001Please rise and join us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, let the roll call show. All board members are present except for Eric Stramberg. Um and we have no citizen comments. >> Nope. >> Uh so we will move on to our reports with uh board member reports. Um and who wants to start? Jan. Sure. Um I attended policy committee just before this. >> I think that's um I had a quick just PTO update to share. We have our cookies and fondos tomorrow which is like a or not sorry on Thursday which is an informational meeting. We're trying to get some drum up some volunteers and
002bribe them with cookies. So you know if any parent that you think might be swayed by a cookie send them our way. Um also we donated for the family reading pledge. I brought a little sheet in case anybody doesn't know what it is but they're trying to get kids to um pledge to reading 20 minutes each night or more. Um, but we donated uh 200 books to that night and 400 to the ABC night at the primary school so that each kid like when they did their pledge have a book to take home. So that was pretty cool. We were able to do that. Um, letter for the playground grants. I went to some referendum presentations and there is a free vaccine clinic on November 5th from 1 to 6 in the P gym. That's
003all I got. I attended the RER co-op uh governing board last week. >> All right. Thank you. Done. Let's see. I had um MSBA training uh part three part A um as um Scott's doing it. So I'll ask the mentor and I had policy before this meeting agenda planning be it Scott. Yeah, I had policy before this and then the MSBA training got mentioned. >> All right, perfect. Um I had attended the one of the referendum meetings that was here at the um city hall here for Princeton Council and um identifying that was it um doing council report. All right. Um the FFA livestock team, they're headed to state. The unified club is having a fundraiser at Papa Murphy from November 6 and the senior night the senior all night party had a fundraiser at
004Pizza Bar last Tuesday. FFA is selling ice cream at lunch. Um the Troy M is um Troy M is beginning to meet now. Uh choir concert on the 3rd of November and it just had their induction yesterday. Musical members are working a Halloween bash, which is like a a haunted hay ride thing. Basketball is starting captain's practice. Football has a home quarter finals against uh Little Falls and the Pats are tomorrow. >> Thank you. Uh superintendent report. >> Yeah, it's been a kind of exciting good couple weeks here. Uh back to since the last board meeting, we had our walk to school event which ended up being I think one of the coldest mornings we've had this fall. So uh I think it started at 27° so kids that came with shorts and t-shirts kind
005didn't have quite as fun to walk but >> you had to walk fast. >> They had to walk fast. That's right. Um and then we had homecoming week along with that week which is a lot of great events across the across the the district. So that was really fun. uh captivated by a great win at the homecoming game by the football team. So one 50-7 I believe right Jesus um and then uh followed up with uh with the parent teacher conferences and then the MEA break. So um really some good uh things happening there with a lot of parents coming in for parent teacher conferences and then of course um welldeserved MA break for students and staff. We're looking forward to that. Um for meetings, we've had uh meetings with Palmer, our admin team meets
006with Palmer and kind of talks about different strategies, how we can be better on both sides. So that was good. Um we have a crisis meeting that we have uh that's monthly right now and we had that meeting to talk about make sure all our crisis planning is in great shape. Um climate culture meeting talk about making sure our buildings are providing great climate culture. And then we had our um admin meetings. Um so that kind of took care of meetings um with the chamber been hitting the breakfastes but uh with manufacturing week or manufacturing month being October. We started it off we led that with the uh breakfast with manufacturers um and any trade uh owners that businesses that want to come in for breakfast at the school. We had to show out kind
007of our our our needs if you will for the referendum. And um that was really good meeting and talked about how we could partner. Um, since then the chambers had plastic products uh had a had a morning uh um meeting or that was the afternoon meeting, right? That was the afternoon meeting. We went to that lunchon meeting and uh they showed us the plastic product factory. So that was kind of fun for for me to see and I know others that were there and then this morning we had Crystal Cabinets that were showing up there. So um so that was another really great site and a good place to partner with the school district. Um, and then I have signed up for the uh the chamber leadership series and that was last Thursday during NEA
008and we had the history of Princeton. So I learned a lot about Princeton during that time which was really good. Um, and then the rest of the time has been uh spent a lot on referendum presentations. Um, since the last time we had a board meeting, we've I've been out to San Diego. We've had the city of Princeton. We've had Sterling Point presentation. Uh, Spencer Brook town hall uh our township. Um, also been to uh um the uh Fairboard, been to Blue Hill and uh and I I'm not sure if I mentioned the BFW, but BFW Legioners, been to Elim Homes, also been to Alliance meeting and followed up on one that I gave before. Um and and had some coffee shop individual meetings. I've been popping in the coffee shops and talking to whoever
009sitting around talking and seeing if they want to know anything about the referendum. uh been going around town handing out posters and putting those up so that they have information about the referendum. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is we want to get the facts out to as many people as we can um and continue to kind of beat that path and get around and talk to a lot of people and get that really well as far as getting information out. That's my superintendent. >> Thank you. >> Uh we can move on to item number six, approve the agenda. Would somebody like to make a motion to approve the agenda as presented? >> Moved, Melissa. >> Motion's been made by Melissa. Is there a second? >> Second by Eric Winks. Any comments or
010questions on the agenda? >> All right. Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> Opposed. All right. The agenda is approved. Item number seven, discuss and act on previous board meeting minutes. Is there a motion to approve those minutes as presented? >> So moved. >> Motion's been made by Don. Is there a second? >> Second by Scott. Um, any comments or questions on the minutes? >> All right. Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> Opposed. Minutes are approved. Item number six, the consent agenda. Uh, would someone like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? So moved to Melissa. >> Motion's been made by Melissa. Is there a second? >> Second by Jen. Um any comments or questions on the consent? >> All right. Hearing none. All in favor say I.
011>> I. Opposed. >> All right. Agenda is approved. We will go on to our first information item, high school update. Hold on. >> Right one or not? >> Yeah. This one. >> Yep. City go to slideshow. >> That should do it. Welcome, >> Madame Chair, members of the board, Superintendent Divine, thank you for the opportunity to give you a little bit of an update on Princeton High School. Uh, that I know is a little bit difficult to see, but I wanted to share our 2025 MCA results with you. And if you look at the green line, which is the top line, that's the reading scores from 2021 to 2025. Uh so you can see 21 22 23 kind of a downward trend went up in 24 slightly down in 25. The blue line which is
012underneath that is math and that was trending upward 21 to 22. We had a steep decline to 24, a big increase from 24 to 25. And then there's a dot on that which is the science scores. And uh for those of you that are in the know, science had a brand new test last year. So there's no previous data because last year was the first year of the test. This gives a little bit better um look at where we stood compared to statewide. Those bar graphs are broken down. The top quadrant is um exceeds. The green bright green is meets. The blue is not quite meets and the the gray is did not meet. Um so in I'm reading you can see that our scores on the bar compared to the district compared to the
013state the high school itself is on the right the district is in middle states on the left very very close to the same um very similar with the math scores which are the the bottom bar graph or the middle bar graph and then the science scores which you can't see great because of the picture actually are really good. Um I wanted to share the statewide reading score was 49.6% meeting or exceeding and at the high school we were 49.3. So we were just under the state average. The math scores in the state were 40 45.2%. 2% and at Princeton High School we were at 51% so we were a little bit above the state average there. And science score average across the state was 29 I'm sorry 26.2% of students meeting or exceeding and we
014were at 43.3. So we had a pretty significant jump over the statewide average there. Again, MCA results. Some of you have seen these for many, many years. Just the the cautionary tale is it's a new group of students that take that test each year. So, it's really difficult to form any real firm conclusions about what's going on. For example, when we met last year to talk about MCAs as a district admin team, I said our scores are going to be, which ended up being true, but it was because I knew the students that were going to be taking the test last spring versus the students that took it the spring before. And last year's junior class, this year's senior class has a bunch of really highf flyier academic students. So I knew if those students
015took the test, which they don't all do, unfortunately, but if those students took the test, our scores were going to be better. And uh so it's not that they're not important. I think it gives us a good look at where we are. I have challenged our teachers that even though we have a new group of students taking those tests this year, um it is our goal to improve our percentage each and every year by 3%. So, we got totally different group of kids taking that test, but we want to be 3% better than we were last year. And and that's going to take a lot of effort on our part. Um but people are up to the task. Let's see if I can just grab slide. >> Want to just share with you some of
016the goals at the high school. Just like the rest of the district, the high school has big rocks. Climate and culture for learning is one of those. wanted to draw your attention to something that I talked about with staff at the beginning of the year, which was I said really want them focused on bringing all students to yes on three questions. And the first one of those questions is do I belong here? All kinds of research out there about students that are connected to school doing better in school. It's important for students to see school as a place where they belong. And so we really want to make sure that all of our students can say yes, I belong here. Some of the things that we do, uh, we talk about the significant 72, which
017is the first three days of every school year, trimester, um, and how important building relationships are with students during those first 72 hours. Um, we had Dave Stewart Jr. come here last year to do staff development with the entire district. He talked about having moments of genuine connection with students and I've tasked our ninth grade team with charting those to ensure that we are having moments of genuine connection with each and every one of our ninth graders. Um, we obviously do PBIS and I think this group has heard us talk about speak up before, which is basically just talking to students about the importance of speaking up when you see students not behaving properly, especially when when it deals with racism, bigotry, or bullying, things like that. Uh the second of those three questions that
018I talked about is can I do this? It's important for students to have a feeling that what they're being asked to do is something that they are able to do or that they believe the teacher can help them do. And so one of the things that we're talking about on the student learning team is what are the things that we do with all students? what we call tier one instruction, the instruction that all students get to ensure that students have that feeling of I can do this. Yes, I can do this. Um I mentioned that we have both a math and a reading goal um which is to improve by 3% in 2026. The last question of the three is is this meaningful? And this is really big for me personally um because it's my
019belief that a lot of the struggles students have in school is trying to figure out what the connection is to their current lives or what they see their future lives being. And too often they're unable to make that connection. And so they don't see what we're doing today as being important for them either today or in the future that they see for themselves. So, we have to do a very good job of helping them find that connection. That kind of trickles into the third big rock, which is multi-tered systems of support. Um, both the can I do this and is this meaningful are questions that we wrestle with in the multi-tered systems of support team. You may have heard um from Jessica Town Guterson. You might hear from other principles in their updates, but we're
020trying to do a a district-wide system of learning walks. I've talked to my teachers about how important it is to monitor learning in the classroom. We should be each day monitoring learning to determine what the next step is. Um, using data to inform instruction. And it's the same for the system. We need to gather data about the system so that we can monitor to make sure the things that we've deemed important for the system are actually in place and being used effectively. >> Is that what the learning block is? That's the system. >> The learning block is the device that we'll use to monitor the system. Um we're we're going to be looking for things like learning targets in the classrooms. You've probably heard about that before. This is slightly different though. We're going to
021be talking to students because it's not just enough to have the learning target posted in your room. You have to do something with it. So students have to know what that target is. So if we walk around, talk to students, we want to know that at least 50% or more of them, they know what the learning target is. They know where we're going. Um we are also at the high school. This is not universal to all the buildings. Um, but we're talking about the use of proficiency scales, which is really trying to help students take ownership of their learning. Um, a typical proficiency scale has four levels. The third level would be whatever the standard is that you're trying to get a student to demonstrate. And the level right below that is all the things
022a student would need to be able to do in order to do that standard. And so a student should be able to identify I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. We're learning how to do that. I don't know how to do that yet. I don't know how to do that yet. So they kind of know where they're at. They know what's coming and they know what the standard is. And so those dovetail with learn with the learning target to ensure that students know the why behind what they're doing each and every day and what should improve that is this meaningful. We also talk a lot a lot about using common assessments. Um that's all about making sure that it doesn't matter which teacher you have. If you are in uh
023intermediate algebra, you are getting the same experience. So we're trying to make sure that we're using common assessments so that we can look at that data so that we can drive the instruction and we see oh we're we're weak in this area. We have to do more of this. Oh, we're doing really well here. we maybe don't have to coni continue to do as much of this as we thought we needed to do and really making decisions more in the moment instead of you know we have this plan and then we're not going to deviate from the plan for the entire trimester. We want to make sure that yeah we have a plan but as we go we adjust the plan. couple of things that help us identify students who might need additional support. So,
024um, MTSS is really about tier 2 and tier three. So, tier one is instruction that all students get. Some students identify that they need not just that, but something else. Some students identify that they don't just need that and something else, they need even more. And so we have positive intervention team that meets twice a month to talk about students that might be struggling whether that's academically or behaviorally. And then we use the educ system um data warehouse basically. So we can go in and look at a student and immediately see is this a student that was talked about in middle school? Is this a student that we've talked about before? What are the test scores that this student has had? Is this student on an IEP? All that information is in educ. So, we're
025really working hard with staff to go to that tool before they come to the positive intervention team. Go investigate a little bit about that student on your own. You might see that this was a student that was talked about in middle school. This strategy was implemented. It worked. Maybe we can try a similar thing. We're trying to do all of this while using this instructional model as the this is the way we do things at Princeton High School. Um you've seen the Princeton paradigm before, but really we're focusing on that core instruction. You can see learning targets, but learning progressions is part of that proficiency scale that I mentioned. um making sure that we have success criteria so students know this is what we're looking for kind of that goes back to this this meaningful
026if I know what where where I'm supposed to be going and how I'm going to get there I'm more likely to do that. So really, if you said, "What are you focusing on at the high school this year?" I'd say those three questions and trying to get all students to Yes. What questions do you have? >> Question for Ryan. >> I'd really like to say that I really like that one of those first questions is do I belong here? because we are not struggle, we struggle or we strive I should say to make sure that they all feel included and I I really appreciate that that's top priority because once they feel included >> it goes back to those uh site classes you had in college Maslo's hierarchy needs if my basic need of feeling
027of belonging isn't there not going to have much success at any other level. So thank you. Do we entertain questions from the audience? >> Uh I not >> did you attribute the score drop in the uh 22 23 years due to COVID and the remote learning or was there some something else? >> Jerry, can I can I have you ask that after? >> Oh, sure. Sounds fine. Okay. Thank you. Right. I just want to say I appreciate all the work that I used to go through and I think the three questions are spot on. You know, we talk about, you know, we want everybody to belong. That's staff and students. We want and we want all staff and students know that I can do this. The fidelity in the classroom is really when kids bring
028their learning to another level. When they know that they can do it, they build confidence. So, I think it's really good. And I'm always a big purpose person. So, is this meaningful? Yeah. And then you have more drive to do it. So, thank you. >> All right. All right. Thank you very much. Uh we're going to move on here to enrollment updates. Okay. Uh we thought we'd give you a snapshot of where uh we're looking at October one. That's kind of the catchall to start the whole enrollment process for the year. Um just know that this is really our first look. Um there'll be another one or two um sty uploads uh that will um you know massage the numbers. Uh but uh overall we are looking uh pretty good. Most of that is due
029to our online program that we started a year ago K8. Um you can see that there's 211 if I recall right I think last year at October one we were around between 60 and 70 KD was as we started the program so that program is growing if you subtract that off of the total our seat base is not growing but we knew that so um I I did put an initial look into uh our Ellers's enrollment uh analysis and because this is our student enrollment as you know we get paid at the end of the year. So that analysis of now until the end of the year and as of right now from our projections that estimate is about 80 students. So we're looking around 600,000. Um but remember we'll have costs against that. It's
030not a pure pure revenue source. It it will have expenses against it as we pay for the platform and the staff report. So, do you have anything to add, Jason? Any questions about the moment? We're looking good so far. All right, we will move on to our one and only action item. Uh, we need a motion to select our election canvasing for November. And we need to pick a date here. Um, 10th, 11th, 12th, or 13th. And then we need a time. So, what works for people? >> You need four board members. >> Four board members. Yeah. And we've we have done these um because we only need a we only need four for a quorum. I think we've done them before like even during the day if people can get away at lunchtime or
031or if you can be here in the morning meeting or the 10th 11 >> other than coming up with anyone during the day or those >> I was favoring the 11th but it is Veterans Day. Is that a restrictive? >> Oh yeah Veterans Day we would not be able to hold up. So the 10th would work or the 13th. The 12th we got MSBA training. It's got nine. So but we could I could do during the day >> or before. >> How many people can four people do the 10? >> Yeah. What time? >> Whatever time you guys want. I can do it. >> Can we do it during the day? So I can just come after them like 10 time later cuz I got to get to the phone. >> How much later? >>
032Can we meet later? What time was you doing? >> I have only one commitment during the day at um 2:00. >> You do two? >> No, that's when I was there. >> Oh, I think Oh, okay. suggestions works. >> Yeah, I can do whatever. >> We only need four people here. >> Yeah, I can do whatever time on Monday. >> Let's do Let's do the 10th at noon instead. Okay. >> So, who can do that date? Because I can. >> We got five. >> Sounds good. >> Let's do that here. >> November 10th. 12. >> You want to come to the statewide election where we post that? >> I think I'm busy. >> All right. So then we need we need a motion. >> Are you ready? >> I move to set the election canvasing
033for November 10th at noon or I'm sorry at 12:00 p.m. So >> yep, that's all we need. Uh motions made by Melissa, seconded by Eric MS. Any comments or questions about that? Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> I opposed. >> All right, we are set for the 10th. Um and we have no additions to the agenda. So um if we could have a motion to adjourn, um then we will go into our referendum presentation. Hold. Motion's been made by Don. Is there a second? >> Second. >> We got three seconds. >> Um, Scott. So, a motion's made by uh Don, seconded by Scott. Any comments or questions on that? Hearing none. All in favor say I. I. All right, we will go into our referendum presentation. >> Thank you, Ryan. football game. Thank
034you. And volleyball's tomorrow night. >> Yes. >> So, board members, I I I feel like um one of the things I would want to do is make sure that you've all seen the presentation. I've been going how I'm doing. Um I've uh had a chance to really get to know this community well over the last month to six weeks. I think this would probably be presentation 35 37 something like that. So I've been a few places, seen a few things and talked to a few people. So it's been really a good experience for me because I get to know everybody fast, but also to get the word out for the for the referendum. Um so I'm going to walk through it like I would in a regular presentation. Some of you have seen this a
035few times, but I think it's good that one we we'll have it on film, so if anybody wants to go see what the presentation is all about, they'll be able to see it. Um, so to start with, um, this uh uh presentation um is about our referendum and and the way I always start this presentation is my name is Pat B. I'm the school superintendent. Uh, I started on July 2nd, also closed on my house, our house on July 2nd. living in Princeton, loving Princeton, and getting to know Princeton. Um, one of the things I found out once we moved here right away in July, I go out and introduce myself as a new superintendent and I hear, "Oh, you're with the schools." Well, the schools are great. Um, teachers are great. Students are great.
036We really like our schools and really care about our schools. I feel that pride everywhere I go. And it's really fun to to to feel that. That's the kind of school district I want to be in and now I am in it. So, it really feels good to be a part of it. Um, but then as we all know, the board approved in August to go up for a referendum. So that meant, oh Pat, you're going to meet this community really fast and and I did. I've got now quite a bit now. So I've been going around talk about the referendum and what it means. And um for the first screen that you see up there is really the screen that shows uh the most about what's happening in our construction part of this referendum.
037Um, we have a high school and if we look at the the screen here, that light orange is what I call the core classrooms of our high school that was built in 1966. When that was built, we were having about a class load in the high school about 500, graduating about 125ish. Um, so that that the core classrooms were built for less students than we have now. Right now we're a little over a thousand students still going to those same core classrooms. And in those core classrooms you have um square footages of the classrooms are around 650 to 750 when it should be a thousand for what we're putting in those classrooms now. And what I mean by that is back then you could have 20 maybe 25 in a classroom they'd fit. Well, now
038we're putting 30 to 35 students in a classroom and we're doubling up their chairs and the kids are sitting tight and they're up against the walls because we just don't have room in those classrooms. So, the classrooms don't they don't fit our student body anymore. They've aged out, if you will. And then the new the new construction would be all the orange spots. And when you look at the orange spots, when you look at those construction spots, um it's really the major one is the bottom left here. And that's where our industrial tech area is at. Um it's our uh CTE, our career technical education. It's our shops, if you will. Um that was a pole barn that was built in 1970 and it was supposed to last just temporarily. And now 55 years later,
039we're still cramming students into that pole barn to learn all these areas of CTE. Uh which if you go in there, you're going to see it's extremely tight. It's it's uh not very well lit and the exhaust is not there and for for getting the air flow through there and the walls are asbestous. So we have a lot of uh concerns in there. It's not fit for the type of learning we need. And if these kids want to go out and learn something in in the industry, we want them to be in the industry standard shop. So that's why that's a big priority for us. And you'll find out later in the presentation that um we actually have about 50% of our students that do want those certifications and trades so that they go and
040work in our communities. So this not only is about the schools referendum, it's about a community project that makes area for kids to get ready to go work in the workforce around us. Um the other orange spots that you see, some of them will be as we get these spaces bigger, we'll need more classrooms, so some of that will go in those spaces. So, um, with all that said and done, our construction engineers have priced that out to do that job. It'd be about 49 million. And that's what, uh, this, uh, presentation talks about. So, there's a 3minute video I'd like you to listen to that kind of summarizes all of what I That's a video that summarizes pretty much what the referendum is all about. Um, it's one that we have on our website
041and we can share it to anybody that they want to know more about the referendum. Um, but then the rest of my PowerPoint, I'd like to go through and talk a little bit about each part of that video, if you will. And to start with, I talked a little bit about how I found that Princeton has a lot of pride in their community. We we do as a community, we do as a school system. Um there's a lot of work that's been done in the school system to enhance our curriculum so that we can provide students the the the curriculum, the education they need to be ready for the next part of their life, if you will. But our facilities don't match what we're doing with our curriculum. um they're they're outdated where our curriculum
042is updated. Um and we found that in in the past at uh Princeton School District, if there's a need, this the voters said yes, we'll take care of that need. Back in 1998, there was a need for a middle school and that was very obvious. So, the board or the the voters said yes. In 2014, there was a need for for a um uh for a primary school. And when the need was there, voters said yes. This referendum came about because of a task force that worked after the 2021 election. And what they found was that the voters said, "Don't put any fluff on this." And what I mean by fluff, the last one had a turf field and it had a fieldhouse. And that the voters said, "No, we don't want fluff. We want
043academic spaces." So it's back to this is the need and and there's no nothing extraable want here. It's a need referendum. So this is what the task force found out. That's what what got proposed to the board. The board approved. The other thing they said from the task force after all their input they took over two years was that if it stayed uh at $17 or less uh u per month increase on an average home, that is a uh a tolerable amount that this uh um community would accept. And so when the board looked at it, they didn't want to go to 17. They kept it down to $15 at the um monthly increase on average home. Um, so understanding the need, like I said, our our academics have changed. We now have careermies where
044kids figure out exactly what career they want to go into, but many of those careermies do not have spaces that allow our kids to learn in the areas that they need to learn to get them prepared for the next level of where they're heading. Um, as we looked at the video and we talked about the the the CT area, the shops and uh industrial tech area, whatever you want to call it, poor ventilation, overcrowded, as fastest walls and inadequate lighting. It's it's kind of a dungeonous light setting when you go in there. Our kids make it work and our staff make it work. It's incredible how they do it, but it definitely does not fit the needs of an industry standard that they'll see later in life. Um, one of the fastest growing careers for
045kids that they want to go into is culinary education. And we're having our kids learn on 1970s stoves, probably older than the ones you have in your household. And, uh, when they go into a a chef area in a kitchen uh, for after high school, they're not going to be prepared for what they'll be working with. So, that's why culinary arts has become important. One of the things that's really tough for us is that uh our our certified nursing assistants, our CNA program, we can't offer it because we don't have space, we don't have the equipment. We have our kids actually drive up to Malaca schools to get their CNA and we can only send five at a time. That's all they'll lot first for spots. And we we'll have over double that that want
046to be in our program. So we have five per try. We want there's there's more than 30 each year that want a C CNA, but they can't get it through us, so they end up having to pay for it later after high school. So, this would be a game changer for not only our kids, but the community so they can have CNAs in our community. Um, talked about the aging classrooms over 60 years old, too tight, too small. You can see that double alignment of desk. I know I'm I'm a bigger guy, but I just can't imagine having to sit elbow to elbow next to a student every period of the day and and and stay focused on learning. Our kids do it. They're wonderful at it, but it's it's a tough environment for learning.
047Um our our science labs, they're pushing our desk right up into the science lab areas. We have a uh just a one exhaust uh hood for experiments. So, they have to take turns experiment. It takes days to get through all the experiments. So, it's a it's a a classroom setup that's not meant for a thousand students. It's meant for fire. Um, we also have infrastructure issues. Our uh our boiler is original 1964. It's been welded on multiple multiple times. When will it finally give out? We're not sure, but it's it's getting as close as you can get. it cannot monitor heat well enough where one room will be 60, the other one will be 90 during the winter time. The kids will be going through that um throughout their day. Um we also know that
048there's a locker room down in the basement that we have for our FID and our opposing teams. It's kind of again back to a little bit of a dungeon setting, hard to supervise. It's quite a way far space away from where our our fire classes are held. Um a middle school roof needs repair. It's over 25 years old. So once that's over 25 years old, roofs start deteriorating in Minnesota in winter. So we know it's leaking a lot now. So we'll have to replace that. Um so there's a lot of infrastructure that's needed. Um the hallways are tight. The the uh the stairwells are really tight. So those will have to be redone during this uh project. So, the one of the other things that you'll see in the referendum is a uh a tech
049levy, and that's to take care of all of our technology. Not all of our, but most of our technology expenses. Uh we run about a $1.2 million budget to to handle all of our software, our our uh devices for students, devices for staff, um for infrastructure, for Wi-Fi, all of our um um different uh um resources needed in the classroom that relate to technology. And so with that uh $750,000 tech levy, that would free up operating costs so we can maintain our operating budget for longer. Um knowing that uh we have 750 coming for our tech. So why does it matter? Uh this matters because our facilities are run down and and and undersized and we do have 50% of our our students that want to get certification, want to be an apprenticeship and want
050to get out and work in our community. So this takes care of kids that will be able to get right back out into our community. So it's really a a community effort along with the school and student effort. Um if you ever hear, you know, I don't get bonds, I don't get levies, what's what's the difference? What's going on with that? A bond is for buildings. Uh it's an easy phrase. Bond is for buildings. And what what I mean by that, it has to be a hard structure where you actually build it. You build it out like you would build a house. When you get a bond, it's like getting a home loan. It's a fixed dollar amount for that home loan. That's the dollar amount that you have that you pay off over for
051us will be 20 years. and we'll have all the taxpayers add their payments to that bond payment, if you will, over the 20-year bond that we have for it. So, it's one set amount. Can't go up, can't go down. It just uh stays that that's the dollar amount. We took the the home loan out, if you will, or the bond loan out. Um the technology levy, now that's for learning. Levies are for learning. So, that means it's part of your operating cost. In the state of Minnesota, you can't combine those two categories. If it's about capital and buildings, yeah, that's one fund. Another fund is fund is operating and levies and that's another fund. They cannot cross and help each other out. So the capital levy here will take care of their tech funds that
052we just talked about and that will give more operating expenses so that we can help with teachers wages and heating and cooling and snow removal and all the operating expenses you have in a school district. So here's the the uh referendum. It's a $49.14 million building bond. It's for 20 years and it'll take care of all those projects. We just got done talking about updating all the facilities and the infrastructure needed. And it's a five $750,000 a year capital uh levy, which is we call the tech levy because it's for all the technology. And the reason we do tech levies and it helps the taxation across our residents. It's a it's a better way of doing it versus an operating levy. operating levy would cost more across our taxpayers. So the tax tech tax tech
053levy helps us out in that that category. Um so tax impact we talked about it'd be a $15 a month on average home increase to the tax that you have right now about $180 a year on an average home uh for that uh the for this uh referendum. Um the tech levy is for 10 years, building bond is for 20 and you there is tax relief. So if you have egg property uh you know this is an automatic one the state does we still get the funding from the state but the the all the farmers get the relief automatically on their taxes. Um and it's a it's a one acre and their and their homestead and then there's a 70% reduction on their their property. So it drastically reduces the uh the farm tax that
054used to be. It's probably about 12 years ago that got changed. And quite honestly, I grew up on a farm. So when I when this happened 12 years ago, I was really happy because farmers were getting nailed with with referendums before. Now it now it gives them the relief they they deserve. Um the homestead credit, again, a newer one that helps with school bonding. And if you have a household that has under $139,000 uh for income, you're eligible to get uh refunds from paying into a school bond. And it's a refund anywhere from 53 to 85%. So, it's a really nice refund. So, that's something I think our our voters should look at if they're if they're in a household that makes less than 139,000. Um there's also a senior tax deferral if you're over
05565 that defers your taxes. and there's renters's tax. So, there's a lot of tax relief opportunities. Um, so when this seems like a stressful thing, you might want to look at it might not be as stressful as you think if you look at your tax relief opportunities. Um, if it's approved, what happens? All those faces get updated. Just like we said, we and not only does it get modernized and get and we we get to prepare a high school that's now uh uh can uh adequately um handle the thousand students. It helps us for decades because this construction, we talked to the construction engineers, they say this now will be a high school that should be able to last for 50 to 60 years. If we grow, we may have to add on a a
056part of the building, but that's a small thing that could maybe even happen with lease levy, depend on the size. So, um, without growing, we're in great shape for decades with this high school. Um, and it's projected to be completed in the fall of 2028. If it fails, if this fails, that space does not change. We still have those same classrooms that are undersized. We still have a a a CT area that that is not adequate for learning. Uh it's not even close to to industry standards that you would normally have for kids going out and seeing what it looks like in real life. Um so if it fails, uh we don't wouldn't have enough budget to to repair and make that move on to be at that the level that we're talking about in
057this referendum. So, our classrooms would continue to be what they are and more than likely there would be another referendum that come back and and construction costs really don't go down. Um, they usually go up. So, the next time around it would be more millions to fix what we're talking about this time. And and since this is a needs versus the wants, it's kind of this is the opportunity to get this school set for decades. and and uh and I know that sometimes uh the taxation gets to be um a question. I'm not sure that I really want to I feel comfortable paying extra taxes for this. I think two things with that. One um the state set this up decades a longgo almost century long time ago of saying if a community wants a
058good school they need to build that building. It it doesn't come from the state. It's local money stays in the local area and the local taxpayers help build those buildings. So, this this is a local tax responsibility. Now, with that said, I've had a lot of real realtors tell me, "Pat, if you don't keep up a school with a with good standards and you let it start to slide, so do your home values." Because strong schools bring in community members that want to live here. schools that aren't as strong, that aren't supported, all a sudden your your your schools start to deteriorate and so do your home values, but they don't go down by $15 a month. Home values go down by thousands. So, it's it's kind of you look at your taxes, you got
059to see, is it a community thing we want and is it something that I want to keep my home values at at where they're at. Um, so voters have a choice. We've got open voting going on. It's right behind this hall right here in the district center. you can come in and early vote all the way up till uh November 3rd, 8 to 4. It's open um from uh Monday through Friday. So, come on in, vote there if you'd like. And if you wait till the election day, it's November 4th. We have two polling areas. It's the Princeton uh depot museum and it's the Baldwin Township and those are the townships and that it and cities that it takes care of in those uh voting locations. And that uh time is from uh 7 am
060to 8:00 pm to vote on election day two weeks from today. Um so want to know if you have questions, want to submit questions, call us, email us, text us, whatever. There's a QR code to to look at our website. It has a lot of information on it. Um but uh we we basically want everybody in the district to know that this reference is out here and this is what it's for. Um, so that pretty much concludes uh what I have. I know that there has been a couple questions that have come up uh that have been consistent. Kind of got some slides that show the building a little more and kind of the industry standards, but the one I probably get the most is tell me a little bit how $15 increase actually can
061pay off a $49 million referendum. Um, if you look at this chart, this is how school bondings work. Almost any school district you look at, it's going to look similar to this where you have a current existing debt which is in the black squares and and that's the primary school. And so when the primary school starts to drop off 9 years from now, the rest of that tax money can go to this 49 million. And what that does is it sets a price that stays consistent right across the top. It once you raise it that $15 a month on the average home, that's that's where it stays. And that's why schools do that so that they don't go up and down up and down. It stays consistent across the the 20 years. And if anything,
062um, as you can see right here, I think it's uh nine. Um, it starts to drop a little and that's because some of that bonding will start to balance down a little bit. So, um, if anything, it may go down. Um, but it's, uh, the only way it would go up is if we'd have less voters, um, and we start having people leave our our community because all of our taxpayers have to pay off that that home loan together and that price doesn't change. Um, I did also put in here's some of the relief thing if anybody's interested in the relief. I thought that was kind of interesting. I look at if they if you make 50,000 in your your house income and you have happen to have a $350,000 home of that 175 you
063were going to pay in you get 119 back school district still gets the 175 but the rest of it that 119 was paid by the state you get it back as a rebate. So um there's some really nice tax relief in there. So with that said that's kind of my presentation. I would take questions from the board or since it's after the board meeting >> question audience the audience. >> I have a question. >> Yeah. >> So I see that kind of you called light orange. It looks like pink. >> Um >> you're going to be adjusting those classrooms, >> but how are you going to still fit a thousand students when it was built for 600? There's no additional classrooms by this area. >> Right. So these two squares is where we would fit
064in. Those are pretty good size squares. You could probably get at least 10 classrooms in there. I know we they this is a conceptual drawing somewhere conceptual conceptual plan, but those blocks have not been designated yet. So for I always feel like for in here, every two new ones we built, we're tearing down three old ones, >> right? So we're losing a class for every two. So So >> we have to rebuild them somewhere. And I see it being rebuilt here, here, and here. That was where those classrooms because you could probably get 10 to 15 right in here alone because that's a big block. It looks small here, but it's a big block. >> So once you put all this together and this gets built, 2028 looks like in the fall, right? If I
065read it correctly. >> Um, right now there's a thousand students in there. When you get in those classrooms, what's the projected student rate in 10 years from now? So, it's um it's a great question. I get that asked a lot and it's really a hard question to answer. And the reason I say it's hard to answer is we've had projections probably in the last 3 to 5 years that have been a little bit of wavering because we get um we get some uh students that are going online now that we didn't expect. We get students going to home school we didn't expect because we we really feel this community is going to grow. I think it's the next movement if you will from Zimmerman up. We're going to get, you know, I just talked to
066the Baldwin mayor uh yesterday and he told me that only 45% of the lots out there, if you will, that are two and a half acres and five acres are built out. So, there's a lot more that can come into that and that's all in our school district. And I know there's two developments in the Princeton area, one in Princeton Township and one in Princeton City. So, we know that there's there's there's going to be some development. Now, will that mean we'll get more students? Honestly, we all hope because because every student brings us about $7,500 for every student from the state. That's how we get our operating cost. So, that really helps us. But for the class, how they get in here, if all a sudden we get to 1,200 or 1,400, the the
067way that I would envision that would be like I said, um building if you take maybe like this block and make it out even with that and also you put a hallway between and then you put more classes, right? So, that's an addition to your addition, if you will, right? And um every school district gets some what's called lease levy authority, which isn't a lot of money. It's not 49 million, but and and Michelle, you might be able to answer this better for me what it is here. I know in the district I just came from Wakonia, we had about about 3 million to 5 million to that we kept in lease le authority in case we had to add on if there's if there's more students that come. That way we wouldn't have to
068come back out to the voters. Um but there's there's no guarantee on the growth deal, right? If all a sudden it gets out of hand and it's and it's we're have to build more than just 10 classrooms. >> Is there any history of what the growth has been for the past 10 or 13 years that someone could look at? >> Yeah. >> Just to get an idea where is that? >> Yes, we we have significant uh we look at that every year. Our enrollment book for this year was just the start of it. In November, we start looking heavy at our um projections forward. And just with what we have in our seat base right now, we know that the high school will start experiencing lower class classes coming in from our elementaryaries because we're
069graduating more kids than what we have coming in. and they're at the intermediate school level, those smaller classrooms. Uh so what we got four or five years before it hits our high school. >> And there's a little bit we we start small kindergarten and it grows a little bit every year, you know, like like right now what are we about 180 to 200 in the kindergarten? >> Uh 2005 >> and we're graduating 250. So will that 205 turn into 250 by the time they're nerd? Maybe. and it could turn into 300. All of a sudden, all these houses start coming. So, so >> yeah, that's what we don't know. >> Now, those are kind of the wild card ones, but to your point, we have to be thinking forward thinking on where would you add
070on to if you had to, right? >> And it might be every building. You might need a little bit of a wing on the middle school and a little bit of a wing on me. So, it just depends on how fast it grows. in our classroom size right now and I think I heard 30 >> 30 to 35 in high school a lot of classrooms it's not ideal >> is there a plan for that >> what's hard I was telling you is there's capital money and there's operating money so the capital monies for the building so we'll get the cost sizes to fit those many kids in there but to to reduce that it's going to take more operating dollars and right now we don't have a lot of more operating dollars we're hanging on
071as best we And we're one of the very few uh schools in in the state that does not have an operating levy. Um there's less than like 12 I think which is great because we save that money from taxpayers but for our budget it makes it really really tight. Um so that's why we end up with 30 35 classroom. >> Not ideal. >> So this may not solve that problem. You got the space but you don't have the teacher to serve. >> Well we'll have the same number of teachers, same number of classrooms. Now we'll just have to be able to let the kids fit into the classroom a little better. >> About 30. They just got more elbow room. >> That's right. Exactly. >> How much risk reserve is built into the plan? I
072mean, you've said it's going to take till 28. We all know costs go up. We know that your 49 million is probably an estim. So I'm gonna turn it a little bit to Michelle and I know that the board listened to the task force that brought a lot of those dollars in, but I know from my own experience I came from Wakonia and we built a new elementary and built a basically a new high school and you put a percentage of your contingency and it seemed like it was like if I remember right like between 8 and 12% we put as contingency just in case you know something all goes wrong. Um and I will say one thing before I ask them a question. Um, I didn't make a lot of friends with the architects
073or the engineers because when they come in and tell me that this is what it's going to cost, I' I'd get a little feisty and I'd say, "The heck, we're not. No, we're not paying that. You're going to have to redesign that because it's our budget is, you know, I gave one today to a friend and a person that asked me how I handle things." I said, "We were put in a a computer lab and the electrical engineer wanted to put a specialized copper wire underneath the carpet so that the the the outlets could be really clean and nobody would see where they're at." I said, "Why are we doing that? You just up the cost four times what we budgeted for." He said, "Well, it's much better." And I said, "What's wrong with hanging
074out? It's like our our teachers are okay with I'm okay with and the student will be okay." Well, it just doesn't look pretty. I said, "I don't care if it'll look pretty. We're not paying four times a pop. So, I know I don't make a lot of friends with construction engineers or architects, but that's what I do in meetings is fight for the district. And I'll if this passes, that's definitely what I'll do again. But far as contingency money, do we know what they're setting aside? >> ICS and gold actually create the the educational or the budget for it >> based on industry standards. I asked them the same question. is the 49 million really going to be enough? And they said absolutely. Um even with con they they put in a percentage based on
075what construction is going up. And I will tell you that I was part of the primary school here. I was also part of uh in another district um a build multiple building projects. And in both those cases, we actually came in under um what we expected. So we're able to um expand the projects a little bit. Um not like significantly, but we didn't come anywhere near over budget, which you know, that's that competitive bidding that we do. Um school districts are required to do competitive bids. Uh the day that we did the primary school, we had probably fif 10 15 categories and we have multiple contractors there and um you know they're they're all fighting for the job and since we're in central Minnesota, a lot of contractors like to come here. They don't have
076to travel. And we also like to target our hometown >> and we have some very good contractors here that have worked on our buildings and still continue to work in our buildings. >> Thank you. >> I was talking to two uh different contract our construction workers in the community in the last week and they said, "Pat, do you understand that right now your timing is going to be really good at this path?" I said, "No, tell me more." and they said that a lot of the projects because of the unknowns and what's happening in the economy are not going forward. And he and they both said the same thing separately. I didn't even ask him about it. They said, "You're going to have contractors fighting for your jobs." So, our hope is that it comes
077in and we have that contingency money left and now we can even enhance and do more in that district. So, that's that's the hope. And you know, and I and I know that I know I'm a stickler when it comes to those those meetings. And like I said, they don't like me very much. One of my best stories, we saved a 1.5 million in in one conversation because I got had my hissy fit. But uh doesn't stop me from having any other questions from anybody here tonight. Yes. >> What would the cost of a new high school be? >> That's a great question. >> So, what the contractors are telling us, if you were to rebuild what we have right now, it's going to be at least 150 million, if not more. Um, so it
078would it would take quite a bit. Yeah. >> Approximately how long would this last us? Like like full barn shed length of time or >> Well, kind of. But it won't be a full barn when it's done. You know, people ask about our bonds currently and and the contractors tell us that this is going to be good. Sets your high school up for the next 50 to 60 years. Unless we have growth, then we'll have to do some add. But it'll set your high school up for 50 to 60 years. When I look at that in our district, I look at primary schools, great shape, built in 2014, looks really good. Uh middle school built in 1998, but our our we've taken care of it really well. Our our custodians are great. It looks in
079really good shape. That one's still going to stay for a long time in good shape. Our intermediate could use any more carpet touchup, maybe a few walls here and there, but overall the the structure is in pretty good shape. So once this bond, if it was to go through, all your major buildings are in pretty good shape and can last for a long time. So that's kind of exciting. Um, and we know 20 years later, all that bond would come off. Will there be another wraparound at that time? Who knows, right? Um, but it's 20 years out. >> I think that's all I got. >> Thanks. >> It's been a It's been a good journey doing all these presentations though. Um, knowing this community, there is a lot of pride. So, it's really fun to
080see. >> Thanks. Thanks for being here and thanks for the questions. >> All right. >> Yeah. It's now not a board meeting. Did you want to say anything, Amy? because I usually have that in my my presentation too soon. >> I can I guess. Um so we can see they all they've all heard all the stuff. Um so I'm Amy Anderson. Um I'm on the vote yes committee then for the referendum. Um and it is our job to inform people about why they should vote yes. Um and sometimes it's a really personal reason. Um I have kids in the district and you know the opportunities that they will get from this are certainly something that I would look for. Um there are people who vote yes though that don't have kids anymore in the district.
081They've graduated out but they feel that someone helped their kids get through school, right? There were taxpayers that helped them. So now they're going to do the same thing for somebody else. And really school public education is such a community investment. And so when we can get our kids through and have these quality educations and these great experiences that raises our community standards, right, in the long run. So, not just building wise and monetarily, but I think in the long run when you look at Princeton, are we going to get kids who are going to want to move away because there's not really job opportunities here and then what happens to the community or are we going to get kids that want to stay and be a part of some of these um trades that
082are here that they can work at? And so then that builds community here that keeps Princeton going. So, I think there's many reasons why you want to vote yes, but those are those are just like off the top of my head that I would I would say. Do you have anything that you would like to add for Jerry is also on vote yes with me? >> Yeah, >> we have a grandson yet still in school, third grader. We've got a long time to go. Lots of good stuff. Then pretty much all the meetings we moved here. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Thanks for being here. >> Thank you everybody for attending tonight. I appreciate >> it's really >> I know. I need a Can we just scab