##VIDEO ID:cB7ePDQSxEo## hello good evening and Welcome to our regularly scheduled January 13th board meeting at this time please rise 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 flame 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 us to share a moment of silence for East viw High School 12th grader Hernando penor alannis who passed away on December 19th thank you all right good evening school board members um and for those in uh the audience and may be watching at home so January is usually a special school so what have do is RA your right and I Leah Gardner beened to the office of the school for school district 196 having been elected to the office of the school board for independent school district 196 youby swear I support the of the United States and the state OFA do hereby swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and of the state of Minnesota and discharge Faithfully the duties of the office of school board member to the best best of my judgment and ability oh and by the way you don't have to stay I know the Vikings are tonight I would be with you if I could so I oh excellent all right that brings us to our first item of the agenda is the approval of the agenda um at this time is there a motion to approve the agenda as outlined second motion by sowen second by Leah all those in favor of approving the agenda say I I motion car IES on a 5 vote next on our organizational meeting is when we do our annual election of our school board officers school board so we will be um uh nominating and voting on The Office um the officer for chairperson vice chair Clerk and treasur for the year 2025 or until the next officer is elected so I will start with um nominations for chairperson at this time is there anyone who would like like to make a nomination for the position of chairperson I will nominate Corey Johnson you are there any other nominations for the position of chair are there any other nominations for the position of chair are there any other nominations for the position of chairperson seeing no other nominations for chairperson I will appoint myself I guess chairperson for the um following year Perfect by acclamation thank you um next is the position of Vice chairperson is there a nomination for the position of Vice chair is there a nomination for the position of Vice chair I'll nominate Anna Williams here an Williams being nominated for the position of Vice chair is there any other nominations for the position of Vice chair seeing no other nominations for the position of Vice chair Anna Williams is appointed as the vice chair for 2025 by acclamation I will now open nominations for the position of clerk are there any other are there any nominations for the position of clerk are there any nominations for the position of clerk go ahead if you like you're G to make a nomination I would like to nominate sik Howen for the no I'd like I'd like to nominate sik Howen for clerk I heard uh saken Muhammad as nomination for clerk are there any other nominations for the position of clerk are there any other nominations for the position of clerk are there any other nominations for the position of clerk hearing none the Cent is appointed by acclamation the position of clerk for 2025 EXC congratulations and lastly I will open the nominations for the position of board Treasurer are there any nominations for the position of Treasurer I'd like to nominate Leah here a nomination for Leah Gardner for the position of Treasurer are there any other nominations for the position of Treasurer are there any other nominations for the position of Treasurer hearing no other nominations for the position of Treasurer I will appoint Leah Gardner as our Treasurer by acclamation for 2025 congrats congratulations all right that is the end of our election of Schoolboard officers which brings us to our recognition piece of the agenda and I would like to welcome Amy Miller to the podium um for our first recognition item come on come on up this is the teacher yeah good evening chairperson Johnson members of the school board and superintendent Bon uh my name is Amy Miller I am a coordinator on our instruction and achievement team um it is my privilege to share that our English language development program facilitator Jenny Laro um was recently honored with the Harold B Allen award at this year's Minnesota English learner educators conference this prestigious award is presented annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of English language education uh Jenny's impact in district 196 is nothing short of extraordinary she leads a team of over 90 El teachers who provide critical specialized instruction to our over 2700 multilingual students who qualif ify for ELD services in district 196 our students consistently outperform State um State averages on the access test which is a key measure of language acquisition and district 196 is thought of as a destination district for ELD teachers Jenny's strong leadership has elevated our District's ELD Department as a model for others she spearheaded the implementation of a job embedded coaching system that leverages the expertise of our ELD teachers to enhance classroom instruction across disciplines in addition she coordinates connections an Innovative K12 summer program designed to support the social emotional needs of multilingual Learners beyond our district Jenny is recognized as a Visionary leader in the field she regularly presents at State and national conferences sharing the groundbreaking programming we have developed to support and celebrate our linguistically gifted students when we learned that Jenny would be receiving this prestigious award we invited her colleagues to share notes of gratitude we received nearly 100 while it was challenging to select just one this particular message beautifully captures the sentiment expressed in so many of the notes and I quote Jenny no one deserves this recognition more than you it's hard to properly describe how you make others feel it's a mix of your caring and knowledgeable presence that makes people trust you seek out your guidance and enjoy being around you your humor can take a tense situation and make it feel manageable you lift others while often backing away from the Limelight it's your time to shine you have positively impacted so many over the years and we all notice and appreciate what you do the ELD program staff families and students are better because of your leadership and Guidance end quote so tonight we have the honor of celebrating Jenny Lau and her remarkable contributions to English language development and district96 I hope you'll join me in recognizing her dedication and Leadership woo congratulations next I will turn the meeting over to superintendent Bon for superintendent recognition of students and staff thank you chair Johnson good evening this week is an exceptionally full week for our school board which is the focus of most of my comments here tonight first I want to congratulate Leah Gardner who took oath of office here tonight along with Robin Serio and Dr Katherine Hill who will officially join our school board later this week after being selected through an appointment process in December this week is the Minnesota School Board Association State Conference in Minneapolis it is a time for elected officials from around the state to come together to learn about the critical role they play in governing and advocating for our Public Schools public education is the foundation of our democracy and a uniform system of public schools funded through taxation is specifically called out in the Minnesota state constitution school board members represent all students in district 196 and in and here we educate develop and Inspire our students for lifelong success serving on the school board is a public service to our community and to our children so thank you for that our school district is a large highly regulated organization serving more than 165,000 residents and 29,000 students as one of Dakota County's largest employers with 4 th over 4,000 employees we operate the largest school bus fleet the largest Food Service organization operation in the county and maintain more facility square footage for m milon Square fet uh which is more than any public or private entity in the area including the MSP airport so I share those statistics to emphasize the importance of our school governance roles and the training and the education involved on Thursday this week the Mino school board will be recognizing and I passed out certificates earlier tonight uh recognizing both saken Muhammad and Anna Williams for having completed all four levels of our school board training by the state quite an impressive undertaking only two are required by law and this is an impressive commitment of time and education this recognition symbolizes their dedication to district 196 and public education I want to thank you for your commitment all of us to learning and serving as public servant leaders thank you excellent we have no one signed up for special communication request tonight so that brings us to our consent agenda we have 27 items on our consent agenda tonight um board those items include Schoolboard committee assignments and appointments for 2025 the school board handbook Schoolboard meeting dates for 20 for January 2025 through June 2026 minutes of December 9th 2024 special school board meeting minutes of December 9th 2024 regular school board meeting meetings of minutes of December 16th 2024 special school meeting gifts grants Treasures report for November 2024 revenues and expenditures report for November 2024 summary of claims for November 2024 schedule of Investments for November 2024 advertising Revenue manual signature on checks over $100,000 fuel purchase Personnel agreement for student teaching with St Thomas University agreement for clinical experience with St Cloud State University agreement for clinical experience with the University of Minnesota duth agreement for clinical experience with the University of Wisconsin River River Falls agreements with service employees International Union Local 284 pay rates for substitute temporary and part-time Community Education employees designation of County right of access for Rosemont mle designation of County right of AIS for Elementary number 20 Rosemont School District fifth edition memorandum of understanding with the Cod County United Educators for 2025 26 and Equity advisory Council appointments are there any items on the consent agenda that board members would like to remove today seeing none is there a motion to approve motion to approve motion by Jackie second by souten all those in favor of approval say I I those opposed motion carries on a 5 vote next up is our report section of the agenda and I would like to welcome Eric Hansen and Jeremy sor s to the podium to go over our attendance matters data okay good evening chairperson johnon members of the school board and superintendent Bon director soron and I will tonight will be providing an update on our trimester attendance one or trimester one attendance data in alignment with our strategic priorities our work to promote and maintain positive student attendance aligns with well-being achievement equity and resources consistently attending is defined by the Minnesota Department of Education as a student attending school more than 90% of the days consistently attending school offers our students the opportunity to achieve higher academically participate in Collaborative Learning with peers as well as access academic resources and support in a timely manner in addition to support our students well-being consistently attending school allows students to create and maintain friendships gain skills and empathy patience confidence and teamwork Stu uh students are absent for a multitude of reasons that that include illness religious events or medical appointments however in some instances we might have students Miss because they are overwhelmed they're anxious experiencing social conflict or feeling disconnected to their school Community to understand the reason why a student might be missing large amounts of school days our school teams will invite individually students to meet or with their family to learn more about why they might be missing knowing the why and this can vary from student to student enables our student teams to partner with students and families in creating specific plans for improved attendance as we continue through the school year it's important to understand what our data shows the chart on the screen indicates that last school year during trimester 1 85.6% of our middle school students consistently attended school for this year during trimester 1 we have had a slight increase in our middle school students consistently attending at 86.7% our high school data shows that last year for trimester 1 83.6% of our students in high school consistently attended and for trimester 1 this school year we experienced a slight decrease in students consistently attending at 82.8% very slight decrease there by analyzing our data more deeply we can assess student attendance across different groups I'd like to direct your attention to the handout we provided which outlines our trimester one attendance broken down by demographic data our data shows that in elementary schools the percentage of students with consistent attendance during trimester 1 ranges by demographics from 84% to 93% for middle schools this range is 80% to 92% and in high school it ranges from 70% to 86% through collaborative meetings with principles as well as our schoolwide discussions on attendance we exchange ideas and best PR practices aimed at improving attendance for all we remain committed to strengthening our school to student connections and engaging families to support and enhance attendance rates here's an example one of our high schools met with over 550 students during triester 1 to have focused conversations on improving their daily attendance additionally that same High School engaged nearly 230 families in efforts to partner and support their students in proving their attendance I'll turn it over now to director senson good evening I'm going to talk a little bit about Elementary attendance um so on this slide is our elementary data from trimester 1 for last school year and our trimester one of this school year almost 90% of our elementary students are considered to have consistent attendance this is up from 2% last year uh we have an aligned process at the elementary level in terms of monitoring and addressing attendance concerns this process includes every building and have an attendance team which is usually made up of administration a school social worker school nurse and an administrative assistant who works closely with attendance this team looks at specific reports on a regular basis to identify students who are at risk of not maintaining consistent attendance uh there's a lot of context behind student absences and this is important to understand that it's important to understand that context particularly early in the year so for example if we're looking at attendance in October and we have only had 20 or 25 days of school at that time a student who has missed three days of school would not be considered to have consistent attendance it's important for us to have an understanding of the context behind those absences for example we might have a student who has three consecutive absences due to a confirmed illness versus a student who has three unexcused absences spread across that same time period we'd likely have very different plans or approaches to supporting these students we work closely with families to help identify and then problem solve around any barriers to having their student attend school this can take many forms but we are intentional about informing and including families in the problem solving process we know attendance is an important part of being successful at school a student's attendance has impacts on both their academic achievement and their Social Development regular attendance help students stay on track with their learning build strong connection with peers and teachers and develop consistent routines and habits that are essential for lifelong success consistent and intentional monitoring of student attendance is crucial for identifying patterns addressing barriers and implementing strategies to improve student engagement and achievement proactive attendance practices Foster a supportive learning environment as we move through the year we will continue to provide updates on attendance at this time we'd be happy to take any questions you may have thank see you at this time are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members I have Coten yeah just wanted to say thank you both Eric and Jeremy I mean this data is really uh important and also really want to say I'm glad to see that you're looking into the wise I mean truly speaking that attendance really matters and the data you provided really helps us understand how you know students are engage engag to engagement so my question to you is just I'm kind of curious with the high school again this is only one trimester I could see that we only looking at Tri one but also we're looking at 2023 and also 2024 in comparison so it dipped a little bit for the high school just kind of curious what is really causing in it I mean we're talking about a postco I mean everything should be normal as far as I know it should like TR one 2023 should look like tri1 2024 right how does the p PSO e or the students that are taking all online impact into this data as well is it counted as absent or is it included in it yeah so those those uh absences are um School excuse would be like a sporting event for a student that leaves for a high school uh you know game early out of school so those would be excused and not counted in this data um our data is really similar from last year first trimester I think it's like a a half a percentage different as our year progresses as Jeremy mentioned and we get more days um an absence doesn't have as much impact as we go forward so we'll keep watching that and monitoring that we want kids as one of my colleagues said we want kids to want to be in class we want them to want to be in school and feel connected and how do we get there is is what we're working through and our our schools are working hard on this um and engaging families and having those conversations to find out what the why is okay thank Youk you questions Anna um thank you for this because you know I was going to ask for this information so thank you so much for providing the demographic breakdown um I would love to see that in the future presentation um for our constituents as well so they can see it but thank you for that love it um is there any significant difference uh between the high schools or the middle schools when you look at the data uh first question and then second uh by class by classes so freshman sophomore junior senior or sixth seventh and eth is there any significant difference in attendance so I I couldn't get down to that detail right now but I can get into not today you don't need to do that I'm just wondering have you ever if you looked at that yet if You' seen any difference yeah so I think to your to part of your question um we see that as students get older the absences increase a bit and I think there's because that's there's more flexibility and proximity to be able to um to stay home independently to have a little bit more Choice uh as students get older but certainly our elementary data is is uh in consistently attendance is higher than our middle and our middle is slightly higher than our high school okay but you don't see any difference between high schools like East viiew versus Apple Valley versus Egan so that specific data I'll have to get to you okay yeah yeah and it doesn't have to be this time but maybe in the next uh presentation because you're going to be doing this orderly is that what I understand or by trimester trimester try annually try try annually try annually thank I do have that at the elementary level I know that across our 19 Elementary levels we're really consistent so that yeah 80 I think it was 89.8 um every school with the exception of two are within a point of that we have one school that's at 93 and we have one school that I believe is at like 87 or 86 but beyond that we're really aligned at elementary and then for you Michael and for uh and I love how these keep um improving these uh presentations um for uh you know how you have trimester 1 2023 and then 2024 if you could below that just have increase or decrease what that percentage number is and say increase or a decrease that's just an easy way for me to see it without having to try to add or subtract myself so that would be helpful because I'm lazy problem G to put it out there good thank you appreciate it Jackie I just really would like to thank you too for continuing this work we really what we value is what we work on and so you can see exactly right here what we value and that's having kids in the classroom and you talked about engaging students engaging those families there's different reasons and we've talked about that before why kids aren't in school and maybe there's some things that you can help with um a classroom teacher can help with a psychologist can help a social work worker can help with and so it takes the whole team so thank you so much and I look forward to the reports Tri annually or however we're going to get them so thank you and I has another question go ahead sorry I'm sorry okay not but one more thing um I appreciate that you put the questions up I think what would be better is If instead of the questions the answers so you can say the question so the definition Minnesota Department of Education you can ask that question but actually put the definition of what that is because that's what's going to stick is Define that so we have as an audience we have the definition that's the grounding one not the question same thing with um why attendance matters attendance matters because that's helpful that's it I'm done thank you thank you I just wanted to add quickly too um I think we all know that there is a huge correlation between student achievement and being in the school not just from an academic performance but we've seen over the years from a safety and social importance as well being in the classroom um one question I had as I was looking through this like I think what two years ago we implemented a qual Trix survey type tool for parents to use when their students um are going to out and I think we're now using that at all of our schools and I'm curious are we using any data there to help give us more insight on this number like for instance illness Trends or even think about hey this year in the calendar we had a two more four day weekends and then we have in ped calendars did that lead to more vacation plans when they were added out you know I'm just curious are we looking at that data and are we diving into that as like an overlay of how to solve I'll do a quick answer so a quick answer is that uh I think that's used more at the middle school and high school families Elementary they tend to call in but it is used a little bit but all the data from that um is combined with the data that our attendance secretaries uh take so it's it's combined but we are always looking for Trends and patterns um building wide and then for individuals so that that gets um aggregated with the with the phone calls and all those pieces so we look at it as a whole excellent and I'm just thinking qualtrix is such a great survey and data analysis tool that might be an opportunity to see how else we can kind of use that data to dive in at building level type things and I'm just thinking now is the we finally have probably enough data for two to three years after using it where we can actually rely on it and make some so just an opportunity I I know I think about that every time I have to fill it out as a parent say my kid's gonna be late to school or something just kind of curious how that rolls up any other questions or comments from the board oh Leah go ahead just one I mean I think it's I'm just going to be captain in obvious but um you know I just thinking about us up here and who's been sick recently and some of that's you know really a solid week um so I I mean I think exactly to Corey's question really I guess if if there's a spike in certain illness and if we've become more aware of our need to stay home culturally I'm curious if some of this isn't necessarily all a bad thing you know kids being able to stay home when they're sick that's actually a good thing in my opinion um so I would just be curious as well for the correlation um and you know over more of a school year then we see how much of a problem that becomes versus hey being out for a week is necessary maybe more than it used to be unfortunately yeah we certainly want to respect and honor that there are real valid reasons for students to be gone and that's part of the digging into having conversations with the families uh the number we try to stay away from right now is the 17 once we hit 17 or over 17 we'd be more than um or less than 90% attending school so certainly um we don't want kids coming to school when they're miserable and not feeling well and there's like I said the conversations help dig into the other reasons that are valid as well yeah excellent thank you Anna's back with her third question no judging Corey uh so I just had a question um when we're talking about um health and I don't know if I have the right word for it but Health outcomes or health Flags uh for example um certain populations have a higher tendency to have let's say um asthma um and there's a correlation oftentimes between economic um and race and uh asthma and and um do you have information on that and then how that can uh if that has some kind of impact on attendance as well as one of those um when you're looking at data in certain populations because that is not something that is actually tracked or you don't have information that asks for that in you know what I'm saying um I'm just curious certainly data that we could dig into and when we have these conversations with regard to attendance we do involve our nurse and so I'm just wondering if there's potentially a new school board member that might have access to that information or maybe would know how to get access to that information oh okay I'm getting a thumbs up over there somewhere but yes okay Katherine okay go ahead excellent any other questions or comments from board members I'm done Corey I'm looking at you okay no okay thank you very much and we will see you next trimester next I would like to welcome Shelley mson to the podium to give us an update on our Cultural Family Advocate negotiations see to get this thank you all right good evening chair person and Johnson school board members superintendent Bon I'm Shelley Munson Director of Human Resources and tonight I'll be providing an update on status of negotiations with one of our employee groups our cultural family advocates of uh clear ly our District employees are critical to our mission of educating developing and inspiring our students for lifelong success and providing the resources Equitable practices and supporting staff well-being are some of the Strategic priorities that we address in negotiations process and we try to keep our Focus aligned on those core values of collaboration integrity and ultimately what's best for students as we go through the process we have nine collective bargaining uh agreements that cover about 95% of our regularly contracted employees about 4,300 employees 95% of those are covered each group is represented by a union or Association and negotiates with the district for the terms and conditions of a 2-year agreement five of the nine groups negotiate agreements for the 2-year period of July 1 2024 through June 30th 2026 with the other four groups doing the the odd years uh the school board establishes the financial parameters for each 2-year negotiation cycle with our bargain units based on the resources available to ensure fiscal responsibility this provides a consistent parameter that's then shared with each group and used in negotiations to determine how the funds are applied based on the group's priorities we reached agreements last summer with four groups nutrition services building engineers principls and vehicle technicians and we have not yet reached a group with our cultural family advocates our cfas have a vital role in helping families navigate the school system supporting students academic success and partnering with staff on how to meet the unique needs of our diverse student population cfas are represented by Dakota County cultural family advocates local 7390 of Education Minnesota they're part of our equity and inclusion department and 22 cfas Provide support across our elementary and secondary schools excuse me um while we've had stab and productive uh negotiations meetings since May of 2024 and we've been able to reach tenative agreements on a number of of um items some of those um listed here uh however a new two-year agreement has not yet been reached remaining at issue are really our um Financial items is where we have not reached agreement yet wages and benefits which will be the focus of the remainder of the presentation tonight the current Union Proposal with a 6% increase on salary each year exceeds the board approved parameters and so is outside of what the district um negotiations team um can agree to in bargaining our practice has been to be very transparent during the ne negotiation process with the financial parameter set by the school board so those parameters that are listed there 3 and a half% increase to salary uh schedule longevity other stiens 12% and 8% increases to health insurance and the $100 increase to 403b match that forms really a a pool of dollars that then um provide for an approved amount of new funding for each group and it provides the flexibility then to negotiate pay and benefits based on each group's priorities while equally respecting all of our employee groups and this is a little different in what um many districts do so our goal is really to provide the maximum available to our employees while remaining fiscally responsible um as a district we did do a market compare analysis to ensure we're competitive uh and employees are paid fairly the district looked at similar positions in 10 other Metro districts including those recommended by our CFA group now we know not every single position is exactly the same um and so we uh just looked and tried to find it more similar it's going to be somewhat different based on their duties a bit as far as um how many schools they may support or how many students they may support individually so we know there's some variety in but we just wanted to look overall and what we looked at was total compensation because we have to pull in all the aspects of pay as well as benefits to kind of get a clear picture when we're comparing those things so we looked at that at both an entry level and then at a top level to kind of get a picture of the pay structure and insurance um some districts might not have any steps they just have one salary some may not have longevity some have lots of steps so there's just a lot of variety and this was a way to try to get to some consistent comparison there um and what we found um at the top level is that we did rank um second when we looked at those other groups so we were really looking if we were to move forward with District parameters of a three and a half increase on salary 12% increase to our insurance for 2024 and then where that would be if we combine the top salary so if there steps being at the top St the top Longevity if if you were there family health and dental insurance because those are going to be a greater contribution and the top of the 403b match so we tried to look at that in every contract of course that's only going to be just a few of our employees that would really be at that top level right now but when we looked at that compared it to an same number of work days even though that may vary but to equalize that we're well above average and we rate um second out of those districts we also then looked at that at an entry level meaning if I came in at step one of the salary schedule I don't have long Longevity if I chose single Insurance uh and in both dental and health and I wasn't eligible for a 403b match yet and there we came in about third out of those districts again well above um average on that one of the things we wanted to touch base on as well was um the overall benefits because uh the benefits package uh and taking care of our employees and their families is a high value to 196 and that's an important part of the compensation the district Insurance contribution towards Health Plan premiums an important part of the package certainly for cultural family advocates almost half of our um cfas Carry family coverage and as you can see um with family coverage the district contribution is um over 30,000 an annual um contribution and that's going to vary by group that's about $10,000 more than some of our other employee groups because again over the course of bargaining some groups are wanting to focus more more of the dollars on the salary schedule others have historically put more money on benefits and so those things just can change over time but combining those two things together is an important piece of that and just touching as well is that there was a change a couple years ago in our school term employees that may be eligible for unemployment insurance and that is also a benefit that um our cfas can be eligible for if they're actively seeking work and we had probably two-thirds of our cfas be able to receive that benefit um this last summer so that's something that's also been a new benefit for them the uh Cultural Family Advocate Union so dcfa has filed for mediation and that first mediation um meeting is scheduled actually for tomorrow January 14th um mediation is a tool in which the state provides support to labor and management so the district and our CFA group in this case to reach an agreement on a contract um and so it's not um doesn't happen frequently but it's not unusual either it's a wonderful tool that's available to help us um just look at things differently and to kind of help that process so we're committed to continuing to bargain in good faith and hope that a third party can help us reach an agreement and then just to kind of um finalize here that again um you know the district really values you've heard um I think in a couple board meetings earlier this fall from employees parents students um how important our cultural family advocates are and the work that they do and we certainly agree with that um The District's been negotiating transparently with this team um and making proposals that reflect our respect for their hard work and dedication of these employees while also balancing the board's responsibility to the broader community and to the district's fiscal resources so as we move forward with mediation we remain hopeful that with the support of an experienced mediator we can work through these remaining issues remain committed to finding a resolution that supports the long-term success of these valued employees or cfas um and the district as a whole um mediation begins tomorrow and if we um don't reach an agreement at that first meeting there may be an additional meeting scheduled so that's just part of the process and we let that play out any questions you have for me thank you so much sh at this time are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members just want to say thank you so much for the update and um like you said and we've heard even at our last board meeting how much we all extremely value our cultural family advocates and are really hoping for a successful mediation you thank you so much all right next on the list I would like to welcome Eric Hansen back to the podium for old business of personal finance and required graduation credits okay thank you good evening chairperson Johnson members of the school board superintendent Bon tonight I will be seeking approval to move the safety education course that is currently a district 196 graduation requirement to an elective as we add a new state required graduation requirement of personal finance this will allow our current graduation requirements to remain at 66 as stated by our current policy as I stated back in December our strategic priorities of well-being achievement and Equity have served as our guiding framework throughout this process as well as a recommendation as you know legislation now requires our 2024 25 9th graders and thereafter to successfully complete a personal finance course in in 10th 11th or 12th grade in compliance with the Minnesota Department of Education the required personal finance beginning next fall 2025 will be offered as a standalone course and taught by teachers in the qualified licens lure areas of family and consumer science social studies math or business this option provides flexibility course Fidelity and consistency between our high schools by adding the new required personal finance course district 196 graduation credit requirements increased from 66 to 67 credits in collaboration with District leaders building administrators and the school board we recommend moving safety education from a required course to an elective choice and remain at 66 credits for graduation in addition District administration is committed to taking a comprehensive look at required credits that district 196 currently exceeds the state by engaging our students staff and families in examining strengths and challenges with our current graduation requirements we're also committed to engaging our student staff and families to identify current perceptions of our District's graduation requirements as well as our current course offerings ensuring we GA gather a wide range of voices and perspectives and bring back our fin findings and recommendations to the school board in May tonight I would like to recommend and seek approval board approval two remain with our current policy requiring 66 credits for graduation add the New State graduation requirement of personal finance to our graduation requirements for our current n9th grade students and students therea and lastly move our district required safe safety education course to an elective choice beginning in the 2025 26 school year this allows safety education to continue being offered but offered as an elective Choice I'm happy to answer any questions or hear feedback or comments excellent thank you so much this is an action item tonight so before I move to questions is there a motion to approve the proposed change to the graduation credit requirement so moved second motion by Jackie seconded by C in at this time are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members think we covered our questions at the last meeting thank you so much for that um we have a motion to approve from Jackie seconded by sowen all those in favor of approval say I I I those opposed motion carries on a 5- z vote thank you very much thank you all right next I would like to welcome Kaa Bruce to the podium to go over our connections preschool fees for 20 25 26 I should say the second reading good evening chairperson Johnson members of the school board and superintendent Bon Community Education is proposing a tuition adjustment for the 2025 26 connections preschool program the proposed fee schedule is based on federal poverty guidelines and follows the sliding fee structure outlined in regulation 507.00 are determined by factors such as family size annual income and course description a reminder that to ensure our fees remain competitive and Equitable a market fee study was conducted in early November this study compared preschool tuition rates from comparable and neighboring districts as well as local non-public preschool programs the findings reveal that our current fees are significantly lower than the average rates in these comparisons even when excluding non-public preschool programs additionally the connect 's preschool program experienced a budget deficit during the 2023 24 school year with Rising program expenses including increased staff costs a tuition adjustment is necessary to maintain the program's Financial sustainability the proposed fee increases for the 25 26 school year are designed to address these Financial challenges while remaining competitive within Market rates and still keeping our fees below those of comparable and neighborhood districts at at this time I request your approval of the proposed connections preschool fees for the 25 26 school year thank you this is another action item tonight so before I go into questions is there a motion to approve the proposed fee schedule as presented so moved second motion by Anna seconded by Jackie are there at this time are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members seems pretty straightforward all those in favor please say I I I those opposed motion carries on a 5 zero vote thank you k at this time I'd like to welcome Christopher anango robot to the podium to go over the second reading of our 20242 budget good evening chair Johnson members of the board superintend Bon and our public stakeholders I'm Christopher Director of Finance for this School District um during the December 9th school board meeting uh Danny duain coordinator of Finance uh reviewed the proposed final budget for the fiscal year 20242 school year there have been no substantial changes to the proposed budget since the December 9th meeting thus the administration recommends approval of the budget as presented the final budget book which is included in this evening's agenda will be published on the district's website uh following the school board's action I'm happy to entertain any question questions or provide clarification as there may be excellent this is another action I'm tonight so is there a motion to approve the final budget as presented still moved second motion by Soden seconded by Leah at this time are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members we have a motion to approve by Scot and seconded by Leah all those in favor of approval say I I I those opposed motion carries on a 5 vote thank you very much next I would like to welcome Janet switowski to the podium to go over our second reading of the 2025 at district 196 legislative platform good evening chair Johnson school board members superintendent bony at the December meeting we presented a draft of the legislative priorities for the board's review since that time we have engaged with legislators at legislative Forum hosted in our district in December um and at the amsd preview legislative preview earlier uh just last week we are bringing forward uh the legislative platform um as presented this evening that includes uh a look at funding to in uh address inflation Equalization and compensatory needs fully funding employment M laws that were passed in earlier sessions and maintaining increased local control for our school district at this time I would answer any questions thank you this is another action item for us tonight so before I go to questions is there a motion to approve the legislative priorities as presented so moved second motion by Lea second by saken at this time are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members I just want to say a real quick thank you um we did some work on uh fine-tuning and I just appreciate I think the the dialogue and the hard work that went into kind of hitting all the right marks on this so thank you yes I agree actually I noticed a couple changes as well this is a perfect perfect example of why we do two readings on a lot of times because we had great opportunity for feedback and I saw a few changes and I was wondering where that some of those changes came from now I know and um I loved them I thought they were great so um thank you so much for for incorporating those thank you um we have a motion to approve by from Leah seconded by saken um all those in favor of approval say I I I I those opposed motion carries on a 5- z vote thank you so much all right next I am going oh we have no items of new business so that brings us to our other action items and I'd like to welcome Janet switowski back to the podium um with jened Canino to go over our language action plan beginning thank you again chair Johnson members of the board superintendent Bon uh we'll have jened start thank you good evening chairperson johs son members of the board and superintendent Michael Bon my name is jened Canino and I am the multilingual communication specialist for district 196 I'm here tonight to talk to you about the district 196 um language access plan an important effort to make sure all families can access information and stay involved in their child's education I am joined today by colleagues to share how our planning for languages for language access is positively impacting our community our language access plan supports our strategic road map it supports the Strategic priority of equity and our core values of achievement collaboration community and having a student centered focus our language access plan also helps us achieve our vision of developing the whole student by honoring diverse needs and cultures to advance this work we have created an action plan which includes collaborating with schools to create and develop standard operating procedures and best practices ensuring all staff are aware of available language resources and receive appropriate training to use them effectively Gathering feedback from families and staff to improve the services and how we communicate about them these are all steps in achieving the overarching goal of our work which is to increase the numbers of family who feel welcome and included as true Partners in their child's education on this slide you'll see a few data points that show our need for language access in district 196 over 120 languages are spoken by our families nearly 3,000 students receive English language development support and this year our district has used over 67,000 minutes of OnDemand video and phone interpretation district 196 has been working on language access for many years by enhancing translation and interpretation services and hiring staff dedicated to supporting multilingual families to demonstrate one of our services in action I'd like to share a short video showing how a teacher successfully communicated with the family during parent teacher conferences using remote video interpretation so that I can interpret how may I assist to um we are at school conferences and I am the teacher and we're going to talk about our student sure may I introduce myself yes when I okay have I introduce I'm ready for instructions all right so in science class all right so what is language access plan a language access plan serves as a written document that outlines the guidelines and procedures for providing language support with we have worked for years implementing language services in the district now we are focusing on formalizing them through a comprehensive language access plan the state of Minnesota will soon require all districts to implement a language access plan and we are proud to be ahead of these requirements to provide further details I'd like to turn it over to my colleague Janet chowski thank you thank you as jened mentioned our language access plan serves as a blueprint to help family staff understand what services are provided it includes a list of Def definitions to ensure a shared understanding how district 196 identifies languages spoken in among our students and families and information available on our language services and supports available throughout the students experience it also outlines the training support to provide it to staff and resources to move these plans forward it also requires uh continual evaluation and approval and upgrading of the plan one of the tools that we have used is an animated video that is now available in Spanish Somali and English I will play it in English this evening our School District speaks your language more than 100 languages are spoken in homes across our district we're committed to making sure everyone has access to information about their child's education in their preferred language that's why our schools offer interpretation Services virtually over the phone or in person to help you communicate with teachers and staff we also provide translation of written letters documents and electronic communications to keep you informed every step of the way these services are available to you at no cost to ensure you receive information in your preferred language please contact the office at your child School learn more about our language access Services by visiting our website so once our language access plan is approved and we we are um eager to share it with families this is one of the tools that we'll use uh to get the information out this is already posted to our website and again available in our three most common languages it gives a great an ACC outline of the services provided but we know that language access is about much more than just providing translation and interpretation it's about creating a community where families feel welcomed valued and included in their child's education all of that together contributes to Greater academic success and social outcomes language access is already happening in our district as jened says they've been we've been working on this for a number of years um and we've got a few colleagues here today to share exam specific examples of how it is being used to positively impact our schools first I'm excited to welcome danzel Dixon from Greenleaf Elementary School hello chairperson Johnson members of the board and superintendent boson my name is danzo Dixon I am the assistant administrator at Green Leaf Elementary and I want to share with you how we at Green Leaf are utilizing a lot of the resources that were discussed to make sure that every family at Green Leaf feels welcome and so a few things that I'm going to touch on are our multilingual support um the translation Document Services that we have and then also language access resources so at Green Leaf it all first starts with our front office and we have a amazing front office staff to ensure that all families feel welcome one tool that our front office staff utilizes a lot is our over the phone interpreter and so not only when you come into a elementary school in the front office not only is she answering phone calls helping students as they enter the building trying to assist as many parents as she can but there's also families who need support in their preferred languages and so during that time she is on the phone communicating um using our apprpriate over the phone interpreter app to make sure that families are getting the support and the access that they need we also have preprepared packets for families in Somali and in Spanish and these are um we're grateful for these and we you utilize our document translation services that our district provides to provide that to families so if it's questions around registration on getting um our students signed up for transportation um and any of those things that nature um our front office staff is utilizing those tools we also highly appreciate our culture family advocates our cfas um and we strategically at Green Leaf we very intentional about that place them in hight trffic areas one to support our front office but also just to provide that representation um I think it's very important when families can come in and see um individuals who not only look like them but also can support them in their preferred language to assist with certain needs so we're very grateful for our cfas as well I also have to um highlight our our teachers and our amazing support staff who are definitely committed to cultural awareness and that's another reason why we're very appreciative of of the services that we have to translate documents one thing about our staff is no matter what information we're sending out whether it's a newsletter um whether we're communicating with families about student rec uh student scores or anything of that nature the first thing any member of our staff member will say is is this translated and if the answer is no the next question they ask is when will it be translated it's not a if it's always a whenn and that just shows our commitment to to ensuring that all of our families have equal access to communication lastly I just want to touch on our language access resources I know we've talked about over the phone interpreters Anderson interpreters and we also utilize um recently the video interpret interpreter app which has worked great for us um it's helped out with scheduling conflicts around conferences it's eliminated that barrier now everyone has access to an interpreter um in in some way I also have down downloaded this app to my phone and so you can personally utilize it on your phone and it's just helped build those connections in person with parents with families to ensure that they feel welcome no longer do I have the awkward conversation of let me find someone who can interpret or come to me to my office so I can use my phone I can instantly hit a button and have someone who can help me navigate that conversation with the with the families and we're very appreciative of that I just want to end with one more service that we've utilized and this was during our family night last year we were able to bring in a retired astronaut uh to our school and one thing that we talked about is how can we have equal access so that everyone can experience this and another service that our district provided was headsets where each family could um put a headset on and one of our cfas actually translated what the astronaut was saying in real time and that moment stood out to me because For the First Time I just sit back and I and I watched and I and I observed and I can see how engaged the family was and then after the event to see the way they connected with their student and the way they connected with us and they were so grateful of the opportunity I was just so glad that we got to experience that all together and it's it's one due to the intentionality of our school and our commitment at Green Leaf Elementary but also working for a district that provides these resources for us and so just wanted to share a few ways of how we are committed to welcoming every family at Green Leaf now I will pass it to my colleague Logan hello chairperson Johnson Schoolboard members and superintendent Bon well first I'm learning never to go after Green Leaf um that's L up to there great job Green Leaf Elementary um but thank you for the opportunity to share all the great things that are happening also at Echo Park Elementary and how we create and support our school Community I'm Logan Schultz proud principal of Echo Park at Echo Park we have worked to create explicit opportunities for our multilingual families to have access points within our school one example is a collaboration between our ELD team our CFA team and our social workers at the welcome back to school and assessment days we have a devoted space where a multi lingual services are available through the on on demand video and phone interpretation that danzel referenced along with inperson interpreters this collaboration amongst our teams is strengthened through the communication resources that are available to us and has positively impacted our school community in addition at conferences families have the same access to On Demand interpreters and our staff utilizing these resources is now the norm and no longer the exception through on demand interpreting we always have access to support the 25 plus languages spoken at our school this is evidenced in the amount that our whole staff accesses these language services from January 2024 to January 2025 our staff used on demand interpreting for 11,483 minutes that's the equivalent of nearly 8 days so in other words I could stand here and talk to you continually until next next Tuesday evening and that would represent how much time our staff has accessed these on demand services in one calendar year and that is not exclusive just to our teachers that includes front office staff clerical staff um all of our staff members utilize those services our greatest success story that we have is the pride that our students take in being multilingual our students and families know that we're committed to the meaningful communication between school and home through on demand Services School messenger seesaw and primary grades and talking points all with the ability to translate to their home language all of these resource translate communication and it strengthens that school and home partnership additionally speaking of that celebration on Tuesday Mornings our announcements are multilingual and student-led announcements students who speak a language other than English are invited to lead our morning announcements in their home language it is a morning that everyone in our school looks forward to and celebrates we are grateful to have the resources that allow us to improve our multilingual communication and strengthen our community thank you for your time and support and next I'll introduce from Apple Valley High School Bill BL well hello chairperson Johnson members of the school board superintendent bony um uh like Logan mentioned I'm Bill blim I'm an assistant principal at Apple Valley high school and uh I'm proud to be here tonight to talk to you a little bit specifically about language access at Apple Valley as it relates to parent teacher conferences we're very proud of the work that we've done at Apple Valley uh around language access I've worked there for 17 years and i' I've watched us get better and and we know that we can continue to get better we know we can continue to add resources and add solutions to help make sure that all of our families are are welcome for all the years that I've worked at Apple Valley at parent teacher conferences we've always hired in person interpreters uh in Spanish and Somali they've always been there and that's worked well for for a number of our families but there are also challenges that come with that what happens when there's a high demand for a number of interpreters and people have to sit and wait for a long time or what happens if there's just kind of a lull in conferences and then you start wondering like about effective use of resources and how are we deploying this and all of that um we still bring in live interpreters for conferences but the addition the ability to add on demand interpreting services at our conferences has been really really huge as both danzel and Logan mentioned um we can we trained all of our staff to make sure that they're ready at a moment's notice to move to a video interpreting service for families that might come in and then we trained we've always had student ambassadors at our conferences when you come into parent teacher conferences at the high school you're greeted by students usually volunteers from our student council or our National Honor Society um they're there with a map to help you find where teachers are things like that but tapping into the the superpower of our multilingual students as as uh as Jenny who we recognized earlier tonight you said M multilingual being multilingual is a superpower and we have students now who volunteer who are multilingual and greet families when they come in in their home languages and when they come in partnering with our Communications Department as we' worked on this jened had some we've had some great ideas that families can be directed to find these IE cards a card that says the language they speak and when they walk into their scheduled conference with a teacher they just hand this card to to to kind of avoid any of that kind of awkwardness that might exist hand the card to our teachers our staff is all trained to know to look at the card and say okay and they grab the device for the for the video on demand interpreting um and and the conference proceeds from there um one of the challenges though with this is okay we have this great system in place how do we tell our families that this is an option for them because if you don't know this is a thing then then how do you know so again we partnered with with folks in Communications and put together this video I'm going to show it to you right now it's just an example of something that we put out and it's in Spanish and it talks about kind of the experience that I just narrated for you in fact you you you'll be able to see it um so here is that video talking about that interpreter hola familia Appo Val for just one other note I forgot to mention that I want to mention about the video interpreting services to I mentioned at the beginning we've we've always had in-person interpreters for the languages of Spanish and Somali and we know that we have large populations of families that speak those languages but we also know as we know at the beginning of the presentation over a 100 languages are spoken in our district and one of the great things about the video interpretation Services is that we can provide interpretation services in a number of Home languages and make sure that we are just providing more access to more families all the time so thank you I'm going to have jened come on back up now uh thanks for the opportunity to tell you a little bit about this there we go thank you thank you to all of our guest speakers tonight the work you're doing is amazing and we're so grateful for your dedication you just heard some examples of some of how some schools are using language resources but it's important to note that language services are being utilized at all of our schools tonight we're asking the board to formally adopt the language access plan well ahead the state statutory deadline of September 2025 this will allow us to share the language access plan with staff family and the community ensuring language access is fully understood across the district State Statute require a formal review every two years we plan to return in 2027 to share progress on the pl's implementation along with any proposed updates thank you for your time and attention I'm we're open to any questions you may have and thank you so much for the wonderful presentation this is an action item for the board tonight so before we move into the questions is there a motion to approve the proposed language access plan still moved we have questions yes we take a motion before questions I was just asking thank you for asking second motion by sowen seconded by Leah at this time are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members soin was first sorry Anna even though hers was higher but you were first no no no no I saw you first all right I just wanted to say thank you uh for the presentation this very impressive presentation and thank you all that you do is always good to hear from our Educators and you know superintendent I mean uh assistant uh principles and also Logan uh principles it's just really good to get that feedback and thank you for providing access and removing barriers I really appreciate it it means a lot uh not only that I wanted to also thank uh Michael here superintendent bson that we always had a discussion as to how we could make our strategic plan alive not only something that collectives does stay somewhere so when we were develop in the Strategic plan to you know we always have discussions how could we just uh implement this and then that it should have a benchmark for Success how success will look like that we're not providing data or numbers but this really bring is it uh you know is it really Testament that we have a comprehensive plan not only we have a comprehensive plan we also have a very comprehensive presentation but the comprehensive plan is really good to see that that we making and supporting the Strategic plan in some way I think that's really important my only question is that uh do we have a roll out timeline and then also burn CH Mech for Success how's that going to look like for the comprehensive plan you mention about 2025 State de line but the roll out for timeline so thank you for that question roll out has actually already begun and again as jened said many of these services are already available and happening in our schools the plan that you have before you tonight documents things that are already happening uh and will continue to happen I think really what you want to address is what is our broader communication plan about making sure that families are have access so we have the website ready to launch we have videos ready to launch we have our standard communication channels but much more importantly is getting this to our Frontline staff and families so that we're continually reaching out and having a personal Outreach to families to say your schools want to partner with you your schools are eager to partner and they will uh remove the language barriers uh and provide that language access for you so it will be a continual we will start uh with the announcement that we have the plan it's been adopted the tools that you saw have already been in use during conferences so we'll continue and then every year we have new families that come into our community every day uh so it needs to be a continual practice that we don't just roll it out once uh but that we are continually reaching out and repeating the information question thank you Anna okay be patient with me Corey okay so um thank you to everyone uh who came and talked about how you're utilizing it in your schools uh that was is amazing um about five years ago when I was starting to get involved in the schools and I remember being at uh uh Equity advisory Council before it was Equity advisory Council and and there were um Spanish speaking families that were there and um there was an interpreter but wasn't able to interpret as quickly and I just remember thinking about how unfortunate it was that um they weren't able to respond um in their own language and how we were missing an opportunity to really hear from them and get their ideas because there was a lag um and I was in other meetings where everyone spoke English and English was their only language and I kept thinking we are missing uh diversity of thought and experiences because we are we're just missing things um and so I love the fact that we are becoming more accessible because there is uh talk about this all the time but we don't get Innovation unless everyone has access and and is included and so I love that um couple questions um I want to know that app that you're using danzel um and can we download that as uh as um employees here since we are kind of employees here at district 196 can we do that second um uh Logan um when you invite students uh to speak in their home language is it then translated love that that because as an English speaker I think it's important for some of us to understand what it's like to have translation so we experience that because a lot of Americans don't have the privilege to travel outside of the US and so it's nice to know what it's like to be a non-dominant identity at times um love that um board meetings are we translating board meetings yet if not when I'm going to use Logan when are we going to do that or is that maybe that was you donel yeah when we doing that we will add that to the list love it and not only that site councils um advisory meetings advisory Council meetings um our um um Community listening sessions because those were missed opportunities a lot and I I I would imagine again when you're having to translate it's a lot of mental energy uh to try to translate into a different language and then retranslate back back and so I would love if we have opportunities where people can think and respond in their own language without having to translate back and forth those are wonderful suggestions and I know that takes time the they don't necessarily need to the language access page which is now live on the website um does have the opportunity to request translation services request interpreting services and gened keeps the box of the um headsets okay right in her office so that if family if uh staff know that they will have families on their site councils or those other really our Priority One is family engagement around students yep um and so if they're having those opportunities just as um Greenleaf talked about um we can certainly get the headsets available um for some real-time translation it is important and and jity I know you would want to speak to this for 30 minutes tonight but it is important to have trained translators MH uh when we can and not rely on informal translation or someone that happens to be at the meeting that may not be have translation capabilities so we do want to plan ahead when we can and ask if families that would be involved in those meetings need translation service well and also from an equity standpoint we should never rely on labor from those individuals we should be paying those those people too that is part of our plan that we have paid interpreters that are professional love that okay and I'm G to since you brought it up I will just uh for anyone listening to we do ask if anyone needs translation services when they sign up for Community listening sessions and so and we have that in the in the form when they sign up so hopefully there yes so just saying if anyone's listening who wants to come and needs translator you can do that uh when you sign up are there any other questions or comments from board members thank you Leah um gracias par um one quick question is sign language outside of this scope is how does that factor in no so we do offer sign language ASL language um we have two qualified interpreters with a license um but really the special ed Department takes care of the bulk of interpreters for ASL I wonder if it should be noted still because at least my quick read of it I I couldn't tell that that was available when I looked through the plan and I I probably missed it but we'd be happy to make that am yeah that's a good idea excellent gracias there questions or comments one thing that stood out to me that I also just wanted to make note of is perhaps this formal board action that we're taking tonight is because of legislation that was passed at the capital but it is not lost on me that the reason you're here so much before the due date is because we've been we've seen this as a problem we've been doing this and we want to get better every single day so I just want to acknowledge that this is putting a lot of what we do in writing and we're doing getting better at it um and we're acknowledging we're going to get better at and keep supporting but um we're not reacting to legislation the only thing that we're reacting to is probably the vote we're about to take we're just formalizing a lot of those best practices we already do which I think is amazing um that we're doing that so I just wanted to make sure that that was recognized yep thank you jened has been leading this work at the district level with um and trying to provide more support to our schools uh for more than four years um so certainly it has been going on for much longer absolutely with that there is a motion to approve our language access plan um moved by Sout and seconded by Leah all those in favor of approval please say I I I I those opposed motion carries on a 5 Z vote thank you so much right next I would like to welcome Shelley Munson back to the podium to go over Staffing allocation guidelines for fiscal year 2026 good evening that is a hard presentation to follow I would say we have um appreciated those services in job fairs and at the district office and and other places as well um so again good evening chairperson Johnson members of the board and superintendent balani before you this evening are the Staffing allocation guidelines for fiscal year 20126 each year the school board approves Staffing allocation guidelines for the following school year these guidelines are used to determine the number of staff to be allocated to each school and Department these guidelines are also an important component in a establishing the next year's budget based on student enrollment counts among other factors first off there are not any changes to classroom allocations um these guidelines have been reviewed in detail with cabinet members and really dug in to make sure um that some there's a few resulting modifications and adjustments just to ensure we're really accurately reflecting current allocations and titles um this exhibit also in includes some minor Staffing modifications as we align um systems and resources for our ongoing commitment to supporting teachers in delivering high quality instruction and improving student outcomes there are also a few adjustments have we planned for the new elementary school as you can imagine um that's shifting around some of our staff but there will also be a few um additions as we move forward with that so on behalf of administration I recommend that you approve the fiscal year 2026 Staffing allocation guidelines that I presented and I be happy to answer any questions you may have thank you very much again this is an action item for us tonight so before we go into um questions is there a motion to approve the Staffing guidelines as presented so moved second motion by Jackie second by Soden at this time were there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members excellent seeing no additional conversation we have a motion to approve by Jackie seconded by sowen all those in favor of approval please say I I I uh those opposed motion carries on a 4 zero vote so we lost one board member but I'm sure she'll be back momentarily um next I'd like to welcome Jerry Jeremy Sorenson back to the podium do to drum roll reveal the new name well I should say reveal the new name recommendation for elementary school number 20 which we are all going to be very excited to stop calling at that all right good evening chair Johnson board members and superintendent bson tonight I'm here to do discuss the process used to develop a name for the new Elementary building and then uh recommend board approval for the new name all right it's exciting to think that the process both started and ended with Community um district 196 invited suggestions for names from from the community Through the month of December there was a link on the district website where entries could be made we sent both districtwide Communications and Communications directly to the families who were impacted by the attendance area adjustments and who would be attending the new building through this process we received approximately 600 suggestions for names of the new building using a name Pro naming process similar to what was used with East Lake our Communications Department and our cabinet narrowed the selection as part of the process we used use the following parameters to help narrow the selection by policy the district does not name schools after people we avoid names that are too similar to any of our existing buildings we avoid names that are specific to any City housing developments um we avoid names that are the same or very similar to schools in neighboring districts and then we also spend a great deal of time in searching and investigating names for meanings and context um once this process was completed a meeting was facilitated with a community group consisting of families who would be attending the new Elementary building to build consensus and provide a final recommendation the final recommendation for naming Elementary 20 is Emerald Trail Elementary School the name reflects the following a desire to be distinct from other schools a sense of community and pride in being part of the Rosemount Community it's also uh represents sustainability Focus that supports being a green School the school will be Net Zero ready when opening it will be a high efficiency all electric building with no gas line um it has a geothermal energy plan with 444 geothermal Wells and a sustainable natural Landscaping plan um with a bunch of wet lands on the property uh School sidewalks will connect to a City County trail system and can Pro can promote walkability for the school Community district 196 legal council conducted a trademark search and found no potential conflicts under the trademark law there are no other Emerald named schools in Minnesota and only a handful across the country we are asking the board to approve the final recommendation and move forward with naming the new Elementary building Emerald Trail Elementary um and then I have a question slide but I'll go back there because the name's on it excellent this is another action item tonight so do I have a motion to approve the recommended name emerald Trail Elementary School as the official name of the new Elementary School established in 2025 so moved second motion by Anna second by Jackie at this time are there any questions or comments from the audience seeing none questions or comments from board members love it yep how fun and how fun to watch it on WCCO and watch the kids talk about their school and congratulations thank you very much I think it's wonderful as well like I said I just love that we don't have to call it number 20 anymore right I think that's the best part excellent so we have a motion from Anna seconded by Jackie all those in favor of approval say I I I those opposed motion carries on a 5 vote thank you very much thank you excellent all right that brings us almost to the end of our agenda tonight so before we go I will turn it over to superintendent bony for superintendent updates all right thank you chair Johnson last Thursday and Friday our high school choirs performed with our elementary students at the district 196 sings events at each of our Comprehensive High Schools I want to thank our choir teachers who organized the events that showcase the Arts in our AAA philosophy later this this month we will also have opportunities to hear our jazz bands in action at the district jazz band Festival these are large undertakings involving hundreds of students across our district next uh next week uh there's a reminder that school is not in session this actually this Friday and next Monday so no school this Friday and next Monday for students Friday is a data day Monday is a national and state holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr finally we will wrap up the month with the high school one-act play competitions this conference Festival will be held this year at Apple Valley High School on January 24th we wish everyone good luck our one act plays traditionally perform well and are appreciated by our community thank you excellent at this time were there any um Schoolboard members with items I'd like to share go ahead you leaned in I would like to share one thing um uh I was able to uh take part in a puzzle contest that is done through Community Ed it was phenomenal uh it was in I think October or November um about 30 families took place it was uh uh teams of four um 500 piece puzzle all the same puzzles it was not expensive at all um I will say that my husband myself uh Bianca Vern who was a former School Board member um uh stepped in for another couple and a friend of hers we were third to last to finish there was a group of uh four constituents who um were uh enjoying their retirement life uh they finished in 25 minutes it took us an hour and 10 minutes they smoked us um and so I was embarrassing um we are now sold and we will now be uh taking place in future um puzzle contest apparently there's a circuit District 186 is not the only one so if you're looking for things to do with your family friends neighbors I uh recommend that you check out uh the recent 196 uh Community Education bulletin that came out I believe they're doing one in March it is fun uh and it doesn't require a lot of time so do it and you get to take the puzzle home for free I mean not for free but you do get to take the puzzle depends on your definition of fun but I'm sure it's I don't think I could do it but so no just wanted to say a quick thank you and then also acknowledge Leah for taking uh out of office and congratulation for your reelection and just I wanted to welcome you to the board just thank you for your service official first day as a elected member versus an appointed member and you have to run again in November I'm sorry you have to run you can make a career out of this I think they did a movie out of that it's like brown Hogs day you get to do yes over again over again did you have something yeah I do I just want to really quickly thank Tom Goodwin who recently retired after 40 years of being on the Apple Valley City Council I know superintendent Balan had a a video that he sent and was played I went as far as to you know I went as representative of the district to thank him for being such a a forward thinker in Apple Valley and always helping us with the land in the times that he was here or when he started we were building a a school a year and needed land and needed people to help us and he has always been a good supporter of of the school district so I congratulate him on his 40 years wish him well thank you all right that brings us to the end of our agenda tonight our next regularly scheduled school board meeting is Monday February 10th which by the way we will formally welcome our two new appointed School board members at that meeting as well and do our oath of office at this time is there a motion to adjourn still Mo motion by scoten second by Leah all those in favor of adjournment say I I those opposed we are adjourned