001Would you please? >> No, it's okay. He was here before we were all >> Did Troy not welcome >> Troy? >> Yeah, >> I guess not. He probably welcome. >> He did. He welcomed us. You can come in. Are you here for the meeting? >> Sign, please. [Music] >> It's okay. >> You're okay. We haven't started yet. You got one minute. Jimmy, do you want the blind dropped? >> Um, or they are is it in your eyes? >> He can drop or never mind. He's going to do it. I was just going to ask you to drop that blind. >> I always forget. >> Thank you, Will. Is that better? It won't be long. It'll be dark at >> All right, it's 7 o'clock. I now call this board meeting order. Please rise for the
002pledge of allegiance. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Miss, will you please take role? >> Everybody is present. >> Thank you. Is there any new business? Hearing none, I would see a motion for approval of the agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Welch and a second by Mr. Ravenhorst. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Opposing sign. Motion carries 70. Next item is item five, consent agenda items A and B. Is there any item any board member would like removed and discussed separately? Hearing none, I receive a motion. [Music] I have a motion by Mr. Lman and a second
003by Miss Kefir. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Post same sign. Motion carries 70. Next item on the agenda is item six. Consider and approve Crystal Peterson's extended state field trip for baseball and softball to travel to Cocoa Beach March 28th through April 4th, 2026. Um, this is an annual trip that the baseball team and the softball team takes. Um, is there any discussion or questions? Okay. Hearing none, I would take a motion. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> Is this just to play games in a different >> They go there on spring break every year. >> Every other year they go down. >> Yeah, >> they do. >> They play games spring training, I guess you could call >> team building. Team building. Yeah. Any other question? >>
004Give them a jump start on your kind of thing. >> Okay. I would seek a motion. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Ravenhorse and a second by Mr. Gist. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I >> post same sign. Motion carries 70. Next item on the agenda would be we'll skip down to nine. A superintendent search presentation by MSBA. So I'll um introduce Barb Dorne and Amy Jordan and they are here from MSBA. Um I will preface this with we did reach out to three different firms, consulting firms for this process. Um MSBA responded right away. um accepting the invitation. Another firm, School Exec Connect, also accepted the invitation and then withdrew. And then the third firm never responded. So we have MBA joining us tonight and we're
005looking forward to the information that they're presenting. So you have in front of you a PowerPoint, which is this smaller packet, and then the full executive services, which was emailed to you last week. And so uh Barb and I are going to go through this information on the PowerPoint. We're not going to project it. It's going to be more of a conversation. And so as we go, it's pretty informal. Ask questions as we go and just make sure that you have the clarification we need to make a decision tonight. Is there anything else you want me to add? Okay, I think so. Great. All right. Thank you very much, Superintendent, Madam Chair, members of the board, members of the public. Really appreciate the opportunity to be here with you tonight to talk about MSBA's executive
006search services. Uh my name is Barb Dorne. I'm the director of leadership development and executive search with MSBA. Also with me is Amy Jordan and I'm the associate director of the same title. >> We know that. So you have that on the front page of your PowerPoint presentation. So uh we really appreciate the opportunity you're giving us here tonight to be here and I know you've had a chance to look through the proposal. It's pretty lengthy. So we're not going to walk you through that proposal. We'd like you to feel free to ask us any questions on anything you've read. Our goal in the next 15 minutes or so is to talk a little bit more about MSB's services and some of the things that make our services unique. There's a lot of search firms
007and you spoke to three originally. We're honored to still be here last standing, but we're very excited about the chance to help Steuartville find your next leader. So, I'm very glad that you are open to an informal presentation. We really enjoy back and forth. So, as we're going through the PowerPoint slides you have in front of us, please do ask questions. just let us know or interrupt us and we'd be happy to answer any questions throughout andor at the end. So, you're certainly welcome to hold them as well. We just want to be sure you have the information that you need to make an informed decision about your next steps. Um, superintendent search is one of the most important things that you will do as a board. This is the only employee that you seek,
008hire, and oversee. And so, our job is to make sure you you know what you need to know to be comfortable with that decision. All right. So, I'm going to talk first about the superintendent search basics. You can see I've broken it into process and differences. There's no magic to a superintendent search. Any search firm that does this kind of work does the same basic thing. There's a standard scaffolding for every search process. It will include developing a leadership profile. What kind of leader do you need here in Steuartville? What matters most to you? And how will you prioritize those hiring criteria? That's standard. Also, everyone solicits public input. You could do um survey, multiple languages. You could do listening sessions, focus groups. That's all up to you. And we've spelled out some options for
009you in the proposal as to how we would help you with that. Marketing the opportunity, recruiting candidates. Again, people know this job is going to be open. So, you don't have to aggressively market it or aggressively recruit because you want people to want this position. And so getting the word out is one of the things we do really well. Again, we're plugged into pretty much well into every district in the state, all the current administrators. Um, so we want to make sure they know about it as well. Facilitating the application process. This is an HR issue. It is a personnel issue and you want to make sure you're doing everything according to state statute. Uh there's certain requirements from an HR perspective that you have to work around and so we're very familiar with that.
010And then coordinating the interviews. Uh it's a lot of leg work and some heavy lifting there, but we're happy to do that as well. But that's something that every single search firm will do. They'll do it slightly differently, but that's the basics of it. Where we think we're different are the next five bullet points. And so we've taken each of those five bullet points for MSBA, and we're going to talk a little bit more on the next couple of slides about that. So I'm going to open with the slide that talks about the knowledge base, the connections, and the experience. Uh we have a lot of expertise at MSBA in the things that really truly matter here. State statute drives so much of what you do. You already know that state statute also drives superintendent
011suites. So there are some things that you have to be very aware of in terms of the open meeting law and in terms of the government data practices act. They both are in play during the superintendent search. Uh we do have a lot of local, regional and statewide expertise. We have 100% membership of our member districts in MSBA. It's voluntary, but we don't have a single district in the state of Minnesota who doesn't voluntarily choose to be a member in our organization. And we have national relationships. A lot of districts feel it's important to have this national reach. And there's a mystique to out of state candidates. We do have that. Amy and I are members of the national affiliation of superintendent searchers. And our application database is one that's used by um other schoolboard
012associations around the country. So if someone is looking at applications in Nebraska or Michigan or Texas or Florida, they they see Minnesota openings in Rebellis, which is our application database. Um that being said, Minnesota is fortunate to have an extremely talented core of administrators. The vast majority of positions are filled by Minnesota administrators who are already familiar with the tier licensing system, the educational finance system, with the legislative process and yet we'll still look out of state and we'll um we'll market out of state if you'd like us to. There's some national firms that allocart, excuse me, national websites that are allocart. You can choose to advertise them if you feel it's necessary. Um that'll be a decision you make. Uh let's see. We do have partnerships with both MASA and BOSA. MSA is the
013superintendent association. So we partner with them on a lot of things including a sample model contract including the superintendent evaluation process that both associations endorse. And we have a very strong relationship with BOSA the board of school administrators. One of the things that we do that other firms don't is confirm that these people who are applying for your position have a valid and current Minnesota superintendent license. It is not always the case when they come from out of state because they assume we have reciprocity. We do not. an out of state superintendent needs to jump through some hoops in order to secure a provisional license if they don't yet have a Minnesota one. So, we always check with the executive director at BOSA to make sure that the candidates we're recommending or that you're considering
014interviewing have a valid license or will have one by July 1st of 26. Am I going too fast or are we okay? All right. Can >> I ask what what do you consider regional? Just >> I think of regional as the upper Midwest. >> Just the surrounding states. >> Yeah, the surrounding states is regional. And I suppose most of the applications that come from out of state tend to be Wisconsin or Iowa. >> Okay. >> Those are the ones we see most frequently, but they come from the east coast and west coast sometimes. >> Curious. Regions can be big or small. >> I see area. Thank you for asking that. Uh let's see. Um we do a lot of searches. Last year we did over 80% of the searches in Minnesota. The rest were done
015primarily by the districts themselves, which is always an option, but it is a lot of heavy lifting. And so we do 80% of the rest. I think there was one firm last year that did St. hall and one firm that did a northern Minnesota district. Otherwise, we did all of the searches that uh schools hired someone to conduct a search for them. Let's see. Small to large. Um in the last two years, our smallest district we helped was 215 students. The largest district was over 28,000. So, that makes us feel good because we can actually work with a breadth of experiences and needs and leadership profiles for that matter. student bodies. There are so many dynamics at work. When you're looking for a leader, it's a very anxious time because transition at the top makes
016people feel anxious. Your students are looking for something unique. Your staff are looking for something unique specific to Stuartville. So that's the development of the leadership profile that we want to make sure we're taking in consideration all those demographics. We do metro, we do greater Minnesota, we do every corner. We've done a lot in southeast Minnesota. Amy is our southeast Minnesota guru. She's done about every research on here in the last couple of years. So, we know this area. Um, all kinds of stuff about how much we know. So, I'm going to stop talking about that. The final version of expertise is we don't serve candidates. We serve school boards. Um, there are some search firms that recruit from within a stable of employ or a stable of superintendent that they like to help place.
017Our concern is helping you find the right leader, not placing anyone. However, that being said, I think candidates would say we do a very fair, very equitable, very open process with them as well. The next slide on search methodologies. Um, I'm just going to say it's your search. It's not ours. There are many points during a search that you are going to make a decision about do we go this way or do we go this way. It'll still be legal, we guarantee, but there will be decisions you make about input from the public, about what do you do after the survey is done, what about the interviews themselves? And those are decisions you make along the way and you'll do it based on the information you've been gathering all along. So there's no one way
018to do a search as a cookie cutter. This is something that Steuart Bill's board is going to own. It's yours. It's not ours, but we'll make sure you have the information and the options in front of you before you make those decisions. Uh let's see. Every district is different. Continuous improvement is important. Every year we survey all of the member districts we worked with, all of the schoolboard members, all of the district points of contact. We survey all of the candidates. Um we survey all of our service providers, our consultants to find out what are we doing well, what could we be doing better. So every year we tweak the process to become better and better each and every year. I think that's why we keep getting searches. Um a couple of things that we
019do that are different are the Q&A with MSBA. that is something that we record so that information gets out to the public about this search process. Um people can send us questions in advance about the process that we'll answer while we're recording it and then you put that on your district website. We get hundreds of views of that after the fact. Um people have our phone numbers. They can call us with questions about the process. But that Q&A I think helps prevent the misinformation getting out early because rumor mills start and in smaller communities people are again anxious so they want to get answers. The Q&A will give them all the answers they need about how, when, why, all of those things are in that Q&A. It's usually a half hour, 45 minutes. We do
020search preview meetings with your district leadership and with the leadership of your bargaining units. We want to bring them in early in those search preview meetings. It's something that we do where we want to provide information, timeline, vacancy brochure, all of that. Uh we want to make sure we answer their questions because they'll have questions and we want to ask for their help. A lot of folks that work in the district have a very large sphere of influence and we want them to feel comfortable inviting people to take the survey, come to the search meetings, all of those things. So those are what we do with search previews and we only added those how many years? Two, three years. We started them last year. >> Last year >> consistently. >> Okay. So we started doing
021those based on feedback that sometimes administrators and staff felt a little out of the loop if there were not focus focus groups being done. So we audited theformational session with them. Public survey report. I don't think anyone does those better. Um that'll be something you'll make decisions based upon once you've talked to folks or they've talked to the survey because there's results in there broken out by staff, by students, by parents, um community members, all of those things. And so the reports that we provide I think are second to none. I'm really proud of those. We will do some bias training with school boards. This was a learning curve for us as well because one of the things we see is this unintentional bias toward or against certain candidates. And there are a couple that
022will bubble up and you don't even realize it. There might be an age bias. Older candidates versus younger candidates. So people who have experiences of soup versus those who don't. So wanting to address that. We're also seeing a lot of um geographic bias in that there is a sense of greater Minnesota or this region versus metro and sometimes the very best candidate comes from a district that's nothing like yours. So we want to make sure we're aware of that bias. There's a familiarity bias. Internal candidates, you know, you know a lot about them, but you know a lot about them. So it can be both ways. If you're familiar with people or from a neighboring district, you've heard about them. So that conversation is part of the interview training that we do. And then applications
023up in the cloud or if you want hard copies, we'll get you those. You will see every single application for your position. We are still going to do our own vetting. We're going to recommend to you who we feel align best with your public input report survey and with your leadership profile. And yet, because you've seen all of those applications, you do not have to only interview the ones MSBA is recommending. And that is different. Every other firm that I'm aware of, if you were talking to other firms, will give you the five or six applications they think are the strongest and you don't see the other 10 or 20. But we trust school boards. You know, it's confidential data. There's data privacy laws, but we trust you to look at that information because you
024handle private data all the time, right? So, we want to make sure you see who's applied for your job. And we'll walk you through how to make sure you're not going to violate the law when you actually talk about those folks in a public meeting, but we'll get there. So those are some differentiators I think and then I'm going turn it over to Amy to talk a little bit more about bandwidth. >> Yeah. So Barb touched on how we did about 80% of the searches um across the state, but I don't want that to scare you and think that you're just going to be one of those searches. We have the firm bandwidth. We have multiple employees who who have touch points on our search process. We have lots of staff who work directly to
025support the process. But also then don't think you're going to be um communicated by a whole bunch of different staff members either. You'll have one main point of contact. You'll hear from a couple of us at different points in the search, but you'll have one main point of contact throughout the search so that you're comfortable with them. >> How many searches are you projected to be doing this year? >> I wish we knew. >> Right. and you had contact with a bunch of other districts already or >> um this is the first time we've met with the board about getting started but we have three other proposals that are due before the end of September. Um there there'll be I mean there was 31 searches last year that we did and the year before I
026think it was 22 maybe and the year before that it was 33. Um so we'll have a lot but I think what Amy's going to share with is the ability to kind of expand and contract with how many searches we're going to have. So >> absolutely. So, we have, you know, team members from communications, team members from our policy services. You're probably familiar with some of them already, and they they help us throughout the whole search process. And so, we do have that firm bandwidth to be able to do it. But again, you will have one main contact that you'll be working with through MSBA. Um, we also have 15 or more um service providers and who they are are retired superintendent or schoolboard members from across the state. So, we have this network of
027experienced educators who are working on our team as well. Um, where they show up the most often is um assisting us through our vetting process. So, we don't want to be the only people reviewing. Obviously, you'll all be reviewing all of the application materials, but we also want to have a team of people who are looking at them and also that they'll give that input on and help us. They will assist us in deciding who we may recommend for your district. But again, all of the decisions are your own. And so, even though we may recommend certain candidates, you will decide who you want to move on. You can go with our recommendations. You can go with um anybody who's not on the recommended list. Again, you see all of those applications. Um and the
028result of having that firm bandwidth is of course that you don't have a heavy lift for your staff. Um it pulls all of that work off of them. We have um going right into the next one about communication and transparency. We assist with the communications. We have templates that we'll send um to the district staff who will be sending out communications to families and um to to the staff members. So we we provide all of that information so that it's not really a heavy lift for your your internal staff at all. Um so communication and transparency. So really the communication is the strength of our search team and you'll see that in the reviews and the responses that um most of our surveys do. As Barb mentioned, we survey our board members and our candidates.
029Um and time and again we will hear about the communication and how that is one of our strengths. Um we are available to you. Um you will have your search leads uh email and their cell phone number and we are available. We understand that schoolboard members um some of you have full-time jobs and you're only available to work in the evenings. Sometimes you'll be doing schoolboard work during the day. Sometimes you only have weekends. We're available for you throughout the whole search process any of the time that you need us. So you will have our um our cell phone number so that you can get a hold of us so that your questions are answered at any time. >> Questions from anybody by the way? Otherwise, we're just going to keep talking. >> Yeah, keep
030talking. >> Yeah. All right. Um and then also um the trans the transparency. It's it's really key to our search. Barb touched on how you'll see all of the applications. It's really important to us and to your community um that you guys have all of that information. You need to make the best decision for your district. Nobody knows it like you do. We don't know that. And so we're going to give you recommendations, but that's why it's so important for you to see all of the applications and to know who all applied for your position. Those decisions are up to you. will just assist you throughout the process. Um, also the candidates, so Barb touched on this as well. Everybody has a shot at this job. They're going to um apply. It's an open application
031system. We're not doing um specific recruiting with, you know, certain candidates. Again, she touched on that. Again, I'm not going to go much deeper into that. Um, oh, and then your staff, uh, which also we touched on already. Um, so with those search preview meetings, um, and then we also with the public, we do the Q&A session, um, so that they can ask any questions about the process. We want to make sure everybody's looped in from the from the get-go just to help, um, make sure that there's clear information and everybody's on the same page. And we do, I don't know if you touched on this or not, so if I'm repeating it, I apologize. Um, we record that Q&A session and then we provide the uh, recording to you to put on the district
032website. So then you as board members can refer people to that, but also you can refer staff member um staff members or if they're getting questions, they know where to send people to get more information about the search process as well. Um also the public input survey report will suggest that you put that right on your website as well. Typically you'll have like a landing page for the superintendent search and we'll provide the information that you guys can put on that and so that it's not again a heavy lift for your staff. Um and the contact information for the search lead. Um we're going to go to the next one to transition services. One other thing that makes us different from other search firms is that once the search is done and you guys are
033you've you've made your selection, we don't just send you off. You're not you're not just done and left alone to to figure it out. We come back in the fall and we'll do a transition workshop for you. Um, and that's part of the search fee. There's no extra cost for that at all. And what that is is really we work with you to help you set goals and expectations with your the new board team, with your new superintendent um to make sure that everybody's on the same page to make sure you have a successful start. That's one of the other things that really sets us apart. Um, so and again, there's no cost if it's held within the first six months uh after a superintendent starts. Um, and we will also Oh, yeah. In the
034fall, we'll also come and we'll do a a new superintendent visit by an MSBA staff person. We'll come and visit just to make sure that your superintendent um has all of the resources that they need to have a successful start as well. >> My turn. >> Your turn. Are we on time? Not bad. Okay. So, the last um slide on here I want to mention is the bottom line. I think for anyone that's worked with us, the bottom line for our service is that we we understand the work that you do and we believe in you and we believe that you are able to make decisions that are right for the the students and the staff and the families of Steuartville public schools. That's just in our blood. It's in the blood of every single
035person that works at MSBA. And so I would say we have an extremely experienced team. Um at one time I knew how many years it was. I totaled up all the number of years that our staff has been doing this work times the number of people that have been helping us as consultants and service providers and it was a really big number like 900 or thousand out years or something like that. It was ridiculous but I finally gave up because time kept going by and more and more years kept being added. So I stopped doing that. Um but all we really do is school boards. That's the work that we do. That is all we do and we think superintendent search is a very important part of the work of the school board. So, we're
036here to be a resource for you in any way we can during that process. Uh, the very last slide is just some quotes from that survey that I mentioned that we send out at the end of each search. Um, while it's fresh in their mind, we have board members submit anonymous comments. Um, contact person submit anonymous comments and these are just a couple of the ones uh that came from last year's survey and the year before one or two web. So, those are just for you to take a look at. But also in our proposal, you saw a whole list of the searches that we have done in the last five years along with contact information for the board chair of some of the searches. We didn't have room to put all 30 searches and
037contact info, but there's some in there you can certainly reach out to them um via email if you'd like to learn more about what their experience was with MS search services. And there's lots more quotes in there, too. Um, if you saw it already, you probably read too many. But, um, we are now available for questions. We only got to ask one question, I don't think. There has to be a couple more, I would think, because this is a big decision for the board. >> I have one. So, what lessons have you learned from searches that didn't go as planned? >> Great. >> I love that question. Um, what have we learned from searches that did not go as planned? We plan on school boards keeping the names private. >> That's what we plan on
038because it's private data. Statute says that only the names of the finalists will be revealed. The names of every other applicant remain private data forever. And it's not necessarily finalist is what statute says, but then it also says a finalist is someone who's going to be interviewed for the for a position by the school board. So that also means semi-finalist, right? And that's typically four to several people. >> Yeah. So, I think one of the things we learned is people do people do screw up sometimes. And we've warned them that when you're looking at it on the cloud, please don't sit in a coffee shop with your laptop pulled up and be paging through resumes. You're violating data practices law right there. Be careful at your kitchen table so that someone doesn't walk behind you
039at home and really realize who applied for this job because then people start talking. So, I say it's a lesson learned that it doesn't always go according to plan. People will blab. The other thing that will happen is candidates will tell people that they've applied because they're so excited. >> So, they're shouting it from the rooftops that they've thrown their hat in the ring for Steuartville. And if you're asked about it, you have to say no comment. It's private data. Until we decide who to interview, I can't tell you it was in the pool. I can't confirm it. Can't deny it. Right. Well, sometimes people are just too excited and so they confirm who's applied. And sometimes if it's an internal candidate or someone really close to the district, it kind of can have some
040ramifications for their career and their community and things like that. So it didn't go according to plan always. For the most part though, we've continued to trust schoolboards and our training now emphasis emphasizes a little bit more the confidentiality piece of what we're entrusting you with. And that's why we added the bias training, especially the familiarity bias because just because you know somebody doesn't mean you can talk about them at the restaurant that they're applying for the job. They might not get an interview based upon what each of you thinks of your your applicant pool. So that's probably the biggest one that's gone south that I can think of anything else. Um, one of the other things I think is we'll recommend that you not um, search out candidates yourselves or write any specific letters
041of recommendation for any candidates for your own internal position because that also can go sideways. So, that's another lesson that I think we've learned in the past. >> Yeah, >> great question. Thank you. >> I have a question on your hiring the right superintendent workshop. >> Sure. How how does that differ from what you're already providing us? What what does that add to our knowledge base? >> Answer this one. >> Yeah. Okay. So, the hiring the right superintendent workshop is a part of this. If you'd like us to come in and do that first, if we've already been hired for that district search, we will customize that workshop to our process because our process is different. So, it gives you sort of um a head start, gives you more runway to do your search because
042you've gone through the workshop which provides you with that foundational information about the statutes, about the interview process, about the dos and don'ts. So then when you actually start your search, you feel more confident in the decisions you're making because you've been through that workshop. What I always tell folks is is not necessary that you go through that. um the boards that choose to do that as part of their search process, often it's because there's new board members that have never been through a search before or they've only been on the board a year or two. So, it's just more more information and more time for questions and answers. Um, typically that workshop is offered as a very generic example of how to do a superintendent search because we're never going to make the presumption
043that if a board brings us in to do the workshop, we're not going to presume that means we're going to do the search for them. They may want to do it themselves. they may want to hire a different firm. So, it's really generic and then the differences like I talked about in that one slide, we build in as the search unfolds. So, you could go through the workshop or you could just wait and go through all of the six meetings that happen during a search process and it would basically be the workshop over the course of three months. It just it's happening versus you get it all up front and then it still happens. That was a long answer. Did that make sense? It's a lot of information and for some people that are processors,
044they want more information or if they're very um analytical, they want to know the information, have time to think about the information before it starts coming to fruition. So, in that case, I think the workshop is helpful for people like that. Other people are very comfortable just going in, diving in right away. So, you'll make the decision whether you want to go through that workshop or not, but it's included for free if you want to. it is one more meeting and with how busy folks are sometimes they say no that's okay we'll just go through the process and skip the workshop up front >> is that in person or online >> it can be either >> as I thought I said >> I think I think um I was just going to add one thing
045I think it's really important that um the seven of us understand how much time outside of board meetings this is going to take I mean of The seven of us, Will and I are the only two that have gone through a superintendent search before. The rest of our board is fairly new and we've been lucky with Miss Sulers for so many years. But it it's the interview and then you the first interview then the second interview and then like you say the vetting the applicants like I think a workshop would be extremely helpful to have just I know it is another meeting but um just because it is such it is the biggest decision that the seven of us at this table make and it it weighs on you. So, I just want to make
046sure that it's done correctly and with as much information as we can possibly get. And if it means adding on another meeting, I just feel like it's just it's it's huge. >> And you have the luxury of time. >> Yes. >> There there are districts that hire us in April or May to start a search. >> No, we want to be have someone hired by then. >> We will have someone hired by then. We will hoping on that >> for sure. But in that case, we're like, you don't have time to do that first workshop. Let's just get started. you have three weeks to hire somebody. So, yeah, it's it's you have this long runway because you're the first ones that we're talking to about doing the search this year. So, >> yes, >> lots
047of time. So, you could certainly include it way too heavily on you. >> Barbara Amy, could you talk a little bit about the role of the current superintendent in this process just so they all understand what that looks like? >> Absolutely. So, typically in a search there is no role for the current superintendent. Um, it's your decision. um as to which way you want to go in what direction. A lot of times we say that their role is to I mean being the current superintendent, they're going to receive phone calls and so we want them to talk about all of the great things happening in the district and answer the questions that candidates may have. Um but it's up to you guys. If there is a role you want the superintendent to play, that can
048be something that's discussed. But yeah, typically there's not a a large role that the current superintendent plays during the search process. >> She's just going to help keep us organized so we can keep all the dates. >> Yeah, there's usually a district contact and depending on a district. Sometimes that's the current superintendent. A lot of times it's like whoever your board assistant would be. So or who or sometimes it's like a director of communications or somebody in the HR or business manager. So it it's up to you guys who you want that person to be. >> Great questions. Are there any other questions? >> I got another one just cuz I like data. >> Uh page four, you talk about these uh maximal sites week aa blah blah blah. >> Yep. Have you guys ever
049had any success advertising on those sites and actually getting it? >> It depends on the district because some districts, for example, um Redwing, they chose to advertise on the National Indian Educators Association and that's a national site that um native folks will go to to look for opportunities and they did have a couple of applications. So, that was successful. Occasionally there's a district I would say more in the metro will attract people from the coasts. They might throw their hat in the ring. And I always say there's three reasons people are going to apply for this job. Okay? It's going to be location, reputation, and salary. Those are the big three what people are looking for before they decide to apply. And the biggest one will be reputation. the reputation of the board, especially the
050board superintendent relationships. Word of mouth is extremely powerful here in Minnesota. We have had some very good outofstate candidates apply. I don't know in the last three years if we had any of them get hired. Yeah, we did from Iowa. >> We did. Um often though, if they're coming from out of state, I don't know if they've seen it on these sites. They may have very well seen it in rebellis or the biggest reason out of state people will get hired here is because they already have a connection to Minnesota. They started their career here or at one point they worked at a Minnesota district and they want to come home or they have family in Minnesota or maybe their spouse's family is from Minnesota. So they're relocating here for a purpose and then they're
051going to go to MSBA's website. We have six seven 8,000 hits on our jobs report every month during search season. Yeah. So, they're specifically seeking out Minnesota. That I think is more effective than someone that just sees it on at a week and goes, "I've always wanted to go to Minnesota and work." That's not how it happens. They just want to come back or family reasons bring them here. So, I don't think it really drives a lot of traffic. So, you'll make the call because those will be an allocart charge if you want to pay to have them on those sites. If there's a largest bank in your area, you might want to advertise on a Latino administrator site. You'll make that choice. Um, by and large, I think it's not as necessary. And it's
052an additional cost that we don't wrap into our searches because we want you to decide if it's worth the cost or not. And those costs are actually at cost. We don't mark those up. If you do want to post on those sites, that's your call. >> And that's a decision you'll make at the planning meeting. you'll have the information ahead of time with that. Any other questions? >> Thank you for your time. >> Thank you very much. You can stay or you can go. We will exit stage left. So, >> thank you for coming. >> Thank you so much. We really appreciate the opportunity and feel free to call us if you have questions. >> We'll be in touch. Thank you very much. [Music] All right. Next item on the agenda would be 9B. Consider
053and approve the selection of MSBA Executive Search Service for the purpose of our search for a new superintendent. Is there any more discussion after the presentation? No. take this on by myself. >> Yeah. You know, and and right and I think we um what led us to bringing in the firms anyway was the great discussion we had about the process and um how much work it, you know, she said we couldn't do this inhouse, but and last time that um when Nicole mentioned that we did do a search, it was done in house, but we still didn't have a lot to do with it because the staff did it. um and that that's just not where we're at with staff-wise to be able to do that. And I think bringing on a firm is the
054is the right um right process and it allows us to um get a lot of community involvement with the work that they're going to do for us. Um >> can I clarify the staff situation? So during that time there was a full-time FTE that was working for the school board and superintendent. Now the FT is probably a point two uh that works for the schoolboard and the superintendent and 80% of the time is spent working with HR and the business office. So we've reduced staff quite a bit and so the bandwidth to do this doesn't exist. You'd have to reallocate workload to other people in order for someone to take this on >> and that's just not that's not likely to happen. No, >> my biggest thing is probably just like following state statue and
055I >> I don't really want to in itself >> you get in a lot of trouble if you do the wrong thing. >> Like Nicole said, this is the biggest decision we make because this decision affects everybody, the community, the students, the staff, the everybody. So I think it's such a huge decision. We want to make sure we're doing the process justice and not trying to piece it together or do it ourselves. >> It's unfortunate that you know we sought out three and only it came down to one. Um which is I don't maybe comment but a little unfortunate >> but they're good. They're great. >> Yeah, they're great. I mean, everything else that MSABA MSBA does is like a gold star level, >> you know, of service. So, I mean, if they can even
056come remotely close to everything else they do with this search process, we're going to be just fine. >> Yeah. So, um 9B would be to consider and approve that we would hire them. >> I'll make a motion. I'll second it. Um I'll make that motion. I have a motion by Mr. Welch and a second by Mr. Rorain. >> You're gonna work for MSBA. I will I don't get any of the money that goes towards that. >> I get no financial gain from hiring them, but I'm going to >> Okay. All right. So, I have a motion by Mr. Welch and a second by Mr. Ravenhorse. All those in favor signify by saying I >> I post same sign and one member. So this pass the 9B passes uh 6 with one member abstaining. Okay. Thank
057you. Good discussion. Um all right. Next item on the agenda would be 9 C. Consider and approve the proposed draft of the gymnastics co-op agreement. This would be in front of all the board members and has been reviewed. Are there any questions? I'll walk through it. Okay. So, after the board meeting on August 25th, Chair Ray Maker and another board member requested that we reach out to Casser Matterville to discuss a co-op agreement. Casser Matavville cooperates with Triton for gymnastics. So on August 26th, I emailed uh Superintendent Geese, the ADAKM, and u our AD to request a meeting to discuss what a co-op might look like. And to assist the process, I put together a draft of the cooperative agreement. On 20 on the 27th, I shared that draft with CM. They wanted some time
058to review it, and it was also workshop week. And so um we agreed to meet on Wednesday the 3. Considering that Tuesday the 2nd was the first day of school for everybody. >> One second. Can you please clarify that when you said they wanted time to review it, it was not their board? >> No, >> it was just the superintendent and the ad. Okay. Just want to make sure that that was clarified. >> So on September 3rd, um, Superintendent Geese, Mayor, AD, Kurt and myself met and we reviewed the proposal. Um, there were revisions. It was a collaborative effort and so there were revisions that were made to the original draft and those revisions are reflected in the um proposed draft that you have in front of you. If our board agrees to this draft,
059we would anticipate that Cassen Matterville Triton Gymnastics would move forward with initiating an invitation to join their co-op and the co-op would then be called Cass and Matterville Triton Steuart Middle Gymnastics. And I'm going to go through the major points of the agreement that you have in front of you and I'll just speak to each point and if you have questions as I go, please interrupt and ask to get clarification. So it just begins that giving the backstory that in the spring of 2025 we discontinued our gymnastics program due to budgetary and financial constraints. Um the dissolution of the cooperative agreement with Chaffield is also at the same time. So, in an effort to provide access to Minnesota State High School League competition in gymnastics attending for athletes attending our school district, we're seeking an
060invitation to establish a coop a cooperative agreement with Castle Manville Triton Gymnastics. Parameters of the agreement are outlined below. So, number one, the parties involved are Castle Managal, Triton, and Sternville. Number two, the purpose is to provide Sturville students with the opportunity to participate in Minnesota State High School League gymnas competition. There is a contingency clause that was added. It takes effect only upon receipt of written approval from the Minnesota State High School League of the sponsorship of this uh agreement for the 25 26 and 26 27 seasons. So any co-op agreement through Minnesota State High School League requires two years. So the contingency clause is that Minnesota State High School League has to approve this. Number four, the term of agreement and renewal. The agreement is for both years. The agreement can be renewed
061by written agreement from all parties 60 days before it expires. And the termination clause is that either party may terminate on 30 days notice if the other material breaches the agreement and does not cure it within 15 days. Termination may occur within 90 days written notice outside of the cont competitive season. There any questions on those four? Okay, then we'll go to the next page. Number five, student eligibility and participation eligibility. The students will have to meet all of the Minnesota State High School League and Steuart Public Schools eligibility rules, which includes academic contact, conduct, age, semesters, those kinds of things. Eligibility determinations we based on the timelines established by Cassen Matild. So it's our eligibility criteria but the timeline is cast and data bills. Their calendars don't end the same time as ours because
062we have different calendars. So um the eligibility timeline has to be based on casting data bills but the criteria is still stewards. Does that make sense? Okay. Uh roster selection is determined by the host program and their coaching staff using uniform criteria applied to all participants. Um they would give no preference to district enrollment. Code of conduct uh students will follow host of programs athletics handbook chemical health and discipline policies and then for the 2526 students season uh Steuartville athletes would have to confirm their intent to participate by September 28th and that would then determine the costing that they would do to establish the cost for participation. >> Okay, any questions on number five? If they have to determine by September 28th, will that be communicated out >> somehow so that everybody's aware of that?
063Okay. >> So, immediately after this, tomorrow morning, we would communicate if this is approved by the board. >> Okay. I mean, that's kind of a quick turnaround. So, just making sure everybody's getting that information >> if it's approved by our board. But how do we know their board? >> We won't, but I will share this with >> I see. I see. >> I'm sorry. Um, coaching facilities and operations. So coaching the host program gets to hire, supervise and evaluate the coaches as well as ensure background checks, training and lenture completed. So we would have no input into who the coaches are as a district. Facilities, practices and competitions would be held at the host program facilities and other unless otherwise agreed. Equipment ownership and maintenance remains with the host program. Awards and lettering. Steuartville athletes
064will be eligible for letters, awards, and recognition based on the criteria as the students from the host program. So there will no longer be lettering or recognition or awards that are issued from Steuartville. We're not the host program. We don't have the program. Castle Badville will determine all of those criteria. Letters will be awarded from Cassinville public schools. And so that's currently what's in place for the Triton participants. The letter comes from Cassville. Uh team identity. All athletes compete under the KMT name, colors, and branding. So there won't be any maroon and gold. It'll be blue and white. Uh the team will refer to themselves as KMTS gymnastics team caster trade in Steuartville. Questions on number six. Okay. Number seven, Stuartville public schools will not incur any expenses as a result of the cooperative agreement.
065Number eight, all costs for participation in the uh team will be the sole responsibility of each athlete attending Steuartville public schools. The cost will be inclusive of but not limited to the following. So transportation to and from practices There is going to be a waiver that families will be responsible um to sign um and basically it waves Cassidy Madville and Steuartful of all liability of that transportation to and from practice. Um the older athletes will probably drive, the younger athletes may ride with older athletes. It's whatever the families decide to do, but there will be a waiver that will be required that will wave the liability of that transportation to and from Cassen um for both school districts. Transportation to all competitions and events. Students will be exe expected to ride the team bus to
066and from events and competitions. Exceptions are at the discretion of the host program. So there are times when you're at the event and the athlete goes home with the parent. Um some coaches allow that, others don't. That will be at the discretion of the host program. We won't have input into that. coaching salaries, which is inclusive of salaries, benefits, and employer taxes, uniforms, equipments, and supplies, and other necessary costs as deemed necessary by the hopes program administrators. So, they're going to determine what all the costs are. Number nine, are there any questions on number eight? What's included? Okay. >> When would that cost be determined? So, people, >> that's what they um that's why they want the commitment by September 28th. So, determine the number of athletes that are coming out. Uh number nine, the
067method for calculating participation fee per athlete will be determined by the host program. Participation fee will be set by the host program and the decision is final and the participation fee will be recalculated each year that the cooperative agreement is in place and I think it's because the number of athletes might change a year and costs can go up. Any questions on that? Number 10, payment of participation fees will be made by the athlete directly to the host program. No fees will be paid to Stuartville. No payments by Steuartville to the host program. So all of the fees go directly from the family and the athlete to the host program. If a student is not rostered after triyouts, the fee will be refunded. Um if an athlete withdraws after the start of the season, no
068fees will be refunded. The host program will not honor fee reductions or waiverss. So free reduced reductions that we have in our school district will not apply to the program. Any questions on number 10? >> Yes. Um so if they're not rostered, so does that mean that like for example stripper no cut school? We let everyone >> we are >> but they are cut they may not take all the athletes that try out. Okay. >> I just wanted to make that clear. Okay. Number 11. As per the communication sent to gymnast gymnastic participants and their families on May 15th, athletes who participate in gymnastics during the last school year at Stuartville will be able to use $1,323 from the gymnastics 900 account at their discretion to pay for the fees to participate through the host
069program. if they don't participate through the host program, they still have the option of going to camps or joining a club or those kinds of things and using those resources for that purpose. So to access that 900 account, that $1,300, you don't have to join gymnastics at Cass Mandville. You can decide to go to Jets or the Rochester Gymnastics Club or whatever you want to do um and use those funds in that way. Use of funds will be available on a reimburseable basis. So each GM gymnast will have to provide an proof of payment in order to get the reimbursement. So you would pay the fee first and then submit for reimbursement from us. Reimbursements available for participation in gymnastics related program including the gymnastics for the host program from August 1st of this school
070year through June 30th. Requests for reimbursement must be submitted no later than June 30th which is the end of the fiscal year. Reimbursement requests received after June 30th will not be fulfilled. The funds in the 900 account are not available for distribution to Stuartville athletes athletes after June 30th. So we are um we checked with our auditors. We are on solid ground in doing it for this year um because of this agreement that we have and what I had communicated in May to the families but we're not going to be able to carry a 900 account for a program that doesn't exist in our school system. So on June 30th if there's a balance it will be redistributed to the rest of the other 900 accounts that we have in existence. Um e uh to
071submit request for reimbursement they have to send the information along with proof improvement proof of payment to me. All the list of the requirements of getting the reimbursement are there. They can use the email address and send it via email or they can send it via postal mail. And then effective immediately this is from the auditors. We can no longer accept deposits into our 900 account. We don't have an active program. So the 900 count, it will only be used for dispersements um based on invoices that are received. So we have to have an invoice that matches the dispersement. Um but and we are not going to be able to take any other funds coming into the 900 account because we don't have an active program. Any questions on 11 A through F? >> I
072think just go ahead. You said the auditors told you that we're okay for this year, but we can't for next year. I'm just I'm putting on a parent hat here. >> We did all that work raising this money and now the other clubs are going to get it. >> So that happens each year with the class accounts. >> Okay. >> When the seniors graduate, if there's money left over, it goes to the juniors. >> It does. Mhm. is current practice. >> Okay. >> Each class tries to consume all the money that they've raised. Um but there are times where there are funds left over and it just goes to the classes following them. I just want to say thank you because I'm sure that this took a lot of time to come up with with
073when you had to get all the parties involved and then edit and retype it up. So it was um I would say a very good collaboration. It was extensive. Um and both uh Katherine Matavville's superintendent in AD and Kurt contributed a lot to the discussion. Um and was just hammering out where does this go? How does this fit? How do you want it worded? >> Can you lay out next steps? So, let's say if it were to be approved at this table, what would be the next step? >> So, if it is approved by this board, um this would be the first step. Um what will happen next is that would let superintendent geese that you know that this board approved it and then they would begin the process of approaching the subject with their
074school board and begin the paperwork for new state high school league cooperative agreements. So this is just an agreement between Cass Mandavville Triton and Steuartville. It doesn't supplant the Minnesota State High School e form that has to be completed. So the Minnesota State High School form requires the signatures of all three school boards that yes, we are in agreement that we're going to do this. Um that process would happen next. So they would invite us your as a board you would have to sign off on the Minnesota State High School League. Triton has to sign off. Cass Mandville signs off gets submitted to Minnesota State High School League and we go forward from there. So, um, Catherine Manville, superintendent and ad want this accepted first by this board before they extend an invitation. >> Makes
075sense. >> Has there been any communication with Triton? Do they have had any input into this? >> Um, they Yes. So, they're aware um but because they have one or two athletes, they haven't been >> um in any way putting up any barriers or anything. Um they're just, you know, happy to program. >> They're not the host either, right? They're not the whole. >> So I imagine their agreement must be similar. I mean, I'm not going to say it's the same, but it's got to be have some of the same similarities. >> There are some similarities um not complete like this one. >> No, no, of course not. But I'm just saying like >> their uh ability to make decisions on the on someone on Cass's behalf are probably very limited, >> right? They do
076have to agree as a board to take us on. Um but yeah their their their input they were aware but their desire to collaborate was not as great as Cass. >> I would imagine their discourse could be if it was accepted this door bill comes in they could just either remain or go >> that's kind of like their options I would imagine. But >> what kind of time frame would the other two boards be looking at >> this month? and I have been uh in communication with the frighten superintendent. He's aware. >> So, this is far from a done deal. >> I don't see any other barriers that would prevent this from moving forward. If the barrier would be is if this board declines to accept this agreement, then it's done. >> Hypothetically, we do
077accept it, but we still have to get through the Minnesota State High School, >> right? And they're typically as long as they have all three boards or boards that are seeking participation. As long as all those boards agree, >> sounds like them. They just want to make sure all the formalities. >> They're not going to be able to be a barrier if everybody else agrees. >> Just >> No, no, no. Right. No, they're good questions. I mean, it's just I would imagine >> if one of the districts doesn't sign off on that form, it has to be a vote at the board meeting and they don't agree to it. Minnesota State High School League would probably say it can't happen. But I don't see that happening. Um, what needs to happen is that this board
078agrees to this collaborative agreement, this proposed draft, and once that happens, the next steps would just take place. >> And is there a is there a timeline for MSHSL to get this taken, >> right? We need to have it done by the end of September. >> They meet they meet in October. >> All right. Are there any other questions or disc? >> Well, anyway, I I just think like as far as our end, I just don't think there's anything else we can do except for either approve or deny, right? I mean, as far as any other barriers, I don't think they would come from this area, >> right? >> And I think this is a great option that our our athletes still hopefully get to participate in a sport that they love. [Music] >> All
079right. Okay. Well, that was good discussion and I thank you for all the information. >> Um, so I would uh seek a motion >> to move. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Gist and a second by Mr. Ravenhorse. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Same sign. Motion carries. 70. Next item on the agenda would be item 10, adjournment. I would seek a motion. >> Second. >> I have a motion by Mr. Lowman and a second by Mr. Welch. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposing sign. Motion carries. 70. Meeting is adjourned at 7:59 p.m. >> Thank you everyone. Total. >> Yep. I was gonna run. >> Am I understanding that right? >> No, no, no. I'm just saying like if there I'm trying to
080think >> Yeah, I know. >> Where are we doing this? >> Right here. I'll turn the TV off. >> Oh, I got Where we Where are we putting our photo