##VIDEO ID:j4l49vDLZXc## e e e yeah he's um just a great great person 59 know one of those right yeah we'll call this meeting to order it's 5:30 roll call please director running here director hacker here director kenberg here director laow here director Parker here Dr the Lander here Sher Sherman here you have a COR great let's stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge alance to the flag of the United States of America to the for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all okay move on to uh our consent or our approval of tonight's agenda can I get a motion to approve so move great director Hawker and I saw Pete hand up director Kellenberg with a second all those in favor of approving tonight's agenda raise your hand and say I I I opposed agenda passes unanimously then Joan has our consent agenda for the evening up items a b and c um is there a motion for the consent agenda so moved great director theander makes the motion to approve consent is there a second director lower with the second can I make a comment quick yes so 519 and 701 those are just minor modifications to a current policy that's why we're not going through the whole first reading second reading and yep okay good to know okay okay um all those in favor of approving consent raise your hand and say I opposed consent passes we have um under our strategic Direction a ensure the learning process is adaptable to meet individual student needs we have the principal of Lily Lake Elementary um is it Granda principal Granda is here so come on up um sit right here and just um for background on this this is kind of a series we've been having in study sessions where we're inviting the principles of our buildings to come up and give the board just kind of a state of their school um at a high level to try to hopefully educate the board a little bit about the buildings and some of the challenges and opportunities um strengths that exist so we'll continue that and we feel very lucky new to the district so welcome to can we have give us a little bit about his background yeah absolutely yeah lucky guy thank you superintendent P chair chairman uh directors of the board thank you for having me here tonight uh it is a pleasure to be at Lily Lake Elementary this is as you said my first year here with still water for the past 15 years I've served as a superintendent in Minnesota schools uh was principal and Elementary teacher long before that this is my 31st year in education um for me it is a journey back to the job that I loved most uh every time I worked with an elementary principal and did some building visits I didn't want to leave I wanted to say oh move over let me do this and so I'm getting that opportunity to spend time with children and families and teachers once again and I've very much enjoyed being back great well we we're lucky to have someone like you if so thank you case I have a heart attack he's right there yeah Dr Punk and I have known each other for quite some time all right Lily like Elementary um tonight I'm going to be talking about our school and I have the clicker just kind of about our general population you can see compared to the districts our our percentage of free and reduced price lunch is a little bit higher than the average school our multilingual Learners are a little below uh our special education numbers at 29% are considerably higher than the rest of the district that is because we house the communication integration program in the school which increases our percentage can you explain what that Pro is that gonna you will get into that okay will I'll get there our students of color were slightly below the average for the district um this year we have 387 students last year I believe it was 4177 uh according to the report card so 387 is not according to the report card but actual numbers this year our kindergarten is down to two sections this year which is where that difference is sitting uh just as a point of interest for next year we have about 60 signed up so we should should be heading towards that three sections again capacity of the school uh is set at 525 that has been adjusted for those dedicated uh communication integration program rooms because there are typically seven to 10 students per room for for that program so that decreases the capacity of the building if we were to take on uh further classrooms that would decre increase the overall capacity of the school uh if we took on more communication integration program classrooms today I'm going to talk about some of our strengths and challenges and opportunities our staff our families the location the CIP program as we call it uh focus our focus on inclusion as well as some of the challenges of the building and some of our staffing to start off with I will say that we have an incredible staff many of our staff members have been at Lily Lake for decades and others have been there a few years it's this wonderful mix of experience and energy and the focus on working as a team is evident as you go from room to room in our school very often at a grade level when you go from room to room which I do every single day today you see almost exactly the same lesson they're using the same language asking the same questions which tells me that we are implementing our curriculum with Fidelity and that we have a guaranteed curriculum in our school that people will have very similar experiences no matter what classroom they're in um they're also very dedicated to making datadriven decisions they work closely as a team they look at their student data uh which you'll see the evidence of when we get to our achievement data uh we also have very supportive families we have a very active PTO uh thank you for honoring them last in last month's meeting they were very excited to come back although she came back and said oh I was so scared I couldn't say anything um they have monthly meetings uh unfortunately they're the same night as your study session so going on right now so I got a pass for tonight they have many special events this month being I love to read month they have a lot of events planned and uh there's Bigfoot pictures all around the school with my face on them because the school read aloud this month is Bigfoot and Littlefoot uh we have a lot of Community Partnerships we have many businesses that support our school and our families in turn support those businesses so we have Culver's night and DQ night and giovan's night and there's always something going on um and those businesses they're giving back to our school in turn our PTO supports our students in our classrooms they fund our field trips for the most part um those those buses are pretty expensive for field trips so without their help we wouldn't be able to take as many of those trips every year they give our teachers um some budget for those special requests that they have for their classroom that maybe wouldn't fit into their own budget or that they might buy on their own and then they have budget enhancements for classrooms and our Specialists it's all about location right just like in real estate our school is in an amazing place it is surrounded by Gardens and green space and our classes love to meet out outside we have kind of a courtyard in the middle and we just put in a pollinator Garden in the fall and our uh you can see on the top right there one of our classes out sitting under a tree on one of those nice fall days I think they were just doing their math out there GaGa ball is in the bottom right corner I don't know if you know about Gaga Ball but it is certainly a passion our communication integration program is such an amazing space uh a lot of it has to do with our staff we have Highly Educated highly experienced staff in our program and they know exactly the elements our students need um it is quite common for students to become disregulated in our program and they are very good at teaching strategies and techniques one of the things our students do is they create a strategy of the week and they create a video of of how to calm yourself and uh we show them all throughout the school and all of our students uh can be seen taking a dragon breath when they get upset um so with that program has wraparound Services speech therapy occupational therapy adaptive viiad assistive communication which on the bottom right there's a wall of velcro patches for their communication devices so whenever they're doing new vocabulary words they enter them into the communication devices and they're picking up that new vocabulary and able to use it immediately and then uh special show social skills uh goals for our students as well they take some Community Field Trips uh just last week they went to Perkins talked about how to handle uh having a meal in a public space manners and how to operate and all of that the program also gives us a special focus on inclusion throughout the school uh because many of our students spend time in our general classrooms as well as our special ed classrooms and our students have developed an amazing compassion and empathy for our students and they're so helpful of each other and so accepting um and they they they know the cues when students might be disregulated or uncomfortable they know how to support each other and the phrases that they can use to help them calm themselves or to comfort them and it's just amazing to see makes me very proud to be an educator and of course there's me with my dude be kind t-shirt when it comes to achievement we are proud of the direction that Lily Lake is is taking you can see along with the state and the district uh that we took a dip during covid uh but we are making some rapid progress back I say that is uh greatly due to the district's efforts with our schoolwide intervention team meetings and our districtwide intervention team meetings and the interventionists at Lily Lake are amazing they work closely with our teams uh we make sure that we are implementing interventions with Fidelity and tracking that data and returning to that data and giving students exactly what they need in their their area of deficits and stretching them where they're able to be stretched and I think our trajectory is headed in the right direction both for reading and math we just had our a schoolwide intervention meetings with all our grade levels going over winter data and every grade level made progress and uh the The Joy on the teachers faces and maybe a little bit of relief like oh all this work is paying off and we're seeing growth for our students on to opportunities for growth um our facility as beautiful as it is is a mix so the pictures with the red frames are spaces that have been refurbished remodeled in the school and the areas with black frames are areas that are still waiting to be remodeled and so as I mentioned two of our we have two kindergartens this year and both of those rooms have been refurbished but the third room that we will be using hopefully next year is not refurbished yet so we have a a difference in equity of those classrooms and just the the general feel of the classroom uh but also the the fixtures uh the bathrooms um the unremodeled bathrooms aren't quite I don't know welcoming um so we are looking forward to uh remodeling in the future I know that it was in the plants for the summer originally but with the construction of the new buildings it was a little too much to take on and so we're taking a a year off and looking forward to continuing the progress on the building the following foll summer and then as you've heard from many others I'm sure are the open positions I can tell you that that is not just a Lily Lake problem and it's not just a Still Water problem uh it's a general problem in all across Minnesota if not the country uh what I would call entry-level positions are very hard to to fill because there are plenty of competitive alternative positions in private sector or business sector um and so being a par professional or a par educator depending on preference of terms um is a very important job and I can say it's a difficult job and one of our our most important positions they are the people who give our students exactly what they need when they need it to be successful they calm them when they're upset they encourage them when they're discouraged they get them on the bus they take them off the bus they take them to lunch they take them to recess and for many students that's that's their person and to have a highly qualified um effective people in these positions is is very important right now we have an opening in our Communications integration program and a general classroom position so if you know anybody looking for a position send them my way not the other school send them my way that's not fair sorry so in summary uh Lily Lake has a lot to celebrate it's a really special place with a positive climate but focus on academic Excellence surrounded by Green Space um and we have some challenges just like many other places that's it thank you very much that was a very nice summary thank you I appreciate that um at this time board members questions comments for principal sure yeah um the what's your special ed again over there like are some of our different elementary schools have different types of special ad and your is what again it is the communication integration program the focus is on students with autism okay and do they come from throughout the district there they do okay right thanks else yes okay um question about the Staffing for well particularly the CIP program yes um are you seeing much turnover in our staff um particularly with that program or do we generally hang on to our people um it sounds like we are hanging on to them but maybe just life happens and we lost somebody um many of our staff in the program both teachers and Par professionals have been there for quite some time okay so y of course I've only been there since July but from what I know you haven't driven anyone out yet okay well I guess that's they have a lot of experience and they've worked together for a long time great yeah thanks Dr th thank you again for being here and uh it's great to have you here in still water and thank you for choosing us so um I guess one has been a common theme that I've seen in some of the other presentations has been around the Green Room can you just share or shed some light on what is kind of the approach that is taken by you and in L Lake yeah um so our Green Room like other green rooms is used mostly proactively for those students who just need to get some wiggles out or recognize uh one of my big focus is is helping students who uh have a tendency to be disregulated is to start recognizing their body's messages to them um like I I realize that I'm breathing hard or my heart rate is going or I'm feeling tense or my face is feeling angry and recognizing those signs and instead of becoming disregulated getting the power to recognize when it's going to happen and say I need to go to the green room and work this out so it's it's another way of being proactive but it's also teaching a skill for those students that they can use well into the future um there are times that if a student is um disregulated a teacher might ask them to take a break which is more responsive um but so that's how we use it however with the CIP program in the building we have additional motor spaces so the Green Room isn't our only option for that motor break students may go to the motor room with our OT or with adaptive fied so we have multiple spaces that we use in that way as well any other questions yes thanks again for be to reiterate what Dan just said we appreciate you choosing us so thanks a lot for that um talking about the C we talk a little bit about what those classes size you said there's 8 to 10 students potentially per per room potentially what is that Staffing look like and maybe just walk us through what that looks like a little bit uh it depends on the room um most of the rooms have a teacher and at least two Paris uh some of them have three depending on the level of the level of age and the level of need of the students so we have a kindergarten room that room has three pairs because well they're five-year olds and uh they're just learning uh on their journey to find that regulation uh we have another classroom that has 11 students these students are um older students more capable of self-regulation and that room could have one PA or two Paras depending on the time of day and then there's other classrooms that have pretty high level need students and so they might have six or seven students with one adult and or one teacher and two parents thank you very much for that I'm more of a comment um going back to the slide where you talk about the focus on inclusion with our CIP program um being integrated into the regular classroom I really just am so proud that we do that I know that that's a theme um across our school is to really integrate um our um all of our children to make sure kids see the differences in our community so um I just wanted to call that out and say that's that's such a cool thing that we do um and then kind of a second thing that I'm impressed by is the the use of data by our teachers and the real teamwork that is happening um can you remind me is Lily like a bar school or is it not a bar school it is not so it sounded very much like you guys were of our school um with the use of data and kind of teamwork across the um different uh classrooms in the same grade level so um I appreciate that work and it looks like our scores in that school are are on the right trajectory so um I appreciate learning all this doing a great job thank you was all Mr Cox before I know Mr Cox is really good too yes director so you know not often I think we have a a principal come in with such a depth of experience and kind of bringing a different lens uh and serving the roles that you have would you just kind of mind just sharing what maybe excites you from what you have seen in your experience about Still Water schools and and um you know what kind of really brought you here uh I'm really impressed with the schoolwide integration or schoolwide intervention meetings and the districtwide intervention meetings and how our interventionists are being used and our and our coaches are being used I think that alone is encouraging this focus on data and the application of data but it's really giving teachers the tools that they have been hungry for you know so for so long our teachers have heard well just meet their needs just meet their needs but didn't have the tools or the training or the time cut out for them to really do that work the district's plan for that has done exactly that has given the teachers the time to meet saying here's the intervention tool here's how to use it and here's who you should use it with you're going to use it for this long we're going to measure data we're going to come back we're going to look at that data and if it's not working we're going to try something else if it has worked they can go back to so it just gives the structure that we need to really provide that individualized attention for our students that to me is what every district is striving to do uh there's lots of districts who have plc's there's lots of districts who have cuum but there are very few who have organized that in a way that really supports teachers and gives them what they need to be successful and I think that still wat's data is showing that that is exactly what we need to be doing so nice job Dr yeah two years that's it all took nice job to your staff yes uh to build on director hocker's question and sorry I think I referred to you as Andrew early sorry director it's all good um on the use of data and and then the the followup from the question that that you just answered about tools that are available can you give some just examples of what that data looks like I because I was under the same assumption that I assumed it was bar data so can you talk about what data you're actually using in that process and then some of the tools or interventions that that you mentioned this said the tools are available what what are they so a an example would be hegerty for our reading instruction um it's really focused on Phonics phic awareness uh nonsense words if you will kind of like a flip chart letters change uh they may not necessarily be words but they're using to learn the the letter sounds even if it's a madeup word uh and so teachers will work with students with these tools like hegy like youly um nonsense words different different activities different tools that we've taught them and that they are collecting data on students so they might meet with a student for the next three weeks we're going to meet in small group three times a week or two times a week whatever it is and they'll keep data on how how many words they're getting correct are they improving and then that is entered into spreadsheets creates graphs so that when our plc's come together we can see okay if they continue on that on this trajectory they're going to make that 40% Mark uh by Spring which is where we want them to be or the 60% Mark um and if they're not making progress on that we say okay now we're g to step away from the classroom you're going to go have some dedicated time with the interventionist so that's the next level of of intervention then maybe we'll see some progress they'll go back to the classroom so it's just using local classroom data from their activities their own um assignment scores the data that they're collecting livetime thank you very much and um this is maybe more of a superintendent fun question although you might have some perspective just so I'm clear so when I think of bar and everything we've learned that to me the building assets reducing risks that's is that more of like the behavioral relational piece versus the data is consistent that we're the assessments the data that is being pulled in for um meetings and touch bases that's consistent yeah I think bar is more social emotional um how are we meeting the students needs in that regard and what we're talking about with uh principal grunseth is more of a collaborative action team academic data right you know he he talked about the teachers using different assessments internally in class and then at the district level or at the building level um we use fast bridge and I think we'll be providing the board an update on and I think that's what you're alluding to earlier was your fast Bridge results um you know sometime in the next next month here we'll give you an update on where we're at it's a district with fast Bridge from our fall to winter assessments and so one of the areas of focus for the district particularly this year has been training our our uh administrators in analyzing fast bridge data and working with our staff on that and then working with our um really our assessment person Elsa um to okay tell us what's the de is showing us and so I think that's a bit different than what we've been doing historically okay and I just wanted to make that clear especially because we have new board directors that the bar is more on the social emotional so thank you for confirming that the data perspective that we're utilizing student achievement data right we're looking at different sets of data one student achievement one is more um behavioral needs okay um and I know you don't miss what you've never had um but do you ever get to see what the bar schools have do you do you do you have an interest does your team have an interest in becoming a bar school do you feel like I guess how does the social emotional side work in your school from your perspective now um I don't know enough about the the elementary level of bar I've worked uh with bar in the past but at the high school level um and so it's kind of a different Focus uh I think of it as like our our plc's the work that we do is is mtss multi-tier System of support it's that that triangle where you want the base and then I look at bar it's creating not just a triangle but a pyramid so if you turn the turn the pyramid it's the same for Behavioral and social emotional so you have a kind of a three-dimensional model if you will I I think that we do a lot of that work already within our um Community connect meetings um we talk about all of the aspects of students needs and strengths already I don't I don't know what the interest would be at the staff level okay thank you for that um any other questions I really appreciate this and um Kate I mean every director pretty much covered everything I had but I think the the word from a board standpoint that I was really drawn to in everything you said was just the Fidelity piece because we know if there's this if the same things are being taught with Fidelity we will see those results and I think that you're you're living proof of that right now so I just I thank you for the presentation and thank you to your staff who does amazing work um and to the families that support the school the local businesses um we're excited to have you in still water and thank you for coming tonight we really really appreciate it absolutely thank you for the opportunity all right um moving on we're going to go um to strategic Direction C which is utilize systems and align resources in an efficient manner to support student learning we it's a pretty rich discussion on policies tonight our first policy so we'll bring Paul up um is our first reading for policies 50 505 first is the distribution of non-school sponsored materials on school premises by students and employees yes good evening chair Sherman and members of the board um as we said we're going to take a look at two policies tonight um for your consideration both of them are first readings so it's an opportunity to take a look at the policies and then there's an opportunity for reflection and uh you know any kind of community input um between now and the next uh probably the next board meeting um to do that and then take a look at it for a second reading and and then you have opportunity to kind of make some choices and um decisions um at that point um so we'll start with uh 505 which uh as as mentioned the distribution of non-school sponsored materials on school premises by students and employees this this is an msba model policy and as a committee you know we've we've we've had a a focus on looking at the MSB recommended uh policies for the district this is a policy that we don't have um currently um in our set of policies so it would be a new policy for the district um it does not necessarily contain it's not a mandatory policy and it does not contain necessarily legal requirements within it um but it is recommended by msba um it was just to be beyond the the committee looking at this um as a as a potential policy to bring in the district we did have several principles in the district take a look at it as well just to see if this was something that they had interest or need or felt it would uh enhance our policy and our ability to to manage some of the situations within schools and they all agreed that this was something that they would like the board to consider um as a area of policy um so with that in mind um the the purpose of this policy um is to protect an exercise students and employees Free Speech rights taking into consideration the educational objectives and responsibilities of the school district it has two kind of main um areas of uh as far as a general statement and this would be that the school district recognizes that students and employees have the right to express themselves on school property this protection includes the right to distribute at a reasonable time and place and in a reasonable manner non-school sponsored material and it goes on to protect First Amendment rights while at the same time preserving the Integrity of the educational objectives and responsibilities of the school district the school board adopts the following regulations and procedures regarding distribution of non-school sponsored material on school property and at school activities so if you look and you'll have an opportunity to if you look through the policy it does go through a um set of definitions um that are pretty straightforward I think um as far as the language goes defines distribution what non-school sponsor material is um and it's not things that would be part of a curriculum or part of a of a school official materials this is non School sponsored um it defines what obscene means um to miners what miners mean um what a a material or substantial disruption what that would be defined as what a school activity is and what liab is um um means within a definition um as far as guidelines I think the one the next section in section four um just to highlight I think kind of some of the kind of the meat of the of the policy really falls under Part B under guidelines and that's that request for distribution of non-school sponsored material will be reviewed by Administration on a case-by casee basis however the distribution of materials listed below low is always prohibited so this is a line that wouldn't be crossed and those would include material is prohibited that is obscene to minors is lialis or slanderous um is pervasively indecent or vulgar advertises or promotes any product or service not permitted to miners by law anything that would Advocate violence or other illegal conduct anything that would constitute insulting or fighting words the very expression of which injures or harasses other people and others that would that would uh present a clear present likelihood um that the material um would would substantially disrupt the proper and orderly operation of the school um and the school activities um there's a clause under number two that there's also a decision regarding um reasonable time and place and manner in which materials would be um distributed and it outlines some um indic uh some specifics regarding that um I think the other part that I would just highlight is um you know on Section six that talks about disciplinary action um and really the basis of that it's um any kind of uh discipline regarding um any of these areas of the policy would just be um consistent and in accordance with the school district's um student dis displine policy so it would be consistent with that as far as how issues that might come up would be addressed by the administration so I think that provides a kind of a highlight of the policy um so we can uh and I would um I guess I would just say because I know um director thelander had sent some emails and one thing just to note would be under section three under definitions a just to draw the board attention to this is also like posting it's not just you know materials that you would be handing out so for students and staff it would include posting as well one thing I noticed Paul and I I can I just want to vocalize it here under seven um do we post this in school buildings we might just want to get rid of that part there's one sentence copy of this policy will be published in student h books and posted in school buildings I would imagine that we need to delete that so just to Sure y I'll make note of it for our next policy meeting thank you and I do um I do appreciate that you bringing up that the principles are asked because I I want the board to know that the our approach I feel like is much more collaborative with staff and this is evidence of that like we're asking them what they need from the board to make their life easier to maintain that you know the academic and behavior Integrity in our buildings so when they came this was one of the ones that was 100% principles really wanted this for clarity in their buildings correct um so that they could look back and they all have procedures for it that they are doing this anyway but that it's and they all make very slightly but they really wanted the procedure in place or the policy in place um seen as this is a first read feel free to you know read it and question s feedback yeah yeah and take this as a question to take away or you can start the answer tonight as as you would but uh two questions that I would have on this would be one is how I don't know the status of our identity harm protocol um I saw in December we had the meeting on it but I can't remember where that landed it's in place and active so so I guess one question is where does this line up um with the identity harm protocol if someone was coming in and presenting and and sharing a flyer that someone else sound offensive but not um meeting the qualifications in section B uh that would potentially create a consideration where two policies are up against each other um so I'm curious uh how we would consider that I'm sorry Parker really quick which section um director Parker where you said B was that in the general statement of policy uh guidelines section 4B he referred to section B is the area that really had all lot of the meat of this which uh 4B does seem to be where the meat of this is obscena Miner liabil anything in that category seems like if it's not in that c in fall into one of those categories it would be okay which seems like there are some categories of overlap of what's okayed by this that might cause some consternation on identity harm protocol so that's a question want to think about and then second is is there a power differential between um a student handing something out or posting something and a teacher handing something out and posting something and should that be considered should there be a different policy or should those entities be treated differently I don't know I guess that's a question I would ask that to to to look into because of the power differential of a uh person the teacher or staff we'll bring those yeah certainly those yeah could be looked at and I think looking closely at the you know the real specific wording to see if there would be any conflict between if it's a teacher and a student um in a situation so I think that would be a good thing to look at thank you thank you any other comments for the committee to take back right and don't feel limited to hear um we'll meet again with policy and take these up but if you have anything else feel free to email Mr Lee and uh copy Mike superintendent Funk great okay wonderful thank you very much and stick around um our next is uh first reading for policy 54.5 personal electronic communication devices before I let um director Lee start here I'm gonna ask that just for the community we've been having a lot of conversation about this um topic for a while now this is a legislative requirement that by March 15th we adopt a policy for our district related to personal technology uh we've had different study sessions with guest speakers and um some conversations so today what the policy committee is looking for is for a direction on the general policy so you'll look and I think I had sent an email we have kind of an option one and an option two which um Paul will get into with us but today I just want to have a real conversation about where we're all Landing now that we've kind of looked at the um survey results the feedback results and the um listened to our guest speakers read the books and I know we're all following this issue um closely so we'll turn it over to you and then we'll have a discussion sure yes thank you um and as a first reading taking a lot of that information in the statute requirements and then putting it in a policy so some of this um certainly meets that statutory requirements that that uh we need as a district we we did look at this um as a there's would be a couple different options but what we're presenting tonight is a standalone uh policy just specific to this to this area and concern um and you will see in if you go look um at the end of the policy you'll see a lot of references and where this is um reference to different statutes and to different policies that we have in place um but it does fit nice and there's a certainly a component of this that is unique to this particular policy um so we'll go I'll kind of go through it just to highlight some of the areas and some of it's just the more of the um the uh statutory components of it but then as as chair Sherman said I think that the the real discussion point is here in the in the middle of the of the policy um that reflects a little bit of all the strong and really wonderful work that's been done um to engage staff and community and students um in looking at uh how we best support the learning um for students so the purpose um again the purpose of this of this uh policy um and the objective is to support the school district's focus on learning in alignment with the district's mission to ignite students passion for learning cultivate a strong Foundation of knowledge and Foster a sense of community within our schools possession and use of personal electronic communication devices must be regulated to ensure that such devices do not disrupt or interfere with the education process or School operations impair the safety welfare and PRI privacy of students and staff or are used as part of an act of academic dishonesty so the general statement of the policy is to minimize the impact of personal electronic communication devices on student Behavior mental health and academic attainment and to support the school environments in which students can engage fully with their classmates their teachers and instruction the school board has determined the use of personal electronic communication devices by students during school hours should be limited there's a set of definitions Bell to Bell in this definition means from the the Bell that starts the school day to the Bell that dismisses students at the end of the school day that's Bell to Bell cell phone is really means cell phones um we'll get into a little probably more bigger definition here in a minute cyber bullying um this is consistent with what we have in our bullying policy um and what that means um instructional time time um means any um structured or unstructured learning experiences that occur from when the first Bell Rings to the end of the school day um that's instructional and then we have the definition of personal electronic communication device and that's what you're going to see used as the term kind of it replaces cell phone um in this little broader definition so what that means is any personal advice capable of connecting to a cell phone the internet a cellular Wi-Fi network or directly connect to another similar device personal electronic communication devices may include cell phones wearable devices such as SmartWatches personal headphones earbuds um laptop tablets virtual reality devices and other personal electronic communication devices with the above mentioned characteristics and then stored means um just in which a way that uh those items would be stored um and what that means it's kind of out of out of sight um and there's probably some discussion regarding how the district might want to have procedures in place for the storage um um for that I don't I don't know I don't believe that our policy directly regulates that but refers to the buildings and the administration making those determinations of how cell phones would be stored in a safe manner so so the section four personal electronic communication device use and storage so this has broken down into the different the three different uh levels of of our main educational programming so um so part one in elementary schools it reads students are prohibited from using personal electronic communic communication devices on school premises from Bell to Bell which includes but is not limited to instructional time lunch periods recess School sponsored programs events or activities or any other time during the designated school day all personal electronic communication devices shall be kept in designated areas and turned off at the middle level it's the same language it's the Bell to Bell um and the all personal electronic communication devices shall be kept in the designated area and turned off when we move to the high school this is where you see the two options um for consideration by the board um the first is the same it's the Bell to Bell the exact same language as the other two levels option two reads as follows students are prohibited from using personal electronic communication devices during instructional time with which includes the entire period of a scheduled class and other times when students are directed to report to and participate in any instructional activity students May wear smart or electronic watches but may not use any communication applications or features that are prohibited from use on other personal electronic communication devices and all notifications must be turned off all personal electronic communication devices shall be kept in designated areas and turned off during instructional time personal electronic communication devices may be used during passing times and lunch periods however such use is discouraged and that's we so that's that that component then it the the policy does go on to address off-campus and school sponsored activities and for that the school administration May establish guidelines um and they may be particular to the activity or um what that school sponsored off-campus activity is um then the limited use and storage of personal electronic communication devices um the limitations on the use of personal electronic communication devices um again this is kind of where what we're kind of saying we kind of prohibit right um and that's just anything that disrupts the educational environment certainly cannot be used and specifies in here at any time in locker rooms bathrooms or other locations where the presence of such devices poses an unreasonable risk to the safety welfare privacy of others um the devices um are not allowed um or prohibited to record or transmit or post audio video or photos of persons or persons on school grounds or on school buses without the express permission of school staff in addition to with the expressed consent of the individual individuals that are subject to the recording um certainly with you know consist with other policies cannot be used for any type of bullying or cyber bullying um and then it does on five indicate that personal electronic communication devices shall not be used during a lockdown drill a fire drill or a similar safety drill under Section six there are a list of exceptions um and the m one of the main ones here is that a student um may be allowed um to use a personal communication device for the purpose as documented in a student individualized education plan or IEP for students with disabilities or under Section 504 um on in accommodation for a student with a disability or as part of a health care plan that we would have which also is acts as a 504 plan um if someone's monitoring their U medical condition or things like glucose levels and things like that um again a student may use electronic communication to report a respond to an emergency um that kind of is the highlights there um and then there's just a little Clause here on that the school district doesn't have the responsibility for devices that are brought to school and as far as any kind of loss or damage or things that happen for um those types of devices when they're on school property and I I will say that um depending on the direction the board provides to the to the committee we need to kind of look at that the whole policy through that lens it was just getting difficult for the committee to really analyze the entire policy without getting the board's clear Direction uh that it wants to take um kind of philosophically at the high school I think we were all kind of agreeing seemed like on the K through eight and that maybe that we just needed to have some discussion on the board's feelings um on the 9 through 12 um so we have both of our students here so this is where I would love for you to raise your hand and participate and just kind of um engage in the discussion uh superintendent Funk is here to answer any questions or provide a perspective as is um we're fortunate with Paul here for the um student Support Services perspective as well and and I just want to be able to have a conversation where we can go back and forth and share perspectives and hopefully net out at the end with a clear-cut direction on the 9 through 12 yes dor Parker um as one of the new board members uh one of the things I'm curious about is how do we we just heard a policy a couple we did a couple policies that minor updates that were just passed through we just heard a policy that we talked to some principles on uh in December we went through a policy that had large community engagement um how do we decide what was the process for this policy and how do we decide which of the policies it goes through or which of the processes it goes through yeah that's an excellent question I think chissa can address this policy specifically um some of the other policies so what we what we look at is uh msba rights model policies and their attorneys so when little changes happen um through a review of the policy by msba attorneys um and again they it's a organization that we pay into to have that expertise available to us um and something may change a little bit in statute and so they might tweak uh a policy that we already have in place they might change a little bit a wording or a reference and so when it's a minor change the committee will look at that and they may consider that to go on consent because it really doesn't change any of the the meetings behind it's just kind of editing changes so those are typically you see something come through consent that's what that is um they'd be very minor and if you would look you know kind of in the document you'd find maybe a line has changed um then the um policies that are updated but have substantial changes to them by msba there are policies that we may have in place but there's some major change that's when that the committee looks at those changes um we look at redlined you know versions of it to look at that piece and then that will be brought to the board board for a first reading a little more formal um component of that this one um and there are some as I mentioned with 505 is one where we didn't have a policy on the books but we looked at it as recommended by msba um and look for principles yep and look for adoption and that was one because we didn't even have any one we we kind of reached out to principles for their input first not first but as part of the process to see you know is this something that' be helpful in your practice just to get their perspective the SEC the cell phone policy is different in that this is brand new to to everything so there's a much more robust process so there's multiple levels one answering that question so year and a half ago we came to the school board with I don't know 6 8 10 12 policies because State Legislature came in said here we these new laws that we have passed you need to update your policies so we did that based upon legal Ram ramifications if we didn't do it from from the legislature so that that's one way of okay got to do it the other thing is sometimes we will have curriculum related policies so instead of the policy committee necessarily being the the lead on it they'll they'll they'll get to it we will have our district curriculum advisory committee and they'll have members of the public there and then they will weigh in on okay what they think that we we should do um and then it goes through the process that way um this one is pretty unique because um this is a state mandated you got to have something in place by March 15 and you know if you were to look Statewide I think a number of districts just went and adopted something and in our board here took the commitment um probably nine months ago um that okay we want to have a community input on it and that's where we've got Carissa up here to um to talk about the process that uh that we involved uh the community in here so there's not necessarily one cookie cutter approach um but uh it's a it's a great great question because it's multifaceted and policies touch everything the other thing I can say is and Katie you can help me out here director hawt there um how many policies last few years have we updated ballpark oh boy well At Last count last year we were at like 4 which was way improved over like the 24 the year before and like the 20ish the year before so one of the challenges I had when I came in here we had policy on the books I don't went back to the 1980s I'm not sure if they went that far back um so this is just an ongoing um process and uh so we're and correct me if I'm wrong superintendent Funk some are we have to approve annually or every two years so some you'll just see on consent because that's just a school board has to continually approve um so they might not ever have any changes but it's required to have our eyes on it so so I don't know if you want to talk through the process for this yeah I think the process with this one um was really because this is a large topic with Community interest and because it was a new policy we felt it was really important to hear from our students from our staff and from our families so we had some conversation with the school board starting over the summer after this legislation was passed and and talked about what our process might be we did a little research kind of checking out to see what other districts across the country were doing and what kind of impact it was having we brought in a speaker um to talk to you all about that we put out some surveys to our students and our staff and then we had an online community engagement tool that we used with our community and that really just allowed us I think to get a good feel for what our was in support of but also to understand what are the concerns that they had what are the questions we felt it was important to be proactive so we didn't just have a policy and then learn afterwards why it might not work for people but to find out on the front end what um what our community was looking for and I think from the feedback that I shared with you this policy whether you go with the um option one or two really does line up with what we heard from the community um the as we shared people are in agreement that phones shouldn't be used during instructional time there was very few who felt like yeah kids should be on their phone the whole time they're in class um but the concern was that communication piece I want to be able to reach out to my child or that safety piece so um I think there are opportunities for us as a district to be able to handle that through different communication channels we provide or through more of a limited access um way so I think this is really in align with what our community was asking for thank you addressing the safety bit I think it would actually be more beneficial to not have phones during the school day for that purpose because I feel as if parents get over communicated to in those issu like when there's issues at school and then there's anxiety and worry about that that makes the situation more unsafe than it actually is and also not to be that person but that we have not had cell phones for years in it before this and schools ran just fine so I don't think that should be the concern um although Mason and I had talked to a large amount of students about their opinions and updating them with where we are in the cell phone policy now and I think it was unanimous that everyone preferred just having their phone um not on them during instructional time because I have no idea I think like students will find a way to have their phone regardless and if you do the pouch of the designated area then students will find like a magnet to unlock the pouches or there will always be something if they want it they'll get to it and so I think doing prohibiting them during instructional time would be most beneficial because they're not on their phone when they actually need to be learning and educated but that's the feedback we've heard just so to just add on um I think students immediate response would be better to option two but I know a and I's personal opinion is kind of the option one Bell to Bell just kind of gone for the day and just focus on learning and getting an education and just being engaged with school and I think that would also um improve our culture a little bit better just a school culture um it just kind of feels down sometimes and we just want to be more uplifting and I think phones you know when you walk into a classroom I don't know we've talked about this before when you walk into a classroom it's just texting when you know your friend is right in front of you or know your classmates around you and I think it could just improve our school's culture a little bit better as well one more thing on that sorry um the culture aspect is a really big part because this year specifically Mason and I have noticed like a lack of student engagement in extracurricular activities school events and I think that removing phones from the situation would make students want to get more engaged in their community and kind of remove that online traction and move it more to iners and like physical environment and more enriching in that aspect so that's great can I ask a followup on to you guys um can you comment maybe on your thoughts on the mental health component from just a student perspective and and the device because I know we see um surveys that will indicate that there's escalating mental health in students that are your age in in high school yet you know they they want to keep their cell phones is that a decision I mean do you see how do you what's your perspective on that you yeah um we talked so we talked when we talked to our student council kind of about this you know a are very like this is going to be so much better for your mental health if mental health if it's just gone you don't have to worry about it it's put away it's don't it's not there um but so many students I didn't they don't realize that you know we're all addicted to it we all want to look at it we all want to check it and so they're like no like we have this self-restraint but it's no we don't it's right there we want to take it we want to grab it and so I think with having it put away it's not there I think our brains will refocus school learning the teacher the classroom the environment everything would just improve and I think it'll take some I think it students need to understand that and right now they don't and they think that they have that self-control but really at the end of the day they just it's right there it's easy access for them it's also the hyper involvement of being online like you will see things that you don't want to see and you have access to too much information on online I think that's what's most detrimental about cell phones is the internet you just know more than you need to and taking that away or having less time and less access to what everybody else is doing in the comparison aspect I think would improve mental health in that regard I really en enjoy just hearing and listening to your perspectives I'll thank you and continue to raise your hand and engage you know as the directors talk here and then also if you guys have questions for the students feel free to speak up as well comments you have I'll start with a question actually I I was going to ask this broadly but I'll ask the students is you go into different classrooms uh different teachers are going to have different expectations of you and the phone have you experienced that yes enforcement is what's going to be my operative word yeah that was one of the big um topics during our discussions with other students was like right now there's a practice of putting your phone in the full holder in the front of the room and the biggest issue is there's a lack of enforcement across the board and so certain teachers will use as like attendance like Mr porman Mason dad does it as attendance like right when you walk in you put your phone up there and it stays there the entire hour other teachers have it up there but they don't enforce it and so then people go on their phones and so it is a good practice of teachers enfor it but I think it just needs to be more enforced for it to work correctly on that so that was the question for the students and then more broadly does the enforcement need to be built into the policy or is that up to you guys up to us okay I'll jump in um I really appreciate hearing from you ladies um especially giving the representative perspective for all your students I I think everything that you just said very much aligns with what we learned at our last meeting um there is definitely a disconnect between the many many students who participated in our survey and their self-awareness of how much of an impact cell phones have on their own learning and what the adults are seeing um what the parents are seeing and what the staff is seeing if you look at the chart again they're very clearly laid out students not a problem we can handle it we have the self-control and then parents and teachers especially saying this is not work this is a huge distraction and the desire for a consistent um enforcement um did you also did you guys read the book The anxious generation yes I'm about halfway through it right now because stuff that you guys are bringing up is exactly what that um book is really talking about um and that that life existed before cell phones and that our students um haven't lived that life um it would before their whole lives have been with cell phones um and they don't even recognize the impact that it is having living in an online world and in the real world and having those two conflict so for me I very strongly believe that we need to give our students an opportunity to have that heart break during the day in a bell to Bell um and really i' see it as an opportunity to change and shift the culture in our high school at least to try um I know there's going to be ways around enforcement um and we're going to have to be dedicated to at least doing our best as the adults in the room to enforce it as best as we can um but just hopefully it will shift kids into realizing that having those conversations in between classes and at lunchtime having a loud lunch room um where kids are engaging with each other is is what we want and what we are hoping for them um and that hopefully it carry over into other events as well so um after looking at the real wording in here and all the adjustments that um staff I very much appreciate nobody realizes this but staff did a ton of work this week the actual um independent policy this this one didn't come out till like the day before we met for our policy committee so it was really down to the wire and I really appreciate that you guys um did all this work and added a bunch of stuff um and changed around for us so um so that we can actually look at it tonight so thank you for that work um so anyway I will stop talking I I very much like the Bell thebell which is option one yeah I mean I I guess I agree I'm I'm in favor of the option the Bell to Bell at least in practice in theory I'd rather it just be during inst structural time but I just don't think it's feasible my only concern you know really with with the Bell to Bell is and I don't know how if that needs to be laid out in policy but the how how those phones are retained is important you know is is an important thing to me I I want them I don't want to collect them you know I mean I I would I would rather they stay with the kid you know going going through the day um you know in a pouch that that's I guess that comes with the cost and it you know and comes with you know they'll find a magnet and you know to to unlock them that that'll happen burner phones and then they'll have burner phones I mean yeah but I mean the thing about all the the the ways around it is well then you deal with the people that find ways around it you know it limits your pool and and it creates a uniform policy and that that's what's important um I mean I anecdotally I talked to my own 15-year-old and said can you see a world in which you don't have your your phone all day and he's like well I I'd like to have it but he said as long as everybody else is in the same boat then it isn't then I I I can he could get there he's you know fairly rational so I for a 15-year-old so I that that was encouraging to me because I you know I I mean that said part of the reason why I even asked him the question the way I asked it was because the day before I asked it at like I don't know 11 o'clock he had sent me a a text about a car that he had seen that he really thought we should buy I'm like shouldn't you be like learning something's like yeah but I'm done you know I'm we're at the end of the class okay so I I can live without those texts in the middle of the day and he could probably live without sending him so yeah so like so I but you know I guess I don't know how how we you know do we come to a decision about how the phones are carried before this gets done or I don't know I think that the way the policy will work is the board is going to decide on the the overall policy the direction and then we will turn it over to staff to work through the logistics um building by building it might vary depending on Middle School elementary high school um but I would expect I think there's enough interest on the board when I'm talking to individual directors to be kept a breast of what those procedures on what the procedures are because there'll be a high attention to it we talked about that in policy having them and um having the procedures being high visibility for families for students um board members would certainly get questions no matter what dire direction we decide so we need to be able to be informed um so yes go ahead I've already spoken that's all right go ahead so you alluded to it but the designated area um what I I think you suggested there's the thing on the back of the door used for attendance um or is designated is it always just right in the classroom as you walk in a designated area or is there some other definition I think that'll probably be procedural and so that'll be after we decide on the direction if we want to you know have it be in instructional use I think really right what exists right now is kind of a pretty I mean it's not in cified in policy but it's the option two which is the keep it out of the instructional time but I think enforcement is lacked and I think our staff said that in the policiy um it's hard to enforce it's you know you're taking it away and then um giving it to them multiple times during the day which really just is ripping that addiction away like several times which is hard um on staff as much as it is on the student uh so I guess that'll probably be in the polic or in the procedure so how do you feel about option one and two are you leaning one way you me yeah um do I have to ra your hand no you don't have to no you don't have to I I am not set on one one or the others so I am still flexible yes great any other comments from Bo you had your hand up did you okay I'm I I just I mean kind of want to um Echo uh director laer it's this is something especially you know as a newer board member um that is challenging to sort of you know set a policy without knowing exactly what that's going to mean in terms of how it plays out and I know that that's just sort of the natural distinction between a governance board um and the staff who's tasked with implementing so um I would say where I lean philosophically is definitely a bell to Bell from K to 12 just I don't think there's there are no I don't think solid arguments um for needing cell phones during the school day um but a couple things uh you know especially you know in talking about kind of where the students are um to me that suggests that there are still some you know needs to make sure we're communicating um sensitively um and thinking about those concerns um that may come up from students and potentially parents um I know we know that phones don't make people safer um but there might be a perception that they do um and I think just recognizing that and being sensitive to it um especially there are a number of reasons why I think that's more important now than it even was a few months ago um so I want to make sure we're just considering that um and and I think uh um even from a cost for perspective um I think it's something I'm trying to be cognizant of and sensitive to um so when we think about implementation um you know thinking about ways you know how is this going to work if um you know certain things are going to cost a certain amount and if those aren't an option you know what are the other what are the other ways that we can really achieve this and make the policy sustainable um an effective long term yes Park can I lead off with a question before my comment awesome um so talking about the IEPs in here what percentage of our students are on IEPs at the high school maybe or districtwide I don't really care which and can you give an example potentially of what I AP that would allow a cell phone usage and what an I that would not allow uh cell phone usage yeah that's a very good question so it's about 17 177% 17 17.5 uh of our students are students with disabilities 17 or 17.5 I think it's actually 17.7 but I but close that yeah um and so I uh let's see an example um there could be a student with another Health disability which is an area of disability that impacts their learning um that might be related to a seizure disorder um in which they might have IC device that um I think they have the potential I don't know if we have any students that have it but that can read kind of the you know the the temperature of your body and and the sweat glans and it will give you a warning um so that would be an example um I think that there would have to be probably some discussion around kind of where we stand on procedures and those kind of decisions first of all are made by the IP team you know with some um guidance there may be students I you know we might get requests put it that way regarding students that have really high levels of anxiety um that really impacts their learning um that that that could be a potential I'm not sure that we would we'd have to kind of figure out to discuss that I think it would be very limited I think the main thing we'd look at is really those students with health conditions would be the primary area in which um cell phone use would be allowed um yeah I I think that would be the case I'm trying to think of good examples because there's we haven't had to really go down that road but Paul I know that when we this came up in committee you were talking almost you mentioned like service animals um and I don't know if that would be I found that helpful to have you explain that a little bit that it's it's a rare right yeah and I I think it is rare and I I I think it will we we'll learn you know over over time and when the requests come in the real bottom line is what what it would be looked at is like an accommodation in an IEP to accommodate or change what is the rules or policies of the district um be as a result of the disability and the real key decision about that is is it required for the student with the disability to receive Faith which is a free and appropriate public education and there's a line there if for example if a student it's why it's hard to come with an example but if they have goals and objectives in the area of uh reading and decoding um someone would have to make a case that if the student is not allowed to have a phone they can't make adequate progress towards their goals and objectives in the area reading without the phone and and that just I don't know that that would happen um in that case um but that would be the the what we'd be looking at is it required for the student to receive equal access to the educational uh material being presented to them um or to receive uh an appropriate education by the district a really two determination or two determiners here the IEP team and it would have to be based upon you know the uh educational need of the student but I will also share with you from years of experience when we make a significant change um as as you're looking at tonight um you will see a considerable uptech and you alluded to it Paul in anxiety from a doctor and you will get maybe a 504 type situation where okay I have a note from my doctor saying I need to have my cell phone on me because of the anxiety that I have and so it's that's some of the things that we are going to have to be if if we go to the Bell the Bell Route that's another thing that will pop up that we will be having to do guaranteed that really quick I don't think that having your phone would benefit I'm and I can attest to that oh I don't either but I mean I'm just saying that definely would come up and I'm that and I'm sure a multitude of other conditions that people require their cell phone for as well so I do appreciate you recognizing y that will need to potential yeah potential issues and concerns with that yeah and the one thing that's pretty standard in in uh kind of in special ed and with um supported you know through case lives that like a physician cannot like recommend or prescribe what happens within the school district we need our Our obligation is to consider that recommendation and then apply that based on the expertise of the professionals within the educational team to make that decision ision so they can't just straight out prescribe it and we have to do it um with that in in really in any situation we have to we have certain criteria that we have to walk through to see if it if it's something that's required for us to do awesome that really helps me understand the SL there so thank you very much um did you I can comment that's okay um so I can't remember if it was uh Mason or anley had brought up that face Toof face interaction do you prefer going by your first names or do you prefer Miss okay um thank you uh that face to face interaction and that culture um professionally this is an area where um new joiners at the firm uh my last firm I was at uh incredibly Adept and effective working in a digital environment um they fell apart in front of clients um fell apart like you know they're having an issue I was like well did you have a coffee like this is some pretty basic stuff guys um and so I I I just greatly appreciate that and and and think that that's a real hope that we could uh help improve uh with uh improv policy actually improving outcomes um I do have some concerns uh like director low I ran this by my 16-year-old who uh was not super excited to talk to me afterwards um do you person or was it through uh that was in person however I had the same experience yesterday when I was reading the policy I was literally reading the policy and I got ding on my phone with a thing while she was in class uh about something she wanted to buy and I was like well that's an automatic no um so she's gonna kill me twice now when I get home uh but anyways um so I I share uh some of the same experience so I appreciate you sharing that do uh director laow um so some of the concerns that I have is um you know some pretty minor stuff like my elementary school kid is required to bring headphones to school um as that's on their list that the class that every kid has to bring their own headphones um so I I don't know if that portion needs to be updated to say you know dumb headphones or okay or basic headphones or non-connected V headphones whatever um questions about students are doing PSO and how do we handle students that are on School site but doing non school that may have a secondary requirement um that they that what is their their teachers that are using on in remote learning or other things like that and how do we handle that um when my eldest was in Gat they were required to bring headphones because so much of their class work was uh because they were in a strink inness education mode so much of their education was done through uh devices and headphones so um some consideration there for for some of that um director kelzenberg I was surp I know we're not supposed to direct people directly I was surprised not to hear anything about bus time um and what is uh this policy does not include bus time other than for uh School related events but doesn't count the commute time um and I'm curious what uh weth think about the commute time I have some concerns whether we should allow that um also recognize that when my middle was going through riding the bus her bus ride was 45 minutes or maybe more and so opportunity to do homework and things like that was super helpful and so I don't want to restrict that I don't think but I just want to have that conversation especially for K through um at least K through five if not k through eight um phone use on the bus um there's some conversations I'm not quite ready to have with my seven-year-old um the in general um I was leaning towards Bell tobell uh for similar thoughts as as most people that I think that phones are and I think I shared this last meeting I think phones are um they're infectious so if you're doing it one place other people are going to be getting the messages and getting the the pressure to be using in other classrooms and that's just going to create more and more pressure and leaving that Community pressure I think is is just um is very helpful um so that that is where I am I'm overall leaning and I do really hope that this can help with just some of the outcomes non potentially academic outcomes but some of the other outcomes that we hope that our students can gain such as interpersonal relationships better mental health and better problem solving be quite Frank thank you very much um can I just say we did those are excellent examples but those are things that did come up with our committee like even things like journalism school I mean there will be kind of exceptions to certain things that we'll have to address um so thank for reiterating that because like ALC you know need to look at transitions program that has outside employment during the school day and ALC so there we will need to further dialogue about about those um related to policy oh one other question I had sorry can I go with third time all right sorry um at some meetings we have reviewed procedures related to policy um what is the when do we bring procedures to the board when do we not bring procedures to the board this seems like one where procedures might matter um so how do we make that determination and I assume that this will come back to the board procedures will be reviewed by the board sometime later the spring if that's if you go Bell to Bell either way I mean whatever I mean I can say what we're doing right now is pretty much option two there um so if we go to option one you will after the board sets a direction the administrative team will get a chance to take a look at a variety different options and we will develop procedures and then um it's not only for the board but it's for the public here's what you know we're going to be doing expectation wise moving forward good discussions everyone this has been really helpful and special thanks to our student reps I mean it's really great to get the Insight uh help share the voice with the students but I really appreciate you always being willing to share your own thoughts and opinions as well I think it's that's super helpful and we all know you know there's one thing to be at meeting but there's a lot of work that happens outside the meeting so I know you guys put in a lot of work so thank you both um so anytime I have to make a big decision I always kind of think like what is my like North Star and you know and and for me in this role it's been about the kids um you know trying to best serve all students you know with Fidelity and you know sometimes though it's helpful to have a compass and and and for me um it kind of has me forces me to look back at the Strategic plan you know the pony plan and you know it on the website you know that's developed by students families teachers staff I mean it's a really good way of kind of getting the Insight of the community um and some of those main takeaways is you know they want you know parents and families and students want engaging relative learning experiences they want personal connections and opportunities for kids to find their place and they want to belong and so I think as we look at this policy you know yet smartphones offer the aroundthe clock distraction and social media access and you know I Dr perker as you referenced that you know briefly today but also at a previous media really um I I took away from it is this you know electronic devices are highly addictive and contagious and I think that's a really um great way of kind of looking at that um and you know excess smartphones any studies that you look at you know among youth is linked to increased anxiety depression hindrance to academic instruction and learning and other mental health issues but yet we have an opportunity and the responsibility as a school board to do what we feel is best for students and and for me I I think it's important to um you know and I'll be supporting option one for the Bell tobell thank you thank you um superintendent Punk it would you know as we start crafting these policies I always say and I know the board feels the same way it's how do we measure the impact would one way would it be possible to come back with like you know I think of one advantage to this policy the option one is we know that there are extreme behaviors in our school and a lot of it can be related back to the technology and the devices I mean might we be able to look at like referral behavioral referrals yeah from a longitudal it would take a couple years to do it but you know you we have some data um behavioral data um I think we could do a survey of students um we could do a survey of Staff you know a year from now yeah um and and really you know look at student engagement um we could you know you get Minnesota student survey that's again more longer term right um but uh yeah I mean I think that there's definitely some benchmarks that we could um evaluate um that uh would tell you about the the effectiveness of it and one thing I I appreciated when you started this conversation in a lot of districts I I want to give our administrative team credit because um and our fellow directors here to be quite honest too because a lot of school districts just said this is what we're going to do they didn't take the time to talk to students talk to teachers talk to community members and while there isn't going to be Universal agreement I think that there's there is a lot that we can agree on and so I think that even the community would like to if this is a joint effort I mean this is a joint effort by it's not just teachers it's at family members at home um and so to share any kind of results or data that we can you know linked to this policy would be something that I think the whole Community could feel proud of our students could feel proud of um and just you know again as we try to move that needle not only academically but behaviorally social emotionally um and just even making life easier for our teachers I mean that's a big part of why I'm going to be supporting option one is it's very clear that it's not working as we have it now it's kind of very ambiguous for teachers to navigate so to have that Clarity I think will be quite helpful um I am very mindful when I talk to my son that this is I mean the implementation is going to be good luck with that I mean I don't know how you're GNA meet all those challenges I mean I'll be excited to see what you come back with but it's going to be challenging because I think it's going to be there's going to be people wanting to work around the system um and but I feel very strongly that given the evidence that when you know better you kind of do better and I think this is one of those times where it's gone a little too far the pendulum has swung so far and we're seeing some of the negative outcomes well Dr egbu Who's in charge of you know the secondary in the district has assured me she will have this thing fully implemented and ready to go but I too I agree with everyone's um comments here in terms of um the Strategic plan and the culture we want to create and um um the challenges with our students and staff and something that was new today was um and I think it was you anley that said it's the engagement extracurriculars and the activities I really think that that's a new angle that we really haven't talked about so I appreciated that that really resonated with me because in the blink of an eye your high school years are gone by and if you're just on your phone and you're not engaged in the I mean we have as a district one of our strengths I feel like is the clubs and the opportunities to engage and so to know that that's not really being accessed is um kind of heartbreaking so I hope this helps too with that so thank you again okay is there anyone with like a different opinion I mean in terms I know that you know a lot of this is going to be in the procedural procedural piece but from a policy perspective I know you hadn't made up your mind um I uh I I like the idea if you can rope it all in and then add many can feed it back out as they see necessary actually I am leaning toward the option to because I'm just thinking of the reality I mean great let's let's Bell to Bell no phones I would love for that to be in place and to work will it work so do we need to just give it a little bit um of room a kid going between Class phones are part of life now when I went to school we didn't have phones so sure we we could get by without phones but it wasn't an option uh but now everybody has phones and there's also a part of learning to navigate life with a phone because that will be part of your adulthood and if you have them in passing time hopefully you won't use it but you might need to put an assignment on your calendar um or quick look up something for class the next hour so I do want that considered I'm not saying it has to be that way but uh know we got another meeting worth I'll think this through and I'll I'll I'll get it to you but I am leaning toward two and I just I wanted to touch on that and it's also TR of goes back to director Parker's um point of I'm a PSO student so my fifth hour is my PSO class and during that time I also work on like student council stuff and you know it's really a lot some of that is you know just like texting the our group chat and um sending them reminders about what's going on and it's really easy and nice to just like be able to um check in with all of our members and you know this is what's going on and we we have a week coming up our blast week is coming up and there's so much to be done and you know it's phones is how phones are how we communicate with each other and just yeah this is getting done by this person this is getting done by this person and it works really easy so I do understand the kind of that point of option too I will say and I agree with that completely um but they do have their Chromebooks too I mean there there are other means of communicating and and I would hope that some of that you know would turn into face to-face communication too you know maybe now you get together as a group you've got a group check get together as a group you know I mean it's not always practical but I mean it maybe creates opportunities I just want to touch on that um at our student council meeting when we were talking about cell phone policy I was trying to bring back um email culture back when everybody would email everybody and there would be like um Google email group chats and so just bring back email culture because you can communicate through other right platforms so yeah and I do think that that's a good point it's going to be you know retraining to utilize email more for even for parents and Guardians to utilize email not have that and it's going to be kind of a change and I think that a couple parents at the board table have said it's going to be a be Behavior change for families too but I think that if we're in it together which is what I kind of appreciate that staff did in this is this isn't just a Schoolboard or School issue this is a little this is broader this is a community issue um and as director Parker said it's it's a future employment issue I mean and how can then that is a great charge that we have is that academic outcomes and that what are we the skills soft and hard skills that we're teaching and um and how maybe technology is is just getting in the way a little bit to that one more one more thought as we're talking about these emails um I feel like shifting to more of an email culture has benefits as well because it really does set boundaries on when you're are going to be working on something um like one of my boundaries is my my email for the board doesn't go on my phone I just sit down and do my board work on email and that helps me not be pulled away from everything else in my life because phones are so easy and if it beings then you have an email so um or a text or whatever so it just kind of naturally puts in those boundaries and in terms of learning how to deal with phones in the real life in real life is having those boundaries when you're working you're working and when you're living you're living so I think that that is a benefit that I haven't thought of until you guys are all talking about it so anyway yes um one question just as a new board member I don't know this portion uh is why is it important to have the reference to the cyber bullying in this policy I assume it's already in policy elsewhere when when it says the references down below to the um from msba from msba says we should have cyber bur bullying does that cause us any conflict or issue to have bullying in two different or multiple different locations I think it's listed within bullying um yeah I me we could yeah it should be the same but we could double check it and make sure the language does doesn't conflict her just want to make sure that I didn't know if there's any um problems with having it in two locations or thank you so what I'm sensing we're not voting on anything but it does give the committee and our staff um direction to pursue option one um I get you know I want to respect your opinion but it seems like everyone else has kind of in an option one Camp so I think that staff if you could take that and we'll move forward both you know independently with but also with the committee um on the policy but hopefully this gives you some direction to start thinking about those procedural pieces that were um I mean this is one of those things that we have a great policy and boots on the ground you're going to experience it very differently maybe than we have um than we hope here so just keep that feedback loop and that communication Loop great great thank you great discussion I appreciate it thank you to our students who this is why you're at the table we really appreciate that perspective and um and I know that we all have everyone at this table has the best intentions so um I think we're keeping the Strategic plan and the pony plan and focus and so thank you for the conversation great uh we'll come back with a second read and then ultimately a third read on this as well and moving on to our next agenda item this is under strategic Direction D which is developing strong Partnerships with the communities we serve and we're going to turn it over to superintendent funk for the first update which is a federal programs update yeah one of them one of these is just a statement they're actually both statements but they're related to things that are happening right now at the federal level and how those things may be impacting us here at the uh District level here in Stow water um so the first one is a statement from the superintendent on student safety ofm made increased ice activity as superintendent I want to assure our students families and staff that our schools remain safe and welcoming places for all Learners regardless of their background or immigration status we understand that the recent increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement ice activity has caused fear and uncertainty in our community please know that our district is committed to protecting the rights of all students and maintaining a learning environment free from intimidation or disruption schools are places of learning and we will continue to work with legal experts and Community Partners to support affected families we encourage anyone with concerns to reach out to our counselors our family engagement Specialists or trusted staff members for guidance and resources the second statement is on the potential closing of the Department of Education the potential closing closure of the United States Department of Education would have an impact on public schools across the country including ours Federal funding policies and programs help ensure Equitable access to education support students with disabilities and provide essential resources for teachers and schools the loss of this department could create uncertainty around these critical Services placing greater burdens on State and local systems regardless of any changes at the federal level our district remains committed to providing a high quality education to every student we will continue to advocate for the resources and policies needed to support our students our families and our Educators so I mean I just read in the news here within the last couple hours that uh they are um putting procedures in place to significantly weaken the department um Department of Education is is been created by an act at Congress um I think what we're seeing happen is they're going to try to shift a lot of the responsibilities that are currently under the Department of Education to uh to other entities which then causes um significant uh confusion for those of us in public education as far as systems to go through so um but I think uh in this time of change and uncertainty um I think it's important for the public to know that uh um we are going to maintain the course with a steady hand as possible and uh you know working together we'll we'll get through this so that's my statement on uh the federal situation in the update um just for perspective and I don't have um the exact number and I don't know that you would either but do you know the percent of our budget that is federal funding six % maybe I would five five to seven yeah okay five to s% yeah vast majority are are State funding comes from the state and local um but it it still would be a loss of funding and um those responsibilities then it's not just the loss of funding it's okay where do we go for the funding and and so it's just creating a level of potentially creating a level of confusion that currently doesn't exist thank you director Parker I guess that raises the concern is even if we lose short term so we can go get it somewhere else potentially but even if we lose 20 to 25% of that funding for even a short-term basis that would put us at risk of yeah I don't see it I don't see as losing funding I just think it's more of a um how to how to access it and and so and again I think right now we are seeing a fight in the courts saying to the president you can't pause funding these are already congressionally approved programs um this is where working with the Department of Education I think they could help us be held harmless while they work it out uh but it again it's creating extra um complexity that we we um we shouldn't have any of you work to work through but that's where we have to work with our local Partners I think to make sure that we're not um exposed to this because I you know if we if we were to say okay we're going to lose a percentage of our money I mean you look at that throughout the country I mean that would be talking major major chaos um within school systems Nationwide and um having us not heard anything like that yet but uh um I'm raising this as a concern that um decisions that are made in DC have um potential impacts here at the at the community level thank you and um that's kind of a segue to our legislative update State our state update did you have an update on that or on the legislate yeah I do I had 19 slides till Carissa shut it closed it way down so um so legislative update odd year we thank you all for your tenants to legislative breakfast last uh um Friday morning um you know the we had a great turnout yeah it was excellent um so the uh House of Representatives still does not have a quorum um I do not expect them to have a quum for quite some time it sounds like um so all the activity that committee wise and bills wise is all Senate focused so today I'm going to really talk three bills with you that are all at different early stages um within the Senate so go to the next slide um first one is react okay and there's been some key changes that are proposed for literacy education moving forward next slide um so we all know it requires a science-based reading instruction it gets rid of ineffective methods and some people can talk through three Qing I don't know what that is but it gets rid of three queing um expands teacher and Par professional learning training and it strengthens assessment and intervention strategies next slide so it requires structured literacy training for teachers literacy leads and Specialists and we are going through that we've been different stages of it for the last three years really and uh now we are well into it as a complete staff here um this year with uh our Prof professional development days uh this one I think is new mandates professional development for PA professionals providing tier 2 interventions so they're going to have to go through some sort of uh training on this and then we have to make sure whatever materials we have and are utilizing they're culturally responsive next um we have a the department of education is required to approve a list of evidence-based curricula which they are constantly updating we have to approve use approved literacy screeners um there's going to be if this becomes law there'll be 15 evidence-based literacy intervention models that have been identified by July 2025 and our local plan must be aligned with whatever the state approved assessments are by MCAS um carries through the UN the University of Minnesota that they are no longer going to be um partnering with mde on it mde is going to be taking full respon responsibility as of July 1 the modifications take place and then uh in November um we'll see the final list of literacy intervention models published so the key takeaway here for me is um we're going to continue to identify um curriculum um at the state level which where we are well on the way towards uh identifying here that's on that approved curriculum on the list and then we're expanding the training to include Paras who work with students in reading or literacy so that's the first real react change uh on the Senate side and again the house there's nothing at this point yes does does any of that come with any funding they didn't say anything there was no funding mentioned no there was no funding mentioned okay good question details details actually just to help me understand if this all happens in the Senate nothing happens unless it's also correct and the governor's got to approve it y okay um this is an interesting one parental curriculum review and consent and again this goes back to you you mentioned policies earlier Parker this would go back to if this passes this will have a significant impact on some of our curricular policies next um 7 file 5 753 mon mod ifies the requirements for Parental curriculum review rights and it requires written consent for sexual education instruction so parents would have to S off if their kids want to get um receive sexual education in school um parents Guardians and adult students can review all instructional materials again I want to I want to point this out parents Guardians and adult students it does does not say any member of the community they have to have some sort of connection to the district and that is in our current policy that's in our policy now so that's that's consistent with what we're doing this would include textbooks videos online resources and printting printed contact um we must provide copies upon request and we can arrange alternative instruction if they object to content this is pretty consistent with what our current policy is um schools can not provide sexual education to minors without parental consent and parents Guardians must provide written approval for students to participate and then it increases parental control over sensitive curriculum topics I wouldn't say control but oversight um and and control if they don't want to taken it I suppose and this would be if it passed start of the 2025 school year right now so that that that would be you have to opt in right now it's opt out corre right so I mean just kind of any just going back a slide that third what do we have any sense of what that means increasing parental control means that my kids don't have to do it's not mandated it's not opting out it's opting in so parents have more control okay you know oh my I have to op my suit not if I don't want them to see this oh that's part of the whole okay okay like a okay so we I mean there would have to be some thought in how those processes would work and how those procedures would work because it is like you said a total flip um so could require time and staff manpower to to figure it out to figure that out um I would also like to say this though does make me incredibly proud of the work that we've done on um parental and guardian and adult student engagement in our materials I mean um I think that we do a really good job just toting our own horn I think we we do I mean I think we do offer a lot of opportunity for parents to um be aware and engaged whether it's the curriculum open house that we had um or the recent policy work that you were intimately involved in so okay next one this applies to you uh modifying open meeting law for remote participation for 2025 uh it amends the Minnesota open meeting law allows unlimited remote participation in government meetings interactive in technology must allow all participants to see and hear each other at least one member must be physically present at the main location all vs must be conducted via roll call so what it does get rid of is it gets rid of the there used to be a requirement you can only do it three times a year remotely you'd have to say what your address and location were um get get rid of all of that and um really we would just have to have one person here and at where the side of the meeting is and the rest of you could be different places to throughout wherever um so this really relaxes the uh pretty stringent requirements and they relax them to a large degree during covid and I'm really surprised I thought this was going to pass last year and I'm really surprised it's really taken this long to to uh to get this up updated so this is coming back again yes does this update um the uh I don't want to be pejorative uh the rather silly requirement of those in remote locations have to make arrangements for people to be present correct okay it does so that you don't even have to Lobby you don't even have to give your location okay so I can remember this was probably 10 years ago I I had a school board member beaming in from a Hut in Tahiti in the in the middle of the water um and good luck finding that location uh but she had the name of the resort and uh you know on there so um yeah so this really uh makes things much more um consistent with the tools we have available um it simplifies things quite a bit so would the access for the public in this situation be that where that one person has to be here that's still where the public has the right to corre to go to would they also have that same right to the uh remote no okay no the meeting a meeting location is here the main location this is where the public would come so you don't have to keep your hotel room door open or you know I thinking the online portion nope it would be here okay yeah they must be notified at the meaning location that some members might be participating via interactive technology any other questions thank you for those updates appreciate it okay um that's the last item we have on the agenda so with that we're adjourn thank you thank you for