School District 8:32. It is a regular meeting on Monday, June 23rd, 2025 and 7:00 p.m. Um, please join me for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge aliance 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. Roll call of attendance, please.
Done. You approval of the agenda. Do I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Director Domen. Second, second by director Peterson. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. Motion carries.
Approval of the consent agenda. Motion. Moved by Director Peterson. Second. Seconded by Director Domen. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. Motion carries.
superintendent report. Okay. So, as that comes up, mostly what we have here are end of the year um some end of the year celebrations. So again around the district awards and noteworthy news and we have a few few
items in that area and then some upcoming events and a nice picture of the class of 2025 there throwing their caps. So um our last week of school we have a lot of joyful celebrations. Um, we had
the Wildwood Walk, which um, I know, uh, Director Rean got to attend with all the high school students coming over the hill to walk through Wildwood. We also had firetruck field field day visit and that's a a more recent um, addition to
our end of the year celebrations and we're really thankful for their support, the um, BMid Fire Department, their support in in celebrating the end of the school year. And then we also had lots of all school and grade level events. Class of 2025, we got to talk about this
at the actual ceremony. A number of the highlights are listed here about the accomplishments with um from our uh class of 2025. So, I'll just just note that um you can also watch the video to
hear all of the accomplishments, but here are just a few that we highlighted. A really fun event. As always, we also had the Passages graduation. We had two students, John and Kieran, who graduated from passages.
And it's always a um a really great celebration and really meaningful um just a meaningful it's a very meaningful c celebration with our passage students. So, congratulations to John and Kieran.
around the district. Some community ed events including the community garage sale in July, which is um going to be here at OA if I'm not mistaken. Yes, here at OA. Um notice the concert in the park that's coming up as well. Family
orientering adventure. There's always a lot going on in the summer. We think of the end of the school year as it being so quiet, but um it's just when community ed is really getting going and um offering a lot of opportunities for our community. So, thank you.
You you can't you can't make this up. We've got back to school information out already. Sorry about that everybody. We know we're just out, but it's out again. Back to school information um is is out and you can expect to receive more information um in July. But know that we
already have quite a bit up on our website. Know that we have referendum meetings coming up. Um our first one um is coming up in July. But um this is just a picture of some of the um staff meetings
that we already did as well to make sure our staff is clear and has all the information they need as they're off um this summer because we know a lot of our um community is going to turn to the teachers and ask them questions about the referendum. So we did make sure we
had some sessions before we left. Um we had uh four students the four students that came to um our celebration for our um students who are going to become teachers or have told us they're
going to school to become post-secary to become teachers and we have a number of them we have them listed there six of them listed four of them came to our celebration and we got to celebrate their choice of career and we wish them all the best and and hope to see them
again and and have uh want to support them in their choice. So, we have a little celebration every year for those students. I know we've talked about it, but it's worth saying again, for the first year of flag football, we have we are the
state champions. And so, it was it was exciting to watch. Um our the last game was a really close game for them. and they had they had been kind of our Zephris had been kind of rolling through the through all their their games until that final game and it was a really
close and exciting one. So congratulations to our flag football team. Also exciting game uh our state champions in baseball too. So we also we had a very successful spring. So our um baseball team congratulations. We also
had a number of members on the all tournament team as well. So that's it was it was an it was definitely an exciting end to the to the season. Not but we're not done yet. We also had Andrew Russell as a high the high jump state championship state champion. We
had a number of um students medal but um Andrew was the um high jump state uh champion but he also tied the state uh doubleA record as well. So, congratulations to Andrew. Just some more upcoming events. I already mentioned the referendum
learning session. We will have a number of them, but the first one is on July 16th. That's at the high school in the media center. Um, and then August 6th is our second one that we have coming up. So, we hope to see people there to learn more about our upcoming referendum.
I believe that's all we have. Great. Thank you. Yeah. And now we'll move on to discussion items or did anyone have any questions about this project? Okay, we'll move on to discussion and information items. First
is our board member calendar and Barb already noted the uh referendum meetings. U make sure if you have not responded to Leslie to share the dates that you can attend or
that you want to attend. Uh, does anyone want to call out anything else? Not a long list because it's summertime. So, okay. On to policies for review. Second reading is so these policies are
the same as last time you saw them. I didn't have any feedback at the last meeting. And so, this is just bringing them forward one more time uh for review that the policy committee did go through all of these. And so the changes that you see in here are ones that the policy committee reviewed.
Any questions? Okay. Then we'll move on to action items. First we have approval of donations and grants for May 2025 totaling $14,537.25. Do I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Director Rean.
Second. Second by director Witson. Any discussion? All donations and grants are greatly appreciated. The use of these funds will be to further the mission of the school district and our you towards the wishes of the donor.
All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. Motion carries. Approval of Northeast Metro 916 LTFM. our director of finance, Tim Ericson. You need you might should I hand this
off to Yeah. Okay. You're gonna That's Yeah, you're welcome. Okay. Oh, boy. All right. So, see what happened. Looks clear. Is there any questions?
Are you Are you Are you able to move that? No problem. Okay. So, while Dennis is pulling that up, so this is something we do annually. It's an approval. The board approves an allocation for uh long-term facility
maintenance for uh 916. And this has been approved by the 916 board. All all the member districts have approved this this amount. So, it's 19,000. Uh uh okay, it's it's not the
one. Let's see. Uh 9B Dennis that's the N specific oh I'm sorry okay never mind it looks I can't read it from so so anyway uh it's about it's just
19,000 about just under $19,000 and u so it it's really an inn-out transaction uh every member district levies for this on their levy because 916 does not have a legal ability to do that. So, uh, if you would, uh,
entertain approving that that, uh, resolution, that would be great. Are there any questions for Tim? Tim, I'm Oh, sorry. Um, I'm looking at the um, the document because I can see it on here clearly. The question I have is
where are you talking about the 19,000? I don't see any. Okay. 1977, right? Okay. So, if you're looking at, you might be looking at that list of all the member districts. Y and so Mavita is
down third from the bottom. Oh, yes. Okay. Now, I'm on the right page. Thank you. Any other questions? No, I think it's pretty straightforward. Thank you. All right. Do I have a motion? So moved moved by by director Gonna
seconded by director Peterson. Any other discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I. Those opposed. Motion carries. Okay. Approval of our 2526 preliminary budget. No, we still have one more LTFM.
Um Oh, I'm sorry. I skipped over that. Nope. Sorry about that, Adam. Okay. approval of our long-term facilities maintenance plan for our district. We have Adam with us. So, like Tim was saying, very similar to 916. Um, this is a annual submission
that we have to do to MDE every year um for our health and safety and long-term facility maintenance plan. Um, this one goes from 26 out to 2035. However, I want to emphasize that we're really
focusing on um fiscal year 26 27 um projects. Um those projects cons uh went through them just a little bit ago with the facility board. We're looking at doing um stadium turf maintenance uh inspections for the gym um and gyms and
the therapeutic rooms, gym floor refinishing, tennis court resurfacing, parking lot crack fill and seal coating. um some carpet replacement at Wildwood, some money set aside for our bigger HVAC repairs that occur yearly. Um and then
our septic maintenance that we have to do every two years for Wildwood septic system and lift station. And then some salaries um from Tim and Meer also put in there. So those are the the main items that we're looking at um for 26
27. the years after that are always subject to change depending on what the school facility needs are. Um, usually we pull um from our facility assessment that was done by site logic in 2122. So I just so
I'm just looking for school board's approval on on that so we can send it in to MDE by the end of July. And Adam, were there any significant changes from what site logic had recommended that we didn't foresee or
are all of these ones that we saw coming? Um, all of the the what I was talking about with the facility board, we're kind of at that point. We have no big projects or anything like that um for next fiscal year that I'm proposing. It's stuff that we have to do kind of on
a yearly basis. Bigger ticket items that are bigger than what we want to have in our capital budget. Um that I operate uh out of. Um and then some like the parking lot, we we're supposed to do that every five years. So um according
to our engineer that helped out with our project on that, which was Boltman. Um, and then some of the items that are just in there, other items, too, like salaries and district, uh, HVAC repair. So, this this list wasn't too much from
Site Logic, to be honest. It's just stuff that we have to make sure we keep up on. And no surprises, it sounds like. Okay. Any other questions? Director Peterson. Adam, you said um, our Wildwood, is that the only school on
well, and septic? The others are on city water and sewer. The other three the the they're all on city water. Um but the Wildwood has a septic system lift station. Yeah.
Director Regan. Um I during the presentation on the facilities committee I Adam did a great job explaining this. So I don't have any questions. Just wanted to let the rest of the board know that we heard all about all of this in detail. So thank you. I was going to say a very similar thing.
I just I'm sure sometimes you feel like you're fighting with one hand behind your back. Yeah. And so like the example you gave about how you guys are going to address the lights and the turf in the offseason because it helps bring the cost down. I know it's not significant, but those are the types of things that we have to do to, you know, keep our
head above water. So, appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you everybody. With that, can I get a motion for the approval of long-term facilities maintenance plan? So moved. Moved by Director Regan.
Second. Seconded by Director Domen. Any other discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. Motion carries. Okay. Now for the approval of the 2025
2026 preliminary budget. Okay. So, as you know, the legislature approved and the governor signed uh the new bill um for uh funding schools. And this has very few changes from what you
saw back on I think June I think it was June 9th we looked at this first looked at this. So, I'll go through those changes. Um again when you look at this okay now I'm gonna go okay so we we had some additional
information um I've attended some webinars on the on the changes that were put into place and uh you know we so we didn't have any we didn't have any huge differences which was good um but then we'll also revisit the budget again in
January February between January and March I would say um unless unless they they are talking about another special session if uh the federal government reduces funds significantly. So there's a possibility that could happen too.
So when we look at those major changes um we look at the total aid reductions are about $100,000. So some different areas that we have categorical funding is where where the reductions happen. So, out of school support, personnel aid that that had a fairly fairly large
reduction in that area. And um then, uh we look at uh the expenditures, there were some updated things. So, uh we're we're trying to keep up on our student devices and that is that's a challenge for any district. So, we added
uh some additional lease costs in for those student devices. Um, we've got safe routes to schools, which you'll hear about as well tonight. Uh, so in that particular one, we have about $50,000 of engineering costs that aren't covered by the grant. So, uh, we need to
we need to pay for that part out of pocket, but that's about 50,000. And then, um, for the election, November election, there the county will allocate costs back to us for that for those election costs. That's a that's a very typical thing. Um and so that would be
uh additionally about roughly 25,000 there. So a total of 102,000 of additional expenses and then aid reductions of 100,000. So in all about a two $200,000 impact um actually going
the way we don't want it to go, but um I guess I would view the $100,000 of aid reduction is is pretty small. Um, as as we were talking about before, they the legislature did keep the 2.74% increase, inflationary increase on the
basic education aid in. So, um, that uh that helped us and that was about 705,000. And then the other those other bullet points are the same as they were uh when you last looked at this in June, beginning of June.
So then if we look at the next page here, so you can see the and I'm gonna I'm just going to really focus on the general thing. Directors for um budgeting for forecasting. We had
assumed enrollment is flat. When through the summer do we have a better sense of where enrollment's going to land for the start of school this fall? I would I would say probably in October. then we're gonna we're going to have a much better idea because we'll you know
those numbers will kind of keep moving. Um at a lesser rate I would say probably when you get to August you just you're not going to see a lot of a lot of change but uh we normally like to get through an official count which is the student through the Mars system uh and
see what those numbers look like and I I look at those numbers on a monthly basis. So that's probably where we'll see that where we have where we have solid numbers feeling pretty good and they still they still jump around even then. Yeah. So
okay. So when we look at the estimated um where where we think we're ending um our 20 2024 budget uh when we look at the general fund that balance would be about 7 7.3 million and then um those
changes that I just mentioned before the the project the revenue decrease and the projected expense increase are in those uh revenue and expense numbers. So then we have we wind up with an estimated ending fund balance of 6 point about
just under 6.2 million. And then you can see the other funds there as well. They're really unchanged. And u you can see our proprietary funds which are which is essentially what we have left is the dental which is
self-funded. So that one uh really has its own fund. And then the OPED trust funds. That one is uh that one will be spending down as as it be as people become eligible for that and there aren't very many people left in that uh
under that contractual agreement. One of the changes um that I did here was u when we talk about you we broke down that assigned and unassigned fund balance and we're required to put uh the
next year's budget deficit into an assigned fund balance. Uh that's if we have enough money. If a district has enough money, they're required to put that in. And so when you look under the first column there, that fund balance for July 1st of 2025,
uh the 3.4 million is the unassigned and that is a 6.87% and then the estimated general fund bal assigned fund balance $2.3 million for that next budget deficit is 4.6%.
So still at 11.49%. But then um when we go get all the way over to that right hand column with that same information. So the estimated unassigned fund balance is 4.7. So that's a nine just a little over 9%. And
I've taken out that estimated general fund balance assigned for deficit for the 26 27 year because that's that would be the year that that would be covering. And because we haven't obviously there's been no budget passed there yet. um that's those are only numbers in a
projection. So um felt best that this would be better to present it this way rather than uh combining those two. So so the ending fund balance the unassign is 9.05% 05% and just knowing there's a potential
depending on you know as as we go through the budget approval process with you um there may be a a reduction there may there will be most likely reductions um and they may there may be some other ways to enhance revenue as well and so it may be a combination of different
things that you decide on in the end when that budget gets passed then at that point we'll pull money down from the unassigned fund balance to the assigned fund balance for the deficit what whatever that deficit is determined to be. So any questions there
and that that's it. So okay, no other questions. I know we've walked through it several times, so thank you. You bet. Oh, director Donna. I'm sure. Um Tim, I
I'm sorry if I totally overlooked this and haven't asked this before, but um we're using general fund dollars to cover debt service for LTFM
project uh an LTFM bond. Correct. Is that what No. So our LTFM bond those are so those are just oh I is well was that the so when I say the the reduction is that what you're referring to that
bullet point the last bullet point on the previous page the shift of 285 from the general fund right debt service fund to accommodate increased sure debt service. Yeah. So what what that is is as we see our fund our debt service in
the so as we see that debt service increase if it increases there's almost a dollar for-doll decrease in the general fund. Uh we we're still getting the full amount of aid and levy but part of that has to go to pay on that IAQ bond. So that's what we're seeing is a
shift a little bit of a shift up because our debt service has gone up there. Is it the is it the way that MDE accounts for LTFM bonds? Yes. Well, we have we have
to do that. Yeah. We don't we don't have a choice. So, um if you have if you have LTFM bonds out, right? And in this case, the IAQ, the indoor air quality, those bonds that we're paying on it, we still have some dollars. We'll have should
have some dollars left over on that as well from the project we're doing at the deck. But as that that fund bal as that debt service goes up or down, so too does the total amount that's available for the general fund because we have to first we must first levy. We get levying
aid to pay off the debt service. Then what's left over on that full amount of funding is what's left for the general fund. So, but we but we had to reduce that's a reduction that we had to do um when we looked at it and talked to the state. Okay.
Thank you. Sure. Okay. Uh can I get a motion for approval of the 2526 preliminary budget? So move. Moved by Director Witson. Second. Seconded by Director Donna. Any
other discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. Motion carries. Now for the resolution authorizing cooperation with Washington County to construct a walkway under the state safe
routes to school program. Okay. And this is this is really good news. This is something that Kate um and Adam and some others have been working on for a while. uh our safe routes to schools uh application was approved and
now um that we're working we just met with the county um last week week before last um and we talked a little bit about the project and so if you look at that left that upper left corner in blue that
blue hashtag up there that is the part that is the school district's project. So that's about 500 linear feet of of trail that will be um that will be paved. And uh if you look down on the on
the left, there's a 2025 trail construction which is which you all have seen that that was a federally funded piece. And uh so the the part I'm talking about here for tonight and for the resolution is that blue piece. Um
there's also uh some resurfacing that they'll be doing on the north side as well. Um but uh that that isn't part of our project. So our project is about $150,000 and uh as I said um that's the that's
the construction part of it and that's the part that's covered by the grant. And then there's another 50 roughly $50,000 in soft costs that are not covered by the grant. So, um the county in discussion with the county, uh they just we're going to be partnering with
them on this and so um they just wanted some assurance that the school board was on board with that partnership and so that's why the resolution. Great. Are there any questions for Tim or Donna? So the the kids coming out of
that development to this south there that new development, how do they connect to the trail? So there there will be um well I wouldn't say will uh I think that is still being worked out um with the
county and uh the city of Grant. So there would be if you go down to that south side, there would be an extension from that green trail all the way over to Inwood. That's the other that's the other potential part of the project.
So kids would walk walk down on the south side of of 12 and then connect with ours going across the street. I know it's taken a long time to even get not through us but that green trail on
that south side. Um there's been advocacy for that for a long time and I'm really happy to see the sidewalk going in. I think um we have a lot of teenagers driving on that road and I see bikers and there's not really a place for them to move over or or walkers. So,
um I'm really really happy and I appreciate I I think it was Kate who was advocating for this grant. Yeah. So, thank you for that. Um I know it's been a long time in the making. Three times. Yeah. So, thank you for keeping at it. I think it's a really important safety
feature. All right. Anybody else? Okay. With that, we will Can I get a motion? So move moved by director Peterson. Second. Seconded by director Rean. Any other discussion? What's the what's the
timing again of that the blue sidewalk? Um, so what we're looking at with the county is it would probably be starting to put together a package to hire a consulting engineer which is required uh for the project and that would be sometime um
this summer. Help me out of next year takes a long time with economy and bidding and getting all of that. So you mean having it completed by August or next year? Started. Oh the start. Yes. Yeah. And there is a there's a timeline
where we have to spend have those num those uh funds committed which I believe Oh, thank you. So, December of 26. Yes, Kate has the information. So, she's director Peterson. Where's the money
coming from? Where do we hoping to take it from? So, the safe rout to schools funding comes from a from a federal grant administered by the min Minnesota Department of Transportation and then the $50,000 of soft cost that isn't covered by that. Uh that was put in the
budget. That's the P one of those adds to our expenses uh to the budget tonight. How much does that 550 ft cost in total for all in for the consultant for the everything? It's it's uh so it'll be about 200,000
and and the the plan who you know as you you know if you're familiar with that area um there is some drainage there. We'll have some wetlands may maybe some wetlands things that we'll have to do. Um and we're going to try to save as
many trees as we can. Uh so it'll be it'll be very much adjacent to the to the entry. Uh but uh but it'll be nice and wide. Um there'll be some pedestrian um crossing areas when you get up to where uh the very northern end of that.
Um there'll be some pedestrian markings and that type of thing to help with traffic control. So we we still have to talk a little bit more with the county on that, I think, as far as exactly how that's going to work. But but yeah, it's yeah, it's really a it's really a great project.
Kate seemed like she had details. Did you have some things that you wanted to put in there? Oh, okay. You've just been working on it for so long, you can't help yourself. I get it. Yeah. The price increase. Yeah.
So, you were told 35,000 three years ago, it's now 1250. Yeah. For our portion or our portion for our portion. Yeah. Okay. Well, with that, oh, this require does this require a roll call vote? That's
what it says in the resolution. Motion for adoption and upon roll call vote. It might. Yes. Some resolutions do. Okay. We'll just do that. Yeah. Roll call vote, please. I think you need a motion.
Did someone make a motion? Okay. Yes. All right. Uh, Director Dolman, yes. Director Peterson, hi. Director Madam Chair Stout. Yes. Uh, Director Donna,
hi. Rean, I. Director Witson, yes. Okay, that uh motion passes. Okay, thank you. All right, now then approval of the resolution calling for a special election.
Okay, and I was just looking, this one's going to require a roll call vote, too. Yes. Okay. Uh one so I am going to do a a presentation that you've seen versions of previously.
Uh, but we want to make sure that we we go through this all again um for those who are watching at home and make sure we've we've uh really kind of covered all the the points that we want to make sure the community understands prior to
asking for this this resolution to call the special election for a referendum. So, while it's coming, it's coming. There we go. Hey. All right. Thank you. No worries.
Okay. Um Okay. So, just in terms of an overview to make sure again, I'm doing this for the community. I know that all of you know this, but thanks for sticking with me on this. Um so as we know that we've been we've been spending
a lot of time reviewing options to address both operating budget needs and also um our facility needs as well. So you directed the administration to move forward in preparing for a special election and so today uh we are
requesting that you call that pass a resolution calling a special election to hold that two question referendum on November 4th both for operating and one for facilities as well. just um I do want to point out that um a
lot of our conversations have been centered on the strategic plan and in particular a new strategic plan that we enacted in the 232 24 school year and um based on that strategic plan we really have moved forward on a number of initiatives including enacting letters
training and witten wisdom literacy curriculum. We've talked a lot about that in K through 5. Also have expanded STEM, literacy, communications, theater, and digital arts at the middle school level. So that came out of strategic planning. Also, just really wanting to offer more opportunities for middle
school in particular. And then expanding course offerings for career and college readiness, including personal finance, CTE, business, communications, and AVID um at the high school level. So all of this came out of the strategic planning process and um that is the core of what
we want. So we're continuing to move our strategic plan forward and in order to do that um we are looking for this operating levy. Um and uh and in addition to moving these things forward we also need to be responsible stewards
of our community's resources as well. So when we talk about needing to go to voters, um we are in the same position as many districts. We are facing financial pressures from inflation outpacing funding. We know that we did
um in 2018 we did a step up levy and even with that and we and we based it on the idea that as we um to to really consider inflation and as expended as expenses go up making sure that we have another step up in our levy. But inflation has really outpaced both
funding at the state level and our ability to keep up with our operating. We've had um large rises in health insurance premiums like many um people are experienced experiencing. We also had a very large increase in our
transportation costs um in the past few years. It this past year was not as high but um previous to that we had this 25% increase in transportation costs. Um we also need to recruit and retain staff. a competitive job market. And so in order
to make sure we we recruit and retain um top staff and we need to be able to be competitive and we have a number of legislative mandates that are underfunded. We've already made $2 million in budget adjustments for this coming school year,
including using one-time money to prevent cutting programs. And so, as you know, we um we just heard a presentation from um Tim Ericson, our director of finance, who explained what it looks like as we've dipped into our fund balance and if we can and it's not
something that we can continue to do. I I mentioned the 2018 referendum and I do want to just highlight that um we have been really um fortunate for to have the support of our community in the past and based on the la the um promises
we made in 2018. We've listed uh our delivery on those on those promises. So, reducing class sizes districtwide, um enhancing academic programming, safety, strengthening safety and security, and building financial
stability. So, we have um right there, um our class sizes, we've been able to remain at or below the metro average during this time. We've done quite a bit of academic programming. In particular, one of the things that we had talked about in 2018, there was not um adequate
advanced academics or gifted and talented courses and opportunities in um in our elementaryaries. And so we've we've put a lot of effort into that as well as I mentioned the middle school programming that we didn't have nearly as much of um at the time. And both due
to the schedule change we made at the middle school and what Queen Ed has been offering, we have really expanded our opportunities for our middle school students. Additionally, our high school really expanding our CTE opportunities um and more opportunities for um
expanded courses in arts and and uh academic skill success as well. Um safety and security. Um, we've we've enhanced our safety and security with uh cameras, bad freezers, exterior door
alarms. We have more of that that we are asking for in this in this next uh round for the facilities question, but those were things that we said we would do and we did. And also financial stability. Um at the time we were our fund balance was
at 4% and um the this board has raised it up to 11% now. So and that's we know we've talked a lot about the importance of fund balance for financial stability. Um so um again being responsible stewards of our resources. This is a big
um area of focus for a school board as you know and um during COVID we were we were responsible with our state and federal funding so that knowing that it was not permanent funding. So we really um were careful with how we used our
federal funding. It was not as much as other districts received. So, um although it has been a real um decrease in our budget, it also wasn't the same um at the same level as other districts are experiencing. Um it's it's worth noting that the
school board uh took action to lessen the tax impact um on the homeowners and our residents through the bond refinancing. And that's um something that will really support the impact of these the operating question. And so the
board should feel really good about taking that action at this time and then the timing of this this operating levy as well so that it isn't quite the same impact it otherwise would be on our homeowners. It's important to know too our um our district continues to has been winning
finance um awards as um get receiving the certificate of excellence since 2018 as well every year which is um meeting the highest standards for financial reporting and transparency. So um in in
so many ways um we have been being uh responsible stewards of our resources. community residential survey. Um 76% agree that during the last couple of years the public Montai public school district administration schoolboard have spent tax money effectively and
efficiently and 75% have um state that spent vast pass voter approved bond and operating levies funds responsibly. We were told at the time we heard this that that was a very high number and um I think normally maybe a
normal number would be closer to 50% if I recall. So um we should feel good about those results as well. Okay. So I'll just very briefly election terminology. We're talking about going out for a referendum. A levy or an
operating levy is to support operating operating funds to avoid budget cuts. um it helps class sizes, helps keep teachers, um and it again builds our fund balance which is like a savings account for the district. We're also talking about building bonds which are
specifically for building and improving facilities. So those are the different um questions we're asking. We have two questions that would be on the ballot. The first is for operating levy requesting an additional $575 per pupil
in annual revenue starting in 2627 to maintain class sizes, ensure excellent academic programming and strengthen financial stability. Question two is a facilities bond and question two is dependent on qu the
passage of question one. Question two is to is proposing a $28 million investment for safety and security districtwide critical infrastructure updates like HVAC, learning spaces and modern academic environments, performing arts
accessibility and functionality and athletics including a turf field weight room and weight room improvements. I'm going to um so the details are here on this slide, but I'm going to actually go to the next slide about the
facilities proposal. I'm going to go to the next slide because I can actually talk through it with a picture as well. But um know that those all of the um the details of what the proposal is for facilities is here.
So, at the middle school, you can see um in this picture the areas that um we have a dark gray area and a light blue area. So, currently our um middle school, you walk into the vestibule and you're buzzed in um and then you go
through the lobby and into the um office space. Um this proposal has um a visitor enter the vestibule and get buzzed in directly into the main office. So we would be swapping the art room in the main office. This is a standard that we have in other buildings. Every other
building that you walk into, you go immediately into the main office. And so um it would be bringing mil the middle school into that same situation so that um all visitors would have to go through the main office to enter the building.
Manidi High School, we have a number of projects. Um I'll start on the left. Um, one area that's not highlighted there is the shiakqua. The shiitakqua um are currently our seats are um are falling
apart and being welded together by um people in the in the people who are working I don't know are you welding them together that okay someone's I'm glad I didn't know how far your job went but okay someone is welding them together. So, it would be to replace
those um seats and and um also add um some accessibility through a lift um to get to that main stage. Um then also looking at band and choir um some ADA upgrades and also acoustical treatments.
Uh in the center there you can see um that is our area we affectionately call the handprint hallway. It would be widening and reconfiguring that the lunch the servery area and the hallway and that stairway um so that there is
more ability for students to move through that commons area um or that that hallway area because that um is a real pinch point for and it has been since the addition was built in 1996. So um down to the right there you can
see the wait room. The yellow part is the current weight room. It was an addition that was put on in 1984 and it cannot really fit a full class and it is not adequate for um educational programming or for our after the need we have for athletics after
school. And so it would be to add a new weight room there so that we could um create some more innovative program for both the middle school and high school educationally. And then also an it would also be used by our um athletes and and
students after school as well. Down in the middle there we have the flex. We have something we're just calling flex right now. Um but that is currently our locker bay. Um about 40% of those lockers are used at um annually. And so it would be remodeling that and removing
unused lockers and just recapturing that space to be an innovative academic area. athletic fields. We know that we do not have um enough enough time for for we have a lot of it's a great problem to
have. We have a lot of students and community members that use our fields and not enough space or time and it is difficult to maintain the fields given the use that they have and also our difficulty with irrigation as well. This
would be um an artificial turf and lights. It's built in it would be built in a way that would allow for multiple sports to use it including um including soccer, lacrosse, football, but um softball as well, which is something
that people don't typically think of, but um so that is our athletic field turf one turf um field one that we talk about. So those are our questions that we're discussing. Um, and so if these ballot
questions do not pass, you've already heard a little bit about our budget situation without the operating levy, we will need to be looking at reductions. Um, so when we talk about reductions, we're talking about people for the most part because 75% of our budget is people. So we would be looking at
increasing class sizes because we would need to reduce um the number of staff members. We would need to look at academic programs. So, for example, at the high school level, we have um a number of our spe I'll call it specialty programs or classes that run in small
class sizes. They're kind of an end of a progression and we may need to look at how how many of those we can run or increase the class sizes in those as well. Um and so staff reductions are going to be necessary across the district including at the district level. It's not just um at building
levels. Um similarly without the facilities bond, we have been talking about facilities for a long time. So if we do not pass this, we are going to have those upgrades are going to be delayed and more expensive in the future. We will continue to have outdated spaces and um aging
infrastructure continues to put strains on our district operations. Our facilities committee had conversations about some of those things um today in fact. So amount and the tax impact on an average price home in our district, which is about $500,000,
the tax impact would be about $17 per month for question one and approximately $15 per month for question two. Just so you um when we talk about this, this is how we compare um with our operating referendum versus our
neighbors and also versus the schools we often are compared to. So if you um look first um our per pupil operating referendum versus our neighbors you can see where we are um on the right hand side um we have North St. Paul and then
we have Mameidi compared to our neighbors. And then you can also see um the scale is a little bit no it's about the same. Sorry, I'm trying to see it from here. Um you can see where we fall when we compare ourselves to our um the
districts that we are alo also compare we often are compared to. Excuse me. So the district uh the district's role is to inform. And so it's our responsibility during a school election to inform our community of the the the questions and what it is we're asking.
We um can't use dis district resources um to say yes or no to advocate, but it um we can say vote and we can inform. In fact, it's our responsibility to inform. So you will be seeing um lots of information coming from us so that
everyone is really informed about what we are asking and why we are asking and then what happens if the referendum passes or fails and how to vote. Um we do have a website. Um, we call it our election website because it's where
we have any of our election results we keep on that website, but it's um it's our we'll also refer to it as our referendum website. Um, I mentioned already um some of the referendum learning sessions that are upcoming, but those are listed as well.
I think that's Oh, and um just a little bit more about outreach and communication. So in addition to that website, inerson learning sessions, you'll also see print mailers, handouts, submissions to the newspaper, you'll see social media. Um we do have a video um
that will give that overview for people who can't attend these um sessions and um again we'll we'll be attending outreach events for all of us. So um know about early voting and the day of
voting. So, um you can um early voting starts on September 19th and Washington County is um supporting us and others in running the election and voting centers closer to the election.
Okay. And I think that is it. So, with that, I know it's a lot of information. There's a lot of information you've heard before, but I wanted to make sure that we went through all of it prior to um asking for the um calling the special election.
Any questions? The one I know you've seen this a lot. One of the things the board has requested um is to also get a little bit more um detail regarding what does this what would this um look like if we had to make reductions? Um what does it mean
to uh have staff reductions, program reductions? And so just know that our next step is to to create some more detail around that so that the community is really clear on what it is um the impact of not passing um the referendum.
Director Rean. Um, I just wanted to call out that the election website looks fantastic. So, thanks to our director of communications. It really looks nice. I I love how it's broken down by question and the video on there as well about um
Minnesota school funding explained I think is really helpful. Um, I'll just also there will be um Minnesota school funding and then a little bit more personalized um video coming soon um because our director of
communications is somebody that um is valued for her feedback when um companies when um experts are looking to to improve their work with schools, she's called upon. So um they were happy to give her um a personalized version of
that video because of her work. So we are fortunate for that as well. Right. Right. Any other questions? Okay. Well, with that we are um asking you to approve the resol resolution calling a special election. It is in um
your board packet. The full resolution is in your packet. Um, and it's a couple pages long. Um, so I'm not suggesting that you read it. However, it does say um, in this one, sorry, I just need to
get to the right one. Um, it does call for at the I'm sorry, I'm just going to. So, the motion for the adoption adoption of the resolution um does require a um roll call vote.
So, in here is the resolution as well as a sample ballot. I'll just call that out as well. Is there two resolutions? Um there is one resolution because you are have both questions in that one
resolution. Okay. um because yeah, the special election ballot has both of those questions in there. And again, I want to call out that question two um is the passage of question two is dependent on the
question of question one. So it says if school district question one is approved, shall the school board um also be authorized? So it does refer to um question one first. Okay. Can I get a motion for the approval of the resolution calling a
special election? So moved. Moved by Director Domen. Second. Seconded by Director Donna. Roll call. Any other discussion? Madam Chair. Yes. I I would just like to, you know, I
I I know everyone sitting up here does not take it lightly that we're going to be asking the community for for dollars to fund operations and the facilities plan. And I know a lot of time and effort went into um not only by the board but
administration in putting forward um you know proposals both on the operational and facility side that you know do a really good job I think of balancing what we need um with the
limited resources we have and also given the you know the budgetary um issues that we're going to be facing here going forward. So um you know we don't take you know I don't take this lightly. I know um I I will speak for
the rest of the at this point but I know in in in all in all of our interactions and study sessions that nobody here took it lightly when we're looking to ask the community for dollars. And um I just want to thank everyone for their efforts
and and going forward. Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. I think uh we've talked about it so much that um we're kind of quiet tonight compared because we've talked it through so much. So I appreciate you pointing that out, Director Donna. It's it has
been a long road here and I think we've really come to a good place and what we're asking of the community is uh really ultimately for the students of this district
balancing out all of the other uh strains on um on the economy. So uh we we worked really hard to get to this point. So, thank you for for addressing that. Okay, with that, I think we're ready for
a roll call vote. Director Domen, yes. Director Donna, yes. Director Peterson, yes. Director Rean, I director Witson, yes. Uh, Madam Chair Stout, yes.
Thank you. With that, the motion is approved unanimously. Okay, now we're ready for school board committee reports. Uh we'll start with the AMSD. There was a um
a Zoom call this morning um and it was basically a legislative overview um that was presented in part by AMSD um Brightite Works and MSBA. And I'm just going to I took notes this morning
and I'm just going to call out a couple items here. Um you know speaking to you know where we are where we're at with the budget. It's in part to the fact that um thankfully we they kept the
2.74% that was granted um a year ago the increase on the general formula. But going forward, um, no more no new general education dollars for fiscal 26 or fiscal 27.
Uh, so, um, that factors into what we're doing here. Um, there's other items as well that they talked about uh, related to some partial funding of unemployment costs. Um but nothing that really um
uh helps helps school funding going forward. And I bar if you participate or Tim if you have any question or anything to add on that as well um related to the funding but it was loud and clear no new
money for education going forward. It is the next bianium. No. And in fact, I what I heard too is that they I think we'll be seeing some peeling back of the things that they Well, we've already started seeing that some of the the money they gave us um for targeted
um areas is being pulled back. So, you mean for mandates? Um some of it's for mandates, some of it's to support like um I'll just use uh the library. they they put money towards um every district was going to get a certain amount of money towards um to ensure that we had
media specialists and that's um coming back. Um I'm trying to think of it off the top of my head, but there um student support aid um is another one that's coming that's being pulled back. Yeah. Yeah. And then there's a there there'll
be a blue ribbon U commission that will be studying special education. And um I guess maybe the gut feel is we're going to see some reductions there as well. Um and then uh I guess and they've already got some reductions on the table for the
next bianium. I think it was I want to say it was around 400 million. Uh so that's kind of the start right of what we look like. So I I think the next Yeah. the next bianium is probably going to be a little bit tougher. So a quick question. I don't suppose
that I mean they made it very clear that there's going to be a decrease in funding. Had they talked about rolling some of the mandates back then to go along with that to help us address that part? Thank thank you for asking that. That is one of that is a one of the um
topics that I would expect to be addressed. Some of them not all of them though. There are Yep. not all of them. And then um there was a number of different policy changes that we'll see coming down the pike, but one item that
is law right now is that um board members uh can be remote, continue to be remote, but no longer um do do you have to publish where you're at. Um, and so the
way I took it is you could actually be in your car as long as you have the camera on and the voice on and take your meeting. So for those you don't have to leave your back door open for people to join you. For those of you who are in transit or sometimes it's hard to to
make a meeting. So I think that was a good thing. Make it more accessible for us to to be at meetings. Awesome. Just as a reminder, you always have to be able to be seen on the camera, though, too. I do think it would be helpful if we
could see some of those mandates and what they're costing us. Um, I know you have a lot of things going on right now, but it would be really helpful to know how we're impacted. And I think it'd be helpful for our community to know because we have no control over what the
legislature is handing down to us. and they had an immense amount of extra money not too long ago and they blew through it and now then our students are the ones who are paying for that and our communities because we we're now having
to ask them to increase their taxes. So I think it would be really helpful for us. Um, I I know I probably all of us would like to know um what we can say about those mandates with more granular
specifics. Sure. Yeah. Yeah, I can I can definitely get some of those. Some of those will be uh yet to be determined like the blue ribbon commission etc. of course, but uh but yeah, there's some that we can definitely talk about in very concrete terms. Okay. Thank you.
Uh that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Now for a make update. So the um I don't know if you have anything from the last end of year meeting. Yeah, the end of year meeting was um was brief. We had some outgoing
um some members who are stepping down from the board and um looking for a couple new members as well. Um I don't know have you I don't think at our last meeting the uh new executive director
had been announced. We mentioned Yeah, I mentioned that last time. Okay. Yeah. So that was May I mean June 16th was the last end of year meeting and there's nothing again until August. So I didn't know if there's anything worth mentioning. I didn't think so. No, I
don't think so. um just that there again there'll be a new um executive director starting in July mid I it's been it's been announced so yeah it has oh well it was oh I thought it was announcement maybe it was just announced
that it was being it was Did you say that No one knows. Uh, nobody viewing. No. Three. Okay. Okay. Okay. Well, we'll look into that. Yeah.
Okay. So, so maybe we didn't announce it. I hope I did not announce Well, we'll figure that out. Okay. Okay. Um, MSBA legislative updates, please. Paul covered it. Okay. Thank you.
And thank you all for covering all of the legislative stuff for us. I just I know it was a really really strange session and of course um tragic here recently. So um just want to acknowledge
that. Okay. North Oh, Northeast Metro 916. I will make sure the most recent update gets sent out with the um updates and then are there any other board reports? Yes, I'll just call out just for the
minutes that the facilities committee met tonight but it was already mentioned by the presentation by um um Adam commended so we are good. Great. There anything else? All right.
Just want to thank everyone. I know um we're just midway through our duties of the year, but with the end of the school year, I feel like I would just want to say thank you for um a great year and covering all your responsibilities and
hope you get some time this summer to relax and then we'll all these committees I'm sure will get busy again. So, close session. Yes. Now, we've got to go into close session. Okay. So pursuant to
Minnesota statute 13D.03, we um will go into close session for discussion of labor negotiations, strategies, or developments. And I need a motion for that, please. So moved. Moved by Director Domen. Second.
Seconded by Director Peterson. All those in favor say I. I. I. Okay. We are going into close session.