[Music] like [Music] this. Oh yeah. All right, everybody. Good evening. Welcome to the regular school board meeting for Monday, October 13th,
>> 2025. We're going to call this meeting to order and start with [Music] >> here, Hartman >> here, >> here. >> Leathers >> here, >> here. Young Zily
>> here. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Is >> there a motion to approve tonight's agenda? >> Motion by Dom, >> second by Carol. Sorry about next time. >> And that leaves. >> All those in favor?
>> I. Anybody opposed? >> Motion passes. All right. Our first um agenda item is a couple of tax aaitments for a public hearing. The first of which is a request from Bigalow and London Construction LLC for new construction
located at 1801 12th Avenue Northeast with executive director of finance and operations. >> Good evening. Thank you chair penet members of the board and Dr. Paige. I'm here to go through this tax abatement from Figulen Construction at property
address 18012th Avenue Northeast Austin, Minnesota. And the estimated project valuation is $300,000. I ask for any questions. >> Is there a motion to approve the big and
lemon tax request? So motioned by Cece, >> second by Bob. Discussion. All those in favor? >> Motion passes. The second uh tax abatement request is for Wescott
Apartments LLC for renovation project at 1014 Street Northwest. Also, >> thank you. Thank you. And again, this is for Westcat Apartments at 1014th Street, Northwest Austin, Minnesota. Estimated project valuation is $3.2 million. And I
will entertain any questions. Um, I haven't done a lot of research on this. I might I was going to ask some questions, but we didn't have time. Um is is it are the ground rules for a tax abatement
a and this um group did not 100% follow the recommendation to follow the the guidelines for tax abatement. I kind of got that feeling. Is that can you explain that a little? >> Yeah. So the tax abatement policy that
we have has for new building and this is a renovation. So this is renovate um for 10 one-bedroom apartments and 13 two-bedroom apartments. So if you look at our policy our policies for new construction and this would be a renovation
that is that answering the question you're >> Well I guess yeah it does answer my question which I I I kind of knew coming in the meeting. Uh, can you give us some guidance on this or do we need guidance or what? >> I'm just wondering. I mean, I'm all for
$3.2 million. Don't get me wrong, but at the same time, if the rules are not being followed and they're doing it after the fact where everybody else has done it prior to, if I'm not mistaken, >> correct? >> Uh, c can we even can somebody give some guidance? >> Have we ever
we approved newbuilt apartment complexes before? Apartment buildings. Correct. >> Yes, that >> that's correct. >> That's correct. But it's the new builds, not >> new builds. Yep. And so this application uh came forward I believe in August
that >> August 14 >> reviewing the policy. Uh we did respond that it did not fit um into our policy. Um individuals uh submitted that requested a hearing. So we're here
tonight. They request a hearing, >> correct? >> Are they here tonight? >> I don't think so. Isn't this the same thing that happened with the the you can't remember this case by the way, but the first tax
abatement was on a hotel down by the ten and uh there was a hearing and they never showed up and so so I mean if you the feeling there was if you you're not willing to show up for your own
abatement process uh we can't vote for it and and so I'm concerned about the guidelines, but I'm also concerned about it if it's >> well typically with all the Bigalow and Lennon and a lot of our housing construction
the um requesters aren't generally here for that. Um but I but like the one with the hotel that was for a business and I think that was the general premise for why we um declined to approve that that
one several years ago and that was like six or seven years ago. Yeah. >> Um I think the question for today would be um so they're renovating the apartments. So is it a gray area or is
it a black and white? Uh it's not a new construction. So we should >> um Thank you. Um did these individuals are are uh are doing this uh project
were they cognizant of tax abatement prior to their um don't you know >> prior to >> prior to there being construction >> key issue I believe
they were >> and then policy. Yes. What I read in the policy also is that um they they can't have started construction which I believe was started
prior to the August. >> Can I ask one last question? If they have if they have um not adhered to our policies, are we are we just having this meeting to just But why are we having this meeting if they violated a policies?
>> We denied their request. They requested a hearing. >> Okay. >> Okay. That's unclear. I think >> Okay. Um, is there a motion to approve the tax abatement request from Wescott
Apartments LLC? Is there a motion to approve the tax abatement request from West Apartments LLC? I'm going to ask one more time. Is there a motion to approve the tax abatement request from Westcot Apartments LLC?
hearing none. The request um is denied based on lack of a motion. >> Thank you. All right, we're going to move on to our superintendent report with super
ensure that all indigenous perspectives are reflected in our classrooms and our relationships. the way we talk about our community history and identity and the also public schools and also want to acknowledge the work of our APAC uh committee as well. Uh, next I want to
just highlight homecoming and give students real examples of what Austin graduates go on to do in the world. Uh student voice at the table. Uh we officially launched our superintendent student advisory council this year which is made up of students
in 9th through 12th grade. uh we will meet monthly uh with me to discuss issues facing students from communication to mental health and access and opportunity and their voices uh which will directly shape our work and I look forward to making this uh
council an active part of the leadership process in the Austin public schools. Highlight this month comes from our Austin High School welding program. Uh Millie the Mail Pond Monster is a 12 to 16 foot metal sculpture designed and built by the students under the
direction of Brian Stanley uh and was can be installed over at the public library on the southshore of Mil Pond. Uh Millie will stand about 12 feet tall and is a public art ambassador uh and a visible reminder that Austin students just don't learn, they create, they
design, and they add value to our community. recognitions and celebrations. This month, uh, 31 students were inducted into the National Honor Society. Uh, returning senior members were also recognized and we also named Embroidery Students of the Month, celebrated and
celebrated Courtney Acriman, who earned recognition as Minnesota Rabbit Breeders Association Queen, uh, showcasing leadership beyond the school walls. Uh, we also want to congratulate all of these students as well. They represent character, service, initiative in
different and powerful ways. And thank you to our elementary parent teacher groups too for all of their support and this month's walkathon event. Paulson tennis courts are now complete and we will host a ribbon cutting ceremony tomorrow in an exhibition match at 400
p.m. if you can make it. And our Austin High School weight room is completed and the first uh workouts I believe took place today in that space and we are planning a very special opening event. uh in early November. So, more details to come on that.
Uh our access to technology and removing barriers continues in the Austin public schools. Uh through T-Mobile's project 10 million, uh eligible families in our district now have access to free hotspots and high-speed data for the next 5 years. I want to thank the Oral Foundation uh for their continued
support in removing barriers to learning and access to the internet as a basic academic need. And this partnerships helps ensures more students can stay connected and engaged. Our Packer cast and communication this month, if you haven't had a chance, we have two new Packer casts out there, one with Peggy
Young and Carla Conrad that are now live. These episodes are a great way to highlight the work happening across the district and help our families feel more connected. Uh just a reminder, with the changing of the leaves, snow is uh not
that far off. I want to remind everyone about our remote learning days as we move closer to the winter weather. Just a reminder that we do have these days in our system. Students uh will engage in instructional work through schooly or classroom uh packets. We have this
information on our website. So I encourage everyone uh to take a minute to review that while the weather is still nice outside. um talking about uh some work here that took place at WCOT a couple weeks ago uh was a documentary uh film project. Uh I
just want to make the board aware that the film crew recently used Wescott Field to record scenes from a documentary on Eric Atinson. Eric was a 1987 graduate who was paralyzed in the football game and went on to become a professional artist. Uh his story, if
you haven't followed it, is compelling and the film will premiere at the Key West International Film Festival later this year. Uh there was a late night of activity around the field during the filming and it was a positive reflection, I think, on our community's story. Uh October also includes several
important recognition moments in our district. Uh National Custodian and Maintenance Workers Recognition Day. It's National Principles Month um as well. And it's in we also had last week instructional coaches day. So I want to recognize all of our employees for the
work that they do each and every day in the Austin public schools. Nearly 400 students participated in the Austin Fire Department's fire culture contest uh with community partners like Pizza Ranch and several others that help celebrate the winners. And I want to congratulate
Daniel and Harrison for their work on their posters. and the event really reflects and makes Austin unique uh and working alongside our community partners. Looking ahead uh to November 4th, the district is bringing forward,
as you know, our referendum. We have two questions that are on the ballot. Uh one is for $54.7 million. Uh you know that these projects include HVAC, ADA accessibility, classroom repairs, mechanical upgrades, and second question
is all about renovating uh the middle school pool. So we have plenty of information sessions left before uh voting day on the 4th and encourage the public uh to attend those or school tours. And if you hadn't haven't had a chance yet, uh please explore the
accelerate.org or website is full of information about the challenges, the plan, the cost, and the process uh through this. And in closing, I just want to uh thank everyone. Austin Public Schools continues to move forward with purpose
through student leadership, community partnerships, and ongoing investment in access and safety and learning. And I want to thank everyone for their leadership and partnership as we continue this important work. That's my report. >> Does anybody have any questions?
Thank you. Next, we're going to invite up our student council advisor, Emily Hland, and our and are there any student council members with us? >> Not. >> Not tonight. Okay. So, it's our student council advisor, Emily, to give us a
recap on homecoming. they can also share a little bit about homecoming as well. But, um, I wanted to share with you just a little bit, first of all, a recap of our week. So, I have some pictures up here for you to see. Um, we have a lot that goes on during homecoming week. Our students, um, have
lots of different activities and events that they get to participate in. We have multiple pep fests throughout the week and leading up to it. We also have the distinguished alumni assembly and then coronation. The spam truck always comes on Tuesday for spam day. So that was the big hit again this year. We did move our
battle connects back to the fall. So uh last year we had tried to move it to the spring. We had um some student feedback that they would like to try that. um since we're very heavy in the front of the year with all the homecoming activities and then it's like well then what? Um so
we we moved it to the spring hoping that it could be like a year-long competition. There was a lot of feedback that people liked it but also we want our um traditional falls. So we brought it back to the fall this year. So we we got excited. We got to share with the students in an assembly that hey listen we've heard your
feedback. We're bringing it back to the fall. So, um, that their voices are represented in that. We have our bonfire. Um, we did we had an awesome lineup scheduled for the parade. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate this year. Um, so we'll be excited to next year. Um, hopefully
avoid the weather. We were able to avoid it for Battle of Connects, which that was a big deal. I think it started, we ended at 3:30 and it started raining at like 3:35. So, um, I couldn't keep it away from the break. Uh and then we had our homecoming celebration on Saturday evening.
So one of the big events that we brought in um probably over the last three to four years, the cross country team has run been running the football for many many years. um as long like I know it's been going on as long as I've worked here and it's kind of this thing that
they come up on the stage present the football and they tell us that they've run all these miles and students I think are kind of like I don't okay sure what we you know move on so about 3 to four years ago we brought in um a new event where we celebrated this team running football
into our um into the auditorium and then last year at the field as a way to really highlight what they're doing and the number of hours they're putting in. So they put in over three days, 70 miles as a team. Um they literally go to that school and they run um each day and I
know sometimes kids are confused about this, but it's actually happening from the school to here. They stop the van at a certain point. They load back up for the night and drive home and then they get back in the van in the morning and they go back to the spot they stop and they keep running. So um as a parent of multiple cross country kids, I can
assure you this is happening. Um and it's kind of aggressive. So, um, it's a big tradition, but again, we wanted to just continue to celebrate them as a team as well. And this year, we had the entire school coming out to line the streets and cheer them in. Uh, it's it's super exciting for that team, but I
think it also shows a lot of our school's spirit when our students are out there cheering them on as well. Um, additionally at that, one thing I forgot there, they then are coming into the closing pest and we do hear from all of our captains. Um, and then also all of our activities have have the opportunity to speak at the pepfest
throughout the week. So, we're hearing from every student group that chooses to be involved. And our kids do a great job um giving speeches about their activities and their sports that help us to understand what opportunities are available for students as well. So, Saturday night we have our
celebration and I um avoid calling it a dance anymore because it's a lot more than a dance. We know that at our um at our school not every kid wants to uh dance. um some of them probably don't think that is actually what dancing
looks like. So they are like that's not for me so I'm not going to come and uh we have but so we've added over the years and we just keep kind of growing this and talking to students and hearing feedback. Uh the dance still exists. Um we have yard games throughout the field.
So there's you know um connect giant jagga um yardsy like all kinds of activities that they can do. There are tabletop games for kids who just maybe want to sit and chat with their friends and just kind of do things at our table. And um we also this year added a movie.
And correct me if I'm wrong or the the Sandlot, right? Yeah, I was over at the dance. So um Sandlot was playing. We also had the ice cream truck come out and the taco truck. And it's just a huge huge celebration and we keep kind of going back to our students asking like what wasn't there that you want to see
so that we can continue to bring in more numbers with our student body. Um, we were just over 750 students in attendance this year. So, we're continuing to grow that attendance. Um, and that's a lot of fun. Did you guys have fun? No pressure. Okay. Um,
it was really great. So, then, uh, chaperones. This is also outstanding. So, usually you have to like beg. You maybe received an email from me begging a little bit. You probably like, you still did beg. Um, the students came up with that little video that we shared with you. And Cece, thanks. CeCe
responded. She's like, "Okay, fine. You got me." So, her for one at least. But we did have quite a few of our board members who were there at the at the celebration also at our balance connect, which is awesome. We love to have you out. Um, we had 19 chap rooms in total at that. Um, and I think like I used to
cry being like, I have to only have six and I don't know what to do. So, it's awesome. Teachers are excited to come off camera and they sign up. It's not their supervision. They're signing up as an extra. Um, oh, the new DJs. Um, Miss Carter and I
DJed this year, so we saved ourselves a little bit of money and that was exciting. We got moved twice. One of those was Carter's fault for sure. But we did we did hear feedback from the students and they it was interactive. Everybody like I got to be with Condoline. There was a lot of stuff
going on that um went well and we're also learning for the future. Um, we had the week before homecoming 15 kids from student council came in on a Wednesday evening. We got a pizza and we spent we started at 6:30 and I think our intention was to go until about 8:00 and
we were going through song list and creating a playlist on on Spotify to try and diversify the music to fit the needs of all of our students. And at 9:00 we had to be like, you have to go home now cuz we need to go. So, they came in on their own time. It was amazing. Um, so
you can see the kind of leadership our students are bringing as well. This I'm sorry this picture is so blurry. I'm not sure what happened there, but um I just want to shout out our student council for all that they do. They've put in a ton of work and uh they're always thinking of what what could be next?
What more can we do? How can we change this? How can we make better? And we currently have about I think last time I checked our roster was like 47 um students enrolled in student council. and we're seeing a lot of active um presence from our especially our sophomores and our freshmen which is
which is really cool to see. So um that's the wrap on homecoming. Are there any questions? >> I don't have a question. I just want to tell you um it's been a long time since I participated in a homecoming dance.
Um that was spectacular and the the students were so well behaved and everything ran exactly as it should have and I sat back and
watched and the amount of work that has to go into that week is tremendous and I cannot thank you enough as a mom and a grandma and a board member. and a a a citizen of Austin. Thank you.
That was really really well done. >> Awesome. A lot of that is our students and my activities director. We spent a lot of time together. >> I was able to help with battle connect. I'm not so sure that we should do school
chairs again. traditional. >> Wait, >> you said something else was aggressive. This is >> I don't remember what I said was, but I I I hear you. I'll take that feedback. I'll let the kids know what
>> it was intense. >> Okay, >> it was fun, but I I was worried for a few of our kids. [Music] >> Thank you. Thank you for all your work. Especially just thank all the kids for
all their work. I saw a lot of those kids running around all week doing all doing a lot of work and they made it all happen. >> And one thing I forgot to add in is we did do some collaboration with the special education department in a
different purposeful way this year and um it was really exciting. We had Paris volunteer to come out and provide support and um we had a great uh group of students who normally maybe wouldn't come to the dance attend and bring their ideas to the table as well. So that was
um another new piece that I forgot to have in there. So right thank you. >> I just wanted to thank you too for all the work and phenomenal activities that were planned. I got to
chaperone at the movie and when I when you first signed me up for that, I thought watching a movie during the homecoming dance. But I was really amazed. There were lots of kids that just kind of wanted to
relax and take a break away from everybody else. So, it worked out really good. And the most fun I had, Katie, was taking that projector thing down with you and sitting on it. You're rolling it up.
>> I didn't know about that. >> Oh, yeah. We had a blast. I just said, I hope nobody's filming this. >> Awesome. And thank you all who could attend. Hopefully we can get you all to attend next year as well. Um, it's fun. It's the night goes pretty quick and
actually our students stayed. We had more kids there at the end than we've ever had so far. Like this is the best dance I've seen in 14 years. Um and people were able to move around to the different activities. So feel free to come out um next year. We love you. I will be sending more invites.
>> Thank you so much for coming. All right. Our next speaker is going to be providing an overview of our hometown food security backpack program. So, we're going to welcome um to uh to the
podium Valerie Folliver and Kum Salis Ramirez from May. >> Welcome. >> Thank you. Um thank you guys for inviting us and welcoming us to come tonight. Um as you mentioned, I'm
Valerie Palver. I am the program coordinator with United Way for the backpack program in our county. Um, our program provides free nutritious food and snacks to students who might otherwise go hungry over the weekends throughout the school year. Um, our
mission is simple. No child should go hungry. We want every student to come back to school on Monday to read, ready to learn, focus, and succeed. Um, program overview. We started back in 2013. Um we serve all of Austin public schools
and Pachelli schools and we do also serve outer Mau County schools. So all the schools located in Mar County, we work with a group in Grand Meadow and they're able to help us distribute to those outer locations. Um enrollment is easy. We started a
couple years ago doing an online enrollment for families and um teachers and other staff to help if they recognize students in need, they can go right online um and then notify families um that the child has been enrolled
receiving a bag. So we went from paper copies to a more convenient which has been received very very well. Um currently our program is serving over 600 students each week. As of today, we have a pack and we are at 608 students
just for Austin schools. Um, and that's prek through 8th grade. Um, and so it's been gradually increasing. We started at about in September about 450 and now we're in the mid October
that we, you know, increased that much. So the end by the end of May we're looking at about 26,000 food bags that will be served by the end of May. Um, and we do one extra bags over Christmas break because there's two weeks we give two bags so that they have a little bit
of extra food during that time off. Um, the community partnerships. So, Austin Public Schools staff, teachers, administrators, um, we appreciate all of your help with this because we couldn't do that um, without you guys. Um, the
success coaches make it really, really helpful for us. They're the ones who help distribute each week. um teachers and such help identify those students who are getting those bags. Um also community volunteers. So as I said, today we have a pack. We have um community groups that come in and every
other week we have students that join us. So they're able to get those assurance hours by coming in and packing for that hour and a half on Mondays. Um usually we have about 15 to 18 kiddos and there's a waiting list each week. So which is great to see and it's a lot of
repetitive kiddos. So then when they come in, they know exactly what they're doing. They get to work. Um and there's no questions asked. They don't have to constantly repeat the task at hand. So which is super super helpful. Um and local partners such as Hormetal um Austin Spires is great. We work with
them in their building um to have a great space to be able to pack those bags. Um we also look for volunteers each week. So anybody in the community is welcome to join those groups with students with um private groups. Um, and you can sign up on the online platform,
get connected through the United Way, which car is going to talk a little bit about, but like I said, it goes every Monday throughout the entire school year that we need volunteers to not only pack those bags, but also distribute them to the schools so that we can get them um
in the classrooms, especially like this week because they'll be going out tomorrow. It's a short week, so it's come in, pack them, they go out, they'll be delivered tomorrow. Um, so volunteers are always needed. Um, any questions for me on the program?
I'll turn it over to Karm. She'll talk a little bit about how to get signed up and more on the get connected. Bring this a little bit down. Hi everybody. My name is K with United Way County and I am the community impact coordinator. Um we are here today to
talk to you as Valerie mentioned about the value of the programming that we have at United Way and how that benefits the students at APS. Um so Valerie mentioned the backpack program but um she also mentioned the um get connected. So get connected is our online volunteer
platform where we have the students at APS uh volunteering. It is the platform that the students use to track the volunteer hours uh for the awesome assurance scholarship. Um this has been a really great partnership that we've been able to build over the years.
Um we start with um introducing the students um to eighth graders to get connected, getting them on um online, getting their accounts. We work with Ellis and it has been wonderful to be able to go into the classrooms, work with the staff to be able to get them
their get connected account so that by the time they leave 8th grade, they are able to start volunteering. Um which has been wonderful to be able to see that. um as we started doing this um you know going into the eighth grade classrooms that um in the summertime we have around
50 100 um of these eighth graders who are now incoming freshmen uh volunteering and um we because of that we started something called um student service week where we allow the students to be able to go out and volunteer
during the summer. We know that um for a lot of students it is very hard for them to volunteer during the school year because school were various reasons but we dedicate a whole week over the summer in June for them to be able to go out and to volunteer. Um we see that u the
freshmen the incoming freshmen are the the highest of the students who volunteer for for this week during this week. Um, and then we have the seniors who are actively trying to, you know, complete their 50-hour volunteer service. Um, and then we have, um, the sophomores who are like, "Okay, I need
to complete my hours. I got to get this done." And then the last group of, um, of volunteers are typically our juniors. They're like, "Ah, it's been a year, so I'm not going to volunteer that much." But, um, we appreciate um the volunteerism that they have shown um
through Get Connected. Um, since we started Get Connected in 2018, we've been able to um, we have around we posted around 900 volunteer opportunities. So, every year there's about 100 spots, 150 spots where
students can go out and volunteer, different volunteer opportunities. So, when students say, "I don't have anything to do," tell them to check out Get Connected because there is always something for them to do to be able to benefit the community. Um and so we know
that only um well we know that the nonprofit organizations that are on get connected um they're very grateful for the support that you know they get um the students are able to come in and give back. Um and for a lot of them um sometimes they have no idea about the
organizations what's out there in the community but once they start checking out get connected they're able to see uh the difference that they can make. Um and so that is one um value that at United Way we have through uh our get connected platform that um we are able
to provide. My second thing that I wanted to touch base on today is our success closet. So here at um Austin High School you have the packer pantry um which serves the the Austin High School students. But what about um you
know the middle school? What about the younger the elementary teacher or what about the preschoolers? That is where United Way Success Closet comes in. Um we serve students who are in the ages of 3 to 18 and those under special circumstances. Um, so we've seen where
there's been a couple fires, um, or students, um, you know, families have been involved in fires and so we've been able to work together to be able to help them, whether it's items, we've been able to support them. Um, our success closet also works well
with the packer pantry. um if there's an item that the packer pantry doesn't need uh or doesn't have that we are able to step in and provide that item. Um we have been able to be part of this community to be um able to provide winter wear and personal care items to
students who are in need. We understand that um for a lot of students having those basic necessities um is very important and oftentimes it can affect the way that you know they go to school, the way that they learn and so making sure that they have toothpaste,
toothbrushes, a comb, you know, a warm jacket um is has been very valuable to be able to see. Um last school year we were able to provide over 400 items to students um in um APS to over 400
students. Um that means that we gave around 280 coats um to students and we gave around a thousand uh winter wear items such as hat, gloves, snow pants, scarves. Um so that the way that so the way that we do our um our success closet
is that there's two ways. The first way is that staff can request uh through us. They go on our our website, they can submit a request and we are able to get that item to the student. We know that for a lot of students um transportation
is a barrier. We know that um their parents might not be able to, you know, get them to our office to be able to get that item either because transportation or maybe because they're just, you know, a little worried, a little scared. So um we are able to bring that item. So we
have a lot of staff um at APS. We have success coaches, nurses, um administration, secretaries who request these items and then we have a group of volunteers who package the item and then they'll drop it off um at the schools. Um there are red bags. Sometimes they
confuse us with um like a door dash or something like that. It's we bring to the student who would kind of like this door dash. Um and so um we have been very grateful that um the staff feels comfortable to request from United Way
so that we can deliver that item to the student. Um the second way is that um they can the staff can refer the families to our office. We have um our big um success closet um where families are able to come in and try things on.
Um we know that that's very important because assumptions fit and color um you know it goes a long way. So families are able to come in to the um to our office to try things on um and so with the goal of closet is to make sure that students
look um they feel safe. Um they feel ready to learn and so that is something that at United Way we uh we understand the importance of supporting schools um here in Austin. And so that is how we're doing um and what we're trying to do to
make sure that we are um making sure that they're ready to learn. Um so thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you so much for coming and sharing about um both the backpack program and um United Way, which is
success closet. We we value the the partnership that we we have with you guys. Um, it t literally takes a village to make all of this work. So, thank you. >> Yeah. Any questions either for Valerie from the backpack program or for myself?
Um, otherwise, we'll continue doing the good work. >> Can I just Can I can I just make an observation um couple weeks ago, I think there was a video that came out and uh Mr. and and Christy Beckman talked about um the
diversity in Austin public schools as a result of the horal strike back several years ago. And um and then a couple weeks ago out at the college there was a uh a program I think it was called Voices in Austin where uh Jeffrey Kryer
who was a a judge in town talked about his journey and he pinpointed a certain point in time where Austin became a welcoming committee and there were a number of visionary people who recognized that Austin was changing and that uh we needed to change as a
community. And then uh five or six uh immigrants spoke about their journey and what a welcoming community Austin is. And you are a perfect example of that is that welcoming uh and providing things
for people in need and uh it's just a beautiful story that you told and it's uh it's it's it's unique to Austin and thank you very much for both you what you do. >> Thank you. So, we definitely see a lot of incoming families in our closet. Um,
a lot of families who are either just either leaving a situation and that's why, you know, they're they ended up here in Austin or they're coming from a different country, they're coming from a different state. Um, and so we've been able to make sure that we have some of those basic necessities on hand uh to
make sure that we are a welcoming community. Um, one thing that I keep talking about is how we have families who are coming from um, the refugees are coming from a different country, a warm country. And so when they come here, um, they experience the cold. And so
suddenly their hands are super dry. And so we make sure at the closet, in our success closet, you have on hand lotion, but not that smelly lotion, like lotion that is really good for you. um because we know that um for a lot of families, a
lot of newcomers um this is, you know, everything is everything is new. So to make sure that they have those tools um so they're able to be successful in the community is very important. Um so thank you. >> Does anybody have any boards? just going to update apex meeting.
Um the dynamic duo of the dual page presentations were at the apex meeting. So um Dr. Michelle Paige is a licensed
therapist and she has now a nonprofit organization that she started with ALA and that ALA stands for empowerment, linked connections,
lifelong learning and achievement. um and it's just got a phenomenal focus um supporting emerging adults in higher education. Um she said it's focused in Austin right now but hopes to expand um
in the future. So it's young women uh 18 to 22 who are pursuing higher education at Riverland right now. So with Ellis a bridge between research and real world student needs. Um and then
Dr. Joey Page uh gave a presentation about Accelerate Austin. So our November 4th refer referendum. Um, I also wanted to thank everybody who
um organized that distinguished alumni activities and the dinner. I was able to attend the dinner. Um, and a special shout out to Jenny Lindberg who's with
the alumni association. She did a great job um organizing Anybody else? >> Uh yeah, I'm going to talk a little bit about athletics. Um and I don't like singling any particular sport out
because I can't I like them all. I like to go to sports. But last Thursday night at um at Packer Gym, the volleyball team played Otana and fans, they travel pretty well. So that
crowd was pretty pretty hefty and it was pretty spirited and our student body was uh awesome. Uh they stayed till well they stayed longer than I did. Let me tell you that. But they were very positive and cheered uh treated at the
concession stand and it was really a positive experience and let me tell you just from a an observer town had a pretty athletic team. had some good whether they're called strikers or
hitters I don't know but big people up front who can hammer the ball probably 80 miles an hour uh into the floor and uh Austin rose to the challenge those arms are up they were blocking shots uh there was a girl I think it's is it
labero is that what it's called >> um she's getting down there and and then she alone but these girls in the back were were putting their hands down and and and uh Um, uh, what's that term called? >> Dig.
>> Dig. Okay, they're digging. As a matter of fact, uh, one of the diggers just got a,000 dig out of some walls. It was absolutely incredible. Imagine digging out 1,000 shots like that. It's unbelievable. But I just have to give
credit. The first uh the first set, I guess it's called. Boy, I was looking pretty good. Second set, Austin came back and the energy in that crowd was just unbelievable and they end up losing in four, but they played right till the very end and um it
just it's just a testament to to Austin P sports and enthusiasm and like Dr. said earlier today, education does not always equal curriculum and a lot of these things you can't put up on a whiteboard, the chart, but it's those um
those um intrinsic things that are that really awesome. So, uh, AD Carter, uh, my hats off to the sports programs and it was a great night. And, um, I'd like to say one more thing. Um, uh, I I did,
uh, write two resolutions and I had the board approve those resolutions. One had to do with unemployment insurance made by schools. I believe, if I'm not mistaken, Todd, you said it would cost us about $150,000 a year if the money evaporated for the
unemployment insurance. >> About 350. >> 350. Okay. I was off. Uh the resolution says asked that the state of Minnesota either 100% pays that or that the program be eliminated. and the uh board
of directors of the school association approved that for passage. We're also in with um Inenver Grove Heights. Second resolution, if you remember, uh called for a committee to come together and try to uh um
make it more equitable between school districts on board pay. The problem with that is that the schoolboard association does not believe that school districts should have equity on teacher pay. In other words, if you're up in a Minnesota, you shouldn't
be making the same thing. It should be um determined by local control. Um, as a result, this the board recommended that not be passed, but being a starter Bohemian, I'm going to
bring it forward at the delegate assembly anyway, and I'm going to try to convince the delegates to um vote otherwise. So, those are two resolutions. One was approved, one was not approved. Uh I don't know if I'll be elected in the delegate assembly, but
hopefully uh at least the u the uh the one on unemployment insurance will be debated. So okay, thank you very much. Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> I just want to um remind folks to get
out and vote if you haven't already. And um I feel really strongly um that that people need to know that this board believes that um Austin Public Schools
are excellent stewards of um the money that we're being entrusted and um that this is a no frills ask. this is to keep our facilities in the shape that we need
them to be to educate our kids. And so, um, I'm encouraging all to vote, especially um, and if you're able to to vote yes so that we can be, um, we can continue to provide the facilities you
need for everyday usage in the district. So, I'm going to wrap you guys I was just going to say I'm going to wrap it up. Um last Friday Peggy and I um had the opportunity to teach the factor profile
seminar classes always. So we got to um teach all the ninth graders all every single one of them in one day. It was great. We talked about strength finders and um using your strengths and um it was a lot
of fun to just really connect with the kids and uh we had them all writing writing with their their dominant hand and talking about how you don't have to think about that because it's just it's part of who you are. But then when you
try to switch hands and do it over here is like it feels foreign. So that helped us to really um have a fun way to fun and easy way to um kind of demonstrate why why using your strengths is so
important. So thank you to the Packer Profile classes for inviting us and hopefully they'll invite us back. [Music] >> I'm getting back.
>> All right. Um, next we're going to hear from our student representatives u with um Michael and Sarah. Who's up first? Lydia Superintendent Page Chair Chairperson D.
Sorry. 72K to help 30 graduating student seniors in taking their next step to higher education. And also Burbland Community College has a new Zoom room so for hybrid learning and it's a positive development and it helps those who are
learning both in person and online. And then when we look around our city, we're seeing many instructor updates that should benefit families and students alike, including improvements at the newly open kayak and canoe access at Orchid's Creek. And although the tennis season
has ended, the West the West tennis courts are finally being opened up and we are having our cutting ceremony tomorrow at 400 p.m. So, if you guys are interested, I would recommend you guys come out and help. Come out and watch. And the girls tennis team will be the first people to play on the new updated
courts. Um, this coming Saturday, the debate team actually traveled to a competition at Lakeville and second competition of the day and I was among one of those and I ended up finally which was nice. And I would also like to
send my congratulations to Anna Walsh for her achievement of a thousand digs at the last volleyball game. And I would like to extend my thanks to Mrs. Carter, Miss Helwin, all the members of the board and everyone who was um involved student council as well involved in the
creation of homecoming. Uh it was really fun as a student and I really enjoyed it and I thank you guys all for the hard work you guys do. I would also like to thank uh Don Leathers for um his speech at the National Honor Society induction. It was very meaningful and I'm excited
to see that all the work that National Honor Society will do at EHS. And I would just like to give a thanks to all the members for everything and all the staff and students here at H here at AHS for all the things that you guys do to make schools a place where students
succeed. Thank you. Any questions for you? Is National Honor Society going to be trick-or-treating for >> Yeah. National food or school supplies? >> Uh I think for food like cans. So national art is on the 31st uh from like
4 to 6 p.m. uh some of the students will be like going out to different neighborhood different neighborhoods neighborhoods and collecting cans. So if you guys have any donate I would highly suggest you're coming awesome.
>> Anybody else? >> All those nice things you said you're hired. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. [Music] Superintendent Page, chair person, and members of the school board. To start, the packer pantry has been hard at work
and there's now a new program for students to order food. This has gone very well and been very well received by students. The packer pantry this year is going through some changes with former CEO students running the pantry with Miss Hublin and the ordering process looks a little different as students can
now be more selective in what items they take and it gets packed up for them and handed to them. This should be a good lasting program with Miss Helen and the former CEO students to continue to learn about business as we go out into the community, look for grants, funding,
different sorts of opportunities to enhance our experience as future business owners or employees and it should work well with the program to continue to have it longlasting success. Next, I'd like to highlight the welding program. Students have been working hard
on a special project for the community. The class designed and built a custom metal sculpture millie for Mil Pond to be seen locally, showing how hands-on learning can directly support and enhance the Austin community and surrounding areas. This project not only helped take students practice their
trade skills, but also highlighted the value of technical education. The other thing I'd like to highlight with this is Mr. Stanley's commitment to making that class something where students can learn, but also put their skills to use. Mr. Understandably, I've never taken this class, but I've taken trailers there and equipment there that I needed
to work on where he said students work on it with him helping and also he's showed students how to make grills and other practical things. So, I'd like to just thank Mr. Stanley and highlight him for all the hard work he puts into that program.
Finally, I'd like to talk about sports wrapping up and how section sports are starting. I wish all of our sports teams luck. I'd like to highlight Addison while she as well on her thousand days and I wish luck to all the sports teams that are going to be competing in sections coming up. It's been a busy busy and exciting time for the student
body full of engagement, teamwork and community involvement. Thank you guys so much. This concludes the second half. Any questions? >> This could this could be for you or maybe Dr. Paige. Will there be a ceremony for for Millie?
And like before >> this Thursday at the library >> at 4:00 Millie is 4:00 this Thursday. Did I miss that? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Any other questions? >> Not a question, but thanks for sharing all of that and thanks for shouting out Mr. Stanley's welding program because that's I I feel like that his class is one that that if you get into it, you're
lucky. >> Yeah. >> To get in there. >> I would say Stanley and Mr. Gears in the auto department always do a great job of making not only are they teaching students, but it's a really welcoming environment where like personally I have a lot of equipment with my business and they're always super willing to go the
extra mile to help me out while teaching students learning and practical skills. Awesome. That's great. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> All right. And I get a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda.
>> So motion by Cece and a second by Dan. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> Anybody opposed? Motion passes. Right. Our next two
agenda items are um Minnesota State High School League forms A and B. Are they they're different? >> Yeah. Okay. With activities director, we'll start with for
chair, Dr. Paige, members of the board. Um thank you for having me this evening. I'm here for the annual request um and approval for signature for the Minnesota State High School Week form A um MSHSL
form A percentage of participants who qualify for ED benefits or what's previously called free and reduced lunch. Um, so the process is we apply and then all the member schools that qualify and then they divvy up that a lotment and we get
those resources, we put them back into the fund for kids with hardships. We don't want, you know, the financial aspect of activities to be a barrier so we have that fund to be able to help those who need with participation fees. >> Can I get a motion?
Can I get a motion to approve the Minnesota State High School League form A? >> So move. >> Motion by Bob, second by Carol. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. Anybody opposed? Motion passes. On to
form B. Form B is a little different. Um so this is also available to all member schools. this grant, if awarded, um it's up to $5,000 you can apply for for specific areas like health and safety,
leadership initiatives, and transportation that reduces barriers to participation. Um so this year, uh Don, your story just kind of on volleyball and it kind of seged into the book that I've chosen. So, I ordered this, read
it, and figured it'll be a great one for all of our coaches, hopefully, um, head coaches and assistants. Um, it's just called Chasing Influence. It's, um, a book just on transformational coaching. I think, um, kind of in the world of where we're at with club sports versus
high school athletics, people forget that we are an educational based, you know, system. And so remember 97% of kids do not their their careers in athletics and in high school. So what we teach is more just a win at all cost. It
is you know we're we're growing humans and we are making you know preparing them to go make a difference in the world. And so this um this book is really it's not like steps on how to do anything. It takes 21 core values and it
kind of in the beginning of the chapter it just points out some different ways where you might spite where you might spot um some of these in your teams and then there's a story you know based athletic based story that goes along with it and then um at the end there's a
lesson that goes along with it. So, I think it would be just really good whether it's within their own programs or whether it's something we do as a whole department just something to kind of refresh. You know, all of our teams right now we're at different spots. Some are at the peak, some are at the pit,
some are in the middle. You know, um I think of girls soccer we're going to graduate 12 seniors and so next year's going to look really different than this year looked. And so it's just I think continuing to also motivate our coaches because they're the ones that show up
every day. They put the time in. You know, you might see a record, but there's so much that goes on behind the scenes than what you get to see on a Friday night or a Tuesday night. It's we're we're building humans and it takes a lot of work. And so I just I think
coaches need a little bit of motivation to to keep it going sometimes. >> Any questions? Do we typically uh receive these grants? >> Yeah, either partially funded or fully funded. The form A, like I said, uh depends on how many schools apply for
these funds and they allocate equally based on um the number of schools. And then form B. Last year we did it and I was able to provide two portable AEDs to travel with our teams like golf or cross country where they don't have immediate
access. So now they have one on their person for practice or whatever. Um and we've done stuff I think a couple years ago transportation funding to take our kids up to the Minnesota State High School League uh together conference, the student conference. So yeah, when
they come out, I think if you are kind of silly not to take advantage of, you know, the stuff that's for kids and can make our programs better. >> All right. Can I get a motion to approve the Minnesota State High School?
>> I'll make that motion. >> Motion by Don, second by Dan. Further discussion. >> Okay. It's interesting you mentioned that about that book that you're talking about. The other day at the Minneapolis Tribute, there was an article about youth football in the Metro and they're
going away from keeping score. They're going away from standings. They're going away from rankings. They're not having playoffs. They're just playing regular season and it's really helped the high schools. However, there are some people that say it doesn't serve the elite athletes the
way it should. and I'm on the side of the student athlete because like you said most student athletes that's it high school sports and that's great. >> So thank you for doing that. >> I got a motion then a second right?
>> Yes. All right. Thank you. All those in favor. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. Thanks for sharing that. I hope all that goes well. >> All right. Our next agenda item is uh the first of two updates. Uh we're going
to hear from our substitute task force uh with speakers Joe Roerson and Lee [Music] person superintendent Paige members of the board. We're delighted to be here to share on behalf of our substitute task
force um which is made up of 34 members. Um I'm Jill Roly. I'm the princ and also one of the lucky facilitators on this task force. >> I'm Amanda Lee and I'm a fourth grade teacher at Sar facilitator.
and Derek Herson, principal at South Elementary and co-f facilitator and really just supporting everyone couldn't do it without you guys. All right, so um just to give you a brief update uh we started working with this
group and we started with the why why it matters. We had a diverse group of individuals that have dedicated time to be with us and so uh we asked them why why are we here? And when we got the the why from um these individuals, we
centered on three trends. Um staff morale and student learning that was being impacted by sub shortages. Uh instructional time disrupted when coverage was inconsistent. And really that this is important. It aligns with um with our district vision and and it
aligns with us working to strive for a safe, supportive, and consistent learning environment. So, as you can only imagine, we have three really fun facilitators. And so, we design activities to engage our membership. And so, this is just, you
know, a few of the activities we've created to to make this process collaborative. Donnie, you've been in a few meetings. So, you've been aware Joey's been there too on all our meetings. And so, we've developed activities in which we get a good spread of the voices in the room. Um, we've met
three times starting in late July. um and actually met with them most recently to to create this board this board presentation so that all members are are participating. Gus is going to tell you a little bit about the outcomes of all that collaborative work.
>> So, as we continued our our conversations into what was important and what we wanted the focus of the task force to be, um as Jill mentioned, there were some themes that emerged pretty quickly in that discussion. um and lots of similarities even though the
membership of our group is so diverse. And so the first big thing that that came through which I think is awesome is that um when we have sub shortages or we have we struggle to cover our positions in the district on the day-to-day basis that um it impacts staff and students um
prep time can sometimes be lost. There's additional anxiety and stress that goes along with that that just interrupts what we're trying to do each day. Um we also found that substitutes um how they feel is really important in terms of whether we retain them or not. So do
they feel prepared? Do they feel like they're important that they're a part of the team? And um are they included? Are they are they a part of the the family the building that they're working in on that day? Um, also one thing that was was talked a lot about is that when we are unable to get sub coverages, we
still need to cover classrooms. And sometimes that means that we're pulling support staff that typically are um supporting students in a more intensive role that can't do that because they need to cover a traditional classroom. Um, also one thing that um, our subs
talked a lot about was that when they go from building to building, sometimes things can be different or even teacher to teacher in the same building. And so the ability for us to look at what sub plan should be like, what subs want in a sub plan so that they feel they can do the job to the best of their ability um
was really really important. And um the other theme that that came up was that as time goes on, we need to continue to recruit more people into that sub pool and started talking about exploring what are some ways that we can we can build that sub pool subs that we already have in the pool from lead.
>> Hey guys. >> Yeah. Yeah. Can I just ask are there I'm assuming there's subs represented on your committee? >> Absolutely. We have um community members, we have um administrators, par profofessionals, substitute teachers, classroom teachers. It's a really great
spread. Um and there are a lot of voices at the table. >> Great. Thanks. >> Yep. So then we took those themes and um asked the members of our committee to um to meet in um in groups to look at what those priorities were. And then we asked
them to pick and try to really focus in on what are some things that as a task force we can we can tackle that we can have an impact on that will help put a dent into this um problem of sub sub coverage. So the the issues that really
floated to the top of that after discussion and voting were um number one the the issue that eman staff are are pulled for coverage. So that idea that those those staff that are doing some intensive services with kids during the school day every day they miss is a day
of loss specialized instructions for for students that really need it. Um second top priority issue was the um just the subs not being enough subs to cover the number of openings on any given day. And so um kind of leading to that first
priority. And then last is that um substitutes sometimes are feeling undervalued and underprepared and we know that that is um a key factor of subs choosing not to continue subbing. And so, um, as we move kind of into the
next phase of our group's task force work, these are the priorities that we're really going to be focused in. All right. So, it has been a pleasure to be a part of this task force and the members of this group have actively contributed to this work. So our next
steps are as we prepare for our future meetings, our task force will be exploring practical solutions to the ongoing challenge of substitute shortages in our schools. This work will include reflection on both short-term strategies to address immediate needs
and longerterm approaches to improve sustainability. The goal is to bring forward creative, actionable solutions that can be shared with you, the school board. And our substitute task force is committed to creating equitable, sustainable, and effective solutions for
substitute coverage by focusing on top priorities, we aim to support staff, strengthen student learning, and retain substitutes through positive experiences. So it um wow we look forward to sharing the progress of this important with you at our next update
which will be in February. >> Are there any questions? >> Do you meet every month? >> It's approximately monthly. So like just as an example, we didn't meet in October um because at our last meeting we were prepping for this this meeting and then we'll meet again in November and debrief
and uh come back to those next steps and actionable items that we can come back to the school board with later in the year. >> Thank you for all your work. >> Yeah, it's it's been really fun and eye opening. Yeah, it's a real issue and
if you guys can come up with any kind of solution to provide some relief, I think that would be >> just based off of our work and conversation so far. I firmly believe that we will be able to come through with some actionable solutions. There's a lot of really just like great ideas coming.
>> Yeah. And it's truly everyone too. Like I mean we're we're here representing the entire group. So we're just sharing um we get the fun job to facilitate and like I say harness all the voices but right now we were we didn't meet in October but our group is now going out
researching we you know some of them we provided articles but some are just >> we gave them homework >> yeah we did but they're prepared um and they're excited to come back and explore solutions but or just creative next steps to to help strengthen our system. So, I mean it really is the work of the
entire task force. We're we're just delivering a message today. I was giving a little shout out for task force if you're watching. But anyway, >> quick quick question over here, too. I have to think a lot of districts are probably facing similar challenges, right? >> Across the nation, >> right? So, I mean, it's not unique to
southern Minnesota. It's not unique to Minnesota at all. What's what makes Austin different? What if I'm a a sub in the area? I'm qualified to do that type of work. Why would I choose to come sub in Austin versus another district in the
community? Is that being discussed as far as how we recruit, retain, attract new people to sub in the district or >> Yeah, >> I'm assuming other districts in our area probably facing the same shortages. So, is there any learnings that we can take from those districts too? And often we
talked about schools or >> Yeah, that's exactly what we're doing for homework too. is looking at like outside of our walls, what are other people doing to try to, you know, resolve this? Um, to go back to your initial question about what makes Austin different. Um, again, having the
different voices on that task force is really important because we're hearing from the people that are directly involved in the work about what makes them come back each and every time. And so, um, you know, there's some some macro pieces that are really important.
Things like pay, things like training, things like access to technology that are, you know, bigger system, uh, things that maybe we can implement or look at to make things better um, and increase that substitute pool. But there's also little things that we can do um in our
buildings and in our classrooms and like immediately to make it so that people feel like they're included and that they're prepared each day. Um we've had conversations about things like um if a if a a third grade teacher is out that day and there's a substitute, is there a
third grade teacher that can go and check in on the substitute across the hall and say, "Hey, we're glad you're here. Do you need anything?" And we're hearing that those little things can make really big impacts on people deciding to to come back again. And so I think we can take again these big system things and all the little things and we
can have some shared responsibility in making this work and making it better. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, you bet. >> How many substitute teachers do we have in school now? That's a great
>> 70 >> 70 >> is on our task force as well. >> Yeah. [Music] >> Is that districtwide or is that >> per school? >> District wide. >> So we have 70 now. So what would be like
an optimal number? Again, I'm gonna ask you because I remember you telling me well just the percentage of coverage on average like so of the absences about how many on percentage on I feel like you brought that stat to us in one of the meetings.
>> I feel less I know 100% of >> Yeah, I think that um so every day kind of varies, right? It's it's every how we have there's a lot of different things in play right now. Um we have the emergency short call sub. So that's
helping out a little bit where they're bringing some paras um some paras that are qualified within the district and sub in the classroom. Um we have our 70 subs but then we're also dealing with long-term absences. So these subs are
are um going into long-term assignments. So that's taking them out of the daily sub pool. Um but I think that you know 70% coverage um throughout the all classes that are
in in the system is about is about right about 70% get filled every day. So could we use more subs? Definitely yes. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Please convey to your your
team our gratitude for the hard work that they are doing and we look forward to hearing back in. >> Thank you. >> I like the colors. >> I am not an animal. >> All right, we're going to move on to our
second task force update um on attendance with speakers Blake Henley, Jessica, and Rebecca. Good evening, chairperson, superintendent page, members of the board. My name is Blake Henley, principal at Bay Elementary, and I have the privilege to uh co-lead the
attendance task force with the ladies behind it that will introduce themselves shortly as we take a look at our strategic plan and our mission to inspire, empower, accelerate, vision, preparing all learners to make a difference in the world and our core values. One of the things that we ask
our group to really lean into with this is one to be a learner because we have to do a lot of learning around attendance and um why maybe they're not coming but also then learning about what do other districts do uh and have in place for it but then also with that to
be a contributor to that group as well as we have a a great variety of people that uh come to our monthly meetings to help us out. Hi, I'm Rebecca Dio. I'm a teacher and also co-leading um this um for students
that desire daily experiences to really and really help prepare students for the future by just making sure they have those soft skills to be able to attend, get up, um and make sure that they know what they're coming to is made for them and enjoyable.
Hi, my name is Jessica Kabine. I'm the principal of alternative programming and I get to talk a little bit about families. And one of the fun parts about being on this committee is I think it represents um current, former, and future families. A lot of our teachers and people on the committee have had children go through the system. And so
we're really invested in that. When we think about families, we want to really think about that partnership specifically around attendance. I'm really grateful Jen Law has been able to connect us with some preschool collaboratives. The counties reached out Austin aspired. So we really are trying to branch out and build other resources
to really help support all families and feeling seard and valued within this work and helping to support the movement forward and getting that consistent attendance and and then staff. And it's been really exciting to be a part of this and watch the work and we really want to continue to work in a district that's willing to adapt and change when
necessary. And I think we all see not just here in Austin but nationally a need for change in attendance and really rethinking things. And um Blake said it before, but it's been really wonderful to partner with these two. Uh our Thursday meetings are pretty fun and engaging when we start to plan our our
lessons and getting ready for the group and getting that feedback. So, um ultimately that really goes back to what ought to be and those desired daily experiences and how like really spoke to those core values and we take a lot of time in thinking about that. So that's just even a preview of what we do at every meeting is really ground ourselves
in our strategic priorities and that desired daily experience to keep that on the forefront as we move the work forward. So speaking of the work and I believe everybody in their board packet got something that we have been working on up until this last meeting which was really working on figuring out our
guiding change document. And so for those of you watching along at home, I'm just going to read briefly the context and reality that got us to our task force. In the spring of 2025, the Austin Education Association, Austin Principal Association, and district leadership agreed upon the need for a deeper examination of student absences and
created an attendance task force to address this issue. This task force has been charged with reviewing policy, procedure, attendance data, and evidence-based practices from across Minnesota and the nation. The formation of this group represents the growing recognition that attendance is not just a compliance metric, but a foundational
element of student success, engagement, and belonging. While the district has systems in place to monitor and respond to absenteeism, persistent concerns remain about chronic absenteeism rates, disproportionality among student groups, and the impact of absences on academic and social emotional outcomes.
Ultimately, the work of this task force will be guided by the following question. How can we as a district strengthen supports, systems, and partnerships to increase student attendance in ways that are equitable, sustainable, and student centered? And so this is a draft of what we've been working on within our focus groups. And
then um last month Rebecca or last week or two really guided us into the next steps. So I'm let Rebecca take it from here. All right. Uh next we used the summary of key actions. It really took the whole guide book all into just one piece to
look at. So as you can see down the left side there are five different um things that we need to make sure we're including when we're researching this. And then there are key actions for different steps. So, as you're looking in this document too and as we discussed as a group, um we made five different
groups that really looked at each each row and then we had to decide, you know, where are we at now for key actions because a lot of the key actions actually um are in different levels. We have to make sure we're um talking about elementary, middle, high school levels
and all the other staff and students that we have. And then making sure that we're trying to find where we're at, where we can start. And we just started brainstorming with our group on kind of what key actions to focus on and what to dive into more next time.
>> So with each of our meetings, um, we have a closing exit ticket. So most recently the one was to give our members an opportunity to tell you guys where they have been putting a lot of their work in. So some of the themes that they pulled out from this and you'll see this
in the next slide as well is that the focus is really getting uh an aligned system across the whole district so that as we have students that move or staff that move across the system, our process is the same. Going into the positive learning conditions, uh we've talked a
lot about how we engage families and other community partnerships to help improve student attendance, cultural awareness, and equity along with uh continuing those partnerships with other local organizations as well. And so as we look to the upcoming months, some of
the the focus steps of what we are doing is that working towards that unified system and that was two slides ago uh that Rebecca had pre uh presented on as well along with that seamless student transition that as they move whether it's moving from elementary to elementary or as they go up through the
grades from building to building that we have a defined system and process for supporting student attendance. again the culturally responsive practices that we're being inclusive with uh what we do, coherent policies and the communication process. We talked a lot
about how our families receive communication and how are we meeting their needs, but we also need their voice at the table to tell us uh what works with them. But then along with all of that is we got to have support and training for everybody across the system with uh what our process and practice uh
becomes when it becomes that. So as we look at our next steps uh upcoming meetings November 20th uh 3:30 to 4:45 where we have a speaker uh that is going to present and has done a lot of research around rethinking chronic
absenteeism and we're going to do some learning from them and then coming out of that meeting share back our learnings and our findings in our December meeting that's going to guide our next several months uh of this any questions?
>> I don't have a question, but I I want to compliment um at the district level and I've noticed at the elementary level, reading through your monthly notes and reading through your newsletters that
there's specific attention paid to um absenteeism at the elementary level. And I think that is such a good idea to start that early to celebrate kids that get to school, understanding that in
most cases they don't have that responsibility, but still letting them know that that them being there is valued and it's across the elementaryaries. I really appreciate that. Anybody
else? Well, just just like with our substitute group, please please convey our gratitude for the hard work that you guys are doing. This is these two topics are topics that it's they're perennial
issues. They're they're never going to go away. But if we can find some small way to tackle them, >> we win. >> We win. That's right. That's right. So, thank you so much for sticking with us tonight and presenting. We appreciate
you all. >> Great. Next, we get to hear from information services director Cy update. Chair Bay, Superintendent Page, members of the board. the privilege uh this evening to come before you tonight to
share some information regarding um enrollment demographics and a snapshot of who our students are and some of the impacts on attendance as we've heard from our task force committees today. Um so I'm going to start out um as you've seen in the previous presentation anchor us on our mission and vision. Um and
really what I want to focus on tonight is that preparing all learners to make a difference in the world and really we're going to focus our time tonight on who are these learners and uh paint a picture of who our APS students are. Um, so that's my anchor there in terms of where we're going tonight. Our student
desired daily experience. They want to be supported, challenged, safe, and engaged in school. And what I want to share tonight is is who are these students? Give you a picture of who they are. Our families want our teachers to know our children well, their children well. Um, so again, focusing on that emphasis of who are our kids that we're
serving in the Austin Public School District at this time. And then our staff, they want to be seen as professionals where they have the tools to provide support to students and they want to be in a district that's willing to adapt and change, which is absolutely necessary with the demographical shifts that we've seen in our district. Um, so
tonight as we look at our core values, um, I hope to share a bunch of pieces of information with you. Um, so hopefully you will learn a few items. Um, and then certainly if there's questions and conversation, we can continue that um, towards the end. Got basically three learning objectives for you tonight. One is an enrollment summary. effectively as
of today because I'm going to give you up to the minute um statistics on some of those things knowing full well that um our district anchors on a magical day in October. October one is kind of this um special day in education where we we
anchor all of our comparable numbers. And so we'll we'll give you that full disclaimer when we get there. you get a snapshot of who we are as a district and then end with um impacts of attendance um in the summary report on that so you can see what really happens when
students um the positive effects of what happens when students are in school 90% or more of the time. So just to give you a flavor of where we're at right now and in terms of enrollment this is a weekly enrollment report we do these every Friday. Uh this is the report as of list last Friday. Just gives us a comparison
of how our students are doing in each one of the different grade levels. Total for the district at this time is 5,210 students as of Friday. Um just to point out a couple of things around this is that this number is ever evolving. Uh one of the things you'll see on this
screen is that it says we have 317 kindergarteners as of Friday. Um today we have 319 which is awesome because I've been wanting to crest that 320 marker for for since the beginning of school. um because we expected more than that. So, we're we're short on some kindergartens. And you'll see those
numbers as we go forward in this. This is just a really busy line, but I just want to graph just to show you some trends here. This is going back almost 20 years worth of weekly attendance data. Um you can go all the way back to the bottom blue line. That's 2000 200
2007 2008 all the way up to the very top line. When we go up to this top section up above here, this was one of our record years last year with 2425 uh with where we were at in terms of enrollment. Um again, going back even this is back to 2007208.
You would have to go back to pre990s to see anything that's getting back above this. So we we were last year at some 30 plus year high levels um in Austin public schools. right now for this year for 2526, it's in this red line right here, which is kind of buried underneath this last five, six years worth of trend
data here. Um, but we're at 5,210 students, which kind of puts us right here with with that blend of those those years um previously to to last year. This is just giving you a four-year snapshot of that particular Friday. So, this is as of last Friday, last week,
and then that same corresponding Friday, a year ago, and then going back the years before that. So, you can see that this year we're down pretty considerably. And what these counts are is these are actual students in seats at the buildings. These are not ADMs. These are not any of that type of thing. These
are just actual students in a building. Um, and in some cases, some of these students might not be full-time equivalent students for us. They might come to us for some part-time shared time services, but these are students that are represented in each building. Um, so this year we're down 188 students
where we from where we were exactly one year ago from that date. Um, but that year before that we were up 177. So we're up almost 180 students from the year before that. Uh, which was not necessarily projected or predicted. Uh, we had a lot of incoming students that
year. U, but we've kind of neutralized that balance back out. And so we were up 26 from the year before that when we go back into the 22 23 school year from that same corresponding Friday. So right now over four years we're up 15 students. So it's kind of balanced out with the loss that we've ex uh exhibited
this year with that minus 188 currently. So where are we losing some of those students? Just to give you a snapshot. Number one, uh when you look at the kindergarten cohort that 317 that we had as a Friday, um I can actually say 319 today. So we keep seeing that number go. Um but that's that's pretty considerably
lower than where it was last year. We were class of 400 basically last year. Um, so that's a minus 80 right there. When we're looking at that, just from a grade level standpoint, um, when we look at that kindergarten to first grade, so is our current year first grade cohort. Uh, we're minus three in that particular
cohort from the year before. Um, but when we go through this, I just want to make note that when we talk about minus three in that cohort, there was actually over 40 different students transitioned out of that class from last year to this year. So there was 22 that were inbound, 19 that were outbound. So we're at a net
three. So uh there lots of mobility and moving parts with this. So even when we say that the net change from last year to this year when we look at a cohort is potentially a zero, there's still a lot of individual students coming and going all the time in our environment. When we look at the second grade class
currently, they're down 21 from last year. So we did lose a number of kids there. But if you go back one more additional year, that 23, um, they're sitting right about where they were when they came in as kindergarten class. Uh, so they're at 357 way back when they entered as a kindergarten class and
they're 353 today, but still minus 21 from last year. Our third grade class is down about nine students. Um, still up from the year prior to that and still up from when they entered as kindergarteners. Um, so we we've maintained a higher level there, but again a loss from last year with that
increase that we saw in 2425. Our grade four class is at 372. They're down about 15 students from last year, but still up from going back four years when they were first grade class. So again, we we see this. It's kind of about the same levels as where we were four years ago.
Now, uh with the with the loss that we saw this year, the grade five is minus 19. Um when we get into the grade six, we actually gained some students in that particular grade cohort. So coming from fifth to sixth grade, we went up plus eight. And then when we look at our seventh grade stayed pretty steady, it's
322 to 320. Our eighth grade cohort went down about seven students from last year. Our 9th grade class went up 10 and so on. We see an about steady change here with grade 10. And then again, same thing with grade 11 and then up just a
few students in grade 12 um for each one of those particular cohorts over the year. So, that just gives you a little bit of a flavor of where we're at overall with our attendance gains and losses from last year. We've examined where these kids have gone. Um, and it really hasn't been any specific
individual place. Um, again, like I said, even with that kindergarten class, the first grade from last year to this year, that's over 40 different students total. Um, but it's a minus three, so it's almost a net net zero. Um, but a lot of students have have moved to other locations, both instate and out of
state. So the rest of this I'm going to share a little bit around what the snapshot of a student picture looks like who are APS students. The disclaimer on this is that this is what I put on screen is the certified data. I'll share with you verbally what our non-certified data is but I don't like to put into print what
our certified stuff is because this will not actually come until end of March of 2026 at which time you'll see all the updated 2526 data. So, who we are as a district, last year officially, which was certified in late March, 61.4% of
our students were students of color. And in that regard, um, when you compare that to the rest of the students statewide, you can see those values down in the lower left corner in really small print. Um, but just under 40% of the students statewide are students of color. Uh, so we're over 21% more
diverse when it comes to ethnic diversity in our student population. And as of today, that number is at 62.7%. So, we've continued to see about a 2% linear increase year-over-year uh with our diversity rates um since going back
to the early 2000s to the late 90s when when I got here, mid90s. And then, um when we look at our percentage of students receiving free lunch, so those educational benefits, last year officially, we ended the year at 59.1%. Statewide that runs at about 40%. So
almost a 19% differential between Austin Public Schools and the rest of the state. When we look at our socioeconomic status with our free and reduced lunch percentages, that number today is just over 55%. So it's down just slightly from where that is. But that number does continue to grow over the course of the
year because more and more families even like right now when we have um winter sports signups that just started uh within the last week, families will realize that they need to. It's not just free and reduced lunch forms because they're getting their lunches for free, but it's an educational benefits form and so they'll continue to fill those
out and we should see that percentage continue to tick up slightly. Um the highest we've ever been was a couple of years ago at 67%. Uh which I do think relatively speaking in our community a good 60% to twothirds of our student families um meet that
requirement in terms of socioeconomic need. When we look at our percentage of students receiving free and uh not free and free lunch, special education services, it's just under 20%. Statewide, it runs at right at 19%. So that's one metric that stays pretty consistent with the rest of the state.
Part of the reason why we're slightly higher is because we're the largest district in the county. We do offer some higher um need services in our district. But additional to that is that what's not accounted for in that 19.9% in our district is the students in Oakland Education Center because that is a
separate distinct district. So if we were to include those students in our special education counts that would also increase that percentage. Um currently today that number is 18.8%. So we've actually seen a slight decrease in our overall percentage of special education students served uh for this current
school year. And then the last number, and this is the one that I'm seriously most proud about in our district. I love our language diversity. Um because when you look at 42 40.2% of our students speak a primary language other than English. When you compare that to the rest of the state, it's it's under 19%.
Um so we're looking at almost a 22% difference in terms of language diversity in our district. And when we take a look at what does that mean in terms of our student population that requires EL services, it's it's 26%. Um, so there's a difference between that 26%
and that 40.2 um, which is dual language. Uh, very significant asset to be able I'm still trying to get my first language uh, becoming proficient in English. Um, so I really admire our students that are are
dual language students. um and and have that language diversity to support them into the future as they're becoming lifelong learners. So this again like I mentioned before pretty linear pattern when you go back to 2001 2002 15.2% goes
up about 2% per year all the way up to 62.7% this year. Um it's very interesting. I came in 97 and it was under 8%. It's right at 8% when I came into the district. So I literally had one student of color in my classroom um on average
in then compared to now which is twothirds of our students. Um so that's our ethnic groups. When we look at our um comparison of each and every one of our buildings exceeds the statewide percentage of 39.8% except for Austin onlinemies. So it's a little bit lower
diversity with that online programming. Uh but all of our other buildings greatly exceed that. When we look at what the breakdown is of our students of color, this was our number last year, 61.4%. Um, and so again, this year it's at that 62.7%.
These numbers in terms of our white population is at 38.6%. That number is down slightly now because that that student of color group continues to grow. It's at 37.3. Um, our Hispanic population is at 31.9. That continues to grow. It's up to 32.6%
this year. Um, our fastest growing population is our Asian and Native Pacific uh, Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander groups. U, but our Asian population is now at 14%. So, they're up from 131.1 last year. And our Native Hawaiian is at 36, but again, that's a
that's a fast growing population. You'll see that when we talk about some of the language diversity. Um, and then our black population is staying pretty steady, right around that 8.5 8.3%. and then our two or more races continues to see slight increases of 3.8% for the
current year. Um so we do continue to see more diversity there. Very different picture when you look at the rest of the students in the rest of the state. So when you look at the statewide snapshot of student diversity across the state of Minnesota, um white students make up almost twothirds of the student
population statewide. Hispanics only make up just under 12%. Our Asian population statewide is just over 7%. black African-American student population is around 12%. And so again um quite a difference when you look at the
snapshot of aggressive students in the state and even our community based on the most recent census data when you look at Austin public or not Austin public school but Austin as a community proper uh 40.5% of people of color and in Austin if I
can speak and I told you I've been master um but again it kind of mirrors more of what we see with the with the student population in the state almost 60% are white in our community, 18% are Hispanic, um 8.5% are Asian, two or more
races of 7.8. But again, as our 18th and under population continues to age up, we're going to continue to see the diversity in our community continue to grow um throughout that process. When we look at our socioeconomic numbers, lots of values on screen here, but the bottom is what I really want to draw your
attention to. When you look at the median household income, um, again, based on census data, between $66,488 for the median household income in Austin compared to $87,000 statewide, that's over a $21,000 difference between
our community and the rest of the state. So, when we start to look at our free and reduced lunch population and that percentage, you can see what's happened over time going back to the early 2000s. uh just about a third of our students were receiving free and reduced lunch all the way up into the mid20 teens when
it kind of plateaued in that mid50 to 55 57 range. Um and then the pandemic hit 2020 and when that came in and the following year the federal oops the federal government provided free lunch for all families we saw that dip down to
that 49.2%. And again, the calculations and how that works with compensatory revenue, there's a significant loss of revenue for the district to the tune of 1.3, which is over 1.3 million. Um, had some federal funding there for free and reduced lunch in 2122 and then in 23
that went away and you can see the families really responded, completed the forms to receive their free and reduced lunch and now statewide programs have come back into play. Um, so we've seen that dip down now over the last couple years, 24 25 and our current setting at just over 55%. Um, and we'll see if we
get back to that 59.1% this year. This is what it takes to qualify based on last year's levels when it was um, if you take my family for example, four people in the household, um, my income eligibility, anything under $57,721.
These values go up about $2,000 per year. Uh if I were to put this 2526 table in front of you, that same value would be at $59,478. So it goes up a couple thousand per year uh to adjust for inflation. So that's what it takes to qualify. And obviously
the more family members you have in the household, the higher that income income threshold is. Uh so they need to make uh more money to in order to not qualify for that. All of our locations, again with the exception of our Austin Online Academy, exceed the statewide percentage
of free and reduced lunch. Um so all the way up from Sar Elementary um down to the Austin High School which is our just again far exceeding the rest of the state socioeconomic levels with free and reduced lunch cate classifications. When we talk about that language diversity this was our official
certified numbers from last year. Almost 60% speak English as their primary language in the home. Almost 23% speak Spanish and then another almost 18% speak uh 44 other languages in the home or yeah in the home. um that number this
year, last year that's total of 46 languages. When you put those 44 plus Spanish plus English right now, we're at 44 languages in district. So, we've dropped a couple languages. And that's because when you look at some of these languages towards the end of this graph, they've become singletons. And so, as families come and go, uh we can lose a
language here or there. We've been as high as 52. >> Um so, we've had well over 50 before, but some unique configurations around this. When we look at this first value over here, there's 236 Korean speaking students in our district. That is out of just over 5,000
statewide. So 5% of all the Korean students attend Austin public schools. That puts us number five out of 72 districts that have Korean speaking students attending their schools. The next one with that 233 with that karini population. There's only 686 karini
speakers in the state of Minnesota officially last year. So 34% of the karini speakers attend Austin public schools. We're ranked number one on nine schools that have karini speakers in our district in in the public school systems in the state. When you look at this Pompeian number, this 93, this is highly
impressive. 93 Pompeian speakers in Austin public schools statewide. Last year, 97 total statewide. So we own 96% of the Pompeian speaking population in the state of Minnesota. And again, some of these values just really speak to the
open nature and welcoming community that Austin is. Um because once families have found connection and and employment here, uh we have a significant drop to uh the rest of their communities to come forward to Austin. Even our French population, that's 71, uh there's just
under a thousand statewide. We're ranked number seven out of 39 districts that have French speakers in them. And then our Anuwok population which has been seeing a little bit of a decline recently. Um we still own almost 23% of the Anuwok speakers in the state of Minnesota. Was 311 last year. We're
ranked second out of 23 districts um with that Anuok speaker population. So just some great uh statistics that support the welcoming nature of Austin and Austin public schools. our language diversity across their buildings all exceed that statewide value of 18.7%
again except for Austin online academy but we've seen that diversity continuing to increase from the onset of that program when you take all of the different school districts across the state and charters there been 540 different schools and chart not schools districts and charters that reported to
the state last year uh we're ranked number 32 out of all those districts um the big dog in Oka Henipin had 181 different languages spoken in their community. They're ranked number one. We had our 46 last year, but all of those districts in the list are pretty much
metro urban districts. Um I highlighted a few there. Rochester public schools had 89 different languages, but across 17,000 plus students, our percentage of diversity is still much higher than Rochester even though they had more languages spoken. Um Mano Public Schools
with over 8,000 students had 71 different languages and St. St. Cloud had uh 57 different languages and I highlight those because those are, you know, greater Minnesota outstate districts. The rest are up in the metro um region in the top of the list there.
Again, if I gave you the whole list, it' be really tiny to see it. But again, with all of that language diversity and with the increase with our student populations of students of color, uh we have seen increased needs for English language services. Um last year about a
quarter of our students, 26.4% 4% of our student body uh was receiving those services. And today that number, forgot what I said earlier, is at 25.7%. So, it's actually just down just slightly from where it was last year in terms of our percentage.
And then each one of our buildings except for our ALC, which is pretty close to statewide average, and Austin Online Academy, um all of our buildings have higher EL services in buildings. And lastly, our special education populations. And again, this is the one that is um pretty consistent with the
rest of the state. And you'll see that some of our programs like our community learning service uh early childhood special education program, 100% of our students there. Southgate has a special education pod um and then our middle levels with their uh special education programs that they have there. So again,
pretty standard um diversity in terms of special education. And then lastly, switching gears just to give you some impacts on attendance as you heard from the attendance task force earlier and the subbing task force. Um, we know that this matters. We've we've analyzed this now for multiple years. And I just
wanted to give you the full uh report from last year. So this is 2425 data. And so this is a summary report that is in your board packet that you can pull up that summarizes the pretty graphs that I'll show you. Um, not everybody gets excited about these as I do. So
what you'll see on these, one of my colleagues calls these the Hogan shotgun graphs. Um but on these scatter plots, you'll see the individual dots of students. So each one of these is a represented high school student in grades 9 through 12 from last year from semester 1. And across the horizontal
axis on the bottom is their percent attendance. So the further that is to the right, the better their attendance is um all the way to 100%. And then on the vertical scale on the left hand side is your um unweighted GPA that they obtained during that term. And so when
you take all this data and you you analyze it, what you really come forward or come forward with is that students that are in school less than 70% of the time have an average GPA of a 1.077 for first semester compared to their peers that are here 90% of the time have
a GPA of over a 3.08. Um so again pretty significant impact on GPA when they're here. Um they're finding greater success. Similar story when semester 2 rolls around. Um in fact it's even a greater differential if
they're here 90% of the time or more their GPA is over 3.071. Um and if they're here less than 70% of the time it didn't even make it to a 1.0. It was a 833 GPA. Um so again significant impact on GPA credits
earned. Similarly, when we look at what happens when they're here and and attending school, overall, if they're here 90% of the time or more, they obtain 6.469 credits on average. And a system that requires 24 credits for graduation for them to walk across the stage and
receive them diplomas from you at the end of the line. They need at least six per year to get to that 24. So, those students that are here 90% of the time are well on their way to get to that. um students that are here less than 80% of the time only acrewed 3.342 credits on average. Um so again attendance
significant impact on credit or attainment and then um even when we look at some achievement data and we start looking at the test information when we look at those students that are here 90% of the time or more for their ACT test they on average score over three composite points higher than their peers that are
here less than 80% of the time. Um, so an impact on achievement. We look at our ACTs for our 11th grade students last year. And same thing, even if we go down to some of our younger learners, we look at our third grade MCA reading data. Um, those students that are here over 90% of
the time on average score over six points better than their peers that are here less than 80% of the time. Um, and in that particular assessment, 10 point swing is is what the difference is between achievement levels. And so they can move pretty quickly across
achievement levels by just being in attendance. In fact, with looking at our eighth grade math scores, that differential between our students that are here 90% of the time or more is 15 scale score points different. So that's almost a guaranteed achievement level swing from does not meets to partially
meets to meets and exceeds um in MCA terminology. So again, that's just some highle um graphs in terms of our attendance information. We know and we've proven this now year-over-year. Um and it's not really rocket science that
that probably does have an impact. Um but we have uh empirical evidence to show that that is the case. And so we're working with that task force and they've seen that particular information uh previously. So I had to entertain any questions that you may have at this time
over the snapshot of the school district in terms of enrollment picture of our APS students or any of our attendance impacts. >> I'm not necessarily asking you, but did somebody come out with a u some legislation either locally or statewide
to provide financial incentives for students to come to school? Did we see that last place on there? >> But anyway, all I'm saying is everything should be on the table to get kids to school, you know. >> Yep. Absolutely. Yeah, that's absolutely
the goal is to get kids to be in front of high quality instructors which we have here in hospital schools so that they can achieve their best. Yes. >> All right. >> Well, thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Our next agenda item is our
request for the approval of our Ellis Auditorium theatrical light executive director of finance and operations. >> Good evening chair bay, Dr. P, rest of the board. We're here tonight to give an update on the Ellis Auditorium project
and ask for approval on the lighting bid. So we had started with ISG and conducting a review of our Ellis auditorium because we knew the lighting and the stage and all that was not working to the stat the performance that we wanted. So that if you remember last
year around this time we had to move our production of our play to Riverland. So we brought ISG in to have them look at it and they went and engaged with Schuler Shook to do the review of that and it's what we learned is there's a fourstep process for us to get our
lighting at Ellis stage up and running. So what was what we decided to do was cuz this money was going to be in about a3 to $400,000 project and we did not have the capital a lotment for that at this time is we broke this out into a three-step process. So what we did was we went out
for bid to get the controls ready. Stage one was to get the controls ready for this year and then look at step two and step three. So what was out we went out for bid in October and what is in front of September I apologize September we went out for bid and then what is in front of you today is we received one
bid in October beginning of October from Austin Electric and ISG's recommendation is to award Austin Electric the bid in the amount of $112,865. finish this project and then we will look to do the bidding to package two
and three at future time. >> Is there a motion to approve the Ellis Auditorium theatrical? >> So motion by second by Don discussion.
>> Is that what you were expecting it to come in at? >> It was a little lower than what the plans that we put together. So, we're happy to see that fit. >> Thank you. >> Is that normal that we like only get one?
>> We invited four different companies to come in and do a walk through um right when school started and there was a couple companies that came in and they had a deadline to submit a sealed bid to us and there's only one proposal that came into us. So, it depends on what
work they have going on. So, that was the only one that met the deadline. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> I. >> Anybody opposed? Motion passes.
We have our request for the approval of the the donations. >> Yes. So, we're here tonight. Um, we've reviewed these donations and they meet school board policy 706. So, I will read these off and then ask for approval at the end. Austin, chapter 10 of the Isaac
Walton League, $664 for AHS Archery Club. Austin Packer Dance Team Booster Club 5,88767 61 at Austin High School Dance Team. Girls soccer booster club $460.72.
AHS girls soccer fraternal order of Eagles $2,500 Alice Van Multiple Kids Corner families Amazon purchases of toys and craft supplies valued at $241.84
Kids Corner Football Booster Club $2,258.85 85 AHS football VFW $250 AHS football Greenman HVAC $50 Clay Target team
Austin Morning Lions Club $100 boys and girls cross country teams early risers quanis $250 boys and girls cross country teams rave nutrition $48 more than pink
program national FFA Foundation $500 AHS FFA program. We'd like to thank all these organizations for their donations. Is >> there a motion to approve this donations? >> Motion by Carol.
Discussion other than to say, wow, we got a very generous community. Right. All those in favor? >> I. Anybody opposed? Motion passes.
I don't see any delegations for today. So, um we're going to finish with a reminder of our schoolboard study session schedules for Monday, October 27th at 400 p.m. in the district office conference room.
I need to take a vote to adjourn. >> All in favor? >> I