She said they told All right, at 6:00, uh, I'm going to start this meeting. Um, all board members are accounted for. Would you please rise for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge algiance 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, Jeff, do you have any additions to the agenda? I have no additions. No one else has any
additions. I would look for a motion to approve the agenda as shown. I'll second. Jody on the motion. Pete on the second. Any further discussion? All in favor say I. I.
Oppose. Motion carries. Scheduled presenters. We have our robotics team here tonight. You guys can feel free to take it away. Thanks.
Um, so I'm Joe Cole, one of the head mentors of the high school robotics team here, Cannon Falls Bombots, Team 6217. I have one other mentor here, Brent Breeze. Um, but with all robotic stuff, we always like to have the kids do almost everything. Um, there's a few
things that I do. I make sure they are in their rooms at night. That's about it. Um, so I wanted to turn it over to them for presentation. Um, you're going to start, right, Ryan? talk about the season, what what the game was this year. Okay, go ahead. So, this year we had a unique game where we
essentially had to get a game piece up to six feet or even 8 ft high. Uh there's two different game pieces. There's this coral piece and our goal was to score it on one of those levels, that being the highest one, an L4, the lowest one,
L1. Um our goal was to score as many of those as we could in like 2 minutes and 30 seconds. um as well as this LG ball which would have been situated either at this level or this level. And the important thing
about this is we cannot score that coil piece when this is here. So we had to figure out how to remove that. Either score it in there or in another little unit on the floor. You just kind of shove it in there. So our goal was to score as many of those and it was uh as
well. And then in the end game, we wanted to climb onto this and be off the ground completely for an extra points. That was the game this year. Thomas, can you talk about how we did? Yeah. So, start of the season, we start January
5th or so, first week of January. Um, we learn, everybody in the world learns about the game at the same time. So we across the world there's a live stream that they do and they give us a short little video about the game basically what Ryland just told you just kind of a
quick synopsis of it and then they we get to work on it. So this year our first regional was up in Duth. So that's our first competition and that was about 7 weeks after we learned about the game for the first time. So basically everything you see on this robot was
done in that 7we time. Well, I shouldn't say that cuz we did a big change after our first regional, but a large part of this robot uh came actually in the two weeks after our Duth regional cuz up in Duth we did kind of struggle. We uh I
don't we didn't place very well and we didn't get picked for playoffs. So, we kind of had a rough weekend up there, but it was a great learning opportunity for us cuz we were like, "Okay, we got to make some serious changes." So, you can see on our robot we have our elevator. Uh, this got completely redone
in the three weeks between our competitions. Um, our intake also got completely redone in that time frame. So, basically everything above ground level on this robot was redone in the 3 weeks between our competitions. That was a fun time, right, Ryland?
Um, so we had about three weeks in between there and we got down to or we went up to St. Paul this year. Usually go down to Iowa, but we went up to St. fall and we had a really good competition up there. We ended up placing fourth place out of the
53ish 53 I think. Um which was actually the highest ranking we've ever had at a regional. So that was really fun. Um unfortunately for playoffs our elevator did end up breaking. Uh you can see we have a DeWalt clamp on there. Uh that's
to help keep it together because we didn't have we haven't really focused too much on fixing it this offseason. Um but it kind of yeah it broke so we had a little bit of a struggle there. Um but we still had a lot of fun. We had a lot
of younger kids up there which was nice. But going up to St. Paul we were able to have I think it was fourth and fifth graders go up there on a field trip. So we got extra uh cheerleaders in the stands. I think Mr. Mr. Samson, you were up there for a little bit. Mr. Hodes and Mr. Olsen and myself took a trip and I
would highly encourage board members to go up there next year if you guys are up there as well. Yep. Uh, it was a lot of fun. I mean, we don't usually get a ton of members in the community up there. So, it was kind of nice cuz it's harder to convince them to drive 3 hours down to Iowa or three and a half hours up to
Duth. So, it was fun being that close for the community. So, we're going to drive the robot, but what we decided to do since we had one of those fourth and fifth graders that came up to the competition, um Josie, she was on the Lego robotics team um for the last couple years, and she's a
future bombot. She's going to be on robotics when she gets older. So, we taught her how to drive in the last five minutes. It's one of the things that we actually really really like to do is once this expensive robot is done for the year, we like to let the kids drive it and have fun with it and understand
it. Um, she's obviously not going to understand it completely, but she picked it up pretty fast. So, she's going to help drive. Thomas is going to help drive. We're just going to show you a couple of the features that the robot has. So, we're just going to start. Um, the biggest thing for us this year was
scoring on the reef over there. Here, I got to do a couple things. We had to restart the robots. I have to set it up again. Um, but so, the biggest thing was scoring the coral on the reef. Uh, so you can see the there's the bottom level
which is the cross and then you have the three levels that are the pegs. So we would line up. Yep. A little closer. Perfect. Just ram it into Ryland. Right. So now we would go up to
a certain level. Actually top level and then you can play with that A button. Oh, I got to do something. There you go. And then we drop it back down. I think this player was supposed
to do over there. Yeah. Kada. So then once we score one piece of coral or the PVC pipe, um, we'd have to drive over to our human player, which is Kada this year. So if you want to turn towards Kada with other
side intake fac and then we would just go one more time. This time we can try for both. So we get lined up. Uh, you might want to drive just a ton.
Perfect. And the last thing that was a big thing this year for us is the climb. So, we have our climber out front here and we have to get this hook lined up. This is one of the harder ones though. Oh, yeah. Twist it. So, we have that hook there, and we have to get that
lined up in the middle of our the cage is what it's called. So, we'll see. Pretty advanced driver here. Perfect. Yep. Yeah, that'll work. Okay. And then, normally we'd get off the ground, we're having a couple issues
with it. Um, we had to repair it this off season just to get it to this point, but that's pretty much how we'd climb in a match, too. Um, yeah, pretty good at climbing. Usually I say after the kids get done or kids and adults, we have this at the
education foundation and it takes people a long time to get up there and I usually say, "Hey, you know, in a competition, you got about 5 seconds, six seconds to do this cycle." Joy did pretty good. Cycling pretty fast. You did an awesome job. Nice job. So, any questions on the
driving right now? Okay. Then Madison, you want to talk for a little bit? Yeah, I'll talk about sponsors. Yeah. Okay. It's all night. I have a little list, so don't mind me. Okay. So, I'm just going to take a moment here to thank all of our amazing sponsors who made this
season possible. Without our sponsors, we wouldn't have some of the nice things we have in our robot or our sign and our pit, which I'll talk about. So, I'm giving a huge shout out to Gemini Signworks, our biggest sponsor, for stepping up in such a big way every year for the team. Has anyone actually ever
seen our pit before? So, we have this huge light up sign in front of it and it's our team name and Gemini made it for us. So, it's a really big thing to us and we really love it and we thank them and in return we'll do we do demos
for them and we're actually going to their open house to pre present for them. And then now I'm going to name some of our other generous sponsors. So this year we had sponsors from FlexCraft, Starche Computing, Quality One Woodworking to organizations like
the Military Museum, the Canon Falls Fire Department Association, the Gene Hos Foundation, Jim Elas Real Estate, Midwest Machinery, Casey's Pizza, Swan and Bower, Milwaukee Tool, Brewers, and so many more. And they all make a difference for our team, and we are
really grateful for them. Awesome. And now I'm going to ask Brent to present something. So last year when we went to worlds, I got a hold of Steve Droscowski, our our our state senator for here, and he was so impressed with the team that he put
together a house resolution. Now, unfortunately, they're renovating the building that the house is in, and during the move, this thing got lost. So, we I just got it on Friday. So, um, on behalf of, uh, Pam Altonorf, our representative, and Steve Droskowski,
our state representative, here is the House resolution, and it's also signed by the speaker of the house. This is the House resolution they did for us. I'm not going to read it. It's It's kind of long. Um, if anybody wants to see it, um, or I'll set it up here,
but that's from the team. We just got to get that put in some kind of a protective environment and then uh we can put that in our our room. So, well done. Thank you. Okay. So, now I'm going to ask everybody
on the team what their favorite thing was this season, but I'm going to talk about mine first. So, my favorite thing about being on the robotics team is working with other teams. We've currently done a collaboration with North the Northfield Robotics Team and
the St. Paul Johnson High School Johnson High School robotics team and when we collaborated with them we were sharing strategies and supporting each other and just trying to help each other out. So I think that this has really sharpened our
ability to compete at the highest level with sportsmanship. Now, one of the things is that I am hoping that we can maybe expand even further than that. I'm trying to get together potentially partnering with Randolph or Good Hugh, which currently don't have first robotics teams. And by working with
them, I think that we can help these schools launch their own teams or introduce more STEM opportunities, ensuring more students have access to hands-on learning in robotics. If we get more teams in first robotics, there's means there's going to be a future where robotics is accessible to all.
Ryland, what is your favorite thing about this robotic season? Um, one of my favorite things this season was honestly as ironic as it is, how hard it is. And not even like that it it's like super hard and like no one can do it or only a few people can do it, but like sometimes
there are so many challenges and I really love the challenge of it. Um, my climb I built the climber for our team. I built a large part of it. I found it it was really hard because I have to climb onto a cage. I got to hang on to it and I got to move it, operate it in a way and then hang on to it so that we
don't touch the ground. It was really challenging and I think that was super fun about it. But all the things I did were like really easy to learn. A lot of it was honestly wrenches and I had to do a lot of drilling again and again and
again to really perfect it. Um the this hook on here I attached this to this tubing and I just it was it was challenging. It's fun and I think I think that's one of my favorite things about robotics is the opportunity to build something really amazing and being
uh aware of it. What's your favorite thing about the team? Um so I think for me my favorite part of the team has been just being around just being around other people especially I like competitions. Um a big part of robotics is helping other teams and so in St.
Paul when we broke, we had other teams coming up offering to help us and we even in St. Paul went and helped a rookie team that was having some troubles and I think that's kind of just been my favorite part, the community part. What's your favorite part? So my favorite part like Avery and
Madison were talking about is just joining with other teams this year. I was one of the I was a part of a group of students that helped the Johnson team which was a rookie team whose uh robot was outside of their frame perimeter which they they couldn't compete so we
helped them get it down and inside so they could compete this year and that was just fun to connect with them. What's your favorite part about robotics Josie? Uh either programming or what's your favorite part about
robotics, Thomas? Yeah, so this is my senior year. I've been on the team for 5 years, but it's felt like almost 10 years now cuz I've been around it a long time with my dad. Um but I think for me, I got to say that driving, it's so much
fun. I get to drive a robot. Um, that I think that's one of the most like fun things I've ever done in the high school career is driving the thing that I had 20 other kids work on with me for 10 weeks. Um, usually it ends up broken.
Usually it's probably my fault that it got broken, but it's still fun and it's a great learning opportunity being on the field. We got to work with three other schools trying to compete for the same goal, trying to do the same task.
And what's really fun is middle of the match your robot might break. So we I think we had elevator break two or three times in the middle of the match up in dude. And like in that moment, you have maybe 5 seconds to figure out what you're going to do. Um Ryland's a big
help with that down on the field. Um, but we do get into a lot of fun down there just driving around having fun. So, what's your favorite part about robotics, Joe? I want to actually mention two things because you guys talked a lot about working with other
teams. Um, it is like as a mentor, it it's amazing to watch somebody help. Um, I'm always volunteering and I I find teams that have problems and I send them over to our team and I always know that they'll help. But here's the flip side of it is the kids that went over there
and out, it actually showed their confidence level. Like I think they were, you know, a little bit timid at first, but then once they got over there, you could actually see them light up because they knew how to use the tools. They knew how to help this team. And it actually helped us as much as it helped the other team. So second thing,
um, Thomas talked about the very beginning of the season, kickoff, new game. It's a new challenge. This robot's going to be torn apart. We're going to do the same thing in January. I've been doing this for 10 years. My favorite thing every single year is that first day because I get 25 kids and they all
have 25 ideas. And if you've ever been in a meeting with 25 people and try to get to one solution um it's pretty fun. It's actually entertaining to watch um kids do that. Um it takes a little while. It takes some consensus building. Um because we can't build 25 robots, by
the way. I don't think we could afford to, but they try. Um, so that's actually the the most entertaining time that I have. Um, I try and encourage everybody, you know, I have some chai kids. I have some kids that are outspoken. I don't want the ones to outspoken ones to be the ones that decide what our robot
looks like. I want the ones that are shy to actually have a chance to. So, we kind of control it a little bit, just a little bit. Um, but the kids are very respectful of each other and we get together and we end up with something. It's awesome. It's it's really cool experience. Anything else? You want to
say anything about robotics? I was hoping you're going to skip me. Um, the the thing I like the most about uh mentoring the program is watching from 8th grade on up, watching the kids mature and become better at
working with the tools, working with each other. That's the thing I enjoy the most. Awesome. Cool. Anybody have any Do you have anything else, Pa? That's all I got. That's all I got. Anybody have any questions? I just want to make a quick comment. I I was my first robotics competition.
Obviously, when we went to St. Paul that day, I was uh really thrilled to see the competition, but I think more thrilled is when I went down into the pits. One, I got garage envy of you guys. Oh, yeah. Our pit is pretty in the setup that you guys had. That was pretty neat. Um but
seeing the kids interact with the I think it was the adult judges. Yeah, there's judges come around and ask different aspects and they're very bright. uh young people and you guys should be very proud of yourselves for that because I I was listening to a lot of that interaction. It was it was good
stuff and just to also see that there was um international teams there from I think India, Japan, China and Czech Republic. Czech Republic um and seeing that interaction among uh
not only teams within our state but also international teams was was pretty as well. So, you guys do a great job. Thanks. I thought you were going to ask us what the bread was. Team mascot is bread. The bread. I don't know if I ever heard that whole story or
not. Can you explain that a little bit? Me? No. I I like No. Thomas, what's your explanation? What's my explanation this time is the better question. So, every I think it started I I don't know. 2019 is my best
guess. But um so every year prior to that we had a flag. So you go on the field and they announce your team or whatever. So for us it's our team number 6217. So they go 6217 bomb box and they wave a big flag and we're like that's
kind of boring. So what can we do different? So we looked and we're like okay we have teams doing this fun little chance right? And in 2019, I guess there was like I don't know where it came from exactly, but there's something about bread being like who got the bread is
like who won or who got the money kind of thing. So, we had a kid on the team driving down to Iowa. We stopped at a quick trip and I think he brought like a loaf of Wonderbread and he's like, "We'll use this as our flag now." So, we
went down there and we talked with the MC down there for announcing us and we're like, "Let's do this thing. We'll raise up the bread and they'll ch shout out who's got the bread." Our team yells back, "We got the bread." This year was really nice cuz we got about how many fourth fifth graders were up there? 25
of them. 25 of them. Yeah. 25 fourth graders yelling, "We got the bread." That was pretty good, right? Yeah. That was fun. Um, and then we actually set off a smoke alarm down there in the hotel cuz we had a birthday party down
there and the candles set off the bread. So, I think our chant became who burnt the bread cuz the MC heard that we we had the fire department out at that hotel, didn't we? Yeah. I think we still have a good picture of that. So,
you didn't hear that from me. book of uh you weren't supposed to. So that's probably the sixth or seventh different story I've heard about why we have bread. So one thing I like about being the bread team is we'll have people come up and they'll be like you guys are the bread team because that's
what we're known for now. And that's kind of one of my favorite parts cuz they'll come and see the bread and I'll be like what's this loaf of bread? That's our mascot. We don't have a flag. Awesome. I would just say thanks to the uh coaches and the mentors and the the
sponsors. I know um how much work goes into that and whatnot and and you know extra we have prided ourselves on extracurriculars and I think so often we think of uh on a wrestling mat or a court or a field and this just really rounds out what we what we do here and
you guys have done such an amazing job and uh so thank you for for all the hard work you put in. Thanks. I think you can very clearly tell how much you guys really really enjoy it by the simple fact that you said we want other schools to do this. The schools that aren't doing it or the kids that don't get to
do it, we want to teach them and show them. I think that's super cool. That's amazing. Thanks. Awesome. All right. Well, thanks a lot, Joe. It'll take us like two minutes to clear this up. Uh we're going to we're going to take about a fivem minute recess uh right now and we're going to let them get all cleaned up and
then we'll resume. Anybody wants to take? Um, I drove We will um move on to committee reports. Anyone have anything they'd like to
add? Do the committee reports? Um I'll talk about the community ed and ed foundation. Um community ed had a meeting on April 30th and they t just talked about they released their summer flyer. um on April 15th. And so they're
getting some good um enrollments there for all summer camps and stuff like that. Um Canon Kids enrollment looks good. Uh it seems to be higher than last year. Um the last couple years they've
had 2023 they had 180 kids. 2024 they had 128. Um looks like they're on track to get probably in line with that many kids again. um summer camps look like they're going to have good enrollment. So that was kind of the
update for community ed. And then the ed foundation met on the 15th of May and just did a little recap of their auction. Um it was very well attended this year. Um in pre previous years they've had about 125 participants and
this year they had 162. Um lots of young people, new people. Um, they had a new venue, so that was commented on. A lot of people were excited about that. They raised about $30,000. That's exciting. Um, and then they just wanted to put a little plug.
They'll have a fall fund drive. That'll be the third Tuesday in November. They do their poker social dates to be determined. And then the next auction will be next April. uh finance committee met last week. Um
we discussed uh mostly just based around um discussion around uh potential levy and what that looks like and what the amounts look like, what the tax impacts are um which we'll talk about a little bit later. Um also with finance, we had a couple new committee members to that
group which is good. I think it's good to get new fresh ideas um in all of our committees and that one has a couple new ones which is good. I had a GCED meeting um a little while back. Um one of the bigger things that we talked about um was how all the
different schools in the different counties um utilize their CTE programs. Um how every school um does it just a little bit differently and how um the schools kind of fuel off of each other. You know, one school has a really cool idea with their CTE program and we kind of utilize it in ours and vice versa. So
that's really nice. Um and then we also kind of talked about um Prairie Care is a thing that is offered down in Rochester and GCD is kind of talking tossing around the idea of potentially bringing that up and offering it there at their location. So they'll really kind of cut down on
transportation costs and stuff like that and that would be that would be helpful as well. So just kind of toss around some new ideas um for budgeting purposes. So we had a staff development I stepped in. So it was my first uh introductory meeting to that group. So it's phenomenal group of folks. um walk this
afternoon talked a lot about some of the planning and uh committees around redact and scheduling. Um so that was predominantly the the topics um around the staff enrollment and we had a weed tech meeting uh mostly going through our
budgetary for next year depending on big one being depending on house and some of the budgets coming out of there. It looks like we could be collectively as a ret down about 50,000 depending on some of the technology cuts that would be potentially revamped. So he doesn't have
that projected until we know. So we'll have a 26 budget hopefully finalized after that. And then he spoke Erin spoke a lot about how the WTE group has been a model um as consolidation is happening across the state for technology we're seeing he's seeing more and more groups
wanting to start co-ops. Um, so he said that Aaron was mentioning that he's getting some questions around how do we do it? What are some of the strategic wins that we've had purchasing devices? Um, so he's been spending some time kind of coaching it seems like other groups. So that was really about it.
All right. And my apologies, Abby. I went out of order. So I should have had you go first. So would you like to give us uh your student report, please? Of course. So, first we had a MOAC crash. SAD
Students Against Disruptive Decisions hosted a MO crash on April 30th to help high school students understand the serious consequences of reckless driving. The event featured student actors and emergency responders reenacting a realistic car crash
scenario, highlighting the potential dangers and aftermath of such incidents. Um, prom. The prom committee made up of 11 juniors and seniors and advised by Morgan Schwarz and Jade Branson organized this year's prom, um, which
took place on May 3rd. The grand march was open to the public and began at 5:00 p.m. followed by an evening of dinner and dancing that students will remember for years to come. um academic awards ceremony just 4 days
after prom auditorium or atrium was filled once again this time to celebrate academic excellence. On May 7th, students and community members gathered for the annual academic awards ceremony recognizing the dedication and
accomplishments of our high achieving students. um speech. Our speech team traveled to Shakabe High School for the state competition on April 25th. And big congratulations to our two medalists, Grace Parks and Emily Churchill, who
both earned eighth place medals in their events. Um track. Um the track team competed in the HBL conference meet on Saturday, May 10th in Byron. Several athletes earned all conference honors.
um Isaac Anderson, Tyson Lynn, Maddie Jeepson, Kendra Reid, and Taylor Reed, and Blake Johnson um all receiving that title. So, a big congratulations to them. It just shows their hard work and dedication. Um and then baseball and
softball. Both the baseball and softball teams have been having impressive seasons. The boys are currently 16 and four while the girls are close behind them at 15 and five. Excellent job to both the teams um for their continued
dedication and teamwork. Um for weightlifting, there's not too much of a date. Um they are currently preparing for nationals. Um and then high school students also had the opportunity to opportunity to participate in the field
day um hosted um I believe it was presented by the PTO. Yeah. Um and students played three games with tugof-war being the most popular and to end the field day students received a treat afterwards which they were very
happy about. Um, and then class officers. May 9th, the class officers for the class of 2026 were announced. The president is Axel Rat. The vice president is myself and the secretary Charles Frick and treasurer Cammy
Anderson. There you go. Thank you very much. All right, we'll move on to administrative board reports. Uh, Stephen, you have anything you want to add? Nothing to add to that. Tim, anything you want to add? Uh, just
thank you to the PTO for a fun day. Last Friday for the field day. Uh, high school was in the morning or it was warmer. Um, interestingly, than it was for the middle school in the afternoon. Maybe next year we need to think about hot chocolate for treats as close to breezies. But, you know, it was a good
day. Kids had fun. I saw your hands on that tug with more rope. I wasn't really calling. And I know uh Reed's not here. I guess I will give an update. The softball team just won 10 nothing. So, I'll throw that
in there. Um I can I add something to Reed? Sure. I just um and Ronnie may know a little bit more than me, but I had a conversation with Reed today about his last bullet point in the packet of um school readiness and wraparound care and what that potentially looked like. They put in a lot of work to figure out
what that could look like in Canon Falls. Um Clint and I and Jeff uh met with the city weeks ago um in a in a planning session with uh different groups uh within Canon Falls and time and time it again it came up um that
there's a need for daycare in this town and and trying to keep people here versus you know bringing one kid to Reding and one kid to Can Falls and so uh Reed and and team have really spearheaded what that could look like in Can Falls if we have room uh does it
make sense and they're going go down to Cassen um and kind of tour what they do there. Um so we're just pretty excited about that. Yeah, they have a more specific um sounds like they have a more specific planning meeting in December, but with a couple more daycarees in town
just recently closing, they may be pushing that up to November, maybe even October to really figure out the nitty-gritty of what that would look like in Canon. And yeah, first step is touring Cassin. and Reed and Reed was really clear and the goal is not to um
make daycarees go out of business or anything like that, but we just have a shortage um and a need and parents um you know with the developments going into I think um it's coming and uh if we can provide a service I think we should thank you for that.
Uh Stephen, anything you want to add to the maintenance report? Uh nope. We'll talk about it here in a little bit. All right. Uh, sup report? Uh, mine is as presented unless you guys have questions. Any questions for
Jeff? All right, we'll move on to public input. Is there anyone that'd like to speak to the board? Sounds good. You have three minutes, Laura. Okay. Hi, I'm Laura Rezac. For those of you that don't know know me, this is my 18th year teaching age and can and follow. Um the grievance discussion at the end of the meeting is
regarding my leave of absence request. Um there are a few things I want to make sure you're aware of. At the school meeting on April 14th when my mobility leave request was first discussed, you were informed that it had to be a long-term sub position. Um the mobility leaves in the past here in Canon Falls that were granted have never been listed
as long-term subs. Uh when or if I were to return, I am not granted my position back and I can be assigned anywhere within my lensure area. meaning my replacement could stay in my position. In fact, I am licensed K12 sped and6 elementary ed making me qualified for
over 30 positions currently in our district. Um, given the frequent turnover, especially in sped, the nontenured staff that we go through, etc., I would most likely be able to slide into a spot without causing an unrequested leave of absence. Many of you got caught up on that meeting about it being a long-term sub and that how
hard those are to fill, but it doesn't have to be. During the discussion, Jeff had also mentioned that he has never passed one of these, referring to this type of leaves. Um, from being a principal to a superintendent till now at minute 2151. Um, but in our recent meeting, Jeff did confirm that he did clarify he meant as past districts, not
here. Now, this can be confusing to you and to the community because these have been recommended by the board and passed um this exact leave many times in Canon Falls after CO when he said he had concerns. In fact, we have a staff member out on this exact leave for his second year in a row currently. Um, did
anybody ask how many mobility leaps that we've granted in Cannon Falls? How often they're requested? Why would I be asking for one and not just walking away? I really could go teach anywhere. But this is my community. I enjoy my colleagues and my students. I'm proud to be a teacher here. This leave is meant to
benefit teachers and that's why the statute was written. It's designed to allow teachers to step back from the classroom, explore other options, recharge, and reset. It hopes teachers will want to return, which in this case would be an asset to our school district in my case, to have an experienced and licensed special education behavior
teacher return here. Um, a few board members mentioned that the leave doesn't benefit the district. In fact, does any leave of any leave of absence um benefit the employer? I can't think of one. Leaves of absences are meant for the employee. As teachers, we feel a passion and a calling, but also know this is our
job. We are employees, but we're also humans. I want you to consider the questions you ask in your ask in the role as schoolboard members. Consider the wonderings you have and the duty you have to the community, students, and staff in our district. I think we all can agree that we want this to be a place where staff want to stay to work,
come back to, and families want their kids to be at. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Anyone else like to speak to the board? Not I will close public input. consideration to approve the finance
report. Josh, you want to walk us through them? Sure. Uh just a little bit brief this time of year um in this portion of it because we are talking about some of the other uh areas of finance throughout the other portion of the meeting. Um later on you'll have the preliminary 26 budget. Next month you'll
have the final revised 25 budget. So you get a lot of numbers. So uh the short and quick of this would be the cash flow currently as it sits. One note uh just a little way down there. The bus lease um a bus that was supposed to have been ready for us around August. We finally
received last week. Um it was after this uh document was updated. So uh next form you'll get we'll have uh that removed from the cash flow as we make payments on that. Um the 2015 any debt payment most of our debt is structured that it's
uh principal and interest in February and then a interest payment in August. This is the one odd one for us where we have one due coming up. Um and then we see uh we'll get the first half of the property taxes will come in in the end
of uh May. Uh you expect to slide down just a little bit more. You have to see. So we got the inventory funds come in. Uh Dakota County and Guju County taxes. Uh when those arrive uh it kind of coincides with the state of Minnesota and ideas payments falling back. uh so
it really is more of a revenue replacement or cost mutual uh into the district. Uh also there is uh lessening of ideas funds from the state uh as they kind of close out the one fiscal year and then move into the next. So uh the cash flow will generally decrease. Uh we
are fine through the end of this fiscal year. Uh we've been at times where payroll sometimes in July and August has a little bit tight. We won't have that issue in terms of cash flow this year. Um, and then the rest of the fiscal year is actually in in the office tied out for the rest of the cash rule, but if
any questions on what's presented, I can certainly do my best to answer what you have. I got another inventory question, not necessarily the funding of it, but I Josh, you've been here a long time and and with the data center potentially coming to Tana Falls and I know the
school won't see a direct um benefit to that, but uh whoever negotiated an energy deal for the school, do you recall how that process went? And hopefully we can be a part of those conversations with the city. without going any I don't want to know
exactly how um when came in they needed to have approval by the city the county and the school in order to make it happen um and it could have been because they were looking for the tax break for that time uh I don't know if that's necessary the case of data center had it
been uh we would have had plenty of people dressed in nice suits talking to us way before us leading up to it asking for our permission to to do it um so I don't know that's that's yeah I'm just curious I just want to I just want to be in front of it if if there's possibility
of not I'm aware of. Sure. Thank you. Any other questions for Josh? If not, I would look for a motion to approve the financial report. I'll make a motion. I'll second. Jody on the motion. Randy on the motion.
Jen on the second. Sorry, we're all spread out. I don't know. Any further discussion? All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Motion carries. Consent
agenda. Items under the consent agenda are considered routine and will be enacted under one motion. In the event a board member wants to discuss any item, it will be removed from the con consent agenda for separate action. Jeff, would you like to read our resolution for the acceptance of gifts,
please? Yes. So, this month there was a lot of generous donations as well. We had $833.80 from the Ed Foundation for preK through fifth grade Canon kids program materials. $940.68 from the Ed Foundation for third
grade through fifth grade flexible seating Zumo rockers for Miss Yoming's classroom. $2552 from the Ed Foundation for K through three uh grade secret stories materials for Miss Jackson. Uh $312 from
the Ed Foundation for prek through for preK pre-screening early childhood mailers and envelopes. $80 from the Ed Foundation for K through 12th grade functional skills materials. $6,655 from the Ed Foundation for 3D
printers as part of the auction matching grant program and then $300 from Nancy Schumacher and the Wild Ones for an oak tree in memory of Kain Bol. So, we do thank our generous donors
for this fun. All right. Did everyone get a chance to look at the personnel items and the monthly bills and the minutes? If everyone's all good there, I'd look for a motion to approve approve the consent agenda.
Pete on the motion. Second Luke on the second. Any further discussion? All in favor say I. I oppose. Motion carries. All right. Action items.
This looks nice and meaty. Jeff, we have a help me out here. I'll I'll read it. Do you want me to read this to first to start out? Yeah, you can read first. All right. Consideration to approve the resolution RA relating to general obligation facilities maintenance bonds series 2025A
uh authorizing issuance awarding sale prescribing the form and details and providing uh for the payment thereof. The great news is that we have Jeff Cely from Ellers here to explain all of that meaty subject to us here. And this is in
regards to the uh roof section here that we talked about uh either last meeting or a couple minutes ago that you wanted me to continue forward with. And so today we had a a bond sale uh through the LTFM process and Jeff is here to explain how all that went. Yes, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be
here. So yes, you have a roof project needs some deferred maintenance and replacement so forth. So um we are selling bonds for the purpose of financing that particular project and this morning we took bids. We did a competitive bid process on it. Now um we
did receive three bids on it and uh typically if it was a larger bond or the maturities were higher you might see a few more biders. But because we're dealing with $775,000, which is in the bond world,
that's very small with um 10-year term annual payments, small annual payments. Um many of the biders that go after the larger bonds, they aren't interested. So, we did receive three and they were
very competitive, by the way. Um so, that's really what matters. Uh so, the three bids, the the low bid was a 3.82% 92%. Okay. When we did the uh pre-sale estimates about 6 weeks ago or so, uh we
were at about 4.23. So, we came in better than that. In addition, uh they give you a premium. And a premium is basically a price higher than the face value or par of the bonds. And the reason they do that is because they have
they the underwriter buys bonds and then resells them on the retail market. And a lot of investors want a little higher interest rate in order to commit to it. So what they do is the investors are willing to pay a premium to buy a bond
with a higher interest rate. That extra amount they're paying comes back to you as cash upfront. So, you got about $62,000 extra um that goes towards a project that if you run into some unforeseen circumstances in that roof
section, you have a little extra money, you can use patch sections on the the rest of the roof or whatever. So, um you do have a little extra money. You did get a good uh rate on it. So, um this money comes out of or by the way, I
should mention that Northland Securities was the winning bidder. uh this money comes out of your annual LT FM amount. So the amount to pay the principal and interest comes out of that annual amount. And in here we have it uh set up
you get about $440,000 annually for deferred maintenance in your LTFM. Uh you do have an existing bond that has another year on it. the 20 the last year was
252.6 that's uh taking up about $105,000. So what we did is we tack this onto that end. So when that one ends, this one starts the the principal payment will be in uh the
26 uh 27 school year and that's about 105,000 also. So it basically is the same amount. So that leaves you from the 440 for the next uh 10 plus the one year left on the old bond leaves you about
$335,000 annually to use towards deferred maintenance. So um that sums up the results of the bond sale today. If you have any questions I can answer for you. Well, I was just I was pleasantly
surprised with that rate because we were definitely talking about getting a a higher rate, but I and I know that we had discussions about possibly going out for a a bigger bond because we wanted to bring that rate lower
with what you're seeing at these rates like if we got 3.82. So say if we would have done a million half dollar bond or something like how much lower of an interest rate do you think that actually would have been because seems quite low. Uh I saw spring growth today
too at 1.21 million and I got the same got the exact same. So So so within 0.01% 01% on. Sure. So anyway, um when I talk bigger bonds, I'm talking um getting over $100,000 in maturity
payments and you're probably talking, you know, $5 million or so. Sure. Uh so going that next section of roof would not have gotten you a better deal on the box. It still would have been viewed as
a small bond. Sure. But potentially more bids maybe. Uh we had four bids in Spring. So one more bid. Sure. Anyone else have any uh questions? Appreciate you breaking it down. Sure.
You're welcome. Thank you so much. Yeah. and you guys will be talking about the operating reference. So, I'll stick around for that questions. I thought you were going to ask us help do another presentation. I don't have a presentation, but I'm
happy to answer questions. All right. So, how do we go forward with this? This is a resolution. Yeah, this is a resolution that we will need to pass. Yep. All right. So, first off, we will look for a motion to approve this. I'll make a motion to approve. I'll
second. Luke on the motion. Was that Randy on the second? Any other discussion? All right, clerk. All right. Resolution relating to
775,000 general obligation facilities maintenance bonds series 2025A authorizing issuance awarding sale prescribing the form and details and providing for the payment thereof. Lori, am I asking for a Yep.
Okay. Uh Randy, yes. Yes or no vote? Yes. Jody, yes. Luke, yes. Clinton, yes. Pete, yes. And myself is a yes. All right, then we'll move on to what that uh bond was sold
for. Consideration to award the bid for the 2025 modified uh builtup roof system roof system per project specifications at the Canon Falls Preschool. uh this agenda item. Sorry, I'm closing
out stuff here before I get to the actual bid documents here. Uh bids were uh sealed and then opened uh earlier in the year with our roofing contractor. And I don't know if Stephen wants to speak to that real quick about
what that process took place. Um sure I can. On May 1st we open those bids. Um, so me and Brian Moral, who is our Garland rep, which is the manufacturer of the roofing materials that we use. Um, we sit in the boardroom and it's an
open open to the public. So, anybody can come in, we open the bids, we see the lowest bidder and we hope for the lowest bidder to be the best uh contractor we have to work with. Um, and in this case, I do believe that we got the one that we wanted. Um, not only for the price, but
just the contractor himself. Um, so Jackson and Associates are going to be the ones that we are going to hopefully accept this roofing project with. Um, and they did come in under our projected amount. So, which was very happy to see. And they were our last one to open, too.
So, it was a little nerve-wracking. And the other ones were pretty pretty extensively high on the other bids. So, uh, I was real happy to see that number come in. Um, and yeah, so we're just going to hope you guys approve that and we can move forward with this. We we had
four biders on on the project and I can put this in, but they will be starting it in the fall uh when school is going on, but they do uh at night, correct? Y after school is out until whenever they clean up for the day,
afternoon shift. And then uh it's going to be a 12-day project for them. So, it'll be hopefully short and sweetened will be out of here. Yep. Which also helped us get that better price because they were able to do this as an add-on alternate in the fall here for us. So,
not ideal, but it's it's nice for our pockets to save a little bit of money by doing that. They do the weekend, too, or they're just doing a second shift. Yep. They'll work they'll work straight through to get it all done. Perfect. Yep. They were roofing on the CD Hype project and did roofing with CCC. So
they have experience in the district positive experience as well. Okay. So I do recommend approval of Jackson and Associates for the roofing. Any other questions on that? If not, I would look for a motion to approve the Jackson and Associates.
I'll make motion on the motion. Second. Luke on the second. Any other discussion? All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Motion
carries. Consideration to approve the fiscal year 26 preliminary budget. Josh. Yeah. Take off my glass. I can't see that anymore. No, we're good. Um, that's how I get
through coaching. I can't turn across. Um, at the finance committee last week, uh, this process started a lot earlier than in prior years as we were looking to find what numbers would have to be for reductions. um after not passing
with them the prior attempt um we knew we'd have some short falls in the uh funding and had to kind of figure out what we'd have to plan for reduction and the earlier we can get that number out and communicate those things the the better. So we initially put together a budget in uh December and at that time
we came up with about 530,000 $535,000 worth of reductions that would need to occur to help this budget out. Um, and that the further away you get from something that kind of the less clear that is. Um, as we went through that process, the board uh recommended the
cuts uh sorry had recommended the cuts to the board. Board approved them $531,000. In the meantime, there's been two other changes that have happened at that time through the the board action as well. uh pushing back the purchase of the bus next year about $145,000 as well as an even further uh
restructure to admin uh which add about another 90,000 roughly. Uh so in total there's about uh just under $800,000 worth of reductions uh to make this budget happen which you see up there the general fund which really is the main fund that we're looking at and concerned with uh presenting really kind of a
balanced budget. Um some of the things that changed to help or not help some of the things that changed that to make it not to balance from the 530 original uh estimate is some changes in the funding at at state level and we won't know those changes fully until the session is
finalized complete and to get the information out to districts. So we're taking our best uh shot at it right now. Uh but there are some reductions in some fund funding for special education uh mainly in the transportation realm. Uh again it's still being worked out through session but uh in the last
revenue projection model from the state it showed a significant decrease in funding there from prior year. Uh also was a reduction in compensatory revenue uh for the district. So uh it was a good thing as we went through that uh the board had decided to make those
traditional changes uh in terms of budget. Uh I don't know that I would necessarily say they're good things otherwise but in terms of budget they are. Uh so we end up with a balanced more or less budget. Uh just to be clear as we go through this we build it. Uh there are a lot of unknowns or variables that get put into it. And that left side
expenditures. Uh all the settle contracts are inside of this budget. Uh as well as an estimate of what uh the only contract that's not settled right now for next fiscal year, the teachers contract. Uh it holds uh positions for ASIS grant uh expansion. Uh we got note
that our application for the ADSIS expansion has been approved. Um but uh it didn't say when the funding would come or how much the funding would be. Um regardless, it's a cash flow issue for the district and as funding we get the funds will be reimbursed the
following year. So regardless if the funding is approved for it, we have to foot bill uh the first year that's put into this budget. Uh the payroll tax increase for Minnesota FMLA. Again, that's still a session item that may uh change, but the percentage as presented
at the time is inside of this contract or this budget. Uh TR will be increased the employer portion up to 9.5% that's inside of this budget. Uh TOC increase uh we've been seeing that increase over the the last several years in general.
uh but some anticipation of uh potential with the FMLA adjustments and ESST uh and what that has done over the last several years kind of projecting a little bit of an increase of that teachers on call would be our substitutes uh system. Uh we did some updating uh for
schedule C some disparity and inequities that are in that uh schedule. uh did a lot of time and effort on that to make it uh something that is pretty fair and equable throughout and easily uh explainable and defendable if it were to be in a spot that's more a legal matter.
Um but it's those changes are in this budget and and uh fit. Uh the reading curriculum purchase uh it's a rather large generally we put $75,000 a year for curriculum. Uh this reading purchase is going to be $150,000. Uh that's inside of this budget. uh increases summer
unemployment. That's something that um the district will need to uh pay. It hadn't been something in the last couple until the last couple years that was on the district's priority, but that is in there. Uh property insurance has increased. We have see that in our houses uh and our homes. Uh that has increased. We've gone up significantly
over the last several years. Uh from a point where we were paying about roughly $100,000 for property insurance to now uh we're almost at the $200,000 mark for property insurance for the district. um some additional staffing for preschool ECSE uh based on need down in
in the district. Uh there would have been a lot of discussion about uh numbers in particularly the fourth grade. Um if the board would go a direction where it would be both number-wise and seem fit to have that that instructor is in this budget. Um
should the door not go that direction that would be a savings to the budget. Um all the board approved reductions that we talked about the 530 as well as the pushing back of the bus purchase and the further uh restructure of admin is inside of this budget. Um so that's kind
of the the highlights of the expenditure side. Uh on the revenue side projecting really a steady ADL. Uh the formula does increase per pupil at uh to 2.74% increase. It really ends up in dollars and cents $200 per pupil more is what uh
the funding is. um does not necessarily follow with you know price increase that we would see uh throughout maybe our regular pocketbooks but it is an increase to the to the district for revenue. Um it does include
that reduction in special ed funding from the uh projection models that we see as well as a reduction in compensatory revenue. Uh and then it also includes the board approved uh revenue increases. As part of that reduction uh there are several items in there that were increases to revenue. Uh
and again based on projections as long as numbers were to come out a lot of them were in extracurricular. Uh all in all told you'll see a about a $15.5 million budget for expenditures and revenues and at the end of the day uh it's just a slightly positive gain. Really is a it's
a balanced budget. Um what would happen here is you see our fund balance and general fund for undesated which really is the funds that allow the district to to continue their operations uh and when things occur. uh we sit at about three and a half% coming in. This will not move the needle on that obviously. Um
but it's not going backwards. Uh I promise that that is the longest explanation. The general fund is the most in-depth and the next ones go pretty quick. But before we move on, do you have any questions on the general fund budget? Well, I was just going to ask on uh do you happen to know off the
top of your head roughly uh the new FMLA that's going to start getting enforced? What how much additional is that going to cost the district? Just that one piece. Yep. Just the one piece. Uh it is so 88%.
Um44 would be if we split, you know, the employer, but it's about 48 to $50,000 to the district increase annually. Annually, and it will depend on when they put it in place. So this starts in January 20 uh January 1st 200 26 uh that
should be you know half the year of it. So but in here would be the the portion of it starting from January 1st through the rest of the fiscal year. So really half of that half that year. So in the budget increase you'll see 25 to $30,000 just for that again it would be doubled for the
next year when it's fully in place for the full year. Sure. Right. I don't anyone else have any more questions on that piece? I know you touched on it. I might have missed it. Um, did you say that I we haven't voted on it yet, but the potential of adding a
fourth grade position that was in the expenditures? Yeah. So, I tried to put everything in that is foreseeable. Um, we talked about we talked about this in the finance myself when I build a budget. uh don't feel that uh it's you know in good faith or good concept or
good practice to put in a number that's probably not going to be realistic and that would be that special ed portion of it depending on where they end up falling. I don't want to put in a higher number and we don't get that then I got to come back and tell you that in the year we got to reduce something. Uh so try to be as conservative maybe as
possible. Um so I put as much of the expense that I can get into this budget so it's there if you guys were choose to go with it. Now, from the finance side, strictly numbers, not uncertainties and all those sorts of things. Um, the more that we could save and build up the fund balance would be a positive just in the
number side of it. But there's obviously another side to everything. Okay, there's no more questions. I'd look for a motion to approve. You want me to go through your phones, too, or not? I was just kind of waiting for you to come.
Yeah. Uh, food service has a positive fund balance. We can't operate for a profit. Uh, we schedule purchasing when we need to and try to maintain the equipment and whatnot. Um, there's some changes that the contract settles are in there obviously just like the other
fund. Um, and then revenue we're seeing, you know, free lunches, uh, state provided lunches. Uh, we do stay there with a positive balance there. um that food service and community service depend on how each fund does by the end of the year. Uh we allocate back a fair
share of utilities, uh fuel, gas, electricity, um provided that they have fund balance to do so. Uh community has a negative fund balance, which is typical in districts our size as it's really more of a community service. Um and sometimes a lot of get a feeder
system into the district. Uh so it's a very good value in offering a lot of those items. Um so that we do offer some support to that. Uh so there not always the opportunity to do a chargeback in community service uh in this budget and largely because of the number that are seen in preschool kids. Um we see a
positive estimate at least for fiscal year. Um that doesn't mean that their fund balance will be positive this year. It just means they won't be as negative which is a good thing. We want to make sure we're pivoting that direction. Um the debt service is really set up based on uh uh more or less a mortgage
payments. uh the fieldhouse auditorium CD HVAC projects that we just did our debt service uh we levy for it we levy 105% uh assuming that there's going to be some delinquent receiving of taxes if we receive an excess of that it gets put back to the taxpayers to reduce uh the
debt levy uh so it's common to see sometimes a negative in there as some of those funds go back to the taxpayer and trust agency is really our scholarship fund as well as a fund that we hold uh funds for year to year the Gemini innovation lab
uh bond beer uh grant in there as well as the scoreboard uh we've got several new scoreboards a lot of advertising on that that stays in there and so we can offset some um expenditures generally in the extracurricular areas but um again so to see a negative you know balance there is
not a bad thing a lot of scholarship paid off as they go down a declining balance um and if you got any questions on those I can answer those as Good. Once again, thanks for all your work on this. Thank you, Josh.
All right. I would look for a motion to approve the fiscal year 26 preliminary budget. I'll make motion. I'll second on the motion on the second. Any other discussion? All in favor say I. I.
Oppose. Motion carries. Next up, uh, consideration to approve the finance committee recommendation to proceed with a referendum election on November 4th, 2025. Can you speak to that first? I think you
probably should. Okay. Uh the board uh at a recent meeting asked the finance committee to meet and discuss uh the pros and cons of going out for another operating levy attempt this
coming fall. finance committee met over a week ago, maybe a couple weeks ago, and uh had really good robust discussion. I don't know if you guys want to add on to that. Um but they do have a recommendation, and I don't know
if you guys have anything to add to that before you get to the recommendation. I don't have anything. Yeah, I really don't. Um I think general consensus for the group was um you know when we went out last time and it failed it wasn't none of that was came with any wants
right and uh failed and and uh we still are left with some needs and um the group felt it was important to to go forward even uh in a situation where we we maybe don't um feel like we want to go back right away again here but uh you
know when we went out last time we there's a truly new basis And uh nothing has changed with that and and like I said we have new new people on that committee and I think they brought some good perspective and included community members as well. Um so yeah it's good
discussion. Yeah. So, I I I guess I'll just add that uh I think most of us are in, you know, agreement to be going out for one here, which we'll definitely vote on, but uh also trying to figure out what amount to
go out for. Uh we went out for 750 last time, it failed. Naturally, you think, okay, do you drive for the same or do you go for
less or do you have to go for more? Uh, and here I think we're in a situation where with the cuts that we've had to made been made, we actually now have to go out for more than what we just failed on. And that is
tough to wrap your head around. Uh but I think it's what's necessary to be done. And I just I've been kind of busy gathering some numbers here uh just to put some things in perspective and I'm
hoping that uh when Mr. Hamilton uh watches this video, I hope he reports on some of these numbers. And I I have some numbers here from Goody County and from the city of Canon Falls. And I want
to thank uh Commissioner Brad Anderson and uh Mayor Montgomery with helping get some of these numbers. Uh our last operating levy was passed in 2003. So I have numbers that go back to
2003 for both the city and for the county. In 2003, the Goodyu County had a levy for 22,319,24. They had a total budget of $37,659,726.
Fast forward to 2025, their levy today, or I should say for 25 is 45,315,975. That is 103% increase. Their their total budget for 25 is 93,616,249.
That is a 148.5% increase in their total budget since 2003. City of Canon Falls, their levy in 2003 was $1,295,000. Fast forward to
2025, $2,524,350. That is a 95% increase. for their budget in 2003, $2,590,000. Their budget in 2025, 4,780,000. That is an
85% increase. The city also wanted me to make sure that everyone was aware that uh local government aid from the state rose 30% in the same time frame from 2003 to 2025. Um Jeff looked up here and this on
the school side the state aid has gone up about 32% in that same time frame. So those have been very similar. Now we look at our school budget. Obviously our operating levy has stayed the same at $500 per person since
2003. Our budget 2003 10,18,85743 cents. Don't forget about those cents. 2025 $15,317,55466%. We have had a 51 12% increase in our
budget in the same time frame that the county has had 148.5%. And that the city has had an 85% increase. To put some things into perspective, if we would have an 85%
increase to our general budget, just like the city, we would be working with a budget today of 8 million or 18,71,385. That's a little over about $3.5 million more than today. Now, the fun one, the
county. If we had their same budget increase since that time, our current budget today would be $25,120,510, an extra $10 million to work with. What I will say to the rest of the people on the board here, if we look at
this $950 increase here, that would give us approximately a little over a million dollars a year, close to 1.1 million. That would be
10% of what the county's projected projection or escalation or however you want to look at it has been since 2003. We're asking for 10% of that amount. So those are some numbers that I
wanted to read to kind of put some things into perspective. So, everyone in the city loves their things. Everyone in the county loves their things. Why do the kids get left behind? I think an important Sorry, I was just
going to say we're the one government piece that has to be voted on. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Yep. And we have the highest return on investment, which is the kids and the students. When you get your tax statement, the city is non-negotiable. The county is
non-negotiable. You can't say, "No, I'm only going to pay a third of this or whatever." And the school you have to vote on, you know, and so that's the one thing that, you know, a lot of families are struggling right now. And so that's a way that they can see that they can cut money, but just kicking can down the
road. And Luke said, it's not it's not wants versus needs, it's all needs. And I didn't bother looking up the state numbers because I think all of you guys know what those numbers will look like. Yeah, I think a good point to add to um like Ronnie said, it's it is it is
kicking the can down the road. Um it we we will still continue to need this money. Um it just and it's and it'll most likely just increase anyways, but it just we just can't get farther further in the hole. um especially when it has to do with our our kids and our
staff and so yeah the the recommendation from the plan committee was to to the board was to look at that 950 number um not only to go out for a levy but look at that
950 being true our true now minimum amount we need to ask for not the 750 that was And it wasn't the inflation. Yeah. If you look at the 950 column here, which is our middle column, the average
house that we used during the last um referendum uh was $350,000. And if you look at the tax impact on that, that's $36 a year increase to their current taxes on a $350,000 house. And obviously
different people have different um size of houses um and businesses and commercial property in town and it's weighted out accordingly for that. Jeff, can you remind me um I know we approved the 500,000 in cuts and we've since
surpassed that. Was it 800,000 that we were currently at? it was just under $800,000 that we ended at here. And so if you look at the 750 column, that would net you just over $800,000. So um and I think I think you
know some of the feedback we get is um or maybe we see online is um you know they'll make it work or they'll find ways to get to the number and whatnot. And I think that 500,000 truly shows that that was where we thought we could get by and we're still getting handed
more things um through the state and whatnot that we're put we're pushing out purchases of buses and putting kids at risk there. And um so I think when you engage with people I think it is important to point that out because um we truly thought that would be get us to
where we needed to be and here we are. Um we've already gone up above and beyond that far beyond that. Well, in the survey that we put out last year, um, about just over a year ago, you know, the community said that they would support 750 and it's not, you
know, we had our needs obviously, but that's what the community would support. So, we decided to go out for that and obviously uh the survey did not show to be true. Um, and right now I think you can
certainly justify the 950 based on the 800,000 that we just cut plus whatever is coming in the next 10 years. Well, because we also have to factor in no matter what for fiscal year 27, we
will be making cuts right away because of the delay in funding coming through. Yeah. If if the levy does pass this coming fall, there will be some some cuts that we will do that we do need to make to make sure that we're on the right side of the cash balance or the
cash flow. And if by chance it does not pass, what where does that place us financially? Where what kind of a cut number potentially? You have a rough idea, super super rough.
another $800. And it' probably be the 800,000 to more that an additional 800. Yeah. Now you're looking at big reductions in programs. Um class size as well over 30 in the
elementary uh closing field closing community center there. There's big ticket items that would have to cut after that. And I I think it's important for the board this time. The board didn't make any
cuts going out prior to the election last time. I think the board needs to be um prepared to make those cuts in September so that you can message those cuts in October prior to the November election. Yeah. And we talked a lot about that at
finance committee and and how that's not a you know people see that as a threat but it's just the truth um at this point and being transparent and um but I I I agree that showing what those are and what those impacts are I think is the
only way we can get to the community how this is going to affect the kids and staff and and um some you know we talked about how we connect um obviously we've missed marked last time and how do we connect with the people that were showing up to vote and um you know we we
held lots of meetings and unfortunately most of those meetings it was board members and few teachers and some concerned parents and that was it right so we we we do have to find new ways to connect with people I know Pete's had some good ideas in the past um but we got to do something different
um to get this done we're obviously aware that we're a community of you know lots of retired folks lots of people who don't have kids at the school anymore um or you know single people who are here and they just don't have kids currently um you know obviously the question always comes up is you know why why do I
want to pay more money and I this isn't I don't have kids here why why do I have to do this um but I think the big the big picture in play is that in order for your town and your city to succeed and do well and thrive your school has to succeed and do well and thrive. It's
it's all every everybody shaking hands together. It's all It's all a big circle and that's the only way that it works. All right. What do we want to do here, folks? We want to have a vote on running for the levy. And I think the next step would be if the board wants to decide
tonight what level you want to go out for. We want to follow the finance committee recommendation. that the board approves them four green back election resolutions in June keep us on pace to meeting deadlines and then you can start
messaging that over the summer if once the board passes the resolution. So basically you're voting tonight to tell me which resolution or not to bring a resolution back. One point of clarity. So the 950 would be potentially the proposed. Is there anything from the any
outcome from the state budgetary that would significantly swing that number that we would say we should go for number three or a higher number? We are waiting on more bills and things to pass. Is there anything that you anticipate? It never goes the other way. We'll say that what's that? It never
goes the other way, right? I don't think you can anticipate um that that big of a you know shot up, but you you got to have talking points around some of these. And we just cut $800,000 and
that you know you need to ask you need to you need to tell people what you need and you need to go out for it and tell the story. Yep. And if they pass it, they pass it. If they don't, they don't. But you need to tell the story. Yeah. And Pete, I would say in finance, we did talk about more um quite a bit and you
know, we just thought in good faith to the community and the taxpayers that, you know, we know we need to go for more, but let's not go down, right? And uh we certainly would be happy to have that, but I think um our goal is to be friendly with the community. Absolutely.
I was just trying to avoid getting in a situation where if there's some big budgetary drop that happens now we're going to ask again next year like when more money let's say this passes it's hard to anticipate. Yeah. Yeah. Fair enough. I think the the big key and then the change in this one potentially be is
if you were to add the inflationary portion of it as well when uh we looked at the 500 in 2003 versus had it had inflationary uh be at 870. We still be asking for another referendum but far less amount to get where we need to be
at. Okay. Had that officiary park been there. Plus, who knows what does it doesn't have to get reduced throughout. And there was that conversation too about not including the inflationary but also asking for 1250 instead of like a 950. Sure. Okay. But in the end, I think the
recommendation was 950 with And this would be our election, correct? There's because there's no other election in November that would be That is correct. Be a special be a special election. I guess I'd look for a motion
for recommendation for a dollar amount. I'll make a motion to recommend going out for the 950. Randy on the motion for 950. I'll second with the inflationary with the with inflationary. Yeah. You want me
to re reward that? I'll make a motion to vote for the 950 with the inflationary piece attached to it. Okay. Julian the second and Jeff Cely is here if you have any questions for him in regards to he put
together the tax tables and uh timelines and stuff but any in-depth in the weeds questions not in not in the weeds but that that 350 that we use on a market value on a home is that still hold true in Canon
Falls we cuz we use that a lot and I I want to make sure we're accurate. We can we can check with the county. Um so before you do your your public information campaign, we can nail that number down more. And if you want to use something close to market
value, average market value, we'll come up with that number. Thank you. And thank you for putting that report together. Sure. Yeah. Any other discussion or any other questions? All right. All in favor say
I. I. Oppose. Motion carries. Consideration to approve adding a fourth grade teaching position for the 2526 school year. At our last board meeting, I discussed that we would
monitor uh the fourth period um numbers. As we approach the end of the school year here, I believe, Stephen, we are at what 94 or 93. So, currently in third grade, there are 92 students and we've got three
confirmed registrations next year and two others that have given two that two that we're waiting on. So it could creep up closer to 95. Yeah. Because I mean it remains we've seen obviously some you know potentially students could move but as of now with
the number at 92 we would have 30 31 31 right and we would have quite a few kids that would need to move before we start dropping back down into the recommended area. Yeah. So the top side of our guidelines 203. Go ahead. Go ahead. I was going to
say with that being said, I do recommend that we do add another section to fourth grade and with the understanding of the numbers hold that where they're at that would follow them to fifth grade. Also the follow Josh can you give me a rough number on
if we didn't do this what that's going back to your budget you got it figured in what that when we build budget uh for new positions we take on average of the scale so right the the middle of the scale and you have to consider you've got uh benefits as well
so that not just you know health but uh TR FICA those sorts of things so we cost out about it's about $82,000 per teacher. We're basically looking at um the savings from cutting that Dina
student position that we were going to have and using that for adding the fourth grade. All right. I'd look for, if there's no more questions for that, I'd look for a motion to approve adding a fourth grade teaching position for the 2526 school
year. I'll make motion. I'll second one on the motion. Pete, on the second. Any other discussion? I would just add one thing. Um, credit to our administrators for going through that process and and analyzing those numbers
and also um recommending that um we we do this position versus adding an admin staff that we lost. Um, it's a um you guys are busy and I appreciate you doing that. Um, it's really important in the district and I think um it's needed and
uh certainly you appreciate what you've done. All right, we'll go ahead and take a vote. All in favor say I. I oppose. Motion carries. Consideration to approve the
2526 school of dance facility agreement. Uh this is the school advance agreement. It is what it's is stated and I don't know if Reed wants to touch on this just some highlights of maybe what has changed a little bit or just an increase from what they have been currently
using. They do have a private space, private classroom, private storage. So there was an increase for them. This is a separate agreement off the the scale, right? Increasing the fee or increase in the
space is used. You guys have enough time to look that over. Any other questions? If not, I'd look for a motion to approve the 2526 school of dance facility agreement as shown. I'll move to
approve. I'll second the motion. Randy on the second. Any other discussion? All in favor say I. I oppose. Motion carries.
consideration to approve the 2526 just for kicks facility agreement. Uh same type of agreement a different group for that for just for kicks and read or highlight. Um so it takes them
from an hourly to the same format as a contract um for at that space. They do have their own space but we would use that space if we need to. For example, we use K and kids down there uh two summers ago. Um so all we do is we just took their what they have been charged
and average it so their contract will be shown as that rate. So no increase to them just to make it so that all of our contracts are similar and consistent. Any other questions on that? If not, I would look for a motion to
approve the 2526 just for kicks facility agreement. I'll make a motion. Jody on the motion. A second. Jolyn on the second. Any other
discussion? All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Motion carries. consideration to approve the New Education Foundation board members, Rachel Pierce and Courtney Holton. Uh each year uh or I should say
when new education foundation board members are needed, uh they send recommendations to our board who uh will need to approve them. And the two names that are on there are Rachel Harris and Courtney. Do you recommend
approval? Any other questions? Great additions. I'll make a motion. You going to make a motion to approve the new education foundation board members? Perfect.
On the second. We're on top of it here. Any other discussion? All in favor say I. I oppose. Motion carries. And yes, thank you to both of them for joining that wonderful organization and volunteering their
time. All right. Next up, uh, review level three grievance findings and recommendation from the negotiations personnel committee. Board action on the level three grievance findings and recommendation from the
negotiations personnel committee. So, um, a couple meetings ago, uh, there was a request from a staff member, Laura Rezac, for a leave and at that point,
the board denied that leave. Uh, per the union contract, there is a process for grievance in that. Uh the agreement started off at level two which was with uh the superintendent and we had a meeting and a discussion on uh what the
request was again and um I denied that request. And so from there it moves from level two to a level three grievance which is with the school board. And there was a request to move it to level three. And uh the appropriate committee
to deal with that is our negotiations and personnel committee which met with Kora and her representatives um believe it was last week, last Wednesday. Last Wednesday. And the process is uh once the meeting is had
there is findings that the committee will present to the board here tonight. And then the board uh will need to take action on that grievance either as the recommendation from the negotiation or personnel committee or obviously they
don't have to agree with the uh recommendation and go in a different direction. And with that um I think Luke is going to present. Yeah. So uh what you were handed in front of you is um the findings from that uh negotiations
and personnel committee meeting. Um, and I'll read through them here for the public. After care or after consideration of level three grievance, we make the following findings. Number one, at the schoolboard meeting on April 14th, 2025, Rory React requested an extended leave of absence for up to 5
years per the teachers 2023 2025 master agreement, article 10, leaves of absence, section 13. Number two, contract language at issue. Article 10, section 13 states, the school district shall grant extended leaves of absence
to a teacher in accordance with existing state statute 122A.46. Number three, the union contends that the use of the word shall in article 10 section 13 means the school board is obligated to grant reach
leave of absence without discretion. However, the committee finds that shall simply means that any such leave must be granted in accordance with the requirements of stat state statute 122A.46. In other words, the state the statute governs the conditions under
which they believe may be approved. Number four, Minnesota statute 122A.46 46 subdivision 2 states that the board of any district may grant an extended leave of absence without salary to any full or part-time elementary or
secondary teacher who has been employed by the district for at least 5 years and has at least 10 years of allowable service as defined in section 354.05 subdivision 13 or the bylaws of the appropriate retirement association
or 10 years of full-time service in Minnesota public elementary and secondary schools. The duration of an extended leave of absence under the section must be determined by mutual agreement of the board and the teacher at the time of the leave is granted and shall be at least three but no more than
5 years. An extended leave of absence under the section shall be taken by mutual consent of the board and the teacher. If the school board denies a teacher's request and must provide a reasonable justification for the denial. Number five, Minnesota
statute 122A.46 subdivision 2 does not require the school board to grant an extended leave of absence, but specifically gives the board of any school district discretion to grant such leave by stating the board of any district may
grant an extended leave of absence. Number six, Minnesota statute 122A.46 46 subdivision 2 clearly states that an extended leave of absence under the section shall be taken by mutual consent of the board and the teacher. Thus, in
order for the leave to be granted, the board the board must consent to it. Number seven, Minnesota statute 122A.46 subdivision 2 specifically contemplates that the school board may deny a teacher's request for leave. In
the case of denial, the statute requires that the school board provide a reasonable justification for the denial. Number eight, the school board provided reasonable justification for its denial of the leave specifically that the district faces staffing challenges for teachers license and not only special
education but in other areas as well and given this challenge cannot provide the requested extended extended leave to Laura Rezac at this time. The recommendation from the uh based on the above findings, the negotiations personnel committee recommends denial of
the level three grievance. Anyone have any questions? And I'd look for either a motion to approve or deny the negotiations personnel committee recommendation. I'll make a motion to
approve in on the motion to approve the negotiations personnel committee recommendation. Correct. We have a second. I'll second Jod in second. Any other
discussion? All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Motion carries. All right. Someformational items. Uh, next school board meeting we meet not until June 23rd. We will be back in the
boardroom. You can see a few different things that will be on the list. Uh, as always, if there's anything else that you guys want uh added to the agenda, contact Jeff or Lori and we will do
that. If there's nothing else, I will look for a motion to adjourn. I'll make a motion to adjourn. Luke on the motion. Second. Who wants ahead? Pete on the second. Any other
discussion? All in favor say I. I oppose. We're done.