001I call this meeting to order. If you would stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Reading of our vision statement and strategic direction number four, Ross, please. >> All right, our mission. We will empower our community of lifelong learners who strive for personal excellence through meaningful relationships and real-world authentic learning experiences. Strategic priority four is build strong authentic relationships among students, staff, and community members. >> Thank you. And conflict of interest declaration, anyone? Okay. And approve the agenda. Has everybody had time to look it over? Anything? Anyone want to make a motion? >> I make a motion to Kenneth. >>
002Second. >> I'll second. >> Moves by Jeremy, second by Tim. Welcome visitors. It's so exciting to see a full house tonight. Um we we love having everyone, so bear with us. Kendra's turn the air down for us. >> Yeah, she had to. >> And she's ready. So, just a reminder that you are invited to make comments about items of interest or concern. We would like to remind you that this is a board meeting in the public, not a public meeting. By law, we cannot address concerns during this portion of the meeting. Um we ask you that to remember that Iowa law prohibits the board discussing specific employees and their job performances or individual students. Thank you very much. We've had two people sign up. So, Jennifer, if you'd like to start, you may come to
003the podium. You may stand, you may sit, wherever. >> You'd like to >> the podium. >> Yes, yes, I think >> There's there's people watching, and so it they'll hear her as she's up here and she's got a microphone, so it's on Zoom, so >> I have a prepared statement. My name is Jen O'Neal. I know most of you. I'm here tonight respectfully asking for consideration for an open enrollment exception for our daughter, who is a a student at the high school. We would like to open enroll her to Adel Community School District from Winterset. And um The history with this is 2 years ago, she experienced some sexual harassment from another student. Since then, we have had her placed in classes with the student or that student has been placed in classes with her.
004And I have called in and the student has been removed and placed placed in other classes, but it keeps recurring. The student keeps being placed in classes with her. And I think at this point, instead of me calling in and trying to work around the process, I want to ask for exception approval to get her to be transferred. Um as a parent, my primary responsibility is to make sure that she's safe, she's cared for, she has good mental health, that she's in the right environment to be able to learn and succeed in life. I don't feel like she is in that place now. She has experienced a lot of mental distress with this. Um I understand that open enrollment deadlines have passed. That was March 1st. So, this is an exception I I an exception
005request. And um I'm viewing this as an exception because I view it as an escalation. It was addressed the first time she this student was removed from class, but the escalation is that the student keeps being placed in class with her. So, uh I just would like to kindly respect or ask that you review this and approve to get her moved to the new school district. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jennifer. And Marissa? >> Hello. >> Um thank you for your time. Uh my name is Marissa Dambrowski. I am a parent of a future first grader and proud Winona State alum. Uh 2 years ago, my husband and I prioritized moving our family back here uh because we wanted our children to be part of this district and this smaller community than where we were.
006Let me first acknowledge that uh we understand the difficult decisions you guys face every day with budgets, staffing, enrollment, and state requirements. I know you want what's best for our children, um but like many of the parents I've spoken to and some that are even here tonight, we are asking you to pause and reflect on placing 25 first grade students in one classroom next year. First grade is foundational. It's where our children learn to function in school, regulate emotions, solve conflicts, ask for help, follow routines, and discover a love for learning. At 6 and 7 years old, many children still need help with shoes, lunches, and even separation from their parents. Some are right reading, some still need letter and number recognition, and some need speech or behavioral support still. And early intervention really matters,
007and our family saw the impact of that in kindergarten. Asking one teacher to meet the needs of 25 students is a huge ask, and we're asking you to think beyond the spreadsheet and what that message sends for our priorities as a district. Nearby districts cap K-1 sizes because they understand the long-term effects of early years. Here we are moving in the opposite direction, and we want you to consider how we operate elsewhere in the district. When junior high athletics exceed 21 students, we add a coach so students receive attention, instruction, and supervision. We accept that one adult can only support so many children at once, so why are we treating first grade differently? This is especially relevant because our district invests in relationship centered programs like POG and Capturing Kids Hearts. Those programs ask teachers
008to know students deeply and support social and emotional growth. But can teachers realistically deliver that depth of connection with 25 six and seven-year-olds in one room? Or does survival and behavioral management begin to replace connection and individualized growth? This is not a question about our teachers' dedication. They are absolutely exceptional. The concern is whether any teacher, no matter how skilled, can provide the individualized attention our youngest learners need at this scale. What happens to the quiet child who needs encouragement but never asks? What about the student struggling socially and needs extra guidance throughout the day? What about the advanced learner who could be challenged further but waits while the teacher manages basic needs of other students? And what happens to the teacher facing ongoing demands with limited support? The cost of asking educators to do
009more with less shows up in burnout, rising behavioral issues, and then weak and student outcomes. The kindergarten and first grade experience shapes how our children feel about school. Positive early years can change an educational trajectory. Negative or overwhelming experiences can leave lasting effects. Our family has been very fortunate in our two years here so far, but I worry about others. Tonight, I'm not asking for perfection. I'm asking for reflection on what kind of a district do we want to be? One that prioritizes efficiency above all or one that invests in our early childhood because of the lasting impacts on students, families, teachers, and our community. I encourage the board to explore all options before setting 25 students in a first-grade classroom as the standard, whether that's additional staffing, creative scheduling, support personnel, class rebalancing, or
010other things. These children have one first-grade year, and once it passes, we cannot give it back. Thank you. >> Thanks, Mrs. Marston. >> I think do you hear from anyone else? >> Nope, just the letter that was shared with all the board previously. >> Okay. All right. Thank you, everyone. Um information only high school update. >> Yeah, so the high school construction project is underway. So, we've got representatives from Estes here. Brian or Mike, who's running point? I'm not sure who's running point. >> I'm Ross Godfrey. >> Yep, that'd be great. Thank you. So, yeah. >> All right. >> I'm Brian Lawson, a senior project manager with Estes, and with me today, we got >> I'm Dean Robinson, he's a superintendent with Estes. >> Hi, I'm Layla I'm an intern this summer. >> Yep. So,
011we'll come to every board meeting, at least one of us will be here. Maybe Marlene McKay, too. She's a project engineer with us. But typically, we'll go over what you see on the screen is a weekly project update. So, we send these out every Friday just to communicate what's been going on on site, what's coming up in the weeks ahead. Occasionally, we'll put in here any challenges in the way that we may have, like a lot of rain recently. We're pushing back paving a couple days, things like that. Um but yeah, we'll go over the updates, and then Mike will kind of give a brief update on the three-week look-ahead schedule. And then, we don't have any this month, but if we have change orders, we'll put those on the agenda, and then we'll give
012a budget update, and have time for questions and answers. That's about how we kind of uh the theme of our updates, I guess. So. On here, Mike, if you want to give a quick update on the schedule. >> so as we've gotten in and gotten started in the high school, opening up the ceilings to learn the routing of the piping, that's not where the routing was set they were going to be. So, we're we're learning things, so we can probably more information back to our construction team. So, that's what's going on this week. And like Ryan said, everything on the outside the lovely mother nature has pushed us back there a little bit. Um we're going to be here enough for our concrete company to come in here in the next week or so. So,
013hopefully we get some concrete in. Um finish the prep on the north side. Um we are working with Justin and Ray for additional sidewalk to be added up there that's not included in the project now, but it needs to be. Uh so, we're working through some of that and just uh right now we're just getting it started and [snorts] seeing what's there and um finding out some information on uh when the new water heater's going to be here. We've got some information on the heat pump that's been ordered, uh the water pump. So, yeah. So, a lot of new things we're just, you know, finding out new things every day and and working out through some issues. >> Yep. Well, yeah, phase one going well so far and then uh we're also working on phase
014two, which will be out to bid July 14th as planned. So, working on that as well. Doing some constructability reviews and uh working with Bray Architects on it. So. >> All right. Any other questions for them? >> No. >> Thank you very much. We're good to go. >> Thanks, guys. >> Yeah. >> Appreciate it. Thanks. Anytime. >> Thanks, guys. >> Yep. Thank you. >> All right. Consent agenda. Minutes, any additions or corrections? Any bills and invoices? >> You can see we're starting to get open enrollment bills coming through. Um they I can't came a little bit earlier than they previously said, so I think this whole week has been a bit of that so we all have schools I got my schools outside of school this Monday so but yeah so any other questions regarding
015any of the books we had a big ticket item in the state of account with Matt he opened up or purchased the Chromebook refresh so that was a big alert amount there so anything else that you guys saw that popped out? >> Uh we'll be getting some of the bigger construction bills will start coming to there was a couple pay ups that went uh they had sent to us but they needed to go through a review by Brace first so they're not on here yeah they're not on here yeah I don't know if they're on there but yeah I was told to wait yeah they're coming so Brace so they'll be coming a little later you'll see those come through and come through too and again the money on hand will cover those until we
016sell bonds so we're projecting to September to pay those bills start seeing those show up too those bills. >> Any other questions? Personnel report. >> Yep so just some of the ins and outs resumes are slowing down a little bit right now thank goodness. So. >> And we found a consumer right >> Family consumer science we did a diamond in the rough James Bond a thousand right now uh >> That's awesome super excited. >> Yeah her background and what she's done and her history and really really cool really excited about this opportunity good yeah they're going to require to take some additional courses um we you know like we've done with others we'll support through some tuition reimbursement with the key asking the state for a certain amount of time but yeah. Yeah. >> I
017didn't think we'd get that one filled. >> I >> We weren't sure either. Yeah. Yeah. >> I agree with that. Open enrollments. >> Yeah, all high locations are all there and most of them have have been out of worthy kindergarten and pre-school and then a couple of other ones, so. >> Okay. Financial report. >> Yeah, if you look at the revenue expenditure report, we were kind of spending a little higher again than our average three-year percentage. Just contribute that to the early on on the open enrollment bills, I believe. And you know, some electric expenses there. Revenue is about the same though, so a little [snorts] bit less than a little bit. Yeah, we're almost to the end of the year and see a lot more information here. But I think you know, changing in
018June and July and seeing both reports for the whole month, so. Um then your statement of positions, you know, just a little over that what we thought we would be needing on the fund balance, so. Any other questions with that? >> Contracts and agreements. >> Yeah, so a lot of sharing agreements in place that we put in place for some athletics. So soccer is there. Then I-35 and Earl and Anna asked, we've had one in place with Earl for a while. I believe this is the first year or the second of I-35. So those are being renewed. Earl and against state funding. You want to talk about that or not? >> Yeah, we're changing it so far state funding coming every month, now it's going to come every quarter. So this is just an amendment
019to what the contract that we signed in last year, so. Not sure if I'm crazy about the quarterly payments. >> The amount hasn't changed. The amount is still the same, we're just I'm billing. And then the yearbook agreement, so you know we switched over we probably switched school photography January, February when it went out for RFP. Uh made a switch, but wanted to continue the yearbook with yearbook which is had the yearbook for a while. So that came as a request from uh the individuals who are running our yearbook. So I met with their representative, asked them to shorten the time frame of that. They wanted a 3-year contract to a 2-year. Um yearbooks aren't as popular as they used to be. And so selling them and marketing them and we're um they had to
020help us out a little bit to write the ship on some of it. So they asked us for 2 years uh to try and improve sales and and do a better job on that. And then we'll go from there, but we'll stay with Jostens for the yearbook. And that's what that agreement's for. And then the final one is Classroom Clinic. Uh that's the uh online telehealth um for mental health services that we purchased. Um Um yeah, it's a pretty good program. It's full kindergarten >> And I'm not quite full, but we do have a waitlist for our in-person therapists and this helps the older students be able to see someone while they're on the waitlist at least. >> We just have to provide a secure location for them and access through a computer uh school-issued
021device to do that. And we're also able to use safe funds to pay for it cuz you're you you're buying a technology platform essentially. So. >> Any other questions? Want to make the mo- motion to approve the consent agenda. >> I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> I'll second. >> Motion by Tim, second by Ross. All in favor? All right. >> Aye. >> Opposed, same sign. All right. Old business, I don't see any. >> No. >> Um new business. >> Yes, uh I'll queue up Corey here. >> Yep, so this is me. So, now there you get another acronym. So, this is actually a state requirement. It's There's two acronyms that mean somewhat the same thing. There's a ICAP, which is the individual career and academic plan. And what that's referencing is the student when
022they're in eighth grade, they they develop a four-year plan for their high school tenure, what classes they're going to take, and things like that. And then we are also required to create a district career and academic plan, which you have linked in this slide deck. And this is a state requirement. And how this works is there is a team of people that oversee this with my supervision. And we have created an incredible process with this, and we got some really strong feedback from the state of Iowa for this as well. Um the last year for 24-25, we ended up scoring about a 29 out of 36. They changed the game on how this works. We no longer get a score anymore. And really what happens now is is we get feedback on one area that
023we want feedback on from a group of people in a region in our region. And so, I go to a day where everybody in Heartland's region goes, and we look at each other's plans and things like that. We probably this year, if they had scored us, probably would have done a 34 or 35 out of 36. They were super impressed with what we're doing with the profile of a graduate, with what we're doing with our work-based learning opportunities, and our connection to the authentic learning experiences. And that was a tremendous celebration. And just our areas for growth are just continuing to ramp up our Zello lessons and things like that. New to us this year was, uh they want to see what it looks like at fifth and sixth grade in the career exploration part
024of what's been required 7-12. So, that's a new thing. And then, uh FAFSA advisement. That's another thing that's probably going to be lumped into our uh um Iowa school performance profile and things like that [clears throat] just cuz it's such a huge push from the state of Iowa. But overall, what you have in here is linked into this slide deck is literally a 60-page document that reflects what we're doing in the areas of four-year planning, work-based learning, self-understanding, career information, career exploration, post-secondary exploration, and decision. So yes, this is a state requirement, but it's really been a nice celebration, and also for us to like warehouse a lot of these resources, which has been really, really cool. And so this document is really just organized in the categories that we're required to report out on.
025And one of the requirements is that this gets approved or this gets uh shared with the school board during the school year. This is one of the only state reports that's due during the year you're doing the reporting. And so some do it in February, March. I like to do it after the year's been over, so we can report like what we did versus like what we want to do or things like that. So everything that's in this 60-page document has been done within 5th through 12th grade, and it's just been an incredible opportunity for us. And I just didn't know if you had any questions about this process or what this looks like. But but these are the pieces that we're required to report out on, and it's just been really cool to see
026the growth since this has first started. With with this. And so it just gives you an idea for what's required and all of that. They do a lot of this through the Zello program. They do a lot of this through the teachers, through the project they're implementing, whether it be the project-based learning opportunities or the authentic learning experiences, or they do it through the work-based learning opportunities. And that's starting to starting to get more prevalent even as kids are younger. So we're no longer waiting for senior year for them to engage in something. This kind of correlates with what Cam's conversation is about the market value assets and things like that. And like so it's it's all part of this process which has been really cool and it's not just our counselors behind the scenes
027running this like this has been really neat to see a shared responsibility piece. >> So do the the staff have input into the final product final product or >> Yep, so the staff like so staff not only have input but like there are documented like experiences throughout different it's not just like what the counselors are doing. So there's things like in English class at the high school level or junior high level. There's things from content classes, there's things from CTE courses. So it's not just a counselor checking a box that we did a thing and that's been really impressive because that's the only way this is going to work is that it's totally infused and a lot of our profile of graduate work is highlighted here as well. That was really celebrated at the state
028level and they were really excited to see like what we're up to. >> Excellent. >> Yeah. >> Very good. >> A lot of people stole some ideas from us. >> Yes. >> Which is neat. >> Yep. >> But they no longer give you a score at the end. Uh we're on our third person in the Department of Ed who oversees this and she started maybe 4 months ago. So when we got the training from her she'd been there like a month. So like they're still working this might not even be a future document anymore. We don't know. More more to come on that. They >> Okay. >> They shared like we may not do it this way anymore. But we'll still we've got to figure out how >> plan to keep implementing the things >>
029100% and that's the that's the requirement. It's probably just how it's reported. >> Yeah. >> But one of the requirements of this process is that it's shared with the board at this level. >> What's that board board minutes is reviewed by the board annually. Yeah, pretty important so ask you to approve the report. >> I mean I can. >> Do you want to approve it right now? >> Yeah. >> Oh I did there's no there was no more questions but my question is still >> So there's no more questions though. >> Make a motion. Jeremy makes a motion, second. >> I'll second. >> Ross seconds. All in favor, say I. >> I. >> Opposed, same sign. And on to curriculum review and update. >> So, one of the board policies is that the board approves
030like curriculum adoptions and things like that. And so, what I did was I stuffed the two invoices and just kind of here's what you cuz you're going to see this on probably next month's budget and things like that. And so, uh just kind of see what we're getting. So, uh what how how we operate this is usually core curriculum materials and even some of the non-core materials that are on anywhere between a four to a six-year cycle. Uh that way we're not constantly doing new materials and things like that, but it gives us a systemic look at, "Okay, do we need to update our approaches and things like that?" And so, there is a cycle behind the scenes and one of the ones that was up for adoption for 2026-2027 is English language arts, particularly
031at the K-8 level. And so, basically what we did all year this year is I did uh I have a team of people that helped me navigate this. And what we started to do was we started to look at, "Okay, we know the round of materials that we use currently are expiring." So, that's that's one of the things we know. And so, we start having conversations of, "What do we want to do?" Those types of things. And so, throughout the 2025-2026 school year, a K-8 group worked with me and Michelle Macumber, our instructional coach, and we went through these ideas. What's going well for us cuz this is the highest our reading scores and things like that have been in a really long time systemically. Super excited about that. We started talking about some challenges
032that have come to the forefront, particularly the last couple of years with implementation of the materials just because they've become outdated. And that's pretty much what happens. What's starting to happen is usually some of these materials only last for five or six years, and then the companies get bought out or whatever. And so, we're starting to see a trend in that. Start to look at gaps that exist. We start to look at, okay, what are our needs since the last adoption? And then we started doing some deep research in high-quality instructional materials that are aligned with our faith vision, our vision as a district, our strategic priorities, goals of this team, and things like that. And then we started looking at high-quality instructional methodology, and started, okay, what are we doing? What do we need
033to stop doing? What do we need to start doing? Those types of things, because we can't just keep adding to the plate of our staff. And so we spent an entire school year doing this, and if you want to go to the next one, that would be great. And here's what we've discovered, and here's here's what we're getting with what we're asking to be purchased. So, after our team looked at all of this, we determined that we looked at two sets of materials, the ones we currently use, which is the HMH Into Reading, and then for 7-8, we use HMH Into Literature, so it's a K-8 comprehensive program, but it's also not a robotic deal, like we need a classroom teacher, we need a professional. So, it's not like, you know, the the classroom teacher
034is the driver, these are just the tools that'll help us. And also, we need tools that match our goals and things like that. And so, one of the decisions we've looked at and what we've come to is we really liked CKLA Amplify Core Knowledge for Language Arts, CKLA, and then the Amplify program for 7-8. And what this is going to allow us to do is several things. Number one, streamline the resources, and we're actually going to be able to take some off the plate of the teacher. So, with our current materials, we had to supplement with some phonics instruction, with some Haggerty materials and things like that. We won't need to do that in this core program. It will also come in continue our progress we have made in our ELA instruction and results. It's
035going to truly integrate reading, writing, and speaking, and listening, which was one of our goals we established, because the current program allows for that, but what it does is the writing block was a writing time. And then the speaking part was a specific time during the during the instructional model. This model is a true integration of all four of these skill sets starting in kindergarten, and we're super excited about that. It's going to give us a true 50/50 split of nonfiction versus fiction reading, which is one of the goals of the high-quality instructional materials. It's also going to create a more rigorous writing culture because it's not going to be centered on what they're reading and also speaking about even as early as kindergarten. And it's all integrated. The other part is it's going to
036continue to build and us utilize the instructional framework with the Orton-Gillingham work, the OG work that Doug talks about. And so that's the early phonics instruction, and we're going to be able to integrate that with this model. So that those strategies and that mindset is going to continue with us cuz that's helped us build the success that we have, and this is just going to create a strong tier one program, which is really the biggest goal that we had in this was how do we continue to integrate and increase the rigor and relevance in the tier one program. And then what I've linked here for you is just really what we're getting. This is the CKLA K-5. There's a ton of stuff here, but really in K through five, what we're getting is we're getting
037a knowledge strand of sets of materials and skills skill development, and then we're also getting a skill development piece, and it's an integration of that. If you want to go like the third or fourth page, keep going down, then you can get an idea. There's a visual model here. And so what this does is this takes the language and the word recognition, all the phonics, all of these instructional, you know, pieces, and it shows how it's all intertwined. And there's a scope and sequence starting in kindergarten with a knowledge strand and skill strand. So after a couple years of implementation, we'll see that it's the first year implementing anything new is always the toughest, but we're going to see a huge increase in not just our achievement, but what's more rigorous and what's more integrated
038in our classrooms. And we've kind of gotten away from some of that the last couple of years because we've had to supplement with some outdated materials. And that's very normal in a when you use a set of materials for 6 years. We're we're at the end of a cycle and it's time to and it's time to do something new. But what you have access to in here is is what the knowledge stream what the skills strands look like K through 5. This set of materials is a little different. We're used to K6, 78, but these materials go K5 and then 68. So we've already started to look at like what our Friday structure could look like for collaboration on this. We've got a training scheduled and all those types of things, but really I just
039wanted you to see like what we're getting with this process and it's a 5-year commitment with these materials. So we have access to digital licenses, consumables and things like that. Knowing with some of the screen time legislation and things like that coming, we're going to want to use some of those consumables and I'm still a big believer in we still need to read and write like physical things and write on paper and things like that. And I think that's a that's a need that our staff share as well. But also there's some digital tools and AI components and things like that that's just going to help our kids even deeper. There's center, there's small group instruction, there's intervention, but the big piece [clears throat] here for us is the core knowledge and skill sets are
040going to be extremely exciting to see our kids do over a period of time here and I'm super excited about that. So I just kind of wanted to give you an idea and then 68 is the Amplify program and that's broken up into units. Eighth grade gets to see Romeo and Juliet. Typically we do that in ninth grade. So it's it's just there's some really neat opportunities also for some authentic learning experiences cuz they do a lot of non-fiction skill set as well. And so there's just a lot of opportunity for community partnerships and things like that. So just super excited about the future of this. But I just wanted you to kind of get an idea for what it is we have access to. With this purchase is training, professional development, coaching, our instructional
041coach, obviously we're we're losing Michelle, getting a new coach. She's going to be well versed in this. She'll receive training in this as well. Just super excited about this opportunity. But just kind of wanted to share like, yes, it's an expensive endeavor, but like here's what we're getting in return. And we're going to see a huge return on this investment, which I'm really excited about. And it aligns with our state's vision of high-quality instructional materials. And that wasn't like our number one goal, but it just happened to be part of that as well. Any questions for me? >> I got a couple. >> Yeah. >> Um, so the grand total 186,000. >> Yeah. >> That's for 5 years. >> So we will get updates and all the digital >> 100%. >> for 5 years. So
042it's a one-time purchase. >> One-time purchase for 5 years. >> Yep. >> So these will expire 5 years from July 1 or whatever it is. >> And second, is there a a website that we can go to or do you have access to what the readings will be? >> Yep, so they're in there. >> Okay. >> So in those two PDFs, there's a tremendous amount of information and it's like what the units are, what the stories are, what the readings would be. We vetted for legis- we've looked at previous legislation. So this has been well vetted of like like like does it cuz we want to make sure like we're we're following like even rules from 2 years ago and things like that. It's all age-appropriate, but it's also like rigorous enough and things like
043that. But same for the sixth the 6-8 units is just the strength and the integration of reading, writing, speaking, and listening is second to none here. And that's what we're excited about. >> So you're very confident that someone's not going to come from the state and say, "Hey, this violates >> The state is actually promoting this. >> Yeah, these are state >> This This is actually not only the state approved, but it's on their recommended list of like the high quality instructional materials. >> Okay. >> And that wasn't like we didn't start there, but they happen to like that This is one of the ones that they're saying follow like follow their model and their vision. This is one of those. >> Okay. >> How long did we have the previous materials? >> This was
044year six. So, this was year six of those and we looked at that set of materials, too. The biggest differentiator for us was the writing. They really haven't improved the They They have a strong writing block in the current set of materials, but it's still isolated. This one is truly integrated, so when they're reading writing, that's also then what they're going to be writing about and that's also going to help our reading capability, too. And that's just what we we've That That became part of the big gap that our team had identified about the current set of materials, which has forced a lot of our K through specially K through three teams to have to supplement. And one of the big things that I have is I also don't want our staff to have to
045worry about what they're going to do tomorrow. Like they deserve a play to run and they deserve a strong cohesive system because I also don't I mean, the job's hard enough. And so, that's one of the dedication pieces that I that I feel like is part of my job is to ensure like there's a strong system of instructional methodology and also they're not hunting on the internet every night for materials. This will This will help for that as well. >> So, your question on what happened at the end of this time you were there and you needed to go on the years out here getting that. >> Well, no, my my point is like if the last material we had was 4 years and it became outdated We're on a 5-year contract. >> I wouldn't
046say outdated as much as I would say like it just didn't meet our needs as as well. And that's good and that might happen with this, too, because we're going to continue to grow and get better, too. >> The other thing is in that time you heard a lot about the science of reading. >> Yeah. >> And you'll see on there this is aligned with the science of reading. That's been a big um Yeah, and it's been around before, but it became really prevalent in the last two to three years. And so, these are more closely aligned to that. >> And with the current ones, we just didn't see enough like improvements that we wanted to see, and this was overwhelmingly stronger than what we had before. And we've had our our K-8 teams have
047seen it. They've even had some initial training in it. They'll get some initial training in it when they come back for the fall, too. They'll get some coaching from Amplify, from people who have used this in classrooms and things like that. So, there's a strong system of support, as well. And it's also pretty turnkey for our staff. >> Are there quite a few other districts using this? Do you know? >> Yes. A lot of our metro area schools are, too. And that wasn't one of the like deciding factors for me. Like, I didn't reach out to the to that, but I just I just know cuz I'm in a group of people, and a lot of people are using this. >> What about our TAG, intervention, sped kids? Is that all kind of tied in
048there? >> So, there's materials in there. There's systems in there to support them, especially in like the center materials, but also in the small group instruction center materials. So, it doesn't just do remediation. It'll do extension. And there's more to do than in a school year. So, it'll provide a tremendous amount of support for TAG, sped, title, those types of things, as well. >> Is the PD online, or is it in person, or both? >> There's There's a little bit of both, but the initial PD for next year is all in person. And we have the option for online, but I asked for in person. And they're coming to They're coming to work with us. >> And we built into our pre-service >> Just the end of two seals. We get that finalized and I
049send that out in July. >> Yeah. That's already been Yeah, that's been built into pre-service. And Julie and Doug, especially, have already started to talk about like, and Josh, like, what could K-8, you know, collaboration look like on the new Friday structure? Cuz that's something that the Wednesday structure just hasn't let us do very well. And so, with a new structure, they started to look at, okay, could once a month be a ample special the first, you know, few months, like do some collaboration and calibration around how are we doing in addition to like our daily collaboration time. So, they started to look at like what that could look like, too. But, our team did a great job. And this was truly a team decision. This could have been very easy for me to say
050we're doing this, here we go, and that was not this. Overwhelming support for this. >> Questions? Are there more questions? Do we need a >> Need an approval. Yeah. >> All right. >> It is one of our policies that the board approves like curriculum adoptions and things like that. >> Could I have a motion to approve the review and update of the ELA curriculum? >> I'll motion. >> Motion by Ross, second. >> I'll second. >> Second by Jeremy. All in favor? >> Aye. Opposed, same sign. All right. Are there any sports >> policy buildings. So, I probably have to pay attention to the last legislative session. There were some changes to civil rights and throughout our policy and our our things related to civil rights. So, I gave you the updates at a glance from
051ISBE, a sample policy kind of description, and then I also provided the draft policies down there for you below. Um and just kind of cleaning them up based on ISBE's feedback with some of those changes. Get a chance to look them over or any questions or Nope. Okay, so we'll just take first reading and then Yeah. And then we'll bring it back in July and they'll be in place for for next year. >> All right. Adoption of summer choir and vocal lessons to approved fees list. >> Need you to approve the list. >> Approve that. All right. All right. Approve the last and I'm just moving this along. >> That's all right. >> Tim, thank you for making that motion on So, work policy second by Jeremy. All in favor say I. >> I. >>
052Opposed same sign. All right. There's your motion. >> Now we can move on. >> So, yeah, you approved fees um in uh May actually and then after that came out, we became aware that Mr. Barr would like to do choir lessons as the same passion that we've done band for a while. Just going to be on the fees, they're optional. Since of the fees just pay for their time in the summer. Uh same rate that you they would pay for band lessons, they would just pay for choir lessons. Uh Mr. Barr wants to do this uh moving forward. So. Yeah, just asking that we get them on there so we can do both both those as well as band. Yeah. Yeah, the motion. >> All right. A motion by Jeremy second. >> I'll second. >>
053Second by Ross. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed same sign. And passed. And resolution ordering construction for phase two. >> Yes, John will you go with this one? So, yeah, this is keeping these straight is a and the timelines of them are >> Yep. >> Ready for phase two wood project and they're ready taking bids. So, we're going to have that special board meeting on July 2nd. So, this is for July 2020. >> Okay. >> And then so, yeah, the public notice will be in the paper either July 8th or 15th and then yeah, so this is the resolution to move forward with What's that? >> All right. >> Any questions? >> Questions? Make that motion anyone? >> I will. >> Tim will make that motion second. >> I will. >> By
054Ross. All in favor. >> I. >> Opposed same sign. And passed. And moving on, board member reports. >> I didn't have a meeting other than every time I went to the school, everything was running really well. Everything seemed right. >> Just want to thank the students and all the staff and everything for what I think was a pretty successful year. It looks like our scores are in good shape. Our retention with staff, I think, reflects well on the administration. So, all in all, well done. >> Nice. >> Another >> Graduation was great. >> Mhm. >> Glad to be a part of that. Um Your turn. >> All right. So, I kind of put my hand in front of you. We have the Rock River historical conference data. I kind of shared that with you. Um
055so, if you're looking at that, the points are, like if you finish first, you get eight points, and that's how they calculate it. So, that's kind of the total. And then it goes back over right through the year where we would finish in the conference. So, uh kind of historically right right in the middle of the conference, sixth, fifth, except for 20 and 21 [clears throat] where we're pretty weak. Won the conference in a lot of things. So, that was a good uh good year for us. But I thought it was interesting data just for you to look at and how we've compared in the conference uh over uh going back to uh going back years to uh to uh 14, 15. So, a long ways back. Any questions on that? >> No. >> Yeah.
056Just kind of have something to pass along. Uh calendar amendment, we remember we talked last month about the May 7th and bringing an amendment. We were able to find uh we met with the team uh last week. Kind of went through what they would like to do. Lots of things were already in place. Um Corey reached out after that meeting. We can run virtual just at the high school, and all the other schools can be in person, which is probably the easiest, cleanest for us. Um we're running into other issues uh that day. That's the junior high conference track meet. So, if you don't have school that day and go virtual for everybody, we're creating a hardship for parents to get kids to there to make the bus for junior high track. So, the easiest
057will be just a virtual day at the high school. We'll bring that back to you. Also, we had a discussion because of a conflict that came about after we approved the calendar with a band concert Doug wants to move elementary concerts. So, on July on the public hearing, we'll make the seventh the virtual day and switch a PT conference at the elementary. That'll be it. Um also, Corey came over to language learning graduation policy to update it for the defense of learning that we were talking about. So, I'll bring that back to you in July. Uh Jane Lenny attended the session at S A I on last Thursday um about this communication coming from our office and how we can do that better. Um lots of good um you know, just being on the same
058page and even when comes to drafting things that we kind of use the same voice and message, but um big takeaway was the e-newsletter. Um the beacon is just it's it's run its course, to be quite honest. Um 16, 17, 18 pages long with lots of PDFs. We also have to make sure that a lot of our communication go out meets new requirements regarding accessibility. PDFs are not because they don't work well in translators. Apogee, who does our website, has a news e-newsletter format that'll work right from our website. Uh the new month, Matt, Jane, Kendra, and Jessica are going to go through that training. Uh probably look to transition to this e-newsletter format next year. Uh we can still call it the beacon, it just won't be the 18-page PDF. Um Trying to streamline
059and make it a little shorter, provide, you know, more interactive links. People want to dive deeper can, so you know, if you look through this one in May, just going through all the registration for summer camps, well, that can be a link that they can click on that will have to be a PDF. Um so, we're going to probably make that transition for our newsletter going um next year. >> Jess is on board, she doesn't like change. Jess is on board, she doesn't >> We talked to Jess, she understands, yeah. She was She was kind of the one who was a little bit reluctant, I bet. Uh I don't know if Kendra talked her into it or not, but we got her kind of kind of moving in our direction. Uh and this will also
060um the fact that it's through Appletree should allow um Jane, Kendra, and myself just to add things right to it. Also, embed videos, you know, some of those videos are um more pictures, you know, those kinds of things. Should be a Should be a nice fresh upgrade. Um we looked at others who were Uh Linn-Mar was a school that was there. They shared their example. ADM's got a pretty decent online e-newsletter. Um so, just trying to update our communication going out and do a little better job. So, that's what we're transitioning. Uh FOIA requests, uh Freedom of Information Act. Four in the last 2 weeks, Jill. Um superintendents and SBOs across the state are telling you it's just more and more and more. Um last year, one of the board policy updates was to name
061the responder for the district, which is Jill. She's taking time. Um Essentially, in all of our stuff that I think today uh regarding that you could go about if you get somebody who's really persistent, there's a still a pretty high bar to get somebody on that list. Um Jill in her conversation with SBOs um last week at the two Yeah. A lot of it we moved to an online request, so they have to fill out some information and try to redirect them back. A lot of what they're asking for is vendors and bills, which are all public on the website already. Um it won't stop them from asking us to generate form, but you know, uh Jill sent us a template that DCG uses. Uh Matt and Jane worked on it last week. We'll probably
062move like an online uh request for records and try to redirect them to find their own stuff a little bit, too. But, there's a lot recently just been vendors. They use this vendor and since 2022 where are the bills? What's it for? How much did we charge usually? I think. >> [snorts] >> I just finally charged one vendor um like like daily rate, you know, 4 hours worth of it. So, they're sending it They said they sent the check. So, >> We'll see if they do. >> Yeah, they They will do it. And this Yeah, this falls out to a price per sheet. >> Yeah. >> If they print it. >> This information will be a little more detailed about what what we'll have to charge and stuff, so. >> Yeah. >> So, just keep
063me in the loop. Did you receive the payment for you? >> To provide the information? >> No. >> Yeah. I I I think I said, you know, once I get payment then I can send you the information, so. And normally it's not so bad, but this last one we had was >> The last one we had was the development of the new one. >> So. >> I'll dig through it, so. Yeah, sometimes they're pretty easy where you will do a quick search of the vendors and know we don't use them and just have to respond. Others we do and you just got to pull the invoices and just takes time. So, just keep me in the loop on that. Um we're fulfilling them. We're keeping a record that we fulfill them. Just seems to be
064more and more. Uh athletic activity online schedule. So, if you're familiar with their online schedule, that program's called Our School. Uh it was used for a long, long time. Uh if you've been following high school athletics right now, Bound is the platform that is being used for almost everything. Uh as far as uh where you put your stats and all those things. So, Nick would like to transition to our schedules being on Bound um starting with the next school year. So, the last ones will be on Our School will be baseball, softball. He's transitioning to Bound. We'll put some communication out to families uh letting them know that that's where it is um and then also um the app. We'll update our app so when you click on activities, right now it takes you to
065our school calendar. It'll take you to Bound. One thing in talking to Nick and Kim a little bit is the activity the uh facility request. Um right now that's on our school. It doesn't work as well on Bound to have it there so we'll probably have to have a separate maybe Google calendar or whatever where we keep track of facility usage and requests and and all that fun stuff. But uh Nick said we're going to communicate some communication that we'll send out um updating uh the community on that. Uh summer meals program, hopefully you saw that. Uh that begins tomorrow 11:45 to 1:00 at Cobblestone on Tuesday and Thursday through the second week in August. Um kudos to Jill and Nickendra and Jen Parrish on uh filling the grain out and getting that in place.
066Why is it Cobblestone? Because of the percentage of students who are free and reduced in certain zones that they get a set. Like we didn't get to pick a zone. Originally, we were going to try and host it out of one of the churches. We thought that would be really close. But that zone north of 92 was the one that met the criteria for us to to offer meals. >> It's just across the highway. >> Yeah. And so we've got over 80 families that I think you said signed up. >> 700. >> That have signed up to uh you know for Tuesdays to come through and get meals. So they're preparing at the middle school. Our guys are going to all motor with box truck to Cobblestone and you saw that map last week. We're
067going to line them through like the donuts through FS and and hand them off um and do some training if you're going to be part of handing them out so all of our district office staff have and >> We're ready. >> So we'll all so we'll run the play tomorrow. >> We're just going to Are they going to go back into their meeting room or we just going to meet them outside and hand them lunches? >> Through the awning. >> Yeah, and it's all >> Let's say it's hard we'll just throw it out. >> I was going to say cuz my geriatric poker club meets here at 12:30 every Thursday. Get there early then, see. I see but to find a new parking spot. >> I'll send you the training video for you. Training video.
068You can help. You can help. >> Get there early. >> 15-minute training video. >> Me and 7 80-year-olds. >> I'm really glad you were able to do it for our families. It wasn't It was some work into it. So, I mean, Jill and Kendra kind of I kind of had to get it across my desk so they think they want to do this. And they made it happen. Worked with Jen. Be really good for some of our families this summer. I think I think each Is it each family or each student gets a half a gallon of milk you're sending? >> Yeah, each student gallon of milk a week per kid. >> Yeah, so that's the kind of arrangement. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, I think you forget about when school is out is we
069we often provide, you know, the hot meals for a lot of kids that they wouldn't normally normally get. So. >> So, do we see any other benefit like for a free and reduced or meal reimbursement or anything like that for the more people that go through or >> Oh, no, hold on. >> We can claim that we can claim the meals. So, we have to track it. It's a tally sheet. We have to track everything. So, and then we'll claim that as well for free and reduced meals. So. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So, yeah. >> Yeah, some people have said like, "I don't want to go and take away from other people." But it's a federal program. So, I just welcome everybody to come. Yeah. I've been trying to promote it. >> Yeah, good. Yeah.
070>> Yeah, I mean I mean subs expensive. I mean, it just is. Um and so, if this is a way to help kids get meals throughout the summer and yes, it was some work on on their part, but you know, if you've got a staff that can show up and help and hand them out. Thursday's a little light. Corey Corey and I are um actually had a a training, so we can't help out and Kendra's out of the district. So, it's a little light on Thursday. If you want to take some training and help out on Thursday, bring it in. >> Do you have to take training? So, let me know and >> [laughter] >> Um Yeah. But, I'll be there tomorrow. Corey will be there tomorrow. We'll all be there trying to get it
071uh off to a good start tomorrow. I don't know. 11:45 to 1:00. >> 12:00 to 1:00, but I told you 11:45. So, you could be there to help at 11:45. >> It's 12:00 to 1:00. >> He told me 11:15. >> Yeah. 11:00, yeah. 11:15, I was told. >> We'll be there [clears throat] tomorrow if you have 11:45. >> Some of my geriatric friends might think they're at the meal site and try and pick up They'll only trick you once. >> Well, they think they have to have a child with them. >> Yeah. >> Oh, do you have to have a child? You're If you're the guardian. And so, if you're the parent, you can pick up. If you're acting as the guardian for the day of a related set of children. So, like a nanny
072or grandma that has kids during the day. And like if they're at swim lessons, then they can pick it up. But, it's federal guidelines that we're trying to follow. So, it's a bit tricky. But, if you have the kid, then no questions asked like who's their guardian. The kid can get the meal, but just if you don't have the kid and you're the nanny and they're at swim or art or something. If you're their guardian for that day and they're a set of related children. So, like a set of unrelated children would be like an in-home daycare can't bring everybody. Um well, they can cuz we give it to the kid. But, they can't pick up Say like I have seven kids at my house I'm picking up or you can't pick up for a
073neighbor. So, we've just tried to help people problem solve through that and um think of your neighbors or think of a relative that could, you know, watch your kids while you pick up or yeah. So, if you have someone with questions, I'm happy to try to help. >> Can they show up at the time or can they just show up? >> They can. They can show up. But, we try to track them just to get an idea how many meals to prepare. We ask some of them and we're able to Pacific >> QR code out so people raise that. >> We just pay more. We'll put you tomorrow to get the training. How long would it take us? >> Online, was it >> 5 minutes to 20 minutes video you watch. >> If you got
074it. >> Yeah, you can Yeah, this is the fun part. >> Yeah, it's sweet too. >> It's just uh >> Yeah, send it to all of us. >> Still right, yeah. >> Yeah, the discrimination kind of I mean it is kind of what it is, but so yeah, it's all right. Um whether you can if you're able to help me on that. >> Yeah. >> That's right. >> Yeah, a lot of things just I'm going to take the next two Fridays and vacation. Um Yeah, I just got transferred to Preston and transferred to Fort Dodge, but so yeah. >> If you do do the training, come find me and you have to sign a sign sheet and sheet that you did it first before you can >> Would you be there tomorrow? >> Yes, I
075will be there. I'll try to send it to you tonight so you can watch it while you're watching the Knicks game. >> Any questions for me on online poker? >> I don't know what's the minimum age to be in the geriatric program. >> Me, I'm 64. I had shirts in the whole bit, man. Oh yeah, we have geriatric poker t-shirts. >> Anything else for me? >> All right. And we're out. >> Remember that.