Isn't it? >> Good evening. It is Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 6 PM. We are at the District Service Center in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the land of the Midawakin Dakota people. Midawakatin means dwellers of the spirit
lake. Our first item on the agenda is roll call. Dana [laughter] >> here. >> Here >> here. Okay. 2.0 pledge of allegiance. Please stand. I pledge algiance 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. [clears throat] >> 3.0 is approval of the agenda. Can I get a motion to approve?
>> So move. >> Second. >> Motion by Sharon, seconded by Simmyi. Any comments? >> All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion passes. 4.0 is comments to the board. At this time, we have one person
signed up to speak to the school board on an item related to South Washington County Schools. The board will not respond to or discuss your comments, vulgarity, character abuse, or specific complaints identifying staff, students, or task force members will not be
permitted. Each speaker is permitted to speak for up to three minutes in total. At the three minute mark, the microphone will be turned off and we will move on to the next agenda item. Um, our speaker tonight is Adam Ber. Right. [clears throat]
>> All right. Good evening. My name is Adam. I'm a parent of four students in the district, including three at Lake Middle School. I'm here regarding a situation that began as a student report of sexual harassment involving a staff member and more importantly how that situation was handled. After the report, I was I spoke with administration and
was told the staff member denied the allegation. I was also told there had been multiple prior concerns for 85 students described as social awkwardness and long pauses. Despite that, the situation was treated as a single and isolated incident and considered resolved.
patterns. The first issue, patterns are being acknowledged but not fully evaluated. I requested the matter be reviewed by somebody outside the school instead of remained internal. That's the second issue. There's no consistent independent review for serious student boundary concerns. This by itself allows
for the district to cover up anything they don't want to be escalated. I also learned that the background checks are done at hiring and after that the system relies on self-disclosure. That's the third issue. There's a gap where new criminal behavior may not be known unless it is voluntarily reported.
I was also told that unless something is substantiated, it may not move beyond certain levels. That's the fourth issue. Serious concerns may never reach higher oversight if they are not confirmed within the safe system reviewing them. The superintendent herself told me that she has 20,000 students under her as an
excuse for her not being aware of what I would consider serious accusations. But the most important issue is this. The same day I was told the matter was resolved, my child another incident occurred and chose not to report it, not because it didn't happen, but because
she believed nothing would be done. That's the fifth issue. Student parents have lost trust in the reporting process. After this, I shared my concerns publicly without naming anybody and multiple parents reached out to me privately describing similar experiences where they felt the system did not
handle concerns appropriately. That's my sixth issue. This is not being this is not an experience of this is not experience as an isolated problem. Um, sorry, this this is not about one
incident. It's about gaps in the process. I raised these concerns directly with district leadership. I did not hear a clear plan for change. All that was attempted was to tap dance around serious issues in a weak attempt to silence me. So, I'm not here just to point out problems. I'm here asking for
action. asking the board require mandatory escalations beyond the school level where repeated concerns. Implement independent or external review for serious student boundary or harassment complaints. Establish a system to identify patterns, not isolate
incidents, and create a way to measure whether students actually trust the reporting process. Because right now, from what I've experienced and what other parents are saying, the trust is not there. And when students don't trust the system, they don't report. And when they don't report, problems don't get addressed. At that point, the system
isn't protecting the kids, it's protecting itself. That needs to change. >> Thank you. >> Okay. 5.0 student highlights. And we have athletics and activities and that will be introduced by assistant superintendent Christine Schaefer.
[clears throat] >> Good evening, school board members and superintendent. We have the opportunity to recognize outstanding student achievements across our high school. These accomplishments reflect not only the talent and dedication of our students, but also the
leadership and support provided by our activities directors and coaching staff. So, at this time, I'd like to invite forward our activities directors, Phil from Park, Jod from Woodbury High School, and assistant principal Anne Peterson from Eastridge to come on up. They will introduce and recognize our student athletes who were medal winners
at the state competition. [clears throat] Thank you for your continued support of our activities and athletics. And now I'll turn it over to our activities director. >> Thank you very much, Miss Schaefer. She summed it up perfectly. We'll still come back in June and kind of give you our overview. Was that the question? Yeah.
No, we'll still plan coming in June and kind of give you our overview. But just a can chance to share some of the great accomplishments that happened this winter with some of our students in all three high schools. We get get the opportunity to just do that tonight. So um I would like to introduce one of our wrestlers and What I will do is I'll
introduce our wrestling coach. Um, and I think kind of like Christine mentioned, our coaches work so hard, coaches, advisors, directors work so hard getting these kids to this level of success that they had. So, I thought I would invite our um, one of our head wrestling coach, Jim Lacrosse, who's been our coach for over 20 years. Um, I think we're at 22.
Um, and he's going to our wrestler who uh, placed at state wrestling. So, Mr. Lacrosse and Zach Har, come on up, please. Thank you, Phil. Thank you guys for having us. It's nice to recognize our wrestling program. And
I think it's 21 years. Okay. So, I've been coaching high school for about almost 30 now. And it's not very often a guy like Zach comes around. Uh he's been immediate impact when he came into our program as an eighth grader. Um first of all, he's got a 3.49 GPA, so
he's taken care of the academic part of it, which is awesome. Sorry, we'll have talking. No, Jim, you are talking. >> Okay, so um many many accomplishments. I'm gonna highlight a couple here, but um five time state, which is a second
only the second person in park history to do that. He finished with 216 wins in five years, which nobody's done that. Um number two on the alltime list. Uh two time state uh all state. He took fourth
at 12 pounds. two years ago and this year finished third with a great performance at the state tournament but a little bit about his character um him as a person. Uh he was seated third wrestling the number two guy at the semifinals and we lost at two to one
very difficult hard match somewhat controversial not the refs but we didn't get the win. Um it was it was very very tough and for him to come back the way he did the next day a dominant performance uh in the consolation semi-finals he won seven to two and then
the third place match he ended up winning 7 to2 again so just a dominant performance walked out of our heads very high at center and I'm just happy to say that he's he's been great to work with he's been a great leader helping the younger kids on the team this year um
did a great job on and off the mat and going to be a dragon. So, he just signed on Saturday for Morhead State University. So, I really believe he'll be our next All-American on our wall of fame. So, [applause] was ready to tell you what his plans
were for next year. [laughter] He's got a few things to say. >> Yeah. Thank you guys for recognizing me. Uh, I generally couldn't have done this without my coaches in my corner and uh, all my parents and booster club and everyone helping me out. And it meant a lot to represent Park High School on the
state level. And then I'm committed to Morhead. Yeah. [applause] >> Good evening. My name is Jody. I work at Woodberry High School. Uh today Mitch folks is uh going to be here today and I'm going to share information about him. Mitch is one of our 15 individuals
that made to state tournaments and he is our top finisher this year. He's a wrestler. Uh he's climbed steadily through his four years at Woodbury High School in the wrestling room. He went from wrestling as 160 pound nth grader with a zero and three varsity record as a 10th grader dramatically improving to
a 20 and 23 record as he grew to the 215 pound weight class. growing up in weight classes to the heavyweight as a junior finishing 26 and 21 making his first state tournament appearance with a second place finish last year and this year finishing with a 43 and six record
at the heavyweight taking first in the section and finishing fifth. Mitch is a three sport athlete. He's a leader all around in our school and he was honorable sophomore. He's a three time section threeA academic award winner, a captain in
football and wrestling, and our most valuable royal by his teammates. Congratulations to Mitch. [clears throat] >> Good evening. I am Peterson, one of the assistant principles at East. It is my honor to recognize some truly outstanding students who have
represented East High School at the highest level in both and gymnastics at the state tournament. Exceptional determination, grit, and perseverance throughout their season. Their commitment to excellence, whether in the intensity of competition,
discipline of preparation, the courage to perform under pressure, has led them to remarkable achievements on the stage. Beyond their accomplishments, they have exemplified what it means to represent our school community integrity, pride, and resilience. Their hard work and
dedication inspires not only their peers, but all of us. We are incredibly proud of each of them and grateful for the way they have showcased the very best of East High School. [laughter] Tonight, first, we have um our coaches
are Tammy McIntyre and Katie Schultz. Katie is here. I'd like to invite her up as well. Sing and Jason. [clears throat] Thank you for having us. My name is Katie. I have had the debate coach at Easter for 13 seasons. One of my
favorite things about coaching debate is that students don't win state tournaments just on sheer talent, just on sheer intelligence. There's so much that goes into it. These two kiddos I have had the privilege of coaching young
wonderful young [laughter] had the privilege of coaching for the last four years and they [clears throat] have put in so much work um partnered both with each other and with other students. Um but more than that they've also given back to their team. They were both captains this year
and their mark that they've left on our our younger class of students is going to be So, I'm pleased to announce our first ever debate stage champions and Jason.
>> Uh, yeah, I'm Jason. First of all, I'd like to give a couple thank yous. First of all, going to God, everything that I am and everything that I will be comes through him, and I can see that. And second of all, to my family, my dad who's here right now, and my mom and my younger brother who couldn't make it.
Thank you to all of you and I couldn't have done it without your support. Third, I'd like to thank my coaches at Eastridge, Katie, who is here now, as well as Tammy is on and Aiden, who have just been uh wonderful at supporting us, not only just in the state tournament, but all throughout my four years of my
career. And again, I couldn't have done that without them. Finally, I'd like to recognize some of my teammates. Some of them who I've been partnered with such as Anya and Vincent. Uh, and they've truly like made me sure that I wanted to pursue debate as a four-year activity
and and with them like the successes that I have now. I'd also like to thank some other students such as Manura, a hill, a Jacob. All of them have been very supportive friends and have made debate a very fun activity outside of just the competitive aspect. The state
tournament was held in Adina High School which was originally scheduled for the U of M but had to be rescheduled and we recognized that the school in our category public forum has been dominated by a team outside of the district for a multiple uh by many years almost six
years and going into it we knew that it was going to be a very tough challenge but through hard work and preparation we were fortunately able to come through. The state tournament was my last tournament ever, but I got to accomplish everything that I
aspired to ever since I joined the team as a freshman and all throughout my four years. And I couldn't have asked for a better end to this group. Again, thank you to everyone and this has been a great, >> you [clears throat] know, my speech will be fairly similar. I'll start off with
[laughter] First to Thank God for everything and how it made possible with all the blessings I had in my life. Also like to thank my family, my parents who are over there and my brother who can make it today for making supporting me in every aspect of my life that has made
everything possible for me. Next up of course my coaches Katie uh Tammy is everyone that has mentored me throughout the years throughout the four years I've been in high school also made it incredibly fun experience outside the competition. And lastly, I would also
like to thank my teammates. Many uh standout teammates like Jacob, Ana Hill, all these people made this activity again really fun to do outside of the activity itself. Katie always likes to say that debate is a communication activity. I'd like to wholeheartedly agree with her because before I joined
debate, I would probably never be able to speak to um say even two people in a room, but right now this seems pretty natural to me. [laughter] So much all my coaches and everyone involved. Thank you so much. [applause]
>> Oh, wait. Can I ask what are you guys doing next year? Are you both seniors? >> Yeah. >> Can you go back to the >> Yeah. >> Um, yeah. Uh, I guess like I committed to Northwestern. >> Yeah, I'll be studying finance at
Carlson at the >> Thanks. >> [applause] >> And next, if I could please invite Caroline, our gymnastics. Um, well, I just want to say how excited and proud I am to be recognizing Lane
Schwenbach and all of her accomplishments. this year as an eastern gymnast. Um she has a lot of accomplishments this year. Um she was the section 3A gymnastics champion in the allaround.
She was also the section 3A champion in vault bars beam and floor. So she swept the full day. Um she was all conference part of the allsection team. She was all state in the both bars beam floor and
the allaround. Laney was awarded Miss Gymnastics which well actually for the second year in a row miss gymnastics. So out of all the single A and double A gymnastics teams that means that Laney had the highest all-around average of
all gymnasts in the state of Minnesota for high school. Yeah. So two years in a row for that. Really amazing. Um, Laney holds the school record um on the floor exercise with a 9.8. She holds the all-around record with a 38.8. You may
have no idea what these numbers mean, but they're amazing. Okay, they're not just amazing for um Easter, but just all around. I mean, it's out of a 10, so if you're getting a 9.8, that's pretty pretty amazing, right? Um, she shares
the school vault record um with actually our assistant coach which is kind of well actually really cool. Um but that score is a 9.875 and then she also shares the school record in the bars at the 9.7. Um Laney
competed this year at the state meet with her team. We got fourth place which was really exciting. Um and then she ended the year um at the individual state meet where she was the silver medalist in the allaround. Um she was
the silver medalist on bars, the silver medalist on folks and Lady was the bronze medalist on the floor exercise at the state meet this year which is just phenomenal. Um, yes, Ela, yes, Laney is [clears throat] clearly um an amazing and talented
gymnast, but you know, just as her coach and getting to know her, like I feel like she should be celebrated for um just the extraordinary young woman that she's become. um you know throughout her time as a Raptor
and I think especially this year learned to um kind of lean on her coaches and her teammates. She was willing to make mistakes but also so willing to believe in herself and trust the training that she's done. Um I think like the most
beautiful and inspiring thing to kind of witness was just watching Laney and her resilience as she was out on the competition floor. um you know, if she was making a mistake or something was off or she even had a fall, um Lee would
she would bounce back with this calm but determined mindset and just finish her routine with such grace and success. Um I think that um Laney really learned how to just kind of hold her head high no
matter what situation um that she was in and just find the joy in the process of this sport. Um, I think that this allowed her to, um, be more carefree, just have so much fun, live in the moment, and I think just because of all
of these things, it, you know, allowed her to end her career is what I think probably one of the greatest gymnasts that Easter has really ever had. And I've been here for 11 years, so I mean, she's one of the greatest. She's super cool. I mean, I'm honored to have been
her coach and most especially honored to be introducing and recognizing her tonight. She's just an exceptional young woman and, you know, just so so proud. So, it's really cool. Yeah. >> Hi. I quickly just wanted to say that my
favorite memory in the past few years has been getting to go to state with my team and individually each year. I'm so grateful to have been able to compete on the Easter gymnastics team for the past four years and represent my school and also our district.
It is truly something I'll never forget. So, I just wanted to thank you for honoring me here tonight and recognizing me for my accomplishments along with supporting me in girls gymnastics. Thank you. [applause] >> Lenny, are you a senior? [laughter]
I'm my plans for next year. I'm most likely going to W Madison, but I'm not going to continue gymnastics anymore. >> She just ended up so great. Let's end on a high. >> Hey, and we have Mitch Folks from
Woodberry here because our wrestler can say a few words. >> Hey, sorry, I know Jody already uh introduced me. over at the target center getting sworn in for the National Guard. So, I guess that's what I'm doing after this. [laughter] But besides that, I'm I'm either going
to go to St. Thomas or ISU, study uh finance and business and um try and make a a career in that. I just want to take a second and really just appreciate um the the ability to play sports like no matter who you are. Um, I'm sure this is
all over Minnesota, but it's so easy, um, in my experience in the Sawashko school school district to just come and join and be part of a team and a community, and it's the easiest way to make friends. Um, and I'm sure you see this in many sports, but wrestling, like
the people that you get to see and talk to, they don't always have incredible family lives. And it's just great to to see those guys come out um and to work their butts off
um to have a a place they can go that um isn't their homes. Um I got really lucky. I have two incredible parents, but um some of those guys, they don't really know what they're doing. Um and it's just great to um be there for them. And if they didn't have that, I don't
know what they'd be doing. Um, [snorts] a lot of them are going into great careers and they've taken some great advice. We've had three or four guys join National Guard. A bunch of guys that are um getting into trade jobs and colleges that um honestly if they didn't have the discipline um
from from wrestling, they probably wouldn't be doing because I'm going to be honest, a lot of the sport it it it's kind of it kind of sucks. It's not fun. [laughter] I'm sure it's the same for gymnastics. There's there's a lot of times that you don't want to do the things that uh you
have to do to be in positions to win. Um and that is a great lesson to learn because that's not going to stop. There's always going to be things that you don't want to do in your life that you're going to have to do to be in successful positions. So, thank you so much for the opportunity to do what I love. Um and I can't wait to see what
the next Royals will do. Thank you so much. >> [applause] >> Thank you. Okay, we will move on to 6.0 and that is our consent items. All consent items are considered routine and non-controversial by the school board and will be approved
by a single motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items. Prior to the meeting, board members had the opportunity to review each item and they may have requested that any item be moved to an action item for individual consideration. That did not happen. Did it see?
>> So, can I get a motion to approve? >> So, move. >> Second. >> Motion by Sharon, seconded by Simmyi. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. >> 7.0 information items. We do not have any this evening. So, we'll move on to
8.0 and that is our action items and we do have three. We will start with 8.1 and that is proposed policy changes and that will be presented by Julie Nielson, superintendent. >> Thank you. Um, I think first off we need some Kleenexes up here [clears throat]
so incredibly amazing and make us cry. Um, which uh plays into the importance of policy in our school district. So this evening I am here to present uh for final approval seven policies. Um they were reviewed and revised to reflect updates in Minnesota statutes along with
uh terms, legal references and cross references. Um the board policy committee of course reviewed them. We reviewed them our last workshop meeting. And so this evening, I am asking for approval of seven policies. And all seven of these policies in your board packet sit within that school board um
range. And so I'm asking for approval of those seven policies. >> Can I get a motion to approve? >> Motion [laughter] that >> Sammy. >> No. No. >> Seconded by Melinda. >> Sharon made the motion. Melinda seconded. >> Oh, Sharon. Okay. Any comments?
>> All those in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. >> 8.2 is revised budget for 202526 and that will be presented by Chris Blackburn, director of business services. >> Did you guys I wasn't sure if this was
on or not, but we'll go for it. So, good evening, Chair Schwarz, members of the board, and Superintendent Neielson. So, tonight I'm bringing forward the um revised budget for 2526 that we did discuss at the workshop meeting. So, school districts revise their budgets annually after student counts, state and
federal allocations, and labor expenses are better known than when the preliminary budget was accepted in June of the previous year. The school board was presented with the 2526 revised budget on March 5th, and significant variances from the preliminary budget in the general fund were highlighted at
that time. There's been no changes to the information that was presented um then either in the attachments or the presentation. So below administration recommends approval of the 2526 revised budget as noted on the administrative report. >> Can I get a motion to approve?
>> So moved. Second. >> Motion by Simmy, seconded by Louise. Any comments? >> I just have one question. I'm so sorry, Katie. Um Katie told me to keep it short. Um so my question is on the community education fund we have. So
we'll be carrying a negative fund balance on that. So can you remind me do [clears throat] we have to zero balance that at any year we can just let it ride and community educa as we fund community education and as community education kind of they have a number of years to
to fix community education's a little different and that it can ride so to speak but certainly if their [clears throat] cash position would change as well that they do not have the cash resources the general fund would be required to step in. Okay. >> So, I know that um Director Winshell is working on um just some adjustments and
looking at what that um looks like. Particularly, I know that um Erin Neielson when he's presented the audit before has sometimes um just commented on the position particularly of the school readiness um fund balance in that overall community education fund because of course there's some distinct
restricted funds within. So, we'll continue to work on that and continue to monitor that um because again general fund would need to if cash position would change as well. >> Okay. And then the nutrition one, is this um inclusive of all of the improvements that the nutrition services
is planning to make or no? So this would be the um would include anything that would be cashwise that will be anticipated to go out this year. Um so incurred and um completed within the current fiscal year, but any others would be I would likely suspect that when they bring their budget um I believe next month that they will
reflect a pretty significant um amount of equipment purchases. So do we acrew when we make the order or like if we're ordering equipment do we acrew for the >> So equipment has to be um available for use by year end. So if we order it perhaps but it's not avail then all of
that expenditure will then be accounted for in the next Okay. >> Yep. It's a modified approval. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Any other questions or comments? Okay. All those in favor I >> Any opposed? Motion passes. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Okay. Okay, we'll move on to 8.3 and that is release of probationary teachers and that will be presented by Abby Baker, executive director of human resources and operations. >> Good evening, Chair Schwarz, members of the school board, and superintendent
Nielsen. Goodness, after the uplifting message from the students tonight, now I need to present one of my least favorite parts of staffing season, which is the termination of probationary teaching contracts. Um, during the 2025 2026 school year, as in past years, we have
many exceptional teachers working for the school district. It is necessary to pass a resolution to terminate the teaching contracts of probationary teachers. The reasons for release include student-driven scheduling, changes in enrollment, curriculum changes, union contract transfer article
language, lensure issues, and performance issues. You will receive the non-renewal letters of the probationary teachers who must be released at the end of the current school year. The this resolution terminates teaching contracts at the end of the 2025 2026 school year
with a non-renewal for the 2026 2027 school year. Administration recommends approval of this resolution. >> Okay. Can I get a motion to approve? >> So moved by Sharon, seconded by Simmyi. Any comments or questions?
Okay, seeing none, this is a roll call vote. Dana, >> Elizabeth Bachmanber, >> yes. >> Louise Hines, >> yes. >> Brian Clark is absent. Melinda Dos, >> yes. >> Sydney Fetnik, >> yes. >> Sharon Vanlier, >> yes. >> Katie Schwarz, >> yes. >> Thank [snorts] you. >> Thank you.
>> Okay, we'll move on to 9.0. And that is our superintendent report. >> Thank you. Um I think when everyone walked into the space tonight, um the first thing I heard them say is, "Oh, the artwork." Um, so take a look at the beautiful artwork people who are looking
at uh from home as well or online. Um, and it's also out in the lobby. Uh, we had our elementary art show last evening and the students all came in so proud to show off their art and get pictures. Grandparents, moms and dads, family members were all here to celebrate. So, a special thank you to our elementary
art specialists along with our artists that um that their their work is displayed. Um, next, just a reminder that our Woodbury Expo um is this week and we South Washington County Schools co-sponsor with the city of Woodbury um in the chamber March 28th. It'll be at M
Health. So, a little bit different setup. Typically, they use our schools and of course our schools are under construction. So, it'll be at M Health with a shuttle from Eastridge going back and forth. So, just expect probably parking at Eastridge and shuttling over to the expo. And while I talk about uh the Woodbury Expo, I also want to just
mention April 25th, we will have the Cottage Grove Expo and that will be again held at Park High School. Um next, a wonderful event that we are hosting with the city of Woodbury and the city of Cottage Grove, Citizens Against Sex Trafficking, um or CAST. Uh we will have
Executive Director Ashley Moore um on site uh to do the presentation as well as a panel. And so we have invited students, staff, community members, businesses, of course our cities to this presentation. And while we talk about uh
sex trafficking, um really the focus is more on these sexual exploitation and what students might be engaged with when we're thinking about devices and moving pictures, etc. So it'll be a very informative evening. We will have panel guests. um one of our local uh police
officers who works on the sex trafficking um in the sex trafficking area along with one of our own school social workers. So um next Tuesday, March 31st, Oakland Middle School, 6 o'clock p.m. And then finally, just to highlight because it's the day after our
next board meeting, um just to extend an invitation, April 10th, we have our mult multicultural event at Woodbury High School. Um from 5 to 8 o'clock there will be food trucks there. There's crafts, there's games, there's singing, there's dancing, there's just a lot of family fun. Um so schoolboard members
along with community members are all invited to attend. Thank you. Okay, we are on to 10.0 and that is our future meeting dates. We have April 9th, 2026, our schoolboard workshop meeting here at the district service center at 6 pm. And then April
23rd is our schoolboard business meeting also here at the district service center at 6 p.m. With that 11.0 and we are adjourned. Happy me hey me hey me hey me hey me hey me hey me hey me hey me hey me hey