001Okay, at 6:15 we will now open the October regular school board meeting. Uh 1.1 roll call. Let the record reflect that all members are present. Uh 1.2 recognition of visitors and guests. Uh thank you everyone that's here and watching. 1.3 Pledge of 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. >> Okay. 1.4 correspondence and recognition. Um, [snorts] we've had no public participation. I see there's a lot of guests here tonight. Is there anybody that has something to speak about? No. Okay. 1.4.2 recognition of students, staff, and community. Do we not have any? >> I am going to do that during my superintendent report tonight. >> Sure. Take it over. [laughter] >> Okay. 2.0 Approval
002of agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the items on the consent and main agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Lori, second by Matt. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed, same sign. Motion passes. [snorts] Okay. 3.0 approval of minutes. That would be from the September school board meeting, the work session meeting, and the last committee meeting minutes. Do I >> move to approve? >> Motion by Matt. Second. >> Seconded by an >> Okay. All those in favor of the approval of minutes say I. >> I. >> Those opposed, same sign. Motion passes. 4.0. Consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda items? >> So moved. >> And motion by an >> Seconded by Lori. All those in favor of the items
003on the consent agenda say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Motion passes. 5.0 main agenda the monthly financial overview. Carmen. >> So um you have in front of you the revenues revenues and expenditure report for the period ending September 30th. Um this compares our current um revenues based on the budget that you guys approved um last spring um for the period starting July 1st. And then it's comparing it to our last year numbers which currently are still unud audited because the audit hasn't been finalized. Um and as you um guys remember this is just budgeted numbers but our expenditures are actual expenditures. So when we talk about the actual actual first budget, just keep that in mind that it's um it was our initial budget which we will be revising um after the first
004of the year. Um so for revenues, if you look at all funds um currently 3 months into the our fiscal year, we're at 23.63% um compared to the 22.3% um the previous year. And for expenditures, we're at 16.34% compared to the 18.36% the previous year. Okay. Any other questions for Carmen? Okay. 5.2 presentation on the district's progress towards English language proficiency by Sue Hagen, EL coordinator. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Hello. Um I'm uh Sue Hagen. I'm the multilingual learner coordinator for the school district. Can you hear me? All right. Um, under ESSA, um, in Minnesota, progress toward English language proficiency is calculated using a path to proficiency index, um, based on a student's growth on the access 2.0. And um just to give you a little background information before I share the data for
005this year, um the ESSA is the Every Student Succeeds Act, which was a federal law enacted in 2015. Um states were um asked to develop their own accountability plan. Um and part of that is um how well your students are progressing towards English language proficiency. and Minnesota chose to use the access assessment um which assesses students ability to communicate information, ideas and concepts um necessary for academic success in the content areas. So that's the assessment Minnesota uses. Um, access stands for assessing comprehension and communication in English, state-to-state. So, as you can see up there on the screen that um those are the four levels um of English language proficiency that the access test uses. Um it's between 1.0 and 6.0. Um MDE creates a path to proficiency for each student individually um based on their
006students where their grade level and then their initial access composite score. So when they're done taking the access we receive a composite score. Um students that score at the entering level typically um Minnesota is giving them seven years to become proficient in English. Um students that score more at the you can see the three four um develop and expanding level are given two to three years to become proficient. Um so annually MDE sets a target for each of our students each of our English language proficient um each of our multilingual learners and um that's that's 37% of our student um population in our district. Um and they set that target um based on their current year score. Um and also with the understanding that progress towards English language proficiency tends to be quick quicker at
007the lower grade levels and slower at the higher grade levels. So they take all of that into effect when they set each student's target. And so the data um I'm here to share tonight is that um oh to let you know this data is published then um in the Northstar progress um toward English le um language proficiency report um and it's part of the Minnesota report card and you can see that on average district 518 English learners made it 52.8% of the way to their target which is 6.6 six higher than the state average. Um, district 518 has scored above the state average in this area for the last three years. The other piece of data I wanted to share with you is that the they also create a um they also measure how well
008each student did meeting their their own target. and 33.5% of our English learners met or went past their target which which is 5.6% higher than the state. Um our district in this area has scored higher than the state two out of the three last two out of the three last years with a slight dip in 2024 but we made that up in 2025. Um we had 10 and students exit our um English language instruction education program last year and currently we have 1,215 students that are multilingual learners and additional students that are former English language learners. Um, and so in our district, all of our teachers are English teachers, um, and teach the English language. Um, I, this is very positive data and, um, it just reflects the efforts of all of our staff in
009our school district. Um, do you have any questions? I feel some of the factors um that we are above the state average is that um we are providing our student students comprehensible grade level um content which is very important. Um, we also provide professional development on using appropriate teaching strategies and teaching methods that are effective and um, and I appreciate the administration support on the support staff we have in our district. They're all components on why I feel like we're above the state in this area. >> Questions? Anyone? >> Mr. Chairman, could you say again that 37% of the students are ESL? >> Yes, >> the right termin. >> Yep. They're in they're part of our >> right >> um leap. >> What can we do as a board >> to help? Is there more
010that we can how can we continue to help this? >> Um of course don't make cuts in those supports, >> right? you know, with our teachings with our um our EL teachers, with the PAR support that we do have with um with um the co-eing that's happening. Um those are all positive um they're making they're they're making positive growth for the students. >> Well, we won't make cuts if the administrators don't bring them, right? Okay. >> Do you right >> do you uh >> we often talk about goals being set in a lot of the different departments. I mean do you is that unfair to do? I mean do you you try to find a percentage that you are reaching? We're at uh you know the numbers you shared. Is that something that you >>
011try to benchmark yearly? >> The individual schools do use um this as part of their SIP. Um I know Prairie Elementary with it being 60% of their student body um does use um some of this data and um and tries to improve each year. Um and and then you know we encourage the teachers um this is part of our our da our data platform that they have access to in elevation and um we do encourage especially our EL teachers to sit down with students to show them um their their composite score but then their individual scores that they received in listening, speaking, reading and writing and try to work on where where are they need to put more a lot more of their effort in and meeting their target that's the state has set for
012them. >> So how often excuse me [clears throat] do the students take the access test >> once a year. Just like the MCAs. >> So just like the MCA. So it's once a year and there's a window of time that they all take it across the district. Okay. >> Yep. >> Are the students pulled out during class time working on this? >> Um for testing? Well, for testing and any >> we have different types of programming depending on the level of need like so for your entering and beginning students they may require an extra tumble time but most of our like especially at the K5 level it's um push in our EL teachers push in but then sometimes they will get an extra tumble time if they're in the lower levels typically your level threes
013fours and fives lives don't um are not pulled out. And then um and then 612 we have a lot of co-eing happening um at the high school especially they've really worked hard at [clears throat] working towards that and then that's where because we are required to give the students um services um until they become proficient and we have to document that and um so a lot of them um receive their um English language development support in the co-taught classrooms. Then there is pull out um for again those students that need the extra yet before they're going to be successful in the tech classrooms. But um >> yeah, >> any other questions? I think it's just important to note that the it's a complex puzzle with with some of our students who are learning English as
014a second language knowing that um there could also be underlying learning factors but sometimes also hard to decipher when they don't know the English language first and so our teachers are working really hard to help acquire the language while also trying to decipher is there also an underlying need and uh student said it said it great is that the students get seven years it's important to note that we only get funding for seven years, but they remain in that programming until they pass. And so, um, we're we're trying to navigate all those different factors as students are are progressing through the the learning of the language. >> Okay. Thank you, Sue. >> Welcome. >> Okay. 5.3 presentation on inclimate weather protocols by Joel. >> Give me one second, please. >> [snorts] [cough] >> All right.
015This is information I had shared at both committee meetings last week, but wanted to make sure uh the public had an opportunity to hear as well. And we're working together with the communication department to uh also put together and summarize this in in kind of a shorter context for staff and families as well. And so, uh, this information here tonight is the decision-m kind of model and protocols that we will use as the weather starts to change. So, we have five guiding principles that will go into our decisions. Um, we'll have slides that go a little bit deeper into each of these, but they include consultation with experts, uh, prioritizing staff and student safety, understanding that regular attendance uh, and access to education is really important for our students, uh, allowing the public and our
016staff to be uh, to have some predict predictability uh, when it comes to decision-m and then also offering that information in a timely way. When we talk about the experts that we will consult with when making any sort of uh school change decisions, uh the National Weather Service will be our main uh focus point for the weather information. We have a close partnership with our transportation team uh knowing that those folks will be on the roads um and be able to give us some real-time information of what's happening. We've got multiple district 518 members that will uh will be out in the mornings and be out in the afternoons as we navigate the roads and make those decisions. And then also partnerships that have been started between uh District 518, Nobles County, and the city
017of Warthingington, knowing that those folks can also help us as well in those decision-m uh times. Again, staff and student safety is our priority. Um and making sure that our families understand that. making sure our families also understand that within reason um that if a parent or guardian believes that keeping their children home from school in a in kind of a questionable uh weather situation um one of those situations where we're not 100% sure and we can probably get through the day. Um if a if a family really feels like um leaving early or or coming late is going to really be the safest choice for their family um that we can honor that as long as they uh make an absence call to their school. In the event of uh of a closure, knowing
018again that access to education is huge for us, um an e-learning day or a learn from home day could go into effect uh when a no school day is called in a timely manner. That could include a a a day that initially starts as a 2-hour late uh and then maybe transitions into a learn from home day again if we're if we're able to do that in a timely way. Students at the elementary level will will engage from a learn from home day with learning packets. Those packets have been sent home uh at both Prairie and the intermediate school. Uh and then our secondary students will engage in classes through the Schooly platform. During those days, students will have access to uh support staff from home um online as needed. In regards to predictability, uh,
019temperature is the the easiest one that we can we can kind of put out there. And so our threshold moving into the school year will be 35 degrees below zero, either wind chill or or real temperature. Uh, looking at again the start of a school day. Uh, for an example, it's got that down there on the bottom. If it's going to be minus35 until about 9:00 and then start to rise, uh it can be pretty much predictable that we would call a 2-hour late start and then and then begin our school day. If that cold temperature is going to remain throughout the course of the day and longer into the into the afternoon, it'd be predictable that we would have a learn from home uh or school closure day. >> [snorts] >> those other factors
020are sometimes a little bit harder to predict knowing that uh sometimes weathermen aren't always right. And so uh when when it comes to snow, ice, and wind accumulation, um we'll we'll use some of those real-time factors again with our with our partners that are on the road and other team members here at District 518 um to assess the the safety uh of those roads. And again, understanding that uh we want to avoid ear early releases and those late starts and cancellations as much as possible, but we'll still prioritize uh safety first. When it comes to timing, um our goal is to have the decisions made either by 9:00 the night before or or by 5:15 the morning of. Um, and so initial uh information will go to staff first just before 5:15. That information will
021go as a text message, as an email um right away, and then the rest of the notifications will go throughout the district um and to our other uh media partners uh at 5:15. We can do many of them instantly. The text message, the email, um the post on social media, that can happen quite quickly. Uh we did have to put a window of 5:15 to 6 uh 6 a.m. for the uh phone call. Uh because we're using a system that has such a large volume of calls, it takes a while to to sift through them all. So we want to make sure the public understands that if they get the call a little later than 5:15, it's because the system is working through all of them. U but we will make the call by 5:15
022in the morning if at all possible and uh that message will go out instantly through those other text forms. We want to just make sure that our our families have a plan for students in the event of a school closure, knowing that um again, we'll do our best to make those calls the night before if at all possible so they have more time to plan in the morning. Um and we also just want to make sure that folks know that in the event of a school closure, whether that's an early release or a full day, that at the end of the day, all of our activities and events that have been scheduled will um will be cancelled. In a rare case, later in the spring when it gets closer to uh the the winter sport
023tournament time, there could be opportunities where sports would still go. Um an example I can use that I had in the past is um it was a really nasty night, really nasty till about noon and then the sun came out, the wind went down and the basketball team had to play a game the next day in the section tournament. we could make those rare occasion uh and decisions to allow them to practice since they've got that that kind of one-time event happening the next day. I apologize to both committees because I accidentally neglected to share this uh and our our cabinet team put a lot of work into this and so I want to make sure we share it. This is a kind of a weather making um decision matrix that we had made um
024for all groups. And I know it's super hard to see and it's more of an internal document, but I did want to publicly just share that we went through every weather scenario you could think of knowing that in the spring we had that rare situation with some really nasty weather and kind of for the first time ever schools started closing and sending students home in May. Um, and so we went through everything that you could think of and different groups throughout our schools and really have a a great decision-making model now to say if we have a severe thunderstorm warning, um, this is what we would do with staff. This is what we would do with students. Um, all the way down to the biggest one we've been dealing with lately, honestly, has been [cough]
025that one right there. And and the [snorts] air quality that happens um, in the in the late spring as it starts to get warm. and what do you do with sports and what do you do with recess? And so I just wanted to share that we have a a really good model we think um to go through if something should pop where we're not wondering what should we do. We've done that pre-work now and we've got a document to go to that can really guide our communication and guide our decisions. So I appreciate the work of our team that helped put that together. And so with that any questions? I I just have [clears throat] if it is a learn from home day, when does that have to be called? By the night before or
026still that morning by 5:15. >> So either uh the the statute says we we have to call it within two hours of the original start time. So we have to make that decision by about 6:00 in the morning really. We don't have a lot of time in the morning to make that adjustment. Okay. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Chairman. A question. How many uh learn from home days do we have? >> We have five. that has not changed. >> What's your uh opinion on uh handling cancelled days? You know, do we have a a plan for makeup days at the end of the year? Do you prefer to lessen a a break during the school year? >> This would be the first time that I would have to navigate through that. I would really look
027uh most likely we would bring it back to the board. Um and and as a board, you really do have the opportunity to help navigate through some of that. Um all the way to the authority of saying we're not going to make up that day. Uh and so um I find it hard sometimes on families that have a scheduled break in January or February to then to then pull that day away um as a makeup day. And so I think we should really navigate um as best as we can to uh to minimize some of that um knowing that we want to have our students in the classroom as well. >> Are we finding e from learn e-learn days are effective and we should utilize all five of them. >> I think that every year
028I think we get better at it as a as a as a district um system. Um, having not been here, uh, I've heard about the the evolution of the days and the work that goes into them. And I think overall, um, having gone through the pandemic, I think everybody's getting better at it. Um, and we did have a collaboration with the the teacher group, um, to make sure that they felt comfortable with that. Um, this it would be a new process going from a 2-hour late to an e-learning on in the same day. Um, and they feel confident in their in their conversation with us that they'd be willing to do and able to do that. >> Do we have the right phone system that's calling me multiple times and hanging up on me a
029few times? And I mean, are we that all we have to use? Can we use it >> to make that to make the call? We're we're currently in the process of uh of vetting some different systems, but we're kind of bound with the one we have now. Okay. But I can tell you that the the 45minut kind of delay that we're we're hearing about um is the same kind of barrier that I was dealing with in my last system as well. >> Do we have the right languages covered the best we can? Do you think >> we do? We have them uh pre-recorded and ready to go. >> Good. >> Yep. We've worked on that. >> Thank you. >> Any more questions? Okay. 5.5 approved to set a signed fund balance as of June 30th,
0302025. >> Discuss the 90day superintendent valuation. >> That's the one you were waiting for. >> I know. >> All right. Uh I did put together just a a brief slideshow just to highlight my own thoughts as we go through this here today. Um want to reiterate a couple of things. the the opportunity we had with MSBA in September um was one that was uh empowering to me. Um hearing your support and and hearing the alignment of kind of my vision with many of your visions um was great to hear. Uh I also want to call out the fact that the things I'm going to share um are very much a a hu the effort of a huge team. Um, and so the the folks that um collaborate with me on a daily basis at that
031district office and in our buildings um has been a a super enjoyable uh transition for me. And so the things that I'm sharing that we've either done or that we're in the process of doing is very much uh the work of a a very large group. And so um I'll quickly just kind of reiterate or or summarize the goal areas and then I'll share kind of what goes into each one of these. And so, uh, goal one was around establishing foundational relationships and understanding. And out of our, uh, meeting that we had with Barb Dorne, uh, we had decided that I would focus on engagement and informing the community as a whole. And so, you can read the measurements that are there. Those are the ones we came up with that evening. Um, items that
032I'd like to call out that we're we're either doing uh, or have done or in the process of doing uh, are there. And so since uh I started in July, we've started the process of one-on-one conversations with each of the board members. And that's been um I I believe impactful for both um being able for me to share important information as it comes throughout the month, but then also getting that personal feedback from you um has been instrumental in the uh in the work that we've done so far. We've completed get to know you sessions, listening sessions at all of our school sites. We've done one of our student sessions at the middle school. We have the high school session coming up next week. And we have our first community session uh happening uh this
033this Friday. Uh and so anyone watching at home, we'd love to have you at the district office on Friday morning. Uh called out each one of those there. And then the last one is really around um more around culture and climate. I felt like it it fit here though. uh our cabinet team um has decided uh to do a book study around something called the happiness happiness advantage. Uh it's actually a program that I was a part of in my past system uh and really changed the culture for us a number of years ago. And so uh we're in the process of of deciphering if that's something we want to bring districtwide. And so we've embarked in a in a book study uh on this topic of of making positive choices for ourselves and our
034work uh and having that affect others. And so um really excited to start that. We got our first assignment from Melissa Jensen at our cabinet meeting this morning and the first 60 pages of the book were assigned to us. So we've got some work to do in the next couple of weeks. Goal two uh around culture, climate, and engagement. Again, in our last meeting, we we talked about calling out supporting students, supporting school safety and security, and then the emotional health and social needs of our students. And so, items that have been completed thus far is a staff secure entrance at the high school um and putting those processes and protocols in place uh before students entered in August. Uh it's a goal of of ours to create consistent safety protocols and a consistent uh
035experience at all of our sites now so that if I am a family member or a staff member going to multiple buildings um I have the same expectations and the same experience when I enter each one of those buildings and that's not currently in place and so we're working to to align some of that work. Uh, Assistant Superintendent Noble has started a a group called EPAC, which is an emergency preparation advisory committee. Um, that group is going to meet monthly and is made up of members from District 518, uh, the city of Warthingington, Nobles County, uh, Sanford, I'm trying to think, Minnesota West, any partner that that we we feel we have a connection with that could really support us in making sure that we have a um, a well-rounded safety perspective for all of
036our sites. uh have begun a collaboration and we had our first meeting uh just a few weeks ago and we're meeting again here in the next couple of weeks. And so the goal of that group is for us to be able to use them as a sounding board as we continue to implement safety practices for all of our sites and get their feedback. The other piece to that is also understanding that there are multiple large entities in this town and knowing that we have one law enforcement or two law enforcement agencies with the county and the city responding. Are we asking them to do something different than they're doing at the hospital or at JBS or some of those other institutions? And so really collaborating together to to align um so that our our law
037enforcement officers can respond um effectively and quickly. We've also scheduled a uh a safety assessment of all of our sites with the Minnesota School Safety Center and uh that is in progress that is scheduled for later next month. Um and they will be at all of our sites again helping us kind of complete number two and that is creating that consistent uh consistent safety protocol and safety experience at all of our sites. Again, I've already called these out, but they do fall under this area as well. all of the the listening sessions and uh you can look for uh a summary of those listening sessions soon that I'll share with all board members once that's done. Number seven is the the last one on that list which is uh around cell phone use within our
038secondary schools. Uh I know that our our middle school has some protocols and our high school has some protocols. Uh but we're going to get our our district leaders together um to make sure that it's a clear picture of what does it look like to uh have a cell phone, use a cell phone all the way from 6 through 12 and make sure that it's age appropriate as well as scaffolded and and consistent from classroom to classroom. Lastly, goal three, the operational efficiency and resource management. We are still in progress with our special education review. Carol Potter was at all of our schools just a couple of weeks ago um sitting down in small groups with uh with our staff and and asking questions and getting feedback. Uh she had lots of great insights in
039the two days that she was here. I was able to connect and was so impressed with our our schools and our staff and our kids. Uh and so I look forward to her her feedback when she comes to present to board most likely in January. We've also had some uh transportation conversations uh around special education with our transportation um partners at 4.0 to create more efficient transportation. And along with that is being clear with our case managers and and what does specialized transportation look like and sound like and feel like uh and and how can we streamline some of that um to again make us more efficient in that area. We've begun a staffto student ratio tracking sheet and that's been something that's been in conversations through uh the collaborations with the teacher union to
040make sure that we are are looking at theou that is in place with our class sizes and our case load sizes. And so, uh, we do have that that sheet up and running now and we plan to share that, um, in the monthly collaborations that have been started with the EMW group, uh, and with board members as as desired. Uh later on this evening, you'll hear from uh Jeff Stad again with our uh our partnership that we'd like to embark with uh Site Logic on again better utilizing our our budget allocations, making sure that we're prioritizing the right projects and and taking care of our facilities as as needs come up. And then lastly, uh we are also embarking in a comprehensive needs assessment uh with the Compass team from the service co-op. A lot
041of this is coming out of the the um the Northstar accountability piece with graduation rates at the learning center. Uh but they did afford us the opportunity to do a full needs assessment districtwide which uh I was eager to do as it will help us and inform us uh as I'd like to move forward through a full strategic planning project um with community and board and and teachers and staff as well. So um this is kind of the first step to a long process. I've spoke to many of you on one-on-one um conversations, but really have I have a strong desire to have a a picture and a path of where are we now and where do we want to go and how are we going to get there? And I believe that a strategic
042plan will help us do that. And to start that off, the the needs assessment um will I think will help us get there. And so although this is a 90-day evaluation or or or um check-in, we're actually about 110 days in. So you gave me a little extra time, Adam. appreciate that. But, uh, if there's any questions or comments, I'd be open to hear them now. [clears throat] >> Questions? Anybody? >> Nothing? >> Well, I think you're doing a good [clears throat] job. >> I appreciate five. [laughter] >> Okay. Can we move on now? >> Good. >> 5.5. Approve to set assigned fund balance as of June 30th, 2025. >> [snorts] >> Good evening. Assigned [clears throat] fund balance. Uh this is for the 2425 school year. We This is where the board sets the
043assigned fund balance for the school year. is estimated that the unassigned fund balance will be about 18.7 million this year. The assigned fund balance is currently at 18.5 million. This was brought to the operations committee last Tuesday. Uh was recommended to move 3 million from the unassigned to the assigned. The assigned projects um currently are the ice arena, potentially the sawpole field, the prairie roof beyond LTFM, potential iPad costs. If you did move the 3 million to the to the assigned fund balance, it is still greater than the threemonth uh general expense average. And there's also 8.5 million above the 10% policy minimum. Any questions? You can see I've projected up on the on the board um kind of the past 10 years, the 10-year history. You can see the intentionality of of past boards
044um to to to do two things. number one to grow the the unassigned fund um to have at least three months of operation operational capital um which is essentially where you're at right now just a little bit over the 3 months. Um and the the other intentionality that is seen is um the need to have uh funds set aside for specific projects. And so it's important to know that the the projects that are being done and being completed with the the assigned funds are funds that have no other funding mechanism. And so uh Ryan said it best in in his office this afternoon as we were um checking in on this is is we're we're tagging untagged funds. Right? When we talk about tagged tagged funds, whether it's community ed or nutritional services or transportation,
045that money comes from the state, but it can only be spent on those specific items. This is essentially allowing us to do projects that have no other funding mechanism. And so you can see that column D um over the year, excuse me, column C, uh over the years, past boards have been intentional of growing that assigned fund balance um to allow for various projects to get done. Past projects, Ryan, you can correct me if I'm wrong, would have been the gymnastics gym, the learning center, community ed building, um projects such as that. Correct. >> Yes. In the admin building as well. So, we did speak to the one that is the most recent um need right now. Uh and that is our technology need um just for board members that were not a part of
046that conversation. Um iPads were bought districtwide um four years ago with money that was was provided during COVID or they were it was COVID funding. And so on a4 $47 iPad, we paid about $7 an iPad. And so it was it was an opportunity that wasn't going to come around again, which was a great way to use those funds. Um the gap came in that there was no budget set aside in the next four years um to to replace them. And now we're getting to end of life on those devices. Uh, and so we're we're hoping to utilize some of these funds that are are um a surplus right now for a need that really should have been budgeted for over the past four years. And so of the again, if you're looking at column
047C um with the approval tonight of moving the the funds to the assigned fund, um really almost 10 million of that is already earmarked and and spent. It's just hasn't been um taken out of the out of the budget yet. I know that later this evening we have an agenda item to talk about the prairie roof, but it is a line item on there um for the assigned projects of $700,000. And I I I'm wondering if you could just speak a little bit to why that's there versus allocating it for LTFM money. >> Yep. The reason it's on there is that um we're projected to get about 1.5 million in LTFM funding and the cost of the whole next phase of the roof is about 2.2 the estimated cost. And so we've we've put that
048on there to cover what LTFM won't won't cover. Any other comments? We would need a motion to set the assigned fund balance. Right. >> That is right. >> And we want to make a motion to set it. >> So moved >> by Ann. >> Seconded by Matt. Is there any further discussion? >> Um also in the recommended action, there's $5,320 for studio 3. Um >> you want to speak to that? What's is that for >> uh studio 3? They have a fund balance as well and it's also in that but this is separate but still in the same fund balance. So 215 is the the assigned fund balance and there's another 5,000 in there for Studio 3's fund balance. >> That's the total amount for Studio 3 at this point. >> What was that? >>
049That's the total amount that'll go to Studio 3 at this point from that account. Uh 5,320 will be in the Studio 3's fund balance. >> Okay. Thank you. [snorts] >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor of setting the assigned fund balance say I. >> I. >> All those opposed. Motion passes. Okay. 5.6 approve the second/final reading of policy 414 mandated reporting of child neglect or physical or sexual abuse and policy 709 student transportation safety policy. We'll break these into two parts here real quick. And I've I've got 414 here tonight. Um again just a reminder for the board that uh if you're looking at the policy or I I can kind of call it out here under the definition section is where the major change was and that is
050we added a a letter B at the definition of an atrisisk juvenile and so those changes have been made and uh I have not heard any further feedback since the the past board meeting and so looking for the final approval of uh 414. If we could do them separate that'd be great. 709 was brought to the operational committee and it was mainly some clarification on the discipline procedures for transportation and busing and we also made some clarification on communication between the bus company and the assistant principles. So we changed a little bit of language there. >> We can do them together. One one motion >> move to approve final reading for policy 414 and policy 709. >> Motion by Matt. Do I have a second? >> Seconded by Aaron. Is there any further discussion? All
051those in favor of the approval of policy 414 and 709 say I. >> I. >> All those opposed, same sign. Motion passes. 5.7 approve to declare surplus property. We've got two sections of surplus property. They are both in the music band area at the high school. Uh we've got some robes uh and and some uh some instruments. We've got a piccolo, I believe, that we're no longer using and so looking to declare those as surplus. It was recommended um to uh to approve that through the operation committee. >> Okay. Do I have a motion to declare surplus property? >> So moved. >> Motion by Lori. >> Seconded by Ann. Is there any further discussion? One piccolo. >> One piccolo. >> Okay. >> You like to buy [clears throat] it, Matt? >> Well, [laughter] >> all
052those in favor of declare to declare surplus property, say I. >> If you oppose, same sign. Motion passes. >> Okay. 5.8. Approve tax abayment resolution. We had earlier tonight. >> Yes, we had that earlier again. Just uh reiterating again, this is Dan and Tanya Wagner. Uh parcel number 31-3659-040. Um this is a tax baitment that falls within the Nobles County Home Initiative. It is a uh two family duplex out on Sterling Avenue on the uh west side of town. And again, they have all the necessary documentation here to move forward with that abatement. I have a motion to approve the tax abatement. >> So moved. >> Motion by and I have a second. >> Seconded by Eric. Any further discussion? >> Uh board chair Bloom. One thing that did come up at operations is there
053was a question around how many um homes have been impacted through this opportunity. And so I did get an opportunity to reach out to Bruce Highamp at the county. um he wasn't able to share exact numbers um but he did say um at least 150 total homes in the county have uh have been able to partake in this program and at least 75% of those have fallen within district 518. So uh and it's been going on long enough now that homes have now kind of aged out of the abatement and are now back into paying paying the tax. So but it's been a a good initiative to increase housing in the area. Roll call vote. >> Miss Dudley. I >> Miss Haggard. Hi. >> Miss Shudy. >> Hi. >> Miss Mills. >> I. >> Mr.
054Bloom. >> Hi. >> Mr. Parish. >> I. >> Mr. Woodboom. >> I. >> Motion passes. 5.9. Actually, I'm just going to put 5.9 and 510 together. Beans are both out of state requests. We have two of them tonight. We have uh a group of music folks that are looking to attend the uh Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference Conference uh that is in Chicago. Um a fairly prestigious and and well-known conference and uh it's nice and somewhat close this year. Then we have another uh staff member at the middle school uh who actually had a uh a grant pay for uh most of this trip. um we're covering the the substitute um partial of this portion of this. And so um that one is for a financial literacy conference as we continue to build
055out that curriculum with our middle school students. And so um looking for approval for both [clears throat] of those groups to attend those out of state conferences. >> We have a motion to approve out of state travel request for 5.9 and 5.10. >> So moved. >> Motion by Eric. Can I have a second? >> Second. Seconded by Anne. Any further discussion? All those in favor of the out ofstate travel request say I. >> I. >> Same sign. Motion passes. >> 511. Approve the agreement with site logic. >> Jeff, I'll have you join us. >> Well, we welcome back Jeffstead. Again, Jeff's uh paving the way back and forth [snorts] to uh to Worthington now in the last couple of weeks. We appreciate his uh willingness to be here to in person um to answer questions
056that we have. Um but we are looking for uh board action this evening to enter into a formal partnership uh with Site Logic as again we continue to uh assess our facility needs, our facility um futures and uh and really look for their vision around um you know how we could best utilize the funding sources that we have um to continue to make this such a great place to be. and great facilities for our kids. Um, as you maybe think about any questions you may have before we move forward, I do want to um let you know that I did and was able to connect with a handful of folks that uh Jeff had provided for me. And so I'd like to just summarize some of those conversations. Now, um, all three, uh, individuals that
057I was able to talk to, um, said very similar things around, um, projects coming in on time and on budget. Um, finding, uh, funding mechanisms that, uh, really do align with the type of project they're doing. Um, ones that two of the individuals had spoke to are on HVAC projects, um, had nothing but great things to say. Um, one one individual said, uh, they don't regret the partnership at all. recommend 10 out of 10 and um couldn't believe that the that the site assessment was actually free even when they didn't do a project for a year. Uh and so they came and did a lot of work and again um taking a lot of risk with with schools to do that level of upfront work knowing that not a dollar of work can come out
058of it for a while. um this this district that I had spoken to was operating in SOD and needed some time and some um some greater planning to get things done um before they could start, but they needed the assessment to really give some vision. And so um those were were all great sentiments and again um I had no no caution from anyone um in moving forward with a partnership with with Jeff or his or the or his institution. Any questions for Jeff? He's he's here in case we have more to discuss. >> Can you just remind me Jeff about the timeline to come in and do that evaluation? So that >> interesting you should ask. So um we we're actually standing by right now. Our facility analysts will have boots on the ground on
059Thursday after Thursday morning here. >> Okay. uh and they will be uh we'll be meeting first to kind of go through a number of different things including like how do we get access to buildings things like that. We anticipate that our particularly our team of facility analysts will probably be on campus or in the community working with schools for probably about a week uh to thoroughly assess all of your buildings including your most recent build uh just because we also catalog all of those assets to go into my site IQ that will be with you forever so that you can help to monitor the condition of your [snorts] buildings moving forward. So again, we're kicking off on on Thursday, provided your approval this evening. Uh and then we'll be uh probably getting most of our
060assessments completed particularly with the building that the district building, excuse me, that the district administration sees as the greatest need up front. Uh we would actually like to start moving some things forward because we're trying to help you avoid tariffs. And so if there's equipment and things that need to be ordered, we want to identify that early so that if there were things that we can get those things ordered to avoid any additional costs to the district and try to find those ways to maximize the funding. >> So your report back to us, when are you anticipating that? >> I would anticipate that we'll have a first report for you probably by your December board meeting. >> Okay. Uh, and that will be an initial report based upon what we've fully assessed up to that
061point and then we'll keep building into that assessment later on through the late winter. >> Okay. Thank you. I just couldn't remember from our conversation last week. >> Yeah. >> Anyone else? >> It's a chairman question for Joel and for Jeff probably. >> So this facility, our our glaring need is in our cafeteria serving area. as you're doing the analysis of this building, is there emphasis put on that now or does that happen you as we continue on in the process? That's really left to administration and the board. So we will identify based upon the conversations we have about where to start and I anticipate on Thursday that's what the crux of our conversation will be. If cafeteria space and utilization of that space happens to be a priority, then the first thing we want
062to do is start to provide some ideas and solutions for you. So, when we come back in December, there's a fair chance that we would be offering already. Here's what we've noticed. Here's what we're hearing from administrative staff. Here's what we're hearing from your high school staff if that happens to be the building and students by the way so that we can gather up their perspectives so we can start to better understand what scope of work might be done here. So >> do you suggest that and we also have space need concerns here that was part of our a referendum attempt in the past. Does that >> happen at the same time or is this going to be a uh you know prioritized approach? part part of the assessment will also include a a facility
063usage audit. Okay? >> So getting a real good picture as to how are we using our teaching spaces throughout the course of a day and and through that audit we'll be able to say yeah we're eight classrooms short or no we could do some different things with our master schedule or move some things around to better utilize our spaces um to you know to minimize the need to to build on for example. I hope the staff and students don't get sick of us because we're going to ask them a lot of questions because we want to make sure that their instructional spaces are the right fit for them, but also from a student perspective, what are they looking for? If there was potential expansion, things like that. So, we really try to dig deep and
064gather those perspectives to serve every audience that you have here. So >> what was the percent you charge towards a project once we >> if there's a project identified by the board that is 18.75% is our fees. Yeah. And that's again as I shared with the um committee last week excuse me I'm sorry. Um, as we identified with the committee last week, industry standard, we collect information every year in the Freedom of Information Act with the competitors and uh, every project typically lands somewhere between 19 and 22%. Site Logic's approach is we're going to tell you exactly what your cost is up front because we don't add change orders because that's included. If we didn't get it right, that's our fault and we're paying for it. So again, we try to do all of our
065upfront with you and be very transparent. communities expect transparency and that's how we operate as a business as well. So 18.75 will be final. I I I do want to just share one more thing that I should have said in the reference part of this is that um one of the individuals I spoke to um spoke specifically to the support that they were given in regard to closing a building and then um communicating that with community on on the putting $15 million into a building from the 40s versus spending 25 on something new and and navigating from start to finish and that that community process that that Jeff had spoke to at our work session two weeks ago. Um, very much came through in that conversation with a smaller district here in the state. So,
066just wanted to call that out as well. >> And you redo the assessment every 5 years, right? >> Yeah, at minimum. Um, [clears throat] we would probably want to get in here every 3 years depending upon if there's been bigger changes or things that are happening in the district. We want to make sure that we're updating my site IQ as often as possible. Any other questions, comments? >> If not, I would look for a motion for to approve the agreement with site logic. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by an seconded by Matt. Is there any further discussion? >> All those in favor of the agreement with site logic say I. >> I. >> All those opposed, same sign. Motion passes. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jeeoff. >> 512. Approve form a
067resolution of governing board supporting form A application to Minnesota State High School League Foundation. >> That's a that's a long way of uh saying we're looking for your support and approval tonight uh for a grant opportunity that supports our free and reduced lunch students uh that play and and participate in activities through the Minnesota State High School League. Uh this was presented by activities director Josh Dale at operations last week and uh was recommended for approval tonight. >> I move approval. >> Motion by Lori. >> Second by Eric. Any further discussion? >> Mr. Chairman, there was a question at the committee regarding where the dollars dollars go towards what fund. Do we were we able to specify where we put the the grant dollars? >> I'm going to look to Ryan. Do you know where
068the the funds for that? >> His athletic fund. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. We have a motion and a second. >> Activities fund. Sorry. Activities fund. >> This is a roll call vote. >> Miss Dudley. >> I. Miss Agard. >> I. >> Miss Shy. >> I. >> Miss Mills. >> I. >> Mr. Bloom. >> Hi. >> Mr. Parish. Hi. >> Mr. Woodboom. >> I. >> Motion passes. 5.13 approved request bids for phase two and three of the Prairie Elementary roof replacement project. >> We're seeking board approval to go out for bids to finish the prairie roof. We we uh took time at about this time last year and the board made the decision there was three phases initially but then when you guys went with alternative one and two it actually
069made that project into two phases. So, when you when some of you saw it, initially it was three full phases, but we added a project uh or added to the project. So, we completed uh $1.6 million worth of work. Um and now we're hoping to get in front of boards now have the authority to levy for roofs and it starts in July 1. So, there's some concern that there may not be contractors available to do all the roofs across the state now that boards have that levy approval. So, we're trying to keep this moving and hopefully get them on site right away after school. Uh, if we approve this, we will look to shift summer school out of Prairie again and at least for one more summer so we can have that roof completed. The
070estimate is $2.2 million. >> [clears throat] >> Do I have a motion to request bids for phase two and three? >> So moved. >> Motion by Ann. Do I have a second? >> Seconded by Darla. Is there any further discussion? >> Mr. Chairman, we did discuss this a bit and I'm I'm we we are just approve an agreement with site logic to help us with this. And I know we talked about we're better to finish this ourselves and then engage with them moving forward. You putting Mr. Noble. He's wearing 83 hats and I don't Are we doing the right thing by continuing in house and not using the the uh uh company that we just may sign an agreement with? >> So, Garland is the company that will do the bidding on this project. And
071actually, we spoke to Jeff specifically about some of the roofs. And uh Site Logic often will use Garland at times as well when they're doing this type of roof. So if we would have already been in agreement with site logic, they likely would have reached out to Garland to do some of this bidding as well. So that was one reason that we decided to just finish this one up and move forward with site logic after the prayer roof is done. >> Okay. >> I have a question. So initially we didn't have a bid for the two and three part of the phase. We just had a bid for the first >> Right. We we had estimates but we did some double checking that we do have to go out for bids to finish the entire
072roof. We had initial estimates >> the first part that's finished now would it be the same type of roof because the first bed was going to be higher because it was going to be a roof that's >> it's actually a little bit it's more square footage. >> Okay. Right. But it'll be the same product. >> Correct. >> Okay. With more longevity than something else that I think there was like five years difference and it was more expensive for the >> It's a 30-year. >> Okay. 30. Okay. So that would be all >> similar. Okay. Thank you. Okay, have a motion and a second. All those in favor to approve phase two and three of the Prairie Elementary roof replacements, say I. >> I. >> All those opposed, same sign. Motion passes. 6.0 reports. Superintendent report.
073>> All right. This evening I uh get the pleasure of just recognizing some some great uh achievements thus far through the fall. And so I'm going to go through the list that I appreciate Miss Foley helping me with here this month. Um homecoming was just kind of wrapping up uh at our last board meeting, but we had lots and lots of fun activities, many exciting events uh and really showcase school spirit throughout the system. And so um just a a really great week and just wanted to call that out again. Uh we want to give a shout out to our middle school students who have received the good news of the day phone calls and Trojan pride awards. If you're a member on Facebook, hopefully you've gotten to see some of those as well. We
074want to make sure those students keep up their hard work. Uh as I've already stated through my uh evaluation piece that we've had listening sessions at all of our schools and with our uh middle school students. Um, we found that our middle school students uh talk a lot when you show up with uh pizza and and uh the opportunity for kind of an open forum. So, that was a a lot of fun the uh the other week. Uh we want to give a shout out to our uh children boys soccer team uh for their great season. They they were runner up in the Big South Conference as well as runner up in the section tournament. Um a really exciting second round game where we were down three nothing and came all the way back and
075then just fell a little bit short. But uh we we look forward to continued success in the future. Uh we want to give a shout out and congratulations to the high school FFA dairy team uh earning second place in our region and advancing to the state FFA events. Special recognition to Paula Dystra for earning first place overall in that competition and best of luck there. Another shout out to the FFA general livestock varsity team. Uh strong performance. They took fourth place overall at SDSU and advanced to the state FFA events. Noah Gravenhoff earned a title of overall champion in that competition. Uh lastly, a huge shout out to the FFA A communications team. Uh I got to hear them speak this afternoon at noon Kowanas. Uh they shared their experiences and uh where they're headed
076off to the national uh FFA convention uh after taking first place at the state meet. And so uh we look forward to uh hearing about their experiences in Indianapolis. And then the last one I have here is uh we had some great results from our Trojan runners in cross country at the Big South Conf uh cross country meet. Congratulations to Austin Kzer. He took 10th place and was all conference. Azraat Benet was 17th place in honorable mention and Madison Seve with 15th place and uh also had a personal record uh in in the uh conference meet and also earned honorable mention. Lastly, uh for my update is for uh the board in that just a reminder that the uh MSBA leadership conference is happening in January. And so if you would like to attend with
077myself uh and any other members, please let um Miss Arensdorf know and she'd be happy to uh register us as we continue to to grow in our leadership. That's my report for October. >> Mr. Chairman, [clears throat] a question if I may of Mr. Hercamp. >> Yes, sir. I think hearing of all the great successes of our students joged my mind of we have we've talked a lot in the past year about engaging students from our high school to be part of our our board. >> Yes, sir. >> And there was a little bit of some effort put into that last year. I don't think we I know that we didn't have anyone representing, but I would encourage our building leadership here and and you to to continue moving forward uh with that. I think
078that would be a a nice addition to our our board. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. 6.2 instructional committee. >> Um everything's [clears throat] been covered. >> Okay. 6.3 operations. I believe it was covered in great detail, Mr. Chairman. >> Awesome. Sounds great. >> You're welcome. >> 6.4 other reports. [cough] 7.0 other business. So, I got a question in other business. And I talked to Joel a little bit about this. We haven't heard much. What's going on with the watershed and the intermediate school land out there? >> Yeah, I can share what I what I've done. so far. I had a meeting with um um some watershed leadership about a month ago uh and they brought me up to speed with the work that they've done out there uh with the grant that they've been um
079that they've had now or procured for the last year, the proposals that have been made through the DNR. Uh the last three proposals, much like it was written in the paper a few weeks ago, um have all been denied. And so, uh we have a new watershed uh director as of at least this week, I believe I saw in the paper. Uh and so I did share with uh Mr. Livall uh through email that um there's been kind of some other ideas that have been tossed around how to maybe utilize that space knowing that the wershed really is looking to measure the amount of nutrients that are being captured before they get to the lake to to support that project. um but also understanding that none of the plans that have been proposed have been
080accepted and so trying to find a happy medium there and so I look forward to continued uh partnership. Tom Alberg will now be the taking over kind of the leadership portion of that board and then we've got uh the the new director to to work with as well and so we'll continue to move forward and utilize that space out there. I think that um you know there are lots of different ideas that are out there, ideas that I've even had knowing that we want to continue with the egg part of that that land. Uh but is 200 acres of farmland um manageable for a school district and and how do we continue, you know, with the donation of time and and effort and equipment um to to navigate what that looks like and what other
081curricular opportunities could exist uh outside of just a land um in the sciences and in the environmental sciences and such. And so, um, we're exploring all those different avenues and we'll continue to partner with partner with the, uh, with the wershed to, you know, support the the project with making sure clean water gets to the lake in town and and then al also utilizing that land, um, for multiple different uh, educational opportunities for kids. I just know one thing [clears throat] that was talked about, you know, in the past quite a bit was if we can find a way to do something with them, whether it's a cost share project or something like that, is that going to be an area suitable and big enough to look at doing something for cross country? >> We'd
082have to, you know, figure out what we want, what do we want it to be. Um, and I think anything is possible. our our kids were just talking about um I believe the the big South Conference meet was wasn't it in Leverne like around their ball fields, right? And they're doing loops and I I think there are lots of opportunities. That's a that's a quarter section. There's a lot of space out there and so depending on what that looks like and how we can develop it, um I think there are lots of opportunities. >> Okay. 8.0 zero. Future business, nothing. We're adjourned.