administrative professionals or bus drivers. >> I know I know where to find >> I have other ways to >> administrative professionals. >> It's kind of a norainer, I think. >> Yeah. that you >> said the best driver. Who's the best
driver? >> Most drivers are the best driver. >> Um, sure. >> It's in info outach. >> Okay. >> So, that means I have to remember to do that. >> Yes. >> What are you doing?
Good. There it is. This regular meeting of the Independent School District 535 school board is called to order at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 in room 137 of the
Edison building. Present at this meeting are school board members, Superintendent Kent Pel, a non- voting exeicio member, and assistant school board clerk, Miss Anne Kramer. Miss Kramer, will you please call the role? >> Here. >> Here. Here,
>> the board acknowledges this site and all RPS sites are situated on the ancestral land of the Dakota people and we honor the Dakota nations and the sacred land of all indigenous peoples. At this time, we offer the opportunity to say the pledge of
allegiance. >> I aliance to the flag of the standsy and justice for all. Our next item are the Rochester Public Schools mission, vision, and values. During this agenda item, at every
regular meeting, a board member will read our mission, our vision, or one of our six values to emphasize their importance in our work as a district and our decisions as a board. Tonight we focus on our first value, providing exceptional opportunities to succeed. We offer an extraordinary level of
opportunities, classes, and experiences. Our standard of excellence ensures more than one path to success. Our next item is approval of the agenda. Are there any changes to the agenda? >> Move approval. >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded to
approve the agenda. All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? The agenda has been approved. The agenda and documents for this meeting are available online at rochesterchools.orgly. Our next item on the agenda are comments to the board. It is important for the school board to hear from our
stakeholders regarding issues that impact our students, staff, families, and schools. We welcome communication via email, phone call, and hear comments to the board. The purpose of comments to the board is to give community members an opportunity to provide input directly to the school board about issues that
fall within our authority. The board and superintendent do not respond directly to the speaker's comments during the meeting, but may follow up with the speaker if requested and appropriate. Persons who want to make comments to the board must fill out the online form by 5:00 pm on the Monday before the school board meeting, and it's available on our
RPS website and the assembly main page. Speakers, when your name is called, please come to this table. If you have written materials for the board, provide them to the assistant school board clerk and she will provide them to board members. Choose a microphone to speak into and be seated. Please direct your
remarks to the school board. You will have three minutes to speak and the timer will be displayed here on that timer. Please begin your remarks by stating your name. Our first speaker tonight is Manalati. day is tomorrow, April 22nd. Our receptionist, secretaries,
administrative coordinators, and office managers, executive assistants, and our assistant school board clerk do an exceptional job and work hard to keep our schools and central offices organized and running efficiently. They are the front line of welcoming families
and students to our buildings and offices and often the first stop for addressing an issue. We are grateful for their friendly and professional presence. Please join us in thanking them the next time you uh call, email or
visit a school or district building or program. Director Fauller. >> I am here to speak about National School Bus Driver Appreciation Day. April 28th is National School Bus Driver
Appreciation Day. Here in Rochester, our bus and van drivers ensure the safety and well-being of our students while transporting them to and from school and between schools and programs. Every day, our drivers transport over 10,000 students on yellow buses and almost 900
students on vans across the 12,250 miles of daily routes. The 260 bus and van drivers that transport RPS students are the first people to greet many of our students each morning and the last to say goodbye each afternoon, significantly impacting all of those
students every day. We thank these essential members of the Rochester public schools community for supporting the safety and sense of belonging of our students. Just a reminder, we are still facing a shortage of bus drivers and van drivers and first student is hiring.
View the opportunities at workfirst.com. >> Thank you. Our next information and outreach item is the Southeast Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principles Middle School Principal of the Year. Tonight we're recognizing principal at John
Adams Middle School who has been selected by his peers to represent the Southeast Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principles as their middle school principal of the year. Superintendent. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to ask Eric Johnson, our director of leadership development to come up uh and
uh he we are going to force uh Principal Gates to come on up too because uh he reluctantly agreed to come and let us honor him for the amazing work that he's doing uh guiding one of our middle schools. So, congratulations Brandt. You have to take a seat.
>> Good evening. It's my distinct privilege tonight to introduce John Adams principal Brandt Gates as the Southeast Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principles Principal of the Year. This recognition reflects not what he's accomplished, but how he leads John
Adams each and every day. Principal Gates has built a school culture people feel immediately when they walk into John Adams. Students, staff, and families know they're not only welcomed, but seen, heard, and valued. He's incredibly approachable and the kind of
leader who is constantly present in the hallways, in classrooms, and in conversations that matter. The trust he's built with students, staff, and families is the foundation of everything. At the same time, he doesn't let comfort become complacency. He is an innovator
who consistently encourages his staff to stretch, to take risks, and to push the limits of instructional practice service better outcomes for students. I was at John Adams this afternoon meeting with Grant and his skip leadership team. And they were deep in the data. Even though it was 83 degrees and sunny and the
school day had ended, they were planning ahead to next year's improvement plans and thinking about how they can increase academic outcomes for all their students. invests in people in a lasting way. He empowers his staff. He mentors his assistant principles, helps to develop
their leadership and preps them to head with the same or to lead the same balance of care and expectations. is one of those rare individuals who takes an incredibly challenging job, the job of being a middle school principal, he makes it look easy. The truth that
he's working incredibly hard on behalf of the John Adams community each and every day embodies what we hope for every school leader, strong relationships, focus on learning, and the courage to keep getting better. Please join me in congratulating
I'm gonna give you the opportunity to say a few words. learned it all from my parents growing up relationship piece and the school age child working there and you know just the dayto-day stuff and the staff
connecting again providing the support for staff to do what they do best through it This is honestly overwhelming. >> One more thing. >> Another round of applause.
The next item are board member updates. Does any board member have updates from their committees since the last meeting or any other information to share? Director. Um Dr. Marvin and I visited the skip visit
at Washington Elementary a week before last. I had to check to make sure when it was on my calendar. Um had a great um tour led by their principal Tom Olsen. um really I had never been to that school before and I knew of the program but didn't really understand what it was
like within the building and I we just had a great experience visiting classrooms seeing the students in action seeing the culture of that building and how positive it was and you know attributing that to the leadership one of the things that I took away is that um they're using the MTSS for reading
support this year and they're actively planning to transition that to add the math support as well that they've identified that is their key priority for next year. Um, so that was exciting to hear about and I'm excited to see how that rolls out next year.
>> Any other updates for members? Hearing none, we'll move on to our consent agenda. Items 5.1 through 5.8. Would any board member like any item removed from the consent agenda for separate consideration? >> Move approval. >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded to
approve the consent agenda. All those in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? The consent agenda has been approved. We'll move on to our focus topic, finding focus and mental health literacy. This is an information item. Superintendent.
>> Uh thank you, Madam Chair and board members. I'd like to invite Dr. Ruck, our director of research and evidence, to come on down. Um board members, as you know, this um focus topic, while certainly important and of real interest, was not the original subject for tonight. We initially planned to
bring you a recommendation for a new social studies curricula and resources. And in talking with our chief academic officer, Mona Perkins, she and her team felt we needed more time because we are actually negotiating with the curriculum developers for the most financially affordable licenses uh for those
multi-year purchases. And so we expect to reschedu that social studies curriculum adoption item in the near future. Um and in the meantime, there's a very interesting study that RPS grads did with Rochester public school students on a subject that is of huge
importance to our students educational success which is their ability in this age of screens and stimulus to focus on learning. Um it also is in board policy that when a study is conducted in RPS that actually is published we should come back and tell you about the
findings. This uh study has not yet been published but it is making its way toward publication. And so I am grateful to Dr. for being able to pinch it here tonight um in place of the social studies standards curriculum. But I think this is a very um interesting and
timely study that we can dive into as um deeply as board members are interested in doing tonight. So turn it over to you. >> Thank you very much. I am very excited to be here. One of my favorite get to do it all that often in this kind of format. So it's very exciting. Uh
this evening I'll be covering a study that was conducted last year called focus. It was also a side which is why it says bonus that I'll get into later. As a result of the project, there are actually now two papers that are out
under peer review. Anyone who's published in journals knows that can take a long time to get back. Uh the first paper and this was the main purpose of the project initially training attention real world reading and achievement. Uh the
study team is listed as well as their affiliations. The second paper we'll go through this uh was the control condition in the uh research project uh for mental health literacy and we are excited that even
our control condition the study team was a little bit larger and also included Sarah Clark from our own So reading achievement is obviously not something that is new and is a salient issue everywhere including in our school
district. 30 years of uh declining national reading scores. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent on interventions even just at the federal level. And even then typical interventions often only result in uh if they're effective at all
relatively modest gains. for the number of hours they're required to they tend to be narrow and they tend to focus on specific reading skills. This uh project took a different approach. Instead of focusing on the reading skills, instead it focused on
training students attention so that they could then apply that focused attention to. The idea is to train sustained attention and then improve their focus which improves better engagement with the text and ultimately leads to higher reading scores. That's the hypothesis
underlying. So it asks how does it work at scale in real schools since in the past they had found that program was effective but in laboratory settings not necessarily the study designed for finding focus involved a little over a thousand
students and our three comprehensive high schools 40 classrooms and 13 teachers. The experimental condition treatment group was an 80minute online active interactive lesson facilitated by the teacher and a companion focus co
focus coach digital app that worked through their district issue. Uh there were periodic self focus check-in ratings that's a part of the process using that app it was allowed during regular class time since we were taking 80 minutes out of English nine classes
however we have sort of control setting so we matched it with 80 online facilitated course on mental health literacy. It was independent work and it did not involve the focus of anything but it was still active and it was still meaningful for the students. So it was
not. So, what students actually did, it's a three-step if you boil it all down. Anchoring uh their attention, intentionally deciding where to direct their focus, then sustaining that attention with an anchor and letting go of the distractions while they're doing
so. The eight minute short lessons in 10 chunks provide a lot of background and training on how to do so. And the focus coach app then keeps them on track while they're doing it. Uh they use it during They rate themselves on a fivepoint
scale for focus. Yes, I understand it's a little choose to be interrupted by an app to improve your focus, but because of how students were thinking about it through the framework and also through the lessons itself um over time they needed
to have fewer. Teachers also had a dashboard to monitor uh in real time how engaged their They couldn't see an individual student's class. Our adaptive reading screener fast a
reading was used as the test. We did this on purpose because it's already a state approved measure. It was not created by the researchers and it's already a assessment that our nth graders at the time were all taking. Um it is also a very rigorously
researched and validated assessment instrument and a good choice to use for a screening for skills in winter and so we had a baseline some intervention again what we found and actually this is from
Getty Images. surprisingly hardw. You don't need to necessarily follow every detail of statistics. Important takeaway is if a typical intervention results in roughly three weeks of added reading instruction time equates out.
Finding focus was able to expand that to almost 15 weeks of additional reading with far fewer hours involved in the direct instructions on those skills that would otherwise have been the case with the reading intervention that was targeted on
the focus coach use and uh their ratings of their focus improved over time. weekly sessions and as you can see we also had really high like students really stuck with the the focus coach if they started using 90% finished all of
the very statistics so the study that the authors compared it our our current work to was a study from 2011 on a particular reading intervention
which required 92 hours of after school time a variety of different designs issues control whereas this study relies on far less devotion of time and resources classroom to achieve strong
it's our students our assessment results were real and significant it's a relatively low burden initiative that has high scalability especially because it logically would follow that we would
see gains in other areas as well, not just reading, even though reading was the only moving on to the control group that I mentioned earlier. Now, this is exciting because usually in a control group, it's boring. You don't really have much to say or if you do, it's about placeos.
And this control group actually had a statist The mental health literacy curriculum that these students got only semeful impact as we know adolescent
mental health is only important in the last 15 years. Most schools in the US do lack what was measured just a quick couple of subscales from psychology area as well
as some measures of whether they're motivated to seek help, whether they know terminology and resources and also found that indicators of depression on those items at the beginning were mediated
because students tended to increase their help seeking motivation as a part of going through the process with anxiety. It was not actually increased improved anxiety but it did result in reduction in the indicators of anxiety
students. So it improved their ability and motivation to seek help on their own by learning terms, resources, places, languages. It improved um some of those beliefs
about just how prevalent and not isolated people are facing crisis resource knowledge as well as those uh this was a lot of hands on this besides the folks you saw at the beginning of the two slides. These are
our RPS teachers and other leaders who are engaged in the work except for Steph Whitney who I left off of the slides. And it's ironic because she's the one who I got from make sure I didn't. So, thank you Steph. I apologize.
But lots of hands and a pretty active and involved team. People were excited to work on that. I'd be happy to answer any questions. >> Board members, any questions? I have Dr. >> So Dr. Rock um
finding focus um and it's great to see how that was able to be tracked but uh the goal is not necessarily to see if there was any learning that was achieved. It was just to
or was that >> Yeah. So their their reading results their reading scores are what improved over time. So their attention improved, but their uh reading scores improved the equivalent of 15 weeks of reading
instruction versus the control group which did not. And that's calculated through using the norms and benchmarks and so forth. >> So will we as a district be able to what are we how are we going to leverage this
research? >> So part it's a great question. So part of the uh next steps that we were able to discuss with researchers when we were considering whether to participate in the project was can we have access
the two main researchers uh the morics are siblings who graduated from male high school. They as a part of this research project were really excited with how we were able to work with them on it. We were able to use the focus
program inual properties. So it is available to us and we've we've been having some discussions main hindrance there. So is this something that they will sustain over time having been through this or do
they have to be I don't know retested is the wrong word but like check in to see if they have able to maintain the gains that they've had. >> Yeah. So that's a great question. Part of the followup this year I am at the end of the school year. The challenge we have there is some of
our assessments in high school. So there's not just a limitation. >> Would you anticipate that a student might benefit from going through this more than once?
>> Absolutely. I would imagine White. >> All right. I got a couple questions. So, first you said it increased by 15 weeks, but it was a 12week experiment, three months that it went through. >> Uh, it was all spring semester, so that
would have been January. >> Okay. So, about how many weeks were they on the program? >> Okay. So, in 10 weeks, they got 15. >> It's the equivalent. Yeah, it's the equivalent gain of And I do understand in the documents
that you provided uh that you did give a breakdown of the diversity of the student structure. Um and you said that 90% of the students did complete the uh finding focus. Uh was that across the board? Did you find any disparities in that?
>> No, there actually were none. It was deliberately part of the research design. So part of what we worked with in the data was demographic indicators. None of them ended up being terms of positive coordin every roughly everybody saw pretty much
the same >> and that was also control >> and um I'm going to give credit for this question to director. Um but just to be clear the app was not done on phones because we don't allow phones in the
classroom. So if you want to describe where they use So the app there is a cell phone app. It's a companion, but it's not necessary to use. The app went through our school district's technology review process as
it was approved through technology and was then loaded on students. And will they be making a version of this for adults? >> Um, I tried it myself. Uh, and I will say that it was extremely
>> and I downloaded it as part of my prep for tonight's meeting and used it over the weekend and did the first two studies um that were about 10 minutes each and very accessible. They actually ask you questions to make sure you're paying attention. Um, but then when I got into my work week, I have not been
as successful. So I will try try it again. >> The voice in the app is >> you're listening to the sort of soothing male sounding voice. >> You actually have a choice of two and that is the >> Well, we will look forward to hearing
whether this is able to gain additional use and traction for and benefit some of our other students. Thank you for facilitating this opportunity. >> Absolutely. Thank you so much. >> Our next item is a monitoring item, the school resource officer contract. Uh
board members, we are in the second year of a two-year contract for our school resource officer services. So this is why it is a monitoring item and not an action item tonight. Superintendent. >> Thank you, Chair Nathan. I would like to ask Chris Ling, our director of school safety, and Sergeant Valair to come on
up and Jackie Peterson, our chief of schools. Board members, as you know, um Since I got to Rochester in 2021, uh this board and our administration has been on a journey to um both uh support, enhance, and ensure the appropriate role
of school resource officers in our schools. We looked at alternative models of school safety. We looked at the research on um the impact of having uh uniformed officers in schools. And with the leadership of this board, we
significantly revised the contract with the Rochester Police Department to ensure a very clear dividing line between school discipline and the role of our police officers and their connection to the criminal justice system and also to codify and enhance
the role that our SRO's play in building relationships and providing students with an understanding of things like appropriate uh presence on social media and vaping and other factors. Um, last year the board felt confident enough in this uh place that we've arrived in our
partnership with Rochester Police Department to approve a two-year contract. And so, as Chair Nathan just noted, there is no action before you at this time. But we want to be sure that we are regularly reporting to you and the community on the uh work that our school resource officers are doing in
our schools. And in particular, what the data that you're going to see now shows once again, which is that with very, very rare exceptions, students in our schools who interact with school resource officers are not uh being charged or becoming involved in the
criminal justice system. Uh we're engaging them in uh ways to promote school safety in our schools with a very very few um exceptions. So with that, let me turn it over to the team. Um and thank you so much for being willing to join us. Dr. Pel and members of the board. Thank
you for the opportunity to share an update on uh our schools officers and what we've been this year. We are following the same format that we did last year because I recall uh how much you love our last year. So um same
format here. This is an updated uh roster of our SRO in our buildings. We have as you can see six along with Sergeant Blair who is very valuable member of the team and a great support to our office um and out
buildings as well. Kind of looks like Monopoly cards uh like property deeds there but I uh I wanted to cover the cell phone numbers. I didn't think you'd want that published. So uh again this year just a reminder this is Minnesota statute uh regarding the
responsibilities or duties of SRO. So I won't take the time to that but it's there for your reference. And these next three slides are based on the uh the updated uh agreement as Dr.
Pel mentioned um that many of you or some of you worked on to outline what we would like to see happening in our schools with regard to to SRO. So the the topics here the first one high focus on violence reduction and supporting social issues. The SRO's
track of their their activities in their buildings. Uh things like um creating and presenting uh presentations to to students and classes um and other interactions that they have throughout their days. And so
we collect that information and synthesize it here for you. And so on this slide you can see the the SRO's are very uh integral to the development of our safety plans in our schools. They are very helpful in updating um anything
that needs updating and helping to uh run our safety drills in schools. Um they do take part in administrative meetings to make sure they're up to date and um available to our administrators up to date on what's happening in the school community.
I've listed some of the just some of the events that our SRO's have recorded participating in this year, including things like the back to school block party, cultural celebrations, even a basketball game at the ALC, staff and student basketball game they
participate. Uh the next uh the next heading is student support and these can be interactions with individual students um where students are coming for help on safety issues on uh issues that they're
having with friends. Um this could also be parents and students coming for um support and advice. Um and um I want to I want to point out the last bullet the the SRO's had conducted have conducted so far this year through March um over
100 uh basically conflict resolutions with students um who are struggling with issues with peers in their building or across the district. And then again there's some other uh trust and rapport building activities that they engaged in
seat belt challenge polar plunge and fun events that they're showing up. And then finally, educational engagement. So these are, as Dr. Pel had mentioned, um topics like vaping and and alcohol, drug use, um social media, um
really helping kids understand the implications of um engaging in these kinds of activities. They're also they've also um been invited to uh present and share information in individual classrooms by teachers. Um
and so they've recorded those um activities as well. I also included some special events that were um uh connected to our students but um some even outside of the district like the Boys and Girls Club, but still a good connection with students in our schools.
>> Now I'm going to turn it over to Chris Lan to talk about the data. I just want to add in schoolies I would say within those football games. They got people around them all the time. Kids talking to them, high school, former students. They've got people like
them. Sergeant that you're looking at right now something tells us a better story. The green part is our sites. Um and that part should add up as you go across the part is RPD and their outcomes those
items are not going to add up reasons why you can see at the very bottom there's piece within that one reason is there might be multiple students within that also a student may have multiple things Um, as you notice on the blue side, um,
the outcomes that happen the most, um, we've got assist, we've got suspicious circumstance, and I'll let Sergeant Blair talk about those question that disorderly conduct and community services that
you also don't see on here. We talked about this last time. We do the discipline part. We talked about how many of these were our own. So if you remember level two that we track within our skyward part of it um
those numbers that we have then go to 64 of those levels. Okay. That's not on here. That's just data as of today. Um we got 64 K12 that have been referred to the police. Of those 64, we also track
arrests. As of today of 421, we had zero. As Dr. outlined, um we are midway through a two-year agreement and so there's no action needed. Um there were desire to do to make changes or
terminate the agreement to provide written notice to RPD. That is that's our presentation. We're here to take questions if there's any questions. Dr. Marvin, >> um I see the pictures of the officers
who are in our schools. What kind of training or what kind of process uh do you go through with people who will be in our schools every day interacting on a regular basis with uh little kids and teenagers?
>> There could be a number of different trainings uh within the last two years since 2025. State of Minnesota has mandated SRO go through a basic school resource officer course. That's a 40hour course
and also that's on top of all our recommended uh training with to be a police officer. So that goes from anything from uh deescalation training to mental health training to uh crisis intervention uh to interview
interrogation style of training. have a good understanding how to talk individuals. So all those things one of our particular um criteras for school resource officers uh is problem solving and that's one thing that I team
on to be good uh be good at crisis intervention. Not only that but also have problem solving on hand so when things do come up you can find alternative alternative methods per se to find ways to
accomplish that problem, find resources, trying to find ways to make that connection. The other thing that I develop relationships those go a long way as a former myself having worked different units now to being the
sergeant in charge. I bring that mentality of work on those relationships now. Those go a long way. You're not going to be able to safety center also.
with them last week. They know all about >> um Sergeant Bolair, I do want to speak to this because it's probably something we talked more about with your predecessors than you is that one of and
I was involved with what what Dr. Pel talked about about modifying the contract and updating it and modernizing it. that one of my goals for that was to use this program as a model for how officers can interact with young people in the community. As they grow up, young
people, they become adults and they have interactions with law enforcement. And I think what you were talking about there is exactly what we're hoping would happen with this program. >> Again, I think now our unit is not representative where
our city is looks like. I would like to help with that. I think the people that we have in place do a really good job of developing those relationships. They have really good understanding of what we're looking for, at least what I'm looking for in an SRO,
trying to be that mentor for them, being that position, but also working through those challenges of coloris play ahead. Again, once we're out of the school, uh those
rel, you know, is this a sought sought after role in the police department? Do you recruit people for this role? What are you looking for when you select them? And Is there going to be turnover is always one of my concerns. >> There's always turnover. We have a
tenure that we kind of follow through, but we do allow SRO to make that decision. We don't again we are police officers who have a calling to work within those.
And I think for me, once I identify someone that has the mentality or the um the drive to be a police officer that works with kids in the building, I go after this
um because I want to have that positive offic to have that mentality. But is it a sought after position? You have to have the right mentality. Anyone can do the job, but you have to have a trying to recruit those folks is a
little difficult because we have a really young agency. Um, and we do have the requirement of having at least a couple years of experience, but that challen Not only police officers, now we
want to make sure we have the right mentality. We want to make sure we have the right people for that. put the group that we have against. Part of that is what we set up with Dr. Brown.
>> Uh, yes. I have a couple things under SRO activities. Uh, resolving conflicts. I noticed that. And um Jackie, you made it a point to call that out. Over 100 student parent interactions. Can you perhaps provide an
example of a parent student? I imagine a incident perhaps physical of nature has occurred and both students and maybe family. So both families are present. I might be mistaken, but can you perhaps speak to what that looks
like? I guess I I would rather not provide names and things for examples. For example, one high school engage in a conversation. U the SRO made it a point to get those
folks in the in the room together. Um talk about what the ultimate consequences could be, what it could look like, and what choices we could be making. Uh parents were involved in that conversation. So that's the typical things that we would we would do. Um
there could be other things that could could happen where we could uh you know submit the the incident to our three rivers outside entity build those restorative practices. I've been part of the advisory board
here in the last few months trying to trying to understand what can be done, how we can uh bring those things into the schools and I know there are some programming that's coming down the way here for some of the middle schools.
So I believe once we have a good understanding what practices look like then we can model a little bit more in our dayto-day. I think again having the dayto-day interaction with the students in the
building, building that relationship goes a long way with having especially with difficult ones. So if we can get the guys to understand what restorative practice looks like understanding of that but bring some
more training on that >> oh I'm school came in about school outside of our students that way as far as We also have good examples of SRO who
have brought families together. So two students who have examples I'm aware of are middle schoolers who had issue with each other and um the SRO was able to outside of school bring parents from both at their request bring families
together to to work the conflict and resolve. >> And um so two more questions. one uh director Marvin, have the SRO's ever attended the student school board? I'm
curious that might be a way to actually get a feel for I know you see well as a suggestion and and then further um uh there are student clubs. I'm thinking last board meeting
we had the Black Student Union from John Marshall. I was Perhaps the SRO who services a JA JM they have had any outreach with that particular student organization just to build inroads.
>> I can't give you specifics because uh we do class presentations. We do assembly uh uh presentations. So I know they've been homecoming groups. So I can't give you a specific
notification deals with uh incident uh calls uh suspicious circumstances. Uh I think there were 40 listed or so. So uh incident referral. So any call uh to a
RPS property that a RPS responds to is going to be listed here. And really I don't think the district well as a board member I'm not really looking to see you know uh incidences unrelated to uh our
students identified. I think the original intent was for the referrals related to our students occurring uh versus off hours uh weekend
uh a unrelated to either a staff member or teacher. So is there a way I think Chris you kind of manage the documentation Yeah, I guess those are a lot of times identify someone and say this personific
number one could be done outside of school. Make it a point to school ins. related community together. So things that happen outside of school,
but those things correlate Every morning we do receive information as far as over the this report or report similar to this, we we may have had like a speeding violation or something that we would have to explain that
the driver was stopped um at our property. And so it appears RPD data as a school incident. Um but to best of my knowledge, these are just related to our students and not um you know like an arrest for um speeding or drugs or
something on school property. and superintendent. I next time you speak to Chief Franklin, uh, please let him know that he's continuing to do an excellent job at appointing great sergeants to oversee this program and I
haven't had the opportunity to meet you, but you seem to be well versed and on top of things. So, keep up the good work. >> I just say regarding Sergeant Bolair, we if you recall last fall there were um there was an incident at one of our public schools that created a need for
support by actually RPS and RPD provided support a lot of support and in the days that followed there were phone calls that created concern around the community and um Sergeant Bolair answers pretty much on the first ring when we call to say we're hearing there's something in the neighborhood is there
something we need to in fact usually he's calling us to say I just want to alert you to this there's no danger to you but you may hear whatever it We feel very very supported by >> I got a I got a few things.
>> So first uh the matter of context you said you resolved over 100 conflicts but what is that period of time? This is kind of a checkin, correct? This is not your >> Yeah, this data is from the start of the school year to March 1st.
>> Um, and I'm just going to speak to the chart because while I like charts sometimes, um, this chart is it's it's a it's a it seems to be a nice piece of information, but it it lacks information. Okay? And I'll say this because even though you have stated that
there one incident could have multiple students I think from this perspective I would like to know how many students have been impacted right so you may have one assault but that may be 13 kids I don't know just throwing a number out there right it would be nice to know the
number of students that have been in contact with or you know been impacted by the SRO and I think we may have discussed this at one point when we were discussing the complexity of this chart, but I just want to bring that back to the front again. Um because it it
although there are a lot of numbers on there, they're not really followable, right? Because you get to a space like if you just pick assaults, right? You go go across to the like you said, the outcomes don't don't mesh because the numbers don't mesh, right? Because we don't know how many students were
involved in an incident versus how many students may have been charged, right? So just because there were several students involved in an incident that maybe only one went on to receive um you know further disciplinary action. I just
I just think it's hard to measure the students that have been have been impacted. While I do appreciate the data, um I also uh from a from a preventative standpoint, I I do think the demographics would also be important as well, right? Um and I think that just
helps us to see um where there's an impact. Um also, uh I did like at one point there was explanations to what the incidents were, uh where that wasn't included this time and I do see that there are um less uh according to what I
could remember, incidents that are listed on on the side of this one. Um, so I'm assuming some things may have gotten meshed together for for ease because there were I think a few more items um on there. Please don't quote me. There may not have been, but it it's
nice to see what um what constitutes a suspicious circumstance. You know, what why what would be under that uh just to help us to make sense of it, if that makes sense. I I do appreciate the data, but it's hard to gauge the real impact
of the student body without that information. If that makes sense. >> And I still have that document. I'd be glad to resend it to the board that outlines what each of these. >> And my last piece is this is just one
month. So it'd be nice to maybe see a >> Oh, this is this the whole school year up until now. Okay. I think on the bottom. Am I >> It does. It says >> I thought I was losing it because it says 32825
to 3125 and >> yeah, it should be 26. All right. I thought I was losing it. Um but yeah, so th those those would be things that I think would make it just easier to read and easier um for everyone just to be able to understand. I just I guess the my biggest takeaway is I would like to
know how many students were impacted because as you said, student could be in multiple incidents. So even though it's a bigger number, we could have a lower uh impact of students that are actually impacted uh by the SRO. So I would just like to know just how
>> the green columns are our data and those would be individual students. And what Chris was saying is if you look across middle, high school, elementary, see those numbers should total be accurate in the total incident. When we go to the
blue column, there may be students in multiple columns or one incident could be in multiple columns on that >> and one incident could be multiple students though, right? >> But I just want to make sure I understand. Thank you, Dr. White,
because I want to be sure every year better at this and so I appreciate you raising this. >> When director Whitehorn asked a question because when she said it it I wondered about it too. Um when I look at the green and it says incidents is that number of incidents or number of
students incident. So there could be multiple students in an incident. So thank you. We need to see if we can get number of students in the future. However, when we look at outcome those are indiv students. So we kind of have a little
bit of apples and oranges on this chart. We have incidents and individuals. So I appreciate that point that I think in future years we can work >> to the point also that director Whitehorn made does RPD track when you have an incident demographic factors
like race or gender or something like that because as as you know we get the data from you if the student has a consequence. >> Yes, we do that. >> Okay. Um the way this data is generated
we may not be able to get that for you. We would have to go through each gather that information of it. Uh but yeah but to your to your point uh with the numbers of students um
yes we could give you that information but Um there could be an incident where four students are involved. Only two are talked to because the other two may have been involved. They're talked to by
administrator administration but not law enforcement. There could be the numbers could be here as well because uh I would hate to list a student that was involved in the situation as having law enforcement
contact. They were not they were engaging with law enforcement at all. So I would hate to put them in that numbers to say we had four students involved in this situation. >> So I'm sorry just point of clarity
because I guess I was under the impression that this chart was designed for the students that did have contact with an SRO. >> Yes. >> So I I mean, I guess I would be at peace with I mean, I guess my concern is not
if there was 13 kids involved. My concern is how many of those 13 kids had police involved contact. So, I I mean, because I think we get a different report that will state how many students have had an RPS disciplinary action. I
guess my concern for the SRO's is I want to know exactly how many students um are having police contact and the reason why that concerns as I said is the number could be very screwed because if there's one student that has had six incidents
you know that's one student that's you know I' I'd like to see the impact of how many students have had police contact with RPS through SRO and that and track that be able to track that through through. I don't I don't see a
way with the data we have to be able to track through a student that has had police contact. Um also and just to for a little explanation of my point of this is as a district I want to see the gaps
where we can be you know be effective right so if we have a student that's had elementary as you know police contact and now middle school contact. Obviously, we know that they have higher chances of police involvement as we continue on, but this data does not give
us anything trackable or anything that we can implement or prevent. Um, I I would hope that everyone here would want to have the least amount of police contact with students, especially our black and brown boys. So, I just I I
while I love the data, I would like to see something that is a little more tangible so that there can be an action um placed behind this. I I'm I'm glad to see that y'all are working, you know, because that's pretty much what this says that y'all working. But I I would
like to see, you know, how we can implement the data on this side to create policies or changes or programs um that help the student. And I I just don't think that >> when we the data in summer. This green
data will the green columns will be included in the school year data >> and I believe we report to question. >> I was trying to make sure I understood Dr.'s point, which I believe is we want to know how many kids are involved in
incidents. We want to know how many uh of the same student was involved in multiple outcomes and we want to know what we can find out about the demographics of the students. So, I appreciate those to do that. >> Director, um I have a followup. Um Mr.
Ling just to clarify that and maybe we just need to make a decision about how to report the data but when you say 64 is that this school year so then that's not March 28th of 25 to March 1st of 26 >> the data that I
>> sorry data that I gave that I just said that's 64 nowhere on that's just our level two data that's discipline data that administrator two kids I understand what you're saying, but what I'm saying is the time frame for what you're saying is different than
what this chart is. So, I think we need to align those a little bit better >> because you're talking about this academic year. This report is going back to March of 25. So, we want we want to have the same time period when we're talking about
>> I'm not sure that I >> I appreciate that. align the time periods but not the data. We don't want to mush that data back to >> we want that separate. >> Director Cook. >> Uh well, I didn't have anything um
actually to add to this, but I just wanted to and I know Superintendent you've already taken down the note, but I wanted to underscore Director White Horn's request. I I am totally aligned that it would be a benefit to the board to have the type of information that she requested. So, um, uh, you know, I know
that we'll do our best to to see what's possible and what's feasible in coordination with RPD. Thanks for the presentation. Thanks for your work. >> To your point, I do want to thank not just Sergeant Blair, but we know that pulling this data is a lot of work uh,
within RPD, but as you can tell, it's of great importance to the board. So, I know I'll convey that to Chief Franklin next time I talk to him about that. Um, but hopefully you can tell your colleagues it's not for because this board is is really eager to see the data increasing levels of detail.
>> Um I just had one followup from some of the earlier discussions. Um Sergeant Valer, are there RPD people that are involved in your selection process that do you like an interview process? Do you involve people from RPD or how does that
work? would be involved. >> Yeah, I'm asking. Oh, sorry. RPS. Is RPS involved? >> Which would be RPS? >> Okay. I would continue to advocate to potentially invite board members, one
board member to be a part of that process as well. >> I I know um Dr. Rehorn mentioned um update improving the data so that we got a sense of uh students you know if they were involved in this in elementary school and then involved in in an
incident middle school etc. So across time um so that we're not waiting until the next time we get a report for this and and I don't know if you are able to speak to another superintendent but what do we know about the students who are
involved in um these kinds of incidents and what other kind of work u are we doing with them? I mean they're not just a a number on a on a sheet. Are there other interventions that we're doing
with students that might be interacting with SRO because there's some incidents involved? I guess the point I'm trying to get clarified is these students are known to
um our staff within the district that is you know working with students to overcome their barriers to learning to keep them in school to keep them out of having future incidents. They're not we don't just refer them and then you know have the SRO's handle it through the legal system. We also have other ways of
addressing these students needs within our schools. I guess I'm not prepared to outline all of those ways but we definitely have uh of staff in schools who are are are
supporting kids every day. Whether they've been in an incident that resulted in suspension, you know, bringing them back to school conference that offer support and connections with people that they can go
to supports that same. Any other questions or comments? Thank you for coming. Thank you very much. >> Our next agenda item is a prep for action item, the policy committee
recommendations for March 27th. This is the second of two prep for action briefings uh before the policies and procedures will come to the consent agenda on May 5th. Board members, are there any Any new questions or discussion on the policies and procedures?
Hearing none, we'll place them on the consent agenda for May 5th. Our next item is an action item, authorization of issuance and sale of $33,800,000 general obligation facilities
maintenance bonds series 2026A and general obligation refunding bonds. Uh this was a prep for action item at the April 7th meeting and there have been no changes to the resolution since that meeting. So I will read the resolution. Be it resolved the school board of independent school district 535 does
hereby approve the updated 10-year long-term facilities maintenance revenue plan. Be it further resolved that school board of independent school district number 535 does hereby approve the combined resolution as prepared by the district's bond council Dorsy and Whitney LLP relating to the issuance of 33,800,000
general obligation facilities maintenance bond series 2026A and general obligation refunding bonds in the approximate aggregate principal amount of $18,390,000. Move approval. Second has been moved and seconded. Any further discussion?
Hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The resolution has been approved. >> Our next agenda item is also an action item. Senior leadership reductions, reorganization, and appointments. Uh, superintendent. >> Thank you, Chair Nathan and board
members. Um, I I want to start out by saying that this is an extraordinarily uh difficult circumstance um and one that uh none of us starting with me uh sought to find ourselves in. Um it is driven first and foremost by very
difficult financial realities as board members know better than anybody. um with a brief reprieve for the year that Mayo Clinic gave us $10 million after the referendum failed and the year the referendum passed. We have been in cutting mode since I joined Rochester Public Schools. And that has involved uh
reductions at every level of the organization. And as the old saying goes, we've cut through muscle and we're at bone. Um and um we now face an $ 8.3 million deficit for next year, which the board will be grappling with in June when you get um the budget. Um, dozens
of teachers and education support professionals have lost their jobs. Now, we hope that many of them will find new jobs because their other jobs that are open, but if you're a third grade teacher at one school and you lose your job and you are successful in transferring to another job, you still lost your job. Guided by the premise
that we need to contribute to closing that budget deficit at every level, I reluctantly did make a recommendation to eliminate four positions uh in the school district's senior leadership. Um the executive director of community education and partnerships, the executive director of family engagement,
youth empowerment, the director of positive behavioral supports, and the director of school leadership and improvement. Three of those individuals are in this room tonight, and one was here earlier but had to leave. And I regret the impact that it had on all of those dedicated um individuals. Um I am
bringing a revised recommendation to you from last time and I'll talk about the two changes that uh we have added to the resolution that's before you tonight. But I think it's um briefly important to go back to um what was the premise of the recommendation that I made last
time, which was that when you cut four positions like that, you simply cannot maintain the work without some diminishment of the effectiveness of the job those people were doing. They're all skilled and hardworking people who would no longer be with us if this
recommendation was approved in those positions. But the goal uh was to integrate the core functions of those jobs into the rest of our work as best we could, as we've done with the other cuts that we've made since I've been in Rochester public schools. Now, for
reasons I understand and that have influenced the recommendation that I'm bringing for you tonight, the position of those four that generated the most attention was the position director, executive director of family engagement and youth empowerment, which was
previously the executive director of equity and engagement and then uh before that the executive director of diversity, equity, and inclusion. My assumption like for the other three positions that I recommended eliminating was that that would continue and be
integrated into other uh positions. And I don't think that that was um an entirely new approach. I really take issue with the assumption that the work we've done since I've been here in 2021 has not been about equity. Uh this
boardroom was full for three years of people protesting equity with such anger that we had to have police present. And the threats that were made against board members me personally were very very real and they weren't doing it because they had nothing else to do on a Tuesday
night. Um the work we have done in literacy has been all about equity even if it has not had the word equity before it at every moment. We have changed curriculum. We have moved school leaders. We've changed our start times. We've revised school schedules. We've changed our staffing model. We've
changed our budgets. All to prepare students to learn to read so they can read to learn. But there were very thoughtful objections to losing a position that was explicitly focused on equity for reasons that I absolutely understood and that
have been spoken about here tonight. And so the first change in the proposal that I'm bringing before you is to add a position which would be a new position and quite different from ones that we've had. And it's important to remember that many positions in Rochester public schools have changed in the five years
that I've been here. That position would be entitled director of equity and organizational development. Really putting this position at the heart of shifting our organization. The job description is posted in the uh board agenda item. But I want to just read the first critical responsibilities that I
would propose that director level position undertake. Equity review system designs and implements a structured process for reviewing major district systems and decisions to ensure they effectively serve students with the greatest needs. reviews budgeting, staffing, curriculum, and school
improvement processes. Identifies areas where outcomes are uneven or insufficient, and provides clear, actionable recommendations, assures that identified issues are addressed through changes in RPS schoolboard policy, system design, and practice. Periodically reports to the RPS school
board on implementation of the Rochester public schools equity policy. The other four major um five major responsibilities of this position which I won't go into in detail detail now but they are also urgently needed are organizational development and system alignment. We don't have anybody who
wakes up every day thinking about are our communication flows effective are our teams effective are our collaborative processes working continuous improvement academic and student support legal and policy alignment and support for employees. Now to the issue of this position not being
on the the That is a big change that I've made since I've been here as superintendent with board support at every decision. When I got here, the cabinet was nine people. They met for eight hours in a day and every decision was reviewed in the collective. If this proposal is approved, the cabinet would
be five people. And that is because we are adopting a different approach to leadership in the central office. This board sets policy and governance. My job is strategy. I see the cabinet as integration and coordination. I see the directors as providing the critical
leadership for our work and we've created a new leadership structure called the central office leadership team cult for short that I see increasingly as the central coordinating space where we are doing that work. There are positions that are on the colt
that are not on the cabinet that are wildly important to this agenda. The directors of elementary and secondary education are not on the cabinet. Dctor of special education is not on the cabinet and the same is true of multilingual learning, research and evidence, finance, technology, communications, student safety, student
well-being, and more. Those are all critical functions. And so the suggestion that this position would be at the director level is not to diminish the importance of the role. It's actually to house it in the structure that we are using at our central office
level right now. Um, in order to fund the addition of this new position, I have proposed that we not include in the budget you will receive in June a very important position that board members have interacted with that uh up till now has been funded by a grant, the coordinator of project management that
was in the budget that we're working on to bring you in June to cover the cost of this new position. I've proposed um eliminating it. The other reason though for these cuts was because I also think we need to add a new position that I believe is really urgently needed in our
school district and probably many others and that is executive director of learning environments. Um in education week which is kind of the periodical of record um last month there was the the results of a national survey of teachers
across the country ran and the headline was teachers say student behavior made the job almost impossible, almost in parenthesis. And here's what the survey found. In a nationally representative survey of more than 5,800 teachers by Education Week Research, which is part
of Education Week's The State of Teaching Project, 35% of teachers said their students behavior was a lot worse than the previous school year, not than five years ago, than the previous school year. Reports of improvement were scant.
Misbehavior was cited as one of the top contributors to low teacher morale, which dipped slightly on the teacher morale index from last year. Students have become apathetic towards school rules and feel embolden emboldened to disrespect or clearly ignore their teachers. They said in open-ended
responses to the survey, this is not the only data source that's found it. And Rochester Public Schools is by no means the only district that is experiencing that. And so the position that I propose creating would bring together in a unified f all of the supports we provide
for students to learn in inclusive positive learning environments. Right now, our work on student uh positive behavior, mental health support, social work, it falls under the chief of schools, which means that it has to fit
with supervising 65 principles, managing school safety, and managing our school improvement process. I concluded over the last six months that that is not providing it with the care and uh leadership that it needs given the importance that we're seeing at the
classroom level. More importantly, there are other functions that also affect the learning environment that are scattered elsewhere in the central office. And so this new position would bring together in a coherent department uh our work on positive behavior systems, mental health, homeless education, attendance
and truency coordination, American Indian education, community partnerships, community education, health services, family engagement and support, youth empowerment and more. It would be the context for learning with leadership. And that position is posted. The first round of interviews were last
week. Everyone uh staff internally and external to RPS were certainly invited to apply and the second round of interviews is taking place this week. Obviously, as is the case with every position, you ultimately vote to appoint all individuals on the schoolboard agenda. But as is also the case, we go
forward with the interview process and present you a candidate. So board members, the last thing I am going to say um is that this board has unanimously approved a set of very ambitious academic improvement targets
between now and 2030. You have charged our district uh and of course I take the responsibility with uh taking us from 51.1% proficient in grades three and five in math to 57.5%. In grades three and five reading, you've
called for similar improvement to 51.9%. Grades 6 to8 math, you've called for improvement from 32.4% to 38.4% similar uh in reading in the middle school. Go from 60 50.9% proficient on ACT test for high school kids in reading to 60%.
You've charged me with reducing chronic absenteeism, reducing suspensions, raising graduation rates, and raising the enrollment of our students in postsecary education. Concurrent with that, you have unanimously approved cutting $
8.3 million from the budget for fiscal year 27 next year. You've approved cutting 13 million in fiscal year 28, 11.7 million in fiscal year 29, 14 million in fiscal year 30, and 15.8 million in fiscal year 31. You have
unanimously approved both those improvement objectives and the budget targets. And I ask this board to be cognizant of the challenge that I have in reconciling those two competing pressures of achieving the outcomes
which are most urgently focused on our students who face the greatest barriers to learning because they need to make the most progress while reconciling this really extraordinary financial challenge. Now, if the progress we made last fall unexpectedly on enrollment of
people choosing Rochester public schools at much higher rates than our expert uh study predicted last spring, those budget targets will be less worse as will the budget that I bring you in June is less worse than we predicted. Um but it still remains a significant
challenge. And so um that is the context in which I brought this proposal to the board. It's the context in which I present a revised proposal that would create uh the director of equity and organizational development. Um a position that if you approve it, we
would post and uh as we always do encourage a committed and talented and diverse group of uh individuals to consider applying for that. I'm glad to answer any questions or obviously um support the board in your deliberations.
members questions comments >> well madam chair we haven't actually presented the motion for discussion so >> I could read I could read the resolution and we could discuss it in that context
so be it resolved that the Rochester school board hereby approves the superintendent's recommendation to implement the proposed senior leadership reductions and reorganization including one elimination of the following positions effective July 1st 26 executive director of community
engagement and partnerships, executive director of family engagement and youth empowerment, director of positive behavioral supports and director of school leadership and improvement. Two, creation of the following positions executive director of learning environments, director of equity and organizational development. three,
appointment of Jackie Peterson as chief operating officer, COO, and four, authorization for the superintendent or designate to implement these changes, including posting, hiring, reassignment, and any necessary administrative actions to carry out this resolution.
For a motion to approve approval, second have a motion to approve and a second. Now, discussion. Thank you, Director. Dr. >> So, uh, like I'm sure many of the board members here and, uh, we've had we had a
very detailed lengthy discussion, um, at our last board meeting, um, around, uh, the topic of these positions. Um, I will be honest in saying not fully settled. Uh, just in many conversations that I've
had this past week, uh, what comes to mind is not everything that um not everything that counts can be counted, right? And not everything that be that can be counted counts, right? So
I while I on a very um on a high level understand exactly why some of the changes are implemented while uh it's it from an intellectual standpoint and and reading it through
makes a lot of sense. uh I am struggling with the pieces that cannot be measured right and and I and I and I won't speak in in in parables but the the issue for me is representation we have an issue in RPS with
representation we we've talked about it at at the teacher level we've talked about it and at every level of um of staff in RPS um and it is a real issue uh we've had the students from BSU do come in and
speak about the power of seeing representation. We've had parents, we've had letters. Um, and it is a tough call. I do understand. Um, but I I just I would be remiss if I did not say as I
think and feel at this moment that although um these these cuts have been made, we there is a space where we have to consider what is what is actually being seen. And and I know that might not make a
whole lot of sense, but as a as a as all of us are elected here, you know, we are charged with from our constituents to speak up for the people who don't get to sit here and there is a concern of what it does look like, right? There is a
concern of representation. There is a concern of what's left behind. There are concerns of what is not being said. Um, and I I just can't be in good conscience without saying those things. Uh, though I understand the point of of of the reduction and I understand the point of
the budget cut. Um, also understand that the community can read and understand and we are reducing positions and then creating three new positions which I looked at the numbers and I understand those things. And again, this is this is
just Stephanie's rant of life, but I just want to that that it is a concerning um matter for me and that is the space where I am struggling as a board member on this decision uh not to make things complex or to draw them out.
Uh, but it is something that I'm going to struggle with a positive vote on uh because I I see other avenues that it could have taken and I know that it is not uh a easy decision to make. But I also do see what it looks like to our
community that we also are trying to empower um our community and our students. And even though it may seem minuscule, my concern is the effect that it may have on all the good work that we do, right? Because this has happened
time and again. It's not always the action, but sometimes it is how the action is is implied to the community. So now we are creating an action that the community is implying as a negative. Even though we've said all these great
things and we put out all this paperwork, that is not the reaction we're getting back from the people who are being impacted. And that is a serious concern for me. You know, and the, you know, if anyone here owns a business, they have always said one person with a bad customer report is
going to tell hundreds of people. One person with a good report is going to sell tell two. So that is the difference in in in that ripple. And I don't feel that we are in a that we can afford to have any more bad press even if it is
even if it is well explained and again I know that there it's a bigger issue and there are other pieces but unfortunately I'm in a space where I am concerned about what it looks like to the community that we serve um and what they
are actually seeing from our board and although we're saying it it's it's not conveying to our community that that's what we're doing. Um, and even though we are trying very hard, it does make a difference if your actions mimic what
we're saying outwardly. And is there a better approach we can be taking as a board? Um, so that we don't lose the very fragile trust that we have created with our communities. Um, and it may seem small and it may seem like these
it's five upset people or 10 upset people, but to me that's a problem. Um, and that is concerning. So, I struggle in that space. And I say this with respect um to you as superintendent. This is not to say that you did not give
thoughts and this is not to say that this was not a hard decision. Um, but this is an honest a honest space and we're at a crucial space where we can make a decision that um could potentially strengthen the bonds with
our community and let them know that we heard them and you know set it aside or we can say we heard what you said but we know better than you and I struggle with that a little bit um because I I don't like how that that feels.
>> Superintendent Dr. Lauren, thank you. >> Sorry, we're gonna try to keep this discussion with Dorm. Thank you. >> Um I I I do want to note and I absolutely hear understand and agree with the thrust of
your point. I'm also I I talked about the importance of the director level role. The the the number and percentage of directors who identify as people of color or indigenous has significantly increased since I've been here. And so that is a role that I think may not be
as visible as certain others, but it is a critical role and we are making progress at that level. And I would submit that we would, should this board approve these new positions, we would always seek to have the most uh talented people who can meet the needs of our
kids in those jobs going forward. And so who might end up in those positions remains a question. But I appreciate your cander and your honesty. Dr. Barlo. >> Well, the question of how we got to
where we are today, I have given much thought to this. I um and I'll read from my notes. Um we have 2010 Department of Education OCR findings followed by the 2018 Minnesota Department of Human
Rights collaborative agreement uh which Then um to the credit of the school board, we recognized the need
uh and advocated for uh cabinet level um appointment. Uh that was a desire we had prior to your um appointment as superintendent. Uh the previous
superintendent uh uh did not see that through. That being said though, I think it's important that uh um board should feel good about the fact that uh we I'm not sure had the board
not uh identified this as a need as a desire. Perhaps automatically you may have come to this conclusion of appointing a cabinet level uh person as you did. Uh that being said uh
pre2021 which is when the appointment occurred equity work existed not at the cabinet level but was typically carried out by an equity specialist. Okay. Equity work was uh operational but
not strategic or executive. Okay. Uh in 2021 the executive director of equity and engagement that position appointment occurred. uh in 2023 that function uh not only in
name changed but additional duty assignments were also uh provided and um uh you know the the district-wide equity strategy uh of community engagement and
staff training and uh systems alignment uh which included data monitoring uh to address achievement gaps and discipline disparities were a part of that mission effort if you will. Um
before 2021, equity was programmatic. Uh it was a support function. After 2021, equity became a system level again as evidenced by the establishment of a cabinet level position.
uh it it became a leadership priority that was reflected in the cabinet level appointment uh and budgetary uh policy and strategic direction established as well. Um now I'll just get to the chase
if you will cut to the chase rather um this newly created position um I would say my opinion not knowing don't have a crystal ball but without a monitoring dashboard uh that minimally provides
metrics on uh discipline equity or uh uh accessity advanced placement as an example, achievement proficiency, uh, graduation
uh, rates or dropout rates. Uh, I don't see how we can truly um, assess the strength and or value uh, potential value add of a newly created position.
when we know at multiple levels the current value that we've experienced. Um I like um Director Whitehorn had she not mentioned her struggle or difficulty uh
I would have said I too have struggle difficulty uh not just for if you will representation but uh for and and to uh I think it's important as a community
The strength of Will was not that he happened to be a black man, but the strength of him was the fact that he's able to deliver that he provided the uh the the qualities of the SKA skills, knowledge, and ability. So, I much
celebrate I I I celebrate that more than because I think again I don't want to just relegate him to a uh he's much more than just a color. Okay. And I'm not looking for a a position that is filled
a box that is checked. Uh but I do believe it is important to allow uh as you said a moment ago to fill positions with the best qualified uh people that are available. I believe
when you underwent the search for and made the appointment of uh Mr. represented that and to my knowledge he continues to do so and uh while there is a newly created position that he may u
that I think you have indicated he has accepted if I'm not speaking out of hand >> separate position yes >> okay um I I do hope that we're able to ensure uh that uh we're not losing
um sometimes it's possible to think that well because there's a change in in uh title there's a a diminishment of priority and I think at the last board meeting I
had hope that you could assure us that uh no the priorities are the same though the duties perhaps have been dispersed uh the priorities still are there the system um uh metrics will still be
monitored and I do know that within your presentation of the position uh you said that that director would be making uh pre uh uh speaking to the board on regular basis to provide information. I don't know if that will be any different
than how that the executive director has presented in the past. Perhaps you can speak to that if you choose to or not. >> Superintendent. >> Uh thank you chair Nathan. Um, thank you, Dr. Barlo. I I I would certainly envision the director, as do
increasingly all of our directors, would be presenting uh to the board. We had director Ruck uh here tonight, and so I would envision it. I uh in underscoring understandably your comments on one of the individuals and their skill and
caliber and commitment who are impacted by these proposed reductions. I again want to note that there are three other people that are also um equally committed and uh skilled who are being impacted by this recommendation. Though I certainly respect the board's
prerogative to focus uh on a particular position. Um it's very important that board members and the individuals Ed and people who are watching recognize that this is not and never has been a reduction in a single position. It is a
constellation of important positions um driven as I said at the outset by those financial realities and the need to create a new position uh at a time of very tight budgets. And just as a quick followup, while it is true as you said there are
three other positions, this however is the only position the board actually u I won't say mandated but uh u requested >> uh you as superintendent to
create fund. So I am you know sympathetic aware but uh I think it's important again just as a member of the board to say that uh uh we I remember advocating for the
creating creation of the position and not necessarily the >> which of course does predate me so that I was not I was not around for any of those decisions and I'm unaware of that the specifics of that history. >> Just just to be very clear we the
previous superintendent to establish the position and the position was established under the previous superintendent not superintendent >> cabinet level. Perfect. >> Director Cook. >> Um well uh yes thank you chair Nathan.
Um, superintendent, it is uh it is not often that I can find uh something to correct you on in your in your remarks, but uh I as you were providing the context for these uh for these difficult decisions, you noted that the board had
unanimously um approved an ambitious set of academic and outcome improvements um while simultaneously unanimously endorsing um a fiveyear plan of sequential budget
cuts that in aggregate are approaching $60 million with the current forecast. That's actually incorrect. Uh the the second one and not that it makes the res the board's resolution any less uh
accurate, but I I have uh did not endorse that resolution. And the reason was because of my ongoing concern um of the effect of using $3 million per year from the board's uh unassigned
general fund balance in order to make those $13 million um reductions rather than per year for the following four years rather than $16 million reductions. Um, I continue to be concerned about what that means for our
school district in 2030. Um and I I while I um of course respect the board's resolution and recognize that that is the direction that uh you have been charged with um that only underscores
um the reality that these decisions um involve tradeoffs that are difficult. As you well know, as I know the board appreciates, and in any organization,
there is a tendency for uh decision makers to shy away from making the most difficult um decisions that impact the people closest to them and instead um pushing
the impacts further away. Um, and in in our institution, were we to do that and continue to lean into that instinct, that means less ESPs and less teachers, um, less people in the school buildings.
I don't think any any of us are excited about either one of these choices, but the 8.3 million dollar reduction for the coming budget year needs to be achieved. Um, we have charged the superintendent
to balance the interest as best he can um without taking the focus away from equity. Notably, the superintendent's proposal to the board did not involve a recommendation to modify the district's
equity policy or to modify any other priorities that the board has endorsed. Instead, the superintendent will, as far as I see it, continuously be charged with um bringing life to the equity policy
uh throughout the work of the district. Um, and I think the the director level position that you've proposed uh sounds to me like a promising way to do to continue that work. Um, but I certainly recognize as you have said
that these are very difficult decisions and uh not ones that um any of us are taking lightly clearly. Um, but I I do plan to support the proposal and uh thank you for being willing to undertake
these very personally challenging and difficult decisions in the interests of the the long-term sustainability of our school district and the ability to uh meet the academic needs of our students. director.
>> Um I guess I want to start off that um I had asked some questions in our Q&A document some gaps in my own understanding of the technical moves of things. Can we start there? >> Absolutely. I I figured uh if I may
>> I figured you would ask them if you were you were >> and I don't know if you I don't know if you meant to articulate them. I just didn't understand all the flows of changes of different roles. >> Um my uh I you were wondering about the um the director of school safety
position and where that would be. It's the one that's occupied by Chris Ling that would remain with the chief of schools uh because it really is part of our crisis response that that the chief of schools position um overseas and so there would be no change in that um uh
option. I want to make sure I can remember your other question. The other one was the new director of equity and organizational development. Who would that person report to? >> Um we two of the positions are in the interview process right now. And so I
would prefer to wait to see uh which persons are selected for that position such that it would be housed with the right person who is going to absolutely um uh nurture and support that uh function as I would be looking to all cabinet members to support the directors
that are part of their departments. um if that was an issue of importance to the board, we certainly could bring some clarity to that. We are um doing the final round of interviews for both those positions this week. So, I would hope that we'd be able to actually make a decision and then we could decide
where that director of equity and organizational development position would be best. >> And just so that I'm keeping track, the two that you're interviewing are chief of schools and the executive director of learning environments. >> That is true. And I I maybe I briefly Dr. This is in my memo, but there were some
questions that uh I got. Why was there um my recommendation to appoint Jackie Peterson to that role? We did just complete a national search that was unsuccessful. We had a candidate who's a senior leader from a urban school district um outside Minnesota and she ultimately turned the position down
because she decided she could not move her family to Minnesota after having gone through the whole process. Um, as board members are aware, I have been doing for more than six months the chief operating officer job and the superintendent job. And that is pulling from uh quite a few other priorities.
And so my recommendation is to uh appoint Jackie to that role so that we can uh fill that gap. As you know, we have some big decisions to make on facilities and other issues. And so I I generally speaking am pretty passionate about posting positions, giving people
to apply, conducting searches in certain instances where someone is either doing the job and it's just a change in the funding source or something or where uh in this case we just completed a full search that was not successful. That's the rationale behind my recommendation point.
>> And a followup to my question I'm looking at my poor notes and realize the other question. The other gap that I'm not quite understanding is that I know that Miss Ike has accepted the director of community education role that the coordinator positions that she currently
supervises. Will those report to her or will those report to the executive? >> They will report to um the well Amy I'm very thrilled has accepted the director of community education position fully funded by community education funding and those positions will continue to report to her. We have one of the most
highly regarded commun community education departments in the state and Amy's able leadership will continue to guide that work. >> Okay. Um, help me understand a little bit more about the
which leader you choose for those two executive level positions. How will that determine where this director of equity is going to follow fall? You can make a choice like that functionally. Where does it house best in terms of a chief operating officer, a
executive director of um learning environments or a chief academic officer? Those are the three options. Um or you can make it based on the individuals in that role and who is going to feel a passionate desire to support and enhance. I know we're not going to hire anybody who is not fully
supportive of equity, but um given that we are less than a week away, I believe from being able to offer those positions to uh individuals, that was the logic of deferring the exact placement of that position. Um as I say, if that were
important to the board, I'd prefer not to do it off the top of my head on the fly, but we certainly could clarify that in the near future. Would it be proper to think about that as which executive which cabinet member would be the best fit? >> Absolutely.
>> And remember the role of the cabinet is different than I think it has been in the past here at least as I envision it or in many districts. The work is led at the director level. The cabinet is an integrative function. It is creating coherence and connections across. And so
finding the right place for that director of equity and organizational development to be housed uh would be something that also has to do with the individuals that end up in that role and so that would be the logic of deferring that. >> Um I have a few more comments and I I I
guess I guess one more followup. You had talked about the director positions in the district. I my notes wrote down that they're more diverse than before. That was kind of my summary of what you were talking about. Can you provide us with some more data at some point related to that? >> Absolutely. >> Okay, that would be helpful. Um because
I think that is one piece that I wasn't you know wasn't even on my radar and that that will be helpful I think both for the board and the community. Um I guess so this is very difficult and I appreciate the effort that you put in
superintendent. Um, I I struggled as well with what to do here and I thought I knew where I was headed um and why, but then um some of the things that were said here,
well, I shouldn't say that. some of the things that were said at the last meeting in the public comments and some of the public comments tonight have and an email that we got have illustrated for me that
I still have concerns. Um, and I want to give a little bit of historical context that some of the discussion in the public comments tonight was pre-equity policy, pre my role in the school board, pre
um director of equity, then executive director of equity, and then the um current um youth empower empowerment and family engagement. Um, I think we've done great work in terms
of equity in our schools and I think it's demonstrated um I think about my skip visits particularly at the middle school level that I know that there were all kinds of concerns within my school board um
role that when I started the concerns about the middle schools and I know it's not just equity but it's all kinds of things. It's the the um the student um how would I even describe it? The the um
the student behavior that that is I understand a need to resolve. And I look back at the idea that you know what we heard about and saw and you know had res you know community input about about particularly behavior at a middle school
level and now seeing how different that is. I know it's not just equity, but I think some of it is it's that student belonging that I think we've made so much progress on. Um, and I think that that might be getting lost in some of the discussion of where
we're at in terms of equity, but where um, and also thinking about some of the comments, and this is kind of directed to something that um, director Barlo said about um,
someone in this equity role really delivering what we're asking them to do. But as I looked and I had a little bit of time to look at the equity policy tonight, maybe the equity policy needs to be revised or updated because it
doesn't seem to me that there's any system to report or measure that work. And I think it goes back to um and I even forget the the name of the staff person who came to speak last time, but talking about really being seen for the
first time. And my concern is hearing statements like that. Excuse me. And um the email that we got today about, you know, have there been um an equity audit, you know, that kind of
thing. Like really deeply looking at the work that we're doing and evaluating it and measuring it and reporting back outcomes to look at the effectiveness of that work. I worry that that part has been
missing here. and that that is a detriment now in what you have to work with in order to make the recommendations that you're making. Um
and I I don't really want to you know, name names here, but you know, really thinking about very well-informed people who have spoken to us in email and in person
um leads me to believe that there is more work that we need to do. And I'm not sure that I I appreciate the extra work and the development this other role, but I'm
still not sure that it is um evolved enough to address things like the lack of institutional protection that it's not studying the people that are coming here and then leaving.
um that I I worry about that that you know we have a drive to improve equity and I think we're doing really great work but I just don't think that we're there yet and I
worry that the systems work both the policy that we have and the implement implementation of that policy and the reporting back to our community um still have some gaps and
I'm not 100% confident that the plan that's being presented here is sufficient to solve the concerns that I have. So again, it's going to be hard.
This is Obviously, this is really tough. It's it's emotional. It's complicated. Um, and I wish we had the money so that we didn't have to make these changes, but the reality is we're
cutting staff. We're cutting on every level. Cuts have to be made. We have four leaders of this district who are deeply respected, who are deeply loved, and they have all been displaced.
I hope desperately that all four of them will stay in RPS. We need them. The real conflict I have right now is that this board has been asked to eliminate positions, not people,
positions. And so that requires, I think, are looking at positions that exist, not the people we love and respect who are in them right now, and make decisions based
on that. when the um cabinet position of I can't remember if we call it DEI whatever um under the previous superintendent was created it was a really good idea. The job description at the time was pretty
vague. The the support was minimal. Um, honestly, I think that the new job description for a director of equity and organizational development makes more sense because that puts that
person responsible for um engaging with uh the superintendent, the executive director of learning environments, academic um chief academic IC officer,
uh, chief of schools, pulling everything together with focus on more opportunities and more academic success for kids in all of those areas.
But it's not okay for, you know, for the academics to get left behind or for the uh the um learning environments have to be changed so that they're better for all the Um, I'm excited about that description. That
said, I also get how critically important representation is. But that puts the person rather than the position in front of us. And I I think as a board we have to look at the positions, at the
budget, and um and at how we can how we can do the very best for the kids in this district. We're not obviously we're not there yet. I hope I won't live long enough. I I'm afraid to see that every child is treated with the respect
and given the opportunities that they all deserve. But I think that the description that we have now um really puts every department on notice that you better have equity at the basis of
everything you're doing. That you better make sure that children who are challenged are are supported better and are given more u opportunities and are embraced by this district.
comes down to I think we have to vote on the positions not the people and that's tough. >> I guess um I I really appreciate what you said director Marvin and I concur. I think it's also important to remember
not simply the decisions that we are making about these specific positions but how the rest of our staff are being impacted by our cuts. We're going to be losing teachers. We're going to be losing um ESPs. We're going to we're
going to be losing people who are so important to the well-being of our students that we're going to have to figure out how to keep doing what we're doing even better with fewer fewer of those
positions. And I really appreciate um the effort that the superintendent has made um reducing cabinet positions and making cuts. I mean, I remember when I was a teacher and how we were always lamenting
about why aren't there ever any changes in central administration? Why is it always the teachers who are being cut? And what I really appreciate about that six and a half page memo that you sent to us was that it's there's so much
detail explaining the rationale um for why for for how things are going to be within the context of our $ 8.3 million cut that we're going to have to be making this year. that to lose sight of
everything else in the district I think is problematic that we can't simply say well we're talking about these four positions which are in front of us. Um, I think that I have never in all my
years of being in the school district, both as a teacher and a school board director, that I have ever seen we have ever had a superintendent who has been this strategic, this thoughtful, and has put so much work into figuring out how
to do the best with what we have or are not going to have. um that it's really quite remarkable and I think that going forward we have to keep in mind um
that the public needs to be educated and I find my role as a school board member sometimes to be very difficult because we have emails, we have um people
speaking to us at the public comment time who aren't sufficiently versed in how the district operates the purpose of what we do here our governance role and
I don't know how to improve on that so that when people come and email us that they really have a great understanding of all of the pieces that go into the decisions that we have to So I would encourage people in the
public to review the documents that are attached to all the agenda items in simply because there's a lot there to try to understand and yeah to try to try to understand how why
we are doing some of the things that we're doing while at realizing at the same time that people have lives and they can't be expected to um spend all their free time digging through schoolboard agenda items and decisions we have to
make. That's what we're here for. Um this is always an evolving process. What we're moving forward with equity, our equity work will never end. It always has to keep getting better.
And when I look back to where we were back in 2019, 2020, to where we are now, we have made incredible progress. But I think everybody here understands that
this is not the ending point. It's simply a continuation. It's an evolution of how do we move forward? We get input from the public. Situations change. Politics change. There are so many things that impact us in our decision
making that we never say we're done. The work is never done ever. Um it just has to keep getting better. So I want to thank you for your your leadership, your strategic thinking, um the great
thoughtfulness and care that you've put into explaining how difficult these decisions are for you and for all of us at this table who have to make a decision on how going to move forward. And I hope the public really understands
that it is it's a struggle. It's a struggle to say we're going to do without this when we really need this. And but in order to do this, there have to be some changes made. And I really appreciate the the integration of the equity work that's been happening since
your tenure that it's not in silos, at least not as much as it was. and we're constantly working to um break down those silo silos. And I think that this is just um this is just a really good start. This is just a really really
good start. So um you know I I support what you're doing and I'm going to vote in the affirmative on this while recognizing it's not and I know you understand. I think everybody else has had one
chance so I'm going to take mine. before I go back to you for seconds. Um, I've been a part of this conversation before I was on the board. I was on the community focus team on REAT. Did a lot of research with a lot of
great community members as to how we could make this work work better in the district. That was prior to to 2018 2019. And when I sat on this board and brought
forwarded the idea to have a cabinet level equity position and got agreement from the board to do that with the superintendent, that was an important action. And then subsequently the work that we did as a board to write an equity policy with the
input and work and honest deep conversations from many people in this room in this community who shared with us what was happening with historically underserved communities and what the district needed
to do to change them. And that was the intent of the work we did to create the equity position and to write the equity policy. But it wasn't until we had
a superintendent who had a strategic district-wide perspective on how to change things that I felt we were really starting to make progress on our equity work. And so before I thought about what to think about this recommendation and what
to say tonight, I I needed to go back and make sure that I had my facts straight. So first of all, even though um we have not had uh the perception of an explicit
uh equity leader, the equity policy delegates that responsibility to the superintendent to be responsible for implementing the equity policy. And in all the initiatives and programs of the strategic plan we've implemented over the past three years,
a focus on equity has been explicitly present either explicitly in word or indeed. And when I reviewed the goals and the results of the strategic plan initiatives, including the ones that we received in December as a board, there
was a component of every report that we received that said, "What is the equity impact of this initiative? So explicitly we've identified the work we've been doing over the last three years what the equity impact of each
initiative was and I think we've demonstrated the commitment to our historically marginalized groups that is the focus of the equity policy and I think as from what we've heard of
the strategic plan work going forward that we're going to remain committed to those priorities. And we did so even at a time when these types of initiatives and the words that we use to describe them has been under attack
from people in our community, from people across the country. But we kept doing the work. And I think in looking at the 15 building blocks and in looking at the equity policy and for myself assigning
each of the requirements in the equity policy to um an initiative or a piece of the strategic plan and then connecting it to what department it was responsible for. It really became clear to me that over the past three years, equity has becomes
everyone's responsibility. There's not a department that isn't listed. There's not an initiative that hasn't been connected. And director Barlo, I I take your point about uh data dashboard and I think we
do have to make it far clearer to the community where the equity work is and what the outcomes are. But in every presentation we've had about student data, whether it's our proficiency rates, our graduation rates, our consistent attendance, our discipline
rates, all of the components in our outcome, our improvement outcomes that we approve. In every report we've gotten over the past three years, it's been disagregated into student groups. And in almost every student group, especially
for students of color, we have seen improvement over the p over the last three years. Improvement in graduation rates, improvement in MCA scores, improvement in consistent attendance, not improvement in out of school
suspensions, but they've been flat, stable. So, the work isn't done. I agree with everyone here who has said the work is not done. and we're not satisfied with those results. But that's why this recommendation
for the director of equity and organizational development is so important. It brings under one person coordinating across the district the coordination and implementation of the
equity policy. And I can't remember who said it, but we're not recommending any changes in the equity policy. We're not backing down equity policy. The fact that we still have an equity policy even at a time where equity has been so criticized, I think is a credit to this board and to the community.
I'm 100% committed to what is in this equity policy. And I think if you really did take a sidebyside look at what the equity policy says we have to do and what we've done over the past three years of the strategic plan, you you will see that we continue to be committed to it.
I think we will have a leader in the e in the equity and organizational development work who will help to push our outcomes further, who will help to keep us um accountable. Accountability, I think, is an important
word. Um I think there's better ways to explain our accountability and the work that we're doing. Um I also think that the the bigger context of Other pieces of this recommendation
regarding the executive director of learning environments is also important to me and I think it's important to our historically marginalized communities that belonging um we know what our students need. They need supportive and
safe places to learn and to belong with clear expectations for behavior and engagement. And I look at all the responsibilities that are in that uh department. I believe they've been splintered. I believe they've been siloed. And I think as the
superintendent says, it brings them all together under a leader who can drive that work for all students. And in combination with the thought process and the coordination um the piece of the um equity and
organizational development job uh position the very first piece is to do an analysis of our equity work in the district. Doesn't have that explicit term but if you read it that's the first the first task of that position. So
we'll know where we're at even better than we are before just by establishing that position. And I know that there has been a change in perhaps what the community understands in terms of how the central office operates in terms of
responsibilities of cabinet members and directors. But we've heard from those directors here at this meeting in these multiple presentations we've had on our work. And I think we've seen that we that that requires the highest quality leader that we can have. So being a
director is not a diminishment of the expectation or the qualifications or the responsibilities that would be associated with that job. And to the um the other big elephant in the room,
which is money, this plan would save $442,000. We have to cut 8.3 million and the superintendent asked us for direction that we approved that we would be taking 60% of that 400 60% of the 8.3 million
from central office and 40% from school sites. Taking 40% of 8.3 million out of school budgets is more than I want to take and I don't want to have to take another dollar out of the school budgets. So if it means that we can have a reorganization that saves us money at
the central office and it is rare in all the years that I've either been involved in budget cuts or watched budget cuts where even though we're required to reduce the positions of people who have dedicated themselves to this district,
we also have the opportunity to improve how we serve our students and how we provide the resources to our schools and our staff to have better student outcomes. It's not just a cut without a plan. I
believe it's a cut with a better plan and that's why I'll be I'll be supporting it tonight. >> Director White, you had >> Okay. So, I guess here's just my quick double back. Um I after listening to all the
conversation uh obviously conversations that happened before me, I guess that alleviate my concerns and uh to director Marvin even considering uh just thinking of just the position itself. Right. So
there was a a point where the board had fought for this position to be a cabinet level position. I would assume there was discussion around it being a lower level position and other things, but from the discussion, it was concluded that this role was most effective at a cabinet
level, which is why I assume that the board fought for that for this position to be at a cabinet level for visibility and for accountability. that there was I would assume a discussion that an accountability factor was just not enough that there also needed to be um a
level of of visibility, right? Um so and and I guess on my last part of the double back and and and reconnecting uh the two people um I just again as I'm just going to reiterate what I said and and and I maybe it resonates and maybe
it doesn't, but I just think we have to we do have to this is a whole situation. I do understand that we have to make a cut. I'm not saying we don't make any cuts. I understand that we have to make a cut. Um I understand that that these are not going to be easy decisions and I
respect every person that is mentioned in this. Um I believe that the focus around the position of the family and youth engagement is one because of how the position came to be. Um because it was a position that was fought for um
and without there being just cause for its removal. So stating that it has met its its goals, right? Uh to to again back to director Marvin saying she may not live to see those goals accomplished. Is it a matter of adding
as you said things evolved when this position was originally written? Maybe there there was not as much foresight. Is it a matter of saying that now there are other things that this role needs to encompass? Um, and also, you know, and I I have to say this piece and I know
there's supposed to be this disconnect, but also keep in mind that um this is a black male educator. And I I don't think that people understand there are less than 50 in the entire state of Minnesota. There there is a shortage. You Google it. There's a shortage of of
of black male educators as well. I I feel that this is just a pivotal place for us. I do feel that the representation piece is a big piece and I I and I I said at the beginning it is a struggle because I do understand that there's a role and there's a person um
but unfortunately there's a person attached to the role as well um and it does make it a little bit more complex and again we are in a space where we want to promote equity and we want to promote that we are forward thinking and
and I have no other way to say this but I understand that we We need to make cabinet smaller. I just the way something looks matters too, right? The way the way it appears also matters. I know we don't like to say that, but it this is the truth of the
matter, right? Representation is powerful. Our students say this all the time. And I just think we can't sit a board and just say, well, it's important, but we got to do this. Um, I don't know. I I'll leave it alone at this point, but I just I just want it to
be full thought and I guess I'm more concerned now that the board is more comfortable in eliminating a position that they fought to get now that makes me even more uncomfortable because if you told me you fought to get it and we had a superintendent that didn't go with it and then we found someone to accept
it and then I well and I mean and I'm not I know I may be dumbing it down but I'm just saying that there are there there was a reason for the creation of the role and there was some fight for the role and I don't know what all that encompassed but it wasn't just uh uh something that we just sat on the table
as you said there was uh there was some tension around the creation. Um so I would just those are my >> I just want to make it clear again the position was created under a previous superintendent
>> as a cabinet position because that was the structure of how that superintendent operated his administration. That was the role that was a level at which the board chose to recommend because that's how the superintendent
structured their work. So it wasn't the superintendent who approved the position. It was under the previous superintendent he inherited it. And in the five years since he's been here, the superintendent has restructured how the work of the district is done.
That's how I see the evolution of the the fighting for this position. We're not we're not fighting for equity just by keeping one position. We're fighting for equity in everything we do, in every
position that we have. And I think a lot has changed in the past five years and our commitment to equity hasn't. But how we get there may need to evolve based on what our students need, our
financial situation, and the strategic direction of the district. >> And Chair Nathan, I just I would just push back just a little bit because while we've had some growths in our disparities, I don't think that there's been enough to say that we've made it. You know, I think that mindsets are
changing. But I think if we take Stephanie's opinion out of it and look at raw data, the raw data has not produced the change that you know we are we're implying. I will say that yes, we are being more forward thinking with equity and we are more mindful of
implementing E equity into what we are doing, but the raw data and the numbers that we've even had in this last year, we we're still not seeing the the the the shift, right? we're not seeing the the the the gaps close up like we would
like and I know this is a long process. It's not an instant process which again gives me more because you know a mindset can change but the the data just hasn't supported >> and I would say I agree with you 100% that we are not where we need to be with
the numbers but if we measure what the board directs the superintendent to do um outcomes because that's what we've chosen as a board to measure the superintendent's performance and the performance of the district. We have to
tie improvements that we have seen over the past three years with the initiatives we've implemented over the past three years. That's why that's why I'm trying to keep this conversation to the past three years and not before that. And so for me, when I'm looking at what we've said we were going to do that
we did and what the outcomes are, to me, we're moving in the right direction under the direction of the recommendations of the superintendent. >> Sure. Go ahead. >> This is just a a point that's important uh to me personally. You can passionately disagree with my anyone
including this position of the cuts. I can understand that. I do want to be very clear. It is inaccurate to suggest that I've singled out this position and there's a difference in that. When I got to Rochester public schools, these were the positions on the cabinet. Executive
director of elementary and secondary education doesn't exist. Executive director of curriculum and instruction doesn't exist. Executive director of student services doesn't exist. Executive director of community education exists with modification. Executive director of finance dramatically changed chief operating
officer. Executive Director of Human Resources does exist. Executive Director of Communications, Marketing, and Technology does not exist. Executive Director of Operations does not exist. Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion created shortly before I got here, restructured a number of
times. It is just important to me that there not be a presumption that I have singled out this function. I have included it in a set of cuts that are very difficult. The end result still certainly you as a
board member to disagree with it, but it's very important to me that it not be suggested that there was a intentional desire to single out that function. >> I'm sorry, director. >> Yes.
>> Um I just want to be brief, but a few things I wanted to add to the conversation. I um I think the hard for me is that we're doing both a restructure and a budget reduction at the same time in the same
proposal that I think that makes it a lot more difficult to analyze and make decisions about. Um, Chair Nathan, I appreciate you reminding us of an earlier vote that we took because you're on top of things like that and I'm not as much about the 60% cut at the central
and 40% at the school. Although central I guess means cabinet, but it could mean other in this building. Um, Superintendent, I it I wrote down the the what you just said about restructuring a number of times that that was meaningful to me because that
is part of my concern and I think about it from a personal perspective that I have worked in a department in a large organization where things like that up and down the
regular and depending on who you were in the organization, it always felt like sand was shifting under you as to what where you were and what you were doing and what your responsibilities were and how you were being evaluated. Um, and I worry that
that's that's one of my concerns about this role when it has been restructured a number of times is that um, you know, I would expect the expectations either spoken or unspoken um may have changed as well without a
lot of clarity and without that I recall a whole lot of board discussion other than the title and I think in you know in hindsight I think there was trust that it would go well and
I I have some concerns that that could be some of the reasons that we're not as far along on the path as we had hoped to be. Um, I wanted to refer to something that director Marvin had on her
on her her in front of her here. I also look down to notice and this is one of the things I really wanted to say is that I'm concerned that moving the role from executive director to director of both equity and organizational development I think this demonstrates
that I'm talking about it from a role that's being proposed here. I'm worried that those two things at the director level are too big for one person. That the description is pretty broad and pretty big. And I worry um that that
person again with that equity title involved in it and attached to it may have some of the same concerns about shifting expectations. And I think I speak to this mainly because recognizing
this is likely going to in some form. I'm hopeful that what I'm seeing here will be incorporated into the thinking about um the direction of these roles moving forward. >> Uh just one final comment u uh so and
correct me if I'm wrong, superintendent. Um the newly created position uh is funded for one year through a grant. Correct. >> No, the the correct the director of equity and organization development. No,
that would be funded from the general fund and an ongoing basis. >> Okay. So, >> there was a position that uh there's a grant in two aspects of this. There's a position of coordinate project management that has been funded by a grant which I very much wanted and it
was until last week in the budget for next year from the general fund. I'm recommending well you haven't even voted on that one. I'm pulling that one back to fund it. Um I'm thrilled that uh Will Ruffin has accepted for an initial period of a year a position working as a special advisor superintendent for
student engagement. um really working across that critical question of kids connection to learning and it's a role that we have just begun to conceptualize. It's tied to our state funded attendance grant. Um and I again it's as it has been throughout it's
awkward to be talking about a valued colleagueu's professional future but it's a position that has a job description and I have mapped out with specificity and that will has verbally accepted and of course uh there's always
question of a verbal acceptance and moving forward. I'm excited about working together in that possibility. I could not talk speak more highly of the value that I place on Will's leadership commitment to kids um personal experience as we've had
described tonight. Um I will be honest, Dr. Barlo, I certainly without talking to Will, I would not have mentioned that um position and I don't want to suggest that that makes this any easier. I am thrilled that it would mean we could
invent a new role. Uh it is intentionally connected to me as superintendent because I value it so much. Um this is going to seem director Baro like kind of a crazy analogy but some of you know that I spent a number of years in the world of foreign policy
and in the state department there is frequently when you have a critical issue the creation of what's called a robing ambassador. somebody who works across an issue that is of apparent importance and they actually don't have management responsibilities but they're in many of these and so that is the
position that I proposed that will is verbally accepted and um that I certainly would be enthused about um bringing to life and co-creating I the initial funding for a year from a grant um is for all the financial reasons if as I hope and believe the position is
successful uh as we have done in other cases we would and will agree with that we'd be working to sustain it from continuing funding >> and that again just clarity is separate from the director of equity and
>> yes and I I'm just going to be again this is this was an issue last week I stumbled because we're talking about people's professional futures again not just including uh will uh that certainly could be a position that any member of the staff could choose to apply for it
is a different position than the one that exists So I believe it is appropriate to post it, but anyone could apply for that position and I certainly and I'm sure our interview process would very carefully consider any talented person.
We have people literally in this room whose positions were cut who have applied for other positions not just right now but in the past. Um because I do believe when you create an authentically new position which I think actually Dloffin just captured quite well although you were
saying you're concerned about it. It is a different job. It really is a different job. And so that is why I believe when you create a fundamentally different job, you do open it for um applicants, but it certainly would be open to both external
and internal people. >> And Madam Chair, may I before we before the questions call, I'd like to request a roll call vote. >> Any other questions? Um director, >> I I would just like to to um say one
thing. back in 2012, um, Director Barlo, who was not on the school board at that time, and I were both on a strategic planning committee. Um, and I remember one of the things that the facilitator said as we went around the room of 29 or
30 people, can you support this? Yes or no? And if your answer was no, you had to provide a yes for how you would change it or make it different. So, I think it's always very very for us to sit up here and say no and throw it back
onto the superintendent to come up with something new, which is I guess his job. Um, but I think we need to really consider that that it's not just a question of of saying no, but then what?
And before we move to vote, I just want to give the superintendent an opportunity to very clearly answer a question I have about what happens to the work of the um
positions that were um are being proposed to be eliminated. So for example, under the executive director of community education and partnerships, I think director McLaclin's questions made it clear that
they are moving under the executive director of learning environments and a portion of it is going to the office of operations, >> the communication piece, >> the communications. Yes. >> And the work of the executive director of family engagement and youth empowerment.
That staff remains from family engagement, family supports, American Indian education and youth empowerment. All of those staff are retained, but those staff would under this proposal be supervised by the executive director of learning environments.
And then finally, the work of positive behavioral supports, attendance, and student well-being would move from the chief of schools to the executive director of learning environments. But some of those involved a reduction in positions. >> Yes, there are two important uh director
level reductions that we will miss but that I believe work can still move forward though it's important not to pretend that there won't be >> any other questions or comments board members before we ask for a vote
hearing none. Miss Kramer will you please call the role. No. I I >> I for a vote of 5 to2 the resolution
passes. Our next agenda item are other business our updated CD. Um we have meeting on May 5th. Waiting for the slide. Um focus topic our five essentials
survey data. Two prep for action item. The RPS 2030 strategic plan high level priorities on the 2027 2028 school calendar proposal. Action item is the authorization of the issuance and sale of the general obligation facilities maintenance bonds series 2026A pre-sale
report. Then on May 19th, we will have a monitoring report on the Dakota Middle School block scheduling and action on the strategic plan, high level priorities, and the 2027 2028 school calendar proposal. Are there any other agenda items board members would like to raise for consideration for a future
meeting agenda? Hearing none, we have uh regular meeting dates on May 5th, May 19th, June 2nd, and June 16th. All of those will start at 5:30 p.m. And No other business. This
meeting is adjourned at 8:33