[Music] Good evening and welcome to our September 29th regular school board
meeting. At this time, please rise as you're able and join me in the pledge of allegiance. After the pledge, please remain standing for a brief moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. At this time, I would like to share a brief moment of silence for seventh grader Dakota Hills Middle School student Liam Rather, who passed away on September 15th, and Jaylen Drachie, an early childhood special education
student who passed away on September 13th. Thank you. All right. Good evening, school board. As usual, our first item on the agenda is the approval of the agenda. There are no um additions or modifications to the agenda tonight. Is there a motion to
approve the agenda as outlined? Motion by Robin, seconded by Katherine. All those in favor of approval of the agenda, say I. Those opposed. Motion carries on a 50 vote. Um, that brings us to our favorite
portion of the agenda, our recognition portion. And I would like to welcome Jerry S Jeremy Sorenson, Dave Loster, and Jen Zaski to the podium. All right. Good evening, Chair Johnson, members of the board, and director of FIMAN. My name is Jeremy Sarnson. I'm the director of elementary ed. Tonight
we are recognizing Thomas Lake Elementary and two of their leaders, Dave Boss Center and Jen Zaski for receiving the Minnesota PBIS sustaining exemplar recognition. This recognition is awarded to schools that not only implemented positive behavioral interventions and supports PBIS with
fidelity, but have also sustained it over time while continuing to show positive outcomes for students. The designation means that Thomas Lake is a statewide exemplar demonstrating how PBIS creates safe, supportive, and predictable learning environments for all students. We're proud to celebrate Thomas Lakes's commitment to student
success and recognize this welldeserved honor. Good evening. I'm Dave Lasser, principal at Thomas Lake. Uh PBS comes to life at uh Thomas Lake through our pride core values, which are positivity, respect,
integrity, determination, and excellence. And for us, our greatest joy is hearing our students share the ways that they show that pride, how they feel that they belong at our school, and how they hold themselves to high standards in showing kindness, empathy, and integrity. All these efforts make a
difference and lay the foundation for their success uh as they begin their educational journey. I want to especially take this opportunity to thank and recognize the members of our dedicated PBIS leadership team who continue to lead this work at Thomas Lake. Thank you to our PBIS team leader,
Jen Zaski, and our PBIS team members, Erica Morrow, Leah Moone, Katie Mariscol, Ashley Sage, Nick Tus, Emily Rasmmanson, Jill Liot, and our parent representative, Lauren McIllet. Thank you again for your recognition. We're excited to continue this work on behalf
of our students and our families. [Applause] Awesome. Congratulations. Great recognition. Congratulations. like that. Um, Superintendent Bull Sony is unavailable this evening, so I will turn the meeting over to Director Finnman, who's filling in for him
tonight to go over Superintendent's recognition. Thank you, board Johnson, Chair Johnson. I want to recognize our outstanding district 196 principles and assistant principles as next week is principles and assistant principles appreciation week in district 196. Every
October, National Principles Month shines a spotlight on the transformative power of our school principles. These dedicated leaders play an essential role in shaping their school communities, creating welcoming and inclusive learning environments and inspiring
success for every student staff member in their schools. The principal's role stretches far beyond administrative duties. Their leadership has a deep-seated impact on the very heart of education. A study by the Wallace Foundation indicated that the
effectiveness of the school principal accounts for at least 20 24% of student achievement in the school. They are responsible for hiring and retaining our outstanding teachers, ensuring effective instructional practices, and engaging
families as partners in their learning. Thank you for the important work you do for your school communities. We want to congratulate Rosemont High School for being named among the top three high schools in Minnesota for athletics according to the USA Today
high school sports. This ranking is based on student outcomes, community experiences, and parent expectations, and it recognizes the incredible work of our athletes, coaches, families, and staff. Finally, we'd like to
congratulate Blackhawk Middle School for its recognition by the University of Minnesota for its AVID program. Through the Extra Yard for Teachers program, Blackhawk Middle School teacher Alyssa Pasque was recognized with a Big 10
award for her excellence in teaching and outstanding support of the advancement via individual determination AVID program. Earlier this month, the Gopher student athletes visited AVID classes to recognize Alyssa and to talk to students
about college athletics and career readiness. Both the school and the teacher received $1,000 checks in recognition of their work with AVID. That concludes my comments. Thank you, Director Fman. Um, we have no special communication requests tonight.
So, that brings us to our consent agenda. Board members, we have 14 items on our consent agenda tonight. Those items include the minutes of the September 15th, 2025 regular schoolware meeting, the minutes of the September 15, 2025 special schoolware meeting, gifts, quarterly gifts, quarterly advertising revenue, treasures report
for July 2025, revenues and expenditures report for July 2020 25, Wells Fargo OPED trust fund certificate of incumbency principles and assistant principles appreciation week, October 6th through 10th, 2025. Tuition agreement between intermediate district 917 and intermediate school district 196
for Dakota County Area Learning School. substituted temporary employee wage rates, personnel, employment agreement, additional FTE, and agreement for clinical experience with Eastern New Mexico University. Are there any items on the consent agenda that board members would like to pull tonight? Seeing none, is there a motion to
approve the consent? Okay. Motion by Robin, seconded by Leah. All those in favor of approving the consent, say I. Those opposed? Motion carries on a 5-0 vote. That brings us to our reports item of the agenda tonight. and I would like
to welcome Bruce Miller to the podium to talk over the November 4th technology levy election report. Good evening, Chair Johnson, members of the board, and Director Fman. I am excited to be here tonight with you to continue our discussion regarding
technology and learning. In 2015, our voters approved a levy to support our technology funding, which launched us into our onetoone program. 10 years later, technology is much more than iPads. And my goal tonight is to share
with you the many ways our students take advantage of our technology offerings. Technology is changing every profession. from computer science to music, from multimedia to healthcare. I I want to share how technology
learning at the high school level is preparing our students for academic success and for careers and futures that are rapidly evolving, educating, developing, and inspiring our students for lifelong learning in a world that is
ever changing. Technology is no longer a standalone subject. It's integrated across all our content areas, allowing our students to create and innovate adaptable solutions. Our students are learning on the same industry standard
tools used by professionals, creating, collaborating, and innovating. These experience prepare them for college, technical training, and to be lifelong contributors in our communities. Our workforce is being transformed by technology. As we think about our
mission to educate, develop, and inspire our students, we have to be thinking 10 and 20 years into the future to prepare them for their lifelong success. By investing in technology learning, we are investing in our students futures, preparing them to lead, to create, and
to thrive after high school. At the high school level, we are thoughtful about the infinite possibilities students have across their careers. Key to providing these opportunities are partnerships with our local businesses. Recently, we asked
some of our business partners, human resources professors, professionals in our community how technology is transforming their businesses, and what knowledge, skills, and experiences our graduates will need for future careers in manufacturing, engineering, and the
trades. Here is what they had to say. technology is taking over all of the industries, not just aerospace. So, the ability to even just be familiar with that is a huge skill. I think technology is still so crucial
and is helping all of us enhance our efficiency at work, come up with better solutions quicker. At Collins Aerospace here in Burnsville, we design and develop and build the sensors that go on an aircraft that basically tell the
pilot how high they're flying, how fast they're flying, what angle of attack they're flying at, and some of that critical information that they need to know in order to fly the airplane. If you think of the aerospace industry, a lot of what we're focused on, especially on the commercial side, is safety.
making sure that when you fly somewhere that you're always safe. There's a couple, I think, key skills that students need to have going in, especially with as fast as technology is changing. It's that ability to be adaptable, to learn a new technology
very quickly and be able to use it. GF is a global leader of flow and water solutions. In simplest terms, we move water. We apply our products in fire safety, in plumbing, cooling and heating. Technology is changing in every
industry very fast. So being able to understand and work with technology, being willing to try, I think is a huge skill. BTD is a custom contract steel manufacturing facility. We love to be in
the schools. We love to have people learn about the trades. We're starting to become more using more robotics and automation and that's becoming our standard. We're developing real time data and so we're going to need students
that have abilities to read that output to make sure we're being efficient with our time and our machines. Industry and school partnership is paramount to getting these kids ready for the future. Some of the ways we've done that here at GF is just allowing students to come in
and tour the factory, know what's available to them. I think so many students don't understand what careers are out there until they see it. What Collins did in trying to encourage, you know, the Apple Valley STEM program and really get young students familiar with
these technologies is we donated the 3D printers behind us because we need students to understand how that technology works, how to leverage it, what kinds of parts can you design with it because that directly impacts what we
do in our factory every day. When I look at some of the different programs like first robotics and having realworld examples of how you can apply a technology is sort of that like critical thing that you need to instill in
engineers because it's not enough to just learn the concepts and be able to build something cool. You have to be able to apply that to a real world problem. The best way a school can prepare a student to take on an industry career is
to expose them to the actual job tasks they will be doing. Bringing in materials, bringing in tools from that industry into the school so they can be working with hands-on items, bringing them out to the industry. Those are all ways to really connect the school to
industry partnership that is starting younger and younger and just very helpful in setting kids up for success. All right, you can see from that video, our business partners are seeking architects of innovation. To help our students be prepared to create novel
solutions, it is important that we provide hands-on technology. These opportunities provide students with a practice to develop better solutions more quickly and more efficiently. designing, developing and building with adaptability through actual job tasks so
they are ready for the fastmoving, everchanging businesses with which they will work. In addition to these examples you saw in the video, I want to summarize a few more examples happening in our schools every day. In our aviation course, students train with
flight simulators and drones, preparing them for the FFA written exam for a private pilot's license. In science, our students use veneer probes to collect and analyze real-time data. Whether it's studying motion and collisions in physics, pH and temperature in biology,
gas laws in chemistry, or voltage and current uh current currents in earth science. Our students are applying technologies to deepen their understanding of the natural world. Our graphic arts and design courses use Adolby Adobe suite software like
Photoshop and Illustrator, giving students the same creative tools used in advertising, architecture, and photography. They build professional portfolios and learn cutting edge skills including AI assisted Adobe Sensei
design. In our multimedia courses, students explore video, sound production, 3D modeling, video game design, and web design. They even learn fully sound production for film skills that open the doors in the creative industries.
Included are technologies that we incorporate with forums for students to share their work with others and get feedback while networking. In applied manufacturing, students use CAD software, CNC machines, and 3D printers to design and produce real products. Our
computer science pathway includes app development with the MIT App Inventor on which students can create socially responsible apps for Android devices. In networking and cyber security, students prepare for industry recognized
certifications and credentials. We integrate technology across business and healthcare. In accounting, automated software allows students to move beyond simple bookkeeping to financial an analysis and decision-making. And in healthcare, students use interactive
anatomy technology to explore human systems. And through keyboarding and IT exploration, they develop essential digital fluency, a foundation for every career. The impact is clear. Our grad our students graduate with career ready technical skills and the knowledge to
complete the certifications. some employers value. They learn to problem solve. They learn to be positive contributors and conscious consumers of our evolving technologies. They learn to analyze, create, and innovate. They gain
hands-on experience. Most importantly, technology learning inspires and empowers our students to step into the future with the confidence they have learned. real life, real time, innovative, state-of-the-art information setting them up for lifelong success.
And now, Dr. Buckwald, principal of our Valley Middle School of STEM, will share some insight from the pers perspective of our district middle schools. Dr. Buckwald, thank you, Bruce. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, Director Fman, and
schoolboard members. I am so excited to be here this evening and continue the conversation of how technology supports our active learning environments in our secondary students. While our high schools are providing vast opportunities for students to practice technology
through development and application in real world settings, our middle schools provide a powerful foundation of creativity and exploration. Middle school is that critical age where students start to discover who they are,
what they're curious about, and how they want to impact the world around them. And right now, one of the best ways we can nurture this growth is through technology in the opportunities it unlocks. Technology isn't just a tool,
it's a spark. It turns curiosity into creativity. It turns questions into solutions. And what connects our students learning today to the high school challenges of tomorrow and their future careers is yet
to be seen in their young minds. This is why this levy matters to us. It's not about gadgets. It's about giving kids realworld learning opportunities that build confidence and imagination that will make their learning meaningful.
I brought a few props today too to share with you some of the ways that Valley Middle School is um utilizing technology through their learning. And I'd like to share a few with you today. One of them
is that we offer schoolwide um STEM day challenges. We actually had one today. Our students had the challenge of developing the fastest zipline that they could using some constraints and some materials and we do this as a community
all at the same time. So it was amazing to see our students designing and innovating with the very few constraints that they had. Um we also pushed this information into all the core curriculum. One example for that is in
Minnesota studies. They are learning about our state's wonderful lakes and rivers. Well, to offer them hands-on activities, all of our students get to design fishing lures. And they get to learn about in the pioneering days, how
did those fishermen catch fish? But even more importantly, how has technology and engineering changed all the different careers now that go into making this huge industry of fishing lures? I don't fish. My h my um son does. So, so he
knows all about these types of things. And it's great to see the kids get excited about that. Um in life science, our students are diving into biomimicry. They're asking, "How can we design better products by studying our nature's adaptations?"
Um, our business partners, GF Piping, they ca they come to us with their leftover piping. You saw it in their video up there, right? Well, they challenge all of our students. What do businesses do with waste of their
piping? Because it's not enough to repurpose at their sites. So, our students take that challenge and they make instruments from the piping. I won't play for you here tonight. They also have made jump rope. They've made all different things that could make our
world a better place based upon reducing and eliminating waste. So, we're very happy to have these partners in our community. We also host community nights so that students in our community can see how STEM and innovation in
technology is everywhere. Last week we hosted a wellness and fitness STEM night so that students could see those connections. In December we'll be hosting a stargazing event. Students will be building their own telescopes and learning about the faces of the moon
and planets. In addition to these um activities and events, we also have a vast array array of electives to hopefully prepare our students to go to the high school level and challenge themselves even further.
They have coding, innovative um classes. They have Fab Lab design and advanced Fab Lab courses. So, I hope you can see how these opportunities don't just happen. They're a part of the creativity that our teachers take from that core
curriculum, connect to our business partners, those real life experiences and providing access to technology is key for that. We need the right tools, the right partnerships and the support for our from our community to make this learning happen. Without the levy, this
level to access this type of learning would be reduced. But with it, it gives our secondary students the chance to imagine, to build, and to explore, to see themselves as technology problem solvers and innovative in the world that
are that needs them right now. Thank you so much for your time, Mr. Ed Hire. Thank you. I'm Ed Hire, coordinator of technology for the school district. So I want to talk a little bit now about what made all that possible which Dr.
Buckwald referenced is the levy. So in 2015 our community made a commitment to technology and classrooms by passing the technology levy which we are very very grateful for. Uh that funding is on the ballot this November for renewal and a
modest increase. So tonight I'd like to address a little bit about the need for that increase because technology as we know has changed a lot in the last decade. Uh today there are more digital curriculum uh and assessment tools available. There is a lot more cyber
security threats which I'll talk about in a little bit. Uh plus the high-tech uh careers that uh was just referenced. Okay. So first of all, what is the technology levy? So, in district 196, our current technology levy is a 10-year
commitment uh to um uh instructional technology. It's not general funding. It is specifically meant for instructional technology. This includes things like uh classroom uh uh student devices, classroom hardware and software, network
infrastructure, cyber security tools, everything needed to ensure our students can learn in a modern, safe, and connected environment. So, how have we been spending the funds over these past nine plus years? We're actually in year 10 right now. Um, we've
done that uh by purchasing uh student devices uh which is the onetoone devices, iPads, but as we've learned, it's much more than that. Uh we've uh classroom technologies such as projectors, TVs, uh audio systems, and then ancillary devices. Uh just a few
examples are um document cameras, science probes, uh robots, uh little mini labs of of mini robots and 3D printers, those sorts of things for specific tasks. It also funds our network infrastructure, which we're able to maintain a current network
infrastructure, which we replaced just a couple of years ago. Uh support staff. We have support staff throughout the district to to support our staff and students to make sure all of this technology is is functioning and usable uh for them. And then in the past few
years uh very recently we've we've uh cyber security has become a much more of a focal point for us. So I want to dive a little bit deeper into that topic. So let's talk about why every business and consumer needs to be thinking about
cyber security and uh because we expect this to continue to become an area of growing need. So first of all the thing that comes to mind was with cyber security is fishing. That is the most common way that bad actors get into networks is through
fishing. And so I want to share just some stats with you that we received from uh our security partner. So upwards of 95% of uh breaches are are initially started with some sort of a fishing method. And fishing can happen multiple
ways. It can be through email, it can be through texts, it can be through a video, um a a Zoom call of any kind. So there's lots of different ways that they can get to you. Uh the second one is uh 4.8 million
million or four.88 88 million which is the average cost currently of a breach. So if we if you do get breached that's about the cost to get out of it uh and get your your systems back to normal. That number is rapidly increased over the years the past couple of years. So
that's something to keep in mind. And then the uh increase in fishing attacks since uh I AI became prevalent which happened in 2022 when chat GPT first became uh available to us. they were the first one to market. This is not blaming
chat GPT for this. Uh but AI in general has has allowed uh fishing attacks to dramatically increase. As you can see, over 4,000% of an increase since 2022 because it's so easy to create now and and much more convincing.
So now let's bring it a little closer to home and talk about district 196. So, pulling some information from our systems that we have in place, our spam filter, uh, email filter, I should say, has blocked in the last month, um, just over 700,000 messages that are
considered spam or malicious. Most of them, uh, or a lot of them are are malicious and with a malicious intent. Um, that's about somewhere around 55% of the messages that come into the district in a month. So that means about that
many are also getting through the system to our staff uh to to for them to decide whether or not it's something that they want to accept and and uh read. The second one is the number of websites that are uh firewall processes every
month which is 1.5 billion and and again that is with a B um which is a lot of websites and uh about 20,000 of those sites have been blocked because they are considered malicious and so it's keeping all that from our users. And the third one is um how many times bad actors out
there are trying to get into district staff accounts including all of yours. Um there's they're constantly hammering away at our district accounts trying to brute force into them. And so we're seeing on average just under 186 attempts a day over the past month,
which equates to about 2,700 in a month. And then one more that's not up there that I do want to share is our firewall blocking. Um the number of severe threats that are uh that come into the district. There's bots out there that are automatically scanning the internet
ac around the globe all the time and our district is seeing that same thing. And so it's blocked over 275,000 what what it considered severe threats in the past month. Um so it's just happening all the time and so we have to uh do everything we can to protect our
data. All right. So there's a lot that we do that we don't talk about publicly. Um but my point in sharing this with you is that uh cyber security is a growing need for every business, every employer, every school and every individual going
forward. All right, I'm going to turn it over to Janet Switchikowski, director of communications. Good evening. As you know, you have placed a uh question on the ballot for November 4th and we want to encourage people to learn as much as they can
about technology use in the district uh and about the question on the ballot. The question will seek to increase and re to renew and increase the te existing technology levy and that is a modest increase from a tax rate of 3.015 to
5.015 a 2 percentage point increase. uh that will result or generate 15.5 million annually dedicated for technology funding. These are the numbers that voters will see on the
ballot with many other words. Uh it is a legally crafted uh ballot. So we want to make sure that people understand what those numbers mean. None of those numbers are the actual tax impact or cost to the individual property owner.
But we do have a tax calculator on our website at www.dist196.orgtelevy and they can put in the property value. Um on average for a $400,000 home, the cost is $7 per month. Um, if this were
to pass, this again is a modest increase to keep up with the rapid changes that have already been articulated through uh high-tech careers that are coming online, uh, preparation for students in those careers and growing needs in uh,
curriculum, digital resources, and cyber security. We also have a question button on our website to submit questions. And three of the questions I wanted to focus on tonight um are number one, why is an increase needed? I hope that you've
heard tonight that there are rapid changes in the technology that are needed in our classrooms as we prepare students for rapidly changing careers. where a health class used to be a textbook, maybe a stethoscope or
tourniquet or blood blood pressure cuff, it is now high-tech digital technology and some robotics um even in health careers classes. And as uh was already talked about that goes across all um of our disciplines and subjects. We've also
had in the last few years an increase in the number of digital learning resources that are available and required with new curriculum adoptions. So no longer is it just a textbook. We are still purchasing textbooks, but now there are interactive online activities. And currently the
district is spending about 5 million more 5.2 million more uh each year on those digital resources than is currently covered by our technology levy. So that's not sustainable for the future. To maintain, we will need more
funding. A second question that people have asked is what happens if the referendum does not pass. If the technology is not the technology levy is not renewed, district 196 would lose its primary source of funding for classroom
and instructional technology, resulting in a $9.1 million reduction to the annual budget. Since the internet, technology, and increasing demands for high-tech skills are not going away, those dollars would need to be found
somewhere else. That would be a painful process. And some people have asked, what does that someone else somewhere else mean? And we have not as a district begun the process of engaging our community and what that might mean
because the uh plan that is put forward was very intentionally done to ask only for what we need um and to engage a number of stakeholders before a question was ever put on the ballot to be sure it was one that our community would
understand and could support. Next, we've gotten the question about AI is a big question in education uh and a big question in every industry. Um what where does AI come into the discussion
and is the district talking about AI in education? And we can assure you that there is a lot of talk about AI in education. Um, as with all other professions, we have an AI team uh committee or task
force group, work group throughout the district that is looking at how it might be used for educators, how it might be used in operations, how AI could be used by students and when it should not be used by students. on our website, we
have a poster uh that talks about that is hung in every secondary classroom that talks about when AI is appropriate and when it is not appropriate and how to give appropriate credit um to maintain an individual students
integrity and academic integrity and knowledge while still utilizing tools that can be helpful in productivity. So that is certainly out there and is an active conversation going on in the district. We encourage others to put other
questions in. We'll continue to add to our Q&A on the website. Again, the website is district196.org/techvy. And we want to encourage everyone to be informed and to vote. There are three ways to vote. Early voting has already started. Um you can vote in person or uh
by mail with early voting. And if you wish to vote in person, you can do so at the District Service Center or the Dakota County Western Services Center in Apple Valley. Finally, on election day, polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to
8:00 p.m. And we do have combined polling locations. So, it might not be the same place that you vote for a presidential election. So, please visit mnvotes.gov to ensure you know where your polling location is. And with that, we would take any questions.
Thank you very much. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from board members. Robin. Um, I first want to thank Mr. Miller and Dr. Buckwald for highlighting what you're doing at the high school and middle school levels. Um, I like to
think I'm an engaged um, member of the community, but um, I always learn something new. So, I appreciate everything that you're saying and um, about what's going on at those levels. Um, I also wanted to just say that I really appreciate the district's um, tax levy website because I did click on the
little calculator and it is super slick to figure out um, what the tax implication is for your house. So, uh, very easy for people to figure out and I loved the FAQ as well. So, thank you Other questions or comments? Leah, um I have a question that I think is
gonna require Ed. Um just regarding Can you speak a little bit to what are the safety um what safety is embedded in the student iPads as far as what they have access to, what what you're blocking, anything on that?
Yeah, there's there's actually two layers um of safety there. So, we've got a product called Lightseed, um, which is a filter that works both on and off premise. Um, and so we've got different layers of protections in place for elementary versus, uh, middle and high
school. Um, and so, and then there's also some built-in tools that we have. We provide some resources that families can take uh, additional steps to provide some security uh, on that device, screen time, those sorts of things that that uh, they can set up. Uh and then we also
have uh a district filter. So when they're on premise that not only do we have light speeded, we've also got our firewall filter in place. So there's essentially a double filter happening. Got it. Thank you. You're welcome. Other questions or comments from board
members? Thank you very much for the presentation. And also I'll just say I loved the props, too. Really cool to see the fishing and everything. That was awesome. Thank you. All right. Next, I'd like to welcome
Christopher Anyango Robshaw and Carol Hchild to the podium to give us a bond construction update. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, board members, and Director Fman. I'm Carol Housechild, coordinator of project management and purchasing.
Waiting for we go. Christopher and I are proud to share how the building our future bond projects are directly advancing our mission to educate, develop, and inspire students for lifelong success by aligning with our strategic priorities. Improving
resources and facilities so that all students learn in a safe, modern, equitable, and dynamic environment. supporting not just what we teach, but how we teach and who we serve. Thanks to the community's strong support for the 2023 Building Our Future bond
referendum, our district is making significant progress in strengthening both learning and safety. With the opening of Emerald Trail Elementary and construction of the new Rosemont Middle School, we are reducing overcrowding while ensuring secure, well-designed
spaces for students. A major focus has been door and access security, upgrading entrances, enhancing access controls, and ensuring that all schools are better protected. In addition, we've expanded two-way radios and added more security cameras
to support rapid communication and monitoring. And with m multiple high school activities in uh centers in progress, we are providing new opportunities for students while continuing our commitment to safe, modern, highquality learning
environments for all. Emerald Trail is shining with joy and kindness, welcoming nearly 700 students and staff into a vibrant, inspiring learning environment. We want to thank our partners who helped bring Emerald Trail to life. W Architects and
engineers brought creativity, innovation, and thoughtful design to the project, while Canuten Construction delivered with dedication, expertise, and a solutions focused approach. Most importantly, both teams worked in true
partnership with the DRI district, collaborating with us at every stage to ensure the school was ready to welcome students and staff on day one. We thank you and your teams for a lovely building that opened on time and on budget. And
tonight from Canudson Construction, we have Ike McWaters with us. And from W Architects, uh, Scott McQueen. So, thank you [Applause] Over the past two referendums, our community has strongly supported
improved and expanded security measures. These measures have included door security, halo detectors, improved communication, and security cameras. One of the biggest areas we've focused on is access control, how people enter
and move throughout our buildings. National school experts point out that propped or unsecured exterior doors are one of the most common ways in intruders gain access to our schools. That's why we've made securing our doors a top priority.
We've addressed what's known as doorging. That's when a door is held or propped open, which defeats the locking system. To prevent that, we've installed door prop alarms that alert staff if the door stays open too long. In addition,
we are currently working on a stop the prop signage initiative to have visible signs on doors that remind staff and students to keep the doors locked. At the front of the schools, we've added secure vestibules. Visitors now come into a monitored entry space where staff
can verify who they are before they step into the main building. At loading docks and other service entrances, we've installed a systems. These give both audio and video of the person so that we can confirm deliveries
or vendors before remotely unlocking the door. And for our most frequently used doors, we've added key card access. This lets the doors stay locked while giving staff quick, secure entry with their badges.
All of these steps together strengthen our access control and ensure we're keeping students and staff safe while maintaining buildings that are welcoming and functional. Our district has begun installing Halo detectors in restrooms as part of our
commitment to creating safe and healthy learning environments. These devices are designed to detect vaping, smoking, and changes in air quality, helping us respond quickly to behaviors or conditions that could put students at risks risk. They also have the ability
to m monitor sound abnorm abnormalities such as shouting or aggressive noises without recording conversations, ensuring privacy while still providing an extra layer of safety. By using Halo detectors, we're
addressing health concerns like vaping, supporting positive student behavior, and enhancing overall security in one of the few areas of a school where traditional supervision isn't possible. It's another step in making sure our schools remain safe, supportive places
for learning. Up next, we'd like to provide some updates on some of the uh construction projects that are underway. We asked canes and construction for some drone photos of these current projects so that we could get a bird's eye view. And so these photos were taken last week.
We'll start with Thomas Lake opened up the school year with two major improvements. A new bus loop on the north side and an extended sidewalk on the south side of the building. The extended sidewalk has eased traffic flow during student drop off and pickup,
creating a safer and more efficient process for families. Meanwhile, the new bus loop provides a designated space for buses, reducing congestion around the school. According to principal loster, these changes have not only improved safety and efficiency, but also inc
increased learning time by streamlining arrivals and departures. Dakota Ridge opened school with a brand new addition, bus loop, playground, and additional parking. The addition provides an extra gym, office space, and
classrooms, helping to reduce overcrowding. The gym also serves as a storm storm shelter, which is a requirement for schools when adding on or when building new facilities. Scott Scott Highlands Middle School had
a heavyduty refresh on the inside as project manager George Sullivan called it as did Falcon Ridge this summer. Work at Scott Highlands has shifted to the addition which will provide additional class classrooms and restrooms. Here we are looking at the addition which is
tucked into the southeast corner of Scott Highland's uh existing building. This addition will also serve as a storm shelter that will house 1,600 occupants and withstand winds of 250 mph. Now, we'll take a little drone flight
over to Rosemont Middle School. Here we are looking uh at the first floor of the eighth grade wing on the right side of the photo. On the left is the new pool. The masonry block work will be complete by the end of October and brick work
continuing through winter months. The building will be tempered for winter to allow work to continue on the inside. Earth work and development of drainage ponds continue. We recently unearthed an old farmhouse foundation, lending some light to the history of this property.
Here we are looking at a side view of what will become the front office and a portion of the sixth grade wing. If you look carefully, you can see the three stairwells on the left hand side indicating the sixth, 7th, and eighth
grade wings. We can also see the cafeteria above the office, a performing arts area, and off in the distance, the gym, which serves as a storm shelter for this facility. Mitch Elliot, the construction superintendent, noted that each roof
joist in the gym area weighs 70,000 pounds. Currently, there are about 50 people working from different trades, but at the peak, they expect the number to be about 120 people daily. This project is on time and on budget, and we will look forward to welcoming students
to the new Rosemont Middle School in fall of 2027. Here's a bird's-ey view of the Apple Valley Activity Center project. The activity center will be located on the east side of Apple Valley High School. Here you can see the outline of the new
facility. The footings and foundations are complete and we anticipate the pre-cast panels will be um on site to enclose the building this week. Completion of this project is scheduled for late fall of 2026.
Here is the East View activity center. You can see the pre-cast walls have been set on the foundation footprint. We are on the north side of the activity center looking down into the gymnasium. I mentioned the weight of the joists that were placed at Rosemont Middle School in
the gym. The project team at East View High School is getting ready to put joists in place on the roof with a crane that has a boom that extends 290 ft and a load capacity of 300 tons. As you can see here, structural block is almost
done and they plan to have the roof buttoned up by the end of November. Anticipated completion for this project is also late fall 2026. Jumping over to Rosemont High School. Earthwork and grading is taking place as we wait for some B building permits. The
playing field work is underway on the field just south of 142nd Street. The sandy area in this photo is the outline for the activity center, which will be located on the east side of Rosemont High School. Just south of that sandy
area, there will be a new parking lot for the facility. Up on the north side of Rosemont High School, dirt work is underway on a new addition that will provide more classrooms and help ease overcrowding. The project uh team has done a great job
of navigating construction around football games. As you can see, uh the construction site is very close to the stadium and the Rosemont High School administration and staff support and flexibility have been outstanding throughout this process.
Now I'll turn it over to Christopher for some budget updates. Thank you. Thank you, Carol. Uh Christopher Youngshaw, director of finance and operations. So we'll go through a few uh slides with numbers.
So the approved referendum provided for 538 million uh through the month of September. We have bid 365 million with worth of projects. This accounts for about 70% of the overall budget. To date, we have completed three projects
accounting for 14% of the bond budget. Through the current reporting period, we had expended $137 uh million. A quick overview of the bond budget. The bond and cash flow management seeks to maximize available funding over the
construction period. So this is all the way from 2024 through uh the last construction project of the high Egan high school um activity center. Given the project's timeline, the district opted to issue bonds in two installments based on the cash flow needs of the
projects to minimize the taxpayer to minimize the interest cost to taxpayers. The first 300 million was issued in 2023 and we anticipate that the second um set of funds will be issued in uh the spring
of 20 uh 26. Uh so far we've expended 137 million and the earnings from the funds we have on hand $18 million in interest. Through the facility steering committee, we continue to monitor the overall bond
projects, review facility maintenance needs across the district, including the repurposing of the middle the Rosemont Middle School. We anticipate the sale of the remaining bonds to take place in 2026 and the spring of 2026 and celebrate the completion of the middle school projects that were just outlined
in the summer of 2026 and the two activity centers later that fall. We continue to be grateful of the trust and continued investment our community places on the school districts uh our students our staff um continue to reap
the benefits of that which uh is coming online. We will pause both Carol and I and uh take any questions or provide clarifications as needed. Thank you very much. At this time are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none questions or comments from
the board. Thank you very much for the update. It's great seeing all the progress. I noticed how Carol got all the fun slides and you got the numbers. So maybe you'll trade next time. I don't know. But it was a great uh great seeing all the updates happening. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Next, I'd like to welcome
Joel Milter to the podium to go over a district staffing report. Good evening, Chair Johnson, members of the boards, and director Fman. My name is Joel Miltier, and I am the director of human resources. As you know, I am relatively new to the district, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to
serve our students, families, and staff. It has been a longtime goal of mine to work in our district because of the caliber of education that we provide and the passion of our staff in supporting the needs of our students and families. I have had the opportunity in my first few months in the district to visit many
schools, meet some of our staff, and really begin to learn about the makeup of our overall staffing in the district. Tonight, I'd like to share some of this information with you, as it's important to understand how our staff aligns with our mission, vision, core values, and strategic priorities. I truly believe
that our staff in District 196 live and breathe our mission of educating, developing, and inspiring students for lifelong success. There is such energy in our district around student- centered decision-making, integrity, achievement, collaboration, community, and equity. I
am so excited to be here and part of the amazing work our staff are doing for all students. We are the third largest school district in the state and we are educating approximately 29,000 students. Right slide. This work requires a large
number of staff to ensure every student's success. Over a 5-year history, our staffing has gradually increased to 4,419 staff members for the current school year as the as of the second week in September. The gradual increase in the number of staff each year supports our
growing community as well as staffmandated programs and services for students. Our teachers represent approximately 55.89% of our staff. Our second largest employee group are our pair of professionals who represent approximately 12.3% of our total staff.
As we plan for staffing in our district, we keep our strategic priority of equity in the forefront, seeking to diversify our staff to provide all of our students with a rich and culturally diverse educational experience. We are passionate about ensuring our staff are representative of our student population
and work diligently to recruit talented, well-qualified employees. In staffing for our 2526 school year, we have increased our total staff of color by 33 employees since last school year, and our staff of color now represent 11.99%
of our total staff. Our short-term recruiting goal is to increase our licensed staff of color from 5.5% to 8%. We've begun to make progress on this goal, increasing our licensed teachers of color from 137 in 24-25 to 156 in the
2526 school year. An increase of 19 employees who now represent 6.3 point 6.32% of our licensed teachers, which is in line with the state's average in school districts of 6% slightly above. I will talk more specifically about our future recruiting efforts later in the
presentation. As we explore a bit deeper and look at the experience level of all of our licensed educators within the teacher bargaining group, it's important to note and recognize that 62% of our licensed educators have six or more years of experience in our district and that 42%
have over 10 years of experience in the district. These numbers align with the information presented in the September 15th board meeting presentation regard our regarding our employee experience survey where 88% of our staff say they like working in district 196. We have amazing teachers working with our
students and families. I'd like to review our 2425 recruitment goals and how we've arrived to where we are now for the 2526 school year. Our first goal in 2425 was to host our own in-dist job fairs for non-licensed positions and substitutes. We hosted
four different job fairs on August 5th, 2024, November 14th, 2024, July 9th, 2025, and August 4th, 2025. We had a great turnout at all of these job fairs and hired 35 PAR professionals, 10 custodians, nine nutrition staff, five
transportation staff, and 15 non-licensed substitutes. Hiring for non-licensed staff continues to be an area of focus for us as these positions can be very difficult to fill at times. We will talk about some new strategies we'll be implementing this school year in just a few minutes. Our teacher
recruiting in 2425 was focused primarily on both inperson and virtual job fairs. Our staffing season for teachers typically begins in late February and early March each year. We take pride in being one of the first districts in the metro area to get out in front of teachers sharing our hiring opportunities for the coming school
year. This strategy, coupled with the fact that we are a very desirable school district to work in, helps us ensure highly qualified candidates for our positions. Virtual teacher job fairs are relatively new within the last few years and provide district leaders an opportunity to meet candidates in a more casual format to learn about the
candidates's experience and passion for teaching. There are typically hundreds of candidates that attend these virtual job fairs from many different license areas. District leaders are able to review candidate profiles including education, teaching experience, and lure areas prior to scheduling virtual
meetings with the candidates. District leaders can also engage with interested candidates in real time to chat with them about our district opportunities. District leaders will then decide which candidates to move forward into in-person interviews. At last year's virtual event, we hired four general
education teachers and one special education teacher through virtual job fairs. Around the end of March or early April, there is a large in-person teacher job fair in the metro area. This is one of our prime opportunities to meet candidates in person and provide on-s.
We had 97 candidates connect with our staff at this event and hired seven teachers. This number may not seem large. However, hiring depends heavily upon access to appropriately licensed teachers. Although there may be hundreds in attendance at these job fairs, the candidates must have the correct teaching license for the positions we
are seeking to fill. Some of our current methods of communicating our recruiting campaigns include our district website where we include upcoming events, spotlight newsletter advertisements, social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn to advertise jobs and highlight district jobs, and then also
community hiring expose. In 2425, we implemented the district's exit survey for district employees who leave our district so we could begin to identify the reasons for turnover of staff. This survey is sent to every employee who voluntarily resigns from the district. This survey is voluntary
for staff to complete and is completely anonymous. How and to date we've had 26 of 332 exiting staff choose to complete that survey. Most responses are coming from our general education teachers and pair of professionals. 21 of the 26 recommend District 196 as a good place
to work and 21 rate their overall experience with District 196 as good. Six left for career advancement opportunities, three left due to compensation, and three left because of workplace culture. Exiting employees are also offered the opportunity through the survey to meet with either their direct
supervisor or an employee in human resources to share any other feedback so we may continue to learn and grow in our knowledge about the experiences of our staff while employed in the district. The purpose of offering the inperson exit interview is for us to learn how we may need to adapt or change to ensure we
remain an employer of choice. So far, out of the 26 respondents, we have not had any requests for an in-person meeting. Reporting and tracking for our staffing data has also been a priority for human resources in 2425 as a means to understand where we are and where we need to go to ensure the best staff
possible for all of our students. We have been partnering with our leaders in our equity and inclusion department to improve our systems around understanding how we can better support our students and families through the recruitment and retention of staff of color. It's important for us to know who all of our staff are and the unique experiences
they bring to our district to share with students, families, and other staff. This table shows our turnover numbers for 2425 of our four largest employee groups, which includes both resignations and terminations. The largest turnover by
actual employee count was in our non-licensed staff such as clerical employees inclusive of our paraprofessionals, nutrition services, and transportation. These are our four largest employee groups. Most other groups had turnover of less than five employees per group. In 2425, a total of
332 staff left district 196, which resulted in a turnover rate of approximately 7% of our total staff, an overall retention rate of 93%. We believe our retention rate is strong in comparison to other districts based on the fact that we are a destination
district. We know this fact based on the number of interested applicants typically we have for each of the majority of our positions. As an example, in 2425, we posted 110 elementary teacher positions and had 7,74 applicants for an average of 65
applicants per posting. We are continuing to gather data from our employees and their bargaining leadership as to the reasons for employee turnover and exploring the needs and wants of our employees to continually improve retention of our staff. In addition, we are exploring ways to gather retention data from other
districts and the state for a broader comparison of our success in retaining staff. Turning our focus to the current school year, I'd like to share information about our current staffing efforts. We have posted 600 positions for the current school year. This number of
posting not only includes the 332 resignations and terminations discussed earlier, but also includes over 200 retirements, reposting of positions for non-renewals at the end of 2425, and postings after the start of the school year due to additional resignations or staffing needs. The unfilled positions
noted in tables shown here are primarily new vacancies that have been posted since the start of the school year. We have filled 95.2% of our posted positions for this school year. Unfilled positions such as special education teachers, paraprofessionals, nutrition services, and bus drivers continue to be
hard to fill positions due to increased demand in all school districts and a shortage of available candidates in these areas. As we look forward into 2526 school year, we are in the process of finalizing our recruitment and retention plans for the 2627 school year. In
leadership strategy, we sometimes use a start, stop, continue methodology to examine what we're doing that's working well and should continue, what we've tried that hasn't worked that we should stop doing, and what we could or should do differently for continued improvement. Those things we should start doing. We will begin looking at
our recruiting strategy with what we believe we should continue doing. Employee exit interviews. Although we haven't had as much response as we would like, we believe we should and could revisit our survey, strengthening our questions and exploring other means of gathering this vital feedback from
employees, our employee satisfaction survey. This tool provides valuable insight into how our staff are feeling about our district and their working conditions. Therefore, we feel we should continue this as well. School year calendar planning for its impact on students, families, and staff. The school year calendar is an essential
planning tool for students, families, and our staff as well. Ensuring we listen to the voices of our staff and take their input regarding the school year calendar into consideration is extremely important for their work and personal lives. Job description and job evaluation review. Our job descriptions
for each position and how we determine the placement of each position within our district's system is foundational to ensuring how we have high-quality staff who are able to meet the needs of all students. Ensuring we have detailed and accurate job descriptions is one of the cornerstones of our recruiting process.
learning, work, and employee wellness. Our employee experience survey indicated that our staff might like to see our district do more in the area of well-being. We will be exploring this topic more in 2627 to learn about what our staff are seeking to help support their well-being and determining how our district may be able to support these
needs. Virtual and Inerson job fairs. We will continue to attend virtual and in-person educational job fairs to seek highly qualified candidates and look for ways to expand those beyond the normal traditional pathways that we've taken. We're looking at getting into more and more schools and building partnerships
and relationships with those entities. Communication. We will continue to communicate about our job opportunities, our strong success in educating our students, and build upon the success of our current marketing and recruiting efforts to ensure the story of the district reaches a broader audience.
Grow your own program. District 196 has secured grants and built partnerships with seven different colleges and universities to help develop a pathway for our own employees and community members to be able to achieve their teaching degree. We have been engaged in this program since 2022 and have had
five cohorts with a total of 65 participants. Four teachers have graduated from the program thus far and three have become teachers in the district with this being their first school year employed as teachers. Work tolearn program. The work tolearn program is a partnership through the University of St. Thomas that builds a
pathway for staff to earn their teaching degree in special education. We began this program in 2019 and had 44 staff participants, 28 of which have completed their program and 19 of which became teachers in district 196. Of the 44 staff participating, 11 are still
enrolled and working toward completion of their special education degree. Next, I'll talk about what we've tried that hasn't worked or hasn't been successful as we hoped and what we plan to stop doing. In 2425, we explored the use of a new online and social media
platform called Handshake. This is a platform that is designed for college students to connect with employers about jobs and other career related opportunities. This platform is a way to communicate with college students about our upcoming events and recruit candidates directly. Employers
create recruitment campaigns to connect with students and generate interest in our district opportunities. We found this particular tool to be more of a passive means of recruiting, meaning that interest in the district 911 196 was more in the hands of the students to review our recruiting campaign and
express interest in our district. After utilizing this tool for two years and hiring only one teacher through this medium, we found that a more direct approach to recruiting would be better serve the district. Some of the things that we're going to start doing are grow your own program. We will be deepening our partners and
recruiting relationships, connections, and with the seven of our partner colleges through our grow your own and learn to work programs to strengthen our pipeline of candidates coming from these colleges. New partnerships with colleges and universities. We will explore new partnerships with other colleges and universities who have strong education
programs to expand our in-person recruitment efforts and get onto their campuses versus relying solely on the handshake and the social media options. The grow your own student teaching program. We will expand our partnerships with college or sorry the student this
is our grow our student teaching program. expand our partnerships with colleges and universities and our student teaching partnerships, providing students an opportunity to work directly with our students so they can see and hear about the amazing opportunities for them to work postgraduation in our schools. Expanding recruiting efforts.
We will also continue to seek out and explore opportunities to bring teacher and non-licensed candidates into our district for in-person job fairs where we can meet candidates face tof face and share the rich history of our district and the amazing work we continue to be at the forefront of providing the best education possible for our students. We
will explore more district-led indistrict job fairs, collaborate more with equity and inclusion to build new connections and partnerships and communities of color to invite potential candidates for our positions to learn more about our district and the opportunities that are available. I am truly excited about what I have learned
in my short time in the district and I look forward to learning from our staff about how we can continue to make district 196 the employer of choice. Excellent. Thank you very much. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none questions or comments from
board members. Thank you so much for the update. It's good to see that our positions are going filled in and district 196 is still a great place to work because I tell everyone that. So, thank you. Uh next, uh let's see. We have no old
business or new business tonight. So, that brings us to other action. I'd like to welcome Christopher Anyango Robsha back to the podium to go over a 2025 property tax levy limitation payable in 2026. Good evening, Chair Johnson, school board members and director Fman. I am
Christopher, director of finance and operations and I am here to discuss our proposed 2025 property tax levy and this is for taxes payable in 2026. Uh these levies will fund the school district's fiscal year 2026 2027 activities. We
start early. Uh the property tax levy is a local community's partnership with state government in supporting the district's mission. It is a key component of our strategic priority in ensuring we are providing the right mix of resources to meet the needs of all
our students. By acting tonight, we are basically starting the budget cycle for fiscal year 2026 2027 uh with the proposed levy. Um following this action, the Minnesota Department of Education will transmit data to the
county. The county then will compile the data provided from the district and the department of education and together with those from other taxing entities they will calculate and communicate with each taxpayer within the county what that impact would be. The process will
return back to the board in December for final levy certification. As we begin our journey into fiscal year 2027, we spend a bit of time here reviewing the revenue components of the current fiscal year. We pause here to
note the impact property taxes have on have play in in the revenue mix for the district. So currently across all funds, a quarter of the revenue we receive is directly coming from uh from from property taxes. The image on the right
highlights the amount received by each fund of these taxes. So general fund receives 76% of overall taxes uh raised uh from our community. Most of the time when we talk budget
numbers at the board level we are speaking mostly on the general fund. And so we pause here to look at the impact of taxes on the general fund. So state aid provides 71% and again here the property taxes uh that we raise from our community would be for in the current
fiscal year are at 22.7. Uh the federal government provides 22 sorry 2% uh while other local which includes fees, fundraising, tuition uh is 3.8%. There are certain key components of the levy which I'll review uh in this slide.
The referendum market value it is is used to calculate our voter approved operating levy, a local optional lev levy, equity and transition levy. The referendum market value for is calc for 2020 the 2026 pay 2026 taxes is
calculated at 26.9 billion which is an increase of 2% from prior year. The adjusted net tax capacity is used calculating the remaining components of the levy which includes a capital projects levy,
operating capital, Korean tech levy uh including other category items from the general fund, community education levy components and all of debt service. The all adjusted net tax capacity is calculated at 328 million million. Uh
this represents about a 0.5% decrease from prior year. As we continue to speak about the median home values in the district, the latest calculations from the county indicate that the median home in the c in the district is valued at $47,600.
Together these tax the this data points point to an increase in the overall tax base which helps distribute the impact of a tax levy. Our December presentation will include the impact of the individual property tax owner in the district. For today's um presentation,
we're keeping it at the high level on the on what we are proving. This slide shows the historical progression of our levy trend. You will notice in 2019 voters approved uh an increase to operating levy and in 2024
that increase is based on uh the sale of bonds for the building. uh we don't anticipate much of a change as we move forward. Uh the last remaining item would be uh the tax levy which we will be requesting um we're requesting the
board voters to approve district 196 levy. This is based on uh Friday's Minnesota Department of Education run uh is calculated at $153 million. This is estimating a 1.7%
decrease from prior year. Uh and this is prior to any uh credits that we will be receiving from the state, any appro um prop proportional um receipts from the county and obviously the um the capital
projects levy election. Tonight, it is the administration's recommendation that the school board adopts the maximum uh levy limit for our pay 2026 levy. This allows the department of education and the county to make needed adjustments uh to the key
data elements uh where we had estimates used. Uh one of the items that they'll also be taking into consideration is the election result uh that'll be happening uh in November because our capital projects levy. At this point, I will pause and entertain any questions from
the board and try to provide clarification as needed. Thank you. This is an action item for us tonight. So before we go into questions, is there a motion to adopt the proposed 2025 payable in 2026 property tax levy at the state maximum levy limitation in every category as presented?
So move second. Um motion by Jackie, seconded by Robin. Correct. Excellent. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, any questions or comments from board members? We have a motion to approve from Jackie,
seconded by Robin at this time. Um, if you Oh, please say I if you approve. I uh any opposed. Motion carries on a 5-0 vote. Thank you very much. All right, that is bringing us to the
end, almost to the end of our agenda tonight. Um, I will turn it over to acting superintendent, director Fman for superintendent updates. Thank you, Chair Johnson. I want to encourage all voters in district 196 who haven't done so already to participate
in the schoolboard election by first getting informed and voting. Absentee voting is open by mail and in person. There are two convenient locations for early voting. one at the district office, 34551
153rd Street West in Rosemont, and two at the Dakota County Western service center on Galaxy and 42 in Apple Valley. On election day, Tuesday, November 4th, polling places will be combined because the school district election and tech
levy renewal are the only things on the ballot. For information on where to vote, go to the Secretary of State's website at www.mnvotes.org. org. Our district 196 magnet school application windows opens on October 6th
and will remain open into December. We offer magnet programs across all levels. More information about each of these programs is available on our website. Families interested in the magnet programs are encouraged to contact schools, learn more, and submit
applications before the deadline. Next, over the last two weeks, two of our four high schools celebrated homecoming, and Egan and Rosemont are celebrating homecoming this week. Homecoming is really a community celebration, and we want to thank everyone for participating in safe and
orderly celebrations. And we especially thank our law enforcement partners who helped manage crowds and more traffic due to the celebrations. Supporting our AAA philosophy, I want to invite community members to enjoy the following fine arts events at our high
schools. Eastfield High School fall play, Thirst, opens tomorrow, September 30th, with a senior preview in the afternoon and runs through the weekend. Rosemont High School fall show, A Wrinkle in Time, will hold its senior preview on Wednesday, October 8th, and
performances run through October 12th. Tickets for both shows are available on the school website. Lastly, as we enter the time of year when many businesses and organizations conduct their annual giving campaigns, I would like to let people know about the one District 196
Foundation. Each year, funding from the District 196 Foundation provides direct support to hundreds of our students right here in District 196. Funding from the foundation provides for weekend food bags, books to read during the summer,
and instruments for students who otherwise would not have been able to participate in band. If you would like to learn more about the District 196 Foundation or make a donation to support its efforts, go to their website at www.dist196foundation.org.
Thank you. That concludes my reports. Thank you, Director Finnman. At this time, are there any items that board members would like to share? Oh, I would Robin um you director Fman mentioned the um upcoming plays at our high schools and I had the ability to go to Egan's
performance of um the importance of being earnest and it was amazing and I am going to be going to East View's production of thirst and it's just amazing what our students and what the faculty can do. So if you can go I encourage everyone to go. Excellent. Thank you Robin. Any other board members
with items they'd like to share? Seeing none, that brings us to the end of our agenda. Is there a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. Motion by Jackie, seconded by Katherine. All those in favor of adjournment, say I. I. Those opposed. Our next regular
scheduled meeting is on Monday, October 13th, and we stand adjourned. [Music]