Mhm. >> evening. Tonight is Monday, May 11th, and we have a quorum. So, I will call this meeting to order. The first order of business is agenda approval. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda for tonight's board meeting? So moved. Is there a second? Second. We'll vote to approve our agenda. All those in favor, say I. I. Any opposed? Tonight's agenda is approved. Uh we will start tonight off with our excellence in action. And tonight's excellence in action will spotlight a few second and fourth grade students and teachers from Creek Valley. And they will be sharing how they use the Leader in Me curriculum in their classrooms to support goal setting, social emotional learning, and student leadership. So, I would like to welcome up our guests to the dais to introduce themselves and tell us a little bit about life at Creek Valley. >> [laughter] >> I don't need to be by myself up here. I brought them for a reason. >> [laughter] >> Come on in and then come on over here and then I'm I will move and you can sit here. We are so happy to be here. What an honor and a privilege to be a part of such an amazing community at Creek Valley. So, thank you first for allowing us to come and celebrate and be with you. Good evening and welcome to Creek Valley Leader in Me. Uh so, as many of you know, we've been a Leader in Me school since 2014, and each year we grow in new ways. Um providing opportunities for students to build upon their leadership skills and just in every way for them to follow our mission and vision of Edina Public Schools. And so we're excited to talk about a few things today and beginning with the end in mind of highlighting the student student leadership. Talking about how they use the habits in their daily routines at school and also what they like about it and how they share it with their families because that's been a really big part of our Leader in Me journey is also involving our community partnerships in the process. And this year we actually added a parent to the community at Creek Valley that is also teaching family members and being a resource for anyone who has more info wants more information about it. And so just as a quick review, the Seven Habits of Happy Kids stem from the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And so the Covey's have created this um this space for young learners to build habits from kindergarten through fifth grade. And every year they grow more and more until they find their voice and boy do they find their voice um each and every year telling us great ways to make the school and the world a better place. And so we're so fortunate to do that. So with that said, thinking about um one of the models and the main tricities up here that we have one of the core paradigms is that everyone can be a leader. And as you can see we already have two second grade leaders here and two fourth grade leaders as long and two teacher leaders here as well. And then we're going to focus on that academic side that is empowering learners. So again, thank you for letting us share and I'll hand it over to Miss Round and these two amazing second graders. >> Hello, my name is Jen Round. I'm a second grade teacher at Creek Valley Elementary School. I have two fabulous student leaders who are going to speak with you about their holding their leadership binders. They'll give you the details and I'm going to scoot around to be their microphone hazard. Good evening. My name is Bryn Parmenter. And my name is Evie Ramplin Mason. We would like to talk about our leadership binders. On the covers of our leadership binders, we drew ways we are leaders. My drawing shows me throwing away trash. And my drawing shows being quiet in the hallway instead of talking. There is a section called all about me which includes some artwork about our family and what is most important to us, also called big rocks. In the habit section, we have the seven habits tree plus the eighth habit, find your voice, and our classroom mission statement, which we memorized and recite each day. My favorite habit is habit six, synergize. I like it because I feel it is more fun when everyone is cooperating and having fun together. My favorite habit is habit seven, sharpen the saw. It is good to do a variety of things to do to be a well-rounded person. There are sections for things like learning, writing, and math. We graph how well we are doing in each area like reading fluency, comprehension, spelling, learning math facts, and math tests. I am most proud of my writing graphs because they are colored high which helps me know I don't have to work on that area as much as others. My uh graphs have a marked on them. So, if I want to be at or above the goal, I know what to work on or practice more. Right now, I am most proud of my math graphs because I feel like I'm doing very well in math. Each grade has a WIG, Wildly Important Goal, related to maths. Our WIG is to pass our addition and subtraction time test. One way we work toward this goal is by playing math games with our fifth grade buddies. In the leadership section, we keep track of what leadership jobs we have done in the class so far. My favorite leadership role is morning meeting leader because I like to lead the calendar in Spanish. If My and mine is party points leader because I like writing on the board uh how many points we have on the board. If we didn't have Leader in Me, people might not learn how to make plans or be in charge of themselves or even let others talk before them. It's a lot of fun, too. Thank you for letting us share with you today. >> [applause] >> My name is Harrison Lloyd and I'm in fourth grade at Creek Valley. I am Hazel Vanderwoody and I'm also in fourth grade at Creek Valley with Mrs. Torgerson. As you know, we are a Leader in Me school and we learn about the habits so we can be kind leaders in our school and community. One of my favorite habits is put first things first. I like this because it teaches the skill of getting important things done first, like homework and reading. In the future, I know this will help me to be my best and focus on what I need to get done. I like think win-win. It is nice when everyone wins and is happy. We use think win-win when there is disagreement or when we need to work together on a project. Each morning we have a Leader in Me in our schedule. We talk about the habits and how they apply to our life. We talk about being leaders and what situations we can use each habit. We have been learning about the habits our whole time at Creek Valley. Now that we know the habits as older students, we talk about how they are shown in our lessons. For example, in stories, in our read-alouds, and in even in social studies. One of our classes' favorite things to do favorite things is our time with our first grade buddies. We learn the importance of synergizing and being leaders. Our most recent buddy activity was building cardboard sculptures together. It showed the It showed synergizing because we had to work together and talk about our ideas. We work hard to be safe, respectful, and responsible at Creek Valley. Using our habits helps us be leaders. Thank you for letting us share this evening with you about Leader in Me at Creek Valley. >> [applause] >> They're awesome. Um and I'm Emily Torgerson and >> I have the honor of being both a fourth grade teacher at Creek Valley, um live in the neighborhood, and a parent at Creek Valley. So, one of my favorite things about Leader in Me at school is the consistency of lessons and habits across the grade levels. The habits provide a foundation of lessons that grow with the child. So, at home with my family, I have a first and a fourth grader, we can integrate these habits into our life because I know the habits are being taught to both of my kids at school. And as a teacher, I love the grounding that Leader in Me provides through daily lessons, goal setting, school assemblies, school-wide volunteer work, and leadership opportunities. The students and staff at Creek Valley build these habits for a lifetime. Thank you. >> [applause] >> So, if you have any questions for our student leaders, we're welcome. You want to show These are your binders as well, right? Director Ellenberg. Um I don't have a question. I have two comments. First of all, I wish I was a tenth of a bit as articulate as all four of you. I mean, even now, you're all very, very impressive, and thank you for being brave enough to come here and present to us. And just outstanding job. And I wanted to let you all know, as students and parents know, we're the Creek Valley end of the of the board here. We've had six kids go through Creek Creek Valley. I mean, not together, >> but yeah. [laughter] But um and my daughter is going into college, and we still use the Leader in Me verbiage at home. Whenever she needs to do something, I'm like, "First thing first, you can't go out until you clean your room." So, it's applicable for the rest of your life. So, thank you. Outstanding job, and thank you especially for taking time out of your evening to come and speak with us. And you might laugh. So, I went to Creek Valley, graduated from Edina. One of our words um in 11th grade public speaking and persuasion to memorize was synergy. And you all are learning it in second, fourth grade, so it's pretty good. >> it? Synergize. Advanced education. It's an SAT word. It's great. I just had a quick question for all the students. So, about the buddy program, can you describe like what's your favorite thing about the buddy program? Um probably getting together with other kids and teaching them how to like act and be kind leaders in the world. Um yeah, I like what Harrison said and that we get to like put our ideas together to make something or do something. Um we are with first grade and fourth grade as us, so. I think if I could add something that I really like about that is it builds that relationships across the grade levels. I see it when we're out at the playground unexpected that um relationship that they have and I just really love watching these kids as leaders and those younger kids come in and you see it in the hallways at school events. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here tonight. I echo what my fellow board members say and that these are lifelong skills. These are skills that we as adults work on and um need in our life and they're not always on the report card, but that's what makes the difference when at your age, at our age, so bravo to you and to your wonderful teachers and Dean, assistant principal, for um for bringing this up and helping teach us about it as well. So, could we have the honor of having our picture taken with you? Would that be okay? All right. Can do that. Thank you. Show me all your papers. Very good job. >> All right, next on our agenda is hearing from members of the public. And so, thank you to those who are here to address the board. When you signed in and asked to speak, you acknowledged an understanding and adherence to board policy 206, which are our community uh comment guidelines. Pur- pursuant to this policy, each speaker has a maximum of 3 minutes to speak. A clock on the screen will be a visual reminder of your time remaining, and I will prompt you verbally if you are going over 3 minutes. When those 3 minutes are up, you must conclude your remarks. This time is not designated to address items concerning specific staff or students, and personal attacks by anyone at the podium are unacceptable. If this happens, you will be warned, and if you persist, you will no longer be able to continue your remarks. Any feedback about district employees needs to go to their respective site-level leader, the superintendent, or be submitted to the board in writing. Finally, during the public comment period, our role as a board is to listen, but this is not the place for the board to resolve any concerns, and as such, no comments will be made from the board. Issues will potentially be referred to the superintendent for appropriate follow-up. I always feel so strict saying those rules. So, thank you for your cooperation, and I will now welcome up to the microphone Allison Is it Demi? Demi. Demi. Welcome. Good evening, board of Edina. Chair Gabler, members of the board, Superintendent Bitman. Oh, sorry, taking off the sunglasses. Uh school board directors and the greater Edina community. My name is Allison Demi, and I am the founder and director of A2D Academy here in Edina. In light of the recent Kids' Club waitlist and Superintendent Bitman's comments regarding the safety and security concerns surrounding before- and after-school care during the past several board meetings, I would like to formally introduce A2D Academy. You've probably heard inklings of us before, but this is our formal introduction. I founded A2D Academy in 2022 to help address the lengthy waitlist for Kids' Club. As a licensed teacher and an Edina alumni, I wanted to help my home district in their time of need. My vision was to provide a safe space where students could continue to learn and grow outside of the classroom. Since our inception, we have grown from supporting five students the first year to now having capacity for 150 students after school. A2D Academy is a nonprofit organization that provides STEM enrichment activities for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Daily we have students that are bused to our location in which we have a snack, play at Edina Park, take a 45-minute steam enrichment class, and then offer free choice or other club activities. Some of the unique experiences that we offer our students include an entrepreneurial term in which our students create their own businesses and sell their products at a local mall. Hence, my earrings that I'm wearing today and the published book that we have on Amazon from our kindergarteners and first graders this year. We also have a community service term in which students raise money and awareness for local organizations to better our community, as well as inspiring our students to turn passions into careers by having guest speakers come into our facilities such as beekeepers, the Raptor Center, structural engineers, meteorologist, and even taiko drummers. Our goal at A2D Academy is to provide ample experiences and opportunities that expand our students' horizons and have them try things that they may have never thought to try themselves. We are grateful for our partnership with Edina Transportation, which provides bussing from five of the elementary schools to our facility, as well as the support and community partnership with Dr. Leland and the Edina Community Ed, which helps to inform families of other options available to them once they are wait-listed for Kids Club. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship with the Edina Public Schools to continue to provide after-school care together. The perception within our community is that Edina Public Schools must solve the after-school childcare needs by themselves. This is simply not true. I implore you to think outside of the EPS box and truly partner with the community organizations that are already trying to help. I would also encourage you to come and see our facilities and see the amazing work that our students are doing on a daily basis at A2D Academy. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Dem. Thank you. All right, and that was our only speaker for this evening. So, I welcome up to our to the podium Stephanie Francis Jones, the executive director of Give and Go. And she is here to talk to us a little bit about the work that Give and Go has been doing, and welcome. Thank you. Good evening. Um it's great to be back. Um hoping that the audio will work. Um so, as Turkey blur said, I'm Stephanie Francis Jones, executive director of United Give and Go, and really proud to be here to explain the great work that we have been able to do over this past year. Um many of you were at our gala. Um but I wanted to show you a video that we showed at the gala. This is the piece that I'm looking for help on. Great. Um just to let the the um the heart behind the work speak for itself. So, have someone press play. Thank you. The sound's not working. Which I I wondered if this would happen. Okay, so if we could go back to the beginning, please. I heard it. >> I think try to restart, and if not, I'll ad-lib. Okay. Well, let's stop cuz it makes the very bad feedback. So, we can just skip the video. And cuz you need the words. What then? Stephanie? Yes. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Okay, so I think it's we don't hear that anymore. So, we can pause that and just go back to the slideshow. But one So, the people that were there were able to see, and we will email the video to the rest of everyone. Could we please stop the video? Thank you. And then just go back to the slideshow cuz it's making a really bad feedback noise. Thank you. Um but one thing that I did want to call attention to is that we were able to have testimonial video testimonial from one of the students that we were able to support. Um and I think that's really special. We um have shared in previous forums um written thank yous, but this was the first time we were able to obtain a video testimonial, and um it was from a student named Diana, who's currently studying abroad. She's a junior in college, and she says um thank you so much to A Dine A Give A Go for giving her community and really supporting her and allowing her to be where she is today. So, I will send that um to you all. So, um So, over this past fiscal year, just to share a little bit about our impact, we were able to support 905 Edina Public Schools students across 1,396 opportunities. Um and that was deploying $283,082 in direct support to um program providers on behalf of eligible families. And this year, we are on track to um providing over $300,000 to um families that really need us most. We're We are able to um continue to grow the support. We've seen incremental growth each year, and so proud to report that. We're also really proud of our um our bar graph here on the bottom, which shows fairly equal representation of support across elementary, middle, and high school students. Um I wanted to share a bit about updates to our services. Um so, our core programs re- remain strong and unchanged. Um so, our student enrichment program, which is $500 per student during the school year and $500 per student during the summer, that remains unchanged. Um we also have our Instruments for All program, where we provide $15,000 to Edina Public Schools, so that students in grades 5 through 12 are able to participate in band and orchestra. But, one thing we were able to do is pull out driver's ed and summer credit acceleration from that student enrichment program. So that when students um hit milestones like age 15 and they're able to um take driver's ed, we didn't want the student to have to choose to learn this life skill or continue the enrichment that they've been taking part of or taking part in. So that was pulled out of that student enrichment program. And the same goes for summer summer credit acceleration. So if a student is in high school currently at grade level math is a good example and they want to do they want to be on a different track, they can take um the the whole year of math tuition in the summer, but that actually costs more than the $500. Um so through Edina Public Schools, if the the high school student wants to accelerate, we are able to um pay for that and then they could still continue with their enrichment. So a student who's playing soccer would still be able to use our funds to continue that enrichment, but they could they could take geometry over the summer as well. So those are are really um I think important updates that we've made to our services to allow families and students to have more support. Um and so we have an update about partnerships. Um I announced this at the gala that um Edina Give and Go was selected as philanthropy partner for Edina Federated Women's Club. Um and this I think shows um it was kind of a full circle moment. Uh Edina Federated Women's Club was integral in starting the um Edina Give and Go. The the funds that we received back in um 2012 were really important to getting us established. And so here we are again partnering. Um so that is fantastic and I think a testament to the work that we can do as as we collaborate um as the director of A2D alluded to earlier. When we collaborate together, we can just do more for the families in our district. Um and then the other thing that we that that I think you know of, but I would would like to share again, is that um we directed $40,000 to Edina Public Schools um to address the learning loss that took place for the students that felt they weren't able to come to school at the beginning of this calendar year. Um so high school students were able to have a individual plan to pivot so they would continue to um not affect their graduation requirements. Um but K through 8 students we found that there was learning loss taking place. So we were able to direct this this money and it will be used um this summer during the summer excited program. And so we're able to I understand that you're able to um support all of the students that um that were not attending school and will be able to kind of get back up to grade level. So why our partnership matters. Um we are here because collaboration works. Um Edina Public Schools knows where the need is. I spoke a lot about this at our gala in my recent speech. The teachers, social workers, building leads are the front line of the work that we do. Um but we have the resource and the reach to meet that need. So this collaboration really works. Um and as the demand grows, so does the importance of staying coordinated. Um so we want to keep building this partnership so that no student in this district misses an an enrichment opportunity simply because of cost. Um and with that, I just wanted to say thank you for the support that you all show to Edina Give and Go and for all of the work that you do everyday in our community. Do you have any questions? Board members, what questions do you have this evening? Well, Stephanie, I just want to say thank you. Um Give and Go makes a huge difference in the work that we're able to do and I think about all those areas that you talked about, driver's ed, credit you know, um advancing credits, dance, all the things that we talk about up here as a well-rounded student, the fact that we don't want finance to be the barrier between a student having access to that and that's where Give and Go comes in. It's changing lives. Um and so I think all of us can say, you know, the the gala was a really fun event to go to and the video I look forward to seeing that again, but thank you and thanks to the board of Give and Go for all the work that you do um on behalf of our kiddos. Thank you. Thank you. All right, we are moving on to our consent agenda. Is there anything anyone would like to remove from the consent agenda? All right, we will vote to approve the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve? So moved. Is there there a second? Second. Director Mann. All those in favor of approving the consent agenda, say I. I. Anyone opposed? The consent agenda has been approved. We are now moving on to the discussion items for this evening and our first item of discussion is the preliminary budget for the fiscal year 2027. So, I will invite Mert Wodarz, Director of Finance and Operations, up to the table to talk to us about this item. Welcome. Good evening, Chair Gabler, members of the School Board, Superintendent Bittman. Um thank you for allowing me to present um our 2027 preliminary budget. Um before I walk through some of the facts and figures, just want to give a brief summary as to why the change in format this year. Um typically, we'd provide you a a static schedule of charts and graphs and some numbers that may be um not super interactive or informative. Um so, the the the main reason that we made that change is um a richness of content. Um this budget contains um data from all 328 independent school districts in the state. Contains more than 50,000 um rows of data from Edina Public Schools, 10 years of financial history. All of which is um web content accessibility guidelines 2.1 level 2A compliant. Um so, it'll be fully um keyboard accessible, um fully reader compatible, supporting a number of different devices and and mediums of viewing, which we're really proud of. And we do plan to submit that to the Association of School Business Officials for their Meritorious Budget Award for the very first time. In terms of the budgetary highlights, um the total general fund revenue for fiscal 27 is budgeted at $180.8 million. So, the district, as it continues to grow and as the years go by, um approaches that $200 million mark, which is a pretty big a milestone, I think. Um total expenditures just under $174 million. So, we do plan to add to our fund balance next school year. Um fiscal year 27 does bring meaningful investment from the state. Um next school year will be the second year of the biennium in which um the basic education formula, the chief revenue formula for all school districts in the state will be tied to inflation. We're expecting or actually we know we will receive 2.69% on that formula, which is above the historic 2% average that we've received over the last 20 years. Um notably the special education cross subsidy is also rising from 44% of the calculated cross subsidy to 50%. Um that was newly written into law in 2023. And of course our local residents continue their robust support of the school district um with a $74.26 increase to our operating referendum authority and a $286,000 increase to our capital projects levy. Um that puts us in a great position moving forward. I'd also like to provide a little bit of context um regarding fund balance. Um looking at fund balance in a vacuum is one thing. Looking at it compared to peers provides a different level of context. Um you'll see that Edina's fund balance was significantly lower than both metro area peers and statewide peers in 2028, bottoming bottoming out at about 11% as measured by the statutory operating debt calculation that the state provides. Um happy to report that as of fiscal year 25, which is an audited figure, we've kind of crossed back above the medians and got to 21%, which converges with the metro area peers and puts us in a much better position financially moving forward. Um none of that is by luck. We did go through a relatively painful $7.62 million of budget reduction in fiscal 23 and fiscal 24. Finally, bringing us to the five-year forecast, we do project an unassigned fund balance at the end of next school year 11 of 11.05% and under our current assumptions, we do believe that we'll be stable through fiscal year 2031. Although you'll notice in the five-year forecast table that I've put together, that beginning in fiscal year 2030 and then in fiscal year 2031 and beyond, we do start to deficit spend quite significantly. All that means is that while there's no imminent need for budget reductions this school year or the next three school years, the current structure also does not allow for significant enhancements. So, all of the safety and security enhancements that we'd like to make, some of our enhancements that are proposed at the high school and other programs are not possible within our current funding structures. This isn't just me saying it. You can actually go into that five-year forecast, interact with it, add numbers, and you can see how the fund balance then behaves when you begin to inflate salaries, benefits, and other items. With that, I'll take any questions you might have. Board members, what questions do you have for Director Woodard? And as was stated, this was seen at our work session last month, so the board has had a first opportunity to ask some questions. Director Allenberg. Um Director Woodard, um first of all, so everyone doesn't fawn over your report, I'll just do it for on behalf of the whole board and community. This is a phenomenal report. I can't even imagine the amount of time that went into it, so thank you to your team for doing this. It answers questions I've had for years about our district, so thank you very much. Um I was wondering if you could answer for um the community, if you could explain the Blue Ribbon Commission, its importance to our and its importance to our um district financing. Absolutely. So, over the last several years, um prior to 2024, um the special education cross subsidy aid was at 6.43% of the calculated cross subsidy. Um the 2023 legislative session boosted that tremendously to 44% and then 50% next school year, as I mentioned. Um one of the um kind of caveats to that was that the legislature said that for the 2028-29 biennium, the state would have to come together and find $250 million in reductions um in the area of special education. And so for fiscal years 28 and 29, that would require again that 250 million plus an additional perhaps 50 million um taking the total to 300, which is what the governor has proposed. I'm not sure if that will be written into law or not. Um however, we are going to see a reduction to uh perhaps not direct special education aid, but ancillary components of the formula um such as ASIS, which we um used to finance 11 or 10 and 1/2 to 11 um intervention positions at our elementary schools. So the the pressure on financing is real, and that's why we like to carry a little bit more significant fund balance so that we can weather those storms. Thank you. That's That was a lead into my point, which is I think that um I appreciate the diligence of both our administration, you and the board, in having a larger fund balance because of exactly that. Um the financial forecast is not wonderful in our state, and particularly looking at things like cutting some of those special education funded positions that we rely on. And so I think that I hear some grumblings about how large our fund balance is. Um that is because we are not anticipating having the same funding over the next many years from our state, and it's important that we, like everybody, has a robust savings account for the future. So um thank you for clarifying that, especially around the special education and its implications for our district budget. Absolutely. Thank you, Director Allenberg, for asking those questions. Seeing no further questions, uh thank you for your work on this. Well done, and we will see this uh come forward in June for approval from on So, thank you. Thank you. All right, [clears throat] next up on our agenda for discussion is our Spanish dual language middle school placement. And our speaker this evening is Superintendent Dan Bitman as well as some guests. Okay. And I wanted to this has been a topic that the board has been looking at for a while and so I wanted to mention that tonight as we're receiving this recommendation. I know that many families in our Spanish dual language program have been waiting for and have feelings about this decision. And so I wanted to say before we start the conversation that the passion that this community has for this program as well as what we see for passion for our other programs in this community is something we should all be proud of. Uh it reflects how much our families have invested in their children's education and in each other. And our job as a board tonight is to ask hard questions, make sure we understand the administration's reasoning and process fully, and ensure that whatever decision is made that every child in this program has what they need to thrive. And I want any SDL families that are listening to hear that I want them to hear this clearly that as we start this conversation. So, turn it over to you. Madam Chair, members of the board, those in the community, want to just thank you. I couldn't agree more. Uh there have been so many folks involved in this process. And so you might remember that over the last several years there's been conversation about a future middle school program and maybe even what that might look like at the high school. Our task coming in as interim superintendent was really to identify the best option with what we have. And so what you'll see in front of you and what you were able to have conversation about at the recent work session was a really comprehensive matter of all of the different things that come into making that decision. So, there were a lot of people obviously involved in that. And so, in this comprehensive document that's available online, it talks a little bit about everything. It talks about the information from the inception of the program, the reasons why this program was put in place, how it has changed over time. It also talks about the current SDL program. Um in the current program, there's um varying levels of dual language by grade level as each of you know, and again this information is is in that report. There are total number of students 44 at the kindergarten level, 48 at first grade, 44 at second grade, and 46 at third grade. So, we still have those students that will progress to fourth grade, fifth grade, and then ultimately sixth grade. The reason for making this decision and recommendation sooner would be so that we have an opportunity to partner with our community, partner with that our administrative teams, our families, the board, curriculum experts, et cetera, to make sure that we have a well-thought-out plan from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade. In this particular uh report, it talks about the different model and how that model progresses throughout the elementary grades starting with an 80/20 model at the kindergarten and first grade level where 80% of the curriculum is spent in Spanish and then 20% in English. That progresses to the fourth and fifth grade, which ultimately is a 50/50 percent split. Currently, we have a number of strengths within our program aligned to student achievement. We continue to see growth across all levels. We have a leadership infrastructure with bi-weekly coordination meetings with clear role of differentiation. A coaching model that's in place at point six, strong family engagement as well as targeted professional development recognizing that that's a unique environment. Throughout this process or throughout this report, it also talks about some of the amazing achievement that we're seeing in each of the grade levels. And again, that's in both the language, the targeted language, as well as mathematics. And you'll see some information in that report about that. One of the questions we really had to think about when looking at best practices across the country is really what a best model practice would be at the middle school. And that model would be similar to what we currently have in our French immersion program. And at the middle school, what that means it would be typically be two core classes that those students would take in the targeted language. And we provide some information in this report. You'll also note that of the 182 students, about 50% are are students that would typically go to South View and 50% would typically go to Valley View. And so, one of the things that we were thoughtful about is to really understand the population and the students that we were serving. You also have information about a number of folks that were involved in this evaluation and assessment. And we leaned on best practices not only for the model, but also what we've learned from our French immersion program here in Edina Public Schools. When we look at each of those areas, whether it be transportation, whether it be budget, whether it be training, whether it be facilities, when we go down each of the components that we've identified and there are many, there was not strong indication from any of those that led us to believe that it should be at one particular site versus the other. There are certain limitations as we've talked about as a board around space and around some of the things that if future decisions were made in terms of growing, etc., there would be challenges more so than what there are right now, but again, difficult choices to make as we've talked about. Um but again, none of those point to one school being ideal over the other. The one particular matter that changes in terms of the recommendation that you will see in here is really the student experience. Primarily starting with the teaming experience. If we were to present, excuse me, if we were to place this program at Valleyview Middle School, it would be extremely difficult to maintain that teaming model, which we've talked about, and it would have a negative impact on the number of exploration or elective courses that others would have an opportunity to be. The reason for that is we have a number of students already going to Valleyview that have the general experience. We then have a number of students that are in the French immersion program. So, if we were to add another particular program, it then would create additional challenges. We would need to program it primarily like a junior high model or even like a high school model where students were taking a number of various classes and would share a lot of different teachers. So, there would not be like one cohesive group of teachers that would provide an opportunity to team. In the document, it talks about the importance of teaming in regard to the research that we know is successful. And while we recognize there are also positive things about various structures, we know teaming's an incremental one from a research standpoint. Making that larger school seem smaller and having a small team of adults that can pay particular attention to how students are doing across that particular team and structure. In addition to that, there was a lot of feedback and experience conversation related to providing a level of experience in terms of the middle school experience being somewhat similar at both of our schools. If If were to place uh this particular program at Valley View already having a French immersion, we would then have one middle school with multiple language programs, and we would have another school without any. And so, we were very clear. We heard feedback very clear from teachers and staff and others in the community saying, "We do want some level of experience to be similar and great opportunities to be available at both of our particular sites." I did want to raise that there were families um that indicated that are currently part of the SDL uh program that have sig- siblings that will go to Valley View. And so, in this recommendation, we make the recommendation for that program to be placed at at the other particular schools we've talked about, but in this particular situation, for those families, it would mean that one one student may potentially go to Valley View, and one student or sibling may go to the other school. And so, we want to be really thoughtful about how we place our different students, whether they be at Southview or Valley View. When we looked at those numbers of families that are currently enrolled, there are 15 families that would be in that particular situation where they would have to make that make that decision. We would certainly work with those families uh to accommodate and do what we can to support them, but we wanted to honor that difficulty with those particular 15 families. We also wanted to call out the sentiment, the feelings from families who are currently in that program, who really feel strongly about one country side, because that's been the heart and soul of what's happened with this program. And so, those feelings are absolutely real. And so, again, we want to thank folks for their feedback, and again, recognizing that regardless of the choice, we know that they both have some things that would be really, really exciting, and some other things that would create some challenges in that particular situation. Again, we talk about the teaming and the and the possible tracking. You also see with the electives and the steam programming, for example, at Valley View that certain students do not have the same opportunities for certain classes because they're in the French immersion program. Those options would also be limited if we added an additional program. In fact, those would be enhanced or greater. In addition to that, and in the report, it talks about if we have students in a French immersion program in one school and we have students in a Spanish program in one school, they're not taking other electives, which means that then there would be a difficulty in keeping those same number of of electives, other languages, for example, which would then mean that those other electives would not be available to any of the students and that that would be a reduction in staffing. And so again, uh some real thoughtful planning went into that. Really grateful for our both Valley View and Southview administrators who are both in the audience, who worked tirelessly to provide examples of schedules. There are links to those different schedules by grade and there's also a chart for each of those schedules at the back to talk about what those implications would be for a student at each of those grades, a general ed students and then also a student who would be in that particular language uh program. And so that you'll see that all of the things we talked about in the report would be real. As we continue to look forward in the report, you'll see that both schools would be capable of supporting, both schools would have some challenges we've talked about with space, etc., and that future decisions would have to be made in terms of adding square footage, adding space to be able to do that. While we have some opportunities within our system to control some of those things, such as we can always share classrooms, we can limit open enrollment. We can do some operational type things to change that, but again, not ideal. And so that recognition that space will need to continue to be part of that conversation is important. With that said, we also know that both Valley View and South View provide amazing opportunities for our students. Amazing. And I would not hesitate if my students were if my own kids were younger, I would love them to experience life at both of those particular schools. But again, for the reasons that I've shared, for the reasons we've talked about at our work session, and for the various folks that we have involved throughout this process, my recommendation this evening would be to place SDL 4th-6th grade at South View Middle School. With that, I'd be happy to take any questions or feedback. Board members had an opportunity to hear this report and hear from administrators from both of our middle schools at our April work session, and there was robust discussion at that time. Board members, based on what you have before you tonight, what additional questions do you have? Director Berry. I just wanted to thank you, Dr. Pittman and your team for putting together a very thoughtful and thorough report. Um and we have two really strong middle schools here. Um my hope is that by making this decision years before the transition happens, that the team at the middle school is able to welcome and transition and make contact and have the kids feel so welcome and excited to go to South View. Um Is that the plan? That would be the plan. Thank you. Director Allenberg. Um I echo what Director Berry said. I appreciate all the time that was taken on this. I appreciate our middle school um administrators and their teams that worked on this. I think we're building a great program and I agree that we can't have two language programs at one school, so it needs to go to South View. Um I do want to express um and this actually has nothing to do with anyone sitting in this room because none of you were here at the conception of this program. So, I just want to make it clear that you've done a great job leading this to get to here. You guys have done a great job. I think as a leadership team we need to make sure that we have a more uniform approach to the elementary to middle school transition experience and that we communicate very clearly to families when you enter kindergarten in a choice program, this is what it means. And I think we owe that to families and I think that that's something that should have been thought about in the conception of this program is where would this go to middle school before it landed anywhere. And that is something that I think that is um was a failure in the conception of this that that wasn't thought through. Um and there's not more thought put into that. Um again, that's not on any of you. To be clear. But the impact of that is on the families that have their kiddos in the program. So, and that's not to say it won't be an outstanding experience. I just think that again, sometimes you talk about unintended consequences and I think um we now have a multiple or we have a program on one side going here and one side going here. So, I would love leadership at some point to think about what makes sense, what is most efficient. Um and I know that needs to be separated from this specific process and decision. Um but I think we owe it to our families to be able to do that at some point. I echo that and I would only um add that at the very least um the learning from that I take away from this experience is that if we aren't sure what the impact is going to be, that on the proactive side we give some plausible here are some pathways this could possibly go. So, when people are making decisions about joining a choice program in the United Public Schools, they have as best information as they could possibly have in the moment they have it. And that doesn't mean things can't change cuz just like we're talking about our facilities and what we need to do with building space and so on and so forth, we're exploring that too. That could change dynamics based on what can and can't be done based off of that. Um there was no ill intent, but it's unfortunate that um as this was being uh thought through at the beginning that we maybe didn't articulate as best we could have about what the possible avenues were that could have grounded some of these families a little bit better than they are. Um and at the same time, anyone who um either loves this decision or is not fan not a fan of this decision, um it's again just another opportunity to reinforce what Director Berry has said both at the work session and again tonight, that our goal in the United Public Schools is to make sure this is the most successful SDL program it could possibly be and I certainly know that the team at Southview is looking forward to that opportunity and will do everything they can just like they do for all the other middle schoolers who come and join Southview every year from the diff the different schools that they come from uh to be able to make that happen. Southview is an amazing uh environment just as Valleyview is. Um and uh we have confidence we'll do that and we want continued engagement that as we bring SDL to the middle school, um what's going well, where can we innovate, where can we improve, where can we change, where do we recognize maybe we went left when we could have gone right. That's going to happen. Um you should expect that. And that we're all the professionals are dedicated to making the best experience possible and I have no doubt um that that will be the case. Thank you. Dr. Bitman, thank you for this report. Um question that I have for you, as we prepare for this first cohort to move to the middle school, are there opportunities or can we work together to have opportunities for the board to get updates on some of that onboarding and preparation? Absolutely. And we'll make sure that as part of the planning that we're also incorporating feedback and involvement with our parents who are involved in that as well. But we will absolutely continue to bring uh that to the board and look forward to working collaboratively. Then you're going to have to excuse me. So I will not be here at next month's meeting when we vote on this. And I've been thinking about this quite extensively and so I wanted to just take a moment and say a couple thoughts that I had about this decision. Um to those families that are possibly watching tonight. So what I want families to hear from the board tonight is that the district's commitment is to your children and to the Spanish dual language program. It's not to a specific building. It's not to Countryside, it's not to Valley View, it's not to South View. Um and the work that your children have done and the growth that they've shown, their bilingual skills that they're building, none of that belongs to the building they belong in to. It belongs to them. And it will go with them wherever they end up going to middle school. And so as we've seen in this report, um there's a lot of data to to feed into this recommendation and those are not small things. Um, but those are structures that research tells us helps kids thrive in middle school and especially during a major transition like middle school. And so the recommendation, I know, came from administration was made with their your children's full experience in mind and not just one part of their development. So the board makes the commitment that we will work with administration to ensure that communication comes early and concretely and that any questions you have are answered. And I'm confident that you can expect as your children approach middle school that you will be informed about what the transition to Southview will look like, what your children's schedules will look like, how the program will be supported, and how your children will be embraced alongside the other incoming sixth graders who are looking to make and will make new friends. And we are fortunate here in Edina, as has been said, that we have two outstanding middle schools and I'm confident that your children will thrive at Southview. So, thank you for letting me take some time and make those remarks. All right. Well, then we're moving on to the policy part of the meeting and I turn it over to policy chair Director Allenberg to take us through some policies. Um, we have three, well, we have four policies that we reviewed at last month's committee. Um, Assistant Superintendent Swenson, I believe, is going to help with the policy review. Um, these are all um, policies that get reviewed annually. Um, so policy 13 date 113 data request only had one word that was updated. Um, I'm sorry, did you say it's required to be done? We as a some are required and then these we review annually. So, 113. That's what I thought I cuz I remember it coming up in the last few years. I Yes. Yeah. So, in policy 113, only one word was changed um for semantic purposes. So, does anyone have a question or comment about that? I do. Um I was I just a question on the appendix um for what we can and cannot charge for. Yeah. I was surprised to see that we can't charge for administrative time to redact information. I would think that's one of the most time-consuming pieces. >> Time-consuming and expensive, depending on who's doing the redaction. So, is that our choice or is that by law that we cannot charge for that? That's stated That's just by law. That's just the way the guidelines have been given. Most of what we can charge for is like copies, which we really don't do very often. Right. A few instances where we require someone or to come in to view data is the only time that we'd really be in a situation with copies. There are some circumstances in which we could charge for staff time, but to more directly answer your question, yes, that's a little That's a That's a tough one to swallow. Okay. All right. Thanks. I just wanted to make sure that that was a state that that wasn't our doing. >> Oh, no. Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Another way to say that is just a cost of doing business. Yeah, it's true. Yeah. Thank you. Um policy 5 um 06, student conduct and discipline. Um there were very few changes to the policy itself. There are some updates to the um appendix, where the actual um infractions are listed. Um and I just want to make sure that people understand that there was some um We basically there aren't changes to the discipline itself, but there was some disconnects between um the summary that we have for how consequences should be enacted for students and it says in the like five-page introduction that um these are guidelines and that our site level administrators um ultimately do have discretion within these guidelines and then when parents would look at the guidelines, they would assume that is the specific um thing that has to be uh the discipline and that there wasn't any discretion. And so the there's no change in um in the discipline itself. We just added the words up to so there's better understanding as to um how the discipline policy actually works and function. Um but I will also turn it over to Assistant Superintendent Swenson uh for any added um any added content that I missed. I just want to add that I appreciate [clears throat] the dialogue that we had at policy committee as we work through um this this change and just trying to pair the language that's in the beginning of the appendix with how uh discipline is meted out in the grid. They're now in alignment with one another. And as uh Director Ellenberg uh said, there isn't a change to the actual policy. And as I apologize, I failed to mention we did remove suspensions from pre-K to grade three um in alignment with Minnesota state law. So you will people will see that that is that's removed from every single, but that's Minnesota state law. >> [snorts] >> There were two instances in the grid and I think maybe they just they got left in there by accident um that where there was a consequence that we actually couldn't met out. Um so Um I believe that there was something at the legislature this year about that component, and I while I'm on the legislative action committee, I haven't heard anything that's actually where it's gotten forward past committee hearings or whatever it is. Do you have any other information that you've been tracking that says something might still change with that or those eliminations have are more likely to stick? I believe with this session, and Dr. Ritman, you can add add in too. I believe with this session, I I don't believe anything is going to change. Um I do know that it continues to be somewhat of a pain point depending upon who you who you talk to. It was a one-size-fits-all approach in the law. And that's what's caused some heartburn since it's been in indicated or implemented from that standpoint. Um but I'm not saying it's good, bad, or otherwise, but it's just had from the legislative action committee, we saw a bunch of dialogue going back and forth. So that's why it's so interesting when I see this to your point of being it done. Correct. And so it's so the impact of that is to ensure our policy aligns with Minnesota state law. If there do happen to be any changes, then we will update accordingly. Yep. Any questions on this policy? Um the next one is actually a recommendation to rescind policy 810 and make sure that um any content from 810 that needs to be um that we need to is included in policy 806. And the rationale behind this is um we do believe at one point in time that there was the need to have um specific security information around the site. Um and then 806 um talks about um emergency management procedures given how integrated those are these days. Um it's it's confusing to have them in two separate policies and some of the information was in both of them. So, we're recommending that we have one general safety and security policy that covers both the site level security and what our procedures and processes are. Very well put. Very well put. Nothing is actually missing at all. We're just putting it in one cohesive policy that we think is a lot more clear. A couple of minor changes to add to what um Director Allenberg talked about is um we use the language emergency operation plans now and we define that term and we also included emergency management school safety officer and define that in the policy too just to reflect the new position that we have. Director Gaylord, Chair Gaylord. I had a Thank you for the work on this and for looking at them holistically and saying there's some some overlap and we can combine them. Under section five district-wide security protocols uh A3. It says doors leading to non-K-12 sections. Should that say E12 especially cuz it's our community center? I can make a note of that. Okay. I didn't I didn't know but I just I was like, "Oh wait, we got our preschools downstairs." So, okay. Mhm. Did you write that down? Yep, I sure did. Cuz I sure didn't. >> [laughter] >> Thank you for that. Anything else? Thank you. Thank you for your work on these. Thank you very much. All right, moving on to the action portion of this evening. Do I have a motion to approve the Intermediate School District 287 long-term facilities maintenance expenditure budget for fiscal year 2028? So moved. Is there a second? Second. I welcome Director Wotier, direct uh Wotier, Director of Finance and Operations to discuss this with us. Welcome. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um intermediate school districts and special education co-ops in the state of Minnesota do not have direct taxing authority. Um however, they do operate a number of different facilities that require um maintenance to be um in a good state of repair for students and staff. Um as a result, the state legislature does allow its member districts to levy on behalf of the intermediate um if the member districts' boards um do agree. Intermediate 287, uh their board, of which um Director Burman is a member, did pass a resolution to once again levy for long-term facilities maintenance revenue for fiscal year 28. Um and at this point, all of the member districts need to pass similar resolutions so that they can get that onto the levy this fall. Um the ask for 2028 among all member districts is 1,652,875,000, of which Edina's proportionate share is 144,614, which is a very modest increase of $876 over fiscal year 2027. I think um 287 does a really good job of working with the area finance directors to make sure that the levy ask is as flat as possible while still meeting their needs. And so, we recommend that you um enact that resolution and so that we can get that information over to 287. Any questions, board members? More of a comment. Um as a representative uh for Edina on 287's board, I do want to at least comment that 287 does an incredible job of trying to minimize as much as as possible sometimes stretching things longer than it should. And so I just want to make this board aware even though this request is here and I would certainly advocate us to approve it. Um there was discussion at the 287 board amongst all member districts that we wanted to push a little bit with with uh Superintendent Dowd and her finance people to make sure that they're looking at especially over the next three to five years. There are some things that definitely need to be addressed just like we're trying to address some things here in our own district that 287's also going to be looking at. And so I would just encourage both our finance and Dr. Pittman to to look into those things and and be proactive as far as making sure that there's we we look at how we can support that. Um but I just want to make sure our board understands that just like any other district they are struggling to to take care of all of their long-term facilities needs. And if you think about it their needs especially at their facilities are more robust given the the students and the and the wear and tear that takes place in those facilities is significant. So I just wanted to share that with everyone. Thank you. We will now vote. All those in favor of the recommended Intermediate School District 287 long-term facilities maintenance expenditure budget for fiscal year 2028 say I. I. Any opposed? The board has approved the long-term facilities maintenance expenditure budget for fiscal year 2028 for School District 287. Thank you. All right, I will kick it back over to Director Allenberg to take us through some policies for action this evening. Do you want to do the motion? Oh, yes I do. Do I have a motion to approve policies 515, 708, 8 and 812? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Um policy 515, um 708, and 812, um, have very minor updates to them. So, we were suggesting that they come through quick review. Um, and so, I can answer any questions about them if anyone has any questions. Um, but they, um, have very few changes to them. I didn't look specifically at their timelines, but are these ones that are kind of looked at every couple of years? Yes. Great. Thanks. We try to update and approve, or we've changed it this year, actually, to make sure we look at the annual policies now. So, any changes are done in time for our handy-dandy new fancy student handbooks. Director Ellenberger, I just had a curiosity question. Um, on 708, expense reimbursement, I see we added under, um, exceptions to the normal procurement process includes travel, convention, and conference fees. Is that based on MSBA, or was that, um, a recommendation? Can you speak to that a little? I cannot, but I would be happy to turn it over to, um, Assistant Superintendent Nate Swenson, or Business Director Mark Woodard. Did you hear my question? Do you need me to repeat it? >> I would rather have an expert speak to that. Madam Chair, I believe you're referring to the, um, section three, paragraph B. Right. Right above B. Number four. Travel, convention, and conference fees. I believe that language is simply missing in the prior version. And so, to provide more clarity, um, for paragraph B, except under special circumstances, there are times where an employee will use a personal credit card um to make an emergency purchase for the school district, and at that time they do pay sales tax because they don't have a tax exemption form with them. I think it would be a penalty to the employee to not reimburse the tax. So, situations like that, we would need some sort of fallback um in order to to not harm them. Okay. I figured that. I was just curious about the travel convention, and so that's in MSBA model policy, and we just didn't have it? >> I'm not sure. It might be. It very well might be, but that's not where I got it from. So, it's just a recommendation. >> administrative recommendation. >> Perfect. That's all I needed to know. I read these things, and I learn a lot about our district. That's why I'm asking. So, thank you. And while I'm up here, I will mention that um the main, I guess, um proposal is to increase the per diem rate to about $60 per day now. Um I uh the United States General Services Administration recommends $86 per day for a conference in Duluth. So, we're we're we're well behind inflation in that regard. And the last one was policy 812, and we um the program is uh health and environmental safety, which is what it is actually supposed to be. Great. Thank you to the policy committee. These are always um laborious, but such important jobs. So, thank you. All right. We will vote to approve policies 515, 708, and 812. All those in favor, say I. Hi. Anyone opposed? Policies 515, 708, and 812 are approved. Board members, uh do you have any leadership or committee updates? All right. Then I will turn it over to you, Dr. Pittman. Madam Chair, members of the board, just an exciting time for our families, for our community, and for our staff. So many culminating activities here at the end of the year. So much to celebrate in terms of whether it be fine arts, whether it be drama, whether it be athletics, and or whether it be academics. So, just grateful for our entire staff, our cabinet who's sitting here tonight, and the work that's happening behind the scenes to make sure that kids and families are successful. Great. Thank you. Do I have a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting? So moved. Second. We will vote to adjourn the meeting. All those in favor, say I. I. Anyone opposed? The motion is passed, and the May 11th, 2026 board meeting is adjourned. Thank you. >> Mhm.