of ISD 622 school board meeting. Um, first up we're going to do the pledge of >> allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for
all. >> It's nice to see so many people here tonight. Um, first up we're just going to approve the agenda. Could I get a motion in a second? >> So moved. >> All right. Moved by Livingston. >> Second. >> Second by Yenner. Um all in favor say I.
>> I. I. >> And all oppose say nay. >> All right. Um the agenda is approved. Um and so what we're going to do first is the achievement awards. Um so first up is the North and Tartan High School fall activities recognition. Um,
it's important. >> I'm also just checking to make sure that we've got the online recording going right now. >> One sec. >> Reshare with >> Will you go see who's back there? I'm not sure. I just want to make sure. communications.
>> Oh, Lynn's checking on it. >> Sorry for the delay. One moment, please. We just want to make sure the live stream started before we kick it off. Looks like we have a lot of Tartan folks in the room. So, want to give a shout out to the Titans for uh for outdoing it
with our North folks, I think. I don't know. There's some right out there, but I I don't know. J Sam, YOU DO NOT KNOW, YOU DO NOT WANT to start confused between nonpartisan, man.
>> Yeah, absolutely. Both both high schools are terrific. >> Excellent schools. I am a Tartan alum, so just a little little biased, but okay, it looks like we're live. I don't we just don't normally see are those
beavers or >> coffee bears >> coffee bars whatever they are we don't normally see those on the screen so apparently we are recording all right we're going to try to we have our slides here from our activities directors that are not in our deck so that's the other piece we're trying to
get there but I'll just say hello um Andy beaten assistant superintendent chair Yang superintendent Are we having fun yet? I think that was me. Um, but we have the opportunity. This is a great event where we have students from both our high schools come forward and get recognition for their
involvement in activities and athletics. So, I'm going to have our activities directors, Jed Hellwick and John Anderson, come forward. Hopefully, they have a list in case we can't have this deck uh so they can talk about their kids. So, any of our students that are getting recognized tonight, why don't you go ahead and come forward and just kind of stand here to the side and so
we'll be ready for you to hand your certificate as we talk about you. So, any students that are getting recognized tonight, come on forward. Hello, my name is Jed Hellwig. I serve as the activities director at North High. And we have uh three uh students we'd like to recognize tonight. Uh the
first one is not here yet. He did say he was going to come. So, I'm going to wait on Matt for for right now. We're going to start with Maya Forsber. If you could step up, Maya, just great. Yeah, that's perfect. Uh Maya, a true leader both on
and off the stage. Maya brings energy, heart, and excellence to every performance. as an officer in our northern northern light show choir uh and an unforgettable Ariel in The Little Mermaid. She captivated audiences with her powerful and emotionally rich
vocals. Ma's passion and talent continue to inspire us and we can't wait to see where her stage journey takes us next. CONGRATULATIONS, JEN. It looks like we've got your slide deck up there if you want to follow it now. Next, next we have uh Anna Mishler.
Uh Anna, a 12th grader at North High with passion, drive, and leadership. Anna shines on the court, field, and in the classroom. A a standout senior three sport student athlete in tennis, basketball, and softball. Anna leads by example and brings energy and heart to
everything she does. Uh though still finalizing her plans for next year, she's determined to continue to make an impact academically and athletically at the college level. Congratulations, ANNA. And Matt is not here right now,
>> but he uh >> see if I can Let's go back to stick around and take a group picture. >> Yeah. Uh so Matt, he's probably trying to get here from wrestling practice at John John Glenn, but a true leader on
the field. Matt track and in the classroom. Matt represents everything it means to be a proud Polar three three sport student athlete. As a senior competing in football, wrestling, and track, he leads by example through his hard work or work ethic, dedication, and
strong character. Matt has committed to play football at Dort University, where he plans to continue making an impact both uh academically and athletically. Congratulations, Matt, when he when he shows up hopefully. Uh we're proud of you. So, those are OUR and John Anderson, Tarte activities
director. Okay. >> Either way. >> Hello everyone. John Anderson, new activities director, Tartan High School. Excited to be here for you. Uh, well, two of my people said they could be here today, but they aren't quite here yet, so we're going to talk about him.
Anyways, uh, Francis Baldwin, uh, 10th grade returns Theater, recent production of Elf. Not only did Francis Stage manage a cast of 50 plus, her largest yet, but also but she also took on the role of sound designer and engineer. She
was in charge of securing the rental of all the sound equipment, maintaining it through the tech and performance process and mixing the live show, balancing the mix of 24 actor microphones, music/ sound effects playback that the audience
heard each evening. Some or all of these responsibilities are typically owned by an adult staff member, but Francis took the lead on every aspect of this herself and fulfilled these duties exceptionally. She has much to be proud of, especially since it was her first
time in this sound design role. Francis did a tremendous job. These are strong skills if this is what she wants to go to uh for a profession in the future. So, let's give a round of applause for Francis. Malik Hassan, 12th grade. Malik has
played football for four years of high school, including three years on varsity. He's played running back and linebacker and started both this fall. He was all conference selection this year and won offensive MVP for the team. This year, he had 165 carries for 137
yards and scoring 10 rushing touchdowns. He averaged 7.9 yards per carry. His favorite memory as a Titan was his first touchdown as a sophomore. Uh and Harding this year. Um we beat them pretty bad twice.
>> Oh, that's not Matt. >> That That's >> That was Matt from the previous presentation. >> Uh Malik is still undecided about his plans uh for next year, but he hopes to continue to play football. He's currently uh one of our wrestlers and much like Matt probably trying to get over here from wrestling practice. So
Malikan And this is Matt. He just arrived from WRESTLING for a photo >> for our student honores. Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. If you're not done yet, >> we have one more. >> After we're done, we'll have you come for a photo. So, please don't leave it.
>> Uh Harper Henry, 12th grade. Harper Henry has been a member of the Tartan volleyball team since seventh grade. She's played on the varsity team since 9th grade. She is a two-time captain and was named allconerence three times. Harper eclipsed the 1,00 kill mark this
past season. Her favorite memory as a Titan was the trips with the team. The bonding that occurred on the team trip to the University of Nebraska team camp as a sophomore and their trip this past summer to the Wisconsin Dells. Harper is still undecided on what her plans are for next year.
IF WE COULD HAVE OUR STUDENT honores come forward for a quick photo. I'd love to have the ads join us and um our schoolboard members can even come down in front or do you want to stand up behind? Either way. Okay. Stand up behind and then we can bring all the students forward the ads and we'll take a quick photo.
>> Congratulations you guys. Stephanie should come over there, too. >> Go, Sam. Are we in? >> Yes, you are. >> I'll take several. >> Thank you. I don't makeup on.
I'm sorry. >> No, it's okay. >> Good evening everyone. I also have another award to present to one of our esteemed school board members, Miss Katie Swore. Whenever members are elected to a Minnesota school board, um
they are invited to participate in trainings that are workshops that are provided through the Minnesota School Boards Association, MSBA. And Katie has now completed all four levels, phases 1, 2, three, and four of that training. And we have a special certificate to issue
her today. So, if you want to come on down, Katie, which is pretty remarkable, given that she's only been on the school board for one year and she's already completed all four. That's pretty amazing. So, >> love learning. >> Let's take a photo with you as well behind your schoolboard colleagues or
with your schoolboard colleagues in front of you. Just stand right here. Oh, that's where my name is. That way we can kind of see everyone behind you. How about that? >> Okay, Christine, get by her. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Congratulations. That's a
GOOD >> It was in mine. >> All right. Congratulations to our North and Tartan High School and to Katie. Um so next up we have public comments. So we have a few people signed up for tonight. Um public comment is an opportunity for the public to comment on
items. A speaker shall register by completing this signup sheet which uh folks have already done. Um and then each um speaker will have two minutes. Um and then the public comment section should last no longer than 30 minutes.
So um and then just um for folks that are um commenting tonight um we do not respond in the moment. Um but there are some presentations later tonight that might answer some of your questions. So if you stay around um and if it doesn't
um someone from um administration will reach out to you um to answer your question. So uh first up I have um is it Y Jennifer Gomez? >> Just speak to this microphone. Yeah. Okay. I've never done this before.
Okay, good evening. My name is Yennefer Gomez Bugney. I have been a Spanish cultural laser at Tartan for the last four years. Today, I want to share what my experience has been over the last couple months. For the last one to two months, I have spent all day in my
office speaking with families, connecting with admin, including taking calls and messages at night and on weekends from families scared to send their students to school. Students and staff do not feel safe. At Tartan, we have over 200 students that are
currently not attending. Some students have not come to school for nearly 2 months. These are families and students who have not left their homes due to the constant fear. I myself as a staff member did not feel safe driving to
work. I currently carry my passport to the point where I have put it on my dash to make sure federal officers don't mistake it for a weapon. Living like this is not sustainable for families or for staff members. I will also read it
in Spanish. for assistant. classes. Gracias. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you, Jennifer. Um, next up I have Veronica. >> Thank you and good evening. My name is
Veronica Green and I'm at my fifth year at Tartan High School as an ML teacher. I have two daughters also in the district. I'm going to speak a little quickly since your timing. Uh, they are at Sky View and Tartan. They've been in the district for 5 years. Um, I live out of district, but I specifically chose this district for my children to be in
here. Um, I have a unique position as a building leader and a leader in the ML department, working quite often with district leaders in in the ML world. Um, with our current traumatic situation, about 12% of our school, as you heard, is at home living in fear. You know, the
situation that's going on. Um, we've known this for quite some time. Two weeks before winter break, we created a spreadsheet because we knew that this was going to happen and we saw the writing on the wall. As Miss Yiani has explained, we work hand in hand. Um,
basically, I'm here to beg you, I'm begging you for three things. Number one, we need a two-day evening day where staff can unite together by department and as an entire staff to have time to creatively make a more equitable, sustainable plan for our students whose families are being hunted down. This is
also a time for our special ed teachers and our ELL teachers to directly serve online those students that have been missing. Second of all, we're also asking the district to open up the call for volunteers from all parents and community members, not very specific ones rather than constantly asking overwhelmed teachers, admin, and staff
to give more and more and more. We are trained to focus on relationships and academics. And we need our community members to chip in because they're asking and begging to um and so teachers can focus on best practices at the building level. We're consistently being asked to do the lion share of the work with less and less time to prepare and
recover. We are technically doing hybrid if we're doing asynchronous on the one side and only 17 of our students in person. Lastly, but certainly not least of all, our teachers of color, especially those with immigrant backgrounds and families need district help. I can say that I have reached out to almost if not all of our ML or
immigrant uh staff of color with information and support, but I want to know if you have. What can you do to support them and have them safe? Um, I'm going to ask one more question. Would our urgency be different if the
children at home were white? Thank you. Thank you, Veronica. Um, I have Kristen. >> Hi, I'm Kristen Kbeck and I'm a math teacher at Tartan and I've taught in the district for 11 years. I'm coming tonight to make public comment because the current situation at Tartan High School and in our community is
unsustainable and I'm begging you to support and intervene. I currently teach four sections of geometry. 25 of my students are teaching virtually out of 129. That's 19% of my students. Over the last several weeks, I've done my best to teach my in-person students, provide
online activities and assessments for my online students. I started a bus patrol for Tartan teachers outside of Tartan at arrival and dismissal. I helped our social workers determine a plan to deliver food to 34 families who are sheltering at home. I personally
delivered to some of those families. I personally called home to a third of those families to tell them that we were coming so that they would be able to identify us and that they would be able to get the food off their doorsteps and not fear that I was an unknown ICE agent in their communities. At the start of
the school year, ironically, myself and 30 plus staff members started Ally, Advocates for Latinx Learning and Youth, or Apoor Aara Alo Latinos Educasion. Our goal was to help each other to learn to help improve the educational outcomes
for some of our Latinx students in data that we had seen discrepancies in for years. Ironically, we thought that meeting together once a month, once a month would improve outcomes for our Latinx students. Those goals feel laughable now when all our students are doing is try to survive.
In collaboration with my colleagues, I have three asks for you tonight. Like Miss Green, I would love to have two consecutive e-learning days to plan. We need time to plan and meet together. I cannot tell you how many hours I've spent the last several weekends writing online assessments like I did during co
as well as trying to plan for my inperson students. It is unsustainable. Um, it is clear to me that these students are not coming back next week like we were told at a start and staff meeting last week. They are not returning. I think many of them will try
and finish the trimester online and perhaps the year online. In addition to that, 2 days to plan for e-learning, I would love if we can start teaching some of our courses at Tartan online. I am missing 25 students. That is close to a
section of geometry. So there is no reason why during my second hour geometry I couldn't teach an hour online and my 15 students remaining while the others are at home could be assigned to other geometry courses. I think we need to be doing that as soon as possible.
Other school districts are doing that. Just today I was informed that my daughter's kindergarten class at Little Canada Elementary in Roseville, she's not going to have school tomorrow and Wednesday because she goes to the dual emerging elementary in Little Canada and they are giving their teachers 2 days to plan. Her kindergarten teacher is going
to go online. So today I had to tell my daughter that effective Thursday she's going to have a new kindergarten teacher. That is inconvenient for me as a parent. It is inconvenient for me as a parent to go to work the next two days and find child care for my kindergartner. However, it is what is equitable. There are nine students in
her class just like there are students in my class who she has not seen since December. Those kids deserve better than me just posting randomly on Schooly, right? Because there is no Yes, we have Schooly guidelines, but parents are at home. You guys are busy. You have jobs.
Like, a parent can't be sorting out six different Schoolies and figuring out what their kid needs to do every day for every class. And that's what they're currently doing, and it is inequitable. Finally, I would ask that you engage our community members in a bus duty or bus patrol like other school districts are doing. Every single day in my signal
group chat, there are parents at Little Canada Elementary. Every single day, there are parents at every mobile home park in Roseville waiting for kids to get on the bus and waiting for kids to get off the bus. We started this at Tartan just this week. And just today, one of our Tartan staff members when she
went there for bus duty after school was approached by a community member, a resident at the mobile home park who said, "FYI, ICE has been around here all day today asking what time kids get on and off the bus. We need Could I get you to wrap up?" >> Yep. We need our community members engaged. They want to help. We've met so
many people while standing at the corner of 10th and Greenway. Allison and I have met so many community members in the last couple days who want to help. They just need your direction on how they can safely help our students. I'll email you tomorrow with the rest. Thank you for your Perfect you.
>> Thank you. >> Uh last uh we have Allison. >> Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Alison and I've been at Tartan for the past 5 years as a math teacher, coach, and club adviser. I see how hard our ML teachers and cultural
liaison work each and every day to support our students through this trauma. I recognize they have been sharing their concerns for a while and it is long overdue that I do my part publicly. As a content area teacher, I echo the thoughts of my co-workers and would like to add a few of my own.
Personally, I'm missing 12% of my students. Their absence is felt each and every day. If you have not been in a classroom recently, I used to not have any spare desks for visitors as all 36 were being used by students. I welcome you to come observe now. There is plenty of room for you to sit. We have focused
our attention on our Latino community members, but it would be silly to continue to assume this is only impacting our Latino population. I have personally seen an increase in my Mong students going online. How many different student demographics need to be directly impacted in order for a change to be made? What percent of
students needing online school warrants more action? Today we shared a video about empathy in class as part of our Mindful Mondays routine. In this video, researcher Bnee Brown says, "Rarely does a true empathetic response begin with the words at least." And right now, I feel like
that's what we've been saying, just that. 12% of my students are not coming to school, but at least I'm posting lessons on Schooly for them to do on their own. This is not good enough. We need to offer them more than a Schooly link. I believe it is possible for Tartan to provide students with the
opportunity to get live instruction, but we need the time to set it up and plan. Like my colleagues have shared, I believe two e-learning days would help get things in motion. So far, Tartan staff have stepped up and personally organized supervision outside of the building during drop off and dismissal.
We have started a food drive and have made deliveries to families in need and so much more behind the scenes. We took initiative. We will continue to show up and do the work, but there is only so much time in our day. I have co-workers bringing their passports to work and sending daily messages to loved ones each time they
leave in case today is the day they are taken on their way to work. I have students who are taking on the responsibility of feeding their families and going out in public since they are deemed the safest person to leave the house. As a coach, I tell my athletes to focus on what they can control. I understand there is a lot outside of my
control, but right now I feel that Tartan has the ability to do more for our students within our control. Staff are willing, but we need your help. Thank you. Thank you. Um, that concludes our public comment and like I mentioned before, um, if you want to stay, there's a section,
there's going to be a section on on a response from the district. Um, if that doesn't answer your your questions, someone will reach out to to you or you can send an email as well. So, um, all right. So, next up, we have our consent agenda. Um, this consists of
routine items that are acted on in a single consolidated motion without board discussion. Board members have the option of pulling items off the consent agenda if they wish to discuss them or consider them individually. Um, does anybody want to pull anything out?
>> Can I pull off um item D, routine personnel, please? >> Okay. Anyone else? All right. So, um, could I get a motion and a second to then approve A through C
and then E through H. Second. >> All right. Moved by Yenner, seconded by Swore. Um, all in favor say I. >> I. >> And all oppose say nay. >> All right. So, that is approved. Um, so we're going to pull out routine
personnel. Director Sore. >> Yes. Thank you. Um, as I was reviewing board the board packet and the um consent agenda, I noticed that uh Isabelle Davies was on the list of uh personnel who have resigned and it looks
like her last day was um the 19th uh last week. Um and so uh I know she's obviously not here, but I I did want to um just recognize her again for the great work that she's done at the district and especially with Freedom School um and working in the classrooms.
And I understand that she took a a new, better, more broadreaching job and also will continue to work with Freedom School um here at 622. Um but I just wanted to give her a shout out and uh say I really appreciate her. So >> Mhm. >> Thank you. >> All right. Anyone else? Okay. Um so all
in favor um I mean I'm sorry. Could I get a motion to approve um routine personnel? >> Second. >> All right. Moved by Natardi, seconded by Anderson. Um all in favor say I. I. >> And all oppose say nay. All right. Um so
that is approved. Um so we have our reports. Um so first up we have Scarlet reporting for both North and Turan. I first want to um just take a time and I'm so sorry.
Take your time. take your time. >> We can come back. Um I just know that Tartan is the most diverse high school um in the district. Um and it breaks my heart knowing that teachers are going out their way. I know
Miss Kbeck um she went to my aunt's house and she delivered um food to one of my cousins. I know that this time is really hard and you are not the only one that carries your passport with you. I have it in a secret pocket in my coat.
Um, >> can you use the microphone, honey? Sorry, I know it's hard. >> Um, I just want to know that every single one of you guys, like you guys are doing an amazing job and truly um just coming from a Hispanic background
and it really means a lot to me. It means a lot that um I I go to Tartan for two classes, AP Calc and AVID. And it's great to know that both of my teachers care so much about us. >> Oh, you guys, I really don't want to cry.
>> It's okay, honey. This is a hard time. >> Um and it's sad that um students have to go through this. Um but I'm just going to get started with the reports. It's okay. I got it. Thank you.
>> Scarlet, do you want to come come back? Okay, sure. Okay. >> So, good evening. I hope you guys find yourself well and safe. Um, this week at Tardan is our incoming week called Fuse. Fuse stands for fun, unity, support, and empowerment. Today's theme was Tartan
Spirit. Um, and we were also on a win time schedule due to our pep fest. Tomorrow's theme will be E boy versus visco girl. I know. When I was trying to explain to my AVID teacher, what's this? And my TA hour, she's like, E boy, what is that? And I was like, it's just like gothic.
Um, I'm really excited about this just because Bisco girl was a thing when I was back in fifth grade. So, just being able to go back to pandemic and just bring back those trends. I feel like that would be like really fun. Um, in light of our incoming week, uh, students
were able to vote today um, for um, incoming royalty. The winners were announced at our pepfest. Our student council presented a food drive which will run to the end of this week. Um how this works is that students are able to donate non-p perishable food items and
or donate money that would account for purchasing food for families in need. Students are able to drop off food um that they are donating at the main entrance. Conferences were supposed to be held January 22nd, but due to the cold weather, they were postponed.
Families were encouraged to reach out to teachers if they had any questions regarding a course that their student is taking. Students are being encouraged to reach out to their grade level admin um if they are in need of any support. We also have our boys volleyball tournament
um I think they're powder buff. I think that's what it's called on Valentine's Day. Um and our boys basketball team is ranked number one in the section with a record of 130. Sophomore um Kevin Wilson Jr. became the 11th player to score a
thousand over 1,000 points. I know I'm 5'2. I cannot shoot a three-pointer for the life of me. So, that's actually really impressive. Um, this past weekend, our boys hockey team went against Rochester Mayo. The boys played are going to play Simley um this
Saturday at home. Our girls JV um and B squad had their last competition of the season at the Blaine Invitational for dance and their sections are in two weeks. Um, Nordic skiing has their JV conference tomorrow and on Thursday their varsity team will have their
conference game day. Our swim team has a meet tomorrow and at Tardan students from all grade levels were able to participate in a student led walk out. Students who did participate in the walk out did not attend class and it was marked as unexcused. Yeah, even with
this and the cold temperature and just everything that's happening, it's just amazing to see unity and support. And I think that that's what sparked Fuse for student council. Um, I also wanted to take the time um to thank um the district just for
letting students turn to ane option to go online. I know I considered it, but um haven't done it yet. Um, by doing this, students are still able to receive their education. It at least helps them block out whatever's going on at home.
Um, and then during this hard time, students are having trouble getting themselves to and from school. But I just want to make it clear that no student should have to question their safety at school andor their odds of making it home safe. Teaching during this is a is a very hard
time because teachers can't teach if their classrooms are empty. and if the students attendance are being impacted. That's my report. And then UE's report is Good evening members of the school board. I'm unfortunately not able to be
here today because I'm sick and because of a scheduling issue. Thankfully, Scarlet me being the blessing she is, is willing to help me out by presenting for me. The boys basketball team played against Harden last week on Friday.
Thankfully, I was able to go and it was honestly a nice and interesting game to watch. Unfortunately, North did lose, but it's the thought that counts. North also has a scheduled game against Hillary on January 27th at home. Um, and
just like the basketball team, I was able to see the hockey game on Thursday last week. It was really fun and exciting to see. Just like the basketball game, we did unfortunately lose, but that's okay. It was fun. Um, our show choir at North competed in
their first competition of the season at Oh, I'm going to butcher this name, you guys. Atonia Altuna, Wisconsin. The Northern Lights uh finished in third place and earned best crew honors. A special congrat
congratulations to them. Congratulations to the debate team as well for competing at the MSHL state tournament at Egan High School at our spring dance our spring dance near and so does our annual
annual talent show. Student council has been planning for those events and I have been able to take part in that planning at BSU. They've have they've been planning um North's Black History Month and I can't wait to see what they've
been coming up with. Other than that, I know it's a pretty busy season for everyone. I'm sure and this is the end of his speech. I'm sure many of you are aware of the recent walk out that happened at my school. I was also h I'm happy to say that I organized that and
I'm very proud of how successful it was. I am also happy and moved to have seen all the people attend to have seen them really speak out for what is right and speak out against what is wrong. I can't help but stress how bad things are right
now. Not just for the minority community, but for everyone. I genuinely hope things get better and that the people that are dis distressing and tormenting communities face justice that was promised not just by the constitution but the system that set it
up. I'm sick to my soul by seeing what's going on. And I am ashamed that I can't do more than just speak up. I wish day and night that I was a person in power so every so I could do something about it. I want to thank you if you've done
an effort for our community in specific and I hope you can make things even bigger to comfort and reassure the families and students of our district. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Thank you.
Thank you, SCARLET. I also just wanted to thank everyone. I don't really like crying in front of people, but just seeing just everyone and like their support that really touched me. And I just wanted to say thank you because I know it's not easy
talking about this. >> You did great. Absolutely great. >> Thank you, Scarlet. I know that was really hard. Does anybody have any questions? >> Follow-up questions for Scarlet.
It's not a question. I just wanted to say thank you again. >> Yeah. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak out. And um I know I'm probably crying on someone's TV right now, but okay. >> Yeah.
>> There's a lot of people out there that need to hear what the impact actually feels like. >> Yeah, I agree. All right. Um, yep. We're going to move to um, our high school presentation. >> Andy,
>> we need to cheer up the mood here. >> Right. >> Um, just get myself. Okay. Chair Yang, Superintendent Tuchio Sorio, members of the board and cabinet, um, and all of our guests here tonight. Um,
my name is Andy Beaten, assistant superintendent, um, overseeing secondary programs. I am honored to be able to introduce our three high school, uh, principles, and they're going to talk about uh, our work around the strategic plan, which is the focus of our work for continuous improvement every single
year. Um, but also this year, as I shared with you at a previous board meeting, our our secondary principles and our elementary principles are beginning to explore a different framework to think about um the hopes and dreams of our families uh in concert
with our strategic plan. Uh there's some work by a gentleman named John Tanner that's thinking about accountability differently. And so I'm sharing um that our principles tonight will be talking about some of these ideas, some things that really matter uh to families about
um how we partner with them to raise kids. So in the end, what we're going to talk about tonight is in relation to the strategic plan and what matters to families. Um they're going to give an update about how they're doing um how things are going in their schools, but also about the work that they're doing.
And it is really tremendous the varied and strong work that's happening to raise student achievement and increase um sense of safety and wellness for our students. So I'm going to introduce Kevin Wolf from North High School, Bethany Descent, and Steph Goken um here to talk uh about our schools.
Good evening everyone. Chair Yang, Superintendent Tujio, and the entire school board. Thanks for having us here tonight. Um, for the second year in a row, I drew the short straw on who goes first for high schools, or at least I got told. Um, before I start, I do want
to give a shout out to Scarlet. Um, it takes courage to sit where you're sitting regardless of the content >> uh, in this position as a student leader in your building and for the district. So, tonight you sharing those things and I know if you had you had could be here, you would do the same thing. So, um, thank you for sharing where you're
coming from. Appreciate you. Um, all right. I will jump into my tracking. Okay. Um, yeah, for North, um, AB shared kind of the the way we're looking at how these different focus
areas tie into the strategic plan for for North. I'm going to, uh, talk about two of the focus areas. One will be student learning, what I'm talk about first, and then also effective adults and, um, systems. And I think at North over the last couple years things have been going uh pretty well. Um and but at
the same time I think our data will show and I'll talk a little bit about that in a second will show that we've got a lot of work to do. We're not in the place that we need to be for our students and we're also not in the place that we want to be uh for our students. And I so um we talked a lot coming into this school year about doing different to do better.
I think we're doing the right work at North and Tartan and online uh and ALC. um but I I'm not sure what the right formula is or what the right chemistry is or the sequence of events and those are the things we've been talking a lot this year. So this next slide here um
we'll share a little bit about the levers that we've been pushing on um to work on our academic achievement and outcomes for our students. And the first thing you take a look there uh in the upper left the 3x3 challenge. This is kind of the initial burst that we kicked off this year. Um and the goal here for all teachers, all support staff and for
our students is after the first three first three weeks of the trimester getting all students to at least a B average. And really it's just about that initial burst. And the the second bullet there says emphasis on meaningful early success. And we talked a lot about what are the different strategies that we can engage our students. We can show that
that they can show themselves that they can be successful on a legitimate assignment or test or quiz early in the trimester. research will c certainly show that um uh how they do in the first three, four, five weeks of term will play out and and uh in terms of their outcomes in uh at the end of the
trimester. Moving on to PLC week, professional uh PLC work, excuse me, uh professional learning communities where teachers who teach a common course or in the same department will collaborate around any number of things. And we've pushed an awful lot on giving them the data in a fluent uh fluid current um way
in terms of uh how their students are doing at the 3-week, the six week, the nineweek, and of course at the end of the trimester. So, um, PLC's get together, they do a grades data review, they take a look at where their kids are struggling, um, and we organize it by course and by teacher, and they have these super healthy conversations about
where should we be spending our energy and what supports do our students currently need. Sliding over to uh, professional development. Um, an awful lot of work uh, the entire first trimester we spent on identifying the why behind student struggles and responding with the appropriate
strategies to support those students. So we talk a lot about different profiles of student. Is it an academic deficit that these students are coming from? Is it a disengagement um reason that students are struggling? So we get teachers talking around those things. And then we worked a lot about um worked
a lot on the strategies that kind of connect to those different things. Um and then I'll skip down to the to the bottom right there for student support teams. And we couple things I just want to point out for tonight is we restructured um the people that were on those teams in terms of the support staff uh and
counselors and social workers and admins and then we pushed really hard. The big piece here is the early identification intervention of of the struggle students are having connecting with parents uh with support staff with the students and identifying interventions a lot earlier than we're used to. Uh and that was a
big push in our building as well. So with that, I'm going to share a little bit of our results. And so you've you've seen I just kind of mentioned some of the things where we're spending some of our energy and I'm excited to share some of the results that have come out of uh North in the first trimester.
So what you're looking at this table focuses on credit attainment and it focuses on um FS in the building. And this is on the left side you have full year results from two years ago and you have full year from last year. And then we're trying to compare apples to apples. You have trimester 1 results
from last year compared to this year. And the results are are the key results are on the bottom. And so you look at the net gain loss from last year's try 1 to this year. And in one year at the end of the trimester with final grades, we reduced our Fs across the board by 26
1.5%. That's 103 fewer students that had one or more Fs in our building. Significant progress that we're really excited about. And then you look at on the right side, the right column, the number of Fs. um that those percentages represent the number of uh the
percentage of all grades that were Fs during that time frame. So you go try one last year to try one this year, almost a third was our reduction from last year to this year. Significant G significant gains we're really excited about. So taking that data and looking a
little bit differently, breaking it down by grade, you have the grades across the top and then the same time frames on the left side and at the bottom you're going to see the results. So if you take a look at 9th grade try 1 24 25 11.2% and this year down to 5.1%.
That's a 54%. I know you can read it but that's a 50 you know we cut it in half just in 9th grade. 10th grade 30% reduction. 11th grade 25% reduction. And uh seniors there was a slight increase. Um it was pretty flat. You know that's why I gave it this yellow mixed color
there. Um but that's a lot of success across the board um in one year. And then the last way I broke down this data in terms of by race. And the real story here is on the right side of this this screen. Take a look at every single student group double-digit gains in
terms of the reduction in Fs. So our our biggest one of our biggest student groups uh actually our biggest student groups Asian uh last year Try 1 went from 5.2% 2% down to 3.1, a 35% reduction. We we spent an awful lot of time last year and this year on really
supporting our Latino families. Look at the reduction from 15.1 to 9, 40% reduction. African-American 20%. Across the board, just really really strong results for our academics. And I and I want to just point out one thing in terms of the impact. We talk an awful
lot about what we have to do uh when our students do fail classes, but I think about the impact on credit recovery, summer school, and even for some of these kids, it's a difference between graduating or not. So, I think uh good stuff in the, you know, in the right in the right direction, and we'll see how try two goes. So, our second bucket or
or focus here that I'm going to talk about is effective adults uh and and systems. Um I think at uh I'm I'm not the first person to say this, but I say it often. you're only as good as the people around you. And I am I am fortunate to work in a building that has
a ton of talent. Um we have a great deal of continuity right now and we al also have an awful lot of uh staff members that that are are true leaders in their area and I think that makes a really really big difference. We're happy with our results in in terms of what's going on right now, but we still have a lot of
work to do. But um just a great place to be in terms of getting the work done. So on this slide uh for effective adults and systems things going on at North on the left side you're looking at um our shift and emphasis on being much more proactive this year this year with the
things that we do um you know from August until now. Uh you talk about transition we had a really robust outreach plan this year for 9th graders. So we contacted John Glenn where 80%ish of our ninth graders come from reached out about all their students who need
supports um what makes uh things go well for these students. What are the things that we should be thinking about whether it's u mental health supports or whether it's academic supports or any number of things. We also reached out to some of our other middle schools uh Roseville and a couple in St. Paul to find out as
much as we can about our kids on the front end of the school year. uh early intervention. I mentioned the SST, our student support teams process, uh behavior support, proactive team meetings, and then uh restorative practice. We've been a restorative practice school for a while, but I think
the real push now is um uh training in students and staff to do these um restorative conversations as early as possible. So, we are um heading off things, you know, before they get, you know, I guess turn into significant events or conflicts. Uh and then on the
right side, um this is really about building culture, safety, and security. Some of the systems that are in our building. Uh I think, um principal descent's going to talk about the weapons detection, uh system that they they implemented at first this year at Tartan. Um just another layer to our
security before something happens. Um it just uh I think the students really like it. I think the the families feel good about it. But we we waited a trimester to implement it north. That's going really well. Just kind of overall feel. Um, I think everybody's been happy with the results and the implementation went great. Staff and students have been
wonderful. Uh, just another building culture piece, our last year I talked about our affinity groups, our Black Student Union, our Latinx, our GSA, um, our ASA or Asian student alliance, just powerhouses in our building and they truly have a voice. And I think all these things, the safety, the student
voice, our communication systems, our focus on teams really play into a culture that that leads to good things. Uh, which leads me into my last couple slides. I'm going to share um a little bit uh about our attendance and our behavior. And if you take a look at this slide here, you're comparing uh try one
for the last this year and then the two years previous. And while it doesn't look like a big improvement, it really is. We went up over a percentage point in the last year uh from last year to this year in terms of our daily daily average daily attendance. And then on the right side in the right column there
where it says consistent attendance, this is the percentage of kids that are attending school um at a very high percentage 90% or higher. So just from last year at 70.8, we've increased that to 70 point 74.3. I'm well aware that we have challenges now that might change
those numbers for try 2. Um and and we're we're responding to that, but we're happy about just in terms of the number of kids that come on a regular basis. Very happy about it. And then finally on the last slide for me before I turn it over here, if you take a look at our behavior data, the top box there,
the top table is removals from school. So you're looking at dismissals, alternative suspension, and out of school suspensions. And the the white column, try one from last year. If you look at total removals on the right side, it's 161. It's 161 different instances where a kid for behavioral
reasons had to be removed from school for one day or longer. You take a look at this year, it went down to 68. And you see the percentage drop there. This is directly related to the things we're doing a little bit differently, a lot differently in some pockets. Um, you know, our dismissals went down by half.
Our out of school suspensions for all kids went down by 80%. And then another opportunity for us was the number of students. If you look at the bottom there in terms of our out of school suspension for our students receiving special ed services, we had way too many special ed kids being suspended. Um and
uh if you take a look at try one last year to try one to try one this year, we dropped by over 80% in the number of special ed students uh with an out of school suspension down to six. And then you see the difference on the right side there as well. So um long way to go. Uh
we're certainly aware that the challenges have shifted and we're happy with our response so far, but there's um a lot of lot more work to do. So thanks for listening. Hi, Kevin says um you know he has to go first, but I think it's only fitting that I go in the middle of these two because the majority of the students
that I call my students are their students. It's really a joint effort. So, there's a purpose that we have Kevin go first. So, um the two areas that I'm going to talk about are student learning and um well-being. And I'm going to share with you who our students are that are choosing alternative education, how
we're doing with that, and the work that we're looking at right now and focusing on in those two areas. So, alternative education provides a different way of learning through a continuum of support and structure. It really is the chance to provide individualized and responsive pathways based on what students really need,
whether that's online, in person, or maybe a combination of both. Students can choose to return back to their high school or they can continue to stay with us and they can graduate. These are choice schools, so it works well together to provide us a wider range of options for some students.
Who are our students? Online High has been evolving since 2021 and this is the second year of the ALC. Having this continuum now of options allows us to specialize programming based on who we are serving. 622 online has served over 80 students this year with 67 currently
enrolled in grades 10 through 12. AHS has grown and continues to expand every week at a rate of at least three new students per week. And we've served 116 students this year so far with 91 currently enrolled and we serve uh grades 9 through 12.
In regards to student learning and our school improvement plan, the goals that we look at are attendance and engagement and credit attainment that goes towards our graduation rate. Attendance has improved um for both schools and we've also made changes in both. So it's kind of hard when you start a new program to
look at the data like Kevin was looking at from trimester 1 to trime you know this year it's very different however let me explain the changes and I think we saw an impact in both for online high we added um measuring engagement in the coursework rather than just online or um
logging in and from AHS last year because we were new we started with a hybrid schedule so students were only coming two days out of the week to the the need that we found where students needed more support and they're coming in person now for a full schedule. And that's one of our things that we pride
oursel on because we tell our kids, you just need to show up and we will help you do the rest. And for our online students, we just say, don't disappear, right? Stay connected to us and we will help you out. Um, students choose alternative education, they tend to have several
other things impacting their life. Um therefore to provide the flexibility and the fluidity of these needs we needed a way to structure our classrooms to get the most impact we could. So we launched a model this year um called mo modern classrooms. It's researchbacked. It's a
non-traditional model. Um it's through blended instruction, self-paced learning design and mastery learning. It's kind of similar to a flipped classroom model. It also allows staff though, speaking of how listening to what Tartan has to say, um the the flexibility to meet students
where they are at considering and addressing those barriers and managing the multiple courses students within the two different schools. So, they're the online and the alternative high school teachers. Teachers may manage anywhere between 8 to 16 different courses at a time and up to 200 different students.
talk about needing some sort of structure in a classroom to try to figure out where every student's at and how to help them. So, this has allowed us the flexibility to incorporate those interventions, catch kids where they're at, and then increase our students uh support coaching with social and
emotional learning. Now, the well-being to really make the most impact on student learning, we know our priority has to first and foremost be on the well-being of our students. We take pride in and work hard to provide both physical and emotional safety, build a strong identity and community,
and we like to have some fun. Staff believe in conversations over conflict, compassion, and connection, and the whole student approach. We have a schoolwide mascot challenge going right now with a hope that we might get a new name that creates an identity for
the alternative high school. Um, we have some empowerment and restorative circles similar to what you heard Kevin talk about. Our student voice equals a staff response. We have a student um students that were not happy with the closed lunch policy, so that created door dash days. Uh we have boost weeks and they've
also created their funday Fridays. As we continue uh to focus on these things, we know that well-being is uh really important for us to look at. But I want to tell you from the perspective of the students and again we've talked about this continuum that we have online high
school that might be completely independent to a level of the alternative high school that um is supported. So just a little note of how you can see the difference of our kids. I when I asked these three if they wanted to answer some questions I said it can be an animity. I don't need to
use your name. Our online students said yes I would love to do that. You can use my name only. Right. and my two ALC students said, "Can you give me my can you take a picture of me?" And one said, "Can I come to the meeting with you?" So, it's just the difference. Okay. So, why online works? So, Cairo is an 11th
grader. He was at Cowin in fifth grade and then he moved to online high school or online during COVID in sixth grade. He liked being online. So, he decided to continue on through middle school and has been with us since then and is now in high school. He talks about online.
He likes because he can work comfortably in his own workspace. He has ability to pace his own work and he can pick how much or how little he likes to work on so he doesn't feel overwhelmed and he feels really safe. And he said especially in times like this. He says he does well because he's
organized and he likes independence. He speaks highly of the staff and says he knows they care for us and they do their best in every way possible to help. What he would like others to know about what he's learned throughout the years at 622 online is that the people and the teachers do give you the freedom to work
at a steady pace that you want and that you can be successful online. So that's Cairo and I apologize Tarton. I didn't know there were so many teachers here. I would have picked somebody from Tart. These are now North kids. All right, let me talk about Fatuma.
Fatuma is a a current senior. She started at North and 9th grade and then she went to online high school in 10th and 11th grade due to social influences and friends and missing classes. She started out okay, she would say at online high school, but then in her words felt like she started slipping
because she felt like she couldn't hold herself accountable. She said her mom tried, but her mom's style was to nag her and that didn't work for her. She decided she needed more structure and support to get credits and get back on track. So then she transferred to AHS
now as an ALC student as a senior. She feels that at AHS staff have her back and hold her accountable in the right way like a support system. She feels the students are all good influences because they all came there for the same reason to graduate. She likes that most that
her school feels like a family and it's a safe space. She'd like us to continue doing more funday Friday time with her peers and she does like the modern classroom model. She's also a proud member of the North High basketball team. She participates in our newly AHS student council and she's a se as seen
as a leader by her peers. Last but not least, I'm going to tell you about Joseph. He was the one that said he wanted to take the picture and come to the meeting with you. >> He is a current senior. He was at North and 10th grade, but then he went to East
View in 11th grade. and he came to AHS this year with us upon the recommendation of his friends that were already here. He's also trying to recruit people, so he might be the first one for a referral program for our program as well. He chose alternative learning because he fell off track and
he said with his peer influences and skipping school. He also works a lot to provide for his family, so getting his diploma and the flexibility to do so are really important to him. He feels what works for him at AHS is he's able to speak up and ask for help in a different way. He likes that if
something isn't working for him, we try something else. What's different at this school for him is the community feeling. He likes the attention and feels heard and that staff are actually, in his words, working on me. The focus can be on every single student in that small setting. He doesn't like closed lunch,
but he is happy that we compromise with allowing Door Dash. He felt like he didn't have a sense of hope before, but now he's working hard, showing up consistently, and is charging towards his diploma. So, in closing, for me, I feel so grateful that we have a district
that supports alternative options for our students so that maybe, just maybe, we can make school one less stressor for them in this already unbelievable stressful world they are living. >> Thank you. All right, on to Tartan High School. I
just want to say Scarlet, you're brave, you're courageous, and you're strong, and thank you for speaking your truth tonight. >> Um, I also am going to be spending some time talking tonight um about how I'm proud of our staff and our amazing
community at Turn High School. And so, that's what I'm going to be sharing with you tonight. and I'm going to get started by talking about effective adults in systems. Now, I'm going to be talking about our school improvement goal. Um, this is one of our goals for the year. Uh, we have
that goal that we want our students to um make sure that they are achieving those credits that they need for graduation. Now, it takes a whole village um to get students to be able to graduate and walk
across that stage at the end of their four years. And I have um I get a good a good chunk of people who are responsible for helping in that process and they are more than dedicated to our students. Um
and it takes each and every one of them to support our kids. So, um you'll be seeing some similar themes about that as I go through this information tonight. As you can see, um this was these were our results from first trimester. Um so, as you can see, we are basically meeting
that 90% um 9th grade. We have to do a little bit of a push um to get there. Um but we are working to be on track there. Um I do want to speak to some of the amazing things that our teachers do engage in um each and every day, each and every week.
um you know every week they work in their PLC's. We also have grade level teams. We have specific teams that meet um for 9th and 10th grade um and they meet every other week to talk about student supports that they have in place
and what students may be needing more of. Um in addition to that, our staff are amazing with um when it comes to our PD that we offer. Um, so this year we all decided that we wanted um some different sessions during our PD days
that we have and we had amazing staff, some of which are here today, um decide to lead some sessions. And so some of those sessions included mental health and wellness for our students and for staff, AVID strategies, our ally group
that supports our Latin X students um and a few others as well. um and just I can't say enough that they're doing they're going above and beyond um not just in first trimester but even what we're seeing now and and how how our
staff are working to meet the needs of our students. Then another goal is attendance. Um this is some data again from first trimester and this is comparing our first trimesters over the last 3 years. Um as you can see we are um on track. We are
trying to get to u meeting that goal for this year. Um it also seems a little strange to be talking about attendance. Um but we are working very hard to have our students um be able to get to school. And something that we did a
little different as we came back from winter break. Um something that we wanted to try was we did a tardyree week with our students. And so what that looked like was we had communicated with our students prior to going on break and
then when they returned um the goal was that they would not have any tardies for the entire week. We did prizes each day. So we had grade level winners. We also had grand prize winners at the end of the week. Um and then we did actually see a 27% increase um of the students
who were attending classes and were tardy free which was a huge success. So it was just something we wanted to try and it was definitely all hands- on deck. Um but that focus on attendance still remains. We are working to connect with those families as you heard from
some of our staff. Um we're having those communications home. We are connecting with our families. Um, and the staff are working very hard to make sure that they're having those connections. Next, I'm going to speak about safety and security. Um, as principal Wolf
explained, we were the pilot group for our safety and security um, pilot of opengate this year. Um, I like to do a lot of videos. If you guys know anything about me as principal, I do a ton of videos and so I did link a few in here for you. um to peruse in your free time.
Um but Open Gate was also another all hands- on deck um mission as we worked to implement it this fall and it took district support. So, thank you for everyone who came and and helped with that. Um it took a lot of our staff and
it also took our students and our famil family's patience as we work to navigate through it. So, it took us um about a week and a half to really get that up and running the way we wanted it to be. Um but now it's old news. It feels like
it is well running. Um and we are using it for events as well. And the amount of of safety and security I think that it has um created is so important. And so I just again thank the district support on on making that happen um for our
schools. Um, and then I somehow am the model uh open gate uh staff person for uh not only our schools within the district but also outside of the district. And so I've been doing a lot of tours and then I'm going to move on to
well-being. As we started the school year, um we started with a new motto and I actually want to give a huge shout out to Sterling Brown. Um it came from him. He was trying to find a way to rebrand our expectations for students and came up with some unique phrasing. We even made
a video. Sorry, I know it's another video. Um, welcoming our students in for the school year. And so, it's been something that we've been saying throughout the year. We've also been talking about how we're Tartan strong and really trying to just showcase what
we're valuing at at Tartan High School. Um we also had a family engagement night during trimester 1 um in order to support um bringing our families in and having more of those community connections. And so that was also a unique opportunity to make connections with um our staff, students, and
families. And building student connections is something that we do really well at Tartan and I think we do well across the board in all of our 622 schools. Um I spoke earlier about how we're constantly monitoring student progress towards
credit attainment. Um and so these are a couple of the unique ways that we've done that. Our 9th grade team actually did a pass the class pizza bash at the end of the trimester um which was a great way to connect with students and also make sure that they saw that hey we have that support for you. We also have
our link crew team um which hosted our cocoa and cram and that typically has been running every trimester at the end of the trimester to support students. Um but I would say beyond that uh right now we are doing so much more to support our
students um and really trying to engage with them um in a variety of ways. I also want to just highlight a few pieces um for student council. Actually, we have the student council advisors here,
um, Katie, Yiannes, and Alzen Ali. So, thank you both. We actually, um, had a pepfest today. Um, and I was on I was really on the fence about the pepfest. Um, and I actually spoke to the students at the pepfest about about that. Um and
we talked about the importance of community and we talked about the importance um of supporting one another during this time and student council um took that and they basically made a theme called fuse and so this entire
week that we are celebrating our incoming week um it's about fun unity support and empowerment which Scarlet also referenced and it's an amazing way to come together. I spoke about how there's power in coming together um during this time and that we do need to
work work together. Um so we are doing a food drive and supplies drive um throughout this week at Tartan High School and we have several staff that are engaged in helping to make that happen. So a huge shout out to them. I also just wanted to highlight um the student council's work with Holiday
Helping Hands. Um if you're not familiar, there was an amazing video that was created for um that group and the work that was done this year. Um, we also had our student council students go to the um, Oakdale Chamber meeting this
past month and they spoke about their experiences and they were able to answer a lot of questions um, related to that work and also what it was like to be a Tartan student um, and different as um, things that they have that they're looking forward to um, as they continue
on in their educational journey. Um, so I will end with that I am so proud of our students and I'm so proud of our staff and I you you heard about the work great work that they're doing. Um, and I just want to
also express that, you know, we can't um we can't all do this work alone and I can't do this job alone. And I'm so thankful for for all of you and everything that you do each and every day for our kids and how much you guys are going above and beyond right now to
support our our students and families is amazing. Um, so I just want to thank you. >> Okay, team. >> Any questions? questions. >> Uh Kevin, I was uh really impressed with um the improvement in the ninth graders
and um Bethany, you too. Uh the way that the ninth graders are getting that extra attention, the extra day for Coco and Creme, I think, and then um how the pizza was sort of um targeted um to to those students and really helping them out. Um I I'm um I say this a lot. I'm
involved with the the American Indian Parent Advisory Council as well and they talk about how that transition year is so important and so tricky for so many students and and and so I think it's really important work and I'm really glad to see um some of those those big improvements. That's not a question. I'm
really sorry but um I I did appreciate that. Um can you talk a little bit too about um dismissal? Is that the same as what I would know as an expulsion cuz I'm old. Dis Oh, dismissal versus expulsion. >> Yeah. >> So, you get three different You're
talking about removals. So, dismissal is for one day or less. >> Oh, okay. >> And then out of school suspension is typically longer than one day. And then alternative suspension is where we're still uh the students will go actually it's housed here in this building where we have teachers here and it's an
alternative suspension. So, they are here they bring work from their home school and do it here um upstairs on the third floor. >> Okay. Uh, and then my question was on um you had pulled out like the special ed kids um and the the reductions there. Can you talk a little bit more about
like how you like like what I guess what interventions what what targets because that was also really stark. Um and and I know that that's kind of really important to you, but um like how did you even know to do that and and what exactly did you do to um get those numbers down so much? It's really great.
Um, I don't have a perfect answer for you, but what I will say across the board was the early intervention, early connection piece. Um, whether it's the transition going from eighth and eighth grade and just kind of our SSTs focusing on identifying issues early. That being said, specifically for our special ed
students, the connections that we were making on a regular basis where you have these um all the support staff of social workers and counselors and grade level admin and case managers meeting on a regular basis to whether it's you're starting to see trends or you're seeing
certain behaviors or we're making sure that IEPs are in place, just kind of the regular meeting time. Um, I'd say we formalized that into a um every 2 weeks um by grade level and that's made a huge difference. Made it started last year.
We started kind of we shifted last year after try two and kind of continued into this year and so um it's paid huge dividends kind of connecting all the different pieces connecting dots. >> Thanks for that. Um um sorry Bethany a question on on open
gate. I think you kind of answered it. I was wondering if um you and Tartan and this model has become a um model for others and if you happen to know how kind of far it has spread. You can speak to that. I know that um this system we
were the first I believe the first school district in Minnesota to actually use opengate and so while there are other schools in other states that are using this you know tool um I know that we were the first school district in
Minnesota to use it um and so there have been a lot of um school districts who have reached out to us and have wanted tours and have wanted to hear about the process how how we came to um you know to implement it um what types of things
are working um and to be able to see it. So we've had a lot of visitors come to actually just see it. So um I do know um that yeah various schools from from the state so far have reached out I don't know maybe we've done uh I would say a handful of of tours. So
>> that's great. Do we get any finders fees when they implement >> that's what I said to Andy. I said we need to get a discount because of this. But >> yeah, >> have there's a violence prevention project in Ramsey County and and I was on a meeting with um legislators and
county attorneys and school districts. Uh they were very interested and so they have been reaching out and and Bethany has been very gracious to be able to show a number of school districts what we do. >> Yeah, that's great. Um I was also wondering your um attendance numbers for the family engagement nights. Um I saw
that you've got one for every trimester. Um, are a lot of families responding to that invitation? >> We had more people respond than attended. Um, and so we are kind of shifting how we're going to be utilizing those nights moving forward. Um, but I
think the goal is that, you know, right now especially, we're just trying to reach out to our families. Um, we're trying to communicate with them as much as possible. Um, and so that's our goal right now. But for the fall, we did have a more intimate group, I would say. um
which led to some really great conversations and just a great time for the staff who were present there and the families who attended. >> Thank you. And uh Stephanie got a question for you. Um and I I hope this is appropriate. um we had been thinking
about making some changes to um online en enrollment and I was wondering if you could just kind of speak to uh what you're seeing and um how you think that might sort of change things and potentially improve it and whether it would increase the attendance of the on
the AHS like that. Thanks. >> Um I think kind of explaining that continuum now that continuum now that we have both programs is what made it evident. So giving you the example of Cairo was kind of a learner that's been with us in the online format. Looking at the grades that Cairo gets and the the
things that work for that student online, right? Is kind of the idea that that's the typical profile of who that works well for. And then I think prior to ALC, we didn't have an option for anybody else, right? So typically there's two reasons uh students are
seeking online. One is because they're not doing well in the traditional environment and they're coming to us with um credit deficiencies already, failing grades already and looking hoping for something different to do things differently. And then the other profile is the student that is
independently wanting to work and manage and has good strong organizational skills and time management skills and maybe wants to balance that with work or something else that's happening. So knowing we have those two different profiles also then having the addition
of the ALC has provided a real strong continuum of that. So Fatuma was one that online didn't work for and we didn't have ALC. So she spent two years losing credits because she needed a different format but that wasn't the right format for her. So when we got ALC
we begged we begged her we begged her family. It took a while and got her convinced that hey come check it out. we'll give you as much support as you need and we can get you over that that hump and that worked much better. So I think looking at the changing of of kind
of the online parameters is just setting students up already for online learning within that profile but also not being restrictive where it can't meet the needs of somebody needs it. Right? I think there's some built-in safeguards and parameters within there that we can help students because I think that's the
biggest piece for me is right now having students that aren't doing well and haven't been doing well or can't do credit recovery um we lose them, right? There's no way to get them back versus if you start with kind of a profile. This is what works, right? When you go
to college, you have a choice of an online class or not. you have to be kind of dedicated to be able to pull off that online class because it takes a different set of skills. So the continuum I think for both is and then that middle ground, right? Like you kind of you heard from Joseph, right? He's
working and does a lot of it online because it's the same uh curriculum that we use, but then also gets the support he needs when he comes in person. So as far as enrollment goes, it's that it's that number kind of between the teachers
and that's where it fluctuates. Right? Right now talking about what the student needs are, maybe uh the alternative high school increases more in enrollment, right? Or there was a time that online was needed. I think the flexibility and fluidity of having the same teachers do
both has been able to help Kevin and Bethany a lot with different students as well. Although I will say when Bethany calls me every time she says but Steph this isn't a special circumstance. I said Bethany they all are right. So I
think that's how that kind of helps with that. Again the parameters are there to set the student up for success but not be restrictive enough to not know that like there is a certain situation that maybe the student doesn't meet that that starting point but then we can kind of rally around and provide the the level
of service. >> Thank you. I think that's powerful testimony. >> Thank you. Um, okay. Thanks to all of you and Stephanie. I also wanted to ask about the alternative high school and I'm going to reach out to May and ask her to
schedule a tour because it's the only one it's the only school in the district that I haven't actually been to. >> So, I'm interested to learn more. I want to ask you all my questions about it. love to >> come on Wednesday or Friday and bring your dollars for the snack cart. Okay, >> perfect. Yes.
>> But um is there a capacity? So you said there's like 67 online students and then I think you said 116 um students in the alternative high school. Is there a you know are you going to max out? And then I also it kind of caught my ear that um Kevin said
that the alternative suspension sounds like it's still there. Yeah. >> So maybe it's even the same thing. Is it the alternative high school? >> No, it's different. So yeah, it's different programs. I oversee them, but those numbers are not generated into the
alternative high school. >> Yeah. >> And so do you have like a capacity for the alternative high school and also the online high school? I'm just curious. >> So I'll start and then maybe I'll kick it over to Andy. um with when online
kind of went through the the reform to say in the start of the online or the alternative high school it's the same teachers right so then that they are maybe managing like I said up to 16 courses in an ALC because that student
might be recovering all of their English classes 9 10 11 12 right so they might be managing 16 different courses and of those 116 16 kids, they're all their kids, right? Because we have one teacher of each content. So then you also have
them as online teachers that are teaching. It's because they're two separate schools. The online's a comprehensive high school. So then they're still teaching their section of 10th, 11th, 12th grade English to the online students. So there there's the
same set of teachers. So it kind of varies based on the number that's needed in each different program. And I think as far as an enrollment or a max is kind of based on a staffing model and we kind of think about it right now of like how
many teacher or how many students a teacher manages in a building already, right? Up to 200 students possibly. That's kind of where we generate where we're looking at just with numbers. But there's not a hard line right now. Um where we do start to get like with um
talking with North their numbers of being referred are a little bit more. So they're prioritizing looking at seniors, right? Thinking about who do we need to get over the graduation line first before like 10th grade might be there might be some interventions they can do
a little bit longer. So that's kind of my version. I don't know if Andy wants to add to the staffing part. >> Sure. Well, first I want to say and both of our high schools are working very hard to reduce those numbers of students
that need um alternative programs or credit recovery. So, um when you see the numbers that we're hearing from our principles tonight, those students that are successful in their classes um stay at North. Um and then also within each high school, uh there is a credit recovery program that is built within
the high school. So really, if you're a student that's going to be moving over to the alternative high school, um it is really um a higher level of inter intervention of a student that is struggling academically or that just needs a different environment to be successful and move on the path uh to
graduation. So in terms of staffing, uh our schools are open. So we can staff um more staff at at AHS or less staff at AHS. I think the issue is, you know, how do we um staff and create stability within a school year? So, we'll look at
those numbers um like we do with all of our schools and staff appropriately about what the needs are at um all three of our schools. >> Just want to say thank you for all the hard work that you guys are doing. Seeing the improvements from trimester to trimester is really amazing. takes a
lot of work, a lot of time not only from you all but from the tremendous staff and teachers that we have. So, so thank you for that. >> Thank you. Wonderful. >> Um I want to thank you all as well. Um this is um just really um positive. Um,
and um, I I just want to say I've always been proud um, of our high schools, but um, lately um, I have just been um, amazed at at just what what I've been hearing about what our teachers and
staff have been doing and what the students have been doing. Um, and uh, I just I just hope that um, that the community um, and the district we can find ways to just try to provide more
support. Um, but um uh I uh I also uh um want to I know Joseph and Fatuma and Cyro aren't here, but I want to thank them for being willing to um share their uh experience because these these
stories, it it really uh just gives me a really good idea of of uh what we're offering, what we're doing. I love that um we have a sense of community at Tartan and at North and we have it at um our alternative and online
school and I love that that or we have a student senate now too. Um and uh I I Michelle um I I think I have to take a tour soon as well there. Um but yeah, thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thank you.
>> Yeah, I just want to say thanks as well. Well, I know that um the lives of the students and the families are very nuanced um and the reflection of um your scores and uh attendance and um is
admirable because it means that um you and your staff are working really hard to to meet the different needs. So, um and you know, we continue to have challenges. So, uh we'll we'll work through it together. So, yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you.
Just one short comment. Um, just take care of yourselves. I It's um really heavy time and >> and it this is not my experience going to high school. I mean, this is a really complex environment that you're dealing
with and um no, I appreciate I appreciate what you're doing, but please take care of yourself. It's um um you know to be joyful in the face of uh the news every day is really a challenge. I
and so uh you're all heroes. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> And thank you for saying that, Nancy. Our principles are definitely on the
front lines going through this right now. All right. Next, we have um teaching and learning. We'll have Heidi Lee kick it off. She's our director of teaching and learning and introduce our supervisor of ML programs. >> Okay. Do you know if it will just
change? >> I just have to tell you >> to the next presentation. >> No, I think Chrome on the bottom. >> Found it. >> Oh. Oh.
Oh, it's says refresh. Oh, that did not work. Why is it not projecting? Click on that. >> Where the what? >> Where is it? >> Yeah, it's not pump popping up here.
What am I saying? >> The January 2026. I think that >> it expands it. >> Oh, you mean this one? Yeah. >> Oh, that one. Okay. >> I didn't know we were pulling it right up in board book. >> Same. There we go. Well, that works. Awesome. Thanks, Christine.
>> Yeah. Good evening, uh, Chair Yang, members of the board, and cabinet members. I am really honored to be here tonight to introduce our amazing ML supervisor, Ibrahim Abukar. So, he can come on up
and he's going to share um some great information about our amazing multilingual learners program. All right, it's all yours. >> Heidi, you're way too kind. Again, my name is Ibrahim Abuar, ML supervisor. Um, I met you guys two weeks
ago and this is my second session, right? Feel like we're going to keep this thing going. >> All right. >> Um, before we get into details, there are a few terms that I want us to talk about. Let's scroll down. Gotcha. And for me, when I want to age things, I
want to put the years on there so that hopefully we no longer use those things, right? Um, ESL, English is a second language. Um this term was used after the civil rights um 1960s through through the 1990s and majority of the times English is not the second language
for our students. They're learning keep learning their home language and um often times more languages than just one. And then the other one is ELLL and this really emphasizes the process of inquiring another language. And um this
term was also used in the '9s to early 2000s. Then the two terms that we currently use is e English learner which is mostly used as a federal and the state reporting. And until today I still use it even though I'm not a big fan of it. I still use it for those
purposes right when I'm uh sending reports to the state or the uh the federal um settings. But the one um acronym that I like to use is ML because it really emphasizes more on and
acknowledges students home language that our students are coming in with uh with having another another language and our job is and this is what I tell my ML teachers. We have kindergarten students who are proficient in their home language and by the time they graduate we want them to be proficient in that
same language they came in with not just replace that with English. Right? So with that um I'll be using this term for the rest of the pres presentation and I know uh Christina I talked about the term can also be an umbrella multilingual learners
>> which houses our um DLI or immersion program our um world language and our EL right so it can be also be used for that so some of the things I I'll talk about tonight is our ML identification like um
how does a student become um eligible for ML ML services. Our student demographics, languages spoken by ML students, and the type of ML services that we have in the district and our amazing ML staff. You guys met one of them, Veronica. She's amazing. She's one
of our school uh leaders at uh Tartan. So the first onboarding onboarding session um the onboarding that starts is the what we call Minnesota home language survey. Every family in in the district that applies in anywhere in Minnesota
has to fill this form out. So if a family indicates a second language on this form, we start the process of getting to know who that student is. There are times where the student his the student's neighbor is speaks Mong. So they're exposed to that doesn't mean that
student is e, right? So getting to know each student before we um give them the screener. And the screeners are the second um step in the process. And we don't just screen any student, right? We get to know the student. Chances are students are
either, you know, grade 1 through 12 and they're coming from another Minnesota district. So reach out to the district, get to know the student, what level of uh English proficiency they're at, what service models they were using. We figure out all those things before we place any student. So the two students
that we right away assess are students who are new to the country because we don't want to assume they don't have English proficiency, right? So we screen them to find out the level. >> Oh, I think we have to reopen the presentation. Sorry. I just
>> How do I do that? >> Nope. >> Sorry. >> You're good. >> Yeah, I think I got it. >> We'll just have to open board book again. I'm sorry. Sorry for the confusion here.
>> Normally, we put these >> do that and grab my water. >> By all means, you do that. We'll go back into here and then make it bigger. Sorry about that. Normally we have these on the Is that expanded all the way? No.
Here we go. Now I got it. All right. Sorry about that. Just Yeah. And um the second students that we screen are our kindergarten students. Um the students in Minnesota should only be screened once and that's how they
qualify and get um services. and any of the students who are coming in like I said from another districts we can find scores for the students and there's only one way for students to exit and that's through the access testing and which actually the window
opened today so some of our buildings were assessing kids today um and there are four domains that we assess students we assess them in reading listening speaking and writing and a student has to score for them to
exit they have to score uh the overall has to be 4.5 and higher. And people always forget the second step. And three of the four domains has has to be over 3.5 between and the um the levels are
between one and six. When students become eligible for um ML services, it is by law that we we um give them access to core content just like their peers um and also uh opportunity for them to uh develop
English uh in the class. And these pictures you see on here are our ML team at Tartan High School. And the pictures on the right here are some of our students through family engagement events. So, who are our ML students? We
currently serve 2,27 students in grade K through 12. And that's roughly about 20% of our districtwide. And of those students, they speak more than 44 languages at at home. And many of our, like I said, many of our multilingual learners are emergent
multilingual who often speak three to four languages at home. And our ML students are at every building in our district. We have different types of ML students and I want to say that this is often surprising to people. 78% of our ML
students were born here in the US. >> Mhm. um in times like this is our students are they're born here in the US um and right to be here and our um we have SLE students students are students with limited formal education from uh
their home country and we also have an um LES that is long-term eelss which I also like to call experienced MLS and those students are students who have been re receiving services for six years
and more and they have not met their proficiency level. And lastly, we have our duly identified students and these students are students who qualify for special education and ML services. Our ded identified students, we
currently have 503 students and we have to be very strategic of how we service these students, right? um they're entitled to both services that one does not trump the other one. Um, and I want to give a big shout out to student services, especially uh, Katie
Londonowski and Steph Burke. They know everything about the students, right? So, every year before we meet with principles, we like to make sure those students are placed first, right? We have support system for them as a um, ML students and they're also getting their
IEP goals met. So, um, last year my office was up at the third floor and I had whiteboards. those things were just all over like we were just has student names on there and things are being deleted, take pictures and all that. It was it was amazing to
see. And this is languages spoken by ML students in our district and is in this order. Monk is our top, Spanish with 32%, Karan, Somali, and that makes up about
83% of our ML students speaking those four languages. And if you zoom out and see the students who are multilingual learners, this number stays consistent of who our students are in the district. Um, and we have a cultural leazison for
each of those languages in our district. And >> can I ask you a question? >> Yeah, go ahead. Uh when you say that they have that language, does that mean they can write it and read it or
just speak it or or what does that mean? >> Students >> Mhm. >> Um that means they speak it at home and understand it. >> Okay. >> Or maybe it could be that's the first language they they learned. >> Okay. And can they write that? No. >> No. Not no. Not every student.
>> No. Not. And can they read that language? >> Not every student. Yeah. >> One thing to remember is that these are filled out by families before they start kindergarten >> or they start school. So, they're not reading and writing at that time anyway. >> But, but one thing to know about the home language questionnaire. Um,
families check off if another language is spoken in the home. >> So, that doesn't always mean everyone in the home. Sometimes it's grandparents. It might be a mom or dad. It means that English isn't the only language spoken in the home. So many of our
students who do um indicate another language in the home, that doesn't mean that child necessarily is super fluent in that language. It just means that they are in an environment that's not all English speaking. >> Okay. >> And that's one of the questions on their exposure. They're exposed to that language.
>> And that whole process is mandated by MDE and we follow it very close. >> And um I grew up watching the sports center. So everything I do is top 10. So, I put the top 10 languages on here and um I think I talked about this in two two weeks ago. Nepali is another
language that's growing in our district and we're keeping an eye on that just to make sure our students and families are supported and speaking that language. ML students by buildings. So, Carver, like I said, our students are every building in our district. Carver is leading the most at the
elementary building followed by um John Glenn at middle school and then high school is at North has the most ML students and you probably seeing um Harmony if you can see it Harmony Learning here that name has been switched and I just
got to update in our system to a Webster and ML students by grade level. We have our most uh students at the second grade level. And if you talk to talk to Carver team, they'll let they'll let you know they have more students second grade. Um and then you see that number dip a
little bit once you get to middle school and then pick back up freshman and sophomore year. The reason why you see that drop at middle school is because we're exiting the most kids in year four and five um with access testing and then
it picks it picks right back up during freshman year. It's because we're we're getting the most transfers into the district from other districts into that uh those two grades. You've probably seen this before this line somewhere, I'm sure. Um so this is
from elevation and this is our current ML students and when when they joined us in the district. So as you can see we have students so students who joined us in 2013 2014 is kindergarten now will be seniors
and then you see that number like that line stays consistent until the co years in 2021 2022 school year we started seeing more students um joining us ML students join joining our district
and that number now is coming down the only reason why it's coming down is because where our our school year doesn't end until June 6th, right? So, like we're we can still see that number either stay down or come back up depend on what happens in the next couple months. Um,
and I was looking at our enrollment numbers. We have lost maybe about 13 students since this whole ICE things has started. Um, but majority of our students are showing up. Mhm. >> The fear is there, but you know, they're still showing up cuz we they you know, parents know and then we know that's the
best place for them. Students by proficiency level. Um our proficiency level goes from 1 through six. And if students score between 4.5 and six, that means they have exited from the program. And now the students you see on here are the current students
who are receiving services in our district. Level ones are they're just entering, right? They're just new to the language. And majority of the time, this is our um newcomers. And level threes is that's where
students get stuck the most um if they don't exit within that first four to five years. And really like you look at in the on the next slide, if you look at our um uh service models, the proficiency level
dictate what service model students receive. And in our district, we used to be a pull-on model where now we're we're telling ML students, hey, you're an ML student, come with me to go do something totally different than what's happening in that classroom. And that's not fair
to a student and that they entitled to that core instruction with their peers. So we have changed the model to now where we're co-eing is a is expensive model we're co-eing which now that means teachers I have common prep time to co-
plan they're um compensated if they meet outside of work to time sheet for that um cuz we know with the master schedule it is very difficult to have every ML teach ML teacher to have a to have the same common prep time to the person who they're co-eing with so we allow some
flexibility with that and Another option that we have um is a push in instruction and that is more of like the classroom teacher leads and the ML teacher supports. So there's less co-planning on that. Um and with co with
co-eing and a student should not be able to tell the difference between who the ML teacher is and who the classroom teacher is. They should be synced and um planning more often. We have shelter instruction. We're lucky to have two licensed teachers at North
who have um their license in in ELA and EL. So, they're able to teach our newcomers and give them um credit for core uh ELA uh credits. And another service model that we have is uh small group instruction where
newcomers need that language development opportunity where they get pulled out sometime in their day. And we also have a course called the emerging English at at the middle school and at the high school where students in um who are level one so new to the country can
receive those services and in our program we really you know we're really big on collaboration right um and I tell my my team that we might have that ML student for 10 you know 10% of the day but really that 90% % they're
with the classroom teacher. So then now when we do a pushin or co-e with the classroom teacher is a win-win for that situation, right? We're servicing the student and classroom teachers now are able to learn strategies from our ML teacher in that space.
So this picture was taken about um two years ago where we brought our uh ML teachers and told them bring one co- teacher where you want to focus on right so they brought um a classroom teacher that they were planning to co-e and we
looked at the master schedule we made sure they had the same common prep time everything had to be strategic for for for this thing to work. So that was two years ago and and I'll show you what what happened after that. So one thing
we look at is well we implemented we we implemented a service model. How do we know that service model is working right? We look at other things like how have our students done in the last couple years and in 2022 we have exited 133 students
in the district and then we went down in 20 uh 2023 and 2024 and that number jumped in 2025 is because we were very strategic of like placing the um students in the right classes and
putting ML teacher and classroom teacher that have the same common prep time and that they're co-planning and it's not just um this is the ML work right and is is something that we all share to make sure our students are succeeding not just in access testing but also with
MTAs and ultimately students graduating from high school as a parent that's the most important thing for our students. So when ML student exits with um access testing we are required by law to monitor that student for the next two
years. So if you look at this small chart if you look at second grade that's total total of 11 students who are being monitored. The blue the ones that are highlighted in blue is year one and the ones in green is year two.
And then like if you follow uh fifth grade and sixth right now that shows you that those students exited in fourth and fifth right in that in that uh those grade levels and this work would not be done without without our amazing ML team in the
district. I have an amazing uh teacher on a special assignment Lindsay and she's really great and um I'm just happy to have her. And districtwide we have 39 licensed teachers in um in our buildings and three EAS. One of you probably met
tonight has spoke first. She's amazing. So this picture was taken in October. Um just disclosure here. Everyone was not in this picture. So it was just like the ones that you know made it. That's our elementary team.
And this is our um high school secondary team. In my opinion, I think this is the most important thing family engagement. Um it is very important that students families are connected to the students educational journey. Um and that we have
to reach out to families and actually invite them into our buildings. We have asked each building to have separate ML family engagement night which is funded through title three. Um and then we have the end of the year to uh showcase
what's happening in our buildings. Any questions? >> All right. Thank you for this presentation. Really interesting. um the numbers. Okay. So, most of the students who are ML enter kindergarten
as a ML student. >> Yes. >> For the most part, >> except for the ones that come from enter at all different grades throughout the system. >> Yeah. And then there's a few that but the majority I'm guessing would enter. And so then this idea about more than
six years. So you kind of expect them to um graduate out of ML or whatever. >> So when you inquire a second language, usually that's about how long it takes for a student. Yeah. For a student like four to you know six years in that range
for a student to become proficient. So that was um something that was done by the f federal level and the state level where students if they don't show proficient within that first six years they just become more experienced long-term eelss. So with that majority
of our students were born here. So they should not be isolated from their peers as they go through high school and um graduate. >> Right. But so most of them will no longer be classified as ML after 6 years.
>> No, they'll still be receiving services. >> Oh, they still >> Yeah, they still receive services. >> What about this chart with where they get to six? Are they still receiving services? The service models.
Yeah, that >> so if if students are between 4.5 and six that means they have already exited >> they exit. >> Okay. So >> it's not based on number of years it has to do with their test on the access test. >> Right. But the estimation is that after
about five or six years they exit which is why they have this term elong >> and so then the other ones are like coming in over the course of their whole academic you know through K through 12 >> right and the thing is like our you know
our families are very mobile right so they might have started at um 625 which is St. all and they moved to our district in middle school. So then now they're joining us in middle school, but they have been receiving EL services at a different district for those six
years. >> I guess what I was getting at there isn't like a tremendous need at these first few grades and then a diminishing need later. It just stays constant throughout the whole time. >> One thing to keep in mind too, there's a term that you'll hear around this slife
students with limited and interrupted formal education. So for some students who come from other countries if they haven't had formal education in their home language, it can add to the length of time needed to learn to read and write in English of course because
literacy skills transfer between languages as well. And also sometimes for students who maybe are really not progressing like we might look sometimes that's an indication there might be um some sort of a learning disability or some kind of special education need in
the mix as well. So we have students who are identified in both areas sometimes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Um so when you're monitoring them once they you know get out of or what whatever the
term is. Um what kind of things are you looking for when you're >> in those year one and year two? And do people ever go back in or >> to reclass classify? Yes. Okay. Yep. There are there have been times. So, what we do is we send a survey to the
ELA teacher, right? If the student is at the high school level, we're not going to reach out to the math teacher. We want to learn more about students ability to write, right, in like um in some of the domains. So, they will fill out that survey and then I'll look through it and then follow up. Sometimes
it might be where we need to invite parents back into that conversation to look at what we need to do for that student to um you know um navigate without ML teacher in that space. >> This is probably a really basic
question. I'm really sorry, Ibrahim, and I really appreciate um this presentation and things, but um with so many different languages that the student speak um what does an ML teacher like how what does that look like in the classroom because they they probably
don't know 44 languages and I can't imagine that they're doing content in a language for that student or their special um >> techniques I guess to help. >> If you could just go over that a little bit. Thank Yeah, we we have different strategies and we look at the students
levels, right? If a student is brand new to the country, level ones, we have a can do descriptors where it shows what the student is able to do, right? In um in simple simple terms, but then like our job is to challenge that student to get them to level twos. So there are
strategies with within that. But we do utilize students first home language as a scaffold, right? Sorry. We use that as a scaffold for you know the student to start engaging in the language right and the students who exit
the most right by the way or like you know get the um uh inquire the English language much faster are the students who speak Spanish right um French ital like you know Italian those languages but like if students coming in with
Arabic that's totally different concept so that could be challenging a little bit. >> One thing just to reiterate too that classes are taught all in English. Um we do have some staff who use some resources for translation for very
newcomers and often times with so many different languages. Um staff or schools will try to assign a new student, new to country student next to another student who maybe speaks their home language. um that's not always the case, but even in those situations, uh staff will often
use assistive technology to try to communicate socially with students as they begin to gather. And that's where they tend to get more sheltered instruction versus in the mainstream if they're really new to country. We don't have scaffolding supports for them. >> But yeah, in instruction is taught in English for all of our students. But
there's lots of strategies for how you can help them when they're brand new and don't even know social language yet. Yeah, really important work. Thank you so much. >> Thanks. >> I think that's it. You're off the hook. >> Perfect.
>> Thank you. One thing you need to know. See you next meeting. He's not going to toot his own horn, but I bet not a week goes by that I don't hear from teachers, principles, everybody how much they love working with Ibrahim and Lindsay. Um I've never seen such a popular uh
supervisor of ML programs in around here. So if your ears are burning >> nice when you have a superintendent that has a ML background, right? Our students are not siloed. We have, you know, with the SPE background, we really have the
support system in place to make sure the work is continuing and students are not isolated from their peers. >> Just thought of something else. I'm sorry you're not off the hook yet. Um, sorry. the the the chart made it look like we really ramped up with the number
of MLS students that we needed to serve in the past five years. And so, um, can you speak to sort of how >> this one right here? >> Yes. >> Yeah. How quickly we've been able to sort of bring in um you and your your staff and and people to kind of fill
this need um and really support these students because I can imagine if you didn't expect it or know it was coming, it would be >> Yeah. >> a lot. Thank you. Go ahead. >> And and the thing is this is not the work for ML teachers. It's also the work of our classroom teachers and we need to
really empower them and support them because they are also teachers teachers of language right and being very strategic of like what kind of PDI we have in right um and all those things because we need more strategies to
support all of our students. Yeah. All right. Thanks. Thank you. Um we're going to move on to um our superintendent's report. >> All right. I'm going to see if I can oops
I'm going to pull this up on the slide deck rather than All right. Can you see that? Okay. Perfect. Well, I wanted to take some time tonight to talk a little bit about our um ICE response in our school district and share a little bit about
the challenges that come with what's what we're dealing with right now. Um it is it's been a very emotional few weeks month including last month as well, but especially since we came back from winter break. It feels like January has been far longer than it has already. Um,
and want to just kind of talk through a little bit about how we've been thinking about these issues. Um, I know you've been privy to all of our communication that go out to staff and our communication that have gone out to families. Um, but it's definitely
something we've never ever expected to be living through right now. We all thought pandemic was difficult. I will tell you hands down this is far worse. This is far, in my opinion, far more stressful and anxiety producing and scary than anything we felt during the
pandemic, quite frankly. Um, I want to talk a little bit because every time we put out communication districtwide, uh, on our website, via email, however, however we do so, um, not surprisingly, with 11,000 students, we get some
replies back from various people. You know, thank you for this communication. you're not doing enough. Why are you sticking your nose in politics and not focusing on education? Um, we had to turn off comments on our district Facebook page for the first time ever on
end of last week because of death threats we were getting through our district Facebook page comment section, notably by people who don't have kids in our schools and never have actually. So, um, law enforcement is handling that, but I will tell you it's unfortunate because we want open, transparent
communication, but we also have to be safe. And so, for people who feel like we don't care enough, who we don't we're not doing enough, um, I'll reiterate that this entire month we have done nothing but this. Um, not because we
want to stick our nose in politics, but because of two reasons. Our priority during this crisis is falls in two areas. Safety and student learning. And when things happen that get in the way of the safety of our student, staff or
families andor student learning, it is our job to respond as a school district. You know, there's hateful messages and I will say it's not the majority by any means that come in saying, "Why are you trying to stick your nose in these political situations?"
I would love to not have to stick my nose in this situation, but it's on our doorstep. It's around us every day. You heard all of the folks here tonight. It is absolutely everything we're living and breathing. We're way behind on our staffing and budget planning for next school year, which normally begins in
January, because this is all we've been doing. Um, and I know as board members, you've received some communications from folks and um, you're aware of some of that, but it's it's really um, pretty all-encompassing right now. And so, I
just want to reiterate really quickly why we're talking about this right now. And I know it's really tricky for people to feel like a lot of superintendents are trying to struggle with how do you even talk about these issues and address them. We can't not talk about these issues and address them.
some issues affecting safety right now. You heard about this. Fear and anxiety due to harmful rhetoric. Not just fear and anxiety around ICE abductions that are happening, but rhetoric is very harmful. And and as board members, you're aware of some of those situations we've been navigating. Ensuring proper
supervision of children. Um maintaining safe routes to and from school. When we consider the fact that in our school district we are about 75% students of color. You just heard from Ibrahim about our high
number of immigrant communities in our school district with 75 different languages spoken by our families. Um that fear is not just among students and families. It's among staff as you heard from some of our staff that were here this evening. And keep in mind, no
employee of 622, not a single one, isn't licensed to work in the United States or we couldn't hire them. Not only that, but we conduct criminal background checks on everyone that we hire as well. So when people say, "Oh, this is just an issue impacting
illegal criminals." It is absolutely not that. It is affecting so many people right now. um lots of people just fearful about what's going to happen and trying to maintain how we're going to make sure that any young children don't go home from school at the end of the day to an empty house with nobody there
to greet them. So part of our our massive communication response is making sure we're keeping our ear to the ground to hear what's happening and to the extent possible getting a heads up when we know there's any level of detention um among adults to who are caring for children. Um, we've had to do a lot of
work with our families to make sure we have extra points of contact, extra emergency contacts to call and it is still never enough for sure. But when people try to say it's not our business as a school district, I would argue it absolutely is our business not only to
speak out on what's happening but but to call attention to what this is doing to our education system. You just heard from our uh secondary principles right now that we have had a phenomenal first trimester. I will tell you when the
pandemic hit, school districts like ours that have higher levels of poverty in them. We fell harder. It took us a lot longer to come back from it. We're still recovering from the pandemic. Learning loss had happened. And honestly, we were on track to have one of our best academic performing years we've had in a
very long time. And now it sort of feels like we've been gut punched a little bit because all of this amazing progress that you just heard about from our high school principles tonight is being interrupted and that's really really hard to stomach. Um
when I talk about response to safety concerns and I'm going to tell you that we're going to talk a little about impacts to student learning as well, attendance, access to instruction, interrupted schooling and even basic needs like food. When we talk about how we've responded to safety challenges and
concerns, um, our first priority is to try to have our students in school to the extent possible. And as Trisha could tell you from her elementary principles, most of our elementary families have been very clear that they would like
their children to come to school in person, but there have been a number of them that have said, "I'm afraid about walking my child to the bus stop. I don't want my child to be I don't want to be harassed or have some kind of an altercation that my my child has to witness. Um and so there's been a lot of
effort about increasing supervision. Um, supervision is about getting people, you've seen all of our push to get more staff and volunteers into our parking lots because having extra eyes and vigilance in our parking lots, especially when you think of the teen
drivers coming and going. Um, we've had many, many staff and external volunteers sign up as well. We have been very clear that people who are going to be assigned to we are not opening it up to the broad community to to say I want to come and
volunteer because we are making sure our volunteers are vetted and go through us because we want to make sure that we get people who are in those positions to help us with vigilance and supervision who are going to um be able to follow our protocol and not escalate
situations. And quite frankly, um, even for all of we've identified, all of our principles have done a lot of work identifying, um, bus stops where we have had some increased requests for supervision at those bus stops. Every school has that list of bus stops that
are on their priority list. And we are not going to publish that list of bus stops to the broad public. Um, we've never done that, nor will we do that. Um, I know there are some feelings tonight that why aren't we doing broad publishing of that? We're recruiting volunteers. They need to go through a
building administrator or district administrator to sign up. We have lots of people who've already done so. Um, and we're using our raptor visitor management system to vet people through that in a rapid fashion so that we can make sure that if somebody is going to support at a bus stop that they are
identifiable, they're wearing a districtsued safety vest and that we have vetted them. So that is a work in progress and we've had some success already with that happening. Um we certainly have room for lots more help but it's going to be strategic help.
It's not going to be blanket publishing our bus stop information on the broad worldwide web. So um that can't happen. Um we have a lot of folks from the district education center who work in this building and elsewhere who have signed up to adopt a parking lot before and after school. We have a lot of um
coaches and activities leaders who are making sure to step outside and walk teen drivers out to their cars after um after school events because it is dark early right now and we want people to feel like that they have extra supervision and support. And we've even
been encouraging staff who are interested in um escorts to vehicles if they're not comfortable as well as encouraging uh carpull networks among staff as well just to help people feel a little bit safer. Um
is it perfect? Absolutely not. But I will tell you that there's also a caution involved with publishing too much personal information about students addresses and that kind of thing that we're trying to also balance um regarding support teams
regarding student needs. Every site has established a uh a support team to kind of navigate academic and attendance um requests for accommodations including remote learning. I think every single
building has done amazing job with food shelf and donations and all of those through their networks. And I cannot think of a single school that hasn't been doing that very very robustly. Um, and we're trying to really ramp up access to students for any mental health supports in our schools with of course
our our counselors, our social workers, but we also have external u mental health providers and of course reminding our own employees about our employee assistance program um because it's so important that we navigate our own um well-being when we're trying to support
others. I know I always use this analogy a lot, but just like in an airplane when they say put your mask on yourself before you help others, it's very true when you're working in these kinds of situations with our our students and families that we we're checking ourselves for our well-being. And so that's been a big big focus of our
efforts as well. When we think about the impacts on student learning, obviously attendance has been a a big goal of ours ever since the pandemic even and that um oh my gosh, we were on track this fall to have a blockbuster year for attendance. And
of course, we started seeing those numbers slipping in December um with a lot of this um ICE crackdown that's been happening. One thing that's been a little bit tricky is that it's not the same consistent students who are gone all the
time. We have a lot of students who have been coming to school, maybe not as consistently. Um, and even those who've requested the accommodation for remote learning, it's been fluctuating quite a bit as well. Um, obviously our big concern is inter interruption to
schooling. I want to be very clear, any kind of remote and online learning option is not good for learning. It simply is not. We saw what happened in the pandemic with it. Um and I know there's a lot of um interest and anxiety
in trying to figure out a permanent solution um more quickly than we are. But right now, every single school does have a solution in place. Um I'll talk through that for just a moment, but I wanted to share a little bit of numbers. Um just recrunch these again right
before the meeting tonight. So current requests for students who've actually requested to learn remotely. Again, uh we've got about 325 secondary students and 105 elementary students. Overall, that comprises about 3 and a half% of our student population districtwide that
is um has requested to stay home in remote learning. Um, it's a little bit tricky because you hear about all these all the other districts, all the other districts. Well, I tech I will tell you, I talked to the other superintendent pretty much every single day, many times
a day. Um, there are there are districts that are seeing 30% 40% of their students staying home and it is a little different in those environments. We have not seen that here. Tartan High School far and away is the most. Um we've got almost 200 students at Tartan High
School that have remote opted for remote learning. Um which is quite different than you know we have 193 at Tartan and 86 at North. Um but those percentages so tartan it is comprising about 12 12 and a half% of their student body. So we
obviously have some different challenges at tartan. Something I want to just explain. We are considering our goal initially was to see how long this was going to go. We we you know we really don't know. In fact, I'll be honest, we're all just watching the news conferences today to see if there's going to be any relief coming in the
state. Of course, we know this is not going to solve itself overnight and quickly. Um our goal is to try to keep as many kids coming to school as we still can because we're hanging on to quite a few right now. And if we can ramp up other ways of supporting, then
perhaps we can keep those numbers up there. Um but of course we completely recognize and understand for the students who just truly do not feel like um their families do not feel like they can send them to school. One of the trickiest parts about all of this, we're
on a trimester system and we're in the middle of a trimester. So when you think about high school, for example, we could certainly take a bunch of students. One thing we've said is we're not going to just add all these kids to our online high school. Steph is still here. I see
because our aunt, you heard from staff, they have a huge case load of students. They already are teaching and they're already in the middle of their courses for um we know that if we need to do this long term, there will be a lot we can do probably at the trimester, particularly
for high school. We have um a program called Edenum, which is where we use a lot of our um our course our course curriculum and software for secondary um our our high school online school. In the middle of a trimester, if we were to pull a bunch of students out and plop
them into our online high school, we don't offer all the same courses in an online high school. we have variety of courses, but if you're in the middle of, you know, AP calculus, just going there, making sure we have the ability to finish the course that you're currently in. So, I will say
this, we are absolutely looking at where we can collapse sections. Um, it's been tricky because of the way our students are are scattered amongst all of our courses and classes and everything right now. To um
pull them off into a separate learning environment is really tricky. But we are currently looking through all of our course sections to see where we can collapse. So we have enough kids missing from this section and this section of the same geography class collapsing a section and having one of those go online. So we absolutely are working on
that. Um, we have not called for two days of remote learning as we heard some people requesting for the sheer fact that we just 3 and a half% of our students are involved in the remote learning option right now. To close school for all of our families who
really want their kids and need child care to close our schools is tricky to do. Um, it doesn't mean we won't consider it by any means. It's just not as simple as people might think. Um, and I know the school districts that have closed schools to do that, quite
frankly, are not further ahead in this than we are. Um, I think we have to just think clearly about what what the goal of that would be. I want to be very clear that every single day we're looking at these numbers and trying to weigh options for how we might do this
differently. Currently, as it works, um, our secondary students, our our secondary teachers already put all of their course present, all their course materials into schooly, including assignments, presentations, and all of that. Um, students who are learning
remotely in secondary are basically following along online, remotely, looking up and following along with each course uh, area. We have arranged for a way to keep attendance on students. And I want to remind you with the eyes on fraud prevention in Minnesota, we have
to be very careful about how we're counting students attendance in remote learning. There's clear criteria for how we have to do so. Um, our team has worked really closely with our IT department to figure out ways that we can count attendance for students who are logging in and doing their work
without putting an added burden on teachers to have to call each family and go through that individually. Um, is it high quality learning? It's not where it needs to be for sure. And I think we're going to have to consider longer term if this how long this continues on. Certainly considering
additional options. Um, and we've got a menu of those on the table that I don't want to I don't want to put them out there right yet cuz we're they're kind of underway. But we're definitely not just, you know, saying too bad, so sad. We're not going to do anything more about this. We have a lot of a lot of eyes on this data on a daily basis to
try to figure out ways to maximize learning options for students and families without snowballing it into everyone going online if we don't need everyone to go online. It's a tricky balance for sure. Um I'd like to add that we've seen some
initial success. So we had our M new year celebration last Friday night or two Friday nights ago. We had almost 800 people show up to that and what a difference it made when we were all staffed there. We had not only district
staff, we had a whole almost all of our elementary principles were there and a lot of community volunteers who signed up through our our volunteer sign up um to help us staff that event. And it was amazing to see and many of you were there to see how many people came with
that extra supervision and support. how many people really did show up was kind of remarkable. We originally toyed with the idea of postponing or canceling it because of that fear and we were so glad we didn't because it was amazing. So, um there's a lot of different directions we
can go with this, but um we're trying to really use data to drive our decisions and think through what our best options will be. Some of the most uncertain parts about everything that we have going on right now is just the uncertainty of timelines. We don't know
how long this is going to last and how it might end, if it does, and when it does. We also have some fluctuating attendance and enrollment. We have students who have been out for a while, but then come back and then they're out for a while and then come back. And so, in order for um us to do a really decent
job, probably with remote learning, we we're going to try to it's easier if we can commit to certain chunks of time. When we originally had families sign up for this at the beginning of this month, we offered it as a twoe option to get started with. Of course, we know it was probably going to go longer than 2 weeks and of course
we'll extend it beyond that. But the thought was, let's try to take it a couple weeks at a time rather than just saying, okay, who wants to be online for the rest of the school year because I don't, you know, we want to make sure that anyone who is able to be in person and and is has some supports to be there in person does come in person because we
know it's so much better in the long run for for everybody's well-being. And then of course, as I mentioned, staffing for remote learning. We have to remember that um we have to really be mindful of lensure areas of staff, right? You can't just have one teacher be like, I'm going
to teach all these kids because you also have to be licensed in each of the content areas. And so, um, we're pulling together data around how we can best use the resources that we have and where we have enough kids out that we can collapse sections, which obviously we're looking most closely at that right now
for Tartan to kind of gear up for that. Um, and see if we have ways we can do that. But it's definitely a work in progress. It's emotions are running high. Um lots of things come out a little left out of left field a little bit on all
sides of this conversation. Um we've had to mitigate um conflicts between families over online things that are said and done. I think you all have been looped in on some of those. It's been very emotional. But I will tell you nothing
we are doing and I want to be very clear about this. We're not automatically creating not we're not not creating an online program because the people that are staying home are people of color. I want to be very crystal clear about that because that was said
earlier during public comment. And I want to be crystal clear. There's no way any of us should have a job if that were the way we were thinking about this. And that is absolutely not how we are thinking about this. You know, our own lives, our own personal lives and families are affected by this every
single day. And so for people to make comments about people not caring or this or that um or or make ridiculous threats and comments because we are caring too much or whatever. It's a very difficult
time. And so we just have to make sure we take care of each other, give ourselves and each other some grace and step back and take a breath when we need to because I will tell you we have to do it about every hour of the day right now. So um
right now we are very much looking to see our next steps are what courses can we collapse? Where do we need to provide support? In fact, our teaching and learning teams could tell you every single time we talk about this, the number one thing I've said is we have to
figure a way not to have this be an undue burden on our teachers because they're already dealing with this and we already know how hybrid instruction during the pandemic was difficult. So, um, our teachers are first and foremost in our minds and we're grateful to our many, many volunteers we've had sign up
and reach out to help. I think we've got easily 50 60 people who have signed up and said who don't work in the district saying how can I help where can I go and we've been training them in and giving people safety vests and and welcoming the
support. So, um I don't have all the answers. I sure do wish I did. I'll tell you that. But I think one thing we do need to do is make sure the world understands how much our community is hurting because of this. You saw this in our testimony tonight
with staff and students and emotions are so raw right now. I know that for many of us, even as a Monday morning start to the week, it was I felt pretty numb walking in the door today just after all the events of the weekend. So, um that's
our latest update, but I I welcome questions, comments. I've got a few for you and I really appreciate you bringing this uh bringing this up and allowing us to have this conversation. It's really really important. Um one thing I heard was the the stress on the teachers and how much
they're doing and um I I just want to thank them um first of all, but also >> um try to find those ways to support. So, I'm glad that you mentioned that there are ways for the community who um are deeply caring about the student
safety and student learning to get involved um and reach out. Um I know at our visual on um Saturday night, there were there are a few people from my neighborhood who are looking for ways um I I think there's so many of us who have been and are and especially now looking
for ways to to get involved and help and feel like we're doing something. Um because as as we mentioned like you had mentioned right he wanted to be in power so he could do something. I want to have more power so I can do something. >> Um >> I also want to say um the I'm glad that
we have an EAP and and offer that. I will say my own testimonial. I called my EAP on my way into work today and I ended up just sobbing and they had nothing for me. This is such an unprecedented and strange situation and traumatic situation that there's no easy
answers. Um, and it's so silly like like a deep breath helps. It's not going to fix everything. Um, but just giving everyone grace and and time for that um is really important. >> Um, what kind of supports do we have for
the the remote learners who are also students who are special education students or all three? >> I shouldn't touch any buttons here. Clearly not. Okay. I'm sorry. Say that again. I was messing things up. What supports do we have for our students who
are remote learning? >> Remote learning who are also ML students and or special education students. >> Right. So, as part of our um remote learning plan, um the temporary solution is that every school has identified a kind of their
student outreach team to kind of support with that. Um granted it's definitely working a little more fluidly in our buildings besides Tartan where we have a lot lot more students are there but we do have supports in place um at every
level and it's very customized by the needs of the student because some students um are pretty independent workers some are not and this is I think what you are hearing tonight we know that there are students who need more um direct instruction which is just really
hard to do without um the economies of scale. So that's what we're we're looking at right now, ways we can add in and pull aside time of certain teachers to case manage if you will students who are on remote learning. But I'll ask Andy and Trisha if you want to add a
little bit to that. Um every student has a plan wrapped around them and it's customized a little differently. >> I can speak just briefly a little bit to the special education component. So, we've pulled lists for students across elementary and or secondary sites who are students who receive special ed
services during the school day when they're typically in person and are reviewing with case managers what the needs are and what the services are for each of those individual students and then having discussions about how we can best support those because again dependent upon what the services are is going to look a little bit different
based upon what learning platform that they're currently in. And so some of those pieces we are working with teams to modify assignments or give some of those accommodations even in a a remote learning platform or opportunity. Some are otherwise going to be potentially services that we may do a burst of
service when students return back in person. So maybe some speech services or different social skills instruction, some of those pieces. And so it's it's not a one-sizefits-all in terms of a response to what that looks like, but we are digging into the list of those students to make sure that we can go through each student's plan and be
comprehensive about how we're then making sure that we are meeting their needs either in the current moment and or when we can have them back in person with us to to really, you know, beef up what those services are for that time that they may not have been in person with us.
Um I would say with ML and I think with with all of our students is trying to maximize our most important resource which is our people right so um if you have an ML classroom that's has had a decline in in population because
students more students are remote um discussions about how to use um pair professionals that work with ML in a different capacity looking at those co-eing sections to see if those numbers have changed is there a better way to shift um staff staffing in our building to maximize the time that you could
potentially work with students remotely or in person. >> Yep. Thank you for that. Um, this kind of a silly idea, but I'm sure you guys have thought of it. Um, what does our capacity for substitute teachers look like? And is it possible to kind of
bring in subs and let some of the teachers who have a high number of students missing take some time to really focus on those remote learning days? Is that a possibility that you've considered or could? >> We're definitely looking at that. Keep in mind though that short call subs are
not in many cases not licensed teachers. Um and when they are licensed teachers, we have to look very closely at what area they're licensed in. So, um, to have a sub, if it's going to be anything more than a short short time, take over
a class, they have to be licensed to teach that math class or that geography class or what have you. And so, part of our challenge right now and and absolutely we are exploring all of those options. Right now, it's taking a look at all the students that are missing, what classes they're currently enrolled
in, and what what staff we need by license area. It's easier in elementary because a teacher in elementary school grades 1 through 5 has the same license. One elementary teacher can certainly support students at any of those grade
levels and count in terms of lensure with the exception of ML and special ed cuz that's separate. With secondary it's all very specific content lensure. So that's what we're actually looking more at building teams of people that can cover cohorts of kids who are in our
remote learning and we're absolutely looking at um who are our building subs are subs that are with us all year long so they know us. They're in our systems more regularly combining combined with looking at our our existing staff to see
where we have options to collapse those numbers and make sure we have coverage. Um it's a it's been a little tricky because the numbers keep changing on students, but we have um as of you know this morning a pretty good handle on where
our greatest needs are. Um you know we have schools that have zero or no kids doing remote learning and then we have others where there's a lot more. So, it's also just taking a look at lensure, but we're absolutely considering substitutes who are licensed um and even
short call subs that can cover for a short time in terms of offering planning time for people that we need it. So, all of those issues are on the table right now and we're we're mapping out numbers by course and section right now. >> Okay, that's helpful. Um, and then I also just wanted to highlight I think
I've seen a couple, but um, again for people looking to help the the tartan drive that's going on right now, I'm sure they'll take um, you know, donations and things. And there's one at John Glenn, I believe. >> There's one at every single school >> and the so people can connect with the
school that either they're closest to or um, to get involved that way. And then the 622 Educational Foundation, I think, is another kind of wraparound >> um, for people who really want to want to help. I found them to be >> uh really kind and >> and I've been telling everyone to for volunteers who are interested in
helping, they are welcome to email me directly. Um thankfully May has been helping me navigate my flood of emails in my inbox, but um we do have a QR code link that people can send us their interest forms through as well. Um and
of course any of our cabinet members as well. Um, we've got a whole network of volunteers on a list and we could always use more. >> Yeah. Just one kind one final just thank you. Thank you to the helpers. >> Yes. There's so many great people in our community.
>> Christine, I wanted to ask a question too. I I realize everything's in flux and that it's changing. and you're looking for better solutions. But currently, like right now, it sounded to me, okay, there's about 400 kids that
are remote learning, it sounded to me like at the secondary level, they're maybe doing something like independent study with the content that's put online. And then could I just finish really quick? And then the other piece is about the elementary. What is
happening at the elementary level? Mhm. A lot of the work, the initial infrastructure in these first couple weeks has been very much independent study with a point of contact each day. Um I will tell you in our number in our schools where they have lower numbers of students who are in the situation,
they're getting more direct contact. And I think that's what you were hearing from Tartan is that some of the teachers are feeling like the kids who are enrolled in that work are not able to keep up because there's not live instruction for them to learn from. And so that's the piece we're trying to
figure out how to do without without causing a landslide of everyone else jumping on board to go remote if they aren't already. We're trying to also kind of balance that a little bit too, right? And so at the secondary that kind of like independent study
structure and I realize that'll change moving forward but >> so then would it be that the students are doing the work and maybe submitting the work and then the teachers are grading and giving them feedback that way and so that's kind of how the >> instruction is happening. What about the elementary?
>> Elementary um a lot of a lot of teachers are sending homework home to parents um via packets and whatnot. Um, we have been exploring because, you know, we we really got away from screen time in elementary school. And so, our technology department has been really
working to kind of revamp accessibility of what kind of devices we need. And if we do need to do some of that, I think we all know that little kids don't learn well on devices, especially in initial instruction. And so, um, a lot of that is more remote support work. But I will
tell you our numbers at elementary school are much much much much lower than what you see in secondary for sure. >> Anything you guys want to add to that? >> Um I'll just add that I think a we
certainly are trying to find every way to support those students that are remote, but I think a big push um in tandem is to try to find out what those barriers are for students uh to get to school. you know, whether it's bus stop supervision, whether it's um feeling a sense of safety, and when I'm out doing
a parking lot, I have many parents that are waving and thanking us for being there. Um so that presence, I think, has an impact on psychological safety for those families. So, it's in concert. We we're going to work with those students that certainly feel like they have to be at home, but at the same time, we're
seeing some numbers, including a tartan of some students that are returning. So, we want to have both um options. We want to have this capacity to have those kids stay connected to their teachers where they're currently scheduled so they can easily come back in person when that time comes.
>> And for elementary, just to take a little bit onto what Christine was saying, obviously our numbers are quite a bit lower across elementary, but we do have each of those individuals whose families have opted to have them in that platform for the current time being have worked with the building support teams, whomever that may be at each site identified to create their
individualized learning plan that that student is operating on. And so whether it is their current classroom teacher is having daily contact with them either virtually or via phone or what have you maybe the contact point. We also have an opportunity for families to join a zoom
session where we have another sta support staff identified within the district to be that daily point of contact with families as well to either ask any questions um be that bridge back to the school building to access you know additional materials or relay any
information. And those individuals have access to each of those students individual plans as well, so that they can be very intentional on focusing in on what that particular student may be working on at that given time, what's been provided to them, whether it be some hard copy packet work or also
working with getting devices to our families for students who may be able to successfully navigate some of our different um virtual learning platforms too in terms of Clever, some other district supported opportunities.
So, I just had a kind of a followup. So, the teachers that came earlier, um, what I'm hearing them say is they're that it's not sustainable for them. >> Yes, it's not. And that's true. It's not. >> Yeah. Like there's a lack It almost
sounds like there's a lack of support for them. Um, but I'm hearing a lot of things that >> district is doing. So, I guess how do we find the disconnect on on why they're not feeling supported, but yet we're doing all these things to
help support >> that's a fair question. >> Our teachers um Yeah. So, and what supports are we putting into place to to help them make them feel supported? So, >> Right. Right. Well, I think I think the first and foremost I know our Andy's working with our Tartan leadership team
because um as you know, every teacher that was here tonight was from Tartan and they're definitely feeling it. Not that others aren't as well. Um but it's been really trying um we've already taken all expectations off of our teachers for
individual outreach. Now granted, it's more than independent study type of thing. Um, Eric worked closely with our IT to make sure that we could find a back-end way to take attendance that does not involve teachers having to manually enter attendance for remote learners while they're also teaching in
person. Um, I get that there's a feeling right now that the district's not doing enough. Some of the things that were said tonight were related to volunteer recruitment and whatnot. So, I think there might be some increased communication with
Tartan about that because I know every site that's been getting volunteers, we're funneling them off to the sites and it sounds like we need to do a little bit more to help with that communication there for sure. Um, there's a lot of staff at the district. I think part of
what we have to do is just it's going to have to be about the data, right? So, just this existential things aren't working mindset. Um, first of all, this is really the first time we really had these concerns brought up was today. So, obviously, we're we're looking to each
and every one of those. I think what's really important is taking a look at data. Um, we always weigh whether we need to shut down schools. Um, when we have 3 and a half% of our students missing, it doesn't feel justifiable for
us to close schools for any length of time necessarily. the idea of a planning day. We're certainly open to that, but do you just do a planning day for Tartan? All other teachers in other schools also have students that are missing school.
You know, we have schools that have one student who's remote learning. We have schools that have more than that. So trying to figure out rather than just shutting everything down, using our data to figure out what do we need to do to establish a cadre of a team that will be
responsible for those learners. Um at elementary we have as Trisha mentioned other district staff who are able to run the zooms and support those students because of the generalist nature of it. at secondary. Um I think what you're
going to see from us in the next few days here is really the data around what we can do to collapse sections, right? And what we can do to help um help make that more manageable for people. We've been very intentional about our
expectations for teachers right now are not adding anything extra on their plate that they need to do besides what they always do. Our teachers always have to post their lessons in Schooly. They always have to post their assignments in Schooly. Um the part that would be
different for students who are independent learning, if you want to call it that, is the attendance taking and we've taken that off their plate as well. Does that mean people feel good about it? Absolutely not. Right. I think what what a big part of the issue is people don't feel like it's a good um
it's a good way to learn. I would say the workload on individual teachers um they're not required to check in with each individual student because we've got district-wide folks to manage attendance and participation and all of that without individual teachers having to do so. But it's very clear and we
agree that the quality of learning that kids who are at home are receiving is not anywhere near where it needs to be. And I would tell you every single district is experiencing that same feeling right now because I think a lot of us are hoping that this is not going to be such a long-term
thing, but we obviously recognize it very well might be. And so, um, I will tell you that third trimester is easy peasy because we can we can re- roster everyone's schedules and we can set things up longer term. what we have right now are
the next six weeks or so till the end of the trimester that we have to figure out a way to limp through this. And so after two weeks ago offering a remote learning, part of our interest was to see how many really want to do that um
without trying to snowball enrollment in online learning if we don't need to, right? And what we found in a lot of our situations where people have been able to work out some support systems, the number of people needing remote learning has gone down quite a bit actually, even from a week ago. Um, but to answer your
question, what's going to help our Tartan teachers feel better? Well, they obviously need to know that they've been heard and we'll reach out and let them know that as well. I think the other thing is just um reassuring people that they're not alone. They're not the only ones that
have to deliver food. They're not the only ones that have to staff parking lots and bus stops. We have a master list of every one of those stations and we are plugging in volunteers all the time. And when we see those slots are filled, we don't plug in volunteers. So, if teachers feel like they're having to
fill those, we can help communicate that better that we do have other people to fill those. It's not on them to have to do that. Um, and I I understand there's such a I don't know a single person who isn't trying to get out in neighborhoods, who's not trying to deliver food, who's
not trying to do all these things because we all are. I I mean all day every day right now. Um, and I think just helping people to know we don't expect we don't expect that on the backs of our teachers. We do send out messages saying if people are interested, but you
have to remember when we send out a district-wide message to all employees. We have 2,000 employees. 700 are teachers. The rest have other jobs. And so I think teachers might feel like when we send out a message saying if anyone's willing to adopt a bus stop or adopt or whatever.
That doesn't mean you have to do more if you're already doing some of that. It's and I think that's part of what we have to give permission to people to let them know. Um, you don't have to be the person to solve all of this. We have lots of people, like you said, Katie, that are really interested in helping.
Um, and as we monitor our all of our assignment locations and stations, we every day are looking at those numbers and plugging people in where we have vacancies to fill those. So, I think communicating that it's not on it's not on our teachers to have to do all of
that themselves. um helping our schools learn from each other because some schools have really slick systems in place and some are still building their systems. Of course, we're all here to support, but we also want to support, you know, the grassroots ideas that are happening at each building level, too.
So, um and then clearly really defining what is a teacher's role and expectation and what is not. I mean Tim could tell you we talk about this almost five times a day right now to try to make it clear so that we are not adding any undue
burden. I do believe some of the burden people are absorbing is just because we care so much. It's so awful and it's hard to rest knowing some people aren't getting what they need and then we burn ourselves out. I think
we've all been at that point in the last few weeks of having to step back for a minute because we're burnt out. Um, and so we'll be regrouping and and certainly um having a conversation with the staff at Tartan. Um, I think Andy's been over there every single day to try to
navigate what's needed there and we'll keep doing so. But I don't want this to only be about Tartan. Um, all of our sites have done amazing work. I think North told me they raised $7,000 to help feed families last week or whatever. I mean, there's so many, many, many
efforts underway. Um, and while everyone's working in their own teams, they're also not alone and we don't want people to feel the burden of it on their own. >> I don't know if I could just make one one comment, just one thing that I I heard tonight. I think what I was
hearing from teachers tonight is, you know, there's a piece of it that is about the work and workload, but I think a broader piece is I think the these are a group of teachers that are really concerned about um whether their students are learning, >> you know, and they take pride in their math classes and their English classes
and their science classes. And indeed, the experience the student is getting in person in at Tartan and chemistry is not the same as the student that is currently working through schooly. And that's what they're really fearing the longer this goes on. Um, so we're trying to find some solutions in a really difficult problem, but I think that's
what I heard to give credit to them. Um, I think that's really what they're mostly concerned about and we have the same concern. >> Our staff care so deeply about our kids and our families. Um, >> I can't even tell you how many conversations we have even with the
teachers who are here tonight. I mean, they bend over backwards and care for our families and for our students. um sometimes and oftentimes at the expense of their own time with their own families. And so I think our job is to try to help everyone find some balance
in all of that as well. >> Just just quickly, uh Michelle and I were on the board and through co >> Mhm. >> Right. >> And Kayla, too. >> Sorry. Sorry, Kayla. Sorry. >> Sorry, I'm kidding.
>> Um, it was awful. >> It was awful. There was there were there was one meeting where um for two and a half hours Michelle read emails from desparing,
anguished parents. Do you remember that? I >> sure do. >> Yes. Two and a half hours and we were all in our homes. You This is all on screen. So there. So, we learned some things >> through that terrible period. We did
learn some things and one of them was the message that you had tonight that school once you get there, it's a safe place >> and it's a productive place and that teachers care about I'm glad you brought that up Andy. These teachers are very
concerned about you know the kids not lose. >> So as leaders >> y >> we have to try to foster you know and support uh a sense of
normaly for these kids. We have to foster a sense of we're in this together. Let's help each other and stay positive. If we start pointing fingers and doing all kinds of toxic stuff,
>> this is not helpful. >> This is not helpful. So, >> and our kids are absolute sponges. >> Yeah. >> To everything around them. They absorb the anxiety out of the air from their parents and their >> school and their teachers. And it's it's
very um it's really hard. We have a lot of conversations about how do we try to take care of ourselves and keep consistent routines when we can, but it's really hard >> and and I know I talk about this way too much, but my three little grandsons at
Weaver Elementary School, uh, you know, and I'm there every day because I'm the one that gets them on the bus in the morning and then I'm there in the, you know, when they get off the bus. So they tell me, you know, oh, you know, half the kids were missing today and so on. You know, yeah, I know
that the attendance is is is down. Um, but, you know, they're still bringing home their little projects and they're looking forward to this event and that and they're doing a great job at Weaver and I'm sure elsewhere and setting little events for every day and trying
to again keep it positive, keep it moving forward. Um so um yeah it's a difficult time and I appreciate that um you know people care a lot and the and
the and the problem of of of burnout is real um you know but um yeah but we but we're we're doing the best we can.
We really are with our with very good intentions. >> Yes. >> For everyone. Yeah. >> And without question, we will take feedback from our staff. In fact, every time we send out a staff email, we have a a a place where people
can click and submit feedback. >> Um, and we read those all the time, every day. What What is the feedback? you know, and most of the feedback we've been hearing so far has been how can we help with food distribution? How can we help with, you know, bus stops? How can
we help with, you know, um the vast majority of our feedback has not been related to how do we change up our instruction plans? Although, to be fair, now that we're heading into another week of this, we have to figure out more sustainable plans, as does everybody.
Um, but it's it's really tricky when our students are kind of scattered throughout the district and not all in one plate. They don't fall neatly into packages. So, we have to figure that out building by building and department by department and we'll continue to do so.
You'll see changes even in the next week, I'm sure, as we continue to look at our data and problem solve these things. And finally, I just want to say I I'm hoping that this latest horrific event, the murder of Alex Freddy,
is a turning point. >> Mhm. >> That it's a point where things will we the the nation is watching us. >> The world is watching. >> The world is watching us. I It can't go
on. It can't get worse. And I don't think I I don't know. >> Something has to go. >> I'm hearing little snippets on news about maybe >> we're all watching news from today, right? Obviously, our governor and our president >> connected today. We're all watching
>> with baited breath to see if things are going to change at all. >> It's going to get better. >> Mhm. Um, I'm echoing what um, a few people have already said, but uh, I just cannot um,
emphasize enough how much our teachers and our staff in 622 really care about our kids. >> Um, it is very inspiring. Um and and our kids are sponges that there's plenty of
anxiety right now and um um that our kids are getting from us adults, but um I I also feel like our kids, they have soaked up just that that level of care for the people around them. And I've
been really inspired by um our kids, the leadership that they've shown um to just try to um make all the students know that they're welcomed and we want them to feel safe um at our schools and in
our communities. Um, but I this is a really difficult time and um I I do I do hope that um our teachers and our staff are able to to find ways to make sure they take care of themselves and um I um
I I I know that um our district's going to um keep working to to try to find the best ways to support our teachers and our our kids. Um but I know this is a really difficult time. Uh, and I just wanted to finish by saying I'm so glad
um for um Scarlet's um um willingness tonight to be open um and to share and also um for um um Euan's uh uh testimony um his his student report um that
Scarlet read um on his behalf. Um that was powerful. And um I also think that um anytime our teachers come and and they share what they're going through or other staff, it it's so helpful and powerful for us as a board.
>> As I've said many times in 622, and I really mean this, we have the absolute best teachers you will find anywhere. Anywhere. I mean, look at look at the passion of our our teachers. and we got
700 more like them. And I will tell you um it's really incredible as is the leadership of our principles and all other folks in the district. It's everyone is going above and beyond right now every day and we're very fortunate to be in 622.
And I think sorry I'll just share you know I think despite the chaos and the cold that we're seeing motans our teachers our staff our students are really coming together with compassion and warmth for one another and that makes me so proud to be in 622. Um you know there's real fear that these
students and their families are facing. We saw that tonight and I think we all need to acknowledge that. Um which I think I think we all do. Um, and you know, not only our Latinx students, but also our M students and our natives, uh, our Native American students are really
feeling this fear, especially and others as well. Um, so I just want to give a lot of thanks and kudos similar to you, Caleb, and everyone else here to our to our teachers and to our staff and to our administrators. Um, you know, I think it's it's also important to give each other grace during this time and to give
ourselves grace especially. Um, you know, I'm trying to stay off social media as much as I can. While social media is a really good tool, it's also can be a lot for ourselves. So, it's important to stay off >> that. Um, you know, I think coming from this conversation, what I'm hearing is,
you know, I think yes, number one priority is trying to do what we can to keep our students in our schools as much as possible and doing those preventative measures around like the bus stops um that was mentioned. So, the more that we can do that, I think is really terrific. Um, additionally, sustainable practices
I think is also uh we can't underline that enough. I think um with collapsing sections makes a lot of sense. Um, so looking at how can we lift the burden off of teachers um while understanding that they want to do more as well um to try to create some more sustainable
solutions so they don't feel feel that burnout. Um, you know, I think the case by case basis makes a lot of sense with our students. Um, and then additionally, you know, to loop this back to the levy and operating funds, you know, I think
our district is already so lean as is that if we had more operating funds, >> Oh, for sure. >> We would be able to do more, support our teachers more, support our students more. So when times like this happen um in our in our world where there's crisis
um you know we would have more to lean on versus what we're doing currently which is really tough. >> Um so encourage you know everyone to help in the ways that they can whether that's um you know giving someone a hug that needs it giving someone a smile or
helping with a bus stop helping with dismissal arrival times. you know, if you are going to conferences here soon, bring some food that you can drop off at your school for for that help um as well. So, so thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Um and thank you to you, Christine, and and your staff. I I check in with you often um every week, and so I I know the hard work everybody's putting in. Um so, uh thank you. So, >> thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Um, so we're going to move on
to our action items for this meeting. Um, first up we have our acknowledgement of contributions. Minnesota statute 123b.02 permits school boards to receive for the benefit of the district bequest donations or gifts for any proper purpose and apply the same to the purpose designated. In that behalf,
the board may act as trustee of any trust created for the benefit of the district and for the benefit of pupils thereof. Therefore, the director of finance recommends the following resolution. Be it resolved by the school board of independent school district number 622 that the school board accept with appreciation the following contributions and permit their use as
designated by the donors from East Metro Stars Youth Hockey Association. $750 has been donated for the purpose of North Tartan adapted floor hockey. That brings the total fiscal year 2526 monetary contributions to $25,915.86.
Thank you, Director Sore. Um, could I get a motion and a second? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Moved by Sor, second by Anderson. Um, any discussion? >> Thank you, East Metro Stars.
All right. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> And all oppose say nay. All right. Um, so that is resolved. Um, next up we have our ratification of um the BIS agreement. >> I'm going to pitch it here for uh
Director Yang. Um, so good evening, Chair Yang, Superintendent Tuchioso, and members of the board. The district has reached a tenative agreement with Service Employees International Union, SEIU, representing the Behavior Intervention Specialist Group of the District for the contract period July
1st, 2025 to June 30th, 2027. The membership of SEIU voted and ratified the agreement. The terms and conditions of the agreement include a 3% increase to the salary schedule in the first year of the contract and a 2.75%
for year two. All increases will be effective when the school year assignment begins for that year. The wage schedule is not inclusive of longevity payments. Longevity payments is an additional payment that is made to an employee based on years of service
with the district. Starting the 2526 school year, longevity levels greater than 3 years will see a quarter increase. The district contribution towards medical insurance had no increase for year 1. The district
contribution will increase by $73 for single and $171.39 for family coverage. The year 2 increases will be made for the HSA plan. Additional contract language was added
and updated to reflect current and best practices with our BIS group. I'm recommending that these items be approved for the 2527 BIS contract. >> Thank you. Um so the resolution um be it resolved by the school board of
independent school district number 622 that the 2025 2027 BIS agreement be approved as presented. Could I get a motion and a second? >> Second.
>> Moved by Livingston, seconded by Rosemark. Um any discussion? Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. >> And all oppose say nay. >> All right. Um that passes. Um policy
revisions. >> Awesome. >> Yep. I got that one as well. So again, good evening, Chair Yang, Superintendent Tuchioso, and directors of the board. Tonight we have the third and final of three required readings of proposed policy revisions for 11 of our policies.
As I've done previously, I will briefly summarize the proposed revisions for each of those policies and after which you will be asked to take action on adopting the recommended revisions. First, we have policy 306, code of
ethics and behaviors. Recommended revisions include the insert of the Minnesota code of ethics for school administrators. Poly policy 606 textbooks and instructional materials. This adds a re provision that makes all instructional
materials available for inspection by guardians. Policy 712 which is video and other than video and electronic surveillance recording other than on school transportation vehicles.
This updates the language replacing the word surveillance with recording. Policy 722 which is public data request recommended revisions update reflect the 2025 legislative updates to
the Minnesota statute 13.03 03 policy 417, chemical use and abuse. This revision removes duplicative language as well as removes language specific to the DARE program. Policy 513, student promotion, retention, and
program design, is an update to legal references. Policy 519, excuse me, is interviews of students by outside agencies. This as well adds language from Minnesota statute 2605.22.
Policy 601, which is school district curriculum and instructional goals. This deletes references to the world's best workforce. Policy 616, school district system accountability. The revisions include removing outdated
language as well as adding district specific language for the continuous improvement process. Policy 621, Literacy and the Read Act, adds required statutory references.
And then policy 79, student transportation safety policy. This replaces the word or language rather handicapping condition with disability throughout the policy. And those are all the recommended
revisions. >> Thank you. Um, so be it resolved by the school board of independent school district number 622 um that we hereby revise the policies as presented. Could I get a motion and a second? >> All right. Moved by swore.
>> Second. >> Seconded by Anderson. Um, any discussion. >> All right. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> And all oppose say nay. All right. Um those revisions are approved. Um and
then now we have our um renaming of our um alternative high school. >> Yeah. Chair Yang, Superintendent Tuchioso, members of the board. Uh thanks uh for the opportunity. Um I am here tonight to ask the board to approve the official naming of 622 Alternative
High School ascend high school effective beginning with the 202627 school year. The new name strengthens school identity, improves clarity and recognition for students, families, and external partners, and supports consistent branding and communication.
The acronym AHS maintains continuity with existing documentation and transcripts. Administration is directed to complete all required Minnesota Department of Education processes and implement the transition, including updates to official records, communication, and branding materials.
Thank you. Um so be it resolved by the school board of independent district 622 um that we um approve the official naming of 62 alternative high school as send high school effective 2026 2022
school year um and then therefore direct the administration to complete all required Minnesota Department of Education processes and implementation steps. Could I get a motion and a second? >> So moved. >> All right. Moved by Anderson, seconded
by Livingston. Um any discussion? >> Um all in favor say I. >> I. >> And all oppose say nay. All right. So that is approved. Um and then one of the last things we have to do is um
>> so we have been here all night. >> Right. I know. Yay. Uh we have the date and the time set for our retreat, but we need to set the agenda and the location. Um so we recommend that February 7th, 2020 February 7th, 2026 retreat, which will
take place from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Sky View um principal conference room and it contained the following agenda items. Budget planning team building and then the superintendent check-in. Um could I get a motion and a second? >> So move. >> Second.
>> All right. Moved by um Yenner, seconded by Swore. Um any discussion? All right. All in favor say I. >> I. >> And all oppose say nay. >> All right. So that is approved. Um and then we have board communication
director Rosemar. >> Yeah, I'll um share that. I attended a community meeting with Landfall, which is the mobile home community. um here by Oakdale um just to hear some of the things that their residents were going through um and there's great grave
concern by a lot of their residents um given the current um conditions and immigration operations. Um and additionally I attended the the M New Year celebration at Richardson which was terrific as well. Um so yeah those are my two things.
Well, I just want to remind people, uh, February 3rd is a big day in Minnesota. Um, we can sit in our living rooms and scream at the TV, which is what I've been doing, or we can go to precinct
caucuses, and they're being held February 3rd. This is where you meet with your neighbors, right? and you um talk about current events, talk about the way forward and um it's the number one thing
in people don't understand caucuses. It's it's just about engagement. It's about getting your toe in the water for being involved in your community. That's the purpose. So trying to demystify it,
right? It's not it's not about pushing paperwork around, you know. It's not about process. There's a lot of process, but uh really the vibe is friendly and get together with your neighbors. Um North High is hosting a caucus, but both
parties uh have caucuses February 3rd, so please please Yep. Yes. Right. >> Well, to be clear, they're not hosting. the buildings have been rented for those purposes for them. There you go. Just want to be clear. Sorry, posting is not Thanks for that correction.
Um, and in fact, they can't put signs out in front of the building or anything. So, yeah, there there's there's, you know, a number of rules to be followed, but it it's a good event and it's actually kind of fun. So, encourage everybody to
attend it. Thanks. Um, I I also got to attend the Mung New Year celebration at Richardson Elementary. Um, and uh the turnout uh was uh just really impressive. Um, and uh, I I I just really loved the time
that I I had um, just talking with a couple of the other uh, volunteers that were helping um, with the the doors and uh, welcoming people in and helping um, directing people uh, to the food or uh, to the other activities um that we had
there. Um, but I'm just proud of of uh just the the the diverse group of people from our community that came out um to celebrate the monk new year. Um whether they they were really familiar with it or just learning about it. Um and um um
my family I brought home my plate of food um and uh they all ate it very quickly like before I had any. Um so the food was amazing. Um, so next year, um, if you if you missed it this year, um, next year, like don't miss it if if you
can go. Just really quick, there was a lot of conversations tonight about thanking, you know, the superintendent and the cabinet and the teachers and I just was thinking about I feel like it's really time to thank everyone
>> because when I look back on the length of time I've been on the school board when I first started, our issues were where we'd have people come to the schoolboard meeting and say, "You're not fiscally responsible enough or you're not um you don't you're not good enough
at teaching or whatever. And those things just seem so minor now because of everything that's happened over the last few last six years at least, you know, since co with all the polit politics on school boards with uh I remember when
they came back from COVID and there was this idea of disregulation where all the kids were fighting and the teachers were really upset that the kids keep fighting and then we have the attendance thing and then we have this stuff with ICE and then we have attacks on DEI and in a district like us, you know, we protect
DEI. You know, it's important to us. It's who we are. And so, I just feel like if there's ever been a time that I want to thank everybody who works in public schools, it's right now. And I know you guys are working probably, you know, 20 hours a day or something crazy
to keep things float, you know, keep the stability that our kids, you know, depend on. Anyway, thank you. Thank you to everybody who works in public education right now. Yeah, I um I also attended Mung New Year with uh my son who I just enrolled in
Richardson and the M immersion program. So, I'm very excited for that. And I going to give a special shout out to the the student performers who were amazing. And um my my son was in the back saying, "That's impossible, Mom. Did you see
that?" And um it it was really great. And and the food was really good. and there are lots of activities that he's for, so we could not stay for. Um, but seeing and also seeing everyone come out to support and make sure that it was a safe place for the families, for the
students, and for everyone. Um, that was amazing. Um, I Michelle said it so well. Um, and thank you again. Um I I was also thinking of coming here and making a you know making a resolution on how we don't
appreciate what ICE is doing and how harmful it has been to our students but I can't do that any better than the teachers and the students and um superintendent has already done for everyone. Um and it's just just a reminder that like you know resolutions are great and I'm glad that we have the policies in place that we do to protect
our students and um the the things that we do but doing the work is the important thing. Um and and so just to reiterate that again um we are doing so much work. You all are doing so much work um everyone is doing really really great work and um it it's really great
to see that um these days. So thank you again. It it's not enough but but thank you. >> I don't have much more to add so ditto to everybody. Um but I will adjourn this meeting. Um, so next up we have uh
February 17th, 2026 is our next business meeting at 6 PM here in the boardroom. Um, could I get a motion and a second to adjurnn? >> Moved by seconded by Rosemark. Um, all in favor say I. All
>> say nay. All right, meeting journ. Thank you everybody.