001I aliance 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. Good evening everyone. Thank you for coming tonight, April 7th school board meeting. Um we'll start off. We have some visitors to speak at the public forum. We have three speakers tonight. Um we have Dr. Shannon Esther Petty. Uh we have Samantha Stler and Connor Warkey will be speaking together. And then we have Richard Petty and it'll be in that order. Um so Dr. Petty, you want to step forward? You be first. And just real quick, you'll have five minutes. Cory, you want to be the timekeeper? Cory will give you a wave. Less than one minute left. Um, no personal attacks, matters that are currently under
002negotiations, litigation, or related to personnel were not to be discussed. Um, and of course, the board may ask questions or clarify or choose not to. All right. Great. All right. Good evening again. I'm Dr. Shannon Esler Petty. You all have hopefully read the 32-page letter that was submitted last fall from multiple families along with the story shared by past and present players for the girls basketball program. Some parents and players have met with the superintendent Schmidt, others with the AD and some with the coaches. I appreciate the time many of you have given to listen listen and for those I've spoken with personally, thank you. I'm here tonight to continue advocating for the young women who have shared their experiences in our girls basketball program. I'm a parent, an educator, and an athlete. I've taught
003K12, served as a university professor, and I've earned my doctorate in education. I've coached young female athletes from T-ball through high school, always working to create an environment where every girl felt safe, valued, and left the team more confident than when she started. Because in the end, relationships matter. I've competed in sports at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. And I've had coaches who have changed my life by building meaningful relationships and helping me grow. Today, I work for a company that focuses on building positive relationships in schools for all students. Every student and athlete deserves to feel safe, loved, confident, and valued. According to the Becker District's mission, we believe it is our responsibility of every school to provide a respectful, physically, and emotionally safe, and secure learning environment for everyone. This includes
004our athletes. Dylan's Hope, a local organization here in Becker, also emphasizes the importance of mental health to open up lines of communication between young people and adults so that this tragedy does not happen and other youth and their families. So, I ask you to listen without divisiveness, defensiveness, sorry. Ask yourselves, do I know why so many girls have left our basketball program? When we opened enrolled our daughter two years ago, now three, we were excited. The first parent player meeting was full of eager young athletes and the program appeared to be thriving. But over the past three years, we've watched countless girls walk away. As an educator, I needed to understand why. And that's why I began collecting stories a year ago. And what I've heard um is why I'm here. Yes, there are positive
005stories. Of course, there are. But if we value the positive feedback, we must also give serious weight to the very different experiences many others have reported. The number of girls participating in the program has declined significantly and the stories that have been shared have helped explain why. This year our team should have been led by a strong group of seniors who have dedicated years to this program. Instead, we were not. High school is a formative time. Sports should be build sports should build resilience, confidence, and self-discipline for all girls. It should be hard. Coaches play a pivotal pivotal role in shaping these experiences. A supportive coach builds athletes up. A negative or dismissive approach can do lasting harm, especially to mental health, and it should not be hard in this way. For many athletes, sports
006are central to their identity. The coach athlete relationship must be built on trust and respect. Coaches hold tremendous power and influence. When that power is misused, athletes feel silenced, powerless, or forced to quit. a loss that extends far beyond the court. It robs them of their community confidence and self-worth. A toxic culture can have long-term effects on physical health, mental well-being, and a girl's love for the game. While physical bruises may fade, emotional scores scars can last a lifetime. It's time for our district, schoolboard parents, and athletic programs to recognize and address emotional harm. We must ensure that all athletes are given the opportunity to grow in a supportive and positive environment. Please keep asking questions. Don't assume this issue is being handled. Many voices still feel unheard. Mental health matters and it should matter
007to you too. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Um up next we have Samantha Stler and Connor War. Again, reminder, five minutes. Mr. Sanger will be the one to give you a one minute warning. Hi, my name is Samantha Staller. I'm a sophomore. I'm Connor Mory. I'm a junior. We came to speak today to address the issue regarding our educators and how their needs are responded to. This is not an intended attack, just a series of concerns we have for the future of the Becker School District. Numerous educators are leaving this year, whether it be for their retirement or due to the personal reasons, but administrations has decided not to replace several of them. As a result of this decision, class numbers will increase drastically, averaging about 33 to 35 students per class. That
008may not sound like a lot, but a majority of the teachers in our school don't even have enough desks to seat this many students. This decision will harm both students and teachers alike. From a compiled research project by the National Institute of Health published late February of last year, class sizes over 27 students were linked to nonlinearity and unpredictability in school readiness. When we mention this issue, it ties into the fact that larger class sizes negatively impact the students academic performance. Smaller class sizes allow educators to tailor education to allocate for all students requirements and concerns. This includes specific strategies, different learning modalities, creating dynamic and interesting learning environments, and providing one-on-one time with each student. Additionally, from the educator's perspective, choosing not to rehire who teaches core classes puts more of those required classes
009onto another teacher. This creates a heavier workload for them. To put the educators perspective further from indeed.com at Big Lake High School, a school 15 minutes away from us, teachers make an average salary of around $56,000 per year, while the average annual salary at Becker is only around 48,000. That is almost a $10,000 difference between two wages of schools not even a half an hour away from each other with similar classes and school sizes. From the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average projected starting salary for the class of 2025 at the bachelor's degree level for all degrees is $68,000. Our current average annual salary is $20,000 less than that what the current college graduates are expected to make in any field. This is not a sustainable wage for our teachers and does not
010provide them with a purpose to continue working. When this issue was addressed, an alternative of eliminating electives to bring down class sizes in core subject areas was suggested. However, this takes away the opportunity for unique classes adjusted to certain career paths students may want to pursue. Without a chance to learn about different subjects outside of the required curriculum, students won't be able to explore different subjects and decide their futures. Furthermore, coming across qualified teachers has seemed a difficult task when considering how large our class sizes are and how poor the pay is in comparison to surrounding schools. Although, when administrators do hire qualified teachers such as Mr. Nelson, who was qualified and constructive science teacher. They don't pay them the amount they are worth. Mr. Nelson came out of retirement to teach forensics since our
011school could not find a replacement for Miss Midas, who taught it before. The school promised him a certain amount and failed to keep that promise, leaving the students without a primary educator. This caused other educators to take on even more classes. Mr. Eggert and Dr. Olsen are now having to swap in and out of teaching forensics because the school is incapable of finding qualified teachers and paying them what they're worth. If you want to keep gaining qualified teachers, you have to compensate for teachers to want to come and stay at Becker, especially with the current teacher shortage. This just shows us what years to come may look like with the mistreatment of our educators. Administration has made poor decisions and students and teachers will suffer because of it. Why would they not rehire? Why would
012they make a situation where either decision will result in harming their students? Isn't a school meant to educate and prioritize its students? The only answer to be found is that they are aiming to save money or allocate it to alternative things. This may be a reasonable decision on their part unless we focus on the fact that $42,000 had been split split between three positions, superintendent, HR director, and the business offer officer. When a salary compensation was done on our educators, they gave them a slight salary increase, but with the increase in cost and insurance, that increase is amounting to nothing. Our teachers were severely are severely underpaid, making thousands of dollars less than they did a few years ago, while our administrators are being given bonuses while they're already comfortable in their current salary. The
013fact that these decisions were even put on the table is troubling. Teachers continually strive to advocate for students and their education while administrators put teachers in situations where their stability is on the line. There will be more teachers resigning and students will lose a purpose when they cannot give proper education. What assurance is there that we can expect a quality education in the future years? We want respected educators. We want our promised unique electives and we want thoughtful feedback. Without these things, there is no way students can thrive in our school. Tomorrow, the students will be wearing teal and shades of blue in protest against the administration continuously sacrificing our education for their own personal gain and to bring awareness to teachers pay. We thank you for your time. Thank you. Can I just ask
014a quick question? You compared us to Big Lake. Did you do a comparison on longevity of teachers in the two districts and the education of both districts? Um, I looked at undue.com and a lot of the statistics are similar to like things long-term. So, I guess just from that source, yes. Um, based off of that source alone, that's the information that we found. But if there's another source that says otherwise, we did not find it. Okay. Thank you. All right. You want to clarify anything though? Well, I I would like to speak to the fact about the pay. We've done the numerous studies. We're going to meet about it again tonight about negotiations, but um Jeremy has done extensive research on comparing all of our staff's pay to the districts around us, not only in
015our conference, but those we touch. And we found we're very comparable. In fact, we're higher in most areas and our benefits package is better than most surrounding areas. So, just to kind of clarify, I know $48,000 for the average pay for Becker staff is actually $223 above our starting pay. Uh, so I don't know where that number came from from Indeed, but that's not that's inaccurate. Unless we have all brand new teachers, um, that number wouldn't be able to be that low. like a second year teacher on BA1 starting would be 58 48,564. Yeah. So I think we have a wide variety of more vet teachers new to our staff. And I think um this last year we also removed the lowest level so that new new teachers um get more than what they did.
016We completely removed a level to help help out and bring in new teachers. I do appreciate that and it actually times out well because I I every year at this time um in my superintendent report you'll be able to oh I'll elaborate on some of the stuff and it's not something because I didn't know what you were talking about um what your topic was but uh when I release this but every year at this time I talk about just looking at school district as a whole and how we can be efficient and do good things for the kids. So I'll actually have some elaboration on some of those things as well. So that's good. Thank you so much and nice job. Yeah, takes a lot of this week. So, good job you um Mr. Petty,
017you're next. Again, five minutes. Mr. Stang will give you a one minute notification there. Thank you board for giving me the time to speak. My name is Richard Petty. Um I would have followed Shann make a little more sense, but I'm obviously on the outside on the third one in. Um, this is in relation somewhat to what Shan's talking about, but more in a process situation, not substant uh, not the specifics of what she was really dealing with. I'm asking more that this board start looking into how you handle some of the processes like conflict resolution protocol. And the reason I bring that up is I did go through that process sort of. I did what I was supposed to in the process, but it did not get followed through. Um, I then did, and
018this is January of 2023, uh, June of 23, I then asked for a follow-up and asked for that to be provided as, as far as the conflict resolution protocol goes. And what I mean by that specifically states in there, um, in writing in order to determine what the resolution may or may not have been, why does it do that? So that we're on the same page at that time. So in June, I asked why we haven't followed up on that. I was told that uh resolution they had thought was um was was done that there that everything was resolved and the point of it in writing in January is so that when we got it in writing it would be no or yes. So I could either escalate to the next step or we believe
019the resolution is proper and we just move forward from there. But without doing the in writing we end up 6 months later still in the same spot we were before and yet no follow-up. And so what I'm asking is that we either look at and you may have already started to look at the conflict resolution protocol um or policy as to how you're going to handle that anyway. But either there needs to be accountability upwards whenever whenever that's is submitted to uh whether it be the coach or the AD just so that follow-up can find out whether administration follows down and says hey how did that go or the summary is provided to you to know it's over. But if not we end up in limbo 6 months later. This process that we have been
020going on right now that has started has been since 2022, not not recently. And some people may have only heard about it in the last four or five months. Um process was not short. Uh we came here new to school. Uh and I'll give a little bit of the feel-good part. Um we didn't know where we were going to go nth grade year. Uh we shopped around, we looked, we we vote like we came to school for a tour and what we received when we walked in the door was sort of what put us a little bit over the edge as to why we chose Becker. and right on the board right away and the things said, "Welcome Addison to your new school." Um, it felt personable. It felt like somebody cared enough to make
021that effort that she mattered. Um, that was big for us. We chose to go here from there. Um, like the follow forward a little bit even the next year. Another thing that happened that blew us out of our mind, our daughter was going to be an orchestra. Um, she had took a year off right away into the into the school year. She decided not to go and play be an orchestra and she she was going to drop the course. I received a phone call asking me and letting me know that he advised her to go meet with the orchestra teacher. Make sure you're making the right decision. Uh determined that you really do want to not take this course or can you catch up and be an orchestra? Again, that was simply she was getting
022out of a course. I thought, "Wow, what attention given to make a reasonable decision for academically?" Then I go into this process and what I feel is happening and what what's been going on is that we don't ever get answers or a place to be able to discuss them. Uh I did ask right away the original start of this in January of 2022 was simply an email that said can we have a parent meeting this group is there's a toxic environment that's happening here. We got people quitting and it seems very odd. Can we find out how we can meet together and find find out what the the problem is or there isn't a problem. I was told my only process was conflict resolution policy which meant that I was told I will not get
023a meeting unless my daughter is present for the meeting. I didn't think it was appropriate for her to be there but either way we went through that process. From there we got little resolution. Um I would say we didn't get any. Uh then we flash forward all the way to August of 2023 and that's when we had a meeting uh with superintendent. We took that as finally someone's going to listen and we can go through a process, not that this is a a trial for one day and a rendered a decision to nope, we're good. We thought information provided, information looked into. And so that's the first part I would say is conflict resolution protocol needs either be followed through or you got to figure out a way that there's accountability. Um, second part of
024this is that mental health was of an issue that was at least alleged during the time frame in which people quit. What I'm asking for is that the school look at an internal policy of mandatory reporting for mental health when when it's alleged. I'm not saying whether it happens or it didn't, but at that point, our coaches should let our AD and our guidance counselor know, our guidance counselor should then reach out to the individual. And then we may be able to be ahead and proactive on our approach versus reactive because if nobody is told up the ladder then all we are doing is in a situation waiting for something to happen versus being proactive in our approach to it. So I'm asking that you look at having an internal policy. Is that five? Yep.
025Appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody have any followup questions on that? All right. Thank you. Thank you so much for those of you that spoke. Um, moving on to presentation, we have principal Dave Craft here with Common Ground students, I believe. Hi, good evening everyone. Uh, Mr. Stanger, I wore my Monty Red tonight. Yeah. Uh, my part is brief. I'm I'm going to turn over to the experts here. So, creating common ground is a an opportunity we've had in our school for the last four or five years. And I'm pleased to introduce uh Max Egg. Max is a science teacher for us and this is his third year leading creating common ground. So Max is going to kick it off and then we're gonna hear from our students. Hi. So I'm uh Max
026Egird. I'm a science teacher here at the high school and I'm also a creating common ground adviser and have been for three years. Um I'm just here like uh Dave said to introduce some students who'd like to share their experiences with you. We have um Lamb and Claire here. Okay. Creating common ground is a group of people with a passion for learning about other cultures and experiences. The group focuses on communication and understanding with various different diverse communities. It often emphasizes the importance of finding shared values and experiences to bridge differences, whether they be cultural, social, or political. The goal is to promote collaboration and reduce conflict by encouraging open communication and empathy. The purpose of creating common ground is to foster understanding and collaboration among people or groups who may have different perspectives or
027backgrounds. By identifying shared values, goals or experiences, it helps to bridge divides and reduce misunderstandings. The approach creating the approach creating common ground uses encourage uses encourages open dialogue, empathy, and respect ultimately leading to stronger relationships and more effective problem solving. Creating common ground can also be particularly helpful with community building, cons conflict resolution, and promoting social cohesion as it allows people to work together towards mutual objectives despite their differences. In creating common ground, we have had opportunities to hear other people's sides of the stories. We have heard about students issues in other schools and had open conversations about how to solve them. hearing all different ideas and points of the things we have learned. I would highlight five main aspects. Point one, empathy. By participating in creating common ground, we develop a greater understanding
028of others perspectives and experiences which helps foster compassion and reduces bias. Communication skills. Engaging in conversations encourages people to articulate their thoughts more clearly and listen actively, promoting effective communication. Point three, conflict resolution. Learning to identify shared interests can help individuals resolve disagreements more constructively, focusing on collaboration rather than confrontation. Cultural awareness. By being a part of creating common ground, we have often gained insights into different cultures and backgrounds leading to a broader understanding of diversity. Point five, problem solving. By working together, we can learn to approach challenges collaboratively, leveraging diverse viewpoints to find innovative solutions. Overall, creating common ground helps build stronger, more inclusive communities by promoting understanding and cooperation. In the future, we hope to learn more about other communities in different cultures, understanding others to help bridge gaps and solve problems. We
029hope to gain more group members within our school to educate our community on empathy and communication. By sharing our experiences and talking through our issues with new eyes, we can gain new perspectives and further insight into the root cause of issues and how to solve them. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions or followup? Your participation It's good student participation. Yeah. Yeah. Uh this year we've had um like eight or nine. I think that's right. Yeah. Last year it was six or seven. So it's that'll be going out. We've already had a couple people say that they hope to join next year. So we've done some recruiting. So all the all the pictures you guys must travel around to different sites, different school districts and SC. So awesome. There you go.
030Our last meeting is this Wednesday at St. Honestly, awesome. And again, thank you for coming up. It takes a lot to get in front of a group like that and speak. So, thank you so much for doing that. All right. All righty. Moving on to item number two, re reports. We'll start with our student report. Awesome. So, in the past month, boys and girls track had their first meet of the season last Tuesday. They took home first place as a team. Many of their athletes started the season with promising performances. Last few weeks, the girls golf team has been getting some practice on the driving range and putting greens. Boys golf has been getting to practice outside at the golf course. Boys lacrosse has had two practices so far and are reviewing basics. They also
031did team pictures. Robotics has competed in two competitions in the last two weeks. Between the two, they have won the quality award, excellence in engineering award, and they took second place in one competition. Trap has had informational meetings and had their first practice meet. Today they had their second practice meet. Student council is planning to do another movie on the field for spring fling this year. They are working with some of the younger students to get them experience with running events. Becker baseball has just started and after three weeks of practice, they had their scrimmage. They had their first scrimmage since last year. A scrimmage against Big Lake which Becker won 3 to2. Their first game will be April 3rd if it doesn't get rescheduled. The bass team has begun their bi-weekly classroom sessions. Every
032other Tuesday, members attend a two and a half hour long session, including a meeting and classroom training where they learn about different fishing techniques. These classroom sessions will continue on bi-weekly until opening fishing in May. Recently, GSA has been pretty static, but it has remained a safe and inclusive space for everyone. Recently, a large topic has been anger with the school system due to new information about hiring in classes next year. Students have been connecting with teachers and sharing their problems, becoming better friends with everyone. The girls lacrosse team just finished their first week of practice. The team has been practicing inside due to weather, but are hopeful to be outside next week. Speech has just competed in their last invitational this past Saturday, March 29th. The invitational was headed at St. Cloud Tech with
033five members qualifying for the final round. That guys fully wrapped up their competitions. Yearbook has been preparing for April by putting templates on the pages and checking the cameras over in preparation for the for the upcoming sports. Members from NHS went to Hibbing High School over the weekend in support of Olivia Dirks who ran for MHS secretary and won Becker softball's first game is on April was on April 3rd but was postponed due to weather. I got the easier part. Um in the upcoming month, the track teams have their first outdoor meet this Tuesday. The girls golf team will start playoffs soon to determine what teams they are on before meets start. The boys golf team has an invitational in Monaceel next Monday. Boys lacrosse will have an inter squad scrimmage this week before their
034first game against Chicago next Tuesday. The robotics team is currently getting ready to compete at the world tournament in Houston next week. Student council will continue planning some new activities for spring fling in May. The girls lacrosse team is showing a lot of improvement and are excited for their first game next week on Tuesday against against Chicago Lakes. Speech will prepare for sections which will determine who goes to state. DECA is looking forward to getting their food truck up and running. It is a busy month for yearbook with all hands-on deck getting pictures and designing pages for the last deadline. NHS members are completing the last indivi completing the last individual service projects of the school year. They are also preparing for the upcoming induction. And the softball team has their first game at home
035tomorrow against St. Francis, followed by two more away games this week in North Branch and Monosello. You guys do you guys have a spaghetti dinner or something coming up? Oh, yeah. Okay. Um this Thursday, if you guys are bored, there's spaghetti dinner hungry. Yeah. All the money for fundraising is very appreciated. Um, I know we actually reached out to Hover Electric today. Unfortunately, our busing, we are driving back on Sunday, Easter Sunday. So, we will get back about 400 pm on Easter. So, we're planning to stop and have a team brunch. I'm looking forward to that. It'll be sponsored by Hubard. So, where's where's the spaghetti dinner? Just in the high school cafeteria. They're very gracious. They let us use their facilities. We cook in the cafeteria, serve it out, do little donations, and good.
036It's like a yearly thing now because they go to your world's all. Thank you. Yes. All right. Thank you, lady. Uh, moving on to item 2B, superintendent report. So, uh, MCA testing's been continuing in the schools. We've had a couple of hiccups, I guess, with Pearson and things, uh, for some of the tests. So, sometimes we have tests that lock up or get kicked out and things like that, but hasn't been any internal issues. It's it's been all through Pearson from what I've understood. So, um, we we work through those and and, uh, staff are trained on how to deal with that as well. So, uh, staffing and, uh, strategic planning. So, again, continuing to look at staffing for next school year. Uh, we include in that making sure that we're meeting the needs of
037strategic plan, ensuring proper licenses, and also completing evaluations of staff as required. Uh we look at every time staff members change and and move and things, we look at how can we best use each budget dollar to achieve our long-term vision for student success. Uh just to kind of elaborate on some of that, um you know, we want we have to plan way in advance because uh we have to make decisions by July for student numbers for next fall. Uh or sometimes we run into trouble with too small of class sizes. Uh for this year, example is uh like English 11B had 72 students enrolled in it. Uh we have four teachers for that. So it's average of 16 students per per class for that. Uh makes it really difficult to financially be able to
038do that multiple times and and things. Uh also want to just kind of elaborate on a couple other changes and some postings that we have out there uh in the past as well. Uh we've added things based on student registration. So we added fax positions last year uh in the last couple years and the same with business again where the registrations come in. We try to meet the needs of our students through that. Uh the current one that that you may have just seen yesterday or today uh the posting for our director of uh technology. And so what we're doing there is eliminating one of the administrative positions and then we're adding uh two uh teachers on special assignment positions as uh tech integrationists. And so that's something that that we've re been able to
039realign within our uh technology department to hopefully create a more seamless uh transition through that with the with summer leaving and and things like that with um with the network administrator and things. So um we've been working trying to get as much feedback as we can from different groups on that as well. But a bulk of our our staffing comes from from student enrollment and also from student registration at the high school. uh our average class size K through eight is 23 students uh per per in the main classroom. That doesn't include the the uh specialist teachers and things like that. It's not a staff to student ratio. It's just a class size ratio number that we have. Um so that's there uh as well. So legislative advocacy uh budget targets, you can see the
040Senate budget plan, the House budget plan on there. Um some cuts to to education and things. I just want to elaborate a little bit on on some of the testimony that we've been providing at the the capital and I I'm pretty optimistic on on some of it with data centers coming to Becker. I've been there with um Mayor Cobinger uh and and members of from the city as well. Um but just talking about data centers and we've been in front of the energy committees. We've been front uh in front of environment as well. And so we're we're continuing to to advocate for that. And that's to help backfill some of the losses with Shero, which is about $5 million of our $12 million levies that we we bring in. So it's a pretty big loss.
041We've added a lot of businesses in the industrial park and some of those businesses have expanded as well. And so that's helped some. Um but but this would be this would be incredible if we were able to get some of these data centers here in Becker. And again, I'm fairly optimistic on that. We also talked about uh some testimony on school s school food service fund. Uh last year I testified on that to to kind of open up the opportunity for using food service monies for tables and things because some it's pretty restrictive how we can spend food service money. Uh this year we've opened we've testified and asked uh to open it up and this doesn't cost the state any money but to open it up so that we're able to improve efficiency in
042the lunchrooms and and things like that. So, uh, because not all things can be covered from that food service fund. If we wanted to add food service staff, uh, we we don't necessarily even have room for that as far as serving lines and things like that because it is kind of small back there. And we've added about 20% more students eating breakfast and lunch uh, compared to years past. And that's part of it is that universal food program. So, um, just testifying with that. Um, trying to get get more flexibility in that. Our food service bud budget is is pretty strong and healthy. Uh statewide it's $250 million worth of fund balances and and food service. So we're trying to expand that and the options that we have with that because I think that could
043help some of the deficits at the state level as well. So it's a lot of lot of money. And then continuing to push for sales tax construction exemption. Uh I don't know pro or con of it is uh there was a new bill introduced about a week or two ago that allows for the bill proposal is to allow for school districts to not be taxed on construction costs uh materials no matter who purchases the materials which is what I've been asking for the last three years for us. So it's good that they're hearing what we're saying. Uh the bad part is it doesn't go into effect until uh June 30th of of this year. So, we would be out on any of the materials we've purchased over the last three years, but um we're continuing
044to work on that uh and going from there. So, uh yeah, and then I won't go over the Senate and the House proposal numbers. You can see those there. And the governor's was on there, too. And then there's some dates as well. And then, uh finally, graduation uh schedule for May 30th in the evening. So, just let Angel know if you're you're going to be able to attend. We'll try to do a better job with the weather this year. Um or get better umbrellas maybe or something for everybody. But it was memorable though, right? Say that. Uh and then I just want to touch on something that I uh didn't have on here. So, that that happened today. Uh we had a we did have a bus accident today and so um we had the
045police there obviously and the ambulance and and stuff and uh it happened just out of town a little bit little ways. Um I was called right away from the transportation department. Um they they reported no injuries at that time. Um but there it sounds like there was one student who was in the ambulance. I still haven't heard back if they were transported or not. Um but their parents were notified and all the parents were notified through the uh K12 app. Um, but we don't have great success in people signing up for that. So, we also notified uh the entire district through through our Skyward email system. So, uh hopefully everything's good with that. And um I have pictures if anyone has to see pictures in the audience or anywhere, but uh it's just a little
046ding on the bus and the car um front end. Looks like both vehicles are drivable to me and there were no liquids or anything like that on the highway. So, yeah. Yeah, thank you. All right, brings the item 2C, committee reports. Um, oh, you forgot to mention the hockey. I can I got one more with comm. It's not a committee, but uh yesterday uh the Becker Big Lake Hockey Association uh invited us to a meeting and um so some of schoolboard members were there and uh I was there, Mr. Amy was there as well and Big Lake uh brought some schoolboard members, the superintendent and assistant superintendent there as well. Uh we just talked about how we can continue to support the hockey program and hockey system and talked about the challenges that they have
047for as far as getting ice closer than Princeton. Talked about uh benefits of of what uh hockey does for our students and how it brings us together and and things. And then just ideas for how we can continue to move forward. And so we we went through that process with with their consultant and um I think it was a really good good meeting. They've got a pretty big uphill battle, but they're really optimistic of where they are compared to where they have been in the past and it was it was really really good information. I think they've got another meeting or two scheduled for community members and and things like that. Yeah, sorry I missed that. Um, I wanted to ask, you know, you know, how different are we from where we are right now
048to where we've been 10 years ago because it just seems like this is a neverending race to get to the finish line for this project. I know a lot of people would love to see it happen, but just seems like we know where they want to put it. We drive by the sign all the time, but you know, was like who have we talked to and why are they optimistic? song. Yeah, I think they they they've got some more fundraising opportunities out there. So that uh they just had another one that they put in a a pull tabs or something like that. Um so so they've got more opportunities for revenue generation, but it's not enough to to save up the 1012 million that they they want or need for this facility. Uh their biggest
049asset is probably their biggest downfall. And this is my opinion, but having city of Becker, city of Big Lake, school district of Becker, school district of Big Lake, and this association, all kind of we're all working toward the same goal, but it eliminates the opportunity for one of those groups to take ownership because if you go to other schools and communities, uh, you know, you ask any neighboring school with a or community with a ice sheet, one of them took ownership on it because they were the one, you know, whether it was the city or the mostly the city, I would say, but uh sometimes the school district, we have all these extra hands in there, which is great uh to mobilize, but it's also everyone wants to say, well, they can maybe take it
050or they can take it or, you know, not one of those entities can really uh generate enough revenue to to purchase that. I I would say and obviously schools have the voting issue where we would have to go to a vote for that and makes it really difficult. But they they've got more money in their their bank accounts now, but they're also nonprofit so they can only have so much in there. Uh there's a lot of different wheels spinning. Their next step is private donors is where I kind of figured that was going to be the only come to fruition is somebody's going to have to step up. We need our own local and we needed them five, seven, eight years ago when it was half the cost, right? We'll just start with Ryan. We'll
051just work on the table. Yep. So, on March 17th, the Community Education Advisory Council met. Um, Jen's super organized and it's kind of fun to see. She's not only she had minutes that she so I could print them. Um, we just talked a lot about the next steps trying to name individuals that we'd like to add to the advisory council. um and then just reviewed costs and proposals moving forward um to help balance her budget. So, she's got some really good plans. She's already got fee increases that are going to go into effect June 1st and then again the following June 1st. Um raising BYA fees to match the city. just different things, not any huge steps that are going to be huge costs, but will slowly help to get her budget back to where
052it needs to be. And she's working really hard. And Kevin even commented that she comes and sees them quite often because she's determined to learn. Yep. She's determined to get this um heading in the right direction. So, it's kind of fun to see somebody super energetic and just wanting to work. Y on March 18th, the track committee mets. Uh it was a shorter meeting, but the final design for our theme, creating a better community was done and some artwork is done that's going to go through. Um Chantel Boyer, principal at the middle school, is also working with the artists to kind of make those finishing touches. Uh hopefully by May we'll have a rendering and we can start sharing that out through the community is kind of exciting. And then also uh congratulations but also
053a little bit we got to find a replacement with assistant principal balloon retiring. Uh he was the chair of the track committee and also we're looking for a new chairperson for that committee as well. And the next meeting is May 20th. Make a motion to accept the consent agenda as presented. Second motion to approve. Any questions or questions on that? All those in favor say I. I opposing donations. I have a motion on that. I'll make a motion we accept the donations as listing. I'll second. We have a motion in the second to accept donations. Do we have any questions or comments on that? Nice list. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Yeah. So, all right. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. Item number five, schoolboard renewal for operating levy authority. So
054I will understand a motion on that. Um I think I would just like to make a motion to open this up for a discussion. I can second that motion. All right. So we have a motion to open it for discussions. So Pete, you go ahead. Yeah. Um I just wanted to bring this up um again, and this has been something that's been briefly mentioned here, um during the school board meetings. Um but in a nutshell, what this is, and correct me if I'm wrong, Jeremy, is the state has granted school boards, in this case, our our board, um the authority to renew a levy that was passed back in 2015. It was a 10-year levy. and they've given us the opportunity to bypass the election process and actually extend that another 10 years. Um, it's
055also given us the option to again return it to the people and the voters to actually have their voices heard in how those funds are are spent. So, uh, I I don't know if the public really knows about that, but I just figured it'd be a good idea maybe for us to maybe discuss, you know, where people might stand or make questions on it because in my opinion, it is a, you know, a pretty critical decision and where we're, you know, we're in a position where we can actually make continued decision for the taxpayers, voters here on the slide. Those are just my initial thoughts on it. Question. J, are there what are the rules around this as far as the extension? Is it merely an extension of the the same levy? Um, can it
056be increased? Can you want to just touch base on that so people understand? Yeah. And Kevin can maybe fill me into just real quick. I just got to email it to uh make sure your mics are on when you're when you're chatting to I don't think they can hear us online. So, thank you for that message. Uh so, yeah. So, this operating levy can be renewed at up to the same length of time and uh the same amount and so it can't be increased uh any any more than it is. We can't just throw on whatever we want for that. Uh has to be the same amount. Um, this one happens to have inflation tied to it, so that would stay the same as well, um, with the inflationary increase on it. Um, and I
057don't know if you have other questions, but that answers that one. That was the main question. Thank you. And what is the percentage of these levies that pass like when there's no increase? Uh, fairly high. Correct. my understanding when when you would actually go out for a vote if we had to go for a vote. Yeah. In the past, uh yeah, they have been they're usually probably between 70 to 75%. And that's why the states alone. Correct. Correct. Yeah, that was a big part of that argument is because of the high pass because and and the cost, right? So to do this election in a non election year is even more expensive. It's all our cost. Yeah. you know, our cost to have this election, it's most likely going to pass. You know, I mean,
058I think it's being responsible with the district's money in in that sense. But, I mean, I do understand that we're asking it's not a tax increase, but we're asking people to pay this without their their voice. Um maybe it's something that we, you know, see if people have questions about and vote on it next month. It's I mean it's in my opinion it's just it's it's a tough cell for me because it's such a long period of time, right? I mean when they voted back in 2015 it was for 10 years. So a lot of times, you know, people in the community, they look forward to an opportunity to be able to have their voices heard again when that comes up. A lot of times, as we know, you know, the taxpayers or, you know,
059parents or that's the only time they actually get to execute their voice is during these elections and and times to to bring stuff up. So, um, yeah, it's it's hard for me to, you know, take, you know, one potentially take that opportunity away from me. Now, don't get me wrong, I understand there's risks involved in doing that, but um you know, at the same time, I I don't think that risk really be the cost of the election or whatever should, you know, really outweigh the importance of letting the community have a say in where their money is going to go for the next 10 years. I I I think one of the the reasonings the legislature when when they passed this, uh the school districts felt like they were at a disadvantage. a lot of
060times with the other governmental units, cities, townships, and counties because the the schools were at the disadvantage because we did have to go out for votes all the time where the cities, counties, and townships, their councils or I don't know what townships are called, but town boards didn't have to do that. they if they wanted to build new city hall, city council can do that. They don't have to even go out for a building vote. They can just do that as a elected members. So, I think that's where the why the school districts lobbyed for this to be passed and and that's I think they said, well, not an increase. They didn't want, you know, they didn't want to give you guys the authority to say, "Oh, yeah, you guys can levy for whatever you
061want." Guess I didn't trust you that much either, but they at least but they at least said, you know, they they at least said no, you know, the renewal of an existing kind of put you more on a same level field as the counties and the cities and the townships. That was kind of where when this law was being discussed and talked about it, that's what I hear. But I totally understand the convenience of it. I mean, it it does make it easier for us, but at the same time, you know, you're weighing, you know, being a voice for the community versus allowing them the opportunity to to decide what they do with their money. So, that that's the tough part on my Well, I think that's where they said, and don't get me wrong,
062but that's where the the legislature was saying, well, the the people elected you to be their represent. I mean, I'm sorry. I was going to say that I have to do that's what we've been elected to do and if they don't like that they don't elect us again. True. I mean there there there is that because we if we need to raise that operating le levy we're going to have to have an election for that. So to continue it the way it is I think is very appropriate for the board to make that decision. I I think that is what we're elected to do. Well and it's tough there too because to Kevin's point you know you're right. There's entities that just make those decisions and and go for it. This, however, it's a unique
063scenario where we're given the choice, right? Right. To, you know, to just make the decision for Well, every choice. They just don't have to use it, right? The county could ask us to vote never. Well, they but they have the city could have asked us to vote on the addition over there. They just didn't. So, choice. If the public doesn't like that, they don't need to elect us again. I I think So, what does this levy cost? What do we get per year for this, Kevin? Uh, for this portion it's like a million2. Okay. A million2. So, and then you've been doing this a long time, Jeremy. You How many times have districts gone for referendum and renewed status quo and not asked for more money? [Music] Um, maybe 50% of the time at least.
064It may be a second question too. It might not be a single. I mean, normally you do have to go for more just because the state has underfunded schools rates over the 25 years that I've been doing this. They haven't kept up with the inflationary rates. So, usually there is an increase or there's a second question and a lot of times the first question will be and and legislators saw this too. They always saw that the first question was always renew it at where it's at and then the second question was always okay but there's an addition and then sometimes was even a third question or okay uh we want to do this or something else with but usually that first question was to renew at what what you're currently expiring and then the second
065question would have been an increase and I I think it's pretty reasonable for the ask to maintain. Like if you had to talk to somebody in the community and say, "Well, why don't we just do this?" Well, it's not like we've got a huge budget surplus. It's not like we're wasting the money. We're not making any changes. Like, if somebody came and asked me and questioned me about it, like, we could give them more facts, but you you can have that conversation. And I think most reasonable people are just going to understand that we're not asking for more. We just are trying to maintain and we're actually saving money by not holding a shape. Yeah. I think for me it gets down to the the whole representative republic concept is it's somewhat easier to turn
066it over to a vote because then you're not having to take the responsibility of being an elected official and representing your constituents. Um, I think in this case, since we're not doing an increase, it's kind of where I'm at on it is we were elected to try and run the school district in the most efficient and effective way possible. And this doesn't seem like an out of line ask for an operating levy that's just a continuation of what it's been for the past 10 years. I think that's where I come down. So, I definitely understand your argument though, Pete. I think it's legitimate, but I think we were elected to to make these types of decisions. Well, to piggyback, I think looking at it, like our consultant that came and talked to us last night,
067out of the 18 schools or so that have that ability to have a schoolboard vote, all 18 of them took it and just went with I think it was 29. What's it now? I think it was 29. 29 was a lie. So, it's kind of like initially I was kind of like, oh, I don't know. But then it's like, okay, this is this is a common theme throughout our state that is happening. kind of like you said, put it back on us and see where we lie with it. So, where do we go from here? Pete, you want input? What's that? You want to gather input? I would I would possibly uh make a motion to possibly or you are going to make Well, I'd like to make a motion to table this for another
068at least another month through continued dialogue about it and only because this is the first time we've really had an indepth conversation about it in the public eye really. So, so I have a motion to table it for a month. So, you're saying the May meeting bring it back? Yes. I need a second. I can vote. Okay. Any questions or discussions? What's the timing that we get to have this decided? I can't remember. Yeah, June or July. Yeah, we we have that was June. June adverse effects if we wait till May. Don't there should be. Yeah. Okay. So, I guess I would just say this is the third meeting we've talked about it. So, it's not like it's not been discussed in the public. This is the third meeting. Um, we had a workshop on
069it last month, but it never hurts to leave it open and gather more input. But what else what else are we going to discuss about it? I mean, what what other things are going to happen between now and May is my question. Well, we'll find out. We can have public input at next meeting before you would vote on it. We can do like a I mean if truth of taxation well I think that was part of the actual statute if I read it right that that you could bring that part of that situation where we'd have that ability was to make it known so people could have a public you know have a public stance on it which I know that I don't know if we we would have to do that tonight if we
070were going to approve it if anyone public So, so I got a motion to table it until the May meeting. I got a second. Any further questions or discussions? All those in favor of the motion say I. I. All opposed. Name. Motion carries. Moves on to item number six. Uh, review of policies. um policy 413 and 512 and 704 as shown there before you. Uh Jeremy want to speak to these or Connie, one of you too. Sure. Um and just going back to number five real quick, if if you do have any questions or anything like that, please get a hold of Kevin or myself public as well on that and we can try to answer those or at least get the answer for you. So for the policies, uh 413 just updates the definition
071of disability and that just matches Minnesota law. 512 there's some different statutes with 121A.80 that impact student journalism and student expression. It opens up um more opportunities for student journalism and student expression um first amendment rights and and things like that. That's tied to that. And then uh the Gatsby one guidance on asset capitalization just kind of changes the wording and it keeps the amount at $5,000 in there. And then the MAC the the $25,000 number as well is is new in that that section. And Kevin and I talked about that, but he wanted to make sure um that's in there and that matches matches with the statute or maybe it's I don't know if that's a statute or regulation or rule, but it's a Gazsby a governmental counting standard rule. Yeah. they change. You
072buy little things, but in a big group, you got to capitalize them. Now, so I have a motion to accept the policy review. I'll make a motion to accept the policies presented. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any further questions or discussions? All those in favor say I. All opposed. Motion carries. brings us to item number seven, second reading, um, policy 103, complaints, student, employees, parents, and other persons. Jeremy, you want to speak to that? Yeah, I talked about this last month, but, uh, just a new form to to make sure we're getting down to the bottom of a a complaint. Um, ask for information. We still have to honor any complaints whether they're written or not. Um, as per policy 103, but this hopefully helps us clarify what what's really being asked
073of us to investigate. And um I didn't hear any feedback on that. So I recommended approval on this one. Any motion? I'll make a motion to approve as written. I'll second. We have a motion and a second. Do we have any discussions? All those in favor of approval of policy 103 as written say I. I. All opposed? Motion carries. Um brings us to item number eight. At this time, we will be going into closed session to discuss negotiations um pursuant to sections 179A.01 to 179A.25. I want to just talk about that. I don't know if we want to do that tonight or not. Um there's this is when it typically comes up on my my calendar. I guess uh we've been asked for 284 multi-unit and transportation to negotiate. I just think there's a lot
074of still up in the air as Kevin's doing the budget and um there's some language things that are at the capital. I don't know if we want to wait until next month as well on this um just so we have more information and kind of a better better outlook at on it. There's a lot out there with even now with the federal government kind of coming into play with some of this stuff too. So, uh I would recommend we we hold off on that even like it's just on my calendar. So it comes up on this one every year just like the my update if you guys would you're okay with that. I will re I will look for a motion to move close discussion. I'll make a mot. I'll make a motion to move
075this discussion. Okay. We have a motion to move that close session meeting for April until May. We have a seconded. Any further questions or discussion? So all right. All those in favor say I. I. All opposed. Motion carries. Please with item number nine. This meeting is adjourned.