##VIDEO ID:Li438fVgUYM## [Music] all [Music] right good evening everyone and welcome we are the otana school board this is Monday it's the 25th of November 5:30 p.m I'm going to call our meeting to order ask Eric for our attendance perfect attendance all present we do indeed let's start our meeting with the pledge I pled Alle to the flag flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all first up tonight would be to approve the agenda as presented so move second second and a second any further discussion with regard to that hearing none all in favor with an i i any opposed that motion carries item four tonight is mission one I'm going to ask Mr elad to take things from here thank you Mr chair members of the board I'm going to ask our school patrol students if you wouldn't mind coming up here and kind of making a line please and thank you as they're walking up tonight for our mission moment I'm honored to recognize our dedicated Elementary School Safety patrols representing them this evening are the four captains from each of our schools along with their advisers these outstanding fifth grade students play an important role in ensuring the well-being of their classmates helping to create safer Crossings for students walking to and from school each day regardless of the weather even when it's below zero before they begin our safety patrol members go through traffic training safety or traffic traffic safety training pardon me throughout the year they perform their duties and serve as role models for the younger students in their respective buildings we also want to extend to the adult advisers who guide these students our thanks for providing the training support and encouragement I would like each of you tonight if you could if I could have you make one about face to the board and face the board if you would if I'm going to do this I'm going to go get that microphone and I'm going to pass it online because I want each of your names recognized tonight for the work that you do for our students so I'm going to grab the microphone excuse me I'll sneak by you here I'm going to start this way and if you wouldn't mind just saying your name in the school elementary school you attend okay let's start down here Lucas what's your last name Lucas Wallace and you go to elementary uh Wilson Wilson okay great thank you Weston craft McKinley okay Evelyn griswell and I go to Washington Ellie Dickerson Washington Chloe emberton Washington Lany Hall Lincoln Ellie senson Wilson me Preston Curts Lincoln Ellison gther Lincoln Samantha Cipher McKinley Zoe nurc McKinley Madison con Wilson Eleanor grisal Washington let's get these [Applause] outstanding now I'm going to ask all of you to go in the hallway take a group photo and you get a really cool and coveted # oana proud stickers so thank you all right thank you for all you guys do thank you guys want to give Mr elad a second to get back to his seat because in all of your years in education don't you find it interesting that students that are school patrol find their way into like their elected positions in their respective classes honor roles participation in extracurricular activities there's there's a Common Thread there isn't there what did you say superintendencies it was a proud school patrol Elementary and faball uh that is terrific thank you uh we're going to move on to public forum there are a couple of cards tonight um I have forgotten my sheet that admonish es or encourages everyone to uh please be respectful of the people that have something to say and and as you make your way up uh the first card would be from Sarah Chandler Miss Chandler please come on up glad you're here um three minutes to uh tell us uh the topic uh that you would like to speak on and Sir were there any other cards beyond the three okay and if you'd like to have a seat right there and make sure that we were able to hear you with the microphone that'd be terrific have to push it to no no it's all it's live it's really all right thank you my name is Sarah Chandler and my daughter is a special ed student at the middle school so she has been coming home quite distraught and it's escalating asking me to call the police because she is so upset and she keeps saying that she's being hurt I have requested per the oana school district's website to visit her classroom and I have been denied I was told it was against policy which is not a true statement um I could read it to you but I I think you guys are all aware of your own policy and so I am asking that my daughter is not uh discriminated against because she has special needs I just want to as a team figure out what's going on she has not been in school for the whole month of November because I I went to send to her the one day late and we got to the doors of the school she grabbed my hand and started crying and asked me to call the police so it could be something is really simple but with her being non-verbal we do not know and so I am just wanting the right that every parent has in this District just to make sure that we can come up as a plan as parents and the the staff to make sure our daughter's safe and can have education that every student should be able to have M Chandler thank you uh card from Jeff Chandler Mr Chandler yes please come on [Music] up thank you uh my name is Jeff Chandler I'm the father of Isabella and Chandler um and it is concerning to me as a parent you know that uh our daughter you know isn't able to express you know what what it is she's experiencing at school and so um you know I advocate I'm trying to I'm here to to have ad advocation towards being able to visit a room for a couple of hours uh not myself my wife can do that but uh I'm just here to Advocate that and um he asked that that you would please consider that that right and I know there's there's um there's policies out there uh in in the the Minnesota Board of Education um that that allow that but then there's other policies that speak to uh special education so um but in this case uh being that she's non-verbal we would really appreciate if you would consider our request thank you Mr Chandler thank you uh last card is uh April St Martin Miss St Martin welcome hi uh first of all I would like to congratulate Tim and Ron and Andrea uh for running again and winning this for school board again um unlike Miss CH Mrs Chandler back there I'm going to actually read you uh what the policy says just so it's on record so everybody knows uh the purpose of the policy is to make rules and procedures govering visits to District property and District facilities this is in number 903 visitors to the school district buildings and sites the school board encourages interest on the part of parents and community members in school programs and Student Activities the school board welcomes visits to the buildings and school property by parents and community members provided the visits are consistent with the health education and the safety of the students and employees the school board recognizes that reasonable restrictions must be placed on visits to the district uh facilities in order to maintain an environment that is safe and conductive to the learning and working environment uh definitions there's a whole bunch in here but the procedures and it says visitor procedures number three says that parents who wish to observe their children in the classroom during the regular school day must schedule the visit in advance with the classroom teacher or the building principal or design nowhere does it say that it is in best practices that you deny a parent the right to observe their child in the classroom it is in your policy and we are asking and requesting that the school board answers her emails and finds a way for her to observe her student when she has a concern about what is going on in the classroom I as a community member am asking you to just follow the procedures that you have already put into place I know for a fact she has contacted many of you that are even just sitting here and she is still feeling like there is no answer to be had so she has and is currently keeping her student out of the school district that you so claim to love and cherish and I am just asking once again on behalf of the Chandler family to just follow your own policies thank you Miss St Martin thank you very much I'm so sorry can I just add that I do have a note from her doctor her epalm olist to requesting that it would be very good for us to be able to visit duly noted thank you okay as we move on item six tonight would be reports and our first and only report would be the financial forecast it's with Lori voles and I'll ask Mr elad to uh join her and introduce this presentation y okay yeah great thank you Mr chair members of the board Lori and I are going to approach this together tonight um and present to you uh kind of the financial forecast for the district uh and walk through um what I believe are some key tenants or challenges that are facing the district financially so I'm going to turn it over to Lori and then I'll interject along the way if that's okay so I'll go ahead and Advance the slides here okay uh to summarize there are uh four key financial challenges that are facing the oana public schools uh first and foremost uh I would say the largest driver of the financial challenge is the expiration of the federal Esser grants um Esser grants came to the district during the pandemic uh from the federal government and uh we have come to the expiration of those grants and so in this current fiscal year uh we have seen a reduction of Federal Aid then uh has dropped by $3 million so that's a big driver of um a financial challenge uh with those funds for example um when the grant was written it was for retaining uh 10 existing positions for was called continuity of operations and so uh just to emphasize uh positions that were funded with the grant uh was more than 10 positions uh but that we retain the positions but the funding has gone away so of course that brings an imbalance to the bottom line of the financials another uh can I ask a clarifying question quick because when we went over this in policy um Financial I'm sorry finance committee and Elizabeth and Lori helped me out the way you articulated this money was very clarifying that it wasn't everybody got this money from Co in the government you had to do what and then can you talk just very briefly about what what other districts did with it yeah just as a comparative I think I'll speak to that so um there was really no strategy provided with this additional money and so districts were kind of left to how they wanted to spend it and um many districts around us chose the approach of maybe going out and and hiring a bunch of new staff and things like that we chose a more metered strategy which was we recognized that um the funding was if it was it's Liv was grant funding and so you sort of live and die by grant funding and so we chose the metered approach of really spreading this out over time so that we wouldn't have to go to our taxpayers any sooner than we have to for additional operating expense Levy and so again we stretched it out for as long as we could and that was our strategy I think it turned out to be an effective strategy because it delayed any potential ask of our community for operating expenses um okay moving forward that may present itself but that was our strategy and I I feel like that was the right thing to do uh we did add a few more staff along the way but it wasn't uh in a big proportion maybe Jolan if I might was there a phrase like continuity of services or something to that extent that really explained and was the primary parameter on around which we could spend that money and so we just used it I think wisely and you know maintained what we had instead of adding a lot of bells and whistles that would have to go away one day now we just want to make credit give credit to both Amanda halman our former Director of Finance and Lori our current director of finance that provided that sort of guidance about continuing our programs without having to make major reductions but also not adding a bunch of St St that we knew we were going to end up reducing in the long run anyway thank you another category is uh our special ad expenditure is greatly increased over the last five years and we have a a graph in a minute that we'll dive into that a little bit deeper but that's uh also brought some Financial challenges um and the reason I want to point that out is that with our special ed expenditures uh we don't get a reimbursement from the state of Minnesota to cover all expenses for special ed and so therefore it brings an extra burden on the general fund uh another point is can ask you one quick question if there's if you're going to present additional information to help support that does that information also reflect there was a meaningful increase from the state as it relates to special ed funding there's always been a gap there's always been a noticeable gap between the expectations of the services that would be delivered and the funding to provide that will this chart speak to that as well well it uh we speak more to the the expenditure side but what you what you were referring to was the Improvement of the special ed Aid formula and that did happen in the last biennium however we still have a gap like you mentioned the revenues even with that Revenue improvement from the state of Minnesota still does not cover all the cost so it's still a a big burden okay thanks mhm okay uh number four enrollment the good news three was contract settlements just as a and there'll be a graph later to demonstrate that as well yeah enrollment has been steady over the last 10 years but is projected decline in the next five years so that's another pressure point for us okay to the general fund federal revenue this just helps illustrate what's happened uh through the pandemic so uh besides Federal Esser dollars are the district historic also receives some federal funds in the general fund for like our title programs um for example and uh and federal special ed however during the uh pandemic years we receive additional funding of federal funds for what's called eser grants and you can see in the FY 24 uh the right there the 5.6 million that's our actual revenues that we received that was all federal funds in our general fund and and those grants have now expired and dropped off and so that is just illustrating this drop of $3 million of uh decline of Federal Aid okay uh now going on to special ed uh this helps illustrate why our special ed costs have gone up it's because our special ed child count has gone up over the last 10 years uh going back to the 145 year of 668 student students of our uh special ed child count this unduplicated child count up to our current year is at a th000 in one so that is a sub substantial increase in uh special count and it reflects additional needs our students have in our our student body I'll just interject and add to that I think um you know recognizing over the last 30 years that I've been in education just seeing the needs that students present themselves with um requires additional services and so that's why and there's probably many reasons why that exists um but nonetheless the students that come through our doors that require our support are going to get that support and so we have more students that are now qualifying for IEPs so okay this uh illustrates the actual expenses over a 10-year period uh you can see literally it going from 9.9 million up to 17.4 million which is a drastic increase in costs and as was indicated earlier that even though we've had Improvement in the special ed Aid Revenue stream uh it is not enough to cover that excess or additional expenditure cost of special ed and therefore it is uh I I'll say a um brings an extra burden on the general fund because the general funds then have to fill the Gap and these special ed programs are mandated either by federal law or state law federal law federal law okay okay y okay now going to the point of our settlements and also just how our salary and benefits costs have increased over a 10-year period um this is just general fund and it does uh reflect a couple things it does uh speak to the fact that um how much and we'll get to this in a minute um we have had a growth in the number of positions we've had in the district over 10 years uh but it also speaks to if you look at between the 23 and 24 you see kind of a bump up there uh so we had a couple things coming into play there we did increase Staffing there we expanded our online program uh which by the way is uh a a great uh a revenue stream for our district and it is um it brings in more Revenue than our expense so it helps our bottom line is a very important program we expand we expand it because we saw a need but it's also uh of great benefit to our overall revenues for the general fund if I might add and put a little more context to that so our oana online program as it sits right now is generating about a net of a million dollars for our school district and that just comes through open enrollments and other tuition agreements that we have because all of those students attending our programs as open and roles we retrieve their funding from their respective districts because they're now attending an no atana program so you'll see that little bump there but that was do in part to hiring some additional oana online staff to accommodate that okay so now looking at our staff counts over a 10-year period one piece that is um an important data set to recognize is that we have increased our staffing by 47 over 10 years and um just is a side note um regarding the eso grants uh we had as I mentioned earlier we have 10 instructional staff that we retained with the grant rather than making Cuts as we entered into the pandemic but then we also added 12 new staff that was were also covered by the Esser Grant and we've retained all those positions as well that were part of th that eser Grant uh but then obviously over that period of time of 10 years uh there were more ads than just due to the Esser Grant I'll just add again a little more context to that so the 47 positions you're seeing also reflected here are the oana online positions that we just mentioned the other thing is as you you just saw a few slides ago the rais in special education expenditures that's a result of having to have more staff available for students uh support staff behavior interventionist things like that and of course that drives the Staffing number up and what is so the 47 what percentage are admin what percentage is direct student contact there weren't any additional administrative position so those 47 positions were direct student contact correct okay so this um talks to what our student counts have been over the years again the numbers illustrate here is what's called average daily membership so this is uh the stat that we actually get funded on from the state of Minnesota through the Ed Revenue um and so you will see that it's been the the good news is we've been very steady over a 10year period most districts have seen a decline over 10 years uh we've been very fortunate that we've been quite steady um and again this is the account that we're funded on so like for example preschool students we just get funded on a fraction of as of their ADM and that's why these numbers come in as they are we also have I just want to make a note that uh the uh tuition students from uh Northfield um last year was also Elbert Lee and um our third one was Morhead more Morhead is this year anyway yes um we have those are are tuition students so we do not receive gened revenue from those so it's a little bit unique Nuance with those particular students that are are tuition and when we do a tuition agreement just for clarity um they are able to stay in their home community so we have students that are accessing oana on online academic programming but they might be staying so students today at Northfield High School can still access their activities they can access their uh sort of Fine Arts and C other extracurricular activities if they so choose but their academic pieces are coming through Aon online so we build them for those uh services at a reduced rate because the district the home District still retains a portion of that funding because they still are enrolled in some of their District programs as well okay this graph just is another way of illustrating what's happened in the past and what we're looking at the future I want to emphasize this graph is K12 so it does not include the prek students that we serve um again this is reflecting average daily membership of which we get funded on uh you can see we again we've been quite steady over uh going back to 1819 up to the 23 24 year 2425 is showing at uh 4,667 just want to point out what we continue to see slight improvements on this initial estimate um but then looking to the future we do see it uh dropping down some and there's a couple reasons why a lot of it is our kindergarten counts that we anticipate to be coming to us in the future I do want to point out something I think that's interesting so if you look at the last three school years leading up to this year we have continually outperformed what the trend line or what demographers had been saying about our projected enrollment the other part about this graph I think that's important to mention is that really anything beyond the 2728 school year is speculation uh because again again in a community our size um major shifts in business can have a huge impact on the enrollment that we see and so I just wanted to point out a couple of different items um about this particular graph and again as Lori indicated in this year's bar um we're even seeing a little bit more than the 4667 since this um Report was generated we've seen a little Improvement there as well that's correct y i monitor it constantly so um so this gives us uh an idea of what kindergarten counts have done in the past so if you look back in 1819 you can see it was it was more than 350 uh kindergart students and the there's these are actual counts up through the 23 24 year uh which we just concluded and so you can visually see where we've been uh that we have declined from little over 350 and now we're below 300 um so that that that is very impactful because we're we're funded on the number of students that we serve uh just to give you a general idea um our gened funding formula is about 11,000 per pupil so when we have a drop of a 100 Kids it really adds up fast financially and how that impacts the bottom line this graph I know there's a lot of data but it helps illustrate what what's happening when our kindergarten counts are dropping so if you kind of look in the middle of the um the chart towards the top the top line is says K minus uh 12 minus K so what this means is our incoming kindergarten compared to the graduating class of the prior year so the 25 26 year that is a negative number 154 and so that is really a driver of Y enrollment projection shows a decrease is that the incoming kindergarteners are at a much lower class size than our graduating seniors now we do have another Nuance here that's shown in the graph if you look at grade nine you can see a positive number about it's in the 50s 56 52 that is reflective of the students coming from St Mary's as they enter into ninth grade and so that's why we see that bump consistently from year to year okay so here's an update on the financial forecast I know there's a lot of numbers here I'm I'm just going to kind of Hit the highlights so uh this financial forecast I have some assumptions in it because that's what a forecast is so I'm uh running with the Assumption of number one the enrollment forecast I just showed you also running with the Assumption on the basic uh gened formula that we will receive a 2 and a half% increase on that basic formula the special ed formula the actual formula as it exists how it calculates is reflected in these numbers um and that's basically it not assuming any other um legislative changes in the next bium um and then on the expenditure side I'm this illustrates a reduction we're making cost reductions of 1.7 million for next fiscal year so that would be for FY 26 and then also we have assumptions of what um inflationary costs we will anticipate to have uh with our staff Etc um and so with making cost reductions of 1.7 million we go from this current year we're deficit spending at 2.5 million and even with making Cuts it's a reduction of uh 275,000 you see at the bottom there in the yellow so that is uh what I'm projecting our general fund will be now again this is uh our grand total general fund with all the reserves and everything I'll get to the ass unassigned fund balance in a second but even with making these reductions coming pretty close to balancing our budget because you know you can you can see we have a substantial uh a budget here um that we come close to breaking even um and then the concern is look at the next year FY 27 so it doesn't solve our problems because the state of Minnesota if all they can do in improv improving our formulas is 2 and a half% on the basic formula it's not enough money to cover our inflationary costs going forward and so that that is the concern so now to address the question well how does our unassigned general fund balance so in our general fund we have variety of reserves like reserve for operating capital reserve for long-term facility maintenance then the big bucket of that general fund that's called unassigned is where our main operations are so we're I'm projecting that that unassigned fund balance even with making Cuts in FY 26 uh we'd be going from about a 12.89% uh unassigned fund balance down to 12 12.26 approximately and then FY 27 we're we're deficit spending we're spending down to about 10% and after that we're just spending it down when your deficit spending it compounds on itself year after year so this just to give you some clarity um yes making cuts for next year definitely helps for next year but we still have challenges going forward one thing that I want to point out to you that's just below that unassigned fund balance percentage is the number of months that we can we could expense with that unassigned fund balance so if you look at even uh the 2025 budget at 12.89 of un assigned um with a with a seems like a larger amount is about a month and a half of operation uh so again you can see how that's impacted down to the point where um when you get into this area right here it's called statutory operating debt so again um I think these numbers point out to you that we've been conservative with where we're at but without any additional revenue streams coming in um it will pose quite a financial challenge for us moving forward at this point we would entertain any other questions that the board members might have this is a consistent situation that multiple school districts are in right like this is not unique to oana right now at this stage that's a good point um this is not certainly not um isolated to oana so there are approximately 338 public school districts in the state of Minnesota at last count nearly 260 or 270 of them are in the same Financial spot um I was just watching a news story this morning again this is a matter of scale the Anoka henpen School Board tonight is meeting uh to discuss making $20 million in reductions and again their budget largest school district in the state so everything is scaled and but um they're facing the same challenges certainly that we are um and many other districts around us so and the enrollment trends that you're seeing again plays itself out not just in Minnesota but Across the Nation that there's just lower birth rates and so that's paying into seeing kindergarden numbers drop so one point I'd also want to make going back to enrollment uh you know there's a couple things with our online program we've seen an increase of overall enrollment into our district some of those open enrollments are into the online program but there are open enrollments um in at every level and even I mean I think uh the new high school has drawn some attraction for open enrollments from their are coming in person as well and so that open enrollment trend has been very positive for us um it's we're we are ring bringing in more students that are going out so that's I mean this is reflecting that positive news per se but it's that uh lower kindergarten class is coming in that's that is really causing a lot of trouble one thing I just always like to refer back to was from the spring it was this referendum vote um area Big N where it's just showing that oana spends $520 per pupil unit which is just above the lowest and which is 512 in Austin all the way up to Northfield which is at 264 per pupil unit so I think that's just a good representation that it looks good right and the other part again I know that it's premature to indicate what strategy might be most appropriate here um increasing operating expenses through a levy as one potential solution that you will be uh poised to discuss at a later date but with with it's a good remark Elizabeth because I think that um in comparison to other big nine schools we are near the bottom uh one up from the bottom actually um and I also think that there have been some most recent referenda that have been passed in the Big N that have even stretched that and made the Gap even further um the other part about referendum that's an interesting thing is that um I've often thought that there's another piece of this which is Equalization which you hear me talk about quite quite frequently the zip code of where you reside in Minnesota should not decide how much our taxpayers have to put in and again the case can be made that oon taxpayers because of our particular economy here are paying more than if you lived in Rochester or some other District Even in our big nine conference so any other questions maybe just one more common I think the other topic we discussed in our finance committee meeting that might be worth noting is just plain inflation right I mean we've all heard it we hear it in the news we experience it personally and the fact is our school district has experienced it as well so I think that's just one more piece of the puzzle and the the numbers so yeah all of their vendor contracts have seen increases that are just inflationary increases that the market is bearing and with that but the problem is we don't have any the revenue coming in doesn't matter what those inflationary increases have been and the Gap just continues to widen anybody else okay hearing none thank you both very much item seven tonight is just the general information and specifically it would include the enrollment report that was a part of your board packet any of you have any questions relative to the enrollment report or red still looks good red okay we're going to move move on item eight tonight would just be discussion items starting with the a the board forum and if we can kind of go around the room um committee meeting reports Lori you want to start with committee reports yeah um I think they're all published in your agenda there I apologize I think I lost connectivity here um but obviously the the finance committee and the um policy committees we've been busy meeting regularly um the presentation you saw was part of our last finance committee meeting and um couple of things on the agenda tonight related to first and then second reading for policy so Deborah doing committee reports now yes facilities committee met today and discussed the sale of the uh Bridge Street Bridge Street school and uh We've made a decision that will be presented on December 9th to the board uh I'm just on the policy committee we been trying to get through lots of policies in the last couple of months yes nothing um I was also at Facility have nothing more to add uh same here and I think Deborah covered perfect I just want to say I enjoyed our visit this morning at the area Learning Center with um Martina Wagner yeah it was a great visit uh mock trial has auditions tomorrow which is a first time EV event for us so we're excited to uh get our roster together of what our team is going to look like this year good evening Schoolboard members and community members this week our students demonstrated remarkable generosity during husky give week the student council and other student groups such as shock collected nearly 600 serial boxes 250 toys and over 200 clothing items to support those in need all these donations were made to community Pathways um as of right now winter sports are underway with basketball among the activities um and tonight o OS huskies and varsity choir and varsity Orchestra has a concert Erin IU thank you um anybody have any comments relative to the work session that we had with I just thought it was really enlightening it was great really good discussion um so look forward to repeating opportunities same would be true of the data retreat was excellent and the last item tonight uh item four would be the policy revisions anybody have any questions after the first quick read on those policy revisions for the policy committee I have a comment under the uh harassment and violence the addresses for the um people to contact needs to be updated because they're not at Bridge Street anymore thank you duly noted thank you uh Elizabeth you yeah can I just clarify a couple um points on the the um 522 Title 9 just some things that I just wanted to make sure I understood it um let's see so just Roman numeral one letter H so it says nothing in Title Nine ORS regulations may be read in derogation of any legal right of parent guardian or other authorized legal representative to act on behalf um can you just clarify for me what that means like me to take that on I know I'm I'm gonna ask Chris too if she'd be willing to step up too cuz she reviews policies I'm just not sure if it means um yeah my interpretation of that particular piece um would mean that um there can be nothing that's read in derogatory terms regarding the complainant respondent or other other persons that's within a title n complaint y That's my understanding of it Chris do you want to see that I which paragraph were you looking at Elizabeth h h h yeah under on the general yeah yeah yes well I'll just throw out my two cents um I think it really just means that you know parents or whomever they retain the the rights that they have within that role policy doesn't in any way um that's how I interpret it now okay that that they maintain their rights this this policy doesn't supersede theirs y okay got it and the way I understood it too is that basically Title 9 Title 9 takes precedence over any other organization local law rules you know things like that it's Federal that's right it preempts everything yep below it okay okay state law could narrow that could narrow it okay okay um and then let's see so Roman numeral one so just or sorry I just under H uh okay it's just it's a little bit confusing I'll just read it in the limited circumstances in which Title 9 or its regulations permits different treatment or Separation on the basis of Sixx the school district must not carry out such different treatment or separation in a manner that discriminates on the basis of sex by subjecting the person to more than de Minimus harm so basically saying that it's there might be a circumstance where Title 9 allows permits different treatment or separation but the school district cannot carry out if it discriminates on the basis of sex whatever that Federal code is rules I I don't know Chris if you want to comment I I think that Dom Minimus phrase really is just saying you can if there are minimal inconveniences or minor you know differences those are permitted they have to be that's what di Minimus right minimal sure something small yep but otherwise you can't is that how you focus really is that yeah all right that wouldn't be a full okay and then just the last sentence in that same letter I it says adopting a policy or engaging in a practice that prevents a person from participating in an education program or activity consistent with the person's gender identity sub subjects a person to more than Minimus harm on the basis of sex so I do Wonder though how if this is the way well one I think it's arguable that this is true Federal interpretation being that I the last I read that Congress did not um authorize anything other than the original title 9 UM law in 1972 however if this is the way we're going to State it I just think it'd be nice we need to also consider the other students that might consider them themselves In Harm's Way if this is allowed so if you know at what point do you consider discrimination versus safety and we our goal is to protect all students um so anyway just a thought like how how are we going to protect the students that would feel un safe in a situation that's all I got well it's a first reading I guess I would just say you know this is our first reading something to consider I would add one thing this particular interpretation has been on the state law for a while um and has actually outpaced the federal law the federal law simply matches what the state of Minnesota has had in statute for at least a couple of years if not more so um and I guess I'm just curious too is this something that we use our um The District's Law Firm to do like do we run policy by them in certain circumstances like this or not necessarily we utilize the services of the Minnesota Schoolboard Association in fact their attorneys are the ones that review this before they make um particular um edits or revisions to any policies that are proposed runs a lot of these policies sure okay anybody with any other questions relative to policy revisions okay um Item B would be the administrative report Mr elstad anything to add with regard to administrative have a couple items tonight for you um first one is and I think this has already been brought forward the Bridge Street realator proposals there'll be a proposal and recommendation prepared for you for the December 9th meeting for your consideration um December 9th also marks our district audit and truth and Taxation hearing so just to make a note of that and we'll be right here again back at the crle center January 15th through the 17th um is the annual uh leadership conference for the Minnesota Schoolboard Association we have um a few people that have signed up to be part of that I know that um Mr kubichek and miss van gelder are part of that as well as new incoming members that will be seated on January 6th just before the conference so uh we're happy they're able to take advantage of that appears there's a number of really good sessions I will say that um Chris paa and I and and uh Dr prer from MSU Mano uh Abigail Sutcliffe who is one of our apprenticeship uh program students and um Lauren Simon who is a journey worker within that same program are doing a presentation on Thursday afternoon uh regarding our apprenticeship program here so showcasing that for other boards and administrators to take part in uh and the last is uh it's Thanksgiving week and I'm very thankful to serve as a community servant but also serving with this board and I appreciate your leadership and thankful for the leadership and guidance that you provide me um as a superintendent so thank you okay with that we're going to move on item nine tonight is the consent agenda my quick reminder is that we are approving the minutes from October 28th and November 12th meetings the dispersement and the Personnel report does anybody have a reason to pull any of these out to be voted on independently okay hearing none would one of you please entertain a motion or introduce the motion I move that the board approve the consent agenda second we have a motion and a second is there any further discussion Eric if you would please Elizabeth I Lori I Deborah I Tim I jine I Mark I and I myself as an I 70 pass motion carries item 10 tonight couple of items that require board action the first of which is the policy revisions item a um as we dive into this there was one in particular um that had really quite a number of changes mostly additions and it was um was it student medication I think it was student medication there were a lot of changes in that one and were those mostly just in keeping with shared understandings of how medications can and would be dispensed through the school system yes okay uh beyond that I didn't really have any other questions I would open up does anybody have any questions relative to the policy revisions as they are being presented hearing none Jolene you know you don't I don't Eric do you have it up sure I've got let's see oh I can just do it um I that we adopt the um policies as shown in the agenda tonight second we have a motion on a second any further discussion all in favor with an i i any opposed that may motion carries Item B tonight would be gifts to the district once again oana is a incredibly generous Community Mr elad anything to comment with regard to gifts I often look at some of the gifts that are given and all of the things that you don't think are you know um everything from supplies for our dance team to jerseys and shorts for the basketball for um workplace giving adaptive bikes um and even funding to help reimburse for the rental of portable restrooms because they all cost money but I appreciate the fact that our we continue our business community and our other nonprofits lean into these uh concerns and help us as a district and as our students uh move these items forward so I'm grateful for that as well excellent would one of you please introduce the motion regarding gifts I move that the board approve the resolution for acceptance of gifts as presented second motion any further discussion Eric if you would yep Elizabeth I Lori I Deborah I Tim I jine I Mark I and I'm myself an I 70 pass motion thank you very much yeah uh before we adjourn I want to thank um Lorie voles and and M and and Jeff belstead for the presentation as it relates to this upcoming um decision- making that the board has in front of us um we have an obligation not only to be very respectful of where we are uh but we we need to act prudently as it relates to what appear to be systemic changes with regard to um student population in our district and and um it's it's going to take some um careful time listening and um and and conversation here at the board level as it relates to that with that I'll make the motion that we adjourn second Motion in a second all in favor with an i i any opposed that motion carries good meeting thanks folks um