##VIDEO ID:JlLRxSG67DM## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e just [Music] good evening I would like to call to order this in Noah hanapin school board meeting for today January 13th 2025 please join the board in pledging our Allegiance flag of the United States of America to the stand One Nation God indivisible liy andice our first order of business is to approve the board agenda is there a motion to approve the agenda as presented so moved uh with a motion from director langenfeld is there a second thank you director adet any discussion hearing none all those in favor of approving the board agenda say I I any opposed say no with six in favor and zero opposed the agenda is approved members the next uh order of business on our agenda item or is item four the organization portion of our agenda this first meeting in January is our organizational meeting and there are several items that we will move to and um the first of those is the election of officers as referenced in appendix a so with that I will open the floor for nominations of board co-chair are there any nominations for board uh co-chairs uh director lingenfeld I would like to um nominate director Zack Aro and director Casey duain to continue in this important role as co-chairs for our board thank you director langenfeld uh are there any other nominations for board chair co-chairs are there any other nominations for board chair or co-chairs hearing no other nominations we have a nomination for co-chairs uh director Arco and director desan although in favor signify by saying I I any opposed say no with six in favor and zero opposed that nomination is approved the next officer role is for clerk um I would make a nomination of Jeff Simon for clerk are there any other nominations for clerk any other nominations for clerk any other nominations for clerk hearing no other nominations we have one nomination for director Simon as Clerk all those in favor please signify by saying I I any opposed say no with six in favor and zero opposed that nomination is approved the final officer role is for treasurer are there any nominations for treasurer I nominate director hulman for treasurer thank you director adet are there any other nominations for treasurer any other nominations for treasurer any other nominations for treasurer okay hearing no other nominations we have one nomination for director hulman as Treasurer would all those in favor signify by saying I I any opposed say no with six in favor and zero opposed that nomination is approved that completes our officer elections um thank you to the board for placing your trust in Zach and I to continue serving as co-chairs uh we will continue to do our best to serve in this joint role and we would like to thank other board members who are serving in roles uh as well their hard jobs so we appreciate your willingness to do that work thank you next we will move um on to our next organizational item 4B the 2025 uh January 2025 to July 2026 meeting dates as referenced in appendix B is there a motion to accept the 2025 26 board meeting dates as presented so moved is there a second thank you any discussion okay hearing no request for discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed say no with six in favor and zero opposed our 2025 26 meeting dates are approved our next uh agenda item is 4C designate official depositories as referenced in appendix c um and I'll just make a note for the record clerk Simon and the board I will be abstaining from voting on the next two items for C and Ford the official depositories and the official investment financial institutions given my employment to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest with that said is there a motion to accept the designated official depositories as presented is there a second second any discussion hearing no requests for discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed say no with five in favor and zero opposed the official depositories are approved the next item is 4D designating the official investment financial institution as referenced in appendix D is there a motion to accept the Des to designate the official investment Financial Services institutions as presented so moved thank you director adad is there a second second thank you director Simon is there any discussion hearing no request for discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed say no with five in favor and zero opposed the official investment financial institutions are approved our next item is 4E the delegation of Authority for serves Financial as referenced in appendix e is there a motion to accept the delegation of Authority for serves Financial as presented so moved any thank you director Simon is there a second second thank you director langenfeld any discussion hearing no request for discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed say no with six in favor and zero opposed our delegation of Authority for service Financial is approved our next item F the design designation of official newspapers as referenced in appendix f um I'll move to accept the designation of official newspapers as presented is there a second second thank you director Arco is there any discussion hearing no request for discussion would all those in favor say I I I any opposed say no uh with six in favor and zero opposed we uh have designated our official newspapers the next item is 4G the delegation of Authority for electronic funds transfers as referenced in appendix G is there a motion to accept the delegation of Authority for electronic funds transfers as presented so moved thank you director langenfeld is there a second I'll a second uh is there any discussion hearing no request for discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed say no with six in favor and zero opposed our delegation of Authority for electronic funds transfer is approved next item 4 the authorization to sign contracts as referenced in appendix H is there a motion to accept the authorization to sign contracts as presented so moved thank you director Simon is there a second second thank you director Arco is there any discussion hearing no request for discussion all those in favor say I I any opposed say no with six in favor and zero opposed the authorization to sign contracts is approved our next item for I the designation of identified official with authority for Education identity access management as referenced in appendix I is there a motion to accept the designation of identified official with authority for Education identity access management as presented so moved thank you is there a second second any discussion hearing no requests for discussion all those in favor say I I I any oppose say no with six in favor and zero opposed that motion is passed our next item item 4J expenses of board members as referenced in appendix J um and I just like to note there have been no changes in expenses of the board for 2025 is there a motion to accept the expenses of board members as presented so moved is there a second second thank you is there any discussion hearing no requests for discussion all those in favor say I I I any oppos say no with six in favor and zero opposed the expenses of board members are approved our next item 4K the appointments by the co-chairs as referenced in appendix k for committee assignments is there a motion to accept the appointments by co-chairs as presented so moved thank you director lingenfeld is there a second second thank you director Simon any discussion hearing no requests for discussion all those in favor say I I I any oppose say no with six in favor and zero opposed the appointments by co-chairs are approved all right hope hopefully that was record time members the next item on our agenda is item five the consent agenda as normal members can remove items for separate consideration and discussion if that's their desire um is there a motion to accept the consent agenda as presented uh director adet uh I would move the consent agenda as presented with one exception I'd like to remove item K which is appendix V for separate consideration okay um so director adet requested removal of consent agenda item you said 5K yes it's K it's the joint Powers agreement 5K okay I just wanted to make sure I stated it correctly thank you um from the consent agenda prior to board action uh having removed item 5K from the consent agenda do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as modified that that is my motion yep so oh sorry oh sorry thank you is there is there a second to director's motion thank you director Simon um any discussion okay hearing none would all those in favor say I I any opposed say Nay with six in favor and zero opposed that consent agenda is approved so director adet you have pulled item 5K from the agenda would you like to speak to that item yes please um so this item comes to us it's a joint Powers agreement with the state of Minnesota the Department of Education I believe um and it is part of a program that um I guess I'm Frank I'm disappointed to learn we're participating in but it's called the culturally responsive Arts education and learning program um from the Department of Education website I'll just read the description of the program uh the culturally responsive Arts education program is designed to Advanced equity and improved quality and arts education in Minnesota classrooms schools and districts through the development and implementation of culturally responsive and anti-racist arts curriculum instruction policies and practices the program is funded by a US Department of Education assistant for Arts education grant and is led by the Minesota Department of education's equity diversity and inclusion Center um says the central focus of the program is culturally responsive Arts education professional learning and action cohort cohort from June 2023 through September 2026 the professional learning and action cohort is engaging in ongoing professional learning culminating in the development and implementation of local pilot action initiatives which is what the joint Powers agreement is and these participant created initiatives are focused on culturally responsive and anti-racist arts curriculum practices and policies at the K12 classroom or District levels um so as I've said numerous times during my tenure uh the aims of these kinds of programs are not what they seem and interestingly enough although not really some of the most divisive programming comes directly from the Minnesota Department of Education in this case anti-racist racist as used um here uh which is a kendi angeloni definition of the term is a devisive ideology that has as I've said many times no place here in our schools and consequently I won't support uh this effort thanks thank you director adet any other discussion from other board members on this topic director Simon uh thank you Casey I guess I would like to just ask specifically what um what is What is the mean for an Noah handin so I've always tried to cut through kind of the broader term in like what does it mean for us so I guess I'm not exactly sure maybe the superintendent knows 28,000 roughly of the 41,000 in grant money is going to dis display cases for art uh for students at Andover High School this is an Andover High School Department request or uh request for funds to Vis visibly represent their art at the school um I appreciated uh director odette's questions today and I'm happy to share that information with the rest of the board members but I think you're going to see a a difference from what the general description is on the website versus the intent we have for this in at and over High School um the remaining funds are to uh bring in guest uh artists um the first one they have planned is is someone who is actually a Champlin Park graduate known for his skateboard designs and artwork on skateboards um that's the first guest speaker and really trying to um Elevate the visibility of of Student Art in the building there's you know as I collected information on this uh there's a little bit of a sense that we do a really good job of of displaying music and Athletics um in in the building but we're struggling with visible ways to represent the artwork um in in addition we don't showcase as it was described to me the ceramic sculpture and jewelry um at the building as well as some of the other things we do in the in the building so uh these are expensive kind of pieces of equipment if we go out and buy them on our own from being able to use the funds for those uh primarily those reasons is is the general description but you know I I'm appreciative if the board would like further information I can provide that to all of you if you want to table it till the next meeting so you have everything I we'll find out if we can delay um where this this pause where this is at and see if we can bring it back to the next board meeting if there's a desire to do that director Simon did you yeah uh thank you superintendent um I think my only followup is I mean display cases don't seem controversial to me but um guest speakers potentially could be right so tell me about and if you don't have this maybe I'd be in favor of tabling it for more information at a different board meeting but um how our guest speakers in this case earlier or in any case but since we're talking about this case um vetted to make sure that um you know controversial things do not come into our school and again if you can't answer that right now great I'm I would be also um in favor of tabling it for next for more information if needed I believe at this point they've only identified the first guest speaker which um I won't name now but um I do have a we have a video seven I think it's a seven or eight minute video on his background and so forth so I can share that with the board they haven't identified all the guest speakers so far board's been clear while given Direction on these kinds of things so I think we're trying to stay within those parameters um I can appreciate if it looks differently from the general website description but our our particular use for the funds is very unique to this one school and and purposes in our district so we probably can clarify that bring it back to you if that's what you'd like to do uh director langenfeld just as a followup too in the document that we received that's what I read the outcomes and it really seems to be a very student centered Focus display of their art for them so I would like more information as well and I think if we can bring that back it looks like it would be a great opportunity for our kids um but more information would be helpful director hulman thank you uh as I read through this document and um consider this supporting this opportunity um it really does take time to consider all the aspects here so as it's stated in the application it says the opportunity at a glance what is this program the culturally responsive Arts education program is designed to support the development and implementation of culturally responsive and anti-racist curriculum so I would like to learn more I definitely want to and support opportunities for all of our students and making certain that they all have the opportunity to display their art and make certain that um they're moving forward in their education and I would really like to learn more um about what the program will do as a whole thank you any director AET sounds like there's some interest in tbling it so I would make a motion to table um until we can discuss it at a work session okay so board there's a motion to table is there a second second no uh thank you director Simon any further discussion okay hearing no call for further discussion would all those in favor of tabling say I I I any oppos say no with six in favor and zero oppos that passes okay board our next agenda item is Communications delegations and itions section of our meeting this is time for the community to provide board members input directly uh about issues that fall within the school board's Authority we plan this agenda item for 15 minutes um our policy allows for community members to speak for up to 5 but if there are several members that want or several people that want to speak the chair has the discretion to reduce that time in order to hear from all and also keep our meeting on schedule uh during times of large community input we have been flexible in allowing the meeting to run long tonight we have six cards so to keep the meeting on time I will ask uh those speaking to keep their time to 3 minutes or less um and I will ask coacher Arco to monitor a timer of three minutes um and if you're running over on time he will ask you to wrap up your comments and we do appreciate you um doing that if you have written testimony please provide it to miss kovsky so that we can uh read the rest of your words if you if you don't have time to say them all uh if anyone else wants to complete a yellow card now's the the time to do that so that we can provide written followup to you a few procedural reminders our meeting participation procedures are in place to assure an open and orderly public comment section as well as to protect the due process and the Privacy rights of individuals under the law if speakers use specific names of students staff members or board members I will need to interrupt and stop the speaker please remember to direct your comments to the Schoolboard chairs uh and members of the audience please listen respectfully if we cannot hear the speakers I may need to restart their timer so that they can be heard and anybody uh disrupting this portion of the meeting may be asked to leave for the remainder of the meeting with that I will welcome our first Speaker uh roxan titig hi roxan welcome thank you for listening to what I have to say and I appreciate all you guys doing this work it's I'm sure it's really hard um I'm here to discuss the putting the Pres the principal of the Middle School uh back in his position as administrator and I want to just keep this in front of everybody's Minds because every day that goes by the kids and the parents and the programs and everything all uh suffer a little bit and we all have Network and we're all connected and where that principal has been I've seen him in all different places doing all different kind of administrative and coaching and things that were he's a great person and I I want him back for my job to be better too um I don't know how many um letters or phone calls or emails or petitions or whatever you might need to move this ahead faster but I'm going to be here all the way through because I'd rather say something um nervously or indelicately than not say anything at all so I'm hearing things and I'm not fishing for comments but I'm hearing things from the kids that things um aren't as safe and secure and uh or organized and orderly as they were and that's just cuz I talked to a lot of kids in the day um also the uh the parents that I've sent to the administrator to take care of situations that they're struggling with we're all handled delicately and And Timely and I just can't say enough good things about getting that program back to where it was also the the school feeds into the high school and I also work at the high school and they're um I they've expressed to me just because they see me doing this and they say that uh the that um they're worried about what's going to happen in the changes the subtle changes but the changes that are happening by not having that program program as successful as it's been when the kids come up to the next level when they go to the high school so that's kind of it I'm kind of getting the lay of the land I don't know how long these things take but sooner solved is better in my book so I'm just going to keep encouraging this to get resolved and and uh not just cuz he's a friend but it's the right thing to do so so thank you very much and I got a game to watch I was like where is everybody and uh I know where they are they're at my house watching TV thank you for your REM thank you so much our next our next speaker is Eric skogquist welcome thank you well excuse me uh chairs directors and superintendent McIntyre thank you for letting me speak tonight and having the opportunity so um my name is Eric skogquist and I've lived in this community my entire life attended Lincoln Fred Moore which is a no middle school and an NOA High School um my interesting thing with me is my kids are also going through those same schools right now and I've had the experience of kind of seeing over the generations now how those schools have operated and I can tell you what I see today provides a fuller educational experience than when I was in school there not saying it was bad but what it does now is our our kids become more educated using different techniques from traditional math and spelling worksheets to kind of fun and interactive experiences um in my experience when talking with parents a big part of that connection and the positive things going on is the staff that forms really unique Bonds in which they can help kids through this Learning Journey uh just a few weeks ago my son attended a performance of Jan bretts The Mitten at Rapids Middle School no excuse me it was a high school maybe I apologize anyway um part of that was interesting the curriculum integration coordinator at our school had a whole lesson plan around it comparing the Ukrainian folk tale to books and the play and later that week my second grade son was with the neighbor girl and they were acting that out and talking about the play and all these interactive cool things that were happening and so that's one of those uh unique experiences where kids learned about animals language different cultures and uh it it was a great experience that didn't even feel like they were learning but they were interacting and doing things in a different way so my point here is um I'm here because of the budgetary option 3 that was passed it affects the curriculum integration coordinators at our schools uh in the high and middle school they're going to go from 1 to point8 Staffing and at elementary they're going to go from 1 to 0.5 Staffing so this reduction at the elementary level could really be devastating to 3,278 elementary school students that are at six schools around the district um you know these schools were established as specialty in magnet schools and they were chosen because they were in racially or economically isolated areas This was meant to provide a boost to those schools and from what I've seen that's occurred as an example I spoke with multiple parents that want to transfer either their kids from outside the district or within the district to Lincoln Elementary School where my son goes uh and that really breaks up 14% of the school population is people that are transferring into this small old little neighborhood school and I think that's really speaks to the power ful impact these programs have in some of these areas my ask here tonight is twofold excuse me sorry the district has received funding for some of these positions and other things through the achievement and integration Grant through the state of Minnesota and that runs through 2026 These funds are directed to anah hanapin to be spent on some of the very work these cic's are doing uh in these disadvantage environments and I appreciate superintendent McIntyre called me this afternoon just to kind of help fill me in a little bit on on some of that that um and I do appreciate different ways and creative ways to fund these positions and to cover them but if you could finish up your cling really quick and then also I just ask you to reconsider the the reduction um they're funded through Central Administration but these are teachers that are licensed in our schools and so I I asked you to look at what you did maybe with the VC's and do something similar with the cic's as well so thank you very much thank you and contact me with any questions our next speaker is James Jaden I'm sure I got that one wrong oh welcome good uh back in October my wife and I and along with our oldest son spoke about the boundary situation existing for Rum River students a petition was also submitted to you containing over 170 signatures uh that's more than 100 or so students that requested a change to the middle school band curriculum mind you this was requesting a boundary adjustment to Oakview middle school and Handover High School to resolve the inequitable experience for students attending Rum River Elementary we received a response from the board for both of these and I don't know if it speaks for all of you but I was insulted by the response we received in the letter you stated the boundaries for the high school have not been changed since Andover High School was built in 2002 the Middle School boundaries have not changed since Sandberg was closed in 2009 it was also stated that the school board aims to provide stability by not looking at the boundaries for elementary schools for 5 years and boundaries for secondary schools at 10 years it is understood that this is to reduce disruption to the St district and students and provide a community to Foster their growth and sense of belonging I can assure you that by making changes to these boundaries sooner rather than later it will reduce disruption and provide a more Equitable Equitable experience for a marginalized group of students in your response you also stated there are five dual feeder elementary schools I have the numbers for these schools and these all came from the district which are now public record by the way Rum River is split so the 8.9 8.94% of the students are zoned for aoka middle school and high school and 91.0 6 are zoned for Oakview and Andover High School Crooked Lake is split so 28.1 are zone for inoka and 59.9 are zone for Andover Eisenhower is at 20.45% and that go to Rapids and 40.5 that are zoned for Blaine Sand Creek has 23.12 zone for Rapids and 6.93 zoned for Blaine university has 10.69 zone for Blaine and 61.1 6 for Rapids I acknowledge the lotes don't add up to 100% for the school because the number of open enrollments is so high for these schools specifically the two charter schools of Eisenhower and University with the exception of University due to their High number of open enrollments the other schools splits are much closer to a quarter of the students that are on the lower end of that split that allows for four to five students per class to build friendships and commonality with Rum River students are lucky if they get one other kid in their classroom sometimes the their entire School career in fact the current third grade class has seven of there 158 students that are zoned differently that's 4% these numbers exist in you have these numbers I don't know why it's up to me to bring these up to say this is not fair why is this not brought up at the last meeting or addressed does this discrepancy seem fair is this an equitable experience with the rest of their peers and both in elementary as well as going to the middle school if anyone can here here can say yes how low does the percentage need to be to be determined and Equitable personally I don't think it should be less than 30% and I struggle believing that less than 10% is acceptable these students are already experiencing bullying in school as a result of their Association to inoka high school they're pulled away from their peers and their classroom so they can get separate elector form they don't get to have the experience of talking to their friends and being excited to sign up for classes together with their friends they don't get a concert or equate experience to their peers because their principal for an Oka Middle School stated in their response to the as to another parent we can't send out for such a small group of kids they aren't big enough to have their experience or feelings matter just about a time thank you you our next speaker is Shannon Fox hello welcome hello board time is short so I'll get right to the point after sending a letter with most of amsa staff's signatures multiple individual letters and having many speak already about the issue at the last school board meeting our core request has not changed please return our principal to his role at amsa here are more letters to prove the point however the problem is bigger than just one man the problem is a faulty procedure that is based in fear and is a gross overreaction that hides a talented public resource away where his talent is being wasted as a teacher my job is to prepare students for the real world based on what has happened to our principle the real the real world says I should not give my student a second chances the real world says that even if a child is acting for the acting for the good excuse me has not been taught a different way and is faced with aive aggressive action the child should suffer a terrible consequence that doesn't fit the circumstance is that what my preparing students should be so that they can be prepared for the real world according to what the real world has done to our principal what the real world could do to any one of us staff parents would have a fit what it needs to happen is to change the real world and give it some courage it hasn't just been our principal has it multiple employees have faced this terrible procedure of fear removal no communication and possible career damaging lifestyle damaging treatment The Way employees are treated when situations arise must change but where to begin there must be more communication an employee has the right to understand the wise and wherefores of a situation an employee has a right to face his or her accuser and the gross overreaction to a situation by the district must be put in check poor communication a terrible over reaction to someone trying to do what was good for all and lack of support due to lack of courage all need vast Improvement the very step in showing that change can and should happen is to reinstate the amsa principal a simple training could have and should have resolved all of this it is so unfortunate that was taken to this extreme stop wasting taxpayers money by not letting the talent you employ do the job he was meant to do thank you and on a separate issue it seems you're hung up on anti-racism as a term another word for that is simply kindness don't deprive people of art simply because of a word thank [Applause] you our next speaker is Mickey Paul welcome what thank you thank you superintendent McIntyre and Bard um I was also here last time to speak about uh the situation at amsa um again my name is Mickey Paul and I'm the ESL ESL teacher at Ana middle school and I'm here to talk about the current climate um due to events that have occurred this year I am asking that a more supportive process be implemented when making future difficult decision decisions or changes in the buildings if you ask someone what is the job of an educator they will most likely respond with teach students new information so that they become successful adults when many don't realize is that prior to even thinking about curriculum we need to ensure that students have their basic needs met and that they feel safe if this doesn't happen they may be unable to learn as a result the job of an educator is much more than just teaching curriculum my question is who supports the Educators when we don't feel safe when we are afraid when we don't have our needs met the changes that were implemented earlier this year have created a culture of fear and sadness among us we lost our principal the person we look to or we trust and we look up to for support after a long period of no information we were told that that important presence in our building the one who made us feel safe and supported was being removed currently we are petrified of doing the wrong thing and losing our jobs yes we had training no we are not asking for more we need to know that we will be supported by the district when we encounter a situation in the building we need to heal from the scars that have been inflicted Upon Us by the process that was utilized we need to feel that we can trust the decisions being made by the administration I ask decision makers to put themselves in the shoes of those in the buildings being directly affected when making decisions please do what is best for students and staff to ensure that everyone's needs are met I ask that in addition to restoring our building to its prior leadership please consider making changes to the process in which future situations are handled I have outlined some ideas in my letters that you have received tonight um and would definitely love to talk further about it if anybody had any they wanted to um question or uh further information about and I really appreciate your time so thank you very much thank you our our last speaker is Laura lucarelli welcome thank you thank you for hearing me directors um superintendent I'm here in my role as um a parent um I have a daughter who's in preschool and next year she'll be attending Lincoln ele School for the Arts so this is sort of a followup to what Eric was speaking about um I'm disappointed to hear that there are cuts to the curriculum integrator position um I am disappointed to hear or fear that my daughter might not be able to participate in band Orchestra choir program um I know that the school Lincoln doesn't have a full-time art teacher position and yet when I as um a kindergarten parent receive emails that say um you know your child is enrolling in kindergarten please consider one of our specialty schools please consider Lincoln Elementary School for the Arts it feels disingenuous because I'm being advertised something that it feels like it's being cut um so I guess I'm just agreeing what with what Eric said um in terms of like can we find funding streams for these positions so that they don't have to be cut and then um on the other hand like it it seems inappropriate to be doing both things cutting and also advertising what a wonderful program we have if if it's going to be partially taken away that's what I had to say thank you all right board members our next agenda item is number seven the board calendar and District update superintendent McIntyre I'll turn to you all right I have a thank you uh chair to Shane and um tonight my report's pretty brief uh since we've had time off in the district just a few things I want to highlight presenting some items of interest for the board and the community regarding activities and events that were part of in the district here so as we start off a new calendar year uh just another reminder that we want to continue to encourage uh people to consider us as their employer so we have uh another District's uh hiring event for operational and support positions on Thursday January 16th from 3:30 to 5:30 at Chaplan Park High School in um door four e or sorry excuse me door E4 is the entrance that is best to attend that event uh we actually are doing hiring on site and we're looking for interest in roles such as par educator custodian food service and before and after school Child Care positions we can also um encourage folks to complete an application in advance at our website at ah schools. usjobs and be ready to interview with our hiring managers as you show up we find many of our Operational Support staff live right here close in our community where they uh often live where they can serve and it's a great way to work with Neighbors in a rewarding job helping the Next Generation move through our school district as uh many of you already are aware of students in grades 5 through 11 are in the process of signing up for next school year for fifth grade students this process is primarily about considering their preferred music course students in grades six through 11 have the option to select electives as well as the level of rigor in each of the sub s parents and Guardians are encouraged to review their child's selections the registration process is completed online with details on how to register being sent out from the individual schools the district uses these class selections to determine the number of sections and in turn the number of Staff needed in each curricular area prior to our staffing deadline in early April and that has that is well underway as we speak here in January the district takes pride in providing robust options to meet the interests of our students and the registration guidelines for both Middle School and High School are on our website as well and finally the inoka hennipin Educational Foundation is gearing up for the annual fundraising Gala the northern Stars celebration which is set for Saturday February 8th from 5:30 to 10: at Bunker Hills Event Center in Rapids the event includes district and Foundation highlights from the year along with entertainment and opportunity to support student achievement in our buildings the events open for members of the community to attend and anyone interested can visit ah. us for tickets and additional information that concludes my superintendent's report this evening nice short and sweet thank you superintendent McIntyre uh board members any questions for superintendent all right hearing none our next agenda item is elementary and secondary education item 8A the resolution in support of the district's application to the Minnesota Department Depart of Transportation safe routes to school grant program to support the Dayton Elementary pedestrian Improvement project as presented in appendix W welcome to Greg Cole chief operations officer good evening co-chairs uh to Shane and Arco superintendent McIntyre members of the school board um I'm here this evening to seek your approval of a resolution that you have before you um just to explain it briefly the enoa hennipin school district has entered into an agreement with henpen County and the City of Dayton to pursue a safe routes to school Grant totaling $600,000 to improve safe Crossing across South Diamond Lake Road as well as improvements to entrance and exit to the Bus Loop parent pickup drop off area and parking lots in addition the grant is intended to cover the costs associated with the extension of a foot path from Dayton Elementary School to neighborhoods to the north of the school um this grant uh would constitute a reimbursement for construction that improves foot and vehicle traffic at and around Dayton Elementary School um specifically to cover the cost of adding a center Island uh and flashing lights on South Diamond Lake Road separate the parking lot and bus entrances to narrow student Crossing distances and pave that walking path that I mentioned across the ballfields in the neighborhood north of this school an Noah henpen has been partnering with the city of Dayton in henpen County to Pur to pursue this grant since 2024 letters of support from State Senator John Hoffman and representative Danny NAD will be included with the application materials all applications for Grant will be uh notified by April 30th 2025 as to whether they have been awarded funding if this grant is awarded all projects should be completed by the summer of 2026 as part of the requirements for the grant applic all three governmental entities that I mentioned their boards must pass a resolution approving uh their commitments to an approval of the Grant application the attached resolution from the school board or for the school board is required to submit our portion of the application so with that I'm recommending tonight that the school board approve the resolution so that all three government entities can pursue the Grant application thank you so much for the presentation and I just I want to correct I misspoke I said appendix W but it's appendix X so for any board members that are clicking through my my apologies on that uh any questions for Greg on this or any comments okay hearing none I'll just add a brief comment I've spent some time with the project and at the site they kind of did some temporary uh installations to sort of test out how this might work uh and it really is making a difference uh and it's it's a vast Improvement that road is kind of a unique Road in our district it has a higher speed limit uh than many roads right in front of a school so I think that this would be a a great uh a great use of Grant funds to make that safer for kids to get in and out of that elementary school okay any other questions or comments if not members before us is a resolution in support of the district's application to the Minnesota Department of Transportation safe routes to school grant program in support of the Dayton Elementary pedestrian Improvement project uh as presented in appendix X hearing no requests for discussion the clerk will please call the role Simon votes I Hulan I AET I langenfeld I Arco i d Shane I with six in favor and zero opposed that resolution is approved thank you Greg thank you all right board members we are nearing to our last agenda item uh board correspondence and communication members this is our opportunity to share happenings in our community report on any committee assignments or other items of interest does anyone have anything to share director langenfeld thank you right before the holidays I had the opportunity to attend uh Kun Rapids High School engineering presentations students had been given a problem it's they're all seniors they had been given a problem by aggressive Hydraulics to problem solve and create a tool that they would manufacture and use in their in their work at agrm Hydraulics and the presentations were excellent and all with different um different kinds of approaches um multi multi- um success and some not so great and and through that process they learned a great deal but there were leaders from aggressive Hydraulics present who heard the presentation much like Shark Tank so to speak and uh it was a very good learning experience I think for our kids because it was real world experience and I know that um we have students in that particular class they all have uh thoughts about where they are going in the future from everything from continuing their education locally for the time for their gen EDS and then moving on um forward in that area and uh also um MIT so quite the range of Stu array of students in a very very real world situation and thanks to aggressive Hydraulics and that team for for making that possible so I have one more in addition to that um upcoming this week is the Minnesota School Board Association state conference and um the leadership conference is starting on Thursday in Friday Wednesday Thursday and Friday the focus of the conference is to inspire and connect and leading with purpose and as I think about and reflect on this last year um here serving in this role I I I was um reflecting on the fact at a meeting that I was at for the association metropolitan school districts on Friday where I heard our superintendent present our story to legislators and other superintendents and school board members one of the speakers uh before or I guess it was after um superintendent spoke talked about the importance of making sure that we uh recognize we are Guardians of the community's trust and I think about our year and how we came up with co-chairs and reflected and how we've worked very hard together uh to get to those common goals that we all share wanting what's best for our kids and making sure that we are doing it with the trust of each other and the community as we move forward thank you thank you uh anyone else anything to share all right members um our last agenda item is to adjourn do we have a motion to adjourn thank you director Simon do we have a second thank you director adet any discussion all those in favor say I I I any opposed say Nay with six in favor and zero opposed we are adjourned tonight thank [Music] you e [Music] know