##VIDEO ID:LNnfC3WaDAs## do I have a motion so move move by da second second second second by Ashley uh any discussion hearing none all in favor say I I I I'm I'm sorry uh Julie we're gonna need a roll call vote okay uh Mark schroer yes Dave Cen yes Tom guson yes Ashley Goodman yes David Marty yes Melissa bar yes uh the agenda is approved next item on the agenda is principal's report uh principal theer we'll come over to our Podium usually is it's under under repair right now so we're going to wing it a little bit um welcome board um to Big Fork thanks for being here today um just a few tidbits about what's going on around Bigfork school um we ended our semester uh first semester last week today was our our first day of second semester um our elementary teachers and our special ed teachers have been very busy working on carry all training which um is a is a course through the University of Minnesota uh we finished module 4 on Friday so we're about halfway through that um our elementary teachers as well as Mr King in the high school as our primary English teacher um are also implementing um a new English language arts curriculum uh called wit and wisdom and uh they've been very busy with that um got the opportunity to um we did some walkthroughs we've done them in Cohasset but um we did them here last Thursday uh Mr Martinson uh Dr sley and Carol copper up and we did those together just looking at how that um Ela curriculum is being implemented and looking at that continuity and and the Fidelity of it and um I have to say as as a principal and and and part of the Big Fork Team U I was just really proud of our of our big fork teachers of our big fork students and it was a lot of fun to get in there with other professionals with other administrators from around the district be able to look at that together and see what we were noticing and to compare buildings see that continuity even between buildings so that was really nice um we also um with semester ending um we are in our second year of um of uh career internships through career Pathways um we ran those um last year for the first time we had a number of students go through those this year for the first time where collaborating with local businesses Mr asendorf has been instrumental that as well through career um industrial Tech type um classes that they're getting some college credit they're also getting real world experience of how to apply that what they're learning but Al and also um some some good things to put on a resume as well with that experience piece um that ended first semester and this semester another way we're trying to create um more student opportunity knowing that the district is not in a financial situation to be able to be adding things we're always looking at how can we create opportunity and relevance and enrich that student learning uh we started a uh certified nursing assistant course today in partnership with Minnesota North uh nextg Pathways and Big Fork Valley hospital so uh we have a number of students that are going over there for U block class um the last two periods of the day um with with the Minnesota North instructor and I got a chance to talk to uh three of the students when they came back today they said it you know went went really well the first day and they're looking forward to it as well so just that's another thing that our students were pretty spread out and if we're offering this or if it was being offered at Big Fork Valley maybe in the evening at of course as they've done before some of our students don't have access they don't they don't have the capabilities to be able to get there this is a way that we can get them High School Credit college credit and that certification where they're more employable um with local with local agencies and um and we're kind of expanding some of that suit opportunity without having to tap into do monies uh we also had some teachers go after some CTE grants um and and be able to get some other equipment with without having to do so on the district's Di and uh they've been able to secure um some equipment um computer 3D printers those kinds of things to basically enrich some of the learning that's going on within our current classes so it's been another way that we've been trying to trying to stretch things a little bit but also um keep a robust learning environment uh winter activities are in a full swing boys and girls basketball cheerleading and Robotics we've got some good turnouts I talked about those a little bit earlier with some of the board members as you were rolling in but um but we're excited about those activities we're excited about the higher numbers of students um coming out for them uh the fitness center I've talked about before here uh fitness center is our is a new um part of the school as part of the the last Big Fork construction project and the idea there for our new board members was that this would be partnership with the community and community members would be able to access that as well as the school being take able to take advantage of it we've had more community members accessing that and it's been nice to see those numbers grow a little bit I'm anticipating it to continue to grow so uh just looking at my list to make sure I'm hitting it all for you uh lastly I'd say that our Our Big Fork advisory uh committee met earlier this evening uh we welcomed uh the new board member uh Tom gusterson as well to sit in on that and um as part of that committee but uh uh Mr Austin dorf gave a project update on the edge storage building out here the building is up uh it's been completed as far as the building part of it but now come spring um his students will be back in there working on shelving to make sure there's adequate storage be able to utilize the space as best possible but also uh get the electrical done as well so much more so than just the building piece of it but some of the things who make it U more usable um for for the edge committee as well um I give a an update on uh some Project based learning and research that we've been doing um a couple other teachers and I were were fortunate enough to meet with uh Dr Steiner he's super intendant over in North Dakota but he's leading a district that has been doing uh Project based type learning um with State Standards embedded into those projects uh for about a decade now and so was it was a really great conversation and um we're in the midst of hoping hoping to plan a site visit um with some staff for for later this this school year probably more closer to spring so that's that's an exciting thing to think about and how we can continue to do things here in Big Fork to to benefit um again student opportunity um learning relevance and then also benefit the community and have students know how they're benefiting the community uh that group's also working through some priorities that were set earlier in the year uh by them next on our agenda we'll be um doing some action planning and setting some goals uh specifically around one of the priorities and that is to have a strong p12 music program we've made some real nice strides in that area from last year to this year um and and the district the board has supported us with that and uh and I know that you'll continue to do so any way you can but um be doing some action planning and goal setting around that as well um and then we'll take each of those other priorities there's five other ones um one step at a time and do some action planning around those uh I rattle through that really quickly want to be um efficient with your time as well but any questions at all um when we talked when you talked about your uh the cooperatives there with students how many students do think are actually participating in that um for the internship yeah um we have we have six six this year uh we've got eight that are um that're currently attending that CNA program and what what grades would these students be in typically are they seniors or can the um they're primarily going to be seniors um the the CNA course um is actually a CTE course so that could go down as lowest 10th grade our career inter internships are um are almost always going to be seniors because it's more of a catstone um would we have Ste spot would we have an opportunity for a junior to take it or would it only be senior it's all seniors yeah all three years and and again that's typically when we look at the career Pathways they're taking different classes that fit into that pathway and then that internship is generally the Capstone it's that final it's that final piece of it and then I I had you know I want to thank the group that got together earlier today here The Advisory Group there um and I do have to say I mean I mean my observation coming in and participating in a couple meetings I have I can see where the community involvement is making big progress in what we're able to do here you know the school board's been able to approve some things and we're making progress in the music program and I really I I got to say thank you of the community for getting involved and active and I think it's a good collaboration that's going on there I'm pretty impressed myself and a couple meetings that been thank you we make sure to pass that along as well I think um you know and I think that committee came about because the community was looking for more of a voice more ofate communication between community and and School Board um you as the board and superintendent girl was instrumental in looking at that as that vehicle for that and I think one of the things that I've know as well is that um that goal between that communication back and forth um I think I think can dispel some rumors or some people making assumptions um and and it's it's a direct line of communication and it's been it has been very I feel like very collaborative conversation thanks Kev uh Ken hang on a second David Marty uh from uh uh can you say a word about uh the distance learning uh some of your students uh uh study uh uh with with students here in Grand Rapids as well is that correct that is correct David we have uh we have two classes currently going um and our students attend remotely um with them and one of the classes is Kelk we have a couple of of students taking Kelk and with Mr granley and then we have a couple of te uh students taking um Spanish two and they did Spanish one remotely as well last year but uh we're basically doing that because it's a smaller number we're basically doing that through Google meets um we aren't well Spanish too is Google meets um Kel we're still using a telepresence machine for uh but those are um those are taking place and moving moving forward and like I said we're halfway through the year and they've been doing that and and finding success with it and it is another way that we're we're finding partnership in in in this case between our two high schools in our district great thank you uh thanks for the good report thanks David thanks again next item on the agenda is to approve the minutes of the January 625 organizational meeting do I have a motion I make motion motion by Ashley second second second by a discussion uh Julie we need a roll call vote all right maybe you mix these up so we'll start with Melissa bar yes David Marty yes Tom gson yes Ashley Goodman yes Mark schroer yes and Dave col yes minutes are approved uh next item on the agenda is to approve the December 2024 claims in the amount of 5,362 636 and 69 cents I have a motion some move move by Dave second second it's Melissa second by Melissa discussion hearing none can we have a roll call vote Julie sure Mark schroer yes Ashley Goodman yes yes Tom Guston yes David Marty yes Melissa bar yes and Dave cow yes December 2024 claims are approved next item on the agenda is to approve for retirement Casey good evening board one retirement Julia Brewster ESP just want to thank Julia for 16 years of service do I have a motion to approve that retirement so move David move by David second by Ashley yes Julie can we have a rooll Ashley Goodman yes Tom Jus yes David Marty yes with great appreciation to Julia Melissa bar yes Cen yes and Mark Sher yes Julie Brewster's retirement is approved thank you Julia thank you next item is the consent agenda reminder that there's no discussion on the consent agenda you have a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved moved by Ashley second second second by Dave uh there's no discussion Julie can we have a roll call Tom gson yes David Marty yes Melissa bar yes Dave Cowen yes Mark schroer yes and Ashley Goodman yes consent agenda is approved next item on the agenda approve a resolution directing Administration to make recommendations for Productions in programs positions and reasons therefore superintendent gr thank you Mr chair uh in your packet you'll find a resolution that is customary for our school district and others at this time of year that are uh potentially heading into budget reductions this is sort of the one of the things that kicks that process off and um it directs myself and other Administration to start the reduction process I'd recommend approval uh clerk Marty could you read the resolution yes uh this is the resolution directing the administr ation to make recommendations for reductions in programs and positions and the reasons therefore whereas the financial condition of the school district dictates that the school board must reduce expenditures immediately and whereas this reduction in expenditures must include discontinuance or curtailment of positions and programs and where as a determination must be made as to which employees must be terminated and contracts not renewed and which teachers must be placed on unrequested leave of absence without pay or fringe benefits in effecting discontinuance or curtailment of positions therefore be it resolved by the school board of Independent School District 318 as follows that the school board hereby directs the superintendent of schools and administration to consider the discontinuance or curtailment of programs or positions to effectuate economies in the school district and to reduce expenditures in an amount needed to balance the FY 26 projected budget and to make recommendations to the school board for discontinuance of programs filment of programs discontinuance of positions or curtailment of positions do I have a motion to approve the resolution so move move by Dave do I have a second second Mrs Melissa second by Tom discussion hearing none David Marty yes Melissa bar yes Dave Cohen yes Mark rer yes Ashley Goodman yes and Tom gson yes resolution is approved next item on the agenda is to accept the first reading and improve following policies in accordance with policy 208 super gross thank you Mr chair policy 208 provides uh the opportunity for the board to approve policies uh at the first reading as indicated in the administrative report when the changes are clerical or the result of of legislation that uh resides over our policies so both these policies fall under that uh 516 uh as a result the changes there a result of legislative changes uh regarding the administration of medication uh and other changes like that again due to legislative uh acts the second one special educ or uh special education instructional Services number 608 similarly there's some clerical changes there as well as some uh legislatively mandated changes uh to reflect what's in statute so I'd recommend the board approve these in one reading I have a motion to approve the policies and one move David move by David second second by Ashley discussion hear none Julie roll call Melissa bar yes Dave C yes Mark rer yes Ashley Goodman yes Tom guson yes and David Marty yes policies 516 and 608 are approved next item on the agenda is to approve a Cooperative athletic agreement with Nash uh kiwok for boys and girls Nordic scheme athletic director Dale Christie thank you recently we had a request from Nash a n nashb Katan parent to allow their child to participate in Nordic schi this year um it was too late for this year but we started looking at next year and had to be looked at from both sides so Nash Waton looked at it to decide if that was something they were interested in pursuing um I have talked with the coach principal hofstead and superintendent gross about the pros and cons of this and generally I believe it would be good for our district financially as it would share the burden of cost no Grand Rapids student would lose a position because of this uh opposition and facilities are fine and uh generally I believe it would be a good good deal for our school and Nash felt it was something they could do on their end as well if if approved this would take effect next year we have to get this to the high school league by tomorrow uh for their consideration on Thursday as they are doing resectioning in all sports this year so so there's uh more timeliness than normal this year thank you do I have a motion to approve the Cooperative agreement with nlock this Melissa so moved second by David discussion Mr chair Mr Christie uh do you have an idea of how many kids in Grand Rapids currently participate in these programs and how many are anticipated to join from nationville Kat based on your discussions last year we had 17 this year currently we're at 14 so if this student would have participated this year they would be they would be paying 115th of of the total cost of the program okay and there's just one student that's currently interested from nashv one that we're aware of um if this passes maybe that will change but there's only one that we're aware of sure okay thank you Dale could could you confirm that uh it would be a positive Financial impact for the district and also that uh no 318 students would lose um the opportunity to participate that's correct um the I believe we uh business manager lendine and I took a look at the dollar amounts and we believe we would if if this person would have been here this year we would have saved about $1,000 um and because of the numbers and because of the nature of the activity all all students are allowed to participate so it's not like a basketball team or a hockey team where uh a better player could come in and displace a current player um everyone's allowed to participate this type of Activity thank you any further discussion um so is there an actual is the district going to supply the fees to our district are there any participation fees for the student themselves traditionally uh we have a a similar agreement with Greenway and in a number of different sports typically they pay their participation fee uh that their district has and then at the end of the season uh all expenses are are figured out and then divided proportionately and then their school district would pay us the proportion of the cost of the program okay so so we separate out participation fees is kind of what I'm hearing it sounds like that correct any further discussion Mr chair if I could uh two quick things I think this is a good good indication of the partnership that we've been working on with Nash Katon so I think that's good the second thing and Mr Christie included it in the packet was just some Criterion considerations for evaluating these um I think that's important that we have these in place so that we have some objectivity the process and I think this uh lays that out any further discussion Julie can we have a roll call vote Dave Cen yes Mark schroer yes Ashley Goodman yes Tom gson yes David Marty yes Melissa bar yes bar ative agreement with nwok is approved next item on the agenda is board reports uh Melissa can we start with you uh we can I spent a couple of days at the end of last week at the Minnesota School Board Association conference and we kicked off with a really wonderful speaker that speaker focused on msp's Mission around increasing the visibility of public schools and the value that teachers and school boards bring into that work and it really is a labor of love and just super appreciative of the keynote speaker who kicked that off and we all went to lots of different sessions but I will let others talk a little bit about their experience too but that's been kind of it for me since the first of the year David nothing to report Tom um yeah so I also participated at the end of last week there at at some of those training sessions it was uh um I do have to say that uh getting up speed here we're we're buzzling hard here trying to get in um it's it's been like I mentioned before I feel like I'm back at school myself um but uh the speakers there both the the opening and closing speakers were were probably some of the best speakers I've heard um you know it's been to a lot of conferences in my uh career and and they both did a very good job I would have to say one of the things that that I found most interesting was uh in the closing speech um it was a principal from who's come in and turned some schools around um one of the most interesting things that I I found he talked about was uh that that the schools needed to engage the families not just the students um and and I really found that an interest perspective um and and I and I think uh made me think a lot coming home about it you know as we talk about losing students and how critical that is when we look at at our budgets right we we just can't afford to lose students so I think you know I know I'm thinking a lot about about that statement myself um I thought we had an excellent meeting up here in Big Fork I you know like I mentioned earlier I was I'm I'm really pleased with what I see out of that Advisory Group that's going on here I I love to see the public get involved um that's how we keep schools Bible is keeping the people in the community active and I think it's going in a good direction I really do um that's all I have thanks Ashley um well so I went to one of my first Wellness committee meetings and uh we worked on sending out it's about a 15-minute survey that superintendent gross just sent out to staff on this past Friday um and it basically focuses on our staff's health and wellness U mental wellness and how they're feeling and uh to give us some feedback on what that might look like for them in their daytoday um whether that be at work or personal life and then um just to get back to the this committee and uh let us know how they're doing and then moving forward how we can better work with our staff on making sure that we are you know fulfilling their their mental health needs if necessary and what that looks like um so that was our one committee meeting and then I also participated and attended in the msba workshop and Convention and like Tom said it is a lot of information in a short amount of time that is given to us and uh helping us trying to catch up and learn and give us an opportunity to understand what is happening um behind the scenes if you will so uh but it was a great opportunity and a fantastic experience and um there was a handful of workshops that we went to that you know give us basically a leg up in what we're doing and so I very much appreciate being able to attend that so thank you Dave um Mr chair I uh have quite a few things um the first thing I'm uh I wasn't able to join the wellness committee meeting with Ashley but I do look forward to participating in that uh at the next opportunity um I am working on getting up to speed on the treasurer duties and learning those processes and teams and systems um that in and of itself is a another fire hose um I also attended the msba leadership conference um like others have said there's a wealth of information shared during the phase two training which I've remarked to a few people that if I don't know how you could do this job without uh some sort of structure and support like the msba provides um it would be daunting to try to learn that on your own um great connection time I think that we had with Matt and fellow board memb members um I attended a negotiation Foundation session uh session on AI and data risks uh an mshsl update uh about ninth graders which I think um is news to a lot of people um I think that's interesting uh and then also a session on the role that the school board plays in supporting American Indian students uh and that was eye openening as well um connected with a few board members from neighboring districts it was great to to meet Barb and and and get to know a little bit more from nwok um connected also with Tiffany Gustin from the msba who has an incredible wealth of information about school Finance which I think is important in this role as Treasurer uh and we have plans to connect she's based in Aken so it's easy to to connect with her um attended um sessions with the two motivational speakers that others mentioned Mickey Smith junior and Hamish Brewer their passion for education and kids and teachers was incredible uh and in an effort at full transparency I cried three times I am an emotional person I can't help it just how how I was built um but it was impactful um incredibly impactful um the conference was very valuable um even though I would say I came away with more questions than answers I have a lot to learn um earlier today I attended the my first R Arts council meeting uh as a school board liaison uh an introduction to the board um couple of things to report from there the lobby was recently painted although it's hard to tell because it's the same color um but it's white again um they are pursuing a larger Grant from the Blandon foundation in that um their previous Grant um was rescinded um one great thing to note is that 87 kids from grades three through 12 are signed up for the Newsies Junior show uh performances are going to be March 21st to the 23rd so I'd encourage uh board members in the the community to attend because those kidss are going to be working hard on that and they are planning a spring Gayla fundraiser um that is planned for I believe May 31st don't quote me specifically on the day but I believe that's correct that's all I go thanks I guess the only thing I would add I also attended the Big Fork advisory today and uh I think we've made a lot of progress there and um look forward to setting some goals for the music program at the next session superintendent's report superintendent gross thank you Mr chair uh members of the board we one of the things we've been doing as part of our uh wh wisdom roll out Ken mentioned getting into rooms as a group of principles and administrators uh the goal there is decreasing variability something that we've talked about a lot over the last few years ensuring that kids have experiences that are uh the same or close close to the same and I'll give you a great example I was in a second grade room today uh and I saw second graders in Big Fork learning about the American West and I was recently in a second grade classroom in at West and they were learning about the American West and that's really the goal is that you know knowing that kids um are getting an equitable experience regardless of which one of our second grades they might be in when call asset one here one at West parents can know they're getting getting exposed to that that learning legislative session is uh I I can't really say full swing normally I would say full swing uh might be a check swing at this point I don't know my I played baseball my whole life and I don't know a good metaphor to turn that into um but there's a lot of of work to do there as far as getting leaders back to work and I think that needs to be something that our legislators especially in the house here that our expectation is that they're getting to work uh and getting to work quickly Governor released his budget last week we had a discussion about this earlier uh but for our community there's two significant things that I really think would be important to get resolved quickly and he referenced both of those in his and one of them is resolving the unemployment insurance Gap that the legislature created in 2023 the second one is resolving the compensatory Revenue Gap that they created in 20123 by changing the formula both of those things deserve long-term Solutions whether it's changing the law or funding them um a lot of work on the budget both individually with Cara lundine and then with the board uh a lot of work around an investigation into artificial intelligence they you mentioned the session on that uh there is zero question that is it is affecting education right now there's zero question whether it's going to affect education in the future and so we have work to do both at the kind of administrative or adult level but also what does that mean to a you know a teenager or younger growing up in an environment with that and how do we make learning relevant and sure learning is relevant in as future proof as we can for future kind of leading as we can our second cycle of early outs is going and uh you know for our new board members we have a schedule of Wednesdays you know and um over time this hasn't been the case in every District but our district work has worked really really hard to squeeze as much as we can out of those dates and it's not perfect and we still have work to do there and are learning uh through feedback that we're getting from staff but every Wednesday is scheduled for the rest of the year and every Wednesday is in in alignment with the Strategic Direction so they might be working on data one week that's um aligned with our strategic directions they might be working on um crisis or safety planning that's aligned with our strategic directions so uh that's something I can show you that document at some point it's pretty pretty extensive um let's see the other thing relative to our literacy roll out and we talked about it briefly at our big fork advisory committee but Carol cop who's been helping with that uh and Ken mentioned her but she's planning evening events in our communities for parents to come and learn more about what's happening with Whitten wisdom what it looks like and and uh so I'm excited about those the one in Big Fork is scheduled for February 18th and we have scheduled in other schools as well and curious about that schedule Julie or I can get that to you um had a chance like a number of you to attend msba thought it was very valuable again spending time learning together had an opportunity to present on Thursday that was very interesting as well just to share some of our experience from 318 through budget the last few years there's a lot of districts that are on the very front end of this they're you know they're answering questions like I think we might have have to cut the budget this spring and you know what does that look like so it was a good opportunity to work with the finance director from the Department of Ed um attended a couple sessions on absenteeism on uh Community perception and referendums as well so really valuable time always good to invest in learning um and Ashley mentioned that survey we're going to run that for about a week and then uh bring that back to the wellness committee so Dave you Bill get a look at that at your next meeting perfect that's all I have Mr sherff thank you uh upcoming School Board committee meeting dates are posted in each agenda school board meeting agendas can be found in the district website and on the designated posting site at isd318 Educational Services Cent is there any other business to come before the board Julia has anyone signed up for public input not here um Acy has anyone signed up in the boardroom no meeting's Jour thank you Mark e e e