##VIDEO ID:VFL5EbH0bVE## School Board testing one two three school board meeting test School Board Test Schoolboard test School Board Test e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e green as go e e e e e e e good evening the time is now 7 o' the wieta Public Schools Board of Education regular meeting for Monday September 9th 2024 will please come to order will the clerk please call the RO Heidi ker here here Sarah Johansson here haris bende here Valentina SS here Dan janra here Milan soney present Chase Anderson is absent thank you we have a quorum Dr Anderson could not be here this evening for personal reasons if you wish to speak during the audience opportunity to address the board please fill out a form placed at the back of the room and hand it over to our District administr Administrative Assistant am sitting to my right the next item on our agenda is the approval of the agenda and the consent agenda items consent agenda items are considered routine in nature and will be enacted by one motion there will there will be no separate discussion of these items unless a board member or a citizen so request in which event the item will be removed as a consent agenda item and addressed the consent agenda items are listed in the materials the recommended action is to approve the agenda and the consent agenda items is there a motion I so move second thank you moved and seconded will the clerk please call the role Paris bende sorry we're not calling the role we're we're voting to approve the what's that you said would I would I call the role but we're voting to approve the agenda that's correct okay yes yes Caris bende yes Sheila PRI yes Heidi Kar yes Valentina SS yes Dan janesta yes Sarah Johansson yes Milan soney yes we have an agenda thank you the next item on our agenda is reports from organizations this section of the agenda provides an opportunity for a WIA high school student council representative to report on information and events at WIA High School I would like to invite Pon Mel student council vice president from WIA high school please come forward I hope I I pronounced your last name correctly okay thank you welcome Pon how do I have like five minutes okay oh thank you um my name is p m as you just said um and as my advisor said I'm going to rock it tonight but I don't know how well I'll do um firstly this year we Rec or we welcomed almost or more than a thousand new freshmen um and incoming students um and so my senior class is 960 so that was a large bump in our um population I guess um instead of having all freshman struggle on their first day we had um a online learning day through uh sophomores through seniors and so only the freshman and staff were in the building on September uh 3rd and so link crew set this up and so they split up all the freshmen into manable man manageable chunks um and toured them around the school and so on um and the staff and students from what I heard absolutely love this um my freshman year when I came in the the hallways were crowded and so it was less stressful I think for all of them and they appreciated it um as for clubs and programs um student council has started off really strong this year um we have a big Senate and House population um and so upcoming we have homecoming week as of next week and our homecoming game and dance on the Friday and Saturday our homecoming theme this year is based on Mama Mia we had um the student body vote vote on it and it was a a crowd pleaser um and I'm just happy we get to play ala music without complaints from students so I'm excited about that um and so a new event we have is called the duckathon during our weeklong activities someone our committee heads propose this idea and so they're hiding Ducks around the school and so if like it's like how many ducts you collect you get a prize and I we we've never done something like a like a school search so I think a new way to incorporate like the Freshman into looking around the school more because you know you're usually just on like one or two floors um and so I just thought it was fun but and I helped or I proved the duckathon name I just thought it was funny so yeah um and then also this year we have a new approach we used it last year for prom but we have an early bird sale so we're trying to get people and give people an incentive incentive I can't speak um to buy tickets early instead of like grinding out on the last day and then we have to just look through all of them and it's tiresome um and so we've gotten it's been going pretty well um but I feel like it's going to hit hard this Friday when it's the last day for early birds and then it's GNA increase so we'll see um and then one fun thing I wanted to include is this last Friday we had a game against minona for the football game I went I'm not a football person um but the crowd was incredible like the students and there was so many staff and parents there I wasn't expecting it and um we had a crazy uh touchdown I think by um s Buu I think he's a junior but it was incredible it was like I was watching like professionals play he just sprinted across and I was like how did he get past that many guys so I thought that was really cool and then I'm I've seen a lot of posts on the girls soccer Instagram um and they've been winning a lot I think their score or their thing is like six to eight or sorry they've won six out of eight um so that's pretty good and I think that's all for today so thank you so much thank you Pon for your first report of the Year hold on one second oh sorry let's see my colleagues have any comments or questions just just a minute okay any questions comments yes I okay hi indeed Swenson was right you did rocket okay so thank you she knows things thanks so much can you so this is exciting this year because the homecoming dance is now the same weekend as the game right so tell us do you is there any insight about that about why you made the switch back or kind of where we were there um I think a big part of it was um the football team they their their game was early this year or maybe not I might be wrong on that but um last year I know why I wanted it was um and me and Marcus we have such like a long Gap where like spirit week is really hard when we already have the game and then we have to wait a week then people like I don't really want to go to homecoming after all that time and school gets harder um and so that's the main reason I think the exact board wanted to do that um but I don't I think that's the main thing is just school spirit yeah and it is early to right it is it's it's hard more planning for us but I think it's more enjoy enjoyable for the students yeah okay thank you yeah all right thank you Pon now I you can go but I just want to make a quick comment uh thank you for all that that the scal council does year in and year out so congratulations and we look forward to seeing you next month okay thanks a lot thank you so much all right next item on the agenda is recognitions I will now I will now join executive directors Dana Miller Stacy was and Scot laage at the podium they will take turns to honor Employee of the Month retire of the month and a school board thank you and good evening members of the board um we'll start tonight we have great excitement tonight because we get to celebrate two months of employees of the month because um we were unable to do that in June so Heather if you could join Dr sonone and I wi Isetta transition proudly selects Heather Baker as the employee of the month Honore as a special education case manager and teacher she is a critical team member whose expertise in supporting all students meeting them where they are and encouraging students to continue to grow helps transition in many important ways head demonstrates a passion for supporting students and a sincere commitment to their success being one of the founding licensed staff members opening Yetta transition she has contributed to the team effort to help it grow and make Transition what it is today Heather meets students exactly where they are in life and works tirelessly to support them in pursuing their individual goals from supporting students in learning in their Community to learning life skills of personal and financial management cooking skills and interpersonal skills Heather has been pivotal in transition success one of Heather's greatest strengths is bringing joy and fun to learning every single day her positive upbeat attitude engages students and staff alike she brings a spirit of creativity Joy calm and optimism to transition her classroom and Community Based instruction are created with students at the Forefront Heather will go the extra mile when planning Student Activities and structure for students and staff she approaches situations with a can do flexible attitude she is organized yet flexible Heather is caring and collaborative she works to communicate and connect with every person at transition Heather is often the first one in the building and the last one out of the building at the end of the day she goes above and beyond to make make WIS Zetta transition and its students flourish she is willing to undertake any task big or small to make the program run smoothly and ensure that every student has a great experience and that her co-workers feel supported as a case manager she leads students and families towards making good decisions for their Futures while encourag them to feel supported as they explore opportunities available in the community as a teacher she imparts the Knowledge and Skills students need to make their dreams a reality Heather's commitment to supporting the whole student helps students feel seen heard and valued at transition she is highly regarded by students who see her as a mentor as well as a teacher she handles student conflict with finesse Heather can address any situation that comes up at any given moment with Grace and respect she has a gift that makes each student feel important and successful she puts her heart and soul to each student at transition as one of Heather's colleagues has shared Heather models the essence of Excellence every day when she is at work Heather gives all students and staff the opportunity to be heard and listened to all while figuring out a solution that meets their needs Heather strives to give exceptional equal opportunities to all students and maintains individuality in decision-making Heather is extraordinarily supportive to her students by giving them individualized dignified education her approach is refreshing and authentic Heather meets every student exactly where they are in life and works tiously to support them in pursuing their individual goals wetta transition is truly grateful for Heather as are we so thank you heather for everything would you like to share a few words thank you so much that was really go and I'm sorry that I missed in June but you guys got to see all my wonderful transition friends and families and co-workers and aren't they great gosh I watched it online thank you everyone you thank you thank [Applause] you oh and the plaque I forgot got all about that all right now we said tonight we get to celebrate two months worth of um employee recognitions and so this one is a little extra special to me as this is the district service center month and with that I'd like to call forward Austin tolerson and Obby BR wetta Public Schools is honored to select both Austin terson and Abby BR directors of teaching and learning as the September employee of the month for the support of our Middle School staff and students in the trans ition to a new schedule following a large scale middle school program review our three middle schools began the process of reimagining and implementing a new schedule and expanded course offerings Austin terson partnered with our Middle School leadership team in both visioning and shepherding this transition with an expedited timeline due to Cost Containment Austin played a critical role in seeking resources providing assistance collaborating with others both in and out of the district district and collectively problem solving with the middle school team as the scheduling stage of this work progressed into the spring and summer the middle school team faced unexpected hurdles and challenges to manage Meg Bennett principal of Middle School East explained our Middle School team needed to broaden our team as we worked to finalize our middle school schedules Austin and Obby immediately stepped in to be in full partnership with the team our urgency to ensure the new launch of schedules was successful for both students and staff became their urgency they were willing to do whatever it takes to ensure a successful start to our middle schools Ryan Carlson principal at Middle School West also added both Obby and Austin really approached our scheduling needs with the same urgency we felt as a building when it would have been easy to pitch in but not have that same sense of urgency that we do as a building Mike rice assistant principal at Middle School East shared after reaching out to Austin in July to explain the complications we were having with scheduling he immediately responded and came to East his prior experience and expertise was scheduling proved to be invaluable in setting a way to look at the master schedule once we were able to lock in a master schedule that worked Austin committed to staying late hours hand scheduling students one by one there were many hours he put in on nights and weekends to ensure that all students at East Middle School would have the best schedule possible on behalf of the East Middle School administration team a big thank you is in order for Austin tolerson the students and staff are grateful for all you did Carly Bailey assistant principal at West also shared both Obby and Austin were critical to the cess student schedules at West the patience they both had with helping to hand schedule so many of our students was absolutely incredible Obby and Austin put in countless hours including late to many evenings continuing to put the puzzle pieces together they collaborated with special education teachers our counselor and student services to balance meeting the needs of our students and class sizes the support we felt at West as well as the hours that each put in to create so many student schedules was so far above and beyond our hopes and expectations Pati we will forever be grateful thank you Obby and Austin for your dedication and willingness to go above and beyond to ensure each and every one of our students in schools were ready to embark on a successful year you are a great representation of the all-in culture we strive for in wetta public schools thank you [Applause] well thank you truly honored and proud just to have been a part of the team to serve iset in this way and um honestly I feel like I should be up here with the entire team of Middle School folks I mean the number countless numbers of weekend hours and evenings at our principls and our assistant principles our counselors special education coordinators and and um case managers put in really was above and beyond it was truly tremendous effort um that was a team effort and just proud to be part of that team so thank you I i' like to Echo what Austin said and and definitely add in that um we see our Collective success as the success of all of our students so anything that we could do to partner with our middle school teams is definitely an honor and privilege that we're happy to serve in um I would also be remiss if we didn't thank our teaching and learning team when we were called in at the middle schools our team picked up our slack and were um champions of the work so we are very grateful for our teaching and learning team our coordinators our admin professionals and our fearless leader who volunteered our help sometimes um but this was definitely a a privilege and an honor and we're happy uh to be of service to our students ultimately and to our staff so thank you [Applause] good evening tonight we would like to recognize the following employees who announced the retirements in the 24 25 school year we would like to thank them for their years of service to wetta public schools and wish them well in their future endeavors for this evening we have Julianne Ganon who has been working in wetta cafes at oakwell Oakwood Elementary excuse me and has been in the district for seven years I'm sure she's watching with her feet up um in enjoying retirement at this point so again thank you Julianne for all of your service and for making wonderful meals for our [Applause] students hello board chair soney board members colleagues and community members um I have the honor to be up here tonight to recognize our incredible school board for the school board appreciation month before I go any further I believe we have a quick video to show I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the school board members in the state of Minnesota for your time and dedication to the students of Minnesota the staff you support and the communities that you work within there are many reasons people step up to serve as Schoolboard members my priority in signing up was to make sure that we preserve what's working well and also look forward to ways we can continue transformational work for each and every student that we have the privilege and honor to serve I love kids education to me is the greatest profession ever I was a teacher and Coach all my life this will be my 53rd year in the classroom and I always want to see them get the best opportunities they can I was born a leader so it was time for me to step up and give back to my community and I wanted to see our students achieve at a higher level and just want to be a part of the positive actions going on in the community I believe school boards are important because school boards really represent the interest and the values of your local community having a school board is important because they create goals together based on our vision and monitor those goals and provide resources to The District in addition at our district we do board professional development so we learn about the teaching and learning in the district and what effective instruction is the school board helps a superintendent do their job by overseeing and governing policy and giving the superintendent direction that they believe that the community wants them to go school boards are helping students across the state by setting good policy working collaboratively to improve our schools the public school is becoming more important we're being asked to include many more services than we did 10 years ago 20 years ago it's an exciting time to be in education cuz things are expanding but yet it's a challenging time because resources are scarce and so the work is all that much more important what I would like community members to appreciate about school board members is that they put in a lot of hours and these are a lot of their hours away from their families but I think really seeing the positive direction of our school district is just tremendously rewarding I love the area I love our community the students that we serve are wonderful from pre to seniors those that aren't in school yet those that have graduated my hope is that they're all successful it's very fulfilling and rewarding to give back to a community that I love and support and I'm proud to be a member if we can get more parents and community members to attend our meetings and hear about a lot of what's going on that takes place in the school settings just to sit in and ask questions that would be a great start think about it we need people out there to get involved and be effective give it a chance and think about running for Schoolboard I would encourage anybody to be a Schoolboard member it will become the most fulfilling and amazing experience that you will ever have I just want to take a moment to say thank you school board members for your service to our communities to our schools and the people of Minnesota you found a new place that the Minnesota School Board Association has set set September as a Minnesota Schoolboard recognition month to build awareness and understanding of the vital function elected School Board officials play in our society wetta Public Schools is joining other public school districts from across the state to celebrate School Board recognition month to honor local board members for their commitment to Isetta and students now I've got some certificates for you guys so let me grab them here um the members serving wetta public schools are our board chair melen soney Sarah Johansson Heidi ker I'll try to talk a little Sheil please join me in thanking each of our amazing wetta Schoolboard members for the important work they do for our district and our community [Applause] you he last year just you did it last last year so so put this back here e all right congratulations to the honores and thank you executive directors for the award ceremony there is no school Spotlight presentation this month but we have a district Spotlight presentation which will be brought to us by Executive Director of Human Resources Stacy was Stacy thank you chair soney and members of the board um we are going to reschedule our regular Department reports to the board work session but we could not start the school year without some fun um and sharing some excitement with you as to what is going well um in wetta public schools um so we just have a a quick overview of the start of the school year in place of our usual Department reports um and we hope that you enjoy this quick overview of how the 2425 school year has started a special thanks to Amy Parnell and her incredible team for their work in creating this overview for us tonight it's almost done it's almost ready behind me behind me that's it the brand new renovated playground I'm Dr G principal at Greenwood Elementary and we cannot wait to welcome everyone in person soon really soon right it's happening morning I'm Jenny Berg I'm the principal at Northwoods Elementary School my name is Daryl and I'm the custodian at the elementary school and this is bur and on behalf of Daryl and bur and I we'd like to welcome you back to the 2425 school year we're excited to see you back can't wait to see you hey Panthers this is Mrs Paul Live from the first and second grade Atrium you can see there's lots going on lots of changes folks are working hard because we've been busy up with the street this summer we are welcoming 10 new teachers um three new support staff members and lots of updates to the building uh it keeps getting better and better but the only thing missing is you see you soon hi I'm sarus and I the principle at Oakwood and we're really excited to start the 2425 school year at Oakwood we're welcoming over 25 new staff members we'll see you soon hello this is Scott gangler principal at wisett high school and we are looking forward to welcoming the the largest class in the history of wetta public schools to 9th grade this year and introducing all of them to the new portrait of WIA graduate welcome Mary Massy gleon Lake Elementary principal we're excited to swing into the new school year with our new playground hi this is Elana Walsh supervisor of wetta transition and I want to say welcome back wetta transition it's going to be a fabulous year with new staff new students and new carpets morning everyone Ross Williams principal at Sunset Hill super excited to get the year started we have about 20 new licensed and non-licensed staff coming to us this year one of the most exciting things that we have going on is that every single one of our classrooms was updated with brand new smartboards thanks technology hi I'm Michelle I'm the director of early learning welcoming back families to our preschool and ECFE programs we hope everyone has a great year welcome back Kimberly Lane coyotes hi everybody it's Dr wman principal at Kimberly Lane Elementary and I'm so glad so many families were able to make it to open house tonight it was great seeing your smiling faces and dropping off your school supplies and meeting your friends again we have awesome things to come this year at Kimberly Lane Not only was half of our building revamped this summer so new carpet new lights new smart panels but also next summer the other half of the building is going to be worked on so great things to look forward to most importantly we're looking looking forward to having you in our classrooms coming up next week so have a great rest of the summer and let's have a fantastic 2024 25 school year thanks bye coyotes 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 2024 what's new at meta Ridge this year besides that new Cardinal Crush t-shirt we have new teachers on every team in the building we are meta Ridge and we're gonna crush it what's up wisna it's Mr farington principal here at Birchview Elementary and I'm excited about two really cool things happening around here at birfield first we're welcoming 10 new staff members to our team it's going to be pretty awesome to have all those new folks in our building and lastly we have our new playground it even has a zipline it's going to be a great year here at Birchfield welcome me Bennett principal at East Ryan Carlson principal West Xavier Reed principal at Central something happened this summer are we doing something new this year I think so I feel like I haven't really done that much this summer maybe others have I don't know wait we have a whole new schedule whoa whoa welcome back can't [Music] wait we have the most excited and enthusiastic principles ever it's almost done how can you not wait to come back to that so so um just a little bit by the Numbers uh we just want to share some uh statistics for you that uh we found to be interesting we have 12,792 students enrolled the first day of school uh 875 of those are new kindergarten students 602 are new preschool students and as uh Mr gangler said we have the largest ninth grade class in the history of wetta public schools with 1,63 students and we have um 232 open enrolled students we have 1,67 students enrolled in our Wisa kids program with over 241 students on a wait list and we served 9,419 lunches the first week of school so everyone's exhausted but excited um again just by the Numbers we hired 132 new K through 12 teachers over the summer we have 30 brand new teachers to the profession it was a goal of ours to increase those teachers new to the profession to provide some better balance throughout the district and I think we were successful and we found some highly talented uh energetic uh teachers for our classrooms we have two um administrative uh professionals new to um our buildings and four new Preschool teachers five preschool assistants and one new Early Childhood family education teacher we have 36 new PA of professionals we know how vital they are to keeping um our buildings going keeping our students on track and getting us off to a great start 16 new WIA kids staff and 11 new Wisa Cafe staff two new custodians and two new associate principles and as a reminder a brand new associate principal position for the first time having an elementary associate principal at Sunset Hill Elementary and we have two new unaffiliated staff so it has been an incredible summer um full of hiring and recruiting wonderful people into our district to work with all of our incredible students we will dig into all of the details of all of the hard work everybody has been doing um at the board work session but wanted you to know and all of the good things that were happening and we had to acknowledge the first day of school because it's by far the best day of the year so thank you okay thank you very much sty uh board colleagues any questions comments yeah thank you for the video it was very nice to see that and to see the happiness and excitement um I had a question about the new positions um well the new staff that were hired is this are they new positions that were added or were you can you explain more about that really good question it's always a little bit of both um so we obviously at the end of the year have a lot of retirements throughout the summer we get resignations and because of the increasing enrollment we were able to add teachers which is really exciting um it seems like we the numbers that we have are pretty consistent year after year after year the number breakdowns of uh why people are leaving why people are coming in are sometimes a little bit different um but most of those new hires are again just because of retirements resignations um but we did and we're able to throw in kind of a fun um piece of uh adding more teachers and I think you may be hearing from parents I know we've been hearing from teachers and principals that it's feeling good starting the school year with some smaller class sizes especially at our elementaries thank you you're welcome I have one comment and Sheila already asked my question so it was exactly the same question but uh I have a comment about principal gangler um I don't know if you can speak for him but I think he might be able to finish the commencement ceremony in the exact same same time with 1,63 students that he did with 840 plus this here so I'm I'm sure he will will get that done so thank you it's four years to practice right years to practice so I have confidence he'll do it yes thank you so much anyone else thank you Stacy we are moving on it's the audience opportunity to address the board I have two requests here is there anyone else that wants to fill out a form and hand it over to Amy feel free to do so this section of the agenda provides an opportunity for members of the community to address the school board speakers who wish to provide input to the scho school board must complete the signup sheet and return it to our District Administrative Assistant Amy who is sitting at the table to my right please note that you will need to complete a request form to be included in the speaker request list when you are invited to the podium please identify the subject or agenda item to which you which your comments pertain priority will be given to students and families with students currently enrolled in the district the school board practice is not to engage in a discussion or debate with the speaker but rather allow the speaker time to express their thoughts please present your comments in a respectful and professional manner this evening each speaker will be invited up to the podium to speak for 3 minutes Amy will help us keep track of the time by holding up a red card at the 3 minute Mark she's sitting in the back I don't know if you'll be able to see her uh but if not I will I will I will say thank you when your time is up and then that's an indication that you have finished your 3 minutes if you have already shared your thoughts with the school board please consider letting someone else address the board if a Community member shares a message similar to yours please consider shortening your message or presenting as a group I don't believe there are any students tonight so I'm going to call the first speaker to the uh to the are they speaking from the podium or Amy are they speaking from the table okay to the table Karen to welcome K all right good evening waya School Board um thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight my name is Karen 2 and I'm the parent of three children um a third grader a fourth grader and a seventh grader at Central Middle School at the end of the 2324 school year an announcement was made at our elementary school that teachers um to our elementary school teachers that in uh despite the class sizes of 30 in 2 grade and 32 in third grade no additional sections would be added for third or fourth grades uh despite numerous emails and appeals from concerned parents including myself the decision was made to continue with these large class sizes this was disheartening uh particularly given the challenges our teachers and students had already faced that year uh due to these concerns I made the difficult decision to transfer my younger two children to Oro where class sizes currently sit below 25 uh just before the the start of the school year three days before the start of the school year it was announced that new sections were going to be added to third grade and fourth grade um if there had been a little bit more transparency communication uh my children might have been able to remain at the school that they have grown up in um while I'm pleased to see that the district has responded to the increased enrollment I'm a little frustrated that it took so long uh to make these critical decisions that leads me to my next point I want to ask um I want to address an ongoing issue the lack of transparency and how our schools are managed it seems that the Wisa School Board Administration um want to operate in a vacuum and the lack of transparency impedes any progress towards improvements I truly believe that the board members Administration parents and teachers share the goal of providing the best education possible to our children but if that assumption is true then why does the lack of transparency exist um with no reason not to collaborate for the good of all of the students um one example is last year there was a first grade teacher invited to the who invited the board of visitor classroom to observe and understand the challenges faced by Educators in the district as far as I know one board member attempted to visit and was turned away at the doors of Kimberly Lane why would a Schoolboard member of this District not be allowed inside of one of our elementary schools this was a bit alarming the wetta school board's website states that the board is responsible for working together to set policy and oversee our District's budget curriculum personnel and physical facilities how can we expect the board to make informed policy decisions if they're not going inside of our schools how can the board build trust and understand the needs of Educators and students without firsthand experience I think it is critical for board members to be allowed into our schools they need to see for themselves how the policies that they made are impacting those with boots on the ground they need to build trust and communication with their stakeholders I think in the and in the spirit of open communication and collaboration the board should definitely be entering our schools anytime that they want um so I'm requesting respectfully that um a vote happens to allow all board members access to our schools at any time I strongly believe that regular visits will lead to more informed and effective policym thank you okay next we have Sarah Jane Nichols welcome Sarah J good evening board members thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight my name is Sarah J Nichols and I have children at both Northwoods and at Central Middle School I am here today to ask that the school board members prioritize their presence into our school buildings to observe teachers and students in our district it is crucial for Schoolboard members to do this because it provides firsthand insight into the learning environment instructional practices and student engagement while data and reports can offer valuable information witnessing the day-to-day dynamics of classrooms allows board members to better understand how policies impact students and teachers this direct exposure helps you to make more informed decisions regarding curriculum resource allocation and professional development ensuring that your choices are grounded in the realities of the classroom for example at the middle school you could see how the new block schedule is working and at the elementary school you could see how much progress still needs to be made regarding class sizes while you are there you could also stay for lunch and see if there is enough time for the kids to eat in 20 minutes wash their hands before eating or if they are having recess before lunch as the district's wellness policy requires additionally visiting schools Fosters a stronger connection between the board and the community who elected you when board members engage with students teachers and staff they demonstrate a commitment to the well-being and success of this District this visibility builds trust with stakeholders showing that decisions are being made with the best interests of students in mind seeing students actively participating in learning can also help you identify areas of success and areas that need Improvement aligning your policy decisions with actual needs this isn't a reason for you to go into the school to find things wrong at the request quest of a parent or Community member for political reasons but it's a tool to help you do the job that this community has elected you to do many of you are elected because this community wished for greater transparency from the school board parents and teachers have been asking for a long time for the school board members to spend time in the classroom this should be a vital part of your role understanding the environments that are making and setting policies for the school board is elected to set the policies for the district district and I would like to request that if Schoolboard members believe it's important to have this happen that this issue be brought forward for a vote soon thank you so much okay that's all we have for the audience all right moving on to administrative reports and recommendation there are no reports from the superintendent teaching and learning and finance operations tonight uh we have human resources Services report presented by executive director Stacy was Stacy has one item for the board approval Stacy good evening again chair soney and members of the board um I am bringing before you this evening the was the wetta Cafe's contract for fiscal years 2024 through 2027 the school board's bargaining team and the wetta Cafe's representative reached a tenative contract agreement on July 17th subsequently the wetta cafes SEIU Local 284 voted on September 4th to ratify the contract before you you will find the summary of the proposed three-year contract it was a pleasure negotiating with the team of Isetta caf's representatives and I believe the end result um is a contract that meets their needs recognizes the value they contribute to the district and continues to keep the district competitive amongst our West Metro comparison districts the substantial increases of lunches served due to the new free lunch legislation resulted in the main priority for this group being and adding new money to their hourly wages in year one we negotiated a 5% increase in year two a 4% increase and in year three a 5% increase as a reminder this group negotiates for an hourly rate of pay and does not have a salary schedule structure like our other bargaining units this means that they do not receive a step or Lane plus new money so overall it's very much in alignment with our other bargaining units we also work towards increasing the number of paid holidays so that hourly employees maintain a more consistent paycheck we updated the S Bank language and we made various minor improvements throughout the contract overall the work we did resulted in a package of 12.65% a huge thank you to the Wi Isetta Cafe's employees as they continue to provide healthy and nutritious meals to our students we appreciate each and every one of our wetta caf's employees for the hard and very important work they do the negotiation team members were Mara stall Claire neelon Laura Moffett Carolyn narvon Carol Anderson Lawrence Deb Bowman Carolyn wood and Shelley Johnson for the district Valentina SS represented the school board and Michelle seal and Annie wal represented wetta cafes I would ask that you approve the recommended action before you this evening thank you Stacy board colleagues the recommended action is to approve the contract with the SE SEIU Local 284 vetta caf's bargaining unit for the period of July 1 2024 through June 30th of 2027 as agreed upon by the bargaining teams and ratified by the SEIU Local 284 vetta caf's bargaining unit is there a motion I so move second I second thank you moved and seconded is there any discussion just a compliment yes uh just wanted to compliment that this time you again included uh how much uh it cost after all to taxpayers that's very useful and helpful it was very nice also to meet uh with uh people and it was very visible that it was a respectful negot ation and uh that we know each other we know uh how hard um uh we work and it was very visible how employees Michelle and an uh work together as a team thank you very much okay again the recommended action is to approve the contract with the SEIU Local 284 wetta caf's bargaining unit for the period of July 1 2024 through June 30th of 2027 as agreed upon by the bargaining teams and ratified by the SEIU Local 284 Veta caf's bargaining unit will the CL please take a call vote Dan janra yes Sarah Johansson yes haris bende yes Sheila PRI yes Heidi Kar yes Valentina SS yes Milan Sone yes the motion carries unanimously thank you Stacy there is no other board action tonight the final item on the agenda is board reports this section of the agenda provides an opportunity for board members to update school board members on school board related work or to make announcements of interest to the public I believe there are no board reports today oh you you have one Heidi go ahead board colleagues if you'll remember back in July I um had given an update on the schedule of how we would be doing the superintendent evaluation the annual superintendent evaluation due to unforeseen circumstances um we had to reschedule our um special closed session with Dr Anderson and so it's been rescheduled for sub right after our work session which is Amy correct me the 23rd September 23rd so right after that we'll have a special Clos session with Dr Anderson and the community can look forward to the reading of the letter at the um following meeting in October so just wanted to give an update and make sure that everybody knew about that thank you Heidi all right this concludes the Wisa Public Schools regular board meeting I want to thank everyone for their participation in a process that is focused on students in our district is there a motion to adjourn I so move second thank you all in favor say I I I oppose nay the motion carries the time is now 7:52 the wieta Public Schools Board of Education regular meeting on for Monday September 9th 2024 is adjourned