Good evening. I'd like to call to order tonight's meeting of the ISD 191 school board. Uh, the date is Thursday, May 28th, 2026, and the time is 6:30 p.m. I'd like to
start by welcoming everyone who's here tonight. It's just fantastic to have this group. This is just a wonderful time of year. Our school community is celebrating our students and their achievements. Uh, and I'd also like to welcome the folks that are joining us from home. Hopefully, we have some of
those as well. Um, next we will turn to the pledge of allegiance and director Anderson, would you please lead us in the pledge? >> I pledge allegiance 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. All right. Our first item on the agenda is to approve the agenda itself. Uh do I have a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Hume. Second.
>> Second. >> Seconded by Director Chester. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. I. >> Oppose. Nay. And the motion carries unanimously. Uh, first on our agenda tonight is the
athletics and activities recognition. And I'd like to invite BHS associate principal and activities director Bill Heine to the podium um to join us in celebrating our students accomplishments so far this year. Uh, welcome and thank
you for joining us. >> Thank you. Thank you, board chair Alt, Superintendent Daniels, and members of the school board. Thank you for this opportunity to share some of the wonderful accomplishments of
our students in district 191. Each of the individuals we'll honor tonight will be recognized at the state or national level from this year's winter and spring sessions. The talent, dedication, and character that our students show as they participate in activities and athletics
throughout the year is remarkable. They represent themselves, their peers, our community in such a positive light, and I'm truly grateful to be able to share their accomplishments. Tonight, we'll be starting with the dynasty of the Nichollet Middle School
chess team. Dynasty. >> Mhm. Look at all that bling. The Nichollet Middle School chess team outscored Minnitanka East Middle School by 2.5 points to win its fourth state championship March 7th and 8th at the
Minnesota State Chess Association's 61st annual state scholastic chess tournament at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. 26 Nickel Middle School students participated at state. Franklin Bureno led the way with a second place finish. Also placing in the top 10 were Kyl
Osman, Rafa Aila, Charlie Dah, and Grayson Matthews. Franklin defeated his nationally ranked opponent with only seconds to spare to help Nick clinch his first state championship since 2023. His second place finish is the highest ever
by a Nichollet student. It was exciting, emotional weekend where all 26 kids poured their hearts out to take the title we set out to win. We first met in September, said coach Brian Ribnik. I couldn't be more proud of these young competitors. The team went on to compete
at the National Middle School Chess Championship May 16 and 17th in Austin, Texas. Nichollet placed second in the under 900, U700, and U600 blitz divisions. Thiago Versino was the school's top finisher going undefeated
in the U100 division on his way to becoming crowned national champion. Hanza Kadir plays second. Yeah. Champion, national champion. Hamza Kadir placed second at the U900 and Grayson Matthews placed fifth in the under 600
blitz tournament and 15th in the U1400 section. The chess team includes Marshall Abbert, Wana, Jose Aila, Caleb Whitner, Ivan Boyce, Franklin Burino,
Thiago Bino, Jack Chrisman, Charlie Dah, Christian Garcia, Zack Holiday, Alex Hilddrth, Amaya Holiday, Clayton Jenstad, Hanza Kadir, Max Crosenowski, Mike Crosenowski, Mega Lafy, Happy Leong, Grayson Matthews, Hannah Mel,
Simon Nelson, Khaled Osman Paul and Elijah Ross. Congratulations to this team. It's not power. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. You're going to grab a team picture if you can hold on. Can I ask you to switch over to
this side so I can get everybody together? Yeah, both of you. And then can I get the board to stand up behind Look down. One, two, three. >> Perfect. Thank you very much. Congratulations. Next up is the Twin Cities Regional
Science Fair. So, our adviser, Mike Hummer, come on up with your students who are here tonight. Eight Burnsville High School students advanced to the state science fair and two qualified as alternates for the international competition after presenting their research at the Twin
Cities Regional Science Fair February 27th in St. Paul. Sloan Dunn, Sabrina Abdi, Leila Lewen, Cole Hegman, Robert Lee, Twin Hay Den, Sammy Pora, and Jerus qualified for state. Charlie Mitchell
and Tessa Evans earned nods as state alternates. The state science fair was March 27th in St. Paul. Burnsville had a very successful science fair this year. Having a single not only a single student qualify for international competition is impressive, but we had
two students qualify this year. In addition, many students won awards and advanced at the state competition. BHS science teacher and science fair adviser Mike Moore said he's very proud of the students hard work and impressed by their science skills and hard work. Science Fair is a rigorous competition
in which it allows students to investigate real world science problems and conduct statistical analysis on data to form logical conclusions. It's these exact skills which are so valued by colleges and businesses. Congratulations to our science fair.
1 2 3 All right. Thank you very much. Congratulations. Okay, another uh dynasty in the making here. We'd like to have our BHS Burnsville High School drum line come on up. For the second year in a row, Burnsville High School drum line took first place
at the Minnesota Percussion Association Championships held at the Rochester Mayo Civic Center on April 11th. 50 students performed in this year's show called One Dot, which explores the journey from oneness and isolation to the realization that by coming together, our collective
power can make something much more. Seniors Exia Sundura and Jacob Lara won MPA scholarships and junior Carrie Crawford was awarded a cash prize for her essay submission to the MPA Ideas Award, which stands for inclusion, diversity, equity, and social justice.
by winning back-to-back titles. "This is incredibly special and so hard to do because we compete against so many amazing, wellestablished groups," said Paul Connell, BHS marching band drum line director. The BHS drum line includes the following students and staff.
Here we go. Valerie Aguire, Avery Aguire, Aldo Castro Guzman, Joey Canel, Ingred Engal, Anara Freudenberg, Alex Hang, Elizabeth Hoger, Edward Hoover, Oscar Hubdy, Alex
Krueger, Andre Mena, Jaden Rivera, Junan Vietron, Levi Williams, Maya Zerbble, Monserat, Costa, Archer Bodner, Liliana Bolton, Lucy Brown, Alan Ang, Paula Gutierrez,
Israel, Lara, Caleb MacArthur, Charlie Morgan, Tobias Olsen, Isaiah Tilbury, Aiden Tran, Alex Wenning, Kiara Angeline, Issa Ben, Elena Courtz, Krie Crawford, Dylan Dewente, Will Edgen,
Erica Mickelson, Max Roa, Xavier Saky, Landon Schmidt, Isaac Lenning, Ella Zerbble, Solana Bane, Ryan Kennedy, Jacob Lara Samuel Morgan, Alex Nishan, Michael Oy, Brian Russell, XCura, and
Deacon Wenning. Let's give them a hand. We're not done yet because we have TO RECOGNIZE OUR STAFF. WE HAVE Paul Connell, Audra Hawinson, Match Michael, Jordan Wine, Theres Levery, Michelle Ryan, Nate Granky,
Blake Witness, Laura Connell, Jarrett Msati, and Alex Cole. Good job. Drum line. One, two, three, and one more. Perfect. Thank you. That's awesome. Congratulations, Paul. >> Next, you want more championships? We
have more championships. We have a Burnsville High School Quiz Bowl. Come on up. Burnsville High School Quiz Bowl took first place at the South Suburban Conference Championship Tournament held at Burnsville High School on February 5th. The varsity team includes sophomores Emory Gerky and Charlie
Morgan, junior Xavier Soxy and Sam, senior Sam Morgan. Individually, Sam finished first place. Xavier and Emry placed fifth and sixth respectively. Last year, all four students competed at nationals, winning five out of 10 preliminary games before falling one
short of making the playoffs. We've gotten some new players this year who have performed really well in the junior varsity division. It's been really great seeing our new players jump in, said Quizball coach and BHS math teacher Andy Gerky. They've seen the level of competition and have followed the lead of our varsity team. I think we can
build on the progress that we've made this year and develop a solid team for next year. In April at the high school national championship in Atlanta, Burnsville tied for 65th place out of 320 teams. The team tied for the most wins in program history in the
tournament with seven, including winning four in a row to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2018. at the individual player national championship in Chicago in May. Sam finished 211th place out of 300 participants.
Congratulations to the Quizbow and Coach Candy uh Andy Gerky. One, two, three. Perfect. Thank you very much. Next, we're going to present a National Honor Society scholarship. So, we like
to have Faven come up here to the front. Versville High School senior Favven Tes, who was named an academic all-American by the National Speech and Debate Association earlier this year, was selected from more than 16,000 applicants as winner of the National
Honor Society's $25,000 scholarship April 19th at the National Association of Secondary School Principles Conference in Washington, DC. One, three. We got some more Faven. Perfect. Oh, you got more to come. In the middle that time. Let's get in
for a while here. It's been a really busy year for Faven. Last summer, she served as youth intern at the Minnesota Secretary of State's office. She served as a student representative on District 191 school board, of course, and represented the second congressional district on the
Minnesota Youth Council. She also participates in a variety of groups and activities at Burnsville High School, including speech, debate, youth service advisory council and student council. She serves as a blood drive coordinator and is part of Burnsville Strong and Lean Crew. She is also a one district
191 Costco volunteer recipient. Congratulations, Faven. athletics. We have Olympic weightlifting. >> What do we have? Coach here or the students?
Well, we're going to talk about them anyway. All right. So, so our Olympic weightlifting team, really successful team, um underrated, but they work really hard and they win. They win a lot. So, they get better, bigger, faster, stronger. Abigail Ericson and
Caroline Thorson, both seniors, qualified for state at Burnsville's home duel and then competed at the Olympic weightlifting state meet on March 7th in Canon Falls. At state tournament, Abigail finished runner up in the 58 kg weight class and lifted a total of 109
kg, 50 kg snatch, and 59 kg clean and jerk. Caroline also finished runner up in the 69k kg weight class and lifted a total of 122 kg, 53 kg snatches, 69 kg
clean and jerk. Way to go, Abigail. Both Abigail and Caroline have been in the program for a long time, said coach coach Justin Lurfeld. I'm so incredibly proud of the way they performed this season, but more importantly, the confidence they gained in themselves through the sport will certainly stay
with them a long time after graduation. So, thank you to Abigail and Caroline for raising the bar. Congratulations. That is it. Thank you very much. >> Awesome. Thank you everyone for joining us. Of course, you are all welcome to stay with us and learn more about uh
school district business, but of course it is a beautiful evening out and we certainly understand that everyone probably has other things that they need to be doing. So really cucumbers. So the next item on our agenda is the
annual Q comp report. Uh and I would like to invite speakers Kamala Niffaneer and outgoing QC comp coordinator and Kristen Loren's incoming UC comp coordinator to the podium. Welcome both
board chair alt directors and superintendent Daniels. Thank you for having us with you this evening. My name is Camela Niffaneer and I am the current but outgoing QC comp coordinator um as well as a continuous improvement coach or CIC in our district. Tonight I'm
excited to introduce to you Christian Lorenz. She has been a CIC supporting Harriet Bishop Vista View Elementary Virtual Academy and a few staff at St. John's over the past 3 years. She is the incoming UCOM coordinator for the 2026
2027 school year. The quality compensation law commonly known as Q comp is built around four core components shown on the right side of the slide. While an annual program review has always been required by the Minnesota Department of Education,
updated guidance in recent years has encouraged deeper analysis of one or two focus areas rather than a broad review of all components. Although we continue to monitor each component annually, areas of deeper study are selected based
on prior review findings, alignment with district initiatives, emerging district-wide trends, and updates to state statute requirements. This year, our review focused specifically on probationary teacher support provided by continuous improvement coaches or CIC's within the
career ladder advancement options as well as the implementation of updated rubrics with the teacher evaluation component. This evening, we will share key highlights from our annual review and present recommendations for the 2026 2027 school year based on our findings
along with program adjustments aligned to our most recent memorandum of understanding. In response to reduced budgetary revenue, structural adjustments will be implemented to self- sustain the UC comp program. Moving forward, coaches in the UC comp program will now be referred to
as QC comp coaches, replacing the previous title of continuous improvement coach or CIC. One coach will continue to serve in a halftime coordinator role. Five UCOM coaches will support both instructional and non-instructional licensed staff across 18 programs and
sites that serve learners from birth to adulthood. This structure expands each coach's assignment to approximately four sites compared to the current model of two to three and is supported by a revised job description that narrows and clarifies
the focus of the role. UCOM coaches will continue to conduct non-evaluative formative observations of tenur staff aligned to the Danielson framework for teaching. They will provide timely evidence-based feedback, facilitate reflective coaching conversations, and provide resources that support
culturally responsive standardsbased best practices. Within the three-year evaluative evaluation cycle, QCOM coaches will support teachers in developing and refining professional learning plans that align to student needs and using using data to write student learning
goals that monitor impact on student growth. UCOM coaches will also provide structured support for probationary staff with specific implementation details continuing to be developed. UMP coaches will collaborate with administrators to promote a shared understanding of instructional standards
and aligned evaluation language. When requested, coaches will provide targeted support for teachers not meeting standards, including goal setting, action planning, and coaching aligned to improvement goals. This is the second year we've implemented district-wide learning walks
to support the professional growth of our newest instructional staff. Participants visited classrooms to observe veteran teachers in practice, engaged in structured reflection, and were provided with opportunities to ask questions about instructional decisions to those they observed. In partnership
with curriculum specialists, curricular look fors aligned to Danielson were incorporated into the elementary learning walks where observations focused on our tier 1 foundational literacy curriculums, Hagerty and morphology. In addition, we modeled and observed instructional strategies in
alignment with district initiatives, AVID and secondary and catalyst and elementary. This year, coaches added an additional layer of support by conducting informal observations before and after learning walks. The purpose was to provide prob probationary
teachers with actionable feedback and to support them with applying learning walk insights directly to their instructional practice. 81% of administrators, an increase of 28% from the previous year, reported clear evidence that teachers were
implementing new strategies learned through learning walks. Administrators continue to highly value learning walks as a support for our newest instructional staff. 100% of administrators report valuing the process with 88% indicating they highly value it, an increase of 31% from last
year. Next, you will hear directly from participants about their experiences with the informal observations and learning walk process. >> The informal observations have helped me at the beginning of class. I have the
kids question where I ask them question each other Heat. Heat. feedback and strategies I can use to help my teaching
sheies and social in action how she was um lesson and managing routines and just to see like how I do and expectations in my classroom. Um she also helped prepare
resources like visuals for my student board and that really helped me implement the catalyst strategies in my classroom. Um as a universal teacher I really found a lot of value in the learning box because it allowed me to see my co-workers at work. It allowed me to
learn the culture of the school and like the collaboriveness of our school culture. Um it also affirmed some of my teaching practice as I'm a more seasoned teacher um less of a me and then it also was a really nice um it inspiration for
me to help refresh and renew and improve my teaching practice as well. I'd say that the learning experience was really helpful getting to see other teachers doing the content that I'm teaching and seeing how they did it tips and tricks
as well as getting to know new teachers as well getting to see what's working for them, what's not working for them and kind of just collaborating to make sure that we be the most effective teachers we can possibly be. This year we piloted two rubrics adapted from the Danielson instructional
framework. The licensed professional staff rubric was a primary focus of this year's program review. Findings indicate strong overall effectiveness among administrators who evaluated staff using the rubric. 82% agreed or strongly agreed that it supported their ability
to provide meaningful feedback on professional practice. In addition, approximately 81% of staff who were observed, evaluated, and coached using the rubric agreed or strongly agreed that agreed that domains two and three, the observable domains were relevant to
best practices within their roles. Domain four, which focuses on professional responsibilities, showed slightly overall agree slightly lower overall agreement at 75% though it received the highest number of strongly agree responses. Domain one planning and
preparation reflected the lowest agreement level at 70%. As a result of this review, the first recommendation is to further analyze quantitative and role specific feedback to determine possible revisions to domain one of the rubric or needed
professional development to improve clarity, relevance, and alignment. During the past two years, early childhood staff and administrators have expressed concerns that the current observation tool, the instructional rubric of the Danielson framework, does not fully reflect the developmental
context of early childhood programs. This perceived misalignment, particularly within evaluative observations, contributes to anxiety among staff, and a sense that early childhood practice is not fully represented or valued. In response, we recommend establishing a crossf
functional team to explore possible adaptations to the instructional rubric to better reflect early childhood. We recommend continuing probationary learning walks to support the growth of new instructional staff and promote shared understanding of instructional instructional best practices. Cross
department collaboration will further refine probationary support for new to district employees, ensuring differentiated professional learning for staff entering with a varying levels of experience and serving in specialized roles. Finally, this year we included a
few tenur staff in learning walks when they transitioned into new roles within our district. For example, a former kindergarten teacher with strong student growth outcomes moved into a multilingual teaching role. Her reflection highlighted on the right illustrates how even highly experienced
educators benefit from structured opportunities to observe, reflect, and learn within a new instructional context. Based on these finding findings, our final recommendation is to expand learning walk opportunities to include experienced staff who transition
into new roles within our district. This can accelerate growth, strengthen instructional impact, and support successful role transitions regardless of years of experience. Thank you for your time this evening. >> Great. Thank you very much. Um, I will
open it up for questions and comments, board members. No questions or comments? Nope. Um, I just I don't know if it's a question or a comment, but I think um it'll come out. Um
um I this year I noticed um what got me thinking was the fact that you highlighted the the difference between um new teachers versus experienced teachers. And and that's that's new to this report. um and the importance of
the fact that, you know, we as a as a district, you know, we do have our own culture and we're looking for um teachers that fit into our culture and at the same time when they get here, we want to make sure that we're giving them um the additional tools um to be able to
teach and and it sounds like we have some more work to do with that. Is that is that fair or there there's there's additional fine-tuning? >> I think finetuning we focus a lot on instructional support of probationary staff but probationary staff um ranges
from school psyches right to nurses. So the range is so wide um that we we have yet to like expand to like what does the best support look like for those specialized roles probably and it doesn't all live in Q comp right there's
also other positions that support those roles in mentoring and onboarding but I think it's more cross collaboration because we on the instructional side see the need for probably growth in support with like our special ed department. We've talked about what would learning
walks look like with teachers in the resource setting or focus setting as well. Um so we can continue to modify I think to best meet the needs based off the staff that we see. >> Awesome. Well, >> thank you both. Always appreciate the the teacher leaders that are in the UC
comp program um and the time that that um Kamala you have invested in the role and uh looking forward to hearing again from you. So thank you. >> Thank you. And next on our agenda, uh we will be learning about uh hearing from Dr.
Daniels, superintendent, and um Julie Babe, Teamwork senior consultant on district priorities and the strategic planning process. >> Thank I'm sorry. Thank you, Chair Alt. Yes, tonight I will be presenting the
priorities that um our district will be engaging in next school year and I will also be introducing to you Julie Babe, a consultant from Teamworks that Aaron and I have met with and we've identified Teamworks as the partner we would like to work with um to engage in the
strategic planning process for our district next school year. So, as a part of this presentation, the agenda will include the background and purpose, the why behind why we are presenting priorities and talking about a strategic plan. Um, the process that we engaged in
to develop the priorities for next school year. Um, an overview of the priorities, the structure, um, and how we came to that conclusion. And then we're going to zoom in and take a closer look at the work that we've done already this school year around facilities planning um the new model around
instructional coaching that we will have which we call learning coaches for next school year and taking a closer look at our strategic planning um process that we would like to engage in next year. So, um, as you all are aware, I spent a
lot of time, Aaron and I spent a lot of time listening and learning across the school district, um, to different stakeholder groups. And there were several resounding themes that I presented to the board and to the community that arose from those conversations. And two of those themes
um were around a need for clarity and a need for improved communications with our internal stakeholders. So, the purpose of me um sharing the priorities for next school year is to be clear. Um you all probably are familiar with um
Dare to Lead and Bnee Brown. And one one phrase in that book that people repeat all the time is clear is kind. And so we want to be kind to ourselves. We want to be kind to our um our teachers, our staff members in our community and
identify truly what the priorities are. There was also a need for um improved communication um with our internal stakeholders. People wanted to know what was going on and they did not want to know what has happened. They wanted to
be engaged in the process um as we work through things and work through issues in our school district. And so this is opportunity to underscore this need for further um communication and improve communication within our school district.
This process in which we engaged in to identify our priorities w was not a process in which my team um worked on in isolation. This was a very collaborative process in which we engaged with um members of the executive leadership team. Um also members um of our
principal leadership team, our coordinators and um our um directors were involved in the planning as well. And we also as we developed the priorities and sought input from stakeholder groups, we also worked with
um Wendy's um BEA um executive leadership team to present what we had come up with for them to ask questions and further refine what we were proposing um to the larger district and to to you all tonight. And from there we
also took the show on the road and um director Buchanan as well as assistant superintendent um um Belmont. They um I would say did a row show and visited with um building leadership teams across the district to
share the priorities for um BLTs to provide feedback and input around the priorities. So the pro the process has been collaborative and the process has been an iterative one for us to come up with the final draft that we are presenting to you all tonight.
Within the presentation you will see um the priorities that we are presenting. Um I want you all to know and reassure you that the priorities are indeed grounded in our strategic roadmap and also are aligned to the budget that I
proposed to you all a few months ago. And we have bucketed the work and what is our identified technical work. What is the continuous improvement work we will be engaging in as a school district? Our district level initiatives as well as program and building level
initiatives that have been identified by the leaders of those buildings or programs. So technical initiatives are initiatives that um are operational in nature. they typically do not require a significant amount of new learning and
um typically we can just readily engage in some type of process or some type of technical learning in order to engage in the work. And so one of our um technical initiatives includes the work around what we need to do as um a read act
expectation and mandate um for students who are not reading at grade level in grades 4 through 12 and identify why they are not reading at grade level. And so we have to give the CAPY basis basics screener to all students in grades 4
through 12 who are not reading at grade level to see if it's due to dyslexia or other um impediments that may be um in the way of them truly learning how to read. You've heard me say um we need to work on our inter internal communications and so that is also a
technical initiatives initiative. I'm sure you all are aware of the concerns that are coming up um in our community across the country perhaps um around technology and so we are engaging in work next school year to ensure that um
we are a district that is using technology um purposefully and not overusing technology not over relying on technology and so we will be working on that as well. Edge of Climber is the data warehouse for the district and we
are um using Edge of Climber not just to store data but how are we using that data to truly drive what we're doing at the site level, at the district level, and at the classroom level, program level, etc. We will also be engaging in a math
standards review process for grades K through 8, a math curriculum review for grades 9 through 12. Of course, we will continue the work that we've begun this year around safety, security, and facilities. And we will be working with the new um director of student support and engagement to ensure that we are
shoring up our threat assessment process to ensure that it is clear and it is consistent across all sites. Continuous improvement work is the work that um is already in place. It may be a process, a structure, um something that is already
in place that's embedded within the culture of our school district. However, we need to continually work on it to refine and improve um what we're currently doing. And so, a few things that we are um doing under the umbrella of continuous improvement is working on
our collaborative collaborative teams, which are our professional learning communities to make sure that we are truly leveraging data to determine what we need to do at an adaptive level to adjust instruction to meet the needs of
our students. and curriculum as well. Of course, leadership is where it is. Leadership sets the floor and the ceiling for everything that happens within programs, within buildings, um within our schools. And so, we will be continuing to work on leadership development for our principles,
directors, and building leadership teams. We received a grant to um relaunch our pathways. We celebrated 10 years of having pathways this school year and we are working already to do the work of relaunching pathways looking at what we currently have in place. How
do we refine? How do we support? How do we prune perhaps what we do not need and um continuing to do that work um next school year. Also, we um are seeing a huge demand and push for more students in special education and we need to
determine is it truly a need? Is that real or are we overidentifying students? How do we determine if we're overidentifying students? Is making sure that our pre-referral process, our staff process is tight, is clear, is consistent, um is equitable, um is data
driven, um so we are not um overidentifying students for special education. And of course, the meat and potatoes for why we exist um instruction learning. And so we will be looking at our instructional practices ensuring that what we are doing at the classroom
level is supporting um academics as well as the social emotional learning of all students including our special ed students and our ML students. Um and another thing that has been made very loud and clear um in listening sessions and in my conversations is how we are
improving our co-eing practices as a district. District level initiatives are the adaptive things that we have identified that will be new learning. Um it will be new learning. It may require a shift in mindset, a shift in beliefs, a shift in
paradigm and this can be heavier, weightier work and this is the work that will be happening across the district at all sites um for us to move the needle around achievement and experiences for our students. Um some of the district
level initiatives um are AI guidance which you will hear a little bit about tonight in our work session. Um our learning coach work, our learning coach process that will be driven by um coaching cycles and what we've identified as priorities at um the
secondary level, the elementary level and middle level as well. um our strategic planning process which you're going to hear more about and we're going to continue to work on the facilities planning process work that we've begun this year in early childhood and communica in community education. Um we
are seeing our smallest learners come in with um multilingual needs and so how are we providing those multilingual supports and so that has been identified this year as a priority for next year. um continuing to work on social emotional learning for our earliest
learners or earliest learners and the best practices around that work. And at the elementary level, common formative assessments for the new literacy curriculum we um have rolled out, he the new literacy curriculum we will be implementing which is um um I think e
foundations we will be implementing. How are we doing that and implementing that with fidelity to make an impact on our student achievement? And then the new science curriculum that we will be implementing at the K5 level with our I think is with is it with our um I I
don't want to make anything up. I won't make anything up. So digital learning specialist. >> Okay. Okay. Okay. All right. All right. And then for secondary grading for equity, the seven principles um in grades 6 through 12, the new social
studies curriculum through grades 6 through 12, read phase two, our um leaders are already engaging in training strive training to move from balanced literacy into what are the best structured literacy practices that we
should be engaging in and leading at um a leadership level and seeing in our classrooms. um at the middle school level. Um how do we take our learning targets and develop success criteria to truly target feedback and understand if we are on track to attain for our
students to attain the learning target and our school within a school intervention model in which we are partnering with um community education in order to fund that at the middle school level. Then principles and program leaders have developed initiatives for their
buildings and programs. And in community ed and early childhood, um they will be innovating around the Kinder Spark program. Um continuing to um um build out grade six project kids and continue the work around pathways development and
adult basic education, which you heard about a couple of weeks ago. At the elementary level, our teams have done a lot of work around catalyst, which is a um a framework to truly engage students
positively um in the classroom. It helps the teacher develop um routines um and um use use their bodies and use um certain strategies in order to um maximize engagement of students and
minimize um confusion and disruption in classrooms. And so that is something that we will be engaging in at the elementary level grades K through five at the middle school level implementing AVID schoolwide structures. And at Nicollet, they will be um piloting the
data wise protocol to look at their data at the high school at BOS and VA and grade nine in our 9th grade academy. They will be engaging in the SEAL pilot that we will be rolling out next year. Another priority next year is how we are
truly um encouraging students who are not typically encouraged or not typically seen um in our rigorous courses to access those rigorous courses and be successful and how we are working across the high school to improve student engagement. um we need to move
from passive engagement and engaging um through schooly and truly actively engaging students, activating their brains in order for them to learn. Um I would like to focus us on the facilities work that we've done um this
year in preparation for next year. This year we have include and completed the internal discussion with our building and program leaders, the third-party study and we have completed the staff survey. However, for next year, we will continue to work to evaluate needs um
continue to engage our staff and community and develop options to address the um needs that have been identified for us to move forward with that facilities planning work. Another area I would like us to focus in on is um the instructional coaching or the learning
coach model. You all know that that is a structural change and uh uh in addition and I see it as a value added um for our school district um next school year and we will be truly working to support that position to build teacher capacity um
also strengthen grade level alignment and again it's about student achievement. Um, we also want to improve the experiences of our students with this model. And, um, last week we announced the 11 hires we've made and my team is preparing to do another round of
interviews to identify the remaining coaches we need for this model. And last and certainly not least, um I want us to focus on the strategic planning process because as we talk about priorities, um and I know that the the the district has um a strategic road map and we have
aspirational parts of a strategic plan like our values and our mission, our vision, but I would like these priorities to ultimately be nestled under um strategies, goals and strategies. And so we will be talking about a strategic planning process to
determine the goals by engaging our community, engaging our staff, engaging students, engaging stakeholders to identify what those goals should be and to move to specific action in which we leverage our priorities um as opportunities to get to attaining those
goals. So with that, I'm going to wrap up my part of the presentation. I'm going to invite Julie Babe up to share with you what she has shared with Aaron and me and we want to share this with you all. Um she's going to give an overview and I will be working with the
board to determine the elements of what she's proposing that we will actually roll out and present to the larger staff and district um as a result of the board's decision. So Julie, thank you. >> Thank you Dr. Daniels and and thank you so much um members of the board for
having me here tonight. Um, I came on a good night. You got I mean it's it was fun to hear all the seriously the celebrations. I'm like whoa wait and I I live in Minnetonka and your chess team be I WAS LIKE OH wait I'm supposed to root for my team but I was just I I was just really blown
away. So um wow I mean you guys have an incredible district and I and I'm just here to share with you a little bit about teamworks our strategic planning process what sets us apart. Um and uh and with that just you know we work with school districts of all types and sizes
rural metro um around the Midwest primarily Minnesota. We're based here in Minnesota um but with all the districts that we engage in um our goal is to help districts move from directional ambiguity to directional clarity. And we do that in a variety of ways. Strategic
planning is one of those ways. We also do um board development work. We do leadership development with admin teams. Uh we have a data analytics team that helps with enrollment projection work for um long-range planning for districts. Um and then we have a really
uh robust guiding change process and decision-making framework when a district is faced with a boundary change decision or even the middle school bell schedule is changing. We have a really nice process to help districts engage their stakeholders and come up with innovative solutions that work within
the confines of the their budget and um and you know the needs that they have as far as timing etc. But with everything we do the desired daily experiences of students, staff and families are at the heart of all of our work of delivering on those needs and making sure those are met. And we do that through excellence
supporting excellence in governance, excellence in management and excellence in engagement. We have worked with over 300 districts mostly in the Midwest here in the state of Minnesota. Um our team of seven senior consultants and uh seven
associate consultants have a collective 400 plus years of experience in education. We all come from different experiences, backgrounds. Um but we all come together to with this purpose of serving um our school district clients um and and through all these ways that
I've just described. I've most of my so I'm a senior consultant. I guess I didn't really give much of an intro, but I'm a senior consultant. I've been with the um company for about four years. Um and uh most of the work I'd say about 90% is strategic planning facilitation.
And when I wrap up a strategic planning process with the district, I love to just sit with the superintendent and ask kind of an exit interview. How'd it go? What like after maybe 3 to 6 months, what's sticking? What what are the friction points? what and so this was direct just notes from one of the
district um superintendents I talked to after he had gone through this process what he really liked was the alignment he's feeling in seeing now instead of operating silos we're really walking together with the arrows pointing in the same direction and that gives him a lot
of comfort and confidence um in decision-m when the fires come up um he said you know I just would feel overwhelmed but now everything feels achievable I have this plan to come back to I have a sense of clarity and an understanding of our why. And I asked, okay, what were the not so great parts?
You know what? And he just well, it's a lot of time. It is. It's a big investment of time, but he said it was worth it. So, we did go through an entire school year of, you know, of work and commitment. Um, but I'm so glad that we did. And what is different about our
process, we set you up with a system for continuous improvement, not just a static plan that starts to wither away and becomes irrelevant. Because as we know in education things change, the readact comes up. There's that we don't know what's ahead, but we will set you up with a system to be responsive to
those emerging influences and changes. Um, and the other thing the superintendent talked about is the outcomes of the process. It came from us. It's not a teamworks plan. It is your plan. And I'm seeing all this great work that you guys are doing that will be acknowledged. We're not going to
start over. We're going to say, "Okay, look at all this great work we're doing, but we're going to start to align it by strategic directions and incorporate the voices of your stakeholders so that we are truly delivering on their desired experience. When a staff member comes to work, when a student comes to school, we
want to understand what they need and make sure the plan acknowledges that." The other thing about our process that everyone in the district has an important role to play but at teamworks we're really mindful of um roles and responsibilities and having you come to the table at an appropriate time right
so for instance we don't have parents on the strategic planning team we do that is the um professional educators of the district who sit on the strategic planning team but we do engage with parents when we facilitate our focus groups to understand their desired daily experience what do you want to
experience on a daily bas basis and through surveys and providing opportunities for feedback on the strategic roadmap and other steps in the process. I'm going to talk about more about roles uh the role that the board plays the
role that um student staff and families play. This is a graphic that shows you all of our pieces of um the the components of our uh strategic planning process with the strategic road map at the top. That's your mission, vision, core values, and strategic directions. And that's your northstar that that sits
on top of all of this work. And I know you guys have a strategic road map. And many times when I facilitate this with districts that have a roadmap, we will look at it and we will um you know acknowledge all the work that has been done by the strategic planning team and talk about should we some districts will
do a little revision to the road map after going through the process. We do this last by the way not first but last. So we call this process um classroom to boardroom because we literally start at the classroom level talking to students talking to staff talking to families to
understand their needs. That's the beginning of the process and we call it classroom to boardroom because we end with the board when we look at your strategic roadmap and all the assessment work that's been done um to be able to wrap up that process and do that roadmap at the end. On the left hand side you
see the district three-year continuous improvement plan. So that is uh a tool that will be developed um and is overseen by the office of the superintendent. It's aligned by your district's 3 to five strategic directions. Um we recommend that this is updated annually. Again, it's a system
and it's informed by your district vision card. The vision card is our measures and metrics um to track the district's continuous improvement. Um, and it serves as a communication tool between the board and the office of the
superintendent. Using that vision card, it provides new inputs for your your continuous improvement plan. So, when when uh a year is up, when you've um you know your three-year plan and when a school year is over, you'll look at your district vision card to look at
opportunities and gaps um that can then be added as initiatives on the three-year plan. So, it's a key part that keeps it a system. um where you're identifying gaps, opportunities, and things that you can add to your three-year plan. And then we also help
the board of education develop a three-year governance plan. So that is organized by your five key roles of the board and that works in partnership with the the three-year continuous improvement plan that's overseen by the office of the superintendent um to drive
continuous improvement of your district. And then at the center are those desired daily experiences of students, staff, and families. um that really sets the vision for the plan and is something that's not just um and I'm going to kind of share some examples. Actually, I'm going to go ahead and go right here.
This is a screenshot of a district's vision card, the desired daily experience section. So, these are statements that came directly from students, staff, and families from this district. And then they did a survey to measure level of agreement with those statements. And then you see that vision
card performance score one through five. And the lower scores will give the district a kind of a, you know, okay, we're we've got these twos here. What can we do in the upcoming school year? What can we add to our three-year continuous improvement plan to address these needs? Things like sufficient
planning time for staff. Um, you know, my teachers use a variety of methods that are engaging, interactive, and fun, and that was 64% of students. So this is data for the um office of the superintendent to look at opportunities to add that continuous improvement work
um from a culture and climate standpoint. So these statements um they they start with focus groups. So we we do meet with students, staff and families hear directly from them and the question is simple. What do you want your when you come to school as a student? What do you
want that day to look like, sound like, feel like on a daily basis? And same with staff and families. And with that work, we look for themes with the help of the planning team looking at all of that input and we share those statements back out through a survey with students, staff, and families to validate those
themes. Um, and this is something that uh we recommend measuring on an annual basis, the level of agreement with those statements. Um, what I think is really helpful about the desired deal experiences part of the plan, it really anchors your mission in
real lived experiences. It helps promote alignment among the adults in your system. Um, and it really helps the district stay accountable to what really matters um, in terms of experience for the student, staff, and families. I mentioned the vision card. Um, and
this is just a screenshot of a dashboard and we custom design this for every district. So, they look different for every district, but they all have an achievement section. We always recommend a desired daily experience section. Um some choose to have an an initiative implementation section and then we have
a section typically on operational measures. This can be staff retention, financial health. So these what you see on this dashboard are composite scores. Behind the composite scores are individual measures. So for instance, achievement is um for this district, you
know, MCA's, Fastbridge um I believe they, you know, so there's different kindergarten readiness on track to graduate and that creates a composite score um that's then weighted and this is that uh cover page. Um, so this is a
a just an at a glance look at district continuous improvement in all of these ways. And again, it helps inform updates to your three-year continuous improvement plan. The three-year continuous improvement plan um is organized over three years by
the three to five strategic directions that come out of this process that are that are identified through your strategic planning team. And really it it's it serves as a superintendent's table of contents of all the continuous improvement work that your district is doing organized by um these strategic
directions. All of the bullets that are on here are supported by a um what we call an action card. So it's a um one second apologize.
I had an alarm going off on my phone. like oh somebody's phone is going off. Well that would be mine. Okay. Um so our action cards uh identify the who, when, why, what of every initiative. So it helps um as a implementation tool to
carry out these initiatives. Um and it is a dynamic living document. Um there is that link as I mentioned between the vision card and the operational plan. Each informs the other. And this also helps your district recognize capacity and what needs to leave the system in
order to implement well. And this is just a screenshot of the action card. And I mentioned roles and responsibilities. And so each part of our process um uh different people come to the table depending on the um the the
deliverable or the part of the plan. Um and we do engage as I mentioned students, staff, families, and the community. We have a really great at the beginning of the process a session um we call story wall. So it's looking at your district's history. Um we invite alumni and former staff members, your you know
current staff um uh leaders in your community. Uh and so and administrators and we tell the story of your district going back to the person who has the most history in the room. I've done this with people who can talk to the 1960s, whether they were a student in the 1960s
or a I had a session this fall with some former staff members who I think graduated in the 70s and then worked in the district and you know in the late '7s and onward. So um we get that historical context early on um to understand where you've been to be able
to pave that path forward. Um and the environmental scan is another opportunity where we invite the community in and a greater um bigger group. Um and then your uh strategic planning team will be developing that three-year operational plan, the vision card, um your school and department
improvement plans. And then working with the board will develop that strategic roadmap, your three-year governance plan. Um and we also do a session called um board structure and workflow. So, we look at, it's kind of PD, but it's a really helpful um kind of add-on at the
end of the process to look at how you guys are working together and how to um uplevel that to best support your strategic planning work. And this is just looking at the the work in phases. So, um we're proposing that we would start in the fall um and the process
would wrap up in the spring. Um typically, most districts take about 6 to9 months to comfortably go through the process. um meeting, you know, once or twice a month um to be able to complete that process. Um so, just wrapping up, um our process
is a system, not a static plan. That really sets us apart. The vision card is uh works in partnership with your plan to um be able to keep it up to date. Um, we're really mindful about roles and responsibilities and who participate at
what point, but involving your entire community and making sure everyone is involved. Um, the desired deal experiences are a key element as well, which really grounds your plan in the needs of your student, staff, and families. Um, and this process is really adaptable. I've worked with districts of
all sizes. Um, literally down like as small as 300 to thousands. And um we work with you when we design this upfront to really understand where you're coming from starting from, what your needs are to make sure that we're truly meeting your needs um as we go
through this and partner on this together. Um and being able to, you know, engage in this. It's a system and um I think that uh it's something that will help you guys kind of set you up for success in the future um with the
tools that we provide in this process. So, this is just a little snapshot of our team and um I thank you for the time and I'd love to hear what questions you guys have um for me. >> Awesome. Thank you very much, Julie. Um
so, I think so we have kind of two two different presentations that we've heard tonight um so far. >> Um and how about if we start with Dr. Daniel's communication and clarity first if there are questions or comments about
Dr. Daniel's portion and then uh we'll move to to the teamworks part. Are there any Yes. D >> whatever. >> Yes. You sitting next to me. >> That was a lot of information.
I was thinking as while you were talking, we could probably have an entire report about each individual slide, maybe even each individual bullet point on that. So, the depth and breadth of what you're talking about at next year as far as the priorities is a lot,
>> which is great. >> Mhm. >> And it's a lot. >> It's a lot. >> It's a lot. You're going to have your hands full. >> Oh, yeah. Um Oh, yeah. Not sure. I've got a question. Not sure how I'm going to ask it, but I'm just going to throw it out there.
>> Ask it. >> If we get to a point where you perhaps realize that I was right, and it was a long, how might one go about saying, "Well, this might need to wait until year three because you can only do so much in year
two." >> Like, what's your thought process if things come down where you have to prioritize >> Mhm. among the many great things that you want to do in the next year. >> Yeah. And and and I want to be clear, it's not what I want to do. >> You meaning you and it's what's it's
it's really us organizing in a lot of ways what's already happening and what needs to happen. >> Um so it's it's putting it in a package in a container. I mean this doesn't even include everything that we are are doing but how do we identify the drivers of
professional development and the things that we really want people to focus on next year and I would um to answer your question I would say it's adaptive and so as with learning period we have to collect data it's it will be a data informed process and how do we adjust if
it does appear to be too much how do we adjust and um manage those adjustments. And so that's how I would respond to your question. Um, Director Hume, is that this is what the team, which is why it was important for us not to do it in isolation. Um, my team is not in their
heads because we brought as many people to the table as possible to say, you know what, what are the priorities? What do we need to focus on? Um, what's happening that um, we need to bring into greater focus? Um, and what do we know? like we know we have to implement a new
literacy curriculum next year. We know we need to continue to work on catalyst strategies to make sure our classrooms are physically and psychologically um um safe and orderly for students um to learn. And so those were um things that
the team identified and we just continue to refine um that. But it will be a data driven process and we will adjust where necessary. >> Sure. One more. Um, as with any change process,
>> I think the communication and implementation piece, you know, the devil is in the details as they say. Um, again, this is a lot of information. Um, so your my unsolicited advice for you is whatever we can do to communicate and
make sure that we're bringing the staff, bringing the families, bringing the community, bringing the students along with us >> is going to be extremely important for the success of all these initiatives. >> Yes. >> But I know you know that. >> Yes. Yes. And so, um, Dr. Hume and you shared that you I
mean you've shared that all along even with what I've proposed with the um budget um how we bring a broken record with that that's and it is it is it is um change should be managed and we are um working to improve in areas that have
been identified as areas of opportunity for us. Um so the team this is why the team has worked with principles worked with directors worked with building leadership teams worked with the executive leadership team of the BEA um
and actually tomorrow all of the priorities will go out to the larger staff so there is an understanding this is what the work is um for next year in these buckets so people are aware and as we onboard our new um directors they
will understand what the work is as well that they will be responsible for in partnership with their supervisors. >> Thank you. >> Mhm. >> And I saw another Yes, Director Mickelson. >> Um so I just want to ask and kind of be clear that um
Teamworks is is new working with the district on this. I mean it's like they haven't been doing that the last three years kind of thing. Are they replacing someone else? This is kind of a new bring in. Okay.
>> From what I understand in meeting with I met Julie Babe probably at the beginning of the the probably in the winter I met Julie Babe but the beginning of the school year. I met with um Aaron and I met with Christine Robleski from team works and she has in teamworks have done
work with the district and this is why you have the frameworks you know guiding change documents and etc. this is why those um pieces are in place. I would say that the strategic planning process that we will be engaging in perhaps will be new with teamworks. I think that that
is something that is new but uh we do have an existing relationship with teamworks >> and um so I'll I'll have a couple of questions here throughout this um that kind of with what director he was talking about in terms of having a long list there's a lot of things there. I
mean is that one of the reasons just in terms of resources why we're bringing in teamworks is that or is that long list something that was a result of starting to talk with teamworks I guess chicken or egg which you know
>> I you know when as you listen to her presentation even perhaps as you listen to mine you know I want to be clear and I've shared this with um chair all I I want to be very clear with the board and with the district that the work we're doing is not the work that um Dr.
Daniels wants to do. >> I think that there needs to be a process in which um we engage stakeholders to identify going back to what um Julie shared the desired daily experience of students of staff of parents and how are
we building around that goals and strategies to accomplish that. Um and so I want to be very clear that um I am not 100% driving anything. this is a collective um a voice I mean a process that um has um been very intentional
about getting collective voices to determine where we're going. So it's not about this is what Daniels and her executive leadership team is doing. This is what we are doing. This is what you all have identified as um priorities um for us to work on to improve achievement
in the experiences of students and families and staff in our district. So teamworks is kind of that facilitator of that back and forth in that communication kind of thing kind of being able to kind of do that. >> Um and um I'm just kind of curious.
I don't know. Um, as far as sometimes it's very easy to have a lot of cool looking charts and a lot of cool looking stuff and messaging and you know all of that,
but yet the dayto day doesn't really change. >> Mh. um you know there there's you know some some you know fun and uh uh meetings and and things that that might be happening. Um so I just as a comment I'll look
forward to over the next you know year or two kind of hearing you know kind of how things are are changing and what's happening as a result of this kind of more at that granular you know at all the different levels. um you know, not
only just when things are being communicated to staff or administrators or whatever, but but what we're we're really seeing um uh happening and and I think it'll show in the data. >> Yeah. >> What I hear you saying is >> you don't want a performance,
>> right? And I I don't either. I don't want a performance. Um I want what we do to live in the daily practice. And so I say that to teachers. Um, and I had to say that a lot in my former district when I would visit classrooms. Oh, Dr. Daniels is coming to the classroom. I
want I'm like I I don't want to see the per performance. I don't want to see the show. I want to see the practice. And so that's what I hear you saying. And so um I think that that would be clear and evident as you said in in what you hear in presentations and uh again how it
bears out in um data and um other metrics and indicators that we will identify. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you, uh, Director Tester. >> Yeah. Um, just a being in the nonprofit sector, um, we go through a lot of
strategic planning because in order to and just thinking about what you've unveiled and in collaboration with with teamworks is like you could say, "Yeah, I want change. I know change is coming, but you need a process to be able to get
there." and being able to have those kind of conversations and it really does benefit having an external organization who is actually skilled in in helping lead and direct um than doing it necessary. I mean once you sometimes
okay so caveat uh 917 unveiled what they were doing for their strategic plan they did it internally um which isn't bad because they I I think they had teamworks before. So you you said a great example in which they kind of took some of those and like we can we can do
it internally. Um that it really does help identify what those goals are, breaks it down into buckets into what you want to achieve or learn in year 1 to year 2 to year three. And kind of
what Dr. not Dr. Dr. Hume was saying was it what you presented is a lot and I figured it's layered. Mhm. >> So that yes, this is kind of aspiring and there's things that we're going to need to do to address that bullet
>> and I don't know if it was like definitive like this is accomplished in this year >> as much as this is what we've identified that we need to address this year and you will learn in the process. >> Right. Um, thank you for saying that, director Chester, because for example,
you saw K2 literacy, the implementation of that. Um, well, that is work that we're doing right now, Heggery, that will continue. So, some things are in year one, some things are in year two, like catalyst training, that's work. I mean, I want to say William Burn,
they've been doing catalyst for a while. Other elementary schools, they are new to catalyst. And so for William burn catalyst may be at um year five implementation but where is it in practice in the classrooms across the across the building whereas in other
schools it's in year two for next school year. So again, we took things that we are already doing or things that need to be done due to legislation or um curriculum review cycles and um standards I mean curriculum implementation and said you know what
let's put in this container let's organize it and present it to the staff to to share with them exactly and very clearly what the work will be next next school year >> and and then I going back to communication cuz like it was clarity
And then like really framing up internal communication and I would say external to some degree too is that um and I'm assuming this will happen anyway um is that anything that is being communicated
is going to be addressing back to those bullets or those highlights is like we're doing this because of this. So then that becomes the the common language, that clarity piece that I think will help with um keeping everybody informed and on the same page.
>> Yes. So some of the priorities that we've identified, I've heard from my board directors that, you know, you all want to see greater consistency in school reports next school year. So I would expect that you should expect to see how some of these priorities will be
in all of the school reports next year. again for clarity, again for alignment, for consistency. So yes, Dr. Kester. >> Mhm. Thanks. >> Thank you. And director Webb, I saw you had your hand up. >> Yes. So, I just wanted to present kind
of like my take on all this because um when I look at what you're doing and I look at what we have done, I feel like this is a huge shift >> and something that we we didn't have previously as far as when we were um
creating our um strategic plan with with this much depth. there wasn't this much depth and that was what it was lacking because I mean just like when you um create goals they have to be attainable >> and so I don't think anything that
you've put in here isn't attainable >> and just I would be I guess I guess I would be concerned if we didn't have a long list if we had a short list because I would be like well then there's something wrong because there's so many things that constantly are changing and
we need improvements. >> So, I'm not scared by the list. Just to make it known, I'm not scared by the list. >> Oh, I'm not scared of it. I'm just saying there's a lot. >> I know. But it's I but um I believe that with having a firm
like Teamworks, that's the the piece that was missing before and they will help us with mapping this out and making sure it is attainable. >> That's what I see. I mean, that's what I'm sure you see as well. >> Thank you, Dar. Yes.
>> Yeah. >> Because they'll help us lay that foundation and put it forth to our district in a way that it's makes sense. And then I I fully believe that the communication will be because that was
another thing I felt was lacking with our prior >> uh rolling out of the strategic plan. It just it didn't seem very like it didn't have any ump. So, >> thank you, Director. >> You're welcome,
>> director Saxi. >> Thank you. Um, agree on the the list is long and that's okay. Um, I think it's important that at least in the background if the list is going to be that long, we need to have it prioritized at least into tiers of
priorities. Um there's so much of it and then once starts stuff actually starts happening and then something bizarre happens like operation metro surge and throws all everything into chaos. You need to be able to go back and >> all right these are now the three that
we're going to focus on for the rest of the year because otherwise if it's all equally important and it's all is all important but if it's all equally important >> Mhm. >> we're going to struggle when >> we get off plan slightly. So, and then my one question with all the the amount
of information we just went through, I'm surprised I'm going this far into the weeds, but I was just curious about the grade six project kids vision. Is that is that before and after school um site at the middle schools? >> You know, I need to uh let me find out.
Okay. >> Is it's Yes. >> is yes. >> You would like those details. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> We'll get we'll get you more information. >> No rush. Thank you. >> I don't I don't have a whole lot more to
say than what has been said. Um I a thing that I hope could come out of this as far as clarity and communication goes. um is that not just that we are telling everybody the things, but that
we're we're giving the information in a way that is understandable to the lay people, >> so to speak. as a parent, uh, if you're not an educator, you're not you don't know the biz, you don't know the jargon, whatever you want to say, you know, um,
>> some of this can just mean nothing >> if if we don't really um, have it presented in a way that >> um, is um, understandable. >> I I hear that and Aaron and I have discussed what that could look like. We
even talked about perhaps even building a a what is it? a web page a a landing page a landing page a landing page around um this but I received that and that's something we work on. >> Yeah. >> All great comments. Thank you. Um so on
this first part I will have my own comments as well and then we'll go to specifically the the teamworks portion of the of the conversation. Um one thing that did strike me and that I just really delighted me was the fact Dr.
Daniels that your leadership has sparked um real energy to create this list. >> Um in in addition to the fact that much of it is already ongoing and and you know
>> and your team came up with this >> very long list >> and so so you know kudos kudos to the team. Um, and just know that, you know, what I'm hearing is you have our support and, you
know, >> however it needs to morph, whatever might come our way, >> um, you have our support and and understanding and >> it sounds to me as though there may be
along the way uh, conversations around either retreats and or work sessions so that we can so that we can understand what all is going on. Um, and uh, just in terms of the strategic planning, I appreciate that doing doing
the strategic plan in-house is always tough because our our team has limited resources, limited time, and so bringing in an outside firm kind of lifts that burden >> off of our staff's shoulders. and you
can really just focus >> and do that um with the support of our team to kind of help facilitate internally. >> Um >> and also I appreciate it's it's never lost on me that the the fact that >> we're very data rich.
>> Mhm. >> We've always been data rich. what we do with that data >> exactly >> is so very important and I'm really excited with >> at the at the prospect of what we are going to be able to do with it to make a difference for our students and our
families >> and also to divest ourselves again cuz we've gone through this before >> um the divest the divestment process and I think we're probably ripe for that again and I'm glad that that's in our in our parliament that you know there are
probably some things that we're just kind of doing. And maybe we need to look at them and say, "Yeah, >> it's it's time to put this one to bed, you know, and maybe there's something else either that we're already doing or uh well, probably we're already doing it and it just needs a little more energy,
>> right?" >> Um, now for the teamworks portion of the conversation. Um, do we have specific questions for Julie? director. So, when does this process
process begin exactly? >> Well, with where we're at right now, I mean, my recommendation would be um we start with a co-design process um with the office of the superintendent just to map out logistics, the timing and um the communication. We have a lot of
template, invitation letters, all these things are kind of ready to go that you can customize and make your own. But we would just share all of the logistical pieces. sometime this summer with the idea that we would kick off early in the school year with um there's a session we call the education leadership system
that we do with your administrative team leaders and the board to kick the whole process off. Um and then we would go into focus groups and you know yeah just hit the ground running at the beginning of the school year. Um, depending on the district, we um, as I mentioned, the
cadence is usually maybe one to two meetings a month and get you into the spring and you'll have everything wrapped up in the spring. Um, so yeah, it's Yeah, but start at the beginning of the school year. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Fen.
>> Yeah. How often, if at all, are you going to be meeting with staff, students, or family members? Are you a main contact with the board and um members of the administration or are you facilitating conversation or is it you
give advice to the board and administration and they talk to family, staff and students? >> That's a great question. So I will be your district's facilitator for everything. So I facilitate the focus groups. Um, so I meet with um, you know,
I'll meet with maybe 30 uh, well, it depends on the district and we have to map all this out, but I'll focus groups about 25 to 30 middle school students, high school students, families of secondary students, families of elementary students, and so I am that facilitator and um, and and what I
recommend is that it is just me and not administrators or principles or board members so that they can feel free to share very freely with me. Um, and then I also facilitate the strategic planning team. So, that's a cross-section of staff members and administrators who
represent all of your programs, all of your schools. Um, uh, and uh, I will lead them through a process um to assess your district's current reality. What are your district's strengths? What are your district's needs? That story wall
workshop um, where we look at your district's history. So, all of that work, I am your facilitator. Um, but I'm facilitating different groups. Sometimes I'm facilitating the board, sometimes I'm facilitating with your administrative leaders, sometimes it is the community, sometimes it's student,
staff, and families. But I will be the common thread throughout, which is kind of cool because then I get to see um, you know, it's kind of like I'm across the river and there's like all of these different um, people painting pictures, but I'm seeing all the canvases. I'm
seeing all the different, you know, versions of um so I get to get the big big picture of what everyone is um sharing and thinking and um and I'm able to uh bring all that together as your facilitator of the process to to get you
guys to the end point. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, good question. >> Quick detailed question. Do you bring a scribe? >> That's a great question. So I um I okay so for instance for the focus groups um we do I we have a system where we self
facil we we create kind of self-f facilitation uh moments. So I'll put people in groups of three or four with chart paper and they're going to share their desired daily experiences with their small group and then I move around the room. I ask clarifying questions. I
get it all scribed. So they scribed for me, but then I'm able to um be there for everyone, hear what they have to say, try to clarify so I understand. Um but then we can get a lot of volume, you know, of input at the same time. So but
yeah, then I use a lot of digital tools too. So sometimes I'll use like mural or muro. I don't know if you guys are familiar with those tools, but um so like digital whiteboards so that I can work quickly. Sometimes I do like old school paper and post-it notes. It kind of depends, but um we have a a lot of
different ways where we capture the information. Story wall, I literally put butcher paper up and people literally draw and write and their teams and they literally present the story of the 1970s and 191 and the story of the 1980s and
the story and it's just filling the room and they are the scribes and they are the artists. Some people get really into it. that they will go off to a printer and print stuff, but but they get to create that story wall and share back with the rest of the group. So, thank we capture in in different ways. Yeah.
>> Great. Other questions? Dr. Mickelson, >> I just want to say maybe I sounded a little negative before, but I just I I do want to say I'm very excited about this. I think that, you know, having you here to be able to have that I I think
will help with consistent messaging and to be able to have the bandwidth to really dig into some of these things, um, you know, I think part of it is, >> you know, you'll have some really wonderful ideas and some things. And then it's that the accountability for that implementation, you know, into that
dayto-day kind of thing and and um being able to really use all of the, you know, cool fancy stuff that you're going to be able to, you know, show us is is kind of that thing is how can we make sure that it's trickling down and and really getting used. So, um I I do want to say that I think it's, you know, u I'm
looking forward to what it is that's going to be happening over the next, you know, 3 years. So there's thing we we definitely are continually learning from our clients too. So there's parts of our process that came from our clients. Like we have um we call it the strategic planning hub, but it is just a one page
of your current school year initiatives organized by the strategic directions with all of your strategic com, you know, planning components all linked in this one Google doc. this just came from a district. He said, "I just want to because we have the three-year plan and that and that's a great tool, but he's
like, I just want to see just this year." And then he, you know, then his team linked all the action cards just on one page. This is what we're focusing on. And we were like, "That's a great idea. Can we share that with our clients?" And of course, so it's something that there's
we we have continual dialogue with our clients like, "What are you actually using? What is working? How are you embedding this?" And then we share that back out with our clients. This is something that a district is using and it's helping them to keep track of things and um it is there is so much beyond once I'm done with this process
to embed it in the way you work on a daily basis. Um and so we we provide those tools and and share those best practices and give you examples. Here's what this district did, you know, so just that you have some, you know, ways to to carry it forward even with
communication too. you know, here's how districts have talked about strategic plan on the website when they kick it off. Like, I'll get I'll provide all of those um things so that you guys aren't starting from scratch. So, >> it'll be nice because I think, you know, it'll be great to not have, you know, all of the feedback that you'll get, all
of the back and forth and the communication, you know, uh that it won't fall into like a black hole, that there won't be that kind of feeling, you know, just kind of what I'm hearing is yes, there's a lot of communication. there's a lot of um messaging that goes out with all of the different stakeholders between them, you, us, you
you know, everyone. And so, you know, um >> we won't have that that feeling of I've shared all this, but I don't know where it went, what happened to it. >> So, so that >> other questions, comments? Cher, can I
add one thing just to um also >> um respond to director Hume's concerns about how much it is and you know for those of you um I want to just share that the reason why my team meets with um Wendy's executive leadership team. we
co-created this group um in which we come together to discuss I mean we met with them to even again review the um priorities but next school year we will be meeting with that group about three or four times next school year to gather input and data from them as to how
things are going in order for us to adjust if we need to adjust um our plan for next school year. And so we will have checkpoints um throughout the year that you will hear about in a retreat or in my um board update um in which I will
share with you all. But we have built out checkpoints for next school year to check in to um see how things are going. So I wanted to add that as well. I I forgot to add that. So I wanted to let you know that we're building in those um checkpoints to collect data. >> Thank you.
>> Any other comments? All right. I have a couple um so I'm sure this has come up before. Um in your focus groups you had mentioned that you of course meet with students, staff and families and also the
community. Um, and as you were talking, I was thinking about our pathways program, of course. >> And the pathways of course bleeds into the community with our community leaders. >> Um, so we have both academics and
community kind of in that vin diagram. >> Yeah. >> How does that fit into your process? >> We sometimes do. Um, and this is district specific, not always, but many of our districts do. Um, so when I do the desired daily experience focus groups, I also we can do a community
focus group, but the questions are different because they're not engaging with the district on a daily basis as a student. So our questions are different for that. We ask about um what changes they'd like to see for students, staff, and families. Um so from their lens as a
community leader, what would they like to see? Um, so it's a bit more of a uh just getting their input from their role and the way that they engage with the district. What would they like to see change? What would they like to see happen? And so we just we we set it up
differently. Um the questions in that focus group, but we do have there's opportunities in our process to engage with community also. And we we love to invite invite the community to be a part of story wall and this session we call environmental scan. So that's a scan of
your present day. um what is uh you know edge kind of coming up uh emerging um fully established and ebbing and we love to get community voice in that. So I will facilitate that where I will have staff working and community and then we
bring them together and so there are we do have uh steps in the process where we invite community leaders, community partners to be a part of the process. That's great because um as I'm sure you know, we're a K12 pathways school district. So, it's not simply the the
secondary level that that we're talking about. Um so, that strategic planning process would need to address that as well. >> Sure. >> Um so, thank you for that. >> Yeah. Um yeah, and I guess just just really
appreciating, you know, I think back to um the first time that I engaged in the strategic planning process and really appreciating >> um well I it's both of you really just >> um bringing in the student, staff, and
families into the process because creating a strategic plan um at at the at the leadership level. It it's one way to do it. I think it's probably best grounded >> when we have the whole school community
involved. Um particularly >> um you know at, you know, of course their age, you know, it's secondary. We we want to make sure we hear from our students. >> Um and then also the community. We just get really good feedback and we know that we're really headed in the right
direction. So, um, thank you both for, um, Teamworks and also Dr. Daniels, you and your team for for bringing that to us. >> Anything else? >> N thank you so much. >> Thank you for the time. Thank you so much.
>> All right. Uh, next. All right. Uh, next portion we are turning to committee board assignment and school assignments. Um we will start with the legislative
committee with director tester. >> Yes. Um we had uh nothing pertinent to meet this month so we nothing to report. >> Very well. Thank you. Uh next we'll go to the policy committee with chair
Mickelson. >> Um the policy review committee met last week. We've got a number of policies uh on the agenda today. Um and of course we have our work session with the AI policy. Um um MSBA came out with a sample policy a couple of months ago.
There's been work that's already done. It's will continue to kind of be done, but yes, we're uh moving on a brand new policy with some parts of that process happening even tonight. >> Awesome. Thank you. And negotiations
with Director Saxi. Uh we continue to be in quiet season so no recent meetings and no further report. >> Awesome. Thank you. Uh any other assignments or uh whether board committee or school assignments? >> Director Chester.
>> Yes. Uh 9:17 met on May 5th. Um we were presented with the preliminary budget for FY27. Um looking very good. a wonderful like we do have wonderful finance team and and we're
addressing and have been addressing concerns or issues related to finance and so then the next budget looks well we'll be voting to approve it um next week on Tuesday uh when the board meets again um and
then in addition to that I um shared uh they were unveiling the initial um um priorities coming out in their strategic planning process. They did do a comprehensive one having um like
circle focus groups and and such. And so really we're bringing in all that information to then create those priorities. There's going to be more to be presented cuz there'll need to be another layering from those priorities. It's like you know for year 1, two, three. Um and then in addition to to
that um what is the strategic plan? Oh yes, coming up uh in our uh new under new business too. Um they we are presented with um the long-term facilities maintenance request from 917 towards the
member districts and we're presented with that in which I know um Dave Lake, director of operations will be presenting to that in new business. >> Awesome. Thank you. All right. Any other reports?
All right. With that, we will move on to the business portion of our meeting uh to the consent agenda. Although board action is required, it is generally unnecessary to hold discussion on these items. In the event a board member wishes to discuss an item, that item will be moved for separate
consideration. Are there any items that board members w wish to move for separate consideration? Hearing none. Uh all those uh I need a motion to approve. So moved. >> Moved by Director Saxi, seconded by
Director Anderson. Uh all those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. Nay. And the motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Uh moving to new business. Uh we are being asked to
approve revised 191 long-term facility maintenance program budget for FY28 with Dave Lake, director of operations. Welcome Dave. >> Thank you. >> Good evening board chair all superintendent Dr. Daniels and members
of the school board. Each year we come to the board seeking approval of our long-term facility maintenance plan. This plan provides a comprehensive 10-year outlook of anticipated facility maintenance needs across the district. Projects included
in in the plan are generally those estimated at $100,000 or more, although we also complete approximately 50 to 80 smaller maintenance projects annually. Board approval is needed prior to August so the plan can be submitted to the state of Minnesota. The state uses this
information to calculate the district's proposed tax levy, which will return to the board for final approval in December. The levy approved this fall will be taxable in the upcoming calendar year and payable in the following fiscal year. The LTFM plan serves as a flexible
10-year road map. While it while it identifies projected priorities and timelines, adjustments are made as needs evolve and priorities shift. The intent is to provide the board and community with transparency regarding the district's long range facility planning
while maintaining flexibility to respond to changing conditions. It is my recommendation that the board of education adopt the resolution approving the revised long-term facility maintenance program budget for FY 2028. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Uh I will take a motion. >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Hume. Second. >> Seconded. >> Seconded by Director Mickelson. Uh having been moved and seconded, uh since this is a resolution, it will require a
roll call vote. So, in a moment, I will ask Sarah to call the role. And when she calls your name, please respond with either an I if you are in favor of the resolution or nay if you are opposed. Sarah, will you please call the role? >> Director Chester,
>> I. >> Director Worm, >> I. Director Saxi >> I, >> Chair Alt, >> I, >> Director Hume, >> I, >> Director Anderson, >> I, >> Director Mickelson, >> I. >> Having seven in favor and no one
opposed, uh, this resolution was declared duly passed and adopted. Uh, next we are being asked to approve the long-term facilities maintenance for intermediate school district 917. Staying with Dave Lake.
>> Thank you. Uh, the explanation for approval of the district 917 long-term facility maintenance plan is very similar to the district plan presented already. This approval is also required so the associated costs can be reflected in our local levy process. Intermediate
School District 917 provides educational services and programming for students with unique needs from its member districts, including ISD 191. Because district one or because N district 917, excuse me, does not have independent levy authority, its long-term facility
maintenance costs are allocated back to its member districts. Our district's portion of those costs is then incorporated into our levy process. It is my recommendation that the board of education adopt the resolution approving the ISD 917 long-term facility
maintenance program budget. Thank you. >> Thanks. I will take a motion. So moved. >> Moved by Director Chester. Second. Seconded by Director Worb. >> Is there any discussion? >> Having been moved and seconded, I will
once again ask Sarah to call the role. Sarah, will you please make the call for this? side today. Uh, Director Mickelson, >> hi. >> Director Anderson, >> I. >> Director Hume, >> I. >> Chair Alt, >> I. >> Director Saxy, >> I. >> Director Worb, >> I. >> Director Chester,
>> I having seven in favor and no one opposed. This resolution was declared duly passed and adopted. >> Thank you, Dave. >> Thank you. Uh, next we are being asked to approve
the Minnesota State High School League resolution for membership for the 2026 2027 school year with Dr. Belmont, uh, assistant superintendent. Welcome, Dr. Belmont. >> Good evening and thank you, Chair Alt,
Superintendent Daniels, members of the board. Um this is an annual um exercise where we present the um resolution asking for uh board approval for membership in the Minnesota State High School League. The MSHSL
um has over 50 athlet um athletic and arts that we provide access to for our students. Um I believe there's um over 600 member districts. um it provides governing support rules and um and
access for those member districts. Um so therefore um I'm recommending that the uh the board of education approves adopting the 2026 20227 resolution for membership in the MSHSL the Minnesota
High School League um totaling annual membership fee of $10,0004 $10,478.50. >> Thank you. >> I will take a motion. >> So moved. >> Moved by Director Saxi. Second. >> Seconded.
>> Seconded by Director Mickelson. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, uh, having been moved and seconded, um, I will again ask Sarah to call the role. Sarah, will you please begin the roll call? >> Director Chester, >> I. >> Director, >> I.
>> Director Saxi, >> I. >> Chair Alt, >> I. >> Director Hume, >> I. >> Director Anderson, >> I. >> Director Mickelson, >> I. Having seven in favor and no one opposed, this resolution was declared duly passed and adopted.
Thank you. Ah, and the next item up for business is to approve on a first reading basis changes to policy 503, student attendance with Dr. Belmont. >> Thank you, chair. Um the student attendant uh changes to the student
attendance policy 503 were presented by director Petrroski and I to the policy review committee on May 19th, 2026. Um as the board may be aware, we're in year two of a a statute driven pilot from um
from Minnesota that included resources to help strengthen our systems, making sure that our systems are reliable and coherent across our district. um in regards to attendance and then really looking to align our practices um to
increase engagement and um and effectiveness in attendance. We um we recognize that um policy plays a pivotal role in that and making sure our practices are consistent and um and have
that high impact that we seek. Um so some of the changes that were presented include some um technical updates from the Minnesota Schoolboard Association. Um some additional language to um increase and strengthen the alignment to
um our content standards and practices and policy. And then um we added some additional language around reporting um absences when students leave um before a
reporting period ends. So therefore I I recommend the chair that um the board approves on a first reading basis changes to policy 503. >> Thank you. I will take a motion to approve. >> So moved.
>> Moved by director Hume. Second. >> Second. >> Seconded by director Anderson. >> Sorry. >> Is there any discussion? Uh I just had one question. Um on page 503-3
at the top um just a clarification on striking uh an excuse from a physician or licensed mental health professional is is no longer considered a valid excuse. Um can you elaborate on the background
with that change? >> Thank you for that question. I would have to double check, but if I recall from the co the policy review committee and what I've heard from the district attendance team is is redundant. It exists in another portion of the policy.
>> Um >> I think under legitimate exceptions >> right above it on the previous page the very end. I just just noticed that also. Ah, >> thank you, Director Hume, a member of our >> I think I asked the same question of policy.
>> There we go. Any other questions? Good job. All right. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I oppose. Nay. >> And the motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Dr. Belmont.
And next we have uh we're being asked to approve on a first reading basis changes to policies 427 workload limits for certain special education teachers. Uh policy 530 immunization requirements and policy
615 testing accommodations modifications and exemptions for IEPs section 504 plans and EL students with Amy Petrovski director of student support services. So, welcome Amy. >> Thank you. Good evening, Cheryl, Superintendent Dr. Battle, Dr. Daniels,
and members of the board. I can't believe I said that again. Um, I am here to um talk about the changes in the policy to um the workload limits of certain special education teachers. The um the policy change there is
specifically in section or paragraph three where indirect services can be provided to not only special education staff but also other staff and related service providers including general education teachers, paraprofessionals, anybody who works with the student can
get some indirect services on how to work with the student through the special education related service provider. Uh the next policy I'm here for is policy 530 for the immunization requirements. In the policy here, the major change is that um parents are are
we are required to get consent to share um uh FURPA information or medical information with other agencies from the um parents like for example if they were to go to a different district, we would need to make sure that we have consent to be able to share um immunizations and
information with the other district. Um, we typically do that. That is part of our process when we check it off that when we get um information that we have a student that is enrolling into another district or moving to another district, it's already in there and the parent signs off on it already. So, um, it's
already part of our practices, but this actually puts it into policy. Okay. And then in 615, the testing accommodations, there was um several changes here. Um the first major change is that the Minnesota um test of
academic skills or called the MTAS has been changing its name. Um last year they changed the name from the science MTOS to science alternative MCA test. This year it went to the reading alternative MCA test. Next year it will
be moved into right now it's the MTAs for math, but next year it will be moved into the um mathematics alternative MCA. So, there's some changes there that we needed to address in our um IEPs due to the changes of the um state assessment.
Um the other uh um changes that were made um not necessarily a change, but the process still continues when determining if the student qualifies for an MCA alternative assessment or um or what accommodations and modifications
the student needs in order to be able to access the actual MCA. So that process will continue to happen through the MCA or excuse me the IEP teams. Um the um one of the major differences is that now we need to also address why um why the
MCA might not be appropriate even with accommodations. And so the MCA is the grade level standards for third grade level. If we have if we're working with a um a student or a family that has significant disabilities, then that that assessment is not appropriate even with
accommodations and modifications to that assessment. So, um we have to address that in the IEP and then address why the um MCA alternative assessment is is appropriate. And then it continues to be the same thing with the alternative access testing. For our students that
are EEL, they get the access testing that you are aware of. Um but we also have an opportunity or we have access to an alternative access testing so that students with significant cognitive disabilities also access that assessment to um measure their speaking, reading,
writing. Can't remember the fourth. Okay. >> Listening. Yes, listening. So um but that is those are the changes to the policy. are the main changes um that are going in there. Everything else is
pretty much realigned. So um I recommend that the board approve the first reading basis changes to policy 427 workload limits for certain special education teachers. Um 530 immunization requirements and 615 testing accommodations modifications and exemptions for IS
exemptions for IEPs section 504 and EL students. Thank you. I will take a motion to approve. >> So moved. Moved by Director Saxy, second. Seconded by Director Worb. Any discussion
hearing? None. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Nay. And the motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Amy. >> Uh staying with Amy, uh we are being asked to approve uh the Washurn Center
for Children's Services agreement. >> Yeah. So this year um this is our third year uh with Washurn Center for Children and if um last year if you remember um we got board approval to increase by one therapist. So we went from 12 therapists
to this year 13 therapists and so um that has definitely rightsized we've been able to get um mental health services um access to more students who need it and not putting as much um pressure on the system as as we have in the past. So adding that additional
therapist was very beneficial for the our students and our families. Um other than that, we're going to continue on with the 13 therapists um throughout. And so I recommend that the board approve the agreement for the mental health services uh with the Washurn Center for Children for the 2526 school
year totaling in $628,000. And the board authorized the executive director of administrative services to execute this agreement. Thank you. I will take a motion to approve. >> So moved. Moved. Moved by Director Mickelson. Second.
>> Second. >> Seconded by Director Chester. Uh any discussion? >> Hearing none. All those in favor, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed? Nay. And the motion carries unanimously.
>> Uh next, we are being asked to approve a resolution to accept donations with Dr. Daniels. Thank you, Chair Alt. Before I start to present the formal resolution, I just wanted to say thank you to the many community organizations and partners that support education along
with our students and families in ISD 191. The resolution I am presenting tonight includes a list of donors who have made contributions to our brain power in a backpack program. This is our community education hunger relief program that provides free weekend food
packages to students each week. It is an essential service that couldn't be offered to our families without the generous support of our community. I am also thankful to the following individuals and organizations for their contributions. Alyssa Fears, Minnesota
Valley Electric Operation Roundup, US Bank Foundation, Cyber Grants, Wells Fargo Employee Giving, Savage Rotary Organization, Give Minnesota Mighty Cause Foundation, YSA Classroom Grant,
Walter Foundation, and the Burnsville Breakfast Rotary Club. With that, it is my recommendation that the board of education adopt a resolution to approve and accept these donations to our district in accordance with our schoolboard policy and Minnesota
statutes and to permit their use as designated by the donors. >> Thank you, Dr. Daniels. Uh, I will take a motion to approve. So moved. >> Moved by Director Chester. Second. >> Second. >> Seconded by Director Hume. Any
discussion? Having been moved and seconded, Sarah, will you please call the role? >> Director Mickelson, >> I. >> Director Anderson, >> I. >> Director Hume, >> I. >> Chair Alt, >> I. >> Director Saxi, >> I. >> Director Rubber, >> I.
>> Director Chester, >> I. >> Having seven in favor and no one opposed, this resolution was declared duly passed and adopted. Uh, next on the agenda, we are being asked to adopt a resolution relating to the termination and non-renewal of the
teaching contract of probationary certified personnel at the close of the 2025 2026 school year with Stacy Sovine, executive director of administrative services. Welcome, Stacy. >> Gerald, Dr. Daniels, members of the board. Um, every spring we go through
the process of uh non-renewing contracts for our probationary staff. Um, it is our hope to do that all at once. However, it is not uncommon through the process that different names pop up. It's like, oh, rats, they weren't
included on the the list from either the buildings, whatever. So, this will be the last time we're bringing a proposal like this for this year, but it is my recommendation that the board of education adopt the following resolution be resolved by the
board of education of school district 191 pursuant to Minnesota statute 128.40 that the teaching contracts to the following licensed probationary teachers in Independent School District 191 be terminated at the end of the 2025 2026 school year. We have further resolved
that written notice is sent to set teachers regarding termination and non-renewal of their contract as provided by law. >> Thank you. Um is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Moved by director Hume. Second.
>> Second. >> Seconded by Director Saxi. Any discussion hearing? None. Um having been moved and seconded. Once again, Sarah, will you please call the role? >> Director Chester. I >> Director Worb >> I
>> Director Saxi >> I >> chair Al >> I >> Director Hume >> I >> director Anderson >> I >> director Michaelelsson >> I having seven in favor and no one opposed this resolution was declared duly passed and adopted.
Uh the last item I believe on our agenda is uh we are being asked to adopt a resolution relating to the termination of non-licensed staff hours at the close of
the 2025 2026 school year with Stacy Sovine. >> So our EAS are the last group that we normally bring forward in the spring for reductions. um the the buildings receive allocations or they have title allocations and they're constantly re-evaluating their
needs, what they can afford, where they need to make adjustments. Uh this year it it is a pretty minor adjustments with just the three individuals. We do thank them for their service. Two of them will continue on with us. So it's just a reduction in hours for them, but it it
is my recommendation that the board of education adopt the following resolution. be a resolved by the board of education of school district 191 that the non-licensed personnel in independent school district 191 be terminated at the end of the 2025 2026
school year. Be it further resolved that written notice is sent to the said non-licensed staff regarding termination of their assignment for 2025 2026 school year as provided by law. >> Thank you. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. Moved by director Anderson.
Second. Second. >> Seconded by Director Hume. Is there any discussion? >> And again, this is a uh resolution uh having been moved and seconded. Sarah, will you please call the RO? >> Director Mickelson. >> I.
>> Director Anderson, >> I. >> Director Hume, >> I. >> Chair Al, >> I. >> Director Saxi, >> I. >> Director Werb, >> I. >> Director Chester, >> I. Having seven in favor and no one opposed, this resolution was declared duly passed and adopted.
Uh, this concludes new business. And as many of you know, it is Faven's last night serving us with us as our school board representative. You didn't think you were going to get away without some sort of recognition, did you, Favor?
Um you have done just a fabulous fabulous job uh serving with us this year. Um your reports have been impeccable. Questions have been just really outstanding and thoughtful. Um and I'm going to start us off and then
everyone else will get to go and we'll conclude with Dr. Daniels. Um so thank you so much for um being so thoughtful to serve with us. Um, and I know you're off to great things. You're going to do wonderfully. Um, please remember us.
Come back to visit. Um, let us know how you're doing because we know you're just going to you're just going to wow the world out there. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Are you next? >> All right, I'll go next. >> Um, I'm not going to say a lot. I will
just say thank you. But as as as Cher just said, it's been a real pleasure and an honor to have you with us this year. Um I was thinking earlier tonight when you were standing right there. Um we've been blessed with a lot of really outstanding school student representatives in my years on the board
and I'm happy to say that you definitely have continued that tradition. You've been outstanding this entire year. So thank you. >> Thank you >> and best wishes to you at Colombia. >> Yes. >> Awesome. >> I gushed over you last time. Uh But I am going to say uh your
contribution to the board specifically um is really impressive that uh you share your opinions. You ask questions. Um I love that. Um and I'm just thinking life works is probably
going to be um wanting alumni. She said just saying you have you have more opportunity to share Um, you know, definitely to to second everything that's been said already. I
just have really um been impressed with the kinds of questions and the participation that uh you you've shown and and that you've had um in your year uh here on the board. And you'll have, you know, next year they're going to have some big shoes to fill. Best of
luck to you. um you know definitely uh looking forward to having you come back to visit us because you know if we have to we'll go and drag you over here or something probably uh so that we can keep up with what's happening with you because we'll look forward to hearing all of the great stories. >> So congratulations. >> Thank you.
>> Yeah, likewise. Um thank you for serving on our board and being with us. Um your leadership skills just pour out of you. Um, and not only here at the board table, but hearing it um, being spoken
of just the impact you made even in the high school and likely the middle school and likely the elementary school that that um, there's so much um, that we look forward to seeing as you
continue on in your journey. And um yes, we want to hear from you and and have your voice as alumni in in inspiring um the you know improvements in our district or just bringing that leadership back here too.
>> Thank you. >> Um I have to say Favon, I've truly appreciated your input and perspective as a student board rep. You've really asked some great questions and gave some really thoughtful insight and I really appreciate that and I've really enjoyed getting to know you and talking to you. So, you will be missed.
>> Thank you. >> Um, due to all of that, I think you've set a you set a new high bar for a student rep on our board. Um, it's been fantastic getting to know you and hearing your reports. Um, I don't think your classmates could have asked for a better representation um, here with us.
Um, and your future is tremendously bright and you represent not only your classmates but the entire district and community very, very well. >> So, thank you. >> Thank you all. And um y'all set me up.
Um Favven, you have just been a joy for me as a new superintendent to work with. Um I believe wholeheartedly in student voice and the way you have shaped voice and brought it to this board and it
doesn't just live on this board. You are in action in the buildings and I'm able to see you in action. And you know what? you make it very clear and you make it very known that you are a proud student in ISD 191. Um I appreciate your your
light that you bring with you and girl I am a fan. I am a fan of Faven and I just look forward to you shining your light even brighter out in the world and I look forward to seeing um what you accomplish. And so on behalf of the
board, we would like to present you with this um token of appreciation. And I am so honored I get to introduce you also on Sunday as a speaker at our graduation because you are that girl. So congratulations. Thanks. And thank you all. And don't you
worry, I I will definitely keep in touch and this will not be the last time you guys see me. >> Yeah, there's always one of these seats open every two years. >> Let me get through college first. >> Awesome. Well, thank you.
All right. And I think that Yeah. Um, next up we have a work session uh to review legislative impacts on the budget as well as to learn more about artificial intelligence in district 191. Uh, before that I believe we do need to
take a brief recess. Um, the time is now 8:38 and we will reconvene at quarter 2. Um, so we I will take a motion to um adjourn
for now to to go to a to go to a recess. >> Motion. Uh, Chester Anderson. All those in favor? I Okay, in recess. All right, we are ready to begin. >> So we were
>> time is now 8:45 and we are going to >> Director Hume. >> Oh my god. USE YOUR NORMAL I'M HUNGRY. >> No snacks. >> We're going to start the work session
doing a preliminary review of legislative impact on the budget with Stacy Sovine, executive director of administrative services. Welcome back, Stacy. >> Thank you. Good evening again. Um,
not a lot is pretty much how it's summarized. Um, you know, the supplemental funding for holding our compensatory harmless is going to be less than $15,000. It really doesn't hold us harmless >> because of the way that the law is
written and the formulas in which is being used. There was an adjustment from the February run to where we are right now. So, the district will see an increase, but that happens every year as they go through the adjustments. So, the compensatory isn't really going to be
much. Um, the constitutional amendment for the fund trust, the land fund trust for schools that will occur in November. That would be about $200,000 to our benefit, but we won't see those funds
until at least FY28. So, it won't impact this upcoming budget for us. We're still waiting on more information around and clarity. So the the legislators pass the law and then the departments interpret
>> and then we then it comes back down to us as to and this is what it means for you. So we're in that phase right now in some of these things. So the the the ability to use capital revenue for utility cost.
Okay. Maybe in some years that would be fine because when we get to a certain point where our capital is growing and we have other needs, we might want to tap into that. So, um, our capital funds, we get
an aotment every year for a certain amount of that. A lot of the capital will go towards projects, building projects along those lines, but um, also goes towards like curriculum and textbooks and such. So those would be the different different areas that we
would be able to pull for utilities. Probably more of a windfall for smaller districts out west north than for us, but every little scent helps in that sense. The other thing is some clarification on title one pair professional qualifications. So this
goes way back to no child left behind as to what the qualifications are for the paras and for buildings or districts that receive title one funds. So, they have to have at least a AA 60 college credits,
um, a bachelor's degree, again, more along that line, or pass what used to be like the pair of protests at a certain qualifying score, state established score. Those were the basic criteria on the front end. Um, so we'll see what
that looks like. in statute or in the law originally as it was written. There was al also another pathway to demonstrate skills through experience and that pathway for a number of years has
been missing. So hopefully maybe they're addressing some of that as to other options because it is difficult for many of our EAs in our community or it is difficult for our community to become EAS because of the barriers that
are established with the college credits and some of the different criterias that are in place although they would be great folks in our buildings. So hopefully this will give us more pathways to establish that as well. And that's about what I have. Any of the
we're not going to add any assumptions into the budget that you'll receive here in June until we get actual numbers which will show up in our revision come next January. >> Okay, great. Uh questions, board members, comments? Just going to say
that I like your use of the word pathways. >> Sorry, it's >> completely unintentional, but you're welcome. There should be a pathway. Me, too. >> How late is it?
>> I'm hungry and tired. >> Any other comments, questions? >> All right. Thank you, Stacy. Appreciate it. >> All right. Uh let's see. Next we are moving to uh the last topic in our work session
artificial intelligence in 191. And um just to kind of set the groundwork uh of course everybody I'm going to say this it's really obvious this is a really big topic
>> and so uh this is something that I think we should all become accustomed to seeing periodically coming before us. Um it's if I remember correctly, I think it's probably the first time that we've discussed this as a board. Um at least
with with you Rachel and I probably that means it's the first time we've talked about it as a board. Um, so for this first gander at um at AI, um,
I think what I'd like to do is just ask folks to think about the AI. You know, when as you're listening to the presentation, I'm going to structure it a little bit in part because we know that we have a closed session to go to and I want to be respectful of
everybody's time. Um, so as you're listening to the presentation, let's think about the AI values. There's a there's a slide that Rachel provided us. If you if you need to look at it before we begin, please do so. Um, think about the AI values and
kind of keep that in your mind as you're as you're listening to the presentation, kind of thinking, you know, how are we doing in terms of AI with the AI values? That's kind of where we're going to start the conversation when Rachel complete concludes the presentation.
Um the next part will be um I'm going to hand the conversation over to policy review committee chair Mickelson to talk about pol, you know, kind of handle the policy conversation. Then we're going to wrap up with Q&A. I
know usually we start with Q&A, but we're going to end with Q&A. I think because we know that this is going to be coming back and we're probably going to have to parse it out. So, um I wanted to make sure that we could have a good conversation, get the good information
from from Rachel and team and um and move forward from there. So, without further ado, welcome. >> Good. Thank you very much. Um good evening, Chair Alt, um board of directors and Superintendent Daniels. Um, so I'm we're I'm excited to be here
tonight to talk about AI. It's a pretty big topic, um, especially late in the evening, but there's a lot of different components to it. Um, so we're going to go through a few slides because we want to present some of the things that have been happening over the last few years, as well as now in February um, MSBA released a model AI policy um, that is
pretty comprehensive. So if you've seen it, it's 14 pages. Um, so it's a pretty comprehensive policy. And so kind of talk about how that aligns to some of the things that we've been working on. Um before, sorry I jumped a little bit early, but um before I want to make sure I introduce um our instructional
technology coordinator, um Katie Salma. Um Katie has been really instrumental with a lot of the work around our AI cohorts, which you're going to hear a little bit about um and our professional development. And then you also saw um met Paul Connell this afternoon or earlier tonight with the um um the um
drum line. And Paul is also a tech coordinator or a teactosa at the high school and does a lot with our AI um and working with a lot of our teachers. And so he's a really good resource for answering questions. And I want to also acknowledge that what you're seeing tonight is not just the three of us. There's a much larger group that works
um that has been working on AI in the district now for the last couple years. Um and that's including folks in our in our um CISA department and teaching and learning with um Aminaall with Colleen Coleman with um Katie Ness as well as some of our principles um Jesus Sandival
and Lyall Buma um and then um some other folks as well. So it's a it's pretty comprehensive. >> Yes, it is very complex. So a good starting point is just to make sure we kind of have a shared definition of artificial intelligence. So, um, I'll
give you a moment just to look at that definition. And what you see on that slide is an example of a vocabulary card that is used in the digital learning classroom with third through fifth graders. So, starting to define what is artificial intelligence.
Um, and AI, right, it's already really deep deeply integrated in our lives. And on this slide, there's just an image of different technologies that we encount likely encounter on a daily basis. And all of them utilize AI. And we know and anticipate that we are going to see huge
advancements in AI in the next few years. And it's really going to change the way that we work and the way that we learn and the way that we live. And future ready is going to mean um knowing how to navigate that landscape. And that's why we really think it's
important that we are moving towards this co culture of informed use. So back in 20 late 2024 and early 2025, we were really starting to have more conversations and this started in like the edtech or educational technology
side of things. It hadn't yet kind of moved over into more of a larger context within um districts. Um and we were looking to try to figure out how do we start framing the conversation for staff uh for teaching staff for operational staff for students and so forth. And so
we came up with uh kind of this core value alignment. You'll notice like AI with guidelines and guard rails. We really wanted to say start saying this isn't this can't be the wild west. We have to start putting some things in place um when we're working with um whether it's staff working with student data or whether it's students that are
in AI. Um um so we came up with this and I think a couple of the pieces that we really want to highlight are things like um with caring community we really adopted that human in the loop in the model AI you'll see that it is um it is like h AI right human AI human but the
concept right is that the people are the most important piece of the puzzle and you can't take people out of the equation when you talk about like AI outputs um and use the next thing I like cultural proficiency is that we acknowledge right AI AI is human
developed and it has human biases that are in in um embedded in AI. Um but we also have cultural tools of cultural proficiency here in ISD 191 that we can utilize um to identify those biases and um respond to them. And then also
student agency. I'm going to drop down to the student agency one. Um Katie was talking a little bit about right future ready and how do we go to this culture of informed use and really have um student ad um agency and um advocacy for them their own learning as well as a real understanding. We're going to talk
a little bit about um AI literacy for students and that importance that students really understand what AI does um and where it also fails. Right? So there's really powerful um positive sides of AI and there's some also really negative sides of AI that we have to
address. Sorry, I jumped. Um, next we designed this AI guiding framework. And so you can see it's a fourpart approach and then it has the human in the in the center and really to to represent right
the human needs to be in the loop in at the center of AI use and in control. And we designed this because we really we wanted people to have a framework that would help them guide them through thinking really carefully and critically about how they're using AI. Um, and then
I want to also note the credit. So the red arrow, the credit, we we included that because in the student handbook, it already talks about the need for students to explain if they've used AI and to give credit and site AI generated
content. And um the model policy from MSBA, it it actually our our framework aligns really well with it because the policy also talks about the importance of right keeping the human in the loop, being transparent with use and giving
attribution to AI generated content. Uh so in February of this year, MSBA released a model policy. They worked with a company called Quantum Business Solutions and one of their p um primary well the founder of the of QBS um is a
former superintendent um so has um you know understanding of of the K12 education in Minnesota. So they released this policy. It is quite comprehensive um and they I've done multiple webinars um with them to kind of understand a little bit more of their thinking behind
what they put into the policy. Um, and they really were looking if there's if there's no other framework in place, they wanted to have something that could stand on its own. Um, and so they they've been very open with the fact that there are things that are redundant. And that's kind of one of the themes that we're bringing out is um
this policy um is extremely comprehensive um with our reality. We do have things in place. Um and so things like an example is that in the mallet policy, it defines PII or personally identify informationational. Well, we already have that defined in our policies. And so that kind of like
there's there's overlap. Um so in there there's a couple different things. The policy scope is one. We've talked a little bit about that. I think agility is one of those is that even the language in the model policy just from February is already a little bit out of date um in some areas and it is changing
so comprehensively. So one of the kind of recommendations as we move forward is to really think about this with a concept that there is a um policy for governance and then we really look at a procedures manual. Um so similar to like how finance right there's finance, there's policy and then there's like a
fiscal responsibility um uh procedure um guide that we use as kind of that um that flexible and and and um movable um piece as things change. And then the other one is I just called out some of these things that kind of are redundant that we already have in policy and that
we want to make sure that um it doesn't diminish their importance. Um it doesn't diminish the fact that we do want to address them as we work through um our AI um pieces, but we also do have them in other places that we may want to consider just um referencing those.
And then finally, one of the big tenants of the um of the model policy is this concept of a of an AI guiding committee. And the one that they're proposing is actually it would be far larger than any other um district committee if you look at it kind of at its whole. Um we have
had a core group that has worked and I mentioned some folks earlier that has been working now for a couple years um on AI and then reaching out to various stakeholders. Um and um as we kind of go into the next um
um slide um one of the things I'm kind of like when we look at leaderships um teachers and staff, families and students, the one area that we haven't addressed as much is families. Um and that is definitely something that we've identified that we need to start reaching out more um to our families. But here are some of the things that
we've done over the last um two years. Last spring was very a big launch. That's when we launched a lot of those kind of frameworks. We did um operational leadership training. We did instructional leadership training. Um and then over the course of last summer and into last year, we provided a
variety of training opportunities for various groups. Um I want to call it one of the things that's kind of interesting is that notebook LM department demos. If you know what a notebook LM is, you put a bunch of content up um and then um and then you can you can query and prompt it for all sorts of different things. An
example, so I we created like notebook LMS for every department so that they could see kind of it was a first a first adventure. So for finance, we put all of the UFAR's manual, the fiscal um policies uh fiscal responsibility um manual, all of that in together and
said, "Okay, go for it." You know, I'm looking for a budget code that can do XYZ. and had them just play around with it so that they could start to see it. That launched them into whoa, there's some things here that we could do to be more efficient. Um, another example is that um um I put all actually all the
district policies um in a notebook LM because I I was thinking like okay, let's let's think about how we can use this um for a tangible way for people to get comfortable. Um and then we also did some um AI uh for differentiation creation of common assessments and
standards unpacking and that was really led by our CISA department and we supported them um as they went through that um including some information and Katie I'll talk a little bit about uh when our social studies department started doing curriculum review um how can you we use AI to um uh dig deeper in
some of the topics. So these next slides are just they just highlight some of the foundational guides that our current AI committee created and so you've seen this one. Um and then again I just mentioned the guiding framework. Um and then we
created these common language tools for staff and students. And so um after hearing from students and and learning more about AI, one of the things that we heard is that they really need they really want clear guidelines. It's like they don't know when they can
use it and when they can't. And so they're kind of maybe using it secretively. And so um that was one of our big messages this fall to teachers was that we you really need to communicate your expectations to students in a way that's clear. And so we created these common language tools
to give teachers that common language, right? And then also to help um there's a staff guide to help teachers think and staff think through their own AI use. There's a student guide. so that they can help students think through when they're using AI and all of them are
aligned to that framework. So you see the the the circular four-part framework there in the center. Um the model policy from MSBA also calls for a lot of training for staff and our
our current AI committee we agree that that training is vital and important and so this slide just highlights some of the PD and awareness training that we did and so we did um Rachel mentioned some of that so we kind of grouped them so we had AI AI for all and that was all
teachers we had some training that was AI for leadership including operational leaders ers and instructional leaders. And then we had some specialized sessions. So you see like the social studies steering committee. Um 3rd through fifth grade teachers were working on creating common assessments
that were standard aligned and also aligned to their report cards. And then on April 6th, there was a teacher PD mini conference and we offered quite a few um AI sessions there too. And we also provided PD really intensive
PD through AI cohorts. So Paul Connell um and I led those cohorts and we had two of them and one was called the first was the mixed cohort and we just called it that because it was a mix of educators across all different grade levels, departments and content areas.
And that cohort was really focused on learning about AI, exploring AI, thinking about how they might use it for instruction, and then sharing that learning with colleagues. So trying to get them to disseminate some of their learning. And then the other cohort, the AI literacy cohort, was really a
targeted group of educators. So um K through8 digital learning specialists, a success 191 teacher, and media specialists. So, educators that are already teaching about things like uh digital citizenship and computational
thinking um and some of those key topics. Oh, will you go back once? And so these cohorts were four half-day sessions. So, a total of 12 hours of learning for the participants. And those four sessions centered around those big
ideas in that gray box on the on the slide. Um, oh, I forgot to mention. So, the AI literacy cohort, the difference with that group was, yes, they were learning about AI and exploring AI, but they were also really focused on and thinking
about AI literacy for students and what do students need to know. And so, this slide just talk shows a little bit about AI literacy because it's a big term and it's an umbrella term for lots of things. So in the those those six blue
circles those are all different components of AI literacy. So you can see right it goes all the way from data privacy and ethics to algorithmic thinking. And then it also shows how those components connect to other subjects like digital citizenship and
media literacy and computational thinking. So the the AI literacy cohort members, they're already teaching, right? They're already teaching about some of those subjects like digital citizenship. So they were working to identify okay what are we doing and how
can we build on that so that we're also including these elements of AI literacy. Another element of the uh model policy that MSBA put out was the idea of a of district approved tools and this is actually outside of AI this has also
been a trend in general right is that as data privacy and security have become more important um that's been a trend as well. So, um, we early on again kind of thinking about that people wanted in, um, to test out and use different AI, but we wanted to do it with those
guardrails and those guidelines. Um, so we're we used Google in our district. We have a Google um, workspace for education account. There's terms and services with that. And so we partnered that with Gemini. So Gemini is a Google product and Notebook LM is also a Google product. And so we rolled those out to
staff and then eventually to students when Google um brought that under the umbrella of our terms and services. And then we also knew that there was um interest in um having a class a a learning centric tool. Um and so um
Magic School was chosen. Um we implemented it for teachers in January of 2025 and then last fall we opened it up for students as well. And Magic School is designed for K12. It's designed for students with um security in place. Um and it also has a lot of
prompting. So with AI, when you get into prompting, it can get very difficult very fast. But Magic School has like very simplified prompts for students and for teachers that are really focused on on K12 education. The other thing that's super interesting about the last few
years is that almost every single tool that we have now has AI embedded into it. So when we talk about AI tools, we're really just talking about all of our digital resources and that includes operational as well as instructional tools. Um, and so really there are no AI
tools, although there are things like your LLMs that when you think of like chat, GPT, Claude, those types of things, but the reality is that this is embedded into almost every um tool that we have. And if it's not, it's probably coming soon. Um, so sometimes something
that wasn't there on Monday is all of a sudden part of our lives on Thursday. So it's an interesting um place. Um, as far as uh plans for the next there's this is a kind of a busy slide. So there's lots of stuff that we have in place but it's really that continuation of ensuring
that we're keeping um conversation about appropriate ethical um and responsible use of AI in front of staff and students that we're building um our understanding as a whole. I think that there's some really interesting operational uses for efficiencies out there. Um I know that
we all use it um and have found quite a bit of um um value to it. Um and then there's also of course those things that we have to be careful about and make sure that our data privacy is um is um uh front and center. And we are we're also dealing with some interesting
things right now with the fact that uh one things are changing very quickly. So when you talk about things like doing a review, right, like releases are are um new updates and releases, features are are being rolled out all the time. And
so we're kind constantly feeling where we're going back and trying to figure out like what does that change? What does that do? Uh we're also dealing with things about that are some new security concerns. Um so things like um if I'm on a personal device and I bring up a a
district data, right? like it's not a controlled browser, like what do we do about that? Like we we need to be considering um those elements. And then there's been a pretty significant uptick in um fishing email. That is very specifically and it's very good. Um some of the things that we used to say, you
know, here's how you identify a fishing email are no longer true with AI because it is so easy to replicate things. And so um there's some interesting changes that we're working through with those as well. So, kind of going back to that model uh policy recommendation. So, those things
on the left, we really think that those are fundamental pieces um to keep and some adjustments that you might want to consider as you're as you're thinking about a policy for our district um is uh those referencing versus repeating um and potentially simplifying some of the
language around um the AI committee um and continue some of our exist um existing structures. >> Awesome. Thank you. All right. Um, so if we can go I think it's slide 10.
>> It was the AI values slide >> or alignment. Oh yeah, >> there we go. Yep. There we go. So in terms of and I think the reason that jumped out at me just in terms of starting our conversation is kind of that's where we were starting with our
strategic planning conversation with our values. Um board members, do we have any comments or questions or thoughts about the AI initiative as it relates to um the values that have been ascribed to
our AI initiative? and their development. >> I I will admit in my day job I have been accused of being a little bit of a lite when it comes to AID adoption. Um I
think one of my concerns is around ethics and morality of AI use. And what I like about this slide that we're showing that we're talking about right now is that we're trying to stay as ethical as possible. We're not as much
as people some would like to the genie is not going back in that bottle. So it's like learning how to use it in an ethical and responsible manner is what we have to do at this point. So, I really like that this is kind of where we're starting this conversation and um really trying to think through how the
use of AI can align with our with our core values. So, thank you for that. >> I would agree and that I think just having this core value alignment kind of just speaks to the situation we're in. I mean, the future readiness part, there's no way we can talk about future
readiness and not tackle this issue. But then at the same time, as Director Hume was saying, it's incredibly important to get the cultural proficiency part right and all the other pieces of it right to make sure it's ethical and being used in a good way that benefits the entire
district. >> I mean, I would agree to I actually really like the next level that you showcased where it was like um like teacher question conversation. you know, what does the student need to think and and that in that other circle where it
had that that credit, you know, I mean, yes, AI is technology, but I also remember being a little kid and being told I shouldn't copy directly out of the encyclopedia, you know, so >> when we had paper books, you know, it's
it's just now digital >> and much easier to find, you know, writer for you, right, >> than the encyclopedia. or you know the Dewey decimal system system. Um you and so I I like that how it's how it's coupled that way. So it like starts with ethics and values but then it kind of
like that that practical piece especially for for our students to think about how they're going to use it, how they're going to reference it. Is it is it actually still my voice? you know, and then and then most recently, I was
helping my son with his scholarship applications for DCTC and they had like a narrative question and they're like, "We will know if you use AI, like if if it if it if if we even suspect it, your your application is
null." And I was like, "Wow, that's interesting." And then with 917, they're actively utilizing AI even in their strategic planning process. Um because there was so much >> data, >> so much data, they needed to put it
somewhere to to to analyze it. And again with security, it was interesting to say like, okay, we have it in this secured environment, so then it's not also publicly out there. And so I I
appreciate how we're framing this right now. >> Other comments? >> I'll speak again because I have just thought of something while you were talking. >> The human it's not on this slide specifically, but the human AI human thing I think is really important just
to use a recent example for my day job. I was decided to cheat and use I consider it cheating. it >> use using AI to summarize some survey results and I looked at it and I thought hm this summary doesn't make a lot of sense and I looked at the responses and I was like AI just made this up this is
not at all within the survey responses so I think we have to be very careful not to lose that human element because you do maybe it's a shortcut and maybe it'll help you like do a first draft but if you're not going back and checking your work like you said they'll know it's AI and they'll know that it was
wrong so I think that's that's a really important piece to keep sight of also. >> Yeah. To comment on that, you know, you do anything with a tax technical kind of question. I do international tax for a job and oh yeah, no AI can't get
anything right. But you try to like get a quick like Google answer for something. Oh no. 90% of the time it is wrong. If you really take the time to then go in and dig and look at the code and regs and it's Yeah, it doesn't replace
>> for certain things. Yeah, it it's definitely got a ways to go. >> Yeah, you have to be sure to verify and double check and without a doubt. >> Yeah. Um I mean AI is only as good as the information you put into it. You
know, you you have to put put it in to get out what you want to get out. I mean I use it consistently. I use it a lot, not just at work, but in personal life, I use co-pilot. Um, and I think the key
is learning when is it okay to use it and when is it not okay to use it. And especially with my concern is with students like I mean I I I appreciate that we can say please site when you've used AI in your schoolwork. Do we have a
tool that says I can tell when you used AI as in your schoolwork? Like if even if they don't say they did because I had my son tell me he did he used AI to do his homework and I was like well that's not right.
No, don't do that. That's wrong. Um so then I'm like okay what are we doing to identify when kids are using AI instead of actually doing their homework? That's what my my big question is because you can say, "Okay, we did a project. I did
this paper. I used AI to do this." Well, what if they're taking their homework and just saying, "I'm going to put in this question that I need to answer on this piece of paper and then tell I'm going to write down what AI told me to told me." You know what I mean?
>> Yeah. Yeah. That's that's um that like the the idea of uh plagiarism or cheating comes up a lot. um on this one where it says a how AI can be used. So we have those for the course level because we were this was early last we
rolled it out in September of last year and we knew that there were some teachers that they were just going to kind of make a um a decision for their whole class, right? They may not they they either were ready or they were not ready to have um students use AI. We
said, you know, whether or not you allow students to use AI is your discretion, but you can't ignore it. You got to like, right, going back to what Katie was saying is students want clarity of what's okay and what's not. And there are a lot of different ways um to use AI. I don't know, Paul, if you want to
share, you have a couple really good examples. >> You want me to speak to seeing the AI in my classroom and what what teachers do? >> Uh yeah, and specifically around the question of like, you know, how do you like plagiarism and cheating? Yeah. So yeah, I can speak to a couple things.
Um, you know, one, there is a tool that, um, anytime students are using any um, Google Workspace items, um, there are certain extensions that teachers can use that say here's how many times the students copied and pasted into this document. Here's how many times they um,
you know, here's how much time they spent on the document. Here's how many revisions they made. Um, and so that's a tool that uh when I talk to teachers like this is then you start a conversation with the student like hey I noticed that you spent >> you know a minute and a half on this and other students spent 20 minutes on this
assignment. What was your process for working through this? Um but we also have had to be very careful with um not with um directing teachers to not use many AI checkers uh because many of those have been found to be very problematic um because what they're um
generally looking for is uh neurotypical language. So, those have been found to flag students where, uh, English is not their first language. Um, or students who, you know, um, you know, are not considered neurotypical. Um, special ed students, they they tend to be flagged
for a lot more of those things. So, a lot of the like something that says they're an AI checker. Um, you know, those have been we kind of have steered uh teachers away from using some of those things and more towards, you know, helping to get to the bottom of like
what's the process that students use and what information can we use with our digital tools to understand their process and then start that conversation and maybe there is a reason that they had all these large copy and pastes into this document. Um, or maybe it's like,
yeah, I I didn't I didn't follow the right process. I didn't go really through through the learning process. So, that's some of the direction that we've been able to give um teachers so far um on this issue. >> All right. Thank you. That's very helpful.
>> I'm kind of intrigued long term by the flip side of it. So, we're thinking rightfully so, we're thinking a lot about what is the appropriate use of it and when is it okay to use it. I'm thinking down the line of like do we get into a scenario where the expectation is
you're going to use some level of AI for something and are students going to have the option to not and certain like it just kind of came to my head that way. I'm sort of like director Hume a little bit where like I'm annoyed multiple times a day that I have to dock
that stupid co-pilot thing anytime and I'm in a Microsoft Office tool. Like I know how to build this slide. I don't need this. type of thing and like how to write a paragraph >> to allow people like to make sure students are still doing some of those skills when it may be an acceptable use
of AI but if we're doing everything that way just there's not an answer for that right now but I'm just kind of interested in that >> I think one of it's that's an interesting idea like with um I think about that on the staff side right so if I if I came to present to you our the
tech budget and I came with crayons and whiteboard paper and started drawing lines and rows and columns and started writing in you would look at me and think what right we have tools for that we have spreadsheets we have pivot tables we have like you know there's things that would be expected and so I I
wonder that same thing is will at some point right the efficiencies that can be had from AI >> drive us to a place where it's actually an oddity not to use them in some manner like and then thinking about that on a student side and the learning like what
that could look kind of like what director Chester was was saying about, you know, the encyclopedia and everything. I mean, that reminds me of, you know, whether or not you use a calculator or not, you know, back in the day. That was the big question. And yes, when do you use AI or not? And, you know, yeah, when do you
>> Some of the research that's coming out on um cheating around AI is showing no statistical difference now with AI than it was before. very interesting research because the the perception is that there's an increase um but it it's morphed not
necessarily increased >> they were googling it 10 years ago 10 years before that they were copying the encyclopedia and >> those who were going to cheat were going to cheat avenue >> new tools to do so >> and I guess my like I am really
impressed with the work that you've done this far and there's so there are so many ways that you could have gotten distracted given the breadth of the topic itself and really stayed focused to what our
students need, what our staff need. Um I do however cuz I get distracted. Um I will admit that. Um and it's it's it's for good in this case. Um I do wonder and maybe this comes out in the social studies side of
things. Um when I think about future ready and um AI um yes there are some downsides to AI and we want our students and our school community to be eyes wide open about the
implications of using AI. Um you know leading up to this conversation I did some reading. I've been listening to some younger voices and I had to educate myself. um and the use of you know water and the carbon dioxide that's created
and you know there's potentially you know and then there was one article from I think it was MIT that was talking about the potential to maybe turn that around with you know new jobs that are going to make the output of carbon dioxide and the usage of water maybe a
little less and so you know there might be some upside but how do we as a school district and I guess this gets to the the values. How do we as a school district make sure that in addition to doing the great job that you guys are doing, staying focused
with making sure that that we're preparing our our students and our staff to be able to manage in the AI age to be eyes wide open about all the other things that are happening with every single query that we're making as a
system on the environment. Uh-huh. >> Mhm. >> Right. >> I don't want to do the city council's job, but I don't want a data center. >> No. >> I'd like the advantages of AI, but I don't want the data center, and
>> I'd rather have water and affordable energy than a profile pick with flying monkeys around me >> because I don't I don't want to set our set our students up to think, oh, this is just another technology. Um and and maybe it will just be an eventually, you know, hopefully glass
half full. You know, this is a technology that right now it has a lot of unknowns, a lot of unknowns that appear to be problematic. Perhaps they'll be changed. Maybe we'll be able to get beyond them. Um how do we as a
system make sure that that we're giving our students the information that they need as they're working through this? Well, well, interestingly, in our AI cohorts, we spent a lot of time on this topic because staff are concerned about it. Um,
and they've expressed their concerns about the environmental impact. So, we spent a lot we spent some time unpacking that um and and really thinking and right, I don't think anybody would argue that the data centers and and their impact on the environment, right, that
is a a serious concern. Um, but we also took time to talk about the bigger picture of our carbon footprint, right? And and how our AI use connects connects to that. And so we talked about, you know, the according to Google, one text
prompt with their Gemini tool and a like an average prompt and the output from their AI is about five drops of water. And so that's what they're that's what what they >> according to Google and their tool, right? Okay. But we but you know we
talked about right and how much water does it take to to um make a manufacture a pair of jeans or a hamburger, right? And we we talked about all these things because they all have impact. We also talked about ways that you know some
people are really concerned about the the impact, right? So we talked about things like well if you if you're looking for an image of a dog to put on your Google slide or whatever, don't generate one. like use one that already exists, right? Um and so we talked about
some of those pieces and I think too like part of the the common language tools big piece of that is that first arrow, the orange arrow, the understand is first of all understand why would I be using AI? Do I even need to use it
for this? Right? and thinking about that piece because sometimes um you know we don't need to and especially if we are concerned about the environmental impact um we might choose not to use it and
Paul I think um you you recently witnessed a really great um in Molly's class that kind of ties to this. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, before I jump into that, it was it was I think was I think that the lesson that we did with our AI
core was was great. Um, because so many people like, I'm just going to use a piece of paper. Um, we're going to do everything on paper and it's like, you know, paper comes from I do understand though the water that is involved. Paper didn't just show up, let alone electricity for the photocopy and all those things, too. So, um, that's
something that that's RA that Rachel has charged us with is like thinking about the full environmental impact of everything that we do. It's not even AI. It's even scrolling Instagram and posting on Tik Tok and all those other things like we're overlooking those impacts for sure. But I was really lucky
um that Mali Bosu was she was in our AI literacy cohort um as a success 191 teacher and uh my daughter is in her AP human geography class and they did a great uh very interactive unit um after they took the AP test in early May where
part of the class was the city council and then they split into four other groups. Um, and there was a proposal of like, should we build a data center? And so there were two groups that were like pro, we're going to build a data center in this fictional town and two groups that were uh were against building a
data center in our town. Um, and so these groups had to come together and um they they did a lot of research into like here were some of the positives, job creation and other things. And two other groups were looking at uh the negatives and the downsides. And uh so they had to present in front of Miss
Bosu and the city council um eventually had to like rule whether or not they they wanted to have a data center in their town. So um and she used AI um to help develop that lesson and to give her ideas on you know structuring it and some of those things as well. So that was that's a whole bunch of different
layers of AI and I was you know my daughter was super highly engaged. She doesn't talk about a lot of her school things, but she was excited to do this presentation and and work with her peers and um look into it because um you know the data center stuff can definitely be
a bit of a a boogeyman sort of thing that people are very afraid of and rightfully so to to certain degrees as well. But it was really cool that she had those students um look into that in an engaging way and um have a debate over it. >> And I would I would say Dr. Daniels,
this would not necessarily be a committee conversation. Um, I I think it's bigger than the AI committee myself. It's it's a curriculum conversation. Um, I appreciate your perspectives. I
do. >> Um, I don't think that uh saying that it equates to paper production is necessarily a fair assessment. Um, I don't know enough about it to be able to to judge either
way. Um, but I think it is new enough and there's there are enough there's enough out there in the news and debate about it that I think it's it's worth investigating and I think we owe it to our students um given the rapid adoption of AI
because certainly we don't I'm not saying this is simply understanding and knowledge. M >> AI is going to happen, >> right? >> It's happening. >> It's happening. It It is happening. It's going to continue to happen. How we as a district handle it on the other hand is
within our control. >> I' I'd add though that I I would agree that we'd have to I think it and maybe it's in social studies, but it's really under including AI carbon footprint. >> Mhm. you know because I think be because
AI is such a hot topic it's now more um in our heads like oh this is an issue and you know until something else comes to somebody else's awareness they're like oh that's also an issue you know
like watching fast fashion >> Mhm. and the impact the clothing industry has on the environment. It's like >> you know and so it's like just continuing to build awareness including the impacts with AI
>> and I would imagine it's been a long time since I've been in high school. I imagine that there are conversations about environmental impacts already ongoing. >> Mhm. >> About these kinds of things that this
would be folded into. It's not for me to figure out. >> But what I'm hearing is I'm sorry. >> Sorry. I think it's incredibly unfair to say that just because these other things have an environmental impact um
therefore we don't have to worry about the environmental impact of AI. Um we we should be trying to um consider that in all the things we do as a district. We don't make clothes. >> Um we wear them and as individuals we
can wear them, but as a as a community we are talking about this thing that we're all going to use as a community. then we have to be responsible as a community. Um that was the number one question I wrote down during all of this is um if we are going to encourage our staff to use AI, we're going to allow
our students to use AI, then what kind of um things are we going to do to offset our carbon footprint as a district? Um, we could we could use it and that might be a thing, but then we need to
ethically we need to do something else to make the environment better some other way. Uh, otherwise it's we're hurting ourselves. We're hurting our future. We talk about future ready. If we don't have a planet, we're not
future ready. Um, I also think I'm sorry I haven't talked this whole time, so I'm going to just blurt it all out while I have a chance. Um, I also think that there's um, you know, you're talking about when and where to use it. Um, and
whether or not it's plagiarism, but all AI is stealing information from original creators. Everything it has, all the information it has came from someone else who did not give permission for AI to use it. So every time we use AI whether we choose to or not because we
we don't have a choice sometimes right we are plagiarizing we are using someone else's um creativity that's just the way it goes and students need to learn that that has to be part of the curriculum. Um and also um if we don't have to use it then maybe we
shouldn't. Uh, and there are times when we don't have a choice and we have to use it and there are times when maybe we can spend a few more minutes doing our jobs and um, and not cheat as you said at your job. >> So, those are things I was going to I just had to get out before cuz I
couldn't get words in earlier. >> Thanks. >> Thank you for sharing. >> Yeah. >> I I think you know as the superintendent what I'm hearing from you all is for the guidance. um as I hear how you passionately have passionately responded
to um the the the great work Rachel and the larger team um have done to bring AI this far. I think that what I'm hearing from you all is how are we um in how can
we rather embed this into curriculum to teach our students um about responsible use of AI to give them the guard rails Rachel that you said that um that they want and that they need. Same thing for staff which is again I had to pull up my
my presentation. Um, this is why when we created priorities for next year, um, Rachel was, um, I'm adamant about advocating for AI to be listed as a priority for next school year. And um I
know it seems like a lot, but from her lens as a technology director, she knew that this was important work that we need to really um engage in next school year to begin to really put some um guard rails around this. And so I'm
hearing that um we should be embedding it in curriculum. So I've written down where can we embed this in curriculum to teach our students about responsible use, the environmental impacts, etc. Same thing for staff and I know that this will um also be a driver in our professional development. So what I'm
capturing thematically is we need to continue the work we've done but then how are we again um teaching students and staff about what our values are to dis as a district and how those values
shape how we want them to use artificial intelligence. Does that make sense Rachel? >> Yeah absolutely. Thank you very much, Dr. Daniels. >> Are we good to move to policy or do you >> Yeah. No, that was going to be my thing
is is maybe Yeah. If we're ready to move >> policy. >> Yes. So, um kind of to dovetail off of what Dr. Daniels was just talking about, um is there's the
very specifics of how we're using AI daytoday. staff and, you know, students, you know, what we're teaching, all of those specifics. That's not policy. You know, policy is I I kind of was thinking
about this, you know, how how to kind of talk about this. You know, policy is like the walls and the roof of a house. And then everything else, a lot of the things that we've been talking about here are
picking the colors and what furniture is going to go inside and uh you know the pictures you're going to put up on the wall and everything is a lot of those um specifics um around AI. And so I think you know we
want to we've had a really good discussion and a great kind of kind of morphed into a Q&A you know um earlier um but that you know let's take a step back and looking at then the policy
um to be honest you know everything with the policy and the presentation it seems to me like we're already wing a lot of the things in the policy. We've already got these things there. Um, you
know, and you know, the idea, you know, talking about teachers, for example, um, and whether or not students use AI in the classroom and things um, and and how students may use AI within the
classroom. In the policy, it talks about teachers can drive that decision. All it is saying is that the teacher needs to state and and provide how AI can or
can't be used or or kind of their own individual parameters around it. Like the policy doesn't take that decision away from teachers. it is saying it is something that the teacher should be aware of or
or be ready to answer or that you know uh kind of thing. So it's it's allowing that flexibility I think um in you know could provide a couple of of other examples um you know where uh like with with training that and with reviewing
our AI tools it it'll talks about you know reviewing you know just reviewing regularly what does regularly look like you know what does that mean we get to you know you guys get to determine that um with
the policy. So, I think that's where, you know, we'll want to kind of again take that step back, look at the frame. Does the frame make sense? And so that's kind of my first question
kind of to the board is did you see anything in the policy, you know, this model policy that raised red flags that was of a particular concern?
um you know that that we would need to be sure as a committee to look at, to address, to work with. Um you know, again, using that lens of this is the framework. This is the the frame of the
house. you know, anything that really you saw in this that that jumped out that was a concern. Okay. I'm not saying no no one's kind of hopping up with, you know, anything um to mention. Um so so that's that's
great. Um with the policy um you know, this is a 14-page policy. There is a lot here. Um my perspective is that
you know um for multiple reasons and it was mentioned in an MSBA webinar that this policy is going to be revisited is going to be rewritten. is going to be revised regularly because as
has been mentioned AI is evolving and continually kind of changing. Um and so yes we will be expected to be looking at this policy on a regular basis. Um, and
I I think with that comes the fact that maybe we don't have to be aiming for perfection with this policy the very first time knowing that it's going to be something that we're going to be revisiting. You
know, MSBA is going to come out with a new redlinined, you know, AI policy at some point and probably sooner rather than later. Um and so with all of that again also
um in the interest of time and because this is such a large topic um you know the uh my next question basically is um our next step
and um does it mean doing another work session uh to be able to discuss um some things getting into a little bit more detail of the policy. Um I think particularly a
topic will be um the AI committee that's mentioned in the policy um and in the MSBA webinar and actually mentioned in the policy. This is something that they do recognize
is up to school districts to kind of work with. You know, how do our cohorts, you know, how do we change this AI committee language and and structure within the model policy to um in work with the
cohorts that we already have? You know, how what do we do with that? You know, that's definitely not something to talk about today. Um, and so my question is, does that mean another work session for us as a
larger group or do we revert this back to the policy review committee and have the committee kind of working through these um details and you know bringing it forth.
My personal opinion is that that would end up having a lot of back and forth between the policy review committee and the larger board that we'd end up having essentially the equivalent of a work session within a school board meeting.
Um and so my recommendation would be in you know maybe a month we have or whenever it makes sense we have another work session with the larger board to help to give some more specific kinds of
direction. Um so that then when the smaller policy review committee meets we we have a little bit more um specific kind of guidance and ideas of of what that uh
language might be. Um and so what are people's feelings about work session versus having this revert directly back to policy review committee? And again, my recommendation is another
work session. >> Scott. >> Yes. >> Um, couple of things. The MSBA model policy is, I think you said, 14 pages. We don't have to adopt any of it if we
don't want to. MSBA is very big on local control. I see from the presentation that we've already discussed there's already some specific changes that they want to make to in order to apply in that they want to recommend in order to apply that policy in ways that make
sense for 191. I think it's important we listen to the experts within our district when they're making the recommendations for the policy that we ultimately eventually likely will end up adopting. Um, I guess just given how big
this topic is, um, I wonder about maybe we start at policy review and then if we feel like after that conversation, we need to have a a full work session with the board before we can make a final recommendation.
I don't think it needs to be like months of back and forth, but maybe doing one pop maybe having it at the policy review committee to kind of do some of the initial leg work so it's a little bit less of a blank slate when it comes to the board for a work session and then after the
work session it could go back to policy to tweak any final details and adjustments before coming back to the board for approval. That's my thought. >> I I would agree with that. I was I was kind of thinking of it how we kind of how the legislative comes up with a platform and we have
>> like we take AMSD, we take scale, we take MSBA, we take you know we take what we've done and then kind of come with ideas and then bring it as a draft to then get feedback and and especially being 14 pages, maybe there's
targeted areas that you want um board discussion on or board input. Yeah, >> that would influence any further edits. I would I would agree. >> Other thoughts? >> Fully support that. >> Yeah, I agree too. >> All right.
>> Okay. Consensus committee first back to the board if needed. Back to the committee if needed. >> Eventually we'll approve it. >> Eventually we will we will get to that point. It'll be different. I did promise Q&A.
>> Are there any unanswered? Do you have what you need, Rachel? >> Yes. Sorry. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Um Q&A. Any other Q&A before we wrap up? >> Okay. >> Just a comment that was really well done. I appreciate the work and what
you've done already to this point to be able to get us to where we can take this to the policy committee and have really good guidance to get started. I do want to just quick say that even though I'm passionate about it and I and I get salty, I think your work is great.
>> This is not a reflection. I share your concerns. I share your concern. I'm sure you do. We all do. >> Yeah. We've had extensive environmental conversations because you literally hear them because you hear them from other people, I imagine. >> Yeah. Yeah. And that those relativity things are are tough. It's a it's a it's
a really important issue. and thank you for being our second to the last agenda item tonight. We appreciate you staying and great. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, we are I think there's
something I need to read. >> Yeah, >> there is. >> All right. Uh the time is now 9:50 and we will move to Oh no wait. Yeah. The final item on our agenda is a close session as permitted by the
Minnesota statute 13D.05 to hold the superintendent's midyear evaluation. Um >> midyear end of year end >> end of the year. >> End of year end of year evaluation. I shouldn't read literally. Um, >> do they have it right there?
>> I will. Yeah, it said mid here. Yeah. Um, is there a motion uh for us to >> move? Seconded by uh Chester. Discussion. All those in favor? I. >> Okay. So, the time is now uh 9:51 and we
will move to the HR conference room to discuss the superintendent's evaluation. We'll return to our open meeting immediately following the closed session. However, please note that having no further agenda items after the closed session, we will not be returning to the DAS upon completion of the meeting. Thank you. And board members, please make your way to the HR
conference room.