Richfield School Board Meeting July 13, 2020

001good evening it is 702 p.m. on Monday July 13 2020 and I call to order this regular meeting of the Richfield School Board attending this evenings virtual board meeting our board members Paola Cole or Steen Malek Tim Paulists Allegra Smee Scheck and I am crystal Brockie I also anticipate we will be joined shortly by board member Peter tensing we also have superintendent Janoski and several district staff members and valued guests who you will hear from later in the agenda this meeting is taking place virtually as allowed by Minnesota State statute 13 Dean point o to be warned in light of the peacetime state of emergency declared by governor all's due to the Cova 19 pandemic we will continue to meet virtually until either the state he has ended or until we receive updated guidance from

002public health officials about the safety of in-person public meetings Richfield public schools as mission statement is that we strive to inspire and empower each individual to learn grow and Excel and as always that's especially important for us to keep at the center of our meeting since we are no longer together in person we also want to welcome those of you watching this meeting live or in the future via YouTube thank you for being with us so with that our first item of business this evening is to approve the agenda before us and I just want to make note of the small but important revision to the agenda that specifically calls out that we will be chairing a public summary session that took place at our last board meeting which was to conduct the annual superintendent

003evaluation this report will take place in the information and questions from the board section of the agenda and I just want to apologize that that was not originally called out in the agenda itself as approval of the agenda is a routine business item I will not individually call on board members but rather just do an open ask for any comments or questions related to the agenda okay seeing and hearing none is anyone prepared to move the agenda as presented I'll move the agenda add second so we have a motion by mr. public and a second by my school Christian Mallard at our board clerk will conduct the roll call vote for this and all other action items this evening okay so we'll start with miss Cole aye mr. Paulus I miss me check I that

004clerk votes aye and tear barking hi the agenda is approved so we now move into the information and proposals non-action an infection of the member I received requests for public comment this evening but unfortunately we had technical difficulties with one of the videos so I'm going to read one written statement and hope that the video comments can hear with board members at a later date so just wanted to acknowledge that and also as a reminder share that guidance for public comment is available in board policy 216 on the rich field schools dot-org website so this is a public comment received in writing from parent I have lived in Litchfield for 68 years graduated from Richfield raised four children that all graduated from Litchfield and worked in the Richfield school system for 23 years I started

005out at the high school working in the in-school suspension room I have seen firsthand the importance of having a SRO officer present in the school outside of the obvious safety and security in the school setting comes the relationship building between officers staff and students having police in schools builds relationships with the students it may be the only time that many of them will ever talk to a police officer it might be the only time they have a positive interaction with the police or it might change a negative thought to a positive simply by talking to the officers in the lunchroom society needs positive police interaction with people and with the community school-based policing is one of the best ways to provide that service with everything that is going on in the world today this should

006be a no-brainer being a lifelong resident I consider this money well spent I strongly urge this not to be one of your budget cuts please let the teachers be able to teach so Thank You Carol for sharing that with us the next opportunity for public comment will be at our August 17th board meeting and the superintendent's update this evening has two really important items for discussion both that involve looking into the future for Richfield school so I now turn things over to superintendent yaki all right so as got queues up the video around our facility project update we have been moving forward with construction over the course of the summer rain has not necessarily been our friends throughout the entire summer but certainly having students not in our building has been helpful and so as

007soon as Scott gets that cued up we'll play the video from our construction team and then craning Andy will answer some questions Andy Faulkner with ICS with a facility's project update we are currently in the construction document design phase of the Central Education Center project with anticipated completion near the end of September or early October phasing is being worked on to determine what areas we can begin prior to the end of the school year and we are currently targeting to begin in late January early February in the current administration space we would then move into the classroom wings or the educational wings in the months of June through August exterior signage design is also underway with the new district logos and we'll have renderings available for review prior to issuance for pricing the stem project

008update is that the project is on schedule it's actually a little bit ahead of schedule and moving along nicely everything is scheduled to be ready for final cleaning the week of July 27th we've got a picture here of the dish room and also of one of the pre-k classroom entries potential risks or delays in regards to stem are that there are select pieces of furniture that are planned to be installed the week of August 28th manufacturing shutdowns have led to these delays with kovat 19 we do have some other options available with existing desks because the teacher desks and file cabinets are the pieces that are scheduled to be delayed on this project and the items do not impact the opportunity to begin instruction in the classroom so we're confident that everything will be set

009up and ready for teachers the budget summary at stem is that the project is 90% complete with three percent of the scheduled contingency amount remaining given the stage of the project any unforeseen conditions are significantly reduced and additional requests to the project will be reviewed for potential funding alternatives if changes are necessary and we don't have the allocated funds within the stem budget centennial project update is that the special ed suite is in the finishes this was the former media center which we got into early so you can see in that top picture that it's already painted out it's ready for ceiling tiles and some flooring to go in there and will be wrapped up shortly the lower picture is of one of the new bathroom renovations that's the common plumbing wall so everything is

010on track and ready for final cleaning the week of August 10th after that we'll have still some boiler room work and tests and balancing to be completed during the school year potential risks or delays to Centennial are in regards to furniture with the Cova 19 manufacturing shutdowns the media center shelves are the primary thing that we've been notified of that we're concerned about some of the other items are flexible seating or chairs that go in a conference room type of thing and we do have all of the former for the old furniture in trailers so we can bring that into the building and utilize it if we need it and do not have the new stuff on time again these items do not impact the opportunity begin instruction in the classroom so we're comfortable with

011that the student desks and chairs are scheduled to arrive on August 24th through the 27th the budget summary is is that the project is 60% complete with 65% of the scheduled contingency amount remaining demolition is complete which reduces that unforeseen or existing condition risk so we're comfortable with where Centennial sits overall as well the Sheridan Hills project is moving along with some restroom roughen work that you can see in the top picture the middle picture is the former admin space that will be the new media center and then the bottom right picture is of one of the classrooms where we remove the tack board flooring ceilings got some new mechanical roughed in and then we're Fernan out some walls for some mechanical piping and casework potential risks or delays to Sheridan Hills are again the

012select pieces of furniture none of these are related to the individual learning space for students it's again flexible furniture soft seating in some of these breakout spaces we've got the existing furniture that we can use if we need it so they do not impact the opportunity to begin instruction in the classroom we do have a concern with the casework delivery it's currently scheduled to arrive on August 17th which is pretty tight however the contractors have committed to working overtime and doing whatever they need to do to get that done definitely before students come back and hopefully before the teachers get back on the 28th and that would not be an owner cost as it was the manufacturers issue with the casework being delayed the budget summary on Sheridan is that it is currently 25% complete

013with 85% of the scheduled contingency remaining demolition is complete on the first phase which reduces this unforeseen as that we mentioned earlier the kitchen addition work is scheduled to begin late summer early fall and soil correction is a known risk this is a project that we did split up into two summers after looking at it to make sure that we didn't bite off more than we could chew for this building specifically and everything is tracking and looking to be ready for the start of school the middle school status update is the media center in the Flex areas we did get into those early and they are sheetrocked out and they're ready to start painting here within the next week and a half special ed spaces are also along that same time frame and we're working

014throughout on mechanical ductwork piping installations Ruffins the finishes are slate to begin this week on the second and third floor current risks that we have for the middle school are the media center shelving again they currently scheduled for delivery on September 18th due to the manufacturer shutdowns so we have the existing shelving that we can use if need be and we are having conversations individually with the buildings to determine what this looks like in what we need to do in regards to the middle school specifically we looked at it in relation to stem and what we learned from stem the restroom work was phased to take place during the second summer as opposed to all in the first summer like we did at stem just to lessen the load of some of the overall work

015on that and that has cleared we helped us out in our overall schedule we also are aware of some of the fire rated mechanical shaft work that we found at stem and assumed it to be the same condition at the middle school which in several cases it has been and we also built some temporary classrooms down in the lower-level gym very early in the year and cycled classes through there in order to get in the rooms to abate them prior to the end of the school year the budget summary for the middle school is that it is 20 percent complete with approximately 98% of the scheduled contingency amount remaining we do have some proposal requests in review but overall we're comfortable with where we sit at this stage with the middle school project as well

016the high school is moving along in several areas of the building the upper picture is the self classroom tower bathrooms so as you can see that's very near completion we got to put some ceiling tiles in and do a good final clean on that the middle picture is of the flexible learning area in the South classroom tower right next to where it ties into the new link addition between the south and north classroom tower and then the bottom picture is of the new Athletic corridor on the back on the north side of the main gym which has a corridor so you don't have to go through the main gym to get to the auxiliary gyms as well as it has an elevator to transport people up and down between the different levels of that addition

017this is behind schedule and we are currently tracking it to be done a few weeks after the start of school somewhat weather dependent given the exterior work however this didn't exist previously so we think we're in a good spot to open school even if this is not a hundred percent complete the potential risks are delays we again we've got some furniture delays on some flexible space seating these aren't instructional pieces so we're comfortable with those being a little bit delayed and again we've got some other pieces in the building that we can use if we need to the main gym would floor and painting is at Reece risk for completion by August 17th the contractor believes they will be done we however have some reluctance to agree a hundred percent with that we'll see as

018they get going but the install should go quite quickly it's just a matter of the finishing process and then all the game line painting and that that we anticipate may be pushed a little bit past August 17th or right up to it another area is the third floor main hallway restrooms they are at risk to be completed by the start of school due to a mechanical shaft it was an existing mechanical shaft that didn't comply and we've had to work with the building official to determine solutions on that terrazzo patching has also scheduled to be completed throughout the building but historically the terrazzo patching has taken us quite a bit longer than anticipated so we're carefully tracking that to make sure that it gets done or what doesn't get done we have solutions on when

019it will get done without any impact to the school operations the other item is the third floor classroom tower link so that link between the North and South classrooms we're starting from the bottom working up and the way it's currently tracking is that third floor could be a push to be completed this does include some staff offices within that link addition and so we're working to determine the impact on that and where those staff offices could be temporarily housed while we complete it it is on track to complete within a few weeks of the start of school the budget summary for the high school is the project is roughly 85% complete with 12 percent of the scheduled contingency amount remaining we do have two very large dollar change orders that we're still reviewing as well

020as some other existing changes the high school contingency is not going to be adequate to cover the total project project costs so we're looking at additional funding within the overall project budget as items are completed such as surveying and soil borings we know those were all completed so we were able to take the balances remaining in that to allocate to the high school and we're also looking at additional items that are budgeted in the overall project for if they may have some funds available within these scopes so we're tracking it we believe we have some solutions but it is certainly something that we had some concern on our Els current project statuses were wrapping up punch list we've had quite a bit of activity there the last few weeks getting punch list items completed site

021work address we've had some settling that had to be redressed out there for drainage and one new vestibule door remains to be installed on the east side of the building that is supposed to be complete this week the mechanical systems commissioning has been going on very intensely lately knowing that the building is going to be occupied here again this week and as we found things that were completed we've found other things that needed to be buttoned up or tweaked and so we're still working on that but all in all the reports of the temperature in the building are good it's just more some very specific items related to the operation of the units the budget summary is the project is complete with one final change order to be issued to close out the financial aspect

022and we're projecting the current contingency balance will be just under $38,000 after this final change order thank you any questions so just a couple of comments as you saw in the presentation we're obviously very attuned to where there are potential impacts on the start of school and a lot of our attention is being put into those instructional spaces or the common spaces where we have students entering and exiting and things like that you've got a good rundown of some of the areas that are at risk but as we look at that we feel like it really has minimal if any impact on kind of the functioning of the school as far as being able to have students back in school or kind of those systems set up as at the best possible way the biggest

023hindrance obviously in that was the furniture across the board where we had manufacturers that with coronavirus impact in their manufacturing facilities had shut down where things have been previously ordered and were set to be delivered earlier are starting to run behind because of those manufacturing facilities and then the middle or the high school obviously continues to surprise us with over 13 different additions to the building and things like that there are things that we continue to discover that on both causing some timing issues as well as some financial issues come in in the timing piece we obviously are looking at what are the areas that are going to least impact the school functioning as students are returning and trying to mitigate that as much as possible so that the contractors are putting their energy into

024those core educational spaces and things like that that have that high level of impact on our student environment and then financially as Andy talked about there are a number of different places where we had different budget amounts where we know we're not going to be using as much or we don't anticipate needing to use as much and so those are being reallocated to that high school which does have some continued expenditures in that area at this point we don't believe it's going to be impacting any of the future construction projects you heard in here obviously stem is one where we have used most of our contingency at this point and are very close in that area we were able to learn from that experience at the stem school and apply that to the middle school

025so we don't have those same surprises so at this point that looks like it's going to have a net positive balance in that contingency but that's some opportunities as well as some of the other areas where we have budgeted more than what we're anticipating meeting at this point worst case scenario we do have some reserves that we've built up in our LT FM as well as in our capital that we can be allocating for furniture more for some of these parts that are essential to be kind of coordinated as part of this work that we may be had you know been looking at some funds for three to five years down the road that gives us some time to reprioritize those efforts in those areas too so again we're highly focused through these areas especially

026as the number of these projects are nearing completion making sure that you know it's not going to be detracting from central or the other buildings that are kind of just during construction in most cases other than the high school that contingency has been the right amount or has been less than what's needed except at that high school level so I think that responds to some of the questions that we had from chair Brockie and some of the other comments that we had received in the meantime how much there are other questions Amy and I are certainly here to respond to those as well but wanted to make sure you guys saw where we're at and we will anticipate continue to provide updates to the board as well over the next month Thank You Craig and

027thank you Andy for both your wonderful video performance and for being here with us again tonight also want to just welcome Peter tensing who has joined the meeting so I want everybody to know that he is not with us so board members will now each have time for questions and/or comments what Craig has already shared some of which were my questions so thank you Craig board members will pass the microphone on to the next board member in alphabetical order once they are done and Paola Cole is up first can't find the mic thank you Andy and Craig I have no questions it's very thorough detailed as usual and I enjoy the first row seat to work from centennial I will pass it to Christine so I would say the same thank you guys I think

028it was very thorough and I'm very transparent about some of the challenges and where things are I really appreciate that it if there are no surprises coming towards us as we move forward to the fall we know what's coming and that is really helpful I've kind of been listening from a lot of it by being at the project oversight committee meetings and that has been really helpful and so I kind of have a front row seat to how much effort goes into all of this so I think they've done a really good job and so I don't have any questions just thank you guys it looks it looks good and we will I will pass to Tim Thank You Craig you'd mentioned that if in the event that there are you know that the funds

029are the aren't enough we have access to other funds through capital or LT FM so you also mentioned some unused funds from elsewhere in the budget like some some parts of the project that did not either either chose not to do them after having learned how it went in one building or they just came in under under cost and so as those are completed if those things that are completed that don't use all the funds allocated to them that does not just get shifted into contingency it stays in the category it's in you know Andy's kind of managing the details of the budget but we're able to move those different pieces to different parts of the budget so as he talks about as we know like the borings and things like that we haven't used

030it so now we can use that so that high school contingency fund to cover those different parts a budget can obviously be reprioritized at different times we are trying to hold true to making sure each one of those buildings have the improvements that we have dedicated to them but they don't necessarily have to stay in the specific categories other than we have two different bond sets one is our indoor air quality mechanical side of it and one is that larger facilities projects and so those do need to remain true to the purposes for which they are built and we believe that we're able to still do that within the work that we're doing okay do we have a sense if if the funds that we have on hand are not adequate to and we and

031we do have to reach into these these other streams do we have a sense of scale for what that might be like is it you know is it ten thousand dollars is it a hundred thousand dollars is a million dollars is a ten million dollars so right definitely not ten million dollars ah definitely not into the high level of millions at this point we believe that at this point we believe that we're able to cover it all within that facilities project it is getting tighter at this point we do know that we have one major school left to bid other projects really are in place and as we've seen are falling within the contingencies except for the high school situation in those larger buildings we are able to mimic those I'm so right now we

032believe it's all going to fit within that facilities project indoor air quality project have this you know so that's where we're at right now we're kind of planning forward as far as what would happen if we go deeper or if we have more larger surprises what does that mean hopefully we don't have more larger surprises and as Andy talked about the areas that we have large construction left to take place where demolitions tends to be the area where we have the greatest surprises because we open up walls that hadn't been opened up for 40 years and we're finding things that have some impact are digging what was it 20 feet and into the ground and finding asbestos coils and electrical cords and things like that that created some addition some significant expenditures to the project

033on they were just in that area I don't Andy do you have anything else to add to that or no I think you've summed it up very well that's the the high school is a bit of an onion so to speak and as we open things up we're finding things that didn't match up with the existing drawings during design so that's really been our biggest struggle at the high school the only one other comment I would like to make on the presentation is that the numbers that I represented regarding the percentages for the contingency are under the assumption that the change orders that are before you later in the agenda tonight are approved okay okay if I could clarify that they're not on top of that we're all we're all on a spot now when

034we change it all later there have already been baked in okay yeah and one other question and just specific to the building with the high school with some impact on the gym and the gym floor perhaps for opening so I think there's only one fall sport that relies on gym space is that correct so do we have how we assume someone's been working on a plan and a workaround for that yes so the main gym is the one that's under construction the other gyms are available for the temporary pieces as you saw the target completion date was August 17th and so the practices are the areas that would have the greatest impact in that arena and then just knowing that we have a couple of gyms in the area and stuff like that but we

035have been communicating and awareness around that potential is happening all right thank you I I have nothing else I'll pass to miss me sure I don't have any additional questions I appreciated the way that the presentation was formatted it was really clear what the challenges were and how the budget fit into it so thank you for that clarity I will pass to Mister fencing the question that I asked just about the the total financial picture I think has been well answered the last thing and I think it's more that I just want to hear this is going to happen in the next month to month and a half are making adjustments in real time as necessary so that we do not have the final days that we had before the start of school last year

036because I think we we spoke many times as a board and with our staff that we were committed to not repeating the experience of people really starting the school year already in a challenging place because of the stress of those final days and the amount that the staff were working just to ensure that their spaces were set up and ready so what I'm hearing is that there is a commitment that we will not be repeating that experience even with the asterisk that we don't entirely know yet what the start of the school year is going to look like but I just want to make sure that I say that and give you a chance to respond to that Andy priorities yeah I can leave okay absolutely this is a prime focus you know when we're

037putting together the presentation we actually sat down with each one of the contractors their sites who pretended the project manager and have very candid conversations about this and you know threw it on the table this is what we went through last summer we do not want to I do not want to spend my entire Labor Day because Rick Renier the building official in the city of Richfield walking through in order to get kids in the building so you know tell us what you think no and that's where we went through what are our risks what are our potentials and that's kind of how we actually came to the you know the comment about high school with the main gym and the contractors are confident that it's going to be completed us professionals that are working

038for you guys have other viewpoints on that it's gonna be a push we're not as optimistic as they are but we've I think we've done a good job this time of truly identifying the areas where there may be any risk and then focusing on them and again like Craig Craig Craig said you know really focusing on the the impact of students and teachers like if we've got some auxilary spaces that may be lagging behind or maybe ahead maybe we should stop pushing on those and focus on the areas that we truly need I think Chris I think Christine's you know can affirm that that part of the conversation is happening that every one of the project oversight committee meetings of kind of no surprises and speaking of no surprises we had flooding in our basement

039at the high school over the weekend so that was a surprise that obviously delays some of this work but I think Ella's plaque was very responsive at getting people out there right away so they can continue the project Andy was over there trying to figure out how do we move forward with that stuff as well so but just mitigating and minimizing as many of those surprises making sure that people are held accountable for that work and I'm Andy partnering with the contractors and subcontractors on when they tell us that they're gonna have people there making sure that they have people there and knowing that that's not necessarily what happened last year but knowing that that upfront helps set some standards and of expectations and making sure that they're doing what they need and I think

040you heard even things where people are willing to bring in and pay people overtime you know for that transition of when furniture isn't arriving on time and stuff like that always thank you many meetings don't I will just do one final call if there are any additional comments or questions that came up before we move on to the second topic I don't see any so Steve we'll turn it back to you all right so well Scott used up the strategic plan three mutation we're gonna share with you tonight on the transplant process for strategic plan I'll keep talking after the presentation girls this is superintending else keep here with you tonight with another update on our strategic planning process 2020 through 2025 we have named our plan Richfield realized retrieve public schools working alongside our

041students families and community look to empower our students and ensure that we achieve educational equity school and learning that ensures that all students are prepared and able to meet their future goals and their future dreams as we realize these goals alongside our students we retain our overall mission Richfield public schools inspires and empowers each student each individual to learn grow and Excel through this process we've identified and clarified our brand messages which help us keep focused on our identity we are a real community with positive relationships we value personalized learning for every student we focus on a well balanced education providing rich opportunities and we strive to transform our teaching and provide innovation and action never has our need to redefine school been more relevant in these past months as we work through the challenges

042presented by Kovac 19 Cohen 19 has also created some challenges that required us to revise and update our timeline at our June 15th meeting I presented background information to the board today I will be sharing the first draft of our branded plan due to restrictions created by Koba 19 we have not been fully able to gather the input and feedback necessary to ensure that we are ready to launch with a finalized plan in our updated timeline I will work with administration and staff in August and September to reroute review our progress gather feedback and make revisions in September in October we will work with our students and community to also gather input and make revisions as 2020 comes to a close in November and December will create final revisions and draft our final document with

043a full launch in January 2021 this timeline makes it possible for us to work in January through June of 2021 to create clear measurement tools and vision cards to help us maintain focus on our goals and to communicate our progress it's always challenging to push back timelines but as we have worked together to ensure that there is broad-based participation and voice in this process the added months are definitely needed to maintain connection to the voices of our students families staff and community in the board packet on the pages following this presentation are the draft plan page one provides an introduction and background information each proposed strategy area has its own page one for academics climate and culture activities business and operations communication and marketing along with an other named category an initial review as I

044read through our plan shows the need for further development and supports our need to gather additional feedback from students staff and our community clarifying and defining activities within each area needs to continue forward and also our commitment to equity as a district well it is weaved in and out throughout the plan it is not explicitly stated in a way that aligns fully to our values so with that I will pause and open things up for questions so I'd leave a little bit of an intro on a timeline shift as we look to make sure that we can roll things out and really have our administration and staff review and look and give additional input time and then also students staff and our community to do input before we do a final publication what we haven't

045done is is had the time with a large amount of staff since we're obviously interrupted in in March to review with our team members the way we feel we need to and then get that second review from the community so looking at pushing finish back in the way that I've outlined but you have in the board packet in front of you basically what it will look like and the things we have gathered to date certainly with some review and some some revision and editing that will definitely be needed to really put our values and our priorities at the forefront and really take things to the next level so with that I'll pause and let Chris we'll open it up for questions thank you and first we'll just say you you might have a future an

046audio narration in front of you I feel like every video presentation you do gets more maduk so with that I see dr. Daniels got a good chuckle out of that I feel like my work here is done so with that I'm gonna turn it over to Paula to start with any comments or questions I second that motion of yours crystal and I'm curious to know how many times Steve has to recall or if it's just a natural and it's like one shot and done but other than that I don't have any questions that's the - miss Malik the power what I will say is first off for the audience watching it is relatively humbling to start on a presentation and watch multiple faces laughing at me openly as I begin a presentation what I'll say

047however is that I actually type up a script before I do my presentation and then much like I do with my Spanish announcements practice them and rehearse and then go forward with it so that I can not just sound like a robot as I am reading and presenting and I can be dramatic at fun as we're trying to do our tape presentations and and the new baby and they did a great job too so don't feel left out Andy and then I see if I think you're really brave you know in four and a half years I have never there to listen to myself in one of these meetings so usually every time and I I just couldn't do it so good job thank you okay my first question is gonna be a little strained

048but do we so since this is really gonna implement in essentially in 2021 should we should it be changed to the 2021 2026 strategic plan because we're kind of with everything that's gone on everything's been pushed back it's gonna be a five-year plan would we want to add that year I'm just I can't remember how we did it before if we implemented in 2016 or lead on that that actually is a very logical question I think we'll have to play that by ear as we move along I don't think we know what our what our work in the fall is going to be as we've talked about with our partners with our bargaining units and we have a whole load of things we'd like to work on with teachers and staff in terms of training

049and preparation and depending on what we do those all may not being shown for hybrid professional development distance learning professional development and making sure that we are doing our best in those areas so I think that's a great question answer as we go through the first six months of this revision and we certainly can look to extending as we may have to push some of those priorities out even further okay and then so the other thing that comes to mind is when we when we did all the original work on this you didn't really know about over nineteen and I really feel like that's gonna have a big effect on the next five years things aren't going to just be over in one year or two years and I don't know it it seems like

050a lot of work to incorporate those thoughts or some of that work or the safety concerns and things like that into this or if we would want to do an additional document to talk about that and how it fits in with our strategic plan I just I feel like I look at this and I see some really great things I love the professional development opportunity that our commented on multiple times in there but it seems like there's a big blank spot in there where it's not addressed and we are looking at some really challenging things in the next couple of years and we don't know what's even going to happen in the fall so I kind of feel like we should at least address it even if it's an additional document that it should be

051incorporated somehow in and what our strategic planning is since this is a very different world than what the world who were in when we started I think that that gives a great justification reasoning why we feel the need to push it off because part of that voice is to hear what are those public safety components and instructional components and relational components that are different that we want to make sure that we um I again I'm just responding and so I haven't that in a large amount of input but I do think it would be important to integrate into this document the reason we have a strategic plan and why we have accomplished but we have wanted to over the last set of you is that this becomes our focal point and so it's important that

052this becomes the overarching document to living document that we looked at that we review we use the plan our professional development and the work that we do with teachers so and all of our fifth and so looking at the things to integrate for safety or for probit news I didn't I think we would want to integrate some of those components that no obviously there are some pieces that will be separate but overarching school safety effective hybrid programming effective distance programming in the supports that our students and families need I think they absolutely should be worked into this plan on that month okay that is the bottle I have so we'll hand it off to mr. Pappas thank you Mike I appreciate the the presentation and and in the lead-in into it and appreciate all the

053time the community and others have given us in terms of helping draft the document my questions are more about what what quarter in the back that weren't in the present age weren't in the recorded presentation the documents on academics I'm a culture activities and so on act you know just some of the specifics when I when I see you know maintain class size as a goal within academics and there's no guide like there's no numbers provided for it which is also pleasing in the sense because it's very difficult to live by very hard numbers and have them within our strategic plan also as we look forward and relating to the cove it in the state budget and and all the things that have been suggested about future funding levels it will be a real challenge

054to maintain class size whatever maintain means and and then we will probably have to be as flexible and understanding on what maintain means if that is how we characterize it within this document when we on the academic side when we say increased core course rings in there some suggest I think there are some suggested ideas within it I just asked how those are those proposed by students or community members or adults or others it because I've brought up a number of times how students are empowered and have the opportunity to help drive the courses we run especially at the high school with respect to 7th period day and how they're empowered to help create things that are of interest to them and meaningful to them and we still have not unlocked that so I like

055seeing it as something in the strategic plan like we will have to push it as you as you said this is our if this is our guiding document we will have to put some some sincere effort to unlocking that eye and being willing to run with the course offerings that students say are meaningful to them and will be a creative to their to their learning and growth climate culture there was something about school pride and one thing I would say is an opportunity for us melding said that both presentations that we've had so far what a great opportunity for students in the buildings as these shiny new buildings are opened to have students you know really really take pride in them and hopefully do their part in maintaining them as I know some ages have

056more challenges than others in terms of maintaining buildings a friend at the middle school once said I don't know why they even install soap dispensers something about about the way kids treat treat some things what I really do hope that the the sense of pride can expand to you know the role that that you know the students are the reason we have these buildings period and so I hope they take ownership of them in a very positive way and lastly on business operations there are a couple of areas where we're higher pay or compensation where we're cited as our strategic plan and I'm challenged that that as you know on the board we are obligated to use public funds to offer our staff at a level commensurate to the community standards of what these roles

057demand in the economy right so if we we are not really going to be market leaders in a sense for any categories of or we can't be market leaders but we have to be thoughtful about how we do that I think and so if it's within our strategic plan to pay a certain category of of staff hire and that's in the it's and that's in the strategic plan how exactly do we go about negotiating with that group when they can point to the document and the public is and we've affirmed well we're gonna fail you higher when when we're in when we are faced with the budget realities of you know the funding we get from the state and from the public as well as as well as things like having to negotiate with other

058groups as well and so that that is a challenging thing for me to see I always want us to have to be paid well I want them to feel comfortable with their salaries but I don't know if we can say it is a driving focus to pay everyone to pay in one category more unless we have a lot unless we have some data to suggest that they're not paid adequately relative to the market that we're in all I have yes and actually thematically super-sizes itself together in my head as I think about where we had clear feedback and input there in bold or in red so if you look at the academics page and we look at the top five priorities close the achievement gap maintain small class sizes continue to promote the support value

059by literacy increase course offerings and ensure all students learn about post-secondary options those to me are the large focal points underneath are the some of the wide range of feedback that we got I think that is the area that we absolutely need some focus we haven't had time to build consensus on what are those strategies and so as we think about yes we want to maintain a focus on small class size an example you use trying to define what that actually means and come to a consensus agreement and what we're willing to publish um I think that is some of the work over the next couple of months um in terms of whether or not it business and operations we want to maintain or improve staff and hiring and create a focus that supports our

060staff I think we absolutely commit to that um what that looks like and the these sub activities those are the things across each of these strategy areas and across each of the larger pieces that I think we really need additional feedback in and consensus work on and so I see those as being some of the main areas to really look at as we go forward well thank you very much I will pass it to miss Misha thank you I'm really grateful that we're taking a minute to pause and being comfortable with pushing that timeline back I agree with a lot of what director Malik said about the impacts of covin and I'm also thinking about what we learned from Kovac in regards to teaching and learning and I think that's something we're still kind of

061reflecting on and then at the same time we had the murder of Judge Floyd and our community became an epicenter of a global movement I've been hearing that potentially the largest movement ever so I think we would be remiss to keep pushing through and not really reflect on how those two things have impacted our students and staff and maybe to some degree redefined education and what we want from education um as I look guys at those brand messages I think there's a ton of space within those to really stay true to you know those four four big categories I think there's you know innovation opportunity personalization and community are such broad topics and so I'd be curious to hear from our community our school community with those more specific things if there's pieces that we're

062missing or things that seem less important now than they did six months ago so I think that's really smart to take some time and get feedback again so thank you for that and I don't have any additional questions but I'll be very curious to see what if any changes there are or maybe you know just a different take on things we've already identified I'll pass to mr. don't think so my question is to just try to get some clarity on what the role of the board is at this point in time are you looking for very specific feedback and questions how do we how do we sort of get the right balance between a need to get a document that reflects the community on the whole but also the hammock document that is coherent and

063cohesive and you sort of really aligned with our values I guess that I'm going to answer my own question to some extent in that I say that the role of the board primarily is you know since we are the folks who are accountable at the end of the day the role of the board is to make sure that the document is fully aligned with our our values overall but I guess that I just was looking for feedback in terms of as we get into kind of the operational pieces with the timeline that Steve has laid out what would be most helpful in this August and September timeframe for individual board members to be doing so I really think there is two components one is being aware of this proposed or planned shift where we will

064gather additional feedback from our community which means that it would then go up to committees again and safe and supportive schools again and we will gather some additional feedback comments so that is just I'm having that conversation and sort of acknowledging as directors music pointed out you know kovat George Floyd we have had some major things happen in our world and all of this information was gathered before them and so we really need to step back and do that piece and really look at that and integrate that into the overall plan I'd say in the intermediary time the other thing that I would suggest the board and obviously I will be working proactively on this is setting goals for me as the superintendent and what are really my goals end up nested in the strategic

065plan so even though we don't have a new strategic plan then that is approved I think we still have very clear goals to move our work forward led by what we are trying to accomplish anyways um so I don't think I think there's a board is keeping me moving towards this particular strategic plan because I don't think we're going to move away from this in general and then have any set of focused goals that will evolve and work in connection to this together and so that some of our work for the fall and then continuing to partner through committees advisories and other methods to give your voice as a community member and not just as a board member to this partnership because ultimately the the plan will come back to the board for final approval

066and so in the meanwhile it is overseeing and staying in that governance role to watch monitor and support all right chair breaking thank you and I I think my comments uh follow Pete's in terms of trying to figure out what is the right sort of altitude and level of detail to share at this moment while also I think just affirming many of Allegra's comments about appreciating the shift in timing and the space to come back to this because I actually think this is the most important thing for us to ensure that we really feel good about so with that there are two overarching things that I want to share related to the draft in front of us and then to much more micro and I acknowledge that they are much more micro in terms of

067some of the language but I think the language really matters so I wanted to share it at this point in time as well so for the overarching thoughts I think the first thing that feels missing to me is the narrative that weaves it together in terms of a holistic vision of excellence that we're driving towards I think as it is right now it kind of just does feel like a list of the things that we're saying we're gonna focus on and not the values and outcomes that we are driving tour and towards and why we are driving towards them and then I think the second overarching thing that feels missing to me is wanting to see more specifically about racial equity and how anti-racism work would fit into these plans because this is my personal

068belief and bias coming in but I don't think that we are likely to get to the outcomes that were describing in these lists of things that we want here without a clear and explicit focus on this as a district and at a district level and especially thinking about all of the the thousands of comments that we did receive over the last six months I think things around diversity around equity around race were very consistent both in terms of that being the sort of asset and strength that we have as a district and I think people wanting more and so I just want to reflect that that feels missing to me from this version of the document so the two more micro things that I would share as far as language one is I just I

069struggle with the term achievement gap given some of the broader conversations that have happened around why that can be a really problematic term because it focuses more on the gap or the distance between student groups and I think can falsely set white student performance as the bar for excellence instead of having an overall indicator and how we talk about excellence and opportunity so I wanted to share that and then the second thing is the language around improving student behavior actually felt very deficit-based to me in terms of identifying student behavior being sort of the students fault and I believe I know what we're trying to get at um in that particular item but I think the way that it's phrased is probably not aligned to sort of how I think about it personally so those

070are those are the things that I wanted to share yes there are certainly details that need to be worked out and improved in the language throughout their areas missing in their areas where the language area degree does not fully align to how we have stated our overall values and those are some of the things that definitely need to transform in the coming months great thank you just felt important for me to say that at this point in the process so I appreciate the time and space to do so um so those are the end of my comments but as always I want to just pause and give a chance for any additional board member questions or comments that came up in the discussion okay I don't see any so we will move into the next

071item on the agenda which is approval of the consent agenda containing routine business items um and since this is a routine item I won't individually call on board members but will rather just take a moment to pause and see if there are any questions or requests related to the consent agenda I don't see any so do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda I move approval of the consent agenda I will second we have alignment Mauser by mr. Khalid any discussion I the consent agenda is approved there is no old business before us this evening so we are going to move right into the new business section of the agenda and our first four items are facilities change orders that were alluded to in the facilities presentation earlier this evening so chief administrative

072officer Craig hole G will introduce all of the change marks together and then we will vote on them individually by building very good thank you the first set of change orders we have have our four Centennial Elementary School for change orders six seven and eight for a total amount of forty five thousand one hundred and eight dollars in four cents change order six has to do with a very various demolition work and some mechanical work that's associate with that part of the project of twenty two thousand seven hundred sixty six dollars change order seven is for just over eight thousand dollars for some mechanical unit repairs and things like that and then change order eight is thirteen thousand nine hundred sixty nine dollars and seventy two cents for additional demolition associated with removal of existing

073concrete settings behind marker boards and some of the wall repairs associated with that as well as some additional roof joists work in there as well next up we have Richfield High School change orders 25 and 26 for a total of 52 thousand one hundred four dollars and 74 cents change order 25 is for twenty nine thousand three hundred eighty seven dollars and it's just a variety of various items including some additional work of the new front desk some demolition to the lower level locker rooms widening a doorway to get our commercial washing machine into the area as well as some electrical feeds and other areas like that and then change order 26 is for twenty two thousand seven and seventeen dollars for some ceiling modification some electrical work and some structural structural work that project

074as we talked about is running tight on that contingency this brings that 236 million six hundred ninety one thousand seventy-one dollars up from an original 35 million four hundred thirty thousand dollars next up we have shared in Hill's change orders three and four for a total of twenty five thousand three hundred and fifty seven dollars change order three is for seventeen thousand eight seventy five which has to do with a lot of bathroom plumbing modifications and some work in that area as well as some additional electrical demolition and other footing modifications and then change out of four is for seven thousand four hundred eighty two dollars for some various roof work associate with that part of the project and some reinstallation of some plumbing and then change order the next up we have Richfield stem

075change order twenty-three for a net increase of forty thousand five hundred four dollars and eighty one cents for some mechanical and lighting work at that building so that is the series of change orders Andy and I are here for any questions you may have otherwise we would request approval of each one of those sets of change orders thank you very much so we will have time for any board member comments or questions about any of those change orders before we take action on each one of the four individually so we'll start with Paula there no questions or comments Thank You Craig miss Malek new comments or questions I do mr. fellows I think he just dropped off I wrote I wrote anything hello I have no flirt so in fact for me I also have

076no questions as always detailed and helpful for us to make sense of all of this so well done Craig and Andy and we will now move into the action items related to these change order so first up do we have a motion to approve change order 6 7 & 8 for Centennial Elementary so I'm heard a motor brain is Malachi tensing talk at the same time so we're gonna give him the seconds any any further dismiss can i mr. bones hi if that was for me and the answer is I me Jay I thought I I the change orders are approved we move next to change orders 25 and 26 for high school is there a motion to approve so moved second with that motion mr. Collis yes Thank You mr. Ponson a second time

077miss Cole any final discussion you can see then I miss pool hi mr. Poulos hi alphabet corrected miss meet you i mister tensing i the change orders are approved we turn next to change orders 3 & 4 for Sheridan Hills Elementary is there a motion to approve so moved I will second so I really that was in motion by miss me check and a second by mr. Palace at the final discussion evening here I'll pull the board miss King hi mr. Crowley's aye aye aye the change orders are approved and last but not least change order number 23 for the Richfield stem school do we have a motion and you will it change order number 23 for which these things I will second we have a motion by mr. Malik and I think why mr.

078tensing any eye tensing hi I the change is approved so we now turn to first reads of for existing board policy so we're taking all of the start time then superintendent you know II don't know what you to introduce the first one all right so very exciting the report for passing policies in the last meeting new policies first read of policies just leave you we also take a look at any accompanying MSD a policies board members should send or reflect feedback to me I've already gotten a couple of questions about policies couple of board members the first one four one one out of state travel the MSP a policy is mainly focused at out-of-state travel for board members but this for Richfield public schools has been expanded to local and out-of-state travel for both Richfield

079schools staff and also board members there's a set of a company forms um there's actually three financial policies in front of us tonight that MSP I do not believe has updated since 2009 which means there have not been statutory changes so this is something for us to read review I double check with our finance team to make sure that these are the actual forms and then also double checking each of the policies to make sure that they're appropriate so this is for one one local and out-of-state travel and I'll see if there's any questions well go through just a quick round so that we stayed consistent and how we do our business so I love will start with you no questions or comments at this time is Malik I just thought you know other than

080correcting the updating the EP school names to the modern version of them could we please change that mileage chart to round up to the next like half mile if someone is getting rich on the on the tenth of a mile extra then then we'll accept that but these B's exactness of these measurements are really really something it's so I would hate to I would hate to oversee something this exact and actuary suggests were to exact ironic or no we're all about estimates that's all I have miss me shake I know it is little questions mister is reading the policy it looks well it looks to me like there's a the purpose of out-of-state travel is sort of deemed as when the board feels it's necessary is that something that I mean it but yeah I

081mean I think we need we look at sort of the reimbursement of what it doesn't seem like approval is there I guess that what I was looking for is a little bit more clarification on if there's an approval process and what that process might look like oh it's good we can examine that and work that in there is absolutely an approval process and it is for you so we will definitely look at this and update some of that language is be come back for the second drive and no additional comments or questions for me so I think we can move on to the next policy those up for first review yes next scintillating topic is policy 7:10 petty cash fund another one that has not been updated in quite some time you also have MSB

082a policy and the point of the petty cash fund is to talk about reimbursements authorized for small expenditures and so one of the things we'll be doing is reviewing our finance team protocols and making sure that this work aligns it's lies to practices and this alliance the best practices from our auditors and so that is some of the work that we will do in the meanwhile thank you so again board member comments or questions starting with Paola she's shaking her head so I'll just go right to her and no I'm shaking my head because I'm playing the hide-and-seek game with my mic I whoever knows how to make that not move please let me know and no no comments it's Malik no questions mr. promise I have nothing Allegra I no questions mr. tensing nothing

083for me I look forward to getting the process feedback from this office same here and we will move on to a policy that I think might generate more conversation which is 742 on Student Transportation yes just a sandwich in in the monotony of finances we through student transportation in and the reason I really wanted this particular policy at this board meeting because we do have three board meetings before the start of school is I'm as we begin to follow the governor's planning and was we talked about hybrids distance or in-person learning one of the challenges that every school district is currently having is imagining and envisioning what transportation looks like according to the estimates at present as few as 13 kids could be possible on one full-sized school bus those numbers may be low and

084it might be larger than that but that's something that we need to examine and so 742 and guideline seven forty two point one along with the MSP we actually put in multiple policy 707 708 and 709 which which seem like they are integrated into the Richfield public schools transportation policy are things that we thought would be important to examine and some of the question that up in this conversation are around transportation boundaries how far of a circle do we transport one example would be leave that in consistent feedback that there are some folk would like us to move transportation boundaries in and transport every kid to school legally from a statutory perspective we are required to transport kids who are outside of two miles to school and so as we examine as we have the

085conversation I think there are some reflections for board members to have for us to have the transportation capacity to drive Stoops students to school within the legal requirements would be something different within the policy as it currently sits and what I mean by that is if all of our students were to come back to school next year and being present and we could only fit 13 students on a bus we would have to go to approximately 10 different transportation tiers to be able to fit everybody within our schools and each tier is a half an hour and just so you hear it out loud 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 I'm if we're to follow our current transportation guidelines and the covered requirements for the state of Minnesota that have been

086outlined as of today we would have to start 10 different tiers of busing to get our students in and then obviously rotates ten different tiers of busing to get our students out and so this is going to be an important piece to examine as we look at the fall and we think about things like start times and are we going to need to be flexible with start times are we going to need to be flexible with our 742 transportation policy which is why this one is here at this point which is do we want to consider different methodologies for transporting students to and from school and so I'm not going to go too much further in depth but what I am going to do is say that this is one that I want people to

087be reading and reflecting on what are the things that are our top priorities not just in the short term but also the long term because those might be different in a be year of kommen and the overall transportation of Richfield so with that I will pause and turn things back for any questions or input thank you definitely a lot of heavy things to think about and responsibilities for us as a board and as a district so comments and questions and people's minds at least as we start this starting with Paola first of all thank you to craig whole ji for saving my life and teaching me how to use my keyboard to get my mic to work in that work okay now with the transportation so if this is one of those things where we

088will whatever happens we will have this mandate from the government to provide you know that if we are providing transportation and this is how it's going to work but at the same time like what would you look at for a student to show up to school unknown like how late are they even gonna be there so I'm trying to think of a way and I want us to think of a way oh how we cool if if he gets to that how we can figure out like with families like what kind of needs for transportation are there going to be so that if we can decrease the amount of students in need of transportation that you know that maybe could help with the the ratios and the start times and although the stagger transportation needs

089I told Steve today and I know it's like it's like a very unpopular thing but I'm thinking about our magnet schools and they're you know requirements for transportation to stem in rdls but I mean I'm glad that we're thinking about this even though we don't really know what's gonna happen but this is daunting and this is one of those things just like every other thing with distance learning where you want to do the best for for students and and also for the district and be financially responsible to what it will mean to have that many different routes and like how many drivers in a space where is really hard to hire school bus drivers already and people who are willing to do it something I'm thinking - I'm anticipating that there's gonna be your need

090for another adult on the bus maybe to ensure distancing I mean every time I hear people talk about like schools I can tell who's been in a classroom and who has never been to like how do you keep kids social beings from being together and from touching and you know for playing or for friendship like so I don't see like how a school driver alone will be able to to ensure that kids are maintaining their distance so this a lot but I I'm thankful that our mind you know that you guys administration are thinking about our way I shouldn't say you guys that you all at the administration thinking about this ahead of the government's announcement whatever happens so that's all I have miss Malik we feel like sharing something is gonna come in and

091say yes mister hoji and doctors Daniels and Clark's or Daniels and Clarkson are leading teams including a wide range of staff from different constituent groups and are also working on processes to get input from students and families as we do some of this planning and find out different options for us to attend the good thing is and this is why I wanted this policy and this board meeting is we'll have a lot more information before the next board meeting on August 3rd and really don't have to make final decisions even with this policy or some of the other ways until obviously the first week of September and we are gonna just keep working on finding the best possible actions I think it's a great time to also mention that we do have a safe routes

092to schools grant and that will Winslow who's a member of mr. Baldi's team is working with another group I'm really looking at what do we do to create Safe Routes possibly increasing school patrols and crossing opportunities I'm including a situation where where we are able to get students to and from school and the most safe and effectively as possible even with the pretty significant guidelines that are probably coming our way Christy Malik thanks I agree it's a little overwhelming to think about it but knowing the team that we have working on this I kinda feel like they will be creative and they will come up with that an amazing plan the thing to remember the other thing to remember is that every other school district is trying to do the same thing and so competition

093for bus drivers will be a challenge so that's something we should be considering everybody is I would expect well will be start to offer more money for people to do that considering all of the challenges obviously noon start time isn't really practical but I think if we pull together a combination of all of these things and try some other creative things also knowing in advance how soon how many parents are playing send their kids on the bus I think communication to our families is really key through this and making sure that they know especially if we make changes because right now we don't go with two miles in all of our buildings so if we're gonna make change like that making sure that we are communicating to that that two families proactively so no one

094is surprised when when if it happens otherwise I think it's good that we have some time to think about it it's gonna take some creative work to figure out how to get all those kids mr. Bhalla absolutely so we have communicated that really haven't surveyed yet we we've talked long and deep and had some really back and forth pushing about whether we survey yet or not one of the things we thought it's important to communicate we have another district communication coming out Wednesday or Thursday of this week on to everybody to update and then we have surveys planned for after the announcement of the governor we just feel that you know if we survey and ask people if they prefer distance in-person or hybrids well first the state already did that and we may not

095have a choice we may be asking you about a choice that actually doesn't exist and so we want to do that when we when we do that survey we wanted if every single person in our districts response and actually use that data to plan all of our logistics for the farm mr. power thank you know I appreciate the the comments in the timing of talking about transportation now and you know Paula had brought up that the the challenges of the logistics of anyone who has firm stances on what school will look like and in you know people who see me seemingly have never been in the classroom or haven't been in one recently but I've said for a number of times the the first logistical hurdle for us to having school open his transportation and

096how in the world do we get them there and so whatever whatever we modify this to whether it's modified merely for the upcoming school year and revisited as as things unfold it's it's very timely and is something I thought about a lot and the challenges that they're in are going to be really significant regardless if I we were this policy the implementation of it's going to be very difficult this make sure I know we're kind of in a hurry up and wait situation with next and de release but I do appreciate taking a look at this one of the things uh director Cole made you think of with like the liability and I'm sure we're thinking about that but like whoa you know if a student like student management is so hard on a bus

097anyway and thinking about like one student just going to sit somewhere else or mess with another kid like could have deadly consequences and I don't know the extent to which we can have parents really sign off on that if they're going to put their kids on buses and it's probably bigger question for you know everything that happens at school to what degree will schools be held accountable for students not following what will probably be really strict Guidelines yeah I think part of the conversation is around school liability I think there's an acknowledgement that you can't physically keep four year olds and five year olds in a socially distance environment in a strict way that actually is socially emotionally a purl appropriate for our four and five year old students on and so I mean some

098of sending students to school should that be where they end up at that age is an acknowledgment that that's going to be handled as best and most effectively as a district can and that it can't be done as a hard and fast rule or expected in that way so that is definitely a challenge it's mr. tensing yeah I guess I don't have any particular detail to add other than to just kind of echo the sentiments that have already been expressed I mean this obviously will be challenging and I think presumably it'll be time for us to be thinking about what are the principles that were kind of the guiding principles that we're trying to adhere to as we design the strategy so yeah I guess it's a bit of a wait and see thank you

099yeah I think the the thoughts that I would just add to what has been shared is you know I am sort of struggling with the feeling that local districts are sort of being told we trust and value local control and a lot of cases and that you need to make decisions that are right for your schools and your communities and the other side of that sort is that also means we're left on our own without additional supports to actually solve these very real challenges that are really difficult for us to solve on our own and so that feels like a real challenge for us and the next month and I have to come and then I also just wanted to share appreciation for Steve so earlier this morning he and I joined a call at

100the invitation of Mayor Regan Gonzalez with the I believe was called the Regional Council of Mayors so as mayor's from actually a fairly broad geographic area in the state superintendents and a couple of board members and in that conversation which was fairly wide-ranging about education in the fall Steve really challenged the group to say transportation to Tim's point is one of the most immediate and urgent needs that we face and if you all as our partners in the city and city leaders really want to support us you can help us think through potential options potential ways we can actually support each other as we are trying to work through this so I am hoping that other cities will sort of take that up and think about that I know our mayor has already said she's

101eager to have these conversations with us as we get further down the road of figuring out what this could look like and what our needs actually are so appreciation to our mayor and also to Steve for having that conversation and hopefully helping other people think about it as an opportunity for collaboration and mutual support at the city level and lastly yeah I am looking to our team you all are the experts on this this is an area in which I certainly would say we as board members do not have the expertise and so need yours and need your recommendations I think to help us make sense of the choices ahead of us and so I to just appreciate that this policy is coming up at this moment in time especially because it has come up

102before in terms of what our boundaries are and what they should be but now we're looking at that from a very different vantage point in a very different world any final comments or questions okay we have one more new policy or so sorry existing policy coming course for a first read I'm so Steve I'll turn it back to you yes right so 712 comment guide like 712 mug is also about a credit card usage or the P car in Richfield schools so this is another policy that has been updated by the state since 2009 and so there really haven't been statutory changes that are significant around accounting in terms of P card usage it lays out the roles and responsibilities and how how that is laid out it again first we need and so will

103the thrill' will check it with our finance team mixture of logistics match and update it and make sure that it is up spinning okay we'll just do any immediate thoughts that people want to share this evening starting with Ola I got nothing no comments it's Malik no questions or comments mr. Wallace I had a question the the only thing I noticed really was there's something that that where it says in the policy that the p-card I wasn't the p-card will not affect the staff members credit report can we really guarantee that I don't know but we will definitely look at that before before we go forward okay thank you I have nothing else miss matric I don't have any questions mr. Jensen okay I'm good thank you miss barrace I'm also good thank you um

104just one item of follow-up so I think we're we're good to move forward to the last item of new business before us this evening which is reviewing three very generous donations to the district so I will turn it back over to the superintendent to share those yes so I Department had a very good month or a very good said donations that are being acknowledged here the Richfield Spartan fund donated $5,000 to the athletics department to cover the cost of cameras installed in the main gym and the stadium that will be used to be live streaming of events original Spartan the fund also donated seven thousand five hundred and sixty dollars to the athletic department the donations covered the cost of the new high jump hidden cover for our boys and girls track teams to use

105for practices and meats we are very thankful for the generosity of the Richfield Spartan Fund and the Richfield dugout a club during a twenty six thousand two hundred and seventy nine dollars sixteen cents to the athletic department covering the cost of the equipment for the 2020 baseball team so we are thankful and awed by the generosity of the Richfield dugout club thank you to you have a motion to approve the donations I move that we accept the donations with gratitude second we have a motion by mr. Paulson a second by mr. tensing any further comments or questions none I will pull the board miss Cole hi hi hi donations are accepted with deepest of gratitude thank you so we moved next into the advance planning section of the agenda beginning with a legislative update so

106I will to remember P 10 thing or superintendent unity to share anything from the legislature so at this point it's just awaiting a presumed special session that will be expected to be called in this next coming several weeks [Music] stuff that would be part of that session but I guess we would just sort of keep our ears to the ground to see how that plays to add the emergency order obviously was extended which means our August 3rd meeting we would anticipate will also be a distance meeting but we'll definitely closely examine the meeting on August 17th and whether or not we feel we can accommodate in person and we will strive as long as the governor does not say otherwise to try and this will be the heads up to this team we'll try to

107have that board meeting in person at at the district office for August 17th if at all possible any other legislative items specifically I don't see any so we move next into time for information and our questions members of the board would like to share each other and I am going to begin with the public summary of our closed session from June 29th as allowed by Minnesota State statute 13 D point O 5 for purposes of the superintendent's annual evaluation we are grateful for superintendent you Nasty's leadership and the work he does as our districts leader and that has been made very clear this year we spoke at length in the evaluation process about the significant challenges we have faced as a district and as a community in the 2019 2020 school year first in a

108conversation with myself and Tim Paulus as chair and vice chair and then as a full board in the closed session during our meeting on June 29th inputs to the evaluation process included gathering feedback from each of the superintendents direct reports which includes all of our building principals and we are very grateful to them for sharing their experiences as part of this process we also considered feedback from the community that has been gathered throughout the year in both formal and informal mechanisms we believe superintendent Janoski has done a very good job in navigating these challenging times for Richfield Public Schools his strength in managing a complex institution through uncertainty has certainly benefited the young people and staff of Richfield public schools in the last few months in particular and as this evaluation made clear we have

109confidence in his abilities and believe he consistently meets and/or exceeds expectations using our superintendent evaluation rubric at the same time there are always areas for growth and we look forward to working with him to both finalize the aims of our next five-year strategic plan as we discussed earlier this evening and also to set goals and define success for the 2020 2021 school year and of particular interest to all of us is developing a lasting and sustainable focus on excellence and equity across the district so I invite other board members to share any additional comments that they would like we move into the information and or questions from the board members section of the agenda which as always starts with Paola and special guests Nadya hi no I just want to thank you for putting Cristal

110summarizing our conversation from from last week and just to thank Steve for his hard work and how much I appreciate communication and the updates and the feeling that I kind of know what's going on at all times even though I know this way much more happening but that's that's really just what I wanted to share with everyone thank you Steve I just wanted to take a moment to thank Chris on Tim for the work they did in gathering all of the input from the board and the admin team I know that's a lot of work and especially for the admin team on sharing their perspectives also because they see things that the board doesn't necessarily see and I think it gives us just a much broader picture of how things are going and the consistency

111with their perspective and the board four separate perspective really I think brought things together and um and showed how how much we all really appreciate the work that Steve has done for our district this past year it's been a it's been a challenging year and we thank you for all of your work Steve go on to Tim thanks I just want just to correct I would thank crystal for all of the work and for including me in a very limit you know it is as open as she was and allowing me to participate in it and and have a role she actually did the work work part of it in soliciting and gathering all the information and feedback from everyone and and running running the review and and she did a wonderful job and and

112it was relatively easy given given how consistent the feedback was and so it really is representative of the a job well done and I look forward to more miss Misha think times of crisis really stress systems and show cracks and I didn't really see any that I guess so I think that's a testament to C's leadership and and just that brought so much comfort to me as a board member and I know I've brought a lot of comfort to our community that like the ship was was sailing and people felt confident so um thank you for your leadership especially in this challenging time so one of the reflections that I want to make is evaluating the superintendent is probably in supervising the superintendent and I am grateful to this group to this team for the

113sort of seriousness with which we have undertaken this effort and I guess I do want to recognize the work that has been put in I think by many different members of this board over time to really strengthen our process for superintendent evaluation you know we have with you know working along with by Kool G looking at whether our best practices around the area we spent a number of years I think crafting a process for evaluation of the superintendent that is quite robust and I think would stand up to probably pretty much anybody in the state yeah we are holding Steve to a higher level of accountability and what you're going to see in a lot of other districts and so I just want the community to be aware that when crystal talks about all of

114that feedback and input that we're again whether it be from steve's direct reports whether it be from survey processes it's all important can we take it all seriously and that's one of the things that I'm most grateful for with Steve as well is how effectively and willingly he takes that feedback and takes that constructive criticism and grows and improves the work that he's doing so I just want to thank my colleagues on the board recognize crystal and Tim for their work in leading this and recognize also Christine I know you've done a lot over the years to make this a really robust process Steve for being a very willing participant and taking that feedback and running with it yeah I think very well said so I will just share my last word on a totally

115different topic which was that I was able to attend the reopening of the Richfield Historical Society this past weekend as they opened their doors back up after being closed for several months obviously for public health reasons and there is a lot of Richfield public school history on display in the historical center and just wanted to sort of publicly affirm their commitment to working with us and desire to support programs and learning for our PS students as the Historical Society and just encourage people to check it out they are gonna be open again this coming Saturday right there on school district grounds on Lyndale Avenue so just wanted to share that and let's see here just a couple last things our next two meeting will be on Monday August 3rd at 7 p.m. as has been

116shared we expect that to be online and then are going to be revisiting the question of the Monday August 17th board meeting and whether that will be online or in person are there any items that board members would like to request for discussion on an upcoming agenda if so please come off mute and let us know I just wanted to share that Nadia is listening to the meeting we are sharing the headphones and she refused to go to McDonald's to stay with y'all so you are a very impressive group that I can remember right there that's right my friend Charlie's used to sometimes make me feel kind of sad but it's okay we raised in an activist in a public servant so yes that's okay it's not like a couple of things a couple of

117things real quick first hi Nadia glad you're here uh second thing is we will have in one of the coming two meetings an update on our summer school and just as a reminder summer school launched today we have online learning occurring in our middle school in high school and some of that online learning is synchronous or live so we have teachers actually teaching specifically in middle school for the most part and then we also have two programs running simultaneous and elementary and we left that up to the choice of our families and so we have some in-person and we have some distance learning and so we will be able to update the process of that and so that'll be coming in one of the next two meetings and then I did not respond I just

118wanted to say thank you for the evaluation process I appreciate the feedback I also appreciate this board which is highly supportive I'm not just in in leadership and in Richfield overall but also supportive in pushing with feedback and pushing with expectations to help me be my best and to help our district be its best for our students one of the things provided by the board and the superintendent evaluation process is a part of it is a system of accountability to ensure that all of us always have our eyes on the prize and that prize being outcomes for students that allow them to achieve their dreams and so thank you for a very thorough evaluation process and thank you for the opportunity to participate in that sorry Christine Malek you are back up I had no

119I have no no items for future agenda items I just want to point out the Spartan Foundation which is as its annual golf of vantastic has decided to cancel or postpone the event for 2020 and will be back in June of 2021 a lot of a lot of sadness around that as you've seen that the generosity of their of their spirit and their funds towards towards both the district in terms of activities and athletics but also to the students who earn the scholarships that they give out every year and and did this year as well despite not having as the usual level of recognition um they will still be trying to solicit funds from people to see if people will remember to support them even in through a bad year like this for everyone and

120so please be on the lookout for or something like that Allegra I don't have anything to add mr. Jensen good you very much with that Steve I assume you said your final pieces that you wanted to say just a moment okay so our final item of business on the agenda is to adjourn and since this doesn't require a board vote I will officially adjourn the meeting as chair at 8:47 p.m. have a good night everyone and we will see you again on August 3rd you