I would like to call to order the October 7th regular meeting of the Mounts View School Board. Good evening and welcome. The first item of business is 1.2 adoption of the agenda. I would entertain a motion. So moved. Second. Agenda has been moved and seconded. Any
discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I I Any opposed? Motion carries. Next up is 2.1 student representative reports. And I'd like to welcome up Kenna from Irondale.
Hey everyone. Good to see you guys again. Okay. And I just want to preface this by saying that after homecoming, it's been really chill at Irondale, so we haven't had too much going on. So it might be like a shorter presentation than other
days. Okay. Um the first thing is that moves. Okay. Um, first thing is for performing arts, today the orchestra had their first concert of the year and it's their annual Disney concert where they performed for the elementary schoolers around the community. So yeah, this was
just from earlier today during the school day. And then next for um the Iron Marching Band um they competed at the Band of America competition in Iowa and they placed eighth and this was the first time they final in 12 years. So for the
past four years, I has been just breaking all the records that we've haven't been able to break in years. So that's good for them. And then for the Deca images aren't loading.
Okay, there are the images. Hold on. Okay, there we go. Okay, so for the DECA showcase, I think I touched upon this earlier, but we had it the day after the meeting. Um, and it was the DECA homecoming royalty showcase and it was
held during homecoming week in the auditorium and Iron students competed for the homecoming royalty. And this is these are the pictures from the showcase and all the proceeds from the tickets were then funneled directly to the Iron Food shelf.
And then for our football game, homecoming football game and dance for the homecoming game, we won against Flee. So, this is probably one of the first and last times you guys will hear this. So, cherish this moment, but we won the game against Fidley. Um, and then Saturday we had our homecoming
dance. So, that was fun. And then for debate, debate had their first two um meets this past month. So, we had this past Saturday our online tournament at Irondale. Um, and for our
awards, we had Osma, who placed top six in varsity for speaker points. And then we had Bana who placed top 18 in varsity for speaker points. And then we had Alex Wolf place top four for JV. And then we had Delila placed top two. And then we
had Alex Wolf and Ana place a winning record for their division. And then yeah, I think that's all for this week. But thank you. Wonderful. Thank you so much for being here. Yes, of course. Good to see you guys, too.
Yeah, you too. Enjoy the rest of your night. Thank you. You, too. Bye. Um, and now we have Sarah who will read through the slides on behalf of Mountains View. Yes. Thank you so much. Unfortunately, our Mountains View rep just today came
down with influenza and asked if I would uh present her hard work in putting this report together. So, on behalf of Mountains View High School, we'll thank her for keeping the germs. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Um on behalf of Mountains View High School, uh Carly wanted me to convey
they have 12 uh 2026 National Merit com scholarship commended students at Mountains View High School. Um the student council uh hosted a fall movie night on October 1st and there was a really good turnout. They raised lots of
money for the student council fund and the theme was the nightmare before Christmas which people loved. Um the student council also did an orange shirt day to support the national day of remembrance for Indian boarding schools to acknowledge the ongoing trauma of the
federal Indian boarding school policies so that they could heal. Um, there was also an educational opportunity association free college fair at the mounds at Mall of America on September 27th and Mounds View High
School had a good turnout at the Mall of America and lots of juniors and seniors participated in that. Um, in regards to homecoming, it looks like according to the photo here, homecoming was a great time and, uh, there was a
huge turnout, lots of positive feedback, including a DJ at the dance who took selfies with the crowd. Uh, overall, it's been an amazing first couple of months at Mounds View with great turnouts to events we haven't seen in years. Sorry I couldn't be there. The
flu has been Mounds View this month. So, this was on behalf of Carly and we wish Carly uh that she would get better quickly and be able to be back and we look forward to next month. Amazing job. I'm sure she's at home.
We miss you, Carly. Come back. Thanks, Sarah. Um, we will move on to item 2.2, announcements. Um, and Shauna, could you please read the gifts? Yep. There were five gifts for schools and programs received this period for a total of $3,644.
And there were 10 gifts received for the Ralph reader food shelf this period for a total of $18,1835. It is recommended that the board accept these gifts and extend our thanks to the donors. Thank you, Shauna. Upcoming meetings. Our next work session will be
Thursday, November 6th at 5:00 p.m. and our next regular meeting of the school board will be Tuesday, November 11th at 700 p.m. both here at the district center. Um, we will move on to 2.3 uh superintendence report.
Great. Thank you. I just have one update tonight and it's a student recognition. Um, I'm very happy to be able to report that, uh, Naen Satar, a senior at Mounds View High School, uh, was named a 2025 National Student Poet in the Scholastic
Art and Writing Competition, awards competition. Her submission, what she uh, submitted was selected from an initial pool of 37,000 entries. Wow. An incredible, incredible award for her.
As part of that recognition, she will receive a $5,000 academic award. So, wonderful recognition. I wanted to just publicly recognize. So, congratulations, Nadine. We're very, very proud of you. Nice job. Way to go. Way to go. That's my update.
All right. Thanks, Superintendent Lennox. Uh, we will 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?
Um hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next up is item 4.1 um district operational plan goal update um enrollment facility study. And we'd like to welcome up Darren Johnson, executive
director of school management. Hi Darren. Good evening. Uh good evening members of the school board. I'm here tonight to provide an update on the district's goal to complete an updated enrollment and facility study. Uh as a district, we feel it is important to regularly
complete enrollment and facility studies to gather comprehensive information about our ongoing enrollment trends and how those trends align with our existing facilities. The district has recently opened enrollment to non-resident students on a space available basis at our elementary schools and is continuing
to monitor the impact that it is having on our overall enrollment. Moving forward, we anticipate questions about opportunities for non-resident students and families to access programming at the secondary level. We feel it will be important to have clear enrollment projections aligned to the capacity of
our facilities that can be used for future decision-making regarding our overall enrollment and facility needs. Here is the progress we are making towards this goal. First, we are currently completing site visits of schools and programs. Facility maps are
being updated and the physical quality and conditions of our sites is being documented. Next at uh enrollment projections are being completed at each grade level for the next three to five years. It's important to note that even when complete these projections will be
regularly reviewed and updated as new data is available from the county cities and our schools. Third at enrollment and capacity trend is being data is being compiled. Data is being collected for each of our schools and entered into
chart charts that visually represent the relationship of enrollment to capacity. This information will assist us in determining the space available for new andor non-resident student enrollment in our district over time. Finally, non non-resident enrollment
data has been compiled to address questions regarding the practice of accepting non-resident student enrollment. The district has collected data showing the relationship between non-resident students and the total district enrollment. The intention of the district has always been to maintain
our overall district size by supplementing enrollment on a space available basis across the district. During the next months, the district will complete site visits and map updates. This is scheduled to be completed by the end of October. At the
conclusion of this goal, a final report will be completed. District staff will compile this final report that outlines our enrollment trends by site and program. This data will be compared with the capacity of enrollment trends of our I'm sorry, of our schools and programs.
Comparing enrollment and capacity will provide information that can be used to determine options related to where and when the district would open or close to non-resident enrollment. This ends my report on this stop goal. Are there any questions I can answer?
All right. So now we'll keep Darren up. Oh, sorry. Did you have I would I would mention this. First of all, I want to thank Darren. I mean there's a lot of work going on him, his team, Mike Schwarz, other principles are all working hard uh on this, but uh I
know as a board you know that. for the public. I don't know that they always see how our DOP goals dovetail into each other. And the work we've been doing with preschool and kindergarten uh with our residents, the outreach into the community, the connections to to get them ready to bring them into our
schools also impacts our enrollment and the physical space we need to serve to serve those students. So, um as a board, we talk about this how one DOT goal, you know, kind of dovetailes into the next DOT goal into the next. And this is just an example of this as we move forward
and continue to watch our enrollment. We want to make sure we're serving our residents, but where there's where there's space available to maintain our enrollment and supplement with with non-resident students and families as well. I think that's uh well done and and just appreciate all the work that's going into this particular goal. So,
thank you. Thanks. So, we will keep Darren has a question. Yeah. Oh, who has a question? Jim. Okay. Sorry. Yeah. Um, with enrollment, do we have our um, it's probably a little early, but do we have our October number October one numbers in yet, sir?
So, currently we're at 11,360. Okay. Excellent. Across the entire K12, which is 95 students more across the entire district than October one of last year. Correct. If you kind of How do we compare? About
95 kids more. And how do we compare to target like our target our goal? Yeah, we're we're still so as we go that's again we're looking at um where space is going to be available going forward the conversation as some of our smaller classes age
through it'll they'll move into middle school where we'll see is capacity the the ability for that will really be into middle school right now we're um our high schools have seen I mean they're pretty full those graduating classes like I said I think we're looking at 900ish
both schools put together like that. Those graduating classes, it's um as kids have aged through for those few years where we before we opened a non-resident, those are still smaller classes. Um but in terms of uh entering
kindergarten classes, we've been able to hit our target 800 number um for the last couple years now. So, we're we're feeling good about that. Perfect. Thank you. Any other questions on the stop goal update?
Okay, we will now move on to item 4.2, uh, district operational plan goal update, energy audit, and Darren is going to speak to that as well. Okay, now the action of this D goal is to complete an energy audit of our schools to identify opportunities for
energy savings. As you are aware, our district has made a commitment to operate in ways that are allowing us to move toward a goal of using 100% clean electricity. This commitment includes improving energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption, ultimately leading
to an improved impact on the environment and allowing us to save money in our building operations. The geothermal projects that are in progress at three of our sites are evidence of the district's progress toward this commitment. Moving forward, we believe it would be valuable to work with an
external partner to evaluate the energy consumption at all of our schools. Performing a comp comprehensive audit would provide the district with tangible metrics across all buildings that would allow us to prioritize and target the ongoing work being done to reduce energy
consumption and save money across the district. Here's the progress we're making towards this goal already this year. First, district staff have been working with a consulting team from Site Logic to evaluate the district energy use and prioritize areas to be targeted
with an energy audit. Next, we are reviewing our energy consumption and analyzing our current utility costs. Site Logic has assisted the district in evaluating our current energy consumption and has reviewed our utility cost for gas, water, and electricity
over the past 36 months. Third, we are reviewing preliminary findings and recommendations. Site Logic is working to provide the district with preliminary calculations and recommendations related to actionable next steps. One area of focus is lighting. This is being driven
by the fact that Minnesota's clean lighting bill has banned the sale and use of fluorescent lights. Our district will have to change out our current lighting by moving to new LED lighting, which will use less energy and save money as LED lights cost less to
operate. Finally, district staff have also had the opportunity to use the site logic facility management software. Beyond tracking energy use, this software also makes it easy to track maintenance projects and monitor the ages of existing equipment.
The district will finalize uh finalize audit recommendations uh by by working with site logic and providing the district with a final report regarding our energy consumption and recommended priorities priorities for energy savings. And at the completion of this
goal, the district will also consider consider energy contracting. Based on the findings from the energy audit, it may be beneficial for the district to enter into an energy contract which would guarantee energy savings based on our upgrades to gas, water, and lighting
costs. Proposals would be made from companies who are interested and able to assist us in doing this energy savings work. And that completes the update on this DOT goal. Are there any questions that I can answer on this one? Any questions?
Okay. All right. Thank you, Darren. Appreciate all the updates and work on that. Thank you, dear. Yep. All right. We will move on to item 5.1. Um updates, Association of Metropolitan School Districts. Uh Jim,
thank you. Um we are uh we met last Friday at AMSD and um we continue to work on our legislative agenda um which um is an ongoing living document and um
we also had an excellent presentation from the state demographer Dr. Susan Brower. We discussed uh employment trends, birth rate trends, home ownership trends, which all feed into kind of enrollment projections that Darren and our district have all been uh
uh dealing with. And so, as I said, it was a very interesting presentation, very interesting discussion. Um you know, uh at the end of the day, demographics aren't destiny, they are opportunities. So, um we all um took the information with us and uh have to
figure out game plans. So, uh, that's my report. Thank you. Thanks, Jim. And Shauna, um, update on Northeast Metro 916. Yeah. So, we met, uh, last week, October 1st, uh, for our monthly meeting. We had a presentation on the language access
plan. So, the 916 district has families who speak over 40 different languages, uh, which makes up about 26% of the district. So, the plan talked about how students um whose native language is not English will receive some services. Um
and then we had four policies that we reviewed and approved. That was our whole meeting. Great. Thank you, Shauna. Um we will move on to item 5.2, school board member reports. I would jump in real quick. This is our
last meeting before the fall election. Um, voting opens, early voting opens on October 17th. Uh, election day is November 4th. Uh, from a school district standpoint, there's a capital levy project on the ballot um that you can learn more about at mbpschools.org/saferschools. There's also a schoolboard election
where three board seats will be up and that can be uh you can learn more at mbpschools.orgction 25. So, encourage folks to get educated and get out and vote. Thank you, Jonathan. Um, I will we heard from our Irondale rep that the marching band did quite
well this past weekend uh in Iowa. They have their state competition this weekend, youth and music. So, they'll be playing at US Bank Stadium. Um, they are the defending state champions. So, we're hopeful for another uh state championship win. So, that is this
Saturday. Um, but there will be a little preview Friday morning on Channel 5 News. some of the kids from the marching band will be um live on air playing their instruments to um bring awareness to the competition on Saturday. So, good
thing to tune into. Thank you, Shauna. I'll tag on to that. I got to hear the marching band at Music of the Night um which for those in our community who don't know is a festival that um Irondale puts on every year. The Irondale marching band hosts other u marching bands and does a competition
and it was a great performance. Um Irondale did a great job. Um I also wanted to just share in September I was able to attend um four different PTA meetings. I just looked at my list. Apparently I got all the lakes in. I got Pike and Island and Turtle and then um
also went to Sunnyside. And um just am continually grateful for all all of the families and community members um and all that they do to support our staff, to support our students in our buildings. um was able to go to the Turtle Lake Carnival this last week and um just grateful for um all the people
that want to make a difference in our schools and and um do their part uh to connect their children to our school buildings as well. And one last reminder for anybody who wants to rock the schoolhouse, um the Mountains View Schools Education Foundation has their
annual fundraiser called Rock the Schoolhouse on November 8th. If uh you're looking for tickets, mvsef.org. Great night of celebration with people in the district for a good cause. Thank you. Are there any other board
updates? No. All right. Well, thank you everyone. If there's nothing else to come before the board, this meeting is adjourned. 22. That's