001school district of River Falls. This meeting has been properly notified and we are going to begin with the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We have one visitor who has registered to speak. So Wayne Rowan, please. >> You may you may stand um up here and then the the there's a a microphone right on the table that will catch you >> facing where >> you're sort of facing us. This may be the middle. Cut your different. [laughter] >> Okay. And I hope you'll forgive the scripted comments. I I know Stacy runs a tight ship and there's a two-minute uh so I >> was extra cautious. [laughter]
002Uh, good evening. My name is Wayne Rowan. I'm a 19-year resident of the city of River Falls and I reside in the Riverfalls School District. I'm a recently retired 3M executive and my wife Chris and I are the proud parents of four daughters. The youngest two graduating from the Riverfall School System. They have both gone on to become successful professionals and happy contributing members of society. So, I'm grateful for the educational experience they received here which enabled that success. Thank you. Uh, late last year I was appointed to the position of St. Croy County Supervisor in District 10, which overlaps with the northern portion of the Riverfall School District. My appointment was to backfill a vacancy created on the school on the county board when Dave Austin resigned last year. Many of you know Dave
003>> uh as a dedicated public servant who held that supervisor position in the district 10 for many years and I'm grateful for his dedication and service to River Falls. I was thrilled for the opportunity to represent my St. county neighbors and I will be standing for election in April. Activities at the county board often go under the radar. So I am visiting with local organizations to communicate the changes in representation have taken place and my commitment to effectively represent District 10. This commitment includes strong support of public education and the dedicated professionals helping our children be successful. I look forward to the chance of working with the Riverfall School Board as opportunities arise and advancing our public education and I'll be around after the meeting if anyone would like to talk. Thank you for the
004time. >> Thank you. >> You've come to a group of people who also value public service. So, thank you for yours. >> All right, we are going to move on toformational items. And the first one, which is always fun, will be Wildcat Pride. >> Was the toughest part of the meeting, right? So, I'd like to call up Barb Culpin and Dennis Ireland. [clears throat] >> Come on up. [laughter] >> Well, I didn't want Benj not to have it, so >> Well, yeah, >> I get it. I appreciate that. Um, on behalf of the school board, we extend our gratitude and appreciation for your support of our our school forest. Through your dedication to enhancing the land, including tree planting and road clearing, the school forest has grown into a vibrant outdoor learning environment. From acquiring
005certifications to working directly with students outside organiza and outside organizations, our efforts have created opportunities for students and community members of all ages and abilities. Your willingness to share your time, resources, and knowledge has been instrumental in helping the school forest thrive and grow in both uh purpose and potential. Thank you for all you've done and continue to do to make this invaluable resource possible. You are true ambassadors of Wildcat Pride. [applause] >> Well, none of this is [clears throat] is possible without the support of these guys back here. They're just, [laughter] >> you know, they're the ones who are closer to the students than we are. And whenever I and I I am so grateful that whenever I come up with some wild ideas, can we do this? Or I heard that somebody else
006is doing this or I know somebody who can do this. and they don't run the other way [laughter] even though they might want to sometimes but um it's worth it for the kids. We've had what over 1 to 2,000 kids. >> We had about a thousand kids over out in the fall and we've had a our first winter field trip. >> Yeah. >> And we'll we've got some coming in for the spring. And it's it's such a great thing for our kids, but also the university is now doing W Riverfalls is one of their classes. Two of their different classes are working with [snorts] us. One on some landscaping and um and I'm writing a grant for that. And then another class is actually doing an assessment of the the whole property for one of
007their classes. And so it's a full-time thing for them. I mean, it's a full class work for them. So, it's um it's really gratifying the partnerships that we've been able to put together and how everybody's always willing to say, "Sure, >> I want to try that and let's do it." And then the kids are the beneficiaries. >> Nice. Both the college kids and the the high school or the the grade school kids, the Renaissance Academy are best tree planters. [laughter] >> Honest to gosh, you know, I panicked last year when he was sick and you know, I said, "How are we going to get all these trees planted?" Because he gave us some of his and it's like they were just about done before lunch. and >> you know so the ch everybody continues to
008amaze me all the time >> from the Renaissance kids to the little ones to the the high schoolers to >> great >> you both have a very long history of being incredible supporters for the school district in a in a great variety of ways. So we thank you on behalf of >> Well, I looked at this. It says over the years our, you know, school forest over the years. It's a young school forest. [laughter] >> Well, Barb, but you were there when to do a lot of work in order to get access. It has been for years. So, but as I said before, we don't have very many people who bring a cheering crowd. So, that's what you have with Nate to Michaela and Lauren over here to to be with you for this honor.
009Oh, thank you very much. >> I'm sorry. I should have just said everything. [laughter] >> But you can tell that. >> Do you need a picture, too? >> Yes. >> You want the other people in the picture, too? >> Yeah. How about the crew? the whole board. Huh? [laughter] [laughter] >> How do we do this? [laughter] Yes. >> Let's not joke about it. [laughter] >> All right. Thank you. [applause] >> All right. Well, this is also a a a great meeting to come to because we get treats when the food service >> Thank you guys. >> Thank you. Very much appreciate it. >> When Pat comes and he always brings us treats. So, do you also have something to tell us about? He has his >> Thank you. It's a really good way to start
010the meeting. Cookies every time, right? >> Yes. >> I've been told. >> Amen to that. >> So, uh again, thank you for a few minutes. Um I wanted to just give you uh an update of kind of where we are, what we've been doing, and uh what is yet to come. Uh as you can see on uh the the or the excuse me the monitor right now some quick things. Um yes enrollment is down but our participation uh across the district in meals is up. So percentage wise with less kids we're feeding more kids. Um which is good. Uh I think it tells us that what we're offering them they like. uh they do get to make the decision to eat or not eat. And the more kids we feed, that tells us, you know,
011the better we're doing. Ideally, we want to feed them all if we can, but we know, you know, that's not quite the way it works. Um breakfast count is up substantially. Um almost 10 points in the elementary schools. Um uh lunch participations are kind of even. Um we are seeing less alle cart purchases, less cash sales. Uh and I think the economic times are telling us that a little bit. Um families are tighter on the budget. We are also seeing that more kids are eating. Um we have two fruits and two vegetables every day offered at every school at least. And we're seeing more kids taking more fruits and vegetables every day, meaning they're filling their tray more. >> Um and I think part of that is again um they're taking advantage more of what
012we have to offer. again, maybe in some cases because maybe they do in other places. Um, inflation is definitely affecting our bottom line. We did do a price increase this last year and Lynette and I, we've talked, we're going to see where we wind up this year and what we need to do. Um, nothing has gotten cheaper and some things have gotten a lot more expensive and what you see at the grocery store is the same things we see. Uh labor is a challenge to try and be competitive uh with the market out there uh and yet work in a nonprofit situation which is what we are. We don't run this to make a profit. We run it to stay subst sustainable um is a challenge but uh as you'll come down to some of
013the things we've done so far this year we have had zero staff turnover this year um which I'm feel very proud about. Um part of that is finding the right people and then making the right environment for them um that they want to stay. So I'm very happy with that. Um some new things uh new concepts that we have been running at the high school but we introduced at the middle school which was a stretch for them. The noodle bowl which is like a cross between f or ramen and the kids get to build that themselves. It's a huge success. Um the largest day we've seen at the middle school in about three years. >> Wow. Um, so again, giving them new things and they're open to it, which is great. Uh, the same thing
014with the pork carnitas bowl and both of those are scratch cooking um stuff that we've done and we uh the pictures um I'll allow you the opportunity to look at the pictures that you have in your presentation um just for some time. Uh we did an indigenous foods menu at the elementary schools this year which was new where we tried to use come up with recipes and foods that were um traditional to this region several hundred years ago. Um grains, uh squash, pumpkins, you know, different things like that. We didn't do venison. That doesn't fit in the budget and other things like that. [laughter] But uh doing what we can where we can uh with those and it was fun. It was again that day again we promoted it and it was a very big
015success. We saw a good turnout of students coming to try to do new different things. Um some promotions we've been doing so far this year scratch made cooking with um chili days warm bellies where we're doing chili on baked potatoes on hot dogs and then just chili as chili. Uh and again rather than buying um cooked meat uh our ladies are committed to try to do the extra effort to cooking that stuff for us uh as we go. Um, we have added more retail options to the middle school and the high school. We haven't seen the sales increase on that because again our allocard sales are down a little bit. I think that's because people's budgets are tighter. Um, we've been baking 100% of our sub rolls at the middle school and the high school.
016Um, it does cost us a little bit more to do that actually than buying them just, you know, fully processed, but we're going to see if we can try to keep doing that. Um, we have been purchasing lettuce from the horiculture department at the high school. U, Mr. Pachek's grow towers make some beautiful stuff. And it's to the point where his volume There we go. Thank [laughter] you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> I can't do three things at once, which is run this and talk and stay straight. Um, and if you look at the pictures, uh, it's to the point where the volume that they can grow and the quality that they can grow. I said to him, rather than me buying, I'm I can get it from you. and we should compensate
017you which helps feed his program. So it's really a you know a great relationship with that. Um there are lots of changes coming uh this year with the new administration as far as uh USDA regulation guidelines. Um Chartwells is already just so you know ready for that. Um we're actually ahead of that stuff. Uh and a lot of that is lower sugar, lower fats, lower sodium um and starting to eliminate in some cases uh anything that is unnatural as far as uh dyes and um flavorings uh going to more natural which is all great uh for our students. Um so far this year I have done uh 12 hours of classroom education with the sixth graders at the middle school. Last year we did a focus at the monastery and the two years before that
018I worked with Greenwood. Um this year we found um with uh Mrs. Z at the middle school and we're uh still have some more of that coming. And again going in and talking to the kids, letting them sample different foods, talking to them about those things and getting them to try new ideas. Uh I said we've had zero staff turnover since the beginning of the year, which I'm very proud of. And for the last two and a half years, we have managed to not have any accidents that have caused any loss of time or any hospitalization. >> Nice. That to me as much as anything is a commitment of our teams to be safe and be smart and get the job done. Um, accidents happen, but I like to say not with our ladies and
019gentlemen. Um, they really go out of their way. Uh, some things yet to come. Um, starting next week, we're doing National School Breakfast Week. We'll be promoting a lot of things. Um, as we always say, the some people give me sometimes a hard time. Why are you serving Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs? Well, did you know it's 25% less sugar than what you buy at the grocery store? And it's 100% whole grain um with no artificial dyes or colors or things like that. So, the answer or the question that we should be asking is why aren't they serving that at the grocery store? [laughter] But, uh we're going to be promoting that along with some scratch cooking um and the fact you know fresh juices or not fresh juice but um uh fruits and juices
020and things like that uh throughout it. Uh we've got a mood boost partnership. have made a connection with PAX that when we do our spring mood boost um we haven't worked all the details out but Pat said that they are very interested and he's says he wants that we will do it where the students may be able to then take a recipe card into the tax with certain items each week and get a discount on that item or that they'll have some new fun items for them. Uh so again getting it where uh kids can try new foods in the school and then maybe take that recipe card and go home and introduce it to their family which again you know attacks they're awesome about doing things like that. Um, and we're starting some lucky
021trade days at the elementary schools again just for fun, you know, uh, give kids uh, a prize of some mood boost wristbands or different things like that uh, that have uh, [clears throat] generated a lot of excitement. And again, anytime sometimes we can get kids excited about the lunchroom, which they already are because if it's not the tater tots or the hot dogs, it's the recess that comes afterwards. [laughter] But we'll take them anyway we can. Uh, and again, uh, any questions? Oh, >> great. >> Thank you for what you folks do. And again, if you ever have questions, you know where we are and >> we appreciate your time. >> As always, thank you. But even more to the point, Pat, >> we really appreciate your dedication to our students. The fact that you
022are doing the stress, cooking, the nutrition, going into classrooms, involving kids. >> It's fantastic because it makes a really big difference and you and your team do a great job on that. So, thank you. >> Thank you very much. It's fun. >> Well, we can tell because your enthusiasm shines through. So, thank you. >> Can I just add a couple things? So, besides serving students, like Pat and his team are always more than willing to uh cater meetings and lunches and all kinds of things around the district. So, feeding our staff as well. I mean, Pat's uh probably the most common word I hear from him is yes. like he's always [laughter] saying yes to to do to going above and beyond and and providing that for all of us. So, thank you to you
023and your team. >> Thank you. >> Thanks for being here tonight. [applause] >> Okay, we are going to move on to some reports and the first one will be a wig update from our elementary team. We didn't break snacks, so we're already [laughter] coming. >> Sorry, I was being served cookies. [laughter] >> You might have to turn it on. >> All right. Am I starting this? >> Take it away, Kai. >> Should we Let's introduce ourselves. >> Oh, cuz they don't know us. >> Yes. Not that you haven't seen us 100 times. Rachel, Westside Elementary. Yes. To those watching. >> Ashley Binghammer, Rocky Branch principal. Kai Rogers, uh, monastery principal, Kate Scapel, Greenwood, principal. Um, so thank you for having us back um to give you an update on our wildly important goal. And as
024you know, we developed this goal for the 2425 school year, but it's a three-year goal. So, we are actually exactly halfway through our goal. I figured that one out today. So, um, we're we're kind of excited about that. There's lots of changes and lots of good things to talk about today. So, um, you know, in review, our goal is up on the board, um, that 100% of our students will be proficient or exceed their yearly growth goal in foundational reading skills as measured by the grade level screening assessment by the spring of 2027. So, um, with that, we've designed our lead measures as a team, um, to support this goal, and we've reviewed those a lot with you. Um and here is our lead measures. So um but the first two columns we've actually just
025gone through in the fall with you, you know, talking about just um the things that we're doing in our buildings and also the tracking systems for our own accountability, our cadence of accountability. So those things [laughter] have not really changed. Um but what I would like to focus on is kind of the major updates for us. Um that kind of speak to the new things going on. So um first we are still doing um professional development for our staff in the science of reading. So most of our staff members, all of our staff members have finished their top 10 tools um trainings and we're still doing more kind of ongoing training during our staff meetings, inservice days, that sort of thing. Um, most recently, the three elementaryaries, not mine because we did it last year,
026did um, a talk with the Minnesota Reading Center just about dyslexia and just kind of that early identification and just kind of really what how that can manifest in students in different ways. So, just a lot of good information about some of the things that we don't necessarily see as products of dyslexia that, you know, were kind of new for teachers. So just kind of giving that base in terms of what a day in the life of a child with dyslexia can look like um and how that can be very different depending on the child. So that happened um also just for um meeting date. Oh, so just implementing and monitoring our collective commitments. Um, this year we had two dates on our calendars at so that the grade level PLC teams [clears throat] could
027really kind of talk about assessments and their collective commitments and really kind of dive into um their data and all things that kind of kept that momentum going and kind of reflecting on what they've been doing and moving forward. um it looks a little bit different at the monastery so I'm not going to speak to that a lot. Um so um but also then working with um Next Path with our emphasis on our data literacy to kind of combine because we have our AS web data and then we have Next Path which is our new platform um that kind of houses as a warehouse for all of our student um test scores. We're having a really hard time well I shouldn't say a really hard time. It's been challenging um to get the the scores
028and the things that we've wanted in a way that makes sense for a teacher so that they can access their data in in an intentional way and use it um effectively. >> Rachel's going to speak more to that just created this school. We were using FastBridge and FastBridge reporting looks a lot different than Ames Web. Both screeners give us pretty similar information, but the data reports we could put in the hands of teachers felt way more user friendly with FastBridge. So when we created this goal, we were really focused on growth because the growth reports embedded in FastBridge are really great. Uh Ames Webb just doesn't have them. When we were at CISA last week, we talked with two of the consultants who are kind of experts in Ames Webb Plus. They confirmed the reality
029that they don't exist. And so I'm working alongside Amy Wise with Next Path to try and mimic those reports in Next Path. Um we've done as web provides pres pro provides us with a rate of improvement for each student but it depends on their initial percentile in the fall to target their growth goal in terms of a number for the entire year. So it's personalized for each student which is great but when there's a report that's not pulling that you have teachers that sit and hand tabulate that for 25 students you can imagine the demand that that takes. So, we're working to get more user friendly reports in the hands of our teachers now that we know [snorts] for sure they don't exist. We have a next step to create them in a way that
030feels user friendly for them. So, that's been a bit of a an uplift or a lift just because we thought that we would have it and we don't. So, we have a solution. It's in progress, but in year two that's been something we've really tried to refine. Um, and then to kind of piggyback on that, um, we're also, you know, data literacy has been a a big, um, kind of foundational element that we've all tried to kind of increase in our in our staff when they're looking at all of these numbers. A hard part about that also is just when we're doing our intervention and support planning when we don't have the exact tools that that are accessible for teachers. So this year we implemented um a new data dig process for our teachers including
031um a spreadsheet that's that kind of gives them a chance to walk through each child and their scores in a in an intentional way so that every teacher at every level is kind of doing the same process to make sure that we aren't missing any students or that we're really identifying and targeting intervention support for for every child. So, um, that I feel like has gone really well at my building. I'm feeling like that that was, um, a a big boost from last year where we were at. So, that's what we got so far. This screen shows a snap. So, those were our um, administrative lead measures. This is a snapshot of some of our grade level lead measures. Um, so these are practices that teachers have chosen to implement that will hopefully impact their
032leg data. And Kai mentioned the um, collective commitment. So over the summer, Amy Wise worked with coaches and um teams of teachers to create um curriculum collective commitments to make sure that all of our buildings are in sync on certain pieces of our implementation of collaborative literacy. So a lot of teams kind of took that document and used it to create their initial lead measures and then these can change over the course of the year if they get to a point where they feel like they've kind of like mastered this or have moved past it. Um teams have the flexibility to add or change their lead measures as well. Um, and then for some accountability, we um, at least at Rocky Branch, I think other schools also weave it into BLT in different ways. So
033have certain grade level teams report out at BLT how things are going with their lead measure. Also at during PLC's on Thursday, we have like a grounding piece that's also just the team should just do a quick check-in on their lead measure um, where they're at. And then in the fall spent a little bit more time this year since it was our second year talking about how they are monitoring that impact. So last year as a first year it was like choose a lead measure [laughter] pick something um and the focus was just like getting into collaborative implementing something feeling good about um doing some fidelity and then this year it's more like okay if that if your lead measure is um that you want to implement skill-based small groups in unit 2 what also
034is the way that you're measuring the impact of that at some point in the year so we know if it was effective or not and if it's time to move on. So still still working on that a little bit but that was a goal for this year as well. All right. So, now we've got the numbers slide. [clears throat] Um, so the far left column is what we shared with you in the fall and I, if you remember, we were like, hm, this makes us a little nervous because these numbers are quite high, right? Um, and Ames Web had just done their reorming and so we were kind of like, we only have we have 90% of kindergarters where they should be. That's great. Um, but where are they going to be at in the
035winter and then in the spring? You can see that the percentages on the far right are slightly lower in grades K through two. Um three through five had some uh some growth. So that's a move in the right direction. Um some of the things that we think about when we look look at this is one this is the 25th percentile and above. We do not deem that as proficient. When we wrote this wig um as Rachel alluded to, we were act 20 was hot off the presses. um still not we really didn't have all the answers from the state um but we wanted to align this goal as much with that as possible to make sure that we aren't talking different languages throughout the year. So as a three-year goal we're maintaining that so we
036can see the growth. Um however we don't just serve kids who are below the 25th percentile. definitely have processes in place to work with students. Anyone below the 40th percentile is receiving some level of additional support in reading. We're just using this as it relates to act 20. Um so what you'll see in the second column proficient at midyear that's the number or percentage of students who are um at or above the 25th percentile. Um and then the next column is that exceeded growth goal at midyear. So, as Rachel shared, growth in Ames Webb is not super easy to find. Uh, we wrote that goal when we were in FastBridge and they hadn't decided what our new system was going to be yet. So, when this came out, we were told it was going to
037be measured. We now know that it for sure is not. However, what they do provide us is a um student growth percentile. And what we know about growth is that it's not exactly linear. So when you measure in the winter, you're not saying, "Oh, you're halfway through the year. You should be halfway grown by now." [laughter] Okay? We know that they might have a burst in the spring. Maybe their burst was from fall to winter, but we do still use it as a checkpoint. So it's still valid data. Um so what that means is um any student who's at the 50th percentile for growth is growing at a normal pace is what the percentiles would tell us. So those numbers are any students who were 55th percentile or higher on their midyear data. Um so
038you'll see that those students may be um well those students are below the 25th percentile but they are on track to make more than a year's worth of growth which is what we want. If they are below that 25th percentile we want them to grow more than a year so they can start to catch up. So that's why we added that into our goal so that we can make sure that we are accounting for um all the kiddos and all the work that they're putting into it. Uh I saw I know personally at Greenwood I have a couple of kiddos that were below the 25th percentile 99th percentile for growth. They are just like shooting up like a rocket. So >> So that's not like three kindergarteners exceeded growth. It's three of the ones who
039were not proficient exceeded their growth. >> Yep. double count them if they were [clears throat] correct >> above proficiency. >> Yes. >> Yep. >> So, if you were reading um for the benefit of the people who are watching on TV too, I'm sure there's tons of them. >> If you're reading across the top line and you're looking at kindergarteners, you're saying 97% are proficient in the fall. And proficient means above the 25th percentile. And that's we're look we're talking of everyone who's taken the test anywhere >> in the 25th percentile above that percentile. So 97% of the kids in kindergarten are above the above above that. So 3% are below or in that lower quartortile >> and then that changed midyear to 91 correct percent but again the norming changed to whatever >> and three
040of those kids who are in the lower quartortile exceeded >> are making more are trending towards making more than a year's worth of growth. >> More than a year's worth of growth. Okay. And then proficient midyear. We're looking at the same thing there. So that's just a percent of them are in that lower quartile. >> Yep. >> I do want to add to this too. We're reporting these numbers to you, but I know at least in my building, we also looked at students who are proficient but are exceeding growth because something we've talked a lot about is if you're in the 95th percentile all the time, you also deserve to grow at high levels. And so we don't have that reported here because we didn't >> know how to summarize that nicely. But we do
041know that it's important that even though students are proficient, we also want to ensure that they continue to grow. We don't want them to be stagnant at the 80th percentile because they deserve to reach high levels as well. So staff were digging into that data in our buildings in different ways through our data dig process. It's just not reported here on this slide. >> Is also working with special ed case managers too to look at their case loads and where their students are falling with their growth. >> Thank you for clarifying that. That was one of my questions because I I know that work is happening and I know we are committed to all students and sometimes it can get lost, you know, when we're looking at this data >> time after time when you
042come. So, thank you for making that reaffirming our 180% of kids are proficient or exceeding growth because that feels really confusing. [laughter] So, with the 25th percentile cut off, that's how we bucket it. We're definitely trying to make sure we're pushing teachers really leaning into the PLC process to say how are we pushing our kids who need enrichment as well. >> Thank you. >> Anything else on the >> No. Okay. I'm good. >> All right. So, as Kate said, um we this is a new slide. We just wanted to break down a little bit for you what the support looks like for students who are either on personal reading plans through act 20 or [clears throat] mentioned up to the 40th percentile, sometimes even above that. In terms of proficiency, we feel like the 25th
043percentile is just low. It doesn't feel like that's the only students we want to serve. And really, we consider the students from the 25th to the 40th percentile kind of at risk or bubble kids that we know one test score could bump them back down to the 15th percentile. So, we're trying to ensure that in all of our buildings, we're supporting through at least the 40th percentile on their assessments, if not higher. So, um we just I wanted to lay out some of the interventions that we're using. They're used kind of in different capacities, but SIPs is our highest level of intervention support. This is the resource that pairs with collaborative literacy that our title one reading interventionists are trained in. Um Juliet, the monastery is also trained, but UFly seems to be a better
044fit with the monastery resource. So, she kind of goes back and forth depending on the needs of the student. But you'll see students typically between the zero and 10th percentile at minimum are the ones who are served by that SIPs intervention resource. Depending again on the grade level in the need and the building. You may see students in the 35th percentile also being served through that intervention support. But really we ensure that that goes to the highest level of need in our buildings is who gets that SIPs resource and it's 5 days a week for 30 minutes that they have that dosage. Um kind of the next level of support that we see for students. This is typically students from the 20 to 30 or 35th percentile is reading core. So those are tutors that
045are kind of held in our building that we house and we support as much as we can through our coaches and our reading interventionist, but is actually kind of an extra program that we've applied to through a grant to have this person in the building. So they work exclusively with grades K through three. Those are 20 minutes either one-on-one or one-on- two sessions, but they're really targeted skills. So sips kind of focuses on everything high frequency words, phenemic awareness, their ability to read and decode where in reading core it's one specific thing. So either just fluency or just phmic awareness. So we can target pretty intentionally with the students who have that kind of next level of need. Um UFly I talked about a little bit but that um is similar to SIPs. It's just
046not tied directly to our current reading curriculum. So we consider that supplemental but focuses a lot on phonics, high frequency words and fluency. We see this used um in some special education classrooms as well. Um we're working on trying to train some of our pair of professionals. Our coaches have been trained and our reading interventionists as well. And I'll say add on to that that actually you fly like matches up with the monatory reading curriculum. Um we have you know monatory specific scope and sequence of how we deliver um language and UFly actually is is a a direct fit. So our teachers during their PLC process and their um curriculum days have kind of aligned the lessons in you fly to the monatory lessons so that we can see where that overlap is. So if
047a child is receiving lessons from their teacher using the monatory materials then that directly then there's that discussion between the interventionist about how those okay then we should be on this lesson and you fly and it's a direct thing. So super cool. >> Yeah. Um, six minute solutions is a repeated reading. So, it's fluency practice. When you look at the scores from the slide previous and see kind of that boost in 3, four, five, we're looking exclusively at ORP when we're reporting data to you. We know that's one measure in grades three, four, and five. We struggle a bit with that with act 20 that our third grade readers proficiency is just on that one measure. So, we try and look comprehensive, but I would say a celebration this year has been that we've seen
048six minute solutions, which is a quick practice with some comprehension questions used a lot in our upper grade classrooms to boost that oral reading fluency score for our higher grade level learners. And so, I think that's part of the reason we've seen that boost is this is a quick support that teachers are kind of using for the first time because fluency doesn't always feel the most important, especially in fourth and fifth grade. And then um lastly, again to ensure that we're supporting to at least the 40th percentile, sometimes our classroom teachers will do higher doses of small group tier 2 support in the classroom. So our small group sets are how phonics, highfrequency words, and jacoding skills are taught in grades K2. We can extend that into third grade with a pair of professional or
049classroom teacher. Um but then in grades three through five, we use what's called R, that independent daily reading time to do one-on-one conferring. So again, if a student is at that 30 to 40th percentile, they may receive a higher dosage of that conferring, whether it's they check in with the classroom teacher and a pair professional once a week or they see the teacher twice a week and a book club. Um, it kind of looks different depending on the need of the student and the capacity of the teacher, but really ensuring that there is some layer of support for those students even though they haven't been notified or dinged by act 20. And then I think we've addressed a lot of these things, but just wanted to make sure we summarized kind of the obstacles that
050we talked about in the fall um with act 20. So that as web reporting has been a thorn in the side, but I feel like we finally have kind of a really great next step um since next's been really open to collaboration with us. So that's been great. And like Kai mentioned, we all have the same spreadsheet we're using to track internally this year to ensure that all students have the support that they need after our benchmark assessment. Um, we're still adjusting, I think, to the new norming that happened within Ames Webb Plus. I know a lot of my especially first and second grade teachers are just going to feel nervous for the next year or two because they feel like, yes, they're at the benchmark, but are they really? Are they going to end
051first grade proficient and tank when they get to second grade, which I think is a concern every year. We want to prepare kids for their next step, but I think it's just going to take us some time to feel settled with those norms because they still feel new for our teachers. Um the shift in personal reading plan development. We used edge a climber last year and then we transitioned to next path. I think all of us said it felt smoother this winter. It felt like it wasn't as big of a lift. Teachers are becoming more familiar with that data warehouse system and kind of now that we have the parent communication piece of that figured out too. We've been able to answer questions and help parents problem solve a little bit easier than I think
052we felt ready to do in the fall. So that just feels like it's going to continue to progress and get refined. And then um the growth Kate mentioned um we kind of finally figured out how we're measuring that. That's been an obstacle is like we know growth is really important. What's our number to measure that? So we've leaned into using both the rate of improvement that's that collaboration with next path but mainly as of right now the student growth percentile for us to say are they exceeding the growth goals that we've set that as web has given us. And so we have we have targets that teachers can look at within the reports for now as we continue to work more on that rate of improvement being usable [clears throat] information. >> I think that's
053what we got. >> What questions you got? >> First off, I I I love it when you the four of you are up here talking about this stuff because >> we do too. >> You're really bright, really informative, [laughter] >> and it helps us understand what you're doing and those kinds of things. Well, I think I I say this typically every time we talk about it, but I'm glad that you help us understand that it's not all about aggregated data. So, we can show progress with aggregated data, but we can be leaving a lot of people behind because we decide they take too much work. So, you've constantly I think helped us identify the fact that you're trying to keep track of everybody out here, not just move our data out, but we're really after
054everybody. We're using the data. High tide raises all ships. Um I I I guess since we got you here, it's just your expertise. So let's fast forward next year this time board meeting and maybe you're doing a similar presentation and you really feel that what the progress you've made on this science of reading is going to be sustainable and that you're going to be feeling good about it next year at this time and and and that what what are your thoughts where we are with this? Well, we've been talking a little bit about that because the three elementaryaries were looking at a potential new math resource for next year. And my biggest caution was, "Holy cow, teacher capacity because that's such a big lift, especially when we add in a science-based reading instruction and we
055add an act 20." But I'll tell you that I think our teachers feel really good about things, which to me feels great. I think our data is showing that people have responded to that training. We're still working to try and make sure they see the connection between the required training and the materials. That's just continued professional conversations that we're having. But I think people um last year as an example, we used an an inservice day from a weather day to talk about why small groupoup phonics is important. That's how collaborative literacies resource is built because we saw some resistance from that. And I see none now. I think teachers have really started to understand why the resource is built the way it is. They see how science-based reading instruction is integrated. So it doesn't feel
056it feels like the default now when I don't think it was before. And so I think we're always going to have kids that need layers of support. And sometimes there's puzzles where you go, why is this support not working? I swear we're giving this kid everything we have. But I think systemically we're at a point where teachers have bought in to this and aren't willing to cash out. They are invested. They see it working in classrooms. And I think we've got better systems to ensure that we don't let kids fall behind. that really feels like it's been refined through all of this work. >> And I think teachers are just constantly improving their own systems. So like our kindergarten team like just is constantly looking at like how could we use this five minutes and
057what about these kids that aren't in a set yet? And they're swapping kids at certain times if that makes more sense. Um I just think they're really motivated. Like this data and this accountability has been just like motivating and and our K2 teams are learning from each other during BLT. they'll say, "I didn't know you guys were getting all kids in sets by the end of the semester. We need to figure out how we can also do that um even in different grade levels." So, I think just the conversation around instruction has been really rich um too. So, I think it's it's been good. And I would say just to kind of zoom in on what you were mentioning about our data just kind of moving, but like I meet with each of my staff
058for a midyear check-in. We check in on their goals, like how's the year going, etc. And one of the things that I've noticed this year is how the teachers know exactly how their kids read. >> They can tell you the high frequency words that each child don't know. They can tell you the ones that they're really good at and they can tell you whether they had to move them up or move them back in a set because they just weren't quite ready, but the other kids in that group were. Um they and asking them what's the best thing about this year and almost every single one said, "I'm so confident in my reading instruction." Um, so the person at like the personalized level that our teachers know about their readers is unlike what I've experienced
059before. So they're really digging in and they know all their kids and how they read. So it's great. >> Yeah, very similar. I I think we probably had the least of a lift just because Monasuri curriculum doesn't change. So, >> [laughter] >> um, but the added resource of using UFly as kind of that that layer of intervention within the classrooms was new. And so, I think it it validated a lot of what our teachers already knew, but put it into a system that tracked data and showed some accountability for for that that they actually kind of rose to that and um are confident and happy. And you can see that um midyear checks this year were a whole different ballpark than last year. Just it was a lot of overwhelm last year just with kind
060of blending the two for us. And I feel like this year they're like, "Yep, we've got this. Let's move on to math." And um and our and our score showed that. So I I feel confident that that this was a actually as much as a heavy lift this was for everybody to get through act 20 and kind of really dig into this wig. Um, it's been bene beneficial for kids. >> Great. That's great. I'm glad that you able to find a strategy to deal with the deficiencies of AS web plus. We have that. Correct me if I'm wrong because the states required us to do it. Right. >> It's a statewide requirement. Yes, correct. >> Even though it doesn't have all the data that we would certainly like to be able to have to use
061it effectively. >> It's too bad. But I'm glad you're next path that that's what you're able to use for it. Good. Yeah, essentially the ASW web data comes into next path and we're able to customize Nexpath to calculate what we needed to calculate which Ames web reporting does not calculate. So we're not putting any different data into next path. It's just how next path calculates and presents the data to our teachers. So it's a more usable format. Yeah. >> Which is why we have data which is [laughter] what web should do. Exactly. >> I'll just say it out loud. [laughter] Well, thank you for your work and for having such a clear sense of what's happening in your buildings and the way that you're supporting your teachers. So, thank you very much. >> It's also
062very nice on any of us that you for appear to work very well together. >> That's for sure. >> And everybody's on the same page. So, >> trying to convince Dave to let us go on an advocate just the four of us that presentation. [laughter] >> Thank you. Thanks. All right, Mark, you are up with yours for student services. >> Fantastic. >> Well, I don't have uh three colleagues to to show. >> You want me to stand? [laughter] >> Yes. Thank you. Well, by the way, the calendar worked. I know I just talked to you, I think, seven weeks ago. So, this is um going to be a little bit quicker because I think I spoke a fair amount the last time around. uh but we do have some mid-year data that I wanted to
063share and I wanted to share some exciting things that have happened kind of at the last two PD days that we've had related to in particular the jobalike work that uh some of the staff are doing. Um so just by way of reminder >> okay >> all right thanks Amanda appreciate it [laughter] um our special education wig um which again for special education staff they're working on the the special education wig they're also an a very important part of the various building level wigs that uh that our buildings are working on. So everything that the elementary principles just shared about obviously our special education puts are very important part of that as well. We just have kind of an additional added layer um related to special education. So um our goal our wig um in
064special ed is that 80% of special education students would either show above average growth which again is defined as that student growth percentile of 50 or greater um or show proficiency on the universal screeners that uh that they are taking. Um, so that is our special education wig. Mana, could you roll it? So this is essentially our data for um the the um basically the winter data set. Um when you look from the the two columns, those aren't necessarily apples to apples numbers you can compare because the first one is really just proficiency and then second one is kind of combined proficiency or meeting that growth goal. um when you look at the fall to winter student growth percentile. So you can see that kind of our numbers there um are you know 86% 74
06576 and so on. Um as far as going down I did include the number of students in each of those categories. Um so you can see that um when you kind of factor in growth along with um the proficiency level you can see that our students are showing um some some nice movement there. uh seeing a little bit of a lower number when it comes to first and second grade and I think if that pattern continues to hold that will be worth some further explanation or you know examination as far as kind of what some of the tools that we are looking at and interventions that we're using at that level. Um but those are some things that you know the data shows at least at this first kind of data point. Um you'll also
066recall that last year we had kind of a different we had as web for K2 and then we switched over to FastBridge for kind of the the middle tier. this year at least we're using all the same um the same tool. So even though it does have its problems, it's at least a consistent tool K5, which I think is is a nice thing that we have. Um so again, those are kind of our numbers as far as proficiency and growth um at this winter kind of benchmark. And then moving on to the high school and the middle school, you can see the numbers there as far as the students that met their fall to winter growth goal. um middle school really showed some really nice scores there. We're really excited about that and kind of
067want to kind of keep watching that and see if uh that that kind of uh place continues. So that's just kind of our our midyear data piece. Um some really exciting things I think are happening as far as some of our lead measures and I think the main lead measures that we're looking at um in special education are really around collaboration around job alike groups. So really spending some time as you know a group of elementary folks who are really focused in on kind of the academic piece or maybe the behavioral piece and really working together to identify across our buildings what's working well so that we can replicate that. So some things that we've done kind of in our job alike meetings at the elementary level. Um Ashley I think had mentioned the nest
068and some of the next path reports all of our case managers now at a click of the button can see all of their case load and the reading data and their attendance data and the whole works as far as their proficiency their growth levels. It's really a very nice tool to be able to be able click of a button, see your entire case load, whereas before you might have to drill down into each individual student, pull out a piece of paper, jot some things down on a notebook, now you can just see it all at one click. It's really very efficient and it really allows some some nice use of that. So at one of their last job PLC meetings, I gave them some guiding questions, you know, identifying the kids who might be below
069proficiency and showing below average growth. those are clearly the students we need to look at really brainstorm on okay what can we maybe do differently for those types of students to really kind of bump up their growth and so at our last job like PLC this the elementary folks kind of took some time to look at those um those students and look at those numbers um at our last um PD in August um the um uh high school team um and I'm going to steal kids thunder for next month a little bit as well um but the high school teams have been doing a lot of work visiting a variety of area high schools um and for a couple different reasons. One to just look at the special education service delivery model as well as
070just how they organized their Wisconsin multi-layered systems of support approach. And so really we spent the last PD day at the high school just talking with all the high school special education teachers about what are some things that you observed at these site visits that seemed like they were working really well? What are some things that might not have been working well that we should avoid? Um and then just trying to figure like based on our logistics, based on our system, what are some things that we can enter into um our programming um and and make some some positive changes. So we had a lot of really good discussions around that. Um at the middle school level, we got the the the I think the four primary crosscat teachers together who kind of deliver academic
071instruction. We had a really good conversation about some of the pilot interventions that we've had, what seems to be working well, trying to identify kind of looking ahead to next year, what a common foundation can be kind of across all of our grade levels so we have a kind of consistent system for all students. Um, so we had some really nice job-like conversations that I was really excited to to hear and I think that will really help continue drive some ongoing improvement as far as that goes. Um so again kind of that the lead measure I think the main one is really that job piece using data and looking at growth along with proficiency um to see what we what we're doing that's working and what that we are doing that uh needs a little
072bit of adjustment. So I know that was really really fast [laughter] but again you heard from me uh six weeks ago. So, um, any questions around, uh, some of the things that we're working on in special education? >> Thanks, Mark. >> No, thank you. In observation, though, you have many, many, many teachers and departments and students to work with. >> Yeah. >> So, you have to know what's going on in kindergarten all the way up through. It's a lot. Thank you. >> All right. >> Thanks, Mark. >> Okay. So, we are done with that. And now Lynette, do you have a 202526 budget update for us, please? >> We do, and I think Amanda's going to bring it up on the screen as well. So, >> uh, in, uh, in the regular months, this report
073is taken to the finance and facilities committee. Um, and then we do a quick review, uh, at the board meeting. This month, we did not have a finance meeting. So, I'll go through what I normally would do at the uh, at the finance meeting. So, um, the reports that we have are the revenue, a couple pages of revenue reports for each fund, expense reports, and then our fund balance. So, I'm going to start with, uh, the first page of our revenue, um, fund 10. And, uh, just, uh, looking at that top line, which is our property tax. So, just a reminder, we've we've gone over this many times, but I like to repeat myself uh, just as good reminders. So, property tax uh obviously um one of our biggest sources of revenue and you can
074see through the end of December because these reports go through uh the end of December. Uh we have not received any tax monies as of yet. So, they'll start to come in in January and February and then we book in the settlement um that we receive in August. And uh then going down to um some of the other big sources of revenue. So if you look at the source 345, that's our open enrollment. So that gets settled in June. And then if you scroll down a little bit to source 621, that's our state equalization aid. And we get four payments throughout the year for that. Another one of our largest sources of revenue. Uh and then another one is our source 691, which is our um per pupil aid. I'm sorry, 6.95 per pupil aid.
075Again, a large source of revenue and and that comes in in March. And the reason I'm pointing that out is because you can see it total revenue for fund 10 is 9.3 million. And when you we're going to get to the expenses um our expenses for operating right now in funer or through December are 16 million. So, just another reminder that we that's one of the reasons why we carry a fund balance um and and all of that to to avoid the short-term borrowing to be able to meet our uh financial obligations. So, so that's fund 10. Uh if we skip down a little bit still on revenue to the bottom of that first page of fund 27 and we have uh repeated this several times over the last couple of months. I want to
076point out again that source 611 uh which is our special education aid. And if you recall um when the state budget was passed, it was a big celebration uh that districts were going to see a big increase in that aid reimbursement of 42% this year and 45% next year. Um we receive these payments throughout the year. There's four of them actually. I think there's seven of the special ed aid payments. The first payment we received was prrated at 35%. So again, we have spoken probably at nauseium about this in our finance meetings. Um it was a big disappointment and a little bit of a surprise to uh many districts. Um we always budget a little less than what the state sort of expects to be able to reimburse at. Um but we weren't expecting that
077much of a shortage. However, there are discussions going on right now um to perhaps um push the state to use some of the surplus to meet what they were celebrating um for a percentage reimbursement. So, we're we're keeping our ears um tuned to that and see where that goes. >> Speaking to people, >> go ahead. Everybody >> um can you uh remind me, Lynette, what was the percentage last year? Was it 30 >> last year? So last year they were hoping to meet uh 33% and it was just above 30%. >> 30% close to 31. >> It's looking like so far 35%. >> That's that was the those are the proration payments we will receive until something changes at the state or until that final payment. Um that's when they uh sort of >> um
078balance everything and true it up. Mhm. And it didn't sound today, Automatic, like there was going to be anything happening before a break, right? >> That maybe it would be a special session. So, >> we'll stay tuned. But right now, that's that's kind of what we're expecting is that 35% maybe a little bit more than that until we know no more. >> Speak Speaker Boss was making some noise today. Like, sounds to me like he really wants a deal. The governor really wants a deal, but they've got to get their caucuses online. So, maybe there'll be some. settlement on this. I'm not going to get too optimistic, but it appears that it's even though the session is over a bit that the potential that this will get plugged in some way, at least backfilled a
079little bit, is still still out there. Hope hope is alive. I Well, that I think because this is a public meeting, we're doing this detail. I think it's it it really is a surprise to some people when I talk to them about the fact that we get our money in chunks, but we have to make payroll every two weeks >> and um we have expenses going on all during the year. So this is why as you said we need fund balance and watch this and with all the best information we had last fall when the state said they were going to give us over 40% um special ed reimbursement and then they come through and and we didn't count on more than 40% tried to be conservative on it they're even lower than where our
080conservative estimate was. Those are the kinds of things we just we have [clears throat] to deal with on an ongoing basis here. And I don't think that's obvious to a lot of people because this is a little bit complicated and headscratching um because it doesn't always work the way you think your personal finances would work. So >> anyway, thank you for your work on that. This is helpful. >> Um just a couple quick notes. Um actually um one I already mentioned if we scroll to expenses um that first page again the fun 10 expenses are at just um over 16 million and then again fund 27 the and both of those are really our our main operating costs. Um that is also the expenses are 3.1 million and we've received about 750 in revenue there.
081So when you combine the two, again, just hammering that point that uh we're always ahead in expenses um and kind of behind in collecting our revenues throughout the year. So um and on the second page, a final comment uh just reminding folks that fund 49 that is our which what's what's called our construction account. That is our referendum projects that we're continuing to um complete uh and pay down um for those projects. It's 149 and that's all I have. >> Any questions? Thank you, Lynette, very much. Okay, [clears throat] we do not have our students here tonight. Um, so we're going to move on to the superintendent's report. >> All right. So, last Friday, the 13th, uh, we had a special, uh, set of visitors. Uh, the state superintendent of of schools, Dr. Jill Underly
082visited our district and the visit uh provided the opportunity for us to share programs and partnerships that we're really proud of within the district and and [clears throat] probably the hardest thing that we had to do is figure out how to how to get it all done in an hour and a half because that was the window of time that we had. We would have loved to spend the whole day uh taking Dr. Underly and two of our deputy superintendents around and and and showing them the school district because there's a lot of things that we're proud of. Um so in the short time that we had with [clears throat] Dr. Dr. We were able to highlight a couple of big areas. The first is the variety of career and technical education programming opportunities uh
083that our students have at Riverfalls High School and Renaissance Charter Academy. And then our visitors were able to observe a character education assembly at Westside Elementary, which was co-led by students and included a special visit from the WR football team. So, I'm going to use the the pictures there. If you could go back one, I just wanted to highlight a few people. One more. >> Sorry, >> that's okay. Um, you were guessing what I was doing. >> You were talking about my question. >> It's all good. That was like my intro. [laughter] >> You were you were adapting well though. Um, so the upper left there uh that's uh Kelsey and Naen and they were our student media. So they followed us and took pictures and they just did an amazing job. Also video um
084and they were a lot of fun and um and had a good opportunity to interact as well. Um and then a few of those pictures there are some of our students highlighting their career and technical ed work. So the the next picture over that's Nora who did a capstone project in welding and she's showing off the benches that she completed and they were quite amazing. You can't see it there but there's actually the um United States flag is is that's what the the bench is >> and she designed the whole thing. It's pretty amazing. >> Um and then next is Jaden. Jaden's a student at Renaissance Charter Academy and he's giving um Dr. Underly a gift which is a a a cribage board that they manufactured. And the cribage board actually has the DPI logo
085within it. Yeah. >> It was pretty sweet. [laughter] >> That's really good. >> It was pretty sweet. Um, so that was exciting. And then next we have Molly and Trevan in the lower left there. There are two of our students that participate in youth apprenticeship. Molly does she's a level two CNA. And Trevan is a does welding for his manufacturing apprenticeship. Um, so that was really fun for them to share. Uh, I'm not sure what that middle one is. [laughter] It must be some type of entrepreneurship but I'm not quite sure. And then that's the rest of the group there. U moving to the next slide. Uh that is Mr. Weiss. He's one of our Renaissance Charter Academy teachers and he's sharing a prosthetic that uh the entrepreneur and technical ed course at Renaissance Charter
086Academy is designing uh using some of our 3D printers. And the neat thing is when uh they've connected with a company and that company uh provides lowcost prosthetics and they they partner with school districts and schools to to help support with the designing of that. And we're one of the few schools in this whole area that is able to do that. And when I say schools, I just mean Renaissance Charter Academy. And the cool thing about it is our kids get to learn how to design them. And it's a very inexpensive way for someone who needs a prosthetic who's growing. So that prosthetic is only maybe for a short period of time. So, we were really excited to share that and I know we'll probably spend some more time sharing that with the school board
087as well and we were just able to highlight why we have Renaissance Charter Academy uh how it it works with the high school but also creates a new set of opportunities for our students. And then next uh just a few more of our career and technical ed students. On the left there, that's Isabelle. She is part of our business CTE courses and she helps run Wley's. So, they had their their drinks of the day available for our for our guests as well, which was kind of fun. And she talked about her experience. And then that is L. L talked about our robotics program um and our robotics course. And that's that's our robot. And I know this group is very familiar with the the robotics uh class. And this is where they are at now.
088And then then they'll start competition as we move through. And then some other highlights. And then moving forward, I chatted about Westside. So, so this is the Westside um assembly that we were able to participate in. In the upper left, that's our fourth grade uh students who did a reader theater, which was really fun uh to listen to. They bas basically went through and um through that reader theater highlighted some of the character traits, specifically cooperation and perseverance. Um and they did a really good job. Um and it was really fun for our guests just to see what an assembly actually looks like instead of us telling them the things that we do for character ed. all the stresses that go with an elementary level [laughter] assembly. Um, but it was awesome. It was awesome.
089And then the final the final piece of the puzzle was um not because our visitors were there, but just because that was what had been planned. We had some awesome uh community members that also happen to be WRF football players come and they they brought their new national championship trophy. Um I don't think that one football player ever let go of it. I think he was like that was [laughter] >> he did because staff have pictures because he left it in one of the work rooms like 40 selfies of [laughter] >> be interesting to see if he gets to carry it at the next visit. But, uh, it was really cool and I just wanted to highlight a couple of those players did a really awesome job in front of the entire uh, Westside School
090talking about how um, perseverance and cooperation uh, fit into to the way that they were to have success as teammates, but also overall in life. It was really good. It was a very, very fun day. It was also like a record high warmth. It was just like everything's great [laughter] about zero degrees again, you know. But anyways, we were it was very fun to highlight uh for our visitors the some of the awesome stuff that we do here at River Falls. >> It was pretty awesome to listen to all the Westsiders sing their little song, too. It was it there was something just so honest and authentic about it. It was just great. >> So, it was a really good day and fun to highlight and and also to share um with decision makers in
091Madison uh some of the great things that we do and and um the support that we need. I think this also gives us a better entree in future communication with the DPI because that was the whole leadership team. That was her and her two chief deputies were here. Those were the three people. So, >> and thank you Alan. I know you were um important in getting that set up and we appreciate that. >> They seemed really honest when they said they were very impressed. [laughter] >> You say that to all the districts. They maybe do, but they vented about us. [laughter] >> All right, everybody. We are going to move on to the consent agenda. At this point, does any board member have anything that he or she would like to remove? >> All right.
092Then we have before us the January 19th meeting uh minutes of the um the minutes of the January 19th meeting. We have bills that have been submitted for payment as well as employment recommendations. We also have second readings of all of the NEOA policies that are listed on the board agenda as well as the first readings. Those would be second readings. And then we have another batch of first readings of NEOA policies. Is there a motion to approve minutes, bills, and employment and NEOA policies as presented? >> So moved. >> Second, Allison. Thank you, Monica. >> All those in favor? I >> opposed. The motion is carried. All right. The ad hoc policy committee met on February 2nd and we went through more policies. We actually have three very similar policies that we are going
093to adopt through one motion, but Dave is going to highlight um an important part of this policy before we take the motion. >> Yeah. So, there's really only one update that comes from ad hoc where we've made some adjustments from ad hoc till now. Um, and it pertains to the same language that lives in three separate policies. And it's our student supervision welfare policy that exists in the support staff survey. That's the 4,000s. In the professional staff series, the 3000s, and the administration series, the the 1200s. Um, so are the thousands actually. And so, uh, basically we've we've had conversations about this policy three different times each time it came up. And one of the pieces that uh we were kind of stuck on was letter K uh or L depending on which policy you
094were in. And so what we did is over uh uh over time we've talked to admin and really looked for a way to have a recommendation that strikes the balance of uh that's very clear with what our expectations are that allows for important communication that has to happen between our students and staff. Um but that's only through district approved pathways. that was really kind of the the per purpose of what we were trying to work with and and we wanted to make sure that it was clear for everybody. So, um I'm going to read letter K. This is where we arrived at and and it was it is it represents an adjustment from what was talked about at ad hoc. So, uh, in the scope of their employment, support staff, insert admin, insert professional staff,
095depending on which policy we're talking about, are authorized to communicate with students through district email and through the use of district approved notification applications, otherwise known as apps. Examples of notification apps include, but are not limited to, remind, team snap, and sports.U you the activities director, high school principal and middle school principal have the authority to approve notification apps for district use. Texting or communicating with students from a device using any other method is prohibited. So, uh the main source of communicating back and forth obviously is email but there is functions where apps uh notification apps can be used um but we wanted to make sure that the apps that are being used in that context have been screened and approved for district use. So that is uh where uh we landed. We've had conversations
096with especially our activities director um because this is a this is a a time where students and staff have to have quick communication and updates and uh he understands it and and we'll make the adjustments as this is updated as well as all of our administration to make sure that we're in alignment to this expectation. >> It's doable. >> It it is it is doable. it it it does require two things. Uh uh an extra step that that maybe um could be construed as taking a little bit more time. >> Yep. >> Um and it also has the assumption that our students are going to be checking these notification systems. And I think that's the other piece that um can be tricky sometimes um because students don't always do on the timeline that we need
097them uh exactly what we want them to do. Um so there'll hopefully be some learning lessons associated. >> And is there something in the policy maybe it was in a different part about okay well um yes this um person is my student. I'm a teacher whatever but I also live next door to this student. this student is my son's friend and I give him a ride to school. >> Yeah. Yeah. In the the language we added there is in the scope of their responsibilities, right? So, >> Oh, in the scope of their resp. That's how we accomplish what you're asking. Okay. Uh because like you said, you know, >> I might give a a child a ride home. I might um >> My kids are old now, but when I used to need a babysitter,
098[laughter] right, I would text potentially, but that's not in the scope of my responsibility. >> Responsibilities. In the scope of their responsibilities. >> Okay. So is there a motion to approve the first reading of these three NEOA policies related to student supervision and welfare? The first one will be 4213 for support staff members. Uh 3213 for professional staff and then 1213 administrative staff. >> So moved. >> Second. Thank you Allison. Any questions or comments? I think the committee um talked a lot about that we aren't eager to add frustration or layers of work on people who need this but in the end with admin admin support it was a concern about protecting kids and adults and adults. Yep. >> All those in favor >> I opposed. The motion is carried. Alan education program. >> Yeah.
099The education program committee met on February 9th and we basically had two issues that we were dealing with. One is the uh we do this annually, right? The contracts. These are annually, right, Dave? >> That's that has been our practice. Correct. >> Yep. >> To um for our River Falls kindergarten contracts that we have with local um organizations here. There's a few school districts in the state that their four-year-old kindergarten is just part of the district and it's all the teachers are employed by the district and that in River Falls we have a variety [clears throat] of different um PE groups who do this for us and we contract with them and it works out well with parents um who have other daycare responsibilities and and there's a variety of options for parents here. So,
100but each year that contract has to be um discussed, laid out, agreed to and signed. So, the new contract, there were a few changes in it. Uh the per pupil amounts and those kinds of things. We discussed that at length and approved it. So, I would move that we approve the River Falls for children contract as approved by the committee and presented in the agenda. >> Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Ellison. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I opposed. The motion is carried. >> Another thing we had is these are kind of fun to listen to is we had one of our teachers with JB was in front of us to talk about a trip in June of 2028 for high school students to go to Eastern Europe. And part of the
101reason it's so far out, a couple of years out, is that it gives them time to plan, but more importantly to raise money for the trip. And um this is a really unique trip to Eastern Europe and I think it could be really educational, sounds exciting, but these kinds of trips need to be approved by the school board. So the committee discussed it, we talked about it at length with him. The committee approved it and I would move again tonight that we approve the uh trip contract uh application as approved by the committee. >> Thank you, Ellen. Is there a second? Thank you, Monica. Any questions or comments? All those in favor? >> I motion is carried. All right. The personnel committee met on February 9th. It was a full agenda. One of the things
102that we did was we heard a staffing update. And then Nate provided information to us about the midyear check-in uh meetings that he has with staff, which are really important ways that he's able to keep his finger on the pulse of the district of knowing um what's going on and and how people potentially need support. Um it's really important. We also discussed um and recommend that the board approve the phase one of the staffing plan. We it always seems as if there are calendars to come before us because um we adopted recommended the board adopt the 2027 28 calendar and then we went back and set the important dates for 2627. And one of the things that we need to do before we begin negotiations is we need to approve sending the the letter that
103we are commencing negotiations for contracts. Anything you want to add? I would like to just speak very briefly about our staffing plan. Um, we're calling this phase one of the staffing plan, although we're not anticipating a phase two coming along. And just for the people who might be listening at home, the ads that we have this year are all due to special special education needs. Uh, Superintendent Bell has talked about how our enrollment in the area of special ed has grown 13% in the last several years and we are obligated by law to ensure that we're meeting the needs of those students. So, that's why we have these ads. We have five positions. In total, those five positions are 2.5 FTE. We'll post those shortly so that we can have the best chance at the
104highest quality candidates that are out there because we know there aren't a ton of special ed teachers available. one of the positions. We're still monitoring the number of students that are rolling in. So, we're going to hold on that and we're seeking your approval tonight, but it may be that we don't need to post for that eventually. >> Okay. Well, I'm hoping that we have just as good fortune this year with your advice to get it done early. >> The committee did go into close session and we discussed the 2026 27 contract negotiation meetings. Um, we looked at data from a com a compensation [clears throat] study. They put together a lot of data for us. And we also discussed potential non-renewals. Um, we are the before in the close session tonight, we're going to
105be looking at a staff reduction plan. So, at this point, I will move to approve the 2026 27 staffing plan phase one. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Lindsay. Any questions or comments? All those in favor? I >> I post oppos. The motion is carried. [clears throat] I will also move that we approve the 202728 school year calendar as well as the 202627 school year calendar important dates. Those two motions. Is there a second? >> I'll second that. >> Thank you, Monica. Questions or comments? All those in favor? >> I post. The motion is carried. And then I move that we approve the commencement of contract negotiations. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Ellison. Any discussion? All those in favor? I >> I post. The motion is carried. All
106right, everybody. It is the board self-evaluation review. This is one of our responsibilities that we do on an annual basis. In preparation for our conversation tonight, we each completed a board assessment tool and 12 members of the administrative team also responded to the same questions. So, I noticed a few things that I thought I would highlight, but first I thought I would see what you all noticed and would like to bring to the board overall comments as well as we should do keep doing this and maybe we need to do some more of something else. What did you notice? I think collectively people take a proud a lot of pride in the functionality of this group and the relationship we have with the administrative team that is appropriate, respectful and um professional. I >> think
107we should be proud of that. Yeah. It helps us to do the district's work really effectively. >> Yeah. I think generally my take on this is we continue to kind of be on the same page. um both our assessment of our work and the administrator's assessment of our work. And um there's some people that might say, well, you know, maybe need some differences of opinion on here. Um I think we have enough differences of opinion. They're just not obvious because unlike some governmental bodies, we don't yell at each other and disagree and those sorts of way. um we're a very diverse group and um we work together and we work through our issues and um come to some agreement that by by operating that way it helps the administration understand what they can and can't
108um should shouldn't bring to the board and how they bring it to the board and how they can get feedback and how we can work together on that. I know being on the board of directors, the WASB board of directors, there's 421 school districts in the state and they all kind of do this a little bit differently, but that's one of the fundamental things that WSB talks about is boards need to work together and get along. They don't always have to be 70 on their votes, but they need to be respectful and work collegially. And um I think the survey says that we're all kind of on the same page that way. It appears to me that one of the things that we'll want to do is to continue to make sure that we are
109aligning our finances to our strategic plan. That will be something that we'll keep really in very clear focus as we get into our next strategic planning process. Um, one of the comments highlighted something that Dave and I have already been talking about, and that's that at our board retreat, we are planning to have a discussion about next year when we are done with the policy ad hoc committee, how are we going to manage our committees to make sure that we have enough time and discussion for board issues. Um the the last the other thing I noticed is it appears as if we can never ever communicate too much. So that they're always looking for other ways to communicate with the community. >> I like this one. Uh question was um effective school boards engage in
110planning that includes proactive communications and feedback and one comment is we need to keep working on this and the other one this is fully achieved. [laughter] So everybody has a different lens on communication. >> Well, and the full the distinction between fully achieved and mostly achieved is really complicated because sometimes you can never fully achieve it. We are constantly always working toward that. So it it could be a calibration issue on that too. just from a a process standpoint. I think I made this point last time, but I really appreciate the comments, the ability to and and the um insistence that we comment on why we're scoring what we're spraying and feel the opposite. >> I was going to say I have to comment [laughter] on everything. >> Maybe that's >> um and and also
111I I very much appreciated reading the administrative feedback and and the comments that were left um by our administrative team. Again, just a testament to our ability to to share open and honest and and be transparent with each other that we're a team and and we need to be working collaboratively and and honestly and ensuring that we're on the same page. >> That's one thing about data. They think we're doing a better job than we think >> than we think we are. I [laughter] thought I saw that too. Yeah, >> I I appreciate the fact that we have administrators who are comfortable being frank >> and these assessments with comments and things like it's important. I again one of the aides is and I often say this when we're working with new board members in
112this region that I work with is if your board is divided as close because we have elections every spring, your board can change very quickly and that makes long-term planning, strategic planning, um administrative confidence and where they can take it um less predictable. So, as a result, if if we're not kind of getting along and making sure that we're all headed in the same direction talking to each other, that puts the district to be at risk because we we can't do as as good of planning. There's not as much trust. We can't count on this. And it also makes it harder, I think, to recruit teachers and staff >> because they need to know where the district is going. If I'm going to be a teacher enough often teachers commit their whole career to one
113district, they want to be with a district that's not going to be flopping back and forth and and disagreement and all of that. There's a there's a standard phrase at the WSB board is that what happens in the boardroom happens in the classroom. And if we can't get along and and work productively, it's going to be harder for our teachers to do that and it's going to affect our kids. So, I appreciate the fact that you're a good group to work with and the fact that we have such a talented team of administrators that work well with us and we can be frank with each other and talk through things before they become a conflict. >> Yeah. One thing um I don't know just for the sake of conversation I think that our administrative team
114is so transparent and shares so much that it would it's very easy for us in committee meetings and at the board level to get into operations more than we need or should be into operations [laughter] that sometimes you think like you get home you think well how did we go that deep on that this is an operational issue we're a governing board >> and then um two just making sure that we have the conversations and that We put the different perspectives on the table at the board meeting where it is videotaped and people are watching it. So they see that different perspectives are >> we've probably talked about them at a committee meeting but when we give the reports to make sure that we're saying here's the diversity of opinions because we do have diverse
115opinions that um the public appreciates them. You know, one of the things that struck me again tonight is the fact that we do these presentations every board meeting. I know >> I don't know if most board members most most boards don't do that in the state, but I think it's it's not common for that to be a regular feature of board meetings. Not the way we do it because we had several tonight and we do it every we do have committee meetings and all that. >> Um >> and of course the the good side to that is it makes a better informed board. we have more confidence in what's going on and um we have more than just, you know, we had all four principles here. We could have just had um Amy or Mary
116Beth just say, you know, the reports are looking pretty good. They're all on track in their wigs and moving ahead. This gives us a chance to know and hear those principles, get to know them a little better, but we have more confidence in what they're doing. So, I I think that's part of it. Um the other is just they them then they get to know us, too, and and what should we be asking for? So when you have your administrative meetings and you talk about budgets, other kinds of things, there isn't this, well, we don't know quite what the board's going to do or not, um, because you you hear us all the time >> and you kind of know what we're thinking and what you might want to ask us about or present to
117us or those kinds of things. It did occur to me in reading through the administrative comments, a couple uh folks commented on their appreciation in the effort we've made to get into our buildings and to spend some time >> on the ground. And to your point, we're a governing board, right? We try to stay at that 30,000 foot level. But I really do think there's value in us spending time >> on that ground level >> um in the walls of our schools. Not so we can meddle in the operational things that are happening but just so we have a good understanding and awareness right of the policies that we're setting how does that what does that look like you know dayto-day what is and of course the relationship building that comes from that as well
118so I >> I think that's a positive thing that we've um >> yeah put into place >> and it's nice that we're doing it consistently in all of them it's predictable >> should we just kind of go in a circle and pat each Yeah. [laughter] >> Well, I I I I think just the fact that we carve out time annually to to assess this and and and reset is a really important uh thing to do. >> Uh especially because the board does there is going to be times [snorts] when there's not the same seven board members. So this becoming an annual event where there's an understanding um and and some of when you take a survey is that building of oh this is you know this is the important work of the board if if
119one of those you read through and you're like we don't we don't ever address this piece. >> Um I think that's a good opportunity to to lean back in and then finding times because our board meetings are are somewhat regimented month over month. finding time whether it's through our board retreat process or through strategic planning to to make sure we step back and say are we headed in the right direction. Are we not just like working to get to okay we got done with February and now what's March but some of that bigger picture >> direction work of the board. Um and so I I appreciate the opportunity to work with a board that that thinks in in both of those realms, right? what what do we need to accomplish this month and and next
120month, but also what are we looking towards and what are we working towards and how that connects to to students, which is really important. >> I I would say one more thing too that this this wouldn't happen if it wasn't for the patient and friendly reminders that Amanda sent us. [laughter] >> I liked it when it got to I know one of you hasn't filled it out. [laughter] >> We'll bring that up. >> We can share that later on that one. It was me. >> Oh, you didn't. It was me. You don't know who it was. [laughter] >> I'm gonna totally blame it on my new library opening and next year I'm gonna be like the first person. >> That's right. >> So, it's totally a oneoff. Everything worked out just fine. >> Good. [laughter]
121>> So, anything [clears throat] else? >> No, this is great. >> Thank you. Y I'm proud to serve on this board with all of you. >> All right. Any proposed or suggested items for future agendas? Then we're going to schedule meetings. Um the policy ad hoc committee will meet Monday, March 2nd at 6 o'clock. Finance and facilities will meet Monday, March 9th at 6. Personnel will meet Monday, March 9th at 7 or immediately following uh finance and facilities. The next regular board meeting will be Monday, March 23rd at 6:00. All of those meetings uh will be held here in the district office. And as you know, I have to read this. So, um, is there a motion to move into close session pursuant to Wisconsin statute section 19851C, which permits convening into close session for
122the purpose of considering the employment, promotion, compensation, or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility and pursuant to Wisconsin statute section 19851E, E, which permits convening into close session for the purpose of de deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public bis business whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a close session. So, we are going into close session this evening for the purpose of discussing the 202627 contract negotiation meetings, the potential non-renewals, as well as the potential budget reductions. Is there a motion, please? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Lindsay. Thank you, Allison. I will need a roll call. Monica, Alison, Mike, I'm saying yes. Alan, yes. >> All right, we are going
123to be in close session. Thank you everyone. Enjoy the rest of your evening. Okay, >> I might need a picture.