001All right, at six o'clock, so we'll call the meeting to order. Everybody is present with the exception of Jacob, which I'm assuming is coming shortly. Um, so we will move on to the additions. There was two. We'll cover them later on. Um, we'll move on to the approval of the agenda. Looking for a motion. >> Motion second. >> Motion by Thomas, second by Gerald. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes. No public comment that we're aware of. Moving on to the consent agenda. Uh Cheryl, would you like to start with bills? >> Sure. I was able to go in and check through the bills and um we had we must have gotten enough COVID funds we had to return some of them. we did >> to the Department of Education >> and
002I think we looked at what the uh the code was. Um and it was a I want to say it was um do you remember the year that it was on there? I think it was like >> 20 I mean it was early it was early COVID funds and it was a very specific >> um type of use that we weren't able to use. So yes, we had to return them. >> That was kind of a shock to me. But >> yeah. Yep. But I know we used used a lot of CO funds and they were very welcome. >> We did and and we um we worked really hard to maximize the use so that we didn't lose any funds. Um and I think that it just it was just one that we got notice
003later on that needed to be returned. >> Can I ask how much you had to return? >> $21,21928. So it wasn't a massive amount, but it was a chunk. And I saw the bill in there for the ECF playground equipment. >> Yep. Yep. >> Is that all done now? >> Yes. Uh with the exception of uh putting a shed in and that was never that that was never uh budgeted in there. at sometime we're going to put a shed in. And then uh during the install um working off the blueprint that was provided that that sketch there was an area that uh unfortunat Yeah. Unfortunately the the chain link fence couldn't cover. So there is a panel that is going to go in there and I know Chris is working on having that done here
004at the school >> which will work out actually I think nicer because she was talking about having like a a small bulldog or whatever you know as far as puppy pot type thing. So yeah nicer >> but yes other than that everything is done. >> We did a driveby. It looks wonderful. >> So many people put in so many hours. >> Oh yes. Yeah. >> I mean the community tipped in. Oh, exactly. >> I mean, it was a community project and it it looks great. >> Y >> and the fundraisers, there were bills in for the fundraisers for the club's choice for the elementary school and the um world's chocolates for winter camp fundraiser. >> Yep. >> And there's some good funds coming in there. >> Those and and it's always nice to see um
005the community support. I think people like the uh the winter camp fundraiser, you know, it's kind of like a right of passage. You know, those those kids come in with their uh with their box of chocolates and people are looking for them. So >> Oh, yeah. I had too many and our our strategic planning. I saw the first for that. Um that's that's a big project coming up for us, >> correct? Yep. And it it's split um in a partial payment. So, they won't it won't be completed until the strategic plan is complete. >> Oh, that's all I really saw that stood out. Nothing outrageous. >> Okay, sounds good. Um, the other items on there, you'll see, um, just a couple of hires and resignations. Um, and then I'll call out the donations as well.
006Um, taking a look in November, uh, we have, um, we had some flags donated for our Veterans Day program. Um um Lewis Industries really consistently has donated um metal that uh to our welding program and uh and so what is put on for a donation amount is the fair market value. And it really is um uh it's an an um the opportunity for our kids to be able to take what they use and have the same metal is really helpful. Um and it's it's accessible. it's um tangible and it's it's a really welcome donation. So, uh that has come in at the value of about $4,000. And then um uh thankful to our um Payneesville Community Center. You know, much like a school district, um they have funds that can only be used for earmarked
007and targeted items. and uh they the school district uh was a recipient of the really um overage in excess of of our food service fund that uh we can't just write off before we had um before we had free lunches. We had a number of families that were in negative balances and so this helped to um offset those dollars. So thank you to the community service center for that. Um, otherwise I would stand for any questions on the consent agenda. >> Hearing none, I'm looking for a motion to approve. >> You go say motion by Ron. >> Okay. No, Gerald. >> Okay. Motion by Gerald. >> I'll second. >> Second by Thomas. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes. Moving on. the communication items. >> Um the superintendent report today
008um just to kind of a look back and a reminder as we wrap up the school year um that uh or the wrap up the calendar year December we have one meeting uh so that is December 9th and then um in January we need to have our organizational meeting and we've tried to have that in conjunction with our first work session. So, um, my recommendation to the to the board would be to look at Tuesday, January 13th. Um, so you can think about that. Look at your calendars and if there is a conflict, we can discuss it. And, um, really the board just needs to determine um, at the December meeting so it can be published for that January uh, or organizational meeting, the organization of the board. Without new members, it's a little less
009um, it's a little um, less involved, I would say. Um and we also don't have as much involvement with the MSDA conference this year with phase trainings. So we don't have some of those um those uh time conflicts. So just uh kind of be aware of that. So um also just to recognize that uh this month we celebrated um the National Community Ed Day on November 12th and then World Kindness Day on November 13th. Um so those are the items that I have for my report today. Um the financials are also reported for you. The revenues and expenditures um um are identified through October 31st. So just real quickly if you check that bottom tab for the um uh so this is our revenues. Um you'll see that our um our revenues we at this
010time of year we've in our just general fund uh state funds we've received about 20% of our budget and in previous years we've had about 29%. So um I expect that to catch up but obviously that's just an area where I I thought I would call out because it might be noticeable. um and expenditures. There wasn't a a significant that stood out, but I just will share that up again just to remind people. When you look at the October 31st tab, um if you have wonderings about what's included in any of those areas, you can come back to the July 31st tab and hover over that little uh carrot on that front row and it's going to tell you what's included in those items. So, just a reminder of of how to read that document
011if you want to dig into it and take a look. Um otherwise I'll move send it back to you. >> Move on if any questions or whatever and then moving on to the community organizational reports. Um the only comments I have is with with regard to negotiations. We're progressing um and we're going to have a strategy session later on tonight. So >> yeah, we did have a staff development meeting once again just u just you know just astonished how well you know staff works together and and this a core group of people that that develop things work on things to to give outflow to all of the staff but all the staff works together with uh the certified folks. So so m um um Janelle and her team and uh how they all work. So
012just for all meetings. So thank you. >> Thank moving on to the student representative report. >> Um representatives were not able to join us this evening, but I did uh pull up their uh information. Our national n national honor society um uh renovated the seminar room. So if you go for a walk down to the seminar room, it looks really really nice. um they they kind of brought it into modern day colors and uh they also added um the lead um verbiage so that students remember um um they remember their live engaged, embrace integrity, act respectfully and display resilience. So it's kind of a nice visual and it looks really nice. So um thank you to the National Honor Society for that. Um they also have done a lot of volunteering at the elementary school
013and the nursing home. I know our our residents um at the nursing home greatly appreciate seeing our students there and I know our um our elementary kids look forward to having the high school kids there. Uh SAD uh which is students against destructive decisions um they also do some volunteering at the elementary. Um student council is getting ready for the blood drive um which is coming up here in December. And then FFA is getting ready for their practices. they have their alumni appreciation and uh um the fruit is coming in soon. So if you ordered fruit, keep your eyes out for that. Um so that's what our students have our student body is going. >> Thanks. >> Um no old business moving on to news new business fiscal year 25 audit report. All right. So
014uh with us we have Ryan Schmidt with uh Blenner Wer and Blenner W and Company. Right. There we go. Um, read that and make sure I I pronounce it correctly. So, I'm going to just turn it over to you, Ryan. And, um, all of the attachments are um, all of the information are attached as as resources, but I'm going to just let you, Ryan, share your screen and then you can talk through what you need to show. But, um, for anybody else that's watching, uh, if you look click on the agenda, you'll see each of these items as well. So, uh, with that, I'll turn it over to you, Ryan. All right, perfect. And and good work on the name pronunciation. That was that was excellent. >> Um, okay. So, can can you see my
015screen that I'm sharing right now? >> Yes, you can. >> Okay, perfect. And I will be walking us through a PowerPoint presentation here to kind of hit the high points of the audit. Um, as Janelle mentioned, we do have the full uh financial statements and and reports members of governance uh provided to you, but we're going to hit the high points here. And if you have any questions as I go, feel free to interrupt me. >> Okay. So, I'm going to start out uh kind of as as I have in the past with just a brief reminder and overview of what exactly it is we do during the audit process and uh what does an audit all entail? And in a nutshell, an audit consists of us obtaining your financial records and information from throughout
016the past year and we perform a number of procedures over this information as laid out in our our graphic here. Um so various inquiries with people inside the school, various analytics where we compare actual results to the budget or to prior year trends or uh mostly sampling procedures and detailed testing. And what I mean by that is we look at the individual transactions that are in the accounting system and we look at the supporting documentation whether it be invoices or reports from the state or bank statement activity etc. All for the purpose of verifying that activity and verifying the information that comes together to make up the financial statements. And the opinion that we've given you this year is what's called an unmodified opinion. So that is a clean opinion and that's the best you
017can achieve. The next page here uh talks about just kind of how the audit went and if there were any new or unusual items this year. Um so if if we had difficulties during the audit or if we uh saw anything unusual such as you know strange journal entries or accounting policies or or anything that we should bring to your attention this is where it would be listed out. Um, the one new item on the page this year, uh, well, for starters, everything did go very smoothly. The audit went very well. Um, but the one thing that's new this year is that there was a new accounting standard that was adopted. Um, so if you read through the reports, you might see some references to Gazsby 101 compensated absences. And basically this is just a
018new way that the school's required to uh record a liability for the outstanding leave balances that the employees of the school have. Um so it's just this this kind of additional liability that gets put on the books. Um but it doesn't actually change anything as far as the way that you're practicing uh your your PTO or your leave or or anything along those lines. It's nothing operational. It's just an on on paper liability. Okay, next page. Uh here we during the audit we look at internal controls and the processes and procedures that are behind the numbers. Um so I'll walk through a few items here. The first one I want to talk about is audit adjustments. Um basically just to say that the audit the the numbers as we performed the audit, they were actually
019very clean. um we didn't have any significant audit adjustments and um I I can't always say that with all the schools that we work with. A lot of the districts we work with, we we post many audit adjustments and we we make a lot of corrections during the audit process. Um so it's good to see that things were pretty clear as we head into the audit. Um, next item here. Now, actually the next two items I would say are are the most common internal control findings that we report because they're kind of hard to get away from for a school your size. Um, the first of these is the segregation of duties. Um, so because you only have so many people at the district that are involved with the accounting processes, there's just an overall
020lack of segregation of duties. you know, there's people who have basically entire access to the accounting system. So, because of that, we just want to make sure you're aware you're looking at financial reports, you're asking questions, which I can tell just from sitting through the the beginning part of your meeting here. Um, but it's it's good to be aware of that. >> Uh, then the next item, we as a third party, we do prepare your financial statements. So, we have to mention that when you don't have an internal CPA or somebody performing that function. And on the next page, uh, we also review your compliance with Minnesota statutes. Um, so we have a checklist from the state, uh, that walks through basically each of the areas that are listed out here, and we look at
021look for your compliance with Minnesota statutes in these areas. Um, and we did have one finding this year, um, and I think it's one that you've had in the past. Um, and it's I I wouldn't consider it to be a significant finding, but we were required to report it. And what this is talking about is that at the bank throughout the year, there's certain times where the cash that you have at the bank exceeded the combined coverage that you have from FDIC and assigned collateral. Um, so as a as a governmental entity, you're required to have your your deposits fully secured 100%. And it looks like what happens is that the bank does an evaluation at the beginning of each month and they say, "Okay, where are the balances at then assign collateral to cover
022those balances and then as the month progresses, well, you deposit cash and sometimes your balance goes up and then now you have a portion that's no longer assigned or or no longer uh covered by collateral. Um, so I think it would just be a matter of having a larger buffer there and getting a little more coverage so that that doesn't happen. And Ryan, I'm I'll just can I pause for just a second? >> Um, and that's that's an area that we've um looked at the what the bank has um assigned to us and when we kind of take a look at um the timing of that. We maintain the majority of our of our funds in our um investment accounts and then we dep do a large deposit for um for payroll and then um
023there's not always the same withdrawal at the same time deposit. So it's um so those are some of the things that we looked at um and the bank now has our has increased our um collateral so that's covered. >> Great. Great. Perfect. All right. With that we'll move forward into uh some numbers here and we'll start out with looking at enrollment since that does play such a large factor in in the numbers. Um, and you can see that over the past five years here, we've got a trend analysis. You've been very consistent. Um, a little bit of ups and downs here and there, but overall pretty flat. Uh, you ended the the year at about 889 students total for FY25. The next page, we look at the general fund. Uh, really big picture for starters.
024Uh here we have just overall revenues in the blue, overall expenditures and then the fund balance at the end of each year and then we also have the uh budget thrown on there as well. Um really big picture comparison to the budget, you were basically right on with your revenues. I mean in the scope of a nearly $14 million budget, you were off by about 8,700. So very close on revenues. Um and and even expenditures, I'd say were very close as well. you were under budget here by about 916,000. Next page. Uh here we have those same revenues broken out into greater C or smaller categories. Then we'll have the same thing shown on the following page for expenditures. Um you can see the vast majority of those revenues we just looked at do come
025from state sources. Um with the next largest category being property taxes. Um and both of these extremely close to budget and very consistent with the prior year. Following page we have expenditures broken out into smaller categories. Uh your two largest categories here being related to regular instruction and then uh special education as well. And both of these once again very close to budget. Um, in fact, the only real fluctuation that I see uh would be regular instruction. Your expenses were up a bit this year. Um, but then capital outlay is probably the largest deviation where you were under budget by about 975,000. Um, so that's really what's driving that budgetary difference that was on the a couple slides ago is just capital outlay. Um, perhaps your projects didn't progress as quickly as you expected. The
026next page here, uh, we look at the unassigned fund balance. So, so at the end of the year, what is your fund balance? The unassigned portion that can be used for day-to-day operations and and what is that as a percentage of your annual budgeted expenditures and and you have a policy in place to set a minimum here of 15%. Um, and it it jumps around a little bit. I mean, there there's two factors here. Of course, if your budget goes or if your uh fund balance goes down, well, that drops this ratio. But also, if your expenses go up, your budgeted expenses, if they go up, well, that also drops this ratio. So, you actually had a combined impact of both of those things happening this past year. Um, which is what caused it to
027drop off a little bit. But you can see the overall trend, which is this dotted line, has been an upward trend over the past five years. And then this is just cash. Um cash also jumps around based on the timing of of when you make payments. But um you can see the trend has been an increase over the past five years. Okay, with that we'll move away from the general fund and take a quick look at each of your remaining funds here. Um these two funds, debt service and building construction. There's really not a whole lot to talk about here. Uh revenues and and expenses, pretty standard. You got your property tax revenues coming in and then you're you're making your debt service payments. Um just a slight decrease in fund balance here for the
028year. And then building construction. Um this is residual dollars that are left over from a project from prior years. Um not a whole lot of activity here for the year. So basically stayed flat and you can see that's the case with uh the cash balances for each of these over the past few years. Next we have community or food service and community service. Um food service here expenses were down a bit about $82,000 less than the prior year. Um but revenues were pretty flat. Uh so overall operations pretty comparable to last year. Uh but you did have an increase in fund balance of about 142,000 due to that decrease in expenses. And community service very consistent with the prior year. Um pretty flat here. An increase of 22,000 for the year. And on a trend
029of for your cash over the past five years, these have both been increasing fairly steadily. Okay, so that does it for each of your individual funds. Uh the next few pages here, we have everything wrapped together. Uh you know, the fund level financials we went through those those really take a much more short-term look at things. You know, it's just focusing on current assets and current liabilities. And it's not including uh capital assets such as the buildings, equipments, or or long-term debt. But now on these slides, we have all of those long-term items wrapped in. And it's really looking at the district uh as a whole. And you can see with assets here on this first slide, your assets are very consistent with the prior year. It's really not not a whole lot of fluctuation
030here. Liabilities on the other hand, um if you just ignore that green bar, ignore that pension liability for a minute, you can see the only real change here is that you did have a decrease in your debt, your long-term liabilities just from the payments of your your principal that were scheduled for the year. Um and then the I say ignore the pension liability because just as a reminder that is a liability over which you don't have any control. This is just your proportionate share of those statewide pension plans. They calculate their their statewide liability and they assign a portion to you to record on your financials and you couldn't pay it off even if you wanted to. So that's why in the following slide here, I've excluded that pension liability and I've taken those same
031liabilities from the first or from the the previous slide, those same assets from two slides ago and then and then the net between the two. So this is on a net basis your ass your assets versus your liabilities. You can see the trend here over time um where you have been increasing on a net basis. And then finally, just one moreformational slide here. Um, based on the debt that was outstanding at the end of the year, these are the future payments that are required up until that debt is fully paid off. Um, so you can see the the the change over time. It holds pretty steady, but you can see the change over time as far as how much of it is principal versus interest. Um, possibly a useful bit of information there. Any questions?
032>> Okay. >> All right. Thank you, Ryan. >> Thank you, Ryan. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it. >> All right. Um you feel free to sign off if you'd like. Otherwise, we're going to um we'll move on to the uh the fund balance. Um sorry, the motion in second and then we'll take a look at the fund balance to collaborate with what you just presented. So >> make a motion to approve the FY25 audit report as prepared by Schneider Wyinners and Company. >> Second it. >> Motion by Bruce, second by Ron. All in favor? I >> any opposed hearing? None. Motion passes. Moving on to the 2425 final fund balance. So this information that is compiled is this um what is uh presented and it's gathered after um all of the
033uh audit is complete. And so this is the final document to wrap up that 2425 school year. I make a motion to approve the 24 2425 updated budget after audit. Second Thomas, second by Bruce. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes. Moving on to the comprehensive achievement and civic readiness plan. >> Okay. Um I'm actually going to invite um I omitted putting uh Jesse and Cassie on there. So I'm going to invite Jesse and Cassie up to uh walk through the comprehensive citess plan. So this is what used to be the world's best workforce. Um and uh through the legislative changes uh the title has changed. Um the focus is is very consistent with what it has been year-over-year. Um but as I get this presented, I will um turn it
034over to Cassie and Jesse to kind of walk through what's happening in um both of our sites. So um I will let you take it away. >> Perfect. Um so that first slide um the purpose of the of the plan uh like said does um reflect world's best workforce uh with a twist and with an addition and so we'll go through that addition. Last year when we presented we we talked about the change was coming and so now that change is here and so we'll we'll speak more to that. Um really the the purpose of this plan in a nutshell is to align all of our other plans to this plan so we don't um spread out wide but instead this plan allows us to go deep um when we really streamline the other plans
035that we have in place. We'll talk about what those other plans are. um this plan and the new part to it um will really allow us to bring that into consideration when we look at our strategic plan as well. Um so we'll bring in in that component. Um and just if anybody is looking and and has interest, if you click on this purpose of comprehensive achievement and civic readiness plan, that will bring you to the Minnesota Department of Education's um web page that kind of has more detailed that um that Cassie just summarized. So there are five main components um with the CACR comprehensive achievement and civic readiness plan. Um you'll recognize the first four all children are ready for school. The second one all racial and economic achievement gaps between students are closed. All
036students are ready for career in college. All students graduate from high school. And then the one outlined in yellow at the bottom is the new one. prepare students to be lifelong learners. And so we'll talk about what does that mean for us as a district and how are we bringing that new um area into our plan. Uh this slide here serves a couple of different purposes and and I know it's it's hard to read, but um when you go back and review the documentation, uh first off, we talk a lot over our presentations about all the systems that are in place uh to support student learning like our ADS or achievement and integration or we talk a lot about MTSS or multi-tered systems of support. And so we really wanted to kind of lay out
037for for the community um all of the systems that we have in place that are kind of working together. And the second part is to recognize that our goal really as a district is to take all of the goals that exist in these and align them together so that we're not focused on as Cassie said 25 different goals, but that we're laser focused on two or three really important goals that we want to achieve every year. And so, um, our goal is to look at these plans and to kind of align them so all the boats are pointed in and rowing in the same direction. >> And the information on the right is just the ed educational verbiage um that is throughout um tonight's presentation and the plan. So, if there's anything that you want
038to refer back to or have wonderings about, here's your one-stop shop for some of those terms and their definitions. So looking at our first school, all children are ready for school. Um during the 2425 school year on the left, our goal was to um make sure that we are screening all students entering kindergarten. Um that is a state statute and if we're not able to get them before entering, we need to screen them uh within the first six weeks of kindergarten. And so we were able to do that and that's a good partnership with our preschool program, um, with our health office, with the front office at the elementary. Um, really that outreach, making sure that we're getting our students in and screened before they start kindergarten. Um, oftentimes this is seen as a preventative.
039Um, so that way we can meet the needs of our students. um if there's areas that they need support in, we can um identify, monitor, and adjust um for students when they come through our our doors as a preschooler and as a kindergartener. Uh so we were able to meet that goal. We had 62 out of 62 screened um and two students were screened within that first six weeks of kindergarten. Um and sometimes those students are new to us. they weren't here during our screening process, but as soon as they are with us, we scoop them up and conduct a screening. So, we are going to maintain that goal uh for the 2526 school year um to help identify student needs and um get supports lined up and in place. The next goal looks at
040all racial and economic achievement gaps between students are closed. And when you look at um our a district of our size and our student makeup, um we are really um kind of honed in to one achievement gap and that's our free and reduced uh students and our non-free and reduced. Um because some of our other areas have such a small population, um we want to make sure that we're working with unidentifiable data. Um and so one way that we can do that is through um free and reduced programming and non-f free and reduced. And so when we look at um closing that achievement gap, we want all students to learn and grow. And so we need our non free and reduced students to grow, but we need our free and reduced students to grow even
041more and faster. Um is what we're finding with with data and with research. And so you can see in the area of reading um we were able to close that gap last year um to a 7.7% gap between our non I'm going to use FRP free and reduced population and FRP students. Um as you have heard we put a lot of resources in the area of reading and with um the state legislation as well honing in on that. Um that was a little bit of a different story. Uh we looked at I'm sorry I'm going to back up to the reading. We looked at our fluency. So remember we talk about fastbridge fluency how accurate students are reading in a minute. Um in the area of math we look at fastbridge math automaticity. So math
042facts um addition subtraction multiplying and dividing. How are our students doing? So again we disagregate the data to non free and reduced and free and reduced. Um so this would be grades 2 through eight. And so we're looking at um a gap of 24.1%. Um that was an increase from the previous year. And so as you've heard already, we want to look at math just as closely as we are looking at reading and aligning our resources um for math as well. So we set goals um for 2526 to reduce that gap by 2% again in the area of reading and in the area of math. Uh the third area we look at is um all students graduate from high school. And so our goal for the 2425 school year was um Payneesville area schools will
043maintain a graduate graduation rate of 95%. um our graduation rate pretty um historically has been around 93%. And so this year we we continued the trend. The Payneville area schools graduation rate for the 23 uh 24 school year was um I believe that's supposed to be 24 school year was uh 93% as reported by the Minnesota uh report card. Uh we had a pretty um good conversation about what we wanted to do with this goal and we decided that the goal for the 2526 school year should remain a 95% goal. Um we also had lots of conversations about how this number was calculated and um there's lots of things that go into how this number is calculated, not simply kids that aren't walking at graduation. It has to do with, you know, if a student
044attends Payneesville schools for three years and then transfers to a different school district and doesn't graduate, that counts against us, you know, because they attended here more. And so there's just a lots of things that go into how this number is calculated. >> Yeah. There's >> So what's the number based upon the the class size? This 95% like one kid. >> Yeah. So you know, in in a class size of about 60 to 70 kids, you're looking at a percent and a half per kid. So you're looking at, you know, 93% would be 6%. So you're looking at about four kids not graduating. >> That was interesting information. I didn't realize that someone transferring to another school, but they spent the majority of time in our school if they don't graduate still counts against us.
045>> Correct. >> I didn't realize that. >> Yeah, I didn't realize that either. You know, and we have, you know, you have students that maybe transfer one year to an online school. they're going here for a while, they transfer online to Blue Sky online and then they don't graduate from Blue Sky and that it counts against us towards our graduation rate. So, um but I think 95% is a goal that you know we should strive for. >> Thank you. >> Um our second goal or our fourth goal, I guess our area is all um students are ready for career in college. Our our goal we set for the previous school year was Payneesville area schools uh 24 and 25 eighth grade students will increase reading proficiency um by 2% to 67% as measured by fastbridge
046reading. Um so last year last year's eighth graders um tested at or two years ago eighth graders tested at 65% and then we tested last year's eighth graders and the number went down to 44%. So, we did not meet our goal. Now, as look when we look at the data, we realize there's kind of a an error in the way we're looking at data. We're not comparing apples to apples. We're looking at um a a different group of eighth grade students each time we test. So, that number doesn't show that the students aren't making growth. We're just looking at a different group of students. And so, what we did when we wrote the 2526 goal is to reflect that. So, we're going to look at um our eighth grade students will increase reading proficiency by
0472% from their spring of last year where they ended at 64% to where they ended this year at 66%. So, we're going to compare the same group of students and look at the growth over over one group rather than u relying on differences in group dynamics. So, I'll just add into that and for those of you that were part of the um the district advisory committee, that was a conversation that really took place around um cohorts of kids versus a grade level because if we're going to measure growth, we really need to look at using the same the same body of of students. And so, um this is really the place to reflect that data. Um and so our our final uh goal area was prepare students to be lifelong learners. And when we presented
048this last year, I think we said more to come. Um we didn't have a goal area here. And so um we sat down this year and identified a goal area for this school year. Um so our 2526 goal for this is 100% of our 9th grade students will participate in a career interest assessment during the 2526 school year. And we are going to do this through our ninth grade careers class where all of our students taking the ninth grade careers class uh will take interest surveys throughout there as they identify what careers they want to take. So um help them prepare for um their path later on as they progress throughout high school. So again, um really focusing all of our plans and streamlining um whether it be access our title um on the next
049slide, achievement and integration. And so with our achievement and integration, um we have achievement goals around uh similar areas of that achievement gap. And so using the free and reduced and non-pre and reduced in the areas of math and reading um very similar to the goals that uh you saw here tonight around that um but also we have um an integration goal with our achievement and integration plan um as a racially isolated district based on um our diversity here. We partner with all of these districts that um you see here, Melrose, Lawn Prairie, Grey Eagle, Stock Center, uh BBE, and and Payneesville. We partner together as the Lake Wagon Collaborative and provide our students an opportunity to um meet one another, get to know one another, um and expand their understanding and learning of cultural
050diversity. Um and so we have one of our first outings. um we are going to go back to in-person gatherings where we'll take um some students and all of these districts and meet in person um after Thanksgiving and then we'll meet kind of three types throughout the year and we do some some learning um some ice breakers and activities to really increase that cultural awareness when we're in a district um that has less diversity than than others. And so, um, kind of our next steps, and we're here tonight, um, presenting to you where we've been with this plan and where we're headed. Um, and our plan can be found on our district website. And really, um, you know, the the things that we're talking about come up in several different places in our day-to-day work.
051Um, and as you know, we've really honed in on reading as of late, and that was part of our uh, curriculum review cycle. And now math is up on our curriculum review cycle. And so Jesse and I are doing some work um with our staff to kind of gear up for math as well. And so we're excited to um hit the ground running with that and hone in on math like we have done with reading. That is our our plan and an overview. Um certainly open to questions or feedback on FOSs or data that we >> curiosity on the math. My gut tells me and but I've seen we've always struggled a little bit there um a couple years ago. I went to a a seminar at the um schoolboard deal in Minneapolis and a
052gal presented there that actually worked for the state about some let's call them more out of the box methods. Do you ever go visit? So you kind of know what schools are doing. schools that are achieving, do we ever go look at their classroom operation or figure out what they're doing or are we trying to invent this all on our own? Because so far we're not successful at that in in my mind. we need to throttle it up. And I think I read a story about Mississippi possibly where they were at the bottom of the list all over the nation and turn their whole thing around in a matter of a few years based upon using different methods. And I know that they're going into this new um deal where the state's looking at it
053and they're trying to control it all, but I'm just I would think that somebody out there has it figured out or has it figured out better and we should be trying to grab that information. It will probably implement right into our system and then maybe we get into a different achievement goals. >> Yeah, >> that's kind of funny you say that, Bruce. I I remember talking with some people and I deal with that with my own kids. New math and I I'm going to be honest one day. I don't understand it. So I I mean you're I thought math is math and I I I don't know. I'm probably going down a rabbit hole saying this because I know I'm supposed to for compliments, but I I just don't know. Other people scratch their head,
054too. They have to do new math. Well, what was wrong with old math? but nobody hasn't answered. So, we'll move on. I think one of the other pieces that I I think um we're really trying to do is is use a um a similar process that we used with our reading interventions and our reading program to break it down and find out where are the skill gaps. How can we um provide an intervention that's targeted so we can because we know that the the multi-tered system of support that we've um implemented for reading has been really successful and it's been sound. So, how can we enhance that and make that just more robust so that we're and and maybe we'll find it is strategies. Maybe we'll find it's a different a different way and and
055as we find those gaps reaching out to resources of how else can we bridge what's not happening. Um, so I I think that we're we're taking some steps and and those are great questions. you know, perhaps as we look at the new standards, they might come back to old mass. You know, we'll have to see uh where that comes in and and we'll take a look at how that aligns to what we have for curriculum, where we need to go. Um and and learn from others as well. >> I just like to go to a sporting event and buy a pop and popcorn and get my change back. I can't I can't fix it. So, it is what it is. I I liked the way you uh when you first started out talking about goals
056and it I guess what I took out of it was you understand that uh in order the way you eat an elephant at one by a time and just focusing on those those areas that you can and uh uh set goals uh to achieve those versus just trying to to tackle this whole thing. I like that. I like the fact especially you see where where we're at with the learning disabilities as far the budget that we have and increasing that uh the way the students are are uh uh screened as they come in and and and possibly I don't know this but possibly that's what's driving maybe more of the spending disability but having that understanding that just because somebody goes into or has an LD as far as a u uh the learning whatever
057you know as far as the way you lay that out that doesn't mean that that student's going to stay there uh their whole career >> right >> uh which I think is is very important but uh also the on the math side uh so was there screening that was a little bit different take a look at that 21.4% 4% uh that we have right now. Was there did you screen different knowing that this is one of the goals you were looking at this year as far as those students or it was just the same questions or same way of screening? >> It was the same assessment tool. >> But >> it was it was it was just a different group of kids. >> Yep. Um and and I think to um if you think back
058to when we approved the budget uh for this school year um we add added some emphasis on and focus on um a teacher for math. And so really to start digging into um uh how do we break it apart and how do we start eating that one bite at a time. >> Yeah. Right. Exactly. Yeah. I think it's phenomenal. And and the last thing, I didn't write it down. I like that you you're going to do this career thing with the ninth graders. Find out what their interest in is in. And help them achieve that goal. Point them in a direction to where they can go versus the cookie cutter. Everybody that comes here, you're gonna all go to a four-year university and not look at those other uh avenues of uh being civily minded
059once they leave here and and what their worth is out say whether it be out in the workforce or maybe a career type call or university or uh community education type place versus you know a university. So I just think that's absolutely phenomenal that you're looking to have. So, I've said this before, and I don't mean to bore everybody out to death. When we first got on the school board, we didn't have any extra funds at all. There was no 10% reserve fund. When we were doing the budget, it came down that we had to cut the extra hour off of three math classes. >> That was our only choice. And I can remember talking to the superintendent. It was a one-on-one. And I said, 'Are we just going to turn this ship the wrong
060direction with that? Is there anything else that we could do? We didn't have any other way. I feel I'm still paying for it today because whatever the overwhelming part of it is, that's not catching us up where we should be at. And maybe this is how everybody else has done it. But the greatest part of being number one is we figured something else or we took their other stuff. I've seen our superintendent grab some stuff that she has learned and brought it to our school and has changed processes here and changed things that I see as a board member that have been really positive. They were never done before. They are, as far as I'm concerned, totally out of box. Now, she is very She didn't really do anything because she just took from But
061she did. She brought something that we never saw before to our district. I would hope we're going to get something in the math. Um the gal that put on the seminar as I think about a little more said if you line the kids up and you ask them about mathematics and there's 10 kids and six of them their head goes down. >> Oh man. >> Okay. So now that's that's your issue right there. And that's what she was addressing to steer it. Went into an inner city school and changed them in their achievement in math. And it didn't take long. It was a a year or two. She had changed the whole process. But doesn't doesn't change anything we're doing. But to have our interventions take place if our general method is not there doesn't
062make any difference. You can have all the interventions you want. We got to have the the base before we get started. >> And I don't remember a time that reading has ever been less than math here as far as our scores. >> Okay. We just need to get on with it. But and I don't know what it is. >> Yeah. >> But >> I think I think you you what you said though about um addressing the core and I'll just use the term the core. Um, and that's one of the things that we have an opportunity to do is we're evaluating curriculum to make sure that our curriculum and our core is that part is there. The interventions don't matter if you don't have this, right? So, using your same analogy, I think that is
063that's something that we've consistently talked about and as we um as Cassie reviewed the curriculum cycle, it's an important a really important part of that next step and it's not the magic answer. I mean there is not a curriculum that is going to be the magic answer but it will be the structure that you can build upon and make sure that we have the right pieces in place. >> I agree. I think this is the core and uh you guys are doing a a phenomenal job. Uh I will say that if what Bruce said is true about maybe the Mississippi thing, I will gladly go down spend lots of time there and send the information back to you. And I'm I'm just joking, but but this is a core and and I you guys are
064going to do a phenomenal job. You know, you you've done a lot with reading and uh look forward to to the mathematics. I think you do great jobs. >> And when um when you're looking at fixing this core and teaching the students a different way, have a class for the parents things. >> Yeah. telling my grandkids I was no thank you, you know, send it home to mom. I'll do all the rest. >> I agree with that statement. >> Yep. Great job. >> Hearing no further comments or questions for a motion to approve. >> Make a motion to approve. >> Second by Cheryl. All in favor? I I >> Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes. >> Moving on to the seniority list. >> Sorry. Yep. The seniority lists have been uh have been posted and
065reviewed and they are are here for your approval. >> I'll make a motion to approve the food service maintenance custodial par profofessional and teacher seniority list as posted. >> Motion by Bruce. Second. Second by Cheryl. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion carries. Uh moving on to the memorandum of agreement regarding the e-learning day. >> Uh so uh by statute we have to have a a memorandum or an agreement with our certified um bargaining unit around e-learning days and uh what you will see is uh identical to what it was last year with the exception of um it is for two years and this will extend until the end of the 2027 contract. Um but otherwise all of the language and the um the information in that memorandum is consistent. Um
066and it has been approved by the teachers union. >> Motion that we approve the memorandum of agreement between education Minnesota Painville and the district 741 as presented. >> Bruce second. >> Second by Thomas. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion carries. Moving on to the memorandum of agreement. certified staff early notification. >> Uh so as as I think our our community and board has heard a number of times um there are a number of staff members uh who have talked about their retirement. Um and uh um this really is a um just a recognition if they have made a decision and a determination that they are ready to retire. um that they if they give the district notice by uh the date in here is by December 5th, which is a
067Friday, to be received for the board by December um by December 9th. Uh that they would have a a $500 payment that could be either um it could be just um a payment, it could go into their VIA plan or their 403b plan. um just as a recognition for our planning purposes to be able to move forward um and and the the teachers union did approve uh that memorandum and so it was here for your consideration. >> I agree with this 100%. But I do want to say the state of Minnesota throws so many things at us that um our last minute changes after we have totally planned the next year already including the MCA's information that comes out late which is ridiculous. I think it's a good idea and at least internally you're able
068to plan. So I'll make another motion to approve the memorandum of agreement between Education of Minnesota Pencil and the Independent School District 741 as presented. >> Motion by >> second by Ron. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion carries. Moving on to the MHSL form B grant application. So, uh, our conference, um, has a m for the Minnesota State High School League, um, has a form B grant application and, uh, the turn to apply for and complete the grant application rotates throughout the conference. It is our turn. Um, and, uh, that's why you're going to see it and you don't see it every year. We tr we typically when we have done this have done it when we've done our, um, form a application. Uh really what these dollars are used
069for is uh our conference brings in um a speaker that is uh works with our youth leaders that are part of our um activities in athletics and uh so it's it's an an entire conference activity and the funds that are received from this grant uh pay for that supporting for our our youth leaders. So, it is a resolution um uh and it's a resolution for um uh for the grant application from the Minnesota State High School League for our conference. >> I make a motion to approve the resolution of the school board supporting for B application Minnesota State High School League Foundation. >> Motion by Thomas. >> Second by Cheryl. It's a roll call vote. >> Um Bruce >> Yay. >> Cheryl. I >> I >> Rachel I >> Thomas Gerald >> I >> motion
070carries. Okay, moving on to the review upcoming meetings. Okay. Uh moving on to the closed meeting. Looking for a motion. >> Make a motion to close board uh board of education meeting Minnesota State statute chapter 13D.03 at 6:59 p.m. for purpose of discussion negotiation strategies. >> Motion by Thomas. >> I second. >> Second by Gerald. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion carries. We are now in close closed session. Okay. >> So, we're looking to for a motion to open the meeting back up from the close session. >> Motion by Bruce. >> Second by Gerald. All in favor? >> I hear none. Motion carries. We're back open at 8:13 p.m. >> Oh, hold on a second. I'm That's my note again. Just one second. Um I'm sorry that was Bruce
071>> and then Jar was the second. It's not moving. Why is it not moving? Because Miranda's not here to type. >> Um >> Oh, it says 8:13 p.m. should be >> No, because we I'll I'll >> motion was I have it written. I can. >> Um, >> okay. Perfect. And it carries. >> Okay. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second by Cheryl. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none, we are ajourned.