Wow. >> Right. Good evening everybody. Welcome to our regular board meeting for June 8th, 2026. We're going to call this meeting to order and start with phone call. >> Here, >> here. >> Leathers
>> here. >> Young >> Zilki >> here. Please stand for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one
nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Can we get a motion to approve tonight's agenda? like that motion. >> I'll second. >> All right. Any discussion? All those in favor say
I. >> Anybody oppose? Motion passes. Right. We're going to kick this off with a little fun with our AHS spring sports highlights. I'm going to turn it over to
activities director Katie Carter. Good evening. We're here today. Dr. page. Members of the school board, my first item tonight is just a spring sports or spring activities review um which will be led by the students. We can see it's been a busy summer. We had
some RSVPs maybe rolling in here a little bit late. Um but first we're going to hear from student council and then we're going to roll into some of our um sports and then a couple of coaches uh emailed me with their kind of reviews for the year. So student
council, why don't we come on up? Hi, I'm Ransom. I am the student council representative for tonight. Next year, our president is Lesie Herson and Lindsy Carlson is our vice president. I will be the secretary for which is our regional
student council. Our highlights from this year, we had a great year during events during homecoming package for the week. Our strengths of the program are we an open council so anyone is able to join. We have
continued to grow off what we do and we look to add and look to add more based off student interest, community involvement, youth involvement, service projects. Next year we're hoping to get more involvement with the community through
homecoming and community service. Summer plans. Our summer plans include a two-day retreat where we were to build our council culture and map events of the year. Our hopes for next season, hopes for the next year to increase student involvement, climate
climate culture at AHF and many attend home. Last year had over 800 FPS and other events. We want to see our student engage engaged and actively participating and supporting each other. Thank you. Does anyone have any questions?
>> Thank you for sharing. >> Yeah. >> Next up, we have three me four members from our adaptive bowling team. >> Hello. school board members. Thank you for
having us here tonight. Thank you, Mr. Rail, for us as being here with you. My name is Ella Riley. I am going to be a
senior. I am one of the captains. Dr. B team, our amazing great captains. Cindy, JJ, and Jameson. We had and on some seasons our big wins
were we went to the state. We did great with a lot a lot awards. Christian striking is our new fake champion. Amy Killer won
second place. Our team Payton Magnus Logan and Milai would want Sydney to sixth place. I I won the
children. If I took first place and Jameson took second place, I wait no and
we getting better every day. Our teams work hard, help each others and have a a lot of fun. Two players won most
approved awards for game much at bowling to follow. His best score ever 165 her best score ever is of 13. I reached
my personal best of 186 with five strikes in a row. >> Also wanted to celebrate our vision bowler this year. These players
have had a great high average Payton Jameson Mia me. Thank you. Thank you. Support our team and go Packers.
Another round of applause for Christian for being her stage champion in everybody in this room. Let's put a round of applause. >> Next up, we have softball. >> Hi, I'm Julia Klein. and I'm
representing the softball team. Our team captain this year was working cats. This season we worked hard to improve many skills and grow closer as teammates. A season highlight this this year was when we beat Grand 18 to four. Though one of
our most memorable moments this year was our third section game against Winona. We lost that game by a few, but we played very strong as a team and had a lot of fun. This season we had a new coach and worked a lot on our team culture. We had many practices of team bonding and got to know each other a lot
better. We even started a new tradition with game ball and it's given to a new player each game to celebrate individual accomplishments. Looking into next year, we have seven seniors and hope to have another season of growth. In the offse, we have open field twice a week and and
opens up in the winter. Do you guys have any questions? >> Season Thank you and members of boys. >> Good afternoon everyone. My name is Mason Seth and I will be we will be representing Austin High School boys volleyball. Um our captains are scient
and right. So season pilots that we have was a reverse sweep against the new Trojans. This was a really hard fought. I still remember, you know, sweating really hard that game and it was really down to the wire. Um, another highlight was just the strong growth throughout
the whole entire season. A lot of competitive play against many different teams. Uh, the sport is still really new, so it's kind of hard to get that competitive play that everyone wants, but we really achieved a lot more uh this year.
Um, a notable team, uh, notable win that really hyped up the whole team and all the coaches was against Rochester Mayo. It was our home senior night. Uh, we lost every single time against them last year. We played them four times in one season. We lost every single time and we
played them in the beginning of this season and we lost. But at our senior night, we won and it, you know, really hyped everyone up. It was just a big win that whole team really respected and wanted. strength of this program is how
close the community is. Um, I've never really been into sports, but when I joined this group, it just felt really welcoming and it felt more of a community and more of a friend group than just a team. It was so much more. It was like a family to me. Um, some
lessons are learned uh like communicating is a necessary tool to win and be a strong team. Uh communicating is not just on the court or during practice. It can be um at home or at a random open gym or whatever. You know,
on and off the court is super important. Um working together is obviously super important, especially when it comes to the sport of volleyball. Another thing is effort. Showing up to practice, being there, you know, during games, even if you know, we may be unmotivated, you
still got to show up. Um, and being super active all around is just it's necessary. Um, some traditions that we have are our banquetss. We just had one last week. It was really fun. And I think this is something that some people just look
over and I really am so grateful for it because it's it helps us grow as not only teammates, but as friends. And it's just something that I'm forever grateful for and it has countless memories. Um, nine seniors will be graduating this
year, unfortunately. Um, but, you know, I'm super proud of them. There will be, you know, during the offseason, there will be school ran lifting programs, um, and open gyms during the off season. I'm a big fan of open gyms and the offseason stuff because it really prepares new people
and the touring people to hop into the season really strong, really confident. Um, and I think it really opens the door to new players. Uh, boys volleyball isn't super popular, but it's definitely a growing sport. And I think that some
people just need to see that it is an opportunity and it is a sport that you can play and it's just it's super fun. Um, we hope next season the program continues to grow um and compete at a higher level and build off the season that we just had. I hope during the off
season there can be more opportunity for people. is a yard stick that a lot of people use for better or worse. But I went to some of your matches and the things you talked about, the togetherness, the fun, the energy, the high-fiving each other.
I mean, it was infectious. It was awesome. The fans, it it sunk into them. So, I really enjoyed going and watching you guys play. Thank you. >> And it was a lot of fun watching you mail. >> Thank you so much. Um he
>> I will say to you know right now boys volleyball is under one class for the state tournament but the coaches association throughout the year they separate rankings big school little school and for most of I would say the majority of our season we were we were ranked number two the entire season in
the small school. So, I think that's something we really have um to grow off of. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we probably have the most difficult section in the entire state that you guys have to compete in. >> I mean, not only is the Mayo in it, but
we have all the south southern suburban um south suburban teams, you know, East View, Farmington, and East View. Uh they were defending defending state champions with another trip to state. So, but the competition may be tough, but that just helps us grow even further. And then the
biggest work we're going to have to have is just how do we expand those numbers? What are middle school opportunities? Just trying to grow those programs. Our last one we have in person tonight is Lucy for Girls Golf. >> Hi, my name is Lucy Annis and I will be
representing girls golf. While the weather didn't exactly treat us nicely this year, it truly was a great season. When you look at the big picture, you can see why we do the things we do and all the hard work that we put into this season. We were able to celebrate many
personal bests from our girls and also multiple solid scores as a whole team that put us in the running in our competitive section and conference. We ended up finishing in the top half of both consistenc consistently. One of the
highlights of the season is when we had a bit of an upset where we beat Northfield by one stroke at our very first home meet with a score of 350. And I have to say one of my favorite memories though was our very first pasta party when we were able to first bond as
a team and get to know some of the young girls that we had coming in. In the end, we really do have our team culture to thank for like all of our success. Um we were able to lift each other up
and cheer each other each each other off throughout the season. And with our girls ranging from 7th grade to 12th, we had a large variety of ages. As a team, we had learned that while golf is an individual sport, it really takes a team
to come together and win. We only have one senior graduating and that has been one in many years. Um it is Alli Music and she truly will be missed because she has been a foundation for our team. But we really are looking
forward to the next season. We are hoping to further grow our numbers and spread our love of the game with the younger grades. Thank you all for the support and thank you for having me. Are there any questions? Did you see the winning cut at the
women's PGA yesterday? >> Um I Yeah, I had like >> I was nannying, but I have the app, so >> don't worry. >> Thank you for sharing. One thing just to note about girls golf.
Next year we'll have four seniors I believe and after that our numbers are are dipping. Um so like we said in expanding we really need to find girls that want to play golf. Uh Coach Brown, he's out. He'll go out to me and he'll go if he sees females golfing with him go out there
and ask. So that's one thing that we really have to work on is growing that game for females. But I mean it's good. It's in great hands with the ones that we have. Um, just a couple other highlights. I did get something from boys golf um from coach Raso. Overall
record for them this year was 48 and 52. Conference record uh was 18 and 15, sixth overall in the Big Nine. Uh season long team score was a 312. Uh par four team this year was 288. So they had some
good uh competition, allconerence, top 14 and ties between both big nine conference meets. Um so we had two earn allconerence honors this year with Isaac Anderson. He placed fourth overall and Elijah Krueger, he placed sixth overall and then Elijah was also off conference
last year as a junior. Those two were both seniors. The two seniors had great seasons. They both had an overall average of 76. These two had really nice showings at sections. Isaac shot a two-day total of 151. And Elijah had a total of 153. To make the cut at state
this year was a 145, which is three over car and two rounds. So, we'll sure miss those two. They've they've been around since seventh grade. Uh the future looks bright. We brought up six seventh graders last year. Plus, we added a really nice freshman this year. We'll have eight guys battling for
six spots next year. As of now, these young gentlemen love the game and are playing all the time. I couldn't get any of them to come tonight because they're all playing in the Austin Youth Hockey Golf Tournament. So, it was fun to see how good they can get in the next upcoming 3 to four years. And that was
from Coach Rex. So, um and then just the ones that aren't here, baseball. Um we kind of had a streaky season. We were we started off really hot and kind of fell into a lull and kind of rebounded at the end of the year. Um, I think just consistency and working on um, just the
overall skills and development as we move forward is probably their focus. Track and field and boys tennis, as you may have noticed, hopefully noticed over the weekend, we had some state tournaments. Cole Hebr ended his uh, season and career as awesome high school
athlete at the state tournament. Um, he faced some tough the Michael on Friday and Saturday, uh, Triumph came in third overall, so he placed third in the 110 meter hurdles. And then Aiden Falcon, he was our
wheelchair athlete. He came in second and shot and discus. And then he was the state champion in the 800 meter wheelchair race. And then um Kelly uh Kelly McCrae, she competed in pole vault and praise uh Triumph Sister, she
also competed in hurdles. So I'm excited for them. They got a taste of it and hopefully you know they'll set some goals for next year. Um other than that, that is the activity report. Do you guys have any further questions? It was a good year.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Our next agenda item is a an update on our task force. Uh it's more action plan, not update. Uh
with Dr. Jessica, person chairperson, superintendent page, members of the board, thank you for giving us an opportunity tonight to um kind of conclude and wrap up our work for the two task force that were going on over
the course of last year. Um the two task forces came uh about as a result of um just wanting to improve some of our systems that we have going on at Austin public schools with um substitutes and attendants. And so um two task force
were convened uh with school employees um ranging from substitutes to administrators and um community members that wanted to be involved as well. And so uh both the groups again um were working together to develop some recommendations and frameworks for
implementation so that we can create systems that um are sustainable, longlasting and benefit our students and our staff. So I'm going to talk briefly about the substitute task force and the work there and then I'll hand over to the attendance task force. So for the substitute task force, I had the
pleasure of leading um that team with Jill and Amanda who are here with me today as well. And um we focused on on working with that team to come up with some priorities that we wanted to address for some recommendations to the board to improve the substitute uh situation in the district. So, um, from
that task force, um, we focus on strengthening those substitute systems, um, coverage practices within buildings, and then make sure that, um, as often as we can that students get a consistent experience no matter who's leading the classroom that day. And so our
recommendations were focused on strengthening those um substitute systems, expanding and creating a larger substitute pool to pull from um protecting special services that go on during the day like um ML and intervention and then having some data
informed staffing decisions and then just making sure that our subs feel like they are prepared and ready to work when they come into our buildings each day. I'm Rebecca Dio and I got the chance to help co-lead with Miss Kabine and Dr. for being that. So for the attendance
task force, um we really focused on infrastructure and attendance teams and how that can look at each building. Um family caregiver and community engagement and how we can help um help loosen that gap a little bit more and tighten. um multi-tered attendance
supports, assessment, and early identification um especially at the younger grades and databased decision- making for our top five that we're really trying to focus on to help with our tenants. And really to just kind of sum it up, um
all those reports and everything are really investment has started with it. Build that consistency and continuity across all of our systems while you're current structures that we have in place. We're not reinventing the wheel. We're just kind of tightening it up and making sure it's all aligned. I'm really excited about that alignment pre-K
through 12th grade and really uh last week we had a lot of time to work and integrate all this work into our school improvement plans um in intentional and meaningful ways. So, it's been an honor to work with all of these wonderful people and Mr. Henley as well and the
opportunity to do this work and I do think that it's going to not only impact our district, but I think other districts across the state will want to look and see at the work that we're doing. So with that, are there any questions for either of the task forces? All right. Thank you. Yeah, I would just
say thank you for all the work that you guys did this year. Uh we appreciate you taking that that lead and um getting all the experts in the room so that everybody could be as well advised as possible. Thank you.
Right. Next, we're going to get a legislative update from our state representative, Dr. Patricia. >> Thank you so much for Thank you so much for being here. >> Thank you. The button that says on
Let's try one board members and super. Thank you so much for giving me time for you to be able to uh hear an update from me. I'll try to go as quickly as I can, but obviously having a um quite a full session was uh we had a lot going on. Um
first of all, uh I really want to say thank you for the work that you do. Being a school board member is not easy and um I know that many of you put in long hours and I know how much you care about these students and teachers and so um I can't thank you enough for being
willing to be here and be investing into not only doing our school and our teachers but also to the next generation. The main priority that we had when we were coming into the school uh to the session I'm still teacher school year is um is school safety. Obviously, we've
had several um incidences that had happening um starting with the annunciation stu uh shooting and some other um things that had been very concerning for many of our parents in schools and and students and families.
And so um we were very um uh focused on having bipartisan school safety solutions. And so I was uh very happy to announce that we were able to get uh lot uh we were able to get dedicated money
for school safety. We were able to get about $5 million to help with anonymous threat reporting system. There will be a mandate from the state that you need to report what type of anonymous threat reporting system you are going to use.
And so either you're going to use the BCA and they have a tool that you can use or you can um find one that you uh that is specific for school. Sandy Hook Promise has guidelines for that and money available for you to use if that's
something you'd like to do. Or you can say listen we uh have something we have other uh infrastructure plans that are within our building and so we don't need another system for us to use. you just need to report that to MDE. Um, that's
up for you as a school board to decide. Um, what we found with anonymous reporting is that for several people, they were a little nervous about this becoming a snitch line, but what Sandy Hope found with lots of different
research was that this wasn't just um students or teachers being able to report, hey, I'm concerned about this student. Sometimes students themselves said, "Listen, I'm struggling with suicidal thoughts and I need help." Or, "I'm struggling with depression and I
need help." So, this wasn't just saying, "Hey, I noticed Johnny or Susie, you might be doing something that will do something harm to our school." This is even something deeper. And what we found was that this gave students empowerment and that they were able to feel part of
the solution and not just a victim when it came to emergency situations. And so, um, we were sorry that we could only dedicate $5 million, but there are other funding available for you, such as Sandy Hook, and I'm sure there are other grantees, uh, grant processes that you
can look at as well. We were able to put 12 million 12.5 million in grants um, to school linked behavioral health um, school linked mental health grants and these will be through the Department of Health. Then we were also dedicated $3.8
8 million in grants for um uh anti-grooming grooming and malreatment on minors and then we also have some other uh school linked um mobile crisis mental health services as well. So this
is uh going to be really I think a multi-layer approach of not just looking at um you know the incident that happened but also doing preventative work such as having a lot of uh mental health services for our schools and um these were bipartisan solutions that
were agreed upon to both sides of the aisle that they found was really important. Um the the the anti-grooming and malreatment of minor uh protections. This was a representative Bennett bill and this will be um new procedures that
will both protect schools, students and teachers when it comes to um grooming um of our school of our students. This is making sure that school teachers are not alone with our students including um
during field trips. The only exception would be for students who have um special needs uh help such as using restroom facilities. That would be something that would be an exception along with some of the the school safety
um things that we were able to uh pass. We're also able to pass um House File 3900. And this puts a measure on the ballot for a constitutional amendment that would increase payments for schools for from the permanent school fund. This
is actually really exciting. When Minnesota became a territory and a state, every 16th and 32nd um plot of land was dedicated to actually fund schools. Now, as we have developed, many
of these have been developed to the point that they are not used for these purposes. But we do still have hundreds of acres of land that whatever is um used such as maybe some mining or um logging or some other natural things that are happening on there that money
is dedicated towards our public schools right now. And now this will be um would be extended to tribal schools as well. Um, this would put a constitutional amendment that if voted yes by the constituents that it would increase, I
believe um it reigures a formula and it would increase um funding from about $60 a student to over $100 students. This is flexible funding per pupil. It is not categorical. It's not siloed. It's
something that you can use per pupil for your school. And um this is going to be I think a really exciting thing. This is no tax payer from the state. This is not any um money from uh tax taxes from the state.
This is simply something that is that has been happening from the inception of our state in Minnesota. >> Can I ask a question? >> Please do. >> I think the the state schoolboard association has been very active in supporting this. or something. >> Um
the state schoolboard association been very active in advocating for this. Uh when you talk about yes votes a constitutional amendment is a majority is it 2/3 what is a threshold for passage? >> I believe
with something like the actually you asked a really good question. I thought it was just a majority but now that it was a constitutional amendment now I have to go back and check. Can is it okay if I get back to you because I don't remember put >> Yeah. No, it's it's a great question because uh normally it would just be a majority but with the constitutional
amendments I believe there was a higher threshold so I can go back. >> Thank you for that question. >> Um along with um some of the other um other dedicated money that would be um available for Austin High School is or Austin public schools is compensatory
funding. we were not able to be able to hold you completely held harmless. In order to do that, we would have to dedicate about $80 million to hold uh holding harmless. Let's put this into context. This some of this um of the of the revenue that has been lost has been
because of universal school meals. I am not saying that is a bad thing. Those things are very important for us to have and I think having our schools uh provide meals for our students is really really important. Unfortunately, an
unintended consequence of that is that not as many of our students are filling out the free reuse lunch forms and direct certification is not catching them to everyone. Because of that, your compensatory revenue which was calculated off of those forms in the
past has been dropping. For the last five years, we have been asked by our school districts at MSBA and all the other advocacy groups to hold you harmless. In order to do that, we would have dedicated another $80 million. Unfortunately, we are only able to
dedicate $10 million to that. And I have the district runs. And so, let me just look real quick. for Austin. That would mean for you, I just got bifocals, so I'm trying to to be able to see all the things that I
have on here for you. Here we are. That means that you would be getting um an extra $71,000, which would be an extra $13 for people for that. I know it's not enough, but it is more than nothing. And matter of
fact, you and Grand Meadow are the only ones in my district that are able to get this money. You and Grand Meadow are the only ones. And that's simply because of how the formula works. I will also say for the future, we do have a compensatory task force that is looking
at not only how we do the formula, but how we use the money. Because the premise of this is that those who are in lower income tax or lower income brackets are needing more resources when they come to school. That's a perfectly acceptable premise. We have put millions
and millions of dollars into this because of that premise. And yet the academic success um uh you know bridge has not been crossed. We are not seeing these um successes being uh decreased.
We haven't seen those gaps decreased. And so we have a task force that is still in the middle of looking at this. And so this is one of the reasons why not only did we not have enough funds for it, but we are also hoping to get recommendations from the task force so that we are able to then use this money
in a way that will be much more um efficient or in a way that we'll actually be able to see some of these gaps be um decrease. The last thing I wanted to talk to you is about um a personal uh thing for me
and that was we were able to pass um revisions on the read act. And this is actually really exciting because um the read act is something that you know very personally about how you've been working about making sure that we can get our students and our and our um teachers
trained in the science of reading. There are several things in here that um MSBA and some of the dyslexia advocates have been asking for. One is that we tr change parent to guardian so that we're able to actually get to all the people
that we need to when it comes to screening and results of dyslexia screening and how um people are reading fluently. The other thing is that we had a really good uh discussion with the deaf blind deaf heart of hearing um
community that said, you know, we actually don't use phonics because for many of our of our uh students in our community, we don't hear. And so, how are we going to be able to learn the science of reading, which is just as important for those people in that
community? How are we going to be able to use nonsoundbased curriculum? And so we were able to actually put some provisions into the read that allows them to use some of the science-based curriculum for them who are not using soundbased um curriculum
uh because simply of the ability that they have. And so I'm really excited to be able to have that. Um also there is now a process for any curriculum that didn't reach the high uh highly aligned um status from MDE that any of them who
now go back and review what they did they can get a review and get that highly aligned status earlier than five years as long as that um textbook curriculum is uh willing to pay um for that review. So that now gives them a
little bit better which is actually really important as we are looking at um as you are starting to come along and um get as you're updating your curriculum. Um and then the early literacy field experience was uh was passed and this is
going to be a really exciting um uh ability for our our pre-ervice teachers to be able to show that they are ready and prepared for teaching the science of reading because they are going to actually have a clinical experience to do that. It started in Morehead and
Winona State University and now it's actually um expanding out to many other schools and it started with about 40 uh people who are interested in this clinical experience to over 390. And so it's really exciting to see our
pre-ervice teachers be able to get real life experience in the science of reading. Uh okay. Finally, sorry for a very lengthy uh thing here is um uh House File 3067. This aligns training and qualification
requirements for our special education and title one pair professionals. So it allows them to have three ways to show mastery of skills. The federal government had said at one point in time that um there that some of these uh uh
mastery based uh tests were not showing that they were highly qualified. And now we were able to work with the federal government to say, "Yep, all of the paths available for both title one and special education pair professionals will be highly wide
if they can use any of these three pathways." um with uh the I had a really good conversation with many of your teachers about some of the things that they have requested such as um with the
EGIP with which is insurance putting mandating everyone in a statewide pool of um and so there was some uh concerns and um some questions. People were not quite ready to make that complete decision right now. And so I believe in
the Minnesota Department of Health there is a provision that you will have to provide information to MDE about what you already what you already do for health insurance. And so this is data
this is a data discovery. And um at first I was a little concerned. I talked to MSBA actually quite a bit because it's like 23 pieces of data that you have to give for your about the teachers and like what is the compensation that
you already do and what how how are you already um working with your insurance and all of those things and when I asked them this feels pretty ownorous is this something our school districts are already going to do and this says they told me that it's something data that you already collect anyway and so it
won't be as ownorous as I thought it was going to be The goal is once they see where our uh school districts already are that then they'll be able to make some recommendations of what that would look like if we continue down the road of putting everyone in the statewide
mandatory statewide pool for insurance. That was a very lengthy um update and I would be happy to uh any questions >> that insurance piece that would be
teachers only or other support functions in the schools as well. >> That's part of the discovery data process is deciding who all would be a part of this. Um, one of the parts that I have been a little leerary about is um, what because your union is such an
active because you have such an active union who works really hard to find good options for insurance and also your steps and lanes. Um, part of the things that have been um, advocated by Education Minnesota is to have base
compensation and the mandatory um, uh, insurance pool. I I get a little nervous about it. Not because I believe that teachers shouldn't be paid more and not because I don't believe they need better insurance. I believe all of those things, but I'm concerned because of
this now makes m or the state your union. And I I get a little concerned about that. Part of the bill when I looked at the initial bill would be that there would be a um a state insurance
working group in perpetuity. it stays on and they decide what would be covered and they would decide who would be covered and how much and all of those things a little I mean some of that I I get a little leery about um what what differences do you have versus ANOA
versus Biji versus you know all of those are a little different so that's part of the data discovery in >> thank you for the update um You're talking about the 12 million for mental health through the department of health.
Was that are those grants that need to be applied for or what is thanks for the question. Those are grants and um one of the reasons uh we wanted to make sure that they were available to as many of students as
possible. And so MDH wanted to be able plus there's some actual requirements when you're going to be working with you know student mental health. So MDH wanted to be able to have more control over those. Yeah, represent Muer. Um, last December
the MSBA delegate assembly forwarded four resolutions to the legislature concerning postsecary education options and uh maybe the end of February I called Deeper and asked her just because she's up for time.
>> I think just as the progress on it and it was zero. That's why you didn't talk about the thing. And her suggestion was is that and that's a concern of mine is that the opposition to changing it is so
great you it's virtually impossible to have a subcommittee or committee meeting because those voices are so str. But that legislation I believe is 1990s or 2000 or something like that. So we averaged a million dollars this year. I
believe Rochester maybe four or $5 million something financially has to be done and then also the quality of life for the students that choose postsecary they're losing their high school career I mean it's really in my opinion it's
not only a financial concern it's a cultural concerns well-being of students do you think you're going to be be able to revisit that prom issue in the next session >> I believe that another bipartisan uh
concern. I do have a lot of uh people on both of the aisle, especially in rural Minnesota that are concerned about PSO and dual credit. Um I think uh if I remember right, every year the office of legislative auditor asks us for topics
and that was the number one topic. So the OA is actually going to be looking at this um program, how is it being used, is it being effective, how can like it actually the OA is going to be doing an
audit on the on postsecary and and so I think that that could give us a little better of an idea of how to start offering recommendations for um improvement because you're right, this started happening me when I was in high
school, which was 19, right? >> And so, um, I think those are the things that as we start looking at, you know, it was it was an honest attempt at trying to help those who maybe uh needed something further than high school. And
now, because of online classes, it's available to so many different students that I remember when I was teaching in here at Austin and I would talk to the students about when postsecary was available to really give a lot of
thought process on that because there are some students who can handle that and should be there and there are some students who are not and yet as you said the culture of it is very um adversarial I I believe um at times at least maybe
not between you and Riverland but between some of my other uh some of the schools around the area they're um they're they feel there's an advers serial push and pull for if I go here maybe it'll be easier plus then I don't have to pay for it because it's going to
be free and so people aren't prepared for it and then and then they get a really poor score and that saves them forever and so this is something that I think that we need to be able to be more prepared for. I believe the audit is going to be able to give us a little bit more direction and hopefully that will
give us a little bit more of an urgency as we see what the audit gives us. Thank you very much. That's a good answer. Can I ask you a question about that compensatory funding? >> You had mentioned earlier on that uh um
part of the idea of compensatory funding is to help um individuals that might might be economically disadvantaged. and you just kind of tangentally talked a little bit about test scores and um this might not be a popular comment for me to
make but that um you know um we had a number of task forces come and talk to us tonight you talked about task forces clearly the test scores in this country country not just the state but country are
flatlining and we used to say well it's a pandemic the pandemic was six, seven years ago. So, we have some some serious issues here and maybe we can have a task force to see if those tests are in fact testing things that we want to test. I
would agree and I will tell you that there is a actual um there is legislation and I was one of the chief authors of it to actually change our test scores not from a proficiency model but for a growth model. Any of you teachers out there who know the
difference between the MCAs and NWA know that the MCAs test proficiency versus MWA test a growth model doesn't show doesn't mean that it we're not looking at making sure someone's proficient. It's showing how this person was from
here to growing to here. And that in itself is going to as a teacher I actually appreciated that much more than a proficiency model because of the fact that I was able to then see what specific um skills they still needed to
learn and what skills they were already showing growth in. And there was legislation to actually change some of that to so that the state test would change from efficiency to a growth. Didn't gain a whole lot of traction. Didn't even get a bill hearing this time. that I know that there has been a
lot of sentiments like what you just said. I will say that there is also bipartisan sentiments to be um interest in looking at how high school can be um how it can be changed to or modernized
to 2026. Um, we see this in Indiana where they looked at what it means to get a high school diploma. How we're able to have a more framework of student career pathways and other type of personalization in high school, which would then show us a another data point
rather than just a test. >> Thank you. And our tech director is spent a lot of time talking about growth, >> right, Cy? >> Thank you. Anybody else have any other questions for our
representatives? Thank you so much for coming and thank you for the advocacy and work that you do on behalf of Austin Public Schools. We appreciate the work that you do. I cannot thank you guys enough. You guys are very um you guys came and uh were testifiers in our bill. Uh principal
matchm came and testified before my bills. You guys were very active. I will tell you the task force that now it's not here but on attendance. This is something that is incredibly active right now in the legislature and I was actually on a um
M Minneapolis Foundation wanted to give $250,000 to schools that were going to work on absentee chronic absentism and attendance issues and um but they weren't going to look at schools outside
of the center county metro area and I was so frustrated and so I told them next round we're putting Austin on the list and so just know that your work is not unseen and I want to make sure that you guys
are continuing to be supportive in that way. So, thank you so much for the work that you do and uh I hope they have a blessed summer. >> Representative, you did say that we didn't have an easy job. You don't have an easy job either. So, thank you for what you do. >> Yes. Thank you.
>> All right. Superintendent report. >> Thank you, Chair Deb, members of the board. I want to recognize and start off by just do some celebrating of several accomplishments across public schools um and starting with last month. So, first of all, I just want to say
congratulations to the entire Southgate Elementary community. As you know, Southgate was named the Minnesota School of Excellence in the 2526 school year. Uh, this is a significant honor and reflects the dedication of that staff, their hard work for the students and the
partnership with the families and caregivers. Uh, recognition like that does not happen by accident. It's the result of people showing up every day with the commitment to help learners succeed. and we're incredibly proud of the Southgate community and all those who contributed to this achievement. Uh,
also recently last week, Austin Public Schools uh received national recognition through the National School Public Relations Association Publication and Digital Media Excellence Awards. Uh, this include recognitions uh for Packercast and the Accelerate Awesome
website which received awards of excellence. uh the Austin Packer bulletin and the 492 happenings were received letters of merit and our annual report received an honorable mention at the national level. So good things to share there. Uh while these awards
themselves are appreciated uh what they represent is even more meaningful last several years. Um we've been working really hard with communication tools that did not exist before and since then we've worked uh really intentionally to strengthen the communication for our community and for
our staff. uh increasing transparency and better connections with our students, staff, and families and community members. So, these recognitions belong to many people across our school district who help tell the story of the Austin Public Schools every day. Uh they also reflect the board's continued emphasis on
communication and community engagement. And so, we're proud of this progress that has been made and we're committed to continuing the work. Also, um we had a couple of our students that were recently recognized um in the u um
recognition for the um sorry I lost my place here for um Mrs. Sanders work with uh the Warlog Foundation and each of our students two of them at the high school level received a $1,000 scholarship. So I congratulate them and also Mrs. Sanders
for her work. uh and with our students. I recently had an opportunity to meet with our the outgoing Austin police chief uh Chief David McKein and our incoming Chief Michael Hartman. Uh the purpose of our meeting was just was twofold. One, it was to thank Chief Aikin for his uh years of partnership in
support of the Austin public schools in the community and begin building that same strong relationship with the incoming chief Chief Hartman. Uh the relationship between the Austin public schools and the Austin uh police department plays an important role in supporting students safety, our school
operations, communication and coordinated responses when needed. Uh this leadership transitions are incredibly important moments to ensure that we are continuing align and collaborative. So, we appreciate uh Chief Mikin's work uh and his service to
the community and really look forward to working closely with incoming Chief Uartman in the years ahead. Um, also just a brief uhformational update regarding the 26 uh school board elections. Information regarding uh becoming a schoolboard member is now
available on the district website. uh includes um filing dates, qualifications, um responsibilities of service and upcomingformational sessions for the community members interested in learning more. Uh candidate filing begins July
14th, runs through July 28th. And tonight is just an update. It's simply intended to make the board community aware that these resources are now available. And as we close the year, I also just want to recognize the Austin High School class of 2026. This year's graduating class included
nearly 400 students which we got to share the stage with some time ago. Uh each with a unique story and journey and future ahead of them. And together they earn scholarships, college credits, energy certifications, athletic achievements, artistic accomplishments,
and countless other successes. And most importantly, they leave Austin High School prepared to take their next steps as learners, workers, service members, entrepreneurs, and community members. So, congratulations to them. You know, commencement is always one of those
highlights of the year because it reminds us of why we do this work, and it represents years of effort by students and families and the caregivers, the teachers, the support staff, coaches, adviserss, and administrators. So, I just want to say again, congratulations to the class of
2026. We're really proud of them and excited to see the difference that they make in this world. And as I just conclude uh tonight's report, I just want to thank our students and staff and community, our board members um and community partners uh along the way for
just another outstanding school year. Uh like every year, this one has had challenges. It had successes. It had opportunities. There were celebrations and memories that will stay with us for a long time. And through it all, our staff remain focused on serving students
and supporting one another and moving the district forward. Austin Public Schools continues to be a special place because of the people who make up this organization. and I'm grateful for the commitment, the resilience, and the care demonstrated each and every day throughout the school year. So, thank
you for helping make this a successful year for Austin Public Schools. I just want to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable and welldeserved summer break. >> Does anybody have any board reports? Go for it. Jump in there. It was a busy end of the school year
with a variety of very special events taking place. So I attended as many events as I possibly can fit into my schedule. Um, so I want to thank the staff and principles who reached out to
invite the school board to the events because it's very special to us to get to go to these events and see see the kids. Um, and I'd like to just highlight a few of the events that I felt created very
unforgettable memories for the students. Um so the first one was the canoe mobile from wilderness in inquiry. Um the fourth grade students got to go out in canoes. They learned about water
tables and ecology, created a craft, and they took a nature hike along the banks of the Cedar River by Ramsey Dam. So this is right in my backyard. So I could hear the kids from my living room. the
excitement. It was so fun. So, I had to walk down and see what was going on. So, I went down every morning and saw the kids. So, that was that was fun. Um, the second one was Finance Park with
Junior Achievement North. Um, the ALC students were given a persona and they were tasked with creating a realistic monthly budget. And so some of the students were single, some of them were married, some of them
had kids. Um, and so the volunteers worked with the students at various stations to share their expertise in the different budgeting categories. So my category was I talked to the students about health, life, and disability
insurance. And I was just amazed at how much the kids knew. It was just a really phenomenal experience and I really wish that this had been offered when my kids were in high school because they would have really helped them out a lot.
um the spring music concerts at all of the elementary schools, IG, um high school and the senior recognitions that took place. That was a very memorable event for the seniors. And
then finally, the graduations, and that includes the ALC graduation, preschool graduation, and our Austin High School graduation. So, congratulations to all the graduates and a sincere thank you to all the staff
who were involved in the planning, the organization of it, the setup, the cleanup. Um I your your planning and organization skills were very well appreciated because I
felt that especially the high school graduation. It it was just really smooth flow very very well and we got it done in record time I think for all the graduates.
Um, and the last thing I wanted to mention was the Apex meeting which was June 3rd. Um, Kelly Nelson, she's the new street outreach case manager from Lutheran Social Services and she serves
11 counties. She works with youth ages 16 to 24 who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Um and it's and she said that Lutheran social service services can provide
hygiene supplies, clothing, food assistance, backpacks, temporary um camping supplies when shelter is unavailable, gift cards, and transportation. So that was a really good service.
>> When did you speak attending. >> Yeah, I just like to reiterate what you said about the graduation was really seamless and went by really quickly for 400 graduates. I would also like to say that the performance of the choir and
the orchestra were just phenomenal. We have such a great music program. So that was great. I want to shout out the army of volunteers and donors that help put together project graduation for our
graduating seniors. I know that that is um quite an undertaking and it truly takes the village to make that event happen overnight. And yeah, I I know that a lot of people
don't get any sleep that night. So, I'm very appreciative of um the space and the opportunity for our graduating class to celebrate in a safe and responsible way and have a lot of fun at the same time. And I know that um
we have a lot of very generous donors across the community that have made this event possible for decades. And I just want to shout that out. And I'm also going to share that we have extended an invitation to our new
student representative for the class of 2028 and that is going to be Sam Bams. Um he's very active in music and theater >> and long >> and he's he's going to be a great
addition to the table I think. All right. Um, anybody else? >> I just want to throw out something quick. Uh, graduation last year,
I parked pretty much downtown and upon leaving, somebody had told me if you if you want to get back to your vehicle, go out to the male male side, walk around. They said you don't want to try and walk through that back
plaza area. >> It's a party. >> This year I decided to leave out that way. And as exciting as graduation was, huge graduating class. You want to see the biggest party, the most joy of the
entire graduation ceremony. Try to walk out that way to get to your big deal. There were about five, six different stereoss blasting, people singing, dancing. It was just joy all around. It
was great to see. >> Did you get your car then? >> I'm sure. >> It's best to just get dropped off. >> All righty. Can I get a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda?
>> Motion by second by Carol. Discussion. >> Can I ask for a couple of items? >> Sure. >> For discussion. Um I like to ask a question on um Oh, yeah. number 9G
non-UN employ contracts. Um I I thought Reed that the total package is like 5.84%. And if I remember a lot of our agreements
were total packages of like 101 or something like that. Why was this one at five and 10? >> Sure. That was the annual percentage. So yeah, you're so is alignment with our other rules.
>> Okay. And my next question had to do with um the student handbook addendums changes. There's something in there about attendance and I think it's come up twice tonight with the task force and then representative Mueller. Are there
some changes? It said see page four and five. I didn't go to page four and five. Have there been some um some of those ideas been implemented in the handbook that task force reiterated or concluded
or so the uh changes in here with the attendance on page four or five are taking the recommendations from the task force uh that were outlined in the report that submit it to the board. >> Okay. Thanks for doing my work.
Appreciate. Okay. >> Thank you, Sher. >> Not a problem. Um, we're still okay to vote on all of that as one. >> Yes, sure. >> Um, I would also note that the agenda
probably needs to be clarified because this is not affiliated handbooks and it's not affiliated contract, right? >> Inside the handbook. Oh, inside. Okay, got it. Thank you. All right, we had a motion in the second. All those in
favor? >> I >> Anybody opposed? Motion passes. All right. Um, we're going to kick it back to our activities director with our HS activities and department of your
recap. for chair bay, Dr. Paige, members of the school board. I'm here to present the 2025 26 school year Austin Packers activities report. Um I think this will be something moving forward that we review every year just to um promote
transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement while celebrating the accomplishments of students, coaches, advisors, directors, and community supporters. It also serves as a planning tool to identify future opportunities, resource needs, and goals
for continued program growth and success. Um, so first, why why athletics and activities matter? At Austin High School, activities and athletics are more than extracurricular opportunities. They're an extension of our educational
mission. Through athletics, fine arts, clubs, leadership organizations, and academic activities, students develop leadership, communication skills, teamwork, resilience, time management, responsibility, citizenship, and school connectedness. Research consistently
demonstrates that students involved in extracurricular activities experience higher attendance rates, improved academic performance, stronger social emotional development, and increased graduation rates. Our goal is not simply to create successful athletes,
performers, or competitors. Our goal is to develop successful young human beings. Um, educationbased athletics versus club sports. Austin High School proudly operates under the philosophy of educationbased athletics as established
by the Minnesota State High School League. While athletic competition is an important component of school sports, winning is not the primary purpose of intercolastic athletics. Educationbased athletics focuses on developing the whole student through experiences that
teach leadership, character, accountability, sportsmanship, and teamwork, perseverance, and respect. Coaches serve as educators and mentors, helping students learn lessons that extend far beyond the playing field. Educationbased athletics versus club
sports. Club sports often emphasize rankings, tournaments, exposure, specialization, competition. where education-based athletics focus on student development, academic success, school connectedness, multiport participation, citizenship, leadership,
and community. Athletics are not simply about producing better athletes. They're about producing better people. The philosophy aligns directly with the mission of the Minnesota State High School League to provide educational opportunities for students through intercolastic athletics and fine arts
programs and elevate the values of participation, sportsmanship, teamwork, and citizenship. Uh we'll go into some enrollment numbers and participation numbers next. Um, our Austin High School enrollment, grade 9 through 12, we have 704 male students,
688 female students with a total of 1,392 at Austin High School. Um, we did not include AOA and ALC data in that because some of those students are duplicated within those numbers. So, and the
numbers don't vary that much. So, I don't think that the percentages and our rates would change, but that's something I can work with Corey on next year to kind of see how many unduplicated numbers, but and I thank Corey for all the work. He um he usually does this for me, but then I had him switch it up a
little bit. So, he was really responsive and I appreciate that a whole lot. Um, so let's go back to Well, no, here we go. Next one. Athletics participation. These numbers here at the bottom are unduplicated. So we have we had 646
students participate in at least one sport last year. Um this means that 46.4% of all high school Austin high school students participate in athletics. Nearly one out of every two students is connected to school through athletics. Um and then we have it broken
down by gender. As you can see I mean we're not that far off with numbers with males being 354 and female being 292. Um and then 1446 registrations happened throughout the
school year meaning um you know there's those two three sport there's some four sport maybe one per grade level. Um this means that the average athlete participates in 2.24 sports per student. This this is evidence of a healthy multiport culture that reflects our
commitment to providing broad opportunities for participation rather than early specialization. um largest athletic programs 7 through 12. And the reason we're looking 7 through 12 because as we move forward um I would say a good portion of our
athletics are offered 712 and with the sanctioning of 9th grade at the Minnesota State High School League, we are having to look differently of some of those middle schools because they might have to be sanctioned or how are we going to look differently at our middle school programming. I take soccer
for example coming this fall. Um we did a survey in southeastern Minnesota. Austin is the only school that has a standalone middle school soccer program. And so without having other teams to compete against, we're going to have to think differently on how we can continue
to develop those players. I mean for instance soccer with our numbers, we are going to add a new squad level this year. So we'll have four levels of that which will be great. Um, and then I think we're thinking on sanctioning just a group of middle schoolers at the high school level so that when those ninth
grade games come along, we can make sure that we're doing age appropriate competitive um where some are still nth grade, but most of them are seventh and eighth grade. So, we want to make sure they're playing age appropriate um competition.
Let's see, largest athletic participation. So we have track and field at 256, soccer at 175, basketball this is girl and these are gender or combined boys and girls basketball 153, volleyball 132 and football at 130.
These programs provide opportunities for hundreds of students to connect, compete and grow. Um 846 participants total in those four programs. That is 59% of all sport registration in those five sports, 7 through 12. Soccer has become one of
Austin's premier participation um sports. Track and field makes up 40% of all of our athletes. Uh football has 18.3 participation rate and for Minnesota high school, these are quite
healthy numbers. Um let's move on to um activities, fine arts and clubs. I'm going to guess that this number is a little off because these are just extracurricular groups and so I know that that music number is way larger but that is curricular co-curricular so that
wasn't included but I know the music number is up quite substantially um so where am I with these groups fine arts music student leadership academic organizations and service clubs these programs provide additional pathways for
students to discover their interest, develop talents, and connect with their school community. And since I've been here and just finishing year four, I would say that our activities, fine arts and clubs have been the biggest growth that we've had with the addition of culture clubs, uh, one at play coming
in, debate coming in. So, we've really researched or added new programs that, you know, we're listening to the students, flag football, different things like that. And so I think it's important that they have a voice and if we have a space to be able to provide those things for them to stay connected
to school, whether it's a sport or an activity, fine arts or a club, I think it's important that we do that. We've had some tremendous and amazing events and activities happen within that activities portion of it. Um >> Katie, can I ask a quick question? Um
are we also looking at these numbers 712 or is this specific? Sorry, this one is 912 cuz most of our clubs and activities are just 912 in that part. >> It would be interesting to see though the the comparison the athletics and then the activities of
fine arts and clubs. >> I think essay >> sorry >> but just to kind of piggy back off of that um we do have a new um AD at Ellis, Michelle Gabrielson. So her and I are going to spend a lot of time this summer with alignment. So, we're pretty much
going to run most of our programs 7 through 12 and then the head coach is going to oversee 7 through 12, making sure that they have the people in at those levels that support their mission and what they're trying to do with their programs. Um, so, and then it's going to
look at the middle school programs. You know, maybe debate will be 712, speech will be 712, theater we kind of combined a little bit this year. It's just giving those kids those opportunities to to thrive in sustaining our own programs, but then how can we create those separate programs at the middle school
as well. Love it. Yeah. Um, let's see. Next, we have engagement across grade levels. I do only have 9 through 12 data, but I mean 7 through 12 I have I think we provided that, but I have that information broken down. Um,
so engagement at each level. As you can see, we've broken it down by grade and then by gender. So, if you take a look, I mean, our numbers are pretty stable in sport for sure. Looking at the incoming ninth grade or this year's ninth graders, they had 187 participants with
the seniors at 148. So, kudos to our freshman. They came in ready to go, ready to sign up for stuff. Um, and the participation numbers between male and female is not that far off. Um, I would say grade 11 is a little, you know, separated, but then if you look at
activity counts as well, it's more female dominated, but I think that's been the trend in past years with with clubs and and th those types of activities. Um, but the stability demonstrates strong student retention and student engagement by throughout the
high school experience. And what I was finding is that many schools see a 20 to 30% loss of athletes by graduation. And so we really aren't seeing that. So that's really good news for us is that they're staying in sport. They find value in it and their leadership skills,
you know, they're just growing as they get older. Um students are not only joining activities, they're staying involved. Um equity and access activities and athletics continue to serve students from a wide range of backgrounds. So these numbers right here, yes is they do
receive a benefits and then the 364 is no. Nearly 44% of Austin student athletes qualify for free and reduced lunch. I still believe there's work to be done with that benefits. Every season Kelly Joseph and myself spend a tremendous
amount of time in making sure that those barriers are shut down. We make sure that we find out, you know, do they have that benefits? Do they have it in the past? should they apply? Because money is a factor. You know, we have some of the lowest participation costs I would
say in the Big Nine, but it's still a barrier for some people. So, any way that we can help reduce that cost, um that is a priority for me. Anyways, uh these programs provide important opportunities for connection, belonging, mentorship, and personal growth for
students across all so socioeconomic backgrounds. Oops. Um community evolution. Our community has evolved. Austin's always been a community with strong tra traditions and tremendous pride in its schools. Those traditions
do remain important. However, Austin today is not the same community as it was 25, 30 years ago. Our students represent a more diverse, dynamic, and evolving community than ever before. As educators, coaches, adviserss, and leaders, our responsibility is to not
build programs for the cost of 2000. Circuit 2000. Our responsibility is to serve the Austin of today and prepare students for the world of tomorrow. That means creating opportunities that reflect student interest, removing barriers to participation, ensuring all
students feel welcome, building programs that reflect the students we serve. The future of Austin activities and athletics will not be built by recreating the past. It will be built on honoring our traditions while embracing the strengths, talents, cultures, and
experience of today's students. Uh, measuring success differently. Success cannot be measured solely by wins and losses, championships, and participation numbers. Those metrics matter, but they do not tell the whole story. The true measure of success is
student belonging, student growth, leadership development, character formation, school connectedness, positive life outcomes. Every student who finds a place to belong becomes more connected to school and more likely to succeed. And I think that's why I love the shift every year after every season
where the kids come in and talk about their experiences because if you notice, they never talk about how many games they won or lost. It's the experiences they had with their coaches and their teammates and it's the skills that we teach them to make sure that they are prepared when they leave Boston High
School. Um, summer happenings. So, some things that are going on right now this summer. Um, as of today, we have 125 grades 7 through 12 students registered for summer ETSs, which my first goal,
initially I thought if we could get 100, I'd be, you know, I'm happy, but 125 is great. I would say the bulk of our registration is 789. So, we are growing those roots with ETSs where it needs to be hopefully then to propel it forward. I've been in there. They start out in
Hastings. They do their agility work and they're in there sweating and then they their break is from Hastings on the walk down to the weight room. Uh but it's been really good. Uh there's a lot of energy in there and there's a lot of hard work going on. Um AHS athletic summer sessions. The majority of our
programs are offering summer opportunities. Um and most of them are grades 7 through 12. So we are reaching um you know the kids in middle school as well. um bound that is going to be our new scheduling uh platform that we will be transitioning to July 1st. So the old
big9.org as you know it will no longer be um I needed to hook in this school year. So the next couple weeks will just be all bound moving into the summer getting that platform ready. Um that is going to work in concession with the new Arox uh scheduling platform. So they
will think together so hopefully we will have some better alignment with that. Um, Austin Packer activities will be in the Fourth of July parade. Um, hopefully we will get in with the cheerleaders in the band. I'll be sending out some parent information this week. Any kids grades 7 through 12 who just want to
walk in the parade and represent their activities, they're welcome to do that. Um, this July, we're going to have a 7 through 12 coaches retreat. Um, this year it might be I'm expecting attendance to be a little spotty just because it hasn't been the standard. But moving forward, I think every year we
will have some kind of come together every summer just so we can all be on the same page. Uh, we're going to talk about some mental performance that we can help students with and I know ETSs wants to come in. is we're still kind of finalizing the details, but a lot of it's just going to be our own culture.
Cuz what I've noticed in the four years now that I've been here, everybody's doing great work and they're doing all the same work. So now it's just getting us under the same umbrella, speaking the same language. Um, and just holding those standards to our kids whether you coach them or not. If they're an athlete, they're going to be under the
same standard and they're going to know what that's going to be. Uh, we are on a waiting list for the M County Fair. I called or submitted and they said we are booked. So hopefully somebody will back up. We can get in there and then the intent for the Mau County Fair is just to start with physicals and we can do ED
benefit signups and we can get packer pantry stuff organized and we can do on-site registration. So anything when we can catch the whole darn community in Austin at the fair. So hopefully that will open up. If not this year, I'll get an earlier start on it for next year. Um
there's one other thing I wanted to mention. I don't remember right now. Um but looking ahead, our focus remains on expanding opportunities, ensuring every student has access to meaningful um activities
and athletics, increasing participation, removing barriers, and creating welcoming environments, supporting student leadership, develop future leaders both on and off the field, building school culture and program culture, creating positive experiences and and that strengthen not only Austin
High School but the programs that they're involved in. and serving today's students continuing to adapt and evolve to meet the needs of our current and our future leaders or learners. Um, and in conclusion, activities and athletics remain one of the most powerful tools we
have to connect students to school. Uh, this year we had 646 students participate in athletics. 421, I would probably say that's probably going to be closer to 600 with music participating in activities, fine art, arts and clubs.
Nearly half of all students participated in athletics. Student involvement remained strong across all grade levels. Hundreds of students developed leadership skills, build relationships, and found a place to belong. At Austin High School, our mission extends beyond competition and performance. We're
creating opportunities. We're building connections and we're developing students. And through those efforts, we're helping every student become proud of where they go to school and proud to put on that group. Any questions?
>> I I have one and I was struck on graduation night. Your voice just projected and that auditorium just magn teacher for 21 years. >> I've learned. >> Hey, can you go back to that one slide where you had wins, losses, belonging,
etc., etc. >> That one? >> Oh, this one. Yeah, that one right there. If you look at that one on the right, that's kind of like what we talked about represent Mueller about test scores. Wins and losses are great, but those other things are important, too. You know, a lot of stuff is not
quantitative. You go to a swim meet and they have a dial, but when you see those girls and that boys in that last race turn each other on and the excitement, it just you can't quantify that stuff. I'm going to state baseball term next Monday and watch the championship games
of all four classes. I've also been out to River Community College, Todd Park down at the Austin track, not this year, but they have a home meeting, but and in and pack Arena because there's nothing wrong with just
being like match team 16 and 12. That was a great season. You don't have to be the state champion. So, I mean, I just wish we'd rethink about all the test scores and and the in the I mentioned that early on to the the first one of the first speakers about the volleyball
team. The benchmark is not always wins and losses. >> Yeah. All that other stuff. >> And if you look at our top five largest sports that we have, these are also our most our most diverse programs that we have. So, it's serving
a large portion of our students. >> Yeah. You do a nice job, Katie. Thank you. >> Katie, I I would just like to um thank you. I have watched you in this position the last four years. I have watched
um your role. You have taken this on with such a healthy holistic approach. And when I um when I listen to the kids, there is so much more
than just the team or the the club that they're in. And I think that comes from leadership. You are everywhere. You I I see you with the kids. They know you. >> Um I can see they respect you. So, thank
you. This this is such a good feel. And it's just not about sports, which is how I always got this position and it's not about win and lose. Um, this is I I thank you very
much for what you have brought to the district. >> You know, I think it just parallels to how I was involved back here in high school and you know, my time here is I look at our records. We didn't talk about records. I thought we were way better than we were like win losswise,
but then you go back and you look and you know like, oh, we were under 500. But that isn't something that we think about. It was the experiences that you the coaches you had, the memories you made, and you know, there's individual growth or success within those teams,
but you couldn't get there without your teammates. And so, it's creating that culture. And I think we're well on our way. And that's just how I operate. That's how I've always been. I am a student first person. I work for the kids and what they want, you know, I
will listen to. and to help drive and move our programs forward and make sure that we have things within our school that connect with our students. >> It's very obvious this is students first. >> Thank you. >> Just to take on to what Don and Cece
said um about it's more than the win loss. I think it was the boys volleyball. He said, "It's a family." And that just
really touched my heart because, you know, some kids just really, really need that. >> And I really can honestly say to you that every single one of our coaches, our head coaches really try to foster that type of environment because for some, you know, the longer we can keep
them structured after school, they are safe havens for people. They're just welcoming places. But you know, we still have barriers that we have to work with and we have to understand that kids might want to play, but in reality of today, some of them have jobs after school. Some of them have to go home and
help with their families. It's not that they don't want to, it's just not a priority, and we have to respect that and keep them involved in whatever capacity they can. We've had kids um Corey just gave me some of our not on track to graduate data today. And it's
not to sit and say, "Oh, you're not doing what you need to do. is how can we use our programs to help, you know, get them through? And I think our coaches do a really good job of that. Packer study table has continued to be a huge success. I mean, I've got Eric Anderson
and other people. They'll walk into practice and call them and be like, "Hey, you're supposed to be at Packer Study Table." And coaches are really starting to buy on, too. So I think that's sometimes where you see our eb and flow is because we are trying to hold kids accountable in the classroom because the ultimate goal is for them to
graduate and if we can use activities as a means to help them graduate then I think we've done our job. >> I think you and coach work really well together. >> What a what a great addition. >> It's going to be fun aligning. We're
excited. I think we'll start to get to work next week until America just kind of like I said book in this year and start focusing on summer and the fall. I just want to chime in one more comment just kind of adding on uh the the
mentality of having having the the connections and the the team collegial and family like experience that starts with you and it starts with our coaches giving their their like junior and
senior student leaders the space and the um autonomy to really bring in those younger kids um the seventh and eighth graders and really um provide provide them with um the connections that
they're looking for from those older students >> and the the support and the motivation and the um that that teamwork mentality and helping teach them
young and getting them very young that that this is a safe space for us to learn and grow and we're going to cheer each other on. Even if it's one of our sports that is an individual uh result like uh cross country and
track, you know, even though there are those, you know, you're running against yourself and you're you're as an individual getting a score. Um you look at those those teams and they
really work together to um create an environment that the that kids want to be at. >> Um practices that they want to be part of. Uh team team building activities that they want to be part of. And that's
that's to me the secret sauce and that's that's what what what >> and that's kind of the long-term plan too with the coaches retreat this year. Then the goal next summer is to add the student leaders in to create that type of culture and that so that they're all
leading in the same way as well. So it's kind of a cheerful system that we're working towards. >> So thank you. >> Thanks for sharing all that. >> Yeah. >> You're not going anywhere. >> No, I'm not. I can turn the screen off. >> All right. We um our next agenda item is
our request for the approval of the 2627 extended field trips. Looks like a lot of fun happening next year. There it is. Um, so the general expectation is that all student trips will be planned, conducted in an orderly manner and safe and relate directly to
the objectives or the class activity for which the trip is requested. Various levels of approval will be needed. That's why we try to do this at the end of the year so we don't have any questions going into the next school year. So, um, just based on what you're seeing there, I recommend the approval
of the 2627 extended field trips for Austin High School. >> Is there a motion to approve the 2627 extended field trips? >> So, motion by second by Cece. Any discussion?
>> All those in favor? >> Anybody opposed? Motion passes. Um, the next We're sticking with Katie is our request for the approval of the 26.7 AHS fundraisers.
>> Yep. They use utilize fundraising uh to supplement district funding and provide enhanced opportunities for students participating in athletics, fine arts clubs, and student organizations. The funds raised support program specific needs such as equipment, uniforms, travel, competitions, leadership
opportunities, and student recognition. Um, for right now, I recommend the approval of the 2627 fundraisers for Austin High School. Um, I will keep this open and if needed, we can revisit as big things get added uh before the school year starts.
>> Can I get a motion to approve the 26 27 AHS fundraisers? Motion by Don, second by Carol. >> I just got a comment about one of the HS choir >> bed sheets and pillow cases.
>> It must be a catalog. I don't know. It's their turn to go on their school trip during spring break. So, they kind of get creative because a lot of funds have to be raised in order to make sure everybody gets to go. >> That sounds awesome. Make sure that they like tell the board about that when
you ask us about the girls play football jersey sales. So, when we ordered our jerseys this year, we ordered them for games people play. And as we got them, people have come up to me and they're like, "This would be great for us to purchase or have that." And so, I was
talking to Coach Compton. I said, "Well, what do you think if we open, you know, an online store, people can buy their own jerseys, they wanted to put their kids number, I said maybe seniors could buy it for their senior jersey, they could put their graduation number and their their name on the back." um expanding thoughts, ideas, you know,
with uh distinguished alumni. Maybe that could be their gift. We could order jerseys for them and put their graduation year, you know, or something on there. Um just a lot of different ideas for people to leveling up. Yeah. Right.
>> Yeah. All right. >> All those in favor? >> I. Anybody opposed? Motion passes. The next agenda item is a request for promote the dissolution of the official cooperative agreement for boys when they died.
>> Yep. So, the Minnesota State High School League offers the option for member schools to form cooperative sponsorships between member schools in a high school athletic program in an agreement where two or more schools uh combine their
athletics to form a single team. Um, dissolving the this cooperative will return Austin High School to its appropriate enrollment classification and we would move back down to class A for swim and dive. Um, ensuring fair and
equitable competitive placement for the Minnesota State High School League. This last year we had one student from Pachelli um that was on our swim and dive team and just having discussions with coach Kelly about his thoughts of us being in double A. Yeah, we had some
success, but in order I think for our program moving forward to be in that appropriate competitive level in that section, um it was appropriate for for us to ask to dissolve that co-op. So I my recommendation to the board is
tool the co-op sponsorship of voice with Michelle Catholic schools. >> Katie, can you tell us why it was um originally agreed upon five, six, seven years ago? would that be? >> Um, I think maybe numbers were different back then. The state of athletics could
be different and so every year you have to put those groups up for appeal and for whatever reason we were denied appeal this year or two years ago. So the next section compet competitive placement will be this year and so we will be reviewing that process again.
But I just wasn't at a point where I wanted to put our team one more year in double A with some of our major swimmers graduating. And so now we're a super young team. And in order to build that back out, we need to be in the
appropriate section placement. Is >> there a motion to approve the dissolution and fertility cooperative for swim? >> Second by Further discussion. All those in favor? >> Anybody opposed?
Motion passes. Thank you so much. >> Thank you for having me. Have a good summer. >> Always glad to have you. >> All right. Our next agenda item is the request approval of unrequested leave of
absence with human resources director Sue Stark. That was a mouthful. Superintendent Paige, chair, and members of the board. Tonight I'm presenting for the board's consideration a resolution proposing the placement of principal Dr.
Raymond Diaz on an unrequested leave of absence as set forth in the attached resolution. Is there a motion to approve the unrequested leave of absence? >> Motion by CC, second by others.
Further discussion. All those in favor? >> Anybody opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. All right. Next, we're going to hear from our community education director, Jennifer Lhead, with a request for
approval of the resolution certifying the updated district population estimate. Um, Superintendent Page, Chair De, members of the board, I ask that you would consider the action item put before you to certify the updated district population estimate. Um the
2020 census had um our community at 29,379. The current census figure is at 30,127. By certifying this number, you would give a few extra dollars for our community programs in Austin.
Is there a motion to approve the resolution served on the updated district population estimate? Motion by Carol, second by Vicki. Further discussion. All those in favor. Do you have any
votes? Motion passes. Thank you. >> All right. Next, we're going to hear from our executive director of finance and operations with our approval of our donations. >> Good evening, chairperson. Today, Superintendent Paige, the rest of the
board, it is my honor to be in front of you tonight to go over the donations that we have received. We have reviewed them against schoolboard policy 706. So I'll read these off. Packer Booster Club $6,000 six athletic scholarships.
Hormal foods women insight group supplies more than pink program. Westminster Church $2,000 more than pink program. Gene Hos Foundation, $3,000. AHS robotics. Banfield PTC,
$382.86 for Banfield Elementary. BFW Gambling, $200. Banfield Elementary. Community members, $400 classroom supplies for teachers. Westminster Church, $200.
Mckin Ventum. Austin Eagles, $1,000. Austin High School baseball boys golf team parents $1,283 boys golf girls golf team parents $1,422
girls again like to thank these organizations for their >> Is there a motion to approve this month's >> second by discussion >> I'm definitely using this Yes.
>> All right. All those in favor? >> I motion passes. Thank you. All right. Our next agenda item is going to be the request for the approval of a resolution calling for a general election. Superintendent.
>> Yes. Thank you, chair. Uh today, members of the board, uh for example, we have two resolutions. This particular agenda item is a resolution calling uh the school district general election uh being resolved by the school board of independent school district 492 Austin public schools from the state of
Minnesota as follows. It is necessary for the school district to hold its general election for the purpose of electing four school board members for four uh ter for terms of four years. Uh, the general election is hereby called and directed to be held in conjunction
with the statewide general election on Tuesday, the 3rd day of November, 2026 between the hours of 7 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. You see the rest of the resolution set forth in the attachment. >> Is there a motion to approve the resolution called for general election?
>> Make second by Carol. Discussion. Well, since this has to do with the general election is this November and we are thinking about possibly having a referendum possibly if we pass them in
the next coming uh months. Katie brought up a great idea about a booth at the fair. Is that a great idea or what? >> It is a great idea and we're working and we are working on creating a a booth um
for the district for for these kind of events. Yes. Okay. So, you're way ahead of me. >> I I don't know about that. >> We were working on a move that we could use for multiple purposes. >> Motion in a second. Yeah. Um all those
in favor? >> I. Anybody opposed? Motion passes. Next is our uh resolution establishing dates for filing affidavit of can candidacy for the election. Thank you chair today. Yes, this is the second part of the
resolution. This is establishing the dates for filing affidavits of candidacy for election whereas the school district general election shall occur on November 3rd of 2026 for the purpose of electing four school board members for for terms of four years. Uh now therefore be it
resolved the school board of independent school district 492 state of Minnesota as follows. The resolution applies for the affidavit of candidacy and notice for the general election on November 3rd. The period for filing affidavit of candidacy for the office of school board
member of independent school district 492 shall begin on July 14th of 2026 and shall close on July 28th, 2026. and affidavit for candidacy must be filed in the office of the school district clerk and the $2 filing date prior to 5:00 pm
on July 28, 2026 when the office will be closed. Rest of the resolution is uh set forth in your agenda. >> Is there a motion to approve the resolution establishing dates for filing affidavit of candidacy for the election? >> Motion by Maggie,
>> second by Cece. Further discussion >> Dr. Did you say the filing fee was $2? >> Correct. $2. >> You know, isn't that beautiful that the price of uh applying to become a elected official has stayed pretty steady? If
you look at the tickets at Madison Square Garden for the Knicks strike game, 600 $6,000 to $180,000. This is a bargain. >> I think it's you're signing up for something quite different, though.
It's still people spending money. It's still good. You could raise it $50 every year. No, they spend it $2. How many other things have stayed the same since many years? It's a great idea. You won a sporting event. You know what
I'm talking >> Okay. >> All right. All those in favor. >> Anybody opposed? Motion passes. Sure. No delegations for tonight. Okay. As a reminder, um our school board special
meeting is scheduled for um Monday, June 22nd, 2026 at 4 p.m. in the district office conference room. I need a motion to adjourn. >> Motion by second. >> Second by all those in favor?