001the agenda or would someone like to make a motion to approve the agenda as presented? I would make a motion to approve the agenda as presented. A second. All in favor? Opposed? Motion carried. This is the time for public comment. If you would like to speak for public comment, each person has three minutes and it's their time alone and cannot be passed on to anyone else. Um you if you have concerns or comments about individuals those are not appropriate during public comment time. So please don't say anything that would identify circumstances or personing or a group of people directly by what you say. Be respectful people on Zoom are welcome to join the public comment. Just put your name in the chat. So is there anyone that would like to address the board? I'm Joel
002Pickard. I just had a couple comments about the last meeting. I was a little confused because um I know there was some discussion about u a nature program and uh people were talking about concerns about the budget and so on and so forth and I don't know if it had been decided to get rid of it yet or not or it was on consideration list or whatever. And then right after that we had a presentation uh regarding the cheerleading program. And with that program there was an option for even if uh monies for it wasn't passed there was an option for these um the cheerleaders to be able to continue their program only in maybe a different type of format. And yet the board seems to be stressing that there are money issues. But yet
003when it came to the cheerleading, I can't remember the number if it was $5,000 or whatever. Uh there was a comment made that well it's only $5,000 and the board voted it in to spend that money. And I thought okay the board has an intellectual understanding that they are using taxpayer funds but I think that's about as deep as it goes. I don't think it goes any deeper than that. Um, so if you're you're either uh watching the pesos or you're not. And it seems it was very odd from a perception point of view that uh one program well no that's you know and several people talked for we can't do that. Okay. Um and then this other program well you know there's really no problem with that at all. So just my two cents.
004Thank you. Is there anyone else maybe? No. All right. Thank you. Um we'll go on to the reports. So we got a report on the referendum project. We have Do we have anyone on the There we go. Now I've unmuted. Hey guys. Hey guys. Denise, do you want to say a couple of words? You just want us to get started? Yeah, I think I'll just uh I just want to share that, you know, it feels like it's been a blink of an eye since the vote uh in in November to pass the capital referendum for the middle school high school project. Uh there has been a lot of conversation happening behind the scenes between uh ISG, the architect, and Myin uh our construction management company. and uh mostly around design and like the scope of
005the project. So, you know, what would be included in the project which we're all aware of the secure entrance uh a pretty substantial locker room remodel, uh some bathrooms throughout the building as well as classrooms. And so, in the weeds on windows and doors and flooring and casework and uh lots of identification on floor plans, back and forth, back and forth. So it's been great a pleasure to work with the core team which um is our administrators um as well as um facilities and technology and business management in the district and then the the um large number from the other two entities. Uh and they're going to do a much deeper dive in sort of where we're at. But it has been this like iteration of design scope. Um, and we do have a budget
006now that, you know, preliminarily we are, you know, ready to like kind of move forward with what we know we can do. So, with that, I'll pass it off to the team. Perfect. Thanks so much, Denise. Good evening, everybody. I'm Becca. I work for Myron Construction, your construction manager on this project. In a little bit, um, the the folks from ISG will introduce themselves as we get to their content. Um, if you go to the next slide, I'll just tell you what we're going to talk about briefly tonight. Um, we're going to run through a communications update, a project timeline update, design process status, um, the schematic design cost estimate summary, the base scope overview, bid alternates, and next steps. And if you don't know what a lot of that means, we'll get to that
007as we get to it in the next slides. So, you can go to the next one. Um, continue communication. Why that matters to us is we we launched a pretty intensive communication strategy during pre-referendum and we don't want to leave your community hanging. So, we want to keep um kind of regular updates on your website and other ways you guys communicate to your community. You probably noticed on the website they've been two project update newsletters so far. There hasn't been a lot of meat to them because there's a lot of design and pre-construction work going on right now, which isn't especially flashy until there's a final design. But we're we're doing our best to um update your community of that things are definitely happening with their dollars because we know that that's an important message
008you want to keep going. Um second is the website transition. During pre-referendum, there was a whole lot of information on that website and we want to keep kind of pair that down a little bit, but keep your community informed if they remember, oh yeah, that pass, what are they doing, when does that start? So like a quick way for community to to learn about what's next on your project. um things that are coming up on the topic of communication. So, as we get a little bit closer into construction timelines and stuff, we'll want to engage students, have a youth apprenticeship opportunities for your students. So, um like my construction has a a student engagement coordinator. She'll be working with your um high school counselors to select students to be part of that. and even we
009can get involved, you know, kids that maybe are not interested in the trades, but maybe they're interested in a different part or they want to do a tour when we're doing different parts of the building. So, you know, keep that in mind that that's upcoming. Um, and then going forward, I know Denise and I had spoke about maybe a community engagement event this summer, some way to get um students and families and maybe returning students engage with your stu with your school again and maybe with the referendum project. So, we did like very loosely talk about doing something with the school project and your homecoming event coming up in July. So, we're just haven't crafted that out yet. But there, you know, we know that that's important to keep the the morale of the, you
010know, and the good feelings about your school, you know, high all the way through summer and then as we get disruptive into construction season. So, we know that's an important thing. Um, and if there's any other community engagement things, you know, maybe the start of, you know, the start of 2026, we are open to that as well. So, be thinking about that, how you can get the community engaged because it is, you know, it was their investment into your community and your school. And we know that's important to keep them feeling good about the the money that they're putting out toward to make the school a better place. You go to the next one. Okay. So here's the project timeline right now. So you can see the crossoff pieces, the schematic design, the progress cost
011estimates behind us. Now we're in design development which is about wrapping up now. Now now in May board update we're in it right now. Then coming up in June and maybe into July is another cost estimate where my takes the plans that ISG has come up with with the core team and puts tenative cost estimates to it. Um and that's going to be our second price check. So then going forwards into July and into August then ISG will provide construction documents and those are really final the more final plans that we would then will cost one more time because we keep narrowing down scope and getting more and more information every cost check that we do throughout this process. Um, then in September there's a plan review submission and then after that we will open
012it up for a three-week period to get bids from local subcontractors for the different parts of the project like a drywall guy or um HVAC work or you know like however the the bids are um categorized by scope. So that we have three weeks of open bidding where local subcontractors can try to get the work or put in their costs, you know, like they're um quoted. There's also a pre-bid walkthrough where we invite those subcontractors into your school, come look at the work we want done so they they have give us the best price. And then um in the fall the bid will open and then um we will select we with the district will select the the subcontractors that we will hire to do the work with construction starting um probably in June of
0132026. You go to the next one. All right, Mike, I think this is you. All right. Thanks, Becca. Everyone, I'm Mike Briskey. I work at ISG. I'm a project manager here. I help um keep the architects and engineers on the right track to help produce a awesome project for you. Um so this slide just describes a little bit more of the different phases that we work through in design and the level of flexibility for exploring different options and making changes and how it changes throughout the project. So I'll kind of just give you a quick review of that and then we'll move on to reviewing the outcome of the cost estimate which I think everybody's probably anxious about. Um so we just finished up schematic design. Uh that's kind of where we develop broad ideas
014of what the project should involve and kind of develop high level layouts and um start to make preliminary selections for structural systems and mechanical and electrical um equipment and we'll do like basic code and zoning checks. Um and in this first stage of the design, there's a lot of flexibility for the owner team for the school district to explore options, make changes, and really influence the direction of the project. And because we're not very far along in design, it's really easy to make these changes and doesn't cost much for you. Um, as we move into the second stage, design development, um, that's where we start to kind of revi refine the selections that were made in the schematic design phase, um, start to finalize kind of like the heating, ventilation, plumbing, electrical system designs and
015kind of get into a little more details. Um in this stage it's still a little more flexibility is available but it's a little less because um if you make a change with one thing it it has a higher chance of impacting other systems and there's a greater cost in rework and potential schedule delays. Uh for the third phase of design construction documents at that point we hope um most of the major decisions have been made and we're just producing an excellent set of construction documents that my own construction will take to build your project. um at this point to make changes it's pretty expensive because it involves a lot of rework um potential um repermitting costs and even if we make it very late it it could significantly delay construction and raise costs for the
016overall project execution. Um so I think we're still at a good point to have some influence on design but we're starting to progress towards actually getting you a finished product. Next slide. Perfect. Thanks for that explanation, Mike. So this after this schematic design section of the from ISG, this is where we're falling right now. The top line is your approved referendum budget. We all know that number. Um the next line underneath that with the 13 million start. So that's where our the cost estimates from my from ISG's plans turned into this. This is our first crack at our at our quoting. So we use historical data. We talk to real subcontractors. We do lots of things to pull in data, but as Mike said, we don't have really, really detailed plans yet, but you got
017to start somewhere. So, we start really high level, not a ton of details, and we pair it down, you know, as we get into the the third phase later in the summer. So, we're sitting at a really good spot here, um, with a little bit of room in there. So, that little bit of room in there, even though we're at a really high level, we started to talk about alternates. So like things we can add to the scope of the project to get it up to that past referendum dollar amount. So you can see some things listed here that were a priority to the district that ISG can make plans for. And then um Myron did do a little bit of that costing there. So um we're not to a point where we need to
018make any decisions yet because we still need to go through the next level of design. But this so we're sitting in a really good spot right now. um we'll be able to get the next round of costing the end of June, early July. So then we'll like then we'll know even better how we're how we're sitting. But this is a really comfortable spot. My feels good about this spot right now. And I'm sure ISG does too. You go to the next one. Excellent. Can everyone hear me? Okay, perfect. My name is Adam V. I'm an architect with ISG and I alongside Carly who's also on the call are excited to um kind of now that we've seen that base scope number as well as kind of the listed alternates I'm happy to be able to
019um kind of dive into what those components are um within the the floor plans and all the various updates. Um first we wanted to just give a a high level overview now that we're jumping into the next design uh stage to um share and review those key stakeholders that we um look to for guidance throughout the project um and through the whole process. It's a really strong team. Um that starts with the user group team members and actually um ISG and my starting next week we're going to be on site meeting with um very subject matter specific staff um really experts who can help um help us shape the specific spaces now that we've understood what's in that scope. Um and then alongside with the core team um made up of staff and administration um
020really they help us keep the vision on track um and really serve as a I'd say a line of communication within not only um yourself the board but then also the wider community. Um and then of course uh you this school board plays a pivotal role in not only reviewing and giving feedback but as we present these recommendations and updates along these major major milestones. You can jump to the next slide. As I mentioned ISTG and Myron will be out next week and starting um to meet with the core team and the user groups um and leading them through what we call visioning labs. Um it's a really um collaborative and kind of exciting project in which we engage um those key stakeholders um through brainstorming um and aligning through visiting um the spaces understanding
021how they work and specifically how they can work better, how they should look and feel like. Um so it's a really great phased collaborative approach that ensures we're aligning with um specifically the district goals and the community needs every step of the way. jump to the next slide. So here we wanted to um take an opportunity just at a high level to walk through um exactly those drawings that Myron based um their cost estimates on just to understand what has been included in the scope. Um some exciting things have happened based on that estimate that's allowed us to um include some things in that base scope based on where the numbers dropped at. So whether that's some um additional um work within the locker rooms or finishes in some of the classrooms or the the
022music room um it's an exciting opportunity to see those real tangible numbers and include those within um within the project. I'll also take some time to walk through um exactly where and highlight where those alternates are um just to gain a better understanding of where things are currently sitting. So starting at the site level, um some of the highlevel um pieces here would be at the bottom of the page would be that new sidewalk to the main secure entrance that's happening there along the center of the drawing. Um that's a really key part and we've got um a additional slide that kind of walks through some of the other pieces that are involved with that new secure entrance both at the interior but then the exterior as well. Other elements at the site scale include
023some um minor resurfacing at various parts. Um a lot of it due to um the parking and re improving the overall site drainage just to keep storm water away from the building itself. We can jump to the next slide. So now diving into the building, we started to break up. Now that we have a um a really uh substantial floor plan developed, we can really hone in on um the specific places and highlight the improvements for um some major renovation and and remodel. So looking at the the lower first floor you see um in the lower leftand corner we have a um uh designed to convert the what are the existing resource rooms into a new accessible ADA secure entrance and main office entrance. um that includes a a ADA ramp and stairs that happen
024at the interior of the building to your main office allowing for um visitors and anyone within school hours to securely enter the building um while school is in session. Also included within this area scope of work is um reconfiguring the the music room, vocal storage as well as some minor updates to the um existing district office. Some of the scope of working includes new um finishes, so floor, paint, ceilings as well as case work throughout. jump to the next slide. Couple exciting updates uh to the kitchen and the art room. Um the art room, we will be um including a new accessible art room sink just to ensure that classes and teaching throughout um is available uh to all. as well as within the kitchen space. We're including a new hood, um walk-in coolers, sink,
025black backsplash, um some minor things to really help improve the processes within uh within the kitchen and serving area, as I mentioned, um something that we've been able to include in this base scope. So within that um um number that Becca provided is some um remodel major remodel of the locker rooms in the lower level. So that includes all new lockers and finishes, paint, flooring, ceilings uh as well as some major rework to the existing showers. So, um, new showers, all converted to single privacy stalls, as well as some of the refinishing of, uh, various stair and handrails treads, um, for accessibility down into the lower level locker area. Next slide. Also included is um a reconfiguration of the space for the sped classroom allowing for um not only um open classroom area but then
026two breakout resource rooms um just to better serve um serve the sped resources um and the programming um throughout the school day. Also included in the music room is exciting updates for new acoustical panels um and new outfitting of the the individual practice rooms. Okay, moving along the first floor. We're in, let's see, area B. Um we have uh reconfiguration of the um existing restrooms into all new accessibil um ADA compliant uh stalls for both um boys and girls as well as some various classroom refreshes um and even the lounge space down at the bottom of the page there. Next slide. And all throughout you've noticed we do have bullet points um that we've identified in the base scope of work. So throughout the entire uh school facility there will be some um refinishing of
027various stair hand tread rails just to make sure that um those means of of circulation are are um code compliant and up to um up to grade. Hopping up to the second floor, we have um some reconfiguring of the the workroom as well as some office refresh and classroom finishes and then jumping over to the exterior. So, at the top of the page, we're showing um what you're seeing is an elevation of the existing gymnasium. Um there's some exterior improvement upgrades we can make to the existing finishes. So that does include some um tuck pointing of some of the brick um some overall improvements to some of the um some various areas to that back of house along with some key window replacements uh just to provide better uh better window openings that act more
028efficiently as well. And then the bottom of the page, as I mentioned when we did the site walkthrough, there will be improvements to at the exterior side for both entrances to the middle and high school. So the middle school will include some um a new covered canopy up to the middle school entrance. And then the new secure entrance and high school will be combined into kind of a dual system um some canopy feature. And I'd be remissed if I didn't touch on everyone's favorite topic, HVAC. I won't dive into the details, but uh needless to say, throughout the what you're looking at is a rough plan of um the proposed layouts of all of the air handling units um and all of the different components needed for new central air um throughout the facility. So
029that include cle mean cleans new clean air um exchange in all of the classrooms corridors um just to better improve um air distribution throughout the whole school including new exhaust fans in the restrooms um and um new state-of-the-art environmental control so that the building is running as efficiently as possible with these new systems. All right, that was a whirlwind. appreciate um the ability to share all of that's included within that high level numbers. Um and then we did provide just a couple slides just to understand what those um different alternates are that at the time of bidding could be able to be brought back into the scope of the project. So that includes some additional um reconfiguration and and renovation of some of the single-user restrooms to be ADA compliant. So that includes new fixtures,
030finishes, etc. Second, we also have some um proposed updates to the science rooms and the science labs. Um understanding that some of the the the islands and the workstations are in good use that we can just um repurpose them and better utilize them by serving them with new hot cold water um and some conduit so that they perform better for um school classes and demonstrations. Um and then up up finish upgrades and casework upgrades throughout um for counters, floors, ceilings. And then the next alternate is for door and hardware replacement. So that would be working um strategically with the core team to identify um opportunities for replacement of um specifically doors that are in the past their useful life. um throughout the building for new functions to to be cohesive throughout. Okay. All right. Well,
031thanks Adam and team. So, like we said, we've been doing a lot of behind the scene work um going through all these alternatives, doing the costing, working with your district team and Homer, of course, to find out what's going to work best for your school. So, here's what's next. So, we're going to continue into the design development phase starting now. Um later in June, maybe July, we'll get the the next cost estimate for that. Then we'll come back and we'll talk about what that means, see if we can explore some alternatives or what or you know, just whatever we need to do to to adjust. Um then ISG will develop construction documents which ends up turning into the final drawings and specs for Myron. We submit that plan for review and approval. We bid to
032get people interested in the work in fall and then with construction to start late spring, early summer of 2026. And that is what we have for you guys today. Were there any questions that you had for this team? Yeah, I think it might be too early. Um, but I tried to find some of our like previous some of your previous presentations. I just ran out of time to look for them. But um, but I don't remember that level of detail in previous plans. And I and I'm I love to compare, you know, I guess I don't know if my brain is just like super visual visual, but you can say, "Oh, we're gonna make these updates to the music room or these updates to where's the other to to the locker room." Well, I don't
033know what the previous locker room looked like. And so it's hard. I mean, they're really they're so that level this level of detail that I see in the locker room is like the first we've ever had that level of detail, right? Um, and so I can see like I can see in writing like oh update the locker restroom fixtures and remodel the shower stalls, but I don't know like where like you know what that what that looks like and it's hard for me to just read it in words. So I don't know is there any way we could get like like a little bit of like a before and after for some of the like and we don't like I said it's a little early now but like when we get to that point of
034like we're really fine-tuning what the projects are we have like a before and after. Yeah, I think so. I was even thinking like gosh, it would be helpful to because I' I've not been in the bowels of the school before, you know? So, I would love a little like if it's possible just to get a little walk through on like, okay, this is the this is the area we're proposing to do this to. Here's what the vision is, even if it's just a description. Um so yeah so I can imagine just for us visual learners you know for when we're looking at this and Becca and team do you think that after so we have on May 13th uh we're having user group meetings so staff are actually going to meet with ISG and give
035input into what they would like to see for changes in their faces and then I'm assuming that will go back and maybe be refined. Am I correct? Yes, that's correct. Yes. Okay. Okay. Still there. Um, so yeah. So, I'm just wondering, but before that, we should definitely do a tour of those spaces that are going to see major work. Yeah, that would be great. Okay, I have another question. Um, how often uh when we Let's see if I can get the right words here. Um, we have our like base project cost and then we have some alternates. How often in the last two years have projects been able to dive into like the bid alternates? Um, it it is pretty common. This is why we do price checks three times before we bid because we
036want to always be refining as ISG is making their plans and they're making their plans high level right now and then in two months it gets really granular and then at the end it's like perfect. So we we like to cost at every piece of that puzzle so then there aren't number one surprises on bid day and number two we can start exploring those options. So if it comes under budget, we're already teed up and ready to add in like the bathroom ADA compliant thing or like we're just we're just totally ready. So it it is normal. This is like this is the process that we use which ISG uses to produce the best results. Yeah. So, it's Can you talk about like a a time or a couple of experiences or like experiences in
037recent memory where you haven't been able to get into the bid alternates? Like why, you know, why wasn't that the case? Um, so we're just doing a a different district right now and we did their bid day and it was right at what their referendum passed for. So, they had a bunch of items teed up to like get added in. So, we were ready. the the prices didn't come in as as under budget as everyone was hopeful for. So those things, you know, either need a different funding source or they get delayed until they're, you know, they're in the capital maintenance budget for a different year. So we just like to be prepared for it in case there happens to be um some budget surprise in a good way that we're ready to to move
038on a new project. So I just just this week that happened. Oh, okay. And well, I guess that that would be like the next question which I don't think we can answer yet, but like you know, if like the world is changing a little bit, um are are from your perspective, are we noticing any like changes in construction costs that we didn't anticipate a year ago? Yes. Uh you know, the the the tariff question is big and um luckily our estimators also live through COVID. So not knowing what prices will be for the next um you know 18 months 36 months is something that we're used to doing which is often which then we fall back on the contingencies like the design contingency construction contingency. So built into your price there's there's like a little
039bit of like cushion maybe we'll call it and that's for those unexpected price increases that we can't really call today but when we go to buy that steel thing in 18 months then we're going to see it. So it's already built in there there's two levels of contingency. A design one plus a construction one which is your money but we're just like holding it in the budget space for those for those unexpected costs. So I I can't crystal ball it, but I know I mean that's something that that absolutely are could potentially still anticipate changes to the scope of the project in the next year. Uh I have a couple of questions um dealing with safety foremost. um the the high school, middle school office, is that going to be is there some kind of
040protection there so that somebody is not going to be able to just come in and and get down to where the secretary is? Um so that there's some additional safety issues there. You mean coming right in from the outside into the onto the ramp? Right. Yeah. That door will That door will always be locked. But when they get into the ramp onto the ramp, then they can come right down to where the um the high school secretary would be. Yes. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, that is a I would talked about that as well earlier. I would think that there would be like another layer another layer of protection right there. I would like to see um and then because I'm I'm always one for looking for um more than one out so that there's a couple
041exits there for that person to be able to get out should something go down. Um, and the other concern I have is when you're talking about doors that the doors aren't opening out, they're opening in and they're um there's not windows right by the doors. So that there's doors with a window right alongside. That seems to be kind of silly for protection wise, if you know what I'm saying. And there's like the glasses like having glass right there by those door, right? you know, like it takes away from the protection of the door when there's a a window right next to it. They do put a layer of protection on those windows so that they're shatterproof. Um, so that will be happening on our windows as well. So, they do put them there. We do
042get that extra protection from it's some sort of 3M film that they put on it that is for breaking it for breaking the window. So, it's not shooting through it. So, it's worth looking into, but it's worth looking into, but I think there's some pretty good protections around that. Like, they won't be able to if it goes through, it won't be able to shatter the window for so to get in. So, but that's definitely we can look into them as well. Okay. All right. I just those were just a few things that I thought of. Great. Is it possible to add a vestibule? We can talk more when we have our next, but that's kind of what you're describing, right? would be more of a like you come through the doors there's a vestibule and
043there would be another layer even if it was if it was a window or something so that there would be some some protection there. Yeah, we can continue that conversation. Anything else for the Yeah, for this team. Yeah, nobody else. Okay. So, another question. I just was curious because the youth apprenticeship um is like our our districts in our area are just really working hard to make that happen. So, just curious like do you have any youth apprentice programs like happening right now? Like how many students are participating? Do you get them in every school or only in some schools? Sure. Right now, Myin, I think we've got 24 active youth apprentice right now. right now, like at the end of this school year, um we're teeing up the other ones, you know, but like
044the next round, you guys won't really be in an active construction zone until like a year from right now. But we will get that ready. I mean, we we we do have a coordinator that just this is all she does. She's an ex um counselor. So, this is what she does is get students in the districts that we're working with any kind of hands-on learning. So that can be youth apprenticeship which is like a a part-time job on site but you know there's a lot of other ways to engage like job shadow days and like other things where we can involve more kids and not just like the one or two kind of chosen youth apprentices but that is something that we do and I know Myron does year I mean every school year that
045we got um probably two dozen kids in it right now. And is that like it like do you have two dozen school districts or is it you know like or do you have any more like what's kind of your rate of participation maybe in a school? It's it's a mix. Almost every school project we have we get we have a youth apprentice on site but then we also grab kids from you know maybe your high school and they were I mean there's like a girl I just talked to two days ago who is a senior at DC Everest and she's working on like the Aspirus building in Weston Wisconsin but she's from the high school. they have are doing that because the school is not having a project currently. So I mean that's absolutely something
046we engage with and we find super important and it's self- serving because we are in the trades and we want to make some more of those kids. Great. That's a great idea. Yeah. Any other questions? All right, I think we're good. All right. Well, thank you all so much. Appreciate and have a great evening. Thank you for the presentation. Thank you. You're welcome. Bye, guys. Hi. All right. It's exciting. Um, yeah. So, it's only been a couple weeks since we were all together. So, my report is uh hopefully short and sweet. We I did work with Heidi on creating a strategic planning application uh Google form. So, it is active on our website right now. Uh we will get that out to all of you as well as long range planning um to you know
047have those that are interested apply and then we're going to print some. It's a fairly easil easy form to print um as a PDF and the public libraries right now like the one location that we're thinking we definitely could leave some but open to ideas from all of you for all other places. Um we've hinted and hot about a few other options but um haven't been sure. So I'll follow up with you individually on that and what your thoughts are. uh graduation is like in the air and there's lots of um planning and Facebook posts about our graduates and their future plans and it's going to be an exciting June 6th ceremony and I'd like to invite all the board members to attend and sit on stage with Oh, did I say June? I'm sorry.
048June. Thank you for Thank you for that. Yeah, June 8th Sunday. June 8th, Friday, June 6th, which is the last day of school um for students. And so the 8th of June on Sunday, I believe 12 non. It's a good thing you're here. Um and so the board members are of course invited and we would love to have you there to support our graduates and celebrate with them and their families. Uh you all know I sent out uh information about the prescribed burn. I'll follow up with um Alex Mediger on that. But exciting that our native prairie plants will have the ability to seed and actually flourish because that is the best way to um continue their longevity. Uh and then a couple last things. Northland College has been reaching out to several staff members
049and graciously donating um supplies, equipment, materials. So far, our library has benefited from many books, potential um like shelves and other um components. Our science teachers are going over there next Monday to um be able to look through all of their science labs and equipment as well as our gu the gardening area is going to be functioning through summer, but from my understanding will also be invited to go and um you know kind of a bittersweet. No, I'm saying it and I'm feeling really yeah, feeling really grateful but yet really heartbroken that um that were in that position. But I want to just extend a huge thank you to that uh to the college and to all of the individuals over there who are opening their doors and their hearts to um to our school
050district. We will take good care of their materials. Uh and then John Doec is leading in or or really led the charge in uh resurfacing of our football field. Uh he approached me a couple months ago and I remember in the fall and over summer having multiple conversations about safety of our field in terms of the surface being very rocky and very grally and and actually a clavicle was broken and there there had been just some injuries. So, uh, he came forward and said, "I'm willing to raise donations to go to businesses and, you know, find everything that we would need to do it at very minimal cost to the district because I mentioned that we don't have the funds to put towards um, an extensive project like that. So, uh, I haven't done a
051formal thank you to all of the individuals because it just keeps growing. It's honestly like amazing." So it started with Lich Implement donating a variety of equipment and then that like multiplied. I know we had um the town of Bay View. We had um Synergy donate all the grass seed, all the fertilizer, all of the you know fixings to make the soil. Bob Olsen gave us this tremendous discount on this amazing black dirt mixed with the perfect combination of sand and um and we've had countless individuals and I can't name them all right now but we will do an official thank you to all the people in all of the places who donate the city is helping us get water so that we have a direct line to be able to water it all. Um
052and John really I have to just huge shout out he is the one who coordinated like all of this. Um and I would say from the school district Homer has been a huge help and advocate in you know yesterday I think we had three or four tractors running over there because all these people are just showing up and uh lending a hand. So uh the plan is and I I did link it on the website but you all see kind of the timeline. So, by the end of May, the plan is to have it all seated and watered and then just let it grow um over the summer and, you know, hoping to keep people off of it until we have a really great turf um there and ready to go. So, I wonder if
053we can do some type of a um grand opening sort of thing and then invite those people those people. We talked about um even potentially um at games like having them come do the coin toss like if there's four game, you know, we could kind of have those four plus have all the individuals there to help. Yeah. So, some some ideas are swirling, but I don't I want everyone to know that it has come through donations. uh and John Doec, large contributor and really organizer of it. So, thank you. Great. Can you remind us of the the total dollars that we're going? Well, I feel like I should wait. I do want to swing back around because it does continue like you know it was this piece of equipment and then it was like oh
054we need you know Lul was like oh take two of them. Yeah, you can use two instead of just one. I think right now it's I mean with the hours and the labor it's well over $20,000. Yeah. By the time you add up all the time people are what we're spending. No. Yeah. I saw the breakdown. Yeah. Yeah. So just I mean I just want to make that clear. Right now we're looking at about 5,000 for the soil. Yeah. 4,800. And then I think uh Yeah. That may even be less because we're talking about doing fundraising with the team. Like John's talking about a car wash and he's like lots of other ideas to just continue to bring the funds to like try to bring that down to zero. So fantastic. Yeah. Really great. Okay
055Julie. Uh our meeting is postponed till the end of the month. So I don't have anything right now. Um Stephanie or Tina, you want to make any comments about the 12 gathering that we were at the other night? I'm I can just get started. Um it was very much talking about how do we know that students are um advancing and that they're um progressing in their um learning and um I thought it was very it was informational. Um I I was a little not sure how much it related to board members. I mean, I think it was really something that um you know, like I I wasn't quite sure how meaning a whole lot of it was when you haven't been in that full education field. Um but things you like the backbone. I think
056maybe I would have shared that sentiment with you like a year or two ago, you know, but like literally since reading that book, I am all about like trying to get that that big picture and what systems do we want to be able to like review the data and how do you measure success and what does our vision look like and and like yes, there's a lot of that. Um, oh my gosh, like so many uh like detailed concepts of like what's happening in education and like educational theory and those things that I don't know because I'm a lay person. um but super interesting and uh it's I think it's important for a board to know that what is the evidence-based like what is the next step and I and so I found it very
057educational you know rather than like it didn't feel like somebody was like talking down at us or like going over our head I really felt like I was gaining like quite a bit of insight and information absolutely I would say the opposite of what you're saying yeah it was it was wonderful to go as a non educationbased background, you know, to because I think the more we can learn and understand about the work of all of this, better board members we can be and not to micromanage, but to like understand how to evaluate and like how do you like progress improvement and how do you give the absolute best for our students every day. And then networking, you know, being able to um talk to some board members from other districts and see what they're
058doing and compare and contrast and their wins, you know, learn from others is, you know, super valuable. Good. And you know that I'm glad to hear that from the two of you because I was a little jaded just from my perspective of it that I was like and it was similar to last year when Ellen and I went that it was so much about behavior. It was stuff that Ellen and I already knew but wasn't quite sure how meaningful it was to other board members. But I think it's stuff that they everybody needs to know. So yeah, that was good. And you're right, it did fit in with the book quite well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I always knew this about like governance, about like boards and governance and having that kind of like
059leadership and um and data, but um but it just it just made so much more sense, I guess, because of like the workshop we went to and because of the what do we go to the conference, the educational conference, like we start to like as a lay person, right? we're starting to get in on this information and all of it is being like I think taught um at a high level and I think we've been able to like work on it very intentionally this year and so just it was wrapped up it wrapped up what we've been doing I was in the small group on instructional practices and I was just a little you know like how is anybody getting anything out of this you know with all the other board members right I don't
060know how often they talk about instructional practices yeah so I I'm glad to hear Great. And they had a very good meal. All right, let me move on to the financial reports and bill. Okay. Um, you know, I uh Steph a couple months ago was just like, "Well, any highlights from the financials?" And I was like, "No, I've been like working on this like I I I call it the budget actual." Yeah, it is kind of like a budget revised actual, but like there's uh there is so much to like dive into that. And so, thank you again to Janet um who's just always there for me. Um even when I'm just like, "No, I got this." Like she's like loitering around and like just late waiting because she knows that like maybe something will
061pop up or whatever. And she's also like she's even like helping me understand something like, "Hey, by the way, like look at this or or whatnot." So just super um helpful. She's been such a great guide. We have such a gem um in our finance office right now. So um so I'm still uh working on um on on that kind of like well where were we last year and how does it relate to this year? And it's uh and all of these other like just even accounting things kind of come to light. So if you guys look at these uh look at the subtopics even uh like the um footnote number six like that really just has to do with like accounting practices that doesn't necessarily have to do with you know how the district
062is spending money but like super great to be able to go through all those line items with her and kind of understand that at a deep level. So, please let me know if you have any other um questions on that because I got I got some more information there. But um otherwise, yeah, it's like things are things are like clocking along. Um not necessarily, you know, um flush in our fund balance, but uh but this is something that we have been kind of preparing for and working toward. we're aware of it and um and I think that with a really great vision um and strategic planning that we're doing uh and as we get updated numbers about enrollment and state budgets um I think we'll start to get a clearer picture and and keep moving
063forward. Any questions on any of the financials? Patina, we have a motion to approve the reports. I'll make a motion to approve financial reports and build. I'll second. Any other discussion? All in favor? I opposed. Motion carried. Consent agenda. Okay. I move to approve the consent agenda. I'll second. Any discussion? All in favor? Opposed? Motion carried. discussion of talking a little bit. She added the football field into her in my report agenda item. Yeah. So, we've already covered it, but I can be answering any questions you want. Any other questions or thoughts on the football field? Um, I would just have like conversation. I was so pleased with this like fundraising effort and I was like picking up the kid from showquire the other night and then like the whole wall of that there's another
064like um memorial fund that funds a lot of students participating in extracurriculars in this district. There's so much um opportunity and to like thank our community and uh and with homecoming coming up and I know it came up on the agenda earlier in the meeting. So, I just hope that we can find a way to like thank our community, thank our alumni, and and work on like the next level of engagement, you know, whatever that looks like. It's not just going to be Facebook posts. Um, but like whatever like we've been talking about like how do we communicate with our community and I think that's just going to be part of our strategic industry, but I just really thought about that and how like how proud I am for these like, you know, these people
065that um love their sport and obviously safety. Um I go I go to these baseball games. I just wait for somebody to knock out their front tooth. Like it's coming. I know. But like but we we work hard to try and keep it safe and and so I'm very pleased that we're uh I do know that Faber is planning on having it like an open house up at the school for us during the homecoming time. Yes. So she she's trying to get that all manned and have people there so that people come up there and see what's there. He also wanted to know if anybody on the board would want to take a couple shifts up there. Good. Yeah. Yeah. I'll have it in my my staff update. I included a little information from her.
066So, you'll always see that and her contact information's in there. Good. Well, we will keep working on the idea of both communicating and thinking community. Okay. Individual action items. Um the first is on the readings of the policies, the first readings. Any questions on any of those or have a motion first? Uh I move to approve the first reading of policy updates as listed in the agenda. I'll second. Okay. Any discussion? I know that we had a few questions on that. Were you able to check on any of those? Yes. So, I did and Janet let me know. So, there is there was a policy regarding uh inventory of equipment and she said that the only inventory you need for insurance insurance purposes is over 5,000 items over $5,000. Okay. So, in general, it's not
067a requirement or necessary. Okay. Um, so we can forego on that policy. And I'm trying to think of what Oh, and then the others I sent to our Neil the rep and I haven't heard back about policies that connect to the new policies that we don't currently have. So wanting to know how we um and it will just mean them dropping that into our drafts and then we can really Okay. Any other questions or discussions? All in favor? I opposed. Motion carried. We have a resolution. Um whereas educators play a vital role in shaping the lives of your people and fostering a love of learning, whereas the talented staff dedicate countless hours to prepare our youth for the future, often going above and beyond in their commitment to student success. whereas their passion and hard
068work are essential to the foundation of a thriving community. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the board of education proclaims May 5th through the 9th, 2025 as Washurn School District staff appreciation week, honoring the exceptional dedication of our staff to their students, schools, and community this academic year. Be it further resolved that the board encourages all members of our community to join us in showing appreciation to our staff for their unwavering commitment to the success of our children and community, every student every day. And be it further resolved that this resolution be duly noted and serve as a testament to the high value and respect we hold for every member of our staff. We need a motion for an adoption of this resolution. I'll make a motion for the resolution. I'll second. Any other discussion?
069All in favor? We have a phenomenal staff. We are so lucky. Think that like great school districts aren't lucky. Yeah. They're going to work really hard to keep supporting them. We're going to work really hard to continue grow. Very true. All right, then I think we are ready to go into executive session. If I have a motion to convene into close session, I move to convene into close session. Uh pursuant to the statutes listed on the agenda. Second. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carried. Thank you for coming. Thank you everyone. be saying that one a lot.