Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me this evening. Um the report I'm going to give you is from not this current school se uh school year but but last year's um so the school year ending June 30th
2024 the 2324 school year uh we have three three uh employees in our in our department, myself, my administrative assistant, GI Pearson, and then of course the Big Fork activities director, Heather Loved
Doll. And so this encompasses both the high school at Grand Rapids and Big Fork and Robert J. Elkington Middle School as well. Uh we believe that we we um are an important part of the district's mission. Um, and we're we're an
important part of that. Co-curricular activities are an integral part of our education program. They're not an extra. the the mission that we teach is very much what um I don't know if they still call it that, but when I back when I was um involved with the world's best
workforce and the Chamber of Commerce's um nationwide goals, some of those what we sometimes call soft skills are are really learned very well in the activity world. Uh the number of students impacted by
our department is um is 1768 total. Uh we had a pretty good increase last year in students at the high school that took uh advantage of the opportunities. Uh increase of 52 students. Robert J. Elkington increase
of two students. And Big Fork did have a decline. About 1768 um opportunities were taken. And and that's just I should say that's just in in the sports world. It doesn't include my my department's in charge of student
council and prom and BPA and FFA and so forth. So it's not including those kind of things. It's it's just um in the activ or in the athletic world. And of course we're also in charge of the band and choir and uh speech and so
forth. Uh these are the activities that both schools offer. Um, synchronized swimming is actually a club activity uh through the Greenway School District and we actually don't have anybody doing that, but the rest of this should be
should be accurate. And I should have mentioned drama as well a while ago. We have both a fall play and then a spring musical that are both uh outstanding. I like to keep this picture's been around for a while. I like to keep it in I think it's just a
great great representation of our district. Uh these are some pictures of last year's school season. Uh some successes if if winning is considered a success. Um we have a state champion wrestler on the left. We have uh state
baseball team uh that took um that went down to state and a volleyball team. And there were others too, but I just took these three. um swimmers who went to state, hockey team that went to state that year. On the left, I think this is a real cool
picture. Uh we had our first female wrestler that school year that ever made it to a state tournament. And she's pictured with the first male wrestler from Grand Rapids to ever go to state. And I believe they were exactly 70 years apart if I remember right. So,
uh with fine arts on the left is our our great marching band. um picture in the middle of our fall or spring jazz band session. Uh the pit orchestra for the for the musical and a picture of our um
fall fall play that year of the cast. We we can't play the game without our officials and we and and our game workers. Um on the left are some of our swimming officials. We have really great swimming officials. Actually, all four of them that we get on a regular basis, all I'll
officiate the state tournament. Um, and even when we have to get somebody else, it's usually a state state official. On the right are some longtime track um and cross country workers, uh, Jan Bilden and, uh, Nick
Huot, I'm I'm sorry, Astroot. Uh here's some, you know, good things that our our uh athletes um and activities do besides just play the game. Um in the upper left is a picture of last year's uh unified softball
tournament, the first one we ever had, and they had another one this year. I wasn't able to make it, but they had a second one this year. They also had their first ever basket hosted a basketball tournament as well. So, it's something it's like Special Olympics, but it's a combination of um of uh
uh players and students of all of all abilities, not just not just uh separate. Uh and we have kids doing good things at the food shelf. And on the right is Victory Day, an event that our football team hosts that that's always a great event.
We have we have reporters from all over the state that come to it each year to to see what it's all about. We have 71 teams in Grand Rapids and 10 at Big Fork, you know, including middle school and high school. Um, so there's 81 teams plus band, choir,
speech, drama. Uh, with 27 head coaches, over 100 assistant coaches. Um much of those paid for by booster clubs or volunteers, but the district certainly pays for some of those. Um so
37 head coaches, 110 plus assistant coaches, tough to keep track of those at sometimes. And numerous activity and club advisors. So, as part of the Minnesota State High School League, as you know, um we're we're different than just uh
just sports activities like AAA sports or uh others. Depending on the sport, they all have different names, but uh we're we are an extension of the classroom and our coaches are trained um in the why we play high school league curriculum. They have to uh I think
there'll be a slide that goes over that in a second. Uh so the focus is on process and then the outcome and the student first and athlete second. Uh so the goal of our athletic programs is to win. Uh this is our softball team from a year
ago. So we it's not just recreation. It is our you know we we do have a goal to win but it's not our purpose. Um we we pl plan to win, we play to win, but our purpose is teaching and learning, human growth and development and connecting
students to caring adults. That is that is the purpose that we try to strive for. Uh this is the the slide I was thinking of. Um all our head coaches have to number one uh they have to qualify to be a head coach and that there is a uh 200 hour
program. I take that back. That might be the price. Um I think it's a 60h hour program that they have to go through to be a head coach one one time program. Uh unless they come out of college with a with a u license for that. There's
fewer, you know, those have gone away for a while. So there's fewer and fewer people who qualify that way. They have to every year do continuing education requirements. uh at least four modules on things from everything from uh the
why we play curriculum to concussions etc. And then they have to do a sports specific uh rules uh module and they have to do a state high school league general rules mo module. Uh they prepare a philosophy,
mission and vision statement for their program. We have all those on file and I file them with the state high school league. uh they their expectation is to communicate to parents about the program's guidelines and expectations and I I try to enforce that every fall,
winter and spring. We have emergency action plans in all our activities. So every location that we have, we have a emergency action plan uh for everything from from an ambulance to u tornado to active shooter uh
situations. And those those are posted and each coach knows about those and they practice those early in the year and our grandasa um people work with us on that every year as well. Uh they undergo formal
observation every three years. Parents complete a survey. Last year was winter. This year it's spring. I just sent out a couple surveys for spring. This year I'm waiting until all the activities are done before they get the survey. and they prepare a professional development plan every three
years. Uh the money side of it, this is a longitudinal um picture of the revenues versus expenditures. Uh those those first few slides obviously taken to or not slides but graphs take into account you know
the co years. Uh this is where our money comes from. The the blue is fees from participants and then the yellow is admission fees uh donations and then the green is miscellaneous local revenue. So you see that
um the bump for some reason this does not have this years. I can I can get those numbers to you because I know Cara gave them to me. Um, this is the expenditure breakdown, what we spend our money on. The blue is
salaries and benefits like everything else you guys do. Uh, you know, that takes care of a good portion of the of the expenses. Um, notice last year we kept the we kept the salaries and benefits down through a few different means. Uh
but cost of transportation continues to go up and and um uh etc. So that that's where we spend our money. Dale. Yep. If you go back one more
slide, that 17 18 was that when we got the donations for the football field for the turf? they would have came after the referendum passed. I'm just I mean that's a lot that's a huge donation
pool. I'm just wondering why that one's so 1920. So they wouldn't be calculated. I don't know if they're included in here or not. Um, some of these when it says donations, it it can be booster clubs paying for their coaches. So, we have
the expenditure for the coaches, but then the booster clubs back fill it. Um, oh, that might have been when the that might have been the first year we had lacrosse and we double paid. We d both we double paid out of the boosters on that year. Like it we paid a
lot. They also booster clubs will sometimes pay for travel, hotels. Yeah. where we we make the initial uh payment, but then they they uh we bill them back. Just Yeah, that's I'm just because that donation of 114,000 is a lot of money
compared to the other year. So, I'm just wondering what was different that year, you know, because it I mean that's significant. Yeah, I don't know off the top of my head, but you know, we could find that out, I'm sure. Oh, that's just interesting. uh the salary breakdowns, you know, this
showed the blue is salary. This shows um the breakdown of that salary. The overhead would be the three employees. Uh yellow or gold is the coaches, green are officials and game staff. And you can see the last two
years those have gone up. And I'll I'll talk about that in a second. And the the sliver at the top is substitute teachers. So, when we have a coach who is a district employee go to an out of town event and miss half a day or a couple hours or whatever it happens to be, uh that's that's the portion that
covers that. Here's the general fund operating subsidy. Um, one of the things I wanted to mention, uh, we the district uh, compares itself to
like similar like like-minded uh, like sized schools and I know when I was on the district finance committee, we spent time trying to figure out what what are the best comparables. So all those comparables are there now and of those um our business manager you know looked
at that and we have the lowest actually significantly lowest uh comparable uh input from the general fund into the activities um of those comparable schools. So, I just want to make sure you know that we are as efficient as we can be with the
dollars that we're given. Uh, indicators of success. There's there's lots of research out there about this and um, you know, I think it's pretty well documented, but people in activities tend to have higher grade point averages, attendance, better
classroom behavior, graduation rates, uh, continuing education, uh, etc. you know, activities supports classroom learning by generating school pride, increases a sense of community and a sense of belonging that makes students want to achieve. And, you know, we're not we're not saying that every athlete has the
best classroom behavior, but we're um and because there certainly are some that don't and we deal with those on a on as needed basis, but um overall, I think our numbers are really good that way. Uh I know last year
uh uh Mr. Marty, you asked about grade point averages for our students, and I have those broken down this year by by season. Thank you. Our our fall students are uh 3.29 gradepoint average cumulative. Our winter is
3.214 and our spring is 3.398. Wow. Um and again, that's just including activities. It's not or athletics. is not including uh drama and band and student council and I think those numbers might be even higher if you
included those. That that's across the board for RJM's Grand Rapids and Big Fork. Uh does not include Big Fork. Yeah, we could probably get that. I don't have access to it, but
uh challenges not I don't think much different than last year. Um uh in this day and age trying to find officials and game workers can be difficult. Um a lot of officials in basketball and baseball
and softball and other sports are aging and retiring and uh there's not as much backfill there with younger people coming along to do it. And uh so we hire over 700 officials to make things happen. Um, Big Fork does over a 100
officials and, you know, trying to get people to travel to Big Fork from distant areas uh to officiate and uh even to Grand Rapids. Our lacrosse officials are quite often coming from the cities. Um, we got a few in Duth. But we feel really lucky with the
good officials that we are able to find and but it is more difficult and the cost is uh is going up exponentially. It's not, you know, 2% more than last year or 3%. Um, it's supply and demand. So, our cost of officials goes up, you
know, 10 to 15 to 20% a year in some sports. Um, some quick question. Um, how are those numbers set? Are they set by the high school league or how do the official payments get set? Generally, most of them belong to an association
that negotiates. Uh there's an iron range association and then there's a lakes area duth uh baiji association brainer association and they try to stay pretty close to each other just like uh everybody does. They see somebody else getting a raise in duth so then the Iron
Range wants to match them and um but yeah there are very few sports that there are a few but there's not many that are just freelance where I just hire them and there are some. Okay. Yep. Thanks. Do you do you end up paying mileage? We
do. And that's I try really hard to get local officials. Um again, in some sports that's harder. And we've actually done some I've done some things to try to groom younger officials so eventually we would have to pay mileage. Yeah. Um, so for example,
if we typically have three football officials at a JV or nth grade football game, I'll hire a fourth one even though it cost us a little bit more, but to eventually hope some of those can slip in there and um not pay mileage to eventually. Do you use
um certified officials for for JV or are you able to uh Good question. The high school league for varsity events requires a certain certification and I have to see their badges before they take the field. Um,
at the JV and lower levels we do not have to have certified people. Some of them are some some are quite willing to do other lower events if you want to call it that. Um, but but not all of them are. So we are able to find people
off the street or um you know I work really hard to make sure that they're qualified at some level maybe. Yeah. Try to grow that potential. Yeah. Yeah. We're we're trying really hard not to pay mileage but it's uh in some sports it's more
difficult and fighting game workers can be difficult too. Um we have some really great game workers. Some of them uh we have we have one who's been either officiating or a game worker for over 60 years. Um recently Lenny Brown recently
honored by the Vikings with uh for his service and in officiating. Um but but sometimes in some sports it could be more difficult. and others. We we have some just really good people willing to do it and we really appreciate them. And and
they they do get a stipend of some sort, but it's certainly not it's not minimum wage, put it that way. So, in conclusion, we are we are educationbased, an extension of the classroom. We emphasize human growth and
development, reward effort, not just winning. focus on process student first and I want to thank the board for your continued support with activities. I um I I know that you guys have been very supportive and we appreciate that and we are trying to do things as efficiently
as as possible in our department and um thank you. Are there questions? I just blurted out. Sorry. It's all right. But the you mentioned synchronized swimming that we have a joint venture right now with Greenway. It's it's been around for many years,
but I don't think it's active at the current time. Okay. So, does that mean we don't pay anything? It's just kind of we have an agreement, but we don't have to pay anything as long as there's no one participating. Is that Yeah, we um we actually were paying the state
high school league the the per sport cost ofund pretty minimal though 35 or 140 bucks but we actually took a look at that this year and called Greenway and said are you guys still doing this even and they weren't. So we we for this following year are not paying for that.
Okay. So that's going to be coming off the Yeah. if if it can go the other way eventually if we need to, but um because we still have the cooperative agreement, but didn't make sense to even if it's a token amount to keep paying it if nobody's doing it. I agree.
Okay, David, uh Dale, thank you. Uh very very uh interesting uh and in-depth report uh and particularly thank you for uh pulling out GPA uh scores for students.
That's really very impressive. Uh it's uh kind of intuitive. We know that uh kids that are involved and engaged uh have strong GPA and they are uh going to be uh more engaged uh and more successful uh as students in our
classrooms. I hope uh as we move forward we might be able to include uh uh the other uh activities the band drama uh choir and uh other activities as well. I'll I'll see what we can do with that. It's um well thank you for this. This is
it's it's uh we kind of knew it but it's good to have the data and I'll see if we can get some big fort numbers as well. I know I don't have access to them but I bet you Heather the people up there can can get those for us. Perfect. I also, if I can, I'd like to I I should have done this earlier, but I really want to
thank some key departments in the school that really help us out. We we could not do this without the transportation department. And I was just telling um our transportation director at a recent meeting that I'm sure his secretary hesitates picking up the phone
when they see Gigi or me calling because it's usually a change of it's usually at least the first change if not the second or third or fourth change to an event especially in the spring here. So, um, and then our, uh, maintenance staff, um, does does a great job for us and as do
our, uh, administrative assistants both at the high school and middle school do a lot a lot for us. So, we appreciate them as well. Uh, just one quick question for you, Dale. Um, on your slide, you had shown a decrease in Big Fork of I think 33
students or participants. Was that due to a cut in a program or is that just interest? Do you recall? I don't know off the top of my head. I uh Heather gave us those numbers. Um I'm trying to think because it was last school
year. I I will ask her if I was on the phone with her today, but I'll ask her um and get get back to you on that. I I don't know. Okay. Thanks. I thought of something else. I'm sorry. You you mentioned the survey that you
send out um every three years it sounded like. Is that correct to parents? We do it every year but every sport. Last year was winter, this year spring. So per sport it's like every Yep. And do you do that with the activities also the
surveys? Uh we we have not. Okay. Oh. Um and and is it uh h how much how much feedback do you get from it? Do you get a fairly I mean do you get a good response from the how do you do it? Do you send it out to every
participant? Is it an email? Is it a mail or is it a voluntary through email through what um the parents or guardians have on the official file for the student or whatever say? Yep. Exactly. Uh we had a pretty good of course this
number is from this last year with my first year so I can't tell you before that but uh we had a really pretty good percentage last year of the winter sports that uh returned to theirs. Okay. A real good percentage. Okay.
That's that's all. Anybody else? Melissa, I just want to say thank you. It's so fun to go out and around the state and talk about all the things we do, whether that's band or whether it's I mean, we're known all across the state for anything, you name it. Swimming, volleyball, basketball, football. I
mean, it just it's really cool to be around the state and a lot of people are are really proud of the activities that our kids have. And it's not just that the activities are like a fun thing, but we also recognize that if we didn't have
them, there were some kids that wouldn't come to school. Oh, absolutely. And so I think as a board, I think we've always kind of embraced that as a we know that this is a driver for a lot of kids to be present and and still go to class and still get good grades and and so we
understand that and I just want to say thank you for that. Thank you. We we consider ourselves sometimes the front porch to the uh community where community that who don't have kids are still interacting with the school and um we try to create
a positive space for that. For sure. It shows. Thank you. Thank you, Dale. Thanks for coming, Dale. At this time, we're through the agenda for the work session. We're we're going to adjourn the work session. We'll come
back into regular session in about four minutes. [Music] I'm sitting in the stands. I get a text and say, "You got nothing better to do than to come to Anoka?" I turn on It's Maduri. Oh jeez.
That's awesome. Oh jeez. And we won. Yeah. In overtime. Nice. It was so good. Did anybody happen to catch the baseball gamel Klaus's grand slam that he hit? heard about it afterwards. I was listening to it over the weekend. It was
It was amazing. Yeah. They don't quite know where where they're playing yet, right on it'll be a neutral site, but talking to one of the guys. Yeah. Pretty exciting. And then Gundy's pitched.
Yep. Jones got Yeah, he did. I mean, that's that's incredible. And our and our JV boys, lacrosse team played in the championship game for their state thing. Yes, they made they played Minnetonka for the state championship. The JV team
did. That's crazy. The girls softball team because there's no it's not like AAA. It's just like everybody plays. Yep. Yep. And track and field right now is just like blowing it out of the water. They're doing amazing. The girls softball team, they beat
who? I think it was Hermantown. And Hermantown was number two. They're always good. Yeah. And they beat them, but they didn't like but but still they beat Hermantown. And that Herman Town's always they're always good, too. It's always fun. It's a life memory.
Those are right. How was your weekend? Where were you? It talks about throwing the pass, right? Conference, whatever that was. It's funny. I'd forgotten all the classic. It really is.
We were at a grad party across the street and we could listen. You kind of hear the excitement. for uh swimmer. Um Hannah, no Hannah. Yeah, Hannah.
Because they live right across, you know. Yeah. See you, coach. your snacks. I I just took one. I didn't even ask you. I really can't. That's so funny. What's that? You want another? No. My
god. Get rid of the evidence. He's pushing it to my side. There's crumbs all over the place. Julie, we ready? What's up? We're going to call the board
meeting for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Next item on the agenda is approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Ashley. Second, David. Second by David. Discussion. Hearing none. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. Agenda is
approved. Next item on the agenda. Approve a field trip request for jazz ensemble to New York. March 2026. Dale Gunderson. Hi. Uh, Julie warned me that I was supposed to come and say something, so
here I am. Um, we have an opportunity with our jazz program. A lot of you have seen that. Uh, it it performs uh a bunch of different things. The kids are committed on a way higher level um throughout the community. We're playing
Saturday at uh Rialto Fest at the request of the community. Um so kind of a brainchild for this group coming up. We we go to jazz festivals in North Dakota and Wisconsin and and the kids
said, "Well, what if we just did a real jazz trip?" And I said, "Oh, well, careful what you wish for. I might I might I might see what happens." So, I called uh my travel agent that we use um and said, "Hey, Dave, what do you
think?" And he sent an itinerary and I think you got a sketch of that and and a price quote. And so then I held a parent meeting and I asked the parents, I said, "We have not committed to a thing. I'm not committing to a thing until you say
go." And they all said go. Um the jazz band performs, like I said, a bunch in the community. The idea is that every performance we do will be a fundraiser. Um we play at Rapids Brewing or if we play anywhere in town, we you know, a
lot of different venues um ask us to play. Um and so we're going to take all the money that we're going to pass the hat around and just say it's a it's a a fundraiser for the kids and we're going to split it evenly and we think that we can raise um at least a
third of their trip. Um, the cost to the district is zero, including you won't need a sub or anything. It's over the the spring break. Um, we won't have to worry about funding chaperones because Sander and I, the other band director, will be taking the kids and we don't need
chaperones. Um, and the the idea is that we immerse kids in jazz education. If you know anything about our band program, uh it was started way back in the day, but when Joe Silo started this version, um he believed that every facet
of the program should be top-notch because some kids love marching band and they tolerate the rest. Some concert band and some jazz band and we feel and pep band is another thing. So we we try to make sure that all facets of our program offer a worldclass opportunity.
Um, and so this is really a a similar kind of feel. Um, giving kids the opportunity to immerse in in one of the root root places of jazz and one of the one of the highlight places right now in the world for uh, jazz education. And
uh, kids are excited, parents are excited. Um, so we're kind of modeling over, you know, like the Rose Mounts and the East Views and, uh, some of these programs that we we consider ourselves similar to. Um, we're kind of weird in Grand
Rapids, right? We're an island. It's not normal to have 800 kids in band in smalltown Minnesota. Um, but we do. Um, so we we want to model ourselves and they that's what their programs do. Their programs take their concert band here. Sometimes they take their marching band here, they take their whole program
like we did Hawaii. Um, and they they split it up and do things. Um, and again, I this is I I don't want this to be a financial burden for parents. So, that was the first question we asked. If this is beyond you, if you if you don't
say it in the meeting, come say it to me after, email me. And I all I got was positive. Let's go. So, um I don't know what I'm supposed to do other than give you a quick overview of of what this is. Um there's no glitzy we're going to
perform at Carnegie Hall. We can we can rent Carnegie Hall. That's how Carnegie Hall works. Um tour guides have said, "Hey, do you want to come play?" And I'm like, "Sure." And they said, "Well, for $4,000 you can do." I'm like, "Oh, I don't." Um I have we have friends of our program that that live and teach that
are pro players in New York that have said that they would facilitate some things. Um the Lincoln Center Jazz um education program has uh offered to run a clinic for our kids and they're the the best of the best. Um and then some
of the jazz club that we go to, we have like I said friends and actually former students that that live in New York that are all about that are professional performers. They're all about taking these kids and giving them the best experience in the world. So, um I guess that's it for me. If you have
any questions, um any questions? I I guess I had a couple that came quick. Um you'd mentioned that uh the travel arrangements and things were through a an agency that you've used personally. It sounds like uh the
band program has traveled uh for the last 30 years with uh Hawaii State Tours and they they travel I he's based out of Hawaii but he takes groups all over the planet. I guess the and the reason I inquired was I you know we've approved a
number of visits for Spanish and and other groups, right? Um, and I know, uh, when it was presented to us at that time, it was, um, through agencies that were specifically set up and they had insuranceances to cover students. And so
I was just kind of, you know, what came to mind was, are we covered from an insurance standpoint if something happens? And yeah, part of the quote, did I did I give you the the piece of that with the insurance and everything? Yeah, David is fully insured. I didn't read it good enough. I No, that's fine.
No, I for sure. I mean liability is the biggest thing and his company like I said has been traveling groups for 30 plus years. So um he is fully insured. The great part of us having that relationship with him
not to go down a rabbit hole of travel agencies but um this is his cost plus whatever a small percentage he makes. Um it there's not some of the other things that other agencies do. And I'll stop
there. Oh, that's fine. The uh the other one question that came a little bit was just kind of our chapron to student ratio. Seemed a little higher than some of the other groups we've had. Maybe I'm recalling wrong. Are you comfortable with that? I I don't know. This would be
one per 10 staff member per 10. And I I thought it was a little lower some of the other groups, but I might be wrong. Five or six. In the other groups, it was five or six. Yeah. Just And it So I more of a question than Yeah. The other piece of that, so I I've offered any parent
that wants to go as a tag along or a companion to the trip. And several parents are interested in that. Um, so there will be supervision from a whole selection of parents, but when we call them chaperones and we put them on our payload, a lot of times that goes on the
backs of kids. Do you know what I'm saying? So you you make the the chaperone cost because there are two in a room as opposed to four. So their cost is much more expensive. And then in order to make it feasible, a lot of a lot of times groups will charge kids a
couple hundred dollars more or more than that. Um, and we we don't like to do that and we don't want to do that. I understand that. So, but bottom line, you think there's going to be more parental. They'll be I guarantee you I've already got a whole bunch of them that have said, "I'm going. I'm going.
I'm going." Okay. So, I don't know. Maybe I should charge them a bunch more and just fund the trip. I don't know. We got a special offer for you. Yeah. Yeah. And that at times I I think that that is uh a worry with some of the the
travel agencies that are out there that that they do some of that sometimes. So we we were very conscious of not trying to do that to to keep our cost down for kids and families. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? David. Uh thank you, Mr.
Chair. Uh Gandhi, thank you. uh deeply appreciate uh the tremendous quality of the music program uh that we have in this and particularly the uh jazz program and how those students engage
throughout the community on a regular basis. That's noticed and deeply appreciated and thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it's it's uh it takes a a village, right? We always talk about it, but uh and I heard Dale earlier talk about the front porch of the district and I
thought, you know, we're able to be out there and do that and I I think that's uh that's a lot of fun, but it takes the support of all of you and and principles and activity directors and parents and so we do live in a pretty fabulous
community as far as supporting kids. So, looking for a motion to approve the field trip request. So, move David. Moved by David, second second by Dave. Any further discussion? Mr. Chair, uh
Dale, I would just like to say or Mr. Gunderson. Um I was told I was supposed to say Mr. Gunderson. That was painful for both of us. It really is. I'm regretting it right now. Um I just want to echo what um Mr. Marty was saying. I
think the program is um really unbelievable. We were talking a little bit earlier about how Grand Rapids is known around the state for our activities and our sports and um it's pretty incredible to know that our small community has developed this incredible band program throughout the whole gamut
of bands. Um and I think that goes to a testament to you and the whole staff and the the district. So, thank you for coming up with this idea. Um it's a year too late. Yeah. But maybe I heard every single day.
Further discussion hearing? None. All in favor say I. I. Opposed? Field trip request is approved. Thank you. Have a good rest of your evening. Thanks. Next item on the agenda of principal's report, Robert J.
Elkington Middle School. Principal Adams. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to share the good things that have happened at the middle school for the second half of the school year. I think I was up here in January, so I'll try not to be redundant because we had a lot of great things happening in
the second half and that is everything from student achievement to uh activities. Um I think first and foremost the first things has to go out to the team. It takes roughly a 100 people a day to get the kids in and out of that building. uh adults, food
service, custodial, uh just so many people that make it happen. And you know, we always say we have 900 kids. We have 100 adults that make it click every day and thousand people come and go out of those front doors and you would never know it. It just it clicks. So, it's it's a really good system and kudos to
the whole team. I would say it's uh I think everyone would agree it's been a great year for students and staff since co is in the rearview mirror. um every year seems to be better better because maybe some of the bad habits are going away and and kids are just doing really good
things. So, and you're going to hear that throughout this report. Um some of the great stuff that happened at the end of the year, some positive events. Let's start with Grip Grand Rapids and prevention. Mr. Zach Holesman is the liazison for Jim Kaggel. We had our dodgeball tournament and you want to see
something fun, you should really stop. I mean, you've seen the movie. Um it's probably not quite that big of a clown show, but to see the kids and how involved they are. It starts out, it's probably two weeks long. Um they pair down and the the final game ended up
being the wannabes versus whatever game and the wannabes won. Um prior to this, we had back-to-back champions and it's just it's fun. And then the staff always wins the student versus staff game that comes after because there's a lot of
cheating and and we say it before the game starts. Rules will be bent for this final part of of the whole event and staff comes out on top even though there's no one there that's in great shape, but the kids come up sore losers and it's they get a kick out of it. We get a kick out of it. It's all good. Um
the next two events, you got to give credit where credit is due. PTSA sponsored aka Ashley Goodman. She runs that PTSA. She does a ton of good stuff for our building and I just want to share and give kudos where kudos is due. Um the color run was Tuesday, May 27th
and and you just have a lot of kids outside on a beautiful day running through kind of a cornstarchbased die and the race doesn't even start and and we look like clowns. Um Ryan Deay came out, the assistant principal in a dark shirt and he got a couple hand slaps and
before you know it, he didn't have a dark shirt anymore and everyone's having fun. Just a great time. So we had the color run on Tuesday of the last week and then obviously the PTSA sponsored funday that included bouncy houses, Kona Ice, and I'm going emphasize this twice,
velcro axe throwing. Velcro axe throwing. When Ashley first brought it up, I'm just like she said axe throwing and I'm like whoa whoa whoa. and she goes, "Velcro." Okay, so Velcro and the kids just had a blast. There was two stations set up side by side
sticking those. Um I just had visions of the Ravenstone Abbey over in Colin and I'm like, "No, even though we have an archery unit, you know, I mean, we have these things, but I'm thinking on Monday. I'm smarter than that, Dan. What's that? I'm smarter than that." Yeah. And we know that. And Ashley, I just want to say personally, just
amazing stuff. Um the color made I don't know how much. you don't have to see it, but thousands of dollars for the kids, and that goes right back into programming. Um, you know, field trips, different things, classroom supplies. Teachers get things that, you know, typically would either have to come out of their pocket or they just wouldn't
happen. So, thank you to Ashley and that group because that's just it's really good stuff. Want to talk a little bit more about the the assessments piece. Um on the assessment front, we had a building goal and that was districtwide. 97% for our students to be success or assessed
in both academics and then social emotional behavior for and then this is kind of how it played out. When I reported back in January, we were kind of feeling really good about things because we're about 95% getting kids assessed. Um you know, the fall starts
out, we're all anxious. What's the summer slide? Then we want to see the growth and everything else. But you're going to hear some some interesting numbers. So, RGMS administers roughly, 1950 MCAs across reading and math and science classrooms grades 6 through 8th.
We screen our students in the area of social emotional behavior for grades 6 through 8 roughly 2520 times using the Sabers screener, which is the social, academic, and behavioral risk screener. We do that three times a year. We give roughly 3,300 star assessments in the
areas of reading and math for students in grades six through eight to help us progress monitor their academic performances. So when you think about that, that's like 7,000 assessments and they're so critical. Um how do we show growth or anything else or areas of need
or target areas of need without these assessments? So this is not to say that we're overassessing. This is to say this is what we need to do it. Um we set that high bar, very high bar, 97% and again we started there. We did
not end there. Um everything was really strong until we we gave MCAs in the spring. We were on pace at 95% of our students being assessed up until the spring MCAs. That number plummeted as spring activities kicked in and we had
one more star assessment to give after the MCA. And and again, we want all these assessments, but all of a sudden, kids are off on golf trips, baseball trips, track and field. There's just so much going on that our 95 that we were feeling so good about definitely went
down, you know, probably more in the lower 80s. So, it was a lofty goal. um we want to shoot for that every year, but the bottom line is reality kind of bites us a little bit and then all of a sudden kids just they're off and golf starts 11:00 in the morning, kids are
leaving tennis matches, you know, noon and pretty soon those there's a lot of vacant seats in those classrooms. So, on a final note, um and staffing came into play this spring. Obviously, we uh we're filling staffing
roles and no particular district in general, but Grand Rapids, we've felt the reductions for five, six years now, and all of a sudden, some neighboring districts are starting to feel what we have been going through for five or six years. Maybe they put it off a little bit longer. And we saw some pretty good
candidates out there this spring. So, we're we're feeling really good about our staffing. Um, we'll have one more that's on the consent agenda tonight, but we had a talent pool that we haven't seen in a few years, and that was because we had staff from other districts that were looking for
employment who had experience. So, our benefit, their loss, um, talking to the administrators from those neighboring districts, they feel bad about that, but that's that's the way the game works. And, uh, yeah, some of those staff settled in on our district, and we're
really excited to get them on board. So staffing is coming full circle and we're feeling good about it. Questions, comments? This is kind of our gems through the the second semester and then we felt it was a really good second half of the school year,
questions or comments. Um Ashley, um Mr. Adams, as a parent of a child who is at the middle school, I just want to say thank you uh for all of the hard work that you do as the principal there and for the rest of the staff that are there. Um I definitely
appreciate everything that all of those 100 staff members do. I see it personally. I'm in that building often. So, um thank you for letting me be in that building as well. Um and thank you for the shout out. I appreciate that as well. And um keep up the good work.
Thank you. It's a great team. Appreciate the opportunity. Thank you, Dan. Nice. Thanks, Dan. Next item on the agenda is approval of the minutes of the May 12th work session. I have a motion. So move, David. Move by
David. Second. Second. Second by Ashley. Discussion. Mr. Chair, I just had a quick question. On page one of two, Julie, I'm sure. I think under referendum timing and risks, it says fall 2025, a general election year, is not ideal for a referendum due to lower
chances of success. Is that meant to be 2026? Yeah. Good. Any other discussion? All in favor of approving the minutes say I. I. Opposed. Minutes are approved. With that
correction, next item on the agenda, approved minutes of the May 19th regular meeting. Do I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Dave. Second. Second. David. Second by David.
Discussion. All in favor say I. Opposed. May 19th regular meeting minutes are approved. Next item on the agenda, approve the following retirements. Casey, good evening board. This week we have
Christy Leine, ESP, 17 years of service. Miles Mata, bus driver, retirement, 25 years of service. And Sandra Pearson, ESP, retirement, 13 years of service. Just want to thank those three for their
years of service. recommending approval of the retirement. Motion to approve. So moved. Moved by Ashley. Second. Second. Second by Melissa. Discussion. Just a quick Mr. Chair. I just want to say thank you as well to those three
individuals. That is quite some time. Yeah. Thank you very much. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. Those retirements are approved. Next item on the agenda is is the uh to approve the consent agenda. Reminder
that consent agenda items do not have discussion, tend to be routine in nature. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved. Moved by Melissa. Second. Second. Second by Ashley. All in favor say I. I. I.
Opposed. Consent agenda is approved. Next item on the agenda is to approve the annual superintendent evaluation summary for 2425. Um I'm going to read through the
summary and this is based on the input was that was done in the surveys that everyone turned in. Superintendent evaluation summary Matt Gross 2425 school year administrative leadership. Superintendent Gross has
consistently exceeded expectations in administrative leadership. He sets clear strategic goals and successfully institutionalizes those priorities across the district. His ability to lead through a well-igned strategic plan created a strong organizational
foundation. Board members noted impressive alignment among schools and staff as well as strong emphasis on accountability and data. While recent years have required constant adaptation due to budgetary challenges, establishing a forward-looking vision will be
increasingly critical. Instructional leadership in the area of instructional leadership, Superintendent Gross has performed at an outstanding level. Numerous board members highlighting his steadfast dedication to curriculum development, instructional coherence, and student
success. Under his leadership, the district has advanced considerably in areas such as literacy and K8 curriculum integration even as resources have been constrained. Financial leadership. Superintendent Gross in collaboration
with business manager Carolyn Dean has demonstrated strong financial leadership through strategic budgeting, transparent processes, and long range forecasting. district has reached financial stability and maintained focus on minimizing the
impact of cuts on students. Some board members impressed stress the importance of clear unified messaging with respect to building public trust around financial decisions. Operational management. Superintendent Gross is recognized for his exceptional
ability to manage daily operations effectively and efficiently even amid constraint resources. He maintains open lines of communication, listens to staff voices, and ensures that operations across departments remain aligned to
district goals. His approachable leadership style has helped foster a sense of stability and trust. Additionally, his regular coordination with directors and principles was cited as a key strategy to ensure operational alignment as a district continues to
streamline resources. R&D Superintendent Gross has exceeded expectations and fostering innovation, staying ahead of educational goals. His willingness to explore new initiatives such as online learning and
solar energy has advanced the district's ability capacity to adapt and grow. He balances innovation with evaluation allowing district to move forward responsibly while remaining student centered. Board members encouraged continued agility in this
area including the will willingness to pivot when early results suggest a need for course correction. Staff, public and community relations board members consistently praise Superintendent Gross's commitment to transparent, proactive
communication, his ongoing research through road shows, public updates, and public engagement has meaningfully improved community awareness and support. He's built strong relationships with local and state leaders and is seen as a visible, approachable, and trusted
figure. Continued efforts to inform, educate, and partner with the public are encouraged. Human resources. Superintendent Gross has shown strength in managing personnel decisions, professional development, and staff
relations. He's intentional in placing strong leaders in key positions, and has demonstrated the ability to address performance issues when necessary. Board members expressed appreciation for his mentorship of new leaders and his ability to prioritize the best interests
of both staff and students and personnel issues. Evaluation and accountability. Strong evaluation system is in place under superintendent Gross's leadership. He's established clear benchmarks for success and ensures regular monitoring and reporting of
district goals. Board members noted the consistent meaningful updates that help foster reflective dialogue. His work in this area has been commendable and highly valued. overall assessment. In summary, Superintendent Gross Matt Superintendent
Matt Gross is a highly effective leader whose steady guidance, thoughtful decision-making, and commitment to improvement has served the Grand Rapids area schools exceptionally well amid challenging financial and educational constraints. He's preserved core values,
prioritized student learning, and fostered the culture of trust and collaboration. As a district looks to the future, the board encourages continued focus on long range strategic visioning, community engagement, and innovation. With these areas in mind,
the board expresses strong confidence and support of Superintendent Gross's leadership and appreciation for his tireless service to the district. Respectfully submitted, Mark V. Schroeder, school board chair.
Looking for a motion to approve the annual superintendent evaluation summary. So moved. Oh. Moved by Dave, second by Ashley. Discussion. Thank you. Hearing none. All in favor say I. I. I.
Opposed. Evaluation summary is approved. here. Take a little drink of water. It's a lot of words. Next item on the agenda, approve contract for leadership of community
education with ISD uh 698 Floodwood School Districts for 2526. Superintendent Gross. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm filling in for Melanie Debet. unable to be here tonight. Recently, the board approved a contract
for leadership with Hill City uh in community education. Uh and uh this is a similar agreement. The agreement is based like the Hill City one and the other uh districts that we partner with for community education. The main variable
driving the cost is the num the district population. Uh so our staff here, Melanie and staff will be providing leadership to community ed. The Floodwood community will have its own
programmer so they can look out there for the unique needs of Floodwood. um they'll have their own unique community uh committee but they'll be participating in the larger catalog. So they'll have access to you know a whole
bunch of opportunities and also be offering opportunities that will be available for other partners in it too. So that will bring the number of districts participating in the community ed collaborative to six. I'd recommend approval. Do I have a
motion to approve the contract? So moved. Moved by Ashley. Second. Second. Second by Dave. Discussion. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. Contract uh with Floodwood is
approved. Next item on the agenda, board reports. Tom, can we start with you? Good thing I got notes. did. Uh well, it was a busy couple weeks here, huh? Um spent a little bit of time up in Big Fork here. Felt like I was
going there pretty regularly um for very good reasons. Um on the 20th, uh we did we were going to have a advisory committing meeting up there. Uh there was some issues for a number of people, so we canled that. Um we're going to
have one coming up here next week. Uh but I did make it up there for the academic awards night. I noticed David was there also, which was great to see. Um, great to see all the awards that were given out there and scholarships
and uh, we had some really big winners up there. Uh, good to see. Um, also went up there on the 22nd for the STEM symposium. Um, Matt was there and we uh uh did a job uh judging uh some of the
presentations and I found out that my uh time management skills are very poor. You know, as it was me and the other gentlemen were the last ones in there and the poor kids uh probably got extra credit just for putting up with us. Um they should have. But it was it
was very entertaining and very good actually. Um and then on the 31st we had uh graduation up there. Um which was uh you know great to see as uh the students you know finish their days in high
school. Um and uh and uh some great speeches up there by the valadictorian and saludiatoran and I you know I look forward to seeing how they do as they go on with the rest of their careers and
and education. So, that's all I have. Thank you, Ashley. Um, well, uh, Mr. Adams had brought up a couple of different ones that I participated in at, uh, our gems. They had their color run, and he is not incorrect when he
says it's just a bunch of, um, dyed cornstarch absolutely everywhere. And the kids wouldn't even really need to participate in the run itself. They'd be happy just with their color packets in the front of the building, just throwing it all over each other. Um, it looks like it just looks like a big explosion
of color all over the front of the school. And then as you make your way down the road towards the hockey arena, past, you know, past the the fairgrounds towards the hockey arena, there's just big old splotches of color everywhere down the road. So, you know, where children have actually been hit by the
color and then they make their way back. So, that was um a really fun uh event to take part in. And then uh we had fun day at the middle school which was also the last day of school. Um and that's you
know that just gives all the kids an opportunity especially our eighth graders just like one more chance to just mess around and be kids at school. You know they have a big old bounce house and sweet treats and all those kinds of things. So that's always fun to participate in. And then Dave Cowan and
I were um we were able to participate in the Grand Rapids High School graduation. We were on the stage handing the um covers, not the actual diplomas, but the covers to all of those students. Um and it was
such an honor to participate in that. But I'm going to let Dave talk a little bit more about that because he was also there. So, um, and that was it was it was kind of a was a slow slow board week for me, but that was but it was wonderful. So, thank you, David. Uh,
yeah, again, uh, Grand Rapids High School student of the month uh, recognition. It's our final one uh, for this for this year. Uh, some really great success stories there. uh the endowment committee uh has met
and is getting organized for next fall and we'll have more reports on that and uh as Tom and Ashley have represented uh graduations as a board member that's really it's really a joy to see the
graduations see those kids that uh we've been working with for uh uh for a number of years walk across the stage and see what their plans are and what they're hoping to do. It's a real joy. Dave, um I also attended the last
student of the month. Um what was really cool this time was some of the tears that came from the teachers. Um they care so much and you can just see the emotion of how much they pour into our students day after day. And I just want to thank all of our teachers for what what they do every day. Um it's
incredible. Um, on May 22nd, I did speak with several state senators and representatives to advocate for the mascot bill amendment. Um, and then on May 23rd, I spoke with Miss Patina Park, who is the director of tribal relations with the governor's office, also to
advocate for the amendment. And as of this morning, it appears that the amendment language is still on track to be approved. So, very um thankful and hopeful at the same time. those two. Thank you. And then like Ashley said,
this past Saturday, um the Grand Rapids High School graduation on I'm sorry, this past Friday, the Grand Rapids High School graduation went about as perfectly as I think it could have gone. The weather was beautiful. The people were great. The stands were I mentioned
to Superintendent Gross, it's so cool to see it packed. Like every seat was occupied and standing room. It was just incredible. Special thanks to Christine Grover, the counseling staff, the custodial staff, the teachers, the administration, and everyone that helped
to make that incredible event so special for our students and families. Also like to say special thank you to KZY radio for coming in and providing the live stream coverage for those that couldn't attend, but just amazing experience all the way around. Um, thank you.
Well, I kind of want to end there. That was just really good. Um well uh it t the season uh contract negotiations are underway both for IASK and for district 38. Uh there was an IAS board meeting um
to just talk about some of the changes that are happening in the upcoming year with uh Greenway hiring a special ed director. And so what would that look like? And so there was some board conversation around how that might play out as it's a little bit different than the model that we're used to. Um, so
we'll keep moving forward with that. And Jackie Skellyy does just a brilliant job with that. And then too, same thing, uh, policy and legislation, right, as it's coming to an end. And, uh, never ending kind of is what it seems like. But, um,
mascot and compensatory aid are the two big ones that we kind of hit on as a board, um, and as staff in the last few days and it made a difference. And so, uh, thanks to all of those who are
supporting district 318 in that in that endeavor. So, and thank you to the staff, students. Um, for the first time, I wasn't part of a graduation ceremony. It made me sad because it is the one really good thing um about being on the
board. But the weather was beautiful and it's always so fabulous to have it on the field um when the weather's beautiful and um you really just get to enjoy uh people and the weather and the graduates. So, congratulations to all of
our graduates in Big Fork and in Grand Rapids and uh best of luck in their journey. Thank you. Um, I think most things have been mentioned. I I did participate in the Big Fork graduation and uh,
congratulations to all of the um, districts graduates. It's really the highlight of the year and as an educator, I can tell you it's the one event every year that just, you know, gives you a little bit of a a nice
feel. Uh, superintendent report. Superintendent Gross. Thank you. Uh first of all, just want to uh pass along my appreciation for the review and just uh the opportunity to work here. Um I enjoy it and um it's an honor to work
here. The last Thursday we held a meeting with uh retirees to talk about retirey health. We had about 85 people come. The the room here was full. Uh great discussion and dialogue. again. Um I think once we got past the concern
about the district uh um not the concern that the district was going to take away retirey health uh in benefits. Once people realized that wasn't what we were there to talk about, I think there was an ability to to listen more and we had
great questions. Uh there's still some things to flesh out there, but I thought it was a good start. Um we got some names from some people who are interested in continuing to stay engaged both uh from a number of different bargaining groups. uh you know some of
the employees in the room have been connected to the district for a long long time and we had a cool opportunity at the beginning just to see where people had worked and you know it was buildings it was Riverview and Togo and Effie and you know Warba and you know
these buildings that aren't here anymore and so a lot of history in the room um tried to spend some time acknowledging that uh standing on the shoulders of giants so to speak to get us to where we are today. But it was good. Um, you
know, graduation's been brought up a number of times. Probably needs to be brought up, you know, as much as possible. It, you know, when you think about 13 years of investment of all the people into every one of those kids and u really is sort of the culmination of that hard hard work and lots of energy.
So, uh, again, I'd echo the appreciation to our educators, our bus drivers, our cooks, our paras, our uh, custodians. um people that are keeping our buildings going, our teachers, uh people that work in this building behind kind of behind the scenes making sure that everybody
has what they need. Um it's really a team effort and it's a it's a real beautiful thing. Um I had the opportunity, like Tom said, to do some science fair judging and that was really fun. Um all kinds of different things
and uh it was just, you know, May is a great time in schools. I said this last meeting too, but just the culmination of so much good and culmination in the evidence of learning and evidence of a good year and evidence of relationships and growth. So, it's just really really
fun. Um, that's all I have, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Uh, reminder, upcoming schoolboard committee meeting dates are posted on each agenda. Schoolboard meeting agendas can be found in the district website and on the designated posting site at the
ISD38 educational services center. Is there any other business to come before the board? Hearing none. Julie, is anyone signed up for public input? No, they haven't. Meetings.
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