Byron School Board meeting (1/20/25)

001Call to order. Okay. >> School board meeting, Independence School District 531, Tuesday, January 20th at 6 p.m. Can I get in attendance, please? >> Yep. Jeremy >> here. >> Lisa >> here. David >> here. >> Kelly here. Gary >> here. Alicia >> here. And >> All right. Can we all stand and face the flag for the pledge of allegiance? I aliance 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. >> Vision Byron Public Schools, a community of learners committed to making the world a better place. Mission: learn, share, innovate, and inspire. priorities. Personalize learning in the pursuit of academic excellence. Inspire students and staff to develop their character, share their talents, and apply their learning. Maintain

002excellence and resource management. Were there any visitors that signed in? All right. Uh on to approval of agenda items. Is there any questions on the agenda? Otherwise, I would entertain a motion to approve the agenda. I make a motion to appre approve the agenda as stands. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. All in favor? >> All opposed. Passes. Uh on to reports. Uh Byron Primary School K2 presentation. Mr. Hack. Hello everyone. >> Hi. >> See if this works. Got a couple slides here. Oh, I didn't give you access. I gave it to him. >> Oh, no. >> I don't know if I can do this. See, I knew this is going to happen. Sorry, we can go without this too because I don't have my computer to >> you. Oh, here. Actually, look. Look

003at this technology. Where's this technology right here? should have access. >> Sorry, I'll use PowerPoint or something. >> Um, you just flip to the first slide. >> No, I don't know how to do this. >> Well, go to present. >> Look at that. >> And then just hit the button. >> See, you're learning something new, too. Um, so I just put together a couple slides just to show you what's going on at Clim Primary School, show you some of the faces and some of the things that are upcoming and that that we're kind of proud of so far this year. Uh, as far as our focus this year, you know, our overall umbrella focus is that we're just going to do the best to care for kids. And one of the questions we always ask

004is who's going to do it better than us? So, one of our main focus is unreasonable hospitality. Uh it's something that we started last year which is based on a book by Will Gada and he's kind of a a hotel restaurant guy. Uh but it's talking about over exceeding and and going beyond what what the expectation is and that's that's kind of what our underlying theme is that we talk about every staff meeting and how can we make children feel seen? How can we have them feel heard? And how do we make sure they know that they belong here? And something that we also talk about is we don't just want to make sure kids know that. We want to make sure our community knows that so that every day their child's dropped off at

005Byron Primary Schools, they know that no matter what, their child is going to be loved. And we go a step further of trying to create like these extraordinary little opportunities for a kid to go home and tell stories about what happened at school that day. Uh, so you know, something where I don't know, one of the teachers hears something from their child or one of their students, you know, three weeks ago and then, you know, there's a little trinket that's brought in. That's just an example, but something where they know that their teachers actually paying attention to them and that they're treating their children just like one of their own. And I believe that's what's always going on there. Uh, this is just another way to promote that. Our Wonders curriculum, uh, this is our

006first year of implementation of Wonders. uh primary or intermediate schools been using this. We we just finished our last in service of that yesterday and I would say implementation is going well. I would say that second grade and first grade are wholeheartedly all in kindergarten at this point. I'd say we're still still feeling it out and I've talked with a lot of other principles as well regarding this uh because there's always some angst as into hey here's what we've always done. We've always had good results. Why now do I need to move to this in case things are slower? So, we're working on that, but I think everything's being taught with fidelity and we're going to continue to uh to prosper. And then for staff culture and schoolwide unity, that's another focus of ours. We

007do that through our staff meetings or through any correspondence that we have during the day. Kind of the inoculous times to know when you're face to face and care about what that other person is saying to you. So, we're we're we're doing our best to we we have such great people there. I want them just like the kids to feel like, hey, I'm coming to a place that's enjoyable every day. I flip the There you go. Uh here's our kindergarteners uh as well as well as our discoveries team. Uh they always do they're such a fun group to have. They do such a nice job of nurturing these kids. And we were talking today in our meeting that our kindergarters are coming to us with more and more needs. and our kindergarten teachers are taking

008that all on stride, which is awesome to see. So, they're pretty flexible. They do a really nice job also of having so many events that invite all of our parents into the building so they can see firsthand what what's going on. So, that's awfully nice. They're just starting their habitat unit. Uh but also, you know, we had all the fun fall events with their I love their friends giving where they line everybody up in the hallway and they make their own little decorations and they sit there and have, you know, have Thanksgiving lunch together, which is pretty cute. Um but yeah, so kindergarten is is off and running. Uh we have our Discoveries uh nutrition unit, which has been one of my favorite ever since CO when I wouldn't let my son do his nutrition

009unit until I was home. So I can enjoy my degree and Pompei and Fukstire. You can flip it. Uh first grade. Uh they're also really really a fun group. They do they really make learning fun for all the kids and they're just a fun camaraderie. Uh there is a fun camaraderie amongst amongst the teachers and they do a lot of nice things there. Uh the diaper drive was a nice immersion into SEAL and giving and um it's fun. And I was reading some of the reflections when they first, you know, were doing the activities and that the kids actually got it. That even though they might not see where all these things go, they got some joy out of giving to other people. Uh the balloons over Broadway during Thanksgiving where they teach about Macy's

010Day parade and some of those types of things. It's one of the cutest activities I think we do. They do a little parade and uh let's see, our number scrolls. It's amazing how excited kids get just to write numbers to a thousand. I was subbing in there last week and they're just look, I'm at 650 and they the these teachers do a great job of immersion into making kids have so much fun that they don't even realize that they're learning which is super super nice. Uh they're just starting some of their light sorry you're fine some of their light and sound experiments which the kids were pretty excited for too flip. Sorry. Second grade. Uh I always joke with second grade that they're like our little university within our building. Uh they take their rigor

011very very seriously because second to third grade is a huge jump and so this year with the implementation of Wonders uh they've been really just after it and they're doing a wonderful job and they're starting to really enjoy Wonders too and what it has to offer. We're just starting to talk about some, you know, alignment across different grade levels. So, second grades can go visit third grade now that we're just getting into wonders to make sure that they are truly are prep for their for their third grade uh time. And they just started melting some crayons today uh to start their solids and liquid science experiments. Uh so again, these hands-on activities is what the kids all get really jazzed about. Uh our specials group specials have taken on a new life this year with

012all the extra ones uh as we share specialists teachers between the intermediate and the primary school. It's nice to have Miss Larson and Miss Smithers back into their roles for music and art. And then Miss Dom, Mr. Halder, and Miss Rizzo really do a good job of keeping those kids moving. I do get to sub Miss Dom's class every once in a while. And some of the activities she does in there are just, you know, I did some PE teaching way back in the day and she must spend hours just prepping or getting there to set up the 900 pieces of equipment that she has. So the kids really, you know, get get excited. Uh, Miss Knebeck 2 is an awesome addition to have down here. She really lights the fire and creativity for all

013our kids. She does a really nice job. And then kind of rounding out our main staff is our special education team. Uh, so we have our PAR support group and then our three special ed teachers currently. It's hard to go into those buildings and not or into their rooms and not have a great big smile on your face. Uh, our pair team this year is really really strong. They do a really nice job of one-on-one with all the kids. Uh, so we I don't know, we've been having a good year and I think that's really it. You know, we have more people there. You know, we have Chad, you know, our our our janitorial, our maintenance staff. Uh we have some of our grounds guys that come help to and it's been nice during the

014winter to get some of the bigger projects done so our building doesn't come into disrepair. You know, we have our front office staff. We have our nursing staff. Heather Bracker, our district rep is there. So, I'd say all in all, kids are pretty happy. Uh if I can always see a kid come in the day happy and leave happy, then I think we've done at least 80% of our job. And uh we'll just start winter testing here shortly. So, we'll kind of know if if that's translating also into the educational side of things. So, pretty happy so far. Any questions for me, right? Anything I answer? >> I know the scrolls are they get all three of my kids. >> I don't get it. I do not I don't get that at all, but they

015they really do like to show their stuff on that. >> My 25-year-old still has hers. >> Yeah, that's crazy. >> Yeah, they do. Yeah, that's awesome. All right. Um, >> I don't have questions. I just wanted to say I know that we've said this before, but you all have been through a lot the last couple years, and I think we probably all feel like we are in a much better place and a much better direction and are grateful for that. Um, if you know, if you ever feel like there's roadblocks we can remove or ways we can provide more support, please never hesitate to let me know. >> Perfect. >> We'll do our best. >> All right. Appreciate it. Thanks, guys. Thank you. >> Thank you. Moving on to the Byron intermediate school 3 through5

016presentation. Mr. Rosemire is coming. Yes. Good evening. Good to see all of you. This is Sandy Johnson. She's uh one of our superstar teachers at the really at both at both schools. Um and really what I wanted to do tonight uh is to provide you a little context around um our building goals and uh and specifically around the area of critical thinking. when we look at a profile of a graduate and the work that we've been doing uh as a staff. Um like like Brad shared um really proud of the work that our staff has has been doing. It's hard to believe that we're already halfway through the uh through the school year. Um you know, I think Brad feels the same way. our staff certainly feels the budget reductions that that have taken place,

017but uh you know, kudos to them uh really persevering through through those things and and really putting kids first and in the work that they do each day. So, super proud of the staff uh and and what we've accomplished this far and excited for the second half of the school year. Um, but back to the presentation is what I what I've tried to provide for you is just a little context about where we've been so you have an idea of of where we're at now. It really started two years ago. Our staff at the intermediate school did a deeper dive into the profile of a graduate. We had been implementing uh things, you know, for five or four or five years up to that time. And so it was just a good time for us

018to do some reflective work around what each of those six C's are and and uh and really to acknowledge like the the great uh learning opportunities that were happening. And so we each month at our staff meeting, we we took a deep dive into the seas. We looked at each one, created some common uh language around, you know, what that means and what it looks like here. and then just doing did some vertical alignment around okay building on on standards and and the learning that was happening through third, fourth and and fifth grade. Uh and then through that experience also recognizing okay where are our gaps where where are areas that we wanted to to really build on and and we landed on critical thinking as being a you know the sea that we as

019a staff we really wanted to continue to to uh learn more about um and really put some more emphasis on. uh the year after that last year we kind of took a pause with this because of the readact you know that really consumed uh all of our time and and focus and training. Um but then again this year as our site team got together last spring to talk about our building goals we brought this work back and so starting off the the year in August we we kicked off the work around the around critical thinking. In October, we invited Jen Hegna to do some um work with our staff on how we could leverage AI in in terms of the the work that we do with uh with this particular scene and critical thinking in

020the in the classroom. Uh we had a great staff meeting in December um kind of looking at our morning meeting in SEAL time and how we as a staff can incorporate critical thinking skills um into that time of the the day for um for our students. and uh and then just continuing to to look at all the different uh moments in our day and the experiences that our kids have and just putting all of that together. Um and as I was building this presentation or building this report, you know, I got to thinking about, you know, something that is is new to our school in the sense of of the the person Sandy Johnson. Um we've had gifted and talented for years and years and years. We've we've had our media center of course, but

021I I what I thought would be beneficial for you to highlight tonight is really the incredible work that that Sandy has has done in both of those spaces. You know, as a principal, I think when you can find that intersection of of what you always hope with as you develop staff and as you bring people in and look at programs and people like that intersection of where like passion and skill kind of come together and and you'll see in Sy's presentation in a moment that happening where she's just really passionate about the work that she's doing and it shows up in the experiences that our our kids have uh each and every day. So, with that being said, um I just want to introduce again a staff member, Sandy Johnson. Uh and uh I'll I'll

022let her take it from here. So, thanks for being here. >> I have a lot to say, but I talk fast. >> Um so, as you said, I'm Sandy Johnson. I'm on all of your official paperwork as Cassandra. I have three different roles in the district. Oh, that's the very last slide. So, if you want to go all the way to the beginning, that'd be great. Um I have three different roles in the district. I do the library at the primary and intermediate schools just kind of managing that. Um I do gifted and talented the enrichment services for grades three through five and then I do math intervention for grades one through three. So I'm kind of split between the two buildings and then those three different roles. If you want to go to the

023next slide. Um so just kind of a overview of what our enrichment or cub or gifted and talent did. It's all different names for kind of the same thing. Uh these are services for the kids who score kind of consistently in that 98th 99th percentile. So when you're looking at the like the range of continuum of services, like if you've got like sped and tier three like pull-up services over here, this is like the pull out services for those high-f flyers. So the kids who aren't in this program are still being challenged within the classroom by the work that the classroom teachers are doing. This is just that very end of the continuum of the kids who need a little bit more than what the classroom teachers are able to provide. So right now, currently,

024I have 70 students across the three different grades, and we meet four days a week, Monday through Thursday, for about 30 minutes each time. And um really I feel very passionately that these kids need these services. Just like how we wouldn't expect our special ed kids to have the education that they need in the classroom, these gifted kids also need a special education that is service to um the way that their brains work and the emotional needs that they have. Go back next slide. Uh the profile of graduate is the reason why I commute almost an hour to Byron every day. Like this is what I love about this district. This is why I applied to teach here. if I won the lottery and could build my own school, this is what I would do.

025Um, I love the fact that the kids aren't just consuming information and regurgitating information back, right? They're creating original work. They're diving deeper than um the surface level learning. And I never go into any of the units that we do with like a scripted lesson of on this day we're going to do this, on this day we're going to do this. I kind of give an outline of what I want to accomplish with this. And then we just get to let the kids take it and see what they're curious about and go further and deeper than because over winter break I was working on building a robot and I'm like I just I can't wait to see what the kids are going to do with this because I know already that they're going to have

026way better ideas than what I can come up with. So it's really just a lot of hands-on project based learning really authentic things that we get to do. So what does this look like? So for instance, when we are teaching coding, um we did a hopscotch application where the kids rather than just like trying to um look at like how can I get my little guy from here to here, they were creating their own games. So we went into like game design and like you need to have a goal for your game, right? You need to have a way to win or to score points. You need to have obstacles that will set you back. And so we talked about game design and then they were able to learn the drag and drop coding for

027it. And then they presented their games to their classmates and had each other play each other's games and kind of like debug it and offer suggestions of ways that they can make it better. Um, and then the kids, the ones that are able to bring their iPads home or that downloaded the app at home, some of them would come back and they'd be like, I created five different levels and I figured out how to create, you know, a timer on here. And I'm like, okay, if anybody wants to know how to create a timer, ask that kid because I don't know how to do it. And so they just really they're showing each other how to create things. um with experimenting. Uh I led them through a few different science experiments at first, but now

028my third graders researched uh their own experiment that they wanted to present and they had to understand the science behind it and they had to bring in the supplies for it and now they are taking over the class for the rest of the week and they are leading the experiments for the rest of their peers. So we really get to just do deeper level activities than we would get to do in a normal classroom setting setting. So here's an example. Uh, this was from our um, storytelling and interpretation unit for fourth grade. And so they studied mythology, which was really fun because I didn't know anything about mythology before I started studying to lead this unit. Um, and some of these kids just geeked out about this, right? Like I had this little guy who

029every time that I would pronounce the name of one of the Greek gods or goddesses, he would like correct me on it. And eventually I just started like turning over to him and he's like, "You're doing great." So, uh, we read mythology stories in a reader theater theater format. And then the kids each picked their own Greek god or goddess that they researched with different um with different sources. And then they had to take what they read about that Greek god or goddess and kind of synthesized that information to what types of attacks if I was making a Pokemon card would that Greek god or goddess use and like what would their weaknesses be? And so then they created Pokemon cards with original artwork and different attacks. And we printed them off and they were

030able to like trade Pokemon cards with each other and play with them. And then they wrote their own mythology plays. They really wanted to do plays. So all of them come up with their own stories that kind of were based around that and they presented them to their peers and um yeah so it's just to kind of give you an overview of what that what one unit looks like. So these are kind of my units outlined for the year and there's kind of two different lenses that you can look at gifted and talented with. There's the acceleration lens or the enrichment lens and we decided to go the enrichment way. I can teach a third grader about square roots if they're ready for it, but they're still going to have to sit through that when

031they're in sixth grade and everybody else is learning about square roots. So, I kind of look at it from an enrichment lens of what other areas can we teach them things that might become hobbies or passions later on. An example of that for my own son when he was in a different district in first grade, he was identified for gifted education and they basically just gave him harder exs to do that made him cry. Um, but then we gave him a model rocket for his birthday and now he's studying aerospace engineering. So like what are the different passion areas that we can introduce these kids to? So like for logic and reasoning, we did a lot of like the New York Times mini games like the Wordle and the Strains and stuff like that. We

032taught them those. But then I also introduced them to some new ones that they hadn't heard of like um there's a daily Myrtle mystery where you use logic and reasoning to solve the detective mystery. And I've got a kid that says every morning at breakfast me and mom do the myrtle together and have you done it yet today? And um like innovation and design I plan on that one's coming up later in the year. I plan on having the kids do market research into what their peers are into and design. I've got a button maker. So, we're going to then do some like graphic design things and we're going to learn about um copyright and licensing like you can't just use characters and stuff. And then we're going to make a proposal to student council

033about if we can stock our buttons in their school store and talk about overhead costs and there's just so many fun things that we can do. Um communication and expression. We're going to do mock trials and maybe I've got some future lawyers in the group that are that are going to discover that that's a passion area for them. You can go the next one if you want. These are some quotes from the kids about I had surveyed them to just see how the year was going for them. If enrichment is challenging enough, if it's too challenging, like where are we at? And they just love being there so much and it is so important to them. Um I was talking to one of my colleagues whose kid is in the program and she said, "We

034were just having a heartto-he heart the other night and he was like, "My brain is just different than other people's." And like literally it is different than other people's. And so we're able to get those kids who feel like they're a little bit different than others together. Um I had a we were doing comparing uh the Grim stories with the Disney stories and we're talking about fairy tales and one kid really knew a lot about it and I'm like how do you know so much about this? And he's like I study film theory and I'm like oh okay you are in the right place right? Like we have all these kids that have these little passion areas that can share them with each other and we can talk about like the social and emotional needs

035that they have and um so many of them have perfectionist issues because they feel like they have to be good and right all the time and so then they don't ever take risks because they're afraid of failing because it's embarrassing and so this is a safe place where they can't take those risks and they can learn and grow. So I just absolutely love the program that we have. I think that it's so important for these kids to have and um it might be the best part of their day, but it's also the best part of my day, too. And then the other area what I want to talk to you about is the library and um what the library is like as a learning space and ways that have been able to help make the

036libraries come alive this year, especially um the intermediate school I feel like gets a little bit more love with the library than the primary school does just cuz I'm there more. But you know, the next one. So, uh, before the I spent about 200 hours just volunteering the library this summer to kind of get it into shape before the school year because it had been neglected for a while. And if you look at the before picture, we kind of had I call them runways. These two like runways of where the books were and they're in alphabetical order by author. But the kids don't know who the author of anything is. They want a book about horses, right? Or they want a book that is a mystery. And so we rearranged the library so that it's

037by genre. So we've got a section for science fiction. We've got a section for fantasy. and it helps the kids find other books that they might be interested in um that they wouldn't have otherwise known to go and look for. Um I spent a lot of time this summer I had to convince my husband to go into every bookstore we walked past for market research, right? And um the books that are facing out are the ones that grab your eye. So uh you'll notice that our shelves are only about half full because we have so many of the books now that are facing out because we do judge books by the cover and that's okay. Uh so we kind of reimagined the space. If you go to the next slide, you can see I tried

038to create different like nooks and crannies that would be like cozy corners where kids could curl up with a good book. Um, brought in a lot of like twinkle lights and plants, all fake ones cuz I have two black thumbs. Um, but just made a a place where kids want to be and they want to hang out. And it's not just a room filled with books. We really work on cultivating curiosity and just engaging kids there. So, if you go to the next slide, I'll show you some of the different things that we do. So, like every month I have a scavenger hunt. So um in November it was D November and the kids could look for fossils that were hidden around the room and then like the critical thinking component of it is they

039had to match like based on what they saw for the bone structure of the fossil to what dinosaur on the sheet that they thought that it was or right now we've got like paw prints are hiding around. We call it traps in the stacks and they have to match it to the animal that they think. I have different Lego mosaic uh challenges this month. Right now it's like snowmen and penguins. We had a Mario one. I try to connect to the curriculum and also to pop culture type things that they're interested in. So, um, like I had a a lect to read for during election week where we had different books about the government and voting, but then I also had a K-pop demon hunters display that you just, you know, if you put a

040K-pop demon hunters bookmark in a book, they will read anything. Um, that will go up. And, uh, every week we have a question of the week. We really debate the hard topics that kids care about. Like this week is tacos versus pizza. And, uh, at the intermediate school, it's up on a dry race erase board. And the kids will take, if they think that there should be a third option, they'll take dry erase markers and they'll make a third option on there and they will try to convince each other and they'll write like little like I did Xbox versus PS5 or four or whatever it is one week and they made a whole option for Nintendo Switch. They couldn't believe I left it off. So, we've got jigsaw puzzles. We've got um I hide like

041the Trader Joe's goose. I hide a bear in different locations each week. Uh if you go to the next slide, um the most exciting thing that we added this year is a morning check-in time, like a drop in time. So, previously the kids could only come once a week when their classes come to check out books. And now I'm in there every morning and we have about 20 to 30 different kids that come through. Some of them are daily flyers. They're going through two books a night at home. And then some of them just come in, you know, a couple times a week. And the best part about it is this is the face tof face time that I get with the kids because otherwise we don't have like I'm not sitting in there all

042day to talk with the kids, but this is the time where I can be like, "Oh, you just read that book. Like, let me introduce you to this other book." Or, "Oh, the next book in that series is coming out. I'm going to place a hold on it for you right now. I'll deliver it to your classroom when we get it in." And so, I'm really able to make the connections with those readers and recommend other books that they might be interested in. And they're always so excited to come in and tell me what they thought about a book. Really, the relationship is driving those stronger reading habits. Um, go to the next slide. I try to be as responsive to the students in the curriculum as you can. You can see I've got a

043a 67 display up there where I encourage kids to take the 67 challenge and read six to seven pages of a book they wouldn't have otherwise given a chance. And I think that's the first time a wrinkle in time has been checked out from our library since we've gotten it. So, >> it they came back and got the next one in the series. So, they were into it. Um, I've got I try to find locations to where kids might be like when they're washing hands. I've got little displays up now of new books so that as they're washing their hands, they can see what new books we have in the title. Or when teachers are microwaving their lunches, I have um different new series that I got in like recommendations, they're standing there anyways, waiting

044for their lunch to cook. So I can tell them like, "Hey, if your kids like reading this book, they might like reading this book, too. And this is what book level it is." Um for different events like you can see we've got kids there for our 911 museum. I did an indigenous people's day museum. I had a Veterans Day thing. We've got Hispanic Heritage Month. Um, February I have a Olympics thing planned where it's like myths versus facts on the Olympics and it has like lift the flaps so they can make a guess of whether it's a myth or a fact and then read it. Um, I've got a Black History Month project coming up where they can scan QR codes and get um audio books about different famous black Americans. So really trying to

045incorporate things in that the teachers might not necessarily have time to do, but they can be like, "Hey, we've got an extra hour. Let's go down to the library and check out these displays about things." Go to the next slide. So, here are some I know you guys love data. Here are some numbers for you. So, this year we've seen a 30% increase in circulations at the intermediate school and I really attribute that to that morning checkout time. I really think that having the opportunity for kids to come in multiple times a week and then have that same familiar face in the library makes a difference. Um, books per student. So, the goal for an elementary student is to have 25 books per student. We started out at 9.6 six books and we're up to

04611.7 which might not seem like that large of a jump but when you figure we have to add 600 books to the library in order to get it to go up one we're doing pretty good on that. We're able to increase the age of the library from 2009 to 2010 and 21% of our books are within the last 5 years. So we're able to get some of those newer hotter titles in. So I just want to thank you for giving us this opportunity not only to come and talk to you tonight about it but to have this role. I know that budgets are tight and I really appreciate the investment that you've made in these spaces. I know a lot of people think that the role of a librarian is just to shelf books and

047most of the time my student assist does that. Um it doesn't take a master's degree to check out books or shelf them but my job I feel like is to build readers and I feel like we have this window of opportunity like I subbed in first grade today. They just are now after winter break being allowed to check out chapter books and they are so excited about it. And then when I read out loud to them from Dragon Masters, like at one point I pretended to close the books just so THEY'D ALL GO, "NO." LIKE THEY ARE so hooked on books at that age, but when you talk to a seventh grader, it is not the same vibe, right? And so we have this window of opportunity where kids are learning to read where we

048can convince them to build lifelong reading habits and teach them that they are readers and to get excited about the books that they're reading. And I just feel like if we invest at them at the elementary age when it comes to these services that they're going to it's going to change their identity about who they are and it will hopefully continue on in the future. So thank you. >> Wow. TRUE. >> I did have my survey from the kids one home said you could talk a little slower like I can talk a little slower. Sorry that >> questions at all. >> Oh yeah question. Sorry. >> So is that normal speed? that time. >> My brain works really fast and so I talk really fast and so I also really appreciate working with kids that

049are like, "No, I got you. I don't have to." >> Yes. >> Well, I I have a fifth grader who's like read 20 minutes, >> right? >> And I have a first grader who's like, "Can I read to you?" >> Right. >> Yes. Let's sit down. So seeing these type things as they're both growing and and knowing that they're interactive and it's involving and that's what we're trying to teach at home is like it's characters, it's imagination. >> Yeah. >> And and from the critical thinking, thank you for focusing on that because it's like, >> "Dad, I need help with this." Okay, what did you try? >> Nothing. >> Okay, let's start to work through some of these problems. And so I'm glad to hear that. And this is like I mean just soaking it

050all in going this is amazing and how looking back it's like I wish right because a librarian is much more than you said stacking shelves. >> This is next level. >> Yeah. >> I I want to go. >> You're welcome to. I can say that. >> I feel like my jaw is on the floor. It's just I do like it is like I I got a little I almost got like tearary at one point because it is just like you donated so much of your time and I sure money and um it's just amazing what you've done and when you like that um the Greek mythology I'm sure there's some Percy Jackson in there like I want to do that like that's so fun I just all of it it's just thank you so much

051and um you're really taking care of the kids beyond just making them into readers too, >> right? >> It's amazing. So, thank you for all you're doing >> and bravo a for finding the intersection. >> I told them the when I email them the other day, I'm like this is like it's like if you took all the best parts that I love about teaching and education and you just put them into one. This is it. Like it's the best part. >> See the passion to have you for sure. >> Question. >> Yeah. Are you able to keep up with her? That's again that's part of being a good leader is you just provide the resources and say go and and let them do it and and Sy's one that takes advantage of that and she

052is her creativity uh and work ethic are again phenomenal and she loves what she does and it's it's we see that with with our kids now as they come through our media center and as they're going through our you know our enrichment program. Um, you know, I'm not a gamer, but the games that these kids produce, >> I was able to play them. I'm like, "Wow." Like, >> this is >> Yeah, we got some future app developers for sure. >> Game design is a good job. >> Yeah. >> And right now we're doing uh block programming, but we're going to do Python and with the robots. I don't know how to do Python yet, but we're going to learn and they're going to help me. So, >> yeah, it's just incredible things. So, it's fun

053to see all the learning. like yeah it's not just you can learn from a book and read but when you actually then get to do the learning and that's really what Sandy does is she allows kids the the opportunity to experience learning and engage in it in in a different way. So good work >> I just really appreciate that you chose enrichment over acceleration. And I feel like if families want, you can find acceleration after school hours. It's really hard to find good enrichment, >> right? >> And it just connects right here with her profile of the graduate look at >> all of those things show up um you know, and not just in our media center enrichment areas and throughout our school, but Sandy has captured that profile of graduates in everything she's doing.

054So, >> yeah. And I would just echo e echo what we said to Brad, too, like um we feel like I think every we feel like everything's going in a good direction, but if there's pain points or roadblocks that we can help remove, please let me know. >> Yeah, appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. >> All right. On to superintendent report. >> All right. Well, I hate having to follow that. speed it up a little bit. >> Let's just say mine is significantly more boring. >> I don't think anything is compared. Let's go over really fast. >> Yeah, I won't I also won't be able to talk that fast either. >> That's awesome. Um let's see a couple highlights from my report over the past uh month or so. I really

055just want to highlight this advanced leadership academy that I've um I started when I was uh working for a different district, but um we finished it up uh here in December, and this was just a great opportunity to to learn and network. Um two of the two of the big speakers that came through um were uh Chief O'Hara from the Minneapolis Police Department and Jen Malcolm of CO fame. M >> um and just hearing about how leadership skills they span across industry and and how important some of those skills are when it comes to to leading people that it's it's a little less important that you're a a teacher or like in in Jan's case, she was a a scientist. she wasn't even like a medical doctor, but that it's those leadership qualities are important

056to hone and invest time in learning how to do and make better. Um, and so I included some of those because as schoolboard members, you are, whether you like it or not, a set of leaders in our district. But these are some some real great insights into things that I have reflected a lot about over the past 18 months of being in this cohort, and I hope that you would find um some benefit to those as well. Um, we have activated and used our school closing system a couple of times. Um, and our notification system at 2 o'clock in the morning another time. >> Um, and I think and I think um, at least for for Ann and I spa, we're grateful that we spent a little bit of time ahead of ahead of any

057of those events to try and plan out how these things work and how they interact with each other. Um, and so um, I think those have gone well. I haven't heard any major feedback from the community yet. about we aren't I mean there are a couple that'll say hey I'm not getting the messages or whatever and we we just work with those on an individual basis. Um, and just highlighting the a couple of these school safety things that um that are part of our radar, our orbit is it was just so cool to to um not wake everybody up at 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning, but it was amazing that there was I in a sense I kind of expected to have some grumbling or some some stuff on the email, but I actually

058I heard from a couple of people from emails just like appreci appreciation that our our county and city services cooperate with each other. Um, and that, you know, if there was a moment to wake up an entire town, it's 3:00 in the morning when we think there might be a little kid outside without winter wear and that. So, I think it's just a credit towards how important it is to develop those partnerships and making sure that even even something as simple as, hey, here's my cell phone number. You're welcome to call me whenever you need. um how much that ends up meaning in in times of weirdness because like even that time like before I sent out this message, I remember thinking, boy, I really want to make sure that this is like a thing

059and that I should do this. And because I had connected with Sheriff Torerson because of the bear incident earlier in the fall, I had his cell phone number and so I called him just to be like I got him out of bed and was just like, "Are we sure we want to do this? cuz if this is weird, you and I are going to have a weird press conference in a couple hours. >> And he was he's like, "Well, thank you for calling me. Let me make a phone call and I'll just double check." So, um, but I also want to highlight that our staff, our leadership committee, our leadership team specifically has spent a lot of time this year talking about emergency preparedness, being in being ready for um, you can't be ready for

060every single thing that's out there, but training us to think about how we can use the resources at hand to keep kids safe. Um, and I know that especially in the current times of uncertainty surrounding our state, um, that I'm very grateful for their leadership. I mean, Brad and Abe are are two just stellar examples of the skill and the quality of leader that we have in a in the district. And it just helps put my mind and it should put your mind and the community's mind at ease that these are the people charged with our children's safety each day. So anyway, that's my report from this month. So I'll take any questions about that if you have any or comments. Okay. >> All right. On to Superintendent Gold update. >> Um this is a

061more extensive report. Um I'm not necessarily going to go through this, but I'm happy to interact um as much or however to what extent that you would like to. Um my my the first goal um that I'll uh I'll highlight for tonight, I've got three of them, is to complete an the entry plan and the strategic plan. I link the entry plan because that now might seem like a whole, you know, like leap year away that we were talking about this. Um but essentially the outcome of the entry plan was to be able to answer five essential questions. Um, and the entry plan is a lot less about you and it's much more for me to understand and get kind of a 360 view to the extent possible. The district I will say a referendum

062campaign also helps because you you kind of have to know how some of these things go. So both these things really worked hand in hand. Um, I think as it comes to no surprise to you, um, Byron schools is uh, achieves at a very high rate. Um, and by any of the quantitative measures, um, if we aren't well above, if we aren't above average, we're well above average, um, if not, you know, the top three percentile in the state. Um, and that's super unusual and it should be recognized that that's hard work from um, our staff and from the kids and from the families. and all these supports kind of fit hand inand tongue and groove with each other to make um just a super unique uh and amazing district. So, um, we have a

063lot of participation and I know that sometimes, you know, for those of us who exist at the district level, we sometimes wish there would be a little less participation on emails. But um, but it's amazing that our community is so committed to our schools that they um that when they see something they're concerned about that they're willing to to hammer out a message or or place a phone call. And so kudos to you all for receiving those um and for and for working with me on on dealing with them directly. As you well know, um the community has high expectations for the district. And I think um I can't remember if this is a section I lay it out, but there really aren't any districts that I'm aware of where the district is such a

064central part of what it means to be in the community. And I think part of that is a lot of times with rural districts now they are co-opted with some other town that has a different history and a different perspective and sometimes a different school building that still has to remain part of the district regardless of if that's financially feasible or not. And Byron's unusual in that I'll I'll still call it rural district but that it's a rural district that is entirely encompassed within one town. and that the reason people move to Byron is for this district. It's not for another employer. It's not for a better commute. It's not for a more pastoral view out their back door. It is for the district. And there aren't again there there really aren't many places that

065are like that. So, um, and it shows up when we call them at 3 in the morning to go look for a kid or it shows up when, um, we have, uh, incredibly powerful and wellorganized booster organizations that donate shocking amounts of time, talent, and inind benefits and money to to the district. So, uh, those things should never be taken for granted. And I'm not saying that anybody is, but just as I was learning about these things, it's it's pretty startling what's happening in the community for the benefit of the district. So, um, perfect segue into who's connected to the district and to what extent are leadership and decisions distributed. As I mentioned above, everybody who calls Byron home is connected in to this district in some way, shape, or form. Some people live on

066a street that's named after the species of a bear. >> Yeah. Um, people got black and gold. They've got bare decals. They I mean, I imagine if you looked in, this will be weird, but if you looked in closets across the town, everybody's going to have some black and gold gear in there. And it's it's not an exception. It's the rule. Um, and that's really that's pretty amazing. Um, I really appreciate our partnership with the city. And this is another thing that that can't go without mentioning is that um the city government and the support that they have for the district is also an unusual relationship. Is that um the fact that they are willing to support and go to the lengths that they do to consider what the district's doing and where what our

067position is and what the future here looks like is is pretty amazing. Um, regarding the the decision- making, um, I do recognize that recent events surrounding the the bud, um, excuse me, the district's budget, um, that we I mean, you all know it better than I do, um, has left some of the decision-m apparatus in tatters, um, and in ragged place. And I think um one of the uh themes that we have talked about as a board has been reestablishing the chain of and I'm changing my my verb on or my verbiage on this is that instead of calling a chain of command a chain of responsibility because I think that better illustrates what's actually happening. Um and understandably this you know the trauma induced by uncertainty and stress because of that um creates places

068where people wanted to find shortcuts and wanted to find ways to make decisions and make things better. But the result of that which was which I would argue is just that that chain of responsibility has has not been in place for a while. Um to your credit um I I compliment you on, you know, since we've met as a as a board in the summer to talk a lot about that. Um, I at least as a superintendent have felt really supported by you in that in places where community members have reached out to you directly, you have put me in the loop and you have said this needs to go to Nate or the you know or Nate, can you can you deal with this? And that's exactly the right thing to do. And kudos

069to the leadership team who've who've had to survive through those tattered chain of commands. Um they have also done a just a splendid job of reestablishing the chain of command and that provides consistency that provides procedure and that provides um a safety signal for staff and our community members that we know what we're doing. We've got a protocol. We aren't just going to react and we're going to but we're going to deal with things correctly. Um how can we work to improve relationships and working conditions? Um it became very apparent when I was interviewing staff over the summer um and this mind you right is when we're just lifting the referendum campaign off the ground um is the reestablishment of trust. And many of you when I talked to you either directly or as a

070in small groups or together said that that that was priority number one. And I I felt that as we went out to referendum presentations, as we met with community members and as um I talked with with staff and community members is um trust is easily broken, right? Um but I also think um things that we are doing in the district are reestablishing that trust and it's the only thing that needs to happen is we need to just continue to follow these processes. We need to continue to stay committed to them over time and that as time rolls on that people will begin to know that yep when I do this with the district I will expect this reaction and that's the reaction that they get and that's that's what establishing protocols and processes. I do

071think the employees are are waiting for the what's next um you know in the >> understandably >> well right and >> I guess I didn't mean it in a bad way >> but I know what you're saying. I mean it's it's an ambiguous well what's next because you know uh pass a referendum victory and um I felt like we did a great job of communicating what it looked like um what it was going to look like with a pass or a fail. Um, and I think now the employees are waiting to see what what happens and how how do we navigate together? And that's where I really think the the strategic plan and and engaging them in that plan helps to reassure them we have a process and we don't just react randomly and say,

072"Oo, what's next? This is a pretty little light. We're going to go for that thing." But that we take our time. we we think strategically about how we get it going to dedicate resources and we move forward. Um, one of the things I think that's going to be central to building trust is um is activating building leadership in different ways. Um it's pretty stunning how well regarded the building leadership is. Um to attune all four of the principles specifically and Jen do to a lesser extent. Um I I don't think it's hyperbole to say that they are just short of worshiped in their buildings. Um they are well understood. They have a great vision. They are consistent with their staff and their students. And I think um I think that there's places that the district

073hasn't leveraged there in terms of engaging those leaders with their staff to better understand how we can serve and how we can guide the district for the future. So, um how can how can we best engage those employees and use the leaders to engage those employees because the employees trust those leaders um and they see them as as the as the flag bears for the district. So, um the next question was the strengths and weaknesses. I feel like I've touched on a lot of the strengths. One one thing that I would step on is that the facilities across the district are at best in an exemplary state of affairs and at worst adequate. And I know adequate sounds like WW, but there's a lot of districts where they would love an adequate building of any

074sort in their facility portfolio. >> Um, you know, our adequate buildings are not, you know, the sexiest things on planet Earth, but they are ridiculously functional. They keep kids safe. They operate the way they should. And that um that's a blessing that a lot of times people do take for granted because um there's many buildings that don't work the way they should. Um one of the weaknesses I have already pointed out, but I just I really want to highlight is that over time um processes, procedures, protocols have been eroded. And I get it that it was a reaction to a really intense set of circumstances. Um but the weakness of not having those processes and protocols is it reduces predictability and and it also ends up reducing trust over time. One of these things is

075also tied to our buildings is that we don't we don't have a great plan for maintaining these buildings over the long term. Um and I feel that um as I talk about one of these other goals, my hope is to provide you some reassurance that we're we're hoping we're going to get our hand heads around that. I also think um probably the biggest storm cloud on the horizon is the looming enrollment decline. And I I don't know how precipitous or how quick it will happen. Um but it's going to happen. And I think um the the issue at Byron schools is that it's been a very long time since Byron has had to face the prospect of enrollment decline. And um and Byron has enjoyed the exact opposite as we discussed in the referendum. And

076so how do we how do we convey that in a in a sense that provides hope to the extent possible but then also is honest and open and transparent as you at the same time. What does it mean to be a Byron bear? This is actually my favorite question um because it's like what what is the culture of our district? Um and and again I think one of the parts to really highlight is how quick the community rallies around the district and I think that is a that is an integral part of its culture that shouldn't be dismissed. Um but I'll also say like the profile of a graduate is is spoken of and I think in a lot of places it it is evident. Um but I also think uh especially given the fact

077that the district's attention has been turned towards paying its bills over the past couple of years. Um our our focus has moved away from how can we increase learning. Um and that's that's not like a don't take that as a uh criticism. I mean we have to do what we have to do. But now that we're hoping that our future is a little more secure on the resource front, now is the time to do what we were supposed to do the whole time, which is help kids learn and get kids ready for their future. So, one more time, a plug for the strategic plan, which um which I'm going to begin to work in earnest on. Um I do have a plan that I linked out um or that I have linked that you can

078look I have all the steps down. Um the the thing I'm the thing I'm wondering about is a big part of that is data collection and listening to people. And um in my opinion, even if it's a neutral observer like myself that's leading those listening sessions, the people who participate in them might not be as honest as they normally would be if it's a district employee sitting there managing it versus if it was some outside person that has no connection to the district and is simply just a professional leading a conversation and capturing the ideas. So, I'm trying to find the most responsible way to acquire a professional or a support there to help us. Um, and that's that's that's really been the thing that's that's held up the strategic planning process so far. So,

079um, goal two is strengthening resource and budget stability. Um, the first couple or really the first couple paragraphs here are about our work on the referendum together. um and you know, one or two small little paragraphs don't describe all of the work that we did um to lead to a positive result. So, kudos um to everybody for the hard work and the commitment there. Um, but working with Shawn, um, who I can't say enough nice things about, even though he's wearing contacts, is uh his his skill and ability to see things also from a strategic standpoint and playing long term. Um, he and I have been working really well to uh to build protocols and process and standards of of what we're expecting out of the business office. Um and then that allows us to

080put things in place to to move forward in a way that we can depend on so that we don't again the the negotiations team we talk a lot about we don't want we only want to be pleasantly surprised not devastatingly disappointed. So, um, as I did mention, um, one of our one of the things that we have started to lift off the ground is a full-scale, uh, facility assessment plan, which, um, which we would contract, uh, through with a different company because Sean and I don't know enough to do a facility assessment plan, at least about that, we don't know enough. And um that's really going to be our first step in creating a long-term facilities maintenance plan to create a baseline of this is where our buildings were at in 2025 2026. So then

081we can kind of lift off or launch from that point and start making plans for what needs to happen and most importantly manage the cost to the extent possible. The last goal was to develop a district-wide staff development system. Um, uh, when I came to the district, there was a lot of haphazard ways in which some staff would access staff development dollars. And it's fitting that Karen's in the room because the the paras were were one of those groups that it was only randomly where they were um, engaged in professional development as opposed or it was a lot of times because of a compliance issue that came from the state or federal requirements. Um I would like to see instead it being a little bit more planful and that hey this is a strategic direction

082we're all heading in and so we're all getting developed on these on these ideas. So um I did lay out a couple of ideas that we've introduced which is namely provide leadership with buckets of staff development money so that as they are seeing strategic uh things happening in their building that they can appropriately train and fund their staff as they see fit. Um and then also um or I should say the next step is to develop a staff development committee. And this committee acts in the same way that you do but just with the staff development dollars. So, namely, they aren't they aren't really in charge of allocating, hey, we're going to approve this conference or that workshop or this book or whatever, but rather they set the tone for this is the amount of

083staff development money the district has for all of its employees and this these are the different ways we generally like to see it spent and then back off to let leaders um to let leaders lead on that front. So, um that's it in a nutshell. Sorry, I know that that's boring. I should have had some pictures or something. >> They would have been boring. >> So, who would be on the staff development um committee like what who what kind of people are you talking about? >> Yeah. Um uh it needs to be a cross-section from all employment groups. So, um and traditionally it's very easy to to load those kind of committees up with leadership. Um, but I I I want a leader or two on there from the leadership team. But I want representation

084from teachers from all the buildings, paras, custodians, um, support staff, just so that everybody can be able to see, hey, this is how the money is getting spent. Do we need to allocate it in different ways because of a coming need or what have you? >> Yeah. Any other questions? >> No questions. But I didn't think it was boring. I thought it was smart and thorough and like super insightful, especially given the small short length of time you've been here. So, um, yeah, I thought it was great. >> Okay, thank you. Um, moving on to the financial update. >> Well, I'm just glad I had to follow Nate in that uh Sandy. So, right under the bus. >> Um, so as of December 31st, we are officially 50% of the way through our fiscal year.

085So this kind of gives us a good barometer of where things are at. Um, as you can see, our revenues are literally 50.74%. Um, that is right on par with where we should be. Um, it's consistent with how MBE schedules their payments. Um, typically you're going to see we will see a little bit of a slowdown in our revenues as we go throughout the year. Um, perfectly normal though is generally a little bit more frontloaded. Um, so are the county payments as we look more into the expenditures? >> Yes, sir. >> Uh, object there. So, we see salaries and stuff. Um, again, I just keep being this the same horse about salaries and wages. Of course, with that being 78 to 80% of our budget, we want to make sure that those numbers are right.

086Um, typically at this time of year, you expect to see between 33 and 35% of usage going on. We're at just under 33%, so we're right on pace with that. Um, and then as we'll talk about a little bit later with all these new agreements that we've got going on, the new contracts and new agreements with support staff, there's going to be some retro payments going in there. So, I kind of did a very, very rough estimate of what that retrop might retrop paint might do to this number and it puts it at just about 35%. So, um, still in line with where we're at, where we would expect to be at this point. Um, looking at the total percentage of expenditures, 37.7 um that shows that things are uh tracking about how we would

087expect them to be. Doesn't show any doesn't give any indication of any red flags, right? We were spending in any one area or anything like that. So, um one other thing to look at, can you get it so you can see the total expenditures to re the same? Just go a little bit. So you notice the revenues are 14.7 and the total expenditures are 10.8 just about 10.9. So it's about $3.9 million where right now we've brought in almost the 3.9 million more than what we spent. That's a good thing, right? Because as as these revenues do kind of slow down a little bit in the back half of the year, the expenditures are going to continue on because we still got salary. Um, so that's right where we want to be as we're heading

088into the second half of the fiscal year. So overall, everything looks really, really good. >> Good. >> Awesome. >> Questions? Beat me to it. You beat me to it. I was just about to ask. >> No question. >> Thank you. all three. >> Yeah, the other ones are just the for those that prefer the visual method. >> Thank you. >> Awesome. Thank you. Uh on to old unfinished business. So in the last meeting, the organizational meeting, uh we did not elect a vice chair. Um, Kelly and Lisa both were nominated. Um, we just need to go into a vote again. Is that is that what it is? Unless one of you had thought differently and Okay, then how do we go to voting? Roll call voting or is it >> You don't have to do

089a roll call. We would just need um a motion to go in to vote >> and then >> if you prefer roll call again, you would say like motion, you know, to vote for vice chair and then I would probably do one at a time. >> Would you would we have to make a motion to elect people again >> or do the elections stand? >> Well, they're they've already been nominated. Um they're the nom stand. Okay. Okay. So, we're just bringing them back that you make a motion to vote on our vice chair position. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> What? >> Oh, yes. I apologize. I >> just clear my throat. >> All in favor for I. >> Okay. So, all in favor of moving forward with the vote is what

090you're asking. Yes. I >> I >> All oppose. Vote passes. Um, do we just go around one at a time and vote or is it write it on piece of paper or is it >> No. Um well, last time what we did is um when we called for the vote last meeting, um Jeremy at the time was running the meeting and he just said voting for Lisa and then we did >> amaze and then voting for Carrie and then we just kind of see how it plays out and then we go from there. >> Okay. So voting for Lisa as vice chair. >> Raise our hand or what we would say >> eyes and right. >> For those all in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed say nay. >> I don't think

091you have to. >> Don't have to oppose. >> Just all those in favor of >> fine. And then voting and then voting for >> we could still in a tie. >> We could still end up in a tie. >> Why don't you >> voting for Kelly? >> She can vote for herself. >> All in favor say I. >> Right. >> I four votes for Kelly which make Kelly the vice chair. >> Okay. So I got Worammont, Agard, the lady, and Ellie. And then I have Ethan. Okay. Just want to make sure I have corrected. >> Yep. So with four then >> Okay. So with four, Kelly is vice chair. Um with that, Lisa will then be a board director. >> Okay, sounds good. Um, and then on to the other unfinished business, uh, approval of

092the official newspaper. I know we were talking the difference between Dodge County Independent and Post Bulletin. Um, post bulletin was a little less. >> Yes. Yep. A little less. Uh, you know, I mean, in the grand scheme of the district's budget, it's not an enormous thing, but yes, less. I was surprised by that. >> Yeah. >> I figured it'd be way way >> Yeah. I did too. >> Make a motion to approve the post bulletin as the Byron uh school district official newspaper. >> Second >> motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Motion carries. On to new business. Uh review of the MSBA conference. Um I was at the MSBA conference Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Um it was good. It was uh it's always a good conference. It's super well

093organized. Um a couple of things that that really stood out to me is the keynote speaker on the opening session on Thursday um is a is kind of a consultant that works with civic organizations like school boards and city boards and county governments. and he just talked about um he has a a Substack. I guess that's a thing like maybe Reddit or something. I don't know what it is. >> It's like a paid newsletter. >> Okay, fine. Anyways, and his his is called um dialogue is democracy. And he that was just kind of the theme is just how important it is to to maintain productive dialogue and and that in today's world we're so we're we seem to be very preoccupied with speaking and sharing our opinion and much less so about listening and understanding.

094And so, um, he just really he really just preached on how important it is to to take time not to build your response, but to take time to listen to others to try and understand where they're coming from. And so, that's a good lesson. Uh, I took that as a good lesson for me cuz I feel like sometimes I'm just I'm I'm like waiting to pounce until it's appropriate and, you know, and then I pounce. But in that time when I'm waiting to pounce, I'm not hearing what people are saying and really thinking about where they're coming from. So, um there were a lot of uh a lot of good sessions. Um I attended some with uh there was a couple kind of ad hoc ones with superintendents where we talked about school safety and

095and recent events involving um immigration customs enforcement across the state. um also talked about there was a couple of really good sessions where um superintendent and school boards had sort of shared their um how they've navigated through some really difficult times together and just shared their differing perspectives. Um so there's a couple of different sessions about that, but um really the highlight of the night honestly was not anything that was super well planned, but um I guess it's been a tradition that HVL schools come together and they all meet at a place. And for those of you who have gone, you Anyway, it was a it was a lovely time. I mean, we just had we had fun. It was it was cool to like meet some new people. Um, >> very competitive. >> Yeah,

096>> it was kind of competitive. I I totally lost the Oreo challenge where I had to move a Oreo from my forehead into my mouth. I just I looked like a bone head the whole time, but whatever. Anyway, so it was um it was it's a good time to network and and I try and make it a goal even at the MSBA conference that's more styled for board members to to try and meet at least another superintendent or two and um just to kind of continue to expand the network. So good times. >> Did Carrie get called up on stage? >> That would have been Wednesday. >> Yes, Thursday. >> I didn't I didn't make it in time for the Wednesday because I think we >> quite okay. >> Yeah. But uh but I everybody

097said like the dueling pianos thing that they had going was was good was good. >> They are fantastic though. I've seen them. Those guys are good. >> So MSBA conference. >> Perfect. >> Thank you. Uh moving on to information regarding preschool pricing for 2627. Um, so we have a recommendation from Miss Dole uh to increase preschool pricing. Um, this again I think is just a I mean it's kind of the day and age, right, where just the price of everything continue to go up. Um, and as Sean will highlight in a little bit here, um, our community ed budget specifically is in a really great place. Um, and has achieved stability. And this is a is a great way to keep it there so that um, in previous districts I've, you know, the general fund

098has had to float the community at significant amount of money. We don't we don't want to get into a kind of a death spiral like that. So, >> do we need to approve this or >> No, this is more just uh an FYI. Yes. >> Okay. >> Is this out in the community? >> It will be and everything. Okay. >> Any further questions? move on to reviewing the enrollment numbers and action on the open enrollment applications for kindergarter. >> All right. So, I don't get that, but um we uh if you look at that 2627 chart, it gives you some insight into where enrollments are at. Um, please note again the the one that everybody should look at is the kindergarten one. Um, but note that there's still a lot of I mean there's still

099work to be done there. And so, um, we anticipate there being more than 57 kindergarten students coming to us. Um, and but kindergarten is the great wild card. Um, so it's it's hard at this point in time of the year to really nail down exactly this is how many kindergarten students have. Um, I do feel like we'll be much closer to what the first grade number is or the anticipated first grade number of around 147 than we will be to like a 160. So, >> okay. Unless something again kindergarten is kind of a it's hard to guess, >> right? >> You can guess, but it's >> just a guess. >> Yeah. >> So, um to that end, um normally right now, I shouldn't say normally, but historically, you have you have approved um the process

100of accepting open enrollment at certain grade levels. And as I was working with the principles, um, we, uh, we were looking specifically at this column five, I think that number is. Could use some of Sean's contact lenses. >> Um, but that the and these were a classroom target size. Um, but this was established by the board about 10 years ago. Um and so the principles and I um started work uh last week and even today during our meeting um to really uh balance what is the right move for the district as it relates to these classroom targets. Um we don't want to create the sense that hey here's this number for a classroom target and that this number is immutable and unchangeable and it is this number and if this number happens or if something

101different than this number happens all of these other things start to take place like that's not the point of a target. The point of the target is simply to provide guidance that as we start working on staffing especially over the next month and two month or two and as we work on the budget that there is in a sense some guidance that the board has acted on for the administration to use as we as we try and balance these things out. So, um, my hope is that by the work session in February that the principles and I will have kind of completed what we would suggest you look at. Um, and that we think it um would be good to move forward. Um, I don't anticipate any of the them changing that dramatically from what

102these numbers end up lying. But I will say as a team I think one of the things that we are more interested as opposed to a specific number instead establishing a range of numbers and and my intent is that we'll talk a little bit more about why we're thinking that way when it comes time for you you all to vote on if that makes sense. So to that end, tonight's action, um I'm just recommending that you approve the open enrollment for kindergarten because again that's the great wild card in our deck here. Um and that we wait to approve any other open enrollment until after we've established those guidelines or those targets for the for each grade level, if that makes sense. >> Okay. Please, if you have some questions about this, I I don't

103mind entertaining them at all right now or or if you think I'm going in a totally wrong direction, that's okay, too. >> Of those 28, are there any that are reliant on one of the other grades being >> Not right now. Okay. >> Okay. >> Good question. Any other questions? Motion to approve all uh current open enroll applications for the kindergarten class 2627. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All oppose. Motion passes. Uh moving on to action on the ESP contract 25 through 27. Um, before we really dive into it, um, I want to say thank you to Sean and Nate both for putting in some time, energy, and effort prior to getting into these negotiation sessions. And I think Karen will back me up on

104this, but uh, each one of the groups that we've worked with so far has said it has been one of the best negotiation sessions that they've had. So, I have to give you guys thanks and kudos for that, too. So, >> thank you. >> Yeah, I echo that. Absolutely. >> You're super welcome. >> Yeah, appreciate it. >> Um, uh, >> did you need a tissue? >> Yes. >> Um, couple highlights of changes from the PAR professional contract. Um, this are for the 2527 compared to the 2325. Um, we did increase the personal leave buyback program from $75 uh for per day to $100 per day. We also did some changes to their sick leave benefits. Um, the first is that we will grant all of those sick leave days instead of acrewing them across the

105school year, they get them all up front at the beginning of the school year. Uh, we do remove um the superintendent from the sickle bank committee. Um and this was partly because um this is leave that the pair of professionals have already acred and they have agreed to donate to each other for times of need and I don't necessarily need to be part of that process. Um and then uh we all the paras did have like a yearly attendance incentive but it was not getting used very much. Um, and so we instead decided to experiment with a monthly attendance incentive that if a parah uses zero sick days during a month, during the next month they get a $50 incentive pay for for being a worker. And then um we did add a sick leave

106buyback structure. Um, essentially we want the paras to build up a bank of sick leave of their own and think of that sick leave less as I should exhaust all of this every single year and more as this is my short-term disability leave so that if I have to be gone for a period of time um I can use that and still maintain you know my financial stability. And so the sick leave buyback structure is intended to first have a pair of build up a sick leave bank of 35 days or something like that. don't really >> anyway it's a set of days that spans like you know 3 or 4 weeks of leave and then after that um once they have that many days acrewed uh at the end of each school year they

107are able to sell back some of those unused sick leave days um in exchange for money. So but first they have to build up their own bank. We did add Memorial Day as a paid holiday. Um, pair professionals are also able to submit any applicable mileage to the district office for payment. Um, all the pair professionals in the unit will receive at least a 75 cent per hour increase to their salary during this first year. Um there are some uh there are some pairs due to the range when it came time to hire pairs that were hired at um at different levels and this created some angst across the group that there were pairs who had worked in the for the district for many years that were getting paid less than or at the same

108level as pairs who were relatively new to the district. >> I'm sorry. >> That's okay. No, you can talk. And if I'm saying something wrong, I hope >> I I hope I hope you would say something. But but anyways, uh we did um there so we right sized it so that pairs who have been in the district um some of those pairs that have been in the district for longer did receive a larger than 75 cent per hour increase in attempt to kind of rightsize and redistribute the pairs in a more equitable sense as it relates to how long they've been working in the district. >> Was that accurate, Karen? >> Mhm. Okay. And then uh during the second year of the contract, all the pairs would receive a 50 cent per hour increase. Um

109we're also experimenting with anou to try and make it so we don't have to do such a right sizing in the future. Um and that was to establish uh two tiers which is basically if if somebody is coming to us in a pair position and they have no years of experience, they are hired at one level. And if they have some years of experience working with children, um, we hire them at a different level. And it's really just those are the two levels that people start at in the par. So those are the changes. >> If you guys have questions about any of that, please >> 100%. If there's any questions, I think we can all >> the three of us have I feel like we're well verssed, but yeah. >> Agreed. No questions. I'd

110entertain a motion to approve the contract. >> Motion to approve the ESP contract for 25 to 27 as presented. >> Second >> motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. on to action on the master agreement with the teachers. >> Um this is the slideshow that the BEA which is our teachers union shared with their um unit members as they were describing the changes to the contract to them. I will try and move through this in a hurried fashion. Um but obviously if you want me to stop and explain anything further, please do so. I generally explain way too much just as my wife. Okay. Um so one of the things to note is that a lot of places uh were changed from

111days. So like sick leave days or personal days those were now converted to hours. Um we also changed the timing of when teachers receive pay for doing their curriculum writing. um the moving stipen. If a teacher was to move from one classroom to another and it wasn't their choice, it had been anou that they were paid a little stipen for the time to pack up and move and unpack and set up the room. That has been moved from anou into the contract. Um we also changed some of the language just so that we wouldn't year over year have to change the dates all the time. We just changed the the group insurance dates to just reflect that language so that like I said we don't have to change the numbers every year. Um this is

112an example of a place where we moved from 12 days to 84 hours. Uh we removed the superintendent from the sick leave bank. Um kind of that the same philosophy with the teachers as it relates to me as well. Um and then we also talked about uh that the union kind of takes leadership of this. We will still help them manage you know how much leave is in the bank and who is giving the the leave but they end up doing the rest. Um we did this payout. Let me see. I sometimes get these mixed up. Okay. They always had a sick leave buyout, but but the sickly buyout, they had to request that like in the beginning of the year and they would receive the payout for that. Um, we instead moved it to

113the end of the year so that then they didn't cuz the part I was trying to tell the union is well would stink if you got paid out for a bunch of these days and then you needed them, you know, before the year went on. So, um, we changed the sick leave incentive, um, moved it to this lower stipen. Anyway, it's important to note for legal purposes that ESST time is not considered part of this because we can't incentivize people to not use their ESSP. Whoops. Public service leave was for um individuals in the union who are part of a board or a city council or whatever. This was anou. It's now part of the contract. Um down on the bottom item number four that's all struck through. There used to be like a different

114ratio for tosses counselors, reading specialists, sped manager, um that if they were going to cover for somebody, they wouldn't they had to sub for 3 hours before they would get one hour of credit. And we just struck that through so that they're treated the same as everyone else in the union. Um this is a health insurance um benefit once teachers retire. Um, and we're trying to mitigate the amount of time that the district is having to pay that. So, it was $360 per month for 10 years and we changed that to $500 per month for 5 years. We also added a sick leave buyout which allowed um teachers it provides incentive to a certain extent for teachers to hold on to their accumulated sick leave in order to not be gone using sick leave because

115at the end if they meet certain qualifications um they can receive a buyout of some of that sick leave um that's deposited in Is this a health savings account? Yes, a health uh healthc care savings program of some sort. On the master schedule, we changed all of the steps from numbers to letters. And then we also um increased the longevity stipened by $500. There was a lot of stuff that changed here on schedule C. Um uh there was um Okay, help me with this. Oh, so, uh, there's a longevity pay for coaches that have been serving in the district. Um, anyway, we expand this longevity pay that if they're coaching multiple sports, that pay also applies to there as well. Am I getting that right? >> It was so they could get paid for each

116sport instead of if they were a head coach of any sport for that's all they got. if they were head coach of football, track, they get it for each sport. >> Um, we also made things a little bit easier to understand as you see like some of that struck out language. Um, we changed the way the table looks. So now instead of being three columns, it ends up being two columns. I know it's like big whoop, but it makes things a lot more simple to to understand. >> Sean likes it better, too. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Um, we moved some of the titles or some of the some of the activities titles to, you know, up or down or we changed the name of them in some cases. Um, we added data coach and I

117think DAX support was already on there if I remember right. Um and then we struck this is the longevity pay for the activities, right? >> And that was the one where we we just struck through all the longevity pay and we just increased the pay for all of those stipens to not have to mess with longevity pay for activities anymore. Um, again, some of these things are more, you know, like on the on the left column, these are more titles that have changed or have moved up or down. And then that middle column is like in the case of the worker, the amount changed. And again, we're we're striking through the third column. So now there just be the two. You won't be able to see this. >> Sean can because of his contact lenses.

118But um this is a job sharing that um where it allows teachers to share. So if you have a 1.0 FTE you can have a two teachers be.5 and it kind of outlines the rules that governs how these two halftime positions interact with each other. Um really the biggest change to this one is it used to lay out you know like one teacher has to work Monday and Wednesday and then the other teacher has to work Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and then they have to do the opposite the week after. Um the biggest change on on how this ship shakes out is that um the the job sharing teachers and the building administrator work together on a shared calendar and it also puts restrictions on you know no teacher can be gone more than I think

119it was seven or eight school days consecutively and then they had to be back at work. So um we uh we have some movement with the readact. Um theou involving the redact was built and intended for that first year of phase one where you you all built staff development days in place and you had all these compensation structures and now we're redoing the redact for the rest of the rest of time. So as teachers come online, we aren't going to give them staff development days to complete this training. Rather, they're going to be expected to complete it outside of contract time. And so we will compensate them um this amount here in order to complete the training. Um as expected, we are um I don't know if it'll be by the February work session. It'll

120definitely be by the February board meeting. I'll have more details on this because we have React phase 2 that we're trying to trying to put together. So, this won't be the last time you see this. We added 3% on to the salary schedule for year 1 and then a 2% on to year two. here that those are the numbers of 3% from the year before and this is 2% add on to that and that's the last one. >> So those numbers are good and trustworthy. >> Yeah, >> we looked and double checked and triple checked and I questioned his numbers multiple times. So, >> so do you do you use some kind of a program then like >> spreadsheet? >> Okay. Okay. >> It's kind of a non spreadsheet. >> Okay. >> He proved to

121me that Excel has no flaws. So, >> okay. >> We made sure that um the union made sure that we had the right number of people >> okay >> right where they were at. >> Um before we even walked in the door to meet with the teachers we because normally you just look at st that are there and you use the previous year staff as your base year called the cuts. We couldn't just do that, >> right? >> Because that would have given us apples and apples. >> So, we had to back out the ones that were cut, add back in the ones that were hired this year. So, we've got it kind of a different process, but just to kind of set myself at ease because this is the one area I did not

122want to screw up. Um, I've vetted that that process with a couple of people and I know they're done a lot longer than I have. So, >> Okay, good. >> Thank you. >> I know that you ran the numbers probably countless times. Um, >> and I appreciate that. Yeah. Yeah. I also was impressed how you I feel like you have a really good knack for seeing like unintended consequences of a financial decision like things that I wouldn't have thought about or you know how it shakes out years down the road. So >> appreciate that too. >> Yes. >> Perfect. Any other questions? Otherwise, I would entertain a motion for action on the master agreement. Before you do that, the other thing I should just make sure I mention is that um before we walked in

123with the teachers and with everybody else, part of the pre-work was saying what was what was the budget decision that you all made on these settlements last year. >> Um and and so we we took that information and then we compared it with the charts that Sean built to be able to understand Well, this is this is what we cannot afford, >> okay? >> Versus, you know, so it it helps us to know this is the backs stop and we we will not under any circumstance go past this this number here, right? >> So, um so just as another attempt at reassuring you that the budget was front and center on each of these negotiations and as we talked through what's wise and what's smart to do and all that. Okay. >> Sorry to interrupt

124your motion. >> No. >> So, we need a motion to accept. >> The master agreement. Okay. I make a motion to accept the master agreement. >> I second. >> Motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. All opposed. Motion carries. Uh action on the support agreement. Support that. >> Yeah, please. Okay. So, um, >> nobody wants to hear me talk anymore, and that's okay. >> The nuts and bolts of the support staff agreement are almost identical to what they were before. Um, couple of just little language things. The main thing though on theirs is we brought back the pay grids for them. Um, and similar to what we had with the the parent group, um, we had some resizing need to be done for for these for a lot of these staff

125members to get them to where they should be based on how long they've been here, the work that they're doing, how they compare to other people within the district and then even in the case of your community, how they compare to other districts. So, um, a lot of care was taken into moving people in certain places just to get them to to right size for this group. Um, much like we did with the teachers and we did with the parents, you know, started with the budget. you know, this is what we had budgeted for this group and uh worked from there and made sure that what we were doing stay within that number. So that's what we did with this group. Any other questions? Um no, I need to recuse myself. Oh no, I can

126I can I can put on later. Okay. A >> motion to approve the support agreement 2527 as presented. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries. Uh action on the business office agreement 2527. Again, not a whole lot of changes here. Um it looks like there's a lot of changes. um what uh cleaned up the language on the holidays, made that a little bit clearer for everybody to work with. Um added a 403b matching component because these are year- round salary folks. So, um that was something that we were hearing was important to them. >> So, we're able to do that. It's not a not something that's going to cause us a lot of issues, but we wanted to make sure that >> that's good >>

127that we did that. >> And then it's three and two of the increasing salaries. >> Any other questions or comments? >> No questions. >> Otherwise, I >> motion to approve the business office agreement 257 as presented. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. All opposed. Motion carries. on to action on the bus driver agreement. >> So, I spent about an hour out of the bus garage a couple weeks ago meet with the drivers, see what see what's shaking, see what they like about their agreement, what they don't like about their agreement. Um, they had asked about the possibility to uh get a couple of extra holidays, >> which made perfect sense to me. >> Um, prior to this, they had Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and President's Day. So, we

128had Christmas and New Year's Day. just appropriate for that group. Um, a little bit of language to clean up the longevity. Um, so that you have to be a staff driver, not a staff driver to to unlock that. Um, and then at the end of this year, so starting with next year, the bus drivers are going to um pilot off or try out PTO. um they wondered about being able to do that. That allows them the flexibility to use their time for during Christmas break or spring break or something or times like that >> where they don't have they could use sick leave >> or anything those times. So this gives them better flexibility to utilize their time. >> Great. >> That seemed to be something that's very important to them. So >> okay. Um

129I know there have been some questions in the past about from past bus drivers about what what was the issue that we didn't have clarity around is it about about PTO do or >> it was longevity >> longevity okay so this does this language clarify okay great >> thank you >> just the stand drivers Okay, >> I don't remember exactly, but again, I stayed within our allocated budget for the bus drivers. >> I just cleaned up their grid a little bit to make it a little bit easier to understand. >> Okay. >> Were there any outstanding things that they requested or wanted that we weren't able to honor? Yeah, trust me. They talk to me all the time. That was a couple of years ago too was longevity was in conversation. So if we can

130I know they wanted an increase in longevity, but we weren't really comfortable doing too much with that this year. We didn't really do a lot of longevity with the other support staff, >> right? >> Any other comments or questions on the bus driver agreement? I'd entertain a motion to approve. >> I make a motion to approve the bus driver agreement as stated. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. uh action on addendum to the superintendent contract and do we need to talk about that? Does Nate need to talk about that? >> I feel like we should. Is it or do you want to? >> No, heard. >> Or do you want me to? >> Yeah, sure. Sure. >> Somebody can start. >> Sure. So,

131um, Nate had come to me this last call and just asked for some clarity on some verbiage in his contract as a as a surrounded health insurance and the language wasn't necessarily clear. So, we sat down and well reached out to Jeremy and um and then David and Alicia and Jeremy Nate and I sat down and talked through this and tried to figure out, okay, how do we clear this up? And then um Jeremy reached out to the district's attorney just to say, what's your interpretation of this? N reached out to the superintendent attorney, what's your interpretation of this? And then kind of figured out somewhere in the middle to me. So, >> yeah. And we were involved because we're on the negotiations committee. >> Correct. >> Um Yeah. So, I feel like it's a

132clarification of language and we um seeking legal counsel and then we decided that we all said it was fair. >> Yeah. And this has been run run through uh Margaret. um this has been talked about in numerous meetings between all of us as well. So um we we feel that this is a this is a a good compromise. >> Yeah. >> But if you have questions um it's a lot of language. So if you have questions if you have questions that's not Is there anything else you want to add? >> Okay. >> Nope. >> Okay. >> So I just have to say I don't know how I missed this one. I saw all the other ones, but I did not see this link. >> So, I'm not going to lie. I did not here. Do

133you >> Well, is it opening? >> It is. Yeah. >> I don't know how I missed that, but >> that's okay. It's good to be It's good you're so >> Well, I saw like what is Take your time. >> Sorry. >> No, you're fine. >> Can I run to the bathroom? >> Yes. >> You don't need a motion for that. >> Thanks, Kelly. the bathroom. >> I deny >> you have to sign. >> Sorry. >> No, you're good. No, no, no, you're good. We also we also did run this by Sean and make sure it wasn't going to put the district in any >> any predicament or or any >> push back or something from from that. So, >> and I believe if I'm I don't want to speak on a term, but I think

134this is actually a savings for the district. Here's the here's the language right here. Co. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Did the I feel like the contracts come >> the matter is the numbers in the contract are higher than the insurance premiums and so that became so what's happening with that difference. >> Okay. Got it. So the the two interpretations are they should get all this difference in an H or HSA or sorry this is just the attorney's interpretation of it. >> Right. >> So but it was up to you guys to >> and I don't know if you know this but there's a common term called interpretation of the law. >> Yeah. >> Not a clue. That might be a clarifying clarifying point. We need to let Lisa know too, right? >> Oh,

135right. Right. >> What the actual issue was >> correct. >> So then out of curiosity, where was that money going that was in between of what the insurance was and so where did that money go? just incl. Got it. So, he wasn't given the compensation. Got it. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> So, one of the clarifying things was >> go ahead. Sorry. >> This is the original of the contract. So, it has so like for 2526 assess um they was going to get 2775 for his health insurance. >> Well, his premiums are a little over $1,000. >> So, there's $1,700 in there that there's different interpretations as to what happens with that. >> Does it go away or does it go to need? >> Okay. >> So that's what the amendment is looking to do

136is to clear up exactly how that goes. >> Okay. So what is the answer then? Where does that >> So what we >> Yeah. So what we compromised on was, you know, we sought legal counsel and talked about what's fair and the right thing to do and feel like we found a good balance between I don't know. I guess the two interpretations, the two different two different ways you could interpret it. Um, yeah. Anyway, so the the ch the addendum is what we're proposing we pay Nate for the rest of this contract, >> right? So like 1,700 * 1,200 I can't do the math quick enough. It's >> 30,000. >> 12 * 12 is 24. So >> no it's not. >> No, it's not. >> Gosh, my math is 24. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> For

137anyone watching, David is not our >> This is This is why I question him so many times. Um, yeah. Yeah. Okay. About 20,000. >> 20,000. >> Um, so yeah, with with it being about $20,000 a year, we we went with a lump sum the first year, $8,000. We made that a little bit more in the second year. Um, $1,250 a month. uh instead of 1,700 a month and then the third year of the contract um we could go the full 1,700 or or whatever the gap is with the insurance premium at that time frame. Um and that's really what's written in there. We don't know what that insurance premium is. We can't put a flat dollar amount in there. >> Um and um the nice thing about the next two is we haven't made the

138budgets for those yet. So we still have the opportunity to factor that into the budget so it's not going to be >> missing gone somewhere out in left field. >> Um and the the 8,000 is a number that I'm comfortable having in the budget. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Comfortable. >> And if Yeah. I mean theoretically we should have it should have all been budgeted for anyway, right? So Right. >> Yeah. Okay. I don't have any other questions. >> Okay. >> Sorry. >> No, don't be sorry. It's good. It's good for everyone to read it. Um, and our legal council did help write the wording for this, too. We did approve it. >> Yes. And yes. >> Okay. Um, >> motion to approve the addendum to the superintendent contract. >> Second. >> Okay. Motion

139and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. All oppose. Motion carries. Uh on to a Z update. Carrie's not here. I didn't get one from her. >> She said she would give one at the next meeting. >> She would give one at the next meeting. Okay, perfect. Uh Byron City Council update. They said you get your notes. >> Um there well there uh Justin reminded me that it was just an organizational meeting kind of like our last one. So um they just you know pointed different people. Um there was uh two community members that talked about um ice in our area. Um Dodge Center and um Cassen Empire in Rochester. And um two members came forward and we're asking you know what is the city council going to do about it? What can

140they put some kind of a resolution out there that says this is what we are going to do you know with how to protect our citizens basically. And um after some talk back and forth um outside of the council meeting then because they were all emailing uh city administrator and you know couldn't do a quorum or anything like that. So um the decision was made not to go forward with that resolution. They talked to other cities um other officials and were cautioned against doing that because that would bring more attention to ice coming to our area. >> So So kind of fly under the radar and so that's it. >> Perfect. >> It was a quick meeting, too. >> Thank you. Uh on to the consent agenda. >> Any questions on the consent agenda? >>

141So I have to recuse myself from voting on the um personnel recommendations. >> I don't think we vote on those. >> It's part of the consent agenda. Um, so should I just recuse myself from voting on all of the consent agenda? >> We have a quorum. >> And do you have a pull that you can do it either way if you you can either opt to not vote on all of it or if you want to vote on the other items and you would just need to make a motion to um remove the personnel from this and do a separate motion on that and then >> I'll just not vote on all of it. I didn't have any concerns about anything else. And just the one question I had is that there's two special ed

142paras who are leaving then. Are we still do we still have enough paras? Do we still like are we >> yes >> in compliance? All that kind of stuff. >> We're in compliance. >> The workload and >> yeah. >> Okay. >> It's not easy to find them, but yes, we're in compliance. >> Motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. Motion carries. Consent agenda is approved. Uh on to donations. Mr. Treasurer. We have lots to go through. Pickle ball players at CEC $80 cash for the food pantry. Tracy and Phil Lurman $100 for the food pantry. Ronald and Margaret Albreight $25 for the food pantry. Greg and Kathy Raferin $90 for the food pantry. David and Mary Salassic,

143$40 for the food pantry. What she said. Uh Jesse Molford, $50 for the food pantry. F&M Community Bank, $50 for the food pantry. Harvey and Candy Berg, $100 for the food pantry. Pure Rock Studios of Rochester, $200 for the food pantry. Heidi and Thomas Fink, $25 for the food pantry. Uh the funds requested by the middle school counselor, $200 and that goes towards middle school winter gear. Uh, Byron Methodist Church, $200 for bearpacks. Uh, Fairway Meat and Grocery, $3,112.72 in seven gift cards for the food pantry. Kim Break, $50 for the food pantry. Jennifer Bar, $50 to the food pantry. And Chris and Kristen, $80 for the food pantry. Perfect. Any questions on the donations? I would Entertain a motion. >> Motion to approve the donations as read. >> Second. >> Motion is second. Roll

144call vote, please. >> Yep. Jeremy >> I. >> Lisa >> I. >> David >> I. >> Kelly >> I. >> Alicia >> I. >> All right. Perfect. Motion carries. Uh, information miscellaneous items. Policy committee meeting February 2nd at 4:30. School board work session also on February 2nd at 6. I will be absent. >> Perfect. Budget committee meeting on February 17th at 4:30 and school board meeting February 17th at 6:00 p.m. Brings us to our last >> motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Uh he warned me that this was going to happen. Motion and a second. All in favor of adjournment. >> I I >> All opposed. Meeting is adjourned.