is to provide a safe and caring climate and culture in which we engage inspire educate prepare and empower all learners in partnership with their surrounding community to be successful in today's and tomorrow's society Scott can you please lead us in the pledge of
allegiance thank you And then you're when you're ready Scott can you please call roll the following board members are present at the district office Uh Scott Andreas here El Dogren here Zach Dorhalt here
Diane Fenton here Shannon Haw here Following board members are not present are Natalie Copeland and Heather Williams The following cabinet members and staff are present at the district
office Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Dr Jason Harris Assistant Superintendent of Eve through Five Learning Nikki Hansen Assistant Superintendent of E
through 12 Educational Services Shannon Avenson executive director of community education Adam Holm executive director of operations Joel Hidamp executive director of special
projects Gary Gani director of community engagement and communications Tammy Dan uh media technician Gordy Scott custodian on site Austin
Goodwater Thank you And next I need a motion to approve tonight's board of education meeting agenda Can I get a motion and then a second please okay I have a motion by Diana and can I get a second second and a second by Zack
Uh Scott can you call vote uh Shannon Haw yes Fenton yes Zack Dorhalt Mr Dohalt yes Alan yes Scott Andreas yes Thank you Then we have the consent
agenda The consent agenda consists of non-controversial items the board adopts routinely without debate Any single member may remove an item from the consent agenda by requesting removal at the time the consent agenda is moved for adoption On tonight's consent agenda item A approval of minutes from February
5th 2025 and February 19th 2025 Item B approval of bills and other financial transactions in the grand total amount of 4,48,687.76 Item C approval of personnel staff changes Item D acceptance of grant awards and donations And item E contract
award audit services At this time does any board member wish to remove an item from the consent agenda okay Then I'm looking for a motion to approve the consent agenda as read I have a motion by Al Do I have a second second And a second by Diana
Scott can you call vote one more time uh Diana Fenton yes Zack Dorhalt yes Dogen yes Scott Andreas yes Shannon Hos yes All right Thanks Nice job Appreciate you filling in Okay we're moving on to
information items Uh we have two tonight First up we have the LEAF Report Local Education Activities Foundation and we welcome Diane Mohler the 2024 LEAF president And then we have Tammy Dan director of
community engagement and communications Thanks for joining us tonight We're glad to have you here Is it on now okay Thank you very much for the opportunity We're very proud of the things that have gone on with LEAF this past year and um we're here to share a little bit of that
success with you Um yeah you can just keep rolling through the the board of directors are listed in the first slide Um as you can see we have a lot of most of the activities directors from the district are are serving on the board as well as
Justin as the principal rep Justin Scalude Um if you go to the next slide I am the past president because Charlie Eisner just took over as president It was fun to pass the torch to him Um and Beth Ben Fenstead a teacher at Tech High School
just recently retired has agreed to be vice president So we're very excited about the leadership um going on at LEAF It was a hard transition but you know Bruce Hench has had a few big shoes to fill with his retirement Natalie's done an awesome job and we're very happy with
the the direction we're going So we have a video produced that we're pretty proud of We showed it at our annual meeting back in February but um it's about a 3minute video I think So if we could take a minute to view that I think it'll give you some highlights
[Music]
30 years ago middle school activities in St Cloud were at risk of disappearing In response a group of teachers parents and community leaders created an education foundation to preserve and expand these opportunities for our
students What began as a grassroots communitydriven initiative has evolved into a cornerstone of support for District 742 students and educators uplifting generations of learners For over 30 years LEAF 742 has been
dedicated to fulfilling our mission to raise funds through donations and grants to increase student access to vital opportunities in academics activities arts and athletics Week programming is designed to inspire the community to support
district 742 students And we know that supporting students means supporting the devoted staff across our 14 schools Since 2011 LEAF has offered something special the adopt a classroom program which allows families community members
and local businesses to sponsor a classroom through high school by providing a grant for essential supplies We are so grateful for our classroom grants which have allowed us to integrate innovative and new resources into our classrooms as we have
transitioned to the new Minnesota State Science Standards Because of your support we are able to provide relatable and engaging materials for all of our students We've also set up and continues to manage two endowments one for
activities and the other for academics These endowments all funded by donations from our community allow us to provide grants that bridge funding gaps to increase access and opportunity for students to have the resources they need to succeed In 2024 we surpassed 3
million in total grants to district 742 programs South Junior High received a LEAF activities grant this fall and we were able to fund new equipment for our baseball and softball team Because of the support our athletes are able to compete with better gear and perform at their best Thank you Leaf 742 I remember
when our community 40 activities program that was 30 years ago and that support has continued without pause through LEAF programs dedicated to helping our most vulnerable students From providing
crisis shelter for a family with three young children during our frigid winters to provate whose family could barriers and ensuring all students have the opportunity to succeed Our
community is coming together once again to offer middle school activities free charge to all students Starting in the 202526 school year LEAF will fund the elimination of two years worth of middle school activity fees for all students
District 742 and LEAF are committed to ensuring every student has the chance to explore activities from soccer to robotics Thanks to our generous donors if you haven't yet join us won't you
thank you Lee Thank you Lee Thank you Thank you Le Wait for the music to stop Um we have an awesome or communications committee that really worked hard to get that video
created So um kudos to them It really turned out well I think our excitement over next year's um or the the following year's uh elimination of the activity fee at the middle level is pretty when you think about the cycle So LEAF started to save
middle level activities 30 years later we're eliminating the fees for the activities I we're pretty proud of that Anyway so all right a little bit about the financial impact Uh we have given 3 million plus in grants over the 30-year history And this past year we gave
almost 300,000 I would almost say that could have been a 300,000 by the time the year was over but the books closed So uh so it's good And you know we give our our finances do well when everyone's finances do well because we give 5% of what we make on our investments out in
grants So um the more money we make the better the market is the more we can give back to the district And you can see our largest uh portion of income comes from public support So kudos to the St Cloud community who really do step up and uh support their kids That's
for sure And our greatest distribution is grants back to district 742 You can see that line there Um the fundraising amount is very very minimal mostly because we don't do a lot of it It just happens It happens that the community
gives Um so that's kind of fun And there you can see the wheel of kind of how it's all divided largely activities for after school and then academics Our adopt a classroom program has just skyrocketed Um interesting story that
there at Kennedy this year there were four teachers A a a parent contacted us and said how many teachers at Kennedy didn't get a grant and there were four They gathered a group of people together and funded those four classrooms Just a group of parents It
was pretty cool Um Packrat and Pack Cat certainly are still going strong and a large part of it The language immersion program our homeless student services fund people can uh have a flowthrough fund a scholarship fund created through LEAF and so we have several of those um
that are are in there The music matters was when the St Cloud All City marching band disbanded and had to donate their money to a nonprofit and LEAF was the recipient of that So uh many of our grants to the music department can come
through um that fund as well And then of course our participation fund which was definitely increased when Ion and Jesus um did their dancing a year ago So we have a large a pretty large uh account there to help students needing either
fees or equipment shoes as they said whatever might happen So that's kind of how it's all dispersed There are some pictures of the things that we have funded Grant goodness Um at our annual meeting we did
the U awards that we do annually Um so the uh award winners this year were Costco because they had their employees go to Westwood last year and read to first graders I think it was first graders um you know on Tasco paid them
So it was employee time that they got to come and read with the uh students and they actually brought books and it was just a wonderful program Um the George and Shirley Tory award which is for charitable giving went to Kevin and Beth Donnelly and then the volunteer service
award went to Grandpa John over at Tilah for all of his work with writing grants um of which we help him sometimes because he needs support for that And um the distinguished alumni award is going to Terry and Sue Pladson this year They are both graduates of Tech High
School The Instructional Excellence Award Kristen Dolman Stole who's the art teacher at Westwood Elementary and Amanda Sider who teaches at Apollo I think EL Okay um Benel who is at tech
and coaches and advises the math um math league and then Christy Husen for her coaching and advising excellence award So those were our district winners And then we did give a lifetime service award to Bruce Henches And Peggy Carlson
actually got that award a few years ago because she's also very integral to what we do at LEAF And um those they were classmates class of 68 I think at Tech So um that was kind of fun Um in essence we're just grateful to
have this partnership with the district Um we are grateful to be able to support the students in the community and in your district from the day they're born until graduation And that's what I think that picture is very cool for that Any questions you have for us
anybody have any questions or comments at all scott uh can you tell me a little more about the homeless program well um I can tell you that it's a fund that we have that uh we work in conjunction with
um the district rep for transition Transition Thank you Yeah Coco Yeah Um when there's a need that arises um Koko will work with us and we can provide some emergency funding for families Um we did have a grant from the city of St
cloud for a while that also uh went into that but we do not have that grant anymore Um I think we also fund part of that fund with a United Way grant Um so but it's it's designed in fact at our retreat we have a retreat next week or
two weeks from now to kind of go through our strategic plan and look at sort of our committee structure all sorts of things and um we're going to have a discussion about what's the right name for that fund So um
homeless might be right I know we've in board policy we went through names and we came back to homeless because that's what it says in the law Yeah it might be the one Yeah Thank you Yep when I've so I' I've donated to Leaf for
a while and and when I when I first started giving to Leaf and choosing a charity one of the reasons that I decided to go with there's a couple of reasons that I decided to go with Leaf but the main reason that I decided to go
fairly heavily with leave is there was a lot of transparency in where the money was going there was a lot of transparency in um where it was coming from
and I felt very comfortable therefore that the funds that I was donating were being given to the resources that they were that they people said that they were going to be given to recently I'm going to
they it hasn't been as trans transparent Uh if I go online and look at the website for leaf most of it hasn't been updated for two to three years Sometimes up to n eight or nine
years Uh there's no financials posted on there anymore There's no meeting minutes posted on there anymore that it's as though this website is just kind of hanging out there and it's been
forgotten about And then along with that and I and I'm not I'm I I this is hard for me to talk about this because I'm not looking for recognition That's not the thing But I also don't like to be wrongly recognized And when I go in and look at
the donor lists or whatever they haven't been updated the the uh major sponsors was last updated in 2018 online And so the a lot of the major sponsors that are listed and they're getting the
primary primary visibility on that website Some of them don't even give anymore And some of them that do give give a lot are listed down at the very bottom And the supporters and sponsors page was last updated in 2015 So it's
been like 9 years since that's been updated It's not even close to being accurate Um history last updated in 2018 There's a photo contest that was being run that's still a big piece of the website
that hasn't been updated since 2024 the executive committee minutes uh 2024 The board meeting minutes 2024 fundraising reports haven't been updated since 2023 So what I'm getting at is nobody's
taking care of the website and the transparency is disappearing And I'm not saying I don't trust you guys I I know you guys But for a charity such as yours that relies on
donations from the general public a lack of transparency is going to translate into diminishing funds And I don't think that any of us want that for leaf And somehow we've got
to get that stuff So at the risk of sounding defensive well you can be I mean I'm I'm um first of all our funding we have seen an increase in and um in fact we just recently had a very large donation from
Kermit Eastman So that was pretty nice Um we are going through a transition with the website We do have somebody hired doing the website Um I I'm unaware of why the changes would have been in there Um and I will check that out But I
didn't realize that the minutes and um the finances aren't getting posted anymore But it is part of what we're discussing at our retreat next week is that's part of it too is what is the website what's our vehicle with the website um whom do we want to pay to do that do we want to continue with the person we have do we want to change you
know um so we realize that there are issues with that and um I agree totally with you We want to be transparent Absolutely We want to be transparent and I know that is the goal of the whole board and the executive director as well So we'll um we'll take that into consideration So thanks for the uh
awareness level Yep Well and thanks for what you do I'm not again I'm not being critical of Lee or and and I'm fairly close to well I'm close to the district so I get to see what happens with it but other people don't and and so therefore transparency becomes a really important
piece of the pie to me and and I I mean I wouldn't I wouldn't have that for the school district if we suddenly weren't posting our minutes or if we weren't posting our financials and keeping everything very transparent and open to
the public I'd bring it up in a meeting there too So thank you Yep I have a question Diane but and I don't think you can answer it but the first part did you say we're doing a
2year waiver to middle school activity fees and so that's all I I don't even know right now Are we currently doing prorating like it's a $20 or a $40 or $60 do we have two tiers right now in
middle school anybody know yeah So the free and reduced lunch piece around the um activity fees is I think right now totally 180 but half of it for if I'm free and reduced either 40 or 80 Right Right Right It
doesn't go down to zero right now It never has Well as far as as long as I can remember anyway Okay So two years we're waving both both tears Right Is that right that is incredible Yes Yeah So now it's everything's off the plate
right where I don't have to come up with that portion at all Yeah Um so so thank you for that It what's exciting about it to me is the possibility that you can fund this so we can see did that change
what did that change enrollment you know because we're constantly talking about barriers as you did with the transportation and um but we we can't our hands are tied too often to know well okay if we stop doing that could so
when you come in and you you can help us fund that so then we can see did that improve that situation and is that where we want to continue that investment so that's really exciting and I guess I'm just looking forward to than knowing the
numbers Um what did that change for us so thank you amongst all the other things that you fund Um how wonderful this is Good You're welcome Anybody else all right Thanks for joining us We
really appreciate it Okay we have one moreformational item up tonight We have the systemwide literacy progress and next steps and welcoming back um our regulars lately So we have Laura Steener director of elementary
education and Hillary Johnson director of secondary education again Glad to see you too Um thanks for coming back and this is exciting to hear about this Well we're always glad to be here Uh so chair hos members of the board we are going to
um really focus in on the read act I have been here a couple of times with you um and Hillary obviously in her role as secondary has worked um extremely hard to help spearhead the the read act and we also work alongside some other people that we'll we'll share and highlight Um but we're going to our
systemwide literacy work is really guided by the Minnesota Read Act um you've had an opportunity to hear about this and so this is an opportunity for us to share with you um what progress we've made since our last update and then what our next steps are So just as a reminder the read act has um kind of
five buckets I would say of work associated with it and those buckets are what we'll uh shape our presentation around tonight So the Minnesota Read Act uh requires districts to do specific things related to training We have specific work to do in curriculum and providing interventions to students
There's a parent notification component and a component for screening and that's really screening students um for characteristics of dyslexia and screening to ensure that students who need additional reading help um are found and are provided that help So those are our five buckets and that is our you'll see those through our
presentation tonight Um so just a few updates when it comes to the Minnesota Read Act itself These are not 742 updates These are just um the nature of this work is big and the state legislature continues to modify and adjust as they are figuring
out their first um ever legislation like this in in Minnesota And so one of the the pieces with training that's been an update at the state level is that um we have different phases of teachers who need to be trained when it comes to the science of reading and evidence-based practices the state had um identified
different phases of teachers ensuring that teachers who were teaching students um in elementary and early childhood where some of those foundational skills were most critical were in the first phase of training and we've begun that training We've been doing that for a couple of years now in district 742
Phase 2 teachers um are teachers who are going to be secondary language arts teachers there's other teachers who are part of that group Um and their phase 2 training was actually delayed until 2226 or sorry 2026 not 2226 Um and that
reason was we were also implementing new standards and so the state recognized that the work to implement the new standards and then also to take on the training um would be a heavy lift for districts as they're figuring out how to use that precious resource of time uh curriculum We know that uh the Minnesota
Department of Education has partnered with Carrie out of the U of M to review different curriculums They've been focusing on elementary literacy curriculum Um and that timeline has been delayed slightly They had um hoped to share with us some new reports in March or the beginning of March and we're
we're still awaiting those Um the state has done a great job of getting us resources um but as they've again done this for the first time there have been some delays along the way Um for intervention we do now know that the state will be reviewing K12 interventions um and helping us
understand which interventions are most likely to get the results that we need to see with students and we will be able to receive that in November of 2025 So we're looking forward to getting that list The work that the state does to really dig deeply into curriculums and intervention is very helpful for folks
in a curriculum role to have that that good um solid work to to piggyback off of Um parent notification is a component of the read act that we'll talk through Um part of the readact is that there are regional literacy leads and literacy groups all across the state of Minnesota
and their role is to help districts in executing the readact And so our regional center is starting to work on templates and exemplars for districts when it comes to the parent communication and notification component of the readact And that is something new since the last time we got to talk about
that And then screening We are waiting on a list of approved screening tools for students in grades 4th through 12th grade Um we do have a list of approved screening tools for elementary students Um and here in district 742 we are using an approved screener for our fourth and
fifth graders that's in line with elementarymentaries that really helps us systematically respond and train our teachers Um but the state will be providing additional information in um in screening that can be used in grades 4 through 12 um that was set to be shared with us in early 2025 starting to
get into mid 2025 Um we're hoping to hear soon Um we've heard that the the state is about ready to share that but at this point we have not gotten that information yet So we'll jump into training Um I'll share about the elementary progress and then Hillary will take it away with the
secondary Um so for elementary we're we're really excited Um I'll kind of start with that second bullet point Um we are at about 90% of our current elementary and early childhood teaching staff that will finish the letters training by the end of next school year Now I had an opportunity to share with
you a while ago about letters and it's a very intense training It's a lot of hours And so knowing that by the end of next school year we will have the large bulk of our teachers trained is a huge celebration Um something else we're proud of in elementary as well is that we were challenged with um figuring out
a way to offer this training within the duty day for our teachers and that's something that most districts have not figured out to do how to do Um so there's always pros and cons with any choice that you make So the pro of having it within the duty day was that it was in within the duty day We're job
embedded training we know is is the way to go whenever we can The con was we weren't able to move that fast Again there's only so many minutes in the day Um so we did work with our teachers union and we got feedback from teachers and were able to execute a fasttrack option for staff who wanted to be able
to get done this summer who wanted that information now who said I'm willing to put in the time because I really want to know this to impact my students And so we have just under a hundred teachers who elected that option who will finish up this summer So that is something very exciting to be able to support um not
only our teachers who really need that duty day experience but those teachers who wanted to do something different And we're also able to compensate those teachers on the fasttrack who are putting in time outside the duty day to complete training Thank you
So close I can't There we go Sorry about that Um thank you And I think you'll see in this presentation um how elementary has really led the way for us in this and as secondary um some of the training pieces
were put off So you'll see some of the pieces that we have that are um learning from them and growing from all the work that they did Um so you can see here our phase one teachers like Laura was talking about in secondary are our reading interventionists our EL teachers our special educators and our reading
specialists Um we were fortunate to receive a grant last year Like Laura was saying um keeping that training in the day um has been wonderful for our teachers but it also takes longer So we received a grant to get many of our teachers trained last summer So that's
why you'll see why our number is very high and the number of teachers that we have to train in comparison is also much lower Um and so we're very proud of the work that they've done this year in getting trained um in a secondary platform So Laura will talk about letters In secondary the training that
they're doing is called carry all which is in partnership again with um the University of Minnesota and Kerry Institute Um the other part of training that we've done this year um is working on a secondary literacy task force So they have been really um instrumental in
getting teacher voice into what secondary literacy is going to look like for us as we roll that out over the next couple years When it comes to next steps the READ Act is big so we always have next steps We're we're never done with this work Um in K12 we do have a requirement to train
our support staff and we have that scheduled out for next year So any support staff these would be um staff that are working alongside our students in various capacities Um any support staff who do work on literacy with students are required to have a training Um it's about eight hours of training
and it's provided by our regional centers as a partnership And so we have been fortunate to already work with our regional center to have that mapped out right within our professional development time So this will not impact students We won't need to pull our support staff away from students to be able to get that training in Um and our
staff will be able to have that mapped out throughout the year to be able to um also have that great background So as teachers are using practices in the classroom those support staff members who work alongside teachers and are instrumental to student success also have that same knowledge and background
Um we also need to create a plan to provide required training for new staff each year and that's a K12 And so we are looking at that Um the fortunate thing is with so many of our staff trained this isn't a huge amount We also are seeing more and more staff that we hire coming in already trained or partially
trained Um and so we do need to keep our eyes on that but that isn't the same undertaking as the lift that we did for the whole system to be trained Um in elementary the staff who've completed letters um will be able to move into implementation of their new learning within their classrooms next year as the
other staff finish up So we have about a twothirds of our staff that will finish up next year and those fast trackers will be able to start really that key implementation work which is exciting to have some um folks on the forefront with more time and capacity to implement some
of those new practices and to do that with their their colleagues and peers and really discuss how that's changing things for students And in secondary as our summer or as our um teachers were able to finish up the carry all training last summer we've been really focusing on this school year
of working with because they are our um special educators and our EL teachers are getting um to work in their PLTs on what implementation of their learning looks like in their classrooms Um we are also very excited um about the work that we're going to be doing um coming up
working with our special educators on writing structured literacy goals for our students with identified um reading disabilities So we're really trying to take that learning that we did in carry all and implement it into um into places that we know um will have a lot of
impact on our students reading So next we move into curriculum There's a lot happening in curriculum Actually just before this room got turned into this we had about 30 educators in here looking at elementary curriculum So it's exciting work Um we have a curriculum
review in progress right now This means that we need to select a new resource So in elementary we've had the same resource for about probably a good 10 11 years We've updated it with new copyright So we aren't using old materials We've had updated materials
but our teachers have been using the same curriculum for quite some time Um so now we have this great opportunity as part of our curriculum review cycle to um use the knowledge we've gained in our science of reading training use the great tools provided by the state of of Minnesota and to bring multiple and
differing perspectives together to say what's next for our students Um so we had about 30 some staff here today because we invited administrators to join us as well But our 20 plus staff on the team includes classroom teachers EL teachers special education teachers and building and district administrators Um
and then we expanded that out now that we're at this stage of vendor presentations to really include our our principal voice as well We're really careful Um you can imagine that with a a district of eight schools we know that our schools have um different communities We know that there are
different needs and so we're very careful to make sure that all grades and all schools are represented Now that doesn't mean there's a first second third fourth fifth grade teacher from Madison Um but as we map this out we ensure that every school's represented and every grade's represented And sometimes we have multiple grade levels
but that really helps us to make the best decision Um this team has spent a great deal of time reviewing the U of M carry all and um MDE reports and rubrics These are very intense and very in-depth And we did all of that work before we even looked at a teacher manual before
we had a vendor presentation because we really wanted to align with the science Um we know that there are products and we know that products um have lots of great people who share them with us We also know that um there can be things that we aren't going to see in a
50-minute vendor presentation And so starting with the reports and rubrics has really helped us to ensure that we're leaning in to the evidence-based practices to help us choose what presentations to see Um those vendor presentations started today and we will do probably four or five more throughout
the spring and then that is in the ultimate goal of identifying which programs we would pilot next school year and then at the end of next school year choosing what would be our new resource going into the following year You can see that this is definitely an area that um elementary has been given
different resources than secondary Um so secondary at this point MDE will not review secondary ELA curriculum So what our secondary um ELA task force has been really focusing on is that ELA instructional
vision So they did kind of the same work that Laura did um in elementary by looking at the research what does best practice say for secondary students and really coming up with being able to articulate that vision that we want to see And the next thing that they're going to be doing is auditing our
current resources for the structured literacy that we know is best practice for our students When it comes to next steps in elementary like I said we'll be piloting We will pilot in a wide variety of classrooms So we always um really look to make sure that we expand the pilot to
be as big as it can be within reason there can be financial constraints with a pilot Um we also know that it is a big lift for teachers So teachers have to understand um what this this feels like But we do our very best to ensure that we're piloting in many classrooms and including our Spanish immersion
classrooms Now Chinese is a little different because it's not uh this it's not a letterbased it's a character-based language So their curriculum process for literacy is a little bit different when we do other curriculums like math and such Chinese immersion is it was within that um regular process But for Spanish
immersion it's really essential Um they are going to be part of our review They actually are part of our review We will make those final recommendations in spring of 2026 And then what's always so important is ensuring that we don't just spend a lot of time and effort and energy on picking the resource We really
think about what is implementation look like So setting goals for our implementation um understanding how we'll progress monitor those goals and the roles and responsibilities for implementing a new literacy curriculum don't just fall on classroom teachers It's our whole system that needs to support that So developing goals um and
roles and responsibilities to clearly show how we will take this resource and bring it into our classrooms And similarly in secondary curriculum you can see once we review um our current resources that diverse team of secondary teachers will also make
recommendations um for what our secondary programming looks like um and decide if we need to um look at any supplemental materials in order to meet our um the knowledge that we have on structured literacy Next up we have intervention I'm really
proud of the work that our district has done around intervention this year Uh this has been a huge focus area for our elementary teachers and a fantastic partnership um where we've worked closely with EEL and special education and our literacy coordinator for
elementary Lori Eert has done just a tremendous job in leading this work Um the progress that we've made is we have now with our tool fastbridge that we use as a screener um we are able to use a report that helps us understand which students need intervention and what those interventions are but you still
have to then figure out how do I get those into the classroom how do I know if the help is helping and so we've done a lot of professional development to help our staff understand how do I read the reports how do I look at my literacy block to incorporate interventions within um some of our students do attend
interventions with um teachers outside their classroom but many of our students are still in need of intervention and it's important for us to all own that intervention component and then progress monitoring as well so that we understand if the help is helping Um this fall in
October we did a training day where we spent about a half a day with our teachers training giving them time to plan with their teams and their full teams their grade level colleagues their EL their special ed counterparts to implement those new practices and data collection And then our principles have
really been working hard to review um fidelity and impact data So we've had this opportunity but we know that um not everyone changes at the same rate or the same pace And so we've really rallied around that support and having an opportunity for our principles to check in on their data and say um what are
some places and spaces where we might need to lend additional support and for those places and spaces where we've gotten off the ground what impact are we seeing for our student growth with our interventions that are being um implemented across elementary so that work happened in January of 2025 and u
Miss Hansen is working really hard to create a schedule next year where we try to figure out how we have some regular um data components right within for our teachers to continue to touch in on the data and be able to respond to their student needs
Sorry Um in secondary just like Laura said this is an area that we are really proud of as I have um been the had the honor of being the director of an really amazing team of literacy specialists um a literacy coordinator um with Andy
Lanning who has really um been a leader in our region in this work Um every time we talk to like Laura talks about our our regional support teams from MDE they very often are coming to our secondary team to see the work that we're doing Um
and as much as even asking Annie Andy to present um at Compass trainings so we are again very proud of this work in secondary um because we are placing students So we are doing screeners we are pa placing students in available
science of reading courses where they are getting a Sunday intervention Um and our literacy specialists that work very hard um continue to support our middle school middle school and high school and even our e um reading foundations three classes with those interventions
When we think about next steps for elementary we need to continue to build on the momentum from this year So we're excited we've gotten some new practices in place and now we can refine and build on that Um building in those regular opportunities for staff to review data and to plan interventions putting that
right into our professional development calendar And then like I said um one of the updates from the Minnesota Department of Education is that they will release a list in November to us of approved interventions And so that will be an opportunity for us to take a look at what we're doing Are there things we could modify to do better based on that
state level guidance um it's never a great idea to just overhaul the whole system but it gives us an opportunity to pause and say "What is this new information how might it help us refine our practices in order to ensure that um for students especially students who are um needing the most support that we are
using the practices that are the most efficient and effective with those students to ensure that they're reading at grade level Um and then again you can see in secondary we're still waiting Um but like I said um I am we aren't just doing nothing while we wait Like we have
been really placing resources and energy and um trying to be leaders in understanding what this looks like in secondary um while we wait for the approved um interventions Next up we'll talk about parent notification And so the progress that we
have made here is really um just staying connected to updates from our regional literacy leads We know that they're working to provide exemplars for us and some templates so that we can um not every district has to start from scratch So the the regional center will will
help support us Um we are already though notifying parents across K12 when students are receiving specialized reading services So it's not that we're waiting um for the regional center to um tell parents that their students are receiving a reading intervention However
as the regional center works on their parent communication um there may be things that they include that really would be um great additions to our process So we have a process in place We'll keep an eye on what those updates are from the regional
center Um our next steps for K12 are then to review those templates when they become available And we also have to recognize the needs of our 742 families Um we have a diverse group of of students and families And so it will be important to not just you know pick up an exemplar and say this is what works
for our community but to review that carefully and to get feedback from different stakeholder groups and then be able to say is there modifications in our communication plans we would make based on these exemplars and also to meet the needs of of families across the district And then we'll jump into
screening So in elementary we are in the second year of using a MDE approved screener We're using the screener fastbridge Um we've built capacity for our staff to understand the data to develop instructional actions to respond Um so we don't just want to screen students and say "Okay we screened
them." We want to make sure that we're we're taking action and we're ensuring that students are getting instruction does uh that's in line with their needs And then we're gathering teacher feedback um to potentially modify some of our screening based on MDE guidance So the Minnesota Department of Education
has specific subtests that are required um the FastBridge assessment has additional subtests that we can give and so often that data is is great We can respond to that data but it's balancing the amount of time in instruction versus the amount of time um assessing And so
right now we're working particularly with kindergarten to take a look at potentially reducing some of the screening um but then also recognizing what might the trade-offs be without that data So we obviously always want to have teacher voice in that and our kindergarten task force has been working with their kindergarten teams to collect
that information to help inform district decisions And in secondary this is another place um that I give a lot of credit to the team Um Katie Schneider is the dyslexia specialist years ago put in a really um thoughtful and wellressearched process
for dyslexia screening Um so we like I said are um ahead of the curve on many secondary schools on this And so what we're doing at this time while we wait is continuing the dyslexia process that we have outlined in our local literacy plan
screening for next steps in elementary is um there is also a tool developed by the state which helps us to identify risk factors for students Um and I won't get into the weeds with this but this is um a really nice tool that we'll be able to put into place because very often um
as students across the state are using different curriculums different interventions different screening tools um we get may get a student in that received a reading intervention in one district and then now comes to our district and and districts tend to have different processes for that Um the
Minnesota Department of Education risk factor will help us to have a more streamlined process across the state Districts are able to opt in or out of that process but it does really streamline um and help us understand with the Minnesota Department of Education tests that are required Um it
assigns a numerical quantity to those So then we're able to identify based on just those required assessments which students are at high risk and some risk Um and that will be consistent across the state as the conversations I have are most districts are really finding a lot of value and plan to shift to that
risk factor system And again us and secondary are waiting and like I said um you know we continue to do a lot of work while we wait for those tools Um and definitely once we get our eyes on them we'll review our processes um and make
recommendations for next best steps Well I have Oh I'm going to press pause on this one Um quick So you get to have a quick preview Oh no Um I am very excited Uh next week at our district professional development day we are I'm
going to just hold Next week at our district professional development day we are going to roll out tier one literacy in secondary um we have principles um with literacy specialists and directors and all of us are coming together um to
create a consistent long-term message about how we're going to um work on literacy in secondary And I also want to give a giant shout out to Ion um who helped me put together um some student voice Um so you'll get a little preview tonight of what the teachers will see
next week Uh literacy is important to me because after high school I want to go to college and find options that can help me support my family and find a good paying job Um literacy is important to me because I want to become a pediatrician and that requires a lot of medical terminology and I just want to
make a better life for me and my family Literacy is important to me because I want to be able to get into the medical field and be able to help provide for my family Literacy is important to me because I believe you should be able to communicate openly freely and express the things that you're trying to say
Literacy is important to me because it helps me achieve my dreams and my goals and will help me define myself in the future Literacy um is important to me because I read papers I can read papers from family members who doesn't know how
to read also um make my mom proud because when she was growing up she didn't go to school to learn how to read and write Literacy is important to me because my dreams of being a teacher and a coach rely a lot on personal
relationships uh being able to uh engage have empathy listen to others be understanding You know the personal skills and understanding where other people are coming from is extremely important Literacy is important to me because it improves the capability to
decrease poverty and helps with communication Hi literacy is important to me because I want to become nurse and help other people and find a good career to help my family and me Literacy is
important to me because I want to be a successful psychiatrist and I want to make a difference in my bank account and the lives of others [Music] We'd be happy to answer any questions you might have
Okay Does anybody have any questions or comments scott uh the legislature put in the the science of reading Is letters kind of the result of that um so the science of
reading is a body of research that is quite old lots of different branches of science Um the letters program is one of the state approved training modules for teachers to learn the science of reading
There are other state approved There are three currently for elementary and our district chose letters And so basically what letters is is a way for teachers to receive training in the science of reading specific to their role as educators
Okay Uh you kept mentioning regional centers Where is a regional center here it's in Sartell Um so if you've heard of resource training and solutions that is another name it might um go by but the regional and maybe Hillary you should
maybe speak to this Uh yes So part of the uh part of the legislation is to fund those regional centers that went into each of the um there are eight service co-ops and our service co-op is the resource training institution that
hosts our um regional reading and math specialists Yeah Um you were mentioning uh I think it was Keral part of the University of Minnesota and they seem to have been
really linked close with the department of education Can you explain a little more about that um I mean I can start and I'm sure Laura has been working on the read act longer than I have Um but just like letters is taking the science of reading um and is
one of the options for our teachers to think about it as educators carry all is the version that they um put together specific to secondary teachers So it takes that same body of research and makes it accessible to our um our our teachers in 6 through 12 And that
connection between the University of Minnesota and the READ Act is explicit in the legislation So it says the Minnesota Department of Education will partner with Kerry which is the institute research institute at the U of M to do this work Um so that is why you'll you'll see that come up Um but
that's part of the the legislation itself is that the the department of ed would partner to help to do this work across the state Okay Um we follow state standards
Um there's been do we finally have social studies standards what are they so the new standards go into effect in a couple of years They've just recently been approved Um so you can find all of them listed on the Minnesota Department of
Education website So there it's it's hard for us to be able to tell you what they all are because each and every grade level has a multitude of standards Um but those standards will go into effect They'll be implemented um in 2627 right yes 2627 It's hard to keep all 26
Um there's some mention of a dyslexia I know one of our former board members was very heavily involved in that Uh can you tell me what what's happening at this time um so years ago dyslexia um there was a
big push at the state and that has really um gone hand inand with the Minnesota read act So those are are not necessarily one and the same but the work for dyslexia has been encompassed into the Minnesota read act Um I can give you a specific example of
elementary how things are more streamlined So in the past um we would do a specific dyslexia screener assessment where a human would sit down with a child to conduct an assessment Um Shannon was instrumental in this work So we have to give Shannon a shout out for this Um but now with the state approved
assessments like fastbridge that is also a dyslexia screener And so now as the state has recommended specific assessments that we need to choose from It also helps us in our capacity to identify students with dyslexia because the tools they're recommending we use
help us do that and it takes out some of the the real significant leg work that it took to do that with a a one-on-one um person And so that specific work on identifying students happens through our screening process And then as we talked through interventions today um those
students who are identified with characteristics of dyslexia would be receiving interventions as well as other students who need support who may not have those characteristics Um so dyslexia isn't seen as much as a standalone Um it still is definitely a separate piece for students
who have dyslexia but as we rally around supporting all of our students who need support to learn how to be grade level proficient readers dyslexia is right within that wraparound support that we provide Thank you very much You go back back one side to the very
last out there um begin using the MDE risk factor tool Can you tell me what the risk factors would be what are we looking at what what what is what's defined as a risk factor i will do my very best This is
fairly new Um and so what happens is there are specific assessments that help us identify risk for being able to read at grade level Each assessment has um measures different components So for
example there can be a nonsense word assessment So nonsense words is asking students to use their decoding skills to sound out a word that could be like easily sounded out but is not a real word That's an assessment that's used
because if students see a word or are familiar with a word they may have that word memorized but maybe aren't decoding it So nonsense words is one example What the state has done is they have then um assigned a threshold for the risk level
for each of those assessments and then that threshold generates a number Those numbers are calculated together And then if a student has a certain sum then that helps us as a district know of all of these subtests this student performed um in a way that would indicate that we
really need to pay attention to their needs The reason this is helpful is that on the FastBridge assessment which is our universal screener um we do receive a composite score and that composite score also helps us understand risk However the way that the tests are
weighted within the FastBridge system um isn't necessarily the way that the state department would recommend based on their legislation And so districts before the risk factors came out were were asking the state so if a student shows up on this tool as at risk is that
what we should be going with some of the assessments we're giving are not required And so this is a tool that allows us to have sort of a numerical quantification for all of the required assessments We always want to triangulate data and look at multiple data points for students And so it's
it's a really slick way for us to know which data points to look at how to weight those data points um and to rely on those expertise of really those top level state researchers around risk to then say "Okay these are our students um who we want to prioritize resources for
um for intervention." Does that answer your question it's it's very new We just found out about it this spring so we haven't been able to put it into um into use yet I I think it answers my question in the sense that at risk would then
be uh a measurement of how they are progressing Yes And it's really at risk of reading being a proficient reader and and not a measurement of I I I mean when I talk about when I when I think about learning going to
school learning I always go back to it but you got to feel safe You have to have food You have to have th that's where the risk is coming from That's where the majority when I when I look at a
district like ours that scores very low I don't think that it's kids that can't learn I don't think that it's teachers that don't know how to teach I mean it's absolutely not We probably have some of the best teachers in the state because of the the the kids
that they work with tend to be more difficult um farther behind in learning So you're you're always trying to catch kids up and giving different interventions and things like that What what I see in a district like ours
is a bunch of kids whose social emotional needs aren't met and it makes learning almost impossible with with without regard to the interventions And a much larger risk factor or
measurement of risk would be just looking at the community and the the poverty levels within a school and and the ability of kids to be able to overcome those risk factors to put them
in a mind state where they can learn and this isn't measuring that I was just wondering if this was something to do with measuring that and if that and and then again if that was the case then you could start to disagregate that and develop
a expectation level and and and we expect the most out of everybody I I get it But they pit us against each other with MCA test scores and say this district is great and this district isn't
But with some type of a risk assessment type of system you would be able to go back and and level those playing fields a little bit and say "Hey these you know these kids in this in this district in
this with this level of poverty and homelessness and all all of the the crime and things that go in this neighborhood versus a wealthy neighborhood with very low levels of crime and a lot of security the kids are going to perform
differently in those two areas and you could begin to level the playing field a little bit as far as measurement is concerned So unfortunately that is not this Yeah So yes you but I'm glad I'm glad you brought it up um because right
that that could be misleading So really it's measuring um the students risk in relation to being a proficient reader at grade level Thank you both for joining us We appreciate it No problem Thank you Have a great night
[Music] Okay moving on to discussion items We have two tonight First we have um the task to appoint board members to award diplomas at Tech and Apollo commencements which will be held uh
Saturday May 31st 2025 Obviously um I have two board members reach out to me Diana and Natalie that will not be available to um help with awarding diplomas So that leaves five of us left
looking for two people for tech two people for Apollo Um and then either I can be one of them or I can be the backup Yeah Are the backup you'll be the backup Okay Um are you going to be here
as far as I know Okay And you'll be there Um and I'm You'll do Apollo Okay And I'm guessing maybe you would Okay Um but I'm guessing Heather would like to do tech do you think
okay Um so we'll do Apollo will be Scott Choose your poison It's not poison Choose your pleasure I'm the north side You're the north side That's what I thought Yeah Okay So we'll do um Scott
and Zach um for Apollo myself and Heather for tech and then Al will be um backup Thank you very much Um well in case somebody can't make it or
something Yeah But um and always feel free to step in if there's like one particular that you want to hand out or something too So we can be flexible with that All right Um then we only have one other um discussion item We have of
course a policy reading We have proposed revised board policy 707 the second reading for transportation of public uh school students and presented by Shannon Averson assistant superintendent of E12 educational
services Good evening Chair Haz and members of the board Um as you recall we were just here last week uh and reviewed this policy pretty thoroughly Hold on one second I will get that pulled up Okay there we go Um just as a
reminder this policy is around um transportation and the only proposed changes that we are recommending for this policy There's a language proposal around um what Scott referred to earlier tonight uh changing transition back to
homeless and that was specific um because in the McKini Vento Act and the statute that's the term that is used Um so that is our recommendation around those language changes Um and then additionally as a reminder um as you go
through you'll see a very lengthy list of statutes throughout this policy and at the end there's a long list of statutes Um really um this policy is governed by those statutes and so we are not recommending changes to those because they are statute related um the
proposed addition to this policy um and I'll scroll the motion proposed uh language addition would be around reasonable transportation restrictions This is a recommendation and in alignment with um several other districts across the state
Um and then just a reminder that I did um uh do this in consultation with our legal team Amy Mace around language that would be um within our rights and within the law Um and so reminder uh I won't read those again because we we read through those last week in depth but um
after last week's first reading there were no additional um changes to this proposed policy 707 Any questions thank you Okay Then we have the board of education standing committee reports
presented by um the committee chairs Um Diana I believe you have the achievement integration and equity committee report Yes thanks Chair Hos and members of the board The achievement integration and equity committee meeting met this morning Um there were three items that we discussed First Dr Harris brought
forward a recommendation to alternate the school update in the school presentations to a bimonthly reporting versus a monthly reporting to the board The committee agreed on the reductions of the presentations to the board Second Ayan Omar presented a draft of the response to the NAPAC non-concurrence
vote This will be an item for discussion on the April 2nd 2025 board meeting And third Dr Dr Jason Harris and Hillary Johnson provided the secondary education presentation update that was recently presented at the cabinet The presentation included data on the
professional learning teams comprehensive comprehensive balance assessment system and information in the NIPY framework that has been designed to position every student for postsecary success in the district Thank you
Diana are those going to be um given to members of the board prior to that meeting the draft of the NAPAC response Yes we will provide um a draft copy for discussion at the next board meeting Before the meeting Oh yep We'll get that
to you before Yep Okay Thank you And we don't have any other reports correct i don't think so Okay Um then we have um last up is future agenda items The April 2nd 2025 board meeting topics will include
community celebration approval of the 2025 2026 compensatory revenue plan We have the 202526 FTE projections based on enrollment and registrations uh the NAPAC board response letter the
2025 school summer review 2025 summer projects review policy readings and school updates At this time does any board member want to suggest a future agenda item yeah welcome back and something No Well
I just I I just have a question that I was thinking about earlier today and it's it has to do with the uh 20 the next year's school budget And I I I think I was listening to the radio and heard him talking about
uh shortfalls uh through AMSD through the AMSD schools Uh and then then they listed the St Cloud School District is short x amount funding and I know that the budget is
being developed right now and changes are being proposed I mean they were saying that we had a shortfall of ex 900,000 or whatever it is and another 500,000 for something else And I know that I know that our administration is
going through the process of looking at things and and proposing budgets but I'm wondering and it may be a finance committee agenda item but somewhere prior to the
presentation of the proposed budget I would sure like to see what were address what and how we're addressing those shortfalls so that it doesn't come to the board as a surprise Thank you Yeah that sounds good And I
know Amy is watching that and would have some dates and not not questioning in any way shape or form that they've identified the shortfalls and we're we're making plans to do it and and to have a balanced budget with the least disruption possible Yeah
However I would like to see some of that prior to the board meeting when that's presented Sounds good Thank you Um anybody else anything okay Um wonderful How exciting is that so looking for a motion to
adjourn tonight's board of education meeting So move Motion by Scott Second by Diana All in favor say I I Okay Uh meeting is adjourned It is 7:43 p.m Have a good night Thanks for watching