CorpusRecord 125674

2025-07-14 LFCS School Board Meeting for July 2025

A searchable transcript preserved as part of the Discourse Corpus. Passage numbers provide stable references within this record; verify quotations against the original recording when available.

Source
YouTube / LFCStv
Date
2025-07-15
Location
Morrison County, MN
Material
Transcript
Extent
6,654 words · about 37 min
Collected
2026-06-20

Transcript

Verbatim source text

001cuz don't worry my hangovers I get. All right. Good evening. It is July 14th, 5:00 p.m. I would like to call this Independent School District Board 82 business meeting to order. Everybody, please join me in 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. You should. Anyway, the district mission statement is that Little Falls Community Schools will work together for each learner to achieve academic and personal growth in a collaborative, safe, and engaging environment. Kelly, do we have any public comments? We do not. No public comments tonight. Okay. That note, I would look for a motion to approve the agenda. So, moved. Okay. I have a motion by Kelsey. Do

002I have a second? A second by Sharon. Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. Next item is the consent agenda. Looks like you have uh three items there. Personnel, prior meeting minutes, and financial transactions. Um I would look for a motion. So have a motion by Dan. Do I have a second? Second. Second by Mark. Any further discussion any of those items hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. Looks like next we have a resolution for acceptance of gifts. Sharon. Uh member Sharon Belaloo introduced the following resolution and moved its adoption. Whereas the following have generously offered to donate to the Little Falls Community Schools. Therefore, be it resolved by Little Falls Community School Board of

003Education to gratefully accept the gifts. The first three are all from Wabash. Each one is $250. First one is for our robotics program. Second one is for the DECA program and the third is for the community schools grad bash. The next one was one that was read last month, but there was um missing notation on it, so I'm going to repeat it. Roger and Joan Thielen, a donation of $7,500 to Little Falls Community Schools. And this is for the Joan and Roger fund. Um, this was presented at the last board meeting. It was not noted where the donation was to be used, which is for the scholarship fund. U, the motion now needs a second by member. I'll second it. Thank you, Doug. We have a motion and a second. It is a roll call

004vote. I don't have my list on this one. Oh, here we go. Here we go. Mark, yes. Kelsey, yes. Julie, yes. Doug, yes. Lost my training of thoughts. See, that's why I need my notes. Dan, yes. And myself is Yes. And this resolution pass. Okay. Thank you. On next, we have flyer pride cards, which we have none of for this month. One year with Cath. Um, next it looks like we have a couple of presentations. Um, looks like um, Miss Warner, you go, you're leading us off. I will go first. Absolutely. Take it away. Perfect. All right. Well, I just want to say first of all, thank you um for um, helping us and supporting us in our past trips that we have taken to for our international trips for with the art club. And

005that is what this presentation is about today. Um, we are looking at taking another trip next June um to London and Paris. Very excited about this one. Our last one was to Australia, which was amazing. Got to see an opera at the Sydney Opera House, which was very cool. Um, swim in the Great Barrier Reef, and it was just beautiful. It was amazing. So, providing these opportunities, I think, for these students is just so great. Um, and I really appreciate the support that you guys have given us for these trips. So, this next trip we're looking at um June of 2026. I have lots of information. Um there's a whole letter that just kind of goes through a lot of information about what we're doing and where we're going. Um but then the next couple

006of pages is our itinerary that we are looking at. Um we are going through a company called ACIS which stands for American Council for International Studies. Um they have been in business for 50 plus years. They are very well reputable. They do have liability insurance. I've been checking on that. um which we will get copies of certificates to make sure that's good. Um but our itinerary starts off we are looking at the dates of June 2nd to June 13th. It's a Tuesday like after school gets out until like 12 days later. Um our first one is an overnight flight. We fly into London and then in London we have five full days in London to explore. We go out to do and Canterbury. We get to see Stonehenge. We get to go to the Globe

007Theater. We get to have a theater performance in the West End. Um, I mean just super amazing things. Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, you know, all of that stuff. Um, yeah, absolutely great. And then we take the Euro Star and we spend five full days in Paris as well. That's a little bit further out. Um, and then when we get to Paris, of course, there's lots of experiences, the Eiffel Tower, the Arctic Triumph, lots of great um, the Louve, a lot of arts. Um and then the thing that I am really excited about on this trip is we have reserved an entire day to spend with our sister city labor. Um so I'm in contact with Susie Pappio and Joseline over in Paris are over in Labour and we are communicating and trying to work out

008like what will we be doing. Um I think it's really important to try and connect our youth and their youth so that way our sister city committee can continue to grow. um which was excuse me um one of the really important things about scheduling this. So I think it's a really great opportunity and you know what a cool experience for both sides and get our youth involved. Um as far as the dates go again June 2nd to June 13th. I am aware that that is potentially when some state competitions are going to be happening. Um right now I have 23 students signed up or 23 people signed up. There's only one student where it might be a conflict. She's in track and she and I are in communication about that and what that means and

009does she feel like she has a good chance to make a state and honestly she's like no. Um but at the same time you never know. Um so we I just want to be aware of that and make sure that there's opportunities so she doesn't necessarily have to choose but knowing like where her priorities lie. Like if she goes to state, does she not go on the trip? does she mistake to go on a trip? Um, but she's the only conflict that we have right now. Um, as far as cost goes, it is $7,253. I know it's a lot of money. Um, but we have been fundraising like crazy. I have a really great connection with a company called Curs and Cakes um that works at US Bank Stadium for the Vikings games and concerts.

010They also have um booths at Twin Stadium and at the Gopher Stadium. and we go down and we actually work. We sell cheese curds and corn dogs. Um, but they pay us or I mean it's a a win for them because it's going to a nonprofit. So, it's a tax deduction. It's a fundraiser for us. And I like this because the kids work for the money. It's not a hereby things that you really don't need or free real donations. So, they actually work. We really get a nice camaraderie. So, the group beforehand knows who all the travelers are. They form that friendship and that bond before we go on the trip. And it's just great opportunity. And if you talk to Michelle, I mean, the checks that come in are just insane. I mean, we

011get like $2,000 checks. I'm sure you've seen some of the checks. And it's it's pretty lucrative. So, it's great. We've been really working hard on that. Um, there's a whole bunch of other things in there. This is just from the ACIS company that you guys are seeing on the screen. Um, this is just their general packet that is talking about all of their information. It talks about their liability insurance. It talks about their contacts. It talks about references. Um, it is there for you guys to peruse. They also do have a um protection plan that is a included in the price. They have a basic protection plan that covers like, oh, I get really excited looking at the Eiffel Tower. I step backwards. I tripped and I broke my ankle. It covers that health insurance

012and that hospitalization or that medical bill. It also covers delays of trips. It covers um if your baggage gets lost. I mean, that is all there. And then they have the opportunity to upgrade if they want, but the basic package is already included. Um because the actual contract, I know I get this question sometimes, the actual contract is through ACIS through the company. So all of the fundraising that the kids are doing that now gets sent into the company, if for some reason they can't go, if they need to cancel, do they get their money back? The answer is yes because it's through ACIS. So we are kind of the vehicle where the fundraising is coming in and then it gets sent to the ACIS company and therefore if something happens, ACIS is now responsible

013for the refund of their money. So they're not just losing out on $7,000. Um, and that's one of the reasons why I really like going through these companies because they take care of all that and it's not like, hey, thanks for raising all this money for the art club. Um, no, I mean, they put in the work, so they deserve to get that back. Um, I'm also aware that in today's political climate, there is the possibility that it might not be safe to go. Um, and in that case, the the company is very aware of what's going on. And if for some reason like something is happening, they will not send us there. They will send us someplace different. They will make sure that we have a an equal experience but just in a safe

014place. So that is why I'm here. We're hoping that you guys will support our trip like you have in the past. I'm very excited about it. And if you have any questions, I think it's a good place for a schoolboard retreat. I place for a school board retreat. That's in the budget, right? Yeah. Well, they need chevarones. Yeah. Um, does so does each student that goes typically work enough to cover their own costs or do they have to kick in a little bit themselves? Great question. Um, most of the time they do have to kick in a little bit or some um depending on how much they fundra. Um, some are very motivated and when we went to Australia, I had kids that worked so much that they covered their entire trip. Um because like

015if they work and a parent works, they get paid double towards their trip, which is really nice. Um and then they ended up getting back like $1,200. Oh wow. Because they had over fundraised. Um and then the company AC will send them that money back like a week or about a month before we leave. They like here's your extra here's a check for you shopping money and there's their their shopping money. Now each student has to have a passport. I assume they do. That is an added expense. Yep. Do you have a target number of students you hope will sign up? Um, right now we have a total of 23, which is great. I would love to get a few more. I think it's getting to be a little late at this point to try

016and get more people on board. Um, but they are more than welcome to if they want. You guys are more than welcome to sign up if you want. Um, but I I really like this number. Um, if I have more, that's great. If one or two drop out, that's okay. How many chaperones do you have for that number? We get one chaperone for every six travelers. So, right now we have 23. That means we have three fully paid for chaperoons. Um, if we get one more person to sign up, we can add a fourth. It's kind of where we are. And is that through the company then? Is the chaperone. Okay. Great. What grades are your students that are going high school? 9 through 12. Nine. All I thought it was just junior and senior.

017Nope. All 9 through 12. I do have most of the I will not have any freshmen. Um I will have 10 through 12 just because I've only been recruiting at the high school or talking at the high school. I haven't gone into the middle school like I have in past years to talk to the eighth graders that would be coming up. Um so it would just be 10 through 12. Amazing opportunity for them. is great and I love that connection with the labor as well. Right. Any other questions for we vote on this tonight? I think Yeah, we don't have it as an action item tonight, but we could put it on the next agenda on August 11th. Definitely have my support for it. I think it's great. Yeah, great opportunity. Okay, thank you very

018much. Thanks, Karen. Okay, next we have a um kind of grade level banding urine review. Mr. Dobas and Mr. How's everyone doing? Good evening. Good. Good. I don't know if ours is as exciting as talking about London in Paris, but we'll do the best we can. Um, thanks for allowing us to be here tonight. Um, we're just here to kind of give you a review of the the school year from the the past year. As you know, that was our first year with Lincoln being a K2 building and Libert being a 35 building. And so, um, we're just going to really cover some of the highlights throughout the year, mainly around the teaching and learning components. And so up on the screen, this is these are the bulleted points that last year when the conversation

019around grade level banning started, these were the focus points that we felt collectively from a teaching and learning lens that we could really hone in on um and and do a better job of. And so we're going to give you a rundown of of these areas and and what we saw this past year. And so consistency and alignment, collaboration, communication, efficiencies within the buildings, reducing the variability, enrollment challenges, consistent interventions, tailored programming, curriculum focus, standards alignment, age appropriate resources, focused professional development, balanced class sizes, and then that one flyer experience. And so what we really started to experience this past year was an increase in collaboration um with our grade levels in our department PLC's. That was one of the things that for whatever reason in the past it was difficult to be consistent with

020them. Um but to get every teacher from a grade level in Little Falls at that time together in the same room and we had them stadium style. So like at Lincoln, all the kindergarten teachers were together, first grade teachers were together, second grade, and then I was in that area and I'm able to bounce back and forth amongst those tables. Um, similar thing at Lindberg, too. And so the planning and preparation, the consistency and alignment, the scope and sequences of our academics and sharing resources were really the four focus areas of our PLC's this year. Um, and so that was a really good thing to see even the momentum from the start of the year to the end of the year throughout because it it almost started off as are these just going to be

021grade level meetings or is this going to be more of a true PLC and that's what it evolved into and it was really good to see that communication the consistent messaging for each grade level with programming and curriculum. So if we were focused on first grade, they're hearing that one message just from one leader instead of two messages going out from two leaders to two different buildings. So that consistency was was increased as well. And then reducing the variability um for for everybody involved whether it's the staff and the students. So the same experiences for all students at each grade level within when within each of the buildings. And then really from the enrollment side, not necessarily enrollment as in enrolling into the school, but the class sizes, they were balanced across the grade level.

022We didn't have 18 in one building and 24 in a different building. And so those were some of the highlights um that we saw. We also look at as far as the instructional side of things, consistent interventions through our MTSS process, SAT. Um, we're able to hone in more specifically on those specific grade level bands. And we've seen some positive gains out of that as well. Um, more tailored programming. So, we had uh set aside win times um which is what I need time and that's where the interventions occurred. um some special educational services occurred at that time. So the kids um when they were out to receive those um extra interventions, we're not missing any core instruction. Um just a lot more opportunities to be flexible and provide further enrichment. Um we also had

023more age appropriate resources. So in buildings is focused on K2 at Lincoln and then 35 um at Lindberg. Same with the media centers, more intermediate based at at Lindberg, more primary based um at at Lincoln. Um then in both buildings we had profess professional development opportunities. We're really heavy uh focused on letters training. Um and like Chris mentioned before through our PLC's, it's nice when you have your grade level groups right there in the building. You know, previous years we'd have to coordinate between um the different buildings and get everybody to different sites and it was just a nightmare to plan and for scheduling where this makes a lot more convenient and it's all under one roof. So, it made it far more convenient uh for that. Plus, for the families, it's one flyer experience.

024Um, yeah, there is a few things that, you know, we had some oversightes on, but as as we go through the school year, Chris and I are planning different activities like when we have homecoming, we try to keep it the same um in all in both buildings. Um, so the parent doesn't have to say, "Well, on Monday it's this dress up day at Lincoln, but on on Monday it's this dress up day at Lumber." We try to keep it the same. Um, so it's one experience. Um we have a combined PTA which has been um transition has been fantastic. Um so it's uh one PTA for um all elementary um buildings and the other piece is you know that that unity of the staff and that grade level team um being under one roof and

025then I think one of the question and this is this is one of the questions I think that we'll continue to get is like what is the data saying what does the achievement look like and one year is just not enough to measure that. We we certainly need more years of data to look at. Um but a couple of things to just point out is that we did see an increase in students exiting from intervention, whether it's tied to it or it's not. Um I'll give you an example. At Lincoln, we had 14 kindergarters, I believe it was, that exited receiving intervention services this year, which is absolutely outstanding. Um what do you mean by intervention? So during our win time, which is called what I need time, students that on our fast bridge measures

026that are um at risk or some risk are they're leaving the classroom and they're receiving an intensive academic inter teachers every day. Okay. Um and they were able to based on the results of how they were doing, they were able to exit those interventions. Okay. So from an interventionist standpoint, when they're able to just focus also on just K2 students or 35 students, it's it's tailoring their intervention as well so that they can become better at those specific ones instead of a broader range of of those interventions. Um there was improvement in pockets across math and reading in K5. Um, and then a reduced number of referrals to our SAT, which is our student assist team, where those are referrals coming in from teachers that are seeing maybe some struggles or some supports that students

027might need. We did see a re reduction in that as well. And I think Larry and I can talk um about what we see, right, and what we heard, but I also think that it's important to hear what some of the staff also have said. And so there are four I believe there's four total. Um there's two quotes up there from two staff members and then I think on the next page there's there's another one as well. Um and this is a wide range of from veteran staff to just been teaching for a couple of years. Um, but Larry and I look back on the school year itself where we started the planning, the preparation to where it ended. And I think both of us are really proud of how the transition went throughout the

028course of the school year. I think our biggest early on hiccup was probably parent pickup in both buildings and we made some adjustments and some changes and that ran much smoother. Then I would add this the staff um teachers, parents, cooks, custodians all need to be commended. This was a huge change for them. You know, some switching buildings. Some have been at at uh at some of their buildings for 30 plus years and now all of a sudden switched buildings um or change classrooms, get a different administrator. Um and one thing I ask my staff is to make sure you give everybody grace and be patient and They they all should be commended. It was um like Chris said uh it it was a far better experience than I would have ever anticipated and there's

029did a lot of work up front um you know a lot of logistical things and all the staff need to be commended um for what they have done and what they went through and just made it as successful as it was. Questions? How about challenges? I mean, I know you said you had a couple hiccups with with pickup and stuff. Were there any any challenges maybe in the classroom or with special ed or or some of the things that maybe might have been communicated to us or concerns when we first looked at this that said this is what's going to happen. It's going to be terrible. Yeah. You know, from a programming standpoint, no, not from an academic programming standpoint. I think one of the things early on that we felt over at Lincoln and

030we also saw was, you know, when you have 365 to 8y olds in a building, you know, there's there's a lot of emotions there. There's a lot of, you know, self-regulation and coping and and all of those things. And so it it took a it took about six weeks really until that MEA point um to really see what were the needs that we had throughout the building. and we made a few staffing changes right around that time and and from that point forward things really were off and running for us. And I would say for me personally, the first two weeks was hard because I crossed the river in the morning and have to realize, oh, nope, I'm not going to that site anymore. I've got to go back to Lindberg. Um, but overall some

031of the things where you don't know what you don't know. Mhm. Um, and the other pieces is is just really good coordinated and good conversations between the two buildings, making sure that we're coordinated on our calendars and having that communication so it's makes it better for the families and for the students. Um, but overall, you know, I like Chris said, the biggest hiccup was just that uh pickup stuff and once you work those kinks out, that went really smooth. and you know the rest of the stuff is you learn on the go like you would any other year. Um don't it it was a great experience. Yeah. I think my my biggest concern early on like heading into the year that I was most anxious about was the transportation piece of it and I think

032we put a plan in place. All of our teachers walk every kid out to the excuse me to the bus every day to ensure that they get on that right bus before they head over to Lindberg. Uh early on I was going over to Lindberg at the hub and then I would message Larry and let him know when we're coming. Um the parent pickup component all of those safety and security pieces. That's where the heightened angst was a little bit for me. And I think our staff did a wonderful job of of helping with the transportation pieces. I think our bus companies did a great job with it. Um it helped that at Lincoln every child had a bus tag on their backpack. Whether they rode the bus, they got picked up. That really helped

033too. Just if you saw that tag, you you knew. Radio communication was excellent. I think one of the biggest concerns we heard from parents were they would have to drive. Yeah. How was the drop off in the pickup for parents? Was there lateness or anything like that for you guys from a being like a late standpoint? Yeah. Because the train so it' be at Lindberg because Lincoln was picked up earlier. Started earlier. So we were consistently done by 3:17 every single day at pickup. And you know, our kids aren't out until 3:10. So, and if kids were late, we would stay down there till about 3:20, 3:25. If they weren't picked up, we'd go up to the office, make a phone call, and that was a rarity. What about drop off? Drop off, you know,

034that's pretty seamless because you just pull up, drop, pick your off, and get right out. Didn't have any issues or anything? Never. No. I think the early on just the like the loop at Lincoln is a little bit smaller to get into and I think everybody kind of created their own schedule in a sense, you know, as a parent because you could you would see almost the same vehicles at the same time each day, you know, and they almost kind of created their own flow of what that traffic would would look like. The only time we'd have lateness is when there's a train and that's unavoidable. What about the concern that the parents had so strong about wanting their older child to be with the younger child? And I know you had plans set up

035um for that because the fourth grader was supposed to keep a track of the first or kindergartener. Did that work out okay then? I didn't hear anything from that. Well, you'd hear if it was wrong, but and so as far as the logistical piece of making sure that they got to the right spot, got over to the hub. You in my experience over all these years, kids are far more resilient than the adults. It's the parents that have the anxiety and stuff and the kids might have it the first day. That's the first day jitters. That's normal. And after that, it's been like it's like they've been there for years. Um, so and they probably have it the first day because the parents told them they're going to have it. Yeah. So it's the kids

036were resilient and they handled this whole transition extremely well, you know, and when you have kids through community ed services, there are no other kids networking that way. It it was a really actually in my eyes a very smooth transition. Thank you. So you think we should keep it? I'm not going back. Is there anything that we should be aware of for the next year that you think you're going to need that you you know now I wish you would have known a year ago? You know, the the one thing that we kept highlighting through our building leadership team at at Lincoln um was just the support in the lunchroom and then out on the playground. Those are two areas that are unstructured times for kids. And so, um, meeting with Superintendent Johnson, just kind

037of talking about those needs and they're small chunks of time. You know, lunch starts at 11 and then the last recess is over at 1:00. But having support staff at those two times is probably, it seems like such a small amount of time, but it's one of the most important times of our day. like Brad for Lindberg. Um, you know, the playground needs to be addressed in in working with Mark and that'll get addressed now. Um, and new playground will go in. Um, and I'd echo the same thing as Chris, you know, those those high areas of supervision. Um, and you know, we we build a schedule and now you go back and you reflect with your building leadership team of what went well, what uh didn't, and you make those modifications and changes. Um,

038and you do that constantly on a daily basis of where you evaluate and make adjustments. Yeah, that was one of the biggest messages from from me this year to the staff is we're not just going to roll next year, you know, last year now into this year. We have our goals for the year and we'll continue to focus on continuous improvement from one year to the next. That's how that's how we're going to improve academically. That's how we're going to improve socially throughout all aspects of our building. And so we'll continue that. But the way the buildings are set up now from your experience for a year, is there anything that needs to be changed from the setup of them? I don't think so. My eyes sure no. Okay. I don't think so. Okay. No

039surprises coming there. Any other questions? No. Thank you. All right. Next, we will go to the superintendent report. Yeah. I have some Dr. Knight updates. As we transition and support staff and students into a new school year next year, I just want to provide some updates to the board. We are, and Mark will correct me if I have any of my dates wrong, but we're looking at moving our teachers uh teaching staff from Dr. Knight this Friday. Thursday. This Thursday. Friday is our backup day. Okay. We'll also have a good um amount of the library packed so that those books will be moved as well into either Lincoln or Lindberg. We've pulled the student records out of Dr. Knight and they're actually at the district office in case we need access to those. they're readily

040accessible. We've had some other staff go through Dr. Knight as well, some of our administrators, community services, curriculum, some science teachers just to make sure that as the teachers move their materials out from Dr. Knight, if there's other materials and equipment that can be used in other programs or classrooms, we want to make sure that they get utilized as well. We intend to have a day in August where any district set 482 teacher can walk through Dr. Knight in the event they see a chair, a desk, a table, other materials that they could utilize in their classroom. We want to give that opportunity to all of our staff if they're interested. And then I anticipate in working with Chris and Mark that sometime this fall, September, more than likely October, we'll have a district auction

041that will be publicly announced and the remaining equipment, obsolete equipment and supplies. People can have an opportunity to bid on and purchase. Often times you'll see other districts come in and look at materials to see if they could utilize it. I'm going to pause and just see if you have any specific questions about Dr. Knight. So far, not just Knight, but the auction, that would be every building and the stuff we have in storage that we don't use. Correct. I think we would bring it out to Dr. Knight to make it accessible to anyone. Good question. And the auction, does that include like playground equipment and all that as well? Not playground. No. No. We're our goal right now as a district and I anticipate myself, Mark, and maybe a couple of board members will

042be sitting down with the city of Randall to talk about the building moving forward. And we are very interested in their input, their thoughts about how we can best utilize that space. There have been some inquiries from outside organizations already knowing that the building is is closed. Just putting some feelers out there. So, we'll make sure to share that information with you folks, which is my leadin to a um work session on August 18th. I think that'd be a really good time for us to sit down and have that conversation to see where things are at. I'm sure there'll be plenty to talk about. It's a Monday night. It would be at 5:00 in here. You want to tenatively mark that down? Is it the 18th? 18th. Mark, Chris, anything to add? Did we lose

043any more students? We called I know we were at 30, I think, was the last number I heard. Yes, we called all of our families that we that we we did not call families that we knew had already registered somewhere else. We had that notification. So, I think last Monday, a couple of our administrative assistants called the remaining families to make that determination. And so we did find out that there were some additional families attending other districts. Some obviously coming a little false, some were that were still undecided and a few that we had to leave messages for. So I think Chris, when we initially did our planning, we we had set did we say 40% correct? the the budget was based around 59 students less than our projection model. So it was more than

044that 40% actually but 40% is what was in the projection model. So probably just under that pretty close. But let me ask you this. Weren't I mean I know there were some people laid off during this but didn't we save all the teaching positions? We did. So they're all moved over either to Lindberg or Lincoln. The only position that was laid off was the principal position. Leah Rosski that administrative position was a reduction. Yeah. There wasn't a a spot to reassign her to. But the teachers, you know, we had some teachers retire. We had a couple teachers resign. in another building. So we were able to absorb easily absorb the teachers from Dr. Knight, not only classroom but special lab and specialist teachers as well. Okay. So where would we be at then if our

045undecided families decide they're going to enroll somewhere else? Is it low enough that we would potentially have to cut another teacher then because there wouldn't be students for them? I don't think we're at that point. No. Are any of these students that are because I have the families that said that this is what they planned on doing if they moved their elementary, they were going to move their middle school students, too, which I understand. I wouldn't want to deal with two districts. Um, did we have much of that that you're aware of? Very few that I'm aware of. There were a couple, but fewer than five. Okay. When is registration and for the upcoming year? Is that in September or August? With that lead in, I'll share some important dates coming up. You had that

046planned, huh? Oh, he's Yeah. So, July 16th, we have open houses this week at both Lincoln and Lindberg. 5:00 at Lincoln, 6:15 at Lindberg for any Dr. Knight families. Come in. There'll be a brief presentation by the principal, tour of the school, check on the classrooms. I'll cover a few and then I'll get to yours, Mark. There's a meeting Friday with a few of us district folks and some uh city of Little Falls officials. Little Falls is one of two or three school districts being considered for the state cross country meet, the possible hope site. If you know, we run our cross country meets at the golf course. So, we're looking at the viability to be able to do that as a school district. I think it'd be a neat opportunity for this community to

047be able to host that. So, we'll see how that goes. July 29th with our administrative team, we have an active threat tabletop exercise that will also include the city and county officials. August 4th is the annual fall sports meeting. August 11th, the next school board meeting. August 12th is the school district registration day from 9:00 a.m. in the morning until 6:00 at night at the high school comments. Workshop week, I hate to talk about the end of the summer, but it's moving fast, is August 25th through the 28th. All of our schools will have open houses on August 27th and I'll keep sharing these dates with you as we approach the start of the school year. That's all I have. That's all. Okay. Any questions for Greg? Okay. Next, we have a in the new

048business the Witsith agreement. Um you want to give us a little background on that? So, Whit Seth is an architectural firm that the district has worked with in the past, primarily most recently with the daycare center flyers. And as we continue to move our finance and facility goals forward and looking at ways that we can continue to save dollars and resources, a topic that's been discussed is the consideration to possibly close the middle school. And I think all of you through your discussions this last six months um I think there's some interest from folks within the community to look at a 7th through 12th grade secondary school have our sixth graders attend Lindrich Elementary where there's space. But in order to do that, it's critically important that we have an architect look at the high

049school to determine the cost and viability to be able to do that at the high school. And that's not something that any of our staff can do. That's not something that Integrity can necessarily do. You have to have an architect put that together. And the state has a statute that if you do any type of work over $175,000, you have to have architecture plans attached to that. And I can say safely that if we remodel the high school, it would be more than $175,000. Those plans would be very practical in nature. It would not be excessive. It would I don't want to speak on behalf of the board, but it's not going to have any extra gym space attached to it. It would be classrooms and instructional space at the high school. So, we have

050an idea of what that looks like. And then we'll study as a board what funding mechanisms exist for us to be able to do that. You know, the city obviously is interested in the middle school that we move forward, but there's a lot of work that needs to take place before we're at that point. So, the we are asking your support to partner with Witsth to help us analyze that potential transition from the middle school to the high school. Okay, I make a motion. Okay, I'll second. Okay, just one more question. Um, just a concern that I'm hearing from people is they're nervous about middle school and high school together and what they brought. What are you going to do during lunch hour? You know, how you going to keep them separated then? Has there

051been any thought to adding a third lunch hour or very likely adding a third lunch hour? And a lot of the planning as this moves forward if it does will be not only looking at the space, but how do we create space where there's more separation? We can't completely separate seventh and eighth graders from the high school, but how can we be proactive in the planning of the space to to do it as much as we can? I'll just say this, Mark. If if you look around Little Falls schools and you look at our neighbors and even so many 7 through 12, 6 through 12 peers, for an example. Yeah. It's an effective model that we can steal all the good ideas from. Yeah. And that's just and that's what I said. Well, I would

052assume they're going to have their own lunch hour. Yes, they would. Period. Well, won't they eat till 2 o'clock in the afternoon? Well, depends what they're having. If it takes longer to make, maybe. Good question. Okay, any other questions? Um cost on the Can you refresh my memory? What would Seth was that a depending on what the project is or is it a flat cost? The the flat cost for their their initial work is $20,000. Okay. Okay. Without without a company license, you can't be a statute even look at it because we have no correct no way to get it through the state. Okay. Any other questions? No. Okay. So, we had a motion by Kelsey, second by Dan. All those in favor signify by saying I. Is this a roll call? No, not a

053resolution. Nope. Just an action item. Why you should stop this? Okay, page. Uh, those opposed. Okay, motion carries. All right, next we have the approval of the Little Flyers childc care playground equipment. Another action item. So, it is an action item tonight. We need your approval to move forward with really an exciting opportunity at Lincoln and our preschool and child care center to have a uh playground area that's conducive for a child care center. And it's not using school district resources or dollars. It is 90% of it is funded through the deed grant that we received from the state. About $240,000 will be used for that. The remaining 30 $30,000 will come from the resources from the city. Mark, what's the timeline potentially on that playground? Uh you if you folks approve it tonight, uh

054I will notify the playground company and they'll put it start putting the equipment pieces into production. um that takes them about two or three weeks and then they would work with us to coordinate a schedule for installation. So I can't say that by the time school starts but probably by October 1st we would have so early this year early this school year. So is this for this is for the daycare kids not the preschool kids correct or would it be utilized by both? It would be utilized by both. They just can't be on the playground at the same time. Yeah. So, you have to divide up the excuse me, you have to divide the kids up and you have to keep them segmented. So, there's actually three different play outdoor play spaces there, right? And

055one of them is really designed more for like a birth two, right? And then you have one that's that has a lot of play apparatus that would have been more for a not a playground, but like there was a old tractor tire buried in the ground, right? And some old wood logs. That kind of stuff was more for a 35. So, and then there's a green space just to kids to for teachers to take the kids out and just let them run and play some um running game. So, this will be if you think about if you can visualize it, there's the this will be the southmost um fenced in space where this new playground would go. And um it will be targeted to be specifically designed for ages 3 to five, which is what

056those folks over there said we're lacking. But there will be some additions to the there will be some additions to the younger kids space. We'll put some swings in there so that they have an activity to do with like the babies when they take them outside. Some stuff like that. All right. Any other questions? All right. I'd look for a motion to approve the playground equipment. So moved. Have a motion by Mark. Second. Have a second by Sharon. With no further discussion, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppos. same sign. All right. Motion carries. Now, it looks like we have a resolution. Yes, we do. Whereas, the School Board of Independence District 482 adopted a resolution proposing placement of Lear Rosski on unrequested leave of absence on June 30th, 2025 on the

057grounds of financial limitations. Whereas said written notice of the proposed placement on unrequested leave of absence was received by Leah Rosski by mail July 1st and by postal mail on July 2nd. And whereas said written notice of the proposed placement on unrequested leave or absence contains a statement setting forth the reasons for the proposed placement as well as a statement that Leah Rosski was entitled to a hearing before the school board provided they made a request in writing within 14 days of receipt of said notice. There has been no hearing requested within the said 14-day period by Leah Rosski. Whereas no written request for a hearing was received by the school board or superintendent from Leo Rosski as of today, July 14th, 2025. And whereas said failure to make a written request for a hearing

058within 14 days after receipt of notice of proposed placement on unrequested leave of absence by Lear Rosski to said placement on unrequested leave of absence. Be it hereby resolved by the school board of Independence District 482 that Leo Rosski be and hereby is placed an unrequested leave of absence as a principal of Independent School District number 482 on the grounds of financial limitations at the end of the 2425 school year effective June 30th, 2025. He had further resolved that a notice of placement on unrequested leave together with a copy of this resolution be forwarded to said principal personally and that as an affidavit of same be placed in the principal personnel file together with a copy of the notice and resolution. This is a roll call vote. Um I need a second for it first

059though. Second. Thank you Mark. Um roll call vote. Doug yes. Myself is yes. Mark yes. Julie yes. Dan, yes. And Kelsey, yes. Thank you. All right. Looks like we have a second resolution. Yes. Um, very similar. Whereas the school board of independent school district 482 adopt a resolution proposing placement of Shannon Larson on unrequested leave of absence on June 30th, 2025 on the grounds of lack of public enroll pupil enrollment discontinuation of the position. Whereas said written notice of a proposed placement on unrequested leave of absence was received by Shannon Larson by email on July 1st and by postal mail on July 2nd. And whereas said written notice of the proposed placement on unrequested leave of absence contained a statement setting forth the reasons for the proposed placement as well as the statement that Shannon

060Larson was entitled to a hearing before the school board provided a request was made in writing within 14 days of receipt of notice. Um, no hearing was requested within the 14-day period. Shannon L by Shannon Larson to the school board proposed action. And whereas no written request for a hearing was received by the school board or the superintendent from Shannon Larson as of July 14th, 2025 and whereas said failure to make a written request for a hearing within 14 days of proposed placement on unrequested leave of absence. Shannon Larson is said place is said placement on unrequested leave of absence. Be it hereby resolved by the school board of independent school district 482 that Shannon Larson be and hereby is placed on unrequested leave of absence as a teacher of the independent school district number

061482 on the grounds of financial limitations and discontinuation of a position. This is effective June 30th, 2025 in accordance with the district master agreement and pursuant to Minnesota statute 122A.40 um without pay or fringe benefits. Be it further resolved that a notice of placement and unrequested leave together with a copy of this resolution be forwarded to said teacher personally and that an affidavit of same be placed in the teacher's personnel file together with a copy of the notice of this resolution. And I need a second for this resolution. Second. Thank you, Doug. Roll call vote. Doug, yes. Myself, yes. Mark, yes. Julie, yes. Dan, yes. And Kelsey, yes. And that also will pass. All right. Your last resolution of the night. Okay. Shorter one. Whereas to qualify for long-term facilities maintenance review, Minnesota statute 2024

062um states a school district or intermediate district must annually adopt and approve a 10-year LTFM facilities plan by July 31st for commissioner approval. Whereas the school district has developed a 10-year long-term facilities maintenance plan consistent with the law. This is a resolution by Sharon Malu. I need a second. Thank you, Mark. And roll call vote for this. Doug, yes. Myself, yes. Mark, yes. Julie, yes. Dan, yes. And Kelsey, yes. That all three resolutions pass this evening. Okay. Thank you, Sharon. Um, next we have no old or unfinished business, so we go on to reports from board members. Uh Mark, anything? Nothing to report. No, Sharon. Um just I wanted to report very interesting finance and facility committee meeting this last week. It was longer than usual, but I really much appreciate it. We have a

063lot of information and discussion that helped me personally on a lot of the stuff that's coming up. And I want to thank um Greg Johnson, Mark Deal, and Chris especially um for staffing updates and all the financial information that they gave us for information and Scott Orleans for the technology updates that we're given. And there was a little bit of discussion on negotiations going forward, too. Okay. Thank you, Kelsey. Your report should report. Yeah, summer's going too fast. And I have nothing to report at all either. So I suspect I can share this, but it incredible honor for um 2025 graduate Carter Glost, who's committed to uh play baseball at Nebraska, but he was drafted tonight by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wow. In the Major League Baseball draft. Oh, that is exceptional. Pretty cool. Awesome. Thanks

064for sharing that. Any other business to come before the board tonight? Hearing none, I'd look for a motion to adjurnn. Some moved. A motion by Kelsey. Do I have a second by Dan? All in favor signify by saying I. Same sign. Thank you everyone. Stay cool. Is that Rusty's one of Rusty's kids?

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