is now called to order It is April 16th 2025 and the time is 6:31 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 in partnership with their
surrounding community to be successful in today's and tomorrow's society Heather can you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Thank you And then when you're ready can you please call roll the following board members are present at the district administration office Scott Andre here
Natalie Copeland here Al Dalgrren here Zack Dorh Halt here Diana Fenton here Shannon Haw here Heather Williams here The following cabinet members and staff are present at the district administration office Superintendent Dr
Lorie Putnham Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Dr Jason Harris Assistant Superintendent of E5 Learning Nikki Hansen Assistant Superintendent of E12 Educational Services Shannon Ason Executive Director of Community Education Adam Holm Executive Director
of Finance and Business Services Amy Scallarude Executive Director of Human Resources and Labor Relations Tracy Flyno Executive Director of Operations Joel Hidamp Executive Director of Research Enrollment and Assessments Donna Roer Executive Director of Special
Projects Gary Gangi Director of Community Engagement and Communications Tammy Dand Media Technicians Paul Novc and Gordy Scott Custodian on the site is Austin Goodwater Thank you Then I'm looking for a motion to approve tonight's board of
education meeting agenda So move I have a motion by Scott a second by Natalie Heather can you call vote al Dalgrren yes Zack Dorhold yes Diana Fenton yes Shannon Hos yes Heather Williams yes
Scott Anderson yes Natalie Copeland yes Okay Then we have the consent agenda The consent agenda consists of non-controversial items The board adopts routinely without debate Any 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 March 12th 2025 March 19th 2025 and April 9th 2025 Item B approval of bills and other financial transactions in the grand total amount of 3,63,680.31 Item C approval of personnel
staff changes Item D acceptance of grant awards and donations Item E approval of quarterly expenditures for board members Item F approval of monthly financial report for February 2025 Item G approval of monthly treasures report for February
2025 Item H approve uh proposed revised board policy 525 violence prevention applicable to students and staff third reading Item I approval approve proposed revised board policy 707 transportation
of public school students third reading Item J approve proposed revised board policy 527 student use and parking of motor vehicles patrols inspections and searches Minor change Item K approval Approve proposed revised board policy
702 accounting reference changes Item L approve proposed revised board policy 703 annual audit reference change Item M approve proposed revised board policy 705 investments reference change I have
one request to remove item D by El Dalgrren which he is recusing himself Do I have anybody else that would like to Natalie same on that Same on that So we have two recusing themselves on item D So again I get um a motion to approve
consent items A through M with the exception of item D I have a motion by Scott a second by Natalie Heather can you call vote on that yes Zack Dorhold yes Shannon Hos yes Scott
Andre yes Al Dalgrren yes Diana Fenton yes Heather Williams yes Okay And then um item D looking for a proposal or a motion to approve item D So move And can I have a second
um I'll give Zach a second So Heather can you call vote with the exception of Al and Natalie scott Andre yes Zack Dorhold yes Diana Fenton yes Shannon Hos yes Heather Williams yes Thank you Okay
moving on to information items We have two tonight First up is our community celebrations and joining us is Tammy Dand director of community engagement and communications Welcome This is there we go Good evening Chair Haz
Superintendent Putnham members of the board It is my pleasure this evening to announce the Shining Stars community celebration which is going to take place May 17th at Apollo High School from 11 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon
And this is going to be a great day So I hope you save it on your calendars This event is an opportunity to celebrate and showcase our district and our community throughout this entire
school year And beginning with recognition of Minnesota Superintendent of the Year our very own Lori Putnham who also has just been named presidentelect of the Minnesota
Association of School Administrators Lori Lori the commissioner of education a name I think you're all familiar with Willie Jet will be here as well as executive director of NASA Deb Hinton
They will both be here in person to help celebrate Lori So we're very excited It's also an opportunity for us to showcase our amazing student talent talent including academics arts
activities athletics Uh these students will be demonstrating leadership creativity and problem solving skills And many of our students will be on the main stage um demonstrating some of their talent So that we are looking forward to
It's also a wonderful way to celebrate our fabulous families who are the backbone of this community They provide unwavering support and dedication to our children's education and create a really strong foundation for student
success We're also here to celebrate our amazing staff and they're the heart of our schools right they support and guide and ensure a sense of belonging in our students every single day and empower
them to become the very best they can be We also want to roll out the red carpet treatment in appreciation of our community partners our volunteers and our donors And please know this is a very short list Um it represents only a
few of the committed partners who will be uh present and celebrating with us on May 17th And finally I'm very happy to say that we are going to be able to celebrate the success of the building brighter futures referendum at Apollo
High School which is absolutely perfectly fitting I want to mention that our shining star celebration is generously sponsored by United Way and these partnering organizations They're going to help us
make this a really really big day And we hope to see you there on May 17th It is going to be a great day That's okay Any questions good to go
Anybody have any questions at all If there are no questions then I would move that we recess the meeting for a short period of time for community input Okay And can I have a second on that second Okay I have a motion by Al a
second by Natalie And I just wanted to point out that this is a a very unique situation We had a um scheduling conflict and we make wanted to make sure that we were accommodating to everybody in this unique situation So um all in
favor say I I Opposed Okay Meeting is recessed Thank you Tammy Sorry about that I was trying to get the right words in there Um okay So I will read So the meet
the meeting is So we are reopening the meeting It is now 7:06 p.m and moving on to our second information item of the night which is the 2025 summer projects review presented by Joel Hikampamp executive
director of operations Thank you Board Chair Haw Superintendent Putnham and members of the board It's my pleasure tonight to share uh a overview and highlight of all the busyiness that will happen in many of our buildings and our sites uh over the course of the 3mon
summer which goes by real fast when we're working on all these different uh projects So uh there there are two kind of main themes you're going to hear that a huge chunk of these projects are happening in two spaces And so we'll start with North Junior High I provided a few pictures just uh before of the
bigger things that are there and maybe some that would be hard to conceptualize without them So um at North Junior High we're going to do uh new flooring throughout the entire main office area So that will look new to all of our guests uh as they enter each each day And then in the back part of that main
office where the nurse's office is at uh Principal Hansen has uh identified a need to reformat and reshape what that nurse's suite looks like So that will look different uh when students and staff come back next fall You'll see this at both sites Uh I
did put pictures for both of them though and that is that uh we are moving to single stall restrooms on both the first floor and the second floor uh in the main west side of both buildings Uh and that will be hard to think about um in regards to those those stairs But if you
look at it from the corner just like you see there uh with the picture on the left um the staircase will remain but the single stall restrooms will be an L-shaped area uh around and behind that uh that staircase And so you can kind of
see on the picture on the left there are some lockers that are there That whole area will be open um and we'll look inward toward the back side of those stairs And then on the right side of the picture uh on the left where the uh drinking fountain is at that will also be gone looking straight in at the other
side of that area on the back side of those staircases uh will be the areas where students can wash hands and use paper towels and hand dryers uh and such And then when you go to the second floor uh the picture uh on the right hand side very similar um right where that
staircase is at the single stall restrooms will form an L-shaped area around both sides of that north was of the two buildings the first to get that auxiliary gym and uh in the construction of that many many years ago they did not have a permanent
wall and with the utilization of that space now with our high school uh kid kids and uh community rentals uh we've now identified that that that tarp wall just isn't safe in splitting up that area And so uh we are going to put a permanent wall there much like we have
at South Junior High Uh then we're also going to refresh that area with painting of the ceiling and they're going to get new flooring in that space that interlocks It looks fine just the way you see it in the picture but when you go there in person uh the floor doesn't interlock and it moves around as students are in that
space And then here's a list of all the other things that are happening in uh North Junior High We're going to get new hallway flooring wherever there is not the Terzo floor Uh so all the vinyl flooring will be replaced Uh we are going to replace the movable wall in the gym between the uh upper gym and lower
gym Uh some classroom flooring will be updated Uh all of the lighting in the building will be upgraded to more efficient LED lighting We'll do some hallway painting and refreshing uh and some coordination of colors If you walk either one of our junior high sites you'll notice that we have a multitude
of colors throughout uh as additions were made And that was kind of the style when those buildings were built in the '60s with the uh the yellow glossy glossy block that we're going to we're going to fix up and make that look nice again Uh North has some extensive window replacements that will be done There
will be a little bit of room configuration reconfiguration sorry due to that restroom remodel And so the staff lounge will be in a similar area shifted over just a little bit uh where the where the restrooms will take that space And then the wellness room will also uh move from the upstairs location
into the staff lounge area for use by staff members We'll do some updating of electrical panels and then we are also updating and replacing the boiler system fluids to be more efficient at South Junior High One big thing that you will see is the locker
replacement that will be happening Uh when Dr Harris and I were together at South Junior High uh we tried to give them a refresh with some repainting That's why they're black and orange now And uh that was a number of years ago and that painting has served its purpose Uh but those lockers are original to the building and we're finding it hard to
find the appropriate um tools and the appropriate hardware to fix them as needed And so uh we will do a locker refresh throughout the entire building Again very similar pictures you saw at North Junior High These are the exact same areas of the buildings U both
first floor and second floor And those uh single style restrooms will look the exact same at both of those sites in South's conference room We'll do an update in flooring And then when South had gotten the uh remodel in the office area to provide the secure entrance
there was one workroom that didn't get uh touched at all And so that is still one area within a refreshed larger area of the main office that didn't get touched And so we will u provide some new finishes some new flooring and just some updates in that space as well You'll see a lot of redundancy here
We're we're really coordinating our efforts to to be efficient of both time effort and funds Uh we'll do some hallway flooring throughout Again replacing anything that is not the Terzo floor South will also get a new movable wall Um the one thing I failed to mention with North is that the one nice
thing is that the movable wall uh we're hoping is is now motorized Uh right now it's about a 15-minute process It takes about three or four people to open up that wall This will take two It only takes two because it'll be a safety measure with one person on each side of the wall so that no one could get hurt
um moving it on their own uh or get pinched in the in the movement of that wall It's a safety feature So that'll be real nice for our custodial teams We'll do some classroom flooring updates there as well Uh some cafeteria uh flooring and repainting We'll replace a very
little bit of LED lighting South has less to update than North does hallway painting Again coordinating the colors of the building to really uh bring some updates and some um some continuity throughout Again because of the addition of those single stall restrooms we'll
have uh the staff lounge shifting in space just a little bit to one side of the of the hallway And then because of that loss of space in the second floor restrooms our science storage room will just shift um to a different hallway We will again update electrical panels
throughout the building and then also update boiler system fluids at South Junior High as well Uh other things that you'll see throughout uh I had shared this at the summer wrap-up in September but we will come back to Apollo and finish up some roofing projects that were not quite
completed Uh we'll start right away here and uh we hope to have this work or we plan to have this work done uh from last summer by the uh 1st of July Uh we will see the uh south parking lot resurface at Apollo High School Both
Oakill and Kennedy uh their tennis courts will be replaced and then also relined uh for pickle ball which we know is really important to our community We also have some proposals out there right now for the resurfacing um and crack filling of some other of some other sites too So hopefully we can u make
some of those other ones uh look a little nicer Kennedy and Oakill were of high need um just for overall use and safety for our students We are adding an Oakhill pre-K fencedin area Uh that's that will happen right away when the the summer begins
We're finding with the prek students back in our uh school sites that we do have to have a designated safe area for them And so um we put one in at the end of last summer at Lincoln and we just wrapped up the install of all th those materials So if you drive by Lincoln at
all in the back corner you'll see that there we're going to put in something similar at Oak Hill The Tech PA sealing project which started last fall will be completed And we've got multiple playground repairs uh also happening throughout the district All this work doesn't um
doesn't happen without a great team And so I just want to provide a quick shout out uh for our custodial and engineering teams who help coordinate much of this work who may help out another building while their building is down getting worked on and then everybody coming to a site to really get it ready for school And so that team really does work hard
and takes a lot of pride in those buildings And so I wanted to shout them out here tonight And then lastly when it comes to project funding we know it takes a lot to make these things happen And there are multiple sources for where these are are coming from A huge bulk of the projects are being taken care of with
our long-term facility maintenance fund Uh but we do have North Junior High kicking in some building allocations to do the uh uh the nurses suite and the auxiliary drum updates over there And then uh thanks to again the generosity of the board were able to do a lot of
the playground additions and repairs uh with the one-time allocated funding um from all of you And so with that and all that's going on appreciate the time and I'm be happy to take any questions Thank you This is just an information item so
we're not um approving it Scott do you have questions yeah The um Apollo South parking lot is that next to the U new building that's going to be put there it will be Yes Um should be be
waiting until that building is built before having all that construction equipment run over this new parking lot I I think it's safe to say that we'll take every precaution needed that that that there's the surfing that's needed is is really needed and we'll take all the precautions necessary to make sure
that it doesn't get damaged in the construction process Okay Um when I was a kid I used to go over to North and swim in the pool there I know it's disappeared but what's what's on top of it what replaced that
lovely swimming pool yeah So both pools both north and south they got filled with sand um to to keep the uh the walls from caving in And then they did surface on top Both of them now have an auxiliary gym Um and then a third of that space is a is a weight room fitness room area
Thank you Yeah Anybody else have any comments al I had a couple of questions for you just um sure on north for a long time uh we've talked about the fields the the fields areas
and not not necessarily reconfiguring the fields but uh there's a bunch of softball/ baseball fields at North and there's no team benches and no bleachers at all and I know that
I've talked a lot with Gary I'm sure Gary's familiar with this one uh talked about adding just team adding team benches and and some even portable bleachers that could be dragged around to soccer fields and to uh the baseball
fields I'm wondering if there's any plans for anything like that in there It's absolutely something that uh I can work with activities director Rid Path on that When I was activities director at South we partnered with some local groups to to get the um infrastructure that we had at South So absolutely could
work with activities director there on that Yeah I'd love to see that done Uh LED lighting It's another thing I brought up before but I know that just recently I was approached uh on lighting and apparently Excel has
a ton of money available for cost sharing for in the replacement of uh fixtures within commercial buildings or whatever Are we utilizing any of that with this or is this all at our expense sure I'll I'm going to defer to Amy on
the budget side of that Um so sometimes those come in the form of rebates or tax incentives that we are obviously not eligible for Um but our construction managers always work with Excel So any rebates that we as a government entity are eligible for we
always do apply for those Um same when we did our boiler replacement projects Um there's a lot of rebates out there that we do still qualify for and so we always make sure that we're um utilizing those uh whenever they're available Okay There's supposed to be quite a bit available this year
Um Apollo Yeah I was going to ask the same question about the Apollo lot and not not so much driving the construction equipment across it but are we going to take into consideration uh that we should have a footprint uh blueprint uh of the footprint of the new
building and know where it's going by the time that this project would start are we taking in that into consideration and are we considering modifications to that lot so that it can be used utilized by both the school and the fieldhouse
yeah Go ahead So a lot of the way it's already designed um would be uh there will likely be um at some point and we haven't uh finalized it yet but a change order to make sure that the drainage system accommodates any additional um paved area because there would likely be
um some sort of additional paved area once the building is constructed um we can't really do the additional paved area now because it would take away field space that we need until the whole fields are reconfigured when that building is done Um so we can't really
change the blueprint of what we're paving right now Um but they are going to make sure that they um make any modifications necessary so that the underlying infrastructure and the drainage system will accommodate those um future changes to the parking lot as
it expands out um to to add some additional parking specifically for the building Yeah Then my my last question is I know you didn't cover everything in in this but are we are we leaving some funds
available for tree removal uh removal and trimming of dead trees yes Throughout the district and um planters planters of new trees some of the like around some of the signs Oh we have we
have a ton of planters that we don't do anything with in the district and I'm just wondering if we could Yep So that will come out of our our buildings and grounds fund that gets re renewed in on July 1st Um and then we'll we'll allocate funds for those different
projects Okay Yep Thanks Okay Uh Heather and then Scott just with budgets um and increasing costs of things are you what are you seeing as you um we see summer projects coming about yeah the one nice thing is is that
we were able to share with board finance this week that uh because the the bids for both North and South had come back at on such a favor favorable side for us that we were able to actually add a lot of the the pieces So when I had this uh presentation ready two weeks ago many of the items that were able to talk about
tonight weren't on that list And so myself and Amy and other members of the team were able to identify some other highne pieces that could be done Um since north and south are already going to be unusable for the entirety of the summer we're really going to maximize those extra dollars at those sites um
and and get the work done when the building's not being used during the summertime Minnesota winters can be rather harsh Um we're building a new athletic building We're remodeling Apollo
Is there a tunnel or some sort of out of the weather way to get between the two buildings between where Apollo is now and where that new building will be yes That is not in the plans No Why i think just to build that amount of
infrastructure um isn't feasible And even though our buildings have tunnels right now um they're not a they're not a space for for student movement or travel Those are very mechanical areas and it's just not something that's really feasible to do in this project
Okay Okay Thank you very much Moving on to discussion and action items We have several of these First up we have the resolution canvasing returns of votes for school district special
election held on April 8th 2025 I have the results and the numbers Um the abstract and return of votes cast again special election April 8th 2025 The total number of persons registered
at 7:00 a.m on this date was 59,875 The total number of new registrations on election day 73 Total number of signatures on the polling place rosters 4,725
Total number of accepted regular military and overseas absentee ballots 1,740 Uh those two numbers um are the total number of persons voting in the special election which was
6,465 The total number of spoiled ballots in the spoiled ballot envelopes 12 and the total number of defective ballots zero So school district ballot question number one Total number of yes votes 4
2017 Total number of no votes 2,446 School district ballot question two Total number of yes votes 3,53 and total number of no votes 2,945 So um both questions one and two yes
received more votes than no did So I'm looking a motion um to approve the resolution canvasing returns of votes of school district special election held on April 8th 2025 Move Second Have a motion by Scott and a
second by Natalie Any discussion at all okay Heather can you please call vote diana Fenton yes Heather Williams yes Scott Andre yes Al Dalgrren yes Zack Doorhalt yes Natalie Copeland yes
Shannon Hos yes Thank you Uh next we have another action item We have the resolution proposing named staff for non-renewal or placement on unrequested leave of absence presented by Tracy Flimbo executive director of human
resource resources and labor relations Good evening Chair Haw board members Superintendent Putnham Uh this is that moment that we've talked about in our staffing um timeline and that happens each year based on the statutory requirements to provide notice to any
teachers that will be non-renewed in a timely manner Uh as you heard uh tonight um some some concerns from the choir community about one of the teachers that is on the resolution Let me just provide
a little bit of um preface uh we have um 11 teachers on this resolution Very often we have 30 to 40 teachers We we have 950 teachers in the district and principles have worked diligently to make these decisions Non-renewal
decisions are never made easily Um we charge our principles with making a a very clear assessment of teachers over the course of three years before we would grant that permanent tenure which is which is a really you know big
decision um for for our principles I I think as you think about the feedback that you heard tonight and and obviously would would share concern about that as as I do right um we want to make sure that our choir program is strong and that our students feel supported in in
their instruction in that course The choir program is point two of this particular teacher's assignment and so it is not the whole assignment She crosses across three different schools So we had multiple principles involved in that decision-m and without saying more about any particular teacher I just
wanted you to have that background Um the other piece about the non-renewal resolution is we make this decision at this point as I've said before on a preliminary basis We know that our staffing needs change that our applicant pools change that there are lots of changes that happen between now and the
end of the school year And it's with some frequency that teachers that are on this list tonight get rehired in the district I say that to all of our probationary teachers so they know that this isn't a moment you know that can't be um undone um frequently it is because
our needs change and and sections change and there are other changes So any decision that's made tonight by the board as a whole on this nonrenewal resolution does not you know is not a permanent decision for any of the teachers that are on this list Um there
will be um the opportunity to interview candidates for positions that are open and I encourage any of the teachers that are on this list to apply for those positions and to be reconsidered for any open positions throughout the rest of the spring And so again I just want you
to have that background so it doesn't feel like it's a it's a fat- play tonight as we as we make this decision So with that um the resolution is before you and I'm looking for a motion to approve the resolution to renew the to
non-renew the name teachers So moved Second I have a motion by Natalie a second by Heather Any discussion okay Heather can you please call vote zack Dhold Al Dogrren
yes Natalie Copeland yes Scott Andreas yes Heather Williams yes Shannon Haw yes Diana Fenton yes Thank you Uh next we have another action item It is the approval of the
202526 compensatory revenue plan presented by Amy Scallude executive director of finance and business services It's just slow tonight Okay Good evening Chair H Superintendent Putnham members of the school board Uh this is an annual item that we bring
forward every year uh to approve the district uh compensatory revenue plan for 2025 uh26 Uh typically compensatory revenue is allocated at the building level So the building that generates it um is where that those funds get allocated
back to Uh statute does allow for a district to withhold um up to 20% of those funds and do an allocation on a district-wide basis um versus allocating it directly to uh the individual sites Um so we have uh historically done that
Um actually up until a few years ago that uh threshold was up to 50% We never did 50% we had previously been doing 25% um and then have since decreased that to 20% uh when that statute changed Um doing the 20% holdback allows us to keep
um consistent supports across the district particularly as we talk about um some of our uh uh academic lead type positions where we do have some schools that have low um very low compensatory that otherwise wouldn't get um those same levels of support Um so what you
can see up on the screen uh is the dollar amount um of what the uh holdback um accounts for And so our total building compensatory allocation for next year is just over 20 million Um so that 20% hold back is just over four
million Um this is a little bit unique this year and that these numbers aren't um necessarily our final numbers Uh there is currently uh an established compensatory formula in law Um but the governor has a um a different proposal
in his budget uh plan that would result in uh $485,000 less revenue than what we would get under current law Um and so these numbers do reflect that lower um that lower estimate based on the governor's proposal with that
$485,000 reduction um knowing that we always want to staff and budget conservatively um because if we budget for current law and we end up not getting that revenue um staffing is done and and we don't have a way to go back Um so that's a little bit unique Normally these numbers are firm and we
don't have that um sort of variation Um but we are uh we're fortunate that um for us while $485,000 um isn't a small amount of money um based on the total amount of our compensatory um compared to other districts in the state there are other
districts in the state that have a $4 million swing one way or the other between current law and the governor's proposal Um these are districts similar in size to us Um and so we're fortunate that we don't have really really um vast uh numbers between or differences
between the two Um but again we're we're staffing conservatively and if um depending on what happens with the outcome of the legislative session we end up with more um we certainly would allocate that then back to the schools Um and we can always add staff and add supports Um so in terms of what we use
the 20% holdback for um that funds 39 FTEES uh for next year and this plan looks very very similar to uh the plan for last year Um the main things that that funds are our elementary grade level leads secondary math and literacy
specialists uh chemical health counselors um support at CAP for our alternative to sus suspension program um EL staffing and early childhood staffing Um and so those are the things that we've historically used these funds for In addition we have one new item um this
year While we don't have more FTE in total to work with because our compensatory is not going up um we've done some reallocation and and decreasing some of those other items um and rep prioritizing to free up additional money for um special education staff Uh so we uh when we
compare uh last school year to the current school year have seen an increase of 251 special education students receiving service which is about nine just under 9% Um and so clearly as we have additional students needing service um we need to add staff
accordingly Uh unfortunately we know that there's some uncertainty um out there with the state's overall budget um and um what that might look like in terms of long-term funding for special education Um the governor has some um some components of his budget proposal
that actually reduce um special ed funding in some areas And so uh to make sure that we're able to to provide those supports we've identified that and added um that in terms um of adding some additional special education staff utilizing uh this compensatory set aside
So that is the summary Again that's the only uh one new item and I will open it up if there are questions Scott There are people watching at home that may not really know what a compensatory is Could you tell us what it is what
it's based on how it's allocated sure So compensatory revenue um is a um subcomponent if you will of of state aid Um it's considered a categorical aid Um and it's really uh driven by the number of students in a building who qualify
for free and reduced lunch Um and then it's um has a concentration factor So as that percentage goes up the amount you receive per pupil goes up Um so it's a little bit different than the normal per pupil funding formula that we hear talked about a lot Um where it doesn't
matter um what district you are or what um what your demographics are everybody gets the same amount per per pupil Um compensatory doesn't work that way So if you have a school that has a 20% free and reduced lunch um percentage and a school with 80% free and reduced lunch
they're not going to get the same amount per pupil The school with 80% free and reduced lunch will get a higher amount per pupil um based on that formula And so it's again directly driven um by those free and reduced counts Um the change in the statute uh this was the
first year that the statute only um takes into account what's considered a direct certification um enrollment And so those come in from um files from the county and other indicators where students automatically qualify It does not include uh any paper applications
that that students fill out um at the building level And so that's part of where um that governor has the proposal Um it it factors in that It also factors in some hold harmless um which isn't always accurate because um a hold harmless is great if all other things
are equal but we know that sometimes schools have declining enrollment Um and so a straight hold harmless where they say you're going to get the same amount of revenue you got next year isn't necessarily appropriate if we have 300 less students Um but that the really the intention is trying to um I think to
some extent get at the fact that um a lot of districts have students who don't qualify through direct certification um and have significant gaps in those numbers and and then now aren't getting the compensatory revenue um to service those students Uh and so that's where um
that proposal uh changes Um and so we will have to wait and see until May or June when the session ends where it lands Um and I suspect that wherever it lands will be a one-year fix um with some sort of uh directive for the legislature um and MDE to try to figure
out a better permanent solution um that's really equitable to all districts So basically it's kind of driven by poverty and the more concentrated poverty you have the more extra money they're throwing at you Correct Yep It
does have that concentration factor Now we we used to uh before we had free and before we had free lunch we used to track a lot of this Uh has having free lunch made a difference um so that's part of where they wanted
to switch I think that was the intention of switching to a direct certification only was to kind of try to provide that protection um against people not filling out the applications um because of the free meal program The hard part is that that only works if every district in the
state has the same kind of gap between their direct certification and the people who would still fill out a paper application and that is not the same because not every district is created equal Um and so I think there was an intention for this to to kind of hold everyone harmless with the new law um
and to to make it be um fair across all districts and and really try to protect um if free and reduced counts went down because of the free meals Um I just think it was maybe a little oversimplified in terms of um the the
approach because it's not the same at every district um some districts have significantly higher percentages of of families who fall kind of just above that um that threshold or who don't qualify for um some of the the assistance programs that result in
direct certification So um the the intention is to is to be factoring that in Um it just maybe needs a little work Thank you Anybody else have any questions Natalie or comments that's all very interesting What is the
percentage of in our district of those that are above the direct certification but still qualify or do we not so the hard part is that we we don't know that right because well or I guess maybe we can yeah in the past um and that's a little messy too because the direct
certifications last year was the first year that the the third party billing um came in um I would say that that percentage at our district and and across the state is definitely less now right because a lot of our families particularly our elementary families
where there's not activity fees or other things that are reduced if you qualify they're not feeling out the application because when meals are already free um there's really not a a a large incentive for our elementary um families to complete that So um we don't see uh a
huge when we look at the counts they're they're down um but they're not down 20 30% Um I don't have the number the exact number but um we do still have relatively high numbers of direct certification um in our district which is part of the reason that we don't see
big vast differences between our revenue under current law and the governor's proposal because our direct certification numbers are high compared to a lot of other districts in the state um the districts that you see a lot of those larger swings are more of the districts that have have relatively low
um direct certification numbers So they had really high numbers post pandemic um when you know a lot of um families had different economic circumstances and there's been some hold harmlesses in there for a couple of years Um and so those are really where you're seeing the bigger shifts in revenue is in the
districts with lower direct certification Thanks Amy Anybody else okay Well this is an action item I'm looking for a motion to approve the 2025 2026 compensatory revenue plan So
move Do I have a second second I have a motion by Scott a second by Zach Heather can you call vote heather Williams yes Shannon Hos yes Diana Fenton yes Zack Dorhalt yes Al Dalgrren yes Natalie
Copeland yes Scott Andre yes Okay Um then moving on to the 2025 2026 FTE projections based on enrollments and registrations Uh back we have Tracy Flynbo executive director of human resources and labor relations Joining
Amy Scallude executive director of finance and business services Okay Uh so you all have a copy of this in front of you and it's being displayed Uh these are those annual changes from year to year in FTE in each of the respective areas In the elementary area
it's largely just enrollments and you'll see changes based on you know big and small classes of kids moving through and enrollment changes um across the elementary system uh at the secondary level I think it particularly this year what you see is just normal fluctuations
based on again enrollment and then registrations for different courses in the secondary area Uh the biggest change is in the at the bottom of the page with special education very often at this point uh all of those numbers in EL um
and nursing and special ed say TBD because we're still working on um establishing the right case loads for all of those um learners Uh this year we spent some particular time attending to the special education needs with rising numbers of kids and rising case loads
that were really impacting our staff um and creating a lot of stress on our system And so we worked together as part of our staffing planning overall to make sure that we could address those needs and really address what has been a growing number of students that are in
those um programs and receiving those services Yeah And then the only thing that I would add um is just uh we do see decreases you know in um particular areas particularly at secondary driven by registrations Um
but again we do have that decrease in both elementary and secondary largely driven also by that decline in compensatory revenue um because we know as we're staffing with that $485,000 reduction um that that is going to result in the buildings being allocated
less FTE um for uh which primarily go to teaching positions than what we would have seen um for last year Any questions okay thank you Moving on to another discussion item
staying right there Proposed revised board policy 701 first reading which is establishment and adoption of a school district budget Um of course presented by Amy Scallarude executive director of finance and business services All right
thank you Um so this looks like there's a lot of sub substantive change here and there's really not Um so uh it's just the the original paragraph um that talks about the requirement for a budget was a little wordy and so um we've just kind of re rewarded it a little bit but it it
started to get messy trying to keep parts of sentences and strike in line and add words So um we just strict the whole paragraph um and started over Um but really the the main reason for the policy change was a change in MSBA's um sample policy uh and it's really um
related to um these last two sentences And so what MSBA added to their policy um was uh and this is in just for some context This is talking about the board approving um a budget uh and the the legal authority um and requirement for a board to approve a budget Um and so
their policy has been amended to say if projected expenditures exceed projected revenues the school board and superintendent may consider using an available fund balance for temporary relief Um and so that's always been practice If clearly you can have a budget in any given year where you
approve a deficit and by doing so you're it's been it was somewhat implied previously that that results in you spending fund balance Um but they have added that uh explicitly into MSBA's policy Um and then we added um at the
recommendation of the committee um however it is understood that such use of the fund balance is not a permanent solution Um that is not an MSBA's policy but obviously best practice that we don't use um fund balance or onetime money to cover uh permanent um uh to
permanently fill a budget hole Um so that is really the the only change um coming for the policy Um there are a few other just statute um clarification and references um where they're uh changing an abbreviation abbreviated version to
spelling out u Minnesota statutes and then specifying um that it's the Minnesota Department of Education um commissioner Uh and then there's one uh cross reference that's eliminated at the very end um that's been removed from all
of the MSBA uh policies Um my assumption is that there is no MSBA service manual anymore um because it's been stricken from every policy So that's just a technical cleanup Okay any questions on that uh Natalie
I don't really have any questions but I just wanted to say um thank you for your work because it's there's a lot of questions right now in our community about funding and things of that nature And um so if your ears are burning usually like well Amy Scholarude but just very conservatively we do not use
one-time money but basically I pair the things you say so way to go Well and I always tell people when people come up and say "Thank you for everything." I say "I am one person." And it also takes a superintendent and a school board who are committed to really spending within our means and and holding that line And
that's not always the case at every district And so um it is it is a team effort Okay Thank you very much Okay Moving on to reports Uh first up we have uh our superintendent Lori Putnham with our superintendent report
Thank you so much Chair Haw members of the board listening community and friends in the room Uh it's with deep gratitude and pride that I share this report following the successful passage of both referendum questions which is a significant milestone uh for St Cloud Area Schools and a reflection of our
community support for public education Uh thanks to your engagement and advocacy for all of our our community Uh question one was approved allowing us to move forward with critical safety and security updates at Apollo High School and to update our learning environments Question two is also approved providing
funding to construct an indoor multi-purpose activity space at Apollo which will expand opportunities for student wellness physical education and extracurricular engagement while also serving as a valuable space for our broader community The success was made possible by the
shared efforts of many and I want to extend special appreciation uh first and foremost to our board of education uh for your leadership and clear commitment to the safety well-being and achievement of all students Uh to our superintendent's advisory committee uh whose thoughtful input and partnership
throughout the process helped shape the proposal and build public understanding uh to the vote yes committee to whose grassroots leadership and commitment helped carry this message across neighborhoods and communities Our principal staff and district leaders uh who communicated clearly and
consistently with care and to the many families community members and civic partners who attended presentations hosted presentations asked questions took action uh to support the future of our schools and particularly to vote um
in a in a time of of uh often uh um divided uh public conversation and perspective Um we really uh this board really wanted to make sure there were no barriers uh to people having their voices heard and that's why all of our polls were open And so we're grateful
for the people who exercised whether they voted yes or no who exercised that um right that many people have fought and died for So that's a little dramatic I know but it is still a it is part of our democratic process So I'm grateful for that Um and as always I just want to remind folks that our work is grounded
in safety belonging collaboration and excellence and in this district's mission And while uh our s our referendum passed it is not the end of our journey In fact it is just a beginning And so we are very excited about this next chapter of collaborating with Apollo staff students families with
this board and with the greater community uh to build a updated Apollo And so on behalf of our student staff and the entire St Cloud School team thank you for believing in what's possible when we work together Thank you Then we have a board of
education standing committee reports We have several tonight Uh first we have achievement integration equity committee chair Diana Fenton Uh Superintendent Paw Ha Superintendent Paw Oh I'm getting tired today Oh Superintendent Putnham
Chair H Uh the achievement integration and equity committee met this morning Um that's probably why I'm tired Uh was my fire alarm that went off at 4:30 But uh this morning we had a presentation by Christa Potter who presented the update
on this girl the summer school model for this summer with some new um changes to have some two-week bursts in our targeted services programs to increase participation and um offering some more sites than last year And our second
presentation was um by Donna Roer who shared some information on the XQ Institute which is um a partner that we're going to be hearing from at the AI Summit this summer on June 16th and 17th Um and the XQ Institute is a movement
towards competency education and we are going to continue that discussion in the in our committee meeting next month um to look at this as some potential ideas for our district moving forward with assessment Thank you
Then we have board development policy and governance committee chair Zack Dorhalt passing notes in class but I'll appreciate this one I had it on my screen too I promise um so a committee met on February 26th
uh super uh assistant superintendent Harris and Avenson presented proposed board policies including policy 707 which is for transportation for public school students 527 regarding student use and parking of motor vehicles
patrols inspection and searched um searches of vehicles on school property Uh proposed board policy 529 including staff notification of violent behavior by students The three policies were reviewed and recommended to move forward
for tonight's board meeting That's our report or our board meeting might have been time Yeah Wait Thank you Okay And then we have board finance audit committee chair
Heather Williams Yes Uh the board finance committee met on April 14th um and had the following report Uh executive director Amy Scallerid reviewed proposed changes to board policy 721 which is the uniform grant
guidance policy regarding federal re revenue resources and board policy 704 which is the development and maintenance of an inventory of fixed assets Uh the reason for these policy changes is due to changes in the federal uniform grant guidance The most significant change to
the policy is to increase the federal definition of equipment from $5,000 to $10,000 Other changes include adding language regarding cyber security and mandatory disclosures and other minor changes There was also a change to the policy related to giving consideration
to certain businesses when awarding contracts The committee discussed whether we want to include this in our policy Amy and Tracy will look into this further and make any necessary changes before bringing the policy to the board development and governance committee The only change to policy 704 is to increase
the district uh equipment threshold for capital assets from 5,000 to 10,000 to align with federal increase Uh secondly we talked about summer projects uh budget update Um Amy informed the committee that because the bids for the summer work at the north and at North
and South came in well under budget there are additional funds available to be spent for projects this summer Since North and South are already shut down for construction it makes sense to spend a significant portion of the funds available in these buildings As a result there will be a large change order coming to the board for these projects
in the future specifically for flooring painting and other interior surface replacements And lastly uh there's 2526 202526 budget update Uh executive director uh Scallarude gave an update on the prelim preliminary forecast for the
202526 budget which included both known items impacting the budget as well as potential impacts based on the governor's budget proposal As a result of state funding changes the district will be making reductions for next year and the committee reviewed the list of budget reductions This information will be presented at the board meeting on May
7th Thank you Then we have future agenda items The May 7th 2025 board meeting work session topics will include community education adult basic education updates always a tearjerker
um the NAPAC board response letter the preliminary 2025 2026 budget review policy readings and school updates At this time does any board member wish to suggest a future agenda item
okay that is everything on our agenda Looking for a motion to adjourn this morning So move I have a motion by Scott a second by Natalie All in favor say I I Post Okay Meeting is adjourned It is
7:56 p.m It's still light out That's exciting Thanks for watching We'll be back May 7th The family summits