you good evening I'd like to call to order tonight's meeting of the ISD 191 Burnsville Egon Savage school board the date is January 9 2020 and the time is 6:30 p.m. I'd like to welcome everyone who is here in person and also those who choose to join us remotely we always appreciate knowing that our community is is listening in on our work director how worker would you please lead us in the pledge thank you we will start by approving tonight's agenda do I have a motion move by director Chester seconded by director courier is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor of approving the agenda please signify by saying aye aye opposed nay and the motion carries tonight is our annual organizational meeting and the recommendation is to approve and adopt the resolutions shown below in loaded in and board booked to accomplish organization of the Board of Education for 2020 the items listed must be addressed by the school board at its organizational meeting on January 9th 2020 prior to in the order of in the order of rank the officers from 2020 are responsible for calling the organizational meeting to order prior to the election of officers the board should determine the method to be used in selecting its new officers a recommended method is that of majority vote on the candidate or candidates nominated for each position policy 202 provides further direction with respect to selection of officers and officers responsibilities the annual organization of the school board occurs in January to conform to the terms of office for school board members some matters of school board organization are more readily conducted on a fiscal year basis and will be presented in June the items that follow pertain to the Board of Education for 2020 election of chair the chair presides at all school board meetings and works with the superintendent on calling board meetings and establishing meeting agendas at times the chair is called upon to serve in a ceremonial capacity as the ranking elected representative of the school district the chair countersigns all checks drawn by the treasurer nominations are now in order for the office of chair dr. miller i would like to nominate director abigail alts for the position of chair for the year of 2020 thank you are there any other nominations for the office of chair if there are no further nominations nominations for the office of chair are now closed all those in favor of electing abigail alt chair please signify by saying aye aye opposed nay and the motion carries next we turn to the election of Vice Chair the school board created the vice chair position in 1989 for the purpose of easing the workload of the chair the vice chair serves as chair when the chair is absent assists with board operations and plans the annual evaluation of the superintendent nominations are now in order for the office of vice chair director Hume I would like to nominate director Eric Miller as vice chair Eric Miller has been nominated to be vice chair are there any other nominations for the office of vice chair hearing none if there are no other nominations for the office of vice chair the nominations for this office will now be closed all those in favor of electing director Eric Miller to be vice chair please signify by saying aye aye opposed nay and Erica's remains Vice Chair next we turn to the election of clerk the clerk presides at board meetings in the absence of the chair and vice-chair and from a legal standpoint is responsible for board minutes signing board approved contracts and calling school board elections the clerk also countersigns all district checks the routine duties of the clerk are performed by the superintendent's office and business office nominations are now in order for the office of clerk director shots I nominate director DD courier for clerk director DD courier has been nominated as clerk are there other nominations for the office of clerk if there are no further nominations nominations for the office of clerk are now closed all those in favor of electing director DD courier clerk please signify by saying aye opposed nay and director courier is our new clerk next we will elect a treasurer the treasurer is legally responsible for the deposit and withdrawal of all district funds and reporting same to the school board checks drawn on School District accounts are signed by the treasurer the routine duties of the treasurer are performed by the business office nominations are now in order for the office of treasurer dr. Holick nominate director Hume for director Scott Hume has been nominated to be treasurer are there other nominations for the office of treasurer if there are no further nominations nominations for the office of treasurer are now closed all those in favor of electing director Scott Hume as treasurer please signify by saying aye aye opposed nay and director Hume is now our treasurer salaries of board members salaries of school board members are set annually in January 2016 the salaries were set at five hundred and fifty dollars per month for each director plus an additional monthly stipend of $50 for the chair and recognition of increased duties and expenses associated with that position on March 14 20 19 the salaries were reduced by $100 per month beginning July 1st 2019 the recommendation is that salaries of board members be set at four hundred and fifty dollars per month and that the chairperson receives an additional $50 per month in recognition of additional duties and expenses associated with the position I will take a motion so moved by director Chester second seconded by director Schatz is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor of approving salaries of board members please signify by saying aye opposed nay and the motion carries regular meetings of the school board regular meetings of the school board are typically held on the second and fourth Thursday of each month however board meetings may be scheduled during other weeks to accommodate scheduling needs regular school board meetings will be held at Diamond Head Education Center 200 West Burnsville Parkway Burnsville the recommendation is that all regular meetings of the independent school district 191 Board of Education commence at 6:30 p.m. on the dates noted in the board packet with meetings conducted at the Diamond Head Education Center and cablecast Board listening sessions will be scheduled from 5:45 to 6:15 p.m. before regular board meetings in case of inclement weather the board meeting will be scheduled the board meeting will be scheduled Monday at the same time and place unless Monday is a holiday in which case a special meeting will be posted and I would like to just draw people's attention to the fact that dates that have an asterisk following them represents meetings that are not scheduled on the second and fourth Thursday of the month I will take a motion yes because we're gonna go into discussion in terms of the status of we're gonna be doing with Simon head do we need to date the name the location if that were to change or would that be if it okay good question thank you motion by director Miller second seconded by a director shots any other discussion okay all those in favor please signify by saying aye aye opposed nay and the motion carries items G through n in the board packet pertain to calendar year 2020 they are of a routine nature and although board action is required discussion is usually unnecessary I recommend approval of all resolutions as a single consent agenda in the event a board member wishes to discuss any item it should be removed from the list so that it may receive individual consideration is there are there any items that a board member would like to move for separate consideration can I make a suggestion that we read that the title of each one of those so we have item G authorization we have item G which is authorization of electronic telephone fund transfers authorization for use of facsimile signatures item I designation of official depositories item J appointment to committees item K authorization to execute and file application for state and federally funded programs item L designation of legal council item M designation of official newspaper and that is where we stop it's not called Auto Zen but there isn't it okay hold on and is designation of identified official with authority for Minnesota Department of Education secure website access thank you for pointing that out I will take a motion to approve these items on consent so moved moved by director courier seconded by director Miller all those in favor please signify by saying aye opposed nay and the motion carries thank you everyone and we have a new new cabinets new set of leadership and I know we are all looking forward to continuing our our work together on behalf of our students with all due diligence with that we will turn to the information portion of our meeting and dr. Theresa battle will be reporting on her first 100 days dr. battle Thank You chair alt directors of the board and student represent representative Filippo's well my first 100 days focused on transitioning to my new role learning more about the district setting timelines and creating goals with associated tasks to guide my work through pre entry which began once I was named as your superintendent and through three phases of listen and connect learn and connect and lead I was guided by the following principles first the belief that through strategic planning all of our efforts as an organization must be aligned throughout the district ii collaborative learning i believe in the power of collaboration between staff and among teachers support staff principals central office and departments to improve our collective knowledge to serve our students and families where we may not have the expertise or subject matter or the talent we rely on each other to make sure that we are always bringing our best lastly reciprocal accountability I believe that we must model and support what we expect throughout the organization I do not work alone but with incomplete networks of colleagues that form and reform around specific tasks or issues leadership should be distributive so I thank you for your support we have been collaborative to help meet our goals that we have and so tonight I lead with those beliefs and then we'll go through some goals and some major accomplishments and some next steps for the next 100 in the next 100 days so a little bit about pre entry so even though I began on July 1st you must get ready to assume that role so the pre entry phase was a time for me to begin establishing relationships because we are in the relationship business I held meetings with administrators teachers other staff board members and outgoing superintendents Cindy and Amaro so I spent time this summer getting ready for the fall start of school reviewing contracts district policies and other documents to inform my understanding of district 191 before I officially began July 1st so let's talk a little bit about the first phase listen and connect so you see here a picture with board members this phase was highlighted by a great deal of visibility for me as I got to know stakeholders I spent time with students teachers staff families administrators community partners business members elected office Scholz and others to gain me gain a deep understanding of what is working well in our district and what may need improvement these very different and diverse perspectives provided me a comprehensive view of the district it was thrilling to participate in rocking readers in Nicolette Commons Park because I was able to interact with our learners it was a wonderfully warm day and the students were engaged and we read a book about the Sun and the planets and other planets so the next picture wonderful staff Welcome Back event so this was my first interaction with all staff in one place at the staff Welcome Back event we had very special guests governor walls and Education Commissioner Mary Katherine Ricker key messages for this event included we must all commit to live the core values we've declared in our school district those values of expectation respect integrity and partnership and we must adhere to these values in our daily work the next message everybody is somebody someone next message the value of partnership with civic leaders businesses and community cannot be given short shrift we cannot do this work alone I also shared a little bit about my family childhood and my career we also gave out a bookmark with a quote by Coretta Scott King the greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members some more events Gideon pond hosts a wonderful food truck event and here's a picture with me and director human as we enjoyed that wonderful evening first day of school here I'm helping a middle-school student with her locker combination which might be the most stressful part of the first day for some middle school students and I still could do it I opened the locker several of them it takes quite a touch also I spent the first day of kindergarten at William Byrne I visited avid classrooms I attended to pep fest that burns for high school I visited pathways classes and other classes I held executive team meetings and we even had our first executive team retreat where we spent some extended time getting to know each other and focusing on the work before us other community events and groups I've met with have been the retired teachers of district 191 we held a snack and learn with Martin ITA's table at Burnsville high school I attended the Harriet Bishop parade and if you haven't seen principal Ken in his purple suit you've missed the treat I also participated in the city of Burnsville 5k run so the next phase learn and connect this occurred July through October I this phase was highlighted by deep dives into the structure and work of the district I began learning more in depth began assessing the district's current systems analyzing and studying student performance data I reviewed district policies more looked at audits contracts and other important documents this phase was also dominated by briefings from staff and the board about topics that required immediate attention focus areas included negotiations facilities budget levee district brand messaging and enrollment here are a few pictures of that represent that phase so here we have lissa team reflecting and continuing one of our messages from the staff welcome back we are better together I held deep ties with the sisa department student also with the schema community education finance and human resources we also launched a partnership with the YMCA greater Twin Cities and our leadership teams building leadership teams central office teams operational staff participated in the YMCA equity Innovation Center as a part of our equity work we've also worked with my Anita's table to host the dinner for dialogue around strengthening our community another example is our facilities realignment family engagement so here is a picture of one of the community sessions sessions we held related to possible school closures and a phase that really started as soon as I assumed the position is to lead is to provide leadership so information gathered from the pre entry phase as well as the listen and learn faiths ultimately have informed my first hundred days it has informed messages to stakeholders and of course my day to day work a refined vision of priorities for the district with a timeline for specific action steps was implemented this included the levy campaign as well as our facilities realignment I have continued to further strengthen relationships and build trust among all district 191 stakeholders next we go to goals so it was important to really establish strong board superintendent relationships and build support from the public through frequent communication open and honest dialogue and partnerships I want to specifically remark on the work about building support through this frequent frequent communication as you know we have really implemented engaged community involvement first in a levy campaign and then through our facilities realignment and also for our attendance boundary and in another report I'll talk about the upcoming community engagement for attendance boundary changes with that I wanted to share a few more examples from that leading phase and really getting to know more the stakeholders so I've participated in community groups and events I've joined the Burnsville rotary which is a tradition of the superintendent's in 191 attended night to unite arjen all that jazz the Egan Market fest International Festival I mentioned the food truck at Gideon pond the mayor's reception and I have also worked with Dakota County birth through 8 h8 initiative and here's a wonderful picture from the brain power backpack at burners of a high school other partners working with all of our presidents of our employee groups I've held regular meetings with them also commitment to the association of metropolitan school districts working with our police and fire departments continuing the meet with parents individually or at other meetings I have met with the American Indian advisory councils and I plan regular time within schools I try to get into schools twice a week for a minimum of two hours each day and here I am at the garage with Jack Kolb Williams the director and very happy about the work he engages our youth in Dakota County recently honored him with an excellence in leadership award and I can understand why so one of the great partners we with that to highlight again that clear honest communication so I believe that when we do not have an experience or we don't give an experience as expected we have to really make sure that we communicate about what our response is and how we can make it better and so this summer right a little bit after I started there was a NPR Metcalf story and so it was important for me to make sure I communicated to the community about my expectations media interviews Wow son this week savage Pacer and The Today Show third hour with the women of Burnsville kare 11 I mentioned earlier of retired teachers km oj spokesman recorder two Star Tribune and I've also submitted two columns to our local newspapers and so that will be a regular feature finally to end with some of the accomplishments I cannot bank the community enough for the passage of our levy assistant superintendent Brian Gerson's and I had two hires right away in July so William Byrne principal and director for teaching and learning Department the facilities realignment process aboard superintendent protocols and I believe we have engaged our community and so next steps we are continuing facilities realignment we are about to embark on the boundary adjustments and sharing those options with the community beginning our budget process transitions for fiscal year 21 and then a new vision for district 191 is our strategic plan does and this year so this concludes my summary of my first 100 days is your superintendent I think it was exciting but not as exciting as the first hundred days for the kindergarteners so if you never experienced that when they celebrate please talk to a kindergartener boy it's a lot a big transition for them so I did thank you dr. battle you have had quite a first 100 days unlike I'm sure many most superintendents and you've you've handled it with the challenges with grace and thoughtfulness board members do you have any comments that you'd like to share next I would like to invite Lisa Ryder executive director of business services to the speaker speaker's table we will receive a report on FY 21 process and timeline welcome Lisa good evening thank you as we begin talking about FY 21 we will be working towards a June 30th deadline by statute for approval of an adopted budget and so as we begin this conversation of our process we want to talk a little bit about our goals for that process and the timeline for the fiscal year 21 as part of the goals we want to make sure we're good stewards of our of our taxpayer dollars and align our budgets so that it is in sync with our strategic plan and of course always complying with our statutory requirements additionally making sure that we have taken into consideration stakeholders perspectives in any of our and all of our budget process so that's something that we will be working towards as a goal and to be very transparent about that additionally we would like to submit a balanced budget with regard to the timeline in December you have already heard as you may recall on December 12th we presented preliminary fiscal year 2021 revenue and expenditures to the board that were based upon estimates at that point in time we're still fine-tuning some of those numbers to bring forward next in January you will see that this month is really intended to meet the internal development of the plan and working on that as well as the messaging and presentations that are necessary for our public on January 23rd our current year revised budget will be presented to the board and discussed February brings more work for internal admin and discussion and in addition obtaining feedback from our staff and from our parents in March in April March you can anticipate there will be workshops and in addition recommendations to the board with regard to those adjustments for the budget for fiscal year 2021 and in April as a result of those recommendations that would then be the necessary human resources staffing resolutions that the board would then be seen and all of this culminates in June when we present a final budget for the Board of Education approval and that would be anticipated by June 30th by the deadline as is required that concludes my report thank you Lisa board members questions or comments just I think one clarification for folks that are in our audience not knowing where our facilities process is going to take us there are no assumptions built in in terms of what we will be discussing we are simply working with the nones at this point see that last phrase again we're simply working with what we know right now and then we will adjust as as we need to thank you yep all right thank you thank you next we will receive the first report of the year from our student representative welcome back yeah thank you okay I'm gonna start by talking about talking about an event that took place recently yesterday we invited all of the fifth graders in the district to the high school for a fifth grade band demo we were able to show them all of the instruments and get them interested in joining the band program it was our schools Wind Ensemble which I'm a part of and the symphonic orchestra and we played some pieces for the kids so that they get encouraged to join band when they enter middle school we were able to get each section a leader from each section to demonstrate their instrument so they could pick which one they wanted and the kids showed a lot of excitement which we are very pleased with because they're the future of our music program in this district and we really want the program to stay alive and continue next the Burnsville youth and government program departed to Minneapolis this morning to take part in a model assembly program their students are able to participate in entirely student-led government activities and meet other students interested in government from all across the state of Minnesota which is a very great opportunity also Burnsville deca group is heading to st. Paul tomorrow to represent our high school and deca districts they will be competing against other students from high schools in our area to earn a spot at the deco State Conference in March the final thing I have to talk about is snow week so snow week will be taking place on January 27th to February 1st and is planned by the Burnsville student council it is basically just a week full of fun after school and during school activities for students to participate in on teams with their friends we will host events like dodgeball basketball boot hockey trivia and so much more it's a great way for students to get more involved in the school community and have a fun break after finals week and that concludes my report thank you thank you best wishes to our deca next dr. battle will receive the superintendent's work Thank You board chair Alton members of the board I have a short report as I've already shared quite a bit tonight I want this opportunity to share with you and invite the public to participate in important meetings about school attendance boundaries next week as you know we need to change our attendance boundaries for several reasons including because we are combining schools for next year at next week's meetings parents will learn about why attendance boundaries are changing and what scenarios are being considered and they will have an opportunity to share their feedback and questions the meetings are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on January 13th January 14th and January 15th and also at 10:00 a.m. on January 13th and January 15th all meetings will be held at Diamond Head Education Center except the 6:00 p.m. meeting on January 15th which will be at Burnsville High School further details are available at WWSD 19.0 RG / boundaries I expect and hope that we will have many families join us to stay informed about these important and exciting changes for district 191 schools and that concludes my report for tonight tonight great thank you yes we're hoping for a good turnout at all of those meetings thank you board members are there any board member reports we had a winter break in between and people have been enjoying that so wonderful we will turn to the consent agenda business portion of our meeting although board action is required it is generally unnecessary to hold discussion on these items in the event a board member wishes to discuss an item that item will be moved for separate consideration is are there any items that word members would like to separate hearing none I will take a motion to approve the consent agenda moved by director shot second in second seconded by a director Hume all those in favor of approving the consent agenda please signify by saying aye aye opposed nay and the motion carries next first item on new business I would like to invite assistant superintendent Brian Greer such we are being asked to approve on a first reading basis changes to policy 205 open meetings and closed meetings and policy 607 organization of grade levels welcome assistant superintendent your search Thank You gerald superintendent battle and Board of Directors do you have two small adjustments to these policies policy 205 on page 205 - for some minor language changes as to how votes are recorded and are published and then a couple of legal citations on the last page 205 - 9 again - additional legal citations policy 607 minor change to the definition per statute as well as just practically how things are actually organized here elementary schools are changed to pre-kindergarten through grade five to include the pre-k and then based on that also a definition of pre-kindergarten added with also an additional legal I'm sorry additional policy cross-reference for early childhood admission or early admission to kindergarten at the end okay thank you I will take a motion to approve these two policies moved by a director shot second second second dead by a director Chester questions hearing none all those in favor of approving policy 205 and policy 607 with edits please signify by saying aye aye opposed nay and motion carries thank you next I'd like to invite director of communications Aaron tinglin Berg to the speaker's table we are being asked to approve on a first reading basis changes to policy 903 visitors to school district buildings and sites welcome thank you members of the board mostly minor changes proposed to this policy a note to to make things a little bit more firm in terms of must rather than may so that we're following state statutes and to adjust the language a little bit to be clear a little bit later but otherwise pretty much straightforward I know during the policy committee there was some talk about whether post-secondary enrollment options blogged in here but that is for the MSP a policy manual so that's what we're at great thank you I will take a motion to approve policy 903 so move moved by director Chester second second second it by director Hume questions or a discussion hearing none all those in favor of approving policy 903 please signify by saying aye opposed and the motion carries next we would like to invite Stacy so vine executive director of human resources to the table we're being asked to approve on a second reading basis new policy 509 point five intra district transfer also known as variance enrollments welcome Stacy good evening Gerald dr. battle members of the board bringing to you our second reading policy 509 point five we met previously on it as a policy of the whole committee of the whole I'm sorry but on December 12 2019 and then also approved our first reading on December 19 2019 so the recommendation is that the board approves on a second reading basis new policy five or nine point five intra district transfers otherwise known as variance enrollments great thank you I would like to point out before we take motions that we're going to have a conversation in two parts around this policy first we'll talk about any questions or concerns about the policy language itself and then we need to talk about given timelines with attendance boundaries we need to talk about the three options that Stacey referenced and what action the board may or may not want to take in terms of those actions and after tonight's discussion subsequent action would be taken or not at the next meeting so starting with the policy link I'll take a motion to approve the policy moved by director shot second seconded by director Miller are there questions or comments about the policy language itself okay so Stacy if you would just briefly summarize the three options do we need do we need to vote to approve the policy itself yes yes true yeah let's do that all those in favor of approving the policy please signify by saying aye opposed nay motion carries okay next chair alt in reference to the part of the policy b5 is that the next part of the discussion is it referring to that particular part yes thank you b5 b5 is establishing approval process b5 so what we're what we need to discuss is whether the board wishes to suspend policy 509 action there's action really great yes correct yep so the question is I know we've all had the three options in front of us and we know okay and maybe Stacy just for the purposes of our audience just talked about the three options and and what the ramifications are I don't have that document in front of me so forgive me if I don't women in the right order option one is under Section D of the policy is where the board would have the ability to temporarily suspend the policy now what that means is is that everybody that is currently under a variance would be required to go back to their home district the resident district school school boundaries and we wouldn't accept a variance for that for next year you have until March 31st to decide that if you want to do that for next year okay what that does is it pretty much resets everything and then the following year we can start accepting variances again based upon the capacity and the needs of the buildings the other option let me make sure I'm putting them in the right order here the other option is for the yeah the second option what that would mean is that we would continue to accept our variances with the current practice that we have in place right now okay and the current practice that we have in place right now is that there's a preference provided for families that have siblings out of school there is a preference for children of staff members at that school and then also once we know the capacity of a grade level we allow up to half of that capacity to be filled with variance request okay that's probably one of the most flexible areas that we have so if I have two teachers at a grade level for kindergarten my maximum capacity for kindergarten at that building is 50 students if I only have 40 resident students enrolled for kindergarten at that site in a sense I still have 10 spaces for additional students so our current practice would be five of those spaces would be set aside for variance request okay so option two would be to continue with that same pattern depending on how much space we have both by structure classroom space and staffing space we would continue our current practice option three would be and this is where dr. battle is talking about under B five is where the superintendent could modify that process so instead of us accepting let's say 50% of what we have left in capacity we could go up to 80% or 90% or even a hundred percent instead of our preference is only being outlined for those with siblings or those the the children of staff members are currently work at that building another preference might be if I attended that site the previous year I have a preference of doing our variance back to that building and then we can even play around with maybe what grades we look at as far as our preference so maybe we look at great stream 5 have a preference of moving in and in transitioning in that way or some combination thereof in between so one take option one takes board action that's where you're suspending it everybody goes home no more discussion for next year option 2 leave it as it is and if we have space we have space we don't we don't and we have a lottery we go through a process with that our preferences are you know we'll just fill up the classes as we have availability to fill them up option 3 is where the superintendent builds in some type of a transition period into our variance process over the next couple of years and makes modifications understand that option 3 may not be ideal as far as building capacity ok so I'm not going to step into the boundary conversation that's another group but understand when we start moving and playing with how that the variance request goes we may move from a 92% building capacity to even higher we may be going over capacity we only have so many classrooms in the buildings okay so what ends up happening is not that I'm able to add more teachers and add more classes but once we start going over capacity class sizes start increasing at those sites so those are some of the implications that we'll have to consider as we try to come up with that process so that's kind of all three options in a nutshell one takes action by the board by March 31st the others can be established as soon as we are ready to start accepting enrollment for next year great thank you so I think what we'll do is we'll simply start with option number one since that is the only one that requires board action and board members do you have questions concerns comments about option number one director courier I do the ones I worry about the most are the families that have childcare located in that area especially for the k2 crowd that may have childcare look located in that attendance area and if we do where you can't go to to that school that that's very punitive we don't want we don't want that particular feeling out there thank you I mean some get some more information because like with option two if you just leave the variant home enrollment process as it is but we have the school closures happening so we already have children going into new new schools under the new with a very like what all the variances kind of go to zero and then you know everybody supplying two variants and they would have equal well you know or is it they already have the variance so therefore they're automatically in you know though that's that that's the part that I'm trying to to understand because because that may impact how your question is because if it kind of goes to zero and everybody has that has to start over with the variance and it goes based off of whatever criteria for that that changes a lot so I'm not sure what that is okay so our current practice as well as what our policy describes for us is that once you've been accepted under a variance at a site you do not need to reapply for another variants while you're at that site so as long as you're at an elementary building they're under a variance you won't have to reapply until you move to the middle school level if that middle school isn't your resident middle school so I have a I have a variance to Hidden Valley okay I live in the I live in the sky Oaks area okay and when I'm ready to go to middle school just because I went to school at in Valley you wouldn't automatically go to Eagle Ridge you would need to apply for a variance for Eagle Ridge but we wouldn't force folks to reapply for variances under our current practice and policy okay so the folks that would need to apply as in any year are those who may want to go to a certain school or in this unique year possibly return to a school in which they were resident at one time and with that we would then look at how many teachers do we have what is our capacity and how do we do that that's under option two with our current practice but that does not take into account the the students from MW savage and su trail that would have an interest in a variance preference because they're not already a their their home school is automatically going to change it's not so much you know we're in in the boundary readjustment for other schools for likes ahead in Valley that's a different scenario so what would that scenario look like for those two schools for for those schools we first placed them at the school in which they're new residents their new boundaries would assign hey if they would say I for whatever reason I don't really want to attend this school that I've been that I'm now assigned to under the new boundaries then they could apply for a variance to another so they would be placed third and the preference like that when you don't have a well because because you're saying those that already have a variance should be you know under this guys they would stay they would automatically stay those that are likely to already be at what would be their home school but now their home schools change may want to put up a variance and then now we have the other two schools that aren't going to be in existence but there might there may be events so as I was thinking there that seemed like to be almost like a priority a placement order I don't look at as a priority I'd look at it as and maybe I'm not understanding the question clearly enough but I I think every year parents have the option under our current practice to apply for a variance at a different site and we already will have students at that building that were there under a variance so just because a family decides next year that I want to now go over to a different building under a variance I don't see the order in which they're able to do that being any less than what it currently is okay dr. Miller you had a question well I think back us up just a second here we did not have a policy previously we just created a policy tonight so there is now a new policy in place that governs which we had existing practice we need to first point a question here is if we want to adopt this policy and maintain it in the next school year if we're not going to have the policy in place or another suspended for a year we need to have a motion on the table and vote on it so does anyone want to make a motion to suspend the policy for the next year well that would be the I mean if we're not gonna if nobody's going to do a motion for that then we don't then option one is gone we don't have it to we move on to option two and three because right right you - yeah that's the only one that requires a motion - yeah we can get into the details of the two and three after we decide whether anybody wants to put forward a motion I think the thought was to have the conversation tonight and then bring it back if if there was going to be board action that we would discuss options tonight okay I guess does anybody feel like they intend to has any intention before to motion to suspend it I'm not in favor of option one yeah yeah and that's the general consensus I just wanna be verbal that's what that's what I'm asking yeah that starting with option one we're setting we definitely will have questions about the other two options they don't require a board action but if we do want to suspend the policy then to Eric's point yes we absolutely need to take action and the implications are that everybody would be sent back to their home schools very it would be everybody would attend the school to which they're assigned after attendance boundaries have been redrawn so the only action by the board would be in the affirmative to suspend if you don't take any action whatsoever we just implement the policy so then having settled I think one but just I want point of clarification so there's no confusion we did just an act of very irate policy that requires folks to register for variance I understand I mean it also gives discretion to the superintendent them work really what two and three we're all we're doing is determining the direction we advise superintendent battle to take as she implements this policy but having said that it's a little bit of a sticker point but technically the policy just went into place I think we need to be clear whether everybody needs to apply for a variance regardless or if we're going to sort of allow dr. battle to just assume that the folks that are had a variance would move forward with that variance well and I think we need to back up because I heard director Hume say that he's not in favor of option one I don't want to make an assumptions but that silence means what what silence means and and then we can get to the rest director shots I am NOT an option a favor one okay I still want to understand the pros and cons I understand that there's a certain significant cost option one there's you know part of me that wants to to know more if there's actually a benefit okay Stacy in terms of benefits that you're option one for option one so the Jarrell I would say the whether it's a pro oricon is based on the parents perspective yeah so we've shared some implications but it's really about when we hear from the families help me impact them and we're going to be hearing from our families during the next month which goes back to why the action wouldn't necessarily happen tonight because we do need to hear from our families but I think it's fair for us to have the conversation initially to talk about option one I mean it sounds like it really is more a financial financial and staffing and predictability benefit that we're talking about it's about the adults operate well yes operationally financially it's very predictable it's very concrete we're going to be able to maximize our resources in a very predictable manner in that sense as far as the implications for families and the impact families and to students option one is going to be disruptive and probably frustrating if I had to project does that help dr. Chester yeah any other comments or questions okay yeah I think I mean I'll just make a comment on option when I'm not a fan of it either because it it just it takes the relationships that dr. battle has just finished talking about the relationships are so important for the for the students and students among themselves and the students with their staff and the families you know we're trying to engage our families and and what what would this particular option do to that I would I would worry and it's where the families that are currently using a variance correct correct so I guess in terms of the other two options do we want to have a conversation about those do we want to come back after we've had a chance to listen to our community and and hear the input from from those attendance boundary conversations what their concerns might be because I believe that is going to be one of the questions that they'll be asked does that make sense well I just struggled here because I don't see a massive difference between 2:00 and 3:00 except at 3:00 gives more latitude to dr. battle that's basically and basically three says the board says to dr. battle we recognize a special circumstances going on please act accordingly that's about the only difference I see between two and three yeah well and it's interesting because the the note about current third fourth sixth and seventh graders receiving preference in the lottery process that is that would be an example that's an example of a potential latitude that could be given yeah it just says to her that we there we've got a one-time unique situation go and deal with it but you know you have a latitude to do it that's that's all basically the option as opposed to follow the what the letter of the load of the policy and it's based on capacity and staffing basically is what no option Julis what option to is going to do right now for elementary we are just under 25 students per teacher that's our kind of our mid target range okay we have some classes smaller kindergarten first grade we have some classes larger you know your your fourth and fifth grade but on average for elementary we're looking at about just between 24 and 25 students per class what option to is going to do is say in a sense you follow those guidelines for maximum class size that's what we would do for our variances I'm reaching my maximum class size that's where I have to cut off the line what option 3 is going to do is so that we can honors family honor families desire to stay at a building in which they've already attended we understand that class sizes and some of those buildings may go larger that's those are the implications between two and three and that'll be important information together that's temporary circumstances exactly there's a bullet under implications under option two that said perceived preference to current variance enrollment students over displaced current resident students tells me that there's according to the policy there's already a preference in place in terms of people that are already on a variance having precedents and maintaining their variants versus new students coming in what and again in that unique scenario that we have with our policy with our previous practice those who aren't there with a variance don't have to reapply those who were currently this year a resident of that school next year would be asked to apply if they wanted to return to that school that would that an implication is to perceived advantage as somebody that initially had the variance has over somebody that's currently enrolled there now so then something for option three would be that we wouldn't entertain that we are going to divert because of school boundary changes in which everybody would need to do another application for variance could that be part of option three or one of the scenarios I'm sure displaced current residents me is what youth is I don't think that's referencing that the building closing displaced mmm I think that's referenced I think that's in reference to neighborhoods getting redrawn I read this - if someone because if you read them above well you wrote [Laughter] because it says not not all displaced students will be able to return to their current resident building because of building capacity well they wouldn't be able to return to any of you because it won't exist so right I thought that meant if they were displaced and again not knowing the boundary scenarios if if I was currently attending Hidden Valley as a resident in my neighborhood was reclassified to go to Harriet Bishop mm-hmm okay but I wanted to return to Hidden Valley I may feel disadvantaged because now I have to apply for a variance and there may not actually be space available where somebody that was there on a variance is already at you know they don't have to do anything they don't have to apply because they still don't they still don't live within the boundaries of that school right right right and now that I don't live in the boundaries of the school even though I was a resident I don't I still have to apply now I have to apply they don't right and I still think it enough that's where that's where I wanted to know if the option would be to make everybody regardless if you're on a current variance have to apply for a variance so that the decision you know if that would that fall under option three you know I don't know if that does a scenario that would go there it could fall under option three if we wanted to kind of say you know what we need a fresh start we need to know exactly what folks are really interested in attending get a good snapshot of where we are one of the new implications on that might be well now it feels very disruptive to everybody and that's you know that's that's a another concern or another thing to consider and the flip side of that I think director Chester if I'm hearing you correctly is those who are already in the school regardless of where they live the leeway would be given to allow those students to continue to attend regardless of capacity and class size but we need to hear from our families what they feel about class size that because that's I mean we want to be kind to our families right and we want to do the best that we can for the students in SU trail and and I'm W Savage that are looking for new schools and at the same time there are existing relationships that exists so at the meetings coming next week given this conversation I hope that we're posing to the to the attending audience the direct question how do you feel about a larger than normal classroom size for the next couple of years if in exchange you get to stay at the school that you wish to be at or we're currently tending or something about you figure how to phrase it but I think that question is needs directly posed to the community when in those discussions and also how would you feel about having to apply for a variance because if there's a year to say okay we have all of this change there this will be the one year where you may have to apply for a variance again because that point is there's people that don't have a school to return to Lane that are being disadvantaged but this may be the year you have to reapply and then also maybe what percentage of the current student enrollment is doing the variances because like we say it's gonna you know promote a lot of family frustrations but what what percentage of the totality are we really talking about Lisa did you wanna join Stacey dr. battle so chair all the vectors of the board as many of you as you are aware we've had a design team that included community members that ran through I would say how many scenarios 8686 we've had cultural liaisons we've had directors principals vet and so the community meeting agendas are designed specifically for understanding the scenarios the why the criteria and getting the input so the questions are related to just the scenarios so I'd like to ask Lisa Ryder to join us to share a little bit about the questions that may be posed and see if we can fit in variance because we weren't expecting to discuss variances at those community meetings as we plan for the meetings that will begin in the next few days the the fact of the matter is our our attention in helping our families to understand the boundaries and the complexity around that we've been trying to really focus on that alone and help them to understand that you know variances is another step in this process and one which we're really not going there within our conversation with them during our current planned community meetings was our intent not knowing for certain where the conversation would be you know this evening or anything I listen those are very good questions my wondering is if the board might consider that being something that we obtained not necessarily in the community meetings around boundaries but that it's another another phase in our in our next step mm-hmm the only difficulty is the time frame because we have to let families know a survey something yes survey could yet we could do a survey or even I mean I'll throw out the just independent of variances although at this point it would be very clear that the question would be linked to variances you know asking people about parents about class size dira budget I think you're not gonna have a choice that is gonna be the first thing they're gonna ask you about don't plan for it it's I think and we are asking for questions and concerns as well as suggestions around boundaries so certainly if that's on their mind please put it down we're not we're not saying don't put anything on there about variances I'm just saying if we start going into that conversation around variances we could be spending quite a bit of time discussing options two and three you know and the given the nature of the broth given that the broad nature of the questions that you're asking my guess is that we will get a read on that anyway because class size will naturally come into it director do they have something do they participants in those meetings have some sort of handout take away great so we were planning on having similar to what you saw in the facilities process whether all their comments and suggestions would be on on long sheets but as maybe this is what you're referring to but like an exit card type survey as they leave with regard to those certain short questions we might have around variances could be an option to there's some additional information that even if it's not discussed outright during the meetings there is for those as they exit so director how occur the whole discussion my concern is not with there's gonna be a lot of displacement whichever way we go with this I guess my concern would be as the as a parent who maybe just stays in their neighborhood school stays that nothing happens I would be really concerned about the class size issue being raised to allow other students in regardless if it's a variance or you know because they were because they had already variance in or if they are now applying because the boundaries got redrawn I guess it's hard to balance it because you'd necessarily you don't want to give priority to overcrowding the classes because of students wanting to return to their previous school but you also you know you need to balance all of them and it's it's gonna be tricky and I guess I'm really interested in what the community members will have to say at these meetings especially like you said the ones who the schools that are at may be at risk for becoming overcrowded and because that's one of the things we told people that we were going to avoid is the class sizes wouldn't be raised because we're realigning it and if we're now saying oh just kidding we'll raise them for a couple years I don't know that I like that idea personally fair point dr. Miller I think and again this is just guidance for dr. battle on your team I think we have a couple of scenarios in this district I think that is probably absolutely true for most of the Elementary's that most of them probably would prefer to maintain classroom size that seems normal there are a couple of buildings Ron and Harry Bishop where I absolutely guarantee you the parents there would rather go to a larger classroom size and be able to stay in the building also a large amount of the parents probably you know would feel that way so we just need to make sure that the voices are heard a Kirribilli across the you know the platform has to be I don't think we need to make one decision universally as I'm trying to say for the desk and again it's a temporary situation I think most people most adults understand that a lot of the choices we make in life come with trade-offs gives and takes and so a lot of people will probably have to spend some time thinking about it but they will have an opinion on it whether they're willing to go a little bit extra on classroom size to stay at the school that they've invested two three years and about to leave going to middle school or not that's and to your point thankfully it's a temporary yes it's got to be absolutely clear so lots of communication that has to be done gathering of information and dr. battle you and I will check in and determine it sounds like I'm not hearing any one champion not championing option one so would it be fair to say that we in the in the coming weeks we will want to learn more and then give guidance on options two and three I think the one thing I want to I've been struggling with with in terms of variance is some of these decisions are whether or not we're going to encourage variances and does that does that send a different kind of marketing message in terms of the values of the schools that we have as to encouraging one family to two variants into another because that has some sort of of a perception of something that's not okay that's in there what their would be their home school you know so I we have a lot of changes that we want to be moving forward with and exciting changes in terms of pathways and elementary schools and and everything that we want to be addressing so I'm not sure what the timeline is in terms of when variances are accepted you know because what kind of marketing can be done in terms of - why it's exciting to be in your home school you know kind of thing I die there I think that there's I know maybe I'm just getting a negative connotation in terms of variance and that that we're allowing dissatisfied customers to be satisfied somewhere else you know it's just that and that's the wrong term it's poor but but that's kind of how I'm feeling and so it's like in addition to this water you know what is that other positive marketing push with where we're going with with the schools and then what is the timeline in which parents need to decide about a variance that's that's another point I don't know and the connotations of what what historically variances have represented versus where we are at this point in time moving forward yes yeah director shots perhaps that it's maybe a clarification of communication that there are many reasons why families may want to go to a different school than their home school and one example in our materials here is you have a middle schooler at a at a middle school is just easier for you to be to send your elementary child to a an elementary school that's close to that at that middle school and so especially now that we're down into the two middle schools you know they're so maybe just the idea that it's the communication pieces there are lots of reasons why people would choose a different school than their home one and so it could be closer to you know very young child you know health child care it could be close to work it mean it's just lots of reasons so let's not assume that people are choosing it for the school for one reason another but just keeping that whole all those scenarios probably in mind and there and and the good reason why families might embrace what will want to embrace their new school good point thank you anything else before we wrap up all right do you have what you need okay great thank you all right okay so before we adjourn when we adjourn we will adjourn to a workshop on the city of Burnsville a landfill discussion and then we will turn to a closed session as permitted by Minnesota statute 13 D 0 3 to discuss is d 191 s labor negotiation strategy I will take a motion to adjourn moved by director shot second second second dead by director courier all those in favor all right all right ten minutes so eight o'clock we'll be back thanks everybody you you you