SSPPS School Board Mtg- May 26, 2026

001Welcome and good evening. I'd like to call the Tuesday, May 26, 2026 school board meeting to order. Lisa, will you please call the role? >> Director W. Felton >> here. >> Claflin >> here. >> Cummings. >> Yep. >> T Felton >> here. >> Weber >> here. >> Chair Humeman >> here. >> At six present. >> Thank you. All right. And now I'm going to ask all who are able to please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. >> Well, at this time I want to say hello and welcome to everyone. It's kind of a full house. It's exciting end of the year

002energy in here. and anyone who's watching online and towns score television. First up, I am looking for a motion to approve the regular board meeting agenda for this evening as well as the minutes for April 27th, 2026 work session, the April 27th, 2026 business meeting, and the May 11th, 2026 work session. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Uh any further discussion? No. All those in favor, please say I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. 60. All right. This is the best part of the evening. We got lots of fun quality and action. I'd like to invite Monty and Fernette, our two of our student school boards up for their final presentation to us. >> Now, Chloe, >> I think Chloe is at softball. >> Chloe's not here today representing Packers.

003She's here in Yeah. Right. >> Um, so recently you've had our athletic and activities banquet. I believe that was two Wednesdays ago, right? >> I believe so. >> Yeah, something like [laughter] that. Uh, we also recently had our educational foundation scholarship banquet. So, a lot of seniors got a lot of money and that's just really amazing. >> You know, I think Yeah, it was like $600,000 this year, which is fantastic. So, it was like Is this better? >> Oh, you're good. I think we need to close the door. >> Oh, >> cuz there's echo. I want to be able to hear you so crystal clear. [laughter] But >> yeah, there were about uh $600,000 given away this year, which is fantastic. So, just a huge thank you to the educational foundation. Um you're also um

004the Stride for Packer Pride, which is pretty exciting. >> Yeah. And then there's also uh we've also got some spring athletics and activities >> which you'll be able to hear about. >> Yeah. Um and some upcoming events. Uh Thursday, May 28th at 7:00 p.m. we've got the secondary choir concert which is going to be in the auditorium. And then we've got the Tri District Cap Spring Showcase in the Stock Exchange, which uh if you go, you'll be able to see Finette there. >> Yeah. >> Which is going to be exciting. Uh Friday is our last day for seniors. Tuesday, June 2nd at 6:00 p.m. is the CLC graduation, which is going to be held in the secondary auditorium. And then on Thursday, June 4th at 700 p.m. uh we're going to have the secondary graduation

005at Edingerfield, and that's going to be the last day of school for preK to 11. All right. Okay. These this is our last meeting. So, >> sorry guys. >> Sorry. This is a goodbye. So, okay. What I learned from this meeting is to not be afraid to like communicate my thoughts, especially with older people because that intimidated me. So, but I was forced to. So [laughter] no. Um and also the amount of work and effort it takes to run a school and the importance of time when making decisions because this bond and levy thing has been going on since like September since we started. So it takes a lot of time and to ask questions early on or you'll be very confused once the conversations continue. And my plan is to go to the University

006of Minnesota, Twin Cities to major in biochemistry to pursue. [laughter] Okay, I'm sorry about that. Uh, I plan on pursuing a career in medicine. I'm thinking family medicine or uh orthopedics. Since Chloe isn't here, I'll read her slide. Uh she learned how to communicate her opinions in a room full of adults and what goes behind the scenes of our schools and the importance of public speaking in all career paths and how long it can take to come to a serious decision sorry serious deci decisions regarding the community. She plans on attending Biji State University where she will major in engineering technology. Yeah. And then for me, uh, I learned how to share my own thoughts with a group of people who may or may not agree with what I have to say. Um, I have

007learned the importance of public speaking in almost every career path because I firmly believe that public speaking is something that is helpful for everybody regardless of what you decide to do. [gasps] I've learned how to collaborate as well as plan for and create presentations with other people to for the purpose of informing uh, the general public. And I've also learned how to communicate with more with my peers such as with Chloe and Fat and then with overall the entire student body. My plan after high school is to major in health sciences at the UMR, uh the University of Minnesota in Rochester, and eventually get a degree in medicinal chemistry. >> We've also got our 2026 to 2027 student school board reps that we got two of them here if you guys want to come on

008up. >> All right, >> you got Jo. All right. >> All right. So, first up, we got Josie Alban. and we're just going to have you >> tell us a little bit about yourself. >> Uh, hi. My name is Josie. I'm a current junior. I'll be a senior next year. Um, I'm just really excited to be here and work with you all and learn what goes on behind the scenes and how that what your decisions and how that affects me. So, yeah. >> And the next one is Monica Schmidt. >> Hi, I'm Monica. I'm also a junior, one of Jos's classmates. And just to echo what she said, I'm really excited to be here. And sorry I was late. at a rowing thing. Um, [laughter and snorts] but yeah, I'm just really excited to learn

009and take an active role in my education and the education of others. >> And then Sophia Riviaga is not here today, but we know that she's really excited to do this as well. So, we're excited for all three of you. >> You're going to enjoy it. >> Yeah, it's going to be awesome. >> Thank you for coming. [applause] >> Well, I'm going to publicly thank you for being our student school board reps this year. It has been a really fun time having your input and Chloe's. Um, I think it's made every meeting better, even the ones that you thought were super boring. It was nice having you there >> and I want to welcome our reps for next year. The process of interviewing you guys was really um, humbling. The amount of involvement that you

010all have and your dedication to representing student voice and speaking out on behalf of the other students at the school is really amazing. And I think we all really look forward to working with you also. >> Yes. Thank you so much. >> All right. One more time for our current. [applause] >> All right. And now another exciting quality and action report. I would like to invite uh Brady Krueger to discuss all of our exciting spring activities and athletics. >> All right. Thank you for inviting us to share uh some updates on our spring activity season. We are in the midst of section play. So, we have some of our teams and athletes will not be able to make it tonight. Um, some of them just wrapped up a section game, which I'll let their coach

011kind of share the highlights for you uh in a little bit. [laughter] Uh, as another school year comes to uh close, it's a great opportunity to reflect on the impact of our activities and athletics programs on our students and our school community. Um, earlier this spring, we recognized 108 seniors who led in an activity at South St. Paul. We also celebrated 14 seniors who are continuing their athletic careers at the collegiate level. Um these accomplishments are a reflection of the dedication and commitment of students bring to their activities um and our programs. We also saw tremendous support from our community through the Stride uh Stride for Packer Pride fundraiser which raised over $10,000. Um these funds will help students and families cover participation fees for uh activities and athletics. Uh we are grateful to be

012part of a community u that values participation in high school activities and works to remove barriers so that every student has an opportunity to get involved. Uh I also want to recognize our coaches and adviserss for their dedication and commitment uh to our students throughout the school year. Their leadership, their support help create positive experiences that leave lasting impacts on our students. Thank you again to the continued support of the board, Dr. Zambbrino, uh middle school principal Miss Borg, high school principal, Mr. Oaki. Uh we appreciate uh again the opportunity to always come here and share highlights from another outstanding spring season. Without further ado, I'm going to bring up Mike Castalinda who is just coming off of the diamond. Hello, my name is Mike Castelinda. I'm the head softball coach at South St. Paul

013High School. And as you can see, I don't have any players with me. They should all be at home resting and recovering because we play uh tomorrow in the section five against Simley. [applause] Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty exciting. So, our season's been up and down a little bit. We won a few games, we lost a few games, we struggled a little bit, we gained confidence. Um, and here we are at this point. It's amazing how everything can come together at the end. And, uh, good things can happen. Um, our season overall, academically, our students are top of the chain. Top of the chain. We were all state gold level, which is, uh, 3.75 or higher. We had four out of our five seniors were academic all state which is 3.7 or higher. Um we had

014two allconerence players, three allconerence honorable mention. I won't name them because we like to have it to be a surprise at our banquet. Um just a great group of kids. The seniors phenomenal. They're great kids. I've known four out of the five of them since they were 10 years old and it's just been a great last two years for me. Um, [snorts] it's just being part of this school after being involved with the youth program for so many years. It's very special and uh I thank Brady Krueger for the opportunity to coach it. So, thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Say Brady, where and when is the section championship? tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 at M Health Sports Complex in >> Thank you. Good luck. >> All right. Next up, I'm going to bring up

015our track coaches, Manuel and Tom. You guys want to come up together or do it individually? [clears throat] >> Spread out. [laughter] >> All right. I'm Tom Hart. I'm the head girls track and field coach. Um we've had a really fun season so far. We're in the midst of uh our section championships happening Wednesday and Friday this week and we're hoping it'll continue with some uh good results leading to possible uh state experience. Uh for the second year in a row, our girls track team won its uh true team section meet and advanced to the state true team meet. Uh that was a really good experience. uh had really great weather uh compared to the uh last year's uh state meet. Uh it was really beautiful and we had a lot of nice performances, a

016lot of good competition uh from outside the metro that we saw. Uh last week we s had our Metro East conference meet. Uh the girls team ended up in third place and we saw a lot of personal records and season bests. Uh amazingly the girls swept winning all four relay events. Uh, and we end up as a team having 11 girls all conference and five allconerence honorable mention. So, uh, pretty good accomplishments. Um, 4x8, Avery Kapilhog, Elawasa, Audrey Schultz, Katie Bachan. 4x2 Sarah Willie, Annie Spragel, Grace Spragel, Sophie Hart. 4x1 Sarah Willie, Addie Mclofflin, Grace Spragel, Sophie Hart. 4x4 Sophie Hart, Addie Mclofflin, Jana Miles, Annie Spragle. And individually, we had Sophie Hartton triple jump winning, Alice Seekmmyer first in long jump, Annie Sprigle second in 300 hurdles, and Audrey Schultz 200 uh second in

017the 800. Um, and then I was just going to have the girls say some of their goals for this week's sections. >> My name is Sarah. I would say one of my biggest things that I am trying to do for sections is advance the state in the 4x two and possibly the 4x1 and then just run times that I'm proud of. Um my name is Grace and I would say get our all of our relays to the state. >> My name is Annie. Um saxon champ in the 4x2. My name is Sophie and go to state in the 4x2 and uh PR in some of my events. My name's Ella and I would say go to state in the 4x8 and PR in the mile. >> Um, my name is Audrey and I would say

018go to state in the 4x4 and 4x8. >> My name is Katie and I would say go to state in the 4x8 and break 50 seconds in 300 hurdles. And just remember, have fun. [laughter] >> My name is Avery and I hope to go to state for the 4x8 and run a personal best in the mile. >> Yeah. So, the girls had a good season so far and just hoping to keep that going all this week and next week, too. >> Yeah. [applause] >> Great job, girls track. Uh, hello. My name is Manuel Spraggle. I'm the boys coach. Uh, we also have had a very good year. We we haven't enjoyed the same level of uh the same type of success that the girls have had, but we've had a lot of our success as

019well. at [snorts] our conference meets. Uh Adam Miller was a conference champion in shot put and that was pretty special cuz he's had a lot of different injuries this past year and a half. So it was really cool to see him rebound and be able to to perform the way he did. So that was pretty awesome. Uh Gavin Scaliki, he took fourth in shot and he also has done a great job and he's took fifth in disc and he's pretty impressive. We have a just the girls side is fantastic and there's a lot of competition and the boy side is also very very competitive too and so those guys have done a nice job. We also have a lot of like really scrappy uh younger guys, ninth and tth graders that are really heavily invested

020in in in South St. Paul and they they've done a really really nice job. They're kind of like uh mosquitoes that you that are too fast to get. Um and so they are relentless in in their efforts and I'm really excited to see what they have to do as well. Uh here with me I have uh Junior Lani and and the cool thing about this he's very special to me because we had all these these girls up here. When I was in high school it uh I should guess I should say the tradition of having really really athletic girls at South St. Paul is still very much alive. When I was in high school uh there was a individual Megan Trrisco. She shared a locker with me for four years and and she was all

021stayed at soccer and she was awesome. And every single time we have these awesome female athletes. I always wish that they had boys that that wanted to play sports that I was coaching. But we got one with Lachland and that's really exciting and fun. And so I'm very thankful for him. And I happen to have this here cuz Mr. Kger is working our section track meet and the AAA track meet tomorrow. And so I brought this for him because I was going to give it to him. But since Lockin's here, uh it's just something that blows my mind at track is just how athletic these kids are. And so since this is here, we can have a quick little demonstration. Do you want us to take this and just go over there? >> That's probably

022good. >> Nope. Sorry, it's not. Okay. So, right right here, this [snorts] is uh this is 20 ft 5 in. This is how far Lachland jumped to get fourth place at the conference meet, which is when you look at that, that is a a ludicrous amount of space to think about a person traveling in air that far. And so it was it was I was super pumped cuz uh earlier he had been still doing really really well, but to hit 20 ft is kind of like a it's a it's a benchmark a benchmark of greatness. And so having this here is a great visual to be like wow these kids are really quite athletic. So I'm super glad that uh you know one for two you know pepin but Lachland. Uh [laughter] so so there

023you go. That's that's boys track. Thanks a lot. [applause] >> [applause] [gasps] >> All right. Next, I'm going to bring up uh Becca Spragel, who's filling in uh for our head boys tennis coach, Dave uh Sunday. Uh Becca was our assistant boys coach this year. >> Hello, everybody. Um Dave is just returning from a trip to the French Open in Europe, so he couldn't be here tonight, but um I had the privilege of jumping on the boys tennis bandwagon kind of late this spring um because they were short to coach and um I agreed to do it. I haven't coached boys tennis for 17 years, so I have a lot of experience on the girls side. Um but I haven't spent that much time with high school boys in a long time. And I'm happy

024to report that um coaching them was definitely the highlight of my spring. Um we had the most eclectic group of kids and they were so much fun to work with every day and they wanted to stay longer and hit more and come on Saturdays. We had a couple kids who had never picked up a racket until the season started. Um and they not only were they a lot of fun to be with, they were just such great representatives of South St. and um kids in general. I couldn't have asked for a more respectful group of young men to work with. Um I think four of them were the received some of the top scholarships at the scholarship banquet um two weeks ago. So that was pretty cool to see and also gives you an idea

025of the caliber of students that were a part of our team as well. And we do have two honorable mention all conference but we haven't had our banquet yet. So I will um not share that. We also had four wins which was an a big jump from the previous few seasons. So they were pretty thrilled about that. So it was a great experience overall. So thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> All right. Next I'm going to bring up Mr. Larose, our boys golf coach. >> Good evening. I'm Tyler Lose. my second year uh leading our boys golf team and I remember being up here last year around the same time and talking about how much growth we had had as a program that year. Uh we started the year shooting over a 400 which

026you bring six golfers. You take the lowest four scores. You do the math. We were averaging over a 100 strokes per player and that's not good. But uh by the time we were able to come and speak with everybody last year, we had shaved 75 strokes off of that number and we shot a low 339 last year. This year we had largely the same group of guys back plus the addition of who ended up being our number one golfer and Cole Stever. Um and we shot a 322 last week which blew uh last year's record out of the water by 17 strokes. And we start our section tournament tomorrow at uh Brookfield Golf Course in Golden Valley. And the guys are really really poised to to have a good showing and a showing like we

027haven't seen in South St. Paul in a section match for quite a while. We took seventh in the Metro East Conference this year, which is historically one or two places better than we have been. And um we are going to see I think there's a not human head, but some kind of trophy back here. We won the Felton Cup last week, a little uh fun match with Similey in honor of Craig Felton. And it's been a really really good rewarding year. We had 22 guys out this year and they've had a blast. We actually have them playing a practice round right now. Hopefully, they're still chugging along, carrying their clubs in the heat, but um we're really looking forward to what the section tournament tomorrow has. So, thank you for all of your support for

028athletics and activities. >> Thank you. [applause] >> All right, as Tyler alluded to, I'm going to call up Mr. Dave Palmquist, who will be filling in for our girls uh head coach on the golf side, Mr. Josh Palmquist. >> Oh, [laughter] >> I did not make that. [laughter] >> Okay. First of all, thank you so much for having me. I'm Dave Palquist. Um, it's a pleasure to be here tonight. It's really hard to follow up um the wonderful group of athletes that we have and coaches and the amazing accomplishment that they have done. Um, I think it'd be kind of cool to have our custodial staff who's retiring attempt to break the 20T 4 in jump rule. [laughter] Could you do that, Pat? >> Anyway, tonight really an honor to be here with two really

029special young ladies. One gal, um, Bri Bella, um, Rosales isn't here, but I have Addy Bron and Katie Crowley. If you want to just introduce yourselves and say a little bit about yourself real quick. >> Yeah. >> Hi, I'm Addie Baron and I've played on the golf team since I was in eighth grade, I think. And I got the pleasure to be the captain this year. And overall, it's just such a great program. It's really exciting to be a part of. Um, we have a lot of fun. I mean, we probably need to win a little more, but it's definitely fun when we're practicing [clears throat] together and our team has a great bond. And overall, all the younger girls that joined this year, it was really great to just see how much they grew.

030So, it was great. Yeah. >> Hi, I'm Katie Cwley and I've been golfing since I was in seventh grade. And this program has helped me build um like my personality a lot and I've made some of of some of my great good friends and it's just been a great like program to be in. >> Good job ladies. I kind of put them on the spot. Um but this year um so Breella Rosales and Katie Crowley and Addy Brony have been a big backbone of our program. They've played in every varsity match the last two years. um they've really helped keep this program alive and are great ambassadors for the game and more importantly just amazing young young ladies. Today Katie and Addie and Bela played in the section tournament at Highland Park. Um Katie and

031Bela qualified for day two, so they will play on Thursday at Highland Park, so we're super excited for them for doing that. [applause] Addie, three strokes off from making it. Um but had a wonderful year and super proud of her. Um probably our biggest accomplish this year, Josh and I really set out to kind of rebuild um what Craig Feldon had built over for many years. Built a lot of numbers in our program and we had um really focused on the middle school and we had eight new eighth graders girls come out for the golf team which is pretty cool. And these girls really were great role models for them and helped them. [snorts] Um they all had a blast playing. I had a great time walking the course with them. They improved so much

032and as I tell them is it really a lifetime sport something they're going to use forever. So it was really cool to see. One of the real highlights is as uh we was said earlier is the Felton Cup in honor of our former colleague Craig Felton. Addy, do you know who designed this? >> I actually don't. >> Okay, Katie, do you? But it's been around for since 2009. My daughter and a bunch of her friends played it back in the early two 2009 to 2014. It's been around for a long time in honor of Greg Felton. And we go over on that day, the boys and girls combined and they co they group with another player and we have a big big tournament, get out of school, a lot of fun. Um, and go play

033and they have a really unique scoring system that allows for different handicaps and different abilities to really make the the matches competitive. This year we won the Felton Cup by one stroke, one stroke over Similey. So we were able to take this trophy home. The girls really love to do it. Similey's coaches along with our coaching staffs and everything. We get around with all the players and really speak to what Craig meant to all these girls and to the program and we kind of started that in honor of him and it's just really cool and it's just growing and growing and so we're super proud to uh accept this trophy this year and we thank you for having us tonight. Thank you. [applause] All right. Uh, I think last but not least, we have Mr.

034Holson with our theater department. [cough and clears throat] [clears throat] >> Well, hi. Thank you everybody. If I'd had known we were bringing heads, I could have brought Yoro's skull, but [laughter] we have one. Um, so I'm here to talk about our two spring plays. Our high school play was William Shakespeare's McBth, and our middle school play was was a murder mystery spoof called This Murder Was Staged. And I invited all of our seniors and eighth graders uh to come. And they're very busy people, but I was able to get this many of them. Uh, so I'm going to have just have each of them come up and say uh say their name and uh what role or roles they played in one or both of the plays. And then uh the seniors also get

035to talk about their plans for next year. >> Oh yeah. >> Don't make me go first. Okay. [laughter] >> Um go first. Yeah. >> Um my name is Emily Richtor. Um I am the eighth grader here and and um for the middle school show I played the role of detective Kendra Drake and yeah this uh this murder was staged was actually a really fun show with all my friends and like we got to hang out and just was yeah it was really fun. [laughter] >> Uh my name is Natalie Reynolds. I played Ross B in McBTH this spring and next year I'm planning to go to the College of St. Scholastica um to get a degree in elementary education. >> Yay. >> Uh hello. I am Natalie Clay. Um I played Mc Beth in our

036spring spring play McBTH and um uh it was double casted. I think I was cast B. And [clears throat] uh and then I was I also assistant directed our our uh middle school show which was it was really fun. It was a it's a really great great group of kids. So it was lots of fun. >> What are you doing next year? >> Oh, sorry. Next year uh I'm I'm going to go up to University of Minnesota Duth and study uh uh environmental science. So super excited. Yeah. >> Hello. My name is Wyatt Ren. I played McBth cast a and um my future plans are I'm going to go to Vurbo and pursue a BFA in musical theater. >> Fabulous. >> All right. So, yeah, these guys did a really great job on on both

037their shows. I have some some numbers for you. Uh McBth, our Shakespeare play, we actually had 28 actors in that and two full casts. So if we sometimes we do an AB thing where we cast a few leads, but we actually cast all the roles A and B uh for those two shows because we had enough kids coming up for Shakespeare to do that. Uh we also had 17 running crew in that show. And then um the set for that show featured uh the work of our scenic artist Courtney Sunley who's a senior. Um and then this murder was staged. We had 18 actors in that middle school actors. uh three student directors of which Natalie here was one of them. We also had Norah Hashalt and Raphael Bakas. And then we had 12 running

038crew involved with that show and two student designers for that show. Uh Jordan Danich designed our set and Sicily Ridgeway designed our lights for that show. So very excited about that. Um, we've got our theater banquet coming up on Friday and you you guys are all welcome to come to that. 6:00 for the dinner and uh 7:00 for the program and we'll be announcing next seasons next year's season at uh at that. So don't ask, I won't tell. Um and then uh this we have auditions coming up for our summer shows. So our junior players are going to be doing a a fun little pirate show which I'm going to forget the exact name of, but it involves Blue Beard. Um, and then, uh, there's a show that you probably have heard of that we'll

039be doing with our community show Oklahoma. So, we're looking forward to that. So, thank you all for for all your support and and thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> All right, I think that is it for us tonight. Thank you for having us again. We really appreciate the opportunity to come and share all the wonderful things that are going on in the world of athletics and activities. >> Thank you very much. It's so wonderful. >> [applause] >> wish the best of success to our athletes who are continuing to compete and and coming up on graduation for quite a few of them. All right, now we're at the point where I wish I would have grabbed a box of Kleenex because I thought I was going to remind myself to do that. I always forget.

040Um it's an opportunity. We're at the end of the school year to honor our um employees and staff who are celebrating serving for over 25 years here in our district and also folks who are retiring at the end of this school year. And so to keep it kind of orderly, I um will first invite up Amy Winter to speak on behalf of community education and the CLC. And I will invite each of the building principles up one at a time as I continue to regret not bringing tissue. I always get really emotional during this presentation. So I have the honor to honor two uh individuals. One from Central Square and Lyall Lynman is retiring. He's a building supervisor. And some fun facts that I even I was learning as I was preparing for this is

041um he worked uh 24 years at Ford Motor and then worked at Central Square and he is a collector of all things Menards if you [laughter] see him. And so his plans for retirement is sleeping until 7:00 a.m. Uh he says uh he has historically um used to getting up at 4:00 a.m. Uh 10 years at Central Square and 24 years at Ford. So, he did that early shift. Um, and then he says he's golfing till his arm falls off. [laughter] Um, the second individual that I have the honor of um, highlighting is Sue Meyer, who was a special ed, is a special ed teacher at uh, CLC at the Community Learning Center. And Sue has spent over 30 years in education, 15 years here as a special ed teacher in South St. Paul, but

042also 15 years as a parah in district 197. and she is super excited to be spending some time in her retirement on the lake riding her jet ski. So very excited for both of them and appreciative of their service. [applause] All right, next I'd like to invite Mark Fenton, our director of facilities. >> Hi. Hi. [laughter] >> I usually stand up here by myself. Now I got >> got a whole crowd. >> You can stand by me. [laughter] >> Well, I'm here tonight to recognize five of my staff members that are retiring. uh Michelle Penman, Pat Auster, Larry Low, and Lauren Loris, and Gary Moriceette. These are going to be big shoes to fill. [laughter] So, want to talk a little bit about Michelle. Michelle began her career here at the the district as a

043part-time cleaner on February 14th, 1994. In 1998, she expect expanded her role by serving as a substitute in the kitchens and and lunchroom supervisor at the secondary Lincoln and Caposia. Continuing in these roles until 2000. In July of 2000, Michelle was hired as a full-time night supervisor engineer at Caposia. Uh then in October of 20 uh 2017, she was promoted to head building engineer at Caposia until her retirement. It's coming up on June 4th. She plans to spend time with her with her husband, children, grandchildren, enjoying her pool, floating on the lake, [laughter] uh, and projects around the house. I know you do that a lot, too. >> So many [laughter] projects. >> Yeah. So, congratulations for your 32 years of uh of service here at Sal St. Paul. >> Thank you. >> Pat Auster

044here to your right. Pat uh worked many years in the private sector installing utilities before coming here. Uh Pat started at the district uh August of 2011 as a part-time cleaner until 2013 when he was tr uh transitioned to a full-time custodian at Lincoln. Then he moved to the secondary. In 2019, he was promoted to head building engineer at the secondary building until his retirement recently. He's going to spend more time with his family and friends. Congratulations on your retirement and your 15 years of service to Salo. >> Larry Mark, I know you had a long career before coming here and so but Larry worked in the private sector before coming here. Uh uh uh in March of 2010, Larry worked as a part-time cleaner, helped out in the grounds and maintenance department until 2013

045when he was hired full-time as a night supervisor engineer at Lincoln. In 2017, Larry was promoted to building engineer at Lincoln and was promoted again in 2024 to maintenance specialist at the service building until retirement. Larry loves spending time with his wife Vicki, their children, grandchildren. He just showed me a picture of his new grandchild. >> You want to see always [laughter] >> camping, fishing, and traveling for sure. >> Congrat congratulations on your retirement. Thank you >> and 16 years of service to South St. Paul. >> Thank you, >> Lauren Lernis. Uh Lauren worked uh many years in the private sector before coming here. Uh he started February 28th uh 2001 as a building maintenance position position at the service building. Lauren's going to be spending time with his wife, family, and friends, spending time

046riding his bicycle because he loves that. So, congratulations to Lauren on his retirement and 25 years of service to South St. Paul public schools. Next is Gary. Gary worked many years in the private sector again prior to coming here. These are a lot of these are second careers. Um, hired May 11th of 2004 as a maintenance special at the service building. Gary is going to spend time with his family, friends, work on his old cars and projects around the house because these guys are all handymen and handy women. Uh congratulations to to uh Gary on his retirement. He's going to be retiring July 1st and uh his 22 years of service to South St. Paul. I want to say congratulations to each of you. Thank you so much for all your work and dedication and

047happiness. good health and enjoy the next chapter. >> Thank you. [applause] >> You want to say anything? >> I'll say something. [laughter] I just want to let you all know how proud I am to work with South St. Paul Schools >> and I've enjoyed it. I've learned so much from what I do and I am going to miss it deeply. But I do have a lot of kids at my house. So anyway, um yeah, I plan on spending some good quality time at home and doing what I can to up my career and the outdoor sector, so to speak. But we're working on projects. So I want to thank you Mark for everything you have done for us >> to keep our projects going to keep everything updated and hopefully Caposia will continue to be

048a wonderful school. >> Thank you. [applause] >> I'll say something. I just um want to express my appreciation to the district for putting the trust in me. I've had a great career here uh 15 years really changed it up from what I was doing 26 years prior this but um it's been a great experience and I want to thank you all. Thanks Mark. [applause] >> Hello. I'd just like to kind of reiterate that that I'm grateful to have the opportunity to work here. Um it was a really great place to work. I'm going to miss all of you and I want to thank all of you for um helping me do my job better. >> So um thank you for that and uh [applause] >> I was like take a moment. I think it's really

049important to point out that even though your label is facilities, the impact you have on our students is really huge. I can speak personally. I know Michelle has come to Caposia PTA meetings to advocate for projects that need to be done to help our students and I just think it's really amazing and wish you all the best. >> Yes, congratulations. [applause] All right, I'd like to invite uh principal Sophia Bosard to speak about Lincoln Center. [snorts] [clears throat] >> Good evening everyone. Thank you for having us. Um I keep telling Chris there is still time to retract. It's [laughter] okay to change her minds, >> but the decision has been made. >> Becca has nowhere to go. She gets to stay with us. I'll start off with the retirement um because it will be a

050big loss and then I will move on to someone really important and special to our community because we continue to have her presence um and her affecting the lives of children. But first of all, I wanted to start off with some very important math that I did really quick. [laughter] Um, so here's what my math says. You have done this job for 17 years as a setting three pair, which means you have touched the lives at about 136 students in setting three. Let's say if we cap setting three at about eight, which also means you have touched the lives of about 272 family members, which as a mom of a child with special needs can be a lot. So the fact that you have done that, Chris, is a miracle. That also means most importantly

051is that you have also touched the lives of 10,500 students if my math [clears throat] is correct because technically supporting a child with special needs really supports the entire community because at Lincoln Center we value inclusion and you really are the face of inclusion. So I have so much gratitude for you. Um, I also wanted to read some things from staff because what will really go out and I had a picture that I'm not going to share, but um, [laughter] what staff had to say about Chris is that you have taught them everything that they know. Um, you have always been kind and helpful and supportive and loving. You're always the sweetest, most genuine, caring person I've ever had the opportunity to meet and work with. You are truly the kid whisperer. And I can

052attest to this because I will tell you in times of difficulty even I will look to Chris and say Chris what should I do? How can I help? And she's so honest and truthful that she will tell me just stop talking. [laughter] >> I did say that >> which I absolutely love about her and that's why we so value her her transparency and love. Another teacher had to say, "Thank you for your unwavering kindness, patience, and support in the lives of so many students. You are the joy of Lincoln Center." And that is so true. Last but not least, and this is all classroom sped, and pair professionals. Last but not least, it has been a pleasure to work with you. Your patience, your calmness, and your kindness is one of a kind. You are

053the kid whisperer. I want to leave you with one more thing that may or may not make you cry, right? [laughter] >> Which is my goal. Um, this comes from a family um who also sat down and wrote this letter with their child that you have supported for years. I've only been fortunate to work with you for one year, but I know where they're coming from because I've seen it in the little year that I've been with you. We just like to express our gratitude for everything you have done for our child for the past several years. You have always undoubtedly had their best interest at heart and their patience and your patience, generosity, kindness, and love have shown through in every interaction we have had with you. You have a unique gift for being

054able to connect with our child and I don't want to share their name in tough moments even if the mo even in the moments when nobody else can including us and that's from the parents we have always trusted that our child was safe accepted valued and seen with Miss G. Thank you, Chris, for all you have done for our child, our family, and the many other LC families you have touched over the years. We will miss you incredibly, but are so happy you'll get to spend more time with your family. They're so lucky to have you. >> Okay, that's all I have. >> Thank you. [applause] >> And here is your certificate. >> [applause] >> All right. Next up, [laughter] we have Miss Fragel, who has been wonderful to be around for the one year

055that I have been fortunate to be around. I will tell you, um, she is usually the specialist. So, she's our media specialist that all of our kids love going to. [laughter] We barely get any behavior calls because somehow you also are a kid whisperer. So that's about 600 plus students for 25 years that she has touched. Um she is always on the go, always standing and delivering and always lesson planning and actually being involved with kids. Sometimes as teachers we get really exhausted and we tend to sit down. I have yet to see you sit down. When I come in and check in to tell her something, she's always delivering and or engaged with her students. Um, I will also say that she has been a very positive leader in our community. Um, and has

056been [clears throat] nothing but a growth mindset for both adults and students. Obviously, she has touched the lives of many others um, and not just Lincoln Center. So, we're really fortunate to have her and we have had her for 25 years and I'm so honored to be um, your coworker. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] Thank you. I don't know if you made Chris cry, but >> I definitely [laughter] >> would you like to say anything? >> Thank you. >> All right. I would like to now invite Principal Terry Bretoy from Caposia Education Center up. [snorts] What the great thing about not only this evening and what we do for retirements here is we do this three times at least in our building, right? And so we do this tonight and then Friday

057we have a breakfast and then we have the last day of the school year and we talk about retirees then. And um so you'll get the short version, but there are three different versions of what I'm going to say here tonight. And we actually have four retirees here at Caposia. That's a large number for us. Two of them, the Andersons, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, who are fifth grade teachers, are not here this evening. They live in Plum City, which is an hour away, and they have a lot of animals. So, they had to get home and feed the animals. But uh we will talk about their legendary presence at Caposia on Friday, and then the last school day of the uh the last breakfast of the year. And then I wanted to uh Michelle is

058here too. And Michelle, would you just step up because Mark and I were kind of fighting over who got to talk over you or talk about you. And I have to tell you, uh, I have worked Michelle with Michelle forever and, um, we already did her background, but I don't know if I've met, uh, someone in her field that shows as much joy in pride in their job as this woman right here. So, we always say, you know, at Caposia, we've got the best building. It's 32 years old, right? It's the best building and it looks great. It looks like the day it opened. And that doesn't uh happen by magic. And um what is also unique about Michelle is that when I asked her about uh what she's going to miss the most, our

059head engineer said the kids. And that goes that that is about people who work in my building. It is about children and it goes all the way to the head custodian as well. So I wanted to make sure that uh I gave her a short little speech because she is so special uh to what we do there. She thinks of things ahead of time as a a head engineer should and is telling me what we need to do ahead of time to make sure that we have the best place for kids to go to school. So, I want to personally thank Michelle for her time as well. >> Okay. [applause] I miss you, too. I miss her. All right. You want to say something else while you're up there? You got a chapter, [laughter] too?

060>> Okay. Good to go. >> And Michelle loves to talk, too. So, there is a whole chapter. There's many chapters here. All right. So, thanks, Michelle. Uh I have the privilege of talking uh about uh kind of a legend here in South St. Paul. I first knew her as Chris Brigade and I lived on 21st Avenue on the north end where the pond is where Old Jefferson used to be and she grew up in the horseshoes. So anybody from South St. Paul knows exactly what I'm talking about and I see a lot of faces back there that don't. Anyways, you people out there know exactly what I'm talking about. So I knew the Brigades early on as one of those family names. We have Feltons, we have Pettas, we have Francis's, we have the Brigades

061on the north side of town. >> Fewer children. [clears throat] >> What's that? >> A lot fewer children than >> A lot fewer children. Yes. But uh you talk about being a Packer and many of my conversations with Chris have been about community and the first community that she became a integral part of was being a Packer was being a great student was being in an athletic family was contributing to everything that happened in the high school as a community member. She then went to St. Benz and that Packer became a Benny and that Benny joined the dance team and became everything she possibly could be going to St. Ben's as a Benny. Then she went on to teach at and I got to get this right, Our Lady of Grace. Okay, for 5 years

062before she was hired at in South St. Paul Caposia as a kindergarten teacher and as an interventionist and everything she did oozed excellence. So, everybody wanted to be in Chris's class. Every kid loves being in intervention with her, right? Um, I have often said that um if you had a prototype for an intervention teacher, it would be right here. >> How she diagnoses what kids needs, how she motivates them to love reading, and how she cheerleads them along the way. It is really unique. So, ever since I have witnessed this woman teach kids who struggle and don't like to read to read, it's really an art and it's something special and we are going to miss that. This woman pours 150% of herself into everything she does. And so, we said, "You were a Packer,

063you're a Benny, you're a Caposia teacher, you're a South St. Paulite." She said, "My biggest concern now is what community am I going to be part of next?" Well, she bought a house in Arizona, so I think she's going to start there. Anyways, and uh the funny thing is is that she uh lives she will be snowbirding in a culde-sac with her college roommate. So, she's got a start on the whole community thing down there. Um Chris also says she will be back to volunteer and she will be back to substitute teach. Chris, I've heard that before and I don't know the substitute teach. which I'm not holding my breath on, but I would trust you in any room. And I just want to thank you for your time and dedication to South St. Paul,

064to our community, and to all the kids that you help change their trajectory in life. Chris Wallace. [applause] Um, I just want to thank everyone for being part of this community, being part of the school board. Um, it is really important to me. I have made it my whole mission to help those that sometimes aren't heard by others and um I feel extremely blessed to be going out still loving my job. I love every minute of it. I just need a little more flexibility. Um and so I just really want to thank you for letting me do something every day that I have loved. And so I tell my kids, do something you love. It's not like going to work. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you so very much. Thank you. [applause] I'd like

065to now invite Principal Leah Borg from South St. Paul Secondary Middle School. [clears throat] You're the one who makes me cry the Oh, Kim, when you said the Kleenex, I was [laughter] like, "Oh, man." Uh, last year it was like ugly crying time, and I've actually practiced, so hopefully we don't we don't get ugly crying today. Um, thank you for having us. Um, I'm Leah Borg. I'm the proud principal at South St. Paul Middle School and I have three retirees with me today. I have four overall. Um, and this is an amazing group to talk about and um, the first person I'm going to talk about is our teacher who's not here, Noel Frost. Noel was just a teacher with us for two years. Um, she made an amazing impact on our English learning students.

066She also was known as the other teacher. um she co-taught in many general education classrooms and the students knew her as that teacher that's here to help us um by students that speak English and that were learning English. Um she taught me a lot about professionalism and how to ask a question so that people really want to answer you and um I really am thankful for my time with Noel. Um she's unable to be here today due due to an emergency and I ask that once a packer, always a packer. Please be sending her all the good thoughts and prayers. Um if you would like to send her a card, drop it off at the secondary and I'll give it to her when I give her the certificate because she definitely needs some love right

067now. Um I want to talk about Karen first. So Karen Palmquist is the only person that has supervised more Palmquists than myself. Uh uh at one time I I was supervising four of them. Um but Karen has been a teacher at South St. Paul Schools since 2009. And prior to working at South St. Paul schools as a special education teacher, she worked as a director for children's ministry and as a kindergarten teacher. She also worked hard raising four South St. Paul grads. Um as Mr. Palmquist, taught full-time and coach three sports a year. Uh she told me that it feels like she's worked here for 32 years because she's been at all of the activities and in the sporting events and um she's really she's been here supporting for 32 years. So um ju just

06819 years on the books but 32 here. Um [snorts] when I met with Karen last week, she recalled seeing a former student in the hall during um conferences and that former student was a parent. And the the student was so um grateful for Karen, but also a little bit embarrassed about like, oh man, when I was a middle school kid, I was really, you know, not the best student. And Karen Karen told me, she's like, "I remember that student and I remember her struggling and I remember her being frustrated, but she has nothing to be embarrassed of because she grew up and she implemented all of those strategies and those ideas that I taught her and she became a nurse and she is proud and happy and a wonderful member of our community and a

069parent of a current Packer." Um that is something that I think that is important to think about with Karen is she is proud of every one of her students and that pride is contagious. Um oftentimes um I would round with Karen and she would talk about how can you um as a principal or how can we as teachers elevate students and celebrate the the activities and the things that they are doing well both inside and outside of the classroom. And so I just really want to thank her. [snorts] Um, thank you Karen for all of that encouragement and support um, and making sure that we see the best in every kid. Um, one of the things that I'm so thankful for Karen about is she taught me a lot about due process. She is the

070master of running an IEP meeting where even if things are not so great, everyone walks out happy with a plan to to become happy. And um, I just really I appreciate her so much. Um Karen and Dave plan to travel and be active in raising their grandchildren. Um they have two new grandchildren that are due this fall and um maybe she'll even long-term sub for Josh Palmquist when he takes his paternity leave. We're hoping. Um so hopefully we won't miss her for long. Um so thank you Karen for all of you done for our community and um all that you do to support us. So thank you. [applause] >> Okay. All right. I practiced a lot so I haven't cried yet. We'll [laughter] see. We'll see if we can do this. Uh I never cried

071at work before I worked here. So I don't know what [laughter] I don't know what that says. Um I met David Palmquist in 2020 and when I became a principal in an uh in the pandemic, I had to evaluate teachers who I'd never met in person and I had to evaluate them via Google Meets or Zoom. and Dave taught FIAD. And so what an hard class to teach um via Zoom or or Google Meets. Um many of the people that live in South St. Paul have taken a FIAD class from Mr. Palmquist. Um none of them know his true um talent until they have taken a class from him via Zoom. [snorts] Uh [laughter] this is a man that it was like he was the master of showbiz. He was doing push-ups and sit-ups and

072um jumping jacks and he was he was going from one end of the screen to the other so quickly. Um all in the idea that he was helping kids raise their heart rate and calculate their heart rate so they could be physically fit. And I think that when I met him, I like was like, "Oh my gosh, this guy loves his job." But he like in in real life, he hated every moment of Zoom school. He hated it. and he just put it out there that he loved it and he was doing it for the kids and that has been every moment of of his career. Um, what I observed that day was the hardest working man in show business and he was doing all the things but it really was the um it it

073was the story of Dave Palmquist because all of the years that he has worked as a FIAD teacher that is what he's trying to do. He's trying to get kids to be physically fit. He's trying to get kids to work as a uh as a team and it has been a lovely career. Um now many of you know Dave Palmquist coaches hockey. Um and he has not he's not going to retire from coaching hockey. We'll talk about all of those great things once he does that. Um when he hangs up his skates, he can come up here again. But I really want to celebrate the the educator in the classroom or the gymnasium that he was. Um, when I talked with David last week to prepare for this day, I asked him um if I

074could share the story and he said he could. But he also wanted me to share that his his co-workers and his um the people that he works with as coaching and the the community that he supports are also really um important to him. Um, [snorts] and so I just I wanted to make sure that you know that Dave Palmquist is an amazing educator and also a hockey coach. >> Yes. Wonderful. [laughter] >> Um, over the uh so David has spent 32 years at school um with students and some of the things that he's looking forward to as he retires is spending more time with his family, spending more time maybe golfing. and he did he did say that he would sub and I might hold him to that. Um but I really appreciate um that

075he is um looking forward to being active in the community and he also is um looking forward to not getting up real early and not doing any paperwork and so um I'm just I'm really h happy um for him and his retirement. So thank you Dave. [applause] >> All right, Mr. Gustiffson. [laughter] Um, the house that Gus built is called the House of Math. If you've ever called his classroom on the phone or you look over the door of his classroom, he's got a great big sign that says um, Gustoson's House of Math or he answers the phone, House of Math. Um, and the House of Math is a place where middle school students have learned about math every day for the past 38 years. 38 years ago, John and Chris, who was just up

076here a little bit earlier, um had moved to Las Vegas where John taught seventh grade math at J. Herald Brinley Junior High. After three years of teaching in Nevada, John and Chris wanted to move back home to Minnesota and um they jobs were hard to find in Minnesota at the time and they were visiting family in North St. Paul. Uh Chris had to go back a week earlier and John stayed here. Uh, and Chris got home and checked the the message machine, which is the the thing that you press in your house that tells you who's called you every day for the past couple of days and found that the message machine was full. Um, one of the um the directors of curriculum and instruction here at South St. Paul, Nancy Whiteside, had been trying

077to offer John an interview. And so Chris calls John and John sets up an interview with Nancy Whiteside. And uh, Nancy was a little bit worried. She's like, "You live in Las Vegas and I don't think you're going to get here in time." and he's like, "No, I'll be there tomorrow." Um cuz he was in town. And so the next day he interviewed and he had um he had his job here at South St. Paul and the House of Math was relocated to South St. Paul where it moved only slightly and occasionally to avoid construction at the secondary building. Uh along with teaching, John coached football and girls basketball. He's a supporter of middle school sports and activities that have led many seventh grade nights at the varsity basketball games. So, um, when when John

078and Bob Peter Festo told me about this activity, I was like, "Wait, what?" Like, "They can't play." And he's like, "No, we're going as audience members." And so, the seventh graders, they come after school, they make the posters, and they go to the varsity games, and they cheer on the kids, and they make sure to go to both boys and girls um sports. And it it's amazing. And so, hopefully we'll be able to continue that um tradition. But um he's actually when when I when I interviewed him, he said one of the things that he appreciates most is being able to have taught a whole generation. You know, he's had a whole generation of kids come through seventh grade math. He's now having their kids come through math. Um and um when you have those

079former those students of former students, there's that special bond of like my mom had him too, [laughter] you know. So um it's it's a pretty special thing. All right. John is connected closely with the community. All six of his kids have gone through South St. Paul schools. Um, like I said, Chris works at Lincoln Center and he sees former and current students everywhere he goes. John has some great stories about seeing former students at Menard's who are there as contractors and like, "Oh, Mr. G, I'm using those math skills and I'm doing this." And so, um, Mr. G also has it's sort of a teacher legend. Um, he has one of the only teachers I know that has a student that has told him, "Mr. G, I don't need to learn math. I'm going to

080be a professional athlete." And then the kid actually became a professional athlete. [laughter] Uh, but that but that student uses math. Um, even if it's just to count his money or tally his statistics, the house of math always wins. [laughter] Mr. Augustus values his teammates and there are many people he listed as being important co-workers from all the people who have served on the math team to the interdisciplinary teams. Um and while the kids call him Mr. G, the staff affectionately call him Gus. Um we know we can count on him. Uh when I interviewed Gus last week, I asked him what teachers should know, what new teachers should know, and he said, "A good team makes a good place. Be a good team member." And Gus is the best team member. I'd want him

081on my team for any challenge. Um, he's the guy who will lend a helping hand without a second thought. You did it. [laughter] U, I'm also thankful for the opportunity to know him and be his teammate. Uh, in retirement, he'll be gardening and traveling. He'll sleep late and take his time. He'll be spending time with family and hopefully he will still do donuts in the driveway in the summers with his former colleagues. [laughter] Thank you for everything. [applause] Thank you very much. [snorts] >> Thanks. >> All right. Finally, I'd like to invite up principal Chuck Chaki from the high school. >> Uh, thank you very much. South St. Paul High School has two retirees this year, Bill Bowman and Julie Finn. Neither could be here this uh tonight because well, they're retiring >> and they're

082preparing for that. But I would like to publicly thank them for their service. Last three years, Bill Bowman served as our equity and instructional coach, helping us improve our classroom practices. And Julia Finn has been at SSP since 2002 as a Russian teacher and then lately as one of our English language learner teachers. So, uh, thank you, Bill and Julia. I hope you enjoy retirement and we will miss you. Now, I do want to bring up Sarah Voss. Saving the best for last, obviously, is what we're doing now. Sarah's not retiring, so everyone just take a deep breath. Yes. Sarah is one of our French teachers at the high school and has been teaching for with us for the last 25 years. In that time, Sarah has had the opportunity to teach all three of

083her children. Has taken 10 SSP student groups to France. Let's just think about that. 10 times she has gone across the pond [laughter] with students. Uh will cry on the last day of school like she does every year. And we'll try to catch her mom who taught French for 50 years. So, what I'm going to say is if Sarah catches her at 50 years and decides to retire, I will not be doing that retirement speech. She doesn't want you to know that. Uh, but what I want to do is publicly thank Sarah for her commitment to South St. Paul High School and the community. She is a great role model. I love having her in our building and so do the kids. So, thank you Sarah for 25 years. I'm looking forward to at least

084at least five more. [laughter] Good job. [applause] All right, pull it together. Okay. [laughter] Well, to all of our retirees, I think we want to wish you all the best and thank you for your years of service to the district and to those celebrating their 25 years and some even more. We are blessed to have the work that you do benefiting our students, our community, and thank you. Thank you very much. >> All right. Now, the normal stuff. >> Okay. We're moving to the uh reports listed on the agenda. First, we'll start with the stakeholder comments to the board highlights. As a reminder to the community, there are two ways to make comment to the board. You may either submit an online form or appear before the board in person. If you would like to

085speak in person, the board has set time aside on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 during our regular extended work sessions. No one came to speak during our stakeholder comments to the board session on Monday, May 11th, and we received no online submissions. [clears throat] Our next public listening session is at 6:30 p.m. on June 8th. And I will now turn things over to Vice Chair Claflin for an update on this evening's work session. >> Thank you. Uh seems like a while ago that we had this work session, but it was only just an hour ago. Um tonight's work session was in preparation for tonight's business meeting. So we uh discussed the federal microurchasing policy that we'll hear later that had also been discussed at the finance uh committee two weeks ago and

086we heard about the ATPs changes that are going to be proposed this evening. um reviewed our plans following uh the special election. And we want to hear from our community members about um their opinions on the bond issue that we had uh uh put towards the voters and uh we'd like to know what people think about um supporting our schools and future bond issues. uh also had some discussions about um the post-secary education option that high school students have and academic awards. We'll be considering that more and then finally getting ready for some self-evaluation and superintendent evaluations later in June. >> Thank you. >> All right, Dr. Zambbrino, you're next. >> All right. Thank you, Chair Hume. >> Our last official meeting with school still in session. So, um, just have to start by saying

087thank you to, um, our amazing staff. They're so dedicated, so hardworking. Our students are the best. They're the best of the best. And I think that speaks volumes about the parents and elders in their lives. So, just want to give everyone a shout out for all the tremendous work this year. At the beginning of the year, we all said, "This feels exactly like what we signed on to." And then winter threw some challenges our way. Uh but what I've learned in in my four plus years here is there's no challenge that our staff and students and families in our community can't get through and and exceed uh any expectations. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for that. Um some of these I'll try to be quick because we've kind of heard some

088of the topics, but I want to thank everyone who voted in our bond and capital projects levy special election uh two weeks ago, actually today. Whether it was a yes or no vote, we appreciate you coming out and we're ready to listen and learn. And so, uh, we heard a little bit about that just a moment ago. We are going to definitely, as a school board and as administration, uh, commit to listening and learning. We're a learning organization. That's what we do for, uh, for our work. And we will listen, we will learn, and we'll come back around and figure out a great plan with our community. So, thank you everyone for that. [clears throat] We are at that time, of course, graduation ceremonies. Last week, I had the privilege of um, attending an AB

089graduation, which was super fun. We had three um students who earned their GEDs, which is a really really big deal. Um I shared with the folks there, my own grandmother had to um end her schooling at 13 years old to help raise her younger siblings and didn't go back until after my grandfather passed away. So having lived that experience with my nana, as we called her, doing that in her 70s, it showed me that it's never too late to to learn. We are committed to lifelong learning. And so it was really great to see that. And then we have a couple great high school graduations coming up. So on June 2nd, we have the CLC graduation. I know I think Monty had shared that earlier. Super fun. Every time we have the CLC graduation has

090its own feel. Very exciting and uh looking forward to that. And then just what a great venue we have, weather permitting, that we will be out on the field on June 4th to celebrate the high school's graduation. Although I did hear it really isn't great when it has to be inside. Unfortunately, we did have to be inside last year and it was electric. So, realistically, no matter what we get, it's going to be an amazing night. Whether it's in the um comp gym or out on Edinger Field, we're going to have a great time. So, shout out to our seniors and all the great things you've done during your time as Packers. We're very, very proud of you. Um, as we approach summer, we do of course take great pride in serving our entire community.

091Um, and so we will continue with a free lunch program for kids. Uh anybody from birth through 18 will be able to uh get lunch provided in partnership with our school district and open door. Uh there will be mobile meals available traveling to various locations from June 15th through July 24th. We do have a couple of dates in there that that won't happen, but they're going to um set up at Veterans Field, the Rain Park, uh the Clark uh place apartments in McMora Field. So um stay tuned for information on that. That's all available on our website. Caposia and the secondary sites will be where we offer free meals, both breakfast and lunch can stop in and grab a meal. Um, anybody who's again in the community from birth through 18 years old is welcome

092to participate in that. We did hear our student reps give a shout out to the educational foundation and wow, wow, wow. 133 graduating seniors earning a total of $614,900 in scholarships. I seriously have not Yes. Shout out to the foundation. Uh the staff at the foundation. That's a big uh event to to plan and and host. The board has supported that uh event as well as a lot of things in our classrooms. The donors make that possible. Uh so just uh what a great thing that we have here. We are uh definitely a special school district and this is one of those things that makes it special. So thanks to our foundation for that. Neat thing that was started this year. We often do a lot of looking at where our students are going after

093they graduate um and and and celebrate some of the signing that they do for um athletics, but we realized like how important it is to just recognize all of our seniors. So on May 1st, we had an event for National Decision Day. And so our high school students were celebrated and shared their post-secary plans. students gathered, they had treats, photos. Um, some of them spoke and rallied the troops or or got each other so excited and it was so fun to see them honoring each other. So, as much as they were there to celebrate what they were doing, they were shouting each other out like, "Where are you going? What are you studying?" and just cheering for each other. U and, and really no matter what the path looks like after graduation, we know some

094are going to college, some straight to the workforce, trade school, military, it doesn't matter where they're going. We wanted to celebrate on our seniors. So, uh, our counselors were the ones who came up with that idea and I think we have a new annual tradition that I'm really looking forward to. Um, continuing with that theme of empowering our students, Lincoln Center hosted a career day. So, they had 18 guest speakers, many of them being uh parents of our students coming in to share their professional journeys. And I think what a great gift that is. Some just to give a little bit of time, but just to share what it's like to plan a career, what does your career involve? And so they visited multiple classrooms, let the kids hear about all these different careers, answering

095questions. Uh so some of the things they learned about nursing, accounting, social work, event planning, all over the board. Um so really nice that we're starting with the kids young to be thinking about that bright future that they're all sure to have. >> Our CLC, uh they do some really great experiential learning at the CLC and they have a a community outreach class. So they had uh the opportunity to design a new project this year. here. They do that each year. They're all student led. And this year they chose uh to connect all generations. And so they went to um Lincoln Center there and hosted a recess carnival there. They had uh treats and activities and games with the middle school. They invited a class to join them in their trip to the John Carroll

096building. I heard from Deb Griffith just what a wonderful event that was. Uh playing games, socializing, and supporting our elders. You know, again, uh we take great pride in serving the entire community, and it's it's so neat to see those connections that we're able to make between our own students and the elders in this community. Really valuable for everybody involved. Oh, Amy and the goats. [laughter] We need those goats here right now, Amy. You know, it's getting late. We need a little boost in energy. I'll tell you what, like there's nothing that gets the the people excited than the goats. actually made an appearance at the district office where we were and everybody came out of their offices [laughter] to see what the excitement was. Uh, but I did get to join uh Amy Winters,

097our executive director of educational services for those watching who don't know. But she also somehow has time for a farm. And on her farm, she raises goats, chickens, and other things. So, she did bring mom a goat and some babies along with the silky um chicken to let the kids hang out. You can just see how happy they were. They were so excited. they could barely contain themselves, but our kids being the best, they did a great job. Uh, but they were able to hold the goats and pet the chicken, ask all kinds of questions, and so just really neat to have um something different, something fun, and to make some connections to other parts of the world. Like it's you don't have to go that far when you're on a farm. So, thanks for

098doing that, Amy. Really fun event every year. We had recently our our field day. So, our fourth and fifth graders uh were competing in the Tom Memorial Elementary track meet and so they compete in all kinds of running and field events. Uh really neat cuz again we have that connection of the generation so or at least the different ages of groups. We have our high schoolers there to help support the event. And man, these kids are competitive. I mean I was impressed by how hard they were pushing themselves. And the best part is how they cheered each other on. Even if it was kids from the other school, if it was a Lincoln Center kid cheering on a Caposia kid or vice versa, just so positive, so fun, and what a perfect day we had

099for it. The weather was honestly just incredible. We were lamenting on the fact we almost didn't have it last time because there was so much smoke in the air from all the wildfires. So, just a perfect day for that. Shout out to the staff for all the planning on that. Really fun award. Recently, we had our annual SSP Ed Foundation Silver Apple Awards, and these are probably one of the coolest things you can see because this is where students and families nominate the staff and then they receive the awards. So, there's uh Chris Bachan, a language arts teacher at the high school there, uh was nominated by a group of students. And so, uh we were there for the picture, but he wanted to redo it with the kids who had nominated him. And so,

100that just shows you Chris's heart and how he's got kids at the center. Uh Mr. Patrick, as a lot of the kids call him, Patrick Gith over at Lincoln Center, one of our ESPs. We heard a little bit about um some of our students who have unique needs and there's a whole core group of amazing educators who make that work for them and Mr. Patrick is definitely one of them. And then Mr. Gonzalez or Mr. G they call him at Caposia Education Center, another one of our special ed ESPs. And so kind of the whole gamut of the amazing staff that we have, but really neat honor to be picked by the kids and then we ambush the classrooms or wherever they are and give them the award and read the letter. And so it's

101just such a fun and inspiring event. So congratulations to Chris, Patrick, and Anthony on that. And then last, just some reminders again, June 4th, last day of school. So coming real quickly, Junth, all of our uh buildings will be closed for the district holiday. Caposia PTA on the 2nd and then SLA as we call it, summer learning academy begins June 15th. So we will keep the learning moving right along. Um secondary we've got uh the last day for seniors is May 29th. So that is only 3 days away from now. What uh mixed emotions they must be having as they're approaching that. Mentioned the CLC and high school graduations on the 2nd and 4th. Packer preview session one begins at the middle school on June 15th with when summer learning academy begins and then we

102have a choir concert on the 28th at 7. So other than that nothing happening around the district. Um no but again I just want to say thank you again. Thank you parents and guardians for trusting us to educate your children. Uh it's something we take very seriously but we like to have a lot of fun. I hope the kids u felt that this year and our staff are just incredible. So, hoping everyone has a very safe, happy summer when we get to that. The weather outside certainly feels like it right now. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Zambbrino. >> Uh, next, I'm looking for a motion to approve the consent items on tonight's agenda, which include the financial claims, bills payable, and staffing as presented. Do I have a motion? >> Some moved. >>

103Second. >> Thank you. Any discussion? >> All those in favor, please say I. I >> I >> opposed. Motion carries 6. We now move to section five of the agenda. District policy. District policies play a critical role in the governance work of the school board. All district policies are available on our website under the about us tab located within the schoolboard section under SPS policies. At this time, I am seeking a motion to approve the first nine policies listed on our agenda under 5A this evening. >> So moved. a second. >> Thank you. >> Um, so to kind of fill out that a little more, we are looking at policy 416, drug, alcohol, and cannabis testing, and 417, chemical use, and abuse. These two policies were reviewed by the board policy committee on April 23rd

104by the full board on April 27th, and are up for their final review this evening. Policy 438, Payroll Dates 529, Staff Notification of Violent Behavior by Students, 609, Religion, 620, Credit for Learning, 621, Read Act, 735, Electronic Fund Transfer, and 901 Community Education are also on their final review. They were reviewed by the policy committee on May 20th, and no major changes were made. most experienced no change beyond the state statute number changing. The next seven policies on the agenda under 5B are on their second of three reviews. Because more substantial changes were made to these policies, they receive greater scrutiny. They will most likely be approved at the June 22nd, 2026 meeting. They are policy 425 staff development 535 service animals 606 textbooks and instructional materials 606.1 reconsideration of textbooks and instructional materials 606.5

105library materials 618 assessment of student achievement and 721 uniform grant guidance policy regarding federal revenue sources. All right, we've listed all the policies. Is there any discussion? >> A lot of them. >> Okay. [laughter] Um, if there's no further discussion, because we did talk about policy at our work session earlier this evening, I will ask all those in favor of approving the first nine policies listed on the agenda this evening, do please say I. >> I opposed. >> The motion carries 6. Moving on to business items. We have six business items this evening. First, I am looking for a motion for the South St. school board to approve the federal fund micro purchasing threshold. Do I have a motion? >> Some moved. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Thank you. [laughter] And I'd like to

106invite Rajath, our uh executive finance director, up to explain why this change is recommended. >> Thank you so much for for inviting me here. Uh madam chair, madam vice chair, member of the board, I just want to take some time to explain this. Uh for efficiency purposes per our auditors, um we took a sample of data and within our sample of data, we we noticed that our threshold was a little bit under that that that $10,000 threshold. And so for efficiency, the auditors recommended to increase this federal purchasing through federal revenue sources up to $25,000. This gives us the ability to not go out and solicit bids but target um our uh vendors directly instead of going through an RFP processes with federal fund. It is in compliance with the state. The state is actually

107at 25,000 right now. The federal guidance does give us the ability to go over excuse me up to $50,000. So, for the sweet spot, uh, our auditors recommend the 20,000 $25,000 threshold. >> Any discussion or questions for Roth? >> Okay. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. I. >> Opposed? >> Motion carries 60. >> We're just going to keep you up here. I am looking for a motion for the approval of the acceptance of gifts resolution. >> So, moved. >> Thank you. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. All right, Ra, what is the donation that is up for approval today? >> So, once again, you know, I I I just want to say what an awesome night. There has been a lot of community presence. Um, a lot of

108Packer pride here. And having said that, um, we we have a partnership with our community. We such have such a wonderful community that Jeff Bader uh donated golf equipment here. Just want to take this time to recognize this donation. Uh what I heard from Brady when uh he emailed me about this, it's some really nice equipment. So this goes far to our golf team here. >> Wonderful. Um any discussion? >> I guess I'll clarify because it is physical things that were donated. It's a resolution tonight as opposed to >> um what we normally do when we receive cash. >> Um if there is no discussion, I would ask Lisa to please call the role. >> Director Claflin, >> yes. >> Cummings, >> yes. >> Telton, >> yes. Weber. Yes. >> W. Felton. Yes. And chair

109human. Yes. >> That's six. >> All right. Resolution carries. And again, thank you to the community member who's so generously supporting our golf teams. >> Yes. >> You're still here. [laughter] Item C under business items. I am looking for a motion for the South St. school board to approve the resolution approving intermediate school district 917's long-term facility maintenance program budget and authorizing the inclusion of a proportionate share of those projects in the district's application for long-term facility maintenance revenue. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Ra >> once again a lot of member [laughter] school districts tonight being a part of the consortium with 917 are going through this motion with their boards. Uh 917 does not have the ability to go out directly to levy for these LTFM

110revenue. Having said that um I gave the the packet to list out the projects and I also listed out our share of this here. Our proportionate share of this is approximately 29,000. Uh last year was 17.5 uh thousand. Um the projects are listed. We're still I believe as I look we're we're the second lowest. Randolph was the um the first lowest of this year because our size here and our net tax capacity. So, uh, the recommendation from administration is to approve this so 917 can access this long-term facilities maintenance revenue and I can put this into our LCF and plan as well. So, when I go and do the TNT, it's all incorporated. >> Any discussion or questions or extra commentary from our 917 rep? >> Sure. [laughter] Um so yeah so the um so

111as uh Ross said um 917 as an intermediate school district does not have the ability to go out and seek um funds. So they rely on all their member districts of which we are one on provide uh to provide this um funding. You know we all we all have roofs, we all have HVAC systems. We all have parking lots. Um, I know the majority of this money is going toward a roofing project that is a a three-year project actually um to completely uh uh repair and replace uh the roof on one of their buildings. Um and yes, as we they said, we have the second lowest proportion of any of the nine districts in 917. >> Thank you. Um all right, if there's no further discussion, then I will ask Lisa to call the role.

112Director T. Felton, >> yes. >> Weber, >> yes. >> W. Felton, yes. >> Claflin, >> yes. >> Cummings, >> yes. >> And Chair Hume, >> yes. >> That's six. >> Resolution carries. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> All right. And I'm looking for a motion for the South St. Paul School Board to approve the 2026 through 2029 alternative teacher professional pay system plan. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Thank you. >> Second. All right. and [laughter] invite Amy Winter, our educational services director, to uh like explain it. [laughter] >> Yeah, I think you're going to need to count how many acronyms I'm going to say in this presentation. Uh but I am here uh to just give you a summary. Uh we have a plan that's up for proposal here.

113It's for 2006 to 2029 and it is our alternative teacher professional pay system. And really the intention of this plan uh it's tied to uh the state Q comp uh program and it's to uh incentivize and support our teachers. So it's really focusing on how we can uh help our teachers grow professionally um also support um like different coaching opportunities um PLC opportunities different things like that. So um this plan was uh has been in existence. Uh the current plan was reviewed by a committee uh and the committee consisted of teachers, administrators, um department leaders and they kind of made uh recommendations on changes. These recommendations then were discussed across all of the sites uh with all of our teacher bargaining units and then they voted and uh overwhelmingly then approved the updated changes for

114this upcoming plan. It's a three-year plan and some of the big highlights is really aligning our work around um supporting uh the work that teachers do in their PLC's um and giving some support through some PLC lead positions that are um like financially stipened. Also, um honoring the work that our special education TOSA teachers do in supporting due process uh with our special ed teachers. and then also kind of looking at some of the structured coaching opportunities that our teachers have and include that kind of in the full package. So that's kind of an overview of the proposed plan moving forward >> for the community. Can I have you define what PLC and TOSA are? >> Yes. Uh so TOSAs are teachers who get put on special assignments and they um really are like a

115teacher leadership uh position. And so in the plan um these are special ed teachers who have a depth of knowledge around a lot of the due process and the compliance side of um like students on IEPs in our special ed department. Uh PLC's are professional learning communities and these are just spaces where teachers and educators come together and really kind of lean on each other um identify an area um or a problem that they're trying to solve. A lot of times it's focused around um when students are um achieving, when students are not achieving, what do we want them to know? Um and then really looking at that information and how we can do better to support our students or how we change instruction or lessons so that kids are more successful. >> Thank you.

116>> Yeah. >> Uh any other questions or discussion? >> All right. Then all those in favor, please say I. >> I opposed. >> Motion carries 60. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> I am looking for a motion for the South St. Paul School Board to approve the Minnesota State High School League MHSL membership resolution. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Thank you. >> A second. >> Thank you. And I invite Lisa Brand Decker to explain this annual process. >> This is just an annual resolution um committing our district or our South St. high school um to be a part of the Minnesota State High School League where all of our student athletes and activity um students that participate in activities and athletics um will just uh I'm trying to think

117of the right word like safe and inclusive and um respectful play and environments in their respective activities and sports. >> It's what allows us to participate in all the things. >> Yes. Yes. [laughter] >> All right. Uh, any questions or discussion on this? >> If there is no discussion, I ask Lisa to please call the role. >> Director Weber, >> yes. >> W. Felton, >> yes. >> Claflin, >> yes. >> Cummings, >> yes. >> T Felton, >> yes. >> And Chair Hume, >> yes. >> That's six. >> All right. Resolution carries. >> The final business item. I guess it's technically Yes. Final business item. I'm looking for a motion for the South St. Paul School Board to acknowledge and accept the resignation of board member Duffy effective June 19th, 2026. >> So moved. >> Second.

118>> Thank you. And I'd like to ask Lisa Brand Decker to explain how accepting Director Duffy's resignation tonight creates a vacancy on the board and how we are legally obligated to fill that vacancy and what that process looks like. So, um, state statute, um, requires the board to fill the vacancy and any term that has at least two or more years left in it is required to fill that vacancy. And so, because Director Duffy has a little over two years left on his term, the board is required to fill that. And so, part of that process is um, we will have a two-eek application process and that information will be posted on our website. We'll be sending it out via social media. it is being posted in our um our district paper which is the

119Pioneer Press and um so that information will have a two-eek application process. The board will engage in interviews on June 15th and or June 17th depending on the applications. That person um the person that is selected will serve the remainder or until the November 3rd special election. And at that point um a new person would be elected and assume that position immediately and would fill the remainder of director Duffy's term which is would be two additional years. So um that is the process. Any questions or comments on that? >> I just want to thank you. Um, Director Duffy had shared and I know that his resignation letter is part of the packet. Um, as his life becomes more complicated and fulfilling as a family man. Um, you know, we wish him the best and we

120thank him for the time that he spent serving on the board. It was been, I think, really neat to have his perspective as a sub and a coach in our schools. um and seeing through his eyes some things that some of us don't get to see as part of our experience on the board. So, I want to thank Director Duffy for his service. And then I also want to thank Lisa because figuring out how this process legally works is kind of a headache and I really appreciate you taking on that headache and and making it as smooth as possible for the board. >> Thank you. All right. If there is no further discussion, I will ask all those in favor of accepting Director Duffy's resignation to please say I. >> I >> opposed. Accepted. 60.

121[snorts] >> Okay, we're reaching the end of our meeting. I'd like to invite the directors to share any updates from committees they serve on or highlight any recent district events they've participated in. And I will start with director Wendy Felton. >> Oh, okay. Okay. Good evening. I have a couple different varieties of things that I'm going to discuss. I'm going to be starting out with some activities that will be coming up for our kids. Starting out in the elementary schools. Coming up next week, some students in Lincoln Center, second graders, third graders, and some fourth graders are going to do what they call walking trips. The kids get to go out of the building with their staff members and the three different grades are going to make some different trips. Some are going to go

122to the Caposia library and a treat to the Dairy Queen after that and some of the students are also going to go to the vets field and maybe playing some games or walking around the field or whatever. So that's something that Lincoln Center kids will be doing. And then Caposia students starting tomorrow, second graders at Caposia are going to be doing their walking trip. They're going to be walking down to the airport, you know, which is south of the building. They'll be walking down there. And then also in Caposia next week on June 3rd, there's always there's a fifth grade kind of a graduation party for those fifth graders. And then also they will be having their farewell parade. So they will be doing that at 3:00 in the afternoon on June 3. And another

123thing that Caposia will be doing next week, well actually starting tomorrow into next week, it's called color week, which which what's that is they just make a suggestion to the students about the clothes that they wear. If possible, tomorrow, Wednesday, wear something orange. On Thursday, if you can wear something red on Friday, it's called a rainbow mixture. A variety of colors or stripes, whatever you have. And then another fun one next Monday is what they call packer wear. Most students would have a South St. all packer outfit, shirt, hat, whatever is available that they would have to wear next next week on Monday and it's packer wear day of course and you know our high school our seniors you know with will have be having their final exams this week Thursday and Friday and as

124already been talked as you know their graduation ceremony next week on Thursday. And they will be having practice for the graduation ceremony, the students, at 11:00 next week on Tuesday. Thursday, I'm sorry, Thursday. We want the students to be there at 11:00 so that they can get their rehearsals and everything ready for their graduation ceremony, which is that evening. And also [snorts] the graduates, if they want to attend, they have a senior party that night which goes from 10:00 until 3 a.m. in the morning. If you want to attend that, you do have to you do have to register. So yeah, and just a couple of the several things that I have attended which pretty much all of us had as you know. The first one that was so wonderful at the high school, the

125academic heroes program, which was a true honor to our many of our students that received their athletic activity award. And of course, as we all know, the education foundation scholarship, which was held last week on Wednesday, where we gave that $614,000 out to our kids. That is so phenomenal. had such a wonderful event and one thing that I I had attended as the representative from South St. Paul School District. It was called it was the Inenver Grove Heights and South St. Paul prayer breakfast which was held out in Inenver Grove Heights. I was the representative for South St. Paul School District. It was a very nice event, a real nice breakfast at St. Patrick's Church. Very nice event. And then the next thing that's coming up which will be held here at our high school

126which I because I have gone to this pretty much every year. It's called tri district caps program. It's the center for advanced professional studies for our students which will be held as you can see here is this Thursday starting at six o'clock at the high school because there's five different things different uh tri- district programs that will be there that are available if you want to attend and meet any of those programs and those students. And of course I our as I have mentioned several times in the past. Our senior center we had the fashion show like three weeks ago. Of course I I did it and was in it. And the last thing that I I wanted to do because I know I've mentioned it in the last few times about our as Dr.

127Zamrino had shown their pictures that was so wonderful. The silver apple award winners. A personal congratulations to Mr. Bacan, Mr. Griffith, and Mr. Gonzalez, thank you for getting that award. That is a true honor and a thankful thing from all of us here on the board. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you, >> Director Weber. Uh, not much to add, just the congratulations to all of the seniors and know that the path of life is long and there are no wrong turns. There are just detours. [laughter] >> Thank you, Director Cummings. >> Um, I just wanted to give um a hearty thank you to the folks who put together um the Stride for Packer Pride that was um very successful in noting that um dozens of students um were able to receive more opportunities

128to be engaged because of that work. Um, and along with that, um, uh, for all of the people in our community that provided, um, that were so generous about, um, giving to our, um, foundation, um, to provide $600,000 in scholarships. That was incredibly generous. So, thank you to all of our community for rallying around our students. Also just wanted to acknowledge that, you know, um as we think about what happened with the school bond, um I will certainly be listening um and hoping that um as folks think about um that um I I'm all ears and so if uh anyone would like to go out for coffee to try to um provide some insight um truly want to learn more so that we can um provide the type of uh learning environment environments where our

129kids can grow and succeed. Um, and just want to acknowledge that um, we want to listen to you to make sure that we're doing it right in the future. >> Director Felton, >> just another thank you in recognition of those wonderful employees that we had in front of us today for reaching their milestones here with South St. Paul andor retiring. So again, just a big thank you to them for all the years of service to South St. Paul and the kids. >> Thank you. Bless your clap. >> Thank you. Um I had the joy of going to listen to the fifth grade band concert earlier this month and that is partly due to our community supporting our students in learning musical instruments. Uh previous learning levy brought fifth grade band back into our elementary schools.

130Um, we used to have a sixth grade band program and all fifth graders have the opportunity to learn flute, clarinet, trumpet or trombone and they did. I still had some of the songs uh the songs they sung instead of played on their instruments stuck in my head a few days later. It was great. Um, having the opportunity to be on stage and perform is a learning experience in itself. a little different than what you might uh learn from things in a classroom, but being on stage, as we've heard from our student reps, too, you have uh public speaking skills. Being in front of people, sharing your talents takes uh practice. So, seeing all those kids on stage so proud of what they had learned over the year was really great. Um, that program also has

131the goal of preparing those students that when they go into middle school, they've already had some exposure to instruments and sixth grade band isn't spent teaching them how to assemble a flute. So, they can come in ready to go. Um, they're really excited about performing. And I was at the track meet. We've got some great athletes coming up into our middle school. Um they also are so supportive of each other and not just athletes were highlighted there but the kids who really shine by supporting their friends, cheering everyone on. Um they really just glow with kindness and um some of our students had another opportunity to be on a really big stage at the state theater in Minneapolis. the Caposia students that performed a musical, a little ne or finding Nemo uh performed one of

132their songs with other schools on a big stage in front of a big audience with big bright lights and I heard that for many of them it was a highlight of their year. So >> all sorts of opportunities for some of our smaller kids too. Well, I similarly have the had the opportunity to go to a lot of performances lately, um, including watching Finding Nemo at Caposia. There was so much joy. It was an amazing program and I'm so excited that Caposia is going to be continuing Disney in the schools and I encourage everyone to take the opportunity to attend because it was incredible. Um, I also attended This Murder Was Staged Twice, the middle school play. It was really funny. [laughter] The kids had a great time and you could just feel it. And

133you know, it's sad like when you think about like all the seniors who are graduating from our theater program, but I think Coulson does an amazing job of giving our younger students opportunities to um grow into that space and be ready to fill those roles. And I also went to a concert at Caposia uh fourth grade recorder. Um, >> again, the opportunity to um be humbled by learning how to play an instrument and learning how to listen to the other people around you and work together is an amazing skill and so very important and our kids have that opportunity. And so, um, thank you to those fourth graders, all the fourth graders and, uh, for surviving that process and the parents who maybe had to listen to more recorder music than they thought they wanted

134to. So, thank you for that. Also, um as we reach the end, I also want to congratulate all of our seniors who will be graduating and coming to the end of their journeys as students in our district. And I encourage them to stay connected to us and um be proud of who you are and where you come from. And with that, I will entertain a motion to adjourn a Tuesday, May 26, 2026 school board meeting. So motion. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Excellent. Any discussion? All those in favor, please say I. >> I. Opposed. Motion carries 60. The schoolboard meeting is adjourned at 7:49.