10-1-2025 Board of Education Meeting

001and viewing information can be found on the district website. The meeting is now called to order. It is October 1st, 2025, and the time is 6:32 p.m. Our mission is to provide a safe and caring climate and culture in which we engage, inspire, educate, prepare, and empower all learners in partnership with our surrounding community to be successful in today's and tomorrow's society. Heather, can you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. And then when you're ready, can you please call roll call? The following board members are present at the district administration office. Scott Andre >> here. >> Natalie Copeland >>

002here. >> Al Dalgrren >> here. >> Zack Dorhalt >> here. >> Diana Fenton >> here. >> Shannon Haw >> here. >> Heather Williams here. The following cabinet members and staff are present at the district administration office. Superintendent Dr. Lorie Putnham. Assistant superintendent of secondary education Dr. Jason Harris. Assistant superintendent of E5 Learning Nikki Hansen. Executive Director of Community Education and Community Partnerships, Shannon Ason. Executive Director of Finance and Business Services, Amy Scallarude. Executive Director of Innovation and Technology Services, Katie Herbalt, Executive Director of Operations, Matthew Boucher, Executive Director of Special Education, Danny Mayor, Media Technicians Paul Novak and Gordy Scott. [Music] >> Thank you. Um, then I'm looking for a motion to approve tonight's board of education meeting and work session agenda. >> So move. >> I have a motion by Scott, a second by

003Natalie. Heather, can you call vote? >> Diana Fenton, >> yes. >> Zor Holtz, >> yes. >> Natalie Copeland, >> yes. >> Scott Andre, >> yes. >> Al Dalgrren, >> yes. >> Shannon Hos, >> yes. >> Heather Williams, yes. >> Thank you. And then we have the consent agenda. The consent agenda consists of non-controversial items. the board adopts routinely without debate. Any single member may remove an item from the consent agenda by requesting removal at the time the consent agenda is moved for adoption. On tonight's consent agenda, item A, approval of personnel staff changes. Item B, approval of monthly financial report for August 2025. Item C, approval of monthly treasures report for August 2025. Item D, approval of proposed revised board policy 421, gifts to district personnel, third reading. Item E, resolution appointing election judges. Item

004F, North long-term facilities maintenance improvement change orders totaling $19,669.33. And item G, South long-term facilities maintenance improvement change orders totaling $14,350.73. At this time, does any board member wish to remove an item from the consent agenda? Okay. Looking for a motion to approve the consent agenda as read. >> So move. >> I have a motion by Scott, a second by Natalie. Heather, can you call vote? >> Shannon Hos, >> yes. >> Zach Dorhalt, >> yes. >> Natalie Copeland, >> yes. >> Scott Andre, >> yes. >> Aldrren, >> yes. >> Diana Fenton, >> yes. >> Heather Williams, yes. >> All right. Thank you. All right. We have one information item tonight. We have Apollo building uh project. Uh joining us tonight for this is Apollo High School principal Justin Scallerude and JLG architects David Leopold and

005Whitney and I apologize Loheed. How'd I do? Good or close enough. All right. Good evening, Superintendent Putnham, Board Chair Hos, members of the board. Uh is our honor to be here today and this is a culmination of a a lot of time and planning and work and meeting and appreciate everyone um you know here and your support through this process that has started many many years ago. Um so I'm here with David and Whitney to uh to go through the plans and uh talk about where we are at in terms of the um the projects that we'll be starting uh at Apollo in in the near future here. We're going to talk a little bit about the process and our process involved a lot of people and a lot of people that worked in the

006spaces that we were looking at potentially doing work in or worked in spaces that we were potentially looking to build. And we really wanted to start um all of our meetings the same way and we'll start this presentation the same way and really talk about future ready learning. Um, with this being a really unique opportunity with a $50 million investment into our 55 plus year old building and understanding that the decisions that we're making not only affect learners now, but but realistically for another 55 years for some of the things that we're planning on doing and how do we center um the now in 5 years and 10 years and down the line when we're all retired and driving by and can say I helped to, you know, build those parts of that building and

007so on. And what we did is really made sure we kept the the learner at the center of all of our conversations and talked a lot about um in a lot of these spaces the skills. What skills do these modern learners need? What skills do we need to teach them to be able to go into our community and to to contribute right away or to learn a trade or to learn um you know what they need to continue onto a post-secondary education and how are they going to gain that knowledge along the way. And then with everything we do make sure that we're we're creating great citizens that come out into our community with with character building as well. Um and really that's the center of of these decisions when we had to have conversations.

008Some of them tough um some of them easy but really focusing on the learner with our instructional vision. You know we we've made some changes in how we assess kids. We want to know what kids know and how we can um judge that has been changing and it's growing as you know we've changed to 8020 grading um focusing on on assessment and focusing on kids showing us what they know and not how well they can do school. And with that and having that idea is focusing on the individual students um you know what are their strengths? What are their needs? How do we um continue to put them at the center of all the decisions we're making to help them be successful? And then keeping that future ready learner in mind. We're all lifetime learners.

009Um, how do we continue to teach our our students skills and teach them um how to learn and to be thirsty for for new knowledge and um build interest that help them uh prepare for when they leave high school. And then authentic assessment with this opportunity and the investments that we're making because everything and all the money we're spending is an investment. It's an investment into our kids, into our school district, and into our community. and be able to show how is that going to um help lead to authentic assessment. Um giving the kids opportunity to learn new things, but then show us that they've mastered those things. So when they go out and and have an EMT license, which we'll talk about, and have the ability to do, we want to make sure our

010EMTs have passed that assessment and can show us uh they know what they can do uh before they're out there on their first run. So really being able to build those pieces of that educational system into it. Thanks, Justin. So, as Justin said, we really wanted to start with those two slides because we wanted when we're talking to educators, we wanted them to be focusing on the educational component. The building shouldn't get in the way. The building should support what they're doing. And by doing that, we got them focused there as opposed to jumping right into where's my whiteboard, you know? So, I mean, I think this is this is really helpful for Justin to do that. As he said, it's been a long process. Um, this kind of outlines what we've done. And we've

011met with the design committee a number of times, 10 times. We've met with user groups. It says 43 up there. We're up to 45 now. Uh, we added a couple more in the last few days. And just went through each of those and talked to folks and we got feedback from them. We documented that feedback. We went back and forth on, you know, what we can and what we cannot do based on budget and scope. It was really important to have those conversations. And part of that was the Can we go to the next slide, Whitney? So part of it was Whoops. Where'd it go? >> One of the things that the slide that's not here says um that we showed them. I think it's in some of the information you received is how the

012decision tree works. So um we have ourselves and Bradbury Stam our construction manager partners at the you know as part of this process and we bring that into the school and then we are meeting with the user groups and some of the community stakeholders for input right they're they're providing input that input then is consolidated by us we brought it to the design committee the design committee gave us some feedback when we had conflicts or if we had issues with budget or scope and gave us some help with direction on that but again even that committee is advisory and their advisory and the next group that we talked to was the finance committee of the board and again gave them information and talked to them and they're also advisory and it finally gets to this

013level right the board where you make the decisions. So it was really careful when we talked with the users that that's the process we go through. So everything that you we talk about you may not see show up in there. It depends on how we sort it through that decision-making tree. And some of it's decided by scope, some of it's decided by budget, some of it's decided by some of the things that Justin talked about in the beginning about keeping the student at the center of what we're doing. Um and so if you saw it was a beautiful tree. It looked it looked great. >> I do apologize. >> So now we're going to get to um what does this look like? How did all of this information get sorted, organized, and what is that

014starting to look like as we think about um the future of Apollo? What we're looking at here is the site plan. And I'm going to zoom in a little bit and try not to make you too sick. Um, broad picture with the site. Um, the multi-purpose athletic center which is down on the south side here. Um, you guys have probably heard about that through other presentations, so I'm not going to go into that. Um, there will be some reconfiguration of the fields on the south site to south side to accommodate that. Um throughout the remainder of the site, we're going to be doing some work with all of the fields. So, the existing junior varsity baseball field will be converted to a varsity field to have a home field here at the Apollo campus. Part

015of that is reorienting the field so that it meets um better um play organization with the way the sun shines, but also so that we can create a common um plaza area that serves both that varsity baseball field and the varsity softball field. We'll also be doing some updates to the junior varsity softball um and then updating the south baseball field to be an appropriate um JV field. Uh most of those updates relate to appropriate fencing um in adding dugouts to those fields uh bull pens and batting cages. So really working to align what's happening at Apollo um with what's happening on the south side at Tech Campus. We'll also be doing um some updates to the multi-purpose field on the north side to create a more universal multi-purpose field for all sporting um events

016on that side. Part of what we looked at also at the site as we thought about Apollo is is how do people get to Apollo? Um, at Tech, it's really easy. You have to drive into the campus. At Apollo, you are driving around the campus. You're coming at it from all different sides. And so, how do we provide an opportunity for visitors to know where they're going? Um, deliveries, student drop off, um, and now with the addition of a new facility on the south side, making sure that traffic knows where to go. So, we explored looking at the um access points and if you're coming north on 44th um how do you know where to go and and how do you get there quickly? So, we've been looking at a lot of site signage and

017wayfinding both out on the public street and then also as we get inside the site um on some more monumental signage that helps direct um visitors and again students um drop off activity entrance even delivery trucks so that they're going in the right spot. Um so we're looking at opportunities to help better direct folks around the site. The other thing um that you'll see, I just kind of want to point out, we'll circle back to these. These yellow colored areas are the areas that we are adding additions onto Apollo. Um the primary one is the main entrance. We're also filling in the courtyard. Spoiler alert. Um the new activities entrance, which is again going to help define that point of access. A little bit of a receiving addition. And then the new multi-purpose storm shelter,

018which is again that safety and security piece that we need to do from um a code standpoint is also serving those students. So what does that look like when you enter Apollo? So as you're coming up to the front entry, we had a lot of discussions about where um where does it make sense to have um the branding of Apollo. We actually started with it up on the building uh up on the canopy. And while Apollo's entry is is great from a safety and security point that it's really far set back, it's also not really great from a visibility standpoint. So, how do we make those two work together? Um, and we landed on creating the monument sign um as as a wayfinding point further out. So, it's drawing um visitors into this entry. Um,

019you can also see, and I'm going to flip to the next image, that we are suspending the capsule. We are giving um honor to the to the Apollo capsule. Um we are hanging it up in the um entry and creating an opportunity to um really brand Apollo like this is Apollo. Uh working through some lighting options there to highlight that. Um the other thing that you'll see up here uh is a constellation of lights. um working through how that might uh support both um just visually and aesthetically, but also providing Justin and his team an opportunity to add that to curriculum and allow students to engage um in their built environment. We had lots of conversations about what does this entry want to be? Um we have a very low building. It's um concrete. It's

020brick. Um and where can we elevate this entry? And we're able to do that because this is an is an addition to raise that roof and also introduce some material pellet that's a lot warmer. So we've introduced wood material um on the interior of this. And then we've created a softer approach by staying true to the concrete that's around us um but creating a much softer um color palette for that. And then of course you can see introducing lots of glass that natural daylight um and just providing the opportunity to get that further into the building. >> One of the things one of the feedback uh pieces that we got and I think it came from the board finance was you know in addition to the monument sign that can be seen now from 44th

021as you go around and helps you orient yourself to that front entrance is making sure that the entrance itself was visible once you got closer. So you know here here's where we come to the building. there's a monument sign, but once you get closer, where do I actually go in the building? And when you have a wall that's all glass, sometimes that could be confusing. And so adding that that canopy below the capsule, but above the entrance doors, using the thick styled entrance doors, making it really clear that once I get this close, that's where the entrance is. And that was some feedback we got from the finance committee saying, "Let's make that a little bit more apparent." And that's what we've done with this design. So, as you're inside now, um we are standing

022in what is currently the courtyard, if you can imagine that for those of you um and we are looking out towards the main entrance. This is the welcome center where this is the high volume. Um over here on the left, that's our new controlled entrance. Um yes, Apollo is getting one of those. Um and again, further back, you can see um the reception area to that new office um suite. So again, clear visibility um but also making it warm and inviting. We've carried that wood tone into this um area again to create that warmth, to create a different environment for students. And you can see that we've created a lot of opportunities for soft seating um and just to have an opportunity for students to work out there. Um Justin informed us that the um

023online academy students are now filtering into that commons area and working during class time there. So again providing them an opportunity to work in an environment like that >> and and again this is a piece of the building where um one of the things Whitney mentioned it earlier building is so low you know throughout I mean the ceilings are low the building's low this is a place where we could kind of shrug our shoulders and give ourselves a little bit of room in the building a little bit of height it happens right at the entry it's tied to the existing common so it just it brings more natural light into the core it makes it a nice bright space you can see outside and just gives us some of that volume some headroom room um

024within the building. We really felt that was important as an aspect of improving what you see at Apollo. >> So, if we turn around and we've just entered the school from the vestibule and this is looking at that courtyard infill now. So, the existing um cafeteria is over here to our left and I think right here is Justin's office right now um which is no longer. You can see that here we've also raised the roof. We haven't done it as much as the welcome center again to create those different volumes and to create an opportunity to move through the space and feel um different levels of um scale. We've not identified exactly what this is going to look like yet, but we've identified an opportunity for a brand of Apollo as you come and enter

025the school. And then this space off to the left is actually a school store where we can um have school apparel featured and again drawing um visitors in and further into that space. This area also serves as that pre-function area for both the theater and the um uh gym area and so a lot of opportunity for movement in there. >> Do you want to back up to the welcome center and talk about the uh screen and the display? >> Yes. So part of the welcome center features is that we'll have a large display here which can be curated to do school announcements. It can be curated to show digital work of students. Um we also have display cases. Again, opportunities to bring student work out into that forefront into that area. >> And what you

026see in the background there, the the eagle's head in the background is actually that graphic that is currently installed next to the theater. So if that gives you a sense of where we are. And I'll just add so our terminology we've been say welcome the space that's going to welcome families into a it's not the welcome center for the district. I know that's also just to be everyone's on the same page. >> Yes, we had that question in user groups. Um and we had to clarify that. >> So as we work our way around the building, the next piece that you're going to see is that new activities entrance. And that's what that looks like. um kind of a mini version of what's happening out at the main entrance. Again, introducing um concrete to stay

027true to the building, but also introducing it in a warmer color. Um and then introducing wood on the inside to warm it up and to draw people through. Um we have some benches here. That was some other feedback that we got. Um is this is the opportunity for student drop off and activity pickup and all of that. So, where do kids sit? Uh and providing them an opportunity to do that. You can see on the left here too, there's some new windows. This is actually going to be leading into the new serving area. So, bringing some daylight into what is currently a fairly dark kitchen. And then along the back, you can see this is the other graphic that recently got installed on Apollo for the whole theater side and introducing folks into that performing

028arts space. >> So, part of what's happening there is if you know the the windows are partway up on that side and then the glass starts on top. So, we're actually going to bring those down as far as we can so that that graphic can be better displayed along that side of the building. >> Really create an opportunity, a focal point um as people are driving through there. Next up is the storm shelter. It is a giant box. Um so, what do we do with that? Uh it's a giant box without windows. Uh, and so we looked at how do we we right size this to the building in the low scale that's everywhere else. And so some of that is just introducing a material on the bottom that aligns with that existing building palette.

029So something in the brick range and then introducing the uh concrete color up above which ties in with the rest of the additions. Um, we've got some signage here. Lots of discussions on that because again there's that big building going on on the south side of the site. Can we see it? Can we not? Um, and we all agreed that having an identity for Apollo on the interior of the campus, when you're standing at the tennis courts or even when you step out of that multi-purpose facility on the south side, you will see this and then you know that you're at Apollo's campus. With that, David, I'll let you jump in. >> So now, um, as we start talking about the plan, Whitney had alluded to some of these things. There's an addition for the

030office that is occurring um on that side of the building where the main entrance is now and there's a the new controlled entrance will be right there. So, we'll come in, there'll be the vestibule, you'll be let into the office and from the office then there's the option of having that door locked or unlocked and allowing people to go into the building from there. The AD's office is directly adjacent to that. So, someone can come in, go to the reception area, also go to the AD's office if they need to do something without actually going into the building. and they can turn around and then turn right back out. So, giving us that control and then adding those offices out there as well. And the other really exciting thing is that door number will now

031be one. >> Yes. >> It will no longer be two. And so, everybody at Apollo is extremely excited about that. >> I just think that's wrong. So, anyway, that'll be door number one. And you can see the welcome center adjacent to that. Um, and then as you move into the building, um, we've got an area just inside the building that has some softer seating as Whitney was alluding to. And part of this and and Justin, you know, corrected how the welcome center, what that really means, but having the opportunity when you walk into the building that you're not walking right into the cafeteria, you're not walking into a hallway. You're walking into a warm, inviting space that has some soft seating. It has that higher ceiling, has a natural light. So, giving you just a

032just a much better feeling when you walk into the building. And then right behind that is where the courtyard's infilled, which is an important piece of giving us again some elbow room and some breathing room with the current commons. By expanding that into that area, we can have students going all the way across that area. We don't have to have them so tightly bunched. And that's partly driven by the fact that we are putting the kitchen over in this corner. And Whitney can highlight where the existing kitchen is. That's that little box right there. That's the whole kitchen now. And we're taking and we're adding all of that space that was the previous wrestling room and a part of the corridor. And that's going to be the new food preparation area. It's got back access

033from the new receiving space that allows you to come in. It's backloaded freezers, backloaded refrigeration. It's got the dry stock there. And then everything flows into the prep areas. And then from the prep areas out into the serving area and there's four serving lines within that serving area. So students can come in and they have access to those different lines. um and then coming back out. And because this corner gets somewhat crowded, we've got the dish return over in that location. So students now come, they get the food, they go out, they go over to where the dish return is, and then go back to wherever they're going to go after after lunch. And so that kind of separates some of that traffic. It reduces a lot of that cross traffic, which is when students

034get trouble is when they like to when they run into each other. And then the other piece we've done is we've moved concessions over to the other side. And that actually now when especially if it's a a game at the at the gym, it draws people away from the entrance, right? So you don't have that congestion right outside the entrance what the concession stand currently creates. And alleart is being moved over to that location where Whitney was identifying the store previously. And so that also takes an opportunity to kind of take that traffic and sort of spread it out, you know, get students in different places in that area so they're not climbing on top of each other. So, all of that again, it's all part of that elbow room, you know, and shrugging our

035shoulders and giving us a little more room in the space. Um, that takes us through the commons, the kitchen. Uh, let me see. Yeah. And then the other thing that we're doing, um, right when you walk in the door, we have the Eagle's Nest, and that is a space very similar to the tiger's den at at a at Tech. And so coming in again a place for alumni, a place for displaying alumni information, for meetings, for gatherings. Uh and then the rest of that space is all for the counseling staff. They'll be moving into that. And then down at the lower end, remodeling the nurses area. And that was one of the areas where we really got some great feedback. Um in talking with the nurses and they talked about some of the things they

036need to do and some students need to be helped with feeding and to give them a little bit more privacy. we've we've created an area where that can happen and a curtain could be pulled across and you know some of those different pieces of that. How do we supervise the CS but not have them right out in front of everybody and so just working through some of those things with the nurses was really helpful. Um same with the counselors. We had some conference rooms up in front because we thought it was important to be able to go to a conference room away. They said no it's really more important that we have our counselors right up there. So we moved our counselors up there and moved the conference rooms within their space to a different

037place. So all of those things kind of really came together when we started talking with our user groups. Now the other thing that we did, if you remember last summer, we completed the theater and I think it turned out pretty well. Um I like it. I think it looks really nice. Uh the acoustics in it are terrific. Um we are now taking the opportunity to remodel the rest of the performing arts space. So going into the band and choir rooms, removing those concrete risers to give them more flexibility and again giving them more room in that space, adding some um storage in that back area so we can get all of that stuff out of their rooms which makes their rooms bigger and get the stuff out of the hallways which makes the hallways less

038cluttered and less dangerous. And moving that into this un is underutilized or practically unused corridor in the back where there's some lockers. Right now we don't need lockers anymore. So, take that and make it a music suite area with practice rooms, storage room off of the band area. Um, allowing all that natural light to come in. We got instrument storage back there. Then, as you move in, you've got the band and choir room. You've got the music office, which is directly adjacent to that area. So, they have good visibility into it. They have good access to it. Um, there's music, there's the music library, and then we get into a green room and some storage. And then really, I think probably not as exciting as some of the other things, but creating an actual separate

039scene shop. Right now, they're doing their scene set work on the side stage. It's dangerous. It's messy. It gets dust into everything. Um, being able to put that into a scene shop and contain that and actually have a good space for that work to occur. Expands the stage as well because now they can really be prepping as they're getting ready for plays and other things to use the entire side stage rather than just the stage itself. So, some pretty nice and exciting things going back there. And we have an image of it. And as Al pointed out to me right before the meeting started, that gentleman playing guitar there standing inside a practice room. Now, um we uh when we met with the user groups, what happened was um we we talked about and they

040said, "Boy, it'd be nice if we had an ensemble room." Okay. Well, we decided, "Okay, we can do that. We can we can slide an ensemble practice room here. if we slide these two practice rooms over and we consolidate some of our instrument storage and that allowed us to get that done. But that means that right where he's standing that's a practice room. So it's a little bit different and that's part of the nature of what's going on right now. We had um 18 no 20 20 user groups um meetings not too long ago and we're still absorbing that and so the plan got a little ahead of some of the imagery. So, we're still kind of getting caught up. Scott, >> is that along the back? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Big hallway into a

041small hallway. And >> no, it's actually it's actually what we're doing what we're doing, Scott, is we're putting we're putting doors on both ends of that. >> Yep. So, we're actually making it a controlled space. So, having the doors on both ends, it becomes a space. There there is a hallway there. There's a quarter to move through, but that's really just to get to the pieces in there. You can also get there from from the music areas. And uh when we talked with the assistant when we talked with the assistant principles, we talked about the flexibility that creates for them. Like when band isn't happening or nothing's occurring, you could lock those doors, not have anything there. In the morning when students are dropping off their their uh instruments, you could unlock the doors. They

042could put their instruments into the storage areas and come out. the teachers could potentially say, "Hey, come into my room first and then go to a practice room and I'll unlock that for you." And now you can have that. So, it's becoming it's really just now an extension of that performing arts space as opposed to being a hallway. Does that make sense or did I go too far? >> Yes. >> Right. But, but we're taking the public out of there because there's really not a lot of reason for the public to go from one side of that hall to the other. So what and what I'd also say is that I think it's important to note there'll be doors added so we can access the music classrooms without going back there now. So if you

043think of the reasons why we'd go back there, those spaces currently exist in kind of that inner corridor which isn't open to the public now. We're really pushing that out. Those doors, if we wanted to have them open for parent teacher conferences, we absolutely can. But for our perspective, those will be open in the morning. kids get off the bus, they bring their instruments and put them in their music locker and then we can shut them and from a safety standpoint, we have a clear line of sights and we don't have anyone walking, you know, back behind there that wouldn't need to be. Um, and then once the teacher gets there, they'll open those doors and they can access the classrooms, but then they'll also have access to going through the classroom. >> We're somewhat

044limited by the elevation of some of the mechanical equipment and other things there. So, they're going to have to take that into consideration when they're building sets. they may have to build, you know, portions of the sets, bring them out and assemble them out on the stage. Um, we we're going to make those doors. I think we can get I know we can get taller doors. I can't remember how how >> Yeah, we're limited to the 8 foot4 magical datam of the beams. Um, so we can go about that high um for them to work with that. >> We are in both of these um spaces. David didn't mention it. The band room right now has poured tiered seating and so does the choir room which is just really not functional or flexible. So we'll

045be taking that floor to a level point um and then in choir um providing uh functional or movable risers so that they can configure the classroom as well. Um which actually is what allows us to put the doors to the corridor now because everything is on that single level. Um similarly this set area is the old like drama classroom where there's a sloped floor. So, we'll be leveling that out just to provide better functionality for that space. >> It's a nice way to be able to gather some grab some extra space without really having to add on to the building. >> And you can see in this image, too, along this front side, we're bringing that um glass all the way down to the ground to create more of a a focal point. Um and

046that concrete loia that's out there um will be going away to really allow a lot of that natural light into the space as well. As we move into more of the core of the building, I just want to highlight all of the white space. Um this is kudos to you as a district um for having knocked off some of these some of this work over the course of the last, you know, four or five years. um that's all area that we don't need to touch that we can take these dollars and allocate them to other high impactful spaces um throughout the building. So we were very clear with user groups that there is a no-go zone um that this is the white space and as much as they maybe wanted to try and push the

047envelope, we were we really worked hard to try and and contain that um and where we needed to um maybe step into that space, it was a trade-off. Um and we worked with a design committee to really understand what the most impactful use of that was. Um as we move into this area um the core of the building which is area B um we have a few spaces that are not complete yet. So those are those two large lecture halls um on either side of area B. Again those floors slope which are not functional. They have fixed seats with pedestals um and the tablet arms. So, we're going to take all of that out. We're going to level the floor and then create opportunities for um larger classroom spaces. They can be subdivided. They can

048have different types of furniture. Really allowing um Justin and his team to leverage what they can do with those spaces over the course of time. >> It also allows us to punch some windows into the outside so we can get some natural light into those classrooms as well. Right now, there's no glass or no openings into those two class into those areas. Um I think if you want to talk about this. >> Okay. Um one of the other things is that we have a very large media center at uh Apollo and it's it's highly underutilized on at least one half of it. So one of the things that we're doing is on the on the north half is coming in with some flexible labs. Um one of the things with existing buildings like Apollo is

049you don't really have the opportunity to start over like we did at tech where you could say we're going to put the build lab right off of the cafeteria where everybody can see it. So, we have that type of learning on display. We could see kids and get them exposed to CTE. Hard to do with Apollo because those really hard spaces are are fixed, right? They're they're hard to move. But what we can do is move some of the other spaces out to where the students are. And area B is one of the most active student areas in the building where all those classrooms are. So, we're going through and we're creating some labs right along there. And right now, what we're showing is a culinary lab with with the storage spaces, the dish room,

050and access to laundry. We have a flex lab adjacent to that that could be used as a classroom space for that. It could be used from by other teachers when he's not using it as a classroom space. Adjacent to that is the communications area which is the communications classroom. They use that for yearbook as well. And then also a a photo studio right behind that with proper skins and all of those things, lighting and all of that for the for the photography. And then adjacent to that is the computer science lab. And we didn't start out with all of these here. the I think the only one that survived the initial round was the culinary right everything else changed when we started talking to users and we started looking at it's like it makes a

051lot of sense to have communications out here because of the access for students and because of the things that they're doing there in the yearbook and then if we're going to have computer science well computer science uses a lot of really good or the types of software that they could use in the photo lab for their editing of videos and things like that and So, putting those two adjacent to each other made a lot of sense. And then taking that communications lab and or not the communications lab, I'm sorry, but the uh computer sciences lab. And we're actually talking about having one of the data closets there. Um we're talking about having some exposed some exposed wiring and and maybe part of the computer sciences curriculum becomes networking and we get some of those pieces

052there. Um it makes Katie just a bit nervous, but we're okay. So, but we're talking about doing some of those things, you know, putting those out there where students can see it and where students can work on it and we can expand that curriculum and then facing those labs with glass. Again, that's our opportunity to put learning on display through there. It's directly adjacent to the lower level of the media center. And essentially what happens is the media center that's on the north side just flips and goes onto the south side and becomes that part of the media center over there. Um, and that that's really how we're organizing that information. And we think this is this cross quarter is also going to be highly utilized because of the movement between those two areas of

053the building. >> There's a green room in there, right? >> Yes. Yes. >> Yeah. We had a lot of >> green screen. Is that what you meant? Green screen. Yeah. >> Yeah. We had a lot of conversations um with that and then um also with you know photo and what is appropriate for green screen and white screen um and how can we make that work for both film and still photography as well >> and video >> and yeah >> and I mean how they how it it was really fun to talk to him about it because the way we're doing it where you turn this way and it's video and you turn this way and it's photography and can drop different skins back there. So yeah, it's pretty neat what he's doing. Um, before we

054move on to the rest of the building, I am remissed to say that I missed talking about the activities. So, I'm just going to highlight that really quick. Um, which is over on the east side of the building. >> We wouldn't have known that if you did just >> Yeah. Well, I I feel like we we were flowing and I'm just jumping back. Um, so just to highlight what's happening over on this side of the building, you saw the exterior of the storm shelter. The inside of that is a single court gym. Um, it serves both basketball, volleyball. Justin, correct me if I missed some here. Um, practice for adaptive hockey, softball. There's another one >> line for adapted hockey and for adapted soccer. Um, we don't we don't plan to play games in there

055because those student athletes wouldn't have the opportunity to play where the um the large digital scoreboards are, but they'll have practices that are permanently marked. It will allow them to practice after school and not have to wait till later in the day. >> Um, there's a lot of stuff going on in there. are the batting cages. Um there's a tennis. Um I've never seen so much striking on a gym floor before. So, yay for us. Um we're making good use of the space that has to be there for a storm shelter. So, the other piece to point out is that um because it's a storm shelter, we have to have toilets. Um fun things to talk about. However, we're able to set them up in such a way that we have access to the exterior.

056So, these can actually be closed off and you can use those for um field events such as softball or um you know, if you have something over on the multi-purpose fields, these can be opened um without allowing folks access into the rest of the building. The other nice thing about having this is from a community standpoint, you can secure the rest of Apollo and allow um people to access through this vestibule and have access to the gym and the toilets without having to go into the rest of the school. So it really helps with that safety and security standpoint of the school. >> Is there on those doors that the outside doors if someone is in the restroom are they prevented like during normal school day or if there was an emergency are they prevented

057from exiting? Are those doors locked for exiting or do they have to remain? >> You can always exit out. So you can exit outside and the interior doors um would be on the electronic control system. So during a school day, they would likely be unlocked um so that students if they were in this area could get back into the gym. >> So would there be any issues? My question I guess is would there be issues with students going into the restroom exiting to the outside without permission or anyone knowing? Mhm. >> And is there a way to prevent a way to prevent that? I guess it would be an alarm the door. >> That' be an alarm system that we were talking about earlier where we we have the doors identified and if they're open

058then it triggers alarm at the desk. >> Yep. Mhm. >> Front desk. >> Yeah. We could work with the hardware package on that. >> Yeah. Because we had talked about when the um have the ability to have an app during the day and anytime really if we wanted to that if a door is open we're alerted or we could highlight certain doors. So really um you know door 14 is right there where the corridor is now. If a student walked there and walked out, we wouldn't know unless someone saw them right now. So I think that we're looking at this being more secured because we'd have the technology that would alert us. I think the other thing we could consider too is um those doors that are going to the outside from the interior, we

059could actually lock those open during the day. So if a you know staff is in there with students during the day and they go into that bathroom area they could and they come out of the bathroom they could be seen in that vestibule. >> These doors don't have to these doors don't have to shut they don't have to be closed. They can be opened during regular operation. So you can see into these spaces. >> That would help some. I know too you can get you can get um door locks or panic locks that you push it and you got to hold it for 15 >> five for 5 seconds or 10 seconds. Yeah. >> The alarm going >> before the door unlocks and lets you access or people time to get there. >> So there

060are things >> Yeah. There's things we can do with door controls. Yeah. So, the current girls um varsity locker room will u be turned into a mechanical room. Um it will serve it currently serves the pool mechanical, but will also serve all of the new mechanical for the storm shelter. Um this also gives us some additional storage for both the gym and exterior um storage for athletics and then additional pool storage which um will help clean up the pool deck a little bit um and allow them to have more space to work within that box. I mean, another couple extra notes about the storm shelter is that it it's designed to be able to function on its own for two hours. So, the power for two hours, the bathrooms are there. They're they're hooked to

061different plumbing so that if the plumbing is torn away from the rest of the building, those those toilets will still work. And our mechanical room, which is in a part of the building that's not a storm shelter because it's less expensive to build non-storm shelter space, that can be torn away as well. Um, and there's natural ventilation built into the building so that it'll naturally ventilate during that two-hour period. So, the whole idea is that the rest of the building goes away and this is still standing and it's it's still functioning for at least two hours. >> Just you know that capsule we showed you in the beginning, our engineer has to design it if that was flying through the air. So, that's how like sturdy this building's going to be. >> Actually flying. >>

062Yes. Um um the pool itself um the there's been some updates to that related to the pool deck and the pool itself. We'll be coming in and doing some tile replacement. I think that's ultra original tile in there. Um and then doing some accessibility um upgrades to the pool deck. Right now there's some deck access issues and so we'll be fixing that as part of this project. Uh the biggest impact in this area is the locker room. So currently where there are three locker rooms, we will be converting that into four locker rooms. So we'll have two locker rooms um technically labeled girls PE and girls athletic and then boys PE and boys athletic. But working through user groups, that's not always how it functions. Um there's sometimes a mix of different sports um that

063are in there. And so feedback from the user groups um helped us realign how we enter those locker rooms so that there are four distinct entries that are all appropriately screened. Again, all of the locker rooms have a a sustained bathroom where it's not being shared with another locker room so that they're all independent um to allow that flexibility for them to do that. >> Individual showers >> and then individual showers um as well in those spaces. Um the coach's offices have been reconfigured simply because that whole footprint has shifted. Um and then the training room which was kind of just taken over when the health clinic was there. Um we'll be getting a little bit of um TLC to make that more functional. Um visibility was a big conversation when we met with her.

064Being able to stand in one spot and see everybody that's in there and everything that's going on at the same time. And then the wait room is the final area here. So the existing weight room is along the south side and we'll be expanding that into some of that corridor that's currently um I think it's is it the eagle dining? Is that what you >> eagle lounge? Um that area since we're adding more space with the courtyard getting infilled that corridor really doesn't serve much of a function anymore. And so we're using that as programmatical space for that wait room area. As we start to move further south, um David had mentioned that we're flipping the media center. Um so what's happening on the north side now is going to happen on the south side.

065As part of that, some of the functions that were surrounding the north side related to the media support also needed to shift. And so we're relocating some media offices. Um, and then the new tech area here, um, Chromebook storage and tech repair will have a much, u bigger presence with visibility so that students who might want to engage in tech repair and learning that can do that in a hands-on way and they can also be seen. Um, and as students walk by, they can see, oh, that looks interesting. Maybe that's something I want to get involved in. Um the other piece that we're doing down here is the Eagle Pantry, giving that more of a presence and a larger footprint. Um that's a very popular um thing right now at Apollo. Justin, I don't know

066if you want to maybe just give a quick comment on what that is. >> Yes, it it's led through a couple student groups and um a teacher that oversees that space where opportunity through donations of both food and clothes that we can find uh get kids in there to have their needs met. It's open during open house. is open during conferences. Um, students can also have private appointments when they work with their counselors and our support staff to go in there um just on a one-on-one to to grab what they need to support them. So, there's toiletries and and really anything a student may need. So, um we really had an intentional idea about this space being a a really nice clean space where everyone feels comfortable coming in and can have any of their

067needs met that they may may have. And one of the great um ironies of the whole shifting things around in the building is that the um pays lab which um is supporting the special ed group does a lot of work with Eagle Pantry and we happened to locate them adjacent to each other. Um and that was the last group we met with and we shared that with them and they were over the moon. Um and so we felt really good about happy accidents there. Um so that was great to hear. Uh the other piece that you'll see here in the core, this is the old um coffee shop Iggies. Um it is now staff break area. Um but it's really not maybe serving the best function that it can. And so um we looked at

068how do we make this space more of a an opportunity for staff to come and collaborate and also to have a much more casual atmosphere um for their opportunities for lunch. And so we're looking at that kind of a little bit of a coffee shop vibe. um where they can come and they can have their lunch, but they can also collaborate with other teachers in a space that's just maybe not classroom laid out. The other piece adjacent to this is a home um for the CMBA program. Um they are kind of throughout the building now and where do they come as a landing spot and also where do they come and do all their online recording and where do they have their private calls um or their one-on ones? right now they're doing that in

069a large classroom and some of that classroom space um can be better utilized for other things. So we had really great conversations with them about what a what is the future like what are you going to need to teach online and how can we provide that flexible space as you are rotating through that. Um so really really good feedback from them >> which isn't necessarily reflected here right now. No >> this hasn't been changed yet. It's it's we got good feedback from them and we've got some new ideas about how that all gets laid out. >> Central Minnesota Virtual Academy. >> Thanks, Scott. >> Um, again, moving a little further south here. So, the um the special ed suite here, they uh had asked for some a few simple things. a bathroom that they could

070get a wheelchair turned around in that meant accessibility um and a kitchen that they weren't crawling all over each other as they were trying to teach. So, we were able to accommodate that um and give them space to breathe and to navigate and to move and to store all of the pieces of of equipment that they needed and all of the supplies that they need. Um they're doing a lot with a little right now, so this this kind of felt like a win. Um the other piece that came back um from their second round of user groups was, "Hey, we were just going to take out this movable partition." And they're like, "But we actually just need like four small spaces for students to break out in and to do this one-on-one work." And so

071we were able to accommodate that within the footprint and not encroaching into that white space. Um so that was also a really good win for them. This area right here is currently um three classrooms. So, we are actually going to be taking out three classrooms because we're making up that space in other areas and able to create a student collaboration space down on the south side of the building. Um part of the conversation that David had mentioned before about shifting those CTE labs um helped support how we're going to utilize this collaboration space. So, um, right now this is the nails program and then this is the FCS. Um, I used to know it as fax, um, family consumer science. A lot of interior design, sewing, all of that hands-on. Um, and being able to

072move out and have a flex space into the collaboration space and and let that overflow happen and see that learning on display out and about. um also becomes an opportunity if science wanted to come over here and teach something um for the day or even art going over there and doing a critique >> math >> or math. Um we're in semi-encclosing it with some full height glass here to create a little bit of privacy. I'll say a little bit of separation from that corridor. But then again, they were talking about using the glass as a whiteboard um and being able to really use all of the spaces. um art is staying in the same spot, but they have a lot of little rooms right now. And so we're going to clean that up and provide

073really large open spaces for them to teach in. And um I think their biggest win was probably moving the kiln from all the way over here to actually in their space. Um which is going to be huge. Um and again, just really working on cleaning that space up and providing them appropriate storage. And then the final area that I'll talk about here is the science. Um, so the science footprint really stayed the same. Lots of conversations about how to um to utilize the the footprints that we have. Um, most of the labs um are are in good shape. They just need some finish updates with casework um excuse me, cabinets um and um sinks >> and sinks. There's a couple of labs here that are going to get a little bit bigger of an overhaul,

074and that's because we need to create some opportunities for fixed science labs where they can prep their lab ahead of time without students necessarily being in there and touching everything. Um, and so we're calling those the fixed labs. They have a little bit more robust infrastructure to support that. Um, but overall, um, just trying to maintain that footprint as best as we can. We're also um due to some foundation issues that we have to take care of, able to just give them a little extra breathing room in there um and we've talked about providing some greenhouse opportunities um with some more mobile um greenhouse kits for them. >> One of the feedback pieces in the uh in the labs on the right, those labs all face in a different direction currently. they all face um

075towards the short end. And the the science staff came in and said it would really be ideal if we could turn those labs and have the teaching wall on the long wall. And so we were able to do that along um that side with all three of those labs. So now we have all those oriented in a different direction. And that was something that they had requested of us in the user group meetings. >> Okay. Um, one of the last pieces then we'll touch on here is what what are we doing back in the actual CTE wing, the current CTE wing. Um, we're moving a couple of new programs into that space. Um, well, not new but necessarily changed. Um, we're putting a CNA program back there um with some visibility off the corridor and

076then some visibility there. The main thing that we're doing is you come there is if you if you come to the CTE wing right now, you you go through a couple of three-foot doors, you walk about 12 feet into a wall, then you turn and then you go down. I mean, there's really no visibility, right? It's like, don't come in here. You know, there's nothing back here. And so, um, what we're doing now is we're saying, let's let's open that all up. Let's put this on display. Let's give that access what it really what it really needs. And so we're opening that up as far as we can to that stair that leads up to the um pen houses all the way to the other side as far as we can go. And you know

077that quarter you walk in right now is right where Whitney's little hand is. And then you come down a little ways and you turn. Well, we're just taking that whole piece out and aligning that and then putting the CNA lab first and then we've got our EMT EMR lab where the ambulance actually can pull in from the outside and it's a real ambulance. Um, it's one that you can drive around so they can go out onto the site and they can mock up, you know, emergencies and do treatments and do things like that, but there's a classroom associated with it that's walled off. So, that classroom could be used by others when it's not being used for that program. Adjacent to that is what we're calling a demo lab. And the demo lab is really

078here because it's a space where any of these classrooms could pull out and do a classroom instruction before they go back into their lab. So, for example, we are because of the ambulance over here, we're creating a spot where the ambulance could be maintained. The ambulance is bigger than our 8 foot4 structure. So, if we were just to try to drive it in, we would take the top part of the ambulance off. So, what we have to do is we have to modify it. So, we're modifying it there so we could bring it in to get into that space. And then we're also doing some modifications here to bring it in so it can be serviced in that area. So, now the students that are in the auto program can also service the ambulance. and

079then the animals could be driven back to its storage space. That removes their classroom. So, they're one of the groups that might say, "Oh, I'm going to use this demo lab for my instructional space before I move back into my auto lab." Um, same with some of the others around there. the auto that demo lab can also we're we're putting an opening a glass opening wall because one of the the concepts we've been working with with the Pavo since boy back we started on it four or five years ago was the idea that can we get a space within the CTE area where we could have a job fair where we could have manufacturers coming in making presentations to students where we could have students making presentations to manufacturers just a larger space where we

080could seat more people we could have some um presentation materials there but a space where we could kind of start to introduce students to the real world of what they're doing in these labs. And so that's what that space allows us to do. Um, in that back part of that building, we're also keeping the a portion at least of the the glass classroom that's back there. Um, initially we were taking it out and we thought, well, this is kind of a large space. When we take that out of there, that could have some functionality. And so now we're calling it a maker space. And we're thinking it could be a space where, for example, I know that Apollo has some 3D printers. They could place those 3D printers in there. That classroom could be used

081for that. And again, all of these classrooms around here, they're going to make up something. They're going to build something. They could go in, use the 3D printers to build a mockup of it and just say, "Okay, yeah, I'm going to tweak this. I'm going to do that. Whatever." But the 3D printer could be a part of the process of them manufacturing something in these labs. And so, um, we're thinking that's a good possibility and opportunity. And of course, that depends on the teachers you have and what curriculum you're driving, but um, at least the opportunity is there. And that's really the story as we're going through Apollo is how do we do this in a way that it's flexible. How do we, you know, that because we can't anticipate everything in the future. And

082how do we also do it in a way that it creates opportunities, not just for the students, but also opportunities for different curriculums. Um, one last image or a couple last images here. This is an image of those flex labs off of the commons area or off of the media center area. So you're coming in on the left hand side is that flex lab. Adjacent to that would be culinary and going down. So really this is a corridor where we're going to put learning on display and really have the opportunity to create interest in students. And then this space is where we're talking about right now that the line of columns and if you look straight down that line that's that little corridor you go in now opening that all up creating that soft space

083there. Maybe some type of identification. This is the career and technical education center or whatever we want to call it but doing something back there that gives that you know opens that part of the building up and exposes students to that as opposed to like I said what you have now which is don't go here. >> So >> learning is not on display there right now. Not not very much. I think that's it. >> And that is >> any questions or comments? >> Um well for my family uh my kids are the third generation at Apollo and so and my um third grandpa was one of the first uh folks in that school. So this is really exciting from that standpoint. Um the music and theater buildout, try not to cry about that. That's I

084mean just what y'all have brought to um the music program already with what's there. It's night and day difference. So this is pretty amazing. Um my daughter will say the most important thing she's in 11th grade right now is the four serving areas cuz there's just not enough serving areas. Um so thank you for that. The one thing I wanted to ask about and I'm sure you've had conversations about it but I just haven't heard any. the existing concrete, you know, how it can look a little bit >> weepy. >> Can you talk about that? Cuz that's like weepy. >> Yeah. I don't know if that's the right way to say it, but you know what I mean. And like, can we do anything about that? Are y'all doing anything about that? >> Are are

085you thinking about the inside or the outside? >> The outside. >> Okay. Um, well, we are doing something on the inside, too. Um, I I'll start there first. Uh, we're looking at the inside. One of the things we think uh with the columns on the inside is is painting them white kind of says here I am and uh and I have holes in me and you can see them because of the shadow. So we're talking about you know maybe using a darker color on that to kind of make those blend into the adjacent you know concrete block and things so they aren't really you know so stark. One of the things um and we just had a a long meeting this afternoon talking about what to do on the outside. Um we are going to

086do something with the concrete and uh Yeah. Yeah. We're not Yeah. If you look at the image that Whitney has up right now, we're we're suggesting that it is stained somehow, right? And and we're working on, you know, what that color should be, what that stain should be. Um we're we're debating back and forth uh about the brick, you know, should the brick remain as it is? Should we do something with staining the brick as well? Um we're we we are dealing with a building that's like, >> I don't know, a quarter mile long and it's very low. So we we have to be we want to be really cognizant of, you know, if you if you whitewash it too much, you end up with this this smear on the horizon, right? And so we're

087thinking, you know, how do we do this better? And some of that might be, you know, keeping that existing brick and then cleaning up that concrete, right? Cleaning it up, staining it, uh putting a color on that that gives it a little bit more of a modern appearance. So we're doing something with that. We recognize that that Yes. >> You know, you put this brand new spanky entry entry on and right next to it, you got weepy looking kind really like the term weepy. >> Yeah, the roof is weeping onto the concrete. >> Go back to the very Oops. >> The the first image slide or the >> No, the very first slide. >> No, it'll go one more in then. Sorry, >> that one. >> I was like, okay, >> blow that one up

088a little bit. I was looking at this. I was looking at this presentation this morning and this slide always this kind of stumped me from the very beginning. And this is this is a compliment. So, don't don't get nervous. But I started looking at this thing and it's uh trying to figure out what it was doing in this presentation and and how this puts any kind of a message to us. And there was a few terms on there that I didn't really understand. I mean, we talk about future ready ready learning. I I kind of understand what we're talking about there, but I wasn't really sure. So, I went to my friend and chat GPT And I got some definitions for future ready learning. And I got the other one that had me confused was

089meta metalarning down there. And exactly what is meant by metalarning. And it was interesting the uh path that this took me on because it started out with metalarning. It's just uh meta metacognition which is involving thinking about thinking and meta emotion which is referring to feeling about feeling. and what that has to do with building a building. I'm not really sure. But then I went into the uh the future ready learning and got the definition there. And then I asked the dang thing um how does this h how do I use this in planning and building or is and I'll just say what she what it said just said ah now I understand you're asking how future ready learning as a philosophy informs the design of a school building essentially if your goal is to

090support metalarning adaptability and future ready skills what should the physical space look like? Right? So, here's a detailed approach. So, I laid out a bunch of steps. One was, and I won't go into them in detail, but the first one was flexible learning spaces, which is all over the building. You've incorporated flexible learning spaces in there. Movable furniture, modular walls, uh multi-purpose zones, just all that's all in there. And I see that in these new plans. Number two was technology integration >> all over the place. I still ask a little bit about robotics. Tux didn't hear about robotic having enough, you know, space for robotics and robotics labs. >> Uh but space for coding, digital creation, all of that stuff. And that's all in this plan. So kudos there. >> Zones for reflection and metalarning.

091Uh quiet zones, reflection pods for focused work. Learning analytic stations where students can review their progress. I saw all of that in here when you presented it. Um, I circled on here flexible learning spaces or flexible teacher spaces to guide coaching and mentoring, but I think you covered that. I didn't see it at the finance committee meeting, but you did cover that here when you were talking about the new teacher lounge space. >> Number four was collaborative and social spaces. That's all over the building. um on here. The one thing that and I and I still have questions about this and I know we've talked about it before. It was talked about a ton at tech because of the outdoor spacesh >> but at Apollo and in this remodel I don't hear a lot of

092talk about outdoor spaces and court we don't want courtyards but outdoor spaces to encourage experiential learning. And I still I know I asked it before, but I I still wonder if there's a way we could incorporate that pond >> into a more usable classroom space because we spent a lot of time at tech trying to figure out how to get that woods and >> creek >> to be part of the classroom learning. But otherwise, the collaboration and social spaces are all over the building. Number five was real world and experiential learning areas. Um I see that all over the place. That's like maker spaces, labs, innovation hubs, gardens, workshops, simulation labs. Uh flexible exhibition spaces for students, presentations, and portfolios. I think there's probably an opportunity after watch I watched this again tonight and there's

093probably an opportunity to do that. I know it's up in the very front in the entrance to the school, but throughout the different collaboration areas within the school, there's probably a better an opportunity to do more of that. >> Number six was adaptability for future needs. Um, ev evolve buildings should evolve and change with technology. Um, and I see that built into this thing, too. So, I mean, as far as what that came up with, what this slide, that one slide and and throwing or just going in and asking some questions about that and what what it was really referencing, that's what it was referencing and I think that you've touched on every part of it. Thank you. Uh, one question that I had in the health science or in the fax area were building

094those spaces uh for like the CNA lab and the ambulance bay. And there's a lot of health sciences in there. This is probably more for you, but there's a lot of the health sciences stuff in there. Has there ever been any thought or or do we have maybe we already have and I just don't know um any type of programming for veterinary medicine or for like we have a CNA course, a vette. There are a lot of kids who are really interested in veterinary science, but they wouldn't even consider going into health science. >> Does that mean I get to bring in all the animals? Everybody knows me so well that I I've got five at home. So, uh, >> but also >> that's a great that's a great question, Alan. I'm looking at Jason

095also because we have never talked about that and I think >> well and it also kind of farm to table and culinary part >> for sure >> where a lot of a lot of the uh veterinary science would be tied to the farm part. >> I am in remember when I wanted buffalo out at Kennedy and nobody would let me have buffalo. Um and the other, you know, the other thing that we've talked about with our SCTCC partners is dental, right? That's a very uh it's a very hard program to get into. Um and it's a it's a high demand, right? Um so that's something else that we have talked about and and likely that would end up at tech, right? If it was more of an advanced pathway, but something to think about. >>

096And I don't know where veterinary would end up. It could end up at either Apollo or Tech, but it would kind of demand its own space is why I ask right now. So, >> and I think that's a great point and looking at this, you know, the maker space right now is is unlabeled for that reason if that's where that would potentially fall. So, thinking about those future spaces um if you go to the front of the building, there is um you know, one of the open flex labs that eventually could be configured to that. What's unique about these spaces is even the ones that don't um have a need for like plumbing, there will be plumbing behind the wall. So someday we could add a sink if we wanted to. So we're not going

097to have a sink in the computer science classroom, but there's going to be the ability to add one because that's how flexible we want those those spaces to be. >> Actually, that's still kind of up in the air. He didn't want one, then he didn't want. I'll just add one just one quick thing in the sense of uh and superintendent Putnham looked over because currently right now we're working on we have a career and college design uh team specifically of what we learned from tech and specifically around our partners and pathways right and so we're in the midst of looking at our pathways and health services and starting to look at multiple things not just CNA what are future jobs that we're going to really need to look at, right? Like in health sciences or

098manufacturing. We've had a good uh collaboration with our industry folks. We have an advisory committee that gives us information specifically on what's going to be good for us to offer for courses. Right now, you're in the future in November, you're going to see what new courses we're looking to offer. Right? Last year, we looked at how do you get, you know, more robotics and to earlier grades. And I think the team of folks now are starting to look at that and to if you go back to the first slide. >> Second slide. >> Yes. The sec the second the second slide. This is our fourdimensional learning framework. Right. And specifically with the learner and center, right? So the knowledge specifically on what content, what standards do we want our students to know? And then in

099pathways, what skills do we want them to be able to show? If it's going into EMR, here's the courses. Here are the skills that we need. Two, we know kids need to have scar uh character. If they work for you, they need to know how to work with folks. They need to know how to be respectful. We had the conversation with our industry folks to say, "Okay, well, if I'm in the workplace, how do I get along with one another?" We need to do those things in this framework now before they even get out into the world. Me and Justin just had this conversation this week and he a student was what were the sign class were they over at the pond and they were getting something when we talked about it, right? You want

100to just share to your pond piece, right? >> Yeah, it definitely does get used and I can I can speak to that as a parent because um as 10th grader wildlife biology like my phone dings when he leaves campus cuz they're going to the pond. So the first time was a where are you going? Oh I'm in the pond and waiters right now. So they are going out there and using it. Um it's just maybe how can we support the structure of that a little bit? >> The structure and the accessibility. Yes. >> So uh we're in those conversations and we also been getting information from uh Minnesota Department of uh labor and industry right for future. What's coming? What's the market look like? How's manufacturing luck? We just had Niron uh break ground just

101in uh Sartell just last week, right? to these are jobs that are coming and we were in the conversation with our S cloud technical partners this morning on all those conversations so we could get cuz sometimes we I love education but we work in our own little silo and how do you get expertise from outside to help us [Music] >> glad you brought up the first slide Al because it it wrapped up as I'm thinking I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of want to go back to high school. But it I I did not like high school at all. I was a fan of junior high, but not high school, but it just super impressed in it. Like the learner, not just student, but learner, >> it it it worked. Um so

102I just yeah, can't wait and um feel grateful cuz my daughters will get to go there. So So I'm lucky at times, too. I just Yeah, this is super exciting and um good job. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> That was wonderful. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thanks for your time. Okay, next up we have um action items. We have approval of tenative agreements and we have Amy Scallarude, executive director of finance and business services uh presenting some um contracts. Okay. Good evening, Chair Haw, Superintendent Putnham, school board members. We are super excited that we have two contracts for approval tonight. Um, so we will start with the licensed uh practical nurses, our LPN contract. Uh, this group represents uh 15.59 FTE, which is approximately 17 employees. um and you have the information in

103front of you um regarding the settlement information. So in year 1 um there is an 8.5% increase in hourly rates um for all current employees um with the exception of uh hourly reserve RNs who are um a temporary solution in in trying to fill positions. They come in at a higher rate and so there's a 1% increase for for those um a couple of people who are in the unit in those roles. Um, I do want to point out that these uh and when we see the total two-year cost um is going to be higher uh than the other contract you'll you'll review. Um we have specific dedicated funds for this group um to do some market adjustment um based on what the market rate for healthcare uh positions is in the area. Um and

104we've been having to contract out those positions. And so that is why you see um percent increases that will be larger than what we see um going forward with other groups. Uh there is also an increase in the longevity rates. Um there's no change to the three-year rate. Um but there are increases in the other um longevity tiers ranging from 5 years to 25 years. Uh there's a few changes for insurance um which we will see applied consistently across all groups. We've signed a memorandum of understanding with all groups um related to uh caps for our EME contributions um as well as an increase to the single contribution effective uh here 101 with the new plan year. Um and then we with this group um have two positions that are float uh LPN positions and

105so they um are used districtwide that requires a higher level of skill to know the all of our buildings and all of our processes. And so this contract, we've added a $1.25 per hour additional um pay increase for those float positions. Um and then with this contract, as with every other contract, in accordance with the new statute um regarding paid family and medical leave, you'll see those contributions starting um on January 1st of 2026. Um the total amount that has to be um collected for that is 088% um with the employee paying half of that and the employer uh paying the other half uh which is the44% listed. Um in year two, much simpler year two, uh 2.5% increase in hourly wages, hourly wages, um 1% increase for those um returning uh reserve hourly R

106RNS um if thatou is extended um and is required to fill positions. So total two-year cost for this uh settlement is 11.08%. Anybody have any questions on this one? Scott, >> correct? There was specific funds allocated for a market adjustment for this group. Al >> who was the board member on this committee? >> I was. >> You get we should all cheer for you. >> I can tell you these >> part of getting the first contract. I I I could tell you that I know what the market rate is for LPNs and uh we needed to fix the problem. >> No, it's high. And when you're contracting them out, you're paying contractor prices. Ridiculous amount. That's way more than what >> Yes. >> what it costs to align yourself. Absolutely. But no, it's just you

107get the PL you get the honor of being the first group. So congratulations. Okay. So, this is an action item and I'm looking for a motion to approve the licensed practical nurse contract 2025 2027 as presented in front of you. >> So, move a motion by Al, a second by Zach Heather. Can you call vote? >> Heather Williams, yes. Diana Fenton, >> yes. >> Al Dalgen, >> yes. >> Scott Andre, >> yes. Shannon Hos, >> yes. >> Dector Halt, >> yes. >> Natalie Copeland, >> yes. >> Okay. And delightfully, we have one more in front of us. >> Uh, so the next one is the sign language uh interpreter contract. Um, this looks a little goofy because it says it represents 8.15 FTE because that's the number of positions we have, but as with some

108of the other groups and not because of wages, but just because of the shortage of qualified people. One of those um 8.15 FTE is filled with a contractor right now. So, it's only eight actual employees um because we do have one uh part-time position being filled with a contract. Um but again, that is not because our wages aren't competitive. Our wages are competitive. This contract was settled within um the allocated board authority. Um but it's there's just a shortage statewide of um of qualified people to fill positions. Uh so looking at then year one um a lot of this uh will be similar um but the the main differences are in the rate. So this is a 3.5% increase in hourly wages. Um and then uh the only change with longevity is at the 10-year

109increment. Um this contract already had um a little bit higher longevity pay um than what we have uh districtwide in a lot of other contracts. And so we're trying to do some alignment with those um but the 10-year increment was a little bit lower. And so that's being adjusted. Um, and then we do have a a rate in the contract similar to our teacher contract with an hourly rate where we have a a flat rate for outside service work. Um, and so that is increasing to $40 an hour. Uh, otherwise, um, the only other changes in year 1 are the insurance changes that we just talked about. Um, and then the paid family medical leave. And then year two is a 2.5% increase in hourly wages. Uh, so the total 2-year cost for this group

110is 4.75%. Any questions on this one? Okay. Um, again, action item looking for a motion to approve the sign language interpreter contract for 2025 2027. >> So, move. >> I have a motion by Scott. Do I have a second? >> Second by Diana. Heather, can you call vote? >> Yes. >> Shannon Hos, >> yes. >> Zehalt, >> yes. Scott Andre, >> yes. >> Diana Fenton, >> yes. >> Natalie Copeland, >> yes. >> Heather Williams, yes. >> Okay, thank you, Amy. Hopefully, we'll have some more next time. Um, moving on to reports, we have the board of education standing committee reports being presented by the committee chairs. Uh, we have board development policy governance committee chair Zack Dorhalt. Do you have a report? >> Brief one. On uh September 24th, the board policy and governance committee

111met and discussed two policies. Committee heard about recommended revisions to board policy 611, which includes homeschooling, which will be presented for its first reading today. Uh the committee also heard proposed updates to policy 902, use of school district facilities and equipment, and these changes are scheduled for first reading at October 15th, school board meeting. >> Thank you. Then we have finance audit board committee chair Heather Weeps. >> I actually have two reports. The first is from September 15th. Um we reviewed board policy 421. Uh Amy reviewed proposed changes to board policy 421 which is gifts to employees to address comments and questions that came up during the first reading of the policy at the board meeting on September 3rd. Also talked about proposed facility rental fees. Shannon Ason presented information on proposed changes to our

112facility rental fee structure. We're proposing to move to a three- tier system for fees with different rates for each tier. This is similar to what most other districts are doing currently. These proposed changes were also reviewed by the community education advisory committee. Amy presented information on our current rates compared to surrounding districts as well as proposed new rates using the three- tier structure. The new rental rates would be effective on January 1st. The committee recommended a few changes to the proposed rates and asked a few questions that district staff will need to follow up on. Amy and Shannon will present the final proposed fee structure and rates at the board finance committee meeting on October 6th, which will then go to the school board for approval at the October 15th meeting. And then finally, preliminary

113levy. Amy presented information on the 2025 payable 2026 preliminary levy. There is an increase of 4.7% due to the addition of the new debt for the referendum that was approved last spring. The percentage change is in the dollar amount of the levy and not in the tax rate. A suggestion was made to put an asterric on this page of the levy report to make sure this is understood. The preliminary levy was approved by at the board meeting on September 17th. And then the second meeting we held was last was September 24th. Uh we had an Apollo projects update. Um much of what you heard tonight we reviewed on that date. So Whitney and David from JG Architects presented a preview of the latest plans and drawings that will be presented tonight. >> Thank you. And

114then personnel negotiations board committee chair Natalie Copeland. >> Thank you, Chair Hos. We met on September 23rd, talked about three things. The administration reviewed the district staff and emergency medical services response to a student medical emergency at Westwood. Secondly, administration reviewed the impact of enrollment increases and potential needs for additional staffing. And then finally, which you'll probably see on this, well, hopefully for only one more month, we'll put it out there. Administration provided update on negotiations meetings that are underway with our collective bargaining groups. And that's all. Thank you. Then we have a future agenda items. The October 15th, 2025 board meeting topics will include graduation plan update, uh approval of tenative agreements, 2025 2028 strategic plan draft, approval of community education rental fees, and some policy readings. At this time, does any board member

115wish to suggest a future agenda item? >> You read my mind because I was going to ask for an update on the graduation planning. Very Um, and what did what did you say the date was on that >> for the fifth >> the next meeting? Our next meeting. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> October 15th. >> Perfect. >> Awesome. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> All right. Um, then I'm looking for a motion to adjourn our board meeting. >> I have a motion by Natalie, a second by Heather. All in favor say I. >> Opposed. meeting is uh board meeting is adjourned at 7:58 p.m. And at that same time, we are opening up the board of education work session. We have two items tonight. We have the um Shannon Averson, executive director of community education

116and community partnerships, will be doing a first reading on proposed revised board policy 611 homeschooling. Good evening, Chair H, Dr. Putnham, and members of the board. Tonight, I will be reviewing um our proposed changes for board policy 611, homeschooling. Um much like some of the other policies that I've reviewed with you for updates, this one is highly aligned to statute. And so you'll note that most of the suggest or proposed changes are some of those statute language changes. So the purpose of the policy you see here is to provide guidelines in accordance with state law for parents and guardians who wish to have their children receive education in a home school that is an alternative to an accredited public or private school. Um general statement of policy is where we see that first uh statute

117language change. Again, uh the intent of the MSBA redline or uh MSBA model policy is to reduce some of the repetitiveness of statutes in there and then to clarify language and make it easier for people to read it. Um so you'll see there we we are proposing those changes throughout general statement of the policy. We're also uh proposing those changes in uh item three conditions for homeschooling immunization as well. And then when we get down to textbooks, instructional materials, and standard uh tests, what you'll see there in that turquoise, what I've highlighted for you, it's the area where we have our language uh differs just a little bit from MSBA model policy. Um in the MSBA model policy, um it says upon formal request, uh it goes to the administration in the school district. In

118our district, uh these formal requests go to our business services department. So Amy's department oversees the homeschooling pieces. Um, and so that's why I highlighted that for our team just to clarify that there were some language differences between our policy and the model policy. Um, but of course it still follows state statute. Um, so the other piece um, and this is why it came to a a first read um, instead of just going to consent is because we did drop the language of an standardized tests. And the reason we did that, I did meet with a couple of members of Amy's team and they indicated that's per Minnesota Department of Education. There's a new uh assessment guidance from MDE that I shared with the team at that time. Um that advises us to take that

119language out because we no longer provide those tests. Um so that is an MDE recommendation. Um so our team is proposing that as well. And then you'll also note some of those taking out of the statute um and indicating under state law or pursuant to state law. Some of those language changes are just because some of the statutes or some of the text throughout had multiple statutes uh that were referenced. And so again, it's just a recommendation to clean up that language. Other than that standardized test, that's really the only um language that we've adapted in in um our update to our prop our former policy outside of those statute changes. Um if we go down to pupil support, you'll see that again and extracurricular activities. Um just removing some of the statutes out of

120there. And um when we go down into cooperative arrangements, you'll see activities there. um removing a reference to a specific bylaw. Um there was not an indicator of why that specific bylaw was removed, but I think it just again it gives districts the right to or the ability to not have to change their policies more frequently when they update when you don't reference a specific bylaw. The same reason we do under state law or pursuant to state law. Go down to transportation services. No changes recommended there. And then again, you'll see under legal references, um, even where we remove some of those statutes from, uh, the the language above, those statutes are all still referenced under our legal references, um, on this document as well. And that is it for proposed changes. It's really that

121uh, standardized test piece. Um, and then the statute updates as recommended by MSBA. Any questions? [Music] Okay, I think we're good. Thanks, Shannon. >> Thank you. >> Last up tonight, we have the schools update and we have Nikki Hansen, assistant superintendent of E5 learning and Dr. Jason Harris, assistant superintendent of secondary education. All right. Sorry for the delay. Good evening, Chair H, Superintendent Putnham, members of the board. We are excited to be here with you tonight to talk about our school's update. Tonight, you will see a little bit of a new format from last year. We will be highlighting our four pillar areas of safety, belonging, collaboration, and excellence. And you will get to say see an array across sites of some fall highlights as we go through. Starting off with safety. Um, a few

122of our highlights so far this year has been CAG, an acronym standing for comprehensive school threat assessment guidelines, which is a framework that helps us to identify threat assessments and provides a systematic way for us to address them as teams within our sites. We had on September 23rd a group of our administrative team attend this training as well as a group of administrators that attended in June for the same training and now an internal team that is working through what this process will mean for our teams as we create that system of alignment. Um we also relaunched our say see something say something anonymous reporting system um this fall with our sites and are being responsive to working in collaboration to meet the needs of our students. Um, and then there at the right you

123see the book vending machine at Discovery and you see some littles who are bringing up their tokens which were earned from positive bus behavior and safe behaviors on the bus and getting some excitement around being able to purchase a book out of that book vending machine with her token. Um, we also have here highlighted in the bottom picture a Westwood students of the month. Um, Westwood launched here a PBIS assembly to celebrate positive behavior interventions and supports. They also aligned their monthly student awards to our purposeful people uh curriculum which is our social emotional learning curriculum we are implementing this year at the elementary level. And so these are your young scholars who received the respect awards for the month of September. Um, we also are looking as teams on safe entry and exit out

124of our buildings and putting in some alignment to plans of how we exit and enter safely. And so the map above shows you Oak Hills, a zoomed-in parking lot um who the administration there has been working in partnership um with Matt Sherry, our safety coordinator, to make sure that our littles get into school safely each morning and that our traffic patterns are hopefully starting to feel a sense of ease because of these changes to our procedures and routines. All right, moving on to the pillar of belonging. On the left, you'll see some photos from Tech and Apollo's homecoming celebrations that they had all week. Um, for Tech, their celebration, homecoming game was on September 12th, and Apollo had theirs on September 19th. And then on the right, you will see some photos from a Tahi

125special. Um, and they always roll out the red carpet to welcome back students and families into buildings and to help them feel connected and excited and start the year off with some confidence. Uh, a few more photos here to celebrate belonging. On the bottom left, you'll see a photo from the McKinley um annual barbecue that they host with students, families, and the community and neighborhood. Um, they always get some some good participation from the neighborhood. Um, Madison also hosted a fall picnic. So, you'll see from the photo in the middle that that was a very well attended event at Madison Elementary. And then on the far right, you will see that uh Corey View and our littles, they launched a new theme of you belong. Literally a B e um bumblebee theme. So they ordered

126matching t-shirts. They all got a lanyard um and then they are doing uh be grateful slips to kind of launch the entire building um with that really connection to ground themselves in that commitment of belonging. And then additionally, um there's not a photo, but Kennedy had their walk-athon today um for um preschool through grade 8 students, and every student was able to get a t-shirt um that was sponsored by the PTO. So, uh Westwood has their walk-athon coming up next week. So, that is another thing to highlight. And then last but not least, um the HR team onboarded 99 new hires in August and September. So, not quite 100, but very, very close. That was a lot of staff. So we are excited to welcome them and as we kicked off the start of the

127year. >> Uh good evening chair superintendent Putnham board members. I have the uh opportunity to talk about collaboration. Uh you see on the top two uh photos uh North and South Junior High both uh received $3,000 from uh Kellogg and Coburn store specifically to uh our our athletic teams to purchase uniforms. So, our community continues to show up for us in collaboration. Uh on the left bottom, you see the Tech volleyball team with the uh Tech Tiger Dig for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They raised $1,200. And then you see uh our district leadership team getting prepared for the year. You see me in the photo with Christa Potter uh just in preparing for the school year and and learning together and setting the stage. I got a chance to uh get the other pillar of

128excellence where you see uh Grace White Whites uh named coach of the year for speech. Uh she's if you know her how how she's evolved and to get this award is is kudos to all the things that she does. On the left you see uh November 23rd we had PD day. Shout out to our district uh leadership folks for coordinating that and then our teachers for being engaged around learning on uh September 23rd. We had a good uh good day of learning across uh E12. Uh at the bottom left, UEI just did a alumni activities uh award ceremony for our tech alum uh last was that last week. Uh and then you look at it, we had our uh early childhood expo kickoff and that was the first time and we got good feedback on

129on that. We learned a lot of good things and seeing our littles and then the team tech Havoc uh competed um down in Nebraska. They took home hardware across the competing across the nation. So uh we continue to see our folks in excellence, collaboration, safety, and belonging. Thank you. Uh, anybody else questions, comments? Okay, >> I tried to go. >> Well, fit better on the coffee. [Laughter] >> You just have to reverse it. Okay. Uh that was everything on our agenda. Looking to a motion to uh adjourn our work session. >> I have a motion by Scott, a second by Diana. All in favor say I. >> Opposed. Uh work session is adjourned. It is 8:12 p.m. Have a good night and thanks for watching.