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Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=A9JbFfI6Imk

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Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Welcome everyone and good evening as I call to order the regular school board meeting of Independent School District number 882 at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, June 15th. We have all members present, which

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is awesome. Please stand and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

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justice for all. >> Thank you. We are needing approval of tonight's agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Melissa Curtis, seconded by Casey Root. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed, please say no. Motion passes

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6-0. All right. We have no citizen comments tonight. Now we're looking for a motion to approve our consent agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Melissa Curtis, seconded by Casey Root. All those in favor, please

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say I. >> I. >> Opposed, please say no. Motion passes 6-0. On to collaborative connections and before I pass it off, I just want to say how cool this evening was. We had our third annual donor and volunteer

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reception in the middle school activity room from 5:00 to 5:45 and we had some community members and some volunteers show up, so that was very special. I think each year we continue to get a little bit more and more people, which is exciting, so next year we'll continue

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this tradition to just say thank you to those that are donating money or time because it takes an army and we need all the help we can get. So we appreciate all those people. All right, and now I'll pass it off to Superintendent Olson to go over the

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resolution of the gifts. >> Speaking of an amazing community, we have donors here today. The first one VFW post 8731 $500 for the NWTA scholarships to be able to help students in need be able to

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attend that amazing program. And that is our gift that we bring forward here today. >> Therefore, be resolved by the Monticello School Board number 82 to gratefully accept the following donations. [clears throat] VFW post 8731

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$500 towards the NWTA scholarships. >> Second. >> Moved by Jeff Hegley, seconded by Mary Bartell. [clears throat] All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed, please say no. Motion passes 6-0. On to item number seven, safe and

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healthy culture. Help me welcome up to the podium Director of Human Resources Rob Danakerd to go over He'll be up here for a while, but the first item is the faculty master agreement. >> Good board chair Steven, members of the

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board, Superintendent Olson. As chair Steven mentioned, I do have four agenda items in sequence here. So, we'll start with the tentative agreement of the collective for the collective bargaining agreement for Education Minnesota Monticello for years 25

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through 27. The board has a tentative agreement summary in front of them. I'll just review that document briefly. So, this is for board action tonight. A tentative agreement was reached regarding the 25-27 master agreement with Education Minnesota

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Monticello on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026. This agreement was ratified by EMM on June 10th, 2026 and district administration recommends the board of education approve this agreement this evening. Of note, the settlement exceeded the district's budget parameters for

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settlement by approximately $135,000. And the district's negotiation team for the settlement included in alphabetical order Tina Burkholder, director of business services, myself, Jeff Hagley, board member Eric Olson, superintendent Casey Ripp, board member and Jeremy Jimmy Seaman, board chair.

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The essential elements of this agreement include the following. So in year one, which was actually last year, July 1, 2025 through June 30th, so we're in the last two weeks or so of year one of this contract. So there was an increase on all cells of

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1.9% in year one retroactive to July 1, 2025. However, step movement on schedule A, which is the main salary schedule for this agreement, is frozen for year one. Those dates are July 1, 2025 to June 30,

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2026. On schedule C, we made some changes. We added adaptive head coach, adaptive assistant coach, and FFA advisor to schedule C. We also deleted the assistance with Spanish communication stipend associated with schedule C.

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On longevity, there's no increase in year one and group insurance also no increase in year one. We did remove the limitation on district contribution to its HSA plans. And this was of benefit for the teachers. There was we were nearing the point where that

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might be restrictive and we mutually agreed that that's not the intent and so we removed that language. And finally we have amended the HRA contribution amounts at each of four thresholds based on existing contract language. In year two, which starts July 1, 2026

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through June 30, 2027, there is a 2% increase on all cells and schedules B, C, and D. In terms of longevity, there's a $20 increase on each of the step of the four steps. And then also a $30 increase to both family and single contribution

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district contributions for group insurance. In terms of language items, there were several. 16 different language items that were discussed in this round of negotiations. We did modify, we agreed to modify the credit for lane change language. We also clarified retroactive pay. And

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so retroactive pay, those who are eligible for it are those who retired in good current employees, I should say. Those who retired in good standing prior to successor agreement. And those who completed a full school year under an unsettled contract, but released in good standing from employment prior to

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contract settlement. In terms of extra compensation, we spent a lot of time clarifying the language for this section. Makes it a lot easier to read, a lot easier to understand. So there's three categories of extra compensation. This hasn't changed, but it's more clear. There's flat rate assignments for via

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application, flat rate assignments, and then pro rata assignments. Compensation for teaching college level courses is capped at two of those stipends per school year. Long-term leaves of absence, we um We corrected an item that was negotiated

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in the last round, the last cycle, regarding a February 1st deadline, but was omitted from the final documents that were signed last time around. Same with unrequested leave of absence, there's a date correction there. Also, in that section, we did amend the

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deadline for the district notify employees who are subject to unrequested leave of absence. It currently was Previously was May 10th, it is now May 22nd annually. So gave the district approximately two additional weeks or one additional board meeting to make those notifications. In terms of

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approved mileage, again clarification. And there was some unclear language with regard to what is a district and in travel between different buildings, because we also we have the Monticello district, but we also are the financial host for the co-op.

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Number eight, publication of contract, we delete we agreed to delete that section because of basically 21st century technological advances, so we can just post the contract to the website. We don't have to print 10 copies for the union. Uh deferred matching contribution, we

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agreed to update the date on that and so there is no firm date in the contract. It simply references that the district will adopt a date for the end of open enrollment for health insurance purposes. That same date, whatever it is that is um arrived at would serve as the deadline

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for a deferred matching contribution. In terms of teacher prep time, there was some language added to allow for modification of teacher prep time from one interrupt interrupted block of 50 minutes per day to basically

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look at a weekly model. That's really with some of our special education programming that would could be advantageous to both the district and the union. In terms of teacher flex time, we took the flex time concept that is currently in a memorandum of agreement in the 23-25 contract, moved it into the

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body of the contract under its a new section, section five of article 17. Teacher work year, we deleted a line in that section that referenced a work day in July/August. We deleted that line just to reflect

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current practices. We will still have workshop week typically in late August, but there's no need for that superfluous language there. In terms of grievance procedure, we did identify and clarified that either party unilaterally withdrawing from the arbitration process after an arbitration

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date has been scheduled with an arbitrator shall be responsible for all fees and expenses of the arbitrator in their entirety, which can be expensive. Teacher [snorts] sick leave bank, we did make some clarifications there in terms of procedure. Number 15, we did

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make some modifications to the use of time teacher time during workshop and professional development days. Basically, what it says is that teachers have the ability for remote work during teacher directed time during workshop days scheduled October 1st and after annually. And then

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finally, number 16, this is a new memorandum of agreement which goes in the contract as appendix three. It memorializes existing past practice wherein teachers are compensated for attendance at open house and or welcome back events via reduced hours of service on the final teacher

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duty day annually. Two other considerations of note, the district and the union agreed to establish working groups ahead of the next round of negotiation on two different topics. One is ECFE and preschool teachers. By law, those teachers become

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by statute, I should say, they become full members as defined by as teacher as of July 1st, 2028. We want to make sure we have some common understandings with what that means vis-a-vis the contract. And then finally, salary matrix. We agreed to establish a non-binding

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working group with equal representation by both parties to discuss potential modifications to the salary schedule in order to address the growing disparity between the top left corner and the bottom right corner of the salary schedule and the top left corner and the top left corner in touch districts. And so we're

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we have a very wide spread in terms of the compensation possibilities in our salary matrix, much more than our neighboring districts. In total, the total package value over two years of this contract is 6.51 MSBA. And I'll take any questions the board might have about this tentative

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agreement. >> It's an action item, board members. >> So moved. >> Moved by Casey Roots, seconded by Jeff Pagley. All those in favor, please say I. Opposed, please say no. Motion passes 6-0.

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Thank you. Now we'll move on to item B, the 2026-27 activities and community ed hourly rates and substitute rates. >> All right. Thank you, Chair Seeman. And so it is June, and so we like to um have the board approve our amended or updated activity and community ed hourly

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rates along with our substitute rates for the upcoming school year. Um in terms of activities and community ed hourly rates, um the majority of them we are not proposing any changes. We did We did make some market corrections with regard to aquatics coordinators.

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And also we did amend the recommended um compensation for Magic Adventure student aids. Um in terms of substitutes, we did make several changes. Um and so in terms of um our teacher group, we looked at some market corrections and

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really looked to keep uh the same ratio that the sub rate was based off of the BA step one of the teacher contract. So with the the settlement information, which the board just reviewed, looking at those short call uh sub rates, um and trying to make sure that they were reflected with

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um uh the same percentage uh previously that those numbers were in reference to the teacher contract continuing to the future. Um we're proposing no changes for the principal group largely because that group uh that contract is open for negotiation and has not settled, so

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there's no updated salary schedule there. Um we did update uh several support staff substitute rates. Um and largely with re um with regard to again market-based uh comps that are out there. And so we are

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trying to bring um our rates for our non-certified subs um up to meet the the local standards as it were. And then finally at the bottom of the sub rates is support staff retiree subs. And so we're proposing to align um our retiree rates for subs to um step

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one of the various master contracts that uh those positions would be serving in. I'll take any questions regarding activities community ed and sub rates. >> And some updated rates. All right, all right, this is also an action item. Second.

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By Jeff Hagley, seconded by Melissa Curtis. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those please say no. Motion passes 6-0. On to item number C, second reading of policies. >> All right, thank you Chair Stevens. So this is this is second read for

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two policies for the month of June. This is a little bit abnormal. We typically don't bring policies in June because we're focused on handbook work. However, we did have two policies which were timely for review by the the committee this month. The first is 807 health and safety policy.

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Due to the to some local events, we thought it was pertinent to review this policy and policy 807 had not been in front of the policy committee since 2015. So very timely review given all the circumstances. There have been

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some significant changes in the MSBA model policy since the last time the policy committee reviewed this. All of them simply address best practices in terms of school safety and general health and well-being of students and employees.

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And so the purpose of this policy is to assist the school district in promoting health and safety, reducing injuries and complying with federal, state, and local health and safety laws and regulations. Any questions on 807 at all? Okay, we'll go to 908. This is outside organization supporting school district

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programming. This is a draft policy that the policy committee has been working on for several months. In fact, the June policy committee represented the third month that this draft had been in front of the committee. This is a standalone

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local draft policy. This does not have a matching MSBA template. However, MSBA does have guiding documentation and language for outside organizations supporting school district programming. As well, there is a one of our touch districts does have

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a very very similar policy and so we policy committee took input from those MSBA documents, the neighboring district, and also our local realities to craft this draft. And the purpose of this policy is to provide a foundation for interactions between the school district and outside organizations or

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groups that support school district programs. These guidelines are meant to be as a tool used to better relationships, clarify procedures and rules, and set the stage for successful partnerships. And so, big picture is that the school district is not in a position to control or dictate how outside organizations

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operate, but we can dictate in terms of how we participate with them. Any questions on 908? >> I would just add that we did run that by our school district legal counsel as well, so. >> All right, these are action items this

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evening, Chair Sieben. >> Move to accept. >> By Mary Bartell, seconded by Jeff Hegley. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed, please say no. Motion passes 6-0. On to item D, approval of the 2026-27

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handbooks. >> Thank you, Chair Sieben. And so, every June the policy committee reviews the various handbooks that we have across the district. And so, in this case we have a unified elementary handbook covering Little Mountain, Pinewood, East View, and also Nature Based. We

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have a high school handbook. We have a coaches handbook, an activities handbook, and an employee handbook coming forward tonight. The one that is missing is the middle school handbook. The middle school is endeavoring to do some quite significant changes to their handbook and they are not quite ready for prime time. So, they're not being

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proposed for tonight. But, really core of that change at the middle school is proposing to is greater alignment between their handbook and the high school handbook. So, we're not quite there in terms of having a unified secondary handbook. We may never be in that position, but as much as they can

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look and feel similar, I think is the point there. I'm ready if there's any questions any of the handbooks. Um able to answer. >> Mine's more of a comment. So, this was at the last policy meeting and then there was a discussion there on some of

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the fees in the activities handbook. And so, part of this is approving this so we can get going, but there is an expected review again later in I believe it was August on here for a whole another iteration. So, we'll see these again once we get some more clarity on that.

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But, we don't want to hold everything else up around that. So, just want to put that out there. >> Just on that note, there's statute language which allows the district to charge certain fees for certain things, but it's always good to reflect and review those annually. >> Yeah, yeah, I agree.

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>> Any other questions or comments? This is an action item. >> Moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Jeff Hegley, seconded by Casey Root. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> No. Motion passes 6-0.

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Thank you, Director Danaker. >> Thank you, Chair Steven. >> On to item E, which is the update of our organizational designation [clears throat] due to superintendent transition. In preparation for the transition to the incoming superintendent effective July

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1st, 2026, the board is asked to approve updates to previously established organizational designations from the January organizational meeting meeting. Items D, K, L, N, and O as follows. So, what we're going to do is we're just going to mass approve them. We don't

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have to read a resolution. We're just going to go I'm going to read through each item and at the end I'll say that this is an action item and we'll approve them all together if that's okay. >> Sounds good. >> All right. First one is the appointment of superintendent as ex-officio board

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member non-voting appointment Dr. Chris Swenson, superintendent as a non-voting ex-officio member of the school board. The second item is school district authorization contracts for legal counsel. We will be removing Eric Olsen

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current superintendent and adding Dr. Chris Swenson, incoming superintendent. The next item is designation of the authorized personnel to enter and to sign contractual agreements. We'll be removing current superintendent Eric Olsen and adding in incoming

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superintendent Dr. Chris Swenson. The next item is designation of authorization personnel to make electronic wire transfers. We'll be removing the current superintendent Eric Olsen and adding in incoming superintendent Dr. Chris Swenson. And

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the last is the resolution to approve annual designation of identified official with authority for MDE external user access recertification system. All these items are action items. >> Moved.

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>> Do we not need to remove Eric Olsen as the ex-officio board member on number one? >> [clears throat and cough] >> That's a good It's not in here right now. Superintendent >> Just to keep it consistent,

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um I think that would be the right thing to do. So. >> Yeah. So, we'll be removing Superintendent Principal Superintendent Eric Olson item [clears throat] >> [cough] >> first item and then appointing Dr. Chris Swenson

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incoming Superintendent. Any other items? >> Do we have to actually read this or can we just pass the resolution? >> You do not Attorney said we do not need to read it. We don't [clears throat] read it in the January meeting. >> Okay.

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>> Just want that's approved. So, we'll just go through it again. This is an action item. >> [clears throat] >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Casey Root, seconded by Jeff Hegley. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Motion passes 6-0. Now under item F,

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2026-27 budget presentation by Director Business Services Tina Burkholder. All right, tonight we have our final look at the budget for the next school year 2026-27. And so, at this meeting, I'm asking for

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board approval on next year's budget. In this presentation, I included all of the slides that we went over in May and June. I'm not going to go through all of them, but just a couple at the beginning. And so, just as a reminder, these are all the funds that we manage

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and have budgets for. And our general fund includes the special ed cooperative and our capital outlay fund. Um and [clears throat] with budgets, they're estimates. There's many assumptions going into developing our budget and we tend to look at these uh

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mid-year and do a revision. I have a summary of all the funds on this slide just and I'll go over some major highlights. With our general fund, the overall fund balance is going up $2.4 million and a lot of that has to do

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with our operating referendum coming in for the next school year. So, that has improved our budget. Overall on the expense side, um everything is pretty status quo. We do have some staffing adjustments with enrollment, but we also have some staffing adjustments based on

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student needs. The capital projects fund, uh we're spending down our insurance proceeds money, so that's whittling down towards the end of next summer. With our special ed cooperative, um it's budget neutral. You know, their

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staff is Monticello staff that they pay for and that's just money coming in for that staff. On the food service fund, um we're anticipating a little dip in our meals served just because of our enrollments going down, but a little bit of increase on the reimbursement rates

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from the state and federal government. And then also we plan on doing some capital improvements at the Little Mountain Kitchen, about 100,000. So, that's the main reason reason of the dip in the fund balance for the food service fund, but that'll help us long term. The community service fund ha- overall

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has its budget or fund balance increasing. That has to do with staffing within the Magic Adventures program. They're using more student workers and maximizing the levy dollars for the school age care and special needs assignments.

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Hockey, again it's a budget neutral fund. We are anticipating a shortfall about 14,000 uh that we partner with the Monticello Youth Hockey Association with. Debt service fund is our mortgage account that uh we have property tax

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money coming in. We have to levy 105% of our bond uh payments, and that covers the bond payments going out for the bonds that we have. Our internal service fund is our self-insured fund of our dental insurance program. We don't anticipate a premium increase

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on our dental premiums, but we might see about 2% in our claims activity. That's our estimate or assumptions for that. And then with our last fund, the OPEB trust fund, all of our contracts now have the sunset language with the retiree insurance, so we can utilize our

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general fund for those payments, but all the retiree language obligations have to be recognized in our OPEB trust fund. So we might we can look at year to year if we want to use our general fund to help with those costs or if we want to

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use our OPEB trust as well. We're anticipating an 8% health insurance increase, but we won't know that detail until end of July, early August. And then the just the next couple slides has our revenue and expenses pie chart

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on all our funds. You can see on both slides that our general fund is our main operating account, and then it goes into all the slides that I covered in the past. So if you have any questions on the budget, I will take those. >> Board, what budgets do we have for

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Director Burkholder? This is an action item. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Mark Branson, seconded by Casey Root. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those, please say no. Motion passes 6-0.

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Thank you for that. And right on to item G, cash flow update. So, every year I also do a cash flow projection for the next year and a half with our operating funds, our general fund, food service fund, and our community ed fund.

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It does not include the debt service fund. You should keep that cash in essence separate and not commingled with your cash flow projection. So, use a little different assumptions for that. We have our state revenues overall about 2 and 1/2% next

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year our increase is 2.69%, but we will see a slight decline in enrollment. So, just use an assumption of 2 and 1/2%. Our federal revenues based on current estimates and existing grants. Our property tax revenue going into the pay 26 increasing 25%

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because of the new levy that was approved. And then the following year I think I had it at uh 3%. And then with our payroll expenses overall projecting an increase of 3% and

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health insurance of 8% and then our other expenses with supplies, utilities, and transportation anywhere from 1.3% to 5%. So, there's a chart summary of the projection. All the columns on the right side are positive, so that's a good sign that we'll see a

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positive cash flow for the next year and a half. And then I also have the cash and investment projection for the 26-27 school year. So, it shows where the overall cash and investments are and then where I try to line up the investments so we can earn a little interest money.

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No action item there just for board review. But, if you have any questions I'll take those. Any questions? I just have to personally say thank you. You do such an outstanding job especially with our investments and making sure you're tracking everything

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to make sure we get the top dollar that we possibly can to bring back to our school district and um I don't think that's common everywhere. So, thank you. I appreciate your hard work that way. Thank you. All right. Thank you. All right. Now, we're on to item number

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eight, innovation and leadership. First item is a summary of the June 1st closed work session. I will work I will read that. On June 1st, 2026, the school board met in closed session to conduct Superintendent Eric Olson's annual evaluation as permitted under Minnesota

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law and at the superintendent's request, the board evaluated Superintendent Olson in four key areas: school improvement, community engagement, district operations, and finance and strategic plan implementation. In each area, Superintendent Olson was rated highly effective.

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Board members recognized his leadership in advancing district-wide school improvement efforts, strengthening community engagement and communications, successfully leading the district's operating levy efforts, and implementing the district's strategic plan while preparing for a smooth leadership

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transition with the new superintendent. The board's overall evaluation rated Superintendent Olson as highly effective. Board members expressed their appreciation for his exceptional leadership, commitment to students and staff, dedication to the community, and more than 20 years of service to the

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Monticello Public Schools. The board also acknowledged the lasting impact of his leadership and thanked him for helping position the district for continued success in the future. So, that is the overview of our closed session.

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The next item is our superintendent farewell. This is um the last board meeting that Superintendent Eric Olson will be with us. So, um remember Jeff Hegley and I are going to go up to the podium to read this. >> [clears throat]

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>> Okay, I'm going to start reading here. So, as I look at Superintendent Olson's career, I can't help but think about the lasting impact he has had on Monticello Public Schools and our community. Many of us remember the major milestones, the successful school start

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time change after previous attempts had fallen short, the successful operating levy that helped provide stability for our district moving forward, the strategic planning process that brought together more than 85 students, staff, parents, and community members to help

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shape the future of Monticello schools, the development of the nature-based education, the opening of our early childhood center, and the countless partnerships built with the city of Monticello, local businesses, youth organizations, and community leaders. But, what stands out

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most is not just the accomplishments themselves, it is the commitment behind them. What many people never see are the countless hours spent behind the scenes, the early mornings, the late nights, and yes, the sleepless nights spent thinking

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about how to make our schools safer, stronger, and better for all of our students. The weight of the decisions that affect thousands of children, families, and staff members, the responsibility of leading through challenges that most school leaders hope

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they never face. Eric led this district through some of the most difficult moments in modern education, including the COVID-19 pandemic and other complex issues impacting families within our community within the last few years.

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During those times, he remained steady, thoughtful, and committed to bringing people together while always keeping students at the center of the conversation. He also understood that strong schools required strong relationships. Through initiatives like money on the

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move and countless conversations throughout the community, Eric invested significant time listening, learning, and building trust. He understood that leadership is not just about making decisions from an office. It's about being present,

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accessible, and connected to people you serve. Some of his earliest contributions continue to impact our district today. The good news calls remains a meaningful tradition. Systems he helped build to support teacher collaboration and

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student success continue to serve students today. Facilities he helped envision and oversee continue to benefit families every single day as well. Yet when Superintendent Olson reflects on his own career, he does not point to

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the programs, the buildings, the levies, or initiatives as his greatest accomplishments. He says his number one legacy is keeping students at the core of every action while building deep relationships with them. To me, that says everything about the

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type of leader he is. Long after the meetings are forgotten, the budgets are closed, and the projects are completed, Superintendent Olson's legacy will live on through the students whose lives were impacted because someone cared enough to put them first.

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That commitment to every kid, every day, has defined his career, and it will remain one of the most enduring gifts he leaves behind for the Monticello Public Schools. Finally, we'd be remiss if we did not recognize Eric's family.

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Public service, I have found first off is not for the faint of heart. At this level requires sacrifice, not only from the individual serving in the position, but also from those who support from behind the scenes. So, to Angela, Lars, and Bailey, thank you for

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sharing him with our schools and community the last 21 years. Eric, congratulations on an extraordinary career, and thank you for 21 years of dedication. We have these items for you. This flag

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here was flown outside the district office for a week. You didn't even know about it, but we did it. Um, so there's a flag and a little plaque here that says leadership today, legacy tomorrow. Thank you for your vision, leadership, and unwavering commitment to the students, staff, and community of

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Monticello Public Schools. Superintendent Olson, your impact will last forever. And so, that is from your district staff, as well as the board members. So, thank you, as well as the charcuterie board that has the the logos

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on it, too. So, you can uh not forget about us when you have more time to cook in your kitchen >> [laughter] >> grill, or do all the things. So, we just want to say thank you for your commitment. We really appreciate all of your work. >> [applause] >> Thank you.

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It's awesome. >> Another piece I didn't mention is the flag was flown but also it was created by um somebody local in our community whose children go to Little Mountain Elementary School, too. So, pretty cool. Um talented individual that helped put

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this up for us. So, all from the Monticello community. >> I just want to say thank you and I don't want to make it about any long speeches for me tonight cuz the words that you just shared uh will mean something to me for the rest of my life. I'm really

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proud of two things and number one is uh to being able to serve. Um this district has truly been um something that I'll take with me for the rest of my life. I I I do bleed red and black. Um so proud to be a magic. I'm so proud to have served alongside so

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many people to do the very thing that we went into this profession to do and that's to help the lives of children. So, thank you for highlighting that and then to know that that flag flew over Monticello. Like that was really like touching to me because um

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there's just so many memories and stories um that I have and the I don't know, just the historical perspective of being here for as long as I have in leadership. Um the the thing that uh you captured is something that uh

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just means a lot to me. So, I don't want to say anymore. I just want it to be about the kids and about the thanks that you shared with me tonight. I will never forget that. Thanks. >> Thank you for your service to to our community and our kids here. So, you will not be forgotten.

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All right, that brings us to adjournment uh on the 15th of June at 6:38 p.m. Our next regular school board meeting will be July 20th at 6:00 p.m. Have a great evening.