001okay we'll call the meeting to order is 6:30 p.m. October 24th 2023 this is our regular business meeting of the St Louis Park School Board before I talk about our agenda I'm going to read Our Land acknowledgement we are gathered on the land of the Dakota and ojibway peoples I ask you to join me in acknowledging the Dakota and ojibway Community there are Elders both past and present as well as future Generations St Louis Park public schools also acknowledges that it was founded upon exclusions and erasers of many indigenous peoples including those on Whose land this school district is located this acknowledgement demonstrates a commitment to dismantling the ongoing legacies of colonial power and the district's desire to support the ongoing work of local indigenous communities to thrive in our schools okay on our agenda
002tonight open Forum superintendence report we have no discussion items um we have our consent agenda and two items on our action Agenda One is the iwa authority and the second one is um a revision to our board meeting schedule then we have communications and transmittal followed by adjournment is there a motion to approve the agenda as presented move move by Colin second by Ken all in favor please say I I any opposed all right the first item we have is our open Forum in the interest of open Communications the school district wishes to provide an opportunity for the public to address the school board if you wish if you wish to address the school board please complete the yellow sheet and present to the board chair anyone indicating a desire to speak during open Forum
003will be acknowledged by the chair and allotted three minutes to present the topic Colin's going to have the timek keeping right here uh during open Forum the board and administration will listen to comments but won't respond Please be aware that disrespectful comments or comments of a personal nature directed at an individual either by name or inference will not be allowed okay um we have a number of folks and so I'm going to just read them in the order that I received them so the first one is um ilhan and you can come and sit right at the at the um chair right there and you just tell us your name yeah so hi my name isan and I did prepare something to speak I hope you guys can hear me okay so ladies and gentlemen
004honored guests and esteemed members of the St Louis Park Community we stand before you today as representatives of the Somali community in St Louis Park a community deeply appreciative of the opportunity to live in a nation that values diversity and freedom our purpose here is to address press a pressing concern regarding the curriculum at the St Louis Park Elementary Schools in recent days some of our third grade students returned home with stories about a book titled Subway baby a narrative that in introduces the idea of a child with two fathers there is also another book honani Hulu Warrior which was also a book that stirred a lot of concern within our community we wholeheartedly respect the importance of affirming lgbtq identities but we are troubled by the way these books are being presented to our
005children the manner in which these subjects are taught appears to exceed the boundaries of affirmation urging every child to delve into their own understanding of gender and sexuality this approach We Believe directly conflicts with our deeply held religious beliefs as parents it is a firm conviction that we are owed with constitutional rights the United States Constitution not only protects these rights but but also Champions the role of parents in guiding the upbringing of their children for more than a century the Supreme Court has hired or has been a stanch defender of parental rights which explicitly extends the public school policies the first a Amendment the Bedrock of our democracy safeguards not only the freedom to direct our children's education but also guarantees our rights to express our preferred religious beliefs without governmental interference it is
006is disheartening that these books were introduced to our children without our knowledge or consent leaving us with no recourse to opt them out despite our sincere religious objections we are not advocating for changes to the school or curriculum our request is simply to be informed in advance when materials related to sexuality and lgbtq identity are included in the curriculum along with the option to exempt our children from those specific lessons our concerns are not rooted in animosity and I repeat this our concerns are not rooted in animosity toward any group including the lgbtq community we firmly believe that diversity and inclusion are principles that should extend to all members of society including religious families like ours our faith teaches us to respect all individuals and we're dedicated to that principle our primary concern is that
007our children are encountering material that's sexualized and not AG appropriate in a school environment throughout history we've had we have been or had had the privilege of meeting other luminaries who've recognized the sanctity of education and we want to keep that very same sanctity thank you um okay next on the list uh [Music] Sahara my name is Sahara I'm a family Advocate at IAH head star and I work with a lot of families um and I do have two kids that graduated one graduated the year 2022 and the other one is graduating this year 2023 um I I did not come to to take all your time thank you for everyone for your time to listen to us our concern is and our community what is going on and this is not been only this
008District it's been everywhere and St Louis Park we wanted you guys to hear what we going through we understand the importance of environment that promotes respect for all individuals however it's equality crucial to acknowledge and respect to all students and their family religions and rights and behav and there is a forms that every schools are requesting to exempt LGBT related to activities to their family and every everyone you can have a form that is all Minnesota um or any other states there is a form is that we were giving to our families that you could request it that your kids cannot take this classroom so they can be opted out that's all I'm requesting and thank you for all your thank you um SU hello everyone I didn't not write anything I'm just a a
009parent who has a something to say I am a mom I have a two kids who go to Susan lingren um I have a a son who's a 8-year-old and a 5-year-old in a kindergarten um the reason I'm coming here is to say that um there's books that have been readed in the school and you know it's not something that it's part of our religion um we have a you know our constitution says that we do have the right you know to practice in our religion and all we asking is that if these topics are being discussed in the class to give us you know the chance to take our kids out of the class for that moment just like when you guys created those ESL classes to remove the kids out of the classes
010it's a way same way we're asking you know when this topics are discussing in the class to be removed the class you know the kids from the class that's all we're asking we respect everyone we don't dis you know hate anyone or we don't teach none of that to our kids all we are asking is just you know to be respected our religion and this is something very very important to us you know and this is a young kids that we're talking about and they're not adult and they're not ready to hear this conversation that's all thank you thank you uh [Music] EUR I'm sorry I with a Y Kate last name is Kate I'm sorry can you spell it um why why you are you be oro oro you don't just signed in super
011that's fine um we are done here anyone else is there anyone else who wanted to speak or just both signing okay so no one no one else wanted to speak okay thank you okay and generally who follows up usually on these oh yes good question um one of you too yes if you would like a followup um from I guess I'm happy to do okay Dr McGuire um I've got contact information for ilhan um did you put your email address in here is does anyone want a specific followup or if you send it to me I will forward it to them super perfect thank you okay all right next up we have Dr McGuire's very first superintendent report thank you chair Casey and board members um I just want to begin by expressing appreciation I
012am grateful for the opportunity to serve students in St Louis Park public schools in the interim position for the school year I have shared widely that I am here because of the positive reputation of the school district well-regarded school board and supportive staff and community members what also resonates with me is the Strategic plan for racial Equity transformation it is impactful work that I'm passionate about I want to thank many staff members who have made me feel really welcome over the last two days uh my practice as superintendent has been to share the mission of the school district at the start of each of my reports at school board meetings and I'd like to do that tonight I feel like it grounds our work it's the reason why we gather St Louis Park public schools
013sees inspires and empowers each learner to live their Brilliance in an environment that centers student voice and experience to create racially Equitable learning that energizes and enhances the spirit of our community I'd like to address one item in my report tonight and it is related to the conflict in Israel and Gaza I've been meeting and engaging with board members and cabinet members over the last few weeks and in addition I've been closely following and trying to learn about about the conflict in Israel and Gaza because I understand the impact on our students families and Community because of the significance of this issue it is a top priority for me to learn how to best support our students I met with C so day two uh I met with cabinet members yesterday and with principles today
014to hear their perspectives about how students and staff are being affected and to understand their perspectives about what our students and families might need I will be at the high school tomorrow morning to meet with the high school leadership team individually and again with them on Friday to connect with several uh community members to continue my learning and support I have not yet had the opportunity to hear student perspectives I also have not yet had the opportunity um to talk with many community members about their perspectives although I've receiv received some messages and I've not yet had the opportunity to talk with school board members so I'll look forward to learning more about their perspectives as well so far here are some of the things I've learned from our leadership team uh the elementary schools
015and the middle schools are experiencing uh little to no disruption among students at this time some Elementary School students are asking really thoughtful questions about the conflict and principles are utilizing our core values and the IB learner framework to guide discussions at the high school level we have had incidents of inappropriate behavior tied directly to this conflict um as you know all incidences are investigated thoroughly and appropriate action is taken police may be involved if that becomes necessary or if it is necessary the other thing I heard from leaders that they're sensing and experiencing ing is that we also have some staff members across the district who are who are feeling distress uh they are experiencing distress here are some things that I've heard from them so uh that might be important next three things
016uh I have clustered them around the idea of information safety assurances and communication uh under the theme of information uh leaders shared that they would like to learn more about the history and perspectives related to the conflict in Israel and Gaza so that they can build their own leadership capacity to assist staff and students students at the high school level as you might imagine are also eager to learn and expressing an interest in learning more to increase their own understanding of the context uh under the category of kind of safety assurances uh leaders shared with me that it uh might be important for us to review and communicate safety protocols um there was some suggestion that we might want to consider additional support at the high school at least on a even a temporary basis
017under the area of communication uh they shared with me that it would be important to deepen our communication to staff and families about what's happening in our schools and addressing how students are doing you know how how are our kids doing uh they also shared with me that uh communication around our mission and core values is going to be critically important for us to to really keep coming back to during this time so um that's all that I just want to share about the last uh few days in this journey and a couple of things that are next so thank you thank you uh board members did anyone have questions for Dr MCU um well I just want to say welcome and thank you um but I wanted to make sure that any questions table
018I have a few I guess um and maybe this isn't a question that anybody can answer right now um I just I'm just curious how so once you have the U meet with like the principal at the high school and um meet with some staff and maybe community members how will you also get insight from or just like our thoughts from the board I don't have a great answer for that today um I'm on a journey of trying to connect with people to learn I could certainly connect individually with board members um I've talked with you only briefly in an introductory meeting over the last few weeks so I could reach out individually to school board members to share information about continue to share information about what I'm learning and hearing and then I'll also
019to seek your advice and perspective on what might be most helpful I know that our school board members are very connected in the community and hear a lot of Community Voices From families and students about what might be helpful so um am I like something to anticipate like a recommendation that you would bring to the board for future action or future or would it I'm just wondering like maybe you don't even know what direction you're going in I hadn't really thought about something as formal as a recommendation um I feel like I'm engaged in supporting the leaders in problem solving um one of U this is just my own feeling right now so I'm not uh saying that I heard this from the principles that one of the things that I'm feeling right now is
020that um particularly at the high school level we may need um uh to add proactive measures around communication and support for for students um right now because this is so new we're um I feel we're going a lot of reactive um when things are bubbling up among students uh how do we quickly solve this problem do an investigation provide corrective guidance uh and they are very much uh focused on that right now so I hadn't really thought about it in terms of a formal recommendation I guess just Sol maybe just to put it um sort of out there that it's difficult as a board member CU my daughter is at the high school I have friends in the community I have neighbors um and so many people are sending me information it's you know what
021I mean it's it's starting to become it's a frustrating telephone game where I don't know what information is I don't want to say true because it feels like everybody's kind of speaking their truth in that moment um and so I don't it's hard for me to decipher like what what am I supposed to do as a board a board member and but if anything if action needs to be taken and I'm not saying that it does but if it does how we are in including all of us in a decision-making process that's Collective and not like solely on one person uh I guess that's where I'm coming from because again it's like I could ask particular people I asked my daughter I asked my um her best friend I'm like what is going on at
022the high school like what are you seeing what are you feeling but then I also have neighbors who are sharing things with me and and to be fair nothing I haven't heard anything really regarding the elementary schools in the Middle School it's predominantly focused at the high school so I guess that would be um rather than a question an opportunity and something to share that um what I'm looking for as a collective body to make sure that we're we're you know like getting wisdom from one another and getting Insight because you live at different parts of the city you have different friends and acquaintances and connections to the community and I just don't know if I get the full picture sometimes I certainly have to defer to the chair regarding a collective board conversation and
023I'm could be supportive in any way that might be helpful um certainly from an administrative and staff perspective it'd be helpful to know more about If you're receiving Communications that aren't also being copied to the high school principal for example that'd be super helpful just to help inform our thinking right about and I think that I mean is that I'm not really clear about what everybody else is thinking I don't like I don't know but when I um usually when families reach out to me or in some some cases students I encourage them to reach out to you to the superintendent or to the to the board chair or to the actually if it has specifically about the high school it's always to principal um padic so that has been my general mode of operation
024but I also when they're asking me questions and I'm like well I don't really know the answer to that is also looks kind of weird when I don't know the answer yeah so I maybe I'm the only one that's experiencing this I don't know anything in the only other comment I wanted to make was I I think I heard you say some stuff about connecting with people in the schools and I'm I'm assuming also that you would connect with the city being our overlapping boundaries and I know that there're doing some communication and and have been doing some things and then with um uh I have one more I don't know maybe but I mean obviously with some of the faith leaders or something too so in a community too so that was it thank
025you I did did have um I have had some communication with some um parents or caregivers that I'm going to connect with uh I'm I want to keep the high school team in the driver seat and support their leadership in this um and there are some Faith leaders so far in at least one conversation that I'm scheduled to have or has been scheduled uh I had not thought about the city in this particular regard so I'll add that to my list yeah I know there's lots of Partners in uh community members out there who are thinking about the community and the schools thanks for br that for okay um we don't have any discussion items um so we have our consent agenda which has routine business personnel and Min items is there a motion to
026approve the consent agenda as presented I'm move by Ken is there a second second second by Heather any further discussion all in favor please say I I any opposed cons carries um we have two items on our action agenda this first one will be familiar because we just did it a few weeks ago um so the owwa authority is um an annual designation of an identified official with authority for each local educational agency this goes to mde and psby and the office of higher ed um and so this will just um now designate Dr McGuire as our Authority um we had changed it to Tammy a few weeks ago so um any questions on that okay um is there a motion to approve the Iowa Authority as presented by abakee second by Virginia um all
027in favor please say I I any opposed okay that carries uh the next item is our board meeting schedule we had a little bit of a I think what happened is that the the meeting dates just got moved forward today from last year but it then it turned out for November but it turned out that the um the weeks changed so we're recommending an adjustment on I think on our board on our um on our Board website it calls for meetings on the 8th and the 20st um but we're recommending that we change that to what our normal would be which is the 2 and fourth Tuesday which would be November 14th and November 28th so I think I had on my calendar the 14th and the 28th I so did I okay so it
028sounds like I think most board members did I think that's what went out um I did not I looked at the schedule you you're too diligent okay the other the other reason to to switch is that we do need to canvas the election results in a certain window and the 14th is in that window but the other two would not be so um we would have to schedule a a special meeting in that window anyway so this will avoid a special meeting and it'll put us back on our just normal flow meetings so um the 14th and the 28th would be the November meetings is there any further discussion on that okay is there a motion to adjust the dates for the November 20123 board meetings to November 14th and November 28th move by Sarah
029second by Ken any further discussion all in favor please say I I any opposed okay see you again on the 14th um we have communications and transmittals is there anything that anyone would like to share few quick items yeah go ahead um one because I want to get to the football game and see how it's going at Southwest uh had the opportunity to attend the state of the city address and uh mayor spano's last state of the city address and it was uh a nice um event and we wish him well as he as he moves on to other things and and not doing that um second of all I was looking through the Business Journal and in there there's a Dei report card and I saw that canut and construction is listed as one
030of the top 25 small businesses um for their diversity efforts and their employment and was a diversity and workforces small organizations they are number 19 and we know that we have them working out construction projects and and they've talked about some of that stuff but nice to see that evidence in here as well so that's it okay Virginia um so I attended the uh Community Ed um meeting this last week and there's uh several events coming up for um Linux with the um they have the fundraiser and a couple other things coming up that are on their website that um seem to be exciting and fun so we're looking for volunteers um can go to their website to volunteer for things but I'm going to volunteer for a few of those things so a awesome
031well okay so Peak is the parent um engagement committee at the high school advisory committee thank you at the high school um right now they're having a movie so you should run over there and check it out I don't know um yep so it is um they're trying to really engage the community in having conversations about mental health and also how to talk to your teens about drinking and drugs and things like that so um that is what is happening the uh two other things um their first meeting is November 8th at the high school it's in the evening so I would love to see everyone there um and this is a Shameless plug but I'm going to do it anyway they are looking for volunteers um all of the pto's actually are looking for
032volunteers if parents want to donate like um their time or just a little bit of money because teachers get little treats on Fridays sometimes and the treats really make your day I'm just telling you I'm a teacher and I get my Friday bubbly from my parent organization and it makes my day so those are the things that are happening um with Peak the there's a financial advisory committee meeting tomorrow we're still looking for members join it's fun it's it's very educational too am I stressing that too much I was so I know how you felt nth grade I did couple years ago I used to be involved before the pandemic my school does not get treats from their parent organization on Fridays just FYI you should start a movement just saying um first by way
033of an update um I went to the Aquilla um PTO meeting I think it's PTO I was get the initials wrong um yesterday and I'm the new Lea's on there and I was still to have an opportunity to swing by I couldn't stay but they were in good hands because there were other school board members there Dr Maguire was there Patricia was there there was a lot on the agenda and so um also my kiddos checked out the new playground at Aquilla while I was at the meeting and um it's really cool so um they I know they were talking about capacity in that building and I'm looking forward to updates from Patricia and Dr McGuire about that um this is less an update and more just I want to take a moment to speak
034about um some of the comments that came in during open Forum um I've been very open about my queer identity um my wife and I have two kids uh have a first grader who goes to uh school here um queer people exist we're here U we're going to continue to be here and there's going to continue to be books in our community and in our schools reflecting our identity I respect your religious beliefs and also as a queer person in a marginalized Community I would hope and expect solidarity Muslim communities have been historically marginalized and so have queer communities and it is disappointing in St Louis Park to have this come up [Music] um I don't have all the words I'm thinking about my child thinking about what it would feel like for him if
035I said that having a book about a concept of Two Dads he has two moms is troubling urging children to engage with their gender identity with the idea that that my wife and I exist that our family exists is not controversial access for children to books is not going to protect them from the fact that I exist in this world and that my family exists in this world so I'm willing to engage in this conversation but understand I'm not going anywhere my family is not going anywhere and I hope that we can find solidarity because because diversity and inclusion and Equity are critical and foundational to this District it's part of the reason I choose to live in this community it's part of the reason I choose to serve on this board I'm not going
036anywhere and getting rid of books that talk about me and my family are is not going to change that and that's not what we trying to do so I want you to know what it feels like as a queer parent to sit here and listen to that and to hear and to think about what my child's experience might be at school to say that other children have to not be exposed to their family because you know what he talks about it in circle time at school or he should feel like he can he presents our family in a picture of our family at school he has two months he already gets made fun of for having two months we don't need to talk about excluding books from our schools that reflect that identity and so
037I'm going to leave it at that but that was very difficult I understand and appreciate the respect that you tried to show but I want you to understand understand how that is received as a queer person on this board a queer mom with kids in the school I we're not trying to do that and we we respect everyone like like we said we're just trying to protect our kids and we believe in our religion's going to stick to that I'm not going to engag now this is not the for thank you very respectfully add on that um I I would love to just add without having her like she can we have a conversation after we're going to we're just this is not the the the time for back back and forth okay thank you
038okay um anything else okay I will entertain a motion to adjourn move by Sarah second second by col any further discussion all in favor please say I I any opposed okay we arej at that