001Yeah. We're going to call the meeting to order. Please rise for the pledge of >> allegiance. United States of America and to the stands nation. >> Welcome. It's such a good feeling to have so many of you here saying the Pledge of Allegiance with us. you just your voices filled the space so nicely and we're just really glad you're here tonight. Um Deian, with that you have some people to introduce to us for the good news report. >> I do. I will make you wait just a minute or two until um we talk about that. But we might have a a short week this week, short school week with Thanksgiving break around the corner. But we started off a Monday on a big bang this morning. Um we announced um along with our partners from
002the Hungry Hearts Foundation that uh they are willing to match up to $100,000 of donations that come in for our angel fund which provides meals for um children whose families do not qualify for free or reduced price meals. So um we're hitting the gap group we call them. These are the families that fall 185 to 210% of the federal poverty level. Um they miss out on the support of uh free or reduced price meals. And yet they may have missed that threshold by making $1 too much, $20 too much, $100 too much. They're working hard um but are not qualifying for those federal assistance dollars. So, our friends at Hungry Hearts, uh, this is the third year they've been doing the matching donation for us. Um, so that a meal is about $3.35 for an
003elementary meal. Um, a $10 donation, you could have three meals, three students eating, and their match on that means six students would be eating. A $50 donation uh, means there would be 30 meals. a $100 donation would bring us 60 meals and a $500 donation 300 meals. So, uh we really want to emphasize with our community um that any donation amount is very much appreciated and can make a huge impact particularly with these matching funds. And so, uh we did a big kickoff with that this morning and uh got information out on that. Uh we accept check card, Venmo, PayPal. Um if you want to donate and don't find a way on our website or on our social media to do that, please contact the schools or the child nutrition office and we'd be happy
004to um get you set up to do that because really it is is making a huge impact for our families. So, um, and then sticking with the theme of donations to feed the less fortunate, um, we're so happy to have Edison Middle School student council among us tonight. They have something called Drive Out Hunger. And this pits sixth, seventh, and eighth grades against one another in a food drive. And um, I got a little cheesy here, but bear with me. Students and staff are doing more than just talking turkey. They set some pie in the sky goals and you ain't seen stuffing yet. So, >> wow. [laughter] >> So, Kirsten Smith is in charge of our student council group along with Carly King who is in the counselor's office and they are going to kick
005off this good news report. >> Fantastic. Thank you. I'm gonna let Carly talk first. Carly is our um counseling secretary and she has pro um written down some words to say. I don't know. I can't talk right now. >> Okay, I got it. >> You got it. >> All right. I'm Karly King. I am the counseling secretary at Edison. Um over the last few months, our counseling center had noticed an increased need for food support. So, needs that go beyond what our amazing Feeding South Dakota backpack program provides. uh seeing that I wanted to find something that would supplement the program by offering ready to go bags that students and families can access any day of the week, no questions asked. And that kind of became the Edison Backpack program. So what started as a
006simple email to staff sharing my idea and asking for donations to hopefully get this off the ground quickly, um it gained momentum immediately with Mrs. Smith. So Mrs. Smith shared the idea with student council and they ran with it. They've organized, promoted, and brought this vision to life in ways I never could have imagined or expected. So, I'm just here to share how it began. Um, student council will highlight the incredible work that they've done and the impact that they've already made. So, I'd like to just take a moment before we have three students that are going to speak to you and I'd like to take a moment before that. Um, I invited my entire student council here because I wanted them to know that we were proud of all of them. It wasn't just
007the three representatives. and we're also looking at um civic service and looking at how meetings are run and those kinds of things. So, I have a number of them. I'm just going to have them stand. I'm not going to introduce all of them. So, would you guys stand up, please? That's a a representation of Edison Middle School student council. So, thanks for being here, guys. [applause] All right. I have come on up my three friends. I have my president Miller Jansen. I have my vice president Honlay Barrett and I have my secretary Sydney Degrroot who are all going to share um different aspects of that program. Do you want me to click or you want to? Okay, I will. >> We decided to make a food drive a competition between grades to get more donations
008and it really worked because by the first day of the food drive we reached our first goal which was 900 donations. We decided that the first prize would be a tech day which meant that which meant the last period everyone will get to use their phones. But because we reached our first goal right away we had we had to decide what the new goal and prize would be. So so no one gave up. Our second goal was $1,000 donations, but we technically skipped that and went straight to the third goal. That was 1,200 donations. The cost the prize for the for that goal was that all three of our principles would dress up in turkey costumes for the whole day. We also decided that the winning grade would get snacks during the tech day. Lastly,
009we let each grade make positive smack talk posters. For example, eighth graders could make a poster that say eighth graders will win and put it in the seventh grade hallways to get more competition. So, as Sydney just mentioned, as far as our goals go, our original goal was 900 food points and by the end of the week, um we came up with 13,995 food points, crushing our goals completely and which totally surprised all of us. The counting structure that we used for points was simple and easy to understand. The list was created um for high need items for our school which was counted as three points such as mac and cheese cups and ramen and cereal cups um and etc. Other items donated would additionally count as one point. And because the um to get
010more points, students could also donate money and $1 points. Um, this could be used to purchase stuff like for the food pantry, stuff that they needed. The money could be used to purchase stuff that they were lacking or buy in bulk um amounts. Uh, food items, how we distributed it, the food items donated toward Edison was 1,331. Food items donated towards Feeding South Dakota was 579. and money donated was $2,549. Driveout hunger was a good personal experience for me. I had heard about the government shutdown and snap going with it. I was feeling concerned for our community. Since coming to Edison, I've had an increased awareness for families with need. 35% of Edison students are on free and reduced lunch. That is 320 students whose families rely on help to provide their kids with food.
011I was excited when I heard that we are going to be doing a food drive at Edison. This is something I care about and seeing other student council members equally as enthusiastic as I was created a shared passion. It also created a sense of community. We can facilitate solutions to big problems as a school. Collecting food was fun. Simple passing comments like, "Here you go." and "Thank you," helped me connect with others. Although some kids were probably just bringing food for the prize, I noticed how many of my classmates were attuned to others problems and responded with compassion. People do want to help. This food drive shows the good in people. A middle school can rise up to the challenge, making a difference in their community. >> Thank you. Um, we have had an amazing
012time today. I I announced the winning grade and I was in the office and I could hear the screams in the building from seventh grade that won. So, um there's been a lot of excitement around this. So, we wanted to be able to share that with you and the accomplishments, but also how uh amazing that made us feel and helped us grow as a community. So, that's it. >> Well, stay right there because I can tell we've got some reflections going on here. >> Okay, >> Gail or Elizabeth, whoever wants to go first. >> Sure. >> I am so excited for you guys. Good. Good job. seventh grade especially. Congratulations. But to all of Edison and um my oldest daughter went to Edison and I have definitely a big heart for Edison. Um go Cats.
013And uh you know I just want to say um it's it's just incredible that that you kids just took this and ran with it. Um and it just shows you how fun it can be to give back too and how you can really put your own spin on it. So, I hope this encourages you to keep going, keep doing it, and and try something else, too. Like, when you see a need, try and fill that need, and and you will definitely go far. Thank you. I had a couple of students already planning tactics for next year. So, I think we're good. >> Anything else, Gail? Well, I'm very impressed when I see in front of me three leaders of a group of leaders stepping up and learning what community service is all about. I'm also
014very impressed that you learned about some of the fates of some of your fellow classmates and families and decided that it was time to do something about it. And that speaks a great deal to your heart and to your leadership ability. And wow, did you guys ever deliver. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. >> The old saying goes, when you give, you get. It's amazing when you give. I'm sure one thing you've maybe learned is just makes you feel good. >> And there's a lot of good things that happen. So, fortunately, thank you for the things you did and uh I think as you go on in life, just keep giving. Thank you. >> Thank you. What a great example of of students that aren't sitting around waiting for the rest of
015the world to do something that you're making an impact in the world and the people that you can touch. And for the parents that are here, thank you for bringing your child um to to really honor what they're doing and the impact that they're making because I'm counting how many kids? 15. and the amount of energy they put out into their school to build that community and the culture. And also just the um empathy in using a discrete form of giving that kids can take their food home in backpacks and they know intuitively inside that they have a school that that is caring, that is safe, um that is meeting one of their basic needs. And that was all created by uh you all and the and that your parents are supportive. Um so if
016you can remind your classmates to go home and thank um their loved one at home that helped to make that food possible to give to others. And they must be modeling some great behavior. And thanks to the educators and your principal for seeing that amount of energy that we have with the kids and really putting it towards good use because that will serve them a lifetime of reflection to look back and know that they can make a difference. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Well, thank you. >> Should we clap? >> Yeah, we'll give them another round. Sure. Yeah, it's kind of hard after that kind of high and how do you segue into the next like the approval of minutes? But that's exactly what we have to do. So, can I get a motion
017to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 1110 2025? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> opposed. that passes. And if there's anybody that doesn't feel that they want to stay the whole time, it does not offend us. But if you want to so that you can kind of practice what Mrs. Smith has been teaching you, >> they've actually been requested to stay the whole time so that we can see the meeting in action. >> All right. >> There is not for y'all. [laughter] >> So they are. But thank you. So these are Robert's rules, kids, that we're using to govern the meeting. Okay. And we start with agenda and Mrs. Smith will I I can give you this after you leave so you can talk to kids about it. Okay. We
018will now move on to agenda item five. Do we have any persons wishing to address the school board on non-aggenda or on agenda items? I don't believe we did. Okay, we will move on to approval of the agenda. Can I please get a motion to approve tonight's agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. Second. All in favor? >> I opposed. That passes. We do not have any conflicts of interest this evening. Uh could I please get a motion to approve the cons consent agenda items? >> So move. >> Second. Before any questions or observations about that, Gail, go ahead. I just wanted to >> I wanted to remind people of D7 last board meeting we pulled that particular item. Uh any questions that we had on that have been answered sufficiently and so I would encourage
019my fellow board members to approve that. >> Okay. Could I please Well, we have the motion to approve consent agenda items A through F. Um, thank you Gail for your comments. All in favor? I >> opposed. That passes. We are now going to move on to the the reports of our superintendent. We have Dr. Z with us this evening. So, at this point, I'm going to let you um introduce our next item. A >> Thank you, board chair Kelly. Yes, we have two uh reports to of the superintendent. We have Kristen Granager, a high school curriculum coordinator. She is going to share with us graduation rates and what we do to help freshmen transition into 10th grade and help them through to their graduation. And second up will be Mr. V with his uh uh
020budget guidelines and timeline. But first, Mrs. Granager. >> Well, I also have good news. maybe not quite as inspiring uh but also really important good news to to share with you tonight. Uh so I am here to talk about graduation rate because that is our ultimate goal here in the Sou Falls School District to get students to that finish line. And luckily I'm here to report that we are doing an excellent job in Sou Falls. Uh over the past six years, the Sou Falls School District has shown steady progress in on-time graduation. Since 201920 academic year, the district's graduation rate has increased from just under 85% to just slightly under 90%. Soufu fall students have also consistently outperformed the state average. In addition to the district's steady growth in on-time graduation rate, we also do
021really well with the completer rate. And that means these are students who earn a diploma or complete their high school requirements within five years. And as you can see, uh, we consistently again stay around that 90%. And one of the reasons that this is really impressive is that we have a large number of students in our district who face some hurdles getting to that graduation. If we look at our district and we look at our students who are on an IEP, our special education students, if we took just that group of students, that would be the fifth or sixth largest district in the state of South Dakota. And again, if we look at our English language learners and took those students, they would make up the seventh or eighth largest district in the state. We
022also have students in our RISE program who can continue to stay with us until age 21 but may not be able to fulfill all the graduation requirements. And those students make up about 2.5% of our population. So really lots of things to be proud of. Um, we look at our graduation cohorts and you can see that those numbers have grown significantly in the last six years from 1432 in the 201920 school year to uh 1,635 students this last school year. I do want to point out when you look at late graduates, you might wonder why 2425 looks so low. Well, that's because students are still working on 2425. Uh so we expect that number uh to rise again to the into the high 30s or or 40s as well by the end of this school
023year. And I think it's interesting to note too that our GED numbers have dropped which is good when we look at the numbers here because we see many more students um graduating with their cohort. So what are some of the things that we do to get students to this point? Well, one of the things that we offer is the connections program in the summer. So students have an opportunity [clears throat] after 8th grade to go to their high school, meet upper classmen, tour the building, see their schedule, and just really become comfortable or more comfortable with starting high school. There we go. Uh, one of the other things that we know is really important is that students get off to a great start. And for students to move from 9th to 10th grade, they need
024to earn at least five credits. Since 2008, we've offered the freshman academy in the Sou Falls School District. This is an opportunity for students to be on a team with strong support from teachers and leaders in the building. Since 2008, between 91 and 96% of freshmen in the freshman academy have advanced to 10th grade with recent years um really strong results there. The district's commitment to student success doesn't stop with freshman year. We continue to target students who are a little bit behind their cohort with recovery options, personalized academic counseling, and intervention programs. Schools monitor progress throughout high school to ensure students meet diploma requirements within four years while offering flexible pathways for those who need a little extra time or support. Together, these efforts paired with early interventions in ninth grade continue to drive
025the district's strong on-time graduation and completion rates. We know a diploma is key to opening opportunities and doors after high school. And so, we're very proud of the work that students and teachers are doing in our building. At this point, I ask the board to acknowledge the report on high school graduation rates and stand by for questions. Okay. I'm going to first just get this to a point where we can ask those questions. Do I have a motion to acknowledge the graduation rates the and the freshman transition to 10th grade report? So moved second. questions, discussion well they're sort of thinking a couple things that I just wanted to draw out that caught my attention is number one that the Sou Falls graduation rate at 88.7 is higher than the state average at 85.7 and
026that again speaks to our district meeting students where they are at given our um English learner population and um just the kids that are moving into the district that we're really identifying what their needs are and also the work of the freshman academy and that we now things that we intuitively knew and put into action they are bearing its fruit. So, it's great to see that. And then another piece is just that um by its very nature, and you spoke to this, that we have um a population of RISE kids um special education, those English learners that just by its very nature, we would not be able to be at 100% for example, because we have, you know, 2.5% of our population are going to fall under the completer rate just by the nature of
027the beast. So, um the study progress that we continue to make really speaks to the district and to the work um on behalf of the administrators and the teachers. So, you did a great job capturing that. >> Thank you. >> It's a lot of work. >> And just mostly for the benefit of the middle schoolers in the room too, I want to shout out the connections program. So before you go into high school, sign up for that connections program. All four high schools have it. Um you earn half a credit just from doing that in two weeks and you feel so much more comfortable going into high school. My daughter just completed it last summer and it was worth it. And then you can continue on and when you're an upper classman then you can
028act as a mentor for those kids who are coming into high school and teach them everything you know. So, um, make sure your parents know about that and sign you up for it. >> If you don't mind, I'd just like to say it is a lot of fun, too. They play a lot of games and, [laughter] uh, do a lot of things to make you, um, get to know your fellow high school classmates. kind of to piggy back off of that, I know one of our area neighboring schools um has a separate building for their ninth grade academy and we choose to integrate our students in their high schools. Is there anything that you would like to speak to with that philosophy and why we decided to integrate the kids? I think one of the
029great things is they have those upper class students as models and because some of those students are there with them in connections. They're there welcoming them the first day and can really just help them see the ropes of high school and then they're seeing them in fine arts activities, sports activities, other clubs at school and it really just builds that high school from the beginning. >> Yeah. But I would like to add with that the schools have each also been strategic in placing the freshmen all sort of in a similar area so you're not racing one from one end of the building you know in five minutes and trying to make your class at the other end. So there's some real strategy that's put into that. um as well as having a smaller group of
030uh um your teammates, your team and that's no different than large companies do with having departments or any large organization having a smaller group. So you will have a smaller group of of classmates that you get to know any. Yeah. Okay. All in favor say I. I >> opposed. That report is acknowledged. Thank you. >> Okay, Dr. Z, what's next on the agenda? >> All right, the second and final of the superintendent's board reports is from Mr. V. Budget guidelines and timeline. >> Thank you, Dr. Zeke. Um, yeah, tonight's the official kickoff of the FY 27, the 26 27th school year budget for the school district. So, we're going to go through the timeline kind of like we always do and uh then the guidelines as well. Uh we kind of started last week when
031we met with the the two board members, President Kelly and board member Swenson last week about about what this what this timelines and guidelines would look like. And we also asked the cost center supervisors. There's 19 different cost center committees that meet to to give us the names of the administrators, teachers, and community members who's going to participate. There's about 150 people, take or give, in a given year that participate in that process. Uh we're going to develop the uh by level enrollment projections by December one. We're going to meet with the budget preparers on December 3rd and uh go over what we're talking about tonight so they know what the rules to follow. Um, by the 23rd of December, we're going to ask them to complete level three, which is 100% of the prior
032year's program, which is the what we've got right now, which essentially just says to them, next year, what's it going to cost for you to do what you're doing this year, keeping the class sizes the same and whatnot, what's that going to cost? So, we can get a real good early look at what that budget will cost next year to fund 100% of the program. Um I'm not going to go through all of these, but item 10 is uh all budgets are due by the 27th of February. And then uh just as session ends, we're going to do a preliminary budget. I'm going to get that completed by March 11th. Then the next day the two board members that are on the budget committee along with I think all the administrators in here and then
033uh teachers from every level sped teacher principles from every level and uh the superintendent will will meet and we'll go through all these budgets that all these groups have prepared and uh come with a recommendation for the full board and then that will be submitted on the 25th. That'll be our first meeting. It's a work session. That's a Wednesday. And then so you'll see it for the first time. The the three other board members will see it for the first time that day. And then on the tw on the 1st of April, we'll have a followup to go over any questions that came out of it or any comments or whatnot because there's a lot of info to be presented on that first day. So, we have a follow-up meeting and then on the 13th,
034which is our regular board meeting in April, we'll do our public hearing and um have the 27 proposed budget uh approved by the board tentatively and then the first regular meeting, the annual meeting in July will be when we'll get the final approval on that. And there's usually not very many changes between the tenative approval and the final approval. So that is the timeline that we're proposing. And then next we can look at the guidelines and I'm not going to go through all these but uh every year we we ask our committees to allocate resources to the m to the district's mission and priorities and uh so when our our budget should follow that and that we work on those every year. So, um, that's very important. Um, we also asked them to maintain class
035size ratios. That's the last thing we want to want to cut. We've gone, you know, when we went through cuts last year, we maintained those class sizes. So, we that's, like I said, that's the last thing we want them to cut. This year, we're going to ask them to do a level three, which is 100% of, you know, we talked about that of the prior year program, and then a 98% and a 99%. And if they've already made cuts in the last couple of years where we've been looking at phasing out of those er funds, then they won't do the 98, they'll just do the 99. So essentially, they'll do a level one, but it'll look just like level two for those to for those uh budgets that have already been been cut at least
036once in the in the past. Um if an an expansion packet is requested and we are allowing those, but um hopefully they'll be able to offset them with reductions in another area at at the same level. So if high school wants to I'm not gonna speculate. If high school wants to add something here, maybe they would cut something here to offset it. That's what we're asking them to do. It's not required, but it is it is an ask. Um we want them to prepare impacts on their program narrative when they're writing about if we have to cut this item, what will the impact be? We want them to link those back to the district mission and priorities. Um so you can see what's directly being affected. We are going to and then that's for the
037those are the instructions for the 19 committees and then when we get together at that that budget committee le level on that one day in March and go through theirs we're going to prioritize that. So if we're if we're not funding everything and I can't imagine we will be based on what we've kind of heard coming out of here. We're going to ask that f within 500,000 of the what's funded and what's not funded. We prioritize those. So if the board wants to move the re, you know, the the funding line one way or the other, you can see what are kind of the highest priorities one way or the other of that. And uh then we want uh we want to come out of that Thursday meeting with uh everything being aligned with our
038five-year plan. Our five-year plan looks pretty good right now. And so we want to be within that. And if we have to if we have to prepare a revenue option to to fit within that, we would maybe we would look at doing it that day, too. So, that's pretty much it uh in a nutshell. Like I said, we're just kicking off the process tonight. And uh I would uh ask that you approve the budget timeline guidelines, and I'll be here when you're done if you want to ask me some questions. Thanks. >> Hold tight. Uh, can I get a motion to approve the budget timeline? >> So moved. >> Guidelines and timeline. >> Second. Questions, observations. Um, I have one for the benefit of the kids since they are here. This is one of the
039most important meetings that you're at uh for the evening. Um, well really of our agenda items for the year. um because our revenue to fund education comes in from state, local, and federal dollars. And what we do with that is create um well, we have a strategic plan for the district. And that primarily functions around academic growth for you all and pay for the teachers that are the biggest influence in driving that academic growth. So with that um we put together a budget and there's all sorts of other important pieces too to maintaining the building. Um but we um we need to have a strategic plan that measures um those outcomes. And there's a lot of touch points and a lot of people that weigh in on what that budget looks like to allow you
040to go out into the world and make all the difference that you're going to make. Um so I'm glad you're getting to see this tonight. >> Pretty fired up, aren't you? [laughter] Well, I tell you what, if we don't have a way to fund our strategic plan, public education's not going to work, right? >> And you all represent well over 85% of all the students in the Sou Falls School District that attend public school. You're our future. Um, public education across the state is our future. and we're glad they're school choice, but well over 90% of South Dotans are public school educated. And so when we support you, we support our future. And we're really proud of you. Um we're proud of our teachers and we're proud of our administrators. We have a lot to
041um really celebrate. And as we're moving into Thanksgiving, it's a really um timely time to do that. I'm not being corny. [laughter] No pie in the sky stuff. >> Oh, well said. >> Uh Todd, you mentioned there are 19 cost center committees and about 150 people involved in the process. >> Yeah. >> So, if there's a community member that wants to be on a committee, what how do they go about that? >> Uh that's a good question. They could uh they could just contact the business office or just send it through let's talk um just saying they're interested and we would get them on a committee for sure. Todd, when's the last time you've gotten the fan group together? >> It's been a while. It was 2019 and we were going to do it this
042last summer, but since [clears throat] we ended up changing superintendent, we decided we'd wait and do it probably this next summer. >> Okay. Thank you, Todd. All in favor say I. >> I. opposed. We have approved the budget guidelines and timeline. At this point, we will have Becky come up and we are now moving into um public hearing, but we will do that after you have a chance to explain what we will open our public meeting on. The public hearing is the application waiverss from administrative rules. Um, go ahead, Mrs. Dorman. >> Thank you. Um, yes, this evening I am here um because I'm required by law to be here um to hold a public hearing um to request your permission to apply for an administrative rule. And the particular administrative rule has to do
043with um the eligibility for reciprocity for our international educators. Um the South Dakota Department of Ed has uh specific rules when it comes to teacher licensing for people from other countries. Um and in the situation that we find ourselves in at this point is um the administrative rule requires that a teacher have a teaching license in their home country. we run into a problem because many um international teachers come from countries that do not have teacher licensing agencies. It's their college degree, their college diploma that allows them to be a teacher. Um so that is part of the request of the waiver that we need to make. And then the second part would be um in the current administrative rule it states that the international educator must have at least three years of experience um
044in order to get a reciprocity for a license here in South Dakota. Um the particular individual that we are working with has two years of teaching experience plus one year as one of our AMD interns from years back. So that's a really nice bonus. So um that is my request for this evening um is for you to uh acknowledge the public hearing and provide per permission for me to move forward with this process. Okay, thank you. Hold tight here. We are now going to open the public hearing. Is there anybody that would like to address the board on this topic? Okay, we will close the public hearing. Um, could I get a motion by the board to approve the application waiverss of administrative rule? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor?
045I I opposed. >> Thank you. That passes. I would now like to get a motion to move into executive session by South Dakota codified law 1-25-2 subsection 2. >> I would move that that we first go into recess until 6:15 and at that time when we reconvene we'll move into our executive session. >> Can I have a second? Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? I opposed. Thank you. We will return for this evening. Thank you.