else. I really liked number one, if you read that email, I put it in red on the new sheet I gave you, the old one online, everything highlighted um is new material or new things that happened over the weekend cuz we had a lot going on this weekend. So, it just was really nice that uh you know, we we like we put
a lot of emphasis on winning and winning is important, but when you get an email like that, you know, talking about our kids opening doors for people picking up garbage on the on the floor, that is not really normal. Well, I hate to say that, but I I thought you guys would like to see that. Uh, number two, this is the
new for we're going to use it for for college signings among many other things, but this is something that that I purchased out of. We have those um calendars that we do every year. And we get a certain portion of that and I threw some of that money to pay for the
speaker system in the gym and then also here. But this is the tablecloth that'll go in front of it. And that's the backdrop. So, we just put that up in here so you guys can see when our kids have signings. We got something looks a little more official than the wall mat in the gym that we've done for 112 years or something like that.
Um the third one, we did just recently receive these academic awards and I I did put down what it takes for teams to receive those awards. coaches submit um there's a deadline they have to submit their their full teams um cumulative GPA and our girls tennis
team won the the um silver and our girls volleyball team got the gold so congratulations to them. Uh number four again BPA had we have 15 kids going to the state tournament. We have changed that to a club. So they are doing some fundraising and doing concession stands
and things like that that that pay for like their hotel and things like that now. But we do have 15 different kids going to participate in that coming up here. And I have the date there March 5th, 6th and 7th. One act play um went really well that day. We had
32 teams or 36 teams of elementary basketball. We put signs around and closed doors off and there was no interference one way or the other. and it it went as smooth as as it could have even uh our team placed for the first time since 2003 I think is what Jen came
up with where we took second place you know so it was a good day we had no complaints from the the schools that came intended here and I assume that that we're going to get in the future to have a really nice really nice facility we found a few few things that we could tweak but nothing that anybody anybody
noticed so it was a good day and and our team did really well number six. You can see math league. That's where I spelled Shamala wrong. Kennedy Shamala EMTT Mock and um they are in the top 25 of Math League going
on today. We hosted the regional event and had about 90 math league members here. Uh we expected to be done and cleaned up about three and at at 1:00 everybody was out of the building. So it went really smooth. Mr. Olsen did the majority of the work. He did a fantastic job. But uh sounds like they're
interested in us maybe hosting it again. It's been at ACGC for years, but people really like to come in here to our facility, too. They they like the big commons area and things where the teams would sit. Number seven, Knowledge Bowl has been doing really well. It's a smaller group. Seth Al does a good job.
He is he's having his practices at nights to to help so the athletes and stuff that want to be a part of it rather than having it after school. So, he basically sits in the boardroom until they're able to get out from practices and things like that. And we're really having some success. So, that was something that was added. We went all
the way to Gleno Silver late this weekend and and we only had three. I think you can have four on a team. So it was Kennedy, Olivia, and Ethan Deacon and they took second place getting edged uh by Melrose, I believe 5453.
So that's actually pretty impressive. Um I just went to the section dance meet this weekend. I will say that I'm really glad I don't have to host that. looks like chaos, but they do a good job over at Monido. And our team performed really well. They did not qualify for
state, but our team did um place third in the conference meet this year, both and that was just a week ago in jazz and in high kick. I'm not sure we've ever done that. As far back as as I can remember, Jamie's been the coach for 15 years. I don't think we've ever placed top three. Uh and again, as I added
there, Lacapar Valley was state champions in both last year. Jazz and high kick and yellow medicine east were runner up in the state in both. So the two teams that beat us in the conference are the defending state and runner-up champs. So our our girls did a great job.
Gymnastics. Um we do have two girls that start for that and they had they just finished fourth place in the West Central Conference. And you will see down below that um I have the the date which I think is next Saturday
where I have my gymnastics 214. So that and that's close in Wilmer. So if anybody has the ability to go see we do have two starters Patty Cassella and Nia Post um and they seem to be doing really well. They went to state last year as a team and even though they took fourth in the West Central Conference, it sounds
like they're neck and neck to um you know try to get a win the title again in the section. Could go state tournament again. Quount wrestling. This just added today. We ended up we're pretty low seed. Didn't have a great record this year. Our numbers are up. I think our technique is improving. Um we got a
brand new head coach this year that is doing just a fantastic job. I really think this program is going to turn around in the next few years and and start winning some matches. It's it's it takes a little time. The numbers are are number one and then and then the technique and the competition will
continue to improve. But we wrestle bold at 6:00. We are they're eight and we're nine. We did go one and one with them this year. And so we'll wrestle at 6:00 in M. And then the winner takes on Mota, which is not a good thing because Mot's number one seed and I'm sure they're probably ranked pretty high in the state, too. But, um, still it'll be fun
to get that that first round and be able to go to the 7:30 match. See, uh, girls basketball play updates and boys and hockey and gymnastics. Look down below. You'll see all that stuff. And at the bottom, I do have all of our track or excuse me, all of our track
japers, spring sporting event start dates. But so, you'll see Blake Grimsley, his coach did send me a um action photo of him. Are you able to move through my 10 photos on it? >> I've been going through. >> Okay. Then this was at the Tracy
tournament. Seventh grade team. Then we have an eighth grade team at the Tracy tournament. One of them played second tonight. I think it was seven, but this was our dance team at the conference. Section dance. I took a picture of just the D Jazz and I got an action photo and
the high kick. They did do really well. One act place section runner up. They were all pretty proud. >> Do you want to go through them all again? I was going through when you were talking. >> Yeah. Just go back to the beginning. You can go backwards or start right here. Yeah.
>> Okay. We don't we don't offer necessarily a powerlifting club, but Seth Faulk asked if I had any problem with him starting to work with some kids and do it on on the side on his own. And I think they are doing a little fundraising, but these four are competing for him right now and they they are going to attend a competition
coming up here. And then this was an action photo of Addie Cassella. She was really happy when I showed that eighth grade health this week. And that's me at Post on the balance beam. She's higher off that than she is. Oh. And then this is Addie was actually all conference. She is about 1,
two, three, four, five, six from the left. So she was selected as first team all conference for the West Central. And then the next one you'll see on the left is Mia. She was honorable mention. And was that all I had? Yeah. And then the BPA. These are the 15 that qualified
for state competition in March. So that's what I have. Unless you guys have any questions. >> Don't anybody have any questions or comments? >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you guys. >> Oh, excuse me. Backside if you want to
see the percentages by grade of participation in different sports and activities. It kind of gives you um you can kind of follow by grade too. So that's why we put six years on there. You can follow follow them up there. See
where we're losing participants or gaining. So that's just for your enjoyment. All right. Thank you guys. Have a good night. >> Thank you. All right. Now we'll go back to 3.0 approval of the
agenda. So I need a motion for that. So move. Okay. A second. >> Second. Okay. Any discussion, questions on that? Not those in favor of approving the agenda say I.
>> I. I. Those opposed, nay. Right. That carries. 4.0 public comment. We have none. 5.0 is the consent agenda. So, I will need a motion to approve the consent agenda.
>> I'll make that. >> Okay. Mark second. Anyone? I'll second. Okay. All right. Any discussion on that? Those in favor of approving the consent agenda say I. >> I. Those opposed, nay. Right. That
carries. Okay. So 6.0 is our administrative reports. We just heard from Jim who wanted to go early so we could get to the game. So Mr. Todd Virtum, you work up next. >> All right. Thank you. Good evening everyone. So, we're going to highlight
our fourth grade class or the class of 2034 tonight. And the first slide is the same slide that was sent out in your kind of board packet. Uh that just kind of highlights the demographics of that class. So, a class of 57. Uh at one
point in the year there were 60. So, that number kind of flows a little bit throughout the the year. Uh pretty even. You can see the split for uh boys and girls. And then the uh the ethnic breakdown, special education, multi- language, free lunch, and then the the
activities. We couldn't track exactly uh without breaking it down kind of one by one through each one, but we looked at kind of football, girls basketball, and then some of the the extra community ed. So, it's going to be in the low 60s is is pretty safe. So, uh well over half
are involved in some type of activity. Uh the biggest ones would be football, boys basketball, and girls basketball. And then just a handful on things like uh an arts and craft or guitar lessons or things like like that through community.
You can see very similar to our fifth grade class, the attendance is outstanding. So throughout the first semester, so not quite to where we are today, but almost n 95 um percent daily average. So way above the state average.
And you guys know know this, but the most important thing for us is to get kids at school to help them learn. So the biggest drawback to academic scores is when we don't have kids that are coming to school. I think last year um in our state report, we had two kids in
the elementary that we turned into receive um referrals on. So um we do a really nice job there. And that kind of links in with, and it's not on on the slide yet, but uh in your packet, it links into some of those student uh surveys that you have. So, they feel
safe at school, 90% of the grade. Their teachers care about them, 95%, they've got friend at school. Um they follow the Wolverine way, 98%. So, just a lot of connections to our school. So, we're really proud about the social and emotional learning. And that's a big
reason why that attendance is so high cuz they feel like they belong here. they feel safe here and they have friends here. So, um that's the first step before we can tackle the academics that go along with it. Uh the later slides kind of highlight those challenges that we're uh continuing to
to work on. Uh we're really focused on on reading because of the the read act. Uh math goes right along with that. You can see our data is from the year before the third grade MCA test. And then I broke it down on the fast bridge scores. on the fast bridge scores. We'll show
you from third grade and then fourth. So, uh three times in third grade, two that are done in fourth grade. And uh I just want to um kind of highlight or at least point out it's it's a lot of data, but we're getting better and better at it. And I'm not going to pass this
around for you, but but we can print off packets like like this that I'm showing you that will show every student in that grade. and then it shows their improvement from one test to the next. So, we can look at them kind of um specifically. And what we're looking for
is sometimes a student is at risk on the first test and is still at risk on the second test. If you just looked at that data, you would feel like you're not making gains, but that isn't true. So, I've got one student here that was at risk with a 59. The next test at risk,
but at a 100. and that put them in the 90th percentile for growth. So, one of the top growths of all the fast bridge tasks, but still at risk for this break, but then it projects and if they continue on that growth, they would move
into low risk by the end of the year. So, that's the kind of data that we like to look at. Not just what category are they in, but are they making gains? And uh in this class uh we range from about 78 to 90% depending on fluency or just
uh reading comprehension scores on those gates. So that means that 90% of our kids in that grade are making progress towards that next test. So u sometimes when you see the data, it's just showing you what broad category they're in, but it doesn't always measure the growth that we're seeing. So just wanted to
point that out to you. Uh the video clip that we've embedded here is a little bit long, so I'm going to talk fast and and try to go through the last slides pretty quickly. It's going to be our fourth grade staff kind of talking about the importance of reading and kind of how to instill that love of reading in into
their students. Um we definitely have to focus on the core parts of it, you know, the fluency, comprehension, uh morphology, being able to sound out words, but we also want them to like what they're doing. So, they have to balance that instilling a love for
reading while they're trying to um make those gains and those reading skills. So, I'll let them kind of walk you through that and then you'll get a chance to hear the kids talk about some of their favorite books, too. Well, it depends on my kid because really some students really come in
enjoying reading and other students come in and they really are hesitant or they haven't found their niche yet and it takes them a while sometimes. How like
>> in my classroom? I I think Jennifer does it too. Um um first chapter Fridays we read. Did you do that too? Yeah. We um take a book and read the first chapter to just kind of like give them a preview because sometimes kids will just get a
book and read three pages and oh, I don't like it. I'm gonna put it back and start a new and they never really finish a book. >> Also, like doesn't always say much about the book. So, they'll discover interesting um and
then from there they don't like the book and try going back to it. So, reading the whole first chapter a little bit more in the book. >> Yes, exactly. >> Yeah. And definitely just getting them more exposed to chapter books because
they are so intimidated by the length of them and getting them, you know, it's okay if it doesn't have a picture. That's why we are learning about visualizing visualization so that they can have a picture in their heads. And yeah, that's the fun part about it.
>> And sometimes a book like the length of it can be very intimidating, especially for reluctant read. So the floor DJ Sorry about that. >> Oh yeah. Magnetic one. change my password.
Do any of the MCA, the reading or the math scores, any of those meet exceed any of those uh percentages surprise you at all? >> Yeah. Not not in a positive way. That's I'm hesitating. Yeah. I And it it's tough in
in third grade because you don't have that data before it. Um we were just starting with fast food. So, uh just trying to figure out where those gaps were at. >> Um as you know, we put some things in place last year really geared towards reading. Uh this year we've added some wind time for math. So, we're trying to
fill those holes. Um, but it's a a process through it and uh you're only as good as the data that you collect when it comes to inter interventions you can provide for it. So, uh that data is still useful even if it's not as high as we'd like. It helps us kind of um laser
in on what we want to really work on. >> Yeah. >> Wednesday. And it just gives kids a opportunity to actually feel successful because sometimes Yeah. Sometimes it, you know, oh geez, that's a big book. I don't
think I can do that. Well, sure you can. You know, let's find a way so we can have that visual to be able to, hey, yeah, I can. And to piggy back off back on that, too. I've done that before. And have them keep a notebook paper with it. And just write a sentence or two after
that chunk of reading. what did I learn about reading so that when they're done they they can reread their notes and you will forget what the beginning was like especially when it takes a couple weeks
and some kids this is their first time reading a full chapter book by themselves >> you know so and that's a big thing for them so we have to reward them and succeed like they've made their their goal I think you have to find what they're
interested in. Um, and just break it down. Start with that basic, like Stephen said, start with that basic skill that they have spiraled back and forth and then find what they're interested in and then go slowly deeper.
And as a personal experience, I was a reluctant reader. I I hated reading. I was not good at it. So I use that a lot with my kids like, "Hey, I did not like reading, but now like if I have the opportunity, I'm going to pick up a book and read it." So just because you don't think you're good at it or you don't
enjoy it in fourth grade doesn't mean that you're not going to come to love it later in life. you touched on >> and just exposing them to the different books and genres so that they can find
>> what they love. And I think too um having the we do a book talk with or is it book talk booking tasting a book tasting with um Char from both library and our library and she does a great job
getting that all set up. So they go to the different genres and they flip through the books, read it, like look at the pages, read a couple pages, read the back of the book and gets them exposed to different genres that maybe they didn't know. And then they write down,
you know, what they see, what they like, and they make a list of books they want to read. So it gets them that exposure. And she's a great resource. I had um kids who come in who really enjoyed reading. And when you're at that fourth grade level and they really enjoy
reading and they've read all the series that we can think of, the content sometimes for those higher level books are not necessarily fourth grade appropriate. So Char is a great resource like, hey, so they've read this, this, this, and this. What else would would be
a good pick for them? And she's done a really nice job of that as well. >> Yeah. Yeah. Because she's knowledgeable. >> Very knowledgeable. Yeah. They really get excited about trade books. So that's why we we have a lot of
passion for them and their test scores on these trade books are always phenomenal because they're so interested and we go in so deeply with the skills that I think >> it really does trade books are a great
resource for us to use. >> Yeah. That dialogue that we get with them sometimes even they'll say something and oh yeah I hadn't thought of that. you know, I've been teaching this book for what, five, 10 years, and like I hadn't thought of that, but yeah, you're right. You know, so sometimes
their perspective definitely makes us go deeper than what we necessarily don't always do. So just that talking back and forth and >> yeah, I think that's important to note too though when we do trade books, we still bring in all of those skills and
tie as many of those skills to the trade book as possible. um just gives them a different perspective than just a short shorter bagel story. >> And it it lets those kids who maybe aren't necessarily great at reading
be able to verbally or auditorially learn because that's just the best way for them. So, >> we're reading book. >> Oh, yeah. >> Yeah.
And just even if we're not asking questions about the book, the questions they come up with and when the real life connections and making connections is another fourth grade standard that we
have to do. So, you know, even the text to text, I read a book that was kind of like this and how it was different. Uh, >> the vocab, >> the vocab, >> we get a lot of vocabulary and working with vocabulary and seeing it in the context of the book. And then
sometimes it comes later in the book and they remember they're like, "Oh, yeah, that was at the beginning." and um so doing a lot of work with that entails the vocab >> or we used the vocab word in one of our um lessons and they're like oh yeah we
we know that word. So then they feel like extra excited because they didn't have to like learn the word so to speak, you know, they already knew it and they knew how to what it was supposed to look like in the context. And yeah, no.
Um, it's where this guy was going skiing and then his little brother um didn't like where he was going and then he off his legs. Now he's in a wheelchair and then he has um well he uses the public
security cameras to check all over and he's seen a candidate, a squirt box and a my book is about this thing about it problem stuff. The main problem is
there's this lower street team, higher street team. They don't like each other and they're having this huge snow cuz it's winter and they make faces. I'm reading Charlotte's Web
by It's about a big um going to talk about Harry Potter's death part two. Um, probably when
Harry defeats the people. >> He casts a spell and it's really powerful. My book is brave like my brother and it's about when one brother is in
the in World War II and the other brother wants to be with him but he can't and they send a whole lot of letters and then he tries to go to World War II with his brother. What was your favorite?
>> When the um younger brother tried to go to go to World War II with his older brother. >> All right. Uh what would you say? Um, Jamie B. Jones has an algor
>> um, so it's like about where um, her uncle says there's a monster under her bed, but after like the reading and stuff, there's actually no monster near her bed and stuff. Maybe
set. suit. >> I don't know why you want suit >> because it kind of helps me cuz my cousins cousins fair child.
>> Oh, okay. So, >> it's about Susanna, her sister, and her dad. They lost their mom at siege on ship trying to get Oregon when they stopped in California once their father heard that it was gold. So, we thought
that they could they use the gold to replace the money that they lost at sea. Okay. >> You know that covers? >> Yes. They end up leaving California and going back to working where their
family is and ends up getting married. >> Yes. >> Happy ending. >> Yes. Cut. Start over. >> All right. So fourth grade is uh what one of those really big transition years from third to fourth grade. The rigor in
both reading and math expands. Uh the expectations go up. So um that first quarter is a real learning curve for me before they kind of hit hit that uh that groove as we go through some of the photos. But there's a lot of fun things that take place in fourth grade just like every other grade uh that comes up.
Um homecoming is one of those early events. Can you smell? >> And of course that involves all of the dress up days that uh that go along with it and a real chance for them to kind of build that connection within that class and they have matching color days and a
chance to kind of celebrate those events that happen. The one on the right, uh they had set up some stations in in the gym that kids could go through and kinds of activities and that's the kind of photo station that they could go to there. Uh shortly after that, we go into Veterans Day and
uh our fourth and fifth graders write essays that that they submit to uh the women's auxiliary. Uh this year it was um kind of happy happy birthday America for the 250 years. So they wrote those
and turned them in. And there you can see they stayed around and got a picture with some of the veterans that came to our program that day. So it's one of our fourth grade classes. Of course, it seems like it was months ago, but um it's coming back around warm
weather. Um there's our outdoor classroom and they did some some buddy work with one of the high school science classes. So they came and picked up uh the fourth graders and then took them on that nature walk on the trails and they
uh answered questions and tried to kind of down some of the things that they saw and collected from leaves to flowers to a variety of things. Um they they mentioned Char and what a great job that that she's doing for us. We're so fortunate to have her as part of our our team in the elementary. So
she does that book tasting which is where she sets up different kinds of genres and has have the kids go from table to table and a timed um kind of experience to find out what books are kind of most enjoyable for them. uh she
also brought in um an author slash artist. So uh the students were able to join kind of re remotely from their classrooms and taught them some techniques on drawing and then he shared kind of his illustrations and some of his stories and they had a chance to do that. So you can see they're following
along on the left and then on the right there's their final product for uh the wild robot. So those are the the stories that he does and we have that book in our library. So, great way to get the kids excited. And of course, Santa comes and visits them. Even though they're in fourth grade, they still enjoy having Santa come by and they have their
Christmas parties. So, Halloween parties, Christmas parties, and then Valentine's parties that's coming up on Friday. So, and then we had a special treat in FID. Again, we're really lucky. We have FedEd every day. So, all of our kids get 30 minutes of uh of activity, whether that's preschool through fifth
grade. And uh we had the Southwest uh the Marshall boys basketball team come in and they they were part of the fighting class to run stations and teach the basketball skills. So it's nice of them to volunteer their time and come to our our school and do that for us. So those are some of the big events that the fourth graders have experience so
far. I'll zip through the rest of mine really quick. We talked about kind of the fast ridge data. We just completed those winter assessments. So we have the new data on reading and math. um we use that to kind of guide our win instruction. So those 30 minute blocks we divide the
kids kind of on what they need and those scores kind of help us do that. We'll also be doing some CAPY testing. That's new for us this year. It's new for for Minnesota this year and that'll be for our fourth and fifth graders and then also all the way up through 12th grade.
And again that's a a reading um a reading assessment that's required by the state. So, we'll um begin that tomorrow. Our MCA Academy starts tomorrow, so it's year two. We're excited about that. We've got 25 kids that have turned in forms so far. We
expect we'll get a few more in um this week as well. It's about an hour block every Tuesday and Thursday. Uh 16 sessions kind of leading up to the MCA testing in April. So, we have third, fourth, and fifth grade uh group that will be taking part in that. And then,
I'm sure Jud me mentions the same thing. right now. It's It's kind of odd when it's still Well, it's nice right now, but it was really cold just a week or so ago, but start thinking about how things are going to look next um fall. So, starting to put in in place um kind of
what we need schedule-wise, timewise, and then with new math standards, um we're starting starting to look at um is there a better way to teach that content? So with with the read act and new reading standards, lots of new
learning for us. Now next year we pile on new math standards. Is that too much for one person? Do we begin to um department departmentalize and look at one person that specializes in reading, one person that specializes in math? So we're going through those discussions how how that would look, what would a
schedule look like, benefits, pros, cons that would go with it. So uh those discussions are taking place right now as well. And then I want to say thank you. So last week I had a chance to go to MESA, which is the Minnesota Elementary School Principles Association. That's kind of a mouthful.
Uh it's at uh the Mall of America. Well, actually it's hooked onto that. It's Rison Blue and then hooked onto the mall. So that's kind of where it's at. But it brought in a little over 400 elementary principles from around the state. uh four keynote speakers, hundreds of different uh sessions, and
just a great chance to to network with colleagues and find out how are you guys tackling the the read act, what are your interventions look like, how do you run your um PLC's, just all that data. And now then you get a chance to ask, hey, by any any chance, do you have an extra
special ed teacher or is there someone leaving, right? And just a chance to find out if there's anyone that you might be able to to to bring down here. So uh I was able to attend some sessions on uh PLC's on PBIS on morning breakouts
and then of course we had some uh literacy beyond the the readax and math sessions and then everyone's favorite data driven decision m making right so chance to dive into how to take all that data and then make it effective for your
schools. So so thank thank you. It was just a great chance to to be around other uh principles that are going through some of the same challenges that we are. >> Do you have any questions for me either on fourth grade or just in general where we're at? >> I have a couple.
>> Yeah. >> Um so with the the reading and the math, do we have any idea why there was a dip in the spring for both of those with percentages? My intuition is telling me it should happen in the fall because the lake come over the summer, but we're seeing it in the spring.
>> Yeah. Um you you would think our fall one would be a little bit lower because of that winter break. It doesn't really fit what should traditionally happen. Um as the tests go on, they expect more. So you might make you might have growth, but it's not the growth that they
anticipate that you would have. So you might actually be improving, but not to the rate that they would expect. That's why you'd see that dip maybe in winter, maybe in fall. So, the expectations are a lot higher there. So, um that's part of But I would agree. Uh I'm surprised
that our fall is one of our higher benchmarks. Yeah. >> And then when I looked at the surveys, it kind of made me feel like, oh my gosh, maybe we need to do a little bit of a deeper dive when we had 29% almost 30% of the kids that were not proud to be a McCrae student. um 10% didn't feel
safe in our schools and 17% didn't feel like they belong. And it's just like can we do a deeper dive into that and maybe find out what what are some of the causes of that? >> And and and we collect data in a a variety of ways. I think there's probably three different surveys that we give throughout the year that a little
bit more specific with it. Um but yeah, and it was 88 that that weren't proud. Um the fifth grade group was a hundred. So, you know, you you go back from grade to grade and when you ask them on that that day. But yeah, the one that was the
lowest was the 83% on do I feel like I belong here? So just those connections. You flip that over. 93 of them have a friend and 95 felt a connection with their teacher. So yeah, you want to dive in to figure to figure out >> why why that one was a little bit lower.
Absolutely. Do you think they jokingly answer sometimes or >> there's always that chance? Um, you know, nothing's going to be perfect. Uh, you might have rushed. You might have not thought it through. You might have been having a bad day.
>> Uh, maybe you and your friend had a fight in the morning. You took that survey and then you're feeling a little bit down. Maybe you just got in trouble by a teacher. So, there's so many things that can play with, but it's definitely worth looking at to find out what's driving some of those those answers. Yeah.
>> Any other thoughts, questions? No. All right. Thank you, Todd. >> You're welcome. >> All right. We've got Jud. We We Next has a written report. He's not here. It's rather short. You've heard it there. I guess we've got
Snow Week Snow Week going on this week. >> Um couple other things he brought up there. But does anybody have any questions or thoughts about anything on his report? Not. Okay. Thank you. Well, then we'll
go on to you, Ed. >> Yeah. So, it's been a great month, but before I begin, I just want to thank Todd and and Greg. Um, anytime we can bring, they know I like student voice and staff voice to our meetings. Um, we've been trying every week to get a
little bit better with our videos and we're going to continue growing. Um, but unless you guys tell us otherwise, we're going to continue trying um, and making sure that that comes in and it's nice. Now, we got teachers, the students shared their books. It's something new,
but you can see the passion in their voice and they chose to do it. Um, and you hear about fear of speaking so much, but when they're doing it with somebody they know and trust that it just comes out naturally. So, you know, even though
they might have been nervous, you saw them stand up and and that just leads to, you know, we start with the CEO. This is a program we run at at St. McCrae where students are creating businesses through this special program where we partner. And Ben probably knows
the most about this. Um, but I got exposed to it right when I was hired. We have a one of our seniors started two businesses. Um, and they're just so proud of it. And this weekend was our in McCrae. We offered I know it says West Central Co, but our students did a
fishing tournament. It was $25 and they they were just jazzed. So they were going to go out there and you know I'm asking all these quite how many holes do you get? And I only have two, Mr. hole, but it's 25 per hole. But then I found
out you can put a a a temporary fish house where normally you wouldn't see those at a fishing terminal, but it was well thought out. Uh they have a great logo, but you can see the fun. There's a little prey fish over the side. They had a little fire. Um but just excitement and they're getting hands-on learning
that um other schools might not get. And it's all because we have a partnership uh with the CEO program and the students get exposed to so many other businesses, but then they they put what they're learning into action. Um I haven't seen them yet to find out what the biggest
fish was, but you know, tomorrow they'll be here. But just wanted to um show there. And then we had um our preschool screening. Here's one of our photos um happened recently. and and what a fun day they were getting tested in
excitement. So um that happened down at the elementary part and then um Todd and the elementary they had the McCrae fitness challenge. So normally we do jump rope for heart and whatever it's called but this year and I think we're
going every other year or every third year where we're you know instead of sending the money to the heart association the school's going to take that money in this case they want to buy roller skates. So instead of renting them for $67,000, they're using this money. And their goal
was $9500, but they raised $8,350. So they're already there. So we'll have our own roller skates. So maybe not just once a year. Now they'll be able to do it a couple times. And over the weekend on Sunday, we have free open gym. One of the girls was roller skating with her
little light wheel showing us because I happened to be up here this Sunday and um got to see that. And then we had um at the high school and middle school we had registration exposure so they could go and ask some questions about electives.
Um, but just, you know, you see the candid shots, you're seeing smiles, you're seeing happiness, you're seeing intrigue, but they get questions answered as they're choosing the classes that they want to be in. So, um, that was another good event. And then, um, I
know we care about Franny, but this little young man, um, he gets to set his own goals, his, you know, the reward he wants. He chooses to spend time with Franny from the elementary wing. So he takes his time to walk down, you know,
they just have their time and then he posed um for a photo, but it just shows the impact um that that person, our new employee is having on our school as well. So while we're had a great month
um any big questions I know, you know, I don't talk I send that one report out, but then I like to show and talk about, you know, what's going on in our school most recently. you had some um thoughts about the calendar. >> Yeah. Oh, that was coming up, but I do.
So, the calendar's coming. >> Um but we put three days, not I had nothing to do with it, but it was promised that once letter training was over they would reintegrate 3 days um back in the school, which gives us some flexibility.
So, I was hoping to talk about um snow days. So, we have snow days and e-learning days. I would like the ability to have two of our first seven. So, we have five e-learning days and then we have some um days where we
wouldn't have school and we could make them up. You guys would choose. We you know this year we have to make them up but going forward we have three days but two of them we'd come back to you and add do you want us to make those up? Yes or no? But have what I would call discretionary days. So, say the day
after break it was really windy or too icy to have school. Does that make sense to use an e-learning day or does that make more sense to have a discretionary day? The e-learning day can't be any new information. So, why would we have an e-learning day the day after a break?
That doesn't make a lot of sense in my head. But if we had a discretionary day and then make our next one an e-learning day or if it's a 2hour late start and then the wind is still so bad outside we can't see. Does that make
sense for an e-learning day? Probably not cuz our classes are only 20 or 30 minutes. Let's use that as a discretionary day and really maxim if we're going to use e-learning to make sure learning happened in the classroom. Wouldn't it make more sense when their full day in the middle of our learning
where they can, you know, get reintegrated of what, you know, retach what was going on because we're not supposed to do the the new learning on those. So, I would just like the ability since we put these three days back in for two of them to be able to say, you know, it's supposed to be an e-learning
day, but it doesn't make sense right now. Let's have that as a discretionary day or it makes sense to have an e-learning day. And even though it's supposed to be, you know, two of this, one of that, you know, two e-learnings that are discretionary, maybe we have three e-learnings because that's what's
needed for us to learn and maximize what our teachers do best, which is instruct. And then be careful and and strategic when we use the discretionary or the makeup days because we have that flexibility now back in our schedule
from some thor that you guys built in prior to me coming. his letters training will be done. So when you get there, that's that would be my thought hope is you trust me that I'd be very strategic when we do e-learning and when we would
do um the discretion every day. Any questions on that? >> I suppose the way that we have it now, the issue is like thinking of is it this year like the day before Christmas break >> was crummy weather. So, it's supposed to
be, you know, watch movies and hang out and Christmas party day and then it ended up being e-learning, which not ideal. So, that would have been one where it could have been a discretionary day. >> Yeah. >> Instead, but the the way that I guess our policy, our approach is like first
three are e-learning and then it's three snow days and then it's two more e-learning. But the the discretionary allows for >> just kind of some common sense. >> I think uh discretionary the common sense approach and the discretionary days makes a lot of sense to me because
of that exact reason. I think if you just said, well, it's got to be this, it's got to this, and it's got to be this, then you kind of take out the obvious times where it's like, okay, this cuz to I mean, nobody likes e-learning days. teachers don't like them. Students don't like them, but they
like that more than go. This is what I always tell people, too. >> You either go to school now or you go to school in June. So, uh, then all of a sudden it's like, okay. Yeah, you're right. So, I think if we can work some of those out, I I think it's great. Yeah. >> I mean, I think if you're going to do an
e-learning day, it might as well be worth it. I mean, there's no reason to have have an e-learning day that nobody gets anything out of. So, >> and that might and that might say we still might have some because if we use our two discretionary >> then we got to get to the right
>> five I mean it the weather is the weather >> right >> but to have the ability at 4:30 in the morning or 5 or >> to say now this doesn't make sense hopefully the weather guy will tell us the night before so we can at least talk about it but um just like you said using
good common sense and what what fits and And I, you know, thinking through like, well, we have these, we have like snow makeup days, too, like kind of penciled in, but then if we say, well, this day we're going to pick make a snow day or makeup day and this day we're going to
do e-learning, then it just doesn't like I think that would muddy the water even. >> We still have the makeup. So, you'll have your choice. Next year, we have some flexibility because we're building these three days back. >> Yeah. >> Um, but we we will still have those stocks.
>> Mhm. But just to have the ability to, you know, this fits, this doesn't. >> And and if I if I blow it, I'm sure you guys would let me know. Either way, >> blame it on the weather. >> Well, in the case of having a bad day
right after a big long break, teachers wouldn't have anything prepared for e-learning anyway. >> Right. And some of the kids wouldn't have their devices home. >> Yeah. Right. So, yeah. >> So, there's no reason to designate that only as e-learning. That doesn't make any sense.
>> All right. >> So, as far as the calendar we've got here, we've got the days built in that we need then. >> Yeah, that new one has the three letter days. And I was supposed I want to reinforce that that promise was made to
you two or three years ago. I don't know exact that they if you took them out for letters >> for training that they've used very effectively. >> Now it um Jud wanted to make sure we know it was put back in. >> Mhm. >> And the reason I call them discretionary is because now you have the ability to
say yes, we're going to make them up and here's the days or you could say no, we're okay. >> Yeah. >> And then but um two different things. That's why I call them discretionary. Um, and we just have to share that if you guys said yes with the teachers and
say, you know, this will be a call, you know, we'll start with e-learning, but they'll know the if it's the day of a break, we'll try we try to do our best to keep everybody updated and the same with the students and just if you
haven't heard, sorry, the students help us make the choice. now. >> So, I meet with this team, but then I go to a couple classrooms. Mostly the sophomore classes really seem to like it and I get their input and then they'll say, they'll tell us we don't want to
leave till after till 1:00 because they need to eat because some of our kids don't have food. They're very thoughtful. >> So now I keep going to, you know, the rooms and they chuckle because it's not normal. But I like to hear what they're thinking and their process. And now when
I walk in, I go, "We don't want to go home. we want to play tonight. I said, "That's a good thing. What does everybody else think?" And >> so, just the fact that they're getting a chance to express themselves has has been uplifting. Now, the seniors I don't go because they're automatically
>> We don't have any half days on this one. Correct. >> Todd, did you remember? >> Uh December, >> I think their workshop is last day of school, the 27th, I think, is a half day. >> Okay. And then there's before December is a half day workshop.
>> One student half day. >> Oh, I see it there. 7:30 December. Oh, yeah. That before Christmas. >> Staff has had multiple looks at this because they um really um their input was they wanted to be done before June. >> They like starting before just like you
guys. They like that. um they wanted the least amount of Mondays as possible just like our staff survey our families want that as well but I think there's 11 so um this is like the eighth alliteration in the calendar so Jud's worked with
multiple perspectives it's been through teacher groups it's been through staff um I tried to get two weeks off for the um mid- winter break um it couldn't I couldn't figure it out So the 22nd and
23rd or 21st and 22nd >> um in order to get everything else done. >> So >> how many five day weeks did we have this year? I see we've got two proposed. >> Just had one last week. >> Yeah. >> Oh, we were shot.
>> There's more coming up. >> Usually there's one second or third week in Sep. Yep. September then February also. Yeah, >> that's probably pretty >> that's >> when you talk about those discretionary discretionary days, would we just vote
on that at the next board meeting? What we want to do with that or is that something that >> No, you guys would No. So, I call I would call them discretionary, which means we're not having no school that day. And then we would the makeup day would be, you know, January 18th,
whatever is on the calendar. And then you guys would you could say, "Hey, this one we're okay." and just canceling. >> Okay. >> But that would be it. Whatever. Julie, you guys would call probably the next board meeting and then we'd let people know um that the makeup day um for this
one isn't going to be made up. >> Was the original idea of having that layout of e-learning? Was that just to kind of give some structure behind it? >> Well, there are basically 50% of people that like snow days, 50% of people that
don't. And I don't know 3 or 4 years ago when the weather was so bad >> we ran out of e-learning and then you started with this >> makeup process and nobody's very happy. So >> it was kind of like a compromise. >> Yeah. There was no consensus on which
was which way to go. So we had to just kind of split the difference. So I'm wondering on this calendar here where we're talking about um the weather days at the bottom there, do we have to reward that scenario there? I mean that's not descriptive of what we're talking about. So, those will still be our weather days, but you
>> days would still be there. >> They'll still be there, but you could say we're not we will have those three now that are getting put back in that we're not making them. >> Or you could say we will, which would be fine. I just call them discretionary because I'd rather do like on that the part the day they were going to have all
their parties. >> Yeah. >> The ability to make that a day, >> a slow day. >> Yeah. Instead of e-learning because that seemed like a waste of a learning day, >> right? You're talking about this red box on the bottom. Yeah.
>> Where it lays out you have to do. But that's not what we're talking about doing. So we'd have to >> Well, could why why not just make them all discretionary things? >> Like get rid of that and just each day you just make a decision. If if the
weather's bad, we just make the decision right there. It's going to be an e-learning day or it's going to be a day off. It don't make sense to me because why would what if you ran out of the days you needed? What are you going to do? >> And you're left with only the options that you said you could do here.
>> Is it for teachers planning that they would have? I don't know. Of course, they wouldn't know anyway, would they? >> Right. >> But like only only two days would be where we for sure would have the ability to make them up. >> Yeah. I guess I just mean instead of
laying out the >> the layout. >> Yeah. We can change that, >> right? Because we're locked we locked ourselves into say the first three. Well, maybe that doesn't make sense. >> And John's only heard my idea once because I didn't want to. They've
changed that thing so many times that we can fix the little bottom thing in the >> We could do the calendar tonight. Approve it >> and then I'll add that tweak tweak the changes. >> Right. cuz we're basically approving the
the weeks and the days off and all of that kind of stuff >> and the start date and all of that. Yeah, >> something would change >> and I think that's important to get that >> you know, right? >> Especially with our school year starting.
So for for clarification, the change would be that as it stands currently that the first three weather days are e-learning, but the change would make it so that >> a weather day you have three e-learning days and three, you know, just non-earning days that you can use and
you can use them at any time. No particular order, right? >> Okay. Perfect. Perfect. >> Sorry, I just wanted to make sure I was getting >> instead of because right now we kind of said the first three have to be one or the other. Well, we're saying we're going to just make that discretion or if
we make the right choice >> knowing that we have five or six. >> I think I think it's I like the idea. I think it might be something we just have to try >> and see what the impact is. And I like the idea of I was trying to like take the feedback like yeah that day before Christmas is nobody was happy about it.
>> Yeah. >> We had to do something. >> Yeah. >> But then yeah went to the policy and it's >> well we said we do anywhere. >> Yes. So yeah. >> So I like trying to make it better. >> One question I have on the calendar is
May like 14 15 16 17. So it's like a long weekend. Is that >> that must be prom? >> Is that why? >> I think the 14th is prom. >> Okay. Okay. Okay, that makes sense.
I was looking like when's memorial it will actually be done before Memorial weekend. >> Yeah, >> Memorial weekend must be the 31st. Okay, >> right. Yeah, prom is late. Memorial is late. Yeah,
>> why is this problem? Might not be 50 degrees though and rain horrible weather in May. That's the problem. Yeah. >> BPA national. >> Yeah. Something like that.
Okay. Any other thoughts on that calendar? Anything else? All right. Next item. We'll go to committee reports. I don't have anything. Does anybody else have any committee items that have come up? Okay. 6.3 is board discussion. Any questions?
Anybody want to bring up about anything else? No. All right. Then we'll go to 7.0. The business items. 7.1's a resolution accepting donations from the McCrae Parents Club, $750 to the McCrae Girls
Basketball, from the Dober Firefighters Relief Association, $100 to McCrae FFA from Elizabeth Johnson and Renville Cooperative Power Association. So, um, need a motion to accept that.
So, moved. Deb second. >> Go ahead, John. John, I'm give it to John. All right. Any other questions or concerns about that? If not, we'll do a roll call vote on that. Ben, >> yes. >> Deb,
>> yes. >> John, I'm sorry. Mark, >> yes. >> John, >> yes. >> Carmel, yes. >> And I'm Yes. as well. So, that's fast and adopted. And thank you to those >> donation donators there. Much appreciated. >> Okay. 7.2 is to approve the revised 2526
budget. Need a motion on that. I won't get that. Okay. Carell, >> I'll second it though. Second by John or H. Anybody have questions on that? >> Oh, this is the last version of that, right? >> We cannot we can do multiple if we want,
but after all the negotiations and >> Oh, okay. been up to date. >> Yeah, we found out we got some VPK seats this year, so I got those put in. >> Okay. just some different things. So, okay. Anybody else got any questions on
that? Concerns. Right. Those in favor of approving the revised 2526 budget say I. >> Those opposed, nay. >> Okay. And then 7.32 has approved that
2627 calendar we just discussed. So, can I get a motion for approval? I'll make that motion. We get a second. I'll second it. Anybody have any other thoughts on that right now? >> Do we have to add a caveat that they'll
change that bottom part or can we just accept it and make minor changes? >> We're not going to change the calendar. We're just going to change >> description and updated notes about snow days and makeup days. How about that?
I'll put the new wording in a week from Friday to the >> right. Okay. All right. All those in favor of approving the 2627 calendar with a revised note about snow days and make a face say I. >> I.
>> I. Those opposed, nay. That carries. Okay. There's a list of our meetings coming up there. Need a motion to adjurnn. So move second. I'll second that. All righty. It is
7:02. >> Oh, I got a vote. Who wants to go home? I I thank