to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands na indivisible andice for welcome Gary online thanks for joining us
all right um we have uh item number two approval of today's agenda this is an action item is there a motion to approve today's agenda so move is there a second second it's been motioned in second all
those in favor signif by by saying I I opposed motion carries we'll move on to four .1 agreement and waiver of Ula hearing this is an action item presenter Ashley
Matson good morning chair Nelson Schoolboard director superintendent Wagner um today presented as an action item is an agreement and waiver of a Ula Hearing in regards to miss Edwin sson uh you will note throughout the
agreement um items of note regarding the timeline of the Ula the contract language of the administrative unit and the district's budget adjustments presented at the March regular school board meeting um if you do uh Darcy if you
could scroll down to number six listed um is board consideration um which states the district agrees that the school board will review any request that sson chooses to make and any written materials that serson chooses to
present uh to the school board in support of not placing her on Ula after reviewing the request and any written information that cson presents the school board may elect to alter its previous decision or it may elect to finalize severson's placement on Ula so at this time I would like to
invite Miss Edwin sson to the presenter table if she so chooses to make or present items at this time welcome Nikki there we go good morning um I'm just going to start with my
letter and then I have a couple points I would like to speak of as well members of the school board I am writing to respectfully request a reconsideration of the recent decision to eliminate a 1.0 administrator position in our
administrative unit in my recent placement on unrequested leave of absence due to the challenge of budget reductions it is with an unsettling heart and a deep sense of responsibility that I wish to express my concerns with the current budgetary decision of
eliminating an administrator principle and the impact that it has on the students and the overall education system in our community administrators and principles play a pivotal role in ensuring academic standards are taught they provide
leadership and support to our teachers and they address the diverse needs of our students I truly believe this is not in the best interest of our students especially those attending Albert Lee High School and the Alternative Learning Center and really in general All of
Albert Lee area schools I believe this will have a negative consequence in the progress that our schools have made toward a safe supportive in a collaborative environment the quality of Highly Effective instruction that our
students are receiving along with the overall quality of education and support that our students receive over the last 27 years that I have been a member of the Albert Lee area schools I have always been dedicated to fostering and environment where every
student staff member and family feels welcomed and appreciated and to have provided opportunities for our students to grow academically socially and emotionally I have taken pride in the leadership roles that I have had whether that be as a teacher leader or as an
administrator and I have consistently demonstrated my commitment to being a lifelong learner along with being a member of our school district my passion for the education system in this community is beyond any other as I was born and raised in this community I am
delighted to give back and I feel deeply honored to provide the best for our students families and staff the decision to eliminate an administrator principal my unrequested leave of absence is one that I believe will have far-reaching negative consequences reducing a position that
has a constant direct impact on students and staff will jeopardize the quality of education and the support our students in albertly area schools receive I fully understand the challenges posed by our current budget constraints and appreciate the difficult decisions that
must be made however I firmly believe that maintaining this administrative role is crucial for the continued success in support of our student staff in overall education environment our priority should be to keep the interest of our students at the Forefront
eliminating an essential student focused role such as an administrator or principal diminishes the support in our ability to provide educational excellence in a well-rounded education I would like to remind you as our school board that you have the
authority to revisit and amend this decision considering the significant impact of this reduction I encourage you to explore alternative budget solutions that would enable us to retain this essential position of a 1.0 administrator
principal thank you for your time and your attention to this matter and your continued commitment to our albertly area schools and students another thing I would like to point out I know we um at the last board meeting talked about um enrollment is
decreasing I'd like to remind you at the high school level secondary level it is increasing and we won't see that effect until years to come and that this budget cut is affecting our secondary schools thank
you executive director Matson so this is an action item Ashley do you have anything to add I was just going to note this is an action item for today's agenda so I would entertain a motion second it has been moved and seconded is there any
discussion chairman Nelson could could you read the could you read the motion to me the the the motion is to um it's to approve the agreement in waiver of the Ula um resolution that you
received thanks sorry about that Gary Dave yeah just two quick things um I just want to make a comment that I think the uh some of the budgetary concerns that we're looking at isn't just economy enrollment it's also
the rich contracts that were agreed upon and signed this last year so I I I get where it's coming from and I don't like cutting this close to the students and then finally I'd like to are you going to do a roll call Vote with us too okay good that's it thank
you Angie I I had uh just a couple of questions and maybe they'd be better for the next item too but so I know with the the rearrangement of the staff that we did
in is it may um we cut the assistant principal position but as part of that did we also add a Dean position that is new to help under Jefferson was that correct no that's that's uh thank you for that question director offer when the what we did was some alignment we
move back to the tosa model that existed in the alc prior to moving out to River Riverland so bringing that back we just used the existing person in that position and reclaimed those dollars to
then create a TOA to uh be the lead for the alc who who was in that position before I'm just started to wrap my head around it so at the time we had a licensed principal that was overseeing the AL as in that summarized document that I had
sent so we reduced that position and we did not reduce at the high school so we moved we kept the administrative leadership at the high school and then moved to a tosa model based on enrollment here at Brookside with a lead under administrative leadership under
executive director alerson okay it's just wrapping my head around it um it's it's a prior model that existed before moving out to Riverland but it is a model that we like this Dean position that is going to be there hasn't been there this last school
year is that right correct because we had a licensed principal out at the alc okay so I guess looking at some of the changes I have been a little bit confused because it seems like we're we're cutting one position but we added another and I'm I'm sure there's a salary difference but so yeah if you go
back to the summary document that I had sent it it really aligns and goes through the process to where we are and this this model then that was based in that before the riverin shift was around a teacher leader at that time and that's where based on the convers or the
information I provided we captured that data that qualitative information to inform the decision and based on the enrollment of our ALC aligned to a toal model okay and then just think Gary asked us to just double checking we're
only voting on the waiver of the hearing right now right okay sounds good so I think um if I'm understanding right as well um that there was a position at the alc that was not full-time and
you're just it's just reallocating that person so it's not a new position that's been vetted and hired for it's it's within correct there was a counselor a social worker and Ashley can you executive director mat can you speak to that configuration yep so there is is no
increase to the amount of teacher FTE at the alc when we're moving into this tosa model any y go ahead but since but since a position was not being paid it was vacated at the time uh we weren't spending any money on it we just had an
open position that we could fill or that we could move around is that correct at the alc I mean we had the principal and the councel or whatever we called it and since we didn't have one there we had this position there but we weren't paying it and now we'll be replacing
from a principal status into a Dean status then from a financial perspective and everything is that what I understand yep so duties then would shift from counselor part of that counseling type
duties over more to more aligned as a Dean so no additional FTE correct any other questions yep go ahead Gary well um I'm just trying to you know as a board member I listen to my peers
um and you know I we Face Financial challenges which is we all know that we've had fellow board members that have warned us that we may have to address some challenges and I'm I listen to that and I also know we have board members
that haven't supported negotiated agreements because of financial pressure on the district now that you know we to me that the challenge to us was to make some budget reductions and in my mind sometimes those challenges give us an
opportunity and I felt or I feel that the charge to the administration of the school district was to examine the use of facilities examine our administrative structure and the last place I I want
anyone to go to is our teachers and to me the school district has met the challenge by reassessing the structure administratively reexamining space so I
just want to be mindful of the fact that um I think we have done the responsible thing to reassess all of the operations of the school district that's our charge well I um I appreciate everything that Nikki said and I and I agree with
uh her commitment uh this is certainly not about people it's about it's about savings and one of the nasty difficult things about the position that we as directors board members realize is that we have to make
decisions that we don't like and I don't I don't I I I definitely like Nikki I've known her for a long time and um this isn't the first time that somebody that I uh that I've known and consider a
friend is effective by NE by cuts that the the administration and the board felt were necessary so I just want to make sure that every everybody understands it this is not an easy decision and it's uh not one that we
approach casually or flippantly and U it's uh it's unpleasant but uh I'm I'm convinced that we need to uh take steps like this and
this probably will not be the last uh since we are in a position where we no longer enjoy the advantage of having an increasing uh uh student body and um increasing funds as a
result um this is this we we're probably going to need to do things in addition to this uh and u i uh I I just wanted to announce that that uh this has nothing to do with the
person whose position is is under consideration it's just a an adjustment that's necessary in order to achieve our our financial goals uh I know our fund balance is is a
a number if we if we uh realize a balance less than that number that simply means that we're going to have to make up for it in the future and then and that gets doubly
tough um I I agree with Dave that we have had uh some some good uh generous so to speak uh fin uh uh contract settlements
I don't agree with Dave um in uh in the with the assump that that's an extravagance we if we are going to continue to have a good educational program and good staff you you have to
offer salaries that are consistent with the the going cost the going market and if if uh we uh insist on making Cuts in that area we will realize some definite
negative effects down the road thank you Neil Angie all right I was just going to I was going to make this comment on the next item but seems like we're talking about stuff now my thought on this has been I appreciate the information shared
because that is helpful but when I first read about the rearrangement and I did vote for it at the time but it it struck me as just it didn't completely make sense it didn't seem and it still doesn't seem to me like it was about cutting finances as much as it was about
making a specific staffing change um and I I don't know that I could be totally wrong that's just how it has struck me and um there's just there's some history with Nikki that I haven't been able to learn and I you know it's very possible
that this is exactly what we need to do but I don't have I don't feel like I have a way to know really the full picture what's going on and the reasoning for what's you know what has happened in the past and why we're here now and so I voted no on the Ula before because I wasn't comfortable I'm still
not comfortable so I am I'll vote Yes on waiver of the hearing and then no on the Ula but that's kind of my reasoning thank you director offer and I just want to remind and I think director score referen this it's about the position and not the person and this is an administrative position then when you
look at the administrative contract then that designates who the person is according to uh the Readjustment so this is not about the person it's about a position and it's based on the contract that is agreed upon in then bargaining unit okay any other comments or
questions oh sorry Dave it's it's looking at you so I didn't know down oh I had it backward sorry um I totally agree that we do need to make a position cut unfortunately and as Neil said there'll be many more in the future
because of different circumstances which declining enrollment is a part of however we have also made some changes at the administrative level that isn't at the principal level but at the administrative level by adding positions and making some changes in the last two
years also and I know that's a different unit and all these kind of things my my comment is did we look in the right area I do agree we need to make some Cuts unfortunately and I do agree it is the position it is not a person
but I will say this that I don't know if there wasn't some other areas now I'm not in charge that's just my opinion was there some other areas that we could have looked at that we could have trimmed here at uh maybe at the central office thank you Dave thank you everyone
for your comments any other comments before we do a roll call vote all right all those in favor of uh the agreement and waiver of the Ula hearing resolution signify by saying I when your name is
called Darcy will you call their names no hi no I motion carries with majority of five to two moving on to 4.2 resolution finalizing placement on Ula again this
is an action item Ashley Matson presenting the resolution presented um during the meeting here is finalizing placement on Ula um so this resolution is the final step in the Ula process and affirms Miss severson's
placement on unrequested lab of absence Madam chair I have a point of order I'm I'm feel disadvantaged being remote and I want to make certain on the last vote
that we had what what does a yes vote mean and what does a no vote mean because I think I may have voted inappropriately sure sure Gary the in the agreement and we were we were basically approving that um the
agreement in waiver of UL of having a Ula hearing the resolution to do that so it in order and Ashley you could clarify for me it's the it's the prerequisite to this next um resolution that is correct
what what does a yes vote mean on the last vote that we had yeah yes yep so the yes vote means that you are agreeing to wave the Ula hearing okay Madam chair I'd like to
respectfully change my vote to Yes again I I feel disadvantaged a bit on the remoteness so if that's appropriate I'd like to change to a yes it it can be appropriate what we'll need to do is have a um resend that
motion and redo the motion with the second and then we'll do a roll call Vote with everyone voting um what their wishes at that point so I will ask for a motion to first to resend the previous motion is there a second second no
discussion all in favor I now is there a motion to um approve the resolution on waving the Ula hearing I'll
reate is there a second second all those in favor by roll call vote Ashley I mean sorry Darcy will you call the names Gary yes yeah I sorry just wrve the resolution passes 7 to zero yep
Gary I know what you're feeling I've been in that place and it is a little disconnected so we do appreciate you joining us for this important meeting thank you for that so now we'll move on to 4.2 the resolution finalizing placement on Ula Ashley
Matson yes as mentioned this is the final step in the Ula process um it does confirm miss cson being placed on Ula effective June 30th of 2024 this is an action item I would
entertain a motion so move is there a second second it has been motioned in second any discussion any discussion okay okay I just reate okay decision
thank you Neil all right we'll go ahead and proceed with roll call vote again and Darcy please call the roll iie no d n no
I majority vote passes 4 to three there's no further actions for today's meeting so I'd entertain a motion for adjournment I'll move is there second all in favor I meeting adjourned