I have a motion to approve agenda for tonight's work session. So move. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor of approving tonight's agenda say I. Any opposed? Tonight's agenda is approved. We have five items this evening. Our
first is a year-end update about our elementary acceleration plan. And uh this is one of the five initiatives from this year. And so I welcome up to the table director of teaching and learning Jod E St. Huberts, talent development
coordinator Dev Richards, and Aaron Bash, a uh talent development teacher at Right. Thank you. I'm used to being at the front. So that's Yes. Good evening. Thank you, Sher
Digler, Superintendent Bitman, board of directors, members and colleagues. Uh as mentioned I have two wonderful colleagues here with me tonight and we're really excited uh to be here to provide an update on our 202526 talent development specifically elementary
acceleration focus area. As we begin I just want to make sure that the ground that the update in the in the holding view is in the broader scope of our work. Um the academic acceleration is one critical component of the comprehensive edina talent development
framework designed in tight alignment with our vision and our mission. The report you have reviewed details a very very intentional systemic audit of our accelerated math practices in grades three through five and our reading practices in grades four and five. was
led by Deb Richards who we have here with us tonight and in collaboration I also want to mention with our TNL um team member Sarah Hilligosmo. The appendix includes raw survey data from a lot of stakeholders from students
from teachers from parents from administr administrators talent development teachers specifically and also I already noted teachers but classroom teachers. The appendix also includes the talent development advisory council members names. Um that's made up
of parents and staff and then also the talent development and elementary acceleration lead team. And that was made up of staff members across all of our elementary buildings and different levels. and these teams. The reason I'm pointing that out is because obviously
um there's a lot of stakeholder data and that was reviewed by these collected teams, not just D and I sitting at a table or a couple individuals, but both teams engaged in many many different components of the raw data that's in the appendex. Um the high level engagement
and input really reflects a comprehensive review and a very collaborative commitment to ensuring that each and every student's unique strengths are recognized early nurtured intentionally and tied both to academic and social and emotional academic growth
and social emotional well-being. Um with that I'm going to have Deb give you an overview of the review. Okay. Well, just to give you a brief overview, the review occurred during the 2526 school year and it was deeply
anchored into Edina's strategic plan from 2020 to 2030 and um the goal really was to continue um the excellence that I known for and we wanted to um take a
look at what um is doing well within their talent development program or also kind being open to looking at those opportunities that we have to continuously improve. So we have a lot of successes to be able to celebrate. Um
we have um exceptionally high student engagement. um strong sense of belonging for students who participated in accelerated opportunities and also we know that um students feel like they were experiencing a rigorous setting and we know from the data
metrics form that it's translating into um exceptional student um growth which is part of our vision and um obviously there's a lot of variables that go into why we have these successes and I'm a little partial but I would say um one of
those main variables is our TD teachers and um Erin is here today to kind of represent the TD teachers and she's going to share just a little bit about the areas um for continuous improvement that were outlined in the report.
Yeah. So there were a lot of good things that came out of the data. But some of the things that we found like areas for growth were um a need for more robust and like transparent communication about like what we do and why we do it. Um
stronger consistency between the elementary sites. um increased opportunities for first and second grade rigor to be added and um more targeted social emotional support for kids um transitioning in and out in that
flexible grouping. Um so those were kind of the four areas that we found that needed the most perfect. I want to second what Deb said. I think one of the highlights for me in this review was working more intentionally with our talent development teachers.
Obviously, I noted how I work with a large group of stakeholders right in the work, but I'm um blown away by the skill set and the dedication and the professionalism. And so, I thank you for being here, Erin, and thank you for your leadership. Um we are really excited to
look ahead and we want to move um quickly with some things because it's important that we take action on some of these things that have been laid out for continuous improvement not only through the review but um you know in conversations with our talent development parent advisory committee for for years and we know it's important
to go slow with some things because we want to make sure that implementation is successful. So there's going to be a good balance of work that lies ahead of us and we're excited to hear your feedback on the report as well as our plan for next steps um here shortly. One
thing I do want to point out is this summer that we'll collaborate um closely with each other as well as marketing to make us a some some targeted quick action steps around communication um web page uh kindergarten or you know
kindergarten enrollment nights transition from fifth grade to sixth grade night. So that's something we know we can act on quickly. And then some of the other areas are the ones where we need to go a little bit slower, but we already have meetings set up, for example, with our elementary principles to talk about that sight to sight consistency and possible ideas for rigor
and in our first and second grade classrooms, knowing that that will be a lot of conversation and brainstorming and how that can look in the 2728 school year. Um, so with that, I want to turn it over to board for questions and feedback. Thank you.
Board members, what questions do you have for feedback based on what you've heard? I had a question. Um, don't I don't think I fully appreciate or understood what flexible grouping really is and what was being called out
for this. So, I guess I'm going to use my ignoring opportunity to ask. Could someone help me with that? Sure. So in math and third and fourth grade kids have in fourth grade they have four opportun I'll just speak about one grade that'll be easier. In third grade kids
have four different opportunities to be I'm going to use the word identified but we'll call it be matched for instruction of um talent development teacher. So they we look at a comprehensive set of data there like a portfolio kind of of
fast testing, KOAT testing and um skills based pre-EST, teacher recommendation, things like that that look at are kids ready for more. And so we set our time with the third grade teachers and say,
okay, block one will be these eight weeks. These are the chapters that we're going to cover together. And then we as talent development teachers came up with a sequence where we can compact some of that and go a little faster so that we have a little time at the end to go
above or deeper and then after that's set there's another group right or like another look at all the kids. So some of the stuff around that conversation of this social emotional learning is that it's hard for kids to
and parents to know like coming and going out of a class that maybe traditionally would look like allin because a traditional gifted education program or gift talent develop not talent development gifted education program would be like you're identified
as a gifted ed learner and then you're in that program. Would you say that the anxiety is created because of whatever narrative or expectation the parent or the child is putting on what's happening with that or there's something that's missing as far as expectations about
that? I think it's a little bit yes that um it's a little bit social right it's a little bit maybe um perceived it that one class is better than the other right and that's maybe more perception based um that's what I meant by the narrative is
like creating the narrative about it it's true and so I personally I can speak to my experience I work really hard with the kids and the my my team of teachers to try to see is my purpose is to see as many kids in third grade as I can because the test only shows what
they can do on paper, but I can then see what are how do they respond to a challenge. Um, and to me that was an opportunity for us to not just look at numbers and say, "Oh, here's all my kids with 99%. I'll take those 10 kids and
move on. Now I have classes of 20 to 30 kids where I can flexibly group them and it's less of a commitment or to have kids that peak early and then by fifth grade they're really overwhelmed. Does that sort of answer your question? Absolutely. Really aligns with the tenant of
instructional match and um helping kids, families, right? The collaborative conversations that are developmentally appropriate too, right? recognize their third graders or fourth graders that sometimes this is too much and you're
getting holes and gaps and that's okay to know that and learn that. And then we that one of the communication gaps is then like that doesn't mean you won't ever be able to access an opportunity later in your career, right? But being able to start having healthy conversations around how my what's the
best match coming from learning and growing. So, and there are a lot of circumstances where we could be different from what causes anxiety, but there um we have to be aware of that and lean into how we help with that. Yeah. And I feel like there's two things
that we really want to focus on is one was the communication, right? but also just the um helping classroom teachers or just helping us develop a culture of kids just understanding that we want to
provide what they need at that moment, right? And so we're going to kind of tackle the mindset of kids and families and and staff as well as communicate on that part. if you don't mind me following up. Um, do you think that that
culture also needs to extend further not just from a talent development standpoint, but just in general in all that we do in the classrooms? Because I think that really applies really to anything, not just in math or reading.
It kind of applies to everything in that it's okay wherever you are, that's okay. But we want to make sure we're matching you to where that needs to be. and whether that's in some talent development component or not is is part of that that I would assume. I mean that would be the goal. That sounds like a
fairly challenging um mindset shift. Um absolutely. Um so I'm just trying to make sure that not solely from a talent development stand, but if we're talking about a culture of how we want to perform as a district and certainly an elementary school, how do we want to do that? Um, I
I would I I I would applaud that effort 1,000%. But I can also imagine that that's not going to show up tomorrow. That's going to take not only with the current instructors because then what they know and how they've performed things and so on so forth, but then also people coming in
with parents and kids and whatever it is that that's a cultural change is something that takes time. I was going to say that I watched that happen when we started with third graders that are now sixth graders was our first year of doing that. The teachers each year were like, "Well, what do you mean we're
going to these kids? Aren't they going to be aren't they going to get upset?" And no, the kids knew the kids were okay with it, but it took the adults longer to get there, right, in terms of how how it worked. So, this is only what would that make that third, fourth, fifth, that's our only fourth year of doing it.
So, now our fifth year. So yeah, it's going to take a little time for people to feel more comfortable with that method. Thank you. Questions? Um I have two questions.
One is I notic in your report you lot of a couple of different things that you notice of other districts doing. Would you guys see us at Indian incorporating
um especially the like getting ready for kindergarten type of program um or the ready set ready set kindergarten program um which I know is a little out of scope for maybe specific
but I did find it interesting that I think those programs are great and I think it's super helpful that we as well because I just wonder that specific piece because really this starts at birth.
Yes. But are the book about that transition specifically? We definitely talked to me before we put that in the report just to make sure that there was a comfort level with it being there even as something we
explored. is not something we talk about more in depth, then that would be great to talk about and might be an opportunity for us to invest at another investigate at another time. Okay. Um I think this a follow up to that. I feel like um so this is kind of the
first year that Jod and I have been kind of partnering on early entrance and I made the assumption that it was going to be a lot of families that had kids that were reading chapter books and doing double digit multiplication and all those kinds of things. But really what I'm finding is um parents are planning
early for what their school trajectory is going to look like for their child. And a lot of times they're just not sure. They're they're so concerned that um their child may be ready for it or they're so concerned that if they do
another year of preschool they're going to check out of school, they're going to be bored. And so they're exploring early entrance because of want more than their skill development, right? And so I I see and then I find that when families make
a decision like if they make a decision to go in and talk about it, they stay there for their elementary years. So I think the earlier like if we have an opportunity like that, I think we will keep a lot of our families and maybe
gain some other families as well. I I think it's both programs are great. Um that's and segueing into one of my other um or one of my comments which is
I think that we need to directly um address why we don't have a specialized elementary school or um if it's palented why don't we and how it benefits kids and why it's a specific philosophy we have at United schools
um because it is it's a specific choice that we've talked about multiple times and we think it's not we think it's in the best interest of students not to do that and I think we just need to say that and not be afraid of saying that um
to address it and maybe have children think oh I didn't think about it from that perspective or oh so that's just my personal opinion which as I tell my husband is usually right but uh no I I just think because we do
have parents leaving. I think we need to address this case on um and this goes along with that kids that have gone through this and not through this. I think
the for me looking at it from a parent lens or from a district a strategy lens, the real key here for me is excellent pathways that are based on a right fit and the
social and emotional of our of the students. And I think we really need to hammer that to parents in all of our communications um about how this is the backbone of what
we're trying to do for students. And in looking at some of your bullet points about communications, it's not about just the transition from elementary, early elementary, whatever it is, kindergarten. Yeah.
And it's not just about fifth grade to sixth grade. It's about looking at your student and how they're going to metriculate throughout their career at EA because that's what we're looking at. And this is how this was built. Yeah.
And it's to meet the needs of your kid at all different levels. And I think that's the beauty of this program because if we're only talking in
if you're transitioning to fifth grade to sixth grade, these are your opportunities in middle school. We need to make sure that we're telling parents that first of all, you could be in fifth grade and intellig. This is about right fit. It's about
flexible pathways. And and parents, look at about how it's going to impact your high school schedule. And look at how math and reading interplay when you get into these harder classes. And I just think we need to make sure that when we're communicating this, we're
communicating in a lens of this pathway and this flexibility and this is social emotional as opposed to like specific fifth grade to sixth grade. Agree. It's about a very broad vision. Yeah.
And this is our vision for your student because I think that goes a long way to answer why we don't have a specialized school. See, I eventually get around to like the point of So, and I think that ties directly to our
need for primary um to, you know, to really focus on rigor in the primary. Um, so when you have other districts that do a really good job of marketing a different setting and if you're choosing
between that and Dev Richards promising you that the classroom teacher is going to differentiate, that's a hard right. So you're right. You have to you have to have to have something that is is equally as attractive and we also have
to share the long vision of what it is. But it is unless you're talking about the fact that we are concerned about social and emotional skills. And if you look at outcomes and there's a lot of really interesting
stuff around outcomes and I think that's where I think it gets I would I can honestly say that I feel like the academics that we provide is equal to if not superior to what a school within a school or a separate
school would would provide. And then the kids also have the opportunity of being with their grade level peers for other um parts of their day. That's that to me that to me is the key that I think people don't think about a lot.
Play with their neighbors. And then what does that mean when you're in high school? What does that mean from a developmental perspective? Right. What does that mean to our definition of a well-rounded graduate? Well, that's my point is all of this all of this is based in what what we're trying to do
from a well-rounded student perspective, which is why we have this program, which is if you don't buy into it, you're not going to buy into it and you go somewhere else, but it is deliberate. Yeah.
And goes back to mindset and shifting cultures. Very good point about the whole K12 experience. was actually doing a meeting when we had the students here. Yeah. And one of the students said something very aligned with like sharing the message but
it be helpful in elementary to know what's probably did that raise any questions for our director of marketing communications. Well, Jody and I have talked about this and Deb as well and um
just wanting to have clear messaging for families and for families to really deeply understand what it is that we do first kind of like through tradition all the things see other places before and
to communicate what our value proposition is. So, they've done a stellar job at defining what our differences are and um we'll be doing more to help the others understand.
Thank you, Cheryl. Um, well, I was part of the group that was working on this for the past year, so um, I don't have questions, but as I was reading this again, I just felt really appreciative for all of the work the team has put in,
and it made me feel very grateful to be in a school district that would look at a program that took a lot of work to put in place in the first place. And clearly, the data from the survey shows students are having a good experience in the program. The parents think that it's a good fit for their kids. So, it would
be very easy to say like, you know, it's there if it's done. But to go back and look at it because there are areas that we could could do better. Um, I'm just really appreciative to be in a district that would reexamine that, say, no,
let's let's get a break. Let's let's do it even better. Um, because that social emotional piece is it's very important to me. um looking at this and I think that
we got to understand that the kids I think are really good at putting on a brave face for school and then when they get home that comes off and parents talk and so the shifting in and out wasn't necessarily or isn't necessarily as easy
as it might seem for some of the kids and so looking at that piece and figuring out how can we do this better Um, I'm just really grateful for all the work and it's going to be a lot more work. So, thank you for for all of that and um I look forward to seeing what
happens in the summer ahead. Thank you. Thanks for your partnership. Yes, our pleasure. Well, three of us had a chance to see it in teaching and learning. So, thank you. It is an excellent report. Um, I wanted to especially uh thank you for the chart
on page eight. I just think it does a nice job of talking about the four focus areas that Erin talked about and the why behind why we think that that is so important. And I appreciate how um you talked about like the next steps and how
you know the board will be getting updates on this work as you work through the process. So um really well done. Appreciate it. My one question I have as you work through these next steps is um outcomes like how will we know that this
is success? How will we know that we are serving more students and we are serving? Um and so as as you work on that and as you brainstorm and have your brain trust together thinking about it, what does that look like?
That would be a really important piece, right? using this chart and grounding and then now what are our action steps and how will we measure it? Um, and that will be fun to be able to present to the board of like these are concrete measurements that we'll be tracking as well when we get there. And it might
even as you were thinking as you were talking about the long game and this might be too there might be too many other factors to separate this out but now Erin you said we're in our fourth year and are we seeing more kids take
accelerated classes in secondary because they maybe had a taste of it in elementary you know and we won't I don't know that we could ever measure that but that would be you could for sure at least in middle school I feel like you'd know like I know how many kids are in it at Southview this year
versus last year. Okay. For sure if there's more. It might be interesting because I know we as a board have seen that we've seen that at our secondary level kids are opting in when they get the choice. They opt in at a much higher rate than what
our elementary um except the kids that were accessing it. Right. So it'll be yeah it's it's really it probably is an interesting measurement of what kind of long-term and that you said something about right fit and I was thinking and I want to say
and right time because I think that's part of it too for kids like some kids are ready at different times for that and as they get older I know for sure selfie I can't speak to values but they talk about learner agency and the kids having a voice and I think that's really
important to and we don't really have a place for student we do a little bit but more like case by case right like I've had kids that have said this is too much for me like I don't want to be here right now and then I can help them speak that to their parents or vice versa so I
think that's thank you very much for the work that's been done and the work yet to come yes so all right and Next on our agenda is another um initiative final report and
this is our early learning and family report. Um we welcome Dr. Amry Leland, director of community engagement and strategic partnerships, Kim Izley, our assistant director of early learning, and Laura Hansat, our early learning
center manager, and Amy Gorgeson, uh, family center parent and board members. Um, well, I'll let you. Oh, wonderful. Well, thank you so much, uh, Chair Gabler, directors, Dr.
Goodman, members. Uh thank you for having us here tonight to present the culmination of the two years we have spent imagining researching collaborating on a vision of a transform early learning and family center. Uh thank you for acknowledging Amy
Bergerson. We appreciate having her back and she's going to be reading a statement at the end from our other co- president Daniel who can't be here tonight but um Daniel wanted to give you a statement. um about this process.
So, it's been a pleasure working alongside the ELFC team, PTO members, uh staff members, current and alumni parents, mold architects, of course. They've been great. uh and the many different voices and partners who have added to the idea of taking our
outstanding staff and programming to another level by positioning a new ELFC as the destination for our upcoming families and the foundational cornerstone for premier E12 district. So tonight uh you have the report in front
of you. We'll walk through it highlighting certain things. Laura and Kim are going to be presenting the majority of of the report. Uh, but I do want to mention as we go into summer with our little kids club programming,
we are full with what the class rooms that we have to work with just in terms of the construction that's happening. We were at capacity and we could have kept going. So, we really good. And then going into next year based off of this year's enrollment, we are stable and
strong and growing. So, this is really exciting. So, yeah. Okay. You're going to go over section two and three. Yeah. So, um just highlighting some of the things in section two and three. Um we know that most of the neurologically significant period in a human life um is
between the ages of um three birth and five and 90% of the brain develops at this time. Studies show that high quality early childhood experiences and programs are linked to higher graduation rates, lower grade retention, stronger social emotional skills, and greater health outcomes through adulthood. In
implementing, robust early childhood initiatives are essential for addressing systemic inequities at the foundational level. Um, especially pime primarily a catalyst for closing the equity gap. Macy credits the environment as the third teacher, which we've talked about,
parents being the first and teachers being the second. Um, one area that we've explored the last two years is spaces both indoors and outdoors. One important note that we'd like to say is on April 2nd at the community leaders
meeting um it became clear that the phrase naturebased was creating some confusion in the community. Um so we'd like to um recreate that vision that the ELFC would like to have access to nature embedding nature within our experiences
at the ELF um into our research curriculum that aligns more with steam. So we just like to make that clear. And so we'd like to say that Edina has a strong E2 continuum of excellence that we're very proud of here and we are just asking for a building that reflects our
rich playbased curriculum here at the ELFC. Um when we think about when it comes to the financial impact, early child is one of the most researched um in the educational field when it comes to the financial impact and research found that every dollar invested in early
childhood, it comes back to you um at a return rate of 7 to$13. And the so socical benefits of that would be mental health, employment, reduction in special education, reduction in public health costs, um increased earnings over time, higher
graduation rates. You might ask um which we ask ourselves a lot here too. What would that direct impact be here in Edina? And we're thinking about um greater impact on kindergarten readiness here in Edina. Stronger E12 um enrollment and retention here in Edina.
Reduce burden on the K teachers um quality schools and learning facilities and increased child care for our workforce here in Edina. Moving on to section three. Um, Edina families here have a great choice of where to spend set with their youngest learners.
Most families visit tour spaces and talks to their neighbors. That's what we found out. Um, excuse me. When touring families are looking, they're looking at our outdoor spaces or any outdoor spaces at early learning centers. They're looking at the safety of the buildings,
um, overall space and aesthetics, um, and they're imagining how their child might perform in those spaces. Um, here at the Dina ELSC, things that we do know, we know that we have exceptional educators that are skilled and trained with their bachelor's degree, and that's
something that all programs here at Aina. We also know that we have a highly researched curriculum that sets apart. Um, we know that our staff receive high quality PD. Just last year, they received 35 hours of intentional targeted PD designed to improve our
student outcomes, which we're really proud of. What we found in our cross functional team meetings is that our community wants these two things to kind of align together. They're looking for our high quality um teachers, our high quality programs, our high quality curriculum to
marry with a a building that reflects the space and that's what the community is looking for. Thanks. Okay. All right. Kim mentioned um cross functional team meetings that we held over the span from December to April. Um that we pulled together stakeholders
which included ourselves here. Amy is involved. Um we had family members that were part of that conversation um community members um staff as well teachers that were part of those cross functional team meetings. And from our very first meeting on December 2nd u we established some core principles that
came from table talk conversations. Um those four principles are nature connected learning as Ken had mentioned just intentional access to some nature spaces for our programming. Uh the second would be universal design. Um there's been a lot of talk about you know our current parking lot space and
just kind of the entryway to my building here and just building off of that. Um we also talk quite a bit about family partnerships. So, a family commons area, you know, located right directly in the in the front of our um space where families can really gather because we're
finding that in our current family, we do have quite a few families that gather there. Whether they're waiting for an ECF class or, you know, if they're waiting for another class to start, they really appreciate that space to come together. I've seen quite a few of our ECF families there just, you know, having conversations, building
relationships there. Um, and then the fourth is the purposeful design. just making sure that we have spaces that are designed right from the beginning with our littlest learners in mind. Um that, you know, includes, you know, toilets that are made for their little bodies and classroom spaces. Just little things
like that that you overlook sometimes, but like that really means a lot for those classroom spaces. Um, so then our second meeting in January, we really dug a little bit deeper from those first conversations that we had, um, and talked about pod-based learning neighborhoods, which I think we've
talked about in a few of our meetings here before as well. Um, flexible programming spaces, um, to accommodate, you know, maybe different options for families, more working families, and looking for different program offerings that we can have for them as well. Um, intergenerational programming came up
quite a bit in our conversations. Um and also just having a space that's more of a community hub um expanding beyond just early learning offerings as well. And then language programming also came up. And then our final meeting in April um really grounding the vision about
talking more about how can we take those core principles that we developed deepening that vision and expand from there. So on this next page here are the five design priorities really keeping in mind a learning space that inspires. Um, so from there we talked about again
digging really a lot deeper into that nature intentional space and access to that nature space for programming and keeping the family connection piece. Um, I think that's something that's very important for our families and for our team members as well. We also talked about programming that
meets families where they are. Um, thinking about those working families that we are really, you know, thinking about them when we're creating our programming and keeping that in mind. And then also considering just what's going to set us apart from everybody else and all the other preschool
offerings in Nina and what's going to make families really want to choose our learning center here. So from there we also um these on section six here just kind of those final find or those findings that we had. Um I mentioned some of these
already just that inter intergenerational programming. I feel like that is something that really stood out to our stake our stakeholders and something that they were very interested in. Um, again, we mentioned uh the immersion, the French or Spanish
immersion programming um and expanding our class offerings as well. And then also just possible um options that we can include our transition services as well um and just a broader space for the community to kind of come together and thinking about this new learning space
as a hub for the community as well. And then we also talked about current limitations. because I won't go through every single one that's listed here, but some hot topics I feel like that have come up over and over again as the parking lot here. Um, how that can kind of be very limiting with parking spaces.
It can be very hard for families to get their young children out of car seats and things like that and sometimes that is a deterrent for some families to attend or attend our classes. So, we want to make sure that that can be addressed. Um, safety concerns that conflict with openness. So, keeping that in mind right away when we are thinking
about possibly building, you know, a new center. um making sure that safety is always at the forefront of that and then special education transitions across spaces. So making sure that there's a special education presence um throughout those learning neighborhoods that we've mentioned before.
Thank you. It's going to take us to seven. Yeah. And then in our final meeting, we also talked about our current strengths. Our stakeholders really have genuine pride in the LFC and they really wanted to note our strengths because I don't think we're looking for or changing
everything that we're doing because there's a lot of things that we do well and so we took some time to talk about what those strengths would be. I'm just going to highlight a few of those. I think um our top is our inclusivity and our transition to kindergarten. That is
a big strength of our ELSC. Um I think our high quality staff which I've mentioned before and also our expertise of some of our staff. We have a lot of attainer staff that we can lend a lot of extra support to our st or to our children that um I think is a great strength of ours. Um we have a very big
welcoming environment um for our families. Um, but I think to balance that, I think would be great to have some kind of facility that would have access for some of our families with the zero entry. I think would be really accessible for a lot of our families that we don't currently have. Um, I
think a new facility could help support um our youngest learners, which Lauren talked about with just smaller facilities would be great for our little learners. And then we're also talking about the social emotional and the so supports for our sensory ridge
regulation and some of those supports for our youngest learners. But we have a lot of great things that we're doing well that we wanted to as well. Thank you or Kim work tirelessly and really do a
wonderful job of leading uh our early learning and family center. So, thank you so much for using your boards tonight to to talk us through the report and really just what you experience every day. Right. So, section 8 is really about the architectural planning pro progress
that's been made. Uh we've engaged bold in conversations, talked to them about square footage ideas, come up with some scenarios. So, that's been wonderful progress. Uh, and section nine, we've talked a little bit already about unresolved design tensions, keeping that
balance of safety and security in the forefront, but also making sure it's a welcoming, bright, light place for kids to imagine and explore. Uh section 10 was something that I thought
would be just a placeholder for conversation in terms of the direction that's been brought forward over the last two years with some concepts, ideas, and then some things to consider for the path forward. So with that, I want to mention one
other person that I want to give a lot of credit to. Nicole Lehan was wanting to be here tonight. She's one of our past um family members and PTO presidents and she has so all of the lip review I thought I would just formalize
and say and you was doctoral researcher right Jamie and and several other people in the room um we always have to do lip review so Nicole provided a lot of research throughout this process and really appreciate that she's been a tremendous asset I think to not only
learning but the entire IC overall. So would you read the last part of Danielle's or that statement from Danielle and close the conversation? I am Danielle.
I am a current ELFC parent and ELFC PTO member. I have two kids, a son in kindergarten at Countryside and a daughter in her first year of preschool at the ELFC. Each of my kids and I participated in ECF classes for one and
two year olds and my son was at the ELFC for two years of preschool. My daughter will continue preschool at the ELFC next school year. The ELFC in its current form offers families a high quality option for early childhood and parent education that also brings with it a
sense of community within the building and outside of the classrooms. Everyone at the ELFC including the administration and front front office staff, the classroom teachers, the parent educators, the paras and the supporting professionals, OT, speech, social
workers, etc. is incredible. Each person in the building cares deeply about the kids that are in their collective care and is dedicated to their and their families growth and success. With the new building that has been imagined during the three ELFC crossf functional
meetings, EPS would have the opportunity to significantly elevate the excellence that already exists at the ELFC. For kids, the new building would offer an opportunity to gain more independence with appropriately sized amenities,
toilets, lockers, etc. An opportunity would interact and jointly learn with their peers in a neighborhood learning environment. better spaces for movement, better opportunities to see and experience the outdoors, and the potential for more experiential
learning. For parents, the new building would offer more space to meet and connect with other parents informally. The ELFC experience would also be a safer and more accessible one, the better parking lot and zero entry entrances. The addition of a community
resource hub and a multi-generational space for programming would make the ELFC a true space for the new building. The quality of the infrastructure would match the quality of the education that's already happening inside of the building.
With that, that concludes our presentation. Thank you so much. Well, thank you for that. And before we take questions, I just wanted to clarify for what would be helpful for feedback from us. And what I understand is that
feedback would be from the board tonight would be are we on the right track? Is what you're hearing is it resonating with you? Does it seem like we're moving on the right track? And um are there things moving forward that would be
helpful for us to have like this is missing? I would love to see this. Is that is that correct? That would be great. Okay. and board members, because we have heard about a potential new building as part of a referendum, this is kind it's it's kind of a parallel track. Tonight's
conversation is really about what we're hearing with this should we decide to move forward. And so, yes, there's outstanding questions about where would this be and and if we would do it, but for the sake of this conversation, it's really based on what they're proposing.
Are we is that resonating with us? Is there additional information we need about this part? And they will intertwine, but for this conversation, that's what we'll hear. Does that make sense? And be okay with everyone. Okay. No.
Who would like Who would like to kick us off? I can actually go quickly. It's shocking. I know. So, I really appreciate this. I think it's a lot of information that I've done
before and I think it's great. I so appreciate the definition of the nature and clarifying that. It's super helpful for me from a board member's perspective. Um I think two things that
would be helpful for me to clarify. Um I I think this is great. I don't have any um any complaints about it. Um actually three things. One is the part of the transitions program. Are you guys
suggesting that the transitions program is part of this? And when we say transition program, are we talking about a transitions program for for adult to but I you know
or are we talking about transitions but from early learning to kind? So we okay that's why the question so director director um the conversation you were having in the earlier portion of
tonight's meeting was exactly on track the continuum of how the benchmarks line up you know through E through 12 right we've got some really substantial benchmarks to be focused on and that's one of them
yeah I think you'll look like I wanted to make sure because we talked about transitions. We talked about transitions and so I had highlighted that. I'm like, which transitions are we talking about? Well, I think Kim's just last district experience was the high school and
transitions. So, she's probably entertain. I can speak to that really quickly just for the sake of the board. So that if we were to move forward on something like this where we would have a separate building, we would then free up space in this particular building
that would make an adult an 18 to 22 year program possible should we have those kids in that time. Um, and then the two things I think I could use additional information on is I would love to see how we could
potentially um add in some of that kindergarten extension. um how do we utilize this to um ensure now I guess I'm going to the actual transition we were talking
about um um for kindergarten readiness as well as um the the whole language piece and I love the language piece. Um, I'm a little
concerned about what does that look like going into elementary school and are we giving um an implied um prek to 12 foreign language experience
that we can't then give to parents past. So that is a concern. I'd love to hear more information about how that would operate after that. Y um and that's a preliminary thought. So,
thank you because um this resonates with me. I think this is great down to the the LFC. I think it's a great program. my wish facility matched I think the level of program um the staff that we have there so I think we
do a great job um like what you guys have described it you guys have done great things with building that wasn't created with early childhood banner programming in mind and needs obviously shifts over
how old is this building 49 no 75 49 right yeah 49 Yeah. 1949. Um, so it's we've we've got our news out. Yeah. I'm excited to see this uh progress and
I'm excited for this info to show that that our needs are. Sure. So yeah, thank you for this. Um, I'd be excited for a new building as well. Um, some questions that I would have just going forward if we once you start
thinking about like what would specific programming look like? I would be interested in what would we anticipate this does similar to what was saying, you know, to the looking at a language program. What does that do to the rest, you know, how does that shift
things down the road and what project enrollment to be? That kind of thing. Um, and what other programming might we anticipate needing in terms of kids with special needs or you know all that fun stuff? Um, and then just a question actually. Um, how connected to the rest
of the district I don't speak for all families but does do you or your family feel coming to the learning center? I feel like I have learned more about the district in terms of
I knew nothing and now I know lots but no I feel like I I really understand at least from what I see coming home with Sam like I understand kind of how instruction will look like I see kind of oh they made
graphs today about what the hungry caterpillar ate and like maybe one apple or two like and oh that is former teacher and me like I can see how this will look like down the line um and the
skills that they're building early. Um, I also really appreciate the um just the exposure to lots of different people. Um, he's gotten and I see that as being value and he loves it. He loves seeing
all different ways. He's like, "Oh yeah, my friends speak Spanish. I know Spanish." And he doesn't, but he and We don't know tons of details about the rest of the district, but I definitely
feel that being here um I could if I wanted to where if we were elsewhere, I don't think that's even necessarily an option. I was just um can you speak to a little bit about I know you've been on the PTO
and I know that just the little bit that I was around like there was a family that was going to Normand there was another one that was going Can you speak to that too like how at wherever Sam ends up at elementary school I think to your question like how has that
you're not there yet but how you'll do you have connections throughout the district or will in the next four years And that has been really great. Like we know people at every elementary school at this point. Um which is exciting. Then we can see
in five years maybe we'll be together at middle school or um and you run into people or hear about uh things going on in different schools which is great because then we can also see how things
might be a good fit going forward or That was one of the things that Nicole mentioned to me in the last meeting or last time I saw her, she said her kids always say, "How do you know those parents, mom?" And she says, "Well, it's because they're right." So, yeah. Okay.
Yeah. It's very it's a it's a bridge. And I feel like it fosters those um the ECF classes specifically where families are really involved. um fosters that community and that belonging that the district is really eligible for and I
knew no one in now we go places and see people all the time and it's because of being here and um that sense of belonging and being invested in our community is I I don't see how I would have come
to that in a different way. That's one of those areas where I think like I'm glad that we're doing that and it's feeling good. Like can we you do even more of that? Can we make that even more connected and feel more like this is the foundation of our district.
you're here and you're artist. Um, yes. I mean, everything that was just said, I mean, I know Karen Gabler because of ECF. I know former um board member Jamie Shaw because of Give praise every day.
Be a little more excited. interesting narrative. Um the the point of connection and and getting involved and so on so forth like I don't think I would sit here in my role on the school board if it hadn't been 3C. So I can only like
exponentially echo and support everything about that. And as I was thinking through as to this wonderful document of things, first and foremost, this is exactly what I would have liked to have had when this topic was first raised to us. Just to just to be clear, like when we when this started, this
isn't a complaint. This is but but what what the transition that we've seen over this last many months and year whatever it is and so on so forth this is what we were talking about and asking about that we can now positively engage in versus
just a here's this idea now give us support to go do that whatever it might be so I I just want to echo especially for Dr. benefit that this is the kind of stuff that from a from a process standpoint and an institutional learning standpoint, this is the kind of thing that I would like us to continue going
forward on any topic that we have. Um, for me, it's really I'm focused on section five. Um, when we talk about the design priority, so we we have all the wonderful things that are outlined in this wonderful report about all things we do now, what we're able to do now, what we would like to be able to do in
the future, and so on and so forth. But when it comes to the design properties, I'm a big thing about priorities. There's five that are listed here which are all exter which is the number one priority. I mean let's do we it's a rhetorical question if you want
to answer you can totally feel free but for me the way I sort of analytically process information is that I need to know in the recommendation what's the most important thing because knowing a lot more information about what we possibly could do in terms of actually a location
to do this we might not even though we have totally on board with all these things do we actually have a place where we can get all this stuff. So this is the magic wand question which is what I asked two years ago. If we had a magic wand, what do we want? I now have it. But I then need to know, well, okay, we
might not be able to produce a space that does every single thing that we would love to have done. How do I gauge then? So then when the next phase, if we get to it where there's recommendations, okay, well, here's the spaces that are available to us and here's what we could do.
I'm going to come back and like, okay, well, do we get all of our priorities in that or realistically for the price point, whatever it is that we're capable of that the community supports, we get four out of five. Well, if the fifth one that can't be done actually ends up being the number one priority, that
might change my calculus of well, maybe we need to think of something differently. That's why I'm asking this question. So, I don't have to have that today, but I'm just saying that that's helpful to me as I try to analyze these things where that comes from. If you want answered, you're feel free to do so, but I don't want to put you on the
spot that you have to be committed to that. Well, and I would say just real quickly, uh, this conversation will happen this summer because Karen and I have been working with the city council and that group to have a joint meeting and so
we'll give you an opportunity to maybe think about that, but this team will be part of that discussion at that. And what I'd like to do also is re-engage the team and ask, you know, everybody
what how to rank order. There's nothing would make me happier that if we could actually find a space wherever that magically could be that we can then have all this for a price point that doesn't kill the community and whatever it is, great. That's an easy yes vote, right? It's like yes, let's go
do that. I'm being more realistic as to I'm not so sure we're necessarily going to magically find it. So, I'm trying to steal myself and anyone who's actually paying attention to this. How do we navigate through that? That's all. But as far as what's been recommended and
and the components and the stakeholder feedback and all the things that are in there, this is this more than I remember when I read it last week, I even called back and written about it. I I said this was exactly what I was looking for and I was so happy to have it. Um, and I know that when we've talked about um the
learning family center since I got on the board five years ago, the amount of focus that has been reapplied to this space from the time I got on the board, oh my gosh, it is significant from where it was for whatever the reasons were. We don't have
to go back to that history, but it's this is a central component when we talk about E through 12, which we I never even we never said that before, but now we say it. It's a component of what we are as a district. I love that. That's important. Going to what what you were just saying about this connection, it really does start at that level. And
for me, it was baby and me. It wasn't even one and two. It was at three months old. Um, right. So, you won't get a stronger supporter of the you know, ELFC um than anyone else here. It's now trying to figure out how do we bridge to
how do we bring the reality to where we want um from that standpoint. So, there's really not a lot of questions or concerns or comments about this. It's just more of I'm kind of ready for Okay, great. This is awesome. Thank you to everyone. That's great. But now we have some the next chapter unfortunately is
going to be the I think harder. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Thinking along the same lines with Michael's request also with the limitations like are some of these absolutely
can't we can't report if we fix this sort of piggy back on that because I look at some of these I'm like like I is that an absolute non-starter
or something or Um, and you know, little kids club space constraints. Is that just that you want more space to do more programming? And like is that
really if you didn't get that, would it be as critical as perhaps um a dedicated lunch? I don't sure. And then maybe actually one more thing I now that you said that there's one more
comment I think that that prompts me to make our kids went through ECF in whatever it was at the time but okay and even though they didn't have some of the things that are here we still had a great outcome. Yeah. Right. So, so I'm not trying to take any
thunder or any power or or you know thing away from today's parents who are not doing good. Even with all the limitations that were there 15, 17, 18, 20 years ago, we still had a pretty good outcome. So, I I that's a tension point, right, as to we should ask for what we need and
and we want to be forward thinking as opposed to looking back and the needs today are different than what they were 18 years ago. Totally get that. So that's I think the part of this question is trying to filter these are things that are really like in order for us to move forward in the
future to be to keep maintaining the level of success and growing our success we got to have this these are the things we'd love to have and not that I don't want to give them to you because I do that's where that's coming. Yeah. And
yet similar to the high school I think that we've been working in an inadequate space. So, I think that some of the things listed here are basic things like having a bathroom in a
classroom, right? For a teacher that's teaching preschoolers, that's not something that's like building for the future. That is a basic things. So, I I think it's some of the high school stuff like this is getting us to
where totally agree. You know what I mean? Totally agree. I'm not used to reading because I'm right there with you. I'm just saying like I I want the professionals who are doing it to tell me what those are rather than me to have to want like a red, yellow, green. Would
that be fair enough? The mechanism is I'm not I'm not pretty I'm not specific to any of that. I think it's more I'd like to make sure you guys what I always want in these situations. I want people to look to have a firm stake in the ground. This is absolute. I gotta have this, you know, otherwise it
doesn't work. I think I hear some common themes amongst the different groups. One, just really making sure that we have our priorities set and also being identified like this this has to be right in order to do business. This is what we absolutely
need. And by the way, if if we even want to do more and better, here's what that could look like, right? So, which that becomes, right? If that's really the end of strategic goal that we have, then that becomes a have to have, not a want to have. Totally cool. Totally comfortable with
that. So, and if you if if an easy answer says whatever I just put here is all things we have to have, easy conversation. That's fine. I I don't want to make the assumption that's indeed the case. But then can I ask I guess as a board is I don't I consider
as a district that we're offering exceptional experiences to our families. So if we are going to build a new early family, I don't know what acronym. It's okay. It's okay. I don't
I don't want to invest in something that we're still giving the bare necessities, but it's now there's a bathroom. So I consider I hear you. So I consider what they're
telling me is what is this is what is the strategic necessity is what I think we build. I guess that's my point. Okay. Well, if that is indeed the case that I'm totally if that is indeed the case, all you got to do is tell me that.
Um and if that if Erica's statement just now is based on what you're doing, then it's a quick conversation. If it's not, then that's what because I'm I'm already thinking ahead of the next part of what we want to then have is terms of how we're gonna actually do this. We have so
many constraints about how are we going to deliver this if that's our strategic impairment because I don't get the impression they're telling us things that are like we're going to have like a zero gravity room. I think they're telling us some very basic things that our competitors are doing. Right.
Right. Yep. And to these these points, I would just say we'll make sure that we take this particular feedback and we bring that back for a more robust discussion amongst the board really engaging you as well on what your priorities are, what
your parameters are, what your hopes and dreams are aligned with our strategic plan and then we'll we'll do that with you. I was just looking for a little more clarity on what this means. Organized storage built into every space. Yes.
What does that mean? Like for intentional playgrounds, green space, and nature access. How many playgrounds like right to Michael's point when we're looking at
what's what are what's available there might be something that looks great but you know if we can't get the minimum of what we want for something that with that space so then cross that one off our Eric I agree like a bathroom in a
classroom is a pretty basic negotiable. I get that. Just a little more clarity with some of them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, okay. I I echo this is great. I'm As
far as your questions, are you on the right track? I think so. And are there is there anything missing? Um, no. But um what I appreciated about this report was that what I saw was you talking
about the building the space and the programming together and I don't know maybe I mean you may have been doing that all the way along but that's what I really appreciated here because I do believe we the space down there is outdated and but just building a new building even though
we have all these awesome things isn't going to necessarily bring the the new families in. So, I do appreciate the conversations around whether it's language, whether it's really leaning to the nature piece, whether it's really um showcasing all the things we have, the
well well educated teachers, the great curriculum, the pathway into kindergarten. Um so, I really appreciate that you did those together. One of the wonderings I have is because it's been a while since I've been there,
understanding current enrollment in space needs and where we realistically think we would get. Um, I think that would be helpful to me because I I know for a while we were kind of seeing an bigger bump through like our preschool programming and ECF wasn't as big as it
used to be. And so I think because many of us it's been a while since we've been there that could be helpful to understand um like we like you said at the beginning we have no more space for little kids as well. That's helpful because that helps me at
least benchmark a little bit. So this is the enrollment for the last couple years. We're maxed out. We're having to turn people away or you know and if we had a new space this is what that possibly look like. That would be the only thing. Um,
uh, as we talk about programming, these are suggestions, which is actually not what I'm supposed to be doing, but I'm going to do it anyway. Oh. Um, unless asking for kindergarten kindergarten teachers, kindergarten teachers on your panel,
that feedback loop of like this is what we're seeing, not even from kids that are coming out of the ELC, but I just know I I had an off-the cuff conversation with one. are like we are seeing kids come that are just not ready not from here but I mean but to better that back and forth and here's my last
suggestion parking lots because we're talking about parking lots parent drop off okay has that been covered I mean like where you drive up because when I had a 42 and baby the last thing
I wanted to do was bring that fouryear-old in okay I think right You could get every family in vagina. I am not I am not joking. Maybe you do you right now. I'm already stressed.
Exactly. I said PTSD of like loading up the double jogging stroller just to go the winter and go and then your 2-year-old's running around the hall. She doesn't want she wants to go to school. why the current parking lot is such a pain point
in that you can't just yeah it's not safe but you can't just walk in with kids like if you've got children you have to set up a stroller you've got to do all this it's winter it's it's hard and you can't just drop them off you
have to escort your child in and there's something about that welcoming when you pull up and there's teachers outside And the kids are learning how to a little bit out and buckle themselves like bubbles and follow me for more.
Okay, thank you for those. Yes, those are great. Okay, next the next three items we have uh Mert Whit, director of finance and operations uh at the table to take us through the next three items. First
items is our workers compensation insurance renewal for fiscal year 2025. Good evening madam chair, members of the school board. Thank you for allowing me to present a little bit of I would say more exciting news this time of year. Um
so first our work comp program as a reminder we did switch carriers last year for the current school year from RAIS to SFM. Um a number of issues one a more competitive um financial structure was offered by SM as well as a much more robust and collaborative um structure
for handling claims with our HR department. I'm pleased to announce um that this school year done really well in that perspective. Uh and so rather than marketing our um workers compensation program kind of statewide two entities that really cover school districts, SFM and RA, we approached SFM
directly for a renewal and they came back with another very strong renewal. In fact, there was about a 3.85% decrease to our premium about $20,000 for next school year. And there's a number of different factors involved in that. Um, ultimately work comp really is
about um how much you're paying your staff because you have to, you know, cover their their salary that you're paying out of your work comp program and then how risky um you are compared to your peers. Uh that riskiness is measured in terms of a experience mod or
an XMOD factor with 1.0 meaning that you are just as risky as any of your other peers in the industry. If you're above one, you're riskier. If you're below one, you're less risky. We peak at about 1.06. 06 um a couple of years ago which is um quite high for a school district.
Um we are now down to about 086. Um so claims are getting better. Um and our our renewal reflects that. Um so that's really positive. Um the way that those claims are looked at in terms of establishing your XMOD is um the previous three years minus the current
year. So we're looking at fiscal years um 25, 24, and 23 to calculate that. And so we had a a relatively significant year fall off of our claims record which is driving that decrease. Um but I think the most significant claim here that we've had in perhaps in district's
history for a long time was a few years ago at about $423,000 in claims incurred that is going to fall off next school year. And so this um stability that we're seeing in our workers compensation program will likely continue for the foreseeable future which is great news for the school
district. Um so we'll bring that forward um for the June meeting. Um any questions? What were the claims that are like this past that we're not interested in the current period whatever it is we see experience from that standpoint?
Yeah. So the most recent year we're at about 110,000 as of the end of March. I don't think there's been a lot of significant movement since then. So on a net effect we'll be dropping about $300,000 in claims. Hopefully, you know, we don't see much more um before June 30th.
Have you done anything in terms of from a safety standpoint with our team to help impact the claims um occurrence? Yeah, I think SFM has partnered really closely with our HR department. We have um frequent safety meetings. There's um
quarterly claims meetings that we've been partnering on. So, a much more robust approach than the previous carrier. If Sony wants to chime in, she can. I think everyone's been super super happy with the partnership. And how did you report that out to staff in terms of like you know like you're at
a manufacturing plant you said we've had this many days without an incident or it's in the emails. It's in the staff emails. I was going to give a shout out to Sony because I do see that or like watch your step in like I slip on the stairs because of your nice little time. Yep. Right.
Right. But there might be other things. If I could, madam chair, members of the board, um just a shout out both to director Woodard as well as executive director for the work. So much of that goes into it. They've been really planful and thoughtful about not only
the communication, but getting folks back to work and making sure they're addressing things appropriately and that doesn't happen without a lot of intentionality. So, thank you both. So, it's nice to have a tailwind rather than a headwind going into a year. We've
achieved that with our work. Thank you. Yeah, it was great to see a decrease. All right. The next one I had to do a double take. Um, now we will transition to talking about
our property casualty and liability insurance renewal. Hold on to your hats if you're watching at home. turn it over to you. So, uh, the school district has been a member of the Minnesota Insurance Scholastic Trust or MIS, I believe, since inception in 2013. Really, that
just a a pooling of, um, total insured value so that you can approach the market um, again with more financial clout and you're a little bit more insulated against the peaks and valleys of the insurance market. Been a really successful program in Minnesota um,
since inception. As of today, total insured values are north of8 billion dollars among the 31 member school districts and we're up five school districts since 2024. We're always continuing to to seek to add more. I have on the the Nest board now. And so I I do play a role in trying to get
members to join the more total insured values we have just the more and more insulated we become against you know that the insurance market. um postcoid but really over the last eight years but really the three or four years postcoid it was super hard property market I think my first year here we had a 36%
increase the year after I think we had a 20% and then another 20% or so so some really significant increases over the last 18 months or so that market has become quite a bit softer there's a lot more players in the market there's a lot more uh firms willing to write insurance especially for larger organizations with
a lot of physical assets like school districts cities counties And so that softening of the market has led to more competitive renewals, especially when you have a large pool like MIT that even accelerates that competitiveness. Auto general liability, sexual abuse
claims, schoolboard claims, those are actually quite a hard market right now, although they are a smaller portion of the premium you pay. So that's important to keep in mind as well. Cyber continues to be an extremely soft market despite the fact that cyber is an an extremely large exposure for school districts and
government due to the public nature of our information. There haven't been actually a lot of claims out there quite yet and so we're actually going to get a flat increase in terms of the overall actually I'm back up for a second in terms of what mist actually buys us in addition to the
total insured value we also get to have a lot more control and design over the way that we're insured. For example, most traditional insuranceances provide like a 1% deductible on hail and wind damage. Convective storms in Minnesota are um extremely rapid. And those are
some of the high claim um incidents that occur. And so on a school district like us, 1% would represent $7 million. And so we would have to pay up to that $7 million in roof and hail damage were we not in a program like this. So it's
super important. We don't have a wind inhale deductible in this which is great. Also, this board is unfortunately familiar with intellectual property claims. A typical insurance carrier wouldn't even offer that sort of coverage. We are beneficiaries of that
type of coverage with Mist. And so, not only the financial club, we also get the design element of being a pool. The overall the most exciting part now is um the decrease to our rate. We're having a 13.75% decrease to what we're going to be
paying into the pool, which is roughly $175,000 saved for next school year for this school year, which is fantastic. I've been budgeting about 20% increases. So, in terms of against my forecast, we'll be saving roughly $600,000 in premiums,
which is amazing news. Um the biggest uh component of that decrease is that um risk partners associates and or risk partners administrators rather and Arthur J. Gallagher who administered the program they have partnered to create gopro which is an excess property um
carrier um so that they can compete with the two uh main players in the market which are travelers chub. So their introduction into the marketplace is creating a lot of competition. um all three of those parties uh offered claims on excess or premiums on excess that
were about 30% decreases. So that's really driving premiums going down not only for us but across the the MI membership. Again cyber is staying flat and also our loss fund is going to be receiving a 4.35% credit because we we did a little bit better job with claims
over the last year or two. So all in all again that's going to result in about a $175,000 savings. We're also adding an additional initiative to the program and that's water sensor devices. Um water damage is one of the uh again with convective storms, one of the things that can really ramp up your costs, but
more importantly your operations. It can you know some schools are out for weeks, months at a time because of water damage. And so we're going to be getting an assortment of water devices. They're kind of like hockey pucks and we're going to place them probably next to gyms. Gyms are super expensive. uh
boiler rooms, again, super expensive machinery that can take a whole building down. And then around places like our data rooms, data closets, stuff like that. So, that's another added benefit of being in this. We had that happen at the high school break one year, right?
Yeah. And then we have the valley view gym floor. One was a roof. A roof. Yeah. the contractor. Well, board members questions celebration. This is excellent, excellent news. I did, you talked about the cyber
security. Um, and since we've been talking about that, I did notice that it indicated that education is the most attacked industry globally. 8,000 or so attacks a day. Of course, not all of them are reported, but um most of them are stopped. Thankfully,
you did bring up a good point that I forgot to mention. We do have a significant savings in our overall premium package and cyber staying flat. Our coverage is for $2 million in aggregate and per incident. Um it might behoo us to explore additional coverage because we are getting a savings, a
significant savings, and it's not going to cost us that much to go up to a three, four or five million level of coverage. That's something that we do. um post this meeting and investigate what that would look like in terms of cost and then bring that through finance. Absolutely. Okay.
Great. I think that with that along with then the recommended investments from safely security part of both people and systems that makes a lot of sense. Absolutely. Uh all right. Uh thank you for that
great news. And um the last thing this evening is the long-term facilities maintenance update. Yeah. So this will be the first in a series of probably three different um public agenda items. So we'll kind of go through the projects we're planning at the June either work session or regular
meeting. I'll bring the financial components because we need that for our levy. And then in July we'll seek um approval from the board for our fiscal year 2028 long-term facilities maintenance program. Terms of construction, um, as you might imagine, we don't do a whole lot during the school year, although we did have two
relatively significant projects happen this school year. First of which is the big auditorium renovation and kind of remodeling fully complete now. I think it turned out really well. So, for those who don't know, new lighting, new lighting controls, um, sound controls,
brand new stage, accent lighting, um, the sound clouds are are brand new, as well as a little bit of carpeting. Uh, one thing we didn't do this round was new seating. Um, the seats are in relatively decent condition, although I assume or anticipate that we'll revisit
FIC within the next five years to to get new seating in there as well. But overall, really good project, super successful. I think everyone's happy with it. The second project that kind of took place throughout the school year and we'll be wrapping up this summer is LED lighting at Valley View. So, we did
their um their physical education and workout space last summer. uh the rest of the building this um school year and also this summer. Valley View was um pretty much the last site that lacked LED lighting. So we're almost virtually LED lighting throughout the school district um minus some of the auditorium
spaces which need more specialty lighting and LED is not necessarily conducive to that. So um also something that's helping keep our energy cost down. In terms of this summer um we've got kind of like 10 major projects throughout the district. So, it's going to be really busy for our buildings and
ground staff at the high school. We're wrapping up the three-year mechanical upgrades project. So, we've got a couple of air handling units that will be um replacing um datification fans in the fieldhouse and activity center. Those were actually
installed in 2015 or maybe 2015 or 2016 as part of that referendum. Um I recently found out they've actually never been operational, which is interesting. And so we might have been paying for more heating and cooling costs over that time period than we should have been. So we're going to get those commissioned and working properly
this summer. We're also looking at um all other Dstrat fans throughout the district to make sure that they're commissioned properly. And we're also going to look at adding some drat fans in other spaces which over time should yield a little bit of savings in terms of our cost which is great.
U we also have a re-roofingering project. We had um roof area B scheduled for last summer. We delayed that to this summer so that we could combine that with roof area C. Project bids for that were approved by the school board. I believe Margin those came in considerably under what we had thought they would be. So at 77,000 square feet
of of roofing that's going to be done partially built up roof partially some applied kind of a rubber roof. So that'll be completed this summer as well. And then the fieldhouse gym floor will get a replacement floor kind of a rubber material.
United Community Center is going to be super busy. Um so the our early learning folks talked about um perhaps the space being a little bit outdated. That space is going to get all sorts of interior surface upgrades, some of which has already been done. So carpet, floor tile, wall tile, paint. Um all the
lockers are going to be removed and replaced with more age appropriate fixtures, cubbies to be specific. Um some of the spaces will just be filled in with drywall where appropriate as well. um the gymnasium stairs. So in front of the main basketball gym, we've got a
significant amount of water intrusion there, which is problematic, not only because it affects the structure of the stairs, but also we use space underneath the stairs to store band equipment and other athletic equipment. So we'll be replacing those stairs, also bringing it up to current ADA compliance, which is
excellent. um the locker room. We're going to uh grind and uh repolish the floors and also reconfigure the lockers themselves so that the football team and other teams that use that space have um better lines of sight to the coaching staff while they're, you know, preparing for
games and such. We'll also be restriping the the community center south view parking lot. We heard quite a bit of commentary tonight about perhaps a lack of safety in that parking lot. So, we'll be adding um turn um turn arrow stripes so that you can make sure that people are only
turning left as they're coming um towards the south. And then we'll probably have an arrow pointing towards the west on the very um first loop so that you don't have to leave the facility and come back off the street to re-enter. So, a little bit more natural flow. We'll also be putting up a lot
more signage and speed bumps as well so that people right as they enter are noticing that they need to check their speed. That's the community center. One more parking lot item at the community center. the main entrance to the the ECC door 3, I believe. Um there's quite a
bit of um gradient there um near the handicapped accessible spots. Um during the winter or when there's precipitation, it can be quite difficult for people to exit their vehicles and make their way towards the main entrance. So, we're going to relocate those near where the crosswalk is so
that it's a little bit easier for those people to navigate. valid view. We're going to be removing some legacy galvanized piping infrastructure and uh that means that we're also going to be able to replace two sets of gang bathrooms and also the locker rooms and changing rooms at the
same time. So, that's an added benefit. Again, closing out the LED lighting project and then replacing some aging cap flashing on the roof. Uh the gang bathroom is one where a number of people are using the facility at the same time. It's a technical term.
It's the I had the same question a year ago. We're talking about talking about it at the high school. Okay. And to be more specific about that facility, so the the locker rooms there have gang showers as well, and we'll be
converting those to individual stalls and individual changing spaces just to kind of modernize what we're doing. That seems different. And I think we've been doing that throughout the secondary as we've had private and this next generation will have no idea no idea of that experience.
And that's okay. Well, no. I mean, that's what they should be thanking us for, right? Yes. Creek Valley um renovation of all the restrooms which are original to the building. So, it's great that they're finally getting some upgrades, carpet and interior surface renovation of all
the classrooms with um only six to eight of those this summer. We want to get the restroom done first. Um the rest of the spaces done next summer. They're getting a new gym floor, new cafeteria floor, and again that's phase one of two. So next summer we'll come back and we'll uh remove all the furniture and equipment
from classrooms and place them into our new gym floor so that we can then go through those classrooms and replace carpet and case work. Highlands Elementary similar. They're getting carpet and case work in classrooms. Any hard flooring that's not terazzo. So um kind of the spaces around
the sinks in classrooms which are um old school BCT flooring. Those will get replaced with more modern and nicer material. They also have one uh restroom that's original to the building which is going to be replaced and two kindergarten restrooms that could need um an upgrade. Those are going to get
upgraded as well this summer. We also had a parking lot project uh planned there which we are postponing to next summer. We're going to engage the community a little bit more and and make sure that the needs of uh the city, the community and the school district are met and we'll approach that a different
way for next for next summer. Does that have to do with the water elements in that space? Yeah, both there significant amount of site work that's needed. The area to the northwest of the parking lot is eroding quite significantly due to the water runoff. We also have um water coming off
the building after a storm that's not going to the right places and so a number of storm um water retention facilities would be installed. My only concern about waiting because I remember us going through this before. Wasn't there some safety concerns though because of the drop off that's been happening or whatever it is like I mean
wait another year to get more input or does that create any undue risk? I don't think it's that significant yet but it is acrewing something definitely want to address sooner than later. Absolutely. The city has approached us on that as well. They're aware just need to get get through planning on
that one. Concrete elementary they're getting um interior surface as well. So their floors have um hazardous materials. So, we're going to remove that and replace with brand new flooring. Um, and also they're going to get a new gym floor or
multi-purpose floor. So, if you've been to the ELFC, their new little small gym, they've got a new floor down there. Similar similar materials going installed at Conquered. Also, they off the main office, they have a kind of music room, conference room hybrid. And
so we're going to rearrange and reconfigure that wall so that a larger conference room space is created and uh the music room should be still functioning as they are now. They don't need that additional space on the other side of the wall. That'll be a nice win
for both um principal DOM and his staff during the day as well as kids club after school. Then summer of 2027 actually quite an a fewer number of projects but more significant. We've got a really significant project at South View Plan.
Um, all their rooftop units are going to be replaced, so a pretty big mechanical upgrade. They need um a roof replacement as well. And then a number of different interior surfaces will be touched up as we're taking that site down. That's going to be a minimum two-phase project perhaps leading into a third summer as
well. High School, always something going on. EPAC's going to get a pretty good renovation, new lighting, new lighting controls, and some of the panels that were originally installed in that facility when it was constructed uh perhaps were not um the best quality,
and we'll be addressing that as well. Valley, excuse me. Will EPC then not be usable during that process or at all? Will it be done in the summertime? That'll be it for the summer. Creek Valley again, phase two, finishing up their interior surfaces. um Highlands, that parking lot project as I
mentioned. And then um Cornelia, we had an exterior wall um or exterior surface project last summer which was probably 90% completed. So we'll go in and finish the rest of that next summer. Uh again, interior surfaces there, carpet, tile were appropriate, etc. And then we were
hoping to do a parking lot project there next summer. Um, with that facility potentially being a site that we're looking at for other um, potential expansions in the district, we may look to postpone that depending on what the appetite is of the district. Um, although I do think moving the entrance
to the bus loop to the south um, would create quite a bit of um, breathing space and getting traffic off 70th and just creating more flow and and getting more cars off the street. Is that something we're planning to investigate with our architect partners as well as
seeing may do a traffic study this fall? Questions or reactions? Yeah, it is a lot. It's never not a lot because we have so much a lot of square footage. I don't think you said there wasn't a
building that wasn't being touched. Yeah. Almost all. But that is not that's not always the norm. Well, country doesn't need anything like Thank you and thanks for running through that with us and just giving us a heads up of what to expect this year and also
next year. Great. Board members, are there any leadership or committee updates? Yep, I have one. Um, so next month the board is doing Dr. Bman's semiannual review and I'm going
to be compiling all of the data from that, all of our comments. So, next week after Memorial Day, I'll send out an email with the form that we all know and love and um they'll have dates on when to get sent back to me.
Uh I had two. There is on Friday from 9 to 10 MSBA is hosting a chat room entitled final takeaways from the capitol um where they'll run down what passed and what didn't pass and what we might need to um know as board members
of what might be changing for us. So that's one. And then our staff video is almost complete. Good job on getting me those clips. You guys think you're influencers at heart. Dr. Bitman, their superintendent updates.
You gave me you mentioned many of them. Um, our send off for the end of the year video will go out next Thursday. So, we should coordinate this. I think ours should maybe go first. It otherwise it'll be disappointing. Okay. So, that is one thing I mentioned
earlier alluded to. who were working with the city to have a summer uh end of July meeting with the council to talk primarily around early learning type things and their interests around child care and other things that are impacting our community. So, more to come on that
in your leadership update on Friday, you'll have a breakdown of all the legislative things. Uh, and maybe I should send that out earlier for those who are going to attend the uh, chat. So, I can also do that. Uh, end of the year, we're just finishing strong. We're
excited for our kids and families, but we also recognize that our summer programming uh, is intense and so excited to to do that as well and to make the transition. And as many of you know, we're well into next year in terms of planning. So,
we're appreciative of the conversations that are happening and look forward to the work that we do collaboratively with them. Thank you. Do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? So move. Do I have a second? Second. All those in
favor of adjourning the May 18th, 2026 work session, say I. I. Any opposed? The meeting is adjourned. Thanks everybody.