001This meeting of the Hopkins School Board is called to order at 7.07 p.m. Our second agenda item is open agenda. This is typically the time when the board takes public comment from members of our community. There are two options for giving public comment. You can leave a voicemail that will be played publicly during the meeting, or of course, you can always join us here in the boardroom and fill out a public comment card and hand it to me before the meeting begins. We received no voicemails this evening and we do not have any community members with us in the room tonight to give public comment. So we will move on to our student board representatives reports. We are thrilled to have Grace and Parker with us at the table this evening and I. received an
002email from Imani with a report that she'd like me to read, which is like such an honor to read Imani's words. So which one of you would like to start? And then I'll finish with Imani's. It's a staring contest. Okay. All right. So starting off, obviously the school year has ended and it is now summer. And we're just bringing to light The Depot in Hopkins has been hosting events throughout the school year. It's been a place of congregation for Hopkins after hours and some parties and such on the weekends. Most recently, they did a dress as your favorite Joe night in which students would go at a discounted rate with proof of ID and were encouraged to dress as their favorite Joe, Joey, Joseph, et cetera, from like any form of media. I'm assuming they
003are planning to do several more of this sort of party situation. I'm getting a yes from Parker throughout the summer because I'm pretty positive they did last year as well. Yes, okay. So yeah, sophomores are very much excited about that. And then I did also want to highlight that there is going to be a counseling shift, which I'm sure you guys are aware of, within the high school next year. We're shifting away from counselors based on last name. For example, A through C or whatever it is goes to this counselor. Instead, we're moving towards grade-based counselors. The student body was made aware of this in a royal read, which is like an email that Principal Ballard sends out, around the end of May. This left students wondering why the change was necessary. Because there was
004so little time in the school year left, at least the sophomore student body was struggling to find answers to their questions. And one of the reasons for that is they were just simply like not even aware who their counselor was going to be next year. So they didn't know who necessarily to reach out to. So we kind of recommend sending an email. I don't know if that happens like on this level or if that's like a principal Ballard thing. to the parents and the students, providing a reconnect on the counselor issue and then just saying like, hey, if you're a sophomore next year, this is who your council team is going to be. And then if you're a junior and a senior, just so that's really clear for all of the students so they're not
005kind of left wondering what to do over the summer. And then some news personally, I'll be staying on as a junior representative. Yay. So I can't wait to see you guys next year as well. And that is all. Thank you, Grace. We're so happy that you're going to be joining us next year as well. Your voice has been really powerful and important at the table and I'm grateful for your continued service. Thank you. Parker. For my final student board representative's report, I haven't prepared anything. So this is going to be an adventure. We like adventures. I'd like to start by thanking all of you for the incredible honor of being able to sit here at this board table and talk to you. at the same level. I think that the district in the last five
006years has made leaps and bounds as far as the involvement of student voice in the process of creating and implementing policy. I think there's still a long way to go. That's something I'd like to make clear. There are no neat, it's not wrapped up neatly in a bow. But I think we're getting there and I see the improvements that are being made in administration throughout the district and I'm confident that it will keep moving in a better direction. I'd say that there are still some major problems that I see in the district. We're amazing at communicating. our broad goals, but very poor at communicating day-to-day changes that families need to know about. That's a big, big issue, especially at the high school level. And I would say the other big area that has to be
007tackled and that, I mean, we've done amazing work with it, but we need to continue to do... more with equity. And I know that all of you are invested in this and that all of you also want to see this happen. And so I'm also very optimistic on that front. I know that you guys can get more done through practices like restorative justice when you're deliberate and careful and thoughtful in your implementation. I think there are great things, especially in equity, that can be gleaned through listening to students. And I think that we're almost there. It's coming along. Yeah, and I'd like to close by just saying it's been an amazing chance to serve alongside all of you. I think that the student board rep program also needs some improving. I'm excited that Director Kahn
008will be working on that next year. But I think that we're moving in a direction of representing more and more of the student body as best we can because we really do have a very impactful voice on district policy. And I'm very excited for... you guys to continue that reputation. Thank you. Thank you so much, Parker, for that honest and I believe accurate assessment of where we're at as a system and the reminder to us as leaders of the importance of that work and that we need to keep pushing in all of the directions that you've indicated. You have been a force for change through your work at this board table with the policy committee, the advocacy work you've done, and we are going to miss your voice and and your clarity um very much
009and just wish you all the best and please do not be a stranger um come give public comment just kidding you totally should but also we'd like to see you um back in the district whenever you're you're here and want to visit us and um we just are excited to see what comes next because i know it's going to be great for you thank you So I will read Imani Keremonge's statement that she sent. She is in Kenya right now with her family and asked me to read this as her board representative report. These are Imani's words. Despite the fact that I have not been a part of the Student School Board program for as long as previous participants, I believe I have gained nearly as many heartfelt memories and valuable experiences during my time
010in it. Thinking back to 10th grade, a year before I even heard about the Student School Board representative program, I had no intention of ever taking on such an intricate yet fulfilling position. While I had been involved in a variety of student government and leadership activities, I rarely stepped outside my comfort zone to put the skills I had gained through those activities to good use. Junior year is when I finally took this huge step. Receiving the email about the program, reading it, signing up for an interview, being interviewed, and taking on a two-year position were all just the beginning of a new adventure. The theme of this evening. Since my junior year, I've learned more about referenda, though I still need to learn more about them. They haven't quite clicked. Advocacy and its powerful impact
011when used correctly and the value of making connections. To be honest, having all these skills will undoubtedly benefit me in the future, but meeting new people was the only way I was able to develop them in the first place. Through this program, I not only got to work closely with representatives who shared my goals, but I also got to help new ones get acclimated to the schedule while also having enough time to collaborate with board members and other community members. Thank you so much to all of the student school board representatives for being such resilient, outspoken, and open-minded individuals. While this program still has so much more to look forward to, I still feel like you all made it fun and worthwhile for me. I truly hope the same for you. Thank you to everyone
012on the school board, especially those on the LAC, for becoming familiar faces on whom I could rely for any questions I had, especially during the budget season last year. Thank you to Chair Bouchard, Director Kahn, and Superintendent Mary Perry-Reed for being so encouraging and supportive, especially this year, as I feel like I've really gotten to know you all on a personal level, making my time here feel even more special. Thank you to each and every single board member for allowing us students to take part in these meetings in order to make our school an inclusive and comfortable environment. I wish all of you the best, and thank you again. I hope to come back and say hi sometime in the future. Imani. Well, thank you, Imani, for sending that and for the honor of reading
013it. And you have been such an incredible leader. You have such... a calm, measured, and passionate leadership style that will surely be missed. You have a way of creating community that I have personally learned from, and we can't wait to see what comes next for you because we are confident it is going to be great. So thank you. Okay, we will now move on to our superintendent's report with Dr. Mary Perry-Reed. Thank you, Chair Bouchard, and good evening to board members, student board reps, and colleagues, as well as audience members or people viewing. Today is our teachers last day Students last day was on Friday commencement was last Thursday And I don't know if it's like this in other fields or industries, but I feel like in public school on the last day you feel
014like August was just a couple days ago. So especially this year was just a whirlwind of an experience, definitely one for the history books. In fact, I was talking with a retired teacher yesterday, and we were saying we should write a book about the last two years. So anybody out there who's interested in co-authoring the Hopkins Public Schools two-year experience through COVID and everything else would be. interesting venture but we need to find time for that. So I'm really happy to report that graduation was a wonderful success. I know that behind the scenes there were 536 seniors to get organized into orderly lines for the procession, but from the observer and audience standpoint, it looked really well organized, and it was a really beautiful ceremony. Our emcees for the event were Emma Cohen-Pesh and our
015very own Imani. Carrie Monge and they did a fantastic job just you know keeping everyone engaged and knowing what was happening throughout the commencement exercise. There were 44 flags that adorned one side of the stage with the orchestra on the other side. We heard from the orchestra and also Midori, which is a treble a cappella ensemble. I think there were five or six young women who were speaking or singing in that group that evening, that afternoon, excuse me. It was a 12 o'clock ceremony. And then our student speakers were Angel Riley and Toby Saunders, and they did a really great job. And I just thought overall it was a marvelous ceremony. Lots of conversations and gatherings outside of Mariucci post the event with families taking pictures. And it was a glorious day. It was just
016wonderful. So congratulations to all of our Hopkins High School. 2022 graduates and thanks very much to the staff and HHS admin for coordinating the event and allowing all of us to be a part of it. There are many end of year activities at all of our schools. I wanted to highlight one, although all of them have been fantastic, but here at Eisenhower Community School. On May 26th, there was an evening event, which I think they call their cultural festival. And I'm not sure if you were able to attend, but Ms. Dickerson is the art teacher at Eisenhower Elementary. And she said it took her and three other staff about five hours to post hundreds of pieces of student art on multiple hallway spaces throughout the building. It was... Beautiful. It really, were you there, Chair
017Bouchard? It was stunning. Yeah, you looked at the art and you literally felt like you were in a professional gallery. It was really, really stunning. And then, of course, there were many activities for students and families. I'm glad that a lot of people were wearing masks because honestly, I think there were hundreds of kiddos and families there. It was really packed. But there were games and student displays in the gym, also student performance in the auditorium. And I was just really proud of the staff and all of the student helpers for putting together a great end of year experience for families. Also wanted to share with board members and our community a wonderful event that happened on May 22nd at Hopkins High School. You may have heard that our outgoing director of athletics and activities,
018Dan Johnson, hosted a Hopkins Hall of Fame recognition ceremony. There were six individuals who were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame, and then there were nine staff who were recognized for their distinguished and many years of service. And so many of the individuals, I should, let's see, let me look at the list. About half of the individuals inducted into the Hall of Fame were former students of Hopkins. And so it was a really nice event where I personally learned a lot about the history of the city of Hopkins, the community of Hopkins. There were many people in the audience, I think, in their 80s and 90s. And just, you know, like really. sort of bleeding blue throughout that whole space. So it was really nice to meet a lot of those individuals who have
019been contributors to the culture and experience of Hopkins and Hopkins Public Schools for a very long time. It was really nice. And then I... I spoke earlier during the workshop about our end-of-year party, so I think we had about 500 staff who came to our end-of-year party yesterday in the parking lot of Hopkins High School, and I am... I'm very grateful to parent Jen Hoiska, who was our chief organizer for the experience. Jolene and Communications and Marketing also put in a lot of time helping to coordinate this event. We also had help from Buildings and Grounds and our facilities staff from Nutrition Services. Many parents contributed financially to support the food trucks, to give staff prizes. We had a puppy corner. We had a DJ. We had MCs. It was a beautiful day, and we
020were also able to recognize 44 retirees. Those are some of the individuals in the left-hand picture there. So it was a really nice event. I mentioned earlier that folks are already asking what next year's end of party is going to be like. So we'll have to start planning perhaps in December for that. And then just a couple of additional... Photos from graduation on the left you see the sparkly streamers so right when right after we Handed out all of the diplomas. I think those were those teachers who it was the people at the end of each row Yeah, it was beautiful. You loved that. You gasped. I did. Yeah. Well, I wasn't sure, you know, what noise that was. You're always hoping it's, you know, not something dangerous. But it wasn't anything dangerous. It was
021just, what do you call those anyways? Streamers? Yeah, they're streamers, but you shoot them out, and then all of a sudden there are cannons. What are you calling them? Confetti cannons. Yeah, oh, confetti cannons. Yes, that's right. Well, it was stunning. It was beautiful. And were you surprised? No, they had told us in advance. Oh, they did. Okay. We were surprised. Oh, I see. Well, it was great. And then picking up all those streamers from the floor afterward? Yeah. That took a long time. Worth it. Worth it. Okay. And at least do we have a video coming up now? Okay, so this will be our last slide. And so I don't personally know how many years we've had this tradition, but we organize all of the seniors to visit the elementary schools. they attended. And
022then they put their caps and gowns on and they go to the elementary schools and do a senior walk and do fist bumps and high fives with the kids and connect with their former teachers and staff. And it's really, really beautiful. So here's a video showing that. Thank you, Elise. Thank you, Dr. Mary Peary-Reed. Love that video. Great choice to end on that. So with 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 to approve the agenda. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. Next, I would look for a motion to approve the consent calendar. So moved. I have a motion. Is there a second? Second.
023I have a motion and a second to approve the consent calendar. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. Next, we'll move to our Treasurer's Report with Treasurer Adams. Thank you, Chair Bouchard. This first report of the month always includes the enrollment report, and the enrollment for the month of May declined by 37 students from the month of April, which also had a decline of 37 from the previous month. And 25 of those students were elementary for the month of May. 12 were secondary students. And we ended the year with 163 fewer students than we started with on October 1st. And that's a 2.4% decline. 91 of them were elementary students and 72 of them secondary students. We usually experience a decline in enrollment from the first
024of the school year to the end of the school year, but this one was greater than normal. And I don't know to what you attribute that, but I think we need to look into that. Expenses of note this time included $54,600 in transportation aid to private and religious schools for 260 resident students who attend those schools. It's a little known fact that... the state law, section 123B.92 requires that public schools reimburse private schools and parochial schools for transportation of any residents of their district who attend those schools. So I don't know when this started. I looked it up on the state website and it... was amended in 1996, I believe. So it apparently started even before that point. But it's amazing to me how much aid, financial aid, that public schools are required to give
025to private and religious schools. And I sometimes question whether it's constitutional or not, but it's in the law. In addition to the aid that we gave to private religious schools, we also wrote a check for $158.26 to one parent for homeschool supplies for the homeschooling that they do for their student. We paid nearly $273,000 to District 287. for services rendered in the month of April. We spent $21,771 for letters materials. Letters is L-T-R-S, and it's been very strongly advocated for by certain senators at the state level to make it statewide. I'm not that familiar with all of the content of that curriculum, but we use it in Hopkins and almost to the tune of $22,000 for materials. In addition, we had a $420 payment to an adult education instructor for a belly dancing class. So
026if anyone wants to take belly dancing, it's available to you. $269,475 for regular and special transportation for the first two weeks of May. And earlier in the calendar, we approved the consent calendar, and it included a list of all the gifts that... the district has received from January through June. And I just want to acknowledge the very generous gifts that many people gave, some very generous ones for the staff party yesterday, and from individuals and companies that have a relationship with our district. So I want to publicly thank them. So with that, I move that we approve total disbursements in the amount of $3,208,000. 862.01 for the period may 18 2022 through may 31 2022. i have a motion is there a second second i have a motion and a second to approve the treasurer's
027report any discussion Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. Thank you, Treasurer Adams. Next, we'll move on to new business. I'd like to welcome our LTFM team to the table. And as they're coming forward, I'll turn it over to Dr. Mary Perry-Reed. Thank you, Chair Bouchard. So at our last board meeting on May 24, our Director of Business Services, Taru Chapinduka, and our Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds, Kevin Newman, along with our partners from SiteLogic and Ehlers, presented information on the long-term facilities maintenance plan, which we... usually refer to as LTFM. This plan does need to be adopted by our school board and approved by the Commissioner of Education. And so following this brief recap of the presentation from last time, we would be seeking the approval of
028our 10-year LTFM plan, which we do update annually. And welcome to the board table, Torero and Kevin. Thank you, Dr. Meripereed. Good evening, Chair Bouchard. Good evening, our respective board members. As alluded by the superintendent. We did come to the board about two weeks ago with an initial plan for a 10-year lease, which we do on a yearly basis, is required by Minnesota Department of Education. What we did when we brought the initial plan, we came up with a plan which had a two-year cycle of about $32 million. We went back and did some refinement and took out close to about $6 million, just putting into perspective what's going on in our economy and not wanting any significant impact to our taxpayers through some of the work we've done with our project manager, SiteLogic, as
029well as our bond advisory, Ellis. So that's the plan we have at the table. The second portion of this is the approval of the LTFM plan for District 287. Since we are a member of District 287, we do have a portion which is supposed to be... accounted for by the district when it comes to their long-term facility maintenance. So that's the other resolution we have to bring to the table. So what we have here is a plan of about $24.9 million based on the work we've done in the last week refining our capital projects plan. And this is for fiscal year and calendar year 23 and 24. And I have with me Kevin. I don't know if the board has any questions. We can address some of those. Well, thank you very much for joining
030us again and for the detailed presentation two weeks ago that gave us really great context for the vote that we're about to take this evening. I think, you know, a reduction in spending is wise and certainly has my support given, as you said, Director Chapenduka, what we anticipate to be continued. challenging economic conditions so no questions from me specifically but would like to open it up to my board colleagues and if you're ready to vote considering that we discussed this two weeks ago you can let me know that too so make a motion to approve the long-term facilities maintenance right so we have um Two pieces that we need to vote on this evening director Chapin duca was there anything? Further that you wanted to say about the district 287 resolution or I Know that
031we have to vote on two separate resolutions I understand that part but just want to know if the board's ready to vote on both of those resolutions or if we should If you have any questions about the separate district 287 resolution The contact second probably just give for District 287. They came up with a plan of selling $4.9 million in bonds. The portion for the district is actually divided into two. There's $15,048.35, which is the pay as you go. And then there's $82,744, which is the added service for a total of $97,792.35. That's what the board will be voting on. Excellent. Thank you. questions or comments from my board colleagues? Chair Bouchard? Yes, Director Adams. Chair Rowe, I just have a question about the 287 LTFM budget. It's approximately 98 million. Is this on an
032annual basis or is this just a one-time expenditure? So the $97,000 is on an annual basis. going into the future because this is a new bond they are selling. So every year they always come. So we pretty much contribute close to about $100,000 on a yearly basis between their pay as you go as well as their debt service. All right. Thank you. Are there questions or comments regarding either of the resolutions, so the 270 or the 287? I would welcome a motion for the first resolution and Clerk Peterson is going to be busy this evening. I move that we accept the long-term facilities maintenance resolution. So I have a motion that the board approve the 10-year long-term facilities maintenance plan. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a second that the board
033approve the 10-year long-term facilities maintenance plan. Any further discussion? Seeing none, I'll roll call vote. Man, you can make autopilot. No, I can't. Well, I'm going to keep you guys on your toes tonight. You never know what order is going to come. This will be fun. Director Adams. Aye. Vice Chair Andreessen. Aye. Chair Bouchard? Aye. Director Kahn? Aye. Director Ross? Aye. Director Heartland? Aye. Director Peterson? Aye. Thank you, Clerk Peterson. We have seven ayes, zero nays. Motion carries. Next, I would look for a motion that the Board approve the resolution on District 287, Long-Term Facilities Maintenance Budget, and the portion of the allocation to be shared with the school district. So moved. I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a second for the Board to approve the resolution
034on District 287, LTFM. and the portion allocated to be shared with the school district. Any further discussion? Seeing none, Clerk Peterson. Director Ross. Aye. Director Peterson. Aye. Director Kahn. Aye. Director Hartland. Aye. Chair Bouchard. Aye. Vice Chair Andreessen. Aye. Director Adams. Aye. Thank you. We have seven ayes, zero nays. Motion carries. Thank you to our entire LTFM team, including our subject matter experts who joined us in the audience in case there were questions. Really appreciate your work on this for joining us two weeks ago and again this evening. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And Director Chapenduka, we're excited that you get to stay with us a little bit longer here. I'll turn it back over to Dr. Mary Puri-Reed to introduce the adoption of the fiscal year 2022-2023 budget. Thank you, Chair
035Bouchard, and thank you for staying with us, Director Chapenduka. So our annual budgeting... process for this year. Well, you know, Taruro's always busy at work with the budget, but formally the engagements with the school board began in mid-December. when Director Chapenduka led the discussion to start identifying fiscal parameters and programming suggestions from the school board. We then had some school board workshops and also sessions with the Citizens Financial Advisory Committee in order to inform the predictable staffing model. and the district budget and Director Chapenduka has since presented the preliminary budget and on May 24 the school board adopted the the fiscal year 22-23 budget in first read. And so, Director Chapenduka, thanks for being here to present any updates to our school board, and we will be seeking board approval for the budget in second
036read. Thank you, Dr. Amiripere. Again, good evening, Chair Bouchard, respective board members in the community. What I have here is not really significantly different from what we presented at the last board meeting on May 24th. And I know information has kind of been changing as we get more details from Minnesota Department of Education on some of the different allocations. I'll just give a high-level summary of some of the changes which have happened. There's not been any changes with our general fund allocation. So as I presented on May 24, our total general fund revenue and expenditures, which structural balanced, was $113,042,523. So that allocation remains the same. And then move on to food services. Again, the allocation remains the same. What was presented at the first read was a budget of $4,126,378. That remains the same.
037Community education, what was presented was $9,360,254. That remains the same. debt service. There's kind of been a slight decrease from what we presented at the previous meeting just because of the structural changes we have made with our capital projects plan. So what I have is $16,168,139. The difference is about $100,000 from what I presented last time. There's been a significant reduction on the capital projects just because of the updated plan we presented to the board with LTFM. So the budget initial when I presented it was a little over $18 million. With the adjustments we made, I have our capital projects for fiscal year 23 sitting at $11,757,194. This is just the... component of the projects which will take place in fiscal year fiscal year 23. So with that said our total budget for the district
038across all the different funds is 154 million 454 thousand 488 dollars which is a reduction of about six million dollars from what I presented in the May 24th. That's just the significant difference between what was presented and what we are bringing forth to the board tonight. And I'll take any questions. Thank you, Director Chapman-Duca. As you noted, no major changes from what we approved at our last meeting, which was on May 24th and first read. So no questions from me, just gratitude, continued gratitude to you and your team for coming forward with a structurally balanced budget that will continue to allow us to move forward on those Vision 2031 priorities and which reflects... They're really challenging economic conditions that have been thrust upon public schools by our state leaders and our federal leaders. So appreciate
039your conscientious fiscal leadership. Questions or comments from my board colleagues? Chair Bouchard. Yes, Director Adams. I echo your concern about unpredictable funding from our state and federal leaders. Pains me that they were able to finish their session without making any major contributions to health and welfare and education of our citizens in this state. I'd like to see them come back in a special session. But I think we've talked about our budget. I know I've been working on it since last August. I've heard enough, I think, about the challenges. And I would recommend that we approve the fiscal year. I would move that we approve the fiscal year 2022-23 budget in second read. I have a motion to approve the fiscal year 2022-2023 budget in second read. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion
040and a second to approve the fiscal year 2022-2023 budget and second read. Is there any further discussion? I had a quick question, Chair Bouchard. So just regarding gas prices, which are seemingly skyrocketing, has that been taken into consideration? Thank you, Director Khan. Yes, we did take some components into consideration, but again, I mean, as you can see, when you start to look at the consumer price index, things are fluctuating. There's talk about, you know, going into a recession. So we did put into consideration factors. We had some kind of concrete conclusions at the point in time when we're developing the budget. What's going to happen in the future, I'm not sure, so we'll just have to come back to the board and update you as we start to see any shifts or any significant increases
041on the inflation index. But we did factor in some different inflationary components between our purchase services, supplies, the energy components, which is gas is part of, utilities, all those factors. Thank you so much. Thank you, Director Kahn and Director Chapenduka. Is there any further discussion? So I have a motion and a second to approve the fiscal year 2022-2023 budget in second read. Last call. Any further discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. Thank you, Director Chapenduka. Thank you. Thank you, Terrell. Thank you. Next we'll move on to staffing resolutions. We will invite Assistant Superintendent Lightfoot to the table and I'll turn it over to Dr. Mary Perry-Reed. Thank you, Chair Bouchard, and welcome Dr. Lightfoot. So as you know, March, April, and May are very busy staffing
042months. I think we are all indebted to the staffing wizards who are housed in our human resources office, Nick and Brady and team. And we're also thankful to our school board for paying attention to the staffing process and the resolutions that need your special eyes. And tonight we're seeking that you adopt a resolution. regarding an unrequested leave of absence and Dr. Lightfoot can explain more. Most certainly. Good to be with you this evening. Thank you for the opportunity. This is the last in the series of staffing resolutions that we have. This is an unrequested leave placement. As you'll recall, there has been a period of time which we give the individual or individuals who would be placed on unrequested leave an opportunity to raise any challenges or any concerns. And if so, we address those
043prior to bringing this forward to you. So at this time, we have not received any additional information or challenge. As you know, we continue to work on our staffing throughout the course of the summer. And if anything changes, there are specific terms and conditions about bringing employees back as soon as we're able. And so tonight's action formalizes this placement and in addition then triggers, if you will, the contract so that we now follow the recall terms that are outlined there. So with that, we'll look for resolution approval by the board and I'm open for any additional comments or questions that might be helpful. Thank you, Dr. Lightfoot, and thank you for the explanations and context that you've given us throughout this staffing resolutions process that if members of our public are following along in the
044agenda, you see that this conversation began on March 1st. And so it's been certainly a process, as Dr. Mary P. Reed said. our human resources and staffing wizards have been working on and is a difficult process as well and dr lightfoot has spoken and director adams have both spoken so eloquently about that in the past so thank you any questions or comments from the board i do have one question and i See on a daily basis we kind of get emails regarding open positions that are within Hopkins schools And they're across subject matter and across buildings and I wonder Do the people who are on these lists that we've had to look at do they have to go through this process and then? Specifically reapply like what is it? What is the process for utilizing
045some of our talented staff that wouldn't choose? to not return to Hopkins and utilizing them in other positions? Yeah, in part. That's why we do the promotion that we do that you speak of through our electronic mail system as well as through our posting system so that individuals have the opportunity to express interest and be considered for those positions. So by all opportunity, yes, they do. and in part it's all based on an individual's interest and seeming if that would match with their skills and talents and what they're looking for with the work that they want to be doing thank you other comments or questions with that i would look for a motion that the school board adopt this resolution regarding the placement on unrequested leaves of absence of certain continuing contracts effective with the
046end of the 2021-2022 school year I have a motion. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion and a second to adopt the resolution regarding the placement on unrequested leaves of absence of certain continuing contracts effective with the end of the 2021-2022 school year. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, I'll turn it over to Clerk Peterson. Director Adams. Aye. Chair Bouchard. Aye. Vice Chair Andreessen. Aye. Director Kahn? Aye. Director Ross? Aye. Director Hartland? Aye. Director Peterson? Aye. Thank you. I have seven ayes, zero nays. Motion carries. Thank you, Dr. Lightfoot. Thank you. Next, we'll move on to our board goal attainment. So at our May 24th workshop, we discussed our board goals for this year, and we really paid attention to the measurable impact section of the board goals. So if you're watching
047via the YouTube live stream, you can go to the school board page on the district website. There's a tab at the bottom. that says board goals and under each goal you'll see key actions and measurable impact and and we're really concerned with the impact because we want to make sure that we are achieving these goals and that our the actions that we take as the board as a board really impact our system in ways that bring us closer to Vision 2031. So I'll summarize the conversation that we had on the 24th, again, focusing on this measurable impact piece. So goal area one is our calendar and schedule equity. I'd like to especially thank our student board representatives and students across the district. for their advocacy and their work in this particular goal area. So our
048accomplishments included changing our calendar to move toward religious and cultural equity. So next year's calendar reflects more Jewish and Muslim holidays. And we received quite a bit of attention for that. There were three school districts that I know of. that made that change this year to approve calendars for next year to include more Jewish and Muslim holidays. And we are proud to be among them. We also experimented with some scheduling components, namely our late starts on Fridays, which... was it was a lab concept, right? So we're still learning and refining that work and that particular schedule change. We did work around changing start times using a data-driven approach to make that decision. And as our student board reps talked about at the last meeting, this idea of opportunity hour and how that has been impactful
049in terms of scheduling. Just a note to make, you know, one of the measurable impact items was that the board will make necessary policy changes to support calendar and schedule equity implementation. There's more that we can do, but we are really hemmed in and constrained by state statute. And so as we look to further changes we might want to make, one direction we might head is advocacy, either working through our LAC or, and I should say, in collaboration with other school boards and districts to adjust our state statutes so that we can achieve more of these equitable changes in terms of calendar and scheduling. Goal area number two is aligning our budget with Vision 2031. So we just approved our final budget, which was one of the major measurable impact items. So we identified a
050growth area here under this goal area, talking about combining our budget conversations and education, in terms of educating our community about the budget process, with advocacy training. So looking at interfacing more with our LAC so that we're not only educating community members about the budget, but we're also providing them with tools to advocate to their state and federal representatives for this public education funding that districts across the state of Minnesota so desperately need. So some ideas, specific ideas that came out of that. are you know really engaging our students in this process we have so many brilliant students who are working um i was going to say working toward financial literacy probably possess greater financial literacy than i do um and are are really good at communicating about complex financial topics and so looking at
051this idea of having students intern within the business office potentially creating short videos describing components of public school finance to our larger community. So I think that could be a really exciting direction for next year. Goal Area 3 is really focused on the work of our Policy and Monitoring Committee that has just had such a heavy lift this year and has done it so gracefully and holistically. And so I'm going to turn it over to Vice Chair Andreessen, who heads up that committee, to talk through some of the measurable impact areas for Goal Area 3. Thank you, Chair Bouchard. We did some great work this year. And in particular, I was very happy to have student rep, board rep on the policy committee with us because it just lends. a very distinct voice that's directly
052impacted by our policies. So quick update, one of the measurable impacts was policy 102, which is the equal education opportunity policy. We were to make this policy more robust and less risk adverse. And we did do that through creating and adopting a racial equity policy that is anti-racist. And we did that in partnership with students, staff, and community, seeking input and getting it from all stakeholders. The second policy that was listed out was Policy 506, Student Conduct and Discipline Policy. Replace the current policy's punitive and authoritative practices with restorative ones, which was a direct charge from our student advisory. We have begun work on that in the policy committee. We did review it. The general consensus after looking at it a few times was that this is going to take a lot of work and
053is going to need to be revised pretty heavily if we are going to meet that lofty and very appropriate goal. So we have been working. in a cohort led by the Minnesota Department of Education staff and it is comprised of staff and community members including student and parent voice to transform that policy to be more restorative in nature. We have had three meetings and will continue to meet. We are now in the space that we are actively revising that policy in specific ways. And then we did some work based on the equity audit report that was submitted to the school board. and have adopted a new equity lens that we use to review all our policies. We did not review specifically policy 522 because there were no federal changes that came down. We were anticipating
054that. It didn't happen. So we will wait until that happens to revise that policy and have it align more closely with our gender inclusion policy. Thank you, Vice Chair Andreessen. I'm making a note that we might want to look at policy 522 as we're doing our goal setting for next year. If we anticipate that those changes are coming down, that we can include that. In goal area three, if we decide to adopt a similar goal area that continues to focus on policy. So appreciate that update. And then we'll move on to goal area four, which is our new board member orientation and culture building. So we were so fortunate to welcome two new board members in January. And I mentioned earlier during the workshop that we held a board retreat in January where we started
055to do some of that. uh culture identification and culture building work we were really focused on restorative practices had the opportunity to engage in a restorative circle and then learn more about how restorative practices are being implemented throughout the district during our workshop director peterson commented that she really appreciated that that content deep dive i did too and i also appreciated the opportunity to to build culture by actually practicing some of these restorative approaches together as a board and i think that there's a lot more that we can do to continue in that area we did some important policy and implementation work around clarifying board agendas and so i think that that goes along with this idea of shared culture and practices uh we created a board training manual that can evolve over time it's
056formatted as a google doc so that we can link to it it's very iterative as we find new resources we can easily add those so i think that that was time well spent and that will be a a resource that will serve us while moving into the future and our new board members participated in so much onboarding both internally and then through msba and it's a uh incredibly hard work uh in that area and then um we had a mentoring program too so that our new board members um continued to to receive that support over time so that ends my update on our board goals is there anything that i missed that my board colleagues would like to to add so this was a report to our community there is no action that needs to
057be taken by the board So if you are satisfied with that report, we can move on. I do have one question. Sure. You had mentioned a couple places where you see either additional opportunity, like, for example, working with students hand-in-hand regarding some of our community engagement pieces and also revisiting Policy 522 and maybe even this new board member orientation. Are these pieces that you see us able to still work on our... August or early next year agenda so that we carry those with us. Yeah, absolutely. I think any of the growth areas that we identified during that May 24th conversation provide a great starting point for that goal setting process in August. So I agree with you that that'll be helpful for us. Yeah, because I agree with some of the things that you said
058where we still have things to do and have found information that should inform us moving forward. Absolutely. Make sure we don't leave those behind. Absolutely. Great. Anything else on this item? Okay, so our next agenda item is a resolution calling for executive session, and this is so we can conduct our superintendent's year-end review. During the workshop, Dr. Mary Puri-Reed went over her goals for this year so that our community has a sense of what we'll be talking about when we do this review. And then at our next board meeting, I will provide a summary of what we discussed during the executive session. So this is a resolution. So I'm going to err on the side of caution and have us do a roll call vote also because I know Clerk Peterson likes it. So I
059will read the resolution and then I will ask for a motion to approve. It is hereby resolved that the School Board of Independent School District 270, Hopkins, Minnesota, meet in executive session to conduct the superintendent's year-end review for the 21-22 school year, that the meeting be held in person, and that it commence immediately following the adjournment of this regular meeting. Further, that it be noted that all board members, superintendent, and clerk were duly notified of the intention to call this executive session. So I would look for a motion to approve this resolution. So, second. Great, that was easy. I have a motion and a second to approve the resolution. Any discussion? Seeing none, Clerk Peterson. Thanks, Chair Bouchard. Give me time. You can sound sincere. Director Adams. Aye. Vice Chair Andreessen. Aye. Chair Bouchard. Aye.
060Director Hartland. Aye. Director Kahn. Aye. Director Ross. Aye. Director Peterson. Aye. Thank you, Clerk Peterson. We have seven ayes, zero nays. Motion carries. Next, we can move into board member reports. Who would like to go first? I have a quick one, Chair Boucher. Great. Thank you, Director Kahn. So I got to get to know our student board representatives on a one-on-one level. We were with Imani, and she led our discussions, and it was just really great to listen to all our... students contributions and what they want to see in the future. One of the things the students brought up is that they'd like to know our board members better and if it would be possible for them to attend any workshops in order to get to know everyone. And they would like to give their
061input in that way, get to find out what our views are, etc. And I thought that was a great suggestion. Thank you, Director Kahn. Who would like to go next? I can go. Great. Thanks, Director Hartland. As was mentioned earlier, there's many end-of-the-year events, and I was fortunate enough to attend several, such as the scholarship night, which was really kind of a testament to how Hopkins is a strong community and keeps supporting and investing in its students. I feel like I'm really in the spotlight. Nature is really wanting me to be high-lit right now. Another thing that I was able to do recently was that I participated in the graduation ceremony not only as a board member, but as an American Sign Language interpreter. And I mention it not only because it was a great
062honor and I was happy to be there, but it also... is a fantastic way to further engage with the community and I specifically wanted to highlight that it is a fantastic example of Hopkins really living its values and I wanted to give a special shout out to Atlantis, Wigfall, Principal Crystal Ballard and Dr. Mary Perry-Reed because they engaged. a team of interpreters, so they followed best practices for providing kind of true accessibility to the event. They provided details and speeches down to the complete wording that the interpreters would need to be producing during the event. And I... Hopkins really kind of in this instance did everything right. I have certainly experienced the opposite for example. I have recently interpreted another ceremony Where I found out about it about an hour in advance where? Someone had
063not done the proper preparations at that school district and so they left their students and the families who require those services Foundering and not sure if they'd be able to participate in their own ceremony and So I think that again, I just wanted to thank Hopkins School District for Making all of those preparations for doing that work because it's it's not easy There's a lot of things going on at the end of the school year so I can see how things would be missed But it is really an example of Hopkins in real life Thank you, Director Heartland. And it was really wonderful to watch you work. You've talked about your passion for interpreting, and it was exciting to have you do it at the graduation ceremony. It was really cool. I'll go next. Wonderful.
064Thanks for your advice. Like all of you, I attended many of those recognition ceremonies and graduations, so I won't detail those. But I did attend a wrap-up AMSD meeting following the completion or non-completion of the legislative session at the Capitol. This was on May 27th. And we had a debrief of the legislative session by Adosh Uni and Terry Yetter of the Minnesota Department of Education. And just went over some of the, mostly was talking about what did not pass in this last session, unfortunately. But they did cover a couple of items that did pass in the session. following that we had an LEC meeting and agreed that we would all write emails to our to the governor to the Majority leader in the house and the majority leader in the Senate to try and encourage
065them to have a special session and I think unfortunately at least in the Senate it's fallen on deaf ears. I just saw in an email this morning from the Minnesota School Boards Association that the Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller has basically disappeared. So he's not responding to any requests for an extra session. It seems unlikely that that's that's going to happen unfortunately and it doesn't affect just education There's some bonding. There's a bonding bill that should be considered and it's just lying there right now and a Whole lot of things a lot of unfinished business. It's still still over there I would also like to bring to the attention of the board in our public And I heard this on the radio today, too, but I also got it in an email from the Minnesota
066School Boards Association that a study was recently done by the American Enterprise Institute in the College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College regarding the effect of the COVID pandemic on public schools. And what they found in the national survey is that a lot of school districts have suffered large enrollment decreases. And in the two years since the pandemic hit, Minnesota's public schools lost 2.55% of their students. Some of the largest losses were at Minneapolis public schools, St. Paul, Burnsville, Buffalo, and Anoka-Hennepin. But counter to that, some districts bucked the trend, and they mentioned specifically Hopkins as being one that bucked the trend and actually saw increases of 1.5% in the two years. That's why I'm troubled by our most recent enrollment report for the month of May, because it shows a decrease during the year. But
067I think overall for the year, we're... on the plus side but the pandemic has had really devastating effects on some school districts and luckily we've been exempt from that to this point so that's my report thank you director adams other board member reports this evening okay well with that i would look for a motion to adjourn so moved i have a motion is there a second Second. I have a motion and a second to adjourn. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. This meeting of the Hopkins School Board is adjourned at 8.20 p.m. Let's take a five-minute break, and then we'll come back here and start our executive session. I think adjournment.