January 28, 2025 at 6:30 PM - Regular School Board Meeting

001good evening and welcome to a regular school board meeting for the duth public schools today is Tuesday January 28th and we're going to get started around 6:32 we're going to move on to our next agenda item which will be roll call um clerk Mikel member banks here chair eer present member laugher Kemp here member Lal here I am here member sidowski here member Williams here superintendent magas here assistant superintendent bonds pres Deputy clerk zunich here secretary paty pette here uh student reps Mayana Taylor welcome student rep latasia Garner welcome and student rep Kate de welcome thank you and I just want to take a minute and welcome our Schoolboard representatives from Denfeld High School East and ALC so thank you for um stepping up and serving your schools and the district and all the kids

002and families here so thank you for your service [Applause] let this be the first step into your public service for moving on for the your future so again thank you so much next we'll move on to our Pledge of Allegiance and our flags are located right here thank you next item I would ask for a motion to approve the agenda as it stands so mve um is there a second second we have a motion by member lold and a second by member banks is there any discussion is there any discussion seeing none will move on to vote allthough do we have to do roll I can roll call or no okay all those in favor of approving the agenda please say I I those oppose nay motion passed we have a approved agenda okay next

003we have our school and our community uh recognition and I want to turn it over to assistant superintendent Banks a bonds it happens it happens good evening everyone you know remember Banks you didn't know that you got promoted to Super my apologies to you both uh no problem I would like our honores to uh join us and Coach um Alex singer and zelia stus abs practic it St is come on up so members of the board and Community this evening I am thrilled to celebrate two outstanding student ba Debaters student we going to start this thing over this evening I am thrilled to celebrate two outstanding student Debaters who have earned the honor of representing duth at the prestigious National debate tournament in De Iowa and it's this coming June Alex singer demonstrated remarkable skill

004and depth knowledge securing first place in the Lincoln Douglas debate he masterfully argued the complex topics of wealth tax earning top honors through persuasive reasoning and eloquent delivery aelia stus stus I apologize impress judges with her Poise and expertise achieving second place in the con Congressional debate she skillfully debated critical issues such as paid paternal leave as well as uh Priss related to assault weapons their accomplishments are Testament to their countless hours for Preparation research and practice to dedicate their craft their success not only highlights their individual talents but underscores the importance of fostering articulate and informed youth voices please join me in congratulating them on their well-deserved honors [Applause] congratulations I do have something for you coach you want to come on up and share a little something about the debate tournament yes so

005it was two separate tournaments and we're a part of the Northern Lights District up here in Minnesota so the national speech and debate organization is one of the oldest academic organizations competitive activities in our country and it is turning 100 years old it's centennial celebration is this summmer so we're excited thrilled and honored to represent duth School District duth East High School at the tournament in June so we'll be going down there in our van and through the corn fields we won't get lost and we'll be making it down there we're so PR I'm so thrilled and privileged to be these kids make my job easy they're just immensely smart intelligent even I think smarter than me I learn a lot from them and so I'm so privileged to um honor them here tonight with

006you so thank you so much I also just wanted to say that my coaches have done so much for me over the past three years this is my senior year so it's really incredible to be able to go to the National Tournament again and my coaches are definitely the reason that I'm able to get there and I'm also very grateful for my family who has helped me get there every time so thank you everybody who help me to get to these places um I'd also like to say that I'm very grateful to my team and coaches and everybody around me and also that I'm very excited to go to De Moine and hopefully not go the wrong way down a oneway street and it should be fun thank you we do have a moment to

007uh take a quick photo and then we asked the board to come and congratulate uh congratulate our students s e e e all right thank you so much that was wonderful um now we're going to move on to the report of the superintendent and we're going to start out this is usually where we get the reports from our student Schoolboard Representatives but um don't worry not trying to we're not doing it tonight um but superintendent Magus will just take a minute and introduce you um to the public sure well thank you uh again we always share our mission and vision uh and core values and that's something that we focus on as a district um but our topics for tonight are um above and basically I wanted to introduce our our student uh Representatives so

008uh I wanted to do the student introductions and any reports if you have a report you're welcome to but I we don't expect it tonight and we're assuming that you probably don't have reports so uh we have Mayana Taylor from the alc area Learning Center and then we have uh latasa Gardner latasia Gardner sorry uh Garner not Garder and Kate not Katie Dean so I uh appreciate you all serving I think uh student representation on the school board is really important to us and we've talked as well about expanding this and and having a uh int City student council type opportunity where we can have even greater student voice so I look forward to working with you on that and then uh chair Durk eer and I were talking about meeting with each of you

009individually just to talk about what's the role like how can you be involved and and how can we best support you because we're we are super appreciative of your voices on the board the schools are here not for the teachers not for the staff not for the parents not for us as administrators they're here for you as students and so having your voice and what we do is uh incredibly valuable to us uh anything you want to say about yourself or introduce yourself or anything feel free want to just you want to just tell a little bit about yourself just a tiny bit um do I use this or yes press the button so you get a green okay hi everybody um my name is latasia Garner I'm a junior at Denfeld um let's see

010I'm involved in a lot of things in National Honor Society um I'm a cheer captain that I've been on for three years for denfi cheerleading I'm a part of Link crew which mentors freshman um I'm a junior rotarian next next month I do my leadership because it's my month um I work and I work all the time and that's a little bit about me I'm I'm really glad to be here and representing my school so thank you [Music] great okay um my name is Kate Dean I am a junior at East a little bit about what I'm involved with I am really active in our drama club at East I actually came straight from one act rehearsal East is hosting section finals on Saturday which is very exciting um let's see I've been a ballet

011dancer since first grade the programs I think I'm I would say I'm most involved with are youth and government and Model United Nations which are both YMCA hosted programs I was recently in Minneapolis and St Paul for a 4day conference with 1600 kids from all over the state I got to chat with Peggy flan again for a little bit we actually talked about um a student Senate that she started uh during her time on the Minneapolis school board so I'm excited to talk about the inity student council things at East I'm also in student government I'm a book club leader a Hound pack leader which is just like link crew yeah I'm very excited to work with all of you um hello my name is Mayana Taylor I'm a junior at ALC um a little

012bit about me I can't say that I am in a lot of social things at school there's not really much to participate in since it is a alternative school I wish to start being able to do that um I'm interested in I don't I guess I'm so sorry I'm interested in um law I guess um I'm also in student government and that's it I'm so sorry I don't have much to say I'm just um but that's all I can really say about me thank you to each of you it's it's such an honor to have you here tonight and really appreciate your representation of your school and just uh The Voice you bring because um you know it's it's been a couple years since I I was in high school uh and so having perspective

013of of uh you as students really means a lot to us as as board members and as administrators so our other topics for tonight uh we've been talking a lot about budget reduction realignment uh we have a brief very brief update on some things with uh next steps for Spanish Immersion expansion some things related to uh some federal government updates that have been unfolding over the past uh few days our legislative update and then anything else that that we're uh discussing so um as far as our budget reduction realignment uh you've seen our our um our guiding change document that that focuses on why we're doing what we're doing what we will avoid doing in making the reductions and then what it is that we hope to do so again needing to uh have a

014balanced budget and this year we're reducing by $2.6 million and next year we'll be reducing by about $5 million so uh this is our timeline we've talked a little bit about it previously but it's it's uh coming into effect uh right right now basically uh the B final documents were due related to the different reductions for elementary secondary Human Resources operations business services and teaching learning and Equity uh a reminder that for our districtwide services we were looking at a reduction of 10% and for the sites we're looking at an 8% reduction and really we're trying as hard as possible to make sure that we are living up to the commitments we made during the referendum as well as uh commitments to try and avoid impact on classrooms as much as possible but again with

015our budget being um uh 85% staff and salaries it's impossible for us to avoid uh impact on people this year with $2.6 million in reductions we largely made those reductions without impact on people but this year it is a uh time for us where we are and I mentioned in my weekly update to staff and families that it's it's a hard week for us because uh last last week Human Resources was looking at who would be displaced but looking at seniority and contractual language working very closely with our various unions uh and then on Monday our principes and other supervisors received notice on who will be displaced um and then throughout the course of the rest of this week uh prior to Friday those principles and supervisors will be communicating with uh the individuals who

016are being displaced and a reminder for the public as well as uh those others involved displacement is not the same as uh being terminated or being laid off even displacement means that you are contractually so to speak separated from the position that you currently hold but you're still an employee in the district and so uh what happens right now is we'll be sending the letters on Friday uh to our individuals who are displaced but having personal communication with them from their supervisor prior so we don't want people just receiving a letter we want them to hear it from their supervisor then we'll be following up with uh additional informational meetings where people can um meet with us and meet with the union and learn about what displacement means in addition to what we've shared already

017just so they can ask any questions and have uh as much information as possible but again things can change very much between now and any potential layoffs and as a for instance uh this Saturday is the retirement notification deadline for our certified employees so we're still getting some some retirements in uh current displacements were made based on the displacements we had up until that point so they were based somewhat on on the retirements but we still could this week still have uh more retirements as as people are letting us know also we we have other things that could unfold throughout the course of the the coming months with increases in enrollment or uh increases in state funding and things like that I don't want to give uh undo hope to things but there there not

018everybody who is displaced by any means would be uh laid off so that's that's where we're at with our our budget at this time um there's under our our uh federal government updates we do have some other things that are related to finance but is there anything else that you wanted to add executive director zich NOP thank you all right related to uh Spanish Immersion and uh executive D um I'm sorry director uh sparts was helping us out with this uh but talking about uh that we had our Spanish Immersion parent meeting uh the LOL meeting it was at LOL on January 13 um we also have a Myers Wilkins parent information night on February 24th coming up that's a meeting for for current Myers Wilkins families to learn about the changes and opportunities and

019we're going to be working really hard to make sure that we share as much information throughout that that time as well we also have a Myers welcon Spanish Immersion information night on February 26th from 6:00 to 7 pm and that's a meeting for incoming kindergarten and first grade families to learn about immersion programming options now um when I say about when I say that when I mention expansion expansion in some ways could uh connotate that we are increasing the number of classes and that's not exactly what we're doing but we're increasing the opportunities we're giving um access to other another school and uh families that have not necessarily had as much opportunity there so that's a an effort we're making and I also want people to know that we're working really hard on this to

020make sure that we have as much support for families and and as much support during the transition as possible um so that that our teachers and our students and our our staff are all well supported we also have Spanish Immersion night on uh February for LOL on February 27th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. so that's again for kindergarten or first grade classes classes and families that want to learn more about the programming options and then our uh Myers Wilkins Spanish Immersion transition committee will be meeting the first week in March and the Myers Wilkins School leadership team meeting uh will take place on uh January 29th to begin planning for that committee so that's coming up this week as well so a lot of work being done to plan for that transition uh it's been

021an interesting week in uh in in federal government updates for us uh there's been a lot going on uh the two main things would be uh things related to immigration and things related to uh Federal grant funds and even just watching the news unfold tonight there are some things that are in the slide that are no longer completely accurate because things are changing uh very quickly but related to immigration our Department of Education uh previously has stated that all children are entitled to public education regardless of immigration status uh previous to uh some things that have been we've been notified of in the past week previously sensitive locations uh areas that were deemed sensitive locations such as schools houses of worship and oh sorry that should be houses of worship and hospitals is what how

022that should should read we're exempt from raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement but these restrictions have now been repealed so we're working with our legal team uh and we'll be sharing additional Guidance with our our uh oh I was putting this together rather quickly with our teams tomorrow I was trying to make it fit on one line but uh with with our our teams tomorrow so I'll make sure that an updated version is input or put put on board book um but that creates a challenge in and so we're we're working on on uh navigating that and um I'll also be spending some time with our English language learner families just so that they have some additional conversation and reinforcement with us um sorry there was a sound of a child and I was

023I wasn't sure what the sound was but it sounded like a jungle cat um anyway Federal grant funds you never know what's going to happen these days uh Federal grant funds the the sorry and this is not funny at all uh but there was a recent freezing of of uh Federal monies for Grants and uh loans and we're still trying to determine what that that means there was there was a lot of information throughout the day a lot of uh concern from Head Start and federal programs and others uh related to our funding that it would be frozen immediately uh heard some some things from our people in the Housing Authority uh here in duth and and other people that were very concerned about what that meant because we're having a hard time determining that

024um but there and you can see there that there are several areas that that could be uh impacted could impact special education school lunch programs early childhood and Technology integration uh in in addition to Head Start in other areas but then more information started rolling out as far as there were certain areas that probably wouldn't be impacted like Head Start and then there was a uh federal court judge that put a a stay on this until um February 3D which is a week from Monday I believe uh Monday oh Monday yeah sorry a week yep Monday coming up so we will uh continue to monitor that really carefully it seems to be developing um Moment by moment and so we're just trying to figure out what that means for us as a as a school

025district we've seen a lot of other changes too with things Rel Rel ated to uh diversity equity and inclusion and some things there that we're just keeping an eye on um and no matter what we call it I I want to make sure that we're uh that we're continuing to think about the needs of each and every student our vans our school district everything says every student every day and sometimes there's a difference between equity and equality and we want to make sure that every student has what they need not just an equal uh um serving of whatever that support is so we will continue to to make sure that our students have access and that we serve students in a uh way that is is fair and promotes uh their their ability to have

026as much success as possible um legislative updates we held our duth uh Schoolboard work session with our legislators on January 17th uh we also attended the amsd legislative preview on January 10th um we met on the 23rd that was last Thursday for our our uh work session as a board uh to finalize our platform and you'll be voting on that tonight and then we continue to participate in robust uh lobbying at the state level and I think it's important for us to consider what we can do to lobby at the federal level as well um but one of the bigger events that we have coming up is the duth St Louis County days the second week in February and that's always a really good opportunity to uh do do a lot of lobbying on behalf

027of our schools unfortunately our uh the the state budget is not necessarily in a uh robust place of s Surplus at this this point so we we might not have vast amounts of additional money that need to be reallocated so there might be tightness and a lot of people asking for things and so we are trying to keep our our hopes positive but also uh um reasonable in what we're looking for um then before we go on to questions just wanted to let you know as well that our uh cabinet had a work session yesterday we we met at uh lak Seria College we went offsite and spent the entire day looking at our action cards you remember the action cards of main bodies of work that we shared earlier in the year uh worked

028on that we worked on a draft of a vision card which gives us our key performance indicators and metrics that we are going to continue to use and we will be bringing that to the board in the near future uh for more information but felt really good about uh uh spending time deep amount of time really rededicating ourselves to the the key work of the district any questions thanks thank you thank you very much just a quick question under the federal government updates it's this question may be for our CFO uh with regard to school lunch programs for example if that uh program were to be non-existent um how quickly would that impact uh our children in the school district would it be immediate or would it take some time I have spoken with Sheila

029oakar food nutrition coordinator and she is prepared to even go next year if we were to lose some of our compensatory funds that help pay um so it it could go right away and we would be prepared I think the type of meals that we offer will change um the cost so we would have to definitely look take a look at that thank you member ller Camp thank you um mine on is on the federal government updates too and uh thank you superintendent megus for um sharing that uh I know many of us our eyes have been following things uh as well um related to education um I I guess a couple things I mean I I I think we we we should look at how we can effectively as school leaders uh do some

030lobbying um right now uh and you know we are fortunate in min OTA um there's been a lot of investment to early childhood education and um uh school lunch program program so we we're fortunate in Minnesota so I think as much as as we're lobbying our uh state legislators as well that we're making that connection um of our concern I guess um and so I I guess I just appreciate you um making sure it's fren Center um but that as we're um thinking about our Lobby efforts that we're uh sharing some thoughts with our state legislators as well making those connections with our state legislators on um the impact of federal programs like these so yeah so thank you member lold thank you I just want to go back to to the displacement timeline and

031just um thank thank you for the process that you have engaged in since when do you think we've first knew I mean we've been doing this process for over a year and every step of the way um board members have been included we've had um plenty of of opportunity to listen and to see why and and um CFO zunich has been so incredibly specific with where things are that um it's hard to believe that we're actually like this week with this whole year that you we have all been focused on you know how do we preserve our classrooms our learning our kids and yet have to face um a $7 million cut so I just I I just want to take a moment to to remind us that it's been a a very a very

032intentional Journey that we've been on painful we know it but I also think that our um our communication with our schools our staff have been strong and you have received a lot of support cautioned by they don't they don't like it but they feel they've been listened to and that you have respected the process and so I just think that's a a really telling tale and that needs to be reminded again so thank you again I want to shout out to the Spanish Immersion that same firm direction from the board members here and from our Administration and then from our incredible um uh Jen larva and Brenda sparts that led it and the principles you really we have really um again um spoken the truth hard as it is um making all the right good

033decisions both positive about why we're allowing the immersion program to be present at Myers Wilkins so I appreciate just the update and and again you've come out they've asked for the meetings they want they are challenging us now to you know use these six months in preparation to effectively make it a an incredible um transition to Myers so again I think that's a really Testament to the the laser focus that this district has shown um in the last well in a number of years but on really important topics then we get to the federal government updates and I have heard that buzz from our morning coffee and conversation with msba um I'm on the Bosa board and there are superintendents on that board that are actually you know in the midst of these um tenuous

034times with lots of of reality you know so sometimes you know other districts might be smaller but it is real what's going on in our in our government and and things that are happening to our students and their families so again thank you for reminding us about um the plans that we have in our district so thank you again and again I'll be down at Lobby days I'll be going down on other days with msba and other days for just our district um msba just reached out today with um an opportunity for all of us to do some virtual testimony on some different topics and they're really looking for du's voice they appreciated our presence at the msba conference and now they're seeking us to come and do some work with them good job just

035one more comment if I could uh I just wanted to say thanks to the board uh for previously supporting me when I was uh involved in the association of American Association of school superintendant Urban superintendents uh cohort it was an academy that was a yearlong opportunity this was several years ago but a group of us that were part of it have really stayed close and we continue to share information and share ideas and so particularly during this time when we've had a lot of change I've been able to uh talk with you know uh top leaders in the Philadelphia School District in Cal places in California uh get information from um San Diego uh Unified schools related to immigration issues things like that have been really helpful to me and and I'm really grateful for

036the collegiality that we have but also for the support that the board showed and letting me participate in that program several years back thank you seeing no further questions or comments we'll move on and talk about our schedule of meetings we have coming up the week February 3rd through February 7th we'll have our um on February 4th we'll have our monthly Committee of the whole meeting that Thursday Will Follow by our education um Equity advisory committee the following week we have policy HR business services and then we have a break the 17th through the 21st so you can find the schedule of our meetings posted on board book moving on to agenda item item seven report of the standing committies we'll turn it over to assistant superintendent bonds for the monthly Committee of the whole

037me meeting which was held on Tuesday January 14th thank you and as always it was a really robust discussion uh that night with a lot of topics so I want to First just thank uh the teacher learning Equity team and all his leaders as well as other leaders out of the operations for uh staying with us that night and um making those presentations so I we want to uh acknowledge that there was a lot of time and a lot of commitment by those leaders uh there was a presentation provided uh on that day by Brian Brown and our architect uh for the buildout of our first street facilities um a lot of discussion related to the for floor plans that have been mapped out in the programming that will be a part of that new

038site for the district Simone zunich provided an update related to the budget reductions uh that are uh have been discussed and planned for quite some time and the realignment process that we've engaged in under the Strategic plan supporting every student we also had an update related to uh the centralized enrollment process there is a new centralized enrollment process that will be uh implemented uh in February more information will be shared later about that uh process and has been communicated to our families there's also a presentation given by myself related to the upcoming school year calendar so we have move forward with the adoption um the review for adoption tonight of the school calendar for the upcoming 25 26 school year detet CBO Jen larva um Del Usman um some of our leaders in our teacher

039learning Equity Department provide information related to the secondary course offering changes and of course we had an update related to our Spanish immersion expansion uh delivered by uh director sparts uh principal hesler and principal Nicholson uh related to our expansion for our Spanish emersion program and that was the agenda for that day again very long uh robust but lots of uh conversations around a lot of really important topics for the district thank you I think that was a three and a half hour meeting wasn't it three and a half yeah do we have any questions for assistant superintendent bonds seeing none thank you assistant superintendent bonds and the calendar will be found on the consent agenda correct correct moving on next we have our human resources and um Business Services committee with our chair member

040Sadowski I'll try to be as concise as assistant superintendent bonds here there was a lot in our HR um Business Services committee so I'll start with our human resources report um there was a number of Staffing changes received by HR during the month of December there's um a summary of that in our consent agenda um but a number of new hires retirements resignations and leaves of absences um the human resources team was busy in December working on updating the new employee orientation process um including starting a new um employee handbook and um in addition seniority lists were updated and reviewed and teacher tenure was verified and then our human resources manager also met individually with principles um during December just to ensure teacher observation information was accurate for this school year um let's see the

041department um has attended two maspa meetings regarding the upcoming paid leave laws um that are going to go into effect to January 26 so there's a lot to learn there um appreciate our staff just staying up to date on some of those new velopments and then um our next retirement meeting I think that was mentioned earlier um but the next retirement info session for employees considering retirement will be January 27th so um well that was yesterday that's 28th it was yesterday so hopefully nobody missed it um did you say something was coming up though I think that's why I got my dates mixed up but that's okay moving on to business services um you will see that we have our enrollment report um so total enrollment um for this last month was 8,133 um and

042then I think of note between the 2223 school year and the 23 24 school year we were up about 90 students so that is um something to celebrate um students are really wanting to come back to our district I know we've um I think superintend ATT Magus may maybe even mentioned or someone mentioned to me that um we've been getting a lot of middle schoolers coming back to our school because of our new schedule which um just really appreciate all the work that we've done on that and then let's see what's next here um we will do our facilities report find where that is oh nope that's our Child Nutrition report no wonder I couldn't find it all right so we'll start with our Child Nutrition report um there was a mailing that was built

043um sent home to families who owed over $10 um and that question is always asked you know lunches are free why might that happen um we're never going to say no if if students want more obviously we give free um vegetables and fruits to all students as many as they need um some some of those costs may be leftover from last year uh and then for our Child Nutrition training um there was a training for all who run EV ovens um that training was done by the manufacturer and I guess it was really well received then we'll go on to our facilities management um kind of update here so in the past month the facilities maintenance Crews have completed 207 work orders and are currently working on open work orders so a lot of those

044um I would note that Myers we talked a little bit about Myers Wilkins um the gym uh is open at least half of the gym that the students can get in and they're just kind of finishing up some other um repairs I think it may have had to do with the wall um but at least our students are able to get in the gym and we really appreciate all the Community Partners who who stepped in and helped us repair that um as soon as possible and then we're working on a chiller replacement for approval and you'll see that in our um expenditure contracts um a couple building operation updates um this recent period has presented challenges to operation staff just because we've all heard of a lot of the illnesses going around um those haven't

045escaped our facility staff either um but on a brighter note the operations teams um exceptional work during the recent holiday break really deserves uh the highest praise all of our school buildings were um clean and um bright and beautiful when the students returned uh after the holidays um and that is a really big job especially when um we're a little understaffed maybe to illnesses um lastly um for this report it's just with deep sadness and heavy hearts that the district announces the passing of our esteemed colleague and friend Mike Murray on December 30th and our hearts um and thoughts really go out to um pedmont Community as he was the building engineer there most recently um and he dedicated 20 years of service to isd709 so we're um really want to extend our sincerest condolences

046to his family and friends and um colleagues that may have known him and then on that second page you'll see that there was some Audits and inspections um our health and safety coordinator completed some trainings and was awarded a national Safety Council safety leadership certificate so that was really great I wanted to point that out um we're very thankful to Lexi for all her work and then our technology report um was a verbal report do you want to chime in at all on that or should we skip that for tonight I don't remember anything there wasn't a verbal that's right that's right there wasn't y there wasn't well that's why I didn't remember it so that's good um reports all of our reports are memorable if yeah normally we do we though we have a

047nice technology report that's in here and we get updates about um like cyber security and it's actually pretty interesting and important um especially when you think about just a lot of the different um I don't know risks that are out there with cyber security so I've always enjoyed that one all right well then we will move on to our transportation report um but before that I just wanted to point out to all board members there was an in nice of um informational form in our packet the notice of intended projects so if you want to look at that you'll see all of our upcoming um long-term facility meet maintenance project for the next year so you can kind of take a peek at that um for a transportation report really quickly our oldest bus um

048is a model year 2012 and the next oldest is 2014 our average mileage for this month was 9,668 but our goal is to have it between 50 and 60 so we'll keep working on it um remember Eder and I did not buy a bus when we went down to msba um but we did check up in buses so um I and they also in in the report I think it's important to note that again Staffing remains really challenging when it comes to our bus drivers so we're um we did hire three helpers we have hired a driver trainee that should be starting soon but really um our mechanics are struggling to even maintain they're maintaining the buses but it's a struggle because they're also having to fill in with driving so we just really want

049to give a shout out to our mechanic just for the flexibility um I'm going to move on to our recommended resolutions um you'll see that we have our donations to do with Public Schools our grant Awards um and then a resolution that we do every year um to establish our 2025 combined polling places um and so we will see that coming up on our resolutions um and then our on our consent agenda you'll see that obviously we'll have our full HR Staffing report there's a job description um for payroll and hris specialist and that was just a reclassification you'll see our financial report um take a look at that we're about halfway through the year um and so there wasn't anything too out of the ordinary on there um but we're really lucky to have

050great financial director here so anything to add on the financial report thank you um not about the report itself but um by March I'll be bringing to any revisions to this year's budget as part of our um budgeting and finance process um right now I'm not anticipating any changes to expenditures we're just kind of um working on some things but probably I will have some Revenue changes and then in April I'll start bringing uh FY 26 to you for conversation sorry sounds good thank you and we did not have any um bids rfps and quotes um no change orders and then if we go down to the U miscellaneous information items we had um some expenditure contracts um one that I wanted to point out to the board um of note is for school mint

051um and that is part of our enrollment campaign um really um there's some really great things that we learned about it in our HR report like um they can do surveys they're going to be doing surveys with students who maybe leave the district to find out why they're going to be maybe doing a survey with students who come back to our district maybe um joining at the middle school level to find out why so that way we can um make our decisions based on that data um so I wanted to point that out it sounded like um just a really great resource and wanted to thank um Adele and superintendent megas for their work in kind of identifying that um they talked to some other school districts about that and they thought that would be

052a good idea um I wanted to point out one Revenue contract and that was through um the one that we got from St Louis County which is our new updated checkin connect contract which goes through 2026 so we're very thankful for St Louis County for the partnership for that um we know that check and connect is a very data driven program that has really good results and um we're just very thankful for St Louis County for that partnership and then um on the back you'll see um a lot of different Grant applications which is really great and so we're thankful to our staff who have um put a lot of effort into applying for those grants those take a lot of time and um future staff who will do that tracking are there any questions

053for the HR Business Report great I have one member Sadowski not so much of a question but more of just a minute um to just talk about the dth public schools and how every member of our community makes a difference on kids my youngest son goes to pedmont and a Mr Murray as he called him was a very valued member of that community and when I shared with Camden um what had happened he had distinct stories to talk about um with Mr Murray and then also talked about um funny things about how his office was very close to the lunchroom so that when the kids would get rowdy at lunch he would come out and he would help you know quiet them down and how he was great in the hallways with the kids and

054how um this gentleman who you wouldn't think have those direct student interactions every day but was a valued member of the community and um will be very much missed so that's just um what Public Schools do for kids every adult in those schools really does focus and center and lift kids up so just take a minute and hold space so thank you for that Indulgence any other oh okay moving on um oh Rosie yes yeah thank you and thanks for that wonderful story uh chair uh Peter I think that um there's so many wonderful stories of Staff who aren't maybe in the classroom uh that support our kids in so many ways and I I have some of my favorite memories of my kids are in school too so um I I just really wanted

055to use this opportunity to really uh say thank you to the business services office and and HR for your very thorough and complete reports while I don't serve on that committee uh we are I read them very thoroughly and I just really appreciate um that that knowledge uh that you provide us um um particularly you know from the enrollment down to the transportation department so really wanted to do just a a shout out um of appreciation for all the background information you give us coming into this meeting thank you and thank your staff all right seeing no other um comments or questions we'll move on to the policy committee update member laugh uh chair ller thank you well I I can't be brief this month because we had a lot of policies and they were

056Hefty policies um and uh we also welcomed uh uh member lold to our policy committee for this year uh along with uh uh Sarah Michael cell so uh we're g to do great things I know we will um so the the we held our meeting on Tuesday January 21st um uh we always look first at policies that are brought forward by staff for first readings many of our policies have two readings uh and so uh policies for first reading the first one is policy 806 crisis management policy and the I always read the purpose of these policies uh the purpose of this crisis management policy is to act as a guide for school district and site uh administrators School Employees students Schoolboard members and community members to address a wide range of potential crisis situations

057in the school district the step-by-step procedures suggested by this policy will provide guidance to each School site in drafting crisis management plans to coordinate protective actions prior to during and after any type of emergency or potential crisis situation each School District shall uh develop tailored site specific specific crisis management plans for each School site uh in the school district and sections or procedures may be added or deleted in those crisis management plans based on site needs the school district will engage in ongoing emergency planning within the school district with the emergency responders and other revant uh Community organizations the school district will ensure that relevant uh emergency responders in the community have access to their site specific crisis management plans and will provide training to School District staff to enable them to act appropriately in

058the event of a crisis uh and then there's many other sections in this plan um again this is the first reading and it really supports our Emergency Operations procedures uh which that um Emergency Operations procedures or EOP is throughout this um this policy uh Lexi Ness our health safety coordinator and Denette seille um worked on this um based on the model nsba policy uh there were legislative changes so that's one of the reasons why it was brought forward it also reflects a lot of terminology changes for example what's highlighted often in yellow is about um we we talk about site um administrators Etc not just building so um uh that's the terminology we're using and then it also there were language changes um made throughout this policy to to modify with with our sites uh

059and it is kind of a hefty policy again uh with really important important information in there uh we last adopted this policy in um 2019 um so it's um uh besides the legislative changes it was uh also just up for uh a good look uh and if you go through it I won't walk you through everything again this is a first reading but I did want to just point out um uh uh it's on Section it's such a long policy let me see if I can find the section uh three under preparation before an emergency uh all the way to H uh uh there's a section dealing with district and school mental health recovery teams and um just kind of pay pay attention to that we we've always had a crisis team but this is

060a mental health recovery team um and and so uh pay attention to that and then also uh for uh the active shooter drill section uh duth Public Schools does not perform active shooter simulations we um we conduct lockdown drills referred to below and by State Statute as active shooter drills the district would follow State Statute if actor shooter simulations were ever used so review that um and and there's Clarity in that uh and um this is the first reading I know there were some questions that came up that if it hasn't gotten answered we will be at the second reading in February having an opportunity to to get more questions answered send them to superintendent megas and assistant superintendent bonds uh and then they will respond to the whole board with any questions but really

061important policy and one of the things I I don't always read um where um there there might be a note um uh and so if you look at the crisis management policy I do feel compelled to just kind of point to this um that um the the commissioner of Minnesota department of education is required to maintain and make available to school boards and Charter Schools a model crisis management policy and then it goes on to just talk about that this model crisis management policy was originally the result of a collaborative effort uh with the Department of Minnesota Department of Education the division of compliance and assistance the Minnesota Department of Public Safety the division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Schoolboard Association and I I just been thinking a lot about um decisions

062that are happening now at the national level and how they're going to impact our policies locally and the collaborations that we have with some very important um resources at the federal level right now and so I just wanted to give you that example that uh unfortunately we're seeing already uh so again this is a first reading um for policy 806 um where we will replacing 806 or excuse me um 806 will rep Place 4040 safety of students staff and public and 4040 R School District security procedures and when we talk about replacing policies they're just going to be incorporated into some of these new policies uh often that is the case unless we um they're no longer um needed uh the next policy for first reading is 503 student attendance and uh thank you Jen

063Lara who's in ATT for the work um she uh has done at this point with uh student attendance policy there's been some significant legislative changes um also our district does have an attendance campaign going on so it's very timely right now as well um the purpose of this policy is the school board believes that regular School attendance is directly related to success in academic work benefits students socially provides opportunities for important communication between teachers and students and establishes regular habits of dependability important to the future of the student the purpose of this policy is to encourage regular student School attendance it is attended to be positive and not punitive the policy also recognizes that class attendance is a joint responsibility to be shared by the student parent or Guardian teachers and administrators this policy will

064assist students in attending class and um so again um you know go through there uh we've had a lot of great um discussion and clarification uh and and just making this policy really more clear and more transparent uh and um uh let's see here uh it highlights again the um the legislative changes and again we reviewed this policy really recently it was uh it was reopt it in July 18th of 2023 so um that this is for the first because it's such an important policy we are bringing it Forward again um rather than just for a review but for a a first and second reading okay so uh again if you have any questions we'll have the opportunity uh at our February uh uh policy meeting the next policy is a for second reading so

065these will be on all of this will be on the consent agenda tonight uh but this is our second reading uh policy 616 School District system accountability the purpose of this policy is to focus public education strategies on a process that promotes higher academic achievement for all students and ensures broad-based Community participation in decisions regarding implementation of the min SOA K through2 academic standards and federal law and um uh we had the first reading uh in December this is a new policy uh uh uh and it does replace 6020 systems accountability report and 6205 evaluation of the instructional program would you have copies of those past policies it's replacing the next Poli policy for second reading is 601 School District curriculum and instruction goals the purpose of this policy is to establish broad curriculum parameters

066for the school uh District that Encompass the Minnesota academic standards and federal law and are aligned with Comprehensive achievement and Civic Readiness and um let's see we had the first reading in December this policy uh replaces 6020 systems accountability report and 60205 evaluation of the instructional program so it's it incorporates some of the language in those two policies and then um 601 uh for second reading all excuse me did I just read sorry um we had we had a lot of papers there we go okay so go back to uh so so I'm sorry I I I said the wrong one so it's replacing 165 Elementary and secondary education 6075 purpose of instructional program and 6080 Multicultural education and again they're encompassed in policy 601 then 603 curriculum development the purpose of this policy is

067to provide direction for continuous review and Improvement of the school curriculum and um then policies for review uh we just will be re reviewing them this month unless we did want them brought back many times and for Schoolboard um uh our student revs um policies are an important piece of the work that Schoolboard members do and uh we're lucky to be supported by um uh different state associations in uh doing a lot of the uh reviews of these policies and bringing model the legal reviews and bringing model policies to us um uh and there's uh guidelines for us as Schoolboard members on if we have to have a first and second reading or we can just bring them up for review and so often reviews are because there are State Statute or legislative changes so

068this one uh policy 66.5 Library materal materials uh the purpose of this policy is to provide Direction and to delegate responsibility for SE selection and reconsideration of Library materials and uh under section four um one of the changes um is uh the procedures for selection and reconsideration set forth in this policy will be administered by uh and it just uh clarified that it was a library media specialist someone with the library media specialist licensure and that was in section two uh we had already reviewed this policy 12 of um 23 or adopted it about a year ago 12 of 23 uh the next policy for review um is 416 drug alcohol and Cannabis Testing uh again I know there were some questions board members had and thank you superintendent megas and uh for uh responding

069to the full board so we had the clarifications to the questions that were asked on this policy uh for all board members before tonight because again it's on the consent agenda uh drug and Drug alcohol and Cannabis Testing the the school the purpose the Schoolboard recognizes the significant problems created by drug alcohol and cannabis use in society and in general in the public schools in particular the school board further recognizes the important contribution that the public schools have in shaping the Youth of today into the adult of Tomorrow the school board believes that a work environment free of drug alcohol and cannabis use will be not only safer healthier and more productive but also more conducive to effective learning to provide such an environment the purpose of this policy is to provide Authority so that

070the school board may require all employees Andor job applicants to submit to drug alcohol and Cannabis Testing in accordance with the provisions of this policy and is provided in federal law and Minnesota to statutes 184. n50 and 57 uh and again you can go through and and see some of the again legislative changes mainly um and but but again it's a very lengthy policy also wanted to thank Teresa uh Severance our HR U director for um answering some of the questions we had on this too and we last adopted this policy in August of 2022 so uh we reviewed it uh pretty recently uh then the next policy uh we're getting to the end here folks uh six member L just if I could just U make a quick comment so really uh that particular

071policy there were revisions u based on the um legalization of recreational marijuana and how that that uh folds into our policy and two of the questions that were asked and just so I can share does uh does this apply to our voy bus drivers and Voyager uh bus drivers have their own testing policy so they're testing as well but it's a different policy than than we have and then also the question of um who is the district's designated employer representative uh and that at this time would be our transportation manager Jeremy cipes thank you for um thank you for that uh superintendent Magus uh so uh any any other questions on that policy or comments from the policy people that were at that meeting okay okay uh policy 606 textbooks and instructional materials um the

072purpose of this policy is to provide direction for selection of textbooks and instructional materials and um uh there were just really some minor changes and then again um we uh uh it was under Section B on reconsideration of textbooks or other instructional materials so it was again minor changes on that that was brought forward and then um regulations anything that comes under regulations is really informational for us so we don't really vote on that but we can provide input which we do in the policy committee meeting uh and so um uh and some of our policies have regulations attached to them so that is the case with um 503r student attendance uh it goes with the policy we just had for first reading 503 and it's the process or the practice that we use in

073a district that's what a regulation is uh and so um uh a lot of good conversation and recom recommendations were made in that uh regulation as well and then um the last one is 616 R School District accountability can again that goes with a policy we have in second reading uh 616 and um uh yeah so that's the the regulation uh the regulation and uh it talks about the district advisory committee and then lastly um lastly that is it that is it uh but what I was going to mention is uh in our consent agenda just so there's not any confusion because I had some confusion when I saw it myself uh so um in the consent agenda at the end of the policy report it does have policy 250 Schoolboard member compensation bylaw and

074we reviewed that in our organizational meetings so um while we didn't talk about it in the policy committee uh we reviewed it as a full board and that's why it's under the consent agenda um and we decided to not make any changes with that okay that is the policy report our next meeting is February 11th and again all of this will be on the consent agenda coming up thank you seeing no other questions or comments um for the report of the standing committees we'll move on to any general board committee updates many of our board members serve on many different um types of committees as observers and they come back to the board and make any reports we just got um assigned to those committees so those meetings probably are starting up but this is

075a time where our Schoolboard members can share um any committee updates that they may have can I just give one quick up update regarding the um transportation Safety Committee so our last meeting which was in December before the holiday we had a meeting and U two request for uh relocation of bus stops uh were presented uh we approved one and uh denied the other and if folks want to see the minutes related to that to get the understanding as to why we made the decisions we made that is available as well thank you thank you member banks do we have any other committee updates um member laugher Camp just real quick so I serve on the duth public schools uh Community Foundation Grant committee and we're in the process of our grant cycle of going

076out to school staff meetings and promoting uh and encouraging our staff and our schools to write grants uh because the deadline is March 3rd and um I just want to say again how appreciative as I hear back from uh uh staff that are at these meetings they are of the support of the school district in encouraging them uh we give away about $33,000 through the Delo Community Foundation that's that's separate than the school district the Delo Superior Community Foundation but U so um uh just if you know of people who work in the district anybody can write grants um under that and there is a link on the district website for the Deluth Public Schools endowment fund deadline is March 3rd everything's online uh share it with people you know uh all of us I

077know know School staff so thank you thank you uh member Sadowski yep I attended the um Head Start policy council meeting in early January just after our organizational meeting um one of the disc questions that the um parents had who are um were just very grateful to their service they're juggling having little ones and then serving on this really important Head Start policy Council so one of the discussions that they were having is maybe um the timing of the meeting if they wanted to get there early so they could have so some socialization time before the meeting but just very well attended very thoughtful insights um we know that a lot of our families who serve the Head Start policy Council have really informed some of the decisions that we've made um one that comes

078to mind is the little vests that the preschoolers wear on the bus right I think that idea came out of the Head Start policy Council so um it's just really inspiring to see them um giving of their time and their um expertise uh at that committee and uh while juggling having little ones so just wanted to share gra gratitude um for Sher Williams and the Head Start policy Council member micell chair eer and fellow colleagues um uh member Sadowski and member loal and I attended or are on the intergovernmental committee and so we had our first meeting of the year um earlier this month um where we shared legislative um platform and priorities between um the county the city and the school district and um just made some future plans for communication and um ways

079that we can work together to advance all of our um priorities thank you do we have any other updates oh member loal we've all been busy going to new these are kind of new committees for me because as a board chair I didn't sit on as many of the more um outward facing um committees so but I have served on the quality steering committee this is my second year along with member laugher Kemp that is that organization of every this is where um teachers at every level of our district represent um curriculum and and grade level and subject matter and role in within the district and they meet um with District leaders and um our union representative and it's just an opportunity for um our these employees to get together get information share information ask

080questions get answers um member L Kemp and I sit on that as advisory we we listen and one of the things I just want to remind board members is the the minutes of those meetings they're taken and they're they're into the TLC um newsletter is that isn't that where they go and under um the superintendent's newsletter or superintendent's newsletter and under it says QSC and I think there's the elementary level too so you can read the minutes um of the agendas and what they what what they could what they have conversation on member Williams thank you um I serve on um eak APAC and parks in recre um I will be brief because uh eak and Parks and Rec both met while we were at msba so I did not attend um APAC uh I

081will also be brief um I got to meet our new coordinator um for the American Indian education department Sheila White so that was exciting I was mostly there just listening and reintroducing myself to the committee some of which um were there back when I worked for the department so that was cool and then meeting the new members as well and Simone was there and gave a presentation and then I had to leave early but it was nice to be back on that committee and I'm looking forward to this year great seeing no further updates thank you all for your service and especially for those great reports we'll move now on to the consent agenda that's listed in boardbook and we've heard from our different committees um the committee of the whole HR business services and

082the policy committee what items are on the consent agenda so I'm looking for a motion to approve the consent agenda member Williams moves do I have a second second um member laugher cemp second um I don't need discussion on this okay um do we have any discussion do we have any discussion do we have any discussion seeing none um all those in favor of passing the consent agenda as it stands please say I I opposed we pass the consent agenda moving on we'll have different resolutions from our committee report the first resolution we have is acceptance of donations to the duth public schools um me loal thank you I move I move resolution um b-125 d482 that is the resolution the exent acceptance of donations to do with Public Schools whereas Minnesota statute 465.16 in

083accordance with the donor's terms is in the best interest of the duth public schools now therefore be it resolved that the duth public schools does accept the below described donations from said organizations in accordance with the terms set forth herein be it further resolved that the duth public schools wishes to extend its grateful appreciation to these various individuals and organizations and there are long and lengthy lengthy um I think a lot of ALC celebrations with um d ations to your holiday auction and so our community supports that there is um some donations to Denfeld choir and to districtwide um areas where you know students are are serving or they're giving service to students by their donations so I I make the motion to accept this donation resolution do we have a second memb um member

084lall move member Sadowski seconds do we have any discussion do we have any discussion seeing no discussion um all those in FA all those in favor please say I I opposed um resolution b-125 482 passes moving on to acceptance of Grant Awards to the Deluth Public Schools member laugher Kemp I move our resolution B1 25483 acceptance of Grant Awards to duuk Public Schools whereas Minnesota statute 46503 requires a school district to accept grants by resolution expressed in the terms prescribed by the donor in full and whereas acceptance of the Grant in accordance with the donor's terms is in the best interest of the duth public schools now therefore be it resolved that the duth public schools does accept the below described Grant from set organization in accordance with the term set forth Aon be it

085for the resolve that the duth public schools wishes to extend its grateful appreciation to this organization and there were two uh uh uh the organization was hospit Hospitality Minnesota Education Foundation a grant of over $8,000 to the Deluth East culinary arts uh CTE program uh for the um funds are going to purchase Safe Serve Safe exam tickets for students to get an industry recognized credential um uh also uh equipment and supplies and food budget and appreciated the picture we saw of some of the Deluth East students um on our social media for the district the second was Minnesota sea Grant Center for Great Lakes literacy and that was a grant of uh for $550 for transportation and payment for a field trip to harly for the ordine East Middle School environmental science class so I

086move resolution B1 25483 member lafler can't moves do I have a second second um member Mikel second do we have any discussion do we have any discussion do we have any discussion seeing no discussion um all those in favor of this resolution please say I I I opposed um the resolution passes now moving on to the next on our agenda um section 11 special resolution and action items um member banks Could you um sure thank you go forth I move resolution B- one- 25-48 4 the resolution establishing combined polling places for multiple precincts and designating hours during which the polling places will remain open for voting for school district elections not held on the day of a Statewide election be it resolved by the school board of dependent School District number 709 state of Minnesota

087as follows pursuant to Minnesota statutes section 205a do11 the precincts and polling places for school district elections are those precincts or parts of precincts located within the boundaries of the school district which have been established by the cities or towns located in whole or in part within the school district the board hereby confirms those precincts and polling places so established by those municipalities two pursuant to Minnesota statute section 205a do11 the board May establish a combined polling polling place for several precincts for school district elections not held on the day of a Statewide election each combined polling place must be a polling place that has been designated by a county or M mun municipality the following combined polling places are established to serve the precinct Precinct specified for all School District special and general elections

088not held on the same day as a Statewide election you may find full information about the combined polling places in the isd709 board book which is online thank you do we have a second I'll second for discussion oh thank you um Now we move on to discussion do we have any discussion chair eer i' I'd like to just say that I'm not going to support this motion tonight and so my reasons would be that um we've done this on a in my seven years we have not voted to pass this resolution because in actuality voting is everyone's right voting is an important part of of this community we've seen that um delians you know support their constitutional right to vote and um we have this right to limit polling places as school boards it it's

089on our agenda tonight because it's required am I right to be on our agenda we've discussed it in past um board board meetings so I'm I'm not going to vote in favor of tonight's motion um member ller Camp thank you I just want want to um say that I also will not be voting for this it has come in front of us every year since I've been on the board and uh well um understand why we're require or it it comes in front of us I also just really feel we need to um uh make voting as accessible as we can uh we don't we don't need to be confusing voters on where they vote um we need to take as many barriers away uh from voting and I just not uh support it as

090as someone who's been an election judge I know when people are confused when they come to their polling place and they're at the wrong place they often don't vote so there's just a lot of different reasons particularly also with my experience as being an an a head election judge uh um uh that uh I I can't support this so thank you member banks sure thanks I just want clarification um so it was brought to the table for uh approval so my question would be why it even made it to the table for approval if it's not something that we want to approve sure um generally this is something that we do every year but um executive director zunich would you like to explain um hi uh this is a resolution that we bring to the

091board every year um for the board to vote on and it doesn't carry from me your tier so we need to know how the board stands um this is applies to a special election so for instance if we had one like we did last year um or if we have a special Board election it would apply to that situation and for instance uh last year we had a referendum um in May May 13th I believe it was we had this resolution in place and we had uh polling places opened Citywide so so it's it's um I will also use the phrase housekeeping it's a housekeeping item that we have to do every year member banks does that answer your question I have a further question based on what you just said so um what would

092be your recommendation if I may ask uh our leadership what what would your recommendation be regarding this resolution I'm just trying to make sure I understand correctly what's going going on here um superintendent magas sure I think that uh it's important for school districts to balance multiple priorities sometimes and uh I think there's the priority of fiscal responsibility but there's also the priority of of um transparency particularly transparency in the community and I think that um ensuring that every voter can vote in every location at the at the location that's closest to them is something that we' valued that we value now and and uh have valued in the past and so I think that's that's where it's important for us to really have that conversation and decide as a as a board uh or

093for you to decide as a board how you want to go um but I would recommend that we continue to keep our polling places open uh I think member Lawler Kemp made the the point that uh Civic engagement in voting is is as or more important now than ever and uh also I would say that we this I didn't know this would be like something that would like be touching emotionally but it it is an emotional thing that that that we're that as a district were often times uh maybe criticized as not being transparent or or not not putting things out there you know we had over 50 meetings about our budget when I think about what we've done with referendum we've had you know dozens and dozens of dozens of meetings and so um

094for whatever reason sometimes it's it's harder for um our community to see us as transparent and and I think our our actions need to continue to um put ourselves out there in a way that is really uh as as transparent as as possible as open as possible and as inclusive as possible and so I think some some districts would would say hey let's let's go with a financially conservative perspective and and not keep the polling places open or some may been from a strategic standpoint think hey if there's an election we want to to pass let's have a limited number of voting places and get uh get our way by not opening polling places but I think that that as a as a Administration we would suggest that we keep things open and uh that's

095where I would place my my input member banks do you have any further questions it it seems like to me if we say no to this it I'm I guess I'm still not certain that voting no is the appropriate uh decision so I I need real clarification on this because it's just not being clarified to my uh satisfaction I guess let me quick go member Williams and then we'll come back member banks member Williams maybe my response will answer that question but I guess we'll find out but first I want to say thank you to director zich for explaining that because I was going to ask on behalf of our student reps and maybe to put on the public ref record the kinds of um situations that would arise that we would uh need these

096polling places I think that's important for people to understand so I hope that was made clear um but I appreciate um keeping our polling places separate because of um marginalized communities I think there would be a lot of confusion if uh you know no the first Tuesday of November I vote here but the school board wants me to vote here I can't find my polling place and then that's people who maybe we've trying to get them out to vote and they're finally going to vote and then they don't know where they're going or how to get there um when you go to your regular polling place you know your transportation you know you know we have all these people supporting um elections in regular like regular state and federal elections um every year and the

097same thing doesn't always happen with the same kind of fervor for a special election and so when um we are holding like for our referendum um if we only did it in these places they were different from where you normally go to vote and so some people don't have the same kind of access and then again um the knowledge of where to go or how to do it and when things are different for someone like me who is neurode Divergent when things are different it just amps up my anxiety and and I don't know so that is my opinion on why I think it's important that we vote no um or that I am going to vote no um but I understand that this is something we have to do every year so um I'm

098glad to raise my voice to say why I am voting the way that I am thank you member Sadowski um I would just say I mean member Williams kind of took the words out of my mouth I'm um will be voting no I'm concerned about people who are underresourced or unhoused and were facing Transportation barriers all the things that you shared um and I appreciate super tendent M's um comments just about making sure we're transparent um so I'll be voting no thank you member micell um thank you to everyone for um thoughtful discussion on this and um yes this could have been um a motion that was moved um as we're required to look over this um every year without a second and then it could have been a moot point um but then we

099all wouldn't have been able to talk about how much we enjoy transparency and everyone's right to vote um which are the reasons why I will also be voting I I will not be supporting this motion um um at this time is for making sure that we're being transparent not that um I've had any um kind of uh understanding that there will be a special election at all this year um to make that clear for my personal understanding so this isn't uh to say that there there is something coming down the pipe but if for some reason there was something um that um I will be um voting to allow um as many people as possible to vote in their regular poing places thank you can I come back just a minute you want to say

100something NOP go ahead member so this is done in other school districts quite regularly so that it it really you know we have not typically done it sometimes I think it's the the wide length of our city and and just the the the just the way our city is laid out it's difficult to redu polling places but it is done um Minnesota Schoolboard Association often has conversation around this time with other um boards and they do it you know and and in a financial um area where we are reducing 7 million we could have probably reduced polling places for this year maybe we would never even need it but um you know if we have to have one in an emergency situation to fill a board seat that's typically what what happens is a board

101member has to step down or has other emergencies and they step away and then depending on the timing of that departure might require a special election and that can cost us about 120 to $150,000 so if you reduce the polling places you can save that money but you save it at the risk of you know of of community disappointment in our our choices do we have any other discuss excuse me any other discussion oh yes member lafler Camp sorry about that I I was just debating if I was I was going to just add what are those situations um that member Williams had mentioned that could come up and and certainly um you know yes we had a referendum but more often uh as um it it is elections and depending on when someone resigns

102uh there there's a whole kind of time frame you have to follow to if you need to go to an election or you can appoint like we did member Derek eer um and and so um that that's often the case yeah do we have any other discussion seeing no other discussion I did oh I just oh sorry I didn't see your light sorry oh yeah it last time um I guess I just want to see if that cleared things up for member banks yes thank you thank you okay do we have any other discussion I've been wrong three times now so let's see seeing no other discussion um all those in favor of this resolution please say I all those opposed please say Nay n um motion fails moving on next to the next resolution

103which is designation of an individual official with authority for the duth public schools member Williams um I move resolution b-125 d485 uh whereas the Minnesota Department of Education MD requires that school districts annually designate in Iowa to comply with the state Access Control security standard 1.0 which uh state that all user access access rights to Minnesota state systems must be reviewed and recertified at least annually the Iowa will assign job duties and authorize external users access to mde um secure systems for their local Education Agency now therefore be it resolved that the board authorizes John Magus superintendent to act as the Iowa for duth public schools um 7 09-01 do we have a second second um member Sadowski seconds do you have any discussion I just want to say that I'm honored to be the

104Iowa representative for coming here I was gonna make a joke about Iowa but my old my youngest was born there so I won't okay um do we have any discussion do we have any other discussion all those in all those in favor of B-1 d254 85 please say I I oppose nay motion passes moving right along next member Sadowski um for combining the duties of the clerk and the treasurer yep I'm going to move resolution B-1 d25 d486 a resolution to for combining the duties of Clerk and Treasurer whereas minota statutes 123b do4 subdivision 1 empowers the school board to combine the duties of the offices of Clerk and treasurer of the school board in one person in the business service office of the school district whereas the school district has decided to combine the

105duties of the clerk and Treasurer in one person in the business services office therefore be it resolved that the Executive Director of Business Services and finance of the school district is designated by the school board of Independent School District m number 709 to perform the duties of Clerk and treasur of the district do we have a second second member micel second do we have any discussion y member will just throw it at me next time uh I would like clarification uh I always say for public record and for students but I'll be honest and say it's kind of for me too um we still have our treasur and clerk for the board and that's just separate so um we have our treasur in member Sadowski and our Clerk and member Mikell and then also executive

106director zunich correct yes thank you yes that was for public record that was for not yeah exactly um do we have any other discussion any other discussion great all those in favor of the motion please say I I opposed motion carries moving along all right um member clerk Mel I move resolution b-125 487 the 2025 legislative platform resolved by the school board of Independent School District 709 St Lewis County Minnesota that the attached 2025 duth School District legislative platform be adopted do I have a second second member ller Camp do we have any discussion just a quick addition I we did take the um input that you gave during our work session last Thursday and I asked Adell to update it so I assume that this has been uh this is the updated version however

107she has been out uh the past couple of days so if there are any other minor revisions in layout and format we'll make sure those are updated as well but this will be more on the content thank you do we have any discussion do we have any other discussion all those in favor of the legislative platform please say I I opposed motion carries okay next we have um school board members to attend duth days at the capital for 2025 member loal so I'm resolution sp-125 488 this is a resolution of a Schoolboard member attendance at the duth and St Louis County days at the capital resolved that Independent School District 709 St Louis County Minnesota pay costs incurred as per District policy for Schoolboard members to attend the duth and St Louis County days at

108the capital event held in 2025 do I have a second member William second do do we have any [Music] discussion do we have any discussion I will just add that um this is an important time that our school board members take to go down to the capital and Lobby on the efforts of public schools and especially duth public schools and families so that is um what I will add so do we have any other discussion seeing no further discussion all those in favor of the resolution please say I I opposed um motion passes lastly we have a contract that you can find on board book for the duth transit authority um and the duth Public Schools Bus Pass Program agreement member laor Camp yes I would like to make a motion for us to support

109the public transit past program um between the duth transit authority and duth public schools um um and this would be for um the fiscal year the remainder of the fiscal year 20 20242 and again for 2025 26 fiscal year with um one-year options with negotiations on the reimbursement rate and maximum cap it would be for all currently enrolled District High School and ALC students as well as all District staff and um uh we we we don't have a a resolution it it's more a motion to support the contract and approve the contract so I move um uh this memorandum of understanding thank you do we have a second second member Bank second now we have are open for discussion do we have any discussion just a quick comment if I may I think this is

110an exciting time uh that we're uh bringing this back uh for our students in our high schools faculty staff if you will have the opportunity to make sure people get to school and uh have the resources to get to school because some families don't have those resources and I think this is a huge huge thing that the district is doing and I'm personally grateful for that thank you um member excuse me superintendent Magus and then you'll be right after superintendent magas great uh no I just wanted to say thank you as well uh to the board uh thank you member banks and others who advocated really strongly for this it's a huge uh move from an equity standpoint and I also want to thank um assistant superintendent bonds because it was his um his idea

111in the first place to have the DTA bus passes uh and I just I just think that this is um it's it's important in a district uh in any District but in especially in a district like ours where there are sometimes students who have been historically underserved to think about things from a lens of equity and I know that uh that this board and uh assistant superintendent bonds uh brings an eye for Equity to everything that he does thank you um member Garner I just want to say as a Denfeld student that I really appreciate this because um I know a lot of students at my school who don't have transportation so I feel like this is really important I enjoyed it last year just knowing that everybody at denfield had a way to get

112home or to school or anywhere they needed to go so thank you I would just um second what member Garner said I know that especially for after school activities at schools like Denfeld um when we don't have school buses running this allows kids to have access to after school activities because they can go to practice they can do whatever they need to do and then they can hop on the bus when they're finished so um this is great and I I really do want to lift up assistant superintendent bonds and a member banks for really focusing in on this so thank you do we have any other discussion assistant superintendent bonds the only thing I want to add is that there's uh one little enhancement uh that students might be excited about and it's that

113it's also um covered for the summer so even during the summertime students who are in summer school or have um are employed and they need to get back and forth it also is covered uh during the summer as well so there there's that little enhancement thank you so member assistant superintendent bonds and member Dean yeah I just like to say I also agree this is a super important program and I'll say at least the East this isn't something I've heard anything about like I'm going to be so honest I didn't know that this was available to us and I'm I just like I just wanted to share that and say I think this is such an important program and if anyone here ever sees an opportunity to take initiative to publicize it even a little

114bit more I think that would be so worth your time and I you know I run student form at Easton so I'll definitely be saying did you guys know this was a thing because I didn't so thank you for sharing that with me and I think it really is interesting that it's not really shared with us in the school building at least that this is an OP yeah thank you can I respond to that can I can't member Williams can we put it somewh sorry that's why I just jumped in and said it I just want to respond directly to representative Dean and say thank you for being our voice in East High School so now that you know I am glad that you're going to share it in student forum and with your friends

115um that's why it's great to have student reps to hear what we talk about at the table yes thank you assistant super superintend super thanks for following the tradition super the ongoing tradition superintend Meg just when my ego's getting big uh no I I wanted to share just a couple more things um um director crane had informed us at cabinet but reminded us now as well that um quite often the for special education field trips and other excursions and things out in the into the community we are using the DTA bus passes which uh not only give our students a a life skill of using public transportation but it also uh decreases the impact on our uh already strained transportation system and allows us to have more of those those opportunities so that's a real

116positive and uh thanks thanks for the team for that and also I think some people might be wondering like how are we doing this like we're in a time of budget cuts or budget reductions how how come we're putting money towards this um this is is a one-time money that that really there are limitations on how we're using it and it's since it's a one-time opportunity uh we wanted to put it towards this I do think it's important that uh even though this will cover things for a year or two that we really continue to explore how can we have ongoing sustainable funding for this because it is something that matters to us this is also you mentioned the summer but is oh I'm sorry is it also on the week it is yeah okay

117member ller Camp thank you uh well now I have a couple things to say one is uh thank you member Dean and member Gardner you know we want as St Schoolboard um student reps you know we want to hear from you but we also want you to bring back um information that you're learning and sharing and this is a great example so thank you all three of you for getting this information out in your schools certainly our staff will also be getting it out in different ways as well and then I I just um I I really wanted to just say thank you to um uh Simone and to Adele our Communications coordinator and I know again uh Anthony bonds we when we started this a couple years ago um I think it was two

118years ago wasn't it or was it a year ago a year ago that that you know it it took a lot of conversation uh and um and so just really appreciate the staff work that has gone into uh this it didn't happen overnight uh getting this agreement in contract it happened because us staff put a lot of time into it so really appreciate that thank you do we have any other discussion seeing no other discussion all those in favor of the contract with the DTA and the duth public schools please say I I um those oppose nay motion carries that's a great one okay good job team moving on to 12 do we have any questions or anything else is M bank is there time for announcements in this agenda okay so just letting folks

119know that Transit Equity day in duth is February 3rd uh there there's going to be a a an event at Denfeld High School uh that's Monday February 3rd from 4: to 6:00 pm uh it's called Transit truths and it's sponsored by the DTA um Continental ski Zeitgeist um and a couple other community organizations the duth community school collaborative and uh Denfeld dare and uh Transit is free for the entire city actually on Monday that's great people can ride and try buses and stuff thank you very much member banks do we have any other announcements or questions seeing none we'll move on to number 13 adjournment do we have a motion to adjourn the meeting I'm member Williams do we have a second uh member Sadowski um do we have any discussion any discussion no discussion

120all those in favor of adjourning this meeting oh all those in favor of adjourning this meeting please say I opposed motion carries we are adjourned thank you wait until we know that y