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[Music] good evening it is Thursday March 6 2025 at 6 p.m. we are at the district service center in Cottage Grove Minnesota we would like to acknowledge that the land in which We Gather is the land of the mowan Dakota people mowan means dwellers
of the Spirit Lake the first item on our agenda is 1.0 roll call Dana Ryan Clark here Sharon vanir here Eric Tesmer is currently absent Melinda dos simy petag Katie Schwarz here 2.0 is Pledge of
Allegiance please stand 3.0 is the approval of our agenda can I get a motion to approve second motion by Sharon seconded by simy all those in favor I opposed motion carries 4.0 is our Workshop items we do have one
this evening and it is 4.1 kids club and Avid and sashco cares partnership and that will be introduced by Jake winchill director of Community Education thank you chair Schwarz uh good evening board I'm excited to be here tonight to introduce to you uh a handful of individuals who have really formed a
really neat partnership that spans across uh numerous sashko programs in the district and a handful of schools as well um their they all share the same goal their motto is our community helping our community um as you can see here we have a handful of individuals
here and some of the crowd um for moral support as well and here to answer some questions so with that being said um I will introduce the staff members here that are with us today maybe the students can take a second to introduce themselves as well but we have Heidi Wright one of our kids club supervisors Cheryl jogger with Community Education
and soash cares Foundation um Amy Sana with kids club she's one of our osts and Julie Anin with Avid so with that I'll turn it over to you thank you Jake good evening I'm Cheryl jogger I'm the community engagement coordinator for the school district I'm also the founder of sashco
cares which is the community-led nonprofit that supports our schools the slogan for sashco cares as Jake mentioned is our community helping our community we have some very special guests with us tonight to tell you more about how they're doing exactly that and
so this year our school district applied for and was awarded a Innovation and Service Learning Grant through the Minnesota Department of Education for nearly $25,000 um with the support of this grant our Woodbury High School Avid seniors have been working with our kids
club students at pin hill Bailey and Woodbury Elementary Schools the funding provided by this grant has allowed our students to um select purchase and donate uh items to the uh sashco Care's
winter clothing program which has helped over 450 of our students and you may have seen uh the video that the students created to for their fundraising Campaign which raised over $55,000 for snacks and then going into third trimester we'll be working on a school
supply uh program and so this is not just a collaboration between Avid and kids club and cares there are other partners who have been important to this work including um our nutrition services department uh Communications TLS and
finance and so it really is our community helping our community so uh with no further Ado I will pass the mic on to Amy Sana from kids club and Julie Anin with Woodbury High School Avid to tell you more about the nuts and bolts of the program and
how our students are helping our students hi I'm Amy Sana and I'm just just going to talk a little bit about the back history of how this came came into play um when we came out of covid um a lot of things changed and I my two
older students were in Avid and part of avid you need to do some service learning there were no longer opportunities for these students because you needed to be 18 or you needed to be with a parent well I'm a single mom and I work full-time so that opportunity was
not a possibility I happen to be doing professional development and sitting next to Julie Anin and I said hey what do you think about this and so that was the birth of the first part of this and we started with 35 students and they
came in and did some Service Learning with kids club that's kind of how it started the next year we continued on and we did 100 more students and then that winter as I'm was paging through my emails I saw Grant come in from mde and I'm like they've never offered this
before mde partnering Community Ed and the schools and um a nonprofit and I immediately thought well I have them all right here so what do you guys think and at that point we didn't really know what we were getting into so uh that's how it all started and it's
gone in um great directions a lot of people working together and the more people that are working together the more ideas we have and um I've had the opportunity to work with these three plus many more for a couple years now and it's been great so my slides tell more than that but
that's the back history to kind of how it all got started hi everyone I'm Julie Anin I'm the Avid 11 and 12 teacher as well as AVID coordinator at Woodbury school and I am so proud to be here tonight um and in a couple minutes you're going to be
able to hear from the real stars of the show but um Avid at its core is more than just um a place to learn academics and College and Career Readiness but we really focus on that social emotional
connections and um giving back to others and so when Amy and I connected and making this partnership with um with kids club I immediately knew I'm like I've got these amazing high school students to be mentors and it's really
important um for us that representation matters and that bringing having a lot of these kids go into kids club several of them have um they went to Kids Club themselves and they get to see former staff members they're in the crowd um so
it's just really been a fantastic partnership um so again I'm not going to spend too much more time talking because these really are the stars of the show um and they're going to kind of share with you their impact um that being a part of this collaboration has had on
them so I'm going to start with Gabby her hi guys I'm Gabby uh so personally for this opport or sorry this opportunity personally for me has been really beneficial because I want to go into education myself so it was a really big learning curve um it really helped
me uh kind of learn how to handle kids without like being mean to them you I'm the oldest so um you know having word patience with kids is something that I I needed to learn um you know normally with my siblings I just like shut myself
in my room and tell them to go away but you can't really do that uh when you're working with them on this scale um I also uh learned a lot about uh swatco cares um I've kind of always live like a very privileged life you know we live in the suburbs this is not something that I
was really familiar with when I was younger because it wasn't something that applied to me but uh working with um swash go cares along with kids club helped me learn a lot more about uh donating and community service and all
types of different services that you can do to give back because this really helped me see sorry this is not really making sense this helped me see like the faces that I'm um really giving back to because before it was kind of just like oh you know like I did my good deed for
the day but this helps me feel like a lot better about the things that I've been doing to give back yep so that was Gabby uh good evening ladies and gentlemen I just want to say I'm really grateful and appreciate the opportunity for you guys to listen and hear us out a little bit so my name is is tenzen um just as Gabby
I'm a Woodbury High School senior as well and for me specifically I'm going to be talking about how I feel like I've made an impact on one of the kids specifically talking about Pine Hill Pine Hill Elementary School so there was this girl named Emma
I believe Emma yes and she's in a wheelchair and she wanted to play football with me and some of the boys but the boys weren't too fond of having her cuz they felt that she wouldn't be able to help the team or she wouldn't be
able to get us points or get the win so I wanted to kind of let her know that like she can do anything that she wants to do and just because other people say like she can't do this or like she's not capable of getting points I kind of wanted to show that she is capable she
can do anything that she wants to do so so obviously I invited her to my team and if you guys know football I was the QB and and I was passing her the ball a lot and not surprisingly she scored a lot she scored a lot of touchdowns and at the
end she told me how grateful she was and how much she appreciated it and I think I made an impact on her specifically because I just wanted to let her know that whatever she whatever she puts her mind to to do or whatever she wants to do that she's capable of doing it and
also how kids club and can show us like how going or doing Small Things is important as well yeah hi everyone those are some great responses from Gabby and tenzen I feel like I have to like step it up a little
bit now um but thank you um my name is Stephanie AB broqua I'm also a fellow Woodbury High School student alongside Gabby and tensen um I just wanted to talk about how like kids kids club has made an Kids Club in soash Co Caris has really made an impact on me and like my
view of the district and just like how important these kids are to me and how important we as high school students are to them so going into this um I really didn't have any idea of what soash care was like obviously I've seen the logo on posters around school and I've heard of
it but like obviously like Gabby said I've been very privileged in my life and I haven't had to rely on other resources like that but then um when she came in and she spoke about soash caires and she also like aligned that with kids club and how we can help as high school students and just show these kids that
we have an impact and what we're doing really matters I really just took it to heart cuz it's like oh like you're going to volunteer at this elementary school kids you're just going to hang out with them for a little bit but it stepped it up to like what are we doing to specifically help them which I really appreciated like through the lessons
like the winter lessons and like the healthy food and eating with nutritional Services I really lik that um and I really enjoyed like just hanging out with the kids like sometimes you think like they don't remember us or like it's just like a one and done but they really do um me and my friends often go to Pine
Hill so we recognize Mia and Elise and Miss Heidi so like we Elise sorry and Miss Heidi we recognize everyone here um and I really like that cuz like the kids recognize us too they remember us they talk talk to us like even when we have like the more boring lessons they still
come up to us after and talk to us make conversation just check in and I really appreciate that as well we have our littlest ones now hi my name is is aloise I'm in third grade at pin hill ele School aan comes
to my school once a week my my favorite thing about Aven is trying new foods I learned so much from the the students about community service I and raise money for for a community my favorite thing
uh I Learned was uh trying new foods is good hi my name is Mia and I am a third grader at Pinel Elementary School Avid students have been coming to my school since last year my favorite thing about
Avid is they teach us amazing stuff this year we learned all about winter clothing and healthy snacks we got to do many lessons about each theme my favorite favorite thing I learned was we tried different types of food how
amazing how amazing are these kids and that those stories and you know that um Emma in the wheelchair she's going to remember that forever you know you are you have made a significant impact in all of these kids' lives and so we're grateful to be here to share these
stories and happy to answer any questions yeah I just have one question first of all thank you so much for doing this and all you students for being involved in this I mean what a remarkable and impactful program um but I have a
question if there's any um thoughts or plans of expanding this to East brid and Park High School all right I am not sure we for sure are going to be continuing um with our partnership that is to be um discussed yet this spring and what the
capabilities are at each of those high schools um but for sure we're going to continue with our av at 11 and 12 and the reason why I do 11 and 12 is because students are expected to uh get their own transportation um to the sites and so um many my students drive or they
carpol together or there's amazing parents that are really dedicated to make sure that their um student gets to the volunteer um site on time um so I cannot speak to the other high schools but um definitely Woodbury High School will be continuing this so I just want
to add our sashko community is strong like for me as a staff member here it has been so fun connecting with all the a um like nutrition services TLS this summer um and Communications all the
support support that we have been given um is really amazing and it's been such an a great part uh program to be part of so um I had a couple questions so what Amy can you tell me you said that you
had sort of started this program and then you received a grant so what was the um what was the main sort of shift you were able to make as a result of receiving the grant as opposed to what you were doing before that's a great question uh Julie and I
recognized that we needed some more structure in the program as well um with the thoughts that if it were to ever get bigger that there definitely needed to be some more structure in place so we were working on building that structure for the following year and this kind of just fell into our laps so that was nice
before I hand off the microphone though I want to make sure that we know that um Molly was part of our team she's out tonight and then Terry fil is in the audience audience with us she's Woodbury L Heidi Wright we met from Pine Hill and then Heidi cadalbert from Bailey she's
not able to be here tonight maybe to add to your question when this grant came through Amy's like she said there there really hasn't been this the impetus had to you had to have a Community Partnership and so um this
was money that we already were we all connected and that the state was giving a grant that we already were doing so it was a great opportunity for us to have additional funds to be able to donate but use it through learning service learning projects um and the kids really
were all involved in that each of the first two trimesters of selecting the boots and the gloves and packaging them and then our second trimester on the healthy snacks and trying foods and and all of that so um I think just that
opportunity was there and we already kind of had it in place and it just kind of fell in line is this grant a renewable Grant or is this is the program kind of able to be sustained if the grant does not if we don't get
another Grant from the state we don't think that the grant is sustainable we don't think it'll be offered again but we have enough of the pieces in place um thank you Google Drive um where we can replicate and
build okay well that's great and then for you three um so you're all seniors this year correct yeah and um how much time are you spending like do you spend in any given week or any given month or whatever
period of time working with this program so we're all every single student in the Avid 11 and 12 program is required one volunteer shift per trimester so we kind of spread out e all
of our students into a couple grp groups so that we can have enough kids at each place um for each lesson and we have like stations um and then we also spend time in class uh going over the lessons
so the inclass time is maybe one or two lessons a week that we're going through and everyone's going through the lessons even if they're not showing up on site and then when we're on site those would be the only like out of school hours that we do and it's like maybe like one
two hours with the kids um teaching them about things spending time with them okay and then Gabby I feel sort of compelled to say that South Washington County Schools is always looking for educational staff and so I I've always
planned on coming back here you if you are you know if you go off and you decide you want to become a teacher like five years from now I I'm actually yeah I'm I'm going to the U uh for uh education so yeah I will be coming back
yeah and she's one more thing to add on she's also applied for a summer job with kids club and so that's been another really um employment pool is that this connection um so Carol Tobin has reached out so I can promote to the current seniors when they graduate for a great
summer job so it really is yes future employer employment here at sashco um so it's a win-win hopefully keeping our AVID program strong because the kids club kids really look up to these guys
as celebrities so I'm hoping that they're like I want to be an avid too so how many how many students are in 11th and 12th grade Avid so um I have 60 uh seniors at Woodbury High School and I 6 zero and I have 57
Juniors okay and so and there are all of them so for this grant it's just the 60 seniors that are doing it but the juniors are also that they are required to go one time to one of the three sites over each trimester so that's not as
structured like they are there making connections but playing with the kids reading doing those kinds of activities whereas this year the seniors were really more in charge of running the lessons and each we had four stations and so it really has worked out well so
it's about 10 to 12 minutes per station so the kids are rotating um so they get to experience all of that so yeah and then since we know what Gabby's doing next year if you two are seniors what are your plans for after
June 9th or 10th or whatever so I plan on going to a community college for financial reasons and then hopefully going to a university in state or possibly out of state depending on how I'm feeling and majored in Biology and hopes of going going
through the Premed track and hopefully becoming a dermatologist which has been my long-term dream goal um I'm kind of very similar to tenzen I don't exactly know where I'm going yet I know I should probably have an idea but I don't know yet um you guys
I have been accepted to numerous places but I just haven't had like that place yet um but I do plan on attending a four-year College majoring in Premed or like Premed focus and then either psychology or biology and then just like tenen I want to go into Dermatology so
yeah right just yes just remember us in our acne when you guys are rich and famous Sor any other questions okay thank you all thank you
[Applause] okay on to 5.0 and that is our information items we do have three this evening the first one is 5.1 and that is a lease Levy update and that will be introduced by Tyrone brookens assistant superintendent all right thank you for
that but before I get into that introduction Abby meet Gabby and maybe a pocket contract now we can lock her in just saying just saying grow your own grow your own uh this evening you will receive an update on lease Levy related to our next step Pathways program and
the progress related to uh the renovations that are taking place there this update will connect to the Strategic priorities of student experience student Pathways and supports operations planning and finance and engagement and Partnerships mark duboy from K Architects uh will uh conduct the
presentation we also have Nikki lock uh Nicole lock who is the principal or lead for our next step Pathways uh program and she will be on site to answer any questions as you see on the screen the title reads transition program building
the official name for the program is nextstep trans transition and given that the program is actualized at two sites Pathways and Next Step our Communications Department will lead a project for the name for the new Consolidated site that will include the interested parties and the construction
advisory team at this time I yield to mark for the presentation uh good evening again no NOP better okay um and so uh as Tyrone said I'm excited to come and to share
the progress of the design of this um unique project um it's a new home really the way I think we've been thinking of it um that Nikki and her team have been working with us for the last several
months and um it's just an exciting project to see a new home developed for these two groups merging together into one place um one of the first things we did was to develop a vision um as the two
programs are coming together Under One Roof um we felt this would be appropriate time timing to try to set a vision for the space the pro the programs have a vision but we want the
space that's being created to match that so um I wanted to just sort of read through this um you can read it obviously but I think again the goal was to be able to translate these Vision points into the
built space and so hopefully that will begin to come through in the images and the and the design that you see but the first thing that became very important was this nurturing learning environment where the students themselves are maintaining and
sharing the space with the community um so this really is a place where the students will um own this for themselves take care of it and also share it with community members numbers and we'll
we'll look at some of the spaces that will allow for that um collaborative and flexible spaces so that's both in the the built portion of it but also even things like Furnishings being flexible and being allowed to move throughout
spaces to create different types of learning uh opportunities um the space to support the entire spectrum of the student skills bright open and welcoming spaces
so natural light and a connection to the outdoors and we'll see where we're able to achieve some of that and uh the last P point being this having these common areas that are accessible and they will
actually um showcase the work and the study that is happening within them so that became our guiding principle these vision statement ments and we'll take a look at how they translated into the
space just a uh brief highlight of what we were trying to achieve with the scope of the project so uh we'll look at the existing building that the district has now purchased so the the goal is to renovate that and then also add on um to
accommodate the growing population of about up to about 120 students was the Target that we were aiming for um also to develop some outdoor spaces that would be extensions of the
interior uh learning spaces um and then again to Foster that collaborative work and a connection to the community so if you're familiar uh with it um I won't bore you with the details but earlier or back in 2024 the the
district uh purchased this existing property and building on the corner of 70th in Jamaica in Cottage Grove it's an existing Church um that was selling their facility these are some of the
images of the existing conditions it was a building that was initially built in 1983 and then there was an addition put on in the year 2000 some of the Interior spaces that
our task will be to transform these into the learning some of the learning environments so one of the uh things that we looked at of course was the entire site and so this is a graphic representation of a conceptual site plan
um you can see the parking lot in the South and West the existing building is in the maroon and then the proposed addition is to the east to the Northeast is where we planned to have the outdoor
activity area um both a paved sport court but also an uh about a 10,000 square foot uh grass play area for different activities you'll also notice on the
Southeast uh corner of the addition is what we're calling the Outdoor Learning patio and so that's as we get to the floor plan you'll be able to see how that um connects to the interior spaces to the north of it another uh I remember
when we first went out to the site one of the exciting portions was in the southwest corner of the site there's a vegetable garden and um I can remember Nikki's eyes kind of lighting up that we have a Horticulture program and lab and
now we have an outdoor um Garden so the again the connection um is great as far as the building goes um this is again a diagrammatic over uh overview of of the building on the west side is the
existing building and then on the east side is the new addition so it's roughly split half and half down the middle um the the main entry which will be a secure entry is roughly in essence where the existing entry to the church
building is um so just kind of on the south side towards the Southwest but uh connected to that will be sort of the administrative area um and again all in a secure uh portion of the
building to the uh to the West is the existing sanctuary and that is as if you saw in the existing photographs is a High um ceiling space vaed space and
that became the natural landing spot for what we're calling a multi-purpose room and that will serve breakfast that will serve lunch that will serve as a large motor skills area with everything from
um space for trikes to pickle ball to basketball um all kinds of large motor skill activity and also that is the place where we're envisioning the connection the main connection to the community so um the idea of sort of a
popup Marketplace within that space um there's a direct connection from the main entry and vestibule into that so we envision that um that can be a place where the community can come see some of the work that has been done by the
students and also potentially purchase some of the things that they are making for sale so that's one of the the big connections with the community there will also be a a kitchen and a servery um for the for the um the dining
portion the East portion of the building is where the educational teaching stations will live and on the North in the center is where the discovery lab will be located um there is an existing Discovery lab of course and that is
going to be moved into this location there are six um I'll say standard classrooms but six classrooms with flexible Furniture um and teaching station and it and smart panels and and
the like um to serve anywhere from six to 8 to 10 to 12 students depending on on the need and then the east side of the building is what we are envisioning as the laboratory or the lab spaces so
on the the north side the northeast corner is a combined culinary lab and independent living learning space so learning obviously cooking but well beyond that into just all the things that it takes to live independently so
it'll be set up almost like an apartment of sorts south of that is what we're calling the informal learning and that is kind of at the node or the end of the main East West hallway and that again uh has large glass and Views out to the
east but it also has technology where um a teacher and students uh and staff can come together sort of informally in an ad hoc version and uh fashion and just have some sort of learning right there on the south side of that portion of the
addition is where we have the work-based learning lab and then a hor excuse me horiculture maker space lab and again and that's on the south and east Corners that has the access to that Outdoor Learning patio on the
south so what will it look like these are some renderings that we've put together for the exterior and we'll look at some of the Interior as well so again here's the main entry kind of in the center of the image the
existing Sanctuary is on the left and then the existing classroom building is on the right another view looking towards the east which shows the expansion of the building towards the east and the um the
lab spaces under that other cross Gable this is an image of the southeast corner of the building with again the large Windows that's the horiculture uh maker space lab so it again Horticulture
happens and then there's also building of projects and in fact one of the thoughts is that those um planting beds that you see on the south side of the outdoor um learning patio could actually be collaboratively put together by the
students themselves and then the plants within them cared for so there's sort of This indoor outdoor learning experience this is another view looking from the parking lot up to that uh lab area and we've talked about the
potential again of some outdoor Gardens flowers things that students could take care of um again with that back to that vision of having a place that the students themselves are taken care of this is this is a home um in a sense
where people will take ownership of and then another view of that outdoor patio moving to the inside this would be the inside looking out of that horiculture maker space so again with high bolted
ceilings the um large Windows um to connect inside to outside flexible Furniture this is the uh informal uh learning area that I mentioned before it's at the end of that East West hallways again with large
glass and then to the left is where the connection to the culinary lab and the Independent Learning would be this is an interior rendering of the um existing Sanctuary so again we're putting a large window on the south side
to open that up and um because it's that large vaated space we can have activities uh large motor activities also on the left side you see some tables set up there again that can be part of where that popup Marketplace
starts to starts to form when when appropriate so schedule wise just to give you a picture we have been under design uh with Nikki and her team since the fall and by the end of April early May we'll be putting the construction
drawings out to bid um bidding during May and then the plan would be to start construction uh in the fall of 2025 to be complete so that by the fall of 2026 Nikki and her team have this new home to
move into that's that's what I have to share um if there are any questions for me or for Nikki feel free um this looks amazing um so Nikki one question so how many kids are in in the next step in
Pathways program now um I think we opened at about 92 this year and I think right now with um graduates over the course of the Year transition now we have students who age out throughout the year I think we're at 80 82 right now okay so when kids hit
22 they are done even if it's not like they don't get to go to the end of the school year no so it's they have eligibility until all the way through their 21st birthday okay so the day before they turn 22 is their graduation day if they take full if they take advantage of their entire eligibility we
have many students who don't okay and they meet their goals and objectives and they um and services and they're on their way okay and so you had mentioned student voice was involved in the creation of this space so what were the things that kids were asking for or telling you that they needed in this
space and I guess it's for either one of you yeah well um we frequently hear about the fact that we don't have enough windows so that's um one thing that's definitely showing up I think simy I would say um it's in the things our students gravitate towards so they have
a lot of strong voice in our clubs and and um the activities you do at the end of the day so those things influenced the the property and um what we were thinking about for our outdoor space and areas um we see the enthusiasm around the horiculture opportunities that we
offer students we see how popular our cooking classes are and how engaging those are for students so both in question what are you looking for for your school and then also that just that daily experience of what our students are gravitating towards is really has
informed um who what we're building for this community of students okay and then as um well you know I if you've gone to the next step graduation it's the best graduation it's so right um agreed and so if you do you envision moving events
like the graduation into this space or will you keep having them at Park and other areas around the district we would love to host our graduates and our families and their friends in our new um and if weather allows it would be fabulous to use our multi-purpose base
for our graduation and then spill out onto our learning patio for cake and refreshments so and so that would be kind of the vision for like to to host those kinds of events there yes in this space absolutely um and then I guess I
don't know whether this is for you maybe or Tyrone I don't know who knows the answer to this so when we um so we're we would be moving into the space for the 26 27 school year correct and so what happens to our current obligations um at Valley Creek mall and
in Cottage Grove well I can speak to that um the Valley Creek Mall expires then so that'll align very nicely with this The cotage Grove space we do have um through 27 so we'll have some um taking a look at whether there's opportunity to
release us from that lease or otherwise otherwise utilize that space just to make sure that we are not just having that be dormant either okay hi hi Nikki so um having a child that graduated from the next tech program I'm a huge component of this and I'm so excited I'm a big advocate for
the program but it just looks beautiful um wondering what's the max amount of students that you'll be able to have there did you mention that yeah so we're building it for 120 120 okay and always remember um our community is our
classroom so we're um students are coming and going all day long so we're gonna have a beautiful home for them um but we're going to continue that um that focus and that call to make sure that our students are doing a lot of learning in the community so will more students
be offered the program than currently are since there's going to be the space or well I'd like to think that the students who um who IEP teams recognize them to be eligible for um and need transition programming are coming my
hope is now they're coming um so I just with the growth of our district and um when we recognize just how our program has just grown through the years that 120 just is sort of that Trend that we're anticipating um in the coming five
to 10 years that's great and I know like right now there's next step and pathways is there any talk of coming with combined I know you said something about project scope is that going to be what you're going to be calling it or um I the name is still in process um and so
we'll be um that will be a collaboration as well um so we'll be it'll be one program so next step and Pathways will will come together um my so right now we have one program two communities probably three unique learning
communities within those two our next step learning Comm Community our Pathways learning community and our Discovery learning community so in this program we'll continue with that learning community model um I actually think when we come up with the name we'll be talking about what those learning communities will be called as well it's still an opportunity for us to
have differentiated programming and again one of the most beautiful things about special education is such an individualized plan so so we have one program we have four unique learning communities and then within that we have up to 120 unique learning plans for our
un Learners and with the new location do we anticipate having more connections with more um job sites or anything that are more centrally located yeah that's a great question um again we have this great opportunity to work with um
Employers in Woodbury and Cottage Grove and and we are really really well positioned for this growth we have four work coordinators five incredible job coaches so um so we have amazing Partners now we're set up to continue to sustain
those Partnerships and then also to grow so we're really well positioned for this new location and um more and more substantial relationships with employers all to the betterment of our students in our community thank
you thank you I did have one question also having a child that graduated I really wish this would have been built for him because he did not like going to do my son was nothing against Woodberry but my son did not like having to go to school in Woodberry since we live over
here so this would have been great for him um I do have a question about I know right now lunch is being brought in now I noticed a kitchen will you have nutrition service staff there or is that
not the purpose of this kitchen yeah that's a great question Katie the plan right now is for us to continue to partner with um the kitchens around us and have lunch brought however that the space that's being built there um will
we'll have more students to serve um and just will be much more efficient in terms of where the the um warming carts are and I'm also really proud that we're envisioning a a space a lunch experience for our students that's going to increase Independence our students will
be able to move around access things in a um more reasonable and easier way and so our students will be more independent in that lunchtime experience and have more of like a lunchroom setting and kind of the right now our space means
our our staff is just a little more involved in in their lunch than they necessarily need to be um and it all comes from care and concern it's just and accessibility so this space will just um allow for again it's all about independence so just allow for allow for
that to um happen more more easily perfect thank you any other questions okay thank you Paul thank you okay on to 5.2 and that is our
revised budget and that will be presented by Chris Blackburn Director of Business Services I'm GNA go get a clicker I get to dance today apparently better look out I might just keep standing here while I go through this
so oh I was going in the right direction One More slide all right well good evening everybody um it's always exciting I know I've been a part of that project just a little bit on the financing side and so it's so fun to see those um highlights I feel like we have a big crowd here and I'm certain that they're here for revise budget and not
for these other exciting performances so um always fun to hear what our students are up to as well so tonight then Financial update is again the revised budget so each year we bring a revised budget um typically in March to the board for approval significance of the
revised budget then is school districts revised budgets to reflect currently available data so I'll just remind um everyone that we set the budget in June of last year and so the original budget is set long before we have some really known quantities so we Revis to include updated student counts um we have more
finalized State allocation numbers Federal allocations if there's been any changes sometimes we have to set the Budget prior to knowing those specifically labor agreements if there's been any um finalized settlements or even just as a year two of additional contracts go into place that um we can
maybe have a little more known um quantity on that as well as any new agreements or leases whether it's software purchases technology purchases uh maybe we buy a church um we can put those things into the budget so the budget is based on the best information we have today so we always try to remind everybody that it can change again we do
as very best a job as we can as of today but I will tell you that um sometimes tomorrow change I remember setting a budget we were all excited about the snow plowing and we got a snow storm at the end of April so um we just are always we know that it's going to be um not correct at the actual will vary from
these numbers but we try to have as very best as we can today it reflect gives us an indication of the reserves remaining at the end of the year so as we start planning um and again AIDS Us in preparing the budget for next year that we know kind of where we think we're going to land um and again that assists Us in those long-term
projections man I have too many hands too many clickers too many hands not enough hands um on this page slide then is just the revised budget summary so it's at high level overview of our um kind of by categorical Revenue um in those large buckets and then expenditures by um category of spending
and so I'll point out that the 2425 then what I'm really um pleased about is to come I know when we originally passed the budget we had a $5 million deficit and right now based on what we know today um we're anticipating about a $1 million um positive instead so that's a
lovely shift um I will highlight some categories on kind of why that um came as a result and point out on some of the shifts because I know there's some numbers that like oh $200,000 increase and we'll talk about what happened there um and I'll give you a the minus 19%
might have to do with it so but again $340 million in Revenue um 339 little more than in expenditures for that net million dollar at the end for revised budget about a 4% increase in Revenue a 2% increase in expenditures so the exciting
Parts another slide just I know that um at some point you'll probably just be tired of any of your um business managers Finance directors talking about enrollment but it does Drive the budget so we always try to keep the board apprised of that so on this slide it really does the historical versus protecting so in that kind of maroon red
color is our historical enrollments um and you can see again it's been real I would say just steady right real stable um the blue then is our projected for this year and so I'll point out that last year we ended at1 18984 the original budget this year was
1878 19718 U 18718 and we are currently projecting 19133 um the gray is just to highlight again that as we look forward again we're going to continue to see that stable right now but the one caution on this slide is that this does not reflect
the impact of the proposed um expansion of Math and Science Academy so we do anticipate that and I just like to remind the board of that because that will be very impactful in the coming years on this slide then um not sure what happened to the S but it is
revenues um couple of slides at that that's okay translation into Google sometimes so State AIDS this is really then what these slides reflect is what's currently in our revised budget then that we're bringing forth tonight the basic formula which again is largely enrollment driven we get
7,281 per p425 and again that's a 4 of our 340 million 146 of that is on this this basic formula special education is other most significant state aid and right now we're projecting about $60 million um
reced Aid which is a significant increase um and then other 33 million and that other state aid is compensatory staff development atps um there is some redact funding in there achievement integration so there's a just plethora of other operating Capital um State AIDS
in that dollar amount Federal AIDS um I know it's been kind of a Hot Topic as to get asked probably once a week hey what's going to happen if and so right now um in our revised budget we're I would say our federal AIDS have stayed very stable um outside if you take out
the pandemic related funds that we received we've really not seen a significant increase or decrease in quite a number of years outside of those so special education reflected about 4.1 million our title programs about a million dollars in our revised budget and then other about H 100,000 and
that's largely Perkins um and American Indian education Aid again with the funny yes but our local and other revenues um in the revised budget are Levy so that's the other significant part we know we have a tremendous support in our community for our schools 88.3 million is our total
Levy in the general fund so I should have also said these are all reflective of general fund dollars I know in the other attachment to the board was included all other funds as well interest we are I know I talked about it a while ago and we first we thought maybe we'd have to decrease it a little and then as we looked at historical and
really just um some uncertainty as well but we were uh had realized that we budgeted fairly low on interest and so we raised that slightly so there's 2.6 million in general fund Revenue third party billing is $2 million and I'll one thing I'll point out with that is that is federal money that flows through us
to Department of Health and Human Services via Medicaid so um when there is discussion about that that would you know we could potentially see an impact on that um as we look to Future Years anyway our revised budget we should be okay other um local and other revenues
is kind of the other category that includes participation fees admissions donations and the like we have about $3.4 million so this chart is just a kind of we always like to provide a couple of Graphics as well and not just talk to all the numbers but this again just lays out those dollars just a real summary of
the revenue itself and again about that 4% increase in total revenue you'll see that slight um decrease in federal AIDS and again that's just reflective of um as we get final numbers that we can reflect that in there as well that state AIDS is largely enrollment driven we'll talk
about that um and again we try to revise to get a more accurate representation based on what we know today so here's kind of the two meat and potato slides I one for revenues and one for expenditures on kind of the why so what changed from original budget revenues we know increased now we're
projecting 12.8 million from original budget which seems like a really significant number but we're those two the two primary drivers of that were state special education Aid of $8.1 million that really was for two reasons one our expenditures when we finalized
24 um came in higher right than we had set original budget kind of on and so once the state calculates the state aid based on expenditures from that previous year so finalized 24 will drive our 25 Revenue as they finalized those um um the other thing we did last year for the
first time was we shifted to using our federal funds our federal special education funds for tuition billing so through the state what happens if our students are serviced at another District we're build back for 90% of that cost similarly we can bill out for
um those we serve but as we tend to for example 916 when we send students for special education services that's tuition build via the state system typically that just reduces our state aid by leveraging the federal funds for for that not only do we decrease that there's the reduction that we're
receiving for that tuition bill it also then generates state aid so it's kind of a um multiplier effect on that shift other state AIDS increased 4.2 and the largest driver again was enrollment which is why we always speak to enrollment and that 415 students higher
in our revised budget than our original projection primarily those were in grades K um we saw higher than anticipated and we know we try to be conservative because it's always at uncertainty also we've seen more 10th and 12th graders currently so um just kind of interesting to see where they landed and
there was a variety of mixes but those were the three primary grades that we saw the um largest number of student increases and then local revenues is increased by 560,000 and again interest um and other were the two main categories in there when we flip to expenditures then
so this shows by type this is really by category of kind of what do we spend it on so it's Sal benefits Services supplies capital and other um salaries and benefits again we always speak that it's between that 75 and 80% of our budget and that's reflective here as
well um marginal changes U but again when we have a budget our size 1% is often a very large number so um when we do look at that it can be significant the change here just reflects from revised to original so remaining quite stable on salaries um in
those two then for services and capital like I said the next slide I'll talk about um or the slide after maybe we'll talk about exactly what happened there but I will just say that we really aligned to our Capital um long-term facility maintenance and we used to code it um for example when we had coma do
architect Services we used to code that to a service category in the 300s and now we're coding it more to project cost to the 500 Series so we just feel it better lines long term because we used to capture all of that anyway so we always like to talk about by program as well so we do a lot talking about salaries and benefits
making the significant of our budget but also where do we spend the dollars and so this is by kind of function so whether it's Administration District support regular instruction our classroom teachers um vocational instruction so we have CTE expenditures special instructions so whether it's the
transition programming or our other special education programming for students that need those Services community service is really our voluntary prek programming that's in general fund instructional support which consists of um assistant princip it is our media Specialists and then
it's a lot of District support TLS and P U par staff pupil support um is our counselors our social workers our transportation is all in that category sites and buildings um our facilities whether it's lights and snow removal um
which is kind of the Hot Topic yesterday and uh any of our just all of those related costs so our um custodial staff as well and then other um is our like workers comp insurance um as long as Severance costs are also in that
category on this particular slide so no significant changes other than instructional support um went up some and that's largely um impact the uh redact related stiens that we hadn't um budgeted for in that category and guidance came out from the state that
said hey this is where that should be budgeted so we added that into the I like to say our world famous dollar bill but maybe our community famous doll bill um but this is really just try to illustrate again where we spend our money and so when we add up classroom instruction special education
student support those three that really are just driven by students um it's about 76 just slightly over 76 cents on the dollar that we spend on our um direct to students and we're always um try to keep that as close to our students our spending as we can and so I'm always thankful for that
Administration consists not only of um you know the board Julie as well is our principles at our sites so just note that that 3.4% doeses also include that um as I said instructional support is APS media TLS and Pera facilities at 11
and a half% so both of those and then District support which includes myself and my payroll and includes HR and it also includes it so any of the device a lot of our devices and things like that are in that 3.4% number so when you think of what all is in there sometimes I'm always kind of proud it's not just
people that are in there either so the why what did expenditures why the increase from original budget in total it was $6.7 Million increase salaries were $1.8 million of that largely it was redex ipens about a million dollars with salaries and benefits both kind of in
there so largely salaries um labor settlements we know like this is the year longevity for teachers um started on July 1st and so at the time we had kind of estimated what we thought and then we have actual numbers and then actual salaries for highers when we originally do the budget we have open
positions we know that um we for whatever reason right we have people perhaps at leave or retire and we have open positions and so this now when we update for revised budget can reflect actual salaries for those that were hired into those positions again just that bullet on the shift from services to Capital to align those project
expenditures and that was about 11.2 million and so that's just a shift it's not in that 6.7 but just so you knew where that um why the big changes in those categories Services outside of that increased about 1.4 million and there was offsets to it as well so substitute teachers we went up $500,000
from original budget special education services so we have contract nervous Services um either with like we do pay for some 916 Services outside of the tuition billing um it could also be contracted um nurses or um related
services so whether it's OT PT um speech language perhaps those were up about 400,000 and transportation so our contracted transportation ation um which is always kind of a nebulous number a little bit for us to try to um but increased 1.4 million so if I add those up you might say well hey Chris that's
not 1.4 million when that went up but again we were offset by some reductions as well utilities came in a little bit better um at least projected to be better so we'll see if that holds and again we hope there's no snow we did take $100,000 off snow um but like I said what we know today
and we were a little bit high in those areas supplies increased 2.2 million Capital increased 788 th000 and that's largely with carryover um in the audit when we do that each year at the end of 23 24 there is actually a committed fund
balance for carryover and that was $2.2 Million so just know that it is associated with that number um they may or may not spend all of that but we certainly do try to budget for that and we try to you know make some assumptions about that as well um Capital cover was
420 of that amount and then just a little other our unassigned fund balance so this reflects the board policy calculation which um aligns to MD's statutory operating debt Cal so it's just a little bit different than um some other
districts may use but we are projecting at the end of this year to still Decline and so you may say well Chris we have a million dollar to the good why are we declining still and really it comes that that expenditure numbers if we go back a couple slides is really increasing faster than our fund balance so we're increasing EXP expenditures more
significantly in that 1 million so as a percentage thereof and so it will reduce I'm anticipated to reduce our fund balance to 15.8% at this point and again as we start projecting for next year it's always challenging when those expenditures are going faster than our um keeping up with our fund
balance so next steps so the board will ask for approval um at the next at the business meeting in March on the 27th for the revised budget Staffing allocations to principles for next year for 25 26 have already kind of we're in the process so I'll look at Abby too I know they've been having a lot of
Staffing meetings we had a Elementary and secondary recap in the past couple of weeks um for licensed staff and then again non-licensed allocations as well so that's kind of a continuing process for a bit yet kind of through the end of March 25 26 revenues right now are
projected um that we'll do that as we start to look towards the original budget we do I have positive news is that the state formula the MD did release that it will be set at 2.74 for next year so the nice part with that it helps us now we know what that number is
that we don't have to just make some best guesses on that number especially with the amount of Revenue it drives Finance staff so my team um will work very CH hard to compile all of the 25 26 expenditures and that work is already started um and it might seem a
little early but it takes us some time between all the Staffing um nuances to it as well as just to make sure that we're identifying any other changes and aligning things 2526 budget will or the first presentation will be presented at workshop on June 6 then we'll ask for
approval at the business meeting on June 20th and then we'll start audit for this current year of 2425 and July and so I always tell people when we have um really two seasons in finance world and it's budget and audit and this largely reflects why
so with that any questions hi Chris hi simy um so you mentioned that our our revenues increased because of State special education aid but this is not an improvement in the cross
subsidy no so I would say that our original budget and special ed is somewhat challenging to until we get everything reconciled right and I would say um we had a new person on our team this year as well Mary Beth Collins who joined us Park graduate so um it's been really fun to have her but she started
and was like hey let's reconcile we call it cedra it's the state we have to basically retake all of our special education and put it into that system and so by the time we updated all that really tried hard to make sure that everything that we could possibly um reflect in there was appropriate um and
included um and really I would say maybe a little more um deeper into some of that really to say hey is there a long-term sub that has a license could we put that in there really tried to look at that and so we ended up just having greater costs at the end and so again teacher settlement right when we
perhaps set even when we would have done revised budget it would have been um we might not have quite captured all the revenue that maybe that was going to generate and that change in federal tuition really helped us as well so I will um we know right now the state is prating special education so to be still
conservative we are actually um reflecting the 95% from the state but yeah it really the expenditures all the previous year always drive and I would say we under budgeted Revenue originally some but again in our conservative measure sometimes it gets a little challenging
we always want to be cautious of that so can you explain to me then I I think I'm having trouble understanding exactly what it is that the federal funds allow us to do and then also so this is a two-part question
yeah and then also um are those federal funds at risk for future years so I would say perhaps um to the second question and I said what'll happen then is we'll once again utilize those as state expenditures instead um and the
tuition bill will be adjusted out of our Aid so what happens when you shift to using federal funds um and I kind of want to Van a white here but um the I'm going to use real just big numbers right so if we had um they call it kind of the
base Aid when they do the calculation right just based off our expenditures and if we have 47 million I'll say in base Aid they would take off $3 million or $4 million for our tuition bill so typically it's in the neighborhood of four four and a half in recent years they would just reduce that right away
just off the top so there's your 47 million minus you know $4 million and you get 43 million so that's our new base and then they calculate from there they go to the Cross subsidy Aid and excess cost Aid so as they look at that right that 4 million comes right off
that so it doesn't get calculated on the excess cost Aid either the cross subsidy Aid yep and so when that um by shifting that we take that we actually move those expenditures back into the state aid
formula because we used to sub we used to take um benefits so state aid um State eligible expenditures and move it over against our federal funds to fully spend them by doing it on this side it
increases our expenditures because we're no longer removing those 3 million in expenditures and then it also increases or reduces that number that they're subtracting so we're increasing this when they calculate the aid and then we're reducing the amount that they're
taking off of our Aid okay so then the cross subsidy also is then based on the bigger expenditure number correct okay okay and so is this something that um I mean it seems like it seems like it's an accounting shift that also is a
little um like there's not a downside to it I would say that's true and so um what happened is in a number of years ago we used to always have the cap and so in in times of the cap it wouldn't have mattered because they capped our growth and our expenditures when they
eliminated the cap um and that's where our I will give credit where credit is due and our auditor eron neelon had said hey a lot of people and so at that point we reached out to the state and said hey Paul faren um who's the supervisor at the state for special education he said yeah we're seeing a lot more districts do it with the elimination of the cap
previously it wouldn't have been to our benefit because it wouldn't have increased that expenditures that the aid was based off of and so um we quickly said well let's take a look at that and why wouldn't we leverage that and so again we'll get that first year benefit and we'll have some marginal benefit thereafter but it's really that first
year that you see the most significant um benefit so then because this was the first year then we got this big chunk of $8 million and then in the out Years it'll be Mar you know more rounding error kind of stuff okay thank you any other
questions okay thank you Chris thank you okay now we will move on to 5.3 and that is the first reading of proposed policy changes and that will be presented by Julie Nelson superintendent thank you Katie um this evening I am bringing the following policies forward that have
been reviewed to reflect updates in Minnesota statute the definitions terms legal references Andor cross references um our board policy committee did take the time prior to the meeting to review the policies and make any recommendations um this evening the 400
series policies included with staff um number 400 policy um incorporates all the references 401 equal employment opportunity 402 is our non-discrimination disability and there were no proposed changes there
42.2 is our non-discrimination Section 504 no proposed changes 403 discipline suspension and dismissal of School District employees no proposed changes there 418 drug-free and workplace drug-free schools no proposed changes
419 tobacc free environment no proposed changes um 522 Title 9 sex discrimination uh we are recommending going back to to revise it to reflect the October 2024 version and then finally 524
student technology and acceptable use and safety uh we added a section on cell phones cell phone use and removed the belief statement um so that we remain consistent with our other policies so with that uh this evening I am asking for appr excuse me I am not asking for
approval I am um asking the board chair to ask if there's any comments are there any comments related to any of the policies I have one on uh 524 so just for the cell phone portion is that policy going
to be authored by the school board for how we're going to say monitor the cell phone use or is that something that's specific to the administration that that would be specific to the
administration So currently um at our elementary schools there are no cell phones Middle School away for the day and then high schools away during during class period so that would be more of a management uh versus in policy language any other
questions okay seeing none we do take public comment wait sorry I did have a question on the cell phone policy um I was I had asked you Julie um and I don't know if you were able to get an do we have like anecdotal data on how the
um how the new policy is um is playing out at our schools we sure do thank you Kelly and Christine um here we go when we look at the middle level um student or positive impact on student behavior and wellbeing uh a decrease in
distractions and disregulation um I noticed like the first week enhan social interactions like anywhere you went there there was just more talking going on um reduced social media conflict and improved overall classroom engagement and that is where where some of that
social comes in is that kids are actually talking and working together um at the middle level strong community and parental support uh overall High parent satisfaction um we would say uh minimal push back I think that initially there
were some concerns and we know that sometimes our parents have had a communication sequence where they would just text our call maybe not knowing what class students were in um our middle schools have also noticed a reduced Monday morning issue problem so
sometimes when the weekend comes into school on Monday um it's a lot of firefighting on Monday um on situations that happen throughout the weekend so they have seen a reduction in that um Middle School increased teacher satisfaction a real positive School energy um and reducing
the number of physical conflicts and just students recording things in the hallways that might be inappropriate and so not having cell phones out has helped that at the middle level um at the High School level um increased student attention and participation um
opportunities to collaborate and interact and that was very noticeable uh positive impact on our student leaders um other things related to student well-being and social dynamics at the high school reduce social media issues and an improv sense of well-being
uh decrease phone related discipline and increased overall referrals um and for use of phones so that has been a positive thing as well I think that it just brought um a different life back to our classrooms you know many times when uh the teacher
got done with a focus lesson um students would turn to their cell phone um and I think even students reporting that they're getting more work done they have less homework um and then I would say for me the happiest thing is watching kids interact around assignments and work and
projects okay so public comment is allowed after after our first reading of the policies it is related only to the policies that are on the agenda this evening um we do allow up to three minutes per individuals you can't merge
your speaking time with anybody else so if you only take two minutes you can't give it to the next person um individuals presenting to the school board must identify themselves or a group if you are representing a group um comments um present your comments in
a respectful and professional manner any vulgarity character abuse or specific complaints identifying staff students or task force members will not be permitted electronic presentations will also not be permitted um I will provide the speaker or somebody Sean will
provide the speaker with a um visual 30 second reminder um and then again when 10 seconds is remaining at the three minute Mark the microphone will be muted and the speaker's time will end we will the Schoolboard will not respond to or discuss any comments the superintendent
may be asked to prepare a future response to the specific questions um the board chair myself um will terminate the remarks of any individual that does not adhere to the established guidelines again these polic or these comments are
strictly to the policies um that we are speaking or that are on the agenda tonight when I call your name please come up and then make sure you name the policy that you are speaking on this evening um I do apologize I am not great
at reading some handwriting so I may just use initials so if you signed up and I State your initials please come forward and state your name um it looks like we have Pat S as our first speaker okay then we have Brooke
e you will pass Emily BH you will pass Ryan m okay MD anything Molly Mike Daniels Donell Donnell oh you'll pass okay I am very
sorry I I am not a doctor I can't read this writing I do apologize and then a Carol L you passed this well okay I do very much apologize if I butchered anybody's names I um I will do
better next time okay so with um Everybody passing this evening we will move on to 6.0 reports and comments Julie neelon superintendent fabulous thank you I was sharing with uh chair Schwarz that I served as a National
Weather Service um this Tuesday um I left my driveway I backed out and I got stuck and I popped it into four-wheel drive and I was well on my way and as I was fumbling at 3:50 in the morning to try to get the webinar up for the National Weather Service I realized I needed to keep both hands on the wheel
and so I decided I don't need to listen to a webinar I'm out in driving in this thing and it was very clear from back he got in my driveway that it was going to be a noo um my favorite part of the day um of course seeing students out playing in the snow but um Kyle yuker our
director of facilities we spent a good 10 minutes watching the big bobcat out here move the snow and watching their wheel spin because the snow was so heavy so it was what is that place called with the big diggers so you can watch like a playground it's not just entertaining for small children we we enjoyed it I
wanted to just do a quick highlight and a shout out um something that's in our family news and that is our food rescue program um if you take a look at that uh the one that just went out uh tonight from our Communications Department our school district has already donated over
10,000 pounds of food um to basic needs and so what a wonderful way when students aren't going to eat the Craisins the oranges the apples um to donate those back um to individuals who really need food and so thank you um to the uh to our nutrition services program
that is leading that food rescue program up second a reminder that Transportation opt in um we're hoping to have that all closed down by Friday March 7th so please anyone that has not gone in and done that please make sure you do that um when we return from spring break we
will be into testing season um our MCA and M TOS testing will begin and then finally just a reminder that Spring Break um will be the 10th through the 14th next week and then 17th um the Monday Katie's birthday um will also be
a work day for staff and we hope that our staff and students um even though we had a couple extra days break with snow and weather um enjoy a nice spring break and a little bit different pace thank you thank you Julie um do any board members have any comments related to any
upcoming events for their um policy or Comm committees yes um I have one from the Dei committee um the Woodbury racial Equity collaborative is having a speaker series and um the speaker is coming Wednesday March 19th at 500 pm at
Woodwinds Hospital uh his name is Dr yuru yuru Williams um I hope I pronounce that appropriately and but one of the things he'll be talking about is things like achievement gaps in education so it may be good for us to
attend perfect thank you anyone else okay on to 7.0 and that is our future meeting dates um our next board meeting is at the end of March so March 27 2025 and that is a Schoolboard business meeting here at the district service center at 6 pm. and then April 10th
another um or a Schoolboard Workshop meeting also here at the district service center at 6 pm and with that 8.0 and we are adjourned e for