Mic. >> Mic. We'll call the workshop to order. Julie, is anyone signed up for public input? Have not. Uh, next item on the agenda for the workshop is an OPE update from
Superintendent Gross. >> All right. All right. While Julie is pulling that up, uh, you know, other postemployment benefits is, uh, one of the things that our board has talked about, uh, for its goals and aims for the year, uh, coming up with an executing on a plan. And I just wanted
to give the board an update on where we're at with, uh, in that process. So, some of this information you may have seen before, but it's complicated. Um, and, um, you know, it takes me a couple times to run through it. And so, uh, Cara, if there's anything that you see
that's like updated, please just jump in, please. Please. Yeah. So, quickly, here we go. Julie, it's not working again. So, it literally was just working right
before the meeting. It's almost like because that we're in the Google Meet, it's not working. If that has anything to do with it. Oh, >> I just >> Oh, now it's working. Now it's working. Okay, we just needed to prime the pump here a little bit. All right, so just
some background again. Um, OPED, post-employment benefits other than pensions generally take the form of health insurance or other health care benefits and they these kinds of benefits were offered to people for many years in education and other industries
especially in this region. So that's what they are how we got kind of how we came to this place. Um our liability can be thought of in two ways. First of all what we pay each year in retirey benefits. The second thing is our
overall liability which is the value of everything we currently owe and everything that we're potentially going to owe. So those two things uh when we use the word liability come into play both now and in the future. Essentially
we have to have a actual or actuarial valuation done and during that process an actuary does what they do. They look at future estimates and assumptions and come up with values based on what they believe the liability is for the school
district. Those used to be required every other year. The first one, uh, this first kind of kicked off when we were required to implement Gazsby 45 back in 2007. What Gazsby are we on now, Cara? Do you
remember? Oh my goodness. So, we're up to Gazsby 101, if that gives you any sense of how, you know, what's what's changed since then. When we're talking about this group, we're talking about people that are uh
some under 65, some 65 and older. So, that changes who's Medicare eligible or who isn't. We can be talking about both those groups and that affects what benefits they're entitled to. You can see the numbers here, uh how this plays
out in our school district with the retirees covered and also total lives or total people covered. Annually we pay about 5.5 million in retiree health benefits and our last estimated liability was over 126
million. >> When was that from >> Thank you. >> How do we stack up? We shared this earlier or I shared this earlier when we were talking about this. We have had one of the largest OPED liabilities in the state going back to when this was uh the
state started tracking it. You look at documents from the state auditor's uh office when they ran the legislation uh we were in the top 10 maybe the top five even for liability compared to operating
expenses or operating revenues. This really affected school districts in 2008 when the state passed a law that enabled school districts and other municipalities to establish trust to pay Ben uh benefits from. And in some ways
uh you know as we're going through this process and working through where we're at now with people. The establishment of a trust is a complicated thing for people. people understand paying bills as you go um which was another option and and other
districts even in our region chose that route but establishing a trust is a complicated way to go through this. A lot of districts did that, established trusts. Um, but it can be a complicated thing to sort of >> um, understand.
The other uh, or one of the other things that legislation did was it authorized municipalities like ours to bond for the liability and to do so exempted from voter approval. So, selling bonds is how we borrow money.
And that remained in effect until October 2009. I'll probably mention it again later, but one of the questions that we get asked often is given the current circumstance, why doesn't the district just issue bonds and form another trust? The law that gave us the
authority to do that uh expired or the authority to do that under that law expired. So, we couldn't do that right now in the same way even if we wanted to. Many districts took advantage of this. Uh we had to do a number of things. We had to have these actuarial liabilities
done. We had to sunset retirey health provisions. Uh in our school district when we had this initial actuarial liability determined it was um over 58 million. You can see 18 years ago we
established an irrevocable trust and there were two types of trust, revocable and irrevocable. And that just changed what kind of what could happen at the end of the trust or if there was funding left in the trust, what could happen there. Um, in terms of board action,
the school district at the time issued $35 million in bonds. So, it borrowed $35 million essentially to fund the trust in May. That's when our school board and school district um took advantage of this law. So again,
significant and and this is really what plays out in our situation now in a way that's challenging is that uh we did not issue the full $58 million in bonds
and we began sunset sunsetting retirey health benefits and contracts back then and have made I think progress on on all fronts here. Um maybe with one or two exceptions. How how long did it take us to complete the sunset?
>> I'm not sure. I think we just I mean we've I know even in my time here I feel like we've gotten one out, one more out. So it's still it's been a lengthy process. Casey, do you have anything to add to that? Like
how long it took to retire? How do trusts like this work? I uh I don't know if I'm a visual learner, but things like this help me. So, uh and this helped uh some others when I explained it this way. When when these trusts are established, essentially we
establish a trust which is a a bucket doesn't have anything money anything in it until money gets put there. Uh it just it just creates a vehicle. The district sells bonds or borrows money to fund the trust. And so I purposefully made this trust half full
because that's about how much money we put into it. a little bit more than half, but uh that trust earns interest because it's the uh there's money sitting in an account. Um and then we pay OPED costs out of that
trust. So that 4 million or 5 million or whatever our actual costs were that year, the trust is paying those costs. But, and this is the part I think that people don't remember is that in step two, we borrowed money to fund this
trust and we have to pay that back. So, we also have to levy to make those annual bond payments. One of the benefits of selling bonds and funding a trust like this is you can structure
your debt and make predictable payments. the if you were an entity that went pay as you go, that could go up and down every year depending on um what your retirey costs were that year. And when you're talking about four or five
million, even a five to 8% variability is a lot of money. So that one of the advantages is to be able to structure your debt and have consistent payments. So that's what happens when you fund a trust like this.
One of the questions that we get asked was, "Well, didn't our trust earn any interest?" Well, our trust has paid out about $52 million in health premiums since its inception. And if you think about the fact that we sold $35 million in bonds, clearly there was a bunch of
interest that was earned and um because we paid out much more than the amount that we sold. >> That's about where the liability was at that time. >> Pretty close. Pretty close. >> Yeah. So if nothing would have changed, it our situation probably would have
been much better. Yeah. I mentioned before that we earned interest on the trust. We also paid interest on money they borrow uh like we would expect. We funded 53% of the estimated liability. Um and the trust will be
depleted in the next one to three months. We talked about this previously last spring. We said 6 to 8 months. We're still kind of in that spot. Um it's unique because when we're, you know, or when Cara's working through funding, um because our general fund
plays into this, um it can there can be a little bit of variability there, but um our trust will be depleted in the next one to three months. Why is our trust running out? That was a question that came up quite often. Uh I would say that the number one reason is
that was it was never fully funded from the start. and was set up with approximately 53% of the estimated liability in it. Some other factors, health insurance costs have increased at a rate not predicted by anyone and much faster than
interest earnings. And I have a chart here that will illustrate that. So this takes a look at July 1, 2007, July 111, July 115, July 1, 2020, July 1 or 6:30
2025. Okay. So, um, you can see here what premiums look like 18 years ago. We're under 65, single was 399, family 985, over 65 single 208, family 527. Fast forward to
now, that under 65 single is almost 1,200. That under 65 family is almost 3,000. 615 and 1561 for the over 65. That's an increase of almost 200%.
So that's a that's a obviously a huge huge increase in healthcare costs um outpacing estimates. These represent trends. I'm not sure why in the chart that we got they ended up
flipping around but um 5 to 10% 5 to 9% 5 to 7.2 to and ours were um obviously running higher than that. You can see at the bottom our actual our actuarial liability. There's that 586 at
the very beginning in 2007. Four years later, it's almost 100 million, 122 million, 125 million, 126 million. And that is while we've been paying and while people
have been retiring, we've been adding people into the pool. Some people have been coming off. Um, but that's also a huge factor in this the scale to which our liabilities gone up. That's increased by
115%. >> When when we did the bonds, we did the bonds in 2009. >> Yeah. How how many years was the payback on those or you know are those still when how when did the taxpayers quit seeing
it on their tax? We don't >> so so they sunset it at the same time we're broke on it too, right? We got double whammy on it. >> Not Yeah, but Okay. Well, and and really it's it's good that
they did. Otherwise, we'd be double paying exactly. Yeah, that I mean I mean it's >> good it's not stretching out because now we'd be paying for something we don't even have that money that's gone. >> That's right. That's exactly right. Yep. Y >> at least
>> Yeah, that's exactly right. >> At least we're paying till it was completely depreciated, right? Yes. A >> car that you paid for and it's dead when you're got we don't Yeah, we're not in that spot. That's a good thing. >> Matt, can you go back a slide? >> Do we have any sort of projections for
the future for our liability? >> Um I'm not aware of any. Are you >> sure? >> Right. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Thanks. >> I I don't remember the number. I know
that we we determined it at one point the number of employ current employees that are eligible for uh retirey under their contracts, but I can't remember. >> Okay, that was going to be okay. That was going to be the number that but I didn't want to say. So about 70 people
are still waiting to get into our retirey pool >> which will then increase this. >> Yep. Which will increase this. Yep. >> Yeah. So the number of retirees is higher than estimated. Uh you can see this change over time too over almost
100 more than back in 2008 and again with 70 70 more uh able to go on. People are living longer and you know the I we got some push back on this item uh during during one of our meetings.
The reality is it's true. Even if it's a small factor, when you're talking about numbers that are, you know, eight digits or 10 digits or nine digits, um, even a small percentage can affect a a eight
digit or nine-digit number a lot. And then the original estimates had retirees paying a higher percentage of the obligation than what has played out. So, uh, back to what happens now. We've been paying for these bonds. We've been
funding the payment with the trust. We have to shift to a pay as you go model. Again, other school districts uh, and municipalities did that right out of the gate. Uh, that was a choice that municipalities had. And so, we'll be levying for actual annual costs of the
benefits every year rather than levying for the payment. So, I know that the I've heard some conversation about, well, the district can still levy for it. Yep, we absolutely can. We absolutely will. Previously, we were levying for payments on the bond that funded the trust. Now, we'll be levying
for the actual annual cost to the benefits, >> but but we're always a year behind. Correct. >> That's right. >> So, as that differential increases, we're always a year behind and losing >> future value present value of money on it, too, you know. So
>> as that number increases over time, our our levy will need to increase uh corresponding to that. So since we can only levy to recover the cost, we need to pay the costs upfront from our general fund. So getting into the pay as you go model isn't simple as
just starting. We have to pay first and then levy to pay ourselves back essentially. And so that's what Caris talked about previously about up upfront costs from our general fund, which again is why it's crucial that we
had a fund balance to do this with. If we were sitting like we were, you know, four or five years ago with a fund balance that was 1.8% uh we would be in the red. We would be in sod because we wouldn't have enough money to
pay for this upfront. Because of the way our current debt is structured, there will be a large tax increase when we move to pay as you go, which makes sense >> and and theoretically every year after. >> And theoretically every year >> because we're not even near the peak at
this point. If we've got what did you say 20 or was it was >> how many people? 70. >> Yeah, >> 70 people yet. So we're not we could be 10 years from the peak here or >> maybe more, >> right? >> 10 to 20,
>> right? >> Yeah. So doing nothing really is a bad um you know it not only affects us, it affects our community, affects our taxpayers. >> I mentioned this earlier. It's a question we often get. Why don't we just do this again? We can't. Uh second, even
if it was legal, uh the interest we'd pay on bonds would be less than the interest we'd earn. So that financially it wouldn't be a a wise move either. When we've talked about this and when we went through this with retirees, we talked about the importance of
maintaining or approving retirey benefits. We have some obligations that we legally have to meet. Um but to Tom's point, really the only way that we can uh change this curve is to reduce our liability somehow. Another
goal is to reduce community tax impact and district costs and also reduce volatility. Volatility is not good for us. Volatility is not good for our community. Volatility is not good for our retirees. We uh have spent some time looking at different options. One is defined
contributions whether that's to a plan whether that's to a deductible. We also um and have spent we've spent the most time uh after looking at options looking at fully insured Medicare plans.
These plans are uh in place for those individuals or would be in place for those individuals for whom Medicare is primary. That's that under 65 group is just a different group. And so coming up with a way to really change their
situation is more complicated. The reason this works is there's Medicare supplement funding that's available to offset the costs. Uh we're currently not taking advantage of that. Currently, our high dollar insurance plan is being used
as a Medicare supplement plan for um our 65 and older um retirees. The current actuarial valuation is less out of pocket for our retirees again because of the supplements that are
available through the Medicare program. It would significantly reduce uh the district's liability which in turn reduces the taxpayer uh liability as well. And I don't I'm hesitating to to throw a
number out here because we're still working through we just got new quotes um I think from I think last week. So I'm hesitant to throw a number out here but it's significant. Last thing I just wanted to share is to give an update on planning. In January
through May we uh went through this with the board for uh and explored options. Uh we met with the fringe committee in May. We met with retirees uh in this room on May 29th. I think we had 75 people here which was great. We've been
working to get quotes and bids. Uh one of the things we heard from the group on May 29th is they really wanted us to get a quote from Health Partners because that's the provider that they're used to. And so it took quite a while for us
to get that quote from them. Um, but we do have finalized bids now from both Blue Cross and Health Partners. On Thursday this week, we're meeting with a a subcommittee. We asked people on the 29th, they're interested in um
being part of the subcommittee uh to join us. And so on the 4th, we're going to meet with that group and review plans and options. So, George, uh, some of you familiar with him from One Digital, he's our insurance consultant. We'll be going over those plans. He's not affiliated, I
know that that comes up sometimes. He's not affiliated with either of these providers. Uh, it's not his job. His job is to advocate on the district's behalf, give us the best deal, and uh, present that. So, that's what we'll be doing on Thursday, just to bring that to that
group. And then we have a special meeting of the fringe benefit committee on the 18th. ultimately um they have an important role of evaluating this. they represent their uh membership and so we want to hear from them and then on the
30th we've scheduled a special workshop to consider options moving forward if we're at a place where um we're able to move forward. Uh we would want to do so in October
because open enrollment for Medicare uh and those affiliated plans is in November. So uh if we are able to or want to or can move forward in November during that open enrollment plan timeline, we have to uh do this lift
here um over the next month early in October, make a decision so that people are able to plan, shop, do those things. But there's still some work to do um still some language to work through and um there's a path forward here. It's not
perfectly clear yet. Um, but this is where we're at in the process. And again, in the next two weeks, we should have more information. By the 30th for sure, um, the goal is to have something in front of you um, to discuss,
talk through, answer questions so that you're able, if we're in that position, to make a decision in early October. >> What would it take to make this change? Is it just board action or is there else that needs to happen with the committee or the retirees.
>> Provided the um provided what we're proposing meets our legal obligations, it would be an action of the board. Okay, >> Mr. Super, I think I know the answer to this, but uh we've gotten quotes from Blue Cross and Health Partners. Are there other players out there that we
should have heard from? Um, I don't know that there are there any I'm not sure that there's anybody else in this Medicare supplement space. Okay. >> Um, so no, just those two at this point. And even with those two, and I I won't
go into details, but even within those two, there's a there's quite a bit of difference in terms of cost between these two. So, I don't know that it's a real crowded >> Okay. >> space. Thank you. So right right now we've I believe we
have to by state law we have to go out every two years. Is that right? And recquote our insurance. Would that would these OPED benefits also fall under that? If we were to make a change in a supplement where you've got to
continuously re get it reququed, >> would they fall under that statute for lack of a better term? I don't know the answer to that. I don't know if that applies to active employees only or retirees also. That'd be something we need to find out. It's a good question, Tom.
>> Okay. And then, you know, our current insurance is we we really have a we're selfinsured, right? >> Correct. And then we cover a gap or a high >> That's right. >> high. Is there any options in
almost a hybrid form of that for for these OPED benefits in some way? >> So, both of these both of these represent fully insured supplement plans. Um, so it would be that group would be moving out of our pool.
>> Okay. So they they'd come out of our pool on our self-insure for our quote, >> which I mean I don't want to sound wrong, but that's our higher risk. Obviously, it's going to be our elderly, so it should help us from that standpoint also potentially on side or
>> it's it's it's complicated and nuanced because that group also has Medicare as a primary. So their their health care costs while maybe overall might seem like they'd be more because they're offset by Medicare, it doesn't play out
super clean that way. >> Yeah. Does that Does that sound right? I never thought I would end up learning as much about insurance as I've had to as a superintendent. I can tell you that. Not that I know everything or even
a lot. just know what I've needed to know. >> Which uh which insurance agency do we use currently? Is it Blue Cross or >> um our activives are all with health partners and have been for quite some time? Uh we had been with Blue Cross
years and years ago. Um but have been with health partners for quite some time. Blue Cross has bid our uh has bid this business. Like Tom said, every two years according to the Health Insurance Transparency Act, we have to go out for bids every two years. Blue Cross has bid
our bid our work bid the plans um I don't know probably every year among others. >> Superintendent gazing into the uh crystal ball. Uh there's a lot of
changes uh in Medicare. Yeah. >> Uh happening at the federal level. Uh do we have any indication that that might wrinkle our plans? >> Yeah, I think that's, you know, that's a big question. Uh some of our retirees had that question.
Um, entitlement programs, uh, entitlement programs haven't been a popular target of either political party because I think they
know that winning an election when winning an election on that kind of campaign idea is not likely. So even the current um presidential administration during their campaign
expressed no interest in changing entitlement programs. >> Okay. >> So I I'm that that is that's the that's not a crystal ball. That's only knowing what I know up till today. >> Yeah. um you know, economists that look
at our budget deficit, um some will say the only way you could really eliminate that is through these programs, but um I'm not an economist either, but I know that that's popular opinion. >> Thank you.
It would take incredible political will to >> make that big of a change. That's all I have, Mr. Chair. >> Okay. Uh, Julie, we're going to close the workshop. Are you set? All
set. Okay. Workshop is closed. We'll reopen the board meeting in a minute or two. [Music] Okay, we'll call the board meeting to to order. Please stand
for the pledge. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
First item on the agenda is to welcome our new student board representatives. Um, and you get a chance to hear from them uh toward the end of the meeting, but uh Erin McMullen and Eva Razinski. Welcome and uh you know, thank you for
being a part of this. Next item on the agenda is an approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Moved by Dave. Second. >> Second. >> Second by Ashley. Discussion. >> Hearing none. All in favor say I.
>> I. >> Opposed. The agenda is approved. Next item on the agenda is principal's report on the first day of school. And I'll let you guys kind of sort out uh what order you're going to take. Paper,
scissors. >> Thank you, Chair Sher, board members, Superintendent Gross, student reps. I'm excited to uh be up here on behalf of the Grand Rapids High School. Um our first day of school looks a bit different than from some of the other
sites. Um today we welcome back our our new or um our new students and uh particularly our freshman class. Our freshman class this year um and consists of 266 total students. Um we're a bit down from last year's graduating class.
Our graduating class last year was quite large, 319 seniors. So we did have um quite a difference between outgoing and incoming. Um we had 55 new um students enroll into district 318 at the high
school um over the summer and and and most recently in these past couple of weeks. Um we do have um 47 students leaving our district. So we did have a net gain there. Um we have three foreign exchange students um one from Germany, one from Belgium, and one from Brazil um
starting this fall. So very excited about that. our freshman orientation and our new student day um consists of about 50 student ambassadors in the upper grades that come back and uh really takes a village to uh shepherd our our
incoming um freshmen and our new students. But it's a really exciting day. We get a chance to get our students together um for a general assembly, get the freshman out to the football field, Noble Hall Field, and uh take a great team photo while learning the school
song. to build that school spirit. Um, a lot of activities throughout the day, including an activities fairs where students get to know some of the, uh, the clubs and activities outside of our athletics programs. Um, we're able to,
um, do some screening, uh, meet some of our support staff, and end the day with a mini schedule. So, it is a it's a great start for our freshmen. we have uh we've been doing this for for many years and uh it's it's successful in terms of
getting our students acclimated um and excited about coming back to school tomorrow. So tomorrow we welcome the rest of our upper classmen. Um look forward to seeing you both there tomorrow and uh it should be a great day. So any questions?
All right. Thank you so much for your support. Good evening. Um, I'm Ken Dafren, principal at Big Fork. I'm here to give the Big Fork report. Um, as you all know, we're uh with the K12 campus in the district. So, I get to see everybody from kindergarteners all the way through
seniors. And, um, and we had a really good start. And I say it every year. I think it it there's a lot of planning that goes into a smooth start and the calendar turns to August and teachers start finding their way into the building and custodians are
doing summer projects and they're always sure to get the the building ready to roll for the first day. Um we had some new teachers um three new teachers in the building this year. Um all pretty new to teaching. You know, some a little bit of experience behind them but but
not a ton. and uh I got an opportunity to check in on them today as we had all of our students back. Um you know, some kindergarten students, we do a tiered start for kindergarten, but first through 12 uh were all there. Got to check in with those new staff members and um they still had smiles on their
face at the end of the day, so that was good. Um it was nice to see our staff um making themselves visible in the commons right away this morning. And then again at the end of the day, you know, as the buses were leaving, there were people in the commons. They're smiling. um got the
first day under their belt. Our our first day schedule runs a little bit differently, so we can get a lot done. Um I get the opportunity to meet with all of the 7th through 12th grade at once and we go through a few reminders and a welcome back and then I do the same with our elementary students about
a half an hour later. And the day the day flowed very well. Um a lot of work from from teachers, from our leadership team. Um, sometimes things go well, but it feels sometimes it can feel flat or
some sometimes it feels super energetic. Most of the time, first day of school, it was a pretty good vibe. Today was not um an exception to that. Great vibe. I had a staff member ask me at the end of the day, "How did things feel to you today?" I said, "They felt really good to me. How about you?" And um and she
said the same. Um students were excited to be there. um even had high school students tell me that they were excited to be back and that's always nice. We have two foreign exchange students um in the building as well and I got a a couple of opportunities to check in with
them and um and they were doing well and and a few other new students and it was nice to see them finding their way around um getting help with their locker um pretty soon they're helping somebody else with their locker those kinds of things. So just to see that vibe back and forth was was really good. Uh we
also have a new head volleyball coach and a new head football coach this fall and um those seasons are off to a great start. Uh their numbers are looking solid and I got a chance to talk to both of those coaches today and and wish them well. Sounds like things have been going
well the last week or so with them. So um you know it was a great day overall. Had good feeling from uh from staff last week in the in the workshop days. Uh uh board member Gustin and Superintendent Gross were at the open house last week and made their way
through the building a little bit before our big fork advisory meeting and that was appreciated to see them um interacting with staff and getting a feel for things as well. So things things are off to a good start. Any questions?
>> Thanks everyone. Thank you. >> Hi everybody. Good evening. Uh my name is Ryan Sigley. I'm the principal at Cohasset Elementary and I am representing the elementary schools uh this evening. Um I I remember standing here last year about the same time and and talking about all the new all the
change that was happening. So many teachers moving from one building to another, kids moving from one building to another. And I'm happy to report that we don't have as much new happening um this year. Obviously, we do have new and there's there's lots to to learn along
the way. Um, but I think, you know, talking about each one of our three elementaryaries kind of in town here at Cohass at East and West, um, things felt a little more routined probably this year than it did uh, last year at this time. Um, there's a few few things that
really stood out to me today. Um, for our kids, our students, routines, smiles, and belonging. I mean, that's really that's really the the key to this first week in our elementary schools, building routines. It's practicing, it's modeling, it's reteing, it's practicing
again, getting kids acclimated back to doing school. Uh, I saw a lot of smiles today. Kids greeting each other, seeing each other they haven't seen people for the whole summer, whether it's a friend or or a staff member. Um, and that led me into the the thinking of one of our
strategic directions of belonging and uh there was a lot of kids that that I could tell uh felt like they were at home today and that was a big deal and that's what we want. Our staff has been working incredibly hard. Uh last week was really the first official week back
and as Mr. Doster alluded to uh for a lot of people it it wasn't the first week back. It was just our official first week back. And um going into classrooms, I think you'd you'd be amazed at the amount of work that
happens um prior to those kids coming. And um teachers take a lot of pride in having things ready to go when those families come for open house. And uh and I that this year it wasn't wasn't any different. Um, growth was another thing
that I I've noticed with our our staff. Uh, there's some been some work that's been happening kind of in the background with staff getting ready for the year trying to achieve some of the goals that we've set out uh for the year in trainings that have helped them do that.
Um, staff meetings last week that that got us uh queued up and ready to go. And the last word that I thought of with our staff was enthusiasm. Uh people were fired up and ready. Uh we've been there's been several conversations of of not a lot of sleep the last few nights
of people being anxious and anticipating and I have a feeling we're going to have a lot of staff members sleeping well tonight because they put in a a good hard day of work. And then our families. Uh one of the things that stood out to me today uh was welcoming some of our
kindergarten students and their families to our school at Cohasset. Um, and and I just think about how they entrust us with their kids and what a big deal that is. And you watch those those five-year-olds walk off with their
kindergarten teacher for the very first time and and the families stay there and they watch their kid uh walk away and it can get to be kind of an emotional time for them because it's a big change in the lives of those kids. Uh, and so it's just for me it was a reminder. It was
kind of a goosebumps moment of um just how important our partnerships are with our families and uh and we really we really value um them and we also uh want them to understand how much we care about them and their kids and so um
we've got a lot of work to do this year and uh I think we started on the on the right note. So any questions? >> Thank you. >> Thanks Ryan. Good evening and thank you for the chance to share.
Um I want to start out with the heavy lift it takes to open these buildings and the incredible amount of effort it takes. You know whether it's instructional staff, custodial staff, our paras. Um we'll talk about the parking lot in a minute because that seems to be the hot topic. But again, I
just want to go back to how many people it takes to get that building opened up. And it was an amazing start um with the parking lot to start and with the parking lot to close. But what happened in the hallways was incredible. As you know, we we have a new class called
agricultural sciences and a lot of talk about that in the seventh grade. And it's not like a new position. It's a position that morphed from a previous position. And we're really excited about that. And there's a lot of energy around that. and some parents who went in there last week during open house were just like, you know, with all the reductions
and cuts we've had over the last how many years, this was really nice to see. And then again, it's not a new position, it's just a different position. So, again, thanks to the RGM's team for everything. Uh, parking lot improvements. I just want to say thank you to an Campbell, um, Safe Routes to
School, Matt Gross, the superintendent, and the board for supporting this. Um, when you look at going back with the consultant Joe Palava and how far back this went to see it unfurl and it didn't always seem that way. Couple weeks ago we had sixth grade band camp. We
received some phone calls that were like, "Adams, this isn't working." And I'm just like, "Oh my god, you know, I mean, we just we haven't even started school yet." And it was sixth grade band camp. It that's not a lot. Today was amazing and messaging and everything. It it it went out very positive and I would
say it far exceeded expectations. I'm going to read a very short email that would make every one of you feel good because it's addressed to all of you pretty much. Good morning. I just wanted to send a quick note of thanks. As a parent who dropped off a sixth grader this morning and I also dropped off a
sixth grader four years ago, the experience was above and beyond safer and more organized than it had been in the past. As a parent, I am appreciative of a school district that prioritizes student safety. It was a relief this morning not to worry about my daughter's
walk from the car to the entrance of the school. Wishing you a wonderful school year. That just says a ton because the messaging that came from Matt that came from all of us was this is not a convenient thing. This is a safety thing. And it was amazing. Matt was
there at the end of the day. At the beginning of the day, he got to see it. Um Ashley as the board rep was at our building today and we talked about it a lot and it was it was spectacular. Um I I don't know how to put it any other way. It went very well. I wanted to
share a few things because as the summer went on and Darren talked about it a little bit at the high school too. Numbers came in pretty good today. So our enrollment as of today we had 285 kids roughly. I always say is because if I say 284 someone's going to correct me
and say well it was 286. Um, so 285ish, 7th grade was 310 and eighth grade was 290. And and it it looked different earlier in the summer because there's a lot of jsing that goes around. But when it comes down to it, we have a really
good system and some parents, you know, it's like they want to see more programming or more opportunities for kids. Well, if that's the case, they're going to put them in Grand Rapids. And that's what we saw. So our numbers came in pretty good. We feel good about that. Overall, it's 880ish and uh it was a great start at the
middle school. Any questions? >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Thank you for allowing us the chance to speak. Uh Andy Forbort, assistant principal, Grand Rapids High School. uh formerly the ALC principal but now serving as a 612 Graava or Grand
Rapids area virtual academy principal. So we also kicked off the school year today. I'm excited to say that numbers were looking okay over summer, but now we're sitting at 45 students K12 um 40 of which are 612. Um there's been some hiccups, there's been some issues and uh
kind of the two words that I've been emphasizing with families is patience and grace and they've responded really well. Um, today we had to email 11 families because their students aren't in the system to be able to sign up classes right now. We're having some issues with technology that people are
working through behind the scenes and u parents and families are being patient. So, we're going to get there. Uh, we're going to learn a lot this year. Um, not my personality, not have all the answers, to not know what I don't know, but that's kind of the attitude that we're all taking with this is we're going to learn a lot along the way. Um,
very fortunate to have Mr. gross part of the conversations. Anna Lloyd, uh, Zack Ericson, um, just people involved right away just saying, "This is here. We're doing it. Let's go. And now let's make sure we do it right." Uh, Mr. Hoffstead has been very graceful with me. He'd come to me this summer like, "Hey, can
you?" He goes, "Never mind. You can tell you're in Graava." Um, and so we're just kind of balancing that as well. But excited. Um, we'll get there. And, uh, it's going to be an awesome opportunity. Um, I'm excited to say that I think we have two students um from our building
that we had in person last year that are now converted. Everybody else is families and students that we've recaptured um back to our our district, our program. Um, a lot of it for their eligibility to be in activities and athletics. A lot of them excited just to be part of the district still and then
ultimately graduate with us. Families are very very thankful for the district providing the opportunity. So, questions. Graa, >> I did have a couple. Um um now this being asynchronous,
everybody was starting today though. Correct. >> Classes began today. So whether they started at 7:00 in the morning or they're doing them at 5 at night, >> now on they can just kind of Yeah. >> So from now until the end of our semester, they can complete the coursework.
>> Okay. Okay. And did I hear right? We were sitting at 45. We had 46 through 12. Correct. Right. So we had five >> five elementary. Do you have a kind of a breakdown of how young did we go? They are
>> for elementary. I want to say there's a kindergartener, a third, fourth, fifth, like one mile at every grade. >> Yeah. So we're >> and we're half and half 68 to 912. >> Okay. >> So >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. You're welcome. Other questions?
>> Just real quick, um I don't know if this was anything that had been discussed um yet, but with the students with Grava, are they going to have an opportunity to um be involved in any kind of social um activities as far as maybe getting
together um at any point in time to to be outside of that online system? I know at the elementary level Clayton Linder has talked about creating some of those social opportunities just so kids can have a chance to connect. Um for our
high school kids I think them being able to join activities and sports um most of them are so they are getting some of that social acclamation. >> So high school students will still be able to like if they wanted to go to the dance or something. Correct. >> Yep. They're still eligible come to all our activities just like homechool
students could do already. So yeah that's why we're recapturing a lot of students from Minnesota Virtual Academy, Minnesota Connections Academy. They're like, "Oh, we can come to the district and be part of it." Yeah, that's nobrainer. So, yeah, it's been a good selling point. And we also have a handful of students that are doing a class in person. Middle
school has a couple kids in band that come every day for band. High school, we have students in uh welding class. So, experiences, they couldn't get online. They can give them in person for one hour a day. >> So, sorry that prompted a question. Um, now
they can identify as either attending Big Fork or or Grand Rapids. Is that correct? Through this or or actually through diploma or >> Go ahead. I'm sorry. >> Yep. So, we're put implementing our same graduation standards. I just brought Mr.
Doster two iPads for two Big Fork students that have joined recently. >> Okay. >> Um, so we're taking care of them and then the family can ultimately decide, yeah, we're graduating from Big Fork or we're graduating from Grand Rapids. >> Okay. So, so we do have some identified from choosing Big Fork. It sounds like
>> we have students that were attending Big Fork and then maybe they're currently online with a different program that are coming back to us. Okay. >> And then maybe we have a student that was at Big Fork that now is going online. >> Okay. And then when you talk about the invitations extended for things that
whatever school it is, that's what they would get invited to. Is that correct? >> Correct. >> Okay. Yep. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Thanks, Andy. >> All right. Thank you all. >> All right. Move that down. Um, my name is Anna
Lloyd. I am here representing the area learning center today as their principal. Um, our first day looks a little bit different. We know certain groups in our system need a little extra care. So much like kindergarten, much like the freshman, we do a bit of a soft
start at ALC, um we bring kids in in small groups and um we give them an orientation, walk them through the program, what to expect, and we also work on a personalized learning plan. So, we really sit down with them, their
parents, whoever is with them. Sometimes that's a social worker, sometimes that's a probation officer. Um, but we sit down with them, we review their credits, and we make a personalized path to graduation. Um, and this is a really important start for this, um, for this
group of kids. It really gets the tone set that they're going to get the one-on-one attention that they need and, um, find their footing and find a clear path forward. And really, you know, our intention is just to give them hope for their future even though they may have some barriers that have impacted their
path in the past. Um, so on top of that, we also really take time to listen to the families during this time. We ask questions, we engage, we want to know um, our kids' circumstances on a deeper level. And that helps us really address the unique needs that some of our
students come in with. So some of those might be housing instability, food insecurity, um, credit deficiency. Some are providing care to siblings um or providing for the household and need to work extra jobs or more jobs than we would expect for a high school student.
Um some have some issues or past run-ins with the just the justice system that we need to work through. So once we can identify those needs, we can get them connected to the support within our system that they need, whether that's mental health, access to our student support specialist. Um, and also really
looking at how do we wrap care with the outside agencies that might be involved with them as well. Um, so that's kind of what we're doing this week is really just um getting to know our kids and getting those relationships and services established right away. Um our next
steps over the next couple weeks um are going to be really ensuring that students get started on their full week next week and um that we really build on those relationships and create an environment that's supportive and really engaging for these kids and hoping to
pull them back into the fold um and make school a place where they feel like they belong and like they can be successful. Um, a key part of this plan is we're going to start benchmark testing at our area learning center. This hasn't been something that we've done in the past and there's been a lot of barriers to
it. Um, all the way from how students get enrolled in the area learning center. Um, but I think we've overcome all those hurdles and we're going to benchmark test starting on September 15th and that's going to really help us prov. um we want to be sure that not only, you
know, are we providing support and care for all the factors outside of school, but they're also getting their unique learning needs attended to as well. Um so based on those that benchmark data, we can set up the system to ensure students get the interventions that they
need. Um so again, we just want our students to really leave this week feeling like our focus is on them as an individual and whole child, whole student. Um and we look forward to um to starting and raring to go next week. Um
I also I feel like just because I'm up here I have to speak on behalf of special ed too. So, I'm also the special services director and um you know, I just want to say our staff as a we ended the school year last year on a Friday
and I had six or seven staff in the administration building working on new projects for the upcoming year the following Monday. So, I mean just if that speaks to the dedication of the staff. I mean, I didn't have a lull in the summer. They
were calling. They were trying to figure things out for their students. They were working hard to um I had so many people just say to me, "I just want to be better for my students next year. They need this from me. So, I'm gonna figure that piece out." Um and Ashley got a little glimpse behind the curtain this
year at ESY. What it takes to pull off a school year um for over 900 individualized learning plans. But um but just so you know we have you know so many people to thank from the teachers to the ESPs to the principles that have
supported so much of that planning. Also Darren Churnney um the transportation department Greg I mean those two are probably sick of me. Same with technology if if they get one more call from me going but what if we did this? And I know we've never done it before
but what if? Um I think they're they're all very patient and very willing to jump in and help out and ensure that all of our students get their needs met. So um so it's been a great start on both fronts. So thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anna, how many students do we have uh uh
with ALC? >> With ALC, we start with approximately a hundred slots. So those are full-time slots. Now depending on a student's need, they can be split in half um or split partially. and we can kind of get two students into one slot depending on
what they're coming in with and how many credits they need to progress towards graduation. Now, as kids graduate, um you'll see that ALC number look different as the year goes on because as you know, right, >> it's kind of always a little bit in flux, but as kids graduate, it'll go up
over the course of the year. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Any other questions? >> Um and uh our ALC students don't I don't know how to say it. They they aren't graduating at the end of a normal
school year. They can graduate at any point in time. >> Yep. It's a rolling >> school year, right? >> Rolling start and rolling graduation. So, we have kids kind of coming and finishing at all times. Um, which is really exciting and fun. And also another thing to note is that we take
kids from all of the area schools. So, um, and that includes like our IASK7 district group, but also outside of that, we've had kids from Hibbing, we've had kids from Cook, we've had kids kind of from all over. Um, and they can graduate from their home district. So,
we still get them. We're generating the revenue uh for them under the umbrella. They're cons they're our student um, but they can graduate from their home district. Any other questions? Okay,
>> thank you. >> Next item on the agenda is to approve the minutes of the 82525 regular school board meeting. Do I have a motion? >> Moved. >> Moved by Ashley. Second. Second. Second by David. Discussion.
Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Minutes are approved. Next item on the agenda is a consent agenda and reminder that these are routine items that do not require discussion. Do I have a motion to
approve the consent agenda? >> So move David. >> Moved by David. Second. >> Second. >> Second by Ashley. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Consent agenda is approved.
Next item on the agenda, Casey. Approve permission to post part-time Indian Ed cultural advocate. >> Good evening board. Before you you have a request to post a part-time Indian ed cultural advocate. Big Fork has not had
um an advocate up there for about three years. So there has been some additional money left in state and federal over the years and we're hoping to use that up with this position. They currently have between 15 and 20 students up there that
are um American Indian Ed. I'm requesting permission to post. It would be a three-day per week position in Big Fork. Do >> I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Moved by Ashley. A second. >> Second, David. >> Second by David. Discussion
hearing. None. All in favor say I. >> Opposed. Permission to post is approved. Next item on the agenda, information only band booster uniform and equipment lease agreement. Cara,
>> good evening. Um, I apologize. I didn't realize I was speaking. Um, I just wanted you to have the thank you from the community foundation. Um, in 2019, the district renewed a an agreement with
the band boosters and we contribute $13,000 to the community foundation for equipment for the band and um uniforms for the band. So, we received the thank you note and I wanted to pass it on to you.
>> Thank you. Next item on the agenda, Superintendent Gross, approve the second reading, policy 403. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, in your packet, you have policy 403. As I referenced last time, this policy has
some clarification around what distinguishes administrative action from the disciplinary action. We added some consistency in language so it's clear uh in practice and the language in our policy is uniform. We
clarified a process that we will use uh in a traditional or a typical situation moving from one action to the next but also retaining the ability to implement the action that administration
deems necessary. and we added a section in there uh regarding an employes request to remove a letter from their file. That's a question that we've gotten in the past. As I said before, a lot of work went into this
policy uh including review by employees and I would recommend imp uh and it comes with the recommendation of the policy review committee. I'd recommend approval. >> Do I have a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Moved by Ashley. Second.
>> Second. Second by Dave. Discussion hearing. None. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. Policy 403 is approved. >> Next item on the agenda accept second reading approve policy 412.
>> This policy also comes with the recommendation of the policy review committee. Uh as I mentioned last time, it updates our expense reimbursement based on our research. we hadn't made an adjustment in 17 years. And so it's
definitely uh due. We've established that reimbursement based on the United States General Service Administration's um meal and expense standard rates. So now we have a standard by which we can defer back to in our policy. I'd
recommend approval. >> Do I have a motion to approve? >> So moved by Dave. Second. Second, David. Second by David. Discussion hearing. None. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed.
Policy 412 is approved. Next item on the agenda. Accept second reading approve policy 534. Superintendent Gross. >> Again with the recommendation of the policy review committee. this policy uh
made some changes regarding second breakfast and lunch notification for delinquent balances and how the district's going to handle those and reorganized the policy to align more closely with how the uh MSBA model
policy is organized. I'd recommend approval. >> Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Moved by Ashley. A second. >> Second. >> Second by Dave. Discussion hearing. None. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed.
Policy 534 is approved. Next item on the agenda, board reports. Um Aaron and Evan, do you want to start off? >> Um so today the freshman start at school. They had their orientation and tour. They spent the afternoon going
through mock schedules, meeting their teachers, and finding their classrooms. They also learned how to get into their lockers, but usually the high schoolers don't use those. Um, there were upper classman student ambassadors as Mr. Hoff said talk about and they gave tours, helped answer questions to all the
students and kind of brought them around. They also had an activities fair in the gym and students got to see what new clubs and opportunities our high school has to offer. Um, we secured a date for fall homecoming. This is September 20th. It's kind of soon, but
we found a date that would make it easiest for all the students to go to. Um, this isn't the same week as homecoming week. That'll be still scheduled for October. Um, the most recent game for volleyball was against Marshall. They won and they have a game
um this Thursday against Denfeld. They also have an invitational tournament this weekend. Um, football's also had a successful season so far. where they won their first game last Friday against CL and they have a game upcoming against Baiji this Friday. They started this new
um kind of reward task where they do the champion belt and so they award it every practice mostly or game and it goes to a player who's just exceeded expectations whether that be like as a teammate with leadership or just their overall abilities in practice or the game.
Um then this Wednesday, Rapids Rising is hosting their community kickoff event. Um it's a member for or it's an event for all community members to celebrate the beginning of the school year and learn about their role in supporting youth alcohol and drug prevention.
Um then boys soccer had three games so far this season. They've won one and lost two. And then they're in Baiji today. Girls soccerers had a game with Two Harbors last Tuesday and then a game with Marshall last Thursday.
Girls tennis had a match here versus North Branch in Hermantown last Tuesday and then they're they have a match here on Thursday versus Marshall. Cross country had a meet last Thursday. Um and then they have a meet here this Thursday at Eagle Ridge. Um bands had a or
marching bands had a pretty eventful summer so far. Um we won best marching entry in the in tall timber days. Um we did fill the hill. Um and then the first workshop day we performed our show. Um
I'm blanking between the lines. Um and then a couple students spoke to the staff members about their experiences. And then our first competition is on Saturday down in Eden Prairie in East View. And then girls swimming has had a
successful start to the year. They've had two meets and most people have dropped time between the two of them. Um they won the first one and lost the second one. >> Thank you. Nice report, Ashley.
>> Uh it has been an eventful two weeks, if you will. Um the let's see, we just discussed what we went over in the policy review committee and that's been one of the only meetings that I've been available to go to because I'm prepping
myself. I was prepping myself to take on my new position through Americanore at uh our gyms building. Um I've also been able to be in the RJ's building to help teachers get prepared and ready to go as
well. um our PTSA provided um school supplies for our staff this year. So, it was a mixture of uh color-coded folders as our sixth grade unit is color coding their
language arts, science, math uh departments. And uh they have pencils on a subscription order through Amazon, I might add. So, they will never run out of sharpened pencils with decent erasers, hopefully for this whole entire
school year. Um, and then, uh, let's see. Today, I was able to, uh, be at the middle school for the first day and it, as we heard from Mr. Adams, was went pretty well, pretty smooth. Um, we had
I feel like that parking lot situation was a breeze, but now that we've made eye contact with it and are talking about it, we'll see how the rest of the week goes, but hopefully it stays that way. Um, we had our sixth grade new students in and as I had to remind some
of them um, in my older age now, I still have nightmares about not being able to get my locker open. So, you will be okay. We'll get you through it. Your teachers are very gracious in this point in time. So, um, that was the biggest stressor that we had for some of our kids was just getting under the lockers
and trying to move past those emotions and we're still learning and and we're giving all those kids grace. But beyond that, seventh and eighth graders were just kind of trucking along, doing their thing and we'll go back tomorrow and we'll do it all over again. >> Sounds good.
>> Uh, Erin and Ava, thank you. Uh, great reports, very much appreciated. Uh I joined uh Ashley and policy meeting uh as you heard policy reports out tonight. Uh Boys and Girls Club had a golf
fundraiser last week and raised several thousand dollars to support our Boys and Girls Club which is really critical uh especially for some of our younger students. Uh the endowment committee is uh facing some challenges. there's been
um withdrawal of some federal funding particularly for mileage on travel expenses. So some of our projects are kind of coming up short uh and that's a real challenge. Um, I had the opportunity to uh visit open
house at uh East and West Elementary and uh Mark and I had the opportunity uh to greet the the little ones at West Elementary today. What a great spirit. It's it's so exciting to see the energy
of our students >> uh the positive uh attitudes of our staff uh throughout. Uh it's really it's it's encouraging. It's great. This is the business that we're in. It's it's great to see students back in the building, but there's such great
positive energy. >> Thank you, Dave. >> All right. Uh last Tuesday, I attended the back to school kickoff for at Noble Hall Field uh and the Refe Center. Um I thought the marching band did marching band did a great job not only in
performing their show but in the wisdom shared by several student speakers. The focus from the band was that they work hard to make excellence normal and I think that resonated very well. Um, special recognition to those three student speakers, Ben Schroeder, Aaron McMullen, uh, and Malachi Casper, who
shared their personal perspectives on hard work and the great teachers who continue to make a positive impact in their lives. And then afterwards, I just wanted to say thank you to Superintendent Gross. Uh, he shared a welcome back message with staff that um, resonated very well with me and I hope with the rest of the staff. There was a
a lot of um um I'm not sure of the terms, but a lot of uh what's the study of rocks? >> Geology. >> Geology. Sorry. Um more than I ever thought I would hear that day. Um but it
was still fascinating. Uh last Thursday I attended the back to school open house at East Rapids. Uh, also lots of smiles and curiosity as the kids and parents came in to explore the school and it was great to interact with members of the community and our incredible staff. And then this morning I was back at East
Rapids welcoming the kids to their first day of school. Lots and lots of smiles and a great way to start the school year. One cool thing I wanted to mention is that the similarity of our elementary school buildings um was on on show. I
overheard a dad saying to his daughter, "Um, don't worry, honey. This school is laid out just like your old school was last year. And so that just breeds some familiarity and reduces some of this the scariness of going to third grade. So, uh, very cool experience this morning.
>> Thank you, Tom. >> So, um, last week we had the open house, um, up in Big Fork. uh was able to participate in that and walk around the classrooms and uh as I've heard a number of people mention it's uh it is uh it is
quite a experience for me and how personal those rooms are and and sometimes you kind of I peak my nose in and I wasn't quite sure if it was a classroom or if it was a another type of a space there for
something else. Um um but uh some people definitely put some time into that and and really appreciate that. Uh it there's none of that institutional feeling in that at all. Um we did have our advisory group meeting after that.
Um uh that ran well. It was well attended and very active group there. Um and and we ran uh a little later there than usual. Um, I was scheduled for that
first RAMs meeting. Um, did I've been receiving the the meeting invites now. So, thanks Julie for getting that that going. Um, I wasn't able to sit in on that first one because it was during the the Big Fork meeting, but I will be uh
able to go to the rest of those from then on. This morning, I was at the Cohasset School there as they started up. Uh again, same very similar experience to what everyone else said here. Uh teachers were really excited. A lot of lot of kids very excited to see
teachers, which is nice to see, right? They haven't seen them in a few months and and it it really is uh interesting how how much part of their lives they all are with each other for both sides, right? Um and and uh well I was late
walking in here right last minute because I was at my grandson's football game there. So the sports stuff starting and it's fun and it's exciting and I'm looking forward to all those types of things. So thank you. >> Thanks Tom. Um I guess I guess a couple
of the things I attended have been mentioned previously. Um David and I were at the West Elementary this morning and I did attend uh Dave and I were at the uh welcome back to the staff. It was really fun to watch the kindergarteners come in this morning. That's kind of a
highlight every year. Um other than that, I did participate in negotiations with uh one of our units and we're working at that. So with that, uh Superintendent Gross. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh it's uh it
really is a great time of year. Uh going back last week, um I appreciated our marching band, too. And it's something I've asked them to do the last a number of the last five years, and it's always fresh and always good and a good way to get things moving. And so I appreciate
their willingness to come in early. I know uh their practice is much usually much later in the day. Um but some of them said it was nice to get it out of the way, too. So, um, and, uh, the ability to just see all the staff back together or, the teachers back in the
room is always, uh, is always fun. Something that struck me during open houses and and then today and then I spoke about during that kickoff was, you know, these three words that we've been talking about and that are in our logo.
Um, that that middle one, readiness. And as I was in, you know, openhouse rooms last week and as I was in uh many schools today, the degree to which our staff were ready for kids was evident.
There the the kids walked into a room that they knew was ready for them. There were name name tags set up. There was cute stuff set out. They knew that their teachers had prepared for them to be there. and that brings a sense of stability for our students. And so I'm
really appreciative of that. I could feel it in their buildings. Um and just also how quickly our teachers were moving into um developing the routines that are really important for kids too. So just really really impressed and and proud of
that work. Um Tom mentioned the Big Fork school advisory committee. We spent uh quite a bit of time talking about the budget and that's been a question that they've had for some time and it was really good to work through questions with them.
Questions that have been up in the community. They did a great job sharing those and I think we were able to really process through a a number of uh conceptions, misconceptions uh and I think that'll help with communication there. So that was really
good. Um, the parking thing at our gyms has been brought up a lot and I don't know, you know, probably not too much because it was kind of a big deal. Uh, I do want to thank some people that were really helpful in that. ICTV as a partner coming in shooting that video
for us to demonstrate, you know, this is this is how this supposed to work. Um, our principles Dan and Ryan there, the communication and the, you know, kind of things behind the scenes to make that happen. Our pairs did a great job this morning uh with traffic and being, you
know, patient as people were working through this. And Campbell with all the hustle on that grant, she was out there this morning and this afternoon, too. Um, you know, she just she doesn't stop. She's like the Energizer Bunny. That might be something that people don't
know anymore either, Dan. I don't know. But, um, the city's been a great partner in the project. And so, I think that, uh, that's good. Um, our parents, uh, I just sent a follow-up message tonight to them. Uh, they did such a great job this morning
having patience, adjusting to new and, uh, things were like eerily good this morning. Um, like just the first time and things take longer because everybody wants to take a picture of their kid as they're going to to school like they should. But even
though there were delays with new uh things went really smooth and there are things we're going to fix and make better for sure. Uh and this afternoon, you know, waiting for the other shoe to drop maybe um it didn't there were some things again that that we'll tweak and
make sure we do better, but overall it was really positive. It was a huge change for people and uh I just am really pleased with how well our parents did making that adjustment. Schwarz did a great job on the project. They also came through huge with um making sure
those gates were complete. They donated those gates to us which was amazing and they got installed before today. So that was um really really cool. I I wasn't expecting that to happen and so big hats off to them. Um Woodset did a great job.
Our staff had to re you know some of them had to park in a different place. Um Melanie did a great job in communications too. So, a lot of people, I'm sure I'm leaving people out, but just a lot of people came together to make that project happen, to get the money to pay for it and then to see it
happen and then make things go. And again, um, it's not perfect. Um, it's better and we'll keep getting better. So, really, really good. Um, another group I want to just call out, our transportation group. They've been short staffed for the last month.
>> Um, short drivers, shorter router. They've been getting transportation requests up through last week. um working hard to get those set up and it's really tough because people, you know, don't always get those in in a timely way and then they want that
transportation to go into effect immediately and it just doesn't it's not that simple when you have 50ome routes and a lot to figure out and we had some staffing changes that occurred uh late. And so that team did a great job. And
you know, even this morning, uh, at the transfer island, there are a lot of kids that are switching buses. And some of those kids had never done that before. And they get off a bus, they're supposed to find another bus. And to see the care that our drivers were giving, to see the care
that our parents were giving, um, to make sure those kids got to the right place was really, really good. uh really really heartwarming and made me really really really proud. Uh I noticed, you know, in the buildings today just how clean and and put together they looked
and so hats off to custodians and a lot of work behind the scenes by our principles too. So just uh really good work by folks. Um our MCA data came out late last week and science is still behind. Uh it's not that's not
unexpected. Overall, our district was up based on what I saw 2% in reading and math. We saw pockets of improvement, pockets where we need more work. Uh, one thing that I think we can say with certainty is where we have high degree of implementation fidelity and a high
degree of ownership. We have we have uh significant result change, right? It's not it's not a surprise, but I think um those are things that we can build off of when we do what we know spoke if we do what we know works. uh we do that with fidelity um and create some
accountability in sport systems we see the change we want so there's definitely some things that we can build on some places that we need improvement on I think science is going to be you know we've had a lot of focus on language arts and now we need to keep that ball in the air while we focus on math we
need to keep that ball in the air while we focus on science but we're going to see some results in science that that need some attention uh the last thing I just want to mention September is uh schoolboard appreciation month and I just want to thank our
board. Um I feel like we have a board right now that approaches this work with seriousness, with curiosity, with integrity, uh concerned about our staff, concerned about our children, concerned about our community. And um I know in
talking to other superintendent uh how challenging it is to have a board that doesn't work well together um or doesn't keep in mind what it is that our goal is all about, what the work is all about. And so I really want to give my hats off to you. uh our community is better
because people like you are willing to give up time um give up energy, give up evenings um to to do this work and it's not there have been much much easier time periods to be schoolboard members than now. Um so you're doing really good
work, really hard work at a really really hard time to be a school board member. So uh thank you for that. That's all I have Mr. Chair. >> Thank you. Uh reminder, upcoming schoolboard committee meetings and meeting dates are posted on each agenda. The school board meeting agendas can be
found in the district website and at the designated posting site at the ISD 318 ed services center. Is there any other business to come before the board? >> Mr. Chair, can I make one quick comment? >> Yep. >> Um I forgot to mention during my report that there is somebody at this table
that has a birthday today. I just wanted to say happy birthday to Superintendent Gross. Happy birthday. >> Happy birthday. >> Julie, has anyone signed up for public input? >> No, they have not. >> Meetings adjourned.
>> Thank you.