001The Monday, August 18, 2025, Invergrove Heights Community Schools Board of Education's regular meeting is called to order at 5.33 p.m. We are meeting tonight at the district office. 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. We do hold 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 the district's website. This meeting is being recorded and access to the recording will be made available on the school district's website as quickly as possible. Our school district's mission is to inspire, innovate, excel. A community commitment. Board members Shana Dukes and Darcy Pearson are joining us virtually
002this evening. With them attending remotely, we'll be using roll call voting this evening. Board Clerk Larson, will you please take attendance? Of course. Member Pearson? Present. Member Dukes? Here. Member Lounsbury? Here. Member Larson? Here. Member Klinger? Here. Member Warren? Here. Member Nehemiah? 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. All right. Do I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda items? So moved, Member Nehemiah. Second by Member Ward. Motion by Member Nehemiah and second by Member Ward. Any discussion? The board will now vote by roll call. member Lonsbury aye member Kleiner aye member Dukes member Pearson aye member
003Nehemiah aye member Wirt aye member Larson aye all right with seven out of seven aye votes the motion is carried do I have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda items motion by member Larson second by member Kleiner all right motion by member Larson second by member Kleiner any discussion I do have one comment about, I just wanted to point out the 96 backpacks filled with school supplies. Those are available for anyone coming in to enroll students. They can pick them up at any time during their normal hours, and they're free for the kids to take. It even includes calculators, pencil pen packs, folders, notebook. It's just really something really neat, and we've got almost twice as many as they gave us last year. Wow. And they're here at the district office?
004They're here at the district office. They go pretty fast, but we do have a stash of them. Yeah, that's a good question We do have here at the district office because that's also then available to people as their new enrollees sure you enrolled here Yeah, but we also allocate them to the schools as we go along Exciting to see the kids get all excited especially when the backpacks as big as they are. Right. Well thank you to Land O' Lakes for that generous donation. We will now vote by roll call. Member Klinger? Aye. Member Dukes? Aye. Member Pearson? Aye. Member Nehemiah? Aye. Member Ward? Aye. Member Larson? Aye. Member Lonsbury? Aye. Seven out of seven aye votes, the motion is carried. And in addition to Land O' Lakes, we are just very grateful for the
005donations from the community to help support our students. I'm sure the track and cross country students are, or athletes, are very excited for these new uniforms. So that's, thank you to the boosters for that. Okay, moving along to information items. We'll begin with committee reports. Sarah, will you update us on facilities? Facilities committee has not met this morning. Even though it hasn't met, lots of work has been done on facilities. Very fun to see. Finance, Sherry? The Finance Committee met on August 11th to discuss federal funds updates and routine finance updates. Jay, will you update us on personnel? The Personnel Committee met on August 11th to discuss contract negotiations and insurance renewal. Great. And Liz, will you update us on policy? The Policy Committee met prior to tonight's meeting and the agenda included updates from
006the latest MSBA policy newsletter. Thank you. membership highlights. Dave, will you please give an update on the amnesty? Yes, thank you. They met on August 1st and their agenda included their routine business, which is also organization for the year, but also they had guest speakers who presented the topic of sparking motivation to maximize engagement and the name of that business was positive trouble. Thank you. And will you give an update, Dave, on the Invercrop Heights Best Foundation? Yes. They're not going to meet this month. Okay. Sherry, MSBA? MSBA has updated their website with their strategic plan focus areas. Great. And Dave, will you give an update on Intermediate School District Medicine? And they have not yet had their monthly meeting as well. Okay. Perfect. Moving on to action items a second reading for review of
007the policies Superintendent Bernardson will introduce the recommendation to approve several policies for a second reading Yes, thank you. These policies, the policy committee, I should say, met on June 23rd to review these policies, and they're up again as an action item. And we do have no changes to 527, student use in parking and motor vehicles, patrols, inspections and searches, and 531, Pledge of Allegiance. We do have minimal changes to 203.5 school board meeting agenda, 513 student promotion, retention and program design, 520 student surveys, 521 student disability non-discrimination, 526 hazing prohibition, and 532 use of peace officers and crisis teams to remove students with IEPs from school grounds, and then 905 advertising. We did have significant changes to 514, which is bullying prohibition, and that's really based on some statute changes to language and also some
008additions or revisions, I should say, based on that made by MSBA, so it does fall into that significant change category. Okay, thank you. Do I have a motion and a second to approve the policies presented for a second reading or review? Motion by Member Warrick. Second by member Nehemiah. All right. Motion by member Ward. Second by member Nehemiah. Any discussion? We will now vote by roll call. Member Dukes? Aye. Member Pearson? Aye. Member Nehemiah? Aye. Member Ward? Aye. Member Larson? Aye. Member Lonesbury? Aye. Member Queen? Aye. Seven out of seven aye votes. The motion is carried. All right now I, Carrie Lounsbury, will introduce the recommendation to approve the school board committee assignments and yes I spoke with or I emailed everyone to get their preferences and thank you to all of you for being
009very flexible and willing to serve in these different ways. Some have stayed the same and some have shifted which I think will be a great fit for this year. So as board chair I will be on the facilities committee. I will be the Minnesota State High School League representative. from the school board and then community connections representative board vice chair and treasurer jacob klingner will join our sorry the facilities committee finance committee and he will join darcy and i with the community connections representative which will be great board member liz niyamioya will be on the finance committee policy committee and will take over as our msba representative and board member Sherry Warwick will be on the facilities committee and the personnel committee which also includes meet and confer. Board member Sarah Larson will be on
010the personnel committee and the meet and confer. The tri-district community education advisory council and will also be part of the AMSD representative. Board member Darcy Pearson will be Finance Committee, Policy Committee, and Community Connections representative. Board member Shannon Dukes will be on the Policy Committee, Personnel Committee, to include Meet and Confer, and will stay on as our Best Foundation representative. So, do I have a motion and a second to approve the School Board Committee assignments? Motion by Member Klinger. Second by Member Moundsberry. Okay, so motion by member Klingner and second by member Lounsberry. Any discussion? Thank you for putting that puzzle together. Yes, thank you for being patient with me while I, you probably thought she's not listening to me. No, I appreciate everyone's flexibility and I think that's great. Each committee has some members
011who served this last year and then some have some. some shifting which I think is also good. Can I also comment Madam Chair? But I just think for the public watching to what we're trying to do here, what you've tried to do and I think it's really great is we're trying to stay abreast of everything happening in the world and we're sharing that responsibility and we're doing the best we can. Yes. And if we miss something please tell us. Yes. We're trying, but if there's something you hear, you know, we're trying. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. We will now vote by roll call. Member Pearson? Aye. Member Niemio-Ann? Aye. Member Ward? Aye. Member Larson? Aye. Member Lounsbury? Aye. Member Klingner? Aye. Member Dukes? Aye. With seven out of seven aye votes, the motion is carried. And
012this brings us to the end of our meeting. Superintendent Dave Bernardson, will you begin the comments? Okay, thank you. Yes, just a couple pieces related to the start of the school year. One would be, as you mentioned, there's a lot of facility work that's taken place. I would like to start with the improvements that are taking place on 80th. All summer long, there's been a bit of a traffic rerouting and all the other aspects, but that is all about making... a safer environment not only for vehicles but also for walkers and we were reassured over the weekend that that project should be closing up about the end of this week or so so it's ready for the start of the school year and one of the things that you'll notice is is that there'll be
013a i think a consistent piece all the way from 52 to cate hill with maybe mainly one lane of traffic and you'll also notice some of the crosswalks now jut out a little bit so it's easier to see pedestrians I've been asked a couple times about the renovations that were made to the Simley High School entrance and exit and they really squared those off so that vehicles coming in or out could better see pedestrians because the way that they were angled before you could actually pull up to exit and look over and not see the pedestrians that are on the sidewalk so it's a much safer environment for everyone. Also another couple of our projects is we do have a new playground at Hilltop that's nearing completion. It'll be ready for the start of the
014school year. And then of course at Pine Bend our bus lot which is also going to hopefully be completed, will be completed by the end of this week with some minor things that will take place possibly after the start of the school year. And that project then brings all three of our elementaries in line with separating vehicle traffic and bus traffic and again a much safer environment for everyone. And also changing the vehicle pick up and drop off procedures at that school so parents be ready. Principal Richardson will be sending out communication in regards to that. Today we started with our new staff and welcomed our new staff to the district and they're being orientated during the course of this week. Next week all of our staff that do not work during the summer come
015back and then we get ready for the start of the school year right after that. And I want to remind people make sure you're checking your school communication because we do have staggered starts of that school year with elementary having two days of parent connections or family connections and then a different start of the middle school and high school and that's all. set to go, so it's an exciting time. But with that, I want to share with people that we've also gone to a couple of sister renovations as well. So we have a new website, which is much more user friendly, much more easier to navigate. And then within that, we're also going to be implementing a new communication tool. So some people are used to hearing about Infinite Campus, which is still our student
016information system. But we also use that system for communication. And we're going to move to something called Parent Square, which then provides even a more robust communication opportunity. And it's the one-stop shop. but also it also provides language preferences for our users as well so we're very excited about moving into arena where we're going to be able to even more effectively communicate with our families both at the school level and at the district level as well so and it's an exciting time we look forward to the start of the school year thank you board member dukes Yeah, just to echo some of the same things that, um, to Brigitte Bernitz said, it's that time that we're all going back to school and I'm super excited for everyone. So our littles who are going to school
017for the first time, our seniors who are going to school for the first last time. Um, one is, um, feeling excited and I, I just would like to encourage families and teachers and administrators and students to just hold on to the feeling, right? Because it all feels... fuzzy and rainbows and sunshines right now and a little later things are going to get a little rough just because that's just natural right um but try to remember how we feel now and continue to lean on that feeling and that support from the district and families and your teachers and the administrators in your buildings so we can all have a wonderful school year so i look forward to seeing everyone you know in our spaces real soon thank you board member pearson I just want to send
018a huge congratulations and a thank you to Community Ed for the wonderful production they put on of West Side Story. I had a chance to go see that and it was just outstanding and so wonderful to see that theater and the Assembly High School to be packed in the Performing Arts Center and they just did an outstanding job, very impressive. and a massive thank you to all of the staff with the work you were putting into to prepare for back to school very exciting to see as she as board member Duke said that the spaces are starting to come alive and to see people coming back in there I know a lot of preparation goes into that I'm just very very grateful for all of those hours and efforts thank you board member work Yeah,
019it was nice to get out to our community for night to unite and ride along with two police officers. I was able to meet a lot of families and talk to the kids about where they go to school. So it was very fun to see them. And even a young couple that just moved here from Iowa, like a couple months ago, that they moved to our community. So it's wonderful to have new people moving into our community. Also welcome to all of our new hires. It's a very exciting week. And it can be a very overwhelming time too. And also I look forward to next Tuesday for the staff luncheon to see everybody. The luncheon that's provided by Hometown Meats. Thank you. Board Member Nehemiah? I want to piggyback on what Member Wuerck said that
02019 night was really really fun and that brings me to my unbelievable gratitude to the community for letting us have another SRO. We are gonna get that SRO. The contract just got signed by the city which I'm so grateful to them and just the community for that. I cannot wait. Though Officer Tarrouge has kind of been around a little bit. it's official now it's real so that's so exciting um and then to our new staff and our kids and our returning staff i this is the year i think this is the 199 way year i feel it i feel it i think um and i think member clinger mentioned one time should we just say it over and over you belong here we are so happy you're here if you're a new student a returning
021student new staff returning staff we're so happy you're here So you belong and this is your home and I'm just so excited for this year. Thank you. Board Member Klingner. echoing those comments. That's awesome. Today I did get to join along on a bus ride of our community with some of our new hires and so I got to talk with a couple of them and probably four or five conversations, different people and they were all so excited to be part of Invergrove Schools and so the reputation that our district has around and so that was really fun to hear that people were excited to be part of our team and so welcome to all of them and welcome back to all the students that are joining us. it would be a great school year thank
022you board member larson thank you uh again i was out for night to unite as well and um one uh family that i met really stands out in my mind uh it was a young man talked to his dad for a while they came to amber growth schools because they were not getting what they needed in another district for some special needs services and came here had an amazing experience I forget which how far along into their schooling they switched to ever grow but this young man now is taking college courses for graphic design and Just just flourished at his time here in ever grow So kudos to Abel and his team and everyone who helped you know make make that make that family a success It was you know, they were not happy in
023another district. They did not ask how they found us but here they were and it all ended great So then just welcome to any new staff. We'll come back next week to returning staff. As student athletes, you can see them out on the, knocking on your door for those coupon cards to support those athletes, you know, and on the practice field. So looking forward to the next couple of weeks. I guess the only additional comment I would make. is linked back to something member Nehemiah shared. Our role as school board, we are a policy making body. But we love to help community find answers to questions that they have. And so you may hear often, I'm not sure, but I will get back to you on that. And I think that we do a great
024job of getting back to people on that. And so, you know, if you have questions as the school year begins about certain... certain activities, certain curriculum, certain sports, whatever. And you might be hearing something in the community and you want to check on that, you can reach out to the school board and we will help you find your answers. And yes, I just, I thank the district staff for all of the work that happened this summer to get us to this point. And I'm really excited for what's to come and yeah, just thank you to the teachers as they close out on their summer and begin dreaming of amazing things for our students. Okay, the next work session is scheduled for Monday, September 8th and the next regular board meeting will be held on Monday,
025September 22nd at 5.30 at the district office. Do I have a motion to adjourn? Motion by member Klingner. Second by member Warrick. Okay, motion by member Klingner, second by member Warrick. We will take roll call. Member Niemiele? Aye. Member Ward? Aye. Member Larson? Aye. Member Lunsbury? Aye. Member Klingner? Aye. Member Dukes? Aye. Member Pearson? Aye. Okay, 7 out of 7 aye votes. The motion is carried at 5.55 p.m.