Awesome. That was great. I would like to call to order the May 27th regular meeting of the Mountains View School Board. Good evening and welcome. The first um item of business is 1.2, adoption of the agenda. I would
entertain a motion. So moved. Second. Agenda has moved been moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next up is item
2.1. Um announcements. Um our next regular meeting of the school board. It will be on Tuesday, June 17th at 700 pm here at the district center. Um, at this time we'll move on to agenda item 2.2,
superintendence report. Great. Thank you, Diane. Uh, tonight I actually have a little bit of a longer report. Um, I think as the board knows, but for the public, each spring the state of Minnesota asks us to provide an update on our our comp program and traditionally we've done that as part of
the superintendence report. So I'll do that again this this evening. So, um, for those who might not know, Mzu Public Schools was one of the first of three school districts in the state to implement QC comp. And over the course of that time, it really has been a very
successful program for us. There are five components that make up the Q comp program um that we are required to highlight and I want to go over them this evening. The first is career advancement options. Uh sometimes you'll hear those referred to as career ladder
positions. Examples of these positions include in our in our system things like building instructional leadership team members. Um we have a lot of acronyms. So built members is built positions. You'll hear us talk about instructional strategies facilitators or ISFs. Uh some
of our content area specialists um CAS's are also part of that group. In total, we have approximately 112 people in positions like this, which is roughly about 13% of our teaching staff. Uh the work work of these teacher leaders is
really an essential part of our PLCbased system. Um and the support they provide has helped us to improve both our practice as well as student achievement districtwide. Uh definitely a very positive part of our school culture. A second component uh that we need to
highlight is job embedded professional development. Uh key message here is that much of the professional development associated with our QC comp program is focused on ind district opportunities. Um our professional development is often done by teachers for teachers. Uh
doesn't mean that no one goes to conferences. Of course, we go out and and do that as well outside of the district. uh it's just not the primary focus of our professional development in the UC comp program. Uh one example of job embedded professional development is
the growth and development opportunities uh that are part of our teacher development and appraisal process. Again, another acronym for you, TDAP is what we call that. Uh as part of the PLC's, teachers have the opportunity to learn from one another on how to best use high yield instructional strategies
in their classrooms. Uh micro teaching is another thing you may have heard of or will continue to hear about. It's a technique that our teachers have used uh to learn and grow. Uh at its core, it's a digitally recorded lesson where a highly effective teacher models an
instructional strategy within their classroom. And then by recording that instruction, it allows groups of teachers to come together, watch the instruction, talk with their peers, ask questions, gather ideas, and then go back and implement that strategy in their own individual classrooms. I've
been really very impressed at how effective this technique has been um in the adoption of best practice strategies in our classrooms, and I want to commend our teachers for their commitment to that ongoing development. Again, clearly having a positive impact.
A third component of the QC comp uh program is teacher evaluation and our teacher evaluation is embedded as part of that TDAP process. Appraisal takes place really at two levels in our system. Both at the team level as well
as at the individual uh team member level. The benefit that we see to this approach is that the work teachers are appraised on is directly connected to the work they're doing individually and collectively in their classrooms. uh the work of the PLC's isn't something that's
separate or a different evaluation, but it's all packaged together and connected integral to the work they do on a daily basis. Fourth component is the alternative pay system and our Q comp system includes alternative pay in the
form of stipens for teacher leaders. uh specifically those career ladder positions I talked about earlier which were the built members ISFs CAS's uh other components of the alternative pay system are included as part of our more comprehensive salary schedule as well
and the final component uh we want to report on is a general view of the program uh this year 99% of our tenur staff completed the necessary requirements to receive their full alternative compensation as part of our
QC comp program uh for probationary staff. It this also increased to 99% this year. So uh a nice increase for us. Uh great news. Tells us that the balance of our staff are willing and able to complete the necessary requirements to
receive the full compensation. Uh that's important because the way uh Q comp is organized in our system, while every teacher has the opportunity to earn full full compensation, there's no guarantee that they'll just automatically get it. they do have to go through uh those
expectations. So great to see so many of our staff uh meeting expectations in our QC comp program. So for the board and I guess more for the public, I just want uh everyone to know QC composes to be a very successful program in our district.
I think it uh has been embedded in the way it's been embedded in the work we do here in MSU very complimentary to our overall goals. We believe it u works towards our student achievement as well and we hope the state will continue to support this program uh into the future.
So that's my update on Q comp. I do have a couple other uh announcements and recognitions I want to make this evening. Uh first with a recognition, I am pleased to let you know that Mounds View High School principal Rob Reetsz was named high school principal of the
year for the Minnesota Capital Division. Rob was nominated and selected by his peers for his outstanding leadership, commitment to student achievement, and dedication to fostering a positive school culture. So, this coming December, a statewide selection board
reviews the materials from the eight finalists from across the state and will select one individual to res represent Minnesota at the national level. Tonight, we just want to congratulate Rob on this wonderful recognition. We're very proud of him and wish him well as he moves forward in that competition.
And for announcements, uh this is our last meeting prior to our graduation ceremony. So I want to highlight those dates. We did have CLT graduation last week and I had a chance to be there uh and visit with those students, staff, and parents. Uh, but upcoming dates, ALC
graduates this Thursday, May 29th, 7 PM at Bethl. Irondale High School graduates Monday, June 2nd, 700 p.m. at Maruchi Arena. Mounds View High School is Wednesday, June 4th, 7 p.m. at Maruchi.
And our adult basic ed program graduates Thursday, June 5th, 7 p.m. at the Mounds View Community Center. So, congratulations to all of our grads and their families. And that that's my report this evening. Wonderful. Thank you, Superintendent Lennox. We'll now
move on to item 3.0, approval of the consent agenda. I would entertain a motion. So moved. Second. The agenda has been moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next up
is 4.1 resolution awarding sale of certificates. Um I'll turn this back over to Superintendent Lennox. Thanks Dian. Back to me. Um so as you know we've been working through the process of purchasing the Northeast Youth and Family Services Building or NYFS again
acronym building. Um tonight we are recommending the board take action regarding the sale of certificates of participation which is the funding mechanism that allows us to lease purchase uh that property. So we work with our municipal advisor Baker Tilly
and uh through them we're recommending the board award the sale of certificates to Northland Securities Incorporated. uh the resolution in your packet uh multiple pages and includes all of the detail and information required for the
sale and again uh tonight administration is recommending your approval of that resolution and the sale of certificates. Great. Any questions? Okay. So I would entertain a
motion for the attached resolution authorizing the e execution and delivery for the lease and the creation of the certificates therein for the purpose of financing the project and other authorized costs. So moved. Second. The
motion has been moved and seconded. Any o um any discussion? Excuse me. Hearing none. All in favor? I I Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Superintendent Lennox. Thank you. We'll
now move on to item 4.2, 202526, enrollment and class size update. We would like to welcome up Darren Johnson, executive director of school management. Good evening. Thank you. Uh included in your board packet this evening, you'll
find an enrollment and class size update for the 2526 school year as of May 22nd, 2025. This data will continue to be updated throughout the spring and summer months as we move closer to the start of the 2526 school year, which will occur on September 2nd. In addition to the
attachment that has been provided for you, I'd also like to provide additional remarks as it relates to our current enrollment calculations. In summary, as of May 22nd, the number of enrolled students at our two kindergarten centers for the upcoming school year is
918, which represents 194 students above our projected count of 724. The number of enrolled students at our six 1-5 elementary schools for the upcoming school year is 4,222, which represents 41 students
above our projected count of 4,181. The number of enrolled students at our three middle schools for the upcoming school year is 2,613, which represents 17 students above our projected count of
2596. And finally, the number of enrolled combined students at Irondale and Mountains high schools for the upcoming school year is 3,700, which represents 118 students above our projected count of
3,582. Currently, in total, before the spring task of calculating the departures of current Mounds View Public School students, we have 11,453 K12 students, which represents 370 students more than the 2526
projection of 11,083. To compare numbers, this spring we are also set to graduate approximately 875 students from Irondale and Mountains high schools. This upcoming fall, there are approximately a combined enrollment of 915 students at
Snail Lake and Pike Lake kindergarten centers. With these numbers being similar, our plan to maintain enrollment from year to year by again implementing our plan to accept non-resident students in grades 1 through 5 has been effective. At this point in time, all
sections remain in the board approved class size ranges and section sizes will continue to be monitored in the coming months. Please note that uh please also note that these numbers remain fluid at this point in the year as school and district staff will continue to adjust
these totals by welcoming new students to our schools while other students join learning communities outside of our district. So with that, if there are any questions regarding our current enrollment projections or totals for the upcoming school year, I can answer those questions.
And I might offer for the public um and you've heard us say this before. There's one thing we can guarantee that on October 1, our enrollment will not be 11,453. It's it will be more or less because over the over the course of the
next month, you'll have some folks show up. You'll have others who will have life events that will take them other places in the world and and may leave our our school district. One thing we do regularly weekly is update this information. We'll continue to do that
uh through the summer and and into the fall. Um we've had some asked about non-resident enrollment. Remember space available basis. We'll watch that closely too. If there are space, we certainly will accept. If there's not, we'll put people on a waiting list to
see how that goes. Um the other thing I I think um because we will report for you in the fall that October one number just as a reminder that's kind of that snapshot every fall of how we're doing. Uh last fall Darren I want to say that was 11250ish in that area. So the
projection you might say we always project conservatively. If you remember we were shooting for 800 kindergartens uh kindergarteners we graduate 900 seniors. So you already have a reduction of 100 without non-residents. What does that look like? So the increase you're
seeing in those numbers really isn't quite as big probably as the nearly 400 students. But what we do that to make sure with a conservative uh prediction then we come in better then. And that's always our hope. we set a budget um so
that we're not in the end gonna lose money if we don't have as many students or or overstaffed, right? But we'll watch this closely to make sure we stay well within the ranges uh for all of our classrooms across the across the district. So that's probably more for
the public than the board, but I wanted people to understand that we watch this closely and we'll make sure that kids are in appropriate uh sized classrooms headed into the fall. Great. All right. All right. Thank you, Darren. Thank you. Thank you. All right.
Next up, we have item 5.1, district operational plan 202425. Uh it's back to you. It's Thank you, Diane. A lot of me tonight. Um so, yeah, every year uh as part of our district uh improvement process, we
identify goals to be part of our operational plan. And this past year we had seven total goals. Three of them which we identified as priority goals. Now throughout the course of the year we had a chance to present on all of these
goals publicly uh at at uh schoolboard meetings as well as spending considerable time discussing goals at work sessions and with the board individually. Um, we've created a written comprehensive document as well detailing all of that work that goes to
the school board so that they can look at that uh provide feedback and review all that we've submitted uh as well. And tonight, rather than going back through all of those reports, all of the goals in in great detail, uh, our intention
really is to provide the public with a reminder of what the seven goals were and and then just at a really high level talk about those three priority goals. So, just to just to review, uh, the seven goals were early childhood and
kindergarten outreach that we did. That was a priority goal for us this year. So, I'll talk a little bit more about that in a moment. Uh, we explored the community resource center. Uh, we reviewed um and evaluated our student
support continuum. We were uh beginning to implement and uh actually created a three-year technology plan based on our audit recommendations. That also was a priority goal. Uh we were planning for the middle school model implementation.
uh we explored the viability of online courses uh specifically at our high schools and then the implementation of the new read act requirements which uh was our third and final priority goals. So those were the seven big things uh
that we were reporting on uh all year. But I want to spend just a a few minutes on each of those three priority goals. So, the first priority goal, the early childhood and kindergarten outreach. Um, really again, I know as board members you've heard a lot about this, but for
the public, uh, here's a few things that that we would highlight for that. Our district staff created uh, kindergarten videos that were entitled a day in the life. Uh, they've been shared with parents and are available to the community. Uh, the viewing statistics
for those are ongoing. Uh, track, we're tracking those in an ongoing way. team was pleased to see um them being viewed at such a high volume. So, that content is being consumed and we're very pleased that it's out there and available for those looking to attend kindergarten in
our in our schools. Our district staff also sent out targeted mailings to family, including uh over 370 new baby onesies and resource flyers, uh first birthday cards and books to more than 280 families. Uh, another 280 families
received second birthday cards. Uh, the third birthday comes with time for early childhood screening. So, kids are being invited in to do their screening uh with a postcard that went to more than 370 families. So, great outreach there.
Uh, the digital campaign the district uh ran called the best start possible uh ran from February through April. It included uh emails that were promoting kindergarten and early ch childhood programming. Those were sent to more
than 19,000 residents uh in children ages um up to five years old received those targeted display ads promoting open enrollment for kindergarten through fifth grade and social media ads promote uh promoting open enrollment
kindergarten through fifth grade. Uh there were more than 6,000 clicks. I guess that's how we measure that stuff. Al's nodding clicks on things. So again, wellreceived, well seen uh across our communities. Our early childhood staff
have already completed 370 school readiness screenings since November. It's about 70 kids, children per month engaging uh with the district through those interactions. Uh overall, the strategies being used with that goal have been very successful. I think you
also heard in our enrollment report, we're seeing that really pay some dividends too as as we're where we have room, we're able to fill that with uh with students. So, we'll continue to monitor our progress and make improvements as opportunities present
themselves. Uh a second priority goal, the implementation of the technology audit recommendations. So, over the course of the year, our district staff did develop a three-year technology plan. Uh the IT department engaged in conversations with staff across the
district, evaluated our FR secure report as well as the true north technology assessments. That information was used to create uh the technology plan uh which lays out the goals for the next three years in the areas of educational
technology, operational technology support, and cyber security. uh the true north audit recommendations were evaluated and have been incorporated into that plan. Many of those recommendations are really broad-based and expansive. Um and those
recommendations have been actively prioritized and aligned to available funding. So we'll continue to watch that uh as we move forward. The district also implemented the top FR security audit recommendations. Uh in addition uh we
completed a second cyber security assessment in order to validate the improvements that had been implemented and then to create uh a new priority list. Uh I know as board members you know this but for the public cyber security is just ever changing. We're
constantly seeing um new and different approaches to try to uh get into school districts and and try to uh get at our data. So the focus uh areas really have been incorporated into the three-year technology plan for uh cyber security.
Moving forward, uh that plan will remain focused on the specific goals and benchmarks that are helping to guide our work. Uh the plan is intended to exist as a living document. So we will be changing that as needed uh when we see necessary uh requirements or
recommendations in the field. uh we'll make sure that it continues to align with our mission and values, our curricular and programming needs, as well as responding to and addressing any new cyber security threats as they continue to
evolve. So that was our second priority goal. Third and final priority goal was the implementation of the Reed Act requirements. And I I know you as a board have heard a lot about this. I'm not sure how closely uh the public has paid attention, but this has been an
enormous enormous amount of work for our staff over the course of of this school year. Um our district staff participated in significant professional development. So to put it in perspective, all K5 elementary
teachers, all K12 special education teachers are K12 multilingual ELELLL teachers. And any teachers grades six through eight that were uh reading teachers, considered reading or doing
direct instruction are required to complete the core learning training uh of the read act and they if they haven't done it already must complete that by this summer. that is a tremendous lift for for all of them to get through all of this uh professional development. So,
I want to thank our district staff, our principles, all the teachers that were engaged in that because it was a it's a lot it's a lot for them to do and and get through. Uh the state is also requiring staff to be trained on the administration of literacy screeners for
students. uh district staff reviewed the state approved screeners for grades K through three and chose FastBridge for our system. So we've already made that uh adjustment in part of our system. Teachers were provided with information how to access and administrate uh that
assessment that was done both in the fall as well as the winter. And the literacy screener grades 412 just released and if I understand we just got new information as early as last week. uh making some new and uh different
adjustments to that. So that really is an ongoing uh set of of work that needs to continue. Uh our curriculum instruction assessment team will continue to review that information and work to create a plan for implementation
of of that screener. Uh as well, uh the state did uh require that school districts choose a new core resource for literacy as well. uh our support team reviewed the list of eligible materials.
We gathered then a group of teachers from across the district and asked them to come in to review those resources. Root workg groups were formed. Uh they met to discuss the review process, clarify expectations and view presentations from the selected vendors.
Uh some of our K5 teachers actually volunteered to participate in what they called deep dive workg groupoups where they reviewed resources in their entirety. Uh others uh did direct teaching workg groups and taught lessons to their students. So they were able to
evaluate those resources as well. In March we made final recommendations and um approved some of the resources moving forward. They will be 95 phonics uh for the core foundational skills and CKLA
for knowledge building skills. Uh those are K5 resources. District staff are working to secure all of the pricing, identify the PD days that are need to be used yet um this summer and going into next year. Uh we have um orders planned
for delivery July 2025. So it's just right around the corner hopefully to have all that material in and then get it out distributed. Uh professional development and training will be provided to all teachers who'll be using the resources next year. So again heavy
heavy lift for uh the read act and I just want to thank our our team and the teachers for all that they did around that significant priority goal. I am happy to say that we met all seven of of our our goals this year. Um and again
recognize that across all of them. I highlighted the the priority goals but all of them take a team effort. Uh so lots of people involved across the district in in making those uh goals a reality. So just thank you to everybody in involved. Um pleased to be able to
offer this brief update tonight and as I mentioned the board has our written um uh feedback and we look forward to your thoughts and comments. um as a followup to that information. So with that, I'll
end my report. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Y All right. Uh moving on to item 6.1, updates. Um Jim, Association of Metropolitan School Districts, AMSD, do you have any updates for us? Uh yes, we
are very involved in monitoring the situation at the legislature. Uh, as many people know, or maybe they don't know, the legislature isn't overtime right now. A lot of unofficial uh meetings uh working um around the clock to try to get a
budget put together uh before the June 30th date. Um it looks like a fair amount of progress has been made. Um um what I have seen on the education side at least for this uh next school year um uh the funding and uh programmatic
things that we are concerned about will be solidly funded. Um very appreciative of that. Um the outyear has become a little more problematic, but that's what they can deal with next year, but uh I suspect they'll probably get most of their work done by the weekend uh and
then probably call legislature back in about a week. But, uh, I'm not a betting man. So, uh, that's, uh, that's just a pretty wild prediction. So, uh, a lot of work by a lot of people. I know that Chris has been down there to testify. I know a lot of folks have and, uh, good
work. Um, public education is a priority at the legislature and they treat it as such. So, it's important. So, thank you for everybody, our local reps, our local senators that take our calls and meet with us. And, uh, thank you. Well, thank
you, Jim, for all of your adv advocating for us um and the districts and and so forth. So, truly appreciate it. Um Shauna was unable to be with us this evening, so uh we'll get her uh update next time for um Northeast Metro
916. Um and then we'll move on to item 6.2. Um anyone have any school board member reports? Well, I just wanted to say a big congratulations to all of our graduates. Uh I am extremely excited to be with the
Irondale graduates next week handing out diplomas. It's one of my highlights of uh of this role. So I look forward to being with uh those graduates and their families next week and uh wish all of our graduates all the best in their next endeavors. Thank
you. Anyone else have any updates? I was fortunate enough to meet with the uh Bair PTA and it was great fun. I mean a lot of great stuff for the kids. It's a lot of year-end stuff, carnivals, track meets, that kind of stuff. And it's fun to see so many involved parents, and um
all the activities for the kids. I uh spent Memorial Day at the uh St. John's um um um cemetery in New Brighton with a lot of elected officials, but very proudly with the Irondale band who sought volunteers, and they got about 25
kids out there playing patriotic songs. And uh big thanks to the Eagles Club and the BFW and uh the mayor and the council members who put that on out there. It was a very nice event remembering those who served and those who perished. And so that was great. And much like
Yolanda, it's the best time of the year to be on the school board. Uh seeing the graduates, there's not a big fe nothing feeling like that. And so next time we meet, we've got about 900 more alumni in the school district. So excellent. So very true. Anyone else have any updates?
Just a thank to thank you to all of our staff members that we're thinking about you in these last couple weeks and uh we're grateful as parents and former parents of students in this district um for the busyiness of this season and just for all of our staff's dedication to carry out the work um of the district
every day in the classrooms and in the buildings that we serving all the students. Yes. Um a couple updates on my end. uh had the pleasure of attending the Irondale Equity Award scholarship uh banquet several weeks ago. Um also I was
at um Island Lake PTA meeting last week. Um they're winding down their school year uh with all their final activities. And then um have also caught a couple of um endofear sports um games and and sectionals. So it's been fun. But um
want to echo what a few of the board members have already said. Congratulations to all of our graduates. Um, very exciting times ahead for all of you. And then also just thanking all of our staff, um, teachers, paras, custodians, kitchen staff, everyone. Um,
just it's been a great year and really appreciate all you do. So, um, enjoy your summers. So, um, thank you everyone. If there's nothing else to come before the board, um, this meeting is adjourned.