##VIDEO ID:UYtiCX3pvg0## Now call to order it is February 5th 2025 the time is 6:32 p.m. our mission is to provide a safe and caring climate and culture in which we engage Inspire educate prepare and Empower all Learners and partnership with their surrounding Community to be successful in today's and tomorrow's Society um so Zach will you lead us in the pledge allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all thank you and then for the now the following board members are present at the District administration office Scott Andre here Natalie Copeland here Zack dhol is here Diana Fen here Shannon hos here Heather Williams here and the following cabinet members and staff are present at the District administration office superintendent Dr Lori partam assistant superintendent of secondary education Dr Jason Harris assistant superintendent of E12 Educational Services Shannon avenson executive director of Community Education Adam Holm executive director of finance and business services Amy scal executive director of Special Projects Gary gangji director of community engagement and Communications Tammy Dand media technicians Paul Novac and Gordy Scott the custodian on site is Austin goodwater thank you then I need a um a motion to approve tonight's Board of Education meeting and work session agenda so move I have a motion by Scott a second by Natalie Zach can you call vote Dian Finn yes shanon Hans yes Heather Williams yes Scott andron yes Natalie Copeland yes Zach D holds yes then we have the consent agenda the consent agenda consists of non-controversial items that 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 personel staff changes Item B approval of monthly financial report for December 2024 item C approval of monthly Treasures report for December 2024 item D request for proposals audit Services item e Apollo Theater improvements change order totaling $3,000 and item F resolution to appoint absentee ballot board for April 8th 2025 special election um I have one request um from Heather to remove item a does anybody else wish to remove an item yes which item uh item um e b e Edward E okay uh sh do you never had two before so how about um can we do you have a question about e yeah I'd like to know what it about the we didn't have a finance meeting this week and I'd like to know what $3,000 is about okay Amy can probably answer that for you yep so um this relates to the theater seating um so originally the Theater seating had been planned to be installed all at once but based on the staging and the timing of the um the rest of the work they had to do the upper balcony seating um in one install and the lower seating in a second and so this is for an additional storage and trip far trip chart for the Theater seating vendor um to store that seating and then come back a second time thank you okay I I apologize if I did this wrong so I don't know um so are we good with that and so then now I'm looking for a motion to approve B through f as read second I have a motion by Natalie a second by Scott Zack can you call vote on that or right yeah yep yep sorry you guys threw me off with your to you're doing it Shannon H yes Heather Williams yes Scott and Dron yes n Copeland yes Zach dhol say yes Dan and finon yes okay and then we have item a Heather would like to recuse herself from the vote um so I need a motion to and a second for to approve item a so move uh again motion by Scott second by Natalie um Zach can you call vote except for Heather Zack dhol yes Natalie Copeland yes Scot and Dron yes Shannon hos yes Diana Fenton yes all right thank you moving on to the tearjerker for the night um and I got my box of kleenexes here um we have one informational item tonight uh your not alone presentation and we have Shannon avenson will assistant superintendent of E12 Educational Services will in introduce the team here oh all right good evening chair Haw superintendent putam and members of the board I am incredibly excited to introduce our two guests tonight they are here to share about our outstanding partnership with you're not alone which provides a free service of therapy dogs within our schools Amy Tyson walls is an avid pup lover advocate for the underdog vocalist and speaker with a mission of creating a non judgmental Zone by personally understanding the many Trials of our students experience with mental health diagnosis anxiety depression bullying Etc Amy began by sharing the unconditional love of her therapy pup Willow Grace in the monellos middle schools in October of 2020 and after piloting this program for 18 months your not alone became a me a member recognized 501c3 nonprofit in June of 2022 Jenny shod is a school counselor at Tech High School and has served in District 742 high school students for over 30 years she is a pass she is passionate about promoting growth and development for all students it has been a lifelong dream of hers to bring pet therapy to her practice as a school counselor and she is extremely grateful to the support and encouragement she received to pursue this goal Jenny believes sharing her dog Murphy with the students and staff at Tech has provided students and staff with joyful and comforting interactions I'm pleased to turn it over wonderful press button right here test perfect thank you so much for having me tonight again my name is Amy Tyson walls and I drove here in a snowstorm it is something out there um I just have to share my gratitude with the St Cloud School District for being open to allowing us to come in and partner with you it has been um a life's my life's Mission um to do this so right off the bat I want to bring attention to our logo and we have a hidden message in our logo and generationally some people will not see it or know what it is but if you look in the puppy's face there is a semicolon and I use my personal my history um of what that semicolon stands for so 18 of 36 years of my life I struggled with anxiety depression but always had a smile on my face no one ever knew it and when my invisible disease became quite visible as it manifested in anorexia it was time to get some help and that was in 2005 when no one talked about mental health and you were looked down severely literally as if you were crazy um I had we had build this Persona of a family that was perfect involved in everything and behind closed doors you never know what goes on so if we could move to the next slide and what that semicolon means is I could have put a period Then and said this is just the way my life is it's never going to get better but that semicolon is a pause people succumb to suicide at that period but if there's a semicolon There's Hope on the other side and my hope is what I'll share with you so right now mental health defined is a condition regards to psychological and emotional well-being and and the tag word right now is always if you have a brain you have mental health okay next one so these statistics are almost two years old so I do need to update them but they're staggering uh one in five American adults will have a diagnosable mental health condition in every given year 46% of Americans meet that criteria of being diagnosed with a mental health condition sometime in their life but the sad part is is that half of them by the age of 14 are diagnosed and one in six us youth age 6 to 17 experience a mental health disorder each year so two years into my recovery in 20 2007 our 11-year-old who was a sixth grader was struggling and we saw some personality changes we were unaware what was going on in his life until we were in the emergency room after he attempted to take his life and what we came to find out is that he had been being physically bullied in the school for months and didn't share it with one person all it would have taken was one so um um as you can imagine the dysfunction was quite great with a mom suffering and a child and we had two other children and we did the inpatient we did the outpatient and what 11-year-old boy wants to talk about their feelings and emotions in 2017 when you were stigmatized to be crazy so the one piece of gold that a therapist shared was I think you should get him a dog so we did that you can go to the next unbeknownst to me but that became my life's Mission and it all came true just the last few years we met our puppy when she was 6 hours old and we were allowed to visit her every single day her name was Lily Ray of Hope because if you have a ray of Hope you have a future and she was a darling little black lab that my husband said absolutely not we cannot get this dog if you can imagine he worked full-time in St Cloud he went to school in St Cloud he had a wife and a son that were sick and two other children and unbeknownst us all five of us had anxiety that had never been addressed so you can say dysfunction at its finest but I told him that God told me this was the tool in the toolbx that we have not yet tried for our mental health and the the funny thing is is 5 years later at Christmas he brought his own dog home he realized what this dog did for him so much so that now we have two dogs so um you're not alone plain and simple we never want any family to feel as alone on an island like we did you had no one to talk to so we are seeking to shatter that stigma of mental illness by one therapy dog at a time and I had Willow planned to go into the Mercy hospital setting because I worked at the hospital and I was going to start two pilot programs there and covid hit and there is a silver lining with covid we can now talk about our mental health as if it's to say I have a cold today I'm feeling anxious today so um Eric Olsen the superintendent monacello allowed me to come into the same space where my son had been being bullied and create conversation with students um we started with groups of 20 students and I did three groups of 20 and it was too many so we learned so now we find that I do six groups of 12 in about an hour and a half 15 minutes with the dog in a circle is enough time for those kids to get that dope dopamine release when you see an animal and then if you can pet an animal your blood pressure and your pulse lower and you'd be amazed adults and children alike how they share when you create that unconditional love and non-judgmental zone so I would love to share with you this video um and this is this was after um eight months into our expansion last year here and I just would like to share that with you you're not alone was created because I had a son when he was 11 years old struggling with mental health issues and we had a puppy that came along and saved our family I lost my dad when I was two to pneumonia and stuff um that was really hard growing up I've dealt with um suicide thoughts attempts depression and anxiety when you're in the struggle it just feels like you're struggling alone that's what you feel like but you're really not I feel like I can be like more open and I can say anything and like a dog knows when you're sad or you're struggling so it just comes to me and it sits down and it lets me pet them I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression and like whenever I pet Willow I would just focus on that and my mind wouldn't be racing as much it's just this dog helping people just overcome these thoughts therapy dogs in school just helped create that bridge where some of these kids they're not going to go to the school concert they're not going to talk to the social worker but if there is a space and then there's you know kind of this vessel of a dog it just allows I think kids to to open up about some of these things and then you know those mental health professionals in the schools are present and can then Circle back to that and and Bridge I think some of these kids that you know sometimes slip through the cracks on ways um where no one knows they're struggling or no one knows what they're struggling with you know with their mental health are at home and so I think that's the real value to being able to have therapy dogs in schools a few weeks ago when I was sharing with some middle schoolers about the symptoms of anxiety and what happens within your body she stayed later to tell me I think I really have that and I've never told anyone before so we were able to get her in touch with the school um therapists social workers and get her the help she needs and two weeks later when she came back with a smile on her face knowing that we had helped her it made everything worthwhile you're not alone was a mission planted in my heart many many years ago and to walk alongside kids that are struggling that maybe haven't vocalized it yet was exactly where I was meant to be the interesting thing about the second girl with the long blonde hair she came to me shaking uncontrollably her name was Lily and fearful of do you're not alone that's okay and her friend made her come and said you have to meet Willow you won't be afraid anymore and she was an only child and within two months she got an emotional support animal at home so for her too she's she's she has a special place so um when we decided to venture out in May of 23 the goal for September was 10 schools so if you think back may of of that year I was the only therapy dog in one team in one school last year we hit 23 schools and what that means is that we assign a dog and its Handler to a school and they commit to coming in once a week for 2 hours at a time and we create where this this pup becomes like the social emotional mascot of the students they get an 8 by10 picture in the office with their name on it if we can get their school badge um done we do the joke with um the one I got with Willow is hers says she's staff and mine says I'm a volunteer and I had an eighth grade student laugh about that he had been with me since sixth grade and he saidwell how much does Willow get paid and I said well she can't get paid well well how much do you get paid and I said it says I'm a volunteer and he says wait a minute You' have been coming here for three years every week for two hours for us and you're not getting paid and I said and he goes why why do you do it I said you know my story I want a better future and out of a 14-year-old Bo boy's mouth he said I love what you're doing before but now I love it even more so those kids I started with are sophomores this year so uh this year we kind of expanded largely again we are in 42 schools um as you can see all the different schools and districts were in but we need therapy dog teams up here in St Cloud horribly okay so I have had um you you shared a flyer and I've had about five inquiries from staff members so we're hoping that we can get them through the process to be certified and then come back and join us and get placed in one of your schools um and if you can imagine our first year we went Nationwide we're in Providence Rhode Island already and we're waiting to start a second one there now um we can go to the next slide all right so this was last year's team this is what got us through Jenny was not on that yet cuz she is a 2425 and the thing that I want you to realize is that we can't charge the schools because we're volunteer Therapy Dog Handlers and that's what I really wanted for this program your school budgets are heavily engaged heavily taxed what's the right word right so the way I come into a school as I say we come in as another level of support you have great programs in place you have you know social workers school counselors but if we could come in and create this environment we go by our first names unless your staff but the reason we go by our first name is because children don't have to see us every day as a person of authority if we come in as a caring Community member they're more apt to open up and I've seen it over and over I know I would have never opened up to school staff because I would never have wanted them to think worse of me so you can go to the next one all right so here are our St Cloud teams uh Sarah and Watson the bures mountain dog is our Kennedy dog and the fun thing about that is Sarah's all four of her children went through Kennedy and now she gets to come back in a different setting and then we've got our beautiful Jenny and Murphy there in the center um Miss butam connected us after and sent me a video of Murphy in the talent show last year and I said you're going to have no problem passing the the certification exam and then on the far is um South Junior highs Betty and Hunter Coco and if you have never seen Betty she's about this tall and her dog's about this tall and I just have such admiration for um a woman of her age being so giving and um we had her in an elementary school first and it wasn't the right fit for her they were a little too squirmy so I'd like to just read to you just some feedback that we've gotten if that's okay so this one here is is from South Junior High and it is from Shara Stone and she says we have Betty and Hunter Coco come to South one hour one day each week they alternate Mondays and Thursdays to be able to meet with students during their tiger times my next group isn't until next Thursday but I will reach out to counselors I don't think I was supposed to read that oh we got a late start this year on setting up our groups um because of placing her there we were going to give it a test okay I have had several instances when I have a student who is struggling in their day and they come to the office for help upon seeing Hunter they are quickly distracted from what is upsetting them and they lean into him I often witness the faces of students staff and families who enter the office carrying on their normal routines with faces that lack much emotion as soon as they see Hunter their eyes light up and they smile as they come over and ask if they can pet him Hunter is a chocolate lab that loves to be pet and wages his tail when someone walks up to him I hear their stories about their pets or how they always have wanted a dog um also to know that Hunter is always on a leash the entire time which is a rule um and does not act with any person who does not wish to be near him now Mr um we have a couple cute stories about Watson okay so I'm just going to share a very little bit about um Anna will height Road here um I want to share that our partnership with you with you're not alone has been a substantial impact on our students we have been able to provide a connection and support for our students that have been struggling with friendships mental health concerns and school anxiety if we could have him here every day and all day we would one thing that Sarah told me and and when I met with Lor Lori the first time I felt like I was going to have a battle I actually prepared myself by talking to ion um to see what what the Muslim Community what their dislike of dogs was because I like to be prepared so of course I had a tire blow out a mile down the road they waited for me and within 5 minutes she said so only the middle schools we can start with so um that put me right at ease what was very interesting and I've spoke to the kids at Kennedy the eighth graders uh mental health talk that's where my heart is to talk to these kids but Watson was present and um there is quite a distinction in the demographics of how they behave around dogs and partly because they've never had the exposure well what had happened with Sarah and Watson is that she was in the classroom and all the kids got to line up to pet him the very last boy she watched him as he was so scared and nervous and as he made his way to the front he went to pet and then he got scared so then Sarah moved him around to the back so this is the way way we have found that this works with that demographic it's the saliva that they feel is unclean so if you can move a child to the back and pet an animal for the very first time within five minutes that little boy was hugging Watson and his classmates cheered for him and they said he got over his fear what a great lesson that was um you can go on to the next this is um this is our call to communities to come and partner with us I'm not here as a salesperson but this was done I'm very proud of how this was done and it just is a great lesson for us today's youth have many opportuni world is full of Adventure and learning however many young people are dealing with stress and anx xiety peer pressure social media schoolwork family Dynamics it can all just be too much many times all they need is a helping hand or a supportive smile hi my name is Kurt fosen father of six and one of the founding board members of you're not alone and you're not alone we believe we can be that helping hand to help young people navigate through the difficult years since 2021 you're not alone has been using a unique approach bringing trained and certified therapy dog teams in schools across Minnesota helping to reach students in a way that provides them unconditional love and support today you're not alone has grown to over 16,000 students across Minnesota and Beyond this is where I need your help we not alone is looking for Partners Financial Partners that are willing to step up and partner with us on our cause to help make a positive impact on mental illness and to help students navigate through those troubling years and you're not alone we believe we can be that difference and together we can change lives You Are Not Alone your story continues have one more slide that's all right it'll start again just to warn you many opportun okay I'm just going to leave that up there I'm not going to talk about that but I'd love to send around some goodies for you in this box you're going to find a few things we um we lost a team member in May to Suicide unfortunately um she and her sister joined us in tribute to their sister that they lost 20 years ago and so now that friend has lost two sisters so the Widow uh Amy's husband gifted us with one of my items on my bucket list of bracelets I'd love to show you though how you to wear it so if you wear it so people can read you're not alone when you Rift up your arm it'll say your story continues so you're going to find these in there help yourself large and small um my card's in there if you need it things that we do in the school we have what are called this is just a normal deck of cards and we do what we call conversation possibilities if our team is struggling to make conversation which doesn't ever happen but um it's a game that we can play to draw out conversation um all of our kids are preempted and taught the therapy dog dos and don'ts how to behave how to make a successful therapy dog visit um everyone here if you'd like can get our founding K9 Willows Trading Card all of our teams have trading cards and a sensory sticker on the back that you can put on your water bottle when you're struggling it's a sensory one um we have stickers in here that no matter what you're going through you still matter and and uh wonderful pens that are tricky so I'm just going to show you right now this is how you use them and then help yourself to a postcard about us new this year every school has a mini me of their therapy dog left behind this is a willow or a Murphy and we have a couple golden doodles um we leave that behind whether it's in the school counselor's office the school social workers counselor um as a reminder especially for the little kiddos if they need that reminder of what it felt like and then the other thing you'll see is every team now has a portfolio of all of our therapy dogs so they can look and say Miss Amy when you need a sub can we meet so and so so um feel free to take what you would like um I have some cards in there if necessary and then one thing that um we're just giving you tonight is that we are sharing with the schools and they can utilize them however they would like is Paw packs positive packs each of the kids will get a bracelet a soothing Stone um um our founding K9 her trading card and a sensory sticker so this year we're giving every all the schools 10 because I just got them done next year we'll do 20 um and because we can't receive payment for our services we can you can PCH purchase merchandise for us if you want to do giveaways in your school um we can't refuse a donation but that's how we that's how we are funded okay I would like Jenny if you have questions for either Jenny or I what it's like for her at Tech yep I'm I'm really um Jenny Shad as um I was introduced and a counselor been in the district over 30 years and um as my introduction said this was a lifelong dream I had no idea how to make it happen and um the Stars aligned um and having this partnership with Murphy a part of my profession this year has really been kind of lifechanging and you know when you're 30 years into a career there's lots of ups and downs in this has definitely been an up um some of the things we do I try to be in the entryway in the morning and greet people because I have yet to see a person walk by look at him and not smile I mean it just instantly brings a smile to people's faces um in my office um he just basically does this all day um sleeps all day he's got a dog bed he'll sometimes sit on my cozy chair or under my desk is his kind of kennel and um he you know when people come it's amazing to me how they do open up and I think just the tactile um petting of a dog puts you in the moment and I talk about that with kids how important mindfulness and being in the moment is uh another thing I've added is I go into the health classrooms each trimester when they talk about the mental health unit and it's a really good opportunity for me to share um we both go there and to share what we can offer the school and to educate students on uh the difference between service animals and therapy animals um and it's just been just I can't even explain what it's like to walk down the hall and certain students are just really drawn uh to Murphy in addition a lot of Staff stopped by my office um and something that just kind of touches my heart is I do have regular staff members that see him and I know it is a help um in fact just tonight before I left Tech um one of our custodians who had a pretty significant loss in the last year um came and said he was thinking about that and he knew he could come to work tonight and see Murphy before he started as Chef so I mean it's it's remarkable to me on all of the people he is touching within our building um and then professionally I just am so grateful and I feel so supported and you know it's encouraging me to get some further education um I'm going to start a class on animal assisted crisis response um which is kind of exciting to me because it just will teach me some skills and tools to better utilize you know our our presence in this school um so any questions at all we do supply all of our teams with $300 of continuing ed credits a year as a thank you and so we'll be paying for that um class um I just feel like having that learning whether it's further training with them and their dog or if it's mental health related and we are always have a staff member present with us so I want you to know that we are not mental health professionals we're just humans that have really Caring Hearts and have dogs that have magic Scott okay um good presentation thank you uh therapy dogs have been around for a while um I know some of our teachers actually have them and take them to hospitals and to nursing homes um I know at one point there is a gentleman that tried to introduce therapy dogs to the district and he was turned away why finally now I think well a lot of it has to do with covid if I can be quite honest and because I had such the things the children were saying after being in the school with Willow is what really sealed the deal and because now we come in we have polic seon procedures we have a contract there's checks and balances that we do and I really the it's the wave of the future to have even a facility dog on site every day I even have admin that are training their dogs to have in the office in some schools and you can take a disregulated child that takes 45 minutes to calm down and when there's a dog present it cuts it to 20 what kind of uh training do you give the dogs so when I started you had to do normal puppy Canine Good Citizen and therapy dog training Canine Good Citizen is the top level of a pet you do a test with your dog therapy dog you do a very extensive it's 20 things that you have to and your dog have to do and if number number three you goof up it's over you come back after you've practiced more so it is really a stringent certification because we don't ever want a dog to be in a situation where they're not comfortable where they feel like they have to protect us um so it's it's and then every team their certification company has2 to4 million policy on them and I think it just finally makes sense for schools to go this route okay I'm still curious about the training it isn't FAL go fetch is it no no okay tell me no okay so things that you have to do with your dog you have to be able to walk on a loose leash you have to be able to walk by a treat and they won't go for it you have to walk by a toy and they can't go for it you have to be able to put them in a sit in a stay in a down you have to be able to put them on you always are on leash you have to have a 20 foot leash they give you that you snap on their collar you take yours off you always are in control of your dog if you do it backwards you fail you have to be in control keep your dog in a stay you walk away 20t the length of that someone comes up and starts to love on them and you have to get them to come to you so um dropping a loud like pizza pan something behind them they can react but they have to overcome it and not go into timid mode they have to walk by another dog and that doesn't always work well when your dog is an alpha so Willow and I have had to work on that a lot so you have to walk by humans are in the middle dogs are on the outside if the dog crosses you yep so that was my problem the first time with Willow and I was allowed to go into the middle school without certification yet because it was covid I couldn't get a test so the kids all knew Willow's taking her test and how do I tell them instead of saying and I I take this from John Maxwell um leadership author um sometimes you win sometimes you learn and that was the lesson the kids learned that day we needed more practice okay you mentioned uh that you go into the schools uh once a week for two hours we do is that enough no we would love to do it more we would love to do it more but a lot of our people they have to take those two hours off of work and so I mean corporations are nice they let them do that that is why I would still really promote you getting a facility dog but then also still have another team come in and do that two hours of small group so that's what we would do now in this case in the high school it's a little different we started in Middle School small groups are more common kids are more open to it so each age level has a little bit different of a change in our program um facility dog what's a difference between that and Y one that comes in two hours a week Murphy here is a facility dog he goes to work every day with Jenny that's a facility dog almost every day pretty much every day I give him some days off now and then y but that's a facility dog so really my mission I think every school nurse needs to have a facility dog if you can imagine the number of children as you know that go with headaches stomach aches it's all anxiety related if they could pet a dog for five minutes they could go right back to class that's my wish how do you choose who's going to be coming in to these well the kids I mean we forgot hundreds of kids in our schools who's the lucky one that gets to go pet the dog for five minutes so so um originally when we started at the monello middle school it was during the lunch hour and they could get a puppy pass it was first come for serve instead of having recess where they'd go to the gym they could choose to see us then with the sixth grade level we gave it to what we call our Eminem or Home Room teachers and they dispersed them so that it wasn't always the same kids a new thing we're doing in the elementary schools this year is because it's hard for kids that haven't been able to see the dog and it could take months so we are now going as long as the allergies are okay classroom to classroom to introduce the dog and the Handler the very first time and then the next time the kids are prepped yes it's a large group it's probably 25 kids but they're prepped they sit in a circle and then we do a 15-minute session with them so that all the elementary kids are going to see the dog within like the first month and that has really helped tremendously we tell our schools though if they do the puppy passway or they specifically have students that are in need we can't only help kids that are in need one of our schools last year only did that and what happened is the kids that were now I'm going to use the word general population of students versus Kids in Need the general population of students said only the kids that have troubles get to see the dog and so that is one guideline that we say we can't allow you to do that in your school you have to do it both ways uh you mentioned that that there is a service dog versus therapy dogs explain the difference I love to educate and this is something I want my teams to educate kids on I'm going to give you a little Spiel here I say to the kids okay you have a pet Can Your Pet go to McDonald's can it go to the Cub can it go to Walmart no your pet is in your yard or on a leash an emotional support animal is the next level now anyone that has a diagnosis of edhd anxiety depression autism can get a prescription from their doctor for an emotional support animal they can't take them into stores but what it does do is it allows kids that need that animal as part of their mental health toolbox to take them to college they can't be refused or to go to an apartment building where no animals are allowed by law they have to allow them and they cannot charge them a fee so people with emotional support animals think they have free rain to bring them everywhere and that's ruining it for our service animals the next level is a therapy dog she is my pet I would say Willow is my husband's emotional support animal and a therapy dog her job is love her job is to be petted to give unconditional love um yes ask before you pet is always a good thing so we teach the kids that can Willow go to Walmart she can't go to a restaurant so we need K people the general population to understand this a service dog helps people with diabetes epilepsy um Mobility assist autism PTSD sight and Visually Impaired they have a main job and they have been trained specifically for that job a service animal typically costs about $45,000 they cannot be re they can't be refused anywhere by law if somebody refuses them they can be sued because they are part of them and they and and so I tell the kids if you see a service animal CU they're marked even if you would ask to pet them they will say no because that dog is working and it needs to know that the minute their vest comes off they turn into a playful dog like every other dog but so that's the different levels and we are educating kids and every time I speak somewhere so you got at least four different levels of U of training or whatever you want to call it exactly yeah uh you mentioned that you was kind of a shortage of uh people that are willing to do this yes um there is um have you ever heard of RSVP yes we help they help us at events okay so you are familiar with them I am basically it's a senior citizens I know I just got old enough to join okay as of November I've been joined for a while but so anyway you're familiar with them and you know there's a there is a source of people that would be interested in doing this kind of work yeah so when I when I speak I'll say anybody that has a dog that's well behaved and that is you know is somewhat trained you can still do it that's the prime that's the people we want that that their dog loves attention and then we can help you get through the process we don't certify the teams at this point that is our future though um so I do a zoom call once a month um on a Monday night at 7 o'clock and I get lots of people and I can tell you of the 42 teams that we've had I bet you 30 of them have started from scratch realized that oh is that all I have to do my dog's ready to take the test oh you mentioned live right here is a prime example now you mentioned liability insurance yep um is it hard to get or is it easy to get or what's involved so when you pass your test with a certification company like pet partners Alliance of therapy dogs therapy dogs United those are some Nationwide ones they give you the insurance now that insurance is only good though if you're volunteering with your dog so Jenny is not covered by them during her school day so Jenny has to get a separate insurance policy like an umbrella policy from her homeowners something like that and it can cost between $350 and $500 a year for that to be part of an organization we pay dues every year to be like part of pet partners so it's $40 a year to keep my insurance and then every two years I have to get re-evaluated with my dog which I think I think is really good um it's good our dogs get older they change we get older we might not follow through with commands like we should so it's good for us for that refresher well done thank you very much you are welcome Natalie very hesitant to talk because but the tissues are here hear you I just really am grateful if I don't look at you I can talk I'm just kidding I look at the very cute dog actually tears are good H they're very good and um I it's just really um you're leading by example by sharing your story and being so vulnerable with us and I just really appreciate that um um you know you're allowing us to hear the horror that led you to finding the light and that is a beautiful thing that our that our kids need so I'm going to stop but thank you so much you know there's there's real freedom in that for years we kept that facade and you know we were afraid when it started to crack but once you crack It Wide Open that's when you start to really heal um that's son of mine now is 29 years old almost 30 married and he's on his sixth year of teaching he started his career at St Cloud Tech the last year in the old building yeah yeah and so he's quiet about my sharing I mean he doesn't want to be known as that that teacher that kid but um he has allowed me to to utilize this for good and that was the point he says as long as you're doing it for good Mom you can share um yeah thank you so much I'm sorry we took so much of your time yeah no thank you very much for being here um Tammy or Paul and I don't know if you would be comfortable with could we have this as a standalone presentation on our YouTube channel um no nope okay they can't they you we can't okay well anytime you want me to come and speak whether it's to staff or students I know I'm coming um with all of the mental health staff at the end of yeah and and one other thing I wanted to say when Jenny talked about the staff we are here not only for students but for staff so if you have a teacher Workshop day I always say be the cool boss have the morale boost come in and we will be there um so we want our teachers to be um to experience this as well thank you so much for sharing your time with us thank you Jenny this was wonderful thank Youk you so and then if you want to keep looking in the basket there that's right by you sir if you want anything I'll pass it around before I head out thank you thank you all thank you for bringing much no problem so you can pass it that way Scott oh okay uh moving on to our discussion and action items we have three tonight first up we have an action item it is the appointment of board clerk um as everyone knows here but um those of you listening or watching may not know um unfortunately uh Bruce henches needed to resign from his position on January 31st of this year uh it was wonderful to have him back for that short amount of time um he hit that ground running and did a lot in 31 days that was impressive um it was great to have them back and um so unfortunately um the next two um action items are um how we're going to handle that situation so first we need to replace his role as board Clerk and um Heather so kindly Vol and told she said um so this is an action item and so I'm making a motion I believe this is how we're going to handle this to um nominate Heather um as our board clerk this year if I can have a second for that okay have a second by Natalie um and so then Zach for the last time can you call vote and then we'll hand it over to our new board Clerk um Shannon hods yes Diana Fenton yes Zach dhol yes Natalie Copeland yes Scott andreon yes Heather Williams yes all right you're in thank you okay so then um now we need to um next up is another action item is the adoption of a resolution filling the school board vacancy By Appointment um and I hope I can summarize this so it according to Minnesota statute the how we fill that seat is the school board appoint somebody to the seat we do that at a board meeting board meeting by a resolution um then it has 30 days um once it hits the 30 days then that appointment is official and um the person that we appoint is then as a is then a school board chair however the term Schoolboard member excuse me however only until um given the length of time um would be because it would be the first Tuesday of the first Monday in no after the first Monday in November we would have to hold a special election to permanently fill that seat for the the rest of the length of Bruce's um term if that makes sense so we need a resolution tonight to appoint somebody um it is executed after a 30-day weit period and then that person is in that seat but we have a special election in November and then that whoever is elected by the public then holds that until the end of the term does that make sense can I question yes please two questions I think so in the 30day period um from today when we nominate vote until it's resolved what happens during that 30 days like can do do people object or is it just a waiting period defined I printed off the Minnesota statutes here so it says the um okay the position the vacancy must be filled by board appointment at a regular special board meeting the appointment shall be evidenced by a resolution entered in the minutes and shall be effective 30 days following uh adoption of the resolution um I think that there's 30 days I thought it said in here where somebody can voice of concern formally voice of concern to the clerk all right yes all right now I know okay so that's the 30 days yes and then on a special election next November is there the same requirement like in a regular election you have to nomin or you have to um register by some date and then or file by some date and then do stuff is it the same it'll follow the same um the only thing that we're not clear of right now is um the fact that we as a district opt into the primary system so we're waiting to hear back from the Secretary of State's office to make sure that we don't have to do a primary in August for a special election um so we don't think that we do based on reading the statute um but we're waiting for confirmation um that the board would likely have to take action to like temporarily opt out of the primary system for the purpose of the special election um because clearly any election we're holding is at our expense um and so to hold a primary and then a general election would be a lot of money yes so um our initial thought is that we don't need to do that but we're we're still waiting to verify that if we attach ourselves to the there's already an election in November right no not necessarily because it's an off year um but utilizing the November date there is a potential um because you never know if there were to be an open council member seat in one of our jurisdictions or a county seat um or if any of those um other entities within our jurisdiction might want to do a special election for some sort of um bonding project or something so uh utilizing the November date has a possibility um that we may be able to combine um and share costs okay if there were to be um but there wouldn't it wouldn't be a normal election because there's no political office regularly scheduled political office election um on the OD year but that's the longest we can wait is my understanding we can't cycle through and wait for the next one correct can we do it sooner you could but then we're gambling that it's um that straight up that we're going to it it would be eating the cost of it and then we would be scrambling to put some a lot of stuff together here too so it doesn't seem like to me it doesn't seem like there's a benefit if I'm doing pros and cons of doing it sooner right financially it's it's really unlikely that if someone were to have a seat or want to hold a special election for bonding um they're typically you're going to see that happen in November um so from a financial standpoint to have any um possibility of cost sharing November is our best option um we also are uh going to look into whether there's a possibility to to bring forward legislation or have one of our Representatives bring forward legislation um related to combining polling places because that's a once a year uh election and we have elected for the calendar year to not combine polling places because of the referendum so as it stands today under current law we would have to have all 62 precincts open for the special election in November um which seems to defeat the purpose of of what how the statute is written um so that's something that we'll be uh trying to reach out to um legislators to to hopefully bring forward um but that's another reason why the November is the most advantageous because we may not know if any legislation um that would give us some leeway there um we wouldn't know that in time uh to have anything prior to November why couldn't it be done at the same time a referendum those dates have passed so the filing and the notification period to add ballots are printed um had we known in December right that would have potentially been a possibility um but at this point all of those mandatory um first notices and County notices and um that uh is already passed those deadlines thank you so to be good stewards with taxpayer dollars November makes the most sense okay so um so I have a resolution in front of me um before I read it um we have to identify who we would like to appoint um as the empty seat that Bruce um has here so I am suggesting El dalren the reasons for that are um as we know here um but the viewers and listeners may not know is this past November um there were seven people on the ballot seven community members that were interested in serving on the school board the top four were elected Al came in fifth um so therefore it would make sense to me that he would be the person that we would appoint to that seat and then again um November we would have a special election and would go back to the voters so I will read this resolution and then um um and look for a motion in a second but does anybody have any questions no okay so I'll read this um resolution filling Schoolboard vacancy By Appointment whereas a vacancy exists in the school board of a a school board member with term expiring the first Monday in January 2029 and whereas the vacancy occurred more than 90 days prior to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in the year the vacancy occurred in the first or second year of the vacant term I appreciate whoever wrote this therefore be it resolved by the school board of St calderia schools Independent School District 742 state of Minnesota as follows pursuant to Minnesota statutes section 123b uh 09 subdivision 5B Al dalren is hereby appointed to fill the vacancy and serve until a successor is elected and qualified the appointment shall be effective 30 days after the adoption of this resolution unless a valid petition to reject the appointee is filled with the school district clerk pursuant to Minnesota statutes section 123b um 09 subdivision 5bb within that 30day time period I should also say that I did Reach Out Al and said um if he were it was approved would he accept the position that would be important to ask him of which he said yes so I'm looking for a motion in a second um Andor so okay I'll move that yeah and do I have a second of a motion by Scott second and a second by Heather um any further discussion on this Natalie I think that this am I am I right in this that he would serve until December of this year and then the new person would start January 1 that's a really good question yes yeah just like what we coming yeah yeah I didn't know if that needed to be included in here because it just it says doesn't say how long he's serving you know what I mean is that okay that it doesn't because we know it because it's in statute thank you okay good question um any other discussion um Heather clerk can it's this says I I think can you call vote just to make sure yes okay Scott andron yes Natalie Copeland yes Zack durhal yes Diana Fenton yes Shannon hos yes Heather weams yes all right thank you um and then I will sign these and pass them to you and I'm not sure do we really need to sign all these do you think okay just one maybe I was supposed to pass these out I don't know all right thank you um then we have one discussion item tonight we have the 2025 2026 middle level courses updates presented by Dr Jason Harris assistant superintendent of secondary education and Hillary Johnson again director of secondary education you're becoming a regular here good evening uh chair HW superintendent putam board members uh welcome back Al uh you're going to be sitting next to me I see Heather moov down to the other end so uh if you're listening and uh welcome back I'll look forward to sit next to you uh in the rearrangement of seats so uh T tonight you all will get a chance to get a quick update of what's going on in middle level courses what options do students have to select and choose when they're in Middle Schools grades 6 through eight and so I think when we looked at it our students uh kind of get a well-roundedness of course offerings in sixth seventh and eighth grade and that's all due to you all kind of looking and making sure we're following all the things and then MD's requirements around uh curriculum and what's offered so all the lines to our strategic objectives around culture and climate uh instruction that produces positive uh results Innovation career and post-secondary options and then family and Community engagement and so when we look at those courses the program we we align it to everything that we're doing and what our Focus areas are so uh the specific vision of the program really starts to at this age uh if you go to the next one um at middle level explore kind of self-reflect plan it's the age of where I want to try we want them to try everything we want them to explore all their courses and find your interest and build off of it and so we began to look at it to start to think about find your interest reflect and then start to think about what are some of the things down the line and you know you you might want to have a career end or grow your talents and so these are the things in middle level that we really start to focus in on uh As It prepares for those Future Ready graduates and uh director uh uh Johnson's gonna really go through like the courses and really hit the details of what we see am I on okay thank you Jason thank you board members for having me tonight um I am going to give you a summary of our middle level courses um starting with each grade level so in sixth grade this is really our transition Year from middle school I also want to note that all of our grades in Middle School do teaming the teaming model allows for our students to have the same advisory math language arts and science teachers all of our students in sixth grade also have Allied rotations in robotics art fiad and LIF smarts LIF smarts 1.0 is a sixth grade class to prepare students to thrive as young Adolescence in healthy decision-making and introduces them to Career fields in Health and Human Services also in this transition students get their first choice in picking a class which I have a 2B sixth grader and this is a really big deal at our house right now um so they get to choose between band choir orchestra or C4 which is the introduction to college career community and citizenship C4 is a place for students to deepen their understanding of Future Ready skills like organization time management and collaborative thinking in seventh grade students have that same teaming model through language arts science and social studies or sorry they have the same Tei model but in language arts science and social studies they now are able if they choose to choose assignments that deepen and extend their knowledge beyond our Core curriculum for an honors Distinction on their report card the Allied rotations in seventh grade fied Health art and energy and machines energy machines offer students a chance to engage with computers machines and tools that solve problems and create we're excited next year to add an introduction to AI literacy to help students understand how AI also helps them solve problems and create in seventh grade students have this additional choice for their elective of making music in 8th grade our students get the most variety to explore their interests in careers in Math Science Social Studies and language arts we offer honors courses the Allies offered World Language sampler to fied art and now they have LIF smarts 2.0 in LIF smarts 2.0 students are introduced to personal finance and careers in Business and Entrepreneurship 8th grade students also have an additional election or excuse me an additional elective of teched and in this class they build a shed or a large play structure that we actually sell to the public um and use as Revenue to um continue the course by the end of 8th grade our students have exposure to many careers in areas of interest that set them up for choosing their classes and Pathways in high school another area of our middle L programming that I wanted to highlight tonight is our um continuation of world language immersion in Chinese at North and Spanish at South students in these programs at Middle School take a period of World Language and then they also get their social studies credit taught in their world language this is a picture here of um our students itself um meeting their Amity um which is a program that we have of a um a native language speaker that comes and works with our students for the year and they build really close bonds and this was them getting to um have a video call with their Amity from last year so now you're wondering um how do students get to choose how do we sign up for all these courses um so we are kind of right in the thick of it um last week was middle level open house for incoming fifth graders um our students were able to meet principles they were able to meet um sixth grade teachers the athletic directors were there with all the activities that we offer um our music teachers also do a tour of all of our elementary schools so our fth fifth graders get to see a con a concert um with all the options that they have for sixth grade um late January the registration begin or the where the counselors from sixth grade actually go into our elementary schools and register the students right there in April and May we'll finalize Master schedules and the registration process these are the people that do all the magic um they are such a talented team that gave presentations to um parents at open house they work really closely with each fifth grade student so that they know what they want and that they feel confident in their choices um at South they have three as well um and at Kennedy um Dana works with our students um transitioning between the Kennedy Elementary School and Middle School ways that we support like I said our counselors give a lot of presentations both in the evening to parents um and work with the students in the the fifth graders in schools um they hold individual meetings if any student was to register new to the district um it comes to them and they reach out to reach out to each individual family about what options that they would like to choose and then our school web page has a whole section dedicated to middle level programming and has their own middle level guide um that as a parent have found very helpful um to answer any questions or think about ways to talk to my child about what's the best choice for them so thank you um we are happy to take any questions that you might have about middle level courses and programming anybody have any questions Scott tell me about life smarts I know isn't it sound great oh it so it does and I think it was about 8th grade that I taught a little bit of that yes I'm hopeful for all of them um so we have larts .0 and 2.0 that are really um directed at that that sixth grade level is really thinking about like what are healthy choices that you make as an adolescent and how do I you know emotionally regulate how do I keep myself healthy how do I reach out to adults for support um so that's LIF smarts 1.0 and then by life smarts 2.0 um our students are doing sorry I got to use my notes on that one so life smarts 2.0 is the personal finance so that's where they really dig into um Finance business careers and um entrepreneurship I understand 2.0 I used to teach that 1.0 I'm a little confused is that relationships or what um it's like some of it is like systems of the body um some of it is um yeah healthy relationships how to work with others um think about it when you were in middle school and you were just coming into Middle School Learning yourself learning peer groups self-esteem all the things that help set you up to be a good human right we started sixth grade you remember those days where you're in sixth grade and you were coming in and you're middle school and how's this all feel it helps them really set up that social emotional piece that students really need to get ready for what's coming in 7th 8th all the way into high school and so you know what I remember there was an awful lot of bullying at that age group right and I and I think our teachers do a really good job I I think since maybe we experienced it of talking about different ways to self-regulate be friends like build that community so that our students aren't feeling that same same thing one of the ways that the teacher talks about it is like a life hack so 1.0 is kind of life hacks in order to be a thriving middle schooler U one thing that seems to help is Athletics and get an awful lot of pent up energy out yeah and we are really lucky um we have fabulous programs in Middle School um for our students to explore in all sorts of different Athletics um and the athletic directors were at the open houses already giving parents like this is how you do a physical this is where you're going to fill out the forms like I had I walked out of that open house with like everything I would need to have her registered in the fall just to added piece around the Arts right we see middle school kids to instruments and music you know start to build the theater program in middle school with plays and all the things outside just the Athletics where you don't see that a lot in a lot of schools and so when I spoke earlier to the well-roundedness we looked at it your student if they come to get an education from us they get a well-rounded choice of options in sixth seventh and eighth grade and so when we talk about middle school and I'll just say this CU people are in in selection and choice on where they want to go to school our school offers the best of the best I know we get images and names but when we look at it you just heard it what offers and compare to our partners and what we give we're right where we need to be to the extent of what we need to add and transform for students in the next five to 10 years and so I think our folks are grounded into what we need to do so Diana I just have a couple questions on the seventh grade Allied in the new energy and machines if you can just take me through that um are we introducing that as more of a computer science coding application to launch up to high school computer science or is that more of an AI focus and then I have a second question about AI so I'll let you answer that first thank you um so in sixth grade in robotics they really get the introduction to coding there well and actually a lot of our elementary schools are doing coding so our kids are coding pretty early um so sixth grade though in robotics is where they would really see that this is really about how we're using those machines to create and problem solve um so they'll use everything from a computer to a saw um to like when that those are the tools that we're talking about like they're going to be almost like an introduction to some tech ed in that class as well so it's a introduction to how all the machines and power can help us solve whatever problems we encounter and all of our students will get that opportunity every student so that's an Ali that everyone takes it's not a choice that's that's fantastic so my second question then leads to the new additional unit on AI literacy so um obviously that is the big piece that's changing education in both in powerful and somewhat scary ways and it impacts every content area and I'm I'm concerned of a unit when I could be using AI to know if to help write my language art assignment to getting math assistance on KH Academy to doing this and whether the approach of a unit is enough when students may or may not have the skills to know um ethical and non-ethical uses early on and it will impact them throughout and I know you've put on schooly assignments where it's coded red green um yellow to you know you can use it with caution and use it with that so I'm just wondering how the six being in they start in sixth grade how are they're getting that message on how they should be appropriately using Ai and whether the target of seventh grade and that additional unit there is maybe too late or is it enough or should we be doing it across all content areas just a question yeah I that's a really great question um our end goal so starting with one unit now as we're like really learning and um we have partnered with the center for curriculum redesign who has been really been leaders and been involved in the district in other ways um to give us some of the state-of-the-art the best most thoughtful curriculum in order to support our students in that so that's one thing that gives like a lot of um excitement to our teachers that are going to be um able to access that um but yeah it it is becoming a piece for all of us to talk about and I think the um piece of this curriculum that is most excited is they really are talking about like how is it built what does this mean you are still a human that holds the wisdom and this is a tool and how do we use a tool like AI just like we use a tool like a saw right I don't want a saw where I'm going to chop my hand off right I want to use this in a way that makes sense for me to empower myself to understand and and I think that's the part like no a unit right now is not enough but it is our step in the direction as we're hoping to do some rethinking around middle school and then line up the right licenses and get the right people in place to to really be leaders um that we think we can be in this area well I think it's a great addition and I think it's needed and I like that whole um Allied piece that you've added to seventh grade thank you you I appreciate how this was organized so we could see the big picture if you just do like like oh these are the new classes and then I'm like get a little bit confused to the just the the basics and then the options on there not Basics but the the foundation of it and everything so thank you it was great seeing you again thank you all I appreciate it okay moving on to reports we have a board of education stand ing committee reports I believe um we just have one the board development policy and governance uh committee chair uh Zack dhal thank you Dr here's for the passing this along and it's even in large prints I don't have to wear my bifocals you must have been seeing me squinting all the time I used to give it to Scott and so Scott's eyes I don't know so now new new new new hands so committee met on January 29th and assistant superintendent avenson Harris presented proposed board policies policy 525 violence prevention policy 535 service animals in schools and if service animals is very specific uh two policies reviewed and recommended to move forward to tonight's board meeting for first read that is our report yeah thank you and then Personnel or not yeah Personnel negotiations committee chair Natalie Copeland yes we on January 28th we talked about the 2425 Staffing process Administration reviewed the 2526 Staffing timelines and flowcharts the timelines will be reviewed for the full board in March Administration is currently reviewing Staffing structures at the district level and in each of our buildings and programs to align with identified prior ities and budgets and that was it okay that's everybody on that one um then we have future agenda items the February 19th 2025 board meeting topics will include Clear View School presentation American Indian education update American Indian parent advisory committee compliance documentation and some policy readings at this time does any board member wish to suggest a future agenda it Heather I know that um in the administrative the federal administrative change uh governing change there's lots of topics on discussion with Federal Cuts is there a place where we will just become aware of the impact of the and many of them are still being interpreted but is there a a time or a way to be educated about the so so for instance I believe is it the Yes Network that provides food um after school I believe that's already um not being served it's been cut already so is there a place or a process by which we just will be in the loop and potentially able to understand how it's not just to the school but potentially some of our partners around us is I don't know if that's an agenda item it's a question in fin in finance maybe yeah the hard part is that it changes every day like I don't we could give an update and it could be obsolete the next day um so at this point I would say um maybe the best means for that is either through our um board updates or or through email if there were to be something that significantly impacts elimination of programs or Services um a lot of the ones um so United Way is a good example um they had paused everything and we just got the green light that they are good through the end of February um and so within a matter of 3 days it was yes we're good no we're not now we're good again um so it's really very very fluid um I think uh we will definitely as we move to budgeting for next year um that would be part of the budget presentation in terms of um what things do we know if there are things by the time you know between now and when the budget comes to the board um that are definitive yes we don't have this funding um and there's some things that if we don't know we may still be being conservative um and and how we're updating the budget to reflect some of that uncertainty um so certainly that would be part of the budget presentation as far as what are the assumptions that we're using as we budget and staff for next year um and at this point we're assuming the continuation of our you know Federal lunch program right that would be a significant um Financial consideration um we have to to kind of move forward on the assumption that uh everything is business as usual unless we hear otherwise um but certainly I think um we can connect about what is that that means to notify the board if we do receive a notification um of some sort of discontinuation of funding or change um that has a widespread impact on on the programs we offer yeah I appreciate how that you brought this up I think um as a board member I would I I know about the Yes Network only because I know from my other workings in the community but um I would appreciate maybe an email that just uh says these are on pause or the you know like a regular update just because the community has already asked me like oh the school board what are you guys hearing you know that sort of a thing and and I'm always like changes every day just like Amy says but today I know this you know and tomorrow I'll know something different but yeah if we could just have the information that'd be great okay thank you um so uh tonight the board meeting is going to be longer than the work session so that was everything on our regular board meeting so I'm looking to adjourn our regular a motion to adjourn our regular board meeting of a motion by Natalie a second by Scott all in favor say I opposed so our regular board meeting is adjourned at 8:01 and at that same time um opening up our Board of Education work session so we have uh first up the schools update and we have presenting Dr Jason Harris assistant superintendent of secondary education and Shannon avenson assistant superintendent of E12 Educational Services good evening everyone all right schools update I will will be sharing on behalf of assistant superintendent Niki Hansen tonight and so we're going to begin with our Discovery dolphins and so first we are showcasing safety you will see our Discovery students in their routine of lining up for lunch each student stops to get their hand sanitizer before entering the food service area and then scanning their lunch card before they move on to one of the two serving stations belonging you see some students enjoying eating pizza with the principal and sharing their voice and perspectives while engaging in school conversations teachers nominate one student each month who shows the schoolwide expectations of being responsible respectful and safe to participate in this celebration here are some of our young authors working in collaboration to write a story some students are writing a paragraph and others are creating the illustrations and Excellence through high expectations and high supports is demonstrated here by two multilingual students who researched and created these displays to share at discovery's annual cultural night students chose countries to Showcase where they have where they have family there were 20 different countries displayed for the event and for our secondary middle level update we are going to focus on South Junior High tigers and you see the first uh image of the academic achiever celebration for students just around uh all the things uh School community and they had a big celebration around that uh the sense of belonging the eighth grade art Club visited elementary schools to share their art and create a sense of belonging as they transition into uh middle school and that's just a great way to create belonging by Middle School eighth graders going to talk to the elementary students that'll eventually be them one day uh collaboration you had the weak students uh making a robot for the one district one book and uh just collaborating there that was a good picture of the group working and then high expectations High support uh you had a career in a year uh kind of what we just talked about with our course offerings really getting students to start to look at that career options uh postsecondary find your interest and they had a care year and they had multiple uh professionals uh you had our former Al brev span uh from the tech Tigers former gopher uh Dallas uh Cowboy right and so our homegrown uh student athlete and uh it was a great day I think last week they did the career in a year and uh it was a big success all right and uh this week we are celebrating uh Katherine Johnson education center and for safety our elementary students at Katherine Johnson enjoying working together on social skills for belonging I love this picture our Middle School staff of Katherine Johnson attending a basketball game at North Junior High to support one of their students yeah collaboration uh kjax uh inep program collaborates with Community Partners to provide work experience opportunities for our 18 to 21y Old students and then high expectations High supports uh here is one of our kjck middle school students who is proudly displaying his point card for meeting all three of his goal areas for that day and then one of our Middle School spelling be winners uh displaying uh proudly displaying his prize for that thank you all right thank you guys very much um it's still going to be the Shannon avenson show here we have um Shannon Aon assistant superintendent of E12 Educational Services has two policy readings both for first readings first up we have proposed revised board policy 525 violence pre um prevention all right I am going to go through and I'm just going to highlight um the areas that we are proposing changes uh not a lot of changes to this policy but what we did is we looked at um msba guidance and so I will just share I won't go through the whole policy but just some guidance and some updates that we are proposing uh you can see uh keeping our purpose of this policy and general statement uh the same and then implementation of this policy as well until we get and I'll scroll down here all right um and this is just some guidance from msba around some statute we've seen this in previous policy updates where we just use um the actual calling out of Minnesota statute section instead of um shortening that and then additionally just a a language piece there in that next line uh for I when we get down further into prevention strategies you're going to see a lot more highlights um the main piece of the highlights is the msba uh model policy uh you'll see a lot of words like crossed out that say create or develop or coordinate um and when we met last week we we changed a lot of that wording and some of that wording had already been changed in our policy to implement because we're Beyond creating and developing um and we're moving into implementation around these practices um so there you'll see um again some language change in Item B um that was an msba recommendation as well and you're going to see that language is just moved to a different section where we actually highlight it and call out some curriculum around that so that language doesn't go away completely I think there was just an intentional um separating that to create um um some intentionally around uh intentionality around that which I'll share so moving into e and this is where we start to see um some additional language that msba is recommending um msba is recommending I I you know really kind of the Baseline and what we have always done is inservice training for personnel with mandatory reporting and you can see that was the basis of that um that piece there but really what this what this language and recommendation is is to expand it um to include additional training around um and and include Schoolboard members as well in this training um by expert s familiar with sexual abuse domestic violence Etc so what it's really doing is saying we're no longer just providing inservice training around mandatory reporting requirements we're expanding that um to uh to improve that training moving into G uh G is an added and before where I shared that curriculum was or that this language was stricken this is where it's really really calling out that language to say we will utilize a curriculum committee so this is new language but now we're actually going to focus on a curriculum committee that explores ways of teaching uh students uh violence prevention strategies and some things that we discussed as uh the policy team was looking we do this in things through seal lessons advisory lessons Health PBIS restorative practices but really being intentional about utilizing a specific curriculum committee um to really look into that and and being consistent districtwide and then you see here items um H through o where we're really getting rid of those words that say establish develop establish develop and we're moving into Implement um in in those pieces Jay again some inclusion of additional language to go beyond pure uh peer mediation um and to include uh the terms conflict resolution and conflict management which we do the these are practices that we use um so that uh guidance from msba language really it made sense to include that as well L is another um additional msba recommendation um and really uh calls out imple implementing curriculum that teaches critical viewing and list listening skills in analyzing mass media so as you can imagine that is a very critical piece and element um to that policy so we agreed that that was good guidance moving down you'll note um some additional language in letter Q um letter Q it's including the Child Welfare information Gateway it's just including a specific resource that we can have made available um when um sharing that information and developing curriculum and implementing curriculum um and again that was guidance from msba language uh moving on to our again providing training to all School Personnel on mandatory reporting requirements um this again additional language on on recognizing and preventing sexual abuse and sexual violence which uh so it's again going Beyond on just that mandated reporting requirement training to include some intentionality to provide um additional training and guidance um and this is something that we do with our mental health Team uh we worked with Safe Harbor in the past but this is looking at expanding that um making our our teams more knowledgeable and then finally moving down um just again um some statute uh language changes um as we've seen in past uh uh updates that just um it's really kind of just uh legal statute updates down there so we are proposing that change as well any questions at all on that policy first reading Natalie I did notice that part where it says that board members need to do that as well so will you be sharing with us how we can participate in that at some point I would be excited to okay thank thank you jannon okay um then we're going to move on to proposed revised uh board policy 535 service animals and schools how appropriate and actually why I chose this policy for tonight all right and because of the great questions that Scott asked really it it really kind of led to a lot of the pieces that are in our policy so all right mov into service animals and schools again some updated language changes just in the purpose again this is an MA msba guidance to indicate that within the policy it's within the scope of the school buildings and ons school grounds um taking out that other property piece I think that's just maybe a little um misleading or a little confusing language potentially uh general statement of policy and looking at um again just taking out that statute that is um specific to the Americans with Disability Act and knowing that our legal references are included at the end of the policy so again you have the legal legal references uh for this policy that are all listed at the end um when we get to definitions you're going to notice uh service animal definition has stayed the same since the last time we reviewed the policy I think in like 2021 um Handler the msba recommendation is to take out some language in the definition of Handler that gave some reference to a trainer who could also be interchangeably used as a Handler um that language is rather confusing and you'll note that down here in item D trainer is actually specifically outlined so it it does make sense in this um to remove that language from up here and let it be clear ified under um item D down here when we move to access to programs and activities um these are two pieces that msba guidance um and again we last updated this policy in 2021 so just some additional guidance um indicating that we should include B and C um that it is an unfair and and Amy actually alluded to this tonight so it was perfect um it's a unfair discriminat practice to prohibit a person with a disability from taking a service animal into a public place so that's um uh included now in our policy um and that also and that other piece there is just indicating that as long as the animal is uh under you know maintained on the leash and under control so that's what that is alluding to and then C the school district shall not uh require um a person with a disability to make an extra payment that we are not charging um if a a student has a need to have a service animal so that is a recommendation as well and then no other changes to the access to programs and activities um and again just I just want to highlight too that really the piece of the service um animal and the distinction um it does have to be a dog or a um yes um or miniature horse um we and so that is UN right kind of an unusual thing but that is that is the that is the law um and in this case that but it has to be in in in service of a task so it's not just about having a disability um it's about that the animal is providing it has a specific task that it is performing so I just want to highlight that just for awareness as well and then when we go down to requirements for all service animal an we um kept the language the same um until we get down to item G um this is language that um we wanted to just update to indicate that if there are any issues related to the care and supervision of service animals um that would they would be addressed on a case-by Case basis at the discretion of and we um were recommending that we not have it be the building administrator that we actually say superintendent or design and the conversation that we had around that really honestly it would probably come to myself um or Tracy um and so it made sense that when it gets to that point if there is that need that that would naturally come to one of us and then um this is probably one of the bigger changes but um there was two pieces here one is um requesting the use of a service animal at school um the the piece here that you see crossed out and I apologize I think the the one that Janson was um a previous copy it doesn't include this um this highlighted portion down here so it may be a little different what you might see but the previous copy um this this language up here that's crossed out is what was in our policy most recently msba had some updated language I worked with um Tracy bo uh to really kind of modify that language um and the reason that we wanted to modify it is you'll note in here that prior to bringing a service animal on District property or facilities we really want to make sure that there's a conversation and some planning some pre-planning that's done um mba's policy was a little more straightforward and just like fill out a form and bring it in and so and we we know what we would not prohibit um obviously this this policy is very clear that we we would not prohibit a service am animal from cine um but we do want to support a smooth transition and make sure that we're and so Tracy gave us some wonderful language there to kind of um kind of nuance that so that um we could be um more prepared and then item oh under uh B here you'll notice uh the we did strike through and we'd like to remove the language that says the owner of the service animal shall provide written evidence that the service animal has received all vaccinations required by state law or local ordinance we would keep that because that is a requirement um and within mba's recommendation as well but that we would actually remove in addition a treatment for fleas and ticks will be required annually um that is not within the guidance um and uh I honestly don't believe that we don't currently require it and we I don't think we can um so we would agree that that language could be stricken and moving through here some more down to no further changes there but then when we get down to additional limitations for miniature horses um we would um we would agree with mba's recommendation to remove item e which is whether the miniature horse's presence is contrary to any other provision of this policy which is basically just stating the obvious that if you're not meeting the criteria of this policy then you know you're miniature horse can't be here um so it's yeah that language is kind of redundant and then allergies fears of animals were all no recommendations for changes um within those pieces um non uh the 504 and IEPs was good liability pieces are all good once again just getting down to Legal references you'll note that there's just some statute language changes which are um we would recommend as well policy 535 all right any questions on that one Heather and then Scott have you had situations I mean with allergies particularly with probably both dogs and miniature horses but have you had situations and how do you managed that practically great question I've actually been surprised that we haven't had many questions or concerns about allergies our policy and I I'm I won't say it verbatim because I don't have a memorized but our policy does state if there are concerns with um allergies that they need to bring you know the person who has the allergies can bring that forward and we will make every accommodation possible to you know make sure that's not an issue but um it is incredibly rare and I as you know I work with the nurses so I I would probably be the one to hear it yeah but great question and I think it's a pretty typical assumption that there would be more allergies and concerns but um it has not and and I have been in a couple of schools where we have had service dogs and and we have not had issues Scot I learned an awful lot tonight from our presenters um there seems to be a difference between a service dog and a facility dog now almost all of our policies related to to service type dogs that are basically the responsible of the disabled and yet we have a facility dog in our fa Place who is not really the responsibility of the disabled as the the counselor um perhaps there should be somewhere something delineating responsibilities for to the uh regarding the F the facility dog we do as they mentioned and and the facility dog or therapy dogs are not included in this particular policy um but that is why we do have a contract in place that really outlines those those pieces so we do have a contract that um really outlines the the liability insurance and the practices around around those the therapy dog but is there anything in our policy saying we can have therapy dogs I don't know that we have a policy that specifically outlines therapy dogs and I don't know that we that that would be necessary but it certainly could be explored I would imagine msba has never heard of therapy dogs versus service dogs either I I'm almost certain that msba does not have a model policy on therapy dogs I I'm like 99.9 on that one maybe we can uh look into it a little more and do a little more on that thank you okay anybody else any anything for tonight all right see that was a very quick quick work session there um work session is adjourned it is 8:24 p.m. thank you for watching tonight we will be back February 19th have a good night what that