--------- Is Sheila not coming today? Sheila will come for a special meeting. Oh, she has some guests also. Good afternoon. The time is now 4:01 p.m. The Visetta Public Schools Board of Education work session for Monday, June
23rd, 2025 will please come to order. We'll start with introductions beginning from my right, Heidi Kar, Dan Janestra, Paris Bendy, Sarah Johansson, Chase Anderson, and I am Milan Sahonyi. Thank you everyone and welcome. As a reminder, the
board does not vote on any item at the work session this afternoon. We have three items on the agenda. One, teaching and learning report and two financial and operations reports. So, let's begin. First, we have a teaching and learning report. Uh,
director, executive director Dana Miller will do the introductions. Good evening, members of the board. Dr. Anderson, um we are here tonight to do our annual QC comp presentation, which is a mandated by um the state as part of that um compensation. And so with me
tonight, I have three of our peer coaches. I'll let them introduce themselves, but they're going to take you through the work of peer coaching um and the successes and growth we've had in that pro program. And then we'll be happy to answer questions following that as well. So with that, I'll invite them up.
Thank you, Dana. Um, I'm Naomi Langanger. Uh, I just completed my first year of peer. I was at Weisetta High School and Northwoods Elementary. I'm Maline Ray. This was my first year as a peer coach as well. And I was at Weisetta High School and Weisetta Early
Learning School. And I'm Alicia Piercala. I uh previously taught at the high school teaching math and then this is my second year pure coaching. I'm at Greenwood and West Middle School. Okay, we're a little bit going to treat you like students today in an attempt to
not speak 30 minutes. So, we would love if one of you would volunteer and just read the pure coaching mission statement as kind of a mutual understanding of what it is that we're doing together. I'll do it. I love this. I love getting treated like a student. Staying
peer coaching mission statement to cultivate a culture of continuous selfdirected learning and growth among our staff through a co a coaching partnership that focuses on reflective conversations rooted in collected data
with the ultimate goal of positively impacting student achievement and experience. Thank you. Thanks for reading. So, at the end of the school year, we give um all the staff in the district a survey to anonymously share out their experiences in the peer
coaching um year. So, these are four of the questions and categories and it is a lot of reading, so I'd love to read it to you, but highlighted in the yellow there is our new numbers for this year. And we're so excited to get to report to you that each of those question categories have
seen growth. And the most significant growth is in that last question which asks working with my peer coach has positively impacted. So that one we were excited to see um like a 5% growth. Uh just some of the other things that student that staff have also you know 90% or more of staff
have said is that I value the choices I have in peer coaching to choose my own professional development and my peer coach provides data that helps me reflect on my teaching practice or professional practice and as a result of peer coaching I've tried something new.
So Heidi, I'm glad you said you want to be treated like a student and I hope the rest of you do as well because we are going to engage in a culturally responsive protocol. Um this is sociocentric and autonomous. So first we are going to do something um on your own
and then you'll be able to share with a partner next to you. Um that is the sociocentric part. You will be able to stay seated. This is a more stationary activity. So I am going to show you the program shift highlights that our peer coaching program has done this year. Um
uh there are five bullets that I'm going to ask you to read. That's the examine the image or text closely. I want you to ask yourself what do you notice? Then I know that you have your agenda in front of you. So if you would flip that over and use the back side um in order to
save some trees um write down what are you wondering about based on those program shift steps that you see. Um, and then after a couple of moments of you pondering, um, you'll be able to share some of your predictions with the people next to you. So maybe we can have
partners, partners, and partners, um, once we show this. So here are our program shift highlights. The directions are up in the upper right corner. Your job is to read those five bullet points. Think about what you notice and what are you predicting? What are you wondering?
What are we going to talk about after this? If you haven't moved on to the what do I wonder part yet, go ahead and start some writing. And if you're ready, you can share with your partner. Go ahead and finish up your thought. It's a good timer. We did vet that to
make sure it was a good one. Um, thank you for engaging in that protocol. um that's one that we might use with our students um at the beginning of a unit and get them to um build off of what connections they're starting to make. So, thank you for doing that. Um Meline is going to talk about the first
highlight now. Sounds great. So, the first one we're talking about is embedding CEL coaching techniques. So, this year we had the awesome opportunity for um the center of educational leadership to come in for some training for leaders across the district. We had
principles, coaches, different types of coaches, literacy coaches, peer coaches, instructional coaches um coming together in this learning. And one of the tools that we used for our learning is that inverted pyramid that you see on your screen with the top
being that vision for student experience. Um so we use this as a tool to help begin to create a collective vision for our student experience. Um and by aligning that shared vision, we
can create those consistent conditions for students to thrive. The second part of that screen has um a staircase which was helpful for peer coaches as we worked through um helping teachers with seeing that vision for the student
experience. So when we went in to have coaching conversations, we learned that it was really important to help teachers understand what their current state was in their classroom and also what they needed their ideal state to be for student success. Uh and as coaches, what
we learned during that CEL learning or part of what we learned were questions that we could ask our teachers, reflective questions to help them understand what their next actionable step might be. So when they understood the current state, we could think about what that next what they were on the
verge of or what that next action step would be to help them ultimately get to that vision for student experience, that success that they're looking for, the ideal state. Um so that was part of what we were working on. Um we had those conversations with teachers during goal
setting meetings, planning meetings around lessons, um debrief meetings after they were done teaching their lessons. Um, and again, just asking those questions that were reflective, but also helping teachers move to action with their next step. Um, with that
survey that Alicia talked about at the um, start, we also had some open-ended feedback from teachers. And these were just three verbatims that we got back from teachers that kind of reflected that CEO work that we um that we worked
on this year. So with that, is there anyone that would be willing to read the first verbatim from one of our teachers? I'll do it. I think about where my current state is and a next step I hope to take to grow. Awesome. There's
somebody that would be willing to share the second one. I can I can read the next one. Have productive conversations that include reflection as well as proactive steps to move forward. Thank you. And then our last one. Okay. Reflect upon instructions to
informatively guide my next steps with the whole group, small group and individual students. Thank you. Um, another thing we worked on this year as peer coaches was continuing what we've built upon in past years, which is
kind of deepening and developing the sense of goal setting. that goal setting is not just for my personal classroom, but the goals that staff are setting um are connected to what they're doing within their work with their PLC and
they're connected to the um academic and student achievement goals that the buildings in the district have set. So, a lot of our conversations at the beginning of the year or even throughout the middle of the year um are kind of focusing on just making connections for staff. So, if
they're saying something, we highlight for them. Oh, and that aligns with your smart goal or that aligns with the building district goal. Um, building those connections. And then while we were having our No, no, not you get to keep going. While we
continued those coaching conversations for the year, um, we used those goals to help people have their two coaching cycles where we collect data with them, um, connected to as best as we could to their specific goal or a building goal.
um and using that data to help them reach their goals that they had for the year around student success. And one of the things that we're hoping for in going into the future is kind of continuing this transition between a smart goal and something called a CI
goal or a collaborative inquiry goal. You might be very familiar with smart goals. Just stands for like a specific measurable goal with a um with a time limit on it. And some of the buildings in our district are switching to something called a collaborative inquiry question. It's still goal setting, but
instead the collaborative inquiry question starts with the adults action. So it's, you know, how will my teaching choice of blah blah blah impact the students achievement and experience? So it's not just a here's the goal I want for my
students, but it's how does my choice impact them? and we're hoping to um be able to use that more districtwide a little bit in future years. Okay, two more verbatims from our peer coach survey. Um so that you don't have to read these longer ones out loud. I'm
going to ask that you can read the two quotes in your head and then we're going to have you share out just one word that stands out to you from the um responses. Okay. So, just take a minute. Is there
one word that stands out to you in your You have one to share or should we go down the line? What feels better? Okay. Either way, you want to start? Sure. Group.
Mine is a couple words. the right next step. Uh for me, constant devaluation stuck. Collaboration. I also picked taking the right next step.
Collaboration was my word. Okay. It's not a bad thing to have collective opinion on the words, key words that are important. Which leads nicely into our next into our Yes, it does. Uh so another shift
that we have made is more collaboration. Uh this is a quote from the survey. I see value in pairing cure coaching, literacy coaching and family partnership leads in the buildings where they exist. The work has overlap. Hearing multiple or hearing ideas multiple times helps to
cement learning and is very powerful. Um literacy coaches in the elementary buildings helped support PLC's in essential standards work. Each team identified an essential standard for literacy that they would focus on, not
leaving everything else behind, but that was their main target. Then we came in as peer coaches to help them write their smart goal around that essential standard as well as figured out ways to collect data for them to show their
growth. Um then we could also engage in those coaching cycles um with the staff and the support from the literacy coaches to um examine and improve their instructional practice, see what tweaks they needed to make in order to make
more um student growth. I don't think I'm in charge of this. She's looking at me like I am. That's the the family partner. Did you I didn't know I signed up for this, but apparently I did. So, um, what can I tell you about family partnership leads off the top of my head? Um, I personally
got to work with family partnership leads at the middle school level and also at the elementary school level. And I know that there are particular staff who appreciated uh partnering with them in the terms of coming into their classroom for some support or some co-eing and idea
sharing. and the family partnership leads have connected with the peer coaching because it was another aspect for staff to um what's the words I'm looking for to get some information some data around
their classroom in um ways that they're working with supporting each and every one of their students. Uh and the last one up there is our built teams. So the CR peer coaches were a big part of the beginning of the year before school started meeting with
builds. Um and then also throughout the year we had peer coaches attending meetings as well just to help align building priorities with our coaching conversations that we were having. Uh and then our next highlight here is
supporting staff with district initiatives. So the first one is those um are the culturally responsive protocols which Naomi has done one with you already today. Um so these are just protocols that help our teachers meet
students needs in the classroom and some ways as coaches that we support that are helping teachers um try new protocols in their classroom with the ultimate goal of encouraging them to have a big toolkit of different
protocols that they can reach for. um and intentionally choosing those protocols to fit what's needed in the classroom at that time or what students need to thrive in their environment. Anything about basic needs? Is that me
really? Okay. Apparently, I'm also talking about the basic needs. Um this is most highly seen in our elementary schools, but the focus is that this is not something that's only for young children. And the district has been spreading um the power of basic needs all the way through the middle schools
and high schools. And it is visuals and language to help staff and students recognize that the choices we're making are are have a reason, right? If I am doing
something in my um if a student does something in my classroom, I'm going to instantly think, okay, what is it that they're trying to meet here? Are they trying to just have more fun? Are they trying to have more success? Are they really seeking a connection? And then
staff are using these uh protocols, these instructional strategies basically to support kids in reaching their need for belonging and their need for success in the classroom. And another district initiative is the portrait of the Wisetta graduate at the
high school. However, um I was at Meadow Ridge the last week of school and I saw um a poster there, too, which is really cool that there's that connection from the elementary all the way to the high school. Um but personally, I worked with several teams at Weisetta High School where they were using the portrait as
part of their collaborative inquiry question as a way to really notice and um evaluate if they are using explicit language around the portrait. um in order to make students recognize when
they are using those traits and how they will become future leaders in our communities or others. Okay. Um as peer coaches, we are also teachers and just like teachers have to or staff have to create um a smart goal
or a collaborative inquiry question, we do as well as a team. And so our goal this year was a question looking for what is our action and how is it impacting staff and students. So we asked how will increasing my use of intentional coaching questions during
coaching conversations impact a change in staff practice and mindset. Um so like someone had mentioned earlier we um have all been trained in something called cognitive coaching which is how we interact with staff and the questions we ask to help them reflect on their
experiences. And this year we also um included and incorporated that with the um CEL type of questioning and we saw a lot of overlap and connections between those. And so we wanted to know how does having a new toolbox of questions um
help us in our coaching practice. So we just wanted to kind of highlight some of the things that we looked for as we were looking for impact on staff and students. So, one thing we do is we look for um visuals from the people we're connecting with and talking with as
partnerships. So, visuals like looking up and away, pauses in their thinking, people even saying, "Oh, that's a good question. I haven't really thought about that." Where they indicate that, "Oh, I am making an impact um in supporting you and growing as an educator." And then we
look for um questions that can impact their efficacy, their ownership of what they can control in their classroom. questions that help them develop their craft. What is what can they tweak and adjust and change? Um how can we call them to action and be flexible in the
moment when things don't go as planned? So we plan out these types of these types of questions and roll with them during the conversations. And we have found this year that there was a lot of impact in questions where we were discussing with staff um how does that compare to? So perhaps like
what did you do in the past when this happened or um based on last year? What is something that you want? Um so kind of a compare to the past and and then just things that are a personal focus. So, for example, um they have a lesson going and or they they're planning a
lesson and then asking a question along the lines of like and what is it that you need to be intentional about that's going to make this a successful lesson. So, focusing on what the teacher can do and not just well, how did my students do?
And some quotes from our survey that kind of went with that. Peer coaching allows me to think about where things could be better for my students and their ability to reach the learning goals. My peer coach also challenges me to consider what my students need me to get better at and why. Putting that
ownership on the teacher. Um to be open about trying new ideas in the classroom and reflect on what worked and what did not work. I felt safe to take a risk and try something new. Um, and peer coaching allows me to reflect on best practices, have the time and space to talk through
new ideas, and really dive into what I want to improve in my classroom with my particular set of students and their diverse needs. So, just as we are helping teachers identify their next actionable step, uh, as peer coaches, we identified some of
our own. Um, and one that I'm most excited about moving forward is embedded CEL. um into cognitive coaching. So, as a first year coach this year, I was trained in cognitive coaching, which is the foundational framework of reflective
conversations with teachers. And the CEL um layered on top of that, as I talked about, with helping teachers um or asking teachers questions that help them reflect on their current state, ideal state, and what that next actionable step is. So, I'm excited to continue to
bring those two things together and help teachers keep moving forward in their classrooms to that ideal state. And I am really excited to continue um to strengthen collaboration with the varied roles that we work with, whether that's
our literacy coach, a family partnership lead, or within the built teams. And for me, my goal for next year or something I'm looking forward to is um expanding that collaborative inquiry question idea instead of a smart goal. U
moving from just a goal to a a framework where it's what is my action and then how does that get me to my goal and my impact. So we have one final protocol for you to engage in. Um and this one is stationary. You get to stay put and it
is on your own. So, it is a reflection process. So, um on the back of your agenda, if you have some space still, draw a picture of what you heard or learned. Then add a speech or thought bubble to it. Write one word that is a reflection
of today's learning. And then when you're done with that, if you would like to and you feel comfortable, you can share it with somebody next to you. I'll just give you about a minute and then we will wrap it up. Well, thank you guys for um listening to us today and for engaging in our um
activities you may not notice, but I want you to feel what you're doing now. Like you're smiling and you were turning and talking and laughing and sharing what you learned. And it's just the magic of a specific activity and how that can impact your classroom and and
adults alike, right? Not instead of just listening to someone talk at you. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And do you have any questions for us that you want to share or ask for the group? We probably we will. Thank you. Thank you all. and D have some. Yeah, Director S, if you just allow me a moment, I just
want to um thank the folks you're seeing there on the board um today, both um full-time peer coaches in those roles and then um because of the need as we continue to grow um and as a way to stay really connected to the classroom, um
you'll also see several of our teaching and learning instructional coordinators that also participate in peer coaching. um not only does it um slightly help lower our case loads, which are kind of high in peer coaching, but it again just really allows them to be deeply embedded
in that work. And so we will be continuing that um for this upcoming year as well. And we had such positive feedback both from our coaches and from teachers around the CEL work. And that really is a shift um with the collaborative inquiry question. Taking
it from um maybe a little bit more of the how are you feeling and let me be a guide by your side to really helping teachers dig into what is it you want to change about your teaching. Um and then how can we help you in some real good
questions to get them to dig deeper in their learning rather than um just this kind of more of a shallow. It feels like we're we're going much deeper. And as you'll always hear us say, our most valuable resource if we want to impact student achievement are the teachers in the classroom. And so that's where our
investment should be going. And so I would be um not holding true to me and our role if I didn't say we were lucky um this two years with the state level and continuing the Q composition um compensation, excuse me, at um to our
schools. And that will be something we will want to watch closely in the upcoming years. Um, in talking to leaders in other school districts, they do not have the depth and richness of our model and our peer coaching that we do here. And just really making sure
we're clear that if we're not investing in our teachers, we are drastically impacting student achievement. So um both these folks in the program build building better teachers and taking all this vast training that they're having back to the classroom. It's just a
beautiful model of coaching and again I want to thank them for taking that risk and um taking on the task. So with that we will um take some questions. All right. Thank you all. Um any question? Yeah. Yeah couple of questions. So the
slide where all the percentages were there. Um so is it everybody who was surveyed or only certain teachers? What what was the sampling size? It's a great question. The survey goes out to the entire staff um districtwide. That being
said, not every staff member fills out the survey by their own personal choice. Okay. Um and then usually when you talk to kids, right, um there is always that comparison. So someone will say oh ABC does XYZ in one
class I wish I were in that you know class right. So my question is as you look at peer coaching and obviously working with individual teachers how do you do kind of knowledge sharing within the building across different classes or even across different buildings. Do you
try to use best practices or really the goal is hey I want to focus on one teacher one class and see how we get to the outcome of that class or how do you sort of take that knowledge and apply it to other buildings or other classes.
This might not exactly like answer specifically question. However, the way that some teams work together is really interesting especially at the elementary level. Um several PLC's will do their observation cycle as a team. They'll
have a collective goal and um either do a pre-observation meeting together where we plan for it and then do the observation individually in each classroom and then you could either reflect together as a team or reflect individually. So some people do
choose to do that. Some people do choose to do their observation cycle um individually as well, but that's just one part of it. Anything else? I think another great thing is as peer coaches, we get to visit lots of different classrooms. And when teachers come to us
and identify an ideal state that they're working towards, we have, you know, most certainly seen teachers at an doing really amazing things. So we can recommend, you know, for one of their peer coaching cycles going in and hey, you know, sharing stories I think is
really powerful for peer coach um with other teachers so they know that there's really great things happening in other classrooms and we kind of have some information of who those people are that they could go visit. No, that's great. And again, um I know the overall experience is great, but again, we
didn't want one class, one building to be different experience than others. So, no, thank you. That's helpful. Yeah. So, um if you wouldn't mind going back a few slides to where that step, um stairs
were the staircase. Yeah. Forward one there. Excellent. So, I notice how you've um added small triangles in there to make the um step ups a little bit less um so you could you give an example of kind of um the
actual application of those little triangles, an example of what making that step up a little bit less so would look like. the um that visual is from CEL from the the coaches leadership academy or from
all of CEL actually. So I don't know that I necessarily that's their visual so I don't know that we necessarily know um if it was just aesthetically or if there's actually a point to those little triangles. The nice thing about both of these is this is the work that we've
been doing as a district, we've been doing with principles, we were doing with teachers. And so it's to really emphasize the fact that sometimes when we we talk about getting to a space, we get lost. And you do this personally. So um you know, you set a goal for yourself
and you can get lost in where I want to get. And the idea here is to build um actionable steps and it doesn't mean that you're going to get from the current to the ideal in one year. it may take. So we have a goal around our peer coach model that we had at a current state and we've taken a couple
actionable steps or um so I think the the intention is just more to show that you're making progress incrementally and as long as you're continuing to move up towards that ideal state that's a success rather than waiting until you've hit that final goal to measure that
success. Excellent. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you for joining us tonight and for all or today whatever afternoon and for all of your all of your work. One of the things that just stands out to me so I guess I don't have a specific
question but maybe my question is am I thinking about this right? Um there are multiple spots in this presentation when you talk about your work where you're really intentionally looking at the systems perspective and um the teacher as a person, the teacher as a community
and then the teacher in the environment. And so I think about even the pairing of the peer coach and the literacy coach and the family partnership leads, right? Like really thinking about that individual need, the school need and then the entire system. Is is that a
right way to or an ontrack way of thinking about what you're doing? And it sounds like you're feeling like you're seeing some progress in that work. Yeah. Um specifically in my situation, I was at Northwoods Elementary and I worked really closely with Hillary Farington
who was the literacy coach there. Um we shared an office space and so when we were both there, we were able to collaborate like in the moment. Hey, I noticed this. Have you seen something like that? um and not necessarily even using specific teacher names to um to
save confidentiality. However, we can say like these are some trends that I'm noticing. What might you try with this? What could I recommend? Um and that's just one specific way, but that's what a lot of the peer coaches are doing with their partnerships.
Yeah. So, I'm going to add on to Sarah's systems thinking because also that was something I really noticed. you're looking at the entire system and you're looking at an entire student and you're um trying to to shift the system to continue with them as you're talking about not just the goal but an entire
framework so that it can carry over in in multiple ways. Um, I noticed that or it kind of brought to my mind that in early learning we're actually working towards being ready for the student. And
I feel like this is kind of the same I don't know it has the same feel to it where we're thinking about what can the teacher do rather putting onus on the student alone, but what can the teacher do to make sure that we're delivering what each and every student needs. So, I
really appreciate that ability to um to give ways for teachers to individualize because I think it's a nice tagline, but it's it's very very difficult to reach, right? So, thank you for for finding those ways. Um my question is going to
be around two things. One, how can we continue to support this work? And two, um, as you're looking at growth, right, because each student only gets one opportunity at second grade or one opportunity at fourth grade, are you
feeling that there or are you seeing real growth in our students within the year because of the coaching that's happening? It's a great question. I'm gonna say yes, we see growth in the
students. Um, and we'd love to have a specific things that we can claim are our evidence of how we have impacted that growth, but all we have is verbatims from a survey. Um, we can't assume that this student's reading
skills are based on something that we did with a teacher, however, we would love to assume that. Um, but staff regularly are telling us, you know, at the beginning of the year, this is what it was like. And now I just can't believe like this is where we are. Um,
and it's some of it is behavioral, a lot of it is reading based at the elementary level. I'm sure you guys have examples from the high school as well. But we'll hear things like because I tried something that you encouraged or you asked me to reflect on. I was able to change my practice which then impacted
the students. And as your coaches, we have two coaching cycles. So we have our first cycle and our second. And a lot of teachers will take something that they like, you know, that little actionable step that they did in their first cycle and they'll grow it in their second cycle, which feels great. And sometimes
I haven't been here multiple years yet, but I've heard from other people that it's good to know what they did last year because they also want to continue that growth of whatever their goal was that they were working towards. So I think that says a lot too. And I think if we go back to what we know about
research, right, that um we the single most important factor teacher and that collective efficacy of them believing they're making a difference. So if we want to increase our student achievement, if we want to close our gaps for all students, we have to have teachers that believe that the work
they're doing is making a difference and and we have to have them believe they have enough tools in their toolbox to make that difference. So, we are definitely seeing an increased use of our the culturally responsive protocols, right? As a way to break up the lesson,
as a way to um get at different students' learning style. I heard I think it was you, Heidi, say, "I I don't draw." Great. How did you reflect on that learning, right, in a different way? And so, you've had the math folks here and doing their um living math on the whiteboards, if you will. Those are
all things that our peer coaches then are able to support. So teachers are building that confidence um in the work they're doing. They don't feel alone. They they know that there's somebody they can go to and ask. And our peer coaches don't feel alone because they know they've got a team of coaches supported by equity and inclusion and
teaching and learning collaboratively um that will help them out as well if they're seeing things that that they're not um doing. So um the hard part about education is I can't say that A causes B, right? But we can rely on our
research that says what we know and what we know is teachers are the biggest difference and collective efficacy is one of our you know more than two years worth of growth in one year and so how do we invest in that and we know from Hadtie's work that coaching and so your second part of that question was you
know how do we continue to support that we have to be able to explain clearly to those in decision-making roles the importance of a teacher and how teachers grow and While for example, we get asked a lot about the read act. Training was
great. It was great training. But if we don't continue to support teachers in that training and we don't have coaches and literacy coaches and those right beside them, it's a class they took and it will not move beyond that. Right? We have to have people hip-to-hip with our
teachers helping them grow. You do that if you're in the medical field. They're constantly renewing themselves. You do that if you're in, you know, an attorney. you go back. That's that's what makes teaching an art and what makes it professional. And so, um, when
we're choosing where to invest our money in education, we need to use the data and invest in the right spaces. And that's our teachers and that's giving them the support and tools they need. Um, and so we just we have to continue.
When I hear QC comp being referred to as evaluation at the state level and schools do evaluation without this, this isn't evaluation, okay? This is coaching. This is skill building. This is supplying teachers with what they need to be the very best and brightest
so that every classroom is um equipped with the very best and brightest. And so I'll get off my soap box now, but um clearly very passionate about the role of coaching and and the leaps we've made um in the last years to help teachers
understand that it's about their actions and about that they control the outcome in that classroom and that's that collective efficacy. So all right, okay, I have I have a couple of questions. Uh the first one,
Amy, can you go back to the slides? The one that has the peer coach collabor collaboration collaborative questionnaire or something pre pre and post. Yeah. Yeah, that was just a graphic. So yeah, with the four four quadrants,
right? Oh, this one. Keep going. No, let's keep going. Oh, keep going. This one. This one. Yes. So this this is about semantics. I don't know if this is really a good question or not, but why is pre underneath the
post? Why why did why did you Sure. So post first and then pre Yep. each each coach um was keep So the question that we were our our goal was how does increasing my use of intentional coaching questions during coaching conversations impact the staff? So we
have two conversations with staff. We have one prior to them doing the lesson observation where we collect data and one post after the lesson. And so the the pre-post just is when did this particular staff or coach ask these questions. So we all kept track of
questions that we asked that we noticed staff have a really specific reaction around things like, "Oh, wow. I never thought of that." Or, "Oh, that's a hard question. Um, let me think for a minute." like where where or they say, "Oh, I've never tried that, but I'm thinking now blah blah blah." So, we're
looking for evidence from them that the question we asked impacted what they're going to do moving forward. And so, it could have been in before they taught the lesson or after. Does that answer your question? Well, and this this specific um snapshot could have been two conversations with completely different
people. This image just is part of our tracker that we kept track of. So these were not done like a post first and then a pre. That's just the type of meeting that this came from. Okay. Thank you. Uh Dana, question for you. You you said and
I hope hope I'm not wrong in hearing this. You said our peer coaching model is one of the best and it's better than most other districts. Can you point out one thing that makes it better than everybody else? I don't know if better one thing that would make it better than everybody
else, but I think the focus on um blending in the collaborative coaching along with the CEL piece and being very intentional about that and allowing our teams to use the C the um PLC time in in many schools and including ones I've
been in, it's not it's it's a standalone. It's not tied to all the work that we're doing. And so it becomes a checkbox, right? Like I have to meet with my peer coach. I do that so that I get this little bit of stipen at the end of the of the year. We're trying very
hard to help teachers see the the interconnectedness and this is a way to support the professional learning that we're doing across the district. So it's not a one and a done. And when I talk to legislators and I have extensively on the subject of, you know, do we keep
comp or don't, what I hear they're hearing from other schools is just that it's a way to check a box because in order to um continue this, there is a state mandate that you have to have a peer eval. So this is just checking a peer evaluation box. That is not how we
see this work at all. We're very invested into that research that supports coaching, right? Um, so that's where I see it. We go over and beyond what what is expected kind of, right? Um, I think when they first came out with this, and sadly I'm old enough to remember, I was in the teaching staff
when they first came out with it, it was developed as a way to close the achievement gap and to better support our teachers. Like many things, I'm not sure it got enough support in implementation across the state. And so it slithered into other things in in
districts. And um I will commend those well before me that had the vision on our peer coaching model to make it a place where teachers took risk and felt felt like they could could do that and continue to grow their craft. And then I
would say in in the last years we've just really strengthened that or maybe we lost track of that a little bit co things and so we've really tried that's the collaborative inquiry question that that teachers understand it's their action and that's what the peer coaches are there and that goal should be about
what you're going to do. So I can't speak to whether that's you know how it was intended and we're going above and beyond. I think we're probably doing what wasn't intended. It just hasn't happened everywhere would be maybe we are different from others basically. I really do believe that.
That's fair. Yeah. Thank you. You bet. Uh any other questions, comments? If not, thank you so much for coming. Thanks for having us. I'm sorry. What did you say? We're going to switch the next one. Okay. Okay.
Okay. So the next item on the agenda is is 1B2 which is the facilities update by director of operations John Deutsch. Bold and and Krauss Anderson will make the presentation with along with John.
Thank you John. Sure thing. Uh Chair Sahony, members of the school board, Dr. Anderson. Tonight I have with me Sal Begley from Bold Architects and John Hunick from Krauss Anderson. As you know they are strategic partners in our facilities planning. Um
so tonight we are going to go over basically a proposed or potential referendum timeline. Um just to provide some updates, some clarification and some context as to things that are moving along. Um at this point I'll turn it over to S.
Good evening. Thanks for having us. Um so up on the screen um and I have a paper copy in front of me is um a potential timeline um related to process mostly and decision making. Um what I will say is that there are um some dates
um not shown on this um that are more related to the setting of an election and um you know um calling the county and things like that. So more like the legal side of going out for a referendum is not truly reflected in this. This is really more about process for determining needs. Um getting community
input and feedback and then you as a board getting to interact with that. Um so you can see at the top here we've got the facility steering committee which is an ongoing committee. Um we typically meet monthly um and they have been having facilities conversations obviously um for for years and years. Um
we've been doing some needs analysis and options exploration for the past few months. um as you all have had um recent uh engagement with um feeling very full and having to make adjustments and what are we going to do for next year and turning things that aren't classrooms
into classrooms right as you um experience that growth. Um so we've in throughout that process have been meeting with department heads and um principles. We are also currently updating our capacity study so working with principles on how they intend to use space for next school year.
uh as you know you engaged with Morris Leatherman for a um more atmospheric climate survey uh back earlier in the spring and then you had an update um about that survey as well as uh recent enrollment projections um back in May. So you can see here we are coming to
June and August um and the intent at this time is to do more plan refinement and um kind of prepare for a community task force and I'll talk a little bit about that afterward. Um, so what we've been working on um with Superintendent Anderson is the idea of engaging with the SLT. Um, so you can see we listed on
here five meetings that we're intending to um be invited to and the topics we think we might talk about at those. Uh, so you can see the first one is tomorrow and things we might talk about that. I don't think we'll take all of SLT, I should say, maybe. Um, but this is the day and times of them. Um, so we are
intending to review enrollment projections along with Jen Welk. um and to try to make some decisions around what should we plan around. You've gotten a lot of um information around what your growth might look like and at that paired with capacity of the buildings um is kind of an important
juxaposition. We will also review this timeline with them tomorrow in case they aren't as familiar with all of that. Um and then see if there's any takeaways from that first survey that might shape the work. Then we were thinking at meeting two we would start talking about capacity and
growth needs and criteria. Um so as you start to plan around a certain number of middle schoolers or one of the models um we can compare that against you know available space on a given property site and things like that. So um it's difficult for Walden Cross Anderson to
put budgets to things until we start getting down to this level of detail and that time has come. Uh then um you can see meetings three and four are more solutions review and prioritization. Um there are also some nondirectly growth growth related needs that we've been
talking about too. Some more special topics. Um and then the idea of towards the end of August um preparing a kind of a concept bond scope that could go out for a community survey number two. Um still to be influenced with the task force, but um it's a complicated
problem. You're a large organization and so to make that task force work efficient trying to um get all of the background data pulled together for them. Then you can see board work sessions. So here we are this evening reviewing timeline and process um who we intend to engage with. And then um I
haven't picked a date yet, but there's a a proposal out that um sometime in August um we could come and kind of share all of that background information with you all, right? Kind of in more detail. Um and then prepare for what should go into that survey number two, which I believe is intended to go out in
September of this year. Uh then around that same time in August we would establish the task force. Um that is at the end of the first page there I see you scrolled down. Um and really that's the important part of about that paired with your surveys is just more community input on the plan. Um so the intent
would be to have a membership that is a good cross-section of the community. You can see listed on here is a few suggestions of who to reach out to. Maybe some members from SEFAC, members of other advisory committees, leadership or administration across buildings. And that doesn't have to be um exhaustive
list. Um and the idea that we would have maybe around three meetings with them. Uh meeting one we're thinking would be more background knowledge of challenges and proposed solutions. Then more in um meeting two they could review the results of that survey and help prioritize a plan, right? Um what does
the community think about those needs? Um what do they think about the tax impact of those needs? um and to help curate that and then really prepare for our recommendation um in meeting three towards the towards the end of October. Then um you can see the community survey
shows up there um at the top of the next page. Preparation work would happen in August. It's my understanding that they would make the calls in early September um and that outcomes would be ready for that task force review in early October. This suggests that we would come back to
you all for a more formal recommendation or report in late October around the end of the task force and then leave space for more work session time in early November. Um you can see a couple of things bolded on this back page. So um I'll start at the bottom actually. So
for an April special election, you have to submit the review and comment to the department ed um basically on or before November 25th. So the only thing about the November 10th board finalized proposal um is that that really allows a couple weeks for the preparation of that
review and comment document itself, right? Um obviously you could choose to um call a special meeting. Um then um if you choose to do any surveying during that campaign time, you can see that that would be in February or March. And then I think it's always important for
people to remember um that early voting is a part of all special elections now. And so there will be people able to make their decision um as early as March 2nd. Um so we just wanted to talk through that and that's really the the intent of the um next gosh what is that 10 months
or so. Um take feedback, take questions, comments. John's here as well. Thank you. Uh any comments or questions? D you have any comments? Yeah, maybe I'll just build on that. First of all, cell thanks for being here and John and John appreciate all the time and energy.
We've been uh working closely with Wald and KA for 16 years now at least I think. So we've flown a lot of missions together as we say and um I just really appreciate all the time and effort. I should just uh indicate that this is all
preliminary at the current time. However, times are clicking and I know our strategic partners are uh focusing on us and looking for us to uh tighten up on timelines and I really appreciate how you put this together because it
makes good sense and and uh kind of breaks it out into if you think of it all at once it's like overwhelming but when you kind of break it into these timelines I think it can be really helpful. still kind of overwhelming but less so than uh if it feels like you have to get it all done by next Friday
and certainly that's not what we need to do but there's a lot of work before us a lot of planning one of the things that we've done as we're trying to incorporate this work much like we just heard a report on alignment and streamlining and having all things collaborate work together we're trying
to uh consolidate some of the work of our SLT or the superintendent's cabinet group we call it SLT um to be able to uh all work together with S and John and uh some of their team members on
alternating meeting dates, which is what you saw through that those August meeting time periods. I would imagine we'll want to continue that into the fall and beyond, but um we'll see where we end up on the summer. But um we just felt that that would be a good efficient
way to do that. Most of the people that have been on the facilities committee are all on the SLT also. So, we really needed to find some ways to streamline. And I'm also always cognizant about the amount of time we spend in meetings, the number of meetings, and all the to-do lists that come out of all those
meetings. Uh we usually leave one meeting and go to the next one and then our to-do lists continue to grow. So anytime we can find efficiencies that uh can help us um consolidate effort and streamline it and that all the players are in the same room at the same time,
it uh decreases the need to then have someone go and report back to all those people because we know some things can get lost in that transition and translation. So anyway, I just really appreciate the work that went into this. And uh with that, I don't think I have any other comments. I could keep talking
probably, but I don't know. I probably get repetitive. So I'll turn it back over to you. Thank you chair. Cheers. Questions, comments? Yeah. So one comment and uh moreover request for the board. So I think there is a work session in August then there is you know
if needed session in November and then we vote November 10th. um just knowing the scope and size of this work um we'll figure out how do we keep the board engaged or at least you know aware because there are different meetings
different surveys so again I think we'll definitely need two work sessions maybe one in August and definitely one before the board approval or maybe through facility meetings if we can share minutes of the meeting so again we'll
figure out how to keep rest of the board members engaged But if not, at least we should have that one work session before the vote so everybody gets an opportunity to review and ask questions. Yeah, thank you. Thank you Paris. Good point
then. Well, sure. Thank you for being here and for this process. Um, something that that I noticed that I think is really helpful is um and our timeline uh demonstrated it as well. We did a lot of although it felt like little pieces, we did a lot of
leg work in while students were still in session and while families were engaged and then what I see happening now is then we're taking all that information that we had when our families were engaged and we're doing strategy over the summer and we're really thinking about it and exploring it and then we
have a plan and then things are going to start flying again in the fall um once we see our amazing students in our seat and in their seats and all of that process. And so it really feels to me like although it's it's clip, right? It's at a clip. Um it's working with
intention and it seems really mindful of the availability of time of our administrators, the engagement of our families um and then and then the importance of um getting this done because we we know we need more seats is
so thank you. Yes. Yeah. Thank you so much. It's really been a privilege to sit in on the facilities committee meeting of the board and you know talk about all these deadlines and all these items. Um my question I think is what a lot of folks have on their minds right now which is
you know really anticipating the incoming enrollment incoming attendees of our buildings and then making sure we um you know meet uh that need and so we don't have overcrowding and whatnot. And so if you could kind of just walk
through the process of um you know is there a threshold? Is there a demonstration that has to be made to MDE? Do we have to show a certain number of students forecasted to kind of trigger um affirmation on review and comment? Just kind of that progress of proving we have the proper enrollment
and attendance. Sure, I can talk through that. Um so the review and comments middle to the department of ed has um it actually has seven sections now. Um so there's some background information about the district and as a part of that you are required to submit um enrollment history and enrollment projections. So
that will be a part of the submission. I've not um I'm not aware of any particular threshold but they do want to see the data behind your decision-m and then there's a whole section around the process used to arrive at the conclusion um and who was involved. Uh then you
have to talk through specific benefits um to student staff in the community. uh you have to address site size and acreage and if you have enough space um you have to provide enough information around your budgets. Um so they don't do a ton of diving deep on the budgets but
they I would say they they know enough to be dangerous in regards to if the budgets look um commensurate to the projects proposed. Um and then there are some um commitments that the district has to make in regards to meeting all um applicable codes and things of that nature. And we would often attach as
appendices to that. submission kind of all of the background data. Um what you're really looking for at the end of the day from the Department of Ed is um they either deem a plan educationally advisable or educationally inadvisable. So it's not actually a yes or a no. Um
educationally advisable is what you're going for. Um if it's um deemed not educationally advisable, you actually have to pass it a supermajority, which would be 60% instead of 50. So, um, and what, uh, the reason that that date got backed up so much, I've had people be surprised by that. Um, there was
legislative change. I think it was two years ago. I'm looking wrong. Two years ago. Um, so the MD gets 60 days to review it and, um, then there is a letter that comes back from the commissioner and that has to be published 45 to 60 days before the
election, which is a pretty tight timeline. So, if you kind of said that, you know, the Department of Ed took 60 days and you publish it kind of at the last possible second, um that's how we back up to that date of submission. You actually don't have to call for an
election until 78 days before the um the election date, which is a little bit convoluted that you but many boards choose to set the election at the same time that they send the reviewing comment, but you don't technically have to. That was a really long answer to your question. is excellent, very helpful and
I appreciate all the details. Thank you so much. Oh, okay. Sal John, thank you so much for being here. Our facilities meetings are super informative as Dan said and um and you're always offering us all the details that we need. So, I really appreciate that. We'll make sure to that
they all get shared out um in minutes. Um, I have a question on a little bit further up as you're talking about prioritization and, you know, as you're talking with our school leaders. Um, when we're talking about, um, I think
there was a term on there that special topics, does that include updates to other schools that might be happening as part of the referendum or what is a special topic? Certainly could. Um, maybe let's think of a couple examples. Um, I think
there are some desired improvements at the transition center, right? Like there's a couple things that they would choose to do that, um, long-term facilities maintenance doesn't really qualify for. Um, the buildout of the second floor of the early learning school is it's it's growth adjacent,
right? But it's a project that was master planned for um, without a funding source right now. Um, there's discussion about um, your engagement with uh, lifetime for the pool, right? That's a topic. So again, so all of these have something to do
with growth, but they're maybe not like need more classrooms. It's all of the parts to a well functioning school system. Um there's been discussion about making improvements for SDC across more schools as that's been an ongoing pressure. So that's kind of growth, kind
of not. Um what are some other examples? I think you highlighted just kind of kind of the bigger ones that that have been out there. And there's there's always going to be that that additional those additional things that again aren't necessarily directly tied to
capacity or growth, but are things that we have in other buildings or things that we would like to see in our buildings. So I might just add to how built how school buildings are utilized today and when they were built 30 40 50 60 years ago whatever the case
might be. So we're finding that with those different utilizations um we're making some modifications within some of our schools for temporary basis or in response to the next year's need. And what we'd like to do along with this in
a a bigger scope is take a look at how do we position ourselves well. So, we have that built-in flexibility um because as I said, buildings are constructed quite a lot differently today than they were several decades ago. So, how can we retrofit existing
buildings to bring some of those other features uh to our more experienced buildings than perhaps a new one that we might build or a new addition that we might build on. So, those are some of the the challenges that we're currently facing and seeking solutions for, too.
Uh Sal and John um thank you for the presentation. I have a question about involvement of the city uh because this is this is a this is a tax on the for the voters right and they this will be levied through property taxes I'm assuming.
So that is something that the city and the county will be involved in. Are are they any part of this process? are they in the task force somewhere? I would say there's options for them to be a part of the process. Um but it is
not required. What I will say is that there's um my understanding is that there's a lot of engagement um with cities and counties as your enrollment projections are put forth. They they help provide um census data and development data and things of that nature. So I would say maybe as a second
tier they're involved. And I have clients who choose to involve um you know local agencies in their planning processes. Absolutely. But it's not mandatory to be clear. Right. But are do we are we planning on involving involving them at any
uh the referendum is announced or I haven't heard of any plans yet but we can have some further discuss. So city of Madina for example or three rivers. Uh oh um that's a good specific example. We have engaged um some with the city of Madina um as we talk about what it might take from an infrastructure perspective
if you were to put more facilities on district- owned land. So there's some there's things like that where we do have to engage with them um because you would have to you're a developer in their community, right? A little more on the technical side. Okay. Yeah. But they would they be a part of the task force available. Would they be a part of the
task force or somewhere else in this chart or I might defer to I don't know that I've heard any. Okay. Yeah. I don't think we've necessarily engaged city government officials um on task forces, but um I could envision myself andor a
couple of folks doing presentations at city council meetings this fall and and to bring them into the loop. We have informal discussions. I meet with uh uh city of Plymouth um city administrator and his assistant I know several times
during the course of the year as does John and and other team members have been doing that as well. So I think we have a really good uh collaborative working relationship with them. But um and engage them as we feel it's necessary now with Madina. If we end up
building new schools out in Met Madina, that'll be a new thing for them. And it I think I believe I don't I don't think they have any public schools in Madina. Not in our district certainly, but um I've lost track of where all the scope
is, but I I don't think they have been through this process before. So that'll be a new experience for them. But and anybody anybody from Hen Kenipin County because property taxes are collected by them. So just just wondering if any of them are involved in this. So I'm not saying they should be. Yeah. Just a
curiosity kind of thing. Uh we have engaged some with the county as we talk about potential development, but I don't think we've okay outlined if they'd be on the task force yet. Okay. All right. Thank you. I think that's all the questions we have. Thank you for coming and presenting this to us. We we will
have a copy of this, right? Yes. From board book. Board book. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. I just comment too that we're working with two great companies. So, we appreciate uh the work that you do and we've had uh great results with Wald and with KA. And John, not to make it sound
old, but I did some quick math. I think you and I have worked together for about 25 years now on a lot of projects, not only for me in this district, but the one I worked in before. So, we have a lot of history together. and uh uh they have incredibly competent uh folks in
both organizations. So, we appreciate you being here today and helping us uh move this forward. So, we look forward to the work. It's exciting stuff. Thank you for coming. Yes, thank you. All right, we will now switch back to the second
item on the agenda. If David, you're ready. Um, it's the presentation of the fiscal year 202526 preliminary budget by finance director David Dascoich. David, thank you. I might just comment too. David, thank you
so much for uh being here today and um I appreciate many of I think all I know all of our board know this, but David has really stepped up in his role as director of finance and operations uh during our search for a new executive director of finance and operations uh
whom we have now hired. Trevor Peterson will be joining us uh effective officially July 1. Uh but in the interim while we've been working with him from afar while he's wrapping up in his current district, David has really stepped up and also I want to comment on
Jack Stern's uh here tonight as well. also not only these two but the whole department have really uh helped cover us in the interim and have stepped up taken on additional duties and assignments and um I guess that's the part of the job description that says other duties as as assigned right that
uh the last bullet is always what you want to read the bullet point on a job description because that's oftentimes what it is and uh prior to that also I just want to acknowledge our new executive director of human resources Dave Lutz is here tonight I don't know if all of you met him officially
somewhere along the way. You have Dave, welcome and thanks and congratulations and thanks for being here tonight and best wishes to you as you launch into that. Dave's not new to the district. He's been here for longer than I have. 20 maybe 20 years you've been here
with a Yeah, we loaned him out for a few years down in Mano, but then he came back. So, we were happy to get him back in a principal role and just uh appreciate the great work that you do. So, thanks for being here tonight. And with that, I'll turn it over to David.
You're on. Thank you. Well, thank you for the intro. I appreciate it. So, good evening, Superintendent Chase, board members. Uh, I've come to you today to present the 2526 prelim budget. Um, at first I will start with a little background information, some assumptions
and components that go into the creation of the budget. Uh then we'll hit on the overview of information of the prelim 2526 budgets which will follow general fund, food service, community ed, construction fund, and our debt debt service fund. And then we'll follow up
with questions at the end. So on to the general fund. So before that, I guess I'll bring this slide up. Scott always used to like this. This is kind of the breakdown of all the fund balances, all the funds that live in school districts such as, like I said, general fund, food service, community
ed, building, construction, and our debt service fund. Uh, a little refresher on the fund balances. There's a couple different fund balances within the district on the general fund and also community ed and food service. Uh, they are restricted, which houses our operating capital, capital levy, uh, capital projects levy,
and and long-term facility maintenance. There's assigned which is separations and/retirement Q comp site carryover. Uh non-spendables which is prepaids and inventory the district holds. And then the unassigned which is the most uh our
public is concerned with. Just as just a slide to show you where we're at in the whole budget process. We're bringing June 2025 the prelim budget for approval and now on to the prelim general fund
budget key assumptions. So just a quick breakdown again. Um the sources of revenue for the 2526 uh budget for the revenue budget is 60% of that is state aids. Uh 2.74% increase for 2526. We're looking at property
taxes which are increasing by 4% for next fiscal year. Um federal sources we increased at 0% um based with the the federal not knowing what they're doing right now and maybe some reductions. We kept it at this. You'll see later on. and I'll talk about the federal revenue
sources. And then we did a slight 2% increase on all other funding sources which would be athletic fees, our LEO services and community ed um our food service sales of alocart and then also um our our student activities accounts.
So key assumptions for the formulance kind of brings it back around again for the 2526 we're seeing 2.74% on the general education formula which then makes it out to be 7,481. This is a $200 increase from previous
fiscal year revenue projection information. So this is the big one. So enrollment increases for 2526. We're using an enrollment of 13,186 for 2526. This is up from our revised budget of 12,76
for FY2425. And this is an increase of 426 kits. The formula allowance which makes up general general education aid is 60% of our revenue. So 2.74% for 2526 which is up
from 2% for 2425. um which is an increase to 7,481 again $200 increase levy is up 4% our special education cross subsidy federal to pay tuition bills our cross subsidy aid is around 70% of the funds we spend
on special ed which is a one-year leg so what we spend in this fiscal year 25 will be paid to us in 26 which would be roughly 75 75% of those expenditures um with transportation for next year getting covered at 95%
Um, we utilized $1.5 million of federal funds to pay for special special education tools, uh, bills. This allowed us to use the federal funds of $ 1.5 million to buy down our tuition bills, which then we put those expenditures that would have lived in the federal
expenditures into state funding, which allows us to tuition bill. So, actually increases our revenue that we're seeing for next fiscal years. And we started that in 23 24. Um, federal allocations and co related dollars. uh forecasting similar re revenues of current year and
also COVID related dollars came to an end April 30th 2025 2024 sorry key assumptions enrollment is a key driver in our revenue um we've had our original assumptions uh our demographer
did a study in 2425 or 20 2024 um we had high migration low kindergarten the up this assumption was based by teamworks, Reinhardt Hazelden, also Jen Wilk has done our own along with Ellers. So we've had four different models to project
this enrollment just to make sure we are on par with our growing enrollment that we are seeing. Um just want to let you know if we scroll down to the bottom, this 426 kid enrollment growth for 2526 will increase our revenue by 3.1 million. If you look at it as a levy,
David, I think we're behind one slide. Sorry, there we go. Sorry, my bad. Clicking and looking. Um, so if you look to the bottom, our actual generated allowance is the 4,000 or 7,481. Our increase in students is 426. This
will generate 3 million 3.1 million for next year. Um, this is because of new enrollment. Now, if you take the levy allowance into it, it's roughly around $10,000 with the increase in student. We're looking at 4.2 million for next fiscal year.
This is just a re a kind of a recap of what we've already talked about with state aids going up to 2.74 from 2% prior fiscal year levies 4% up from 3.8 other we're staying the same increasing
that at 2% and then federal staying the same at 0%. All right onto the expenditure projection information. So we start with salary and benefits. Um this is a big one for the district. Salary and benefits make roughly around 71% of the
total cost for the district in the general fund. Um we are currently negotiating multiple groups which includes the teacher union uh WA and also the unaffiliated group for next fiscal year. Um our health insurance we're seeing an increase of 7% for next fiscal year for 2526 along with 2% on
dental. Uh transportation, we're seeing a budget of increase of 6% for 25 26 um and also a budget overall increase of 2% uh on our utilities. Uh Jack Sterns in
23 24 in the prelimin revised it at 10 historical uh year process of the utilities and we increased that budget. So now we're at a point where we can just slowly increase it and see where it lies with the new increases as utilities move on. Um special education is
increased high is 10% due to projected needs and increase an expected future with shifting the 1.5 million dollars in from federal into state. Um allows the district to bill tuition at a higher rate which I said earlier which allows
for additional revenue for the district. Um technology increases expenditures just offset that that levy tech levy increase in revenue. budget assumptions and expenditures. We build those based on this board um
what they set parameters on and once those negotiating groups are done when they're in negotiations, we take a conservative estimate on those salaries and benefits as we move forward for the projected budget for 2526. As I said earlier, health insurance is up to 7% which was an increase in 7% in
the prior fiscal year as well. Dental prior fiscal year was 5%. So we're seeing a slight decrease but still an increase at 2% for next fiscal year. Uh TRA rate um that is increasing considerably from 8.75% to 9.81 for the
next fiscal year. Um PAR stays the same at 7.5%. Supplies we increased 3% in 2425 and now supplies are going up 2% for the next fiscal year. uh fuel and utilities as I talked to earlier we did the 10-year
historical data study in 23 24 and then 2425 saw 6% increase we're doing an estimated 2% as prior next fiscal year um and transportation is seeing the same as it was prior 6% increase as I said earlier here's an a breakdown
of kind of the general fund um of what the expenditures kind of make up as the group 52% salaries 19% is benefits s 16% is purchase services, 9% is capital purchases, 3% supply and materials and
1% is others. I wanted to bring this slide. This is the LTFM. I think this will probably be the last fiscal year of this slide. Um, we just want to bring it to you because of the adjustment that we're seeing from 2223. We are seeing an $ 8.8 million
adjustment. LTFM has its own restricted fund balance. Um, it's still due to the COVID pandemic when we couldn't get our supplies and purchase services. Um, so we were able to spend only as much as we could for that levy year and now we're seeing 2-year fiscal year prior
adjustments. So we'll see for 25 26 an $ 8.8 million adjustment which will look different in the budget and I'll show you that later on, but it really lives in its own restricted fund balance. So it it doesn't affect anything in the unassigned fund balance. Cross subsidy aid. Just a quick overap
of that cross subsidy incre it began in 2020 they increased it from 44% and started to 50% or 44% in 26 and it'll go to 50% in 27. I had some notes. I sat down at a meeting um in the future
fiscal years. There's a $250 million um cost reduction in special education that the legislation needs to cap and they need to look at everything in special education. And if they can't hit that goal, they're going to reduce the cost subsidy aid. So they will take that back in the future fiscal year if they can't
meet those reductions. So the district, though it got it now, could see in the future a reduction. All right, now to the preliminary general fund budget. All right, this is the big one. Um so local property taxes we're seeing that
4% increase uh to 75,487,12. Our state aids are going up 7 million which is 5% 5.919% to 144,23749. I wanted to bring back so if you went back to the previous side thinking about
it our student enrollment that increase was 3.1. So, of that $7 million, 3 point 3 3.1 of that is our student enrollment. So, if you cut that, now we're only going up roughly by $4 million. So, when we when we talk about student
enrollment, it really is a big um big thing on a district that we grow in the future. It allows us to move forward and make changes and add staff. Um the additional ads is special education. That's an increase in revenue along with
the additional 74% on top of the new aid that we're getting for students. Um, federal aid is going down just by 243,000. This is an assumption that we're going to lose a little bit um 6% based on what the federals federal aid
was giving us. We will see this number will increase in the revised once we know once the fiscal year's audit is complete and what carry forward dollars we have. So, we will adjust this and revised and I'm sure it will go up a bit. Um, local revenues are seeing an increase of uh 592,000 to 7.1 million.
That is your athletics, your student activities, your donations, your miscellaneous revenue sources, rentals, that is what lives in that funding source. Um, on to expenditures, it is going so salary and benefits are
going up 8.62% 62% to 100 to one 171,11236. Uh this is due to increase in staffing rate staffing due to increased enrollment. So that is that and then also the steps and lanes in the contract negotiations that we're seeing. Um
purchase services is only going up 68%. Uh supplies and materials, you may pick this one out, it's going down by 1.2 million. Um you may question that one but it is we had for 20 24 25 we had a considerable project in safe schools
that Wade oversaw for updating our cameras at the middle schools in the high schools. So we did with that infrastructure and cameras to keep our schools safe. So that was an additional million dollars. So we won't have that next year. So that is why that's decreasing. So that's decreasing to
21,221,927. um miscellaneous revenue sources decreasing by 635,000 to 1.1 million. Um so when you look at it total picture with this includes LTFM in it we're projected expenditures over revenue by 5
million 5,574,035 and like I said I have to talk to this one. This is LTFM lives in this. So the next slide will pull LTFM out since it has its own restricted fund balance and you'll see kind of where we're going to lie for the unassigned fund balance. So the next slide, this is just a recap.
Same same slide, but just now LTFM is pulled out of this. So when you look at it, we're now expend we're revenue over expenditures will add roughly about 2.93 million to our unassigned fund balance for next fiscal year. So I'm excited
about that. It's always nice to project revenue over expense. On to the next one. Wisetta cafes and community ed. This is our community our Wisetta Cafes is is definitely projected by student enrollment and increases based on that
since we do get state aid revenue from that. Um cafe is a little history. We have seen different funding sources of that in previous fiscal years. Once we were all student sales, then we were federal revenue during the pandemic, and then now we're seeing state aids. For
the last two fiscal years, we've been receiving that in reimbursement rates. So, meal sales are going up 44,930, and that will make it meal sales 1.5 million. Our federal aid is going up 68,000, increasing our prelim budget to
2.6 million. And then our state aid is going up additional 208, 28,000. and that's going to increase our fed state aid to 6.1 million and that is due to the student increases. Um, on to expenditures with the student increases, we also have to increase staffing just
to make sure we're meeting that expectation and how much we serve. As Chase always says, we're kind of the biggest restaurant in Minnesota, at least in our area. So, um, that salary and benefits are increasing by 319,000, which increases salary benefit
expenditures to 4.3 million. Our food is increasing by 207,000. This is due to increased enrollment and also inflation in the food costs. Um and that will predict food to 4 point almost 4.8 million for next fiscal year. Um miscellaneous and other you may pick
this one out. It is increasing by 1.1 million. This is Michelle's covering some of the freezer costs at the high school. So she's taking that on since we have such a wonderful food service fund balance. We can spend some of that funds on that. And so that will allow Michelle
to house more food at the high school, allow for better serving for the students, and also the increased volume that we're serving at the at the high school. So that's fantastic that we can we have the opportunity to do that. So right there, we're projected revenue uh
expenditures over revenue of 1.2 million. And like I said, that is all to pretty much the majority of Michelle putting those that new upgraded freezer at the Wisetta High School. Fund four, this is our community ed, which is pretty much all feebased. Um,
it does get some levy in state aids, so I'll break into that. Our local uh property taxes are increasing by 92,000 and that puts it to n uh 20 2.1 million for next fiscal year. Um, state aids are increasing by 227,000.
That puts next fisc 2526 at uh 1.9 million. And then where we see the majority of our increase in revenues just because it is a feebased program, uh 1.16 increases the feebased revenues and that puts that revenue at 12.8 million for next fiscal year. Um with
that the increased, you know, student count, the increased volume that we're serving in our community, we also have to see that in salary and benefits. We start seeing a slight increase there. Um and the nice thing is is our fund for has a wonderful fund balance. And so it is great that uh Jenny Eert is keeping
par and keeping up to date on that. So our salary and benefits increased by 1.3 million and that boosts 2526 to 13.2 million or 13.4 million uh for salary and benefits. Purchase services, supplies and education materials
increased by 276,000. That's 3.3 million in that for next fiscal year. Uh capital and technology is reduced by 78,000. there's just some expenditures that she doesn't need to do in our operating capital and our object codes five through through the 500s. Um
dues and memberships only increased by 1,000. Um so that puts again she's projected revenue over expense as she has done in every fiscal year so far that I've been here of 117,000. She's doing a wonderful job with that program.
She gave me some talking points on here cuz I wasn't I'm not 100% in community eds. So I asked her if she would give me a little bit and so she just has some talking points. Uh we consistently seen 5 to 8% annual growth over the last four years projected that continue to grow
for the demand of services. Our community ed our community eds programs are serviceoriented. So when programs expand that means more costs that are contracted services supplies 26 budget reflects increases in revenues and
increase related expenditures. uh programs seen the largest growth are our Yeta kids program or child care program and youth classes and camps. On to debt service and our fund six construction.
So pretty much for Weisetta public schools our construction fund is made up of our abatement bonds that were issued in 2019. Um we are using most of that the majority of that in June and then also we'll finish up those projects in
July and August. So, as of 2425, we saw our budget for other revenue sources was 291,000. For next fiscal year, we will not have any revenue sources as of now because those funds have been moved over to Ellers to earn a zero interest since we don't want to hit
arbitrage on those funds. Um, so they will earn 0% interest. It will just give us enough time to spend those down as we move forward. When we do sell the 2025A bonds, we will bring a revised for the construction since we're doing that project at West Middle School and we'll revise this amount and we'll revise the
interest earned on it along with the expenditures. So the expenditures um are decreasing for next fiscal year since we're spending the majority of it in this fiscal year. Um so we'll see expenditures in purchase services of 250,000 next year and also capital uh
1.5 million for a total of uh 1.8 8 million in costs for next fiscal year. So this is projected expenditures over expenditures over revenue, but we already have the funds sitting in a restricted fund balance. And so we're just looking to spend those remaining
remaining amounts down. All right. On to fund seven, which is uh it houses the district's outstanding bonded indebtness. Um, so for next fiscal year, we're looking at a pro uh local property tax increase of 984,000,
which boosts that revenue to 18.7 million. Uh, sale of bonds, we have nothing right now. We do plan to sell some in July, which we'll update this later on. Um, state aids, we do get very minimal state aids. It is the agriculture homestead market value
credit and school building bond credit. It makes up roughly $9,000 of it. And that is very hard to predict whether or not it's going to go up or down. It's very little. Um which puts our revenues for fund 7 at 18.7 million. Our now when
we move down to expenditures, you will see our our bond principle increases considerably by 1.3 million almost 1.4. This is because as we move over time, we're we're we're paying less on the interest and paying more on the principle of the bond as you would with
your mortgage. So that boosts next 2526 prelim budget to 13.6 million uh bond interest. You're going to see a reduction in that since we're paying less interest as we move on. We pay more times on this bond. That boosts the prelim budget to 4.7 almost 4.8 million
with bank fees still staying at 2900. This puts the total expenditure package at 18.4 million which still gives us 314,000 that will sit in a restricted fund balance. Um, we are able to levy 10 105% of our debt service. So, you'll
always kind of see that with some adjustments moving in the future. Preliminary 2526 budgets all funds. So, this is this is the all funds combined. Um, I'm not going to go too in detail because we've kind of gone through them in the past, but I will say when you
look at the top, our total revenue of all funds is 277,672,519. Our expenditures of all funds is 2,85,922566. We're seeing expenditures over revenue of 8.2 million. But you also have to take in it may looks it may you may
think of this and look oh well we're spending more than we're getting. Well now you need to remember that there's LTFM that adjustment of 8.81 million in there. We've also increased some revenues. We've increased some expenditures. Um we're also that that baitment bonds which we're not giving revenue on is a negative 1.8 million
that's sitting in there. Um and then also the food service is in there too. So it looks it's when you break it down it looks e it looks easier to see when you put it as a whole together it's harder harder to see that number. So that's what I want to go to over than that. So continued planning and
monitoring. So we just want to make sure that we're looking at our enrollment as we move forward. Uh that's the biggest thing. We want to make sure those students are coming and that we're hiring the staff we need as they come. That's the biggest thing. I think that's kind of what we saw during the preandemic. Um, we were hiring staff
just before the kids come and it kind of put us in a sticky situation, but the state said they would also make us whole. As Scott would always say, we kept our staff. We were loyal to our staff. Um, adding back expenditures, closely monitoring student enrollment, which I touched on. Uh, we also want to
make sure we continue looking at the changes in the pupil formula allowance from the state, making sure we stay up on the legislative changes as I was talking to earlier. um we might see that cross subsidy aid be reduced if they can't hit that $250 million in cuts in special education. Their their last
option was that cross subsidy reduction aid. Um and also current and future negotiations with staff. We need to watch what we're negotiating, make sure that we you know follow with what our budget can afford at the time and then I'll leave it up to questions.
All right. Thank you, David. Lot of information there. Thank you. Uh if I if I may, I'll just add a couple things. First of all, thank you so much for the great presentation. I appreciate the thoroughess of it. Um, I just wanted to comment on a something that you shared
just a few minutes ago about the state making us whole after CO and um, it didn't really ever happen in regard to uh, making up for the lost momentum that we had and we've been in the throws of making a recovery from that, you know,
the last five years really uh, from that time. So, and I'm not saying the state necessarily had the means to do that, but that was what our hope always was. that it was it it didn't really ever get fully reconciled back to where we were able to make up for lost revenues during
that time. I appreciated that you commented on the monitoring the enrollment. Um, as we all know, we just went through some projection analysis and we're looking at multiple models for that. It's 400 plus students is a pretty robust prediction. So, we're, you know,
cautiously taking a look at the growth. I think uh if Jen Welk were here, she would say we're adding about 20 kids a week. Mhm. However, there'll be some little exit as well. So, sometimes we don't know that till late August. So, we are monitoring that and our HR department's been working closely with
finance in regard to uh hiring in a methodical way to make sure that we don't end up with more staff than we have students when the school year starts. Uh David referenced the 2.74% increase on the formula. There's actually a few things that chip away from that. Again,
these may be things that you have questions on, but I just think it's important to maybe hit a few of those highlights. So, even though the formula goes up by 2.74%, David mentioned that uh uh reimbursements for special ed transportation are going to go down 5%.
So, they'll pay prior they paid 100% of whatever our costs were if I'm remembering correctly. And that'll go down to 95% and then 90 in year two. Yep. So, that is correct. So next fiscal year 25 26 as Chase said it'll be 90% uh we'll get some back because it'll go on
the cross cross subsidy aid which they talked about reducing. So yeah I mean take it with a grain of salt. Um and then 90% in 26 27 and I can keep going if you want to keep going on the Yeah, I just had a few other things. Okay, keep sure other folks'll have some questions
too. There were also some student support dollars that were allocated. There was a three-year plan. I only know the rough numbers. I think in year one we were going to get about 150 million. Year two maybe 400 million. I think year three 700 million or so. And what they
did is they capped it in the year two amount. So we're not going to get that next bump. Um which we didn't find out until whenever the session ended early June. Well, we hire in February and March. So we already spent on hiring counselors anticipating those dollars
would be there. So I think I don't know that might have been a $250 to $300,000 reduction that comes from the general fund. Um so those are some of the things that uh are kind of challenging the increases to the uh district
responsibility for TRA contributions. There's no additional new funding to support that. Correct. There is no but we do get some state aid for our TRA contribution. So it does come through state aid. So that's that's helpful there. So is that part of the 2.74 or is
that No, that was that's always been there since I've been in school finance. And then you've all heard me talk about the challenging business model that we have. So you saw some increases for example transportation 6%. uh health insurance premium 7%
um and even with an increase to the formula of 2.74% which compared to other years in my experiences we've had 0% we've had 1% we've had 2% we've even had uh probably a 1.5 thrown in there
somewhere along the way. So 2.74 looks good. Some of it gets chipped away though with some of these things that didn't get talked a lot about and I just wanted to highlight that that we're needing to accommodate that on anticipated additional revenue that now we won't get and it'll have a a net
impact on the bottom line when the audit's done for fiscal year 26. Um you know it'll it'll have a bit of an impact. I also just wanted to comment on the uh uh food service program and the you commented both for that and for
community and up until this year or maybe two years ago whenever the state uh started providing or as having districts provide no cost lunches to students not free I don't refer to it as free lunch the state is paying that uh
with dollars that could have been allocated in different ways but they chose to allocate it that way um a concern concern we had at the time was that the reimbursements will go down. That's going to happen. I think y um as we had kind of predicted that the
reimbursement rates coming back to districts per meal are going to go down. Um maybe someone else will have a question that I don't know the specific amount but I believe they're going what are they Jack? 12 12 12 cents and
they're going down to 6.25 in 27 28. So they're getting cut in half. What's the unit per what? uh per lunch served. Is that what it Yeah. For free? Yeah. For for the free and reduced. So I mean just the state payment toward
uh the no cost lunches for students. Isn't the total going down for that? Yeah, the total is going down too. So anyway, that'll just be something that we'll monitor. We referenced the fact that we have a fund balance, but that'll just be something to look at. Today we do, but we'll see how that impacts over
time. And then just one final comment. Sorry I'm taking so much time, but these were things that came to mind as I was listening. I just wanted to reinforce. You commented about the community ed program and the fund balance and the nice rebound that they made. Food service made a nice rebound as well.
something that I just like to reinforce that both with the community ed budget and with the uh food service budget in the event that they go into, you know, a a deficit, the the general they have to make it
like a two-year plan or something, I think, with community ed to pull out of it and get get whole again. Probably the same for food service. If that doesn't happen, then the general fund subsidizes that. So, one nice thing with community ed is they they have a different business model than us. They can establish their fee rates according to
what they anticipate their expenditures to be. Um, prior to when the state took over the food reimbursements, food service could do that. So, they could actually control the revenues they needed in order to pay the expenditures. And when I refer to the business model that we operate in, we really have very
little control over our revenues. And that's always been a challenge. we only control the expenditures and take kind of what we get from the state in regard to increases to the funding. So anyway, those are the points that I just wanted to highlight. Again, great job, David. I appreciate the work you and Jack and
everybody else did to put this together. It was a really great overview. Yeah, I couldn't have done it without my finance team. So, thank you. Takes more than just one individual to do it. Okay. Thank you, David. Um yeah par question. So first I'll echo Chase's comments. I
mean um you Jack Jen um working with you all in finance committee has been really great experience. I mean you picked it up. There was no difference in experience if you will. You were always prepared. You had all the data points. I know there are a lot of numbers that
were thrown here but um we've seen that sort of iteration in finance meetings. um how meticulous you guys are with numbers, with assumptions, with data points. So again, thank you for all your help and support. Um the only question I have is um and I'll call it our
reserves. Would you anticipate still on the higher end of 8% or plus or would we sort of slide towards you know 6%? Typically we try to keep it between 6 to 8% but usually we are on the higher end of it. So any anticipation for our fund
balance? Fund balance. Yeah. Unassigned fund balance I think we're projected. So last fiscal year when we ended out it was 8.31%. Um with this budget, you know, based on the 2425 budget, we're looking roughly
around nine. Okay. Um I mean we'll we'll have true numbers once the audit's complete. If I can give you an estimate, I would probably give you still a conservative estimate and I feel like that would be a conservative one. Okay. Great. Thank you so much. That's really I might just add on to that too and response. It's also going to be important for the board as we move
forward to consider what we've been hearing and it's hard to project this two years out but the next banium there's a projection of a $6 billion shortfall on the state. So that could uh have an impact along the way and if the fund balance is a little bit higher than
what we've had before um that might look really good in a couple of years if that materializes. Thanks Go ahead. Okay. Well, thank you so much. Um it was very rewarding to sit in on finance
committee um last week and really go over the numbers and you know receive your excellent presentation. Um I don't have any questions except to say I really appreciate the work you and your team um gained together to put forward this um you know really excellent um piece of information. I'm heartened by the news. It looks like our financial is
strong um but you guys are going to be cautious along the way and that's appreciated as well. So, thank you very much. Oh, thank you. I I think I have to include one other person is Dave Loots. Um, I work closely when I'm building salary and benefits. We pretty much work hand in hand. So, I think I'd like to include Dave and kind of this whole
thing. So, thanks Dave. Hi, thank you for being here. Yeah. Um, it was a great uh explanation of everything. Good overview. Um, I am concerned about special ed funding. Um, so help me understand. If the state is
not able to find $250 million, then we're going to continue to see cuts because we will no longer have a cross subsidy aid or that'll get reduced. Is that correct understanding? It'll get
Yep. So um we would never reduce our um level of support and our level of service to our students. So then the cross subsidy for us will again increase. Is that a correct
understanding? Uh so they're so what they're doing so the $250 million in cuts is they're looking outside of districts. They're trying to find that where they can reduce the 250 million without affecting districts. But if they can't, then they'll reduce the cross
subsidy, which we're a boost up to from 44 to 50%. Which then means the district would get less funding based on the spend. Um, which is very concerning when you look at it with what district spend on special ed. I mean, it would put every district in a very hardship as we
move forward. Okay. Another question I have is as we think about transportation, the special ed transportation used to be funded 100%. We are now at 95% and it will continue to go down another 5% from what I
understand. Okay. Um in comparison to general ed students, how much is transportation covered? Uh so no for general education students, it's not covered. Okay. So I mean other than your non-public education transportation and
some DSG transportation, you don't you don't get funding on your regular transportation. So our the way that we do transportation in Weisetta is through the general fund. We just take care of. Okay. Thank you. I'm going to keep in this line of
questioning. Um and so my question and so first thank you to the team, right? I you this is amazing and and I'll say that again. Um but I just do really appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes into it. Um I'm going to ask about um we talked about
the 2.9 um million that might go into the unassigned fund balance and some of this was alluded to. Um but I'm wondering if we look at what's on the horizon which been which has been talked about. We have some unknowns. We have some enrollment unknowns. We haven't
seen our students yet. Um we have negotiations that are come that are happening right now. Um there's a number of questions around the federal government and what they're able to provide for or not. We have some of the um special education questions that Heidi just alluded to. I think we have a
transportation contract that we're going to have to negotiate at some time. Um and so all of those things, right? Could it end up that we could um not only blow through that 2.9 million in fund
balance, but then also need to um take from the fund balance that we already have? And and that's not just sort of being a doomsday naysayer, but these are sort of real credible threats or or not threats, but just factors that are going
into our budget adjustment. Is that true? That is true. Yeah. I I mean you're right on. They I mean these factors could push us over, you know, reduce they could we won't increase our revenues, but yeah, it could increase our expenditures where now we're spending in a deficit. I mean I'd like to say I budgeted conservatively, you
know, just for those um and hopefully, you know, they'll come in less. But as you said, we don't know what the future holds. So it could I mean we could we could spend in a deficit if when we come to revise. So yeah. Okay. Thank you. And those are just the things that are on our horizon and and we know that we have
some things coming up. Okay. So, thank you for that clarification. And I just want to underscore um a thank you to when and Dr. Anderson referenced this a little bit. Um I remember when that beautiful Wise Cafe's fund balance was
was in a deficit and and I remember when we were talking about bailing out community ed and other things and and that was what four years ago, right? I mean that was so so that wasn't a long time ago and um where we are where we are is because each of you have worked
with each those those leaders and we have amazing leaders in community ed and visetta cafes that have just been really thoughtful and conservative um in what they're doing which has allowed them to to regrow up and so I just want to underscore the importance and say a huge
thank you for conservative and um proactive uh budgeting and the way that this team leads including Dr. Anderson leads our district and facilities with Mr. Deutsch in the back as well. So,
thank you everyone um in the work that you're doing. Thank you. I appreciate it. Okay, David. Um most of the questions that I had in my mind were answered when other my colleagues asked you those questions. I
do have one question. If we go back to the I don't know which slide number it is we have a breakdown of the taxes uh state tax the part of the taxes that we get for our funding 60% state 30% Oh yeah property
oh so the 4% increase um for the property taxes before adjustments what are the adjustments we are looking at what are you talking about the adjustments are kind of like the LTFM we get adjustments for previous fiscal years whether or not so our levy is based on projected enrollment. So we go
into a system um and we input what we think where our projected enrollment is going to be and the levy kicks in money for that. So it's it's based on our projected enrollment starts paying us while two fiscal years go on once the true enrollment is adjusted. Then we
start getting those adjustments whether they be positive increases of revenue or negative such as like the LTFM. We didn't spend enough so now we're seeing those in two fiscal years later on. All right, sounds good. Thank you. Uh if there are no other questions, thank you David, thank you Jack, and thank you
John. And thank you Jen. She's not here, but thank you all of you. So all right, we do have a special regular meeting following this work session and the board will be asked to approve the prelim budget. Is that right, David?
The board will be asked to approve that budget, right? After in the special work session. All right. So this there are no school board reports and this completes our work session for the evening. We will take a short break of 10 minutes and reconvene for the special regular
meeting. The time is now 5:55. The Visetta Public Schools Board of Education work session for Monday, June 23rd, 2025 is adjourned. Part: 2
[Music] Good evening. The time is now, okay, let me see what what the time is now 6:10 p.m. The Visetta Public Schools Board of Education special regular meeting for
Monday, June 23rd, 2025 will please come to order. Will the clerk please call the role? Heidi Kedar here. Sheila Prior here. Sarah Johansson here. Harris Bendy
here. Valentina S can uh I do here making a note that she's on Zoom. Dan Janestra here. Milan Sahonyi present. Chase Anderson here. Thank you. We have
a quorum. Director Ays has joined us today via Zoom. Hello Valentina. Okay. Okay. The first item on our agenda is the approved approval of the agenda and the consent agenda items. There is no consent agenda for this meeting. Is
there a motion? I move. Second. Moved and seconded. Would now be the time for me to move my amendment? Absolutely. All right. Well, Mr. Chair. Um I motion to amend the um agenda as it
stands to add an audience opportunity to address the board. Okay. So noted. A second. All in favor say I. I. I. I. I. Wait a minute. What are we voting on? Voting. Are we voting on the amendment or are we voting on the agenda? So we need to
state that the agenda. Okay. Director Jinestra has asked for an amendment to add an item on the agenda to add the public opportunity to speak and he has moved that and ID is seconded.
But due to the remote okay so that is that is what we are looking at. We are voting on the amendment to the agenda. Uh so this will be by roll call. Uh Sheila
Heidi Kedar. Yes. Sheila Prior. Yes. Sarah Johansson. Yes. Harris Bende. Yes. Valentina Ays. Dan Dan Janestra. Yes. Milan Sahony.
Yes. The amendment passes. We we so now we go back to the the whole agenda, right? Okay. So, who wants to move the agenda with the amendment? Final agenda.
Second. Moved and seconded. This is also a roll call vote. Sheila, please. Heidi Kedar, yes. Valentina Ays, Dan Janestra, yes. Sarah Johansson, yes.
Paris Bend, yes. Sheila Prior, yes. Milan Sahony, yes. The motion carries. We have an agenda. So, what we'll do, Amy, is we'll add the public uh comments before any of the other items. So, uh we
have somebody, right? We have uh Sher Olen. Does she need to fill out a form? Well, has she has she filled out a form? Okay, we'll let it go. Okay, we'll let it go. That's fine.
Sheru, please. Thank you, uh, school board for allowing me to speak. I really appreciate it. Um, and I want to say thank you for serving in this role. You have to make a lot of hard decisions. And I'm here to speak on one of the decisions you'd like to make
tonight. I have concerns about the vote to move uh schoolboard elections to even years. Um, it's long been a controversy whether that's a good thing to do or not. Um, I have long supported oddyear school board
elections for many reasons. I believe you have a possible larger and higher quality pool of candidates that are willing to run and serve on the school board when elections are held in odd
years because of less partisanship and the zoo that a lot of elections have become. I also believe that it's an opportunity for community to learn about and focus on
local um issues and their local leaders instead of being distracted with larger elections, many multiple candidates that they need to learn about and make a decision on. I also think that it helps it helps to
keep the partisanship down. I know there was a long discussion at the May work session and partisanship came up a lot and I agree that there's not a lot we can do about it seeping into our elections and our school districts. But
why feed that? Why create the opportunity for a school board election to be viewed as partisan and have your candidates forced to talk about issues that maybe don't affect our
district or um put their lawn sign next to one candidate or another. And right away your community has put you in a box and they may or may not respect or listen to your opinion while they're serving down the road.
Uh that said, there are many benefits to moving the elections to even years and I think it's important to acknowledge that there are benefits that we could see. Saving the money of course is I think a top priority for this district because
we are fiscally conservative and I can appreciate that you want to save the money. Um, I think a lot of the discussion at the May work session had to do with saving the money, the benefits of
all elections being at the same time for our community. Um, it lowers confusion when we have to have consolidated polling places during the schoolboard election, etc. So I'm not saying it would be a tragedy to move our elections
to um even years. My main objection is the process by which it reached this point. I think that you're making this decision with next to zero community input.
I think that there was um a conversation at a March or April work session and that was because the legislature was thinking of moving it to be mandatory to move elections. Okay. When that didn't
happen, you then had a long good conversation about whether to do this or not about four weeks ago, I believe in the May work session. It was a good conversation and I would encourage anyone in the community to watch the
YouTube recording of that conversation. All of you had very good thoughts on it. I think that one of the arguments in that conversation was that you wanted more opportunity for the community
to vote because there was larger turnout in even years. That's true. But you're taking this vote with no community opportunity for input, thoughts, or anything. I think tonight is the opposite of
wanting community involvement and transparency. And please, please, please don't act as a body in a way that continues to erode public trust and confidence. That's all I'm asking is for you to please consider that.
Thank you. Thank you, Sher. Okay, let's move on to the next uh I'm sorry there's another Oh, sorry. Okay, welcome Rachel.
Hello. Good evening. I wasn't planning on speaking, but since uh I have the opportunity, um so we just heard David give a board presentation on on funding and um on behalf of uh families, I have my own
students in the district and I'm a teacher and on behalf of the other teachers, I'm also the teachers union president. Um looking at currently we know that um the in the next bianium we are expected to
receive that inflationary increase but um we know that in the following bianium we're probably going to have no increase at all. Um potentially even cuts and we were hearing we were asking questions about special ed funding and that's real concerning. um
the savings of over $100,000 every two years. Um that's pretty significant. Um looking at reducing class sizes, relieving teacher workload impacting special education. Um prioritizing
putting the funding into classrooms and teachers. Um when we look at the community survey that went out um and by and large what the community was saying was classrooms and teachers are
are where the highest impact we know is for our learners and um I the optics of it are what's I feel the most important um and
looking at just the financial impact alone um just given what we know is on the horizon to me um having to prioritize that and putting that funding where it really matters just knowing that we don't know there's a lot of unknowns um as we just discussed and
we're listening to David um I ask that you really think about that as we're looking we don't want to end up having to to cut teachers having to be um increasing class sizes again and losing good teachers and having it affect our
our students. So, thank you. Okay. Thank you, Rachel. No more, right, Amy? Yeah, that's it. Okay. All right. So, let's let's move on. Um, we have two items on the agenda this evening. The admin reports and recommendations.
And the other item is the board action. In the first administration item, Dr. Anderson will seek board approval of the identified official with authority, also known as Iowa as required annually by the Minnesota Department of Education.
Dr. Anderson. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the board. I'll share the following information from the board packet in regard to what this action item entails. Minnesota Department of Education requires that school districts must annually designate an identified official with authority uh to comply
with the MNIT, which is the Minnesota Information Technology Enterprise Identity and Access Management Standard. It's a mouthful, which stands that all user access rights to Minnesota State Systems must be reviewed and reertified at least annually. The identified
official with authority will assign job duties and authorize external users access to MDE secure systems for their local education association or agency. The board recommends to authorize Chase Anderson me to act as the identified official with authority
for public schools. Recommended action. Uh we'll uh turn that over to the board to read the action and uh you can take it from there. Thank you Dr. Anderson. So colleague, the recommended action is to approve the attached resolution naming Chase Anderson to act as the
identified official with authority for Visetta Public School District. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. Is there a discussion? Hearing none. Oh, sorry. Valentina, go ahead.
Okay. Thank you. Um I will be talking maybe a lengthy way but uh the whole idea why I am joining is that I am trying to also participate. Uh what happened is um I want to say
thank you first of all to Amy uh who went above and beyond organizing that I can join this meeting and I can participate in Milin for sharing some information. We had the general planning meeting where we discussed about
possibility since uh this is important topic uh allowing all seven of us to participate and somehow I I am on I was on vacation in fact I'm still on the way back home uh severely jetlagged
somehow the move the discussion about moving this meeting to 24th 25th or 26 changed um I don't know how even though during agenda planning meeting where uh
chair vice chair and superintendent was present and I was present there there was no opposition can you hear me um to to be honest when I I heard that about nonpartisan
I this is the first sign for me how partisan it can be because Again the discussion was doing it from different date. I don't think she Valentina can can Valentina can you hear can you hear
me? Valentina can can she hear you? Yeah. I don't Valentina can you hear me? Yeah I think she can hear you. Okay. Can you hear me? This is Yeah, we can hear
you. Can you hear us? Okay. So, can you can you hold off on that for for a later item on the agenda? Let's just discuss the the motion on hand right now. Approval of Dr. Anderson
for the Iowa Authority. So, we we have we have moved that seconded that and this is a discussion on that specific item. So if you could please hold off on your comments for we'll let you talk but not at this not in not in this item of
the agenda. Okay. So so so hold off on that and then we will we will finish the discussion. We'll take a call. Yeah. Maybe that's the microphone. Okay. Can you hear me now?
Can you hear me better? Okay. So, I think we turned the position of the microphone that you were listening to earlier. So, maybe this will work better. Okay. So, what I was going to say was let's hold off on your comments for now. This
is a discussion part of the vote on the approval of Chase Anderson as the authority. Okay. And so if you do not have any comments on that, let's let's move on. Let's see if the rest of the board has any comments and then we'll do
a roll call vote. Okay. Anybody else has a comment? Do you have a comment on this specific item, Valentina? Do you have any comment on this specific item? Okay. All right. So, let's let's go with a roll call vote. Sheila will call the role.
Sheila Prior, yes. Heidi Kedar, yes. Valentina Ays, Dan Janestra, yes. Sarah Johansson, yes. Harris Bend, yes. Milan Sahony, yes. The motion
passes. Thank you. Congratulations to Dr. Anderson. All right. So the next finance director David Dascoich will seek board approval for the prelim budget for fiscal year 202526. David.
Good evening superintendent Chase board members. uh district administration recommends that you uh recommends the following revenue and expenditure budget by fund for FY2526 fiscal year. Um I know we went over this through a presentation during the work
session. So I'll just skip to the end. Um revenues over revenues over expenditures. So the revenues will be 277,672,519. Uh total expenditures for 2526 will be $285,992566. Um my motion is or my recommendation is
to approve the preliminary budget for the FY2526 fiscal year. All right. Thank you, David. So board members, the recommended action is to approve the pre prelim budget for the 202526 fiscal year. Is there a motion? I so move. Second. Moved
and seconded. Is there a discussion? I have a comment. Thank you. This is the most important job that a board can do. It is our number one job to approve a budget. It is not something that happens in 30 seconds at a board meeting. It's a it's a multi-year process. Thank you to
the team for guiding our district to this point. Thank you. Anyone else? All right. So, if there are no comments, this is also a roll call vote. Uh, Sheila, if you could please. Paris Bend, yes. Sheila Prior, yes.
Heidi Kedar, yes. Valentina Ays. Dan Janestra, yes. Sarah Johansson, yes. Milan Sahonyi, yes. The motion passes. Thank you. And thank you, David. Thank you. Okay. So the final item on the
agenda this evening is board action regarding even one-year elections. This item is brought forward to establish if the Wisetta school board uh I think we lost connection did we? Okay, never mind. Okay, sorry about
that. This item is brought forward to establish if the Wisetta school board will be pursuing changing from odd year to evenear elections. Should this initial vote pass, the school board will vote on which of the two resolutions it plans to pursue.
Should the vote on changing from odd year to evenear elections not pass, there will not be a follow-up vote on the election resolutions. The motion statement is to um is to adopt a resolution moving visetta school
board elections from odd years to even year elections. Is there a motion? Second move and seconded. Is there a discussion? Okay, go ahead, Valentina. No, you can continue where where I cut you off. I'm sorry about that. But yeah,
you can continue, I think. Mhm. No, actually I I would say our technology department and Amy works so well. She fixed it. They fixed very quickly. I hear very well right now. Okay. Um I just wanted to say that uh as I said, I
wanted to say thank you to Amy for doing uh going above and beyond and organizing this uh meeting this way. I had been out of the country. I am in fact still on the way back home and um this is uh how
technology allows to participate. I just wanted to pointed out that uh we had agenda planning meeting and I was involved there. Chair, vice chair and superintendent were present there. We discussed about
since uh it's quite a sensitive topic that all seven of us should be present and especially when we had work session where you can already gauge who is leaning uh towards what uh kind of decision uh just simply eliminating
somebody can change completely the outcome. So this one uh um me being able to uh connect via Zoom allows me uh to participate. Bonus thing. I'm not sure why uh when we made decision that we
will change the date all of a sudden within two weeks uh things changed back to 23rd. Yes. The discussion was maybe that it might be saving $350 because of the if you ch if you meet on
different date then it's $50 per uh schoolboard member need to be paid but we're talking about $100,000 here. So I'm not sure what is comparison and as I said again um we I just started
hearing about nonpartisan this is one of example when I I almost got eliminated but again thanks for several um people at our board um this allowed me to participate um
and uh another one was discussion was brought up that this um keeping election during odd years allows us allows people who have less money to participate. I have to disagree with it because as if
right now we have uh in many school districts teacher unions supporting certain candidates and choosing not to support others. we cannot compete with uh teacher union's money for example and I would like to point it out I have
nothing against teachers in fact I'm working at school myself so it'll be odd uh if anything I would say probably teachers also not all teachers sign up for um uh social emotional uh teachers probably sign up for this job because
they like teaching but all of a sudden society is asking them to do more uh almost like to parent. Uh so arguably I would say that probably not all teachers would like to be parents to students.
They just want to teach students and uh be mentors in their lives. Um uh in another one I wanted to point it out that um perh at work session we uh
presentation we found out that in the past was just 5% of uh electorate was participating. So uh it's 5% of people who are making decision uh for school district. uh 2021 changed uh the picture
more people uh started participating for some uh reasons because and I don't think it is uh so much to do um party lines and all it's just that like I we heard even during presentation from
Hazel that uh we as a um I mean district number one in education we're missing about over 900 students because other families are choosing to go somewhere else because values do not align and it
it's nothing wrong uh that some parents disagree and it allows parents to participate in elections and then uh to say their opinion. um I don't think that 5% of people uh should be making
decision for school district and uh moving to even year election first of all I would say I mean it's small but still it will eliminate additional work uh for Amy she has to
hold quite a bit of um things and I'm going to say also clarify that Amy had been if anything Amy had been very non partisan. Uh she never showed any um her
opinions. Uh and a second one is uh yes it's 100 um $100,000 but it's still money um every two years. So you can use money that money for something else. But for
biggest uh one for me is that moving to even years it allows I I mean to be honest if you look at the uh what happened I mean historically more people will be participating
and that allows then uh from I mean more more people are making decision for school district not just 5% not just uh groups uh groups groups on Facebooks, groups on um organized groups uh so to
speak uh and um uh um just a minute. Sorry. One um one more thing I I wanted uh to say that um the last the last uh
election when I I was participating I want just to remind that teacher union was uh supporting free candidates. Arguably, I would say that then these three candidates should not be involved in uh contract negotiation because it
show it um uh there is a conflict of interest there and it was with previous teacher union um representative. Hopefully with um
this um with new teacher uh represent u union it'll be different because again I don't know why some communities um are not eager to hear a different opinion. Just because we have a different opinion
it doesn't mean that we are completely opposing something. In fact, actually being at school board, um I found that with some school board members, we can actually work across the aisle and we
can uh discuss things because we have common um we need to find something in common in us, something in common. I believe it is uh free hours, reading, uh arithmetic and uh writing. That's the
most important thing why we're sending our teach our students to school and our um arguably again teachers uh not all teachers have psychological degree to do social emotional uh teaching and I think
that parents need to do parenting and schools need to uh to bring free ours into um system into back to back to basic we are not asking a lot. Um so my
opinion uh would be that I would uh support moving to even year election and um moving to a three-year cycle. Hold on because I feel it is odd for me
to Valentina can you hear me? that three year is not we are we we may get there but right now we are we are focusing on just whether we want even year or odd year elections on I just to be honest if we never ended up that de uh I would not be able to
voice that that opinion that's why I'm just saying uh and I'm done uh my point is I don't feel comfortable extending uh one more year for myself it feels like you know a politician just choosing
I feel like it will be more transparent if we uh u we come up to even years by uh by uh doing free years. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Any other any
other comments? Any discussion? Yes, I do. So, I just um I think it's important to have this whole picture in context, right? So, a few months ago, um it was suggested at the legislature
um that there there might have been a requirement for us to go through with this vote. However, um the when the omnibus bill was signed, which I think was what May 20 something, May 23rd, 25th, something
like that, um which was after our last work session, it didn't move forward. And so in my perspective, that rush of having to make the decision is not there anymore. And so that the
the slide that's up on the on my screen right now was when we were trying to figure out how this would work if the legislature had put that into the omnibus bill. So we don't have that right now. Um so the the
action that's in front of us is not a recommendation through the administration. Um and I think it is a recommendation from the chair and you can correct me if I'm wrong. Um, but I also have concerns
that we have not appropriately engaged our school community in this decision because we don't we're not at this point of the rush to have to make the decision. And so at in my perspective at a bare minimum we could have t we can
now take this to our citizens finance committee to talk about that angle. We can take it to scite. We can take it to our liaison committee. we can take it to our strategic partners. Um, the way that Weisetta has typically done things is in
a very measured way. It may take some more time, but we get it right and I want to get this right. I am not in opposition of us saving money 100%. I want to save money any which way we can so that we can put it into our
classrooms. I think there are more creative ways that we can do that. I think that we could talk about aligning our board votes with levies and bonds because it's my understanding that our levies and bonds come up for a vote for
election as our school needs them. And so is there a pathway for that? Are there different ways that we can come by this money rather than having to make this fast of a decision? So, um that's kind of where I stand. Um I have more
questions but I'll let my colleagues speak. Okay. Go ahead. So I have a question about that with the levies and bonds and the things that I know in the past when we have had you know when we like the
tech technology levy we had some flexibility in when we could have it because um you know you had like a buffer you could you could kind of choose your year. So when we had that with the technology levy, would we not
also have that with other things that we're bringing to the voters? So if we if we moved to even years, then we could kind of get on that schedule as well to save money with elections, which is why we moved the technology lovely to when
it was. It's my understanding from asking that we would not be changing the way that our bonds and loveies are run. we would be continuing to do them as needs arise. So, for example, we have an April uh potentially potentially an
April vote on a referendum. It would continue to stay that way. Right. So, but that has so that's going to be in April. That's already not in November. So, we're choosing to do that outside of the normal election time anyway. Correct. And to run that is also the
same cost as running a schoolboard election or we have every reason to believe it is. We don't, you know, we haven't done it yet, so we don't know for sure. But as far as I guess I don't see how the two are related then because if we're already doing that and it's not related to
elections, we're just talking about elections. I just want to make sure I'm clear on like what any So my point is anytime we're going to the ballot, anytime we're asking people to come out to vote for things for school, it costs
us $100,000, right? So we we could rather than having in my perspective, we could try to start getting on a different schedule so that we have our schoolboard elections and our bonds and
levies happening on the same ballot so that it's schools happening all at once. You're asking people to focus on schools. I said we're not we're not talking about that right now. I do not see how they're related. We could maybe
choose to do that later, but right now we're just talking about board elections on even or odd years. And yes, it would be great if everything else was aligned. But what I'm saying is we could come up with more creative solutions rather than
just having these two in front of us. In my perspective, these are not our only two options. I I just need to make a point of clarification and then I'll speak later. We have aligned general operating referenda with school board elections
and the whole purpose of that was that we were engaging our community in a conversation that centered our district and our district leadership. 2017 was the last example of when we did a general operating levy and a schoolboard election and at the and it worked really
well for the two. This most the one that's coming up soon though is going to be in April and not in November. I think that that is a portion because they when we're doing a building in construction um as you as was noted
tonight and has been noted in the past, there's a number of timelines and things and as we think about when we need to have the money ready. Um and so we take a number of different votes where we go out and ask our voters for money. One of them is is on a on a bonding bill or facilities that may have some other
constraints or timelines depending on when it's when we can get the money and when we can do the construction and when we can get the supplies and all of those things. There's the general operating levy in which we ask the voters to renew. I know there's been given some board authority to autorenew those. That's not a conversation that we've had
at this table yet and I know we've had a preliminary but that's not there. But there has been a consistent commitment and again 2017 was that one when we go out and ask the voter ask the voters for our own directed referendum that doesn't
connect with construction that that has been tied to schoolboard elections and that timing has been serendipitous in centering district issues. Yeah. But I Heidi um even I had similar question um and again Sarah to your
point whenever there is a need like let's say potential April 2026 yes unfortunately we'll have to go off cycle whether it is odd odd year or even year right and then wherever possible again we want to align it with
schoolboard election whether it is odd year or even year so again that's where I agree with you I don't see how they are connected and again whether we move odd or even year we still have to make every attempt to
align all these levies and everything with whenever the next school board election is. So again I I'm not able to connect the dots. Again fully understand your point that hey it has to be together so we don't spend more money either even year or odd year. So
okay go I I go ahead. I have more comments but I'll let you go. So to your point Heidi about the legislature not doing anything with the omnibus bill. We have always complained that the legislature
does not let us have local control. This is a great opportunity for us to have local control and we are now saying we want to wait for the legislature no to do that. Right. So so I I didn't I didn't get the connection for that. Let me let me finish first. The other thing
I heard saying somebody saying that there is no difference in cost whether it whether the referendum is held during an odd year or during an even year. then why are we even bringing that into this picture
right and that is what I think earlier we in an email conversation that is what I heard or saw somebody's mention that that the that the referendum for example we have next year in April will have the same cost whether we do an odd year election or even in year election so
that's that number one number two to me the most important thing two most important things are the cost savings and the phenomenally higher voting percentage that we see in even year elections. All
this not talk about nonpartisanship, partisanship, I think is overblown. Like I mentioned in my in in the last meeting, I gave me gave my personal example of how somebody in an a year election put me in a democratic bucket. They said I was a democrat because of my
values, because of what I was running on. So how can how can somebody say that this will not happen in an even year election also you know it it it doesn't matter which year election you have if you have values if you stand for something people don't take that take a
minute to label you as a democrat or a republican it doesn't matter they they are they become partisan right away thank you then well thank you you know we've had a I think a very diverse and dynamic conversation on this issue for a while
now. And I think as I've been reflecting and thinking on what everyone said, I think I'm drawn in many ways to a larger point that I think goes beyond the budget or spending or turnout. Um, it is a question of whether or not we want to
make the investment in having an election where we can tell our own story, talk about our own challenges, our own needs as a district without that national rhetoric that is so misleading, so based in not what public education
does or not what school boards do. Come on in. And we have two great examples, I think. One is 2022 where we had a special election for school board. The other is 2023 we had an year election. And we look at what happened in 2022
where all the rhetoric was. All right? We were hearing stuff about oh there are these books that need to be banned. We were hearing teachers are teaching things that are inappropriate. There's stuff in the curriculum that's not acceptable. And the common thread through all of that was people need to
run for the school board so that they can ban the books. so that they can discipline the teachers, so that they can rewrite the curriculum to their own ends. Those are not things that school boards or schoolboard members do, period. Yet, because of the national
rhetoric, that national narrative, people believed that. We fast forward one year later and our teachers feel safe doing their jobs. We've made this critical investment, as we have now for many years, in telling Weisetta's story.
So, we're talking about how we can lower class sizes. We're talking about the district's budget. We're talking about our spending. We're having an election that is based in Weisetta public schools, that is based in facts, that is
based in our ability to tell our story. Sarah has the floor to you. Go ahead. all that we can sit down at the table and we can discuss because all parents uh and teachers we are concerned about uh I mean we have similarities we don't
have that kind of big uh issue uh how we don't have complete different values for us some things We might disagree but that's that's what we need to be able to discuss. If you like even right now it's happening don't want us to uh to voice
our opinion. Uh well to be honest school district schools uh belong to all of us. We are talking about equity here. I would like to be uh equally um being involved in our kids education and I
mean as a parent and to be honest as a um myself u being able to take advantage from what my teachers were able to bring. So I'm not sure how can you separate uh national level and uh local
level you want it or not it's still affecting many school district uh in Minnesota have exact the same issues and they move to even years without any problems and in fact actually quite a bit uh thanks to Amy quite a bit of
school district did even five year um like I mean extending their servings so that school district don't have to have I mean in our case it's hundred thousand dollars more spending and I was actually I even checked with our school
district um asking if uh community opposed or um they had some backlash community in many school districts actually took it as is. uh I have myself personally difficulty with that but what what I want to point out many school
district in Minnesota moved to even years without any problems and I'm not sure what is the difficulty here to be honest thank you okay I have a couple of points so every
election is open to every student every citizen candidates and community members actively engage and getting out the vote efforts including information sharing, directions to polling places, calling setting up calling trees about voting.
There's a number of get out the vote efforts that happen. Um, extended polling opportunities, rid shore services. I align that that does not always produce large amounts of voters in elections and that is really um an
important factor. At the same time, there's also a number of efforts that show that the people that have made the efforts to go to the polls have learned about school issues and they are voting because they have an opinion and they want to express it. I fully ex support
the need to increased informed turnout in all elections and I agree as well that there are um merits to even an oddyear elections um and that warrants information collection community input
and seeking understanding. This is not the time or the process for this school board to make this decision. And I'm going to give a couple points why. The June 9th board meeting, we heard um in public comment about the level of
intentionality that previous boards went into in holding elections in the odd years. Um and they did so to ensure a focus on school specific issues. They did not do it rash. They did not do it quickly. They sought input and they made
an informed decision. Our community deserves the opportunity to center our children and our schools in a time and space where district issues can take center stage. Second of all, we have a strong commitment to nonpartisan. This is almost impossible to do in 2025. I've
talked at nauseium about that. Um this cannot be uh it it it's hard to avoid in oddyear elections. um it will um I I think our speaker just said something about um you know we will only feed it if we do it in evenear elections. I
would like to draw into point the 22 special election um where there were three candidates uh the parties lined up for each candidate that they thought best aligned with theirs values and there was one candidate that was out in affiliation. that candidate identifies
it as being beat up by both sides and could not get airspace in any place and can detail specific examples of their negative experience. The financial considerations I um I think you heard me talk a lot about fiscal conservativism
and and and spending and and I am first to say that we need to be cautious. We have a $277 plus million budget. The cost of a $100,000 election is 0.000036%. And um this will not eliminate our need
to hold um off-year elections. We we need to be conservative. We need to look at class sizes. We need to create excellent opportunities for students. 0.000036% 00036% is not going to move that needle. mindful effort from this body in
collaboration with the administration might. Next, ARS, who's a partner of ours, wrote in their newsletter recently to all school districts that um and it was sent to all newsletters that it will be even and I quote now it will be even
more challenging, contentious, and loud to run elections in even years. And this will take more a person could fill in the blank funds, staff, etc. to get attention. that will happen for school
districts going out to ask for votes. That will also ask that will also impact our candidates. We want candidates who are dedicated to this district and who can speak eloquently about school district issues and they deserve the attention of our community. So that
leads me to what is the problem we are trying to solve and what is the urgency. We don't have to make this decision today. That doesn't mean future boards wouldn't make that decision, but we have a precedent to be informed. We've not reached out to district liaison, the
SEFAC, um, engaged Morris Letterman, or sought any formal public input. We are holding this vote at a special meeting in the summer when previous materials indicated a vote at the regular meeting on June 9th. There has not been adequate
community input. We owe it to our community to take the time and to seek the input and to educate ourselves to ensure that all considerations and impact are explored
and understood. This vote is in direct opposition to intentional actions by previous boards. And I I will just underscore again that we owe it to our students and our community to pause, to learn, and to engage our stakeholders in this most
consequential decision. Anyone else? Yeah, like to say something. Um, so when we found out how much money we would be saving, I think that was that came as a surprise to me. Um, I I've thought long and hard about this issue.
I'm very I mean $100,000 every two years that's the equivalent of a part-time teacher. I mean that's another um that's another PLC coach. That's another um part-time specialist somewhere. You
know, I when you think of it in those terms, I would like to put us on the path to those cost savings sooner rather than later. Um, I think in terms of an investment, if we're looking at this as an investment, what are we getting from our investment? I don't think we're
getting much from our investment. I think we're getting we Yes. So, I had the, you know, the pleasure to run two years in a row. I ran for the special election to replace CAM Falconer and then I ran again the next year or so because that term ended.
So, I ran in 2022 and 2023. um the level of partisanship was the same in both years. I think that is just the the world we live in right now. Um so I don't know that keeping partisanship out of it is is happening. So why are we
spending this money on it if it's not happening? Um if we want to talk about community input, we did receive a lot of emails. Um we've had people come talk to the board. Um, I don't know. I mean, my impression is that it's kind of cost or
partisanship and that those are kind of the main issues and so then I ask again, if we're not getting if we're not keeping partisanship out, why are we spending the money? Um, in terms of awareness of school district issues.
So more voters mean or you know more people coming out to vote means more people being aware of the school district issues because voters know they need to be informed on election day and the even years but in the odd years most of them don't even know there's an
election happening. So in some ways I I feel like it's what I'm hearing is almost counterintuitive. I'm like you will get more people to know about the things if you make it in an in um in an even year. So I you know
I would all right I I just want that's all I have I just want to make a can I can I speak first okay want to make a comment on the 0.36% and that brought back memories for me almost 24 years ago I was laid off in
2001 couldn't find a job for a long time and my friends used to tell me oh unemployment is very very low. You shouldn't worry. It'll it'll happen very soon. And I could not find a job for 18 months for somebody that is unemployed.
The unemployment rate is 100%. For for kids or teachers that have lost their jobs, kids that have that cannot have access to books or curriculum because of that. 0.36%
for them it's 100 100%. So to to say that 0.36% does not matter I I don't know if that is appropriate because those 0.36% adds up to the 100%.
Every every penny that we can save we should be looking at and trying to save. And like like Sheila said I I'm not convinced that we will we will remain nonpartisan if we continue with our years. It's it's not going to happen. This is not the age we are
living in. Thank you. Yeah. Well, you know, we've had um I think a lot of important questions asked and um I think I'll try to do my best to to answer a lot of them. Um you know, I
think one question, you know, put forward was um you know, what are we getting in return? Um you know, to me that stood out very obviously. um were not fighting national battles at the local area. When I listen to candidates
who ran in 2022, people who were involved in those elections, um what I hear is that it was all about these controversial books that weren't even in our library, weren't a part of the curriculum or anything like that. So, we're having to play defense on something that isn't part of our story.
We talk about the money. $100,000 could be the cost. It could be much lower. We don't know. And so it's also important to consider how those dollars would hypothetically be spent. I think when we talk about a $277 million budget, I
think we know there are a lot more needs, a lot of needs. And so it would appear, I think, very logic or realistic to say that well those dollars are probably going to be eaten up by some other more immediate need.
Okay? It's not going to be sling we can allocate, you know, toward hiring a teacher and bringing them into our Weissa public schools family. I wish it were so, but I think that's unrealistic. Um, we talked about just getting our message out and how much challenge there is there. Um, you know, and so what are
we getting? We're number one on people's ballots. I'm going to read to you next year 2026 an even numbered year who all is going to be on the ballot. All right. US Senator, US Congress, Governor and Lieutenant
Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Auditor, State Senate, State House of Representatives, County Park Commissioner, County Sheriff, County Attorney, City Council,
Mayor, and then school board. I think I probably brought up some offices who you couldn't name the person. So, we're already talking about lower name ID in an even year election to begin with. And so, when you do the counting, Wisetta
Public Schools Board of Education, that election could be 15th on the list. Okay? And this is going from random where I picked Plymouth Precinct One, which is the northwest corner of Plymouth. I drew precincts by random. So, it is an incredible benefit to tell
our story in an oddnumbered year, to not be waging defense and having to do damage control for something that doesn't even relate to us, having to have a stance on these very national sensationalistdriven narratives.
um we can tell our own story, you know, run our own campaigns, not be fighting it out with so many other people running so many other offices to just have someone host our lawn sign in their yard, let's say. Um and we can raise engagement. We can have candidates, you
know, who put their best foot forward, who are, you know, knowledgeable and engaged and do wonderful, wonderful work. So to me, the vote to stay with oddnumbered years is an obvious one, but I respect those who will say go to even.
Um, and that concludes my remarks. All right, if there are no other comments, no, no more discussion. I'm going to read the motion statement again. Adopt a resolution moving Visetta school board elections from odd yearar to
evenear elections. Uh moved and seconded discussed. This is a roll call vote shield. Dan Janestra. And for a point of information, a yes vote is to move to even years. That is correct. Okay. I
vote no. Sarah Johansson, no. Paris Bendy, yes. Sheila Prior, yes. Heidi Kedar, no. Valentina Ays.
Milan Sahonyi, yes. That's four yeses and three nos. Sorry about that. Yes. So, the motion passes. Thank you. All right. So, as I said earlier, because we are we have voted to go to even years, now we have to decide as the chart on that screen shows
whether to I I'll read read the comments first and then you will understand. I'm going to go with uh with the five-year option where we extend the term and I'll tell you why we we did we we do this. I have spoken to MSBA and basically what they
said was most of the uh districts that have moved to the even years in the last decade or so have chosen to go to the five-year option and then we will have a discussion on that. It doesn't matter. I could take the three-ear first or the five year first. It probably won't
change the change the final result. So um so next we have a resolution providing that school board general elections held after 2023 shall be held on the even numbered years. In accordance with the attached resolution, the Visetta Public Schools
School Board shall extend the current district members terms by one year. The term of office of school board members that would otherwise expire on the first Monday of January 2026 shall be extended to expire on the first
Monday in January of 2027. The term of office of school board members that would otherwise expire on the first Monday of January 2028 shall be extended to expire on the first Monday in January 2029.
The school board shall notify the county auditor of its determination to hold its general election in November of the even numbered year to 2026 and thereafter. So the motion statement is to adopt the resolution adding one year to all
current Wisetta school board members terms resulting in E1ear election henceforth. Is there a motion? Is there a motion? No. The motion is to extend the term of the board members by one year.
So I'm asking for a motion. I This is my second call for a motion. Is there a motion? Yes. Motion. Is there a second? Is there a second? Is there a second? Hearing none, the motion fails.
All right. Next, we have a resolution providing that school board general elections held in 2025 and 2027 shall be three-year terms and elections held after 2027 shall be held in the evenumbered years. In accordance with
the attached resolution, the Visetta Public Schools School Board shall transition from elections held in oddnumbered years in odd number year to elections held in even numbered years. The terms of office of school board members elected in 2025
and 2027 shall be for three years. The term of office of school board members elected in 2028 thereafter would be elected for four-year terms. The school board shall notify the county auditor of its determination to hold its general
election in November of the even numbered year in 2028 and thereafter. So the motion statement for this resolution is to adopt a resolution establishing three years terms for the school board members elected in 2025 and 2027
and four-year terms for school board members elected in 2028 and thereafter resulting in one-year elections henceforth. Is there a motion? I move. Move. Is there a second? Second move and seconded. Is there a
discussion? I guess I would like to explain my vote in this case. Um it does feel better to not extend my current term because when I was elected the voters did not elect
me for five years. Um, we will not re we will not see the cost savings now until 2028, but we will eventually see the cost savings. Um, I did really struggle with this particular part of the decision because I do want to see those
cost savings very soon, but I feel for the voters and for transparency reasons that the three-year term is the right choice. Anyone else? Yeah, this has been really difficult for me as well. Again, my primary driver was
operational efficiency. Uh again, trust in our community and then obviously the financial benefits. So, if I apply those three, then ideally we should have extended this one-year term for everybody. But again, I understand that
is not what everyone voted on. So, again, it was hard. Um, I'm still going to go with one-year extension because that's why I voted yes for the first resolution. But that no way in shape means any disrespect towards anyone who
voted and put their confidence and trust in us. Again, um, just want to say that when I as I would. Thanks. Yes, ma'am. I will be supporting shortening our
upcoming school board terms as elected um by one year to three years to get us on the evenear cycle. It affords the people the right to vote. It provides for that transparency especially in the leadup to a very um significant vote um
coming up next spring. Okay. I'm going to just make a quick comment like Paris and Sheila. I I struggled with the five year versus the three-year uh choice and I agree with Paris that saving $200,000
because if we move to a fiveyear extension that saving is right away we won't spend any money henceforth. But I also agree with Sheila that that's kind of a you know kind of a compromise by not having
a year elections at all but having this three-year term and spending another $200,000 we have spent so many thousands of dollars over the years. So I I am leaning towards I'm leaning I I think I'm going to report a yes on the
three-year u reduction of term for the next election and then the election in 2027. Anyone else have a comment? All right. If not, I'm going to read the motion statement again.
um is to adopt the resolution establishing three-ear ter three years terms for the school board members elected in 2025 and 2027 and four-year terms for school board members elected in 2028 and thereafter resulting in even
one-year elections henceforth. This is a roll call vote. Sheila Valentina Ays yes Dan Janestra yes Sarah Johansson no Paris Bende
no Sheila Prior yes Heidi Kedar no Milan Sahony yes that's four votes yes three votes no the motion passes thank you very much Okay, this concludes the Visetta public
school special regular board meeting. The next regular school board meeting will be on Monday, July 14th. And I forgot to thank Amy again. Thank you Amy so much for for I I cannot tell you how grateful I am for all the effort that
you made and Valentina for you to be able to join and uh and I I really appreciate that. is actually is very dear and near to me including everyone in our decision as much as possible. So thank you Amy for all the work you did. This concludes the Wisetta
public school special regular board meeting. The next regular school board meeting will be on Monday July 14th. The time is now 7:19. Is there a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. Second. Second. All in
favor? I'm sorry. This is also roll call. vote, right? Yes, it is. Sorry. Sarah Johansson, yes. Harris Bend, yes. Sheila Prior, yes. Heidi Kedar, yes. Valentina Ays, yes. Dan Janestra, yes.
Milan Sahonyi, yes. The motion carries. The Viserta Public Schools Board of Education special regular meeting for Monday, June 23rd, 2025 is adjourned.