Richfield School Board Meeting: March 3, 2025

001e e e it is 700 p.m. on Monday March 3rd 2025 and I call to order this regular meeting of the Richfield school board so we have light attendance tonight attending this evening's board meeting live and in the boardroom are board members this is weird because nor I go from this side so Tim paus Rachel Banks cupo Ken Liss and I'm board board chair Eric cter I can't see my name uh we are joined here by our student Representatives herard C Lopez look at look at my notes and Vanessa Rosa Miguel got it this time I'm on a fire Also the table we have superintendent St Yosi and assistant to the superintendent C candra Guam I couldn't get them all right it'd be too easy to do that right others other members of the district

002leadership team are ends and may be participating throughout the meeting as well and we expect them to Richfield Public Schools mission statement is that we strive to inspire and Empower each individual to learn grow and Excel and we all strive to keep that focus at the center of our discussions this evening thanks to all of you joining us here live and in the boardroom uh we want to thank you to those who are streaming the meeting either now or watching the meeting after the fact via YouTube We Appreciate when people bear witness to our meetings where we conduct the necessary official business of the district our first item of business this evening is to approve the agenda before us as the approval of the agenda is routine business item I will briefly pause to see

003if there are any comments or questions related to the agenda hearing and seeing none is anyone prepared to move the agenda as presented I'll move the agenda as presented second we have a motion to approve the agenda by director paulus and second by director B sco I'm just wondering if we're gonna have another paus heavy evening tonight uh any Bal discussion don't think so all in favor please say I I all opposed please say nay and the board chair votes I and the agenda is approved that brings us with we we now move to information and proposals and non-action item section of the agenda before we move into the topics of this evening just a reminder the next opportunity for public comment will be at our next board meeting on March 17th 2025 now over

004superintendent yoski for the superintendent all right so well it presents as two separate presentations Richfield High School and activities update we have the unified team of four from the high school here to present together and so to introduce the team and to take it away I will just turn things over to prin th Collins good evening director Carter members of the board student reps and members of the district Dr yanowski we're grateful to be here tonight um it is always a pleasure to present to the board um things that are happening at Richfield High School um our theme over the past couple years has been start here go places and we're really um looking at Innovative program and personalized opportunities for students through their four years in high school so that when they're graduating um

005they really have experienced a lot of opportunity around um things they want to try skills they want to improve on and opportunities that they might otherwise not have an opportunity to do so tonight we're going to present to you are what I need flexible learning time that is in about its fourth year of iteration we started it after the pandemic and it's really important for us um that we talk about um part of where win is now and the successive win has been um really aligned to student voice and um strong data that our operations team has collected to have it as successful as it is today and our commitment to continue to collect that data to continue in a um continuous Improvement effort um when we introduce new families to Richfield High School and

006when we talk to families that are part of Richfield High School part of what they say about why they choose to come is that we have a a school that's large enough to have a lot of opportunities but small enough to really get to know the students deeply we truly build a real community and because of that we're able to personalize student experiences through choice that we have and um Innovative programming like wind time and through wind time or what I need personalized learning we have a number of um opportunities that both um support students in um academics and an intervention level all the way to an enrichment level along with opportunities that extend beyond the walls of the high school into postsecondary exploration um and um hobbies and different things that connect them with

007staff so um everything we do is align to those four things the goals and purpose of um our win time is here it's really um elevating that that individualized academic support and enrichment um the social emotional learning support highin activities clubs and Inter murals and really it all comes down to the Crux of students working with teachers in elevating their academic um outcomes along with exploring highin activities um and opportunities that might not be available within their scheduled school day without this dedicated time um in our week um it really is Prov a way to provide the opportunity Mr Harris is the lead of our operations leadership team and that team has really taken a hold of where we started wi to where it is now so he's going to talk about the history and

008the work that has happened to um change win yeah so um when when wi was brought uh uh Miss Collins thought about bringing wi time to our school and uh Vision I was teaching in the classroom and in uh Union leadership and we did a lot of work to start getting people involved in clubs uh our teachers volunteered to run clubs we talked a lot about academic support and where we had it stationed in the day was kind of at the end of the day and we weren't really getting everything uh seeing it impact students in academics and um it was a little bit challenging our bolt team uh we we later then tried moving it into the beginning of the school day our bolt team then but still it wasn't quite getting the success

009that we were looking for as far as uh supporting academics and getting kids in different clubs um we struggled with attendance on those days and the Bold team took a long look at it uh with kind of a whole semester long action research project where we looked at uh we did student meetings we looked at data and uh came to a conclusion of of moving wind time into the middle of our school day and uh that allows us to have advisory where we can support kids signing up for where they need to go so they have adults that kind of can steer them into whether you should be an academic support or if you can go down to the gymnasium and play soccer or any different clubs um and that really has transformed the program

010into what we have now where where we walk around the school during win time and our students are doing fun things they're getting the help that they need and um it's been uh really kind of fun to watch the growth and and now it's really about uh it's what we do at our school Dr Val and I go to talk to all of the classes at the start of each semester and we we lay out how wi time supports this academic support and then we're seeing that in some of our data if we can uh the next slide um so at the end of of uh last semester we took a two uh win time period So within just two win times we had 289 summatives that were completed during win time and 613 so

011almost half of the student body or two 68 made progress in a class and again that was just on two Wednesdays during during the school year we saw that impact um overall uh grades and um Pass rates at our school where we got down to only 38 students we're failing four or more 68% we're failing three or more which is about a 50% reduction in uh in uh fail rates from last year 917 kids participated in a club so we're seeing just how uh bolt looking at all the things making some suggestions seeing now it's become a big part of the reason for our academic success and then just connecting students to school and we do have uh a little video to kind of show you what kids are doing later on good evening everyone

012um Mr Harris was able to share with you street level data collected by our teachers but we also wanted to put data in front of you um that has a more standardized approach um as you know we're we're interested in the whole picture of Student Success and success in our programs so you'll see our multi tiered systems of support um the intervention we're going to talk about is our reading tier and math tier um also push in during win um so targeted support student supporting our students that some students need additional support in reading and math 72% and 71% respectively had typical or aggressive growth on the fast assessment um which is one of the markers that we're using to um monitor our students in tier 2 intervention the other one I'm just going to

013read to you because um it's it's really cool data specifically related to our AP human geo geography um class so we of course do AP all for all um 37 out of 38 students accessing support during when past AP Human Geography for semester seven of the students were able to move out of the high-risk category and the fast Bridge assessment and four of those students are now labeled low risk so without this flexibility within our school day on Wednesdays um that targeted specific and rapid response to students needing support is just not something that we would have had um so though our students are making amazing gains in their access of students or of teachers that they want to see this is a more select group of students that are just receiving their tier 2

014intervention during win the next slide is going to share with you just we've talked a lot about academic support and tier 2 um and getting students exactly what they need academically but we want to remind you that when is still about um club sports and activities and accessing those during the school day so we know our students participate in a lot of different things after school including um organized clubs Sports and activities through Athletics and activities they also work we wanted to give students that connection during the school day um so they not only connect with each other who have a shared interest so you might see a win club that has students from grades 9 through 12 but they also connect with teachers that they might not have classes with um so these are

015just some of the things that we've offered in the last four years they're plant clubs vinyl clubs tblop games um Pottery K-pop um all of these shared interests and activities that connect our students together and connect our students with adults really um helps us realize that real community um and really bring to life some of the interests of our adults and make sure students every student feels like they have a place the next slide is going to just share with you um our goal of course of making sure that all of our students graduate Richfield High School not only graduate but graduate with a plan for what to do next um so win offers us this opportunity which is our CCR coordinator and our senior counselor to run um um all of the things that

016usually would take place after school or during pullout FAFSA Common App scholarships um writing essays all of that support happens weekly and students can access that as they are applying to their colleges um so that happens every Wednesday and then the rest of our counseling team is able to support building students up to that senior year and making those final decisions um exploring college majors thinking about careers that they want to enter into building a resume um starting some of those applications getting to really know the language of what it is to apply in postsecondary um so again as students need this level of support this is one of the offerings during win um the voice of our students really helps um push win offerings we do a survey um yearly on what students are

017experiencing and when and one of the things that has really um over time been um elevated and shows up to a greater degree is just how positive students are about the opportunities uh one-on-one help from teachers um the enrichment activities working in a quiet focused environment we have been able to pull off schoolwide events like our pawow with um our um Miss Weaver having opportunity to meet with students during when weekly to prepare for that big schoolwide event without that dedicated time um those things don't we aren't able to pull those off as we um want to so just that academic support personal growth and connection with teachers are a theme that is run through our survey and a few of these are quotes from students on the survey that really elevates um that theme

018across our survey of students the next one is a video that was made by our bolt team led by Mr Harris um just an opportunity in a more more recent win to have students say why win is Meaningful for them we love academic support academic support gives us uh gives us time to redo tests academic support gives us time to connect with our teachers and finish formative and subma assessment just really gives me extra time to work on Pottery especially it's such a Hands-On course that it really helps to have extra time work in this class um you know just trying to get my grades up and it helped me it helps me to catch up on late assignments and yeah that's what I like about wi time what I like about wi time is

019that it helps me get my grade up if I'm classes I miss any days I get really focus in and work on the work I'm missing and also uh allows opportunities to like have fun with friends as well what I like about when time is that it gives me a quiet place to study and a nice break during the school day I like when time because it gives me the chance to connect with peers to complete group work I like one time because I get to get my math work done in my assignment I appreciate one time because it gives MSA time to celebrate our beliefs when time provides Student Government time inside a school to meet together together and make decisions that help impact the school we like wi time cuz we get to

020hang out with our friends I like vac win time because we can be in here and we can chill and my friends are in here it's a good time guys you guys should come all right Kevin what do you like about wi time soccer wi time soccer is Chill it's cool we get to play we get have fun just like guys that's what I like about wind time [Music] good [Music] so in closing as we think about that video just reinforce the meaningful opportunities that are provided to students in an individualized way either through the academic support the enrichment the connection with friends um and student Choice really leads the way for it so that is our closing any questions you might have for us thank you for coming in and the presentation with all

021of our board members questions I don't have a question it's just more of a a thank you for this really is meeting each student where they're at and this really allows them to um to get what they need and be uh the student that they know that they can be so thank [Music] you no I I also appreciate it I mean I've been in the building for for a Wednesday and it was awesome to see the students get what they need at like in real time um in in in a way that wasn't didn't have the formality around it or any layer of intimidation and also I know that my my uh younger child when she was here really loved win time for um just the the release and the break if she was a

022on schedule with her classes she could have the chill time that many of the students mentioned as just just a fun Break um to to do things whether it was games or clubs or whatever it's really neat program yeah I've subed here on a Wednesday as well and um when time's interesting every once in a while I'll get a student in my class and I was like okay now what do we do but usually usually you know they'll pull their computers out and do it it's usually one or two kids what is inclusive cooking oh inclusive cooking is actually um has been such a popular choice in when we're making it a a class next year and it is a class for students with disabilities partnered with um General Ed piers um to to do

023a cooking class um we're also exploring the opper um opportunity for inclusive music as well thank you I just kind of wanted to say thank you guys for coming and talking to us and honestly from a student perspective wi time revolutionary like it uh coming into the school was like the first time I ever saw something like that really and um honestly yeah it did didn't work in the morning or in the afternoon but in like the middle of the day it's perfect students are forced to go they're forced to do their things and um I know you guys do polls all the time but um in one of my classes I also did one because we were giving them out to like 600 students and it was like in 80% of them were like

024I like win time I like what it does I like what it gives me and it's like the sheer amount of things I can do it I don't I don't even have enough wi times to really fully explore everything so I really like that where I'm able to have specific choices in what I want to learn and what I want to to do and something weekly that gives me a time to just do homework in school is I didn't realize how much it was going to help me nice but like an hour of just nothing but work is is really good I like it a lot nice so you guys did a really good job with wi time okay something to add on I really love wi time too it like I'm not doing too

025good in English right now so having that retake like it's really helpful not only that but I remember La no two years ago when it was in the morning I remember I would be so tired and exhausted I'd be like oh no I can't do any of this right now so having it right in the afternoon like you said it like forces me to do it and two it's like I'm already halfway through the day and I'm like already preparing myself so it's a great way to like I guess be ready you know it's a nice break too thank you yeah like to thumbs up from both of you that's great uh I do have a couple quick questions other than thank you guys for the presentation um what do the teachers think of one

026time you did this teacher survey uh very supportive and I and I would say when people saw that 300 summatives were completed in a two- week window uh that was really reinforced of the value of it and uh at bolt we take feedback on how to make things better and and we're not getting a lot of that know there was a lot of tweaking as you guys t talked about to get it to where it is now um but it's it's it's positive and it's neat that teachers step up to offer those uh clubs for people and and uh we keep getting ideas from students and we always find a teacher willing to hold off for those things so very supportive it's good to hear um the other question I have is um do we

027know how many students utilize the all things College all things col oh the the CCR one they we take attendance weekly so I could pull that data for you I will tell you um like all times of the year it es and flows as we get closer to um College deadlines for applications there will be quite a buzz in the CCR area with a lot more students that are there then when the FAFSA opened it became again a bit of a buzz so um it's starting to ramp back up again because there's there are more scholarship um applications coming out and so um it kind of es and flows a little bit but um it's since we've started offering it weekly we've been able to balance the supports um and have um the counselors the

028other three counselors 9 10 and 11 do the school-based um support leading up to that 12th grade year so we've adjusted that support as well along the way and just always curious when we hear the feedback from the students of like oh the school didn't tell me about what's coming up next and you like what my job opportunities and college opportunities are seniors right it's like and what are they thinking about like how how they apply what they apply and that's why I was just more curious about how how much they're showing up yeah it it is um it es and flows but it's definitely a popular choice and this time of year with scholarship and financial aid on the minds of our seniors it is uh it's a popular place to be during wi

029and just dumb question but again what time is wi time it's 105 or 110 oh we have it right here 105 to 210 on Wednesdays yes I just you know it's um when we think about board members popping in and out and I hear Tim making a comment about it and it's funny for right me doing my check-ins on Wednesdays I've just never seen a wind time it's like all right maybe I just didn't even know it yeah you could pop in any um any wind time and we can walk around and check out activities and uh really some really cool things happen we have talking about morphing when over time um we really started at post pandemic uh for relational and social purposes to get students to reconnect and it's really um refreshing to

030see the number of students that say know I really need to finish my English summative or I really need to and we have a couple very highin interal activities that the um adult supervisors of those sit down and make sure every kid that's coming in is passing or encourages them to use win more appropriately that's great yeah any more questions okay yeah I have one dumb clarifying question on school Success it says all things College 12th grade is that just limited to 12th graders or it is that part is limited to 12th graders the other Slide the 9 10 11 that is for topics um for 9th 10th and 11th graders okay yep so like things with scholarships it's not just limited to 12th graders it's for we really focus on the scholarship applications for

031the seniors doing um look work for financial aid moving into college 9 10 and 11 as we get closer to spring for 11th graders we'll start doing more of the college exploration in their sessions oh okay thank you could I ask an off topic question off topic from when just so am I yeah I think it's but um my question was more what I I talked about how win time was a very unique thing that I kind of went into to and another thing that really caught my eye coming into nth grade were the flex spaces and I'm just very sad to see that um it feels like I don't know it feels like they just kind of been forgotten about really and kind of not really used or like I sometimes ask a teacher

032if I can go and they're like I'm not allowed to send you there so I'm not I'm not saying to do something about it but is there something being done with the flex spaces or like something developing with it U yeah and we talk about that a lot of Bolt as well that's a Hot Topic on on on that but I would say someone who walks around the school a lot during classes a lot of our teachers that are co- teing use those as pull out places um our sc's uh office out of those areas and they often have multiple kids working in there on different assignments and so I would say they've gotten more out uh Lively and more kids using them and more teachers utilizing them as pull out spaces but it does

033get challenging for students to just sit in there um unsupervised because then what happens is they're just uh when there's a couple kids sitting in there unsupervised then suddenly we have nine kids in there unsupervised and that's been our big challenge uh but I would say I've seen it uh an increase in usage because of the sces and then the co- teers doing a lot more pull outs stuff but and the CCR Flex space is open to students that are PSC or students up exploring college stuff that space is for our older students always available um to get the support up in that Flex space yep thank you I was just curious yeah any more questions if not thank you for the presentation of course all right my portion thank you for the opportunity to

034present on Athletics and activities uh with some some data and some uh other points of interest uh so we're going to start out looking at uh our participation trend for fall Sports so this is uh fall Sports for the last three years couple things or one thing I want to highlight uh gains overall uh with the bottom number there uh but then specifically highlighting our boys soccer program which this fall added a fourth team and you see a big jump of 12 players there uh so that's definitely significant growth for boys soccer the next slide is a kind of a continuation but looking at winter which winter seasons are are still still going some of them have wrapped up others are still going again looking at the bottom number small gains overall um and some

035of the highlights here uh is just looking at our boys swimming and Diving they just competed in the section meet last weekend over at Edina and just have had steady growth for the last three years so something to be proud of there our next slide is looking more at some of our activity numbers unfortunately we took a small step back here overall um with each one kind of having a few fewer students um not anything too horrible but just a little bit down uh in some of our activities including fall play and one act um kind of turning to our fall and early winter highlights uh couple things that that I want to call your attention to we had two State qualifiers one in girls swimming another in uh cross country running those students I

036believe have already been or previously been recognized by the school board for their achievements uh additionally um some things you may have heard about we had two individual basketball players um Desi Chappelle and CJ Armstrong pass significant Milestones uh individually and on the court as a team we've we had some accomplishments related to placement in uh conference and placement in section with our boys basketball team still participating uh with a playoff game this week uh the next slide uh is a is a significant accomplishment um for two of our senior students the Minnesota State High School league has a program where they identify actually one winner uh or actually two winners for the entire State and this program is called the AAA award for academics arts and Athletics and in order to qualify you have

037to have success in all three uh and so we had Jonas Taylor and Josie Epler as our senior winners this year for Richfield uh some of their accomplishments are listed there but again to think about uh or wrap your brain around having success and Statewide recognition in the Arts Statewide or conference recognition athletically and to be achieving academically in the class classro is quite an accomplishment um they Josie and Jonas went on to compete essentially not like physically compete but their information and their uh resumés were put up against every other student in our region uh which is 16 schools Unfortunately they weren't selected as part of the winners for the region uh to go on to the finals for the for the state but still a a tremendous achievement for two of our senior

038students to be uh recognized by the Minnesota State High School league and Richfield public schools for their achievement across a variety of of activities and and Athletics and academics uh our next slide is kind of looking ahead spring 2025 we had our first spring Sports start today with synchronized swimming so even though winter sports are not quite done spring sports are on the horizon uh we do have two new sports one that I want to uh draw your attention to our very first in inaugural boys volleyball team uh will play their first match and it'll actually be a home match on March 17th uh slated to be against Brooklyn Center at at the moment so our very first team for boys volleyball we're really excited to get up and get started with that uh additionally

039girls flag football will actually be an after school intermural program but that's uh being launched and maybe you've seen some of the activity if you watch the Super Bowl the NFL is heavily invested in trying to get girls flag football to be a certified High School sport in all 50 states and this is part of that effort uh and so we we will have a team this year the jerseys just came in today they they look wonderful they were um donated by the Minnesota Vikings uh so we appreciate all of their efforts as I said spring Sports started today we have a list of our spring Sports up there we are into senior award season uh we are in the thick of the Athena award uh and hopefully there'll be an announcement on that soon

040and then this time Spooner will be shortly after the Athena and Tom Spooner the Athena award goes to our top female athlete in the senior class the Tom Spooner award uh is similar it's a Richfield award uh that goes to our Top Male athlete um who also achieves in the classroom and academically one thing that I want to draw your attention to that's second from the bottom is we are kind of a leader our school is in the tri Metro conference leadership events uh and we have a student Le event that is going to be coming to R RMS is going to be the location uh organized by one of our groups here on campus the Morgans message group and their leader em Emma Gant uh they have worked really hard to bring in a

041national speaker to give a talk to the tri Metro conference student leadership organization uh so we're really proud to partner with Morgan's Mage at the school and be able to as a conference and as a school to be able to support um her and her efforts in this student Le uh um event uh if you're not familiar Morgan's message is a group focused on students mental health and so may is mental health awareness month this is going to be happening in April that's when we could kind of get the speaker but the kind of the idea is that this is a kickoff or a launch to bring awareness to mental health awareness month for May um additionally Emma's goal or kind of our goal and working with her but her goal is she realized that

042our school is the only School in the conference with a Morgan's message group here it's a National Organization uh and so kind of a subtle goal is to try to get Morgan's message groups going at other trimetro conference schools through this event on April 11th uh and then uh lastly is the umbrella booster group is not up and running but we have a tremendous group of parent volunteers who've been working really hard they have worked through some of the bylaw things they are kind of at the stage now where they're partnering with the district to try to better understand and get in touch with experts on tax issues and lawyerly issues and those types of things and so you can imagine the the the ask is getting heavier because the questions are getting more complicated

043uh we had a lot of momentum at the beginning and uh I don't want to say that we have lost momentum but you can imagine the technicality of the questions is getting harder and harder um but our parents have really kind of um jumped in with both feet uh and they're working really hard they have experience being in individual sport booster clubs uh and they're continuing to try to make this uh umbrella booster group happen uh at Richi public schools and then the last slide before I open it up to questions these are our athletic Award winners from Fall Sports uh as I said winter sports are still ongoing and some of those lists are not yet public about what students received all conference Awards or all section or All State Awards some of those

044things will be coming out in the next couple of weeks here so these are our fall sports athletic Award winners any questions a lot of data thank you for that questions from the board do we have any sports clubs that compete like Ultimate Frisbee or anything like that um we we do not um part of that I think is what you see with wi time is many of our our clubs have moved into this this student day um and so a lot of the things that are after school are more organized um after school type things okay I had a question about the the act the activities participation like so we see you had the the you mentioned there was a slight downturn in in participation this year but it was still up compared to

045two years ago and so I guess it would be helpful if you if you could break it down by cohort perhaps there was a large graduating class of participants and what sorts of things do we do to to inspire participation in in in in these you know I I know that we have Dynamic IND individuals running them or organizing them but the sorts of things like to you know just to to sustain the momentum yeah um so um I think a couple of things like NHS is kind of flat those numbers are like 47 and they're consistent um so we kind of take that one and put it off to the side um for for a minute one of the things that that I have seen where we have had success and I think we're

046moving that direction is when our Arts we can have a greater connection to the Middle School um and so when we have that connection it's almost being able to pass um students on to the next group and give them and our families a clear understanding of of what those next things are because we know that in in areas of transition you don't know what you don't know uh especially if it's your first right if your first student who's entering nth grade um and so those those relationships are happening and are strengthening in our faculty and um my hope would be to continue to to kind of work in that direction um it is cyclical like you mentioned we do have groups that kind of come through in waves and so numbers kind of e and

047flow a little bit um but I think those teachers continuing to work together and and really us trying to do the best job that we can to inform our our families about about what these opportunities are and and who to reach out to I might add to that um some of the things we're doing is using wind time to um really introduce students we added theater set design as an opportunity during win to connect students to Mr Edwards and um theater set design we've also added a drama class and although there's not a lot of acting they talk about theater and um Mr borka who um co-directs our musical teaches that class and so he's he's always um promoting that's great thank you yes I just kind of wanted to ask like um and this

048isn't necessarily on like the sports side of it but how are we like showcasing these students accomplishments because I'm here reading like these names and I'm I just have a big smile on my face like being able to recognize these students and now knowing what they accomplished but I don't I really only hear them maybe like during the announcements if like they went to state or something but uh so we try to push things out through the student announcements uh in in one form or another we also partner with our Communications team here uh in the district office to try to get it out on our social media Pages uh and those types of things and we also look use like board recognition as a as another example and our Weekly Newsletter we do student

049spotlights and Weekly Newsletter I just also think it would be really like if I was sitting in like advisory and like we're doing the advisory slides and all of a sudden I see like that would be just I would just a very Rand a great idea we um a few um accomplishments have done run on our TV announcement boards as well seen those for sure yeah yeah I just I've especially with like the other schools presentation I've heard a lot of focus on showcasing what um the students are able to accomplish and how that's make students feel more like they want to do more and they because they they feel recognized so that would be a very important thing to look at thank you other questions you know I've got questions um so are activities

050like cheer team and fall play msh Ms hsl sponsored or sanctioned uh fall play No One Act is yes it's an official competition cheer team would be not it is a m hsl activity similar to trap shooting if you're familiar so it's it's not a sport in the sense of competing so competition cheer and cheer team are different Okay the reason why asking it's a loaded question is if you look at the slides and you're kind of showing the statistics of sports and then like for fall and then winter my question then is is why aren't we including activities in it right and I think you know maybe this is from a non- jock perspective of like it's always kind of again and you can ask if it's changed you know 10 years out of

051high school um if it's changed and it's any different between kind of the the Athletics and activities and we still treat them separate versus as one and so even in little things like putting in the slides I'm just curious as we think about that of like how do we actually try to bring in all activities so that all all kids feel included so Ju Just a point of guess documentation um do we only have four activities I mean kind of what Tim was asking let that we track I mean I hear you talk about other activities um are we tracking participation in them so we have intermal activities that happen during wind time um so those those like people are taking attendance and we're like we're getting an understanding but we don't track them specifically

052the same way we would um like cheer team current currently yeah in the wind time is a little more fluid if a student is struggling in English class they're there instead of soccer but may go to soccer um twice a month so maybe the questions better asked is do we have inter murals off non-wind time inter murals not not since win time has started inter murals have really all been pushed in that the there are two kind of caveats to that one would be boys volleyball for the last two years has been run as an intermural for us because they the boys volleyball leadership didn't feel like they were ready to compete and it wasn't a State High School League sport and so running it as an intermural and they ran it like at 800m

053uh and girls flight football will do something similar this spring uh it's not a state High School League sport so they'll kind of run as an intermural um it's not going to happen during win time because there's not going to be games against other schools during win time uh it will run again late practices to allow female athletes who also want to do their Spring sport and try girl SL football to be able to to do both um so those are those are kind of two um examples where we do have intermurals that are after the school day uh but really since the Inception of wintime almost the majority of our intermurals have been folded into the school win program and are they organized I mean and I get if if I'm trying to kind

054of back fill for class I guess I think of inter Ms as like we're still trying to like with volleyball we're trying to schedule teams and games um but then it sounds like it's more pickup like a pickup soccer game versus it is more of a pickup soccer game than organized yep okay um what activities do we have in Spring as far as sports activities non sports uh well so obviously all the all the win time activities will have girls flag football which will be an intramural um that would be considered in intermural activity I guess um spring musical the yeah the spring musical uh but again that's non Minnesota State High School leag but that would be another um activity okay I think that's it for my questions anybody else thank you guys appreciate

055all the information thank you next is accommodations all right so um Employee Appreciation days in our continuation of acknowledging so March 2nd to the e8th that's this week is school Social Work week uh it's a time to recognize and appreciate the profound impact that our school social workers have on RPS Community social workers provide tireless emotional support guidance and resources that enhance our students academic and personal growth thank you to all of our school social workers yes thank you to them we appreciate them we do the next item on the next item is approval of a consent agenda which contains a collection of routine or fairly routine business items that we consent to pass in bulk without individual discussion I'll pause for a moment just to see if there's any any questions or requests before

056we proceeded hearing and seeing none is there motion to approve the consent agenda as presented I move that we accept the consent agenda second we have a motion to approve the consent agenda by director list and a second by director Bank sco any further discussion hearing none we'll bring it to a vote all in favor please say I I I all post please say nay the chair votes I and the consent agenda is approved next we bring or next we move on to Old business uh there policies for us to this evening for continued review and possible action the first item is policy 550 student cell phones and administra administrative guidelines 5501 uh yes so we do have uh for recommended um passage tonight uh third read of student cell phones and administrative guidelines to

057go along with it has been reviewed by safe and supportive parents Guardians uh RMS rhs and RP safe and supportive and do have suggested changes in there and then the red lines in this particular copy are the ones that have come since February 18th and a couple of those components to clean up uh again as a reminder of that ironic conversation from our last meeting there is currently a bill that is being considered um at the legislature to change this anyways and ban things from Bell to Bell so we don't know what is going to happen at the overall legis U but we are required to have this policy going forward so just as a reminder the policy just directs the superintendent and our Administration to establish rules and procedures and then the guidelines which

058are changeable on a regular basis um are those that follow that are aligned to practices um the main changes that have occurred since our last conversation um is really some addition in related to the bus um that students are expected to uh use those and they may have them on the bus but they're expected to follow all the same behavior standards on the school bus as you would and property as in other activities um otherwise um the only other one is on page 53 and it came out of parents and our special ed Department um if a parent Guardian needs to be in closer contact with their student throughout the school day for a safety or medical reason um they should reach out to the school principal to set up a specific plan and so

059just making sure that we accommodate individual differences within that particular guideline uh we have updated those after we continued to make sure that it was aligned to our overall practices and making sure that things um written here were the things that are actually occurring in our schools which we did have some big changes in that first to second read so with that I have it for recommended passage tonight any questions comments or a motion always an option since since we need it by the 15th of March I move that we pass board policy I'll second we have a motion to approve policy 550 by director Lista a second by director paus I'm assuming that includes administrative guideline 5501 touche yeah okay excellent that point of clarification is there any further discussion hearing none we have

060a motion to approve I'm not going to repeat the whole thing I moot fine I'll say the whole thing motion by director list and direct second by director Pauls to approve policy 550 student cell phones and administrative guidelines 5501 all in favor please say I I all appla please say a the chair's I and we now have a cell phone policy very cool thank you thank you well done Dex theist is policy 412 public and private personal data form and data form 412 412 that1 I know that looks weird exactly 412 and 4121 uh different numbers from the msba model policy as you remember this is on our legislative platform is to make sure that we are doing the things to protect the privacy of our constituents and so you'll see some updates to that

061effect um first thing and you look at private public and Personnel data in the start we're making sure that we're clear about employees volunteers independent contractors and applicants so all of those for whom we collect data uh 2 see an important component of policy that we will take care to avoid collecting data on individuals that might be sensitive unless there is a specific requirement for us to connect to that uh you will see a number of formatting comments and then you get into a definition of protected health information and updating what that is based on a statutory change um working our way through most of the components after that are formatting and things connected to that until you reach um page 66 of the board packet page six of board policy 412 uh really extrapolating

062and clarifying what is Personnel data um and what is collected in that area and most of those again are connected to statutory updates and Licensing changes um and then um on the bottom of the next page clarifying um psby and Bosa as being the place to which we would put information in relation to employees licenses um and so with this there are a whole set of updates most of them statutory the others really around making sure that we are protecting that data um and this being um an earlier read it's just to help you with the newer updates in the policy and related guidelines and the guideline is really around the form somebody would use um in relation to release of information should we be needing that so we can take input our questions tonight

063or we still do have another couple weeks before we move this forward for Passage not a lot of talking here I I'll throw out a question and a comment comment and a question um it's funny as I was scrolling through and just looking um the the employee authorization form for release has date of birth indor social security number on it which as we talk about sensitive data it seems like not necessary we should change the form just throwing that out there yep um and then my question I guess is really around the the as I look at this um how do how do we train people on this policy I was thinking the same thing especially relating to the personal health information the sort of the newest block of it m so our typical trainings

064require some all staff training in the policies that are updated to start the year and so that would go to all staff and then when we have policies like this there is some additional training for people within our HR department or nursing for example um or in our counselor's office who would be specifically connected to this so there is we all have a set of trainings and then there is we'll say the extra set or the reiterated deeper set for those that these these particular components really apply to even further okay thank you more questions if not that brings us on to new business tonight we got a bunch of new business stuff first thing we have is our revised budget 2024 2025 budget and it looks like director H's coming front and center for

065us take it away Steve I'm just going to turn it over toi time with our finances because I am up on next on the next component of the agenda so I'm going to let Huli take over as he brings us up to speed with the revised budget sounds like a fireside chat it's Hy time time that works thank you very much um yes I do have for your approval tonight the annual budget revision uh just kind of sequencing process is so in June um the board approved the budget for the 2425 or fiscal 25 year um once the school year starts we take a look at any legislative that's changed we look at enrollment and how that impacts our revenues and then we look at right sizing the Staffing um knowing now once we know

066who is actually working in the district where their step and Lane placements are where their benefits are and then also take a look at kind of um our spending Trends to see if there are things that we need to look at um so with that we have some proposed changes and authorization for that revised budget uh tonight we'll go through a couple different pieces first of all we'll take a quick look at that fiscal year 25 year-to dat budget this is something that was on the last board meeting in February um but just kind of a highlight of REM reminding you that that's in the consent agenda and then how we use that and then we'll take a look at the recommendations for the current year revised budget um and talk about future planning so

067as we look at that um agenda item that you saw in February um again a lot of numbers here in really small print but if you dig in you can take a look and see that I've flagged some of the areas that we look at with those arrows so that red arrow is showing the um projected end of year for the revenue um in this it falls relatively flatter or consistent um but we're going to talk about some changes that um will be impacting us that haven't really been realized in our Revenue yet to date um then we also look at expenditures primarily we're looking at the salaries and wages and the employee benefits um those have the most consistent Trends as far as they run on consistent payrolls um and so those are probably

068the most predictive looking at past um spending Trends um and then purchase Services is one that pops up here is that projected end of year is looking to be higher than what was in the adopted budget so we do a little deeper dive once we kind of get to that revised budget and try to figure out why that is um and then you'll also see in that bottom when we look at expenditures by program that similar increase from the proposed is showing up in the pupil Support Services what that usually shows us or will jump out is that's most likely Transportation um specifically special Transportation we'll talk about that impact because we're seeing some pretty significant increases in special Transportation this year um the next page looks at the other um funds that are within

069the pro within the budget so the Food Service Community Education construction and those that aren't part of the general fund um couple pieces I want to call um call out here are the construction fund you can see we had an adop Ed budget of $80,000 of revenue for that construction fund those are Bond issues that have been received so that Revenue isn't necessarily something that streams in but that revenue is tied specifically with um interest income so the interest income that's earned on those Investments during the time that that um is sitting not being expended um and then you'll see under the expenditures in the blue arrow those are the projected expenditures relatively consistent um with what that adopted budget is and we know that we have a number of construction projects that are playing

070in this year um coming into that program specifically um and then you'll see at the end there's that projected fund balance difference um you can see that there's about a $2 million differen in that construction revenue and expenditures and that's primarily going to be showing up at that projected spending variance so that's something that you see on a monthly basis looking at the Year back with some projections it shows up in the consent agenda but I like to take the opportunity to kind of call that out when we have a chance to talk about um the budget on a regular basis or during the year uh next we're going to take a look at that current year fiscal year 25 budget implications um we have Revenue adjustments as I indicated we have some enrollment changes

071and we specifically came in higher than what was projected so we have some Revenue adjustments for that um we also are seeing significant increases in special education Revenue as far as um how that is projected from the date that is something that usually isn't coming um to a reality until about this time kind of after the um January um month of January is when we start to see actual projections there and it still is a little bit in flux because of some tuition adjustments that are still occurring within our Revenue um interest income is the other piece that I mentioned was a big change from the expenditure standpoint salary and benefit changes again we right siiz the district with who we know is currently working for us and what that Staffing looks like like um

072transportation contracts as I mentioned is another one that popped out and we'll talk about that and then the construction fund um overall we'll move on to the next one kind of that snapshot of the revenue um in state revenue we are projecting to be up 4.3 4,358 388,000 or $388 more than was what was built into that adopted budget again we saw that enrollment increase so our basic formula is projected to increase just over a million dollar and then right now um as we've looked at it and um gotten more information from the state special education is coming in at $2.3 million more in Revenue than what was projected um and we'll talk a little bit more about that as well um so the special education piece in the federal income this is really going

073to be a wash um we're doing something a little bit different with our special education transport or special education tuition so when we have Richfield residents who are attending other school district and receiving special Education Services we pay tuition for those students attending other schools um historically we have just had that money claimed by the state and transferred to the districts um from our state General Ed Aid um we have transitioned last year and again this year to pain that out of our federal special education which allows us to realize more cross subsid Aid in our general State special education so um there's a benefit to the district to have our tuition paid out of um Federal and have um more of our other expenditures that we were paying Federal out of out of state

074um using that approach in doing so um we have to realize that a million dollars of additional Revenue in federal and we simultaneously have to realize that additional Revenue in the in the um expenditures as well um so that kind of pops up in both places with the special education tuition payments for federal um overall we have a revised budget of $89 m512 19 in revenue and that is an increase of just over $5.3 million looking at that green arrow I can pause quickly if anybody has any questions at that point before we move on to expenditures can can I ask again about the you you mentioned um the tuition payment so a student from Richfield Who receiv special services and it has enrolled at a neighboring District we are still responsible for that student

075providing special Le services to that student so you're saying we are counting prior model was the new District would claim that student as there the state money would flow there in terms of and so any other Pur pupil funding that would come from the federal government or someone else would then follow the student first um it it's really connected with the special education cost MH so previously we were paying that out of our state special education funding we are now paying that out of our federal special education funding um the reason why we're doing that is because um if when it came out of state those weren't realized as expenditures for the district they just reduced the revenue and so that cross subsidy Aid that would go along with those funds just never appeared in

076the district situation um we spent about 3 to four years looking at this with the um Paul faren at the state and looking at um there are certain years where it's the right time to make that transition and certain years where it's not um but given our current special education um I'm trying to say this simply without being compc we have three different ways that we can receive special education funding and we get the least of those three formulas the formula that we're on now this makes sense for us to be able to do because we get some additional revenue for it do other districts do the same yes okay thank you there are districts that do there are districts that don't um this is something that when we've been at Mell conferences they talk

077about this might be an option for you or might be a choice um and again we've looked at it a couple years ago it didn't make sense last year was the first year it made sense for us to do it um what's different and why it shows up here so we did it last year um we got some clarity if we actually have to show that as EXP expenditures now in the federal versus they weren't expenditures in the state and so we have to show those as actual expenditures for tuition and then we show the revenue that we receive as reimbursement for those expenditures okay this for those watching at home this is why the the the the fund accounting that we have to follow is is excruciatingly tedious yeah yeah okay thank you so

078they don't get to count that student also so they they will they will count them I again I'm speaking a little bit with what I think I know because it's just all formula driven but so they'll receive any appropriate gen Ed Aid with it the Special Education costs that go along with that so we receive special education tuition from other districts and then we send special education to the other districts the state manages calculating that all out for us and it's based on the um average cost based on the a based on certain disabilities and then the enrollment so um we can do a 101 course on it but it probably is gonna take it's gonna it's it's perhaps enough of time I'll follow you know it it literally is like about every year there's

079like a one- hour session on special education Aid at the Mell conference and it's nuggets and people slowly grow with their knowledge and stuff like that so um fortunately we have some good partners at mde that help us work through that process and um have given us some even assistance on um estimating what the special education revenue is for us for this year um so it's we work with kind of multiple perspectives on this would it be fair to make it analogous with like two parents who don't file taxes together that only one can um claim their child during a tax year um or I me only one only one um it's claimed for different expens so so the revenue for the Gen Ed goes to the district where the student is enrolled so we

080receive Revenue state aid revenue for every kid that's enrolled in Richfield schools and then we receive Levy funds for every kid that's enrolled in Richfield schools okay um the special education costs associated with special education kids who are enrolled in Richfield from other districts then flow through those other the home District resident District to the district that's hosting got it um but it's recalculated and so got it I'm going to keep moving if that's okay sorry sorry but you know we can sit down and go through this um in more detail so long story short I would say is there's a different way so there's an increase in federal revenue but it's not really an increase in federal revenue because it's offset with the expenditures that are going with it and in a nutshell how

081we're doing this helps the district receive some additional Revenue um from out from the state for kind of funding those students in those programs um moving on to the expenditures um so again we look at this two ways one's the object Series so kind of how is that money being spent and then the second um page that we'll look at is where is that money being spent or what is it being spent on so salaries and wages um are that first item you can see that that's projected to um increase from our adopted budget by about $719,000 um and then the employee benefits are projected to increase by about 271,000 or just under 272,000 um two things again that's right sizing with current enrollment current benefits enrollment and then we've also kind of looked at

082kind of um some of our anticipated contract settlements and some projections that way for the current year um and built that into those projections as well um purchase Services you can see is up significantly um with an increase of about $3.5 million um the biggest area in actually there's two areas it's all going to be in specializ special Transportation so we have two contractors for our special Transportation providing the small the individual or small group transportation for students who um aren't um riding the traditional school buses um so that's up fairly significantly about $2 million and then that um tuition that I mentioned for the federal programs also is going to show up as that purchase Services because we're purchasing the services from other school districts okay um so the net increase in our expenditures

083is just over $4.7 million um again looking at programming and how we kind of differentiate that um just a few highlights here so again um many of these things are adjusted with the Staffing as far as where people are um the site Administration so um the principles and the principal budgets is down um about $130,000 in that right sizing but you can see looking at actual June 3 2024 um to the revised budget there was just a larger increase that was projected in that rev in that adopted budget than what we realized um in that area uh regular instruction is up slightly from projection uh special education um you can see is up $994,000 again that's going to be in that tuition piece which is about 870,000 in the federal and then the pupil Support

084Services the red arrow is that special Transportation specifically so all of those areas um we've kind of dug into and the bigger number we um have some explanation for why those are larger increases in those areas um I will pause there on questions around expenditures then I will move on um the revised budget other funds I figure it's easier to break this up a little bit so um other funds so these are those other programs again just kind of highlighting that construction fund is the one that's just of note here um Construction fund um the revenue increase with the interest income um the internal service for the health insurance you can see that revenue is down um what we found we identified it in the audit but we had a few individuals who have stiens

085where their benefits um and some of their salaries were double counted and so we kind of right-sized some of those pieces so that benefits we were anticipated larger participation um based on um how we did those projections where the benefit for individuals with stiens um that stien they ended up with two different um pay rates um that both were showing the benefits so that's that correction there um below you can see that increase of construction fund um adopted budget or the revised budget for the construction fund now that we have more information about projects moving forward and then the internal service fund also has that health insurance adjustment um based on the projected participation in that um in that um those are running fairly tight um with just a slight balance on that piece um

086then finally moving on overall budget um overall the revenue is $3,910 across all funds which is a $4.7 million increase and the expenditures are 115 997 which is a $4.6 million increase um showing a net impact to the overall change of 8,590 on that spending variance so fairly tight in that um I'm going to move on because I think this is an appropriate time to look at fund balances and just kind of how these change in the fund balance it still stays relatively close with some net positive for the general fund uh the first page is the adopted budget um that was approved with the actual July 1 2004 adopted in here or audited um fund balances uh so you can see um with that we were projecting about a $8.3 million or 99.97% projected

087fund balance um couple highlights here just that blue arrow the capital projects Tech Levy is one that we watch um that had a little bit more of an increase in that adopted budget and then the overall at the very bottom with the green arrow is the net general education net General fund um budget increase of $135,000 um totaling 8,794 th000 um how that changes when we look at this revised budget um fairly close here the unassigned fund balance is at 10.7% um up to 9.4 million um slightly or about a million dollars there the red arrow I just want to point this out because this is showing up a little bit different in rest restricted fund balances um so how we have to account for English language learner programming um we receive a good portion

088of those funds within the basic skills line which is just below it but the state's asking us to um put that in one um restricted fund balance together so that separated from Basic Skills so they can identify what our spending variance is or how much more we spend on um elll than we receive in Revenue um because there's now some El cross subsidy Aid that supports our programming so they'll be using that to account for it so that's just a little bit of a change that I highlighted there um at the bottom the red arrow just a couple pieces of note um the assigned carryover so every year we have some funds that we leave in certain budgets so donations to specific building sites um professional development funds that are identified in contracts for certain

089individuals so that's what that carryover account is um specifically in that assigned fund balance and then the blue arrow you can see um small increase in the covid assigned account here but those are the funds that we've kind of put into that assigned account to help support our sustainability and maintain programming so that once those covid funds went away we had some capacity to maintain some of our programs or transition that if need be um so that net impact now with that revised budget um is an increase of $756,000 over the previous uh do the fund balance from last year um highlighting just so up from $135,000 increase to 790 $756,000 increase and then other fund balances um watching The Food Service it's declining slightly but it still has a healthy fund balance um we

090talked about the construction fund being spent down about $2.5 million we don't have other than interest Revenue coming in there um the internal service fund for health insurance number 20 the purple Arrow there there again that's relatively balanced um and then so overall funds that $2 million reduction again that's tied mostly with that construction fund specifically um next page is a highlight tell them once tell them what you're going to tell them tell them and then tell them what you told them so here's that tell them what you told them so the general fund balance increase of$ 5,330 th000 $89 million is the net on that one increases in special education revenue for state and federal and then increase in that basic Aid due to enrollment the general fund expenditures increase of $4.7 million from

091the adopted to 88 m294 adjustments for actual salary and benefits increase in special Transportation costs and increase in that special education tuition and then that fund balance projection of $1,794 $749 which is a really cool number as I look at it uh net impact of total general fund balance is an increase of 62136 3 compared to the original budget for that 75639 and then that un signed fund balance of 9.4 million or 10.7% which is up slightly from the 10.04 adopted um fiscal year 24 balance moving on to Future planning um so next steps here um I was looking back and we actually brought the revised budget to you the first meeting in May so we're a couple months ahead so I just want to kind of celebrate the work of the finance team for

092kind of really pushing this to get this information get this updated and stuff like that to date so fiscal year 26 budget and Staffing is in is PL in currently in planning currently working to develop that fiscal year 26 budget and programming um proposed budget to board in May and the adopted budget to board in June um we are um seeing some offsets that we're having to be making as part of that revised as part of that adopted budget um with the compensatory funds coming in significantly below what we've been receiving um even with kind of increases in the general formula and stuff like that we're in ipating relatively flat revenues um but then we'll have increases in Staffing and increasing in programming costs um with rollups and so we'll need be needing to make

093some adjustments in that area so we're looking at that as we come together um fund balance we strategically increase that fund balance to be able to extend some of it so we're trying to figure out what that balance looks like um at this point Co funds have now expired so the last Co funds were from last summer so that's expired so those um I think 12 different accounts they're different um specific grants um have now expired um we have significant um projected reduction in compensatory funds as I mentioned and slight enrollment reductions moving forward so um with that are there any other questions or information you would like otherwise we would request approval of that revised budget you could take a breath now Craig thank you good job that's a lot of data questions has

094this much already I will just do a quick add all of there's much more detailed to some of those specific line items in the back of the packet or included in the packet as well that provides that detailed piece um some of which was summarized um in that presentation just with with with great appreciation for all the detail U provided for them pieces that move materially I I'll move to accept the revised budget as presented I'll second it we have a motion to accept the budget approve the budget by director paulon second by director L any questions comments round us with data we like it if not we'll bring it to a motion all in favor please say I I all post pleas say a chair what's I and the revised 2024 2025 budget is

095approved which brings us to a resolution yes we will bring forth the resolution to establish a transition plan to eveny Year Board elections uh before we come back to Mr Holi shortly thereafter um and so as a reminder we have met with the city um and we had a conversation around the ongoing cost and labor and support for elections um they suggested um that we consider moving to eveny year elections um and figure out a methodology so we've been working with msba um and we have been Gathering feedback from board members one of the options was to extend board members terms by a year board members did not feel comfortable with that uh another option was to shorten board member terms by a year board members also did not feel comfortable with that there was

096a unified voice of board members in my feedback um was to figure out the will of the voters and honor the will of the voters um and so that meant uh looking for an electoral change um what that would be is this board taking a resolution and moving forward to run threeyear terms in 2025 and 202 7 um and so those whose electoral terms would be up in 2025 three seats would be open and those elected then would be in for threee terms and then in 2027 to do the same thing um and then we would move to even years in 2028 and 2030 and back to fouryear terms and where we had originally been uh that would allow us to move to evene elections that would allow us to ask the voters each time

097to elect board members to terms that that match that um and would support um partnership with the city um the city had estimated at the time that it's $100,000 um which has not previously been charged for elections uh they have since reduced that estimate to about $888,000 um we have totaled up what we typically pay which is in the low $3,000 um for an election um there is an additional $30,000 approximately that's been added to elections for absentee voting and that wasn't something that used to be significant U but that that price has gone up um and then similarly there is a lot of Staff time that goes into that and so um that is something that we are here to uh talk about and take a vote on today and then ironically even though

098we've been moving forward on this for a set of months there is also a bill down at the capital to possibly move all elections to even years um and to require a transition plan we don't know if that will pass or not um but this actually would qualify in support uh the current bill at the capital suggests that you have to have at least a plan by July 1st um which is what this would qualify for um and so we have this in front of you tonight and so we are looking for a resolution that would make the next two elections um 2025 and 2027 threeyear terms um and then move us back to four-year terms and even years starting in 2028 with that I'll stop talking and just to be clear the the proposed

099change the law change is requiring a plan to have this in place this would be our plan and so this counts or for our Consultants at amsd and the School Board Association they believe that this counts um and according to the letter of the law that is proposed again we don't know if it will or won't this would qualify either way and regardless this covers um that partnership with the city and what they've asked us to examine um which would make elections more effective for the taxpayers of Richfield and for the state of Minnesota this is great um I appreciate you you you summarizing it like you did it's you know our hand is kind of forc this is this is actually weirdly related to the high school team's discussion of win time and that

100even though it's good it was good for the students to have win time whether wherever it fell on the day first or last they they got much better attendance and participation in it when it was in the middle and so um elections even though they're always on that same Tuesday in November every year for whatever reason the voters choose to show up only when they're Furious that the TV is showing them millions of dollars of ads disrupting their their their home time um so with that I will move that we adopt the resolution as presented I will second motion by director B second by director M sco to uh establish transition plan for evene Board elections more discussion questions comments is a big one it's definitely interesting if there's no comments then this is a

101resolution as such it requires a rooll call vote so I first PLL by starting with director list I director Banks scup I dror paus I the chair votes I and we have a resolution approving the transition to a evene board election all right so and as we We Begin sharing information with our community in late spring early summer about the upcoming election we will make sure to advertise very clearly um that these would be threeyear terms um going from 2025 to 2028 election Windows next we have a resolution for sale a sale safe routs to school uh boost Grant yes and Mr holdi because we couldn't get enough of him talking about the budget we're going to talk about boost grants and then shortly thereafter not to spoil to fund toilet room Renovations Mr I'm

102here all night long people to so very good so yes I I'm excited to ask for your approval of a resolution for our safe roads to schools boost Grant um for 2025 you've seen a number of these over the years um so there's a specific resolution you're asking for that um the information includes some highlights of kind of our past experience um we have had a number of boost grants that we've applied for and I believe all of them have been award Ed um ranging from 5 to $50,000 um the six previous boo boost grants funded three bike fats districtwide secure bicycle parking facilities a walking School Bus pilot program and the implementation of a trauma-informed approach to the safe routs to schools program um so this year the richf public schools applied for a

103boost grant funding to create culture and building Community evaluation of our safe Hearts schools caregivers survey and engagement with student families and staff indicates richf public schools has a strong foundation for our safe uper schools program but um we would like to grow it by creating more of a culture of walking and biking um in our school district and building community in order to sustain the culture and at the same time we are looking to use this funding to create programming that will allow our Latino Community um to both see and be able to express their own unique culture when it comes to walking and biking in Richfield um this boost Grant will fund programm and opportunities to accomplish these goals some of the examples of things that they're looking for implementing walking school bus

104and or bike bus routes for each school campus um one of the things we've actually had just some student groups at even the middle school they um have decided that they're going to meet at a park and ride their bike to school and stuff like that so some of those things and expanding on that programming um purchasing Richfield Public Schools branded apparel and swag incentives for walking and biking to school um to be used as part of the Fall encouragement campaign um creating student Le and age appropriate encouragement activities like that walk to school winter walk to school and bike to school days pilot of Richfield Community Family learn to ride event um identify ways Latino student families can see and express their own culture around walking and biking to school and then updating our

105existing walking and biking route maps for each of our campuses um so with that we're requesting um authorization and I don't think I have the amount of what this grant is for but I apologize for that so is it a specific Grant then um yeah so it's it's a boost Grant um supported by the Minnesota Department of Transportation um as part of that safe routes to schools so it um as it as I indicated it'll allow us to fund some RPS branded stuff that encourages kids um this year at Centennial I think it was they had um actually I think we had it across the district there were some bike muffs or some muffs that kids had for kind of neck up and stuff like that for the winter um walk to walk and bike

106to school day um so just some of those activities that makes it fun and rewards those individuals who are choosing to engage in that activity um is one of the pieces and then doing some of the other planning and coordination for events around that love it all right well with that I will just move that we uh enter into um a grant agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to fund a safe routes to school uh boost Grant hold second sorry spaced I'm just looking uh resolution for sa um I know it's like why am I hesitating the your comment it's saying a resolution to enter into the grant um by director BTO and the second by director PA this is actually authorizing Craig to enter into it on our behalf correct that is correct

107yes this allows us to execute the Grant and move it forward so we've already written the grant we've already received the Grant and this is just the formal acceptance of it we have received it already uh we have been shared that we have received it like they they informed us we are recipients of the Grant and this is we have done this I think every year for the last four or five years and just I ask you why is it a resolution versus just a just normal vote uh Craig do you want to do your your yearly lecture on how every votes a resolution or is that Tim who does that one trying to determine which one Tim you've been waiting for this one for your whole life right this is almost like technically everything

108is a resolution I don't think we have to take it I imagine if we're authorizing staff to petition some other body for us for material amounts of money we should do it openly and not do it with the Mumble yeah yeah yeah got it cheuck thank you for that that's my guess um I think some different organizations operate differently so a resolution anytime you approve something you're actually approving a resolution some formalize it and ask for passing of a resolution so we've just brought that forth with their template of how they want to have it so this one the template that Department of Transportation provided asked for a resolution for the safe rups of school so we just use that format there are some procedures which require a roll call vote so those tend to

109be the ones that Richfield has traditionally called formal resolutions but um in any way the clerk needs to be able to identify who has voted for and against any board action got it so then we get clarification as to who's voting what when thank you for that more questions or discussion other than just fun procedural questions hearing none we'll bring it to a vote bless you this time we'll start on my right side dror paus I director Banks c i director Liss I and the chair of votes I and we have a resolution for establishment of a safe route to school boost Grant it's a lot of words which brings us to the next fun topic of the bid for the rhs toilet renovation project toilet room toilet room versus bathroom fancier thank you no

110it's because there are no baths in this room there are no baths in and it's not really a place to rest I did the exact same thing so this isn't me doing that I yeah it should shouldn't it be plural then if we're going to argue semantics toilet room the signs on the outside say toilet room I I think it says restro see I do you rested this and there's also a wash area right anyways go on the all night I think this is the new term Architects are using so that's why it shows up as this because it's technically a toilet room and um these again we we've talked about this the past couple times so um you approve the call for bids um this is for the construction of the restrooms the toilet

111rooms um at the high school for those that weren't completed um they will be all gender restrooms um all gender toilet rooms um as part of that project so the bid award um we're requesting authorization to approve that Richfield public schools high school toilet room renovation bid award and authorize the administration to enter into a contract with Brennan construction for $728,000 um on Thursday February 20th the district received 13 bids above the reference project so it was a real strong showing for interest in that project um The District administration along with W Architects recommend that the bid be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder which has been identified as Brennan construction for um dollars there were two other or two bids were submitted with lower base bids um but one was rejected for failure to

112submit the appropriate bid security at the time of the public bid opening and the other withdrew their bid due to a clerical error um so specific information on that bid tabulation is included so you can see the details as well as the architect's recommendation for awarding this to Brennan construction as part of that project um it does come in really close to what the construction budget was um and Below we did also have some contingencies and soft costs that were built in on top of it so if there are some change ERS we do have some latitudes still within that project as well so with that we would ask for your authorization to award that bid to Brennan construction for $728,000 Mr hold you can you remind us what what no bid security received at

113the time of the bid opening means so all um all individuals are required to submit bid security that basically ensures their bid um is accurate and correct um so this one did not submit that required bid Bond okay as part of that that when we issue it in other words that supports not allowing them to pull out once that bid award has been awarded um and having us to go back and reissue all the bids again so it's an element it's critical element it's a necessary element and failure to do it leaves it an incomplete bid and therefore not to be considered okay thank you more questions or U motion I'll move that we accept the bid board as presented to Brenan construction I'll second it we have a motion to award the RS toilet

114room renovation project by director Paulson second director list questions comments shaking ah head means no more discussion bring it to a vote all in favor please say I hi chot I and we have an approved bid award for RS toilet room renovation project next on the agenda policy 582 staff notification of violent Behavior by students and administration guidelines 5821 all right so this is just a first read and the goal again of first reads is to ref familiarize ourselves as a reminder this is based specifically on statute and the expectation of statutory language and how that notice is given if a student has a history of violence violence Behavior as defined by the state of Minnesota um and then the requirements of said notification of Staff with whom that student would be interacting with um

115and so this lays out what it is there for the general statement of policy um what qualifies for a history or incident of violence and then clarifying what is a legitimate um educational interest for that information uh lays out the process procedure and also the methodologies by which one would keep that data um on a need to know basis and do that in the most appropriate way possible so again this is a first read um and this is aligned specifically to um expectations of the state statute that requires this so again first read just to ref familiarize ourselves and then some edits will be in there um prior to the next read questions comments if not see shck in the head that moves us to our last item which is donations all right so we

116have one tonight the Richfield High School wrestling team received a donation of $250 from Carolyn deers and Timothy wicker of Minneapolis so we thank Carolyn and Timothy I would like to thank them um with much gratitude and a motion motion yeah I would I would mve to thank them with much gratitude fantastic do we have a second second with a motion to accept the a foration donations with gratitude by director bank sco and a second by director paus all in favor police say I I all po Sher votes I and we accept the afor aforementioned hardw donations with gratitude which brings us to Advan planning legislative update you already talked some about it uh a couple of additional components um so the annual Minnesota school boards Association Minnesota school administrators day at the capital is

117Monday I believe we have signed up for that one Mr Liss Miss Cole um myself um then we also and I believe Mr Holi may be attending that one too um and then we also have amsd day at the capital on the 24th with myself Mr Carter and possibly also Mr Holi who can't get enough of the capital um just as a reminder of our platform is what we'll be talking about with our legislators on those days I will also be uh testifying tomorrow in relation to comp at head uh so as I shared with board members this past Friday we are one of the 10 districts in the state of Minnesota with the worst negative consequences for the new compensatory education law um so the 10 districts with the largest negative Financial impact include

118Richfield at 1.5 to $1.7 million reduction and then districts who are looking upwards of $5 million reduction in compet so we will be utilizing our platform to talk about hold harmless um and hold harmless by sight um which would actually then take care of that and actually continue to provide um our services and supports to our students that have been financially supported by the state um and so that is something we'll be advocating for and throughout this entire season questions I don't think there's any more we do have another amsd meeting this Friday morning uh so at our next Mor meeting we'll have any other updates from that as well brings us to information and questions from the board really quiet tonight moving right along suggested future agenda items moving along future meeting dates like

119I said earlier we have a meeting on March 17th where we'll have an opportunity for public comment uh and then after that is April 7th the final item on business on our agenda is to to adjourn tonight we have a closed session as such will now consider a motion to move into closed session as Allowed by mines State Statute 13 do3 for labor negotiation strategy I'll move that we enter Clos session as Allowed by Minnesota statute 13 do3 for labor negotiation strategy discussion I'll second that we have a motion by director Paul to move into close session just leave it at that in a second by director list all faor please say hi hi hi I'll post say A J what I and we'll be moving in Clos session uh after a brief recess the

120board will begin a close session in a private room we'll return to the meeting to officially Jour the meeting upon completion of the close session but there be no further business other than toour the meeting for those following on live stream this will end the session thank you for your participation and watching