001Orderly Byron Independent School District number 531 on December 1st, 2025 at 6 p.m. Our attendance roll call, please. >> Kelly here >> Here, Lisa here. Alicia here. David. >> Vision. Byron Public Schools community of learners committed to making the world a better place. Mission: learn, share, innovate, inspire. Priorities are to personalize learning in the pursuit of academic excellence, inspire students and staff to develop their character, share their talents, and apply their learning, maintain excellence in resource management. Any questions or discussion on the agenda items as presented? We look for a motion to approve the agenda. >> Motion to approve the agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. All opposed. Agenda is approved. We will uh turn it directly over to Smith Schaffer for our um
002audit presentation. >> Couple extra copies of hand for everyone. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> All right. Uh thanks for having me tonight. I'm Andrew Smith Schaer and we are contracted to perform the audit for Byron School District for the year ended June 30th, 2025. Uh tonight we'll walk through the PowerPoint. We actually have the actual audit of financial statements over there in the box. They are not donuts. they are financial statements. Um, so with that said, we'll just kind of get rolling here. If questions come up as we go through here, please feel free to stop me as we go through that. So on the second slide there, our audit opinion is going to be a clean unmodified opinion, which means we believe everything is fairly stated in accordance with GAP. It is the
003highest level of assurance you can receive on the financial statement. Our audit opinion provides reasonable, not absolute assurance that the financials are free from material in the statement. as we do not look at every single transaction that appeared throughout the year. We take a risk based approach and make selections based off those perceived risks. Uh with that said, we did sit down with some members of management on November 18th and went through the financial statement in more of a line by line detail. Uh we took the highlights from that meeting and put them into this powerpoint uh presentation. It's a little bit easier to present on. If there are any questions, uh we can jump into the financial statement uh as we go through there. Um, also as part of our audit, we have to
004do various tests with Minnesota legal compliance. Uh, we did have one Minnesota legal compliance finding uh related to insufficient collateral coverage. Uh, so if you guys have money at a bank that exceeds the $250,000 FDIC insurance limit, uh, the bank has to have pledged securities to pledge collateral uh, to for the excessive of 110%. Uh there was some pledge by the bank but there was not enough as of June 30th when we tested that. Um and that's just a lot of the property tax you get a lot of money coming in in June. So just make sure we are checking that monthly as we go through that. Also as part of our audit there was uh two internal control findings that we've had. Uh the segregation of duties um just the importance of the board
005and approving uh various transactions. um there's not adequate people in your accounting department to properly segregate all your accounting functions as we go through there. Um and there's probably not uh fiscally responsible to go and hire a bunch of people just to get that finding out of your financial statement and then also the oversight of the financial reporting process. You guys rely on us to prepare the financial statements. Um and then we did sit down with members of management to review that. Um so we did have two of the findings come off from the prior year as the prior year had the improper control over cash dispersements and the material audit adjustments. So we those did not reoccur in the current year and then the student activities we had no findings related to your student
006activities. The audit committee letter just says there is some use of estimates in the financial statements um depreciation net pension liability uh compensated absences special education all those are not finalized until the following year. So we looked at your estimates and deemed that they were reasonable. Uh there was one new standard implemented gad 101 related to acred compensated absences uh which we implemented on your financial statement. So there is a restatement related to that and then the management representation letter that we did request that you provide all information to us. Next we look at your average daily membership. Um so there's uh eight years of information up there. Uh total average daily membership 2324 down about four students. So over the seven eight years presented there up 230 students over that time. Uh slight dip
007but pretty consistent over the last two years. Uh we look at this as we go to the next slide because that kind of deres the revenues we'd expect to see since so much of your revenues and expenditures are derived by the number of students that are in the seats. Uh kind of break your revenues into four main categories there. Property taxes in the first column just over $8.2 million of revenue coming in from property taxes. uh there was an increase of about 100,000 in the current year related to the debt service levy. The main funding source for the school is in the second grouping there is the state aids up about 1.3 million a little over 27 million of total revenue coming in of that about 19.9% of that is your general education aid which
008is just the number of students that you have in your seats. uh that is up about 300,000 even though your ADMs were down a little bit uh just with the formula increase from the state you did bring in an additional uh revenue related to that and then your special education aid uh the other main about 3.7 million is that that's up 1.2 2 million as there is more special ed received in the current year and down a little bit in LTF. The third grouping there is your federal aids. Kind of the pyramid or triangle that we've been seeing as those COVID era funings in the 21 22 23 uh kind of peaked out and then they're kind of backed off to where they have been prior to COVID about 585 580,000 of federal aids received
009in the current year. And then the last grouping there is kind of the catch all about 3.6 million of other uh included in that is investment income. uh your tuition for project kids uh any sales and other conversions of those things in your student activities as well. So total revenues about 39,411,000 up about 1.3 million from the prior year. A different way of looking if we go to the next slide a different way of looking at the revenues coming in across all the funds is how the school is funded. Uh 69% on the right is funded through state aids compared to 68 in the prior year. So pretty consistent year-over-year on how the school is funded. On page six, then we look at your property tax levy history. So it's the second one from the
010right that funded the school year that we audited. Uh the one on the far right is the one that is funding the current school year that you are in. Um so if we look at that, we can see your levy is up a little bit in total, but it's going to be the green, which is your debt service levy. Uh your actual operating levy, cash coming into the general fund is down a little bit in 2025. Um then it jumps back up for the 20 26 school year. So total debt uh levy is up about 175,000. Next we're going to look at your expenditures across just your general fund since it is the main operations for the school. Uh total uh general fund operating expenditures 27,983,000 down about 1.7 million from the prior year. Um
011when we go AC across the different categories there your first grouping there is your administration. uh pretty consistent there up about 10,000. Uh support services was up about 9,000. Uh so pretty consistent on your administration and support services. You saw the regular instruction down about 480,000 but it is the main expenditure for the school about 14.1 million uh is going into your regular instruction. Um down that 480 salaries is down 300,000. Supplies are down about 175,000 um as well. uh vocational about the same special ed uh we saw the bigger increase in expenditures in 2024 so we saw the higher revenues in 25 uh down a little bit some salaries and contracted services but spent about $4 million on that program um instructional support down in some uh staff development there pupil support services the
012third from the right um it's going to be down yeah prior year had the bus purchase and then some decrease in some salaries and benefits in the current year. Um sites and buildings is also down related to some of the improvements that we've done in the prior year. Uh that the scoreboard and some salaries and then the far right the fiscal and other uh we did see a little increase in insurance and some interest cost as well. On the next slide then we look at your general fund activity. So the revenues in the blue, expenditures in the yellow, transfers and [snorts] other in the orange and then the change in fund balance in the green. Um so we saw the revenues up in the general fund about 1 point uh 1,157,000 increase. Uh so total
013revenues uh up that uh most that is that special ed up being up to 1.2 million. Uh gen was up to 300,000 and then we had a decrease in the operating levy of about 180,000 in the general fund. Uh expenditures were down to 1.7 million. Um most of that is going to be salaries were down about 960,000 then the bus purchase and then some athletic supplies. Uh but even though we're down the salaries we did see the $200,000 increase in health insurance as that continues to go up every year. >> But orange then there was a small or a transfer of about 115,000 into the food service as there was a food service audit that came in and said that you needed to transfer those funds to correct for past. Um so we made that
014transfer and then they had positive operations in the green there about 940,000. Um so uh added to their unassigned fund balances which we look at on slide nine. So the blue is your unassigned fund balances. So those are funds that are available for the district that don't have outsiders restrictions on it or haven't been assigned for a specific purpose um or non-spendable. So the blue uh was a small deficit in the prior year. it went positive. Uh you're sitting on a balance of about 712,000. So one metric that is used to determine the health of a school's fund balance or government fund balance is if you take your unassigned fund balance and divide it by your current year expenditures to get a percentage of how much of your reserves are on hand, you're at about
0152.5%. Uh last year you were pretty much at 0.08% negative. Um and then the prior three years you're right around that 8%. Um, so working your way back up to that goal as in the past. Um, the yellows on the next page we'll look at in the restricted. The red is going to be your assigned which is for student activities and then the green is your non-spendable which is your prepaid items that have already been spent. So on the next slide we look at your restricted fund balances there. Um, main ones with balances there increase in your operating capital up to about 91,000. your MA has about 90,000 in the middle student activities about 56,000 scholarships about 150,000 um and then the biggest change there well the new readact teacher comp about 83 the second
016from the right is that was a new restriction coming in from the state a new funding source and your LTFM was at a deficit about 611 but you did decrease the deficit of about 270,000 as you're continuing to uh work that way out of its deficit On the next slide, then we get into your food service fund. Um, so again, the revenues in the blue. John, if you can go ahead to the next slide. >> Oh, sorry. Sorry. Um, revenues pretty consistent year-over-year within 4,000 of the prior year. Uh, so we saw an increase in your catering revenue. We saw a decrease in your commodities, which is a federal funding source. also pretty much debted out to pretty much the same revenues and expenses in 24 and 25 with being very similar in your ADMs
017as we would expect. Um, and then the yellow is going to be your expenditures. So, we saw an increase in expenditures about 92,000. Uh but 150,000 of that was equipment. Uh the walk-in coolers, the dishwasher, and the gas kettles as you guys were uh intentionally trying to spend that fund balance down as um it's pretty hard to spend some of those dollars as they are pretty restrictive of what you can spend those on. Um the gray is going to be the transfer in coming from the general fund of that 115,000 and then the green is the positive operations of about 119,000. So, uh, even with spending down some of that fund balance or trying to spend down the fund balance with that, uh, food service audit and not, uh, decreasing some of those allowable expend
018or unallowable expenditures, you pretty much added to your fund balance the transfer coming in. So, they're sitting on about 386,000 um, which is a very healthy position to be in. The next slide then is the community service fund. Again, the revenues in blue, expenditures in yellow. Revenue is up 300,000. Increase of the project kids tuition about 143,000. An increase in the summer program about 50,000 and then gymnastics was up about 53,000 as well. Um expenditures remained relatively consistent up about 40,000 and increase in some salaries and benefits with those higher uh project kids and summer program cost. Uh but there was the decrease in supplies we saw in the prior year. So they added 286,000 to their fund balance. So those funds and programs are running well. So on the next slide we have the
019fund balance for the community service funds. So uh the blue is going to be your regular community service fund balance of about 66 6300. Uh the yellow is made up of three different categories. Your community ed of 321,000, your ECF of 240,000 and then school readiness is at a slight deficit of about 68,000. But uh good all those actually did improve their fund balance positions uh throughout the year. So they're in good standing. On the next slide there is your debt service fund about 1.4 million set aside for future debt payments. So we did see a little higher increase in fund balance in the current year as your payments are got a little bit bigger in 20 in the 26 school year than the 25 year. So, uh, the future debt service payment on slide
02016, uh, the bottom is going to be the principal portion, the interest portion in the green, uh, just about 6.3 million the next three years, and then some of those debt service payments get drop off a little bit and go down to about 6 million after that. The next slide, then we look at your average daily membership. Again, uh we do this because the upcoming slides are going to take the total expenditures by the different categories and divide it by that 2324 students to get a per ADM cost. Um so if we flip ahead to the next slide, the district and school administration and support services uh spend about $1,170 per ADM, very consistent year-over-year with your ADMs being relatively consistent and your expenditures up relatively up about $11 from the prior year. Uh the
021blue on the second from the right is going to be districts with ADMs of 2,000 to 4,000 and then the yellow is going to be the state average. So this district is uh below cost per ADM in its pure group and also the state average as well. On the next slide then is the regular instructions spend about 6,670 per ADM down about $195 per ADM as we did see a reduction in cost in this category. uh slightly below districts of a similar size and the state average. And then the last comparison that we have here is the general fund cost per ADM. So if you take your total general fund cost and divide it by the ADMs, you spend a little over $12,000 per ADM, down about $700 from the prior year u below both
022districts of similar size and the state average. And then we have the last slide here. The general fund uh revenues exceeded expenditures and other financing sources by about 940,000 uh increasing the total general fund balance to a million64. The UAR's unassigned general fund balance of 712,000 or 2.5% of the current year expenditures. The food service revenues and other financing sources exceeded expenditures by about 116,000 and ended the year with a fund balance of 386,000. And then the community service fund revenues exceeded expenditures by 286,000 and they're healthy at just under 500,000 in fund balance. And then there's a slight about 368,000 that was left in the building construction fund as of June 30th uh to finish up the final of those projects. I know I went through a lot of information there pretty quickly. Any
023questions or anything you want me to go back and clarify? >> Questions? I just wanted to highlight that it seems at least right on the first glance that we are providing good quality education pretty efficiently because the ADM costs in the last few slides that we have are below the average and the comparable average. Right. And but Right. But our grades are better. So thank you. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> To our teachers and to Yeah. Mhm. >> Agree. >> Is it possible for us to see the letter that has more detail just so we can read through it? >> Yep. >> And not to go through right now, but just to digest outside of the meeting. >> They're all copy. So you can >> Thanks. >> Yeah. And um I just think it's prudent to
024ask you didn't I know that you communicated that you didn't find anything alarming or suspicious or Okay. >> No. So with our anything that we requested for supporting documentation was provided to us. >> Right. >> Any other questions or discussion? >> Okay. did you did a thorough job explaining. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We move on to the administrative reports. Are there any questions? Are there any questions or uh discussion on any of the administrative reports? >> Um I have one question. I don't know Nate if you can answer this or not, but in Malia's report um she was talking about the results of the October survey. some kind of a relationship come home or have an operational plan. I mean, I can just get a hold of her if >> I'm sorry, I
025was reading something. Did you ask about Malia's? Yeah, I was wondering about the results of that survey, too. >> I don't know what the survey was, so I just thought it sounded kind of interesting. >> Let's see. I think this was this is yeah this is connected to one of their building goals about increasing relationship and I know part of it was um staff members literally taking like a directory of students and just saying you know are there students that you have a connection with and then I also think on the other hand I think if it hasn't happened yet there was a survey that was going to be sent to the students kind of asking the reverse question of is there a can you identif ify a staff member, at least one staff member
026or multiple staff members that you feel care about you or you have a connection with. >> Great. >> So, it sounds like that one did happen in October, October 1st. >> Okay. >> And then throughout the month of November, we give staff, we give updates to staff on the progress of this goal. >> Okay. So >> yeah, I could ask her for some additional details about if there's any type of interesting insights or whatever. >> Yeah, >> absolutely. >> Okay, so that's the only question I have. >> All right, any other questions? Okay, we'll move into discussion of the state auditor letter. Very good. So, um we received the state uh state auditor letter. Um copy of it here. Um as you can see, we received it on October 28th. And as we do with
027a lot of or most of our budget decisions, um we passed those budget decisions through the budget committee. Um the budget committee did meet uh see I believe it was two weeks after that. So that would have been November, it's called 14th, 15th, somewhere around there. Um we read through the letter with them. Um talked through the findings. Um and then obviously on um on after each of the findings, they have a description of what they found. Um but then later on in the letter, they also contain some recommendations um that they'd like to see. Um essentially there were three sets of findings. The first one um was about um itemizing credit card receipts and that there were sets of receipts um from district credit cards that didn't have item like specific items listed on
028the receipt. It would just have the total or might have the vendor. Um the second finding uh was centered on the purchase of gift cards. Um namely that the district was purchasing gift cards for you for district use and for district purposes. Um but that's not a good practice. And then um let's see. I'm trying to That's not the what I anticipated seeing on this next one. Oh. Um, having the having proper uh spending procedures, meaning we're using purchase orders and that these things are being approved by supervisors in advance and we have kind of a paper trail from when a need was identified all the way to the purchase where the appropriate supervisors are are giving their own case. So, um the I went I uh talked with the budget [clears throat] through this,
029addressed questions that they had, and then um their recommendation was to put it on this board meeting agenda for your discussion and consideration just to see if you had any um other items. Um we'll obviously get to that in a minute. Um uh in the interim and unbeknownst to us, then the um the state otter's office did a press release. I was it maybe a week and a half ago, two weeks ago. Um and that we didn't and they aren't required to tell us about any of that. But then that necessitated sending out the letter that I also have linked here to families. Um and this letter just explains the issues in a summarized fashion, but also provides a list of interventions that the district had already put in place before we ever received the
030letter in October. Um and some of these policies you had approved during the August meeting if you recall specifically the PECARD policies. Um so that letter has been sent out to families. And then the last thing and this was uh something just to kind of put both uh both the auditor's findings and what we've done all in the same place. And so this chart I created for our meeting today. We're on the left hand side and I'll blow it up for those of us who who need it, which is mostly me. Um, and if you need it, you can you can just sit in silence. Um, but the state auditor finding again we're ba were essentially three areas that credit card purchases were not supported with receipts or itemized receipts. Um, that the district was
031purchasing gift cards and that we had some um improper spending procedures. And then on the right hand side, all of these items that we've done are items that have uh started in place um as of July 1st or afterwards. Okay. So, walking down this list here, um we don't use credit cards anymore. Um so, all those have been cancelled. We have adopted the PECAR policy. I already referenced the fact that you all accepted that as part of our policy manual. Um, part of that PECARD policy requires that all the receipts are completely itemized. Um, purchases from the PECards are required to have detailed supporting documentation and then they're also uploaded um before we allow the spending to happen. Um and then as you have seen in the previous few meetings, there's a line that um
032on the treasur's report of here are all the pecard purchases that happened since the last meeting um for the treasurer to review. Naturally, anyone can view them, but um David being the duly elected treasurer of the board, it's his responsibility to to do so. Um on the gift card front, um just uh gift card purchases using school funds are no longer allowed, period. Um and so staff that have been doing that in the past, um but then also staff generally speaking have all been advised of this. Um and it's just it's not a negotiable thing. Um there are times specifically at this time of year where um the good citizens of our community provide significant donations to our school. Most of these things are items like food, clothing, presents, whatever. And every now and then
033there are gift cards that end up in these boxes of things. And the intent behind the gift card is, well, we the person who's donating is under the impression that we know some families that are in need, which is true. Um, and that they want to they want that gift card to end up with that family. And so recognizing that we don't necessarily want to turn away the good charity of of our citizens, um we have adopted a procedure that if we do receive a donated gift card, um that that gift card ends up making its way to the district office to be accounted for and then that we we also make sure that that gift card lands in the hands of of somebody who who needs it as opposed to us going and turning
034around and buying something and then giving that something to somebody, if that makes sense. So we just kind of are the flow through for donated and that again those aren't gift cards that we are buying. Those are something that a citizens donated to us for a family or a child or whatever. Um on the spending procedure front um all expenditures are reviewed by um the executive director of finance and operations um once these purchasers are created and then also when the payment to the vendor or the business is being issued. Um we also have adopted a digital record system where all purchases are kept inside of the district's accounting software so we aren't worried about documents and papers being lost. Um we were having issues with uh charge accounts specifically at Quicktrip. Um and those
035accounts have all been cancelled and closed. And then um like the credit card purchases and the PCAR purchases, I mean we don't have credit cards anymore, so I should just say like the PCAR purchases, all purchasers also need to have line item details. So they can't just say supplies for the dance like we want a specific you know streamers, bottled water, DJ, sweet lights, whatever. >> Okay. And then um we are no longer keeping open purchase orders, meaning uh that that like uh these are super common in like a shop class that they would have like a $5,000 open purchase order to uh some type of hardware store. so that when needed the the teacher could go get the supplies for a project and then and then just to have the instead um they have
036to have a specific purchase order and say, "Hey, these are the items that we're buying and these these are the prices of each of those items." So Sean, anything you'd like to add? >> Oh, you covered it pretty well. >> Okay. Um, so those are the items that I have linked on here. The only other thing I'll add and then obviously entertain additional questions or discussion from you all is um uh when we received the letter the week after this must have been like a Wednesday maybe Thursday. So this would have been the 5th or the 6th the county attorney did contact me and saying that when uh the state auditor has findings of this nature that part of their protocol is to submit the letter to the county attorney's office. Um, so the county
037attorney did contact me and he when he looked over the letter um and the contents and the findings, his his opinion was that there likely wasn't any crime committed, but that is part of his protocol. He also forwards that on to the Homestead County Sheriff's investigator. Um, that investigator called uh last week just to set up an opportunity to for us to forward over some documents to him. We we complied. We obviously forwarded everything that we had over. Um, I did talk to him this afternoon and he's reviewed all the documents and he feels that there's there's no need to refer this to any other that there hasn't been a crime committed that he feels he feels good that um that everything's on the up and up from a criminal standpoint at least. Um, so
038anyway, those are all the pieces of information I have. Uh the only thing that's still hanging out there is that the inspector general of the Minnesota Department of Education essentially asked for the same data that we handed to the state auditor's office and their role is to um review and inspect how schools comply with MDE policies and protocols. And so, um, we have not heard back from the inspector general's office yet. Um, and don't know when or I assume at some point in time they'll they'll communicate with us, but they have not given us a timeline. But naturally, we uh we handed over everything they required, provided assistance to them if they had questions, and they're just waiting to hear their findings. So, anyway, that is all of the information I've got. That's another information
039dump just like Sorry, >> just like the audit. But any questions, discussions, comments? Wide open. >> Nate, do you know if the state auditor closes the loop at any point, meaning does re-evaluation of the same question maybe using this year's data, right? To ensure that the items that were flagged in the last year's report have been addressed and like officially sends a letter that yes, they have been addressed. Um, in the communication that I've received from the auditor's office, which is basically this letter here, plus the press release, they haven't indicated anything like that, but I'll hand it over to an auditor. >> No, the state auditors don't close that loop. Um, this was a special investigation situation. Okay. >> So, they they won't come back in and look at it unless they get uh
040asked to again. >> Okay. So >> had they found something that required like immediate attention, they would have done that, right? But because those findings were not >> reach that level, >> I guess depending on what you mean by >> Okay. >> immediate attention. This was pretty much an immediate attention kind of thing, too. And I I think the immediate attention part like state auditor's office is looking for you know what first they're looking for if they feel like any criminal activity took place hence their protocol of then we hand it to the county attorney's office and then they look into it. Okay. >> But then secondly they also and um the auditor talked about this a little bit. I can't remember if this was in the press release or in the letter, but they
041talked about um that these items that they've identified increase the risk for um for nefarious things to happen. >> And so if we if we close down these things, it just is a it's a better standard practice um so that we can feel better about what's what's happening in the business office. So the fact the immediate part is referral to the county attorney's office who then refers it to the investigator. The investigator in a sense has now closed that loop saying I haven't found anything you know and then he communicates back to the um county attorney to verify what the county attorney already >> already kind of thought in the first case. >> Will they issue an official letter um stating that? >> I don't know. I could send an email and ask her. >>
042That would be really great. Yes. If they, you know, put that information out there, it draws so much negative and un um like >> I don't know wrong information. And so it would be great to kind of like now you put that out there. It's closed. Let's close that gap too. And I think that I think our wonderful citizens here in Byron would appreciate that as well as us. >> Yeah. And I understand why people were alarmed when they saw the press release. Um, it's the timing was unfortunate and I I understand where they felt like we were hiding something. But I from where I sat, I felt like we didn't have the whole picture yet until we knew whether there was going to be a further criminal investigation or not. It seemed too too
043early to it felt like we'd be making multiple announcements about it. Um, yeah. So, I think yeah, that would be helpful, too. Yeah, because the timing on it seemed weird. It was like we already dealt with this over a year ago. So, >> it wasn't it was not [laughter] like right after >> right after the referendum. That's why I was like >> and to Sean's point, it these things are activated by the complaint of somebody in the citizenry, you know, so where they're saying, "Hey, we think something weird is happening. >> Here's the information." I don't know how how they refer that or how much information they have to refer, >> but then that that's really what's activating it. It's not necessarily, you know, all the stuff in the press or the things that you've
044gone through over the past few years. It's more >> a referral made by >> right >> a someone or a set of someone's. >> Yeah. Okay. And there were things we needed to change and did before. >> Absolutely. >> We even know about the investigation. >> Um >> Yeah. And so the only looming investigation is the MDE investigation and we'll see. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I I I have never encountered the office of the inspector general of NDE. So and I don't know I talked to a few superintendents and nobody I mean I talked to about eight or 10 of them and nobody has really dealt with the inspector general in in a situation like this. So I wish I knew exactly what to expect. I can imagine that they will they'll issue some similar
045letter I guess that would say hey here's the things that we're concerned about. Here's some suggestions and then um obviously we take those things seriously and if there are some additional findings that we aren't aware of we we'll look at those and if we have to adjust our practice or policies we'll happily do it. >> Right. Okay. >> Yeah. And I I was questioning the the last sentence under number one, the Minnesota law itemization of claims, although not implemented until September 2024, the school district's documented spending procedures also required to itemize receipts of all credit card purchases. So, we already had that in place. So, why did we put a new policy in place in September of 2024? you know, if this was already our this was our procedure. So, was there no policy that
046went with our procedure? >> You know, I mean, >> yeah, I don't know the answer. >> I I take that to mean that the policy or the procedure was in place, but it wasn't being followed. >> I wasn't a board member at the time. I was a involved community member and um that was a question I felt concerned about that there seemed to be >> there seemed to be like we told everyone to do this but there wasn't oversight in that. Yep. That was my question is that who who was in charge of overseeing that if it didn't happen >> and now there is there are oversight steps built in >> right okay um there's something else too under the OSA findings um right in the middle lack of supporting documentation impairs a school board's
047ability to determine whether it approves or disapproves transactions and may render the credit card user responsible for the amount of the purchase. But as a board, we don't approve or disapprove purchases. >> It's in the consent agenda, the wires, transfers, bankrupts. >> Okay. I guess I'm thinking more of like school supplies and teacher, you know, >> we're seeing the month. >> Okay. So that's the right way to say it on the month end. >> Okay. So that's what that's referring to. Okay. Got it. Okay. >> And I interpreted their recommendation as um without the oversight in place. I interpreted that as a reminder to the board that the buck stops with you. So if you don't have other people doing this and overseeing it and checking it out, like it's ultimately your responsibility. >> I
048don't know if that's okay. Okay. >> Any other discussion or questions? No, just thanks for all your work getting all that buttoned up [laughter] immediately upon our arrival. >> Okay, let's uh first reading of policy 610 of field trips. All right. So, um, as a rule, field trips always make me very nervous just because we're taking, you know, everybody out into the wild. But, um, there aren't really any any major changes, um, to be reviewed here. Um, even though I get nervous about them, I still think they're generally a good idea, but still doesn't save me from being nervous. So, anyway, this is a pretty standard policy, pretty standard practices. Um, all right. Move on to policy uh 610F for an overnight field trip. The um the one thing I did wouldn't spend a minute
049opining about and I don't know how common this is at Byron, but I know in some school districts um uh teachers put together these like week-long tours in Europe or South America or Africa. Um um EF Tours is kind of the most common company. Um and uh more and more districts have gotten away from approving those as part of the overnight and that they're more relegating that to this is a this is more of a club that doesn't have anything to do with the school >> and the teacher is deciding to organize this because in all reality that's that's kind of what's happening is the teachers organizing this. it's not directly tied to any class or classes or curriculum that we have. Um, and the main reason to that that I think more and more
050districts have tried to distance themselves from them in terms of you all approving them as a field trip is just to remove the district's responsibility in the event something happens on the trip that it's because all more more and more of those companies carry plenty of insurance to take care of everybody on hand. Um, but this ends up the moves like that end up protecting the district from having to take on the additional risk. So, um, don't have anything like that, but I but I remember with the with the overnight one, that's just a thing to float out there. Um, and we will tackle that in the event we have a EF tour request in the future. >> Okay. >> Is it the choir that goes every year? >> New York or something. And those
051are a little different because again those like if it's a choir trip and they're going to you know like Disneyland or they're going to go perform in Chicago or New York or something like that that all of a sudden is a little different you know that yes we would approve those and we're we stand behind it. It's these it's these club kind of extra tours and a lot of times they happen over like a spring break or over the summer. Mhm. >> Um anyway, those are the ones that we have >> I think we have >> we have an interest in distancing. I have not seen you usually as I've walked through the high school I haven't seen a p poster of them. You usually see posters of them all over the place. I haven't
052seen one but um >> yeah we have like Peru but that would be for Spanish for a Spanish class. >> And then we have DC trip. >> Yep. >> Yeah. The DC trip is another good example like yes we should we should still have involvement and and authority over that but okay >> wonderful. All right, moving on to policy 407 right now. [clears throat] >> Um, no changes to this one. I would add that we are trying to um that um an has dutifully done a very in-depth job of uh categorizing and uh creating some drafts of updated um information sheets for all job duties and and job responsibilities that we have across the district. Um and then at the same time I'm also um doing the very tedious job of creating a staff handbook.
053Um, and it's it's tedious. So, the whole idea behind these items is to help satisfy this policy here. So, on to policy 418, drug-free workplace, drug free school. This is very standard language across all schools just uh designating them as drug-free zones. Um this provides administrators and law enforcement with significant latitude in keeping the keeping our schools more safe. So >> MSBA doesn't have any recommended changes, do they? >> Not this time. And then uh policy 417 chemical use or abuse. >> Um this one provides some guidance as to you know if if things are happening on our grounds what what actions we can and should take on it. Again this is all very standard. These are all very standard items and practices across districts. And then the final one, policy 534, unpaid meal charges.
054>> I mean, it it stays there. Um I suppose technically for alle cart items, this ends up applying, but um but now in the universe with the universal meals program, there's this has a this isn't quite as controversial an issue as once was. So, okay. >> Any discussion on any of the policies? >> Will any of that change then after the first of the year? >> I anticipate the the changes will if changes end up happening to those policies, it's usually a result of a legislative session in the spring. Okay, we'll move on to item C, the superintendent evaluations elements. Um I did receive two uh board members feedback feedback feedback and that gave us a total of seven to choose from and I don't know how to how can we look at these >>
055if you if you told me the I have the element page linked on here but you just have to tell me what elements >> to consider additional >> additional just thinking out loud with with two people giving feedback. I'm not sure it gives us enough to go away from the initial four uh that Barb recommended, but 1B goals are strategic plan. >> Okay, >> that was one Barb recommended. >> Isn't it the same as the first goal? >> Scoot down here. >> Pass that again. Isn't it the same as what Barbara recommended? >> Yeah. So, this is everything that has come. Okay. >> Again, I'll enlarge this for me, not for anyone else. >> Just in the interest of being efficient, does anyone think we should exclude any of the elements that Barb recommended? >>
056I would say no. >> So, we've got one, two, four, and six, right? 1 B, 2 A, 4 A, 6 A. two and four was interchangeable, right? It was the matter of us selecting the right one >> or combining them together as one. >> Um, the only other one I would consider adding is bond and levy campaigns. And I know that that's probably more than we want to have on the list. Um, >> but because that was such a significant portion and such a, you know, we really emphasized when started that we wanted him to spend a lot of time working on that. I feel like we should, it would only be fair to assess how that specifically went >> and we can position that as a bonus item for this year. Right. >> Right.
057Right. We wouldn't have to continue it after January. Yeah. >> I liked that. um like the budget development and maintenance. I feel like that also fit into goal three, the action step of >> which is Yeah. Um and then I feel like the staff development also fit into goal three a little bit. So yeah, I thought Barb's recommendations were great. The levy is the only addition that would I don't know if anyone else had other ones. I did I >> added a um more so just um it's the ethics and professional behavior. >> Oh yeah. >> Yeah. a whole. >> Yeah. >> Which goal or would you would you have that fit every goal? >> I guess just in general. >> Yeah. >> I think it needs to go. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Agree. Agree.
058>> Hopefully. >> Yeah. I'm okay with cutting that. I think it's okay if we don't do it perfectly this time too. Just do the best we think we can and then in January we can reassess how we if we want to I don't know. >> So narrow it down more. >> If that element were to fit every goal wouldn't then the grading be reflective of that. So how we say high highly effective effective when we're developing would be partially impacted by whether it's done in accordance with ethics. >> Mhm. >> Yeah. I think so. >> It's really just the ethical standards then. >> Yeah. Right. Right. >> Yeah. So just adding that to everything. Yeah. >> Yeah. I'm okay with that. So the way the way a lot of times it plays out when you're
059evaluating people on a scale like this is you would end up saying um you know you have goal number one which is entry plan and strategic plan right >> and then you're saying what were the ones B okay so then you would say thank you so for strategic plan and entry plan you'd evaluate me really on two things as it relates to the strategic plan and entry plan which is namely >> 8A which I have here and then 1 A >> 1 B >> or one B thank you 1B which is all the way up at the top um >> my apologies that was >> you're my mistake >> so then those these would be the two things and then when it came time to evaluate you would circle or X or highlight light was
060I 4 32 or one. >> Right. >> Or if you prefer narratives, highly effective, effective, developing or ineffective, >> Right. And then the same thing for goal number two. You would end up saying >> so two was >> 2 A. Right. >> 2D. Well, I the way I wrote thought they fit best was 2D and then 2 A and then 4 A. >> 4 A. Yep. And so then that one would have three elements tied to that one goal. And then you would grade, you know, you'd look at 8A and you'd say, "What level was I on that goal?" >> And then for two, but you could see how the >> you can see how when you start adding multiple elements, it gets complex in a hurry, >> right? >> And that was one thing
061our caution was not adding too many and and focusing on accomplishing. So we could we could and I'm assuming we can do whatever we want, right? So for the first goal, we could leave 1B and 8A and then for the second goal, we can decide which of the four like maybe we try to limit to two per goal. >> So then maybe do get rid of the bond and lobby campaign and maybe get rid of ADA for that one. I don't know. Thank you. >> So my thought on the bond and levy I I agree like that was a big >> Yep. >> piece of it except it's already done and gone and it's not an ongoing piece. And I would >> my opinion says we should be evaluating on things that continue that we
062can say you are effective. However, by the end of the year, we'd like to see you be highly effective in this area. And the M levy doesn't have the opportunity to improve. >> I just I think as long as we when we talk about it, we keep in mind that that was a significant portion of what we asked Nate to do. And so other things, you know, his time is pi or our superintendent's time is pi. And so I think as long as we keep that in mind >> as we're um just to make sure it's a fair evaluation, I guess >> I like that. >> Yeah. So stick with 2 A and 4 A for that one. Is that good with you? Okay. >> And then for the last Yeah, I got you. strength
063or some budget. >> Which one is goal number one? >> Goal is the entry plan and strategic plan. >> Okay. Yeah. Goal two is strengthen resource and budget stability. And goal three is create a district-wide staff development system with access, oversight, and alignment priorities. For goal three, I felt like staff development 6A um applied to all of them. And I feel like for the third action step, budget development also applied. And for the fourth one, I feel like goals and strategic plan also applied, but it doesn't necessarily mean we need to include them. We could just do staff staff development and um the ethics one for the third goal. So 6A and 8A for goal number three. >> Yeah, I think that sounds good. So we have two two elements per goal. >> Per goal.
064Yeah. If that's the case, then we can substitute 8 A on the first one with 2D. >> Oh, instead of 8 A >> on the first one on the gold number one. >> We already got rid of 2D. I thought I thought we were doing 2 A. Oh, excuse me. On two on number one. I don't think we have 2D on number one. >> We We don't have 2D on number one. We have one and a >> and you think we should add the 2D bond and levy? >> I do not. >> Oh, you don't? Okay. >> So, do you think we should add a different one to the first goal? >> So, if we are considering two goals per I mean two standards per goal, right? Then it would make sense to me to
065not repeat the standards. And right now we have eight 8 a in one and three. >> Yeah. >> And it's very important. Absolutely. >> Right. Right. >> But I think we'll we'll we'll approach evaluation on the remaining elements with that perspective in mind. >> Mhm. >> So if we were to consider including something like 2D, I would recommend putting it under goal one. My only concern is I don't know if it fits there. Does it fit? >> Securing stability, right? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's fair. It does. >> Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. >> I think a eight fits better in number one versus number three. >> I agree. pass in the bond. I >> think with the evaluation too, I just want to pay back piggyback on that this is our mid one.
066So it's more informal, right? So then also leaving this, we want to be able to provide Nate with our feedback so that he can better himself as a superintendent that we focus on the bond and lobby campaign. >> I don't know how he's going to be able to set goals for himself, but how do I improve in this? >> Sure. >> So how do you talk that [laughter] state the office, you know. I mean, >> yeah, I mean, there's a lot of things that go along with that that also are important for >> the job as a whole, right? Um, but I see I see your point and I think Yeah, I think that's totally reasonable to not include it as a priority. But also I would also throw out there like you know if
067you're trying to be like well let's let's get one more element to try and fit in like for instance goal number one you know the number of elements you're assigning to a goal is completely arbitrary you know like it doesn't >> you don't have to have the same number of elements in each one >> yes >> don't take that as it's like I'm trying to do less work or whatever but I'm also saying like sometimes it fits in our nice little type A OCD box if it's like all all the same and it doesn't have to be that way. >> So, just to clarify where we're at, are we currently at 8 and 1B for one or are we >> Yeah. Okay. >> Okay. Sorry. >> So, then we need to remove number four, right?
068>> Well, the 2D one was just one that >> Yeah, that was the levy was the levy. I think it sounds like we don't really like that. >> Yeah, I think we can get rid of it. Okay. That would be cooler than removing 8A [music] and goal number three if you want to just focus on 8A and goal number one. >> Yeah. Okay. >> I think Barb would approve about this. [laughter] >> Good. Good. >> Great. >> Everybody good with that? >> Yeah. And which meeting is this happening at? >> January 1st. >> We went back and forth, didn't we? >> Yeah. I can't I think it at earliest it's your it's not the it's not the work session in January. It would be the board meeting in January. Maybe >> I just have to
069double check on the time. >> I have my Okay, going on to action items. Uh, take action on the approval of the audit as presented by Smith Schaefer. >> I move to approve the audit as presented. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. All opposed. Motion carries. uh recap of our listening session. >> Hold on one second. >> We added one after you printed yours. >> Oh. Oh. >> Anyway, it's up on the screen. >> Oh, yes. I have that on my computer. If I could pull that up there. We need to take action on giving Sean Ellbury access to the old national bank account. >> Embarrassed to say I didn't know we had. >> That's okay. >> Yeah. Go ahead, Sean. >> Okay. So, um, Old National
070Bank was formerly Bremer Bank >> and we've been utilizing them to upload our payroll. >> So, we send a file to them, they pull the money out of our our first security account, and then they pay payroll. Well, at this point, in order for me to be able to upload payroll, I need to have access to those accounts. Um, and they said that I may or may not need to have an official should just do it approval. But given that the next time that the board will meet will be December 15th and payroll will be December 15th. Not maybe just uh to be safe, we'd get that taken care of tonight instead of >> a special meeting. >> Yeah, pretty much. >> Yeah, >> you can do it tonight or a special meeting. I didn't
071know your first name. Oh, I I read this as Grant Sean Ellsworth. I was like, is your first name Grant? [laughter] Then I read the rest of the sentence. Sorry. >> Yeah. Sorry. Okay. >> All right. Would look for a motion to uh approve uh granting Shawn the authority to make necessary changes to the old national account. >> I make a motion to approve Sean. >> Second. >> Motion and a second. All in favor say I. >> I. All opposed. Motion carries. And now on to our listening session. We have >> there is none. >> Yeah, nobody came to the listing session. >> Okay, brings us to our final item on the agenda. >> Make a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion a second. All in favor say I. I. We are adjourned. Great.