I bet you could make a logo. >> Yes. >> Can you say something to see if um our speakers are working? Okay, >> let's see here. >> Not not yet.
>> How about now? >> There we go. >> Sorry, I was on mute. That was my bad. >> I can't see you guys. Are we still broken on the camera system in the room? Yes. Okay. Can we
have a little bit of a speaker thing? >> Can I I'm not sure why. It's not coming out. >> See, I don't know if Dave can hear us now because I Dave, can you hear us? Speaker wants to come on.
>> Oh, now it's working. Okay, there we go. Sorry about that. No one speak. Sure. and then uh we can walk through that. >> Okay. Uh so we held our third session,
our third forward community advisory committee meeting um on the 23rd I believe it was. Again these were the charges given to that committee uh based on our efforts around community
engagement to examine the situation, get feedback from them and discuss some options moving forward. In our first meeting, we went over the group's purpose and dynamics. uh of the district, shared a lot of information, data, uh student opportunities, got some
feedback in between meeting one and meeting two. We went over the findings from that homework and went uh did a deep dive into school finance in Minnesota and also how that plays out in our district. And again had homework
between meeting two and three uh getting response to how can we build trust because that was a theme that came up. And then we held a similar session with staff on the 23rd. I guess this this meeting was the 24th. Uh the staff
meeting was the 23rd. And so they did two things during that meeting. They gave feedback on the question uh what do they think our priority should be? And then they responded to what the community had done. so far and we'll share their thoughts on that in a
second. Um, so this is what the staff identified as priorities uh as they you know in their responses to that feedback high quality education, recruit, retain staff,
support well-being, financial stability, class sizes came up. That's a theme that has come up with our community group as well. And so this idea of student success with strong systems um and supported people.
Then we took the uh the responses from the community advisory committee survey that had been identified and I asked the staff to rank them in the order that they uh they saw them in. And so this is how they ranked those five priorities
that the community advisory committee had identified. the community advisory committee hadn't identified them in any particular order. Um but this is how our staff rank though. So I thought that was interesting but consistent with um
sort of the feedback we've been getting from the community. >> So teaching and learning came through as a core mission from our staff. Uh we would expect that and that was strong and good. um stability, something we've talked about over the last few years as
being important. They identified school well-being as student well-being as important. Um they also identified the importance of financial stability because that leads to well-being leads to staffing stability and sports classrooms. And then um opportunities
are good but those core >> core opportunities really core conditions have to be met first. in the third meeting. Then the next night, uh we went over some data. We did a a budgeting exercise with the group
that was there and then uh Tannis Henderson led the group through a priority workshop. And so we started by sharing some data back and that's been something we've tried to do each time is if we've asked
them questions in between meetings, we've tried to look at that first. And so that question like I mentioned earlier was around trust. These are the ways u these are the ways they identified that they believe the school district could continue to increase
transparency and trust. Clear communication about our finances. Regular updates on our goals, parent teacher relationships. Uh conferences is something that came up here and came up um with our staff too. And actually we
have a group coming out of our uh meet and confer that will be working on conferences uh and how to do conferences better in the future. So the timing of this was really good. And then communication, communication, communication through lots of different platforms. And interesting that
newsletters came out as a high priority. And that jives with information that I received from Peter Leatherman in a in a who's done surveys for us in the past that newsletters uh from the school, especially from the district, are really
important ways to get information to our parents. Um, and so they're, as much as they can be a lot of work to put together, they are valuable ways to get information out to our our families especially. And then at the in the forward committee
meetings um they uh it came across about videotaping the meetings and that's something that we deliberately chose not to do because we wanted the we wanted to be a space where a comment couldn't be
taken out of context or um so that people were free to share but something that we'll take back as we debrief talking about decision-m processes. There's engagement and communication
again and then um getting into more detailed comparisons of other districts. Then we went into the budget exercise I mentioned and so really there were two outcomes of this budget exercise. One was for us as a school district um to
get a sense of where the group's priorities were, but also for the group to get a sense of what budgeting is like in a real simplified manner um for school districts. And so we proposed a fictitious school district with some issues. It wasn't intended to be us, but
it was intended to be similar to us. >> And then we proposed a challenge for them to build a budget. We gave them a total dollar amount, some restricted funds, and then they had decision making over $12 million of that, and then we
had a whole list of things with priorities that they could check the box for with costs, and so they had to figure out how they were going to spend that $12 million. So, we had great dialogue, a lot of participation, really good turnout again. Uh, and each table
had to start by identifying what their priorities were. Are they going to focus on um career in tech? Were they going to focus on keeping what they had? Were they going to focus on building stability and a fund balance? What what was their what was going to be their priority and their driver behind their
budgeting? >> Then I did a quick pause, shared some data that we've shared with you, shared with them before, but just kind of went more deeply into some graphs that you've seen. And so we're not going to dive into these. So, I didn't make them big enough to look at because it was just an
example. And then, like happens to us, we handed out a reality check. So, scenario like, whoop, >> insurance just went out. Whoop, the roof just collapsed. Whoop, we have this legislative change. You have to change this budget that you just made.
>> And that was uh kind of a great, you know, to hear the brakes squeal and um a fun exercise. And the folks were really engaged. They had a they were really into it which was fun. >> And so then we we got some feedback from
them again had them share out. We gathered all this information on um postits and and um easel paper. So we have a record of that and uh it was a really good exercise. These are some takeaways that were
identified. I won't read all of them to you, but you can kind of browse through these. >> I think these are things that we kind of deal with and we are working through our budget. So I think the the takeaways supported the objectives of the
activity. Then Tannis led us through this consensus workshop and we had half sheets and answer responded to this question. What should our district prioritize to move forward? And you can
see that there was a lot of feedback and these were then clustered with the help of the group into some uh theme themed areas and that's what we'll be starting from in the launch kind of the launch in at our next meeting on April 23rd. So we
asked people to come a little bit earlier because we decided we needed two hours and a half wasn't going to cut it. We needed every minute of it. Uh but again people commented about how the time went really really fast. Um in between now and then we'll uh this is the slide from the this is the last
slide I shared with them. So uh they'll be looking for a thought exchange link. This is going to be another communitywide sort of follow-up thought exchange like we did this fall. And so we have some baseline information from the fall. We'll kind of piggyback off
that. And then again, our comm our committee will be asked to participate and encourage those they know to to dig into that. Um, that was a full two hours, but it went really really fast. High degree of engagement and I think people are really enjoying it and so
we're looking forward to our fourth and final meeting of the year on the 23rd. >> Thank you. Any questions? Yes. >> So, >> Tom, >> on the 23rd's our final. >> Yeah. >> Then where do we I can't what's our path
from there, right? I can't remember quite >> a really important part. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Um, so the objective of that fourth meeting is for us to uh the group to put together a product to bring back here.
>> And so I don't have perfect clarity about what that is. It's going to be organically developed that night, whether that's a whether that's slides or a handout or a series of bulleted recommendations. But, um, the goal would be to have some members of that
committee, that task force, bring that to a meeting of this board here in the next, you know, probably in May or early June to say, "Hey, this is what we've been working on. This is what we think you should be paying attention to." And we plan on just rolling it into a regular meeting
>> workshop before we >> Yep. >> Do you think that's enough time or I'm just >> Yeah, I mean we it might take it might take a a we might have to kind of budget some extra time in that meeting to do or maybe we build that into the pre >> because because I I mean I mean I have
not participated in the sessions, right? And I really would like >> be great if we can get some of the people who have participated, the public to come in and and I mean I think this is >> great. >> Okay. Well, uh we'll think about the best way to do that because we don't
want it to be time limited, right? Yeah. >> Okay. All right. Any other questions? >> Any other comments? >> Uh Dave, do you have anything? >> No, I participated in a couple of them and they've been going really well. I'm bummed that I missed the last one, but I
do plan on being the on the the the final one. I'm looking forward to that. So, I think it's been uh received really well. The ones I've been part of have been enga a lot of lot of engagement in the community. >> I think that, you know, there's been really great ideas brought up. There's
also been, you know, like conversations on the side and in the group where there's kind of a well, how about this? you talk about the constraints we sort of live with and it's like oh really and and so I think there's been a lot of ahas um but also
good ideas. Yeah, I did. Um, what I would add to that too, Matt, is that what's encouraging is that yes, we have the big group discussion and exercises that we go through during those sessions and that's incredibly helpful, but I would
echo that the table discussions that we have as either part of the exercise or even uh outside of that of, you know, I've had many people say, "Oh, wow. I didn't know that." Or, "Geez, do we really have to do that?" or you know there's a lot of education that's
happening that's encouraging to see because without these sessions I don't know how some of these folks would ever get this information and now they become more educated members of the community more educated members of our district
and I would say more educated voters >> that's what happened in this last session that we just had where we were able to create our own district with the information that we had in front of us with the budget that we had in front of us. And it was, you know, it was great. We got to create this fantastic thing
with all of these staff members and all of our students were being, you know, um, given all of these equitable opportunities and then the reality checks came in. Exactly. And that's when the real education happened because that's when people had to figure out
where are we, you know, how do we make those cuts? Where do we make those cuts? What does that look like? why would that happen? You know, um what legislation took place to make that happen? There was all of these different questions and all these wise that came up and were were answered. And so, like Dave is
saying, um it was definitely um a moment where people were educated and then were able to take that in and most likely share that information out accordingly to others um within the community. So, it's been it's been quite
the educational process. We'll see where this goes. I'm I'm trying to be comfortable with ambiguity and, you know, not knowing for sure what the end is going to look like. So, we'll see. >> Any other thoughts or comments?
>> Excellent, Matt. Thank you very much. Excellent report. Uh we will take a break at this point. uh and uh re-engage at 6:30 for the board meeting. >> Julie, um will this be a new recording? Should I hang up with this one and join
again later? Or >> you can do you can either just mute your if you'd like to just mute your microphone and maybe shut your camera off for a little while. It's up to you. You don't necessarily need to stop it and start it again. >> Okay. So, I heard mute the microphone
and camera and come back at 6 >> Can you hear me better now that I'm using the mic? Sorry about that. >> Forget. >> Yeah, if you want to. You don't need to hang up. >> Um, I just push pause basically on the Google Meet. So, if you want to mute your microphone or turn your camera off
or not, that's up to you. >> Okay. >> I just I just mute the microphones in here. >> Okay. All right. I'll be back at 6:30 then. >> Okay. >> Thanks. >> I just curious. So is that the principle that typically end up talking to the
individuals when I I mean I know it's just about tenure about so it's a >> yours is >> okay >> thanks >> that's the thing Okay. We're ready. Time is 6:30. I will call the uh meeting
to order. Uh we're in the boardroom with uh Dave Collins attending remotely. Pledge of allegiance, please. 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. >> Thank you. As noted, uh Dave is attending remotely, so all of our votes tonight will be uh by voice
vote. Uh the agenda uh you have agenda before you board members. Uh I need a motion to approve. >> So second >> have a motion. Secondly, voice.
>> Sure. Tom Gustoson. >> Yes. >> Mark Schroeder. Yes. >> David Marty. Ashley Goodman. >> Yes. Melissa Bar. Yes. Dave Cohen. >> Yes. >> The uh agenda stands approved as
presented. Uh our uh first uh article of business is uh the approval of the minutes from March 23rd, the regular school board meeting which you received in your packets. Uh I would
accept to approve. >> So moved by Mark. >> Mark. >> Second. >> Second by Dave. Uh any questions or changes? Uh, Julie, voice vote, please.
>> Mark Schroeder, >> yes. >> David Marty, >> yes. >> Ashley Goodman, >> yes. >> Melissa Bar, >> yes. >> Dave Cohen, >> yes. >> And Tom Gustoson, >> yes. >> Thank you. The uh minutes of March 23rd
stand approved as presented. Uh, we move to the consent agenda. All matters on the consent agenda are staff related and considered to teams. So do not require or permit discussion uh unless somebody wishes to remove an
item. There is only one item on the consent agenda. Uh I would like uh a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> So moved. >> Ashley. >> Second by Mark. >> Second by Mark. Thank you. Uh no
discussion for that. Uh Julie, a voice vote, please. >> Yes. >> Yes. I'm gonna start with David Marty and is your mic on or can you speak closer to it? It's hard to hear. Thank you. >> Thank you. David Marty, >> yes. >> Ashley Goodman, Melissa Bar, yes. Dave
Cowen, >> yes. >> Tom Gustoson, >> yes. >> And Mark Schroeder, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. The uh consent agenda stands approved as presented. >> Uh we're looking at a resolution relating to the probationary teacher
nonrenewals. Uh Casey uh can you uh speak to that? >> Yes. Thank you. Good evening board. I'll first explain the process and offer any questions and then I will read the names before you look to vote. You have
presented a resolution relating to the termination and non-renewal of the teaching contract of multiple probationary teachers. This is an annual process as defined in statute 122A40 subdivision 5 and also aligns with our
teaching contract. A point of note is that although we don't have a budget reduction target this year, this process is still needed due to lensure requirements and other probationary decisions. All of the positions have or will be posted and we
expect many of the staff will return next year. Any questions? >> Questions? >> I have one question. >> Um, will the the names that are about to be read, are they already aware that
this is happening or is this the first time they'll be hearing this? >> Yes, great question. All of them have been in contact with their administrator or myself throughout the year and then they were officially notified on um
Thursday before our break. So, a little over a week ago. >> Okay, understood. Thank you, Casey. >> Yep. >> Any other questions or comments uh concerning non-renewals? Ju just one other question regarding it. Um
>> how how are they notified? I was talking to Mark a little bit. I think I understand, but I'm just curious. I I was I was sharing with Mark an anecdote well little experience I had in life with when I was in high school and it was a very was not handled well
>> and I won't forget that. >> So just curious how we handled the notification. Right. >> So the official notification goes by email and in this case it went Thursday before our break um from human
resources. the staff were notified ahead of time when it would be coming. Um it's at the close of the school day, so at 3:20 on that Thursday. Um anyone that was lenture related I reached out to ahead of time. They knew that it was coming and have really known all year
that they would be unable to continue due to the license. And then those that were not related to license, principles reached out ahead of time um to connect with them about the notice. >> Thank you. >> Yep. much better process than what I
experienced. >> One of the things that that I think's worth mentioning as well is we are in contact with the especially the teachers union throughout the process and and actually the the process that we use for notification
uh has been developed in collaboration with them uh so that we don't run into those situations. Sometimes um you know if we have many many people that uh that are being notified it gets more challenging and and
some people handle that information differently. And so uh this is the process that we've come up with in collaboration with our unit. Um and then having our union leaders know ahead of time helps them be prepared for
questions that they might get too. I was sharing with Mark that at the time the teacher was pulled out of the classroom and told >> and when when they came back in the individual came back in it it was >> it was difficult to get back on
coursework and back into it and and he told us what happened, right? And >> and uh it was just again the the students knew it was procedural as it is now, right? But but no matter what, you know, his reaction was I got
fired, right? I just got fired outside, >> you know, and it's just not a good So I so I appreciate the methodology for lack of a better. >> Any other questions, comments, concerns about the process uh of non-renewals?
Hearing none, Casey, uh can you read the names, please? >> Yes. So, the following teachers are included in this non-renewal. Adrienne Karstensen, Katie Christensen, >> Ryan Christensen,
>> Wendy Gray, Jordan Helerude, >> Annne Hutner, >> Amber Kongjord, >> Tiffany Morgan, >> Joseph Rabers, >> Sel Rutder, >> Aaron Saudi with a partial non-renewal of4 FTE,
>> Alice Saxton, >> Sarah Shainos, >> Peter Tine, Jessica Tunbridge, Victoria Vandershoff, Simon Wilson, Amanda Wright, and Emma Yncan.
>> And Casey, just to reconfirm, these are all uh related to uh uh the reason is >> um they're all probationary. So either due to a probationary decision or due to
a lensure requirement to non-renew. >> Good. Thank you. >> Yes. >> Any other questions or concerns? >> If not, uh Julie, we need a voice vote, please. >> Ashley Goodman, yes. Melissa Bar, >> yes. Dave Cowen,
>> yes. >> Tom Gustiffson, >> yes. >> Mark Schroeder, >> yes. >> David Marty, >> yes. Um the uh non-renewals uh have been approved by the board. Uh and
>> I'm sorry. I don't you know what we I don't believe that we did a motion and a second on that one. I didn't record it. Did >> you not hear? Did I not ask for a motion to second? >> I'm sorry I missed that part. >> Thank you. Uh I would like a motion. >> So moved. >> Melissa.
>> Melissa. >> Second by Mark. >> Second by Mark. And uh the vote still stands unless anyone objects. You got new kids at the at the hammer. Uh thank you. Uh and
Casey, thank you for that um information and uh regards to all those employees for their service. Uh we have uh health insurance premiums for the 2627
school year. Casey. >> Yes. >> Yes. So before you you have a recommendation from the fringe benefit committee. I don't sit on the committee but I do attend the meeting. So I'm just here to present on their behalf. They recently met and
um in in consultation with our consultant one digital. We've been reviewing claims and expected future claims cost and the fringe committee is recommending a 15.5% increase in premiums across both of the
health plans for the 2627 plan year. This would begin July 1st of 2026. Um the increase is expected to cover all of the projected claims and the admin costs for the next plan year.
Um, I just want to make note that the we are a self-insured plan, so it was really important and we've worked really hard with the committee to make sure that we're building up the reserves and have a a good fund balance there. So they wanted to recognize that although
this is a large increase and higher than we anticipated or would like to see, it is important to maintain that fund to to cover what is anticipated for the coming year. And the the committee is um a
recommendation only committee, but they did majority vote to bring that increase to you. So, I'm recommending approval of a 15.5% premium increase. >> I'll need a motion. >> So, move
>> uh motion by Mark, second by Dave uh to increase insurance premiums. Any questions or comments? >> Uh David, one comment. >> Yes, please. I just wanted to share uh and echo with Casey the discussion um and the work
that the committee has done has been very collaborative. Uh it was been data centric. It's been you know the information that George shares with us is very helpful. But I think the committee asks a lot of really great questions and really balances the needs
of um having a solvent fund balance to take care of our self insurance with holding premiums as close to, you know, this the slow the smallest increase as possible. It's a tough job, but I think
the committee that's there has some great insight and works really well together. So, I just wanted to commend that committee for the work that they've done. Dave, thank you. Any other comments concerning this? >> Just a question. Um, yes. Is the 15 and
a half% increase, was that the one that was recommended by the consultant one digital or is that less than what the recommendation was? >> Yeah, he had indicated it was right around 15 and a half was expected to cover claims next year. So, he doesn't
make a specific recommendation, but said that would be what was needed to cover. So we talked about a few different options um with that being the highest um and that's where they landed. So he was very comfortable with that. Anything
less would have taken from the reserves or was expected to take from the reserves. >> Great. I I just commend the committee because when I first came into the board, we hadn't raised >> um for years and we had to do a massive
increase just to begin to cover costs. um and then to create a solvent plan. Again, I mean, they've come a long way. And so, just hats off to the committee because these are tough decisions, but you can't keep kicking the can. So, I'm glad that's
>> other questions or comments, Tom. >> Um, do we do we have any we can compare this to any other, you know, any other like companies or or being self-insured, any type of pools this size? And is it
kind of in line with anyone else to compare to or >> Yeah, I I don't have a specific number for for you, but he did say that this is in line with the renewals that he's seeing. They mostly work with the public
sector districts and um counties and things of that nature, but they do have some businesses as well that are private and those are typically even higher. But he was not at all surprised by this. He's had renewals between I think he said seven or 8% and somewhere in the
20s this year. And as um you guys probably remember the last few years we have ran far under the market and we have been adding to the reserve. So we've had an increase above what we would have needed if we didn't need to build up that reserve. So this year is
kind of maybe around average or just slightly higher. But in our last few years, we're still trending below below market cuz they they've ranged from 8 to 10 and we've had increases more like five and six recently.
>> Okay. Then go ahead. Oh, sorry. Um then do do we separate out our the OPED group from the from the rest of the plan on this? So >> we did. Yes, we did in January. So they won't renew again until January of 27.
>> So their rates are not included in here. It's only the under 65. >> We do have a few early retirees, but the majority of the retirees are over 65 and they're in a fully insured plan, not the self-insured plan. And so when we talk
about OPE, this fund really kind of is the gap between what Medicaid would cover. Is that right? Just so I'm kind of understanding. And and let's say a the high event, for lack of a better term, because we're we have a separate insurance for like a we're not
self-funded for a high >> cost event, right? >> Yes. We have stop loss at 300,000. >> Thank you for the terminology. >> Yep. And then the early retirees are on this plan. So yes, yes to both of those. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Thank you.
>> But our 65 and older are part of an entirely different plan. >> It's a separate >> entirely different plan, entirely different carrier and we don't set those rates because that's a fully insured plan. So we're only setting these rates because we're self-insured. So those
rates for the 65 and older won't be set by us. Okay. Oh. Okay. So, yeah, we are not self-insured in that middle part on the OPED that night. Okay. >> No, our early retirees up until 65 are self-insured.
>> Yep. >> Um, but that's not many. Um, most of them are 65 plus and they're in that fully insured plan. >> Okay. >> Thank you. And I think it's, you know, it's worth mentioning too, um,
partly because a lot of people aren't familiar with how self-insured plans work and even I think with our employees to be reminded that the increases we take aren't just related to utilization. They
are a direct function of how much insurance we're using. So we are needing an increase because as a collective group of employees, myself included, we used enough health care to require this change. Um the administrative component
of our overall spend is is a small small part of the cost. Um so that's just what's unique I think about being self-insured. Um, and it's important for not only our community that that has a really good grasp of that, but our
employees as a whole to understand that how we react in the health care space is what drives this number. It doesn't make it easier to swallow, but but that's what's behind it. >> Matt, thank you for the clarification. Any other questions or concerns before
we take a vote? >> Uh, Julie, voice vote, please. >> Sure. >> Melissa Bar. Yes. Dave Cowen, >> yes. >> Tom Gustiffson, >> yes. >> Mark Schroeder, >> yes. >> David Marty, >> yes. >> And Ashley Goodman,
>> yes. >> The uh health insurance uh premium increase uh stands approved. Uh Casey, thank you for the information. Uh we have to consider rescending the chief
financial officer designation uh for Carolyn Dean. Um Matt, >> yeah, if you remember back to January uh at an organizational meeting, we were in between Cara officially leaving her role
and Alex coming on board. And so the board designated both Alex on his way in and Cara on her way out as the chief financial officer. And so now that we're past that point, um it's appropriate for the board to rescend the designation
from Cara. She's continuing to provide consultation services on an as needed basis, but um shouldn't be listed as our CFO uh because that role lands exclusively with Alex. Now, >> excellent. Thank you for that
clarification. Uh I need a motion um to resend. >> So moved by >> Ashley. >> Ashley and second >> second by Mark. >> Second by Mark. Thank you. Uh any questions or concerns
requests re regarding the uh >> CFO designation? >> If not, Julie will take a voice vote. >> Dave Cowen, >> yes. >> Tom Gustoson, >> yes. >> Mark Schroeder, >> yes. >> David Marty, >> Ashley Goodman, Melissa Bar,
>> yes. Uh with thanks to Carolyn Dean uh we've rescended her status as a CFO and appreciate her service and continued uh assistance for our uh for our board and
organization. Uh moving on, we need a financial report and uh Alex Kaser. >> Yeah, up to you. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair and good evening board. Um, so just wanted to explain that there's, you know, the reason for,
um, a couple new documents in the board packet. Early on when I started, um, had some conversations about how can we more consistently provide an easy to read, transparent report each month to the board that
helps everyone understand where where the district's money is, um, how it's being held, and kind of how it flows, um, within the funds. So um as you said this is just information only. I can go through it as much as anyone wants or if
anyone has any questions about the reports that were presented to the board. >> I'd like to make one comment. Oh >> I really appreciate it. Um, I I you
know, I like having the ability to kind of look at where where we budgeted, how that's tracking relative to that. As we've discussed, I I like what you did. You did a little different than what I was envisioning, but I actually like what you did better. How's that?
>> So, well, so >> when I started working on it, I found, you know, kind of struggling to come up with the best way to put it on paper. So, I am open to any suggestions or ideas. Um the the one question I had was and and I go back, you know, I'm kind of
trying to look at the 30,000 foot view, right? Um and I go to your last where we had talked about the trending versus budget, right? Um on there it had a fund five that it had listed from way back when. And I was just curious cuz it's no longer in there and I didn't see a
description for what do we and and I know I'm grabbing you right out of nowhere with this blind question, but what what was that fund five? >> That's um the capital expenditure fund capital. >> Um so some districts, especially in our area of the state, separate out
transportation, capital, student activities, but from the state's perspective, it's all part of the general fund. >> Okay. So, a decision was made at some point to discontinue the use of fund five a couple years ago, it sounds like. >> Okay. >> But we included on there just to point out that if that was active, that would
be part of that general fund. >> Again, this is for information only. Any other questions or comments for Alex regarding the financial reports? >> Did Dave have
>> uh No, no, I didn't. Sorry about that. >> Okay. Thanks, Alex. Nice job, Alex. Thank you very much. Much appreciated. Um, we're moving on to partnerships and board reports. Um, we'll start with our
student representative, Aaron. What's going on in school? Um, so spring sports have pretty much all started here. Um, so with that being said, um, baseball has a game tomorrow at home against Superior. Softball has two games this
week at home. One on Tuesday against Superior and then one against Alexandria on Friday. Um, girls lacrosse plays Centennial on Friday and Chicago Lakes on Saturday. Boys lacrosse plays the Duth Wolfback um Duth Denfield and Duth
East combined at home on Thursday and then they're in Cloquet on Saturday. Track and fields had two indoor meets so far. Um, their first outdoor meet is on Thursday in Anoka. Um, girls flags football started their season today with
games to come on Sundays. Um, and then boys tennis has a match tomorrow in Rock Ridge. >> Um, student council has been really working on prom with purpose which is coming up this Thursday. Um, we're still looking to receive donations and finish
planning. Um, but it's look looking like it's going to be a great event. Um we're going to have grand a grand march and dance um with a lunch provided for everyone who's there. Um Key Club is picking up their events again um and
right now they're looking at their 26 27 leadership and how that's um going to shake out. Um her band, the jazz band went to New York over spring break. Um they went to several jazz clubs and a jazz themed
Broadway show called Buenovista Social Club. Um Jazz Fest is coming up here at the end of April. Um with both high school jazz bands, the middle school jazz bands, the jazz square, and then the community jazz band. Um and then there's the guest artist will be Eric
Marionthal. Um and then the next concert band concert is May 4th with guest artist Rex Richardson. Erin, thank you. That's lot lot of things going on, a lot of things to keep track of. And a special uh note of thanks and
appreciation to uh coach Span uh for his recognition uh in the district for uh as coach. Um thank you uh Tom. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Um, last week I was able to attend the Rams lunch, um, where they had the
city and, uh, city and townships and also the school districts meet with with, uh, state representatives and senators. Um, uh, unfortunately, it wasn't as well attended by by the legislators in
person. Um, but, um, Senator Farnsworth and Representative Scrao were there. Um, Representative Igo was was able to attend um via teams and and but had gave a presentation but uh was unable to be
around for a few questions that came up later. Um, Senator Hoschild was uh unable to attend but he had some representation there listening on. Um, we were able to uh you know the the school district portion was right at the
end. Um, I got my one question in. So, so we at least got something on there. Um, but, uh, it was it was, you know, it I do appreciate that format that they're doing there. Um, and and it's, uh, um,
you know, to go to go to Mount Iron to get in front of them is uh, well worth my time versus trying to get down to the cities for a a battle round around. Um, so, uh, we were able to get in front of them and talk and, uh, and it was, uh,
hopefully, uh, we keep getting the same message out and and that's all we can try to do. So, that's all I have, Tom. Thank you, Mark. >> I just have two things. I participated in the board advisory
meeting last week and the participation was really excellent. Um, I think that's really a a process that is um working for us and I've been uh participating in some uh negotiation sessions. That's all I have. Mark, thank you. I have nothing
to report. Ashley. >> Um I also participated in the forward um committee community meeting and it was probably one of the most um engaging meetings that we've had so far and
mainly because uh that was uh again we discussed this earlier in the evening but it was a process that allowed our community members to fully understand what it means to have you know the imaginary district that you
could that you could absolutely dream of with all of the funds that you that you want and need and then to have to have it have that rug pulled out from underneath you and and the wise that come with that. Um and so it was interesting to to hear all of the oh no,
how are we going to do that and why oh man, we don't have you know it was just interesting to listen to everybody's um thought processes after we had to make cuts or we had to kind of backpedal a little bit. So that was that was a a good meeting to be a part of. Um
and I just have a quick question for Aaron about prom with a purpose. Is that at the Refe? >> Yes. >> What time does that start? >> Um it's okay. No, you're fine. >> Grand March is at I think I have a
remind about it. Let me double check. >> While you're looking, one more question. What other school districts are part of that purpose? Do you know? >> I believe this year it's just our district. Um, in the past it has been I
ask I think but there was some staffing changes that led to some like difficulties there, but we're looking at expanding it back again next year. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Ashley. >> Uh, Melissa. Yeah, I too attended the
Rams legislative lunch and some of us attended last year where it was just school board and just a reminder these legislators were actually on vacation last week so showing up is a big deal. I mean they were on break. Um and so yeah,
Spencer was working another job as he put it. Um and uh Senator Hoschild had some uh a death in the family so was unable to attend. So, just, you know, we have other legislators who didn't come.
Um, so maybe next year, uh, we can take a look at timing on that, maybe with Paul and see if there's a better time. Fridays often legislators can meet locally a little bit easier. But, um, we can check on that. one thing that was
wasn't brought up which you always think of something when you get to the car and I thought of something when I got to the car and that was the seasonal uh unemployment payments and nobody actually asked a question about that. Um I do know that there is legislation and some conversations moving but
all the legislators said that there's not a lot that's going to happen yet. there's been 4,500 bills introduced in the last So when they say they don't know about a bill, it may not be that they don't care. It's just that there's so many bills in
motion right now. Um after this session, uh they start back at zero. So like the legislation that was introduced last year is still in play this year. So just know like it's kind of like a clean slate next year. So, we'll see some of the same bills come up again and some of
them come up for 10 years before they even really move. So, um it was really interesting. I did think because we were at the end of the agenda. So, it was like uh townships and and others went first. There was only like 10 minutes, I
think. So, Tom got his question in with with like 10 minutes. Um, and so maybe next year. Although it was nice to see that everybody is struggling with the same issues. And it doesn't matter if it's a school district or a township or
a city. I mean, everybody's struggling with a lot of the same issues, which makes you feel a little less crazy. So, >> that was a lot to be said, but I, you know, interesting. And I would love to see the kids from New York. Uh, did they ever come in? If they did, I missed it.
Did they come in and do a presentation? The kids that went to New York? No, >> usually they come back and they give us a little like a little presentation. >> They got back from New York on Wednesday. >> Okay. So, so just recent. So, we'll give them a break, too. Same thing. Like, we
haven't really they're still coming. They're still coming back around. >> Great. Thank you, >> Melissa. Thank you. Uh Dave, >> uh yeah, a few things. Um some uh interesting last couple of weeks. Uh I was able to uh as part of the Refe Arts
Council welcome the band Soul Asylum to the Refe Center which was kind of a treat uh and heard a lot of great um just reviews of of that acoustic performance. Um which was kind of a neat deal. Uh and I also attended the recent
production of The Wizard of Oz that had a lot of our kids from our schools in it and it was incredible. It was a little bit surreal sitting there watching Dorothy um and and given our Judy Garland stuff in Grand Rapids. It was it was kind of
cool. But hats off to the entire U Refe staff for great production and these kids that we have in our community are pretty pretty talented, pretty amazing to see. Um I scheduled and then had a one-on-one discussion with Spencer Igo regarding our legislative priorities and
I think it went really well. Um he we just did a team's call and he shared a a pretty positive outlook on his um his his or the constitutional amendment to increase the permanent school um dispersement amendment. Uh and
so we'll see where that goes, but he felt when we talked pretty pretty good about where that was headed. So um fingers crossed that goes well. Um, unfortunately I've not yet uh even heard a response to my email from Representative Davis on doing the same
thing. I still would like to connect with him, but just have not heard back. Um, participated in several negotiations with a few barber units. Um, uh, thank you David for running the meeting tonight in my absence. I appreciate that. And then the last
thing, a question for Matt and our facilities team is, you know, it's been a few weeks now, so I'm just wondering if we have an update on a plan for our camera system getting fixed. That's all I have. >> The one in the room here, David.
>> Correct. >> Yeah, I don't have an update on that. >> Okay. >> I actually do have an update. Just today, um, this morning, I got an email said they're on their way up here. Luckily, we were here today. Um, and
they took a look. It's the camera splitter that just had no power and it's the power >> pack in there that is bad. And so, it's 12 volt five lot. Uh, I wrote it all down, all the
details. >> Um, they didn't have a powerful enough one here in Grand Rapids. Um, so they are looking elsewhere down or down in the cities where the company is from to get a >> a large enough power pack for that
camera splitter. And I would anticipate our next board meeting then is on April 20th and it should be fixed by then. >> Awesome. Thank you, Julie. >> Welcome, >> Julie. Thank you. Uh Dave, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Um, Mr.
Superintendent, do you have a report? >> Yeah, just two things. Uh I included in your packet some guidance that I put together. You know, we talked about the trip to New York. Uh that's an example of a domestic trip. Um and we've done a
lot of work on field trip approvals and the process and things like that in the last few years at the policy level. Uh that falls into particular category that um comes to my desk ultimately for approval after being approved by the
principal. we have other trips uh when they leave US soil that come to this board to approve. And so uh I'd gotten a lot of questions about decision- making around trips. Um and I think from a transparency and kind of a trying to
keep things equal or fair as much as we could. It was important for staff to have something to look at. Um so I put this together. I got some feedback from a number of parties and I let the groups that traditionally travel I gave them a
copy of this so they could have it take a look at it and also to the principles that are that work in the buildings that uh have traveling happening so that they can give it to anyone that may be considering this uh in the future. So,
I'm just giving it to you for for information. Might be something that the board wants to take a look at uh for when trips come to you. You don't have to use this guidance, but it might be useful for you as well. So, just sharing that with you. Um
the last thing I had a compensatory revenue task force meeting today and very interesting we met with state department from New Mexico. Uh we were curious about some reform they've done to their student uh funding formula
particularly around students at risk and they have an interesting system where instead of using forms or direct certification to identify kids in poverty they are using um
the the data systems in their state and relationships exist where the state Department of Education can communicate with the uh Department of Revenue on income taxes and match
children to their household and they get about 70% of the data they need from that match and then they get about 17% of their data. Then if if a kid doesn't get matched there, they work with Department of Human Services through
kind of a direct certification process. The G that gets them that next what I say 17% and then the remainder they're able to use census track data to um as a proxy for any child that might not be attached to one of those other two
methods. And they said last year there were only seven kids in their state that they weren't able to match with one of those three mechanisms. So, it was very interesting to our committee because one of the big questions we've been trying to resolve is what's the most accurate way to identify children that are in
poverty or that are at risk because of that. And so, I think um it was interesting the next step will be to see, you know, check around with our units of of at the government level to see what relationships and data systems exist. Not that we're ready to land on this,
but to know that there might be another option we hadn't seen in this depth before is interesting, but um the there's a lot of I know pingpong being played with compensatory revenue holds. Um down at
the state, the state does have a minimum spend level in law that is actually more than what the current law would cost. And so the state will have to come up with a way to um spend that additional
compensatory revenue. It's less than this current fiscal year but more than what's uh the current law has for next fiscal year. That's really confusing. But um in the event that even they can't afford to hold harmless, there might be
some sort of prorated option that uh that could be that'll have to be looked at really because of that the way the law is written. But a lot of questions about that still up in the air. >> Mr. Superintendent, thank you. Uh any questions or comments for the
superintendent? >> I I guess I had one. Um the the model that that is intended to be used for compensatory right now. How was that formula developed? Do you
have any background on that? like you know because they're basically saying we're not we're not taking forms anymore. We're deciding if you're low risk. How are they getting that data or are they just randomly picking it or I how do they make their judgment choice?
>> Yeah. So there the the state went through a process of going from forms to forms and direct certification to what's on the books for fiscal 27 is direct certification only and students are
identified as direct certification are directly certified if they uh or their household participate in um federal county benefits things like that like SNAP or EBT if they're
adjudicated. Um and so we have to report that data anyway. Uh >> so that that's what they put in place. The reasons behind that I've heard a variety. One of them is that some districts have had challenges collecting
forms and so that it's they you know they're like well let's make this formula easy. I don't think it was a good idea. uh it underounts students that are reduced price. It really underounts them. There are some factors or multiplication
factors that can be put in place to sort of account for that. But um when I look at the districts that were harmed the most by the change to the current formula, it's districts that collected a higher percentage of forms, which we did,
and districts that uh have a higher percentage of students that would fall in a reduced priced category, which we do. And so, um if a district didn't fall into those categories, they might have come out ahead.
So, um, that's the history of kind of that's where that that's how that landed where it was. >> Matt, can I add add a quick quick note to that? I think what you're saying is that districts that didn't do as good of a job of collecting forms may come out a little more ahead with the new model,
but they were running short of what they should have been receiving that whole time. Right. So, >> yeah, I'd say that's probably accurate. you know the I think yeah I think that's probably accurate if you go back to the forms only days I think they were running short compared to what they what
they should have been receiving. I think the you know in the in the research that we've done on the task force there are many districts many many states where they're using multiple data points to count children. um they're using forms
and direct certification like we did for at least a year or they're using forms and family questionnaires that they do every three years or they're using multiple measures to try to most accurately identify the number of
children that fall into that category. Um, I think doing anything short of multiple measures is going to underount or at least not be accurate. >> One more thing I just So, and bottom
line, if we don't do forms, the federal government's not going to step in at all. Is that a correct statement? I I mean, what the state gets from the feds is going to be based on those forms. >> Yeah, we'll still have to do forms. we will still have to collect forms because
it's a federal requirement. So, we'll still have to do that. It just won't directly affect compensatory revenue. Um, the other thing that's that's really challenging about direct certification because the federal government has made
changes to Medicaid, Medicare, some of those federal programs made it more challenging to qualify. that's going to affect the number of families that qualify for those programs, which will directly affect the
direct certification uh count. So, I don't know that that impact entirely been quantified, but it's unquestionable that it that it will. The other thing that that districts are
dealing with and and I think you know the the dynamics that exist as a result of operation metro surge whether you you know wherever you land with that that affected >> that has had an effect on
>> some famil family's willingness >> to communicate >> or provide information >> to >> certain organizations and what we're finding And and what we're hearing from school districts um is that
families still feel comfortable sharing information with their schools, >> but outside of their schools, they get nervous and may not participate or may not engage. And so, uh, not having forms as part of the
solution, unless there's a a really large a really large change, I think will be a problem for for our state to not have forms at least be a part of the solution. >> Excellent. Uh, Mr. Superintendent, thank you very much. appreciate the update on
uh uh comp services. Uh the uh uh guidance on student travel uh is an excellent uh report and we had the uh update on forward earlier uh in our uh workshop session. So thank you very much
Mr. Superintendent. Uh meeting announcements. Uh we have uh uh upcoming schoolboard and committee meeting dates posted on each agenda. Uh the meeting agendas can be found on the
district website and on designated posting site at ISD 318 educational service center. Uh we won't uh read those here uh but they're available uh online for anybody who wishes to see
that. Is there any other business that should come before the board this evening? >> Hearing none uh I hereby adjourn the meeting. Thank you. >> See you Dave was supposed to take a moment. >> Oh you can't see me. I'm waving.
Are we are we voting to adjurnn or what are we >> uh probably you said uh is there a motion to adjourn >> no >> okay >> we're journed >> thank you see you
I'm a very