for the readings. So that's what this does. So then when we do that then then I think we go right. Sorry, I'm just trying to look at it. No, we're going to get this cleaned up for next year. So trying to figure
that out as well. Yeah. Let's Good evening. Let's call this meeting to to order the May 27th regular business meeting of the uh St. Louis Park School Board. It is 6:31. This is our regular business meeting, which means we take care of
largely business at this meeting. And this has been the approach that we've been using here for what I don't know how long has it been now? Since the beginning of the school year. Yes. So, um, so before we get started, I'm going to read the land acknowledgement. We are gathered on the land of the Dakota and
Ojiway peoples. I ask you to join me in acknowledging the Dakota and Ojiway community, their elders, both past and present, as well as future generations. St. Louis Park Public Schools also acknowledges that it was founded upon exclusions and erasers of many indigenous peoples, including those on
whose land the school district is located. This acknowledgement demonstrates a commitment to dismantling the ongoing legacies of colonial power and the district's desire to support the ongoing work of local indigenous communities to thrive in our
schools. All right, with that um completed, I'm going to uh the next thing on our agenda is the approval of the agenda. First thing on our agenda would be public comment. Do we have anybody here to speak for public comment tonight? Well, it's on our agenda. Um,
if nobody's here, then we'll move beyond that. Then we have superintendent report. We have some discussion items, including an NTSS presentation. We have the consent agenda. We have um a number of action items. We have a labor agreement for assistant superintendent.
We have an employee agreement with executive director of assessment, research, and evaluation. We have an employee agreement for our elementary principal. We have an employee agreement for fourth year probation. We have a motion to forgo the reading of individual names of probationary non-renewal staff. We have approval of
probationary non renewal staffing resolution. Then we have the strategic plan and profile of the of learner. And we have a second reading of policy 409. And then that would bring us up to board member updates and adjournment. So that is our agenda. Um do I have a motion to
approve the agenda? Some. So moved by Taylor. Do we have a second? Second. All right. Any changes? Any discussion? And all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Pass six and zero. Um again just may verify we don't have anybody here for public
comment. Okay. Um there are a number of ways beyond public comment if people wish to communicate with the board including sending us an email or participating in some of our listening sessions that we have from time to time. Remember probably the best way to reach out is to start at the low lowest level
first. If you have an issue in the classroom, start with the teacher. it's in the school. Start with the principal and then move on up from there. All right, with that I'm going to toss it over to our superintendent for her report. Thank you. Um, thank you, Chair Cox and board members. I am excited
today. I have two topics that I would like to present to you. Um, the first is a video recognizing all of the class of 2025 retirees. So, we're going to start there
and give a cheers to all of our staff that are retiring this school year. [Music] A [Music]
Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]
Heat. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat.
[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat [Music]
up [Music] here. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] [Music]
Heat. [Music] Heat.
[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music]
Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat up [Music]
here. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. [Music]
Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat.
[Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music]
[Applause] So, thank you to the staff that have dedicated their time and their talents to our students, our staff and their colleagues and our family and community. So, thank
you. Now, I would like to invite our high school bar team. Um, this is to the table. So as they come in transition, one of the things that I would like to do and this will give the board a prelude of what you can you will be
experiencing next year during the superintendence report is to spotlight all of the great things that are happening within our buildings. So um when principal Paddock told me about the presentation that was given at the high school about bar I said can we have them
present to the board so the board is made aware of the great work and the achievement that is coming through um our staff and with our bar students. So I am going to turn the floor over to you all so that you can share the great news. Thank you Dr. Hines. Thank you for inviting us to be here. We're very
excited. Uh, my name is Kari Kregnes and I am the bar coordinator and a social studies teacher at the high school. Uh, my name is Colin Jones. I'm an English teacher and a bar team member at the high school. And I'm Chris Moliner. I teach uh high school science and I'm a
bar team member at the high school. So BAR is an acronym with two Rs. Uh, and it stands for building assets reducing risks. And this is a program that actually was started in St. Louisis Park in 1998. So we have a a long history
with this. Uh we it has been so successful it has now has its own bar center. It has been rolled out to 350 schools around the country and it's in 24 different states and we are really proud to still be leading and doing bar
in this program. BAR is built on two pillars. developing stronger relationships uh among the students themselves and between staff and students and among the teachers and the other pillar is data. So we work to systematize data and to
look at all different kinds of data. So grades and attendance of course but also test scores, IEP, discipline, referrals, mental health, and then things that are that might go under the radar that most people don't consider data. But
what did we hear kids say? How are they interacting? What are we how do they look today? How's their health look? You know, just all that sort of anecdotal data that we pull into to help us understand our students better and what they
need. Each week in bar, we have these four components that um make up the whole program. So the students each week do a lesson that is either a social emotional lesson uh development lesson or a classroom community building lesson or
a getting to know their own skills and themselves better those kinds of lessons. Um and the teachers rotate who does that and then each week the teachers meet in teams and the bar team consists of math English social studies
and science in the ninth grade. So the four those four core we call them core teachers in ninth grade share a group of students and each week they have a meeting time every day. Uh most days they're in small block and they have one
official sort of meeting in small block to talk about students and then on other days they have time to do things that we'll tell you about. And then they have one big block meeting where we are meeting with the counselor, the sup the assistant principal and the social
worker. And what I'm building up to is these small block big block community connect are really an MTSS structure. So in the small block, we're dealing with our level one concerns, our interventions that support all students, our literacy development. Our big block
is our tier two where these are students that need you know maybe counselor support maybe the whole team working together a wider level of supports and then for our tier three students we have community connect the teachers don't attend that meeting that is with that's
more like an MTSS team that students get referred to that and then we do problem solving for students that might need supports that go beyond the classroom and the school today. So that's how BART works. And then we just want to share a little bit
of how we're doing that and how well it's going right now. So these are failure rates since 2012 for 9th graders each semester for 9th graders. And we are really celebrating this year because we've reached our all-time low. One
other year we were this low. Yeah. Thank you. We're really we're really proud. the and we're proud of our students most of all. The percentages are up here. Only 9% of our ninth graders failed a class and only three and a half% failed
two or more. And of course, we don't want anybody to fail anything, but we know that two or more is is a really big hurdle. Um, failing one class as a first semester 9th grader is easier to overcome. So, we're really really happy to see all those numbers so much lower.
So, how are we doing this? How are we making a difference? I'm gonna let the teachers talk to that for a second. Well, I wrote down some thoughts just so I don't go over because I could say so many wonderful things about bar. Um, but it has been such a critical support for both me and my students. Um, coming in
my third year teacher and this is my first year in the district and the first time being on a bar team. Um, it really has allowed me to better see all of my students this year and not just how they show up uh in English class, but how they show up just as students to the school and the things that uh we're able
to talk about and help them with have been really awesome. Um, it helps strengthen my relationships with them and it shows me what they really care about and prioritize so I can better connect that to what they're learning in English class um in my classroom. Uh, together with my team, we've been able to identify where students are
struggling and more importantly where those patterns are. So, we're able to interrupt and help. Um, there are many things and circumstances I would not have known as just their English teacher if I had not heard it in a block meeting and many times I've been able to modify assignments or contact parents or other
support staff because of those interventions. Um, it's really helped us get the students the services they need and I think it's just a fantastic program. Yeah, I would echo everything Colin said. I mean, I teach ninth grade and I teach 10th grade. And so, in the 10th
grade, I see what it feels like to be teaching without the resource of bar, without this tool and this time, because that's a that's a shared prep hour where we're meeting with the other teachers who also have this student. And without bar, it's just really hard to have this
consistent week after week. Hey, I noticed this kid seemed like super tired this week. Usually, they're like bouncing off the walls. Does anybody know what that's about? Oh, somebody saw in their journal reflection in English that like they had a little something going on at home this weekend. And then
we can say, why don't we, you know, maybe we pull that student for a little chat with their teachers. And, you know, honestly, like a chat with one teacher is a lot different than a chat with like four teachers who all can kind of it
just it works really well. And I've this is actually my first year as a full-time teacher, but I've come from being a special ed parah to being a substitute to being a long-term sub um and student teaching at Roosevelt. And I've never
seen so like such a strong uh system, for lack of a better word, of just like how do we make sure we're seeing our the whole student, not just the data, but the kid. Um, and it's one of the reasons I am excited to be coming
back to St. Louis Park. So, it's a really good thing. So, on the screen are some there's some data uh about what that looks like in practice, part of how we've gotten here with these students. Um, and a lot of this we try to be
proactive. Of course, some of these are reactive, but um, you know, we're trying to do the positive beforehand to with the notes home and calls and emails. Um, and that I think that last one is something we feel really good about. We're really getting students referred to those outside services as well as
keeping their grades up. So, it's, you know, a lot of times the grades follow getting their emotional needs met. Can I ask you a quick question about I'm sorry, but it's about this. How do you identify the 85 students, right? Like is it So, it's all just what these guys were saying. So, we're meeting Well,
okay. It's not just that. It's the data, too. So, we might bring Chris just gave you an example. Let's say several of the teachers are noticing, hey, this person seems really down, really tired. Um, let's touch base with them. Let's see if they're okay. Let's check in with them.
It can be if somebody's uh struggling in multiple classes or just not doing work. Um, and we might bring them in to say, "Let's set some goals. Let's work together to help you get back on track. Tell us why you're not keeping up." Um, or you know, do you
need what do you need from us? So it can be our our recognition of the da I mean our observation of the data or it can be what we see from interacting with them or hear from them. Thank you. Sure. I just that's only the ninth grade. This
is only the ninth grade. Right. Right. Yeah. So of course there are many more students at school that that are getting that and this is just what our group of teachers has done as well in n so it's half the ninth grade teachers. Yeah.
Uh before we wrap up there, I just wanted to let you know about what we have what we're building on for next year. The we we have for the last three years been developing some basic skill building in 9th grade that all the bar teachers then implement. So
they're doing planners. We're having them email home to their parents every two weeks and they CC a teacher on that. So improving communication and various other skills. That's really one of my favorite like things that we do. It like the students know that their teacher is
going to see it, but it also lets us kind of see a bit of the parent relationship or the family member relationship when they respond. Um, it's a really good thing. It's awesome to see, yeah, parent responses to those emails. And they're telling their parents what they're doing in school, so we don't have to email their parents as
often because we're seeing the email that they've sent from our from our class. Um, but in the for moving towards next year, we're working to build out our our literacy teaching in ninth grade. And so we have started this
process and assessing all 9th graders uh and we're systematizing that for next year. But what we're meeting this summer to develop more deeply is a set of shared agreed on literacy tier one skills and interventions that we're
going to teach. So if we have there are a million different ways you can say annotate something and different teachers are all doing it differently. So we're trying to create a system that our nth graders can really get good at and share across the the different teams and curriculum. So
um I want to thank you for giving us time to appear here and I want to thank all the ninth grade teachers and the the staff above us. Marley is our social worker. Barb is the nth grade counselor. Alyssa Gardner has been the assistant principal working with us this year and
then principal Paddock for supporting us with um making it all work in the school. So, thanks everybody. Thank you. Yeah, that concludes the superintendent report. All right. Thank you. I appreciate it. And it that kind of
blends in really nicely with our next discussion item talking about MTSS and maybe gets us even hungry for some work on that, you know, a meeting next year or something. So, um, with that, let's get out ourselves up to the discussion items
and talk about, um, we have, um, Dr. Robinson here to do a presentation about MTSS. So, Dr. Robinson, so as she makes her way up, I'll tee it up for her. So, I appreciate the teachers coming and expressing talking
about bar because it's really bar is um using the framework of MTSS and as I was sharing with our cabinet this morning during our cabinet meeting is as we really embrace the framework of MTSS and
that's the multi-ter systems and supports um in everything that we do we are going to be using common language um and so as we use common language. We are all talking in the same with the same
understanding of what does tier one intervention looks like or tier 2 or tier three. And we understand that when we talk about tier one that is for all what are what are we giving to all tier two really identifies that sum what are
some of the students needing that's a little bit more than what they are receiving in tier one and tier three is what are those few students receiving they need a little bit more intense support and we think about that not just in um our academics but also in
behavior. So those are the the conversations and the the muscle that we are going to continue to build as we uh really embrace MTSS and its framework. So Dr. Robertson, thank you Dr. Hines. Hello
cheer Cox and board members. My name is Constance Robinson and I am the proud director here at Santa I was getting ready to say St. Louis Park. Let's go Orioles, but I'll focus on just MTSS. Um, it's an honor to be able to come
back into this space to share with you all just updates as to what we've been doing since July 1st. So, I want to before I get started, we oversee student service department overseas 18 departments. that is our special ed, our
social workers, our school counselors, our mental health, um nursing staff, our nonpubs, um our school sites, um our ECSC, our care and treatment, um McKenna Vento, um out of school placement, our
18 to 22 program, um restorative practices, crisis prevention, uh special educ ation advisory council and there's a number of other areas that I didn't name or 504 and I'm saying that because
it's not just the seven of us it's our district staff it's our principles it's our parents it's our students it's our staff our teachers are the ones who are making sure that it's orchestrated in
the proper way but it is it is all of us. We're one St. Louis Park, so we're doing this together. So, let me move on on here. Let's see. All righty. So, tonight I'll share with you all what MTSS is. You guys heard a little bit about it through bar and how
MTSS is being implemented currently here at St. Louis Park. uh some of the components that we're focused on and of course who's on the team, what did we accomplish, why MTSS matter and then of course steps to ensure our success. So
um Christina Whan, I'm big on research. Um her definition is for MTSS is evidence-based framework that is used by schools to support all students with academic, behavioral, emotional, and mental health
needs. But it's also for our adults to improve their teaching effectiveness through professional learning, providing resources, and of course, adult wellness. And of course, MTSS is a way of doing to ensure every student and staff
member receive the appropriate supports that they need to be successful. Okay, so here's where it gets really, really detailed. So for MTSS tier one again it's the 80%. And that is the number of kids that we have said we're going to do universal support for them. We're going
to deliver the the academic high quality instruction for them. We're going to provide the universal screenings. We're going to do regular progress monitoring. So, we're looking at formative assessment, um, uh, summitative assessments, um, exit slips throughout
the day in the classroom so that everyone is able to say, "Okay, I noticed that this is what's taking place with this student. They're on track for this classroom." But then the tier 2 is 15% of our students. So, that's a small group of students, maybe 10 to 15% of
our students who are struggling with some academics or some behavior or even some attendance areas. So we partner with the same teacher providing them with the same core instruction but we're doing a little chunking of it but then
it's that small group the tier three and that's where it gets really intense and that's where it becomes individualized this information or this this approach is more of we have our school counselor we have our school site we have our
special ed teacher as a consult and then we have team members to say I think this is the opportunity for us to focus on this group of kids and our group of kids are considered those focal kids. Focal kids are the students who are not making
that academic benchmark. They have not reached that level that we want them to be at the 80%. So our focus is to try to get them into a space where we can partner with the student, the staff members and of course the whole the
whole the whole community to make sure that the student is very successful. So can I ask one question Dr. Robinson? Yes sir. Um when you with those percentages were you saying that that's percentage of our population the student population or is that the percentage? Can you talk
a little bit more about those percentages? So it's more like so for our MCA scores, right? And Dr. Lafayette has shared with us is like that's just one data point. But if we're focused on a kid that's not coming to school, I'm thinking about McKenna Vento. If they're not coming to school, that means that
they may not be able to get into the classrooms and do what they need to do to be productive. So we need to make sure that they're in that space. So we're not able to do it right away. It is I see that you were out. Here's the assignment that you missed. and here's the due date, right? And I what I would
say is if we look at the students that are at risk, those are the kids that we're looking at. Those are our focal kids. So that is like a that's the 15 to 5% or 5 to 15% that's where we are. Okay. So it is a percentage of population and that tends to be kind of
consistent with within from year to year. Is that what you're saying? You're you're hoping that it's different or something. I just want this basic understanding of what that means in terms of population. Got it. Thank you to your copy. Thank you. Okay, so here are the four components that we focused
on as a district. We met in July and I'll share more about this. We met in July and again this is district staff along with our school leaders to talk about MTSS and how it's being implemented at that time and it wasn't at that time being utilized or
implemented at or at the all of our sites. It was just one or two. But these are the areas that we focused on. Screening, the progress, the multi-p prevention strategies. And just to name a few of those strategies that we have in place and that they had in place
2023, 2024 is the restorative specialists that was at each building. We had CPI staff members that were at each building. We had social workers at each building. Uh we had a 0.5 school psychologist meeting at the middle and the high school. And of course, we had
two of our school sites at the elementary. Uh the database decision- making again that was as a collaborative. Everyone was making a decision as to where students should go. But now it was focused on what data points are we starting to look at. We
noticed that we didn't have a strong family and community engagement. So we were looking at how do we make that work? And of course we needed to have professional development that was ongoing so that we can be equit equitable and equity centered. So this
is a lot that I just shared with you all but I want to make sure that as I explain who we are as a team that I seriously define it. So district level and school leadership we met in July and we met in
August and we talked about the learning pits that we were going to fall in. We talked about the downfalls. We talked about anticipated responses as to how we need to make sure that we're not going back to what we've done in the past because it didn't work. We understand that it's a new language. It's common
language, but this is what we're doing because research has shown us that we need to do what's best for kids. So, we were asking the team, who's on your current team? They have built and bolt, all these different acronyms, but who would you consider to be on your MTSS
team? So that was our GenEd staff, our special ed teachers as consults. Again, our school sites, school counselors, school social workers, our pair professionals, members from the community, community ed, and of course our students and our families. How do we
make sure that everyone knows their role and how many how do we understand and make sure they knew their responsibility? So, as we are dismantling, we're reconstructing something new. So that as we're looking at our old systems that didn't work, we're challenging. Okay, we're not doing
that. We said that we were going to look at data. This is the data that we said we were looking at. We said we were looking at our kids progress. Are we making progress? If we're not, what strategies do we need to implement in the classroom? What is it that our teachers are in need of? The professional development. What does that
look like in a Kim's class, in a um a English class? what do we need to make sure for our K5 classrooms? Are we having bridges taught from the K5 across the boards? So, all these different conversations were happening. But again, there was I always say this is hard
work, but it's hard work because as we continue to see that there's a lot of resistance. We still have to move forward and we have to remind each other that we're doing this together. So as principles we're sharing it with their teachers and teachers were learning how to implement it. We will come into the
space and I say we as district to support those staff members so that again they know that we are all in this together. So this is where I'm excited about the work that we've done. Again we started this process July
1. We July 16 I'm sorry we began to look at what was working and was what's what wasn't working. What do we need to improve in? And we had our team. We still have our team, but we needed to make sure that there were clear
expectations. That's the area of growth, right? The universal screening tools, we have those tools, but we made sure this year that the same tools that are taking place at one elementary is the same throughout the entire elementary from
elementary to middle and high school. We started to look at the data cycles. Thank you Dr. Lafayette and her team to make sure that there were monthly data cycles that were taking place and we added what about MTSS and how were you guys evaluating. We looked at the
decision- making as a collective. So there's not one or two people saying that this should be the place this the child or student should go. It was let's bring everyone together. Let's talk about what the child is able to accomplish in different classrooms. but
then also asking the student where where do you feel successful? What are some of the things that you've noticed that you're doing really good at and what can we do to support you? And then the biggest piece is is just increasing our tier one support and reduction of the tier three referrals because that was
one of our driving forces. So at the beginning as a team for our um student service department, we noticed we had talked to our administrative assistant to find out how many students were referred to special ed in the 2023 2024
school year and she shared with us there was 134 students referred. Yes. So that was where we were how can we decrease that number? So I said we're going to shoot high. We're going to decrease the amount of initial
special ed referrals by 20%. 20% would be 107. That means that all of the work that we started in July, August, we had to keep revisiting. So our administrative assistant and our
program analyst, Mrs. uh fee they set out to go to each site to do a child count to make sure that our numbers that were in power school matched actually what we were sharing with MDE as we were finding out that yep there were some loopholes we brought it back to the team
to say these are the numbers but we also know that we're not doing something so we went to the non-pubs we found out that there were students that we didn't count as we're finding out where the kids were looking at how do we partner with the nonpubs to make sure that they have not just textbooks but any training
that they were in need of as well. After we started to talk with each other, build those relationships with the principles to come into the classroom and support as not I'm leading the classroom, but I am here to support you. Tell me where you need me. If it's to
bring a kid into a classroom for a a timeout, that's fine. If it's for me to go into a classroom to look at how the classrooms are being set up, that's fine. But we also started to partner with 287 because they're called their program is called Nexus to see is our is
the classroom that we have is this a place where our K through5 students should be in. Is this a place where they can be successful? If not, share with us what we need to do better because we want to make sure they remain at St. Louis Park. So can I can I ask one more
clarification? Nonpubs. Oh, non-public school charter schools. Okay. Yes. So, we have to support those students as well. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you. Even though we're even though they're not in our buildings, we're supporting these students. Yes, we do. Okay. Great. No problem. Okay. So, here's where the
success we were able to expand our new classroom at Susan Lingren to better meet the academic needs of our students. We redesigned the classrooms over at Susan Lingren. It took our assistant director six to eight weeks to get it up and settled because after you built it
again, we got to go back to make sure that we evaluate it. We got to go and talk to the principal. We talked to the staff members to make sure that it was working for them. We also went over to Aquilla to support them with Nexus to observe and do some observations there to make sure that our federal setting
students um that they remain in our district. But then we went to PSI to make sure that our diabetic students had access to do their glucose monitoring to inform that hey my insulin is low. We went over into the Peter Hobart and the high school to just deepen some of the
work for our training just to make sure that they're aware that when we talk about due process when we're talking about writing down what students are capable of doing it. It's in a way where it's framed as a goal not deficit. So that was an ongoing training. We went over to the middle school for 10 weeks
to do a tier one intervention with the middle school girls because they were at high risk for being suspended. So, we're going into the space to make sure we're supporting them. We took the time out to look at are these well documented interventions for our kids
because each one of our students are different. So, we wanted to make sure that if we're going to send a kid from a tier one to a tier two, there has been a process. everyone weighed in. Again, it goes back to it wasn't just one or two people. It was the entire team making a
decision. The other piece was that as we were making sure we were looking at different practices. Does it align with our current policies? And of course they do. And I was thinking about the McKenna Vento because we had a influx we had a increase of students that were and
families that were um they were classified as MD as Mckenni Vento but at the same time it was structuring it in a way where if it's considered to be homeless this is what homeless definition is per federal law
and of course MDE. So we're just going back to structure making sure that we define what MD what McKenna Vento is and of course letting families know educating them this is what McKenna Vento federal law says. So we partnered
with a number of outside partners uh for teleaalth. Many of our high school kids were you know instead of going somewhere it was what's happening at the high school. Nope. We can't get you out there but there's a room that we set up. We have a phone in that area. No one is
going to hear your conversations between you and that person. Here's the consent from the families. Here's the consent from us. Now, what do you need? 20 25 minutes. Instead of our kid hopping on a bus, going into one of their program or their counselor and waiting, they were able to get the access that they needed
right at the high school. The other piece was that I'm really excited about was we actually exceeded our expectation. We went from 134. We said our goal was
107. It was 67. We sent 67. Thank you to your cops. We referred 20 or 67 students to special ed. And I I have to pay homage to a lot of the district staff,
the school staff, the the the student service department, um our SOPs, our um our behavior staff, everyone that has a connection with the student. And by the way, um Mrs. Doyle is in the audience.
She was one of the staff members that we talked about, hey, here's a need for our special education um parent. we don't have a handbook because we use all these different acronyms when it comes to special ed and people are like okay yeah
but they don't know. So instead of us continuing to have those conversations it is here are the acronyms this is what it means and these are the definitions that you need to be aware of as you're helping make a decision for your child. So Christina Doyle and Mrs. Fehey
collaborated, looked at it. I looked at it and explained, "Let's let the families decide what do they need." And as they as she continued to craft this new handbook, we posted on the website and families have been really excited but appreciative that they they they
heard something. We heard them and we actually responded. So that was another plus on on the MTSS process. And the last part is for this is is why it matters, right? MTSS is not just for the uh the student, it's also for the staff.
So, as we're growing, I always say growing in grace, we're also growing in grace with our staff members as well. So, as we're learning about students that are in need of mental health uh services, how do we make sure that we're keeping our students in the building? It means that we need to do things
differently. It means that we need to craft up different plans to make sure our kids get the help that they need instead of walking in the hallways feeling like they don't belong. The other piece is strengthening our tier one instruction. So again, this is new to St. Louis Park and again, we did a
phenomenal job. Even though it was hard work, it's hard work. But we know that we need to strengthen our tier one core instruction so that everyone can speak the common language, but also understand what tier one, tier 2, and tier three entails. The last piece is we are
planning to do more of the monitoring uh with fidelity and integrity. So we're looking at matrix as to if this is a tier one for academics, what academic supports do we need for a reading class,
for a math class, for fed, for music, and then of course getting that buy in from the different staff members and of course getting student voice. Um, another part that's really big and myself along with director Howard is to increase the family engagement. So, what
we started so far was connecting ECSC staff through all the way through the um 18th to 22 the transition program to make sure that we have a communication language lens so that there's a newsletter or there's some kind of outlet where our families are aware of
what's taking place. Not just for special ed, right? is for our gen ed, our ML, our sped students because we want to make sure that if you do have a kid that's in ECSC, there's the same communication that's being shared at a middle school, same communication that's shared at the high school so we're not
leaving anyone out. And of course, it's getting our families voices. What does work for you? Would you prefer to be in person? Would you prever would you prefer to be virtual? Would you prefer to be in community? What does that look like? And so far, people have shared with us that they want to be in
community. They want to hear what's taking place. And not only that, they want to know how to work with other staff members that's learning how to work with their kids. So, I know I said a lot. I'm excited. I'm trying to keep my energy levels
down, but I'm excited about the work that we've done. We know that there's a lot a lot of work to come but we have been partnered with MDE and with Bright Works to make sure for next year um all of our principles all of our new staff are that are coming in they will be well
trained and well versed as to what MTSS tier 1 23 is the different people that they can connect with in case they have questions so that it's just it's not laying just on two or three different people but each and every member that's in our district. So any questions? Yeah,
director Ibrahim has a question. I came with a lot of questions but you answered all of them as Thank you. I'm excited. I remember I you know uh contacting you with uh especially in uh special education referral in terms of EBD. It's
emot emotional behavioral disorder. means a lot of students of color assigned for that. And you know uh very happy to see uh we already see reduction in terms of uh special
education repair uh suspensions uh a lot of things to do about absentees. I didn't I didn't hear from you absent too. So like but one things like consistence. Mhm. So uh how we
ensure consistence especially in our elementary school because we have one middle school and one high schools uh because you mentioned here uh you know in terms of universal screening data based decision making and interventions. So my question
is how we how we ensure consistence across all our elementary schools. Absolutely. Thank you for that Dr. So, this is what we've done um these past 37 weeks of school, I think. Um our
assistant, our our elementary ECSE um administrative assistant along with our assistant director, they're meeting with our principles, our teachers weekly, and they're asking about what
what does the staff member need, right? what are some of the needs that are that you you know just take a pulse of your building what are some of the things that you need from us from our department so that we can support you and whenever we hear that hey there's a behavior of this child the follow-up
question is do we have data do we have data to show that this child is for instance he's behaving this way in Taylor's classroom he's behaving this way in his clean if we have that then we need to go look at what's taking place in Taylor's room Okay. So that we can
replicate that in OB has king. So it's we got to give that opportunity for them to do observations. Then it goes back to I' I've heard this wasn't working. I I understand. But did you do it with integrity and fidelity? So if you have classroom expectations where the bell
rings and everyone should be in their seat, right? Are you reiterating that each time or often so that each student, the new student or a group of kids that are ML sped or gened that they understand? Because if you are, then yes, we need to go back and do some
observations. But if you're not, it means as the adults because we fail. Sometimes we forget. We need to go back to go and say these are our classroom expectations. This is what we all decided as a class, the students voice as well. This is what we're going to do. So when we have the principles and the
teachers and the entire team understanding that that elementary assistant director is going to come and ask those specific questions, we'll see consistency that we're not referring that kid. We're going to keep that kid here and here are some of the supports that you currently have in your
building. So then we might make recommendations. Have you considered your social worker? Because they do small groups. Have you considered your uh restorative specialist? because they are able to u intervene by doing preventative or even consider our school counselors because they too have that
background where they can support our students. So reminding them that you have what you need in your building and then we'll come back and follow up. That's how we're remaining consistent to do weekly check-ins asking five to six questions but also getting deeper as
they find out what's the root cause because again sometimes we forget what we have until we go back and say that's right that person has this we just forgot to you know request it. So that's how we're going to remain it. And of course going back to look at the data what does the data show? How is the kid
behaving or how how is the the curriculum being rolled out? Because it's not just about behavior. It could be how we're doing the curriculum, how are we rolling it out for our students and did we provide the training and the resources for our teachers. So consistency. Thank you. The other
question I had is the family engagement which is very important. Yes. Yeah. So like how are the you know family engagement about MTTS? I mean uh are we transparents with the
family those who are getting the support their child with receiving it this year Dr. Abda King, we've been very transparent. We have shared where um families had requested, you know, we need someone to come to a meeting,
right? Um we need to understand what what is this tier one, tier 2, tier three system. As we were explaining it, we were given examples. So your child is your your child is 90% be at school tells us that your child should be in school for 90%. Your child isn't in
school. They're here probably 75 80%. If you can explain to us the why, we can understand that, but we're still going to provide you with the different resources. Right? And families are saying, "I've never heard that. No one has ever shared with me that my kid
needed to be in school 90%." So that's the law. We also explain with the different resources. Parents are saying, "We never knew that there were a resource other than reach out to your social worker." So, we're providing them with not just the the law, but also the
resources. And then the followup. Did you get a chance to talk to someone about your child's attendance? Yep. I talked to my school social worker. They referred me to um Henipin County. Hen County explained to me, "Yes, I do need to have my kid, but this is why I'm struggling." So, now we have that. We
now know that there was a problem. we're struggling because your kid isn't able to make it to the bus at this time because they're not. So, we need to get an alarm, whatever it is. But that's the way we're being really transparent with our families to say this is not just St.
Louis Park. This is a Minnesota law and this is what we need to do to make sure we're abiding by that. So, my last question. Okay. You only you get everyone gets allotted at three. All right. Go ahead. I know the last questions and and I didn't get a chance
to ask you part two. I just like the part only it was ninth grade. So I was just wondering uh can we can the part implement across to different grade levels and with the help of uh MT MTSS right? Yeah. Are you saying the bar
program? Yeah. I like bar um because it some of the some of the things that bar offer I think is really is valuable for a ninth grader, right? Because as you go into sophomore year, you get you become more independent and
you start to share that information with your family and of course the school is sharing it as well. We can continue to partner with the high school. I'm thinking about middle school. Middle school. Oh, we're we're partnering. So, thank you. So for next year, we are partnering with the middle school just
to ensure that we have like a program in place for our students to thrive. So there's two, well, there's one currently that Principal Kolinowski and I have been talking and working on, but it's about how do we make sure that our kids, we're being preventative. How do we make
sure that our kids are able to receive the academic behavior and social social and emotional support? and that is partnering with different organizations that are right here in the uh St. Louis Park, the Henipin County. So, we are in the process of partnering with them and
I believe for the middle school it's going to be successful because we've started to look at that way in January to say this is what we need for the 2025 2026 school year. So it may not be bar uh but it's something that's close to it
because it still holds the same pillars but it's also going back to our mission vision and core values. So thank you other questions. Yeah, excuse me. So thank you for this. This was wonderful. I loved hearing about the
handbook and bridging that gap for the families. Um two-part question. So um you still have a goal here to increase family engagement. um how do you suppose you do that? And then the second part is how um families that are listening, how can they increase their own engagement?
How how can they support? What do what who do they reach out to? Who Thank you. This is exciting because that's something that we're going to continue to work on. Um currently we are again we we started with I reached out
to the ECSSE parents right and explain to them this is our program and this is what we're asking for from you all what would you like from us right so again it's reciprocal you want we want and then it went from let's move from the ECSE to let's ask those kindergarten
through fifth grade principles who are their PTO staff members who are their uh presidents let's connect with them and Then of course going to the middle school, Principal Kalinowski, who's your PTO? And then of course at the high school and then at uh transition plus getting all of those families, their
email, their contact information to say this is what we're looking at for next year. We would love for you all to tell us what those monthly workshops look like and how often we should be meeting. Should it be twice? Should it be in person? Should it be virtual? But also
what are some of the topics? And then the other piece is we're putting it at because again part of special ed is you are the unique needs. So we're looking at multil- language learners, right? So we're putting everything in multiple languages. And then we're looking at braille. We're wanting to make sure we
reach everyone. Then of course it's not just the email. It's a robocall. It's a a newsletter. It's actually knocking on doors. We've said that we were going to start doing that in March. We started doing that March 31st. and we've been doing it because we know that some of
our families would say, "I don't want to come into the school, but I'll be able to do it online." So, those are two of the ways that we've been working on it. And parents, if you're listening, um it would be nice for you all to just share with anyone that's at your child's school that's in our student service
department to say, "Hey, I heard Constance at the board meeting. Is it possible for you all to share her contact information?" and then we will share how they can get involved because again we're here because of the kids. So yes, thank you.
Um as the leazison to intermediate district 287, a thing that I never want anyone to hear from a presentation like this is that we're um trying to reduce referrals
to special ed or to 287 because it saves us money. That is not why, right? And that's it's really important that we say that because we're in an era of budget cuts and so it could be it would be easy to look at that and say, "Oh, they're trying to reverse referrals." That means that there are kids who have needs that
aren't being met because they're trying to save money because that is not why. So, can you talk a little bit about why why we know that a tier one environment or a genetic classroom or a
home district is pre preferable when possible so that we know that it the the idea is that we're meeting more kids needs not that we're not meeting kids needs right so and thank you
um currently St. Louis Park has everything we need for our kids to be successful. We have speech and language pathologists. We have school psychologists. Same that 287. We have uh staff members for hearing impaired. Uh
we have school psychologists. Same with 287. Uh we have um setting one two three classes. Um 287 has setting four. Our focus is we currently have everything we need. We just need to build build the
model where we can actually support each other moving forward. That's what we're doing, right? We are looking at, hey, if we have all of the students in this classroom and we have these staff members, let's position ourselves to be in the classroom so that we can provide
that wraparound service in the classroom and also decrease burnout. So, knowing that if we have four or five, I'm thinking about elementary. If we have four or five students that are um non-verbal, we have AAC, the different machines for our students to use. So
that there would be someone from the speech and language pathologist team that will be in that space to make sure not only do our staff know how to use it, but our students use it. Same as 287. Um when we look at our school sites, it is what are some of the behavior interventions that you all
currently have for that child's bib, the behavior intervention plan. same as 287. We would go back to say we can currently use this space in the classroom to support our student. So that's where the tier one, two, and three, it's just going back to see where are our staff,
but where's the need? If we know that during after lunchtime, our students are escalating or disregulating. What do we need to do? We can do a walk around the building. What does that mean? That's movement. That's an opportunity for us to get the child or the students
prepared to go into that next classroom. But it's also building that check and connect. Again, that's something that 287 has, but we currently have it. It just means that as we're moving forward, we're structuring our classrooms and our students where if they're in need of
certain things at this time, we're positioning our staff members to be there to be preventative and proactive. So, yes, that's great. Thanks. And I'm I'm just super glad to hear that the you're working with the Nexus program and I know itinerants here all the time and you know we say a lot in 287 like I
we like we don't want to be in competition like we want to put ourselves out of a job right. So we want one of our goals and we've been talking about this a lot on the board there is how do we get those resources those skills the knowledge into our districts
so that our kids can stay absolutely at near their homes. Hey, can one of you two, just for people watching at home, talk 287? Explain what 287 is or both. I don't care. 287 intermediate district 287 is a cooperative district,
a cooperative district of 12 West Metro Districts. Basically, everybody from OIO all the way around to Richfield. Um and we cooperatively and collaboratively provide um thorough setting for special education services, alternative learning
centers and um itinerate services that bring specialized um I know expertise into every every building and all of those 12 districts and lots of other things. So it's kind of a place where hey, what do you need? Let's figure out how to how to make it
work. Um and we have a little bit of an economy economy of scale on some of those things. So, for example, if you have something really specialized, um, like braille, right? Like that might be something that a person St. Louis Park doesn't need a full-time person maybe to do, but somebody there might be an itinerant staff who goes to several of
our districts who does that. So, is that Yeah, I was going to do it. Do you want to add something? I was just going to say there's a they have a phenomenal deaf and heart and hearing, but they also have a really good um a program where many of our
students who are integrating reintegrate. So, it's a plan where you're currently at 287, it's time to come home. What does that look like? It is it's not one of those we're putting you back in the s we're doing gradually coming back into your school of origin.
That's been that's been huge over the last it was not it was not like that as much when when I first started like it's something that we've been really working on to make sure that we we understand where we want we want that's the goal. Yes. That's the goal. Yeah. And just and
and I don't think I've ever heard anybody put it in this terms. But just to be clear, this is not like what people would consider like juvie or something like that, right? Like in the days, right, that people would go to be banished off, but it's more it's about supporting students and helping them succeed and like you said, even
returning to um to a home district. I see. Go ahead. We have four regular school buildings. They're schools. Yep. All right. And do you have questions? Yeah. I think uh like uh director you said you answered most of my questions uh during but I just wanted to say uh
thank you uh this is critically important work and extremely impressive how far we've already come since it's only July hasn't even been a year so thank you so much um I guess one qu uh question that I had um I believe you've already given plenty of examples but
sometimes it's hard to make the connection uh can you give some examples for like what uh increasing tier one supports looks like. Oh yeah. So it it means that when we increase it, it means we're strengthening it, right? We are
revisiting our roles and responsibility because we know that as we get new staff members, as we get new staff members that are uh on boarding, they may come with new uh information or information from their previous district. It is this
is how we do things as St. Lewis Park. So, if the classroom structure is set up where students know the routines, if they have the school handbook, um if they're aware as to where to find all of their uh the general um instruction,
that's what we need to see from ECSC all the way up to the high school, right? And it it is we need to check that. So the principles and the teachers need to collaborate to say here are some of the things that I'm in need of for my kid that has diabetes. I don't have this um
I don't have this plug for a child. That's a tier one. We need to make sure for that kid to be successful. So it's partnering with them and then of course them that team reaching out to us. Another example is for a student and I'm just thinking about uh what you just
said Annie was one of our kids who they just they just moving a lot. So, we need to instead of having a sitdown desk, there's a standup desk, right? Or we can get one of those workout balls where students are moving around. If that's what's going to help that kid be successful, that's a tier one because
they just move. This is how they move. Um, this is also how they learn. Uh, another example is training that teacher and that staff and that team that, hey, you got a kid that's coming in, the kid has a 504. This is what the kid is in need of. These are some of the
accommodations. If you have a standup desk, please let that child be in that space. If not, this is where the students support uh department can come in. We can come and support them. And of course, just doing an evaluation to make sure that it's one of those desks that goes up and down because the kids
probably get tired, but we're creating that space for the kid to be successful within that classroom. Last example I can give you is just the social and emotional part. People don't realize that social anxiety is not something you see. So it is this kid belongs in that
classroom and he she they may need to be sitting seated in a space where they're not close to their peers, but we don't need to point that out. We just need to have that space for the kid. That's tier one. We just need to make sure that the
communication is clear with our staff members, with our principles, with our teachers, but also connecting our parents to say when your child is in this classroom, here are the accommodations. This is where your kid will be seated and of course asking the student, what are your thoughts? So,
it's always getting that student voice because again, it's about them. So, yeah. Thank you. I just can I um because everybody has asked the questions that I am asking but now I have a new one um because let me just make sure that I
understand also first I just I do want to applaud the intentionality and the collaboration that is evident in this because um from an insider's perspective like MTSS is was a mystery to many staff
members to many to most of us um and it's a it's a systemwide thing like this is across the country that we're going to this intentionality and working together and really gathering data. I thought it my understanding of some of
the tier one support goes beyond just the examples that you had mentioned but also making sure that we are implementing um the the curriculum in such a way that all of us are collaborating and let me just give you an example and you can
correct me because I want to understand this better. Um so as a seventh grade teacher one of the things that I can rely on is understanding what um students did in sixth grade and seventh grade in connection to word morphology.
Right? So if I as a seventh grade understand like do you does everybody know word morph morphology? So that how you how a word changes and it changes the meaning. So like aable versus inappable. So, one of the reasons why tier one support is important is that we
have this consistency so that as a seventh grade teacher, I'm really aware of what my students know coming in. Is that still correct? And so, if I have a cohort of students who are super struggling with a particular um prefix or or suffix, then
those interventions can be made. Is that kind of my understanding of tier one support as well? So when I think of tier one from the academic lens, it is how are students able to enter into the learning based on
where they are. So you may have a group of students that may not know what uh what was it word probably prefix prefixes are and how to apply them. So they may need a little bit more
explanation before they can jump into the activity. You'll have a group of students, another group of students that they do know what prefixes are. And so they can just straight into into the learning into that activity. And then you may have another group of students
that are well-versed into prefixes and now they're ready to create their own words. And it is that first roll out of the instruction. Every student has an opportunity to enter and engage in learning based on where they are. So
that is that tier one from an academic perspective. The tier two would be okay everyone had an opportunity to enter into that lesson but we had about 15% that didn't show mastery of understanding after at
the conclusion. So they may need another a a different dose. So, how do I group them and give them a little bit more of what they need, a deeper dive so that they can then show mastery? And then you have that third level where it might be
one or two students that just really don't understand. And so they may they may need to have their lesson delivered in a totally different manner. So when I think about MTSS from an academic perspective, that's what I envision. It
is that first opportunity for new learning to happen. Students are entering at a multi where they are through multiple levels or multiple lenses or multiple activities based on their strengths. And
so yes, it is important that you know what the students are coming in with. That's why those universal screeners are important. That's why those exit exit slips are essential at the end of the prior day's learning. So you can have an understanding that next day how do you
need to even engage students in that recall. So when you think about um MTSS from that academic perspective, that's what the tier one. And so you want to make sure when we talk about that 80%, that 80% is that that first roll out of
that instruction or that activity, you want to make sure that 80% of the students can be successful in it. If we're not reaching 80% we need to roll some things back because one did we tr have a true understanding of how each
student was coming what they were coming into that lesson prior to the engagement because if I am just going to apply one way of entering into that lesson that is where you you'll have your 50% and your
40% that are showing mastery after the first roll out. So, how are how am I taking into account those multiple learning styles because some students can take the verbal direction and be able to hit the ground running. Some students need
that hands-on activity or that engagement or that tactile. They need some news need that kinesthetic to activate those brain cells. So, how are you designing that entry point into that lesson for students to be able to hook on
to? So, I did understand that. Great. Um, so I guess I have an ask and that just to um the intentionality and the collaboration is fantastic and as director Ibrahim has pointed out, I work in a middle school model and I believe strongly in the middle school model. I
think that it is um I've always loved the bar because as a teacher who is in a middle school model, I recognize how bar can do that. Um so I just I hope there's some intentionality and scheduling so that um teachers can have that
opportunity to meet with each other and have those conversations. Um, and then also just my ask is just understanding the intentionality with professional learning and making sure that we're supporting teachers as they make these because what we're asking for is
differentiation and and differentiation is super hard. I mean like it is hard to do well all the time. Um, but I think we're getting better at it as a as a profession. Um, which is good because our student body is changing and our
students the students that I started with they're they're they're just not the same. And I don't think anybody should ever blame or shame our generation for being different. They are. They just are. We all I was
different. My sisters are 10 years older than I am. I was different than it. Like that's just the nature of how things go. And I think lamenting the past and and blaming children for being different than maybe I was and when I was in
school is just not the not the way to go. So I appreciate I appreciate all of this and I'm in the journey with you because we are also implementing NTSS. Um just understanding it the intentionality behind it in my district as well. I did want to just say one last thing
because you mentioned about the curriculum and the professional development. Um we've been very transparent and vulnerable. So when we say we're going to do this together, that means we're going to do some roleplaying. That means we're going to
do some lesson planning. Um that means we're going to do some critiquing to what it looks like even with the co-eing model. We're offering that for next year. Um, but we're also looking at, you know, as we're looking at the data and we're talking about what did they learn
in fifth grade going into sixth and seventh grade, I can get on the phone with Virginia and say, "Hey, I see this kid. Can you tell me more about it?" Yep. This is how he learned. So now I as the adult need to change my learning, my teaching approach. That's the
vulnerability because it's been working for me in this way. Um because if we're looking at student success, it means it doesn't again one size doesn't fit all. So we do need to say okay we have a we have a different group of kids that are
coming into our classroom and I need to set myself up for success so that my kids can be successful and what does that mean? I need to look at my learning style and make some of those shifts so that I am helping my students. So, thank you.
Questions, comments? I think um I think you started off by saying that you work with oversee I think 18 different departments too. So, this is not the only work you're doing is what I want to be clear about. So there are other things that you're
doing on top of this and and we realize that too and appreciate your work with that because it's um I don't know this might be going on online but maybe the most multivaried part of our of one of our departments because of all that stuff. There's clearly connections, but some of the work I think is really
distinct and um but but this is a a nice summary of of one key area and one that's very student focused and um sort of the extend I think our mission, our strategic planning and all that work. So really do appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you for the opportunity.
Thank you. All right, that brings us up to our consent agenda, which includes a number of business items, some personnel items, um some minute approvals, uh a board meeting, moving date, I think to accommodate something that we adjusted for that we didn't need to adjust for,
and some stuff related to Minnesota State High School League resolution. Um, do we have a motion to um, it is recommended that the school board approve the consent agenda with the following business and personnel items for May 2725 school board meeting as presented. Do we have a motion? Some
move. Oh, second. All right. So, we got Ann on the on the motion and we got Taylor on the second. So, uh, all those in favor say I. I. Any post passes 70. Um, all right. That brings us up to eight action items and we have uh
director Louie who's going to be coming up here to be um our uh if we have questions about any of these items but um before he come as he comes up here I'll start work on the uh labor agreement for the assistant superintendent. Um it is recommended
that the school board and we'll do this and then we'll ask questions and if we need to and then we'll do a vote. So um it is recommended that the school board approve the new 202526 assistant superintendent contract as presented. We have a motion to bring this forward. So moved. All right. So we have that we
have a motion by Virginia. We have a second by a director Loey. Anything that you want to share about this? Um good evening members of the board. Superintendent. Um we completed uh the process of going through and selecting the next assistant
superintendent. Uh we had a total of 23 candidates that applied for the position. Um we went through conducted rounds of interview receiving feedback from our stakeholder groups and Dr. Cooper was selected to join our team. We're very excited about this and Dr.
Cooper is coming from Eden Prairie um schools where he is currently an elementary principal. Um so what you're seeing tonight is a one-year contract. He'll put that will put him on the same cycle as all the rest of the executive directors. Um, so that's the reason for
the one-year contract. So, we're excited to have Dr. Cooper join our team effective July one, right? Any questions for the board? I have a question. Number four. I'm not seeing any numbers. Number in the are you talking about in the actual contract? Yeah. Yeah. So, we
actually worked with our attorney to revise the director contract. So, it's part of the administrator group. So, we do an actual more official offer letter that outlines all of his personal information. In addition to that, his step placement on the administrator
contract. So, it would fall within that salary range within the group. So, we can get more details for you at a later time. I mean, the reason I ask is that it's a monopoly. Last time when we were voting, I was having we were having the numbers. Yep. And now it's not there. So, that's why. Yeah. We're just working
through because again they fall on the administrator contract. So we did work with our attorney to make some revisions to the um director and or the assistant superintendent and the executive director contracts. Okay. Thank you. All right. Any further
discussion? All right. Then all those in favor say I. I. Any oppos? 70. Um so we have another one of these for our executive director of assessment research and evaluation. It is recommended that the school board approve the 202526 executive director of
assessment research and evaluation contract as president. Do we have a motion to bring that? Oh gosh, you guys are I'm going to give that one to Director uh Abraham and then the second we'll go to director Casey. This is exciting. All right, director Loey. This
is just the standard bringing this contract here. It was a one-year contract last year when it was brought to the board, and it is another one-year contract to put it on that same cycle as the rest of the executive directors. All right. I have a question. Sure. No, I'm glad we we have Dr. Liet. I still have
the same question, too. Number four. Yep. Again, it's the same thing. All the executive directors and the assistant superintendent are on the administrator group. Um, so we did work to make some revisions and that's reflected in this contract as well. Okay. So uh last time uh also same last time Dr.
Moy she was of the same group too but the numbers was there. Yeah we just made some revisions. This is new for this this round of contracts as of this round of I'm just looking consistent what I previous practices.
Yeah. Yeah. All right. any question speaking to that with consistency. So moving forward is this the new so for the executive director and the directors our assistant superintendent. Yes, that will be the and you'll see on the principal contract that will be coming
up looks a little bit different and my goal is to kind of move that to a standard online or a standard form similar to this one as well. So we just have to work through the next round of negotiations with them to make that update. Uh-huh. Okay. Further discussion. All
right. Then all those in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Passes. 70. All right. We have an elementary principal and it is recommended that for superintendent, it is recommended that the school board approve 12526 employee agreement for the new elementary principal. Then we have a
motion to react. Director Casey. I'll second it. And um that brings it forward to you. All right. So again, we completed the selection process for the next principal of Susan Lingren. Um we posted the position, went through our standard
recruitment methods. Um we gathered feedback using online surveys and we also held two listening sessions with our staff and uh PTO and community members. We used the information that was gathered in these sessions to kind
of helped uh when reviewing the candidates and also creating the interview questions to make sure that we were capturing what it is the community and staff was looking for. We had a total of 47 candidates that applied for the position. And we are thrilled to be
welcoming Rebecca Bang as the next principal to Susan Lingren. She is coming to us from Northfield Public Schools where she currently serves as um an assistant principal. I have a question too. Sure.
And I'm not sure if I in terms of privacy I have to ask it but I will ask it anyway. uh because uh the only difference I'm seeing is like when I read this uh uh
sizzling last year we hire Peter Hopper elementary and sizzling the only difference I'm seeing the steps step eight and that's step so I'm seeing different in the numbers y so like so the numbers are going to be a little bit different because it's based off of
years of experience and there's also some language in the principal contract that allows for um us to place principles using some teaching experience within the past I think it is 10 years. So it just depends on how long they were a teacher and what they did
previously before entering into the principal role that we would look at that experience and place them accordingly. Thank you for clarification. I'm just thinking equal great questions. All right, any further discussions here? All right.
Then all those in favor say I. I. Oppos passes 70. Okay. The next set of qu next set in front of us are have to do with something related to probation and and we have a specific process for one of those. But the first item we have is a D employee agreement for a fourth year
probation and um we'll bring that forward and then we'll have a discussion here. Um so do I have a it is recommended that the school board approve the employee agreement as present. Do we have a motion to bring it forward? I'll move it. Do we have a second by Taylor? Okay, that turns it
over to you. So, in the state of Minnesota, um the first three consecutive years of teaching, a teacher is considered to be a probationary teacher. In some cases where individuals will complete their first three years um when they come to us, they may have been
tenured or received a continuing contract in another district. So, that would only allow for us to do one year of probation. Um so in that case when an individual complete the 90 days of service if they were to complete the full 90 days they would then be eligible
to have a continuing contract. In this case, we bring this agreement to the board because the teacher has completed the number of days. But um as our leadership team has gone through and done the evaluations, there were some things that they saw that they wanted to
make sure that we are able to coach the individual and provide some support around that um some of the things that were evaluated. So in lie of being non-renewed, we offer this person an additional year of probation to give us the ability to work with them, to coach
them and mentor them along to make sure that they can make the needed improvements so that way we are able to offer them a continuing contract next year should it get to that. Thank you for that explanation. I think this is might be one of the first times some of us have seen something like this. So any
further discussions or questions for director about this? All right then all those in favor say I. I was pass 70. Okay for this next one um this is the motion to forgo the reading of individual names appropriationary
non-renewal staff. I think this is a some state requirement or something that we would have to read off the names but um in this case we are going we can do this which is um it is recommended that the school board forgo the reading of individual names of probationary non-renewal staff there is a roll call
vote required so but first we need to have a motion to bring this forward I have a motion second and second okay any discussion or questions about this I just want to say that it's very common practice to forgo the name of the names that's what we do in 287. And last week
when we did this, I said, "Does anybody not do this?" And all 11 other people said, "No, we all forgo the reading of the name." So this is very this is the practice that people do so that we're not putting people's names out there. Every year I've been on the board. This is what we've done. So all right. Um any further questions, comments, otherwise
we'll have uh Director Anderson, our clerk Anderson do the roll call. So just the last name or Yeah. Are you chairs? Uh, I vote I, Vice Chair Mancini, I,
Director Williams, I, Director Ibraham, I, Director Davis, I, um, Anderson, I, Director Casey, I, and that's 70. All right, great. That
gets us to the next item which is also going to be a roll call. So um it is recommended that the school board approve this is the approval of probationary non-renewal staffing resolution. It is recommended that the school board approve the resolution relating to the 2022
2022 2023 2024 and 20242 2025 non-renewal of the contracts have 14 probationary staff. A roll call vote is required. Do we have a motion to bring this forward? I'll move it. We have a second. Second. Second. I think I
heard um Director Mancini. Okay. Any discussion on this? Okay. Then uh clerk uh Anderson will um take the role. Chair Cox, I vote I.
Vice Chair Mancini. I. Director Williams. Hi. Director Ibraham. Hi. Director Davis. Hi uh director Anderson I director Casey I have a zero. All right. Thank you very much everybody. All right. That brings
us to a 2025 to 2030 strategic plan to profile the learner. Um it is recommended that the school board approve the 2025 2030 strategic plan and profile learner is presented. So we have a motion to bring this forward. So move moved by director Anderson. Do we have a second? Second by director Williams. and
that um discussion and anything that you want to offer here. All right. Well, um I am so proud to present and to the board the final draft of our strategic plan for the
2025 2030 school years. Um, I do have to give thanks to Pink Consulting for their facilitation of all of our listening sessions, all the data analysis,
um, all the individual conversations, group conversations that led us to the final draft of our strategic plan. Um, I want to thank all of our district leaders, our administrators, our teaching staff, our par staff, our
students who are also part of the listening sessions and provided feedback. So, what we have before you is um our mission, our vision that has been tweaked just a tad.
We heard from our community members that one of the things that they felt was missing was the focus on academic excellence. We will not lose um our voice when it comes to our racial equity
transformational work. It is through being able to see the different identities of our students, including their racial um ethnicity and also the intersectionality of other identities
that each individual brings with them as they bring their full selves to our district. And what this acknowledge is that we will center the each of our students, the each of our staff members and the
each of our families. One of the things that um I am really sitting sitting with is that we will we will live out our core values. So, um, you will see that our the core
value headers are the same, but we did make the explanation of what that looks like a little a little bit more um palatable for people to understand and be able to see in
action. So, that gives you our mission, vision, and our core values. On the back side in page two, you'll see our commitments. So these are the things that will be our guiding light in
everything that we do within the next five years. And and so we have three commitments. The first one is that we are one St. Louis Park. We are removing the um barriers of
um isolation and pillars that most districts tend to operate in. We are going to be a very collaborative district. We are here. I told cabinet we're going to adopt the Amsterdam theme
of how can I help? And so we will be reaching across multiple departments, multiple sites so that we can help each other as we continue to cultivate that thriving inclusive and empowerment for
our students. Um we will en encourage a unified leadership and across departments and through cross department collaboration and strengthen the transparency and community
pride and a full engagement of our stakeholders. Um Dr. Robinson talked about our family engagement. We are really going to um hone into our district family engagement fam uh district family
engagement plan which each site will begin to develop develop their school site family engagement plan that is aligned to our district family engagement plan which is aligned to our strategic plan. You're going to hear
that a lot from me is about alignment. And one of the things that we are going to be intentional about doing is ensuring that everything that we do within St. Louis Park Public Schools will get us to the the full
actualization of our strategic plan. Our next commitment is the investment in our staff and tr to transform our student outcomes. We will begin to build a deeper legacy of academic
success in truly becoming that destination district not just for students and their families but also for staff. We will advance our equity and excellence through professional
development. the community members, families, teachers, we'll we're going to engage them in some conversations around our calendar because in my perspective, I believe
that our calendar prohibits us from bringing our staff together as one unit in whole learning. You've heard from multiple design teams that talked about the importance of being able to
collaborate with each other. We currently only have two days throughout our school calendar year where all of our teachers are freed in order to engage in learning
together. And we need to do a better job of creating space for districtwide collaboration horizontally and vertically. But our calendar inhibits a
lot of that work from happening. So we are going to be engaging our calendar committee and bringing our stakeholders together to really look and have some tough conversations about the days off.
What makes sense? How can we um have more um K12 days with no students, but staff are free to do some professional development and more collaboration that allows them to dive
deeply into their their student data and have those collaborative conversations with each other to be able to really um work within a high functioning time through that MTSS
framework. So we will be pro looking for opportunities and our also our our master schedules will allow that. We kind of began that epotist especially at the elementary for next year for that common prep time and that for grade
levels but also for our specialists to begin that collaborative time. And as we transition from um a seven period day to a block schedule block schedule at our secondary, it will also allow for that
deepen collaboration common um common time to prepare and work together. Um third is our commitment to building trust and community. A common theme that came that resonated
through um this time as we began to learn more about our needs within the district is that um communication and I will say that the communication that was coming up is not just within our
communication and marketing department. It is how are we communicating with families on an individual basis? How are we communicating with families when it comes to the opportunity and resources that we have? Thank you, Dr. Robinson
and um the spe the student support team that created a handbook for our our families that receive special services so that they have a better understanding of the language that we are using. so that we
are now work working with our students and our families as opposing as opposed to just working and um working putting work onto our students and our families. So having that um communication loop is
also important because we do a lot of communicating to our families but we also need to be receptive of the communication communication flow back to us so that we can be better um servants
to our families and to our students. So you will see that this is very um art very clear clearly articulated through our strategic plan um one pager.
I will also any questions in regards to the one pager. Uh no question I know like you're doing it but just we are having mostly language right? Yes absolutely. So all of our documents will be
translated. Um but this is for the board so that once it once it's approved then we can get into production of translation and branding. Yeah. My advice is don't use Google. Duly noted.
All right. The next document that I'd like to share is um our trifold. So this will be um a trifold that we will have at tables when it comes to meetings or any publications that we share. So it will have our land acknowledgement, our
mission, vision, core values is centered and our commitment. So this is just a a trifold version of our one pager. So when it comes to materials that individuals receive especially when if they are interested in learning um
joining our team here this would be our marketing materials. Um so because I believe that it is very important that as um new staff come to our district they have an understanding of who we are
so that they when they say yes I accept this position they are saying yes I am accepting the responsibility of um ensuring that I am a part of moving the district forward to actualizing our
strategic plan. So, that is another handout. I think uh I know we aren't quite there yet, but that to me looks like a perfect thing to be hanging in the boardroom when we get our board done, too. I love that oral.
I am obsessed with that oral. I love it. So cute. So, in our process, we did have um a we had some mockups of some different Oreos to help with the branding.
That's slick. Yeah, I don't think anybody says slick anymore, but I'm going to go ahead and say that that's slick. Bring it back. All right. And lastly, we have our portrait of a learner. One of the things
that I think um I wanted us to really be able to articulate to our community, to our families, and to our students is what type of experience are students going to
have when they attend St. Louis Park Public Schools? And when we think about creating a learning environment that allows students to develop into their each. These are the things that we want
to ensure that we are guarante guaranteeing in a student experience that our students our learners are authentic. They are they are strategic. They are connectors. They are empowered. They are nimble and they are dreamers.
and innovators. And so the I do have to give homage to um Tom shared this the ascend acronym with us because it was work that was that they were beginning to develop prior to co I'm looking for
Tom for the head knots and prior to co we we wanted to make sure that we weren't starting from scratch. This is work that was already being done and a lot of a lot of great things were happening prior to
co and sometimes when you have a pandemic you kind of lose your way and so how many have I mean there have been a lot of pandemics but you know this is one
that we currently exactly that's what I and so it was an unusual circumstance it it was very you how jarring and you know sometimes it's I I was Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. Anyway, but we wanted to make sure that we didn't we didn't lose any
of that work that had already been done. So what we did, what Pink was able to um really um become creative with the ascend and highlight how it's still
those this all of these identifiers are still relevant. So we adopted this, they articulated and kept it aligned to our strategic plan and the things that they heard during
the listening sessions. So, we have our ascent. Any questions? I love Nimble. Cornelius Miner is another middle school teacher who's just a rock star. I He's just I have such a professional crush on him. And he always
talks about being um how teachers need to be nimble in this in this time period. And I like that nimble instead of like flexible. It's a good group or I guess it's an adjective. I'm an English teacher.
Other comments, questions? I think I Yeah, I guess. Yeah, I just wanted to say uh I was a part of the the the core strategic planning uh what do you call it? The the planning team core planning team. Yeah. Um, and I guess uh some of
the things that I noted with that team was made up of like community members, parents, teachers, staff, uh, cabinet members and, uh, students as well. Um, and I'm impressed by how much of their feedback is in this final product. So I
I do want to thank Pink Consulting for I mean it's not only that group but also like listening to the community and how much feedback they took in from uh so many segments of the community and how intentional they were and seeking that feedback and how it is I think reflected
in this um and and the thing that I most appreciated from uh the core team at least was just like how much pride everyone had in our core values as they stand like around uh racial equity work and uh each student living their
brilliance and the student voice and community focused. And so like I'm it's uh there are some commitments in here that reflect like an ongoing uh ongoing work that we're doing. Uh but it's really around the same core values that
we've had um in the past and I think that that the community really appreciates. Um so yeah, I'm excited by what we've come up with and by what Pink Consulting has helped us come up with. other comments? I mean, I'm appreciative that we sort of are required to look at
this every few years anyways because it does mean like let's let's not just keep going with what's been going. I think as we heard Dr. Robinson and we as we've heard from others, it's been nice to do that. I've heard compliments from the community about Pink Consulting and people felt that like that was they were
a great organization. They felt heard. they felt like things were reflected back in a way that seemed fair. Um that that that what they did say was reflected back to us whether we wanted to hear it or not. Um, and just appreciative that we have something um,
you know, here to look at and and it and I'm appreciative of my um, fellow board members who have participated and those of us who have said like, "Yep, this like we're not going to get into into this real deep because this is what we're hearing from the community and what we're hearing from our staff and
um, we have our opinions, we have our thoughts here, but we flex those muscles in other ways, I think, too." So, um, any other comments, questions otherwise? Um, we've had a motion and we've had a second. So, um, all those in favor of this, um, please say I. I. Any opposing?
Passes. 7. All right. That brings us Yay. Yay. Yay. Yay. Um. Uh. All right. That brings us up to policy development. Second reading of policy 49, employee publications, instructional materials, interventions,
and creations. It is recommended that the school board approved policy 49 employee publications instruction materials interventions and creations as presented. Do we have a motion to bring this forward? So moved. So moved. Okay. Sorry, I didn't hear that. Um second. Second. All right. Second by director Nancy. All
right. Um discussion. So can I just do a little discussion here? Um I I just I did reconfirm this with Dr. He we had a policy committee meeting and this was a big portion of what we talked about. Um this is a new policy
for our district and um it builds off of the MSBA recommended policy. So this is about like copyright and use of copyrighted material and um proprietary rights in
materials created by staff. Um, so I think and Taylor Virginia, correct me if I'm wrong, but Dr. Hines and I both our memory is that we're actually not asking folks to vote on this today. We're bringing this forward
because we want to um we did have a first reading on this. I want I want to be clear, we did that. But we want to uh provide an opportunity for folks in our community, particularly our school staff who will be most impacted by this policy
to reach out and express their thoughts and ideas about what's in here. Um I do know that a lot of work went into this by our district leadership looking at not just the MSBA policy, but like best practice policies from other districts
around. And so Dr. Hines can talk a little bit about that, but this is a really important policy. You know, we have to abide by copyright law. Um, and so this contains a lot of federal definitions of copyright state, you
know, sites to the federal US code, um, where this law resides, um, and really sets out some very specific requirements about following copyright law. And so because this is new to our
district and because we are allowed to do multiple readings, we don't have to pass it at the second reading. I don't have any recommended changes. Usually if we're going to a third reading, it's because somebody's recommending something that changes. But when we met, um, what we really felt like was our
community, our staff deserved a chance to really hear us say, hear me say as the chair of the policy committee, this is a policy that we intend to move forward. If you have thoughts about this that you wish to share with us, you
know, please reach out and do that, do that. And we are going to vote on this in the last meeting in June. So that's I think it also what I mean the copyright is important but it was also um an issue of data privacy and making sure that the
district um was putting measures into place that um inadvertently that no student data would get um taken and inadvertently used or show up at another location. So, I do I also appreciate all
the work that went into this because I think I made a stink at the first reading of it. And then um so I really appreciate the the efforts that went into defining the terms and looking for um because I think that like as a as a
teacher I didn't know that this policy existed and it's in it's on the books and if we had just accepted the MSBA version of it um we're sort of putting teachers who are doing a lot in their classroom um taking their taking
their creativity and and things like that. So, I really appreciate it. Thank you. So, for folks who are looking at it, the MSBA version is what's in red and then there's crossed out lines for the portion of the red that we removed. And then what we're the blue is not in
the MSBA policy, but is best practice from other districts and in here as well. And I think just to follow up on what director Mancini said, I think the core reason of the reframing of language is to make sure that our the core principle
of student privacy is like the the key piece of what we're of what we're striving to achieve with this policy. And I guess I would just add I do have a a a grammatical error that I've noticed that we could send to a third reading
anyway. Uh but I do think it is important uh that the community has a chance to weigh in on this before we finally do pass it. Um and I can I I'll mention now or I could send some of the details but I think in uh section 4C I
want to say I think it says uh it says comprise comprise rather than compromise. Yeah. Okay. So how how do we do it? That's how I was gonna I mean so the well before we get to that for one second I just want to
say like the intention here is because that previously we had shared this in a um in a study session and we and so it was helpful for people to bring that forth and you were saying that you made us think I think you asked questions which was the right thing to do in a study session which then to bring it to
this brings it to a business meeting so it's visible it's more visible to all so I think that was the intention here okay so that setting that stage First, I think that we can simply um we've had a motion to bring it forward, but I don't know that we have to do anything special
to just remove it or do we have to vote to table it or I think it's a vote to table it. A vote to table it. So, um I can move to table it then. Yeah. Okay. So, I think we can just do that. We're going to move to table this into um a
later time. So, what are the correct? So, we have a motion. We have a second. Any discussion on that motion? Okay. So then all those in favor to move this to that last business meeting and um of the year which is June 24th June
24th um say I I any opposed passes 70. Okay. That brings us up to board member updates. Um who has a board member update for us? Well I just want to say thank you to our
St. in those park state legislatores because in the final hour we got the ability to start before Labor Day. So actually it's not in the bill. Oh, it's it's in the bill. It hasn't it hasn't passed yet. Well, we have I thought it
did. Just in the house. Just in the house. We need to We need to reach out to our state. How about we reframe that? How about I mean we can say we appreciate the efforts of our legislators because um they were instrumental in and it particularly in
the house and moving that forward and and it proves that we've been heard. So we appreciate that. Um we're still waiting for our legislature to find to have their and that is frustrating for us um because it means there's a lot of unanswered questions but
um yeah. Okay. other other board member. Um I want I'm not gonna apologize for being late because I'm not sorry because I was um I was at uh the intermediate district 287 first
ever and first annual um senior celebration um sponsored by American Indian parent advisory committee. So we got to have a little ceremony and celebration of not just the graduating seniors but some of our other students and it was just really wonderful. So, um
I'm sorry I missed the beginning of your presentation, Dr. Robinson, but it was a good cause. And um second, the um uh Lennox is sponsoring a senior resource event for um any seniors in our
community at Lenox on June 10th, 1 to 3:30 p.m. It is a free event. There are 45 more than 45 vendors who are going to share valuable resources for seniors. everything from like the fire department to senior living facilities to
healthcare type things. Just a huge array of things. It's kind of an open house. There's going to be some um breakout presentations and there's prizes throughout the day. So, uh mark your calendars June 10th 1 to 3:30 p.m. at Lox. And what and what does a senior
center describe as a senior? Oh, uh 50 and better. 50 and better. So, I know that's hard for some of us who are right now who are 50 and worse. Um, but anybody I think really I think I think they try to say anybody who's especially for something like this,
anyone who's a senior or who is supporting a senior in our community who's a a lot of us um very welcome to attend this event. Yeah. Other board member updates. Uh yeah, I had a chance to uh attend one of the uh
uh one of the sessions for Mrs. England's uh climate summit with the sixth place sixth grade uh middle school class and it was uh really impressive uh to see the students they they presented on uh plastic waste and car emissions
and it was really uh impressive to see them engage with uh very serious climate change topics like that. Um, and then, um, Peter Hobart's IV exhibition is tomorrow at 5:30, so I'm planning to attend that and check that out.
I went to the climate summit last year and it was so good. I just couldn't make it this year. Excellent. Highly recommend it. Yeah. Um, I had a pleasure of being an interviewer for the S uh, Susan Lingrren um, imagination fair. Um it
was beautiful as always just seeing the kids excitement around their passion, their interests, sharing it with their families. Um and just having somebody that they have no idea who you are, giving you a little, you know, gift card, a little snack to um go get you a
treat afterward. So that was fun. Just also a shout out to the staff. We're we're that are making it through the last two weeks. It is a challenging two weeks of school with um some maybe some student behavior that is
understandable but still challenging. So you can make it through to the end and good luck to the um the senior high school who have finals. I don't think that they have finals at the middle school. Um but good luck to the students going into finals. It'll be fun.
others. I got an earful this week from my high school student about this last week of school. They're feeling it, I think. Right. They're they're ready to be done and and so I give them, you know, I hope they have the patience to make it through. Yes. Oh, and the bilingual skill. That was amazing.
Yeah. It's been a number of things in our community here. Wasn't when I when we first joined the board for the bilingual seal, I think it was like six kids and this was over a hundred, right? That is outstanding.
Um I did not attend. There was a dollars for scholars event that I think was went over really well. I've attended that in the past. It's long but it's so interesting and because um it is hearing about so many great students and people who are willing to put some effort
towards supporting our students and that's huge. Uh I think there's there's over like usually a hundred students, right, that receive some sort of scholarship for any number of things and sometimes it's just proud alumni. Yes. Um that have sponsored things and stuff.
So I just that community spirit and people continue to look for something. how can I support our schools? I can't give any more of my tax dollars. Here's a great way and that you could be investing in our community, too. So, really appreciate that. Which brings me up to the the um item two is that um uh
we after our next board meeting, we will have gone through graduation. Graduation's coming up and and that is an opportunity for us as school board members to get to interact with each of those students and it's just a joyous opportunity. And I know that we have some changes this year and venue and stuff and um but I I'm guessing that
they'll probably record it somehow and make it available maybe or something to see. Do we know that? Do we know if it's going to be recorded live streamed or recorded the graduation? Graduation. Yes. I'm working with the university. That would be wonderful. And we'll understand if it's a challenge. But we do appreciate it
because I'm telling you people, you got to watch our graduations. You got to listen to the student speakers. You got to just even if it's just watching for two minutes of the kids accepting diplomas, the the smile on their faces, it keeps me going for another year of school board for sure. Um so um with
that, if there's nothing else and I will call this meeting