Hudson Schools - February 9, 2026 - Regular School Board Meeting

001Tonight We'll start with the uh citizens request to speak about non-aggenda items. And since uh we have looks like eight, we'll just read all of them tonight. So you don't have to wait until the topic comes up. But we can just start with uh Kathy Roberts. >> So I just have a very short little paragraph. Um and I want to there at the end I just have two questions. Okay. And I will come back. I'm coming back next month because I want to talk about another subject. But tonight I've been thinking about community and how important it is for community especially with what's going on. So when I first start my name is Kathy Roberts. I have been a teacher at North Hudson and Willow River. when Willow River went from the fourth street school

002and then we combined and bought we bust people in from the t around that had been to other schools. So, uh we took over the middle school and I have to say this isn't in my notes, but it was a life-changing experience for me to be in this amazing school with a staff that was so committed to taking care of these kids. And uh it was a new school because the old the first street was going to be torn down. So um I I feel like we built a community and the social studies curriculum when I got thinking about communities had a unit on neighborhoods and building community. And that is what I'm thinking about now as two schools are losing their community and we're going to have to rebuild in four new schools. And

003it gives me a heartache to think that we got to figure out how to take care of these kids. We're dealing with kids that need help. Not just I mean I'm saying in this whole world that right now we're doing because they're afraid. And so I this isn't in my notes and I should have started I should have read my notes because my husband would say you're off the subject Kathy which I am I do tend to ramble but uh the staff and the parents of that school were so amazing that it was a life-changing experience for me to be there and I'm I'm just wondering as a board and as a community how are we going to step up and and get make these schools function where and work and I know the principles.

004I know a lot of the principles and I think they'll do their best, but we got to think ahead and know how to take care of these kids. Okay. So, that's my background. Um, I just I just want to make it a good transition as as I feel like we did in 1989 or 90 whatever year it was we came. So, um my one of my questions is number one is how much is the busing going to add to your uh budget? Okay, if they're you're doing more busing, obviously it's got to it's got to happen. And number two, uh how can we make this community and step up and help these this transition? And I'm not talking about just the teachers. I'm talking I'm talking about parents. I'm talking about other people, you know,

005older people that want to help take care of these kids. That's all my That's all I'm wondering about. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Kathy. >> Oh, yeah. We should try and keep uh we usually do two minutes um for comments. Um uh Andrea Schneider Hi, my name is Andrea Schneider. I live in Holton, Wisconsin. We've lived there for 33 years, I think, something like that. Um, we've had uh kids in the Holton Elementary. We lived six years abroad and then we came back when we had two graduate. Actually, we had a exchange student that also kind of went to graduation in 2013 and our la youngest graduated in 2018. So um talking we'll be talking about this the closing or primarily the sale about uh Holton Elementary. So on October 8 the vote was

006to close November 9 uh 10th which was the next uh meeting Brian Zeller came and presented and there's people in Stillwater that have gone through the process of their school being sold and then opened up up again uh building a new school. Those people that left didn't go back. They made other choices. that means that school district lost people because of the choices the district made. They didn't come back. Um so Franella presented that one can go into closed session and stalk strategies and suddenly in January there is this idea that okay what do we do if there is um um unsolicited uh offers coming out? Well, probably realtors out there saw the uh Jan uh the November meeting and said, "Hey, we'll put something forward." So, now here we have February 9th and we

007have an unsolicited offer or talk about that. Going to jump to the U uh property bought in 1959, 23 acres, 2001, 87 acres. In 2013, that property was still considered to be used for something. In the meantime, it was always be we use it for this or for that. 2013, let's use it for I think a six, seven grade or something like that. We're growing. We're go we're building more. We have 2025. The smaller portion you're saying you're going to hold on because maybe it raises in the price. 10 years after 2013, you're still holding on to that property. And yet, why are you rushing to look into the sale of 14 acres of Holton and not giving that community time to figure something out more than just selling it? Thank you. >> Thank you,

008Andrea. Next up is Amy Walsh. [clears throat] >> Hi, my name is Amy Walsh. I'm uh part of a community group that of parents and educators that is in the early planning stages of creating a charter school. Um the model of it will be based on the Finnish education system really focused on outdoor education and experiential learning. Um I'm here tonight to request um that the Hudson School District consider partnering with us as an indister. I know that you are facing a lot of financial challenges and enrollment challenges, but I think that this could be mutually beneficial in attracting students from other districts in um attracting people who have not been well served by the traditional school system. Um and so I have two requests. One to have us added formally to the agenda for

009you to consider that and two that you defer accepting any offers on Holton School until you have taken the time to thoroughly consider this. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Daniel Samson. At the December 15th meeting, the board established guiding principles for the reboundary process. These principles reflected what you valued as a group. um they were meant to provide clarity, transparency, and shared expectations for how the options would be evaluated by the board. You define transportation's guiding principle as minimizing time on the bus, using logical and safe group stops, and ensuring efficiency with both time and dollars. To the community's knowledge, there have been there has not been any measurable transportation analysis for each of the boundary options. If transportation impacts can be modeled with routing software, these comparisons should be done across the options,

010it would be feasible and align with your own stated priorities. If it's more complex than that, then the complexity is exactly why it should be measured before selecting a boundary and hoping that the outcome works. I was told by the superintendent that the board doesn't have to vote tonight if more time is needed to make a sound decision. I recognize there's pressure um with a timeline in this transition, but pressure should not determine an outcome. Boundary selection will set the trajectory for every operational decision that follows it. It's the most consequential step in the process right now. If this with the significant financial investment into MGT's analysis and the desire for these boundaries to last 10 to 12 years, taking the time to get this right matters. I've spoken to the issue of transportation, but

011there are other known unknowns as well. You may believe it's permissible to vote tonight, but is it beneficial? Is it constructive? Will it be accurate? Or is it simply expedient? I respectfully ask that you do not allow this to be a deadline driven decision over a fully informed one, and that these impacts be clearly measured, compared, and shared before a final decision is made. Thank you. >> Thank you, Danielle. Rob Barby. >> Good evening. My name is Rob Barby and um want to thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. I live at 350 Bear Drive in Hudson Township and I've emailed you all previously and want to thank you for the responses. My competence is regard to the school boundary options. I can't speak for others, but in my situation only, there's still options

012that don't extend to the end of roads on a couple of the options, the blue and the purple option specifically, and they stop at my neighbor's house. Um, I'm hoping we can maybe um extend that to the end of roads and streets um as part of the options uh and being addressed um rather than the middle of the road. Thank you. >> Thank you, Rob. Uh Jeannie Castro Hi, my name is Jeannie Castro and I reside at 1806 Willow Drive. As a candidate for school board, I've done my research and spoken with parents, teachers, and listen to kids. By definition, the school board members make decisions about curriculum, school buildings, and annual budgets by consulting with parents, teachers, and the superintendent. One parent I spoke to said they didn't want another levy and were concerned

013by selling Holton and [clears throat] Willow and that would happen. A grandparent in the district said the safety of the students would be at risk if the school buildings were for sale. Another parent is concerned about 4K not fitting into the schools in this four school district program. They would like to see comparisons of the amount of money it would take to keep the schools versus the amount to build a new school. Another community member voiced a negative opinion about having condos in their vintage neighborhood uh and it would be better served as a community center. Board member Aaron said it was best that we need to get the opinions of our parents, teachers, and students before we make decisions to sell our school or schools. Board members are entrusted with making sound decisions based

014on the concerns and ideas of parents, teachers, and students of our community. They are entrusted with this responsibility. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jean. Next, Haley Smith. >> Thank you for letting me speak. My name's Haley. Um, I have four kids in elementary school this year and I will next year as well. So, I have a lot of personal investment in the boundary lines. Um, there are many areas I noted east of exit 4 that have a lot of student decline over the next few years. So, I would like you to consider making um County Road N as a boundary line between um Hudson Prairie and Riverest. Um the blue option, the green or blue shows um that as a boundary line, but the blue option also shows better numbers for capacity for all the

015schools now and in the years coming. Um, so yeah, I'd like to thank you for this time and your consideration of that. Um, and I excuse me if this isn't allowed, but Mrs. Roberts was my second grade teacher when I had to move from EP Rock to Willow River. And I feel like this is just God putting her here where she did an excellent job transitioning her students to a new school. So, thank you, Mrs. Roberts. >> [applause] >> Jan Gavin. [clears throat] >> Good evening. I'm Jan Gavin and I am a resident of the Hudson School District and I am here on behalf of our community. I'm a community member and a taxpayer. And I'd just like to remind you that when you do sell the buildings, if that's what you're going to do,

016that you do it in a very professional way, that you get some market analysis, that you consider um, you know, the proper way to go about that. that you open it up to the all kinds of people who may have an interest in buying that property before you even consider or another person coming with an unsolicited offer. You owe it to all of us who have paid taxes all these years to get the very best price that you can. And so you need to slow down, I believe, and take your time and do it right. Secondly, with the boundary redraws, is there a consideration for fifth grade kids to be able to stay in their current school? I think this is really important for them. If they could stay in their school next year, they'll

017be in the middle school. How fair is it to have them move as fifth graders and move as sixth graders? I just think that's really in a way cruel to them. So, if that's a possibility or at least if boundary exceptions were allowed for those families who feel that their student needs to stay in their current building. Um, that's it. Thank you so much for your time. >> Thank you, Jan. That brings section to a close and we will move on to reports. Uh, we'll start with the the 2024 2025 audit report executive summary. So this is Jonathan Sherwood. He is from Clifton Larson and he's going to give you a summary of our um recent audit from last fiscal year. >> Thank you for having me again. Yeah, my name is Jonathan Sherwood. I'm

018a principal with Clifton Larson Allen. Uh my responsibilities is taking responsibility essentially of the entire uh 82page audit report that we issue, making sure all the facts, figures, disclosures are all within Gazsby standards. um and then obviously help coordinating field work uh throughout the entire auditing process. So, I want to thank you for having me here this evening and definitely want to thank the finance department, Bonnie, the rest of your staff, as well as all the various department heads that we interact with throughout the course of our audit. Um there was obviously some turnover in your finance department this year. Uh and working through that can always be a challenge. Uh but we're very happy to report that there was essentially no change in the overall process. just a few hiccups along the way that

019we had to work through on some administrative details. So, the facts and figures and the basically the content of my report isn't going to be very much changed from years past if you've heard my spiel in the past. So, again, just want to thank you all uh for all of your efforts and the additional work that preparing for and completing an audit can uh can cause at times. Um, so just to dive into again, I'm going to focus all my comments on a two-page audit summary here in notations, spare you the details of the 82 full page uh, audit report. U, but I do encourage you if there is any specific follow-up questions, um, I can definitely I have it here in front of me. Uh, but there is some definitely good good things in

020there as well. So, u, to start off here, uh, the first item I'll go over is just some administrative things here. Number one is being our our auditor's report or the audit opinion. So, out of again the 82page audit report, the only thing that CLA technically owns quote unquote within this is our auditor's opinion. It's our third party independent auditor opinion over the again the amounts and disclosures within. We we we issue what's known as an unmodified also known as a clean opinion. Basically means that these uh audited numbers can be readily relied upon to make any financial decisions. So it's free of material misstatements or any other types of errors that we're we're placing over our opinion over these financial statements. Our audit is conducted with the government accounting uh government accounting and auditing

021standards as well as we're making sure that all of again the form and content is in in accordance with uh with the Gazsby accounting standards. Um, as part of our audit, we also issue what's known as a management letter. Um, that takes a look at the entire internal control structure of the district. And if there's any items in there that would be raising to to a level that we would need to bring them up at a meeting such as this, it would be all included in the management letter. Um out of the 50 plus uh school districts that we CLA does here in you know west central Wisconsin ge uh geography uh the vast majority of them have at least two possibly three different findings that are usually talked about at this part of a

022presentation. Happy to report that due to the measures that you've taken as a district there are actually no findings that we need to actually disclose to you. >> Mr. President, sorry >> could you just explain what internal controls are? I have a pretty good idea like the processes and stuff, but I it would be helpful >> in in you know uh more plain nomen culture for most people. It's just just exactly what you're saying. It's your your policies and procedures, cash handling policies, uh capital asset purchases, um all all the the the various aspects of your accounting system as well in terms of making sure that you have proper approvals for things. things go through a number of layer a few layers of approval before the actual purchases get made. On the other side of

023things, it's also making sure that like bank statements are reconciled on time and if there's any questions or any any lingering issues there that they're resolved, you know, prior to your auditor coming in the door saying, you know, why is this not looking, you know, how it should? That help? >> Yeah. [snorts] >> Um, so again, management letter comments, we have nothing here uh further to discuss for you. Um, and then also part of our audit, uh, the school district receives federal and state funding. And as certain amounts, uh, of those specific, you know, funding sources come in, it triggers what's known as a federal single audit or a state single audit. So, you are obviously uh, triggering those and it's it's known as a compliance audit. So, it's over specific federal programs and state

024programs. Um so we are required uh by accounting standards to take a look at a few of those programs and again happy to report there is no compliance issues to report on on any of the projects that uh or programs that we took that we audited during our time. Also as part of our uh work with the district we also make sure that any DPI filings are done in a timely manner. Um so the 1506 AC annual report and the various reporting by the district is all in compliance with DPI. um as well as then the last final reporting that we have to do to the federal government is a federal um data collection form to make sure all those federal funds are reported back appropriately. All of that um lovely state and federal reporting

025has been made back to those various agencies. Uh to dive into here uh item number two is just your your general fund. Um and when I speak to general funds, this includes both fund 10 and your fund 27 special education. All of these numbers are all rolled into one here for you um underneath this item number two. So, looking at this, this is a balance sheet uh snap- in time as of 6:30, various year ends here. Um it's a five-year summary, and I use this as just a a place that if there's any items that are really jumping off the page, it usually um is good jumping off point here to make a few commentary for you. Within your balance sheet, there really isn't a ton there that's, you know, um too much of a

026variance from one year to the another to another. Um, so instantly I can jump down to those three highlighted rows there for you. Um, one being a component of your balance sheet or of your I'm sorry of your fund balance. Your fund balance is again your reserves that are used to meet uh future obligations. Um, so you've got your fund balance section as opposed to your um total expenditures for the year and we calculate what's known as a percent of unassigned fund balance to general fund expenditures. basically in your reserves that are not earmarked or set aside or restricted for any other use. They are strictly meant to use uh for any subsequent uh fiscal periods or any subsequent uses that are not restricted by any other u sources. So the unassigned um the percentage

027of unassigned fund balance is a good general measuring stick so to speak. So you can compare how is the school district of Hudson doing, how do we compare to another district within our area. Um, and then that you do have a uh uh district policy that's laid out of what your minimum fund balance policy or minimum fund balance ratio should be. The fund balance policy for the district is anywhere between 25 and 30%. And from an outside independent auditor perspective, we usually recommend districts to be at a minimum 25 to 33% of unassigned fund balance. Um, so essentially that's how much of your your district operations could you fund strictly out of your unassigned needs. You know, anywhere from, you know, about three months out of the year before you take in any any other

028additional monies from subsequent tax years or state federal sources. Um, so one of the the benefits of having a um fiscally healthy fund balance as you're seeing in the 2025 column, you're currently at 44.4%. So, one of the uh the benefit or there's a a multitude of different reasons of why you would want to strive for that type of goal for you. Number one is to address the cash flow needs of the the district. Obviously, when you have property tax collections that are concentrated into, you know, specific uh periods of time of the year, um there's different times where you're you're a little bit more cash strapped, for a lack of a better way of saying it. Um, obviously with you have with with a fiscally healthy fund balance as you have, you completely avoid

029short-term borrowing, which is a very real scenario that a lot of districts in the area actually have to do. So, you obviously reduce any interest expense there. Obviously, then it it does allow you to meet any any unanticipated funding fluctuations throughout the year. Um, dealing with any other state um budget type questions that aren't really necessarily settled. you can have those internal uh discussions here set forth for you as well. Um then lastly, one of the uh bigger benefits is it does also allow you to have some beneficial borrowing terms if you would ever have to get to that that level. Um improved credit ratings obviously leads to uh reduced borrowing cost at that point. Um and then lastly is more or less a self- financing option for any capital projects. So you wouldn't obviously

030you could completely avoid some uh borrowing needs because you could self- finance some of those discussions. So overall um you for the general fund and the general health of the school district of Hudson here, you're fiscally healthy. Um there would be no major red flags or concerns from an audit perspective over your 2025 uh fiscal results. Any questions on the general fund before I dive into some of the other items here for you? >> I have a quick question. um how does when we are um levying for capital campaigns, how does that play into cash and investments and just the fluctuation that you see over the years in there? >> Um so there's a there's a couple of different ways that you're going to have uh capital projects. Um one will be an item here

031on page two which you'd specifically borrow for and all of those capital expenditures are are recorded specifically in a capital projects fund. um other items that are outside the scope of like a referendum dollars. Other other those you know repair and maintenance and those types of things are usually budgeted for directly in your uh general fund in fund 10. Um and then it's either done essentially it's which pot of money which funding source is going to you know essentially pay for those types of items. So some of those would be supported by a grant which is kind of falling out of favor in recent years um just because some of that that federal money is no longer available think ARPA dollars or some of those COVID funding. Um otherwise it's going to be you know

032th those fund 10 expenditures are primarily funded and financed with direct levy dollars versus in your capital projects funds which I'll you know go into a little bit further detail here in a minute. Those are all referendum dollars which is long-term borrowings. >> Gotcha. Sorry to jump the gun. >> No, that's [laughter] right. on the next page. >> It sets me up well. >> Ryan, >> thanks. >> Thank you. Um I've got a question. I don't know if it would be you or Bonnie, but um looking at the unassigned fund balance, it it grew um between the end of uh fiscal year 24 and fiscal year 25. And I'm just curious kind of what's what's the driver of that? >> Well, I can add some color and then if I need I can tag tag

033Bonnie in here as well for us. So, the the overall budget for 2025 um you obviously we have an adopted budget here um and without going too much into the weeds if exactly um you know further complicating some of the the full-on disclosure. Bonnie can help me out here in a minute too. Um the 2025 budget was adopted to have a a purpose purposeful spend down. So, we were going to intentionally spend down some some fund balance in total. So, the line that I'll actually direct your attention to is the committed long-term facilities plan. You came into the year at about $15 million and there was a, you know, a very conscious spend down of those dollar amounts to help finish off the various projects around here. Referendum supported as well. So, that's why that

034number specifically did decrease as much as it did. And then kind of the offset is we freed up some of those resources. You can think of it in that way. we freed up some of those assigned dollar amounts that we said we were going to have this set aside for it. Um, and that's where obviously a lot of that that funding then went away from. And then obviously in your unassigned line then just you know how the equation essentially works that uh the unassigned fund balance actually increased because we were using some of those other restricted sources or assigned sources previously. Does that help find any other cont for you? All right, perfect. [snorts] Um then to direct my attention um on to page two for us. Item number three are your special revenue funds.

035A special revenue fund basically means that there's restricted revenue sources that you know thou shalt revenue uh must be used for these specific purposes. Um so your education trust that's your scholarships, your gifts, your donations, those are donor restrictions must be used for those purposes. uh your food service fund or fund 50 obviously any resources in there are uh meant to uh run the food service program and then lastly is your education and recreation fund um so those are your fund 80s so between a special revenue fund the only com comments that I normally make from an audit perspective is are we seeing a significant decline in resources that just means that your your revenues that you're bringing in there your charges for service aren't meeting what your revenue or your expenditures are so my

036normal comment is if I see that trend, you need to increase your prices and or decrease your expenses. Those are, you know, the only really two levers that you can pull uh in your special revenue funds. Um you can see here in 24 and 25 your overall funding levels is is pretty steady. I would consider it steady there. Um so there really isn't many uh commentary I'll add for you on your special revenue funds. Uh in your debt service fund, item number four, uh Gazsby requires all principal and interest payments to be reported uh separately in a debt service fund. Um at the end of the year, you have just over 8.3 million in, you know, set aides or reserves, which will be used to meet uh future principal and interest payments. Again, due to

037kind of the the levy of when those debt service payments are due versus when the payments are made, we have a carryover from one year to the next. Uh during 2025, the district paid just over $5 million in principal and just over $3.1 million in interest during the year. Item number five are your capital projects funds. There's two different capital projects funds that we um that we track and report on. Uh the first being the site expansion remodel capital project fund. Uh that uh Miss Powers, you were descri describing your referendum dollars. So that's where all of that capital project uh activity is going to be recorded. And you can clearly see that, you know, in 2023 is when the big referendum hits and [clears throat] the big borrowing hits and then through 2025 we're

038having a spendown. Um and basically in 2025 and now obviously a little bit of carryover yet in 2026. Um that entire project should hopefully in my in my eyes be completely closed out um and just save us a little bit of reporting on on going forward. Um but obviously all of the um referendum activity was reported in that standalone fund 49. Uh the other long-term capital projects fund has been just funded through various years. Um that's a DPI requirement just to basically like fund that in order to use that as a budgetary or a levy mechanism. Um which the the district has not chosen to use at this point. Um again it's DPI um requirements that go in there and it basically starts a time clock of when you can actually fund it. Uh and

039it has some adv advantages and disadvantages when it comes to um aidable costs for the district. >> Can I just interject on that one? So we started it's called fund 46. We started it I don't know five six years ago. We don't typically use fund 46 because we're a negatively aided district when it comes to tertiary aid. And so what it does allow districts that aren't negatively aided is they put instead of building up their fund balance, they put it into fund 46. So then what ends up happening is they actually get aid on it. Um so the state gives them money to put in and then when they do spend it, they can spend it on capital projects and things like that. For us, for every dollar we put in there, uh cost us

040a$120 in state aid. So we don't put money in there. Uh that's why we don't really use fund 46. We put a thousand dollars in there about six years ago just to get the clock going like a Roth IRA kind of thing. Um but uh that's why other districts you might see with much smaller fund balances and much higher fund 46. That's that's the difference between us and them to give you a little kind of backstory over the last six years. Item number six then for you is your long-term obligations. This is all of the long-term debt and obligations set aside that you know in its entirety. Um, the state of Wisconsin has a statute that states that districts can only use about 10% of all equalized value within the school district boundaries. For a

041school district, it is very very uh unlikely that you would ever even repo approach the state's uh statute limitation. Um, typically most districts when I would consider them highly leveraged or have a lot of debt out there, it's usually directly after a long or a large issuance or for a referendum, somewhere between the 40 to 50% um limit is when you're going to really start saying, okay, you've got a lot of debt out there. Clearly, you have a capital project out there. Um, and now it's going to take a number of years to start paying off that debt and freeing up some of that capacity. So, with you're sitting here at just about 10.6% 6% of um of your limit being used. You do have the um the ability I mean you do have some

042leverage capability there for you. So some debt issuance is is potential there in order to still consider you underleveraged or you know not extending yourselves too too long there. Um in terms of the the debt that is outstanding um you've got um what is this about um $6.8 million that's going to start falling off through 2027. That's, I believe, two separate debt issuances there. You've got one debt issuance that's good through 2036. The total outstanding debt on that's about 52 million. Um, and then the the longest debt out there is going to it's good through 2043 and there is about $19.8 million left on that outstanding bond. Um, without getting too much into the weeds, I know my comments went here a little bit longer than they normally do. Um, in that other long-term obligation

043debt section, there are a couple of numbers that are going to kind of swing one way or the other. Just know for for discussion purposes that that's not necessarily real dollars that you have to pay out on an annual budgetary basis. Those are accounting transactions that due to hey, you're involved with the WRS system or you have OPED liabilities that aren't funded through the trust. Um, those are all verified, you know, balances within your audit report. There's seven, nine, 10 pages of your note disclosures that can give you a lot more detail there if you have any specific questions. Um, and then the other specific one that is going to change drastically in the 2025 column is your compensated absences, your policies, handbooks, nothing changed. All that changed was your auditor said, "Hey, GASV 101

044is it was a new standard or new statement that came out and required us to measure things a little bit differently than we have in the past." So that's why specifically that line has increased. So, we can blame Gazby on that one. Um, at that point, I'm happy to answer or address any other questions you might have. Otherwise, that's all I have for you. >> Mr. President, I just want to say thank you for coming and speaking about this. And huge thank you to Bonnie and her team who you're rock stars. I mean, these unmodified audits year after year. Thank you for everything that you do. Okay. Nothing else. Thank you very much. Appreciate you. Appreciate it. Uh, next up on the agenda is community engagement and high school business classes. And that's Shannon. >>

045That's me. Yeah. So, we've got some high school staff members here to talk about um the cool things that they're doing at the high school level to engage community members in their business classes. I'll let them introduce themselves before they give us their presentation. >> Just want to press the button on the thing. Thank you. >> Sure. My name is Carrie Hence. I'm a business teacher at Hudson High School. And Ashley Blum is next to me. She is also a business teacher. Um, and we're here to share the ways that we connect our students with business and community partnerships between um our classroom, field trips, guest speakers, and different projects that we run throughout our our school. Um, so in our department, there's actually four of us. uh we are were the first there and

046then we added Brett Weinford and Emily Somerfeld. Um together we offer a variety of classes to students ranging in many business topics and a lot of the classes that we offer are dual credit through Northwood Tech. So our students earn credit with us and then also at the technical college as well that they can roll over um wherever they plan on pursuing their future education. So as far as our uh business courses go, we have a variety of marketing uh business and technology courses. So students are able to um throughout the courses look at different career paths and um see opportunities that are out there for them within their future. So on the left hand side of the slide here, uh this is a bulleted list of examples of guest speakers that we've brought in

047to um share information with our students about careers across graphic design, um across uh being a franchise owner of a business, sports and entertainment industry. Um in the entrepreneurship course uh this school year we have four sections of entrepreneurship and students um actually move through creating a business plan and we bring in um a variety of guest speakers. We also run a roundt opportunity where students after writing their business plan they can share their ideas and um the business person at the round table can provide feedback and information. So it's this idea of connecting students to real world um business and industry professionals and giving them an opportunity to um seek feedback and um gain inspiration from community members throughout entrepreneurship. We also uh take part in reading the bookfish which is based out of

048um Seattle and it's a story of um a business that is actually um running their organization in a way that other businesses and companies um really see as a model. So the students read the book and then we bring in Wisconsin Credit Union which is a local business that also uses that same philosophy to um train employees and create just a workplace that people want to be a part of and experience um fun and um this idea of being present and having having fun and enjoying what you do on on the job. So the students read the book and then we take part in a fish toss and um just connect with the uh the business the business professionals. Uh in digital marketing uh currently we have two se three sections of digital marketing this

049semester and this is an opportunity for students to um learn about marketing strategies and connect back to local businesses. So, um we're working through projects where students create advertisements and they actually share out the advertisements with local business people um receive feedback. Um projects also include like redesigning or recreating menus for restaurants. So, it's this idea of connecting students in the collaboration piece where they receive um feedback, but also it's realworld projects and it just brings that true um like accountability and and relevance to their learning. Within the school store, we have um a retail the Raider school store um course and then we also have a service-based course which is the common grounds and students again um it's this idea of strengthening the the tie with service projects and um gaining that real world

050professional experience through um through projects. So on the left hand side uh you can see an image of a student holding up her design. So this is her um her project that really came to life through a service project and in this case she designed um had to uh basically sell her ideas to the students and the students voted on yes let's move forward with this servicebased project. Um that product was sold in the school store and proceeds went back to a nonprofit organization. So um the real world project based uh is really our focus within the the store classes and the roundt conversations as I mentioned earlier uh with entrepreneurship and with some of our business courses it's um providing that opportunity for business individuals to come into our classroom and um and network

051with our students and pro provide that valuable feedback. So um as mentioned it it provides students with an opportunity to share ideas and develop their skills in communication. Um opportunities for business professionals in our community to connect with our students in the business classes to um really provide those those really great meaningful experiences. This is another photo of how this round table all all plays out. The test drive is an event that we have um have run through two different times within um the last couple of school years. So students in personal finance uh they move through a reality uh experience where they uh choose a career and they're provided with industry averages for income and then they move through stations. And um last last year when we ran this event, we had over 200

052students involved in the um experience and we had over 80 business volunteers that came in and the students moved through the stations and again were able to make decisions and um see how their decisions really impacted their bottom line um and move through the uh the whole experience through a 90-minute simulation. So it was um meant to be a real life scenario where they could see okay what does how expensive is life and uh and move through and and make decisions based on that through the reality fair. This is something that we are going to run again in May. Um it'll happen the third week in May. So you'll see um information about that in the future and then a request if anyone is interested in joining us. I just have to add, shouldn't that

053be a requirement? I would like to see it be a requirement, [laughter] >> the test drive. >> Yes. >> Well, the good news is that personal finance is now required. So, um, between personal finance and economics, we will pull um >> everyone involved in personal finance throughout the school year. So, yeah. Um, and then the last piece I will share before I hand it over to um to Ashley here is is beyond the classroom, it's field trips. So, um, last spring the digital marketing class visited Fallon Advertising in downtown Minneapolis. And, um, throughout the semester, we learn about, um, principles of Divi design and we learn about careers within digital marketing to actually take them out of the classroom and experience a tour of an ad agency and learn about how companies take um, uh,

054client work or really um, requests and turn it into real projects. and advertisements that they actually see. Um it it's pretty powerful. So um this idea that it opens up their eyes to career paths connects what they learn in the classroom um just to gain the the broader perspective. So uh we also took a field trip to the business and innovation center. Um, and this was an opportunity for students in um, business courses to learn about opportunities in our community that are available for students interested in entrepreneurship and starting their own business. Um, within that field trip, we it was a half-day field trip and we um, were able to bring the students in two different school buses to the business and innovation center, Striker Brands um, and then Buddy's Bakery last spring. So, we

055were able to hear from um a bigger business company and then also small local companies. And then um the other thing that we really like to think about is how can we connect what we're teaching in class with our students to what's happening in the real world. And we were coming up with this idea of what can we do to get more community involvement? And that's where Young Minds Experience Voices has come kind of to fruition. Um so we ran it for two years now. We'll run it again this um this summer or the end of the school year. And the idea behind it is to bring in community members that are connected with what our students are learning about in the classroom as a way to help them kind of solidify and kind of

056comprehend how what we teach in the classroom directly relates to what they're learning um in the business world. And um from the pictures here, you can see we have all of our students in our classes listening to these speakers come in and kind of share about their experiences and really kind of help connect that information back. And then I think if you go to the next slide, we've got one quote here from a student um talking about what her big takeaway was. We have lots of different businesses come in. We have nonprofits like Coco's Heart. We have franchises. We've had lots of um small businesses come in. I'm trying to think without like those are the >> Yeah. Okay. And then um if you go on to our next slide, this is another way that

057we connect back with the community. So we have a DECA chapter. As you can see, it's been growing since 2023. We have increased membership up to 80%. U Brett Weinford and Emily Summerrfeld do a great job with that. They have some of their highlights from their competitions. So just last month they went to districts and they did fantastic. They had 28 students that were able to qualify for state and then in the end of this month they're going to be traveling to Lake Geneva to compete there. Um but they also do trick or trick or can so they collect um goods to give to the community. We kind of tie that in with stuff a trunk. Um and then if we go on to the our last slide um this was a student we pulled

058last year and we just said hey let us know about this young minds experience voices like what does it mean for you? I'm not going to read the whole thing because you did a fantastic job um writing that there, but it really helped us solidify and understand why it's so important that as a business department, we provide these opportunities for students to hear from community members and really help them see that connection. >> Mr. President, >> um first I wanted to say thank you to both of you for a great presentation and for all that you do for our students. Um, I've seen a few of these things in action at the high school and you guys do a really great job. Um, the the test drive that is a fun event. Uh, I've seen

059it firsthand and it's invaluable. Um, it's really tangible kind of stuff the kids have to wrestle with. So, as much as you can keep that alive, it's a great partnership with the Royal Credit Union. Um, and this summer we took a family vacation to Seattle and we saw the Pike Place Fish Market. So, it's kind of cool to see the connect back here and what you guys are doing. They truly are like people who are having fun in their business and kind of bringing joy not only to each other but to the patrons that they serve and it's just it's it's a fun it's a fun business to watch. So thank you for highlighting that for our students. >> Absolutely. >> Mr. President, >> this is an amazing program. Every time a group of teachers

060come in, I'm like, "Wow, it it I'm just always so impressed at the high level of learning and teaching and engagement that you are getting and you're doing." Um, I always say, especially when Leslie Blisscart, whichever her name is, >> thank you. Um, I'm like, I want to be in high school again because it's amazing. Um, the one thing I So, I am a spouse of an accountant, a CPA. So there you go. I would say when he retires, I'm going to take the CPA exam. Um, one thing that I'm just a little thinking ahead and I know their concerns in that in that field is getting people to go into accounting and finance and we had talked years ago about because we had the STEM academy and healthcare. Do we need a business academy?

061And it seems like we're doing everything and opening it up to every student. But I'm wondering if there's number one if there's more we can do to with finance and accounting and then the follow through of what do you see when kids are really pumped up and they're in DECA and they're doing all these cool things. What do you see do you see like they're very well prepared for college life and a business major and that kind of thing? Like what are your what are your thoughts on those two different things? If you have have a comment. I'll let you jump in with the accounting question and I'll >> Thank you for letting me go first. I really appreciate that. >> Um I happen to primarily be the person who teaches accounting. It's something I'm

062very passionate about and it's really exciting for me when I have those kids that are super excited. Um I'm I'm happy to say that this year is the first year here at Hudson that we are actually running financial accounting 1B as a legit class where students are there. They are my one like I am there to help them directly. I wish it was something that grew more, but if we could just get those like bean counters to come join me, that would be awesome. >> Yeah. I I was wondering that as well. It's like there's so many different I mean we're such a bedroom community and it's great that we have all these local businesses that are super cool and many different sizes but can we get people who are like commuters you know and

063they work at you know a Fortune 500 company because there it's just the opportunities are >> different you know >> but I mean love what you're doing >> we were fortunate um last year we had Target come and speak um who else we had someone else I So we are getting a few people from Minnesota from the larger communities to come in. Um but definitely accounting is an area that we are going to need people to fill and connecting that with students is kind of the struggle right now. A lot of students take the first part but then from the high school perspective again this is the first year we're running it as a full class. Usually it's a few concentrators that take it independent study style. So, I definitely I I understand your point

064and I I agree that it's something we could definitely look at growing. You know, it would be awesome. I would love that. >> Um yeah, I think uh it's it's wonderful that we're so close to a large urban area with so many large corporations that give those opportunities up. So, we certainly certainly appreciate that and use it as much as we can. So, but great report. Does anybody else say anything? >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Oh, no. That's the second part of your question. Um, as you were asking the question, there were two students that came to mind. Um, one that's currently a I believe she's a sophomore at W Oaklair. She graduated with 18 college credits. Um, she her major was business and she jumped in with um, yeah, a whole semester under her

065belt with business related courses. um her mom is a substitute teacher at our high school and she specifically reached out to let us know that her daughter felt very prepared and that um gave us a really nice compliment of how we prepared >> her for that business degree at at Wclair. The second student that came to mind um she is currently at W Stout majoring in graphic communications and she was one of the students in the photo um at the Fallon advertising on the field trip. So I think just providing those opportunities, opening their the students eyes to um careers. >> Yeah. It it just I also want to thank we have such an amazing administration, very supportive. Mike has been incredibly supportive of our ideas to throw fish and to bring in the test

066drive event and to have the last two days of school um to really set up our classrooms as a platform for business people to come in. So, um I feel like we've on a number of occasions, you know, brought across these ideas to Mike and he's just like, "All right, I trust you guys and I think we can make this work." So, >> um yeah, >> great job. Great teamwork. >> Y excellent report. Thanks for coming. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Next, we have 4K and kindergarten registration with Nick. >> Yes. Uh so just a reminder that our 4K and kindergarten registration will be coming up on March 10th. Uh it's just a link to our website that has all the information. It's at HUD we hosted at Hudson Prairie Elementary School. Um it's you

067don't have to be there in person, but if you are there in person, there'll be people there to answer questions whether related to transportation or school age care or any of those other uh different uh different questions that you may have. So, just wanted to make sure we put that out there and remind people. Typically, you know, we do this about right now. So, we're about a month be uh a little bit later than where we would typically be. But, you know, one of the questions that, you know, people want to know is if I'm going to sign up for 4K or for elementary school, where is my kid going to go? And for us to actually take that registration, we have to give them an entity to register. Um, so we'll continue to kind

068of work through that. Uh the next item I had on there uh reportwise is just a reminder that there is a schoolboard election uh primary election coming up on February 17th. So that is a week from tomorrow. Uh candidates are listed on our website there as they will uh appear on the ballot. Uh the primary election is on the 17th. Uh the um regular election or the regular spring election is on the 7th of April. So, uh, if people are wondering where they vote or any questions or, uh, um, comments or things like that that they may have, they can always, uh, contact their local municipal office, whether it be a township, the city, or the village to find find that out. So, um, there's also, uh, information on the schoolboard candidate information Tim has

069on our website as well. So, um, that's all I had for those two reports. Okay, no questions. Moving on to topics of discussion, possible action. We'll start with consent items for items one through three. Someone would like to comment or make a motion. >> Mr. President >> Megan, >> I make a motion to approve for approval of the consent items and that the chief financial and operations officer be authorized to pay bills in the amount of 758,99063. >> Do I have a second? >> Second from Kate. All those approve say I. >> I. >> All those against say nay. Hearing none. Motion passes. Moving on to legislative advocacy on special education funding. >> So that would be uh >> this would be uh I think Megan did a couple draft letters. You the board has

070talked about this in the past about sending letters to both the uh to the governor and then to our two legislators uh Senator Staf Schultz and uh Representative Zimmerman. And so she has the drafts of those letters so that the board can kind of take a look and if the board wants to send those along, give us the direction and we'll get those printed and sent off. So I'll turn it over to Megan and she can kind of talk through her letters. Yeah, the um the letters the governor and then the one uh to Senator Stafshult and uh Representative Zimmerman, they're almost exactly the same except for the one to our rep and senator says, "Thank you for meeting with us last spring because he came to meet with us." I guess the did the

071governor come visit? >> Governor was here the other day. >> We should say thank you for coming to visit. So that would be something to add in. I I missed that uh that day. Um, but I once uh WASBY had sent us an email. I'm sure everybody got it. You might not have opened it because we do get a lot of WASBY emails, but um that talked about what the current uh state surplus is, what the projected cost is of funding the 45%. So, the facts were pulled from WASBY's uh the data WASBY provided. And then I got numbers from Bonnie on the cost of special ed, uh, the loss in funding for special ed in terms of the percentage reimbursements, which is still an estimate at this point, shockingly. Um, I I don't envy

072your job, Bonnie. Um, and how much we transferred from the general fund to special ed last year, >> Mr. President, >> uh, Eron or Maria then here. [laughter] >> Thank you. Um, thank you for drafting these. Uh, Megan, I appreciated reading through them this morning. Um, I thought it was a nice You covered a lot of ground and content in this and really emphasizing kind of the impact to our district, which is super helpful to outline. Um, the only suggestion that I have uh for a potential edit is we talk about I forget [clears throat] what paragraph it's in here. Um, we understand concerns about property taxes. We share those concerns as individuals. Oh, you made it. And elected officials. Look at you. All right. Never mind then. >> Perfect. >> Thank you. >> I

073would actually like to see it invite them back to speak with us. >> Oh, yeah. >> If you could add something like that. Just an open invitation. >> Great idea. >> I think that's a great idea. I will add that in. >> I mean, the governor isn't going to probably come back. No, but not this one at least. I mean, somebody, but the local legislators, I think it might be helpful and they might be able to shed some light and >> perspective on why it was like that or what we can be doing differently. >> That's a great idea. >> Did uh did Shannon and Rob they were both here at the last time or was it just Shannon the last time? >> It was both. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. know if Shannana had come again

074since then, but I guess not. Uh, any other input on that? If not, >> go ahead, Kate. >> Last time we talked about this, we talked about sending something as well to WASBY on what they should be focusing on in our opinion as a board. Um, because their job is to do a lot of lobbying for us. And I've been a little bit critical of how much I'm seeing happening there. Um, so I think it would be a good idea to also send them a letter if you all agree >> asking them to really pinpoint what they're doing. >> I think that we talked about narrowing focus instead of having, >> you know, 20 things. Let's pick three, >> two, >> is that something we would like on agenda for a future board meeting to

075discuss openly then? Maybe start thinking about what you would want. >> I think that's a good idea. It seems like from their emails that they're focused on this special ed right now. Um because they keep sending these action alerts on special ed funding, but then they have their big book. So, it's hard for me to understand like do they have this big policy book because some of these are nice to have and they're it's like a wish list, but it seems like during budget years they're usually focused on one or two thing, but it's hard to tell. I think from the committee we we discussed that about that it all comes down to a narrow focus and you have to pick what you want. So us reaching reaching out as a school board. Um absolutely.

076Um and again like I mentioned I think at one of the last meetings that there's a backlog of of uh lobbying efforts things that are sitting out there that uh you know I even talked about can we you know how often do you review these and say okay what falls off you know and keep the focus on the future and and now so with that with these with the other letters or the other emails as well should we uh approve them at like the next the work session for because you still need some information from Bonnie or >> No, I have the information from Bonnie. So, I don't know if people want to approve the way it's worded like we hope you'll come back and meet with us or if people feel okay with it.

077Um, >> can it could we just uh kind of entrust Megan to make the edits that you know I think we've got it on tape if you need to go back and >> and just send a copy. >> Yeah, the draft I think is >> you could just send it out to us. In fact, yeah, I mean you like you said you got the video but otherwise if you wanted to, >> you know, send it. So >> yeah, >> and then you would just send it via email to them probably. >> Yep. >> Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I can hop on that. >> All good with that. >> Mr. President, I just want to say thank you to Megan for taking the lead on this that it this stuff really matters. It the the state is

078really um the way they've been, for lack of a better term, jerking us around on on funding has been a really a challenge for us and it it has real consequences. I think people are seeing this year especially we got the 42 to 45 over the next two percentage for special ed and then to see how fast that just backed off the table and uh you know how it really could leave some districts that don't have you know the the credit rating we have or they're the financial stability we do have and you know we we the faster we can get the state moving in a direction to support schools you know in an intelligent way better. So, agreed, >> Mr. President. >> Um, could we I mean, we always as a board we tend

079to go to WBY. Can we maybe have someone from WASBY come here to us? >> What was that to Nick? Is that something you >> I mean to to discuss what? No, I mean just to have more of a conversation instead of I feel like sometimes when we write letters maybe maybe I have no idea how many letters they receive but I feel like they kind of fall on deaf ears and they just like oh another letter great you know noted you know but nothing really happens. I feel like seeming we um solicit their services or use their services that they kind of owe it to us to come and like talk to us and tell us what is really going on and how they can help us versus how we can help them. >>

080Mr. President, >> yes, >> I agree with you. Um I think it was maybe two years ago that I asked the same question and they were extremely reluctant to come. They wanted us to fund their trip here. [laughter] So you can see where my frustration has been and for the community who maybe doesn't follow at all um our school district pays a yearly fee to have their services and for them to support us. So that has been very frustrating for me. So I think another ask is I I think that's something >> we should remind them that part >> might be necessary. Well, and I wonder if maybe they'd just join us by Zoom, too, even if they don't come in person because >> driving from Madison is or driving to Madison for us. You

081know, it's a long haul. So, we have a rep in River Falls though that could come or that they don't locally like >> Alan Totenhagen, he's he's on the uh policy and and like like me, but he's he's >> we don't want him to come here. >> Would you want me to come here? [laughter] I totally don't. We won't answer that question. >> But yeah, I can certainly I can certainly ask Allan about the best way to do this. >> That would be great >> because I think >> and Zoom I think is a great idea. Also, >> I think having their policy director or like their main lobbyist or one of their key lobbyists meet with us and talk through it. >> Put them in a four square. >> It'll be like the Brady

082Bunch. They'll be moving around. >> Fine. I mean, but then we, you know, that's that's a great way to do it without adding cost. >> Yep. >> Mhm. >> Okay. Sounds good. Uh, next is uh early early college credit start um college now request for summer school or for summer 2026. Shannon. >> Yep, that's me. >> Sorry, I could butchered the hell out of that. >> No, that's okay. So, you're just getting kind of your first look at the submissions for early college credit program in the Start College. Now, uh, these requests are for this summer, the summer session of 2026 for you to just review and then I'll be looking for approval um at one of our next meetings so those students can get registered. Um, all these requests have met the eligibility requirements

083and at this time we have three students are they're submitting um requests for classes. They're requesting nine. That's a lot, but they don't typically get their first their first request. So, it looks like a lot, but um but they kind of get overtaken by by college students, so eventually they'll get what they want, but they meet all the requirements. >> Any questions? >> Thank you, Shannon. >> Yep. >> Next up is uh tax credit discussion and possible action. [cough] That's Nick and >> Yep. Uh so this 179D tax deduction, credit discussion, possible action. So, our architect and our CM uh for the construction projects came to us and said there are energy tax credits uh that allow them or energy tax deductions that allow them to reduce um you know their their income. They're a

084deduction, right? Uh that we cannot take advantage of because we are a nonprofit. We're a public entity. We don't pay federal income tax. We don't pay corporate taxes. Uh so I had they one of the functions of this though is they can be they can be assigned uh so the school district can assign them to other people to use. And so I consulted with our attorney uh who then um uh kind of one of her associates in in her office uh that specializes in construction contracts and this kind of stuff uh is familiar with the 179D uh provisions. um said there's there's not an issue with this. This is something that a lot of school districts will do because you can't take advantage of them as a school district. Uh so you can assign them

085to your contractors or architects, but I didn't want to assign any type of uh credits to anybody on behalf of the school district without the board saying yes, we're okay with that. Um you know, essentially what Market and Johnson and Bray have asked for is they were going to split them 50/50. Those would be the two that would be eligible for it. um we can't ask for anything in return. Um you know, it's kind of one of those things where uh it's it's you can't sell tax deductions and things like that. Uh however, we have heard that, you know, there are districts that um do end up getting donations for their building trades departments and kids and things like that um from companies that do these kind of things. Again, we we would not ask

086for anything in return. Uh but um there's the real possibility that either one or both of these companies could be donating to programs within our school district um as a thank you, but uh nothing that we would be able to arrange that way. So because a lot of times people say, "What's in it for the district?" Uh we for sure have to make sure that this is kind of a free and clear thing. So, >> is there any timeline concerns? I mean, we just we just have the buildings done. You know, projects are finished. There's still some things laying out there as far as warranty or whatever. Is it >> So, this has nothing to do with our warranty, has nothing to do with our bills, has nothing. It's just a totally separate program that

087uh they do for them. Um, you know, it's it's a um, you know, as I got back from the attorney, uh, tax exempt entities such as school districts are not subject to federal income tax. So 179Ds would generally not provide or not be available for them. To address the issue, 179D provides the taxexempt entity which undertakes a project that would otherwise qualify for the 179D to allocate the deduction uh that it can't use to a forprofit, you know, designer of the energy efficient system or the contractor that installed it. So, um it it really is a tax thing for them. It it it's nothing for us. But again, I don't want to assign tax deductions uh without the board taking action on that. >> Right. >> Uh thanks, Mr. President. Nick, you may may or

088may not know the answer to this, but the to qualify for the tax credit, they have to meet certain standards of in so it they're incentivized to do that. And so presumably, we would we're we're seeing the benefit of more energy efficient construction. >> Yep. So that's that's essentially what happens. So their their deductions are based purely on the level of energy efficiency they achieve both with the design and the install. And so the next step would be is if we were to assign these tax deductions to them, uh they have to hire at their own cost uh auditor to go in and audit the the plans and audit uh the actual savings that are happening. and they have to be able to prove that we're getting the savings that they said we would get

089um in order for them to get the deductions, but that again is on their end. So that is the benefit for us uh to incentivize them to build and design energy efficient buildings. Um where for us the operating cost then is less long term. >> So uh the audit that they're talking about that's a third party process. Yes, it's a it is a third-party process uh that that comes in and does that audit. Um I think I have the name of the company that comes in uh Whip Whipfly. >> Whipley >> is the one is the company that comes in and does it. >> Sorry. >> No, I mean this is just me. I think stuff like this is super janky. But um you know if if ever wants to do that I it just

090is one of those things that as a just a taxpayer I feel like they're ours to use and nobody else should use them. And that's just kind of how I feel. I mean whatever it doesn't matter. It does feel like a little bit of a quid proquo you know. >> Can I ask if we did anything this way? I mean, Rivercrest was a lead certified school. Was this something that was back then or I mean, it's not related to right now necessarily, but did we do that then? >> Um, this is is part of the inflation reduction act of 2022. >> Okay. So, >> yeah. >> Okay. Maria, >> um, thank you, Mr. President. I think I need more information. I I kind I kind of hear a little bit about, you know, pros and

091cons and I think I just need a little bit more information to kind of provide a thoughtful here's what I think. Is there some stuff we can get in writing? Um I mean I certainly can do my own research on 179B, but if there's anything that Lori has in writing and kind of the process and all of that, it just would be super helpful to digest and maybe we could talk about it again. Bring it up another table. Thanks. >> Not a problem. Okay, very good. Next be overnight travel proposals. Shannon, >> yes. So, I'll be looking for approval tonight for our overnight travel for spring and summer dates for the high school activities and athletics. >> Mr. President, >> yes. >> I make a motion to approve the overnight uh travel proposal as presented.

092Second >> second from Brian. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those oppose nay. Hearing none that passes. And again to Shannon for >> Thank you. >> international travel. >> Yes. So I will also be looking for approval for the international travel. This is the trip to Ireland that the choir the um choir group is looking to take. This was the proposal that I shared with you at the last meeting and I didn't make any changes since then. >> Mr. President. >> Yes. Gate. I move to approve the international overnight travel proposal as uh presented today. >> I second. >> Second from Aaron. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those oppose say name. >> That passes. >> Thank you. Next is second reading of 200 series and teacher

093job descriptions with Andrew. >> Yes. So this is just again like you just said the second reading of the 200 series. Um there were no modifications after the first reading and the same goes with the teacher job description. Okay. So, next, do you want a motion or we have one more reading or >> Yep. A motion would be fantastic and then it'll be official that they will be the um new policy. So, >> Mr. President, I make a motion to approve the 200 series and the teacher job descriptions as presented. >> Second from Brian. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those post say nay. Passes. So, next we have the 2627 school age care fees. Tracy, >> yes. It's that time of the year to look ahead. Um, and um, in

094preparation for the March 4K registration, we like to be able to provide families with the information as far as fees for school age care for the upcoming school year. So, what you have in front of you are the recommended rates for school age care um and the summer rates for 2026 as well. Um just as a note, um families who qualify for free or reduced meals receive a 50% reduced rate on their uh fees and and uh yes, nothing has changed since the last report on this. So um I would be asking for a motion. >> Mr. President, >> I move to pro to approve as presented. Thank you. >> A second. >> Second from Aaron. All those in favor say I. >> I. All those oppos say nay. >> Hearing none. That passes. Moving

095on to uh the How position uh petition to transfer property. It's that time of year again when uh we have people that want to petition to move their property potentially from one school district to another. In this case, uh you'll see on the screen there's a petition uh from the Howls. They would like to move their property uh from the Somerset School District to the Hudson School District. Uh you can see on the map uh where it's at. Um it is adjacent to the district. It is at the end of uh one of the streets there. Uh the recommendation of the administration would be to approve uh allowing it to come in. Now there's two parts to this. The Somerset School District also has to approve letting it go. Most of the time they say

096no. Um just as we would usually uh giving a property out. Uh so then what happens is uh if we say yes and they say no, then um the house have the opportunity then to appeal to DPI and that process. Um but uh of course, you know, I think it would it would make sense. It doesn't create any islands. Uh it doesn't cause any issues for us. Um we've had this, you know, happen at different times. Um whether or not it actually goes through or what Somerset decides they're going to do is really, you know, to be determined. Last year we had one from RI, uh River Falls, and actually the River Falls School District said yes to come into our district. Um and that was because it was a piece of property where half

097of it was in River Falls and half of it was in Hudson uh school districts and so they wanted to join it into one. So uh the recommendation from the administration would be to approve this request and uh send it on to BPI and see what happens. >> And how many acres did you say it was approximately or did you not? >> I did not say it. Um Tim, it's is it on there somewhere? Five. >> Five acres. Okay. We'll accept a motion to >> Mr. President Megan. >> I make a motion to approve the how's petition. >> Second from Kate. All those in favor say I. >> I. All those oppose say nay. >> It passes and we'll probably get turned down. [snorts] >> Yes. >> Um okay. Moving on to section on selection

098of new elementary boundaries for the 26 27 year. We'll start off with the MGT presentation. >> Yeah. and Lance is going to be coming up, but also we have Trevor here. Um, he's going to be talking a little bit. People had some questions about transportation and you know, this comes up time and time again. We've tried to talk through it, but Trevor is the individual that is responsible for all of our routing and everything associated with it. So I don't know if Trevor you want to come up it it' be helpful because that way you're you have a microphone can talk into it but just kind of talk a little bit about our process related to transportation and you know if you can address some of the questions or concerns that have come up >>

099so push. >> Sure. Yeah. We'll have we'll have him start with transportation and then we're going to turn it over to Lance to do the uh full MGT presentation. Um so the questions arose that you know um quite a few times on why we can't start routing earlier and um you know it it might seem that it's a it's a easy simple solution to just roll over our kids to the next year when really it's a big puzzle that changes every summer for us. And um the effects that really go into that is um if we did that before families registered for school and registered for transportation um is that we'd have frequent stops where we don't need it. Um for example, even one additional stop, say it's 30 seconds, you do 10 additional stops,

100you've got five extra minutes, which creates longer writership times for kids. Um, it also creates earlier pickup times in the morning and later drop off times at night. Um, you just in the last couple of weeks I withdrew 300 students that haven't utilized our transportation services since Thanksgiving, at least since Thanksgiving. So that does create some barriers for us and other families to actually utilize our services. Um so again that creates longer longer writership times that that are unnecessary. Um but it also requires more busing. So it's going to be um a budget factor. And by knowing exactly who rides, we're allowed to consolidate those routes. And if only 30 kids in a neighborhood ride um ride instead of the eligible 60 or presumably those who have registered for transportation of 60 that might be

101one bus compared to two buses which is a huge expense. And so, um, you know, the the data that we really need before routes can be created and to be most accurate for our families, um, is is registering for school and registering for transportation because we get also many additional addresses addresses requests such such as second households and daycarees. Um and so until those are submitted and verified, routing just um really can't be finalized without risking risking significant rework um and in inaccurate information for our families. So um we also take into consideration the incoming sixth graders who ride our buses due to um different walk zones as they had as fifth graders from the elementary. Um, we need to know high school riders as that walk zone and that walking zone distance change from

102one mile from K8 to 2 miles in high school. Um, we need to know our four 4K riders because we do pick up and do home stops for all 4K riders. And so that's going to be an a big impact on on um wrership times as well. So, um, to make sure all those routes comply with safety, time, capacity limits outlined in our policy and state law. Those are some of the things that we really truly need to provide accurate information for our families. So, it takes several months to create several drafts um, in order to communicate those out. And it's kind of like thinking about building a house where phase one is the blueprint. And if you make a change to the walls, if that foundation is already set, um there's a lot of

103work that goes into that reworking and to make it happen. So, you know, every change from from the registration start of the registration date to August, we do rework into those routes because we need to. Um but that's where a lot of the time is spent um as far as transportation goes. So, we're with the new boundaries set, wherever wherever the option is, we're still looking at averaging times of 30 to 45 minutes per wrership. We're going to utilize those buses that were at those two elementary schools and utilize those with the other elementary schools. So, um you know, I'm pretty confident as those ridership times, they they will be within policy as they always are that we check every year. So, um um yeah, any questions? >> I have a question. Thank you. >>

104Just as you were talking, thank you for explaining that. A lot of people, including myself, did not understand that up until about a week ago, why we could not do transportation beforehand. It makes a lot of sense and I appreciate you being very mindful, the district, being very mindful about ride times. That's obviously an enormous concern next to making sure that the stops are safe and um a safe distance, a reasonably safe distance for any kid that has to actually walk >> um especially in the winter time. I know we've gotten a lot of emails about that. So, thank you for all of that. Um when you were talking, this is maybe a silly question, but I'm going to ask it anyhow. Uh when people sign up and register for the bus routes and then

105they don't use the bus routes, do we as a district still get build for that? So yeah, so essentially what ends up happening is Trevor gets the registrations, starts building the routes, and then based on how many kids we can get on the buses, determines how many routes we need. >> Y >> and you know, we're running those routes. And so if all of a sudden instead of running the buses 80% full, 90% full, we're running them only at 60% full, >> we could have had fewer routes, but we're now locked into those routes for the year. So yeah. So essentially once people sign up for those routes and then they don't use them, we're we're we're paying for them >> all year long. >> Uh yeah, usually I mean it's it's pretty hard to

106all of a suen re rework routes in the middle of the year. I mean Trevor would know that. >> And this has been the first time we've um withdrew them because of >> the lack of utilizing the services. [laughter and clears throat] >> Have we had any push back or or negativity? >> You know, I as the message went out, I said contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Um, you know, I would say it's probably under 10 community members that reach or families that reached out just asking some clarifying questions and I was able to explain it. So, can't say there was much push back at all >> because with that I was thinking if you just told 300, you know, families or whatever that do do we do we reroute in

107the middle of the year? You're saying this year we are >> reroute or not? >> No. No. So I was able to withdraw them and then remove their stops and throughout the last week I communicated to all those families on those routes that were were affected um on their new times. So >> we were pushing up against capacity, right? And that was some of the problem is that one reason we haven't done it historically. Yeah. >> Correct. So, you know, our capacity, actual bus capacity is 72 when we we don't usually hit that, especially for the middle school and high school kids as they're older and and bigger and we can fit more seats for the elementary students. But when we have a capacity of 72, I can't go over that because they are assigned

108to transportation. But the like Nick said, the the the fact is, you know, there are some that are utiliz this might be a 60% full bus when truly we have it assigned at 100%. >> Can we do something like a confirm your route? I mean to avoid >> all those people. Does that mean >> we do we do it >> and we do that? >> We actually had a default several years ago where everyone was assigned a bus and we went away from that was it five years ago probably >> for me >> before you Yeah. So then you have to actively register for it. Okay. >> Um and so our assumption is that you don't register unless you actually need the route. But now we're finding this is the next layer, right? Where we're

109able to peel these kids off that have not utilized transportation or change circumstances and they don't need it anymore. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for the the the background, the Tetris piece that you do put together every year. Um, as a family that has used bus transportation and does um I fully appreciate the hard work that you do and know it we're always waiting with baited breath. What is the time? I know when the kids were in elementary, what's my stop? Whose house am I in front of? So, it's a big deal. Um, and I do think for families there is there's this I think I need it and so they don't want to not sign up for something and then not have the ability to sign in later if they figure out

110they do. And I and I appreciate that it's hard to change routes. So I think there's a little bit of, you know, everybody's trying to figure out how to make it work. Um and and I can see that changing you know like from school year to school year within the school year where you know a second drop off is needed for whatever reason at the elementary age of our child care has changes so now we need them to go to this house instead of here or living situations have changed and so I know there's some flexibility there and you guys try and work with >> daily. Yeah. Yeah. [laughter] I'm sure you do. Um, so thank you and I I appreciate that the that you are taking a thoughtful approach and trying to say you

111want the best information to make the best routes possible so we know what we have to work with rather than making um uh a guess at what it might be and knowing that that guess is going to change potentially very dramatically with fifth graders going up to middle school and middle schoolers going to high school. and we're not quite sure who the 4K mix is yet and where they're and the kindergarteners need to be. So, >> thank you. I know it's not an easy job, Tara. >> Well, and the uh Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> Um, that's okay. Uh, my question was, I have been a parent that's been guilty of signing my kid up and I thought, okay, I'm going to send I'm going to drive them to school in the morning because

112they'll have more time at home, but they're going to take the bus back home. So, is there I had no idea that that was an issue. I probably should have thought about it, but I'm, you know, was working and kids and all that good stuff. So, is there a way to maybe inform parents that it's more serious or more of an interest to know that if if you're only planning to have them ride the bus once every few months? Is there a way a workaround for that? Could they call you and and arrange that or so that we're not setting the buses up inappropriately? for sure. Um, and so, um, we we do a or I I create a report every month on who has not ridden since last month or even from the beginning

113of the school year to be honest with you. And so, um, we send out, we've sent out multiple times this year to families, you know, if we've noticed you haven't utilized the services, please let us know if you'd like to discontinue them, um, to make things more efficient for the other families that are use utilizing it. And again, this is the first time that we've actually just withdrawn those students um, with the message saying you have um, a couple weeks to let us know if you want to continue that. So, um, you know, >> I just wonder if at the even when you register the student if there's a note you could put in there about the importance of if they truly are riding the bus and maybe an alternate of what they could do

114if they only need to ride it once a month. We haven't withdrawn anybody who hasn't ridden within once a month, you know, like I went back two months and just did 300 students. So, um but we do um tell families that it can't just be a just in case kind of scenario because that affects everybody on the routes. And so if we we we send the message that if you're a consistent writer, we don't have writership time. Um we don't have writership anything in our policy about what wrership really is. Is it 30 days not utilizing the services or or more or is it two weeks? And so um that's why I went back as far as two months to get a better picture and to hopefully just start there as the process. But um

115you know if families want when they do register for transportation they're they're able to say you know I only need it in the morning or I only need it in the afternoon >> all those are alternative addresses and so they do fill out that extra form if they have special circumstances there. We could maybe put a caveat or something in there to like if I don't know if Skyward will let us do it in the registration process, but something saying please be aware that um this routing d you know have some kind of cautionary note um because I did it as well signed my kid up and then [laughter] >> then he got his license doesn't need it. So, >> I'm just mentioning like, you know, a 30-day inactivity, you know, >> some sort of

116a policy, just cite a policy in there that says what the expectations are and, you know, if they're questioning it, maybe they should contact you before they sign up for it and just talk through those options. >> I mean, I don't know, Mr. President. Yes. Um, couple questions. I can't remember, Trevor, so you'll have to remind me, but >> I think students are able to pick some days a week or is that not true? Right. So, it's it's pretty clear when you're like, I'm going to need Monday, Wednesday, Friday in the morning and Tuesday, Thursday in the afternoon. And then I usually sign up right away, but then I'll get the emails that say, remember to sign up for transportation if you need it. I wonder if you just added something in there that's like,

117and if you did sign up for transportation and you no longer need need it, let us know now because we're finalizing routes. Like just something like that because I'm like, yes, I already did it. Um, but that could be a good reminder for people too because it's sort of like once something's done like it is and I did it three months ago. I can't remember it anymore. Like is there's been too much going on. So even just a little reminder email when those go out. >> Well, I think defining what writership is too like I said that writership is just in the policy but it's not defined what that is. So if I if we had something specific to guide families um that might better support them as well. And it's been a great addition

118with the bus cards that we've had for almost 10 years now. I say I want to say it. Um >> so that's how I get the data writing or not. They're scanning. >> Yep. >> I'm glad you're uh you're here tonight. I think with the transition we're going through. It's important. You know, some I've heard some questions about, you know, people don't know all know that if they their kids were walkers before and now they're going to be on a bus that, you know, all kindergarten, you know, has has driveway bus stops and >> kindergarten or kindergarten. >> 4K 4K >> 4K. Yeah. And um but the decision, you know, some people said, why can't the busing company tell you this or do that? And it's it's Trevor that's doing it. It's our it's our

119administration that is doing these routes and but working with with Safeway as far as I know Aaron brought up safety and people are concerned about the safety of the stops and things like that and you you certainly know your job take those precautions but also there's there's feedback from Safeway. >> Absolutely. >> If they see something that's a concern >> those three months and drafts are very collaborative with Safeway. >> I just wanted to mention that that's >> needs to be known. Any other questions? >> I just wanted to make sure Trevor was here to answer your questions and also to clarify some things. I think sometimes people think that routing just is an easy process. Uh we try to be as customer service friendly as we can. I mean, we have some kids that,

120like Trevor said, are dropped off at certain locations, certain days of the week. They're picked up at different locations different days of the week. Um we try to accommodate split households and and things like that. And these things don't just happen and you can't just build, you know, full transportation maps for multiple options and and things like that. It just it doesn't work that way. Um and uh and so because we offer such a variety of transportation, I mean, if we were going to say, "Fine, we're only given one stop. You get one stop and and that's it." um and we're not making all of these accommodations, we could drastically change the way we deliver transportation, but I don't think people are going to appreciate that because we've tried to be accommodating as we work

121through it. So, Trevor does an outstanding job. Uh he bears the brunt of a lot of uh sometimes less than um uh friendly comments because people want stops where they want them. Um, but as he said, you have to remember every time we stop that bus, it adds 30 to 45 seconds to the route. And we also get on the other end, why does my kid have to get on the bus so early in the morning and and things along those lines. So, we're balancing a lot of different a lot of different moving pieces. Um, we're trying to be as efficient as we can with with tax dollars and things like that. Um, we're trying to be accommodating, but um, Trevor is a great resource. He's done a great job uh with transportation. I don't

122know if you've noticed in the last couple years, we haven't had those first couple weeks of school that were like cringeworthy with transportation and and that credit goes to Trevor and and what he's doing because within a day or two we're we're getting buses running on time and things like that which is is really outstanding. So, thanks Trevor. Appreciate it. Welcome. >> All right. So now uh the second part of this is uh really talking specifically about the boundaries and so have Lance here from MGT who is a starting to become a regular in the district and so I'll turn it over to him and and his presentation as well. >> Well, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to be here with you this evening. Um, as a former director of transportation for my school

123district, I just was kind of nodding my head because of that. You it it's really impactful for that first student of the morning. I mean, that is just brutal to be the first one on the bus, a cold bus, um, and having to either back it up or bring it forward. So, as tight as you can make it for that first stop of the day is always helpful to that family. And a lot of times when you explain that to folks, they they understand, but they still want the option, you know, to ride that bus. So, uh, thank you for this opportunity to be here today. I I would like to say upfront that this has been a very positive process for us, uh, as a person that travels a nation doing this work and

124having to have these tough conversations in communities. I would applaud your board and their efforts and their and being very, um, deliberate in this process. and and really I I'd applaud your community because they came in, they responded, they were very respectful, very respectful and asked very uh deliberate questions, very uh questions that that clearly meant could you could tell that they were engaged in the process, these insightful questions in terms of it. And as a result, this has led to a very positive process in terms of iterations because as I explained to folks when we when we started these community engagements, you can change the outcome of this. you can what happens as a result of these of this uh of this discussion around this topic um can change the outcome and that's exactly

125what has happened. So let's go this is our team uh on the ground just me tonight but uh we've had a great team working behind this together in partnership with the district. So appreciate that. Um just a quick I'm and just another I'm going to a lot of these slides are the slides we had in our um in our community present. They all are except for the newest iteration. But I feel like it's important kind of like you know last time on land man. This is kind of our look back on the prior episode kind of set the table. I will move through this very quickly uh given that most folks have have had an opportunity to review this but I think it is important to kind of establish where where we were and where

126we are and now where we're headed. So on this overall approach we talked about this establishing that elevator speech but we are now up to those final recommendations. We're bringing back the final round of community engagement and so we're here to share that information with you in terms of this overall approach. It's hard not having a clicker. Um and so in taking a look at the historical enrollment, we we broke this out into 241 study areas and those are based off of the elementary attendance zones and you bring those get more granular into the 241 study areas of plus or minus 40ish 50ish students to kind of study those. And what you can see is purple shows declining uh blue shows the increasing counts in those areas. Um just some historic student analysis in this

127and what you can see as you look back at 2022 you were well above that 5,000 uh what is that 5600 on that chart. Uh and as we we trend downward we can see four years later um that we're at about just a little above 5 thou 5,000 students. So this is kind of the just the historic trend that you've seen here over the last four. So we always look back for to begin to look forward. Just a key takeaway here is that you're operating at your elementarymentaries at a 66% utilization meaning you have around a thousand empty seats plus or minus across a district and that rep does represent under significant underut underutilization of resources. You can think of seats being dollars much like a bus in this case classrooms uh seats are dollars.

128And so the forecast factors um this is kind of how the you know the recipe for how the cake is baked. And we have the the three legs of the stool if you will the birth factors, the mobility factors and the student yield factors. And the birth factors lead directly into the number of kids that show up in kindergarten. You really can't measure very much about your PK because there or your TK or preK because those are choices and different options for folks out there. But you can take a look at how how many of those folks how many of those students are born here and then show up in your kindergarten classes. And you do retain a significant percentage of those. Mobility factors are a little different. That's the number of kids in and

129kids out. We'll talk more about this in just a second, but it really kind of leans into your housing turnover and how many folks can kind of join you maybe in first or second or third grade or how many folks move out during first, second or third grade. And then student yield factors, very simply, that's the new housing. That's either whether it's, you know, your sweet spot is single family homes, but looking at multif family dwellings, town homes, those types of things. And how many when you have a new home come online, homes plural come online, how many of those students will will show up? How many students will those homes generate for you looking into the future? And all right, so we that creates your student forecast. So historic births, key takeaway here is

130is coming out of the recession and then coming into COVID and out of COVID, you've you've seen a decline in your birth rates coming forward. And there are a number of factors on that we talked about in our sessions. Smaller birth, smaller families, delayed child birth, all of those things impact um your historic births and heading on into the future. Mobility factors we talked about and these are the kind of a one. If you got a 1.01, you kind of gained a kid, but if you you get a 0.99, you lost a kid. And those things multiply on top of one another. So if you look at Holton, you see that the 01 01 03 those things are factored as they roll forward. You will note uh that 8 to 9 you what you're going

131to see there is that some students are returning from private or parochial and you'll see at your 11 12 those are seniors that may have may have not quite graduated been able to go back and kind of come back into the cohort. And so these are strong numbers they just don't show growth. there's not a lot of turnover of homes to bring families back into your community or into your community. And looking at residential development, 665 new housing units and act in fact after our first session, someone pointed out some other stuff that wasn't there that we were able to bring back in and factor. If you look at all of this, we're saying about 33 um which means out of the every hundred students, every 100 new single family detached homes will generate about

13233 new students. And again, there's different yield factors for multif family, but you don't have a lot of multi-unit housing in your district. So, district forecast and and this gradient just basically shows you the pink and and the darker the pink or purple that you see there or lavender. You ladies would have to tell me exactly. You got an art teacher. Anyway, the purplish numbers are smaller than the blue numbers. Okay? And and a key takeaway here is as you're looking at this, what you're going to see is most of your blue numbers, if not all of your blue numbers are in your historic data points. And as you carry that forward, what you can see is across the years um is it's a smaller uh kindergarten unit and and demography 101. You don't have

133to it doesn't take a a rocket scientist for this. You see the number of students that are graduating and then just go up to the next year and see the number of kids coming in in kindergarten. So as you look at say 2022, you graduated 469 and you brought in 354. And so that kind of is that march as they make their way through because it takes 13 years for the whole thing to maturate through kind of sift through the school district. So as you go across the bottom there you're at about a 52 uh 60 looking back four years and as you carry that forward out to 2035 you're looking at you know under 4200. And this is just representative of that data you see there. And what you can see is that, and

134we'll see this in just a moment, but the elementaryaries kind of come in and they level out. And then as they as everything sifts through, middle schools come in and level out, and high school will be the last to be impacted as it sifts through and those classes metric metriculate through. Similarly, uh questions arose around development. And so this is just a chart that indicates if no new builds were no new builds were factored in, if no development took place, if your entire housing stock was static, where would you be? It would impact it by a little over 4% in overall enrollment. U forecasted u resident status uh resident students. So we worked off the resident students in terms of where they are and carrying them forward. You can kind of see those number carry

135across to a five and 10 year change. So if we go to the next slide is a graphic representation of this information. You can kind of see um Riverest was the only school forecasted to have any growth across that five and 10 year window in terms of the development in terms of the other factors that that lean in there. And you can see you know at the at the bottom there um a 10% across five years for the high school and a 20% uh decline across 10 uh 10 years across for the high school. as all of those numbers again sift down through the high sift up well I guess sift down through the high school and uh some key takeaways here we we've already talked about this a little bit but the K5 student

136forecast declining initially and you're going to level out by 2030 at around 1750 students just all those factors from those the three legs of that stool in terms of student forecasting are going to sift into that into that plateau similarly then following that just a little bit later the the a little post 2030 around in there. Grades 6 through 8 will level out at about 900 and then the high school is the last to kind of settle in at about 1,400 resident students by 2032. And so some key takeaways here, we are seeing overall enrollment decline. Um there the primary driver are are falling birth rates and new housing in you. Really all of those factors are there. You've got declining birth rates. you don't have a lot of housing stock that that is available

137to folks to come in and new housing stock is minimal. Um the steepest declines will be in the secondary schools now because you're examining that the elementary for this exact issue and as it metriculates forward elementaryaries are going to stabilize first. Uh again those a thousand empty seats at the elementaryaries and there is a strategic imperative now for right sizing facilities and adjusting attendance boundaries as a result. So, boundary considerations, the board spent and and I do appreciate the young lady who um cited the some of the guiding principles uh earlier in the in the session around transportation because I I will I you as a board gave this a very uh um you took a very concerted effort behind this and making sure that you define this for your community and help to bring

138it forward and help us in terms of our calculations. I will tell you this though, as we well know, we looked at all these guiding principles, but they just ying and yang off of one another. And and I likened it to the power ball draw, the ping-pong balls bouncing around in there because some of it works really great for neighborhood schools, but maybe not toward capacity and utilization. And so those were a large part of the uh conversations we had at community engagement around these guiding principles. So these are existing boundaries. Um, just as a refresh so folks can see it with the pull out for the downtown area. And our initial boundary proposals centered around the blue, the green, and the purple. Blue looking at balanced growth. Uh, green was supposed to kind of

139work toward keeping neighborhoods together. And then purple um there it was the most efficient. If you're just looking straight up at numbers, purple was the one that the numbers worked the best. Um, and so at our in-person, we had quite a few folks at this first meeting, but only 28 participants that night in the live polling. And the key takeaways there that were concerned about tra uh transportation, the splits across other schools for impacted students, multiples of splits, and the increases of of class sizes. Uh, interestingly, they saw green as the better one, um, and felt purple should be eliminated. Um but that didn't carry forward as we got it kind of into the overall um larger poll if you want to um if we went into the post online meaning the community survey you

140had 200 over 275 responses and you can kind of see what schools were broke out there. Hudson Prairie leading the way at 80 um I think then followed by EP rock and as you look at that uh these were the key priorities or things they were considering. So that was the polling information and around minimizing impact and capacity and utilization and then the comments and the open-ended things uh dealt with minimizing impact class size and capacity was a common theme. Uh neighborhoods co neighborhood cohesion and communities transportation uh appreciate the presentation tonight. And then this is something that's very interesting. A lot of folks had conversation with us around okay let's just not go through this again in another f let's make this work. let's make this stick so that we as a community don't

141have to to revisit this again. So that stability and long-term sustainability uh came up here and it you'll see it as a as a factor later. So in this one I think the the key takeaway from the the information that's on this slide is that from the larger post online survey what you saw that was purple was the scenario that was most preferred and that blue was the least preferred. Green kind of came in number two. um no matter what in all those situations. Um and then in looking at this, blue created they felt like blue had more disruptions which it did. Uh green was cleaner uh in in many ways but purple had drawn had drew the strongest best option support but there were concerns around all of these scenarios that kind of led

142us to kind of take another stab at it. So that ended up being our our orange uh scenario. We're calling this orange scenario original version because this is what we presented to the community in our January 27th presentation and it preserved the boundaries of the purple while keeping it the biggest drawback from uh purple was it split the downtown. So kind of keeping those neighborhoods together and providing a little bit more in the way of cohesion for the students that were there. Um, and so in taking a look at this, this was the in-person poll. Interestingly, we had just a slightly fewer folks at our second meeting, but we had more live participation with those folks. And you can see the word wall around busing and class size and longevity, long-term sustainability. In this case,

143the efforts that that were made around the new scenario, orange was viewed at the best as the best scenario. Um, in this case, purple was uh was kind of put on the back burner. uh orange most preferred. So in looking at this then you can kind of see where the respondents again quite a few from Hudson Prairie and then Willow River. Now this is our online survey. We had over 180 responses then in this second goound and folks were also given a QR code where they could go out and take a look at the maps and drill in and see where their neighborhoods I think one of the gentlemen spoke about where his house was in terms of a route in terms of the blue. So um anyway these this is where the students were

144and where they attended. again min minimizing disruptions class size and keeping neighborhoods and community together. And you can see the capacity and a balance. There was a lot of conversations in our second meeting around capacity and utilization. And so again in this case you can see just graphically orange was most preferred. Um and then wanting to remove purple as a boundary option in this. And I think what happened there typic you know people saw that this was an option about splitting a downtown like nah you know we can do a lot of things but let's let's kind of keep that cohesion and and and a perfect example of the community feedback being a key driver in terms of changes to future versions. So in doing this um again blue moved too many uh green you

145know it's kind of it was reasonable uh purple had strong support but orange was best in line that moved the fewest students and had the better natural boundaries in terms especially around neighborhood impact. Um, but I will say this, we still had a lot of conversations around class size and sections and that was a that was a conversation during this meeting and then a conversation after the meeting with folks. And so, um, we go to the next slide which led to but wait there's more orange version two. And so what we did is we took that feedback and and we'll see I will have the the a breakdown of the of the of the capacity and utilizations and the students impacted once we bring them all together here in just a moment. Um for the

146sake of time though I just thought we'd wait and get to those. So in this case we're looking at maintaining small class sizes at Hudson Prairie and adjusting for that and and they're as much as 4% smaller in this situation and accommod accommodating. You know, there's a conversation around the the uh I think it's County Road UYU, correct? Around that property and what could potentially take place there, maybe factoring in for that into the future. And so we did some we did some modifications there. And in the in this new version in the orange scenario, what you can see is is 191 from Holton, 240 from Willow River, and then 132 from other schools. And we'll I'll give you a better breakdown of this in just a second. In this slide, you can see Rivercrest,

147there's no difference. There's no change from the original orange to the orange version two for River. And similarly, North Hudson did not have any changes in the in the orange scenario in the version two. Here are the changes. Basically, areas in the city of Hudson east of downtown. So, you see the orange the orange um outline there at the top of the screen. um moved from Hudson Prairie down into Rock Rock Elementary and this is in version two and then I'll speak to this other C uh box in the next screen. In this case, the box there. Yes, on the on the kind of centered there uh St. Croy Estates, Crosby Drive, Pamel Lane, and Joseph Circle moved from Rock Creek, I'm sorry, Rock Creek is a school in my neighborhood, Rock Elementary School to

148Hudson Prairie Elementary School in version two. Um and creating more balance. So in this in version two in orange version two um you can see the things for Holden and where they're going to end up but as you come down you can see total impacted students 184 126 107 and 146 and you can see where the students are going in this model 16. So in this you know those kids that are going from rock to Hudson Prairie it was 16 students were impacted in that. All right. So, here are the kind of the impacted students. Now, the blue, the green, and the purple are the ones that we presented at the start. And I think it's kind of important to take a look at the orange original versus the orange version two. Um, in terms

149of the total number, a few more students are impacted. So, the total had been 547. Now, the total is 563. And so if you if you pop forward then to the next slide, what this shows you is is that those additional numbers of impacted students then led to the better utilizations uh in the schools. So in the original orange, the big question was that 90%. and how did that impact the students and the number of sections and as you well know as a building administration or central office folks a few kids one way or another can determine whether or not there's another section of of a given class and and and we know that overall trend lines for all the schools it's just going to get a little easier at each of these elementaryaries we

150just really next year's kind of the the determining factors as this process moves forward so in version two we worked to make the utilization at Hudson Prairie there 88 instead of 90. And you can see then with the change of students, it kind of changes a little bit as it rides forward. Um, and then a little bit different down for Rock Elementary at a little higher utilization, which is a better use of that space. 83, 84, and 83. I did it as fast as I could. >> Any questions, >> a lot there. Megan, start us off. I don't I don't I don't know that I have any questions for you right now. But and so I don't know if this is the right time, so just tell me no. But I'm just wondering um if

151Shannon or any of the principles want to give feedback of what they've talked about in terms of all the complications of scheduling the literacy blocks and gym time and lunchtime and all these things. I can't imagine how you do them all um as you've looked through these scenarios. Yeah. So I would say from the start the principles were really kind of looking at what is efficient, right? But also what's a good balance. And I think originally purple looked like something that was, you know, nice and balanced and was also concise. But given the feedback from the community, orange looked pretty good, but that pop of five sections in fifth grade really created some complications when it came when it comes to master schedules. So that was one of the things that they looked at. And

152then also very important to the principles was being able to have 4K in every building. They've heard that a lot from families. So that original orange didn't allow that at every building. So the new orange kind of blends together all of their concerns and and addresses them in a nice way. >> Maria, >> quick question. And can you clarify when addressing their concerns around 4K, does that 4K with 4K wrap care or just 4K alone? >> Well, the original one with five sections at at at [clears throat] um fifth grade at Prairie and then assuming that we had four sections in every other grade would not allow for 4K, >> right, >> at Prairie. But V2, I guess, is what I'm honing in on is I'm trying to understand when you said it addresses the

153issues around 4K and V2, can you clarify, is it allowing 4K and 4K wrap care at all four buildings or just 4K? I believe if we're if we are four sections throughout, we'll have room for 4K, not necessarily um RAP, but that would depend if we if depending on how many sections of kindergarten we end up with, we could possibly have rap care. >> So, wrap care will break. Thank you. >> Right. >> And more likely could have wrap care after next year >> as as base opens up as we predict. Okay, Erin, you were next. I've spent a lot of time looking at these maps and and all these numbers. It's a lot to digest if anybody else is trying to follow here. It really would have been You've done a fantastic job. I

154just want to start by saying that it would have been really helpful to see these numbers to just like let them set in a little bit. So, it's it's just hard to see them all and pick numbers out on the screen like this. Um but I appreciate the efforts you've definitely made here. A lot of great improvements. Um I have just overall looking at all the numbers I'm concerned that Prairie is still operating at the highest percentage. I mean it's like 90% 90% 88% 90% 88%. I mean, we're within 2% and we continue to look at Rivercrest in every single one of these scenarios at 73% 78% in one but 72% 72% and whatever the last number is on here. 78% 79% I I don't know where we're at but um when we redrew the

155boundary lines previously it was to alleviate the growth projection that Rivercrest area was expecting and we moved 65 kids from Hudson Prairie I'm sorry from Rivercrest to Hudson Prairie and now we're we're still I mean We're Hudson Prairie just seems like it's got a lot more kids than everybody else. And I'm I am very concerned we start looking at this UYU property um and the hot areas that you have on the map on those being potential areas for growth and going do we really have enough room at Hudson Prairie if we're pushing 88 and 90% in all of these scenarios. Um, the last thing anyone, I'm certain, here wants to do is be sitting in another one of these meetings in a couple of years. So, how how can we maybe even balance this out

156even a little bit better so we aren't jeopardizing that? I I don't know. Just my initial thought. >> I'm not sure the question there. Um, I I would say that >> it was kind of more of just like a statement, you know, answer if it makes you feel better. I wasn't really looking for an answer other than like how can we maybe balance is there a way to balance this out a little bit better so it doesn't feel like there's so much going in one direction. It just doesn't seem overall equitable. Does that make sense? >> Well, and um just just kind of one of the numbers that you know that we don't have up here is we look at year by year. what MGT did is they look at year by year and one

157of the things that happens with Hudson Prairie is after next year the numbers go down drastically um and it's no longer sitting at 88% it it drops quite a bit uh in 2027 it's projected to drop below 500 so actually it's about a 45 kid drop almost eight almost 8% in that first year and then it starts to starts to level out and so you know we had conversations with uh Cameron who put a lot of this stuff the other um it is really high. It's it's high to start the very first year but then it's then it goes down um and sits you know kind of between that 75 and 80% after you know after that which then gives it more space that if the UU property comes online and there's more housing and

158things like that it can handle that. So it it really is only at that 88% for one year and then it drops 8%. It it'll go down to like 80% after the first year. >> So what does that do then for like River? Are we looking at that same drop there? So, as you can see on the slide up there, um Rivercrest actually starts to pick up some kids um based on the developments that could come up and and we did have we did have uh the developments did come online that we were planning for in 2018. They just didn't yield. We had higher yield rates at that time based on um what we're looking at with birth rates and stuff like that that and so we have a much more conservative yield rate, much

159more probably realistic yield rate on those housing. And so, uh, that's why even even in the orange option, you know, Rivercrest, um, you know, starts to starts to climb, but none of them really over the next 5 to 10 years, none of them will be over 500 students. Um, even with that climbing and so the goal too was to try to make sure as, as we heard from the board is, you know, you wanted balance. You didn't want to come back here again in five years. So, if you look at the 2030 utilization in Orange version two, Prairie's down to 74%, North Hudson's at 81, um, Rivercrest is up to 78, and then Rocks hanging steady at 84. Um, so that's these were set up to give us the longest term boundaries. It's just it

160really is a one-year issue because there's a really large going into fifth grade class at Hudson Prairie. Is it possible to um do a side by side of the hotspots in version two? Can we do a Can you do that the presentation? >> I mean from the other it's in the on the website. >> I'm just wondering if that would be helpful. I mean, we're talking about being I mean, one of the goals here is so we don't have to come back, you know, and and reboundry again as quickly. And also, you know, people have said you're just going to come back and want to build another school down the road because if enrollment goes up, and we've said no many times. I I I'd be concerned about I agree that Rivercrest, you know, looks

161looks right now for this year like yeah, well, we could, you know, have more kids there, but al also just concerned that's that's one of the schools like down the road if we had to add on facilities or or classrooms, we could easily do that. And so if we reboundry and it gets to to take some more prairie off the rock or wherever off the off the table and move that to Rivercrest and then they do get the growth that's expected that then our future board's going to say well let's just build more space on Rivercrest instead of going through a reboundary process you know. So again, if if if efficiency of space and for long-term is is paramount, you know, um I agree and I didn't like purple because of the downtown division at

162all. Um so I was very pleased with orange and now orange version two, like I said, we're affecting 16 families potentially. Um that's got Kate. Um, I was hoping to hear from the principles too if you had any input on what like pros and cons of of the colors here. Um, and then another question that I had and I just want to ask it now because I think you could address that too is a lot of people have asked or uh questioned the socioeconomic and the special education specifically noting that EPRock has a a different population. And so I thought maybe you could speak to that as well. And then Nick as to why we're not announcing where we're seeing socioeconomic differences and special education. >> Go ahead. >> A lot. So [laughter] >> on

163Okay. I'll answer the socioeconomic piece with kind of where you're landing. And I think the last time that you um worked through the the boundary process, it did some balancing between Riverest and EP Rock that is staying in place. And so I I think that piece now I can't talk about the other elementarymentaries, but with keeping kind of that southern boundary where it is, it's it's balanced that piece between our two buildings. So, um, and yeah, to echo kind of what Dolph said, so a lot of we did this in 2018, we we did try to balance them out a little bit more and, uh, we've kept those boundaries in place. Uh, that we're balancing them out. I know when um, the reason we don't share student uh, economic data outside of the district is

164because it's the most sensitive data we have in the district. Uh it takes uh it used to be all the way up until about 5 years ago we couldn't even look at it as it related to student achievement. Um because the federal government said you just you can't share this with anybody and so there was about two people in the district that knew who was on free or reduced lunch. They both happen to work in food service. Um, and so that's why that data wasn't shared. But we did, you know, in talking with uh Cameron and and MGT, they did look at the um the 5-year census data, which is the American I'm drawing a blank. I'm >> American Community Service to look at where they can look at that uh they can look at

165that information by household. And we're told that, you know, based on by household, not necessarily by students, that um we keep a pretty consistent average across the across the elementaryaries. Um and then as far as special education goes, um we serve all of our kids regardless of where they live. We, you know, it's not necessarily where they live determines their service. It is their needs are what determine their services. And so, um, you know, I know Tara had a meeting with parents or had an open form. I don't know if you want to speak to that a little bit, but you know, they had some ideas that they had come up with and some of the things are things that, uh, we already do and we just had to kind of clarify, but I don't

166know if you want to talk about the services piece and >> Sure, Ken. We had a meeting last Tuesday. It was open to all elementary parents um that had children with special needs. Um and talked about our process transitioning um gave kind of our preliminary preliminary thank you um thoughts and um got some feedback from them and just a lot of clarifying questions. Even our parents of our students don't realize that we do have services in all our buildings. Our buildings don't dictate what the services are. The students do. So, whatever student shows up into whatever building, whatever those IEPs say, that's why we're anxiously awaiting a decision so we can finish or figure out where the students are. Then we will adjust our staffing. We have staffing go across K12, whether it's OT, PT,

167vision, hearing, you name it. Those services will be where the students uh land at the end of this. >> Right. Thanks, Mr. President. Um, first of all, I just think it says something about this board that there are multiple members racing to answer what ACS stands for. Um, I'm proud of you guys. Um, but I I just wanted to Erin, I appreciate your thoughts on on Prairie. Um, I I had those thoughts with Orange version one. This one got a little bit better. What what kind of comforts me about it is the the drop in, you know, year two that it's such a dramatic drop. And and it if it was, you know, we're going to stick at 90 through 2030 and then see a drop, I'd have more concerns. But we really know who

168those kids are in years one and two and three. They're here. They live in the district. Um, so that that kind of I I feel more comfortable with with Orange version two in that way that Prairie is not going to hold at that level. Um, the other piece I wanted to say is when Orange version two came out mid last week, I was, "Oh my gosh, we've got another version. We need to hear from people." But as as I've realized, it's it's really more an iterative process that that it's not really another version that we went back and threw things at the wall and see what popped out. >> And that's that's exactly why we left it as orange and orange version two. I did because really we didn't reinvent any will. It was just

169an a very direct attempt at addressing the very pointed questions around capacity and utilization at at Prairie. >> Thank you. And then I had I had one further point. I know um Mr. Barab Barabi Barabi Bar Darabi is in the crowd. Um he he sounds like he has a very unique situation. So um Nick, can we make sure that that kind of he's with his neighborhood in whatever version we end up in? >> Yeah, that that happened I think back in 2018. It had to do with the planning districts or the planning zones. Um, and it had to do with which street a driveway was on for a for a neighborhood. And so, uh, the orange version does take care of that, uh, weird kind of jet out based on the planning zones. So, >>

170yeah, >> thank you. >> Um, I'd like to just address your question, Kate. Um, we did talk I just want to reiterate what Shannon said. We talked as a principal team today. um prioritizing class sizes, balance sections, 4K and wrap care, keeping neighborhoods together, and minimizing the disruption for kids. So, basically what Shannon said would be the priorities of the principal team. Um and I also think the sooner we can make a decision, the better so that we can start getting plans made for staffing. Um people are anxious and you know, want to know where they're going. So, thanks >> Mr. President. I wanted to follow up a little bit with the exception for Mr. Baraby. I'm so sorry. I'm terrible with names. Um I really am. Um how going forward we're going to have

171oneoffs like this? I think we're going to have some stuff that's like uh how are we going to handle that? What's the plan? >> Well, um well uh so we're not we're not making an exception uh for him. So, it just it just happens that the orange plan >> the orange plan fixes that. Okay. >> Fixes that, but it wasn't because he asked for an exception or anything like that. It was just >> Okay. I'm sorry. I misunderstood that. >> Yeah. There was there was no no special treat there. Sorry. Um but it was just it just by the way it kind of worked. It's >> Yeah. >> So, what happens though? I mean, we probably are going to have some oddball things. I mean, I would imagine. So, what's the plan? How do we

172do we have a policy that people can we're just going to stand with what we have or uh and then they can ask for not a boundary but uh >> that's what I was going to ask about Trevor left but I was going to say for these you know end of road kind of things that you look on the map and it just makes sense there's there is a little flexibility for that or >> no >> um I mean >> typ says no [laughter] >> yeah I mean >> typically there's a boundary exception process >> the boundary exception process and they don't have access to transportation. >> Yes. But you set boundaries. You you you set boundaries. >> So there's not a um and then boundary exceptions don't qualify for transportation. >> So if somebody

173all of a sudden lives in the Hudson Prairie area and they want to go to the uh EP Rock area, um if there's space, we don't overload. And so we have a boundary exception process. And I think Erin and I talked about this last week. Um, it is a board policy. It was put in place back when we did boundaries in 2018. It can be found on our website. Um, it it lays out all the considerations and the order in which we process boundary exceptions. Um, it we do it every year. It's not new. It's nothing's changed related to that uh process. But um I know somebody asked about fifth graders. Could they stay? Um, my comment to that would be, you know, if there's room, they would file the boundary exception process like anybody

174else. However, fifth graders at Holton and Willow River are moving to new schools. So, they don't have that option. And so, um, that's part of why we didn't do this like we did last time where we said fifth graders could be grandfathered in last time. We didn't do that because we knew that there were going to be students that weren't going to have a choice one way or another because their schools were closing. And so in trying to be fair to all to all involved, that's that was the direction that we went through that. >> I didn't mean to give Andrea a heart attack and or you know, sake or give everybody a chance that they think there's wiggle room for anything, but like Mr. Barry said, there there were some in the last boundary

175things that just went what I'm the only family on this street, you know, and and we had to work through that. We did and we had lots of meetings with families um over the years where there's they were raising those issues and so each time we refine it a little bit more and with our specific software that we utilize now um with Traversa it's so much more specific um than in the past it was really looking at maps and drawing areas. Now it's down to the street and down to was GIS and all that fancy stuff. I have a question. Um, so through this looking at um for a little bit of perspective on longevity on the estimates that you have, I think we all have a a strong interest and having boundaries that will

176last for as long as possible. Nobody relishes the idea of going back and having to reconsider boundaries again. um give us a perspective on what you see happening here and and kind of in relation to other schools. I think you've touched on it a little in past presentations, but I think reiterating it would be helpful >> in general, especially in a situation like this where you guys are you're just here. You're not falling off a cliff. You've got just a general decline. Um, it would be a wonderful thing if you if if if a new development came on the line that we weren't aware of that that some kind of zoning change and you had a little more of a highdensity uh development. However, as was shared, we're seeing this nationally. You're just not getting

177the number of kids uh out of new homes that you did at one point. Um, we feel really good about our three, fiveyear numbers. I we'll be I'd be amazed if we were off by very much you know but again you then at that point you're making assumption about assumptions um when you're going out there but but because of this number and the way it's kind of trending down you could absorb quite a few more students in three years if something else were to come online. So, um, this is a very stable community with kind of a stable reduction of students. So, I of all the places we've been, I feel really I mean, I hate to say this, I feel really good about the numbers that we've been able to project for you and

178the process that we've had here. Um, I I don't see a situation where we're off by much. I I just don't given that given what you have and just the stable nature of your community. You don't there's not a lot of this going on here and you saw that in your mo your mobility numbers are an exact reflection of that. >> Did that answer the question? Okay. >> And I just want to say thank you for the responsiveness of your team in creating the orange scenario. And then orange scenario tweaked V2. Um you know just the the feedback from the community I I think speaks a lot to how you captured that feedback in creating a new scenario. >> I think it was important. And this was a very important process for your community in

179that you know we generally only do one community engagement round and then kind of bring back uh from the start the district uh district leadership was no we want this second round we want this additional opportunity uh you know and I will share with as a former elementary principal best job ever um that you know kids just want to know families just want to know they want to have an answer uh kids will be great kids will be just fantastic it's the adults that you've got to kind of work through the process. And so, um, and so, yeah, the the kids will be great in this situation. We we just see that everywhere. >> Right. >> Thanks, Mr. President. Um, I'd like to go ahead and make a motion that we uh adopt Orange version

180two for the 26 27 school year. Certainly I don't want to stop discussion if we wanted to but just to get it on the table. >> So we have a second >> second from Megan. Um open still open for discussion though if people have more to add. >> I know I had asked Tim about the hot spot. It's okay. I just want to note that it is it's the uh it is in Rivercrest. That hot the biggest hot spot is in River. The second biggest hot spot is also in Rivercrest. Oh, [snorts] that makes a difference. >> Mr. President, um, as far as discussion, I think, uh, this is a question comment at this time. Would we also make the decision of how many sections or would that be a separate motion? Like, are we

181going to are we going to go with limited sections? If it passed, I don't I don't know if it's a second motion or not because if you have 85 sections, you have a third a second grade at um North Hudson, that's a little bit over, which I'd be hesitant to do in the younger grades versus a little bit over in fifth grade at Hudson Prairie for one year. You know, the I feel comfortable with that. Um, so is that a second motion if this one passes or is it all wrapped into one? I don't know. >> So, so typically, you know, you the the boundaries are the boundaries, not necessarily allocated session sections. And so, um, you know, as if you want to direct us also to say, hey, do your planning around 86 elementary

182sections, we can absolutely do that. um know that you know what's happening is things are very kind of uh fluid in the spring and that's why you know we kind of wait sometimes to pop sections sometimes we take sections away I mean when kindergarten uh roundup happens here coming up in about a month a month from tomorrow that will give us some information because all of a sudden if our kindergarten numbers instead of coming in at 290 come in at 240 there might be where instead of needing four sections um at Hudson Prairie, we might only need three sections of kindergarten at Hudson Prairie. And so um we really, you know, so if you say, hey, base it around the 86 sections for right now, uh with the understanding that, you know, we still have

183a ways to go because we have to get registration and things like that. And that's where you guys are going to start seeing the projected class sizes. that um document that you start to see about this time of year for next year. We'll start populating that and rolling that stuff forward as we as we do that. Uh and that's when we start saying to okay, we have concern we want to pop another section here or something like that. Um you know, so yes, we can build it around 86 sections and without an issue. Um and that's what we bring to the board. Okay, there's >> um I just want to I just want to just say this. Um over the past couple of weeks, I've personally asked a lot of questions, a lot. Um I've

184listened carefully to the public and even had more questions come up and spent quite a bit of time with Nick and he answered very well all the questions that I had. Um, and then again talking with the community just to make sure this all made sense. And while I wish that there would have been a little more time to review those additional slides and that we would have had that, I still feel good about the information that's being presented and understanding the rush, the need to move forward for families and teachers and staff. Um, and at the same time, I just want to acknowledge and and that I I understand I know Maria has been through um the boundary before with her kiddos. And I just just want to acknowledge that no matter how thorough

185this process is or how exact the data is or how much care is put into this work, there's still going to be people who are upset. There just are. Change is hard and it's especially hard when you didn't ask for it and it really doesn't feel very good. Um, but we can really do hard things and we can move forward together even when it's difficult. And I also want to acknowledge the excellent work of MGT uh in presenting the options and answering the questions and fielding the questions that I keep asking. Um, as well as the effort of our administration team and our teachers um, and what you guys are doing to support the students and the family and the staff. That's it. Thank you. >> Sorry, >> I would just mention what what um

186Su Helner said earlier, you know, and and they they have the pulse of the teaching teaching staff. I was at the TAC meeting, the last meeting, and it was it was, you know, the teachers, numerous teachers came up to me and said, "We're ready to move forward. We're ready to do this." And and it's more important, you know, it's important for them with just for the families and the students and to get these other things rolling. So, I you know I think MGT has done a wonderful job uh walking us through this this journey and I think I'm I'm pleased with the results. I I I I hope most people will be. Um I think it addresses in the flexibility in the plan that has moved forward has answered and made changes that were necessary

187and and good for the community uh to help go through with this. So my comments if uh Sorry, >> that's okay. Um, echo everything Aaron and and Bob said, I think thank you MGT, thank you administrative staff and, you know, our principles for for providing us u a lot of information and continuing to answer questions. Um, I know this is it's a balancing act and it's um it's something a lot of people are interested in for a variety of reasons. Um, having been through boundary uh you know reboundary and it is it's it's a it's it's different um and each family will will rise to the rise to the occasion um as best they can. I had a conversation today with um with a mom slash staff person in the district um and she has

188several young kiddos who will be in elementary for a few years now. So, um, and she was just reflecting. She said, "We'll be okay." She goes, "I have one kiddo who will embrace this with sparkles and rainbows and love it through, you know, just beautifully." And she reflected her, she has another kiddo. This will be a little bit of a challenge and they'll have to walk through it with care. And I think that's every family's going to be navigating this. Um, there are those of us who have done it in the past and we're here and I have the utmost confidence in our principles. The work that you guys do with your staff every day is amazing. And I know that you guys will welcome all of these new kiddos into your buildings as if

189they are your own and this is their new school home and they will find a place there. So, thank you for that. >> Okay, no other statements or questions. Um, I'll say all those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed say nay. Motion passes. And that brings us to the end of our uh scheduled board meeting tonight except we're going into close session. Um, I meant public [laughter] >> and we will reconvene after uh after close session. So to for the language if someone wants to make the motion >> Mr. President. >> Yes. Kate. Thank you. >> The board will be convening in close session pursuant to Wisconsin statute 19.85 parent one parent E to deliberate or negotiate the purchase of public properties, the investing of public funds or conducting other specified

190public business whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session regarding unsolicited offer or offer to purchase Holton Elementary School. Second. >> All those in favor roll call. Um D >> I. >> Garza. >> I. >> Gerlock. >> I. >> Powers. [snorts] >> Hi. >> Rosowski. >> I. >> Rudy. >> I. >> Bowman. I. We are now in close session. Mr. President. >> Okay. >> I'd like to make a motion to reject the unsolicited offer. >> I'm going to go Brian on that. >> I All those post say nay. Hearing none. >> Mr. President, >> Miss Kate, >> I'd like to make a motion for the board to work with the broker used to sell the administrative office building to put together a listing agreement and proposal for the board to review at the next

191work session. >> Do I have a second? >> Second from Brian. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed say nay. >> Hearing none. Motion passes. Now I'll do a I entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Mr. President to adjurnn. [laughter] >> Aaron to give Brian the second. We are now adjourned.