All right, 6 pm. Please join me for the regular school board meeting, Independent School District number 882, Monaceel, Minnesota. The date is December 15th, 2025 at 6 p.m. Please note that Chair Seven is out and board member Mary Barthold out as well. Please
join me for the pledge of allegiance. Need a motion to approve the agenda. >> So moved. >> Second by Melissa, seconded by Mark. All those in favor say I.
>> I. Those opposed say no. >> Motion passes. 5 Z >> 4 Z >> 4 Z sorry uh no citizens comments tonight. So that will bring us to fiscal stability item
number five. Looking for a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Melissa, seconded by Mark. All those in favor say I. >> All those opposed. >> Motion passes 40. That brings us to item number six, collaborative collaborative
connections. I'll pass it over to Zoom Olsson. >> Always an exciting part of the agenda to see the support from our community. Um, this time we have TDS Telecom coming forward with $1,000 for the Monty Pythons's robotics team. Um, so I'd like
to bring that forward for resolution and obviously thank TDS and the continued amazing support from our community. Therefore be resolved by the mouse school board number 882 to gratefully accept the following donations from TDS
Telecom $1,000 for the Monty Python robotics team. >> Second move by Jeff, seconded by Melissa. All those in favor say I. >> I. Say no. Motion passes 40.
Now on to innovation and leadership uh superintendent search with uh Dr. Dan Bitman. Welcome to the podium. here tonight. It's great pleasure to talk a little bit about the feedback that we have received from over 400 between four and 500 different people through our different sessions, our
surveys, etc. And we have a lot to celebrate here in Monaceel. So with that tonight, we'll talk a little bit about some of the themes, the results, and then some of the comments. Each of the board members have already had an opportunity to see those in advance, but we'll present those this
evening and certainly uh have an opportunity to have some conversation about that. We'll talk a little bit about the 31 characteristics that people were able to weigh in on board members know, but for those in the public, in addition to the survey, we were able to have six different listening sessions with students, community leaders,
parents, staff, etc. and we were grateful for the time that they took and so that feedback is also incorporated into our sessions and feedback for this evening. We talked early on multiple times when I've been here before about the
importance of building the leadership profile. So this information all goes back into the profile in which we then will look to you to verify tonight and give approval. We would then use that information as we seek candidates out as
well as screen the different applications and materials that they put forward. Again, we would use that to identify a series of candidates that we would then bring to you for consideration and then you as a board would get the opportunity to decide who you'd like to move on. Again, this is
this is your search and we're simply providing the information behind the scenes for you to consider. So we have provided that information. In terms of the specific survey we had 396 different respondents that is a very
good number um in terms of the characteristics and what we found is that the feedback that we reserve that we received aligned well across all of the groups. So there was not dramatic differences between one group to the other for example and many of the
characteristics came through consistently in a lot of different themes. That does not always uh that is not always the case in particular school districts. And so tonight these are the different uh the top 10 characteristics that were recommended. And again board
members have seen this information before. The very first one that came through is really that excellent interpersonal skills, that positive image of the district and will listen to input and is able to make a decision. So many folks that provided spoke highly of
the current superintendent and the amount of time and effort that is put in not only in the school district but in the community to really gather multiple perspectives, gather feedback and then at the end of the day make decisions that he in this case um felt was right for the school district in accordance
with and in alignment with the school board. The second item that came up was really related to the leadership skills, the knowledge and sensitivity required uh to really think about all the unique opportunities and challenges of a diverse community. We've changed a lot
in Monaceel. We continue to see a lot of change. We have a lot of different programming etc. And so really that ability to be able to reach out authentically and understand the world is changing, academics are changing, our populations are changing etc. The third characteristics that came out
very strong was really that strong moral compass really that focus on doing what's right on justice on equality on making sure that each and every student had what they needed whatever that looked like uh in terms of programming
and extracurriculars etc. The next one being a strong communicator. Making sure that they were out and about, making sure that they could send emails, making sure they could present to a crowd, making sure they were sending articles out. There was a lot of comments from a lot of
different people who talked about going from one type of situation to the next. The job of the superintendency is difficult. One moment shaking hands and celebrating kids, another situation navigating crisis. And so that ability to continue to communicate on the road
as things change, a commitment to community visibility. This was again one of the most common themes from every single group. There were comments about the current superintendent being at everything. And there were comments from not only the
staff but families, community, businesses, etc. that said, "We just don't know how they do it. It's not because they are the superintendent, but because it's just who they are. They're in classrooms. They're at student events. They're in local businesses. They're at Rotary. They're at all these
different kinds of events. And we want to make sure that the superintendent that the board hires is someone who wants to authentically just be part of our community and loves being part of each and every activity that comes forward. The last one on this particular uh page
talks a little bit about delegating and overseeing the work of staff and recognizing that the the superintendent has a big job, but being able to surround themselves with really good people, hold them accountable, but also to trust in them to do the work and to
make sure that we're moving the work forward in alignment with our vision, our mission, and things that we stand for here in Monaceel. The next most common theme, which was number 12 uh on the list of 31 characteristics, was just that effective
management and planning. Making sure that we're planning for the long-term success of our district, a lot of folks talked about that even though we recently had a successful ballot question, it's not the answer forever and always. And so we really want to
make sure we're utilizing uh our dollars for our students, for our staff, for our families, but that we do everything we can to use tax taxpayers money respectfully and in accordance with um all of our laws and policies.
The next one also came out loud and clear and this was uh particularly interesting. just really making sure that every single decision that we make, regardless of what that is, whether it's fiscal, whether it's programmatically, whether it's in our community, that we continue to bring back the decisions to
what is best for kids. Recognizing that our world is changing quickly and it's easy to get distracted. So, that opportunity again to be able to make sure that the decisions we're making are student centered and focused on what we believe is best. There was also a lot of conversation and
support for the importance of both academic and extracurricular programs. So many commented on uh things like STEM and nature-based programming. They talked about the different types of courses and offerings within our school system from preK all the way to 12th
grade. They talked about how important it is to make sure that we're not just a surviving district, but that we continue to be innovative and look for ways to make sure that we're making Monaceel a district that people continue to want to be part of and come to.
The next most common characteristic that people talk about is just the importance of someone who possesses the ability to enhance student performance, particularly in areas where we would like to be closer uh to that higher mark for student achievement. Recognizing
there are some gaps that happened that we're certainly proud of the work and the progress that we've made, but there's more work to do in terms of achievement. and some of the work that we've been doing here in Monaceel. Uh folks talked about the importance of continuing to keep that going and a
priority. And then finally, promoting a positive and professional environment that includes mutual trust and respect among faculty, staff, administration, and the board. So that ability that Monaceel is something special. People don't want to don't want to leave
Monaceel. They want to continue to work collaboratively and they want to do that together. and they recognize that part of the what makes Monaceello special is the fact that everyone is working together to do great things and that's not only with the school district but with the community loud and clear from
some of our business leaders and our government officials just the important role that Monaceel plays um in terms of the communities uh in in terms of the community of Monaceel. So this was a document that you also saw uh that I included in the presentation,
but it just talked a lot about the different words that came up most frequently and again board members have had a copy of that, but you can see some of the words that came up and then they're directly related to the characteristics you had. students came up a lot, community came up a lot, um
children came up a lot, families, and again the important role that the Monaceel Public School District has uh in this area of town. And oftentimes people talked about this is the center that brings all folks together in Monaceel Public Schools. I'm just going
to take a moment uh to see if there was anything from the board that surprised you in terms of the survey results or the characteristics. there was a lot of similarities into what she just covered with the highlights from the comments. So yeah,
there is the over overarching common theme across the district and the community and what we're looking for for a superintendent. So I second a lot of the comments around Mr. Olsson and the work that he does. he's very visible our community and I think it's something that the board uh and the staff also are
looking forward to to have the same uh similar commonalities in our next uh in our next superintendent. So there anyone else? Anything that stood out to you? Anything that surprised you?
Can you just um tell us how we came to the ordering of these? I see that there's in the spreadsheet there's the raw numbers and then there the r there's the ranking for each of the category or each of the the voting blocks or the survey blocks of people. Um
yeah can does that make sense my question? >> I think so. So I'm happy to I'm happy to provide you with the raw data by number but most of them or some of them have overlapping. So you saw in the document that some of them are perhaps combined because they're an overarching theme,
but the ones that are listed again were the most common uh mentioned in each of the overall areas. Make sense? And when you say common that they were part of the 10 that people selected. Okay. It looked like the the one at the bottom
that you had in the previous slide uh the has classroom experience in a K12 setting that appears to have really strong rankings. I'm surprised that it's not part of the top 10 list. >> Yeah, I'm glad that you met you listed that. So, this was one that tied a
number of the other particular areas and that's why I listed it right there. There were a number of people who did identify classroom experience as a K12 setting. So by putting it in here for consideration for each of you, it is the next one. It is the one that people that
would have come next in terms of that area. And so my hope is that tonight when the board acts, they can decide either to have those top 10, add the 11th one because that's something that came through in a number of series or they can narrow that down again, whatever they feel most is comfortable
for their next superintendent. But you are absolutely right that that is one that didn't make the top 10 list, but did have a number of uh commonalities and trends. Thanks, Okay. So, we talked a little bit about
the timeline. So, tonight what we are hoping for the timeline that was initially approved by the board talked about tonight being the night that we approve the job application which has now been brought a couple different times. the top 10 characteristics and or
11 if we want to include the one that we encourage you to think about in terms of a consideration and then the promotional materials that was based on not only this information but in collaboration with uh the district personnel of things that you were most proud of and again
things that came in terms of the themes. Once that's approved then that information will go out to um applicants. It'll be available. I'll work with uh the school district to make sure that's on our website, but we also include that in the various different sources that we talked about earlier
when I presented. Um, and it also will go out on a number of national web pages. It also will go out to the thousands of people that we have on our list. And so once approved, again, that opens tomorrow. It will then not close
until the 18th of January at which time after that we will take some time to review it based on the criteria that you've approved and then as you know in February we would then bring that to you as a slate of candidates where you would then have the opportunity to talk to ask
questions. We on our end would give you candidate reports, the information we talked in terms of the the questions, the interview specific questions for the board to look at and again members of the board will have access to all the materials ahead of time.
So, what we are looking for tonight when you're ready is an acceptance of the characteristics and approval of the job application that you've seen as well as the promotional materials that have been developed with your board chair, your current superintendent, and your
communication specialist. So, with that, I'm happy to take questions that you have. You guys have any questions or I could use another I could use another couple minutes to >> Okay. >> this list. That's okay. As a reminder for the board, this
information then will go to the full board to have information, but then it will go to a committee of the board for more in-depth uh questions, interviews, information, etc. I think you covered it a little bit the the postings we are looking not only
internally inside the state but also externally outside of the states. >> Correct. Really good question. So that will be posted on a number of sites both within the state starting as early as tomorrow and throughout the country. And so I'll give you a weekly update on the number of individuals who have started
applications, where they're coming from, what type of expertise they have, etc. I feel like the K12 experience, I mean, as I look at the raw data and the rankings on here, I mean, it's I'm trying to do the math quick in my
head here because I didn't throw this into a spreadsheet, but I'm curious if that's if that's meaningful to us because it's pretty meaningful to the people that filled out the survey and it competes well with a lot of the other
um qualities that we're looking for. And if I if I wanted to, I could probably take handful of those qualities and wrap them up into one because they there's a lot of overlap. So, I think we could easily get that K12 experience on there if we thought that was important. I'm not saying I think
it's important. >> So, Dan, you're looking for an approval characteristics that you have listed here. >> Yes. So the three things that we're looking for tonight are the characteristics. So there are 10 and uh in addition to that there's one that we would encourage you to really consider
which is the one that was just brought up. So that one would would be an 11th one. We would then use those to screen the candidates etc. It was important to a lot of the individuals that provided feedback and so definitely worthy of something to do. In addition to that just the job application that you've
seen before as well as the promotional materials. I'd be curious to know what percentage of superintendents already have that experience because I feel like the majority would. >> They do. >> Yeah. >> Yeah, that is absolutely the case. There is >> very few would not.
>> Yeah. Interestingly, in Minnesota, Minnesota is one of the only uh states that allows an alternatively licensed superintendent uh where someone who has no experience in education become a superintendent. And that happened many many years ago at
the legislature from a legislator who wanted to be a superintendent and then became the first one to follow that law and became a longtime superintendent Minnesota and approving these characteristics. So will these be published with the job
description so that a person's looking at this and looking to see if they have these characteristics that we're looking for. Is that why we're approving that? They will definitely be built into the promotional materials and will definitely make them available. Those particular characteristics, however,
will be the ones that we will use along with the other information the board has approved to evaluate each of the applications. And so those characteristics will be able to say where someone is really high in each of those areas or maybe somewhere low in some of those areas and then provide an
overall recommendation to the board for consideration. But each one of these candidates you'll be talking to directly anyways. It's not like you're it's not like you're going to just look at their resume and say, "Oh, you only met nine of these tents. We're not going to contact you." You're going to be talking to everyone.
>> Yeah. 100%. And actually, by the time that they are brought to you, they've gone through a number of steps. Uh not only by me personally as leading the search, but members on our team and the board. And it will also be brought, as I said, to a committee of this particular board. So, just one step that we want to
take a review. If something on there stood out to you as not being important or something that was really important, we would want to know that just because we'll then work with the board in terms of specific questions and things that you'd want to ask.
>> Dr. Bitman, are we trying to decide if we're going to replace one of the 10 with the 11th or add an 11th? >> It's a good question. You can absolutely add. No need to replace it all again. We'll just use that feedback from this board to make sure that we're providing
a a close eye on that for applications. >> Maybe it doesn't matter because if we say most people do and if they don't check that box, it doesn't mean that we're not going to take a serious look at them anyway. >> I think you should include it. >> Should include it.
>> If it's if I mean in our surveys, if it was important in the surveys, then it should be included. >> I agree. I feel like it adds a valuable important perspective to they've been in the classroom. >> The lines really nicely not only with
the feedback but uh with the the board's efforts around achievement and the work that you're doing here in Monaceel. So if the board is um >> I'm good with that. If we could add I think that's great. Maybe we just say characteristics recommended. >> Perfect
11. So, we'd be looking for a motion when you're ready for the job application, the promotional materials, and then the characteristics with the ad of the considerate for the experienced. >> Make a motion to accept
what Dr. Dan Bman just stated. I think you have to call out all three I believe. >> Who moved? >> Second. >> Uh the action I requested the superintendent search with the items
presented um is voted four to zero. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> We'll say nay. >> Passes 4. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Sorry I had that messed up there a little backwards. rookie
mistake. >> I know, right? I I'm not Some of us haven't been here for three decades, Jeff. >> Everything you got to throw it in there. >> No, no, no, no. You look good though for for that long. >> So, next we'll call up uh Gary Reing to
go over our fall season wrap-up and look ahead for the activities report. All right. Good evening, members of the board and Superintendent Olsen. I'm here to give you your activities update from the fall and currently from our winter activities. Uh before I start, just
received an email this afternoon from the Minnesota State High School League that our grant B application has been approved. So, we will be getting a new AED. I'll work with our high school uh school nurse, Kelly Barrow, and um we will get one ordered here when the money
arrives in January. Also, I just got back from vacation. I want to thank Gavin Nelson and Jared Hines for helping put this together for me tonight. So, thank you, Gavin. All right, first one, conference championships this fall. Uh
we had another successful fall in fine arts season at Monaceel High School. Five of our eight teams won conference championships. We also brought home a state championship in girls swimming and diving. The conference championships were from volleyball, girls tennis, boys
soccer, girls swim and dive and our football team. Boys cross country led by coach Corton camp. The magic boys cross country team ended with the state participant in junior atar Peralta. He is competing in class trip AAA for the
first time and he finished 88th overall at the state tournament. He is a foreign exchange student at Monaceel High School this year. He lives with the Mahonies and he is from Spain. So unfortunately he gets one year to compete and this was his year and uh remember right he's only
15 or 16. So it would have been nice to have him back. is an excellent runner and fun fact he has a twin brother I heard that also isn't a foreign exchange student in another state and he made it to the state tournament in cross country
as well girls cross country uh competing again class AAA for the first time we sent two girls to the state tournament Isabelle Mahoney and Kylie Lindberg Mahoney finished her high school career with the 12th place finish and Lindberg finished 98th Mahoney will
continue her running career next season at the University of Northwestern and that's in the Big 10. Girls tennis had another successful season. They won the MississippiA Conference. They advanced couple rounds into the section 8A tournament. Senior
duo of Samantha V and Julia Dashaine had a strong finish in doubles. They are one win away from advancing to the state tournament. And it says here that Jared and Gavin put down that uh the future is bright for girls tennis and I agree with
that. Boys soccer, we're in a new section. Magic competed uh strong all year. Posted a 106 and2 record. The boys made it to the section 83A um tournament where we lost in the semifinals to Buffalo who went on to the
final four in the state tournament. Um I went with the team up to Morehead this year. It was an outstanding game. We knocked off Morehead. They were seated ahead of us. Um team finished the season playing extremely well in soccer. It was
fun supporting them along the way. Girls soccer. Uh Magic went 106 and three this season and we're in the sixA championship. We lost to St. Francis in overtime. Came down to penalty kicks and it's not the first time we've been beat
on penalty kicks, which is hard to watch. It comes down to five kicks and whoever scores more advances and uh that's how we lost again this year by one penalty kick. Volleyball for the sixth season in a row. The Magic volleyball team were
conference champs. Um we actually tied with Princeton and North Branch. Says Chicago, but it should be North Branch. And Monaceel went 20 and 10 on the season. We lost to Alexandria in the semifinals. We had a strong senior class uh playing for the Magic that helped
lead us through um the last several years advancing to the state tournament. So be hard to see them go football. Um while the weather didn't cooperate for many of our home games, the team continued to push on. We were eight and
two. We won the Northstar district title and we ended up losing to Elk River in the section final. They advanced to the final four in state. Um so that was a tough loss. came down to the last play. We were ahead late if you were there and they scored with like 30ome seconds to
go and then we actually threw a pass into the end zone that uh we almost completed. So exciting game, tough one to lose and I'm slowly getting over that one. Adaptive soccer under firstear head coach Emily Harry picture there. Um the
adaptive soccer team went to the state tournament for the second straight year and we lost to the defending state champs and then in consolation we did win a game. First game in program history that we won at the state tournament. So fun watching the Coyotes
this fall. Girls swim and dive state champions. So, the Monaceel girls swim team and dive uh won the class A state championship on November 15th with 227 points. We had
two divers, Khloe Schwering and Addie Zigan in the top eight. And we took first in the 200yard free with Adeline Beagler and also in the 100yard fly. She won that as well. Our 200yard free relay and 400yard free relay. also state
champions with Beagler, Urick, Farnsworth, and Fogley. And the state championship is the school's fourth in history. We our first championship for Monaceel High School was 2011 and with girls cross country, then in 2022 and
2023 in girls track. So all four state titles from our girls teams. Shrek the musical. Hopefully you made it to the musical. Uh it was directed by Ryan Sadell. All three showings just like two weeks ago. Plenty of laughs and
uh it was one of the best musicals I've seen in my 16 years as activities director. Um I just want to thank our staff and our students. I thought they did an amazing job. Fine arts starting here this winter. First Robotics, you've seen quite a few
donations come in. They're doing a great job raising money for the robotics program. Knowledgeable is just starting practice. They'll start competing in January after winter break. DECA is just getting started as well. Um we also have
math team. We held a math team competition today at the high school. So that will wrap up here in January, but math teams had a couple events so far. Um jazz band, pops choir, they meet in the morning.
our music department. So, jazz band and pops choir both have good participation numbers right now. And then one act FFA. One act just started tryyout. So, they're getting going here. They will compete end of January and into
February. FFA, Jacob Wilts has been pretty much running that program yearround raising money and providing unbelievable opportunities for our students. And that program continues to grow at Monaceel High School. speech.
Um, we just added a co-op with St. Michael. You approved that about a month ago. That is going to start in January, so it hasn't started yet. And I know we have a few students that are interested in participating in speech. And then
winter sports roundup real quick. Um, off to a good start again. Uh, dance team. Okay, they're fresh off a state tournament appearance last season. They're back with some early s success this year. December 6th, the Magic took
first place in both varsity kick and varsity jazz at the Forest Lake Invitational. And you can see a picture of them. Riverhawks hockey through 10 games. We're four and six. We co-op with St. Michael Albertville with the recent win
over Buffalo to retain the Wright County Cup. Um, Hecondorf, Larson, and Ringette are are all have 10 points for Northright County uh to lead the team so far this season. Moose Hockey, our boys
hockey team. Um, we're off to a one, two, and two start so far, but we are ranked. We have a strong team. We've had uh we played some really tough teams so far. Um, and we'll have a competitive uh regular season, and hopefully we're going to make some noise this year in
section. So, boys hockey looking to get back to the state tournament. Wrestling off to a good start. We have a new coach pictured here, Vince Deetsz. Met with him again today. Uh we have two big events coming up in wrestling. Friday is
our girls invitational and Saturday is the boys. So hopefully we'll get a good turnout at Monaceel High School for both of those. We're off to a 4 in one start. Our participation numbers are up. Wrestling's off to a good start this winter. Gymnastics just started competing last
week. They beat St. Francis and they won the Elk River Invite on Saturday. Um last year we took second in Class A. We're bumped up to double A. We have our our girls back and we're one of the strongest gymnastics teams in the state. Hoping to get back there and make some
noise this year in double A at the state tournament. Girls basketball, we were undefeated last year. We have everyone back this year again. Same thing. moved up a class. Um, Star Tribune just had us, I've read the article yesterday, they
did an article that Monaceel basketball, the smallest school in 4A, but ready to make some noise this winter. So hopefully that's the case. Um, we're on a little bit of roll. Won our last few games here. But again, we've added some of the best teams in the state to get
ready for postseason play. Be a little bit tougher this year being in 4A. Uh but we have a very very strong senior class. Boys basketball off to a great start. They're three and one. Um includes a 67
to 28 win over Mound Wasanka last week. Last year Mound beat us. So it was a nice turnaround this year to beat them by 40 points. And uh we've got a busy week. We're home on Tuesday and Thursday this week uh with Morehead coming to
town tomorrow. That's a section game. in uh 4A. And then uh Thursday we host Princeton, which has always been a a tough game, kind of a rival game in our conference. Adaptive floor hockey just started. They
wrapped up uh state soccer and they're right on to floor hockey. We won our first game 17-10. A lot of the same athletes play um for their floor hockey team. Again, we co-op with St. Michael and with Buffalo. And uh Emily Harry is
now our assistant coach, a coach from St. Michael as a head coach this winter. How it works, Monaceel runs the fall team soccer, St. Michael runs the winter team, and now Buffalo will run the spring team adaptive uh softball. So we
all take turns running those programs. That's it. Any questions any of the activities right now? >> Thanks for the overview. It's a nice to see there's a there's a plethora of options for students to get involved in multiple different ways with different
sports and activities. Uh some of you highlighted on there of like non-cont items as well or other opportunities to get involved. So it's great to see. So >> there's interest. We try to find a way. >> Yeah. Wonderful. >> Appreciate your support. It wouldn't have been possible. I know uh well a few
years ago your daughter was interested in speech and we just didn't have enough kids and now hopefully we have a few more and we found an opportunity. All right. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. >> Now on to teaching and learning uh with the course approval. This will be an
action item with principal Lori Hansen. >> Good evening members of the school board. Mr. Olsen, Superintendent Olsen. I got with me Derek Schwart. We're here with four new courses um at the middle of try 2. We're already
in preparation for the 2627 school year. So, um, as you are looking and just a reminder, normally I would come to you at a work session and give you a little bit of an update in a 101 um, and we got bumped in uh, a
couple weeks ago. So, all of our courses try to really align to either our career fields, our our pathways, or just enhancing our core offerings. And so we have four tonight that we want to share with you. I'm going to present three of them. Mr. Schwarz's going to present one
of them. Um, the first one ties into our multilingual learning pathways or our courses that we currently have four that really provide a foundational academic and language um baseline so that kids
that are new to Monosella High School, maybe new to country, they have oper opportunities to um just build their English language skills. So, we currently have an ELD intermediate foundations and advanced and a focused literacy course. This course is a speak
and write course that really would be based on my glasses on here if I can read this. Um, it fits into the programming that supports multilingual learners. Um it focuses on speaking and writing and skills that are needed across all core
areas and focus on the academic output output needed to be successful in all content and grades. So it really is a snapshot right there. We have um staff in place that are really doing a digging into
what is necessary, where are some of our strengths, what are where are some of our gaps in our programming. and they came with a recommendation to add a speak and write course that really adds that next layer >> 12 have in a couple of our electives in the English department have in a couple of our electives in the English
department. Um we have an existing class called science fiction fantasy literature. We have an existing class called world literature. Um both of those are also electives open to students in grades 10 through 12. And um you know each of them is trying to serve a like an audience with a like different
interest levels. Um, obviously in an ideal world, students are able to take electives that meet whatever interests they have. And this one happened to be um inspired by a teacher who now is at the middle school, Nate Russell, who had mentioned this years ago as something
that he kind of had in his back pocket. And in conversations with um Miss Hansen, it got me thinking like, actually, I think there's a good spot for this right now. I think in Monosello we have a lot of students who are very enthusiastic about the outdoors um and like have a lot of experience that they
would be bringing and it made sense to me to start to put together a course that met those students where they are um at the interest level that they're at. Um so click forward a little bit here. Um the only thing a student would have to have done ahead of time is just made their
way through English 9. Um it's going to be a class that looks at um uh hiking. Um and it's like one of the projects that we would be interested in doing is putting together um like a week-long hike and you'd have to like plan
everything and like get a good budget and like plan out where are you going to go, what are the things you have to plan for, do you need to carry bear spray? Um there's a unit on hunting and fishing which I suspect in some cases students are going to be able to know more than I do. Um
uh there'd be a unit on um farming and a unit on forestry ecology. Um so and the course would end on some choice literature that students are able to group up um and do like lit circle discussions with other people based on a
variety of like choices that they have. Um okay. So I think I've hit all of the things that I was aiming for and I will turn it back to Miss Hansen. All four of these courses are elective options. So, as you're listening and thinking through
them, the next two in particular are really um we're asking for approval, but they are truly dependent on um us receiving some grant funding. So, we're asking for approval on them, but we won't find out about the grant approval process until the end of January and beginning of February. So, we want these
in our course catalog so we can continue to do some of the background work, but know that if that funding doesn't come, we're going to put these on pause and continue to do some of that work for 20 728. Um, so, but we want all of the
things to continue to move forward so that we are prepared um if all of the funding comes to life for us. Um the next one is really interesting to us. It's unmanned aerial systems also known as
drones. So this is a course where we're trying to be highly innovative but very fiscally responsible but know that this falls under the pathway of emerging technologies which we know is really an up andcoming interest for a lot of areas. And we're going to tuck this one into our industrial tech department. Um,
and it really is drones 101. There's a couple schools in cities that are offering that we've been using as kind of our model. Um, and they've been tremendous in offering us some guidance in regards to um, policy. So, we currently have policy that's no drones.
So, ideally after approval would be back here in a month or so saying we need to look at policy. Um, it is it's an expensive course to launch. We're working with a lot of um outside agencies to help really support us and build some sustainability with it
because once we have the curriculum, once we have the resources and the time built in, we've got a good plan, but we just need that initial funding to help us get going. Um emerging technologies, um a prerec for this
would truly be because it's going to be high interest for kids, but it's more than just drones 101. We really want to tuck it under um those students that are interested in that higher level engineering, web development, coding, game design so that it's really established pathway because we will work
with department of education to put this into a framework and get some CTE reimburseable as well. So number of factors coming into this class um and it's we want approval so that all of the things can keep moving forward but know that this will I think will be a really
high interest class and really relevant to again that pathway philosophy that says um I think we are finding more and more agencies and uh industries that really have this kind of technology coming into their workforce. Some examples, uh, Wright County Sheriff's
Office, uh, real estate, marketing, construction, public safety, egg, transportation, military, defense. So, we want this as a foundational course that eventually will come back and say, gosh, look at the interdisciplinary connections that we're making with real life um, applications. So again, no pun
intended when I say it's expensive to launch, but we're doing a lot of front loing of the work to get it um in our course catalog for our kids. And then the same thing, the last one is a CIS intro to special education. Over the
last couple years, we've been here a number of times with our education pathway and training, and we've got a very robust pathway for kids, uh CIS intro to education. um multicultural education and education
technology. And those all were kind of a gift um started with a uh intro to ch uh intro to teaching grant that we received five years ago, four years ago. That's coming to the end of life in a year. And we went back and reapplied for another
round of that. If we get that approval, we would like to bring that in because we would have a very strong um intro to teaching pathway. This one is specific to special ed and we feel like it would really triangulate well with our youth service program and our unified programming. We feel like we've
got a really nice um layers of offerings that this could tuck into our culture pathways. Um it's it's what our kids are, I think, interested and invested in. And so this one will only come to life in the 2627 school year if the
grant comes our way at the end of January or beginning of February. So the last two are truly grant dependent for next year's implementation. If those grants don't come through, we will continue to do some backend work to see how we can get those um in place for
kids knowing again I think our goal is to be innovative but also to be really financially mindful and and build something that's sustainable. So, we have four courses. I'll pause and answer questions. >> Well, I think it's great to add to our offerings that you guys have. We see a
couple times a year just offering more more classes on there sparking more interests and it's it's a great avenue for other students to look at other alternatives uh to uh to expand their education. So, thank you for that. Any other questions?
Yes. >> You mentioned that numbers three and four. So the drones and the intro to special ed are dependent on grants. What's the plan on one and two for how to pay for those? >> Yep. So Mr. Schwart and I have a plan to
I think the two pieces that come for when we launch a new class is how do we create time for them to develop a really strong curriculum um with it. And so over the last couple years, we've been able to use our building sub to work with, in this case, it would be Mr.
Sport to say, "Here's our curriculum map. Here's our standards. Here's our outcome. We will use time between now and the end of the school year to give him to build that, but it doesn't come out of funding because we already have Brian Hoffman, who is our building sub. So, we'll put Brian in uh Derek's room a couple different times throughout the
year to give him some time within the resources. What did you mention the other day to me with um purchasing some books? We anticipate about 800 to,000 dollars for new reading material with this. Um he's got some creative ways that he's looking at What did you
>> uh Yeah. So um in the English department um Amanda Cartekch who our former department head um has been kind of like almost our like department quarter master for a while. She maintains a really I would describe it as diverse
donor's choose. Um, and anytime that we come across like a text that we think would be handy, um, it's a lot easier to just say, "Amanda, can you see if we can get 30 copies of this on donors choose?" And often the answer is yes, especially at kind of peak times of the year such as right now. Um, and also during
teacher appreciation weeks, we see a big spike in getting those fulfilled. Um, second place we see a big spike is, um, she maintains an Amazon wish list. Um and she has a lot of that available in her social media and at different times
people fund those. Um so um we've already seen like we have a number of the books that I would be using for this. We've already seen some movement on that already. >> The rest of it was a lot of our building our building. In regards to the materials the uh speak
and write class we anticipate $350 a year subscription. So that we feel like we can manage within our building budget. So they're a little bit more costefficient classes to start.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> I just wanted to say you guys know I have a little bit of time on my hands next year, so I'm going to check put you guys to the test. make sure your office is ready to um screen out applicants of of um seemingly, you know, um super
seniors. And uh I just want to make sure that I've heard that happens and and I just want you guys to maybe be ready for a definite older uh super senior to take one of these classes. Looks awesome. >> Okay, I'll just visit then. Okay, I
won't do any of that funny stuff. >> Any other questions we can answer? just provide clarification on. >> All right, this is a action item. >> It's all moved. >> Second move >> by Melissa. All those in favor say I.
>> I. >> All those oppos say no. >> Motion passes 40. >> We'll be back to give you an update. >> All right. Now we'll move on to safe and healthy culture with a financial state of the district and final levy approval
action item with Ena Burke Holder, director of business services. All right, good evening. So tonight we just have a continuation of our presentation from December 1st with our truth and taxation hearing.
um wanted to go over a couple things and then also ask for approval for our levy tonight. So just as a reminder for Truth and Taxation, we have to have our meeting between November 25th and and December 26th. So we posted that officially December 1st. We have to
present our current year budget information, go over major changes with the property tax levy, and then also allow for public comment. Um with our budget cycle and tax levy cycle, we're a little bit different than cities and counties. Um our fiscal year
goes from July 1st to June 30th. So the levy tonight that's approved is for our 2627 budget. So this is really the first stage of the budgeting process and we won't start getting into the details until the spring after assumptions have
been approved and kind of finalizing those budget pieces. So within our budget, we have different funds where we have to track activity. Um, and only three of our funds actually receive property tax revenue in them.
Our general fund, which includes our capital projects fund, and our special ed cooperative, our community service fund, which also includes our hockey fund, and the debt service fund. The other funds do not receive property tax revenue.
Taking a look at our budget uh on the revenue side for this year, our general fund is our main operating fund where it makes up 83% of the activity. And also on the expense side, the general fund again is the largest
portion of our budget. Diving a little deeper into the general fund. Um, just looking at the general fund, not including our capital projects activity or special ed cooperative, our largest source of revenue comes from the state with 77%
and uh, local property taxes being 18%. Next year when we see the approved referendum come in, that might change a little bit where the property tax levy might be around 20 to 21% and state sources being around 74%. So just
changing a little bit next year. On the expense side, uh we are a very labor intensive industry where 80% of our budget is people with salary and benefits. And if anybody wanted to dive a little deeper with our budget, um I
have our budgets that have been approved since I've been here on our website under the business and finance section. It breaks down the budget even further um to go by site and by subject area if needed. Next, I wanted to go over a couple
highlights with our general fund. Last year, we had our audit that was presented and approved on November 17th. So, wanted to go over a couple slides that uh Mary touched on. Talk about our unassigned fund balance and some one-time special events. So, this slide is very hard to read, but
it's our second slide from the audit presentation that shows our general fund and the activity um over the last five years. a basic summary of just the overall expenses and revenues coming in and all the different fund balances that we have to manage and keep track of
according to the state. So on here and the most left side being the current activity for last year, uh you'll see that we had a net change in fund balance of 5.2 million and the line above that um a large part of that includes a
one-time event. We have other financing sources of 6.2 2 million and that is our insurance proceeds that comes from our hail claim that resulted in July of 2024. Without that one-time event, our actual
fund balance change would have been a negative million change in fund balance. So, a decrease in our fund balance of a million. So, to get a true accurate picture of our financial health for the school district, uh you need to take a look at our unassigned fund balance and
that is 4.7 million. the previous year is 4.2 million. And our fund balance policy talks about how we compare that to our general fund expenditures, you know, excluding the capital projects expenditures. So in this year and the next couple years, we'll see some of
that insurance activity go into place and excluding our cooperative. When you take a look at that, um, our fund balance is 7.7%. Our policy is try to be within 8 to 16%. So that kind of shows a true picture of
our financial health. This slide from the audit presentation has a five-year history of our unassigned fund balance. Uh so we did have a little bit of spike last year or last year 2024, two years ago um when we received a larger
increase in state aid. Another slide from our audit. They um break down how we spend our funds by category. I highlighted in blue two administrative categories, our district and school administration um which is our superintendent, school
board and our building principles as well and curriculum director as well as district support services which is business services, HR, legal, elections, communication departments. So those two together, 4% of our budget is spent on
district administration. And the categories with the red box are student centered. So instructional, instructional support, vocational, special ed, and pupil support services. So about uh 78%
of our expenses are student centered. Another slide they had shows this uh spending activity over five years. So you can see consistently the blue um highlighted categories for district administration are low and the ones in
the boxes are our largest categories. There is a a rise in our special ed category as we are shifting over time some of our cooperative programs into Monaceel based as a lot of the students in those programs are mainly Monaceel
students versus making up students from other districts. Again, another slide showing our school district administration expenses over the couple years and then how it compares to other schools that are 4,000
or larger enrollment for 2024 and the state average. There's always a lag with the state information as they wait to get until they have all the school uh financial information from all the schools in the state. So again, just wanted to highlight a
couple things uh on our financial status and the audit that was presented in November. Going back to property tax information. So a lot of of what is determined is by the state and many formulas. We actually
30 pages of formulas and how a school district levy is calculated. It's driven by enrollment counts, eligible expenses, population, voter approved referendums, and property valuations. And just because a tax levy uh changes
or increases doesn't mean that our budget necessarily increases. Many different revenue streams have a state aid and tax component to it. Um, so sometimes when you see property values rise, the state will shift the more of
it on the property tax revenue stream versus the state aid stream um when it's determining our levy so that there's more property value to spread the levy across. Taking a look at the property tax line
from the district's perspective. So, in the August of the summer, we're inputting a lot of the information to the state, telling them what we think our enrollment will be, um, what certain eligible expenses are, giving them our 10-year LTFM plan. In September 8th, they have to give the districts their
first report that has 30 pages of calculation and determines what their levy is. And so, typically at the meeting in September, schools approve a levy to the max, mainly because we're receiving updated reports. almost, you
know, well, it's been better now, but we would receive updated reports almost daily, weekly on changes. And a lot of schools have their board meetings earlier in the month. And what if you prove a a specific dollar amount, you
can't change it if it if there's a mistake or whatnot. An example would for us would be if we our September levy was 14 million and some odd dollars. If you would approved 14 million, we had a successful no November election pass and
now our levy is potentially 17 million. Because you approved a dollar amount in September, you wouldn't be able to take advantage of that three additional million dollars in levy. So schools tend to say levy to the max because a lot of calculations are still being calculated.
we have our referendum um where schools would have potentially more revenue come in and it's at the December meeting that you approve a specific dollar amount. So just because it's a max doesn't mean we're going to
try to go for $100 million. It's just the maximum of what the calculations allow. And then uh nove mid November people uh get their taxation notices or valuation notices
statements. Um but it doesn't include a successful November question. In December we have our hearing and in December 15th we have the approval of our levy. Then after that um people will receive their actual notices of what the
actual levy will be after a successful November question. Uh the next two slides has the summary of our different levies. So again, the biggest increase in our levy for next year in our general fund is mainly in the voter approved referendum where it's
increasing 3.4 million. Um other levies that have big changes, our equity revenue is going down mainly because the voter approved referendum is increasing. So, our equity revenue is going down as it's determined by revenue by a school
in your ranking and if you're in the metro or not in the metro. Our local optional revenue is decreasing mainly due to enrollment as well as our long-term facility uh revenue is decreasing because that is enrollment based as well and we are seeing declines
in enrollment. Our other post-employment benefit levy is increasing with additional expenses and uh premium increases with our health insurance premiums. And then not as big change with our community service fund, a 5% increase
and a decrease with our debt service levy. Uh going back to se September, our preliminary levy was actually going to go down by 328,000, but because we had a success successful referendum, our overall levy is increasing 3 million or
21.15%. So with the impact to the taxpayers, there are different factors that could incre change or affect their tax bill. It could be the changes in their property value. It could be changes in the value of property in all the district and if there's for example a
voter approved referendum and the kind of three key variables in determining what that tax impact would be would be a person's estimated market value of their property what classification are they falling under that's determined by the state that
would give them that tax rate um and then all the tax levies that are determined by the city county and school. Taking a look at the timeline from the taxpayers's perspective in January um property value well prior to January
property values are assessed but values are submitted in January 2nd March they'll receive residents will receive a preliminary valuation notice in the spring you can go to the county board to challenge your valuation mid November
residents would see that tax proposed tax statement notices Again, it wouldn't include a success successful referendum question. And then November and December, people are allow um can view their truth and taxation hearings at the
city, county, and school level. And then in March of that following year, they'll receive their actual tax statement that has the correct um property tax assessed. A couple slides for different examples. This is a valuation notice. So at the
bottom of the front of the page is where they can go and reach out uh if they want to challenge their property value valuation and on the back side there's information as well. And then also included a property tax
notice example. Again um the November one wouldn't have the November levy on there but the March one would. And then um like to you know categorize the impact of our tax levy as the pi where the tax levy the 30 pages of
calculation it determines the district's levy and I categorize that as a pie and depending on your valuation determines how big your slice of the pie is. And another example of that um includes just
a simple um example of two houses in a school district where the overall school levy is $500. And if they both had the same value, they would both pay equally to the for the school tax. But if one had a higher increase in their valuation compared to the other, that shift in
their responsibility of the tax levy would change. Uh, and then I also included again Ellers's um property tax examples of what um a taxpayer might see in the different valuations. We have charts for
$150,000 property value, uh, $250,000 value, and the little black box is the change with the voter approved referendum. And the next two charts have a $350,000 example and a 450,000
property example. And both slides have um where our their tax impact is al is actually less than what we were communicating during our uh levy presentations. And I thought this slide was neat to
show what the voter approved versus non- voter approved makeup is in uh $350,000 home example. You can see consistently we have a pretty consistent levy year-over-year. And the last couple slides have
information about a property tax refund or deferral where um people should uh consult their tax um professional regarding that. And then our last slide just overall showing our levy for uh payable 2026
17,439,463 and.33 cents for a 21.15% increase. So asking for approval tonight. I don't know if we want to allow for public comment. Again, I mean really that was for December 1st, but if there's still a need, we can obviously have that and I
can answer any questions the board might have. Superintendent. >> Thanks, Tina. Um, always appreciate you going through this because this is difficult to wrap our heads around. Um, in a lot of ways it feels
like there's so much information here, it would be difficult to pinpoint how to uh truly understand it as a as a homeowner in the area or a business owner. Um, it's impressive that our community passed a large operating levy
to really open up the the opportunity to maintain what we've created here in looking at trying to be fiscally responsible to the taxpayers. U what are some things that we can do as a
board to look at even though we've got this new operating levy going forward that maybe we can take a little bit of the burden off of the taxpayers. One thing I've mentioned previously in November, we also had our actuarial study u present to the board. Um I
recommend the budget committee getting a projection from the actuarial study to show what's the sunset levy cost versus the nonset levy cost. We have our OPED trust that can only be used for retiree
health insurance. And so if the trust is overfunded, we could shift some of the sunset retirey costs to be paid out of the trust and kind of look at that annually to see if we can alleviate some
of the levy pressure. If we're seeing a big increase, if we see a big inflation year, whatever the case may be, that um we want to kind of ship that over the trust. We want to make sure we're not overspending the trust because if that trust runs out and we still have contracts that don't have the sunset
clause, we would have to pass and fund that through our general fund. >> That sounds like an excellent idea. Uh is there a time of year that would be best for us to look at that as a budget committee? >> Um
I asked for the breakdown if I because we have the report, but if I could get that split out. So depending on what that is, I mean it could be any time of the year. Preferably before the preliminary levy in September would be ideal. Um because there's a lot of things that are happening.
It's hard to do that on an evening in December when we're adopting the levy because one of the things we have to um submit our financial information to the state by November 30th and you can't go back and change your numbers for the
prior year. And I don't, you know, you get, well, not anymore. We don't get awards, but you get, it looks best when you can continually submit your financial information to the state on time and not have to go back and say, "Oh, we need to change how our how we
spent our money. We need to transfer money or do different things." So, I think prior to September each year would be ideal. >> Like a good summer project. >> Okay. Thank you, Tina. Is there a end to our OPED trust? Do we have a estimation
that it won't be necessary anymore? >> Again, without her having without Hildy or USI breaking it down by sunset nonset, it's hard to see that. But right now, we're just
under a million dollars in our oped trust. So, yeah, as a board, we've seen this numerous times throughout the past couple months. Thank you, Tina, for all the work that you do, obviously, educating us with all the finances. As we dig into it and learn more, uh, this
is an action item, so if there's no more questions, we'll take to a vote. >> I'll need a specific dollar amount. >> Make a motion to accept the final levy approval to max.
>> Nope. I need a dollar approval. A dollar amount. >> No, we didn't want a >> That's only in September where you levy to the max. >> So, what am I looking for? 3044 508 >> 17 million. Okay.
>> 439 >> presentation. >> That would go over really well. 17,439,463.33. >> Second. >> Moved by Jeff, seconded by Melissa. All those in favor say I. >> All those opposed say no.
>> Motion passes 40. Thank you, Tina. Now we'll move on to organizational meeting uh date change discussion with uh Eric Olsson and this is another action item. >> Yep. So I'm also going to stay up here and you know going on from the last
subject where we're talking about property tax impact and what we can do. Um, as you may recall, we're trying to refund or refinance one of our building bonds so that we can obtain a lower interest rate and again try to lower that tax impact. Um we
were I think officially going to market Monday, January 5th and um it's good to go out that first week in January, but if we could um have something to the board after the 5th, it might uh reduce
the risk of of having a high rate versus a low rate. So, if we can maybe look at uh Monday, January 12th as a next or the first board meeting, that might give us more favorable favorable results for our
bond refunding. >> We're looking to change a date that we're looking >> Yeah. So, up on the screen are six different options. >> I'm okay with the 12th. >> Only one I can be at the 12th.
Sounds like it's the 12th then. >> That's >> four people. That's what we need. >> And what time on is that a five o'clock then? >> Would that be an actual meeting or just to run through what you need? >> No, it be the
>> be the organizational meeting as well as other items. >> Yeah, the 12th works for me as well. So, this is a action item. We'd move the work session as well.
>> Yeah. Okay. >> Make a motion to move the January 5th meeting to January 12th. >> Second. >> Moved by Jeff, seconded by Bark. All those in favor say I. >> All those opposed say no.
>> Motion passes 40. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> And now we'll go to the second reading of policies. This is a action item with a superintendent Eric Olsson. >> All right. I have a second reading here today um of the policies uh below. Um
just as a reminder, policy 606.5, policy 611, policy 612.1, policies 901, policy 902, policy 903 have uh been through the policy committee and they have also been here for first reading. Um we've had these
for um a couple weeks and I would just uh pause here for any um questions and if there are no questions I bring these forward for u mental action questions. No questions. >> So have there been any changes since
first reading? Okay. So as Eric stated, yeah, these have gone through multiple readings. This is first of the policy committee, then brought to a first reading, reviewed by the board, and then now to a second reading. So this is an action item. >> So moved.
>> Second. >> Moved by Jeff Hegley, second by Mark Branson. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> All those opposed say no. >> Motion passes passes 4. Thank you. And that brings us to the end of our school board meeting tonight. We will adjourn.
Thanks everyone. >> Awesome. Thank you.