October 27, 2025, ISD 199 School Board Meeting

001The Monday, October 27th, 2025 Invercrow Heights Community Schools Board of Education regular meeting is called to order at 5.31 p.m. We're meeting at Hilltop Elementary. As a reminder, all public comment during ISD 199 regular school board meetings must be related to a specific item on that night's agenda. ISD 199 holds public listening sessions prior to all regular board meetings to allow participants to speak on topics that are not on the agenda. More information on public comment and public listening sessions can be found on our website. This meeting is being recorded and access to the recording will be made available on the district's website as quickly as possible. Our school district's mission is to inspire, innovate, excel, a community commitment. Board member Larson, or sorry, Pearson is absent tonight. So board clerk Larson, will you please

002take roll call? Of course. Member Nehemia? Here. Member Klinger? Here. Member Larson? Here. Member Warwick? Here. Member Lounsbury? Here. And Member Dukes? Here. All right. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Do I have a motion and second to approve the agenda items? Motion by Member Warwick. Second by Member Nehemiah. All right, motion by Member Warwick, second by Member Nehemiah. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The motion is carried. We will begin tonight with our district highlight. Director of Learning, Megan Blazek, will introduce tonight's highlight. Awesome. Would you want to join me, Pierce? So tonight, yeah, we'll sit right here. We

003didn't have to move very far. Tonight, I get the pleasure of introducing all of you to Mari Mansfield, our new American Indian Education Coordinator. She started with us this summer, put in some time in July, getting a lot of things ready to go for the school year. I'm not going to steal her thunder. She's got a lot of really great stuff to share with you. just in general you guys she's been just a wonderful addition to our team and to our district and most of all the opportunities she's bringing to our students have just been amazing so i'm gonna let you share Perfect. I'm Aneem. I'm a Hometakiakwe school board member. I'm so excited to be a part of the Invergrove Heights team. I worked in the Elk River American Indian Education program for five

004years and I'm happy to bring my knowledge and expertise here to Invergrove Heights. As the Indian Education Coordinator, my role is to create belonging in community amongst the Native students and families. in the district as well as to provide guidance and knowledge to all staff in the integration of native cultures into the general education curriculum. The whole Invergrove Heights team has been so supportive and welcoming to me in my first few months here and I've been able to get off to a great start. With Megan's support and guidance, I've been able to lead professional development presentations to all staff at all sites as well as in small group sessions with elementary specialist teachers. I worked to plan an Indigenous Peoples' Day lesson that collaborated with Dorian Food Services to add wild rice to the middle

005school and high school lunch menu on Indigenous Peoples' Day. And with the support of Principal Gilland and the assistance of the maintenance crew, the 11 tribal flags of the 11 Native Nations of Minnesota are now on display in the assembly atrium. And with the assistance of all the principals and all of the site secretaries, I've been able to begin student meetings at all sites. So meeting with all grade levels and all native students on a three-week rotation. So I'm happy to answer any questions you may have, but thank you for your time. It's so great to have you and everything that you just read up it's like it's not even November yet. So thank you for jumping right in. Thank you for getting to all sites already too. That's really nice. Because our elementaries I

006don't think have been able to have any classes before. That's awesome. Thank you. If you are over at SEMLI, I would encourage you to step into the American Indian Resource Center. It's inside the IMC. She has spent a lot of time getting it all set up. It's full of artifacts, books, Native authors. We have a lot of library full of books in there. And she's also ready to start doing workshops. So I'm trying to remember your first workshop this month is going to be? Ribbon Skirts. Ribbon Skirts with our Native students. So they'll sign up if they are interested in that. But that space. looks amazing, and Mari's done all that work. And you've created quite a buzz. Quite a buzz about the district, about the importance of American Indian education, and when you have

007people that want to reach out and work with you to make things happen, that says it all right there. So thank you, Mari, for the way you're going about it, but also the excitement, again, that our kids have as far as belonging in, really valuing who they are and what their heritage is all about. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. And they say welcome too. And also, if you don't stay till the very end when we all have our comments, I was going to talk about the partnership you had with the food service. And I think that's a great idea. You did that with food and the corn, beans, and the rice, the wild rice. Thank you. Yes. It was great. Thank you for bringing it alive. Awesome. Thank you. Is there

008any other way you'd like us to support you? I feel so very much supported here in the district. I don't know if I could even ask for anything else at this point. It's just been so great to be here and everyone has such great energy and has been really engaged and is just really invested in making schools welcoming to all students. And I think that's just been the best part. I think it's good to know you also have an advisory group too, right? And you've met with them, I think, for one time so far? We have, yes. We have a parent advisory committee, and we'll be meeting every month as long as school is in session. And they're a great group of people who are really invested in making the program strong and making sure

009that their kids feel well represented in school. So I'm excited to get to know all the families as well as all of my students. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Do I have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda items? So moved by Member Klinger. Seconded by Member Dukes. Motion by Member Klinger and seconded by Member Duke. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The motion is carried. We have our donations up and we would love to thank the community for their care and support of our schools. Your generosity for our students, staff, and schools is really appreciated. Chair Lonsborough, can I add one thing? Yeah. There have been a donation to Salem to get new basketball hoops. in a good place that they could go actually and they went up

010so that was another donation. That's wonderful. Great. All right we'll begin with our information items and we'll start with Principal Leopold. Okay me. Hi everyone. How are you? I'm actually a morning person. Well it's nice to see all of you again. I have to say this is one of my favorite days on the job when I get to just come and bring about Full Top Elementary. So Dave will give me the, if I go too long. Who's my tapper? Hey. We're done with this. It's great. So I'm going to tell you a little bit about the state of Hilltop Elementary and I'm going to share mostly about this current school year but of course always dip a little bit into last year as well a couple of celebrations that we ended this school year with.

011This screen is up here because anytime we have a staff meeting this is always the first screen that we put up for staff and part of the reason is that we really want to make sure that at Hilltop Elementary we are aligning with the district and the 199 way that that guides our work right the mission and vision guides our work and so the three pyramids are very well known to the staff here and sort of live in our agenda documents and in our staff meetings to just really make sure that even when the days are really tough we're rooted and this is our reason this is our why And then this is the second screen that always follows. And part of the reason is that sometimes we need to be really clear about what

012is the student's way, what is the staff's way, and what is the family way. And just really being sure that our families feel welcome and known at our school, that the teachers, right, that staff know that they are appreciated for the work they do. The moments are tough sometimes, right? The moments are tough. The days are long. It's always rewarding. When you don't feel very rewarded, it matters, right? When there's emotion involved, that means it matters. So we try to start meetings just really taking that 30 seconds to just remember why we're here and what we're doing what we're doing. Okay, so strategic roadmap. Our vision is what we intend to create. And so every day, when you walk down the hall, when you have an interaction with a kiddo, when you're emailing a parent,

013what is it that your intention is? And, you know, first and foremost, it's that kids feel loved and welcomed and valued in our school, and that parents feel that for their kids too. Right? And so just another reminder that we always have about being inclusive and respectful and all of the things. Here is our vision for our culture and climate. These are sort of our agreed-upons. We are welcoming and safe. We build respectful and caring relationships with kids and each other. We share common, clear, and consistent expectations. And we work together to reach our full potential socially and academically. And I know I'm preaching to the choir a little bit, right? Academics matters. but so does all the social stuff. If you don't know how to engage and interact with another person, the academic pieces

014are of second nature. Next! Okay. So this is so funny because this number switches all the time. So I was like, oh, I intended all day to check it from the weekend. And I'm sorry I didn't. But this is what our current numbers are. And we, just so that you're aware, the numbers sort of ebb and flow a little bit because of our pre-K kiddos, right? That they're not necessarily counted in our infinite campus, but we count them. as our kids. And they are currently sitting low, but adding kids all the time. And so, you know, if you come into this building and you receive your education in this building, whether you're aligned to an O1 or an O4 budget code, you're a Hilltop kid. You just declared it. And that's Hilltop Pre-K, not ELC

015Pre-K. Correct. Got it. Thank you. So this is just our demographics. I shared this with you last year, and these are just the updated demographics. And I'm sure you guys all have last year's presentation and read it before the meeting tonight. The numbers have really not changed too much, right? We've maybe gone up by five or down by five, but that pie chart looks very similar to last year's pie chart. I just 199'd it with colors. Nice. Yeah. And then this is just more information. 16% of our kiddos are EL learners. 20% are receiving special education services. 52% of our kids qualify for educational benefits. And that's a 0.1% of our kiddos are housing insecure right now. So these are the focus areas that we have as a school that we're spending time on this

016year. Developing a strong multi-tiered core instructional practices for both reading and math. And you'll notice that a lot of the language in these schools is the same and the differentiating piece is instructional interventions versus intervention practices for social-emotional. We want to be really clear with our classroom teachers. you know, classroom teachers put in Tier 1 interventions. If you're thinking about a multi-tiered system of support, classroom teachers are always responsible for those Tier 1 interventions. Tier 2 is when the data tells us, this kid is getting all the same interventions as every other little lovey, and we still need to wrap a little bit more support around them. And then Tier 3 is when we really bring in high levels of support for kids. So one of my sort of learning moments last year in my

017first year is, principal was I noticed that we did a decent job on our tier and our tier two and our tier three interventions but we needed to come back and sort of have some hard conversations about our tier one interventions and what were we doing in the classrooms to ensure kids felt seen and heard and valued and really had the tools that they needed in the classroom to be successful because anytime a kid leaves a classroom we change that instructional model for them right and we always want kids to be in class So we're working on core instructional practices and then interventions. So interventions can be academic, but interventions can also be social-emotional. And if you remember last year, I had Sarah Zizer here to share a little bit about that. And Jessica Peterson

018was here to share a little bit about the academic piece. I get to do all of it tonight. Fingers crossed. I've been watching, and they'll text me if I miss something. But we have been really, really purposeful. the end of last year, but really most of last year and into the spring for this year about having really tight systems in place for what we do when kids let us know or the data lets us know that they need help or support. And the other piece about having really tight systems is you got to get everybody on board, right? And that's one of the roles that I have as the principal is that when we might have a staff person that is resistant to to tier one interventions or getting on board with the rest of

019the building wide norms, values, protocols. My role is to come in and do some supportive coaching. There's always a reason. Why? What can we do? How can I support you? And so we've worked really hard on that and I'm grateful that I'll be able to share a little bit more information. And then the 199 way in the learning framework. This is important to me. When people say to me, I don't know what that is, I will usually challenge and say, tell me more. Because I... I was in the same meeting that you were in and we talked about this. You might not have a solid understanding of it, but let's talk about that, right? And so really making sure that we know what matters to us, that relationships, belonging, and then me asking staff. What

020does this look like in your classroom? What does it look like in the environment that you've created for kids? What does it look like in the interactions that you've cultivated as a community in this classroom? What does it look like in your role as a member of Hilltop Elementary and 199? So just always working on that. Next, please. And these are our staff norms, which are very similar, but we work to the best interest of students using an equitable lens. I thought we talked about that in Nauseam last year, but that's really important to me. As a person in a dominant culture, I am still going through a learning process of what it means to be like that, and how do I, as the leader of the building, model to staff, we don't know what

021we don't know. But we are responsible to find out what we don't know and to learn and do better, right? Because as Dr. Angelo says, when we know better, we do better. That's right. Assume positive interactions while seeking and inviting multiple perspectives. That's an idea of like assuming positive intent, right? Most people have a positive intent, even in a contentious conversation. They just want to feel heard and seen. And it just takes that piece to kind of step out of your power struggle and try to seek to understand rather than answer. Lead with a servant heart. You know, I believe this work is service that we do. And service is hard sometimes. Show teamwork, be inclusive, support each other, collaborate and have fun. Don't put this in the video. The teachers are getting all right.

022And you'll see why in just a minute. Yeah, there you go. A secret goal of mine is to learn how that name slides thing works and to make sure I can get it right. So I have some celebrations to share with you tonight, and I'm really excited about all of these celebrations. These are celebrations that we ended the 24-25 school year with. Our fifth grade reading MCA, our cohort increased their proficiency by 13% from the previous year. Our A reading, 60% of our Hilltop kids were making typical or aggressive growth at the end of last school year. And then 66% of our fourth and fifth graders made typical or aggressive growth in their auto reading. And then 83% of our Hilltop kids were tested at low risk. And, you know, that's interesting because, like, in

023the moment, and I know you can think about your own child having a meltdown, like, in the moment, it's so stressful. And you just kind of feel like everything is blowing up and on fire. But when you really look from a statistical standpoint, you know. Only 15% of our kids last year, somewhere between 10% and 15% of our kiddos were scoring at a high needs. That's still a pretty small portion of 600 kids. Most of us were doing really well. And that is a testament to the work that Sarah Zeiser and Derek Roedgaard and Catherine Schneider have put into place. And, okay. Wait, go back. So this is a quote, and I had to take the person's picture out and the title, but he is sitting at the end of your table. And in talking

024to him last year just about our growth, he sort of, I think he sort of blatantly just said it. And it immediately resonated with me like, yeah. And it is really intentional what we're doing. It is really intentional. And so now we get to live in a pleasant moment of the results. Okay, now next. There was a great picture of Dave there. So this is the most exciting news, and I literally jumped up from my desk and screamed. So this is our SMART goal for the end of this year. This is our goal for May of 2026, that we have our first through second grade kiddos, our first through fifth grade kiddos, excuse me, at 45% proficient. We are already, just based on our fall data, we've already hit 48%. So that's why they're getting

025donuts. Which, when Jessica told it to me, I was like, what? Like that doesn't happen. And there are all kinds of reasons, right? Some kids moved out. Guess what? Some kids came in, right? We're always going to have that combination. Some staff moved out. Some staff moved in. That's always going to exist in a school. The fact that the teachers are so focused this year on our math work, on our scores and our data, it already shows you this fall. that we're making gains. And they are really purposeful. You know, we have PLCs every other Monday. They meet with their PLCs. And a PLC is data-driven conversations about our practice. We use data, we look at it, and it tells us what is and is not working. And then our job is to respond to

026the data. So yes, we make a hypothesis about what it is and why it isn't working, but it's really data driven. So the days of sort of that like, oh my gut instinct just says we need to do that. We always back that up now with data. And the other piece that's really purposeful and meaningful is that in a PLC you're doing that. with colleagues who are gathering and looking at the same data. And so an example would be our second grade team here. They are phenomenal. It's one of the best teams I've ever seen do PLC work together. Last year, they sat down as a PLC and they had a cohort of about 100 kids. And initially, they had somewhere around 40 kids. that were scoring below grade level on their sight word acquisition.

027Accusation. Accusation. Thank you, accusation. And what they did is they took the entire second grade based on the data and they divided them up by the four sections, okay, the four different teachers, not evenly. One teacher had all of the lower scoring kids. One teacher, two of the teachers had the middle of the row kids and then one teacher had the higher kids. And what that did is it was a targeted intervention. So that teacher that had the low kids, she did a really targeted small group lesson with those kids to build their skill. The two middle groups, they're kind of fluidly grouping, small grouping kids. And then the older, the teacher who's got the higher scoring kids, she's doing enrichment. And the other piece that was brilliant that they did last year is they

028actually had all the kids chart their own growth in acquiring the sight words. So each kid in their notebook had a graph, and they could color in their graph as their skills built, which was, you know, sometimes you don't necessarily connect the second grader would be able to have such a deep ownership. The minute we started doing that graphing, those kids flew. out of that low group. So we started with about 40 kids and by the end of the year I think we ended with six or seven kids in that group. Yes, that's based on the teacher's PLC work, it's based on the teacher's targeted intervention, but it's also based on the... accountability that the kids took for their learning and recognizing how great that feels to move and the rooms are fluid like you

029can go up one week and you could go back down the next week and you you would move based on your needs so also being really able and comfortable to talk about where you are excelling at learning and where you still had opportunities to grow So great work. And that work is just sort of now carrying over into the building and we're being really purposeful about how we do things. Okay, now for some other great data. Okay, so the success team was literally jumping out of their chairs one day. They were so happy. So if you think about the kids that are receiving some version of a social-emotional support last year, we were sitting averaging around 13%, sometimes 10%, sometimes 15%, but around 13% of our kids at Hilltop were qualifying as high risk or

030some risk. based on their SABRS data, and SABRS is the data that we use to test and engage social-emotional. This year, this year, right now, 9% of the Hilltop kiddos qualify for high risk or some risk. That means 91% of our kids are doing okay. That's amazing. And that is because we, again, we were super purposeful about putting in a multi-tiered system of support. This is what it looks like. This is the piece of a classroom teacher. This is the piece of a success coach. This is the piece of the intervention team, the piece of the special education team. But a really collaborative conversation about what does this kid need in this moment? to develop this skill and become proficient or better at it. So we were just screaming, we were so happy. This is

031the first year where we're going to start doing some targeted direct programming with our EL students. One thing that we've really noticed is that we've got a cohort of EL kids who are qualifying for some version of a social-emotional need. And if you really think about that through a lens of cultural proficiency, it's really not that kids are misbehaving. It's because they don't... Why would we expect somebody to behave in American school if they've never been to American school? And furthermore, if their parents haven't been to an American school. They're not necessarily doing things to be naughty. They're doing them because that is a norm or an acceptable thing to do in their home culture. So this year, working with Ruby Cantos, who is our EL para, one of the most amazing people on earth,

032she has come to me and said, hey, can we do some targeted... activities for kids and for parents so we can really talk about not only what the expectations are here in an American school system especially for our new country families but more importantly so that we can learn what was school like for you as a parent in your home country. And what might your child have experienced in the school, in your home country, right? And then how do we find that positive intent that there's not an intention to be quote-unquote naughty. It's a sitting quietly, raising your hand, walking in a very straight line. Those just weren't cultural norms, right? And so how do we partner with parents to do that? This piece is amazing. So last school year, and I think if you

033don't remember, I know Dave remembers, me talking about our third grade cohort. We had significant levels of trauma happening to our third graders last year. All over the board. Parent deaths, significant housing instability, lots of dependency issues. It was a tough cohort of kids. who really struggled with even a compassion or an empathy for each other or even themselves. And you know, most days after school I had four third grade teachers kind of crying like, how am I ever going to teach anything? Because we need to love them and we need to get to this. And so what we did last year is we had Sarah and Derek go into every single one of the third grade classrooms. They did in some push in social emotional services for kids where we really talked about being

034a part of community, problem solving. What are you doing to your man? How do you feel? How do you advocate for yourself? Are you the kind of person that likes to talk about it right away? Or are you the kind of person that needs to step away for a minute? And then how do you articulate that, right? And then we also did some pull-out groups where kids were pulled out and worked in small groups with Sarah and Derek based on their SABRS data. And then there was a handful of kids who had really specific goals and interventions that either came through the intervention team, it might have been a check-in with me, it could have been any kind of special thing that we could do. help the kids build those social and emotional skills. But

035ultimately, it was the entire third grade that received some version of an intervention. That group went off to summer. Goodbye, we miss you. They came back this year. We are serving two fourth grade students. So that is like. Like, whoa. And some of it is kids mature, right? Over the summer, third grade is a tough year. But it really is. When you talk to the fourth grade teachers and the fact that kids are now aware of other students, they understand how to pause and wait to problem solve, to excuse themselves when they need to, how to talk about something if something traumatic happens in their lives. I mean, all of that we see evidence of in fourth grade. So we're very, very proud of that information. And we were talking as a group, and Sarah

036and Derek were saying, we have shifted from putting out fires all day long to being preventative about how can we help that kid? How can we help that class? What do we need to offer so that when this cohort moves to the next level, they have the skills that they need? So we're really excited to celebrate this on data this year. It was like a week last week. Okay, so the second best day of my job is the boat dance. It's my favorite day. I dance all day long. That is a gal who wore a skirt, same as me. We were 20. And these are just my goals as I continue to work at Hilltop. Always building strong relationships with staff, providing consistent support and resources. I'm in my 15th year of administration, and the

037one lesson that I've learned over and over and over again is that relationships matter. And until I do that, I cannot push, right? I cannot support. And so that is always kind of how I lead into things. And hopefully I model that for teachers too, that in my interactions with kids and families, that relationships are important. Maintaining strong school-wide practices that are focused on building those tier one interventions, whether they're academic or social-emotional. And then always supporting our work with the 199 way. I think that's the last one. Oh, yeah. Question. Make them easy. Sarah was here. Not because you didn't do it awesome. They did awesome. But I didn't watch last year's meeting. But I looked back at my notes and I was thinking, Sarah's doing some incredible work. That I was excited to

038see it go around the district. Because it just clearly, there's something. Yes. That's really great. So tell her. I don't text her on my drive home. We do have plans actually. I mean, I should say this. You know, Catherine Snyder is the lead, and it really does. Like, Sarah and Derek meet with the other success coaches, and they compare their data together. And I do think that we hear, not just from other schools in 199, but just even outside of the district, what are you guys doing? That seems to be working really well. Yeah. She's done some really amazing work. And Derek is silent, but as well. No questions for me. I just love it. I always. Love hearing about all the multi-tiered things and all the like support students. Like you said if a

039student can't regulate themselves no learning is happening until a student can regulate and feel safe and seen and heard and I think Sometimes what happens is we'll do it for our students, but we don't do it for our staff So to hear you talk about like I understand the same thing happens for me like I can't push them I can't do these things until I've built great relationships, and I think it's a nice It's how it's how it's supposed to work right you know that's how sort of practices work It is a full community approach if I'm not doing it here I can't expect other folks to do it and so it was nice to hear how it's happening for students But it's also happening for a for staff members, so I always love this

040part. It's always so good to hear Y'all fun things that y'all are doing. But you're not gonna tell them they're getting donuts. No I won't tell. I won't tell. I might show up. I'm here to deliver the donuts. I think it's important to share that, as Leah shared, sometimes you can have grade levels of kids, and you have groups of adults where there's dynamic things you have to work through. And that's exactly what you're sharing and putting out front. And when we talk about the learning framework as an example, we talk about kids being agents of their own learning. But also as kids are maturing, they also have to become agents of their own selves and knowing how to help support themselves and getting themselves regulated and set. And so many times, if you look

041in a classroom, it's all about compliance. Well, compliance doesn't get kids to be the thinkers and agents of all those pieces. So sometimes when you push that, you have some things that rise up a little bit that you have to work through. And that's exactly what this team is working to do, to make sure that kids are the agents of, and I keep saying, of their own selves. which makes it so they can be even a more dynamic learner as they mature and grow through their educational experience. So thank you, Lee, for the work that this whole team is doing and really focused on that weight piece of making sure both staff, families, and students know that they belong here and this is their community and their community of support. And I'm just so glad

042we have leaders that identify that. You could have done it differently. You could have just, you had a really hard group, but oh well, they need to learn this. And you could have just. Rushed right over that and just got on but you didn't and you did the hard work as it was saying you did that hard work and you made that big increase to this year only two kids so congratulations to you and your whole staff for Your leadership and all your celebrations very exciting My job is to support them when they do the work. They're phenomenal. It's a phenomenal team. That's great. Good to hear. You started off with, I'm going to quote you, and I'll cite you later, and then I'll just... But it resonated with the day that I had, but

043I think you said something like, the moments are tough, the days are long, but when there's emotion, that's how you know the work matters, and I thought that was just great. I was at a leadership training last week at work and The presenter frustrated me because a couple times he said things they don't teach in public school. And I was like, which school are you talking about? I'm like, where'd your kids go to school? But listening was what he kept saying is that they don't teach listening in public school. Well, yeah, you don't sit down and say this is how you, but it's through all of this, the social emotional stuff and taking the time and just helping the kids get there. But that kind of frustrated me. So some of the questions that we're

044teaching listening as well. Well, the best way to teach listening is to model how to do it. People don't like to listen to students. And I think they all have such great things to say. Actually, we should do less talking and more listening to them. And I think it shows that you guys listen very closely to what they need and how they like, what best supports them through learning of listening. I don't think it's spelled out anywhere like today's lesson is going to be. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks for having us. All right. It is to hear what's happening in this building. So thank you. Now we will have School Board Vice Chair and Treasurer Jacob Klingner will share a summary of the 2024-2025 School Board Superintendent End of Year Evaluation. So there

045are three goals. The first goal is leadership and culture. And the comments are that staff are viewed as positive, inclusive, and welcoming, and the 199 Way is recognized as a strong, positive influence built by students, families, and staff. Superintendent Berntzen is commended for his leadership, vision, and commitment to relationships, belonging, and student-centered learning. His modeling of the 199 Way and leadership changes, such as at the middle school, have had visible positive impacts. However, some concerns remain about consistency and implementation, particularly at the building level where family engagement and opportunities to connect with teachers vary. While the district's direction and focus on relationships are clear, there is a desire for stronger alignment between the district's vision and how it is carried out in practice, continued work on inclusivity and unconscious bias, and evidence that student-led learning

046is also improving academic outcomes. Overall the superintendent's leadership is highly regarded with recognition that the 199 way and learning framework are exceptional initiatives still evolving for full district-wide integration The board finds superintendent for instance to be accomplished in this area The second goal was organizational management Mr. Bernardson is commended for seeking multiple measures of success beyond test scores to capture students full potential However, the board would like to see increased oversight of advisory councils to the extent that they ensure alignment with the strategic directions and vision for 199. The feedback emphasizes the importance of proactive communication from the superintendent to the board regarding such obligations. Moving forward, there is appreciation for the district's commitment to improvement and a desire to see clear, realistic results from the strategic plan that demonstrates student growth and success across

047all classrooms. The board finds Superintendent Berenson to be accomplished in this area. And the third goal, communications and community engagement. The district is praised for major improvements in communication, particularly through the successful redesign of the website. Families and community members have noted clearer, more effective communication from both the district and individual schools. The superintendent is also commended for his active engagement with community partners, such as city and business leaders and local agencies. While the new website is seen as a significant accomplishment and a worthwhile investment There's recognition that communication efforts must continue evolving to address broader engagement needs especially around upcoming referendum and budget discussions Board finds superintendent burdensome to be distinguished Thank you any discussion we had a closed session 13 to go over this but any any discussion I'd just like to say

048thank you Dave for your constant positive leadership always and as Leah was saying your modeling, you model and that's how you get people to... and see how things can be. So thank you. Well thank you and I think it's important to acknowledge that the goals that are put forth are goals for our whole team and they're all things that we all work at collectively together. And we always know that while we're striving and working hard to grow and get better at what we do and how we provide support for our kids, there's always room for improvement. And that's something that we're always focused on, which is continuous improvement. And I'm fortunate enough to work with a very, very strong focused, innovative, and practical team, and I'm very grateful for that. Very grateful for that. Thank

049you. Any other discussion? All right. Now we will welcome back Director of Learning, Megan Blazek, who will provide an enrollment overview. Okay, I'm back. I'm going to do the enrollment overview here. This is something that Caroline Little put together and isn't able to be with us tonight, but we do work on enrollment together, so hopefully I can answer any questions that you have, and if I can't, I will get you the answer to those. But our total student enrollment, early childhood through 12th grade, is 3,407 students. Go ahead and go to the next one. These are pretty quick. And then it is a slightly different number when we talk about our MARS submission because that is kindergarten through 12th grade. So those are the childhood students are our special education students that are counted in

050that first number. And so for October 1st MARS submission, we have 3,261 students. This is a breakdown by enrollment by grade for K through 12 for the 2025-26. We're going to look at a chart of numbers, so if it's easier to see it in a chart, you're going to see that next. But this gives us a good view just to see the difference that we're seeing in that K-1 enrollment in comparison to the high school enrollment. And we know. predicted that and we know that we were having fewer students coming in in that K-1 year. Those are the COVID babies. Okay, so this is the table. This gives you numbers now to see. So kindergarten, as of October 1st, had 200 students. In comparison to grade 12, we were at 282. So that just gives

051us the overall picture of what do we have coming in and what do we have going on. So you can see that decline. Then this is by school. So we've, as of October 1st, so Athenaeum was at 61 students as of October 1st. They serve second through fifth grade, just to make sure that is a little different than the other buildings. Hilltop has 567. Pine Bend is 461. Salem Hills is 278. So that rounds out our elementary schools. Invergrove Heights Middle School is at $791 and then Simley High School is at $1103 and their ALP, which is a program within the high school, has 30 students in it. And those students primarily go to ALP classes. They do take one class at Simley High School. So they are dual enrolled but they are not counted

052in both of those numbers. We're going to do a demographic overview. Now these are numbers for our early childhood through 12th grade. Our American Indian population is at 0.41%. Asian is at 5.08%. You will see the comparison to the state average to the left. Our black population is at 12.75%. We have a 0% for Hawaiian Pacific Islander. Hispanic is 30.99%. White is 41.26%. And then two or more races is at 9.51%. And then this is by special services. This is the enrollment. Again, the comparison is to the left, to the state. So limited English proficiency is at 13.19%. Special education services is at 18.05%. homeless is at 0.88% and then students receiving educational benefits is at 45.4 or 0.54 percent Then this is our open enrollment into the district as of October 1st. Here we

053are comparing to last year's open enrollment in Invergrove Heights and then this year's open enrollment. It is important to point out that last year's students that open enrolled are now considered our students, so we aren't counting them again. But this year we are at 9.89%, which is 337 students that have been open enrolled in Invergrove Heights schools. Who were not with us last year. Who were not with us last year, yes. Does that count if like a student in Hilltop Boundary is going to Salem or is that just outside of Invergrove? Yep, that's just, they have to be outside of our boundaries. If they are just transferring between our schools, that's called inter-district transfer and they would not be in this count. Okay, so that is our enrollment and demographic numbers. Any other questions? No,

054good. Our K-1 kids that are lower enrollment is not just here in our district, it's across the board in a lot of different districts. Yeah, Sherry, thank you. That's a really good note to make. That is a trend they're seeing across the entire state, is that kindergarten and first grade class is smaller in almost every district. It's very much declining birth rates, which is actually local and actually throughout the country. We're seeing declining birth rates. And we have not shared actually as badly as some districts. We are actually, which is our community supports our schools, our teachers stay. We have a good, it's nice. I think I'm just going to stay up there. All right. Do we have to do anything with that one? All right. Any discussion? All right. We will move right on

055to the assessment opening. Okay, so this is our assessment overview along with our annual progress report for our CACR and our achievement and integration goals. I'll tell you a little bit about those after this slide so that we explain what those are. But I want to start with our 199 strategic directions. Last year we did a lot of work around our strategic directions and really working at setting that foundation. place around what we're looking for in our district and so as I go through these goals you will see I have aligned each of the goals to our one or more of our strategic directions so that we are intentional about what is it we're working on to try and achieve that goal and to work at that in our buildings so the five of them

056are effective systems community connections learning practices and supports Learning Readiness, and then Informed and Effective Staff. You'll see that they're highlighted yellow behind them as we go through the presentation. So our annual progress reports will be for the Comprehensive Achievement and Civic Readiness. otherwise known as CACR and formerly known as World's Best Workforce. So all different terms you may have heard. This is Minnesota statute. It aligns with the federal ESSA requirements and it puts those with the state requirements all together in one. So this is our accountability measure that we then report. The purpose of CACR has five goals. The first goal is that all children are ready for school. The second goal is all racial and economic achievement gaps are closed. Third is that all students are ready for career in college. Fourth is

057that all students graduate from high school. And then the fifth is to prepare students to be lifelong learners. In the shift that was made in 2024 legislation, these five goals did change. So last year when I was here, I shared a re-vote by third grade. We don't have that anymore. We now have a local literacy plan through the REDAC that we submit, and that is our accountability measure for that. And then they added the last goal to prepare all students to do lifelong learners. That is a new one that we had for the very first time last year. And then we have an Achievement in Integration grant here in Invergo Heights. And with that, we have some additional goals. The Achievement in Integration is a three-year plan. Last year, the one I'm giving you a

058progress report, is the second of three years. We are currently in our third year this year. And the goals are around three different areas. So there are achievement goals. You'll notice we have two of them. There has to be an integration goal. And then the third is a teacher equity goal. And then as we share assessment data, I just want to take a second to talk about assessment systems because they are holistic and they can be, they take place in many different places within a child's day and tells different types of information. And so today as we look at assessments, we're looking at outcome assessments. and we're going to look at a few universal screeners. You'll see on here, and outcome assessments are the state assessments kind of right in the middle, that is only

059a piece of the bigger picture of the assessments we do with our students. So when you are in a classroom or you talk to a teacher, they're doing all kinds of formative assessments, summative assessments, just in time assessments with different groups of kids to make instructional decisions with what they're going to do in their instruction and with students. Today, the purpose of the assessments we're going to look at are to look at a more holistic view of our program, where we're at, and how it is serving our students. And so that's the universal screeners and then the state assessments. Okay, so here are our goals. The first CACR goal, which is All Children Ready for School, was that 70% of families with kindergartners enrolled for the fall of 2025 will participate in at least one

060kindergarten transition opportunity. We did meet this goal by having 96.67% of families... With kindergarteners enrolled this fall participating in at least one kindergarten transition opportunity, which is amazing They were a January open house and then a September family connections with their teacher The second goal was around all racial and economic gaps being closed. Our goal was that the percentage of students who are not proficient on the MCA3 reading accountability test in each group will decrease by 5% by 2025. I will show you the data for that. You'll see we did not meet that. And then we also have an achievement goal here for our achievement integration, which is to increase the percentage of black and Hispanic students in grades three, eight, and nine, scoring at benchmark or above on FastBridge A reading by 30% from

061the fall of 23 to the fall of 25. And we are currently not on track for that. I do want to point out here we're looking at two different assessments. So you're going to see two different sets of data. One is the MCA, which is an outcomes assessment. The other is FastBridge, which is a universal screener. So these are some of the trends with our MCA data. Some of the trends on the top that you'll see, which is broken up third through 10th grade, is that we have increased the meets and exceeds standards from the spring of 23 to the spring of 25. So that's a two-year gain in grades three and six. And then we have increased the meets and exceeds standards from the spring of 24 to the spring of 25, so over

062one year, in grades 3, 6, 7, and 10 for reading. Below it is tracking cohorts of students and their growth and so from 23 to 24 we noticed an increase in growth in two grades and then from 24 to 25 there's an increase in growth from and with our third, sixth, seventh, and tenth grade cohorts. This is looking at reading academic progress. So this, what we're looking at is if they were already at meets, did we maintain or increase that, trying to keep the growth there. So 50.8% of our students' achievement levels were maintained or increased on our reading MCAs. All of our EL, or you may hear it referred to as ML students, they take a test called the access test. This is also an outcomes test and it gives us a couple different

063data points here. So on the top, this is the average progress towards the target and you will see that we did in Invergo Heights see some growth last year on our average progress. And at the bottom, that is meeting the target. So the number of students meeting the target. And we did see a decrease. I can't read that from here. So 25.4% was our percentage of students meeting that target. That population of students changes every year. And so we see that number change as well. Okay, and now we're going to look at the universal screener. So this is the A reading test, which is taken through our Bass Bridge assessment suite. And you're going to see three years of data. We've shown you the fall to fall data here, starting back in our baseline year,

064which was 2022. Then we have 2023 and 2024. And we have seen last year, from 23 to 24, we did see an increase for our third grade black students. Our Hispanic students dropped just slightly. In eighth grade, for our black and Hispanic students, we did see a drop. And then in ninth grade, we have also seen a slight decrease. It is important to point out that our ninth grade students, that baseline year, we were only testing a targeted population of students. And it was students who were We were wanting to do a screen around because they were at risk. So we are now testing all students. And in fact, at the high school, part of the REDAC requirement is we test all students through 12th grade in the fall. And so this fall, all high

065school students took that A reading test through 12th grade. Following that, in winter and in spring, our 9th through 11th grade students will take that test. Okay, we're gonna move on to math. We did not have a goal attached to math, but for our assessment update we will share some math scores. So in the top one, which is our proficiency trends, you can see we have increases in meets and exceeds standard grades for sixth and seventh grade from 24 to 25, spring to spring. And then it's important to point out that seventh grade has increased in meets and exceeds standards over the last five years. That's pretty impressive. For below, following cohorts of students, you can see an increase in the growth for sixth and seventh graders in the cohort for the 24 to 25.

066And this is the same as we were looking at before with academic progress. This is just math scores. So these are the students that either maintained or increased their proficiency. And we were at 46.9% of our students' achievement levels were maintained or increased. And then the last piece of the assessment is science proficiency. Science was a brand new test last year. It was the first year of implementation of the new science standards. And so this is why you see one bar. We don't have trend data on it yet, but you can see where we're at. It is showing the percent of students that were proficient on the science test. So that was most of our assessment data. The CACR goal number three now is about students being ready for college, our career and college. And

067so our goal is to look at the percentage of students taking at least one concurrent enrollment or CTE class and that we increase it from 75% to 77%. We just missed meeting this goal, but we do have Our goal is pretty high for us. We should be really proud of our rigorous courses that our students take. When it comes to pathways, both secondary options, skills and competencies, employment, our students to have a goal of 77% or even 75% of our students taking courses that align to this is... really wonderful. So if you go to the next slide, we'll talk a little bit about one assessment here, which is the ACT composite score. You can see the last five years, and we've stayed pretty level on that, just a little ups and downs. Those are all

068each different cohorts of kids that we're comparing. That's important to point out. And we also test every student. So per statute, we do offer the opportunity for every student to take that acg And then this is why I say it's pretty incredible the opportunities we offer. You can see right there with concurrent enrollment, the state averages about 30% of students taking a concurrent enrollment course. Here in River Pikes, we average 75% of our students taking a concurrent enrollment course, which means that 75% of our students are likely leaving us with college credit transcripted for them to go into their future, which is pretty amazing. It oftentimes it's not surprising to see those PSEO numbers lower than the state because our kids don't need to leave to go somewhere to get college credit. And there's benefits

069that we're keeping them here in our community and in our schools with our teachers by having them here for concurrent enrollment. CTE this year we had 1076 enrollments. for CTE courses, which is pretty amazing as well. We offer those through the Perkins grant, through our CAPS program. There's a lot of opportunities for our students to get CTE opportunities. Can I ask one question? So is that like, could... one student enroll in three classes and so that that one student would be counted through so it's not a thousand so Yeah, we would need to break that down. Yeah, but every single course to figure out how many kids have multiple CTE courses That's just the total number of enrollments So yes, that could be more than one kid taking more than one course sure and a

070student could potentially be doing a CTE course and a concurrent enrollment absolutely okay our fourth CACR goal is around all students graduating from high school our goal was that the percentage of students graduating in four years will increase from eighty nine point three percent in the spring of 23 to 92 percent in the spring of 24 we have not met that goal we're very close but I'll show you that in just a second it's important to note here these are two years back we do not yet have the final graduation data from the state for last year's graduation. So we are looking at the year before that, which is why we're looking at 2024's graduation rate. There is an achievement integration goal also around graduation. This goal is an achievement goal. So our goal is

071to increase the graduation rate of Black and Hispanic students to 93% or higher by 2026. And when I show you the data, you'll see we are not on track for that. Go ahead and go to the next one. On that top graph shows you a comparison of Amber Grove Heights to the state. You will see Amber Grove Heights graduation rates are above the state's graduation rates. This year they're slightly above at 84.6%. And below is the four-year graduation rate of black and Hispanic students. And we have seen a decline in those graduation rates over the last year. And, um, oh, I had a bell and I just lost it. So that's the graduation rate. Yes? I have a question. Have there been any changes in how this is calculated over the years that might be

072messing with these numbers a little bit? Yes. So yes, there's been a change. It used to be that the student, when they rolled in ninth grade, that is where their graduation rate remained all the way through their high school year. They do an adjusted cohort now. So it's the start of their senior year. That's where they're counted for that year. And we have done some work around looking at what those students, like how we're making sure their records are correct and making sure we're coding things correctly if they go somewhere else. So there's some of that we've been just digging into doing some work around. And I think the other thing to point out, and if you were to go out and look, is if you look at a five-year graduation rate, it changes significantly.

073We do have students who maybe have a credit or two credits they need to make up, but the second they do that in summer school in June, that becomes a five-year graduation rate. So the year flips over in June. So we might have them all ready to go by the next fall to whatever their next venture is going to be. They may have a diploma, but they won't fall within that four-year graduation rate. And we also have students that we provide services up until they're age 22. Yes. 18 to 22 that can fall into this as well. Yeah. I have a question. Yeah, go ahead. I'm sure there is, but I guess the investigation around what's happening to, I guess, the black and Hispanic graduation rate, I'm just kind of curious what, I don't know,

074have you seen anything or what are you trying to, I don't know, what investigations maybe have you started to try to? See what's happening. It's a really good question. So I would say the start of that is and we we have just started to go through last year's Information that we got back. So when we get the graduation rate data, we can see every student who did not graduate and We have been meeting with the high school to talk about. Okay, what do we know about this student? Where did they go? And many of them we can say, okay, we did cert, like they went to summer school, we know there was a plan. But there is a group of students who I think we need to do some more work around, like what is

075it, where did they go, or do we know, and do we need to code things differently? And so we're having those really individual conversations about those students at the high school level with their team. And then we had, I mean this is the second time we're seeing this information. Are, along with sort of discovering what happened to last year's students, do we also have, and obviously not asking for specifics at all, but do we also have a... a gauge on this year's potential graduates and who may be on the bubble. And so just being proactive throughout the entire year to try to help encourage them towards the finish line. I know that's a really great question. Thank you for asking that because we do. And in fact, this year we've been more proactive than we

076were last year. The best example I can give you right now is Kellenberg's done a lot of work around our credit recovery program and really looking at what do kids need to complete. How are they getting through that? And so some changes we made is it is started within the, I want to say right now, I'm going to say three weeks of school. I don't remember the exact date that it started, but it started right away so that kids could get in and start that credit recovery process. We didn't start it till second quarter last time. And so that's a whole quarter lost for kids making that transition. For many of those kids, they're transitioning from trimester to quarter makeup. We're having to make that transition for students. And we moved to a new program

077called Edgenuity to help better meet the needs of kids doing credit recovery. And it also helps us ensure they're getting what they need from what they've missed from those classes. So we have targeted our seniors right now to make sure that they get through any credit recovery first before we start bringing in other students if we want to get them ready for that graduation date. Thank you. Yeah Okay, our fifth CAC our goal is preparing students to be lifelong learners and so This was a baseline year for us What we were after is having 70% of our students respond to having strong and moderate experiences of developmental relationships on the annual developmental relationship survey when asked about the five interconnected elements of Express Care challenge growth provides support share power and expand possibilities This again

078was a baseline year, so we did not meet this. We were kind of guessing where we thought it would be at. We also are using this data around our achievement integration goal number three, which is around integration. Amber Grove Heights schools will create inter and cross-districted activities to increase students' ability and comfort initiating and maintaining positive relationships with peers from different backgrounds other than their own, and that one we are on track for. I'll show you some data around it on the next one. This is the Search Institute survey data. So the first bar you see there is the overall percentage of students that reported they experienced moderate developmental relationships. And it was at 64%. Our goal was 70%. We gave this survey to fourth and 10th grade students. 4th, 7th, and 11th. 4th, 7th,

079and 11th. Sorry. 4th, 7th, and 11th. And then you can see each of the areas broken down. So express fear, challenge growth, provide support, share power, and expand possibilities. Okay, and then the achievement and integration goal number four was around teacher equity, sorry, and that was to increase the hiring of racially and ethnically diverse teachers and administrators from 10% in 2023 to at least 20% of new staff candidates by 2026. We are not on track for this. You can see we've had a decline and are at 6% this past year for 24-25. Any questions for me? Thank you very much. Just back to the earlier portion of the read assessments. This will be the first year, correct, with the new reading curriculum at the elementary level and with the first wave of teachers not currently

080doing the read act. class themselves, correct? Like this will be the first year of like implementing and I'm just excited to see what that does. I have a fifth grader here and at conferences I was speaking with another fifth grade teacher while I was waiting for my daughter's conference and it was just exciting to hear how I mean, it's a lot of work, right, as a teacher to begin with a new curriculum, but the excitement and the interdisciplinary piece of it all was just, she was super excited about, and I can just, the homework that my daughter has brought home, it's... It's different than what my other children had in fifth grade and so I I can't imagine that it's not going to have a positive impact on the reading assessment so I haven't worked

081right. Yeah, I'm sorry Thank you for all the work you do because I think it's not only, it's almost like forensic work sometimes. It's investigation that you're constantly doing and I think the continuous improvements, it's so cool we're here tonight because we could hear Leah kind of talk about, look at some of these things we're doing and then you're working on trying to figure out how all of this works together and I think that's... really good for people to understand just how big this is and how deep it is. And so I really applaud that. I'm interested, too, in seeing... I just got a letter from the middle school just about rigor, and I just thought, yes, okay, we got this, and behaviors, and all these things, and I can't... It just takes a long

082time to see how things go, and so I'll be really interested to see... how this translates as the years come with all of these calculations too, but I mean I commend you on even just trying to start with the data is a lot. Thank you Liz, and there's a whole team of people. Yeah, I'm sure. I just think about like a Like imagine your favorite like a product pick a product in your brain and you want to like always have a Consistency in that product when you go buy it such your favorite ice cream or your favorite pizza or whatever? And I think schools expect a high quality product from our students and then also we get different raw ingredients every year to make that product with and I think we use the MCA is

083to evaluate our programs in our in our systems and But to then like counter what I just said, you have like a seventh grade team that has five years in a row of meets or exceeds growth. They're doing that with different kids every year. So it's like we have experts in our system that are doing wonderful things. We have, you know, your hilltop presentation of the growth you made with behavior. And those are different kids, but they're growing and you can replicate it. So, I mean, we see these goals and it's like not met, not met, not met. We would love 100% of our kids to make those things and we have to have a number that's realistic and I just think we're doing so many wonderful things. And there's critiques on education everywhere, and

084we're just really proud of all of our stuff. So it's a very rambling thing, but we are doing the right work. We are, and I think it's also important to point out, we set really high goals for ourselves, right? And we do that intentionally because we want to get to that point. And so, you know, we expect a lot from our staff, from ourselves, from our kids. When we set these goals, we're looking at one set of data. And we have to also know that there's a whole bunch of other data that goes along with that that may help us to have a more comprehensive look at where our kids are at. So all the data is important. But when we set goals like this, we have to have specific data. Well, you're going to

085say something. Am I allowed to speak? You can now. You know, I just... Is it on this topic? Yeah. It's like you know me well. I will say from a building perspective, you know, in my 26th year of education, I've never worked in a year where the teachers, A, like the training. I mean, Reed's Act is really well received by teachers. That speaks volumes because when it's well received, that changes the level of passion and investment teachers have. They also like arts and letters. They like bridges. I mean, to have a cohort of professionals who went through a high level of rigor. from first-year teachers all the way to a veteran teacher and to be able to say that made me better and this is what it looks like in my practice and with kids

086curriculum like all of that will pay dividends right but we're planting seeds and trees that we hope to see grow someday and we look for all of our kids when they're in a grade to make it at a minimum one year's worth of growth if not more And for some kids, a lot of kids, that looks different. And it doesn't mean that when we look at the data that we're looking at now that we all get them to a point and we stop. It's continuous. And I think that's something we always have to remember, that this data is important, but it doesn't always tell the whole story. I have a question. Can you go back one slide for me? I think my question here is very similar to my last question. That 6% number is

087really hard. And so, especially when a few last presentation we talked about having, you know, 12.75% of our students being black. We have Hispanic students, we have American Indian students. I don't know if it's a question directly for you or just people in the room in general. What's the investigation? What's the plan? And I've mentioned this today before talking about myself like, you know being here on the school board and I know it's not just It's not a school board issue, right? It's a I think it's an issue for the city in general, like how do people come and be here? Speaking in my own experience as a black woman living in Invergrove, it's different than somebody else. And so I could only imagine a teacher who's a first time teacher, possibly moving to Invergrove,

088looking similar to me and maybe not feeling like they have community. So there's a whole list of reasons why this number is lower than maybe we would want it. So just curious of maybe investigations that we've done and maybe some plans that we're hoping to be able to do to maybe. You know, 20 of us ambitious. 40 of us ambitious. So, you know, maybe what kind of things are we thinking about? You really nailed something that the demographics of our school district are far different than the demographics of our community as a whole. Yeah. So even as an example, if I remember right, if we talk about 40% of our kids are Hispanic, that community number is far less than that. And we have really worked hard to try to uncover and grow teachers so

089that they can be reflective of our kids. But at the same time, we're competing against everybody else that's trying to find those same people because there's a limited number of them. But it doesn't mean we have not stopped trying. We have not stopped trying and trying different aspects and actually before the meeting, I think a couple people in policy had a chance to meet our two international teachers as an example. who are finding their way into our community. So it is a bit by bit thing. The other piece that's hard is that every year we get a new group of kindergartners, but teachers are with us for longer than a year. So to replace people sometimes isn't the easiest, but it's something we're focused on. And it's probably one of the most challenging things that

090we have as far as the goal is to find adults that mirror the kids that we have. Hiring, recruiting and hiring is pretty simple. It's a retainment piece. Because we're asking them to step into a white culture. And until we accept what is your reality, and we listen and let it impact our decision making, that's how I think we move it forward. At the same time we look for people we make sure they have that lens that they can truly serve all kids and while that isn't all of it it's a part of it but it's a it's a very legitimate question Chana and I'm glad you asked it because it's something we have to continuously stay focused on. And we will have the opportunity to. So as we're in our third year of our

091achievement integration plan, we will now have to look and see where we're at. And we are not on track to meet this goal. And so we need to start to ask some of those questions, figure out what our next steps are, to be able to figure out why. And what do we need to do to address that? It's a conversation Emily and I have already started having. I mean, I saw the number last year and then when I saw it this year. It's something we need to talk about. And to clarify for people, this is teachers only? Certified, yes. So teachers and administrators. It would be a different number if we were looking at our whole staff, but we're looking at the kids we're putting in classrooms in front of kids. Thank you. Thank you.

092Any other discussion? Thank you. Now we will have Superintendent Dave Bernertsen introduce several policies for a first reading. Thank you. Yes, these policies were reviewed by our policy committee in September, and we have policies that have no changes, minimal changes, and significant changes, and they will be brought forward for their second reading at our November 17th meeting. So we have no changes to 301, School District Administration, and 304, Superintendent Contract Duties and Evaluation. We do have minimum changes to 528, student, parental, family, and marital status non-discrimination, and 303, superintendent selection. And there are significant changes to 306, administrative code of ethics, and this is really due to reordering or additions of the educational administrator standards, and then 533, which is wellness, and there's major edits throughout the policy that are really about physical and mental

093health and emotional well-being of students. to really qualify why those significant changes are. Hopefully it's helpful for you to see that. If you have questions before our November meeting, feel free to reach out to any of the policy committee members, to me, or to Tracy that also works on the policies as well. Thank you. Or actually drives the policies for all of us. Thank you. Any discussion? All right. Moving ahead to our committee reports. I will begin with the facilities committee, and we have not met this month. Jacob, will you please give an update on finance? The Finance Committee met on October 13th. The agenda included a review of the monthly check register and updates on the current annual audit. Thank you. Sarah, personnel? Personnel Committee has not met this month. Thanks. Excuse me, and

094Liz, policy? The Policy Committee met prior to tonight's meeting to go over several policies from the current cycle. Thank you Membership reports Dave will you please give us an update on AMSD? Yeah, they met in December excuse me October period and included their routine business approval some updated position papers and then a guest speaker Which is a Minnesota State Demographer we've referenced some of her work throughout especially that piece on declining birth rates Thank you. Shana, will you give an update on the BEST Foundation? The BEST Foundation met on October 20th and included typical business reports. Thank you. And Liz, will you give an update on MSBA? The Leadership Conference will be held on January 15th and 16th. Register now. Contact Tracy if you're interested in going. Thank you. finally Dave they had their regular

095board meeting on October 7th which was routine business but they also held their superintendent school board member retreat last Thursday so I attended that along with our board reps Cindy Nordstrom and moving on to action items director of human resources Emily Herman will introduce the recommendations to approve the pair of professionals contract agreement Good evening. Thank you. The district has reached a tentative agreement with the paraprofessionals contract agreement for the 2025-26 and 26-27 contract years on September 10, 2025. The agreement includes a 2.25% increase to wages and an 8% increase to the... $30 copay plan and high deductible medical insurance plan in year one and 12% in year two. Language updates include an increase to the route hour guarantee for the transportation professionals from one and a half hours to one and three-fourths hours per

096run assigned. And additional, an addition of language stating that any vacation, sick, or personal leave used but unearned at the time of termination will be deducted from the final paycheck. The total process agreement is 4.2% of the contract changes. And the recommendation is for the Board of Education to approve the collective bargaining agreement between the paraprofessionals of Inver Grove Heights Community Schools, ISC 199, for the contract period of July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027. Thank you. Do I have a motion and a second to approve the paraprofessionals contract agreement presented? Motion to move the motion. Second by member Wark. All right. Motion by member Larson, second by member Wark. Any discussion? Emily, is this kind of a fairly standard that you've been seeing around other districts, you know, for numbers-wise? For paraprofessionals, I haven't

097seen a lot of settlements for them. A lot of districts have their paraprofessionals on the opposite negotiation year of teachers. So I have not seen a lot of non-certified settlements coming through. This is in line with what has been budgeted or correct? Yeah, but so within on the budget amount I need to give a shout out to Heather Not only did she do amazing costing but she gave amazing options for them to pick from and a true interest based negotiations So she passed out multiple different options so they could see and really be able to have that robust conversation What where can we put that the dollars within the board parameters? There's a very productive and very respectful negotiations. It was great to work with them on it. Any other discussion? All right, all those

098in favor? Aye. Opposed? The motion is carried. And now we will have Director of Human Resources Emily Herman introduce the recommendation to approve the Administrative Assistance Contract Agreement. The district has reached a tenet agreement with the administrative assistant contract agreement for the period of July 1st, 2025 to June 30th, 2027, including a change to the bargaining unit title from clerical to administrative assistance. The agreement includes eliminating step one and adding a new step, an end step with a 4% increase from the previous step in year one and applying 1% increases in both years to the remaining steps. The $500 stipend to the administrative assistant has been added to the activities director role and medical insurance plans will increase 8% in both years. Language updates include adjustment to the emergency school closing related to snow days.

099We will be tracking of non-work emails during non-work hours and adding language stating that any vacation, sick or personal leave used but unearned at the time of termination will be deducted from the final paycheck. The total cost of this agreement is 4.2% for contract changes. The recommendation is for the Board of Education to approve the collective bargaining agreement between administrative assistance employees of Amarillo-Price Community Schools, ISD 199, for the contract period of July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027. Thank you. Do I have a motion and a second to approve the administrative assistance contract agreement? Motioned by Member Klinger. Seconded by Member Dukes. Motion by Member Klingner, second by Member Dukes. Any discussion? All right, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The motion is carried. Thank you. Health savings account memorandum of understanding, please help

100us understand The district requests the school board approval of the following MOUs of teachers, food service, custodial, and kids choice employees to add the district contributions towards a new high deductible plan with a health savings account effective January 1st, 2026. The district will provide a monthly contribution to employees who elect this plan consistent with the VEBA contributions. The annual approval ensures employees have a consistent HSA contribution during open enrollment, which is coming up here shortly. The recommendation is for the Board of Education to approve the health savings account memorandum of understanding as presented. Thank you. Do I have a motion and a second to approve the health savings account memorandum of understanding? Motion by Member Lowensberry. Second by Member Dix. All right. Any discussion? All right. All those in favor? Opposed? The motion is carried.

101Thank you. All right. Brings us to the end of the meeting. So we will have shared comments now, beginning with Superintendent. Thank you. I want to thank Mari Mansfield again for coming and attending. The awareness, excitement, buzz that she's creating around American Indian education or American Indian as a whole has just been very contagious. I very much appreciate it. Also, thank you Leah for hosting this evening and information that you shared. Appreciate that. It's always great to be a Hilltop. Great day to be a Hilltop. I want to thank our families for those that directly or indirectly participated in conferences earlier this month. It's that second formal opportunity of the year to really work with your teachers to support your kids any way that you can. I want to thank people that participated in any

102way that they could. Just a couple of activities pieces. Our fall activities are winding down and we have some buzz around this week with our boys soccer team playing in the semi-finals on Tuesday. It's their first section championship since 2009. So it created a lot of buzz. We also had Mr. Soccer, Elvis Hernandez Paz, which is probably a first for Ingrid Grove Heights or for Simley. So congratulations to our soccer team and wish them the best of luck. And then our section cross country we took place on Thursday. We had an individual champion with the girls, Anneli Schwab. And then our boys won their first ever section cross country title, which is amazing feat. If you've never been to a cross country meet, you should go sometime because it's quite an event. Speaking as a

103former high school cross country coach, it's one of the highlights for me of the year to go there and participate. And I actually had the opportunity to talk with our conference chairs or executive directors and one of them ran the meet. And the one that ran the meet actually taught his kids way back when. And I had the opportunity to hand out awards at that section meet, which was outstanding to be able to hand out awards to all kids, but specifically to our individual girl champion, our boys where we had a second and third place finish, and a team section championship as well. And they'll participate in the state meet on Saturday. So lots of buzz on the activity front, but also as every day a lot of buzz about what's happening in our schools

104as well. And like you said, every day is a good day to be at Hilltown. Every day is a good day to be an ISD 199. Thank you. Board Member Warwick. My head just spins with all the wonderful information, all the good things that are happening, especially when I come to the schools and hear the presentation. So thank you to Leah, the presentation, and thank you for putting in overtime tonight. And congratulations on all your celebrations, because they are celebrations, absolutely. I want to put a plug in for ISD 199 social media and Katie Sheridan, Director of Communications. Please follow it. Please follow ISD 199 on Instagram or Facebook, especially if you don't have kids in the district. like me, I get to see all kinds of great things in the district that I didn't

105see. You had some nursing students from DCTC to help with vision and hearing screenings. I mean, how practical is that? How great. Invergrove Heights Parks and Recreation, I came to the high school to talk about career choices. Meteorologists, a couple times. Jamie Cajal from K-11 has come in. I mean, how great to have that into our school system. Students learning about harvesting the wild rice, partnering with our food service. They had a salad of beans, corn, and rice on Indigenous Week. So how wonderful. And yes to Mari Mansfield, too, for coming in tonight, too. And thank you to her for getting that and inspired and everything. And then a vet came from Blackberry Vet to talk about veterinary medicine. And again, it's just all these great things are happening. And staff are lining up. these

106people up and that's it's a lot of work to get that lined up so thank you to our staff for doing that too and lastly I look forward to our school visits coming up reminder that our school board makes school visits in the beginning of the year and at the end of the year thank you board member Dukes yeah same thing just a couple things so very thankful for Maureen coming from talking about the fun things that she's doing with students and families Again, I said this earlier, but the the multi-task report things that you guys are doing what we're doing across the district But I hear so much about specifically here at Hilltop I'm just I've seen it not work because I've seen people schools organizations try to do exactly what you guys are

107doing and it doesn't work for many reasons but it's working here and it excites me that it's working here and I'm like really proud to be able to be like I know a place where it works and like let me tell you about them so that's really great Emily and all the contract work I know that's you know sometimes doesn't feel like the most fun thing to be involved with but like it's always so graceful when you come and talk about the things that y'all are working on so that's fun I was a part of a group that hosted an event at Simile, so I just want to shout out to those folks. To see the district work so well with folks outside of us, we're treated like family. They did all the things, had

108all the things. Didn't know I was a school board member until I got there and was like, oh, had no idea. And it was like, it doesn't matter. I still had all the tables and all the chairs and all the things I could ask for. And it was a wonderful way for other folks to see how, you know, whether you are a member of this community or not. When you're being involved with us, you're one of us. And that was really nice. And then my last comment is like, you know, I did feel like I asked some hard questions today, especially things that people usually shy away from talking about. But as a member of this board who, you know, looks a little different, it's always refreshing when I can bring up a thing and

109say, hey, you guys, let's talk about a thing. And we don't shy away from hard and difficult conversations. And I hope community members also who may, feel different in our space, feel like when we ask things here, you guys are going to go and work on it. And you guys are working on it. And you are thinking about it. And it's not an afterthought. It's a thought in the front. And so I appreciate that. And I just want other community members to know whether it's how many languages can I get this one thing in for everyone, right? Or how can we talk about our new teachers from the Philippines? How can we figure out how to get the 9% number to a 20% goal, right? Crazy, right but like not crazy because it's something that's

110important to us. And so I hope other community members who may You know feel different right get a chance to see that it's a safe place to try to have those conversations here And that's always welcome. So I'm very grateful for you guys for all of you Who are willing to have hard conversations when necessary? Thank you Board member Clinger other than thanks again for hosting us. I don't have any additional comments today Thank you, it's a bird and I wanted to thank our legislators Some of us came and we there's that new really fabulous inclusive playground Then we got some monies from outside of the district to help pay for and I'm just grateful to everybody who put that together um I I want to thank Mari Mansfield for coming tonight. It was so

111neat to hear from her. And actually, it's been neat learning this entire time I've been on the school board about our American Indian Education Program. And to kind of Shana's point, and I'd love to learn about every group of kids we have, right? One of the other things I really love is that advisory council piece. And I'm going to shout out to Katie, too, because on the website, she's made an awesome page. You can sign up for these advisory councils. And some of these groups can get you, you can apply to be a part of them and have kind of just collaborating problem-solve with staff. And I love hearing from families and anybody who wants to talk to me, but we're just a vehicle. Those advisory groups are where some great collaboration happens. So I

112cannot promote those enough. We even have a new special education advisory council coming out soon. So it's just really, it's a really cool opportunity. Check it out. Katie did an amazing job. And then I just have to say we were invited over to Salem for Literacy Night in September and I went and I volunteered at a table. It was sweltering in the sun and there were kids and they had to do a craft and I was just there to help them with the craft and they wrote books for sometimes 15, 20, 30 minutes standing in the sun. writing a little book at Literacy Night and they could have gotten free or they could have gotten all this free food and there were play sets and they sat there writing these books and I just thought

113creativity is living here and passion is living here and wow and not to at all say it's not living at Hilltop either I just want to kudos to the Salem team and the Title I team for kind of putting that out there and showing off to these kids. are doing cool, passionate work. Thank you. Go remember Larson. Yeah, Liz, your comments sparked the advisory councils. That's what got me sitting here today. And it was actually Liz who encouraged me to join and then encouraged me to be involved in the PTA. And so you never know where you'll end up when you start at something like that. It doesn't have to be sitting here, but it's a great opportunity. Thank you for that. So many numbers and data tonight. It was great to hear all the

114wins but Not that I like to hear where we're lacking But it's just good to see where where the work needs to be done, and I'm really excited to see where where we go from there Yeah, I appreciate I mean we we saw truth tonight. We saw truth and what is Hilltop I'd say What was very challenging last year with you know specifically that the third grade cohort and then truth of the staff and the teachers and I assumed the parents to like wrapping around these kids and then the growth that have that is happening thus far right and we Just are cheering. I'm cheering cheering them on and then you know if we don't If we don't look honestly at where we're at, we can't grow. And so I, you know, as a parent

115of four Spartans, I want them held to high standards and I want them held accountable, but I want it done with grace. And I think that that is a really... human approach to education and I'm super grateful for that growth mindset and the relational approach to that. You know, I don't like it when I'm called out on things, but if it's done with assuming positive intent and grace, I'm able to see my growth areas as well. And so I just... commend everyone who is putting in that good hard work. And yeah, just thank you to the teachers with conferences, and hopefully people were able to recharge a bit after that. And as we look to November and the holiday season, it's insane. So let's just keep caring for each other. And yeah, if you have

116a little extra, donate to a food shelf. If you need a little extra, pray that those food shelves have what you need. And, you know, check around the area. I think there are lots of places who will be offering offering holiday meals as well. So the next work session is scheduled for Monday, November 10th at the district office. And the next regular meeting will be held on Monday, November 17th at 5.30 p.m. at Simley High School. More information on upcoming board meetings can be found on the district website. Do I have a motion in the second to adjourn the meeting? So moved by Member Klinger. Second by Board. All right, motion by Member Klinger, second by Member Warren. All those in favor? Aye. The motion is carried at 7.13 p.m.