[Music] Good evening and welcome Welcome to our regularly scheduled July 14th school board meeting. At this time, please rise
if you are able and join me in the pledge of allegiance. After the pledge of allegiance, please 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 us to share a brief moment of silence for Apple Valley High School social study social studies teacher Bart Caspersonson, who passed
away on Saturday, July 12th. Our heartfelt thoughts are with his wife, Cody Caspersonson, a district 196 special education teacher, and their two sons, both students in our district. Thank you. All right. Good evening, school board.
As always, our first item of business tonight is the approval of the agenda. There are no um additions or deletions to the agenda tonight. Is there a motion to approve the agenda as outlined? So move. Second. Uh motion by Robin, seconded by Saken. All those in favor of approving
the agenda say I. I. Those opposed. Motion carries on a 70 vote. That brings us to our recognition portion of the agenda tonight. And first, I would like to welcome Scott Vos, Apple Valley High School speech head coach, to the podium to introduce the students who placed in the National
Speech and Debate Association competition. Good evening, board members. Chairperson Johnson, Superintendent Balsone. My name is Scott Voss and I am the director of speech and debate at Apple Valley High School and I'm here to present some
exceptional young people to you. We just returned from our uh trip to De Moine for the Grand National NSDA tournament where Apple Valley High School took uh was in the placed in the top 10 in the nation um out of a a pool of 1300
schools and we had three young people who were actually recognized um as national finalists. To put that into perspectives, approximately 145,000 students each year participate in speech and debate. Um to get to nationals you
have to go through a qualifying tournament. Um and these two people plus Year who is not with us tonight competed in pools of about 300 people and all three of them placed in the top two in
the country which is pretty exceptional. We don't have Year with us tonight but uh Year a year ago today didn't even know what the speech was. He happened to walk uh onto the team as a senior and
over the course of the year he found some material, a dramatic piece that eventually took him to the final stage. It told the story of a young uh undocumented immigrant who was working at um the Twin Towers on 911. And um he
talked about how uh to this day we still do not know the true number of people who died in the 911 attacks because there were a number of them that were undocumented. They were essentially invisible. Um, in his introduction, Yair says, "We can advocate for immigrants
without having to mention how useful they are. We are here. We are human. We matter. And that should be enough." So, we are extremely proud for Year. Um, he has never acted before. And yet, here he is uh the second ranked actor in the
country. And so, we're excited. Next year, Yaier will be attending St. Thomas University here in the city. So congratulations to Year. We also have Isra Yassin who is a junior at Apple Valley High School. You saw her a few
weeks back. She was the state champion in original oratory which is persuasive speaking. Her thesis centers around maintaining civil rights and what we need to do in order to protect them. At one point she says these rights like
seedlings are fragile. They need to be protected not just from the invasive weeds of greed and complacency, but from the scorching sun of hatred and ignorance. And we have to decide if the fruits of our gardens are for everyone or just for the privileged few. Isra
decided that it wasn't enough just to share this message within the speech and debate community. uh but she wanted to take it into the community as a whole and in the weeks since she came back from De Moines has booked a number of opportunities to go out and to speak with people to engage people who might
not uh necessarily agree all the time and to uh to get them involved in some more open dialogue at a time when it's really difficult to do so. And then of course we have Miss Annayiah Bastic who is the national champion in program oral
interp. It is a category where you develop a theme. Uh and the theme that she chose was uh people of color and their complex relationship with water from a young girl at a public pool to middle passage, the deep spirituality of
African beliefs. Annayia combined music and poetry and non-fiction along with some amazing choreography um in order to bring her message to life. Not only did she win the tournament, she won the final round. And
uh we are so excited that Annayiah will be joining us once again. Annayia was also in that final round a year ago. So to get to the national final round once is amazing. To get there twice is virtually unheard of. And so we are extremely thankful for all of those who have helped us get to where we are,
including the Apple Valley um community, Drew Mans and Bill Blatime, as well as District 196 who have done so much to foster an environment of excellence. So we are grateful. We're going to come around and shake hands, but we're going to leave Annayia up here because uh
she's got another another distinction that you're going to learn about. Congratulations. Thank you so much for coming. Absolutely. All right. Next, I'd like to welcome Aaron Schwab uh to the podium to
introduce the district's recipient of the 2025 Triple Threat New York Experience. And I have a feeling we may have seen her before. I'm sure. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, board members, and superintendent Balsone. My
name is Aaron Schwab. I've been a director of all things theater at Apple Valley High School now for about seven years. I'm so thrilled to be here tonight for the recognition of the great accomplishment in theater for Annihabastic. Annayia received one of the spotlight education's triple threat awards given to four very special, very
talented young people from across the state of Minnesota. Out of hundreds of students that applied, moved on, then cuts to call backs and then to being one of the top 24 young actors in the entire state of Minnesota. Annayia received one of four coveted triple threat New York
experiences. I know the triple threat experience is an all expenses paid trip to New York City where the young actors attend Broadway shows, meet with industry professionals, and participate in workshops. They got a they get to tour the city, uh, the Broadway Museum, and
really experience the true excitement of New York City musical theater firsthand. It's really cool to put yourself in the place where you might want to be and see yourself there. It changes perspective on a lot of things. So, we're grateful to Triple Threat for doing this experience. I'm so thankful and
continually inspired working with Annayia who has helped me um and held me accountable in my goal to continue to represent and specifically select shows that require bipac and LGBTQIA plus actors playing those characters and also
making sure the stage inside the high school looks like the high school outside in the hallways. I was stopped numerous times when I was at the spotlight showcase with Apple Valley High School getting ready to perform by all different kinds of people who were
working at Spotlight Awards from the wranglers to the directors um to the main director who all said thank you so much for sharing Annayia with us. She is incredible. Um she is thoughtful. She is kind. She is hardworking. She shows up
and she holds everybody else up around her. Um, and I said, "Thank you. That's all me." And then, "No, I didn't I didn't say that." Actually, what I They said, "You must you said what a great director you are." And I said, "You know what? Um, with
Annayia, it is about it's a recipe of about 5050, right? It's a lot of me saying, "Hey, try this." and a lot of her showing up and questioning everything that we say and then um with with um good reason to do that and hold us accountable for the things that we
ask and be so thoughtful about the choices that she makes. Um and I'm so excited about that. And now my little speech went away. Wait. Uh Annayia. Uh yep. She is an incredible young person. That is what I said to all of them. She
is an incredible young person. I also would like to thank her mom and the rest of her family for raising such an incredibly uh brave, gifted, hard-working young person. Um I know that that does not come naturally uh all the all the time and so I appreciate
that. And actually her family is here if they would like to stand and be recognized as well. Hello. So thank you for trusting me Annayia. Thank you for setting the example for others in storytelling, attitude, bravery, hard work, and for playing, laughing, and singing with me. Uh,
Annayia Bostic, just so you know, it did autocorrect your name to animal Bostic in my phone. I didn't read it that way. Anna and I, uh, are thrilled to be here and thrilled to have Annayia be the first representative as Triple Threat from Apple Valley High School.
[Applause] I kind of wanted that. Next time. Next time. Congratulations. What was your favorite show in New York? Great one. Congratulations.
Yes, you too. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. All right. And finally, I'd like to welcome Pete Roback, principal of uh Rosemont High School, to the podium to introduce a student who earned a state publicist state award. Uh, good evening, Chairperson Johnson,
school board members, Superintendent Balsone, and community members. My name is Pete Robach, and I'm the principal of Rose Mount High School. And this um this introduction of our student, Molly, will take on a little bit more of a principal type feel. I I'm not a speech, debate, or a theater teacher, so apologize for
the formality of how I'm going to present this award. Anyways, I'm honored this evening to recognize an outstanding achievement by Molly Pittson, a 2025 graduate of Rosemont High School. And I am sorry to say I will not be
referencing Molly's real claim to fame, and that's her appearance on Wheel of Fortune two years ago in the under 18 division. So, she does have fame, but we're not here to talk about that. Anyways, I digress. We recently learned that Molly
was the recipient of the state spotlight education student publicist award. Spotlight Education is Minnesota's largest theater education organization sponsored and supported by Henipin Arts. Each year over 10,000 students come together to put on the spotlight showcase at the state theater
highlighting the best of high school theater from the previous school year. The coveted student publicist award is presented to Minnesota students who are interested in theater, marketing, and writing. Through a lengthy application and interview process, Molly was one of
two students across the state awarded this honor and selected to help promote the showcase on their social media pages by creating content and engaging followers. Molly spent two weeks in Minneapolis working with industry professionals and spotlight education staff to learn more about theater
marketing. She was also awarded a $1,000 scholarship for this role. Molly graduated this year from RHS Sumu Suma Cumloud with honors. She was involved in theater arts as a performer, was the public relations officer for Thesbian
Honor Society, and was a school and state of Minnesota DECA officer. Outside of Rose Mount High School, Molly was a member of the city of Rosemount Youth Commission and was a student journalist for Spotlight Education's critical review program. Molly will be attending the University of Minnesota Twin Cities
in the fall to study political science and strategic communication for advertising and public relations. Keep an eye out for Molly. She has an incredible future in front of her. So, please join me in recognizing Molly for this special achievement as well as her parents who are with us uh tonight. Mike
and Sarah, please stand. Thank you. Congratulations. You were still entertaining. All right. Next, I will turn the meeting over to Superintendent Balsone for recognition of students and staff. All right. Thank you, Chair Johnson. Congratulations to Valley Middle School
of STEM's conservation crew, which won first place in this year's Conservation Minnesota program. And to do so, the student led organization, it's an eco organization, led the way in diverting 3,000 pounds of waste from landfills. They planted trees this year. They
created signage to boost recycling and they were leading food waste education around the school. So, congratulations to Valley Middle School of STEM. And next, I would like to invite Director of Elementary Education Jeremy Sorenson to the podium to introduce two of our new
elementary principles. All right. Uh, good evening, Chair Johnson, members of the board, and Superintendent Bolson. My name is Jeremy Sornson. I'm the director of elementary ed. Um, just a note, last board meeting I followed the AAA report, and now we're following these students.
So, hoping to get a break at the next meeting. Gotcha. All right. Tonight, tonight we're here to introduce two new elementary principles. In April, we started to process to search for three new elementary principles due to retirements at Westview, Southview, and Woodland Elementary Schools. At our last board
meeting, we introduced Mr. Donsel Dixon as the next principal of Westview Elementary. And tonight, we're introducing two more new elementary principles. So, first, I'd like to introduce Sarah Stratton, the next principal of Southw Elementary in Apple Valley. Sarah comes to us from Forest Lake Public Schools, where she most
recently served as principal of Lionel Lakes Elementary STEM School. With 13 years of experience in education, she's passionate about fostering a school culture centered in strong relationships, high academic standards, and developing the whole child. Sarah began her career as a physical education
teacher and a program coordinator before joining Forest Lake Area Schools where she served in a variety of roles including title one behavior specialist, wellness coordinator, dean of students, and assistant principal. Throughout her leadership, she has demonstrated excellence in instructional and
data-driven improvement. Sarah holds a bachelor's degree from Northwest Missouri State and a master's degree in educational leadership from Bethl University. We're excited to have her join District 196 in her new role at Southview Elementary. Please join me in welcoming Sarah Stratton to District 196.
Well, thank you. That is a really tough act to follow as students. Um, but I can just tell my very first board meeting of all the positive happenings happening here in District 196. And um that's all I've heard during my transition here. People always rave about all the good things happening here. And so I'm really
excited to be joining the team here and really looking forward to collaborating with students, staff, and um families at South View to create some lifelong learners. Thank you. All right. Next, we're proud to welcome Christine Maguire as an ex-principal of Woodland Elementary School in Egan.
Christine comes to us from Bell Plain where she's most recently served as principal at Chatfield Elementary. She brings 17 years of experience in education including previous roles as assistant principal at Cherry View Elementary in Lakeville, dean of students and classroom teacher in Shakipi, as well as teaching positions
in North Dakota. During her time in the classroom, she's taught first, second, and third grades. Christine is a relationship-driven leader and systems thinker with a strong commitment to collaboration, high expectations, and student- centered learning. She believes in creating an environment where every child is valued, supported, and inspired
to thrive. Christine holds two bachelor's degrees, one in elementary education from Valley City State University, and another in child development and family sciences from North Dakota State University, along with a master's degree in educational leadership from Minnesota State University, Morehead. Please join me in
welcoming Christine McGuire to District 196. Thank you. I'm much shorter than the rest of you. Um, thank you. I'm so excited to be here and honored to serve as the principal of Woodland Elementary. Um, these last eight days have been amazing. Uh,
already getting to meet much of the staff and some of the students there. So, it's been a wonderful welcome. Um, as stated, I am excited to continue to work on student growth, partnering with families, as well as um, continuing the collaboration along the strong staff that Woodland already has. There's an
amazing foundation there with dedicated staff that I'm really looking forward to hit the ground running with here in the next few weeks. Thank you. [Applause] So glad to have you. I have a friend on
the Forest Lake School Board. She was very mad at me when you accepted here. Congratulations again. Great to see you. Thank you so much. Congratulations. I have an I have an incoming fifth grader, so I'll see you in a couple weeks at Congratulations
again. Great to see you. Thank you. And that concludes my remarks. Thank you. Great. Thank you very much, Superintendent Bzone. Next on the agenda is our special communication requests. uh members of the public who would like to address the board can sign up uh can do in a couple ways and one of the ways
they can do that is a special communication request by signing up in advance. We have one speaker for special communication request tonight. Um just for our speaker um there is uh speakers are given four minutes to address the board and just I always like to explain it a little bit when we start after you introduce yourself we'll start your time
and it'll be a little green button that'll turn on um when you have 30 seconds remaining it'll turn amber and when your time is done it'll turn red and you'll hear a little beep and that's when you can conclude your remarks. So, I'd like to welcome Jessica Heiser to the podium for our special communication request speaker tonight. Thank you so much, Chair Johnson and,
uh, Vice Chair Williams, members of the board, uh, Superintendent Bossi. My name is Jessica Heiser. I live on the border of Burnsville and Apple Valley. Um, actually Burnsville is my front yard. Apple Valley is my backyard. Um, with my spouse who works in healthcare and our two children, one of whom is here
tonight uh, for a mandated civics lesson that she came to kicking and screaming, but she's here. Um, our two children are enrolled in Echo Park Elementary, the magnet school, led by Principal Logan Schultz. Um, I should preface this with I have been an education attorney for
over 13 years and, uh, I've represented couple hundred school boards. I have been yelled at at many school board meetings before. Um, COVID masks, book bans, school shootings, you name it, I've been there. Uh, so I know that most people who uh, come up to speak are
angry. Um that is not me. I am here today with just heaps of gratitude. Um we moved to Minnesota just last year from Indiana and we were specifically moving for a more welcoming and safe
environment for our children. And we did a lot of research. We contacted community organizations and we talked to friends on the ground. And I watched your schoolboard meetings and I read through your schoolboard policies. there are people out there in other states who are watching them. Um, and we
specifically chose district 196. Um, because of what your leadership has done for this district and I really feel like in the last year we have simply found just a reprieve from a very tumultuous world. Our children have been challenged academically. Um, our kindergartner came
home in the first week using words that we had never heard before. Um, and we told him he was wrong. He was not. They were real words. Uh, and we learned about vivipurus and oipurus egg laying and live young animal. We had no idea
what he was talking about. Um, and the STEM curriculum at Echo Park Elementary has really turned my kids into little engineers um, and really opened up their minds. Um, we have used the community education programming more than I could ever have imagined. Um, my kids came
from a summer camp today. Um, and we've used it for extracurriculars and spring break activities. Um, in the hundreds of schools I've been in, it's the best I've ever seen. Um, we have had these partnerships with the older schools with Apple Valley High School. My kid is now
into singing and dancing and performing arts, which we had never been to before. Um, my parents flew in from Indiana to see an Apple Valley High School performance and they were so impressed. Um, the social emotional learning curriculum has been phenomenal for our
kids. They went on a field trip to Feed My Starving Children. I can't imagine why I have not heard of field trips before that were around community service. It was wonderful. Um, and at the end of the school year, we had the Echo Park Elementary Carnival, and it was just the most beautiful evening to
see all of these hundreds of people, different races, different generations, different languages, all in a really beautiful community. And it just felt like a complete sanctuary. Um, so I want to thank you for your service. It's very
difficult to consistently think about inclusivity and equity, especially when passing schoolboard policies and things like that. Um, but we know that that is bred and sustained and affirmed. Um, and so I just want to really affirm and thank you for what you've done. The
public comment uh form asked me to uh say what action item I wanted and I couldn't think of another one, but just keep it up. Thank you. Excellent. Thank you very much, Jessica. Um, with that, we're just going to end
our meeting on a high note. No, we're just I'm kidding. No, thank you very much uh for your comments and welcome to the community as well. Um, next on the agenda is our consent agenda. We have 22 items on the consent agenda tonight.
Those items include the minutes of the June 23rd, 2025 regular school board meeting, the minutes of the June 23rd, 2025 special schoolboard meeting, treasures report for May 2025, revenues and expenditures report for May 2025, gifts, grants, truth and taxation hearing, personnel, joint powers agreement with the state of Minnesota,
direct admissions Minnesota, long-term facilities maintenance 10-year plan for 2026, 20 through 2035, purchase of Microsoft A3 licensing, purchase of personal finance, curricular resources, purchase of social studies, curricular resources, activity center, strength and performance equipment, Rosemont High School Activity Center addition and
renovations. Thomas Lake Elementary encroachment agreement agreement for student teaching with the Bid Mitchi State University, St. Olaf College, St. Mary's University, and Concordia University, St. Paul, an agreement for clinical experience with Minnesota State University, Morehead Non-public School Counseling Agreements. Are there any
items on the consent agenda that board members would like to re uh remove tonight? Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the consent? So moved. Second motion by Robin, seconded by Katherine.
All those in favor of approving the consent agenda say I. I. I. All those opposed. Motion carries on a 70 vote. That brings us to our reports section of the agenda and I'd like to welcome Spencer Fischer to the podium to present on our school lunch program.
Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, school board members, Superintendent Balsani. I appreciate the opportunity to bring a update to the nutrition services program. I think it's been about two years since I've done a report uh to the school board. So, I'm very excited to
share all the excellent work that the nutrition services team does to fuel our students for top success. One of the things that I'd like to start with is how I always start uh any meetings that I have with my team and that's a strategic road map. Um it's you
know a guiding document for us and we put our own spin on it with nutrition services. So for example, you know, educating, developing and inspiring our students for lifelong success and becoming a life a lifelong eater, right? Because we all eat and just making those
wise choices for the food that they consume. It really starts with um at school with that the nutrition base that we set um you know the elementary kindergarten through first grade or kindergarten through fifth grade.
elementary set, we really tell the students what to eat. The 6th through 8th, we open up the options that the students have so that they have a little more variety. And then 9th through 12, we really um open it further to give them more options with the hope whatever
they may do at the um end of their career with district 196 that um they have those foundation of a good nutritional diet. Um, so it's been two years since the Minnesota Free School Meals Program has
um been enacted through legislation. And there's a couple different ways that the nutrition services is funded. So the first one is when students um are receiving educational benefits.
Most of or majority of the reimbursement that we get for that is through the federal government. Then if the student isn't receiving any educational benefits, that's where Minnesota picks up those meals. So that's the second part. And then if a student is receiving
partial benefits, then money comes from both of those buckets. So um the nutrition services fund is a self-funded um program. So if you think about restaurants, um that's exactly what we do. So every dollar that we make, we put
back into our program. Um, and if you think about the number of kitchens that we have, we're the largest restaurant in Dakota County. So, Canes has nothing on us because we have our own special sauce. Okay.
Um, and I just want to um tell the importance of those educational benefits. It not only um tells where the money comes from, but it also uh supports each of the schools with compensatory funding. So, it's really important that every family completes those educational benefit applications
each year. And as I mentioned with um the Minnesota free school meals, there's no charge for um those meals. And so the first breakfast and f first lunch are at no charge to the students. And this has had a significant increase in the meals that
we're serving. So when meals were paid for back two years ago, um we've seen a breakfast increase of 53%. So last year we served 1.2 million breakfastes.
Then lunch, we had a 18.5% increase and that's 3.4 million lunches that we served in 168 days. So, I have to give it off give it to the team in the kitchens that see your students, see the children of District 196. Um, because if
we're averaging that out, it's over 27,000 meals a day that we provide our community and our students. Um, and it's all done with uh 212 contracted employees, 35 uh staff that are substitutes. They can choose when they
want to work, which sounds like an ideal job right now. So um and then with um with those increase of meals, there's also an increase in workload. So we've been able to increase the hours that staff is working. We're adding
additional staff um to the kitchens and just this last year we've um been able to offer 25% of the nutrition services staff um benefits. So, which is a huge huge thing for um the teams in the
kitchens to be able to have that insurance and those other benefits. So, I feel very proud that we're able to do that. Um and you know, and we're still maintaining the efficiencies in the kitchens, um being fiscally responsible.
Um we keep an eye on what's called um meals per labor hour. So that's how many meals a kitchen can cook um for the students in each day. So it's a there's a national standard out there and I want to say that we're slightly slightly above average in um our our
efficiencies. So I have to again give it up to the teams that are in the kitchen for all that work that they do. Um another uh key performance indicator that um we've been highlighting is our farm to school initiatives.
um a specialist in my office um Abby Massie and Massie Angelo um really spearheaded the work with our farm to school leadership team. She um worked with Thomas Lake the um the
kindergarten team there. We um invited some different farmers in and had um just a great year. Every month we created um a harvest of the month. So it's a Minnesota grown product that uh
we highlighted on our menus and that was served K through 12. Um but the pilot program that we did with um Thomas Lake Elementary, I'm just going to go forward one slide. We did a punch card. So each month there was a different highlighted
thing. The kindergarten students had these punch cards and it got them really excited about what was school lunch and it gave them the opportunity to try something new that they haven't had before. Um along with that um we have
these pictures of um the interactions that we had with students. That first picture is um is Fonda Smith, one of our district uh 196 cultural family advocates talking about the wild rice that we um sourced
from uh First Nation um Ojiway in northern Minnesota. Uh the second picture there is um Aaron Brand from Brand Farms. I think everybody knows who he is. He's a staple in the community.
Um, and so he's reading a book about apples to our students. And then the final picture there is Deian Lufkin. She's the cheesecurd maker. Um, and we highlighted the Canon Bell cheese curds at our halfway to the state fair day.
Um, which is, by the way, one of our most popular uh, menu days ever. I think Michael, you were at there that day and it was uh it was a lot of fun to see the interaction with the students and um with Deian especially explaining how
cheese curds are made. The next thing I want to talk about is the diverse menu choices that we offer here in district 196. um from sambusas to p pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap pap papooseas to um Alfredo, we really focus
on the diversity of our menu to reflect the students that we have in our schools. Um while also trying to make it as local as we can. Um this year we've um partnered with a Minnesota grown beef company um in southeast Minnesota um
where we um brought two new meatball recipes um a meatball sub and then a sweet and sour meatball. And then at our high schools we have flame grilled hamburgers uh twice a week. So and with those burgers we also do a burger of the
month that um have some different spins and flares on the burger. So, if you think of when you go to the local restaurant or what and they always have the like the breakfast burger, oh, egg and bacon on it. Well, we tried some a kimchi burger with boom boom sauce. Um,
and only the most staring students tried that. So, I want to say that it adds a little bit to the menu. Um, and then, um, I think two years ago, I had brought about our, uh, plant-based
protein that we were working with. We had a spaghetti. Um, it's been on the menu regularly and, uh, this past year during March, Green Leaf Elementary had a food competition. So, students would vote on what their favorite meal was and that spaghetti
made it to the third round. So, I'm very happy about um the progress that that menu um or that menu item has taken. Um, a couple other items that, um, we've introduced this past year is a beef and
broccoli meal, um, like Mongolian beef style. Um, we always update our recipes. Um, we're working on a new fried rice recipe that is allergen friendly. And we're also updating our, um, regular brown rice recipe because it just didn't
have the flavor that it needed. So, we um have been working all this summer to try and um elevate the quality of food that we're um serving to our students. Well, how how do menu items get on the
school menu? Well, first we do a little testing in the office. Um I think Virgil got to test some rice with us. And then um and then um the next step is to bring it in front of students. So that is um
with the kitchen cabinets. So we like to get student input in um the meals that we have. Um and so I think I already mentioned the bomb burger. So we tested those burgers with some students. Um and
then we also um brought chicken tinga to the elementary schools this year. So, and some of our managers, kitchen managers were like, "Oo, that's that's a little spicy for our students." But you know what? They like the spice. So, it it's um it's very good. So, chicken ting
at our elementary schools. Um we um have a cheese steak recipe that we brought into our middle schools. And then um we you know looking forward to more um menu items this coming year including uh
tamali's uh zesty farm roasted uh chicken breast new breakfast sandwiches and uh ramen bowls. So we are going to be testing those getting them in front of students to try and um captivate them to participate in our meal program.
And then with all these meals, um we also have to take into account our s sustainability initiatives. Um this includes um how do we reduce that food waste? How do we um cut down on the amount of trash that's going into uh the
landfills, things like that. So um to start with, I'll talk about food waste and some of the things that we do um directly um that impacts our students. So the first one is what's called alpha versus serve. It's a US USDA regulation
that we can have students come through and they choose what they want to eat instead of when I was going to high school you got everything on the line, right? So and there was a lot of food waste there. So um we do use that offer versus serve where students can choose
what they want to eat and at least on their tray there has to be a half a cup of fruits and veggies. Now, um, fruits and veggies are unlimited to our students. So, if they want, um, a whole tray full of strawberries, we're going
to say yes and can you make some variety of your fruit choices and leave some strawberries for the next next student behind you. Um, but really being able to have the students choose what they want to eat has proven that they will
actually eat it when they get to their table. So, another part of that food waste is what's called a sharing table. Um, so if there's a um like a packaged sandwich or um a banana that a student
doesn't doesn't eat or consume, they can put it on the share table and any other student can go and grab that um piece of fruit um to keep it for later or for snack. So it's um so that has proven to reduce that food waste. Um another item
that we uh do is to reduce the amount of disposables that we have. So um we've switched over to metal silverware at our elementary schools and we're also serving bulk style at all of our schools. So what bulk style means is
that students serve themselves. So, if they want a half a cup of um fresh fruit or whatnot, they can just take a half a cup. If they just want one piece of fruit, we're going to ask them to take a little bit more to meet that requirement. Um but again, it's
unlimited because we know that that student that does take that full cup or cup and a half, there'll be another student that evens it out. So um and then with um other disposables um in the picture here you can see that uh we're
using stainless steel trays. These trays um will last for approximately 10 years where the normal melamine tray only has like a life of about four to five years and they're more easily stained. And so when a student gets a stained tray, it's
like it's a disconnect for them and it really doesn't um give a good atmosphere for the students and their dining experience. So um and then just in conclusion, um I'm so
proud of our nutrition services department and being able to fuel the top performance for our students. and just know that we're supporting that lifelong success. Thank you. You um at this time, are there any
questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from board members? Anna, uh I just want I just want to say is this? I think so. Okay. Um thank you so much. This was
very informative. Um even though my little ones have moved on and now they're in college, um I remember uh being a um volunteer um in the cafeteria at Dearwood Elementary and getting to see some of the food that was provided,
especially there was a farm to table we did they did too when my kids were there. Um and I was so impressed uh with the choices that they had, how beautiful the food was and um how healthy it was. Um, so thank you. I also want to say
that I love um the exposure to different cultural foods. Um, one of the biggest uh indicators of uh people who find seem to find success as adults with uh different cultural differences or interacting with uh different cultures
is that early exposure uh through um food um uh dance, music, and it's a good foundation. So, I love that we're doing that. Thank you so much. Um, it's exciting. Who knew that food could be so
exciting in the school in this and the and the and the lunchrooms, but it's exciting. So, thank you. You're welcome. Yeah, I love food and I'm so excited about food and getting it out in front of the students. Thank you, Jackie.
Spencer, I just want to say we are really proud of you and the the program that you've built. And next time Virgil does a taste test, you could invite some of us. Chicken tango looks good. Um, burgers with kimchi. That sounds wonderful. But I'm really proud of of
the program that you have built and it's been fun watching you build that along the way and your whole team. I'm especially proud that this year we've increased the people eligibility for insurance. I mean, with all the food things that you're doing and all the increases and
all, it's been it's been a crazy couple of years. But that's really important for the people that work in your group to have access to insurance. So, thank you for that. Yeah. And and I think that's an understatement that it's been a crazy couple years because once uh once meals
went no charge, it was like it was crazy. Full fast. It was Yeah, it was crazy. Full and fast. So, um thank you. Yeah. And and I'm very happy that, you know, we have to take care of our staff in the kitchen so that they can take care of our students and so that they can have a
successful time afterwards. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you. Other questions or comments? Leah, I said I wasn't going to ask a million questions, but I never said I wasn't gonna have a statement, which is um just that I think Spencer, the work that that
you and your team um do for our district, I think is is topnotch and something that can be an example that that I intend to help us lift up um for other districts because a lot of what happens um at the lunchrooms
is very district specific. just like everything else, right? And so how we deliver these services, um, I think we're approaching, you know, with an innovative lens and trying to be creative and I think it's paying off and just something that that we should be
proud of and maybe need to brag about a little more. So I'm going to try to help with that. Thank you, Robin. Yes. Thank you. Um, again, I'll just echo what everyone's saying in saying thank you for all that you do. And I remember volunteering in the Glacier Hills lunchroom and the amount of food
waste, you know, that helping the students figure out which trash can was compostables and which can was, you know, recyclables and how that has gone down is just wonderful how you focused on that. And I also want to say the chicken tinga is a big favorite among
the high schoolers and they look forward to it. So, just putting a little word in there. Yes, absolutely. Well, thank you for your time, Mrs. Oh, we got one more comment. Oh, yeah. I'm gonna add to if I can. So, um, thank you, Spencer. Couple things I just wanted to note. Um, as a cabinet, we go around and visit with students,
um, specifically, and we ask them a lot of questions about what they like about their experience and maybe what they don't. And that gives us a good insight into student voice. And in the last few years, one of the topics that have has come um to the has risen to the top almost every time we ask what they like about their school is their food. and
they talk about the menu items they like. They're excited about the meals. Um I visited um younger students during summer school where they're eating breakfast and they're showing off their breakfasts to me. In fact, one student mentioned that not only does he eat breakfast at home, he loves to eat breakfast at school as well. And so they
know I mean it's now an incentive and and they really enjoy that. Secondly, I just wanted to say and it it um builds on the comments of others. I was at a meeting recently with Dakota County officials um and staff and Spencer, they um talked about you and your programming and they referred to you as the most
innovative food service director in the state of Minnesota. Wow. And so I just want to say people are noticing what you're doing um as Leah talked about, you know, getting the word out. The word is out and people are very respectful of what you do and very impressed. Uh and we can see why. So thank you for your work and thank you for you for your teams, too. You're a
great leader. um this the staff does a lot of work to make this happen and we appreciate your leadership for that to be possible. Well, thank you very much. Appreciate that. Spencer, I I can't echo anything else that's already been said, but I did just have to say I know one incoming fifth grader at Woodland Elementary who's
going to lose her mind when she sees ramen on her plate. So, well, that's her goal. So excited. Thank you, Spencer. Wonderful job. All right. Next, I would like to welcome
Jeremy Sordson into the podium uh and Steven Bellcamp to go over attendance and course completion data. All right. Good evening, Chair Johnson, members of the school board, and superintendent Bilson. Uh my name is Jeremy Sasonson. I'm the director of elementary education. Tonight, I'm here
with Steven Bellcamp, our coordinator of research, assessment, and analytics to provide an update on our 2024 2025 school year attendance data, as well as provide data around our course completion for our secondary schools. Um the purpose of this report is to pro provide information, and there is no
action needed from the board at this time. In alignment with our strategic road map, we are focusing on promoting and maintaining the positive student attendance and ensuring successful course completion. These efforts support our strategic priorities related to
well-being, achievement, equity, and resources down. So, as you may recall from uh previous attendance reports, consistently attending is defined by the Minnesota Department of Education as a student attending school more than 90% of the
school days in which they are enrolled. We know that consistently attending school offers our students the opportunity to achieve higher academically uh participate in collaborative learning as well as access academic resources and support in a timely manner. We recognize that our
students are absent absent for a multitude of reasons. Those that miss less than 17 total school days in a full school year will be considered consistently attending. So 17 days is that marker for us. To support our students in their attendance, our school
teams continue to meet individually with students and families to provide support when improvement and attendance is needed. Because our students will have unique reasons as to why they're absent, learning and understanding why absences occur will help our school teams to partner with students and families in
creating specific plans for improved attendance. At this time, I'll be handing it over to Steven Belemp to review the actual data for this year. Thank you. Good evening, uh, Chairperson Johnson, members of the board, and Superintendent
Bosone. It's good to see all of you again. We had to follow food, so I know your stomachs are rumbling, so I'll make this concise. How does that sound? Um, so here are the district's endofear consistent attendance percentages by
school level. Um, consistently attending percentages are cumulative for the school year. So, trimester 3 numbers are really cumulative through the whole school year. Um, as Jeremy mentioned on the last slide, a student is consistently attending if they attend
more than 90% of the school days for which they are enrolled. And you can see some positive trends on this screen. And so I'm really excited to bring those to you. Um, so you can see consistently attending trends over the past four school uh school years. So the percentage of elementary students who
are consistently attending increased by 2.8 percentage points over last year. That may seem like a small number, but that is roughly 350 elementary school students who are now attending more than 90% of the school year, more than last
year. At the middle school level, the consistently attendance consistently attending rate increased by.9 percentage points. That's about 60 students. And at the high school level, uh it increased by 1.5 percentage points. Roughly 135
students. So in total, we had 545 more students consistently attending this school year than compared to last year. So that brings our district-wide consistently attending rate to about 84.8%
of students. That is up from 83% last year. Okay. And as a comparison, how does this compare with the with the state average? I can report that the most recently published state average was 74.5.
So we are well above the state average for consistently attending. Our principles and school staff continue to analyze student attendance across our demographic groups in the district's data dashboard unified insights. So I do want to direct your attention to one of
the handouts we provided which outlines the 2425 uh attendance broken down by demographic group. So our data shows that in elementary schools the percentage of students who consistently attended ranges again by demographic group
anywhere from 77.8% to 93.8%. That's the elementary levels. For middle school the range was 67.8%. 8% to 91% and for high schools the demographic
consistently attending ranged from 63.7 to 88%. So that is again aggregated data but building teams also have data to end uh to analyze individual student attendance
patterns. So this allows us to move beyond general trends as you see here and really develop situationspecific strategies to support students and families by identifying the root causes of absenteeism regardless of the
barrier. Um we collaborate with families to implement targeted interventions that encourage consistent attendance. So to summarize the attendance here, we know attendance is an important part of um being successful in school. It has
impacts on academic achievement as well as social development. Regular attendance helps students stay on track with their learning, build strong connections with their peers and teachers, and develop consistent routines and habits that are essential for lifelong success after K12
education. Consistent and intentional monitoring of student attendance is crucial and we are committed to that. It helps us identify patterns, address barriers and implement strategies to improve student engagement and achievement. Proactive attendance
patterns fost fosters a positive supportive learning environment and we are committed to sharing attendance updates with you in the years ahead. I'm now going to switch our our conversation to course completion data.
Um so we are going to look at course completion data summarized by trimester that you see on the screen right now. So we define course completion as successfully finishing a course with a passing grade. And at the high school that means also earning credit towards
graduation. So like our high schools we're going to start with middle schools here first. Middle schools closely monitor course completion rates as it can have an impact on students future academic success in high school. I want to recall
uh back in April um our secondary director Eric Hansen cited two articles related to attendance. The first one was five key findings for middle grades. And that um that study found that students who are chronically absent or receiving
failing grades in middle school are at a higher risk of being off track for graduation already by 9th grade. Another um research he cited, it was titled Why is nth grade a critical time for students? explains that, get this, two
failing grades in ninth grade can decrease the probability of an ontime graduation by 50%. So, let's dig into that middle school data now. So, you can see on this slide that 86.1%
of middle school students successfully passed all of their trimester 1 classes this school year. So that means 86.1% of students received no failing grades in trimester 1. And despite the increase in
academic rigor and expectations, that percentage increased in trimester 2 to 88.8%. Um course completion rates historically fall in trimester 3 and we saw that trend again this year. um it was a dip
down to 81% but I will note that the dip this year was not as steep as previous years. Um we see this trend at all six of our middle schools and looking ahead we are committed to continuous improvement. This is an important action
step for us to begin the conversation about course completion dips in the trimester 3 as we remain committed to responding to the trends that we see. So, I want to make sure that's an important point I I make here. And as a quick aside to this before we look to
high school, we could also present this data in terms of the total number of courses that our middle school students take. And if we were to look at that number, we find that 94.95%
of all middle school trimester 3 grades were passing grades. So when we look at it that way, notice it tells a a more positive story, but we do want to honor that this is kind of the more student focused data point as well. But it's a
good number to celebrate there. Can you repeat that number? I'm sorry. I don't want to lose it. Yep. So of all trimester 3 middle school grades, um 94.95% of them were passing grades. And now let's jump to high school. So a
very similar presentation of data you see here. So uh in trimester 1, 85.1% of our high school students passed all of their classes. In trimester 2, that number jumped to 90%. And the trend we
saw in trimester 3 with middle schools exists here for the high schools as well. um with that passing rate again all students passing all their courses dipping to 83%. Um that number I shared with middle school if we look at this in terms of
courses um trimester 3 high school grades all the grades uh given 91.14% of them were passing grades. So within this data we can also break down this data um by demographic group.
So that's the second handout provided to you. So you will notice that the percentage of middle school students by demographics who received a passing grade in all of their trimester 1 classes, again this is middle school, ranged from 72 to 92%. In trimester 2,
the range was 76 to 93%. And in trimester 3, the range was 50% to 89%. the percentage of students passing each of their courses decreased from trimester 2 to trimester 3 in all of those demographic groups. So we didn't
see uh one demographic group more than the other. And then those same statistics for high school students now. So that's the second table you see table you see on your handout. Um our ranges were 68 to 92% for trimester 1. In
trimester 2, it was 76 to 95 and trimester 3, the range was 67 to 91%. So, as I wrap this up, this data is really useful to us to help us identify students who are in need of academic support as well as celebrate the
students who are working really hard in making overall improvements. Our overall growth in the percentage of course completion data can in part be attributed to quite a few things. grade checks that students complete in their advisory, sending automated grade
reports home to students and families, afterchool study sessions, peer tutoring, and a uh afterchool credit recovery programs. So, on behalf of Eric Hansen, who couldn't be here this uh this evening, um we're really grateful
of the work of our teachers that they do to keep students on track and supported. Our teachers have excellent systems in place to help our students stay on track when they are absent or just needing additional support. So, um, thank you for letting me share attendance and
course completion trends for the 2425 school year. Um, Director Sorenson and I will stick around in case you have any questions for us. So, thank you for the time. Thank you very much. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from
board members? I have a question. I have several questions, but I'll just sort of try and um combine them a little bit. In one of the slides, it shows that the, you know, elementary attendance went up by 2.8%, middle school by 0.9,
high school by 1.5%. Um, I know we're tracking things through a whole variety of systems, but is there are there any trends on why attendance has gone up or can we see any specific reasons on what we're doing that are helping?
I think I think it's a great question. I don't have a specific answer for you. I think one real general term is the farther we move away from the COVID area, the better we are getting with attendance. But in terms of something specific, I I don't have anything about that. But something we can look into and if and pass on to you if we do identify
something that would be great. And then um I know um my next question would be um this increased attendance. Do we have any specific reasons or um idea if that has affected our graduation rates among
groups that are increasing their attendance? Well, so I'm going to back up to the first question too. I think something I'd like to say is I think we're being really intentional about attendance. I think that's that would be um you know a trend from our side that we're being really thoughtful and each building has a team that looks at attendance
regularly and we're putting plans into place. So that would be something I would add to that first piece. Okay. In terms of increasing graduation, um that sounds like a secondary question. So I'm going to ask Stephen and if he doesn't have it, we can connect with Eric Hansen and he can get back to you. Thank you. Yeah, I don't want to speak from what I
deal with numbers all day and I don't want to speculate there, but that's something we can absolutely follow up on. I don't have the precise number, but Okay. And then my last question is um and this is maybe into the weeds a little bit, but with we're looking at
students who are consistently attending school and at the secondary level, I just wondered how are PSO students counted in that data? Um because they are not taking courses with us, we have no data for them. I I
just meant are they considered since they are some are doing halftime PSO, some are doing full-time PSO. Sure. If they're in our schools for half of a day, but they're attending all the courses that they're signed up for, is that considered consistently attending even though they're not with us a full day?
I MDE has uh actually a very complicated formula for attendance and I can look that up. So, I feel like I'm I'm passing the buck here, but I will follow up. Um, it may be just the time that they are with us. So,
I don't know if Michael looking at you. I think it's if they're not with us, they're not counted in our total. Okay. Thank you. But I'll find out. Thanks. Other questions or comments? Yes. Go ahead, Catherine. Um, so just looking at the numbers, there are
disparities that exist here. Um, is there a way to see over time if our disparities are decreasing? So, are we bringing groups closer to having the same
percentages? Um, or are those disparities getting worse, you know, farther apart? That's something that I would be really interested in seeing because, um, these are fairly large disparities and are they
also statistically significant in their differences? Just I would love to know more about the disparities. Sure. And we can follow up. We have again we can disagregate data. We can slice it anyway um with our unified insights that data warehouse tool. So I
I see Jeremy writing it down so I don't forget. So great. Thank you. Excellent. Other questions or comments? Great. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, next I would like to welcome Ed Hire,
Julie Beersack, and Dave Loster um to the podium to go over technology in the classrooms. Chairperson Johnson, members of the board, and Superintendent Bulsani. Uh thank you for the opportunity tonight for us to speak uh about the expiring
capital projects technology levy. Uh co-presenting with me will be Julie Beersack, uh learning and technology specialist, and Dave Loster is the principal at Thomas Lake Elementary. So in 2015 um the community made a commitment to uh increasing uh
technology and the use of technology to enhance learning as outlined in the digital learning framework which you'll hear more about from Julie. Uh it's really the core of what we do and have done over the past 10 years. Um and and I do want to take the opportunity to
thank the public for uh entrusting uh the district with the the past uh levy referendum in in 2015. Um we we believe we fulfilled our commitment. Uh this will be the last year, the 10th year of that 10-year levy. And uh so we're going
to be asking for a renewal and we'll be talking more tonight about uh what we've done and uh what we would like to do. So uh so without uh voter approval uh we will be uh forced to take a look at our budget and and figure out how we can
continue to sustain this program. Uh obviously we don't want that to happen. Um uh we believe that uh the work we've been doing over the past 10 years has been very successful and we want to continue building on that uh investment that we've made over the last 10 years.
So therefore we we are expecting in November that we would be asking the public for um uh the opportunity to renew that commitment to to uh digital learning. So tonight uh the report's going to focus on uh what we've done over the past 10 years and what we need to
sustain that and then also uh what we've uh in investigating uh in that process of of observing what we've done uh we've identified some some gaps that have uh come forth over the last 10 years because technology changes pretty
dramatically in that time frame. Okay. So let's uh I guess start with the basics. So what is the technology levy? And I'm going to be very high level right here. I'm going to go into more detail in a later slide, a couple of later slides. Um we focused the this uh last the
current tenure levy on instructional technology. Uh we we really zeroed in on that. And what does that mean? It means anything that really touches the students directly um or very near directly such as the network and that sort of thing that makes their experience better. Um, so it's it's
devices that the students have in their hands. It's devices the teachers have, classroom technologies that make their experience better. Um, this year we have uh 9.1 million that will be raised through that levy uh for uh some of
those things that I'll talk about later uh for this school year. Before we get into all the numbers and the things and and so forth, I do want to take a couple of minutes to hear from the students. uh a few of the students at our secondary schools uh and staff on how it's
impacted them uh and their classroom started on this. So teaching and learning has changed in the last decade tremendously. Technology allows us to make sure kids go get what they need when they need it and how they need it. When we were younger, we had to go to
the library and use the encyclopedia. They can do research on their iPads. There's a lot of tools and everything is available to them right at their fingertips. I think the technology really helps our students understand how to find answers to questions and to collaborate with
other people. maybe go into a discussion post and write what they have to say or they can send me a message. In the elementary and middle school level, we're starting to build our foundation and so once they get here, they already have the basic skills. So now we can get a little bit more creative. There is no sit and get here.
They actually are doing critical thinking. They're troubleshooting. They're spending time inside of the AI realm and it gives it a question and it spits something back at them, but then they have to say, "Is that real? Is that true?" This is computer science principles. You
learn how to like code JavaScript and make apps. I love to build some kind of app in the future because one, it's great for careers. It's great for your resume, but also because the world kind of relies on technology these days, and it's something that every person should have as a skill. The reason I like doing this kind of
work is because it's really like hands-on. That's a big part of this class where you get to actually hold the devices and you get to actually tinker around with things. I want to do something with more technology when I'm
past high school into college and I think this class really does help me get the fundamentals of what I want to do in the future. Seven postgraduates have reached back out to me and said, "Miss empty, I learned this in your class and I just figured this out that I wanted to go
into cyber when I was in your class and now I've been in cyber security for 3 years." And so it helps students just have the tools they may not have gotten anywhere else and that their peers in the field may not have. And so that allows them to get a leg up and be like,
"Oh, I learned this in high school." And they get the job because they have the skill. My older son, he's going into a technology field. So like he wants to do programming and data science. So working with technology helped him, especially
with coding. The school system is trying to produce students that can step out of the school system and be productive. When they step outside of our doors, no matter where they go, they're going into a digital world. We teach lifelong learning and that
piece is like go look for something. can go find it. That skill when they get in the field allows their technology education to grow. I think the skills, the tools that they've learned will launch them into the future.
[Music] Pretty exciting stuff. I kind of want to go back to school. So, okay. So, that's that's uh a great story from them. So we do need to talk about numbers a little bit so we get some context around uh how we got uh are
able to make that happen. So uh in 2015 the the tech levy was approved for um uh the onetoone program primarily uh so we got access to our students to enhance the digital learning and access for students to information. Um the original
a original levy has provided approximately $60 million over the course of the 10 years. That includes uh the 9.1 million uh that that we're receiving this year. And if not renewed, uh as I said, we're we're going to be forced to take a look at budget cuts
because we feel that this work is that important that we need to uh somehow maintain um some semblance of this experience that they have. Um but uh we we know that the this little thing called the internet's probably not going
away anytime soon. Uh digital uh uh tools are just continuing to grow and and become more and more a part of our lives. Um so we think it's an incredibly important work. Um so that's the why that that's why we're here tonight talking to you. So, as far as devices
go, um we're supporting and maintaining well over 30,000 devices, and that's the student onetoone um supplemental Chromebook cards and and some of the things I'm going to talk about later. Um but it does not include administrative tools. Um that's not part of it. It does
not include family uh engagement tools at this point. Um and so there are, like I said, some gaps that we we feel could be uh addressed. And then the last number up there, the 14 and a half full-time positions. Um, one of the things that became very apparent in uh
prep preparing for the 2015 levy was all of the different subgroups that met and talked about, okay, what is this going to look like before we go out and ask the public for for the dollars is we need to have support. Uh, we need to have the people in place or let's not do it because it's going to it's not going
to be successful. And so, very fortunately, we we've been able to do that. Uh so we've got 14 and a half positions that are now funded through that levy. 12 of those positions are directly in the buildings with the students and the staff uh mobile device support specialists and they they do uh
incredible work uh every day. They have to go between buildings. They they they have to share buildings uh but they're they're right there for the staff and students to to access for assistance. Uh the other two and a half positions are more district level positions. Two of them in my department. uh one of them
really guides those 12 mobile device support specialists and make sure that we're uh staying consistent in our messaging and and uh how we're setting things up. And then a half position uh at our central receiving which uh very important work uh manages our inventory asset tags things so we can track them
and then uh processes our um repairs. Okay. So timeline um how did we get here uh over the course of the the past year? We know this is very important work. We've been working towards this presentation tonight for for about a year now uh having conversations and and
um and discussing this. So, um, back in August, which actually isn't on this chart, um, there was an article in the, uh, Spotlight Community Newsletter that basically, uh, introduced the topic that this levy is coming to an end in the 2526 school year. And then in
November, there was a levy renewal committee formed uh, consisted of multiple uh, stakeholders, administrators, uh, instructional folks. And our our task was to take a look at um how do we how do we use the dollars these last 10 years? Is there a way that
we can improve upon that? Uh be more efficient and then what uh we did a gap analysis of what's come up in those 10 years that we need to address. All right. And then in April um there was a public survey a survey of our
community that Morris Leatherman conducted. It was a survey of uh randomized 500 respondents and uh Mr. Leatherman reported on that survey at the June 9th board meeting. Um and then in uh between January and May,
the budget advisory council and the legislative advis advisory councils uh met and discussed the the renewal uh topic. And in May, the budget advisory council actually came forth with the recommendation to renew, but not only renew that they feel that we need to ask
for a modest increase uh to meet our needs. So that's where we are right now. We're in between that third and fourth dot um at at tonight's board meeting. Uh and then in August, what we will be asking of you is uh to make a decision in
August to call for a special election in November uh to renew the levy and uh which corresponds with the the regular uh school board election. All right, I'm going to pass it now over to um Dave Leder.
All right, good evening. It's really exciting to be here because when the initial tenure levy started, I was in the role as teacher and building technology support. And I think about that time that was a computer lab of 30 computers and we were so excited about
the three iPads that we found the way to buy through some PTO money. And now looking at the numbers that Ed shared, 30,000 devices 10 years later, a completely transformed uh experience of teaching and learning for our staff and students. And it's just been so fun uh
to move from that teaching position to school leader position and watch that transformation occur in the success that we've had with our students. Tonight, I get to talk to you just a little bit about funding sources. And when I think about it, I think it's a shared commitment together of supporting our
schools and our students to bring a really exciting and engaging experience and in this case through technology. Um, in Minnesota, school funding is a shared responsibility. Funding comes from local sources. The largest portion comes from state aid,
that's about 75%. And then a very small portion comes from the federal government. School funding can be complicated. So, we want to take time to make sure we compare some of those different local ser uh sources that you hear about um throughout the years that you've been members of our community.
So, a technology level levy, the one we're talking about tonight, is a voter approved funding source. Um it pays for things like devices, support, software, and it lasts for 10 years, and it, as Ed had said, it's expiring uh soon. It's used for technology that supports
learning. This is different than a bond referendum which voters approved in May 2023. Uh that referendum or bond referendum was used for the two new schools for many different um renovations and additions. And we often say leveies are
for learning and bonds are for building. We um so think about bonds as paying for those construction costs. They last for 15 to 25 years and they are borrowed up front and repaid over time. And then last we have an annual operating levy.
The last one was approved in 2019 and that one will be good through 2029. It provides funding for day-to-day operations, things like uh more teachers to keep class sizes down, uh supporting student mental health, and funding to
maintain the broad range of programs and opportunities that our community has come to expect from district 196. Tonight and this fall, we are focused on the first column, sustaining funding through our technology levy for digital learning and technology tools for the
next 10 years. And just like young Dave 10 years ago, you know, we were so excited about what that could mean for us and all the things that have happened. We think we have what we have today and we have exciting opportunity that we'll be reflecting on 10 years down the road with these funds and the
way they serve our students and community. So, um, Ed referenced the Morris Leatherman survey. And so, whenever we go and talk to the community about asking for a levy, we take some data and we ask the
community their perceptions and feelings about a variety of different topics so we can make sure that rep we're representing their wishes and our service to them. We are a fiscally conservative dis district district and fiscal responsibility is an important priority and through our survey the stu
community shows that they see that 80% of respondents stated that they trust that the spending of our bond funding for facility improvements is efficient and in line with what was promised. Thinking specifically about the technology capital projects levy, 85% of
our community support renewing the technology levy and 64% support increasing the funds and our budget advisory council agrees. Uh at their last meeting in May, they recommended renewing technology funding
with a modest increase. On that same random sample survey in April, residents told us that there have a high level of satisfaction with our school system. And I think these are the things that make us feel most proud. We are here to create a great experience. And the things that they talked about, they like
the variety of programs we offer. They think we have excellent academics. And they of course think we have very high quality teachers. Uh in fact, uh one of the things we are most proud about is that 93% rated the quality of education
as excellent to good, which is something to be so proud of. and we've heard it throughout the night in all the different presentations, even in the public comment. At the same time, our community is highly engaged and see the challenges ahead. Particularly, they see the state faces a deficit and education
policy is changing at a federal level. And 71% of our respondents, they're concerned about the future uh possible future cuts in education funding from either or both the state or federal level. So with that high level of uncertainty, we want to focus on what we
can do locally to sustain that outstanding education and the strong programming in schools that our district 186 community have come to expect. A couple others that we really want to highlight through that survey was the high level of trust that our families
and our community place in our school district in our leadership and decision-m and I think that is because we do a great job involving and listening to our community and involving them in meaningful ways. Our residents tell us that they are well informed uh
about the decisions. They trust our teachers and leaders and elected officials to make the best decisions in the best interests of our students. So, some things to celebrate up on our screen. 93% rate education quality excellent and good. 83% have a favorable
rating of our school board. 94% have a positive rating of district 196 teachers and 91% trust the district to do what is right. And we we've gone through this data before at various different meetings, but that is a big deal and our
partners at Morris Leatherman would say that these are very significant results and not always the case across districts in our state. So we should be very very proud of what they had brought back to us from our community. So got to share a lot of really great numbers and feedback
with you. But again, back to the kids. Um, we're going to hand it over to Julie who's going to give you a little bit more of the in-depth look at how that actually transformed teaching and learning through these resources. Thanks, Dave. Um, Julie Beers, learning and technology specialist K through 12.
Um, and I get to talk about the fun stuff. I get to talk about the stories and what's happening with our students. And so when we started to think about digital learning more than a decade ago, uh we couldn't imagine what uh would change and grow and develop with technology in our culture, in our
society. And so we had a group of teachers and administrators and coordinators and tech leaders in our district that came together to create this framework. And so as we did that, we wanted to be intentional about the tool we chose and how we prepared teachers and students. We wanted to
provide students with this tool not only that could provide an experience using a technology but also open doors to creativity and help them thrive and collaborate and grow in the classroom. And so that's why we decided to utilize the iPad as our tool. And that's when we started to think about what we believe
in how we're going to use that iPad in the classroom. And so there are four sections that drive our innovation and decision-making. I've been here and I've talked about those before. Um, but the way we've been able to live these out is pretty phenomenal. Um, so we think about
um, access and analyze information. We're incredibly intentional about how our students access this information, the databases that we choose, how they go in, how they are conscious consumers with this tool and think and learn together. We also know that
communication and collaboration is vital and important. We didn't want a tool that silenced our classrooms. We wanted a tool that caused a hum and a buzz and students talking and learning together. And that is what the iPad has done. And so we think about allowing our students
to have that one-on-one engagement where they're sitting next to each other collaborating. We no longer just want to see that teacher in the front of the classroom and a student might come up to the board and show their learning. Now, our learners have the opportunity to show their learning on the iPad and to instantly AirPlay it up for everybody to
see, to show that learning, to communicate with each other in ways they never have before, and to hear voices that we haven't heard from students as they record their learning. And it's an opportunity for all learners. The accessibility features that the iPad provides is constantly growing and
changing, and it helps every learner feel successful. I think I've shared this story before, but my own son is visually impaired and he utilizes the iPad every day and he gets to feel like everybody else in the classroom and how he uses that tool and he gets to thrive and learn and grow with everybody else.
We also know how important it is for uh opportunities to create and so we believe in innovating, creating and publishing our work and students using the iPad as a tool, one of the many tools. books are not going away and our notebooks are not going away and students are going to write and create
and do these things and they're going to have the opportunity to create in unique ways with the IP with the iPad as well. And so I think about when I uh in the classroom taught second grade. I think about the ways that students could create and the ways that they got curious and it was more a lot of
teachers tell me how they're a little nervous like technology is constantly changing and there's so many new things that can grow and develop, right? Well, when we tell our students to get curious, I tell adults to get that way, too. And sometimes that's really hard. And so I think about in my own classroom I had a student named Leo and he could
get very curious with the iPad and the things that he was able to show with a class and the ways that they were able to create things was more than I could have ever imagined. And so in my role in my capacity I often meet with teachers and I tell them find your Leo find those curious students that are creating and
pushing buttons and every now and then he'd be like uh Miss B um I was able I did this and you might be mad. I'm like, "No, no, step back." Like, "Tell us what you did. Like, tell us what you learned. Tell us what button you pushed to do that." And so, we really create the students are like the lead learners in
this work. And so, that's what I think of when I think of the innovation and the creation that students are able to do. And then most importantly, we talk about this for solid foundation. Digital citizenship is a piece of the puzzle, but it's really our foundation. Okay? We have that um we define that in our
district as positive contributors and conscious consumers. We want our students to think about how are they contributing to the digital world and what they put out there and also how are they consuming this and it's a constant ongoing conversation and we get to keep having these conversations as
technologies changing and conversations around as AI as we talk with our staff especially in secondary and how we're how that tool might be utilized and the intentionality and the idea of clear is kind and really helping our students understand how we might use this. That's
our job. That's our responsibility as we think about utilizing this tool. And so we really want to be thoughtful about how all of those important pieces. Um, and then I think about our graduates, they just graduated, class of 2025. Um, think about even three years ago, we
could have never imagined the world they're graduating into. And and thinking about how the framework that we have right in front of you, it held the test of time. We could go back to that and utilize that piece. And now this September, we're seeing the class of
2038 join us, those little learners, and how are we preparing? Technology is not going away. And more than ever, how thoughtful we need to be in preparing them for that world, our technology world. And so, thinking of those little learners, we had a chance to hear and
see um from a high school level all of the learning that's happening. And now we're going to hear some from some families and students at the elementary level. [Music]
Technology was not a thing when I was in school. Everything was pencil and paper. And now that I own my own business, there are some things that my kids are teaching me as far as technology goes. We use technology on a daily basis. This year we have new curriculum for
literacy, math, phonics, and each one of those components has a technology portion. There are a lot of skills that kids can learn from technology. Digital literacy, learning how to use the technology appropriately, as well as critical thinking and problem solving. Having the tools available to me to be
able to share more things with my class during whole group lessons, having things displayed that I'm writing on my iPad and they can see what I'm doing in real time. There are also quizzes and things online that are self-grading so I can see how they're doing without spending hours going through every single quiz. It takes a lot off my plate
so I can more focus on the kids and look at individual needs and more build relationships. Technology is peing their curiosity and making that creativity. It's just in a different way. These tablets are a tool that they use in a way that enhances
their learning. It doesn't replace learning from us. There's also a lot of opportunities for them to create on their iPad using book creator or making iMovies and show their creativity in that way and they're super proud of it when they get those things done. How my
iPad works. So it's like connecting to it. So there's like a mode where you can code and there's like here. So there's aim one and then when you look at this when you aim it there's a whole camera that shows you where you go. Go that
way. Learning with technology has definitely sparked curiosity and that they are more apt to find answers for themselves. Uh it's very important as technology is ingrained into our society that students learn how to use it
appropriately and know how to solve problems with it. It's not going anywhere. And I think it's very important that we teach students all about it in a way that is appropriate for them at their age level in order to be successful.
By having them experience a proper way to use technology where it's not consuming their lives and they're not doing everything and relying on it completely, I think is very beneficial for them. They have this balance. They're learning of I can do things without it, but I have it to help if I
need it and that will be helpful moving forward in high school. and in careers. So hopefully you heard that buzz in the classroom. Kids are talking and they're collaborating and they're sitting next to each other and they're thinking of really creative things as they work together. You also saw students are
writing, students are brainstorming, students are getting their thoughts on paper and we want to see the really healthy balance and that's what we're constantly promoting for teachers and for students. And so when we think about our community, we think about how our
community values the technology and education. We know our mission is to educate, develop, and inspire students for lifelong success. Technology is part of that lifelong success, and we're living through a rapid area era of technology innovation. We're proud of
the work that we've done these last 10 years. It stood the test of time, and our community sees those results. As you can see on the screen, 82% of our community believe that technology tools that we're providing are excellent or good. And so we're working from a
position of strength and still we know that things are changing and growing and developing and we have work to do. We also know from this survey that 72% believe that technology is very important or essential for learning. And
now I'm going to hand it back to Ed and let him speak a little bit more. um to the levy and our work. All right. So, uh before us, I guess we've got a couple of different options on how to proceed uh with a renewal.
Option one would be a renewal of the existing technology levy. So, just real quickly, uh how we're spending the money on those uh the current dollars that we do receive. Uh the primary one is student devices. Um and we've talked about that. Um it also includes uh
Chromebook labs and computer labs and things that fill the gap where uh the iPad is not the the tool the best tool for that particular task. Um it also includes I've talked about the mobile tech support a bit. So it it uh covers
that. Uh the stable funding for classroom technology very important. Uh each each year the each building gets a budget that they can use for um uh interactive classroom uh technologies is what we like to phrase it as. And um uh
we have parameters around how those dollars can be spent but it's it's relatively loose. Each building has different needs at different times. So what that includes is the projectors or TV displays, whatever they've got that they need to keep updated. Uh audio systems in the classroom. It can be
specialized things like 3D printers or maybe a lab of micro robots that they use for a STEM lesson. Uh those types of things. Um digital instruction software. So our learning management systems are covered through these dollars. Schooly is our
learning management system for most of our grade levels. Seesaw at the primary grades. Uh various databases that Julie referenced that students have access to for research. Um uh we we uh cover that with these dollars. And then creativity and productivity tools that the students
and staff use uh every day including explain everything for notetaking uh edp puzzle pick collage for creativity building uh um it was referenced in the video was a book creator and then uh the the last one is cyber
security um networks uh cyber security and networks. So cyber security is really something that's come strong here in the past three, four years, five years, uh the second half of this levy. Um threat actors are becoming much more aggressive especially to education. We
are becoming a bigger and bigger target and so we've had to put some systems in place uh to help protect the district and that's just going to continue to grow and get more sophisticated and so we have to be able to keep up with that. Um and then we update our network uh periodically. We just finished an update
in the past couple years. Uh we updated our firewall, our servers, um all of our network switches and wireless access uh access points at the secondary level. Elementary is going to be up for a replacement here in next summer. So um these dollars will cover that. So again,
just a reminder, 9.1 million this year, if not renewed, that we need to figure out how to cover some of these things. Um the second option is to ask for an increase and um we did a gap analysis as
I referenced before uh of of what was missing what what do we need to do or what we'd like to do uh but with the funding isn't there for us to do that and so the one of the biggest things is uh well we talked about cyber security and that's going to I think just continue to be unfortunately uh an area
we need to pay attention to Um but the biggest uh cost factor is probably the increase in in uh the shift from analog to digital instructional tools uh or curriculum I should say. Um so we're moving basically from textbooks to oops
textbooks to um um uh subscriptions online subscriptions. The difference the big difference there is that textbooks was a one-time purchase for the curriculum cycle which typically was you know seven to 10 years that you could use those books. So it was a one-time purchase upfront. Uh the uh
subscriptions are going to be an annual cost. So you know once you go through this, say for example the science uh review, the science curriculum review, um we're going to have a science subscription uh every year, math subscription every year versus buying
those books in in staggered years. So that's that's going to be a big factor for us. We'd love to expand our um computer science uh education uh opportunities. Right now, it's funded through a grant and it's relatively limited in scope. Uh we'd like to expand
that across the district and make those opportunities available to all students more easily. Um enhancing operational efficiencies. This is a lot of our core software trying to uh make them uh work together better and sometimes that means we need to switch from a legacy system
to a new more updated system. Typically that means an increase in cost. Unfortunately, uh, newer systems, uh, come with a higher, uh, ticket price. And then last, but certainly not least, is, uh, we we'd love to be able to offer, um, additional STEM and, uh,
career and technical education programs. Uh, could include things like, uh, additional CAD opportunities, aviation, design, broadcasting, and and potentially even move into the health and, uh, science occupations. So, we just want to make make those
opportunities available to as many students as we can. Uh where they become creators versus consumers as Julie uh talked about. So, uh I guess in summary, 10 years ago, uh we didn't know what was going to be available in 2025. You know,
there was it was anyone's best guess. Well, we're in 2025. We know what happened those 10 years, and we think we've learned from that to some extent, but we don't know what 2035 is going to look like. So, we need to uh set ourselves up for success with some of those things that haven't even been
invented yet. Um, but is going to affect uh the classroom and and our students going forward. So, I will turn it over to Dave to finish this out. All right, as Ed said, I get to close it up here. And I just want to close and
say how exciting this work is. Um, it was super fun hearing about all the great things that nutrition services are doing. Having been at Thomas Lake and seeing that in action and seeing the joy that that brings to our kids and then not only our kids, but the way that our community interacts with us in the
school, we bring them into us. It forms that even stronger bond and connection and it's just so fun to watch that innovation come to light and the same is true for our technology levy. The levy brings us opportunity to continue to innovate and bring joy and excitement into our classrooms both now and into
the future. Thinking about our students in the year 2038, it is extremely exciting. Think think of the ways that we can help them reach their fullest potential. Uh so we have talked a lot tonight and shared a lot of information. And the goal was to inform, provide some
transparency, and to continue to maintain that high level of trust that you shared that you have with us in the recent community survey. Uh we wanted you to understand the why behind a levy like this and how it could benefit our students to continue that commitment to
our technology resources. We do have an ask of our community uh to be involved this fall with this process. And there's three things that we ask. We ask you to stay informed. We will continue to share information uh so that you can be in the loop and know all the wise, all the
hows, and all the different things that you need to be a part of this process and be a partner with our district. We'd like you to spread the word as you learn and hear all the different uh information that we're sharing. Make sure your neighbors know about it. Spread the word on social media. Um tell
a neighbor uh down the road. Uh help us share our story and our message so that people can be informed and involved. And last, get out and vote. Make a plan, get to the voting booth, uh vote early, and then encourage others to vote because it's really important that everybody's
voices are lifted up and have a say in our processes. And with that, I want to thank everybody for their time and for their support and especially for your support in our students and in our schools. With that, we'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Thank you. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none questions or comments from board members. Thank you very much. Oh, Jackie, did you have something? I just have not so much a question. We'll get a lot more information. I
really like the part that you talked about of identifying gaps. We know what we have and you did a great job of showing kids excitement and the buzz in the classroom, but the identifying gaps as things progress and we continue to
innovate and we don't know what's going to be two years from now or what the funding will be. Those are to me the big darts to the heart. Those are the things that we want to take and go, yeah, this is important to us as we continue to innovate. We're missing pieces here. So,
thank you for bringing that that part of it forward. Thank you very much for putting the presentation together and for your time tonight. I really wanted to highlight the videos and how important and impactful those are. I remember I mean
when I was in school I I mean I don't even think I'm that old but I mean I we had the 5 in floppy discs that went in. So, right and then you had to turn on and it booted up Oregon Trail. So, right. So, it's really hard, I think,
for a lot of voters to wrap their head around how we're using these funds. But then when you see students in high school who are literally putting chips together, who um others who are coding apps and uh you can see it, it becomes a lot more real, a lot more impactful and
easier to wrap your head around. So, um but like you said, technology is moving so fast. It's moved so fast since when the average voter was in school that they can't really relate. So these a lot of the videos and and the background is really really helpful. So thank you for putting those together.
And Anna has one more thing now. So is it about Oregon Trail? No. My my husband and my daughter do play it which is weird. Uh a better updated version and usually I die in it from something. Um but uh I just wanted
to say this this actually uh underscores the importance of uh how we use technology and that critical thinking component. I don't know if it was the New York time, not New York Times but something on Apple News and it had a
test you could take to see if you could spot the AI fake. Um my daughter got 90%. I failed miserably. I did not have the same success rate. And so I think about um that foundational piece that our
district is providing and how she is more uh in tuned to what's real and what isn't and has the ability to check and think about sources of where she can check and identify. And I think um you know with the the sentiment around AI
and it's some people are very afraid of the future with AI. Um, and I I think what I'm sensing from at least my daughter who just graduated uh in 2024, she has a more realistic and less
fearful um um vision of AI because of that early exposure, because of the curriculum um that uh the district has provided. Um, and also she has a different relationship with her phone,
her smartphone, because she she got to play in the sandbox here with an iPad. And so her relationship with her phone is probably healthier than my relationship with the phone because she's had a lot more uh training and a lot more exposure and and leaf talked
about that balancing. And so I think, you know, as a as a parent, I I didn't have that. We didn't have that. And so there are some things that parents aren't able to provide for their students that we really do rely on our
public education to do that. Um so thank you. This was very informative. Thank you very much. All right. We have no items for old business. So that brings us to our new business. And we're going to keep the conversation going by welcoming Adam
Watenberger to the podium to discuss a resolution calling for a referendum to renew the 2015 capital projects technology levy and the first reading. All right. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, school board members, and superintendent BSON. Um I'm here tonight
with a draft resolution calling a referendum to renew the 2015 capital project technology levy. Um, as we just discussed in the last presentation, um, our current technology levy is expiring and there's a lot of important work we do with that funding. So, we will be
recommending calling a special election to continue that source of funding. Uh, that'll be held this fall in November in conjunction with our school board ele school board election um that has already been called by the board. Uh what you have before you tonight is
really more of a template or a sample um to kind of visualize what that resolution will look like. Um it's not at this point a specific substantive recommendation in terms of what amount we are going to be seeking or whether there's one or two questions or what those questions will specifically be
formatted like. Uh those discussions are ongoing. Uh the administration's continuing to analyze that data and seek feedback, including feedback from school board members uh before we present a final recommendation um next month on
what question or questions we're going to present to the voters. Um but the what you have before you does include the the technical language, the general formatting that that resolution will look like. So that's something that you'll have available to review and I can certainly answer any questions on
any of those terms. Um but otherwise this is not an action item and the final resolution with that specific proposal will be brought back for board action at the August 11th meeting. Uh that concludes my comments. Happy to take any questions though. So thank you very much. At this time
were there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none questions or comments from board members. Right. Thank you very much and hopefully we'll be getting a lot of feedback probably from the community as well and we will see you back on August 11th.
Good. Thank you. Um, next I'd like to welcome Jill Coyle to the podium to go over the first reading of regulation 703.5.8 AR, admission charges to school events. Good evening, Chairperson Johnson, members of the board, and Superintendent
Balsone. I am before you today with new business to take a look at proposed changes to district regulation 703.5.8R admission charges to school events. This is a regulation that governs admission charges to a number of school activities
including plays uh musical productions and athletic events. Um this has not been changed in terms of increasing admission charges since the 2010 2011 school year. So, it's it's been a while. Um, and we are before you tonight looking for small increases to those
admission charges. So, specifically what you can see in the proposed regulation are changes of $1 to the cost of middle school plays and then additional fees may apply to those middle schools that use an online ticketing um method. And then at the high school level, we are
recommending $2 increases to all three activities that are covered, specifically plays, musical productions, and athletic events. Um, this is a new business item tonight, so we'll come back to you seeking approval in August. I'm happy to answer any questions you
have. I do want to give you one other note, and that is that we are continuing to study this regulation. You may see this come back to you again in another round deeper in the school year. We're taking a look specifically at um uh season passes. Is there something we
want to do there with structure as well as some thoughts about when we charge students for admission to athletic events? So, we're doing some more study, but we wanted to make these admission increases effective prior to the start of the school year.
So, with that, I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none, questions or comments from board members? I have I have a question, Robin. Um, my question is, will senior citizens still
be allowed in free at our athletic events or will that change with the change in this policy? Yeah. No, that will not change. That uh remains um a benefit that we offer to our senior adults in the community. My dad will be very happy to hear that. Um, and then the second question I had
is um, will this change any of our senior preview events for our high school plays? Again, to my knowledge that there will be no impact to uh, to those events either. Great. Thank you. Perfect. Other questions or comments from the school board.
Seeing none, we will see you back here at uh, August 11th. Thank you very much. Thank you. That concludes our new business. So that brings us to other action and I'd like to welcome uh Christopher Anyongo Robchia to the podium to go over a resolution for sale of general obligations facility maintenance and school building bonds. Good evening
Chair Johnson, school board members, superintendent Balszone and our uh public stakeholders. I'm Christopher Nangaria, director of finance and operations. I am here to present a resolution for the sale of general obligation and facilities maintenance
building bonds. Um this is in relation to the action that was taken by our voters authorizing uh for the um in the May 9th 2023 election. They authorized us to um fund u certain building
projects. At the time we had planned to issue bonds with then um two cycles. So the first uh stash of bonds was sold in August of 2023. It has funded the com the projects for the elementary school
uh the ongoing project for the uh Rosemont Middle School and uh the additions here at Dakota Ridge. Uh we are seeking at some point to issue the next set of bonds to continue funding the remaining projects. Uh so far the timing of the actual bond sale will be
determined on the cash flow um based on cash flow needs of the projects and then the market conditions. Uh the board at this point is just authorizing us to seek um the with working with the with
Ellis and uh Dari our accountant our uh bond council to seek written proposals for uh the issuance of these bonds. Uh the actual authorization will come back later. Um the timing for this may seem a little off but what we have to do uh based on how we need to time it with the
levy it needs to go into the levy process that will be coming up starting in September. So the actual bond issuances will happen sometime either in the spring of next of 2026 but it is within uh the 2026 calendar year for
which those levies would be uh levied uh from the public. So that's why it's coming now. Uh so it's in line with our levy process, but the actual issuances which will also come back to the school board, that process will be happening um at the earliest in the spring of 2026.
I'm done. All right. Yeah, I'm happy to answer any questions that that you may have, but uh for now, this is an action item and we would uh seek approval. Excellent. Thank you very much, Christopher. Uh like Christopher said, this is an action item tonight. So before we go into questions, is there a motion to approve? So moved.
Second motion by Jackie, seconded by Anna. At this time, are there any questions or comments from the audience? Seeing none questions or comments from board members. Uh, only thing I wanted to add is thank
you for your due diligence in managing these funds because I think a lot of times the average taxpayer might not realize that this is the second time we did a a vote for the bond um, which sort of our our activity centers, but this is the second time you've actually we've
done the sale of the bonds. And the reason that we broke it up into two is really to save taxpayer money because we knew we didn't need all the money at once. So again, by breaking that up into do two, it really is ending up saving the taxpayer money so not they're not getting that bill all at once. So I just wanted to thank you for how you are
thinking about breaking that up so you know people aren't feeling it. We're not just sitting on money and charging taxpayers when we don't actually need it right away. This great financial management. Thank you. Uh right now we have a motion to approve from Jackie, seconded by Anna. All those in favor of approval say I. I.
Those opposed. Motion carries on a 70 vote. Thank you very much. Um that brings us almost to the end of our agenda tonight. Um I will turn it over to Superintendent Balsone for superintendent updates. Sure. Thank you, Chair Johnson. Um speaking of school construction, we have
uh work progressing at 11 sites throughout the school district right now. We're excited to see the finishing touches being put on our 20th elementary school, Emerald Trail. Right now, we are scheduling a ribbon cutting ceremony for August 20th at 8 a.m. and we'll invite the public to an open house later in
September after the school year opens. Walls are starting to go up at the new Rosemont Middle School and at the East View High School activity center, while excavation work is continuing for Apple Valley High School and their activity center. Work is also underway here at Dakota Ridge. Also at Falcon Ridge
Middle School, Scott Highlands Middle School, Highland Elementary School, Valley Middle School of STEM, and Thomas Lake Elementary School. The public uh next topic public is invited to see 9 to5 the musical presented at Egan Summer Community Theater. It opens this
Thursday, July 17th, and runs through Saturday, July 26th at Egan High School. And lastly, we are already getting ready for the upcoming 2526 school year. To help families prepare, we have created a back- to-school resources hub on our
website. It's filled with important information, handy checklists, and action items like updating school contact information, school supply lists, immunization, and athletics information. Registration for fall sports and activities is already open, and we encourage all families to
register early. Thank you. That concludes my report. Thank you, Superintendent Bzone. Are there any board members with items they'd like to share? Seeing none, is there a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. Motion to adjurnn by Robin, seconded by Katherine. All those in favor of
adjournment, say I. I. Those opposed. Motion carries. On a 70 vote, we stand adjourned.