Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America as presented. No changes. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> So moved by the 11. >> Second by Schmidt.
To approve the agenda as presented. All in favor, please say I. >> Those opposed. Motion passes. Moving to some future events. Please check the district calendar and resource guide or the district website for a complete list of monthly events. Monday, May 25th,
2026, no school for students and staff. DSC is closed. Tuesday, May 26th, 2026, school board session at 5:00 p.m. at the DSC. Friday, May 29th, 2026, high school graduation at 1 p.m. at Lee and Penny
Anderson Arena at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026, transition program graduation at 1 p.m. at the DSC. Friday, June 5th, 2026, last day of
school. And Tuesday, June 9th, 2026, school board regular meeting at 7 p.m. with communication to the board administration at 6:45. Moving to consent agenda. Can I get a motion? >> Second.
>> So move by Skellyy, second by Mlullen to approve the following items of the consent agenda. Minutes of the April 14, 2026 school board regular meeting. Bills paid for March 2026 in the following amount of $4,28,616
and personnel items. All in favor, please say I. >> Those opposed. Motion passes. Moving to discussion, reports and information items. Engaged and enthusiastic learners. Align work of
adults to continuously improve personalized instruction and responsiveness to meet students unique and varied needs. Deepen student engagement through innovation and personalized learning update. Dr. Hope Ron, welcome. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone. You
may notice I am not here by myself tonight and in a short moment I'll bring up some of our uh teachers who have been uh very uh incremental or uh important to the work here and uh until they come up I just wanted to give you a very broad level overview on some of the work
happening within this district operational project deepening student engagement through innovative and personalized learning. And when we look at the past two years, our teacher facilitators, which we've um brought you along on in previous presentations, have
been lead learners and implementers on all of the design work that's happening around student engagement. Uh at and in addition to that, at the elementary level, they've been lead learners and implementers of all the literacy learning that has happened through the
read act. Okay. We have two teacher facilitator groups. One group includes teachers uh from across early childhood, our K4 elementary schools, the 56 elementary side of Westwood, and it also
includes our uh K12 centerbased special education programs and teachers. There are 27 teachers in this group of facilitators. The second group includes teachers from the 78 side of Westwood and Spring Lake Park High Schoolclud.
And then that group also includes our K12 specialists and elective teachers. And so we have 26 teacher facilitators in that group. This year both teams came together uh across the schools five times to first learn themselves and then
to design professional learning experiences for their colleagues. Uh the secondary group was led by Dr. Meliss Melissa Olsen, our director for learning design and student engagement. and the elementary group was led by Amy Berlin, our district's literacy coordinator, who happens to be sitting in.
So, uh again, uh they will give you a clue as far as what their experiences have been, but uh just an overview of that role over the past two years. As I already mentioned, our teacher facilitators engage in their own learning first. And the way these folks
dive into the learning is just incredibly impressive. They push each other's thinking. They challenge some mental models. Um, and they have fun all at the same time. Um, they've also been working over the past two years to develop their own skills in the design
and facilitation of professional learning. That's not something you learn in a teachered program. So that's learning that we've been doing together as a group. They've been using the design qualities that we use when we design for kids and they're applying
them to the adults in the learning environment. Um they've also engaged in some learning around our Spring Lake Park leadership approach. Um and that has resulted in some really great ongoing opportunities for them to to uh continue their growth as leaders within
our system. And then uh finally they are also our first implementers of the learning often implementing early and often so that they can share with their colleagues their experiences where they found all the fatal flaws so that their co their colleagues can benefit from
that and then also to share the impact that they're seeing with students. Um I had connected with a number of our teacher facilitators to see who might be available tonight and want to come and share about their experiences. The schedules of our secondary teacher
facilitators did not line to the board night and meeting, but I did want to share a few of their thoughts that were part of their end of year reflection. And you'll see some of those on the screen in front of you. Um, the prompt, by the way, here was over the past two
years, I have learned dot dot dot. Um, and again, there's a number of of uh quotes you can read there. The the one thing one of the things that stands out to me is that there has been so much growth and reflection from our our all
of our teacher facilitators and from these comments our secondary teacher facilitators at multiple levels. Okay. There's been a ton of reflection, learning and growth with their own practices when they think about designing work for the kids in their own
classrooms. Uh there has been learning, growth, reflection when they think about um working with their colleagues specific to sharing ideas and practices through through learning and collaboration together. And then um there has been a lot of learning and
growth on their ability to kind of see the system, right? Bringing people together across schools provides an opportunity to hear from each other and get a better overall view of what's happening across the system. So with that, uh you to listen to me all
the time. So I am going to turn it over. What I'm going to do is each introduce each uh teacher facilitator one by one. I want to share a little bit about briefly about my experience with them and then let them share about their experience. So we're going to start with Lisa Commtock. Lisa teaches at North
Point Elementary. Lisa knows her students deeply, like really really deeply. and she uses what she knows to design work that helps them celebrate what they can do and guides
them to their next steps in learning. It's just quite a unique ability she has to do that. So her self-reflection skills and then taking action from those reflections are one of her biggest strengths that I think she brings to the work and to her role as facilitator. So
I am going to share her. Good evening. Um, when I replied to that email that came out and expressed my interest in becoming a lead learner, teacher facilitator, um, I just may have read a little bit too quickly and skimmed over the teacher facilitator
portion. I didn't really let my brain pause and register my fear of speaking in front of adults. Instead, I instantly got excited about the lead learning opportunity around phonics. I wanted knowledge and understanding of phonics
and how it intertwines with becoming a proficient reader so that I could be increasingly more effective in my role as an academic specialist, a role that I'm truly passionate about. Along the way, I've stretched in ways I would not
have been able to comprehend two years ago. I've learned to be a designer to put engagement at the forefront of my planning for both students and staff. Amy did a beautiful job of modeling this when we met here to plan for our
upcoming professional development days. She helped us to be reflective of our own practices, encouraged collaboration between schools and empowered us to be change makers both in our mindsets and in our daily practices, leading by
example. I did also become a tad more confident as a facilitator of learning with my colleagues. I've grown to understand that engagement is not simply a fun classroom activity or a flashy end of unit project. As I see it now,
engagement is multiaceted and applicable to every part of our day. It is how the content of the lesson is delivered with organization. It is understanding how and when to cut, keep, and create with our specific
learners in mind. It is bringing the SLP competencies to life with authenticity and meaningful connections. It is being intentional in building in opportunities for affiliation and protecting our learners from any adverse
consequences. To do this routinely and well, we must know our students deeply and remain flexible as we observe, support, and respond to their engagement throughout the learning process. My academic specialist role allows me to
step inside multiple classrooms throughout the day. I can say with confidence that the learning we did over the last two years is evident. It has transformed teaching practices increased collaboration and driven us to design so
our learners are willingly bidding their time and attention. And this is the essence of engagement. Thank you. Okay, next I'll have Jen Bala come up. Jen is a teacher at Park Terrace
Elementary who impresses me over and over again with your sincere and authentic implementation of professional learning. This implementation goes well beyond literacy and student engagement. Jen has also taken on being a lead
learner and implementer of a strategy we call teacher child interactions that is a part of our uh learner centered environment playbook and um all of her learning and direct implementation pays off for our kids a ton. Um I actually
just sat down with Lindsay, our principal of Park Terrace, and Sarah actually who's coming up in short while to review a points of spring data. We had uh one of our colleagues from the Department of Education with us to do this and um we looked explicitly at the
reading growth of students in Jen's kindergarten class and we were all completely blown away. Um it's really incredible and astonishing and that just is only one little piece of data that would never reflect all that she does as
she's implementing this learning. I mean I think her kindergarten kids run her phonics lessons by now for sure, right? Like with those routines. So, um, with that, I'm gonna have Jen come up and share about her experiences. >> All right. Over the past two years, this experience has been incredibly
meaningful for me, both professionally and personally. Going into it, I honestly didn't know what to expect, but I was excited for the opportunity to learn new things, especially around reading instruction. Throughout this process, I have learned many effective reading strategies and
phonics routines that have been able to help my students immediately and I was able to bring back into my classroom. Um, one of the biggest areas of growth for me has been learning more about phonics instruction and creating consistent daily routines that support
my students as readers. These routines I've developed this year have helped my students um and have truly made a difference in my class. I have seen students grow in their confidence, their independence, and their overall reading abilities because of the intentional
practice instructors in structures these routines provide each day. I've also learned a lot about student engagement and how to better meet the needs of all the learners by being more thoughtful in how I design my lessons. One important change I've made is giving students more
choice and ownership in their learning, even at the kindergarten level. I've seen how empowering it can be when young students are given the opportunity to make choice, take responsibility, and become active participants in their learning. It has helped increase both
engagement and confidence in my classroom. Being one of the first people to implement some of this learning was sometimes challenging, but it was also incredibly rewarding. It gave me the opportunity to reflect on my own teaching, try new strategies, and then share what worked with colleagues.
Overall, this experience has helped me grow as an educator and it has had a very positive impact on both my students and Okay, next up is Kristen Sorenson from Centerview Elementary. They don't actually know what I'm saying about them, so this is all a shout out for
everyone. Um, Kristen has always been recognized uh for her deep knowledge of literacy and for implementing really strong practices with her students. Kristen has also had, she might argue with me, but a very quiet and strong
influence on her teammates that she's been working with. Um, and I'm so thrilled that through this she has had the opportunity to expand that influence with all of her colleagues at Centerview and the rest of the district when
everyone comes together. Okay. I actually just saw Kristen on professional learning days. I'm out and about quite a bit. I actually just saw Kristen facilitate learning for her Centerview colleagues on April 3rd. I happen to be there when you were up front and she was a pro really. Um,
here's what I heard. I heard her listen thoughtfully to the questions and examples that her colleagues were sharing and I heard her provide a amazing balance of both pressure and support as her colleagues considered
their next steps in learning which by the way sounds exactly like what she does with her kids. So Kristen take it away. Hi everyone. As Hope said, I am Kristen and I am an academic specialist. And
when I saw the email about the lead learner and teacher facilitator, I thought yes, I am passionate about reading and learning of literacy and I was just excited to begin the journey.
Um over the last couple years the journey has been much more than expected and I feel like I have grown personally um just in my personal experience. I have really deepened my practices. Being
able to talk to the other lead facilitators um at our meetings has just been really amazing. They bring such unique insight and um I am continuing to learn from each of them. One of the activities that we did was taking unit
designs and looking at those and analyzing those and lessons. And I was able to do that with one of my lessons. Um, as an academic specialist, I spend a lot of time working on foundational skills with our students. And um I was
able to enhance those lessons with our learning and with feedback from my colleagues, adding some deeper comprehension and building background with our students. Work working on fluency with them. Um and also incorporating
affiliation and affirmation, some of the design qualities that we've really learned deeply about over the last two years. That was so exciting for me. But what was even more exciting was to see the joy that it brought to the students.
I saw my students who work hard every day but often are focused on their own personal goals really working in collaboration with each other. I saw them persisting and really working
through challenges and um finally sharing their learning and their progress with a larger audience. Some wanted a larger audience than others, but we can also respect that. Um but so that was my personal um
I'd say that was personally what I appreciated the most was just seeing that in students and continuing to work on going outside what is just foundational but also deepening our students learning and becoming more of a
designer on a personal level. Um at the building level at Center View I was able to work with an amazing team of lead learners and um when we would come here to collaborate amongst other lead learners at the district, we were given
some ideas and kind of looking at the literacy learning our objectives. But then we were also able to say based on our students, based on our staff, this is where we maybe want to personalize knowing that we have a larger population
of EL students. Here is can incorporate in order to really help our students and our staff. So that was greatly appreciated. Um we were in vertical groups. So each small group when we did our facilitation
um had classroom teachers K4 as well as support staff. And what was really cool is as we progressed through our learning, we really were able to build trust and kind of look deeply into our practices.
um and examine those practices from many lenses. And that was just really I think unique um in I think about other educators that I know that are doing some of this um read act training alone
and how different our experience was to theirs. And so I think that is one thing that really set us apart was um how we were able to look together, deepen our practices, look at the student experience K4, how can we enhance, what
do we need to create, how can we um learn from each other and really add those practices. So I am very equally excited about this. Um I also know that this is not That was one year. This year
we've continued with our new staff doing some smaller learning as well, smaller group learning. Um, but the conversations that we've continued have just it's amazing because we have a a level playing field and foundation from our
learning last year, but we're continuing those conversations in our staff learning meetings, in our PLC's, in our weekly team meetings. our learning is present and ever evolving and teachers are thinking of themselves as designers
of literacy learning which is the really cool thing. Um so overall I've really appreciated this opportunity. I feel like man I'm glad I signed up even though yes the facilitation part was a little scary
but um overall it's been amazing and I look forward to continuing to our students and how they will continue to reap the benefits from our staff and our learning together. Thank you.
>> Okay, last but certainly not least is Sarah Moses. Um Sarah works at Park Terrace Elementary in a role that we call innovative and personalized learning specialist. She will tell you a little bit more about that, I think. Um, but I wanted to let you all know that
when Sarah was a classroom teacher, whenever Amy or I needed an example of a strong literacy practice, we'd be like, Sarah, can we videotape you? Or, Sarah, can you share the work you designed so we can share it with other people across
the system? And she always accommodated us for that, which we are so grateful. um she her role really um provides coaching and support to teachers on a daily basis. It is a perfect fit for
her. Her optimism and her belief that every child can learn at deep levels and her belief that every adult can learn at deep levels makes it perfect and she has 100% knocked it out of the park. Um, you
can tell I'm just so proud of all of these people and if they were if all 27 were here, I could say things for each of them. I got to be a lead learner with them um when we went through the literacy learning and then I was I've been in those meetings for the last two
years. So, I have been so grateful for an opportunity to get to know each of them on a deeper level than what I ever have before. So, all that being said, Sarah, why don't you come wrap this up for us? As Sarah comes up, I'll just share an example of her optimism was that when I asked Hope last week, do we
have people to come and talk about this? She said one of the things she said, "Well, Sarah can make it, but this was before game five, no game six of the Wolves," she said, "But if the Wolves win games six and seven, they'll be playing on Tuesday night and then I can't come." And I was [laughter] I looked at Hope and I said I said to
Hope, "Well, she's going to be there." It's like, as much as I like the Wolves, I didn't have that same optimism. >> You're more of a realist, I guess. So this has really just been an amazing opportunity um for shared learning and implementation of the science of reading. So I've just personally been
incredibly grateful to be a part of this process from my own initial learning around the science of teaching reading um to designing the adult learning experiences with my fellow teacher facilitators to then seeing the implementation in classrooms and um talking to kids and seeing the impact on
both student learning and student engagement that this work has really brought to light. So during the learning at our school, the teacher leaders facilitated um this learning with groups of teachers in mixed roles and grade levels. Um the teacher leaders were able to share the researchbased strategies
that they learned from um the OLA platform, which is what our literacy learning platform is called. Um as well as sharing reflections of what they had implemented with their own students. Um the groups we created for this learning were intentionally more vertical, so teachers who don't always get to work with one another every single day um
than what we had done in years And this was a huge success for us. Um it allowed teachers to have dialogue with colleagues who have different daily experiences, different backgrounds and different areas of expertise. This really helped increase our um shared understanding and allowed each educator
to make connections to their own work regardless of what their job title is. Um, having all of our arrows point in the same direction to meet our vision of supporting students in their reading, writing, speaking, and listening allowed everyone to share ownership and really excitement about this work. Um, like Hol
said, in my role as an innovative and personalized learning specialist, monitoring implementation of professional learning has always been a part of my work. Um, but this was different. The implementation of this professional learning has far exceeded my expectations. I see teachers using strategies directly
from our learning and students responding with joy and pride as they make gains in their own learning. Um, in my conversations with students, they can express why they're learning, what they are, and how it will help them become stronger in literacy. And it has been really fun having these conversations
with students. Um, when I go into a specific second grade classroom, I get surrounded so students can tell me about what's been going on in their chapter book and if their predictions were correct. Um, after being in a kindergarten classroom where students were practicing letters and sounds, they
asked me to please stay so I could listen to them um, use these skills while they read words in the books that he was providing for them. Um, one of the students turned to me and whispered during a phonics lesson, "My parents would be so proud of me right now." So,
I've seen an impact and I know we're on the right track with this work because I see that evidence every day when I walk the halls, when I chat with teachers, when I go into classrooms, um, and because the students have told me. So, we are going to hear from the students now.
I think >> my favorite things to do is spell word because I like tapping words. >> You like to tap the sounds? >> Yes. >> How would you tap the sounds? Bug. book. Thank you.
>> My favorite part about reading is that when I learn um about new words, then it makes more sense when I'm reading and it makes it really more fun. Um when I get to know the actual words and what they mean so that I can understand it and
it's more exciting. My favorite part of reading is um learning I have it just like um I never knew Bridges was a real person. >> Why is reading important?
>> Because everybody needs to know how to read. >> Um what do you do if you come to a word that you don't know when you're reading? >> I sound it out or >> Okay. And last thing, um what is new that you have learned in reading this
year >> that tigers that baby tigers leave their parents when they're two. >> All right. Is there anything else you want to say about reading? No. Okay. Thank you. Okay.
>> Why is reading important? Because you can learn how to read because it is good for your brain
is um um it's like when you read uh other stuff it's like you learn other stuff and things. >> So your favorite part of reading is learning new things. Okay. Um, what has been your favorite part of reading this
year? >> I I like Well, right now, right? >> Right now is your favorite part. Well, what's going on right now? >> Well, we're reading a book called Walk Two Moons, and it's all about mystery,
and it's getting really good. >> So, we get to write notes to to the person who's in it since they're on a road trip. That sounds really interesting. Thanks for sharing, Maria. >> All right, so that brings us to the end of the presentation, although I feel
like we could listen to kids for the next three hours, but we won't. And again, I just want to close by just sharing great appreciation for these four for coming tonight to share their experiences with you and for all of the 53 teacher facilitators that we've had in over the last couple of years. the
the time and energy they've dedicated to it and um their their growth that they've had themselves and their ability to share that learning with their colleagues has been really quite a unique experience that I think everyone has benefited from ultimately our kids
our students in the system. That's what we have. >> Any questions? >> I have comments. I think it's really fun to, you know, we hear about it from a different level of, you know, engagement and we hear about it on the head level
and it's always really nice to see you come in and show us exactly what's happening and hearing from the kids and seeing this working and does it work perfect all the time? No, it doesn't. But it's it's really good. I mean, I'm impressed and I'm I love the passion. I
think it just makes me really really proud of our district and of you guys, too. So, thank you so much. >> Yeah. I The hard part about this work is that there's such a long cycle, right, between the start of what you do to get
to the next layer or the next tier, however we measure it. And so, takes a lot of patience and perseverance to navigate all of that. And so, I'm really excited where how far we've come in this not short, two years is full, right, in
this time. And I'll be excited to hear as those kids go through their different grades how those next teachers see the impact that you guys have laid from a foundation standpoint. Um because I think that's like that's where the payoffs really are going to start to add
up is when they advance to their next levels. So really well done. Really great. >> I also just want to say thank you. Um these guys said it. Having people come in and and show us examples of what's really happening is extremely helpful
and just rewarding for us as we get to, you know, hear about these things at this level. I also want to say thank you to the whole administration and and each of you who play a key part of this in terms of you know I one of you alluded to it like other districts teachers were just sort of given these
pieces of training to do to meet the act requirements and in this district we look at it as how do we do this in a way that is intentional put it into our learning by design process how do we do this well so that it's as effective as possible and yes it's another requirement but how do we just keep it
in with what we're doing and and and make the best of it. So, congratulations to everybody and and you guys who actually do all the hard work every day because that just really is another thing that sets my park apart and makes me very proud. So, thank you for being here.
>> I echo what everybody has said. Um I'm not surprised, but I am in awe of what we just watched. I can watch it longer. Um so, thank you very much. Um, and I, like Kelly, look forward to seeing what
the future holds with this. And I'm very proud of you all. So, thank you. >> You just want to go ahead. >> I just have a maybe one question, maybe two. Um based on just the the video of the kiddos sharing uh how phonics has
helped them in reading, have you seen improvements in other areas such as comprehension and verbal expression uh in their vocabulary? >> Which one of you wants to come up?
>> Sarah. [laughter] >> Yeah. Really? >> [laughter] >> questions only get easier from here. >> Um yes, the answer is yes. Um we see examples of that just in informal conversations with students. I didn't
add it to my um prepared document that I was going to like students now ask me what words mean when I'm talking to them. So if we're having a conversation mean they understand that they don't know and that's impacting their comprehension. So I've seen that. I've
also seen um huge impacts in what they are able to say about what they're reading and how they get to present it. So, one of the really cool things that we didn't or I know I didn't speak as much about was about the um design qualities. And so, teachers are letting students kind of choose how they want to
share what they know. And a lot of that means bringing in audiences of authentic people or people that are important to them. So even other teachers they've had in the past or students that um they want to see their learning um or families. So yes, and I think that they're excited to share what they know
um and proud to have that opportunity. Um especially in our older grades, we've seen more of a focus. There was a whole module learning around morphology and syntax. So a lot more focus on root words, prefixes, and suffixes. to learn those you can learn a lot more
vocabulary as well as a lot of the comprehension strategies um and including we had our science specialists at the elementary so they could do a lot with vocabulary as well in the science classroom so there's been a lot of growth in the area of those things um another example is I did some rounding at terrace during their literacy night
with families about what they're proud of their child's learning this year overwhelmingly of the families I talked to the reading achievement stood out greatly how much they recognized their children have become readers over the last And one of the parents I talked to wasn't real fluent in English and had a
hard time talking. So I said, "Can I talk to the child?" And asked the child what they were proud of in their learning this year. And she said, "I learned I learned how to speak in English." And I asked her why that was important to her, why that why she valued that. And she said, "Well, because now I can learn more with my friends and talk to them in school." So we also had our multilingual K12 learn
teachers across the system did this learning. And so our language for our English learners has also been greatly across from just the phonics and the segmenting that you saw. There's been great growth.
>> Awesome. I I appreciate that because that that just highlights the we we talk about phonics and and some of the fundamentals, but it extends further than that. It extends to comprehension. It extends to verbal communication. extends to being able to express oneself
uh using words. So no, this is exciting. I'm I'm I'm glad we made this switch this change whether it's a requirement. Yes. But I think the way we implemented it is absolutely phenomenal and thank thank you all of you for your hard work.
It's appreciated. I think one of the things that I just want to point out a number you mentioned and I want to give this is some uh credit to the board in that not this school year but the previous school year you supported which there were some people in our community that concerns about not having our
students come for a couple of days so we could really have full days of learning for our teachers to focus on this training and that's you can hear hopefully tonight from them what how important that time was because I do think yes it was the reading part that
was required. What I heard them each talk about it was more than just the reading. It was the also how do we make this engaging for kids? How do we how do we help the kids become owners of their own learning, right? How do we how do they learn what their strengths are as a learner? Um where their areas of growth,
all of these kinds of things. So it was more than just providing time to sit down and work through an OLA module. There was time set aside for that, but it was what's that learning that comes together and then getting their peers in front of them and making sure that you had the support, the time to work through some of the fears that you shared, which I can share there's
nothing more fear that brings more fear than getting up in front of colleagues. To this day, it's like I don't really get that nervous I'm going to get in front of a group of teachers or even our principles talk. But if I have to go to our association of metropolitan school districts and talk to a group of superintendents, I get a little bit more
nervous. I can still remember the first day I got up in front of teachers. It was a sixth grade teacher in Eden Prairie and I had to talk about authentic assessment in front of a group of um teachers a lifetime ago, but I can still remember how much the principal had to hold my hand and convincing me to
do that because I didn't want to do that. So, thank you very much though because I'm glad you were excited about the learning and I'm glad you said, "Okay, I'll do the facilitation part, too." Right? because you've helped a your peers grow in so many ways and I
think it's also I asked to um try to bring these back up these quotes from the secondary because you can see some of the same things you had the opportunity to hear them say like Karen said I learned how to better connect with and understand my students as well as about our larger school and district system. Mike Hill said he learned how to
encourage and support teachers when the work gets hard and to continue to communicate well with one another. Um Kathy Stalaker said this work has challenged me in so many positive ways and made me a better teacher and colleague. So it's one of those things that was like there was that hidden benefit of like okay how do we take this
requirement when couple years before that we'd spent time on a lot of reading professional learning. How do we take that really make it a value for our teachers rather than just ask them to put in a bunch of time. So um huge kudos Amy Birlin had a chance to step up Melissa Olsson who's not here. hope the
work and leadership they provided but mostly to those 53 teachers who were willing to step out that step into that kind of part that's a little bit fearful and um get up in front of your peers because that's the part that's hard. So thank you so much for doing that. You made a a huge difference for kids across
the system. So thanks. >> Thank you everyone. All right, moving to effective operations. Improve our effective management of human, financial, and physical resources. Monthly financial report for March 2026. Miss Amy Schultz,
>> she does have already laughing at me having to follow that. >> Amy's gonna have a video of kids talking about about our expenses for the past month. Yeah, >> I do think we should have our one of our business classes at the high school come in and do the financial. >> So, >> I think that would be awesome.
>> So, instead of feeling bad for myself, I get to come up here after the great presentations of our teachers and students. I'm going to try to take it from an appreciative lens that a lot of districts right now are talking to their school boards about making budget reductions and cuts going into next year
and we are not. So, I'm going to try to take that lens with this as we walk through our monthly update for March. So, u this is the report we present each month. And so, again, this is for March. We will present the same three reports.
The first of which is our cash basis report beginning and ending for that month. So you can see within that that we are starting at just over 61 ending at just over 63 million. Uh receipts for this month were higher than normal. Um
with that we received no tax dollars in the month of March which then drives our metered payments from the state higher. So they do try to offset that a little bit. So about nine and a half million of our receipts came from the state through their metered payment system as well as
additional money um through nutrition services for meals of another 400,000. Child care is another 175,000. So you can see where we get to that. While some of those are very much monthly such as child care and nutrition again it was a
large month for our statements. Our statement of revenues shows our receipts for the month of September year to date our current budget which was revised by the board in February and reflects that. It shows the percentage where we are this year compared to the
budget as well as the previous two school years at the same time. Uh really within our operating funds which are the general food service and community service funds we're really in line with where we have been the previous two years and within 2% in any given year is
really Look at those uh you can see that our debt service on the revenue side percentage wise is much higher. Many years the only revenue that really flows through that is tax collections for principal and interest payments and some interest revenue because we did the
boundary funding this year. And with that um almost $50 million of the revenue coming into the boundary funding the percentage is just much higher as a percentage of the budget as well. And on the statement of expenditures, so same report format again within the
general fund, we're really falling in line with where we have been the previous few years. While within the more um supplies and purchase services part of the budget, they move around within those. Overall, we really are landing with where we've been. Um an example of how just one thing can change
in one category versus the others. If you look at supplies and materials, that is where a lot of our furniture from last year came in during some of those months of um July and August, the ones that last year, but that can throw as a percentage earlier in the year that
um along with that you can see within our debt service 100%. So we really have paid all the expenses we expect to see in that fund for this year. That is all I have. Any questions? Any questions from the board?
>> Any [laughter] next? >> Yeah. No question. >> Next month she's going to bring puppies. >> Can I do that? >> Sure. [laughter]
>> Thanks, Amy. Moving to superintendence report, Mr. >> All right. All kinds of uh fun things happening. One thing before I jump into this that I forgot to um mention was that
who was present talked about oh Sarah gave the example about English? No, it was Amy Berlin when she was talking about talking to a family and a student about learning to speak English. So I have a superintendence advisory council of students at the high school that I meet with throughout the year and just
the last week um myself and Megan met with them and one of the questions we asked them as we wrapped up we asked them questions and one of the questions, what is one thing you would absolutely never want to see change about the high school or just about your schooling in Spring Lake Park? And one of the
students who happens to be said the most important thing to her is English learning and making sure that we continue to provide that for kids and that it changed and she said it changed my life and it will forever change my life and she said and I know not everybody has that same commitment to it
in every district. and she kind of went on and it was just it was really powerful to hear from her how important it was and she could go all the way back into elementary school and talking about the experience um that she had. So the most common thing that they mentioned
was set time. We don't want to see set time ever go away. They really value set time. >> Yeah. So um that was the thing of most most value. So, and they had all kinds of reasons why they did go into how
they're using it. >> So, here's some of the um just things happening across the uh school district in in the past month here. So, Park Terrace and STEM and liter for the whole family. So, on each one of these, I'll pause for just a moment so you get a
chance to look at the pictures of cute kids and kids with their families. Okay. And then uh we had three these center view uh fourth graders. They experime experimented with pin wheelel turbines during science. So test a
couple of methods to generate energy wind power and hydro power. I remember teaching my first boss lesson many years ago as a teacher and the uh the water unit was one that always made me a little nervous about what was going to happen. Um, so North Point students they met in
maps and social studies. They learned about types of maps, features, one direction. This was over at Wood Woodrest Spanish. So got the chance to walk the red carpet and show off their talents. Classmates
And then always I think probably the highlight of every um spring, but it's also I think a highlight for kids at the high school. I went by and watching the kids at the high school watching out windows and so on. It's kind of fun to see and you can hear it if you step outside here. You hear it all the way over here what's going on. So um we had
the fourth graders from across the district come together for fun and friendly competition. So there's a number of pictures. I'll just pause each one. Again, one of the things that I love about our district and the size of our district is these kids all come together
and they're coming from four different elementary schools, but they're all Panthers, right? And that's what's unique. And I can't even remember where it came from, but years ago we made the decision. A lot of schools will see their elementary schools, one will be called the Tigers and whatever, those kinds of things, but it was like, no, we're all Panthers. We're going to be
Panthers. So, I think it's something >> [laughter] >> I'm sure there's a handful of kids that were keeping score somehow and knew that >> there were four elementary But there also is a group that comes from Lighthouse and they very much want to be
recognized. >> Yes. Yes. That Thank you very much. >> So then we also was kind of cool this year is um students from the high school some juniors they helped run the fourth grade track and field events. So um there's students who are in our no
Ramsey community college health and sport performance course. And then our Westwood Journey students recently learned about the importance of recycling, so they created posters. Very proud of those.
They didn't all want to share their face, but um sixth graders wrote original narratives for English language arts classes who brought these to light. Um so I'll let you read all of that instead of reading all of that to you there. It's fun to see. It's kind of a creative
another way the teachers are coming up to make it more engaging and real for kids. The high school students were using sticks and shadows to track the sun's movement. So, they're able to use real data to explore and I'm going to try to read that. I used to know exactly how to say that. Heliocentric exactly
how to say that model of our solar system. And then this is from our um personal finance and money management course. So kids real life uh learning.
>> It was kind of fun when I walked through the high school last week. I left up to you a message about that, but I went by this class and they just had a board up where the kids could ask any questions about money or finance or things like that that they're thinking about. And it was I went up and read the post. It was kind of fun to see some of the questions
that they had. So, and our seniors share their college and career plans for next year on decision day. So, I always look for Augsburg, but it's too bad. Are 21 Panthers committed to continue as student athletes in
college? Then the class of 2026 the annual picture out on the uh field holding their signs. What's become picture graduates more science and then these are later in life
graduates or retirees. So we recognized them just last week. So I think this is our biggest retiree class in a number of years and it was very well attended. There were a ton of people there. So upcoming calendar, no school next Monday
and May 29th at commencement. Um June 5th is our last day of school for students and then I just shared May 29th we'll be down at the University of St. Thomas. So be our first shot. Crossing our fingers everything will go well. I can tell you
that Megan and our high school principal Peterson has been working with her and Erica Dyel been a lot of people doing a lot of work to make sure this is a great experience. >> Oh, the one other thing I was going to just mention is the legislature. Um
really nothing is going to impact us. We do except for we do have a cut the cut that we expected in compensatory revenue. So we will have that cut for the next year thankfully. Um we do have a fun balance of dollars there to be able to continue our
programming without any kind of long-term impact. But so, but there will be uh the studies, there's no recommendations yet from the special ed task force or the compensatory task force that should come by fall and then that will be used in the next um
legislative session that will start in January. So, but otherwise there's really nothing that they did for education that has any significant impact beyond that we already anticipated. >> Thanks. I do I do want to out one thing from your report. U
I know the graduation signs that was a byproduct of co but I so enjoy seeing them throughout the neighborhoods. It is such a treat to see how many kids in our neighborhoods and even outside of SLP district uh who
proudly put the sign in their yard. It is it's so cool. >> So I'm glad we've continued that. Thanks to the Panther Foundation. >> They have. [laughter] >> Yes, they are. >> That's true. Okay. Moving on to action
items. Can I get a motion for a resolution relating to termination and nonrenewal of probationary teaching contracts? >> So moved by Hennon, second by Forsber to approve the following resolution. Now therefore be it resol Now therefore
be it resolved by the school board of independent school district 16 that pursuant to Minnesota statute 122A.40 The teaching contracts of the following probationary teachers in Independent School District 16 are hereby terminated at the close of the 2025 2026 school
year. Be further resolved that written notice shall be sent to the following teachers regarding termination of pay and fringe benefits as provided by law. And then we have a list of the teachers in our minutes.
I would just add I left you all a message on when this came out and um checked with uh Tony Mayor but I think it's only almost all these teachers are actually returning only four who aren't. So I think it would be the highest returning class that I can remember in
memory. So it's only four of them that aren't. I think it is the rest is just result of state lure requirements. We have to release them if they're on a tier one or two license and then recommended back. Thank you for clarity.
>> Clerk, could you please call? >> Yes. Mr. Vala, >> yes. >> M. Schmidt, >> yes. >> Miss Kelly, yes. Miss McClullen, >> yes. >> Miss Forsber, >> Miss Hennon, >> yes. >> Mr. Easter, >> yes. >> The resolution passes on 70. >> Thank you. [clears throat]
>> Can I get a motion for the resolution approving Northeast Metro 916 Intermediate School District's uh long-term facility maintenance program budget? So moved by Forsber, second by Schmidt to adopt the following resolution. The school board of Northeast Metro 916
Intermediate School District has approved a long-term facility maintenance program budget for its facilities for the 2728 2027 2028 school year in the amount of 600,500 of which uh school district number 16 prop proportionate share is
$36,890. Minnesota statute section 123B 595 subdivision 3 provides that if an intermediate school district's long-term facility maintenance budget is approved by the school board of each of the intermediate school districts member district school districts each member
direct district may include his proportionate share of the costs and lastly the proportionate share of the cost of the intermediate school district's long-term facility maintenance program for each member school district to be included and it's a application
uh shall be determined by utilizing a blended rate. So I abbreviated those three paragraphs and Amy would you would you please provide some additional information? >> Yeah. So just very quickly as a school district we have a boundary and so
within that when we do our property taxes to our residents that's where that lands. Intermediate districts do not have a boundary. they are consortium of other districts. So on their behalf as a member district, we have our proportionate share of their um deferred
maintenance costs essentially that we then levy on their behalf. So with that of those 13 districts, the total for Northeast Metro 916 is just over 600,000. Our proportionate share of that is 6.1%. They calculate it um in a way that is
based 25% on tax base and net tax capacity. Um, so a district with a really high commercial will actually get a higher percentage of that 25%. The other 75% is based on our so with that the spring part portion is
$36,890. And so with schoolboard approval tonight, we would send this back to Northeast Metro and they will submit it to Department of Education once they have all of the district's approvals. And then also we will be
doing our own long-term facilities approval next month. So you'll see the same thing on behalf of >> any discussion. >> We need to do this because intermediates have no power to levy. So it's basically flow through money through the 13
districts and this is our share. >> Thank you. Other discussion. >> So the other 12 districts will also have a resolution very similar to this on their but varying amounts that they need
to contribute. >> Thanks Marilyn clerk. Would you please call roll? >> Yes. Miss Forsber. >> Yes. >> Miss Skellyy. Yes. Miss Hennon. >> Yes. >> Mr. Bala. >> Yes. >> Miss Schmidt. >> Yes. >> Miss McClen. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Easter.
>> Yes. >> The resolution passes on a 70 vote. >> Thank you. Now to acknowledgement of gifts. Can I get a motion? >> So move. >> So moved by Skellyy, second by McCullen to adopt the following resolution.
Whereas schoolboard policy 706 establishes guidelines for the acceptance of gifts to the district. And whereas Minnesota statute 465.03 3 states that a school board may accept a gift of real or personal property by the adoption of a resolution approved by twothirds of its members. Therefore, be
it resolved that the school board of Spring Lake Park Schools acknowledges and accepts with appreciation gifts as shown. Any discussion? Thank you to the community. We always appreciate their generosity.
I think these are all the scholarships that came through that were awarded during the awards night. Clerk, >> would you call roll? >> Yes. Mullen? >> Yes. >> Miss Schmidt? >> Yes.
>> Mr. Vala? >> Yes. >> Miss Hennon? >> Yes. >> Miss Skellyy? Yes. Miss Forsber? >> Yes. >> Mr. Easter? >> Yes. >> The resolution passes on 70 vote. >> Thank you. Now to board forum and reports. Mickey, how are we doing?
>> I'm doing good. How How is everyone? >> Good. >> That's good. Yeah. So, unfortunately, Mia is not here with us today and we have a boatload of things to talk about. So, all right. A whole list of Let's just get through it. Okay. So, April 29th was Spring National Signing Day. So, we had 21 students signed for
athletics and 20 sign for music. May 3rd was the last showing of Little Shop of Horrors. I don't know if you guys were able to make it, but great show. Great show. Absolutely. Um, and then we had May 9th was prom night. Uh, I went, it was great. Had a good time. You know,
>> don't have a picture of it. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> I'll bring pictures next. >> Yep. This past Wednesday, May 13th, was scholarship awards night for our seniors. And then May 27th, we have the youth athletics and activities expo at the high school. And we also have Jazz
in the Park where jazz won and nth grade jazz performing at Lakeside Lions Park. And then the next day, May 28th, the there will be a senior meeting and also a graduation rehearsal. Alongside that, in the evening, there will be a varsity band, symphonic band, and wind ensemble concert. I believe it's the last one of the year. And then, as we all know, May
29th, there will be no school because seniors are graduating. And then, additionally, we have summer camp registration that is open. And as a member of the yearbook club, it is my obligation to say that yearbooks will be coming in this Thursday and seniors should be able to pick them up on Friday. And the following week will be the other grades. And then leadership
camp is open. Our registration is open. That will be through June 19th through the 12th. And also we have sections and conference finals starting. So track just had the conferences today. I don't know the results of that, but let's pray that they do well. And that is all. >> Awesome. Quick question. I know I'm a
few years removed from high school. Do they still sign yearbooks? >> Yes. Everybody sign. Okay. >> I I beg a lot of people. Trust me. I I order with extra pages just in case. >> Okay. I didn't know if that was a tradition that continued or not. >> People get really excited. And years ago, we had an issue where we didn't get the yearbook till July and so many
people came to me and were like, "Vicki, I'm so bummed because I wanted people to sign my yearbook." So, don't worry, it's still very popular. You know, they're never too cool to sign a book. So, awesome. in the site. >> That's a long list. >> Long list between the soup report and
Mickey. So, I don't I have much to add other than, you know, experiencing prom from a prom standpoint was all sorts of fun. [laughter] All sorts of fun. The kids had a good time though. And so, the reports reports uh were that, you know, another
successful prom was had. I went to the scholarship and academic award presentation. I just, you know, it's just all the good tools. It's just so I know you were there, Tony. Know you were there. Just uh
it's just quite breathtaking how the quality of students that we have and their aspirations, how high Anyone else want to say? >> I just wanted to add that uh the 27th, I
believe it is, is the senior all night party or senior three-hour party I think is actually probably what it is. But um that kids can still register for that if they want to go. So that's that night. That's all I have. And I agree. I always
love watching kids get their props. It's fun. I was at a few things uh helped me grow [laughter] end of the year meeting planning for next year live on 65 a park terrace PTA meeting I'm not sure where that was in
time um as far as legislature the one thing that is that we're going to hear lots about I think is that it was approved to put on the ballot as an amendment to the constitution,
a new and different way of distributing funds from the MSBA trust fund. So that will be on the constitution and it is to be increase the amount that
schools would receive. So >> at no cost to taxpayers. >> At no [clears throat] cost to taxpayers. Thank you. Um from 916 a few interesting things. 916 with the other intermediate school
districts has been uh running an apprenticeship program along with Mano State and it is people who are working in special ed but do not have degrees. They have to have two years before they
start it. Then they are [clears throat] invited into the program but can continue working and so it's nights and summer school and there were seven from 916 that completed that program.
Um, first reading of budget, something that we in Spring Lake Park don't really know about, but we approved the agreement for North Northeast Metro 916 to provide the
educational services at Avante Center on behalf of Spring Lake Park. This is a facility that is located within our district that we really have no relationship with
and we engage with 916 to provide the services to them. Um to the presentation tonight for Dr. Ron and her group. It was especially interesting to me because I've had some encounters today. I was at a church
meeting and got in conversation and no, I've never been confirmed. And then I come here and hear this presentation and no, I've never gone to kindergarten and no, I've never had
phonics. [laughter] So, what a shocking day. [laughter] >> Confessions today. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Right. [laughter] >> [laughter] >> I'm waiting for the book. >> I I do want to clarify a little bit with
the Avanti. So, it is a school in our district. I do want to give credit to Hope and team and because they do meet with Avanti and we contract with 916 to provide those services since that is an area they specialize in. So, but we do still need to be be part of what that
that planning looks like moving forward. Oh, I have one more thing. I went to the a lot of the the teacher and staff appreciations this past couple weeks and it's always really I do enjoy just seeing the people that are in front of
our kids and teaching them and spend so many hours with our kids too. And um I was really impressed by some of the energy at some of the schools. you could just tell they really like each other and it's I've seen different shifts through the last I don't know five years, six years since I've been on the
board and it's it's really fun. It's fun to see just just some different energy levels and different excitement to be together and not just grab their donut and leave. So, it's been kind of nice. So, I did enjoy that and I'm glad it's also wrapped up.
[laughter] Yes, I think we all had an opportunity to to serve at one of the breakfastes for teachers. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. It was fun. >> Yes. >> And I will say that I missed them, some of them, because I was at a very
important graduation at the University of Iowa. >> But I also wanted to tell a little story about our superintendent. [laughter] >> This is This is being reported. >> Yeah, it's all good.
he was serving and greeted a teacher by name and as she walked away she said he knew my name and I thought that was so insightful because teachers are working hard to know students names and that was
she was really impressed that you knew her name and called her by name and I thought it was just a great example of the things that we're doing here so my congrats to >> [laughter] >> There's always a leveling, isn't there? [laughter]
>> [laughter] >> very sweet. >> Absolutely. Uh let's see. We had the retirement reception. Uh that was a that was a treat. And then uh Sam, as Sam alluded to, we attended the
academic or awards academic and and athletic awards uh last week. Uh it were exciting uh because Melody and I are on the board for the uh Panther U SLP Lions Scholarship Foundation. So,
we're on the board for that. We're excited to award $24,000 in scholarships and uh but for the night we I mean it was a record night. Over $100,000 in scholarships were awarded. So, it was exciting. It was exciting. I think
that's a record. >> So, yeah. >> I've gone to a lot of those too, those things. But it was really nicely done. It was the pictures on the screen and the I thought it was just so where is that you? >> Yeah. Amazing. Like for real. It would
looked so professional. It was really well done. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I appreciate it that it was scripted for me. >> Always a good idea. >> Absolutely. Because you know I can go off the rails. >> All right.
Anything else from our board? >> All right. Let's move to adjournment. Can I get a motion? So moved by Hennon, second by Forsber to adjourn the meeting at 811. All in favor, please say I.
>> Those opposed. Motion passes. We are now adjourned. Thanks everyone.