February 2026 School Board Meeting

001We're going to call the regular school board meeting to order. Show that all board members are present. Uh first we need a motion to approve the agenda. >> Moved by Sixberry, >> second by Brown. Any other discussion? All in favor? >> I oppose. Motion carries. Uh please stand for 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 we have anyone for open form? Okay, there's no one for open form. So, we're going to move on to the consent agenda. the previous minutes from the January 28th regular board meeting in the February 11th work session. Claims and accounts in the amount of 1,497,72462, the credit card report, the personnel

002report, fundraisers, extended field trip requests that are listed, the amended SRO contract, and approval of the one read policies. >> Moved by Sixberry, >> second by Nelson. Oh, do you want to? >> Yeah. >> Yep. >> Okay. Uh, any other questions or comments? Okay. Uh, Chibilian is gonna >> I'm going to abstain from this. >> Okay. Uh, all in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries with one abstaining. Okay. On to donations. I will make a motion to approve the donations. Second by Sixberry. Any other discussion? All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Uh on to American Indian Parent Advisory Committee annual update. All right. Hello. Uh my name is Ben Bonnet and I oversee our American Indian Education Program. And I'll let Raven introduce herself uh in just a moment. Um but you can go

003to the next slide. So we just want to do an annual update to let you know kind of what's happening in our program. So as we look at um making sure that we're uh doing uh using the funds in the way that MDE states, uh these are the six different areas where we need to make sure that um we're spending the the funds and making different steps to be able to achieve these different pieces. Um every year we have to create a plan and we submit it to MDE. They review it. Uh we go back and forth if there's any um changes that they need that we need to make um to make sure that we're um using using things the way that MDE requires. So these are just like I said just the different

004areas and we'll go into depth a little bit more later about these different areas. All right, next slide please. All right, so as far as numbers to know how many American Indian students we have at Big Lake, um this just pays it out. Uh, and the the amount of funds that we get from MDE each year is based on the number of students uh that we have. So, the more students we have, more our funds go up. That kind of a thing. And um what we've noticed uh as we continue to build this program, uh word gets out and other families that maybe may have not uh said um before that they were Native American, they uh let us know that they indeed are. And so we're able to change that and our our numbers

005have increased uh because of that. Um and there's a lot of great things happening in the program. So I'll let uh Raven share a little bit more about that. Um our parent committee voted concurrence. They like what you guys are doing for them and me. Um I meet with the kids um each school. So Liberty Independence every other week for about 30 minutes. We do some crafts. We talk. The little little ones, it's more they're controlling the show, but I'm creating a community and they, you know, friends that wouldn't have been friends. See, we are having a pow-ow this weekend. And we've turned most of our AP pack meetings into meeting and then a craft. They really like that. I think that's bringing a bit more. Um, we haven't done a college visit yet, but

006it is on the plan. I just took a field trip today with the middle schoolers. We went to the Indian Museum, relax. Um, I like that we do the literacy totes for the preschoolers. They get involved then their parents get excited and Yeah. >> Oh, yeah. Yep. And parents that showed up last year it started with three. Now we're at like 30 2130. So yeah. >> Yep. Yeah. I think I next slide is mine too. This was our holiday party. We made ribbon stockings and little ornaments filled with the seven can't think of it now. Seven herbs that are important. Um yeah, the parents give me suggestions on what they want their kids to, you know, hear about more. Um the school has done a good job using creating the curriculum for the teachers and

007um I will use the our money to put on programs or help them if they need tutoring or even driver's ed is covered now. So, and then yeah, I meet with the parents once a month. The biggest amount, the most popular parents are the ones with the little ones. So, yeah, the kids are like, "We're going, >> I was just going to ask about the driver's ed. Is that um something you just let all your families in high school know about?" And >> Yep. I start telling middle schoolers, >> is that a grant? I mean, like, do you pay for the tuition? Do you help get them there? Like, what what does that support look like? the wik which the driver's ed one they'll I let them know and then um when it's time they'll

008come to me and I say you give them my name my department and then they send us the bill um for tutoring I haven't had to use it yet but I know that the high school offers free math tutoring after school right but yeah no one has come to me about that I mention it all the time >> and then um And that's >> and that's the main thing >> you know as students are are meeting together with Raven as families are coming together monthly it's becoming a really strong community and there we're intentional to um make sure that we're bridging the district um and the different things that are happening around the district with these families. So, they're more they're more involved. And I think basically pretty much every month when the AP pack

009meets, there's new families there almost every month. So, it's just growing and growing. Um and again, everything that we use the funds for kind of everything that we do in our program is first uh approved by MDE and their um their guidelines. And so, they that's uh that's kind of our governing body for that. Um but part of that then is every year the APAC comes together and they do their vote of concurrence and they just did that on February 18th. And so um part of the part of the steps then is to bring that information to you um and uh get some signatures and then we'll send that into MDE to let them know that uh the the AP pack feels very favorable about the ways that we're support American Indian students. Um and

010so this is our our third year in a row when they've been concurrent. Um so there's a lot of really good things happening in this program. Um next slide. So any other questions that you have about our our program? >> Just um one more question with the the funding and I know that the legislature through a statutory process sets aside funds and I'm so glad that Big Lake is using them. I I'm glad that the APEC believes that we're using them effectively and I know I've heard nothing but good feedback. So thank you Raven. Um I was just curious. So, we get that 635 63,500. And is that um devoted to the program like cost? I mean, like just the driver's ed, I mean, that's like over $12,000 if all of your high school students

011participate in that. So, do you use those funds for that kind of thing or is that your salary? Is there a split? What's the budgeting of that? >> It It's all >> Yep. So, um, when we submit our plan, uh, in at the beginning of the year, so put a a money amount, a budget amount for each of those things, we can, um, and so, like for driver's ed, it's been quite, it hasn't been the 12,000. It's been quite much much lower than that. Um, but everything again, uh, gets sent to MD and then they let us know if we need to make any changes or things like that. yet. As far as Ra Raven's salary, driver's ed, everything that we've talked about tonight, it's all from that 635. >> I and I I'm not

012it's not a commentary on the program. It's just that's that'd be a huge chunk of your budget. So, that's why I was just clarifying if that was that was all that you have to work with or if it's >> Thank you. >> And then you're up next again. >> Yes. >> For MTSS updates, >> a different topic. Uh so MTSS um so this is uh year four with implementing this framework districtwide. Um so if you want to go to the next slide it it explains more what MTSS is. Um basically it's that that mind framework of when we say we're supporting all students to be successful. Um like our vision and mission talk about this is kind of how we do it is what MTSS is. Multi-tered systems of support. Uh again it's that academics

013and behavior. holistic. So, one way you might want to think about MTSS is all those small arrows are all the different things that we do in the district, whether it's transportation, whether it's classes, whether it's assessments, whether it's uh field trips, like we talked about, all those different things, um maintenance, sports, everything. What MTSS look does is attempts to bring all of those together moving forward in an aligned way. So, it's all about alignment with MTSS. Next one. So this just shows uh just an overview very brief overview of of how we have um gone from in 22 23 with the initial administrator training out and now we're implementing it. Um and for this school year um the the two kind of things to note is that we've created five district-wide goals which I'll go

014through in just a little bit. Um and that's based on a self assessment that we do annually. Again, this is all um through the guidance of MDE and their compass program. Um and to note also that the grant that we received last year uh was for last year and this year and then it ends in June. Um but we just heard that there's funds available for uh applying for a second grant for MTSS. So we will be going for that as well. All right. Next. So with MTSS, um it's it's five different areas where we call the core components. Um everything from infrastructure, which is kind of your your staffing, your curriculum, your teams, all of those resources, that strong foundation, um which allows you to do the other four. Uh all they're all connected.

015Um there and there's not there's no hierarchy with these. Uh assessment where we're looking at student data. So we can see if if If we're saying we want all students to be successful, where are we at with that? Um, we need to assess students, uh, use that data and then the next one to make those decisions of if we're seeing that students are really strong in this area or or struggling in this area, then we make different changes to make sure that all of our students are being successful. The multi-layered practices and supports. Um, that's what a lot of people might think of with MTSS. that tiered uh tier one, tier two, tier three. Um so that's looking at uh as we're instructing students holistically, making sure that they have what they need when they

016need it. So uh looking at our classrooms, our general ed classrooms, are are uh do our staff have curriculum? Are they trained in it? Um and how are students doing in the in the mainstream classroom? And then if students need extra support, um then we have that tier two, which is more kind of a small group. And then if students need additional support because they're still struggling in a certain area, then that tier three is more of a onetoone or a really small group, more intensified. And then the last piece then again is looking at how we can make sure that we're communicating and building that rel relationship with families in our community. So it's and that's one area that we're really looking at how can we make sure it's a a two-way. Not just

017we're sending emails, we're sending information out to families, but how can we make sure that we're getting information back from them as well. So for each of those five components, we created a district-wide goal. And so that's what I'm going to go through uh in these next five slides. So for in infrastructure, again, that's looking at kind of the foundation um of what we do. We're looking at teacher collective efficacy because that's that's one of the most effective ways to make sure that students are doing well is if teachers believe that they have the capacity to meet the needs of students. So we did a a teacher survey um to see kind of how they're feeling about those different pieces and then from the results of that survey then each building did different uh PD

018and discussions on that for assessment. So uh three times a year we do our fastbridge screener and so with the assessment piece our uh our goal was to have a self-evaluation fidelity check. So, as this as the the teachers are giving FastBridge screener, there's a checklist that they're going down to make sure that they're giving all the right information that things are set up the way the test is intended so we can get the results that we need. And so, it just shows with the different grades the specific subtest from FastBridge that the fidelity check tool is being used for. Next one uh for database decision making. So we've made a lot of steps into understanding edge climber and using that around the district. And so our goal around that is to to have staff

019be able to create a custom data wall which basically it's you can take um educ all the data that we have of students but you can be very specific to say I this is the kind of data I'm looking for for these students and then you can have that in one uh data wall and then make decisions based on that. Um so in a classroom maybe you'll have a middle school math teacher who's grabbing different pieces of data on their per hour to know where their students are even in reading um or uh because 85% of a student's day is based in reading. So even math teachers, social studies teachers, science teachers can use this data in different ways. So we want to make sure that all staff around the district are really understanding how

020to use educ and data walls are that next one. Um so the multi-layered practices and supports that's our instructional strategies like how are we um in the classroom what kind of instructional strategies are we using to make sure that students that we're we're teaching uh the way that the curriculum is intended and so uh we developed and piloted a walkthrough tool um K12 and you can see in K8 because especially because those are newer uh curricula with CKLA and amplify um creating a walkthrough tool. So whether it's um administration or peer coaches if they are going into the classrooms they can see that kind of a checklist almost where like yes the lesson is being taught the way it's described and the way it's laid out in the curriculum. So we're doing it to fidelity

021in the high school then it's in the science area. make sure that the the lessons and the curriculum is being uh in uh implemented the way it's designed. And then for that fifth one, family and community engagement. Again, we're looking at how we're how we're building relational trust with our families and making sure that our staff feel like they are confident and competent to do that. Um so we're looking at kind of the Hornet way. That's a unifying message around the the district and using that in staff newsletters to to kind of guide and encourage staff as they connect with families. Um and then looking at um again how do they uh connect with families, making sure that whether it's Seesaw or emails or phone calls, however it is that we're using this unified hornet

022way and thinking through how we're making sure we can engage families and partner with them. Next slide. So, in looking at and planning for next year, these are uh five kind of bigger areas that we're looking at expanding and improving. Um for the first one, really excited. We've uh most most MTSS work has been done K12 uh and there's beginning to have an early childhood component to that. So, we want to be on the front end of that. So, we're starting to connect with our early childhood uh leaders there and how can we implement uh MTSS E12 versus just K12 which we're mainly currently at right now. The second piece is we want to have more fidelity checks. So uh branching out into other um other curricula and other subjects to make sure again that

023when teachers are using their curriculum, they're using it the way it's been laid out in the curriculum so we can make sure that it's being done well. Um next one, uh to align goals across the district. Um, again, part of MTSS is is all about alignment. And so, if there's uh maybe Liberty has these goals, middle school has these goals. If they're not connecting, we're not seeing how we can really make sure that we're supporting the K12 or E12 pathways for our students. So, we want to make sure that there's alignment across the buildings around our district. We've done a lot of that's been a strong suit, I would say, in these last two years, especially around the district, but we want to continue to have even more alignment. Uh for the fourth one, our

024tier one instructional practices. Again, looking at um when uh we want to make sure that let's as an example, let's say for fourth grade, that any any student who goes into fourth grade, any of those teachers are well trained and their instructional strategies are researchbased and high impact. So, we're looking at um we're looking at across the board all of our classroom teachers to make sure that there are um a a set number of kind of district approved researchbased instructional strategies that we know are going to have high impact for for students. And then that last one uh to improve family and community engagement. Again, it's it's an area where we've made a lot of lot of growth, but there's also ways, especially that uh to have that reciprocation of communication from families to the

025district. Um I put one more on there, but it didn't get on this slide. Um there I'm not sure if it's been talked about much, but we'll you'll learn a lot more about CAPY read basics in just a second, but that's a new um statute from MDE on a uh grades 412 assessment to if there's character if students have characteristics of dyslexia. And so that's something where this year we're we're starting it for the first time and that'll be something that we're implementing um even more next year. Uh and uh Katie and Ryan will be coming up in just a second to give you more information on read bas uh captive read basics, but that's uh one of our goals for next year as well. So before they come up and talk about capy, are

026there any questions about MTSS? I it just literally it came out just yesterday. So I haven't gone through the information. My guess is uh this the first year that the first grant which was the one that we have was uh two and a half years about I'm guessing the second one will be that but I I don't know specifically. I have to look into that. >> Good question. So I remember uh providing data when you first kind of started the MTSS process about what percentage of our students were in tier one tier two tier three goal tier one >> 80% >> okay so um do you have any data like right now >> I I didn't include that though that's something that we're looking into especially as we just finished our winter window of our

027fast bridge to know what progress students have made uh in the first half of the year. Um but that's definitely something we'll be looking at and planning for with at the end of our year. We'll be able to see the growth and be able to report that. >> That'd be great. Yeah. Just I mean newish newish program. I know you've been working hard on it the last few years, but just to see progress made. >> Yes, definitely. >> Any other questions before I move on to the second part of the presentation? Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. This is why you get the bonus. So basics is part of the new MDE requirement. And so we had Ryan and Katie present to our MTSS district team and Mr. Trouinach said that's really good information

028and so he said maybe they can come back and present to the board. So with that Ryan and Katie are going to walk you through our newest assessment to our platform. >> Think he actually said it was the best presentation he'd ever seen. >> Yeah, it was top notch. >> Yes. >> Um introduce yourself. Oh, I'm Katie Annen. I am a literacy specialist and the district literacy lead. >> And I'm Ryan Perie. I'm the E12 data integrationist in DAC this year. >> Here to talk a little bit about CAPY read basics. >> Yeah. So, um it's a new requirement from the state. So, we've had uh requirements for K3 students to be screened for dyslexia and other reading difficulties for quite a while actually um in the actually in the mid 2010s. So, Minnesota passed

029a rule that we supposed to do that. Um, we started universal screening not too long later. So, we started making steps, but they didn't have any specific information about what assessments were sensitive enough to identify if students were um had characteristics of dyslexia, other reading difficulties. Um, so we've been doing those for a while. Um, and the K3 ones we use FastBridge. For 412 though, we use um CAPTY. This is our first year of using that assessment. And what it what the or what the statute says is that we have to look at students who are per performing below grade level and um and in grades four through 12. So what's really cool about read basics is that it um helps tease out things that are more specific kind of like um fastbridge does for

030K3. So there's a lot of similarities to that but it's a little bit different because as students progress their um their needs change and their abil change >> and uh this year. So the statute does say grades fourth through 12, but this year because it's our first year rolling this out and just looking at the capacity of as Benz said our infrastructure uh this year we focused on fourth through 10th grade this year. Um and then districts around the state are kind of setting what below grade level looks like again based on resources and capacity. So we looked at students below the 25th percentile in grades four through 10 >> and a lot of that is because those are students that are also receiving intervention. So being able to ident because CAPI is not only

031a a screener but it is also diagnostic. So we can use that information to give us really good specific information about what our students know and can do. So um there are four subtests required for CAP this year. The first one is word recognition and decoding. And basically it just says it just asks students can you read real words? Can you identify when words aren't real? Um, and then can you identify when words are spelled so that they sound like a real word but aren't actually a real word. So those are the basic things for word recognition and decoding. >> So an example of this is they might see on the screen the word class but spelled with the K. And so then they have the options. Um this is this is the warm up

032to kind of get kids used to that idea. So then they would have to identify as Katie just said is that a real word, not a real word or does it sound? >> Yeah. And it's because we know that kids can decode but we also need to know that they can encode. So they need to be able to spell as well because it's a really important skill. Uh the second required subtest is vocabulary and it asks students, do you know the meaning of words? Do you know how words are related? And then it also looks at student knowledge of tier 2 words. Um those are just words that are used across multiple contexts and subject areas. And tier three words, so words that are more specific. So, for example, um a word like isotope or

033kinetic or >> parallel or other math and science words that I'm not as good at because I'm literacy specialist. >> So, anyway, that's what it's looking for. Did you want to say anything else about that? >> No. >> All right. The third test is on morphology. And morphology is just a fancy way to say word parts. So, it wants to know um do kids have enough sensitivity to understand when a word changes and how its meaning changes? So for example um they might see the three words teacher teaching and teaches and there'll be a sentence that said the blank started class and they have to identify that the correct word is teacher. So understanding how the morphe um suffix changes the meaning of that initial word and also syntax. I mean that's a nice thing

034to throw in there too. How words make sense in a sentence. Um, and then the last assessment that we gave, the last subtest is reading efficiency. If you know what a maze test is, it's sort of similar to that. When I gave directions to the um, fourth and fifth graders, I said, "Think of it like a MAD lib except for there is a right answer." Um, you don't make it silly. That doesn't make sense. But basically what it does is it assesses their automaticity. So the students read a sentence and then they have to fill in a blank with a word that makes sense. And as they are answering that, it builds a paragraph or a story. So, pretty simple, but um we both really like that test. So, >> it's neat. It's I mean,

035you're not sitting there watching the students screamed as you're walking around the room just monitoring. It's neat to kind of see the passage kind of build and as >> they're adding the words that they that they think are correct based on the context around it. >> Yeah. Yep. Exactly. >> All right. >> So, there there are two other subtests that we didn't do this year. one was sentence processing and the other one was reading comprehension. Um so speaking with colleagues from other districts um it's like it's a it's about a two-day testing window then if you're doing all six subtests it takes about 75 minutes. >> Yeah. >> That's the other nice thing about the the test in general. It's broken into those four subtests. Um and then on average each subtest is about five

036to eight minutes, five to nine minutes with the exception of um uh reading efficiency which can go up to 13 minutes depending on how the students uh doing because it's also it's a timed uh test. So it's actually seeing how long it takes them to >> and next year the state is requiring us to also do sentence processing and reading efficiency things that we have to figure out but that's just part of the process. We just finished last Friday. >> So I think our um we gave our first test at the end of January with our ninth graders and then we moved into with our uh Independence Elementary the next week >> the first week of February was Indie. middle school the week after that and then we wrapped up with >> ours. >> Um,

037>> that's a good question. We can give cap we can give read basics any time throughout the year. We chose to do it in the winter because we wanted to have those two other testing windows under our belt before so that we could use the data to determine who we were going to assess, >> use our fall data uh to uh universal screening data from the fall to kind of make our initial determination of who who would be candidates for >> correct. Yes. >> And then >> Yes. So we have interventionists that support our students and the data from the read basics assessment gives them very specific information about their students and what they can do and what they need to do with them to make them more successful >> are in intervention but haven't

038taken the you know CAP read basics um test and I'm just wondering if it gives you such useful diagnostic data if that's you know something that would be considered you know >> yeah that's a really good question um our intervention has entrance criteria and exit criteria so depending upon where students place in that entrance criteria that would determine it most of our students in intervention are below the 25th percentile I think there are just a few outliers based on um need from previous or they started at a really low percentile and they've had we've we've actually exited a lot of kids out of our intervention program this year. >> We're making we're so excited about that. So, we are making such good gains as a district and >> systemwide change is really slow and really

039difficult. So, we just know that it takes quite a few years to really see those changes, but we're already we have some early winds which is really exciting. >> It's like when you see glaciers. >> Yeah. Right. Just exactly like But yeah, that that 25th percentile is kind of our first pass for uh that's our first kind of data point that we're looking at and then look at all the other associated to make those interventions. >> So that corresponds with the kids that would be in interventions. >> Yes, we're hoping that we can expand that because we do find the data really powerful and it also gives us a good look at our system and what we need to do instructionally. So there's lots of really good things that we can pull from that. >>

040Yeah. And and we'll get into this in just a moment, but yeah, because some of the questions that have come up this year would be um and we were just talking about for for placement for try three, a couple of students here at the middle school, but um their auto reading scores on their universal screener are in the um summer high-risisk categories, but their their A-reading score is I think at the 40th percentile, so right there on the line and okay. Um and then when they took their uh we followed up with the diagnostic of the CBMR to assess fluency and that was okay. But so when we look at these CAPY though it kind of then adds like another little layer. So kids where you're like scratching your head a little bit like I'm

041not understanding why this isn't adding up. It it peels back another layer to kind of it's like okay word recognition and decoding is fine. Vocabulary is okay. Oh the breakdown's kind of in morphology and then reading. >> Yep. And we'll show you some more specific things later that in a little bit actually, but that kind of help us determine like what we need to do as a team and as a district. >> Um, we could probably roll, it's kind of hard to read through and you can you can kind of pruise through this at your these are just kind of some of our grade level as we're looking. You can kind of see um I'll just kind of explain the bars and the colors and all the dots there. Um, so you can kind of

042see um you have strong performance uh go to the left. Yeah. Uh high average, low average, and then uh weak performance. Um, so you can see those are where the the corresponding colors are. We might those numbers might be a little bit different now because I think you did some makeups also. Maybe not language, but >> yeah, just some kids that weren't able to be there because they were on vacation. Little stinkers. >> Um, so there's so there's fourth grade. Um, and we can just kind of roll. And when you're looking at this, if you look at it later, just keep in mind that these are our lowest 20, like our 0 to 24th percentile kids. So, it looks really alarming, but I think they kind of were where we where we would expect them

043to be. >> Yeah. And and when you look at that, when you do see the greens and the blues in there, you're like, "Hooray, what is that?" Yeah. So, um, >> well, I was also I mean I was also thinking too like if you're able to do this more diagnostic or you test with more um breakdown of needs and they are in intervention hopefully you're able to move those kids faster out you know really target what they need. I mean you've already identified them so now you know what it is and then hopefully they can move out and then increase those numbers. >> Absolutely. And I think it is another thing. It'll help us select better resources, especially for intervention as well. And Minnesota just released the um intervention list. Well, not just, it was

044a little while ago, but not that long ago. But that has all the approved interventions as well. So that is helpful, too, because some of those are actually linked in Cathy um in the platform. If you look at a student student information, it'll say like this student needs this thing. And so that is super helpful because then we know exactly what we need to do. Some of them cost money and some of them are free. So that's some really good. >> Um it's a nice platform as far as looking at student data Katie is starting to say. So this would be kind of the the student view. Um so if you were to pull up a particular grade level students would be listed there on the left. The the um you have the coding there

045on the left. So the L uh which was the low average um >> isn't low >> low. Yeah. >> Um and then you have their separate strands kind of going um across that way. So, those are the each of the four uh subtests. Uh we're going to get to the decoding threshold next, right? Yeah. So, yeah, we can keep going. >> All right, >> there we go. >> This is the stuff that makes me really excited. >> You can tell I'm a literacy nerd because I'm like, "Yes." All right, so the decoding threshold is fairly new research. And what it is is the point at which reading becomes accurate and automatic. The reason that it's such a big deal is because when kids meet that decoding threshold, they're able to decode at a rate fast

046enough to understand what they're reading. Until they do that though, their cognitive energy is all taken up by figuring out what the words say on the page. So even though we have structured literacy instruction, especially in our primary, we have really good curricular resources, those things still are a struggle for some of our students. And so the decoding threshold just tells us that, hey, these kids aren't quite there yet. And so, if you go to the next slide, oh, sorry, it was John. Thank you. Um, this is, I think, the best thing I've seen for helping me understand the decoding threshold. So, basically with the decoding threshold, we have words that are phonetically regular. They follow really typical rules that kids are used to seeing. So, bat and ball are CBC, CBCC. Then we go

047to the next one. We have under in nature. So lots of um multi-elabic words are um compound words and then some of them just follow regular phonics rules. Where the decoding threshold is is actually that next step up. So words that are irregular, words that have open syllables, words that have a morphological irregularity like the wine spiny, these are the places where that's where the kids really start to struggle. And so being able to identify that that's the place we know that there are some things that we can do as a district as teachers to support our students in crossing that that decoding threshold. So focusing on things like that and that instruction is really important >> and looking at multilic decoding across content area across grade level is one of those >> ways that

048we can move the proverbial needle for a lot of our students getting that support across. >> Yes. And so Ben had mentioned earlier those those researchbased instructional practices and strategies. That's one of the ones that we are hoping to push out into 312 next year. So um just because we have this data now we can do something with it which is >> and what's nice about that though it's it's the the content or the the vocabulary the words that are already embedded in that content area. So it's not adding more to it. It's just using the words that you already have in your content. >> Yes. All right. So in Read Basics, a score of 235 on the word recognition and decoding subtest is the decoding threshold. So that's that sensitive data that we need

049to help us figure out exactly where students are. A score of 250 is at about grade level, but a score of 270 means that students are able to efficiently read more complex texts. So any things like social studies, science, that kind of stuff, we need our kids to get there because we need them to be able to do that all by themselves. >> And on the CAPY, um, and we'll get into like what it looks like, but if a student is scoring below the decoding threshold, CAP will actually make the recommendation not to continue on with the other the reading comprehension subtest because they said like it's not it'll be >> it'll just be frustrating. >> It'll be frustrating. >> Yeah. >> And we don't want to frustrate our kids. We want them to sit

050in productive struggle because that's good for kids. It's good for people, but we don't want them to be frustrated. So, these scores I took directly from our data in uh Capy and you can see they're just different buildings. So, I think we have Indie and the first two and then the middle school and then the high school. So, basically what that shows us is we have those kids that we tested. Remember that they're below the 25th percentile. we have a lot of kids who have not hit the decoding threshold. So this indic this information just tells us like okay now we know that and now what they're telling us is when kids aren't hitting that decoding threshold we need to focus on multi-elabic word decoding. So that's one of those things that we talked about

051a little bit ago as well and this I think is really interesting too. So these are these are students in our district and it shows so I cut off their names. I just put that little information in there about their scores. But you can see um on the one up on the left. So the first student scored a 202 on their word recognition and decoding subtest. So we know that they didn't have the decoding threshold. Their vocabulary is a little bit higher which is great. Their morphology isn't quite as high but morphology is a more difficult skill. and then the reading efficiency isn't very fast. Well, if you're not past that decoding threshold, it makes sense why your efficiency wouldn't be very good, right? So, if you look on the bottom right, we have students

052that performed well on that word recognition and decoding subtest. So, they passed the decoding threshold, which is what we want. But then if you look over at the other scores, so let take that top one where they are green and it says 260. Their vocabulary though is a 231. Their morphology is a 240. So that's red and yellow. So that's still low. And their reading efficiency is a 227. So we know this is what's really cool about this test. We know that even though they they can decode, they don't know enough about vocabulary or morphology to do well on their reading efficiency. So then we know instruction needs to focus on vocabulary and morphology. So it's all these little things that we didn't know before that now we know. So this is why this test

053is so valuable. That's a really good question. Um, yes and no. Basically, what we notice is if our students don't score well on their vocabulary subtest, they also don't score well on their um, reading efficiency subtest. So, there's there's definite correlation between what I know about words and what I understand when I read. So, those things are those things are intricately tied. That's not the word. Inextricably tied is what I was trying to say. So, >> no, you cannot. They're stuck together like peanut butter and jelly. >> Um, this is this is one of the cool things that Katie mentioned earlier. So, um, every student um, when you're looking at their data, you can click on their name and then you can click on these uh these resources. Um, so it gives you the score

054that they got um, and then it gives you this narrative. um actually on the main overview of each student's page, it'll give you a narrative for each of the subtests and then give you some information on that um where they're falling grade level equivalency wise um and then what work they need before they're ready to move on to the next level. Um and then you get these kind of breakdowns here and so you can see this obviously a still image but those are all hyperlinks. So these are actual um resources, plans, products, strategies, artifacts that you can click on um to to find out how to support the students development of vocabulary. Yeah. >> Um and what's what's really neat um we always kind of like mentally or sometimes physically high five when we see

055like some of the resources on there because those are resources that we've talked about in the district before and we've delivered professional development on like vocabulary stuff. So it's nice to see that it's reinforced. And um that first one that says Beck Mau and Cookin and bringing words to life robust vocabulary instruction that is baked into our um our literacy curriculum which is really exciting because we know those good practices are there. So um what we're doing is right. We're moving in the right direction and we're starting to see that data. So it's really great. All right. What we can do about it. So um there's a lot of stuff on here and some of it is a little bit repetitious because um good pra good teaching practices are good teaching practices and most of

056the time it doesn't matter what grade they're in. Um but these are some things that we can do in K2 to help our kids be ready for that assessment in third grade but also to push them past that decoding threshold. So emphasizing phonium graphing mapping. So knowing that letters and sounds that they make match and having kids map those over and over. Um, and then not worrying so much about funological sensitivity and phonium awareness because new research within the last year and a half says actually those activities aren't as important as we thought they were. So things change very quickly um when it comes to that kind of thing. Um, we want our kids to be released to read decodable text as quickly as possible after that direct instruction so that they get a chance

057to practice and they get to apply what they've been learning. And then um direct explicit vocabulary instruction of both tier 2 and tier three words. Um we have been talking a lot about vocabulary word balls not just for ELA but also for other subject areas. They support our students who are struggling readers. They support our EL students and what's good for the goose is good for the gander. So we want to make sure that all of our kids have access to those kinds of things. And then always the goal of well not the goal reading and writing are reciprocal right. So you in order to be good at one, you have to be good at both. So giving kids opportunities to be able to encode that stuff so that they can um be efficient readers

058and readers. And so the next one are 312. So some really similar things. Um releasing students to read grade level text was a little bit different there. Um that direct explicit vocabulary instruction and um I would argue too that it's not just vocabulary because morphology is a part of vocabulary. um instructing and practicing multi-elabic word decoding is incredibly important and that's one of those things that we need to make sure that we are doing um consistently as often as we can across all of our curricular areas and that morphology instruction because knowledge is sticky and those word balls are really important and then again providing daily opportunities for students to write again that's baked into our curriculum but not that's baked into our ELA curriculum but not all the others. So that's something that we

059look at also when we're looking at other curriculum like even math. We're looking at things like that. Yeah, that's a really good question. So the research typically says that the more pencil and paper we do, the better. But any writing is good writing. So, but there's a there's processes that happen in our brain when we actually put a pencil to paper that make our make it better for us to remember and make stick because it's a slower process. >> Cognitive science actually says that like yeah um two two most efficient ways to move our short-term the information sort of our short-term memory into our long-term memory is to give ourselves and our students opportunities to talk about it with each other and then to write down what it is that they're learning. And then as

060soon as that's in that long-term memory, then that reduces the amount of cognitive load that they have, which makes it better for them and less frustration. >> And that process, in case you're interested, is called myelination. >> So, if you really want to dig into it, check it out. It's really interesting. But basically, what it does is it creates these pathways in our brains that >> the sheath around the >> So, it's kind of like if you're driving on Oh, okay. I grew up in a I grew up on a in a country on a gravel road and the road grader always went and made it like this. So we would be driving down the road and everybody would shake, but then they paved it. And so basically what mileination is is just taking that

061gravel road that's rough and turning it into a paved road. So really cool. And those things help our kids retrieve information a lot faster from their long-term memory like Ryan said. >> So ne next next steps for this process are to um dive deeper into the results that we've had um and then share uh share that information out with families of students who took the read basics and then also start getting this information out to um our specialists and our teachers who work with these students who are >> y this year >> they um well I'm hoping that they are above the 25th percentile but next year depending on where they're at in the system they may um we may bump that up a little bit because we can if we can afford it because

062I mean nothing is free Um, so anyway, but as as much as we can because it would >> Yeah, >> we're not sure yet. >> Yeah, we have to Yeah. Yeah, >> that'll >> Yeah, it Yeah, we're Yeah, that's part of the conversation like what what do those uh thresholds look like next year and at which grade levels? >> Absolutely. I agree. >> Yeah. might still Yeah, absolutely. And we do want to track our students growth over time. I think that's one of the benefits of edge of climber too because like in fast you can only look at one year but in edge of climber you can look at it over multiple years. So that's why that's such a powerful platform. So that's just another thing that we can use to to see our students

063growth over time. >> I just wanted to so I think it's an amazing use of technology and I love it when a test actually means something and we're not just testing because the state told us to or because it you know looked like fun. Um so so I think this is a great use of technology. Um, I I just want to just put out there, um, to the, you know, to whoever might be listening that, you know, when I ask about the writing, I I love that you responded that as much as possible, you try to have our kids write pencil on paper. Um, and we, as a district, you know, you share that knowledge and as a district, we understand that and we're research based because I think there's a lot of, um, concern

064that, you know, maybe we've gone too far in the technology side in schools. And so I think it's really important that our public knows that we you're making very um intentional efforts to make sure that we're doing the best for kids and making sure that they are actually still able to write with pencil and pen and paper. Um and so I I just wanted to put that out there just because, you know, I I get the, you know, the privilege of of hearing this a lot. Um and you know, you're right up my alley. I mean, we can talk, you know, mileation all you want later. Um but uh but like I said, just to put that out in there to the wind that um I think it's really important that our public knows that

065there's a lot of thought and science and just true passion that goes behind the curriculums and the practices that our students benefit from here in Big Lake. So I just want to, you know, throw that out there and then say thank you. >> You're welcome. And our teachers have done such a good job diving in and trying new things. And it's scary. Um change is hard, but they've done a fantastic job of embracing the science of learning and of science reading. >> Yeah. answer question and then you have kids who know they were know him. I was gonna say I just heard him. And so I was like reading is not limited to books. And what did we just see the other day? Comic books are the gateway drug to reading >> or to literacy.

066Comic books are the gateway drug to literacy. >> Yeah. >> I mean, he learned to read and he knowledgeable, >> but he actually enjoyed it after that. >> He finally he found what worked for him. I don't know about you. You know, a lot of the moms that are having young I think that good job. We have a program. It's not the same as AR, but we have this program that's actually free and it's connected directly to our curriculum called Read Works. And kids can read articles about their own ideas and their own topics that they're interests in or interested in. And then there is quizzes that they can take on them as well. And so it it cost us nothing which is really cool and it's just another opportunity to give our kids more

067practice in reading and comprehension as well. >> And we do we do um after every screening window uh each each building has their own um infographic that goes home that says you know how you can support reading at home. Um and there's like QR codes and things on there and it has like strategies that families can do and some of them are big strategies and some are just like small like little everyday strategies. >> Yeah. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Yeah, thank you for your time. It was good, right? >> It was good. >> Thank you. >> Uh we are going to move on to the financial report. >> I actually don't have much uh this evening. So, uh, yeah, I guess we'll dig right into enrollment and, um, that that is definitely

068some good news. And I think I might have alluded to this last month that we, um, we've had an influx, um, of students online. And, uh, so yeah, we're up we were up, uh, on February 2nd up 24 students from the prior month. And I did check it as of today, or actually as of this morning, and this enrollment is holding. So it we're at about the same amount as we were on February 2nd. So So it's not like they were here for a little bit and then left. They're they're still here. So So that's great news. And then so with that influx of enrollment, so if you look at the graph, um we are right at budget. So you can kind of see those lines kind of come together, right? Yeah. Right there. So

069that is some great news that we're we're right at our revised budgeted enrollment number. So that means that hopefully if that holds, we'll get exactly the amount of GED aid that I budgeted. So um no changes, no budget revisions. And uh oh yes, and then I I just included a slide at the end here. All this is doing is summarizing the work session that we had in February. Um and so I'll just go over each one that will optimize staffing levels with board approved class size ranges. Um, we're going to evaluate special education case loads um for resource efficiency and then strategic application of one-time categorical funding and and I use the example of like compensatory revenue funding um utilization of restricted fund balance and compliance with statutory requirements. So just going through all these

070restrictions and seeing where we can maybe do some shifts to help out the unassigned fund balance. um looking at transportation routes um for maximum efficiency and I think we're going to have a meeting next week on that and then and then just reviewing supply budgets for cost-saving opportunities and um do all that over the next um well we've already been working on it I guess I mean I yeah we've already been working on it but we'll be providing um a list to the board in March and with that that's all I have for this month so brief But I'll certainly entertain any questions if there are any from the board. >> Any questions for Angie? Otherwise, we just need a motion to approve. >> Disapprove the financial report. Correct. >> Financial report. >> Motion made

071by Shabilian. Second by Hancock. Any other discussion? All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. Approve 2627 LTFM plan revision number two. >> Yeah. So, Oh yeah. Can you can you enlarge that? >> Thank you. Yeah, that right there. Okay. So, LA I think it was last month TJ and I were here um providing you with a different number. Do you see that highlighted? It's 2 million31. >> Well, we've had some good news in that in that this particular project, the cost estimates are actually less. >> So, instead of Yeah. Okay. I have it written down here. We actually last month had asked for approval of 2,378,677, but that has decreased almost $350,000 to the to the 203148. So then if you can you go all the way down, John, to and then scroll over.

072Yeah. Okay. So I have a number highlighted right there. So, what I had mentioned last month, so what that means is because the original project was that was approved by the state and we're already past the the property tax levy deadline, that's going to come through as an adjustment a couple years later. And so that's what I have to put in the plan that we send to Sarah Miller at MDE. So that is going to be less of an adjustment than what we had you approve last month. So I so so good news in that the cost estimates are actually less than than what we originally thought. So but because of that I do need your approval approval again. So um if you want to close that out and then just we we have a

073resolution. This is what the state requires and and it just it just basically says you are approving um plan amendment number LTFM plan amendment number two and um it does require a roll call vote. Okay. Motion made by Shabilian. Second by Brown. Any other discussion since it's a roll call vote. We'll start with Brown Hancock. >> Sixberry. >> Hi. >> Rezner I. Shabilian. >> Hi. >> Nelson. >> Hi. >> The resolution passes. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh TJ, presentation and acceptance of the 2026 middle school special education renovations bid. >> Yes. So I've got some good news for you. This is our final bond project for the 21 bond. So, this is to do the uh renovations for the middle school special education area for classrooms that we hoped to do

074last year, but uh given uh the performance of our contractor, we decided to hold off for a year. Um so, our quotes came in 389,000. Um this is within our budget aotment. So, I recommend approval for contracting with Verson, Inc. for the construction of the renovations and improvements here at the middle school. I'll make the motion. >> Okay. Motion made by Sixberry, second by Hancock. Any other discussion? All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. And then you're up again for pool. >> Yes. So, we uh have our first uh approval that I want to have for you for the pool for the finishes. So, this is for the work inside the pool to replace our epoxy paint with a plaster product that'll be much longer lasting as well as tile lanes. Um so, this we

075went through source well um in order to get our pricing in time and order to get this to uh happen. otherwise bidding and everything else. So, this takes place for the bidding. It's source well contract, so it's nationwide. It's all predetermined um contract pricing. They have over 300,000 line items that they can bid on pre-negotiated and meets all the requirements for bids. Um and you kind of have a little bit more direct control as well. Um, so I recommend approving this um with Acoustic and Associates for it's actually a grand total of $199,22056 for both the plastering and then also the sand blasting because we have to have the existing material removed. So, Acoustic acoustics and associates. Yeah. >> Okay. Motion made by Sixberry, second by Nelson. Any other discussion? All in favor? >> I

076oppose. Motion carries. Thank you, TJ. >> Yep. >> Uh pursue achievement and integration funding approval. I'm gonna let you tonight. I've never done this before, so I'll let you. >> Right. Keep your attention going. Um, so I am here to present to you about a new opportunity for Big Lake schools. So, every three years the state of Minnesota opens up achievement integration aid. Um and so this is um part of a multi-dist collaborative plan and it's um the the funding is to identify shared goals and strategies to increase racial and economic integration across districts. And St. Cloud Area Schools is considered a racially isolated school district because their district has a different demographic than all of the other districts that border them. So, it used to be you had to touch a border with the

077racially isolated district to be included in this funding available. They have since opened this up and allowed other districts that are that have close location or that um have proximity to the area to be included. And so, St. Cloud um asked if we'd like to join them. And so, um we have this opportunity to enter into this collaborative. And so, the multi-dist collaborative council um serves as required. It's a community based collaborative body and it helps shape the ANI strategies. And so some of the purposes and objectives are written in statute. And so you can see that um one of their objectives is to pursue integration and to promote that integration within schools to also increase achievement. And this is something that ANI is very strong in is that it's to boost student performance for

078all students. And so although it looks like it is an achievement integration for for some students, it's not. It's for all students. And we know if we're doing good for all students, we're also going to start closing those gaps that we've had conversations about in our in our case reports. Creating equitable opportunities, having some staff development, having targeted support, and then they also lean heavily into the researchbased equity concepts of access, representation, participation, and outcomes. So looking at Big Lake, we did a needs assessment back when we looked at our ADS funding and our title funding. So we were able to use some of that same data for us to be included in this. And so looking at our MCA, our students enrolled in dual enrollment courses, our students graduating, and then our staff development

079needs, we were able to then be considered to join this MDCC. And so here's just some of that same information I shared with you back in November in our case report. And we notice that we do have a discrepancy in our data for math. So remember, ADS and title really focus on reading and behavior. So we would like to use this revenue to help us focus more on math. So we really focused on our math discrepancy data there. And then also across our race and ethnicity groups. So then we looked at some of our dual enrollment and this is actually just our college and the schools that are from the University of Minnesota. They give us some some data. I've been able to since pull all of our dual enrollment in our um high school

080and we do show a discrepancy also. So just even based on this turned into the state they said that we would qualify for that. Our graduation data I am happy to report does not show a discrepancy and so we have a really good graduation with our free and reduced and also with our populations that have cell sizes over 10. So um so our graduation has been very good at our high school for that. So, so then looking at our goals, um you have to have goals in three different areas. And so this is our academic achievement. And so again, I said I' I'd want to focus in math. Um and so when I come to the board, you have to approve for us to enter this, but I'm coming here showing you our whole plan,

081which isn't due until March, but I thought I'll share it with you since we're here. So what we'd like to do is really work on increasing our math achievement. And some of the strategies we're going to use is to hire a math interventionist um and somebody who would help coach K12. Something similar that Katie does for literacy. We would like to replicate that for math so that we have somebody actually supporting so that we're researchbased interventions so that what we're doing aligns to what we're supposed to be doing. We then also want to look at some student success support. So, making sure that at our high school as our kids are going from middle school into high school that we're able to have opportunities to take some of those um dual enrollment courses and also

082just to make sure that we're on track for A's and B's and have somebody being intentional about watching that and then um being able to check in with our our counselors and our social workers to make sure that our kids are on track. Another one of our strategies for this same goal would be math core. And this is something that um we had done in the past, but something that due to budget enrollments, we would not be able to afford this year. And so this would be able to provide math core in both um independence elementary and middle school and allow for that math coach to be able to oversee that program. It would also hopefully we haven't quite done the budget yet, but maybe give us a little for um to also provide responsive

083classroom training, which we've done at Liberty. And so we feel like that's a really um strong program to get our kids going into that K2 world. So this would offer us a little more budget for that. Second goal is we have to have an integration goal and this is exactly like it sounds. We have to do something with St. Cloud. And so um couple opportunities that we have. One is a math masters integrated practice opportunity. So, our middle school math masters kids get to either virtually or in person meet with their math masters kids and practice before they actually go into their math masters competitions. Um, another opportunity for us is called community um communicating common ground and this is actually a partnership with St. Cloud State. Dr. Ed Mutua has started in 2006. She

084started a program and she um works she's a communications professor and so she takes a few students from every district and kids have to apply to get into it and then they meet at St. Cloud State for their first afterchool meeting and then they meet at four other schools. So we at one point in the three years would host this. Um and then kids get together and they talk about um diversity and communications and what that might look like and they get to learn kind of at that college level through her TAs supporting that. So that would be another opportunity for us. And then our last goal is something that we have to have around professional development and um so this would be um our professional development would be that our staff over the three

085years would be trained in student centered learning. And so, um, part of what we kind of already do, and you heard Ben talk about MTSS already, and so this would give our teachers an opportunity to continue in our training and learning more. So, funding for ANI, so ANI is state aid. So, it's not a grant, it's actually state aid. 70% of it comes from state aid. 30% of it comes from board approved levy. And so, that's why you need to approve this um because that does come from board approved levy. So the three ways that we get this funding is um the lesser of so I want to put that out there the lesser of either the estimated amount of our October 1 student um count or after that October 1st in December the ANI

086people can say oop we got more or less than we actually have so we can lower it again if we need or if we don't spend all of our money they only give us the money we spend so actually I looked at this and the new run says 319,000. You saw that, too? Yep. So, um, so it does fluctuate. It just they keep fluctuating it. Um, so our our current estimated revenue, I'm going to call it 311 because that's what I did. But I just wanted you to see the number that then the state aid would be $218,000 about and the levy to our taxpayers would be 93,000 about and that would be dependent on the lesser of one of those three things. And then, oh, >> that's annually. We would get that annually. Yep.

087Yep. So, those are annually. So, our district would get $311,000 about annually. >> Yes. >> Correct. >> Yes. Yes. The aid is immediate. The levy always comes a little bit later. So, and then with all of our programs, our comprehensive achievement and civic readiness plan, our achievement integration plan, and our strategic plan always have to align. And so as you can see I kind of did all of that. So um so that is our achievement and integration. Um any questions? Yeah. I mean and you can answer if you need because we need approval from the board and it and it has to be submitted by March 15th. So tonight's the night. If we want into this, this is our chance for the next three years. Otherwise, and it does have to be board approved. >>

088Especially when we're adopting math this year. And so, this is just >> timely with the new the new standards are so different than what they've been. >> Yep. And the new teaching practices, I mean, just with all of it, this will be a huge benefit even just that one piece alone. >> So, all right. >> Question. Yes, Chelsea had a question. $90,000 spread out over all our taxpayers. >> Oh my gosh, that's very minimal. Yeah. I don't even know if it'd be a dollar. I mean, a month. >> Yeah. Yeah. Very minimal. >> That's a guess guest. >> Yeah. I mean, I even think it would be less than that just because of Yeah. Because the levy because it's definitely more going towards state eight versus levy. It's a 7030 split. So yeah, very >>

089absolutely and that's why it's a good question, >> right? And that's why we're bringing it here and trying to be as >> you know thoroughly transparent as we can um because there is this shared responsibility to this program. So >> I am very excited. Yes. >> Yes. Yeah. Well, Big Lake Schools has never had this. So I've had this in in previous districts, but we've never had this. >> We had math tutors before. >> We had the math core or not? We've had math core before. Yes. Yes. Yes. And so this could bring it back. >> This would bring it back. Yes. >> Right now, but we wouldn't next year. We wouldn't next year. So >> yeah. >> Can I just clarify? So you mentioned that collaborative at the beginning and I just wanted to

090clarify. Do they have any influence or force behind their decisions that would affect us at the local level? So I mean you get together and talk, but do their decisions impact us or override any of our board level decisions? um they don't override your board level decisions. The thing that the MDC is we are um dependent on St. Cloud to do our integration activities. So if something would happen like they they'd cancel common ground um the year the COVID year they didn't do it. So if that would happen we wouldn't get to do that. Um but then MDE has always been really good about saying you tried. >> And so that's but other than that the plan is ours. Each district has its own plan. the only thing that we do together are those shared

091activities. And um I just, you know, I really um am excited that our students will get to benefit from math intervention and have have that in their classrooms. I think that's really really important. And um you know um had the operating levy passed um this source of funding um might not have had to been pursued. Um, but because we're in the financial situation we're in, we need to think about what's best for students. So, I um I appreciate that you went out and did the work to find this other funding stream so that we can help improve our math scores and like >> Yeah. I'll make >> Okay. Motion made by Sixberry, second by Brown. Any other questions or comments? All in favor? >> I oppose. Motion carries. >> So, just so you know, I

092did work really closely with MDE since I already had this done. It's basically um been approved. So, we have been given the green light to move forward with our plan, although the actual letter won't come to us until June, but we told them like June is too too far out to get started on this. So, with your approval tonight, we will start putting these pieces into place. So, thank you for your support. >> Thank you. >> Okay, on to first reading of policies, the ones listed there. Yes, Madam Chair, members of the board, we had a nice meeting last week, hour and a halfish or so. Uh good discussion. We had uh reviewed a handful of um items and actually I think there were some in the one read already approved. >> Yep. And uh

093there were also some first read. Would encourage you to take a look at those and um >> should be good. >> Okay. Uh schoolboard committee representative updates. Uh finance, we haven't had anything. uh policy. Uh Ashley, >> Mr. Jubenbach talked about that. Um so the legislaturator is back in session, so I've been um enjoying streaming all the committee meetings in my ear while I go about my day. Um it's looking to be a very unproductive session. Um it kind of oscillates in the house depending on who holds the gavl, um what the topics are that they discuss, but it's, you know, still a couple weeks in. So, a lot of the introductory um yearly kind of updates to different programs. Um couple things um just super minor. Um there's like a cell phone policy that

094got some, you know, seems like it's, you know, probably going to pass, but it matches what our Big Lake current practices, especially with the change we made last year, two years ago to the high school. So, we shouldn't have any financial impact for that one. Um there's a school safety bill and things like that. Um there is a bill about um creating an educator insurance pool that would have a substantial financial impact to our district. So I um thank you to um our business office and HR office for getting me some data. So I shared that with MSBA so their lobbyists um it has a hearing tomorrow morning. So they're just going to show that as kind of an example of one generic district um that reached out so they can say that it actually

095is not a cost savings to districts. Um in fact in our district it would add over a million dollars to our yearly um obligations. So um so yeah, so just trying to keep aware of those bills as they come forward so that um can try and provide um insight to the lobbyists or information to the lobbyist if it has a positive or negative effect for Big Lake schools. And then um schools advocating for fair funding has their general meeting tomorrow. They were hoping to get an update on the uh financial outlook or financial um forecast. Thank you. But they've pushed that off another week. So um they're still going to have uni talking there about some preliminary stuff, but until the forecast comes out, the February forecast comes out, um there's not going to be

096too much uh meat on the proposed targets. So, uh, we had a buildings and ground meeting right before this and we discussed the bids which we approved tonight. Uh, we talked about pool things. We talked about the special education areas. We also talked about LTFM money and we've got some discussions we'll have in April around the track and some other needs that we see and some repurposing of some spaces. That's something exciting to look forward to. I don't know if you want to add anything else, TJ, if that's good for now. Good. Okay. Uh any other represent groups that I've met since last time? Okay, on to your report. >> I know you are. I made sure that you >> um so Alexis let us know that she would not be here today. So, I'm

097going to go ahead and I'm going to read her report. Probably not as well as she does, but I will just kind of fill you in on what's been going on about the high school. So, from Alexis, um we had the evening of fine arts. Many art students or local artists were able to celebrate their work on February 5th. Uh we were able to see all the hard work they put into their art and show off their amazing talences talents. Uh we had poetry out loud, poems, portraits, po pottery, and uh this year's last one performance. And I was there that evening. It was great. They did a really nice job. Uh poetry out loud. Uh Kyla Goswitch and Linda Stokes have moved on to state competing this Friday in Mano uh gymnastics Leah Upoff

098on the bars and I believe it's is it Kala Kala thank you Kala Morris thank you uh for the all round head to the state as individuals Big Lake High School B uh choir band and jazz both the big lake high school choir and band students dedicated many hours practicing to perform for a judge at solo ensemble Uh both groups represented Big Lake High School well with the Big Lake High School band hosting at St. Benz. The choir had an amazing concert Monday night and the band this following Monday. There's one coming up and um I was going to mention that too. Uh lastly at the Big Lake High School Jazz Band performed on February 14th at Lupin's Jazzfest featuring a swing style rendition of Lov. So I'm sure that was great. Um Big Lake

099High School holds a milestone um 10th annual youth apprenticeship signing day. On Tuesday, February 17th, Big Lake High School held its 10th annual youth apprenticehship signing day. Uh this honors the current student apprentices apprent that's right, who chose to pursue real world experiences while still in high school. In addition to re recognizing the family and community partnerships that make it all possible, Big Lake High School interior design. These students took a trip to IKEA this month to explore the principles of design. I bet that was really interesting. Um, uh, Big Lake High School wrestling girls section tournament first ever. Alexa Guy took first place and Kora Ran took fourth place and Grayson Mayor placed fifth. Super excited about the growing girls uh wrestling team. We got great participants and I think it's going to be

100great into the future. Um, Epic had a virtual leadership review uh where they learned about what other youth are doing in Minnesota. And uh, Alexis want to give a special shout out to the Big Lake High School yearbook for working to build an amazing yearbook National Honor Society for their hard work in our community and Big Lake High School Prom Committee with the official theme out now. And I believe it is evening of Greece or evening in Greece. evening in Greece. So, it's gonna be pretty neat. So, it's it's >> going to >> Yes. That's awesome. >> I was going to say it might be worth noting that um Alexis Alexa guy moved on to state. She's at state right now. Okay. Which is like the first ever Big Lake uh female participant at um

101state wrestling. >> That is awesome. When is when is her >> She's a nth grader, right? When she >> she will wrestle tomorrow. >> Tomorrow. >> Awesome. So stay tuned on that. >> And you still have to follow a report. >> I know, Cal. She haunts me from from I don't know. No, >> from Google. >> Absolutely. I do have just a couple items here for my report. Uh just a quick update on the school year calendar. We are still working on it. I actually had admin kind of review a few drafts and now I've reached out to BLM leadership and I'm just waiting to see when we can come together. Just a reminder, uh there is anou in place that requires us to review the calendar with BLM before we officially take it to

102the board for approval. Target date is to have it approved um next month. So, just keep that in mind. I just want to update the board on that. Well, as we have a community fair coming up on March 14th. It is from 10 to 1 and I know many of you have actually attended that. It's a really, really neat community event. And we're going to have tables. I know Stephanie's back there. We've got like two tables. It's always in the same spot when you walk in. We've got like the hightraic area. So, if anyone is interested in coming, uh why don't you let me know after the meeting and uh we can meet with uh Stephanie and just kind of if there's anything you want to have specific out there. I think last year we

103had a get to know your board member or something like that. >> Referend we had a lot more. Yes, we did, didn't we? Yes. All kinds of things. So, so we're we'll be working on some things, but um I know uh right now Stephanie, you've got it's a booth about community ed stuff and All right. So, um, but it's action-packed. Thousand over a thousand people come through there. So, um, >> you have the little market out. >> Yeah. Oh, yeah. And there'll be the indoor farmers market and live music, uh, out in the, um, entry area. So, that's that's really neat. Like I said, it's one of it's really a neat community event. So, if you haven't seen it, please come and check it out. >> Every year. >> I know. I always see. Yep.

104Yep. Always. Always. So, um, and, uh, last but not least, from around the district, I I know it was mentioned earlier, we had a great choir concert. Brie Hawkins and her team did a fantastic job and, uh, just like Alexis said on her report. Um, band is next Monday, so I would encourage you to come and check that out. Uh, kids work, these students work so hard on this and it's just wonderful to see him performing. It's really good stuff. I want to give a quick shout out to Ben Bonnet on a fantastic uh, wellness day. his him and his team coordinated a great wellness day uh earlier this month and uh great participation, great speaker. It was it was really it was really a good day. Thanks Ben for all your hard work on

105that. And I want to mention um just a huge congratulation to Shallon Tor uh uh receiving the new the going to be the new high school principal. We wish you luck on all of that. So, I just want to I just know that in conversations with her, she's super excited and yeah, I didn't tell her to prepare anything, but uh we're excited to have her in the position. I know she's going to do great. Looking forward to the future. So, so uh calendars, uh a couple things. Uh just to let you all know, February 26th is literacy night. That is a PTO uh event. Uh so, I would encourage you to come and check that out. Uh, it is at Liberty this year, I believe. Yes, it is. And, uh, it's at 5:30. I think

106it goes from 5:30 to 7:30, I believe. >> 5:30 to 7 tomorrow. >> Yes. So, uh, yes, it's tomorrow. I'll be swinging by at the very beginning and checking out and kind of walking through and seeing what's there. Also, uh I know uh Ashley did mention um SAF uh at the general membership meeting is tomorrow at 9:00 and Ashley's going to be participating in that as well as uh March 4th staff day at the capital. Ashley's going to be there if anybody's interested in going to the capitol. Uh please just let me know and we can carpool or do whatever we need to happen there. MSBA MASA day at the Capitol. Ashley's going to represent down there. STEM night is scheduled for March 12th at 5. Uh guarantee guaranteed to be a wonderful evening as

107always. The community fair I mentioned on the 14th. Kindergarten registration. I believe you all received an invitation for that from Teresa. And it is on March 16th. That's a Monday. And it's from 4 to 6:30. Even if you can come for a little while, it's it's it's wonderful. Those young families come in and they're excited and you get a chance to introduce and welcome them in. And it's uh um I know I'll be there I'm guessing for the entire time. So um please feel free to do that. Policy committee um uh on the 18th uh it is at 5 note the earlier start time uh because also that evening we have a six o'clock work session uh to continue that budget conversation piece. March 25th is uh our regular board meeting. I have a family

108conflict um with my spouse earlier that day. So to ensure that I can be there, I am requesting that we move the start time from 6 to 7. It'll be the same evening, but like I said, I just want to be there for my spouse. So, um if I can just move it an hour later, I would really appreciate that. >> Um >> I'll be there. We're good. We're good. I was given the green light. So So >> thank you. No, no, it's all good. It's all good. But I do I do need to be there for her earlier in the day. >> Um No, I think I don't think I need to prove it. We'll just repost for it and the change the time change. So again, so our regular meeting on the 25th

109will be at 7, not at 6. So that's uh and Yeah. Yeah. >> Yes. And then also too, I I do want to mention that um we had a fantastic history day. I know uh there were a few of us that were able to sit in and judge. I was able to I think I was there for two hours or maybe maybe three. Um so we had uh are is this an actual list? >> No, that was just >> just a reminder. >> Yeah. >> Yes. A big shout out. Thank you. Thank you for the reminder on that. I don't I don't like to forget these things. I it's we're just busy. So no, the middle school does a fantastic job. Boy, I'm telling you, you come in here and that space uh the um

110the new media center, it was great. >> It was It's the hub. Yep. It was >> that was that was a nice way to do it. >> Absolutely. They had it divided out into different podcasts and different presentations and it was really neat. I really appreciated that. So, I know the social studies department worked really hard. Students worked even harder, which is great. So, um it's always exciting. They're always a little bit nervous, but it takes a lot of courage to kind of present to some strangers and they had to present to two. So, um, great stuff. I learned some really cool things. >> So, uh, >> depends on I mean, it seems like whatever the theme is, they're always the same some some of the same topics. >> Some of the same topics, but

111>> but there were a couple this year I'm like, whoa, this is awesome. I'm hearing something new for the first time. >> Yes, it was super cool. Like, there was Yeah, I I we'll see the the ones that moved on. I haven't officially heard that word yet, but um, boy, there was some really quality projects, too. So, good job middle school. Good job students. Good job teachers. So, um, it's a big thing. It's a cool thing. >> 19th. Thank you, Janna. And you know what? So many things action-packed. Thank you for mentioning that. So March 19th is the fourth grade. >> Three musicals. >> Are they repeats? >> Nice. >> Otherwise, you'd be really packed in there. >> Yes. I got to get that on my >> 515 615 7:15. Thank you so much for

112I did not want to forget that. Janna, thank you so much. So, >> Chelsea's daughter. >> You can't all show up at that one. >> Yeah. Yeah, that would be a quorum. That'd be a quorum. >> I think we're safe because I think I'm >> Okay. So, she says 6:15. All right. Do I hear 7:15? 7:50. >> All right. That actually concludes my report. Unless, of course, there's questions. >> Any other questions? Okay. Uh, the board will have a closed meeting as permitted by Minnesota statute section 13D.03 to discuss Big Lake Schools labor negotiations strategies related to negotiations with Big Lake Education Minnesota and Big Lake Administrators associate administrators association. I need a motion to a motion to enter following the adjournment of the regular meeting. >> Motion made by Nelson, second by Sixberry. Uh,

113any other discussion? All in favor? >> I oppose. Motion carries. The closed meeting will commence in five minutes at 7:38 in the middle school student center. Um I will just adjourn the regular meeting. This meeting is