e e e e e e e good evening everyone the regular meeting of this Independent School District 279 School Board is called to
order at 6: p.m on June 25th 2024 this regular business meeting the AIO School Board is being conducted in the boardroom of the Educational Service Center the meeting can be monitored electronically by streaming online from the district website an archive
recording of tonight's meeting will also be available on the district website seated in front of you this evening from my left and your right are director Thomas Brooks director Heather Douglas director Tanya
Prince myself Jackie mosca Jones director Sarah Mitchell and director Tamar Grady superintendent Dr Kim H and members of the superintendants cabinet are also here this evening those of you who can please stand for the Pledge of
Allegiance director Prince we please lead the pledge i al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God
indivisible with Li and justice for all thank you board members are there any additions to the agenda um hearing none is there a motion to accept the agenda as uh revised it has been revised since the initial posting so moved moved by director
Brooks is there a second second second by director Grady um is there any discussion essentially just the order of things changed nothing went back on or off um all in favor say I I all oppose say nay
motion passes six to zero okay our next standing agenda item is recognitions there are no recognitions this evening the next agenda item is audience opportunity to address the school board we have four people that
have given me cards to speak I'll review a few of the guidelines for those who will speak to the board um as you all know we are all here for one community and for the best interests of our students you will be called in the podium in this order student parent
staff Community member and others when I call your name please come to the microphone and state your name the topic and whether or not you're a district resident please keep your comments to 3 minutes address the entire board that means we're not addressing an individual board member or the audience verbally or
with posters or literature handouts for board members are to be placed on the information table or given to the board secretary the board secretary will provide copies to the board members the board and audience will listen and not respond back at this time if you would
like someone to follow up with you on your questions and or comments please let Sher the board secretary know concerns about a particular book um can be brought to the Review Committee through the procedure 652 we have one tonight um comments and
interactions between board members and the public are expected to be civil of course and respectful for the good of our community Personnel concerns should always be directed in this order building principal executive director for human resources assistant superintendent superintendent and then
finally in writing to the school board and at this time I would like to call up Natalie to speak thank you Natalie good evening my name is Natalie Sonic and I have a child in the attending the school district I'm here
tonight to read a statement from gaze against groomers a National Organization consisting of over 800,000 followers made up of only LGB and team members speaking out on issues affecting the
LGBT community and the dangerous things being done to children in their name their statement is as follows multiple concerns multiple concerned parents have reached out to us regarding oio Maple Grove School District's controversial and highly
sexually graphic books in their school libraries sexuality regardless of gender ID identity does not belong in an educational environment especially without parental consent when school officials choose to take it upon them
themselves to place psychologically harmful graphic sexually graphic containing books in the schools they open up the door to pornography and sexual abuse the information contained in the books has been medically proven to cause an increase in sexual activity
higher rate of STDs due to the risky behaviors that are graphically suggested in these books pregnancy and students putting thems in harmful situations to include but are not limited to sexual assaults by adults there may have been
good intentions with these books but there is a reason these books must be removed to put it simply they are highly inappropriate and dangerous for our children a school's job is to educate the approved curriculum getting children
on par with reading math science and history must be the top prior priority not providing materials on how to have sex or read pornographic fiction focus on giving a real education so this District can achieve more than just 43%
proficiency rate for early or excuse me elementary students in in reading or a 29% Proficiency in basic math for your high school graduates have you given up on your students you are not teaching equality
as you pretend it is GRA IC sex does not mean one will become tolerant or have respect for others it teaches the opposite we must be teaching them to put their best effort forward to be a better person but that's the parent's job and
not yours your focus should be teaching stem subjects which many students are currently failing that is your job and then Mark brener hi my name is Mark brener I have children in the district and I'm going to be finishing the statement from gaze
against groomers ask yourself why is it imperative for you to provide books that speak on masturbation provide a visual guide on how to insert vegetables into a young girl's vagina instructions on how to taste their own genital fluids as seen in the book gender queer which is in the
school library and even has a book rating printed in the books not for miners this book also fully shows minor having graphic oral sex with full imagery District 279 schools also have books that provide even more highly sexual imagery such as in the book fun
home that provided clear images of an individual performing oral sex on another individual with full nudity in View and has a storyline of a high school teacher who Grooms students for sex the book let's talk about it also found in the library shows miners how to
take cell phone selfies of their genitals which is a felony in all 50 states the book lawn booy also in your school library contains graphic descriptions of sex between men and children this book is gay provides an instruction manual for how to download
grinder an adult only app that has notoriously been filled with adults engaging in sexual activity with minors in short uh the things that are provided um are not for minors and they Des sensitize children to adult sexual
activities and images if any parents are seeking resources that provide helpful guides on Growing Up LGBT guides that do not pray on children or actively seek to desensitize children to topics of graphic sex especially with adults please reach out to any of us at in gaze
against groomers our goal is to preserve the in innocence of all children something we wish this school district would do again sincerely Brian sha thank thank you Julie Smith hi my name is Julie
Smith um I'm a parent and a resident I'm here for the book review process as well I am also a volunteer at a domestic abuse shelter and I co-lead two organizations that promote Hope for Youth I'm here to address some misconceptions regarding the book challenges I know the people who have
brought these books forward I'm one of them and we are doing these because we are concerned about our students We Believe sexually explicit books do not provide any educational value and should be removed or at least restricted they should also be labeled with a warning
and a rating system some are also concerned that endrine disrupting chemicals are affecting our youth and it's going unchecked and that trauma will not be discovered or worked through because everything is deemed as normal there is something going on with our
kids they are hurting we as adults need to come together to work this out certain individuals are trying to obscure the truth and make these challenges about hate or discrimination that is false they seem to have ulterior motives and are not in line with serving
the students in our district I'm stating this from a personal experience I have followed the process I've been ignored sent in wrong directions usually to you guys the board and given vague answers in order to skirt responsibility the request to take my review to the next
level was sent in May 9th it didn't go through I had to resubmit it it was then acknowledged that it was received on May 17th and I would hear something I still have not in the past some people have thought reading step-by-step instructions on how to perform certain
sex acts in order to be loved or that being sexually abused is common could help one struggling student meanwhile not caring how it affects the rest of our students the book I'm contesting graphically details the rape of a 12-year-old girl she's brutally raped into
unconsciousness by her dad gets pregnant the baby dies her dad dies she goes crazy completely devastating there are other books that deal with these issues that could be in there instead someone sent in false information to Fox n after
our February board meeting by blending two completely different agenda items to make our district look hateful and discriminatory I was at the meeting and I know it was false reporting line will solve nothing and if that individual or individuals really feel that way come and talk to
one of us let's work it out we have the same goal we want our students to go to school in a safe environment we want them to know that they are worth more than what they can offer sexually I'm going to have to hurry up here let's let's make this close this is causing a divide I think we should have a book
rating system I was told there isn't one let's create one there's numerous resources that can be used many schools and organ organizations have been working on this I propose a committee be established with parents and District employees in a fair ratio of how the community votes to get a rating system
for these books offered to our students if there is a goal to have all voices heard then we need to balance our committee and see that the community is well respected have one paragraph left we also propose that parents are informed about what is going on and what is available we need to know something
before we can monitor it thank you for your time thank you Julie um Maria hello my name is Maria I'm a resident of Maple Grove and I thank you for the opportunity to speak a few words to the board and as a taxpayer and
parent I have vested interest in the quality of our schools including the curriculum teaching materials and other things that the students are exposed to I have been paying attention to the Schoolboard meetings and was shocked by the inappropriate contact of the books
that are within reach of the students such of seene literature has no place in public library I am not a lawyer so I don't know which particular laws are being violated but I am pretty sure that this is illegal it's just common sense pornographic materials are to be kept in
a secure location away from minors I ask you in the most sincere and charitable wave to remove these books with obscene vulgar and cude language from the public library thank you thank
you okay our first action item this evening is recommendation for approval on the agreement on the terms and conditions of employment between the Independent School District 279 school board and AIO principes Association July
1st 2023 to June 30th 202 information will be shared by general counsel Amy Moore Amy members and superintendent tonight I will be presenting on behalf of Human Resources the recommendation for the approval of the principal's contract the
contract expired June 30 2023 and the new agreement contains language changes that reflect current District practices as well as additional Provisions that serve to support our district Mission and strategic priorities some specific changes include
in the compensation and conditions section of the collective bargaining agreement language was modified to include a 5% increase to the base salary in year 1 and a 3% increase to the base salary in year two the ranges were also increased by
99.3% to the minimum and the maximum salary ranges in addition salary advancement has been changed to pay for performance and will be paid out as a stien instead of being added on to the base salary conference release days were removed from the contract and the
principles will be compensated for working those days in the group Insurance section of the collective bargaining agreement employees will receive District contributions to health insurance by the following for the high plan there will be 0% increase to
District contributions each year and no new enrollment in the plan will be allowed for the value plan there will be a 10% increase to District contributions in year 2 with no increase in year 1 for the HSA plan a 12% increase to District
contributions in year two with no increase in year one in the district annual match section the district agreed to increase the maximum contribution match to $3,000 school board members have had the opportunity to review the proposed
changes to the provisions contained in the terms and conditions to ask questions and to consider financial implications the new contract Provisions fall within the financial parameters set by the board for the 2325 contract ter it is the superintendent and the human
resources recommendation that you approve the principal's contract presented to you this evening thank you councilor Moore is there a motion to approve the terms and conditions of employment between the Independent School District 279 school board and the
AIO principal Association July 1st 2023 to June 30th 2025 so moved uh motion by director Grady is there a second second second by director um Douglas is there a discussion I think I can speak on behalf
of the board thank you to the principales association and negotiations for um Coming to an agreement and we're very happy to be here um all in favor say I I I'll oppose say nay motion passes 6 to
zero our next action item is policy 652 instructional material section production and re-evaluation appeal under policy and procedure 652 when there is an appeal to the board related to a challenge of a book in one of our district media centers the board
considers the merits of the appeal this means the board will consider whether the district level commit committee's decision to maintain the book was reasonable and appropriate as part of our work to do this board members received a copy of the book to read and
review and information from the district level committee which has been summarized and posted with tonight's agenda now I will turn it over again to General counselor Moore Amy thank you um so tonight as stated you'll be voting on
the merits of the appeal of the district level decision to retain the book what girls are made of at the oalc school um fortunately our policy was already in line with much of the changes that have been made in the
legislature um so we're well positioned uh to continue uh utilizing that policy uh for um this appeal review um you have been provided a summary of The District level decision um but I
wanted to take the time to provide a more comprehensive summary of the uh Challenger britz duy's um time in front of that committee uh so you have a better understanding of kind of the basis of her Challenge and I've I've talked with her and so I want to be able
to read that for you today so that will be a part of the record um and then um after I'm done uh Dr Brit stucy will come and uh speak for you for five minutes uh not take any questions and that is the time when you will ask if
there is a motion to reverse the decision so um the Challenger was given uh 10 minutes to speak to share her perspective on why she believes the book should be removed the Challenger introduced herself to the committee she
is a district resident she stated that she could relate to the oalc students as part of her High School experience was non-traditional due to having an eating disorder she is a sexual assault Survivor and through her personal experience with trauma can attest to her
view of the harmful nature of the themes presented in the book The Challenger stated by sharing her concerns with the explicit and graphic nature of the book The Challenger noted that the building level committee acknowledged the book was graphic but felt it served a purpose
the Challenger stated the book served no educational value as the predominant themes of the book were about teenage sex and abortion the Challenger addressed what she perceived as the groom nature of the book The Challenger provided an operational definition of
grooming and asserted the book is pushing an ideology on teenage girls the Challenger brought up that committee that members of the building level committee were aware of her perception of the Grimmy nature of the book and some committee members stated that they
hoped the book was driving questions and conversations the Challenger shared her concerns with the book curation process the Challenger stated at the building level challenge the oalc LMS shared that she did not have time to read all the books as they came into the library and
utiliz book reviews to Aid purchasing decisions the Challenger provided documentation that showed kirkus reviews are paid for by Publishers and recommended that they should not be the sole guide for book purchasing decisions as Challenger stated when the
ol oalc elements was asked uh by the was asked this by a billing level Committee Member if the book was available at other libraries the O LMS stated she checked and it was not available anywhere else in the district the Challenger stated the book is available
at Park Center Library and questioned if due diligence was not done for this challenge how can she be sure that the process is being followed for book purchasing so I wanted to share that with you as kind of a fuller view of of what occurred at the district level
committee um for the challengers time in front of that committee um at this time we'll have Dr Brit juy come and get speak for five minutes good evening my name is Dr Brit stucy I'm a Community member in the oio district as a community member I have a
vested interest in the education of District students my tax dollars fund their education my family and I interact with students in the community my voice matters as to the quality of Education that District students are are receiving the rationale behind this book challenge is not about limiting access to
information it is about calling into question the appropriateness of sexually explicit and obscene materials in publicly funded School libraries I want students to have access to highquality library materials but materials in publicly funded School libraries should
Match Community expectations many parents in this District have openly expressed that they did not want their children exposed to sexually explicit content in the CL classroom this same standard should be applied to materials available in the school library the 1982
Pico scotus decision and the recently P Minnesota book Banning ban both assert that while books cannot be removed from school libraries due to Viewpoint or partisanship there is permissibility for removing books that are pervasively vulgar or if there are legitimate pedagogical concerns the book in
question what girls are made of is sexually explicit obscene and pornographic it openly promotes and normalizes sexual behavior to impressionable teenage girls 48 of the 183 Pages contain content that is either sexually explicit reference sexual
activity abortion or describe the process of having an abortion female students as young as 14 have access to this book the following are examples of the explicit content page 20 quote my legs fell open to make room for his
mouth he licked and licked like a cat at a bowl of cream and when the inside of me felt as wet as the outside we tried it again end quote page 34 then he's there naked the thick Horn of him wet tipped and hard and a rush of wetness floods the cotton lining of my thong end
quote page 58 quote she was talking about sex right sex with Jesus that's what she wanted to get Jesus head and I totally understand it end quote page 67-68 quote it is remembering cth tongue that pushes me into the first orgasm the
sweet way he'd press it just there right where I'm holding the rubber tip of the vibrator end quote page 180 quote the abortion is the best thing I've ever done for myself and I'll never tell my mother I never tell her anything end quote again this book is students as
young as 14 have access to this book imagine if a student was watching any of the sexual acts described above on District technology would it be acceptable under policy 441 it is reasonable to be consistent with the application of policies this
book does not meet accessibility criteria set forth by policy 441 this book pervasively contains sexually explicit obscene and pornographic content and it should be removed from the oalc and Park Center libraries presently there is no
separation of materials in the High by grade levels in the high school libraries it is the duty of the district to meet age appropriate standards for the youngest students if the school board decides not to remove this book it should be age restricted to students 17 and older a warning label should be
placed on the book denoting the sexually explicit and graphic content most importantly there needs to be more parental transparency parents should be notified when a sexually explicit book is checked out by their child additionally parents should be made aware of what is available in the
libraries for example there is a sex fiction subject tag in all of the district's Destiny discover Library cataloges please refer to table four in the packet in front of you this subject tag is a collection of books which contain subject matter that includes but
not limited to sexual activity sexual references sexuality or sex roles are all of the books under this tag explicit no but there should be a rating system implemented in the district to help parents identify the appropriateness of book content lastly there needs to be
written policy that guides book curation decisions in the libraries book review sources such as kirkus are paid for by Publishers and should not be the primary source for guiding book curation there have been recommendation from board members reving policy 652 to silence
voices of community members like myself who don't have children enrolled in the district parents and community members should have a voice and acceptability standards in our schools the district recently asked the community to build a better future for the students Community Voices should be welcomed in the school
just as they are welcomed in the building of school infrastructures let's come together as parents community commity members teachers and staff to improve the quality of Education in this District this is not about politics this is about the well-being of our students thank you for your time and
consideration thank you Dr Susie do we have any other thing to talk before we take the Motions I don't I don't have anything else but did remind the board members that um there is a difference between uh a classroom and the library in a
school uh district is that it's the difference between a non-public forum and a limited public forum so that is also a part of your consideration is what we have in the classroom as a different standard than what we have um for what can be challenged and how it
can be challenged thank you so at this time I'm going to ask if there is a motion to reverse the decision of the district level committee so I think that this is a important
topic to have board discussion on so for the purpose of discussion um in uh transparency on conversation about this um I'd like to make a motion to reverse the decision of the district level committee thank you so there's a motion
by um director Prince to um reverse the decision for a basis of discussion is there a second second a second by director Mitchell all right at this time we may discuss so uh yes um so we all read the
book uh and this time last time I read it physically this time I uh listened to it on uh audio and um as I kind of read that first section of the book um it was definitely um explicit content a lot of
adult themes and it was very heavy and I and I thought wow this is a this is really heavy content and at that point I paused and looked um at the time and it was at 59 minutes and that portion was not quite done so of um roughly 5 hours
of listening so um so I thought wow this is 20% in and it's it's really significant heavy content and so I have spent a lot of time researching asking questions um talking to Amy
um talking to um to Andy on kind of Library process and so to me it was really important to do my due diligence on this particular book and um Amy my uh a question I have is for clarification is the decision tonight is only specific
to the oalc correct correct only as to the oalc Y site specific right okay um and so I really wanted to understand that selection process um and uh learning that we do have uh a wide
amount of discretion for each media specialist at each school and so as noted this book is in at Park Center and at the oalc but it's not at the other two high schools so certainly um you
know I think it's been in print five years um and so there certainly has been some choice on the selection of this which I don't know the reasons why it's at some and not others on this particular book but um we do have
differing opinions and selection and decision making um and I think I think that's okay because our schools are different so um but this particular decision is only pertinent to one high school so as I looked at kind of was
listening and reading the rest of the book doesn't really have more it forms the basis because the primary subject is the uh sexual relationship of this teenage girl and how she deals with that throughout the rest of the book so in
looking at the reviews and as indicated in the committee report one of the things that um I noticed in the review by the school library Journal um let me bring this up apologize for taking a moment
here I want make sure I get it right um so the school library Journal indicated because of its complex symbolism and graphic imagery this well-written novel novel is best suited to mature young adult readers um so we
don't currently have a mechanism in place to ensure that only mature young adult readers would read um any any particular content um in our library um learning that there is a label of sex
fiction is new information to me so I'd like to kind of learn more about that but um I that one is is confusing I'd like to know what all is in there but I don't have that information for tonight um so one last thing that I then
requested was information specifically for the oalc uh and so I was able to uh get information that at the o LC um out of the 306 students 203 are in grade 12 and
have an average age of over 18 um so and with that being said uh another 65 are in uh grade 11 with a average age of nearly 17 so at this particular school I
might one might argue that in that age range of 14 um and uh to 181 19 and there are different ranges for what different organizations identify as young adult um this one does have more students that
would likely qualify as a more mature audience um and knowing that there's many students that even um are quite independent um in that particular school and already making a number of adult choices so for me um
that just led to um this maybe being a little bit me having a perspective on this particular book at this particular school being a little different than what my opinion or perspective um in terms of sexually explicit content in a general population where there's more
students um across the different grade levels um that was a differentiation for me in the um consideration of this appeal um it it is quite sexually explicit I don't I don't that's pretty
um well noted in all of the reviews um so it does become a question as to how do we deal with sexually explicit material in our school system and we are doing really good policy work we're not there yet because we are still under the existing policy um to give more
transparency to parents and provide um more efficient processes and we're putting a lot of thought into it so I think that through through the policy work uh we will also be able to meet um Community expectations that are quite diverse and range across their community
so I think that process is going to help us a lot and be able to come to consensus on that policy will be beneficial um for everybody going forward so those are my comments before we vote and yeah and I have a few comments and just to clarify Amy at the oalc a student can be as young as 15
correct at any given Year yes they could be okay thank you um well after reading and reviewing this book I have um three questions that are also concerns to address so just to summarize there was a lot in in the pages but number one does this book
enhance or enrich our District's curriculum I do not believe that it does number two is sexually explicit content appropriate for minors I believe that the majority of stakeholders and parents would say no it
is not number three this might be the most important summary does this book devalue a young teenage girl's selfworth and is that an image is that a message we want our district portraying
my concern is that this book does not value a teenage girl's self-worth or image which is the opposite of the mission statement um on the wall behind me thank you any other comments discussion yep um first I
wanted to acknowledge everyone who participated in the review process um it is um cumbersome for anybody who has to participate in this process um whether it is part of your job requirements or something you've elected to do to support the school district so I want to
thank everybody for their participation in this um and I also want to acknowledge that um it is uh as a board we aim to um serve our district at a high level and um it is not our goal to
be involved in the process of selecting books for school libraries um at the outset We Trust our school librarians to do that work um and it's also important to note that as a district we have made missteps in choosing curriculum and it
is important to have checks and balances um when we're evaluating the needs of our students um so I just wanted to put that out there and acknowledge that um this this is a hard process for everybody involved I did read the book in its
entirety and um as other um board members have mentioned this book is very uh sexually explicit um it uh the reading um of specific
quotations um really was for me the a very small portion of how graphic this book was um to read and I when reviewing it and looking at the
merits when we're evaluating materials the book does not meet the standard that the district has set for what we um aim to provide our children with the students of our district with
it is not a um highly high quality piece of literature um it is more akin to erotic literature it is described as sex fiction in our school libraries um and the
passages are meant to describe um in detail very Vivid detail um sexual activity between minors um and that is a a really strong concern that I have as a board member um for any student in our
district um and when I consider that this book challenges specifically for the AOL I'm oalc I apologize um that is a student population of already vulnerable students um and many of these
students have faced challenges that um I I would like to see a different type of content provided for these students when discussing these topics I think these topics are very
important um to the students in our district and uh it doesn't meet the standard that we've set for high quality material okay well historically we know that book bands work to erase
marginalized communities and we've seen that over the past year with book challenges that have targeted lgbtq students what this book challenge shows is that book bands also seek to remove the freedom for students to learn about
themselves and others let me be clear parents still have the right to restrict any book but they do not have the right to restrict books for other people's children Dr Brooks do you have anything
no okay and um I would reiterate that this is a review of the criteria of the book it's not about it's I this is not a book ban U motion or conversation again
it's already identified as it's not in two of the schools and those schools didn't ban it it simply wasn't selected and for whatever reason so I just reiterate um that I I don't view this conversation about book Banning in any
manner we're discussing the merits of the criteria established and a range of perspectives on meeting that criteria which reflect our community as well a range of perspectives so I did read the book in its entirety um from the beginning to
the end and um I guess I came out of it with a whole different theme than many of my colleagues did um I came up with a theme that in society girls are often told
that they have to accept conditional love and this book um addresses that and her struggle with that and her decision to not um be in relationships where's that
where the there's that conditional love um at the end are there sex scenes yes absolutely there's sex in there um I think um I'm as an
educator as um someone who was a certified Family Life educator in human sexuality for a long time as someone with almost ad doctorate in human services as a parent to children who have had trauma and um including severe
sexual trauma um I think that this book could be very beneficial for certain students um do I think every child should read it no it's up to you know
it's up to the people that care about that child um or student or adult in the olc um situation to determine that and um this is based on this decision is just
for this book at the O oalc um and discussions about rating systems or how to do more parent education um certainly welcome um um for
me um in the future but that's not what we're voting on here tonight so those are my comments with that I would like to um any other discussion or anything um I'll be quick okay um so I don't have much to add really because director uh
Prince said um my line of thinking um particularly on this book at the oalc um and while um I'm not generally interested in limiting book content for our oldest Scholars I there was a lot
that was brought that was said in in that presentation today that um I know that we've certainly touched on in policy committee and um that I've been interested in and committed to as well so I I hope that as a board and as a policy committee we can explore some of
the recommendations that came um out of that presentation today a little more deeper um I do think that there's a way that we can be U more transparent that we can show up for um our scholars in the ction of their book content um and
that we can be more informed even as board members than as parents um of what um our Scholars are are having access to every single day so um I just wanted to put that out there that I hope that conversation continues that um you know
while this happens to be um a book being challenged that um for some of our most mature Scholars um there's a bigger discussion that needs to happen for um all of our scholars in the district thank you I I just want to add
like I really appreciate the discourse and different perspectives that are shared respectfully I think that's important to further that dialogue and thank you Thomas for sharing that I think I really do think policy is committee is going to be a great um place to to further this
conversation absolutely okay so um at this point we will conduct a roll vote and remember we are voting on reversing the decision of the district level committee so in voting I you are voting to reverse the
dis decision and in voting nay you are voting to keep the um decision of the district level committee director Brooks n director Douglas I director Prince n
director msada Jones nay director Mitchell I director Grady nay uh four nay and two I the district level decision
stands okay the next action item is the budget for fiscal year 2025 information will be shared by Kelly benusa um amazing Director of Business Services Kelly while you're getting ready I got to meet with the auditor today and sang your
Praises thank you so don't let me down no I'm just kidding I'll try my best all right good evening chair mosquito Jones board members and superintendent Dr H tonight we bring forward for your consideration the fiscal year 2025
proposed budget this budget by process design is directly linked to our strategic plan and provides resources necessary to support our strategic priority work the long range financial planning or lrfp process is transparent and collaborative
in its approach and incorporate several stops along the way to receive feedback and direction from the school board the budget before you includes the school board's input we thank you for your attention to this work so that we can bring forward a budget for which you are well prepared
budget decisions are made using the long-range financial planning framework which includes a financial forecasting model that provides the basis of our budget planning for financial sustainability budget planning includes aligning our Resources with the mission and strategic plan on an assessment of
the impact on productivity and essential Services its impact on our work to ensure Equitable student achievement and compliance with legal requirements the school board engaged in several work sessions throughout the budget development process and at the February 6th work session the board carefully
considered the budget recommendation the lrfp advisories team assessment of impact was provided to the board prior to action by the board at the February 20th school board meeting here's a summary of the lrfp
framework the framework provides coherence between our system strategic plan and the allocation of resources through the collaboration of budget managers and describes the direction provided by the school board the lrfp process has been used in planning for
the general transportation operating funds and all our other budgeted funds for the past decade budget planning approval and implementation is a continuous process and we follow a similar timeline each year the board meant to set the budget
targets at the November work session which provid a direction for staff in preparing the program efficiency abandonment and redirection or par narratives that describe needed adjustments to meet budget targets and complete the work on strategic Investments the levy was approved in
December and the pair summaries were approved by the school board in February we then prepared the final budget which reflects board approved adjustments tonight the budget presented is the same as the budget discussed at the June 11th work session the budget is the
culmination of this process and will continue this process for the next year's budget cycle now we'll provide information regarding the fiscal year 2025 budgets the budgets that will be adopted are for all five funds presented on this slide
in this presentation we'll provide in detailed information about the general fund because it makes up the most of our overall budget details of these budget was discussed at the June 11th work session and are included in the online Schoolboard meeting materials the fiscal year 2025 general
fund revenues are budgeted to to increase 2.9% or 8.9 million compared to the fiscal year 2024 revised budget areas of change were as follows an increase in general education Aid of 6 million due to a 2% increase in the
basic formula allowance and a projected increase in adjusted students served of 347 an increase in operating referendum of 1.5 million for growth in projected students as well as an increase in market value valuations of profit
an increase in special education revenue of almost 1.2 million and a decrease in interest revenue of 775,000 there's an increase in summer unemployment revenue of 761,00 which is offset by increased
expenditures there's an increase in local optional revenue of 584,000 due to growth in projected students and a decrease in Des desegregation Transportation revenue of 400,000 there's also a decrease in equity revenue of 263,000 and other smaller
increases for student Personnel Aid and TR pension adjustments the fiscal year 2025 general fund expenditures are increasing 88.6% compared to the fiscal year
2025 2024 revised budget this is higher than the district trend of 3.5% and the board tactic of 3% the budget tonight is nearly 2. 6 million more than previously projected and includes several large adjustments it includes the board
approved February 20th budget adjustments net increase of $1 million which includes a net zero longrange financial planning budget adjustments 1.2 million for enrollment alignment a net increase of 800,000 for strategic Investments for one year only and
157,000 for implementation of the Family Medical Leave Act also in February the board approved the fiscal year 2024 midyear budget adjustment which included one-time Savings of 1.7 million and as planned
net Grant adjustments of 9 million for Esser or covid type grants with expiring funding for next year are included in the adopted budget the net effect of the revenue and expenditure budget variance on the proposed general fund budget results in an anticipated operating deficit of 1.7
million the fiscal year 202 ending fund balance is projected to be 32% of annual expenditures or 100.7 million this proposed fund balance is two 2 million less than was anticipated in February board policy recommends a minimum fund
balance of 5% and we are in compliance with this policy for the proposed budget next we'll review The Five-Year Financial projection for the general fund this is a highlevel visual organizer for the financial forecast
that was shared at theun June 11th work session there are three sections to the projection the top section shows revenues expenditures differences fund balance and fund balance percentage for a seven-year window that begins with our most recent audited financials for
fiscal year 2023 the current year revised budget the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 and then projections for 2026 through fiscal year 2029 for the next four years assumptions for Revenue grow gr on the general formula and expenditure assumptions used
in planning for fiscal year 2025 remain unchanged the next section shows the budget projection for revenues in blue and expenditures in red the tread lines of those same colors show the general trajectory of each of those items as you
can see even with the general formula allowance tied to inflation expenditures are still expected to outpace revenues beginning in fiscal year 2025 the final section looks at the fund balance projection for that same time period the green bars represent our
actual and projected fund balance for each year the orange bar shows the minimum required fund balance of 5% as set in board policy again the trend lines show the trajectory of the fund balances related to the minimum as you can see we're projecting for fiscal year
20129 fund balance to exceed the board required minimum fund balance of 5% we are not planning for any operational reductions through fiscal 2029 at this time key factors included in the projection model are starting in fiscal
year 2024 oal at the current operating referendum cap with inflation which was voter approved this means that we cannot use the operating referendum as a lever to increase Revenue to help us balance future budget deficits and starting with
the budget adoption for fiscal year 2025 expenditures are outpaced our revenues this slide is a summary of all five fund budgets to be adopted for fiscal year 25 the food and nutrition services fund is the red column revenues are less due
to the elimination of the supply chain assistance program and declining interest rates which are partially offset by increased growth in the Su summer food service program overall fund balance is projected to decrease by about $843,000 the community service
fund is the green column fund Balan is projected to decrease 2.2 million the revenue increase of 634 th000 is due to anticipated growth in several programs such as school Age Care School Readiness and adult and youth enrichment programs
as well as our facility rentals the expenditure increase of 1.9 million is due to a combination of anticipated growth in those same programs increased facility rentals expiring Esser grants shifting 200,000 of expenditures to this
fund and longrange financial planning adjustments of 660,000 a capital fund is the purple column Capital fund revenu is projected to increase 3.7 million an increase of the voter approved Capital technology Levy
which is tied to our market value changes is comprising most of that increase expenditure increase expenditures increase by 1.3 million or 6.4 mainly due to techology and safety needs this change results in a planned reduction in the capital land proceeds
fund balance of 564 th000 and fining The Debt Service fund is the orange column and the increase in revenue for The Debt Service fund reflects the required levies for ongoing Debt Service payments and then the
111% increase in expenditures reflects the required annual principal and interest payments for outstanding debt and The Debt Service fund balance is projected to be almost 4.8 million at the end of June 30th 2025 so this last slide is the action
item tonight is the recommended adoption of the fiscal year 2025 budgets for all funds the adoption means that the budget was prepared in accordance with the board direction thank you thanks questions comments I just want to say thank you
again for your um um amazing work on all this and the um graphs that help um I do want to point out a couple of things just for people who are watching um it it might be confusing to say that we our funding is now being uh determined on
cost of inflation but the funding from the state does not it's not our entire budget so even though we're getting that it's only for part of the budget so it doesn't cover the entire um budget and then um I just want to shout out to
community service for um making sure they have a a decent fund balance but not too much so that they can provide as much programming as possible and the hiring of so many new staff that there is no waiting list now or there's a
small one for the summer there's no waiting list so that's much better than last year so shout out to Brian there all right all in favor of oh I'm sorry is there a motion to adopt the fiscal year 2025 budgets for the general fund
the food and nutrition services fund the community service fund the capital fund and The Debt Service fund so mov okay motion by director Prince is there a second second second by director Brooks um any discussion besides what I just
said all right all in favor say I I I I'll oppose say nay motion passes 6 to zero our next action item is the 10-year long-term facilities maintenance plan information will be shared by Dale
carlstrom director of facilities and operations Dale it's good to see you again hi be here you always get the fun stuff Dale all right I get my bifocals to work we're good
right well uh good evening chair mosquito Jones and thanks for your uh kind words um superintendent H directors um I'm Dale carlstrom I'm the director of facility operations and I thank you for the opportunity to share with you um
the community and the community our efforts to protect and restore the ISD 279 aera schools facilities and site assets um this evening we will provide a summary of the long-term facility maintenance reporting process and update
the board on the three-part ltfm process of planning construction and close out I'll uh discuss the close out of the 202 324 of the construction of the startup of 2425 projects and the planning for
the 2526 work in addition I'll share the the coordination efforts underway that bring the builda better future and ltfm initiatives together the Minnesota Department of Education requires that we communicate a 10-year ltfm plan through the annual
update that we will be discussing this evening we are required to report detailed expenditure and revenue projections in spreadsheet form as well as a statement of assurances that the planned expenditures meet the Deferred maintenance criteria for the ltfm
levy the finance and facility operations team work closely with our professional Consultants to establish a comprehensive assessment of the fac facilities and the site assets to inform our facility strategy for the 10-year Plan before we get started with the
details of the plan I'd like to to recognize our facility staff our professional Consultants construction teams and site staff um for their commitment to the revitalizing and restoring our facility assets to bring the ser and serve our
students our in our community our work is is making a difference and I'm proud of the progress we we've made through the long-term facility maintenance program the board packet includes the revenue projection spreadsheet that details the levy formula used to
calculate the payy go ltfm projections for the 10-year plan the graph at on this slide illustrates how our financial consultants and our fiscal team coordinate the systemwide bond and Levy resources to maintain a a level tax
impact over the 10-year plan during this fiscal year we issued the $140 million ltfm bond to support the build-a better future voter approved referendum Bond our projections for the ltfm pay as you go Levy for fiscal year
25 is $23.4 million and 8.5 million doll for uh FY 26 also included in your packet is the ltfm 10-year expenditure plan that details the ltfm work by expenditure categories
and further breaks out our health and safety work restroom Renovations and deferred maintenance projects by Finance type our proposed 10-year plan increases funding in 2025 through
2027 in a coordinated effort to combine deferred maintenance needs with the build a better future facilities Improvement initiative these ltfm initiatives will ensure that our infrastructure and existing conditions keep paced with our proposed
Renovations we are planning significant increases in the ltfm um mechanical and finishes Restorations at Maple Grove Senior High oio Senior High and Crest View our build a better future plan to renovate all Elementary media centers will include
additional ceilings light lighting and finishes restoration we've begun the planning process for the first phase of the elementary schools with s with similar design and will begin construction during the summer of
2025 we intend to continue our focus on districtwide categorical Restorations such as heating air conditioning ventilation Paving Roofing flooring painting and building envelope repairs our ltfm steering committee will
continue assessing the condition of our facilities assets and establishing priorities to inform this plan we will continue our ongoing efforts to con conserve energy with new Lighting
systems and efficient mechanical equipment our total ltfm budget for fiscal 2024 is $23 million with approximately $15 million budgeted for major projects $1.8 million for health safety projects and $6.4 million in
categorical projects we have successfully completed phase one of the cedar Island project and have phase two underway the remaining Projects Park Center Senior High Palmer Lake oio Senior High Elm Creek Rice Lake and
Basswood have been completed and closed out a preliminary assessment shows that these projects com will be coming in on budget at our November work session the facilities operations team will do a detailed review of these results for the
FY 24 projects fy2 marks the beginning of the accelerated $60 million ltfm plan that includes extensive projects at Brooklyn Middle School North viw Middle School as well as projects project planning for
the major projects at the three high schools there will be also 122.8 million categorical projects the Brooklyn Middle School phase one work is underway on the second and the third floor including the media
center Cedar Island Phase 2 is Al also underway with restroom group Restorations and Renovations classroom improvements and mechanical Restorations at North Middle School we underway with a total gut and
restoration of the second floor which includes all classrooms and the media center in addition we are doing renovations in the North View Middle School art classrooms counseling department and kitchen mechanical we've extended mechanical
work underway at Fernbrook Edinbrook and Rush Creek that will replace the air handlers and hydronic pipe systems throughout the building in the classrooms and the corridors we will replace the heating and the air conditioning equipment ceilings and light fixtures we are in the planning
phase for the ltfm portion of the build a better future projects at Maple Grove Senior High oio Senior High and the elementaries Fernbrook Edenbrook Basswood Oak viw Woodland and Rush Creek focusing on the media center outdoor
class rooms Flex rooms and maker space we currently have 64 projects um underway in um fiscal year 25 including categorical initiatives and health safety projects and we anticipate
that we will be showing you the results of this work at our November work session to help illustrate the project development process for um builda better future and ltfm initiatives we are showing in this slide a portion
of the project timeline that illustrates the planning and the construction for phase one in the fiscal 2526 the pro the project schedule process excuse me the project scheduling process is used to help visualize the
occupancy deadlines and the planning sequence necessary to maintain School operations and coordinate the management and of uh user groups design teams bidding process and construction planning there are working documents
that we regularly review with the design team to fine-tune the schedule to to ensure that we have capacity to meet our deadlines this slide shows the planning and the construction timeline for the first phase of the elementary build-a
better future initiative to create excuse me next Generation learning spaces you know our media spaces maker space flex rooms and security upgrades and flexible Furniture
installations there is a ltfm component to these important improvements as they touch each space that requires mechanical and finishes restoration thank you I got a water
thanks this is a lot of talking as you probably agree um we will be moving to phase uh moving on to phase two of the build uh Brooklyn middle school project that addresses the renovation and restoration of the first
floor we will begin the planning phase of this summer for the Crestview improvements and Restorations with the target bid date of May of 2025 during the summer of 25 uh we will begin the construction
phase for the first four Elementary elementaries including Media Center maker space flex rooms and outdoor classrooms to review the next steps tonight the board will vote on the 10-year plan recommendation in September
we will present the preliminary ltfm Levy the levy certification will occur in December and the recommendation for bid Awards will be included in the board consist consent agenda between January and may of
2025 now I'll take any questions that you might have or clarifications um I have well kind of a question um less for me and more for people I've been receiving questions from um so we receive a lot of like
higher level information and you give us details of the bigger major projects um but I've been getting lots of questions about um especially people are seeing all the um construction stuff outside of buildings and um playgrounds coming down
or pieces being changed so is there a place where some of those smaller projects are view uh what the changes are are viewable to the public like on the website like if they were to click on a a building to know what projects
are happening in that building yes K can address oh great um larger projects we for sure um do and I know um even like some school level Communications have been going out um specific to what's happening at uh
individual schools um in regards to like building a better future project specifically like we'll continually up to on the website so there'll be um some continual updates as things obviously over these next four years as things continually change and we usually do for
long-term facilities maintenance larger projects as well especially at the school level um so those communication is the communication is happening at the school level for the community that attends the school is that what you're saying yes so the
questions I'm getting are from community members who are observing what's happening in their neighbor neighborhoods and they want to know well what's going on and they're asking where can I find out what's going on what changes are happening to this building um and aside from saying you
know this is part of the process this is what we've been doing and changes are happening at every District um I'm getting a lot of requests for more detailed I want to know what's changing in this building in my neighborhood and so I'm wondering if there's a place like on the website where people could look up their neighborhood school and know
what's happening there's not like a full list I mean right now besides what we talk about within board documents right they would have to dig through board documents to see something if they weren't directly connected to the community um so I would say for long-term facilities maintenance projects that would be the case for
building a better future that's something that we're consistently sharing out in our our messaging that goes out to all residents like our have you heard newsletter yeah um so but we can be more um we can do more of that if if we're feeling the need to do
additional information right so okay thanks yeah I understand the request and um part of what I mentioned in the in the report is right now we've got 64 named projects and a lot of them are are are in andout you know we're repaving a
parking lot or we're um revitalizing playground and we're in and out but um uh it would be great if we could I don't know maybe create some conduit through the the school website or something say okay here's what's going
on give that some thought yeah thank you weird question for those schools that have like electronic boards couldn't they just put a little something up there playgrounds getting replaced right now or something they do they do for those big deals like that that's a big
deal at only of the elementaries have them do they no they yeah we only have it at Park Center currently right now but we are the good news is we are looking at that pass possibility of expanding that but we haven't gotten to that point it's in the research phase right now because that's where we at my school that's what
we do I don't want to make work for more work for anyone thank you any other questions um since we're making comments and questions I just want to say thank you again um for your hard work and
making sure that all of these um are aligned with our strategic plan and that um we're providing equity for safe and welcoming schools um just having been in a school that didn't
have the upgrades um for a very long time it makes a difference for our students to see the updated buildings and to have quality facilities so thank you for all your your work on that thank you is
there a motion to adopt the um um where are we um is there a motion to approve the long-term facilities maintenance 10-year plan as presented some move uh we'll go with director Douglas for a motion and a
second by director Mitchell since you're both on there uh any other discussion all in favor say I I oppose say nay motion passes um 5 to zero thank you do the final action item
is the gifts to the district is there a motion to approve the gifts of the district totaling $164,600 cents so moved moved by director Prince is there a second second second by director Douglas any discussion once again thank you all in
favor say I I I I'll oppose say nay motion passes 5 to zero our next agenda item is the consent agenda the consent agenda includes standard business items requiring approval such as meeting minutes Financial reports Personnel
items and extended educational trips board members is there any are there any items you would like to remove for separate consideration hearing none wait sorry I just I have a discussion for one of the items should we have it part of the
question after the motion or do you want to remove it or I don't want to remove it I just want to make a comment so so let me um ask for the motion then you can make the comment okay okay um is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as [Music] printed uh so move um so moveed by
director Brooks is there a second I will second it um and discussion go forward director Douglas um I just wanted to make a comment about the athletic uniform contract we've had a couple of questions about that um and I was just wondering if um we could just like have
a little um acknowledgment of what that contract change is that we're moving to a specific provider and it doesn't um mean that individual schools can't um I'm sorry not individual schools sports cannot they can elect to use other
providers for their other yeah like their special stuff uni but the actual uniform and those contracts separate contracts right yes okay anything else you want to say about that particular no I just wanted to
clarify because there's been so much concern about it and I don't think I was very clear so maybe somebody could say it better I'll just I'll just like summarize it if that's okay yeah thank you um so uniforms and materials for the actual Sports themselves um we're doing
a contract with one particular um group for consistency um if there are boosters or anyone else that wants to um purchase t-shirts or anything like that they can use other vendors am I did I describe that accurately yeah so that's what you
were talking about yep all right any other discussion all in favor say I I I I'll oppos say nay motion passes five to zero page our next agenda item is a
superintendent report Dr H all right thank you good evening chair mosquito Jones and School Board m members so just to make everyone aware there are many behind the scenes staff who make our district successful and one of these areas is our community relations department so they work quietly behind
the scen to ensure our District's communication is completed in a timely effective and an efficient manner so the work of community relations department is in perfect alignment with one of our district strategic Direction which states promote inclusive participation
of all of our communities and provide timely relevant and easily accessible communication so with all this taken into consideration is what the point of Pride that I would like to announce the following the national school public relations Association just announced
winners of the 2024 a Awards program together our oil area schools community relations team earned eight recognitions this year this incredible public relations teams were awarded for the following Publications Award of Excellence for two set 79 Insider e
newsletter Award of Excellence for 279 connect e newsletter Award of Excellence for Community Education staff e newsletter Award of Merit for grad Spotlight on key Sorenson Award of Merit for it's fun to go out and vote video
honorable mention for graduate Spotlight on for for forensic science supervisor Steven Swinson honorable mention for holding space with Dr Hy video and a golden Achievement Award for building a better future Phase 2 informational
campaign so I just want to take time to say congratulations to our incredible community relations department all right so regular part of our superintendent's report is to share our points of Pride by sharing our points of Pride we're taking time to slow down and recognize and celebrate
our Scholars or staff and our community members who are contributing to the accomplishments of our mission which is to inspire prepare each and every scholar with the confidence courage and competence to achieve their dreams contribute to the community and engage
in a lifetime of learning so this evening I have members of our district cabinet here to assist in sharing some examples from the last month in the area of achieving dreams uh we are so proud of our class of 2024
graduates from the oalc oec ab 279 online Park Center Senior High High oel Senior High and Maple Grove Senior High these Scholars are now on their next adventures and prepared to Take On The World thanks to all the AIO Area School
staff who aided in their educational Journey many end of the Year celebrations took place at schools across the district at the end of the school year fifth graders at Basswood said goodbye to elementary school with a parade around the outside of the school cheered on by their families St St and
other students to celebrate principal Daniel wald's retirement staff and students at Cedar Island Elementary lined the Halls to say goodbye and cheer on principal Wald as he made a final lap of the school the students all held up pictures
of principal Wald over his years at Cedar Island it's included little cookies that had his faces on it pretty cool U Maple Grove Middle School hosted an end of the year celebration for its eighth grade students on the last day of school the students enjoyed food trucks
such as Woodfired Pizza and Ben and Jerry's ice cream and a DJ in wide variety of games and activities Zan Wood Community a steam School fifth graders gathered for a move uh moving up ceremony two students were
selected to speak at the event and others were given steam awards for their efforts in science technology engineering art and math programming each student was given a certificate of completion award Rice Lake Elementary celebrated
the end of the school year with the fifth grade sendoff event on May 31st the ceremony included an opening speech a reader from each fifth grade class and the presentation of certificates graduating seniors also visited their elementary schools the
last day of school to walk through the hallways one last time giving thanks to their former teachers and Inspire some of our youngest learners CCX media recently joined the AIO education center as they set sail from the Yetta Yacht Club on a sunny day in
May the students learned about sailboats and how to raise the sails and steer many artists from Maple Grove Senior High School oio senior high and Park Center high schools uh recently completed uh excuse me competed in the Minnesota state High School league
section 4aa and 5aa Visual Arts Festival students whose Works were considered Best in Show by by one of the judges were awarded Spotlight on the scholarship Awards and were represented at the mhhs state Art Festival Maple Grove
Senior High Junior cat cat Pierce and Senior Miranda blank and oio Senior High School senior Olivia teken was awarded Spotlight on scholarship Awards District student athletes have recently competed in Spring State tournaments here are a few of the
highlights the Maple Grove girls golf team are back-to-back state champions the Maple Grove senior boys golf team took third place at at the 2024 AAA State Tournament Maple Grove senior Ryan stendall was named Mr golf
Minnesota the oio oio Orioles adapt softball CI team representing all three high schools placed fourth in the 2024 State adapted softball CI tournament the oio Orioles adapted softball Pi team representing all three
high schools were the con consolation champions in the 2024 State adapted softball Pi tournament oio senior Linton mcferson placed second in the boys 110 meter hurdles
oio Jr quinlin runquist senior Earl Peter sophomore Ben sanvic and Senior Cade sanvic plac third in boy uh four uh 800 meter uh relay Maple Grove freshman summer OD freshman Rebecca Lang
sophomore April Watson and freshman McKenzie low plac fourth in the girls 800 meter relay Park Center Senior Brianna Benjamin plays sixth in the girls triple jump Maple Grove Senior High School artist
and Senior Sarah Collins has developed her passion for art over the years in middle and high school she likes to use symbolism in her art and paint the things she sees around her recently the work she has done to develop her advanced placement portfolio has
resulted in Awards and recognition including a Congressional Art Award and beston show at the District 279 art show at the Maple Grove Government Center 37 oio Area Schools student athletes signed letters of intent this
spring in signing ceremonies congratulations and good luck on your next Endeavors in the area of contributing to community District 279 Foundation strives to support learning and be an accessible partner for teachers and
schools during the 2023 24 school year trustees selected 42 Innovative and creative projects to receive 57,4 in funding uh in our oio area schools uh a few of the projects include
adult basic educations Minnesota nature class Brooklyn Middle Steam School visits from a Minnesota percussion Trio far o elementary schools eggs to chicks oio senior high schools HOSA a 2024
State leadership conference Woodland Elementary School's kindness retreat in addition 13,000 was invested in media centers for learning resources thanks to the readings Fund 5K 70 students staff and volunteers were
recognized at the 2024 investment in youth celebration members of the AIO Senior High School chess team visited Elm Creek Elementary School twice in May to teach and play chess with fourth and fifth graders the high school students were impressed with how eager the elementary
school students were and how quickly they learned coach Paul sakarov said all of my players really enjoyed the opportunity to teach and coach young kids in this great game they want to come back next year our next area is lifelong learning
High School Real Talk students racial education Awakening Liberation participated in a juneth event at oio senior high school on May 31st almost 20 students came together to celebrate and engage in various field day style events schools and sites across the
district hosted end of the year barbecues to bring together students families and staff students put their physical skills to the test at the end of the school year with field day style events such as at Basswood Edenbrook Fernbrook and
Woodland Elementary Schools other end of the school year outdoor fun included 279 online's Elementary to get together at Central Park in Maple Grove in parkbrook elementary school's tree planting event students also engaged in various
unique learning activities at the end of the school year fifth graders at Rush Creek Elementary put their stem skills to the test when they launched their bottle rockets into the sky on June 5th their Innovation soared High into the air as their classmates and families watched students at Elm Creek Elementary
partic participated in Camp B one activities included a water balloon toss making structures with marshmallows flashlight reading under the stars and ice cream social and various crafts fourth grade students at Palmer Lake Elementary worked on an
interdisciplinary learning project about plastic they then presented their findings to family and other students on May 30th and May 31st first graders at Rush Creek Elementary took a bite out of reading with a Rush Creek reading restaurant in their library media center
they sat down at their tables and had a magazine for an appetizer followed by an animal book for their main course and a book about food for dessert on May 14th oio area school's early childhood and family education
celebrated 50 years of Early Childhood family education in Minnesota to Mark the significant half century Milestone Early Childhood staff and volunteers invited families current and former staff and the community to an outdoor spring spring social
event on May 14th staff and fifth graders at FS Elementary School celebrated Minnesota mung day parents of the fifth graders were invited to come and participate in the engagement activities as well in one classroom students learned how to sew a m story
cloth they watched a video and then got to work creating their own in other in another classroom students watched and participated in M dances led by fifth grade student leaders in the final classroom students made and tasted various M food and
drinks e8th grade students at Maple Grove Middle School got to choose from nearly two dozen local workers in a variety of fields to hear about their career experiences for a tell me about it career panel on May 15th and
16th for two nights in May district elementary schools hosted Multicultural nights at their schools Garden City in Palmer Lake both events were colorful and flavorful affairs with foods from several different countries cultural dresss from around the world and
cultural craft projects around every corner fifth graders from Basswood Elementary School recently participated in a career fair the career fair included over 40 volunteers from a variety of fields including nurses veterinarians and event planners a fire
inspector a barber an attorney an electrical engineer a therapist an interior designer and even a horse trainer accompanied by a mini horse Zan Wood Community a steam school put on a successful steam Fest May 16th
with both school day and evening components of the event to show off Scholars steam related work throughout the school year The District 279 Elementary Orchestra program wrapped up this year with a celebration of music May 8th and
9th at oio Middle School 570 students participated in three orchestras over the course of these two evenings Community Education fourstar Express pre kindergarten students parents and staff from two elementary schools gathered Outdoors at Oakview
Elementary School on May 23rd for an onsite field trip featuring a fire truck and a meet and greet with firefighters from the city of Maple Grove's fire department afterwards families enjoyed an outdoor picnic on the school lawn second graders at Rush Creek
Elementary School have been playing different Dice and card math games this school year to reinforce addition subtraction fractions place value and multiplication on May 21st the second graders invited an adult family member or friend to join them for dice and
donuts parkbrook Elementary School and the city of Brooklyn Park teamed up for a chess club this spring where 18 of the school's Scholars spent Monday afternoons honing their chess game through puzzles solved on the board together and gameplay with peers and
coaches in the area of mission driven employees Laro bolt social studies teacher at oio senior high school was named a ks95 teacher of the week bolt was nominated by one of her students and recognized on air by the morning show
hosts one of her students wrote in the nomination she cares for her students and she helps them with knowledge even when they are going through a hard time she is very caring not only for the students she has in her class but all the students at the school she knows how
to light up a room and her positivity positivity is contageous on June 7th oor schools General Council Amy Moore received a recognition from the Minnesota State Bar Association at the state public law annual meeting lunch and and award
ceremony Mo was selected to receive the association civil attorney Award of Excellence congratulations to Amy so thanks to all of our students and our fabulous staff and our fabulous families for your efforts to make 2023 24
successful year I'm so proud of all of our tremendous accomplishments and we look forward to just becoming even better our schools will provide free meals to Children through the Fairly funded summer food service program from now through August 8th any child 18
years of age or younger May participate meals will be provided during the lotted time frames and must be e must be eeden on site so to learn more uh go to district279.org suum Mills and make sure to continue to
stay tuned districtwide back to school information is expected to be shared Late July early August thank you thank you Dr H our next agenda item is Schoolboard reports director Brooks do you a report no reports director
Douglas no reports director Prince no reports uh director Mitchell I do I do we just had our final um CPAC committee meeting um of the school year and it was fun to go over the positive reviews from the community outreach Event in May um people really like the free classes and
the variety of classes and we celebrated the exciting news that there's no wait list for kids stop right Brian so that was um that was very fun and positive thank you okay and I have um one report District 287 um they report Ed on their
graduation had a great graduation video um and their food services and uh approved the principal's contract I would also like to take this moment to say that on the 11th of June Maple Grove Senior High hosted a memorial service
for officer Mitchell whose family resides and attends oio area schools the board would like to honor his service not only as a Minneapolis Police Officer but also as a highly involved parent at Rush Creek we want to thank him for his
service and our hearts are with his family at this time the board will be taking a brief recess and then reconvene in the Forum room for a Clos session the session is closed pursuant to Minnesota statute 13 d03 for labor negotiations with
directors and confidential managers is there to recess the regular meeting uh for 10 minutes and reconvene in the Forum room for a closed session some my uh motion by director Prince is there a second second second
by director Brooks is there any discussion all in favor say I I I'll oppose say nay motion carries 5 to zero this meeting is recess at 7:36 p.m. and the school board meeting will adjourn at
the conclusion of the Clos session thank you for coming tonight for