##VIDEO ID:4FTDKg8Y7HY## hello everyone I'm David law superintendent of minetonka public schools and I'm kimary Foss a director on the minetonka school board we're glad you're able to join us for our school board recognition program it's important to take time to acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of our students staff and community members we began most of our regular board meetings with recognitions to highlight the positive impact that so many different people make in our district today we are recognizing four groups Tonka District select choir State Conference performers football state qualifiers bowling State qualifiers and newly named AP Scholars from the 20123 24 school year the Tonka District select choir is made up of fourth fifth and sixth graders from across the district the group was selected to perform at the American coral Directors Association or acda state conference in November singers worked hard to prepare for a rigorous program of songs to to perform for the members of the acda throughout the rehearsal process they learned about teamwork performance etiquette and general musicality choir advisors and staff supporters include Melanie mckyer jce GLE Seth Boyd Renee capistrant Jennifer Harrington and Kurt Carpenter let's hear more about their experience hi there my name is Melanie mckyer and I am the director of the Tonka District children's select choir our select choir has singers in fourth fifth and sixth grade and we represent each of the six elementary schools and both middle schools back on November 22nd we were invited to perform at the American coral directors association's fall conference We performed a difficult program for all of the Minnesota choir directors and attendance there this is a heartfelt thank you and a heartfelt congratulations and I want you to know I'm so proud of you and what a job well done my name is Adeline watercott class of 2033 I'm a fourth grader at Clear Springs Elementary School this is my first year in select choir singing a solo into the microphone at state competition helped me build my confidence hi my name is Tanya kunder and our choir performed in the acda conference I've been in choir for 3 years now I started in fourth grade at grind Elementary and now I'm in sixth grade at minona Middle School East I've never stopped loving choir I love choir because we get to sing in different languages we get to sing with kids from other schools and we get to sing in front of our peers I'm so thankful to have this amazing opportunity and sing this awesome choir hello my name is Lisa cypo and I'm a fourth grader at excelsia elementary Class of 2033 I had so much for performing at the acda conference um it was all about singing and having fun and showing off all our hard work my favorite songs were lost boy and Waban I liked Lost Boy because it sounded nice and I liked Wulan because we all did well with the hand movements and they're all fun I feel really lucky that we got to sing so many songs alongside some other really talented singers from other places my name is Lincoln Davis and I am the class of 2031 and something that I like about select choir is taking trips around the district hi I'm Zara ker and our choir performed in the AC performance I'm so thankful for this opportunity in choir choir is so fun and it's so cool how we learn different languages like Latin our choir director is so amazing I really hope you join the choir bye congratulations to the members of our Tonka District select choir luminita Adams Ariana andway grillin Armstrong Zachary baky Lena balls Logan Bon Lucy Benz Dela Bo Gloria Boyd Adeline Brookner Hazel Campbell Kylie Chua Emma Cohen Lincoln Davis Rebecca delarc PR Arya Deutch Levi dubrovsky Leon Ericson Bianca Eva Michael Everton Alice fory Emory frie Noel Graves Luna gray Eleanor gustofson Eli Hackman Penelope haml fana Hy Nicole Hoffman Judah hska Mera HOSA Joselyn Huck Reed pru gerado Tanya Kar Zara kakar Duncan King Amalia Kua Audrey later kraton long Wesley Long Lea Lansbury Aria Madia Vivien mafit Irene Matthew Kaye McDonald iy mckyer Connor ostri Luc ril ostri reys Patterson Harrison plumadore Jack Ral Samantha remal Maya Reeder Parker roll Nicholas Sashi Emma Samuel Erica Samuel Caroline Scott Millie stano leet cpal Emily Valen cour arj v j baser Anna Wong adelyn watercott Liam Woodside and Jeffrey wet next we will recognize our varsity football team for their outstanding season the Skippers qualified for State this year for the first time since 2017 they made it all the way to the championship final where they finished as the runners up for class 6A after a close game with undefeated Maple Grove the football team is led by head coach Mark Esh and assistant coaches Brian Damon Dave Shoemaker Jason opsol Rodney Francois Bubba Moore Matt Lombardi Matt Gorman ismile coron Ryan LA and Matt bu the team's videographer is Steve Tut Hill let's watch and hear more about the season hey this is Mark Esh the head coach at minetonka high school for football football and I just want to take a minute to congratulate our team on the prep Bowl appearance runnerup number two in the state of Minnesota in large class football 6A and uh the thing that stands out to me about this team is their resilience just really proud of the way uh they fought back in games they were down they never quit they were always cool calm and collected and uh just took care of business they played the game the right way and uh I'm probably most proud of the way they operated in school and uh the positive impact they had on the hallways here at minetonka high school so congratulations to this team and uh super proud of you guys hi my name is Logan bakis I'm a freshman class of 2028 it's been an amazing honor to join the mka varsity football team during the 2024 Minnesota state championship playoffs throughout our journey to the final this year's senior Junior and sophomore teammates has shown me what it means to be motivated how to be a leader to work with disciplin and commitment how to compete with sportsmanship and fairness they showed me a level of football for which I wish to strive for I wish the seniors much success as they continue their lives to colate athletes or fantastic people I look forward to playing with football with everyone else next year thank you my name is H Manon I am a senior and the most impactful part of managing was the friendships I was able to create being around the girls all the time it was super fun I would say I'm most proud of the team making it to State and making it that far um and managing wise just being able to touch the turf on usbank Stadium was super cool and a really really great experience congratulations to the varsity football players and team managers who contributed to the state runnerup achievement miles Augustine Henry olick Logan beckus Benjamin Bader Noah barwald Sterling Bane Casey Ballard Riley batani Aiden Becker Jake benbo Blake Bisson Malachi bodh abaji Milan bobda Eric booze Brady botton Cody Braun Zion brazma David Carter k Carter team manager Griffin Carver lared cassid Grady Chapman Carter Christensen Dominic Chacha Chase Conrad K Copley Eric Denard Tully Desmet Joseph donelly Damonte Duncan Tate eisenbarth quinland Iman Elijah Fernandez Andrew fighter Maya ferus team manager Pierce Fogerty Caleb Francois Gavin Garner Jacob dendro Grady gihin Samuel God saafe Nicholas graph Bennett Gunderson Henry gustaffson Kaden gutzmer Kingston Hamlin Thomas hilar Winston hammering Dylan hudgin Elijah Hunter Peter JWT beran Johnson Graham care Evan Knight Logan Colts rker Magnuson Matthew marel Vincent May Delan Meyers Jeremiah Mond William McKinny hel minion team manager Anders Moore Griffin Moore Philip nardy Landon noon Cooper odard Fletcher Oles kale aagard Cormac feffer Lucas poen Fiero n premkumar Quinton Restrepo Duke Richardson Devin rle kaliana salana team manager Matthew sander Samuel SCH maltz Alex Schneider Charlie scholman Channing Scott Mason cirk Drew simmington Charles Simonson Spencer sommerfeld Kate steppen team manager Hunter stockham Caleb Taylor Brown Ain Thompson delce Torres Diaz team manager Cali trapnel team manager Kion vogle Noah Wallace Adam waight Michael weberg Colin Wicket Benjamin wanoff Jack urot Brady young and Aiden zabala congratulations again to each of you the minetonka high school bowling team had a fantastic fall season several students qualified for the state championship and the team finished in 14th Place overall the bowling team is coached by Douglas Johnson and Nate Anderson let's hear more about their season hey guys I'm coach Nate Anderson this is Coach Doug Johnson we're with the minetonka bowling team we had a really fun exciting year this year our JB team did really well but our varsity team actually made it to State and we special shout out to Tonka bers who made the State roster this year Matthew State Tommy Olsen and Jonah cner we're already excited for next season go my name is Thomas Olsen and I am a class of 2027 graduate and I'm a sophomore the most impactful part of my activity was um the the effort that it took to get to the conference how we had to win a lot of our games to um to get there was definitely the most impactful part and then um the thing that I'm most proud of that um that I accomplished was how I improved and then how that um also carried over to the team as well so like if I do good and then I hype my teammates up then they're going to do good and yeah congratulations to the following minona students who are members of the state qualifying team Jonah cner Thomas Olsen and Matthew stay our last recognition group for this evening is the new AP Scholars from the 2023 2024 school year the AP scholar designation is granted by the College Board to students who receive a score of three or higher on three or more exams the students we will recognize tonight achieve the AP scholar designation for the first time based on their AP exam scores from the 2023 24 school year earning this achievement requires an incredible amount of hard work and dedication we asked our AP Scholars to share about a class at motanka high school that has inspired them and and has had an impact on their academic Journey here's what they shared with us hello my name is Amber cornier and I a class of 2025 graduating senior the two AP courses that impacted my education the most would be AP psych and AP Bio I liked learning about different mental illnesses and how the brain works as well as how different biological processes work in different organisms and I would like to continue studying these courses throughout my career and in college I also think that the most significant project I did was interviewing senior residents at nursing homes and learning about psychology and older people and how the brain develops throughout your lifetime thank you I'm Andrew Ty I'm a junior here at minat tanka um and being an AP scholar to me uh represents um choosing and deciding to seek out harder challenges even if it's not necessary um it represents I've taken the Less Traveled harder path and deciding to Traverse it anyways even if it's not uh required of you and an AP course that's really stood out to me is AP United States history um just the fact that it covers such a wide variety of topics um it covers like the almost the entirety of United States history and its impacts um and just the span of one one year was kind of impressive and it really opens up um Windows into a bunch of different varied Topics in other areas of history and really really helps you take a look at um other things around you besides besides just the very surface level kind of stuff makes you look at their impacts and whatnot my name is Sam S and I'm a senior and AP seminar has been a transformative experience and it taught me many things like how to think critically communicate effectively and collaborate with other people and through research and evidence-based arguments I've learned how to analyze real world Sol issues and solutions from multiple perspectives and develop well-rounded Solutions this class challenged me to improve my writing and presentation skills which was very helpful to me and it gave me confidence in expressing my ideas working with my peers on team projects taught me the value of collaboration and constructive of criticism and feedback AP seminars prepared me for college and Beyond by fostering skills I'll use for a lifetime hi my name is bur and I'm currently a junior here at manona high school ap's had a really big impact on me and one of those courses has been AP US History AP US History has really made me gain an interest in the US government and in local politics and the community and has made me really want to be able to figure out how I can help my community and make my voice be heard in our government hello my name is s Longo and I'm currently a junior at minetonka high school last year I decided to take AP pre-calculus as math is one of my favorite subjects at first it was very challenging for me although with a lot of hard work and support from my teacher I ended up getting a five on the AP test with this I learned the value of hard work now this year I'm taking the global business Vantage course at Minon this class has shown me that international business is something that I really want to do in my future and these classes are helping me to prepare for college and for my future I'm so grateful that I got these opportunities to take these AP classes through minona thank you hi my name is Rees I'm a 2026 Junior and through my AP economics and IB business class at the vage program I have discovered how Hands-On learning helps me further understand the topic better through my company projects and Shark Tank projects that are embedded into these classes it allowed me to explore a career pass I hadn't thought of before my name is John kantu I'm a class of 2026 Junior and out of all of my high school classes AP Physics with Miss Nanda Kumar and business analytics with Mr Benton and wickom have made the biggest impacts on me throughout both of these classes I not only learned their subjects but their real world applications and from then on I've thought and used things I've learned from both these classes almost every day although these were my favorite classes I ALS want to say thank you to all of my teachers because I wouldn't be where I am without any one of them and finally to my friends and family thank you for always pushing and supporting me I'm very grateful for all the opportunities I've had thank you our AP Scholars from the class of 20124 include Richard allenson Grant Anson Maya arnar Natalie Ashlin Lindsay abar David Oz Parker Barry Simon Bender Oliver Berkland Carolyn blanks Cameron borgendale Nolan Brown Gabriel bergoin chzn delaria siman Dei Isabella faras Keegan FY Anna Gilbertson Isabelle guttenfelder Paige hanis bro H Haskins Ava hefron Cooper hemk Aiden Henderson Joshua holler Jackson huie Callahan Isaacson Alysa kachkovski Wendy Kanan Nathan Kowalski Alexandra kru Evan Keers Lauren lamb Zachary Larson Cassandra Matson Benjamin mck Olivia mahilo Bennett Moler kersch vickram Nathan Carter NY Finn aagard Isaac ppoi Zoe richens Ryan Shaw Andrew Simmons Elliot St John Theodor stukel Emma vanmeer Tyler Voss Lauren Wallace William Woodbury Madison Wright Aisha Yousef and Lucille Zin our AP Scholars from the class of 2025 include Aaliyah agree Hudson Al day Madison Ambrose Lillian Anderson Samuel Ashby Alexander boback Carlos bar robs K Bar Gracie Bartholomew meline Benning Ryan Bernett Sophia Bevis Edward Bo Ryan bonus Audrey botin Michael brand wri rexton Breitbach Evan Chan Lewis chir Khloe Cho Davis colbeck Amber cornea Annalie Kramer Evelyn Dan Maxwell dockerty Tyler dietler Delaney edgert Nathan extrand Charlotte eminof Amelia fandre Benjamin Ferguson Vanessa fukin tuo vivana Greenley Marty Gunderson Jack Harris Hugo hee Sophie helgason Jackson hmle Alexander Holland TN hmel miles Humphries Hannah Jackson Brock Johnson Jack nson James coot Evan kupo Hing Fon Kong Nora Kish Taylor lanstrom Joshua Larson Rose liry Sena leaper Lucas linger Max Louie Tyson mahadi Joseph mcell Elizabeth McKinny Avery Mido meline menen Jessica Nelson Wyatt nice Evelyn Noah Becket Nystrom Ari om danne Oregon Emma Peters Aiden pedit Ava pint Ava pressen John rafy Aubrey RoR Grace rol William Rolf Eric rust maren Sabin Aron samian McKenzie scanland Charlie Schulman Daniel shelstad Parker simmer samv jet sock Cody stlu Hunter stockham meline swart Ain Thompson Haley townzen Levi tromble Adra unob Theo vankirk Anna wadman cash Wagner Romney Warner Megan weeks Ethan Williamson Alexander wood Jack urot Ellie Zach reek our AP Scholars from the class of 2026 include Ryland ashoff Vera Ballard Blake Bon Riley Bowen Jack brenthon mateline Brown John Cantu Clara Carlson Benjamin Carney Elizabeth cek reys chernek Marin Chu Connor Cox Farid eluri Aiden fine Claudia Garcia AR Isaac Godfrey Lucas granucci Rhea Harris Quinn Johnson Libby Krueger Daniel leban Meyer lelling Alexander levenson Sadi Longo Aaron low Alex alander mosco Elana Mesler Reagan McCarthy John Paul Mary Sophie milstein Dorothy moral meline Morgan Marine njib Amelia Olen Dylan sley Kaden pelstring Scarlet penhollow Oscar post n premkumar Ava paninski Braden puit sadana rrj Cooper renau Karishma rebello Cole Rowan akan Sashi Kumar Rory Shen Becket shinski Isabella cyer Alexander Sue Augustine stro Andrew Ty adelyn Tibido Graham Tyler Anne udupa rissy y AP Scholars from the class of 2027 include Braden Abbott Maria bondar Thomas Calhoun Lopez Nadia chos Elizabeth Donahue Anthony dosv Oscar Doyle Kyle Drew Sarah Duffy Megan Eisenman Bo Elder Audrey get anah Graham Evelyn Hill Thomas jakubas Mira giant Oliver Jones oah KSA Aaron Kim hingson Kong Benjamin kowal Mason Kyper Tyler Lambert bellaa linski William Martin Taylor Meyer Emerson Morgan Rebecca Moss River Olsen low Alexandra Perry arouch pumar Carson Rous Lucia ruhoff mukil senil Kumar Elias Simmons Mila Sloan Marcus suto Eric stanerson Stella sui Gus Sullivan Sawyer taty Eve sander tan Daniel trifonov Simone vasal Xander vby Flor Daisy Wong Joselyn Wong Joseph Wolf Isabelle Wong Ari yev zelman Eric xen Lucas Jen Grace xia and Zoe zanc and from the class of 2028 we recognize Yan Ruka congratulations again to each of our AP Scholars fantastic work that concludes our recognition program for this evening thank you again for celebrating with us the school board meeting will begin shortly e e good evening and happy New Year uh welcome to the January 7th 2025 minetonka school board meeting going I call it to order let's all rise and say the Pledge to the flag I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all uh okay we're going to open with a motion to adopt the agenda so moved Sally is there a second second Dan um any additions or discussion all in favor please say I I we have an agenda uh first up tonight is election of the school board officers for 2025 we will start off with the role of chair and um I would like to motion to nominate Patrick Lee o hallerin for the chair role um in his three years on the school board he's taken on leadership opportunities been very involved in the case committee which is really crucial for our district at this time and he spent the last year as Vice chair attending leadership meetings and being a part of that process so I feel like he's very well equipped to take on the role is there a second k um are there any other nominations any discussion all right we have a motion and a second all in favor please say I I I any opposed welcome chair Patrick thank you uh next up can I have nominations for vice chair I would like to nominate cry Foss for vice chair um I I and I personally want to say that I think we have a great group of folks on this board and it's a pleasure working with each and every one of these people um and it's been wonderful getting to know and work with kemry over the past year um I know she's been dedicated to the to this school district volunteering her time and been been a present in in big part of minetonka schools long before she uh chose to to step up and run for this seat so she's got a lot of experience uh she brings a lot of experience and a lot of love for this district and the the amount that she cares and dedicates to this uh this work she'll make a great Vice chair thank you can I have a second second Patrick are there any other nominations for vice chair all in favor please say I I any opposed motion carries we have a vice chair kry fos uh can I have nomin nom minations for treasurer Mike yeah I'd like to nominate Dan Olen um who is currently serving as our Treasurer I nominated him last year and I stand by what I said last year which is that he is a person who is a lot of experience with budgets and has a passion for them and he has done a stellar job in that role for the past year and I think he should stay there and keep doing it thank you is there a second second Sally um any other nominations for treasurer we have a motion and a second all in favor please say I I any opposed motion carries congratulations Dan uh any nominations for clerk I have a nomination Patrick uh Chris fatali has been uh member of the school board for I believe nine years now and has had just about every role uh that the leadership of the board has to offer uh that's given him a great perspective to kind of serve as a check and reminder of May or some uh have some suggestions for us of practices or procedures that have worked in the past I know uh more than once he's been able to provide a polite suggestion or correction to something I've done wrong as the chair and I'm sure he will uh have no problem reprising that role with me in in the chair seat this time around so I nominate him without hesitation thank you is there a second second kie um and just so everybody knows that uh Chris has known about this nomination and is willing to accept the role um are there any other nominations for clerk we have a motion and a second all in favor please say I I any opposed motion carries Chris fatalii will be clerk maybe we should mention that he was out ill today yes he is unable to be here tonight um and then I'd like to motion to approve Paul bis as the deputy clerk Deputy Treasurer is there a second second Dan um any discussion of that okay all in favor please say I I any opposed motion carries all right our next up is a school report but Patrick is going to take the rains from here I I okay next we have the school report from sale superintendent law Mr chair members of the board as you're aware each month we start off our board meeting with an update from a different School site these updates usually include some activity at the school how the school is um embedding some of the goals of the board and the priority work of the district one of my favorite school sites to visit on the district because of the friendliness of the students and the dedication of the staff is our sale building tonight I welcome up our sales staff to give a school [Music] update guess they're not going to stand next next to me uh good evening uh superintendent law and school bar members and members of the community uh thanks for spending this evening with me my name is Aaron Valenta I'm one of the directors of special education and I'm the sale building administrator I'm actually here with um our students uh representative Levi moseman and our new work experience teacher at sale his name is Steve Kangas we're going to tell you a little bit about our year um I don't know if you can believe it but sale is in its fourth year and uh we continue to benefit from all of our community experiences thank you um we work uh our transition program focuses on these three areas these are the three pillars of transition that all transition programs focus on but we work on our independent living skills so that students can um go forward and move into adulthood for um productive um excuse me um smoothly from a school to adult life when they feel included in valued um there's our second pillar is um the post-secondary Education and Training that can also include some of the on the- job training pieces and our third pillar is employment we really aim to equip students with the skills and experiences they need to secure that meaningful employment ensuring that they feel valued in the workplace and these pillars are really important so that they can achieve their goals lead fulfilling lives and feel a strong sense of belonging in all that they do Levi is actually going to talk a little bit tonight about his own personal work experiences at sale as a student I've had the chance to explore different internship opportunities at a coffee shop restaurant School library and Science Center working at a coffee shop taught me valuable soft skills and how to complete kitchen food prep at the restaurant I learned about organization kitchen management and the fast paced environment of the hospitality industry my time at the school library was spent organizing books and understanding how a library operates the science center internship was particularly exciting as I got to engage in Hands-On activities maintain materials and support educational programs each experience has given me unique skills and insights with preparing me for various employment paths currently I am a student intern at Northern tul I I am involved in various tasks I'm assisting customers with their needs to helping manage inventory I gained hands-on experience with different tools and Machinery which was both educational and exciting the team was supportive and always willing to share their knowledge making it a great environment for learning this internship not only enhanced my technical skills but also improved my communication and problem solving abilities overall it was a valuable opportunity that has prepared me for future career challenges I'm really looking forward to my up to my upcoming internship at Goodwill retail store I can't wait to learn about retail options or operations from sorting donations to assisting customers on the sales floor I'm excited to gain handson experience in Inventory management and understand how a nonprofit organization operates the opportunity to work with a diverse team and interact with customers will help me improve my communication and teamwork skills plus knowing that my work will contribute to a good cause makes this internship even more [Music] meaningful thanks Levi so the sale work experience program is fortunate to be supported by local business owners who understand sorry understand that a strong Community is built on the unique contributions and talents of all of its residents by providing our students with a support and environment to practice employment skills we continue to develop a sense of belonging and inclusion within our local community these experiences not only enrich the lives of our students but also aligned with the school board's goals of promoting Community engagement belonging and preparing students for future success by participating in this program students feel valued and connected reinforcing their sense of belonging in the community the following businesses represent a few of our valued Partners aelite thrift store offers students a chance to gain retail experience including Inventory management and Merchandising working in a thrift store environment helps students develop organizational skills learn the importance of teamwork and understand the value of community service by supporting a nonprofit organization at tonedale plant nursery students can immerse themselves in Horticulture learning about plant Care Landscaping and the business aspects of running a nursery this hands-on experience Fosters a connection with nature teaches responsibility and provides insights into environmental sustainability practices at First Student Bus Company students are provided opportunities to understand the logistics and operations of school transportation they can learn about Fleet Management safety protocols and the importance of punctuality and reliability in ensuring students safe travel to and from schools Junior explorers Child Care also allow students to work with young children gaining experience in early childhood education and development this role helps students develop patience communication skills and a sense of responsibility and reliability in ensuring oops in a sense of responsibility while making a positive impact on child children's lives dun Brothers Coffee Shop is a site where students can learn about the food and beverage industry including customer service Barista skills and small business operations this experience enhances their interpersonal skills time management and the understanding of the hospital Hospitality sector the district service center mail room offers students a behind the look behind the scenes look at administrative functions of a school district they can learn about mail sorting distribution and the importance of efficient communication within an organization minona Community Education and girl elementary school custodian positions provide students with an understanding of the importance of cleanliness and maintenance in a school environment they can learn about various cleaning techniques safety protocols and the role of custodial staff in creating a healthy a learning environment at Mount Calvary preschool lunch service provides students the opportunity to assist in meal service for young children this role teaches them about nutrition food safety and the importance of providing balanced meals to support children's growth and development at Walgreens students gain retail experience in a retail setting learning about customer service Inventory management and the basics of healthc care products this experience can be particularly valuable for students interested in pursuing careers in healthcare or retail management and at dein's hardware store students have the chance to learn about Home Improvement products customer service and Retail operations this hands-on experience helps them develop problem solving skills product knowledge and an understanding of the retail industry and finally Sunrise Assisted Living provides students with the opportunity to work with elderly residents gaining experience in caregiving communication and empathy this ear helps students understand the importance of compassion and patience while making a meaningful difference in the lives of seniors these diverse work experience programs not only equip students with practical skills but also help them explore potential work paths and develop a strong work ethic thank you again for your time this evening and we thoroughly enjoyed sharing this with you thanks thank you thank you any questions or comments for presenters drle uh yeah hi um I just have a quick comment uh as the district's representative on the an intermediate District 287 School Board um I just want to say that uh even though 287 does also have a transition program I think this is one of those programs that it's really important to have in our own uh District mainly because it gets our students uh involved directly in our own Community rather than sending them out to other communities so thank you for the work that you do Levi great job um thank you for for participating and being so enthusiastic thank you thank you for the great report any other comments okay moving on uh uh where are we on time yes uh We've now reached the time in the agenda for Community comments Community comments is an opportunity for the public to address the school board on an item included in this agenda in accordance with a guide d guidelines printed at the end of this agenda agenda uh we don't have anyone who signed up for Community comments anyone else wishing to make a comment okay moving on to the next item which is the organization of the school board superintendent law Mr chair each year at the organizational meeting the school board members are asked to decide upon a time day in place for each regular Schoolboard meeting it's my recommendation that you adopt the uh School Board meeting calendar listed in the agenda all right may I have a motion to adopt the uh school board meeting dates for 20125 listed in your packet so moved Dr Mike may I have a second second camar any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I I any opposed all right we have meeting dates superintendent law the next item on the agenda is the adoption of study sessions now I would note this with is true with both the regular board meetings and study sessions to the extent that it's possible to do this in the first Thursday of the month and the third Thursday of the month the that's what this calendar reflects there are several months where there's either a spring break conflict or a holiday conflict that forces us to adjust but with that in mind I would recommend that the board adopt the following study session dates for 2025 thank you superintendent law may I have a motion to adopt the SCH School Board study session dates for 2025 so moves Sally May I have a second second damn any discussion all those in favor please say I any opposed motion passes uh superintendent law item C of the organizational board meeting is setting of the salaries for board members th those salaries are included in the package I would note that these salaries are unchanged since I have come to the school board uh there are no increases in any of these items with that in mind I'd recommend the board adopt the salaries proposed in the board agenda thank you superintendent law may I have a motion to adopt the salaries listed on the agenda item so moved Megan may I have a second second Camarie any discussion of the salaries I will just uh re iterate what superintendent law already told us which is that these salaries have been unchanged for many years and I believe are on the low end of the school board salaries in the metro area so um any further discussion uh uh all those I have a motion and a second all those in favor please say I I any opposed uh motion passes superintendent law the next item on the agenda item D is recommendation to approve our designated depositories this list of nine uh financial institutions across the state and around the country are unchanged it's my recommendation that the board adopt these as the official designated depositories thank you superintendent law may I have a motion to adopt the resolution designating depositories so moved Dan may I have a second second Mike uh any discussion seeing none all those in favor please say I I I any opposed uh motion carries superintendent law item e of the organizational board meeting is the designation of the official newspaper and alternative dissemination of bids and quotes um each year every school district in the state has to identify an official newspaper I would note that this is up for discussion as newspapers are um slowly shutting down but currently this is s a requirement our official newspaper has been the sun sailor that's unchanged that's in your Schoolboard agenda packets my recommendation you'd adopt that thank you superintendent law uh may I have a motion to adopt the resolution designating the official newspaper so moved Megan may I have a second second Sally any discussion Megan um I would just say that I do think we still have community members that do use the newspaper as their primary source of information so in the interest of getting as much information to as much of the public as possible I would Advocate we maintain this um at least for the time being thank you any other comments All right we have a motion and a second all those in favor please say I I I any opposed motion carries superintendent law item F on the board agenda under the organizational meeting is the designation of the official radio station for emergency announcements very exciting place for kids on weather days we will continue to recommend WCCO am is the official station during 2025 for emergency School announcements with the note that we will also be calling into TV channels 4 5 9 and 11 to post as well as post on the district's website it's my recommendation that we maintain our wcam as the official radio station for emergency announcements thank you superintendent law may I have a motion to uh adopt the resolution designating the official radio station so moved Camarie may I have a second second Mike any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I I any opposed motion carries superintendent law item G of the organizational board meetings the appointment of an auditor minona has used Clifton Larson Allen since March of two of 1999 they've done exemplary work for the district it's my recommendation that we would continue to have Clifton Larson Allen as the official auditor for the school district thank you superintendent law may I have a motion to uh adopt the resolution appointing Clifton Larson Allen as the auditor so moved uh Dan may I have a second second Megan any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I I I any opposed motion passes superintendent law the next item on the agenda item H is setting of the superintendent's evaluation dates this is also in board policy uh according to board policy there need to be a midyear date that date is recommended as Thursday February 20th at 4:30 p.m. the three dates that would be setting aside for completing the evaluation in June are Monday June 2nd at 400 p.m. Thursday June 12th at 6 p.m. and Tuesday June 17th at 6 pm. it's my recommendation that the board accept those dates for the superintendent's evaluation thank you superintendent law may I have a motion to uh set the superintendent's evaluation dates so moved Sally May I have a second second Dan any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I I any opposed motion carries superintendent law the next item for the organizational board meeting item I is the setting of mileage allowance for business purposes not covered by contracted or negotiated agreements the federal government has set the mileage rate for this to upcoming school year at70 cents per mile the recommendation is that the board also apply the standard to employees who are not covered by contracts it's my recommendation you accept this recommended mileage rate for employees thank you superintendent law may have a motion to set the mileage allowance so moved uh Dr Mike may I have a second second Dan any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say I I any opposed motion carries superintendent law the final item of the organizational meeting item J is Schoolboard appointments to various committees I will read that list and then make the recommendation representing minona at the association of metropolitan school districts Sally Brown liazon to the minona Teachers Association are the chair and vice chair Finance advisory committee Dan Olsen materials Review Committee Chris Vitali teaching and learning advisory committee Megan Selinger menaka Foundation kemry Foss PTO and PTA leaders Megan Selinger special education advisory S brown and Mike remol Tonka cares Mike remol and Megan singer the mental health advisory committee Mike remol case committee Patrick Leo howerin and Sally Brown Community Education advisor committee kemry Foss preschool and early childhood advisory committee Chris fatali OPB other post employee Bene benefits advisory Dan Olen and intermediate District 287 board Mike rall it is my recommendation that those committee assignments be approved tonight thank you superintendent law may have a motion to approve the recommended committee assignments so moved Camarie may have a second second Mike any discussion hearing all those in favor please say I I any opposed motion carries okay that takes care of our organizational items the next item on the agenda is the approval of fiscal year 26 budget adjustments superintendent law Mr chair members of the board um unfortunately we're bringing forward budget reductions for the fiscal year of 2026 I would remind the board and the public that these adjustments were first read to the board in October of 2024 during from October until December of 2024 Mr bis and I gave about two dozen presentations to staff and community members about the rationale Behind These adjustments and also sought input from um all of our teaching staff and we also invited in members of the community for input tonight we're here this was also read in the work or the study session in December tonight we're here for formal approval Mr bah thank you superintendent wat uh chair Leo howerin and members of the board just got a few short slides uh as a review uh to give a little little additional information for the public and then just a couple of comments that I would like to add as a fiduciary to you and and the community uh our our amended budget is projecting right now for uh fiscal year 26 uh a deficit of about $ 4955 million just under $5 million as superintendent law mentioned uh that number has been on the horizon we've been trying for a number of years to uh get the legislature to increase our operating Capital um I'm sorry not our operating referendum capacity uh to be able to give us some additional Revenue because revenues from the state have not kept up with the pace of inflation uh so uh we've been working on trying to to uh add a few more students uh and uh that that has been you know that will help if we're able to achieve that but these uh uh adjustments are are necessary uh for the uh fiscal 25 the uh proposed budget adjustments are primarily related to Personnel because 88% of our budget is in salary salaries and benefits of personnel and two out of every $3 do that we spend in general Opera in the general operating fund is actually for teacher salaries and benefits which which is as it should be because that's what we're about is is teaching students um we uh have adjusted um uh dollar our dollar values or Target dollar amounts as as seen there District Center service center and Associated support staff uh 7.5% of the reduction are $375,000 to be identified building Administration 7.5% $375,000 teachers 65% of the total Target about $3.2 million uh PA professionals which is our second largest uh group uh 15% and $750,000 and then other staff 5% and $250,000 and then the other proposal is to increase fees by 10% uh particularly participation fees but also bus fees bus fees were implemented in 2004 and they uh at um $100 per pupil and $250 per family and they have not been increased since then uh so a 10% increase is an increase but that sounds like a a lot of dollars but it generates about $50,000 so that's where we would come up with $5 million to balance the the budget the um for fiscal 26 under what we know we did uh uh offer all of our employees um the ability to offer ideas about uh the uhu things that should be looked at so we have a list of them I'm not going to read through everything that's there but uh We've considered all these items and have uh uh G you know gone through them along with everything else and we need to try to work through that uh whole process just a couple of comments to make in in terms of of where we're at the projection of a $5 million budget deficit is our best estimate at this time our biggest uncertainties that we have uh is is that we are going to be going into um negotiations with with our largest bargaining unit um and so that that is you know that will be an uncertainty if our assumptions are not correct or if you know that uh final contract amounts exceed uh exceed funding year for the the uh 2627 bium uh that's always a a u you know a definite unknown but the state is facing some challenges uh the um the in the 52 by in the uh 20223 by anym there's a 52 billion state budget the 2023 legislature increased that budget by 37% to a $71 billion budget for the 24 25 bym and so now carrying over into the 26 and 27 bym the state is actually projecting with their November forecast they're projecting a they have a structural deficit of about 3.1 billion and then about 5.8 billion for the one after that so um it'll be it'll be interesting to see uh how things work but the state is going to be wrestling with those issues besides so the idea of trying of of of large additional dollars from the state are probably not not very likely um and so we we're going to have to deal with uh balancing our budget it's going to be important to balance our budget uh uh going forward you know we uh from 2007 to 2000 to fiscal uh fiscal 7 to fiscal 20 we steadily increased our our budget balance and in in 2010 uh Moody's recognized that and they rated us with gave us a AAA Bond rating which was a reflection of our financial uh health and uh coming uh coming up in April 2015 it'll be 15 years of that um but we have been deficit spending uh basically for the F out of the past 5 years fiscal 21 and 22 we deficit spent because we got the least amount of revenue from the federal government uh in the state other than Byron who was who was right there with us Byron school district and us got the least amount at about $470 per pupil and the state average was 2,265 um so we had a deficit uh spend to maintain our our programs and keep our kids in school uh we actually had a small Surplus in FY 23 coming out of that and then for fiscal 24 we we um deficit spent uh in terms of having to deal with the inflation and the cost to employees uh and and fiscal 25 right now we're on on Pace to basically uh Pro you know deficit spend uh for this fiscal year yet too um The Balancing the budget would maintain our fund balance at a modest level uh a little bit above the 6% minimum that the the school board established way back in 1986 uh it sounds like a lot of money to have in a fund balance it's you know approximately $15 million but that's about 6 weeks of operations so uh it's it's not an exorbitant amount and there's a certain amount of cash flow you need so it's going to be important for us to uh uh adopt these uh adopt these recommended adjustments and actually follow through and and um enact them so that's just some additional uh context it's not always happy news but um it's my respon possibly to make sure that I note that to you thank you thank you Mr bouris um super law any further comments no uh only that during the presentation when we had the slide I think Mr BW said for fiscal year 25 it is actually for fiscal year 26 the slide was correct the comment I think he said the wrong here that's fine my apologies any further any discussion motion oh we need a motion I let's have may I have a motion to uh adopt the approve the fiscal year 26 budget adjustments so moved Dan may I have a second second Megan now is there any discussion Dan uh yeah Paul as always thank you to you and your team um you know both when the news is good and when the news is less than ideal like we're looking at tonight um where we've been talking about these challenges a for a while and you know it looks like the the legislative session at the state level may not be off to as productive as a a start as we all would hope so uh I would urge anyone out there watching listening to again write to your legislator legislators write to your representatives let them know that funding public education is a priority in giving communities uh the ability to choose to fund their own schools should be a priority um and then I've just got a seconde emphasis on the importance of maintaining our fund balance I think it's going to be important work for uh the district and for the finance advisory committee and everything to just start looking out into the future if the legislature doesn't come through for us what are the steps we're going to have to take to continue to make sure that we've got a healthy fund balance thank you Dan Megan um I just wanted to offer a clarification I had a Community member reach out if you could go back to I think slide three of that presentation um I had a Community member reach out a little bit panicked because the understanding was that we were reducing teachers by 65% and that is not the case um of the total reductions 65% of it mon monetarily is coming from teachers which is actually a little bit lower than the ratio of the spending but we're not reducing 65% of our teachers um no I can answer that question the this reduction reflects about a 3% reduction of our total budget and we reduce the portion that is Teachers so we are reducing our teachers by less than 3% of all teachers out there thank you any further discussion uh Mr bouro I will add my uh voice to the thanks that you've already received for the hard work you do both in good and less Good Times um the uh on that the slide after the one you have on the screen was uh the beginning of the list of suggestions and I want to thank you and superintendent law the administration for your efforts to reach out to our community and our District employees for suggestions as to what else we can do to tighten our belts as it were um my understanding we've talked about this slide in our study sessions previously and I think maybe even a prior public meeting um my understanding is these suggestions are to the extent feasible either in process or being looked at carefully these are um uh just not enough to stop the need for further budget cuts yes all right uh see no further discussion uh there is a motion in a second uh all those in favor please say I I I I any opposed motion carries thank you thank you Mr bourjois uh next item on the agenda is the presentation on draft of 2025 26 School Board goals superintendent law chair Le H Helen members of the board uh this district has recently adopted the process of identifying priority work for the upcoming school year through a goal setting process that begins with Community surveys and staff surveys in October a board work session in November uh some discussion about the board goals then they are presented publicly to the community in January they're not formally adopted until June this spring there's a chance and the reason that that is the case is sometimes through legislative action or other things that happen in the world we need to prioritize what our what's important to us but with what information the board has today we have a draft of the school board goals that are available for the community to give comment uh as executive director of communications Dr Getty will share we will share these with the community and post them and continue to ask for feedback until we formally adopt them in June but as we're going through the budget reduction process we want to make sure that we don't touch our priority board work with that I will let Dr giddy present the board goals thank you superintendent law Mr chair and members of the board this is a first look for the public um both at the process for this year and also at the draft of the goals for next year uh first just a quick overview of the process for the public of how you reach the goals and of how you uh set the goals the school board reviews The District's progress in achieving the current goals they consider all the input and feedback that they get throughout the year both from board president presentations but also from staff students families and the broader Community some of that comes in through assessments some through activities and some through survey data throughout the year and then the board holds a planning meeting and this year the planning meeting was November 18th where you met to set the goals um at least the draft of the goals um for the 2025 26 school year and then we're sharing that draft publicly we're sharing today we'll share it in school board news with all student staff and uh parents tomorrow and then also we'll include it in the School news postcard that's mailed out to all of the district residents so that they have an opportunity to weigh in as well and to provide feedback if they choose to the three proposed 2025 26 School Board goals are to strive for excellence in well-being connection and belonging to ensure excellence in student learning and support and to improve leadership and organizational support the first to strive for excellence in well-being connection and belonging I identified the action items that you have preliminarily set underneath each of the goals so they are noted here the first is to Foster and maintain a welcoming inclusive and safe environment for all students and employees and to do this you have noted to deepen the implementation of belonging efforts to provide professional learning for staff on best practices to build connections to gather student data and identify analyze Monitor and respond to student Trends and to identify and address barriers to belonging affecting student demographic groups the second action item that you've noted is to cultivate social and emotional well-being and Implement best practices in school-based mental health support um doing this by strengthening students social and emotional well-being through continued implementation of the multi-tiered systems of support process and structures to advance student awareness and support the diverse developmental cultural and mental health needs of students to screen students annually to ensure identification of students who may need additional support to continue the Jed Foundation partnership focused on the mental health of high school students including Suicide Prevention and to confer with the mental health advisory and to implement recommendations as appropriate and a final action item under this goal is to consistently Implement and communicate bullying prevention efforts um to maintain a high level of student and parent awareness of existing bullying prevention efforts and to monitor the impact of bullying prevention efforts through various reports and data an additional goal that you looked at setting is to ensure excellence in student learning and support one of the action items to ensure all students receive outstanding instruction and to do this through these following measures to focus on high quality Universal instruction in all courses to leverage teacher CL collaboration to ensure responsive instruction and progress monitoring to provide staff development throughout the year to address the priority areas identified using student data and teacher feedback to increase the impact of teacher collaboration by providing consistent administrative guidance and support throughout the year to continuously monitor the effectiveness of District programming at all levels across curricular areas to ensure the district is meeting the needs of all students and to take steps toward providing a continuous improvement process that considers the unique needs of programs that serve students receiving special education services students learning English and students participating in Tonka online additional action items under this gooal to prioritize student literacy Improvement efforts and to do this by continuing to implement updated literacy plan for the district which provides teacher training for Effective practices in foundational and disciplinary reading and writing instruction to implement board approved core and supplemental literacy materials aligned to research-based best practices to ensure all students are screened for barriers to literacy early on and to monitor student growth to determine if core instruction including interventions or acceleration are positively impacting student outcomes an additional action item to innovate and improve Middle School programming to do this by implementing recommendations from the Middle School Review Committee as appropriate and to monitor implementation to ensure updated programs meet goals and are sustainable and the the final goal that you're looking at setting is to improve leadership and organizational support um the action items under this the first to ensure long-term Financial stability and sustainability for the district to do this by implementing board approved reductions for the 2025 26 school year and to monitor the financial forecast and recommend adjustments to improve short and long-term Financial stability another action item to recruit and retain the highest quality staff to continue to focus on Recruitment and Retention of exceptional teachers and staff and to include efforts to create a representative Workforce to enrich learning for students and to meet the needs of our increasingly diverse student body another action item to ensure facilities meet the current and future needs of students using the facility study task force recommendations to determine priority areas and consider securing funding through a capital projects Bond and to provide the highest quality meals possible and to do this by continuing to implement the no cost meal legislation including breakfast and lunch at every site within the parameters of federal nutrition guidance and to gather stakeholder input including from the nutrition services advisory Council and to implement strategies to increase the variety and quality of meals and the final action item under this goal to build strong relationships with stakeholders and to do this by informing and engaging District constituents through Outreach and engagement opportunities and efforts and to survey stakeholders regarding their District experiences and sentiments the next steps um as you've outlined are that the draft goals as I said will be shared with parents students and staff tomorrow via Schoolboard news and with District residents later this month and then any feedback we receive will be shared with the board and if needed the board will hold an additional planning meeting to revise the goals and action items this will likely take place in May uh and then a final draft would be voted on by the board and approved for FY 26 and FY 26 begins July 1 2025 the vote if it goes as last year would take place in May or June and of course this is just a highlevel summary of these schools there's a lot more language under each one and we'll have the full document on the website for people to be able to to read into more deeply really trying to fit it all on a screen and make it digestible is is tougher so and we also have uh heard that sometimes that is just too much information so we also have an executive summary that sums it up kind of like this and so there'll be two ways once these are approve for people to be able to to read them um and that that might help people to digest them more easily I'm happy to answer any questions and I'm sure superintendent La is as well thank you um this is a informational item so we don't have a motion we need to make but is there any further discussion of the draft goals I have oh Kim I would just like to say thank you for the executive summary I think that's been really um important to people who' have asked me out in the community to be able to just share that type of Consolidated information so thank you for the extra work in that you Megan um I just wanted to add one piece of information more about the process that was new this year is that um ahead of our Retreat we um solicited feedback from for former District leaders um both board members and superintendents we brought them actually into this room and kind of looked at our older goals and we just had some conversations about um the goals themselves and the process and kind of trend over time that I think um some of the suggestions did impact these goals a little bit so wanted to add that extra piece of information because it was a little bit different but I found it really valuable I agree Dan um yeah I think this I think this is great I think the executive summary is to Echo what cam was saying really really helpful um and I just I just want the the community to to know that we you know we want this to be reflective of the community's goals for the district and what they wish this District to be so I think we're doing a good job soliciting Community input and trying to build that into our process and timeline every step along the way when this goes out to folks I'd encourage them to give it a look and send us more feedback because that's the only way we can really dig in to this language is is through feedback from the community and if you have any process suggestions or any um things as we look toward building board goals in the future just let us know what else we can be doing to incorporate Community input to make this more reflective of where we all want to go but Jackie you and your department thank you thank you anyone else um I'll just add one of those goals is building strong relationship with stakeholders and that is just the part that piggybacks right on what Dan was just talking about is that we need to hear from the community to make sure we're doing what the community wants us to be working working on what they want us to work on and so please uh if you're interested review these goals and do let us hear from you um you can email us our board emails are all on the website is there another method we're looking for when I send this out and also in the school news postcard there'll be a link there for people to go right to the website read everything and then there's an email address there where they can just click on it and share great great so please let us hear from you and we will take your comments into consideration when we come back to this later in the year all right um we'll move on the next item is the consent agenda may I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda so moved Dan may I have a second second Mike all those in favor please say I I I any opposed motion carries uh next item is board reports any board reports not much yet this year superintendent's report Mr chair I'm going to double up with one and announcement as a board or superintendent report and an announcement the Dream Makers Gala tickets are on sale uh it's an incredible event if you haven't bought them I think there's an early incentive if you buy them there's a discount and you get some additional benefits but that is the menona public schools foundations fundraiser event that they turn around and put right back into our building like the amazing technology at the Vantage momentum building or literacy materials for our school district this year uh they are a great partner in that event that happens to be a very fun event too is coming up it's February 7th it's a Friday Night tickets are available now please uh go online to public school foundation and buy those tickets and attend the event it's just a great [Music] night thank you superintendent law announcements I have an announcement uh as a one of my community roles as a member of the minaton theater Curtain Call Club and uh coming this Monday they have their first ever senior Cabaret fundraiser it's going to be held at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis it's going to be a fantastic event put on by the seniors in the Music Theater uh department and so if you want to see how they do away from the Arts Center uh please join us tickets are available now via the curtain call club with no other announcements is there a motion to adjourn so moved Megan second second Mike all those in favor please say I I I I any opposed motion carries we adjourned