001The Monday, July 14, 2025 Invergrove Heights Community Schools Board of Education's regular meeting is called to order at 5.30 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 district's mission is to inspire innovate excel a community commitment For clerk Larson, will you please take roll call? Of course. Member
002Nehemiah? Here. Member Warwick? Here. Member Dukes? Here. Member Larson? Here. Member Klingner? Here. Member Pearson? Here. Member Lonsberry? Here. Please join me in the flood of the meetings. 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 a second to approve the agenda items? Motion by Member Finder. Second by Member Ward. Motion by Member Finder. Second by Member Ward. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The motion is carried. Moving on to consent agenda. Do I have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda items? So moved, Member Nimmi Oya. Seconded by Member Pearson. All right. Motion by Member Nimmi Oya and seconded by Member
003Pearson. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? The motion is carried. And we have the donations up and we want to thank those who have donated to the school district this past month. Your generosity and support of our schools and the community is much appreciated. They do make a difference. Are there any details on Kathy Watts? What is that for? I'll have to check. Very specific amount. It's a very specific amount. An individual donated as well so that I'm just very thankful and thankful to all the organizations but also the individual. Alright. Moving on to information items. We will begin for school board vice chair and treasurer Jake Klingner will share a summary of the school board self appraisal. and we held this in a closed session in June. I don't remember the exact
004date. This is the summary. So under board members work together as a team, communicate effectively with each other, and treat each other with respect and dignity. It says the board agrees with the statement comments draw attention to evidence of strong mutual respect, open communication, and teamwork. We value diverse perspectives and believe long-term board membership contributes to effective collaboration. Under the heading the board communicates effectively with the public, the board agrees with the statement noting improvements in how we communicate with the public, particularly with community presence and visibility. The board has used multiple modes of communication effectively. The board would like to continue the engagement through spontaneous and scheduled outreach events, engagement with non-English speaking families, and by continuing equity conversations. Under the heading of Innovate, the decision making process is effective, and the board generally
005agrees with this statement. Work sessions are effective and promote informed and efficient decision making, especially when asking questions, is encouraged and welcomed. It was suggested that information in board packets might include more details to make sure board members are as informed as they can be in order to make decisions. It is also true that board members can always ask questions prior to a meeting to get details or clarification in addition to accessing board work. The board is maintaining its legal role, i.e. a policy-making body. The board agrees with the statement, feeling they stay within policymaking boundaries. The board feels the policy cycle is well managed and encourages continued engagement in policy review. Under the heading of Excel, as individuals, board members understand their role, act accordingly, and conduct themselves in a manner conducive to board
006productivity, i.e., attendance, preparation, and participation. The board agrees with this statement. Suggestions to improve include the importance of participation and engagement with external organizations for advocacy and oversight, such as AMSD and MSHSL. All MSHSL responsibilities are handled through the activities director and board members are encouraged to read the AMSD connections newsletter. The board agenda is structured for action-oriented meetings. The board strongly agrees with the statement. Meetings are well-structured and efficient. The board appreciates updates and information prior to meetings, and the script continues to enhance the efficiency of our meetings. And lastly, under the heading of a community commitment, agenda background materials are received, relevant, and received in a timely manner. the board generally agrees with the statement with some reservations on one hand the board appreciates the time and delivery of relevant materials but at
007the same time expressing a desire for more detailed contextual documents especially for consent agenda and budget items it is noted that presentations and materials are linked in the weekly update and relevant documents are available in board book board members can always ask questions prior to a meeting to get details or clarification thank you yeah i would say we had a a healthy discussion in June. Any discussion now after hearing it again? I just want to thank Vice Chair Klingner and Board Chair Lonsbury for your leadership through that process. I appreciate the opportunity to have that healthy discussion. I think it always prompts good challenging discussion back and forth and exchanging ideas what can we do better what are we doing and i think it's a really healthy thing to pause and self-reflect um i think
008we're modeling the way with that and i just appreciate the leadership through that process because i know that those are longer meetings to facilitate and you both do a really nice job that summary was perfect reflection of what we talked about so thank you and i think too we all talked to at the at the end i think it was just a reminder that we're committed to not overstepping our duties as board members by being committed to the governance aspect of our role and not towing the line into management issues and we talked about the importance of of that through our comments so any other discussion all right thank you um superintendent dave bernardson will introduce policies for a first reading for review Thank you. Yes, the policy committee met on June 23rd and reviewed
009the following policies and we have no changes to 527, student use in parking and motor vehicles, patrols, inspection and searches, 531, pledge of allegiance, and 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 532, use of peace officers and crisis teams to remove students with IEPs from school grounds, and 905, advertising. We did have significant changes to 514, bullying prohibition, and these changes were made due to some adjustments that were made at the state level, and the model policy was updated. And shortly thereafter, there were some amendments to the Minnesota State statutes that impacted this policy. These policies will have a second reading preview on Monday, August 18th, which is our next regular meeting. Thank you.
010So if there's any questions between now and that time, feel free to ask tonight for myself, Tracy Lowe, or any of our policy committee members can also assist. Thanks. Any discussion? We have no committee meetings other than the policy. We did not have any committee meetings today. The agenda... No, sorry. We were planning on committee, but there were policy, but no, we were sick. Moving on to membership reports. Dave will give an AMSD update. And we'll follow along that AMSD did not beat this one. Shame. Same for best. No best. Yes. Sherry? It is summer. It is summer. Dave, will you please update us on Intermediate School District 917? Sure. They met on July 8th and their agenda included policy updates and a review of their health and safety plans. Okay. Great. This is the
011shortest meeting of the year. It is. Alright. What do you have to share with us? Sure, I'd like to just share that funding for the upcoming school year is in full swing and there are projects taking place at all of our school campuses in addition to our regular summer maintenance. So I just want to really thank our buildings or facilities crew for all the work that they do and also the work that our director of facilities and safety, Lindsay Elwald, does with all of our contractors that come in and do the work during the course of the summer. I heard something on the radio this morning about someone frustrated with all the road construction. I just said to myself, this is Minnesota. There's only a window of time to do all that stuff, which is
012no different than for us as a school district. I do want to just share, though, that the uncertainty of federal funding for public school districts is a planning challenge for us. And we typically receive all of our federal funding, our allocations, by the end of our fiscal year, which is June 30th, which we did not. And that's something during my career I've never experienced before. And those federal funds do provide some very targeted supports for student learning, special education, English language learners, and our teachers for professional development. So these funds are vital to our school district, and they have a significant impact on the services that we have in place to support our students and, of course, to support our staff. So we're sure hoping that this challenge can be... resolved sometime soon. I think
013it's just important for us to share that because it creates, even though we adopted a budget at our last meeting, it can create budget uncertainty. And while some will say our federal funding isn't a significant portion of our budget, every aspect counts. And these are very targeted funds that are used for very targeted things that we need to support our state. So there's a strong hope that that will be resolved sometime soon. Board Member Ward? No comments tonight. Board Member Klinger? No relevant comments other than if you're watching and you have children and they're biking around on low construction, helmets go a long way for safety as does looking both ways and that goes for cars too. So be careful on 80th Street. Board Member Dukes? Yeah. Summer meals are available to students and there's
014three different locations throughout Denver Grove. You can find that on the school district's website. And board member Warwick and I will be out this Friday delivering those meals in a white van. So please feel free to come to one of those locations and grab a meal. Do they need to eat them there? That is what the sign says. It's designed to eat there on site, but we don't necessarily police that whether or not you open your lunch and start eating and walk away. Sure. We give you the lunch prepared to eat right there. Thank you. Member Nehemiah? Nothing to add except on what Dave said about the federal uncertainty, it's been a tough one. And what Board Member Klinger said, I really appreciate. Our SRO had come to our fifth grade gym in, I want
015to say in April, and talked about bike safety. And it was so helpful. And I saw some older kids biking around 80th, and I was like, oh my gosh, please, please, please, please, please. I wish, I can't wait for them to get a little bike safety too. So I would second those comments. Go over to Larson. And I also do not have comments. The next work session is scheduled for Monday, August 11th and the next regular board meeting will be held on Monday, August 18th at 5.30 p.m. at the district office. Do I have motion in a second to adjourn tonight's meeting? Motion to introduce. Second by member Mork. All those in favor? Aye. The motion is carried at 5.44 p.m.