December 2nd, 2025 School Board Meeting

001We're starting a little bit late at 536 p.m. Our first item for tonight's agenda is the superintendent search discussion. I have As you all may know, actually, as you all do know, Dr. Mary Peary-Reed has sent out notification that she is not seeking renewal of her contract and not going to be able to serve the year that... She would go into per her contract if it was not renewed. So we are embarking on a superintendent search and Wanted to give the board and I do am grateful to dr Miri Piri Reid for giving us this time to conduct what I think is going to be hopefully a thorough search process and I wanted to make sure that we were able to have it discussion tonight about what that could look like because I believe that

002nobody on this board has been through a superintendent search. I have as a member of the 287 board, so wanted to give everyone as much information as possible so that we can get this started. So I prepared the following slides and Are you able to project them, Natalia? Okay, great. So just wanted to make sure that you all feel comfortable, like at any time, offer your thoughts. This is really just an information and... where we can go next. So step one, from all the discussions I've had with other school boards who have recently completed a superintendent search or in the process of one, and my board colleagues on 287 who were part of that search process, everyone has recommended that we hire a search firm. And the research I have done, I think that that

003is the way to go. It is a board decision whether we do that or not. Knowing that then all the costs and all the effort would be internal, which would be, I think, a very heavy lift. So there are, these are the search firms that work locally in Minnesota. MSBA, who we are a member of, they do do an executive search. In the past, I heard they were maybe not the top, but right now all of the current metro districts that I am aware of are using the MSBA executive search piece of that organization and are extremely happy. So I spoke with recently. Boards who recently hired and ones who are in the process using MSBA and and they got rave reviews I have linked to the sites for each firm so Then there is

004HYA and I I don't know is that one that you had experience with I just know it's the one of the three that have the most recent experience serving boards in Minnesota And then School Exec Connect is the, I believe, the hiring firm that we used to hire, that Hopkins used to hire Dr. Mary Piri-Reed. Correct. I have heard from board members who have used School Exec Connect since then, and they have not been pleased with the candidates that they got. And then there is Ray and Associates, and I have not heard anything about them. Do you have any experience? I believe they may be connected with CISO, which is an organization we are partnering with, but I don't have personal experience working with Ray and Associates. Does anyone have any questions about that? So

005those would be, I think, the four. that we could dive deeper into. So next slide. And then I reached out to MSBA, Terry Morrow, just to talk about what the process could look like hiring a search firm. And these are our options. We could issue an RFP, review proposals, and select firms to interview and then hire. We do not have to issue an RFP, but we can still request proposals, interview firms, and then hire. We can select firms to interview without a proposal and then hire. We can request proposals from firms and hire without an interview or hire a firm without doing any of those things. Options are pretty wide open. Terry did say that options one and two are the most common in the metro area. Sometimes firms are hired primarily based on word

006of mouth or recommendations for other districts. So I think that it's kind of up to us what we want the process of hiring a search firm to look like. So just wondering if anyone. This is I think the the slide in which we'll have the most discussion about what feels right for this board at this time Chair Andreessen. Yes. I'm well aware that I'm not going to be here for this, but I was part of the community interview team when we made the excellent decision to hire Dr. Rhoda Mary Perry-Reed as our superintendent. Obviously, it was the board at that time making the decision, but I was involved with multiple community meetings. And it was School Exec Connect who was used at that time. I HAVE SOME CONCERNS. I HAD SOME MAJOR CONCERNS AT THE

007TIME. I DIDN'T FEEL THAT THEIR APPROACH WAS INCREDIBLY CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE. THAT WAS EIGHT YEARS AGO. AND SO, EVEN THOUGH THE OUTCOME WAS REALLY GREAT, THERE WERE SOME PROCESS CONCERNS THERE. SO, I WOULD ADVOCATE FOR, IF WE LOOK AT THE PROCESS OPTIONS, FOR OPTION ONE. BECAUSE I THINK IT GIVES THE BOARD... multiple opportunities to really understand the expertise of the organization, kind of the lens that they use to implement the search process. My one, thanks for offering that. My concern with number one is that I feel like it would be placing a lot of work on our administrative staff to go through the RFP process. And if we don't have to, I feel like that is a step that I would wonder what is the value add of an RFP. That's my only hesitation with number

008one. I feel like we could get to the same place with number two and not place that additional workload on admin because I don't know how to do an RFP. I think it's helpful if the firms know that you are asking for proposals from multiple firms because then it's more competitive, right? Right. So if we get request proposals on our own without an RFP, that's number two. Chair Andreessen? Yes, Director Roper. So thank you for the information on the search firms. Is there, so I know that we have four, and I'm kind of just thinking like Shark Tank style, right? Like we have four, we have four, you know, contestants who are, you know, promoting the same product. What is the difference that we're looking for in like one of the firms that? that one

009firm doesn't offer. Because I assume they're going to do, you know, like Jen said, like the director of small and select their processes, but is there like one specific thing that we need this firm to absolutely and relentlessly look for or to offer before we, you know, select one? I think that we could have that discussion as a board and put it, you know, make that clear. or it's part of our selection criteria. Or my understanding from people that I've talked to that have used a search committee is that they're really directed by the board. Like we tell them what we want them to do. And it's very much our search. So I think ensuring... That whatever search committee we hire that that's how they approach the process that we are the ones Conducting the

010search and they're there to facilitate it and to bring in their network I think as you said is really important that we make that clear that it's our search Yes As an example at least one of these firms Has a past practice that does not include going out and recruiting candidates Whereas at least two of these firms that is their practice where they go out and they recruit and they help vet candidates versus waiting for candidates to come forward so that's an example of a criteria that the board may want to include in their set of specifications Yes, hi. Yeah, I think one question, and because I am used to private industry, is there a model where these search firms get our requirements and they pitch us, for lack of a better word, on a

011few candidates that they like, and we select out of those? for folks to interview, right? So, you know, it's not really like locking into one firm, but just seeing what candidates they bring and then whoever we decide on is obviously, you know, they get the referral money or whatever. Is that not a thing that, and for the superintendent search? Yeah, I don't think that's how it works. I think before they do the work of getting in candidates, they require that you sign with them. Okay. Unfortunately. CHAIR ANDREASAN. YES. THE RFP CAN SERVE AS THAT CLARIFYING DOCUMENT FOR THE BOARD, LIKE LAYING OUT SOME OF THE CRITERIA THAT THE BOARD IS LOOKING FOR. BUT I THINK THERE'S ALSO A WAY TO DO IT WITHOUT A FORMAL RFP. I WOULD BE CURIOUS ABOUT THE WORKLOAD THAT IT

012WOULD ADD TO OUR ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF AND WHAT EXACTLY THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE. I THINK MORE DETAILS PROBABLY NEEDED TO KIND OF PRO AND CON. like doing a formal RFP versus going with sort of a version of an RFP that's number two. There's a way to get that specificity either way. But I think it's important to know like exactly what that would look like in terms of workload. Yeah, I like that too. I also tend to not, I like to get proposals because I think people will pitch what they're good at. And then if we internally have criteria, we can say, oh, they hit all the things we want. I guess it's just either one. Do we want to tell them what to pitch or should we see what they pitch? I don't know. Any thoughts?

013We could certainly go through the process ourselves internally to create an RFP or a list of selection criteria, like a matrix. I'm thinking just logistically. So if the board were to agree on priorities or selection criteria, that would have to happen at a public workshop or a public meeting. So these search firms would be able to see that information anyways. So maybe perhaps to help move this discussion along. I think timing wise we were hoping to be able to do this before our first meeting in January to start at least asking for proposals. So if we're going to, to your point, Director Westmoreland, if we're going to have a set of criteria for the search firm. BEFORE WE REQUEST PROPOSALS, THEN I WOULD SAY THAT'S BUMPING OUR TIMELINE BACK A MONTH OR MORE. SO WONDERING

014IF THIS BOARD WOULD FEEL COMFORTABLE GOING OUT AND REQUESTING PROPOSALS. LET'S SAY WE DO IT FOR ALL, FROM ALL FOUR OF THEM. And then we could all interview them, right? I mean, I don't think we have to narrow it down from four. Or is there one we just want to get rid of? Like maybe we want to think about that. Chair Andreessen? Yes. I respect the, you know, the need to get in motion. I definitely do not want to be at a time crunch, you know, in coming into the summer. I, it's a big undertaking and finding myself like a little overwhelmed at some of the choices and very much think that we must make some kind of matrix amongst ourselves in order to even like know what we're screening for and asking for. And

015there's potentially even Some training options that are available like I know at some conferences there have been some best practices Presented that's our next slide Okay, like I don't want to just sit here in silence and have you think that this isn't Isn't a big deal to me or some of my fellow colleagues. I just I'm The truth is I am not entirely sure. As you say, it's not something that we've been through before. And so possibly talking about some best practices or some training possibilities for us would help. Yeah, and I think like right now, I know it's overwhelming and that's why I tried to break it down. Right now, we're just talking about hiring the search firm and not, this isn't the superintendent. So this is we're just hiring the organization that we

016feel is going to help us do the entire process that you're talking about, Treasure Heartland, which is a huge undertaking and a big endeavor. So I don't want us to get too stuck in this part. The other option to get. in order to make this more nimble is if this board would feel comfortable deputizing like an executive committee to create the criteria for selecting just the search firm, not the superintendent. We would all be part of that with the search firm. That's their job to help us do that process to create. the selection criteria for the Superintendent. So the full board would be part of that, but we could right now at this meeting select an executive committee or say, you know, the executive committee is going to create this criteria and then we'll request

017proposals based on that criteria. And then it wouldn't require a special meeting or any of that. It would just be that committee working. on this one item. Chair Andreessen. Yeah. I was thinking kind of my gut reaction was, you know, I was liking that number two as well. And I just feel like to kick it off and get things moving, to ask for proposals from all four, you know, and then when we get to the interview step, you know, then we're kind of able to refine. You know, what are we looking for out of each of these proposals? So I don't know. That was sort of my gut instinct here as I was seeing this. And would you feel comfortable having an executive committee do that piece? Or do you want the full board interviewing

018the firm? I think I prefer the full board doing that. So then we would be in January before we'd hire a firm. And thinking timeline-wise, does that feel comfortable for you? I think it's still a competitive timeline. Great. Does anyone have any strong feelings either way on that? Karen Dreesen, can I ask a quick question? What is our, I'm sorry, we already mentioned this. What is the timeline to hire a new superintendent? Like are we looking to hire before June or like maybe mid-April? Yes, very much so, yeah. So preference would be like we would start, I think, in February, like really going out and recruiting and that kind of stuff. And then yes, spring interviews. Yeah. And we want them to have as much time as possible with the current superintendent. So my contract

019ends June 30. And if we had a couple of months overlap, that would be ideal. So do we all feel comfortable with that? Like request proposals from all four firms? And then I would like to advocate that we just have an executive committee create the criteria and then we can all use it for the interview process. Because I don't want to have to call a special board meeting to create a criteria list for a hiring firm. Chair Andreessen? Yeah. Yeah. Could the executive committee, you know, have an individual conversation with each board member, get our input, and then... Massage it all together. That'd be great. I think that might be a good hybrid. I do think there's an open meeting law concern there. Oh, we can't like one can't talk to one and then bring

020it to a committee? No, because that would be a serial conversation. Or could we have an open document that everybody can have access to, like even the public? No, I don't want that. So the three can work together and then present this is what we're doing. Or if you all want to give feedback, then it needs to be done in a public meeting. I mean, I feel like, and I'll just say this again, everybody's going to have tons of input. One, they'll have it on the interview process and who we decide to hire. And everybody is going to be part of what I think are the important selection criteria, which is the superintendent. So in the issues of time, I just feel like we should have a committee just to create a selection criteria for

021the hiring firm. Are there any strong objections for that? And then we can use that as part of the interview process. So this would be in service of number two on this list? And this committee that you're envisioning would what, have a couple of board members and... Three. Three board members would do this work? I don't know. I'm kind of inclined, if I had to choose, would be somewhat inclined to have an even kind of long, I don't know if it would be a workshop or what it would be. Could probably be fine with an executive committee or a committee of board members doing it, but I think my preference would be to have all of us do it. It is like our job. It is like our... Again, I'm just going to reiterate, this

022is just for the search firm. Yep. I know. Okay. We can do... in the issue, I'm sorry, Clerk Thompson. Yeah, I just wonder how necessary it even is. Because if we're able to see four proposals ourselves and do the interview, I mean, could we even do that at the January 13th meeting? Like, I think, you know, we each have kind of ideas of criteria for how to interview them, what we're looking for in the proposal, that type of thing. I just wonder if we could even just skip the executive committee step is just my thoughts. So just not have selection criteria? Just go into it? I wonder, yeah, I'm comfortable with it. Look at the proposals? Yeah. Okay. Anyone else? Thoughts? Yes. Obviously, it's up to the board. I do think we're talking about firms

023that have some significant experience working with districts, and there are going to be some best practices that will be common across these firms. You're not going to see huge, distinct differences between how they operate, and I think you'll get a really great feel for what they are best at in their proposals. But that's just my perspective that I wanted to share. And just for context, 287, it was literally the board chair worked with the superintendent and they hired a firm. Like the board didn't have any part in it. So I think we're being more inclusive than a lot of boards are in this process. So does anyone have any strong feelings against Clerk Thompson's proposal that we get? Four proposals if they all want to send one they might not want to send one We

024we request proposals from all four firms and then we review the proposals that we get and interview the firms at either are like at our first Board meeting in January Does that sound good? I think it would be really great if we can have community voice Like at least give us some input about what the search firm should be looking for in the superintendent I mean if that's even enough that is part of the process for the superintendent. Okay Absolutely, and lots of it. Yeah, great. Okay. Yes, that's my biggest concern is that community boys have to get involved That is definitely part of it. Okay, so I'm comfortable moving forward with that plan So then next slide to Treasure Heartland what you were indicating MSBA does do an in-district workshop for member districts called

025hiring the right superintendent. We can have it in person. The cost is 1,395 for in person and the cost for virtual is 1,095 and includes all the time and materials. So. if I can get thoughts about if that's something that... Board members would feel valuable. We can schedule something for right away in January. And then one of the things I found incredibly valuable when we were hiring a superintendent in 287 was they did an equitable hiring practices training. And I reached out to 287 and they said that they would be willing and open to doing that for us as a member district. And it would be created and tailored to Hopkins. by their director of equity and inclusion. So that again will be another layer to training that the full board will receive as part

026of this process. And that would probably be, happen right before we're gonna start the interview process. Any thoughts on if we feel the MSBA in district workshop would be valuable? Chair Andreessen, I think, yes, yes, both of them. I don't have strong feelings about in-person versus virtual, but I mean, I think that this is a really serious undertaking and would want us to have some shared, not just the training, but some shared language and understanding and foundation before embarking on this task. So I will go ahead and get the MSBA training on our calendar. That feels good to everybody. Okay, I will reach out to them and schedule that. Any thoughts on timing? January feels good. Great. And that's all then. Thank you for having this discussion with me. I appreciate it. That takes us

027then to our next order of business, which is the tax levy levy update I will turn it over to dr. Mary Perry read Thank you, Chair Andreessen. So earlier this year at a September 25 special meeting, our school board certified the proposed property tax levy at the maximum for pay 26, which is fiscal year 25. And as the board is already aware, we will host a truth in taxation hearing just in 10 minutes here, which is required by state law and has to happen before December 30. So to prepare our board for that meeting, but also to prepare our board for the adoption of the proposed levy for pay 26, I invite our interim director of business services, DeeDee Kering, to share some information with you and also with our community. Thank you, DeeDee. Thank

028you. I don't know if you were hoping that I'd go through the whole presentation ahead of time or not. I'm not sure there'll be quite enough time, but I'm happy to. No. No? You're good? We'll be here for the presentation. I knew you would be, but I didn't know if you wanted to just. Give me a practice shot or not. If you want the practice, then yes. No, no, I'm fine. I'm quite fine. So tonight we'll go through the levy certification process for the payable 26 levy, which, as you know, is for fiscal year 26. In the documents for the actual levy certification, there's a document that you're used to seeing, so that's down in the actual action item that provides you with the history back to 22 all the way through payable 26. So

029that will be the actual document that we'll go through at the time that you do the levy certification. So the total amount of the levy will be $73,051,535. It's an increase of 5.9% over the prior year. And as you know, as a district, you passed a bond referenda that is the majority of the... increase that you will see over the prior year. There are some other adjustments that occur and that's due to student counts, it's due to prior period adjustments, it's due to population of your district, your LTFM, there's a number of things that can change that. We'll go through all of that when I go through the presentation for the Truth in Taxation hearing. But overall, your general fund will go up 3% over the prior year. Community service fund will go down just

030a little bit. It's a small number anyhow, but negative 5.8%. And then your debt service, that's where you'll see the increase, the largest increase of 15.3%, which is then that voter-approved referenda that you had. During the presentation I'll be able to explain some of the budget that's a requirement of the presentation as well as talk about the purposes of the of the levy What the changes were and we'll have some slides on the tax impact for the presentation as well. So I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have. I'm also trying to be aware of that we have to start the presentation in five minutes. Yes, thank you for that. I did just have a quick clarifying question about the community service fund. I know part of what we had discussed when we

031were going over this was that there was about 80,000 that we weren't realizing. Does that include? That 80,000 and it's still gone down So you're talking about the child school-aged child care? Yeah, you'll see that that number is one that has changed back from 22 23 At a greater amount we do have levy in there for 26 at a hundred and twenty thousand dollars So we do have some included one of the things I was explaining to the superintendent is that the state of Minnesota picks up your expenses as it relates to school-age childcare. And in particular, keep in mind that that is related to students who have some form of disability or are displaced temporarily. So if those figures... Which when your audit is completed then your you far as data your uniform financial

032accounting Information is submitted once that is final then we will go to the MDE and ask them to review and and verify and we'll verify as well to make sure that the district is capturing the right Expenditures to submit to the state of Minnesota. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Yes. You're welcome any other questions Great. Well, thank you so much. Thank you. Look forward to seeing you in four minutes. Sounds good. From a different perspective. And I'm assuming right at the podium you are. Thank you. Thank you. Well, thank you, everyone. This is your final workshop. Now, a journey. Wow. Four minutes. Milestone. Yes. Do you want the mic? I don't think they said that's not working. Hi everyone, welcome. This is a truth in taxation hearing for the Hopkins School Board starting at 6.15 p.m.

033on December 2nd. Thank you. Madam Chair, members of the board, Superintendent Mary Perry-Reed and community members, thanks for being here tonight. This is the public hearing for taxes payable 2026 for the Hopkins School District and we'll move through some of the truth in taxation requirements. The meeting must be held between November 25th and December 30th and it must start sometime after 6 p.m. It can be part of a regular meeting or it can be scheduled separately. The levy may be adopted at the same meeting, which tonight we will be asking the board to do so. The presentation must include discussion on the current year budget, the levy, and then allow time for the public to comment, and that will occur at the end. So if we want to move to the first slide, we'll be

034talking on the agenda. It's not moving forward? Nope. the other one that was sent in the board packet. Okay. Thanks for holding. Sure. What is your favorite kind of pie? Do you want me to get my computer? It should be in the packet, I believe. There we go. Thank you. Do you want to go to the agenda slide? All right. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. So the Truth in Taxation agenda for tonight will be some background information regarding funding, tax levies, as well as the budgets. And then in the end, we will talk about public comment, as I mentioned earlier. So moving on to the next slide, the funding districts for school districts. The state of Minnesota, it states... Excuse me. Public school funding is highly regulated and revenue formulas, tax policies, and the tax

035levy process are established through state law. It's important to know that while school districts can under-levy what is authorized by state law, they cannot levy more than what legislation gives them authority to. Two examples of authority are referendums, such as the district has for operating, capital, and bond referendums. Next let's talk about the levy development. In this slide you see data that the district must provide to the state of Minnesota in order to develop the levy certification. It includes student enrollment, facility information, and any voter approved referenda that are included in the general fund and certain expenses. In community services, the population for the school district and the number of children under age five are included in the information submitted to the state. For debt service, the principal and interest scheduled for voter approved and

036facility bonds must be included in the data necessary to finalize the levy certification. The certification process spans over six months, starting with the district submitting the required information to the state of Minnesota. The school board approves a preliminary levy in September, which is important in order for the county to mail out the property tax statements in November. The final step of the process is for cities, counties, and school districts to hold a truth in taxation hearing, which is the purpose of the meeting tonight. After the hearing, the board is asked to approve the final levy certification, which will occur later at the official board meeting. The levy certification process throughout the board action of certifying the district's levy at tonight's meeting, the taxes are collected by the county in calendar year 2026, which provides funding

037for the school district's 26-27 school year. Next, let's look at the fiscal year 25-26 budget. So if we look at the preliminary budget for general food service and nutrition services, community service, debt service, construction and capital projects, you'll see that we have those different funds. And at 74.6%, the budget for the majority of K-12 operations lies in the general fund. The amounts for each fund on this slide shows the approved budget for revenue and for expenses for fiscal year 2026. That was approved by the board in June of 25. Since the general fund is the largest portion of the budget, the upcoming slides will relate to that portion of the budget. So when we look at the general fund revenue summary, 74% of the funding are found in those first four categories or first four

038revenue sources that you see on this slide. The operating referenda and local operational revenue make up 17.8% of the district's funding, with only 3% of the revenue coming from federal aid. The remaining two categories equal 5.3% of the $130 million general fund revenue budget. When we look at the general fund expenditure summary, 78.7% of the expenses for the general fund are made up in salaries and benefits. This is in line with other school districts in the state of Minnesota. The next largest portion of expenses is in purchase services at 15.6% of the budget. This includes expenses such as transportation, utilities, insurance, professional services, tuition bills, communications, and travel. Next, if we look at the 2025 payable 26 tax levy, I want to talk a little bit about what causes increases and decreases in the levies.

039So the local property tax levy is used for school districts to secure funding for those programs which property taxes are the mechanism made available through state law. The majority of other school district funding comes through state or federal aid, as we discussed on the last slide. Other than specific voter approval, there are four major ways that the levy can change. The first is through changes in state law. It's important to know that the district's ability to levy for local financial resources is highly regulated by state statute. A local school district cannot increase a tax levy without there being a specific statutory authority to do so. The second way the levy may change is through pupil unit or specific population changes. Some levy formulas are linked to number of students served in the population or in

040the community. The third option is, or third category, is changing market value or tax capacity of the district property. And it is an important factor for levies. Some levies are equalized, which means that a portion of the levy formula is based for through state aid and the remainder is through a local levy. As the market value grows, These types of levies are designated to decrease the portion of levies picked up by the state aid and increase the portion picked up by local levy. Specific to Hopkins Public Schools, the net tax capacity decreased slightly by 0.3% and the referendum market value increased by about 1%. The final way that levies may change is when the expenditures for those programs whose revenue is based on actual expenditures. An example of this is an LTFM pay-as-you-go levy. Next,

041if we look at the categories, the three categories that the district levies for, that would include the general fund, community service, and debt service. Almost 72% of the total levy is for general fund, which provides fundings for programs listed on the right side of the slide. Only 1.4% of the levy is for community services, and just about 27% of the levy is to repay principal and interest payments on the district's debt service. Next slide is to show the proposed tax levy for taxes payable in 2026. So as you can see, the three categories that I just described are on the left. Next is the column with the actual levy from a year ago, and then the proposed 26 property tax levy. You can see that the general fund will increase by 1.53 million, or 3%.

042Community service will decrease by 62,000. Debt service will increase by just over 2.5 million. And then I'll talk about why all of those changes occurred between 25 and 26 on the next slide. So the major changes in the general fund has to do with increase in referenda revenue by 1.5 million, mostly due to changes in equalization in referenda revenue. Also, prior year adjustments occurred for the achievement and integration at $316,000 and re-employment at $245,000. All of those two categories listed in those bullets are offset by a decrease in the lease levy by about $525,000. The community service budget is decreasing slightly due to prior year adjustments. And then finally, as you know, Hopkins voters approved a $140 million bond referendum in November of 25. This increased the bond and interest payments by $3.9 million, which

043is offset by a reduction in $1.7 million in LTFM debt service. Next, this was kind of covered before, but the state limits the school district's property tax levy by statutory defined formulas. So those pupil counts again, the number of students we have, eligible expenditures that we might have related to the specific category, the voter authorization, population, and then property valuation. Next, in order to calculate the property taxes, there are three key variables. It is the estimated market value, which is established for each parcel, and that is accomplished by the assessor. It's not done by the school district. The property classifications, those which include residential, commercial, apartments, agricultural, non-homestead properties, industrial, those are set by the state legislature. And then finally, the tax levy is by the taxing jurisdictions, and that would include city, school district,

044county, and others. Next, I know this one's probably a little small to read, but the upcoming examples that I'm going to show you of property taxes are shown based on two different factors. One with no change, so a property looking at four years with no change in the property value. And then we'll show you one where the slide with that has that the residential property increases by 7.1% for residential homes over that four years. These examples that are given are for the city of Hopkins. And then the amounts are preliminary. They will be final. They could change just slightly, but it's likely not to be much at all. And then estimates have been approved, prepared, excuse me, by Ehlers, which is the district's municipal advisors. Again, I know on this slide it will be difficult

045to see from the background. This is the document that helps with the slides coming up. It's mostly talking about, again, the property types, which are residential homestead, commercial industrial, and then apartments and residential non-homestead. The next column is market values. And then looking at taxes for payable for 24, 25, and then 26, and then changes in those property taxes. You'll see for a residential home of $400,000, the property increase from 23 to 26 is $46, and from 25 to 26 is $85. So it's been blended over the years, and in the most recent years, it does show the increase. impact of your new bond referenda. So next slides that will have some bar graphs will show you then what those property taxes look like. So on the left-hand side is a residential property of $400,000,

046and on the right is a $500,000 property. And this is assuming that year to year there is no change in that property value. So a $400,000 home in 2003 paid $1,595, whereas in 2020, it's $1,641. The net change over that time is $46. Likewise, on the right-hand side, at no change in property value, meaning a $500,000 home in 23 was at $1,098, and now $2,082, an $84 increase. And we'll look at that with a 7% increase in a future slide. The next slide is looking at then what the impact is of the property taxes on a $1,000 commercial industrial property on the left. $1 million, excuse me. And then on the right, $1 million apartment non-residential property. And you can see what the impact is if that same property remained at $1 million over that

047time. But year to year, from 25 to 26, a commercial and industrial property at $1 million will see an increase of $55. And then a million dollar apartment, non-residential, they'll see an increase of about $249. Then the next slide is then showing the difference when you have a 7.1% cumulative change. So on a $400,000 resident home property today, Four years ago that property was worth $373,400. So this is looking at because your property values increase, the estimated amount of that increase is $27,000 over that time period and your taxes went up $158 over that same time period. Then on the right-hand side is a $500,000 home, same exercise, today worth $500,000, previous $466,000, an increase of $33,000 over that time, and taxes went up $217 from the previous 2003. So for tonight, the recommended levy

048certification amounts are listed on the screen. The general fund at $52,549,730.50. Community service at $1,003,859.33. Debt service $19,497,946.03 for a total of $73,051,535.86. Next steps in the process is the board will accept public comment. The public comment must be related only to the property taxes for the school district and no other topic. Later in the evening, I believe, the district welcomes other comments from the community member. And then board certifies the 2026 property tax levy at the meeting later on this evening. With that, welcome to have any public comment from anybody in the community. Okay. No public comment? Okay. Well, thank you. I know the district is grateful that you have paid attention and listened tonight or tuned in, whichever case might be, as well as supporting any of the property tax levy questions that

049have been brought to the community. They greatly appreciate your support. So thank you very much. Hi, welcome everybody. Thank you so much for being here this evening. This is the Hopkins School Board meeting for December 2nd, 2025. And every, before almost every meeting, we take some time to honor students and people in our district that are making us Excellent and amazing and brilliant. And so tonight we are going to honor two of our departing board members, Director Jen Westmoreland and Vice Chair Jason Ross. We would like to invite you to go down and walk the royal blue carpet. So thank you all for being here tonight. I know some of you are here for other reasons, but we are really excited that you're here to honor Jason and Jen for their last board meeting. And

050I'm going to apologize in advance because I don't think I've made it through either one of these speeches without crying. Our first board member that I would like to invite to walk the royal blue carpet is Vice Chair Jason Ross, who served on the district, who served on the school board for four years. I first met you as a face on a t-shirt at the Raspberry Parade, and that's still my favorite campaign item ever. From those early moments to today your steady presence and genuine commitment to our community have always stood out. As Vice Chair you have stepped in seamlessly whenever I couldn't be there offering not just support but true partnership. As Chair of the Policy and Monitoring Committee you guided us through complex decisions and from developing a new cell phone policy to

051navigating changes in transportation, always with clarity, patience, and a deep sense of responsibility to our students and families. When you first joined the board, I had the privilege of being your mentor, and even then I was struck by your thoughtfulness, your careful consideration, and your unwavering dedication to the community. You were and are perfectly suited for this work. You will be missed, not just by me, but by the entire district that has benefited from your leadership, your heart, and your service. Thank you for everything you've given. And Jen Westmoreland, she has served on the board for eight years. Tonight, we honor a leader whose impact on Hopkins will be felt for years to come. Jen, your service on this board has been nothing short of extraordinary. You first served in the board position of clerk

052for Hopkins, strengthening the structure and accountability of our governance. You then served as chair for four years, providing steady, thoughtful, and values-driven leadership through moments of growth, challenge, and transformation. And you changed what it means for students to have a voice in district leadership. By creating our student board representative cohort model, you redefined representation, opening a pathway for students to speak to their own experiences and shape the decisions that affect their lives. You didn't just include student voice, you centered it. You are also a key board member in developing Vision 2031, helping chart a bold future-focused direction for Hopkins. You have been our North Star for vigilant equity and authentic inclusion, a constant reminder that our work must always be rooted in justice, belonging, and humanity. Jen, you are a mentor, a community leader, and

053someone who unfailingly centers people over process. You have strengthened our community by investing deeply in local leaders and lifting others into their own power. And through it all, in tough decisions, long nights, and complex conversations, you carried us forward with humor and grace. Thank you for the impact you've had on this board, this district, and this community. You leave behind a legacy of courage, compassion, and possibility, and we are profoundly grateful. Stepping close. Okay. Well, good evening, everyone. Along with Chair Andreessen, I also just wanted to share some thoughts with our two amazing board members. Every superintendent yearns to serve and be supported by a balanced, caring, thoughtful firm. but kind board. And as a superintendent, I have been extremely fortunate to have served under your leadership and board director guidance. This is because you,

054Jen and Jason, are quality humans with exceptional leadership abilities. You supported at the right times, questioned and critiqued at the right moments, and through it all, you have genuinely supported our students, rarely bringing up the needs of your own children, and certainly never prioritizing their needs over others. Jason, we hate to lose you because you have such a powerful voice at the board table. You are measured, thoughtful, and unafraid to raise a critical perspective. Thank you for making such a positive impact on policy monitoring, and I'm grateful that we benefited for four years from your quality service and leadership. And Jen, I'll never forget how you supported me and our amazing district during COVID. As our previous board chair, you and I responded to quite literally thousands of emails and navigated very challenging political dynamics.

055And through it all, you maintained a laser focus on equity, on belonging for all, on high academic expectations, on fiscal accountability, both at the district and state levels. You are a courageous and compelling leader, and I will miss you. Thank you to both of you I would invite if anyone else would like to make a comment now would be the time before we go to public comment Chair Andreessen. Yes, Director Westmoreland. So thank you to Chair Andreessen and my board colleagues for allowing me to share a few thoughts with you at my last meeting as an elected school board member. It was kind of hard to decide what to share. I vacillated between a list of the many district and community accomplishments I'm proud of, a litany of worries about public education that keep me

056up at night. or a blooper reel of my most awkward moments at the board table. It's been eight years, so there's a lot of content there. But I landed on this, a reflection and an invitation to meet the current moment as co-creators of public education. If you visit the same corners of the internet that I do, you've seen the sentiment public education is a public good that we must protect. The term public good reflects the immense funding, time, and labor we as educators, students, community members, advocates, administrators, school board members, researchers, and lawmakers have invested in a system that holds incredible promise and has caused harm to people who have historically been excluded from the collective imagining of what this system could be. So yes, we must fight to protect public education as a public

057good while simultaneously leaning into the transformative possibility that comes with periods of political and economic uncertainty. I find it helpful to visualize public education as a web of relationships, beliefs, and practices. These webs form at the community, school, and district levels. And as the webs grow and connect, they become structures of possibility. We use them to imagine and build futures where every learner can thrive. Sociologist Dr. Ruha Benjamin writes, Remember to imagine and craft the worlds you cannot live without, just as you dismantle the ones you cannot live within. I've spent my career and much of my personal life co-creating community webs to do the work of education reform because I cannot live within rigid systems that privilege some learners and their caregivers over others. systems that suppress valuable forms of cultural knowledge. And I've

058learned that I cannot live without these aspects of our Hopkins Schools community that we've co-created, especially during our work over the past decade. Centering the perspectives of students in decision-making. Opportunities for deep learning from community members' diverse lived experiences. Socially just teaching practices that honor the lived experience and brilliance of all students. An abundance mindset when it comes to meeting the needs of learners and the adults who serve and care for them. Safety, not in the form of compliance and criminalization, but in the form of belonging and accountability to authentic relationships. Physical spaces. where every mind and body can participate and truly be in community. School cultures, where queer and gender expansive people can show up as the fullest versions of ourselves. Prioritizing creativity and critical thought that surpass what any standardized test could ever

059measure. and working collectively toward a shared vision of educational justice. As a community, we still have so much more work to do to fulfill the promises of Vision 2031. And this involves thoughtful, systematized accountability processes and respectful, generative interactions between community members, board members, district leaders, students, and staff. So I leave you with a question. When it comes to public education, when it comes to the web that is our Hopkins Schools community, what can you not live without? As we fight to protect public education as a public good, we must continue to leave behind practices we cannot live with while imagining and building educationally just futures together. This is the last time that I'll speak to you from this side of the board table. Well, I'll say a few other things tonight, but you know

060what I mean. But you can't get rid of this Hopkins grad. Our collective work continues, and I'll be doing it in the web with you as a Hopkins parent, educator, educational researcher, and community member. Thank you to our fantastic Hopkins students. Your voices have shaped my leadership from day one. Thank you to my colleagues and friends at this board table and throughout our Hopkins School staff. I have learned so much by working alongside you. Thank you to my spectacular kid, Lila, for traveling on this journey with me. My parents are here tonight. And I'd like to thank them for modeling how to show up with and for people. They have modeled this for me my entire life. My Aunt Mary Pat is here tonight, too. I'd like to thank her and my sister Annie for

061listening to countless school board stories, for your support and belief in what's possible in public education. And thank you to the love of my life, Mary, for doing the hard work of systemic reform every day and for being the best thought partner. I started this school board journey eight years ago alongside Fartun Ahmed, the first Somali American woman in the country to be elected to a school board. Our shared campaign was incredibly meaningful and allowed me to meet, become friends with, and strive to understand the experiences of our Somali American families here in Hopkins Schools. They are an essential part of our Hopkins Schools community. And I strongly denounce the dangerous rhetoric and actions from leaders nationally and in our state who seek to divide us in this moment. Thank you to our entire Hopkins

062Schools community for the opportunity to serve you in this capacity. It has truly been one of the great honors of my life. Thank you, Director Ross-Morland. Thank you for the time. Vice Chair Ross. Oh, I guess I didn't realize I was supposed to say something. No, you don't have to. Well. I'm going to go off script. I didn't make this as beautifully eloquent as my board member to my left, Director Westmoreland did. As probably some of you guys do know, I want to say thank you for inviting me to enjoy this board experience. My wife, she... Had stage two breast cancer when I first did this role. I thought that was probably the dumbest decision after the fact. If I had known she was going to have breast cancer, I would have never run. I

063would have never sat up here. So I never said anything for the entire four years I sat up here. doing these meetings and then going home talking to my kids when they were much younger to ensure they didn't equate cancer meaning death. So they were very worried about their mother and spent a lot of time sitting in these meetings and I know most people thought I was a deer in the headlights. There was a lot of things that were weighing on my psyche. And as a parent, you could imagine talking to your children, ensuring that they understand one of their parents is still going to be around. And you are the primary person they're talking to, sharing their feelings. Not to also realize that, yes, I really don't care what anybody thinks. I have ADHD.

064I have served here with ADHD. So if you probably see me as a deer in the headlights, it's because I have ADHD and sometimes as... most people don't understand. It's a lot of, when there's a lot of information, it's called taking time to process. Everything that everybody is saying all at once, I drive my wife nuts at home because she will talk to me and I have mentally moved on to a completely different topic in the midst of our conversation. Still to this day, I drive my kids bat crazy because I move on when they're telling me something. So it was also difficult to be managing ADHD. So if you guys talk to me and I'm like, yep, not in my head. And if I don't say anything, that's because I'm processing. And then I

065need to decompress later on because. It's an overwhelming amount of information. As you guys can probably imagine, serving as a board member is very challenging, especially when you're neurodivergent. That I've always kept to myself. At this point, it's my last meeting, so it doesn't really matter. I can share this skeleton in the closet, but I do appreciate the empathy that all of my colleagues, especially Superintendent, show during that time. Again, I never said anything in the past four years. Obviously, my wife is in the clear. She's on remission. But yes, for that entire January through June, it was, I tried to focus here, be a great steward of the financial resources that you guys have blessed us with, and be able to run home to the kids. and then ensure that the kids are mentally

066focused on something else versus what my wife was going through. So with that, I do appreciate all of the support. I tell you a story to show the community that I am a human being as well. I'm not sitting in an ivory tower pretending to think anything that is coming down is not going to impact. students and the community and just want to ensure that public school education gets the support that it needs because obviously private schools don't need that level of support. I don't bleed blue, red, green, whatever you want to fill in the blank. I focus on how do we make Hopkins the most competitive and influential school district in the western and greater Minneapolis suburbs. So again, my wife probably didn't like the fact I went off script. ADHD, what can you

067do? So there you go. Thank you. And we have one last person that would like to speak to the board. I would like to invite Mayor Hanlon up to address the board and the rest of you. No, you can pick. My name is Patrick Hamlin. I'm the mayor of the city of Hopkins. Welcome. I'm not here to talk about taxes tonight. Good. It's great sitting here. This feels like family, coming here with the relationships that we've built. between our city and the school board that continued a lot during the campaign that we just had with a lot of members going out and sharing issues out in the community. And let me tell you, you all have a very difficult job. I did some campaigning with Sarah Wilhelm Garbers at one of the meetings and we

068had a great meeting, talked about the city of Hopkins and then went on to talk about school board and it just, it's rough. The role that you all play here. people take the education of their children very serious and they should and you often take the brunt of that and it's incredible work that you all do so thank you board member Ross board member Westmoreland I'm I'm going to pay special attention to Jen Westmoreland this evening for your commitment to Hopkins. I came up here saying that this feels like family, and a lot of that has to do with you and how when I was running, and I know even previous to me running, you really made it an importance to make connections to the city of Hopkins and the other cities around here. In

069fact, our connection actually goes beyond both of us. I think your mother used to do a lot of advocacy work in the Boston, two thumbs up, in the Boston Garden in our restaurant growing up. And I think we found that out later. But we have a lot of work to do. We have a growing city. We have a growing West Metro area. And there are a lot of families coming in here. And there are a lot of families that are moving into. uh... low-income housing affordable housing uh... and so we have a lot of work to do in terms of connections uh... with each other and continuing to build uh... those connections together and that really started with you uh... when i when i was running you made a special point to sit down with

070me i think molly cummings had referred you to me and we sat down and you've been a huge supporter of myself and our other council members in Hopkins. So I just want to say we're so grateful for that and for making that connection that is going to outlast your time here on the board in our relationships moving forward between our two organizations. So this evening I have a short proclamation recognizing Jen Westmoreland. This is kind of it's a little intimidating reading to a bunch of education specialists But I'll do my best Whereas Jen Westmoreland has served the Hopkins community with exceptional leadership in her four years as the chair and eight years on the Hopkins School Board during one of the most challenging periods in the district's history Whereas Ms. Westmoreland collaborated with colleagues to

071revamp the district budget to be revenue driven, strengthening the district's long-term fiscal stability and contributed to the development of Vision 2031 to prepare Hopkins students for a rapidly changing world. Whereas, there's lots of whereas in these. Whereas, she championed the inclusion of student voices by leading the creation of the Hopkins School Student Board and gathering student leadership input for the gender inclusion policy, which now stands as a guiding model for equity, belonging, and authentic inclusion. Whereas leading the Human Resource Committee, Ms. Westmoreland partnered with staff and community members to address complex issues, build trust, and foster collaborative solutions while also bringing national and statewide perspectives to Hopkins through her involvement in local progress. And whereas she has consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to the Hopkins community, mentoring youth and ensuring they center those they serve

072as human beings. leaving a lasting and positive impact on the city of Hopkins and the greater Hopkins area. Now therefore, I, Patrick Hanlon, Mayor of the City of Hopkins in the state of Minnesota, along with my fellow council members who are here in spirit, recognize and thank Jen Westmoreland for her outstanding service and contributions to the Hopkins schools and the community as a whole. Thank you very much for your commitment and your service to our community. Thank you so much, Mayor Hanlon and the Hopkins City Council. I am uncharacteristically speechless, and I'm just going to give you a hug now. Wow. Oh, my gosh. I can't spill water on these. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Hanlon. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you for those words. That meant a lot. Now that takes us to a

073public comment section of our agenda. Do we have any public comment cards? Any voicemails? So we do value hearing from our community, so we host a public comment section at the beginning of every meeting and also at the end. You have two ways to comment. to the Hopkins School Board. You can either leave a voicemail. The number is in our board packet, or you can show up here in person before the meeting and fill out a comment card. So we will move on to the next part of our reports. And I just want to quickly thank everybody who came to celebrate our board members. and who are departing, but also to celebrate Hopkins Public Schools. We know that you're here and your support is unwavering. So thank you for all of that and have a

074great evening. So I would now turn it over to our amazing student board reps. Thank you for being here tonight. And I will hand it over to you to give your reports. Hi, my name is Manuel and I'm a junior student board representative. So I just wanted to start out with a teacher spotlight for my AP Euro teacher, Ms. Saturn. So we just wrapped up Unit 5 and 6, which talked about the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. And we learned how the bourgeoisie of the Third Estate began rebelling against the First and Second Estates for more equality, which began the French Revolution. We then learned about the radical phase of the French Revolution where around 17,000 people were beheaded by the guillotine including King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette. And then we

075learned about the rise and fall of Napoleon and the impacts he had on the continent. In Unit 6, we learned about the first and second Industrial Revolutions and what social, political, and economic factors caused the Industrial Revolution and what changes resulted from it. So moving on, there's a new exciting trip being planned for the spring break of 2027 to Egypt. So current AP World History, AP European History, or AP African American Studies students, or current sophomores who took AP World or AP Euro last year, or students signing up for AP African American Studies next year are invited to join. And there will be a trip interest meeting on Thursday, December 18th at 5 p.m. in West. 112 and if you're interested you can also ask miss heimlich for any if you have any questions So

076next, if you are proficient in a language other than English, you may be eligible to earn some college credits and receive a world language proficiency certificate, a bilingual or a multilingual seal notation on your high school transcript. There are over 30 languages offered, so if you're interested, you can register through the Google form sent out in the newsletter. The tests will be administered on April 16th, and the deadline to register is February 27th. Finally, congratulations to all of the high school students for completing term one. Your term one grades are now available on your transcript, which can be accessed through Infinite Campus. And I'd like to end by just thanking Vice Chair Ross and Director Westmoreland for your service. It's true that you guys have really centered student voice, whether it be through being the

077student board liaison or including student board voice in the monitoring committee. It's all really appreciated. And I just want to thank you for all the work you've done. Hi, my name is Claire Fisher and I'm a senior student board rep. So the first thing I'd like to talk about tonight is the virtual financial aid night. The Hopkins Public Schools will be hosting an insightful workshop on the latest trends and changes in college admissions. This session will provide essential information to help navigate the college search process with confidence. So some of the key topics will include changing college admissions trends, standardized test requirements, scholarships and how to find them, and how to find the right college for you. So this will be on February 12th at 6 p.m. and it will be over Zoom. It will

078only be available through a sign up. The next thing I'd like to talk about is the library fundraiser. So the Hopkins Public Schools will be partnering with Cream and Amber Bookstore for a special fundraiser running from. December 1st to the 15th, so that's already started. The purchases will help raise funds to buy new books for Hopkins Media Centers. And alternatively, you can simply just shop in store at Cream and Amber between December 1st and the 15th, and you can just mention Hopkins Media Center fundraiser at checkout to just help out with that. Next, I would like to talk about the HOSA blood drive. So the Hopkins High School chapter of HOSA, which stands for Health Occupation Students of America, had their annual blood drive on the 21st of November. There were around 80 donors, which

079means that there were around 80 pints of blood donated, which is very, very helpful to our community. Since I am the secretary of HOSA, I got to work on that project for a little bit by just figuring out some logistics and as well as volunteering at the sign-up table during lunch. So I'm really happy I could be a part of that. And I would like to finish by saying thank you to our departing board members. So yeah, I just wanted to say thank you to you guys, especially Director Westmoreland for being an amazing student board liaison and just giving us very influential and significant support to our work. So thank you. Hello everyone. My name is Eloise. I'm a junior student board rep. First, we're going to start off with next Thursday, the 11th, there

080is a digital learning day for the high school. Another one. Wonderful. Greece, so this play was very successful. They showcased so much talent. The final show of Greece was the weekend after, or the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was wonderful. And the auditions for the winter show are now and yesterday. They were December 1st and 2nd from 5.30 to 8.30. You only had to show up to one of the days. But it's going to be student directed and it's a one-act play. Winter break is right around the corner, so a lot of teachers are scheduling finals or big tests for right before we leave, which is so fun. There's an array of winter concerts. So this Thursday there's an orchestra concert, symphonic strings, philharmonic, women in jazz, or women in string, sorry, in chamber. And then

081on December 9th, there is band, so concert band, symphonic band, wind ensemble, and jazz too. Jazz 1 has a separate concert on the 11th, and then choir is the 16th. So I'm so sorry if I'm butchering these names, guys. Fox choir, Bella Voce, Concert Choir, Royal Blues, Sirens, and you showed me how to say it and I already forgot. Bayou, thank you. And then on December 10th, the ninth graders have band, choir, and orchestra concerts, but it's only for freshmen. And then instead of a teacher spotlight, I'd like to spotlight Director Westmoreland. So last year was my first year on the board, and I was very nervous. I was nervous about what my first meeting would look like. And I was really worried that adults wouldn't listen to us because we're kids, you know. But

082she welcomed me with open arms. really, really listened, like truly made me feel seen and heard. She's always the first face I look for in new situations and at the LAC gatherings, so I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you so much. Hi, my name is Adina Togel, and I'm the freshman representative on the student board. I'll start off by talking about the upcoming winter sports that are happening. So many sports have started or are starting soon. Those are floor hockey, alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, both girls and boys basketball and hockey, dance, gymnastics, swim and dive, and wrestling. We're about a couple weeks into the winter sports season and many exciting games are coming up. Next I want to talk about conferences for term two. So term two conferences were held today. There was

083an option to do them in person at school or you can set up a meeting with teachers to do it virtually. It was a way so parents and teachers can or students, parents and teachers can meet to talk about students grades and how they're progressing. Next, there's an upcoming DECA practice on December 10th, which will give students a chance to get more guidance and help with their presentations and problem solving. This practice is for students to solve solutions and then present them to professional DECA judges and get feedback on how they did. They are 15-minute sessions where each group of students has about 8 to 10 minutes to come up with solutions and fill in all the areas that they need to come up with. And then they take the rest of that time to

084present to the judges and get asked some unprepared questions. Next, the Winter Carnival is tomorrow. There will be many games for people to play where you can earn tickets and get prizes. Many of the clubs will be there with booths. There will also be a movie that will be playing for everyone to enjoy. You can buy eight tickets for $5, 20 for $10, and 30 for $15. Lastly, I want to do my teacher spotlight. Today I'll be spotlighting Mrs. Donald. She's my Health 9 teacher. Mrs. Donald is always super active and engaging with her students. She makes sure that they are fully prepared for all the assignments and summatives and is always checking in with students individually and together to make sure that they get the help that they need. Right before Thanksgiving break we

085finished our brain unit unit where we talked about the different parts of a neuron how neuron communications work and how teens brains work differently I just want to congratulate and thank our board members. Thank you so much for Really guiding me into like the first part of being on the student board. It was really helpful. So thank you so much Thank you any questions or comments for our Student board reps. I'm really excited to hear about the outcomes of the Bud Drive. Was that another record-breaking event? Do you know? I'm not sure. Every year it's like pretty popular and we do get around like a hundred donors, somewhere around there, 80, 100. So it did go pretty well. So yeah. Great. I think all the slots filled up. Yeah. I was very busy. I and

086almost all of my friends went and donated. I saw you there, too. A ton of people there donating blood. So it looked like it would turn out really well. That's great. And thank you for mentioning conferences. I got to do those today. And I really enjoy the flexibility. You can do them virtually. You can show up or you can do it via phone. I feel like. we've increased access to parent-teacher conferences immeasurably since I've been a parent in the district. So thank you for highlighting those. I think they're important. So that, unless there are any other questions or comments? Chair Andreessen, can I say something quick? I want to just say, I already told you all, but thank you so much for serving. I'm so excited for you all to be here and work alongside

087of us. And I know, you know, Vice Chair Ross and Director Westmoreland are leaving, and they have been integral support for you. We're pleased that you still have that support here on the board. So please reach out to me if you all have any questions. I'm here to support you however I can. So thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate all your reports and I think everyone agrees this is the highlight of our board meetings knowing what you're doing and what's important to you. So thank you for being here. Dr. Mary Perry-Reed. Thank you, Chair Anderson. And thanks also to our students. Keep up the report shouting out our teachers because when you shout out a teacher, I'm sending, I'm typing what you say and I send a quick note to the teacher and

088they love it. So keep it up. Okay. Well, for my report, you know, I don't have too much because believe it or not, it's only been five business days since her last board meeting. So I was like, hmm. But of course, significant things happen in our schools and across our district every single day. Welcome, Fonda. But I thought I would share just a few things. So yesterday, as we all know, was a non-school day for students, and this allowed our staff to engage in professional learning. So we had educators across our system who were engaged in reading and math curriculum training, in program review, in the multilingual learning and world language departments, and other school-focused training such as World Savvy. was with our high school educators and at Meadowbrook. There was a session on how

089to build restorative classroom cultures. Today was a non-school day for our high schoolers. Was this a happy day for you? So that families could engage in conferencing with teachers. So tomorrow will be a regular school day for all students, and we welcome everyone back after a holiday break. During the time of Thanksgiving and you can go to the next slide Natalia. Thank you for helping with this During the time of Thanksgiving our schools really do try to ensure that our recognition of this holiday is inclusive and culturally sensitive so for example, there's a new addition to the halls of Glen Lake called the Folds of Gratitude. And during this experience, our Glen Lake students were artists who took time to think, feel, and put their thoughts of gratitude on white origami paper with expressions both

090in drawings and words. And if you love student art... This is a great time of year to visit all of our schools, especially our elementary schools. Hallway walls and classrooms are adorned with all kinds of beautiful student-created art, so make sure you visit. November was Native American Heritage Month, and this is a time to honor the history, culture, and contributions of Native peoples. Please make sure you greet our new American Indian Education Coordinator, Katie Soko, who recently came to us from Minnetonka Schools. We were extremely grateful for the service of our outgoing American Indian Education Coordinator, Annie Huberty. who was recruited to Commissioner Jett's cabinet. And now we're excited to work with Katie. I interviewed Katie Soko and her associate Deb Andreen for a November episode of Inside Hopkins featuring the significant work that these

091educators do to support our Native students in building cultural pride, identity, and belonging in classrooms. Please check out this latest episode of Inside Hopkins. And in the spirit of gratitude, thank you so much to all of our schools and students that collected food for families who struggle with food scarcity and also to donate food to our local ICA food shelf. Some of our high schoolers provided food to more than 50 families, 50 high school families, last Wednesday, I think it was, at our high school's food and resources giveaway fair. additionally these are students at West who recently collected more than 1,000 pounds of food. Some of the collected items remained in the food pantry at West which is ICA sponsored and some of it was delivered to the larger food pantry that's accessible to West

092Metro residents. At our schools and especially at our IB schools, students are encouraged to embody a core value of community service and the success of the food drive is evidence of that. On this next slide, you'll see some very happy seniors. November 12 was National Signing Day for many NCAA Division I and II sports, excluding football and basketball. High school athletes in sports like softball, soccer, volleyball, and others officially committed to their college programs by signing financial aid agreements. Hopkins High School celebrated nine. outstanding student athletes as they officially signed their letters of intent to compete collegiately. Each student shared a few words about their Hopkins journey, and they were cheered on by family, friends, teammates, supporters, lots and lots of folks in the space. So congrats to Anna Yeager, who is going to be

093doing rowing at the University of Albany, Braylon Reynolds, baseball at Western Technical College, Van Talia, Baseball at St. Cloud State. Frank Mauser. Baseball at Iowa Central Community College. CeCe Rasmussen. Softball at University of Wisconsin-Superior. Piper Dotzeth. Rowing at University of Louisville. Two rowers. Isn't that amazing? And Eloise, where do they practice rowing? You were telling me about this on November 18. Twin Cities Youth Rowing, but Piper is a coxswain. Oh. Which is like the leader of the rowing. Yeah, she yells at us while we row. That's amazing. I row too. Piper sits and she's very good at it. Right. Yeah. They yell at us while we row. And they steer the boat too. Right. Yeah. Incredible. Marshall Craft, golf at University of Northwestern, St. Paul. Softball. or sorry, Kate Lutz, and Kate's mother works in

094our district. Kate Lutz will be playing softball at William Penn University and Jaden Moore, Basketball University of North Dakota. So it's very fun to see where these kids are going to go and what they're going to be doing. And then before I introduce... My colleague our director of special services. I don't have a slide for this but I was Running an errand this evening listening to MPR and hearing the latest news about the federal administration's Intent to scare if not detain members of our Somali community The metro area superintendents are committed to remaining in conversation. We started yesterday and really every day moving forward to check in with our Somali community and to keep each other updated and to stay vigilant. As the superintendent of Hopkins, I want to denounce the rhetoric and scare tactics

095that are being used by individuals and institutions who are supposed to protect. and serve and as a hopkins community we will do our very best to protect to partner with and to support our somali students staff and families and i wanted to share that and thank you director westmoreland for also mentioning the support that is truly our duty to provide and with that i would like to offer a moment to highlight special services. I don't know if you know that, you know, it's not just special education which is in special services, but Fonda runs a really comprehensive department that includes nurses and school counselors and psychologists, social worker, SEL, lots and lots and lots of student services beyond. the very big role of providing support and leadership for special education. So here to tell you

096all about special services is our director, Fonda Contreras. Good evening, everyone. So as Rhoda... spoke about, our department is comprehensive in providing additional supports. The title is always different when I announce special services or introduce. People are like, what does that really mean? So there really are three main areas of special services. And because I provided an update this fall, I'm going to highlight some. current updates and really save the last spotlight for staff. So health services is one of the tenants of special services. And right now the department is working on at each of our sites, making sure immunization records are in. So it's a state mandate. And I think it's been laxed with some immunization records. And we've been really trying to not have students miss school because of not having immunizations up

097to date. So we've been brainstorming many things for a long time now. So that includes multiple contacts out to caregivers. We also reestablished notaries at all of the sites last spring and fall so that if... caregivers are choosing to opt out, they have that option of getting assigned, form notarized if they, if there are reasons that they're choosing to not elect to get those immunization shot records. We've also increased immunization clinics. We always refer caregivers back to their primaries, but just trying to have other ways to close the gap so that our records can be complete as best as possible. It's more challenging at the secondary to get these done, and I think there's been more immunizations required over the years as well. So with some of those challenges, like I said, working with parents,

098multiple contacts, and brainstorming with staff ways to be compliant and not have so many kids out, but yet meeting that threshold of where we need to be just for safety issues. So that's kind of what we're working on in health services. in addition to the day-to-day medical needs supports that our teams provide at each of the sites. For SEL and mental wellness, I think it's so important that physical health and mental health is looked at to support holistic learning. We know that we are in the days of increased needs, whether a student is disabled or not. but just there's high needs across. the state, the nation. And luckily for Hopkins, we started this work prior to COVID. So our panorama screener was started before COVID. We've increased usage. We're currently under review to see is

099that the right screener for us or do we adopt one that's more connected to the current SEL curriculum and supports that we use through character strong and purposeful people. We are increasing the usage of that in tier one across the district and also just making sure we have supportive adults in each of our buildings whether it's our Hopkins staff or co-located services And then I just shared some information on the slide about the usage of panorama nationwide This is me stepping in for RODA with a group of politicians. I was a little nervous. But there's competitive funding to continue a lot of the services that we do offer with our co-located services so that it's not always a direct charge to parents. We go through MA billing. There's also dollars that Hennepin County has supported

100us with. But like everything else, it's competitive right now. And so Hennepin County has a lot of people vying for these dollars. And so we're hoping that they will continue to fund St. David's, who provides services to our early childhood learners and our elementary learners. And they're at all of our sites. providing that therapy for students and families within our system so that, again, we're meeting needs of holistic learners. So just a little bit intimidating, but they got off a bus, y'all, and I had to do this pitch to them, so just a little bit nerve-wracking. Julie said you did great. Thank you. They did ask a lot of questions, so hopefully that means something big. I think they were the lucky ones there, Director Contreras. Thank you. So last but not least, our special

101education update. So the state of special education we continue to increase so our percentage Has went from 17% of our total population to around 20 This does include the services that we provide at private sites for special education early childhood through 12th grade We are creatively coming up ways to recruit staff for the growing needs because as you know we evaluate year round. So in early childhood we have staff that work around 12 months and they are doing evaluations around the clock. So that means more students are identified throughout the year. K-12 as well. So when we meet caseload caps, we sometimes have to hire in addition. We're doing a little better at not having to do additional hiring, but we always have increased caseloads. And so I wanted to spotlight staff that do this

102work, including our board chair. who her daytime job is a peer at one of our LTL programs, which is our DCD, our most severe students in elementary. So she works there. But we also have some smart people in this work. So two of our people I want to spotlight is our physical therapist, who will be presenting. No, she actually already presented at the National Practice Fair of American Physical Therapy for pediatrics this year. And then later this spring, we have two occupational therapists, Jennifer Brady Johnson and Paula Stolmes, who will be presenting in Anaheim, California. And they were selected out of 15,000 people. I'm sorry, 1,500 people. So it's kind of a big deal that they're presenting, and I look forward to seeing and hearing more about their presentation. And I also just want to

103stop and pause and give thanks to all of the staff that do this work to support students with special services, whether it's our general education staff, our counselors and nurses who work with the students in the general education for students with accommodations on 504s, and to our special educators. So in this slide, that's the social workers on the left slide. They were coming together to learn how to do billing, which is a way of recouping funds for services that they provide around mental health and SEL services to students with high needs. It's a big lift for them to get this started. It was removed from their caseloads like maybe 10 years ago and now reinstated. So it is a revenue generator for third-party billing. So they removed it from the SEL providers. Now it's back.

104It's a big lift. So we had a work session, a few work sessions for them to regain that billing process so that they can generate dollars for their work. And then alongside that is a picture of one of our resource teachers. But I wanted to say special educators don't just teach, they challenge lives. And in addition to the teaching, they are dealing with behavior needs. They're feeding some of our most vulnerable students who can't feed themselves. They're pushing wheelchairs, changing diapers. communicating through speech, language, devices, pictures, signs, and other forms so that students can understand. They all, it's a center-based classroom, our most severe students. It's a multi-categorical classroom with different age groups. Our teachers who teach students who access general education. They have up to 22 students on their caseloads. And in addition to

105the services they provide, they spend a great deal doing due process work, which means they are touching every IEP at least once, sometimes more, and they're doing evaluations. So that is a heavy lift for those staff. And I just want to take time to give them a shout out for that incredible work. They are doing the work of providing services to the most vulnerable students in our district. And I know through negotiations, there was a lot of acknowledgement of the hard work that they do, and I want to continue to support them. So that is my report. Thank you. Thank you, Fonda. Thank you. Any comments or questions? I did have one about St. David's. Yes. Is that the mental health in the schools grants or are there other dedicated funding streams for particularly? our

106practitioners in our schools? Yes, so for St. David's, we are accessing some title funds, but there's only so many years that we can use that for St. David's, or for any group. So we are accessing title funds. And then for the 27th year, we plan on accessing some of our LCTS funds, our local collaborative funds. And that's just a small portion that we supplement for, I mean, the price tag on it, it's $50,000 for all six elementaries and early childhood. So that's a small fraction of what we contribute. Thank you. Yes. Appreciate that work. It's important. It is. Chair Andreessen? Yes. Hi, Director Contreras. I do have a question. You mentioned that the rate of special education went up 3%. Do you have a sense for what's causing that? Are we detecting it a little

107bit better, or is the population shifting? Just curious what's causing that. I think rising needs. We go through the child find process of evaluation, evaluating to make sure students qualify and putting interventions in place when appropriate. And so just I would say rising needs. Thank you so much for what you do. Sure. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Perry-Reed, for your presentation. for your superintendent update. It's really exciting to hear about the commitments that the students made to their respective colleges. I'm excited to see what the future brings for all of them. And I also would love to thank you and Dr. Westmoreland, it still is Dr. Westmoreland, Director Westmoreland for bringing up the denouncing of the... you know, what's happening in our Somali community. And I also think it's really important that we

108reiterate Hopkins have a no bullying policy that should be shared as well. Because, you know, as we continue to see things unravel at a national and federal level, it's trickling down to our schools and bullying is starting to, there's an uptick in it. And so we've seen it across our social media platforms. We're just seeing it in real time. And so I think it's really... good for us to also denounce bullying in all forms of kids, of adults, of cultures, of politicians, of everyone. So I would like to also denounce bullying right now. Thank you, Director Roper. I also appreciate your reports, Dr. Mary Perry-Reed. Yeah, I just appreciate the perspective you bring because we don't all know about all the things that are happening at all the schools and you do so thank you

109for that I would look for a motion to approve the agenda So moved I have a motion. Is there a second second? I have a motion and a second any discussion? Seeing none all those in favor. Please say aye. Aye The chair vote Oh any nays The chair votes aye and the agenda is approved. And that takes us to the consent calendar. These items provide the board with information considered to be more routine in nature. If the board deems an item to be necessary for additional discussion, a motion will be made to move the item to new business. I would look for a motion to approve the consent calendar. So moved. I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? I would just like to mention that there are two contracts that are

110in the consent calendar, and I would like to thank everyone involved in that negotiation process. I think that... The process as it usually is in Hopkins was very collegial, very respectful and brought to a satisfactory conclusion quite well. So I'm very, very grateful to everyone who does that. And in particular, I'm looking at you, Assistant Superintendent Lightfoot. Thank you for all your leadership in that ongoing and annually and really appreciate it. Thank you. So with that, I would look for all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The chair votes aye and the consent calendar is approved. And that takes us to the treasurer's report. Treasurer Hartland. Wonderful. Thank you very much. Good evening, everybody. I wanted to, as we are fully into having our treasurer's report come from Skyward, and so, again,

111it's a change in format from when we were producing it from Oracle, and so a quick reminder of the various funds that our dollars come from. So in our previous report... It named those funds and now you can find that information on the far left hand side of the report where it has a numbered Account or fund number and I I will send this to the board But fund one is our general fund and that's obviously most of our daily operating expenses a fund two is food services Fund three is transportation for as community service Five is capital expenses. Six is capital projects, like building construction. Fund seven is the debt service fund. And then there's a trust and agency fund, fund number eight, which we don't see a lot of on our expense reports,

112but those main revenues are gifts and donations. Fund 14 is adult basic education. 16 is capital lease levy. 19 local grants, 20s are internal service fund. 41s professional development, 51s Royals Athletic Center, 61 athletics, 81 federal grants. And so I do have a report to share with you about where our primary expenditures and revenues come for under each of those. each of those funds and so that will help clarify slightly when you look at the report. Again, like sometimes it will show that we pay for either like athletic officials or a field trip for a particular group and those typically do not come from our main general expense operating fund. Some expenses of note this period are the audio video video electronics. Um, it looks like two identical expenses But that it's not a duplicate.

113It's actually a single invoice for fourteen thousand nine hundred ninety nine dollars and it was split into two lines for internal tracking because that expense was split between Boys and girls athletic expenses and you do see this in a couple other places on our check register for this period and you see it quite often actually another one is our SFM mutual Workers comp insurance provider that is a single $45,552 invoice for December's workers comp insurance, but we internally split it into nine different line items that reflect our internal practice to assign expenses to particular sites. And so that's why again, you'll see nine nearly identical line items. $8,768 went to flagship recreation for playground repairs at various sites. $7,764 went to Lake Country, our busing vendor, for transportation to in-district charter schools. So that's $7,764

114spent transporting students to charter schools within our boundaries, and that is only for the period of October 19th through 29th. So we paid $7,700 for those 10 days worth of transportation. We paid Normandale Community College $118,516.50 for Hopkins high school students taking PSEO classes and $3,950.55 for virtual EDU students taking PSEO credits. And so those expenses represent 465 college credits earned by our district students at no additional expense to their families. You see the company Imperial mentioned multiple times, and that is not actually a new vendor. It's the parent company of Delco, so that's a company that has a Minnesota company that has been on our expense report often. They're a company that provides our cleaning and janitorial supplies. In a similar way, we see Kelly Services. I highlighted them during our last board report,

115and that is also not a new vendor. It's the parent of Teachers on Call. And finally, we had 39 community members who worked as election judges during this previous election that just happened in November. We've paid 39 of them so far. Community members do have the opportunity to volunteer if they wanted, but typically we pay those. So six volunteered, and then we are waiting for info for two others in order to pay them. And so the 31 election judges, we paid $4,028 for their time on, November 4th. And this is a small percentage of the expenses the district must bear to put on an election because we also rent spaces and equipment and have a whole variety of filing fees. So you will hear more about our election related expenses at a future board meeting

116and treasurer's report. So with that, I move that we approve total disbursements in the amount of $1,992,602.09 for the period of November 1st to November 15th, 2025. I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any nays? The Chair votes aye and the Treasurer's report is accepted. Thank you, Treasurer Hartland. And that takes us to our first order of new business, which is the Legislative Action Coalition State Platform. I'll give you a little bit of background. The LAC does a lot of work in reviewing legislative priorities of other educational groups. The Minnesota School Board Association, AMSD. And the district's LAC Steering Committee developed their platform for 2026, incorporating insights from the board, district administration, and residents.

117Catherine Callahan, the LAC legislative liaison, along with LAC members, which includes myself, Treasurer Hartland, and Director Roper, will present the platform and respond to board member questions. That means we will be moving over there. to become presenters. So we will run back to do the voting. To the technical issue. Do we do pie again? What's that? Favorite pie? That's the last time we experienced technical difficulties. Yeah. We just talked about pie. I changed my mind as Keyline. I'll just remind the board. We may be doing shadow puppets tonight. I remind the board the role of the LAC, the Legislative Action Coalition. My name is Steve Adams. I am the community chair, co-chair for the Legislative Action Coalition. And our role is to represent the interests of the school district, the Hopkins School District, to the

118state legislature. to our senators and representatives at the state. And as part of that process, we get together every fall, actually starting in the summer, and put together a platform that we think represents the interests of the district. And in order to acquire that data, that information, we meet with the cabinet. We may when we consult with the Association of Metropolitan School Districts because they usually have an agenda of their own and we want to make sure that we're in sync with that and and then we meet in the fall and put together what we think is an appropriate platform and bring it to the board for your approval. And once that's done, then we have breakfast with our legislators prior to the opening of the legislative session and hope that we make some impact

119on their thinking and on their voting at the legislature. And I'll just ask members here to introduce themselves. We've got three board members on the board, which is kind of unusual, and the most that were allowed by state law. So we'll start down here with Brooke. Hello, everyone. My name is Brooke Roper, or as known as Director Roper, and I've been with the LAC for about two years now. Hold on, two years. Hi, everyone. Shannon Andreessen. I started as a community volunteer with LAC, I think, 13, 14 years ago. Good evening. My name is Matt Lauer. I am a new member of the Legislative Action Committee. I'm a community member and a parent. I've been with this group for three months. Hi, I'm Jen Cameron. I'm a parent, LAC member since God knows when. Yeah,

120four, five years. Yeah, it's been a minute. Steve Adams. I've been on the Legislative Action Coalition for 14 years, I think. And first as a member, then as a board co-chair, and now as a community co-chair. I'm Catherine Callahan. I'm the legislative liaison for the LAC. And she's amazing. She is. My name is Rachel Heartland. I am the treasurer of the school board and the board-facing co-chair of the Legislative Action Coalition. I think this is my fourth year in the LAC. Roughly, yeah. And I appreciate Matt and your position very much because it takes a while. It's a bit of a fire hose. The only thing I wanted to add to Steve's comments is that the LAC is 41 years old. And so it is one of the first in the state and is a

121continuing model to our surrounding districts when they are undertaking this kind of important work of representing our community to our legislative partners at other levels of government. And so this is kind of an honored thing that we do and the work is heavy and it only kind of happens in slow motion. It happens with dedicated effort year over year and so I want to thank this group for those efforts. Rachel's right. It does happen in slow motion. You know some of the things that we've worked on have taken up to ten years to get implemented at the state by the legislature and I think what it was kind of remarkable a couple years ago we were kind of as an LAC kind of the impetus for the free school lunches for kids and It took

122about two years, which was almost record time for us to get that implemented at the state. So that's one of the things that we're proud of. Moving into our presentation, we've tried this year to limit our priorities into three buckets because we found that legislators don't have much of a patience for anything beyond three. So if you can try and, you know, Not how we'll present it to them. Distill it down to three important buckets that we're concerned about. It's more digestible on their part. Mr. Adams? Yes. Before you begin, is this an actual picture of our Hopkins students? Thanks for bringing it up, but it is not. Oh, it's not. Sorry to inform you. He's not. Okay. But they are so cute. I was just going to say those kids are so cute. I

123think the correct response is, yeah, they're from Glen Lake. No, Gatewood. No, they're from England. Gatewood. Okay. They're not. I'm sorry. Yeah. So, okay, sure. This year, our legislative platform outlines three core priorities. It's safe schools, stable funding, and flexible tools for teaching and learning. Together, these pillars reflect what our families, educators, and communities consistently tell us they need most. Environments where students feel secure, classrooms supported by predictable and adequate funding, and local authority to meet the diverse needs of learners. By advancing these priorities, we seek to restore trust, protect critical student supports, and give our district the latitude to innovate, ensuring Minnesota remains a place where every child can survive. We wrote two statements that we feel like. Will connect with our legislators that outline our why an are asked for this work, and

124so I just wanna. Take a minute to share those with you. We feel that the Minnesota students deserve schools that are safe and stable and fully equipped to prepare them for a rapidly changing world. In a year marked by heightened fears about school safety and unprecedented financial pressure on districts, our communities are being asked to do more with fewer resources. Our ask is that the Hopkins Legislative Action Coalition calls on state legislators, state leaders to provide the funding tools and flexibility needed to keep students physically and emotionally safe, maintain strong academic opportunities and ensure every learner is prepared for Minnesota's future workforce and democracy. I think Rachel, were you going to review? No, I'm going to do. All right. Yeah. So falling into the first. The first bucket is to increase the Safe Schools levy

125from $36, where it's been for, I think, 10 years, to $100 per pupil, and to allow its use for training and restorative practices. This is something that is also being championed by the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, so we're hopeful that we can push it across the line. Besides additional funds, we're looking for expanded uses of the Safe Schools Levy. It's currently geared towards physical safety, and we know that that's just one element of public school safety. So we would like the flexibility to include the uses for school-based counselors, social workers, and mental health supports, threat assessment and prevention teams. digital safety, cybersecurity, and secure technology infrastructure, and restorative practices and climate building work, and mental health supports to stabilize funding for school social workers, psychologists, community schools, and models that address wellness, health, and

126food security. So in lieu of additional funding, or maybe in addition to, we would like some flexibility. A lot of it is depending on what the state's budget report looks like, the budget forecast, which is due sometime this week. Thursday? Okay. And that will give us an idea of what... What potential dollars the legislature is going to have to work with going into the session the actual? amount that they base their Decisions on doesn't happen until the end of February But this gives us kind of a preview of what the state budget might look like So in if we can't get additional funding which it seems likely Or minimal funding at least some flexibility The legislature has been generous in the last couple of years in granting school districts flexibility to move funds from one

127area into another. Last year it was the school nutrition funds, which could be moved into another fund if we had an excess and if we had a need in a different area. So we're going to be asking for additional funding, but also for additional flexibility in how to use those funds. So Shannon, I'll turn it over to you. Thank you. The second priority is strong staff, strong schools. And in particular, the ask is... I'm not quite sure what the slide's gonna say. Okay. Provide districts with flexible funding to maintain strong courses, essential supports, and individualized learning opportunities. In particular, we are urging the state leaders to partner with school districts to authorize and fund micro-credentialing pathways that allow educators and support staff to earn targeted competencies quickly. expanding the pipeline for high need roles. If

128there's anything additional that you want me to share on that point. No, that was beautifully summed up. Thank you. Very succinct. Thank you. I'm in our third bucket. pertains to funding flexibility in an environment where we are unlikely to successfully secure additional funding, flexibility becomes paramount in our ability to provide programming, high quality programming, and keep all of our student outcomes while costs and wages rise. And so we would ask our legislators to modernize the long-term facilities maintenance funding so that districts can use those funds for today's safety and technology needs. So current statute blocks spending on facility security and most cyber security or technology upgrades. Even if those projects directly protect our students and help keep our schools running, the uses of those funds have not been updated for some time. There as we

129mentioned there are kind of many asks that fall into each of these buckets and we chose a particular ask to highlight in each of these buckets and are looking to kind of have a conversation with you are bored today. See if you have any additional questions so. This looks different than some past legislative action programs that you've seen before where we had more like seven buckets with three to five asks under each we stand ready to maintain or to continue conversations that we've already had with our legislators over the past years so there are we we have data and talking points for many asks in in these three buckets and I think So with that we look to the board for any questions or comments or reprimands about something we may have put together here

130that doesn't reflect your your your thinking but This is this is what we are looking to you to bless tonight so that we can present it to our legislators I would can I add one thing? Yes In thinking through how we will present this to our legislators we really spent time thinking about what does it look like to package an easily consumable ask so that when we're handing a platform to a group of legislators, there's not 7,000 words on a piece of paper and to make it clean and clear and concise in that sort of packaging way, whereas what we'll get put on our LAC page of the Hopkins schools website will be a more robust PDF with lengthy detailed bullet points around some of these topics that we have addressed peripherally and that way.

131There's a really clean and simple easy way for us to say these are the three things that we're prioritizing Let's have a conversation and if you want to read more click here go here and dig in deep and I think that it's just a little bit of a different approach to the way that we have done it in the past and so I would absolutely be open to hearing your feedback on that and if you have thoughts on that approach Thank you for that, Jen. I also think important context for the board is, and it's something that the LAC just takes for granted, but our legislature is on a cycle. So is this a policy year or a funding year? Because that does shape our platform. So what you'll find in a policy year is

132we don't heavy hit the funding. because that's what we'll hear immediately from legislators that we talk to is it's not a funding year. And so they kind of just ignore us when we talk about that. It's always an ask. But we hit that strong in a funding year. So this year is a policy year. So when we develop platforms in a policy year, we make sure that we're really hitting those because that's what the legislators want to hear because that's something they can do something about in this session. So that's just a little context for why it, you might be thinking like, well, where's the funding formula? Where's special ed? The subtext is give us more money. Yes. But that's not something they would really address in a policy year. So because chair Andreessen's on

133that side of the table, is vice chair Ross driving right now? Yes, take the wheel. Vice chair Ross. Are there any questions for my board cohort? I do have one, Vice Chair Ross. Thank you. Sure. Okay. So, Chair Andreessen, to your point about this being a policy year, I just want to clarify for anybody who might be looking at this and say, wait, you said there wasn't nothing about funding, but there is stuff about funding. It's that we're asking the legislature to change the rules around how we can use the money. We're not asking for more money this year because, to your point. they'll say no, that's not what we're doing this year. I think the updated format is excellent. Over the past three years, we've seen our format become simplified more and more. And

134I actually think it's more impactful this way because of all of the points you mentioned. One point that I would add is that... This format's really helpful for community members who are newer to advocacy to really wrap their minds around the big buckets and have some talking points when they go to town hall conversations with their legislators, when they run into them at the coffee shop, that type of thing. So I think you're doing a great service to our community members too who are interested in being involved with advocacy but sometimes don't quite know what the pathway is or what they should be saying. This is related to the increase, the Safe Schools Levy bucket. One of the talking points or data points that you might want to consider there when you're talking with legislators

135is Dr. James Densley's research on what actually does keep students and staff safe in schools. So there's kind of this knee-jerk reaction right now in the political space around hardening our schools. There are copious amounts of data to show that that is not effective. In fact, it has. the adverse effect. So I think that would be a helpful message to continue to kind of push at the legislature so that our decision makers understand really what the research says and what the best practices are. That's all. And thank you so much for being here and for all of this work. Yeah, thank you very much. Anytime, of course, that we can emphasize to our legislators and communities that. These efforts are sound and research-based. You're right. We should highlight those. So I did take that name

136down and we will. Consider the incorporation of that. I appreciate the feedback. And a quick point of clarification, as you mentioned, like, well, of course this is talking about funding. I mean, we can't get away from it. Of course, it's kind of the basis upon which we operate, but the Safe Schools levy, it's currently set at $36 per student, and that hasn't changed since the time of its inception, so back in the early 20-teens. And so it has remained at $36 for more than a decade now. despite our costs and needs growing there kind of exponentially so this safe schools levy instead of directly asking the state for it would allow districts to levy their community members directly in a way that we already do for the safe schools purpose but expand the dollar amount

137in alignment with the association of metropolitan school districts ask any other questions comments vice chair ross THIS IS A QUESTION I CAN ALSO ASK MY SUPERINTENDENT COLLEAGUES, BUT FOR STRONG STAFF, STRONG SCHOOLS, YOU MENTIONED FUNDING MICROCREDENTIALING PATHWAYS, WHICH WE HAVE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES HERE, BUT IN YOUR RESEARCH, IS THAT KIND OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMON IN OTHER DISTRICTS? I HAVE NOT ENGAGED IN THAT CONVERSATION WITH OTHER SUPERINTENDENTS. I can't really speak with any authority on that. Who can? Dr. Ertl is saying some yes, some no. Not quite common yet. So we're on the leading edge of that. Yeah, and it actually came from a conversation at the board table about what Hopkins does and that that is a way not... I think a very innovative way to grow our own staffing within the district and to have

138them trained in a way that's cost effective for them and then also enriches the district. Yeah, package professional learning in small doses aligned to competencies. And makes it a very manageable process. Yeah, and so that staff can, if they want to, advance along a pathway. Thank you. Any other questions? Vice Chair Ross? Yes, sir. Yes, hello. Directors are, yeah. Hi, LAC. So just to echo what Director Westmoreland said, I really like the more streamlined handout. I think it's, if you ask for more, you're more likely to get what you, or if you ask for in a denser, kind of concerted way, you're more likely to get something. One thought in question, and I don't need a response necessarily, just some thinking, is have you considered putting some material in here to educate our local legislatures

139about what Hopkins is, right? Like, you know, I think it's, you know, we're kind of operating that, you know, all these things are like self-evident that we would want, but like, is there anything that we can kind of just say, like, you know, we are asking for some things, but here is like, what the impact and the positive things that'll do for our community, you know, economically or socially or whatever. It just seems maybe we can educate our local legislators about who we are as well and some of our outcomes. Just a thought. Well, we do try and do that. Anytime we're lobbying the legislator, a legislator to act, because they want to know how it's going to affect us personally. And they love being able to speak from experience. We like to give them

140some data that they can carry into committee meetings or on floor debates at the legislature. But yes, we try and do that, specific items. We do that, I think, very robustly at the legislative breakfast that we host every year. Also, I know the LAC used to... produce a book literally and most of that was educational in nature to educate our legislators about not just Hopkins but about the state of education and I think that most found it overwhelming. And I think that one of the ways that the LAC does that education is through developing relationships with our representatives. And when we find that we have a new one, that relationship building happens, I think, more intensely at the beginning to let them know who Hopkins is and also the role of... well, their role in

141providing for and supporting public education. I've always been struck by what a great job the LAC does with that. And because of the longevity of the LAC and then also the kind of the longevity of several of our lawmakers that represent us, of which we currently have nine. it is at least fairly well established like going to them who Hopkins is, but your point about highlighting specific benefits is a good one. And then you can make an ask. Yeah, and this is a draft. So often what we'll do is we get Hopkins specific numbers to put in to talk about the impact. And if it doesn't make it into this very, nicely designed platform, it will definitely be part of our breakfast presentation where we give those statistics and data to them. Yeah, I think

142it's important context when we're having those relationship building conversations, when we present at the breakfast, when we give the nuts and bolts sort of bite-sized pieces of information that are really easy to consume and then bring back to their own work outside of Hopkins so that when we say things you know like 12 to 15 percent of our revenue is diverted into private school services for our students We have in Hopkins actually are really high and unusually high number of private schools and charters in our district so that students who would be enrolled in Hopkins schools that choose to enroll in private schools carry with them a higher percentage of that funding in Hopkins than they might in another district. And so having that data that we're able to carry into those conversations to say

143this is how this piece of legislation affects Hopkins in a way that might look different than it affects another school district is really key to developing those thoughtful conversations. So we do annoy, I'm sure, Nick and Panta and Rhoda. pretty incessantly asking for really specific data around what the impact of these decisions are in Hopkins so that we can paint that picture for them. It's important, you know that they don't have a lot of context when they go in and they're voting on a piece of legislation There's no requirement for them to ask Tell me the total dollar amount of this and there's no requirement for school districts to say this is the dollar Impact of that decision. So it only happens when we choose collectively to share that information and so I think we've

144done a really good job of like making that a part of our conversation whenever we can. And by we, I mean they. L-A-C. They. I also think it's important and... Part of what I think makes the LAC really powerful is our student board reps also serve on the LAC, and they love it. So they get really excited about doing that, and they have created videos for us in the past that talk about the direct impact of legislation that we're proposing. So that's another layer of providing what you were recommending, Director Zhao. that really tangible impact. Yeah, it's really powerful when a student says, I can't get to this program because I don't have transportation to get there. It's much more powerful to hear that from a student than it is to hear it from a

145grown-up. I still think about the video of school nutrition, the universal meals where they held up the baggie of change, which was how one kid paid their school lunch. debt. One comment that one, thank you guys for putting this work together and the depth that you go in walking us through this. Unfortunately, I'm going to use my ADHD side and ask a contrarian question. Knowing that the governor's race is November 3rd of 2026, do you guys see, I guess, How entrenched do you think these goals and objectives will be to be able to try and lay the groundwork? My assumption is going to be Tim Walz versus whoever the Republican side decide they're going to go with. Will this just be an evolution in case you're not able to get any traction this year to,

146all right, now we're going to ask for funding and we're going to do something different for 2027? Because I guess I'm looking at March is probably when they're going to realistically might do something with funding? More likely May 17th, I think. They always seem to go to the end of the session and sometimes beyond, as we've seen. I don't think we really think too much about the governor in this whole process because it's the reps and the senators that really make the decisions. So they're the ones we try and influence. The governor has to approve it finally. We really concentrate more on our representatives and senators. And it's going to be interesting. We've got some lame ducks in there this year. So we've got two senators who have announced that they're no longer, they're not

147going to run again. And we've got a representative that's announced that he's not going to run for that seat again. He's going to run for a Senate seat. And who knows what other changes might happen in the next couple of months. It'll be an interesting session. And we'll know more on Thursday when the budget forecast comes out. And certainly to your point, even if the governor's race doesn't factor as heavily in addition to the lame ducks, we've got, you know, many of them are running again. And so it kind of felt even more imperative that we hone our message and deliver it as sharply as possible. Because you're right, there will be a tension split and there will be... People either jumping on or not willing to touch a cause because of its perceived effect

148on their race. And so those sorts of things are absolutely on our mind. Thank you guys all. Any other questions? Guidance? Thank you. Oh, are we done? We are now. I think the board chair has to dismiss us, I think. Get to your voting place. Thank you, LAC. So I would look for a motion that the board adopts the LAC's state legislative platform for 2026. It's all moved. I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none all those in favor. Please say aye aye any opposed the chair votes aye and the Legislative action coalition platform is approved. Thank you so much. Thank you all your work And just so you know, I do take I I shop this around everywhere Big and everyone is

149delighted to get it. So other board members find great value in the work you do Thanks. It's true. Before we go, I'd just like to invite the board to our legislative breakfast, which is January 30th this year. January 30th? Is it? Okay. The board calendar. And Chuck. Have them put it on their personal calendar. That's okay. All right. And Jen and Jason. We can still come? Yeah. Yes. Yes. I'll probably figure it out. And that takes us to the certification of the 2025 pay 2026 tax levy. I would invite Dee Kering to the, I hope I pronounced that correctly. Did I? Kering. Kering. to the table and turn it over to Dr. Mary Perry-Reed. Thank you, Chair Andreessen. So on September 25, earlier this year, the board certified the proposed property tax levy at the

150maximum for fiscal year 25. And earlier this evening, our Interim Director of Business Services, Dede Kering. provided an update to the board during the workshop and also conducted the truth and taxation hearing open to the public which began at 615 and so at this time is caring will review the proposed property tax levy for pay 26 for Hopefully the board's adoption. Thank you Dee Dee for being here. Thank you Get this little closer Thank you very much as Superintendent mentioned, we did have a truth in taxation and the board was briefed on the levy certification prior to that. The levy the proposed levy for the general fund. 15 million or 52,000,549,730 dollars Community Service Fund 1,000,003,859 dollars. The debt service fund $19,497,946. The total property tax levy 73,051,535. It's an increase of 5.9%. This increase

151is mostly due to the voter approved bonds that took place in November of 2026. And with that, ask the board to approve the certified levy at the 73,051,535. Thank you. Are there any comments or questions from my board colleagues? Well, I would direct our public to the full presentation that was provided at our Truth in Taxation hearing. You can review it online. There was a lot of really good information contained within that. I think that if there are questions after viewing that, certainly feel free to email the board. And we are looking at, I would say, approving this. So I would look for a motion to approve the... certification of the, wait, the board approves the resolution. Is it a resolution? Do we need to read this out? I didn't provide you with the resolution,

152but. Okay. Okay. I would look for a motion that the board approves the certification of the 2025 pay 2026 tax levy. So moved. I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. There is a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say aye. Chair Andreessen, does it have to be a roll call, it says? It is not a resolution. So no roll call is needed. Thank you for clarifying. I would look for, oh, wait. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The chair votes aye, and the 2026 pay, 2026 tax levy is approved. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah, thank you very much. Thank you, DeeDee. And that takes us to our comprehensive achievement and civic readiness annual report and winter data review. I

153would like to invite directors Ertl and Vang to the board table. Oh, and there's a bonus. We have a bonus presenter. And I will turn it over to Dr. Mary Perry-Reed. Thank you, Chair and Jason. So this particular agenda item is about student achievement. If you're familiar with the term world's best workforce, which striving for the world's best workforce was a bill that was passed in 2013 to ensure every school district in the state of Minnesota was making progress toward improving student achievement. And now world's best workforce is called comprehensive achievement and civic readiness. And if you love acronyms, you can call it CACR. for short, but I don't know how we would say that phonetically. We say CAC-er. Do you? We do. I will not say that. I don't blame you. So the Comprehensive

154Achievement and Civic Readiness sets five goals for districts to improve achievement, and this is around preparing students for lifelong learning, active community participation through Increasing achievement, closing learning and opportunity gaps, and ensuring students are ready for college, careers, and of course graduation, which has to happen before college and careers. Okay, so I'm going to turn it over to our Director of Innovation, Design, and Learning, Dr. Ann Erdl, and to our District Assessment and School Data Coordinator, Ea Vang, and to our Literacy Specialist and Coordinator, Kim Smith. Is that your title? Close enough. Yes. Okay. So thanks. I know that putting together this report, I know that you spend hours, literally. So thank you for the preparation. And we're happy to receive the information. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having us here tonight, Dr. Mary

155Perry-Reed and board members. So we are situating the... CACER report within the context of our winter data report. Natalia, you can go to the next slide, please. So just as a reminder, tonight we're going to talk about the Comprehensive Achievement and Civic Readiness Report, as well as literacy data from our fall screening season and social emotional well-being data from our fall screening season as well. So we'll start with The comprehensive achievement and civic readiness formerly as Doctor Mary Perry read mentioned formerly known as the world's best workforce can go ahead. So the focus of this will be really around a retrospective of goals from last year. We're not talking about this year's goals, so the comprehensive achievement and civic readiness statute requires districts to annually report progress towards goals. outlined in their existing strategic plans.

156So as such today, we're going to be kind of backwards looking and evaluating the goals from 2425, strategies and actions, highlighting strengths and some areas of progress and then places where our approaches might need some refinement. Some of the data that is included in this CACR report, such as graduation rates, ACT results, are things you've already seen. through other data reports that we've done. However, because the state requires us to compile these into a single comprehensive report that's submitted annually on December 15th, that is why we're presenting it here tonight within this packaging. The other thing I want to mention is that CACR is new this year, and it replaced the former World's Best Workforce. So we entered into our goal-setting process for 25-26 with some limited guidance and incomplete information about what this plan

157was going to entail. We knew it would be very similar to World's Best Workforce, but we didn't have a complete picture of what was going to be required on the plan. And so we did, despite that, we did continue on with our typical goal setting process that you know we do annually using vision 21 as our strategic plan so these goals but are distinct from the from the CAC or plan. And so one of the important things that Doctor Campion I work really closely together with our school leaders is to ensure that. The state required plans are aligned with our school plans are aligned with our federal required plans so that we are building this coherent system both for funding decisions but also outcome measures as well. So with that. With all of that sort

158of context, we're going to talk about some information from last year and then identify future moving steps. So the first goal is all children are ready for school. This goal required that 80% of students in our Hopkins pre-K program be rated proficient on the spring work sampling system within the personal and social development domains. Just so you know, the work sampling system is an observational portfolio-based assessment system that gives teachers a holistic picture of each child's development through authentic classroom observations rather than a formalized testing. And as the data show, this goal was met and exceeded with proficiency continuing to rise each year. demonstrating really positive growth in our youngest learners. And these results reinforce what we know is true. Children who attend preschool in Hopkins enter kindergarten well-prepared in our position for long-term success.

159High quality, accessible early learning experiences matter. And our director of early childhood has worked really intentionally to make sure that we are expanding access through saluting skills, tuitions, targeted outreach, inclusive programming, and strong partnerships with our families. This slide is goal number two, achievement gaps are closed, which aligns really directly with our vision 2031. So this goal was to reduce the MCA reading achievement gap between white students and students of color. And the data show that the gap... actually increased slightly from 33.4 percent in 2023 to 34.8 percent in 2024. This was an increase of 1.4 percent rather than the 2 percent decrease we had targeted and therefore this goal was not met. While white student proficiency remained relatively stable, proficiency for students of color declined, which did widen the gap. And as you know,

160we are working diligently to interrupt these patterns through strengthened literacy instruction, professional learning focused on science of reading, implementation of foundational skills blocks, leadership capacity building, and support for our schools. And Kim is going to speak later on specifically to literacy data and what we are doing to accelerate reading growth for our students. The next goal reflects a retrospective on college and career readiness, specifically the percentage of Hopkins 11th graders earning a composite ACT score of 21 or higher. Hopkins met this target with 48% of students reaching the benchmark on the April school day ACT, a notable accomplishment given statewide trends and shifting test-taking patterns. Over the past five years, Hopkins students have consistently outperformed state and national averages, and Hopkins has remained very stable, which demonstrates the strength and resilience of our programming. This

161stability indicates that students continue to be well-prepared for college-ready benchmarks, even as some national participation patterns change. While the ACT is only one measure of readiness, it aligns with Vision 2031 and our profile outcomes and complements other indicators such as course rigor, advanced coursework access, and career pathway engagement. Looking ahead, we'll continue strengthening math and literacy instruction, which are key contributors to ACT success, while maintaining our focus on multiple measures of readiness beyond just this test score. This slide reflects the four-year graduation rate reported on the Minnesota report card showing that 84.7% of Hopkins students, that's high school and virtual EDU, graduated within four years. This is below the goal of 87.4, meaning that the goal was not met. As we shared with the board in August, our internal high school data indicates a difference

162between our locally verified graduation rate and the rate reported by the state. And EIA is continuing to work closely with our high school data team to understand the source of this discrepancy and ensure that all student records are accurately reflected in state reporting. But at the same time, we are implementing several strategies to support students who are not yet on track to graduate. For example, our cultural liaisons are actively partnering with specific student populations to address barriers and improve engagement. And we are launching a new after-school credit recovery program for seniors this winter to address credit deficiencies earlier than we have in past years. So these efforts are part of our broader commitment to ensuring that every student has a clear and supported pathway to graduation. Finally, the last goal is all students become lifelong

163learners. We are very pleased to share, as you all are well aware, that the district met this goal by selecting a new K-5 core math curriculum, Imagine IM. This evidence-based and equitable program aligns with our district learning goals and strengthens the foundational math skills that students rely on throughout their academic careers. High-quality early math instruction is essential to developing the confidence, problem-solving skills, and curiosity that support lifelong learning. And this adoption positions our youngest learners for long-term success. So with that, I am going to transition to Iya, and she is going to share some information first about student well-being as measured by Panorama. Thank you. Hello, everyone. So at Hopkins, we currently use the panorama survey in grades 3 to 12 to screen and measure students social emotional wellness We want to note for the

164board though that some school leaders, especially our elementary leaders principals Have raised some concerns about whether this tool fully meets their needs So as a system, we are actively reviewing the measure and considering potential adjustments while keeping in mind that it is important to maintain consistency and coherent data across the district. So some context there. So the Penn and Romo survey asked students how supported they feel at school and how they are doing emotionally. Students in grades three to five respond to two surveys. The support and environment survey has questions about their school experience related to topics like belonging, relationships, and expectations. The other survey, which is the Student Competency and Well-Being Survey, include questions about positive experiences, feeling welcome and supported in schools, and skills that help them deal with challenges. Similarly, older students

165who are grades 6 to 12 also responded to two surveys, similar surveys. So the support and environment survey asked about inclusion, respect, and how connected they felt to school. There's also a greater focus on cultural awareness and diversity and inclusion, along with questions about personal skills, like managing their emotions, and also staying motivated. Please note that last year the grades three, five surveys were revised to make the survey more easily accessible to our third grade students. That was a challenge. And so because of that revision, in the next few slides, you won't see any national percentile comparison because of that. But before we look at it, I want you to understand when I say favorable percentages, they're like, what is happening? I want to kind of explain some context first. So before we look at

166the results, here's how the survey works. Each topic has a set of questions. For example, in this example right here, sense of belonging is one topic in the student supports and environment survey. Students answer four questions in that topic. They choose from three possible. responses. If a student picks one of the green responses, it's not green on the survey, but I just wanted you to know that those were the responses, it counts as a favorable answer. In the next slides, you'll see the percentage of students who chose a favorable answer for each question. Then these percentages are averaged to get the overall favorable score for that topic. So what I am reporting on is the overall favorable score for each topic. Providing more context, it is important to know that grades three and five use

167a three-choice scale, so a three-point Likert scale, on the survey. So their scores are going to be more positive than the 6-12 surveys because the 6-12 survey uses five Likert scales, so they use five choices. So instead, for example, for sense of belonging, there's five options that students can choose from for 6-12. For grades three and five, it's just three options. So yes. We can move on. All right, so now here are the results from this fall. So students took this in October. 91.2% of students in grades three to five participated in the student supported environment survey. Overall, they feel very supportive at school with high expectations and sense of belonging both scored at 95% positive. Belonging improved the most since last spring, increasing by two percentage points and the supportive relationships score 84%, but

168it also improved slightly. 91.5% of students in grades 3-5 participated in the student competency and well-being survey. Students report feeling mostly positive, 96%. It shows strong social awareness, 94%. Emotion regulation is also high at 91%. The biggest improvement was the topic challenging feelings, increasing of two percentage points. Growth mindset did decline by two percentage points from spring 2025 to fall 2025. For this survey, 79.9% of students grades 6 to 12 participated in this one. Overall, students reported having supportive relationships, about 83%, but engagement is very low, 25%. Compared to grades 3 to 5 students, grades 6 to 12 students reported less favorable in sense of belonging, which is 51%. They also reported less favorable in academic expectations, 58%. Both of these topics are below national averages, showing areas where students may need more support. The

169two topics that had an increase of 5 percentage points are respect and sense of belonging. So even though sense of belonging was low, there was an increase in that topic. In the last survey, 81% of students in grades 6 to 12 participated in the student competency and well-being survey. Students shared mixed feelings. So for positive feelings, 62% rated it favorable. Challenging feelings was 56%. Emotion regulation went down by 4 percentage points to 49%. And the growth mindset is the lowest score at 36%, which is consistent with also our grades 3 to 5 with growth mindset. So overall, I think one of the things that we can do is to make sure that we have a higher percentage of students participating, especially at the secondary level, to build more of a comprehensive, more students represented in

170that data, for sure. Something to look forward to in the winter. But besides that, these are different topics of focus that schools can do. And every school also has their own data that they can also specifically look at. And then now I will turn to Kim. Thank you. We're going to look at literacy, and you'll notice it's called Literacy in Action, and I think that's because we are sort of on the cusp of moving from compliance with all of the REDAC training into some really actionable steps that should see some pretty solid outcomes. So I think the work we've been doing with literacy feels really exciting right now. You can see they're kind of our data strategy. We've really been looking at the district level very closely at our data specifically into like individual programs

171schools grade levels We've then moved that to the classroom level and actually created classroom response our district response things teachers can do in five minutes a day that will change outcomes by winter based on specific areas and then moving that also into Our work with the schools and so we'll talk a little bit more about that as we go through I'm going to start kind of with a little bit of an overview on the Read Act. So when we think about language arts and reading, there's always sort of a tension. So at the early grades... A huge part of those ELA standards are about how to learn to read, those foundational skills. And as we move up into the middle school, those foundational skills fall away, and it's more focused on ELA kinds of things.

172ELA teachers often do not see themselves as teachers of reading. They're much more focused on comprehension, text analysis, synthesis, content learning, text structures, themes, plot, all of those kinds of language arts things that are separate from how to read. And so when we look at kind of the READ Act, it's looking at a couple different areas. On the left, you'll see we have kind of the K-12 ELA reading pieces, those pieces that are in the ACT and the SAT, NAEP all have reading pieces, the MCA, all aligned to the standards. So those grow with their relationship to ELA in a way that's more similar to like our standards grow. Our FastBridge early reading. A reading and auto reading help us dig into the actual reading skills, looking at those specific skills needed at different grade

173levels to be a successful reader to be able to access and read and be successful with those ELA standards. And then we also always have some kind of local standards aligned assessments at the classroom level. One thing that's new this year is there is now a fourth through twelfth grade screener for dyslexia. So this is brand new as part of the read act and this is the first year. MDE selected only one assessment that we can use. It's called CAPTI Read Basics and it is designed to identify characteristics of dyslexia and other reading difficulties. And the test looks more at those reading skills and is not focused on like ELA standards. So it's much more looking at foundational skills but it's one of the first assessments that does that specific to secondary students. One thing

174that we want to or are trying to be really clear with people about is we don't diagnose dyslexia. All we can do is look for characteristics of dyslexia, provide relevant instruction based on what we notice as needs, and communicate to families. But dyslexia is actually diagnosed through a medical process, and so what we do is communicate. There are a combination of challenges related to kind of parsing out reading from ELA. And so that's kind of one of the pieces that we're continually working on. The next slide you'll kind of see kind of a visual of this. So we have our K-12 ELA standards. A sub-component of that is how are kids reading across K-12. And then a subgroup of that is do we have kids who have characteristics of dyslexia. So at K-3 we'll be

175using FASBridge and at 4-12 we'll be using CAPTI Read Basics. A little bit more about CAPTI Read Basics. So it's given universally. We give it universally to all ninth graders this year. We're awaiting about 20% who have not yet tested. Some of the challenges we've faced have been just... Giving a assessment at the high school is really challenging with a block schedule We can't say everyone will take it in ela because not everybody has ela during the quarter And so that makes it really challenging we've tried doing it during Royals connect But that's also hard because kids are pulled during that time for various programs and things So we're hoping to get that last kind of 20% done The six subtests that are on the CAPTI screener are listed there and you can see most

176of them are very short assessments and then there is one longer reading comprehension. Ian and I actually went out and were there for the first administration. We sat in classrooms, we talked to students to ask about their experience, whether they would want it. on two days and split up whether they'd rather do it all in one and gathered some good data that way. And we're actually giving it earlier than was required by MDE this year. Initially they wanted to give it in the fall but their process was delayed so they said by winter. We jumped as quickly kind of as we could so that we can build up our training and our reports and understanding of how it works within our system. Let's see. You can go on. You can see here's kind of an

177example of one of the reports. So far, we're really pleased with CAPTI. It's very easy to use. The system is easy for kids to log into. The reports are easy to read. Customer support has been great. And you can see just even with the kids that we've tested so far, there are a fair number that need support with decoding still, and especially with fluency. Fluency is kind of a variety of reasons. I think that's kind of a national trend as we see kids reading less for pleasure and just reading in general. And so you get better at what you practice. And if you're not practicing it as much, you don't get as fluent at it. And so that's kind of a trend nationwide. But we do have some kids that have already been identified that

178could benefit from some more advanced decoding kinds of work so that they can be successful with their coursework. For Fast Bridge, we screen all K through eighth graders universally. The subtests kind of vary based on the grade, and they change throughout the year to match kind of the development and key prediction indicators. We have improved our completion rate across our site, so we're glad about that. And we test actually beyond the READ Act subtest requirements so that we're able to access what's called the Screening to Intervention Report. And by doing that fast track, assessment components. It gives us a little report and I know it's a really small screenshot on the right there, but what it gives teachers is based on your specific class, here are some interventions, here's what you need to do tier

179one with your whole class to change outcomes, and then here are specific groups of kids who would benefit from interventions. And then those interventions are linked within the FastBridge system. You can use others, but there are recommendations in there and then you can actually do the progress monitoring right in the FastBridge website. The subtests change, so there's early reading in K1 that's really measuring those early foundational skills. The CBMR is the reading fluency and decoding accuracy. The e-reading is more of reading comprehension, and then the auto reading is given in four through eight, and that's really more kind of advanced decoding, morphology, vocabulary, those kind of pieces that are needed for long-term reading success. So we'll kind of get into the data. This first one is the district for early reading. And what you're looking

180at here is winter a year ago, and then fall of last year, winter of last year, and spring of last year, and then fall of this year. And I wanted to kind of give you that longitudinal data so you can sort of see the trends that are happening over the course of the year. And so one of the things that we know is that the expectations in fall are significantly lower than the expectations in the spring. So this is not the kind of test where the expectation grows based on where you need to grow. So what we need to see from every classroom is that they're making at least a year or more growth towards what the expected growth is to be maintaining sort of the proficiency rate. In the fall for kindergarten especially, the

181benchmark to be kind of like on target is very low, or to be low risk, it's very low. Concepts of print is rated very heavily. It's things like directionality. Can you point to the difference between a word and a sentence? Can you point to the difference between a letter and a word? So very, very kind of basic skills. And then that grows really, really quickly over the course of that year. The other thing to kind of just orientate yourself to is the hot pink is the high risk category, the light pink is some risk, and then the light purple here is low risk category. And that's the only categories for K and 1, and then we'll see when it changes in second to adding in a meets target category. So this next one is looking

182specifically at kindergarten. And you can see the subtests that are listed there. They stay fairly consistent across the year. Onset sounds falls off by spring. Concepts of print is only given in the fall. And then you can see we add in sight words in the spring. One of the trends that we are seeing is that our kindergarten in general is coming in lower every year. And so we're trying to do a lot of work with our community with kindergarten readiness to build that up a little bit. And that's a trend that I think is not unique to Hopkins. In the fall, the expectation for kindergarten is to know three letters. So they are able to score in that low-risk category with a very small number. Most kids know that just from knowing their name. It

183doesn't necessarily mean they have a strong readiness to kindergarten learning yet. And so the expectations for them to grow over the course of the year is significant. In first grade, you can see that first grade is significantly more flat over the course of the year, and it's been pretty stable. Other pieces to consider, if our kindergartners are coming in lower and our first grade is staying flat, we actually think that's kind of a sign of growth because they're maintaining that proficiency even though the kids have come in lower the year previous. So we're really hopeful that that's a sign of our UFLY and our letters work starting to show some fruition even though the kids are coming in lower. So that's something we're watching really closely. Again, you can see that the subtests stay pretty

184much the same. Sentence reading falls off. there in first grade. CBMR is kind of our best predictor as far as how kids are reading. It's kids reading one-on-one with their teacher and the teacher is indicating both errors that students make, so that accuracy rate and the fluency, so how many words they're reading per minute. Across the district we're seeing kind of some ups and downs. One of the things that we really need is families to support reading at home because like I said before the only way to get better is to practice and so reading fluency comes from practice. And so the more that we have kids who are coming in less ready the more instructional time that's needed and the less time that's available for just practice. You'll see here on this slide that

185there's also that lighter lavender at the top. Those are kids who meet target. And then the darker purple is low risk. And then the pinks remain kind of the same. For the CVMR, it is a one-minute timed passage. So a kind of short and quick assessment that's given frequently throughout the year, especially as we monitor progress. The next one is the A reading. This one is kind of, it's reading comprehension. It's most like an MCA, reading passages followed by multiple choice questions. Again, pretty flat across the board on that one. A celebration area that we've seen is that in second grade, we are seeing consistent growth in A reading, which is that comprehension measure. And so we're really hoping that that's an indicator that our solid focus in K1 on decoding and foundational literacy is

186starting to pay off and lead to greater comprehension by second grade. So that's a piece that we're paying attention to. We're also doing a lot of kind of studying of what really is going on in second grade that's helping to lead to that. In general, our second grade teachers were some of our early adopters of UFLY, and so we think there's also some connections there. They've had a little bit longer with that tool. The auto reading is sort of like the CAPTI. It has subcomponents for fourth through eighth grade that look at kind of more advanced decoding, vocabulary, synonyms, morphology, word identification, and encoding, which is spelling. And you'll see that those scores tend to be a little bit higher, which is great. And we're seeing some really good sign in classrooms of, especially in

187grade three, four, and five, where we're seeing... kind of those scores go up or four or five I guess because we don't do that one in third but those we're seeing growth there and we think that's in relationship to have adopting fire as a foundational skills in three five and so that in in improved focus especially on morphology advanced decoding and spelling we're thinking is part of why we're seeing increased growth there some of the actions that we're taking are to continue our redact training we have 130 teachers finishing volume two this year We had data meetings with every site and we included classroom level data reviews in that process. We have screening to intervention recommendations. So that's the piece I was talking about at the beginning. You can see kind of a screenshot of

188an example on the right-hand side. And what I did was I took and looked at our specific district data and then looked at what were our lowest areas and what are some quick, fast, easy things that teachers could do right away that could change outcomes. And then those were shared with sites and CTT teams. We've implemented the K-5 district common assessment for both dictations and writing prompts and 6-8 is in development. We are doing literacy learning walks that will happen in the next two weeks in every elementary K-5 classroom. We have launched the Hopkins literacy toolkit for caregivers and we've increased engagement with families prior to kindergarten. Some of our needs are we need strong support for now the implementation. So we've done kind of some of those beginning read at compliance pieces, but now

189is when the real work starts of actually making sure things are implemented and done well at the classroom level. We need dedicated literacy coaching to ensure that materials and learning strategies are used with fidelity. We need to maximize investment into early childhood and K-2 literacy, and Dr. Erdl referenced this earlier. Every penny spent in kindergarten is maximized because the sooner we can catch kids, the sooner we can keep them from going off track. It's almost impossible. That's why it was read well by third grade because the data on trying to catch kids after fourth grade is... It's not good. I mean anywhere. There's no magic tricks after that. And part of that I think I've shared with the board before is kind of that Matthew effect, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

190So if you are not reading or if you are not reading well, the materials that you're reading stay very limited while kids who are reading well continue to be exposed to much broader topics, vocabulary, and the gap widens very quickly. And it's hard to catch up. A consistent data collection system used in every school to ensure adequate or accurate screening results. So right now we've had some inconsistency with how the assessments have been given where we're tightening that up. We really need time for teachers to look at and respond to the data. So those PD days are incredibly valuable and important because without the time to really dig in deep and look at it and then be able to act upon it, we're not able to use the data in meaningful ways. And then we

191need an appropriate secondary model to address literacy needs in older students. And I was with Brightworks earlier today. They're our regional literacy network. And there are not great models across the nation for how to do this in secondary schools without interrupting electives or delaying graduation or... impacting the same SEL pieces that we looked at earlier. How was your growth mindset if you are now pulled out of the classes you are excited about for career preparation to do a reading intervention class? So trying to find that balance of providing kids with what they need in support, but also not take away the things that bring them to school. And finally, some of the barriers that we faced. There are a ton of unfunded mandates related to the REED Act and multiple priorities that just make it

192really difficult to provide all the support needed for systemic change. There's limited PD time for implementation due to all the days that we're just doing with initial training right now. So that's why I say we're kind of on the cusp. We finished volume two coming up here and we're going to be able to much more heavily focus on implementation and site support. Our kindergarten students are arriving less ready than in the past, and so we need to figure out how we can better communicate with families early, because our best chance is before they even arrive. There has been reduced site support due to budget constraints, so we unfortunately lost most of our instructional coaches in the last round, and so they are now mostly doing reading intervention, but they aren't able to support classroom teachers

193with implementation. We have some varying beliefs around practices around screening and assessment across the system and guidance and timelines from MDE are constantly changing. So for those people with the... legislative action committee or those of you who work with legislators most of the deadlines are not being met very well we were supposed to have the interventions by November 1st we still don't have them phase 2 was supposed to be out also November 1st we just got it last week so they're not meeting their deadlines which then impacts our entire system we need those pieces so we can plan district PD days as calendars go forth as budgeting is done so That's been definitely a challenge. I would say the other piece is they are continually adding things to their website that they don't communicate out.

194So for example, nonsense word cut scores were added a couple weeks ago, but it was added after we've done our full screening. So then like the data doesn't match. So I know they're trying to do their best, but it's making it really challenging on the ground. That is the end of what we had to share, but we're certainly willing to take any questions or feedback. Thank you. I appreciate you being here tonight. This is an information only presentation, but I think it's important information. So any comments or questions from my board colleagues? Chair Andreessen? Yes, Director Roper. I do have a few questions. Thank you so much for coming to do this presentation. I know that putting together such a robust, you know, slideshow had to be a lot of brain work. So thank you.

195I do just have a few questions and just a few point matters to address quickly. One, so as a testing coordinator, I do testing coordinating for... a different district. Was just wondering, for that data point that we're seeing in some of the numbers, are we looking at, or have there been any consideration of the students who are literally just like clicking through the test? You know, as I practice tests, I see students all the time just... clicking through, right? And then so even working and proctoring tests to our ASD students who may have a little bit, who are nonverbal or who are still required to take the same test and who may have like a little bit more developmental delays. Again, you know, they're clicking through the test and then those numbers are being... added

196into the overall data then that's sent to the state and then like we're getting you know that we're still like in this achievement gap so are there any is there any thoughts about how to do the record not the recording but to gather data differently than what we have in the past because I could just see that with the with with the more electronic testing I could see more students just clicking through. And I do not believe that is truly because, you know, they are like behind and some are, I do think that students are just tired of the excessive testing that, excessive testing that is happening. I've already proctored like four tests since September. And so kids are over-tested and I'm a very big component of advocating for this. And so, and that's something

197that Some educators are talking about as I could nationwide Conversation like the role of assessments and how we could look at it differently. So that's just one observation and kind of like question comment and then the second one is also around AEs and them leading small groups. So I know that we often attend in classrooms to pull students out or teachers or, you know, we'll have AEs supporting small groups. And some of these AEs are not trained with the proper instruction or, how do you say pedagogy? Pedagogy. Yes, thank you. And you're talking about paraprofessionals, right? I don't know. What are AEs? Oh, sorry. Associate educators or paraprofessional. Oh, I knew that. Yeah, sorry. Thank you. Yeah, so some of them are leading groups, and they're not. you know, like they're not trained or do

198not have the proper instructional hours that teachers have, but they're leading these groups where they're supporting students with reading and math and they're teaching it in a different way that teachers are, you know, instructing it. And so I can also see that being a big gap as well when we're pulling on AEs to support instruction and they don't have the instruction training. And so is there any conversations around thinking differently about the role of an AE in a classroom because I just don't see that being effective moving forward. Yeah, I agree. We've had a lot of conversations. So our paraprofessionals are going through REDAC training this year. They will get eight hours of intensive training. And we are really trying to shift our model so that the... the most trained person is working with the

199most needy students, which means that it may be the classroom teacher who's working with the students who need the most attention and that our peer professionals are working with the students who need the least amount of support during that grouping time. And so that is a shift that we are making and have made in some spaces already. I think what I would add to the previous question around the clicking through, I mean, we know that that's a thing, and I know Kim has mentioned before that that becomes even more true the older kids get. They feel even less sort of interested. And the way that the tests with the Littles work, it's really teacher-led, and so it's harder to do that. But to your point, when our staff is looking at the student by student

200data, they typically will recognize if a student's performance on the assessment does not match what they see every day. And so I think at least at the student and classroom level, our teachers are able to recognize that. But to your point, it does still feed into... you know, what we are seeing at the district level and then in some cases what we have to report to the state. There's definitely an impact. Thank you so much, because I'm seeing it in real time. I'm like, okay, this is absolutely a problem that I could see going into the future, where we're still just kind of giving these reports. And then just one quick thing is, is there a way, is there any training for parents on the curriculum? Because I'm a 90s kid, I was taught extremely

201different on how to read and do multiplication than what I'm teaching students now and what my students are bringing home. I'll be quite honest, I feel a little embarrassed to say this, but sometimes I don't understand the homework that they bring home as a second grader. And I'm like, oh, my goodness. And so I think I don't think that there is a I think there's just a disconnect between how parents are teaching and knowing how to do the homework at home. So I think there's some opportunity for a district training. We've actually been kind of talking about that with our marketing and communications team because we attended the kindergarten information night and Kim was there at a table and, I mean, I don't want to speak for you, but like was noticing that some of

202the questions that families had about what you need to be able to do to be ready for kindergarten were surprising. And so that led us to think. what can we do then to provide more community engagement and information sessions? So we're thinking of maybe some kind of a virtual session for anybody who's interested in our community who wants to know what kindergarten readiness actually means and looks like when it comes to literacy and numeracy. So we are also concerned and thinking about that because as Kim said, When kids aren't reading as much at home and getting that practice in, that really is having a pretty significant impact in their school day as well. What were some of those misconceptions? I would say things around amount of conversation that should be having, knowing how to write

203their name, knowing the letters in their name, fine motor skills, yeah, self-advocacy, some of those just. Yeah, I think the other piece that was just, there was an article yesterday in the 74 that talked about how parents are reading to their children less. So only 41% of parents were reading to their children under age five. And there has been a shift in especially middle class families believing that early ed tech, like learning games are more valuable than them reading with their children. And the research says that's actually not true. But there's sort of this belief that if I put my child on this game that does letters and colorful things and moves, that that's a better use of learning than just sitting and reading with them. So I think there's lots of ways we can

204engage with our community to help them know. The literacy toolkit's gotten a lot of really positive feedback. It's got videos of games. It's got games that are ready to go. It's got all of the cards ready to go. and videos of how to do those things. So things you can do at home that are just really easy to, I think we don't necessarily want parents teaching, but we would love for parents to practice and take the things that kids have taught and move that into automaticity because the speed is what needs to increase. So to play devil's advocate, I'm assuming you guys have seen pre-2020. Maybe what kindergarteners, I'm assuming kindergarteners in 2019 were stronger than the kindergarteners in 2025 is my, excuse me, my assumptions. In 2019, we had about 83% of our kindergartners

205coming in low risk. And right now we're about 65. 65 is low risk if I'm tracking. Okay. So I'm almost curious, I guess, anecdotally, qualitatively, like. What changed in 2020 to cause parents, because I'll be honest, once 2020 happened, we lost our kids because they had no, like once they were sent home, they had no way to connect with their friends. And so now I cannot pull them back from the screen at this point where before screen time really was not an issue. They had 30 minutes. There was no, like, there wasn't a fight at the house. So I'm wondering if parents are still in somewhat survival mode with their kids. So I'm just curious, like, if there's any other surrounding school districts that you guys are seeing, like, from a benchmark perspective that, I

206don't know, I don't want to throw them out. Like, Minnetonka is, like, I don't know. their kindergartners now versus 2019 are doing better. Our St. Paul, I don't, something that's probably, I guess, more comparable to our school district. I mean, I hate because it's like Minnetonka's right next to us, and I know that's what everybody always uses as a benchmark, but I don't know if there's somebody who, another district in the metro that's more comparable to our district with the makeup. to say what happened in 2019 and is that the same trajectory? So I'm a part of a... large number of literacy leads across the state and I would say across the state we're seeing sort of a mix so there are some places where kids are kind of rebounding coming into kindergarten and many

207places that are sort of like us where it's sort of a Decline I do know that our neighbor Minnetonka is having lots of conversations around technology use and healthy screen time Because as a parent I receive those so they're regenerating a lot of those conversations that they haven't had recently because they are seeing a lot of technology issues And I think exactly what you said we've lost our kids to technology a little and it's much harder to pull them back. And I think pulling back and then dealing with the behaviors that result, I mean honestly it's like an addiction, right? And so then you have to deal with that. pulling it away and deal with that for a while before kids kind of reset themselves and that's hard. It's really hard especially for parents who

208are dealing with lots of other things in a world that's moving quickly and already really stressful. And assuming that the parent knows that that's even the right thing to do in the first place. Thank you for this. I mean this is incredible and for a non-normie like everybody else here I found this very exciting. Thank you. I did want to just comment on one of the questions about just the assessment and the ways in which students engage with and show up to that. I think that, you know, that's one of the reasons why I appreciate the various goals that are in the CACR report is that it doesn't... rely on one assessment. Like I see a clear mix of different ways that we're assessing and measuring how we are doing in preparing students. So I

209really appreciate that because I think it solves as best as it can for that. problem of engaging with assessments. So I just wanted to say that I see that you as a system we're trying to solve for that. So thank you for that. Any other questions or comments? Director Zhao? Yes. Hi. Well, it's December, so it's data time. So it's kind of quite Christmas for me. So thanks for all this stuff. One thing is I was really struck by the growth mindset decline from three to five to six to 12. I mean, it declined like 50%. So, you know, to me, like kind of continuous growth is the whole point of, you know, of school existence really. And so, and I know you kind of talked a little bit about, you know, something, but I'd

210really like to see some plan or some sort of. effort to get that back up and stabilize it. Because to me it seems like we, at least from the AP results and our ACT things, it looks like we do have growth. So what is the disconnect between these panorama results and that aspect? Yeah, it was really striking to us too. One... speculation that we had was you know the even the sort of phrasing of growth mindset. Well, the concept hasn't gone out of fashion. That sort of language for awhile was being used really intentionally indirectly with students. So we wondered if if maybe. teachers aren't naming that in the same ways that they have been. But I agree with you, it is concerning, particularly because foundationally, what we want students to believe is that... Wherever

211they're at they will grow and that's really connected to those three trajectory changing ideas. That's the that's one of the key components of belonging is a student feeling like you know me and you've got me wherever I'm at and you're going to help me grow and so it's definitely something that we're going to continue to watch to see if that is a trend over the course of our next administrations and and then and and dig into kind of what that means. I'd like to add to that. There's a report from the Brookings Institute. I did actually send it to our secondary leaders when it came out in... January of this year and it talks about the disengagement gap across our nation. 26% of 10th graders say they love school. 44% of 10th graders say most

212of the time they learn a lot in school. 29% of 10th graders say they get to learn things they are interested in. And I was struck by, and obviously I've seen these slides before, but I am always struck by this engagement at 25% of ours. That is striking, but it also is consistent with... how our secondary students nationwide are reporting on their feelings around school, and then I think there's also a relationship between engagement and rigorous expectations. So in our classrooms where students feel that teachers have high expectations of them and that the learning is not just rigorous but also relevant and real-world, remember those three R's, then theoretically, my fear of action or the hypothesis would be that there's a relationship when there's high expectations and rigorous expectations, then we would theoretically see engagement

213increase. So what I think is important here, because we can disaggregate. by school and teacher, right? I think we need to look classroom by classroom and we never want to, you know, sort of highlight or penalize classrooms or teachers where those marks are lower, but we want to learn from classrooms where we know students are engaged because of high expectations. you would think that then is also generating a growth mindset. So I'd like us to disaggregate by school and teacher to see what are the bright spots and then how do we engage our school leaders in conversation about how we replicate those pedagogies, those restorative conditions in the classrooms, the affective dispositions those teachers have because I am confident there is a relationship. And then I was going to ask a question, but I can

214fall back if our board members have questions. And then maybe lastly, and I know math wasn't really the focus, but you did mention it with the curriculum. When are we going to potentially see some of the green shoots of that? Is it too early in the fall? Sorry, in the spring? The green shoots? It's like signs of improvement. Oh, yeah, I know, I know. That's a, well, okay, so this is what I'm thinking. We're coming back in March for our next sort of data overview, and I have been thinking what I would anticipate us being ready to look at in March is really some fidelity around implementation data. We've had Ilse Gall, our math specialist and our math implementation folks visiting, exhaustively visiting classrooms and measuring how many minutes of math are happening, what is

215the consistency and coherence across the lessons. And so I do anticipate in March having that kind of data for the board. I think the, you know, Of course, I would like to say our MCAs are going to show this spring some tremendous growth. I think that is probably overly optimistic. I think there is sometimes... Some research that I've read says, you know, it can take two to three years to really see the fruits of all of this work. Of course, we hope it's not that long. But I think we can look to, and I can ask Ilsa to remind us when she comes, you know, we have with this specific material set. We do have other districts that we've looked at who have implemented and they're further along than us, so I think we could

216look at how long did it take them to really start seeing those good results. OK, thank you. Chair Andreessen? Yes. Could I ask a couple questions? Yeah. Thanks for the presentation. I appreciate it. Dr. Earle, just sort of a couple quick questions for you. So in slide four, we talked about how World's Best Workforce has been renamed the CACR, and there are kind of these five big CACR goals. Right. And so the second one is talking about the... economic achievement gaps and then in slide six we talk about our proficiency in. As judged by reading MCA scores and so was. First of all. We come up with some specific goals. We are the ones who write the goals within those categories. Yep, absolutely. Within those categories. And so was that the only goal that we

217wrote within that category? It was. Yes, it was. And do we submit the goals themselves to the state as like, this is what we're going to work towards? Only in retrospect. Only in retrospect. Yeah, so this particular report... is, again, due on December 15th, but it is for last year's goals. And so this year we sort of had to look at what some of our other systems' goals were and look at what we've used previously for World's Best Workforce in order to develop this. But what I think will happen as we do our goal-setting process for next year is we'll use these categories to build out what our sort of systems-level goals will be. I'm just wondering, is there any opportunity maybe could the board see the goals as they're being developed or something like

218that? I just honestly would just be curious. Yeah, I mean, typically what our process has kind of been is we have the three strategic goals. So the teaching and learning and then the culture and then the operations. the world's best workforce goals have sort of sat alongside those. And then each of our schools develop goals as well. And so what we have wondered about is would our system benefit from more of a shared, we're all working toward. You know maybe a literacy goal or a math goal or whatever that is versus Sort of leave it and not that we don't collaborate with our sites, but the schools sort of Create their goals based with their building leadership team. And so we've we've explored that idea as well I think there there might be some opportunity

219for alignment. Yeah, I think that's a great idea. Thank you And then my final question for Kim. Thanks for your Lens on literacy here and on slide 29 looking at the a reading across our whole district and You know, I think that that's good that there's not as much fluctuation It's fairly stable there and so, you know, you know, it's right around 6040 and seems like it has been for the last few testing period so I'm just curious sort of in your expertise You know, what would you like to see that at and where do you think that could eventually go to? That's my goal I mean typically a 3% increase is considered good year-over-year I Would like to focus less on that and every classroom having aggressive growth because if every classroom has aggressive

220growth for the majority of their students and every kid's making more than a year's growth. So regardless of where they come into us, they are closing any gaps over time. And if we can do that consistently year over year, then we are making sure kids are getting to where they need to be. reading is a tricky one is exactly for what to represent like they're The farther you go up in age the more kids are gonna click right and so the better measures are when you look at the actual classroom assessment data of Things that they do in meaningful ways in their classrooms. And so one of the pieces that actually so we have the k5 writing assessments that we've put in place and 6-8 has actually asked for them so that they have a

221chance to have a fall and a spring writing assessment where they can really look at what what are students producing because that's honestly writing is going to always be your best measure of how kids literacy skills are developing I just want to add on to that, to Dr. Mayor Perry-Reed's point about disaggregating and looking classroom by classroom. So we've started sort of socializing that into our system with our, we did a data meeting where we did look at classroom by classroom, grade level by grade level with building leaders. And again, not in a punitive way, but in a... Where are the bright spots who might need more support? What's what might be happening here? And so we are starting to really help our school leaders drill down to that classroom level data so that they

222know where the some targeted support or celebration might be needed as well It's also been helpful because we can see that when classrooms are overly weighted with kids who are coming in less ready, that they tend to make less growth. Whereas if the balance is about two-thirds are pretty close to where they should be coming in, then those classrooms tend to accelerate. And so finding that balance, it might mean that we don't cluster kids necessarily in ways that we might have before with our ML kids in one group because it makes it easier to pull out for scheduling. But if it's not helping kids' growth over the... over the course of their year, then we need to rethink if that's a best practice. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Chair Andreessen? Yes. So related

223to what Director Roper shared earlier in terms of what is our students' mindset in real time as they're engaging with the test. One thing that I've been thinking a lot about because our society does fluctuate with how attached we or parents or systems are to test scores, right? So like No Child Left Behind was like teaching to the test and it was all about the test. And then we're moving toward more balanced, holistic measures. And now we are seeming to start returning back to like... the sheer importance of those scores, which I have mixed feelings about. However, it really is our responsibility to think about the ingredients that help our students be as successful as possible. in those environments and during those moments. So if you think about all of the intentionality that we put

224into restorative practices in our classrooms so that kids can show up as themselves and feel a sense of belonging so they can learn. Or if you think about in our athletic spaces before a competition, all the mindset and sort of psyche work that our coaches do with our athletes. If you think about what our teachers are doing with students before students have to take a test, that is going to be varied. Some teachers will give that pep talk. Some students will do a whole chant together, do some kind of mindset work. But we're not systematizing. what we might do as a whole collection of educators before every testing period. Not that we want to be like, you know, so weird or sort of... Test prep all the time. Right. However, I do think we should

225start thinking about what are the teacher and leader moves that folks engage in before an exam. without getting too obsessed with it, so that we are ensuring that students have the most favorable conditions in which to perform, because this is about performance. And so I'm just really thinking about what that balance looks like. Like, I really don't want to have our whole system orient so vehemently to these exams and these tests, but I also don't want us to be laissez-faire with it. But then, you know, we're scrutinizing the scores as though they're everything, right? So if they do, if they are important, which they are, and we have to have balanced and holistic measures, then what are we doing to attend to the importance? And we need to just start thinking about that as a

226system. Absolutely. I know that's something that EIA and the data team talk a lot about because our data specialists also serve as our assessment coordinators. And they see the wide range. They're wildly different experiences. Yes. And different beliefs and attitudes and, you know. Giving these three times a year is new practice in our system, relatively new. And it takes time away from other important work. And so, I mean, yeah, there's a variety of feelings and beliefs about... about the importance of it that we are really working to build that consistency. And honestly, we need the consistency so that the data means the same thing from one place to another. Well, and as adults, if we're not treating each experience with a special level of importance, then kids do like, oh, this again. And the engagement

227level right from question one. is not where it should be. So there's some things that I think we can do differently and systematize across all of our classrooms. I agree. Thank you. I had a question just across all these levels of assessments. How are we including or not including our special education students? Do you want to talk about that? Yeah. So for the literacy screening, any student who takes the MCA takes the screening. If they take the MTAS, then they typically are not listed for the district screening. It doesn't mean that we don't do some activities with them to figure out where their goals are and needs are, but they tend to go off of their IEP goals more than the screening process. We already have more data on their learning needs. And our English

228learners, they do the fast bridge screening after level 2.3. So we're not using all of these screenings with our new-to-country kiddos. And what about the panorama? How are they included? I think it's inconsistent. I don't know what the procedure or process look like for every site. But I know that we've lost, so because of the revision, we lost the translation option. So there's like a different translation, different languages that happen for 612 surveys. But because we switch it, we revise it for 3.5, there isn't a translation option. So what I did was I just... we put it through Google Chrome and turn it into Spanish because that's the primary language that I think a lot of our sites like we need our students who speak Spanish to be able to read it and participate in

229it. I've sat with multiple students at my work to also just like we're reading it like I want you to just read it in Spanish and I'll just translate it for them but there isn't a really good way for that yet. But yeah I would say it is inconsistent. I'm not sure how our students who receive services actually take or complete the assessment. I would think that they would participate unless their IEP exempted them specifically, but we can follow up with Director Contreras about that. Yeah, because I'm just wondering, especially, like it looks like we have really good completion rates at the elementary level. So I'm wondering, does the supports that are put into place for kids to complete it just fall away when they go into secondary? And then in particular, I would imagine

230that they would be a lot less for our kids with special needs, right? Yeah, I think that's just kind of how it works. Possible. Something we can investigate for sure. Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate that. And then I heard quite clearly you talking about unfunded mandates. And I just wanted to let you know that our newest member of the LAC is creating an amazing report all about unfunded mandates. And so I will be forwarding to him. that your information and perhaps you guys can have a conversation about the ways this shows up in the REDACT. And I was also, I saw that one of the needs is dedicated coaching and then also saw that we lost our coaches. So what are the ways in which the board can support? more coaching opportunities for staff. Yeah,

231I think Elsa would say that a huge piece of the success of the math implementation so far is having some people focused on at the building with implementation. And so I think as we look, you know, and look to next year's budget, it's how do we prioritize. the pieces that are going to get us the most bang for our buck with literacy outcomes and then focusing that on the earliest grades we can. And that's always a really hard piece, sort of like Director Thompson's comment, like I'm not going to be happy until we're at 100%. And how do you allocate resources to K-2 knowing that then it means you're pulling resources that could be served for kids who, like I'm not giving up on kids that are older than that. And so finding that right

232balance, finding things that we can do that. that serve the most number of kids and provide the most opportunities is sort of tough. I think as far as the unfunded mandates go, so phase two PD has been released. They are only requiring training of ELA teachers. For fourth and above well if we think we're gonna change literacy outcomes with ELA teachers Which is what a 45-minute class that the high school is going to be one semester not even all year long We're not going to change literacy outcomes that way And I know it's because they don't have the funding to pay for more broadly than that So that leaves us as a district we could choose to train more people We could choose to put funding to train all of our content teachers. So it's

233going to require that we like really commit to deciding who needs that training and who would benefit from it. I would say as far as the legislation, it's really complicated. We've heard consistently they're probably not going to allocate money for phase two compensation for teachers. So our phase one teachers who've gone through letters have received really good compensation. Hopkins has been amazing, better than most districts with honoring micro-credentials or graduate credits that's eligible for letters as well as the cash payout because that was money allocated by the READ Act to create that MOU. If that money is not coming for phase two and the trainings can't be done during the PD days that we have in the hours, then that puts us as a district having to pay or figure out how to compensate those

234teachers for the same time. So they're really putting districts in a really awful position. Or go the cheaper route. Or pick the least hour program. That great now. So it sounds like we'll be having some important discussions about budget allocation and something we can definitely talk with our legislators about as we advocate for public education and an act that they passed. So thank you for that. Appreciate all your time and expertise that went into this. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Thank you so much, ladies. Happy holidays. Thank you. And that is our final item on the agenda. And it takes us to board member reports. So if we would like to go around the table, say who we are, you know the spiel. I don't know. Did I start last time? I'll start. Hi, everyone.

235My name is Shannon Andreessen, current chair of the board. I am completing my sixth year of service, and I have a senior at the high school and work in the LTL program at Gatewood as a paraprofessional. Hi, everyone. I'm Superintendent Mary Perry-Reed, and I have an eighth grader at West, and I have provided my board report. I am Treasurer Rachel Hartland. I use she, her pronouns and have three children in our school district. I am finishing my fourth year. This is like officially the end of my first term on the school board and we'll be rejoining you in January. And it has been, yeah, yay. It's been a long time since we gave board member reports. And so, I don't know, I'm a member of our... Legislative Action Coalition, as you saw tonight, our Citizens

236Financial Advisory Council, our Audit Committee, and have spent quite a bit of time supporting all of those endeavors. Hello, my name is Brooke Roper and I have two amazing kids in the district and tonight is the I have completed my official two years as a board member and I would I'm like you treasure a heartland we haven't gave our reports in so long I will say that One of the things that are coming up that we have, first and foremost, I'm looking forward to rest, and I hope that you all are looking forward to some of the rest as well that's coming our way with the break. But we do have an event for the Hopkins Coalition for Black Scholar Success that's coming up on the 17th, which I will have more details sent out

237in the email. But we're looking that we're going to be having a holiday and family engagement celebration for our students. And so I will, I'm looking forward to that and will. Again, share out more information. And then I don't think we got to share any of our sentiments to Jason and Jen, but I want to just say to you both that I truly and deeply appreciate working with both of you, Jason especially. I saw hope, to be completely honest, as a black school board member. I'm like, wow, Hopkins champions diversity. When I first ran, I didn't even know how many black... school board members existed. And so when I came onto the board and had the opportunity to connect with you and learn from you, I really admire your sense of, first and foremost, your

238sense of humor is very funny. I think that you have one of the funniest dry sense of humor. And it also just like the way that you ask questions and position yourself. And I will continue to pray for you and your wife and your family. And I hope that we can stay connected beyond the board because I do value you as a leader in the community. And I see you doing great things in the future. And Jen, of course, I always say that I just so appreciate you. You are very integral to me running for the school board and just like helping me understand what a school board member was and all the work that you do in the community is so amazing. I've learned a lot from you. I appreciate your advocacy and I

239am going to miss you. I always tell you that all the time, but I am happy that you will remain a resource. You are a parent in the district. I can see you coming to give a public comment soon. I hope. Maybe. You're going to complain about something. You've still got a few more years. We're just going to be on a rotating list. Yes. So I am just looking forward to just, like, seeing what you're going to continue to do in our community beyond Hopkins and, you know, and just to go live your best life. And thank you for wearing my favorite glasses tonight. I really, really like those. So thank you both. It is a pleasure. It was a pleasure. And I'm just happy for both of you. Thank you, Director Roper. Thank you.

240Kai Thompson. I'm the clerk on the school board. I got three kids, fifth through 10th grade. Also finishing halfway through my first term here. So yeah, I will decline a further board report, but thank you. Hi, Jen Westmoreland, she, her, finishing eight years in the Hopkins School Board, and I gave my report at the beginning of the meeting. I just want to thank everyone for all of the great vibes tonight, and I'm going to miss you a lot. Hi, I'm Jim Ming Zhao. I'm halfway through my first term. I've got two kids in the district. They are in fifth grade and second grade at Xing Xing in Eisenhower. Two things of note. I did give blood during the blood drive, and one piece of borderline TMI is that I can, it took me only five

241minutes, 20 seconds to donate a whole unit of blood. Is that fast? That is quite fast. I did ask the nurse, the record is four minutes, 11 seconds. I did also ask if I could practice to like break the record, and you cannot practice that at all. You can drink more water. So I'll try to. I was under six minutes. Yeah, okay. It's not a competition. I mean, I didn't like to meet you, but. Are they tying it? Well, I asked, yeah. And then the second thing is I had a chance to do a tour of the Shakopee with the Ford NGL program that we've been talking about looking at that model. And Dr. Mary Peary, when you mentioned the engagement gap, I thought, you know, kind of put. some pieces together that like, oh,

242this might be a really interesting thing to shore that up. And their academy model looked very interesting, seemed like the students were very engaged in a very kind of them specific career or interest, professional interest and very interesting. So we'll see if it fits here. All right, I guess last but not certainly not least. Yes, my name is Jason. Tonight's the last night. You're welcome, Hopkins community. I have three kids. I guess it really doesn't matter because I get them usually mixed up anyway. I have a set of twins, a boy and a girl. My daughter's the oldest. My son is the middle. And then my youngest is the baby. they were very excited to know that tonight was my last meeting and they look forward to seeing me, unfortunately for them, on more Tuesdays.

243And they tried to stay up because I was getting texts from my elders to say, when are you coming home? And I said, I'm still in a meeting right now. So, yeah, I appreciate the kind words from Brooke. Brooke, I, Director Roper, I expect. And I know you're going to do great things. You are a force to be reckoned with. So I know and I look forward to seeing you champion the work that's coming forth. Shannon, I do appreciate your level of support when I first joined again. I didn't know what I was doing and I was managing multiple things on the home front. So I do appreciate the support and the care you provided. Director Westmoreland, Director Hartland, I do appreciate the campaign trail. I gave my wife a hard time about, hey, do

244you think it would be funny if I put my face on a shirt and just run? And she thought that doesn't seem like that's appropriate. And I was like, if my wife voted it down, that means I need to go for it anyway. I went for it. I thought it was a funny marketing ploy. She didn't find it funny. Hey, here we are. Director Thompson, Director Zell, I definitely appreciate the questions and the thought leadership, stuff that I didn't think about and some of the great questions that you guys asked. And it was great partnering with you guys, especially with the data nerd here. I don't like as much data as Director Zhao, but I do probably, is that Christmas for me? It was probably, I guess, more of a spring break, I guess. And

245then last but certainly not least, I want to give a shout out to Superintendent Dr. Mary Perry-Reed. It was a pleasure to get to know you. It was a pleasure to watch you lead in this environment. Not something I would want to do, so it was great watching, you know, from my seat. You know, you're a great leader. Hopefully you've already have heard that. I appreciate all the work that you had done from before I even joined all the way through now. And then Superintendent Lightfoot, it was a pleasure to work with you as well to be able to get your thought leadership. You have a wealth of knowledge. And again, not something I want to do because I can only go so far with my ADHD. Natalia, you have been a great project manager

246of keeping me on board and on task in some of the meetings. The rest of the administration, I appreciate all the work that you guys have done throughout this. Hopefully my ADHD questions didn't catch you off guard or offend you, but hey. Here we are. Sarah, it's great to see you. I expect great things from you and look forward to hearing the great things that this board is going to do. Sorry for the long-winded send-off, but... What about the rest of the cabinet, though? Oh, yeah. The rest of the cabinet? The rest of the cabinet is like, I want to go home. All of you guys are great. Let's keep this going. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you and with that I would look for a motion I don't even want to say it I

247think Jason and director Westmoreland should do the second in a motion I Would look for a motion to adjourn so moved motion in a second any discussion Not approved. We just never end the session and you're going to have to serve. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed besides me? The chair votes aye and this board meeting of the Hopkins School Board is adjourned at 1018 p.m.