8 special education teachers in redak training and we have our K8 English language learner teachers in redak training so that really directed us towards that reading goal at third grade because it aligns with all of the professional development we're doing did I miss one my only clarification would be that's only the K4 elll teachers right now okay the 52 ell will be okay full disclosure it would have made a lot more sense to have a reading goal last year um in this area because uh all of our El teachers um and at every site had a new reading curriculum um reading and speaking curriculum so we should be able to see a lot of improvement um from our e Learners this year well hopefully the math scores won't suffer yeah any more than they right and we can at least hold that Gap where yeah well and districtwide our math scores were across the board we've got some work to do looking at those standards um goal area three um we're able to we're we're able to have as many goals as we'd like in each area um so in order to um line up with College and Career ready uh we set a an act goal the average composite scho score of all those kids graduating in 2024 um to be raised from 19.8 to 20 and we met that at 20.3 um the other goal area number of students earning industry certifications increase by 5% that is not met um and you'll if you look in the in the um report you'll see that we we had a we had two resignations of two of our CTE teachers who are able to offer industry certifications um so we have new instructors in those areas who that's it is one of their personal professional goals as well to get um to be able to offer those industry certifications so last year I believe the only area that we were able to offer was um that certified nursing assist which is still a thriving program and a really important one so we're proud of that um so we met 50% of of that goal area all students graduate from high school I say this every year it does not feel right to have a goal on paper that is anything less than 100% um because in St Peter we know who each and every one of these students are um but we did meet our goal of 92.5% um and that was a that was an increase from 88.1 previous year goal area five for next year um preparing students to be lifelong Learners you'll see that this is worded differently because and it's not it's not worded as a smart goal um but we are through the course of our work with our social studies Department some would say the backbone of our educational institution some um the they're going through the curriculum process right now and one of the changes that's come along through that is the C3 framework that I've just outlined for you here and then um have a timeline of of the work that we'll be doing with the social studies department so in that in that particular C3 framework the the focus is is really on evaluating Discerning critical thinking yeah uh and and we felt like those really line up with what you would expect to have in place to Be an Effective lifelong learning yes yep you have any questions about any of that's a really brief overview of this report um if you have any questions let us know Mr chair m I'll uh I won't ask all about my promise oh je no first of all I really appreciate this report I find it Illuminating and and very useful in what we're all about and why we're here um the uh the School Readiness you know that's a a program that's we' like to get fully funded it's it's not but it's critical as it's reflected here very important part of our what we offer the uh uh career and college readiness that's a encouraging also he's pleased to see the number of of students that took the test which was I believe 126 if I recall or something like that 149 or thereabouts which is also I think impressive to have that many students interest in postsecondary um could you tell me a little bit more about the uh industry certification how that works yes okay yeah I can um if if a teacher has the the proper certification to be able to offer say a welding like a um I just put welding on here but it's called it's it has a more official name than just a welding certification um and they have to be able to pass that certification test the teacher has to be able to um to be able to offer that test and verify that kids have have passed it as well um in the past we were able to offer welding one and two certifications um which is pretty great yeah uh we'd like to add uh um Serve Safe certification in our fax Department our culinary arts program is wildly popular and so if we can if we can get kids that certification before graduation um they can they can get hired at just about any kitchen um wherever they might be employment ready which is which is great yes yeah my my compliments on the strategies the interventions all those things that are well thought out by the administration and the faculty in assembl this well know just wanted to comment on a couple things um for people listening and I think you kind of hit on this with the graduation rate a little bit that when we're talking about having goals with 50% and 30% I don't want anyone to ever think that wow like they're satisfied with that right I I don't think any of us are but I also don't think it's realistic to expect that if we do have a 53 % or I'm making up a number here in any area to say well we're going to move it to 80 or 90 like you have to be realistic about that and so I just know that you know you can take one little blip of something and say wow like we have such low expectations and that certainly not the case um but the other thing I want to talk about was just the diploma plus program and just kind of highlight that a little more because I really really think that that will be a just an awesome program for St Peter schools I've always said said like what is the goal is the goal really just to have kids walk across the stage right cuz if that's the case whether that's for a kid that's excelling in everything or a kid that's on an IEP like what is the goal is it just to have them walk across the stage and then what and then are they just going to go home are they going to go to college are they going to work what are they going to do right and so I think that that diploma plus it just hits all the kids in some capacity and I just that excites me great we're really close just to for those for all those those people listening and watching um the diploma plus idea is that every student who graduates with a St Peter diploma will have have the plus being um they have taken a college course while at St Peter High School they've earned an industry certification um we're this close to that Minnesota transfer curriculum certification or some other sort of work experience while they're in high school so you get a diploma plus something else yeah and you'll be hearing about a lot about it but it's the first time you're hearing it but you'll hear them exciting we're going to Market that as well for sure in that regard if I may a diploma from St Peter represents 27 credits yes well above the state requirement and well above I'm guessing a fair number of other districts so it is a very meaningful very meaningful document it is it's a it's a huge accomplishment to graduate with a St Peter diploma right we do need to approve the I'll make a motion to approve the world best Workforce and the ker report the uh comprehensive achievement and Civic Readiness report and I'll second we have a motion in a second any further discussion discussion discussion discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I I oppose same sign motion carries thank you Miss next step is to submit it by our November 30th deadline yes this will be Avail the report will be available on our website um and then there's a template that Dr Olson and I will work on that we don't want people to crash the website looking don't get too excited we don't want a Netflix situation here it's true good news is we submit 100% of the reports we make right yes yes we do so proud of it uh consider approval of second final reading of revisions to the policy manual so this the this is policy 522 Title 9 sex discrimination policy grievance procedures and process the policy committee members can certainly speak to this but this policy had some significant changes due to Title Nine rule U variances and changes and the Minnesota School Board Association recommended that we review and adopt with modifications where appropriate the a new model policy so that's what you had in front of you last meeting and this is in front of you for a second reading tonight and I don't know if uh any of the members of the policy committee want to add anything there I will just add I have not heard any any input from anyone outside of the the policy committee this is a lengthy policy um and the the changes that were made um we have made the recommended changes have been made and I am very satisfied with the appropriateness yep and this is a policy that was the the school counselors and others were able to look at to make sure that it aligned with it's gone through a lot of review a lot of review we've also had our school counselor social workers and principles receive training on U the implementation of this policy and the rule changes I do have one question um is this one where we do our Title Nine person ify that has been changed and it's changed in the policy and that we have now it need to have a title 9 coordinator and then we have a Title Nine what's our in each building investigator investigator the title n investigator in each building okay so that's a that's a change um and so we have our title n coordinator in our assurances of compliance is is now that a different person then we have a a 504 coordinator and a harassment investigator but this specifically is uh Mrs pfy serves as the title n coordinator for the district I'm just beginning to wonder how many things we can pile on her I mean yeah so but she's not here so I can't ask no well and and you know the other side to that is that the the key part is and I think our principles could add to this but I think everybody feels good about having multiple investigators because it's really in the investigation and the interviewing Etc that is is that that's a critical component um and we now have a situation where um an investigator could be a social worker or counselor from the Middle School doing an investigation at the high school or vice versa so they're not interviewing and investigating kids that they're serving in other capacities because are are all the investigators in the guidance department or social workers yes well that's I think that's a good idea that they don't do it in the building they're in and compromising your ability to deal with it yep and someone in and someone in Ms pra's role that's pretty common to be the title n coordinator like it's not uncommon to have her in that her position be the coordinator I remember that okay so I would move that we accept uh the 522 policy as submitted for second read I'll second Motion in a second further discussion discussion discussion discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I I oppose same sign motion carries thank you uh next up consider policies with legislative requirements for approval with one reading Dr so that would be policy 507 corporal punishment and pro and restraint uh the legis key legisl changes added reasonable Force language and corrects a legal reference uh so the legal reference is excluding a school resource officer from the prohibition uh of uh prone and restraint uh and then the second part is clarifying when reasonable Force may be used and the the significant change to the reasonable Force CH uh modification is reasonable Force may be used um to restrain a child or person in preventing bodily harm or death to another and that's in both of those definitions and there used to be the provision that you could also use reasonable Force if there were was a property damage situation occurring that has been removed in the new reasonable Force legislative language so uh again these are you know out of the statute and they're now Incorporated in the policy and we would recommend their approval and again I've heard nothing from anyone regarding this uh outside regarding this policy and the legal change that's been made it also it is is similar to our uh policy 506 on student discipline in terms of language with school resource officers excluded so I just have one question looking at this can an adult put a student into a bear if you're using reasonable I mean Force to restrain a student who would be a danger to him or herself or others so here in a fight you can yeah okay that's not considered putting pressure on their chest I believe so not in accordance with step or state okay that's when I read that I just don't know what it means to put pressure on it I can know that you can't kneel on it but corre you know have them on the ground but if they're standing you can restrict the use of their arms and okay if it's a threat to themselves you're protecting the student or others yeah that part's understood okay so then I would move to accept uh the policy 507 with the changes that have been recommended I'll second Motion in a second further discussion discussion discussion discussion hearing none we'll proceed to vote all those in favor signify by saying I I I oppose say sign motion carries policy 507 is adopted thank you that's it for the action items now up is the information items Miss Skinner is here to give the community and family education report an update welcome thank you thank you for allowing me to be here tonight and share some of the good things that have been going on in the last school year with Community Education um one of the unique things about Community Ed is it looks different in every Community because we are charged with meeting the actual needs of the community and the school district that we serve and so our programs in St Peter look very different from the programs Mano or lour um but one of the other things that research has shown that people who participate in community education programs are more supportive of their school district so um we have a a lot a big charge to do and I want to just share some of the great things that have happened in the last year with you uh Community Education helps strengthen the community and the school by providing safe accessible learning environments and opportunities for people of all ages and we're able to do that because we have great school facilities and buildings that we can use as well as the community center we also connect families to school and Community Resources um some of the ways that we do that are through our early childhood family education classes and our School Readiness preschool programs and if you look at the picture to the left that is a photo of our community threads program this program is designed to bring new community members together to form connections with each other and also to learn more about the community of St Peter and the partners um include the recreation department the Police Department Public Health YWCA Rivers Edge mvac and our district liaison as well and we have have been this is our second year of the program um and it's been a really effective way for us to uh connect our families and our community with some of the services that we have we also help prepare children for kindergarten through Early Childhood screenings um that support uh helping children connecting them with school um resources for health and development um also our early childhood Learning Center preschool classes ET and her staff do an excellent job of making sure that our kids are ready for kindergarten um and this is also a key way that Community Education helps the district meet one of its world's best Workforce goals as well supporting Working Families is another thing that we do and that's through our Saints overtime program which provides safe fun environments for children to play after school we're located at both of the elementary schools and then in the summer we're at North Elementary and last year we served 170 CH 72 children we have a new coordinator this year her name is Carrie Ericson and she and her staff are doing a great job of making a fun safe environment for kids as you can see from the pictures that are below this paragraph expanding learning beyond the school day is another way that we reach out to our community our after school enrichment programs really help support students social emotional and academic growth and this also helps lead to narrowing the achievement gap for some of our students the programs offering things like art drama music and stem help Foster critical thinking and problem skills which then lead on to benefiting students during the school day and also engaging in leadership and service activities strengthens student skills and then helps mitigate some of those risk-taking behaviors that kids have if you look at the picture to the right that is from our summer chemistry camp that we held at cavis building a qualified Workforce is another way that we help Nate Warden the coordinator of our adult basic education program and his staff do a great job of empowering adults helping them gain the skills and the qualifications that they need for employment self-sufficiency and also learning to be active participants in our community we offer GED classes and also high school diploma um there are Al English language classes and we help people prepare for the citizenship test we have a program called the bridge to work Readiness where adults learn job skills that they need things such as resume writing interviewing um making decisions at the workplace and all of our adult basic Ed classes are free and last year we welcomed adults from Mexico Somalia Guatemala Honduras Ukraine Ethiopia Pakistan and Nicaragua and in June we were excited to um give diplomas to three people and um this is a major undertaking for an adult to get their diploma because they're actually having to make up the credits that they missed as a high school student which means the same amount of seat time and so if you can picture an adult who has a family and a job um it can take a long time to get that diploma so we're always really excited when someone makes that leap improving the quality of life is another way that we serve our community we know that lifelong learning offers a lot of benefits including stress U relief and then also helping people feel a sense of accomplishment whether it's taking an art class learning to play an instrument developing a new skill or picking up some safe driving tips and in one of our driver safety classes our programs engage people in meaningful and enjoyable ways and if you look at the photo to the right those are people attending one of the monthly documentary films that we have at the Historical Society lastly recreate a sense of community and belonging for people offering classes and events that bring people together helps Foster a strong connected Community whether it's attending the annual women's celebrating women event which if you look at the picture to the left you'll notice those are some of our staff members at South Elementary attending last year's women celebrating women um all of these different kinds of events help people to create opportunities where they can um build friendships and learn from each other and grow we are extremely grateful to all of the organizations and businesses that partner with us um last year there were 26 of them we I always say it's great to live in St Peter because we have so many organizations and individuals who recognize the benefit of giving back to their community and last year we served over 15,000 people which was a six and a half percent in increase from the year before and if you see the bottom of the page has more pictures from the last year and all the different events that we have I would also like to thank our very dedicated staff who work hard to make sure all of these programs and events are successful and um I know that they would agree with me when I say that it is a joy to serve our community and our school district does anyone have any questions you anything new plan for this year that that is kind of exciting or that you're particularly excited about yes in that we are starting a community choir and uh you'll see that listed in our winter brochure and so I'm really excited about that cool very good thank you thank you very much next up quarterly fund balance tracker update well the quarterly fund balance tracker is included in your in your packet in your uh board book um as we indicated with the implementation of this quarterly fund balance tracker we track our expenditure and revenue changes every three months uh we share these changes regularly with the business committee at their monthly meetings um and uh try to continue to uh evaluate how all of these changes impact our bottom line in terms of our budget so you have you can see that in the quarter one quarterly fund balance changes uh we had an A positive adjustment of $18,350 that uh reflects what actually occurred with the budget adjustment plan that was adopted in last spring uh adjustments due to different contracts uh we shifted some employee time to the construction fund and then a number of things with natural attrition and natural attrition basically means somebody leaves and they're replaced or not replaced and there's either a plus or a minus to those particular costs in this case it was $162,000 to the Plus in Quarter Two we've reflected the new Transportation contract um as we've indicated our enrollment has continued to be strong um it's kind of interesting it it pops up and down weekly by two to four to six students so we were at 20 34 students two weeks ago 2038 students last week and 20 34 students this morning so uh we watch it on a weekly basis uh there are some shifts from some qop funding uh that are adding money to professional development and then money that supports our reading intervention teachers at the K8 level we've had to add some nurses assistant time at North due to some high need students and the same with increasing hours for the nurse uh north intermediate or North Elementary excuse me uh We've dealt with some new leaves and and looked at what the differen is between what we were paying and now the people who are replacing them we've add added some temporary district office assistance primarily to catch up on some of the uh filing and and uh routine work that needs to occur there uh we will be needing to spend some more money in our English language arts curriculum writing are because of change in standards and the way that process has evolved we are in a All Phase of of the curriculum study will be occurring this year so that means that we're going to have to pay some curriculum writing time during the school year and then uh we're looking at the adoption of a a new curriculum study plan which adds another year for those areas that are under review but you'll be re seeing more specific information but we're incorporating that into uh our Quarter Two process here when you look at how that fiscal year 25 beginning unassigned General fund balance changes with those other uh identific identified quarter one and quarter two items there's a about a $900,000 plus to where we thought we would be with a budget now that's good news but as we shared with the business committee as we begin to roll things out over the next three years um that drops rather quickly so our our uh goal we're working on is we're working with the business committee and working with the business manager and the administration is to shoot for a 30 to 36 day fund balance at the end of fisal year 28 uh and that could involve the potential of an operating referendum maybe in Fall of 26 or some something like that or possibly not those are options that we're going to be evaluating And discussing and then ultimately bringing back uh options for the entire board to consider and direct us as to how to move forward so I'll stop there and see any members of the business committee want to add anything as to what you heard in our report the other day well I would just publicly like to thank yourself and the business office staff for the efforts to keep the board more informed and up to dat on what our financial condition is um some of the things that we've done at your um initiatives on the bus contract and that have been very helpful and very appreciative of that welcome good point Bill and in addition to that the the further out we go obviously the more moving Parts there are but between Dr Olsson and and Megan and the rest of the staff do a really nice job of tracking what if this happens what happens here and here and all the ramifications and ripple effects and recognizing there are a lot of assumptions with those things but it's really helpful to know where we're at at this point in time and then monitor it on a monthly basis and if we can get the legisl to help us out that that changes our picture again so exactly exactly yeah right I just really appreciate the updates and we're can see something like this quarterly um and I really appreciate the thoughtful and calm way that we're approaching this um for somebody that's kind of following like all the time and saw that in the spring when we were trying to make these adjustments like like overall how are we looking for next year you know what I mean and I I'm trying to figure out like so we we I felt like we were all like last spring right and now I I'm I'm sensing that you know we're okay but you know what I mean I'm just I'm trying to think like are people thinking are you just not worried about that now because we're not talking about that do you understand what I'm saying like wake up people yeah no we're I mean I think I think we're always looking at U what we need to do to be have a stable budget plan uh and you know we're not by any means in a position where we can say there aren't going to need to be some adjustments for next year but we hope to minimize those adjustments to the extent possible um you know there are just as an example and we know three of our board members are going to be part of the Minnesota uh School boards Association delegate assembly looking at resolutions to bring forward to the legislature just as one example we're seeing our compensatory Revenue decline by $670,000 for next year um if the legislature steps in and says we're going to have hold harmless on that that changes the budget picture so I think it's important that we're we're really looking at the budget uh in a very comprehensive manner right now starting to look at potential options for stabilizing the budget but we also have to make sure that we aren't moving too fast and getting people either too complacent or too shook up yes that we kind of just maintain a the fact that we're we're studying it very carefully and plans will be coming forth in to the board to start looking at in January with the goal of having an adjustment plan I adopted in March okay you said what I needed you to say um you know what I just and um and I really like when you say budget stabilization versus saying budget cuts or other things like I do think it is the stabilization thing like we aren't because we aren't awful I mean we're not hard up or anything like that and our enrollment has gone up I me we have a $670,000 positive number on there right and so we are a lot better off than we thought we were in the spring correct so anyways people talk do you know what I mean and so I just like well now you guys just are kind of like your heads are in the clouds and you're not think you're not just you're not acknowledging where you're at I mean that's that's what I'm being told and so no we're not we're just approaching this calmly and we are better off than we thought so thank you I think there are a couple of factors Tracy that you always have to be aware of um starting next spring again negotiations open up with all our employee units so that becomes a very critical part of the budget stabilization along of course with the fact that this Spring's legislative session the legislature adopts a two-year state budget and how those factors um affect one another as well as our budget you know last go around we heard about the historical increase in education funding but a lot of it you couldn't put in the general fund and had strings attached to and that's one of the things as I started to look through the delegate assembly guide book is a lot of those resolutions are for money but it's not general fund money and I'm thinking you know we have to be careful of that because all we'll hear again is how much money we use but we don't have use so that becomes important and you don't want to put the whole balancing of the budget on the back of the employees but that is the largest expenditure we have um in our budget so you have to balance all those things and then hopefully next week we'll get good news when we open bids and yeah that type of stuff because there's there are a lot of things that are moving Parts it's just hard to put that on paper for people to see here what we're seeing is kind of what's already happened yeah and then you try and project what's going to happen well looking at a quarterly is helpful you know what I mean and every little thing matters you know exactly well the nice thing about doing it quarterly is that you shouldn't have those major end of the year type surprises because we can say yeah we anticipated this yes this was not anticipated that type of stuff agree just as notification it is quarterly to the board but business committee looks at this monthly yes Point yep and like Dr Olson and the business office are looking at it daily every minute yeah they're not just looking at the budget quarterly exactly you know one of the things I would add is is is working with our administrative team we're we're continually looking for ways to uh be more effective and efficient as well uh and and sometimes there are things that you don't think are major uh potential changes but they are so we're looking at things like our uh electrical costs and what happens if we start to work on behaviors like turning lights off more frequently when you're leaving the office or you know whatever the case might be there are a lot of things like that that can have an impact uh and a lot of small things move together to be a big thing so lots of those things happening well thank you very much yeah you're welcome and thanks to the business committee for for sure doing all that work okay next up review of policy manual revisions for first reading you've got two uh policies that are coming in front of you for first reading policy 416 drug alcohol and Cannabis Testing um there's some language legisla legislatively added about oral fluid testing but then there are also changes that we needed to make to be more in line with msba model policy language um and that's the same with policy 418 drug-free workplace drug-free school that adds some protections for persons with the in the Minnesota patient registry program but but again matching model policy uh means that we uh have have looked at um some pretty significant changes to pull into compliance with uh a better match with what model policy is and thus what with what the statute reflects uh so again this is a first reading I would say that the drug alcohol and Cannabis Testing as you take a look at that one of the things you'll note is a lot of that language is has to do with bus drivers and we don't have our own bus drivers we have a transportation contract um but it is a required policy and one of the things that we shared at the policy committee level is that uh on an annual basis the superintendent and I just did this a week ago connects with the transportation provider to ensure that they're meeting these drug alcohol and Cannabis Testing requirements that are but in both state and federal law so take a look at those see if you have questions or suggestions and the policy committee will be reviewing these again in December y so you mentioned adding that language because that's not in the model language right correct yeah yeah so there are some we do have some policies that that you specifically identify something that the superintendent of schools does as far as a report or action on an annual basis we could add that language specifically so it doesn't get lost that there's an annual check with a transportation provider that would be a good I think a good addition any other questions or comments about that right now those policies for first reading if you do have things in the inter room talk to the policy committee because we'll meet in December to talk about it again item number four review the development of a St Peter School Board legislative platform yeah a number of you have talked to me about having our own legislative platform that we could move uh out to the public and to our elected uh representatives and state senator uh and that's something that's been done in the past in our district where we've developed a legislative platform so if uh something like that were to occur uh I outlined four potential steps that could be taken uh establish an ad hoc legislative committee at the December 16th Schoolboard meeting um that would include uh identifying duties and purposes of the committee which you have for your standing committees right now uh the committee had meet in early January to establish a draft platform that would be brought forward for adoption at January 23rd school board meeting and then we would be able to share that platform with our local again what I said representatives and state senator um so if there's interest in moving forward with that we' bring back this kind of plan uh in visiting with uh chair Potts we wanted to get it in front of you to see if that's something we should we should move forward with I would be in favor of that absolutely absolutely I think it's very excellent idea Jeff do you know off hand I'm sorry no do you know the date the legislative session starts is it January it's back early in January early in January again because probably right around the time of the msba leadership conference maybe that 20th 21st 22nd right yeah okay thank you okay well we'll bring that one we'll bring that one back January 14th very good 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday January 14th excellent according to Google this is a gentleman who's prepared hold was that an AI or was that just looks real I don't know he just made something well that's usually about when it is because I can remember y all right update on 2025 2026 District calendar just included that uh for your uh update and information you adopted the calendar start and end dates for the 25 26 school year a month ago um you'll just see the addition of where there are parent teacher conferences and then how that impacts the first day of school for uh K8 students um and uh it really then is the comprehensive school calendar with those particular dates in it and this will be shared out put on the website um shared with our other educational Partners in the community are spells John Ireland Minnesota Valley education District Etc Great thank you that's all of the information items next up is reports building principles [Music] Oh's getting up here yeah yeah without a t here I guess I will go first hi again just a different group of friends this time um so we were we just had a really great conference session in November at South Elementary we have really great participation from our family so we are very glad they came in it's a really good time for our teachers to share academic data you know starting point um we do a lot of assessment right at the beginning of the year and it's amazing for kids and families to then talk about how far they've already come and a lot of the measures that they're talking about are um letter recognition at kindergarten how many letters did they know that first week of school compared to how many they know now and it's really fun for parents I think to see that Improvement and then same in first grade it's more about sounds and so letter sounds and S and letter Blends what are kids learning so very fun times at conferences lots of smiling faces and kids showing off projects um like the girl said we're talking about gratitude and through our character strong lots of class discussions um but I also just want to mention in the spirit of gratitude that November 14th was Community Education appreciation day so it was fun very timely to hear from Tammy but thanks to um everything that Community Education does and uh the Saints OT program itself it's just really going well this year um it was also National School psychology week last week we have three great school psychologists in our district that uh really contribute to uh interventions academic interventions special education assessments and services and so we're grateful for Nancy Christensen Dr Lindsay Finch and Missy Engel um and then this week later is National substitute appreciation day and I have to mention this because you probably saw on the consent agenda many Family Medical leaves and so we have Subs that are coming for a day at a time and we have subs subs that are coming for weeks at a time and so I just want to recognize that they really do help in our buildings um make things run smoothly even those absences we celebrated World kindness day last week at South Elementary we all wore blue in the spirit of of kindness and we did fun activities like bubblegum during free choice you got to hear about on world kindness day we're motivated by lots of things um one the custodians like me you know they showed star Pride at their bubble gum so they make good choices so it's okay um one of the things that um as a former South Elementary parent that is fun for me to see now as an employee in the building is some of the family projects that are going home and I think it's worth mentioning because we do want our families to be engaged um starting at kindergarten and so our kids bring home pumpkins in October and they work on them as a family it's just a paper pumpkin and now we're doing the turkey project so all the turkeys are going home they're starting to trickle back so if anyone makes it through to South Elementary check out the walls for the family turkey projects they are looking fantastic um and then the other thing that we're really looking forward to do you remember that I remember that it's like a long standing tradition I have Ken and Tyler's turkeys in my house as you see they'll have my turkey too yeah see it's great um so the art and stem is currently doing a great collaboration project called balloons Over Broadway so there's uh a partnership between the two classes they read the book balloons Over Broadway about the first inventor and Puppeteer for the MA's Thanksgiving Day Parade and so the kids are now designing and Engineering balloon out of paper and they've got um sticks so they are going to be doing a balloons Over Broadway parade next Wednesday right before Thanksgiving so that is the next thing that I am really looking forward to itself so thank you good stuff um greetings from North Elementary School big week going on this week we have uh our fall play we've never had a fall play we usually do the spring play um and because we have so many students interested in the play we're doing the fall in the spring so it's The Reluctant Dragon shows on Wednesday There's a matina at 1:30 for North students and just just North students the zingle Dinger you cannot attend could maybe sneaky in the back door um but that crew has uh they've been working since the beginning of the school year so and the stage looks phenomenal uh Mr lenhoff is our director he's been doing it for number of years and he's recruited his whole family they come in just about every Monday and Wednesday uh to help out with that and the kids are excited and I'm excited to see it too um it's there's also a community showing that evening at 6 you know six o' thank you six o'clock I I keep thinking 6:30 because we originally put that on the calendar but I know it's it's six o'clock so everyone is welcome so show up at North uh Wednesday evening also um we have quite a crew going right now for Continental math continent Continental math is for second third and fourth graders we started that up again last year and it's enrichment um math for after school and actually would just open it up to any student that wants to participate um and so they have coaching sessions and then they have meets uh second grade has three meets throughout the school year and then uh third and fourth grade has five so we'll see how they do compared to all the rest of the Contin Continental math students uh around the area and I believe we have around 50 50 to 60 students that have signed up for that so that's that's great and that's Mr Robinson as our math coach after school maybe the math coach was the student who was here last yes yes he yes he is part of that also um our annual event I can't believe that it's going on this many years already we have North clo closet going on this Friday so at all of the offices uh there's a collection huge collection box that uh is very full um at each of the sites and so this this um Friday starting probably a little after 1:00 it's an early release um Quinn rasbach uh with her volunteers and I believe one of her volunteers is sitting up here as well um um bring all the clothing together and put it on display in the north gym and it's uh it it is just a fabulous uh Community event um that she started thinking about in third grade um and it's still going today um and it's it's the the opportunity uh I mean Quinn's got to move on here not this year but after next year but she's already has plans in place to have people take over for her and they're under uh being trained this year um and so we're looking forward to that we have a lot of clothing already outside in the hallway in the front hallway um and they have about 4 hours to get that all on display and I think they have like 10 racks from like Shields that were donated a number of years ago tables all over the place it's free any Community member can show up you check out the clothing and you take what you think you can use um and I'm looking forward to it again and we were talking about if if you saw the um Facebook post we're looking at probably renaming it I think it's got a little better every every good business has to be rebranded every once in a while um so I'm thinking I suggested you know Quinn's closet at North probably after next year yep after she hands it off so um she's made a pretty yeah pretty special mark on the building in the community um just by an idea so uh congratulations to Quinn and we look forward to offering that to the community again um and as you know our theme for some reason we have gratitude as well going on at North is that just a coincidence or what um part of oural curriculum but our students have been working on writing notes um of gratitude to people in in the building so staff um each other probably some of the best notes are when students show gratitude to each other like that is the most powerful thing but they're hanging them up in the hallway all over the place they give them to each other and then um in my weekly parent update I put a link in there for parents to provide gratit like practice gratitude back to people in the building and so it's so fun hearing the teachers and the staff saying like I got a note from so and so's parent or you know the parents of so and so and so and so like it just lights up their whole day so not only the students practicing it but we've asked the parents to do that too so thank you parents that have been doing that and the ultimate showing of the theme of the month of thankfulness and gratitude we have to have our turkey Bingo you can come to that Dr Graff if you'd like the Wednesday before uh Thanksgiving so if you want to see some second third and fourth graders gobbling down the hallway all the way to receive prize uh for winning Bingo you can join us for that 1:30 on Wednesday before Thanksgiving I would attend your turkey Bingo but we are also doing turkey Bingo all right at a middle school level former North teachers are keeping that role keep it going keep the turkey going so last Wednesday our sixth graders participated in our BizTown interviews and if you remember those are hosted by local uh business community members we had 10 volunteers this year uh students apply for jobs they interview and then are ultimately chosen for jobs based on their performance and interviews uh and I think we've been doing this now for six years and for the first time ever um two of those members were so impressed that they're going to come with the sixth grade or go with the sixth grade to Biz toown next Monday uh to support and to find out more about what Biz Town's really like um next student council hosted its fall dance last Friday very well attended students did very well everybody wore neon and we had uh black lights said blue lights black lights all over so everybody glowed um on a positive note I learned a new Tik Tock dance on a negative note I got knocked out of the limbo uh competition round one I'm gonna have to practice that um tomorrow all of our students will start their day in the gym uh representatives from the high school musical The Adams Family will be joining our our assembly and giving us a little preview and generating some excitement for the show and that is going to to happen I'm sure you'll tell us about it it will it sure will Thursday Friday Saturday and Sunday ma it's going to be good it's going to be good uh we had our our sorry we will have our November early release on Friday teachers will spend the first hour of that early release at spms talking about writing our goal is to increase writing opportunities develop some effective writing strategies and ultimately um create a a learning progression of expectations around around writing over the next few years and then lastly we've got some concerts coming up just want to throw those out there to folks uh spms choir concert is December 5th and the band concert is December 12th all at the high school performing arts center thank you uh at the high school we had another um lovely Veterans Day program uh last Monday thank you to those of you who are able to be there uh Jenna Schmitty from Wells was our was our speaker this year and um and the kids uh response was was very positive for her so um that's always a a great event to see the veterans who who come up for coffee and donuts before every year um and it's also really important for our kids um to to have that opportunity to thank their veterans so um we're happy to host that every year and the biggest news at the high school obviously is The Adams Family Musical coming up this weekend um again you're all invited and um I it is it is such a fun week those kids are wearing their t-shirts and I don't know if there's going to be a flash mob but um in P years past they've um they do a lot of marketing for their own for their shows so we're really excited about it and I got to say like I have gratitude for my colleagues up here so thank you for reminding us that it was the month of gratitude you guys that's great she must want something yeah so nice all right thank you last Dr Olen I have three things for you the first one is that our bid opening date has changed it was originally scheduled for Thursday November 21st this Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the Middle School theater it has now been shifted to Tuesday November 26th at 3:30 p.m. in the Middle School theater and the reason for the change is uh the need for a number of clarifications on uh the specifications are included in the bid documents in our general contractor IC felt like uh you in order to ensure that those clarifications were out there and in front of potential bid folk that the extra days would be important um they also assured us Seth and I were on a phone call with them this morning that um they would be prepared to have all of the documentation To Us by Wednesday the 27th so um they said we said that's on you and uh they're they're ready to move with that um in your bimonthly update you'll see an updated strategic plan for 2024 2025 um we think it's important that uh that the Strategic directions that you set continue to be examined with very specific goals under each of those areas so take a look at that if you have any questions let me know uh and then the last thing uh we've been getting some really good uh media coverage on a number of our programs at the High School uh we had uh coverage on our Building Trades program in terms of building the habitat house uh on our egg program for their farming and uh harvesting and then most recently this last weekend there was a feuture story in the Mano Free Press about our coral and performing arts program so all of those are fantastic things very proud of the things that are going on all in all of the buildings in our district and it's good to get that kind of uh recognition so that's it for me thank you thank you board members around the table that's rounds by I'm excited to go see The Adams Family and hopefully also The Reluctant Dragon I'm very excited for our students and in the spirit of gratitude I wanted to say thank you to Mr dhy and the teachers at North who supported Quinn and her idea and let that happen happen in Blossom because that has meant a lot to her through the years and it's been fun watching her grow up with that so thank you yes you're welcome in that regard when I was talking to Rita earlier and Quinn's already famous and when she becomes even more rich and famous I'm her agent so I've got dibs there guys and U and the the spirit of the the word of the evening gratitude uh we do have a lot to be appreciative of uh there certainly challenges but a lot of very very good things happening in the district so thank you I'm good uh I am gr I'm thankful and all that stuff I gu after that I should least say that I look like a horse guess yeah I'm thankful I feel it I can feel it the genuine gratitude that you're expressing do you feel it yeah I do okay uh I was just going to mention a reminder about our December 2nd study session as a board I look forward to we're going to talk about the next steps in the superintendent search process and we're going to have a representative from msba and someone from the south central service Co-op to be there to talk about the services they provide uh in the search process so I look forward to that and just wanted to remind you that that's the big top we still starting at 6 we do we will have a special meeting at 6 yeah so we we the entire meeting will actually be a special meeting because rather than having a special board meeting than uh you know adjourning and going to a study session but we can continue with the same business as we move forward there so starts at 6: p.m. and and hopefully we'll have good news on awarding bids at that point in time Mr count um yeah in the spirit of gratitude I was going to thank Miss zingle Dinger and the high school for the veterans program it's first time since I've been on the faculty that I was able to attend it and was very impressed with uh the program and and the reaction of the students to the speaker it was very uh for me it was kind of a difficult thing to listen to but it was it it was very impressive and then uh Dr Olsson mentioned but Rita and Kate myself will be headed up to rington well couple weeks I think it's the fifth and sixth of December Sixth and S okay so we'll do our best to try and get some things on the agenda for our lobbyists for the legislature y good thank you um gratitude for the entire community and school system and Community Ed especially this this is amazing place to live at this point in time um and I also have a suggestion for quin's closet I like the name we've got a bunch of tables that we trying to get rid of and you know if you need any more we got some of those just an idea he's already he's already given us some of those there you go thank you all right any committee updates education committee anything to share I don't really think I mean we talked about some of it we talked about flexible learning um we're going to have flexible learning like we always do I don't think there's really anything else we need we'll talk about yeah in the study session at some point I would guess perfect business committee we heard a lot from you tonight but anything else I think the budget in the quarter leag tractor and that is hopefully uh if you have requests for any additional information let us know thank you policy committee I would I think we've talked a lot about it I would just suggest that if people have comments to make please get a hold of the policy committee meeting um our meeting is scheduled for December 11th and we would love to have input thank you I did think of one thing yeah sure um with the flex learning um if anybody is listening it's may be important to understand that with the way the schedule is built this year and with the souths having to have a minimum number of hours that there will be flexible learning for all of the days that the school is out this year maybe that would be helpful for people to know correct MH and then HR committee anything no but I imagine we'll have to start gearing up pretty soon y okay all right thank you um we do have some upcoming meetings of the board um the special Schoolboard meeting Monday December 2nd the middle school media center starting at 6 PM business committee policy committee and education committee all meet in December uh right before the week before our regular board meeting which is Monday December 16th right here in the governor's room and just to reemphasize the bids will be open yes on the 26 on the 26 all right so second only to the student Spotlight our next favorite agenda item is motion for adjourn I'll make a motion to adjourn and a sec I'll second all those in favor meeting is a journ thank you everyone technically you can